Is it time to sell our original “No-Brainer” investment? Has our longest tenured holding over at Top Stock Advisor run its course?  Let’s dive into the semiconductor behemoth that is Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) to see what actions, if any, we should take. First, recall that this industry giant produced $70.8 billion in revenue for 2018, a 13% increase over the prior year. More than $21 billion of total sales was profit, giving the company a net profit margin of roughly 30%. The company generated more than $14 billion in free cash flow last year and has more than $12 billion… Read More

Is it time to sell our original “No-Brainer” investment? Has our longest tenured holding over at Top Stock Advisor run its course?  Let’s dive into the semiconductor behemoth that is Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) to see what actions, if any, we should take. First, recall that this industry giant produced $70.8 billion in revenue for 2018, a 13% increase over the prior year. More than $21 billion of total sales was profit, giving the company a net profit margin of roughly 30%. The company generated more than $14 billion in free cash flow last year and has more than $12 billion in cash on hand.  There’s little doubt that the company is stable financially. But before we get into the nitty-gritty of the current and future prospects of the company. I think it would be wise to recall why we invested in this stock (way back in September 2011) in the first place… —Recommended Link— [Urgent] Special report reveals once in a lifetime profit opportunity If you’re happy with the tiny gains that most stocks are throwing off right now… then THIS isn’t for you. In this eye-opening report, our ex-Economics professor has uncovered four securities that could throw off… Read More

Last month, I brought you up to speed on Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY) (a High-Yield Investing portfolio holding) and its bold plan to steal Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC) away from Chevron (NYSE: CVX).  Chevron had already signed a deal to take over Anadarko’s prized Permian Basin assets for $33 billion in cash and stock, but Occidental swooped in with a superior $38 billion bid, thanks largely to timely financial assistance from Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.  As usual, Buffett drove a hard bargain and exacted great terms for his shareholders. In exchange for $10 billion in upfront financing, Berkshire will… Read More

Last month, I brought you up to speed on Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY) (a High-Yield Investing portfolio holding) and its bold plan to steal Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC) away from Chevron (NYSE: CVX).  Chevron had already signed a deal to take over Anadarko’s prized Permian Basin assets for $33 billion in cash and stock, but Occidental swooped in with a superior $38 billion bid, thanks largely to timely financial assistance from Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.  As usual, Buffett drove a hard bargain and exacted great terms for his shareholders. In exchange for $10 billion in upfront financing, Berkshire will walk away with a stack of preferred shares with an 8% coupon that will generate $800 million in annual dividends.  Behind The Numbers The total price tag for this purchase comes to $57 billion including the assumption of debt. Before the bidding war started, APC had an enterprise value of around $40 billion. While it’s common for acquirers to offer a nice premium, some of Occidental’s largest shareholders feel that the $76 per share bid was far too generous. Asset manager T. Rowe Price and shareholder activist Carl Icahn have both publicly expressed their disapproval.  Occidental is paying an Enterprise… Read More

Recently, I realized almost everyone I talk to expects tomorrow to look a lot like today.  As an investor, that’s a sign I like to see.  People generally seem to believe their jobs are safe. They’re planning for major purchases because they assume prices will hold relatively steady. In other words, consumer confidence is high and steady. This anecdotal evidence is also confirmed in the economic data I review.  —Recommended Link— 4 Ground-Breaking Predictions That Could Add Triple-Digit Gains To Your Portfolio I was SHOCKED when I read the report… If these numbers are right, then these 4 stocks… Read More

Recently, I realized almost everyone I talk to expects tomorrow to look a lot like today.  As an investor, that’s a sign I like to see.  People generally seem to believe their jobs are safe. They’re planning for major purchases because they assume prices will hold relatively steady. In other words, consumer confidence is high and steady. This anecdotal evidence is also confirmed in the economic data I review.  —Recommended Link— 4 Ground-Breaking Predictions That Could Add Triple-Digit Gains To Your Portfolio I was SHOCKED when I read the report… If these numbers are right, then these 4 stocks could see triple-digit gains in the next few months alone — one of them is even primed to shell out 1,000% gains the second its new product is released. But no one is talking about them… yet. ​ Discover the 4 stock predictions that could change the way you invest for life. Consumer and investor expectations are important to investors. It might be easiest to see in the stock market. If investors expect stock prices to go up, they buy and hold stocks. When they expect a significant decline, they sell stocks and hold cash. These actions explain long-term bull… Read More

