Analyst Articles

Do you want to become a millionaire? That’s obviously a rhetorical question… the majority of us would love it. But what’s your plan for achieving that goal? #-ad_banner-#If your plan is to make that sort of wealth in the stock market, then what’s your strategy? Blue-chip stocks, index funds, or do you want to watch your “daily paychecks,” as my colleague Amy Calistri would say, roll in by the truck load? All of these strategies are great. There’s nothing wrong with them and they’ll probably make you money in the long run. But while investing in just steady-eddy, mature companies… Read More

Do you want to become a millionaire? That’s obviously a rhetorical question… the majority of us would love it. But what’s your plan for achieving that goal? #-ad_banner-#If your plan is to make that sort of wealth in the stock market, then what’s your strategy? Blue-chip stocks, index funds, or do you want to watch your “daily paychecks,” as my colleague Amy Calistri would say, roll in by the truck load? All of these strategies are great. There’s nothing wrong with them and they’ll probably make you money in the long run. But while investing in just steady-eddy, mature companies may keep the income flowing in, it isn’t going to make you a millionaire anytime soon. They’re not going to give you those “knocked-out-of-the-park” returns that you’ve heard about since you first learned of the stock market. No, I’m convinced that if your goal is to reach a seven-figure bank account, you need to add a “swing for the fences” element to your overall portfolio strategy… I call it the “10% solution.” The idea behind it is simple. If your goal is to become a millionaire in the market, then you need to dedicate a portion of your portfolio to… Read More

A recent move by one of the world’s largest online retailers points to an increasing war that could change the way you and I shop for just about everything. And while I think the shift will be a good thing for consumers, the looming battles in this space could create vast amounts of wealth for investors who jump in early. First, let me give you a little background… At the end of September, eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) bought Chicago-based payment processor Braintree for $800 million in cash and folded the company into its PayPal division. Braintree says it handles $12 billion… Read More

A recent move by one of the world’s largest online retailers points to an increasing war that could change the way you and I shop for just about everything. And while I think the shift will be a good thing for consumers, the looming battles in this space could create vast amounts of wealth for investors who jump in early. First, let me give you a little background… At the end of September, eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) bought Chicago-based payment processor Braintree for $800 million in cash and folded the company into its PayPal division. Braintree says it handles $12 billion in transactions a year, and works with clients like OpenTable (restaurant reservations), Uber (arranging a driver) and Rovio (creator of the inane but ubiquitous Angry Birds franchise, a popular gaming app). It also owns Venmo, which lets individuals text payments to one another. The purchase is part of a string of recent deals: eBay also recently acquired a social shopping site, the recommendation site Hutch, and Red Laser, which scans bar codes. Taken together, it appears eBay is gearing up to go mobile and vie to be the king of e-commerce, a spot now held by Amazon.com. This fits right… Read More

My job as chief investment strategist for Game-Changing Stocks requires me to look for “the next big thing.” Sometimes that means I’m looking through obscure government reports to learn about the latest technology the Pentagon is using that… Read More

The Wall Street crowd is starting to get the picture. On the cover of a recent issue of Fortune magazine: “The Death of Cash,” there was an article examining an impending transition that I’ve been talking about for some time. The magazine examined some large companies as the drivers in this new technological push, which hinges largely on the continued adoption of portable devices, like cellphones, that can be used much like a credit or… Read More

The Wall Street crowd is starting to get the picture. On the cover of a recent issue of Fortune magazine: “The Death of Cash,” there was an article examining an impending transition that I’ve been talking about for some time. The magazine examined some large companies as the drivers in this new technological push, which hinges largely on the continued adoption of portable devices, like cellphones, that can be used much like a credit or debit card. Its winners are Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) because of its Google Wallet initiative, which I was among the first to cover; eBay’s (Nasdaq: EBAY) PayPal; Visa (NYSE: V); MasterCard (NYSE: MA); Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and Facebook (Nasdaq: FB). Those are great companies that will lead the trend. But while everyone else is looking at the obvious “winners,” it will take some time for this macro trend to move the needle for companies as big as these. Instead, I’ve got my eye on a small company that’s at the forefront of this game-changing trend. I first told… Read More

It really shouldn’t matter a lick what price a stock is trading at. There is no fundamental difference between a stock with 1 million shares trading at $50 and a stock with 10 million shares trading at $5. Then again, there are people whose interest is piqued when they see a low price tag. It’s one of the reasons why many companies will split their stock. The lower price tag will sometimes entice more buying.#-ad_banner-# When you consider the rule… Read More

It really shouldn’t matter a lick what price a stock is trading at. There is no fundamental difference between a stock with 1 million shares trading at $50 and a stock with 10 million shares trading at $5. Then again, there are people whose interest is piqued when they see a low price tag. It’s one of the reasons why many companies will split their stock. The lower price tag will sometimes entice more buying.#-ad_banner-# When you consider the rule of large numbers, the phenomenon of lower-priced stocks rising faster than their higher-priced brethren does make a little sense. After all, for a stock trading at $5 to gain 50%, it has to only rise $2.50. But for a $100 stock, the same move takes $50. Investors aren’t always rational, and that $2.50 move seems a lot smaller than a $50 rise, even though they are the exact same in percentage terms. With this… Read More