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  • How to Choose a Stock Mutual Fund

    When choosing a stock mutual fund, consider performance, manager track record and cost before investing.

  • How to Choose a Stock

    Buying individual stocks can augment an already diversified investment portfolio. Here’s how to get started.

  • How to Find Your Cost Basis

    Brokers are now required to keep better tabs on the costs of your investments. Here’s what do for investments made before 2011.

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    Latest Stocks News

    Barrons.com - May 2, 2013

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    Lowering the Volume on Nuance

    "Siri, is Nuance Communications a good stock?"I'm not permitted to advise you on stocks," responds the voice assistant for Apple's (ticker: AAPL) iPhone.

    • Barrons.com - Apr 30, 2013

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    3 Cheap Picks With Fast Growing Revenue

    Scarcity breeds high prices. And right now, the U.S. stock market, despite hovering near record highs, doesn't include many companies generating brisk sales growth. Therefore, the few companies that are doing so tend to command plump ...

    • WSJ.com - Apr 21, 2013

  • 'Don't Just Spend It'—Smart Moves for Your Tax Refund

    It's that time of year again. Many taxpayers who actually managed to get their tax returns in before last week's April 15 deadline, rather than filing for a six-month extension, are looking forward to their refunds.

    • Barrons.com - Apr 27, 2013

  • With Hanesbrands, You're Covered

    Last year clothing makers were hit with the biggest spike in cotton costs since the Civil War. Hanesbrands responded by hiking prices as much as 40%. Shoppers paid up; a familiar brand of underpants or bras, for those who are running low, ...

    • WSJ.com - Apr 26, 2013

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    Rethinking Apple: Growth Stock, Value Play—Or Both?

    If you're an Apple stockholder, there's good news and bad news.The good news is the stock is once again an attractive investment—especially after plunging from September's $705 peak all the way down to $417. The bad news is that many of its ...

    • MarketWatch - Apr 26, 2013

  • Why everyone is wrong about austerity; Mistakes in the war over government debt aren’t limited to spreadsheets

    Have you heard? Wonderful, wonderful news. The economic “austerians” have been defeated!The deficit cutters and budget balancers have been routed in the field of economics. All those worries about government debts have been debunked. It ...

    • Barrons.com - Apr 25, 2013

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    Apple Dividends Don't Wow—for Now

    Apple, with its gargantuan $145 billion cash hoard, is pulling out the stops to regain investor affection, and yet skepticism continues to rule the day. However, we are confident that patient investors will be amply rewarded.

    • Barrons.com - Apr 23, 2013

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    TIPS Are Cheaper Than You Think

    "Guaranteed to reduce wealth" doesn't make for a tempting sales pitch. But the U.S. Treasury has raised more than $50 billion from investors since 2011 with just such an offer. Its Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities, or TIPS as they ...

    • Barrons.com - Apr 20, 2013

  • A Smart Alternative to Junk Bonds

    For high investment yields that are worth the extra risk, look beyond junk bonds. Investors have piled into them, causing prices to rise and yields to fall to record lows. The BofA Merrill Lynch High Yield Master II index recently yielded ...

    • MarketWatch - Apr 22, 2013

  • The Boston bombing and ‘black swans’; Commentary: Role of risk in our lives is little understood

    Human beings seem to have a real problem with the idea of risk. We can’t get it into perspective. We worry about the wrong things and the wrong dangers. It’s a massive problem for investors, and it’s a problem in other parts of our lives. ...

    • WSJ.com - Apr 21, 2013

  • Too Much Food? Try the Alternatives.

    Nervous investors have been piling into the pantry and fridge for financial comfort food. Hormel Foods (HRL) and Campbell Soup (CPB) are up more than 30% apiece so far this year, and General Mills (GIS) and Hershey (HSY), more than 20%, ...

    • WSJ.com - Apr 19, 2013

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    The Great Gold Divide: Which Side Are You On?

    This past week's turmoil in the gold market knocked the precious metal down to its cheapest price in two years.Yet when adjusted for inflation, it remains far above the average price levels it has seen since 1975, when it became freely ...

