This morning I came across an article on CNN that conveyed a bit of good news about the bull market. According to an annual Bankrate.com study, despite the fact that the market has made new all-time highs in the past few months, 73% of Americans are not currently inclined to invest in stocks. If this…
I can already tell I’m going to get some flack for that headline, but… I forgot today was Good Friday. Now, before I dig this hole any deeper, let me first say happy Good Friday! And now let me clarify: a large part of my daily life revolves around routine. I think my tendency to…
It’s been a while since I’ve written an article focusing on a single stock, so today I’m going to talk about my largest position: Melco Crown Entertainment (MPEL). Any American knows that Las Vegas is the standard-bearer for gambling entertainment in the United States. But is it the top gambling destination in the world? It…
About three weeks ago, I wrote a couple of posts about the big banks’ CCAR stress test results. In this post prior to the results on March 26, I provided the following warning to shareholders of the banks subjected to the test: As I have mentioned before, with these stress tests, it’s all about the…
Everybody keeps asking me what is going on?!?!?! The markets tanked this week and everyone is running for the hills! Russia is taking over eastern Europe, this quarter’s earnings will be bad, Obamacare, Chinese economy, bubbles, tapering, Heartbleed, swine flu, and Y2K! What do I have to say about what happened to the stock market…
I recently returned from a week-long trip to Las Vegas to celebrate my wife getting her PhD in Chemical Engineering. In my first ever post on this site, I talked about how much fun gambling can be. But when I buy and sell a stock, I am not looking for fun. I am looking for…
The wait is finally over! My book is officially now available on Amazon. Five years ago I knew absolutely nothing about the stock market. My degree from MIT is in Brain and Cognitive Sciences. I have had a lifelong fascination with the way our brains work: where our thoughts come from, why we feel certain…
I posted yesterday about the Federal Reserve’s review of 30 large banks’ 2014 capital plan proposals. For myself and other WFC shareholders, the news was good. Wells Fargo’s capital plan was approved with no issues. The plan includes a 17% dividend boost and a 350 million share buyback that would retire 6.6% of the outstanding common…
This afternoon at 4:00 PM the results of CCAR will be made public. It is likely that your first reaction to this news is, “What the hell is CCAR and why should I care?” The answer to the first question is that CCAR is the Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review portion of the annual Federal…
When trading the stock market, it is critical that you have a good reason for every trade you make. There must be something about a stock that makes it worth buying and selling, or else your trades are just random. Buying a stock without a good reason is akin to guessing on a true/false test question.…