You, Me and WB: Warren Buffett’s Most Important Advice

September 3, 2010 by E.J. Smith

Becky and I refinanced our house this week, locking in a 15-year rate. This should be great news, since we will be paying less interest over the life of the loan by retiring the 30-year, and our monthly payment is close to what it was. Yet, somehow, it doesn’t feel like a great move, especially after waving goodbye to a sizable chunk of cash to get the deal done and signing a mountain of documentation. Since when do you have to sign a copy of a copy just to make sure they can prove you got the copy? That was new to us, and we hesitated and then continued signing away with the enthusiasm of a... [Read the full story]

A Risk Worth Taking

September 3, 2010 by Dick Young

In today’s environment of low interest rates, there are few places to turn to add yield to your portfolio. Sure, you can tie up your money in 30-year Treasury bonds to lock in a 3.70% yield, but you will take it in the neck when interest rates rise. A 1% increase in interest rates will result in a devastating 20% price decline in 30-year coupon bonds. Not exactly the type of risk most fixed-income investors are looking to take. A better strategy for adding yield to your portfolio is to take prepayment risk on mortgage-backed securities (MBS). I am not talking about the toxic private label mortgage-backed... [Read the full story]

Gold Nears All Time High

September 2, 2010 by Jeremy Jones

Up 14% YTD, gold is once again on the verge of hitting another all-time high. Read More →

Retirement Compounders performance compared to S&P 500 performance.

Young Research’s Retirement Compounders

June 18, 2010 by Dick Young

Retirement Compounders Portfolio is comprised of 32 dividend and income-paying securities from around the world. A well-diversified, 32-stock portfolio can give you over 90% of the diversification of owning every stock, for example on the NYSE. Read More →

Need Yield?

August 27, 2010 by Jeremy Jones

Do you invest in stocks for income? Is your portfolio focused primarily on U.S. stocks? If so, you might consider diversifying globally. The dividend yield on the U.S. stock market is one of the lowest yields in the world. In the chart below, I show the yields of 23 of the world’s major stock markets. The dividend yield on U.S. stocks is only 2.11%, compared to an average of 3.09% and a high of 5.45% in Spain. The U.S. is the sixth-lowest-yielding stock market in the group. If you invest in stocks for dividends or income, a global approach is advisable. When you take a global approach to dividend... [Read the full story]

Japan’s Lost Decade

September 3, 2010 by Jeremy Jones

Japan’s ‘Lost Decade’ Wins Fresh Attention – James Mackintosh, Financial Times “The 1990s were certainly bad for Japan. Gross domestic product rose at half the rate of slow-growing France and a third that of the US. The Nikkei 225 index halved from its peak above 36,000…On paper, the 2000s too look dire: GDP rose only 10 per cent from 2000-08, just over half the UK or US level, even after Japan belatedly addressed its troubled banking system and embraced limited quantitative easing. But as economist Andrew Smithers points out, the ageing of the population affects the data. GDP per person... [Read the full story]