In November, I told you about a company I suggested as The Market‘s Next Big Turnaround Story. And if ever a company had room to turn around, then it was this Silicon Valley stalwart. Its stock peaked at $108 a share on the last day of 1999. Then came the “Dot-com” bust. Within two years the shares had fallen to a low of $8. Most… Read More

In November, I told you about a company I suggested as The Market‘s Next Big Turnaround Story. And if ever a company had room to turn around, then it was this Silicon Valley stalwart. Its stock peaked at $108 a share on the last day of 1999. Then came the “Dot-com” bust. Within two years the shares had fallen to a low of $8. Most of the ensuing decade has been spent playing catch-up to a new wave of competitors. The brand was — and still is — iconic. But in recent years, shares have floundered. And since 2008 the company has chewed up and spit out four CEOs. Then, this past July, the company “got what it wanted,” in the words of Amy Calistri, chief investment strategist for Stock of the Month. Amid much fanfare, Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO) named as its… Read More

Albert Einstein called it “the most powerful force in the universe.” He ought to know. The modern world’s most celebrated intellect was referring to the concept of compounding — the practice of earning money on what you have already earned. Fortunately, you don’t need to be an Einstein to understand why compounding has also been called an investor’s best friend — or to see how you can profit from it. #-ad_banner-#Stop me if you’ve heard this one: In ancient Greece there was a merchant — let’s call him Demetrios —… Read More

Albert Einstein called it “the most powerful force in the universe.” He ought to know. The modern world’s most celebrated intellect was referring to the concept of compounding — the practice of earning money on what you have already earned. Fortunately, you don’t need to be an Einstein to understand why compounding has also been called an investor’s best friend — or to see how you can profit from it. #-ad_banner-#Stop me if you’ve heard this one: In ancient Greece there was a merchant — let’s call him Demetrios — who had a reputation as a savvy money-handler. An acquaintance brought over a wagon-load of drachmas (coins variously estimated to be worth about $0.19 apiece) and asked Demetrios to put the money in a trust and invest it for 2,000 years. Demetrios kept all of his acquaintance’s money as commission, save for a single 19-cent drachma, which he invested in an Athenian bond paying 3% annually. After 2,000 years of reinvesting the returns from the 3% payout, according to the math, that drachma would have grown in value to be worth more than all the… Read More

Editor’s Note: This article is what we call a “Hall of Fame” essay – a title we’ve reserved for some of the finest StreetAuthority pieces ever written. This essay explains how Amber Hestla is using an options-selling strategy to safely boost her income every month. When we originally published this essay, Amber’s track record was 25 for 25. Now, she’s 52 for 52. “Always be in a position to trade another day.” Those were some words of advice John Bollinger gave Income Trader’s Amber Hestla as they sat around the dinner table at Ted’s Montana Grill in Denver two weeks… Read More

Editor’s Note: This article is what we call a “Hall of Fame” essay – a title we’ve reserved for some of the finest StreetAuthority pieces ever written. This essay explains how Amber Hestla is using an options-selling strategy to safely boost her income every month. When we originally published this essay, Amber’s track record was 25 for 25. Now, she’s 52 for 52. “Always be in a position to trade another day.” Those were some words of advice John Bollinger gave Income Trader’s Amber Hestla as they sat around the dinner table at Ted’s Montana Grill in Denver two weeks ago. #-ad_banner-#John, like Amber, has made a career out of trading options. It was his initial work with options back in the ’80s that lead him to develop the Bollinger Band(R), a technical indicator used by analysts the world over to identify when an asset may be overbought or oversold. Given his contributions to the profession and his accomplishments as a trader, it’s safe to say John has had considerable success navigating the options market. So when Amber asked him what the key to that success has been, she wasn’t surprised to hear his answer: “Always be in a position… Read More

You don’t have to be a billionaire guru to benefit from this strategy — you just have to act like one. You say you wouldn’t touch them with a ten-foot pole? You’re not alone. In a 2011 survey, securities broker TD Ameritrade found that more than three-quarters of “buy and hold” investors have never bought or sold stock options. The reasons? “Too risky,” according to a third of the respondents. Twenty-five percent said they “don’t need them,” and another 23% admitted they “don’t know how they work.” Yes, stock options can be risky, but so is investing in Apple (Nasdaq:… Read More

