Last week, stocks sold off and the week ended with a popular indicator showing a “sell” signal.  To understand, let’s look at a simple chart.  —Recommended Link— Life-and-death investing. At the office, we call them “essential-service” stocks. Because people don’t just want what they sell, they need it. Nobody is going to go without air conditioning in Arizona. It can be a matter of life and death. And try spending a winter in North Dakota with no heat. Forget it. So the companies that make these places livable have and extreme advantage over other businesses. Read More

Last week, stocks sold off and the week ended with a popular indicator showing a “sell” signal.  To understand, let’s look at a simple chart.  —Recommended Link— Life-and-death investing. At the office, we call them “essential-service” stocks. Because people don’t just want what they sell, they need it. Nobody is going to go without air conditioning in Arizona. It can be a matter of life and death. And try spending a winter in North Dakota with no heat. Forget it. So the companies that make these places livable have and extreme advantage over other businesses. ​​ Which is great news for us, because we’ve got a bunch of these stocks that are up 561% each. This is the kind of chart many market analysts ignore because it just seems too simple. The indicator at the bottom of the chart won’t be enough to beat the market, but it does help reduce risk.  The indicator at the bottom of the chart is the popular MACD indicator. And as I just mentioned, it’s on a “sell” signal right now.  In the past 10 years, owning the S&P 500 ETF (NYSE: SPY) only when… Read More

Market volatility is back. And it didn’t take long. From the low of the year set on July 24, the CBOE Volatility Index — also known as the Fear Index or simply the VIX — doubled less than two weeks later, rallying on August 5 to levels not seen since early January. Of course, by the end of the week, stocks recovered about half of their Monday losses (and ended the week 2.8% down). The volatility, accordingly, let up a little. Still, at about 66.5 on Friday, the VIX stood about 40% higher than the July lows, and it has… Read More

Market volatility is back. And it didn’t take long. From the low of the year set on July 24, the CBOE Volatility Index — also known as the Fear Index or simply the VIX — doubled less than two weeks later, rallying on August 5 to levels not seen since early January. Of course, by the end of the week, stocks recovered about half of their Monday losses (and ended the week 2.8% down). The volatility, accordingly, let up a little. Still, at about 66.5 on Friday, the VIX stood about 40% higher than the July lows, and it has continued to move higher again early this week. Here’s another way of looking at volatility: over the past two weeks, major indices such as the S&P 500 were posting relatively large moves — up or down 1% or more — every day. This is the longest such streak in years and, by some calculations, since the Great Recession. This looks like a great time to look for some defense. And coincidentally, I think investors may find it in the defense sector. While stocks officially classified as Aerospace and Defense might not be immune from the market’s volatility, these companies are… Read More

To call a stock like Colony Capital (Nasdaq: CLNY) a disappointment would be an understatement. Since joining with Northstar Realty in early 2017 (a merger that went south almost immediately), the company has lost approximately two-thirds of its market cap.  So why does it worth a look for investors? Because investing is always about tomorrow, not yesterday. A well-respected investment research firm just evaluated each of Colony’s divisions individually, and after a sum-of-the-parts valuation concluded that CLNY is worth $11 per share. That would imply a potential upside of 100% from current levels. And for the first time in a… Read More

To call a stock like Colony Capital (Nasdaq: CLNY) a disappointment would be an understatement. Since joining with Northstar Realty in early 2017 (a merger that went south almost immediately), the company has lost approximately two-thirds of its market cap.  So why does it worth a look for investors? Because investing is always about tomorrow, not yesterday. A well-respected investment research firm just evaluated each of Colony’s divisions individually, and after a sum-of-the-parts valuation concluded that CLNY is worth $11 per share. That would imply a potential upside of 100% from current levels. And for the first time in a while, the market is sensing a viable pathway to get there. Just What Exactly Is This Company?  Part of the problem is Colony’s convoluted portfolio, which has kept many analysts (and retail investors) at arm’s length. Like most real estate investment trusts (REITs), it owns a collection of rent-earning properties such as hotels and warehouses. But Colony is also part asset manager and part business development company (BDC). Among other ventures, it originates real estate loans and manages both open and closed private equity funds. Colony has $14.6 billion in balance sheet assets and manages another $28.8 billion on… Read More

