Well, we’re just past the midway point of the year. And if nothing changes over the next six months, 2017 will go down as a pretty good year for U.S. stocks. Through June 30, the benchmark S&P 500 had already delivered a return of 10.5%.  If it holds, that would be the strongest performance since 2013.  Unfortunately, if you don’t hold a handful of large-cap tech stocks, then you probably aren’t doing quite as well. You know the ones I’m referring to: Facebook (NYSE: FB), Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN), Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) and Alphabet (Nasdaq: GOOG), previously known as Google. —Recommended… Read More

Well, we’re just past the midway point of the year. And if nothing changes over the next six months, 2017 will go down as a pretty good year for U.S. stocks. Through June 30, the benchmark S&P 500 had already delivered a return of 10.5%.  If it holds, that would be the strongest performance since 2013.  Unfortunately, if you don’t hold a handful of large-cap tech stocks, then you probably aren’t doing quite as well. You know the ones I’m referring to: Facebook (NYSE: FB), Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN), Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) and Alphabet (Nasdaq: GOOG), previously known as Google. —Recommended Link— The U.S. Government Gave You A Gift I know it sounds incredible, but the IRS offers a retirement program that lets you opt-out of the tax system completely. Apply it in a specific way and it can triple your cash flow in retirement. Roger N. made the move and now collects $10,000 a month. He says “It doesn’t get any better…” As long as you are a U.S. citizen with a retirement account, you can make the same move. Here is what you need to do right now.  At the time of this writing, these four giants have… Read More

What a fantastic year in the U.S. stock market. Bullish investors are jumping with joy as the bear brigade has gone into hibernation. The Federal Reserve, showing signs of slowing down its interest rate hike program, has removed a significant headwind to continued advances.  Despite the naysayers trying to tell you otherwise, I think the market will continue surging this year and the top performers will keep pushing higher. Even better, there’s a proven strategy for capturing profits from soaring stocks. What Is Trend Following? Trend Following is a simple yet highly effective method of earning huge returns in… Read More

What a fantastic year in the U.S. stock market. Bullish investors are jumping with joy as the bear brigade has gone into hibernation. The Federal Reserve, showing signs of slowing down its interest rate hike program, has removed a significant headwind to continued advances.  Despite the naysayers trying to tell you otherwise, I think the market will continue surging this year and the top performers will keep pushing higher. Even better, there’s a proven strategy for capturing profits from soaring stocks. What Is Trend Following? Trend Following is a simple yet highly effective method of earning huge returns in the stock market.  At its most elementary, trend following is buying new highs and technical breakouts with the expectation that the upside momentum will continue.  #-ad_banner-#The idea behind trend following is a lot like Newton’s first law of motion. That is, an object in motion tends to remain in motion unless acted upon by an outside force.  The object in this case is price, and the higher it goes, the more investment it attracts, reinforcing the upside momentum.  Buying breakouts and new highs are not the only way to trend follow. Many trend followers believe in waiting for a short… Read More

It was a lightly reported story. It didn’t even warrant more than a short blurb in your local newspaper. Unless you are an industry insider or Washington Beltway junkie, you may have missed it entirely. But last month, the White House orchestrated a landmark agreement paving the way for exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to China.  Right now, U.S. producers are largely shut out of this lucrative market. Most of China’s LNG deliveries come from Australia or Qatar. But that could be changing soon.  As with most commodities, China has a hungry appetite for LNG. In fact, it’s the… Read More

It was a lightly reported story. It didn’t even warrant more than a short blurb in your local newspaper. Unless you are an industry insider or Washington Beltway junkie, you may have missed it entirely. But last month, the White House orchestrated a landmark agreement paving the way for exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to China.  Right now, U.S. producers are largely shut out of this lucrative market. Most of China’s LNG deliveries come from Australia or Qatar. But that could be changing soon.  As with most commodities, China has a hungry appetite for LNG. In fact, it’s the world’s third-biggest consumer, behind only Japan and Korea. Last year, China imported 26 million tons of LNG, an increase of 33% — making it the world’s fastest-growing market.  Wood Mackenzie put pencil to paper and attached a potential dollar amount to this deal. Assuming current prices and projected usage, China could be importing $26 billion worth of LNG a year by 2030.  The question is, how do we get it there?  —Recommended Link— Pick & Shovel Investing For The 21st Century ‘Gold Rush’ From Russian gas and Saudi oil to the isolated cobalt mines of Central Africa — the… Read More

German automaker Volkswagen briefly rocketed to become the most valuable company on earth in a single day. Another stock soared from around $9 per share to over $170 per share in under a year. These crazy bullish moves wiped out a wide swath of investors; while a savvy minority made fortunes during the same timeframe.  Shares, in both examples, were heavily shorted as many investors were betting on the stock to continue lower. However, bullish news took the shorts by surprise, resulting in the infamous short squeeze.  What Is A Short Squeeze? A short squeeze occurs when a stock’s… Read More

German automaker Volkswagen briefly rocketed to become the most valuable company on earth in a single day. Another stock soared from around $9 per share to over $170 per share in under a year. These crazy bullish moves wiped out a wide swath of investors; while a savvy minority made fortunes during the same timeframe.  Shares, in both examples, were heavily shorted as many investors were betting on the stock to continue lower. However, bullish news took the shorts by surprise, resulting in the infamous short squeeze.  What Is A Short Squeeze? A short squeeze occurs when a stock’s outstanding shares are comprised of a significant percentage of short positions. When an unexpected bullish change occurs, the shorts hurry to cover their positions by purchasing back shares.  #-ad_banner-#The resulting buying pressure rapidly pushes the share price higher while trapping the shorts. The climbing price forces greater numbers of short positions to cover, creating a vicious cycle of massive upside momentum. This punishes short sellers while rewarding those few lucky or smart enough to have taken on long positions.  How To Locate Possible Short Squeezes The way to find potential short squeezes is to scan and rank stocks by… Read More

