There were certainly no signs of window dressing (money managers
buying up the winners from the quarter to make their portfolios
look better) in the indices as the selling continued this afternoon
and right into the close.
Looking at today's internals, we saw earnings results moving
several names. Vail Mountain Resorts (
MTN
) posted some nice gains following
today's earnings results
. On the flipside, shares of Paychex (
PAYX
) and Emerson Electric (
EMR
) pulled back on their earnings numbers and outlook. It wasn't a
good day for Apple (
AAPL
) shares as disappointment from the initial iPhone5 weekend sales
numbers continue to hang over the stock. Caterpillar (
CAT
) shares were also lower as management pulled expectations lower
for the next couple of years.
Cutting Corners on Quality (NFL-Style)
There probably is no bigger controversy hitting the media
headlines today than the brutal officiating call made in last
night's Packers-Seahawks NFL football game by one of the
increasingly despised replacement referees. The botched call by so
called "replacement" referees handed the game to the Seahawks, when
the correct call seemingly should've been an interception by the
Packers.
You see, The NFL has been in a negotiating battle over pensions
for NFL referees. Amid the labor dispute, the league has locked out
the regular refs (i.e. the people who know how to do the job
correctly), replacing them with ill-prepared, inexperienced refs,
many of whom have never refereed at a level higher than high
school.
Unfortunately the lack of experience has translated into an
amazing amount of officiating mistakes, some of which are directly
affecting the outcomes of games. Here we have a sport that makes
hundreds of billions of dollars, and the difference between the
what the "real" refs want and what the NFL is willing to give them
reportedly boils down to less than $5 million. The longer the
current situation goes on, the more irate players and fans will
get. Clearly, this development is bad for the sport, and quite
frankly, the NFL should know better.
As I was driving into the Dividend.com offices this morning, it
was amazing to hear the sports radio callers express their angst
with what happened in last night's game. You could swear some of
these callers were on the verge of having a heart attack with the
anger they expressed. I couldn't help but think about how this type
of scenario mirrors what happens with people and the
financial/investment decisions they make. Many talk about building
a large nest egg, but then the actions they take to get there make
no sense at all. Whether it's trying make money trading in
high-risk areas like penny stocks, Forex (currency trading), or
futures, some of the same people blowing a gasket about the NFL
referee situation should introspect and realize how they too are
making a big blunder with their financial approach. In other cases,
many people may be looking to all the wrong people for financial
advice or guidance (similar to how the NFL thinks it can get away
with unqualified referees).
I can certainly say that sports brings out plenty of emotion for
me. But at some point, you learn to separate the impact of sports
on your actual life, and concentrate instead on things that matter
so much more. If we can get the everyday person/sports fan to
understand this concept, the scope of many people's financial
well-being could certainly begin to get the proper attention it
deserves.
Having a Back-Up Plan with Your Investments
News came out this morning that office retail giant Staples (
SPLS
) is gearing up to close even more stores than the company had
initially expected. Today is certainly a nerve-wracking day for
commercial property owners who may have Staples as their key tenant
(or "anchor") to their retail-focused location. Filling in these
sort of locations once they are vacated often proves very
difficult. For those who have much of their wealth tied up in
commercial property these days, it's integral on top of property
investments like never before. In the real estate business, it does
pay to anticipate the changes that are likely coming, and create
the fallback plan before this changes begin to occur.
"Turn-key" investments, particularly in real estate, are few and
far between these days. The story lines can change quite
dramatically, and news is disseminated more quickly than ever.
Having the inside scoop doesn't have the same meaning anymore in a
world where so much information is at most everyone's fingertips.
As I mentioned before, you must learn to anticipate impending
market changes if you want to sleep comfortably at night - whether
you're looking at retail-focused commercial property, or any other
investment.
Income, Income, Income
At Dividend.com, we maintain our focus on the best
income-producing investments the markets have to offer during time
of heightened volatility. We want to make sure we have only the
most pullback-resistant names on our
Best Dividend Stocks List
. Also, if we see the market putting in what looks like a decent
bottom, we will be prepared to scale up the list of stocks we like.
Stay tuned and be sure to look for
Dividend.com Premium
member alerts along the way. Don't count on the government or your
employer to set you up for a remarkable retirement. Take control,
do your own research, and achieve your goals yourself!
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