It’s no secret that businesses want your e-mail. It’s the holy grail of marketing today — especially for every fly-by-night outfit advertising on social media. You see, if a business can get your e-mail, they can begin an almost scientific process of turning you into a paying customer.  They do this by offering some free report or trial offer. And once you take the bait and provide your e-mail, they enter your e-mail address into a sales funnel. Here, they automatically send you an e-mail every few days trying to get you to read or listen to a long sales… Read More

It’s no secret that businesses want your e-mail. It’s the holy grail of marketing today — especially for every fly-by-night outfit advertising on social media. You see, if a business can get your e-mail, they can begin an almost scientific process of turning you into a paying customer.  They do this by offering some free report or trial offer. And once you take the bait and provide your e-mail, they enter your e-mail address into a sales funnel. Here, they automatically send you an e-mail every few days trying to get you to read or listen to a long sales letter. This sales letter is an attempt to sell you a high-priced product or service. And the process couldn’t be easier. The business offers their product or service, and then at the end of the pitch, they offer a bunch of freebies to sweeten the deal.  You know the process. “Buy my $100 book and you’ll get five BONUS reports giving you secrets that only my customers know.” And believe it or not, this funnel system works. #-ad_banner-#In fact, research shows that once an e-mail address is entered into a sales funnel, it takes roughly 45 days to make that… Read More

As an experienced investor, I know there are times to employ different strategies when buying and selling stocks. Two of my favorite strategies are to buy stocks at deep discounts to their intrinsic values (value investing). I also love to look for stocks at the center of some long-term mega-trend. These stocks I buy and hold for decades. Less commonly, I pay attention to what retail investors (individual investors buying for their personal accounts) are doing. But in today’s market, I’m doing the exact opposite. You see, retail investors often follow the herd mentality and end up buying and selling… Read More

As an experienced investor, I know there are times to employ different strategies when buying and selling stocks. Two of my favorite strategies are to buy stocks at deep discounts to their intrinsic values (value investing). I also love to look for stocks at the center of some long-term mega-trend. These stocks I buy and hold for decades. Less commonly, I pay attention to what retail investors (individual investors buying for their personal accounts) are doing. But in today’s market, I’m doing the exact opposite. You see, retail investors often follow the herd mentality and end up buying and selling stocks at just the wrong times. Many professional investors use a contrarian strategy. That is, they buy when retail investors are selling and sell when the herd is buying.  #-ad_banner-#Now, watching the crowd is not something I spend a lot of time doing. But when certain economic metrics get to extreme levels, it becomes critical to monitor conditions that might indicate retail investors are in full herd mentality. To this point, several metrics are starting to show extreme, or near extreme, levels of greed. This indicates that retail investor sentiment is heating up — potentially indicating that… Read More

Finding cheap stocks is all but impossible. Of course, that’s not uncommon when markets continue notching all-time highs. Unfortunately, overpriced markets pose significant risks for investors looking to deploy additional capital. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t any stocks trading at relatively attractive valuations. And that’s an important concept to keep in mind in this long-in-the-tooth bull market where most stocks are overvalued based on traditional metrics. That’s why the search for value is the single most important principle to employ right now. Simply put, should the market fall off the cliff, as many pundits expect, stocks bought at a… Read More

Finding cheap stocks is all but impossible. Of course, that’s not uncommon when markets continue notching all-time highs. Unfortunately, overpriced markets pose significant risks for investors looking to deploy additional capital. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t any stocks trading at relatively attractive valuations. And that’s an important concept to keep in mind in this long-in-the-tooth bull market where most stocks are overvalued based on traditional metrics. That’s why the search for value is the single most important principle to employ right now. Simply put, should the market fall off the cliff, as many pundits expect, stocks bought at a discount to their intrinsic value fare much better than other stocks trading at higher valuations. These so-called value stocks are often stocks that have fallen out of favor with the market — for any number of reasons. But oftentimes, the reasons a stock is trading below intrinsic value are transitory in nature, such as a bad quarter or two.  #-ad_banner-#But value investors are investors with long time horizons. It’s expected that a company will occasionally have a bad quarter every now and again — even Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) does from time to time. But no sane long-term investor would ditch… Read More

Energy master limited partnerships (MLPs) have taken a beating over the past year or so — and for good reason. Soft energy prices have driven many MLPs to make significant cuts in their dividends. Even those that haven’t cut their dividends have had a tough time raising them. And that’s bad for business. The Alerian MLP Index (NYSE: AMZ) tracks the performance of 50 energy MLPs. The index hit a 52-week intraday low of $244.44 on November 15, as well as a 52-week closing low of $257.08 about a week later. This downward trend is confirmed by the… Read More

