Companies frequently use debt to finance their operations. This so-called leverage can be a prudent use of capital, but it can also be rather dangerous. That’s because, once on the books, debt represents a fixed cost in the form of interest pay[...]

The term “flight to quality” is often tossed around on Wall Street, particularly when times are tough. Two exchange trades funds that embody this notion are Invesco S&P 500® Quality ETF and iShares Edge MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF. We’re not reco[...]

It’s a good time to be a lobbyist, since their clients are presumably sparing no expense in bids for financial assistance. A review of recent headlines show unimaginable monetary needs in depth and breadth. Here’s a sample: The Wall Street Journal: A[...]

Taxpayer bailouts of airlines seem all but inevitable. Even the most cursory analysis would show that a rescue is in the national interest. However, there is a distinction between saving industries from a virus over which they have no control and sav[...]

Following President Trump’s national emergency declaration, The IRS is taking unprecedented measures and extending the deadline for tax payments by 90 days. Historically, the IRS has granted six-month extensions to any taxpayers who request them. The[...]

The Federal Reserve System interest rate cut to nearly 0% was a good move, right? On the plus side, it decreases the cost of borrowing for the federal government, and with nearly $20 trillion in debt, lower borrowing costs help every American taxpaye[...]

On Friday, we used Apple to explore what the relationship between stock prices and dividends could mean for investors. Apple’s strong balance sheet means dividends could pay well into the future, even if things take a turn. Altria’s a different story[...]

Fear and uncertainty are high, but this dark cloud still has a silver lining — maybe. For dividend investors, in particular, these times could offer promising opportunities. When stock prices go down, dividend yields go up. At its peak of $327,[...]

The markets are in such a slump right now, that it’s easier to look at Wall Street through the lens of cinema than to take reality head-on. Here are some stock-market movies to watch if you can’t take the real thing anymore: The Wolf of Wall Street. [...]

In the wake of Monday’s precipitous stock market decline, the average loss per person in the United States was $5,682, with a significant drop of $16,091 from the market’s high in February. Though this tumble hurt the market, Monday’s fall wasn’t the[...]

With tax day right around the corner, it’s time for a refresher course on the realities of hiring a tax preparer to file on your behalf. Expertise is not a guarantee. The only requirement needed to prepare taxes professionally is an up-to-date Tax Pr[...]

Coronavirus has inspired panic and plummeting stock prices since the first cases of human infection were reported in December 2019. Many stock market powerhouses have felt the effect of a Chinese economy in stasis, save for video conferencing and str[...]

Since announcing that they wouldn’t meet their sales estimates on February 17, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), the largest company in the US with a market value of nearly $1.3 trillion, has seen their shares tumble nearly 20%. The company and its products are [...]

Despite declines on a mass scale, there have been some winners amid the carnage on Wall Street. Teledoc (NYSE: TDOC), for instance, has seen its share price increase over the past week, because its mobile doctor visit app has kept consumers away from[...]

As a republic, China contributes about a third of all growth in global gross domestic product and when its economy virtually shuts down, it sends shivers up the spine of markets and bourses around the world. The effects are widespread and affecting a[...]

Coronavirus may not have officially reached our shores, but US markets have plunged headlong into panicky selling, as investors contemplate its impact on a variety of industries and global trading partners. The stocks in the S&P 500 — the 500 lar[...]

If you are buying international stock mutual funds, it would be reasonable to question the location of the people analyzing the stocks that they buy. Are they at “HQ” or are they in close proximity to their companies of interest? It’s a good question[...]

Fourth-quarter earnings season is moving into high gear. Bellwethers like Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX), Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), and Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) will be reporting this week. With Netflix, investors will be trying to divine if the company’s[...]

The S&P 500 index represents the 500 largest U.S. companies, each divided into 11 sectors. By looking at what each sector has contributed to the total value, the index highlights important changes in the economy. The energy sector has changed the[...]

