Warren Buffett explains how you could've turned $114 into $400,000 with a simple long-term investment

Many of us know the magic of investing money in the stock market—just letting it sit and watching it grow—but few of us really grasp just how powerfully enriching this can be. Not surprisingly, Warren Buffett, the world’s greatest investor, has a vivid example of this which he shared with me during a visit earlier this year at Berkshire Hathaway headquarters in Omaha. First, take yourself back, way back to America’s entry into World War II. Franklin Roosevelt was president and Buffett was a young boy.

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  11 Warren Buffett quotes that'll make you a smarter investor

  Yahoo Finance
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  Warren Buffett Bets Big on These 10 Stocks for 2018

  The Cheat Sheet

Ford says only Mustang, Focus will live on in North America as it drops slow-selling sedans

Ford Motor Co. said Wednesday it will stop investing in sedans in North America, bowing to U.S. drivers’ seemingly never-ending zest for crossovers and pickup trucks. Ford F, +1.37%  shifted focus on “building a winning portfolio” of vehicles, by which it meant no more of its slow-selling sedans at least for North America. U.S. drivers have gravitated to SUVs and pickup trucks for years, thanks in part to these vehicles’ relative fuel economy improvements and price drops. Many car buyers also report enjoying the high-riding seating position of an SUV or pickup truck. “Ford realized it can’t be everything to everyone, and in today’s market that could be OK,” said Jessica Caldwell, an analyst with

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  Fiesta's over as Ford product fusion focuses on trucks, SUVs

  CNET
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  Ford beats on first-quarter earnings — but kills sedans in USA (F)

  Business Insider

Qualcomm easing licensing terms in bid to strike deals

Qualcomm Inc's earnings call on Wednesday showed just how far the company is willing to go to preserve one of its core business practices of taking a cut of the selling price of phones. Qualcomm gave two indications on Wednesday it was prepared to accept lower revenue in exchange for maintaining the business structure and avoiding future customer disputes. On Wednesday, Qualcomm said it would cap the phone price that is the basis of the revenue calculation at $400.

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  AMD profit gets boost from chips for crypto mining, gaming

  Reuters
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  Earnings Preview: What To Expect From Visa Today

  Forbes

Exxon Mobil raises dividend, stock hits session high

CNBC's Dominic Chu reports on Exxon Mobil hitting a session high after the company raises their dividend up 5 cents to 82 cents.

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  Dividend Hike from Exxon Mobil Takes Aim at Chevron

  247wallst.com
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  Why Exxon Mobil Corporation Is a Better Dividend Stock Than ConocoPhillips

  Motley Fool

AT&T Inc. Shares Slide on Q1 Earnings Miss

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) posted its latest quarterly earnings results after hours Wednesday, which missed analysts’ expectations. AT&T added 187,000 linear video subscribers during the period, while AT&T added 312,000 subscribers to its streaming service DirecTV Now. The company, which owns the satellite provider DirecTV, has been losing a slew of subscribers to its traditional television packages as more consumers are eliminating cable plans and opting for cheaper streaming services.

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  Visa 2Q profits jump, helped by more spending on its network

  Associated Press
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  Twitter Tops Earnings Projections as Turnaround Gains Steam

  Bloomberg

Ford beats on first-quarter earnings — but kills sedans in USA (F)

Ford announced it will not invest in new sedans in North America but will keep Mustang and a new crossover with the Focus nameplate. Ford reported first-quarter earnings after the markets closed on Wednesday and beat analysts expectations, with a profit of $0.43 per share and revenue of $42 billion. "We are committed to taking the appropriate actions to drive profitable growth and maximize the returns of our business over the long term," CEO Jim Hackett said in a statement.

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  Ford says only Mustang, Focus will live on in North America as it drops slow-selling sedans

  MarketWatch
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  Fiesta's over as Ford product fusion focuses on trucks, SUVs

  CNET

Microsoft Becomes Second Most Valuable Company For First Time Since 2015

On Tuesday, Microsoft was valued at $714 billion, about $3 billion above Alphabet and Amazon. Microsoft had briefly ascended to No. 2 on April 12 and then again on April 16. On Tuesday, amid worries about higher U.S. Treasury yields and disappointing earnings by other companies that sent the S&P 500 down1.3%, Microsoft rose to No. 2 by virtue of its shares falling less--2.3%--than those of its rivals.

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  How Financially Strong Is SMART Global Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:SGH)?

  Simply Wall St.
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  What You Must Know About ATN International Inc’s (NASDAQ:ATNI) Financial Strength

  Simply Wall St.

3 big changes coming from the Trump tax cuts

It will take months or years to tell if the tax cuts President Trump signed at the end of 2017 will boost economic growth or help create jobs, as intended. Congress’s Joint Committee on Taxation has published new estimates of the ways people will file their taxes for 2018, the first year most of the new tax provisions will be in effect. One of the most disruptive changes to the tax code is a new limit of $10,000 on the deductibility of state and local taxes, which used to be subject to no limit.

