The primary way investors create long-term wealth in the stock market is by riding trends. I am not talking about price trends but rather the overall societal and technological macro-trends that come together to change the world.  Trillions of dollars have been made by identifying these macro trends and purchasing shares in companies riding them. The trick is identifying companies that are leaders in their niche — the companies that possess the momentum and fortitude to withstand resistance to change, and are the first movers into the space. These three fundamental factors are what distinguish long-term winners in the stock… Read More

The primary way investors create long-term wealth in the stock market is by riding trends. I am not talking about price trends but rather the overall societal and technological macro-trends that come together to change the world.  Trillions of dollars have been made by identifying these macro trends and purchasing shares in companies riding them. The trick is identifying companies that are leaders in their niche — the companies that possess the momentum and fortitude to withstand resistance to change, and are the first movers into the space. These three fundamental factors are what distinguish long-term winners in the stock market. #-ad_banner-#One major macro societal and technological trend right now is the move to a mobile society. This trend is driven by the ubiquitous use of smartphones powered by Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and other companies in the space. We are all familiar with the fortunes that were made by those who jumped aboard this trend as early investors.  The trend toward making everything mobile has also led to the development of various sub-trends. One of the most exciting and world changing sub-trends is the move toward decoupling the transfer of money from banks and other traditional financial institutions to upstart… Read More

We are a nation of discount shoppers. Just like stock market investors love to buy shares at a discount, consumers love to find bargains when shopping. Retailers exploit this discount purchasing desire in numerous ways. Consumer savvy sellers do everything from issuing discount coupons and participating in loss-leader Groupon-type programs, to holding sales events and carefully setting price amounts to psychologically pleasing figures. Discount shopping is such a dominant force that the International Monetary Fund listed discount retailer Walmart (NYSE: WMT) as 28th on the list of the world’s largest economies in 2013. This means that the discount retailer’s economic… Read More

We are a nation of discount shoppers. Just like stock market investors love to buy shares at a discount, consumers love to find bargains when shopping. Retailers exploit this discount purchasing desire in numerous ways. Consumer savvy sellers do everything from issuing discount coupons and participating in loss-leader Groupon-type programs, to holding sales events and carefully setting price amounts to psychologically pleasing figures. Discount shopping is such a dominant force that the International Monetary Fund listed discount retailer Walmart (NYSE: WMT) as 28th on the list of the world’s largest economies in 2013. This means that the discount retailer’s economic power is greater than most nations, serving as a testament to the success of the discount shopping model.   #-ad_banner-#The Next Level Of Discount Shopping An entire industry has emerged pushing the discount concept to the extreme in the brick & mortar space. Known as dollar stores, these deep-discount retailers have become a thriving industry, while creating over $25 billion in annual revenue. Dollar stores are defined as stores that sell most of their merchandise at a single low price. As the name suggests, the price is generally $1.00 or so per item. These retailers focus on regions that… Read More

It only takes three things to get me very excited about a stock market opportunity: sleeper stocks pushing toward yearly highs, technical price breakouts, and corporate spinoffs. Each one of these items can be signaling bullish times ahead for the shares. Combine all three signals with a 148-year-old, $52 billion market cap behemoth boasting over 90 million customers in more than 60 nations, and it paints a bright future for the shares. First, let’s take a closer look at each of the three bullish factors at work then dig into the specifics of the opportunity. #-ad_banner-#Sleeper stocks are companies holding… Read More

It only takes three things to get me very excited about a stock market opportunity: sleeper stocks pushing toward yearly highs, technical price breakouts, and corporate spinoffs. Each one of these items can be signaling bullish times ahead for the shares. Combine all three signals with a 148-year-old, $52 billion market cap behemoth boasting over 90 million customers in more than 60 nations, and it paints a bright future for the shares. First, let’s take a closer look at each of the three bullish factors at work then dig into the specifics of the opportunity. #-ad_banner-#Sleeper stocks are companies holding little interest to short-term, fast money type stock market investors. They tend to be slow movers but can make great long-term investments. These stocks are often from old, boring industries such as insurance. When a sleeper stock is observed pushing toward new highs, it may be signaling more than just a short-term move based on price alone. That’s because it often takes a seriously bullish fundamental catalyst to trigger a move higher in a sleeper stock. Next, a technical breakout occurs whenever the share price moves above a resistance level on a price chart.  Many technical analysts consider the 200-day… Read More

