I’m betting that sometime today, a shipping container will fall into the sea. That’s what the odds tell us, anyway. According to a survey by the World Shipping Council, an average of 612 containers go overboard each year. Some even wash up on distant shores, disgorging their soaked cargo. Scavengers on Dutch islands recently picked through furniture, clothing and televisions that had broken free after a ship was battered by 30-foot waves and fierce winds. In the grand scheme of things, though, such events are rare. About 99.999% of these sturdy steel boxes make it safely to their destinations. There… Read More

I’m betting that sometime today, a shipping container will fall into the sea. That’s what the odds tell us, anyway. According to a survey by the World Shipping Council, an average of 612 containers go overboard each year. Some even wash up on distant shores, disgorging their soaked cargo. Scavengers on Dutch islands recently picked through furniture, clothing and televisions that had broken free after a ship was battered by 30-foot waves and fierce winds. In the grand scheme of things, though, such events are rare. About 99.999% of these sturdy steel boxes make it safely to their destinations. There are approximately 30 million shipping containers in use worldwide, and most make several transits annually. Built to be nearly indestructible, these stackable twenty-by-eight foot containers can safely hold up to 25 tons of cargo. Pry one open, and you might find tennis shoes inside… or kitchen appliances, sporting goods or lawn mowers. There are even refrigerated units for frozen foods and other perishable cargo. Consumers give little thought to how merchandise arrives on store shelves at their local Wal-Mart or Target. We don’t even notice until items are out of stock (or prices creep higher). But think how empty those… Read More

Investors know that markets react quickly to any new development or big news. But markets also tend to overreact.  The latter explains why, while being “efficient” — that is, reflecting all the available information — the market also contains a wealth of overvalued as well as attractively valued stocks at any given time. This is what stock picking is all about — finding companies that look undervalued by the market. Of course, stock pickers often have to contend with the phenomenon of market overreaction. In this case, they can be “early on the stock” — the best of us have… Read More

Investors know that markets react quickly to any new development or big news. But markets also tend to overreact.  The latter explains why, while being “efficient” — that is, reflecting all the available information — the market also contains a wealth of overvalued as well as attractively valued stocks at any given time. This is what stock picking is all about — finding companies that look undervalued by the market. Of course, stock pickers often have to contend with the phenomenon of market overreaction. In this case, they can be “early on the stock” — the best of us have been there, having selected a company for its growth potential only to see the stock stagnate or, worse, decline.  But the potential of choosing the right stock and betting against the grain can also be huge: when all the bad news is already incorporated into shares, an upside catalyst related to any improvement, changes in the company’s results or in the market’s sentiment could be significant. I believe that to be the case with Grubhub (Nasdaq: GRUB), a food delivery leader that has served up accelerating organic growth — and whose shares still don’t reflect that positive action.  If it… Read More

Last week’s market action was relatively dull. And by dull, I mean there wasn’t much price volatility.  Now, just because the market was “dull” doesn’t mean it wasn’t also interesting. Dull markets actually provide us with important information about what’s likely to happen next…  —Recommended Link— The most underrated wealth-building maneuver in history. Wall Street pretty much ignores it… but more than 150 years of data prove that doing this beats every other investment approach hands down. By a LOT. In fact, using this little twist turned a $122,878 payday into $1,098,012. ​Check it out here and see what… Read More

Last week’s market action was relatively dull. And by dull, I mean there wasn’t much price volatility.  Now, just because the market was “dull” doesn’t mean it wasn’t also interesting. Dull markets actually provide us with important information about what’s likely to happen next…  —Recommended Link— The most underrated wealth-building maneuver in history. Wall Street pretty much ignores it… but more than 150 years of data prove that doing this beats every other investment approach hands down. By a LOT. In fact, using this little twist turned a $122,878 payday into $1,098,012. ​Check it out here and see what I mean. The dullness resulted from the fact that the S&P 500 was almost unchanged after Tuesday. I’ve created a chart showing the last two times we saw a market that was this dull. The blue rectangles highlight the “dull” periods.  The bars at the bottom show the true range of each day’s market action. The range is the difference between the high and the low. This indicator misses the market action on days when the price gaps up or down at the open. (Gaps are opening prices significantly above or below the previous day’s close.) The true range corrects… Read More

