It’s not always easy to go against the crowd, especially when it comes to investing.   #-ad_banner-#But some of the best investments ever have been made when markets are paralyzed by fear.   Warren Buffett is the poster child for this style of contrarian investing. Just look back to 2011 when Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway  invested $5 billion in then-struggling Bank of America (NYSE: BAC). While most investors were fleeing, questioning the bank’s solvency, Buffett saw an opportunity. Today the market value of his investment has more than doubled in just over three years.   And when it comes… Read More

It’s not always easy to go against the crowd, especially when it comes to investing.   #-ad_banner-#But some of the best investments ever have been made when markets are paralyzed by fear.   Warren Buffett is the poster child for this style of contrarian investing. Just look back to 2011 when Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway  invested $5 billion in then-struggling Bank of America (NYSE: BAC). While most investors were fleeing, questioning the bank’s solvency, Buffett saw an opportunity. Today the market value of his investment has more than doubled in just over three years.   And when it comes to another one of Buffett’s well-known investments, we have a similar opportunity to profit tremendously today. In the 1960s, American Express made a series of bad loans in a scandal dubbed “The Salad Oil Scandal.” Essentially, American Express was the victim of fraud by a company that obtained loans based on its far-overstated inventory of salad oil. When all was said and done American Express shares dropped more than 50%.   Seeing a tremendous value, Buffet stepped in and bought a 5% stake in American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) for about $20 million. As the years went… Read More

  Growth and income investors seeking stocks that perform well in all economic conditions are often quickly drawn to Public Storage (NYSE: PSA), a real estate investment trust that’s basically the king of self-storage facilities.   #-ad_banner-#Public Storage’s domain is expansive, comprising more than 2,000 properties in 38 states and Europe. Its $2.1 billion in annual revenue and $35-billion market value are tops among self-storage REITs. Eight dividend hikes in the past 10 years despite a recession also sets Public Storage apart, as does its whopping $5.60 a share payout and 165% stock price gain in the past five years. Read More

  Growth and income investors seeking stocks that perform well in all economic conditions are often quickly drawn to Public Storage (NYSE: PSA), a real estate investment trust that’s basically the king of self-storage facilities.   #-ad_banner-#Public Storage’s domain is expansive, comprising more than 2,000 properties in 38 states and Europe. Its $2.1 billion in annual revenue and $35-billion market value are tops among self-storage REITs. Eight dividend hikes in the past 10 years despite a recession also sets Public Storage apart, as does its whopping $5.60 a share payout and 165% stock price gain in the past five years.   Investors shouldn’t be too quick to settle solely on Public Storage, though. There are several other excellent self-storage REITs worth considering, both for diversification and as good or better yields.   My favorite is one most investors probably wouldn’t recognize right off the bat: Sovran Self Storage, Inc. (NYSE: SSS).   But those living in Sovran’s core markets of Florida, Texas and the Mid-Atlantic states may know the company better by its brand, Uncle Bob’s Self-Storage. Typically, an Uncle Bob’s is a large, modern-looking, multi-story facility with 24-hour access, sophisticated security systems and climate control, in keeping with current… Read More

  There are a pair of solid reasons why I developed my skills as a stock analyst: I don’t have much faith in other analysts and money managers, and nobody is going to care as much about managing my money as I am.   #-ad_banner-#But there are a few analysts and money managers that I do respect. Adam Parker, chief U.S. equity strategist at Morgan Stanley is one of them, as well as Abby Joseph Cohen of Goldman Sachs.   Few money managers, even among those that I follow, are able to say they have consistently beaten the market. In… Read More

  There are a pair of solid reasons why I developed my skills as a stock analyst: I don’t have much faith in other analysts and money managers, and nobody is going to care as much about managing my money as I am.   #-ad_banner-#But there are a few analysts and money managers that I do respect. Adam Parker, chief U.S. equity strategist at Morgan Stanley is one of them, as well as Abby Joseph Cohen of Goldman Sachs.   Few money managers, even among those that I follow, are able to say they have consistently beaten the market. In fact, I can only think of one and he just made a recommendation that I cannot ignore.   A Market Oracle Makes A Bold Call To my knowledge, you won’t find a money manager or analyst that has surpassed the stock-picking savvy of Bill Miller, chairman and chief investment officer of Legg Mason Capital Management. Miller runs his firm’s Legg Mason Value Trust, which beat the S&P 500 for 15 consecutive years, making him one of the most widely-respected managers on Wall Street.   Miller’s historic run came to an end in… Read More

As many readers know, I’ve been an avid student of Warren Buffett for many years. Studying his investment methods and applying them to my own analysis has paid off in spades. One of his most famous adages is, “invest in what you know”. #-ad_banner-#For better or for worse, something that I know all too well about is diabetes. It’s a condition I deal with every day, and I’ve candidly written about it several times my premium newsletter, Game-Changing Stocks. Diabetes isn’t something that normally comes up during conversations about investing, but today there’s a… Read More

