The technology industry can be extremely profitable—for those companies that get it right. However, the industry is dynamic and highly competitive, leaving a graveyard full of failed startups and once successful companies that were overtaken by competitors. Investors in this segment need to be extremely… Read More

A key rule of our three-part Successful Investor strategy is to spread your money out across most if not all of the five main economic sectors (Manufacturing & Industry; Resources & Commodities; Consumer; Finance; and Utilities).
This has two main benefits: a) It keeps you from… Read More

Consumer defensive companies such as Walmart, Proctor & Gamble, and Nestle provide basic goods that consumers need even during a recession. It is therefore not surprising that these companies have relatively stable revenue and profit histories and can maintain their dividends during tough economic times.
In… Read More

Here’s a look at three popular ETFs in three different areas—medical-device makers, natural resource producers and S&P 500 companies (but with a twist). We like the first two, but we think the third is likely to underperform its “plain vanilla” counterpart.
Meanwhile, the Supplement on page… Read More

Commodities can help diversify portfolios, but are cyclical and come with high levels of price volatility.
However, well-diversified ETFs that offer exposure to commodity producers can help investors overcome the problems associated with direct investments in physical commodities, or funds that track a single commodity.
Below, we… Read More

Most commodity production is capital intensive with long development times. Producers face considerable costs to establish or replace mines, oilfields, and so on, or to build processing, storage and transportation facilities. This means that the selling prices of their products can vary significantly from the… Read More

Some investors today feel highly uncertain about the stock market outlook, mostly because of the surprise results of the recent U.S. Presidential election. A handful feel tempted to “go into cash,” as the saying goes—that is, sell some or all of their stocks, and hold… Read More

Investors aiming to beat inflation over time—without taking undue risk—have a variety of options presented by exchange-traded funds. While, looking back is of limited use going forward, here are some of the results from academic studies of the volatility, downside risk, and total return of… Read More

Commodity production is capital intensive with long development times. Producers face considerable costs to establish or replace mines, oilfields, and so on, or build processing, storage and transportation facilities. This means that the selling prices of their products can vary significantly from the time of… Read More