David Ricardo is often thought of as the most important economist since Adam Smith. We have him to thank for ideas such as the law of comparative advantage, and he advocated for things like free trade and sound money policies. But what you may not know is that he was also one of the richest economists in history. #-ad_banner-#Ricardo made his money as a broker and financial market speculator. But he owed most of his investing success to a single bet he made in 1815. In short, the prices on bonds that lent money to the British government during wartime… Read More

David Ricardo is often thought of as the most important economist since Adam Smith. We have him to thank for ideas such as the law of comparative advantage, and he advocated for things like free trade and sound money policies. But what you may not know is that he was also one of the richest economists in history. #-ad_banner-#Ricardo made his money as a broker and financial market speculator. But he owed most of his investing success to a single bet he made in 1815. In short, the prices on bonds that lent money to the British government during wartime were extremely depressed. Ricardo scooped up the bonds and when the outcome of the war was far from certain and later became a millionaire when Wellington defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. But it’s not exactly the fortune Ricardo amassed or his economic theories that I want to bring to your attention. Rather, it’s one of the most famous sayings in all of trading history that is attributed to him: “Cut short your losses; let your profits run on.” Even though Ricardo said this back in the 1800s, it still holds true today. It may seem like an obvious piece of advice. Read More

In my 23 years as a trader and money manager, I’ve never seen anything that’s anywhere near as effective at finding stocks before they break out than what I’m about to share with you. And believe me, I’ve seen it all over the course of my more-than-two-decade career.  I’ve been trading and managing money since I graduated college — from the roaring technology bull market of the 1990s to the bear market of 2001 and financial collapse of 2008. I worked with famed technical trader Ed Seykota and helped him develop and test one of the very first quantitative relative… Read More

In my 23 years as a trader and money manager, I’ve never seen anything that’s anywhere near as effective at finding stocks before they break out than what I’m about to share with you. And believe me, I’ve seen it all over the course of my more-than-two-decade career.  I’ve been trading and managing money since I graduated college — from the roaring technology bull market of the 1990s to the bear market of 2001 and financial collapse of 2008. I worked with famed technical trader Ed Seykota and helped him develop and test one of the very first quantitative relative strength stock trading systems. I managed $20 million for a hedge fund. Along the way, I studied and tested dozens of technical indicators and triggers. #-ad_banner-# I even went so far as to become a Chartered Market Technician (CMT). This certification designed by the Market Technician’s Association signifies mastery of technical analysis. Thanks to the brutal, three-part, 10-hour test required for certification, it’s a pretty exclusive club — with just 1,400 members in the entire United States. In fact, only 57% of those… Read More

Imagine a sailboat on a calm, windless day. Not much movement, right? Now picture a seven-mile-per-hour steady breeze filling the sails. See the boat moving steadily across the water? #-ad_banner-#From an investment standpoint, that’s the difference between a good company in a slow-growth industry and a good company in a fast-growing industry. Stocks with the wind at their backs move higher faster. They’re less dependent on good luck, and they’re less vulnerable to bad news.  So regardless of short-term market dynamics or medium-term economic cycles, it’s almost always a good time to invest in reasonably priced stocks benefiting from long-term… Read More

Imagine a sailboat on a calm, windless day. Not much movement, right? Now picture a seven-mile-per-hour steady breeze filling the sails. See the boat moving steadily across the water? #-ad_banner-#From an investment standpoint, that’s the difference between a good company in a slow-growth industry and a good company in a fast-growing industry. Stocks with the wind at their backs move higher faster. They’re less dependent on good luck, and they’re less vulnerable to bad news.  So regardless of short-term market dynamics or medium-term economic cycles, it’s almost always a good time to invest in reasonably priced stocks benefiting from long-term trends. The “graying of America” is one of the most-cited trends. Investors are starting to catch on to the long-term potential of alternative energy, too. Another strong long-term trend worth attention is the continued rise of robotics, or automation, in everyday life. Industrial processes have used robotics for many years, replacing factory workers with machines that can perform assembly tasks quickly and precisely without getting tired. There are well over 200,000 robots in industrial use around the world today, primarily in the manufacturing of automobiles, electronics, metals and chemicals. Robots are also used routinely now in medical, energy exploration and… Read More

Today I want to tell you about a strategy that could make you a lot of money. You probably haven’t heard much about it. That’s because up until recently, our publishers made this investing system available only to a select group of loyal StreetAuthority readers. But now, we’re ready to open it up to the wider public. #-ad_banner-#First, a little background…  This system comes on the back of about three and a half years of development. We compiled a motley crew of experts to build it: two StreetAuthority veterans, a licensed, Certified Market Technician (CMT), an accountant, a financial advisor,… Read More

