All major U.S. stock indices finished in positive territory last week, for only the second time since Aug. 29, led by the Russell 2000, which gained 4.9%. This is good news for the market as small-cap stocks have lagged in a big way all year. The Russell 2000 is up just 0.9% year to date compared with 15.8% for the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 and 9.2% for the broad market S&P 500. #-ad_banner-#Another good sign is that, despite the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) announcing the end of its bond-buying program on Wednesday, the S&P 500 rose by an additional 1.7%… Read More

All major U.S. stock indices finished in positive territory last week, for only the second time since Aug. 29, led by the Russell 2000, which gained 4.9%. This is good news for the market as small-cap stocks have lagged in a big way all year. The Russell 2000 is up just 0.9% year to date compared with 15.8% for the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 and 9.2% for the broad market S&P 500. #-ad_banner-#Another good sign is that, despite the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) announcing the end of its bond-buying program on Wednesday, the S&P 500 rose by an additional 1.7% into Friday’s close. This suggests that, despite a lot of investor apprehension beforehand, the market ultimately interpreted the Federal Reserve’s action as evidence that it believes the U.S. economy is finally strong enough to stand on its own two feet. From a sector standpoint, last week’s rally was led by technology, up 3.3%, and financials, up 3.2%. This is another good sign for the overall market between now and year end as these sectors typically outperform amid expectations for a strengthening U.S. economy. Technology Stocks at a Key Inflection Point In the Aug. 25 Market Outlook,… Read More

When financial historians look back at the current bull market, they’ll likely call it the “era of the stock buybacks.” As I’ve written several times in the past, companies have been regularly spending $400-to-$500 billion (in aggregate), on a rolling 12-month basis. In fact, buyback programs appear to have been the greatest source of demand for stocks, which means it has a major responsibility for the extended and robust bull market. #-ad_banner-#Yet the ardor for buybacks may be cooling. As Factset Research noted, after a deep review of share buyback activity in the second quarter, “quarterly… Read More

When financial historians look back at the current bull market, they’ll likely call it the “era of the stock buybacks.” As I’ve written several times in the past, companies have been regularly spending $400-to-$500 billion (in aggregate), on a rolling 12-month basis. In fact, buyback programs appear to have been the greatest source of demand for stocks, which means it has a major responsibility for the extended and robust bull market. #-ad_banner-#Yet the ardor for buybacks may be cooling. As Factset Research noted, after a deep review of share buyback activity in the second quarter, “quarterly buybacks declined year-over-year (-1.1%) for the first time since Q3 2012.” On an anecdotal basis, it appears as if buyback activity in the current quarter is also a bit less pronounced than in the recent past, which is odd, considering how many stocks now trade well below their 52-week highs. Indeed the buyback frenzy has started to generate a bit of a backlash, as The New York Times recently scoffed at Carl Icahn’s efforts to compel Apple, Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) to pursue a massive buyback. The Economist went so far as to… Read More

Over the past few weeks, I’ve shared with readers two crucial types of dividend stocks that make up my three-part Daily Paycheck Retirement Strategy. #-ad_banner-#By using the right combination of dividend stocks, I’ve been able to collect more than $1,400 per month in dividend checks over the past year, and I’ve seen my original $200,000 real-money portfolio grow to over $300,000 today — for a 50% gain in less than five years. In previous issues of StreetAuthority Daily, I talked about my “sweet spot” high yielders — which maximize income — here, and my “Lifetime Income Growers” — which maximize… Read More

Over the past few weeks, I’ve shared with readers two crucial types of dividend stocks that make up my three-part Daily Paycheck Retirement Strategy. #-ad_banner-#By using the right combination of dividend stocks, I’ve been able to collect more than $1,400 per month in dividend checks over the past year, and I’ve seen my original $200,000 real-money portfolio grow to over $300,000 today — for a 50% gain in less than five years. In previous issues of StreetAuthority Daily, I talked about my “sweet spot” high yielders — which maximize income — here, and my “Lifetime Income Growers” — which maximize growth — here. But what about minimizing risk? Especially in today’s volatile market? Well, that’s where my last group of securities comes into play. I’ve used them to make my portfolio 26% less volatile on average than the S&P 500. I call them “Steady Income Generators.” These are under-the-radar companies and funds that deliver consistent dividends no matter what happens in the market. Unrest in the Middle East… a spike in the national debt… a global recession… Whatever happens domestically or around the world, these stocks have proven they can weather just about any storm that comes their way. To… Read More

