Berko says ...

Look to Great White North for good bank stocks.  Online today, at beaconnewsonline.com. …

Berko says ...

Medley Capital is worth your investment. Online today, at beaconnewsonline.com. …

Berko says ...

Berko says: Be sure price is right on tobacco settlement bonds. Online today, at beaconnewsonline.com. …

Now may be time to go on sale of Sears

Dear Mr. Berko: In early 2008, I bought 200 shares of Sears Holdings at $37 and so far have doubled my money. Last year, my broker recommended that I sell the stock when it rose above $120, but because I believed it would rise to …

Hoodwinked by a trough of modules

Dear Mr. Berko: My money manager recently bought 400 shares of Blackboard, Inc. at $44.33. Please tell me what you know about the company and whether this is a good stock for me. — WW in Troy, Mich.

Dear WW: Thank you for your lengthy …

Health insurace stock selling like hot cakes

D ear Mr. Berko: Health insurance stocks have been making new highs. How can this be, when Obamacare will change how insurance companies do business and how hospitals and doctors bill patients?

While I don’t like Obamacare, my broker believes the health insurance industry will …

Deal not worth its weight in gold

De ar Mr. Berko: I took your advice and went to three different dealers to sell some gold trinkets that had been in our jewelry box for at least 20 years. And I don’t understand how the guy in a storefront shop who buys gold, …

Financial knowledge different from financial wisdom

Dear Mr. Berko: Our 38-year-old son is married with two children and has been living with us for two years. The grandchildren are in school, and he and his wife both work but don’t contribute a thing for rent or food or utility costs. We …

Yay or nay on Munis?

Dear Mr. Berko: My $55,000 CD comes due soon, and I don’t mind investing long term if I can get a decent yield. What do you think of municipal bonds? I’ve read that the municipal market is oversold and there are many good bargains to …

Despite Microsoft’s purchase of Skype, sell MSFT stock

Dear Mr. Berko: I know you haven’t cared for Microsoft in the last 10 years, in spite of its good record of revenue and earnings growth. Now that it bought Skype, the free phone and video service telecommunications company, do you have a new opinion …

Greek economic tragedy only part of serious European disaster

Dear Mr. Berko: One short question, and I hope you can give a short answer. Can you please explain this Greek problem and why it’s so difficult for the European banks to agree on rescue terms? Can Greece’s economic problems spread to all of Europe? …

Who’s right about the stock market: Bianco or Shiller?

D ear Mr. Berko: David Bianco, the brilliant analyst for Bank of America Merrill Lynch, is very bullish and thinks the market has lots of upside. But Robert Shiller of Yale and one of the most brilliant economists in the country tells us that the …

AT&T Motricity is browser scam conceived by creative management

Dear Mr. Berko: AT&T keeps billing me $9.99 per month for a service called Motricity, and I don’t know what it is and never ordered it. And when I call to complain, I’m put on hold, so I sent two letters, but they did not …

Berko reviews the big banks

Dear Mr. Berko: I’m down lots of money in Citigroup, Bank of America and JPMorgan. I logically figured that these banks are involved in every financial business of our economy, and if one of their businesses got into trouble, their other business would take up …

Amazon, Netflix are worthy new media stocks

Dear Mr. Berko: My broker is advising me to buy three high-growth stocks: 150 Red Hat, 50 Amazon and 25 Netflix. I already own 15 shares of Google, which I bought in 2007 at $693, and he recommends that I buy another 15 shares at …