May 14th, 2012 Written by Z
The climate for business in the United States is forever changing. During the booming economy of the early 2000s, businesses were man’s best friend.
Today, following bailouts, golden parachutes, and a pervasive belief that the financial companies are ruining the world, one has to take a step back to think about the current business environment.
As a Wall Street protestor might say, “Goldman Sachs is evil!” But if Goldman Sachs is evil, then shouldn’t Apple be 10x more evil? If wealth is greed, and greed is evil, Apple is the greediest of them all!
Goldman’s Evil: $52 billion
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Stocks AAPL, Evil, Greed, GS, JPM, MS, wall street
May 8th, 2012 Written by Z
What’s one way to play falling interest rates? Real estate!
We’ve covered all kinds of real estate topics on this blog, as it is one of the better yielding asset classes in a volatile market. Also, low borrowing costs make real estate more attractive than it might ordinarily be in poor economic times.
So what should you make of REITs? Are mortgage REITs the way to play the market, or would property REITs be a better bet?
Key Differences Between Mortgage REITs and Property REITS
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Mutual Funds, Real Estate, Stocks mortgage REITs, mortgages, mREITs, Property REITs
April 30th, 2012 Written by Z
Investors often discuss the role of an economic moat as a valuable attribute of a common stock. So what is an economic moat?
How are moats created?
And what can you do to find businesses that have the benefit of a moat?
We’ll dig deeper to explain everything you need to know.
Economic Moats Explained
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Business, Investing economic moat, economic moats, moats, value investing, what is a moat
April 23rd, 2012 Written by Z
Patents seem to be the new asset class when it comes to corporate balance sheets. Recently, Microsoft agreed to purchase a portfolio of patents from AOL for $1 billion.
Microsoft announced the sale of 625 patents – all of which came from AOL – to Facebook for $550 million. Facebook will also receive licensing agreements to the remaining 325 patents, and Microsoft will receive cash alongside additional licenses from Facebook’s already existing patent portfolio.
Tech Playing Defense
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Investing AOL, FB, instagram, MSFT, patents
April 16th, 2012 Written by Z
Another even-numbered year rolls around, and this time it’s presidential election season. As it stands, it appears that either Barack Obama will be elected for a second term, or a Republican challenger, likely Mitt Romney, will be the next president of the United States.
So how will either outcome of the 2012 presidential race affect the stock market?
Divided Government in 2012
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Investing 2012 presidential race, presidential election on stock markets, stock market, stock market 2012
April 10th, 2012 Written by Z
Now that Best Buy seems to be finding itself in a precarious position, one that threatens the future of the company, investors are wondering if it’s time to go long Amazon.
In many ways, Amazon is stealing Best Buy’s market share. Yes, Best Buy is primarily an electronics retailer, but it is also a media company. Best Buy has thousands of square feet dedicated to movies and music, two products that Amazon and (in some ways) iTunes are completely dominating.
Best Buy’s Troubles
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Business AMZN, AMZN stock, BBY, BBY stock, online retail, retail stocks
April 2nd, 2012 Written by Z
Groupon GRPN shares tanked on the Monday open as investors started losing love for the company earlier in the year named as the fastest growing company ever. Groupon seems to have more than its fair share of problems, many of which may be deeply rooted in accounting technique and tax law.
Groupon’s Accounting Problems
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Investing, Stocks groupon, Groupon accounting, Groupon problems, GRPN
March 29th, 2012 Written by Z
Hedge funds are the quintessential “rich person” investment. Hedge funds can take investments from accredited investors and seek to deliver very high returns to investors.
Hedge funds are actively-managed by a portfolio manager who is compensated based on performance. The hedge fund typically accepts only a few investors – often less than 100 – which is significantly less than one might find in the smallest of mutual funds.
How Hedge Funds Work
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Hedge Funds hedge funds vs. mutual funds, how hedge funds work
March 26th, 2012 Written by Z
Individual investors can increase their returns by building their own stock portfolio, ideally one that is diversified into several businesses and industries.
The thing about diversification is that there isn’t much need for extreme diversification. A portfolio of 8-15 stocks is often just as good, and even better, than a portfolio of 500 stocks. Having fewer stocks make up a larger part of your portfolio allows you to invest only in the best 8-20 opportunities, giving you the best possible returns.
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Investing, Stocks diversified stock portfolio, how to build a stock portfolio, stock portfolio, stock portfolios