Today I want to tell you about a strategy that could make you a lot of money. You probably haven’t heard much about it. That’s because up until recently, our publishers made this investing system available only to a select group of loyal StreetAuthority readers. But now, we’re ready to open it up to the wider public. #-ad_banner-#First, a little background…  This system comes on the back of about three and a half years of development. We compiled a motley crew of experts to build it: two StreetAuthority veterans, a licensed, Certified Market Technician (CMT), an accountant, a financial advisor, and even a college-aged computer whiz.  Needless to say, each of these team members brought their own unique expertise to the table — and each had their own strong opinions about “what works” in the world of investing.  After spending countless hours reading through academic research, building computer algorithms and backtesting results, the team came up with a system that we think could make you more money in the stock market than anything we’ve ever created before. In short: it solves one of the most common problems every investor faces — how to get bigger gains in a shorter amount… Read More

A sharp market correction affords keen-eyed investors buying opportunities for suddenly undervalued stocks, as we found throughout January. But what to do when the market starts to rebound? Shares of high-quality companies often bounce back beyond bargain levels before the rest of the pack. Is it truly too late to find short-term winners? After all, the market remains way below its recent highs. What’s the best way to identify those stocks likely to lead the averages in the coming weeks and months? #-ad_banner-#One answer: relative strength. Relative strength is an indicator of a stock’s performance relative to a benchmark, normally… Read More

A sharp market correction affords keen-eyed investors buying opportunities for suddenly undervalued stocks, as we found throughout January. But what to do when the market starts to rebound? Shares of high-quality companies often bounce back beyond bargain levels before the rest of the pack. Is it truly too late to find short-term winners? After all, the market remains way below its recent highs. What’s the best way to identify those stocks likely to lead the averages in the coming weeks and months? #-ad_banner-#One answer: relative strength. Relative strength is an indicator of a stock’s performance relative to a benchmark, normally a broad stock index such as the S&P 500. If, say, Microsoft shares are up 10% over a two-week period and the S&P 500 is up 5% during that period, Microsoft’s Beta (a measure of relative strength) is 2.0 during that time. It’s a strong indication that — at least in the short run — investors are more enthusiastic about Microsoft than they are about the market as a whole. Why? For our purposes, that doesn’t matter. All we need to know is that Microsoft is exhibiting relative strength vs. the market. What’s key here is that history shows that… Read More

China has taken the spotlight lately and GDP growth at its lowest in more than two decades is contributing to the worst January on the stock market  since 1970. The hopes of thousands of companies looking for double-digit Chinese growth to save sluggish developed market sales seems to be falling apart. But talk of a ‘two-speed economy’ is emerging for the nation of 1.39 billion and there might yet be hope for investors.  #-ad_banner-#Looking deeper into the data, I’ve found some sectors and industries posting quarterly and annual growth. In fact, annual growth in one industry is forecast at nearly… Read More

China has taken the spotlight lately and GDP growth at its lowest in more than two decades is contributing to the worst January on the stock market  since 1970. The hopes of thousands of companies looking for double-digit Chinese growth to save sluggish developed market sales seems to be falling apart. But talk of a ‘two-speed economy’ is emerging for the nation of 1.39 billion and there might yet be hope for investors.  #-ad_banner-#Looking deeper into the data, I’ve found some sectors and industries posting quarterly and annual growth. In fact, annual growth in one industry is forecast at nearly 20% for at least three more years.  One company is about to capitalize on that growth. It’s not the hyped investment that everyone knows but a smaller rival that may get a big boost from a smaller base as it gets into the China game. Not All Of China Is Slowing China’s slowing growth has been an overhang for years but seems to have boiled over on the fourth quarter GDP report. Economic growth in the world’s second largest economy slowed to just 6.8% and finished 2015 at the slowest pace in 25 years. Power generation saw its first… Read More

One of the best things about quantitative indicators is that they do not discriminate. Unlike investors, they cannot be swayed by emotions. They do not care if a stock is loved or hated, big or small, well-known or obscure. All that matters is cold, hard facts, and that is something I can get behind. #-ad_banner-#Now, that’s not to say all indicators work well. To the contrary, many are garbage. But when you find one that works, it’s like striking gold. When Profitable Trading developed a new indicator based on momentum two years ago, we spent hundreds of hours backtesting it. Read More

