Listed companies can implement reverse stock splits for many reasons. For example, they can consolidate the number of stocks outstanding in order to bring the stock price above a certain point like $1 after the price falls below that level. This is necessary for liquidity, preventing de-listing by exchanges, etc. Investors should be very careful of …

Continue reading ‘Reverse Stock Splits Never Work Especially When A Company Is Losing Money’ »

Last week marked  the 8th anniversary of the bull market that began in 2009 at the peak of the Global Financial Crisis. Since then the SS&P has soared by more than 260% with an annual average return of about 18% with dividends reinvested. Apple(AAPL) stock has had a fantastic run that beat even the S&P …

Continue reading ‘How Much Has Apple Stock Grown Since March 2009 ?’ »

Diversification means holding various asset classes such as stocks, bonds, gold, cash, etc. across various geographical regions like developed, emerging, frontier markets. One cannot try to gain from diversification by simply owing an index fund or holding a bunch of stocks of the same asset class or type. For instance, owing a large-cap index fund …

Continue reading ‘How To Obtain Real Diversification Benefits With Equities?’ »

Bank stocks have soared since the election of President Trump. Compared to the overall market banks are up by double digit percentages.For example, the Financial Select Sector SPDR® Fund ETF (XLF) is up by over 46% at the end of February with most of that return accumulated since the election. Compared to the S&P 500’s 5.63% …

Continue reading ‘U.S. Financials Look Inexpensive Now’ »

One of the topics that I have covered many times on this blog is the benefits of international diversification. No country or region is the top performing consistently year after year. So while the U.S. market has done well in recent years, over time other markets have been top perfomers in one year than the U.S. …

Continue reading ‘International Investing: Why Diversify Across Borders?’ »