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Monthly Archives: January 2009

Pinching Pennies Pays Off

January 30, 2009
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Here’s one of my favorite stories from my time at a large investment house in Boston.  I doubt that this will do your investing much good, but it’s definitely worth a smile. This big investment house was founded by a dyed-in-the-wool Yankee whose Boston roots ran deep in the cold soil of Massachusetts.  When the decision was made to begin offering the firm’s services to those outside the coterie of Boston Brahmins, a network of brokers were solicited around the U.S.  to sell its investment products. The business remained small for many years, but when it began to build...

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Bookfuls of Advice

January 29, 2009
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I just received an email from an online bookseller recommending what it called “Career Books to Stay Competitive.” The message talked about how “technology, business and the working world are changing rapidly in today’s fast-paced environment,” and how you need to read these books “to keep you sharp and on top.” That’s all very nice marketing-speak, but the message is clear. These days, either you do everything you can to be indispensable or your name may be on the next pink slip. The 30 books were neatly divided into six different categories–which I’m not going to list–but here are...

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Ituran Location and Control: A Great Income Investment

January 28, 2009
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Ituran Location and Control: A Great Income Investment

Plummeting prices last year brought many stocks down 50% or more, so that their yields now look extraordinarily high.  My database now shows 63 stocks with annual yields of 20% or more. Allied Irish Banks is yielding 88.7%. Ashford Hospitality (a REIT) is yielding 54.9%. Atlas Pipeline is yielding 68.9%. And those are just a few of the A’s. But there’s something wrong with these stocks–business at every one of these high-yielding firms is faltering.  The stocks’ plunges tell us that.  And while the yields may look high today, they’re based on the past 12 months.  If business shrinks,...

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ITT Technical Institute: A Leading Education Stock

January 27, 2009
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ITT Technical Institute: A Leading Education Stock

One of the most encouraging signs I see in the market is the action of many potential leading stocks.  There are more than a handful that are hanging in there despite the market’s woes.  And there are a few that have actually broken out on the upside! A group that has broken free is one that I pointed out to you in my last Cabot Wealth Advisory (dated January 5)–education stocks.  Back then I wrote: “While December was a quiet time for most indexes and stocks, it allowed many groups to build basing structures–I’m talking about multi-week bases, where...

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Three Clues to Determine the Market’s Next Move

January 26, 2009
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Back to the stock market, there are times when I can write to you that the market has a very, very high probability of going up, or down, or that a certain stock or sector is in favor or has definitively topped out. In other words … I (and most good investors) strive to have conviction, putting the odds strongly in our favor. However, right now is not one of those times. Yes, the economy stinks, but the market’s action is indecisive–it’s certainly not good, but it’s not terrible, either. So what do you do during such times? Personally,...

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