Lessons from the tech debacle   Many years ago, as a psychiatric resident, I attended a case presentation of a patient who had achieved great renown as an economist, market analyst, and stock picker. His predictions and choices were uncannily accurate. Yet he was destitute. For… Read More

First, some kudos for us. In TCI’s first complete quarter, our major portfolios performed like champs. (For details of our audited results, visit our Web site.) Our Growth Portfolio (p.3) with a 16 percent gain bested the S&P 500 by about five percentage points. Our Income Portfolio,… Read More

With these companies, love means never having to say you’re slowing   For a stock-picker, happiness is finding that special stock that looks capable of generating rapid earnings growth for years to come. It doesn’t matter if it’s a drug company or a computer maker or… Read More

Plus plaudits to our portfolio last quarter and sales of Cardinal Health and Intuit   If you’ve been following our Growth Portfolio recommendations, we don’t think you’re complaining. In TCI’s first full quarter (the fourth quarter of 2003), the portfolio climbed more than 16 percent, outperforming… Read More

Citigroup and Wells Fargo are largely immune to rising mortgage rates   Dividend-paying stocks, basking in their shiny new tax status, stole the income-investing limelight last year. Look for a repeat performance in 2004. With the S&P 500 yielding 1.2 percent and 10-year Treasuries 4.3 percent,… Read More

A guide to simplifying your life and keeping your expenses low   Our Fund Portfolio tracks some 30 different mutual funds in 15 categories. Some of our readers, understandably, have questions about how best to use these recommendations in constructing their own portfolios. Should they buy… Read More

Bold choices from a top-ranked Value fund   One of the very best funds in the entire Morningstar universe is the Legg Mason Value Trust (LMVTX). It has outperformed the S&P 500 for 13 consecutive years, a record unmatched by any other fund. Moreover,… Read More

Strong vital signs for a drug benefits manager and a hearing care provider   We love buying growth industries, or growth stocks, when they’re out of favor. By holding onto them patiently, you ultimately benefit from growth in earnings and expanding P/Es alike as Wall Street… Read More

For-profit higher education companies get high marks for torrid growth   From a standing start in the mid-1990s, for-profit higher education has become a major growth industry. It’s one that fills a pressing need—bringing college degrees to employees who for one reason or another haven’t been… Read More

Byron Wien: Prophet of Profits   Everybody makes year-ahead predictions about the market. But people who are actually right much of the time are rare indeed. Morgan Stanley sage Byron Wien is one of those rare prophets whom it pays to heed.   Wien… Read More