Stock Market News & Stocks to Watch from StraightStocks » Steve McDonald

Is the FDIC Bankrupt?

Contrarian Profits — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 18:33:47 +0000

h2strongAlabama regional lender, Colonial Bank, just became the 6th largest bank failure in U.S. history and the largest since Washington Mutual last year.br / /strong/h2 div class="entry" pRegulators seized Colonial last Friday, selling the bank’s deposits and assets to their competitor BB#38;T. Colonial was founded by real estate developer, Robert E. Lowder in 1981. The bank stayed true to its roots, right to the end (of the housing bubble)./p pIn a 2006 interview, Lowder said, “We’ve always been a real estate bank. We understand real estate lending. For us, we think it’s a good safe market to be in.” Evidently, they didn’t understand the market as well as they thought. The bank sunk under the weight of $1.7 billion in losses on bad real estate loans./p pstrongThe#8230;/strong/p/div

Will the Feds Use the California Crisis to Change the Rules on Munis?

Contrarian Profits — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 23:30:27 +0000

pIf you live in the United States, there is a good chance the crisis in California is going to affect you. And if you own municipal bonds — either directly or indirectly through other investments — what’s happening in California could have a major impact on your finances.For years, state government budgets have been expanding as the economy grew and the rising housing market swelled property tax coffers. But the severe recession that has brought rising unemployment and a collapse in property values has drastically cut revenues from income, property, sales and corporate taxes./p pAnd state governments are feeling the pinch. According to the National Conference of State Legislators, there are only three states (Arkansas, Wyoming, and North Dakota) that do#8230;/p

Crustaceans, Currencies, and Conversation in Delray Beach

Contrarian Profits — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:33:19 +0000

h3 class="post_date"“You’ve got to try the crab cakes,” I told Steve McDonald. “I live in Baltimore. Why the hell would I come to Florida for crab cakes?” We had just concluded a full day of meetings for the a href="http://www.investorsdailyedge.com" class="alinks_links"Investor’s Daily Edge/a quarterly editors’ conference and were taking our seats around the table at Dada, one of the finer establishments in Delray Beach.br / /h3 div class="entry" pThe atmosphere is casual and eclectic and the food is some of the finest gourmet fare you will find anywhere. If you’re ever in this part of South Florida, don’t miss it. And order the crab cakes (Even if you think you’ve already tasted the best in the world)./p pBut I could tell that Rusty McDougal, our resident natural resources expert, had more#8230;/p/div

Make Stock Market Returns -Without Stock Market Risk!-

Contrarian Profits — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 20:55:56 +0000

pThe mutual fund industry has done their best to convince investors that the long-term return of the stock market is just over 12%. That is their justification for “buy and hold.” But you can throw that number out the window.br / The annualized return of the S#38;P 500 from 1929 through 2008 is actually 8.9%. And for most active investors the return would be significantly less./p pBut what if I told you that you can make two to three times the long term stock market average (15% to 30% annual returns)… without taking stock market risk?/p pConsidering the return of the stock market the last couple of years and the fundamentals going forward, I hope you’ll give this your consideration. So how do you#8230;/p

Smart Investing: Paying Yourself First

Investment U — Thu, 14 May 2009 13:48:52 +0000

Smart Investing: Paying Yourself First by David Fessler, Advisory Panelist Everyone knows a tightwad or two. I came by my savings habits from my father, who’s a spendthrift. Growing up when he did - as a child of Depression-era parents - taught him the true meaning of a dollar.. But before they paid any bills, they paid themselves [...]

Casino Stocks: The One Sin Stock You Should Be Betting On

Investment U — Thu, 07 May 2009 13:02:51 +0000

Casino Stocks: The One Sin Stock You Should Be Betting On by David Fessler, Advisory Panelist Casino stocks have been more than down on their luck lately. In fact, they’ve been on the ropes more than one of their prizefighting boxers. And it’s no wonder. The recession has hit consumers hard. And many have cut their spending, [...]

It’s Time to Invest in Oil Again!

Contrarian Profits — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 12:47:27 +0000

pLuckily, I was bearish on oil until recently. I said to short oil when it was at $120 per barrel on 04/23/08. I was a little early to the party, but oil did drop below $33 a barrel in December of 2008. Oil plummeted $114 a barrel after reaching its record high last summer. /p pBut, now I think oil has bottomed and will head higher. My fundamental and technical indicators are pointing to higher oil prices./p pIt’s disappointing that Americans seem to forget about our dependence on foreign oil as oil prices drop. In the 1970’s we got a wakeup call when people experienced gas shortages and rising fuel costs. Then it happened again, when oil spiked up to $147 a#8230;/p

Don’t Get Screwed, Buy Oil ETFs

Contrarian Profits — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 14:45:34 +0000

pSteve McDonald of a href="http://www.investorsdailyedge.com" class="alinks_links"Investors Daily Edge/a doesn’t want to see you get ripped off at the gas pump again. He recommends two Oil ETFs that will play out as part of the “the best buying opportunity since the market collapse of the late 70’s.”/p pThis from Steve:/p blockquotepIt’s time to stop worrying about the bottom of this market and start taking advantage of the carnage the gross mismanagement of this country’s affairs has left us. Oil is a good place to start./p p$40 Oil? Are you kidding me? This is what I call a slap in the face investment. It’s so obvious it’s hitting you in the nose./p pThis temporary worldwide slow down, and it is temporary, has pushed oil down to a point most#8230;/p/blockquote

What’s Left to Buy if Treasuries Go South?

