Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Wednesday, June 6, 2012,
In :
Stocks
It's pretty sad that this is surprising...Barrick Gold CEO Aaron Regent was fired for simply not doing a good job. There wasn't a scandal, an ethical compromise or anything else. He just flat-out failed to grow the company's share price to the satisfaction of Barrick's Board of Directors.
Good for them. I'm sick of CEO's stocking the Board of Directors with their buddies. These Board's are supposed to be independent and represent the shareholders. 99.99% of the time they're corporate execu... Continue reading ...
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Tuesday, May 29, 2012,
In :
Stocks
We're doing a little kitchen remodeling and have been price shopping some appliances. I know I'm not the first person to mention this, but the difference in price between the online retailers such as Amazon and the department stores is almost shocking. Here we're comparing a 27" GE Warming Drawer between the two retailers. Sears is charging $1,139.99 + 9% tax in Fountain Hills + free store pick-up = $1,242.
Amazon's $868 price is so far below Sears I had to double-check to make sure I was c... Continue reading ...
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Sunday, May 20, 2012,
In :
Stocks
"Every battle is won before it is ever fought" Sun Tzu, Art of War
The single most important trait to being a successful investor is being able to control your emotions. It doesn't matter how high your IQ is, where you went to school or how long you've been an investor. It all takes a backseat to being able to execute your plan and not an making emotional decision, such as selling at the bottom of a market-cycle because you can't take the pain anymore. Unfortunately, us humans have been men... Continue reading ...
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Friday, May 11, 2012,
In :
Stocks
This sounds like it's straight from the pages of the Onion...in their earnings press release, midwest grocer Roundy's said their Q1 sales came in light because: "results were also negatively affected by lower sales during the 2012 pro football postseason playoffs compared to 2011 when the Green Bay Packers appeared in the Super Bowl".
Seriously, you're blaming the Packers? Do people in Wisconsin only eat during Packers games or something? I actually own this stock which is down today by 13%. ... Continue reading ...
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Wednesday, May 2, 2012,
In :
Stocks
If you buy an individual stock, you should at least know some basic information about the company. I'm not referring to things like 10-year revenue history or gross profit margin. Rather, you should know about big things happening at the company, such as a huge part of the business is being spun-off. Apparently, a good chunk of investors in ConocoPhillips (COP) didn't have a clue they were spinning-off their refinery arm yesterday (known as Phillips 66) and went into shock when Conoco's st... Continue reading ...
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Thursday, April 12, 2012,
In :
Stocks
Thanks to the reckless low-interest rate policies of the Federal Reserve, many retirees are having a very difficult time earning enough money to live on. In a search for yield, many retirees are purchasing fixed income annuities. These annuities offer immediate income in exchange for a single, up-front payment. Today, Vanguard offers a 60-year old woman a $464 monthly payment ($5,568/year) for the rest of her life, in exchange for $100,000. Given a 23 year life expectancy for a 60-year ol... Continue reading ...
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Friday, February 24, 2012,
In :
Stocks
If you have a self-directed 401k brokerage account, consider yourself lucky. Approximately 15% of companies offer this investment option to their employees and, if you know what you're doing, it can greatly improve your 401k returns.
Self-directed 401k brokerage accounts offer you more investment options, greater flexibility and lower costs. Moreover, if you're adept, you can almost certainly get a better return than the mediocre and expensive funds that are likely to be available in your re... Continue reading ...
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Wednesday, February 8, 2012,
In :
Stocks
I really like all the exposed wires on the right hand side...this country used to be a bastion of capitalism before friggin' Mugabe destroyed the place:
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Tuesday, January 31, 2012,
In :
Stocks
Last week, the Fed announced its intention to keep short-term interest rates at an incredibly low level through 2014. Not only does this strengthen the argument that Ben Bernanke is a murderer of the middle-class (i.e. savers) but it will cause certain market segments to win and others to lose, over the next three years. Jim Jubak handicaps the race for profits based on this incredibly irresponsible policy move by the Fed. ---------------------------------------------------------------------... Continue reading ...
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Saturday, December 31, 2011,
In :
Stocks
This is remarkable, if you invested in Japanese stocks in 1982 you basically have no gains to show for your three decades of investing, excluding dividends. --------------------------------------------------- Nikkei closes at lowest year-end level since 1982 France 24
Japan's headline Nikkei-225 index finished 2011 at its lowest year-end level since 1982, despite rising on Friday thanks to upbeat US data.
The Nikkei index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange finished at 8,455.35, down 17.34 percent, o...
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Thursday, December 15, 2011,
In :
Stocks
Freeport McMoran's (FCX) Grasberg mine is located in Indonesia. It's the largest gold mine and third largest copper mine in the world. It's workers have been on strike for the past three months, demanding higher wages. They were receiving about $2.50/hour, so you could see how they might feel just a little exploited given the massive profits FCX is making ($4.2 billion in 2010). Today, the strike ended with the company oh so generously agreeing to a 24% rise this year and a 13% rise next ... Continue reading ...
