As we all know, stock valuations reflect the prevailing economic weather and corporate-profit forecast. Sunny conditions give investors confidence to buy, which generally means expensive stock prices. Right now, the S&P 500 is trading at 17.0 times expected earnings, almost 20% above the 10-year average of 14.3. Some highfliers have ascended to nosebleed levels, notably names like Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) with a price-earnings (P/E) ratio of just above 245. —Sponsored Link— In A Historic 200-76 Vote… New Law *C-45* Moves Forward Investors, you MUST know about this new law. It will create “legal monopolies” in one… Read More

As we all know, stock valuations reflect the prevailing economic weather and corporate-profit forecast. Sunny conditions give investors confidence to buy, which generally means expensive stock prices. Right now, the S&P 500 is trading at 17.0 times expected earnings, almost 20% above the 10-year average of 14.3. Some highfliers have ascended to nosebleed levels, notably names like Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) with a price-earnings (P/E) ratio of just above 245. —Sponsored Link— In A Historic 200-76 Vote… New Law *C-45* Moves Forward Investors, you MUST know about this new law. It will create “legal monopolies” in one sector of the stock market. A small investment today can be worth millions tomorrow. Click here to see more.   While everybody loves rising markets, it’s hard to buy low and sell high when everything is already high. #-ad_banner-#Fortunately, the reverse is also true. Logic dictates that your investment dollars stretch further (you can buy more shares) when economic rain clouds start to appear. This is usually when most investors duck indoors. But Warren Buffett has some great advice for these situations: Be greedy when others are fearful. Just a few months ago, the market was… Read More

Trump’s tariff talk has thrown stocks into disarray. No one knows just how this new twist will play out in the economy. It appears to be a safe bet that whatever happens, it will not be bullish for stocks. #-ad_banner-#Long-term investors have a choice to ride out the volatility or take action to attempt to increase profits during the uncertainty. Should you decide to actively invest during these volatile times, here are three ways to make the difficult times work for you. 1. Get Long The VIX Hedge funds and professional traders were thrown for a loop in February… Read More

Trump’s tariff talk has thrown stocks into disarray. No one knows just how this new twist will play out in the economy. It appears to be a safe bet that whatever happens, it will not be bullish for stocks. #-ad_banner-#Long-term investors have a choice to ride out the volatility or take action to attempt to increase profits during the uncertainty. Should you decide to actively invest during these volatile times, here are three ways to make the difficult times work for you. 1. Get Long The VIX Hedge funds and professional traders were thrown for a loop in February as the time-proven short VIX trade blew up. Over the last several years, a significant source of alpha for derivative traders and longer-term investors was short volatility. As long as volatility declined or stayed stable, short biased option strategies and just outright short trades created profits month after month. Then Trump’s tariff talk combined with the regime of climbing rates sent the market to the loony bin. The VIX spiked and stocks plunged, calling the bluff of everyone but the most seasoned investors. While no one knows what the future holds, my bet is the VIX is going to climb… Read More

Is it time to start taking a defensive posture in your long-term stock portfolio? My answer is an unequivocal “YES!” Here’s why: The stock market has plunged and soared — both by 660-plus-points — with a major dip in February and a surge earlier this week. Battered by devastating news of trade wars and tariffs while buoyed by massive tax reform and surging economy, the market has gone psychotic. #-ad_banner-#The volatility may be signaling the end of the bull market. Despite the mind-blowing longer-term uptrend, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down around 2% in 2018. … Read More

Is it time to start taking a defensive posture in your long-term stock portfolio? My answer is an unequivocal “YES!” Here’s why: The stock market has plunged and soared — both by 660-plus-points — with a major dip in February and a surge earlier this week. Battered by devastating news of trade wars and tariffs while buoyed by massive tax reform and surging economy, the market has gone psychotic. #-ad_banner-#The volatility may be signaling the end of the bull market. Despite the mind-blowing longer-term uptrend, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down around 2% in 2018.  Dow theorists are exclaiming that the bearish Dow Theory signals are incredibly close to firing. Also, extreme volatility, which the market has seen this year, often signals a major market turn. Remember, it takes a 20% decline from the highs in the major averages to define a bear market. Smart investors start to prepare long before a bear market is officially declared. Indeed, the bull market can easily resume pushing stocks to all-time highs once again. In fact, I firmly believe we have until at least September until the bear market starts in earnest. However, starting to move your capital… Read More

