In November 1999 tech stocks with no dividends seemed like a sure bet. Despite the hype, I was still doing my best to encourage my readers to stick the principles of dividends and compounding. Here’s what I wrote then: Historically, Dividends Provide Much of Total Return What about the base for the economy and the stock market in general? As I’ve written often, the two are inexorably linked. After all, could stocks on average outrun the performance of all the companies that jointly contribute to our country’s gross domestic product? No. and, here’s why. Over seven decades, from 1926 to … [Read more...]

It’s a seemingly simple question, what are you getting paid? Most people can recall their weekly or monthly employment income without hesitation, but do you know what your portfolio is paying you quarterly? If you aren’t focused on generating income from your investment portfolio, you may want to adjust your strategy. In April 2006 I discussed the importance of getting paid, now. I wrote: Pay Me Now When you invest in portfolio securities, your first question should be, what am I getting paid? I do not want you investing your serious money in securities that pay you neither interest nor … [Read more...]

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 July 2011 I wrote: On page 480 of 1962’s Security Analysis by Graham, Dodd, and Cottle, I underlined the above header. Since that time, I must have worn out a thousand red pens underlining books, but rarely are they investment books. I have never required another book on investing. I have since read a handful of other books on investing that I have found somewhat useful, but it has been a couple of decades since the last one. And I have no need to add to the list. Successful investing is to me more an art than a science. And intuition plays a big part. Since I graduated from Babson College … [Read more...]

If you aren’t getting paid regularly for your investment in a company’s stock, you are taking it on faith that someday, at the precise moment you need to sell to generate cash, the price will sit at a gain for you. Buy low, sell high, right? But what happens if there is no “high?” Stock prices can remain depressed for agonizingly long periods of time. From year-end 1965 – 1981, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 10%. Investors who were counting on capital appreciation to fund a comfortable retirement were short changed. Meanwhile, those investors who demanded a margin of safety in … [Read more...]

Do the old rules no longer apply? Can you live on corporate earnings alone? Is ignoring your margin of safety advisable? It turns out, unsurprisingly that the answer to all these questions is no. Back in November of 1997 I wrote the following (my emphasis added in bold): Ben Graham’s Margin of Safety Graham died in 1976, yet his wisdom is as fresh as if he were standing before us today. Ben Graham & Co.’s advice to investors is to evaluate a stock as if you were considering buying the entire company. Graham’s secret of sound investing can be distilled into three words—margin of … [Read more...]