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Stock Market

geekette said:
Awesome! This is a good move, especially during times of volatility. Pretty exciting, only 5 more years!!
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LOL! ONLY! 5 feels like 50 to me! Ha! Ha!:rofl:
 
ace2000 said:
Yep. And that is why now may be the time to average in! I've been buying incrementally into an energy mutual fund since mid-December.
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My energy ETF is taking a big hit.
 
Carol C said:
What's with Walmart announcing it's downsizing and going to close lots of stores? What a lousy time to make an announcement like that since the market's been sliding downward since first week of Jan! Walmart once again proves itself to be un-American and a poor corporate citizen. I really feel for those who'll be laid off, though most of them were paid so poorly they had to get foodstamps they may as well just be on welfare. I say SELL WALMART to show them how you feel about their market move...and don't buy anymore Chinese goods from them (90 pct of their merchandise...not the grocery part of their biz model.) :shrug:
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Walmart is a business not a charitable organization. Like any business their goal is to make a profit for their owners ( AKA shareholders ). They are closing their smaller Express stores. Macy's is closing several stores, should we boycott them also?

Walmart pays their employees what they have to in order to hire and retain the employees they want. That is how the free market system works. It is none of my concern what their employees get paid. That is between them and Walmart. My concern is getting the best value for my consumer dollar.
 
PigsDad said:
The wage increase is costing Walmart about $2.7 billion...
Kurt
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$2.7 B would be 1.9% of the $141 B proceeds. I would think there are other factors driving a closure decision, specially when half of the closures are outside the US.
 
Kal said:
$2.7 B would be 1.9% of the $141 B proceeds. I would think there are other factors driving a closure decision, specially when half of the closures are outside the US.
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The Walmart Express stores that are being closed are smaller stores that are often quite near regular or super Walmarts. They aren't performing well enough to warrant keeping them open.

Yes, online retailing is definitely affecting brick and mortar stores. I haven't been in a brick and mortar store for several years. I do all my shopping online, mainly Amazon. Amazon is a great place to shop with a great web site and excellent customer service, not to mention their usual lower prices.
 
John Cummings said:
The Walmart Express stores that are being closed are smaller stores that are often quite near regular or super Walmarts. They aren't performing well enough to warrant keeping them open.
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I prefer shopping at Dollar General to the Walmart Express stores. Their prices are lower and they have learned over the years what products to stock.

George
 
mpumilia said:
LOL! ONLY! 5 feels like 50 to me! Ha! Ha!:rofl:
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yeah, every time the alarm goes off, I long for full time vacation. at least most days I am busy and it goes fast. Paydays help, too, remind me why I leave the house in single digits plus snow and ice, but my dividend raises are much higher. As soon as I can run the household off dividends, I'm outa there. 5-10 years. I'd rather grow my own veggies, work part time and take off for the beach or mountains whenever I feel like it.
 
geekette said:
yeah, every time the alarm goes off, I long for full time vacation. at least most days I am busy and it goes fast. Paydays help, too, remind me why I leave the house in single digits plus snow and ice, but my dividend raises are much higher. As soon as I can run the household off dividends, I'm outa there. 5-10 years. I'd rather grow my own veggies, work part time and take off for the beach or mountains whenever I feel like it.
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I'm with you! When I am home (which love being home) and when I am away on vacation in our timeshares and elsewhere) it is then that I appreciate that paycheck!

Not to mention when I am at the supermarket buying food and when paying our bills.

When I get in the warm shower every morning before work I thank God for the warm water and everything I have. That helps a lot.Then I suck it up and head on out once again..........

Just hope I make it to a nice retirement....
 
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pedro47 said:
JP Morgan CEO rec'd a 35% increase in salary in 2015. New salary was only $27 millions dollars per year according USA Today.

Sound liked the stock market is doing OK.
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:rolleyes::rolleyes: ya sure :ponder:
 
lizap said:
Market way up today. Oil prices up over 9%...
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I pulled the trigger and picked up a block of COP yesterday. Happy today! If it takes more dips, I will buy more. ~8% dividend at its current price -- hopefully the dividend will hold through he rough patch we are in. They have a good long-term record of increasing dividends.

Kurt
 
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PigsDad said:
I pulled the trigger and picked up a block of COP yesterday. Happy today! If it takes more dips, I will buy more. ~8% dividend at its current price -- hopefully the dividend will hold through he rough patch we are in. They have a good long-term record of increasing dividends.

Kurt
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What is COP?
 
