There’s an academic paper that’s getting a lot of attention. Why? Because the implications are serious -- for interest rates and the very definition of value investing. Read More

There’s an academic paper that’s getting a lot of attention. Why? Because the implications are serious -- for interest rates and the very definition of value investing. Read More

I wouldn’t blame you if you weren’t aware of what I’m about to tell you. After all, the headlines lately have been dominated by trade wars, domestic politics, and then the holiday season, of course.  But there is a political upheaval taking place thousands of miles from us that is going practically ignored. (And no, I’m not talking about Hong Kong.) And while what’s happening is being ignored by the mainstream media, it could prove to be a once-in-a-generation opportunity for savvy investors. I’m talking about the political crisis in Argentina. I’ll touch on this more in a moment. But… Read More

I wouldn’t blame you if you weren’t aware of what I’m about to tell you. After all, the headlines lately have been dominated by trade wars, domestic politics, and then the holiday season, of course.  But there is a political upheaval taking place thousands of miles from us that is going practically ignored. (And no, I’m not talking about Hong Kong.) And while what’s happening is being ignored by the mainstream media, it could prove to be a once-in-a-generation opportunity for savvy investors. I’m talking about the political crisis in Argentina. I’ll touch on this more in a moment. But first, a little background…  What Business (And Life) Is Like In Argentina For those who aren’t aware, I have some personal experience with Argentina. In fact, I lived there for a time many years ago. And while my Spanish isn’t what it used to be, I still remember the stories I was told by the locals. And I experienced a few things myself, of course…  ​In the brief time I lived in Argentina, I had friends and colleagues who were raped, beaten, bitten, robbed, and held at gunpoint. I once witnessed a police car speed down our neighborhood street and literally… Read More

They say that the market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent. That quip is widely attributed to famous economist John Maynard Keynes, who was nearly wiped out in the 1920s with leveraged foreign currency trades that went the wrong way. A great many investors have learned this lesson the hard way, ruined not necessarily because they were wrong and the market was right, but because they ran out of cash before the market corrected its mistake. This often happens within asset bubbles. Prices may be overinflated, yet they continue to rise. Those gains lure more buyers, who… Read More

They say that the market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent. That quip is widely attributed to famous economist John Maynard Keynes, who was nearly wiped out in the 1920s with leveraged foreign currency trades that went the wrong way. A great many investors have learned this lesson the hard way, ruined not necessarily because they were wrong and the market was right, but because they ran out of cash before the market corrected its mistake. This often happens within asset bubbles. Prices may be overinflated, yet they continue to rise. Those gains lure more buyers, who propel prices even higher, which leads to even more rampant speculation. Much like a pyramid scheme, successful investing in such conditions only requires one fool to find an even bigger fool willing to pay a higher price. That’s the nature of momentum investing — it works until it stops working. And then it gets ugly. But going against the herd with short sales carries its own risks. As Mr. Keynes found out, you can run out of money long before the bubble finally pops. But it’s the other half of the equation that I want to talk about today.  When… Read More

As he stepped through my front door, he blew a big puff of smoke and tucked the vape pen into his pocket. I kept quiet, as I was in the middle of working through some remaining remodeling logistics. But I wasn’t happy about what I just saw. I later told my contractor that I did not want to see another person vape or smoke in my house. Plain and simple, vaping irritates me in much the same way that many people are irritated by the smoking of cigarettes. Maybe it has something to do with seeing kids in the parking… Read More

As he stepped through my front door, he blew a big puff of smoke and tucked the vape pen into his pocket. I kept quiet, as I was in the middle of working through some remaining remodeling logistics. But I wasn’t happy about what I just saw. I later told my contractor that I did not want to see another person vape or smoke in my house. Plain and simple, vaping irritates me in much the same way that many people are irritated by the smoking of cigarettes. Maybe it has something to do with seeing kids in the parking lot hitting their vape pen and blowing a big plume in the air, thinking it makes them look cool. In case you’re not familiar, vaping is the use of a small battery-powered device called an electronic pen, or e-cigarette. This e-cigarette heats nicotine (extracted from tobacco), flavorings and other chemicals to create a water vapor that is inhaled. The tobacco itself doesn’t ignite as it does with a traditional cigarette. So, there’s no smoke, just water vapor containing nicotine. Vape pens are also used to smoke marijuana. E-cigarettes have taken the smoking world by storm, ballooning into a multibillion-dollar industry.  —Recommended… Read More

