Here is a headline that should come as no surprise to anyone: “JCPenney (NYSE:$JCP) Turnaround in Doubt as Sales Plummet,” CNBC, November 9, 2012. Big shock.  JCPenney has been a company struggling to find direction for the past twenty years.  The company is a “tweener” that had a hard enough time competing with the likes...Read More

The single most important lesson I’ve learned about being a successful investor is the need to maintain emotional detachment.  Any feelings you may have towards a stock are unrequited.  If you love a stock, it will not love you back.  And if you hate a stock, it will not give you the satisfaction of responding...Read More

In the whiskey swilling days of my youth, I always preferred Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey to Jim Beam Kentucky Bourbon. I was far from a whiskey connoisseur, but it just seemed to go down smoother. Regrettably, I’m not as young as I used to be and, to quote Hank Williams, Jr., “corn bread and iced...Read More

Remember, remember the Fifth of November, The Gunpowder Treason and Plot, I know of no reason Why the Gunpowder Treason Should ever be forgot. Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, ’twas his intent To blow up the King and Parli’ment. Three-score barrels of powder below To prove old England’s overthrow; By God’s mercy he was catch’d With...Read More

In the first day of trading after Hurricane Sandy pounded New York, the S&P 500 had its best trading day in seven weeks. I’m not one to assign a lot of significance to a single day’s trading, but I did find it encouraging.  It suggests that the damage left behind was less severe than the...Read More