And why now might be the perfect time to load up — With investors increasingly worried about an economic slowdown or recession, you may be tempted to adjust your portfolio to take a more defensive stance. Enter dividend stocks: A long-time favorite of cautious, defensive, cash-loving investors, companies that offer steady income are looking increasingly attractive in this uncertain environment. Let’s outline…

Beware the long-term cost of underperformance + fees — Some mutual funds prey upon the uninformed investor. They consistently offer poor performance (spoiler: it’s on purpose) and participate in practices designed to mislead investors. Before we dig into why many smart investors dislike mutual funds and what you should buy instead, let’s start with a simple definition. What Is a Mutual Fund? A mutual…

And how to avoid the trap of “story growth stocks” — Growth stocks are having a moment right now, especially megacap growth stocks. Let’s explore how to find the best long-term growth stocks by unpacking these questions: What are growth stocks? What should you know about investing in growth stocks? Which growth stocks perform best? How do you find the best…

Plus the #1 dividend trap to avoid — In this article we’re going to dig into one of the most steady and profitable strategies on the stock market: dividend investing. Let’s walk through four important concepts: What are dividend stocks? What should you know about investing in dividend stocks? Which dividend stocks perform best? How do you find…

Plus, why you should avoid the most undervalued stocks — I’m a big fan of value investing. It has a long history of successful outperformance, and in today’s volatile market, there are opportunities everywhere. So, today I’m going to cover four important questions about value investing: What are value stocks? What should you know about investing in value stocks? Which…

Plus a pre-filled FinViz screener — With market volatility picking up, you may be looking for a safe place to invest and wait out a potential recession. For some investors, large-cap stocks offer an attractive mix of stability and growth. Today we’re going to cover four important questions about finding the best large cap stocks: What…

A guide to finding your investing match — In my article, “How to Make Money in Stocks,” I covered 17 different investment strategies. Now, let’s focus on the question: What type of investment strategy is the best fit for you. Most of the investment styles were grouped into one of two big categories: Fundamental analysis or technical analysis. …

A simple guide to understanding two types of growth stocks — In general, growth stocks are companies that are expected to have unusually high growth in their future sales and/or earnings. Investors who buy growth stocks often believe the company will deliver strong financial results far into the future as it finds an ever-expanding market for its products. Based on my…

A simple guide to understanding undervalued stocks — What exactly is a value stock? “Value stocks” describes an investing strategy that looks for companies currently trading below what they’re really worth. In other words, value investing tries to buy good stocks on the cheap. There’s no strict definition of what makes a company a value stock, and technically…