U.S. News and World Reports featured Jeff Reeves and I in a piece on vice investing: ‘Sinvestments': Investing in Low Morals for High Profits
Here is an excerpt. I note that the concept of “vice investing” is something of a nebulous concept:
[Sizemore asks] “Is McDonald`s (NYSE:MCD) bad for selling fatty hamburgers to children? Is Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) bad for paying low wages and driving mom-and-pop local stores out of business? Is Monsanto (NYSE:MON) bad for selling genetically modified seeds or driving a hard bargain with farmers?” In fact, Monsanto was voted the Most Evil Corporation of the Year in a 2011 poll of more than 16,000 readers on the Natural News website, finishing with more than half the votes…
In the end, what one makes of sin stocks is either relative or strictly defined. “I have to laugh at the very idea of bringing ethics into the discussion,” says Jeff Reeves, executive editor at InvestorPlace.com. “If you’re looking for ethics on Wall Street, not only are you out of luck here, you’re out of luck everywhere. So you want to pass on the evils of alcohol but are willing to buy bank stocks that basically run up billions in fines as the cost of doing business?”