Benjamin Graham, the father of value investing, is quoted as saying, “in the short term, the market is a voting machine, but in the long term, it is a weighing machine.” Now, the quote doesn’t appear in Graham’s famous book, The Intelligent Investor. But according to Graham’s star pupil, Warren Buffet, Graham taught the concept to students at Columbia University. And given Buffet’s unimpeachable character, the statement stands on its own. But even if the quote isn’t exact, the principle is… #-ad_banner-#You see, the voting machine is a popularity contest based on beliefs that may or may not be true. Read More

Benjamin Graham, the father of value investing, is quoted as saying, “in the short term, the market is a voting machine, but in the long term, it is a weighing machine.” Now, the quote doesn’t appear in Graham’s famous book, The Intelligent Investor. But according to Graham’s star pupil, Warren Buffet, Graham taught the concept to students at Columbia University. And given Buffet’s unimpeachable character, the statement stands on its own. But even if the quote isn’t exact, the principle is… #-ad_banner-#You see, the voting machine is a popularity contest based on beliefs that may or may not be true. Our recent presidential election is a great example of how other people’s perceptions influence our decisions. But at the end of the day, they’re mostly a set of opinions and expectations. This makes them untrustworthy. In contrast, Graham’s weighing machine implies that investment decisions are objective decisions — based solely on data gleaned from company reports and financials. This leads investors to use things like earnings reports to make decisions. And earnings are the single best predictor of stock performance. Today, we’re going to heed Graham’s advice and go against the perceptions of the crowd with generic drugmaker TEVA Pharmaceuticals… Read More

In the first part of this article, I highlighted two main aspects of the investment research that — if used correctly — can maximize investors’ time when scouring for quality companies in which to invest. The first rule I outlined is the simple fact that an investor shouldn’t attempt to follow everything. The second is that you should keep company relationships — such as supplier-customer and competitor relationships — in mind when analyzing a stock. With these two established rules in hand, we are now ready to cast our net into the market to attempt to reel in possible investment… Read More

In the first part of this article, I highlighted two main aspects of the investment research that — if used correctly — can maximize investors’ time when scouring for quality companies in which to invest. The first rule I outlined is the simple fact that an investor shouldn’t attempt to follow everything. The second is that you should keep company relationships — such as supplier-customer and competitor relationships — in mind when analyzing a stock. With these two established rules in hand, we are now ready to cast our net into the market to attempt to reel in possible investment candidates that will fit nicely in our portfolios. Research Rule No. 3: Learn to Discriminate While we’re primarily looking for good fits, it’s just as important to know the companies we don’t want in our portfolios. In essence, the investor must learn to discriminate between companies that are “good,” “great” and “outstanding.” And inversely, we must identify the difference between “bad,” “terrible” and “horrific.” #-ad_banner-#Of course, there are more technical descriptions than the ones above that can be used to describe and categorize certain companies. But the point is, it’s important to have a process when deciding on the… Read More

Between 1835 and 1839 four men were born who forged America into the richest, most inventive and most productive country on the planet. Arguably, few other men in our history have had a greater impact. These affluent industrialists were considered some of the wealthiest — and most successful — businessmen of the 19th and 20th centuries. Their rise to fame came during the Gilded Age, an era of rapid economic growth in the late 19th century. I’m of course talking about steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie, oil titan John D. Rockefeller, financier J.P. Morgan and speculator Jay Gould. These men were… Read More

Between 1835 and 1839 four men were born who forged America into the richest, most inventive and most productive country on the planet. Arguably, few other men in our history have had a greater impact. These affluent industrialists were considered some of the wealthiest — and most successful — businessmen of the 19th and 20th centuries. Their rise to fame came during the Gilded Age, an era of rapid economic growth in the late 19th century. I’m of course talking about steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie, oil titan John D. Rockefeller, financier J.P. Morgan and speculator Jay Gould. These men were known as robber barons for their shrewd, ruthlessly competitive and sometimes unethical business practices. Despite this, they’re recognized as some of the greatest businessmen and investors the world’s ever known. —Recommended Link— At 11:59pm EST, This Stock Indicator Goes Back To Full Price — NO Rainchecks If you were ever curious to see how the most successful investors make their moves and almost always make money in the markets, your chance is nearly gone. The potential for double- and triple-digit gains is 100% guaranteed if you know when to buy… this special 2-digit stock indicator system takes all the… Read More

