http://www.financealley.com en-us editorial@financealley.com At The Intelligent Investor we simply adore dividends. They may not be very sexy, but in a corporate world littered with half-truths and empty promises—and that's the good bits—dividends do at least provide a bit of black and white. A company can eith... http://www.financealley.com/article_219414_63.html 25th September 2007 In the fourth instalment of our value investing series, we get down to the nuts and bolts of valuation.In the second instalment of this series, in issue 198/Apr 06, we saw that shares are worth the present value of the future cash they can gen... http://www.financealley.com/article_219380_19.html 25th September 2007 There's an important distinction between a supercycle for commodities and a supercycle for resources stocks.With a heading like 'Resources mania or mining supercycle?', a small piece in issue 197/Apr 06 was always likely to polarise opinion, a... http://www.financealley.com/article_218872_63.html 25th September 2007 What do value investing and skiing have in common? They both require you to overcome your natural instincts.If you've ever sampled the subtle delights of skiing—and the all too frequent and rather less subtle delights of landing on your back... http://www.financealley.com/article_217113_19.html 21st September 2007 Confused by some commonly-used investment terms? These explanations should help you out.New investors often find financial terminology quite daunting. The problem is exacerbated by some brokers and financial planners who, deliberately in our v... http://www.financealley.com/article_216149_19.html 21st September 2007 A high dividend yield can indicate there's value in a stock, but there are plenty of traps for the unwitting investor.If you're anything like us, you probably enjoy running your eye down the dividend yield column of your favourite financial pa... http://www.financealley.com/article_217182_19.html 21st September 2007 Don't know margins from margarine? Then make this article your bread and butter.We promised a closer look at the topic of gross profit margins in our review of small retailers last issue. It's a fascinating and important topic to explore and o... http://www.financealley.com/article_217194_19.html 21st September 2007 Borrowing to buy shares is very popular, especially with those banks and brokers trying to sell you the loan.Ever thought of borrowing to buy shares? If our subscriber queries are anything to go by, using debt, usually in the form of a margin ... http://www.financealley.com/article_217073_19.html 21st September 2007 With value hard to find, it makes sense to be patient and reserve some firepower for the future.In the world of investment, some arguments are as old as the hills; and none more so than the amount of cash to hold in your portfolio. Some stick ... http://www.financealley.com/article_217084_19.html 21st September 2007 To the man with a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. But the power of incentives is a lot more pervasive than that.'Well I think I've been in the top 5% of my age cohort all my life in understanding the power of incentives, and all my li... http://www.financealley.com/article_216084_19.html 20th September 2007 Looking for a meatier Investor's College article? Grab a calculator and sink your teeth into this one.Valuing a bond might seem like a strange topic for a stockmarket publication. But there are some very good lessons and analogies for share in... http://www.financealley.com/article_216100_19.html 20th September 2007 New online mortgage provider offers relief to borrowers Embargoed: Tuesday 21 August 2007 – Exorbitant broker commissions cost Australian home buyers a massive $1.8 billion a year, according to InfoChoice estimates released today. This figure has i... http://www.financealley.com/article_205966_69.html 24th August 2007 As with any pursuit, becoming an expert investor requires 'deliberate practice' and a lot of hard graft. No-one in their right mind would think they could compete on the PGA Tour by reading the sports section of the paper and knocking a few golf balls... http://www.financealley.com/article_204630_19.html 22nd August 2007 Pssst, wanna make a fortune from our greying society? Then listen up. What did the railway boom of the 1800s, commercial aviation boom of the mid-to-late 1900s and the relatively recent internet boom have in common? All three had profound effects ... http://www.financealley.com/article_204621_74.html 22nd August 2007 To get the best from your portfolio, you need to know your stocks. Here's how one great investor splits them up. In One Up On Wall Street, the famous American investor Peter Lynch described how he split stocks into six categories. Last issue we looked... http://www.financealley.com/article_204127_19.html 21st August 2007 The tide has turned in debt markets. We're about to find out who's been swimming naked. The events of the past few months deserve reflection. Hank Bloggs – a citizen of the United States who never should have been lent money to start with but though... http://www.financealley.com/article_204087_19.html 21st August 2007 The way to achieve great returns from investing is to keep things simple and avoid making mistakes. When was the last time you played noughts and crosses? Probably a while ago, because it can be pretty tedious