Could be, but still the lows on Wednesday were a great buying opportunity if you have at least a 3-5 year investment time horizon.


Ironwood said:
Oil's comeback over the last two days may just be a dead cat bounce. If the comeback holds the first couple of days of next week the bottom could be in!
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lizap said:
Could be, but still the lows on Wednesday were a great buying opportunity if you have at least a 3-5 year investment time horizon.
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I agree. I am looking long term (5-10 years), so when big blue chip oil stocks go on sale like this, I'm not worried if they go down another 20-30% -- I'll keep on buying on the dips and most likely will be an excellent investment long term. BTW, some other oil stocks I like are CVX, XOM and VLO. All on sale now except VLO -- it has been holding steady.

Kurt
 
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If anyone is interested in technical analysis, here is a good website on stockcharts. They have about 10 technicians that write articles and most of them agree the trend is down. The bounce might have another few days remaining and another 2-3 percent up, but after that, expect the market to go lower. Nobody really knows how low, maybe just back to SPX 1810 where it was a few days ago, but most of the technicians think the market is headed for SPX 1600. If you are close to retirement, maybe consider checking your allocations to ensure you have a good mix of bonds or cash and not all into aggressive stocks. I do a lot of trading and 90 percent out of the market right now, but plan to short the market when it rolls over that I think will happen around SPX 1950, plus or minus a little. Maybe it will get higher, but the bounce is not a change in the trend and most technicians expect the market to go at least another 10 percent lower.

Regarding the oil stocks, I agree that they should hold this level. I have a few and collecting a 5 percent dividend and selling calls against the stock. I think oil should stabilize in this area, but who knows.

http://stockcharts.com/articles/
 
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Bond funds may not be the right way to diversify right now. If the fed continues to up fed funds rate, bond prices will fall. Investing in individual bonds held to maturity is fine, but bond funds are priced based on the underlying value of the bonds on the market. When rates rise, the value of a bonds drop. Still perhaps more stable than the stock market, but not immune to loss.
 
dioxide45 said:
Bond funds may not be the right way to diversify right now. If the fed continues to up fed funds rate, bond prices will fall. Investing in individual bonds held to maturity is fine, but bond funds are priced based on the underlying value of the bonds on the market. When rates rise, the value of a bonds drop. Still perhaps more stable than the stock market, but not immune to loss.
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You are right. Buy a 3-5 year bond and hold it to maturity. Schwab is selling 5 year CDs paying 2.5 percent right now. One thing about rising interest rates, the Fed might increase the rate one more time this year. But multiple rate hikes are unlikely.
 
I agree- no way is the Fed going to raise rates more than 1 more time this year, if that. We will not have 'normal' rates for a very long time..


tompalm said:
You are right. Buy a 3-5 year bond and hold it to maturity. Schwab is selling 5 year CDs paying 2.5 percent right now. One thing about rising interest rates, the Fed might increase the rate one more time this year. But multiple rate hikes are unlikely.
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PigsDad said:
I pulled the trigger and picked up a block of COP yesterday. Happy today! If it takes more dips, I will buy more. ~8% dividend at its current price -- hopefully the dividend will hold through he rough patch we are in. They have a good long-term record of increasing dividends.

Kurt
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I bought some Philip Morris about 15 years ago at a similar yield. The price doubled within 3 years. I thought I was on to something, so among other purchases in 2008, I bought a load of US Bank at about 7.2% yield based on a 75 year history of dividend increases.

I got my head handed to me on that one. I cut my losses before the worst of the brutality (the annual dividend was cut from $1.20 to $0.20 and the price went from $19 to about $7), but it was a hard lesson in "past performance is no guarantee of future results". Oh sure, the Fed bailed out the banks and avoided financial Armageddon, and USB stock price recovered after years of patience, but the dividend is still only about two-thirds of what it was in 2008.

I think the energy stocks are closer to the Philip Morris situation than the USB disaster, but I learned patience from that USB experience (and I am not too hopeful any of the big oil players will double over the next 3 years). Too many pundits are saying, "The bottom is in" in energy stocks for the bottom to be in. I will be watching and waiting a few more months, at least. YMMV.
 
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lizap said:
Could be, but still the lows on Wednesday were a great buying opportunity if you have at least a 3-5 year investment time horizon.
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Yes, I put in orders to reacquire a couple of light oil stocks I had shed before Christmas, but didn't get filled. Didn't want to chase them but in hindsight I would have done well had I. If oil opens up on Monday I'll be in there
 
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