Income Investors: Dump GE & Buy This Safer Income Investment Instead
by Louis Basenese, Advisory Panelist, Investment U
Senior Analyst, The Oxford Club
We’ve endured three consecutive weeks of losses for the S&P 500 (.INX). Never fun. But if you’re an income investor, ala Charles Dickens, the worst of times is creating the best of times…
Dividend yields now rest close to 15-year highs. Plus, the premiums from writing covered calls (the only safe options strategy) are significantly higher thanks to the extreme market volatility.
As far as I’m concerned, that’s an attractive one-two income-earning punch we shouldn’t ignore.
So how do we play it?
Not with the usual suspects… Read more…
Louis Basenese 2009 Archives, Dividend Investing, Louis Basenese, Top Home Page income investment, income investor, TEPPCO Partners
Stock Profits from Today’s “Maximum Pessimism”
by Louis Basenese, Advisory Panelist
Senior Analyst, The Oxford Club
Wednesday, January 21, 2009: Issue #919
Yesterday was a train wreck for State Street Corp. (NYSE: STT). The stock cratered 59%. But don’t read too much into it…
Sure, the company’s quarterly results sent most investors into shock. A 71% drop in earnings? Another $1 billion in new credit exposures? If no one’s lending, how in the world are they just now discovering this liability?
I’ll be the first to confess, I flubbed the extent of the downturn in the financial space. Last April, I recommended “backing up the truck” and playing the rebound via the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (AMEX: XLF). Instead of a short-term opportunity, it’s turned into a really long-term rebound play. Read more…
Louis Basenese 2009 Archives, Louis Basenese, Top Home Page Louis Basenese, State Street Corp, stock profits, Wall Street Analysts
Investing in China: 11 Reasons Why & 5 Ways to Buy
by Louis Basenese, Advisory Panelist, Investment U
Associate Investment Director, The Oxford Club
Wednesday, January 14, 2009: Issue #915
It’s time to make a big bet and begin investing in China.
I know. It’s not exactly a popular stance. And the smart money is doing exactly the opposite. Or so it appears…
Yesterday, the Royal Bank of Scotland hit up the China ATM for a $2.37 billion withdrawal. It sold its entire 4.3% stake in Bank of China. And a week ago, Bank of America cashed out part of its stake in China Construction Bank Corp. for an estimated $2.83 billion.
Making matters worse, the MSCI China Index lost a record 53% last year. It’s counter-intuitive and near impossible to rationalize adding money to a losing investment…
Read more…
Louis Basenese 2009 Archives, China Investing & Stocks, Louis Basenese, Top Home Page china investments, investing in china, Louis Basenese
Small-Cap Investing: How to Play The Emerging Small-Cap Rally
by Louis Basenese, Advisory Panelist
Associate Investment Director, The Oxford Club
Wednesday, January 7, 2009: Issue #911
Forget the grim news that Alcoa (NYSE: AA) is slashing costs and cutting 13% of its workforce. We all know times are tough. But the market’s a forward-looking beast. And right now, it’s doing exactly what I predicted on November 19. It’s favoring small caps over large caps.
In December the little guys put up big numbers - a 5.8% gain versus a mere 1.1% uptick for the large guys, based on the Russell 2000 and S&P 500 indexes.
Before I get to my favorite ways to screen and play this emerging small-cap rally, let me first address my critics.
My last column failed to convince some of you. Others thought I simply skimped on the proof. Or more specifically, that I failed to tell you why NOW is the right time to buy small caps.
As they put it, “We all know small caps lead the markets out of a recession. But what makes you so convinced we’re on the way out?”
As my college physics professor liked to say before each lecture, “Prepare to be enlightened.”
Read more…
Louis Basenese 2009 Archives, Stock Tips Site Map, Top Home Page investing in small-cap stocks, small cap investing, small cap rally