| 4 votes

As you may have heard, golfer Tiger Woods recently won his second tournament in three months, after having not won an event since before his personal life went over a cliff in 2009. We’ll have to see if the old Tiger is back, but regardless, it’s a strong comeback for an athlete and a man who seemed completely lost just…
read more »

| 11 votes

My wife and I have very different opinions as to what makes a nice vacation.  Her ideal getaway is a hike through the woods, winding up at a nice spot to pitch a tent, cooking dinner over an open fire and hunkering down in our sleeping bags for the night. I, on the other hand, prefer to sit by the…
read more »

| 23 votes

My ten year old has always wanted to make money.  Whether it’s a lemonade stand or the stock market, he is focused on business.  And to his credit, he’s not trying to make spending money for the latest Wii game or other frivolous purchases.  He’s got his sights set on college and starting a business someday. The kid made a…
read more »

| 20 votes

I was never really a Trekkie.  Just because I had the Star Trek action figures, the Enterprise that went with the action figures, a phaser, a communicator and a tricorder doesn’t make me a Trekkie.  It’s not like I wore Spock ears or anything (I really didn’t). I think Mr. Spock missed his calling.  While he may have been an…
read more »

| 20 votes

Dividend investors are enamored with yield.  Obviously, they want to get paid as much as they can.  It’s why stocks like Annaly Capital Management (NYSE: NLY) and its 13.5% yield are so popular. But what many investors ignore in their search for yield is safety.  What good is a high yield if the dividend is cut in the near future? …
read more »

| 19 votes

Someone in my office recently called me a finance geek.  I was actually a little bit insulted.  But then, as I started to write this column, I realized she spoke the truth. You see, I enjoy looking over financial statements and seeing how the numbers interact with each other.  I like to look for clues about what the future might…
read more »

| 16 votes

Things were better when I was a kid.  I hate to be that guy who says those kinds of things, but it’s true.  I bet you’ll agree with me. When I was a kid and played Little League or basketball, if you won the championship you got a trophy.  If you didn’t win the title, you got nothing -- except…
read more »

| 8 votes

A few weeks ago, after a soccer game that didn’t work out the way we wanted, my seven year old daughter told me “It’s OK if you lose, because you learn something.”  I agreed that you learn from your losses.  But I pointed out that you can learn from your wins too.  And it’s more fun. Call me old school,…
read more »

| 8 votes

I’ve been writing a lot about systems and stock screens over the past few weeks.  Although I’m confident in the methodology that I employ personally, I love hearing about systems that others use (feel free to leave details in the comments section). While I might not use P/E ratios or Bollinger Bands, many people are able to figure out a…
read more »

| 13 votes

My heart was pounding so hard, I was sure the other 10,000 people around me could hear it.  It was not an exaggeration to say that I’d been waiting for this moment for thirty years. The stage manager from HBO gave me the cue.  The bell rang.  I took a deep breath.  “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the XL Center,…
read more »