Fools were out and about this past week in an investing world jam-packed with actions and ideas. Here are three articles you might find useful as you decide how to invest your money.
My 5 Worst Stocks in the S&P 500
Someone had to do it. So Fool contributor Sean Williams stepped up and ran some screens to pinpoint weak stocks worth avoiding. "If the S&P 500 continues to trade higher (and trust me, despite being a realist, you'll get no complaints from me if that keeps happening) I would expect investors to become increasingly skeptical of these five companies," Sean wrote.
The list: Sears Holdings, Gap, Capital One Financial, First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR ) , and Altria (NYSE: MO ) .
Many solar companies' valuations are just too high given how long the oversupply situation could last, Sean noted. Add in the possibility of newly austere European countries cutting solar subsidies, and things look even gloomier. "I cautioned investors in December that heavy insider selling coupled with rapidly falling earnings estimates were a tell-tale sign to sell and I'm sticking by that assertion," Sean wrote.
Meanwhile, Altria "is fighting a losing battle against the trend toward a healthier consumer," Sean wrote. "[W]ith no diversification outside of the U.S. in terms of cigarette production, it could see its business slowly crushed by lawsuits."
The Only Smart Place to Put Your Money
Money market mutual funds get a big thumbs-down from Fool analyst Dan Caplinger because they pay little to no yield and face troubling proposed regulations. "The problem is that under the SEC's proposals, no one would want to own money market funds," Dan wrote. Yet maybe that isn't a problem. For Dan, "the big question, as it's been for years, is why investors put up with the lousy yields from money market mutual funds in the first place."
If you're smart enough to want out of money market mutual funds, you might want to know what's a better alternative. Dan delivers with the goods.
"Banks affiliated with a number of companies, including American Express (NYSE: AXP ) , Discover Financial (NYSE: DFS ) , and Sallie Mae, pay 0.9% on FDIC-insured savings accounts right now. That's nothing to write home about, but it's better than the 0.01% you'll find at many money market mutual funds," Dan wrote.
Read the article to get the full scoop.
5 Stocks for Serious Bargain Hunters
Are you a disciplined enough investor to look past your prejudices when searching for bargain stocks? Fool contributor Matt Koppenheffer admits that it "legitimately pains" him to have AIG (NYSE: AIG ) on his list of "5 Stocks for Serious Bargain Hunters." "The company is practically the poster child for financial-meltdown idiocy," he wrote. But that doesn't mean he's automatically going to ignore what might be a good price for a stock that's going to rise.
"I can't help [concluding] that the issues that nearly [sank] the insurer were due to a very specific, since-[excised] tumor, not the company's core insurance operations," Matt wrote. "At this point, there are few questions about whether AIG will survive."
Read the article to see the full list and to learn how to make the most of bargain stocks.
Want a little more help in building your portfolio? Then get access to The Motley Fool report "3 Stocks That Will Help You Retire Rich." It's free for Fool readers.
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