For the last few years, there’s been lots of talk about how this bull market is getting long in the tooth and is ripe for a major correction. After all, this run began in 2009 — eight long years ago. But the truth is stock-market booms don’t die of old age. And the bull market in the 1990s is proof of this. #-ad_banner-#Stocks went up — without a losing year — for nearly the entire decade of the 1990s. As the bull market got older, it didn’t waver or falter. Instead, it ramped up… the S&P 500 returned 33%, 28%… Read More

For the last few years, there’s been lots of talk about how this bull market is getting long in the tooth and is ripe for a major correction. After all, this run began in 2009 — eight long years ago. But the truth is stock-market booms don’t die of old age. And the bull market in the 1990s is proof of this. #-ad_banner-#Stocks went up — without a losing year — for nearly the entire decade of the 1990s. As the bull market got older, it didn’t waver or falter. Instead, it ramped up… the S&P 500 returned 33%, 28% and 21% in 1997, 1998 and 1999, respectively. The Nasdaq went up 40% in 1998 and then 86% in 1999. If you got out of the market in 1997, or even earlier, on the simple premise that the boom was getting long in the tooth… you missed out on the best profits. I’m sure there are people thinking this bull market is getting old and that it is therefore a good time to start avoiding stocks. Of course, they could be correct. But the simple fact is that there’s always a reason to avoid the stock market. Pick your favorite:… 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 StreetAuthority’s Pre-IPO Millionaire, I vet six to eight deals like this one, and offer my exclusive in-depth analysis of a single opportunity that I believe could return 1,000% or more. Click here for more information. — Joseph Hogue, CFA The modern shaving razor hasn’t changed much since American inventor King… 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 StreetAuthority’s Pre-IPO Millionaire, I vet six to eight deals like this one, and offer my exclusive in-depth analysis of a single opportunity that I believe could return 1,000% or more. Click here for more information. — Joseph Hogue, CFA The modern shaving razor hasn’t changed much since American inventor King Camp Gillette patented a new type of razor in 1901. That was fine for most people. Shaving is just one of those daily activities you don’t think much about, if you even think about it at all. That changed in 2012 when Dollar Shave Club launched its now legendary viral marketing video. The one-minute promo introduced viewers to a new way of getting their razors. As of mid-2016, the video had been viewed more than 22 million times and helped the company grow to 1.1 million subscribers. #-ad_banner-#Dollar Shave Club raised $163.5 million from early investors and accepted an acquisition… Read More

To comfortably live in an online world, we need to make sure our actions and devices are secure. When dealing with our bank, for instance, we want to know the transactions are secure. We want to rest assured that information in our smartphones is safe, and that we can login quickly and securely into our tablets and laptops. One obvious and widely used means of protecting data is by locking your device, thereby restricting unauthorized access. And modern “locks” are increasingly using our unique human features to establish our identification, a technology known as biometrics.   #-ad_banner-#And when it comes… Read More

To comfortably live in an online world, we need to make sure our actions and devices are secure. When dealing with our bank, for instance, we want to know the transactions are secure. We want to rest assured that information in our smartphones is safe, and that we can login quickly and securely into our tablets and laptops. One obvious and widely used means of protecting data is by locking your device, thereby restricting unauthorized access. And modern “locks” are increasingly using our unique human features to establish our identification, a technology known as biometrics.   #-ad_banner-#And when it comes to utilizing unique human features, what is easier and more convenient than your own fingerprints?   Many iPhone owners would agree that their feeling of security significantly improved after Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) introduced a fingerprint recognition feature in 2013. The adoption of Touch ID has proceeded smoothly, and improvements in the technology itself have proceeded apace —  today’s second-generation sensor is up to twice as fast as the original version. Driven by the increasingly urgent need for security, as well as consumers’ smooth adoption of such sensors in mobile devices, the market for fingerprint sensors is on fire. According to… Read More

At no other time in modern U.S. history has a new administration intervened so directly in the business environment. Whether you agree with President Trump’s policies or not, it’s difficult to ignore that the new administration is reshaping the American economy. Any time you get such a dramatic shift in policy and the business environment, there are bound to be industries that benefit. #-ad_banner-#Positioning in those industries before the good times begin could be one of the strongest investment themes over the next four years. President Trump reiterated his call for a $1 trillion infrastructure plan in his… Read More

At no other time in modern U.S. history has a new administration intervened so directly in the business environment. Whether you agree with President Trump’s policies or not, it’s difficult to ignore that the new administration is reshaping the American economy. Any time you get such a dramatic shift in policy and the business environment, there are bound to be industries that benefit. #-ad_banner-#Positioning in those industries before the good times begin could be one of the strongest investment themes over the next four years. President Trump reiterated his call for a $1 trillion infrastructure plan in his recent speech to Congress. He also reinforced his pledge to boost American manufacturing with a mandate that requires new energy pipelines to be made with domestically-produced U.S. steel. In that mandate, the President may have signaled one of the best investments of the year and made one group some of the top stocks of 2017. Steel Benefits From Increased Demand And Decreased Competition Not only could U.S. steel producers get a sales boost from pipeline projects already approved, but any major infrastructure improvement could mean a surge in non-residential and construction steel. Steel gets a further boost… Read More

Last week, I wrote about Buffett’s bet with the hedge fund industry (for more on that, go here). I also advised readers to check out Buffett’s letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, which was released last weekend. I hope you took the time to follow my advice. Despite amassing a $76 billion fortune, Buffett remains as folksy and accessible as ever. He’s not perfect — but then again, he’s also rarely wrong. #-ad_banner-#A few years ago, the Wall Street Journal reported that Buffett made an absolutely stunning $10 billion on investments he made at the height of… Read More

