One of the best income strategies in the world involves a “glitch” in the financial markets. It allows individual investors to generate “Instant Income” from the best companies in the world. The best part, more than 80% of the time, in my experience, investors don’t have to buy a single share of stock. I’ve been using this strategy to deliver winning income trades for readers during the past few months. So far, the results have been great — my strategy has… Read More

One of the best income strategies in the world involves a “glitch” in the financial markets. It allows individual investors to generate “Instant Income” from the best companies in the world. The best part, more than 80% of the time, in my experience, investors don’t have to buy a single share of stock. I’ve been using this strategy to deliver winning income trades for readers during the past few months. So far, the results have been great — my strategy has allowed Income Trader subscribers to enjoy thousands of dollars in “Instant Income” since I first launched my service in Februrary. But you don’t have to take my word for it, here’s what one subscriber had to say: “Great advice. Very clear to understand. [Income Trader] is a must for anyone interested in making money. No fluff, no hype. Just $$$$. I demo traded a few months before going live and was amazed at the results. I’ve been subscribing to newlsetters for years and this by far is the best one.” Using my strategy, subscribers… Read More

There is a lot of discussion lately that we are reaching the peak of a dreaded “triple top.” Here are just a couple of the many warnings from market experts… #-ad_banner-#– If the S&P 500 and other major U.S. indexes are turned back at today’s critical, even historic, juncture, we could see a significant upcoming decline in the U.S. stock market as history repeats and also rhymes. – MarketWatch, “Is this the biggest triple top ever?” — A third top… Read More

There is a lot of discussion lately that we are reaching the peak of a dreaded “triple top.” Here are just a couple of the many warnings from market experts… #-ad_banner-#– If the S&P 500 and other major U.S. indexes are turned back at today’s critical, even historic, juncture, we could see a significant upcoming decline in the U.S. stock market as history repeats and also rhymes. – MarketWatch, “Is this the biggest triple top ever?” — A third top has now formed, and a 60% stock market drop is inevitable – and it could strike at any moment. – MoneyNews, “Market Collapse Predicted By Scientist” That’s just a sampling of the reports that are being released almost every day. In 2000 and 2007, the S&P 500 peaked near current levels. The market then plummeted, causing long and agonizing bear markets. These crashes eliminated trillions of dollars in wealth and eroded investor confidence. J.P. Morgan Asset Management recently published this chart highlighting… Read More

A big part of my job as managing editor of StreetAuthority involves talking with our premium newsletter experts to get a sense of what they like in the market, where they think it’s headed and how they plan to help their followers profit. That means I get paid to hear from some of the top investing minds in the country on a regular basis. What could be better? I want to share some of that… Read More

A big part of my job as managing editor of StreetAuthority involves talking with our premium newsletter experts to get a sense of what they like in the market, where they think it’s headed and how they plan to help their followers profit. That means I get paid to hear from some of the top investing minds in the country on a regular basis. What could be better? I want to share some of that wisdom. I’m featuring insights and top picks from each of our experts over the next couple of weeks as a way of saying thanks for being a StreetAuthority.com reader. Today’s pick comes courtesy of Amber Hestla.             Amber Hestla   As a former U.S. military intelligence… Read More

The changes at Groupon (Nasdaq: GRPN) appear to be paying off. The departure of founder and CEO Andrew Mason in February marked an emotional low point. The stock has doubled since then, and it is now up nearly… Read More

About a year ago, I set out to find a winning income strategy… A strategy that can generate “Instant Income” in any market environment.  And now seems to be a good time for income investors to start considering it.  Why? Because rising interest rates may hurt some dividend-paying stocks in the months ahead. As Bespoke Investment Group co-founder Paul Hickey… Read More

About a year ago, I set out to find a winning income strategy… A strategy that can generate “Instant Income” in any market environment.  And now seems to be a good time for income investors to start considering it.  Why? Because rising interest rates may hurt some dividend-paying stocks in the months ahead. As Bespoke Investment Group co-founder Paul Hickey put it this week: “It doesn’t take much of a move in interest rates … to make a lot of stock dividend yields quickly look considerably less attractive.”   #-ad_banner-#And as dividend stocks become less attractive, your risk of losing money by holding the wrong ones increases. Sure enough, as USA Today pointed out, high-yielding utilities — an income investor favorite — have lost around 10% since Bernanke’s May 21 announcement that… Read More

With the S&P 500 posting new highs, it’s become difficult to find stocks with decent yields as well as ones that aren’t priced for perfection. Until I found this solution… Stocks are on fire. With nearly three-quarters of the S&P 500 stocks posting new highs in the past few months, it’s become increasingly difficult to find stocks with decent yields as well as ones that aren’t priced for perfection. The solution?  By using a conservative strategy that involves selling put options contracts, you can in effect get paid to buy stocks at a… Read More

