May 8, 2012
Source: Forbes Magazine
"Businessmen can profit handsomely if they will disregard the pessimistic auguries of self-appointed prophets of doom." - J. Paul Getty (1892-1976). We keep hearing that Federal Reserve monetary policy will lead to the demise of paper money. The Fed is simply printing dollars faster than we need them...
April 10, 2012
Source: Forbes Magazine
"Gravity works in the market as well as science. It takes buying to move the market up, but when buying dries up, stocks will fall of their own weight." - Jesse Livermore. "Sell in May and go away," isn't just a catchy phrase. Seasonality in the markets is well established...
February 10, 2012
Source: Forbes Magazine
"Many an optimist has become rich simply by buying out a pessimist." - Laurence J. Peter. Baby Boomer's Kids Are Slowly Taking Over...There are over 90 million of them. Their sheer size has made it difficult to find the jobs they want and need...
January 20, 2012
Source: Forbes Magazine
"Confidence is a fragile thing." - Joe Montana. Stock market volatility makes people nervous. They associate big price swings with instability and risk. Yet the fact remains, when stocks rise and fall day to day, it rarely reflects what's happening in a business...
December 27, 2011
Source: Forbes Magazine
"Now is always the most difficult time to invest." - Anonymous. "The question of when to buy is far more important than what to buy." - Roger Babson. These two concepts contradict themselves, yet they're both accurate and worthwhile quotations...
November 17, 2011
Source: Forbes Magazine
Over time, the market rises more than it falls. It's a wonderful feeling when you're making money and you don't have to show up for work to earn it. Protecting profits can be just as satisfying, especially if the market continues to fall after you've pulled out...
September 29, 2011
Source: Forbes Magazine
While providing market commentary for CBS Los Angeles Radio affiliates KFWB and KNX, show host Bob McCormick asked me why anyone would ever buy stocks...
August 31, 2011
Source: Forbes Magazine
What is the key driver of stock market returns? Thanks to my associate Glenn Busch, who asked and answered the critical question...
August 6, 2011
Source: Forbes Magazine
On Wall Street, gorillas are companies so big and strong they have few competitors. They generally have the best reputations, can sell their products and services for less (if needed), and are perceived to offer better products...
July 19, 2011
Source: Forbes Magazine
All around us, the forces of nature are pushing, pulling, tugging. Tides rise and fall, weather patterns change, even planets and galaxies move in accordance with heavenly cycles. So it goes for financial markets of every kind...
April 18, 2011
Source: Forbes Magazine
Pattern Recognition: Spotting Comeback Stocks: In 1884 Charles Dow published the very first stock market average composed of closing prices of eleven stocks: nine railroad companies and two manufacturing firms...
March 29, 2011
Source: Forbes Magazine
Natural and man-made disasters spur innovation in new technologies. While the events are fresh, and people are in crisis, media coverage becomes hyper-focused on every bit of bad news...
March 2, 2011
Source: Forbes Magazine
Only two years ago, current events provided what can now be viewed as "the bargains of a century". The March 2009 lows were created from actual new events...
February 14, 2011
Source: Forbes Magazine
War cycles have reoccurred since the beginning of human society. Throughout history, the frequency and amplitude of military conflicts has directly correlated with increasing commodity prices...
December 21, 2010
Source: Forbes Magazine
Original ideas are hard to come by. Even the world’s greatest innovators rarely stumble upon a concept that has never been tried before. Even if you are fortunate enough to come up with a truly original idea that generates results...
December 7, 2010
Source: Forbes Magazine
In June 2008, Barron’s writer Jonathan Laing profiled 67-year old analyst James Finucane, who, for many years had been great at calling stock market lows, including the low reached after the October 1987 crash....
November 12, 2010
Source: Forbes Magazine
You cannot underestimate the power of cycles. They reoccur in nature, business, and financial markets with great regularity. When we ignore them, cycles seem obvious in hindsight. Foresight is where you’ll make your money...
October 12, 2010
Source: Forbes Magazine
Investment Research recently concluded a study of investor behavior during the last “lost” decade. Trim Tabs tracked inflows and outflows to and from mutual funds...
September 14, 2010
Source: Forbes Magazine
With gold currently trading around $1250 per ounce, and silver just above $19, the current ratio of gold’s price to silver’s price appears skewed...
July 7, 2010
Source: Forbes Magazine
One of our favorite market and economic indicators concerns interest rates, particularly the difference between long term rates and short term rates...
June 15, 2010
Source: Forbes Magazine
What if, for a limited time only, dollar bills went on sale and were offered for less than a dollar. You’d buy dollars at a discount, maybe as much as 50 cents on the dollar, and sell them to someone else for a hundred cents...