Investing for your retirement is probably the single most important financial decision you’ll ever make, but it’s hard to parse the signal from the noise. With so much financial media to choose from, it seems like there are a never-ending range of tips, tricks, and easy ways to…

Investing in dividends stocks is popular among investors. The right dividend stocks can produce magnificent long-term growth in a portfolio. One of the beauties of the stock market is that prices are unpredictable. Dividends, in contrast, are an excellent form of investment as they are not typically dependent…

Goldcorp Inc. (NYSE/GG), the world’s largest producer of gold, has sold its 26% stake in Tahoe Resources Inc. (NYSE/TAHO). The Vancouver-based mining company offered 58.1 million shares at CDN$17.20 apiece, bringing the total sale to CDN$998.5 million. (Source: The Wall Street Journal, June 16, 2015.) GMP Securities and…

On Monday, June 1, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ/AAPL) released a preliminary prospectus about its plan to issue yen-denominated bonds in Japan. (Source: Apple, June 1, 2015.) Apple says that the proceeds from issuing these bonds will be used to return capital to shareholders through share repurchasing and dividends. The…

Countless earnings reports are still hitting the Street—and a lot of them are from dividend-paying stocks. It hasn’t been a bad first-quarter earnings season overall. We know that sales growth is pretty slow for brand-name businesses. And those companies generating double-digit growth on the stock market are expensively…

Now that we know that first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) was anemic and the Federal Reserve is thinking about changing interest rates, individual stock selection is even more key in this market. And I still like dividend-paying stocks; they can outperform with sales and earnings growth slowing. In…

There’s a tremendous amount of noise surrounding the stock market. And so it’s important to cut through it to focus on what really matters as an equity investor: what corporations are actually saying about their businesses. Even though the stock market is a secondary pricing mechanism anchored by…

First-quarter earnings season is on the horizon and early reporters, so far, are revealing the same results we got in 4Q14—a decent bottom line, but sales coming up short. So far, my early 1Q15 earnings forecast predicts a boring reporting season. Oracle Among Companies Keeping Investor Interest with…

4Q14 Stock Summary: Fourth-Quarter Earnings Season a Bore We’re now in the lull between earnings seasons, and stocks will trade off economic news and geopolitical events. Fourth-quarter earnings season was fairly uneventful. It seemed that investors basically ignored the results, unsure of whether to buy a market that’s…

Income-seeking investors, who are typically more likely to be risk-averse, are now having difficulty finding value in a stock market that’s gone up tremendously. The huge reduction in the spot price of oil has certainly offered up more value than when the price was steadily around $100.00 a…

It really is a great time to be in the railroad business. Cash flow is abundant and these stocks are poised for more capital gains. While coal shipments have been a weak spot for railroad companies, virtually all other major customer sectors are producing excellent comparable growth. And…

Large-cap earnings were pretty good this quarter, just like they were in the second quarter of this year. The Walt Disney Company (DIS) was one of them. Notable in the company’s solid fiscal fourth-quarter and year-end results was its huge jump in profitability. While total fiscal 2014 sales…

Credit card companies are some of the best indicators in the global economy. Visa Inc. (V) just reported a pretty decent quarter. While earnings were down comparatively due to a one-time charge, adjusted earnings handily beat consensus. The company’s fiscal fourth quarter came in solid, with growth of…

The big news so far this earnings season isn’t corporate financial results but the price of oil, which continues to be under pressure. Domestic production has finally caught up to spot prices and combined with reduced expectations for the global economy, oil prices continue to be vulnerable. Resource…

Even with the recent price retrenchment, there’s not a lot of value circulating in this stock market. Everything’s already gone up and the capital gains have been great the last few years. But it’s still a slow-growth environment in the global economy, and despite a very accommodative monetary…

In these pages, I have been very critical about stock buybacks by companies on the key stock indices. I see them as nothing more than a form of financial engineering used to manipulate per-share corporate earnings…and a bad investment for the companies buying their stocks back. According to…

My favorite pharmaceutical company for long-term investors is still Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), for now. This business has managed to produce very good financial growth in recent history and its share price has appreciated exceptionally well considering this is a DOW stock, especially over the last two years.…

Financial reporting is ramping up and what corporations actually say about their businesses is the best market intelligence available to investors. Acuity Brands, Inc. (AYI) is in the business of making lights for indoor and outdoor applications. Based in Atlanta, it’s highly likely you’re already using this company’s…

There’s a lot the stock market has to deal with these days, but that’s par for the course. Uncertainty, risk, and fear are basic components of equities these days. But good businesses are good businesses and NIKE, Inc. (NKE) hit a grand slam with its latest quarterly earnings.…

A lot of good companies with solid investment prospects going into 2015 are pushing new highs in an otherwise trendless stock market before the end of another reporting period. Market leaders have kept their momentum the last few years and are likely to keep doing so as earnings…