Through the initial weeks of 2018, my mind keeps drifting back to the people and books that helped shape my investment philosophy. Having spent some time on Wiley Finance’s pre-publication finance book review distribution list, I own hundreds of financial books, including many I have purchased on my own.  One of my first tasks as a journalist was to interview financial book authors, hedge fund managers, and other luminaries. I was fortunate enough to meet and converse with dozens of authors, hedge fund managers, traders, investors and even a few financial rogues.  This experience was mind-blowing to say the least. Read More

Through the initial weeks of 2018, my mind keeps drifting back to the people and books that helped shape my investment philosophy. Having spent some time on Wiley Finance’s pre-publication finance book review distribution list, I own hundreds of financial books, including many I have purchased on my own.  One of my first tasks as a journalist was to interview financial book authors, hedge fund managers, and other luminaries. I was fortunate enough to meet and converse with dozens of authors, hedge fund managers, traders, investors and even a few financial rogues.  This experience was mind-blowing to say the least. Being able to ask successful investors and other market winners pointed questions regarding their experience and ideas was instrumental in shaping my entire investing belief system.  All of these one-on-one brain probes were combined with hands-on, in-the-trenches, active investing experience. I quickly discovered that 90% of all investment books are nothing more than rehashed old wives tales, page-filling anecdotes, repetitive information, and ideas that only work in hindsight.  #-ad_banner-#In other words, there is a tremendous amount of useless noise in the world of investment books and very little actionable, working information.  However, a few books have been massively influential in… Read More

Many investors are struggling to find a way to invest in the hottest investing trend of the decade: cryptocurrencies.  But the asset class is unlike any other that has ever existed. You cannot buy cryptos via a regular brokerage account, and your neighborhood bank will not accept bitcoin as a deposit (at least not yet). While I expect this to change rapidly, today’s crypto investors and speculators remain forced to use specialized crypto-exchanges to buy and sell.  While there is a new bitcoin futures market tradeable via some traditional futures brokers, the market remains very thinly traded, with high margin… Read More

Many investors are struggling to find a way to invest in the hottest investing trend of the decade: cryptocurrencies.  But the asset class is unlike any other that has ever existed. You cannot buy cryptos via a regular brokerage account, and your neighborhood bank will not accept bitcoin as a deposit (at least not yet). While I expect this to change rapidly, today’s crypto investors and speculators remain forced to use specialized crypto-exchanges to buy and sell.  While there is a new bitcoin futures market tradeable via some traditional futures brokers, the market remains very thinly traded, with high margin requirements. This, plus the relatively heavy vetting required for trading futures, makes them only suitable for very active and experienced investors. Not to mention the fact that futures are bitcoin only, eliminating access to the wide variety of other opportunities in currencies like ethereum and litecoin.  Detractors still refer to bitcoin and the others as imaginary coins despite the burgeoning rates of acceptance, not to mention their monster gains. One of the reasons for the cynicism is that cryptocurrencies trade on unregulated and often international exchanges. The fact that Tokyo-based Mt. Gox, the largest cryptocurrency exchange at the time, lost… Read More

What an incredible year! 2017 smashed records as an investor’s dream year. While overshadowed by the cryptocurrency explosion, led by bitcoin’s 1,300% plus gains, the major stock market indexes surged to all-time highs. The Nasdaq jumped 26%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 22%, and the S&P 500 soared over 17%, creating massive wealth among investors. As expected, stock market fever gripped the nation. Usually cautious institutional players threw caution to the wind, as evidenced by the volatility index plunging nearly 22%. The unwinding of derivative hedges, designed to protect against market corrections, became common as the big players… Read More

