It was the summer of 1957. As the Cold War was heating up, the United States raced to develop our nation’s first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Though the initial test flight for the ICBM known as SM-65 Atlas lasted only seconds before being destroyed, it was the beginning of a progressive period for the development of U.S. astronautics. Fast forward to present day. Education and technology drove innovation in the nearly 60 years since the first ICBM test, through the Cold War and into today. Companies developed, and continue to develop, new products that altered the way people live their… Read More

It was the summer of 1957. As the Cold War was heating up, the United States raced to develop our nation’s first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Though the initial test flight for the ICBM known as SM-65 Atlas lasted only seconds before being destroyed, it was the beginning of a progressive period for the development of U.S. astronautics. Fast forward to present day. Education and technology drove innovation in the nearly 60 years since the first ICBM test, through the Cold War and into today. Companies developed, and continue to develop, new products that altered the way people live their daily lives. Many firms find themselves in a never-ending rat race, tweaking their product’s design and functions to keep pace with the consumer’s ever-changing trends and lifestyles. But then there are the products that have endured — the ones that are exactly the same today as they were on day one, unchanged since creation. Off the top of my head, very few come to mind. #-ad_banner-#There is one company, however, whose main product hasn’t changed at all since the 1950s. And what’s more impressive — this timeless company’s main product can be found in 8 out of 10 U.S. households. Read More

I try not to be tempted by “click-baiting” headlines on the Internet. You know what I’m talking about — the salacious, ridiculous, or shocking headlines that you click on, only to discover mundane articles that may or may not have anything to do with the headline. But we all have our weaknesses; mine is information about retirement planning. This explains why I clicked on the U.S. News headline, “The Perils of Retirement at Age 65.” #-ad_banner-#The article didn’t provide me with many new insights. For instance, I already knew that even though you are eligible to start receiving Social Security… Read More

I try not to be tempted by “click-baiting” headlines on the Internet. You know what I’m talking about — the salacious, ridiculous, or shocking headlines that you click on, only to discover mundane articles that may or may not have anything to do with the headline. But we all have our weaknesses; mine is information about retirement planning. This explains why I clicked on the U.S. News headline, “The Perils of Retirement at Age 65.” #-ad_banner-#The article didn’t provide me with many new insights. For instance, I already knew that even though you are eligible to start receiving Social Security retirement benefits at age 62, most people have to be older than 65 to receive “full” benefits. What did surprise me were the comments people posted after reading the article. They fell into two general groups. There was a group that couldn’t bear the thought of working until the age of 65 and over: “Both my husband and I just turned 60 and quite frankly we have just about had it with working.” “I’m 59 now and so tired of working I could #$%$. 65 is too #$%$ old to stop working.” “I’ve been working since I was 18 and… Read More

One book that comes up over and over again when I talk to technical analysts is Edwin Lefevre’s “Reminisces of a Stock Operator,” written back in 1923. This book tells the story of Jesse Livermore, one of the greatest traders of the early 1900s, and certainly one of the most colorful characters in Wall Street history. The stock market back then was much different than today. Livermore actually learned to trade in “bucket shops” — backroom establishments where people would come together to “buy” and “sell” stocks and commodities. The problem with bucket shops, and the reason why they’re now… Read More

One book that comes up over and over again when I talk to technical analysts is Edwin Lefevre’s “Reminisces of a Stock Operator,” written back in 1923. This book tells the story of Jesse Livermore, one of the greatest traders of the early 1900s, and certainly one of the most colorful characters in Wall Street history. The stock market back then was much different than today. Livermore actually learned to trade in “bucket shops” — backroom establishments where people would come together to “buy” and “sell” stocks and commodities. The problem with bucket shops, and the reason why they’re now illegal, is that these transactions were never actually executed on an exchange, and amounted to no more than gambling on whether their pick would go up or down. #-ad_banner-#In bucket shops, traders followed the price action on ticker tape controlled by the bucket shop operator, who would usually use this power to delay and manipulate the numbers to create losing trades for the customers in the shop — and winning trades for himself. While many traders lost to the bucket shop operators, Livermore was able to beat them, and quickly made enough money to move his operations to Wall Street. Read More

Some investing concepts hold a powerful allure, simply because they are so successful. Year in and year out, these investment approaches show their ability to meet or exceed the major market benchmarks. For example, we have been big believers in the power of buybacks and we know the approach works because the PowerShares Buyback Achievers ETF (Nasdaq: PKW) has delivered a 19.3% annualized return over the past five years. That beats the S&P 500 by around five percentage points, according to Morningstar. #-ad_banner-#Another take-it-to-the-bank investing theme is owning companies that consistently defend their market share against poachers. These companies, known… Read More

