How To Invest

In addition, Pat thinks then beginner investors should cultivate two important qualities: a healthy sense of skepticism and patience.

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Investors should approach all investments with a healthy sense of skepticism. This can help keep you out of fraudulent stocks that masquerade as high-quality stocks. It will also keep you out of legally operated, but poorly managed, companies that promise more than they can possibly deliver.

If you are a new investor, you should also realize that losing patience can cause you to sell your best choices right before a big rise. All too often, investors buy a promising stock just as it enters a period of price stagnation. Even the best-performing stocks run into these unpredictable phases from time to time. They move mainly sideways in a wide range for months or years before their next big rise begins. (Stock brokers often refer to these stocks as “dead money.”)

If you lack patience, you run a big risk of selling your best choices in the midst of one of these phases, prior to the next big move upward. If you lose patience and sell, you are particularly likely to do so in the low end of the trading range, when stock prices have weakened and confidence in the stock has waned.

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How To Invest Library Archives
J.P. MORGAN CHASE & CO., $200.30, New York symbol JPM, is a buy.

Morgan is the largest banking firm in the U.S., with total assets of $3.89 trillion as of December 31, 2023.

With the April 2024 payment, Morgan will increase your quarterly dividend by 9.5%, to $1.15 a share from $1.05....
GARMIN LTD., $148.87, is a buy. The company (symbol GRMN on Nasdaq) makes GPS devices and software for five different markets: fitness, outdoors, auto, aviation, and marine.

As part of its marketing efforts, Garmin forms a Marine Team of professional anglers each year....
MCDONALD’S CORP., $281.95, New York symbol MCD, is your #1 Conservative Buy for 2024.

The company is the world’s largest fast-food chain with over 40,000 restaurants in 119 countries. It serves a wide variety of food but is best known for its hamburgers and french fries.

McDonald’s has formed a new, exclusive alliance with Krispy Kreme Inc....
ROYAL BANK OF CANADA, $136.62, Toronto symbol RY, is a buy.

The bank expects to complete its $13.5-billion purchase of the Canadian operations of U.K.-based HSBC Holdings plc (New York symbol HSBC) next week. To put that amount in context, Royal’s market cap (the total value of all outstanding shares) is $191.1 billion.

HSBC operates 130 branches that mainly cater to businesses in industries that trade and bank internationally....
A: Pacer U.S. Cash Cows 100 ETF, $57.17, symbol COWZ on the CBOE (Units outstanding: 386.5 million; Market cap: $22.1 billion; www.paceretfs.com) aims to provide capital appreciation over time by picking and holding the top 100 companies of the Russell 1000 based on free cash flow yield.

Pacer defines free cash flow as the cash remaining after a company has paid expenses, interest, taxes, and long-term investments....
Loblaw has come under fire in the past few months from politicians and consumer advocates complaining that it earned “excessive profits” during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the threats of new taxes and rules on how food sellers operate, the stock has gained an impressive 31% in the past year compared to the 13% rise for the S&P/TSX Composite Index....
SAVARIA CORP., $16.81, symbol SIS on Toronto, designs and builds mobility products for consumers. These include home elevators, commercial lifts, stairlifts, ceiling lifts, and adapted vehicles. The business has manufacturing facilities in North America, Europe, Mexico and China....
CHIPOTLE MEXICAN GRILL INC., $2,882.04, is a buy. The stock (symbol CMG on New York) lets you tap this Mexican restaurant chain, headquartered in Denver. The company is a fast-food leader charging slightly higher prices than its competitors but offering better quality food, including naturally raised meat.

Chipotle now plans to split its stock on a 50-for-one basis....
ARCHER DANIELS MIDLAND CO., $62.00, New York symbol ADM, is still a hold.

The company processes corn, wheat, soybeans, flax seed and other crops into a variety of food ingredients such as flour, oils and sweeteners. It’s also a leading producer of ethanol from corn, a gasoline additive that reduces harmful emissions.

With the February 2024, payment, Archer raised your quarterly dividend by 11.1%, to $0.50 a share from $0.45....
FEDEX CORP., $284.32, New York symbol FDX, remains a buy.

The company delivers packages in the U.S. and 220 other countries.

The stock rose 13% this week after FedEx reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings (excluding unusual items)....