I’ve looked at bond inventories (bonds for sale by various firms all along the street) on, more or less, a daily basis for the past 20 years. It’s a habit. It doesn’t necessarily mean I’m going to buy something. The main purpose of the exercise is to get a feel for the bond market that goes beyond looking at where Treasury bond yields are for that particular day. I see what investors are willing to pay for bonds based on multiple factors, the most important being yield and safety. In recent years, it seems that most investors have been more… Read More

I’ve looked at bond inventories (bonds for sale by various firms all along the street) on, more or less, a daily basis for the past 20 years. It’s a habit. It doesn’t necessarily mean I’m going to buy something. The main purpose of the exercise is to get a feel for the bond market that goes beyond looking at where Treasury bond yields are for that particular day. I see what investors are willing to pay for bonds based on multiple factors, the most important being yield and safety. In recent years, it seems that most investors have been more concerned with quality and capital preservation than yield. That’s no surprise in light of the volatility financial markets have experienced since the Financial Crisis of 2008. Accommodative Federal Reserve policy and investor fear have kept rates at historical lows for nearly a decade. But now that’s changing — albeit slowly. The unexpected election of Donald Trump, while inspiring a tangible rally in stocks, has sparked an upward movement in bond yields (prices go down) due to anticipated inflationary pressure from possible infrastructure spending and tighter foreign trade policy. The Federal Reserve gradually shifting away from its zero-rate federal… Read More

Most investors have been trained to think that earning 6% or 8% a year on their trades is admirable. And the old saying is true: No one ever went broke taking a profit. But that doesn’t mean they got rich that way.  You can bet Wall Street traders don’t settle for such meager returns, and your average trader doesn’t have to either. The same methods used by Wall Street’s elite are available to average traders. It’s just that they often don’t know about them or are too scared to try them.  For instance, there is a way to potentially amplify… Read More

Most investors have been trained to think that earning 6% or 8% a year on their trades is admirable. And the old saying is true: No one ever went broke taking a profit. But that doesn’t mean they got rich that way.  You can bet Wall Street traders don’t settle for such meager returns, and your average trader doesn’t have to either. The same methods used by Wall Street’s elite are available to average traders. It’s just that they often don’t know about them or are too scared to try them.  For instance, there is a way to potentially amplify those 6% to 8% gains into 30%, 50%, even 65% windfalls or more in a matter of months, weeks or even days. And I’m not talking about buying micro-cap stocks that no one has ever heard of. You can make these returns from some of America’s biggest and most well-known companies. —Recommended Link— A Young Woman On Her Way To Lunch… (What Happens Next Is UNBELIEVABLE) You see a lot of CRAZY things living in the city of Baltimore — but what happened to this woman is simply outrageous. She was… Read More

The more things change, the more they stay the same. We are undergoing tremendous changes in government, the tax system, and even in our lives. Everything seems to be getting faster. Even the stock market is not immune to the rapid-fire changes taking place. Despite the all the changes, the one thing that remains the same is the process of identifying the best dividend stocks. It’s a straightforward and consistent formula that is not affected by high-frequency trading, computer algorithms, or any of the other newfangled trading strategies. When it comes to identifying the… Read More

The more things change, the more they stay the same. We are undergoing tremendous changes in government, the tax system, and even in our lives. Everything seems to be getting faster. Even the stock market is not immune to the rapid-fire changes taking place. Despite the all the changes, the one thing that remains the same is the process of identifying the best dividend stocks. It’s a straightforward and consistent formula that is not affected by high-frequency trading, computer algorithms, or any of the other newfangled trading strategies. When it comes to identifying the best dividend stocks of 2017, the same criteria that have worked for decades can be used. It doesn’t matter who the President is, the state of the economy, or even how high or low the Dow moves. If you have not started on your path to creating a passive income from the stock market, don’t worry, it’s not too late. Even during this year’s craziest days, you can still find incredible value and reliable income. Identifying Quality Income Stocks The first sign of a top-notch dividend-payer is consistency in paying dividends. Earning a… Read More

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to visit the palatial Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. Built near the turn of the century to rival the grandest European manors, this stately five-story mansion is the nation’s largest private residence. Commissioned by George Vanderbilt during the Gilded Age, the Biltmore was an open display of opulence and wealth. At a time when many homes lacked basic electricity and indoor plumbing, this one featured an elevator, gymnasium, library, pipe organ, billiards room, heated swimming pool, bowling alley and walk-in refrigerator. The Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina… Read More