You don’t have to be a billionaire guru to benefit from this strategy — you just have to act like one. You say you wouldn’t touch them with a ten-foot pole? You’re not alone. In a 2011 survey, securities broker TD Ameritrade found that more than three-quarters of “buy and hold” investors have never bought or sold stock options. The reasons? “Too risky,” according to a third of the respondents. Twenty-five percent said they “don’t need them,” and another 23% admitted they “don’t know how they work.” Yes, stock options can be risky, but so is investing in Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL). And, no, stock options are not necessarily “needed” by everyone — only those investors who want to reduce exposure to market volatility, preserve capital and, yes, generate income. Take Warren Buffett, for example. #-ad_banner-#The King of Buy and Hold first bought stock in Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) in 1988. At the time, Buffett said he expected to hang on to the shares of this “outstanding business” for “a long time.” Today, Coca- Cola is Buffett’s largest holding. As of September 30, the Oracle owned 400 million shares of Coca-Cola, valued at $15.2 billion — a fifth of his equity portfolio. Read More

Almost two years ago, it was all over the headlines. You couldn’t turn on CNBC or open an issue of The Wall Street Journal without hearing about it.  Then, May 18, 2012 came around — the day Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) went public.  It was the biggest Internet IPO in history — even bigger than Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), with a peak market capitalization of over $104 billion.  But as soon as the stock went public, it became clear that the party was over. #-ad_banner-#Thanks to a malfunction in the way Nasdaq’s computers handled millions of dollars in trades as well as… Read More

Almost two years ago, it was all over the headlines. You couldn’t turn on CNBC or open an issue of The Wall Street Journal without hearing about it.  Then, May 18, 2012 came around — the day Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) went public.  It was the biggest Internet IPO in history — even bigger than Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), with a peak market capitalization of over $104 billion.  But as soon as the stock went public, it became clear that the party was over. #-ad_banner-#Thanks to a malfunction in the way Nasdaq’s computers handled millions of dollars in trades as well as allegations that the company and its underwriters were involved in everything from inflating share prices, issuing too many shares and even overstating earnings, the stock eventually went into a tailspin.  All told, Facebook shares lost more than a quarter of their IPO value in less than a month and lost half their value within three months. While “the herd” was waiting to cash in on the runaway success of Facebook by buying shares as soon as they went public, the “smart money” was busy cashing out — selling their shares to a frothy public that had waited years… Read More

Investors are getting scared again. On February 3, the S&P 500 fell 2.1% — its largest one-day drop since June. The pullback sent the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) — a gauge used to judge fear in the marketplace — to 21.4, its highest level in 18 months. Defensive assets have also been rallying. Treasury bonds and gold bullion are both up more than 4.5% since the beginning of the year. People are likely returning to these “safe haven” assets as they brace for more turbulence in the equity markets. So should you follow their lead? After all, the S&P 500… Read More

Investors are getting scared again. On February 3, the S&P 500 fell 2.1% — its largest one-day drop since June. The pullback sent the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) — a gauge used to judge fear in the marketplace — to 21.4, its highest level in 18 months. Defensive assets have also been rallying. Treasury bonds and gold bullion are both up more than 4.5% since the beginning of the year. People are likely returning to these “safe haven” assets as they brace for more turbulence in the equity markets. So should you follow their lead? After all, the S&P 500 gained 32% (including dividends) last year — its third-best annual performance in two decades. After such a mind-blowing year, surely the pullback is the start of a much bigger correction… right? Not necessarily. #-ad_banner-#While 2014 may have started as a lackluster year, it’s still way too early to give up on stocks. Here’s why… For starters, even with the Federal Reserve starting to “taper,” the low-interest rate environment that’s been fueling the recent bull market is unlikely to change anytime soon. Based on the Fed’s Open Market Committee meeting last week, the U.S. central bank plans to keep interest rates… Read More

Today I want to share with you one of the most important investing developments we’ve ever discovered. It concerns a small handful of companies that can predict the future and a way for you to get in on what analysts say is a 5,000% growth trend that could last until 2020. Here’s what’s going on… #-ad_banner-#You may recognize the name Nancy Zambell. She’s a long-time investment industry veteran, having worked at big banks, on Wall Street, and also at a few well-known investment publishing firms. Her track record is one of the best I’ve ever seen. For over 20 years… Read More

