Fools were out and about this past week in an investing world jampacked with actions and ideas. Here are three articles you might find useful as you decide how to invest your money.
5 Dow Stocks Likely to Struggle in 2012
Fool editor and writer Dan Caplinger has some advice for investors who plan to be in the market in 2012: "You simply can't afford to take on big risk when the rewards simply aren't there." He follows this up with the five Dow Jones Industrials stocks from which analysts expect the worst returns next year: Verizon (NYSE: VZ ) , IBM (NYSE: IBM ) , McDonald's (NYSE: MCD ) , Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT ) , and Home Depot (NYSE: HD ) .
More advice from Dan: "Even though you shouldn't just sell first and ask questions later based simply on pessimistic target prices, it gives you a good way to focus your research."
And more follow-up: Verizon faces big competition and McDonald's is vulnerable to both a European economic crisis and food-price inflation. Wal-Mart is getting squeezed, housing weakness could hurt Home Depot, and IBM needs to prove itself.
Read the article to start your own research into these five stocks that you might want to avoid in 2012.
5 Big Tech Predictions for 2012
Fool contributor Alex Planes offered predictions for investors looking to take advantage of technological changes. He didn't need a crystal ball. "All of these thoughts are based on technology we have right now, which has been progressing toward mass adoption for some time," Alex wrote.
Here's a quick-hit view of where Alex was looking: Internet connectivity, online tracking of consumers, data analysis, and providing mobile users with enough bandwidth. Under the subtitle "The Internet is (almost) everywhere," Alex wrote about Ford (NYSE: F ) wanting to sell you a car that's hooked up to the cloud and about Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL ) and Google working to turn your TV into an "intelligent entertainment hub."
Read the article to find out more about how to profit from these tech moves.
Moneyballing the Financial World
What's Motley Fool co-founder David Gardner thinking about these days? Baseball. Sort of.
"Compared with a scored, rated, ranked baseball world, the world of financial predictions is in a Dark Age," David wrote this week. "Swings being taken, in the form of financial predictions by modern-day analysts, are completely unaccounted for. ... Even worse, fans don't even seem to be asking for scoring and accountability. As a result, even the most ardent fans cannot determine who are the good and the bad players in the money world."
Without tracking and accountability, consumers (investors) don't get better information.
Read the article to get all of David's thinking and to be on the spot when David weighs in with part 2, revealing how Fools are going to be working to bring more tracking and accountability to the world of finance in 2012 and beyond.
To get a hot stock tip from The Motley Fool's chief investment officer, you'll want to get the free report "The Motley Fool's Top Stock for 2012." Check out the details on this "Costco of Latin America." It's free.
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