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Aug31
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The stock market was optimistic today after hearing the speeches of Ben Bernanke and President Bush. Market participants felt like the two speeches both indicated that all policymakers were willing to take all the steps necessary to avoid severe  economic problems from the current credit market crisis. The Dow finished the day with a gain of 119 points, while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 closed up by 31 and 16 respectively. Financial sector stocks that have been under significant pressure were among the leaders today. E*Trade Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:ETFC) finished the day up by 5.48% as the speeches eased investors minds, at least for today. Morgan Stanley Corporation (NYSE:MS) gained 3.67% and Merrill Lynch and Company (NYSE:MER) rose 2.11% as the investment banking sector gained ground. The housing sector also traded significantly higher on the day. KB Home (NYSE:KBH) gained 4.23%, and D.R. Horton Inc (NYSE:DHI) shares closed 3.78% higher. The sector was boosted by President Bush's remarks this morning of a propsal for government intervention to help the mortgage crisis.
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Aug31
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Stocks are surging high today after the speeches of Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke as well as President Bush. Both speeches seem to be reassuring to investors as stocks have responded magnificently. President Bush spoke at 11 am this morning, outlining...
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Since Warren Buffett is the most famous investor of them all, and individuals can learn tons from his insight, I thought it might be fun to take a look at some of the top quotes from the quotable Warren Buffett....
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Aug30
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A couple days ago I wrote about Warren Buffett's economic moat, and how you could use it as an investor. Now I want to take it a step farther and show you some of the companies with the most economic moat....
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Tonight's story stock is Dell Inc (NASDAQ:DELL). If you pay any attention to business news you will certainly be hearing a lot about the company tonight and during the day tommorrow. The company reported its second quarter earnings today after...
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Stocks jumped around on either side of unchanged throughout the day and ended up settling down for the most part. The Nasdaq did manage to gain 2 points on the session, driven by strength in major technology names, but the...
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Are you a risk averse or risk seeking investor? Understanding your risk tolerance is very important in investing.
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The market opened lower on the day, and has been rather volatile throughout the day. The Dow now sits in the red by 48 points, and the S&P 500 is down 5 points. The tech heavy Nasdaq is the star...
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Aug29
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What makes a great mutual fund family? A great mutual fund family is all about quality fund offerings, because it should always be quality over quantity. Low expenses and top ranked performance also plays a huge role in becoming a top mutual fund...
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The Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P 500 all three sit almost exactly where they were at the close on Monday, but its sure been an interesting last two days on that trek. Just yesterday the Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P 500 lost...
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I decided it would be a good idea to cover some successful investors major portfolio holdings to give you, the individual investor, an idea of what some well-known successful investors have been buying. A couple weeks ago I wrote a...
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After yesterday's losses of over 2%, it appears that investors are in the mood to bargain hunt today. The major indices have been higher since the opening bell, and the rally has been gaining more steam as the morning goes. The Dow is...
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Over the past couple of weeks the stock market has been in a holding pattern, with yesterday's 280 point loss being the first major move in several trading days. It is my belief that the market is in a watch...
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Aug28
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Warren Buffett coined the term economic moat. What does this word mean? How can you use it to pick your stocks?
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Tonight I wanted to take a look at some of the top online brokers that investors should look at when opening an account online. There are numerous online brokers out there for investors to research, but not all of them...
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The major indices opened lower today, and the selloff just got steeper as the day went along. By the end of the day stocks had suffered major losses across the board. The Dow fell 280 points, the Nasdaq tumbled almost 61 points, and the S&P...
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Consumer confidence readings plunged this month. What was behind the drop in confidence?
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The market started off on the wrong foot today, with stocks falling right out of the open. Standard and Poors said that home prices fell 3.2% in the second quarter, the largest drop in home prices since the company started...
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Aug27
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Bankrate Inc (NASDAQ:RATE) is a company built to help consumers find the best rates on all things finance. Bankrate.com is the flagship site of the company, and it provides totally free rate information to consumers on over 300 financial products....
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5 of the top low beta stocks available to investors. These stocks will help an investor lower the risk of their investment portfolio.
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The major indices closed lower across the board today as investors took profits from last weeks gains and sold following poor existing home sales. The Dow fell 56.74 points, the Nasdaq fell 15.44, and the S&P 500 closed lower by...
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The Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) is in the news today because it has cut the price of its construction-supply unit, HD Supply, by 18 percent to $8.5 billion. The world's largest home-improvement retailer agreed to guarantee $1 billion of the leveraged...
