These violent market swings can be devastating for the short-term investor. But Jon Herring says market volatility is handing long-term investors a once-in-a-generation chance to buy world-dominating companies at bargain prices.

Barron's latest ranking of the companies most esteemed by investors highlights some familiar favorites, including No. 1-ranked Johnson & Johnson.

A yield curve is the relationship between yield and maturity. In a "normal" yield curve yields rise as maturity lengthens. When yields drop as the term lengthens, it is referred to as an inverted yield curve. A Yield On Cost (current dividend/basis) curve, like a yield curve, should increase as you move forward in time.

Ever since the broad market indexes entered into bear market territory, I have been checking the dividend champions list for bargains. I came up with a list, using the follwoing screen criteria:

Now that the markets are in bear market territory several questions come to mind.
1. How long will the bear market last?
2. Should one invest in stocks now?
Also, a table on length of last nine bear markets.

The first factor in the last point within my investment philosophy, and a factor that I consider crucial when selecting and analyzing investments, is consistency.

Warren Buffett knows great businesses, and he's generous enough to share his wisdom through his letters to shareholders. By using the Magic Formula, we automatically find the good businesses from the poor ones.

The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G), together with its subsidiaries, provides branded consumer goods products. The company operates through three global business units (GBU): Beauty, Health and Well-Being, and Household Care.

In the eyes of many, the Oracle of Omaha -- whose Berkshire Hathaway holding company owns or has major stakes in many iconic brands, including Fruit of the Loom, Kraft Foods and Johnson & Johnson -- looks like a brand investor...

The venerable Consumer Goods sector has been a favorite of famous gurus such as Warren Buffett and even Joel Greenblatt. However, it's also where value destroying fad and trendy stocks usually live. This article shows what makes an attractive Consumer Goods investment.

Simply awesome. This article details the interesting story of Gillette (one of Buffett's more famous investments).

Excerpt: "In any market, non-cyclical stocks balance your portfolio...important in this category are food, personal care, and household goods – the bare necessities for human existence. "

Jeff Matthews remembers the push for all the buybacks in the recent past and wonders why no one seems to be buying back their shares now that they are cheap.

A close look at how price follows value using Proctor and Gamble as an example.

The best stocks of the next decade are not huge companies today. Why not? This chart should explain. Look how large each of these solid businesses would become if they increased just 10 times in value over the next decade: