Tag Archives: apple

Microsoft Finally Waves the White Flag on Smartphones

Although the company still sells phones on its website, Microsoft appears to be exiting the smartphone business. Image source Microsoft. In 2014, Nokia (NYSE NOK) effectively exited the device market when its

For Investment Success, Keep It Simple

By Carl Delfeld Investing can seem incredibly complicated and intimidating, especially for the novice. There are thousands of stocks and almost as many funds to choose from, not to mention stock markets that always seem volatile and uncertain. Even tougher is deciding when and how to sell a stock or fund to lock in gains or limit losses. It helps to follow a simple strategy to help make these decisions pretty much automatically. Here are four principles that will help you get started. #1: Build a Diversified Core Portfolio Leonardo da Vinci was right when he said, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” And legendary global investor Sir John Templeton really nailed it with his sage advice, “Diversify. In stocks and bonds, as in much else, there is safety in numbers.” For your core portfolio, I suggest going with low-cost, tax-efficient exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as building blocks. As I describe in my book, Think Global, Grow Rich , this core portfolio has capital preservation as its primary goal and capital appreciation as a secondary goal. It’s a well-diversified portfolio with allocations to fixed income, broad U.S. equity markets, exposure to high-quality international markets, income- and dividend-oriented ETFs, gold, and even some exposure to other strong currencies – in case the dollar falls off its perch. #2: Set Aside Ample Cash After setting up a core portfolio, you should set aside a comfortable cash position of at least six months’ worth of living expenses. This is where I differ from many other advisors who want their clients to always be fully invested. Another reason to keep a lot of cash in your brokerage account is to be able to take advantage of markets and stocks when they’re on sale. You want to have the ability to move quickly and not have to figure out which stocks to sell in a hurry. #3: Seek Capital Gains With Your Explore Portfolio. Any capital you have left can go to your “explore” portfolio with the full recognition that seeking capital appreciation means higher risk and volatility. You still need some diversification in this portfolio, but you should also feel free to look at aggressive asset classes like emerging markets, commodities, sector ETFs, and individual stock ideas. One great way to gain exposure to international markets is through country-specific ETFs. With a click of the mouse, you can invest in 32 countries, such as Singapore, Switzerland, or Mexico, through the iShares MSCI Singapore ETF (NYSEARCA: EWS ), the iShares MSCI Switzerland ETF (NYSEARCA: EWL ), and the iShares MSCI Mexico Capped ETF (NYSEARCA: EWW ), respectively. Using country ETFs also gives you a hedge on the U.S. dollar weakening since. For example, when you buy the Switzerland ETF, you also gain exposure to the Swiss franc. Pick countries that are out of favor, and with time, you’ll enjoy solid gains. For individual stocks, stick to investing only in companies you understand. Invest only in what you know. Don’t just accept someone else’s opinion, do some independent homework on your own. And try to avoid complicated stories, because managing these companies is difficult and there are just too many things that can go wrong. #4: Capture Gains and Limit Losses We’ve all been there. Nothing is more painful than picking a great stock and watching it peak and then fall back to earth. Don’t ride the roller coaster with your investments. If you’re fortunate enough to have a stock or fund double in value, immediately sell half of your position to protect profits. And whenever you buy a stock, it’s smart to put in place a 20% trailing stop loss. This means you have an automatic exit if your stock falls 20% from its high. This is important, because it takes emotion out of the equation and protects your hard-earned gains, or limits your losses, so you can fight another day. It’s not a perfect approach, and sometimes that darn stock will rebound just after your stop loss strategy tells you to sell it. This is irritating, but much less painful than watching all your gains evaporate day after day, right before your eyes. Follow these four simple rules, and you’ll be way ahead of the crowd. Original Post

Yen Gain Seems Overdone; Time For Japan ETFs?

