Today, while riding with my wife, she told me that an employee of McDonald's stormed out of one of their fast-food restaurants because he could not manage the pressure when managers asked them to do what their job is about, “Service.”
I immediately had a flashback to my home in Brooklyn sometime in 1946. Two brothers-in-law, one a general practitioner and the other a worker in the Manhattan garment district who worked for a manufacturer of fur coats. Also present, two brothers, both were me
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a column about how I became the person I am today. There was a time when parents did not have to worry about where their children were, no matter the time of day, and it was then that I learned about small potatoes. We were about twelve years of age. We called the small potatoes Mickey's, and there were potatoes we would take (steal) from our mother's bin, believing their mother wouldn't notice the missing potato. One of us would then search for a discarded crate,
I continue to watch and listen to the Fox Business News channel. Yes, to a great extent, they (Fox Business hosts) continue to ignore the strategy of Dip Buying. Still, their guests, such as David Bahnsen of the Bahnsen Group and Kenny Polcari, who also manages an investment portfolio, continue to stress the importance of Dip Buying. And yes, others share the same strategy.
So, when I say listen but ignore, I mean listen to the guests, not the show hosts. Dip buying is a proven strategy bas
I started a small business in 1977 with my nephew under the name Candor Specialty Packaging, and when we incorporated, it was with two hundred shares. I held fifty shares, and my partner holding the other fifty shares. We withheld one hundred shares in case we wanted to take in another partner later. But corporations listed on the NYSE typically incorporate with millions of shares because they never know how many investors they are going to need to get their business up and running. Sometimes th
This column will explain another form of investment strategy called "Drip Investing". This strategy is good for individuals with limited income who can use their dividend income to purchase fractional shares in a stock they own. Companies participate in the drip program to help those low-income wage earners get a start. You can start with one share and place that share in the drip program. It is another way to grow a portfolio of stocks.
Here is what happens: Companies declare dividends mon
When I became interested in the stock market, buying stock was extremely expensive. Then, Scottrade developed the concept of charging a minimal amount for a trade, which became popular with those who could not afford the fees stockbrokers charged.
These are the four firms I have dealt with in the past seventy years: Baker-Weeks & Co., Scottrade, TD Ameritrade, E-Trade, and then Chas. Schwab. Eventually, Schwab acquired TD Ameritrade. The last three were all banks and neither has a platf
In about two days I will be celebrating my 93rd birthday. Recently I have been reflecting on my life increasingly. I am happy to share a brief history of how I became the person I am.
My parents were both in their teens when they arrived from Naples, Italy. From what I have learned, most marriages in those days were pre-arranged. I was the last of ten children, two of which passed on in their early childhood from causes unknown to me. I have a surviving brother, who is 100+ years old and li
Three days ago, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost about one thousand points, causing me great pleasure. Why? Because as a seasoned investor, these fluctuations provide a smorgasbord of stocks at deep discounts. Schwab’s platforms allow you to arrange your portfolio to show all of the big losers according to the sum of money they have lost.
This column offers you a way to look closely at the stock you’re considering buying by using information easily available in your brokerage account.
My last column covered the steps you need to take to get set up with your stock brokerage account and banking arrangements. This column will give you some tips for selecting stocks
for your portfolio.
My preference for stocks is limited to Consumer Staples, Healthcare, Utilities and Communications, to name a few. Also, because I am a Dip Buyer (buying stocks when their price dips below what I first paid for it), I also focus on the dividend yield of the stock which is, simply put, when so
Welcome to Small Potatoes, a new column designed to help those who believe their income level prevents them from participating in the stock market to growing their savings.
Investing using “Small Potatoes” is an idea that came to me one day when I visited a Wendy's in Owego, NY. While waiting for my order, I had the opportunity to speak with one of the employees there and was surprised to learn he was unaware that Wendy's was a listed stock that he, and anyone else can own. I thought about
