Big companies get into trouble all the time. Most of them are big enough to recover.Kraft-Heinz (KHC) is no exception. Right now, expectations at the company are low. That’s due to the company’s $15 billion write off of goodwill on its balance sheet. Goodwill is an intangible item, indicating how much the company paid to put together the merger versus what shares were priced at when the offer was made. It’s a standard accounting item—everything has to balance. It’s one that doesn’t impact cash flow or earnings. However, the write-down was an acknowledgement that the company wasn’t pe...

Going public is a sign that a company has a proven and tested concept. While it may not be profitable yet, it plans to be. The process of going public involves filing paperwork for an initial public offering, or IPO. Ride-share firm Lyft just joined the ranks of publicly-traded companies last week with its IPO, beating out other ride-share company Uber. Initially priced at $72 per share, early trading saw shares rally to over $80, before falling under the IPO price and into the $60 range. What happened? All IPOs should ideally price shares high enough that initial investors can get o...

Nobody can replace the simplicity and genius that Steve Jobs brought to Apple. But Tim Cook is bringing in lower costs, more revenue opportunities, and ultimately higher profit margins for shareholders. That’s the key takeaway from the Apple event earlier this week. The tech company is adding a suite of services, from a credit card to a digital news subscription service to a video subscription service and so on. While many may have been hoping for some new, outside-the-box product, this is a great development for shareholders. The company has been long derided for coming out with sli...

There’s more to actionable trading ideas than just earnings season. Companies often report extraordinary projects well outside their mandated reporting period. And by doing so, they can give investors some timely tips on when to buy—or when to avoid, or even sell, their company’s shares. For instance, a company reporting a new, lavish headquarters building may look like a great investment. They’re clearly growing and need the space, justifying the multi-million (or even multi-billion) dollar investment. But that’s also a sign that a share price is going to lag—or drop entirely. Even ...

Investing is a never-ending marathon, not a sprint. Yet Wall Street traders tend to rely heavily on trading opportunities centering on earnings season. Four times a year, a company reports earnings, as well as their guidance for future quarters. These days can see big swings in a company stock price—making it one of the best times to trade. But there are other developments the other 89 days of the quarter. And with so much focus on bottom-line earnings, more mundane announcements often don’t cause a rapid price move in shares. That’s good news—or bad news—for investors, depending on ...

The next big thing in tech could be 5G. A leading proponent of this technology is President Trump. According to TheHill.com, President Trump recently said in a pair of tweets that he wants the U.S. to beat other nations to rolling out next-generation wireless technology, known as 5G. Source: TheHill.com The political site noted, “Full 5G deployment is still years away, though wireless companies are already making big promises about what the technology will deliver. The new wireless networks, the industry says, will pave the way for advanced technologies like virtual reality and driverles...

A good investment policy is one that allows you to profit, reinvest those profits, and follow from a virtuous cycle of increasing returns over time. That’s the policy essentially used—in various forms—by Warren Buffett over the decades to become one of the world’s wealthiest individuals. Whether buying individual shares of stock or entire companies, the principle is the same. You want to find companies that can continue to grow over time at a somewhat steady and predictable rate. Growth companies won’t do. They may end up hitting the skids, and growth companies that fall out of f...

There are plenty of ways to beat the market. Warren Buffett knows them all. For the most part, he’s also tried them all. Investors with small sums of money can fare well following the modern equivalent of the strategies a young Buffett used to outperform the go-go market of the 1960’s. For example, Buffett often made trades based on arbitrage opportunities. That’s where a stock has one price in one exchange, but a different price in another. Buy in the lower priced and immediately sell in the higher price, and you get an instant profit. Today’s fast-trading, information-efficient ...

Most folks think you need a few thousand dollars to start investing. If you follow a traditional route, that’s probably true. You’d need that much to fund a brokerage account and start buying a few stocks to start a nest egg. But there’s a way that you can get started investing for as little as $50. In many cases, it’s more. But the secret is a simple one. Companies that pay out dividends to investors often have a plan that lets you directly invest in their shares. And you can set up recurring payments to add to your stake. In return, the company will reinvest those shares for lit...

Investing is a lifetime journey, and getting started can feel frustrating. That can be the case with income investing, where the first dividend check might just be for a paltry few dollars. While growing a dividend over time can lead to a powerful return, if you’re looking for high income now, there are plenty of opportunities available that can start showing you a much larger pile of cash relative to what you put in. These high-yield plays, typically paying in the 5-10 percent range, are companies that tend to be structured to pay out most of their income to shareholders. There are ...