Do we have any meteorologists out there? As a child, I wanted to be a weatherman. I knew more than any ten-year-old should about barometric pressure and relative humidity and spent countless hours in the winter staring at the radar… Read More
Nathan Slaughter, Chief Investment Strategist of The Daily Paycheck and High-Yield Investing, has developed a long and successful track record over the years by finding profitable investments no matter where they hide. Nathan's previous experience includes a long tenure at AXA/Equitable Advisors, one of the world's largest financial planning firms. He also honed his research skills at Morgan Keegan, where he managed millions in portfolio assets and performed consultative retirement planning services. To reach more investors, Nathan switched gears in 2004 and began writing full-time. He has since published hundreds of articles for a variety of prominent online and print publications. Nathan has interviewed industry insiders like Paul Weisbruch and CEOs like Tom Evans of Bankrate.com, and has been quoted in the Los Angeles Times for his expertise on economic moats. Nathan's educational background includes NASD Series 6, 7, 63, & 65 certifications, as well as a degree in Finance/Investment Management from Sam M. Walton School of Business, where he received a full academic scholarship. When not following the market, Nathan enjoys watching his favorite baseball team, the Cubs, and camping and fishing with his family.
Analyst Articles
THIS Is Why You Need High-Yield Stocks In Your Portfolio
Have you heard? The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) just raised the price of a Forever stamp to $0.55 from $0.50. This is the sharpest percentage increase (10%) since 1991 — and the biggest hike on record in nominal terms. As a young financial advisor in the late 1990s, I would always stress the impact of inflation when meeting with prospective clients, modeling it into any retirement funding projections. And the best way to drive home the point was to show how stamp prices had increased steadily over the years. In fact, they are directly tethered to inflation rates. Back… Read More
Have you heard? The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) just raised the price of a Forever stamp to $0.55 from $0.50. This is the sharpest percentage increase (10%) since 1991 — and the biggest hike on record in nominal terms. As a young financial advisor in the late 1990s, I would always stress the impact of inflation when meeting with prospective clients, modeling it into any retirement funding projections. And the best way to drive home the point was to show how stamp prices had increased steadily over the years. In fact, they are directly tethered to inflation rates. Back then, stamps had doubled in price from $0.15 to $0.32 over the prior two decades. Twenty years later, and they’ve continued to march all the way to $0.55. How long do you think it will be before they hit $0.60, or $1.00? An acquaintance of mine had the foresight back in 2007 to “invest” $1,000 in Forever Stamps, purchasing 2,439 at a fixed price of $0.41 each. It really wasn’t that different from speculating in commodities by using futures contracts. She didn’t do too bad. The value of those 2,439 stamps has now risen to $1,341, an increase of 34.1%. Read More
4 Energy Funds With Big Payouts
It may be frigid across much of the country, but corporate earnings growth remains quite steamy. As of February 1, 230 members of the S&P 500 (46%) had posted fourth-quarter results. That means we’re about halfway through the reporting season. And thus far, nearly three-out-of-four companies beat expectations. The torrid 20%-plus growth rate we’ve seen the past several quarters is finally beginning to moderate (that pace is unsustainable for long). Still, if you blend the actual results with the latest estimates from the other 270 companies that are due to report soon, S&P earnings are on track to increase 12.4%. Read More
It may be frigid across much of the country, but corporate earnings growth remains quite steamy. As of February 1, 230 members of the S&P 500 (46%) had posted fourth-quarter results. That means we’re about halfway through the reporting season. And thus far, nearly three-out-of-four companies beat expectations. The torrid 20%-plus growth rate we’ve seen the past several quarters is finally beginning to moderate (that pace is unsustainable for long). Still, if you blend the actual results with the latest estimates from the other 270 companies that are due to report soon, S&P earnings are on track to increase 12.4%. That would mark the fifth consecutive quarter of healthy double-digit profit growth. A week earlier, the same methodology pointed toward a growth rate of 10.9%. That means we’ve had some big upside surprises in recent days — mostly in the energy sector. On average, the energy sector is beating consensus earnings expectations by 23%, versus 3.5% for the S&P 500. In fact, this group is single-handedly propping up growth rates for the entire market. As you can see from the chart below, it has been a disappointing quarter for utilities, whose earnings have slipped 5.2% from a year ago. Tech… Read More
It may be frigid across much of the country, but corporate earnings growth remains quite steamy. As of February 1, 230 members of the S&P 500 (46%) had posted fourth-quarter results. That means we’re about halfway through the reporting season. And thus far, nearly… Read More
