While there are no sure things in the stock market, there is one thing that’s almost certain: After stocks go up, bears start calling for a correction. I know what you’re probably thinking… But what if they’re right?  I get it. Psychologically, it can be daunting to buy stocks when there are rumblings.  In times like these, I am reminded of something one my mentors, Ralph Acampora, said.  —Recommended Link— The world’s most powerful trading system… revealed ​Master Trader Jim Fink has finally agreed to open the doors to his Paragon trading system. A secret… Read More

While there are no sure things in the stock market, there is one thing that’s almost certain: After stocks go up, bears start calling for a correction. I know what you’re probably thinking… But what if they’re right?  I get it. Psychologically, it can be daunting to buy stocks when there are rumblings.  In times like these, I am reminded of something one my mentors, Ralph Acampora, said.  —Recommended Link— The world’s most powerful trading system… revealed ​Master Trader Jim Fink has finally agreed to open the doors to his Paragon trading system. A secret he’s kept for 30 years. This 4-pronged profit machine gives you not one, not two, but four different ways to profit from a single trade. His recommendations could help you rake in $125k in less than 12 months. Don’t miss out on this once in a lifetime opportunity. Only 500 seats are available and they are filling up fast. Get the full details here Louis Rukeyser, Host of Wall Street Week ​ Ralph was often seen on Louis Rukeyser’s “Wall Street Week,” which ran on PBS every Friday night from 1970 through… Read More

I’m pretty sure kids were different when I was young. I recall being respectful and inquisitive. I would ask questions and appreciate the answers adults gave me. But now, from the age of about four onwards, kids today think they know everything. I asked my mom, and she is certain I am wrong. When she finally stopped laughing at me, she said that while I was also a precocious four-year old, I am respectful and inquisitive now. As I read through some research reports this weekend, I was left with the feeling that some analysts are more like know-it-all four-year olds. Read More

I’m pretty sure kids were different when I was young. I recall being respectful and inquisitive. I would ask questions and appreciate the answers adults gave me. But now, from the age of about four onwards, kids today think they know everything. I asked my mom, and she is certain I am wrong. When she finally stopped laughing at me, she said that while I was also a precocious four-year old, I am respectful and inquisitive now. As I read through some research reports this weekend, I was left with the feeling that some analysts are more like know-it-all four-year olds. Some seem unwilling to look past the current situation, even when there is information readily available to help them understand the historical context. Here’s what I mean… —Recommended Link— Get Your Name on Wall Street’s Payment List ​Wall Street pays out big money every single day for stocks-and qualified investors can get their names at the top of the list for easy payouts like $2,950 every week. I’ve been collecting payments like this for 30 years and it’s the most powerful way I know to consistently earn life-changing income. I’d love to show you how… Read More

They say that the market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent. That quip is widely attributed to famous economist John Maynard Keynes, who was nearly wiped out in the 1920s with leveraged foreign currency trades that went the wrong way. A great many investors have learned this lesson the hard way, ruined not necessarily because they were wrong and the market was right, but because they ran out of cash before the market corrected its mistake. This often happens within asset bubbles. Prices may be overinflated, yet they continue to rise. Those gains lure more buyers, who… Read More

They say that the market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent. That quip is widely attributed to famous economist John Maynard Keynes, who was nearly wiped out in the 1920s with leveraged foreign currency trades that went the wrong way. A great many investors have learned this lesson the hard way, ruined not necessarily because they were wrong and the market was right, but because they ran out of cash before the market corrected its mistake. This often happens within asset bubbles. Prices may be overinflated, yet they continue to rise. Those gains lure more buyers, who propel prices even higher, which leads to even more rampant speculation. Much like a pyramid scheme, successful investing in such conditions only requires one fool to find an even bigger fool willing to pay a higher price. That’s the nature of momentum investing — it works until it stops working. And then it gets ugly. But going against the herd with short sales carries its own risks. As Mr. Keynes found out, you can run out of money long before the bubble finally pops. But it’s the other half of the equation that I want to talk about today.  When… Read More

