May 14th, 2008 | Published in Investing, Finances, Links
If you’re nervous about investing in stocks directly, or you don’t know where to start in mutual funds, here is a nice overview of the “only 7 investments you need.”
April 30th, 2008 | Published in Investing, Finances
Here are my five top stock picks for 2008:
1) Apple (APPL). Obvious. With record profits and a high mindshare among the young, things are going to explode over the next few years. It’s already gained 35% since I bought it two months ago. I think that’s just the beginning.
2) Amazon (AMZN). Amazon is in a very good place. They’re a household name for ordering online. They have an e-reader that will continue to become more popular, and distributing digital books will reduce overhead and inventory and increase profits. What really got my attention, though, is their developer services. They have their simple storage solution (S3), scaling database service (SimpleDB), virtualization solution (EC2), and payment services (FPS and DevPay). Long term Amazon is a huge winner.
3) Intel (INTC). The best chip maker in the industry. Now they’re moving into storage, too, which will provide new revenue. I don’t expect this to be as lucrative as Apple or Amazon, but it’s a good growth stock. And they pay dividends.
4) Pulte Homes (PHM). The housing market has been bad, and Pulte has tanked along with it. It’s a great time to buy in. (I’m less certain here than with Apple because it’s not my area of speciality, but investment gurus are saying the same thing.)
5) Regions Financial (RF). Since buying AmSouth, they’re everywhere down here in Florida. Their stock has tanked due to the housing slump, and like with PHM, it’s a great time to purchase.
(If you’re just getting into buying stocks, contact me and I can send you a Scottrade referral that will give you (and me!) three free trades.)
Update 5/19: I would now recommend Bank of America (BAC) over Pulte (PHM).