Finding the right investment can be a challenge for anyone, especially during a down economy. But many don’t realize that the research has already been done for you.  #-ad_banner-#If you’ve read my articles, then you know I like to follow the big money players of the market — hedge funds. And right now, there is a good reason to keep a close eye on the latest trades by some of the major hedge funds. As… Read More

Finding the right investment can be a challenge for anyone, especially during a down economy. But many don’t realize that the research has already been done for you.  #-ad_banner-#If you’ve read my articles, then you know I like to follow the big money players of the market — hedge funds. And right now, there is a good reason to keep a close eye on the latest trades by some of the major hedge funds. As we head into the end of the year, hedge funds are feeling the pressure to create alpha — the market-beating returns for which they are known. The sector has had the worse year since 1997, with overall gains of more than 5% in the first nine months of 2012, compared with the S&P 500’s roughly 21% in the same period. Simply put, hedge funds are scrambling to achieve the typical performance that’s their claim to fame. This means some of these funds are especially focused on the stocks they think… Read More

Stock picking is an art and a science. The art of stock picking relies on the skill to choose the right stock at the right time. It’s possible to do this in a more consistent manner through the technical analysis of a stock chart. The science in stock picking is in analyzing the fundamental picture of a company in an effort to forecast future performance. The good balance between art and science breeds the most successful investments.  One easy-to-use and underutilized metric for making… Read More

Stock picking is an art and a science. The art of stock picking relies on the skill to choose the right stock at the right time. It’s possible to do this in a more consistent manner through the technical analysis of a stock chart. The science in stock picking is in analyzing the fundamental picture of a company in an effort to forecast future performance. The good balance between art and science breeds the most successful investments.  One easy-to-use and underutilized metric for making wise investment decisions is return on equity (ROE). This metric can tell investors whether a company is a cash creator or a cash destroyer relative to its competitors. The ROE measures a company’s profitability by determining how much profit is being generated from the money invested by shareholders. So knowing this figure enables investors to compare multiple stocks and isolate the most… Read More

There are two primary techniques investors use to make profitable stock picks: fundamental and technical analysis.#-ad_banner-# One of the most time-tested methods is the technical analysis, which studies the stock price itself in an attempt to forecast future price moves. Technical analysts believe that all the fundamental information of a company is already reflected in its stock price. By studying price patterns and trading volume, technical analysts can determine the future direction of a stock. [Find out more about this type of analysis here.]… Read More

There are two primary techniques investors use to make profitable stock picks: fundamental and technical analysis.#-ad_banner-# One of the most time-tested methods is the technical analysis, which studies the stock price itself in an attempt to forecast future price moves. Technical analysts believe that all the fundamental information of a company is already reflected in its stock price. By studying price patterns and trading volume, technical analysts can determine the future direction of a stock. [Find out more about this type of analysis here.] Fundamental analysis, on the other hand, attempts to determine a stock’s future value by studying the actual condition of the company itself, the economy in which it operates and the overall market trends. It uses facts gleaned from the company’s own accounting, projections and outside economic data to build a picture of the company’s future. To successfully perform a fundamental analysis on a stock, investors should… Read More

Technical analysis is the study of stock prices in an attempt to forecast future price movements. The discipline teaches that all relevant fundamental information is already embedded in the price, therefore, by following price charts, one can increase the odds of a successful investment. There are hundreds of indicators and tools a technical analyst can choose to perform a successful technical analysis, but only one stands out as my favorite.  #-ad_banner-#My favorite technical indicator When evaluating a stock, I often begin with… Read More

Technical analysis is the study of stock prices in an attempt to forecast future price movements. The discipline teaches that all relevant fundamental information is already embedded in the price, therefore, by following price charts, one can increase the odds of a successful investment. There are hundreds of indicators and tools a technical analyst can choose to perform a successful technical analysis, but only one stands out as my favorite.  #-ad_banner-#My favorite technical indicator When evaluating a stock, I often begin with Bollinger Bands. This technical indicator is a way to visually measure volatility by observing whether the price is high or low on a relative basis.  Created by John Bollinger in the early 1980s, the bands are built upon J.M. Hurst’s and Marc Chaikin’s trading band idea. Simply described, trading bands are moving averages that envelope price on a chart. John Bollinger took this simple concept and developed a statistically-based standard for the bands, designed easy-to-understand trading concepts around them and popularized their use.  All readily available technical analysis software have integrated Bollinger Bands. Read More

