One of the best income strategies in the world involves a market most investors completely ignore. We call it the Retirement Income Cash-Haul — or RICH — System. Put simply, it’s an award-winning, 10-minute-a-week income system that can give you $386 or more every week from the best companies in the world — without touching stocks. #-ad_banner-#I’ve been recommending trades using this system for three years now. And so far, the results have been astounding. I’ve closed 124 trades and each and every one has been a winner. On average, the RICH System has… Read More

One of the best income strategies in the world involves a market most investors completely ignore. We call it the Retirement Income Cash-Haul — or RICH — System. Put simply, it’s an award-winning, 10-minute-a-week income system that can give you $386 or more every week from the best companies in the world — without touching stocks. #-ad_banner-#I’ve been recommending trades using this system for three years now. And so far, the results have been astounding. I’ve closed 124 trades and each and every one has been a winner. On average, the RICH System has delivered annualized returns of 48% per trade. This approach is different. We don’t buy and hold… we don’t day trade… and we don’t invest in things like index or mutual funds.br /> In fact, we typically don’t buy or sell stocks at all. Instead, this approach allows you to collect a payment upfront… and make money even if a stock remains flat or drops as much as 10%-15%. I’ve received hundreds of emails and letters from thankful investors like these:       “I’m generating about $1,000 a month for… Read More

Editor’s Note: Here at StreetAuthority we occasionally like to feature one of our “Hall of Fame” issues to readers as a reminder of some of the classic investing advice and analysis our experts have offered over the years.  What follows is an interview I did with options expert Michael Vodicka back in October of last year. Keep in mind, some of the numbers and dates referenced may be different now, but the wisdom still holds true. I hope you enjoy. StreetAuthority Daily: Before we get to the details of your strategy, let’s start off by first telling readers a little… Read More

Editor’s Note: Here at StreetAuthority we occasionally like to feature one of our “Hall of Fame” issues to readers as a reminder of some of the classic investing advice and analysis our experts have offered over the years.  What follows is an interview I did with options expert Michael Vodicka back in October of last year. Keep in mind, some of the numbers and dates referenced may be different now, but the wisdom still holds true. I hope you enjoy. StreetAuthority Daily: Before we get to the details of your strategy, let’s start off by first telling readers a little bit about you… Mike: Sure. I like to call myself a “reformed day trader.” By that I mean I started my career as a day trader at a multibillion-dollar trading firm. #-ad_banner-#I saw lots of day traders taking huge risks and making big gambles on market-moving news with their money. They would win big one day, only to lose it all the next. I learned a valuable lesson: trading is no quick path to riches. After spending years fully entrenched in the markets and learning from the sharpest minds in the business, I finally decided… Read More

Google’s (Nasdaq: GOOG) new cloud chief Diane Greene threw down the gauntlet recently and is pushing the company to drive its data center business harder. The world’s second largest publicly-traded company is intent to focus on its enterprise cloud services with new infrastructure and staffing. The plans won’t be taken lightly by the two leaders in data center and cloud services, Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) and Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT). Amazon has already announced an infrastructure buildout for more data centers and Microsoft is focusing heavily on international centers for availability of its Azure platform. #-ad_banner-#It’s too early to call a winner… Read More

Google’s (Nasdaq: GOOG) new cloud chief Diane Greene threw down the gauntlet recently and is pushing the company to drive its data center business harder. The world’s second largest publicly-traded company is intent to focus on its enterprise cloud services with new infrastructure and staffing. The plans won’t be taken lightly by the two leaders in data center and cloud services, Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) and Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT). Amazon has already announced an infrastructure buildout for more data centers and Microsoft is focusing heavily on international centers for availability of its Azure platform. #-ad_banner-#It’s too early to call a winner in the race to build out data centers and the increased competition in cloud services. All three tech behemoths have billions available to invest and drive their expansion. There will be a more immediate winner to the buildout: an industry that has been struggling under lower growth but could be ready to surge on the increased spending. Two names emerge as leaders in the space and valuations could be about to jump. The Cloud Wars Have Begun When Diane Greene addressed employees in an internal sales meeting this month her message was clear: push harder.  In a break from… Read More

On September 15, 2008, the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States declared bankruptcy. Lehman Brothers had been in operation for 158 years and had survived world wars and the Great Depression. But the storied bank couldn’t make it through the depths of the financial crisis of 2007 and 2008. And after Lehman fell, people wondered how many more financial institutions would crumble. #-ad_banner-#One week later, legendary investor Warren Buffett announced that he would invest $5 billion into Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), virtually saving the firm. A week later, Buffett invested $3 billion in General Electric (NYSE: GE), signaling to… Read More

