It’s not always easy to go against the crowd, especially when it comes to investing.   #-ad_banner-#But some of the best investments ever have been made when markets are paralyzed by fear.   Warren Buffett is the poster child for this style of contrarian investing. Just look back to 2011 when Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway  invested $5 billion in then-struggling Bank of America (NYSE: BAC). While most investors were fleeing, questioning the bank’s solvency, Buffett saw an opportunity. Today the market value of his investment has more than doubled in just over three years.   And when it comes… Read More

It’s not always easy to go against the crowd, especially when it comes to investing.   #-ad_banner-#But some of the best investments ever have been made when markets are paralyzed by fear.   Warren Buffett is the poster child for this style of contrarian investing. Just look back to 2011 when Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway  invested $5 billion in then-struggling Bank of America (NYSE: BAC). While most investors were fleeing, questioning the bank’s solvency, Buffett saw an opportunity. Today the market value of his investment has more than doubled in just over three years.   And when it comes to another one of Buffett’s well-known investments, we have a similar opportunity to profit tremendously today. In the 1960s, American Express made a series of bad loans in a scandal dubbed “The Salad Oil Scandal.” Essentially, American Express was the victim of fraud by a company that obtained loans based on its far-overstated inventory of salad oil. When all was said and done American Express shares dropped more than 50%.   Seeing a tremendous value, Buffet stepped in and bought a 5% stake in American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) for about $20 million. As the years went… Read More

  What was the best performing sector of 2014 may not be so for much longer.   #-ad_banner-#Historically, this has been the go-to sector for yield-hungry investors. Add in the easy-money, low interest rate central bank policies being implemented across the globe and it’s no surprise that this sector has been doing so well.   In the late 1990s and early 2000s, income investors earned 5% on Certificates of Deposit (CDs) and consistent yields from the largest, most stable stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA). Now, they must invest their money elsewhere to capture similar yields. Read More

  What was the best performing sector of 2014 may not be so for much longer.   #-ad_banner-#Historically, this has been the go-to sector for yield-hungry investors. Add in the easy-money, low interest rate central bank policies being implemented across the globe and it’s no surprise that this sector has been doing so well.   In the late 1990s and early 2000s, income investors earned 5% on Certificates of Deposit (CDs) and consistent yields from the largest, most stable stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA). Now, they must invest their money elsewhere to capture similar yields.   Even 10-year government bonds were returning a solid 5-to-8% over the last couple decades.       Last year you would have earned a paltry 2.6% yield if you invested in a 10-year government bond, 1.8% if you invested in the DJIA and a measly 0.9% investing in a five-year CD.     However, income investors could have garnered an impressive 3.9% yield from 2014’s best-performing sector, utility stocks, had they bought shares of the Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSE: XLU) in January 2014   So again, it’s understandable why the utility sector… Read More

Imagine a world where you can get anything you want, when you want it, all with the click of a mouse. Well, maybe that’s not too tough to fathom thanks to the e-commerce revolution and streaming content at your fingertips. #-ad_banner-#But consider a situation that happened to a good friend of mine recently — I’m not just making this up for a good story. My friend, who I’ll call Steven, made it home after a treacherous commute through Austin traffic. His wife greeted him at the door and walked him to the dining room… Read More

Imagine a world where you can get anything you want, when you want it, all with the click of a mouse. Well, maybe that’s not too tough to fathom thanks to the e-commerce revolution and streaming content at your fingertips. #-ad_banner-#But consider a situation that happened to a good friend of mine recently — I’m not just making this up for a good story. My friend, who I’ll call Steven, made it home after a treacherous commute through Austin traffic. His wife greeted him at the door and walked him to the dining room where, to his surprise, Steven’s in-laws sat around a perfectly-set table. As it turned out, Steven forgot that his wife offered to host his father-in-law’s birthday dinner. There was no getting out of this pickle for Steven. He did what many of us have probably done before and quickly scribbled his signature on the bottom of the birthday card that his wife picked up earlier in the day. Honorable? No. Are many of us guilty of doing the same? Possibly. Now consider the… Read More

There is something refreshing about being awake while the rest of the world sleeps. As I walk to work, I breathe the purest air of the day, drink my morning coffee while gazing at the moon and enjoy the sound of… silence. Not even the birds are awake. Oh how I miss the days of getting to the office before sunrise and leaving after sunset. Some people surely curse this lifestyle. And, after living it, I understand how such a schedule can get tiring. But being young and ambitious has its perks — mainly being able to function off of… Read More

