I’ve always had a soft spot for asset manager stocks, especially mutual fund managers. As an advisor/portfolio manager, I’ve been dealing with them on a daily basis for over two decades. Honestly, I don’t use a lot of mutual funds in my practice, but it’s a stylistic choice, not an indictment of the product.  That said, over the years I have owned a decent handful of mutual fund management company stocks. They can be great businesses and, in turn, great investments. I’ve written about asset managers off and on over the years. Here’s a piece from a few years back. … Read More

I’ve always had a soft spot for asset manager stocks, especially mutual fund managers. As an advisor/portfolio manager, I’ve been dealing with them on a daily basis for over two decades. Honestly, I don’t use a lot of mutual funds in my practice, but it’s a stylistic choice, not an indictment of the product.  That said, over the years I have owned a decent handful of mutual fund management company stocks. They can be great businesses and, in turn, great investments. I’ve written about asset managers off and on over the years. Here’s a piece from a few years back.  Recently, another asset manager has piqued my interest, primarily on a yield and valuation basis. Running $86.5 billion out of their Overland Park, KS headquarters, Waddell and Reed Financial (NYSE: WDR) has a fund complex and distribution model that merits a look. The stock has had a bit of a ride over the last few years, climbing over 200% only to give it all back. But it just might be time to get back in. Here’s why. #-ad_banner-#At its core, the asset management business is pretty simple, at least from a model standpoint. You take in… Read More

In the world of income investing, dividends reign supreme. Treasuries and CDs are offering historically low yields and are no longer considered the ultra-safe cash generators that they once were.  —Sponsored Link— Meet The Man Who Could Soon Put 2,800% In Your Pocket Imagine the type of money you could make with a powerful CEO in your hip pocket. Imagine a man with over 100 IPOs behind him and an almost half-billion dollar revenue stream working for you — see how to profit here. There’s a little-known… Read More

In the world of income investing, dividends reign supreme. Treasuries and CDs are offering historically low yields and are no longer considered the ultra-safe cash generators that they once were.  —Sponsored Link— Meet The Man Who Could Soon Put 2,800% In Your Pocket Imagine the type of money you could make with a powerful CEO in your hip pocket. Imagine a man with over 100 IPOs behind him and an almost half-billion dollar revenue stream working for you — see how to profit here. There’s a little-known group of stocks that offer huge dividend payouts, but their yields are not displayed to the public on financial websites like Yahoo! Finance or Morningstar. This phenomenon is due to a glitch in the way the financial media reports certain companies’ financial information.  I call this group of stocks “Hidden High Yielders.” And if you know where to look, you can find companies yielding three, six, even seven times more than the yield posted on financial websites.  #-ad_banner-#​ For Hidden High Yielders, their true payout is actually much higher because there are dozens… Read More

When Walt Disney moved to Los Angeles in 1923 and created Disney Brothers Studio, he had little to his name, having already failed with a previous studio company.  His legacy is now worth a market cap of $157 billion, spanning film, TV, sports and theme parks. In the last five years alone, shares of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) have jumped 235% as the entertainment powerhouse uses its reach to dominate multiple industries. #-ad_banner-#The rise of China and 1.35 billion consumers could bring the next Disney story, and one of the world’s richest men already has plans for creating his… Read More

When Walt Disney moved to Los Angeles in 1923 and created Disney Brothers Studio, he had little to his name, having already failed with a previous studio company.  His legacy is now worth a market cap of $157 billion, spanning film, TV, sports and theme parks. In the last five years alone, shares of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) have jumped 235% as the entertainment powerhouse uses its reach to dominate multiple industries. #-ad_banner-#The rise of China and 1.35 billion consumers could bring the next Disney story, and one of the world’s richest men already has plans for creating his empire.  He’s got the ear of the Chinese government and a $30 billion-plus head start on building the next global entertainment dynamo. From Property Development To Entertainment Empire The Dalian Wanda Group is already the world’s largest property developer, and now has its sight set on developing a global entertainment business to rival any other. The company is developing six theme parks in China, as well as hotel and tourism properties internationally.   The company also owns Infront Sports & Media, a media and marketing company for international sporting events and federations. The company represents 170 rights holders, including… Read More

