Tough Days For Retailers
Posted on March 30, 2008 - Filed Under Investing, Stocks | Leave a Comment
We can argue whether we are in a recession or an economic slowdown, but what is unarguable is that the economy is slowing and that means that Q1 earnings for a lot of companies are going to be disappointing.
J.C. Penney on Friday became the latest retailer to announce that Q1 earnings and sales will be below expectations? J.C. Penney followed other retailers that have reduced their earnings outlook include Wal-Mart (WMT), TJX Companies (TJX), Kohl’s, (KSS) Nordstrom (JWN) and Limited Brands (LTD).
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Bears Running Wild On Financial Stocks
Posted on March 18, 2008 - Filed Under Commentary | Leave a Comment
The devastation of Bear Sterns common stock over the weekend has unleashed a bear frenzy unlike anything that we have seen in a long time. Good stocks and bad stocks are about to get tarred and feathered by Wall Street investors, and here is why.
Last week Bear Sterns book value was $80 a share. Book value is the price that investors and auditors say that the company. Over the weekend we realized that Bear Sterns was worth less than its real estate and was actually worth $84 but $2.
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$2 a Share?
Posted on March 16, 2008 - Filed Under Commentary | Leave a Comment
I was shocked to read that JP Morgan was buying Bear Sterns for the bargain-basement price of $236.2 million. That translates into a price of only $2 a share!
This a stunning collapse for a company that was trading at near $100 only 3 months ago
And to top it off, J.P. Morgan’s risk of even putting up $236 million is somewhat limited by the Fed, which is taking the extraordinary step of funding up to $30 billion of Bear Stearns’ less-liquid assets.
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Three Ways To Reduce Your Debt
Posted on March 6, 2008 - Filed Under Debt | Leave a Comment
Did you know that the average U.S. household has credit card debt of more than $9,300? Credit card companies have made running up that balance deceptively convenient. What’s lost when you’re on that spending spree is the realization that paying off your debt can be costly, in terms of both cash on hand and your overall financial health.
But how do you reduce your debt? Unfortunately it is now as easy as it was getting into debt! Before you can reduce your debt, the first thing you need to do is figure out how much debt you actually have.
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How To Pick A Mutual Fund Winner
Posted on March 6, 2008 - Filed Under Investing, Mutual Funds | 1 Comment
The USA Today had an interesting article recently on how to pick a top performing mutual fund. While there approach differs slightly from mine (I prefer no-load funds, they don’t mind paying a sales charge) I thought that there approach they take when choosing a mutual fund.
Q: What about expenses?
A: Low expenses are one factor that can boost a fund’s future performance. Lower expenses are always better. Funds with small assets may have higher expenses because they’re more expensive to run. That said, we’d be pleased if more of the All-Star funds would lower expenses as their assets rose.
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