David Allen

3 Stocks that Could Pay Out Larger Dividends

I sold my intersts in MSFT in 2000, and never looked back. MSFT is a mature company now, and does not deserve the title of "growth." That is why it has been dead in the water for 9 long long years!

10 Reasons to Believe That We're in a Depression

I nevedr heard anything so crazy in my life.


On Nov 19 11:52 AM Mad Hedge Fund Trader wrote:

> bdc I know what keeps Obama awake at night. Let’s say we spend our
> $2 trillion in stimulus and get a couple of quarters of weak growth.
> Then once the effects of the stimulus wear off, we slip back into
> a deep recession, setting up a classic “W.” Unemployment never does
> stop climbing. This happened to Roosevelt in the thirties. So congress
> passes another $2 trillion reflationary budget. Everybody gets wonderful
> new mass transit upgrades, alternative energy infrastructure, and
> bridges to nowhere. But with $4 trillion in spending packed into
> two years, inflation really takes off. The bond market collapses,
> the dollar tanks big time, gold goes ballistic to $5,000, and silver
> explodes to $50. Ben Bernanke has no choice but to engineer an interest
> rate spike, taking the Fed funds rate up to a Volkeresque 18%. Housing,
> having never recovered, drops by half again. This all happens in
> the 2012 election year. Obama is burned in effigy, a Mormon is elected
> president, and the Republicans, reinvigorated by new leadership,
> retake both houses of congress. We invade Iran. Crude hits $500.
> This is not exactly a low probability scenario. Remember Jimmy Carter?
> This is why junk bond yields are still stubbornly high at 12.5%,
> and credit default swaps live at lofty levels. Are the equity markets
> pricing in this possibility? No chance. The risk of Armageddon is
> still out there. Personally, I give it a one in three chance. Pass
> the Xanax.

Screening for Dividends

Paychex will have good upside and growth potential, as more and more businesses will find it cheaper to outsource their payroll and accounting to firms like Paychex and Automatic Data.

Big Tobacco Beware, the Next Big Story Stock Could Involve E-Cigarettes

Nicotine is a poison, used to control big huge tomato worms. Why anyone would want to inhale this stuff in their lungs is beyond me.

10 Dangerous Stocks to Avoid

You have to wonder about the analyst(s) who came up with this list. I have looked at several of the charts, and it appears that many buyers are acting on analysts silliness season. Or are the analysts looking for a buying opportunity and making silly sell recommendations in an effort to drive the price of the company down?

As History Repeats Itself, Time to Buy Gold and Silver

One great difference in 1930 and 2009: In 1930 the Smoot-Hauley Tariff Act became law, and then devastation reigned supreme in both the stock market and world trade.


On Mar 29 12:31 PM Bundee wrote:

> Expecting the market to tank in June 2009 because it tanked in June
> 1930 is really crystal ball predicting, but expecting the market
> to rise even a little in this environment is wishful thin king at
> best.
>
> Quote:
> Stock prices move in reaction to the current and perceived state
> of the economy and attractiveness of equity investments. Since you
> fail to explain how economic conditions and political reactions to
> those conditions today mirror what happened in 1930, this "analysis"
> - - which could be replicated by any 6 year old child - - is a complete
> waste of space.
>
> Hardly a waste of space if you look long and hard at what heppened
> then and now-
>
> 'perceived state of the economy and attractiveness of equity investments'
>
>
> 1930-Investors were hit financially when the bottom fell out of wall
> street and average investors lost millions.
>
> 2009-Investors were hit financially when the bottom fell out of wall
> street and average investors lost BILLIONs (401K's became 201K's).
>
>
> 1930- Investors were told 'the recovery is just around the corner,
> stocks have never been cheaper, buy now for the stock deal of a lifetime'
>
> and investors watched their stocks fall in value even further.<br/>
>
> 2009- Investors are being told 'the recovery is just around the corner,
> stocks have never been cheaper, buy now for the stock deal of a lifetime'
>
> We will see if stocks recover, but with a World Wide recession hammering
> investments, a return of stock prices to pre 2008 prices is unlikely.
>
>
> 1930- Investor confidence was devastated, wall street was looked
> upon as filled with racketeers, crooks, shysters, etc.. Trust in
> wall street and investment advisors was gone.
>
> 2009- Investor confidence has been devastated, wall street is looked
> upon as filled with racketeers, crooks, shysters, etc.. Trust in
> wall street and investment advisors is gone.
>
> 1930-Banks close due to bad investments they made.
>
> 2009 banks close due to bad investments they made.
>
> Considering the evidence, you can't really blame the author for saying
> that history tends to repeat, now can you?
>
> ..........
> On Mar 29 11:57 AM NYNapoleon wrote:

Cramer: Dow Could Drop Another 14%, Oil's Going to $50

My neighbor came over this morning. He reported that he had sold EVERYTHING! STOCKS, MUTUAL FUNDS . . . ALL! If that isn't capitulation and fin is, I'll put in with you. My guess is that this IS THE BOTTOM.

Sarah Palin: Wall Street's Candidate

I don't know what planet Swarz is from, but Wall Street's candidate? Wall Street has just give a resounding THUD! to Palin and McCain both.
Down 250 points this morning! That isd not what I call a vote of confidence.
Look for an Obama Landslide in November.

Apple's Biggest Rumor: iPod or Jobs?

Is Steve Jobs THAT indispensable? Give us a break. If Jobs did not have someone trained and under-studying him in case something happens, a trusted assistant, then he (Jobs) would be derelict in his duties.

What's So Special About RadioShack? - Barron's

The last time I was in a Radio Shack store was 5 years or so ago. My wife and I went there because she wanted a calculator, like my handy dandy Radio Shack Calculator, that requires no batteries.
"We don't have them anymore," sayeth the clerk. "Well, what do you have?" He showed me a calculator that required batteries. $20 or thereabouts. ok, I said, I'll take it. He proceeds to take out the batteries. "What the hell are yhou doing?" "The calculator doesn't come with batteries. They are extra." We went across the street to Fred Meyer and bought a Texas Instrument Calculator that requires NO batteries. COST: $8.95 PLUS TAX . . .Less than $10 total.

Apple's Interesting Challenge with Its Best Buy Deal

Microsoft thought it was going to kill Apple, but it didn't. I have been an owner of AAPL for five years. I use a PowerBook G4. So does my son. We both swear by Macs. If the market gets saturated with I-Phones, then Jobs will come up with something new, and more profitable.

Re-examining My American Capital Strategies Position

We sold our common shares of ACAS several weeks ago. Once I am past the 31 day IRS period, I will be looking to possibly establishing a long position again. However, the return on the price is "too good to be true." And if it's "too good to be true" well, it usually is.

Management has stated it's intention of paying $4 in dividends during CY 2008. No mention has been made of changing the dividend, or even continuing it in 2009. If I thought that the dividend would NOT change, I would hold onto ACAS. However, I have found other good dividend payers that are INCREASING in value, and may give me a better return. Not only that, ACAS provides me a dandy tax write-off.

Did Reagan End the Era of Free Markets?

Reagan's only agenda was to bust unions and make things rosy for Big Business and the big defense contractors. He de-regulated airlines and busted the PATCO Air Controllers Union. That made him a big hero to the union haters, and look at the mess the airlines are in now.