Without a doubt, a bull market is itself a bullish indicator.  There is a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy here: investors clamor for gains and feel safer when the market flashes green than when it’s awash in red. But even a more rational explanation to this phenomenon also makes sense: The stock market is a big discounting machine, reflecting bets that tomorrow’s prices will be higher than today’s.  But if this is a gauge at all, then, just as with any other market indicator, it’s not an infallible one. No rally lasts forever, and after a boom — as loud… Read More

Without a doubt, a bull market is itself a bullish indicator.  There is a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy here: investors clamor for gains and feel safer when the market flashes green than when it’s awash in red. But even a more rational explanation to this phenomenon also makes sense: The stock market is a big discounting machine, reflecting bets that tomorrow’s prices will be higher than today’s.  But if this is a gauge at all, then, just as with any other market indicator, it’s not an infallible one. No rally lasts forever, and after a boom — as loud as it might be — usually comes a bust.  On Tuesday, April 23, the S&P 500 closed at 2,931.11, higher than the previous all-time closing high of $2,930.75 set back on September 20. It only took seven months for the markets to return to previous highs — one of the speediest turnarounds in market history.  And yet, many investors are not convinced that stocks are the place to be. According to the Conference Board, 37% of Americans believe stock prices will rise over the next year — and 26% believe the prices will fall. The spread of 11 between optimists… Read More

April showers bring May flowers.  As with most proverbs, this one should not be taken literally. Ostensibly about the weather, the wisdom of this saying goes much deeper: it shows a cause-and-effect relationship, with an inevitable conclusion that good things often follow (and even result from) things less pleasant.  Case in point: The market’s first-quarter rally that was preceded by fourth-quarter volatility.  —Recommended Link— Little-Known Gov’t-Backed “Paychecks” Deliver $65,572 Extra Per Year Ordinary Americans are collecting $8,760… $16,771… and even $65,572 in checks every year. Now, this little-known program is set to deliver even bigger… Read More

April showers bring May flowers.  As with most proverbs, this one should not be taken literally. Ostensibly about the weather, the wisdom of this saying goes much deeper: it shows a cause-and-effect relationship, with an inevitable conclusion that good things often follow (and even result from) things less pleasant.  Case in point: The market’s first-quarter rally that was preceded by fourth-quarter volatility.  —Recommended Link— Little-Known Gov’t-Backed “Paychecks” Deliver $65,572 Extra Per Year Ordinary Americans are collecting $8,760… $16,771… and even $65,572 in checks every year. Now, this little-known program is set to deliver even bigger payments… up to a staggering $225,326. It’s your turn to get started collecting. Click here to learn how to collect your first check. And what a rally it’s been… The S&P 500 index has already rebounded 17% year-to-date, and it’s now trading just points off its all-time highs. These are the levels many observers expected by year-end 2019, not by April, and it took many by surprise that it has only taken this market four months to deliver 12 months-worth of returns.  But is it a good or a bad thing that the market has rallied… Read More

Blink and you missed it. One day there’s a “telecommunication sector,” the next day — thanks to the people who run the stock indices — it morphs into “communication services.”  Why should we care? With major S&P 500 companies from Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) to Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) now reassigned, the change is simply too big to be ignored. That goes for passive investors — ones who rely on an index-tracking approach — and active investors like us who frequently screen sectors and indices for ideas.  That’s because we all need to be aware that some of the most innovative and… Read More

Blink and you missed it. One day there’s a “telecommunication sector,” the next day — thanks to the people who run the stock indices — it morphs into “communication services.”  Why should we care? With major S&P 500 companies from Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) to Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) now reassigned, the change is simply too big to be ignored. That goes for passive investors — ones who rely on an index-tracking approach — and active investors like us who frequently screen sectors and indices for ideas.  That’s because we all need to be aware that some of the most innovative and fastest-growing companies of today no longer resign in the tech or consumer sectors. When we search for the next investment, whether it’s an index fund or a stock, we need to know where to look.  —Recommended Link— 3 Minutes to Collect 12 Times More Money Than Social Security Just make this simple little 3-minute call and you can get set up to start collecting your checks. All told, your checks can add up to $225,326 over the next 25 years. Imagine that! And these checks are supported by $1.75 billion in new money every year. Read More