As technology progresses, sometimes it amazes me at how fast things become obsolete. I have two teenage sons. When they were pre-teens, Microsoft’s (Nasdaq: MSFT) Xbox game console was all the rage. New releases of ActivisionBlizzard’s (Nasdaq: ATVI) “Call of Duty” series were pre-ordered and eagerly anticipated. #-ad_banner-#It wasn’t that long ago, but it almost seems the gaming console platform is dead and gone, at least in our house. Most gaming done by my kids is handheld, whether on smartphone or tablet. When I hear Xbox generated gunfire and explosions coming from the back, I figure that they must be… Read More

As technology progresses, sometimes it amazes me at how fast things become obsolete. I have two teenage sons. When they were pre-teens, Microsoft’s (Nasdaq: MSFT) Xbox game console was all the rage. New releases of ActivisionBlizzard’s (Nasdaq: ATVI) “Call of Duty” series were pre-ordered and eagerly anticipated. #-ad_banner-#It wasn’t that long ago, but it almost seems the gaming console platform is dead and gone, at least in our house. Most gaming done by my kids is handheld, whether on smartphone or tablet. When I hear Xbox generated gunfire and explosions coming from the back, I figure that they must be feeling nostalgic. With the rise of digital payment systems, I get a bit nostalgic at times when it comes to physical banking, whether it’s making a deposit in the drive through of an actual branch, writing a check, or even using an ATM. Birthed in the mid 1960’s, the ATM has become a staple of the modern convenience life. However, it could go the way of the pay phone. So what does the future hold for Diebold, Inc. (NYSE: DBD), one of the world’s leading manufacturers of ATMs? Is the stock worth owning? On a price… Read More

Growth investors are notoriously fickle when it comes to earnings reports. Unbridled enthusiasm leads them to bid up shares of rising stars, only to stampede for the exits when the company fails to meet ridiculously high expectations. Sometimes it doesn’t even take an earnings miss to send shares crashing, but merely a change in the company’s financial outlook. Lowered guidance may send analysts and shareholders fleeing, even if the company is still on a strong growth trajectory. In many cases, it’s not long before investors calm down and once again look at the company rationally. They reassess the longer-term outlook… Read More

Growth investors are notoriously fickle when it comes to earnings reports. Unbridled enthusiasm leads them to bid up shares of rising stars, only to stampede for the exits when the company fails to meet ridiculously high expectations. Sometimes it doesn’t even take an earnings miss to send shares crashing, but merely a change in the company’s financial outlook. Lowered guidance may send analysts and shareholders fleeing, even if the company is still on a strong growth trajectory. In many cases, it’s not long before investors calm down and once again look at the company rationally. They reassess the longer-term outlook — the same story that probably got them excited about the stock in the first place — and bid shares right back up. #-ad_banner-# So, when I see a best-of-breed company in one of my favorite long-term industries plummet after its earnings report, I get excited. Herd Quick To Bail On This Growth Stock… And Then Buy Again Few firms have been as innovative in information security as FireEye (Nasdaq: FEYE) with its advanced detection technology and threat intelligence feed. Security advisory firm SSP Blue estimates global spending on information… Read More

Today, I want to tell you about a way you can legally skim tens of thousands of dollars a year from some of the largest firms on Wall Street that has been called safe enough for widows and orphans. It may sound fishy at first, but I promise it is 100% legal. And it is widely regarded (at least by those in the know) as one of the most conservative strategies in the market. I have taught hundreds of people — from young couples struggling to make ends meet to retirees — how to… Read More

