On the last trading day of November, the Dow Jones Industrial Average opened at a new record of 19,136, having just broken through a historic barrier of 19,000 a few days earlier. Before you break out the party hats, though, it seems that most investors and analysts are holding off the big celebration until Dow 20,000. And a mere 5% upside move would take it there. The post-election market action seems to provide reasons for such optimism. Stocks rallied, bonds sold off, and gold weakened. But what’s been especially remarkable about this market action isn’t that equities and bonds went… Read More

On the last trading day of November, the Dow Jones Industrial Average opened at a new record of 19,136, having just broken through a historic barrier of 19,000 a few days earlier. Before you break out the party hats, though, it seems that most investors and analysts are holding off the big celebration until Dow 20,000. And a mere 5% upside move would take it there. The post-election market action seems to provide reasons for such optimism. Stocks rallied, bonds sold off, and gold weakened. But what’s been especially remarkable about this market action isn’t that equities and bonds went their separate ways. What stood out over the past month is the difference, or spread, between “risky” assets (aka stocks) and “safer” ones (like bonds). —Recommended Link— Prediction: These 10 Stocks Could Be 2017’s BIGGEST Investing Success Stories StreetAuthority’s experts have pinpointed over two dozen game-changing tech stocks in the last few years — but this year’s “Virtual Reality Revolution” is set to break all our past records… But first you have to know how to play it… The chart below depicts the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average, long-term Treasuries and gold, through a variety of exchange-traded funds… Read More

One of the coolest things about Wall Street is the ability to follow in the footsteps of ultra-successful investors. Unlike the secretive world of other investments, the stock market has regulations requiring large investors to disclose their holdings to the public on a quarterly basis via the SEC Form 13F. This disclosure applies to all institutional money managers with over $100 million in qualified assets. #-ad_banner-#Following the 13F filings of these money managers can provide smaller investors both direct and indirect guidance as to how to invest. Direct guidance can be gleaned by following what holdings are new, added, or… Read More

One of the coolest things about Wall Street is the ability to follow in the footsteps of ultra-successful investors. Unlike the secretive world of other investments, the stock market has regulations requiring large investors to disclose their holdings to the public on a quarterly basis via the SEC Form 13F. This disclosure applies to all institutional money managers with over $100 million in qualified assets. #-ad_banner-#Following the 13F filings of these money managers can provide smaller investors both direct and indirect guidance as to how to invest. Direct guidance can be gleaned by following what holdings are new, added, or lessened during the quarter. Indirectly, investors can observe the movement of money into and out of sectors and industries to obtain inside knowledge of burgeoning market trends. One of my all-time favorite mega-investors to follow is Carl Icahn. At 80 years old, Mr. Icahn has built his reputation, and over $16 billion in personal wealth, as an activist shareholder and buyout specialist. Icahn has most recently been in the news as being a candidate for Treasury Secretary under Donald Trump. However, it is unlikely he will accept any official government position beyond informal advisor. He explained to FOX Business Network,… Read More

While 50% of the country is unhappy with the outcome of the election, I think we can all agree we’re glad that it’s over. Not only do we no longer have to suffer through a barrage of campaign ads, we can finally start planning for the future without the uncertainty of an election looming over us. The presidential cycle is a four-year pattern in the stock market that many analysts have identified. There are variations of the pattern with some analysts starting the cycle in January when the new president assumes office, while others believe it starts in November with… Read More

While 50% of the country is unhappy with the outcome of the election, I think we can all agree we’re glad that it’s over. Not only do we no longer have to suffer through a barrage of campaign ads, we can finally start planning for the future without the uncertainty of an election looming over us. The presidential cycle is a four-year pattern in the stock market that many analysts have identified. There are variations of the pattern with some analysts starting the cycle in January when the new president assumes office, while others believe it starts in November with the election. Either way, though, the general consensus is that the first two years of a president’s term are the most difficult for the market. Once in office, a new president must make a variety of tough decisions. There are almost always problems the previous president was unable to resolve, and there are new problems that develop. In the first two years, presidents seem more willing to take decisive action, likely because there is a better chance voters will forget about any wrong moves by the time the next election rolls around. In the past, this has led to below-average… Read More

While investors have a responsibility to research the companies they are interested in, knowing how to research sets apart the good investors from bad ones. Think about when you were in high school.  What separated good students from bad students? It often comes down to their studying habits, right? Student who struggle with grades and can’t study well — whether because they don’t know how or lack the time — can’t survive without a tutor, or in some instances, summer school. Similarly, investors who don’t know how to research or lack the time to do so effectively must come to… Read More

