Recently, I published a piece on an otherwise healthy market sector that has been left out of the current rally for no particular reason. In identifying this, I stumbled onto a great brand name that’s trading at a bargain. In addition to owning a high-quality stock, investors can also participate in the extended U.S. economic recovery as well as the larger theme of the growing middle class in emerging markets. The company is literally a household name: major appliance manufacturer Whirlpool (NYSE: WHR). While the stock is poised to, hopefully, finish the year in the black, the price… Read More

Recently, I published a piece on an otherwise healthy market sector that has been left out of the current rally for no particular reason. In identifying this, I stumbled onto a great brand name that’s trading at a bargain. In addition to owning a high-quality stock, investors can also participate in the extended U.S. economic recovery as well as the larger theme of the growing middle class in emerging markets. The company is literally a household name: major appliance manufacturer Whirlpool (NYSE: WHR). While the stock is poised to, hopefully, finish the year in the black, the price action has definitely been through the spin cycle, with shares underperforming the broader market. The main culprit is back-to-back quarterly earnings per share (EPS) disappointments.  The company delivered quarterly results that missed the consensus estimates by an average of 3.25% for the second and third quarters of 2017. The result was an 18.5% haircut from the stock’s 52 week high. #-ad_banner-#But despite the herd’s typical reaction, Whirlpool’s future is hardly bleak. Here’s why… It’s All About Foreign Markets Just 48% of Whirlpool’s revenue comes from the United States. This means more than half of the company’s sales come from… Read More

What makes more sense, gold or bitcoin? Just a few short years ago, this question would have elicited howls of laughter from 99% of investors.  Bitcoin adherents were ridiculed by nearly everyone for even being involved with the product. Gold bugs are still exclaiming, “How dare someone even compare a faddish digital currency, not even a decade old, to thousands of years of gold’s history?”. Even today, in the midst of what is one of the most fantastic bull runs of all time in any investment, bitcoin and the other cryptocurrencies are nowhere near mainstream acceptance. Many investors doubt bitcoin’s… Read More

What makes more sense, gold or bitcoin? Just a few short years ago, this question would have elicited howls of laughter from 99% of investors.  Bitcoin adherents were ridiculed by nearly everyone for even being involved with the product. Gold bugs are still exclaiming, “How dare someone even compare a faddish digital currency, not even a decade old, to thousands of years of gold’s history?”. Even today, in the midst of what is one of the most fantastic bull runs of all time in any investment, bitcoin and the other cryptocurrencies are nowhere near mainstream acceptance. Many investors doubt bitcoin’s worth, even wondering if it has any true value at all.  Despite the massive gains, when compared to gold, bitcoin is a mere blip on the timeline of history. But it’s this widespread doubt and fear that make bitcoin superior to gold as an investment.  #-ad_banner-#The public never gets fully involved with novel, world-changing technologies until after the first explosive move higher. Smart investors are quietly amassing bitcoin and the other blockchain-based assets during what I see as the early stage of a massive bull run.  I do not doubt that digital currencies and their blockchain backbone are the future… Read More

Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) has long been the leader in social media, dominating internet time use and an increasing share of online advertising spending. As of June 2017, the platform counts more than two billion monthly users, including a full one billion who access the site daily. Users spend an average of 35 minutes a day on the platform and access it eight times a day according to Nielsen. It’s been able to translate that social media dominance into a huge chunk of the advertising pie — and shares have soared.  Since the post-IPO low of $17.73 per share, Facebook has… Read More

Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) has long been the leader in social media, dominating internet time use and an increasing share of online advertising spending. As of June 2017, the platform counts more than two billion monthly users, including a full one billion who access the site daily. Users spend an average of 35 minutes a day on the platform and access it eight times a day according to Nielsen. It’s been able to translate that social media dominance into a huge chunk of the advertising pie — and shares have soared.  Since the post-IPO low of $17.73 per share, Facebook has jumped ten-fold, with a gain of 56% in this year alone. #-ad_banner-#But the platform has always hit one stumbling block, one weakness where it has lost visitors and limited its revenue potential. It may be about to launch a program that solves that problem, a solution that could improve the user experience, keep people on the platform longer and create another revenue stream. The program could take Facebook from social media control to overall media dominance. Facebook Looks To Become A True Media Power Time spent by users on the Facebook is actually down from… Read More

