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A sin stock is a term which refers to stocks which operate in businesses which are considered to be immoral or unethical. Sin stocks typically include companies in the alcohol, tobacco, weapons, gambling and sex industries. Maddeningly for the socially responsible investing set, studies show that sin stocks tend to outperform its counterparts of a similar size. Sin stocks also tend to be recession proof stocks.

In an age where governments, institutions and individuals cannot seem to control their spending, is it time to classify credit card companies as a sin stock? Incurring debt obviously does not have the same unethical or immoral connotation as gambling, smoking or arms dealing.

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Cabin fever might not be diagnosed in medical textbooks, but any parent knows it can be a serious illness on cold winter days! When the shine wears off the holiday gifts and the bored kids start bouncing off the walls, everyone can go crazy. Here are six ways parents can battle cabin fever while barely opening their wallets.

1. Winter Picnic

Most people think of a picnic as a warm-weather activity, but who says you can’t get the family outside for a wintry meal, too? There will plenty of room in the picnic area, that’s for sure!

The same food you pack for a summer picnic is equally fun in the winter — chips, sandwiches, cut fruit, cookies, etc. If yo

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Assets in the U.S. retirement market are projected to grow to $22 trillion by 2016, a sharp increase from the estimated $16 trillion in the accounts in 2011, according to data from Cerulli Associates Inc. IRA assets currently make up 29.7% of all retirement market assets, but they are forecasted to grow to 33% of the total retirement market by 2016.

Rollover activity is the key behind the growth in IRA accounts, noted Alessandra Hobler, an analyst at Cerulli.

Because many retirement plan participants stick with the record keepers employed by their employers, the biggest record keepers stand to gather the most rollover assets in the upcoming years.

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Many people are placing the concept of homeownership under attack. There is more and more debate whether we should limit government assistance to homeowners. The administration just came out with their Reforming America’s Housing Finance Market: A Report to Congress. The report acknowledges the advantages of homeownership:

“…which has helped millions of middle class families build wealth and achieve the American Dream.”

The paper also talks about curtailing a century of government assistance for American homeownership (ex. the eli

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Doug Kinsey photo
Artifex Financial Group, a Registered Investment Advisor and Fee-Only Wealth Management firm located in Dayton, Ohio has recently updated the performance of 6 of their model portfolios. The information is available at www.artifexfolios.com.

According to Doug Kinsey, partner and Chief Investment Officer of Artifex, “we are pleased with the results of our model Folios in what was a unique and challenging investment environment in 2011.

We witnessed gridlock in congress, a downgrade of U.S. debt, a deteriorating Eurozone, and a generally weak U.S. Full Post…

The following is an excerpt from How Smart People Sabotage Their Job Search: 10 Mistakes Executives Make and How to Fix Them!

Mistake #6: We Don’t Build a Network When We are Working.

“No one—not rock stars, not professional athletes, not software billionaires, and not even geniuses—ever make it alone.” Malcolm Gladwell

This will speak to MANY of you: Did you interact with outside vendors while filling the role in the corner office? Did you delegate the management of corporate relationships, vendors and customer relationships to your direct reports? Consideri

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