The Dispassionate Investor
From rags to riches. Redemption. An exciting story. A happy ending. These are things that make good movies, not good stocks.
Were you tempted to buy Bank of America, GM, or GE? Or wannabe giant-killer American Micro Devices that had Intel on the ropes for a few shining months?
READ MOREGatorade, Move Aside… Coconut Water Is Taking Over!
I grew up on the island of Puerto Rico, where it is blazing hot almost all year round. My father used to chop down a young coconut from the palm in front of our house and place it in the freezer so it would get very cold. Then he’d make a hole in the coconut and stick a straw in it so we could drink the thirst-quenching coconut water. Little did I know back then that I would rediscover this refreshing beverage in my search for healthy alternatives to high-sugar sports drinks.
READ MOREA Powerful Persuasion Strategy
Over the years, I’ve tried to teach lots of folks to write sales copy. Not all of them have gone on to be stellar successes.
One of my most spectacular failures had a PhD in English Lit. Another was a crackerjack newspaper reporter. Still another had penned a best-seller and now wanted to try her hand at copywriting.
READ MORERental Real Estate 101: 4 Ways to Battle the Landlord’s Arch Nemesis
Just as The Joker is to Batman and Dr. Evil is to Austin Powers, rent control is the landlord’s enemy. Supporters of rent control claim that without it many people couldn’t afford housing. But what happened to the basics of economics? The law of supply and demand should determine what your rental unit is worth, not the government.
READ MOREDoes It Pay to Complain About Bad Products or Services?
I always feel awkward when I have a bad meal in a restaurant and the server asks, “How’s everything?” I get the feeling that the question is no more sincere than the telemarketer who asks “How are you today?” It’s just polite talk. They don’t really want or care about the answer.
READ MORESimplify Your Life (and Make It Pay Off in More Ways Than One), Part 2
When we left off on Friday, I said, “Just a few weeks ago, my wife and I decided that something need to change, because we didn’t want to live that way. [And what I meant by “that way,” was the way our friends Chuck and Laura were living.] We came up with a plan and have already started fixing the problem.”
READ MORESimplify Your Life (and Make It Pay Off in More Ways Than One), Part 1
Judy and John are great friends of ours. Recently retired, they own a beautiful waterfront house in Maryland, a small condo in Florida where they “winter,” and a sailboat just large enough for the occasional cruise down to the Bahamas.
READ MOREThe First Step to Getting Funding for Your Business
One of the most commonly asked questions we get at ETR from would-be entrepreneurs is: “How do I get money for my business idea?”
We’ve answered it before, but it’s worth answering again because the question keeps coming. Let’s start with a bit of harsh truth: It isn’t easy.
READ MOREA New Tool for Aspiring Online Marketers
Now, there’s a very easy way to get your online newsletter started. Yahoo has a component called “group publishing” that allows you to start your own e-list and publish to that list whenever you want. For free. It’s so user-friendly that even someone with very little technical knowledge (like me) can set it up without any assistance. All you do is go to Yahoo and click on the “groups” link. It’s self-explanatory from there.
READ MOREPreserve Eyesight, Stop Failing Vision Now
Each of us comes equipped with an amazing pair of optical wonders. Even the Hubble telescope, which looks far out into distant galaxies, pales in comparison to the technology of the eye.
For many, vision fails as they get older. But despite what you may have been led to believe, this is not an inevitable part of aging.
READ MOREThe Wall Street Journal Gets It Wrong
The Secrets of Marketing in a Web 2.0 World,” announced the front page of The Wall Street Journal business section. Sounded promising, so I took a gander. What I found left me scratching my head:
READ MOREA 2-Minute Drill That Could Save You Thousands
Professional investors got taken to the cleaners by the former head of NASDAQ, hedge fund manager and scam artist Bernie Madoff. They should have known better. But before you point fingers at these supposedly sophisticated investors who lost billions to a cheat, ask yourself this: Do you do even the minimum due diligence before you invest in a fund? (I don’t care who told you about it. Trust no one except yourself.)
READ MORE