Monday morning I spent some time at my local Apple store. My visit reminded me what a great company Apple is. And before we dive in, I like to differentiate great companies from great investments. To me, there is a difference. I think of a great company as a company that provides an oustanding product, […]
Apple Is A Great Company Read More »
Towards the end of each year, I do an annual portfolio review. I’ve written about this here and here. This year I had some help. Grok helped me plan a vacation and helped me come up with a tax minimization strategy using Roth conversions so I thought I’d have him check out my portfolio. Privacy
3 Keys to Navigating Uncertainty Read More »
Here’s my favorite chart. We’ll talk about why in a minute. Here are the actual return values going back to 2008 so you don’t have to squint. Bubble? The S&P 500 was up 26% in 2023, 25% in 2024, and 17% as of December 15, 2025. As we know, the S&P 500 has averaged 10%
Are We In A Bubble? Why It Doesn’t Really Matter. Read More »
For many of us, a portfolio of mutual funds and ETFs is perfect. Whether we have passive funds that track an index like the S&P 500, or active funds in which a portfolio manager chooses a basket of securities, we leave the hard work of choosing individual securities to the professionals. But for some of
Why Buying a Basket of Securities Makes Sense Read More »
It’s almost 2026. Can you believe it??? At around this time every year, most investors start reading articles about how it’s time for a year-end check-up. It seems like a lot of work so many investors just move on and stick with the program. And honestly, this isn’t the worst reaction. With investing, often laziness
Your Year-End Planning Checklist Read More »
I’ll cut to the chase. The best way to get rich is by investing in great American businesses. Not all businesses. Businesses go bankrupt everyday. I learned that lesson with Yellow Trucking. But an investment in the 500 largest publicly traded US companies has proven to be a pretty solid choice. You can read more
I’ve written about covered call options quite a bit. Here’s a list of posts, including a step by step guide. Covered Call Options It sounds a little tricky and risky, but if done intelligently, we can manage that risk. Let’s first talk about what they are. A covered call option is a contract. It’s an
2 ETFs for No-Worry Covered Call Option Income Read More »
It’s not uncommon during earnings season to see our growth stocks move 20% in a day. Expectations are high for 20% plus earnings growth, but more importantly, we want to hear optimism from management that the growth will continue. If either of these wobbles, we could be down big, or up big. That’s how earnings
Why Did My Stock Drop 20% Today? Read More »
Before we dive in, let’s talk about what an ETF is and why we might want one in the first place. An ETF, like a mutual fund, is a basket of securities. S&P 500 ETFs like the State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) is a popular ETF choice. We’ll talk about why later, but
Best ETFs for Beginners Read More »
It’s Thanksgiving week. Christmas and New Years are right around the corner. In a little over a month it will be 2026. Can you believe it? Where did 2025 go? In between all the shopping and celebrating, now is a good time to think about our finances. Yay! It’s Really Not That Hard Most people