The next big thing… It’s the holy grail for investors. I mean how many investors wish they had bought Microsoft in 1986? Or Apple in the 1990s?    If you were prudent enough to take a chance on either of these companies, a relatively small investment a few years back would have made any investor fabulously wealthy today. And it’s that kind of wealth creation that drives investors to seek the next big thing.   But too many investors make the process of finding the next big thing too complicated. After all, if it’s the next big thing, it shouldn’t… Read More

The next big thing… It’s the holy grail for investors. I mean how many investors wish they had bought Microsoft in 1986? Or Apple in the 1990s?    If you were prudent enough to take a chance on either of these companies, a relatively small investment a few years back would have made any investor fabulously wealthy today. And it’s that kind of wealth creation that drives investors to seek the next big thing.   But too many investors make the process of finding the next big thing too complicated. After all, if it’s the next big thing, it shouldn’t be impossibly hard to identify early on, right?   So what if you were told that more than 500,000 cars, capable of driving themselves, are going to come off the assembly line in 2018? Better yet, these cars will come off the assembly line at a cost of $35,000 — about the average price of a new car in America.   #-ad_banner-#But that’s not even the remarkable part…   You see, experience tells me that self-driving technology will not just drive itself — it will also be electric.    Even The Wall Street Journal agrees, saying, “The electric powertrain, unlike… Read More

The historic impact of two category 4 hurricanes from the Atlantic in the same year is a hard reminder that weather is playing an increasingly bigger role on our lives. 2016 was the warmest year on record globally, and 2017 is already in a close second place. While day-to-day temperatures can be unpredictable, larger weather patterns are no longer something investors can ignore. One of the harshest weather patterns could be returning soon, bringing with it bone-chilling temperatures in some regions and droughts in others. If it does return, then it could mean big moves in one commodity in particular,… Read More

The historic impact of two category 4 hurricanes from the Atlantic in the same year is a hard reminder that weather is playing an increasingly bigger role on our lives. 2016 was the warmest year on record globally, and 2017 is already in a close second place. While day-to-day temperatures can be unpredictable, larger weather patterns are no longer something investors can ignore. One of the harshest weather patterns could be returning soon, bringing with it bone-chilling temperatures in some regions and droughts in others. If it does return, then it could mean big moves in one commodity in particular, causing a select group of shares to jump. How Does La Niña Affect The Weather And Asset Prices? A cooling in the Pacific Ocean has prompted the U.S. Climate Prediction Center to upgrade its odds for the La Niña weather phenomenon to 62% from just 26% last month. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology also recently said that two of its eight models are forecasting La Niña conditions by year-end. #-ad_banner-#La Niña is caused by colder ocean temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific and their effect on the wind currents over the Pacific. The weather pattern generally… Read More

As a lifelong resident of a hurricane-prone area, and having sat through more than a handful of them, I feel a little guilty promoting what some people refer to as “disaster capitalism”. At the same time, one of the greatest investors of all time, Baron Rothschild, proffered that one should “buy when you hear the cannon, sell when you hear violins.” I’ve referenced that quote multiple times in my writing and will continue to do so because it’s some of the best investing advice ever. After unloading an estimated 33 trillion gallons of water on the United States, mostly on… Read More

As a lifelong resident of a hurricane-prone area, and having sat through more than a handful of them, I feel a little guilty promoting what some people refer to as “disaster capitalism”. At the same time, one of the greatest investors of all time, Baron Rothschild, proffered that one should “buy when you hear the cannon, sell when you hear violins.” I’ve referenced that quote multiple times in my writing and will continue to do so because it’s some of the best investing advice ever. After unloading an estimated 33 trillion gallons of water on the United States, mostly on coastal Texas, Hurricane Harvey could be responsible for damage exceeding $180 billion. In the Houston area alone, it’s estimated that nearly 40,000 homes have been completely destroyed. Even more remarkable was the projected number of cars completely ruined by the floodwaters. Again, in just the Houston area, which is heavily auto-dependent, the total could be over 1 million vehicles. The number is much higher if the entire affected area is included. According to auto researcher Kelley Blue Book, the average transaction price for a new car in the United States is currently $33,560. That means that replacing the lost cars… Read More

Traditionally, many income securities have come from the energy sector. Large integrated oil companies, for instance, have long been a staple of many income portfolios. A big reason for that was a business model that benefited investors: Steady demand for their product (oil) resulted in steady cash flows. Of course, the steady rise in oil prices between 2001 and 2008 didn’t hurt either. But much has changed in the past few years, as major economic trends have collided and driven oil prices lower. The emergence and economic viability of alternative energy is one such factor. The other major trend that… Read More

Traditionally, many income securities have come from the energy sector. Large integrated oil companies, for instance, have long been a staple of many income portfolios. A big reason for that was a business model that benefited investors: Steady demand for their product (oil) resulted in steady cash flows. Of course, the steady rise in oil prices between 2001 and 2008 didn’t hurt either. But much has changed in the past few years, as major economic trends have collided and driven oil prices lower. The emergence and economic viability of alternative energy is one such factor. The other major trend that has impacted the price of oil is the advances in hydraulic fracturing — what most of us know as “fracking.” This new technology that has unleashed huge oil and gas reserves hidden in the U.S. shale basins has resulted in massive growth in oil production.  —Sponsored Link— Millionaire Releases His Personal Stock Checklist For 26 years, a scientist from Delaware has carefully analyzed the potential of an unusual stock pattern, and has secretly developed a formula to identify it. On just the best trades alone thus far in 2017, this pattern has delivered 31 triple… Read More