It seems that the dark cloud hanging over Japan investing has started dispersing. After witnessing a tumult this year on a rising yen, Japanese shares have lately turned their course. The weakness in the Japanese currency, yen, was behind the recent surge in shares. Two things made yen soggy. First, Japan indicated that it may intervene in the currency market to contain the strength in yen, which bothered exporters. Following this rhetoric , yen dropped about 3% from its 18-month high. Second, the greenback is rallying and is now on its way to log the first monthly gain against the yen since January. The greenback gained its lost ground on a flurry of upbeat economic data released lately, which in fact brought the Fed hike back on the table. The PowerShares DB USD Bull ETF (NYSEARCA: UUP ) added about 1.7% in the last 10 days (as of May 17, 2016). Overall, the greenback weakness and yen appreciation seem overdone and may fuel Japanese shares. Moreover, oil’s ascent to a six-month high charged up energy shares. Notably, oil prices shored up on supply disruption in countries like Nigeria and a bullish call by the renowned brokerage house Goldman Sachs. If global markets remained relatively steady ahead on rising oil prices, yen may not gain strength on safe-haven demand. How Important Are Yen Moves? Investors should note that Japan’s corporate profits (pretax) dropped 24% year over year in the March quarter and 40% sequentially, representing the worst quarter since the September quarter of 2012. However, it is not entirely because of yen as asset write-downs are incurred by Japanese companies in their final quarter of a fiscal year, as per analysts. Still, the impact of yen is huge as export-oriented automobile companies bore the brunt of a stronger yen, and recorded 472 billion yen in profit losses. All in all, the government is wary of yen’s strength and is likely to lower the value of yen if it spikes to the 90-95 per dollar range, as per a key economic adviser to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe . Moreover, nothing has yet been decided on a sales tax hike slated for next year. Upbeat GDP Data Meanwhile, the Japanese economy grew in Q1 at the quickest clip in a year, logging an annualized 1.7% growth rate against economists’ expectations of a 0.2% rise. The latest growth was realized after a 1.7% revised annualized contraction in the fourth quarter of 2015, snapping the possibility of a technical recession. Sequentially, the economy expanded 0.4% compared with a 0.1% quarterly gain. The best part is that domestic demand contribution to GDP grew 0.2 percentage points as consumers splurged on discretionary items. The data definitely explains that the economy is heading toward a positive direction. Though weaknesses are there in the economy in the form of soft capex and consumer confidence data, things may improve in the coming days. Analysts indicated that a decline in capital expenditure was the result of weak exports. Japan exports capital goods to Asian economies and bears the brunt of a muted business environment worldwide, which hurts corporate profitability as well as the business investment. Yen or GDP: What to Watch Ahead? The first-quarter performance shows that stock moves in Japan are reliant mainly on yen, not on GDP. During Q1, yen gained about 7.23% against the U.S. dollar and the ultra-popular fund iShares MSCI Japan ETF (NYSEARCA: EWJ ) – a guide to the Japanese stock market – responded to the yen strength by diving about 4.4% during this frame. So, the prospect of no/less gains in yen can be a good entry point to Japan. Plus, a solid GDP reading can act as another tailwind. If yen spikes on upbeat GDP data, scope for currency intervention will likely open. The CurrencyShares Japanese Yen ETF (NYSEARCA: FXY ) is up about 10% so far this year (as of May 17, 2016). ETFs in Focus Below, we highlight some Japan-focused ETFs that could be in watch in the coming days. Regular ETFs Among the regular ETFs, there are the First Trust Japan AlphaDEX ETF (NASDAQ: FJP ) and the iShares JPX-Nikkei 400 ETF (NYSEARCA: JPXN ). These are the bets to play in a falling dollar environment. Currency-Hedged ETFs These are, namely the WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity ETF (NYSEARCA: DXJ ), the Deutsche X-trackers MSCI Japan Hedged Equity ETF (NYSEARCA: DBJP ) and the iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Japan ETF (NYSEARCA: HEWJ ). If the yen falls and the greenback rises on possibilities of further Fed hikes, these currency-hedged ETFs may get a boost. Small-Cap ETFs There are also options – the iShares MSCI Japan Small-Cap ETF (NYSEARCA: SCJ ), the SPDR Russell/Nomura Small Cap Japan ETF (NYSEARCA: JSC ) and the WisdomTree Japan SmallCap Dividend ETF (NYSEARCA: DFJ ) – to bet on Japanese domestic demand. Since small-cap companies are less exposed to the international economies, investors can wipe out the impact of yen as well as the struggling export sector by investing in these ETFs. Notably, SCJ (up 1.5%) has outperformed EWJ (down 4.2%) and DXJ (down 14.8%) in the year-to-date frame (as of May 17, 2016). Original post