CAPE Fear: The Bulls Are Wrong. Shiller's Measure Is the Real Deal

For the past half-decade, a controversial yardstick called the CAPE has been flashing red, warning that stock prices are extremely rich, and vulnerable to a sharp correction. And over the same period, the Wall Street bulls and a number of academics led by Jeremy Siegel of the Wharton School, have been claiming that CAPE is a kind of fun house mirror that makes reasonable valuations appear grotesquely stretched. CAPE, an acronym “Cyclically-adjusted price-to-earnings ratio,” was developed by economist Robert Shiller of Yale to correct for a flaw in judging where stock prices stand on the continuum from dirt cheap to highly expensive based on the current P/E ratio.

Losing a job in your 50s is especially tough. Here are 3 steps to take when layoffs happen

This is one of the many reasons why I believe our 50s can be the most challenging decade of our lives. Assuming you can clear the mental challenges, the financial and administrative obstacles can leave you feeling like a Rube Goldberg machine. Income, health insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, bills, expenses, short-term savings and retirement savings are all immediately important in the face of a job loss.

Berkshire Trims Apple, Sells Oracle and Buys Big Banks

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.B), the conglomerate run by billionaire investor Warren Buffett, sold some of its giant stake in Apple Inc. (AAPL), called it quits on Oracle Corp. (ORCL) and used some of its freed-up capital to top up on bank stocks in the last three months of 2018. Berkshire also boosted its stake in regional lenders, including PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (PNC) and US Bancorp (USB). Share price across the industry have been lifted by speculation that the recent merger between SunTrust Banks Inc. (STI) and BB&T Corp. (BBT) could pave the way for more deals, reported Bloomberg.

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  Buffett's Uneasy Relationship with Tech Continued in Q4

  Market Realist
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  Big hedge funds dumped China stocks, Apple as market tumbled

  Reuters

IRS refund frenzy: Democrats blast Trump Treasury for 'goosing' paychecks

While some Americans are frustrated with the size of their refunds this tax season, a number of Democratic lawmakers are using the opportunity to criticize the Trump administration's tax law. A group of about 40 Democratic senators sent a letter to the administration on Friday, calling for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to waive penalties on taxpayers that had their payments underwithheld this year as a result of the tax reform law and the adjusted withholding tables. “It looks like the Trump Treasury Department spent 2018, an election year, goosing people's paychecks by under-withholding, and it should have been obvious that the bill would come due eventually,” Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said in a statement.

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  Expecting a Tax Refund This Year? Here's 1 Trap You Must Avoid

  Motley Fool
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  These New Exemptions Can Get You Your Biggest Refund This Tax Season

  Refinery29

How to Make Your Retirement Savings Last Forever

With life expectancy and inflation rates rising, Americans are increasingly delaying retirement as they fear their nest egg running out. Well, you could always plan for a shorter retirement, simply because it would be easier to manage costs over a shorter time frame. You could also take up a part-time job during retirement, and make small investments from any accumulated wealth to ensure a steady source of income.

Payless ShoeSource closing all 2,100 U.S. stores, starting liquidation sales Sunday

The closings mark the biggest by a single chain this year and nearly doubles the number of retail stores set to close in 2019. "We expect all stores to remain open until at least the end of March and the majority will remain open until May," the company said in a statement to USA TODAY. This process does not affect the company's franchise operations or its Latin American stores, which remain open for business as usual.

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  2,300 Payless Stores Closing 2019: 7 Things We Know

  InvestorPlace
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  Payless ShoeSource to start liquidation sales at stores

  Reuters

Mercedes-Benz EU emissions jump under new testing regime

Daimler will push electric and hybrid cars more aggressively after tougher emissions tests revealed pollution levels in Europe at Mercedes-Benz Cars rose 7 percent last year. European Union regulators forced the auto industry to cut greenhouse gas emissions drastically to mitigate the impact of global warming, forcing a 40 percent cut in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions between 2007 and 2021. The new procedures combined with a shift in customer tastes towards heavier sports utility vehicles (SUVs) lifted average fleet emissions levels at the company's Mercedes and Smart passenger cars in Europe to 134 grams of CO2 per km in 2018, up from 125 grams in 2017.