Who doesn’t love receiving a dividend check in the mail? In fact, many investors clamor over stocks that pay consistent and growing dividends. There’s even a select group of stocks within the S&P 500 that have grown their dividends consistently, every year, for at least 25 consecutive years. These elite stocks are known as “Dividend Aristocrats,” and you can invest in them through the ProShares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF (AMEX: NOBL).  Of course, over at my Maximum Profit premium newsletter service, we aren’t necessarily concerned with dividends as much as short-term capital growth, but there’s little doubt that dividends,… Read More

Who doesn’t love receiving a dividend check in the mail? In fact, many investors clamor over stocks that pay consistent and growing dividends. There’s even a select group of stocks within the S&P 500 that have grown their dividends consistently, every year, for at least 25 consecutive years. These elite stocks are known as “Dividend Aristocrats,” and you can invest in them through the ProShares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF (AMEX: NOBL).  Of course, over at my Maximum Profit premium newsletter service, we aren’t necessarily concerned with dividends as much as short-term capital growth, but there’s little doubt that dividends, especially when reinvested, contribute a massive amount to total return over a long timeframe. To give you an idea, going back to 1960, 82% of the total return of the S&P 500 Index can be attributed to reinvested dividends.  What if we could have the best of both worlds? What if we could identify the top-paying dividend stocks that are also likely to see strengthening share prices? Sounds like a worthy mission for my next stock screen.  Let’s Hunt For Dividend Stocks With Momentum There are currently 57 companies that meet the criteria of a Dividend Aristocrat (companies that… Read More

About three months ago, I talked about small-cap stocks enjoying strong price momentum. On its own, positive momentum — which is basically the speed at which a stock’s price accelerates — does not mean that a stock will do well going forward. That said, it’s still a powerful force from which traders often benefit. That’s because stocks trade on expectations. And because the future obviously can’t be predicted consistently and with certainty, markets often continue to move in the same direction as in the recent past. After all, as in life, it’s much easier to follow than to resist. Moreover,… Read More

About three months ago, I talked about small-cap stocks enjoying strong price momentum. On its own, positive momentum — which is basically the speed at which a stock’s price accelerates — does not mean that a stock will do well going forward. That said, it’s still a powerful force from which traders often benefit. That’s because stocks trade on expectations. And because the future obviously can’t be predicted consistently and with certainty, markets often continue to move in the same direction as in the recent past. After all, as in life, it’s much easier to follow than to resist. Moreover, because stock prices generally reflect all the available information at any given time, it’s natural for investors to assume that a particular stock — if it’s on the way up — will continue the streak of good news that propelled it higher to begin with. —Recommended Link— Market volatility exposes $37,000.00 opportunity The Wall Street Volatility we’ve been experiencing has just exposed a legal market hack that generates $37,000 in additional income with zero added risk.  ​Discover exactly what you need to do to cash in now. Let’s Screen For Small-Cap Momentum Stocks This is what I’m… Read More

Babies cry sometimes.  Now, I know all of you already know that. As a parent to young boys, I certainly know it.  But when babies cry, there’s something we often don’t know: why.  When a baby cries, parents and caregivers scramble to find what’s wrong. Crying could mean the baby is hungry, or the baby needs to be changed, or it could mean almost anything. Crying just means that attention is needed, and the truth is that we might never know the real cause.  For now, the stock market is like a crying baby. It needs attention, but we don’t… Read More

Babies cry sometimes.  Now, I know all of you already know that. As a parent to young boys, I certainly know it.  But when babies cry, there’s something we often don’t know: why.  When a baby cries, parents and caregivers scramble to find what’s wrong. Crying could mean the baby is hungry, or the baby needs to be changed, or it could mean almost anything. Crying just means that attention is needed, and the truth is that we might never know the real cause.  For now, the stock market is like a crying baby. It needs attention, but we don’t really know why the baby is crying.  A week ago, the market was bearish. The S&P 500 Index was below its 200-day moving average (MA). News was alarming, with the threat of tariffs hanging over the market. Yet traders ignored all of that and the stock market climbed higher, closing up for the last four days of the week.  But we still don’t know why the market is crying. All we know for now is that the market needs attention. Just like with the baby, we need to try to understand what’s needed.  The simplest approach might be to wait… Read More