The Oracle has spoken. Fresh on the heels of his recent $44 billion deal to buy the railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe, Warren Buffett’s latest filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Monday night shows his company, Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B), has acquired new… Read More

Only 313 U.S. companies have increased sales every year for the past decade. These are companies that have improved every year since 1999 — growing through three presidents and two bear markets. Some of the biggest names that have pulled off this financial feat… Read More

I’d bet that most Investor Update readers know about the S&P Dividend Aristocrats Index. To be included in this index, an S&P 500 company must have raised its dividend annually for at least the past 25 years. Read More

Free. There may be no better word in the English language. A new breed of exchange-traded fund offers accountholders at one of the world’s biggest discount brokerages free trades for life. Cheap, liquid, and diversified, ETFs are popular investment vehicles. They’ve seen a… Read More

Nearly 1,000 U.S.-listed companies offer Dividend Reinvestment Plans or “DRIPs” as a way for shareholders to accumulate shares without using a broker. These plans allow investors to automatically use their dividends to buy more shares of the company’s… Read More

During the market’s darkest days of fear and uncertainty last October, Warren Buffett wrote a bullish op-ed piece in The New York Times arguing in favor of U.S. stocks. Those reassuring comments helped quell anxiety far more than any government intervention. Buffett was putting his money where his mouth was. Read More

Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B) is set to take off. The news that uberinvestor Warren Buffett’s holding company would take over Burlington Northern (NYSE: BNI) in a $44 billion “all-in wager on the economic future of the United States” has made headlines around the world. Everyone says it’s Buffett’s biggest deal. Read More

They came every year like clockwork. They were so usual that most recipients took them for granted. But next year will mark the first time in decades that Social Security payments will see no cost of living adjustment (COLA). You see, the adjustment is tied to increases in the… Read More

Cheap stocks aren’t as plentiful as they were seven months ago. In some ways, of course, that’s a good thing. No one likes it when the market craters. But even though prices have risen from their lows, that doesn’t mean investors can’t find bargains out there — they’re just tougher… Read More

I have a game I like to play. A little con. It generally involves two pigeons. One is a friend, the other is Bill Gates. It never fails. I’m always amazed at how little people know about financial information. When I show someone the SEC’s site, for instance, he or… Read More