    Latest Stocks News

    Barrons.com - Apr 18, 2013

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    Why Utilities Beat Bonds for Income

    Utility stocks look pricey relative to earnings. But some are worth the premium, especially for nervous investors seeking income.The utility sector of the Standard & Poor's 500 index is up 15% this year, versus 10% for the broader ...

    • Barrons.com - Apr 16, 2013

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    5 Reasons a Crash Is Unlikely

    Monday's Boston bombing sent stock prices tumbling and has given investors a new reason to reconsider risk. The Standard & Poor's 500 index (ticker: SPY), a benchmark for U.S. stocks, is up 10% so far this year--as much as it has ...

    • WSJ.com - Apr 12, 2013

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    Are Commodities a Buy? Recent Price Drops Mean Time Could Be Ripe to Diversify

    Your investment portfolio already has stocks and bonds. Do you need to add commodities such as soybeans, copper and oil as well?Some experts argue that you should—and that this may be a good moment in which to make the move.

    • Barrons.com - Apr 13, 2013

  • Put Your Portfolio on a Diet

    As the U.S. stock market hits new highs, investors have been piling into the pantry and fridge for financial comfort food. Hormel Foods (ticker: HRL) and Campbell Soup (CPB) are up 30% apiece so far this year, General Mills (GIS) 22% and ...

    • WSJ.com - Apr 14, 2013

  • How Investing Dimes Can Beat Dollars

    If you have some money to invest in stocks, but you're worried you're late to the party now that both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index have hit new highs, Burton Malkiel, the renowned economist ...

    • WSJ.com - Apr 12, 2013

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    Dividend Stocks: Where to Find the Best Performers

    When it comes to dividends, more isn't always better: A company isn't necessarily more attractive just because it pays a higher dividend.That is the clear lesson I draw from the dividend-oriented newsletter with the best long-term record ...

    • Barrons.com - Apr 11, 2013

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    Falling Earnings Estimates? Not Here

    When Wall Street analysts raise their earnings estimates for a company, it's an excellent sign for stock investors. Studies show such good news tends to play out gradually, with one estimate boost being followed by others in coming weeks ...

    • Barrons.com - Apr 9, 2013

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    How to Beat the Bond Market

    Correction: A previous version of this story misspelled Jeffery Elswick's name.The era of easy, outsized bond returns is over.Today, bond investors should forget about price gains and instead seek to safely squeeze extra yield out of a ...

    • MarketWatch - Apr 9, 2013

  • The truth about Margaret Thatcher; Commentary: What the ‘Iron Lady’ meant for Britain

    Most of the people criticizing Margaret Thatcher, who died on Monday, have one thing in common: They never lived in Britain before she came on the scene to transform it.

    • WSJ.com - Apr 7, 2013

  • Jobs Fall, Stocks Stumble. Next Up? It's Earnings Time.

    A dismal jobs report sent the stock market tumbling on Friday, but the raging bulls came back before the close to turn a rout into a modest down day.

    • WSJ.com - Apr 5, 2013

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    Pay Off That Mortgage Now!

    Want to beat the Treasury market? Pay off your mortgage.Repaying a mortgage early offers, in essence, a risk-free return in the form of the interest saved. Nowadays anyone with a mortgage of 4% or 5% can earn more by repaying the loan than ...

    • MarketWatch - Apr 4, 2013

  • Mom and pop: The world’s worst investors; Commentary: They buy high, sell low, and the ending is predictable

    Oh, brother.I don’t know Mark Villa and Lucie White, a pair of doctors in Houston, Texas, who were featured in a big story in our sister publication, The Wall Street Journal, a few days ago.

    Latest Stocks News

    WSJ.com - Mar 31, 2013

  • Five Really Dumb Money Moves You've Got to Avoid

    You know the smartest things to do with your money. But what are the worst moves? What should you avoid?Weirdly enough, they are things that a surprising number of people are still doing—even though they probably know, in their heart of ...

