The S&P 500 rose to a price of 18 times expected earnings last week, a valuation not reached in 15 years.  That’s 13% higher than its long-term average multiple and even that take into account earnings jumping by almost three times the average rate over the last four years. With valuations reminiscent of the dot.com bubble and a market that shrugs off geo-political tensions, a tightening monetary policy, and fiscal stimulus uncertainty, the value investor in me is more than a little worried. How much has to fall in place for the market to head higher? As a value investor,… Read More

The S&P 500 rose to a price of 18 times expected earnings last week, a valuation not reached in 15 years.  That’s 13% higher than its long-term average multiple and even that take into account earnings jumping by almost three times the average rate over the last four years. With valuations reminiscent of the dot.com bubble and a market that shrugs off geo-political tensions, a tightening monetary policy, and fiscal stimulus uncertainty, the value investor in me is more than a little worried. How much has to fall in place for the market to head higher? As a value investor, I hate paying high premiums on stocks… especially if the earnings on which those premiums are based don’t have a chance at materializing. #-ad_banner-#Fortunately, there are still pockets of value left in this market — if you know where to look. This Bull Is Getting Expensive Earnings in the first two quarters gave the bulls something to be excited about, with corporate profits jumping by double digits. Full-year earnings are expected higher by 9.5% this year. But is the market getting ahead of itself? Analysts expect earnings to grow by 11.5% next year and 9.8% in 2019. That contrasts… Read More

There’s no doubt about it, the market is downright bullish. In fact, the S&P 500 hasn’t experienced a decline of at least 3% since Nov. 7, 2016. As I’m writing this, that amounts to an incredible 240 trading days without so much as a pause for this bull market.  The current record is 241 trading days, which happened between Jan. 26, 1995 and Jan. 9, 1996. That means that, assuming the market doesn’t fall by more than 3% in the next few days, the S&P 500 will set yet another new record this week. —Sponsored Link—… Read More

There’s no doubt about it, the market is downright bullish. In fact, the S&P 500 hasn’t experienced a decline of at least 3% since Nov. 7, 2016. As I’m writing this, that amounts to an incredible 240 trading days without so much as a pause for this bull market.  The current record is 241 trading days, which happened between Jan. 26, 1995 and Jan. 9, 1996. That means that, assuming the market doesn’t fall by more than 3% in the next few days, the S&P 500 will set yet another new record this week. —Sponsored Link— This 90 Percent-Plus Strategy Accounted For A 700 Percent ROI This proprietary sequence of steps has helped produce a 98% win rate over eight years! Use the same steps to implement this strategy whether the market is going up, down or sideways. Tap here to learn this 98% win rate. To put this into perspective, there’s only been five other times where the market even went 100-plus days without a pullback of at least 3%. No. 3 on the list is 162 days. Does this mean we’re due for a market… Read More

A funny thing happens when the market keeps surging higher: It gets harder and harder to pick good stocks.  Outsiders think the higher the market goes, the easier it is to make money. The truth is, the higher the market goes the harder it is to find growth stocks as an individual investor. Everything looks overvalued, and it’s hard to determine what stocks will continue higher and which ones will fizzle out.  From experience, I have found that looking at historic and/or projected earnings per share (EPS) growth is one way to discover growth stocks that will continue to gain… Read More

A funny thing happens when the market keeps surging higher: It gets harder and harder to pick good stocks.  Outsiders think the higher the market goes, the easier it is to make money. The truth is, the higher the market goes the harder it is to find growth stocks as an individual investor. Everything looks overvalued, and it’s hard to determine what stocks will continue higher and which ones will fizzle out.  From experience, I have found that looking at historic and/or projected earnings per share (EPS) growth is one way to discover growth stocks that will continue to gain value through any market situation. It’s this type of stock that investors should seek to buy and hold.  The following five stocks with a history of EPS growth, as well as expected growth ahead, look poised to continue with their winning ways. #-ad_banner-#​1. Concept Therapeutics (Nasdaq: CORT) This pharmaceutical company is the very definition of a growth stock.  Shares have rocketed over 170% in the last year alone. What makes these gains truly astounding is that the industry as a whole advanced just 2% over the same time. Typically, this type of hyper-appreciation would throw up a few red… Read More