As many readers know, I’ve been an avid student of Warren Buffett for many years. Studying his investment methods and applying them to my own analysis has paid off in spades. One of his most famous adages is, “invest in what you know”. #-ad_banner-#For better or for worse, something that I know all too well about is diabetes. It’s a condition I deal with every day, and I’ve candidly written about it several times my premium newsletter, Game-Changing Stocks. Diabetes isn’t something that normally comes up during conversations about investing, but today there’s a good reason why I bring it up. You see, as I’ve previously mentioned inpast articles on StreetAuthority.com , the United States is currently facing a diabetes epidemic. About 3 million Americans currently live with Type I juvenile onset diabetes, including myself. And in 2013, as many as 29 million Americans were living with Type II diabetes. Today, two-in-three Americans are categorized as overweight or obese and nearly half of adults have either pre-diabetes or diabetes. This condition cost the U.S. economy $245 billion in 2013, according to the American Diabetes Association. And the problem is only getting… Read More

  To paraphrase Isaac Newton’s First Law of Motion, “a company that exceeds earnings forecasts tends to keep exceeding earnings forecasts.” That’s because Wall Street analysts tend to only incrementally adjust their forecasts in light of new information. So these companies keep on delivering better-than-expected results, and investors can profit by positioning their investments ahead of the next quarterly upside. #-ad_banner-#The key to finding such stocks: look for those companies that manage to not only exceed quarterly forecasts, but raise forward guidance as well. These “beat and raise” stocks are often excellent momentum investments. Of course, momentum investing has a… Read More

  To paraphrase Isaac Newton’s First Law of Motion, “a company that exceeds earnings forecasts tends to keep exceeding earnings forecasts.” That’s because Wall Street analysts tend to only incrementally adjust their forecasts in light of new information. So these companies keep on delivering better-than-expected results, and investors can profit by positioning their investments ahead of the next quarterly upside. #-ad_banner-#The key to finding such stocks: look for those companies that manage to not only exceed quarterly forecasts, but raise forward guidance as well. These “beat and raise” stocks are often excellent momentum investments. Of course, momentum investing has a clear drawback. Investors may be catching such stocks at a time when they are already sporting lush valuations. Growth is nice, but not growth-at-any-price. In that light, I’ve been reviewing Q4 reports, looking for companies that exceeded profit forecasts by at least 15%. I ignored any stocks that didn’t receive a boost to their 2015 and 2016 earnings per share forecasts. Lastly, I decided to only focus on those stocks that trade for less than 18 times projected 2016 profits. Here are a dozen stocks that fit those criteria.   Company Q4 Beat (%) 2015 EPS 2016… Read More

  When gauging market sentiment about a company, don’t bother spending hours on reading and research. Just look at its stock chart.   Right now, the market has been shunning shares of the world’s largest online travel agency, Priceline Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: PCLN). It has slumped 25% since peaking in March 2014, signifying a move into its own bear market.   Clearly, after many years of exceptional growth, Priceline has fallen out of favor.   #-ad_banner-#Several factors explain the current bearishness, including currency headwinds. Priceline generates 87% of its revenue outside the United States, with 60% coming… Read More

  When gauging market sentiment about a company, don’t bother spending hours on reading and research. Just look at its stock chart.   Right now, the market has been shunning shares of the world’s largest online travel agency, Priceline Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: PCLN). It has slumped 25% since peaking in March 2014, signifying a move into its own bear market.   Clearly, after many years of exceptional growth, Priceline has fallen out of favor.   #-ad_banner-#Several factors explain the current bearishness, including currency headwinds. Priceline generates 87% of its revenue outside the United States, with 60% coming from Europe alone. The company’s detractors figure the strong dollar is sure to create a big drag on profits, especially with central bank stimulus in Europe positioning the dollar for even greater gains against the euro.   Priceline bears are also concerned that global economic weakness will hinder travel-related spending by foreign consumers. And they point to Priceline’s sales and marketing outlays, arguing that these costs have risen much too quickly for the firm to maintain strong margins.   These are valid concerns.   However, I believe the market has overreacted to them and the stock is now an unusually… Read More

The name Bill Ackman carries more weight now than it did a year ago. #-ad_banner-#2014 was a rough year for most hedge fund managers. The average fund returned just 2% and the first six months of the year saw 461 hedge funds close shop. Yet Ackman’s fund, Pershing Square Holdings, returned an astounding 40.4% in 2014 and went from managing around $11.5 billion assets at the start of the year to more than $18 billion currently. Ackman was named top dog in Bloomberg’s 2014 ranking of the world’s best hedge fund managers. And that success helped make Pershing Square Holdings’… Read More