The markets undergo rotation all the time. Whether it’s manifested as a change in leadership in a stock or in a sector, one thing is for sure: some of today’s small- and mid-sized companies are destined to become tomorrow’s blue chips. This is what my Fast-Track Millionaire premium newsletter service is all about — finding tomorrow’s leaders while they still trade at relatively low levels. If you get it right, the rewards can be stunning. While identifying the next Microsoft can be an arduous process, a few mistakes along the way can be forgiven if your best find appreciates… Read More

The markets undergo rotation all the time. Whether it’s manifested as a change in leadership in a stock or in a sector, one thing is for sure: some of today’s small- and mid-sized companies are destined to become tomorrow’s blue chips. This is what my Fast-Track Millionaire premium newsletter service is all about — finding tomorrow’s leaders while they still trade at relatively low levels. If you get it right, the rewards can be stunning. While identifying the next Microsoft can be an arduous process, a few mistakes along the way can be forgiven if your best find appreciates by 100%, 200%, or even more.  The strategy of finding what we like to call “The Next Big Thing” is two-fold. The first step entails identifying relevant trends in their early stages and the companies that will be the likely beneficiaries. That’s obvious enough. But there’s a corollary to the process, an aspect of the search that is often underappreciated by investors. And this part is all about determining which stocks or groups of stocks are the most likely to deteriorate as time goes on. In other words, the companies to avoid. This is what we’re going to focus on… Read More

Is it time to sell our original “No-Brainer” investment? Has our longest tenured holding over at Top Stock Advisor run its course?  Let’s dive into the semiconductor behemoth that is Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) to see what actions, if any, we should take. First, recall that this industry giant produced $70.8 billion in revenue for 2018, a 13% increase over the prior year. More than $21 billion of total sales was profit, giving the company a net profit margin of roughly 30%. The company generated more than $14 billion in free cash flow last year and has more than $12 billion… Read More

Is it time to sell our original “No-Brainer” investment? Has our longest tenured holding over at Top Stock Advisor run its course?  Let’s dive into the semiconductor behemoth that is Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) to see what actions, if any, we should take. First, recall that this industry giant produced $70.8 billion in revenue for 2018, a 13% increase over the prior year. More than $21 billion of total sales was profit, giving the company a net profit margin of roughly 30%. The company generated more than $14 billion in free cash flow last year and has more than $12 billion in cash on hand.  There’s little doubt that the company is stable financially. But before we get into the nitty-gritty of the current and future prospects of the company. I think it would be wise to recall why we invested in this stock (way back in September 2011) in the first place… —Recommended Link— [Urgent] Special report reveals once in a lifetime profit opportunity If you’re happy with the tiny gains that most stocks are throwing off right now… then THIS isn’t for you. In this eye-opening report, our ex-Economics professor has uncovered four securities that could throw off… Read More

Last month, I brought you up to speed on Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY) (a High-Yield Investing portfolio holding) and its bold plan to steal Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC) away from Chevron (NYSE: CVX).  Chevron had already signed a deal to take over Anadarko’s prized Permian Basin assets for $33 billion in cash and stock, but Occidental swooped in with a superior $38 billion bid, thanks largely to timely financial assistance from Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.  As usual, Buffett drove a hard bargain and exacted great terms for his shareholders. In exchange for $10 billion in upfront financing, Berkshire will… Read More

Last month, I brought you up to speed on Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY) (a High-Yield Investing portfolio holding) and its bold plan to steal Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC) away from Chevron (NYSE: CVX).  Chevron had already signed a deal to take over Anadarko’s prized Permian Basin assets for $33 billion in cash and stock, but Occidental swooped in with a superior $38 billion bid, thanks largely to timely financial assistance from Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.  As usual, Buffett drove a hard bargain and exacted great terms for his shareholders. In exchange for $10 billion in upfront financing, Berkshire will walk away with a stack of preferred shares with an 8% coupon that will generate $800 million in annual dividends.  Behind The Numbers The total price tag for this purchase comes to $57 billion including the assumption of debt. Before the bidding war started, APC had an enterprise value of around $40 billion. While it’s common for acquirers to offer a nice premium, some of Occidental’s largest shareholders feel that the $76 per share bid was far too generous. Asset manager T. Rowe Price and shareholder activist Carl Icahn have both publicly expressed their disapproval.  Occidental is paying an Enterprise… Read More