Investing for income has never been harder. The Federal Reserve continues to indicate further interest rate increases are on the horizon. This makes bond buying dangerous for those seeking capital preservation in the face of rising rates. This danger shows in the graph below, which indicates a strong probability of another rate hike at the Fed’s next meeting in June.   What makes this chart so interesting is that recent economic data doesn’t support the Fed’s conclusions. In the past several weeks, we’ve seen weakness in consumer spending, including negative consumer spending revisions, and falling prices. Read More

Investing for income has never been harder. The Federal Reserve continues to indicate further interest rate increases are on the horizon. This makes bond buying dangerous for those seeking capital preservation in the face of rising rates. This danger shows in the graph below, which indicates a strong probability of another rate hike at the Fed’s next meeting in June.   What makes this chart so interesting is that recent economic data doesn’t support the Fed’s conclusions. In the past several weeks, we’ve seen weakness in consumer spending, including negative consumer spending revisions, and falling prices. It goes without saying that falling prices aren’t a harbinger of a strong economy or strengthening GDP. These are on top of abysmal auto numbers that show steep declines in sales and an exceptionally high 70-day supply.  Even so, higher rates aren’t exactly leading income investors to the Promised Land. While June might see another rate increase, it will only be the fourth such increase since 2006 — leaving rates in the 100-125 basis point range. The difference to income investors is negligible. So what is an income investor to do? Well, there are safe places for income investors to… Read More

What goes up must come down. These words are true in many places, but especially in the stock market. High-flying stocks can quickly reverse, destroying portfolios and dreams on the way back down. The urge to keep holding huge gains for even more is strong in all investors. This urge is called greed and greed crushes profits. Controlling greed is vital for success in the stock market. The trick is knowing when to sell. Remember, no one has ever gone broke taking profits. Careful observation of internal and external factors affecting share price can provide an educated guess as to… Read More

What goes up must come down. These words are true in many places, but especially in the stock market. High-flying stocks can quickly reverse, destroying portfolios and dreams on the way back down. The urge to keep holding huge gains for even more is strong in all investors. This urge is called greed and greed crushes profits. Controlling greed is vital for success in the stock market. The trick is knowing when to sell. Remember, no one has ever gone broke taking profits. Careful observation of internal and external factors affecting share price can provide an educated guess as to when it is time to take profits. 2 Stocks You Need To Dump Now I have identified two ultra-popular, highly profitable stocks that need to be dumped now. Could these stocks continue to move higher? Sure, anything is possible in the stock market, but these two in particular show all the signs of being severely overvalued and ready to plunge. Risk-embracing experienced investors could short these monster gainers, but that’s not what this article is about. This article will lay out the case for why it is time to take profits in these two favorite companies. Believe it or… Read More

Earnings season is an emotional time on Wall Street, and I think it’s the perfect time to revisit Ben Graham’s famous description of “Mr. Market.” Ben Graham was Warren Buffett’s business school professor. Graham wrote several books explaining how he thought about the markets, and in one of those books, he compared the market’s price swings to the lunatic ravings of Mr. Market. In Graham’s description, when Mr. Market is happy, he will bid the price of stocks up. But suddenly and often for no apparent reason, Mr. Market will fall into a deep fit of despair. Then he wants… Read More

Earnings season is an emotional time on Wall Street, and I think it’s the perfect time to revisit Ben Graham’s famous description of “Mr. Market.” Ben Graham was Warren Buffett’s business school professor. Graham wrote several books explaining how he thought about the markets, and in one of those books, he compared the market’s price swings to the lunatic ravings of Mr. Market. In Graham’s description, when Mr. Market is happy, he will bid the price of stocks up. But suddenly and often for no apparent reason, Mr. Market will fall into a deep fit of despair. Then he wants to sell all of his holdings at low prices, and he won’t take no for an answer. Graham explained that it’s important to ignore Mr. Market and make buy and sell decisions based on value. This can be difficult to do because it’s easy to get caught up in the market’s reaction. But both Graham and Buffett achieved success by ignoring the market swings and focusing on value. Sometimes, Mr. Market’s judgment is entirely rational. Selling may seem to come from nowhere and be extreme, but it may actually be the right response. This is especially true during earnings season. Read More

Biotechnology is among the most exciting and lucrative sectors for investors. Perhaps the only market that provides greater volatility and profit potential is the derivatives market.  With prices driven at a breakneck pace by research and FDA approvals, today’s golden company can be tomorrow’s stock market disaster. But the opposite has also proven to be true.  Sometimes the forgotten dogs of the biotech world can quickly morph into great long-term investments.  I have identified 3 biotech companies that have fallen on hard times, but have recently experienced a rash of buying by large stock market players. Make no mistake, these… Read More

