Brad Briggs

Brad Briggs is the Editorial Director of StreetAuthority. A veteran of the financial publishing industry, Brad manages the team of writers and editors responsible for our premium newsletters, free newsletters, and website. He formerly co-wrote our Maximum Profit premium newsletter and manages our premium subscribers-only newsletter, StreetAuthority Insider. 

Brad bought his first stock in high school and has been hooked ever since. After graduating early from college, success in the market enabled him to pay off his student loans and buy his first house. And although he has experience in everything from momentum investing to options, one of his proudest investing accomplishments has been buying and holding on to Apple since 2014.

Brad believes that successful investing doesn't have to be complicated and that anyone can achieve financial independence regardless of background. As Editorial Director, Brad makes it his mission to demystify the world of investing for a wide audience. His writing has been featured in outlets like Yahoo Finance, Nasdaq.com, and MSN Money, among others. 

An experienced powerlifter, Brad spends his time renovating and working on his property in Texas and tending to cattle when not following the market.

Analyst Articles

There’s a dangerous idea in the world of finance that’s been floating around for years. The man who coined this idea won a Nobel Prize for his work, but even he has stated that there are “threats” to his theory. #-ad_banner-#Today, I’m going to tell you about one of those “threats,” and why it’s time to put this dangerous idea to bed for good. Because if you buy into it, you could miss out on some of the greatest opportunities the market has to offer. To frame our discussion, I’d like… Read More

There’s a dangerous idea in the world of finance that’s been floating around for years. The man who coined this idea won a Nobel Prize for his work, but even he has stated that there are “threats” to his theory. #-ad_banner-#Today, I’m going to tell you about one of those “threats,” and why it’s time to put this dangerous idea to bed for good. Because if you buy into it, you could miss out on some of the greatest opportunities the market has to offer. To frame our discussion, I’d like you to consider one thing: When an investor buys shares of a stock hoping that its value will rise, the person is often betting against the market — that other investors are wrong (about the stock’s value) and that his valuation is correct. It’s with this idea that theory called the “efficient market hypothesis” becomes important. The man behind the theory — economist Dr. Eugene Fama — is hailed as one of the fathers of modern finance. At its most basic, his hypothesis says that because the public has access to… Read More

The table is set. After hitting all-time highs this month, markets are poised for a pullback. I’ll have more on that in a moment. First, it’s important to remember that pullbacks, corrections — and yes, even recessions — are normal occurrences for healthy, functioning markets. Legendary investor Warren Buffett reminded us of this when, during the darkest days of the financial crisis in 2008, he wrote in an op-ed for the New York Times:         “Over the long term, the stock market… Read More

The table is set. After hitting all-time highs this month, markets are poised for a pullback. I’ll have more on that in a moment. First, it’s important to remember that pullbacks, corrections — and yes, even recessions — are normal occurrences for healthy, functioning markets. Legendary investor Warren Buffett reminded us of this when, during the darkest days of the financial crisis in 2008, he wrote in an op-ed for the New York Times:         “Over the long term, the stock market news will be good,” he said. “In the 20th century, the United States endured two world wars and other traumatic and expensive military conflicts; the Depression; a dozen or so recessions and financial panics; oil shocks; a flu epidemic; and the resignation of a disgraced president. Yet the Dow rose from 66 to 11,497.” That long-term bullish sentiment is still as valid today as it was then. Few investors, if any, have made money betting against the United States over the long arc of time. But that doesn’t mean we can’t protect ourselves — or… Read More

A couple months ago, I had an interesting phone call with Frank Bermea, publisher of our sister company, Profitable Trading. I could tell he was excited. “We’re changing the way we do business,” he said. I perked up and asked him to tell me more. It only took 90 seconds for me to realize that what he was talking about was an absolute game-changer. But I was afraid it would never happen. #-ad_banner-#Yet after weeks of planning — and countless late nights at the office — his vision has finally become a reality. If… Read More

A couple months ago, I had an interesting phone call with Frank Bermea, publisher of our sister company, Profitable Trading. I could tell he was excited. “We’re changing the way we do business,” he said. I perked up and asked him to tell me more. It only took 90 seconds for me to realize that what he was talking about was an absolute game-changer. But I was afraid it would never happen. #-ad_banner-#Yet after weeks of planning — and countless late nights at the office — his vision has finally become a reality. If you’ll excuse me for departing from the usual fare we cover here in StreetAuthority Daily, I’d like to tell you all about it today. I guarantee it’ll be worth it. First, let me start off by telling you a little bit about how our business works. If you’re getting this newsletter, then it means you’re a subscriber to one of StreetAuthority’s free newsletters. We offer a range of newsletters with different investment strategies in mind (income, buy-and-hold, momentum, options, etc.) written by some of the top experts in their field. When… Read More

