The (Investing) Times They Are a Changin’

Big day in my household.

First: Game Five tonight in the National League Division Series … Go Nats!

Second: Bob Dylan won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Go Bob! (I’m a big fan.)

The thing is, Dylan doesn’t care much about awards. In that sense, he reminds me of Warren Buffett, Peter Lynch and other great investors whose focus is (or was) on the work, not the fame. These guys don’t shun the spotlight, but you get the sense it’s not their priority. They love what they do, they pour their hearts into their work, and they’re great at it.

None of us are going to win a Nobel. (Unless one of the world’s great physicists or economists is reading this? Email me.) But by emulating the greats and seeking results rather than glory, each of us can achieve financial security that allows us to live life according to our values – and that’s a path worth pursuing.

So keep asking yourself how you can meet your financial goals. We’re here to help you find the answers and keep you ahead of these changing times. And lately those answers involve what to do with financial holdings. The next issue of our flagship publication, Personal Finance, will go into this in depth, including recommending a highly-profitable, stable financial company you may not have heard of that pays a 7.6% dividend.

We’ll be analyzing stories, including ….

And He’s Out!

John Stumpf will need to pursue another path, at least professionally. The embattled Wells Fargo CEO abruptly resigned on Wednesday – no surprise, after nearly everyone across the country demanded that he step down in the wake of the giant bank’s client-cheating scandal.

Accountability on Wall Street? What a concept.

But is Wells a good buy at its current, beaten up price? We’ll answer that in Personal Finance.

DB’s Hiring Freeze

Deutsche Bank has yet to be held accountable by the U.S. Justice Department for improper mortgage-security trades before the financial crisis. We’re continuing to hear rumors of a settlement for well below the $14 billion initially sought, but no announcement yet. The bank is slashing costs to prepare for the fine, which will be in the billions no matter what. Today, DB reportedly instituted a hiring freeze that analysts say could save $2 billion, and more cost-cutting initiatives may be in the works.

As we wrote a couple weeks ago, Deutsche Bank’s many woes are troubling, because the bank is a linchpin of Europe’s largest economy and the strongest in the European Union. We’ll keep an eye on this development, because a failure there could be a serious blow to the global economy.

America Back to Work

Let’s end on some good news: the number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell to a 43-year low last week, confirmation that employment remains strong.

That’s not only good news for those who’ve struggled to find good jobs since the Great Recession, it’s a solid indication that wage growth will continue to pick up – which should fuel stronger economic growth. And that’s good for stocks.