I’ve been around insurance companies most of my professional life. Of course, it helps that I think insurance is interesting. I mean, have you ever read a policy that indemnified and insured for causes of loss to satellites in space? Or policies covering jumbo jet aircraft? They’re simply amazing. Now, one of the things I learned early on is that well-run insurance companies have a common denominator. It’s a simple concept: profitable insurers receive more in premiums than they pay out in claims.  Seems easy, right? #-ad_banner-#But in the real world, it isn’t as easy as it sounds. You see,… Read More

I’ve been around insurance companies most of my professional life. Of course, it helps that I think insurance is interesting. I mean, have you ever read a policy that indemnified and insured for causes of loss to satellites in space? Or policies covering jumbo jet aircraft? They’re simply amazing. Now, one of the things I learned early on is that well-run insurance companies have a common denominator. It’s a simple concept: profitable insurers receive more in premiums than they pay out in claims.  Seems easy, right? #-ad_banner-#But in the real world, it isn’t as easy as it sounds. You see, insurance pricing is cyclical. Prices go up and down with the changing levels of supply and demand in the market. This is especially true after hurricanes and other large loss events. These large losses force many insurers to flee the market until they can build up their loss reserves. But that leads customers to lose faith in an insurer, making any future return to the market more difficult. That’s why it’s so important for insurers to underwrite their policies profitably every time.  To do this, insurers look at two metrics to calculate profitability. The first is their expense ratio. This… Read More

Last month, in the aftermath of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, I recommended a trade that went against the disaster-mania gripping the market. Tractor Supply (Nasdaq: TSCO) was a stock that unjustly benefitted from investor hype surrounding reconstruction efforts.  Wall Street didn’t seem to understand that, despite its name, Tractor Supply doesn’t actually distribute tractors or other heavy equipment. And hurricane effects notwithstanding, the stock was overpriced and sitting on shoddy fundamentals.  —Sponsored Link— Just Released: ‘2018 Automatic Income Calendar’ Collect 15 extra paychecks each month, regardless of your situation. This little-known income booster could deliver… Read More

Last month, in the aftermath of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, I recommended a trade that went against the disaster-mania gripping the market. Tractor Supply (Nasdaq: TSCO) was a stock that unjustly benefitted from investor hype surrounding reconstruction efforts.  Wall Street didn’t seem to understand that, despite its name, Tractor Supply doesn’t actually distribute tractors or other heavy equipment. And hurricane effects notwithstanding, the stock was overpriced and sitting on shoddy fundamentals.  —Sponsored Link— Just Released: ‘2018 Automatic Income Calendar’ Collect 15 extra paychecks each month, regardless of your situation. This little-known income booster could deliver 182 paychecks “automatically” by end of next year. See the dates your checks could arrive. TSCO finally fell apart as the reality set in… and our put options hit their target on Oct. 12, just as I predicted. All in all, my Profit Amplifier subscribers and I walked away with a 30.4% gain in just a few weeks.  My target this week is another company that stands to benefit from the rebuilding taking place across parts of Florida, Texas and the rest of the Gulf Coast… although not to the extent investors seem to be expecting. Read More

Warren Buffett is the most successful investor of all time. His net worth of $81 billion makes him one of the richest people in the world. As is well known, the secret to his success is long-term, “buy and hold” investing. Buffett says that when he invests in a stock his goal is to own it “forever.” Investors looking to succeed in the stock market would be smart to follow his lead. However, in 2017, stocks worth holding forever seem impossible to find. That’s because the economy is evolving faster than ever. According to a recent… Read More

Warren Buffett is the most successful investor of all time. His net worth of $81 billion makes him one of the richest people in the world. As is well known, the secret to his success is long-term, “buy and hold” investing. Buffett says that when he invests in a stock his goal is to own it “forever.” Investors looking to succeed in the stock market would be smart to follow his lead. However, in 2017, stocks worth holding forever seem impossible to find. That’s because the economy is evolving faster than ever. According to a recent study from financial services firm Credit Suisse, the lifespan of S&P 500 companies has been falling for the last 70 years. #-ad_banner-#Back in 1950, the average age of an S&P 500 company was 60 years. In 1965, it had fallen to 33 years. By 1990, it was just 20. According to market-research firm Innosight, around 50% of the S&P 500 will be replaced in the next 10 years. This high turnover rate in the market makes it more difficult than ever for investors to invest like Buffett. But I’ve got a solution: Utilities are the perfect “forever stocks.” At first… Read More