I have always enjoyed unearthing and profiting from unusual investments. From unique niche stocks to rare antiques, locating under-the-radar investments is part of my DNA. #-ad_banner-#Recently, I was reminded of one such unusual investment — Fifth Street Finance (Nasdaq: FSC) — by my colleague, Joseph Hogue, who covered it for our sister site, StreetAuthority.com. The stock appears to be setting up for a profitable trade and has a double-digit dividend yield to boot. This business development company (BDC) specializes in financing small and mid-sized companies. BDCs typically pays out most of their income in the form of dividends, and FSC… Read More

I have always enjoyed unearthing and profiting from unusual investments. From unique niche stocks to rare antiques, locating under-the-radar investments is part of my DNA. #-ad_banner-#Recently, I was reminded of one such unusual investment — Fifth Street Finance (Nasdaq: FSC) — by my colleague, Joseph Hogue, who covered it for our sister site, StreetAuthority.com. The stock appears to be setting up for a profitable trade and has a double-digit dividend yield to boot. This business development company (BDC) specializes in financing small and mid-sized companies. BDCs typically pays out most of their income in the form of dividends, and FSC currently pay $0.083 monthly for a 10.4% annual yield. The current environment makes commercial financing difficult for many businesses. A recent survey by the Federal Reserve showed that while demand for business loans was increasing, just 10% of banks were willing to decrease their lending criteria for small businesses, and 3% of banks increased their standards.  The stringent criteria of traditional banks and lending institutions open the door for alternative financing provided by business development companies like Fifth Street Finance.   FSC and other BDCs have struggled this year, in part because investors are worried about the effect of rising… Read More

Americans will never forget the real estate market crash. After 50-plus years of appreciating real estate assets, the bottom finally fell out, surprising nearly everyone. Foreclosures were rampant as homeowners were unable or unwilling to make payments as home prices rapidly depreciated.   #-ad_banner-#The plunging housing prices forced the entire economy into a deep recessionary period. However, no sectors were more damaged than the businesses that depend on a thriving housing market to survive. I am talking about builders, contractors, landscapers and a host of other businesses that provide services, products and create value for homeowners. These businesses… Read More

Americans will never forget the real estate market crash. After 50-plus years of appreciating real estate assets, the bottom finally fell out, surprising nearly everyone. Foreclosures were rampant as homeowners were unable or unwilling to make payments as home prices rapidly depreciated.   #-ad_banner-#The plunging housing prices forced the entire economy into a deep recessionary period. However, no sectors were more damaged than the businesses that depend on a thriving housing market to survive. I am talking about builders, contractors, landscapers and a host of other businesses that provide services, products and create value for homeowners. These businesses depend directly upon rising or at least steady home prices. One such company is the Dixie Group (NYSE: DXYN). This company specializes in manufacturing and selling rugs and carpets to residential and commercial customers. Dixie sells under the brand names Fabrica International, Masland Carpets and Dixie Home. The real estate crash decimated Dixie’s stock, sending shares of DXYN plunging below $2 during the real estate crash. Price has slowly worked its way back to as high as $18 at the start of 2014 as the real estate market improved. However, DXYN has fallen from… Read More

I have no doubt that the Dow Jones Industrial Average will break 20,000 within the next 36 months. #-ad_banner-#I don’t say this lightly. This prediction is based on solid evidence, historical precedent and personal experience. The fundamental and technical pictures of today’s stock market are screaming for prices to push above psychological resistance at 20,000. You might recall that in the days after the dot-com bust, the 10,000 level was a source of concern and trepidation among investors — but after breaking through that barrier in late 2003, the Dow pushed another 4,000 points higher over the next… Read More

I have no doubt that the Dow Jones Industrial Average will break 20,000 within the next 36 months. #-ad_banner-#I don’t say this lightly. This prediction is based on solid evidence, historical precedent and personal experience. The fundamental and technical pictures of today’s stock market are screaming for prices to push above psychological resistance at 20,000. You might recall that in the days after the dot-com bust, the 10,000 level was a source of concern and trepidation among investors — but after breaking through that barrier in late 2003, the Dow pushed another 4,000 points higher over the next few years. The second largest correction of all time (in percentage terms) started in October 2007. The Dow plunged over 50% from the highs to just below 7,000 in January 2009. In hindsight, this extreme correction had to happen. It was the result of an overheated economy fueled by lackadaisical lending policies for residential real estate. When this bubble finally burst, it took down the entire economy as investors lost faith in financial institutions and the market itself. Readers often laugh when told that things are different this time… but things really are different this time. The stock market has… Read More