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  Mr Hammond’s big test on borrowing

  BBC News
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  Australian Government Dumps Planned Tax Hike From May Budget

  Bloomberg

Should You Buy 3M Co (MMM) Stock After Earnings Plunge?

3M Co (NYSE:MMM) investors certainly aren’t having fun, as shares fell 6.8% on Tuesday and sit just $9 above its 52-week low near $192. Ironically, 3M stock set that low on April 25, 2017. What’s got 3M down, anyway?

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  Short Sellers Look for Direction in Solar, Alt Energy Stocks

  247wallst.com
• Hess Posts Smaller Loss On Cost Cuts, Rising Oil Prices

  Rigzone.com

1 in 3 workers can’t answer this question about their retirement savings

Here's a question: You've built up a massive nest egg at your job, and you're about to retire. What are your plans for your hard-earned savings? For nearly a third of workers, the answer is "I don't know." Those were the findings from a recent survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, a research group that focuses on health, savings and retirement. EBRI conducted an online poll of 2,042 adults in January. "In most cases, you would expect people to do a couple of things: You wouldn't use all of it to buy lifetime income and you'd want to keep some of it for emergencies," said Craig Copeland, a senior research associated at EBRI. "It's troubling that they can't recognize what they think

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  Your social security check might be less than you think

  USA Today
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  9 Lies You've Been Told About Social Security

  The Cheat Sheet

Under Armour Inc Earnings Could Be a Bullish Game Changer

Can Under Armour (mostly) deliver again off the field of play — and convincingly so, on the playing pitch of the UAA stock chart for a second time in a row? With the expectations bar set reasonably low and the Street forecasting a loss of 4 cents and sales of $1.1 billion, I personally like the long game in UAA stock. It has been nearly three weeks since last penning a bullish article on UAA stock at InvestorPlace.

Here's exactly what an index fund is—and why it's Warren Buffett's favorite way to invest

Index funds can be a low-cost, low-risk way for investors, especially first-timers, to get into the market. But what exactly are they? You can think of an index fund as a basket of stocks with hundreds or thousands of different ones inside, explains Nick Holeman, a certified financial planner at Betterment. The S&P 500, for example, is a fund that holds stocks for the 500 largest companies in the U.S., which includes familiar names such as Apple, Google, Exxon and Johnson & Johnson. "It's the cheapest and easiest way to diversify your money that you're investing," Holeman says. Think of it this way: If every individual stock were a Lego brick, buying an index would be like getting a set of Legos

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  As Most Crowded Trades Turn Sour, Fund Managers Brace for Pain

  Bloomberg
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  Watch the Dow's wild day on the Big Board

  CNBC

Apple loses $64 billion in stock value as Wall Street is in 'full panic mode' on iPhone demand

Disappointing guidance from key iPhone suppliers is raising worries about Apple shares and could signal the death of the technology-driven stock rally. Apple's stock is cumulatively down 7.1 percent in the three trading sessions through Monday, wiping out $63.9 billion of shareholder value. The decline was sparked by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing's weaker-than-expected guidance Thursday morning. The world's largest semiconductor foundry and key Apple chip partner said its revenue forecast range for the second quarter is $7.8 billion to $7.9 billion versus the Wall Street estimate of $8.8 billion. The company blamed "weak demand" in the mobile sector for its forecast. "Heading into Apple's

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  Texas Instruments Earnings: An Island of Calm in Chips; Stock Jumps 4%

  Barrons.com
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  Apple investors should be on edge as more chip firms warn about weak smartphone sales

  CNBC

Flannery: Focus on making GE simpler and stronger

CNBC's Morgan Brennan reports the latest headlines out of General Electric's annual shareholders' meeting.

Patent ‘Death Squad’ System Upheld by U.S. Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld an administrative review system that has helped Google Inc., Apple Inc. and other companies invalidate hundreds of issued patents. The justices, voting 7-2, said Tuesday a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office review board that critics call a patent "death squad" wasn’t unconstitutionally wielding powers that belong to the courts. Silicon Valley companies have used the system as a less-expensive way to ward off demands for royalties, particularly from patent owners derided as "trolls" because they don’t use their patents to make products.