“Cash is king.” This common expression is often used when analyzing business or investment decisions. When buying real estate in a hot market, cash is king. If you come to the table with cash over more traditional financing methods, your offer will likely move to the top of the pecking order. The same principle can be applied to stock-picking. A company that produces a ton of cash or carries a good amount of cash in relation to debt is often seen as a “safer” investment compared with a company that’s debt-ridden. And when investors believe the market is getting too… Read More

“Cash is king.” This common expression is often used when analyzing business or investment decisions. When buying real estate in a hot market, cash is king. If you come to the table with cash over more traditional financing methods, your offer will likely move to the top of the pecking order. The same principle can be applied to stock-picking. A company that produces a ton of cash or carries a good amount of cash in relation to debt is often seen as a “safer” investment compared with a company that’s debt-ridden. And when investors believe the market is getting too hot or expensive, they will often stockpile cash to have on hand when the next pullback hits. This way, they can pick up shares of their favorite company at a better price. —Recommended Link— I’ve Never Been More Excited About An Opportunity Pot stocks are dominating the headlines. But I’m not biting. Because I’ve found a safer, smarter way to make money from the legal marijuana market. It’s a unique profit-sharing plan that’s allowing everyday Americans to earn up to $55,563 a year. And the payouts are 100% backed by a U.S. Federal Law. The… Read More

Yes, it’s a race to the bottom. I’m not talking about the market. I’m referring to interest rates. After a couple of wild weeks, stocks — as measured by the S&P 500 – are trading by only about 3% below their recent highs and are up 16.7% for the year. Interest rates, meanwhile, have continued to rush lower. #-ad_banner-#Just a week after the U.S. Federal Reserve executed its first interest rate cut since the Great Recession, three Asia-Pacific central banks surprised the market with an aggressive rate-cut move of their own. On Wednesday, August 7, Thailand, New Zealand and India… Read More

Yes, it’s a race to the bottom. I’m not talking about the market. I’m referring to interest rates. After a couple of wild weeks, stocks — as measured by the S&P 500 – are trading by only about 3% below their recent highs and are up 16.7% for the year. Interest rates, meanwhile, have continued to rush lower. #-ad_banner-#Just a week after the U.S. Federal Reserve executed its first interest rate cut since the Great Recession, three Asia-Pacific central banks surprised the market with an aggressive rate-cut move of their own. On Wednesday, August 7, Thailand, New Zealand and India all acted to lower their countries’ respective rates. On the very next day, the Philippines joined them. The developing countries now join the developed world in the rate-cutting process. Central banks in developed countries have already largely lowered rates to record levels, resulting in negative-rate policies in Europe. The ECB first ventured into the negative-rate territory five years ago, and the deposit rate now sits at a negative 0.4%.  Just a year ago, the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield was approaching 3% (2.92% on August 8, 2018) and investors were talking about selling bonds due to the inevitability of rates rising… Read More

The market is always driven by either fear or greed. Right now, fear holds sway. There is a global flight-to-quality underway that has investors seeking shelter in government bonds, the safest of all harbors. As we know, bond prices move inversely to yields. So, payouts have fallen off a cliff… 3%, 2%, 1%. Look out below. Current bond yields are so low they would be laughable – were they not jeopardizing the retirement of hard-working people. —Recommended Link— Paragon Trading System Brings Gains of 2,500% Kept under wraps for 30 years, Jim Fink is finally… Read More

The market is always driven by either fear or greed. Right now, fear holds sway. There is a global flight-to-quality underway that has investors seeking shelter in government bonds, the safest of all harbors. As we know, bond prices move inversely to yields. So, payouts have fallen off a cliff… 3%, 2%, 1%. Look out below. Current bond yields are so low they would be laughable – were they not jeopardizing the retirement of hard-working people. —Recommended Link— Paragon Trading System Brings Gains of 2,500% Kept under wraps for 30 years, Jim Fink is finally revealing his Paragon trading system to the world. It’s the same system that let Jim walk away from Wall Street with a $5 million fortune at just age 37. And now, a select group of investors are following in his footsteps. We’re so confident in the system, that we will guarantee you the opportunity to turn $5,000 into $125,000. ​​Click Here Now. My premium newsletter, High-Yield Investing, has been around for fifteen years. When the newsletter was launched in July 2004, decent payouts were plentiful. The 10-Year Treasury yield stood at 4.7%. And AAA-rated corporate bonds… Read More