berko

Beemers can’t compete with Beetles

Dear Mr. Berko: In 2004, my wife inherited 600 shares of Volkswagen and 350 shares of BMW from her uncle who lived in Munich.

 

Local Stocks

Futures

More Stock/Fund Data

Customize

Set up a portfolio to track your stocks and receive E-mail updates, or establish stock alerts sent to your e-mail. Track your porfolio  Stock Alerts

Stay away from Nuveen Municipal Value Fund

Dear Mr. Berko: In September of 2011, you recommended the Nuveen Municipal Value Closed-End Fund for my brother who bought it at $9.39 to yield over 5.2 percent.

A look at short-term investments

Dear Mr. Berko: We are in our early 80s and in good health. Four years ago, we had $106,000 in CDs and money market accounts.

McDonald’s continues to increase revenues

Dear Mr. Berko: Is McDonald’s stock one of Warren Buffett’s largest holdings? How many times has McDonald’s split?

Watch out for ‘low-risk mortgage unit’ scams

Dear Mr. Berko: I’m 68, and my wife is 66. I’ve worked as a diesel mechanic for 42 years, and my wife was head of our church’s religious school from 1997 until last year.

IBM has hit a wall; J.C. Penney is out of sync

Dear Mr. Berko: Last April, IBM reported lower revenues and profits, and the stock dropped 25 points, to $195. I’ve been looking for an opportunity to buy the stock because the new CEO seems like a very sharp lady.

Congress has made peons of most Americans

Dear Mr. Berko: Why is President Barack Obama reducing the amount of our future Social Security income increases, and why is he limiting the amount of money we can invest in our individual retirement accounts and 401(k) programs?

Dow Jones may ‘teeter and tank’

Dear Mr. Berko: This may sound undoable, but I would like to be an aggressive investor with five or six speculative stocks that have good long-term potential (not more than three years) and get a dividend income of 5 to 6 percent.

Downside risks of Amazon.com are great

Dear Mr. Berko: I’m 75. I never have been in stocks — except for my state pension, for which I did not pick the investments.

You can lose money by selling short

Dear Mr. Berko: Do you think interest rates are going to rise? Because I believe they will soon, I would like to sell U.S. Treasury bonds short. What’s the best way to do this? — PT, Cincinnati Dear PT: A short sale is betting that …

Getting export license from Congress

Dear Mr. Berko: My daughter owns a profitable business in another state and has 87 employees.

You think you can you hear me now?

Dear Mr. Berko: I bought 100 shares of Verizon in October 2008 for my individual retirement account because I had the spare cash and because I was a Verizon Wireless customer.

Sell TIPS because CPIs aren’t to be trusted

Dear Mr. Berko: How can you recommend Treasury inflation-protected securities? The government claims that inflation is 1.8 percent. That is ridiculous. It’s much higher than that. Our homeowners insurance just increased to $7,800 on a home worth $340,000.

Japanese economy has good potential in coming years

Some readers have asked for my opinion on the Japanese stock market, the Japanese economy and the stocks of Toyota, Mitsubishi, Honda, Canon, Sumitomo and other large Japanese companies.

Japanese market and why the money supply pushes up US stocks

Dear Mr. Berko: You have said often that the $85 billion a month the Federal Reserve injects into the banking system has forced stock prices to rise. Could you please explain why or how in simple layman’s English?

Altria Group will continue to be a smoking stock

Dear Mr. Berko: I was thinking of buying another 100 shares of Altria Group Inc. because it pays a 4.95 percent dividend and because it seems to be a decent growth stock.