Some investing concepts hold a powerful allure, simply because they are so successful. Year in and year out, these investment approaches show their ability to meet or exceed the major market benchmarks. For example, we have been big believers in the power of buybacks and we know the approach works because the PowerShares Buyback Achievers ETF (Nasdaq: PKW) has delivered a 19.3% annualized return over the past five years. That beats the S&P 500 by around five percentage points, according to Morningstar. #-ad_banner-#Another take-it-to-the-bank investing theme is owning companies that consistently defend their market share against poachers. These companies, known for their “wide moats” exert such a powerful force on their industries that they can call the shots on pricing and innovation. (For a deeper look at wide-moat companies, please click here.) The other virtue of wide-moat companies: they typically have superior financial management strategies. If you know how your business will fare each year, then you can make better strategic resource allocation strategies and boost returns in the process. That’s why some market strategists suggest that the companies with the strongest moats also have the highest returns on equity, or ROE. Read More

Last month, we had Dave Forest, one of the Chief Investment Strategists for StreetAuthority, fly all the way from his home base in Vancouver, British Columbia to St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas. There he presented on the topic of “investments you can hold for the rest of your life.” Around the office, we’ve been calling them simply, “Forever Stocks.” Dave also gave attendees a glimpse at his brand new list of The 10 Best Stocks to Hold Forever. I’ll tell you how you can be among the first in line to get your hands on… Read More

Last month, we had Dave Forest, one of the Chief Investment Strategists for StreetAuthority, fly all the way from his home base in Vancouver, British Columbia to St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas. There he presented on the topic of “investments you can hold for the rest of your life.” Around the office, we’ve been calling them simply, “Forever Stocks.” Dave also gave attendees a glimpse at his brand new list of The 10 Best Stocks to Hold Forever. I’ll tell you how you can be among the first in line to get your hands on this report in a moment. #-ad_banner-#​But suffice it to say, it was an incredible event. Long-time StreetAuthority readers may be familiar with our concept of Forever Stocks. In fact, it’s been the most popular piece of research in our company’s history. Put simply, when you invest in Forever Stocks, you no longer have to worry about inflation, deflation, bear markets or recessions. And our original list of Forever Stocks has been an investor’s dream. Since we recommended them back in July 2011, these stocks have beaten the market… Read More

If I time it just right, I can cut across three lanes of oncoming traffic to escape the bustling rush hour that plagues me every day on my way to work. Once I veer off the main road into this quiet residential neighborhood lined with oak trees, I keep an eye out for any “For Sale” signs. I like to stay informed with the happenings of the local residential market. And what I’ve noticed over the past few weeks has been, quite frankly, pretty shocking. #-ad_banner-#You see, here in the Austin market, it can often be only a matter of… Read More

If I time it just right, I can cut across three lanes of oncoming traffic to escape the bustling rush hour that plagues me every day on my way to work. Once I veer off the main road into this quiet residential neighborhood lined with oak trees, I keep an eye out for any “For Sale” signs. I like to stay informed with the happenings of the local residential market. And what I’ve noticed over the past few weeks has been, quite frankly, pretty shocking. #-ad_banner-#You see, here in the Austin market, it can often be only a matter of days before an offer is made when a house comes to the market. For example, one house with a sticker price of around $650,000 was only up for five days before a “pending” sign was hanging beneath the “For Sale” sign. Soon the sign was taken down all together and within around 40 days, cars were parked in the driveway. (Keep in mind it typically takes at least 30 days to close on a mortgage.) Talking with one of my mortgage lending buddies, he said this was how it was all over Austin. It wasn’t uncommon for a house to… Read More

My colleague Amy Calistri of The Daily Paycheck has been getting quite a few questions regarding her portfolio.  #-ad_banner-#To date, her Daily Paycheck portfolio has received a mind-boggling total of 1,747 dividend payments since she first started back in 2009. The total for these payments comes to $72,266.67. Not bad. And in the last 12 months, her portfolio has received 407 dividend payments for a total of $17,035.91 — for an average of $1,419.66 per month. Some of her readers may have a hard time understanding how she’s been able to earn so many dividends and in such a short… Read More

My colleague Amy Calistri of The Daily Paycheck has been getting quite a few questions regarding her portfolio.  #-ad_banner-#To date, her Daily Paycheck portfolio has received a mind-boggling total of 1,747 dividend payments since she first started back in 2009. The total for these payments comes to $72,266.67. Not bad. And in the last 12 months, her portfolio has received 407 dividend payments for a total of $17,035.91 — for an average of $1,419.66 per month. Some of her readers may have a hard time understanding how she’s been able to earn so many dividends and in such a short amount of time.   In fact, Amy recently received a question from a reader about how Amy has been able to quickly accumulate more shares of stocks she owns… without having to “buy” them. Q. I’m confused how stock purchases are made in The Daily Paycheck portfolio. For example, in the last two months, 29 shares of Gabelli Multimedia Trust (NYSE: GGT), 12 shares of of Wells Fargo Advantage Global Dividend Opportunity (NYSE: EOD) and 10 shares of Nuveen Real Estate Income Fund (NYSE: JRS) appeared. Surely these cannot all be due to reinvesting? Am I missing something?… Read More

