In the small town where I grew up, our veterinarian was something of a local hero.  He’d take late night calls for a sick pet or a colicked horse. And given that our nearest hospital was an hour’s drive away, he even x-rayed my broken elbow.  I even witnessed him miraculously revive my sister’s dog after it had been struck by a car.  Like I said, he’s a local hero in my small hometown.  #-ad_banner-#But I’d wager that many folks across the country think of their animal physician as a hero. Similar to how grateful we are after a doctor… Read More

In the small town where I grew up, our veterinarian was something of a local hero.  He’d take late night calls for a sick pet or a colicked horse. And given that our nearest hospital was an hour’s drive away, he even x-rayed my broken elbow.  I even witnessed him miraculously revive my sister’s dog after it had been struck by a car.  Like I said, he’s a local hero in my small hometown.  #-ad_banner-#But I’d wager that many folks across the country think of their animal physician as a hero. Similar to how grateful we are after a doctor helps us battle through an illness or mend a broken arm, we are forever thankful for the animal clinic that’s cured our sick puppy or kitten. Pets are a large part of our lives. Here in Austin, Texas, dogs are welcome in nearly every establishment. And new ones that cater to man’s best friend are opening up all the time. Take Yard Bar for example — a local business that features more than 20,000 square feet of playground for your dog. You can grab a burger and beer while your dog runs around and makes friends. The menu also features… Read More

The S&P 500 is quietly having a great year. Despite recent volatility, the index has delivered a total return of 6.6% in 2016 – putting it on pace for a 12% return this year. While that looks like great news on the surface, it’s actually creating a problem. The leading index is expensive. Its P/E ratio of 20 is the highest in five years. Take a look below. That higher valuation has a lot of investors searching for a bargain. I’ve got the answer to one of the best pharmaceutical stocks to buy.  Gilead Sciences, Inc. Read More

The S&P 500 is quietly having a great year. Despite recent volatility, the index has delivered a total return of 6.6% in 2016 – putting it on pace for a 12% return this year. While that looks like great news on the surface, it’s actually creating a problem. The leading index is expensive. Its P/E ratio of 20 is the highest in five years. Take a look below. That higher valuation has a lot of investors searching for a bargain. I’ve got the answer to one of the best pharmaceutical stocks to buy.  Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: GILD) is one of the largest and well-known pharmaceutical companies in the world. A few years back, Gilead was one of the hottest stocks in the S&P 500 and big pharma industry. Its share price was up more than 500% from 2012 to 2015. But for the last year Gilead’s share price has struggled, falling more than 25% and recently hitting a multi-year low. That decline has been driven by weakness in Gilead’s Hepatitis C drug sales. This suite of drugs is responsible for almost half company revenue. #-ad_banner-#That was great when sales were growing… Read More

I recently found myself sitting in the warm Texas sun with a few beers, some of the best barbecue in Dallas and friends visiting from all over — Australia, Zimbabwe, South Africa and a few from the States. Two topics kept coming up in our conversation: travel and the global economy. All of these friends travel the world regularly, and nearly all happen to be in finance or the travel industry, so they’ve got a bird’s-eye view of the international tourism climate. #-ad_banner-# They’re also all Millennials. We all agreed that while much of the world’s economies are… Read More

I recently found myself sitting in the warm Texas sun with a few beers, some of the best barbecue in Dallas and friends visiting from all over — Australia, Zimbabwe, South Africa and a few from the States. Two topics kept coming up in our conversation: travel and the global economy. All of these friends travel the world regularly, and nearly all happen to be in finance or the travel industry, so they’ve got a bird’s-eye view of the international tourism climate. #-ad_banner-# They’re also all Millennials. We all agreed that while much of the world’s economies are just skirting along, with central banks leading the tortoise-style growth race, people still have the means (and desire) to travel. And now, more than ever, access to travel is easier and cheaper.  Socially, the under 35 crowd is less eager to work or settle down and more compelled to explore.  To verify our thesis, we started scrolling through our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter feeds. It looked like we were on the right track. The vast majority of posts had to do with travel. Most of our peers seemed to be more concerned with showing off their selfies taken in foreign… Read More

In late 2015, before the first interest rate hike in ten years, Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) released a note to investors about financial companies that stood to benefit from a lift in interest rates. The company namechecked Ramond James (NYSE: RJF), Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE: BK), Northern Trust (Nasdaq: NTRS) and Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) in particular, as potential winners in the event that the Federal Reserve raised rates by 50 basis points… a bit of an outlier, but an interesting hypothesis nonetheless. Goldman said that these companies would benefit from a 50 basis-point hike because they… Read More