There’s a saying on Wall Street: If you get into a cab and the driver begins talking to you about the market or a supposedly “hot” stock tip, it’s time to sell. #-ad_banner-#I remember during the dot-com bubble, when it seemed like everyone and their dog was playing the market, nearly every dinner conversation with acquaintances and friends would inevitably turn from sports or politics to the market. We all know how that turned out… Recently, my colleague Jared Levy had a similar experience. I’ll let him share the story with… Read More

There’s a saying on Wall Street: If you get into a cab and the driver begins talking to you about the market or a supposedly “hot” stock tip, it’s time to sell. #-ad_banner-#I remember during the dot-com bubble, when it seemed like everyone and their dog was playing the market, nearly every dinner conversation with acquaintances and friends would inevitably turn from sports or politics to the market. We all know how that turned out… Recently, my colleague Jared Levy had a similar experience. I’ll let him share the story with you…       After a nice dinner last week, a friend and I were enjoying a couple mezcal margaritas when a 21-year-old bar back overheard our market-centric conversation and excitedly told us that he had just bought his first shares of stock after hearing how strong the market was from a friend. Nothing against the 21-year-old bar backs of the world, but after five minutes of chatting, I realized he was mostly clueless as to how stocks derive their value. Worse still was his extraordinary confidence. But his behavior is quite common among… Read More

We got some major news in the metals space last recently. Mining giant Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO) just gave the OK for one of the first large-scale mining investments in years: a $5.3 billion development project on its existing Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia. According to The Wall Street Journal, Rio’s project will take current open-pit operations at the mine (which primarily produces copper) underground. This should more than double production to 500,000 metric tons a year by 2027.       Oyu Tolgoi’s underground ore offers a good grade. And… Read More

We got some major news in the metals space last recently. Mining giant Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO) just gave the OK for one of the first large-scale mining investments in years: a $5.3 billion development project on its existing Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia. According to The Wall Street Journal, Rio’s project will take current open-pit operations at the mine (which primarily produces copper) underground. This should more than double production to 500,000 metric tons a year by 2027.       Oyu Tolgoi’s underground ore offers a good grade. And the mine’s costs are already phenomenally low: Turquoise Hill reported first-quarter costs of 2 cents per pound of copper, helped by the gold produced as a byproduct at the mine. Including maintenance investment, the all-in costs were $0.62 per pound, compared with a spot price of about $2.20. #-ad_banner-#This is significant. After taking it on the chin after the commodity “super cycle” ended, many major mining firms ceased investing in big new projects. Now that prices for everything from copper to iron ore are picking up, it could be a sign that miners feel confident the rally will… Read More

Earlier this month, I shared a question we recently received from a long-time subscriber to The Daily Paycheck — our premium newsletter dedicated to picking the best high-yield opportunities on the market. I also shared Chief Investment Strategist Amy Calistri’s response, along with my comments. Today, I’d like to follow that up with another Q&A. This one pertains to a common strategy investors who are seeking more income use, called “dividend capture.” #-ad_banner-#​ Q: I like quarterly dividends, but I don’t want to wait three months for the checks. Why couldn’t I move from the… Read More

Earlier this month, I shared a question we recently received from a long-time subscriber to The Daily Paycheck — our premium newsletter dedicated to picking the best high-yield opportunities on the market. I also shared Chief Investment Strategist Amy Calistri’s response, along with my comments. Today, I’d like to follow that up with another Q&A. This one pertains to a common strategy investors who are seeking more income use, called “dividend capture.” #-ad_banner-#​ Q: I like quarterly dividends, but I don’t want to wait three months for the checks. Why couldn’t I move from the monthly dividends the day before a quarterly goes ex-dividend and then go back to a monthly for three more months and do it again? What kind of problems would I have other than price adjustments? — Larry N., Indianapolis, Indiana Amy: Fabulous question Larry. The strategy you are describing is called “dividend capture.” Investors move their money from one dividend paying security to another — in an attempt to capture as many dividends as they can. Basically, they swoop in before the ex-dividend date. They… Read More

They’re some of the most talked-about and well-known stocks on the market. But I wouldn’t touch them with a 10-foot pole. That’s because according to the most successful indicator in StreetAuthority’s history, they’re all rated as a “sell.” #-ad_banner-#We spend a lot of time here at StreetAuthority talking about which stocks to buy — and rightfully so. We also dedicate these pages to our thoughts on what it takes to be successful at investing. And knowing what to stay away from is oftentimes just as important as knowing what to buy. So today,… Read More