Days after college graduation, a newly-minted Finance/Investment Management degree in hand, I found myself combing through the newspaper want-ads looking for work. Yes, I said newspaper. This was the dawn of the internet era, long before job seekers began uploading their resumes to sites like Indeed.com and visiting professional networking portals such as LinkedIn. Fortunately, everything worked out. Needless to say, it’s a different world for today’s job seekers. The average job hunt is filled with digital pathways to make connections. If you’re an electrician looking for a job in the Chicago area, for example, a quick search of CareerBuilder.com… Read More

Days after college graduation, a newly-minted Finance/Investment Management degree in hand, I found myself combing through the newspaper want-ads looking for work. Yes, I said newspaper. This was the dawn of the internet era, long before job seekers began uploading their resumes to sites like Indeed.com and visiting professional networking portals such as LinkedIn. Fortunately, everything worked out. Needless to say, it’s a different world for today’s job seekers. The average job hunt is filled with digital pathways to make connections. If you’re an electrician looking for a job in the Chicago area, for example, a quick search of CareerBuilder.com shows 64 available positions. But the more things change, the more they stay the same. A successful job search still depends in large part (aside from the applicant’s qualifications) on the number of businesses hanging out help-wanted signs. The more the better. And they are plentiful right now, to say the least. —Recommended Link—   Most Traders Do THIS Wrong (Hint: They’re paying Wall Street instead of letting Wall Street pay them!) They’re screwing it up… and they’re missing out on the chance to make easy profits every single week without a ton of risk. Read More

Have you ever driven yourself half-crazy looking for your car keys? You spend so much time looking for them — only to find them sitting in plain sight. They may not have been where you usually leave your keys, but there they are — right in front of you. You must have walked by them a dozen times. #-ad_banner-#The same thing happens to securities that pay irregular — or special — dividends. We like to call them “Wall Street Irregulars.”    These dividend payers offer above-average yields, yet most investors skip right over them. That’s because popular investment resources like Yahoo! Finance rarely… Read More

Have you ever driven yourself half-crazy looking for your car keys? You spend so much time looking for them — only to find them sitting in plain sight. They may not have been where you usually leave your keys, but there they are — right in front of you. You must have walked by them a dozen times. #-ad_banner-#The same thing happens to securities that pay irregular — or special — dividends. We like to call them “Wall Street Irregulars.”    These dividend payers offer above-average yields, yet most investors skip right over them. That’s because popular investment resources like Yahoo! Finance rarely reflect the total yield these companies offer. Most brokerage and investment websites only take a stock’s most recent dividend payment and multiply it times the payment frequency to get a stock’s annual dividend. The websites then use the computed annual dividend to calculate the yield. So while the “posted yield” — the yield investors see listed — may show something south of 2%, a stock’s “trailing yield” — the yield based on the company’s actual dividend payments over the last 12 months — may be much higher. There are various types of Wall Street Irregulars. There are quarterly irregulars, which… Read More

Check out this stock chart. This is the part where a financial writer would normally make some kind of half-hearted analogy to a roller coaster ride. It would certainly be fitting in this case, not only because of the stock’s stomach-churning ups and downs, but also because it belongs to none other than Six Flags (NYSE: SIX).  —Recommended Link— A stock that yields 67% a year? Really? If you’re happy with stocks yielding you 4% or 5% a year, you don’t need this. But if you want to see how we built a portfolio that now… Read More

Check out this stock chart. This is the part where a financial writer would normally make some kind of half-hearted analogy to a roller coaster ride. It would certainly be fitting in this case, not only because of the stock’s stomach-churning ups and downs, but also because it belongs to none other than Six Flags (NYSE: SIX).  —Recommended Link— A stock that yields 67% a year? Really? If you’re happy with stocks yielding you 4% or 5% a year, you don’t need this. But if you want to see how we built a portfolio that now pays us a 67% cash on cash return – with no leverage, options, or gimmicks — then go here ASAP. Six Flags knows a thing or two about adrenaline-inducing rides. It has constantly raised the entertainment bar over the years, introducing thrilling attractions such as Goliath, the world’s fastest and steepest wooden coaster, and Zumanjaro, the world’s tallest drop ride (41 stories at 90 mph). It has even just given us the first looping virtual reality coaster.  As the world’s largest regional theme park owner, Six Flags operates 145 roller coasters (925 total rides) that delight… Read More

