Are REITs Getting Too Expensive? + MORE

Commentary: When the Dow Jones Industrial Average crossed 15,000, it had me dreaming of bigger things. Specifically: Dow 116,200. Why it’s not as far-fetched as it sounds.

Filed under: Investing

Next week, search juggernaut Google will officially kick off Google I/O, its annual developer conference where it’s expected to show off the latest and greatest Android developments. The event will be held at the Moscone Center in downtown San Francisco, the same venue where Apple and Microsoft are hosting their own respective developer conferences next month…

Typically, investing is about making choices: growth versus value, long versus short, domestic versus international, or cyclical versus staple. Rarely do we get the best of both choices.

Fortunately, the stars have aligned for one stock. Investors can play defense with an old-line company whose products are a necessity in two growth industries and will be for years to come…

I am a shameless eBay sniper. It helps prevent me from getting carried away and foolishly competitive and it eliminates any opportunity for competing bidders from responding to my bids (nibbling away at the bid $1 at a time.) I realize that being outbid by a sniper sometimes annoys other eBay users. I snipe because it is within the rules of eBay and because I believe that it gives one a competitive advantage…

In its recent annual investor sentiment survey, investment management firm Franklin Templeton has found that 37% of investors think they can reach their financial goals without putting a penny into stocks.
This echoes a recent Gallup poll that shows stock ownership levels at record lows, with just 52% of American families participating in the stock market…

May 10 (Bloomberg) — Deborah Fuhr, who helped found the
London-based research firm ETFGI, says assets in exchange-traded
products reached a record $2.13 trillion globally at the end of
April. Bloomberg Radio’s Catherine Cowdery reports on Exchange
Traded Funds.

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The incredibly low interest rate environment the Fed has provided for us has resulted in a rush to REITs to capitalize on their higher yields.
REITs were originally created to give the small guy access to commercial property, but they now include things as wide ranging as billboards and casinos – and most have paid very well…

Google I/O is next week, and the search giant will show off the latest and greatest of Android. Big G is also expected to take the wraps off the follow-up to its successful Nexus 7 tablet.    

Middleby continues to gain share and expand its market opportunities in an under-innovative industry.