5 Best 5G Stocks to Buy As the Trend Heats Up

The 5G upgrade is being driven by big U.S. telecom firms that are getting ready to test 5G sometime in the middle of this year. So as the upgrade cycle unfolds, investors will want to buy network suppliers offering 5G equipment. Before hopping on the 5G investment play, be wary on one outlier: Huawei.

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  Corning Stock Pops On 5G Optical Fiber Growth As Apple Business Slows

  Investor's Business Daily Video
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  AT&T Is Progressing in 5G Services

  Market Realist

China's market is like a 'Black Friday' sale now: Investor

Eric Moffett of T. Rowe Price says a lot of babies have been thrown out with the bathwater in China's stock market and some "fantastic" companies are trading at "fire-sale valuations."

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  Progress in U.S.-China trade talks sparks world stock rally

  Reuters
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  U.S.-China Trade Teams Far Apart on Reform Demands, Sources Say

  Bloomberg

I'm 33, Make $135k & Finally Paid Off My Student Loans

In our series My 6-Figure Paycheck , women making more than $100,000 open up about how they got there and what exactly they do. We take a closer look at what it feels like to be a woman making six-figures — when only 5% of American women make that much, according to the U.S. Census — w ith the hope it will give women insight into how to better navigate their own career and salary trajectories. Today, we chat with a senior marketing manager in fashion from San Francisco, CA.

Cimarex (XEC) to Report Q4 Earnings: What's in the Cards?

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for average realized natural gas price calls for a decline of 19.8% from the year-ago quarter to $2.07 per thousand cubic feet (mcf). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for average realized oil price however calls for an increase of 5.8% from the year-ago quarter level to $55 per barrel. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for average realized natural gas liquids price calls for a decline of 14.1% from the year-ago quarter to $22.23 per barrel.

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  Quidel (QDEL) Q4 Earnings and Revenues Surpass Estimates

  Zacks
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  Deere (DE) Earnings Miss, Revenues Beat Estimates in Q1

  Zacks

Retirement Account: Pros and Cons of Naming a Trust as a Beneficiary

Qualified retirement savings accounts are a great way to build a retirement nest egg. In the financial community, this has been a topic of an ongoing debate between estate planning attorneys and financial advisors. Since qualified retirement plans such as a 401(k) or 403(b), an IRA or a Roth IRA pass by way of contract directly to a named beneficiary, the often lengthy probate process, attorneys' fees and other costs associated with wills and settling estates are avoided.

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  How to Convert a Non-Deductible IRA Into a Roth IRA

  Investopedia
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  How to Save for Retirement in Every Decade of Your Life

  Men's Health

These New Exemptions Can Get You Your Biggest Refund This Tax Season

Whether you're planning to do your taxes online or work with an accountant, it helps to know which deductions and exemptions you are entitled to, so you have a rough idea of how big of a refund you might get — or how much you could owe to Uncle Sam. So we spoke to Brittany Turner, CPA, the founder of Countless, a New York City–based accounting firm for creatives. Brittany compiled a list of ten tax credits and deductions to be aware of while heading into tax season this year.

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  Expecting a Tax Refund This Year? Here's 1 Trap You Must Avoid

  Motley Fool
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  IRS refund frenzy: Democrats blast Trump Treasury for 'goosing' paychecks

  Fox Business

Too big to sell: Airbus bids pained adieu to superjumbo A380

With funereal faces, Airbus CEO Tom Enders and other executives made a stunning yet long-anticipated admission Thursday that it was the wrong product at the wrong time, created to feed a demand for 800-seat jets that never materialized. Emirates, its last and most loyal customer, said Thursday it's switching to smaller planes instead. Distraught fans — even within Airbus' own ranks — decried the decision.

