August is here and that means the Summer is quickly coming to an end! Didn’t it just start? I’m glad my wife encouraged me to put together a fire pit this Summer. Friday nights have been becoming our un-wind time to build a fire and leave the stress of the work week behind. Mrs. MMD and I wanted to do something special for the kids this weekend so we’re taking them to their favorite store – Build-A-Bear – this weekend. But don’t tell them – it’s a surprise! Has anyone watched “The Woman in Black”? It started off slow … then got really, really freaky …. Then ended very predictably …. … [Read more...] about Weekend Wind Down 8/04/2012
Weekend Wind Down – The Dark Knight Rises
Has anyone seen the new Batman movie? Man, is it good!! Much like the last one, the movie centers more around some great plot development and a story of terrorism much more than it does actually showing Batman in action. What I really liked was how they did a great job of tying the movie back to the 2004 Batman Begins. Bane’s mission is to destroy Gotham City and complete the work of Ra’s al Ghoul (played by Liam Neeson) from the first movie. But expect a few plot twists! Christopher Nolan (the director) is pretty much on a roll with the Batman series and Inception as of lately. And speaking of Inception, I was delighted to see they used 4 of the actors from that movie in the new Batman movie (one of which plays the main villain … [Read more...] about Weekend Wind Down – The Dark Knight Rises
Getting the Highest Dividend Stocks Using the Dogs of the Dow
Finding the best, most reliable, and highest dividend stocks the market has to offer doesn't have to be a chore. Let the winners step forward and do all the work! All you need is to use a well-known stock picking method known as the Dogs of the Dow investment strategy. The Dogs of the Dow is based on two simple premises: 1) Out of all the dividend stocks out there to buy, the top performing blue chip companies from the Dow Jones Industrial Average will be your best bet for producing stable returns. 2) By buying the highest dividend stocks while the yield is high, you’ll likely be buying them at a time when the price is low and likely to go higher (the old buy low, sell high mantra). Sounds good so far! But how exactly … [Read more...] about Getting the Highest Dividend Stocks Using the Dogs of the Dow
Weekend Wind Down 7/21/2012
This week I am saddened to tell you that one of my great uncles has passed away at the golden old age of 86. Although we’d only see each other once per year at the family reunion, I had fond memories of him. You know how family reunions can be awkward, especially when you’re a kid? Well, no worries because here would come my Uncle to ask you how things were going and make you feel totally comfortable. Plus he was a great influence for my Dad which makes him extra important. Coincidently, I’m also reading a finance book that just got to a chapter about estate planning and wills. I’d like to ask: Does everyone have a will? If so, where did you get it from? Does using an online service like Legal Zoom actually count or would I just be … [Read more...] about Weekend Wind Down 7/21/2012
Lessons in Retirement from the Movie “About Schmidt”
When you think about “personal finance” movies, you probably would think about intense, cut-throat investing like in the movie “Wall Street”. But what about other personal finance topics like saving money or retirement? On that note, one of my favorite movies dealing with the subject of retirement is a dark comedy from 2002 called About Schmidt starring Jack Nicholson. Never heard of it? I’m not surprised – it was somewhat under the radar. It’s a movie about a man who reaches the age of retirement only to discover that he is still trying to figure out his life and its meaning. It is definitely worth watching, and I’ll tell you why … … [Read more...] about Lessons in Retirement from the Movie “About Schmidt”
Weekend Wind Down – Niagara Falls
To all my Canadian friends out there, I’m in your home-land staying at the very lovely Niagara Falls. For anyone who’s never been here before, it’s a pretty great place to visit – not just to see the Falls but also for all the activity around here! This is just a quick weekend trip for me and Mrs. MMD. Our hotel package came with a lot of dynamite extras. We’re going to try out the Maid of the Mist tour at the bottom of the Falls, wine tasting, a hypnotist show, a comedy club, spa, a few pretty nice restaurants, the casino, and a bunch of other things! … [Read more...] about Weekend Wind Down – Niagara Falls
Book Review: “Dividends Still Don’t Lie” by Kelley Wright
If non-fiction books had sequels, this would be one of them. Over almost 20 years after the release of the original classic "Dividends Don't Lie" by Geraldine Weiss, author Kelley Wright breathes life into the subject once again with his version "Dividends Still Don't Lie: The Truth About Investing in Blue Chip Stocks and Winning in the Stock Market". The main theme of the book is that a stock’s dividend yield is the best indicator of its value and ultimately the right time to buy. Building upon “The Dividend-Yield Theory” presented in the first book, Kelley reviews and updates this theory using new and recent data. The book then goes on to explain how this theory can be applied by individual investors. … [Read more...] about Book Review: “Dividends Still Don’t Lie” by Kelley Wright
How to Read Stocks and Evaluate Their Basic Metrics
One of the biggest things that separates individual stock investors and mutual fund investors is how to read stocks and evaluate them on an individual basis. Unlike most mutual funds, individual stocks can carry a great deal more of risk. Pick the wrong ones and there goes your hard-earned money! So how do we evaluate a company's stock metrics to know if it will be a good investment? Fortunately, all this basic information you need to understand a potential prospect has been summarized by most major news outlets into single, bite-sized profiles that are convenient for you to access and are constantly updated. The goal of this post will be to walk you through one of these pages of metrics and explain how to read stocks. For this … [Read more...] about How to Read Stocks and Evaluate Their Basic Metrics
