Study successful investors, and you'll notice a common denominator: They are masters of psychology. They can't control the market, but they have complete control over the gray matter between their ears.
And lucky them. Most of us, on the other hand, are mental catastrophes. As investor Barry Ritholtz once put it:
You're a monkey. It all comes down to that. You are a slightly clever, pants-wearing primate. If you forget that you're nothing more than a monkey who has been fashioned by eons on the plains, being chased by tigers, you shouldn't invest. You have to be aware of how your own psychology affects what you do.
Take one of the most powerful theories in behavior psychology: cognitive dissonance. It's the term psychologists use for the uncomfortable feeling you get when having two conflicting thoughts at the same time. "Smoking is bad for me. I'm going to go smoke." That's cognitive dissonance.
We hate cognitive dissonance, and jump through hoops to reduce it. The easiest way to reduce it is to engage in mental gymnastics that justifies behavior we know is wrong. "I had a stressful day and I deserve a cigarette." Now you can smoke guilt-free. Problem solved.
Best Transportation Stocks To Watch For 2015: Home Federal Bancorp Inc.(HOME)
Home Federal Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for Home Federal Bank that provides financial products and services to consumers and businesses. The company?s deposit products include checking accounts, money market deposit accounts, savings accounts, and certificates of deposits. Its loan products portfolio comprises one-to-four family residential real estate, real estate construction, and commercial and multifamily real estate loans; commercial business loans for various business purposes, such as working capital and equipment financing, and capital and general investment; and consumer loans, including home equity loans and lines of credit, savings account loans, automobile loans, recreational vehicle loans, and personal unsecured loans. The company offers its products and services in the Treasure Valley region of southwestern Idaho, including Ada, Canyon, Elmore, and Gem counties; the Tri-County region of Central Oregon comprising the counties of Crook, Desc hutes, and Jefferson, as well as the communities of Eugene, Grants Pass, and Medford; and Lane, Josephine, Jackson, and Multnomah counties in Western Oregon. As of January 27, 2012, it operated 28 full-service banking offices. The company was founded in 1920 and is headquartered in Nampa, Idaho.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Sofia Horta e Costa]
Sanofi fell 2.6 percent after withdrawing a U.S. application for a diabetes drug. Cie. Financiere Richemont (CFR) SA dropped 2.3 percent as revenue missed analysts��estimates. Vivendi SA advanced 2.7 percent after saying it will begin a formal study to separate its French phone unit from its media businesses. Home Retail Group Plc (HOME) surged 5.4 percent to a two-year high as sales exceeded projections.
Top 10 Electric Utility Stocks To Own Right Now: CGI Group Inc (GIB)
CGI Group Inc. (CGI), incorporated on September 29, 1981, provides information technology (IT) consulting, systems integration, IT outsourcing and business solutions. The Company�� delivery model provides for work to be carried out onsite at client premises, or through its centers located globally. CGI has approximately 72,000 members across the globe. The Company also has a range of business solutions, which support long-term client relationships. Its services include consulting, systems integration, and management of information technology (IT) and business functions (outsourcing). On August 20, 2012, CGI completed its acquisition of Logica plc (Logica).
CGI has a range of business solutions, which include Momentum, CGI Advantage, CACS, CACS-G, Bureaulink and Strata. Momentum is an integrated enterprise resource planning suite in use by over 85 federal organizations across the three branches of the United States federal government, including 16 agencies. CGI�� enterprise resource planning solution, CGI Advantage, include financial management, payroll, budgeting, human resources management, procurement and grants management. The CGI Advantage client organizations include 22 states. CGI�� Credit Services Solutions include CACS, CACS-G and Bureaulink, Strata and other components.
Management of IT and Business Functions - Outsourcing
Clients delegate entire or partial responsibility for their IT or business functions to CGI. It implements its processes to improve the client�� operations. It also integrates clients��operations into its technology network. Services provided as part of an outsourcing contract may include development and integration of new projects and applications; applications maintenance and support; technology management (enterprise and end-user computing and network services); transaction and business processing, such as payroll, insurance processing and document management services. Outsourcing contracts have terms of up to 10 years.
Consulting and Systems Integration
CGI provides a full range of IT and business consulting services, including business transformation, IT strategic planning, business process engineering and systems architecture. CGI integrates and customizes technologies and software applications.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
CGI Group (NYSE: GIB) was also up, gaining 7.28 percent to $38.59 after the company swung to a profit in the fourth quarter.
Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) were down 13.36 percent to $20.79 after the company posted weaker-than-expected fiscal first-quarter revenue and issued a weak outlook. Cisco also increased its share buyback program by $15 billion. Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock from Buy to Hold. - [By MONEYMORNING]
For instance, take a look at CGI Federal Inc., a subsidiary of Canadian IT solutions company CGI Group Inc. (NYSE: GIB).
