The KBW Bank Index (Nasdaq: BKX) has surged nearly 20% since the election.  Investors are hopeful that decreased regulation and tax reform can break the multi-year slump in the financial sector. President-elect Trump may have a tough time completely repealing the massive Dodd-Frank banking reform act as he pledged to during the campaign, but there is no doubt the new administration will at least attempt to chip away at pieces of it. The banks that stand to benefit most from this are regional banks, which received good news in late November when legislators started discussing a measure that would redefine… Read More

The KBW Bank Index (Nasdaq: BKX) has surged nearly 20% since the election.  Investors are hopeful that decreased regulation and tax reform can break the multi-year slump in the financial sector. President-elect Trump may have a tough time completely repealing the massive Dodd-Frank banking reform act as he pledged to during the campaign, but there is no doubt the new administration will at least attempt to chip away at pieces of it. The banks that stand to benefit most from this are regional banks, which received good news in late November when legislators started discussing a measure that would redefine the threshold for ‘systemically important’ institutions. The current threshold of $50 billion or more in assets may be raised, freeing some regional banks from much of the regulatory burden. #-ad_banner-#In addition to clearing the regulatory costs and oversight on the industry, the macroeconomic backdrop is shifting to become more favorable to banking. The rate on the 10-year Treasury jumped 35% in November, rising to 2.44%, giving banks a lot more room between borrowing costs and lending rates. Unemployment is hovering around a decade-low and consumer confidence jumped just before the all-important holiday shopping season. FDIC-insured banks reported 12.9% earnings growth… Read More

When you think of the phrase “victim of its own success” and you might think about consumer technology giant Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL). The company’s track record of groundbreaking innovation has set the bar of expectation at such a high level that even its billions in annual R&D research struggles to meet expectations. What Have You Done For Me Lately? Apple’s status as the world’s most valuable brand, not to mention its position as the largest publicly-traded company, makes Apple an unusual case for an investor to consider. Whether fairly or unfairly, Apple must always answer the question, “What… Read More

When you think of the phrase “victim of its own success” and you might think about consumer technology giant Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL). The company’s track record of groundbreaking innovation has set the bar of expectation at such a high level that even its billions in annual R&D research struggles to meet expectations. What Have You Done For Me Lately? Apple’s status as the world’s most valuable brand, not to mention its position as the largest publicly-traded company, makes Apple an unusual case for an investor to consider. Whether fairly or unfairly, Apple must always answer the question, “What have you done for me lately?” That said, the company’s estimated $237 billion in cash on the balance sheet, which is more than even the U.S. Treasury ever hopes to amass, gives Apple plenty of resources to answer that question multiple times each year. Estimates from International Data Corporation (IDC) suggest that 1.45 billion smartphones will ship in 2016, a rise of less than 1% year-over-year. That compares to a rise of over 10% in 2015 and represents a huge fall from the 47% rise in 2012. Right now, the market values Apple on the assumption that it won’t grow… Read More

Many investors are familiar with Buffett’s famous holding of Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO). He began buying shares in 1988. At the time, Buffett said he expected to hang on to this “outstanding business” for “a long time.” And over the ensuing years, he continued to build his position in the iconic company. Today, Coca-Cola is one of Buffett’s largest holdings. As of February 19, Berkshire Hathaway owned 400 million shares of Coca-Cola, valued at roughly $17.2 billion. That’s nearly a fifth of the company’s equity portfolio. But what many investors don’t know is the story about when Buffett used options on… Read More

Many investors are familiar with Buffett’s famous holding of Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO). He began buying shares in 1988. At the time, Buffett said he expected to hang on to this “outstanding business” for “a long time.” And over the ensuing years, he continued to build his position in the iconic company. Today, Coca-Cola is one of Buffett’s largest holdings. As of February 19, Berkshire Hathaway owned 400 million shares of Coca-Cola, valued at roughly $17.2 billion. That’s nearly a fifth of the company’s equity portfolio. But what many investors don’t know is the story about when Buffett used options on Coca-Cola. —-Recommended Link-— The Single Best Group Of Stocks To Buy NOW Since 1926, one collection of stocks has accounted for HALF of the S&P’s return — through every market environment imaginable. If you don’t have this group in your own portfolio, you could be missing out on the single best place to put your money this year and next. Learn which stocks can… That’s right. The king of buy-and-hold uses options. More importantly, it’s the way Buffett used options in the case of Coca-Cola — which happens to be a safe, conservative way — that too many investors… 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… Read More