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So much for the new home sales number from Friday translating over to a positive existing home sales number today. Some on wall street were hoping we would see a nice bounce in the existing home sales number today as...
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Aug26
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We head into the last week of August this week and while this may be a light week overall, there are some pretty important economic numbers coming out, as well as a couple key earnings reports. Monday morning starts us...
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Aug25
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An examination of what the price/book value ratio is and when to use it in valuing an individual stock.
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This article examines why an investor should consider investing in concentrated mutual funds.
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First it was the high-yielding online savings accounts, and now it is the high-yielding online checking account. The great success of the online high-yielding savings accounts seems to have led to the growth of the high-yielding checking account. Why would brokerages...
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Aug24
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The bulls ended the week with a very encouraging day as stocks closed much higher across the board today. The Dow closed up 142, the Nasdaq up 35, and the S&P up 17. The last hour of trading saw a...
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The Gap Inc (NYSE:GPS) reported earnings last night that beat analysts expectations. The retailer, which has been struggling for a couple of years and has fallen out of favor with wall street, was able to cut costs and become more...
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The advantages and disadvantages of online banking.
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Aug23
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A common question among new investors is whether they should invest in mutual funds or stocks. This article examines which is right for you. The benefits of each are described within.
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Stocks fluctuated around today, first starting higher, then heading lower, before ending the day right around unchanged. The Dow finished down 0.25 points, the Nasdaq finished weaker by 11.10 points, and the S&P 500 closed down 1.57 points. Volume was...
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My investment and portfolio management strategy.
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A review of Morningstar.com and the premium membership it provides.
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After yesterday evenings investment from Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) into Countrywide Financial (NYSE:CFC) many investors, myself included, believed the market was setup for another strong day today. While the day is far from over, the early results are not...
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Aug22
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Hurricane Dean made landfall twice in Mexico this week. What effects did the hurricane have on the United States?
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Countrywide Financial Corporation (NYSE: CFC), the largest lender in the Unites States, announced just a few minutes ago that it has received a $2 billion investment from Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC). The transaction was completely and funded earlier...
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Who knows if it is just a temporary blip or not, but for today at least, investors seemed less worried about the recent credit market problems. There was some encouraging news on banks borrowing from the Federal Reserve's discount window,...
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In our second valuation study we will visit EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) vs. Oracle Corporation (NYSE: ORCL). In these valuation studies we value two popular using some common valuation techniques, and then provide some commentary on each company's valuation in relation to...
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Although this site spends a lot of time helping individuals grow their funds through investments, I want to make it clear to readers just how important staying out of debt is. Sure there are some types of debt that are...
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Aug21
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Over the past few days it seems the financial markets have been pricing in that the Federal Reserve will certainly cute interest rates by at least a quarter point in its next monetary policy meeting in September. In fact, the...
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The top five high-yielding stocks available to investors.
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Today turned out to be another less volatile day in the stock market indices. The Dow ended 30 points lower, while the Nasdaq closed higher by almost 13, and the S&P edged higher by 1.57. There was a lot of...
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Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) reported a 13% rise in second-quarter earnings this morning, and more importantly backed its earnings expectations for the rest of the year. Target met analysts expectations of 80 cents per share in net income. Same-store sales...
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Today I wanted to visit a list of my top ten investing tips. These tips are designed to help remind the individual investing of the top ten most important rules to follow when managing your own investments.1. Do your homework-...
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Aug20
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Investing on margin has become more popular throughout the years. Why is this? It is simply because investing on margin is alluring to many because of the chance to amplify your gains. In the past, investing on margin has often become...
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In continuing with our series of the top 5 mutual funds in each category, today we will visit the top 5 small cap growth mutual funds for the individual investor. These funds are ranked based upon past performance, expense ratios,...
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The quiet days on wall street lately have been few and far between so today seemed like a snoozer of sorts. Sure there was some volatility, but the Dow only had a 100 point range today, which is nothing compared...
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U.S. treasury bills have experienced a tremendous rally today, especially the short-term treasury bills. Today alone the yield has fallen as much as 137 basis points on the 3 month bill. The auction of short-term treasury bills today was a notable...
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Lowe's reported second quarter earnings this morning that brought applause from the street. What helped the company succeed?
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Jim Cramer is all over the news lately, whether it be over his rant on street signs about the Federal Reserve knowing nothing, or just for the fact that Mad Money is such a heavily watched show. There are numerous...
