U.S. News: Say Goodbye to Utilities Stocks as We Know Them

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Watch out! Those "safe" utility stocks that you might be relying on for juicy dividends likely won't be so reliable forever. 

The heavily regulated industry is ripe for technological disruption in the same way that the music business, the news media and book publishing were upended over the last couple of decades. As with all disruption, there will be winners and losers. 

The change could be great for consumers, but investors need to be aware of how it might alter the relative attractiveness of different types of stocks. Read more here.

Forbes: For The Ideal Job, Look In The Mirror

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Getting a job of any sort following the financial crisis has been less than easy for many people, let alone landing the perfect position. For some, it has been a time when ideas of ever landing that dream role have been abandoned.

Still, now is the time to rekindle the hope that you can find what you want.

But first, you need to stop looking in the usual places. If such dream jobs ever existed inside a corporation, they almost certainly never appeared in display adverts and they weren’t posted on job boards.

So what should you do? Where should you look for that ideal role?

Try the mirror.

That’s the way one college professor Britain sees it. She wrote a book about how graduates created their own ideal roles. Read more here.

WSJ: What Is Multifactor Investing?

By SIMON CONSTABLE 
What is multifactor investing, and why are so many investment professionals talking about it now?

It isn’t nearly as confusing as some experts might leave you thinking. The “factors” refer to identifiable attributes that an investment has that affect its performance in the market. Read more here.

WSJ: Some Commodities Leave the Doghouse

By SIMON CONSTABLE

After years of shunning commodities, investors are once again making big bets on the sector by jumping into exchange-traded funds.

The buying is primarily in oil and gold, and not every observer of the market agrees that the money will stay put in these funds for very long. But the binge is still impressive. Read more here.

OZY: Is This The End of Cheap Food?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Enter your local supermarket and it’s hard to miss the mile-long piles of fresh produce. And when those heads of lettuce or cauliflower are in season, the prices can be low enough that feeding yourself doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. But that may not last much longer.

The world population continues to grow, after all, particularly in developing countries, where there’s been an increased appetite for protein. That’s put strain on the world’s grasslands, where livestock is raised for meat and milk production — and it’s worried scientists. A study recently published in the journal Nature Communications indicated that farmers would need to double their overall use of phosphorus in order to keep grasslands healthy enough to feed all that cattle. Such land hasn’t typically been fertilized directly by farmers, who do tend to add the mineral to arable land, but, with little likely relief on the horizon, that may need to change. Read more here.

Photo by Chad Montano on Unsplash

TheStreet: For Big Love, Make Sure Your Credit Scores Match

by SIMON CONSTABLE

Ugh! The dating scene just got worse.

Now you have another annoying item to add to the already enormous list of things you should look for in your potential mate: Their credit scores.

The two key takeaways: 

• Big differences in scores mean big problems for the relationship.
• Ideally, you should both have high credit scores.

Read more here.

U.S. News: How Taking a TV News Fast Makes for Better Investing

By SIMON CONSTABLE

The terrorist attacks in Brussels, Paris and Pakistan are reminders that we live in a dangerous world. While we mourn the loss of the victims, it's important to make sure that emotional responses don't harm our investment decisions. 

That advice is good not just in the face of terrorism, but all the time. Rash investment decisions usually don't pay off. 

Here's one way to avoid a mistake – take a TV news fast. Or, limit what type of television you consume and how much of it. Try the same thing with other media, too. Read more here.