On September 15, 2008, the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States declared bankruptcy. Lehman Brothers had been in operation for 158 years and had survived world wars and the Great Depression. But the storied bank couldn’t make it through the depths of the financial crisis of 2007 and 2008. And after Lehman fell, people wondered how many more financial institutions would crumble. #-ad_banner-#One week later, legendary investor Warren Buffett announced that he would invest $5 billion into Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), virtually saving the firm. A week later, Buffett invested $3 billion in General Electric (NYSE: GE), signaling to the market that he had faith in the resilience of the American economy.  Buffett is a nice and generous man. But he doesn’t invest out of charity. He expects to make a profit — and he’s good at it. From 1965 through 2015, Buffett has increased the per share book value of his company Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B) by 798,981% — a compounded annual gain of 19.2%. Buffett Has Faith In The Future… But He’s Also Prepared For The Worst Buffet continues to have faith in the American economy. In his recent letter to Berkshire Hathaway’s shareholders, he wrote… Read More

The rebound in U.S. stocks is being mirrored abroad, as global indices bounce back from sharp losses most of them endured in the early weeks of the year. Energy prices also are enjoying a resurgence. So the bargain stocks we picked up while they were down are already generating solid returns. But as the market continues to rally, it will be more important to continue to be selective when buying stocks. Valuations for shares of quality companies will rise beyond reasonable levels, and higher-valuation stocks are vulnerable to selloffs if sentiment again turns south. #-ad_banner-#One way to protect your portfolio… Read More

The rebound in U.S. stocks is being mirrored abroad, as global indices bounce back from sharp losses most of them endured in the early weeks of the year. Energy prices also are enjoying a resurgence. So the bargain stocks we picked up while they were down are already generating solid returns. But as the market continues to rally, it will be more important to continue to be selective when buying stocks. Valuations for shares of quality companies will rise beyond reasonable levels, and higher-valuation stocks are vulnerable to selloffs if sentiment again turns south. #-ad_banner-#One way to protect your portfolio while generating income is to look to stocks with above-average dividend yields. Income stocks are insulated somewhat from selloffs because as their share prices fall, their yields rise — creating a higher share-price floor as income investors move in. And with fears of a global economic slowdown still prevalent, few observers think the nightmare scenario for high-yielding stocks — a sharp rise in short-term interest rates — will come to pass in 2016. When looking at stocks with above-average yields, remember that the yield alone isn’t the only criterion. We also need to ask how safe the yield is, by… Read More

Interest rates are at record lows across the globe. In the United States, the S&P 500 offers a dividend yield of around 2%, barely enough to keep up with record low levels of inflation. Fixed-income securities are even worse. The iShares 10-20 Year Treasury Bond (NYSE: TLH) is yielding 2%, close to an all-time low. CDs and savings accounts offer virtually no return. In this environment, investors are desperate for strategies that will help them generate consistent and reliable income. #-ad_banner-#Most investors are content to stick with dividend-paying blue-chip stocks in defensive industries. Read More

Interest rates are at record lows across the globe. In the United States, the S&P 500 offers a dividend yield of around 2%, barely enough to keep up with record low levels of inflation. Fixed-income securities are even worse. The iShares 10-20 Year Treasury Bond (NYSE: TLH) is yielding 2%, close to an all-time low. CDs and savings accounts offer virtually no return. In this environment, investors are desperate for strategies that will help them generate consistent and reliable income. #-ad_banner-#Most investors are content to stick with dividend-paying blue-chip stocks in defensive industries. This makes sense. Stocks like Verizon (NYSE: VZ) are not particularly sensitive to economic cycles. Even if the economy falls into a recession, very few people will cancel or change their mobile service. That’s why Verizon was just one of a few S&P 500 companies able to grow its dividend through the financial crisis in 2008 and 2009. Its current 4.4% yield ranks as one of the best dividends in the S&P 500 — well above the index’s average yield of 2%. I also consider Verizon to be one of the safest dividends in the… Read More

The phrase “adult diapers” typically doesn’t whip investors into a buying frenzy. But with 10,000 American baby boomers turning 65 on a daily basis and a current population of 44.7 million people age 65+ in the United States, there is a big need that has to be filled. Everyone is focused on selling Boomers healthcare, retirement communities and wealth management; personal hygiene products are often overlooked. Domtar Corp. (NYSE: UFS) to the rescue. As the largest producer of uncoated freesheet paper in North America, Domtar is also major pulp producer. But the demand for uncoated, freesheet paper has been on… Read More

The phrase “adult diapers” typically doesn’t whip investors into a buying frenzy. But with 10,000 American baby boomers turning 65 on a daily basis and a current population of 44.7 million people age 65+ in the United States, there is a big need that has to be filled. Everyone is focused on selling Boomers healthcare, retirement communities and wealth management; personal hygiene products are often overlooked. Domtar Corp. (NYSE: UFS) to the rescue. As the largest producer of uncoated freesheet paper in North America, Domtar is also major pulp producer. But the demand for uncoated, freesheet paper has been on the decline due to the continuing proliferation of digital technology, forcing the company to reinvent itself through acquisition in the personal care product space. #-ad_banner-#The company was formed in 2006, merging the fine paper assets of Weyerhaeuser (NYSE: WY) and Domtar, Inc. Right now, 83% of revenue is generated from pulp and paper. Annually, the company produces about 1.6 million metric tons of pulp and paper with a total manufacturing capacity of 3.4 million metric tons. Personal care only represents 17% of annual sales which topped $5.2 billion last year. But that’s where the growth lies. The company’s top two… Read More

