Today's Pick : Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC)

Wells Fargo has been hit pretty hard with the recent scandal related to Opening of New Accounts. Whether they were following a Industry Wide practise or not, time will tell. The stock, though, has certainly been impacted big time and is trading at it's 2 year low, at $45 a share.

Given the history of Wells Fargo and a strong backing from none other than Mr. Warren Buffet which has a huge stake in the bank, this should certainly turn out to be an underdog in years to come. The price targets and market consensus are all pointing higher to about $53+ a share.

This would certainly be a good 'Buy' in a market where there are very little buying opportunities.

Don't hold your breath, Go For It!

Retirement's 4% Conundrum

At some point or the other we have all read about the 4% rule comes to haunt all of us. Often quoted by Financial advisers, this is the percentage that your adviser suggests to begin withdrawing from your nest egg as soon as you enter your golden years and sayonara you 'nine' to 'five' gig. 

Personally, i have never favored a 'One Size Fits All' Strategy and have had second thoughts on the rationalization of this off quoted rule. It seems reasonable, however lets get more granular.

With interest rates as low as they are today, there is a very simple rule that can give you a number on your monthly income from your lifelong earning, which is as follows :

Rule of Thumb for Monthly Retirement Income

Interest Rate	Amount Saved	Monthly Income
1.2%	$100,000	$100
1.2%	$200,000	$200
2.4%	$100,000	$200

Feel free to do the Maths to arrive at the numbers above. Extrapolating the table, with an interest rate of  3.6%, expect to make a monthly income of of '$300' for every '$100,000' saved. With 4%, a little bit more!

The figure now to keep in mind is the 'Interest rate' or the 'Rate of Return'. If you want your Savings to live past your retirement, benefit your kids and grandkids, keep an eye on how hard you can make your money work for you.

If you can only make it work as hard as to return 1.2% (looks like a CD account?) you can withdrawn $100 for every $100,000 saved without shaving off any dough from your nest egg. If   you are a better manager, may be you can make it work to return you 3.6% a year. Well, you can now triple your income without touching your boodle.

Today's Pick : USO, OIL

Oil is on the tear again today and Energy Prices going down. Even with alternative sources of energy being explored actively, the world has enough oil reserves for 53.3 years. USA today reported these numbers back in 2014 (http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/06/28/the-world-was-533-years-of-oil-left/11528999/).

Oil reserves are  ticking time bomb but world's dependency on Oil is expected to continue. Forbes, in an article about a year ago outlined '3 Main' reasons why Oil will continue to be the Market Leader for Energy in years to come (http://www.forbes.com/sites/judeclemente/2015/04/19/three-reasons-oil-will-continue-to-run-the-world/2/#1873b86f71cb).

The alternative sources of energy are in fledgling state. If you are a non-believer in OIL, may be this is not for you, but for someone wanting to ride this low yield market for next 8 years, you probably will not see OIL trade at such a low price.

The picks today are USO and OIL both of which track Prices of Crude Oil. They haven't been trading at such a low price for over a decade and hence it is the pick of the day.

If you have a regular brokerage account, you may run into challenges in trading USO and OIL e.g. Merill Lynch would not allow you to buy USO marking it as a toxic security (Nonertheless, they would not explain what qualifies a security as toxic).

One of the best place to trade USO for free is the Mobile App 'Robinhood'. The app offers free unlimited trades on Apple and Android Mobile devices.

Happy reading and jolly money-making with those who believe in OIL!!