Everyone grew up hearing the story of the shepherd boy who frequently lied to the local townspeople about the threat of wolves on his flock. Time after time, the people rushed to his aid after hearing shouts that wolves were threatening his sheep. However, each time, the townspeople found the shepherd had lied about the presence of wolves. #-ad_banner-#Eventually, the townspeople become immune to the boy’s calls. When real wolves appeared and the boy cried for help, the people of the town assumed the cries were another hoax and ignored him. Later the townspeople realized the cries were real, but… Read More

Everyone grew up hearing the story of the shepherd boy who frequently lied to the local townspeople about the threat of wolves on his flock. Time after time, the people rushed to his aid after hearing shouts that wolves were threatening his sheep. However, each time, the townspeople found the shepherd had lied about the presence of wolves. #-ad_banner-#Eventually, the townspeople become immune to the boy’s calls. When real wolves appeared and the boy cried for help, the people of the town assumed the cries were another hoax and ignored him. Later the townspeople realized the cries were real, but it was too late. The wolves killed the sheep, and in one version of the story, the shepherd, too. Centuries later, we have a similar refrain… Aesop’s story of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” reminds me of Michael Hartnett’s message from five years ago. Mr. Hartnett is the chief investment strategist for Bank of America Merrill Lynch who famously coined the term the “great rotation.” If you’re not familiar with the term, Mr. Hartnett believed that a great rotation out of bonds and into stocks was just beginning in 2011. He sounded the alarm. But it wasn’t true. Since then,… Read More

You know it’s December when you begin hearing long sets of holiday classics on the radio, when you start seeing gift-wrapped cars with huge bows on TV, and when you simply cannot escape reading about the Santa Claus rally in the financial press. In keeping with some of these traditions, I present to you an idea that seems both timely and appropriate for the next year: a position in an asset management company. Why do I like asset managers, particularly right now? The idea might seem controversial — but I think it allows us to make use of several market… Read More

You know it’s December when you begin hearing long sets of holiday classics on the radio, when you start seeing gift-wrapped cars with huge bows on TV, and when you simply cannot escape reading about the Santa Claus rally in the financial press. In keeping with some of these traditions, I present to you an idea that seems both timely and appropriate for the next year: a position in an asset management company. Why do I like asset managers, particularly right now? The idea might seem controversial — but I think it allows us to make use of several market trends and expectations. —Recommended Link— Banned Since 1933 — Now Open For Investing This year, the SEC cracked open a door it had kept shut since 1933. They finally allowed everyday investors to get into explosive early-stage companies BEFORE they go public — while they are still in their strongest growth curves. But here’s the thing… there’s only one way you can get into these startups — and here’s how it works. Global asset manager AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE: AB) is a good place to turn, allowing us to take advantage of the stock market’s strength while providing a… Read More

Recently, I discussed the encouraging growth in research and development spending in the most recent U.S. GDP report issued by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). While GDP growth for the third quarter of this year was a modest 2.9%, R&D spending growth came in at an astonishing annualized rate of 17%. The significance of this bodes well for the economy as a whole, in that increased R&D spending leads to new products, processes, and overall economic expansion. And although I mentioned this development to my Game Changing Stocks newsletter subscribers, various opportunities tied in with this type of spending… Read More

Recently, I discussed the encouraging growth in research and development spending in the most recent U.S. GDP report issued by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). While GDP growth for the third quarter of this year was a modest 2.9%, R&D spending growth came in at an astonishing annualized rate of 17%. The significance of this bodes well for the economy as a whole, in that increased R&D spending leads to new products, processes, and overall economic expansion. And although I mentioned this development to my Game Changing Stocks newsletter subscribers, various opportunities tied in with this type of spending also exist for my other publication, The Daily Paycheck. Best of all, many of these opportunities out-yield the market, and the two of my best ideas currently offer an average yield greater than 6%. Digital Realty Trust (NYSE: DLR) Recently, the combined selloff in bonds and pullback in tech stock prices has created an opportunity in DLR shares. Organized as a real estate investment trust (REIT), Digital Realty owns, acquires, develops, and manages technology related real estate. In short, its business is to provide data center solutions to many industries that depend on data usage, collection and storage every… Read More