With the S&P 500 posting new highs, it’s become difficult to find stocks with decent yields as well as ones that aren’t priced for perfection. Until I found this solution… Stocks are on fire. With nearly three-quarters of the S&P 500 stocks posting new highs in the past few months, it’s become increasingly difficult to find stocks with decent yields as well as ones that aren’t priced for perfection. The solution?  By using a conservative strategy that involves selling put options contracts, you can in effect get paid to buy stocks at a discount. #-ad_banner-#Here’s how it works. Let’s say you want to add computer maker Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) to your portfolio. However, the price you’re willing to pay is closer to the recent low of $23.43 a share than to the current $25.73 level. You could place a limit buy order for HPQ at $23 a share. Maybe Hewlett-Packard will drop to your buy price sometime soon, or maybe it won’t. Maybe you’ll find some place to park your cash in the meantime where it will return more than… Read More

Successful investors buy low and sell high. It sounds simple, but neither task is easy to do in real time. I am constantly singing the praises of put selling as a strategy for generating consistent income, but it can also be used to buy stocks when prices fall to bargain levels. Buying low can be especially difficult when the market is selling off. Many investors decide to wait for even lower prices. The result is that… Read More

Successful investors buy low and sell high. It sounds simple, but neither task is easy to do in real time. I am constantly singing the praises of put selling as a strategy for generating consistent income, but it can also be used to buy stocks when prices fall to bargain levels. Buying low can be especially difficult when the market is selling off. Many investors decide to wait for even lower prices. The result is that many end up holding cash much longer than they expected.  But I know an easier way to buy low in a market that’s pulling back. By selling puts when prices are high, investors are forced to buy only when a stock is cheap — without letting emotion get in the way of a good investment decision.  Most investors have a list of great stocks they would like to own at the right price. Their… Read More

Fixed-income investments seem like a losing bet for now. Interest rates are low resulting in a small amount of income in dollar terms for even the largest investors. A $1 million investment in 30-year Treasury bonds offers about $36,000 a year in income. This might seem low, but Treasury bonds really have not been a… Read More

Fixed-income investments seem like a losing bet for now. Interest rates are low resulting in a small amount of income in dollar terms for even the largest investors. A $1 million investment in 30-year Treasury bonds offers about $36,000 a year in income. This might seem low, but Treasury bonds really have not been a source of high income since about 1986, when rates fell below 9%. Gains for fixed-income investors have come from rising bond prices that accompanied falling rates. When rates rise, prices will fall, and those losses could destroy several years’ of worth of low-income payments. While even investors with million-dollar accounts are earning low income, most investors are earning even less income in dollar terms. To increase income, many investors have accepted more risk. An… Read More

Fixed-income investments seem like a losing bet for now. Interest rates are low resulting in a small amount of income in dollar terms for even the largest investors. A $1 million investment in 30-year Treasury bonds offers about $36,000 a year in income. This might seem low, but Treasury bonds really have not been a… Read More

Fixed-income investments seem like a losing bet for now. Interest rates are low resulting in a small amount of income in dollar terms for even the largest investors. A $1 million investment in 30-year Treasury bonds offers about $36,000 a year in income. This might seem low, but Treasury bonds really have not been a source of high income since about 1986, when rates fell below 9%. Gains for fixed-income investors have come from rising bond prices that accompanied falling rates. When rates rise, prices will fall, and those losses could destroy several years’ of worth of low-income payments. While even investors with million-dollar accounts are earning low income, most investors are earning even less income in dollar terms. To increase income, many investors have accepted more risk. An… Read More

One of Johnny Carson’s best characters was Carnac the Magnificent. Clad in a cape and giant feathered turban, the comic great pretended to prophesy the answers to secret questions.  The act went something like this: Carson holds an envelope to his head, pretends to concentrate, and then sternly says, “Sis boom bah.” Then he opens the envelope and reads the question that prompted the answer: “What sound does a sheep make when it explodes?” If only it were this hilarious and easy to predict the future values of investments.  That’s why people use options. Predict the future price of a… Read More

One of Johnny Carson’s best characters was Carnac the Magnificent. Clad in a cape and giant feathered turban, the comic great pretended to prophesy the answers to secret questions.  The act went something like this: Carson holds an envelope to his head, pretends to concentrate, and then sternly says, “Sis boom bah.” Then he opens the envelope and reads the question that prompted the answer: “What sound does a sheep make when it explodes?” If only it were this hilarious and easy to predict the future values of investments.  That’s why people use options. Predict the future price of a security accurately, and you’ll make far more money than just holding the security. Blow it, and you can at least limit your downside.  It sounds easy, but before you put on your own feathered turban, here are a few things you need to know about options. 1. What Are Call Options And Puts — And How Do They Work? The most popular forms of options are puts and calls. A call gives the holder the right, but not the obligation, to purchase 100 shares of a particular underlying security (usually a stock) from the seller at a specified strike… Read More