If you’ve never heard of Bill James, don’t feel bad. Until recently, his name was only reverently whispered among circles of “statheads” — a small but growing community of baseball fans who sought to more accurately quantify the performance of players beyond traditional measurements. After leaving the Army, James earned degrees in English, economics and education from the University of Kansas. He got his start writing about baseball in the 1970s while working the nightshift as a security guard at the Stokely-Van Camp pork and beans cannery. But rather than following the traditional sports writing narrative, James’ curiosity led him… Read More

If you’ve never heard of Bill James, don’t feel bad. Until recently, his name was only reverently whispered among circles of “statheads” — a small but growing community of baseball fans who sought to more accurately quantify the performance of players beyond traditional measurements. After leaving the Army, James earned degrees in English, economics and education from the University of Kansas. He got his start writing about baseball in the 1970s while working the nightshift as a security guard at the Stokely-Van Camp pork and beans cannery. But rather than following the traditional sports writing narrative, James’ curiosity led him to question the way baseball statistics informed the decisions teams made about everything from game strategy to building a team. At first, his work was dismissed and considered “unreadable” by major publishers. So James self-published his writings, often accompanied by pages and pages of statistical information. As the years went by, James’ work slowly gained respect, and his research helped pioneer a field known as “sabermetrics” — or more popularly known today as “moneyball.” —Recommended Link— The Ultimate “Sticky” Revenue Stream Every company is doing it… From Comcast to Spotify… Even your local gym. I’m talking about auto… Read More

The market is new all-time highs, unemployment is near its record low, the U.S. economy is in its longest-ever expansion cycle, and the Federal Reserve is discussing a rate cut. Welcome to the new normal. #-ad_banner-#I am not going to start a long-winded discussion about the virtues or risks of extending the expansion phase or about the cyclicality of the economy, even though interest rate cuts have been historically reserved for when the economy is in a slump or turmoil. After all, monetary policies are out of investors’ control. Of course, with almost the entire world on the easing path… Read More

The market is new all-time highs, unemployment is near its record low, the U.S. economy is in its longest-ever expansion cycle, and the Federal Reserve is discussing a rate cut. Welcome to the new normal. #-ad_banner-#I am not going to start a long-winded discussion about the virtues or risks of extending the expansion phase or about the cyclicality of the economy, even though interest rate cuts have been historically reserved for when the economy is in a slump or turmoil. After all, monetary policies are out of investors’ control. Of course, with almost the entire world on the easing path and with strong economic growth relatively scarce, it would be rational to believe that the Fed may about to reverse its recent tightening policies. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said as much Wednesday in prepared testimony to the House Financial Services Committee, hinting strongly that in light of the U.S. economy not drastically improving over the past few weeks and the world’s growth slowing, a rate cut is in the cards. The market is now pricing in a 100% probability of a cut in the July 30-31 meeting. Whether or not we will remain on the easing path after that meeting… Read More

There’s a handful of well-known names that have left their imprint on the investing world, whether it was with unprecedented streaks of market-beating returns or famous bets against major events (think financial crisis and “breaking” the Bank of England). At the top of that list is usually the “Oracle of Omaha,” aka Warren Buffett. But another notable money manager is Peter Lynch. He ran the Magellan Fund at Fidelity Investments between 1977 and 1990. All he did was churn out an average return of over 29% per year, which was more the double what the S&P 500 did over the… Read More

There’s a handful of well-known names that have left their imprint on the investing world, whether it was with unprecedented streaks of market-beating returns or famous bets against major events (think financial crisis and “breaking” the Bank of England). At the top of that list is usually the “Oracle of Omaha,” aka Warren Buffett. But another notable money manager is Peter Lynch. He ran the Magellan Fund at Fidelity Investments between 1977 and 1990. All he did was churn out an average return of over 29% per year, which was more the double what the S&P 500 did over the same period. He also wrote two notable books — “Beating the Street” and “One Up on Wall Street” — as well as a lesser-known book, “Learn to Earn.”  Lynch was also famous for his simple investing philosophy and a number of famous mantras and terms used in finance today such as “invest in what you know” and “ten bagger” — an investment worth ten times its original purchase price.  At his core, Lynch was a bottom-up, kick-the-tires type of stock picker. He wasn’t interested in hot stocks or industries. He was wary of companies that were growing earnings at an… Read More

It’s hard to predict whether a stock will do well. Many investors simply follow the trend: buying high in order to sell even higher. This momentum strategy is a valid one. Like a freight train, a moving stock is hard to stop — there must be a very good reason for a high-momentum stock to stop in its tracks and head in the opposite direction. This is a strategy that can be surprisingly difficult to execute, though. Fundamentally, good stock analysis is still required. You cannot simply buy the hottest ticket out there on the expectation that it will continue… Read More

