Professional investors utilize a wide variety of tactics and techniques to manage their portfolios. The specific strategies and methods are often as different and unique as each investor.  However, I have discovered a strategy that is nearly universal to winning stock market investors. This approach is what allows hedge funds,… Read More

As an experienced investor, I know there are times to employ different strategies when buying and selling stocks. Two of my favorite strategies are to buy stocks at deep discounts to their intrinsic values (value investing). I also love to look for stocks at the center of some long-term mega-trend. These stocks I buy and hold for decades. Less commonly, I pay attention to what retail investors (individual investors buying for their personal accounts) are doing. But in today’s market, I’m doing the exact opposite. You see, retail investors often follow the herd mentality and end up buying and selling… Read More

As an experienced investor, I know there are times to employ different strategies when buying and selling stocks. Two of my favorite strategies are to buy stocks at deep discounts to their intrinsic values (value investing). I also love to look for stocks at the center of some long-term mega-trend. These stocks I buy and hold for decades. Less commonly, I pay attention to what retail investors (individual investors buying for their personal accounts) are doing. But in today’s market, I’m doing the exact opposite. You see, retail investors often follow the herd mentality and end up buying and selling stocks at just the wrong times. Many professional investors use a contrarian strategy. That is, they buy when retail investors are selling and sell when the herd is buying.  #-ad_banner-#Now, watching the crowd is not something I spend a lot of time doing. But when certain economic metrics get to extreme levels, it becomes critical to monitor conditions that might indicate retail investors are in full herd mentality. To this point, several metrics are starting to show extreme, or near extreme, levels of greed. This indicates that retail investor sentiment is heating up — potentially indicating that… Read More

What separates successful investors from the vast majority who can’t even match market returns?  I’ve spent a lot of time looking into this. While successful stock market investors use a variety of tactics, follow differing market philosophies, and have varying temperaments, one thing remains the same: they stick to a defined set of rules. Having the ability to develop consistent and unwavering investing rules in the face of adversity is the key to stock market success. Most investors don’t approach the stock market in a systematic rule-based way. They make investing decisions based on emotion, fear, and greed.  This is… Read More

What separates successful investors from the vast majority who can’t even match market returns?  I’ve spent a lot of time looking into this. While successful stock market investors use a variety of tactics, follow differing market philosophies, and have varying temperaments, one thing remains the same: they stick to a defined set of rules. Having the ability to develop consistent and unwavering investing rules in the face of adversity is the key to stock market success. Most investors don’t approach the stock market in a systematic rule-based way. They make investing decisions based on emotion, fear, and greed.  This is particularly true during losing streaks. Every investor, regardless of skill level, experiences losing periods. What separates successful investors is that they stick to their rules despite strong urges to deviate and shoot for short-term gains.  #-ad_banner-#Despite differences in specific methodologies, there are overriding themes that every single winning stock market investor follows. I have distilled the basis of every winning investor’s plan into five easy to understand rules. Almost All Successful Investors Do These 5 Things 1. Diversify Diversifying across multiple assets, from stocks in different sectors to other types of securities, dramatically reduces your chances of catastrophic loss. Read More

With tax reform zooming through Congress, bitcoin reaching historic heights and the markets continuing one of the longest bull-runs in history, one extremely important headline went largely unnoticed in November. The potential change in the law isn’t as sexy as the 10-fold increase in Bitcoin or the changes to taxes. In fact, many consumers probably don’t even know what the existing law does. That doesn’t mean the coming change won’t have huge consequences for a group of companies, with some on the winning side as well as a few losers.  Surprisingly, shares of the companies on both sides haven’t moved… Read More

With tax reform zooming through Congress, bitcoin reaching historic heights and the markets continuing one of the longest bull-runs in history, one extremely important headline went largely unnoticed in November. The potential change in the law isn’t as sexy as the 10-fold increase in Bitcoin or the changes to taxes. In fact, many consumers probably don’t even know what the existing law does. That doesn’t mean the coming change won’t have huge consequences for a group of companies, with some on the winning side as well as a few losers.  Surprisingly, shares of the companies on both sides haven’t moved much since the announcement that the government would seek to change the law.  #-ad_banner-#That sets the stage to front-run the change, giving you a chance to align your portfolio with the winning side. I’m talking about net neutrality. What Is Net Neutrality And Why Should Investors Care? Net neutrality can seem like a confusing legal and technical topic, but the basic idea and implications are simple. Laws passed in 2015 reclassified broadband internet as a public utility under the Communications Act of 1934. This was important because it prohibited internet service providers (ISPs) from discriminating how they delivered the… Read More