Adolescence can be rough. Everyone doesn’t get to party with the cool kids. But those who are most ignored sometimes wind up being the big winners after all. Stock markets often resemble high school in this way. Cliques of stocks are more popular than others from time to time. This is especially true during rallies. The sector beneficiaries of the current rally are the financials, energy, industrials, and materials. However, after enjoying healthy gains since the financial crisis of 2008, consumer staples stocks have turned in the second-worst performance this past year, coming in just behind utility stocks. Stocks of… Read More

Adolescence can be rough. Everyone doesn’t get to party with the cool kids. But those who are most ignored sometimes wind up being the big winners after all. Stock markets often resemble high school in this way. Cliques of stocks are more popular than others from time to time. This is especially true during rallies. The sector beneficiaries of the current rally are the financials, energy, industrials, and materials. However, after enjoying healthy gains since the financial crisis of 2008, consumer staples stocks have turned in the second-worst performance this past year, coming in just behind utility stocks. Stocks of consumer staples companies, such as food manufacturers, are often referred to as defensive stocks. If economic times are tough, staples companies should still perform well due to the necessary nature of their products. People have to eat. #-ad_banner-#However, what’s always struck me as odd is that people have to eat in good times as well as bad times. Nevertheless, consumer staples stocks are currently out of favor, creating opportunities for bargain hunters. One of my favorite stocks in the staples space is roll-up act B&G Foods (NYSE: BGS). Shares have been beaten up a bit this year. Read More

Seth Klarman is one of the best investors in the world, but he rarely gets mentioned in the media. This is most likely because he doesn’t seek publicity… He’s the rare investment manager who isn’t worried about gathering more money to manage. Many of the investment managers I talk to complain that they spend too little time managing money. They spend more time managing people who work for them and trying to get more money to manage. It’s a tough business, and increasing assets under management is the quickest way to increase revenue. —Sponsored Link— 9… Read More

Seth Klarman is one of the best investors in the world, but he rarely gets mentioned in the media. This is most likely because he doesn’t seek publicity… He’s the rare investment manager who isn’t worried about gathering more money to manage. Many of the investment managers I talk to complain that they spend too little time managing money. They spend more time managing people who work for them and trying to get more money to manage. It’s a tough business, and increasing assets under management is the quickest way to increase revenue. —Sponsored Link— 9 Rock-Solid Stocks With Up To 8 Percent Yields This is big news: If you need income, your days of settling for measly 1% or 2% yields is over. For eight long years, investors have struggled with pathetic yields from money markets, CDs and Treasuries. But you don’t have to settle anymore — and I’ll prove it by giving you the names of nine top-rated dividend-payers that pay up to 8% yields. You can get all the details on these stocks that could triple your income literally overnight, FREE! Click here for immediate access to the full list. Read More

Big money investors, like hedge fund managers and other professionals, love to buy value stocks. Following the wisdom of buying when everyone else is selling, they often make their moves when everyone else has thrown in the towel on a company.  They’re also able to successfully make these moves because of research teams and insider access that are far superior to what the everyday investor has at his or her disposal. If we want to make similar gains, then the obvious move is to follow in the footsteps of these investing giants.  While we can’t access their private and often… Read More

Big money investors, like hedge fund managers and other professionals, love to buy value stocks. Following the wisdom of buying when everyone else is selling, they often make their moves when everyone else has thrown in the towel on a company.  They’re also able to successfully make these moves because of research teams and insider access that are far superior to what the everyday investor has at his or her disposal. If we want to make similar gains, then the obvious move is to follow in the footsteps of these investing giants.  While we can’t access their private and often ultra-expensive research data, we do know what these winning investors are buying or selling thanks to SEC filing regulations. I have sifted through a multitude of big-money value stocks to present my three favorite buys right now. #-ad_banner-#1. EQT (NYSE: EQT) EQT is an integrated energy company with hefty investments from George Soros’ Soros Fund Management and JANA Partners’ Barry Rosenstein. Soros recently added $67 million of EQT shares to his portfolio, accounting for 1.5% of his total stock holdings. Rosenstein added $586 million worth of the stock, increasing his holdings to just under 10% of JANA Partners’ portfolio. Read More