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These are our most recent articles. Also see which stocks have been this week’s best and worst performers.
10 Misleading Elements of Time-Honored Investment “Wisdom”
Howard Marks, Chairman of Oaktree Capital Management, publishes memos that we enjoy following. He has been investing since the 1960s and maintains a very successful track record. Excerpts from his most recent memo, “It’s Not Easy,” are worth sharing. In the 15-page piece, Marks reviews more than 15 popular nuggets of investment “wisdom,” pointing out their potential flaws and misconceptions that lead investors astray. Marks describes them as "a collection of time-honored bromides that range from (a) only effective part of the time to (b) just plain wrong. These investment myths are pervasive but of little help. That fact leaves the investor to struggle in a complex, challenging environment." We will review 10 of the investing rules of thumb [...]
Will Rising Interest Rates Hurt Dividend Stocks?
Will rising interest rates hurt dividend stocks? Many income investors are asking themselves that question as it finally appears 2015 could be the year of higher interest rates. Many so-called “experts” expect the U.S. Federal Reserve to raise key interest rates by the end of the year. The last time the Federal Reserve raised rates was prior to the global financial crisis in June 2006. As you can see below, the federal funds rate, which is the rate at which the Fed’s member banks lend to one another, has been kept near 0% since the financial crisis, a level unseen in the prior 50+ years of US history. In reality, investors really haven’t dealt with persistent interest rate gains for more [...]
Why Philip Morris Has Underperformed and What It Means for the 5% Dividend Yield
PM was spun off from MO in 2008, with MO serving the U.S. and PM retaining all international operations. With an industry as simplistic to understand as tobacco, there is temptation to assume that the major players are all similar enough to each other. As you will see, such an assumption is often dangerous...
Caterpillar’s Dividend Looks Attractive for Patient Investors
Charles Dickens might as well have been describing the nature of highly cyclical businesses like CAT when he wrote, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” CAT’s experience during the Latin American debt crisis in the early 1980s provides a perfect example – the company sold 1,200 machines a year in Argentina in the late 1970s when times were good. Once the crisis struck, CAT sold [...]