Energy master limited partnerships (MLPs) have taken a beating over the past year or so — and for good reason. Soft energy prices have driven many MLPs to make significant cuts in their dividends. Even those that haven’t cut their dividends have had a tough time raising them. And that’s bad for business. The Alerian MLP Index (NYSE: AMZ) tracks the performance of 50 energy MLPs. The index hit a 52-week intraday low of $244.44 on November 15, as well as a 52-week closing low of $257.08 about a week later. This downward trend is confirmed by the Alerian MLP ETF (NYSE: AMLP), which is an MLP-focused ETF with a market capitalization of $9.7 billion under management. This index currently sits just pennies above its all-time low of $10.11. The fund currently yields 6.1% annually. Despite these numbers, long-term dividend-focused investors looking to stake out a position in solid, income-generating MLPs would be wise to consider buying now despite the potential for gut-churning volatility. #-ad_banner-#Here’s why… MLP distributions are rising. Now, it’s important to remember that MLPs are pass-through entities where the company’s profits are distributed directly to the MLPs’ partners. As with any pass-through entity, rising distributions… Read More

Most Americans don’t realize the world’s largest securities market is not the stock market. According to the World Bank, the global value of all publicly traded stocks is somewhere north of $70 trillion. But that’s more than one-third less than the value of the bond market – worth roughly $110 trillion. More importantly, with the explosion of debt financing, bond markets are growing much faster than global stock markets. For the uninitiated, bonds are a type of loan where companies and governments borrow money from investors. In exchange, investors receive interest payments based on the bond’s coupon (interest) rate. The… Read More

Most Americans don’t realize the world’s largest securities market is not the stock market. According to the World Bank, the global value of all publicly traded stocks is somewhere north of $70 trillion. But that’s more than one-third less than the value of the bond market – worth roughly $110 trillion. More importantly, with the explosion of debt financing, bond markets are growing much faster than global stock markets. For the uninitiated, bonds are a type of loan where companies and governments borrow money from investors. In exchange, investors receive interest payments based on the bond’s coupon (interest) rate. The investor continues receiving interest payments until the bond matures. At maturity, the investor receives the final interest payment as well as a return of the original investment. Should the borrower fail to return the principal at maturity, the borrower faces bankruptcy. Now, while the bond market has been growing rapidly, there’s an underlying problem of liquidity bubbling just beneath the surface. You see, prior to the financial crisis, large banks used their balance sheets to facilitate trading in the bond markets. They did this by purchasing large blocks of debt to hold until they could find a buyer for the… Read More

President Trump is touting his new tax reform plan. While the details are not yet finalized, one thing is for certain: American taxpayers will get to keep more of their hard-earned money. And that’s a good thing. But the real beneficiary of tax reform will be American corporations. You see, one of Donald Trump’s promises is to provide relief for corporations by way of a one-time low-rate tax on trillions of dollars held overseas. It’s estimated that U.S. corporations hold approximately $2.7 trillion in foreign banks. Currently, they are unwilling to “repatriate” this money because of the U.S. government’s confiscatory… Read More

President Trump is touting his new tax reform plan. While the details are not yet finalized, one thing is for certain: American taxpayers will get to keep more of their hard-earned money. And that’s a good thing. But the real beneficiary of tax reform will be American corporations. You see, one of Donald Trump’s promises is to provide relief for corporations by way of a one-time low-rate tax on trillions of dollars held overseas. It’s estimated that U.S. corporations hold approximately $2.7 trillion in foreign banks. Currently, they are unwilling to “repatriate” this money because of the U.S. government’s confiscatory tax rate of 35% — the highest in the developed world. Thus, if Trump is successful, American businesses will repatriate its cash back to America at a significant savings to today’s business-killing tax-rate. What isn’t clear, however, is what the tax rate will be on repatriation. #-ad_banner-#So we look to history for precedents. This isn’t the first time the government has come to its collective senses and reduced individual and corporate tax rates. Back in 2004, George W. Bush signed the Homeland Investment Act, part of the American Jobs Creation Act.  The act gave a one-time deduction of 85% on… Read More

In 2013, a speaker at an economic summit made a rather remarkable statement. The speaker, a high-ranking government economist, said that if the United States didn’t get its spending under control, the government risked a debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio in excess of 100% by 2024. The statement immediately drew chuckles from the attendees, most of whom were non-government economists. Of course, most economists knew the government would bypass the 100% level years sooner than predicted. In fact, at $20.4 trillion, the national debt is now 105% of GDP — just four years after the infamous statement. Worse, the ratio… Read More

In 2013, a speaker at an economic summit made a rather remarkable statement. The speaker, a high-ranking government economist, said that if the United States didn’t get its spending under control, the government risked a debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio in excess of 100% by 2024. The statement immediately drew chuckles from the attendees, most of whom were non-government economists. Of course, most economists knew the government would bypass the 100% level years sooner than predicted. In fact, at $20.4 trillion, the national debt is now 105% of GDP — just four years after the infamous statement. Worse, the ratio will accelerate from here. You see, much of the budget sequestration caps enacted in 2011 have been abandoned. As such, the only true limit to the national debt is now a fiscally conservative Congress, which is an oxymoron if ever there was one.  The Republican-controlled Congress is no more likely to limit spending than Democrats. In fact, the only difference between the parties is the names of the beneficiaries of taxpayer dollars. Democrats like to reward the poverty industry while the Republicans reward the military-industrial complex. But make no mistake: Neither party seems to acknowledge the cliff to which we… Read More