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  US Supreme Court hears Texas gerrymandering case

  ABC News
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  U.S. Supreme Court upholds legality of patent review process

  Reuters

Ford promises more savings as 1Q earnings rise 9 percent

Ford Motor Co. said Wednesday it will shed most of its North American car lineup as part of broad plan to save money and make the company more competitive in a fast-changing marketplace. The changes include getting rid of all cars in the region during the next four years except for the Mustang sports car and a compact Focus crossover vehicle, CEO Jim Hackett said as the company released first-quarter earnings. The decision, which Hackett said was due to declining demand and profitability, means Ford will no longer sell the Fusion midsize car, Taurus large car, CMax hybrid compact and Fiesta subcompact in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

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  Oil & Gas Stock Roundup: Schlumberger & Halliburton's Q1, TOTAL's Acquisition & More

  Zacks
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  Total output hits record high as prices buoy profits

  Reuters

Ford Stock Is Too Cheap to Ignore: Here's Why

Iconic automaker Ford Motor Company (F) began 2018 with an earnings warning on Jan. 16. This warning was confirmed by a negative reaction to fourth quarter results released on Jan. 24. The company is set to report first quarter earnings after the close on April 25. Shares of Ford traded as high as $13.29 on Jan. 16 and declined 24% to the 2018 low of $10.14 on March 2. Ford closed Monday, April 23, at $11.04, down 10.6% year to date and deep in correction territory at 16.9% below the January high. Since the March low, the stock is up 8.9%. Analysts expect Ford to post earnings per share of 41 cents when the company reports first quarter earnings on Wednesday. Analysts expect year-over-year gains

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  iRobot (IRBT) Beats on Q1 Earnings, Raises 2018 EPS View

  Zacks
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  Why Shares of Cadence Design Systems Popped Today

  Motley Fool

ConocoPhillips wins $2 billion arbitration against Venezuela

ConocoPhillips said Wednesday that it won a $2 billion arbitration award against Venezuela's state oil company, compounding the financial woes of the socialist-run nation as it struggles to feed its population. The Houston-based company said in a statement that the ruling against PDVSA by an International Chamber of Commerce panel was final and binding. "ConocoPhillips will pursue enforcement and seek financial recovery of its award to the full extent of the law," the company said in a statement.

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  Chevron evacuates Venezuela executives following staff arrests

  Reuters
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  U.S. Oil Company Chevron Removes Executives From Venezuela After Maduro Government Arrests Workers

  Newsweek

This Stock Correction Is Now the Longest in a Decade

The 2018 Correction: Conventional Measurement The S&P 500 closed at a value of 2,872.87 on January 26. This was both its all-time highest close, and its all-time peak reached at any point during any trading day. The conventional method for measuring corrections, as used by Yardeni, looks strictly at closing prices. A correction involves a price decline of at least 10%, and is measured from a market peak to the subsequent market trough. That trough was reached at the close on February 8, which was 13 calendar days and 9 trading sessions later, at 2,581.00, 10.2% below the January 26 peak. If you expand the analysis to include intraday prices, the trough was reached one day later, February 9. The

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  7 reasons stocks are better than real estate

  MarketWatch
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  Stocks Rise Amid a Rise in Bond Yields, Strong Earnings

  TheStreet.com

Should You Buy Intel (INTC) Stock Ahead of Earnings?

Shares of Intel INTC dipped marginally during Wednesday morning trading hours as stocks battled to overcome fears about rising Treasury yields and range-bound indexes. Intel is also facing unique pressure from investors who are concerned that the semiconductor market is in store for a correction, so its first quarter fiscal 2018 earnings report will carry plenty of weight on Thursday afternoon. Intel is one of the largest semiconductor manufacturers in the world and serves as an important bellwether for the industry.

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  US stocks set to for a positive open as earnings take the limelight

  CNBC
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  Standing at Margin Peak, the Only Stock Direction Is Down

  Bloomberg

Ford accelerates cost-cutting plan, will drop most U.S. sedans

Ford Motor Co (F.N) on Wednesday outlined a plan to cut costs and boost profit margins at a faster pace than previously announced, which includes dropping traditional sedan models in North America that have become increasingly unpopular with consumers. Ford Chief Executive Jim Hackett told investors the company is undergoing "a profound refocus" of its operations and may exit unprofitable businesses. "We're going to feed the healthy part of our business," and dispose of marginal operations, Hackett added.

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  Ford to stop selling every car in North America but the Mustang and Focus Active

  TechCrunch
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  Fiesta's over as Ford product fusion focuses on trucks, SUVs

  CNET

PayPal quarterly profit beats estimates, shares rise

PayPal processed $132 billion in payments in the first quarter of 2018, up 32 percent from a year earlier. Mobile payment volumes were up 52 percent in the quarter to $49 billion, while merchant services payment volumes grew 30 percent and accounted for 87 percent of total payment volumes.

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  Ingersoll-Rand PLC Stock Pops on Strong Q1 Results

  InvestorPlace
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  Las Vegas Sands Beats Estimates on Macau, Singapore Strength

  Bloomberg

4 Reasons to Consider a Charitable Remainder Trust

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 represents the most significant reform in over 30 years, replacing the Tax Act of 1986. For some, the changes are  positive: reduced tax rates for personal and business income, as well as the increased standard deduction. But for people that are itemizing their deductions, the former tax savings can easily be washed out by some of the new restrictions. There are negative impacts for those that use the medical and dental expense deduction, the SALT (state and local taxes) deduction and the mortgage interest deduction. However, there is one part of the itemized deductions that was positively changed: gifts to charity. Maximizing your charitable deductions, especially