I t’s not your neighbor who once gave you awful advice on a hot stock tip (you’re no longer on speaking terms, unless you need to borrow a power tool). It’s not one of those “market pros” you read about on CNBC who seemed so sure about this one stock that he called it a no-brainer (you bought the stock … Read More

A round the time of the stock market lows in March 2009, an acquaintance, who is in his mid-fifties, was chatting about the economy in general and, unsurprisingly, touched upon the market downturn. He asked about my investments and I mentioned that (since I was invested solely in stock index funds) I had a paper loss to report too. I … Read More

“You wouldn’t have won if we’d beaten you.” – Yogi Berra H ow did you do with the 12 questions in the first article of this series ? We have found that most investors have quite exaggerated views about long term stock market returns, mainly believing they are much more erratic than they are. Here are the facts regarding some … Read More

“Slump? I ain’t in no slump. I just ain’t hitting.” – Yogi Berra H ow did you do with the 12 questions in stock market quiz ? We have found that most investors have quite exaggerated views about stock market risks, especially after 2008. The bear market has created fear, much of which is completely unrealistic, based on actual market … Read More

“Half the lies they tell about me aren’t true.” – Yogi Berra W e talk with people and read articles and books every day about investing, and are constantly shocked at how little most people know about the real risks and returns of the stock markets. The bear market of 2008 has only made the misconceptions worse. This is a … Read More

W ith the 2009 stock picking competition over and done with, the same group of bloggers wanted try it again in 2010. As my last years result was mediocre relative to the market, I’ll still take the 20% that I gained . This years picks will be along the same lines, but perhaps a little more aggressive. What do I … Read More

W hat a year 2009 turned out to be with regards to market returns – in fact 2009 resulted in the highest return since 1983 with a 30.7% gain. Congrats to those who had the courage to buy equities during the down turn. The markets started 2009 on a bad note and continued its down ward spiral until March after … Read More

T his is a continuation of a 2 part series on the principles of successful investors . Here’s a quick recap of the first article. 1. Faith The single most important characteristic of successful investors is faith. This includes faith in the markets, in the future, in our free enterprise system, in the ability of good companies to grow their … Read More

“There are some people who, if they don’t already know, you can’t tell ‘em.” – Yogi Berra A re you one of those investors for whom things just seem to always work out well? Getting superior long term returns seems to take little effort. Whatever strategy you use seems to eventually work. You don’t spend much time or effort, yet … Read More

W ith my debt and savings habits under control, lately my thoughts have been more so on investing strategies. One investment strategy that I believe in, as you may know, is dividend investing. Dividend investing can mean a couple things. It could include investing for yield or dividend growth. Investing for yield is simply basing purchase decisions on the dividend yield … Read More