An acquaintance who lives in a suburb of Philadelphia remembers the day in August 2021 when the first Amazon Fresh store opened in Pennsylvania, sporting the company’s bright, modern graphic signage. In the seven miles between the town where he lived and the new Amazon Fresh, there were four major grocery chain outlets (Acme, Weis, Giant, and Wegmans) plus a Target and a locally owned produce store with wholesale prices for bulk fruits and vegetables. Less than a mile beyond Fresh was a BJ’s Wholesale Club with its deep-discounted gas, a full-scale Walmart, and an Aldi’s. The hype for Amazon…

Earnings season and economic news got you feeling flipped upside down? Throw in the latest GDP data and the Fed’s newly cautious approach to rate cuts moving forward, and it’s enough datapoints to make your head spin. Looking for ideas you can trust during earnings season? I’ve got you covered. My firm cuts through the cheerleading and hype from the media and Wall Street. I dig past the headiness with the first and best AI for investing. My firm’s proven-superior Stock Ratings find undervalued gems even in a market filled with overvalued stocks. There are not many good stocks left…

Hewlett Packard Enterprise has been named as a Top 25 dividend stock, according the most recent Dividend Channel ‘’DividendRank’’ report. The report noted that among the coverage universe, HPE shares displayed both attractive valuation metrics and strong profitability metrics. The report also cited the strong quarterly dividend history at Hewlett Packard Enterprise , and favorable long-term multi-year growth rates in key fundamental data points. The Top 25 DividendRank’ed Stocks » The report stated, ”Dividend investors approaching investing from a value standpoint are generally most interested in researching the strongest most profitable companies, that also happen to be trading at an…

Trump’s tariffs have become a flashpoint of controversy as opposing sides battle it out. Is Trump leading the U.S. into an economic dark age? While that may be the message from Democrats, Republicans are singing a very different tune. Who is correct? What’s really going on? Trump’s Tariffs: Why Now? Trump ran on a platform of reducing the size and scope of the federal bureaucracy. Most understand that Congress needs to reduce its spending, and that the U.S. cannot thrive economically if Washington continues to run massive budget deficits ($1.8 trillion in fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2024). In addition…

In a recent meeting with clients, I used my reverse DCF model to quantify the future revenue and cash flow expectations in Spotify (SPOT) at $622 per share. The results astounded me, and I think they will astound you. The point of this report is to show you how to identify a stock that has likely seen its best days; so you can avoid losing money and start looking for stocks that will make you money. First, let me show you how much downside risk is in a stock as hyped up as Spotify. Expectations Investing Analysis on SPOT As…

In what amounts to a master class on high-stakes negotiation strategy, President Donald Trump’s first several weeks back in office have transformed global diplomacy into a public boardroom. With characteristic directness, he has positioned himself as America’s Chief Executive Officer, wielding executive authority with the singular focus of a corporate turnaround specialist. His administration’s approach mirrors that of a Fortune 500 CEO—prioritizing the satisfaction of customers (citizens) while delivering returns to shareholders (taxpayers). Through decisive action on international trade and security matters, Trump has articulated a coherent philosophy: America achieves peace and prosperity only through military strength and economic markets…

Europe’s plan to save its automotive industry allowed some CO2 relief for manufacturers but the EU’s decision to retain the 2035 ban on new combustion powered vehicle sales spurred criticism from some politicians and carmakers. The EU Commission published its Strategic Dialogue Wednesday, designed to rescue an industry struggling to meet mandated electric vehicle sales, and likely to flounder under the assault from Chinese EVs. For 2024, the EU mandated a target of 22% market share for EVs and plug-in hybrids, but it slid to 19.6%, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA). EV’s accounted for 13.6%. The target…

Job cuts are a little over 172,000 for February according to the Challenger Report, which tracks announced layoffs. Government job losses are a about a third of the total. That’s the highest overall level of layoffs for February since the financial crisis in 2009, though job losses in January were more typical. Overall, February tracked job cuts are estimated to be double the prior year. Within that are 62,000 government layoffs. Government layoffs are a leading contributor to spiking job losses, but retail and technology are seeing notably increasing layoffs, too, according to the Challenger report. Why Government Job Losses…

Question: Why are there so many mutual funds? Answer: Mutual fund management is profitable, so Wall Street creates more products to sell. The large number of mutual funds has little to do with serving your best interests as an investor. I leverage my firm’s data to identify two red flags you can use to avoid the worst mutual funds: 1. High Fees Mutual funds should be cheap, but not all of them are. The first step is to benchmark what cheap means. To ensure you are paying at or below average fees, invest only in mutual funds with total annual…

Uncertainty appears to be the theme of 2025. From tariffs to geopolitics, we have a nonstop flow of news that has vanilla investors quite rattled. CNN’s Fear and Greed Index dipped back into the Extreme Fear zone earlier this week. Markets don’t like ambiguity. But that does not mean that we income investors need to sell everything. Heck, or anything! This is a split stock market and we contrarians are rolling with the dividend victors. The bifurcated financial landscape is not news to us. We discussed the likelihood of major “winners and losers” in Trump 2.0 immediately after the November…