This High-Yield MLP Has Made An Impressive Comeback
Kinder Morgan (NYSE: KMI) is back. Publicly, the energy pipeline master limited partnership (MLP) issued guidance calling for distributable cash flow (DCF) of $4.6 billion in 2018 or $2.05 per share. Quietly, it has been telling stockholders that the numbers were tracking ahead of expectations. Well, the official count is now in. The company indeed beat the mark, generating $4.73 billion in DCF or $2.12 per share. That’s within two cents of the record high of $2.14 set in 2015. So for all intents and purposes, it has made a full recovery. Yet back then, KMI shares commanded a price… Read More
Kinder Morgan (NYSE: KMI) is back. Publicly, the energy pipeline master limited partnership (MLP) issued guidance calling for distributable cash flow (DCF) of $4.6 billion in 2018 or $2.05 per share. Quietly, it has been telling stockholders that the numbers were tracking ahead of expectations. Well, the official count is now in. The company indeed beat the mark, generating $4.73 billion in DCF or $2.12 per share. That’s within two cents of the record high of $2.14 set in 2015. So for all intents and purposes, it has made a full recovery. Yet back then, KMI shares commanded a price north of $40. Today, they are still well below $20. That’s difficult to reconcile. Clearly, many investors haven’t forgiven Kinder Morgan for its forced dividend cut in late 2015 as the bottom fell out of the oil market and many midstream partnerships suffered a liquidity crunch. But those days are long gone — distributions were hiked 60% last year, and management is aiming for a 25% encore both this year and next. If you prefer to look at standard earnings rather than cash flow, Kinder Morgan reported net income of $1.481 billion ($0.66 per share) in 2018, versus $27 million… Read More
Biotech Megadeal: Is The Stock A ‘Buy’?
It’s one of the few holdings in my Daily Paycheck portfolio that has lost ground in 2019… But there’s a good reason. On January 3, Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) unveiled plans to buy Celgene (Nasdaq: CELG) in a blockbuster $74 billion transaction. Acquirers typically fall when these mega-deals are announced, while shares of the target bolt higher. True to form, BMY slid 14% on the news, while CELG jumped 25%. Despite the drop, my subscribers and I are still in the black on this one. But is this a good deal? And is BMY worth owning today? First, let’s… Read More
It’s one of the few holdings in my Daily Paycheck portfolio that has lost ground in 2019… But there’s a good reason. On January 3, Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) unveiled plans to buy Celgene (Nasdaq: CELG) in a blockbuster $74 billion transaction. Acquirers typically fall when these mega-deals are announced, while shares of the target bolt higher. True to form, BMY slid 14% on the news, while CELG jumped 25%. Despite the drop, my subscribers and I are still in the black on this one. But is this a good deal? And is BMY worth owning today? First, let’s get some of the specifics out of the way. Bristol Myers is offering one share of BMY and $50 cash for each share of CELG. There is also the possibility of additional cash remuneration for Celgene investors later down the line (known as a contingent value right, or CVR) if three drugs in the firm’s pipeline eventually gain regulatory approval. Based on BMY’s share price at the time of the announcement, the bid (excluding CVRs) works out to a little more than $102 per share. That’s a healthy premium of 53% above where CELG closed the day before the announcement. … Read More
4 Stocks That Offer Amazing, Hidden ‘Perks’
Back in December, I wrote about why the major cruise lines are compelling investment candidates right now. One of our loyal readers, Jim C., wrote in to point out that anyone who owns at least 100 shares of Carnival Cruise Lines (NYSE: CCL) is entitled to a unique fringe benefit — up to $250 in complimentary onboard spending credits per cruise. This isn’t one of those promotional offers you see advertised to the general public. It’s a special perk reserved strictly for Carnival shareholders. Put another way, this $250 offer is equivalent to $2.50 per share for an investor who holds 100 shares. Read More
Back in December, I wrote about why the major cruise lines are compelling investment candidates right now. One of our loyal readers, Jim C., wrote in to point out that anyone who owns at least 100 shares of Carnival Cruise Lines (NYSE: CCL) is entitled to a unique fringe benefit — up to $250 in complimentary onboard spending credits per cruise. This isn’t one of those promotional offers you see advertised to the general public. It’s a special perk reserved strictly for Carnival shareholders. Put another way, this $250 offer is equivalent to $2.50 per share for an investor who holds 100 shares. That represents a bonus payout of 5.1% on the $48 stock — on top of the 4.3% dividend yield. Double that if you happen to book two cruises. After Jim wrote in to us, my staff and I got to talking… And after doing a little research, it turns out a whole host of companies offers little-known “perks” like this. So I thought it would be fun to take a break from our regular format and focus on four companies that offer special shareholder benefits. Of course, these enticements alone aren’t necessarily reasons to invest. But since these are all… Read More