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Aug19
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The financial markets will undoubtedly have another volatile week ahead of them after some of the wildest trading days in years last week. Last week was packed full of news, with our story stock from earlier this week Countrywide Financial...
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Aug18
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Hurricane Dean is gaining strength by the hour. How might it effect the financial market this week?
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After the Federal Reserve announced the lowering of the discount rate yesterday morning most economists believe that a quarter point cut in the Federal Funds rate is highly likely in the FOMC's September monetary policy meeting. As I mentioned in...
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Aug17
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The bulls were back out in full force today on wall street thanks to the news of the Federal Reserve cutting the discount rate. Earlier today we visited what this Fed discount move means to you the investor in this article....
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This morning the Federal Reserve announced that it has cut the dropped the discount rate by 1/2 a point to 5.75%. The statement that came from the Federal Reserve was just as important as the actual move. The Fed acknowledged...
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Knowing who the top mutual fund managers are can benefit an investor in so many ways. Obviously investors like to invest in mutual funds where the very best mutual fund managers are at the helm. We like to be with...
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Tips on how to better manage your retirement account investment portfolio.
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Aug16
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Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ) reported higher quarterly profits after the bell today. Net income in the fiscal third quarter rose to 66 cents a share, compared to 48 cents in the same period a year ago. The average analyst estimate...
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Today was one of the more crazy days one will ever see on Wall Street. The Dow was down 343 points at 1 pm, and then miraculously closed down only 15 points. The S&P 500 actually closed the day with...
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Countrywide Financial Corporation (NYSE: CFC) is the United States #1 mortgage lender so it can get through this credit market crisis right? Possibly not. A huge amount of chatter around Wall Street today has been of Countrywide and its terrible liquidity...
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The Fed is injecting more cash into the credit markets. How do they do it?
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The selloff is reaching all ends of the markets now, even the hottest of names are selling off in a big way this morning. This morning has seen heavy volume and some previously loved stocks being thrown out the window....
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Aug15
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The beta is the measure of a stock's volatility in relation to the market as a whole. By definition, the market has a beta of 1.0, and the individual stocks are then ranked based on how much they deviate from...
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Tropical activity is heating up. There are several stocks that could benefit from this increased tropical activity.
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Another stock market selloff and panic is beginning to set in. What should you do?
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Some of the lowest expense ratio mutual funds available. A list of those no load funds that investors should take a look at.
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Warren Buffett released his investment moves from the second quarter last night. What can the average investor take from these moves?
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Aug14
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The Dow lost another 207 points again today, the Nasdaq lost 43, and the S&P 500 lost 26. The S&P 500 is now just about flat for the year. Wal-Mart was no help to this market today, and with credit...
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I wanted to post a very intriguing offer I found when searching through personal finance blogs earlier today. As I was looking at the FIRE Finance blog I came across this article, which explains how to get $50 free in...
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Sponsored ReviewThere are numerous investors each year who attempt to profit from being an active investor. There are more and more prospective daytraders, futures traders, forex traders, and commodities traders looking to make a profit from short-term trading. Each year...
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Mattel Inc. (NYSE: MAT) announced its second recall this month earlier today involving an estimated 18.6 million toys worldwide. The toys are being recalled because of magnet and lead paint hazard concerns. Roughly 18.2 million of the toys, including the...
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WMT reported impressive earnings today, but guided lower for the rest of the year. The stock market is responding in a big way to the downside.
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Aug13
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The difficult decision of picking between managing your own portfolio or entrusting an advisor. How to choose which is right for you.
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The top five large cap growth stocks today.
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Alan Greenspan has been hired by Deutsche Bank to consult with clients and analysts. What will this mean to the market?
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Today's story stock is Goldman Sachs. GS has been in the news today regarding its hedge fund business.
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Stock market simulation games are great for investors to test their skills in the market. The beginning investor is especially suited for the simulation games.
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Aug11
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Penny stock recommendations are all over the internet, why should you avoid them?
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A description of what the price/sales ratio is and when to use it.
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A valuation study of CSCO vs MSFT. Alerting investors of the valuation of both stocks and which appears cheaper at this time.
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The internet is a great place to research potential investments, but you must be very wary of any potential fraudsters looking to pull in your money. The SEC has a tremendous website on how to avoid internet investment scams, which...
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Aug10
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The top 5 stock research sites on the web. Great places to start your research on companies and their stocks.
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The central bank took measures today to inject money into the market, trying to calm the markets fears regarding credit problems.