What an incredible year! 2017 smashed records as an investor’s dream year. While overshadowed by the cryptocurrency explosion, led by bitcoin’s 1,300% plus gains, the major stock market indexes surged to all-time highs. The Nasdaq jumped 26%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 22%, and the S&P 500 soared over 17%, creating massive wealth among investors. As expected, stock market fever gripped the nation. Usually cautious institutional players threw caution to the wind, as evidenced by the volatility index plunging nearly 22%. The unwinding of derivative hedges, designed to protect against market corrections, became common as the big players piled into stocks.  The bullish excitement goes far beyond the stock market.  It appears we are on the verge of a total economic paradigm shift. Cryptocurrencies, once thought of as just imaginary currency, are in the process of turning mainstream. Major institutions and retailers are in the process of implementing the many benefits of blockchain and cryptocurrency into their operations.  #-ad_banner-#The shift from centrally-backed paper currency to a decentralized, digital currency backed by the immutable proofs of blockchain will change our world in ways not even imagined.  Not to mention the thriving small business sector in the United States. Fueled… Read More

The stock market is a tricky beast. It seems to wildly reward some investors while others struggle to turn a consistent profit.  It almost appears that winning investors possess some magical or psychic ability to earn long-term wealth from the fickle stock market. Even in massive bull runs like last… Read More

Professional investors utilize a wide variety of tactics and techniques to manage their portfolios. The specific strategies and methods are often as different and unique as each investor.  However, I have discovered a strategy that is nearly universal to winning stock market investors. This approach is what allows hedge funds,… Read More

Love him or hate him, the Trump presidency has triggered a massive bull market. Investors have poured money into U.S. stocks during the first year of the Trump White House.  The latest numbers reveal a 16% asset under management (AUM) growth rate for domestic equity funds in 2017. Domestic and international equity mutual funds led the charge with nearly 22% AUM growth to a level of just over $11 trillion during Trump’s first year in office.  Trillions in cash are left on the sidelines just waiting to be deployed into equity funds in 2018. I fully anticipate the accelerated growth… Read More

Love him or hate him, the Trump presidency has triggered a massive bull market. Investors have poured money into U.S. stocks during the first year of the Trump White House.  The latest numbers reveal a 16% asset under management (AUM) growth rate for domestic equity funds in 2017. Domestic and international equity mutual funds led the charge with nearly 22% AUM growth to a level of just over $11 trillion during Trump’s first year in office.  Trillions in cash are left on the sidelines just waiting to be deployed into equity funds in 2018. I fully anticipate the accelerated growth to continue into the first half of 2018 as the bullish fever continues to attract both domestic and foreign capital.  In fact, the performance of some mutual funds reminds me of the 1980s, when mutual funds were on fire as the prime choice for equity investors. However, interest rates are dramatically lower today, making the atmosphere for long-term business growth truly ideal. #-ad_banner-#I forecast that these winners of 2017 will continue their winning ways into the first half of 2018.  3 Mutual Funds To Keep An Eye On  1. T. Rowe Price Value (TRVLX) Investors who follow the value… Read More

What separates successful investors from the vast majority who can’t even match market returns?  I’ve spent a lot of time looking into this. While successful stock market investors use a variety of tactics, follow differing market philosophies, and have varying temperaments, one thing remains the same: they stick to a defined set of rules. Having the ability to develop consistent and unwavering investing rules in the face of adversity is the key to stock market success. Most investors don’t approach the stock market in a systematic rule-based way. They make investing decisions based on emotion, fear, and greed.  This is… Read More

What separates successful investors from the vast majority who can’t even match market returns?  I’ve spent a lot of time looking into this. While successful stock market investors use a variety of tactics, follow differing market philosophies, and have varying temperaments, one thing remains the same: they stick to a defined set of rules. Having the ability to develop consistent and unwavering investing rules in the face of adversity is the key to stock market success. Most investors don’t approach the stock market in a systematic rule-based way. They make investing decisions based on emotion, fear, and greed.  This is particularly true during losing streaks. Every investor, regardless of skill level, experiences losing periods. What separates successful investors is that they stick to their rules despite strong urges to deviate and shoot for short-term gains.  #-ad_banner-#Despite differences in specific methodologies, there are overriding themes that every single winning stock market investor follows. I have distilled the basis of every winning investor’s plan into five easy to understand rules. Almost All Successful Investors Do These 5 Things 1. Diversify Diversifying across multiple assets, from stocks in different sectors to other types of securities, dramatically reduces your chances of catastrophic loss. Read More

