We Still Beat The Big Dogs (Part 1)

by Benjamin Taylor on January 9, 2013

Two years ago I posted results of the Core Model Portfolio over 1, 3, and 5 years against those of several indices including the S&P 500 and equity mutual funds. Source: Small Dog, Big Pag As was the case then, the Core performed well versus its benchmarks. In 2012 the Core yeilded 27.88% versus 16.00% [...]

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BBQ: How Much Will It Take To Make A Million

by Benjamin Taylor December 19, 2012

Millionaire by Wayne Wagner & Al Winnikoff I’m starting a new post category called Brick’s Book Quotes. There’s a lot of good information out there but I know most people won’t read one book let alone the many of read on the topic of personal finance and investing. So I’ll save you the trouble of [...]

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What The Wealthiest 1% Have Most In Common

by Benjamin Taylor December 18, 2012

I’ll get to the punch line quickly on this one. Several surveys show the wealthiest Americans have one thing most in common. They are married or cohabiting and have been for more than 20 years. In fact, over 96% are in such relationships. Living with a partner is so correlative to wealth creation that one [...]

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5 Things To Be Thankful For 2012

by Benjamin Taylor November 21, 2012

Back in 2008, around Thanksgiving time, I wrote a series called “5 Things To Be Thankful For In This Market”. Each of those five things were: 1. The Teachings of Benjamin Graham 2. Low P/E Ratios 3. The Inevitable Market Rebound 4 & 5. Black Eyed Peas and Collard Greens If you recall, the sky [...]

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What’s The Deal With Netflix

by Benjamin Taylor July 25, 2012

Netflix’s (NFLX) stock price has been extremely volatile over the last six months, ranging from a high of $124.84 to a recent low of $53.87, in that time. I first bought into the stock for clients last November in a range above $85 after a steady decline in the stock price over a period of [...]

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Change Is Good

by Ben November 14, 2011

The difficulty is not in the new ideas, but in escaping the old ones.” – John Maynard Keynes Warren Buffett is famous for not investing in technology. He is also famous for avoiding international shares. He also has been known to avoid railroads. But things change. Buffett announced this morning on CNBC, he has bought [...]

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Starbucks Does Well By Doing Good

by Ben November 4, 2011

Starbucks reported earnings yesterday and profits were up 29% in the fourth quarter. The company bested Dunkin Donuts in same-store sales as well. Theirs rose 10% while its main rival’s rose just 6%. The company credits its recent success with brand loyalty among its customers. source: Benjamin Taylor I for one have been a loyal [...]

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Please, Do Your OWN Homework

by Ben October 25, 2011

I am writing today just to vent about a pet peeve of mine, two in fact. One of my pet peeves is when folks make uninformed declarations about any topic. I mean folks who take a position, an important position, with no qualified information, research or experimentation to back up their claim or position. We [...]

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Be Vigilant, Be Generous

by Ben September 9, 2011

Sunday will be the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. I worked in the World Trade Center in downtown New York City at the time for Lehman Brothers. That particular day I was scheduled to be in our Jersey City offices across the Hudson River. I often think about how lucky [...]

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A Day In The Life: The Investing Process

by Ben September 8, 2011

I’m sometimes asked by people who know I’m in “some sort of finance”, “What do you do?” Usually the person asking wants to make what I do, since it is “some sort of finance” and most folks have an irrational aversion to numbers, seem more difficult than it really is. What I do ain’t rocket [...]

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