The surprising announcement last month of Amazon’s (Nasdaq: AMZN) intention to acquire high-end grocer Whole Foods Market (Nasdaq: WFM) conforms to the age-old notion that nobody can do it alone. Even Amazon — the original “if you build it, they will come” company… the company that never cared much about margins but was obsessed about volume (which turned out to be just the right solution for e-commerce) — couldn’t do it all without the help of others.  Quite often, this help has come in the form of an acquisition. Of course, the $13.7 billion purchase of Whole Foods, if it… Read More

The surprising announcement last month of Amazon’s (Nasdaq: AMZN) intention to acquire high-end grocer Whole Foods Market (Nasdaq: WFM) conforms to the age-old notion that nobody can do it alone. Even Amazon — the original “if you build it, they will come” company… the company that never cared much about margins but was obsessed about volume (which turned out to be just the right solution for e-commerce) — couldn’t do it all without the help of others.  Quite often, this help has come in the form of an acquisition. Of course, the $13.7 billion purchase of Whole Foods, if it goes through, would be the company’s largest acquisition to date. But Amazon has also used smaller acquisitions to help build its grand vision.  Since going public in 1997, all its acquisitions have resulted in the creation of the Amazon we know now. For example, in 1998, the company made a somewhat puzzling purchase of IMDB, a leading website for facts and information about TV and movies; now it serves as both a content provider and a marketing tool. Its 1999 purchase of Alexa, then just a web navigation service, is now a subsidiary for web analytics and search engine optimization… Read More

One of my first lessons in investing came from a physician who lived in the building where I worked as a doorman while in college. The year was 1981 and I was just finishing my sophomore year.  The job didn’t pay much, but it offered plenty of solitude to study during the week. But the weekends were a different story.  Saturdays brought lots of unsolicited advice from the residents — mostly about how to be successful in life. Years later I came to believe those Saturday afternoons were just as valuable as my formal education. One weekend, a doctor who… Read More

One of my first lessons in investing came from a physician who lived in the building where I worked as a doorman while in college. The year was 1981 and I was just finishing my sophomore year.  The job didn’t pay much, but it offered plenty of solitude to study during the week. But the weekends were a different story.  Saturdays brought lots of unsolicited advice from the residents — mostly about how to be successful in life. Years later I came to believe those Saturday afternoons were just as valuable as my formal education. One weekend, a doctor who lived in the building told me to buy stock in Chrysler. He said it was a great stock at its current price of $3 per share. I didn’t know much about investing, so I did my homework. I quickly learned that most analysts thought the company was heading to liquidation. In fact, just about everything I read told me to avoid the stock at all costs. But the doctor told me they were wrong… Trusting the doctor, I combined my next paycheck with a small loan from my dad. I bought 100 shares of Chrysler — my entire life’s savings… Read More

America is in the middle of a massive retirement tsunami. Starting in 2010, 10,000 baby boomers began reaching the retirement age of 65 every single day. Looking forward, this trend is just beginning. 10,000 more boomers will reach the retirement age of 65 every day for the next 12 years, all the way until 2030. With bond yields stuck near record lows, boomers are desperate to find safe alternatives to generate retirement income. One of the most popular places they have been shifting their capital is utility stocks. Utility stocks offer two things that retirees value. First, they are generally… Read More

America is in the middle of a massive retirement tsunami. Starting in 2010, 10,000 baby boomers began reaching the retirement age of 65 every single day. Looking forward, this trend is just beginning. 10,000 more boomers will reach the retirement age of 65 every day for the next 12 years, all the way until 2030. With bond yields stuck near record lows, boomers are desperate to find safe alternatives to generate retirement income. One of the most popular places they have been shifting their capital is utility stocks. Utility stocks offer two things that retirees value. First, they are generally a lot more stable than the broader stock market and particularly growth stocks. Second, utility stocks usually offer excellent dividends. The popularity of utility stocks has led to big gains for the Vanguard Utilities Index Fund ETF (NYSE: VPU). In the last ten years, this ETF has gained 127.7%, outperforming the S&P 500’s return by 17%. Take a look below. Those gains have been great for current shareholders. However, for new boomers looking, it has created a problem: U.S. utility stocks look pricey. VPU’s forward P/E ratio of 18.5 is in line with the S&P 500, despite little… Read More

Baby steps.  This is how most investors start, with a smallish sum of money and only a few positions.  Over time, these holdings appreciate, and investors put additional money to work. The portfolio grows, and with that, so does its complexity. Sooner or later, many investors begin to feel the need to get organized. And for that, they need to understand the basic rules of portfolio building.  Of course, as a finance professional, I think this should be filed under the category “the sooner, the better.” Investing is a serious affair, and it’s good to follow the basics from the… Read More

Baby steps.  This is how most investors start, with a smallish sum of money and only a few positions.  Over time, these holdings appreciate, and investors put additional money to work. The portfolio grows, and with that, so does its complexity. Sooner or later, many investors begin to feel the need to get organized. And for that, they need to understand the basic rules of portfolio building.  Of course, as a finance professional, I think this should be filed under the category “the sooner, the better.” Investing is a serious affair, and it’s good to follow the basics from the beginning. But it’s never too late to start.  The first decision any investor should make is all about asset allocation. The exact portfolio allocation for stocks, bonds and cash should largely depend on an investor’s own time horizon and risk tolerance. General guidelines can be applied , however, nobody knows your situation better than you do, and the process of determining where you want your money to go is much more personal than any newsletter allows.  —Recommended Link— Make This Move For A Millionaire Retirement If you want a millionaire retirement, you need to check this move out. It… Read More