The name Bill Ackman carries more weight now than it did a year ago. #-ad_banner-#2014 was a rough year for most hedge fund managers. The average fund returned just 2% and the first six months of the year saw 461 hedge funds close shop. Yet Ackman’s fund, Pershing Square Holdings, returned an astounding 40.4% in 2014 and went from managing around $11.5 billion assets at the start of the year to more than $18 billion currently. Ackman was named top dog in Bloomberg’s 2014 ranking of the world’s best hedge fund managers. And that success helped make Pershing Square Holdings’ (AMS: PSH) recent IPO that much more successful. The firm’s October IPO — which opened on the Euronext Amsterdam exchange — was one of Europe’s largest in 2014, at $2.7 billion. Investors who bought shares of the company at the time of its IPO have already seen a nice 12.7% gain in just a few months.   In the company’s first letter-to-shareholders, Ackman laid out what he believes to be the company’s primary competitive advantages. He wrote, “When compared with other investment holding or operating companies, PSH benefits by its favorable tax structure and long-term track record.” Pershing… Read More

  When it comes to growth-investing, trend spotters like to get in early on a theme that is just getting started. However, lucrative opportunities can also be found in themes that are coming to an end.   #-ad_banner-#A key long-term theme in the U.S. economy that has peaked and is in retreat: full-time employment.   The historical contract of traditional employment, which provided workers with a specific job description, set compensation and greater job security (or at least the perception of it) is no longer the obvious choice — for business owners and workers alike. Indeed, since the recession, this… Read More

  When it comes to growth-investing, trend spotters like to get in early on a theme that is just getting started. However, lucrative opportunities can also be found in themes that are coming to an end.   #-ad_banner-#A key long-term theme in the U.S. economy that has peaked and is in retreat: full-time employment.   The historical contract of traditional employment, which provided workers with a specific job description, set compensation and greater job security (or at least the perception of it) is no longer the obvious choice — for business owners and workers alike. Indeed, since the recession, this employment model has been on its way out.   Tepid economic growth has led employers to grow more cautious when it comes to new hires. The rising cost of healthcare benefits, along with other forms of overhead, has led many firms to turn to independent contractors — self-employed freelancers who work from home or onsite full- or part-time as needed, often on a per-project basis.   Independent contractors can be more cost-effective for many reasons. Employers don’t have to share in their payroll taxes, buy benefits for them or provide them with other perks, like paid vacation and sick time. Read More

A few months ago, we told you about a little-known indicator that’s making a small group of investors a lot of money. #-ad_banner-#We call this indicator the “Alpha Score,” because it consistently beats the market and often with less risk than buy-and-hold investing. It can flag exactly which stocks are about to jump double and triple digits in the coming days… weeks… and months. I’ll tell you more about the Alpha Score in a second, but just know that the indicator can range from 0 to 200. The higher the number, the more potential… Read More

A few months ago, we told you about a little-known indicator that’s making a small group of investors a lot of money. #-ad_banner-#We call this indicator the “Alpha Score,” because it consistently beats the market and often with less risk than buy-and-hold investing. It can flag exactly which stocks are about to jump double and triple digits in the coming days… weeks… and months. I’ll tell you more about the Alpha Score in a second, but just know that the indicator can range from 0 to 200. The higher the number, the more potential the stock has. For example, you may not be familiar with Westmoreland Coal (Nasdaq: WLB). It operates six surface coal mines and two power generating units in the western United States. Westmoreland’s outlook was promising when we recommended shares just over a year ago. It had sold 95% of its future production under long-term contracts, and the market for coal looked stable. But that’s not what attracted us to the stock. What most investors didn’t know about WLB is that it had an Alpha Score of 158. Less than 1% of… Read More

I have a confession to make — I love great hotels. #-ad_banner-#There’s simply nothing like a great living space — complete with room service or an amazing view — to make you feel like a million bucks while on vacation or business. But there’s more to love than just the amenities they offer. The right hotels can also turn out to be market-beating investments. That’s why I wasn’t surprised to come across a company that manages some of the world’s top luxury hotel brands, when researching for my new report, “The… Read More

I have a confession to make — I love great hotels. #-ad_banner-#There’s simply nothing like a great living space — complete with room service or an amazing view — to make you feel like a million bucks while on vacation or business. But there’s more to love than just the amenities they offer. The right hotels can also turn out to be market-beating investments. That’s why I wasn’t surprised to come across a company that manages some of the world’s top luxury hotel brands, when researching for my new report, “The Top 10 Stocks For 2015.” And after learning more about this impressive company, there was no question I had to add it to my list. Now, I’ll admit, this is probably not a company you’re familiar with. However, I’m sure you’d recognize many of the luxury hotel brands it oversees. The company owns and operates more than 1,200 hotels and resorts — including Westin, Sheraton, W and St. Regis (to name a few) — in nearly 100 countries around the world. From the United States to Fiji… Hong… Read More