A Few Dollars More

This week the stock market made it clear that the path of least resistance is higher. All three averages are now once again sporting gains for 2010 and it looks like we are on target to at least challenge the year’s highs from here. [Read more →]

Just like its predecessor, ‘Cash for Clunkers’, the recently announced $6 billion government program (officially called HOMESTAR) gives us working class people a tax break, energy savings and may also put a few good men and women back to work. What’s not to love about that? [Read more →]

Hallelujah! It’s been a long time coming but finally, someone, someplace looks willing to end one of the worst scams in financial history. [Read more →]

In last week’s column “Is the Dip Done” I ruminated on whether the S&P 500 Index’s correction was over. There were conflicting signs in the markets and I decided to wait a week before jumping on the rally band wagon. I’m glad I did since the market’s action this week makes me believe there is still some further downside ahead. [Read more →]

As I sit here snowbound at home, surrounded by almost two feet of the heavy, wet white stuff, it occurred to me that even here in the Berkshires snow has a cost. Sure, we pride ourselves on our ability to continue commuting, working and going about our daily business undeterred by Mother Nature but even we stalwart country types need to recognize the costs of our snow season. [Read more →]

It is with some anxiety that I prepare for the inevitable. Higher taxes are coming our way, maybe not this year, but probably next. It is inevitable, given America’s fiscal condition. I expect we will receive the bad news sometime after the November elections. [Read more →]

Is the 8% correction in the S&P 500 over? During the last five trading days the index has gone straight up. Since the intraday low of 1144, established on February 4, the S&P has gained back almost 6.5%. So far it has been a classic buy on the dip scenario. So why am I still cautious? [Read more →]

Back in the Sixties, Marshall McLuhan popularized the term “Global Village”. It is a term used to describe how the globe has contracted to the size of a village thanks to technology and the instantaneous dissemination of information worldwide. This week, investors were feeling the consequences of this phenomenon up close. [Read more →]

So far this pullback has lasted a mere thirteen days. During that time the Dow has corrected 6.9%, the NASDAQ 8 % and the benchmark S&P 500 has lost 7.4 %.That makes it the deepest correction since the rally began in March, 2009 and it’s not over yet. [Read more →]

Does investing in 20 to 30 high quality stocks of successful, well-managed companies sound pretty good to you right now? Given the present downdraft in the market, funds like the Jensen Portfolio (symbol: JENSX) come into their own when times get tough. [Read more →]