stock prices

Some investors rely on technical analysis (or chart reading) when they’re picking stocks. That’s because relying on charts seems much simpler

Boyd Group Income Fund, $11.85, symbol BYD.UN on Toronto (Units outstanding: 10.8 million; Market cap: $123.9 million; www.boydgroup.com), operates 66 auto-collision repair centres in western Canada and 13 U.S. states. These shops operate under a number of banners, including Boyd Autobody & Glass, Gerber Collision & Glass, True2Form and Cars Collision Center. Boyd Group is growing rapidly by acquiring small, independent shops. It’s now the largest collision-repair shop operator in North America by number of locations and annual sales. Growth by acquisition is riskier than internal growth for a variety of reasons, but they all grow out of the fact that acquisitions carry an above-average chance of unpleasant surprises. When you buy just about anything, you rarely know as much about it as the seller. If a company makes enough acquisitions, it is bound to buy some with hidden or unforeseen problems....

Many investors are pessimistic about today’s market outlook, due to economic concerns. They feel we are headed for a new dip in economic activity – the second part of the widely predicted “double dip” recession. I see a renewed economic slide as a possibility, as it always is. But I don’t expect to see it happen. My view is that the economy is stagnating because of uncertainty over the outlook for tax increases, regulatory changes and so on. Once that uncertainty clears up, I expect a new rise in the market. In the meantime, we may see a further drop in stock prices. If so, I think it will end by sometime this fall. I strongly doubt that it will turn into anything like the market plunge of 2008-2009. Of course, I could be wrong – this, too, is a constant possibility. However, rather than focus on vague worries about the economy, investors are far better off basing their investment decisions on facts....

One of the things that investors of all ages fear is that their retirement investing won’t generate enough income once they’ve stopped working. Addressing this concern is often a high priority for many clients of our Successful Investor Wealth Management service. The best overall retirement investing plan is to start saving as early in your working career as possible, and to invest a steady or rising amount of money in the stock market every year. Following this plan, you automatically profit from dollar-cost averaging. You’ll automatically buy more shares when prices are low, and fewer shares when prices are high....

Siemens AG (ADR), $138.23, symbol SI on New York (Shares outstanding: 873.8 million; Market cap: $120.8 billion; www.siemens.com) is a German company that makes a wide variety of products, including power-generation systems and products that help industrial clients automate certain functions. Its health-care division makes products that range from hearing aids to diagnostic lab tests and medical-imaging devices. The company also operates an insurance business. Siemens is one of the biggest suppliers in the alternative energy generation market, with a presence in both wind and nuclear. It has a joint venture with Nokia to supply networking equipment. Siemens trades at just 14 times its latest 12-months earnings, and yields 2.7%....

Some investors think by focusing our portfolio management strategy on stocks, and staying out of bonds and fixed-return investments, we’re missing out on bonds’ ability to lower portfolio volatility.

It’s true that bonds do tend to reduce your portfolio’s volatility, since they tend to rise when stock prices fall....

If you’ve been following our TSINetwork.ca Daily Updates, or subscribe to one or more of our newsletters and investment services, you’re likely familiar with our three-part investment advice. A key part of that advice is to invest mainly in well-established dividend-paying stocks. (The other two parts are to downplay stocks in the broker/media limelight and spread your money across the five main economic sectors: Manufacturing & Industry; Resources & Commodities; Consumer; Finance; and Utilities.) With today’s low interest rates, investors are paying more attention to dividend yields (a company’s total annual dividends paid per share divided by the current stock price). Dividend paying stocks are responding by doing their best to maintain, or even increase, their payouts....

Every Wednesday, we publish our “Investor Toolkit” series on TSI Network. Whether you’re a new or experienced investor, these weekly updates are designed to give you specific investment advice. Each Investor Toolkit update gives you a fundamental piece of investing strategy, and shows you how you can put it into practice right away. Today’s tip: “Base your investing strategy on these 3 good investor attitudes.” To succeed as an investor, you need to cultivate three personal mental strengths:...

When a company splits its shares, it is simply cutting itself up into a different number of pieces, without changing its fundamental value. It simply wants its stock to trade in a price-per-share range that seems reasonable to investors. Mechanics of a split: If a stock’s price rises much beyond $50 a share in Canada (or $100 a share in the U.S.), some investors may shun it, since it seems expensive. The company’s management may then declare a stock split of, say, two-for-one. This turns one “old” share into two “new” shares. If you owned 100 shares of a $60 stock, you now own 200 shares of a $30 stock. You don’t need to take any action. After a conventional stock split, good news often follows. Companies mainly split their shares when they want to draw attention to themselves — because they expect earnings to rise faster than normal, say. At such times, they may also raise their dividends. However, sometimes companies get overly optimistic. Their profits come in far below expectations, and they can’t keep paying the new, higher dividend. So a stock split can be good or bad, depending on the details....