Biotechnology is among the most exciting and lucrative sectors for investors. Perhaps the only market that provides greater volatility and profit potential is the derivatives market.  With prices driven at a breakneck pace by research and FDA approvals, today’s golden company can be tomorrow’s stock market disaster. But the opposite has also proven to be true.  Sometimes the forgotten dogs of the biotech world can quickly morph into great long-term investments.  I have identified 3 biotech companies that have fallen on hard times, but have recently experienced a rash of buying by large stock market players. Make no mistake, these stocks are very risky, but they have tremendous upside potential, and clearly I am not the only one who thinks so. What Caused The 2016 Biotech Bear Market? If you own biotech stocks, you know that 2016 was a difficult year for the segment. Riding high from averaging 34% annual returns from 2012 to 2015, the biotechnology index gave up 16% in 2016. And the 16% loss included a substantial recovery from the devastating plunge of 28% in January 2016.  #-ad_banner-#The primary cause of the 2016 biotech bear market was shifting investor sentiment. Fear of new regulations that could… Read More

The hacker group known as Shadow Brokers publicly released a set of tools on the social network platform Medium in April. Called EternalBlue and EternalRomance, the tools allow hackers backdoor access for remote control of infected computers.  While the market hasn’t reacted to the news of the release, Sean Dillon of cybersecurity firm RiskSense Inc. told Bloomberg that these tools are “10-times worse” than recent viruses like the Heartbleed bug that infected computers at Yahoo and Amazon.  We’re talking about government-quality hacking tools — and they’ve just been spammed out to every hacker with an internet connection.  Dillon says the… Read More

The hacker group known as Shadow Brokers publicly released a set of tools on the social network platform Medium in April. Called EternalBlue and EternalRomance, the tools allow hackers backdoor access for remote control of infected computers.  While the market hasn’t reacted to the news of the release, Sean Dillon of cybersecurity firm RiskSense Inc. told Bloomberg that these tools are “10-times worse” than recent viruses like the Heartbleed bug that infected computers at Yahoo and Amazon.  We’re talking about government-quality hacking tools — and they’ve just been spammed out to every hacker with an internet connection.  Dillon says the tools are, “the kind of thing [security analysts] see used very rarely on very special, covert cybermissions.” He’s already found computers infected in dozens of clients from startups, government agencies and Fortune 100 companies. That means it’s only a matter of time before reports of large-scale and sophisticated cyberattacks start flooding the news. When it happens, expect a pop in the shares of cybersecurity companies. Cybercrime Headline Risks Move To Red Alert Corporate America prepared for years against the potential for hacker threats related to the Y2K bug. Headlines screamed warnings in 2014 for dangers related to the Heartbleed… Read More

Monthly gains of nearly 70%, 100%, and even nearing 200% occur on a regular basis in this market segment. I’m not talking about options, futures, or risky foreign stocks of any kind. The gains are homegrown right here in the United States and can be had for under $5 per share. These stocks, which typically represent new, growing companies, are in the small-cap sector. And I’ve found three stocks under $5 that are set up to be great buy opportunities. How Small-Caps Produce Outsized Gains The definition of a small-cap stock is not set in stone — it depends… Read More

Monthly gains of nearly 70%, 100%, and even nearing 200% occur on a regular basis in this market segment. I’m not talking about options, futures, or risky foreign stocks of any kind. The gains are homegrown right here in the United States and can be had for under $5 per share. These stocks, which typically represent new, growing companies, are in the small-cap sector. And I’ve found three stocks under $5 that are set up to be great buy opportunities. How Small-Caps Produce Outsized Gains The definition of a small-cap stock is not set in stone — it depends who you ask. But according to the most commonly accepted definition, small-caps are any public company with a market capitalization of $500 million to $2.5 billion.  I know this sounds like big money, but in the world of public enterprises, it is indeed minuscule. To put things in perspective, microcaps are any stocks with a sub-$500 million valuation, and midcaps are widely considered to have a capitalization greater than $2.5 billion but less than $10 billion. Anything over $10 billion places the firm in the large-cap space.  Over time, the small-cap sector outperforms the overall stock market. However, this tried… Read More

I want to share with you something that’s been bothering me for a while now… Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO of banking giant JPMorgan Chase, recently released his annual letter to shareholders. Dimon is, as you might imagine, smart as a whip. In fact, Buffett says he considers Dimon’s shareholder letters indispensable reading. Two lines stuck out from Dimon’s latest missive: “The United States of America is truly an exceptional country… But it is clear that something is wrong — and it’s holding us back.”  I’ve got to be honest… this has stuck with me for… Read More

I want to share with you something that’s been bothering me for a while now… Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO of banking giant JPMorgan Chase, recently released his annual letter to shareholders. Dimon is, as you might imagine, smart as a whip. In fact, Buffett says he considers Dimon’s shareholder letters indispensable reading. Two lines stuck out from Dimon’s latest missive: “The United States of America is truly an exceptional country… But it is clear that something is wrong — and it’s holding us back.”  I’ve got to be honest… this has stuck with me for weeks. It’s something I’ve been thinking long and hard about for the past few years, and I’m willing to bet you’ve at least felt it on some sort of visceral level yourself.  —Recommended Link— How Jim Cashed $13,784 In Daily Paychecks Experimenting With This Wildly Successful System Jim took a cool $13,784… Annie grabbed $2,194 in one month… and Curtis cashes $4,200 in daily payments every month. It’s all perfectly legal. Their fortunes have been documented. See for yourself how easy it will be for YOU to start collecting paychecks each and every day… Dimon offered little in the… Read More