It’s hard to predict whether a stock will do well. Many investors simply follow the trend: buying high in order to sell even higher. This momentum strategy is a valid one. Like a freight train, a moving stock is hard to stop — there must be a very good reason for a high-momentum stock to stop in its tracks and head in the opposite direction. This is a strategy that can be surprisingly difficult to execute, though. Fundamentally, good stock analysis is still required. You cannot simply buy the hottest ticket out there on the expectation that it will continue moving — not if you take investing seriously. A big picture, too, can change on a dime: the world out there is unpredictable, and nobody can know whether bad news is coming. And psychologically, it might be difficult to keep buying an uptrend when the market trades at fresh all-time highs amid a barrage of macroeconomic worries. Another strategy is to look for bargains. Those stocks might not be the market’s darlings and might not have the trend-related wind at their backs, but it should not necessarily mean that they have no potential. A real bargain — a fundamentally strong… Read More

Earlier this month, my colleague Brad Briggs gave a few details on how our system works over at Maximum Profit, my premium newsletter advisory service. If you read that article, then you know that our system seemingly flies in the face of what we are told “works” when it comes to investing.  To prove the doubters wrong, we gave a few examples of gains we’ve made in the past. Today, I want to tell you about a pick my subscribers and I are profiting from right now, thanks to the system.  In fact, we’re up about 64% in a… Read More

Earlier this month, my colleague Brad Briggs gave a few details on how our system works over at Maximum Profit, my premium newsletter advisory service. If you read that article, then you know that our system seemingly flies in the face of what we are told “works” when it comes to investing.  To prove the doubters wrong, we gave a few examples of gains we’ve made in the past. Today, I want to tell you about a pick my subscribers and I are profiting from right now, thanks to the system.  In fact, we’re up about 64% in a little over four months… We’re Up Big, But My System Still Says This Stock Is A ‘Buy’ If you’re looking to start an online business, then Shopify (NYSE: SHOP) can make it easy for you. The company’s cloud-based, multi-channel commerce platform allows small and medium-sized businesses to easily set up an online storefront with retail functionality. Shopify builds websites for businesses to attract customers, process orders, ship products, collect credit-card payments, and track and manage inventory. It also enables sales from other channels like physical storefronts, smartphones and tablets, as well as social media sites like Facebook and Pinterest. Read More

Not every company is created the same, and not every cybersecurity system works to protect against the same set of threats.  For example, some of you may remember Mimecast (Nasdaq: MIME) — a company I’ve mentioned before and also a former Game-Changing Stocks holding. (We owned it for more than a year and sold this past May for a gain of better than 80%.) This company specializes in securing corporate emails — and has been quite successful in advancing that franchise (hence our strong gain on the position). But the threats that any modern business now faces range far and… Read More

Not every company is created the same, and not every cybersecurity system works to protect against the same set of threats.  For example, some of you may remember Mimecast (Nasdaq: MIME) — a company I’ve mentioned before and also a former Game-Changing Stocks holding. (We owned it for more than a year and sold this past May for a gain of better than 80%.) This company specializes in securing corporate emails — and has been quite successful in advancing that franchise (hence our strong gain on the position). But the threats that any modern business now faces range far and wide. Clearly, a company that does its business online, has a website or communicates via the cloud can be exposed to a number of cybersecurity threats. These include malware (any type of software that can harm a computer or its user) or ransomware (software specifically designed to deny access to a computer system or data unless a specific ransom is paid). Market research and consulting firm Global Market Insights says the cybersecurity market will grow exponentially over the next few years, propelled by the need to minimize security risks and rapid growth in cloud-based platforms and other networking technologies. Indeed,… Read More

Biotech is hot. A number of sizeable deals — and expectations of more — keep the sector in the headlines and in the minds of investors.  Just a few days ago, on June 17, Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), which had not made a major acquisition for a couple of years, announced an agreement to buy Array BioPharma (Nasdaq: ARRY) for $10.6 billion (a 62% premium).  And PFE is not alone in its attempts to beef up its drug pipeline.  —Recommended Link— The Incredible Dividend Map Where Stocks Yield 67% a Year What’s the highest-yielding stock you’ve ever… Read More

Biotech is hot. A number of sizeable deals — and expectations of more — keep the sector in the headlines and in the minds of investors.  Just a few days ago, on June 17, Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), which had not made a major acquisition for a couple of years, announced an agreement to buy Array BioPharma (Nasdaq: ARRY) for $10.6 billion (a 62% premium).  And PFE is not alone in its attempts to beef up its drug pipeline.  —Recommended Link— The Incredible Dividend Map Where Stocks Yield 67% a Year What’s the highest-yielding stock you’ve ever owned? Did it pay you 8%… 10%… maybe even 12%?  Well these stocks blow all of those out of the water. Their dividends have risen so fast over the years that they’re now yielding us an average of 67%. You need to see this for yourself. because when you start getting paid 67% on your money your financial problems pretty much evaporate.   Click here to get started.   Novartis (NYSE: NVS) is planning to spend as much as $10 billion per year on acquisitions. GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) — which, just six months ago bought oncology-focused Tesaro… Read More