Growing up in the decidedly hardscrabble union town of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, becoming a millionaire was nothing but fantasy. Not only was there very little information on how to reach the lofty goal, but neither myself nor any of my friends actually knew a real millionaire. It was just something we read about in magazines or saw in movies — nearly everyone had the same economic status in our blue collar neighborhood.  My uncle and grandfather were small-time real estate investors, and they gave me my first exposure to investment markets. But the real turning point for me was being invited… Read More

Growing up in the decidedly hardscrabble union town of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, becoming a millionaire was nothing but fantasy. Not only was there very little information on how to reach the lofty goal, but neither myself nor any of my friends actually knew a real millionaire. It was just something we read about in magazines or saw in movies — nearly everyone had the same economic status in our blue collar neighborhood.  My uncle and grandfather were small-time real estate investors, and they gave me my first exposure to investment markets. But the real turning point for me was being invited to a Charles Givens seminar while in high school.  Charles Givens was one of the first traveling motivational speakers focused on how the average person could build wealth. I was impressed seeing him pull up in a Rolls Royce with his staff in tow. After the seminar, I was fortunate to chat with Mr. Givens. I had met an actual millionaire!  Fast-forward several decades and being a millionaire is commonplace. Today, with nearly 11 million millionaires in the United States, some pundits claim that being a millionaire is the new middle class.  #-ad_banner-#The Wall Street rally of the past year… Read More

Last week, I told you about our latest report — The Top Stocks For 2018 — and how our subscribers have found it to be the most consistently profitable piece of annual research we publish. I even gave away one of the picks from this year’s report. (To read the issue, go here.) —Sponsored Link— Who Will Emerge As The Largest Marijuana Grower In Canada? As of July 2018, Marijuana will be fully legal in Canada and cannabis stocks are starting to fire back up as a result. But which will emerge as the giants of… Read More

Last week, I told you about our latest report — The Top Stocks For 2018 — and how our subscribers have found it to be the most consistently profitable piece of annual research we publish. I even gave away one of the picks from this year’s report. (To read the issue, go here.) —Sponsored Link— Who Will Emerge As The Largest Marijuana Grower In Canada? As of July 2018, Marijuana will be fully legal in Canada and cannabis stocks are starting to fire back up as a result. But which will emerge as the giants of industry and which will be flash in the pan stocks that are left behind in the bubble? Read this special report to learn more. I know everyone likes a free stock pick, but I really want to drive home just exactly why we believe this report is so important. Because the truth is, it’s not just about the stock picks.  It’s about the investing principles that lead to the stock picks. #-ad_banner-#To recap, I said that we like to focus on companies with the following three traits: 1) Companies that enjoy huge, long-term, advantages over their… Read More

In 2013, a speaker at an economic summit made a rather remarkable statement. The speaker, a high-ranking government economist, said that if the United States didn’t get its spending under control, the government risked a debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio in excess of 100% by 2024. The statement immediately drew chuckles from the attendees, most of whom were non-government economists. Of course, most economists knew the government would bypass the 100% level years sooner than predicted. In fact, at $20.4 trillion, the national debt is now 105% of GDP — just four years after the infamous statement. Worse, the ratio… Read More

In 2013, a speaker at an economic summit made a rather remarkable statement. The speaker, a high-ranking government economist, said that if the United States didn’t get its spending under control, the government risked a debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio in excess of 100% by 2024. The statement immediately drew chuckles from the attendees, most of whom were non-government economists. Of course, most economists knew the government would bypass the 100% level years sooner than predicted. In fact, at $20.4 trillion, the national debt is now 105% of GDP — just four years after the infamous statement. Worse, the ratio will accelerate from here. You see, much of the budget sequestration caps enacted in 2011 have been abandoned. As such, the only true limit to the national debt is now a fiscally conservative Congress, which is an oxymoron if ever there was one.  The Republican-controlled Congress is no more likely to limit spending than Democrats. In fact, the only difference between the parties is the names of the beneficiaries of taxpayer dollars. Democrats like to reward the poverty industry while the Republicans reward the military-industrial complex. But make no mistake: Neither party seems to acknowledge the cliff to which we… Read More