Last week, I wrote about Buffett’s bet with the hedge fund industry (for more on that, go here). I also advised readers to check out Buffett’s letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, which was released last weekend. I hope you took the time to follow my advice. Despite amassing a $76 billion fortune, Buffett remains as folksy and accessible as ever. He’s not perfect — but then again, he’s also rarely wrong. #-ad_banner-#A few years ago, the Wall Street Journal reported that Buffett made an absolutely stunning $10 billion on investments he made at the height of the financial crisis. True to form, Buffett sheepishly commented that any average investor could have done just as well. In fact, more recently, he has stated that it should be possible for any individual investor to beat his performance at Berkshire Hathaway going forward. Does this mean Buffett has lost a step? Hardly. It’s simply a matter of the law of large numbers coming into effect. To earn that $10 billion, Buffett had to invest $26 billion. That put his return at about 38%, or 6.7% a year over five years. Now let’s put that into context. Buffett made his… Read More

Powerball and the other assorted government sponsored lotteries are big business. During 2014,  players spent $70 billion on legal lotteries in America alone. Global lottery sales bring in about $300 billion each year. The urge for fast money is so strong that ticket sales on U.S. lottery games average $300 per adult in the 43 states hosting the games. Putting this number into perspective, it’s more money than U.S. citizens in all 50 states spent on movies, recorded music, sports tickets, books and even video games combined! #-ad_banner-#While many players participate in the lottery as a fun diversion, some view… Read More

Powerball and the other assorted government sponsored lotteries are big business. During 2014,  players spent $70 billion on legal lotteries in America alone. Global lottery sales bring in about $300 billion each year. The urge for fast money is so strong that ticket sales on U.S. lottery games average $300 per adult in the 43 states hosting the games. Putting this number into perspective, it’s more money than U.S. citizens in all 50 states spent on movies, recorded music, sports tickets, books and even video games combined! #-ad_banner-#While many players participate in the lottery as a fun diversion, some view it differently. A study published in 2004 revealed a sad truth. Cornell professors, Garrick Blalock, David R. Just, and Daniel H. Simon authored a study called “Hitting the Jackpot or Hitting the Skids.” The research discovered that local lottery ticket sales are higher in areas of low income. However, movie ticket sales decline with poverty levels. Bluntly stated, the lottery is viewed as a possible source of income by the destitute, despite the astronomical  odds against winning. Although the odds of winning the Powerball can be as low as 1 in 258 million, there is a way to significantly improve… 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. Each… Read More

What an incredible time to be a stock market investor. Prices have been surging higher over the past few months, with the popular benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average breaking the 20,000 barrier for the first time in its history. Driven by the new Presidential administration’s anti-regulatory, pro-infrastructure spending, and tax-slashing… Read More

In 1980, economist Julian Simon had had enough. For the past decade-plus, he had watched Stanford biologist Paul Ehrlich make all sorts of grim predictions about the human race. For example, in 1968, Ehrlich predicted that 20% of the world’s population would starve to death by 1985. Later, he predicted that England would not exist as a country by the year 2000. This kind of thinking has its roots in the theories of Thomas Malthus. (Not that you asked, but I think Malthusianism has had far too much influence in both academia and the larger public for far too long. Read More

In 1980, economist Julian Simon had had enough. For the past decade-plus, he had watched Stanford biologist Paul Ehrlich make all sorts of grim predictions about the human race. For example, in 1968, Ehrlich predicted that 20% of the world’s population would starve to death by 1985. Later, he predicted that England would not exist as a country by the year 2000. This kind of thinking has its roots in the theories of Thomas Malthus. (Not that you asked, but I think Malthusianism has had far too much influence in both academia and the larger public for far too long. It’s one of those theories that has a nasty habit of influencing some of history’s absolute worst ideas.) #-ad_banner-#Despite all of the hand-wringing and pearl-clutching, nothing seemed to ever come of these prognostications. So Simon thought it was time to make a little wager with Ehrlich… If the predicted world population explosion transpired, leading to the vast depletion of natural resources, then the prices of commodities would naturally skyrocket. So Simon challenged Ehrlich to buy $1,000 in any mix of commodities he chose. Then, after a 10-year period, if prices were higher, Simon would pay the difference. If prices were… Read More

The Trump rally has come in two phases, with an initial burst of optimism after the election and another run higher since Inauguration Day. But has hope for tax reform and fewer regulations taken the market as far as it can? Investors are starting to get skeptical about the prospect for economic growth this year and the market is struggling to make new highs. When the reality of a slow process for the President’s business agenda sets in, investor caution could turn into a full-blown rout. On the other hand, you don’t want to miss out on further gains if… Read More

The Trump rally has come in two phases, with an initial burst of optimism after the election and another run higher since Inauguration Day. But has hope for tax reform and fewer regulations taken the market as far as it can? Investors are starting to get skeptical about the prospect for economic growth this year and the market is struggling to make new highs. When the reality of a slow process for the President’s business agenda sets in, investor caution could turn into a full-blown rout. On the other hand, you don’t want to miss out on further gains if improved business sentiment turns into a rebound in corporate profits. That could quickly legitimize the rally and send shares even higher. Fortunately, I’ve found one segment of the market that can offer both protection from a selloff as well as participation in further gains. This dual protection makes them some of the best growth stocks for 2017. Is The Trump Rally Over? The Trump rally has taken stocks to all-time highs but has really come in two phases. The first, from the election to mid-December, gave investors new hope in a business-friendly environment and a 6% bump in asset… Read More