On the night of the U.S. Presidential election, I was rudely awakened by an alert siren on my trading station. Stumbling out of bed, I could not believe my eyes. Dow Jones futures were down nearly 800 points! #-ad_banner-#Just then my phone rang — my fund manager friend called to warn me that the market could be down another several thousand points by the end of the next day. Having followed his lead, I had a minuscule short position on in the futures and was thrilled with the huge gains earned by the short. Rather than doing the right thing… Read More

On the night of the U.S. Presidential election, I was rudely awakened by an alert siren on my trading station. Stumbling out of bed, I could not believe my eyes. Dow Jones futures were down nearly 800 points! #-ad_banner-#Just then my phone rang — my fund manager friend called to warn me that the market could be down another several thousand points by the end of the next day. Having followed his lead, I had a minuscule short position on in the futures and was thrilled with the huge gains earned by the short. Rather than doing the right thing by setting stops, I decided to go back to sleep and let the trade ride. Upon awakening, I was shocked to see the trade almost back to even, crushing all of my gains. The market panicked on the Trump win, but investors quickly realized their collective mistake and bought back into the market aggressively. The Dow has since rallied over 1,000 points to all-time highs. The move has confounded the bears and surprised even the most hard-core bulls. In retrospect, the rally should not have been that surprising. Trump’s protectionist rhetoric, corporate tax slashing, and even pending inflationary pressure can… Read More

Repositioning. That’s the best word I’ve heard to describe what’s going on in the markets right now. The minute the 2016 election was called, investors on both sides immediately put their party affiliation aside and began trying to figure out what comes next. And the prevailing outlook can only be described as optimistic. The S&P 500 enjoyed a gain of 3.8% between November 7-11, while the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average bounced 5.4% and the Russell 2000 Index surged 10%. That’s a decent year’s worth of gains in just five trading sessions. Overall, it was the strongest week for both… Read More

Repositioning. That’s the best word I’ve heard to describe what’s going on in the markets right now. The minute the 2016 election was called, investors on both sides immediately put their party affiliation aside and began trying to figure out what comes next. And the prevailing outlook can only be described as optimistic. The S&P 500 enjoyed a gain of 3.8% between November 7-11, while the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average bounced 5.4% and the Russell 2000 Index surged 10%. That’s a decent year’s worth of gains in just five trading sessions. Overall, it was the strongest week for both small-cap stocks and giant blue-chip stocks since December 2011. And the rally continues. It’s almost forgotten now, but the market suffered a 9-day losing streak leading up to the election. Oh, how quickly investor sentiment changes. But to gain real insight into how the market views a Trump presidency, you have to examine performance on a more granular level. With that in mind, I want to spend some time today pinpointing the areas of the market that will most likely be affected. —Recommended Link— The Top ‘Crash Protection’ Stock To Buy Now? We’ve identified the top “Crash-Protection” stock to… Read More

I flew into Cabo San Lucas, Mexico a few months ago and made the mistake of exchanging my money at the airport rather than a local bank or financial institution. If drinking the local water is mistake #1, then this one isn’t far behind. I was paid an exchange rate of just 15/1, so my $1,000 turned into 15,000 pesos. Had I walked a few blocks away, the going rate was closer to 18/1 — meaning I could have traded my dollars for 18,000 pesos instead.   #-ad_banner-#3,000 pesos buys a lot of Pacifico beer. And this isn’t just my… Read More

I flew into Cabo San Lucas, Mexico a few months ago and made the mistake of exchanging my money at the airport rather than a local bank or financial institution. If drinking the local water is mistake #1, then this one isn’t far behind. I was paid an exchange rate of just 15/1, so my $1,000 turned into 15,000 pesos. Had I walked a few blocks away, the going rate was closer to 18/1 — meaning I could have traded my dollars for 18,000 pesos instead.   #-ad_banner-#3,000 pesos buys a lot of Pacifico beer. And this isn’t just my experience — the Mexican peso has been one of the weakest currencies in the world for the past three weeks. Since November 8, its value has fallen more than 15% against the U.S. dollar. That selloff is largely being driven by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. Investors are worried Trump will restructure trade agreements between the United States and Mexico or levy tariffs on Mexican exporters. If that happens, it could be a huge drag on the Mexican economy. The weak peso has caused somewhat of a panic in Mexican stocks. In the past three weeks the iShares MSCI Mexico Capped… Read More