One of the best things about quantitative indicators is that they do not discriminate. Unlike investors, they cannot be swayed by emotions. They do not care if a stock is loved or hated, big or small, well-known or obscure. All that matters is cold, hard facts, and that is something I can get behind. #-ad_banner-#Now, that’s not to say all indicators work well. To the contrary, many are garbage. But when you find one that works, it’s like striking gold. When Profitable Trading developed a new indicator based on momentum two years ago, we spent hundreds of hours backtesting it. And it quickly became the most successful indicator in our company’s history. This unique indicator is designed to find stocks right before they soar. And that’s exactly what it does. In the past few years, it’s tagged over 100 stocks right before they broke out to the upside. In 2015, we closed out winners of up to 88%. In fact, for two years in a row, this indicator spotted several of the best-performing stocks of the year, ones that went on to gain as much as 242%. At the beginning of each year, we compile a list of the top… Read More

Let me start off by saying that today’s essay is not for everyone. But as Chief Investment Strategist for Game-Changing Stocks, it’s my job to bring readers the best aggressive growth investing opportunities the market has to offer.  If it just so happens to come from an industry that some find morally objectionable, then so be it. #-ad_banner-#But I received a question from a subscriber the other day that I know many of our readers have been wondering about: Should I invest in marijuana stocks? If so, which ones should I be looking at? Most Americans, about 62%, live in… Read More

Let me start off by saying that today’s essay is not for everyone. But as Chief Investment Strategist for Game-Changing Stocks, it’s my job to bring readers the best aggressive growth investing opportunities the market has to offer.  If it just so happens to come from an industry that some find morally objectionable, then so be it. #-ad_banner-#But I received a question from a subscriber the other day that I know many of our readers have been wondering about: Should I invest in marijuana stocks? If so, which ones should I be looking at? Most Americans, about 62%, live in states where cannabis of some sort is legal for medical or recreational use. And more states are either legalizing marijuana or taking fairly significant action to decriminalize.  This is a good move. In fact, had Ohio approved its recent legalization initiative, the pro-cannabis United States would have, for the first time, had enough votes in the Electoral College to decide the presidency.  Cannabis is not a drug. Cannabis is food. I know that’s a controversial statement, but I believe it. There is a scientific basis for this: Our bodies contain two types of receptors, CB1 and CB2, whose sole function… Read More

As I write this, the bull market has lasted for 2,473 days, making it the third-longest in U.S. history. The record is 4,494 days from 1987 to 2000, followed by the period from 1949 to 1956. While 2016 may well emerge as the best year the market has ever seen — and presidential election years are typically above average — the evidence I’m seeing suggests standout performance is not likely. The most optimistic forecast I’ve come across for 2016 has been “high single digits.” #-ad_banner-#That’s hardly a barn-burner. But these predictions… Read More

As I write this, the bull market has lasted for 2,473 days, making it the third-longest in U.S. history. The record is 4,494 days from 1987 to 2000, followed by the period from 1949 to 1956. While 2016 may well emerge as the best year the market has ever seen — and presidential election years are typically above average — the evidence I’m seeing suggests standout performance is not likely. The most optimistic forecast I’ve come across for 2016 has been “high single digits.” #-ad_banner-#That’s hardly a barn-burner. But these predictions are defensible based on the available evidence. Growth in the developed world is hardly robust. Estimates call for 3% growth in the United States and 2% in the European Union, which puts the majority of the world economy in low gear. Commodities are losing steam. Oil is trading for about $30 a barrel, more than $110 off its all-time high. This downtrend is also evident in the agriculture space, and even precious metals. Gold may well settle below $1,000 an ounce for the first time in recent memory, and silver isn’t faring any better. Read More

With markets tumbling everywhere you look, I’ve started shifting focus to the Best of Breed stocks that will weather a correction… or worse. If economic growth slows or if investors just get a little jittery, I want to be in stocks that dominate their market and have rock-solid balance sheets to get them over a rough spot. While market weakness or general economic disappointment might weigh on these stocks, they’ll be able to withstand the environment far better than competitors and will emerge stronger.  #-ad_banner-#One of my favorite Best of Breed stocks isn’t resting on a huge lead within its… Read More

With markets tumbling everywhere you look, I’ve started shifting focus to the Best of Breed stocks that will weather a correction… or worse. If economic growth slows or if investors just get a little jittery, I want to be in stocks that dominate their market and have rock-solid balance sheets to get them over a rough spot. While market weakness or general economic disappointment might weigh on these stocks, they’ll be able to withstand the environment far better than competitors and will emerge stronger.  #-ad_banner-#One of my favorite Best of Breed stocks isn’t resting on a huge lead within its market, it’s expanding into other markets and cross-selling new products. While competitors will see lower sales on any economic pullback, this company may actually increase sales as customers entrench their business with one provider that can provide bundled discount offers.  This Best of Breed Is Expanding Its Market Red Hat (NYSE: RHT) is the de facto source for the Linux open source operating system. Popularity of the Linux OS has grown and it now drives more than half of all servers with Red Hat supporting 75% of paid Linux deployments. The company has a strong competitive advantage in its… Read More