Investment Tip Archive

This was Don's first investment tip about the mistakes that investors make when they don't take emotion out of the investment process.

This book opened many people's eyes about how to become wealthy without making a vast fortune. The tip talks about the main themes of the book.

What are the pitfalls of making short term investments in instruments meant to be held for long periods of time?

Collectables have been a popular investment option for many years. Who are they appropriate for?

This investment tip is about how hard it is to predict the future and what investors should concentrate on instead.

The first step in the investment process is not to assess different investments, but to assess yourself.

There are many legal ways a company can paint a rosier picture about their finances than is really the case. This tips talks about one really common one.

Some surprising things I heard from NASDAQ officials at a talk they hosted.

There is more than one kind of patience you need when you're investing.

When choosing mutual funds it often makes sense to go against the conventional wisdom.

When researching stocks what is the first thing you look for?

When you're buying biotech or other emerging technologies, there are 3 key rules to follow.

When looking at a new investment, you should answer these seven questions before putting down your hard earned money.

Profits. When it comes to stocks, first and foremost are profits.

Markets Go Up and Down. This tip was written during a particularly bad market, during the dot com crash. But does a short term drop really matter?

An 'Investing Basics' tip. What is a stock split and is it important?

Most investors prefer to buy stocks than have been going up. Does that make sense?

Are you trying too hard to control what is out of your control with your investments?

What is really more important? How much money you have? Or the direction your income is going?

There are a number of urban myths about investing. This tip explores a few of those.

What do past earnings really tell us about a company? It might not indicate what you think.

If you think about it, there are really only two times in the stock market, and both can be good.

I had the privilege to attend a talk by Peter Drucker a few years before he passed. Here are some of his insights.

If there is a single good lesson that I would teach everyone about finance, it's the parable of Joe and Frank.

A basic investment concept. Understanding intangible assets.

This is another tip about the shenanigans companies will get up to, to make earnings look better than they really are.

This was the first investment tip I wrote after the 9/11 tragedy, about fear and how it was affecting our country.

Ben Graham was the father of modern security analysis. Here is what he had to say about buying bonds.

Owing tax on your investment gains is usually good news, as much as we hate paying the tax.

Commodity trading can sound pretty exciting. But here are some of the grim facts.

Compound interest is probably the best thing that investors have going for them. It's like magic!

Good news in the investing world often has a downside.

Sometimes the hardest things are the best things you can do for your investments.

A breezy, funny little book written about the stock market more than 80 years ago. It's just as useful today as it was then.

Taking our feelings out of the investment process is very hard. Here's a tip about that.

Many people feel that the stock market is actually 'gambling'. Are they right?

This is from a talk by Nobel Laureate Myron Scholes about market liquidity.

I keep a small stuffed animal on my desk to remind me how hard investing can be. This is a tip about it.

Does the investment advisor you're working with put their money in the same investments as you?

People don't always do the most 'rational' things with their money. Behavioral Finance can help us understand why.

Dividends are really cool. How cool? Read this tip and see.

Performance is one of the first things people look at when analyzing securities, particularly mutual funds and ETFs. But how important is it?

What is the most important attribute an investor should have to do well in the market? It's probably not what you think.

The big players in the stock market have lots of advantages. But the little guys do too. What are they?

It's hard not to look back at our investment mistakes. But is it really helpful?

Is your investment advisor in your corner? A little checklist of things to ask about.

Why debt is such a killer for people's financial well being.

Before you invest the first step is to have a cash reserve. But how much is enough?

Is someone plunking down their savings based upon a statistical coincidence? This tip discusses that pitfall.

Some of the terminology used when people talk about bonds is pretty arcane. Here are a few of the most common terms.

How to choose stocks in the healthcare industry.

How much of the value of your investment is based only on perception? A really good question to ask.

The real return on your investments, after taxes and inflation are what count. Let's do that calculation together.

There are three basic mutual fund strategies. Which one is right for you?

When looking at investments you almost always want either liquidity or control. Without one of the other it can be problematic.

My Father used to write a newspaper column called "Money Talk". Though rates go up and down, his advice about purchasing a home is still golden.

If many people are short a stock, it might be good news or bad news. Figuring which it is is important.

Can you take the risk involved to make a fortune on one stock?

What do those letters at the end of a financial advisor's name mean? Here are some of the most common ones.

Has buy and hold stopped working? Read this tip and find out.

You need information to make good decisions about stocks. But how do you extract it from the mountains of available data?

An explanation of what it really means to own a share of stock.

Margin of Safety is one of the most fundamental concept in successful investing.

Sometimes you'll hear investors talk about Alpha. What the heck is it?

Sometimes we worry too much about the little things, rather than the really big important stuff.

What is the single most important factor for you when making an investment decision? You have to figure that out before anything else.

Are stock buybacks the great thing that many people on Wall Street think they are?

Is it at all possible to predict the future of a company of the stock market as a whole?

Does a company with a recognizable name brand mean it's a big, successful company?

Many investors tend to think of their different accounts as different portfolios. Are they?

Four rules to help you avoid being a victim of an investing scam.

Avoiding thinking about money is a real problem for many people. How can we find ways to avoid the avoidance?

If you're trying to do better than average with your mutual fund or ETF portfolio, don't fall into the over diversification trap.

Many people plan a sudden shift in their investments when the retire. They are usually underestimating how long they will.

Ben Franklin's most famous saying is "A penny saved is a penny earned". But Ben got it wrong.

John Bogle literally invented the concept of the index fund. Several years ago I attended a talk that John gave. Here are some insights that he shared.

In the upside down world of investing, sometimes illiquidity is marketed as an advantage. I suggest a tongue in check way to accomplish the same thing with any investment.

Conversations I've never had about buying things that are wildly out of favor.

What does the price of a stock tell you about that stock relative to other stocks?

Overconfidence is a performance killer. A short tip about that.

When constructing a portfolio, the quality of the stocks matter. But just as important is the quantity.

Not the answer most people want to hear, but this is what to do with short term money.

What financial decisions should a young person make when they are just starting out?

I do a riff on John Lennon's song 'Imagine'. Imagine if there was no stock market?

What is the US Federal Reserve all about? I provide a link for you to see for yourself.

Words can mean more than one thing in English. That can lead to misunderstandings about investments.

People usually look at the growth potential of a stock. But what about it's asset potential?

Inertia is a problem for all of us. This is an old joke about that, and some advice about how and when to move forward.

Some pithy quotes from Warren Buffett.

When a mutual fund starts buying stuff that is nothing like what you expect, that's called style drift. How do you avoid that in your funds?

At a talk I arranged with Russ Fuller, he talked about using behavioral finance to get superior investment returns. This is some of what he had to say.

What really is your 'principal' when you're talking about an investment account?

Some of my favorite quotes about wealth.

The financial services industry should always put the client first. Sometimes they aren't very good at that.

Those monthly expenses can really add up. Always do the math.

A powerful portfolio management tool from the movie Memento.

Intrigued? What stocks could they be? You'll have to read the tip to find out.

A nice little formula to see if you can consider yourself wealthy.

Most millionaires do a budget. Maybe you should do one too.

After the 2008 debacle, this was my advice about how to tip toe back into the stock market.