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  Airbus A380: from European dream to white elephant

  Reuters
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  Why British Airways could be the Airbus A380's saviour

  The Independent

Charlie Munger targets active managers, Elon Musk; praises China

Charlie Munger, the longtime business partner of Warren Buffett at Berkshire Hathaway Inc, on Thursday criticized active fund managers, bankers and even Elon Musk as he urged investors to court simplicity and temper expectations for future returns. Munger, 95, often provoked laughter as he fielded questions at the annual meeting of Daily Journal Corp, the Los Angeles newspaper publishing company he chairs, though he is better known for his four decades as a Berkshire vice chairman. Berkshire now owns more than 90 businesses in the insurance, energy, railroad and other sectors, along with dozens of stocks.

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  Why Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Took a Stake in Canadian Oil Giant Suncor

  Motley Fool
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  Warren Buffett Sells Off $2.1 Billion Oracle Stake, Trims Apple Investment

  Fortune

Top technician says we may be nearing market top, but these stocks are going higher

Todd Gordon, TradingAnalysis.com, on key levels for the market. With CNBC's Melissa Lee and the Fast Money traders, Tim Seymour, Karen Finerman, Dan Nathan and Guy Adami.

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  Time to go shopping in retail? Big box breaks out

  CNBC Videos
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  Dow soars more than 400 points on trade optimism

  CNBC Videos

Analyst: Boeing could impose a royalty on engine suppliers for new 797 jet

Boeing has asked potential future engine suppliers of its New Mid-market Airplane (NMA) to pay a royalty if they're involved in the jet program, a top aerospace analyst said this week at the Pacific Northwest Aerospace Alliance conference. Kevin Michaels, the managing director at the consulting firm AeroDynamic Advisory, said no Boeing insiders told him of the plan, but he's hearing about it from clients, including aerospace parts makers throughout the supply chain. quot;How (engine suppliers) feel about it is that they think it's Armageddon," Michaels said.

5 Penny Stocks to Buy If You Can Risk It

Should you buy ENSV stock? In the past year, Enservco's stock is down 45%. But with 122.20% earnings growth in store over the next year and a steady 20% growth rate over the next five years, 50% upside in the stock isn't that much of a long shot.

Gundlach: My marginal tax rate is 52.6%, and it's 'really weird' that people like Mitt Romney pay 14%

Famed bond investor Jeffrey Gundlach thinks there are other solutions to narrow a yawning income inequality gap than a 70% marginal tax rate.

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  Jeffrey Gundlach talks millennials, national debt, and the race for 2020

  Yahoo Finance Video
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  Jeffrey Gundlach: Facebook is a 'diabolical data collection monster'

  Yahoo Finance Video

Is The Kroger (KR) Stock Outpacing Its Retail-Wholesale Peers This Year?

Investors interested in Retail-Wholesale stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Is The Kroger (KR) one of those stocks right now? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Retail-Wholesale peers, we might be able to answer that question.

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  Is SYNNEX (SNX) Stock Outpacing Its Computer and Technology Peers This Year?

  Zacks
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  Has Pure Storage (PSTG) Outpaced Other Computer and Technology Stocks This Year?

  Zacks

Musk-Like or Not, This 36-Year-Old CEO Has Amazon Riding Shotgun

Of course Scaringe, now 36, didn't have a truck to show then. What he did have was something in common with Mohammed Abdul Latif Jameel, the chairman of a Saudi auto distributor who, like Scaringe, also attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  Scaringe showed up recommended by MIT contacts, and playing the alumni card worked. “It was a seminal point,” Scaringe said in an interview.

Amazon Leads $700 Million Bet on Electric Truck Maker Rivian

The backing from Amazon will bolster Michigan-based Rivian's plans to bring an electric truck to market late next year. Rivian remains in talks with General Motors Co. about the largest U.S. automaker also making an investment, people familiar with the matter said. Chief Executive Officer R.J. Scaringe said in his first interview since reports of Rivian's talks with Amazon and GM surfaced earlier this week that he was seeking companies that could help the electric-vehicle maker grow.

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  Electric truck start-up Rivian announces $700 million investment round led by Amazon

  CNBC
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  How Amazon's decision impacts future talks between companies, governments

  CNBC Videos