There is something refreshing about being awake while the rest of the world sleeps. As I walk to work, I breathe the purest air of the day, drink my morning coffee while gazing at the moon and enjoy the sound of… silence. Not even the birds are awake. Oh how I miss the days of getting to the office before sunrise and leaving after sunset. Some people surely curse this lifestyle. And, after living it, I understand how such a schedule can get tiring. But being young and ambitious has its perks — mainly being able to function off of a few hours of sleep. Enduring long hours is the norm for individuals in the money management industry. You see, I had the unique experience of working for a money-manager right out of college in the beautiful state of Colorado. This portfolio manager I worked for was spectacular. He doesn’t have an Ivy League degree — he didn’t need it. He’s one of those self-made guys that you hear stories about. What he has are decades of experience and, most importantly, a stellar reputation. He turned me on to the most interesting market sector I had ever… Read More

It was the summer of 1957. As the Cold War was heating up, the United States raced to develop our nation’s first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Though the initial test flight for the ICBM known as SM-65 Atlas lasted only seconds before being destroyed, it was the beginning of a progressive period for the development of U.S. astronautics. Fast forward to present day. Education and technology drove innovation in the nearly 60 years since the first ICBM test, through the Cold War and into today. Companies developed, and continue to develop, new products that altered the way people live their… Read More

It was the summer of 1957. As the Cold War was heating up, the United States raced to develop our nation’s first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Though the initial test flight for the ICBM known as SM-65 Atlas lasted only seconds before being destroyed, it was the beginning of a progressive period for the development of U.S. astronautics. Fast forward to present day. Education and technology drove innovation in the nearly 60 years since the first ICBM test, through the Cold War and into today. Companies developed, and continue to develop, new products that altered the way people live their daily lives. Many firms find themselves in a never-ending rat race, tweaking their product’s design and functions to keep pace with the consumer’s ever-changing trends and lifestyles. But then there are the products that have endured — the ones that are exactly the same today as they were on day one, unchanged since creation. Off the top of my head, very few come to mind. #-ad_banner-#There is one company, however, whose main product hasn’t changed at all since the 1950s. And what’s more impressive — this timeless company’s main product can be found in 8 out of 10 U.S. households. Read More

There’s been much talk lately of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA). On Nov. 4, the company announced its first earnings call since going public, and it went pretty well. Company shares ended up 4.2% for the day, an increase of 14% since the company’s debut on the New York Stock Exchange. It’s safe to say shareholders are happy with the performance — especially SoftBank Corp. (OTC: SFTBF), an ambitious Japanese firm with a 32% stake in Alibaba. At yesterday’s closing price, SoftBank turned a $20 million investment in BABA into just north of $91 billion. Read More

There’s been much talk lately of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA). On Nov. 4, the company announced its first earnings call since going public, and it went pretty well. Company shares ended up 4.2% for the day, an increase of 14% since the company’s debut on the New York Stock Exchange. It’s safe to say shareholders are happy with the performance — especially SoftBank Corp. (OTC: SFTBF), an ambitious Japanese firm with a 32% stake in Alibaba. At yesterday’s closing price, SoftBank turned a $20 million investment in BABA into just north of $91 billion. #-ad_banner-#While it’s widely considered to be a telecommunications giant, SoftBank looks more like a venture capital firm — with an investment portfolio spread out over more than 1,300 companies. SoftBank’s CEO Masayoshi Son even outlined an aggressive long-term acquisition plan to invest in 5,000 companies by 2040. Presently the firm is on track to reach that target and has enjoyed plenty of success along the way. It’s no surprise that SoftBank is Japan’s second largest public company by market capitalization. Given the latest success in Alibaba, the company is in a great position to continue fueling… Read More

As I was perusing my morning news feed, I came across an appalling amount of headlines about the ever-dreaded ‘correction.’ While there is value in some of these articles, the majority provide no unique insight. Here’s how one should think about a possible correction: How do I spot a correction? How do I protect against losing my shirt in a downturn? And how do I properly implement any suggested strategy? First Question: How does one even know if a correction is coming? #-ad_banner-#The real answer: nobody really knows in which direction the market will… Read More