No matter how you look at it, food service is changing in the United States. In fact, research indicates that Americans now eat 50% of their meals out of the home. That’s up from just 2% in 1920. This shouldn’t be surprising, given our cultural penchant for instant gratification.  Whether this trend is good or bad, one thing is abundantly clear: The days of a family gathering around the dinner table eating a meal from scratch — à la The Waltons — has gone the way of the 1970s television show.  However, eating out can be very expensive. A twice-weekly… Read More

No matter how you look at it, food service is changing in the United States. In fact, research indicates that Americans now eat 50% of their meals out of the home. That’s up from just 2% in 1920. This shouldn’t be surprising, given our cultural penchant for instant gratification.  Whether this trend is good or bad, one thing is abundantly clear: The days of a family gathering around the dinner table eating a meal from scratch — à la The Waltons — has gone the way of the 1970s television show.  However, eating out can be very expensive. A twice-weekly trip to a fast casual restaurant for a family of four can cost the same as a week’s worth of groceries. To some extent, the high cost of eating out helps explain the explosive growth of meal-kit services like Blue Apron (NYSE: APRN), HelloFresh, and Plated that deliver uncooked ingredients to be prepared in the home. #-ad_banner-#But even the convenience of meal kits isn’t particularly appealing to families stretched for time. Late hours at work combined with an endless stream of extracurricular activities for kids has left many parents deprived of the time to cook dinner — even meal kits. Read More

I’ve been around insurance companies most of my professional life. Of course, it helps that I think insurance is interesting. I mean, have you ever read a policy that indemnified and insured for causes of loss to satellites in space? Or policies covering jumbo jet aircraft? They’re simply amazing. Now, one of the things I learned early on is that well-run insurance companies have a common denominator. It’s a simple concept: profitable insurers receive more in premiums than they pay out in claims.  Seems easy, right? #-ad_banner-#But in the real world, it isn’t as easy as it sounds. You see,… Read More

I’ve been around insurance companies most of my professional life. Of course, it helps that I think insurance is interesting. I mean, have you ever read a policy that indemnified and insured for causes of loss to satellites in space? Or policies covering jumbo jet aircraft? They’re simply amazing. Now, one of the things I learned early on is that well-run insurance companies have a common denominator. It’s a simple concept: profitable insurers receive more in premiums than they pay out in claims.  Seems easy, right? #-ad_banner-#But in the real world, it isn’t as easy as it sounds. You see, insurance pricing is cyclical. Prices go up and down with the changing levels of supply and demand in the market. This is especially true after hurricanes and other large loss events. These large losses force many insurers to flee the market until they can build up their loss reserves. But that leads customers to lose faith in an insurer, making any future return to the market more difficult. That’s why it’s so important for insurers to underwrite their policies profitably every time.  To do this, insurers look at two metrics to calculate profitability. The first is their expense ratio. This… Read More

There’s lots of talk about how companies are exploiting the so-called Internet of Things (IoT). Truth be told, they’ve barely scratched the surface.  That’s because the technology of connecting billions of sensor-laden consumer products, as well as industrial machines and equipment, to the internet remain in the very early stages of development. But the technology is growing more massive every year. According to McKinsey Global Institute, the IoT will generate up to $11 trillion in economic benefit by 2025. Of course, those numbers include profits to device-makers, efficiencies, new businesses, and savings to consumers from more efficient products. But it’s… Read More

There’s lots of talk about how companies are exploiting the so-called Internet of Things (IoT). Truth be told, they’ve barely scratched the surface.  That’s because the technology of connecting billions of sensor-laden consumer products, as well as industrial machines and equipment, to the internet remain in the very early stages of development. But the technology is growing more massive every year. According to McKinsey Global Institute, the IoT will generate up to $11 trillion in economic benefit by 2025. Of course, those numbers include profits to device-makers, efficiencies, new businesses, and savings to consumers from more efficient products. But it’s still a trend investors ignore at their own financial peril.  #-ad_banner-#Further adding credence to the McKinsey data, another forecast from market research company IHS Markit makes a bolder prediction. IHS Markit claims that more than 75 billion smart devices will be in use by 2025. That’s a 400% increase over the roughly 15 billion devices in use today. Now, to put this number in perspective, chip manufacturers must build microchips at a rate that is six times greater than has ever been produced since microchips were first developed in 1958 by Texas Instruments (Nasdaq: TXN).  And it’s… Read More