We are in the midst of an extraordinary situation in the financial markets. Situations like this only occur a few times in every investor’s lifetime, and bring with them a tremendous opportunity for wealth creation.  Over the last 20 years, there have been three main chances for anyone to exponentially increase their wealth. The first one was the dot-com boom, followed by the aftermath of the financial crash of 2008 to 2009, and now a third is looming ahead.  The nature of special situations is that most investors doubt their validity until it is too late. Traditional investors react with… Read More

We are in the midst of an extraordinary situation in the financial markets. Situations like this only occur a few times in every investor’s lifetime, and bring with them a tremendous opportunity for wealth creation.  Over the last 20 years, there have been three main chances for anyone to exponentially increase their wealth. The first one was the dot-com boom, followed by the aftermath of the financial crash of 2008 to 2009, and now a third is looming ahead.  The nature of special situations is that most investors doubt their validity until it is too late. Traditional investors react with cynicism, mockery, and uncertainty during these exciting periods. Convinced that the move will soon fizzle out, most investors remain very fearful and miss their chance to join the ranks of the newly wealthy.  Today’s biggest opportunity for wealth creation is the cryptocurrency explosion of 2017. Called a bubble by many in the financial establishment, the speed and power of crypto’s price moves have surprised even its most ardent bulls. While most investors remain frozen on the sidelines in a combination of fear and amazement, outsiders, risk takers, and a fortunate few are quietly amassing massive wealth.  #-ad_banner-#I have personally met… Read More

Amazon’s Whole Foods acquisition has ignited a flurry of rumors regarding what company may be the next target of the king of retail. Investors looking to ride the acquisition price jump are scrambling to invest before a buyout announcement.  While no one knows for sure what company will be next in line as an Amazon target, the following five names keep coming up on the Street. They are listed in order of most likely to be acquired to least. 1. Bed Bath & Beyond (Nasdaq: BBBY) Amazon has its sights set on the home décor and furnishing sector. Bed… Read More

Amazon’s Whole Foods acquisition has ignited a flurry of rumors regarding what company may be the next target of the king of retail. Investors looking to ride the acquisition price jump are scrambling to invest before a buyout announcement.  While no one knows for sure what company will be next in line as an Amazon target, the following five names keep coming up on the Street. They are listed in order of most likely to be acquired to least. 1. Bed Bath & Beyond (Nasdaq: BBBY) Amazon has its sights set on the home décor and furnishing sector. Bed Bath & Beyond, with its 1,100 standalone stores in North America, creates the ideal brick and mortar space for the internet behemoth to showcase its furnishing and home décor products. The chain could also provide widespread geographic locations for online ordered product pickup and return.  Amazon is in the catbird seat when it comes to understanding American moving habits. Consumers tend to purchase furnishing and home décor items when moving to a new home. And with over 60 million Prime members, Amazon knows exactly when folks decide to move as they change their shipping address. This information can be used… Read More

Growing up in the decidedly hardscrabble union town of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, becoming a millionaire was nothing but fantasy. Not only was there very little information on how to reach the lofty goal, but neither myself nor any of my friends actually knew a real millionaire. It was just something we read about in magazines or saw in movies — nearly everyone had the same economic status in our blue collar neighborhood.  My uncle and grandfather were small-time real estate investors, and they gave me my first exposure to investment markets. But the real turning point for me was being invited… Read More

Growing up in the decidedly hardscrabble union town of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, becoming a millionaire was nothing but fantasy. Not only was there very little information on how to reach the lofty goal, but neither myself nor any of my friends actually knew a real millionaire. It was just something we read about in magazines or saw in movies — nearly everyone had the same economic status in our blue collar neighborhood.  My uncle and grandfather were small-time real estate investors, and they gave me my first exposure to investment markets. But the real turning point for me was being invited to a Charles Givens seminar while in high school.  Charles Givens was one of the first traveling motivational speakers focused on how the average person could build wealth. I was impressed seeing him pull up in a Rolls Royce with his staff in tow. After the seminar, I was fortunate to chat with Mr. Givens. I had met an actual millionaire!  Fast-forward several decades and being a millionaire is commonplace. Today, with nearly 11 million millionaires in the United States, some pundits claim that being a millionaire is the new middle class.  #-ad_banner-#The Wall Street rally of the past year… Read More