Rising interest rates is one of the most oft-referred-to topics on Wall Street right now. Some see higher borrowing costs as the straw that could break the market’s eight-year bull run while others see it as needed counter-weight to emerging inflationary pressures. Members of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) already expects three rate hikes this year, and we may see more monetary tightening than that if fiscal stimulus jump-starts the economy. #-ad_banner-#Bond investments and dividend-paying stocks have sold off on a 33% jump in the rate on the 10-year Treasury since the beginning of November. Existing bond prices drop… Read More

Rising interest rates is one of the most oft-referred-to topics on Wall Street right now. Some see higher borrowing costs as the straw that could break the market’s eight-year bull run while others see it as needed counter-weight to emerging inflationary pressures. Members of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) already expects three rate hikes this year, and we may see more monetary tightening than that if fiscal stimulus jump-starts the economy. #-ad_banner-#Bond investments and dividend-paying stocks have sold off on a 33% jump in the rate on the 10-year Treasury since the beginning of November. Existing bond prices drop when rates increase and investors fear that higher rates will draw others out of dividend stocks for the relatively safety in fixed-income. Financial companies have boomed on the increase in rates as the industry benefits from a wider net margin spread between borrowing and lending rates. But few investors are paying attention to one segment of the market that could get an upside boost. An Unexpected Winner From Higher Rates Short sellers, betting on a drop in prices, have to pay a broker loan rate when they borrow shares to short. The rate varies by broker but can range… Read More

Mario Gabelli is definitely among my stock investing heroes. I consider him to be one of the greatest living stock pickers. His prodigious and unique stock-picking skills landed him a place on Forbes’ billionaire list. And this $1.5 billion fortune is 100% made from the financial markets. His investment company GAMCO manages over $40 billion and earns an average of 12% annually under his guidance. Believe it or not, he talks freely about his research methods and investing philosophy. They are very simple, and any investor can easily apply them to their portfolio. #-ad_banner-#His ideas are built upon theories initially… Read More

Mario Gabelli is definitely among my stock investing heroes. I consider him to be one of the greatest living stock pickers. His prodigious and unique stock-picking skills landed him a place on Forbes’ billionaire list. And this $1.5 billion fortune is 100% made from the financial markets. His investment company GAMCO manages over $40 billion and earns an average of 12% annually under his guidance. Believe it or not, he talks freely about his research methods and investing philosophy. They are very simple, and any investor can easily apply them to their portfolio. #-ad_banner-#His ideas are built upon theories initially popularized in the book Security Analysis by Benjamin Graham and David Dodd way back in 1934. This book is still considered the “Bible” of fundamental analysis. Gabelli adds a twist to the book’s theories by using a value investing approach to screen stocks. He uses Warren Buffett’s idea of buying stocks as if you are buying the company itself. Then he adds his theory of private market value (PMV). Columbia Business School credits him with the creation of the PMV concept. PMV is the value an informed buyer would pay to purchase an asset with similar characteristics. It is calculated… Read More

Dramatic headlines, mostly related to our new president, have driven the market’s erratic undulations since Election Day. From my perspective, many investors are reading the headlines and reacting immediately to hyperbole without understanding the details. Making matters worse is social media’s amplification of this hyperbole into viral movements that further distort the truth. As frustrating as it seems, these factors create opportunity when opinion strays too far from fact. One area where I see massive distortion is in the headlines surrounding Trump’s proposed border wall, the methods in which he intends on paying for it and how it all will… Read More

Dramatic headlines, mostly related to our new president, have driven the market’s erratic undulations since Election Day. From my perspective, many investors are reading the headlines and reacting immediately to hyperbole without understanding the details. Making matters worse is social media’s amplification of this hyperbole into viral movements that further distort the truth. As frustrating as it seems, these factors create opportunity when opinion strays too far from fact. One area where I see massive distortion is in the headlines surrounding Trump’s proposed border wall, the methods in which he intends on paying for it and how it all will affect American companies and consumers. The topic has sparked tremendous opportunity as sheep-like investors flock to companies they think are the obvious beneficiaries and flee the apparent donors of potential legislation. The problem is that they’ve got the story all wrong… And my subscribers and I at Profit Amplifier have a plan to profit from this confusion. —Sponsored Link— Motley Fool Issues Rare Triple-Buy Alert His triple recommendations are averaging an astounding 1,024% gain each. Learn more now. Border Tax Rumblings If you haven’t been keeping… Read More

This is BIG… For the first time since 1933, the SEC is now allowing regular people like you and me to invest in brand-new explosive-growth companies BEFORE THEY GO PUBLIC. Imagine getting in on the next Facebook for 33 cents a share or the next Apple at 78 cents. In StreetAuthority’s Pre-IPO Millionaire, I vet six to eight deals like this one each month, and offer my exclusive in-depth analysis of a single opportunity that I believe could return 1,000% or more. Click here for more information. — Joseph Hogue, CFA The boom in equity crowdfunding has restarted the engines… Read More