The world of subscriptions keeps growing and developing. In entertainment, the massive success of the streaming music, video, and video-game applications pushes others to innovate. (Deloitte estimates that the number of streaming music subscriptions alone now exceeds 150 million.) The New York Mets, for example, recently announced a new subscription-based program of their own. For a flat fee of $39 per month, subscribers can get standing-room-only tickets to nearly every regular season home game, even at the last minute.  Many other types of businesses are also benefitting from the trend, thanks to technological advancements (and, in many cases, with the… Read More

The world of subscriptions keeps growing and developing. In entertainment, the massive success of the streaming music, video, and video-game applications pushes others to innovate. (Deloitte estimates that the number of streaming music subscriptions alone now exceeds 150 million.) The New York Mets, for example, recently announced a new subscription-based program of their own. For a flat fee of $39 per month, subscribers can get standing-room-only tickets to nearly every regular season home game, even at the last minute.  Many other types of businesses are also benefitting from the trend, thanks to technological advancements (and, in many cases, with the help of our newest recommendation over at my premium newsletter, Fast-Track Millionaire).  #-ad_banner-#​Smartsheet (Nasdaq: SMAR) is a great example. Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, Smartsheet is a Fast-Track Millionaire holding that provides cloud-based platforms and software that enable companies to overview, plan, manage, automate, and execute tasks and projects. Subscriptions start at $14 per user per month. With an enticing business model in a high-growth area, it’s no wonder then that we’ve already made more than 21% on the stock since the end of January.  Of course, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) was one of the first companies to… Read More

The first thing you learn in finance class is that the markets are efficient, meaning that asset prices fully reflect all available information.  This is a simple concept to understand, and it also helps investors read the tea leaves when it comes to the market action: stocks are discounting all available information at any time. Rallies and selloffs, while hard to predict and impossible to time, are just that — the reflections of the market’s ongoing optimism or improving outlook (which underlie the rallies) and deteriorating conditions (which drive the selloffs).  The market is also a great forward-looking mechanism. Because… Read More

The first thing you learn in finance class is that the markets are efficient, meaning that asset prices fully reflect all available information.  This is a simple concept to understand, and it also helps investors read the tea leaves when it comes to the market action: stocks are discounting all available information at any time. Rallies and selloffs, while hard to predict and impossible to time, are just that — the reflections of the market’s ongoing optimism or improving outlook (which underlie the rallies) and deteriorating conditions (which drive the selloffs).  The market is also a great forward-looking mechanism. Because it does reflect all the available information at any time, a rallying market by itself is often a bullish indicator. This is what we have today — not only a more expensive market than a few months ago, but a market that just won’t stop.  —Recommended Link— If you’re over 18 years old, you can’t be turned down for this program A simple membership form – one that takes 90 seconds or less to fill out – is all it takes to join a plan that pays out up to $12,040 a year in bonus… Read More

Much to the delight of investors, the market rallied 14% in the first three months of the year. It was the best quarterly performance for the S&P 500 since 2009. Of course, not every stock in the market has performed accordingly, but many have done well, led by the technology sector (up 20.5% in the quarter). Some investors could be reluctant to buy stocks that rallied that much, especially when the market is nearing its recent highs. And some investors might be tempted to look for a lagging stock or two in search of value — and in search of… Read More

Much to the delight of investors, the market rallied 14% in the first three months of the year. It was the best quarterly performance for the S&P 500 since 2009. Of course, not every stock in the market has performed accordingly, but many have done well, led by the technology sector (up 20.5% in the quarter). Some investors could be reluctant to buy stocks that rallied that much, especially when the market is nearing its recent highs. And some investors might be tempted to look for a lagging stock or two in search of value — and in search of a winning performance going forward. If only investing were this simple… Experienced investors know that simply buying stocks that underperform the market does not, by itself, usually result in a winning performance.  —Recommended Link— This $1,003-a-Month Income Boost Is Available to Everyone There’s a way for you to collect extra government cash. And it isn’t some “file and suspend” Social Security trick that only makes sense for a few people. This obscure opportunity allows you to collect government cash no matter how old you are or how much money you already make. Read More