With the recently-enacted Secure Act, Congress decided that, starting in 2020, IRAs and other tax-favored retirement accounts are exclusively for retirement and not for passing wealth down to heirs. The act makes significant changes to IRA proceeds t[...]

Will the SEC protect you? They’ll certainly try, but their efforts are outgunned by corporations with bigger budgets. To get a feel for what the Securities and Exchange Commission, an investor protection agency, faces, consider this: The 2020 SEC bud[...]

Due to the recent torrid growth in Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) shares, the company has become the most valuable automaker in the United States. At the moment, Tesla is worth $93 billion,* with General Motors (NYSE: GM) and Ford (NYSE: F) trailing at $50 bil[...]

The famous quote from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, “What’s in a name?,” provides appropriate context to understand overdraft protection from banks and the criminal costs they impose on bank customers. The reason this quote provides context is that[...]

Table of Contents: Four Advantages of Margin Loans How to Protect Yourself from a “Margin Call” If you own a portfolio of stocks in a taxable brokerage account (not an IRA, Roth IRA, 401(k), or other tax deferred account), then you’ve got[...]

During election years, the market tends to go up. Since 1928, the S&P 500 index total return has been 11.25%, according to Morningstar and Ibbotson Associates.* Should history repeat itself in 2020, an 11.25% return this year on top of 2019’s spe[...]

The U.S economy keeps chugging along. The chief measurement of expansion, Gross Domestic Product, or GDP, has been growing at about 2% annually, an admirable clip for the 11th year of an expansion. However, GDP measurements are a blunt instrument for[...]

For the first time in its history, the dividends paid by stocks in the Standard & Poor’s 500 — the 500 largest companies in America — reached $500 billion. Any way you measure it, $500 billion is a big number. $500 billion is $98 billion more tha[...]

Every quarter, mutual fund performance is tallied and ranked, covering the short term, full year, and recent future, including 5, 10, and 20-year periods.* These rankings can be beneficial, but they often lead investors astray. Specifically, almost a[...]

A robo advisor is a software platform that helps you manage your money in the same fashion as a real-life wealth manager. Since those living wealth managers require minimum balances of $250,000 or more, a robo advisor is probably a good idea to consi[...]

The chart below, which shows the price performance of Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL) shares since the company went public, likely provokes a familiar reaction: Wow, I wish I got in early. Since going public in 2004, Google shares have gone from $85 to about [...]

Fidelity Advisor Growth Opportunities mutual fund is the top large stock 10-year performer, according to Kiplinger.* The fund’s holdings, as shown in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, paint a picture of the economy a[...]

Below is a list of the 10 largest economies in the world according to the World Bank, ranked by GDP, which is the total value of all finished goods and services produced within a country.* Country GDP (in $trillions) United States  $20.5 China&n[...]

Being famous doesn’t insulate you from losing money on bad investments. In fact, it may increase your chances of going belly up, since celebrities are bigger targets for scam artists. Bono lost $140 million on an investment in PalmPilots.* Always rem[...]

Among the eight Wall Street firms who released 2020 forecasts for the S&P 500 Index (SPY), the average was 3241, or about 3% from where it closed at the end of November.* Some firms such as Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) and UBS (NYSE: UBS) are actual[...]

Gold is a popular hedge against a declining dollar, inflation, and a variety of adverse market events. One of the challenges investors face is not whether to own gold, but how to own gold. You can buy bullion and bars direct from a dealer, which some[...]

You want the best for your heirs, but assuming they will be better off simply because they have more money can prevent you from optimizing the impact of your estate and their inheritance. Uneven Tax Liabilities If you pass along assets inside an IRA,[...]

One way to generate long term wealth is to reinvest your dividends back into the security that is generating them. As an example, the S&P 500 index has, over time, generated a dividend of about 1.8%. The return on the S&P 500 index over the l[...]

Coworking-space giant WeWork didn’t blow-up as much as it melted down. Valued at about $48 billion when it filed to go public in August, the company is, after a series of unfortunate events, now valued at about $8 billion. What went wrong? Probably s[...]

