The three biggest deterrents to investment success for most individuals over time are fees, lack of capital to invest and human psychology. In this video we cover the 9-common psychological pitfalls that lead investors to poor performance over the long-term. (Video length 00:06:42)...
Stocks in the railroad space have performed impressively so far this year buoyed by the improvement in the coal-related scenario. Since coal is a key revenue generating commodity for stocks in this space, any positive coal-related update is bound to lift their spirits. In fact, improvement on the coal front is highly significant for railroads as stocks in the space had struggled over the last few years due to dwindling coal shipments. The bullishness surrounding the railroad operators is evident from a 11.3% increase witnessed in the Dow Jones U.S. Railroads Index, year to date. Coal Revival – The Primary Catalyst Behind the Surge The r...
Shares of a number of companies that sell groceries, including Kroger (KR), Sprouts Farmers Market (SFM) and Costco (COST), are moving lower after Amazon (AMZN) announced that its acquisition of Whole Foods Market (WFM) will close on Monday August 28. As part of the announcement, Jeff Wilke, CEO of Amazon Worldwide Consumer, said, “To get started, we’re going to lower prices beginning Monday on a selection of best-selling grocery staples, including Whole Trade organic bananas, responsibly-farmed salmon, organic large brown eggs, animal-welfare-rated 85% lean ground beef, and more. And this is just the beginning – we will mak...
Gil Weinreich noted in an article at Seeking Alpha that the number of people taking Social Security when they are first eligible at 62 has declined sharply. Citing data from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, in 1996 56% of men aged 62 claimed Social security compared to 35.6% in 2013. The decision of when to take Social Security is obviously very important but there are countless approaches on when the best time is and most of them are quite sound. Take it at 62, live off the government’s money while preserving your own. Take it at 62 because you don’t usually start coming out ahead until your late 70’s and there i...
Written by Lorimer Wilson Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) today announced outstanding Q2 financial results and raised its previously announced fiscal 2017 guidance. About Ulta Beauty Ulta Beauty is the largest beauty retailer in the United States of cosmetics, fragrance, skin, hair care products and salon services. Since opening its first store in 1990, The Company offers more than 20,000 products from approximately 500 well-established and emerging beauty brands across all categories and price points, including Ulta Beauty’s own private label. Ulta Beauty also offers a full-service salon in every store featuring hair, skin and brow servi...
Air Products & Chemicals (APD), is one of the few (51 S&P 500 companies) to make it into the dividend aristocrat club, meaning that it’s been raising its dividend for at least 25 consecutive years. In fact, since 1983 Air Products has been growing its dividend at an annual rate of 9.6%, which has not only resulted in exponentially growing income for shareholders, but also decades of market-beating total returns (10.5% annual total return vs 8.7% for the S&P 500 over the last 22 years). However, the key to such consistent success is being able to evolve with changing market and industrial conditions, which in recent years have...
TODAY: EMERGING MARKETS EDITION! I just enjoyed reading Ruchir Sharma’s The Rise and Fall of Nations, and have thus been thinking more about emerging markets. This will be the theme of today’s zig-zagging (some might say disjointed) piece. No overarching thesis or agenda, as per usual; just getting the lay of the land and pointing out a couple of things I find interesting. Since the term was coined, ’emerging markets’ has been a problematic phrase: it refers to so many varied countries that I almost question the premise of this piece. Alas, I will not be doing much to remedy this problem. In the near future, I will ...
The Leader List The leaders are listed below in blue and green. The S&P 500 is the benchmark. Foreign ETFs continue to outperform nicely. Emerging Markets are doing well. Even Russian stocks are starting to show a bit of strength. This Biotech ETF is looking interesting. Bad day for Staples. The Transports continue to break down. Outlook The long-term outlook is positive.The medium-term trend is down as of Aug-10. Looking for a low late September.The short-term trend is down as of July-28. Watching for signs of a new short-term uptrend....