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to visit the palatial Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. Built near the turn of the century to rival the grandest European manors, this stately five-story mansion is the nation’s largest private residence. Commissioned by George Vanderbilt during the Gilded Age, the Biltmore was an open display of opulence and wealth. At a time when many homes lacked basic electricity and indoor plumbing, this one featured an elevator, gymnasium, library, pipe organ, billiards room, heated swimming pool, bowling alley and walk-in refrigerator. The Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina The impeccable grounds outside were equally impressive. The country chateau was located in the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains, surrounded by acres of lush flower gardens, vineyards and tree-lined pathways. Two generations earlier, George’s grandfather, Cornelius Vanderbilt, took control of the New York Central Railroad, the Michigan Southern Railway and several other lines, eventually building an empire worth $143 billion in today’s dollars — making him the second-richest man in history. That was a different era, of course. Railroads seem quaint these days next to driverless cars and other 21st century technologies. But don’t be fooled. They remain the cheapest way… Read More

“Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it.” The above is a quote by Laurence J. Peter, the man who formulated the Peter Principle. For the uninitiated, the Peter Principle states that an employee is promoted based on their performance in their current position — not on their ability to do the new job. This means the employee will continue to receive promotions until they get a job they can’t do.  Once they reach this level, they have gone as far as they can… Read More

“Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it.” The above is a quote by Laurence J. Peter, the man who formulated the Peter Principle. For the uninitiated, the Peter Principle states that an employee is promoted based on their performance in their current position — not on their ability to do the new job. This means the employee will continue to receive promotions until they get a job they can’t do.  Once they reach this level, they have gone as far as they can in that organization. Peter called this level their “level of incompetence.” Unfortunately, once an employee reaches his level of incompetence, the organization begins to suffer. And by default, the customers of that organization are harmed by the incompetent person’s inability to do their job. What The Peter Principle Looks Like In Reality The Wall Street Journal has been taking comments in an online debate over the idea of investing the Social Security trust fund in stocks. The idea is that the Social Security trust fund has about $2.9 trillion in assets that, if invested in… Read More

Canada is a weird place. Having lived in Ottawa for several years, I have experienced first-hand both the differences and similarities between the United States and Canada. But while the popular food, styles, and music are very different from the United States, investment styles are very similar. Canadian stock market investors utilize similar investment criteria to locate winning stock picks. The crucial difference is in the philosophy of Canadian investors. Canadians tend to be much more conservative and risk averse than their American cousins. However, this observation is countered by the infamous Vancouver Stock Exchange (VSE). Although it is now… Read More

Canada is a weird place. Having lived in Ottawa for several years, I have experienced first-hand both the differences and similarities between the United States and Canada. But while the popular food, styles, and music are very different from the United States, investment styles are very similar. Canadian stock market investors utilize similar investment criteria to locate winning stock picks. The crucial difference is in the philosophy of Canadian investors. Canadians tend to be much more conservative and risk averse than their American cousins. However, this observation is countered by the infamous Vancouver Stock Exchange (VSE). Although it is now defunct, the VSE was notorious for shaky companies, bad accounting, and investors getting wiped out! Talk about a weird juxtaposition. One of the riskiest stock exchanges on earth was found in the conservative, buttoned-down-investment nation of Canada. But now, one of the world’s most respected exchanges is domiciled in Canada. The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) is an ideal place to locate the best Canadian stocks. I particularly like the security of stocks traded on both the NYSE and TSX. To be clear, I am in no way saying that cross-exchange listings mitigate all risk in a stock. That said, knowing… Read More

The year was 2001, and the landscape was littered with internet companies gone bust. The list included such once-promising names as Pets.com, Webvan and eToys.com. That’s when a worried Marc Benioff, CEO of a two-year-old startup called Salesforce.com, sought the advice of Michael Dell, founder of the game-changing personal computer company bearing his name. The way Dell tells it today, “I knew then, as I know now, that economic shakeouts need not bode misfortune for technology companies. Not, at least, the innovative ones. Technology does not recognize economic recessions or depressions; it always continues.” To say that Dell had a… Read More

The year was 2001, and the landscape was littered with internet companies gone bust. The list included such once-promising names as Pets.com, Webvan and eToys.com. That’s when a worried Marc Benioff, CEO of a two-year-old startup called Salesforce.com, sought the advice of Michael Dell, founder of the game-changing personal computer company bearing his name. The way Dell tells it today, “I knew then, as I know now, that economic shakeouts need not bode misfortune for technology companies. Not, at least, the innovative ones. Technology does not recognize economic recessions or depressions; it always continues.” To say that Dell had a good point is an understatement. Truly innovative companies aren’t subject to the same forces that shape many of their contemporaries whose businesses are based on older, more established trends. —Recommended Link— Pick And Shovel Investing For The 21st Century ‘Gold Rush’ From Russian gas and Saudi oil to the isolated cobalt mines of Central Africa — the next decade will see the beginning of a global commodity “gold rush” unlike anything we’ve ever seen. Cash in before it’s too late… That’s just one of the game-changing insights in Marc Benioff’s book, Behind the Cloud: The Untold Story of How… Read More