Young Research & Publishing Inc.

Investment Research Since 1978

Be the Master Chef of Your Own Unique Investment Recipe

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Back in June of 1992 and today, I stress to my readers the importance of balance and diversity in their portfolios. Back then I wrote: Fine Balance From a Master Chef Did you happen to see the McIlhenny & Co. recent advertisement for the company’s Tabasco brand pepper sauce? The ad caught my eye because it ran a photo and culinary commentary from Susan Spicer, chef/owner of Bayona, a New Orleans restaurant most deserving of the recognition it is receiving. In the ad, Susan tells readers, “In my approach to creating dishes, balance is a primary concern. I love playing with the palette … [Read more...]

Remember This to Survive 2019 Market Turmoil

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The new year is here, and America’s stock markets are weathering some turmoil after ending 2018 mired in volatility. There are some concerns about the future earnings potential of companies currently making up big parts of the major stock indexes. Apple’s current trouble is just the most recent example. Back in September of 2012, I reminded readers of one simple fact that can help them through hard times in the markets. I wrote “In the majority of cases, the price of common stocks has been influenced more markedly by the dividend rate than by the reported earnings.” I … [Read more...]

In 2019, Give Me Cash

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That’s my investment creed. I don’t mind when markets are down as long as I’m still getting paid. Regular dividends and interest are succor to any investor when capital appreciation is wiped out at the whim of the markets. In January of 2012, I explained my investment creed, writing: So the investment environment today is cloudy and laced with sinkholes and other entrapments. Your mandate is armadillo-like self-protection both on the portfolio front and the personal security front. I invest a substantial portion of my personal wealth in liquid portfolio assets I can jockey around at a … [Read more...]

The Winning Investment Technique Used by Queen Elizabeth I

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Two years ago I told readers the story of John Maynard Keynes' lectures on compound interest in the late 20s. Keynes told the story then of Queen Elizabeth I and her impetuous and insightful use of compounding to build the British Empire. I wrote: Compound Interest, the Foundation of an Empire In a series of lectures and papers in 1928, John Maynard Keynes traced England’s success from the late 16th century, starting with a treasure Francis Drake had stolen from the Spaniards in 1580. Keynes was writing at the height of the British Empire, and he chalked England’s success up to … [Read more...]

Can You Afford a 50% Loss?

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Can You Afford a 50% Loss? That’s the question I asked readers in March 2014. I wrote: Can You Afford a 50% Loss? It’s impossible to have it all ways. In order to craft an investment portfolio that can act as an all-weather armadillo, you must be willing to forgo potentially substantial upside rewards to balance against the horror of a downside wipeout. If you are retired or saving for retirement in the not-too-distant future, you can easily get a knot in your stomach when you look at the basic math of downside portfolio protection. By example, when you lose 50% on an investment, you must … [Read more...]

Here’s the Minimum You Should Invest in Fixed-Income

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Back in May of 2002 I warned readers of the dangers of market timing, and of investing too much of their portfolio in equities. I wrote: Your Focus: Dividends & Interest In this issue, I re-emphasize why I think conservative investors must focus laser-like on fixed-income interest and dividends from common stocks. No matter what hype you read in the media or hear from brokers, stocks in general are not cheap—far from it. When all you get from the average big company stock is a 1.5% yield and you pay nearly 30 times earnings in the process, you are not looking at bargains. As you know, … [Read more...]

Are You Prepared for the New Money Crisis?

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Crisis at Vanguard Dear Friend, Hard as it is for me to believe, a massive hoard of over $600 billion (yes, with a B) is clogging Vanguard’s Total Stock Market Index Fund like a grease-trapped drain. What is most worrisome is what happens when public panic selling hits, kicking off a tsunami of sell orders from banks of robotic computers. I do not own Vanguard’s Total Stock Market Index Fund, and I don’t ever expect to own it in the future. The Great Mutual Fund Purge Index Funds across the board have been purged from portfolios at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., never to return. … [Read more...]

How Can You Spot a Loser in Investing?

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Back in July 1994, I wrote: You Has It or You Don’t. Dressed in snakeskin, feathers, grease paint and radiant colors, New Orleans gris-gris musician, Dr. John, delivers his musical message. Funky, gumbo-tinged rhythms spiced with a Bayou flavor makes for a perennial Mardi Gras atmosphere when delivered by Crescent City favorites like Jessie Hill, Cyril Neville, Chuck Carbo, Allen Toussaint, and the eclectic Night Tripper, Dr. John. When asked what makes the whole musical gumbo of New Orleans come together, Dr. John explains that it’s the groove of the thing, a pulse, an inner self sort … [Read more...]

Can Politics Predict the Markets in 2019?

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I have written in the past that politics can have a great effect on market performance. Today America is enduring one of the most contentious political climates in memory, and at the same time the stock market has become volatile. The best year in the four-year presidential election cycle is the year before the election. In this cycle that’s 2019. Since 1875, the average performance of the S&P 500 in the calendar year before a presidential election has been 14.3%. The presidential election year itself comes in next with an average of 10.9%, and midterm election years and the year after … [Read more...]

Are You Investing in the Armored Truck of Financial Markets?

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Are your investments characterized by the flash and speed of a supercar, or the reliability and protection of a Brinks truck? There’s nothing wrong with a super powered automobile made to take on curves at maximum speed, but the power that makes those machines exciting, is also what breaks their parts. All that torque can be hard on an automobile. Meanwhile, the massive diesel engines and reinforced steel protective bodies of armored trucks make sure its cargo reaches the destination. Back in 1990 I called Treasuries “the armored Brinks truck of financial markets.” I was responding to … [Read more...]