In late 2015, before the first interest rate hike in ten years, Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) released a note to investors about financial companies that stood to benefit from a lift in interest rates. The company namechecked Ramond James (NYSE: RJF), Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE: BK), Northern Trust (Nasdaq: NTRS) and Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) in particular, as potential winners in the event that the Federal Reserve raised rates by 50 basis points… a bit of an outlier, but an interesting hypothesis nonetheless. Goldman said that these companies would benefit from a 50 basis-point hike because they would “get most of the earnings upside from rates in the initial hikes rather than relying on normalized rates.” But did they? Not according to their share price movements. These four companies have been flat to down during the past nine months since the hike… Historical data doesn’t back up Goldman, either. From Fortune, on December 16, 2015, the day of the rate hike: Banks often get pointed at as potential buys when interest rates rise. And share of the biggest banks have been rising lately. That’s because they can benefit from higher interest rates as long… Read More

Today, we are in the midst of a technological renaissance. The power of a semiconductor (the heart of most of today’s technological innovation) doubles every two years, according to Moore’s Law.  #-ad_banner-#Elon Musk, the visionary behind PayPal, Tesla, Space X and more, recently remarked in an interview that the average smartphone user arguably has more power than the president of the United States had 20 years ago. If you think about it for a second, you can see how he has a point. You can answer any question, video conference or message practically anyone, anytime, anywhere — all… Read More

Today, we are in the midst of a technological renaissance. The power of a semiconductor (the heart of most of today’s technological innovation) doubles every two years, according to Moore’s Law.  #-ad_banner-#Elon Musk, the visionary behind PayPal, Tesla, Space X and more, recently remarked in an interview that the average smartphone user arguably has more power than the president of the United States had 20 years ago. If you think about it for a second, you can see how he has a point. You can answer any question, video conference or message practically anyone, anytime, anywhere — all in an instant.  Nearly every aspect of life is now digitized: from family photos and funny videos to medical records and bank statements. And while the convenience of our daily lives has grown exponentially thanks to the advances of digital technologically, so have the potential threats against individual Americans.  — Recommended Link — If You Get This Letter In The Mail, It Could Cost You $25,000 400,000 Americans just received notice that their retirement benefits could be slashed by 50%. Millions more could get their letters in the mail any day now. Click here to find out if your benefits are… Read More

If a Blue Chip stock suddenly drops 16% in one day, what do you do? Do you rush to buy? Do you step aside and wait for the dust to clear? Or do you give up on the stock altogether?  #-ad_banner-#There is no single one-size-fits-all answer. Even in our daily lives, we don’t generally buy something simply because it’s on sale. Still, many of us start our shopping trips with a sales rack and make our decisions on a case-by-case basis.  Similar logic applies to the stock market. Costs matter, but so do the reasons why a stock gets a… Read More

If a Blue Chip stock suddenly drops 16% in one day, what do you do? Do you rush to buy? Do you step aside and wait for the dust to clear? Or do you give up on the stock altogether?  #-ad_banner-#There is no single one-size-fits-all answer. Even in our daily lives, we don’t generally buy something simply because it’s on sale. Still, many of us start our shopping trips with a sales rack and make our decisions on a case-by-case basis.  Similar logic applies to the stock market. Costs matter, but so do the reasons why a stock gets a discount. In the case of one of the most recent recommendations in my premium newsletter, The Daily Paycheck, I think bargain-shopping is perfectly appropriate motivation.  —Recommended Link— Flexible Retirement Plan Lets You Schedule Payments When You Want Retirees love this program because they see in advance exactly how much income they’ll make AND exactly when they’ll make it. And it’s 37% safer than the stock market. Check it out here… When shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) plunged on August 5, there were good reasons why investors suddenly dumped the stock. On that Friday, the company announced that its… Read More

Sometimes, you’d think that the worst diseases to threaten mankind come from tropical environments. They do.  #-ad_banner-#AIDS came from sub equatorial Africa, as did the Ebola virus. Malaria, tropical. Yellow fever, for which there is no cure or vaccine, tropical. Now the Zika virus which, like Malaria and Yellow Fever, is mosquito borne. With multiple cases and one death being reported in the continental United States, it’s becoming a major public health concern, specifically due to the threat it poses to pregnant women. The babies of pregnant women infected with the virus face the risk of a birth defect known… Read More

Sometimes, you’d think that the worst diseases to threaten mankind come from tropical environments. They do.  #-ad_banner-#AIDS came from sub equatorial Africa, as did the Ebola virus. Malaria, tropical. Yellow fever, for which there is no cure or vaccine, tropical. Now the Zika virus which, like Malaria and Yellow Fever, is mosquito borne. With multiple cases and one death being reported in the continental United States, it’s becoming a major public health concern, specifically due to the threat it poses to pregnant women. The babies of pregnant women infected with the virus face the risk of a birth defect known as microcephaly or a smaller-than-normal skull which can lead to developmental disabilities, brain damage and death. There has been a speculative run up in a handful of biotech companies working on vaccines or treatment. But I’ve been buying shares of a large cap, deeply discounted global pharmaceutical giant who is currently working with the U.S. Army to develop a Zika vaccine that should be ready for human trials by October of this year. You should, too. Sanofi (NYSE: SNY), isn’t exactly a household name when compared to peers such as Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) or Merck (NYSE:… Read More

