I have to admit that I had not expected the tenth anniversary of this bull market to have come and gone without much fanfare. Yes, there was a celebration — after all, the 10-year bull market is the longest since World War II, and the S&P 500 is up more than 300% — but it wasn’t as omnipresent as I had anticipated.  Instead, investors have been reveling in another, albeit related milestone — the market recovery from the fourth-quarter 2018 selloff in the strongest three-month performance since the third quarter of 2009.  This strength has helped the market to recover… Read More

I have to admit that I had not expected the tenth anniversary of this bull market to have come and gone without much fanfare. Yes, there was a celebration — after all, the 10-year bull market is the longest since World War II, and the S&P 500 is up more than 300% — but it wasn’t as omnipresent as I had anticipated.  Instead, investors have been reveling in another, albeit related milestone — the market recovery from the fourth-quarter 2018 selloff in the strongest three-month performance since the third quarter of 2009.  This strength has helped the market to recover much of the fourth-quarter losses and, as a result, post strong positive year-over-year returns.  One-Year Sector Performance (As of March 31) Source: S&P Global Market Intelligence Nearly every corner of the market has turned a strong performance over the past year. The market, as represented by the S&P 500, is up 7.3% year-over-year — helped, without a doubt, by the first-quarter rally. But even as every single market sector turned out a positive performance in the first quarter of 2019, some — such as energy, materials and financials — are still down compared with a year ago.  Let’s… Read More

In case any investor needed a reminder about the importance of value, we can look at Lyft’s initial public offering.  Last Friday, Lyft began trading to great fanfare. It opened significantly higher that day, delivering large gains to some of Wall Street’s biggest investors. That’s how IPOs often work.  #-ad_banner-#​How IPOs Work In an IPO, in general, we can say that the company sells shares to Wall Street. Specifically, early investors in the company and insiders are selling shares to large Wall Street firms. The sellers are doing so, at least in part, because they want to cash out. Read More

In case any investor needed a reminder about the importance of value, we can look at Lyft’s initial public offering.  Last Friday, Lyft began trading to great fanfare. It opened significantly higher that day, delivering large gains to some of Wall Street’s biggest investors. That’s how IPOs often work.  #-ad_banner-#​How IPOs Work In an IPO, in general, we can say that the company sells shares to Wall Street. Specifically, early investors in the company and insiders are selling shares to large Wall Street firms. The sellers are doing so, at least in part, because they want to cash out. This indicates the company is potentially overvalued.  Initial buyers of the stock receive their shares after the close the day before the stock begins trading. They are large customers of the firms handling the IPO. There are two reasons for that…  One is simply efficiency. It’s easier to allocate shares to buyers asking for hundreds of thousands of shares than to individuals asking for less than 100 shares.  The second reason is based on the fact that the share price is expected to rise when trading starts. Investors who got their shares the day before will enjoy an immediate gain. Read More

Loss aversion is a real thing. Whether it’s a game of Monopoly, a friendly bet, or a heated argument, people hate to lose. Entire businesses and industries are predicated not only on the excitement of winning but also on our innate desire to win back whatever we might just have lost. This isn’t just because humans are a competitive bunch. (Though many of us are.) It’s also because, psychologically, we perceive losses much more powerfully than gains. Psychologists know that, for most people, pain associated with losing something is about twice as powerful as the pleasure related to gaining the… Read More

Loss aversion is a real thing. Whether it’s a game of Monopoly, a friendly bet, or a heated argument, people hate to lose. Entire businesses and industries are predicated not only on the excitement of winning but also on our innate desire to win back whatever we might just have lost. This isn’t just because humans are a competitive bunch. (Though many of us are.) It’s also because, psychologically, we perceive losses much more powerfully than gains. Psychologists know that, for most people, pain associated with losing something is about twice as powerful as the pleasure related to gaining the same thing. As a famous quote from social science giants Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman goes, “Losses loom larger than gains.” Losing $100 feels worse than making $100 feels good. The concept of loss aversion, therefore, is particularly relevant to investing. The fear of losing can overwhelm our other logic-based thoughts when making a decision to sell a stock at a loss. Anything that hinders objectivity and logic shouldn’t be such a large component of our decision-making process — but, after all, we are human. That’s why I want to focus on minimizing the impact of this powerful loss-aversion factor. Read More

David Tran arrived in Los Angles from Vietnam in 1978 with no job and broken English. Yet, he was determined to achieve the “American Dream.” And he did just that… creating a brand that is now recognizable across the United States.  More impressively, Tran accomplished this without hiring a single salesperson or spending a cent on advertising. Even today, his company doesn’t have a Twitter (Nasdaq: TWTR) handle or Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) account.  —Recommended Link— The Most Underrated Wealth-Building Move in History Wall Street pretty much ignores it. but more than 150 years of data prove that doing this… Read More

