I still get goose bumps when I recall the first time I saw them live. The year was 1987. I was 10 years old, and a buddy of mine — whose father had season tickets to the Chicago Bulls — asked me if I wanted to go to a game. “Heck yeah!” I replied. #-ad_banner-#The fans… the atmosphere… the scale and intensity of Chicago Stadium blew me away. But now, looking back 28 years later, I realize it was one of my first lessons in investing. And if… Read More

I still get goose bumps when I recall the first time I saw them live. The year was 1987. I was 10 years old, and a buddy of mine — whose father had season tickets to the Chicago Bulls — asked me if I wanted to go to a game. “Heck yeah!” I replied. #-ad_banner-#The fans… the atmosphere… the scale and intensity of Chicago Stadium blew me away. But now, looking back 28 years later, I realize it was one of my first lessons in investing. And if you’ve ever been to a professional sporting event, then you too have witnessed the secret behind some of the most consistently profitable businesses in the world. It’s the reason some investments can shower you with wealth for the long haul, while knockoff competitors come and go. It’s a simple secret, but if you understand it you’ll know how to find the best values in any industry. Professional sports teams are what I like to call “irreplaceable assets.” You can’t simply come along and create it from scratch. A cheap knockoff can’t be developed in… Read More

If you’re a regular StreetAuthority reader, then you may now consider yourself an income expert. Just this past few months, we’ve show you why dividends are the key to wealth (here), that international stocks offer the best yields on the market (here) and given you copious examples of dividend-payers worth owning (here, here and here). But today I’m going to tell you all about a class of stocks that combines the very best qualities of top dividend stocks: High-yielding international companies that you can buy today, forget about tomorrow and own… Read More

If you’re a regular StreetAuthority reader, then you may now consider yourself an income expert. Just this past few months, we’ve show you why dividends are the key to wealth (here), that international stocks offer the best yields on the market (here) and given you copious examples of dividend-payers worth owning (here, here and here). But today I’m going to tell you all about a class of stocks that combines the very best qualities of top dividend stocks: High-yielding international companies that you can buy today, forget about tomorrow and own for the rest of your life. I think you’ll love them. You see, if you’re after high yields, there’s no better place to look than foreign stocks. Because in fact, more than 79% of the world’s highest-yielding stocks are based in international markets. #-ad_banner-#The average stock in the United Kingdom yields 3.9%. Australia’s average yield is 4.7%. And New Zealand pays 4.7%. By contrast, the average U.S. stock yields about 2%. But my research team and I dug through these stocks looking for something more. Read More

Investors hate this industry. Pension funds do, too. In fact, the industry is so hated that some funds aren’t allowed to own the companies involved. But for the last 115 years, these companies have been the best performing stocks in the United States — despite stiff competition from sectors like healthcare, technology and energy. And today, while most investors shun these stocks, you could use them to earn more than 20% annualized. And here’s the best part… you won’t even have to buy shares. Let me explain. Investment bank Credit Suisse recently conducted a study on the best-performing industries in… Read More

Investors hate this industry. Pension funds do, too. In fact, the industry is so hated that some funds aren’t allowed to own the companies involved. But for the last 115 years, these companies have been the best performing stocks in the United States — despite stiff competition from sectors like healthcare, technology and energy. And today, while most investors shun these stocks, you could use them to earn more than 20% annualized. And here’s the best part… you won’t even have to buy shares. Let me explain. Investment bank Credit Suisse recently conducted a study on the best-performing industries in the United States since 1900. Here’s what they found: One dollar invested in the U.S. stock market in 1900 would have been worth $35,255 at the end of 2014. That comes out to an average annual return of 9.6%. Not bad. However, one dollar invested in the tobacco industry in 1900 would have ballooned to $6.28 million by the end of 2014. That’s an average annual return of 14.6%. No other industry has come even close to delivering that kind of return. The second-best performing group was electrical equipment, but tobacco outperformed these stocks by a factor of 10. It… Read More

It’s one of the market’s biggest missed opportunities. Every day, millions of U.S. investors looking for more income are missing out. That’s because the vast majority of the world’s highest-yields aren’t found in the United States. As the Chief Strategist of High-Yield International, my job is to scour the globe for the world’s highest yielding investments and tell my readers about them each month. At last count, my research shows that over 79% of the world’s highest-yielding stocks are based in international markets. If you’re like most people, then you’ve probably… Read More

