At What Point Does Your Life Stop Being Mommy and Daddy’s Fault?

Over at the Investing for Beginners site, I just published a blog explaining that the best investment is in yourself, as I have repeatedly said. This came as a result of a Wall Street Journal article that explained unemployment levels for college graduates, which is only 25% of the population, is still incredibly low. In [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Banks Brace for New Basel III Regulations

According to The Wall Street Journal and The Financial Times, regulators from 27 countries are meeting in Basel, Switzerland right now to hammer out tough new banking rules designed to prevent another catastrophic global meltdown like the one that occurred in 2008.  These new rules, called Basel III because these are the third incarnation of [...]

from Joshua Kennon

The Price of Happiness? Science Confirms It Is $75,000 Per Year

In a major peer-reviewed study from Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton from the Center for Health and Well-being at Princeton University, the great debate of psychology – can money buy happiness? – has finally been answered.  It turns out, it can up to a point.  This isn’t some quick news poll either, it is a [...]

from Joshua Kennon

How to Solve the Trade Deficit – Part IV

This is part of my special on How to Solve the Trade Deficit. You can read Part I, Part II, or Part III if you missed them. The Increased Competition for Jobs Is Domestic, As Well You mention that standards of living have fallen, despite gains in things like iPods with 25,000 songs and the [...]

from Joshua Kennon

One Very, Very Good Thing About the Financial Reform Bill That Just Passed Congress

I don’t care what anyone tells you, I want you to listen to me very, very carefully: Although I cannot give an opinion on the financial reform act that just passed Congress because I haven’t read it yet, I can say that the provision that requires all derivatives other than those used for “commercial purposes” [...]

from Joshua Kennon

We’ve Taken Sides in the Johnny Weir v. Evan Lysacek War

Around the office, we discuss weighty issues – recent Supreme Court cases, appropriate regulation of derivatives, pricing of complex options trades, etc.  For the past week, however, the water cooler talk has been the somewhat quasi-feud between Johnny Weir and Evan Lysacek. Unfortunately, I’ve gotten sucked in because as I’m reading Fortune and The Wall [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Working on the Book and Investing

  I decided to start working on the book again today (forgive the HP notebook; I had to use a specific program that required Windows so the MacBook Pro is elsewhere until I recall it). I ended up watching the Goldman Sachs testimony to Congress. The culture of Wall Street doesn’t appeal to me. All [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Department Store Sales Make Me Really Happy

Although I’m normally a Nordstrom’s guy myself, I have to say that after reading an article a few years ago (The Wall Street Journal or The Financial Times maybe?) about the vastly improved quality of department stores suits such as the J.C. Penny brand thanks to the use of expert tailors in Hong Kong for [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Would You Please Stop Blaming the Banks?

Everyone in the media is blaming the recession on the fact banks were willing to make bad loans.  Yes, they were.  And most of the stockholders of those institutions (re: the owners) have been wiped out, or effectively wiped out so the term “bail out” isn’t appropriate except for the idiots in the executive suite [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Our Value Investing Research Process for Stocks

A week or two ago, I wrote an article called Understanding Stock Repurchase Plans for About.com, a division of The New York Times, which discussed Sonic Restaurant and the massive stock buy back program that had taken place over the past few years. In it, I walked the readers through a lot of the math [...]

from Joshua Kennon

How One of My Family Members Used Shares of U.S. Bancorp to Build Substantial Wealth

A member of my close family has been using a technique to build substantial wealth that doesn’t require a high income or any specialized knowledge, extra work, or effort.  I was so impressed by the way he implemented this program, I thought I would share it with my other family and friends (as well as [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Rainbow Pancakes

I happened to be sitting at the dining room table, a cup of coffee in one hand, writing out plans for potentially launching a mutual fund this year (this time around, it’s a Parker Duofold rollerball in an amber check pattern from the recent shipment of fine writing instruments we received at Kennon Home Accessories [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Value Investing vs. Growth Investing

As you become a better and more experienced investor, you may hear a lot about value investing versus growth investing.  The true professionals know, in the words of Warren Buffett, that value investing and growth investing are joined at the hip because all investing in value investing.  The growth rate of a company is a [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Walter Schloss Value Investing Strategy

Walter Schloss, a legendary value investor who learned directly from Benjamin Graham, the father of value investing, never graduated from college and was hired as a runner on Wall Street in 1934, at the age of 18. Schloss enrolled in the New York Stock Exchange Institute, where he took courses from Benjamin Graham on how [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Benjamin Graham Value Investing Strategy

In addition to penning several of the most important value investing books in history, Benjamin Graham, the father of value investing, was one of the two partners in the Graham Newman Corporation, the investment fund through which he put money to work. It was at this firm that Warren Buffett worked early in his career, [...]

from Joshua Kennon

The Basics of Dollar Cost Averaging

Dollar cost averaging is an investing technique that can lower your risk, increase your profits, make market volatility less emotionally painful, and help put you on the road to financial independence.  When combined with asset allocation, it’s a nearly unstoppable force that can grow your wealth far beyond what you ever imagined.  This guide to dollar [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Video Game Sales Fall for 5th Straight Month and Wall Street Blames … the Recession?

According to an AP Article, sales of video games have plunged 29% year-over-year and Wall Street is concerned that it is proof the video game market isn’t as recession-resistant as everyone believed.  Seriously.  That’s the crap that’s coming out of these news rooms.  News flash: Look at the game release schedules.  Last year saw a [...]

from Joshua Kennon