Every week, I compile a table of all U.S.-listed stocks with dividend yields of 10% or higher. Some of the names come and go, while others reappear time and again. I’ve become familiar with many of them, and can safely say that the list is dominated by tiny companies with market caps between $50 million and $300 million. —Sponsored Link— FREE Blockchain Penny Stock Briefing One tiny blockchain stock could secure Canada’s $8.7 BILLION cannabis market. BUY shares today for less than $1.00! Shares could rocket 818% higher when news gets out. Read More

Every week, I compile a table of all U.S.-listed stocks with dividend yields of 10% or higher. Some of the names come and go, while others reappear time and again. I’ve become familiar with many of them, and can safely say that the list is dominated by tiny companies with market caps between $50 million and $300 million. —Sponsored Link— FREE Blockchain Penny Stock Briefing One tiny blockchain stock could secure Canada’s $8.7 BILLION cannabis market. BUY shares today for less than $1.00! Shares could rocket 818% higher when news gets out. Click here ASAP. Some of these are even smaller nano-caps, such as medical device maker Digirad (Nasdaq: DRAD), whose entire market value is just $36 million. #-ad_banner-#There is absolutely nothing wrong with small businesses. I own shares of quite a few in my personal account. But for the most part, I use them to fill out the growth sleeve of my portfolio and don’t consider them stable income producers. That doesn’t necessarily mean that larger businesses are inherently safer. But when market values are measured by the billion rather than the million, you will usually be dealing with established… Read More

In a recent Bank of America Merrill Lynch (NYSE: BAC) research report highlighted on Business Insider, analysts suggest that, despite the perceived current expensiveness of the stock market, opportunities to buy stocks at decent prices are as ripe as they have been since 2009 when markets began recovering from the financial crisis. They refer to a concept known as “dispersion.” #-ad_banner-#Put simply, “dispersion” reflects how widely market returns are distributed between  “cheap” and “expensive” stocks. Or, paraphrasing half of the oldest of Wall Street maxims, investors have plenty of opportunities to buy low. With this in mind,… Read More

In a recent Bank of America Merrill Lynch (NYSE: BAC) research report highlighted on Business Insider, analysts suggest that, despite the perceived current expensiveness of the stock market, opportunities to buy stocks at decent prices are as ripe as they have been since 2009 when markets began recovering from the financial crisis. They refer to a concept known as “dispersion.” #-ad_banner-#Put simply, “dispersion” reflects how widely market returns are distributed between  “cheap” and “expensive” stocks. Or, paraphrasing half of the oldest of Wall Street maxims, investors have plenty of opportunities to buy low. With this in mind, I screened for stocks with forward price to earnings ratios (P/E) lower than that of the S&P 500 (currently 17), a dividend yield one hundred basis points or higher than that of the index (1.83%), and operating in a growth industry or market. Here are three solid names I found. AT&T (NYSE: T) AT&T has made the jump from phone company to an integrated media company, and is determined to not only provide a means for content delivery but to own the content as well. In the media business, at the end of the day, it’s ALWAYS about content. Read More

President Trump’s tariffs have thrown the stock market into disarray. Hailed as a stock market miracle with his pro-business, anti-tax stance, investors have started to see another side of our controversial president. For nearly two years, the stock market has only moved higher — punctuated with only minor periods of flat price action. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had an explosive run, rocketing over 10,000 points from February 2016 to January 2018. #-ad_banner-#Volatility cratered during this same time frame with the VIX, or fear index, falling into the single digits as bullish fever swept the nation. Sophisticated market players were… Read More