    • Barrons.com - Mar 30, 2013

  • Buybacks That Companies and Investors Can Love

    Plenty of big companies are buying back gobs of their own stock, but only a handful are doing so in a way that gives a bullish signal for investors. Among them are WellPoint (ticker: WLP), Seagate Technology (STX), Western Union (WU), and ...

    • Barrons.com - Apr 2, 2013

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    A Chip Stock With 50% Upside

    Chip stocks have hit a rough patch, and Photronics (ticker: PLAB) is no exception.The Brookfield, Conn., company, valued at just $400 million, makes photomasks, or plates that allow light to shine through in patterns to create miniscule ...

    • WSJ.com - Mar 31, 2013

  • Quarterly Quota

    MarketBeat bloggers Paul Vigna and Steven Russolillo give their take on the biggest hits of the first quarter.

    • WSJ.com - Mar 29, 2013

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    Why Italy Looks Cheap

    You would have to be crazy to invest in the Italian stock market, right?After all, the country is plunged into yet another political crisis. It is struggling through its longest recession since World War II. Italy's national debts are among ...

    • Barrons.com - Mar 26, 2013

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    Investors Are in Good Hands with Insurance Stocks

    Sandy was the second-costliest hurricane in U.S. history, yet it didn't sink insurance stocks. In fact, since the end of October when the storm cleared Ace Limited (ticker: ACE) is up 13%, Travelers (TRV) 19% and Allstate (ALL) 23%, versus ...

    • Barrons.com - Mar 28, 2013

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    Mattress Firm's Shares Can Bounce Higher

    Shares of Mattress Firm Holding soared 12% Wednesday after the retailer raised its sales guidance. The retailer's stock looks likely to head higher still.

    • Barrons.com - Mar 23, 2013

  • A Rewarding Development

    America's high-tech companies are ramping up spending on research. That's a good sign for the country's competitiveness—and an opportunity for stock investors.

    • WSJ.com - Mar 22, 2013

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    Low-Quality Stocks Have Zoomed. Time to Shift Gears?

    "Junk" continues to beat "quality" on Wall Street. Nearly four years after the end of the recession of 2007-09, it should be the other way around.

    • WSJ.com - Mar 15, 2013

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    Stocks, Drugs, Rock 'n' Roll

    Looking for a new investing idea? Consider investing in ideas.Some investors are tapping the emerging field of intellectual property, which encompasses patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets, in hopes of finding better ...

    • Barrons.com - Mar 21, 2013

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    A Top-Notch High-Yield Fund

    "Cash is king." Well, not always.Conditions continue to be punishing for investors holding cash. Short-term Treasuries and bank deposits pay well less than 1%, while inflation has run at 2% over the past year. That means the cost of keeping ...

    • Barrons.com - Mar 19, 2013

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    3 Small Stocks With Big Upside

    Investors are hungry for dividends, and big U.S. companies are delivering. Payments among Standard & Poor's 500 members will hit a record high this year after 77 increases just last month. The portion of index members that pay ...

    Latest Stocks News

    Barrons.com - Mar 14, 2013

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    Boom or Bust for Netflix, Amazon.com and Salesforce.com?

    Some pricey dot-com stocks have slaughtered the bears that bet against them over the past five years. Shares of Salesforce.com (ticker: CRM), whose software helps companies manage customer interactions, have tripled. Amazon.com (AMZN) stock ...

    • Barrons.com - Mar 16, 2013

  • New Threat to Municipal Bonds: Lower State Taxes

    State finances are on the mend, presenting a new wrinkle for holders of tax-free municipal bonds: A handful of states are pushing to cut income-tax rates. That could cause their bonds to underperform in coming years by reducing local demand ...

    • Barrons.com - Mar 13, 2013

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    Cheap Stocks in a Rising Market

    With U.S. stocks trading near record highs, deep value investors would seem to face limited choices. Not so, says David Steinberg, managing partner at DLS Capital Management, a Chicago area investment firm overseeing $300 million.

