Now and then it is nice to take a peek over the shoulder of a successful investor to see what their high-conviction buys are.  When you read a headline that “Warren Buffett is buying Company X,” you’re naturally inclined to do a little digging into Company X’s financials.  After all, if it’s good enough for...Read More

Question: When looking at cheaply-priced stocks, how do you know which ones are solid value stocks and which ones are dreaded value traps? Answer: The value stocks eventually recover, whereas the value traps do not. I realize that my answer is no more useful than Will Rogers’ advice to “Buy stocks that go up; if...Read More

Last week, I announced to the world what a momentously bad investment I had just made (see “I just made a horrible investment”). Yes, dear reader, I was dragged kicking and screaming against my will into homeownership by my wife and two-year-old son.  My days of enjoying my Saturday mornings as an urban yuppy, drinking...Read More

Lest I be accused of hero worship, I’ll spare readers another Warren Buffett lovefest article.  Yes, Buffett is a living legend, and yes, he is arguably the best investor of all time.  But these facts are nothing new, and there have already been more articles than I can count written about the man and his...Read More

2011 has been a rough year for investors.  Stocks, as measured by the S&P 500, are down nearly 8% for the year and down 14% from the April highs.  And while 14% may not sound like all that much in the grand scheme of things, investors felt every point in a surge of volatility that...Read More