Time Magazine called him the “most fabulous living U.S. stock trader.” He was also known as the “Boy Plunger” and the “Great Bear of Wall Street.” Unfairly blamed and vilified for causing the both the 1907 and 1929 stock market crashes, Jesse Livermore also was (and continues to be) held in high esteem by countless investors. #-ad_banner-#He owned incredible mansions and all the trappings of vast wealth of the early 20th century. Far from being a loner or hermit, he married several beautiful, socially connected women and traveled in the same circles as the rich and… Read More

Time Magazine called him the “most fabulous living U.S. stock trader.” He was also known as the “Boy Plunger” and the “Great Bear of Wall Street.” Unfairly blamed and vilified for causing the both the 1907 and 1929 stock market crashes, Jesse Livermore also was (and continues to be) held in high esteem by countless investors. #-ad_banner-#He owned incredible mansions and all the trappings of vast wealth of the early 20th century. Far from being a loner or hermit, he married several beautiful, socially connected women and traveled in the same circles as the rich and famous of his era. However, his life was far from being all wine and roses. This master investor swung between great personal highs and soul-crushing lows. Despite making and losing several multi-million-dollar fortunes over his lifetime (including earning a reported $100 million by shorting the market meltdown of 1929), his lifelong battle with depression ended in 1940 with his suicide at a New York hotel. Fortunately, he left behind many investing rules and stock-picking techniques that still make perfect sense despite the radical market changes that have occurred since he plied his trade. Furthermore, during his life, Livermore emphasized that… Read More

I talk to a variety of investors on a daily basis — and most everyone is stuck in a rut. #-ad_banner-#Successful or not, they invest the same way over and over again. Most don’t look beyond what they are already comfortable with, no matter what. The ability to think outside the box is often what differentiates outstanding investors. Venturing beyond your comfort zone into different strategies and types of investments can make the difference between another average year and your best year ever. This is particularly true when it comes to looking for dividend yield. The majority of… Read More

I talk to a variety of investors on a daily basis — and most everyone is stuck in a rut. #-ad_banner-#Successful or not, they invest the same way over and over again. Most don’t look beyond what they are already comfortable with, no matter what. The ability to think outside the box is often what differentiates outstanding investors. Venturing beyond your comfort zone into different strategies and types of investments can make the difference between another average year and your best year ever. This is particularly true when it comes to looking for dividend yield. The majority of income investors are focused only on U.S. stocks — which means they’re missing out on the massive opportunities available beyond America’s borders. In a recent study, mutual fund research firm Lipper found that U.S. stock income funds have $359 billion in assets — with just $13 billion allocated to international stock income funds.  Perhaps even more interesting, of the $1 trillion in dividends paid worldwide in 2013, U.S. companies accounted for 37%. This means that nearly two-thirds of the world’s dividend payouts — 63% — comes from international stocks.  In other words, most American stock investors are missing out… Read More

Is it possible to invest successfully with a spiritual perspective? Can one be super successful in the financial markets while maintaining a sense of compassionate purpose?​ #-ad_banner-#Believe it or not, there are individuals who have successfully combined the two seemingly incompatible qualities. The two largest hedge fund managers… Read More

In America, television is an institution — but at my house, neither of my teenage sons have much interest in it. #-ad_banner-#I’ve told my sons about how, when I was young, nearly everyone spent a good deal of their free time watching TV despite the small number of channels available. At my house, we have a “smart” TV with hundreds of channels — but my sons say they find TV boring, as do all their friends.  On occasion, they’ll watch a sporting event or another program, but overall there is zero interest in the electronic box that captured my generation’s… Read More

In America, television is an institution — but at my house, neither of my teenage sons have much interest in it. #-ad_banner-#I’ve told my sons about how, when I was young, nearly everyone spent a good deal of their free time watching TV despite the small number of channels available. At my house, we have a “smart” TV with hundreds of channels — but my sons say they find TV boring, as do all their friends.  On occasion, they’ll watch a sporting event or another program, but overall there is zero interest in the electronic box that captured my generation’s imagination. The scripted, non-interactive nature of television holds little attraction for today’s youth, who have grown up with the Internet and various forms of digital entertainment. Because I’m always thinking about how to profit from new trends, I wondered whether my sons’ opinion was signaling the death of television. What my research found has led me to firmly believe that TV viewership is on an irreversible downward slide. While the collapse of this cultural institution will be slow, I have identified a side play to this decline that I think will continue to suffer, creating an ideal short investment. Before… Read More