Just seven days before the stock market crash of 1929, economist Irving Fisher said, “stock prices have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau.” Over time, Fisher’s contribution to economics has been lauded, but his spectacular miss on th[...]

With a new year approaching, it’s a good time to look into The Dogs of The Dow investment strategy. This strategy is popular and has beaten the performance of the Dow Jones average eight out of the last 10 years.  The strategy is simple: Buy the[...]

Conventional wisdom suggests that your stock portfolio should include international stocks. Without question, this idea has merit. Does that mean you have to buy European or Asian stocks or buy an international stock fund? That’s one way to go. But y[...]

So called exchange-traded funds (ETFs) represent an advanced form of mutual and index funds that confer several benefits which principally consist of lower costs and more efficient tax treatment.  One of the dirty secrets about ETFs is that they[...]

Looking at a company with a nice fat dividend? That’s great, but here’s a quick reality check to see if that dividend is viable. Look at the ratio of dividend per share to earnings per share. What is that number? In short, it’s the percent of profits[...]

One of the biggest money debates is whether investors are better off buying actively managed funds or passively managed funds. It sounds complex, but both are easy to explain. A passive fund is one that is built and managed by a rule. For instance, a[...]

The Dividend Aristocrats are S&P 500 stocks that have increased their dividend payouts for 25 consecutive years or more.* For investors, buying and holding dividend aristocrats can be a viable path to long term wealth creation. Here’s an example:[...]

The Dow Jones Industrial Average consists of 30 stocks that, in general, represent the composition of the U.S. economy. Looking at the components over time can offer some interesting insights about how our economy has evolved. For instance, in 1884, [...]

If you’re thinking about estate planning and what you will leave for your children, here’s a novel, but important, idea. To make sure they each get the same amount after taxes, leave them unequal inheritances. This is because each child likely faces [...]

It’s true, investors are scooping up rare whiskeys. The market for American Whiskey is newer than the market for Scotch or Japanese whiskey, and as a result there are significant opportunities for appreciation. For instance, buyers of the infamous 23[...]

At the moment, there are 15 states that allow recreational or medicinal sale of marijuana, and total sales for 2019 are expected to be about $13 billion with a forecast of $22 billion for 2022.  This figure is likely conservative, as it does not[...]

As of the beginning of November 2019, the following stocks were the biggest losers in terms of loss of value. Company 2019 YTD Loss Reason Dean Foods ~74% Price pressure, management changes PG&E ~67% Wildfires Peabody Energy ~65% Shift away from [...]

Actress Kim Basinger bought the town of Braselton, Georgia for $20 million in 1988 and sold it for $1 million in 1993. Buy high, sell low. In 2006, baseball legend Curt Schilling founded Green Monster Games with $50 million of his own money, which st[...]

When you divorce after the age of 50, expect your net worth to drop by roughly 50%. No surprise there, but, as Bloomberg writes, the standard of living — which is income adjusted for household size, drops by 45% for women and 21% for men.* Worse, the[...]

“Rule No. 1: Never lose money. Rule No. 2: Never forget Rule No. 1.” – Warren Buffett “Riches enlarge rather than satisfy appetites.” – Thomas Fuller “The Eiffel Tower is the Empire State Building after taxes.” – Anonymous “If you w[...]

Ever since the tax “reform” bill passed at the end of 2017, share buybacks have bubbled up in public discourse: “Corporations are not investing their tax savings in plant and equipment, but simply buying back their own stock.” For those who, to their[...]

The old saying on Wall Street is that the market climbs a wall of worry to reach new highs.  Yesterday, the S&P 500 index, the benchmark for the “market” at large, hit a new all time high.  And true to form, there’s plenty to worry abou[...]

On Wednesday, Apple will report its fourth quarter earnings. Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) is one of only two trillion companies, but because of its ubiquitous iPhone, it’s the most closely observed company in the world.  Investors fall into one of [...]