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) shocked the investing world in September when it announced that it was pulling its $4 billion investments in hedge funds. The pension fund is the largest in the United States — nearly $300 billion in size. Many investors follow its lead when it comes to asset allocation. The decision to sell out of 30 hedge fund and fund-of-funds investments was made by the board to reduce complexity and costs in the pension fund. Many hedge funds use complex algorithms to pick and pair stocks, and… Read More

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) shocked the investing world in September when it announced that it was pulling its $4 billion investments in hedge funds. The pension fund is the largest in the United States — nearly $300 billion in size. Many investors follow its lead when it comes to asset allocation. The decision to sell out of 30 hedge fund and fund-of-funds investments was made by the board to reduce complexity and costs in the pension fund. Many hedge funds use complex algorithms to pick and pair stocks, and usually charge a 20% fee on profits, on top of a 2% administration fee. The withdrawal of CalPERS is a recognition that the high costs may not be worth the hedge funds’ modest returns. CalPERs made another disclosure that may be just as important, possibly even more so. The Largest Asset Class In The World On October 8, CalPERS announced that it will increase its allocation in real estate by $7 billion — to $33 billion, or 11% of the fund’s assets. The… Read More

It’s a simple way to look at trading. But to me, a successful trade is one that makes money. For most investors, this means you see a stock you like, do some research, and then decide to pull the trigger. At this point, of course, the hope is that the stock moves up and you book a reasonable return on your investment. #-ad_banner-#But if the stock moves lower or sideways, you’ll break even at best. What if I told you that there is a strategy that makes it possible to profit from owning stocks that aren’t moving at all? This… Read More

It’s a simple way to look at trading. But to me, a successful trade is one that makes money. For most investors, this means you see a stock you like, do some research, and then decide to pull the trigger. At this point, of course, the hope is that the stock moves up and you book a reasonable return on your investment. #-ad_banner-#But if the stock moves lower or sideways, you’ll break even at best. What if I told you that there is a strategy that makes it possible to profit from owning stocks that aren’t moving at all? This isn’t just theory. In my premium newsletter we’ve been able to earn market-beating returns time and again using what we call the Maximum Income strategy. For example, MasterCard (NYSE: MA) was one of the first positions we opened back in February. The trade recently closed in July. Over that five month period, the S&P 500 gained about 6%, while MasterCard only gained 1.3%. But by using my Maximum Income strategy my subscribers and I pocketed a 10% gain. How is this possible? While traditional stock investors sit back and hope to see… Read More

A little more than a decade ago, a simple idea for a website began in a young man’s Harvard dorm room. It would provide a way for people to connect that the world hadn’t seen since the Internet became mainstream in the 1990s. In just four years, more than 100 million people would visit his website. And by the end of 2013, more than 1.2 billion — or more than one-sixth of the world’s population — would sign on, many on a daily, even hourly basis. The company was officially listed on the Nasdaq in May 2012 and was valued… Read More

A little more than a decade ago, a simple idea for a website began in a young man’s Harvard dorm room. It would provide a way for people to connect that the world hadn’t seen since the Internet became mainstream in the 1990s. In just four years, more than 100 million people would visit his website. And by the end of 2013, more than 1.2 billion — or more than one-sixth of the world’s population — would sign on, many on a daily, even hourly basis. The company was officially listed on the Nasdaq in May 2012 and was valued at a whopping $104 billion on its first day of trading. And on September 9, 2014, the company’s market cap soared past the $200 billion mark — officially making it the 14th most valuable company in the United States — worth more than decades-old stalwarts like Coca-Cola, AT&T, Pfizer, IBM or even Bank of America. The world has rarely seen such a growth story as Mark Zuckerberg’s creation, Facebook (Nasdaq: FB). Had you bought Facebook shares when they first traded on May 17, 2012 and held on until today, then your investment would have more than doubled in just over… Read More

In a recent issue of StreetAuthority Daily, I told you all about my strategy for maximizing income by investing in stocks that fall in the high-yield ‘sweet spot’. They aren’t the absolute highest yielding stocks on the market, but this special group of stocks has outperformed all others, and returned an average of 14% per year over the past 86 years. And while these stocks are a key part of my portfolio — and consistently provide me ample dividend checks — “maximizing income” is just one aspect of my 3-part Daily Paycheck Retirement System. #-ad_banner-#​… Read More

In a recent issue of StreetAuthority Daily, I told you all about my strategy for maximizing income by investing in stocks that fall in the high-yield ‘sweet spot’. They aren’t the absolute highest yielding stocks on the market, but this special group of stocks has outperformed all others, and returned an average of 14% per year over the past 86 years. And while these stocks are a key part of my portfolio — and consistently provide me ample dividend checks — “maximizing income” is just one aspect of my 3-part Daily Paycheck Retirement System. #-ad_banner-#​I like to call this second group of stocks “Lifetime Income Growers.” These are the few companies that I think you could buy today and potentially hold for the rest of your life. And while you hold them, they can shower you with bigger and bigger dividends year in and year out. These stocks have one very distinct characteristic — “Lifetime Income Growers” are generally dominant companies with growing cash flows that you can depend on to pay — and increase — their dividends year after year. In other words, you likely won’t get a 10%… Read More