It’s been nearly three decades since the prefix “robo” entered the popular lexicon, thanks to the 1987 film RoboCop, in which a fatally wounded policeman returns to fight crime as a powerful cyborg. (My own initial viewing of the movie came courtesy of a bootlegged VHS tape in a basement in Ukraine, but that’s another story.) Since then, we’ve been exposed to robopets, robosigners, robocallers, and robochefs, among others. And now the investing community has a “robo” of its own, and it’s emerging as one of the biggest trends in the money-management business: robo-advising.  —Sponsored Link—… Read More

It’s been nearly three decades since the prefix “robo” entered the popular lexicon, thanks to the 1987 film RoboCop, in which a fatally wounded policeman returns to fight crime as a powerful cyborg. (My own initial viewing of the movie came courtesy of a bootlegged VHS tape in a basement in Ukraine, but that’s another story.) Since then, we’ve been exposed to robopets, robosigners, robocallers, and robochefs, among others. And now the investing community has a “robo” of its own, and it’s emerging as one of the biggest trends in the money-management business: robo-advising.  —Sponsored Link— The Greatest Commodity Shortage In History It’s no secret the world faces shortages in many commodities. The world’s diminishing supply of everything from cocoa to coffee… lithium to lumber… phosphate to plutonium… silver to sugar… is of great concern. But there’s an even bigger and more imminent commodity shortage at hand that no one is talking about. Details here. Mostly thanks to their rock-bottom costs — robo-advisers have progressed from relative obscurity just a few years ago to a becoming a significant force in the industry.  Management consulting firm A.T. Kearney recently predicted that robo-advisors… Read More

Does anyone ever believe anybody who says, “We’ll be fine”? My guess is that this phrase is met with an awful lot of skepticism, as it should be. It’s a bit too nonchalant, isn’t it? Especially when it comes on the back end of a $4.1 billion investment. Yes, those are the words that came out of CEO Steve Wynn’s mouth after the opening of the — what CNBC calls — lavish Wynn Palace in Macau: In every business there are good years and bad years. For our return on investment, I expect we will be fine. Wynn Resorts… Read More

Does anyone ever believe anybody who says, “We’ll be fine”? My guess is that this phrase is met with an awful lot of skepticism, as it should be. It’s a bit too nonchalant, isn’t it? Especially when it comes on the back end of a $4.1 billion investment. Yes, those are the words that came out of CEO Steve Wynn’s mouth after the opening of the — what CNBC calls — lavish Wynn Palace in Macau: In every business there are good years and bad years. For our return on investment, I expect we will be fine. Wynn Resorts (Nasdaq: WYNN) opened its $4.1 billion Wynn Palace on Monday, August 22, in the middle of a gambling slump. From CNBC: July marked Macau’s 26th consecutive monthly gaming revenue decline, with gross gaming revenues declining 4.5 percent during the month on a year-over-year basis. Daiwa estimates Macau’s GGR will fall by 10 percent in 2016 from the prior year. So that’s why Steve Wynn’s comments don’t inspire a lot of confidence from me. #-ad_banner-#But I have to say that this slump is a bit heavier than I expected it to be. I’ve spent a lot of time researching and… Read More

Seven years into a bull run and stocks are undeniably expensive. FactSet Research finds that every sector but one is trading above its five- and ten-year average price-to-earnings ratio on a forward basis.  There’s good reason for higher P/E ratios, stock prices keep rising even as the companies in the S&P 500 have reported five consecutive quarters of lower earnings. As investors rush in to send the market to new highs, their share of earnings is getting smaller. #-ad_banner-#And stocks may be set to get even more expensive throughout the rest of the year. Analysts expect earnings to decline for… Read More

Seven years into a bull run and stocks are undeniably expensive. FactSet Research finds that every sector but one is trading above its five- and ten-year average price-to-earnings ratio on a forward basis.  There’s good reason for higher P/E ratios, stock prices keep rising even as the companies in the S&P 500 have reported five consecutive quarters of lower earnings. As investors rush in to send the market to new highs, their share of earnings is getting smaller. #-ad_banner-#And stocks may be set to get even more expensive throughout the rest of the year. Analysts expect earnings to decline for a sixth straight quarter when reports start coming out in October. The question is, how much more expensive can stocks get before investor enthusiasm starts to crumble? Is there any value left in the market? How Much More Expensive Can Stocks Get? Companies in the S&P 500 are trading at a 20% premium to the average 10-year forward P/E multiple. Nine of the ten sectors in the index trade above their five- and ten-year average multiples with premiums on 10-year multiples ranging from 24.6% (consumer staples) to 7% (information technology).  Investors will need to remain exuberantly optimistic if the… Read More