This is BIG… For the first time since 1933, the SEC is now allowing regular people like you and me to invest in brand-new explosive-growth companies BEFORE THEY GO PUBLIC. Imagine getting in on the next Facebook for 33 cents a share or the next Apple at 78 cents. In StreetAuthority’s Pre-IPO Millionaire, I vet six to eight deals like this one each month, and offer my exclusive in-depth analysis of a single opportunity that I believe could return 1,000% or more. Click here for more information. — Joseph Hogue, CFA The boom in equity crowdfunding has restarted the engines of innovation and we’re seeing more companies set out to disrupt their markets every week in Pre-IPO Millionaire. Any time a company can completely change the game with a new twist on an old product or a revolutionary idea, the upside potential for early investors can be amazing. Think PayPal and what it did for ecommerce or how Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) is disrupting the market for entertainment. #-ad_banner-#I’ve found one company that isn’t just disrupting one market, but three. It developed the first real innovation in 35 years in a $2.2 billion market and it’s an innovation that combines two… Read More

If you think Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) shares are expensive now, they are about to get even more so. Back in December, I issued a 12-month piece target of $72. But following the company’s breathtaking fiscal second-quarter earnings results, I am now confident is too cheap. As such I’m raising my price target by $8 to $80 per share. Why the price increase? For starters, Microsoft stock is currently priced at a forward P/E of just 21 based on fiscal 2017 estimates of $2.97 per share. And while that P/E is two points above the average stock in… Read More

If you think Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) shares are expensive now, they are about to get even more so. Back in December, I issued a 12-month piece target of $72. But following the company’s breathtaking fiscal second-quarter earnings results, I am now confident is too cheap. As such I’m raising my price target by $8 to $80 per share. Why the price increase? For starters, Microsoft stock is currently priced at a forward P/E of just 21 based on fiscal 2017 estimates of $2.97 per share. And while that P/E is two points above the average stock in the S&P 500 index, Microsoft’s recent moves suggests it deserves a much higher multiple. With growth opportunities emerging in the realm of the cloud, Internet-of-Things, smart home and a host of other areas thanks to its recent acquisitions, Microsoft stock still looks like a bargain. I’ll get back to this in a moment. But let’s first assess its recent earnings.   #-ad_banner-#The main question heading into 2017 was to what extent Microsoft could sustain the strong cloud momentum it used in 2016 to surpass Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN). Microsoft answered that question with authority. In three months that ended… Read More

Too many investors think chasing the next hot IPO (initial public offering) is a surefire way to get rich. They see how Facebook (NYSE: FB) has jumped 242% since it went public back in the summer of 2012. Or they hear about how LinkedIn (NYSE: LNKD) doubled in price less… Read More

Shares have soared over 108% in the last 52 weeks, with an over 33% gain in 2017 alone. The company also throws off an annual dividend yield greater than 1.5% and boasts a substantial $45 billion-plus market cap. Sounds like a miracle company, right? I know, when I first heard the above performance stats, I immediately thought this was some under-the-radar, high-tech hardware company quietly taking over its sector. #-ad_banner-#I was shocked to discover that this company is part of the oldest transportation industry in the United States, railroads. Other than hearing some chatter about Warren Buffett investing in the… Read More

Shares have soared over 108% in the last 52 weeks, with an over 33% gain in 2017 alone. The company also throws off an annual dividend yield greater than 1.5% and boasts a substantial $45 billion-plus market cap. Sounds like a miracle company, right? I know, when I first heard the above performance stats, I immediately thought this was some under-the-radar, high-tech hardware company quietly taking over its sector. #-ad_banner-#I was shocked to discover that this company is part of the oldest transportation industry in the United States, railroads. Other than hearing some chatter about Warren Buffett investing in the industry, I believed that railroad companies were simply too old school, slow, and close to dying off. Boy, was I wrong! In the United States, railroads are a $60 billion industry consisting of 140,000 miles of tracks. It is a highly monopolistic industry with nearly insurmountable barriers to entry for additional competitors. According to the Federal Railroad Administration, the rail network makes up approximately 40% of U.S. freight moves by ton-miles (the length freight travels) and 16% by tons (the weight of cargo moved). In general, bulk freight, such as grain and coal, ships in rail cars and consumer goods,… Read More

A few weeks ago, I was on an exciting phone call with Joseph Hogue, Chief Investment Strategist for StreetAuthority’s newest premium newsletter, Pre-IPO Millionaire. The call was regarding his latest project — and believe me when I say, it’s something that should have every investor excited about what’s in store. I’ll get to the details of that call in a moment, but first, allow me to recap… Joseph is a research analyst who has written for StreetAuthority for years. He’s also a respected expert in the burgeoning field of pre-IPO investing — that is, investing in “startup”-stage companies before they… Read More

A few weeks ago, I was on an exciting phone call with Joseph Hogue, Chief Investment Strategist for StreetAuthority’s newest premium newsletter, Pre-IPO Millionaire. The call was regarding his latest project — and believe me when I say, it’s something that should have every investor excited about what’s in store. I’ll get to the details of that call in a moment, but first, allow me to recap… Joseph is a research analyst who has written for StreetAuthority for years. He’s also a respected expert in the burgeoning field of pre-IPO investing — that is, investing in “startup”-stage companies before they go public. These are the kinds of deals that have delivered incredible gains to wealthy investors in companies like Facebook and Twitter before they went public. We’re talking about seriously innovative companies and potentially life-changing opportunities for investors here. Thanks to the recent loosening of regulations that allow practically anyone to invest in these companies, we quickly saw an opportunity to partner with Joseph and educate the public about this exciting new way of investing. —Sponsored Link— SHOCKING: Is Your Pension A Ticking Time Bomb? American public pensions are now $5.6 TRILLION in debt. The… Read More