A look at the greatest investors shows they all have particular trait in common – the ability to have strong convictions and stick with their guns whether or not their opinions are popular. Ben Graham, Peter Lynch, Warren Buffett, George Soros, John C Bogle, and Julian Robertson to name a few. These are people who achieved the upper echelons of success in their respective fields by standing out and having the courage to disagree with the masses.
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Whether you’re an active or passive investor, you need to understand the premise of the stock market. That is, allowing the average person to buy and own stakes in corporate America. In the market, there are winners and losers, and those who understand the market can and ought to stake a claim for themselves.
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A New Focus for The Intelligent Investor
As some of you can probably already tell, The Intelligent Investor has been going through somewhat of a whirlwind since it was started early January.
When I first started I posted everyday about real estate. Then I got a tip from Jon Morrow (the associate editor of Copyblogger) suggesting that I write one article a week that was at least 1000 words long – again, all real estate focused. The goal was to write resourceful content that my readers could go back to again, and again.
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In Tom Peters’ most famous book, In Search of Excellence, he mentions a great principle: Stick to the knitting. In other words, stick to the business you know.
Warren Buffett often talks about things he’s does not know. When he doesn’t know something he is apt to point it out. That seems simple enough, but there is tremendous wisdom in that. In life, as in business, it’s important to know what you know and know what you don’t know. As Warren often says, know where your parameter is and when you’re getting close to it.
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Every year citizens of America (and the world) live with the risk of nuclear war. Ahmadinejad of Iran and Kim Jong-il of North Korea are just a couple of the known risks of an atomic warfare. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) of 1970 has sought to reduce spread (proliferation) of nuclear weapons in which nearly 200 countries have signed on and so far it seems to have worked.
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Diversification. One of the most established tenants of investment strategies taught throughout academia and the investment world. If you’ve met with financial advisers (FA) or portfolio managers they probably mentioned this at least a five times in one sitting. How you need to buy forty different stocks in ten different asset classes and industries – which makes hard for decision making and requires their help to do so.
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There is much talk about how cash is king. Cash is king when you can’t pay your bills. Cash is king if you’re starving and need a hot dog. It is king when you have liquidity problems.
Cash rules when you can’t meet your financial commitments.
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This is a guest post from Maria Smith
Mortgage refinancing rates has become historically low. Due to the historic low level of long-term interest rates, more and more people are turning to mortgage refinancing, making it easier to benefit from such investments. Refinancing is not only restrained to home loans. Your investment property loan can also qualify for a refinance.
Your investment property loan may have seemed to be very lucrative at the time you took it but due to changing market conditions, you may be facing difficulties making the payments on it. With the low refinancing rates, it is easier to refinance your mortgage on the investment property. Refinancing also provides ways to leverage the equity in your property reduce your monthly payment and boost your cash flow. Have a look at how a mortgage refinance can help your investment property.
- You can increase the cash flow: If you want to drastically increase the cash flow on your investment property, you can opt for mortgage refinancing. If you have accumulated enough equity in your investment property, then you could even turn that equity into cash by cash-out refinance. You may be in trouble making your monthly mortgage payments on the present mortgage. If you refinance at a lower rate, then you can extend the term of your loan. This will leave you with lower mortgage payments every month. You can use the refinance calculator which will help you calculate how much equity you have built in your home and which loan will suit your needs.
- You can upgrade your property and generate income: Through a mortgage refinancing, you can use the equity in your investment property to fund improvement for your property and augment the cash flow. The biggest benefit of refinancing and making home improvements is that it increases the market value of the property. You can charge higher rent from your tenants and increase the revenue generated by your investment property. With a mortgage refinancing, you can build an additional living space, upgrade the furnace, remodel the rooms and make any kind of home improvements to increase the market value.
- You can spend your money in other ways: The opportunity to utilize the money that you have earned through a mortgage refinancing of your investment property is a major benefit of home ownership. The benefit lies in the fact that you can access the equity in your home and turn it to cash and use it for whatever purpose you choose. You can boost your retirement savings, invest in the stock market, consolidate debt and help fund your child’s college tuition.
Mortgage refinancing of your real estate investment property can be an easy source of cash and can be a valuable tool for those who invest in the real estate market. Refinancing frees up much needed cash that you can use to purchase other real estate to generate even more monthly cash in order to see your real estate investment portfolio start increasing.
Yesterday I went to a luncheon sponsored by Liberty Road Foundation a local nonprofit in Washington that partners with businesses in Northwest. Kemper Freeman was the speaker of the day. To be honest, I didn’t have high expectations, as I didn’t know what to expect. I ended up really enjoying it and learned a gold nugget I thought worth sharing.
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The Breakfast of Giants
Vanilla and chocolate - the perfect recipe for a better investor.
It’s 8am Saturday morning, the day of Berkshire’s 2010 Annual Meeting. As my wife and I walk up to the entrance at Qwest, shareholders pass us eating Dilly Bars. Remind you, it’s 8 o’clock in the morning and 50 degrees out! How many sixty year olds eat that for breakfast? We thought to ourselves, what a peculiar thing.
Dilly Bars are what’s for order. Just ask Bill Gates. My wife and I got a chance to say hi to him as he was finishing up a Dilly Bar right after the annual meeting.
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