I’ve been in this racket a while. Every year, I can almost set my watch to the late-September/early-October seasonal market volatility. As a portfolio manager, this predictability gives me an opportunity to re-evaluate my holdings and, if things are on sale, add stocks I’ve been considering at the prices I want to pay. Typically, investors move toward defensive stocks, such as utilities or consumer staples, in volatile times. It’s not a bad move, but often fear clouds your judgment. And if emotion is involved, then there’s a good chance you’ll pay too much. One… Read More

I’ve been in this racket a while. Every year, I can almost set my watch to the late-September/early-October seasonal market volatility. As a portfolio manager, this predictability gives me an opportunity to re-evaluate my holdings and, if things are on sale, add stocks I’ve been considering at the prices I want to pay. Typically, investors move toward defensive stocks, such as utilities or consumer staples, in volatile times. It’s not a bad move, but often fear clouds your judgment. And if emotion is involved, then there’s a good chance you’ll pay too much. One growing food company that I follow closely, B&G Foods, Inc. (NYSE: BGS), caught my eye during the recent downturn. The pullback created an opportunity to add a top-quality consumer staple stock at a value price. B&G is one of my favorite consumer staples stories. Historically, the company has been successful at acquiring tired brands from bigger-name food companies and breathing new life into them. Some of the company’s better-known brands include Ortega, Old London, Mrs. Dash, Cream of Wheat, Emeril seasonings and sauces, Trappey’s and Underwood. The company leveraged… Read More

They’ve officially become more popular than dividends. Top companies are shelling out these extra payments in droves. The goal is to give shareholders more bang for their investment buck than dividends alone. They are a favorite of Warren Buffett and many other billionaire investors. There’s a good chance you’ve received one of these “tax-free dividends” before and didn’t even realize it. That’s because they’re buried in a company’s financial statement. But since 1982, when the SEC enacted a rule called 10b-18 as a measure of boosting the economy, these “tax-free dividends”… Read More

They’ve officially become more popular than dividends. Top companies are shelling out these extra payments in droves. The goal is to give shareholders more bang for their investment buck than dividends alone. They are a favorite of Warren Buffett and many other billionaire investors. There’s a good chance you’ve received one of these “tax-free dividends” before and didn’t even realize it. That’s because they’re buried in a company’s financial statement. But since 1982, when the SEC enacted a rule called 10b-18 as a measure of boosting the economy, these “tax-free dividends” have become a favored form of payment among shareholders. And companies have responded. Just look at the chart below to see how companies have been paying shareholders since 1982, especially since 2005 (hint: it hasn’t been just with traditional dividends)… Now, not every company pays these “tax-free dividends.” So just which companies are making these extra payments… and how can you start receiving them today? The easiest way to identify which companies are making “tax-free dividend” payments is to explain the payment method itself. As I mentioned, its roots trace back… Read More

The S&P 500 Index dropped 56.8% from October 9, 2007 to March 9, 2009. The global financial system nearly collapsed. World trade halted. The former head of the U.S. Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke recently called September and October 2008 “the worst financial crisis in global history, including the Great Depression.”  What started roughly seven years ago wasn’t a normal market correction: It was an economic trauma. And while that trauma has been behind us for some time, many of the investors who lived through it can’t let it go.  #-ad_banner-#For them, it has become the monster under the bed. Every… Read More

The S&P 500 Index dropped 56.8% from October 9, 2007 to March 9, 2009. The global financial system nearly collapsed. World trade halted. The former head of the U.S. Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke recently called September and October 2008 “the worst financial crisis in global history, including the Great Depression.”  What started roughly seven years ago wasn’t a normal market correction: It was an economic trauma. And while that trauma has been behind us for some time, many of the investors who lived through it can’t let it go.  #-ad_banner-#For them, it has become the monster under the bed. Every time the market drops even the slightest bit, they see the potential for a market crash. And if there is one thing I’ve learned as an investor, it’s that objectivity — not fear — is my ally.  I’ve been investing for more than thirty years. Granted, I just missed the high-inflation of the 1970s. But I had money in the market on October 19, 1987. Known as “Black Monday,” the market dropped 22% in a single day.  I had money in the market during the dotcom crash. And I’ve had money in the market during the last five recessions —… Read More