Christian Hill — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 17:37:17 +0000

pEveryone has been dumping stocks for the last year and retreating to the relative safety of Treasury notes. But where will we invest when that ride is over? We may soon find out./p pIn a recent Bloomberg article, Kim Heeseok, who oversees South Korea#8217;s National Pension Service, said the time is now to get out of Treasuries./p p#8220;The stimulus plan may cause inflation. The U.S. will raise the benchmark interest rate.#8221;/p pTo illustrate the point, investors in South Korea have reduced their Treasury holdings by almost half in the last year, down to $28.6 billion in November./p pTaking a bit of a contrarian standpoint it seems is China, which continues to up its stake in the U.S. and now holds $681.9 billion in Treasury#8230;/p

Steve McDonald’s 8 Big-Money Picks For 2009

Contrarian Profits — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 15:14:58 +0000

pstrongSteve McDonald/strong looks ahead to the investment climate in the new year. He sees a bounce in the Dow reaching as high as 11,000. But an economic recovery will depend on whether the Obama administration can restore confidence in the public. For 2009#8217;s top money-makers, Steve picks six high-dividend stocks and two corporate bond plays./p pThis from Investor#8217;s Daily Edge:/p blockquotepSo, for what it#8217;s worth, here are my predictions for 2009, please adjust the time frame as necessary./p pThe bailouts will work. The banking/credit crisis will ease in early 2009, and with it businesses should be able to start borrowing again. Once the money flows open up we should see some relief from the recession./p pstrongFord/strong (NYSE:a title="Open a new browser window to find out more" href="http://finance.google.com/finance?q=NYSE%3AF" target="_blank"F/a) will survive, I#8217;m not sure about strongGeneral Motors /strong(NYSE:a href="http://www.investorsdailyedge.com/Blog-Entry.aspx?Id=1686" target="_blank"GM)/a.#8230;/p/blockquote

Good Credit Cures A Bad Economy

Contrarian Profits — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 15:17:23 +0000

pFriday FY08 Week 49: Quote of the week: emEvery tree and plant in the meadow seemed to be dancing, those which average eyes would see as fixed and still./em – Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmi/p pHere are four thoughts to trip over as we round yet another sharp corner on the path to economic recovery./p pstrong1)/strong The perfect world arrived last summer./p pDeregulated US banking, housing and financial sectors led to a world of no credit./p pThis is the era for which a vocal financial publishing crowd has been begging. No regulations. No credit. No borrowing. No more extra debt./p pSo, how are you enjoying their world#8230; is it the paradise as outlined in the millions of pages in books penned by our betters who sniffed because hoi#8230;/p

Only Diversified Portfolios Will Survive This Crisis

Contrarian Profits — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 14:13:26 +0000

pThe investors that have been wiped out in this downturn are the ones that did not plan ahead, says strongSteve McDonald/strong. Booms and busts are the nature of economic cycles. And investing only in stocks is financial suicide. Steve says to survive this crisis - and the inevitable ones that follow - investors need to diversify their portfolios and stick to tried and trusted models./p p/p pThis from Investor#8217;s Daily Edge:/p blockquotep#8220;Fear frustration; Some Call it Quits,#8221; a recent Wall Street Journal article, unknowingly summarizes what I have been saying for a long, long time./p pThe article is a short list of people who have thrown in the towel on the stock market. In every instance, the people described themselves as having everything or#8230;/p/blockquote

A Simple Formula To Make Your Portfolio Work For You

Contrarian Profits — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:33:00 +0000

Chasing market moves is the worst way to invest, says Steve McDonald. And piling everything into one asset class will not work either. Over time, you will always make more money with a balanced portfolio. That means a suitable combination of stocks and bonds. Steve comes up with a simple formula to find a portfolio split that works specifically for you.

This from Investor’s Daily Edge:

Reacting to market moves guarantees you will be on the losing end of the equation. Jumping in and out of investments as the market swings up and down is the absolute worst way to invest. It amounts to market timing with a broken clock.

Sometime around the late eighties, a real brain found a way to quantify…

Avoid Stock Slump With Short-Term Bonds

Contrarian Profits — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 14:09:34 +0000

The stock markets opened sharply lower again today. Steve McDonald says bonds are a much safer and more profitable alternative right now. Investors should stick to short-term bonds to maintain a flexible portfolio and limit market risk.

This from Investor’s Daily Edge:

It’s 1974 all over again!

Many of you are old enough to remember the market in the 70’s. What a nightmare! The Dow went below 1000, then settled between 700 and 900, and stayed there until almost the mid eighties.

That’s what you call a sideways market. It was years before anyone made any money.

The similarities to our market today are amazing. In the 70’s we had high inflation and a recession, high oil prices, a market in complete turmoil and a government…