The stock market always shows its hand before a significant change in trend.  History reveals there are a variety of signals that flash before stocks start to plunge.  After doing some digging, I’ve found five signs that the bull market may be about to end.   Here Are My 5 Favorite Signals The Bull Market Is Over 1. Extreme Optimism Bull market tops are always characterized by excessive optimism.  Everyone from golf caddies to Uber drivers are excitedly talking about the stock market.  Tales of fortunes being made are abounding in the workplace as the public plunges into stocks… Read More

The stock market always shows its hand before a significant change in trend.  History reveals there are a variety of signals that flash before stocks start to plunge.  After doing some digging, I’ve found five signs that the bull market may be about to end.   Here Are My 5 Favorite Signals The Bull Market Is Over 1. Extreme Optimism Bull market tops are always characterized by excessive optimism.  Everyone from golf caddies to Uber drivers are excitedly talking about the stock market.  Tales of fortunes being made are abounding in the workplace as the public plunges into stocks with wild abandon.  Even Hollywood gets into the bullish mood with TV shows and movies focused on finance.  A prime example of this was the original “Wall Street” starring Michael Douglas.  While released in December 1987, two months after the great crash, the movie went into production during the monster bullish mid-1980s, thus forecasting the crash.   Today, accessible finance-related shows like “Shark Tank,” and the many real estate investing/flipping TV programs are signaling keen public interest in real estate and private equity.  Fortunately, for stocks, these shows are not directly about the stock market!   #-ad_banner-#Truthfully, I am not witnessing the… Read More

This year’s Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded to Dr. Richard Thaler for his work on behavioral economics. Thaler has done a great deal of work to understand the stock market. Some economists start with the assumption that individuals make rational decisions when faced with economic choices, including how to invest in the stock market. Thaler took a different approach based on what he saw in the real world — that people aren’t always rational. —Sponsored Link— Forbes Mag Says This Strategy Is ‘Like Finding Money In The Street’ And Reuters magazine calls this type… Read More

This year’s Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded to Dr. Richard Thaler for his work on behavioral economics. Thaler has done a great deal of work to understand the stock market. Some economists start with the assumption that individuals make rational decisions when faced with economic choices, including how to invest in the stock market. Thaler took a different approach based on what he saw in the real world — that people aren’t always rational. —Sponsored Link— Forbes Mag Says This Strategy Is ‘Like Finding Money In The Street’ And Reuters magazine calls this type of trading “the new baby boomer hobby.” An anonymous trader — living at the base of the Smoky Mountains — just released a free report revealing a step-by-step system to generating an extra $5,000 per month in income thanks to this trading strategy. The report is free until Sunday. Click here for the FREE REPORT… Thaler’s research found that, when faced with the need to make a decision in the face of uncertainty, people resort to heuristics, or an approach to problem solving where an individual uses their knowledge from past experience to make a decision. … Read More

There’s no doubt about it, the market is downright bullish. In fact, the S&P 500 hasn’t experienced a decline of at least 3% since Nov. 7, 2016. As I’m writing this, that amounts to an incredible 240 trading days without so much as a pause for this bull market.  The current record is 241 trading days, which happened between Jan. 26, 1995 and Jan. 9, 1996. That means that, assuming the market doesn’t fall by more than 3% in the next few days, the S&P 500 will set yet another new record this week. —Sponsored Link—… Read More

There’s no doubt about it, the market is downright bullish. In fact, the S&P 500 hasn’t experienced a decline of at least 3% since Nov. 7, 2016. As I’m writing this, that amounts to an incredible 240 trading days without so much as a pause for this bull market.  The current record is 241 trading days, which happened between Jan. 26, 1995 and Jan. 9, 1996. That means that, assuming the market doesn’t fall by more than 3% in the next few days, the S&P 500 will set yet another new record this week. —Sponsored Link— This 90 Percent-Plus Strategy Accounted For A 700 Percent ROI This proprietary sequence of steps has helped produce a 98% win rate over eight years! Use the same steps to implement this strategy whether the market is going up, down or sideways. Tap here to learn this 98% win rate. To put this into perspective, there’s only been five other times where the market even went 100-plus days without a pullback of at least 3%. No. 3 on the list is 162 days. Does this mean we’re due for a market… Read More