The markets pushed down so today as the usual Greece worries
gave investors pause. Will the agreed-upon austerity measures be
accepted by Greek citizens, and will they be ultimately successful?
Only time will tell. Well it was inevitable, the S&P and Nasdaq
indices had their first down week of 2012, but it was just by a
little.
Only a small number of key stocks made any major headline moves
today. Earnings results produced a mixed bag for companies like
Expedia (
EXPE
), which traded lower on
its latest numbers
. On the flipside, NYSE Euronext (
NYX
) gained nicely on
the company's results
.
ConocoPhillips (
COP
) was higher on a
positive Wall Street analyst upgrade
. A
negative call
had natural gas plays like Chesapeake Energy (
CHK
) and Devon Energy (
DVN
) ending the day lower.
Young Adults Seeing Lowest Job Levels Ever
A report just released by the Pew Research Center finds the
portion of young adults in the U.S. with jobs has hit its lowest
level since the government started keeping track. At the end of
2011, only 54% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 were
employed. The report cites growing college attendance and effects
from the recession for the recent trend.
I know many of our readers have children or grandchildren that
fall into the age range described above. We all need to be aware
that employment opportunities will be harder to come by in coming
years. It's important that we educate our young people of this
trend, and help get them prepared - both mentally and educationally
- for the years ahead. Among the imperative items to discuss
include choosing a college major with good job prospects, or
instead looking for a skill or trade that will remain prosperous in
the years ahead.
The Reason, and the
Real
Reason
It's sometimes helpful to look at the reasons why we seek to
improve our performance in a particular area. Often times, the real
reasons aren't as apparent as we may think.
For example,
I need to start investing, because…
Reason:
Otherwise I won't have anything for retirement.
Real Reason:
I blew most of my money on material items, and may have to work for
the rest of my life in a job I can't stand.
Here's another one,
I need to tone down by investing strategy, because…
Reason:
A more conservative approach is a better fit.
Real Reason:
I got creamed trying to trade the markets.
I'm sure plenty of investors out there are familiar with these
scenarios. Remember, it's never too late to get back on the right
track with your investing, and there's no reason to wait.
Take a close look at your own "inner circle" - the people you
spend the most time with. The lifestyle those close to you engage
in will tend to be your biggest influence. Hang with the
free-spenders and guess what? Soon enough you'll be mimicking their
ways. To further add to the lesson, here is a quote from author Max
Lucado. He once quipped that "A man who wants to lead the orchestra
must turn his back on the crowd."
As hard it is to break away from situations we've been involved
in in the past, always remember that time is of the essence when it
comes to righting the ship.
Our
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A Look to Next Week and a Weekend Preview
Looking ahead to next week, earnings will remain a big factor
with some of next week's big names reporting results include
Metlife (
MET
), Deere & Co. (
DE
), J.M. Smucker Co. (
SJM
), Weight Watchers (
WTW
), and more.
Be sure to catch up with our latest watchlist updates this
weekend on
Dividend.com Premium
, including reports on earnings/story stocks, analyst
upgrades/downgrades, dividend ETFs, and much more. And as always,
you can view our current recommendations on our industry-leading
Best Dividend Stocks List
.
Thanks for reading, and I'll see you this weekend! P.S. Please
pass this e-mail on to someone you think can use some financial
motivation as well as being kept in the financial news loop that
could affect them.
Be sure to visit our complete recommended list of the
Best Dividend Stocks
, as well as a detailed explanation of
our ratings system here
.