I still consider myself relatively young at 43, but I can tell you that the changes in the world I've seen during my lifetime are really incredible. Some of these changes have been good, while others are maybe not so good.
Investors certainly have never seen a time like this. We've got endless investment information at our fingertips - all just a click away. Doing research online sure beats going to the library to catch the latest versions of all the newspapers/magazines, doesn't it? Unfortunately for some, though, having split-second information has only pushed their investment timeline much closer than it should be.
People's desire for instant results has never been greater. The media has pretty much given up on the idea of long-term investing, opting exclusively to cater to day traders. Turn on CNBC at any given time during the day, and all you'll see are reports on stocks you NEED to know about at this very moment. In turn, the tendency for investors to overreact to news has also never been greater.
Companies, too, are facing increasing day-by-day scrutiny. Any little news byte is instantly broadcast across the traditional airwaves and the Internet. The pressure for management to react to every little gyration has grown significantly. Plus, we're seeing huge moves to the upside for the "next big thing" - and just as volatile moves to the downside when stocks suddenly fall out of favor. Just look Netflix and Groupon, two tech darlings that could do no wrong in the media's eyes for several years. Until, of course, their shaky business models were disrupted and the stocks plunged back down to reality.
Some investors simply won't adjust well to this period in history. Information overload can lead to "paralysis by analysis," with people afraid to make any moves with their money. I've seen this phenomenon affect some of my closest friends and family members. The "deer in headlights" effect applies not only to their investing, but also in their professional lives. All too many people are unwilling to adapt their skills to a changing job market. The result of this inability to change is almost always financial pain. Regression becomes inevitable. If you're not moving forward, you're falling behind.
It's always scary to think about a day when we might hit our peak financially or professionally. But I know this much: we can extend this peak much further out if we continue to learn. Be willing to change your way of thinking. Never get stuck in just one routine. And remember, hard work always pays off. My advice to people, both young and old alike, is to make your family and finances your main priorities. We have great technologies at our disposal that allow us to accomplish so many things in much less time. Plus, technology affords us the luxury of accessing entertainment options whenever is convenient for us. Focus on being as productive as possible, and use a DVR to record that TV show, movie, or sporting event. If you keep yourself busy with what's really important in life, I bet you'll realize you don't miss those entertainment options as much as you used to!
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And here's one last thing to remember about what we do here at Dividend.com. It's not just the names that we recommend that can help you build wealth, but also the things we try to steer you away from that are just as important. Forget about speculative or penny stocks, chasing unprofitable IPOs, and listening to the manic talking heads in the business media!
Thank you for sharing part of your weekend with me, and please be sure to pass this post on to anyone you think we can get inspired and educated about money, building wealth, and using common sense to do so.
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Fears over WMD as Syria violence escalates - Financial Times
Bank earnings rallies stock market to post weekly gains - Denver Post
NEW YORK —U.S. stocks rose sharply Friday, lifting the Dow industrials and S&P 500 into positive terrain for the week, as bank shares rallied after JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s second-quarter results.
"They are the single best bank, not only domestically but globally," said Chip Cobb, portfolio manager at BMT Asset Management in Bryn Mawr, Pa., referring to JPMorgan.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 203.82 points, or 1.6 percent, to 12,777.09. The index is up 0.04 percent from the July 6 close.
All but one of the Dow's 30 components rose Friday, led by JPMorgan Chase, up 6 percent after the nation's largest bank reported a $5 billion profit in the second quarter, which included a $5.8 billion trading loss on synthetic credit derivatives.
"Will they get this behind them? There is no doubt about it. But it is a black eye; they were viewed as above this," Cobb said of JPMorgan Chase's trading loss.
The sole blue-chip decliner, Hewlett-Packard Co. fell 1.9 percent after a JPMorgan analyst reiterated an underweight rating on shares of the maker of personal computers and printers.
Also erasing its weekly decline, the S&P 500 index climbed 22.01 points, or 1.7 percent, to 1,356.77, with finance companies pacing the gains that included all 10 of the index's sectors and left it up 0.2 percent from the July 6 finish.
