Investing
When I talk to parents of young children, they are often touched by the generosity of their families and friends when it comes to gifts for their children. They often say they’re up to their ears in toys and don’t know what they’ll do when the next birthday or holiday comes around. Here are some gifts you can give to young children and teens in your life to set them up for financial success in the future. Young Children Young children have the advantage of time on their side but an inability to comprehend or manage money on their own.…
On 2/5/25, Schlumberger will trade ex-dividend, for its quarterly dividend of $0.285, payable on 4/3/25. As a percentage of SLB’s recent stock price of $40.28, this dividend works out to approximately 0.71%, so look for shares of Schlumberger Ltd to trade 0.71% lower — all else being equal — when SLB shares open for trading on 2/5/25. 10 Stocks Going Ex-Dividend » Below is a dividend history chart for SLB, showing historical dividends prior to the most recent $0.285 declared by Schlumberger: In general, dividends are not always predictable; but looking at the history above can help in judging whether…
Last year, momentum stocks were up 46%, growth stocks 36% and value stocks only 12%. As a long-time value investor, I find those figures (from S&P Dow Jones Indices) discouraging, yet also instructive. Let’s define our terms: Momentum stocks are rising in price faster than the overall market. Growth stocks display rapidly rising earnings. Value stocks are cheap relative to a measure of intrinsic worth, such as the company’s earnings. If you believe in the value style, you might want to seek out stocks that show both value and momentum. Here are five stocks that in my judgment display both.…
This week’s AI panic has opened up a rare bargain window in big tech names that were disposed of with the DeepSeek bathwater. Nosebleed Nvidia (NVDA) is a “stay away.” But there are tech dividends worth exploring, with some paying us up to 13% a year. Investors have been herded into the same AI and technology names that have been at the forefront for years, and—shockingly—those shares have largely been priced for perfection. Chinese AI upstart DeepSeek has shown that deep pockets are not needed to build smart AI models. This should have come as no surprise, as China is…
Biotech investing can be tricky. Often, the drugs that these fledgling companies produce don’t pan out, and shareholders take a drubbing. But at OSE Immunotherapeutics, which aims to prevent cancers via vaccines, the news is encouraging. The French company recently announced that it has launched a global Phase 3 trial for its cancer vaccine, Tedopi, which is taking place in the U.S., United Kingdom, Canada and Europe. The trial brings OSE a step closer to regulatory approval for cancer immunization treatment. (There are four phases in the approval process.) OSE in April secured a $9.3 public funding for Tedopi. Meanwhile,…
The Trump election and inauguration effects on Trump Media’s stock appear to be over. So now Trump Media’s business activities and results take on more importance. By the end of February, the company will furnish its 2024 annual report. Besides the revenues, earnings, cash flow, and other material information, investors should expect fulsome descriptions of management’s views, strategies, and outlooks. However, management has provided little such information in the past quarterly reports. That absence makes the coming annual report especially important. Will it finally reveal actual growth results? One possible potential indicator of the answer is the stock’s performance -…
BlackRock is making changes to some of its highest-yielding funds. Today we’re going to zero in on a 13%-yielder that’s at the center of the action: the tech-focused BlackRock Innovation and Growth Term Trust (BIGZ). Yes, the fund focused on tech. So the pullback in American AI stocks on news that Chinese AI chatbot DeepSeek, which was launched earlier this month, can rival the latest version of Open AI’s ChatGPT, factors in here, too. BIGZ is a closed-end fund (CEF) with nearly $2 billion in assets under management—enormous for a CEF (The “BIG” is right in the ticker, after all).…
PIMCO recently cut the dividends of two of its popular closed-end funds (CEFs). Shareholders took a bath and, honestly, none of this was a surprise to us careful contrarians. The payout cuts themselves were not the reason for the bludgeoning. PIMCO Strategic Income Fund (RCS) reduced by 22% but still yields 7.4%. PCM Fund (PCM) cut by 20% yet it pays 11.5% post-chop. Yet shareholders down 13% and 12% respectively in the past month are now searching for meaning in their empty dividend lives. Fast double-digit losses are obviously not what these income-hopeful investors signed up for. Alas, hope is…
On February 1, 2025, the United States is set to impose tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico. President Donald Trump has justified this move as a strategy to address three key issues: curbing illegal immigration, reducing fentanyl trafficking, and correcting trade imbalances with these neighboring countries while at the same time restoring U.S. manufacturing prowess. The truth is that we won’t know the potential impact of tariffs on all parties until we know the policy. Even then, the future policy could change at a moment’s notice. The current base case is for a universal import tariff of 25% that…
The data and calculations for this article are stated as of 1/28/25. This year has started with a new presidential administration and a feeling of optimism on Wall Street. Last year was a rewarding one for investors. In fact, President Biden’s full term saw the S&P 500 rise 56%. While this was not as strong as President Trump’s first term, it was better than President Obama’s second term and the long-term average. On the table below are key U.S. equity index returns during each presidential term from 1900–2025. This is using the start date as the day of the incoming…
In trading on Thursday, shares of LyondellBasell Industries were yielding above the 7% mark based on its quarterly dividend (annualized to $5.36), with the stock changing hands as low as $74.35 on the day. Dividends are particularly important for investors to consider, because historically speaking dividends have provided a considerable share of the stock market’s total return. To illustrate, suppose for example you purchased shares of the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) back on 12/31/1999 — you would have paid $146.88 per share. Fast forward to 12/31/2012 and each share was worth $142.41 on that date, a decrease of $4.67/share over…
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