Five Stocks to Avoid Like the Plague

There's no better time to take a good hard look at your portfolio than the beginning of a new year. I know this may not be your first rodeo and chances are you've already done at least a little thinking about how your investments came through 2011, and what you'd like to achieve in 2012. If not, there's no time like the present. Especially when it comes to something I call "Ditching the Dogs," which is a variant of the well-known and very popular "Dogs of the Dow." You've probably

stocks to avoid

Wealthy Congressmen Don't Feel Your Pain

When you're as wealthy and comfortable as members of Congress are, it's tough to identify with people who are barely making ends meet. The median net worth of Congress soared 15% from 2004 to 2010, with the average Congressman worth $913,000. Meanwhile, the median net worth of all Americans fell 8% over the same period to $100,000. Nearly half of the members are millionaires. Even America's richest 10% haven't fared as well as the typical member of Congress - their net worth in that

Net worth of Congress

All I Need to Know About Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) I Learned 30 Years Ago

All I need to know about Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), I learned at my first job at a broker dealer. To this day, the firm I worked at is one of the largest assets under management (AUM) shops in the world. And while there I had a mentor, who I will call "Joe" to protect his anonymity Joe was something of a stereotype. He was freaky with math, loved chess, never married, and wore a really bad toupee. He was also the happiest person in the building. You see, Joe was worth more

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ)

Paul Krugman is Dead Wrong: Debt Matters

Paul Krugman, the Princeton University economics professor, Nobel Prize winner, and regular New York Times op-ed contributor says, "Debt matters, but not that much." Not only is he off the reservation on this one, but he's completely fallen off his high horse. In the real world, debt actually matters a lot. In a Houston Chronicle opinion piece last week, Krugman, riding his horse - whose name might as well be Liberal Conscience - trampled conservatives under the guise of an economics

Paul Krugman debt

Why China's "Blindside" Could Be A Great Buying Opportunity

There's not a day goes by that I don't see some variation of the theme that China is going to crash, or that somehow that nation will blindside us, and that its markets may fall 60%. This is like saying the U.S. markets were in for a hard landing in March of 2009 after they had fallen more than 50%. Folks who bit into this argument and bailed not only sold out at the worst possible moment, but then added agony to injury by sitting on the sidelines as the markets tore 95.68% higher over

China's economy

Hidden Mortgage Tax Gives Congress Another Way to Pick Your Pocket

Americans had better enjoy the extra $40 they'll continue to get in their biweekly paychecks for the next two months, because most of them will be paying for it many times over in the form of higher mortgage costs. Lost in the contentious debate over the payroll tax cut extension - a 2% cut in U.S. workers' Social Security tax - was the devious way Congress devised to pay for it. The law that Congress passed - and U.S. President Barack Obama signed - included a provision that will

Hidden mortgage tax

Oil Companies Big Winners as U.S. Becomes Net Exporter of Fuel

The United States has become a net exporter of fuel for the first time in more than 60 years. That simple fact could drive oil-company profits for at least the next decade. It's also another sign of dramatic shifts in the energy industry, with consumption declining in the United States and rising in emerging economies. The United States exported 98 million barrels more of fuel than it imported in the first 10 months of 2011. Just a few years ago, in 2005, the country imported almost

U.S. net exporter of fuel