It’s one of the market’s biggest missed opportunities. Every day, millions of U.S. investors looking for more income are missing out. That’s because the vast majority of the world’s highest-yields aren’t found in the United States. As the Chief Strategist of High-Yield International, my job is to scour the globe for the world’s highest yielding investments and tell my readers about them each month. At last count, my research shows that over 79% of the world’s highest-yielding stocks are based in international markets. If you’re like most people, then you’ve probably never taken advantage of foreign stocks. #-ad_banner-#That’s a shame, because the average stock in the United Kingdom yields 3.8%, Australia’s average yield is 4.5% and New Zealand pays 4.3%. By contrast, U.S. stocks yield less than 2%, on average. Most U.S. investors dismiss the idea of investing abroad. They tend to think other countries are “riskier” than the United States. But that’s not always the case. Especially with one special country I’ll tell you about in a moment, where average yields are double those found in the United… Read More

On April 24, Starbucks Corp. (Nasdaq: SBUX) extended its history of matching or beating earnings expectations to nine consecutive quarters. No surprise there. After all, it owns one of the most recognizable brands in the world. Go to any given U.S. city and try walking a few blocks without seeing the Starbucks logo pasted across a green awning. It’s nearly impossible. Shares are already up 24% in 2015 and are poised to continue higher. That makes now the perfect time to execute my Income Multiplier strategy on Starbucks. It could earn you 5.4% in… Read More

On April 24, Starbucks Corp. (Nasdaq: SBUX) extended its history of matching or beating earnings expectations to nine consecutive quarters. No surprise there. After all, it owns one of the most recognizable brands in the world. Go to any given U.S. city and try walking a few blocks without seeing the Starbucks logo pasted across a green awning. It’s nearly impossible. Shares are already up 24% in 2015 and are poised to continue higher. That makes now the perfect time to execute my Income Multiplier strategy on Starbucks. It could earn you 5.4% in 64 days or allow you to buy the stock at a 9.5% discount. In the last 22 years, Starbucks has been one of the best-performing stocks in the S&P 500. Since going public in 1992, shares have increased nearly 16,000%, crushing the market’s 407% return. Although the company won’t repeat the same incredible performance, Starbucks still has plenty of room to grow. The company has more than 12,000 locations in the United States. This year, Starbucks plans to increase its store count by 650 in North America and by… Read More

You wouldn’t think this was an opportunity. In the last three months, only the Euro dropped further than the Canadian dollar. Canada’s currency recently hit a five-and-a-half year low. And because of two powerful catalysts — which I’ll tell you more about in a moment — I expect its value to remain depressed at least through the end of 2015. But this is good news in disguise. If history is any guide, then foreign investors could be positioned for major profit opportunities from this country in the months ahead. Read More

You wouldn’t think this was an opportunity. In the last three months, only the Euro dropped further than the Canadian dollar. Canada’s currency recently hit a five-and-a-half year low. And because of two powerful catalysts — which I’ll tell you more about in a moment — I expect its value to remain depressed at least through the end of 2015. But this is good news in disguise. If history is any guide, then foreign investors could be positioned for major profit opportunities from this country in the months ahead. In the first quarter of 2015, the Canadian dollar fell 7.14%. #-ad_banner-#Two powerful trends have been holding down the country’s dollar. I don’t expect either of them to change soon, but together they’re creating a clear divide in the country’s economy. One side is making major profits right now, the other is losing out. I can show you how to profit from the winners, but first let me show you what’s going on. Interest Rate Increases The Federal Reserve is the only major central bank in the world considering… Read More

Normally this kind of information is kept secret. But due to regulatory requirements for its initial public offering (IPO), this company was forced to reveal the shocking wall street biggest scam. From 2009 to 2013, a secretive high-frequency trading firm named Virtu managed to only have one losing day. In 2014 it notched a perfect record. On its worst day, the firm was making between $800,000 and $1 million a day. It may sound too good to be true. But there it is, laid out in Virtu Financial’s… Read More

Normally this kind of information is kept secret. But due to regulatory requirements for its initial public offering (IPO), this company was forced to reveal the shocking wall street biggest scam. From 2009 to 2013, a secretive high-frequency trading firm named Virtu managed to only have one losing day. In 2014 it notched a perfect record. On its worst day, the firm was making between $800,000 and $1 million a day. It may sound too good to be true. But there it is, laid out in Virtu Financial’s IPO prospectus for any and everyone to see. But Virtu isn’t alone. J.P. Morgan didn’t have a single losing day in 2013. Bank of America notched a perfect performance of its own in the first quarter of 2013. Clearly, Wall Street trades and invests its own money differently than the traditional buy-and-hold strategy its clients typically use. I’ll let you in on one of Wall Street’s best-kept secrets: selling put options. Does that sound scary? Intimidating? If it does, there’s a very good reason for… Read More

