Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway outperformed the S&P 500 by 11% per year from 1965 through 2017, generating an overall gain of 2,404,748% compared to the market's total return of 15,508%. It's no wonder why investors closely monitor Warren Buffett's portfolio. He is arguably the greatest investor of all time, and his best investment advice can be seen here. [...]
Buckeye Partners (BPL) has long been a favorite master limited partnership (MLP) among income investors. That's thanks to the firm's impressive track record of steadily growing payouts which up until recently included 22 straight years of annual distribution increases and 32 years of uninterrupted payments. However, the MLP bear market, now in its fourth year, [...]
Shares of Walmart (WMT) surged 10% following the release of the company’s second-quarter earnings report. The big headline is that Walmart’s sales growth was its best in more than a decade. Specifically, Walmart reported 4.5% growth across its U.S. stores that have been open for at least a year, driven by strength in its grocery [...]
Bill Gates is the second wealthiest man on the planet with a net worth in excess of $90 billion. Just like you and me, Bill wants to earn a return on his pile of cash. Of the 17 publicly-traded companies held in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust, 13 pay dividends. In this article, [...]
Founded in 1863, MetLife (MET) offers a range of insurance products (life, dental, disability, vision, and accident and health coverages), annuities, employee benefits, and asset management. In total, the company's services are offered in over 50 countries around the world and serve more than 100 million individual and institutional customers. MetLife operates through five business [...]
Founded in 1994, GameStop (GME) is a video game, consumer electronics, and wireless services retailer. The company operates 7,200 stores in 14 countries in North America, Europe, and Australia. GameStop's core business model is selling new and pre-owned video games, as well as accessories like: controllers, gaming headsets, virtual reality products, memory cards. The company [...]
Individual retirement accounts (IRAs) were first created by Congress in 1974 to help workers take more control over their retirement savings. In 1978 the 401(k) was created, and the Roth IRA came into existence in 1997. With the decline in traditional pensions these individual retirement accounts have become a critical source of retirement income for [...]
High dividend stocks appeal to many investors living off dividends in retirement because their high yields provide generous income. Many of the highest paying dividend stocks offer a high yield in excess of 4%, and some even yield 10% or more. However, not all high yield dividend stocks are safe. Let’s review what high dividend [...]
Founded in 1885, Johnson Controls International (JCI) is a diversified global industrial conglomerate that provides: heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, industrial refrigeration products, energy management services, security products and systems, fire detection systems, and batteries for a variety of vehicles. The company sells to more than 4 million commercial, industrial, retail, residential, small [...]
Ford’s (F) dividend yield has not been this high since shortly before the company suspended its payout in 2006. Following the carmaker’s disappointing second-quarter earnings report and rather vague plans for large-scale restructuring in the years ahead, which sent Ford’s stock price to its lowest level since late 2012, some income investors are wondering if [...]
Founded in 1888 and formerly known as McGraw Hill Financial, S&P Global (SPGI) provide independent ratings, benchmarks, analytics, and data to the capital and commodity markets in 31 countries under several well-known brands including: Standard & Poor’s (S&P), S&P Capital IQ, Platts, and SNL. In 2017, S&P Global rated about $4 trillion in corporate and [...]
With roots tracing back to 1966, Blackstone Mortgage Trust (BXMT) is one of the largest commercial real estate mortgage REITs (mREITs). The firm is externally managed by BXMT Advisors, a subsidiary of Blackstone Group (BX), a world leader in real estate development and investment. BXMT itself has $120 billion in real estate assets under management [...]
Oil prices have soared 60% over the past year, helping drive strong total returns between 20% and 40% for most integrated oil giants such as Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.B), British Petroleum (BP), and Chevron (CVX). However, a notable exception has been Exxon Mobil (XOM), whose stock has returned just 5% during this period, significantly underperforming [...]
The short but heated bidding war between Comcast (CMCSA) and Disney (DIS) for most of Twentieth-Century Fox’s (FOX.A) assets is now mostly over. However, the M&A drama isn't truly done, at least not globally. Let’s take a look at Comcast's decision to give up on its bid, why Comcast continues to battle Disney to buy [...]
Founded in 1837, Deere & Company (DE) manufactures and distributes agriculture and turf, and construction and forestry equipment worldwide. Deere has three operating segments: Agriculture and Turf (68% of 2017 revenue): agriculture and turf equipment including large, medium, and utility tractors; tractor loaders; combines, cotton pickers, cotton strippers, and sugarcane harvesters. This segment also makes related [...]