Normally this kind of information is kept secret. But due to regulatory requirements for its initial public offering (IPO), this company was forced to reveal its shocking record. From 2009 to 2013, a secretive high-frequency trading firm named Virtu managed to only have one losing day. #-ad_banner-#In 2014 it notched a perfect record. On its worst day, the firm was making between $800,000 and $1 million a day. It may sound too good to be true. But there it is, laid out in Virtu Financial’s IPO prospectus for any and everyone to see. But Virtu isn’t alone. J.P. Morgan didn’t… Read More

Normally this kind of information is kept secret. But due to regulatory requirements for its initial public offering (IPO), this company was forced to reveal its shocking record. From 2009 to 2013, a secretive high-frequency trading firm named Virtu managed to only have one losing day. #-ad_banner-#In 2014 it notched a perfect record. On its worst day, the firm was making between $800,000 and $1 million a day. It may sound too good to be true. But there it is, laid out in Virtu Financial’s IPO prospectus for any and everyone to see. But Virtu isn’t alone. J.P. Morgan didn’t have a single losing day in 2013. Bank of America notched a perfect performance of its own in the first quarter of 2013. Clearly, Wall Street trades and invests its own money differently than the traditional buy-and-hold strategy its clients typically use. I’ll let you in on one of Wall Street’s best-kept secrets: selling put options. Does that sound scary? Intimidating? If it does, there’s a very good reason for that: That’s exactly how Wall Street wants it. As a former derivatives trader for a billion-dollar firm at the Chicago Board of Trade, I saw firsthand how secretive the best… Read More

While worldwide GDP growth slows to a crawl reliable investments can be hard to find. But I’ve found a reliable dividend payer that could give your portfolio a boost. Over the last two weeks the S&P 500 Index (SPX) has rallied nearly 6%, a marked improvement from the beginning of the year’s poor performance. Many market observers, me included, think the volatility will stick around for 2016. #-ad_banner-# One of the main volatility drivers for this year will be investors accepting the fact that global economic growth will remain lackluster at best. For 2016, the World Bank sees U.S. real… Read More

While worldwide GDP growth slows to a crawl reliable investments can be hard to find. But I’ve found a reliable dividend payer that could give your portfolio a boost. Over the last two weeks the S&P 500 Index (SPX) has rallied nearly 6%, a marked improvement from the beginning of the year’s poor performance. Many market observers, me included, think the volatility will stick around for 2016. #-ad_banner-# One of the main volatility drivers for this year will be investors accepting the fact that global economic growth will remain lackluster at best. For 2016, the World Bank sees U.S. real GDP growth at 2.8%. The outlook for the Euro area and Japan is much more dismal at 1.8% and 1.7% respectively. On average, developed markets are poised to turn in anemic growth of just 2.4%. While forecast GDP growth for the developing world is better than 50% that of developed markets at an average of 5.2%, the double digit days seem to be long gone. While China targets 7% growth (if you can trust them), it’s a far cry from the “China Miracle” of old. As a professional investor, the challenge I face on a daily basis is finding stable… Read More

The year 2004 was one of the most exciting times of my life. The future looked bright. That was the year I beat out hundreds of candidates to enter an exclusive bond-trading program for a multi-billion-dollar brokerage firm. #-ad_banner-#I was going to dig deeper than ever into the market. I was going to be around market junkies all day. And most importantly, I was going to become a trading hotshot and make a few million bucks before I turned 30. Three years later, two of those things had come true, and one had not… After spending years fully entrenched in… Read More

The year 2004 was one of the most exciting times of my life. The future looked bright. That was the year I beat out hundreds of candidates to enter an exclusive bond-trading program for a multi-billion-dollar brokerage firm. #-ad_banner-#I was going to dig deeper than ever into the market. I was going to be around market junkies all day. And most importantly, I was going to become a trading hotshot and make a few million bucks before I turned 30. Three years later, two of those things had come true, and one had not… After spending years fully entrenched in the markets and learning from the sharpest minds in the business, I learned a valuable lesson: trading is no quick path to riches. The cumulative effect of making a few hundred trades a day for years left me emotionally and financially spent. I found myself at a crossroads. I had loved the market ever since joining the stock market club in sixth grade. I wasn’t ready to walk away from it completely, but it was clear that my relationship with the market needed to evolve. Transitioning out of trading was one of the hardest… Read More