once you get the hang of it. It's an easy gam... http://www.financealley.com/article_204067_63.html 21st August 2007 If you think a low PER means 'cheap' and a high one means 'expensive', be careful. It ain't always so. Hands up. Have you ever made a list of all stocks trading on low PERs from the newspaper? Don't be shy, because many of us have. From the beginning o... http://www.financealley.com/article_203176_63.html 17th August 2007 A few simple rules will help you establish and maintain a fortress to keep you financially independent. For all the peripheral reasons one might get involved in investing, the foremost priority is almost invariably to accumulate wealth. Obviously, goal... http://www.financealley.com/article_203150_63.html 17th August 2007 Confused by some commonly used investment terms? Our new glossary should help you out. The world of finance is full of jargon. Partly this is because, as with most things, there are similar concepts that keep repeating, so it's easier to have a conden... http://www.financealley.com/article_203058_63.html 17th August 2007 Most people are net buyers of stocks throughout their lives, which means that market falls should be welcomed rather than feared. You could be forgiven for thinking that there had been some major ructions in the stockmarket over the past couple of wee... http://www.financealley.com/article_202568_67.html 16th August 2007 Apart form the Stamp Duties, legal fees and various searches that you may need to do, there are yet more costs to factor in to your budget when purchasing a property. This may seem like bad news, yet they are there for your protection and could save you m... http://www.financealley.com/article_195447_33.html 01st August 2007 You can know everything about valuing companies, but it'll be no use unless you can apply it rationally. There's an old Japanese tale about a young archer who shows off to an old master by scoring a distant bullseye and then splitting his first arrow w... http://www.financealley.com/article_189325_67.html 24th July 2007 Trying to buy our recommended stocks can be frustrating at times. But patience often has its rewards. You probably never thought you'd read it: Trading tips from The Intelligent Investor. Well, there's no need to run out and cancel your subscription â€... http://www.financealley.com/article_187605_67.html 23rd July 2007 If you've ever been confused by the array of dividend dates, you're certainly not the only one. Here's how they all fit together. Ex date, record date, books closing date, payable date: dividends seem to have almost as many dates as you'd find at Sydne... http://www.financealley.com/article_187591_63.html 23rd July 2007 The theory behind selling stocks is pretty simple; the hard part, as always, is putting it into practice. The question of when to sell a stock is one of the most talked about areas of investing. It's also one of the most vexing. And it's no accident th... http://www.financealley.com/article_187583_67.html 23rd July 2007 The second part of our Value Investing Series shows how you can value any security - if you know how much it will pay, when it will pay it and the return you want to make. Last issue we looked at value in the context of the ancient people of north Quee... http://www.financealley.com/article_187552_67.html 23rd July 2007 The market's expectations about a stock swing around much more wildly than its underlying value. In the first instalment of this value investing series back in issue 197/Apr 06, we noted that 'for some, [value investing is] all about buying shares on l... http://www.financealley.com/article_187548_19.html 23rd July 2007 A company's dividend yield and cash flow provide useful cross-checks on the PER. In the sixth instalment of this value investing series, last issue, we saw how the earnings of a company could be split into two elements: one that appears in the form of ... http://www.financealley.com/article_187540_19.html 23rd July 2007 Despite what many would have you think, managing risk is less about ticking boxes and more to do with recognising the extent of your knowledge. Financial planning these days – at least as practised in some quarters – can be a peculiar business. You... http://www.financealley.com/article_187538_63.html 23rd July 2007 A company's cost of capital is one of the most enigmatic areas of economics – absolutely crucial to understand but absolutely impossible to pin down. There are two basic ways that a company can obtain finance. It can either borrow it (debt) or raise ... http://www.financealley.com/article_187158_63.html 20th July 2007 Like any good mathematical formula, the price-to-earnings ratio, or PER, is simple yet powerful. In this publication we try to shelter you from as much unnecessary mathematics, jargon and financial-speak as we can, but the price-to-earnings ratio, or P... http://www.financealley.com/article_187144_19.html 20th July 2007 Big bath accounting is accepted as a fact of life by most analysts. But what is it and how should it be treated? Well travelled readers may be familiar with the ancient city of Leptis Magna (pronounced Lepcis Magna). It was located on the Mediterranean S... http://www.financealley.com/article_183283_19.html 05th July 2007 It's counterintuitive, but investors need to be most cautious when business conditions are