5 Companies On Hiring Binges — Are They Worth Buying?
As investors, one of our first tasks when evaluating a prospective new portfolio candidate is to ascertain where the company’s sales are headed. There are plenty of other considerations, of course. But first, we need to make some educated assumptions about how many widgets will be going out the door. Fortunately, we have plenty of tools at our disposal. We can track inventory turnover rates and tune into conference calls discussing new product development. Sometimes analysts go a step further and conduct channel checks, a fancy way of saying they talk to the company’s suppliers to find out if they… Read More
As investors, one of our first tasks when evaluating a prospective new portfolio candidate is to ascertain where the company’s sales are headed. There are plenty of other considerations, of course. But first, we need to make some educated assumptions about how many widgets will be going out the door. Fortunately, we have plenty of tools at our disposal. We can track inventory turnover rates and tune into conference calls discussing new product development. Sometimes analysts go a step further and conduct channel checks, a fancy way of saying they talk to the company’s suppliers to find out if they are ordering more (or fewer) raw materials and components. They might also query customers to see how fast certain products are moving. By collecting information from the supply chain and distribution channels, it’s possible to gain valuable insights on volume and pricing trends. #-ad_banner-#There’s nothing wrong with any of that. But sometimes, the most obvious solution is right in front of us. When companies are struggling, they often reduce their workforce. Conversely, when business is picking up, they expand and bring in new employees to meet the increased workload. So, you can gauge demand just by examining hiring trends —… Read More
On my commute to work this morning, I passed along the same major road that took me to elementary school as a child. Back then, it cut through cotton fields that seemed to stretch to the horizon in both directions. But those… Read More
Profit From The ‘Massacre on 34th Street’…
I’ve never shopped at Macy’s (NYSE: M), nor have I followed it closely as an investment candidate. Like many, I know the iconic department store best from its prominent role in the classic Christmas film, Miracle on 34th Street. But Macy’s investors may remember January 10 as the Massacre on 34th Street. The stock fell off a cliff that day, tumbling nearly 19%, the sharpest decline in its storied history. It was a bad day for many retailers. JC Penney (NYSE: JCP) dropped 4.4%. Kohl’s tumbled more than 10% at one point. But the harshest punishment was reserved for Macy’s,… Read More
I’ve never shopped at Macy’s (NYSE: M), nor have I followed it closely as an investment candidate. Like many, I know the iconic department store best from its prominent role in the classic Christmas film, Miracle on 34th Street. But Macy’s investors may remember January 10 as the Massacre on 34th Street. The stock fell off a cliff that day, tumbling nearly 19%, the sharpest decline in its storied history. It was a bad day for many retailers. JC Penney (NYSE: JCP) dropped 4.4%. Kohl’s tumbled more than 10% at one point. But the harshest punishment was reserved for Macy’s, which lost $1.8 billion in market value in a single session. —Recommended Link— 9 Investment Revelations For 2019 From toppling the titans of Monday night entertainment to robotic heart surgery… 2019 will be a very interesting year for investors. Want to know where the smart money will be in 2019? Click here to discover the tickers now. So what terrible transgression did the company commit to bring down this wrath? Well, management said that revenues would be flat in 2018. Let’s be honest — nobody expected Macy’s to deliver sizzling growth. The prior outlook called for sales to inch… Read More