Repurchases of common stock by corporations can be an attractive alternative to dividends. They may also affect share price. But what is their impact—to the corporation; to the shareholder? Many companies have been repurchasing their common stock in recent years and some can...

Retirement has the potential to be a relaxing and fulfilling stage of life. As with any major change, however, retirement presents a new set of challenges that may cause anxiety. How do you manage health care costs? How do you keep from outliving your money? How do you leave an...

Over the last several years, brokers have become a commoditized service as prices have fallen. In order to differentiate themselves from the competition, brokers are adding to the services they provide. In many cases, this has gone well beyond proprietary analyst reports. Many...

Many investors today who had planned to retire early at 62 when they became eligible for Social Security benefits—albeit at a reduced rate compared with retiring at full retirement age—are discovering that those benefits, combined with their retirement savings, cannot support...

Big losses in the stock market can send investors scurrying for “safe” investments. But what is a “safe” investment? Stocks are risky because stock prices go up and down all the time—sometimes wildly so—and if you have money invested in stocks, the...

This past week the S&P 500 index made history with its longest stretch without a full 20% decline based on daily closing prices. The rise in U.S. stocks over the last nine years has been fueled by a rebounding U.S. economy, record-low interest rates and growing corporate earnings. The...

Non-financial firms can make consistent profits by combining parts into a whole. For example, GM buys parts, puts them together and sells cars for more than the cost of the parts. GM adds value by putting the parts together. But financial firms cannot add value merely by buying...

This week the “most hated bull market in history” also becomes the longest, by most measures (for a counter to this argument, see the blog post from Jeffrey Hirsch of the Stock Trader’s Almanac). On August 22, barring a meltdown in the S&P 500, the index...

Editor’s Note: While this article is from 1989, and some of the mutual fund names have changed or the funds have merged or closed, the concepts of risk assessment still apply. Often, it is all too tempting to evaluate a mutual fund solely based on its rate of return over some...

Real-world returns show that, over the long term, stocks generate the highest returns of any asset class. That is not to say, however, that there are periods where stocks underperform other asset classes such as cash, bonds or real estate. For long-term investors, the majority...