When you've lived a few years, you come to appreciate the truth of statements like: "The house always wins." "In a gold rush, the only one guaranteed to get rich is the guy selling the shovels." And . . . "Any 'exclusive' investment advertised as a 'sure thing' probably isn't either one." If you were around for the Internet stock craze of the late 1990s or the real estate bubble of the late 2000s, you know it can be extremely tempting to jump into an investment [...]

According to Yahoo Finance, the number of Americans trading individual stocks has grown during the pandemic. A survey the finance site conducted last fall found that 33% of people holding stock indicate that they've been trading more since the pandemic began. And a similar number said they're trading individual stocks more, as opposed to ETFs and mutual funds. This makes sense when you think of all the people cooped up at home unable to do many of their normal activities. By actively trading stocks they were actually [...]

It's hard to think of a more all-American investor than Warren Buffett. His company, Berkshire-Hathaway, is located not on one of the coasts but in Omaha, Nebraska. The firm's wholly-owned subsidiaries include such heartland favorites as Kraft Heinz, Dairy Queen, and See's Candies. But more importantly, Buffett has embodied the American ideal of the modest winner. He doesn't need to toot his own horn when his results speak for themselves. Since 1965, Berkshire has enjoyed an annual average return of roughly 20%, nearly double that of [...]