CGI Federal is the largest recipient of Obamacare contract awards. The firm collected $149.9 million from April through the end of September - an impressive 35.5% of the total $421.8 million it has received since March 2010.�
- [By Laura Brodbeck]
Thursday
Earnings Expected From: Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT), CGI Group, Inc. (NYSE: GIB), Kohl�� Corporation (NYSE: KSS), Nordstrom, Inc, (NYSE: JWN), Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) Economic Releases Expected: French GDP, German GDP, Italian GDP, British retails sales, eurozone GDP, Greek unemployment rateFriday
Top 10 Electric Utility Stocks To Own Right Now: Matrix Service Company(MTRX)
Matrix Service Company provides construction, and repair and maintenance services primarily to the energy and energy related industries in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Construction Services, and Repair and Maintenance Services. The Construction Services segment offers aboveground storage tanks for the bulk storage/terminal industry, capital construction for the downstream petroleum industry, and specialty construction, as well as electrical/instrumentation services, such as civil/structural, mechanical, piping, electrical and instrumentation, millwrighting, and fabrication for various industries. This segment focuses on renovations, retrofits, modifications, and expansions to existing facilities, as well as construction of new facilities. The Repair and Maintenance Services segment provides aboveground storage tank repair and maintenance services, including tank inspection, cleaning, and American Society of Mechanical Enginee rs code repairs; planned major and routine maintenance for the downstream petroleum industry; specialty repair and maintenance services; and electrical and instrumentation repair and maintenance. It serves integrated oil companies, independent petroleum refiners, power companies, engineering firms, general contractors, and petrochemical and industrial gas companies, as well as pipeline, terminal, and oil and gas marketing companies. The company was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Travis Hoium]
What: Shares of energy service provider Matrix Service (NASDAQ: MTRX ) jumped 10% today after an analyst upgraded the stock.
So what: Analysts at Sidoti upgraded the stock from "neutral" to "buy" today. This was the only news out about the stock and drove traders to push volume to nearly twice its three-month average. �
Top 10 Electric Utility Stocks To Own Right Now: Montpelier RE Holdings Ltd (MRH)
Montpelier Re Holdings Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides insurance and reinsurance solutions worldwide. It provides reinsurance products, including property catastrophe reinsurance, which provides coverage for losses from earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, tornados, fires, and storms; and property specialty reinsurance products. The company also offers other specialty reinsurance products, such as aviation liability, aviation war, engineering, space, marine, personal accident, workers� compensation, political violence, casualty, credit, surety, crop, and other specialty reinsurance products, as well as physicians� treaty and professional liability reinsurance products. In addition, it provides direct insurance and facultative reinsurance coverage on industrial, commercial, and residential property; liability; marine; and space risks, as well as political violence, pandemic and event contingency, and terrorism coverages. The company offers its products through indepe ndent brokers, general agents, and intermediaries. Montpelier Re Holdings Ltd. was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Pembroke, Bermuda.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rich Duprey]
Property and casualty reinsurer�Montpelier Re (NYSE: MRH ) announced this morning its second-quarter dividend of $0.115 per share, the same rate it's paid for the past two quarters after raising the payout 10% from $0.105 per share.
- [By Lawrence Meyers]
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Preferred Stocks: Montpelier RE Holdings (MRH)Dividend Yield: 8.2%
Montpelier RE Holdings (MRH) has an 8.875% Series A Preferred, currently trading at $27 — about 8.5% above par and callable in two years. Its dividend yield is thus 8.2%.
Top 10 Electric Utility Stocks To Own Right Now: Global X China Consumer ETF (CHIQ)
Global X China Consumer ETF (the Fund) seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the Solactive China Consumer Index (the Underlying Index). The Underlying Index is a free float adjusted, liquidity tested and market capitalization-weighted index that is designed to measure performance of the investable universe of companies in the Consumer sector of the Chinese economy, as defined by Structured Solutions AG. Global X Management Company, LLC serves as the investment adviser to the Fund. Advisors' Opinion:- [By pamatlarge]
Investors looking to short a particular sector can choose from several Global X long ETFs. The Global X China Consumer ETF (CHIQ) concentrates its investments in consumer cyclical goods and consumer defense goods. The Global X China Energy ETF (CHIE) primarily holds stocks in coal, oil and utility companies. The Global X China Financials ETF (CHIX) only invests in financial services companies and real estate companies. The Global X China Industrials ETF (CHII) holds stocks in industrial companies and basic materials companies. The Global X China Materials ETF (CHIM) invests in basic materials stocks. The Global X China Technology ETF (CHIB) holds technology stocks as the core of its investments. All of these ETFs are particularly sensitive to sector downturns and general economic contractions.
Top 10 Electric Utility Stocks To Own Right Now: KCG Holdings Inc (KCG)
KCG Holdings, Inc., incorporated on December 26, 2012, is an independent securities firm. The Company offers investors a range of services designed to address trading needs across asset classes, product types and time zones. It has three operating segments: Market Making, Global Execution Services, and Corporate and Other. On July 1, 2013, the Company announced the completion of the merger whereby Knight Capital Group, Inc. (Knight) and GETCO Holding Company, LLC (GETCO) were combined as part of KCG Holdings, Inc., a new holding company.
