General

The New York Times just put up a great story on the whole “free credit report” phenomena. I’ve emphasized the importance of obtaining your credit reports from the official government website before, but this story is an important reminder that:
A. Yes, you should monitor your info as you are now entitled to
But
B.  You need not pay for that info, nor obsess [...]

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In the latest issue of Dividend Superstars, I said I had some concerns about MSFT’s stock in the short run … including Windows 7 proving to be a dud and further market share loss to Apple.
Well, check this out and you’ll see that perhaps my fears were well founded!

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One of the topics I discussed in last month’s Dividend Superstars issue was higher costs for higher learning. And while it’s certainly not a cost most retirees face, it does add another example to my long list of soaring prices for many of life’s biggest expenses — regardless of what the CPI shows.
Today, the College Board’s latest survey came out, [...]

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JNJ isn’t in the Dividend Superstars portfolio, but it is an important bellwether for dividend stocks and the overall market. And it just said sales fell while profits rose.
This is precisely the kind of result that investors are NOT looking for. They were okay with it last quarter — when any uptick on the top line or [...]

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According to the latest data from the U.S Census, Florida’s population decreased in 2008 for the first time since 1946 (the only other year it happened).
I suppose you can blame foreclosures, a busting real estate bubble, and massive losses in construction and other industries.
You certainly can’t blame the weather! As one of the people who relocated out [...]

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Hey, there. You’ve probably noticed that I haven’t been posting here very often (at all, really). That’s because Twitter has given me a much faster way of shooting off little tidbits.
However, I am still checking (and responding to) all the comments posted here … and I will still update this blog from time to time.
So [...]

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Just wanted you all to know that I am now officially “tweeting” — i.e. using my Twitter account to send out short market alerts and other interesting updates.
If you want to get those quick, timely updates, just visit my Twitter page and click “follow.”
I won’t completely ignore this blog, but Twittering will be a much [...]

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Stocks have been showing real strength throughout this earnings season, and it does look like the bulls want to make a run at 1000 for the S&P 500.
All along, I have said stocks would end the year somewhere around that level, though I was thinking we would see one more major dip first. That still [...]

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As my Money & Markets article was getting sent to you, the total retail sales numbers for June were getting released. And if you look at just the headline … they rose a better-than-expected 0.6%.
What gives? Didn’t I say same-store sales stunk in June?
Yes.
The retail sales numbers released today include items like gasoline and automobiles, [...]

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