Shares of Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) have underperformed the rest of the market over the past six months, languishing in negative territory for most of the fall. This decline has been driven by a combination of factors, including investor nervousness regarding the company’s upcoming leadership change and some weakness… Read More

The energy sector was a brutal place to invest in 2014 and 2015. In the 18 months from July 2014 to January 2016, the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYS: XLE) fell nearly 50%. That decline was driven by a collapse in the price of oil, buckling from above $90 per barrel in the summer of 2014 to below $30 in January 2016. #-ad_banner-#Today, this bear market has ended. With a new bullish cycle unfolding, this is the best time to invest in energy stocks in the last five years. Not only are energy sector yields near a multi-year high,… Read More

The energy sector was a brutal place to invest in 2014 and 2015. In the 18 months from July 2014 to January 2016, the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYS: XLE) fell nearly 50%. That decline was driven by a collapse in the price of oil, buckling from above $90 per barrel in the summer of 2014 to below $30 in January 2016. #-ad_banner-#Today, this bear market has ended. With a new bullish cycle unfolding, this is the best time to invest in energy stocks in the last five years. Not only are energy sector yields near a multi-year high, valuations are near a multi-year low. Perhaps most important, profits are set to rebound thanks to a breakthrough announcement from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Last week, OPEC made its biggest announcement in more than two years, saying that its members would cut global oil production by 1 million barrels per day beginning January 1, 2017. This decision has big implications for the price of oil in the short run and long run. In the short run, it caused the price of oil to jump more than 10% in one day, hitting $50 a barrel for the first… Read More

For the past several years, StreetAuthority has released annual reports on our most profitable predictions for the upcoming year. Of course, we never claim to have a crystal ball, so we can’t guarantee that each prediction will play out exactly as expected. That said, many of our predictions have delivered… Read More

Editor’s Note: Before you get to this week’s Market Outlook, there is a two-part investment strategy that has delivered extra payouts of $365, $520, $700 and even $1,000 to investors in addition to dividends and capital gains. The next payout could be worth as much as $500, and it’s available in the next 48 hours. Of course, there are a few restrictions, but it’s highly likely you qualify for this program. To see if you qualify for it, click here. After a one-week breather, the U.S. stock market resumed its post-election romp last week, with many… Read More

Editor’s Note: Before you get to this week’s Market Outlook, there is a two-part investment strategy that has delivered extra payouts of $365, $520, $700 and even $1,000 to investors in addition to dividends and capital gains. The next payout could be worth as much as $500, and it’s available in the next 48 hours. Of course, there are a few restrictions, but it’s highly likely you qualify for this program. To see if you qualify for it, click here. After a one-week breather, the U.S. stock market resumed its post-election romp last week, with many indices setting new all-time highs. The rally was led by the small-cap Russell 2000 (5.6%) and tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (3.3%).   The advance was driven by expectations that a Trump presidency will be extremely favorable to U.S. businesses, with the loosening of government regulations and dismantling of Dodd-Frank being two expected changes. Last week’s rally was about as broad-based as they come. Every sector of the S&P 500 ended the week deep in positive territory, led by financials (4.9%), technology (4.2%) and real estate (3.8%).   Dow Industrials Closing In On 20,400 Target In last week’s Market Outlook, I… Read More

I love attending investment conferences. Investors gather to discuss the latest and most efficient methods of profiting from the financial markets. Encouraged and guided by the speakers, who are recognized experts in their discipline, the discourse among the attendees often reveals the current state of the markets. Knowing the consensus… Read More

In 1960, the U.S. Navy came up with the acronym KISS: “Keep it simple, stupid.” The principle behind it was that most systems work best if they are simple rather than complex. While the mantra was originally applied to building airplanes, it just as easily applies to many other aspects… Read More