The Brown family in Louisville, Kentucky had plenty to celebrate in 1933. The repeal of prohibition meant that they could once again sell the family’s well-regarded whiskey, continuing the tradition started by family patriarch George Garvin Brown right after the Civil War. Brown’s Old Forester Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whisky (now known as Woodford’s Reserve) was just the first of many liquor brands to eventually fall into the stable run by Brown-Forman Corp. (NYSE: BF-A). #-ad_banner-#Though demand for Brown-Forman’s spirits have remained steady for decades, the company is now riding one of the hottest trends in the spirits industry: Brown liquor. Read More

The Brown family in Louisville, Kentucky had plenty to celebrate in 1933. The repeal of prohibition meant that they could once again sell the family’s well-regarded whiskey, continuing the tradition started by family patriarch George Garvin Brown right after the Civil War. Brown’s Old Forester Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whisky (now known as Woodford’s Reserve) was just the first of many liquor brands to eventually fall into the stable run by Brown-Forman Corp. (NYSE: BF-A). #-ad_banner-#Though demand for Brown-Forman’s spirits have remained steady for decades, the company is now riding one of the hottest trends in the spirits industry: Brown liquor. Brands such as Jack Daniels, Southern Comfort and others are growing in popularity across the demographic spectrum. What was once the drink of choice among older men is now finding appeal among women and millennials and is also increasingly popular in a wide range of foreign markets. According to the company, sales of premium spirits are growing at a 14% annual pace in emerging markets — twice the rate seen in the United States and Europe. The broadening popularity helps explain why shares have risen nearly 300% since 2009, handily eclipsing the S&P 500. Yet careful readers of our Top… Read More

Investors deploy a lot of strategies to find winning stocks: Some run investment screens based on various financial metrics, attend industry conferences to find well-positioned business models or simply focus on the top ideas from sources they know and trust. #-ad_banner-#For many loyal StreetAuthority readers, Amy Calistri is a very trusted stock source. For years, she’s shown an uncanny knack for finding stocks with robust dividend yields. Even more impressive: almost all of her picks seem to rise in value (often robustly) — it’s hard to find examples that lose value. She’s one of our most popular newsletter writers —… Read More

Investors deploy a lot of strategies to find winning stocks: Some run investment screens based on various financial metrics, attend industry conferences to find well-positioned business models or simply focus on the top ideas from sources they know and trust. #-ad_banner-#For many loyal StreetAuthority readers, Amy Calistri is a very trusted stock source. For years, she’s shown an uncanny knack for finding stocks with robust dividend yields. Even more impressive: almost all of her picks seem to rise in value (often robustly) — it’s hard to find examples that lose value. She’s one of our most popular newsletter writers — and for good reason. From time to time, I like to peruse Amy’s stock portfolio for her Daily Paycheck newsletter. In addition to her regular selection of buy-rated stocks, you’ll also find another category of dividend-paying stocks, what Amy calls “Fast Dividend Growers.” These stocks don’t offer the typical high yields that Amy is often known for, but instead appear poised to aggressively expand dividend payouts. One such stock just delivered Q3 results and represents everything you should look for in a dividend growth stock. Yet Another Great Refiner A month ago, I wrote about how oil refiners represent safety… Read More

Bar none, they’re the most elite dividend stocks on Earth. Valued at over $3 billion each, these mega-sized blue-chip companies have managed to pay out dividends for decades. Some have paid a dividend for the past century or even longer. #-ad_banner-#But to earn their coveted status, they’ve had to increase their dividend every year for the past 25 years. And to keep the status, they have to keep paying a larger dividend every year from now on — no easy feat. That’s why only 54 out of the 500 stocks in the S&P 500 have made the cut. Appropriately, Standard… Read More

Bar none, they’re the most elite dividend stocks on Earth. Valued at over $3 billion each, these mega-sized blue-chip companies have managed to pay out dividends for decades. Some have paid a dividend for the past century or even longer. #-ad_banner-#But to earn their coveted status, they’ve had to increase their dividend every year for the past 25 years. And to keep the status, they have to keep paying a larger dividend every year from now on — no easy feat. That’s why only 54 out of the 500 stocks in the S&P 500 have made the cut. Appropriately, Standard & Poor’s calls this select group of stocks “Dividend Aristocrats.” And they’re about the finest dividend stocks money can buy. You already know many of these stocks. They are big-name, cash-rich companies like 3M, Clorox, Exxon Mobil, Wal-Mart, Target, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and others. Some investors write these stocks off, thinking that big companies are old news and are done growing. And for many large companies, that may be true. But not for this group. Since the index was first introduced in 1989 by Standard & Poor’s, the Dividend Aristocrats have handily outpaced the S&P 500 Index, as you can see… Read More