booming. In Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits, a book written amost 50 years ago, Phil Fisher made a point that resulted in an epiphany for this analyst when he... http://www.financealley.com/article_183274_19.html 05th July 2007 Stepping on some of these fourteen corporate landmines has proved unlucky for many a company. In last issue's Investor's College, we discussed the fact that corporate insolvencies aren't normally the result of a sudden misfortune. Instead, they tend to... http://www.financealley.com/article_183272_15.html 05th July 2007 The bottom line on corporate metabolism comes down to the cash that flows out for shareholders. In the first two episodes of this three-part series on corporate metabolism, we looked at how a low return on equity could slow down the flow of cash throug... http://www.financealley.com/article_182876_15.html 05th July 2007 Here we take a look at two great $2 stocks to illustrate an important point that many investors miss. In this article we'll discuss two stocks that we think have great future prospects. We'll reveal their names later but, for now, will refer to them si... http://www.financealley.com/article_182852_19.html 05th July 2007 Following last issue's article, here are more great ways to blow your hard-earned savings. As we said last issue, to make money, sometimes it's better to first concentrate on not losing it. With that in mind, here's the second part of our series, with ... http://www.financealley.com/article_182808_63.html 05th July 2007 In the first of two articles, here we explain the classic investment mistakes that, to be successful, you should avoid at all costs. Investing successfully poses many challenges. In these pages we aim to show you some of the techniques that can help you ... http://www.financealley.com/article_181271_19.html 01st July 2007 For a business, using debt can be a bit like putting your foot down on the accelerator. The chances are that you'll get to where you want to go a little faster but if something goes wrong, the consequences are more likely to be serious. Since we have an u... http://www.financealley.com/article_179857_15.html 01st July 2007 Analysing Ten Network is much tougher than it might first appear. Here we step through a couple of the issues. As value investors, we attempt to consider every stock from a business perspective. When doing so, we often find it helpful to look at the 'b... http://www.financealley.com/article_179849_15.html 01st July 2007 Most subscribers own banking stocks, so let's examine how banks work and what drives their profits. The Romans did more than popularise bloodsports and central heating. They also pioneered a banking network that extended throughout much of Europe, Asia... http://www.financealley.com/article_179841_19.html 01st July 2007 It's time to discuss an often over-used and much misunderstood yardstick. There are two types of people who read The Intelligent Investor; those who know what the letters 'PER' stand for and those who skip over them and hope they're not too important. ... http://www.financealley.com/article_179826_15.html 01st July 2007 When you need to borrow money, there will be several things you will need to know. Exactly how much are you able to borrow and at what interest rates are two of the most important questions. The interest rate of your loan is really important, as that will... http://www.financealley.com/article_179086_19.html 29th June 2007 If you are about to be a first-time homeowner, you are in luck. You will be able to access the $7,000 grant given by the government to offset the costs of GST. This will be a great help to most young homebuyers. Although the grant comes from the Commonwea... http://www.financealley.com/article_179083_19.html 29th June 2007 When buying a property there are several other costs to consider apart from the purchase price. They may not all apply to your particular situation so don't panic. Just remember to budget for the extras that you do need, one of which will be Stamp Duty. T... http://www.financealley.com/article_179082_19.html 29th June 2007 There are a few major things to look for when purchasing your property that will prevent you from being disappointed or even losing money on the deal. You may have found your dream house and the building meets all Council requirements, but don't forget to... http://www.financealley.com/article_179078_19.html 29th June 2007 If you get the right kind of loan, there are many ways in which you will be able to pay it off more quickly, thus saving many thousands of dollars over the life of the loan. Who doesn't want to save money? Most lending specialists will help you to design ... http://www.financealley.com/article_179070_19.html 29th June 2007 Derivatives are a complicated and potentially dangerous area. Here's how to spot the warning signs. To be a successful investor, you don't need a comprehensive knowledge of derivatives. But you do need a basic understanding of what can go wrong and wha... http://www.financealley.com/article_167636_19.html 31st May 2007 The workings of corporate metabolism Capital-intensive businesses generally make for sickly investments. In this, the first of a three-part series, we examine why. They say 'what goes in one end comes out the other' and, while it may be true of babi... http://www.financealley.com/article_167630_19.html 31st May 2007