The market continues its downward trend. The U.S. Federal Reserve is raising interest rates in response to high inflation. Consequently, investors are selling because they fear high-interest rates will cause a recession. Adding to investors’ negative sentiment are record drought in many places in the world and the War in Ukraine. On the other hand, the...
You wouldn’t know it from walking around the local grocery store, but rising food prices and inflation shows signs of easing. According to recent United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization data, the Food Price Index just fell for the 6th month in a row. It averaged 136.3 points last month – down 1.1% from August. That’s the good news. The bad news...
Cars are expensive to own and drive. However, it is almost impossible to live without one except in some places, like New York City (NYC), Washington, D.C., or Chicago, where public transport is extensive. The average cost of car repairs is approximately $500 to $600. This value probably goes up annually. Furthermore, an unexpected car repair...
Companies Have Pricing Power Consumers continue to be exasperated by high inflation. The causes include high fiscal and monetary stimulus to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, record drought, the War in Ukraine, supply chain disruptions, and excessive pandemic lockdowns in China. The United States Federal Reserve is trying to lower inflation by removing stimulus and increasing borrowing...
Some small investors following a dividend growth strategy prefer investing directly in stocks. The advantages of dividend growth investing are many. But other investors do not want to invest directly in stocks and prefer investing in exchange-traded funds (ETFs). However, it is possible to own dividend growth stocks by purchasing ETFs. We discuss the best dividend growth ETFs for...
Cars are expensive to own and drive. However, it is almost impossible to live without one except in some places, like New York City (NYC), Washington, D.C., or Chicago, where public transport is extensive. The average cost of car repairs is approximately $500 to $600. This value probably goes up annually. Furthermore, an unexpected car repair...
The overall Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) sector has been down a lot year to date. For example, the office sector has been down ~21.9% since the start of 2022. The REIT Industrial sector is down ~18% year to date. This decline provides long-term investors with some opportunities in the real estate sector. Federal Realty...
What is a Dividend? Dividends are usually cash payments to shareholders from a company’s profits. Companies pay dividends from their profits as a return to shareholders. However, companies do not pay all their earnings per share as a dividend. Therefore, a measure of dividend safety is the dividend payout ratio and an investors should understand how...
To Buy or Not to Buy To buy or not to buy is the question. On the one hand, investors must invest for the long term. To quote Warren Buffett, “Do not take yearly results too seriously. Instead, focus on four or five-year averages.” It makes sense, and the S&P 500 Index’s 5-year returns are still...
A net lease real estate investment trust (REIT) purchases, develops, and owns commercial real estate and rents it to tenants under a net lease agreement. The term usually refers to triple net lease (NNN) structures. But it can refer to other net lease structures too. Not all REITs invest in net lease properties. Instead, REITs usually focus...