Sin stocks.  Vice investments.  Merchants of death.  They all sound delightfully naughty, don’t they? That’s because they are.  Based on the recent returns of alcohol and tobacco stocks, investors might conclude that it’s good to be bad.  In a year marked by macroeconomic shock waves emanating from Europe, popular sin stocks like Altria ($MO), Philip...Read More

If you don’t know who Jeremy Grantham is, you should.  In fact, once you finish reading this article, you should drop whatever else you are doing, go to his website, and read his latest quarterly letter.  Make it a habit to read every quarterly letter as they come out; you’ll be a better investor for...Read More

I gave my comments to InvestorPlace’s Jeff Reeves on the new rash of “Death of Equities” sentiment that has taken over the market.  Investor revulsion towards equities is indeed a bullish sign for the medium-to-long term.  But we should also remember that the infamous 1979 BusinessWeek cover–which many consider to be the greatest contrarian buy...Read More

The negotiations between Spain and her Eurozone partners continue. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy agreed to new austerity measures, released on Wednesday, as a means of avoiding a full state bailout and the loss of control to the EU’s supervisory institutions that this would entail.  In total, the moves would cut Spain’s budget deficit by €65...Read More

I like ETFs as an investment vehicle.  And I love dividends as a source of investment return. So, one might draw the conclusion that I was favorably disposed towards dividend ETFs, and indeed I am (see “Dividend ETFs for Growth and Income”). Today, I’m going to take a look at one relatively new entrant in...Read More