Nobody said this would be easy… Today’s market environment brings a lot of uncertainty. The volatility we’ve seen recently brought on by the continuous trade war with China to a possible looming recession as indicated by the yield curve has investors on edge. Even the highly anticipated interest rate cut July 31 by the Federal Reserve was met with skepticism as the market sold off on the news. To top it off, the market — and many stocks — are sporting lofty valuations, which makes it difficult to find that “great company trading at a discount” we’re all looking for,… Read More

Nobody said this would be easy… Today’s market environment brings a lot of uncertainty. The volatility we’ve seen recently brought on by the continuous trade war with China to a possible looming recession as indicated by the yield curve has investors on edge. Even the highly anticipated interest rate cut July 31 by the Federal Reserve was met with skepticism as the market sold off on the news. To top it off, the market — and many stocks — are sporting lofty valuations, which makes it difficult to find that “great company trading at a discount” we’re all looking for, much less even a fair price. —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. But you must act right now… because the next wave of checks will be sent out in just a few days. ​​Click here for the… Read More

Investors are faced with a mountain of information, strategies and tactics to choose from. Value, growth, momentum, options, futures… which strategy is right for you? While every strategy has their pros and cons, one of the better-performing strategies has come from focusing on growth stocks. Growth stocks have certainly done well over the last decade, outpacing the popular value approach over that time period. But that doesn’t mean we should ignore value.  In fact, long-term studies still suggest that following a disciplined contrarian, value-driven strategy is the best path to success. Value investors argue that while the market may be… Read More

Investors are faced with a mountain of information, strategies and tactics to choose from. Value, growth, momentum, options, futures… which strategy is right for you? While every strategy has their pros and cons, one of the better-performing strategies has come from focusing on growth stocks. Growth stocks have certainly done well over the last decade, outpacing the popular value approach over that time period. But that doesn’t mean we should ignore value.  In fact, long-term studies still suggest that following a disciplined contrarian, value-driven strategy is the best path to success. Value investors argue that while the market may be efficient in the long term, emotions often dominate in the short run. These emotions can overtake rational analysis, pushing a stock’s price above its intrinsic value during periods of euphoria and below its true worth when reacting to bad news. Value screens, such as searching for stocks with a low price-earnings ratio, typically look for low prices relative to actual measures of company performance or assets. The price-earnings ratio, or multiple, is computed by dividing a stock’s price by its most recent 12 months’ earnings per share. The price-earnings ratio is followed closely because it embodies the market’s expectations of… Read More

Most of the stocks we consider for our portfolio over at Fast-Track Millionaire are so-called “growth” stocks. This should not surprise anybody: we look for the leaders of tomorrow, for future Googles or Amazons, before they become household names. The best of these fledgling companies usually have one thing in common: outsized growth. #-ad_banner-#Investors are willing to pay up for growth prospects that are out of the ordinary — hence the high valuations, whether measured in price-to-earnings (P/E), price-to-sales (P/S) or price-to-book (P/B).  In fact, some of the stocks we have in the portfolio don’t even have a meaningful P/E… Read More

Most of the stocks we consider for our portfolio over at Fast-Track Millionaire are so-called “growth” stocks. This should not surprise anybody: we look for the leaders of tomorrow, for future Googles or Amazons, before they become household names. The best of these fledgling companies usually have one thing in common: outsized growth. #-ad_banner-#Investors are willing to pay up for growth prospects that are out of the ordinary — hence the high valuations, whether measured in price-to-earnings (P/E), price-to-sales (P/S) or price-to-book (P/B).  In fact, some of the stocks we have in the portfolio don’t even have a meaningful P/E ratio. That’s because they don’t have much in terms of earnings — or have not earned any money at all yet. They eventually will — if everything goes right — but not this or next year.  In such cases, P/B ratio can be used. The company’s book, or accounting, value is measured as the difference between the company’s assets and its liabilities. It’s a meaningful number — and so is the price-to-book valuation. For instance, when price-to-book is less than one, the company trades at less than the total value of its assets. Value investors love finding such companies.  Let’s… Read More