    • WSJ.com - Mar 8, 2013

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    Looking for Buys in Real-Estate Stocks

    Real estate, which led stocks into the ravine, is helping to lead them out of it.Investors who bought the Vanguard REIT Index exchange-traded fund, which owns stocks that hold commercial properties, have seen their money rise about 19% ...

    • Barrons.com - Mar 9, 2013

  • Climb Aboard the Oil Train

    With North America producing more crude oil than its pipelines can carry, railroads are stepping in to transport the overflow to refineries that turn it into gasoline and other useful products. That should add to their profits for years—and ...

    • Barrons.com - Mar 7, 2013

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    14% -- The Most Important Number for Stocks

    Corporate profits have recently accounted for 14.2% of income generated in America -- a record high. The average since 1929 has been 10.1%. With stocks hitting new highs, the key to deciding whether prices are still attractive hinges on ...

    • WSJ.com - Mar 8, 2013

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    My Best Move; Stop Hedging Around; Hedge funds have amassed a record size of assets. If only their results were as impressive.

    THESE HAVEN'T BEEN the best of times for hedge-fund managers. In the past few years, the industry has been hit by embarrassing scandals, fund failures and, in many cases, disappointing returns. But people are still buying. They don't know ...

    • WSJ.com - Mar 1, 2013

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    Stocks for Thick and Thin

    Is it possible to find stocks that perform well in both up and down markets?You will need to think big and cheap.The search for this kind of holding is especially urgent now, as stocks flirt with record highs and worries of a new bear ...

    • Barrons.com - Mar 5, 2013

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    Eaton May Generate More Upside

    Eaton has been a stellar performer for shareholders, long-termers and newcomers alike. Over the past 15 years the stock has returned 8.8% a year, nearly twice as much as the Standard & Poor's 500 index. It has also done twice as well as ...

    • MarketWatch - Mar 5, 2013

  • Are speculators really driving up gasoline prices? Commentary: Why the Great Oil Conspiracy doesn’t quite add up

    Have you heard about the great conspiracy behind gasoline prices?Apparently, it’s the one that’s causing prices to skyrocket at the pumps. Gas is up about 50 cents so far this year, hitting an average of about $3.80 a gallon nationwide.

    • WSJ.com - Mar 4, 2013

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    Putting Stocks in Hock: Securities Are Backing for More Big Loans

    With loans still hard to come by, wealthy investors are embracing a somewhat surprising and potentially risky strategy: pawning their stocks and bonds.

    • Barrons.com - Mar 2, 2013

  • Shaking the Money Tree

    Dividends are becoming more important to total stock returns because companies are diverting a rising portion of their profits to them. Yield hunters should focus on companies with plenty of potential for payment growth. Good bets include ...

    Latest Stocks News

    WSJ.com - Mar 1, 2013

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    By Brett Arends; How to Play Investing's Wild Frontier

    Finding the real emerging markets can be tougher than it sounds.Most emerging-market funds are dominated by a handful of big stock markets, such as South Korea, China, Brazil and India. But some of the most interesting opportunities might ...

    • WSJ.com - Mar 3, 2013

  • Stocks Testing Records—But There's Still Room to Run

    The market is surmounting a wall of worries to approach all-time highs. The best news: There are reasons to think the good times will continue.

    • Barrons.com - Feb 26, 2013

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    Retail Takeover Targets

    Barnes & Noble announced Monday that it would consider a buyout offer from its chairman, Leonard Riggio (see "Just the First Chapter in a Barnes & Noble Bid?", Feb. 25). The book chain faces slipping sales but carries a beaten-down ...

    • Barrons.com - Feb 23, 2013

  • Duking It Out in Women's Handbags

    Coach and Michael Kors both turn posh handbags into lavish profits, but only one of the stocks lately has worn well. Michael Kors is up 45% over the past 12 months. Coach is down 37%.

    • WSJ.com - Feb 22, 2013

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    By Brett Arends; The Small-Cap Stock Trap

    If you think big-company stocks have risen a long way lately, you should look at small-company ones. They have been on a tear—raising questions of just how much risk investors are willing to take on in today's gung-ho market.

 
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