Today, I want to tell you about a way you can legally skim tens of thousands of dollars a year from some of the largest firms on Wall Street that has been called safe enough for widows and orphans. It may sound fishy at first, but I promise it is 100% legal. And it is widely regarded (at least by those in the know) as one of the most conservative strategies in the market. I have taught hundreds of people — from young couples struggling to make ends meet to retirees — how to supplement their income with it. Last year alone, I skimmed $46,360 from some of the largest firms on Wall Street. —Recommended Link— Big Kahuna Profits in Energy Storage Tesla CEO Elon Musk is building a large battery farm in Hawaii to store energy from island sunshine. It’s just his latest move to grow his energy storage business. Here are three little-known energy companies riding Tesla’s huge 10-bagger technology wave. This report reveals the full story.   It was easy to do. The money was just sitting there. And if I hadn’t taken it, someone else would have. I just beat… Read More

The chorus of investing gurus sounding the alarm on bubbles in both the bond and stock market grows almost daily. It started as early as last year with Vanguard founder Jack Bogle warning that stocks could return as little as 6% annually over the next decade based on record low interest rates and overvaluation. #-ad_banner-#​DoubleLine Capital Chief Executive Jeffrey Gundlach said last month that investors have entered, “a world of uber complacency,” recommending that investors sell everything and that the stock market should be, “down massively.” The $100 billion L.A.-based asset manager also went “maximum negative” on U.S. Treasuries, marking… Read More

The chorus of investing gurus sounding the alarm on bubbles in both the bond and stock market grows almost daily. It started as early as last year with Vanguard founder Jack Bogle warning that stocks could return as little as 6% annually over the next decade based on record low interest rates and overvaluation. #-ad_banner-#​DoubleLine Capital Chief Executive Jeffrey Gundlach said last month that investors have entered, “a world of uber complacency,” recommending that investors sell everything and that the stock market should be, “down massively.” The $100 billion L.A.-based asset manager also went “maximum negative” on U.S. Treasuries, marking a familiar alarm among smart money that investors may find no safety in bonds either. Bond guru Bill Gross has previously been critical of the massive monetary programs by central banks globally and told Bloomberg this month that it’s, “devolved into Ponzi finance,” and have become, “promises that can never be kept.” Looking at valuations, the Janus Capital Manager said he doesn’t like bonds or most stocks, but admitted that investors need to put their money to work.  In fact, against the potential for the financial system to “implode”, Gross said the Janus Unconstrained Fund is holding just 5% in… Read More

My wife and I are planning to visit Europe soon. Deciding exactly where to go is proving difficult: historic German castles and biergartens, quaint Irish country inns, moonlit Italian dining… There are just too many things to see.  Regardless of whether we fly to Munich, Dublin or somewhere else, our budget will stretch much further these days thanks to the strong dollar.  Two years ago, the dollar was equivalent to 0.70 euros. Today, the same greenback will get you 0.90 euros. So if you set aside $1,000 in spending money back then and went to a bank to exchange it,… Read More

My wife and I are planning to visit Europe soon. Deciding exactly where to go is proving difficult: historic German castles and biergartens, quaint Irish country inns, moonlit Italian dining… There are just too many things to see.  Regardless of whether we fly to Munich, Dublin or somewhere else, our budget will stretch much further these days thanks to the strong dollar.  Two years ago, the dollar was equivalent to 0.70 euros. Today, the same greenback will get you 0.90 euros. So if you set aside $1,000 in spending money back then and went to a bank to exchange it, you would have walked out with 700 euros to spend. Today, the same outlay will put 900 euros in your pocket.  ​ This favorable exchange means my wife and I can enjoy better meals, stay in nicer hotels, and visit more attractions — all without spending a single extra dollar. You can see why travelers love this strong dollar. Unfortunately, large businesses hate it. U.S.-made goods exported overseas have become more expensive for foreign buyers. Compounding matters, any sales based in euros, yen or rupees are being converted back into fewer dollars — causing revenue and profit to shrink… Read More