Author Archive: Jeff Reeves

There’s a famous experiment called “the marshmallow test.” In it, scientists give little kids a marshmallow along with a choice: Eat the treat immediately, or wait 15 minutes to get a SECOND marshmallow to snack on.

The test has been repeated several times over the years, and the results are pretty simple: Kids who delay their gratification for bigger rewards are typically more successful and more well-adjusted in the long run.

And let’s face it, we all know kids who wouldn’t even listen to the instructions and simply stuff that marshmallow in their face as soon as the adult leaves the room.… Read more

Personally, I am not a fan of Beyond Meat or any of those fake burgers that are out there. But after a recent trip to the grocery store to buy provisions for a backyard barbecue… the sticker shock alone may turn me into a believer. Ground beef is now up to more than $5 a pound!

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Many folks are getting used to paying more amid the red-hot inflation we’re seeing across gasoline, groceries, and just about everything else.

But I am a cheapskate at heart, who refuses to pay more than I have to for anything.… Read more

If you’re looking for reasons to toss and turn at night, there seem to be plenty these days…

Ever-rising prices and ever-shrinking inventories of key goods, from energy commodities to microchips.

The first period of tighter monetary policy in the US in over two decades.

A bloodbath for some of the biggest names in tech, as evidenced by the latest tailspin for Netflix just a few days ago.

There’s an old saying that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, yet expecting different results. But many investors seem to be doing just that, fighting this difficult environment with the same old tech stocks like Netflix and the same old index funds that are bleeding red ink in 2022.… Read more

I was talking with an old college buddy the other day, and he was lamenting his recent investment performance. Up until a few years ago, he could do no wrong chasing the latest hot trade in small-cap biotech stocks.

We’re not talking beer money winnings, either. We’re talking life-changing money. My friend’s best trade to date was buying 5,000 shares of Pacific Biosciences (PACB) in the early days of the pandemic at $3.50 a share …. then selling half of it at around $35 a share last year!

That’s $70,000 in profits in less than two years.

On one trade.

Of course, things have been much harder for him in 2022.… Read more

I was doing some investment research yesterday, and found myself sifting through a list of the best-performing investments of the 2022 so far. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they’re all incredibly aggressive instruments – arcane cryptocurrencies, 3X leveraged oil ETFs and the like – that rely on luck as much as anything else.

Anyone looking for proof that past performance is no guarantee of future returns, look no further than that list.

A single Millennial with just a few thousand bucks in their account may not be afraid of these incredibly risky bets. But that’s just because they haven’t learned their lessons yet.  Veteran investors know that for every trade generating instant gains … there are hundreds of others that cause instant regret.… Read more

Inflation is a portfolio killer for fixed income investors. And in 2022, with surging prices on gas and electricity and food, many folks are feeling the pain.

According to the latest data, price inflation in the U.S. hit another four-decade high in February as prices surged 7.9% compared with the prior year. And since that’s February data, before global Russian sanctions came down hard and disrupted commodity markets further, that’s a very bleak sign indeed.

What’s more, once-loved dividend darlings like Energizer Holdings (ENR), Clorox (CLX) and Ford (F) are all down 20% or more so far this year – while long-term bond funds like the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) are down 10% or more since Jan.… Read more

Sir John Templeton and his 16 rules for investment success are required reading for any serious investor. And amid the volatility lately, I’ve been thinking a lot on one of these rules in particular:

“The investor who says, ‘This time is different,’ when in fact it’s virtually a repeat of an earlier situation, has uttered among the four most costly words in the annals of investing.”

Yes, it feels like the Russian invasion of Ukraine has opened a new chapter in geopolitics. And yes, it feels like we are on the cusp of something big with inflationary pressures, the threat of higher interest rates and other disruptions.… Read more

It’s not a particularly great environment for investing lately, that’s for sure. The market is churning amid unrest in Ukraine. The rate of inflation is the highest since 1982. And the Fed has signaled an interest rate hike is all but certain.

But you may be surprised to learn there are plenty of dividend stocks that aren’t just surviving right now, but thriving. This elite group of “hidden gems” is enjoying rising share prices even as they offer up dividends twice as big as their peers.

These aren’t the usual suspects, of course. Because in 2022, the old rules of investing simply don’t apply.… Read more