The words dividend cut strike fear into the hearts of even the most hardened investor. Not only do they reduce future income, but they also typically trigger capital losses as investors abandon the shares. That’s a painful double-whammy. So it’s important to look for some of the telltale signs. After all, avoiding a loss is just as important as booking a gain.…
Oil prices fall and oil prices rise. But if you’re smart, you can make money from both scenarios. On January 15th, oil topped out at $80.77. Monday, they hit a low of $55.30. In less than 4 months, the price of oil has plummeted more than 37%. Not great for oil bulls, but an excellent opportunity for those who saw…
The fiscal 2025 National Defense Authorization Act calls for $923.3 billion in U.S. military spending, up 4.1% from 2024 levels. The ongoing war in Ukraine; tensions between China and Taiwan; and conflicts between Israel and Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas may force the U.S. government to increase defense industry investment in the coming years, which could serve as a tailwind for…
Investors rushed to get in on artificial intelligence (AI) stocks over the past two years as it became clear that AI might be the next big thing. The idea was that this newish technology could join the ranks of electricity or the internet, revolutionizing our daily lives and a whole lot more. But recently, the excitement has turned to concern…
Some things never change. Especially when those things have been buried beneath the surface of our planet for millions of years. I thought about that while filling my car with gasoline the other day. The petroleum from which it is made never changes, even though the vehicles into which it goes have evolved enormously since the automobile was invented 140…
The first four months of 2025 have been challenging for equity investors. The volatility and uncertainty that have plagued the stock market over the last few months have been a concern for investors. Still, there are reasons for optimism. Historically, stocks are excellent long-term investments. Despite the business cycle’s ups and downs, and through all kinds of geopolitical and economic…
Investors have been on such a turbulent roller coaster that it’s easy to forget that the S&P 500 was up slightly through the first two months of the year. With April coming to a close and the major indexes firmly in the red, investors may be wondering how long volatility will last, and if now is a good time to buy stocks…
Welcome to another installment of “How to Invest While the World Burns.” If you’ve glanced at a headline lately, or accidentally made eye contact with your 401(k), you know we’re living in an age of economic performance art. Amid Beltway buffoonery, mercurial trade policies, and worsening fears of recession, investor confidence is hanging by a thread…and that thread is fraying…
A quarterly dividend payment from a high-quality stock may be as close to a sure thing as an investor can find on Wall Street. Even during periods of broad market weakness, the lower a stock’s price falls, the higher its dividend yield rises. Unfortunately, companies often cut their dividend payments as the first line of defense when times get tough,…
Why do you invest? For most people, their primary goal is to build a nice-sized retirement nest egg. And that’s a worthy aim, to be sure. There’s nothing wrong with thinking bigger, though. What if you could build enough wealth within your lifetime to make — and keep — future generations of your family financially independent? Never say never. Just picking…