Most of the stocks we consider for our portfolio over at Fast-Track Millionaire are so-called “growth” stocks. This should not surprise anybody: we look for the leaders of tomorrow, for future Googles or Amazons, before they become household names. The best of these fledgling companies usually have one thing in common: outsized growth. #-ad_banner-#Investors are willing to pay up for growth prospects that are out of the ordinary — hence the high valuations, whether measured in price-to-earnings (P/E), price-to-sales (P/S) or price-to-book (P/B).  In fact, some of the stocks we have in the portfolio don’t even have a meaningful P/E… Read More

Most of the stocks we consider for our portfolio over at Fast-Track Millionaire are so-called “growth” stocks. This should not surprise anybody: we look for the leaders of tomorrow, for future Googles or Amazons, before they become household names. The best of these fledgling companies usually have one thing in common: outsized growth. #-ad_banner-#Investors are willing to pay up for growth prospects that are out of the ordinary — hence the high valuations, whether measured in price-to-earnings (P/E), price-to-sales (P/S) or price-to-book (P/B).  In fact, some of the stocks we have in the portfolio don’t even have a meaningful P/E ratio. That’s because they don’t have much in terms of earnings — or have not earned any money at all yet. They eventually will — if everything goes right — but not this or next year.  In such cases, P/B ratio can be used. The company’s book, or accounting, value is measured as the difference between the company’s assets and its liabilities. It’s a meaningful number — and so is the price-to-book valuation. For instance, when price-to-book is less than one, the company trades at less than the total value of its assets. Value investors love finding such companies.  Let’s… Read More

Investors know that markets react quickly to any new development or big news. But markets also tend to overreact.  The latter explains why, while being “efficient” — that is, reflecting all the available information — the market also contains a wealth of overvalued as well as attractively valued stocks at any given time. This is what stock picking is all about — finding companies that look undervalued by the market. Of course, stock pickers often have to contend with the phenomenon of market overreaction. In this case, they can be “early on the stock” — the best of us have… Read More

Investors know that markets react quickly to any new development or big news. But markets also tend to overreact.  The latter explains why, while being “efficient” — that is, reflecting all the available information — the market also contains a wealth of overvalued as well as attractively valued stocks at any given time. This is what stock picking is all about — finding companies that look undervalued by the market. Of course, stock pickers often have to contend with the phenomenon of market overreaction. In this case, they can be “early on the stock” — the best of us have been there, having selected a company for its growth potential only to see the stock stagnate or, worse, decline.  But the potential of choosing the right stock and betting against the grain can also be huge: when all the bad news is already incorporated into shares, an upside catalyst related to any improvement, changes in the company’s results or in the market’s sentiment could be significant. I believe that to be the case with Grubhub (Nasdaq: GRUB), a food delivery leader that has served up accelerating organic growth — and whose shares still don’t reflect that positive action.  If it… Read More

The markets undergo rotation all the time. Whether it’s manifested as a change in leadership in a stock or in a sector, one thing is for sure: some of today’s small- and mid-sized companies are destined to become tomorrow’s blue chips. This is what my Fast-Track Millionaire premium newsletter service is all about — finding tomorrow’s leaders while they still trade at relatively low levels. If you get it right, the rewards can be stunning. While identifying the next Microsoft can be an arduous process, a few mistakes along the way can be forgiven if your best find appreciates… Read More

The markets undergo rotation all the time. Whether it’s manifested as a change in leadership in a stock or in a sector, one thing is for sure: some of today’s small- and mid-sized companies are destined to become tomorrow’s blue chips. This is what my Fast-Track Millionaire premium newsletter service is all about — finding tomorrow’s leaders while they still trade at relatively low levels. If you get it right, the rewards can be stunning. While identifying the next Microsoft can be an arduous process, a few mistakes along the way can be forgiven if your best find appreciates by 100%, 200%, or even more.  The strategy of finding what we like to call “The Next Big Thing” is two-fold. The first step entails identifying relevant trends in their early stages and the companies that will be the likely beneficiaries. That’s obvious enough. But there’s a corollary to the process, an aspect of the search that is often underappreciated by investors. And this part is all about determining which stocks or groups of stocks are the most likely to deteriorate as time goes on. In other words, the companies to avoid. This is what we’re going to focus on… Read More