Wells Fargo & Co. rallied 3.2 percent after reporting a 17 percent rise in profit. Phillips 66 advanced 5.9 percent after Warren Buffett said Berkshire Hathaway Inc. had invested in the refiner. The Nasdaq composite advanced 42.28 points, or 1.5 percent, to 2,908.47, off 1 percent for the week.
For every stock falling, five rose on the New York Stock Exchange, where nearly 683 million shares traded. Composite volume neared 3.2 billion.
Friday's rally — Wall Street's best session of the month — halted a six-session losing stretch for the Dow industrials and S&P 500, and a five-day down run for the Nasdaq.
Crude-oil futures added $1.02 to $87.10 a barrel, up 3.1 percent for the week. Gold futures rose 1.7 percent to close at $1,592 an ounce, with the metal up 1.7 percent from the week-ago close. The dollar fell against other currencies.
Money does grow on Brees - News-Star
In the end, getting Drew Brees for $100 million over five years is a steal for the New Orleans Saints.
Considering how much money the Saints have blown over the years both long ago and last year on bad free agents and draft picks, throwing the most money in the history of the NFL at one sure thing makes better fiscal sense than this club is used to displaying.
The Saints had the highest NFL payroll in 2003, partly because of free agent bust Tebucky Jones, and they finished 8-8 and out of the playoffs.
And while there is a salary cap, it is not like Saints owner Tom Benson is hurting for money. After bilking the state for $187 million of "inducements" for the first 10 years of this century so he could "make ends meet" with the Saints, he managed to save enough to buy the New Orleans Hornets of the NBA recently for $338 million.
So when you're not exactly spending your own money, giving Brees an NFL record $60 million in guaranteed money is no risk at all.
Brees is the second most accurate passer in NFL history. Since 2006, no NFL quarterback has been better. In 2011, he threw for more yards than any quarterback in the history of the game with 5,476. He also averaged more yards passing a game than any quarterback in NFL history with 342. He broke six NFL records in all last year.
Next year, he will likely break one of the oldest and greatest records in NFL history. From 1956-60, Johnny Unitas threw a touchdown in 47 consecutive games. Brees is at 43.
No quarterback has been healthier. No quarterback has meant more to his city a city he lives in the heart of just off St. Charles Avenue.
A lot of quarterbacks have won Super Bowls. But how many have won one of those and beat a hurricane? It was a come-from-behind victory, but he helped lead the way.
And few elite rock star athletes like Andrew Christopher Brees are as real, as humble and as pure.
Friday the 13th was the Saints' lucky day. The franchise came to terms with their namesake. They will sign their Saint. Count your blessings boys. You can keep adding up the yards, the touchdowns and the wins. Brees-us will be back at the pulpit walking on canals and turning water into beer.
"Congratulations are in order for our organization, our city, Drew and (wife) Brittany and certainly for (general manager) Mickey Loomis and his staff for all the hard work put in to make this possible," Saints owner Tom Benson said in a release. "Now we must turn our focus to getting ready for the start of training camp and to keeping with our goal of being the first team in NFL history to host and play in a Super Bowl."
Well, yeah, but you might also need to locate interim head coach No. 2 since interim head coach No. 1 Joe Vitt will go on suspension for the first six games of the season for his dishonest role in the bounty scandal that landed head coach Sean Payton in exile for a year.
And after former FBI director Louis Freeh gets finished looking into wiretapping accusations concerning Loomis and Loomis' role in the bounty scandal, Benson may be looking for a new general manager as well with Loomis' biggest assignment now done. The phasing out of Loomis may have already begun as Benson has already said Loomis will be involved with running his new NBA team.
But forget coaching vacancies and general mis-managers, Brees could probably be the NFL's first player-coach-general manager in history if he really wanted to do so. He directed the Saints' off-season, players-only workouts last year during the lockout. He has a degree from Purdue in industrial management and attended the Stanford Graduate School of Business for NFL business management and entrepreneurship in 2008.
As troubled as the Saints have been off the field, perhaps only Brees can make things better.
"To have some positive news is exactly what we needed," Saints wide receiver Lance Moore said.
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