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Aug 9
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Examining liquidity ratios and how to calculate them. The article also talks of how to use them to pick stocks.
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The top 5 large cap growth funds available to investors.
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AIG is today's story stock. The stock reported earnings last night and was in the news today regarding its exposure to subprime mortgages.
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The bears took control of the market again today. Subprime problems were back in the news.
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The importance of diversification in your stock portfolio.
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The benefits of online high yield savings accounts. Instructions on taking advantage of savings account opportunities.
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Aug 8
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Par for the course of late I guess, but these trading days are just getting more and more wild. Today the Dow was up over 190 points, only to sharply drop to below unchanged at about 3:25 pm. In the...
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The top 5 buy and hold large cap value stocks in the current market.
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Index funds have risen in popularity tremendously over the past few years, so I wanted to examine what an index fund is and why so many people like index funds. An index fund is a mutual fund that attempts to copy...
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The top 5 investment books of all time.
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The Dogs of the Dow is an interesting investment strategy that has been around since 1991. How has the theory done? What should you make of it?
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Aug 7
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Apple, Inc. introduced a new iMac today. What will it do for the company and what does it mean for the stock?
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Cisco systems reported strong earnings after the bell today. What drove those earnings?
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The much anticipated FOMC monetary policy statement was just released. The FOMC has decided to keep the Fed Funds rate unchanged at 5.25%. The all-important language on monetart policy from the FOMC was largely unchanged, with the FOMC acknowledging problems...
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An introduction to financial ratio analysis and how it relates to picking stocks. The use of financial ratio analysis in picking better stocks.
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Safe stocks to get the investor through this volatile market period.
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Aug 6
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The all-important FOMC monetary policy statement is to be released tommorrow at 2:15. Here is what to expect.
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A look at some of the top large cap value funds available to new investors.
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Wall street rallied huge today, but where was the conviction. The internals were terrible, and today's rally was very narrow.
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A discussion about value stocks versus growth stocks. The classic question of which is better is discussed here.
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Our story stock from a couple of days ago is back in the news again, this time because of executive changes. In the wake of the fixed-income hedge fund troubles at Bear Stearns, co-President and co-Chief Operating Officer Warren Spector...
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Aug 5
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Stocks are coming off a terrible Friday where all major indices lost between 2 and 3% of their value on heavy volume. What does the week ahead have in store for the stock market? Yahoo Finance does a weekly Economic...
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So you've decided you want to investment some money in a mutual fund, how should you go about picking that fund? Picking a mutual fund is a very important decision and not something that should be taken lightly. The wide...
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This is an article about the choice of what broker to use for your investment portfolio.
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The current picture in the CD rate world. The best options available to consumers looking for certificates of deposit.
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Chipotle (CMG) reported second-quarter earnings this past Tuesday evening. The company posted 60 cents per share on revenue of $274.3 million. Analysts were expecting the company to announce 45 cents per share on $262.9 million in revenue. The company reported...
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Aug 4
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Mutual fund basics defined. Mutual funds are great investments and the individual investor needs to understand them.
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Aug 3
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Bear Stearns was all over the news today, and not in a good way. The company is suffering from many problems in the fixed-income markets and credit market.
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How's that for some volatility in the stock market? The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed today down 281 points, the NASDAQ lost 65, and the S&P 500 39 points. Bear Stearns came out making some very bearish (no pun intended)...
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Building a balanced retirement portfolio is essential. These are tips on what assets to use and when, and how to diversify yourself.
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An explanation of the ultra important PEG Ratio. The PEG ratio is a great way to value a company or a stock.
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Hiring slowed down some in the month of July, pushing the unemployment rate up a tick to 4.6%. The numbers released by the Labor Department this morning showed employers increased payrolls by 92,000 in July, the smallest increase since February....
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Aug 2
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A review of stocks in the news. GRMN is in the news because of its terrific earnings report.
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Utilizing the Roth IRA for your 401(k) or any retirement account. The Roth IRA is a terrific tool for tax free growth.
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Tools for the investor to use during market selloffs and bear markets. Tips on how to diversify and protect assets.
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The outlook for major stock market averages. The short and long-term views of what may be to come.
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An introduction to the question, What is a price to earnings ratio? An example of a price to earnings ratio.
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Aug 1
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Market volatility is back in a big way, and it's here to stay.
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The author profile for the new author at GrowYourFunds.com, Aaron Smith. This is an introduction to the author and a description of the direction of the blog.
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