Robert Shiller is a professor of economics at Yale University, a closely followed housing index is named in his honor, and in 2013, he won a Nobel Prize for his research in economics. Between 2005 and 2007, he was one of the few who sounded the warning bells about a potential bubble in the U.S. and global housing markets. Investors who followed Schiller’s advice avoided real estate at the top of a massive bubble. Investors who ignored him suffered huge losses. Today, he’s warning of a new danger. And if… Read More

Robert Shiller is a professor of economics at Yale University, a closely followed housing index is named in his honor, and in 2013, he won a Nobel Prize for his research in economics. Between 2005 and 2007, he was one of the few who sounded the warning bells about a potential bubble in the U.S. and global housing markets. Investors who followed Schiller’s advice avoided real estate at the top of a massive bubble. Investors who ignored him suffered huge losses. Today, he’s warning of a new danger. And if history is any guide, it pays to listen. “I’m thinking about getting out of the United States somewhat,” said Schiller in a February CNBC interview. “Europe is so much cheaper.” To that effect, he’s already invested in Spanish and Italian indexes. Schiller’s decision is based on particular valuation models, which he developed. He did this by looking at a common ratio, price-to-earnings, in a new light: adjusted for market cycles over a longer period of time. Shiller’s cyclically-adjusted P/E ratio is commonly referred to as the CAPE ratio. Currently, the United States has… Read More

The year 2004 was one of the most exciting times of my life. The future looked bright. That was the year I beat out hundreds of candidates to enter an exclusive bond-trading program for a multi-billion-dollar brokerage firm. I was going to dig deeper than ever into the market. I was going to be around market junkies all day. And most importantly, I was going to become a trading hotshot and make a few million bucks before I turned 30. #-ad_banner-#Three years later, two of those things had come true, and one had not… After spending years fully entrenched in… Read More

The year 2004 was one of the most exciting times of my life. The future looked bright. That was the year I beat out hundreds of candidates to enter an exclusive bond-trading program for a multi-billion-dollar brokerage firm. I was going to dig deeper than ever into the market. I was going to be around market junkies all day. And most importantly, I was going to become a trading hotshot and make a few million bucks before I turned 30. #-ad_banner-#Three years later, two of those things had come true, and one had not… After spending years fully entrenched in the markets and learning from the sharpest minds in the business, I had learned a valuable lesson: trading is no quick path to riches. The cumulative effect of making a few hundred trades a day for years had left me emotionally and financially spent. I found myself at a crossroads. I had loved the market ever since joining the stock market club in sixth grade. I wasn’t ready to walk away from it completely, but it was clear that my relationship with the market needed to evolve. Transitioning out of trading was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had… Read More

For four years I was a derivatives trader for a billion-dollar trading firm in Chicago. One important lesson I learned: pay attention to the biggest traders in the game. Professional traders go to great lengths to hide everything they do. It’s no different than poker — you don’t want your opponent to know your hand. But right now, one of the most powerful financial institutions in the world is broadcasting its hand to the world. And this isn’t just any old hand… It’s the biggest trade it has ever made — valued at more than $1.2 trillion. If history is… Read More

For four years I was a derivatives trader for a billion-dollar trading firm in Chicago. One important lesson I learned: pay attention to the biggest traders in the game. Professional traders go to great lengths to hide everything they do. It’s no different than poker — you don’t want your opponent to know your hand. But right now, one of the most powerful financial institutions in the world is broadcasting its hand to the world. And this isn’t just any old hand… It’s the biggest trade it has ever made — valued at more than $1.2 trillion. If history is any guide, there’s a lot of money to be made from reading the cards right. Let me explain. Since 1900, there have been a total of 32 bull markets in U.S. stocks. During this 114-year period, the current bull market is the fourth longest, currently lasting 75 months. The market bottomed out at 666 in March 2009. It has since surged more than 200% and is now trading above 2,000. In the meantime, international stocks have struggled. The chart below depicts this disparity, showing the S&P 500 versus the Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US ETF (NYSE: VEU) over the last five… Read More