Random Thoughts & Readings

• As Martin Goldberg points out, the Nasdaq 100 is now a laggard


• AMG reported significant cash inflows continued in the past week as $4.460 billion dollars was pushed into the market, half of which went directly into domestic funds. In addition, over $9 billion left money market funds and emerging markets funds reported the second largest inflows on record


• Russia says niet to U.S. energy firms


• Valentine's Day is the third-largest retail holiday of the year


• Jim Jubak puts together his new herd of cash cows


• In the long run, profits grow at the same pace as GDP


• Wars in the future will be fought by robots


• Trucking stocks? Sam Stovall thinks it is time to hit the road


• In case you missed the news - North Korea publicly acknowledged for the first time that it has nuclear weapons and declared that it has suspended its participation in the six-nation talks with the U.S., Japan, South Korea, China and Russia for an indefinite period


• David R. Fried, known as the buyback king, offers several reasons why buying buybacks makes a solid investment strategy


• New obesity drugs face tremensous obstacles


• "You can't grow long-term if you can't eat short-term. Anybody can manage short. Anybody can manage long. Balancing those two things is what management is all about." - Jack Welch


• Michael Lewis thinks Bush's plan to reform social security will ultimately provide Americans with a free call option on the stock market


• The most recommended mutual funds from top-performing newsletters


• Is the new cell chip really as revolutionary as its proponents claim?


• James Stewart's eagerly-awaited DisneyWar hits the shelves next week


• Is Winn-Dixie (WIN) ever coming back?


• The State of Iowa looks at a tax break to bring back the young


• A notable change in the way Standard & Poor's constructs its U.S. stock indexes is just five weeks away


• Mark Hulbert measures up Value Line


• Practice your fire drill. All traders face the threat of big losses from time to time. These unfortunate events may give you only minutes to act before they steal a fortune from your trading account. Prepare mentally by visualizing an emergency exit for each new trade you take. Then head for it at the first sign of trouble.


• Carly Fiorina's exit proves to some that big mergers often fail


• Have a baby and receive a big cash bonus


• Henry Blodget takes a closer look at China


• When you buy exchange traded funds, it makes sense to buy them in bulk


• Beating the market year after year is not easy


• "The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing." - Socrates