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Wednesday, December 14, 2011,
In :
Stocks
Investing is hard. A quick look at the massive volatility in the markets today make that easy to understand. However, there's one thing that you can control that will have a definite, positive impact on your long-term investment returns: fees. Whether it's brokerage trading fees, financial advisor fees or mutual fund operating expenses, the less you pay in fees the more you'll have during your retirement years.
Take a look at this chart...I assumed this investor was 40 years old, started... Continue reading ...
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Monday, October 17, 2011,
In :
Stocks
If you invested all your money in Venezuelan and Botswana stocks, you're having a good year. Interestingly, the U.S. stock market is the 12th best performer.
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Friday, October 7, 2011,
In :
Stocks
If this is true and I suspect it is, the executives of these banks should go to prison for the rest of their lives and the banks should go bankrupt. Instead, what is much more likely to happen is 1)the executives will be asked to resign and they'll still receive their golden parachutes and keep all their past salaries and bonuses; 2)the banks will receive some type of taxpayer sponsored bailout to offset the lawsuit payments; and 3)no one will go to jail. -------------------------------------... Continue reading ...
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Thursday, September 8, 2011,
In :
Stocks
No surprise here, per Bespoke Investment Group, Silver and Gold have dominated market performance over the last 10 years, with oil coming in a distant third. If your portfolio has been without one of the precious metals, you've been lucky to stay flat. The good news is the bull run in gold and silver has many years left to go and you have plenty of time to adjust your portfolio to take advantage of the outsized returns gold and silver offer.
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Thursday, July 7, 2011,
In :
Stocks
At Solitude Canyon, clients with more aggressive portfolios own Emerging Market debt as a portion of their bond portfolios. Emerging Markets include countries like Colombia, Brazil, South Korea, Poland, Peru, Indonesia, Turkey and Chile. These countries all have one thing in common: a growing middle-class. A growing middle-class helps increase income, expand employment opportunities, improve infrastructure and bolster home/office construction. Basically, life gets better and opportunity... Continue reading ...
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Wednesday, April 20, 2011,
In :
Stocks
If you're one of the lucky employees who has access to a brokerage
account inside your 401k plan, you should consider using it. Besides
offering you a much broader array of investment choices, a brokerage
account allows you to take control of your financial future and grow
your portfolio, regardless of how badly US and international economies
might falter in the future.
1) More Mutual Fund Choices
- A typical 401k plan might have 20 investment options. At first
glance, this seems ...
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Wednesday, March 2, 2011,
In :
Stocks
This is incredible...
JPMorgan Chase
is a defendant in more than 10,000 legal proceedings and may be $4.5
billion short of reserves needed to cover those costs in a worst-case
scenario, the firm said in a regulatory filing on Monday.
The New York-based bank's legal woes range from individual actions against JPMorgan Chase to class actions with "potentially millions" of litigants to
"regulatory/government investigations." The suits include common law
tort and contract claims, statutory ... Continue reading ...
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Monday, January 31, 2011,
In :
Stocks
If you're young, you have the unique opportunity to turn a small $10 per day investment into a huge, $3 million retirement fund. All it takes is discipline and a little know-how. Don't believe it? Read on and you'll learn just how easy it is.
Most people wouldn't even bother investing a small sum like $70 per week. The usual thinking is that an investment this small is irrelevant so why go through the trouble. Well, I'm here to tell you that if you're young, consistently investing small am... Continue reading ...
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Tuesday, January 11, 2011,
In :
Stocks
It's Pop Quiz time...lets say you are invested in a hot market that doubled in 2010. In the first few weeks of 2011, this "hot" market sells off rapidly losing 25% of it's value in a couple weeks. Do you:
A) Sell and chalk it up to a learning experience-next time you'll take profits along the way or won't invest in a market that has gone up so rapidly.
B) Buy more at the lower prices and pat yourself on the back for having the courage to buy when others are panicking.
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Tuesday, November 23, 2010,
In :
Stocks
Lots of economic and political news today, some good most bad:
The Good U.S. Q3 GDP was revised up to 2.5% from 2%. Increased consumer expenditures, local and state gov't expenditures and spending on software helped lead the increase.
Investment Implication: Not much, this is backward looking data but it's further confirmation the economy has improved.
The Bad Credit Default Swaps (CDS) for Ireland, Spain and Portugal are at record highs. These are insurance against default, the more expensive t... Continue reading ...
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Monday, November 22, 2010,
In :
Stocks
Here's a question to ponder, as 2010 winds to a close: Is your investment advisor, mutual fund manager or hedge fund manager worthy? Is he/she adding any value to your portfolio? Are they worth the hard-earned dollars you are paying them quarter after quarter? Frankly, many advisor's business models consist of investing in conventional assets and trying to provide you with an investment return close to your portfolio's benchmark. Often, they use the S&P 500 as their benchmark. That way ... Continue reading ...
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Tuesday, November 9, 2010,
In :
Stocks
In June 2007, the price of uranium shot up to $136 per pound, up more than 1000% since 2000, when it was the most hated investment on the planet. Unfortunately for uranium investors, this price spike was short-lived and the price crashed to the $30 level a year later. Recently, however, uranium has gained momentum and is currently selling for $52 pound, up more than 20% since this summer.
The price rise is due to a change in the structure of the market. On the supply side, the "Megatons for... Continue reading ...