President Trump’s tariffs have thrown the stock market into disarray. Hailed as a stock market miracle with his pro-business, anti-tax stance, investors have started to see another side of our controversial president. For nearly two years, the stock market has only moved higher — punctuated with only minor periods of flat price action. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had an explosive run, rocketing over 10,000 points from February 2016 to January 2018. #-ad_banner-#Volatility cratered during this same time frame with the VIX, or fear index, falling into the single digits as bullish fever swept the nation. Sophisticated market players were cranking in money on the famous “Short VIX” derivative trades, while everyday investors cranked in substantial profits on the long side. In my 25-plus years of investing, I have never witnessed a market quite like this one! Not far into 2018, the party came to a screeching halt when Trump started getting serious about his campaign promise. Since when does a president keeping the very promises that got him elected result in a sharp stock market selloff? It does when the pre-election pledge has to do with tariffs and trade wars. Trump’s strong “America First” rhetoric scored him massive points… Read More

Well folks, it looks like we may have a good old fashioned trade war on our hands. And the markets are reacting accordingly. Earlier this month, the Trump administrated announced an executive order that placed tariffs on aluminum and steel. The exact details have yet to be hammered out, but what we do know is that the tariffs will be 10% and 25%, respectively. —Sponsored Link— Sell These Stocks Right Now These stocks may look solid — but there is trouble lurking underneath the surface. Just-released free list from Zacks Investment Research reveals the names… Read More

Well folks, it looks like we may have a good old fashioned trade war on our hands. And the markets are reacting accordingly. Earlier this month, the Trump administrated announced an executive order that placed tariffs on aluminum and steel. The exact details have yet to be hammered out, but what we do know is that the tariffs will be 10% and 25%, respectively. —Sponsored Link— Sell These Stocks Right Now These stocks may look solid — but there is trouble lurking underneath the surface. Just-released free list from Zacks Investment Research reveals the names of 220 stocks rated “Strong Sells” to sell immediately. Protect your portfolio — get your FREE copy here. Here’s what StreetAuthority’s Nathan Slaughter had to say about the situation: As the world’s largest steel importer, the U.S. sanctions will be directed at many suppliers, particularly South Korea, China, Brazil and Japan. This bold chess gambit could help struggling homegrown steel manufacturers, whose business fortunes have faded amid a flood of cheap imports. However, it also invites the possibility of retaliation with products that we ship abroad, such as soybeans and liquified natural gas. #-ad_banner-#Tensions are already… Read More

After nearly a decade of stock market gains, good deals in stocks with upside catalysts can be hard to find. Even some of the questionable investments seem to have been bid up in the search for higher returns. Fortunately, there is one segment of the market that never disappoints in offering a buffet of potentially great investments. #-ad_banner-#When everyone seems to love the market, I look at the stocks nobody likes. Beyond finding stocks at bargain-basement prices, taking the contrarian side on a stock with heavy short interest offers the added benefit of protection when market sentiment turns sour. If… Read More

After nearly a decade of stock market gains, good deals in stocks with upside catalysts can be hard to find. Even some of the questionable investments seem to have been bid up in the search for higher returns. Fortunately, there is one segment of the market that never disappoints in offering a buffet of potentially great investments. #-ad_banner-#When everyone seems to love the market, I look at the stocks nobody likes. Beyond finding stocks at bargain-basement prices, taking the contrarian side on a stock with heavy short interest offers the added benefit of protection when market sentiment turns sour. If nobody liked these stocks in the first place, plunging market sentiment isn’t going to affect them as much and share prices tend to hold up in a market rout. That makes investing in heavily-shorted companies the perfect theme for a late-stage bull market. Some People Just Hate For No Reason, Even In Stocks Short selling has exploded over recent decades. Short sales now account for 32% of total trading volume, compared with only 9% in 1984. There are several reasons investors might sell a stock short, some of which don’t even signal a negative outlook on the shares. Investors… Read More