“If I had a way of buying a couple hundred thousand single-family homes… I would load up on them,” Warren Buffett said in a CNBC interview in 2012, citing the historically low mortgages rates at the time. #-ad_banner-#Buffett went on to say that his Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B) simply wasn’t set up to purchase and manage what would be the world’s largest portfolio of single-family homes. However, he is cleverly doing the next best thing. Berkshire is quietly building an empire within the housing market that doesn’t actually own, manage or otherwise control single-family homes. His new business… Read More

“If I had a way of buying a couple hundred thousand single-family homes… I would load up on them,” Warren Buffett said in a CNBC interview in 2012, citing the historically low mortgages rates at the time. #-ad_banner-#Buffett went on to say that his Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B) simply wasn’t set up to purchase and manage what would be the world’s largest portfolio of single-family homes. However, he is cleverly doing the next best thing. Berkshire is quietly building an empire within the housing market that doesn’t actually own, manage or otherwise control single-family homes. His new business is a transactional business that profits from the buying and selling activities of others — namely, the residential real estate brokerage business. Berkshire is rolling across the United States snapping up and rebranding local and regional brokerages under its own name. If you haven’t seen  Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices’ maroon signs in your area, you likely will soon. Needless to say, residential real estate sales are a huge business. This industry saw its first wave of consolidation as a highly fragmented group of small local operators were acquired or displaced by larger regional firms. After a second… Read More

The vision of American energy independence has been bouncing around political and economic circles for decades. The widespread embrace of hydraulic fracturing (aka fracking) has brought this vision many steps closer to reality. #-ad_banner-#About five years ago, I worked with a niche hedge fund on developing alternative long-term investment ideas. One of the ideas we looked at was the massive supplies of natural gas that fracking was beginning to produce. We projected that an overabundance of natural gas would keep prices low for some time. This prediction held true until a spike during this year’s first… Read More

The vision of American energy independence has been bouncing around political and economic circles for decades. The widespread embrace of hydraulic fracturing (aka fracking) has brought this vision many steps closer to reality. #-ad_banner-#About five years ago, I worked with a niche hedge fund on developing alternative long-term investment ideas. One of the ideas we looked at was the massive supplies of natural gas that fracking was beginning to produce. We projected that an overabundance of natural gas would keep prices low for some time. This prediction held true until a spike during this year’s first quarter, but long-term projections for the next two decades call for an average price of $4 to $5 per million BTUs — which would make U.S. natural gas the cheapest in the world. Huge profits could be made by selling this resource to regions around the world that need the fuel — but the problem lies in exporting it in a cost-effective way. If U.S. producers can solve this problem, America could become energy-independent and an exporter rather than an importer of energy. Part of the technical solution to this problem requires immense investments in infrastructure, representing one potentially lucrative… Read More

“Are you going to retire after you sell your company?” I once asked the chief financial officer of a company about to be sold for a huge sum. #-ad_banner-#”Are you kidding me?” he replied. “Why would I retire? I’m just getting started.” This surprised me at the time — but over the next few years, I realized that many people who have the drive and acumen to build vast fortunes aren’t even motivated by wealth. Yet it seems that monetary rewards are a result of their actions nonetheless. This realization made it clear to me that the key to investing… Read More

“Are you going to retire after you sell your company?” I once asked the chief financial officer of a company about to be sold for a huge sum. #-ad_banner-#”Are you kidding me?” he replied. “Why would I retire? I’m just getting started.” This surprised me at the time — but over the next few years, I realized that many people who have the drive and acumen to build vast fortunes aren’t even motivated by wealth. Yet it seems that monetary rewards are a result of their actions nonetheless. This realization made it clear to me that the key to investing success was to learn from and try to follow the examples of the wealthiest businesspeople and investors. Most of the self-made millionaires I know made their fortunes through real estate investments, and many of my small-business friends use real estate to supplement their income. This piqued my interest in real estate investment and led me to start a successful part-time marketing business. Through my hands-on experience, I’ve noticed a distinct shift in residential real estate trends. From around 1980 to 2007, homes kept getting larger and larger,  culminating in so-called McMansions — huge new homes on tiny lots squeezed up… Read More