Today I want to share with you one of the most important investing developments we’ve ever discovered. It concerns a small handful of companies that can predict the future and a way for you to get in on what analysts say is a 5,000% growth trend that could last until 2020. Here’s what’s going on… #-ad_banner-#You may recognize the name Nancy Zambell. She’s a long-time investment industry veteran, having worked at big banks, on Wall Street, and also at a few well-known investment publishing firms. Her track record is one of the best I’ve ever seen. For over 20 years now, her recommendations have seen average returns around 28%. She’s also helped “regular” folks like you and me score gains of… 66% in 9 months… 175% in 3 months… 169% gains in 6 months… And many, many more. I bring this up because Nancy just joined our sister site, InvestingAnswers.com. She’s the Chief Investment Strategist for a brand new advisory called Five-Star Stocks. And I have to say, she’s starting off with a bang. As you’ll see, she’s come across an opportunity that I can practically guarantee you’ve never seen before. I had a chance to… Read More

Back in June, I first introduced you to Michael J. Carr’s groundbreaking investment research. I told you a little about his history (he retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force before managing $200 million) and how he was working on a project that used a few simple trading… Read More

Have you heard about the “death gene”? Not to worry — I’ll tell you about an antidote in a moment, but first consider this… The death gene is the genetic variant that apparently can determine — with disconcerting accuracy — your likely departure time from this planet. Researchers in Boston inadvertently made the discovery in the aftermath of a study that looked at sleep patterns. The scientists found that subjects with one particular genetic arrangement died just before 11 a.m., while another group with a different makeup passed away around 6 p.m. Dave Forest, Chief Investment Strategist for StreetAuthority’s Junior… Read More

Have you heard about the “death gene”? Not to worry — I’ll tell you about an antidote in a moment, but first consider this… The death gene is the genetic variant that apparently can determine — with disconcerting accuracy — your likely departure time from this planet. Researchers in Boston inadvertently made the discovery in the aftermath of a study that looked at sleep patterns. The scientists found that subjects with one particular genetic arrangement died just before 11 a.m., while another group with a different makeup passed away around 6 p.m. Dave Forest, Chief Investment Strategist for StreetAuthority’s Junior Resource Advisor, recently discovered a new kind of death gene. It may not predict the demise to the hour like the Boston findings do, but it does tell us to the year — and even the month — when some of the biggest companies in the market might suddenly implode, and perhaps even cease to exist. This potential terminal switch is something investors have grown so accustomed to that few think of it as a problem. But I believe it’s going to rear its ugly head soon and perhaps often — destroying billions in shareholder value, as formerly vibrant businesses… Read More

Andy Obermueller wasn’t this excited about an investment since Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) plunked down $350 million in cash for one of his picks. The company Apple bought was AuthenTec, a developer of fingerprint sensor technology. Ten months earlier, Andy reasoned that fingerprint security was just the sort of feature that Tier 1 customers are going to demand in their phones and other mobile devices to keep their credit card accounts and other sensitive information safe.#-ad_banner-# That was in September 2011, when the Chief Strategist for Game-Changing Stocks went on to… Read More

Andy Obermueller wasn’t this excited about an investment since Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) plunked down $350 million in cash for one of his picks. The company Apple bought was AuthenTec, a developer of fingerprint sensor technology. Ten months earlier, Andy reasoned that fingerprint security was just the sort of feature that Tier 1 customers are going to demand in their phones and other mobile devices to keep their credit card accounts and other sensitive information safe.#-ad_banner-# That was in September 2011, when the Chief Strategist for Game-Changing Stocks went on to call AuthenTec “an immediate portfolio add for aggressive tech investors looking for strong upside on the cheap.” Less than a year later, AuthenTec shares closed 227.6% higher than Andy’s initial recommendation. Fast-forward 15 months. The iPhone 5s has a fingerprint scanner. And Andy has another game-changing idea. A big one. “What I am talking about is a piece of information that literally makes my jaw drop. That makes my heart race. I’m talking about information that scares you. The sort of thing you read and think, ‘I sure hope someone who knows something is working on this.” That’s what Andy… Read More