General

I’ve talked about my house hunting excurisions before … but this latest one takes the cake! And if you don’t believe that the housing bubble has more air to lose, well, you just aren’t out there shopping.
My wife and I had a few places on our list to check out, and the first two demonstrate [...]

{ 3 comments }

I found myself in a lot of airports this past week (which also explains the lack of posts) … and I have to say that people have certainly not stopped flying in the midst of this recession. The Philadelphia airport was particularly crowded, even at 6AM. Columbus and West Palm Beach, less so … but [...]

{ 1 comment }

I have written a lot about Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, including details on the company’s own options positions.
And in Dividend Superstars, I have also been writing a lot about using options to generate additional income.
Now, the two subjects are colliding with a recent development in the Windy City.
The Chicago Board of Options Exchange recently began trading options Berkshire [...]

{ 0 comments }

I just got done reading this story from U.S. News … it’s an interview with a financial planner. Her advice on how much to save for retirement?
“If you have children in college or in private school you might aim to save 10 percent of your income. But in the time when the kids are out [...]

{ 13 comments }

Seems as though a panel of Federal investigators is now suggesting that we may need a second opinion on those stress tests!
According to a new report from the Congressional Oversight Panel, Washington’s initial assumptions might have been just a wee bit too optimistic.
Gee, really? You mean assumptions like an unemployment rate of 8.9% … when May’s rate [...]

{ 1 comment }

I received an interesting stat the other day …
Based on Wednesday’s close, the S&P 500 was up 39.64% from its low and down the exact same percentage.
Initially, many investors might take that to mean that the market is exactly halfway between its bull and bear extremes. But that’s not the case at all.
Sure, if you’re mathematecially inclined [...]

{ 2 comments }

Warren Buffett’s latest quarterly Berkshire filing recently hit the wires. 
For starters, he upped his stakes in both Wells Fargo and U.S. Bancorp. If you listened to Buffett’s comments during the annual shareholder meeting recently, he basically said he’d like to buy them outright. So no surprise here.
What was more interesting is the fact that Buffett also restructured his big [...]

{ 2 comments }

I’ve been seeing a lot of headlines recently about investor interest in the shares of Crocs Inc (CROX). They’re the company that makes those colorful clogs all the kids are wearing (well, all the kids except mine!).
Apparently, options interest has been very high lately as the shares have mounted a comeback.
But you can count me [...]

{ 7 comments }

I devoted the cover story of the March Dividend Superstars newsletter to preferred shares, and in a follow-up this past month, I talked about additional risks associated with this unique class of stock.
Today, I came across an interesting rumor that is floating around: Six of the 19 banks that were given “stress tests” have inadequate capital at the [...]

{ 0 comments }