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One swallow does not make a summer, but one skein of geese, cleaving the murk of March thaw, is the Spring.
Aldo Leopold Categories
Category Archives: Opinion
Top 10 Articles of 2012
2012 was certainly an eventful year politically, economically, and even here at Zions Direct. Subscribers to the weekly newsletter received an improved, redesigned e-mail that we hope will enhance the reading experience. Read More
The Value of Being a Well-educated Investor
The following interview with W. David Hemingway, Senior Investment Officer of Zions Bancorporation and Chairman of the Board for Zions Direct, examines the value of financial education for the contemporary investor. Read More
Heard Off The Street: Deconstructing the World of Warren Buffett
In a recent paper, Andrea Frazzini, David Kabiller and Lasse H. Pederson deconstruct the returns of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway and, along the way, remind, us of some important rules for long term investment success. Read More
Heard Off The Street “Robbing Peter to Pay Paul”
Heard Off the Street, Video Edition: this version of Heard Off the Street gives additional information and insight to financial conditions of the U.S. economy.
This week’s issue is entitled ‘Robbing Peter to Pay Paul’. Read More
Heard Off The Street: Dealing with Dividends
Dividends really captured headlines last year as dividend-paying companies outperformed non-dividend-paying companies. In fact, the 100 highest dividend-yielding (dividends divided by price) companies in the S&P 500 Index, were up almost 9% last year versus the overall index’s 2% gain.. Read More
Heard Off The Street: Warren Buffett Invests Like A Girl – Should You?
“Warren Buffett invests like a girl,” claims author LouAnn Lofton in a 2011 book entitled – not surprisingly – Warren Buffett Invests Like a Girl. Brad Barber of the University of California, Davis, and Terrance Odean of UC Berkeley surveyed 35,000 self-directed accounts. Read More
Top Articles of 2011
The year 2011 afforded many opportunities to examine and provide commentary on some pertinent – and at times divisive – issues in the realm of personal finance. The last twelve months have been tumultuous in the financial world. Read More
2011 Cartoons in Review
Curious about the wisdom of the Think cartoon readers crowd? Below are the top ten cartoons this year by votes cast. Following this list, even knowing the risks of personally picking cartoons, I have included a handful of cartoons that garnered an “Honorable Mention”.
Heard Off The Street: Real Assets – Private or Public?
Investor interest in “real assets” has risen relentlessly during the financial crisis and its aftermath. By real assets we mean claims on the value of tangible items such as timber, oil, soybeans, copper and the like (as well as the companies that own them) or claims on changes in the value of inflation-linked assets (such as Treasury inflation-protected securities, or TIPS). Read More
Heard Off the Street: A Return to Normalcy … Relatively Speaking
Over the last few weeks, we have started to think that things might work out better here in the US than most people currently expect. This brighter future would emerge from the confluence of two unrelated, but equally important, developments. Read More
Heard Off the Street: Mortgage Forgiveness – And an Unexpected Silver Lining
The drumbeat for a wholesale write-down of mortgage principal is getting louder. Somewhere between 20 percent and 30 percent of US mortgage holders are underwater. Many will default, leaving their homes to be dumped on the market in foreclosure sales. Read More
Heard Off The Street: What’s Up?
The most widely used emerging market stock index is the MSCI EM Index. For the 12 months ended in September 2011, this index returned ‐16% in dollar terms. Over that same period, the S&P 500 returned +4%. Read More
Market’s down? Time to create a retirement plan
Many big investors look at the drop in the stock market as a buying opportunity. Small business owners should consider it an opportunity as well. Read More
No New Taxes? Think Again
At the time of this writing President Obama and congressional leaders of both parties have evidently agreed to a framework for a budget deal that would cut trillions of dollars in federal spending over the next decade and clear the way for an increase in the government’s borrowing limit. Read More