While investors have a responsibility to research the companies they are interested in, knowing how to research sets apart the good investors from bad ones. Think about when you were in high school.  What separated good students from bad students? It often comes down to their studying habits, right? Student who struggle with grades and can’t study well — whether because they don’t know how or lack the time — can’t survive without a tutor, or in some instances, summer school. Similarly, investors who don’t know how to research or lack the time to do so effectively must come to terms with this by knowing their strengths and weaknesses. How would someone know what to research if he or she doesn’t first know what they don’t know? By and large, sound research is where so many investors consistently struggle. The easiest way to compensate is to limit your research to only a handful of companies. Here’s why… Research Rule No. 1: You Can’t Follow Everything As of the most recent quarter, the New York Stock Exchange traded stocks for some 2,800 companies, while the Nasdaq has listed somewhere in the neighborhood of 3,100 others. Combined, this comes out to… Read More

Editor’s Note: Recently, we’ve been telling StreetAuthority readers about how the recent loosening of regulations make it possible for regular investors to buy in to some of the most exciting companies in the world — before they go public.  In recent issues we’ve talked a lot about the concept of pre-IPO investing itself — how it works, and the promise it holds for investors. But what happens during the research phase when you find an interesting startup that seems to hold a lot of promise?  One of the most important next steps is to assess the people behind the enterprise. In… Read More

Editor’s Note: Recently, we’ve been telling StreetAuthority readers about how the recent loosening of regulations make it possible for regular investors to buy in to some of the most exciting companies in the world — before they go public.  In recent issues we’ve talked a lot about the concept of pre-IPO investing itself — how it works, and the promise it holds for investors. But what happens during the research phase when you find an interesting startup that seems to hold a lot of promise?  One of the most important next steps is to assess the people behind the enterprise. In the following essay, Joseph Hogue, Chief Strategist of Pre-IPO Millionaire, draws on his years of experience as a venture capital analyst to highlight what he sees as the five most important qualities of a successful entrepreneur. It also demonstrates the value of having an experienced analyst working for you in this space. After all, if you want to invest like an elite venture capitalist, why not have an experienced VC analyst working for you? They say you can’t judge a book by its cover, but you can tell a great deal about an entrepreneur from a very short conversation and… Read More

The U.S. stock market posted its third consecutive weekly gain last week, led once again by the small-cap Russell 2000, which added 2.4% to bring its year-to-date gains to a whopping 18.6%. To put that in perspective, the next best performer is the Dow Jones Industrial Average with a 9.9% gain for the year. #-ad_banner-#Last week’s advance was broad-based with all sectors of the S&P 500 except for health care (-0.3%) finishing in positive territory. It was led by materials (2.6%) and industrials (2.3%). For the year, energy (20.6%) and industrials (18.3%) have been the best performers, while real estate… Read More

The U.S. stock market posted its third consecutive weekly gain last week, led once again by the small-cap Russell 2000, which added 2.4% to bring its year-to-date gains to a whopping 18.6%. To put that in perspective, the next best performer is the Dow Jones Industrial Average with a 9.9% gain for the year. #-ad_banner-#Last week’s advance was broad-based with all sectors of the S&P 500 except for health care (-0.3%) finishing in positive territory. It was led by materials (2.6%) and industrials (2.3%). For the year, energy (20.6%) and industrials (18.3%) have been the best performers, while real estate (-3.6%) and health care (-3.5%) are bringing up the rear. According to Asbury Research’s ETF-based metric, the biggest inflows on a percentage basis over the past week went into consumer discretionary, while the biggest outflows were from consumer staples. If this trend continues, it bodes well for upcoming relative outperformance of the consumer discretionary sector into early 2017. New Highs And Unmet Targets Are Intermediate-Term Bullish The benchmark S&P 500 broke overhead resistance at 2,194 last week, hitting new all-time highs. However, the bellwether Dow industrials, which rose 1.5% last week, are still 6.5% below my 20,400… Read More