William O’Neil, known as one of the best stock pickers of all time, is credited with pioneering the use of computers for analysing stocks. O’Neil became famous as the publisher of the newspaper Investor’s Business Daily and author of the book “How to Make Money in Stocks: A Winning System in Good Times and Bad,” which identified seven factors all top-performing companies possess. Created after an exhaustive study of eight different market cycles during 40 years of data, O’Neil named his new… Read More

William O’Neil, known as one of the best stock pickers of all time, is credited with pioneering the use of computers for analysing stocks. O’Neil became famous as the publisher of the newspaper Investor’s Business Daily and author of the book “How to Make Money in Stocks: A Winning System in Good Times and Bad,” which identified seven factors all top-performing companies possess. Created after an exhaustive study of eight different market cycles during 40 years of data, O’Neil named his new investing tactic CANSLIM, an anagram for the seven traits stocks tend to have before their biggest gains.  CANSLIM has stood the test of time: the American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) has even ranked it as one of the best portfolio strategies, with a 10-year average return of 13.2% and a nice 28.7% year-to-date return.  This strategy is not a one-trick pony relying on a single niche stock-picking technique. CANSLIM combines technical and fundamental factors when choosing companies for investment. It basically covers all the bases for what creates a… Read More

Dividend reinvesting is a time-honored wealth-building method. It takes advantage of the stock market’s inherent upward drift, individual stock appreciation, and the incredible power of compound interest. #-ad_banner-#Today’s ultra-low interest rate environment makes developing a diversified, dividend-paying portfolio all the more crucial to accelerate your journey toward wealth. However, many investors lack the capital, time or inclination to build such a portfolio from the ground up. While far from foolproof, dividend-paying mutual funds are professionally designed and managed portfolios of dividend-yielding financial instruments. These funds can also provide investors exposure to exotic derivatives and other securities that may… Read More

Dividend reinvesting is a time-honored wealth-building method. It takes advantage of the stock market’s inherent upward drift, individual stock appreciation, and the incredible power of compound interest. #-ad_banner-#Today’s ultra-low interest rate environment makes developing a diversified, dividend-paying portfolio all the more crucial to accelerate your journey toward wealth. However, many investors lack the capital, time or inclination to build such a portfolio from the ground up. While far from foolproof, dividend-paying mutual funds are professionally designed and managed portfolios of dividend-yielding financial instruments. These funds can also provide investors exposure to exotic derivatives and other securities that may be difficult or impossible for retail investors to access. Let’s take a closer look at three of my favorite dividend-paying mutual funds. 1. Pimco Real Estate Real Return Strategy A (PETAX)​ This fund has $3.8 billion under management and yields close to 8% annually. Its five-year average return is 30.8%, and the fund is up an astounding 25.6% year to date. PETAX invests in derivatives of real estate investment trusts (REITs), as well as directly into REITs, stocks, convertible securities and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The fund has an annual turnover of 81% and expenses of 1.14%, and Class… Read More

When my father graduated from college, he and many of his graduating class entered the workforce with the expectation that their chosen career paths would last until retirement.  #-ad_banner-#These employers valued loyalty and devotion almost as much as effort and innovation. The “company men” of my father’s generation provided their employers these qualities in spades. This feeling of being an essential part of the company was largely the same for blue- and white-collar employees alike. Fast-forward a generation or two, and things have changed. Today, employees see themselves as free agents, free to work for whoever offers the… Read More

When my father graduated from college, he and many of his graduating class entered the workforce with the expectation that their chosen career paths would last until retirement.  #-ad_banner-#These employers valued loyalty and devotion almost as much as effort and innovation. The “company men” of my father’s generation provided their employers these qualities in spades. This feeling of being an essential part of the company was largely the same for blue- and white-collar employees alike. Fast-forward a generation or two, and things have changed. Today, employees see themselves as free agents, free to work for whoever offers the best deal. This increase in employee mobility has accelerated an employment trend nearly 70 years in the making. The temporary worker industry as we know it today began in 1947 after World War II. Temp agencies were started to provide a low-cost labor force that wasn’t part of the powerful unions of the time. These temporary employees provided the same services as full-time workers for a fraction of the full-time pay — and without costing the employer benefits, vacation time or even Social Security taxes. During the 1970s, a period of deep recession in the United States, the temporary worker… Read More