I’ve become a bigger investing nerd recently.  As I mentioned the other day, I’ve been reading some annual reports from companies, namely Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT) and Philip Morris International (PM).  Two stocks that I do invest in and discuss frequently on this blog.  One of the interesting components of the annual reports that I read over a few times is the comments on the long-term debt that each of these companies hold.
Another company that I’m fairly familiar with is Apple, Inc. (AAPL).  Interestingly, Apple holds no long-term debt and …

Altria Group, Inc. (MO) announced recently that they are increasing their quarterly dividend by 8.6% from $.35 a share to $.38 a share or from $1.40 annually to $1.52 annually. Altria continues its practice of increasing their dividend payout every single year as it has done since 1970.
As the economic data deteriorates and more people buy in to the idea that we are actually in an economic depression versus a typical business cycle recession, I believe that the focus will increasingly turn towards dividends, income, and capital preservation versus …

I believe that we’re in the early inning of a prolonged economic depression.  Stagnant economic growth for years will cause a secular shift in American behaviors that will result in a turning away from debt-financed consumption and more towards responsible savings.  If these were the only factors that we needed to worry about to determine our investing strategy, it would be easy.  We’d likely just focus on consumer staple stocks and bonds with decent yields.  Unfortunately, perhaps the biggest factor moving forward is the government & Fed.  With zero interest …

As we’ve been discussing in one of the forum threads (click here to see), the Euro debt crisis is still very much underway.  While the debt crisis is definitely going to “flair up” at some point, it’s best to be positioned for opportunities that might come our way when it does.
What might these opportunities be?  As we’ve been discussing in another forum thread, many multinational companies are trading in an inverse pattern with dollar strength – meaning that when the dollar is up, these stocks are down.  Since the dollar …

The economic data continues to be bleak these days with housing numbers continuing to worsen showing more and more that housing is far from a bottom.  Additionally, Bernanke flinched for the first time yesterday in his testimony mentioning that the economic future  is unusually uncertain despite expressing confidence in the recovery for most of the past year.  Despite these developments, stocks are up big today!  The Dow is up over 200 points.  Why?
Well, earnings have been great.  Corporations are continuing to produce impressive profits and are earning cash.  The problem …

If you follow Philip Morris Int’l (PM) like I do, you’ll notice that the stock is now back about $50 per share after being in the low $40′s fairly recently.  The stock has dipped down into the mid $40 range several times and has frequently bounced back up to $50 (and higher).  So is this just normal market activity or is something serving as the catalyst for these movements?
The catalyst is of course the Euro.  As the Euro has been in the news much this year with the European sovereign …

Without going into detail, I believe a number of factors will force us into a lost decade including a de-leveraging economy, high government debt levels and a shift in American attitudes towards saving and spending.

How absurd in today’s high-octane stock market where stocks like Apple (AAPL), Amazon.com (AMZN) and Research In Motion (RIMM) are all the rage.  Great article today about a top adviser with an excellent track record over the last 30 years.  Charles Allmon has had a model portfolio with about 80% parked in cash for the last 20 years.  During the 90′s dot-com boom, his strategy was considered insane, but the last decade has proven different.
What I find very interestingly from his strategy is that his 20% position in stocks is …