David Tran arrived in Los Angles from Vietnam in 1978 with no job and broken English. Yet, he was determined to achieve the “American Dream.” And he did just that… creating a brand that is now recognizable across the United States.  More impressively, Tran accomplished this without hiring a single salesperson or spending a cent on advertising. Even today, his company doesn’t have a Twitter (Nasdaq: TWTR) handle or Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) account.  —Recommended Link— The Most Underrated Wealth-Building Move 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. An investor using this trick turned $10,000 into $1,568,157. But another one who didn’t ended up with just $161,054. And they both invested in the exact same stocks. You can get started with one mouse click. Take care of it here. It only takes a minute. You might not be familiar with Tran’s company, Huy Fong Foods, but you’ve probably come across his product in the red (or rather, clear) bottle with a green cap, sporting a rooster on the front. If you’re still at a loss, I’m referring to the… Read More

If you watch CNBC, you’ve probably heard an analyst say something along the lines of…  “The time to buy is when there’s blood in the streets.”  Essentially, this means that bad news can be a buying opportunity.  #-ad_banner-#At times, that philosophy is correct. But it’s often better to wait for the impact of the bad news to become clear before buying. That approach explains why I recently told my Profit Amplifier readers that my indicator tools have a “buy” signal on mining giant Vale S. A. (NYSE: VALE).  VALE fell on catastrophic news in January when a dam maintained by… Read More

If you watch CNBC, you’ve probably heard an analyst say something along the lines of…  “The time to buy is when there’s blood in the streets.”  Essentially, this means that bad news can be a buying opportunity.  #-ad_banner-#At times, that philosophy is correct. But it’s often better to wait for the impact of the bad news to become clear before buying. That approach explains why I recently told my Profit Amplifier readers that my indicator tools have a “buy” signal on mining giant Vale S. A. (NYSE: VALE).  VALE fell on catastrophic news in January when a dam maintained by the company in Brazil collapsed and killed an estimated 300 people. Dams are commonly used by miners to contain waste products, and Vale has more than 130 dams in Brazil. The company is now working to replace older dams with safer technology.  The collapse was absolutely a tragedy, and I do not want to minimize that fact. Vale will work with authorities and victims to resolve claims and address other concerns, as it should. However, my goal in Profit Amplifier is to recommend the best available trades with the highest potential, and VALE’s stock is giving a “buy” signal.  The… Read More

As my last days in the military drew near, I was not concerned about money at all. Unlike some of my colleagues, I had a good plan in mind on how to make money as a civilian. I had already been able to supplement my income while in service with a little known area of the stock market. Once I “got” what I’m about to share with you, a new income stream immediately started supplementing my military income by 10% — while in the middle of a war zone with very limited time and enormous stress. As soon as I… Read More

As my last days in the military drew near, I was not concerned about money at all. Unlike some of my colleagues, I had a good plan in mind on how to make money as a civilian. I had already been able to supplement my income while in service with a little known area of the stock market. Once I “got” what I’m about to share with you, a new income stream immediately started supplementing my military income by 10% — while in the middle of a war zone with very limited time and enormous stress. As soon as I left the military, I not only replaced my income, but I exceeded it by 30%. And both my income and net worth continue to grow to this day, thanks to this often misunderstood area of the market. —Recommended Link— If you could hack the stock market and get away with it, would you? Here’s how one experienced hacker did it… with easy instructions showing investors how to do the same. ​Click here. I don’t want to beat around the bush or make this sound like some super-secret investing strategy only I can tell you about… I am talking about… Read More

In a previous article, I talked about the so-called patent cliff and the correlation to the pace of mergers and acquisitions in the pharma space.  In order to help make up for the revenue that will be lost from expiring patents on blockbuster drugs, big pharma, flush with cash, typically goes out and buys a new revenue stream — in the form of companies that have a proven or promising drug in the pipeline. After all, it can be cheaper and more efficient for big pharma to buy a new drug than to develop one in-house. We live this notion… Read More

In a previous article, I talked about the so-called patent cliff and the correlation to the pace of mergers and acquisitions in the pharma space.  In order to help make up for the revenue that will be lost from expiring patents on blockbuster drugs, big pharma, flush with cash, typically goes out and buys a new revenue stream — in the form of companies that have a proven or promising drug in the pipeline. After all, it can be cheaper and more efficient for big pharma to buy a new drug than to develop one in-house. We live this notion every day, both as investors, observing and often benefitting from M&A in the industry, and as consumers, feeling squeezed by the rising costs of many important medications — a process that, in part, stems from the reduced competition (which is also a consequence of a more intense M&A). #-ad_banner-#But the trend is clear, as is the need and the drive of the larger companies to buy their smaller counterparts. It’s the safer route in an environment where new drugs take a long, costly and risky road from an idea to the market. Of course, it’s not only the revenue stream… Read More