It feels a little like we’re in the Twilight Zone. It’s as if two economic realities exist at the same time. To understand what I mean, consider the backdrop in light of the Federal Reserve’s recent interest rate cut. Sure, there are some potential things to be worried about, like recent manufacturing data. Or the trade war. But unemployment is at a 50-year low and stocks are making all-time highs. Meanwhile, I can still take out a new mortgage for the same rate I did in 2012. Curious indeed. To make sense of all this, I turned to… Read More

It feels a little like we’re in the Twilight Zone. It’s as if two economic realities exist at the same time. To understand what I mean, consider the backdrop in light of the Federal Reserve’s recent interest rate cut. Sure, there are some potential things to be worried about, like recent manufacturing data. Or the trade war. But unemployment is at a 50-year low and stocks are making all-time highs. Meanwhile, I can still take out a new mortgage for the same rate I did in 2012. Curious indeed. To make sense of all this, I turned to StreetAuthority’s resident income expert, Nathan Slaughter. I consider Nathan to be the dean of StreetAuthority analysts. That’s because he’s been researching, writing, and delivering picks to readers since 2004. For the past six years, Nathan has been at the helm of High-Yield Investing, one of StreetAuthority’s most popular newsletters. Prior to joining StreetAuthority, Nathan spent some time as a financial planner and wealth management advisor. He’s covered a lot of investment ground here over the past 15 years, from commodities to micro-caps. But most of his time has been spent in the pursuit of quality income-paying stocks and securities. If… Read More

And just like that, the S&P 500 is back to hitting new all-time highs. This is happening thanks in large part to an accommodative Federal Reserve, who for the third time this year cut interest rates by 25 basis points on October 30. The benchmark federal funds rate now sits at 1.5% to 1.75%. #-ad_banner-#Also helping is the fact that the trade war with China has simmered. In fact, it looks like we may get a Phase 1 agreement soon. (Although I wouldn’t hold my breath. This is far from over.) And finally, third-quarter earnings have been better than expected… Read More

And just like that, the S&P 500 is back to hitting new all-time highs. This is happening thanks in large part to an accommodative Federal Reserve, who for the third time this year cut interest rates by 25 basis points on October 30. The benchmark federal funds rate now sits at 1.5% to 1.75%. #-ad_banner-#Also helping is the fact that the trade war with China has simmered. In fact, it looks like we may get a Phase 1 agreement soon. (Although I wouldn’t hold my breath. This is far from over.) And finally, third-quarter earnings have been better than expected — granted the bar was set pretty low. Going into earnings season, analysts believed that earnings for companies in the S&P 500 were set to decline 4% compared to the same period a year ago. It would have marked the first time the index reported three straight quarters of year-over-year earnings decline since Q4 2015 through Q2 2016. With more than 71% of the companies in the S&P 500 reporting actual results, 76% have reported a positive earnings surprise. As it sits now, the earnings decline is -2.7%. That’s not only better than the -4% that was expected, but it’s… Read More

The big story last week was the Federal Reserve. The Fed meets every six weeks, and, for the third consecutive meeting, they cut rates. That’s the story. As investors, we need to dig behind the story and look at why the Fed cut rates. Interest rates are one of the Fed’s most important policy tools. They use interest rates to fine tune economic growth. This is based on the theory that excessive growth causes inflation while slow growth creates unemployment. In theory, the Fed tries to ensure interest rates are just right so that we see growth without high inflation… Read More

The big story last week was the Federal Reserve. The Fed meets every six weeks, and, for the third consecutive meeting, they cut rates. That’s the story. As investors, we need to dig behind the story and look at why the Fed cut rates. Interest rates are one of the Fed’s most important policy tools. They use interest rates to fine tune economic growth. This is based on the theory that excessive growth causes inflation while slow growth creates unemployment. In theory, the Fed tries to ensure interest rates are just right so that we see growth without high inflation or unemployment. Cutting rates generally means inflation is low and unemployment is rising. It’s the kind of situation we see before a recession. But this time is different. —Recommended Link— The safest stocks in America Like any other investor, I try to buy low and sell high… but the BIG difference with me is that I buy just one kind of stock. They sell a product that 152 million customers are virtually addicted to. And the kicker is: they are the only type of stocks mandated by law to make a profit. Read More