Since the inception of my premium newsletter, Top Stock Advisor, our goal has been to provide subscribers with a portfolio of some of the world’s greatest, most capital-efficient companies.  The result: A legacy portfolio that could be passed down from generation to generation… One that doesn’t expose you to unnecessary risk, yet still outperforms the market… A portfolio that can stand the test of time, weather unpredictable events, and mitigate the risk of uncertain economic futures. The presidential election gave us a taste of an unpredictable event — a stress test if you will. So how did the portfolio do?… Read More

Since the inception of my premium newsletter, Top Stock Advisor, our goal has been to provide subscribers with a portfolio of some of the world’s greatest, most capital-efficient companies.  The result: A legacy portfolio that could be passed down from generation to generation… One that doesn’t expose you to unnecessary risk, yet still outperforms the market… A portfolio that can stand the test of time, weather unpredictable events, and mitigate the risk of uncertain economic futures. The presidential election gave us a taste of an unpredictable event — a stress test if you will. So how did the portfolio do? 11 of 19. That’s the number of stocks that are positive since the day before the election. Of those 11 stocks, all but one of them has outpaced the broader market, as measured by the S&P 500. Overall, the portfolio increased roughly 1.5%, which is all the more remarkable considering that nearly 40% is in cash. —Recommended Link— The Most Expensive Piece Of This Car Could Make You Rich Sustainable energy is not cheap. In fact, it’s the most expensive component in an electric car. But Tesla founder Elon Musk is determined not only to make it affordable worldwide…… Read More

The major U.S. indices extended the previous week’s huge post-election gains, led by the small-cap Russell 2000 (2.6%) and tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (1.2%). Although the S&P 500 only added 0.8%, the modest advance was broad based, with all sectors of the index posting gains except health care and consumer staples. Financial, energy and consumer discretionary stocks were the week’s best performers. The focus of this holiday-shortened week will be two housing-related reports and the minutes of the early November Federal Open Market Committee meeting. Investors will be poring over the minutes on Wednesday afternoon for clues as to whether the… Read More

The major U.S. indices extended the previous week’s huge post-election gains, led by the small-cap Russell 2000 (2.6%) and tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (1.2%). Although the S&P 500 only added 0.8%, the modest advance was broad based, with all sectors of the index posting gains except health care and consumer staples. Financial, energy and consumer discretionary stocks were the week’s best performers. The focus of this holiday-shortened week will be two housing-related reports and the minutes of the early November Federal Open Market Committee meeting. Investors will be poring over the minutes on Wednesday afternoon for clues as to whether the Federal Reserve will hike short-term interest rates at the Dec. 13-14 meeting. In last week’s Market Outlook, I pointed out that the post-election rally positioned the benchmark S&P 500 index just below overhead resistance at 2,180 to 2,194. That resistance is officially being tested, but it will take a sustained rise above it to confirm the broader market’s next leg higher is underway. Investor Asset Flows Testing Important Threshold One of the few market metrics that actually leads price sometimes is investor asset flows. And the latest asset flows data in the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (NYSE: DIA)… Read More

If you want to start an instant argument, find adherents of technical analysis and adherents of fundamental analysis, and then ask them which investing approach is better. The technical analysts will tell you that a close read of a company’s financial statements won’t help you know if a stock represents a timely investment. The fundamental analysts will counter that simply looking at a series of trading charts only tells you where a stock has been, not where it is going. With all due respect, they are both wrong. —Recommended Link— Nail Down A 10%+ Income Stream For Life If… Read More

If you want to start an instant argument, find adherents of technical analysis and adherents of fundamental analysis, and then ask them which investing approach is better. The technical analysts will tell you that a close read of a company’s financial statements won’t help you know if a stock represents a timely investment. The fundamental analysts will counter that simply looking at a series of trading charts only tells you where a stock has been, not where it is going. With all due respect, they are both wrong. —Recommended Link— Nail Down A 10%+ Income Stream For Life If pulling down a yield of 10% a year sounds good — before capital gains — you need to see this. You’ll find stocks paying 15.1%… high-yielding REITs, trusts, partnerships and ETFs. (These cash cows are also posting capital gains as high as +368% for us. I explain that part here.) The real secret to successful investing is the marriage of both approaches. In fact, I’ve singled out a pair of factors — one from each camp — that can be used in tandem to deliver robust gains. It’s an approach that has led me to bag triple-digit gains, often in… Read More

In one of the strangest weeks for the markets that I can remember, the major indices collapsed during the overnight session on election night, with the S&P 500 plummeting 5% at one point, before staging a huge bullish reversal on Nov. 9. From there, the market just kept going, and… Read More