As I was perusing my morning news feed, I came across an appalling amount of headlines about the ever-dreaded ‘correction.’ While there is value in some of these articles, the majority provide no unique insight. Here’s how one should think about a possible correction: How do I spot a correction? How do I protect against losing my shirt in a downturn? And how do I properly implement any suggested strategy? First Question: How does one even know if a correction is coming? #-ad_banner-#The real answer: nobody really knows in which direction the market will go. Investors, companies and money managers alike merely hypothesize about the market’s future, but most agree that timing these events is more a function of luck than accurate prediction. In investing and psychology, we like clear guidance and definite action. So that poses a problem when a market pundit tells you “I don’t know.” I’ll go out on a limb and say it: I don’t know where the S&P will be next month or in a year. I hypothesize that markets are a bit long in the tooth and there are some bearish fundamentals that could lead the… Read More

Between social media, cloud storage and increased use of mobile devices, like tablets and iPhones, we’re going through a massive transformation: Evermore, we offload our experiences, memories and secrets to constantly evolving forms of technology. On Tuesday, Apple made an official statement acknowledging that hackers targeted a handful of celebrities and lifted incriminating photos from their personal iCloud systems. #-ad_banner-#​Not too long ago, the only way someone could take pictures from you would be to physically steal the prints. Nowadays, a hacker half the world away can… Read More

Between social media, cloud storage and increased use of mobile devices, like tablets and iPhones, we’re going through a massive transformation: Evermore, we offload our experiences, memories and secrets to constantly evolving forms of technology. On Tuesday, Apple made an official statement acknowledging that hackers targeted a handful of celebrities and lifted incriminating photos from their personal iCloud systems. #-ad_banner-#​Not too long ago, the only way someone could take pictures from you would be to physically steal the prints. Nowadays, a hacker half the world away can access your trove of personal data within seconds. All of this innovation in the way we catalog our lives presents a colossal problem: how does one protect personal information from being stolen by savvy hackers? On an individual level, there are steps you can take to protect yourself. However, when you scale this problem out to something the size of a company or a government agency, the consequences of massive data theft are an entirely different story. Rewind to the beginning of August. Russian hackers… Read More

The name of the game is electronic payments. Metal coins, paper money and plastic cards are increasingly becoming a thing of the past. Worldwide online retail sales, also known as business-to-consumer ecommerce, are expected to reach $1.5 trillion by year’s end  — and that number is only going to grow over the next few years, according to eMarketer’s recent forecast. As bits and bytes replace material money, a land grab is taking place among firms looking to stay ahead of the curve in the electronic payment space. A recent flurry of M&A activity led me… Read More

The name of the game is electronic payments. Metal coins, paper money and plastic cards are increasingly becoming a thing of the past. Worldwide online retail sales, also known as business-to-consumer ecommerce, are expected to reach $1.5 trillion by year’s end  — and that number is only going to grow over the next few years, according to eMarketer’s recent forecast. As bits and bytes replace material money, a land grab is taking place among firms looking to stay ahead of the curve in the electronic payment space. A recent flurry of M&A activity led me to look for the next acquisition candidate. For reference, Ebay’s most profitable venture, Paypal, which has been a dominant force in mobile payments since its founding in 1999, has recently started making waves again. Recognizing the continuous challenge to be at the forefront of the mobile payments revolution, PayPal has been scooping up mobile payment firms left and right. In fact, over the last two years they’ve acquired 8 different payments companies. #-ad_banner-#​Most notably, eBay paid an eight-times price-to-sales multiple, or $800 million, for Braintree, a global payment platform that… Read More

It’s a basic economic principle that when all hell breaks loose in the world, investors rush to gold.  There’s a basic reason for this flight to safe assets: When you buy gold, you own an irreplaceable, finite resource that has been humanity’s universal medium of value for thousands of years.  #-ad_banner-#​I see headlines every day touting gold as a necessary part of any portfolio. Many of those headlines suggest the recent global turmoil in Europe and the Middle East could have a big upside effect on gold prices. Read More

It’s a basic economic principle that when all hell breaks loose in the world, investors rush to gold.  There’s a basic reason for this flight to safe assets: When you buy gold, you own an irreplaceable, finite resource that has been humanity’s universal medium of value for thousands of years.  #-ad_banner-#​I see headlines every day touting gold as a necessary part of any portfolio. Many of those headlines suggest the recent global turmoil in Europe and the Middle East could have a big upside effect on gold prices. But I am not here to tell you what everyone else is saying. I take pride in providing fundamental reasoning behind solid investment decisions — not just reactionary analysis. My goal is to recognize a trend as its beginning rather than reporting on the trend that you just missed. With that in mind, I’ve identified a ripe opportunity in the gold market that looks very attractive.  Amid escalation of global conflict and growing economic uncertainty — gold is cheaper than it was three years ago. … Read More