Financial statements offer a great deal of insight into the complex process that is investment analysis. Successful analysis requires understanding what these statements say… but also what they don’t say. For example, the income statement offers insight into how much a company is earning, but it doesn’t tell us whether… Read More

Interest rates have jumped on stronger economic growth in the United States and abroad causing prices for rate-sensitive investments to plunge. Traditionally low-risk investments like the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond Fund (NYSE: TLT) and the Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSE: XLU) have booked large losses that will likely… Read More

Whether it’s possible to beat the market has been the subject of much research and debate by academics and practitioners. Perhaps you’ve heard of the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH), which was developed around the 1960s. This academic theory states that a stock’s current price reflects all known information… Read More

Whether it’s possible to beat the market has been the subject of much research and debate by academics and practitioners. Perhaps you’ve heard of the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH), which was developed around the 1960s. This academic theory states that a stock’s current price reflects all known information… Read More

Turns in investor sentiment can make you double- and even triple-digit gains if you are early enough. The risk is being too early. The wait can be excruciating — and costly.  Just ask gold bugs.  Historic money printing by the largest central banks should have stoked inflation, deflating currencies and… Read More

Turns in investor sentiment can make you double- and even triple-digit gains if you are early enough. The risk is being too early. The wait can be excruciating — and costly.  Just ask gold bugs.  Historic money printing by the largest central banks should have stoked inflation, deflating currencies and… Read More

Forty thousand-plus people flocked to Omaha, Neb., the first weekend of May for Berkshire Hathaway’s (NYSE:BRK-B) 50th-anniversary shareholder meeting. Along with many of my peers, I always spend a good deal of time dissecting what Warren Buffett says at these annual meetings. And one of the things I… Read More

Forty thousand-plus people flocked to Omaha, Neb., the first weekend of May for Berkshire Hathaway’s (NYSE:BRK-B) 50th-anniversary shareholder meeting. Along with many of my peers, I always spend a good deal of time dissecting what Warren Buffett says at these annual meetings. And one of the things I… Read More

As an investment analyst, I spend a great deal of time studying the classics in the field. For instance, I read Warren Buffett’s annual letters to the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B) and the books of his mentor, Benjamin Graham.  There are also books by Peter Lynch,… Read More

For the past five years, investing in agricultural commodities has not been for the faint of heart. After rebounding quickly from the Great Recession on heavy demand from emerging markets, record harvests and slowing Chinese demand led to a general downtrend in prices, with volatile spikes in 2012 and 2014. Read More

After nearly three years of extremely weak economic growth, the European Central Bank is finally delivering on Mario Draghi’s pledge to do “whatever it takes” to get the region back on track. The central bank is set to pump $64 billion into the economy through monthly bond purchases through September… Read More

No one seems to know what is causing the market volatility of late.  Interest rate jitters have been limiting gains for months, but recent economic news doesn’t seem to point to an imminent increase by the Federal Reserve. Geopolitical worries surrounding Greece have not really hit asset values significantly either,… Read More

“Cord-cutter” has become the new buzzword. From Sony (NYSE: SNE) to Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), major entertainment names are throwing their hat into the on-demand video streaming ring. The arrival of the big players has renewed fears that consumers would cut their cable cords en masse and send shares of cable… Read More

“Cord-cutter” has become the new buzzword. From Sony (NYSE: SNE) to Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), major entertainment names are throwing their hat into the on-demand video streaming ring. The arrival of the big players has renewed fears that consumers would cut their cable cords en masse and send shares of cable… Read More