Is it time to sell our original “No-Brainer” investment? Has our longest tenured holding over at Top Stock Advisor run its course?  Let’s dive into the semiconductor behemoth that is Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) to see what actions, if any, we should take. First, recall that this industry giant produced $70.8 billion in revenue for 2018, a 13% increase over the prior year. More than $21 billion of total sales was profit, giving the company a net profit margin of roughly 30%. The company generated more than $14 billion in free cash flow last year and has more than $12 billion… Read More

Is it time to sell our original “No-Brainer” investment? Has our longest tenured holding over at Top Stock Advisor run its course?  Let’s dive into the semiconductor behemoth that is Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) to see what actions, if any, we should take. First, recall that this industry giant produced $70.8 billion in revenue for 2018, a 13% increase over the prior year. More than $21 billion of total sales was profit, giving the company a net profit margin of roughly 30%. The company generated more than $14 billion in free cash flow last year and has more than $12 billion in cash on hand.  There’s little doubt that the company is stable financially. But before we get into the nitty-gritty of the current and future prospects of the company. I think it would be wise to recall why we invested in this stock (way back in September 2011) in the first place… —Recommended Link— [Urgent] Special report reveals once in a lifetime profit opportunity If you’re happy with the tiny gains that most stocks are throwing off right now… then THIS isn’t for you. In this eye-opening report, our ex-Economics professor has uncovered four securities that could throw off… Read More

Many people are still terrified of the housing market. And rightfully so… many folks lost their jobs, their homes, their savings, and had to postpone retirement when the sub-prime mortgage industry dragged stocks and the economy down the drain a little more than a decade ago. Tell many of those same people that the median home sales price in the United States is more than $317,000, which dwarfs the peak in 2007 of $257,000, and they might think another downturn is imminent. Any data that portray weakness in the housing market sends shockwaves through the industry. We only need to… Read More

Many people are still terrified of the housing market. And rightfully so… many folks lost their jobs, their homes, their savings, and had to postpone retirement when the sub-prime mortgage industry dragged stocks and the economy down the drain a little more than a decade ago. Tell many of those same people that the median home sales price in the United States is more than $317,000, which dwarfs the peak in 2007 of $257,000, and they might think another downturn is imminent. Any data that portray weakness in the housing market sends shockwaves through the industry. We only need to look at 2018 as an example of the tenderness that investors have toward the real estate market. After coming off a stellar 2017, investors became worried that housing was heating up too fast, and home-sales were slowing on speculation that rising interest rates would keep buyers at bay.  The SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (NYSE: XHB) collapsed 25% last year on those concerns. Even today, demand for housing outstrips supply. At the current pace of home sales, it would take only 3.9 months to exhaust the available inventory. This is below the long-term average of six months — an indication of… Read More

One of my kids recently stumbled across my brokerage statement and asked if the balance was enough for me to retire.  I assured him it wasn’t. But it was a good learning opportunity, so I further explained that bank accounts, 401(K)s and other assets were only half the picture. You need to deduct car loans, credit card debt and other liabilities to determine net worth.  Of course, the same is true for any business.  —Recommended Link— Ignoring This Event Could Cost You A 6-Figure Payday. In 2014, three different pot stocks exploded by 1,180%… 1,957%… and 2,067%… jamming wads… Read More

One of my kids recently stumbled across my brokerage statement and asked if the balance was enough for me to retire.  I assured him it wasn’t. But it was a good learning opportunity, so I further explained that bank accounts, 401(K)s and other assets were only half the picture. You need to deduct car loans, credit card debt and other liabilities to determine net worth.  Of course, the same is true for any business.  —Recommended Link— Ignoring This Event Could Cost You A 6-Figure Payday. In 2014, three different pot stocks exploded by 1,180%… 1,957%… and 2,067%… jamming wads of cash into the accounts of smart investors. Vocal opponents of marijuana legalization were suddenly quiet… “Something” had changed their minds. Now, two senators are working to get it legalized federally. That could easily hand you a 2,146% return in the next twelve months. Inside this free report, I reveal three stocks you need to own. Plus. the event that could push them into the stratosphere. Click here for the full details. Take Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO). The beverage giant currently owns $8.8 billion in property and equipment, $7.2 billion in cash and equivalents and $3.2 billion in inventory, among other assets. Read More