Daily Posts Archive
One of my father’s favorite investing aphorisms is this: “Trends tend to last longer, and go further, than anyone expects.” I haven’t been in this business as long as he has, but I’ve already seen him proven right many times over. I’ve seen trends in gold, commodity prices, interest rates, bull markets and practically everything else outlast almost all expectations.
... the same way that professional equity portfolio managers answer the question: by focusing on earnings per share (EPS) and price/earnings ratios (P/Es).
Apple may be the most respected consumer electronics brand in the world. Its users are loyal. Its premium pricing means it’s a very profitable company, with after-tax profit margins of 21.6% in the latest quarter. But there are a couple of reasons why I think AAPL might not be the best investment.
Beaten-down stocks such as Chipotle (CMG) and Yahoo (YHOO) can sometimes make good value investments. But not all beaten-down stocks are created equal.
Back in 2007, 72% of American owned stocks, either individual stocks, stock mutual funds or a 401(k) or an IRA. Today, about half of all Americans own stocks. (Depending on which poll you read, it’s either 55% who own stocks or 53% who don’t. Polls are twitchy things and need a lot of translating to tell a straight story.) But what that means is that about half of all Americans (give or take 5%) are stock owners.
Perhaps the only consistency in the oil market is a lack thereof. The repeating pattern of boom and bust has played out over and over again, regardless of time and place. Oil stocks from the U.S. to Africa to the Middle East to the South Pacific do the same thing. Predicting when and how long each cycle lasts is impossible. But that doesn’t stop investors from trying! The potential gains from the booms are just too juicy.
U.S. equity markets remain weak as prices of oil and metals continue to drop. Falling demand from a long-term economic slowdown in China has rippled throughout global investment markets.
M&A activity has already reached record heights in 2015. Those who invest in the companies being bought have made a hefty return. Here’s how to spot the next takeover candidate.