We are in the early stages of a quiet revolution that has bypassed many investors. It is akin to the original space race of the 1960s and early 1970s, just without the media frenzy. This time, rather than world powers vying for space supremacy, it’s corporations looking to be the first to profit from space industry and travel.  The public’s excitement regarding space exploration and exploitation is at a shallow level, but opportunities exist for farseeing investors to snap up stocks of emerging space-age companies. The leading investors on Earth are already heavily invested in space technology. The most notable,… Read More

We are in the early stages of a quiet revolution that has bypassed many investors. It is akin to the original space race of the 1960s and early 1970s, just without the media frenzy. This time, rather than world powers vying for space supremacy, it’s corporations looking to be the first to profit from space industry and travel.  The public’s excitement regarding space exploration and exploitation is at a shallow level, but opportunities exist for farseeing investors to snap up stocks of emerging space-age companies. The leading investors on Earth are already heavily invested in space technology. The most notable, and wealthiest, investor in this pace is Jeff Bezos of Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN). He has committed to investing $1 billion per year into Blue Horizon, a space tourism and payload launch company. Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, has invested in the rights to an upper atmosphere launch vehicle. Tesla founder Elon Musk has an ambitious goal to colonize Mars with his company SpaceX. Finally, Richard Branson has launched a space tourism business called Virgin Galactic.  Many companies in the new space race remain in private hands. However, several public companies are starting to look very appealing to investors looking for… Read More

Experts all seem to agree that the stock market is overvalued from a fundamental perspective. This conclusion can be reached based on almost any fundamental ratio. The price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of the S&P 500, for example, is about 24.5. This is about 67% above its long-term average of 14.7. —Sponsored Link— Small Group Uncovers Millionaire’s Simple Stock-Picking Strategy With no Wall Street experience, a chemical engineer at DuPont accidentally uncovered a powerful pattern that often appears just before a stock’s share price doubles, triples, or even quadruples — seemingly out of nowhere. But not long… Read More

Experts all seem to agree that the stock market is overvalued from a fundamental perspective. This conclusion can be reached based on almost any fundamental ratio. The price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of the S&P 500, for example, is about 24.5. This is about 67% above its long-term average of 14.7. —Sponsored Link— Small Group Uncovers Millionaire’s Simple Stock-Picking Strategy With no Wall Street experience, a chemical engineer at DuPont accidentally uncovered a powerful pattern that often appears just before a stock’s share price doubles, triples, or even quadruples — seemingly out of nowhere. But not long ago, this unassuming engineer began sharing his discovery with a handful of “beta testers” to confirm his theory. This year alone, his pattern has pinpointed 31 triple-digit windfalls. And now, he’s ready to unveil it to a whole new group of investors. Full Story… Nobel Prize-winning economist Robert Shiller’s cyclically adjusted P/E ratio is also warning the market is overvalued. At 30.2, this ratio is more than 85% above its long-term average of 16.1. Shiller is well known for calling market tops. He called the top in 2000, just before the dot-com bubble burst, and also… Read More

Back in 2014 offshore drilling giant Seadrill (NYSE: SDRL) was a darling for high-yield stock investors. At the time, Seadrill was the largest offshore driller in the world by market cap. Revenue was surging, hitting a fresh all-time high early in the year.    Most importantly for high-yield stock investors, Seadrill was paying one of the best dividends in the entire global stock market. Between 2010 and 2014 Seadrill’s dividend yield ranged between 7.0% and 10.8% — topping off above 11.0% in early January. Take a look below.     Despite the impressive run of revenue growth and dividend payments,… Read More

Back in 2014 offshore drilling giant Seadrill (NYSE: SDRL) was a darling for high-yield stock investors. At the time, Seadrill was the largest offshore driller in the world by market cap. Revenue was surging, hitting a fresh all-time high early in the year.    Most importantly for high-yield stock investors, Seadrill was paying one of the best dividends in the entire global stock market. Between 2010 and 2014 Seadrill’s dividend yield ranged between 7.0% and 10.8% — topping off above 11.0% in early January. Take a look below.     Despite the impressive run of revenue growth and dividend payments, by the end of 2014 Seadrill investors were begging for mercy. When the price of oil crashed in the summer of 2014, it took Seadrill’s revenue and dividend payment with it. By the end of 2014 the company had scrapped its dividend payment entirely.   Two days ago, Seadrill — once the largest offshore driller in the world — filed for bankruptcy, virtually wiping out all of its remaining stock and bond holders. It was a stunning turn of events for a once great company, and an important lesson for high-yield stock investors.    #-ad_banner-#​Not All High-Yield Stocks Are Created… Read More

According to Albert Einstein (or so legend has it), “Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world.” In other words, it’s wise to reinvest your interest so it can earn interest. This can accelerate how quickly your money grows. Compound interest, coupled with time, can be one of the most powerful wealth-building tools in investing. But that isn’t the entire quote… —Sponsored Link— 9 Dividend Stocks That Can Triple Your Income Only the strongest stocks pay regular 4% to 8% yields while growing your savings, too. Discover 9 stocks with… Read More

According to Albert Einstein (or so legend has it), “Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world.” In other words, it’s wise to reinvest your interest so it can earn interest. This can accelerate how quickly your money grows. Compound interest, coupled with time, can be one of the most powerful wealth-building tools in investing. But that isn’t the entire quote… —Sponsored Link— 9 Dividend Stocks That Can Triple Your Income Only the strongest stocks pay regular 4% to 8% yields while growing your savings, too. Discover 9 stocks with a solid record of RAISING dividends — and each one passed our strict tests with flying colors. Get the list, free. Here’s the rest — the part most people tend to neglect: “He who understands it, earns it; he who doesn’t, pays it.” Compounding works both ways. Just take a look at your next credit card statement. Credit card companies are required to show you how long — and how much interest you would pay — if you only made the minimum payment each month. And that’s assuming you don’t ever use the credit card again.  #-ad_banner-#It’s… Read More