They’re some of the most talked-about and well-known stocks on the market. But I wouldn’t touch them with a 10-foot pole. That’s because according to the most successful indicator in StreetAuthority’s history, they’re all rated as a “sell.” #-ad_banner-#We spend a lot of time here at StreetAuthority talking about which stocks to buy — and rightfully so. We also dedicate these pages to our thoughts on what it takes to be successful at investing. And knowing what to stay away from is oftentimes just as important as knowing what to buy. So today, I’m going to share with you a list of 10 stocks you should absolutely stay away from. And if you own any of them, consider getting out as soon as possible. According to our indicators, tough times are likely ahead for any investor that owns these stocks. Sure, they won’t underperform forever. Things can change over time. But as of right now, all signs point to more pain ahead. Before I show the list to you, you should know that these numbers come straight from my colleague Jimmy Butts, who runs StreetAuthority’s Maximum Profit system. Jimmy, along… Read More

The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded above 18,000 last week. The S&P 500, meanwhile, is up more than 200% since the financial crisis. Both broad indices are trading above their historical valuations. Many experts believe the upside in markets is limited at this point. So what’s left to buy that you can reasonably call “cheap”? Where is there still room to run? #-ad_banner-#There’s a simple answer: commodities and natural resource stocks. In yesterday’s StreetAuthority article, we featured the first part of an exclusive interview between myself and commodities expert Dave Forest,… Read More

The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded above 18,000 last week. The S&P 500, meanwhile, is up more than 200% since the financial crisis. Both broad indices are trading above their historical valuations. Many experts believe the upside in markets is limited at this point. So what’s left to buy that you can reasonably call “cheap”? Where is there still room to run? #-ad_banner-#There’s a simple answer: commodities and natural resource stocks. In yesterday’s StreetAuthority article, we featured the first part of an exclusive interview between myself and commodities expert Dave Forest, who serves as Chief Investment Strategist of Scarcity & Real Wealth, StreetAuthority’s premium advisory devoted to the best resource investments the world has to offer. In the first part of our interview, Dave talked about his background in geology, shared some anecdotes on his world travels, and talked about why now may be the time for investors to dip their toe into commodities. Here is the second part of our interview, which goes into more detail with his thoughts on the commodities markets… Brad: After a down year in 2015, the… Read More

      There was the time in the jungle of Colombia where I turned around from examining a rock outcrop only to find a squadron of men in camouflage emerged from the trees, pointing machine guns at my team. There were two possibilities. They could have been army soldiers on regular patrol, checking to see what we were doing in this out-of-the-way area, in which case, things would be fine. But in this particular spot it was equally possible these were rebel troops of the FARC or ELN guerrilla movements — both of… Read More

      There was the time in the jungle of Colombia where I turned around from examining a rock outcrop only to find a squadron of men in camouflage emerged from the trees, pointing machine guns at my team. There were two possibilities. They could have been army soldiers on regular patrol, checking to see what we were doing in this out-of-the-way area, in which case, things would be fine. But in this particular spot it was equally possible these were rebel troops of the FARC or ELN guerrilla movements — both of which are known for kidnapping and holding prisoners in the jungles for months, years, or even decades. As they waved for us to come forward, we had a tense moment of decision — go peacefully into what might be a trap or make a run for it up the hillside? The terrain was against us, so we chose to approach. Hearts in our mouths, we neared the group of men — who then identified themselves as army. It was one of the greatest rushes of relief I’ve ever felt. They gave us a lecture… Read More

If you’re anything like the average StreetAuthority reader, you worked hard, put food on the table, own a home, put kids through college — and still managed to put something away for your golden years. And now most of you are probably hoping that between your savings, investments and either a pension or Social Security, you’ll have what you need. #-ad_banner-#But you’re just not sure. It doesn’t take a PhD in economics to understand why you should be concerned, either. Central banks around the world are devaluing their currencies and pushing… Read More

If you’re anything like the average StreetAuthority reader, you worked hard, put food on the table, own a home, put kids through college — and still managed to put something away for your golden years. And now most of you are probably hoping that between your savings, investments and either a pension or Social Security, you’ll have what you need. #-ad_banner-#But you’re just not sure. It doesn’t take a PhD in economics to understand why you should be concerned, either. Central banks around the world are devaluing their currencies and pushing interest rates through the floor. As I write this, the 10-year German “bund” (or bond) yields just 0.13%. Shorter durations (ranging from one year to nine) actually have negative yields. And that’s from one of the stronger members of the Eurozone. On the other hand, a 10-year Swiss bond will get you just -0.37%. And Japan, meanwhile, offers a 10-year at about -0.1%. The list goes on and on…   Global Bond Yields At A Glance Bond Name and Duration Yield U.S. 1-Year Treasury 0.51% U.S. 10-Year Treasury 1.75% German 1-Year -0.51% German 10-Year 0.13% Japan… Read More