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Monthly Archives: December 2009

What’s a Webinar?

December 6, 2009
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One of our big initiatives at Cabot this year was to start incorporating video (or video-like technology) into our content. With the explosion of video-sharing sites like YouTube, it has become an increasingly popular medium that you, our readers, are interested in. Most of our video push has been in the form of Webinars, or online seminars, hosted by our editors. At their most basic, these are audio and on-screen presentations of slides and stock charts. The technology is relatively simple and easy to access, making the Webinars available to almost anyone who wants to watch. And they even...

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Learning the Value of Money

December 5, 2009
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Learning the Value of Money

Earlier this week, I was browsing around Yahoo! Finance, as I do several times each day, and stumbled across a very interesting set of headlines. They were as follows: Big, bold headline: Where You Can Find the Best Deals for Cyber Monday Smaller headline below: Teaching Your Children the Value of Money Smaller headline below: How Much Do I Need for Emergencies? Is it just me or are these headlines sending some very mixed messages? I actually laughed when I first saw them because of how ridiculous they seem juxtaposed. I guess spending less money on holiday gifts by...

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The Debate Over China’s Government

December 4, 2009
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The Debate Over China’s Government

What kind of government does China actually have? It’s not an idle question.  The country is governed by the Chinese Communist Party, but the constitution of the People’s Republic of China doesn’t actually mention The Party.  And while the 1982 State Constitution–along with the laws passed by the National People’s Congress–is technically the highest authority in the land, many of the rights guaranteed in both Constitution and laws are subject to interpretation and policy, and are routinely ignored. In practice, The Party rules China because it controls the entire apparatus of power in China.  There is no national legislative...

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How December Stacks Up in the Stock Market

December 3, 2009
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How December Stacks Up in the Stock Market

According to the 2009 edition of the Stock Trader’s Almanac, December has historically been the second best-performing month of the year, with an average gain of 1.7% in both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 Index since 1950.  It’s also the third-best performing month for the Nasdaq for that same period. Personally, I wouldn’t change a dime of my own investment holdings based on this kind of analysis, but I think it’s interesting. Still, even though the month has an admirable historical record, the end of the calendar year can put some interesting wrinkles in the...

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Medifast: Better than Insurance?

December 1, 2009
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OK, now that I’ve got those thoughts from yesterday off my chest, I have an investment idea that’s relevant. It’s Medifast (MED), the purveyor of pre-packaged portion-controlled meals.  The primary market for its products is people who want to lose weight; a secondary and overlapping market is people who want to control Type 2 diabetes. Back on August 17, when the stock was selling at 15, it earned a spot in Cabot Top Ten Report, and here’s some of what editor Mike Cintolo wrote: “In recent weeks, we’ve twice seen nutrition supplements juggernaut NBTY in Cabot Top Ten Report...

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