Investment Tidbits

Money Magazine identified the 30 best-performing stocks over the 30 years from 1972 until 2002.  The list is startlingly unpredictable. Rather than lots of technology or health-care stocks, it includes:  Southwest Airlines,  Worthington Steel,  Dollar General  UST Inc.   Would you have been willing to bet big on any of those stocks back in 1972?   … Read more

Thinking you know something versus you understanding it are two very different thoughts, and can be dangerous when it comes to investing.  Here’s why.  The definition of knowing is: “be aware of through observation, inquiry, or information.”   Whereas the definition of understanding is: “perceive the intended meaning of.” When you think you know something it … Read more

Every investor should have a top five.  These would be the investor’s five favorite companies that they would want to own.  These five companies should be businesses that you would like to own for the next ten years. Ten years is important because the longest recovery period in the last one hundred years in the … Read more

After purchasing 6 or 8 stocks in different industries, the benefit of adding even more stocks to your portfolio to lower non-market risk is small. Overall market risk will not be eliminated merely by adding more stocks to your portfolio. Number of Stocks Held % of Non-Market Risk Eliminated 2 46% 4 72% 8 81% … Read more

Dutch Tulip Mania 1634-1637 South Sea Bubble 1720 Mississippi Bubble 1718-1720 British Railway Mania Bubble 1840’s Florida Real Estate Bubble 1920’s Stock Market Crash 1929 Kuwait’s Stock Bubble Crash 1980’s Black Monday 1987 Japan’s Bubble Economy 1980’s Tech Bubble 2000’s Great Recession 2008 Flash Crash 2010 “From 1900 to 2013, the US stock market experienced … Read more

Winning Our brains are designed to perceive trends. If a trend repeats a natural chemical called dopamine is released causing the soft euphoria feeling. If a stock goes up a few times in a row your brain chemistry changes giving you a “natural high.” You effectively become addicted to your own predictions. Losing A financial … Read more

Mark Hulbert, editor of the Hulbert Financial Digest, monitors the real-time records of financial writers who report their recommendations in newsletters.  He has tracked the performance of these adviser over the past 26 years, and here’s what he finds: Of the 35 newsletters that existed in 1980: only 13 are still in business today.   … Read more

What you have control over in your investing: Brokerage costs: don’t over trade or pay high commissions. Ownership costs: of products (such as mutual funds, etc.) keep them down. Expectations: be realistic, use historical information to your advantage. Risk: know how much capital exposure you have. Tax bills: maintaining year and longer hold times to … Read more