The biggest source of fresh cash in American equities isn’t speculators or exchange-traded funds — it’s companies buying their own stock, by a 6-to-1 margin. —Bloomberg News, March 2015 There’s been a lot of chatter about stock buybacks the past few years. Some people believe share repurchases are propping up the market; others…
The post Why I Prefer Dividends appeared first on The Big Picture.
I wrote earlier this year that Apple is so cheap, it’s actually ridiculous. I still feel that way, and after a lousy start to the year, the market seems to be coming around to my view. Apple (AAPL) shares have enjoyed a nice rally of late, and I expect a lot more to come. Excluding the oil […]
This article first appeared on Sizemore Insights as Apple STILL so cheap, it’s actually ridiculous…
Barron’s did an interview with Bond King Bill Gross in this weekend’s issue (see “Why Interest Rates Must Rise.”) While I find his incessant Fed bashing to be tiresome, Gross is still a living legend, and I take his views on market seriously. Here are a few nuggets from the interview I liked. On running […]
This article first appeared on Sizemore Insights as The Bond King Speaks
I spend an hour discussing all sorts of really fascinating topics with Pete Dominick; its satellite, so there is the occasionally NSFW word here and there. Fiduciary standards, retirement accounts, and why things are looking better Why a modern 2 party system requires 2 scientific literate rational parties (we don’t have that)
The post An Hour with XMSR’s Pete Dominick… appeared first on The Big Picture.
The term “financial independence” gets thrown around a lot in personal finance articles and blogs, and not everyone uses it the same way. To some people, financial independence simply means earning enough to pay your bills, so you don’…
William Sweet, CFP®, is an Investment Advisor at Ritholtz Wealth Management. Bill has spent much of his career minimizing the impact of income taxes on investment returns. He served on active duty in the US Army as an Armor Officer for six years and was awarded the Bronze Star for valorous action in combat in 2003 during Operation…
The post Smart Things People Do To Increase Their Tax Refund appeared first on The Big Picture.
Source: WSJ
The post The Returns You’re Missing appeared first on The Big Picture.
What does the American Dream mean to you? For many, it means having financial security, and having the ability to provide an education to children, take care of parents, retire comfortably, or remain independent while growing old. But achieving financi…
The new rules are here, and if you believe the devil is in the details, well, here are the details: • Fact Sheet: Middle Class Economics: Strengthening Retirement Security by Cracking Down on Conflicts of Interest in Retirement Savings • FAQs: Conflicts of Interest Rulemaking • Table: Changes from DEPARTMENT OF LABOR’S 2015 Conflict of Ineterest…
The post DoL Fiduciary Rules Released appeared first on The Big Picture.
Here’s a question: Is the broker who advises you on your retirement account on your side? The answer is at the heart of the debate over the proposedDepartment of Labor fiduciary rules. Applying a fiduciary standard means the broker must put his customer’s interests ahead of his own. This is different from now, when nothing…
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From 1998 to 2013, the number of Fortune 500 companies offering pensions to their employees fell from 60% to 24%, according to The Washington Post. With the decline of unionism and loss of employee bargaining power, corporate managements have aggressi…
I gave my thoughts on penny stocks to InvestorPlace’s John Divine for a piece he wrote for US News and World Reports: “Penny stocks generally trade in the wild, wild West of the over-the-counter market, which means that their reporting requirements tend to be minimal,” said Charles Sizemore, a portfolio manager on Covestor and chief […]
This article first appeared on Sizemore Insights as All About Penny Stocks
Source: Hubble Space Telescope h/t NY Mag Did you catch yesterday’s early morning penumbral lunar eclipse? Don’t worry if you missed it, there is another one coming Sept. 16 at precisely 18:55:27. We know this information to the second because: a) the state of the art in astrophysics is so advanced as to…
The post The Golden Age of Astrophysics appeared first on The Big Picture.
We just got back from Portland last week, and it was quite the interesting experience. I did a Bloomberg column about Portland as a boomtown, but I thought a few personal anecdotes might put a little more color on the week. I consider these trips to meet with clients and others a visceral form of…
The post Some More Background on Portland appeared first on The Big Picture.
William Sweet, CFP®, is an Investment Advisor at Ritholtz Wealth Management. Bill has spent much of his career minimizing the impact of income taxes on investment returns. He served on active duty in the US Army as an Armor Officer for six years and was awarded the Bronze Star for valorous action in combat in 2003 during Operation…
The post An Investor’s Income Tax Checklist appeared first on The Big Picture.
There is a new and growing movement in our industry toward so-called evidence-based investing (which has much in common with evidence-based medicine). As Robin Powell puts the problem, “[a]ll too often we base our investment decisions on industry marketing and advertising or … Continue reading →
Many people turn to bonds as a means of saving for retirement. Others use bonds as a long-term investment vehicle to fund pre-retirement goals, such as paying for a child’s wedding or paying for college tuition. And then there are those who simp…
Over the past few weeks, I have been highlighting all of the blog redesigns we have been rolling out in the office. If you are here reading this, you are already familiar with The Big Picture, and probably know Josh’s Reformed Broker. Ben, Josh, Mike, Tony as well as this site have all received…
The post Inverting Wall Street’s Research Business Model appeared first on The Big Picture.
When the nominations for the 88th annual Academy Awards were announced this past January and for the second year in a row included no minority nominees for any of the major performance categories, my first thought was here we go … Continue reading →
Presented without comment: Source: S&P Indices
The post How Many Active Managers Outperform Their Benchmarks? appeared first on The Big Picture.
Diversified Asset Allocation Portfolios For Your Plans
| Vanguard ETF: | 10%* |  |
| Diversified Core: | 11%* | |
| Six Core Asset ETFs: | 10%* | |
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