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Rethinking My Strategy for What Stocks to Buy This Year

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One thing you will learn in investing is that nothing is ever absolute and that rules are made to be broken. With that said, I’ve been giving a lot of thought as to what stocks to buy this year and my previous declaration to use the Dogs of the Dow strategy. As I get closer to actually making a purchase, I’m starting to reconsider my initial plan and may have an alternative solution that would make more sense. Here’s is where my mind is at:   … [Read more...] about Rethinking My Strategy for What Stocks to Buy This Year

How to Read Stocks and Evaluate Their Basic Metrics

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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 … [Read more...] about How to Read Stocks and Evaluate Their Basic Metrics

Protecting Yourself with Dividend Stocks

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Darn! The year was off to such a great start for us investors! But then worries about Greece and the Euro spoiled the party. If you were following conventional wisdom and investing in Index Funds, then you’ve basically lost about 6% in May (following the S&P 500). Don’t worry – I’m not trying to bum you out. But it is times like this that you need to ask yourself “What am I doing to hedge myself? If buying stocks is offense, what am I doing to play defense?” … [Read more...] about Protecting Yourself with Dividend Stocks

Why I Finally Sold My Apple Stock

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Admit it. You saw the title of this post and thought what the #@&! is this guy thinking! Is he insane? Who goes and sells one of the world’s most profitable and admired companies? The truth is that this was not an easy post to write. Having watched the price of Apple stock (AAPL) rise above $600 (about $50 more than what I sold it for) left me wondering the same thing about my decision. But isn’t that the problem when we invest? We let our imaginations run the show. If we sell, we’ll kick ourselves if stock goes up, but we’ll pat ourselves on the back when it goes down. … [Read more...] about Why I Finally Sold My Apple Stock

What Does the Future Hold for Facebook?

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It’s the real life “Revenge of the Nerds” triumph story: Facebook will finally be announcing an IPO (initial public offering) making everyone involved unimaginably rich! For anyone who doesn’t know what an IPO is, it’s when a company sells its stock to the public for the first time. It’s usually a big deal because it gives the company the chance to raise a ton of money while it gives the public a chance to own a part of the company and capitalize of their success. For example, I could kick myself back in 2004 when Google first went public and sold for $85 a share. This week it … [Read more...] about What Does the Future Hold for Facebook?

Browsing for Stocks – January 2012

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It’s a new year and I’m optimistic that new opportunities are out there. In keeping with that enthusiasm, I’d like to add a few more individual stocks to my portfolio. Traditionally, I stick with mutual funds to stay diversified, keep my costs down, and avoid the turbulence of the market. However, last year I had a great time with Apple (AAPL) (up 26% from my initial purchase) and I’m hoping I can use the same care and attention to pick another winner. Going After Dividends As part of my ongoing initiative to add passive income streams, I’ve decided that my next set of stocks should … [Read more...] about Browsing for Stocks – January 2012