The Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA) and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (NYSE: SPY) have been on a bull market stampede since March 2009. But the overall American economy has not been feeling as bullish. The policies under Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke favored the stock market. Low interest rates made stocks more […]
Dec
16
0
Mohammed Islam is a 17-year old schoolboy in New York City who claimed he made $72 million dollars trading stocks and other securities during recess at school. His story, based on a “life-long passion” for trading, received a great deal of media attention in New York magazine and other outlets. Of little surprise to anyone […]
Dec
11
0
While Big Oil stocks like Chevron (NYSE: CVX) and ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) should reward long term investors, the short term performance has been painful. That is much the same for the stock markets overall as both the Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA) and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (NYSE: SPY) have been doing […]
Dec
1
0
Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), the Internet retail giant, has done much to make “Cyber Monday” a new American holiday with a global reach like “Black Friday” and “Super Bowl Sunday.” Much of this is owed to the genius of Jeff Bezos, the Chief Executive Officer of Amazon. This has naturally rewarded the shareholders of Amazon. The […]
Nov
26
0
Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD), which has the Sears and KMart department stores, is a very volatile stock. While the beta for the overall stock market is 1, the beta for Sears Holding is 2.79. That means that the share price for Sears Holding moves up and down almost three times as much as the […]
Nov
17
0
With the holiday shopping season approaching, so is the peak sales period for retail companies such as Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT). The largest retailer in the world, Wal-Mart has been a very pleasant gift to long term investors. The fact that legendary investor Warren Buffett is a major shareholder Wal-Mart manifests its appeal. It has many […]
Nov
6
0
The election in the United States was good for the Republican party, which should result in lower taxes. That makes consumer good stocks such as Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), and others more attractive. With more discretionary income, or spending money, Americans will be able to buy more products. This is a major reason […]
Nov
4
0
No matter what happens after Americans vote today, long term investors should continue buy stocks with a history of increasing the amount of the dividend such as Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM), and Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), among others. The bull market has been going on for more than five years, so it is difficult […]
Oct
30
0
Actually, investors for the long term should always buy “Dividend Aristocrat” stocks such as Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM), and Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), among others. A Dividend Aristocrat is a stock that has increased its dividend annually for at least the past 25 years. Dividend stocks should be a part of every portfolio, not […]
Oct
10
0
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (NYSE: SPY) is down three weeks in a row. For some, that is a sign of a bear market looming. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index is now off for the last week, month, and quarter of market action (chart below). A bullish sign, though, is that legendary investor […]
