Approximately one year ago, Yahoo hired Marissa Mayer to lead the company after a series of failed efforts to improve operating results. During the last 12 months shareholder value has nearly doubled, increasing by approximately $15 billion. In September 2006, Ford hired Alan Mulally to lead the company at a time when the Detroit based … Continued
With recently announced changes in how the SEC regulates certain aspects of the hedge fund industry, it might be appropriate to consider just how suitable this type investment might be for individual investors. The basic concept of hedged investing is relatively straight forward: buy long what you like and sell short what you don’t. This … Continued
The media has been making much of the stock market recently hitting “new highs” and then doing so again and again. What does not make the headlines is whether the increase from the prior high is one point, or one hundred points, but only that it is a “new high”. Sometimes, this can be misleading … Continued
A dramatic statement but actually, a relatively modest forecast. With the Dow currently at approximately 15000, a quadrupling in 20 years would require a compound average annual return of approximately 7%. Annualized total returns for the major averages, such as the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P Mid-Cap and Russell 2000 Small-Cap, have ranged … Continued
It has been alleged that Edward VII (1841-1910) once said, “I don’t very much care what people do as long as they don’t do it on the street and frighten the horses”. Perhaps a more modern version could be applicable to Egypt, “don’t frighten the tourists”. The higher echelons of the Egyptian army are widely … Continued
Beginning in May and continuing in June, bond prices have been under pressure as interest rates have begun to rise. As a result, many investors in fixed income securities are now underwater for the year after enjoying a multi-year period of extraordinary gains. As interest rates continue to migrate higher, albeit in a very erratic … Continued
In the last 10 days, the major equity averages have lost, and then largely regained, 4% of their market value. Hence, a $1 million stock portfolio would have dropped to $960,000 and then recovered between June 21 and July 1. The frantic movements resulted largely from recent pronouncements by US Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben … Continued
Seeing how far the “Britishers” will bear provocation. “To give the lion’s tail another twist” is to tax British forbearance a little further. No doubt the Kingdom is averse to war with civilized nations, and will put up with a deal rather than apply the arbitration of arms. Even victory may be bought dearly. Such … Continued
The U.K., the Netherlands and Australia have recently established new rules that will ban commissions on popular investments like mutual funds with a view to eliminating hidden charges. Competent, professional investment advice has value. After all, a difference of just 1% in annual returns amounts to approximately $180,000 over a ten-year period on an original … Continued
Earlier this week Louis Chenevert, CEO of United Technologies (UTX), was interviewed at the Paris Air Show. UTX is the manufacturer of the Pratt and Whitney airplane engines as well as the Sikorsky Helicopter. Chenevert was very bullish on the airline industry for the next one to two decades! When pressed on the reasons for … Continued
In order to enhance my grasp of global economic issues, I subscribe to a newsletter service called Stratfor. Many large corporations and government agencies are also subscribers because the company’s analysts are former military or intelligence personnel and their perspectives are often unique and valuable. I consider the owner of Stratfor, George Friedman, to be … Continued
A recent Wall Street Journal article reported one of many challenges China is facing: fast-growing numbers of elderly people. By 2015 there will be 220 million people older than 60 years old in China, compared with about 180 million today. According to the projections from the National Bureau of Statistics, within 40 years China will … Continued
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