— "Profit Confidential" Column, by Michael Lombardi, CFP, MBA Too often lately, I'm hearing from my friends and colleagues, "I think the real estate market has hit bottom...I'm looking for investment properties to buy." In my humble opinion, those who are looking to buy real estate now, because…

— by Michael Lombardi, CFP, MBA Two important statements from the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee meeting in Washington this week, what I think of them, and how they will eventually affect the stock market: "Inflation will be subdued for some time." I agree with this statement in…

— by Michael Lombardi, CFP, MBA Quietly, without much media coverage, another three U.S. banks failed Friday, bringing the total number of bank failures to 40 for the year. The most recent casualties were the Southern Community Bank of Georgia, the Cooperative Bank of North Carolina, and the…

— by Michael Lombardi, CFP, MBA What a difference three months can make. In that time period, the new Administration in Washington has done the following: --- Created trillion-dollar annual deficits --- Doubled (or maybe even tripled) the money supply --- Promised $5.0 billion to $7.0 billion in…

— by Michael Lombardi, CFP, MBA Yesterday, I gave you my six reasons why stocks are moving higher right now. And I promised that today I would tell you why the stock market would eventually test its lows of March 9, 2009. So here it goes: Historically, bull…

— by Michael Lombardi, CFP, MBA It's up, up and away for the stock markets. The NASDAQ is up 11% for the year. The S&P 500 just turned positive for 2009 again. The broad-based Russell 2000 Index is up 46% from its November 2008 low. And the Dow…

In times like these -- when we see the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 400 points one day and down 400 points the next day, when we see 1,000 point swings by the Dow in a single day – volatility reigns.  Stocks go up for only one reason:…

As President George Bush nears the end of this last term in the White House, the President addressed the nation last night in what I believe was an excellent rendition of the vast reaching effects of the housing bust. President Bush clearly described what had happened to the…

I've written extensively about how the stock market can only go down as oil prices rise. In the end, higher oil prices mean less consumer spending, higher interest rates and a lower stock market. The government has done nothing to help consumers deal with oil at $145.00 a…

One part of the U.S. economy is in obvious big trouble: The housing market and all industries related to it. New home builders, contractors, home improvement stores, mortgage brokers and lenders -- they are all feeling the pinch. All we read about in the newspapers today is negativity…

The U.S. dollar has sunk to a record low against the Euro and a 26- year low against the British pound. The subprime problem, which most of Wall Street told us was a problem restricted to small groups of lenders, is now affecting other financial institutions. Countrywide Financial…

A rare event in the financial markets occurred yesterday. For the first time in years, three major market indices all hit new highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, The Dow Jones Transports and the Dow Jones Utilities all hit new record highs yesterday. This is extremely bullish action…

Big day for the stock market yesterday! First, the Fed comes out of its first open market committee meeting of the year to say U.S. interest rates will remain unchanged. Then Google announces its fourth quarter profit nearly tripled to $1 billion. Any wonder that the Dow Jones…

I've always believed the stock market to be a leading indicator of what lies ahead six to 12 months from now, based on historical events. If stocks are rallying ahead (like they did in late 1990s), good times are ahead (like we experienced from 2000 to 2005). If…

By now you’ve likely heard the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit new all-time records highs over the past two days. This is an event I had been predicting in this column over the past couple of months. So, my prediction comes to fruition, but why aren’t we getting…

How appropriate... it's lucky 13 today and I'm writing about the bear market's next move in taking away investors' money. Here's what I'm talking about: Yesterday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the most widely followed stock market index in the world, closed at 11,498.09. At that level, the…