While the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor’s 500 index reached record highs on the last day of October, most active stock managers have struggled in 2014. One of the primary difficulties has been the wide divergence in performance between the largest-capitalization and smaller-capitalization stocks.
I’ve written a number of columns with advice for when the talking heads are screaming about the coming apocalypse, so I thought it might be useful to review some of those concepts.
How can saving possibly compete against the excitement of spending or the chance to win a lottery jackpot? Maybe with a Prize-Linked Savings (PLS) account, a product pioneered in the U.S. by Columbus, Ind.-based Centra Credit Union with its 2007 Super Savings program.
Instead of assembling a pretend roster for your fantasy football league, how would you like to actually own a piece of Andrew Luck or your favorite player?
A college education is one of life’s costliest investments, so you want to maximize your return on that investment.
Accurate information about low-priced stocks issued by the smallest of companies can be difficult to find. This makes it easy for fraudsters to spread false information. It’s truly the Wild West of speculation.
Admiral William H. McRaven, a Navy SEAL and commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, spoke this May to the graduating class of his alma mater, the University of Texas at Austin, with advice on “if you want to change the world.”
A persistent seasonal anomaly for stocks is the “presidential cycle,” a pattern of performance coinciding with various years of a presidency.
It’s amazing how the 24/7 media bombardment of random noise and sound bites on the economy and markets has investors continually on tenterhooks. It seems Armageddon is always lurking around the corner.
If your employer offered to double your salary, would you jump at the chance? In a rational world, you’d take that deal 100 times out of 100. However, you’ll probably be surprised to learn how we make a “no brainer” decision like this depends on whether someone else is involved.
Illegal insider trading generally refers to buying or selling a stock, in breach of a duty of trust and confidence, while in possession of “material, non-public information” about the stock. This also can apply if the person possessing the information (the “tipper”) passes along the information to a “tippee,” who then trades the stock. Steve […]
The popularity of target-date funds has attracted a bevy of providers fighting for market share, many trying to differentiate themselves by using unconventional strategies. This has led to wildly different performance for funds with the same target date.
Despite your newly obtained degree, you don’t know anything. You have no skills. If you are really lucky, you will soon land your first job. You are not entitled to that job. If you get it, you should be grateful for your good fortune and make the most of it.
Slow and steady wins the race” is a value-investing mind-set that’s also applicable to building an NFL roster. Choose overlooked or undervalued prospects, not the Heisman Trophy winner or Twitter.
‘Behavior gap’ is the difference between what an average investment returns and what the average investor actually earns, because he or she can’t leave investments alone long enough for them to prosper.
In a 2013 cover story, Fortune magazine described Amazon as a “brass-knuckled battler for every penny of competitive advantage.” As state treasurers can attest, that portrayal is both well-deserved and important to understanding the rise of Amazon.
Whether an athletic contest or the “game” of investing, many factors determining whether we win or lose are beyond our control. However, we can control how we approach the game and respond as events unfold, which can be just as important.
Warren Buffett’s annual letter to shareholders in Berkshire Hathaway’s annual report always contains timeless advice, useful in good times and bad. He told of two non-stock investments he made decades ago. Though relatively small and insignificant to his net worth, they illustrate important concepts.
Sports betting wouldn’t be what it is today without an innovation by Charles K. McNeil. McNeil’s strong analytical ability enabled him to earn a living as a professional gambler, or “sharp.” His innovation was the “point spread.”
Value investing can look foolish short term, but usually pays off long term.