Market Making
The Company�� Market Making segment principally consists of market making in global equities and listed domestic options. As a market maker, the Company commits capital for trade executions by offering to buy securities from, or sell securities to, institutions and broker-dealers. The Market Making segment primarily includes client, and to a lesser extent, non-client market making activities in which the Company operates as a market maker in equity securities quoted and traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market; the over-the-counter (OTC) market for New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), NYSE Amex Equities (NYSE Amex), NYSE Arca listed securities, and several European exchanges. As a complement to electronic market making, the Company�� cash trading business handles specialized orders and also transacts on the OTC Bulletin Board, marketplaces operated by the OTC Markets Group Inc. and the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange. The segment also provides trade executions as an equities Designated Market Maker (DMM) on the NYSE and NYSE Amex. The Market Making segment also includes the Company�� option market making business which trades on all domestic electronic exchanges.
Global Execution Services
The Company�� Global Execution Services segment offers access through its electronic agency-based platforms to markets and self-directed trading in equities, options, fixed income, foreign ! exchange and futures. The Global Execution Services segment generally does not act as a principal to transactions that are executed within this segment however, it will commit capital on behalf of clients, as needed, and generally earns commissions for acting as agent between the principals to the trade. Global Execution Services includes equity sales and trading (including exchange traded funds (ETFs)), reverse mortgage origination and securitization and asset management. This segment also facilitates client orders through program, block, and riskless principal trades and provides capital markets services, including equity offerings, as well as private placements. The Global Execution Services segment also includes the futures commission merchant (FCM) business, which consists of certain assets and liabilities that the Company acquired or assumed from the futures division of Penson Financial Services, Inc.
Corporate and Other
The Corporate and Other segment invests in strategic financial services-oriented opportunities, allocates, deploys and monitors all capital, and maintains corporate overhead expenses and all other income and expenses that are not attributable to the other segments. The Corporate and Other segment houses functions that support the Company�� other segments, such as self-clearing services, including stock lending activities.
The Company competes with BGC Partners (BGCP), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), CME (CME), GFI Group Inc. (GFIG), ICE (ICE), ITG (ITG), Forex Capital Markets (FXCM), MarketAxess (MKTX), National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ), and NYSE.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Sam Mamudi]
Knight, which in July joined with Getco LLC to form KCG Holdings Inc. (KCG) after losing more than $460 million because of the error, agreed to settle charges stemming from mistakes made on Aug. 1, 2012, according to a statement today from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The regulator said Knight violated the SEC�� market access rule, instituted in 2010 to prevent these kinds of trading missteps.
Top 10 Electric Utility Stocks To Own Right Now: Cambridge Bancorp (CATC)
Cambridge Bancorp, incorporated on December 23, 1982, is a state chartered, federally bank holding company in Cambridge. The Company�� reportable operating segment consists of commercial banking, consumer banking, and trust and investment management services. Cambridge Trust Company (the Bank) is a subsidiary of the Company. The Bank offers a range of commercial and consumer banking services through its network of 12 service banking offices in Massachusetts. The Bank is engaged in the business of attracting deposits from the public and investing those deposits. The Bank invests those funds in various types of loans, including residential and commercial real estate, and a variety of commercial and consumer loans. The Bank also invests its deposits and borrowed funds in investment securities and has three wholly owned Massachusetts Security Corporations, CTC Security Corporation, CTC Security Corporation II and CTC Security Corporation III.
Lending activities
The Bank originates loans to businesses and individuals on both a collateralized and an uncollateralized basis. The Bank�� customer base is concentrated in eastern Massachusetts. The majority of loans to individuals are collateralized by residential real estate, marketable securities or other assets.
Investment activities
The Bank invests in United States government sponsored enterprise (GSE) obligations, mortgage-backed securities, mutual funds and municipal securities. As a member of the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) of Boston (the FHLB Boston), the Bank is required to invest in stock of the FHLB Boston in an amount based upon itsadvances from the FHLB Boston.
Sources of Funds
The Bank attracts deposits, such as demand deposits (non-interest bearing), interest bearing checking, money market, savings, certificates of deposit under $100,000 and certificates of deposit $100,000 or greater. Its short term borrowings consist of treasury, tax and loan notes, and FHLB Bost! on overnight borrowings.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By CRWE]
Last Friday, CATC previously surged (+0.26%) up +0.10 at $39.00 with 600 shares in play at the close (ref. google finance July 26, 2013 ��Close).
Cambridge Bancorp previously reported unaudited net income of $3,475,000 for the second quarter of 2013 compared to $3,451,000 for the same quarter in 2012. The slight increase in earnings was primarily attributable to growth in noninterest income, offset by a decrease in net interest income. Diluted earnings per share were $0.89 for the second quarter of 2013, unchanged versus for the same quarter in 2012. For the six months ended June 30, 2013, unaudited net income was $6,806,000 compared to $6,736,000 for the first half of 2012. Diluted earnings per share were $1.75 for the first six months of 2013 versus $1.74 for the same period in 2012.
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