In a recent Bank of America Merrill Lynch (NYSE: BAC) research report highlighted on Business Insider, analysts suggest that, despite the perceived current expensiveness of the stock market, opportunities to buy stocks at decent prices are as ripe as they have been since 2009 when markets began recovering from the financial crisis. They refer to a concept known as “dispersion.” #-ad_banner-#Put simply, “dispersion” reflects how widely market returns are distributed between  “cheap” and “expensive” stocks. Or, paraphrasing half of the oldest of Wall Street maxims, investors have plenty of opportunities to buy low. With this in mind,… Read More

In a recent Bank of America Merrill Lynch (NYSE: BAC) research report highlighted on Business Insider, analysts suggest that, despite the perceived current expensiveness of the stock market, opportunities to buy stocks at decent prices are as ripe as they have been since 2009 when markets began recovering from the financial crisis. They refer to a concept known as “dispersion.” #-ad_banner-#Put simply, “dispersion” reflects how widely market returns are distributed between  “cheap” and “expensive” stocks. Or, paraphrasing half of the oldest of Wall Street maxims, investors have plenty of opportunities to buy low. With this in mind, I screened for stocks with forward price to earnings ratios (P/E) lower than that of the S&P 500 (currently 17), a dividend yield one hundred basis points or higher than that of the index (1.83%), and operating in a growth industry or market. Here are three solid names I found. AT&T (NYSE: T) AT&T has made the jump from phone company to an integrated media company, and is determined to not only provide a means for content delivery but to own the content as well. In the media business, at the end of the day, it’s ALWAYS about content. Read More

President Trump’s tariffs have thrown the stock market into disarray. Hailed as a stock market miracle with his pro-business, anti-tax stance, investors have started to see another side of our controversial president. For nearly two years, the stock market has only moved higher — punctuated with only minor periods of flat price action. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had an explosive run, rocketing over 10,000 points from February 2016 to January 2018. #-ad_banner-#Volatility cratered during this same time frame with the VIX, or fear index, falling into the single digits as bullish fever swept the nation. Sophisticated market players were… Read More

President Trump’s tariffs have thrown the stock market into disarray. Hailed as a stock market miracle with his pro-business, anti-tax stance, investors have started to see another side of our controversial president. For nearly two years, the stock market has only moved higher — punctuated with only minor periods of flat price action. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had an explosive run, rocketing over 10,000 points from February 2016 to January 2018. #-ad_banner-#Volatility cratered during this same time frame with the VIX, or fear index, falling into the single digits as bullish fever swept the nation. Sophisticated market players were cranking in money on the famous “Short VIX” derivative trades, while everyday investors cranked in substantial profits on the long side. In my 25-plus years of investing, I have never witnessed a market quite like this one! Not far into 2018, the party came to a screeching halt when Trump started getting serious about his campaign promise. Since when does a president keeping the very promises that got him elected result in a sharp stock market selloff? It does when the pre-election pledge has to do with tariffs and trade wars. Trump’s strong “America First” rhetoric scored him massive points… Read More

Well folks, it looks like we may have a good old fashioned trade war on our hands. And the markets are reacting accordingly. Earlier this month, the Trump administrated announced an executive order that placed tariffs on aluminum and steel. The exact details have yet to be hammered out, but what we do know is that the tariffs will be 10% and 25%, respectively. —Sponsored Link— Sell These Stocks Right Now These stocks may look solid — but there is trouble lurking underneath the surface. Just-released free list from Zacks Investment Research reveals the names… Read More

Well folks, it looks like we may have a good old fashioned trade war on our hands. And the markets are reacting accordingly. Earlier this month, the Trump administrated announced an executive order that placed tariffs on aluminum and steel. The exact details have yet to be hammered out, but what we do know is that the tariffs will be 10% and 25%, respectively. —Sponsored Link— Sell These Stocks Right Now These stocks may look solid — but there is trouble lurking underneath the surface. Just-released free list from Zacks Investment Research reveals the names of 220 stocks rated “Strong Sells” to sell immediately. Protect your portfolio — get your FREE copy here. Here’s what StreetAuthority’s Nathan Slaughter had to say about the situation: As the world’s largest steel importer, the U.S. sanctions will be directed at many suppliers, particularly South Korea, China, Brazil and Japan. This bold chess gambit could help struggling homegrown steel manufacturers, whose business fortunes have faded amid a flood of cheap imports. However, it also invites the possibility of retaliation with products that we ship abroad, such as soybeans and liquified natural gas. #-ad_banner-#Tensions are already… Read More

After nearly a decade of stock market gains, good deals in stocks with upside catalysts can be hard to find. Even some of the questionable investments seem to have been bid up in the search for higher returns. Fortunately, there is one segment of the market that never disappoints in offering a buffet of potentially great investments. #-ad_banner-#When everyone seems to love the market, I look at the stocks nobody likes. Beyond finding stocks at bargain-basement prices, taking the contrarian side on a stock with heavy short interest offers the added benefit of protection when market sentiment turns sour. If… Read More

After nearly a decade of stock market gains, good deals in stocks with upside catalysts can be hard to find. Even some of the questionable investments seem to have been bid up in the search for higher returns. Fortunately, there is one segment of the market that never disappoints in offering a buffet of potentially great investments. #-ad_banner-#When everyone seems to love the market, I look at the stocks nobody likes. Beyond finding stocks at bargain-basement prices, taking the contrarian side on a stock with heavy short interest offers the added benefit of protection when market sentiment turns sour. If nobody liked these stocks in the first place, plunging market sentiment isn’t going to affect them as much and share prices tend to hold up in a market rout. That makes investing in heavily-shorted companies the perfect theme for a late-stage bull market. Some People Just Hate For No Reason, Even In Stocks Short selling has exploded over recent decades. Short sales now account for 32% of total trading volume, compared with only 9% in 1984. There are several reasons investors might sell a stock short, some of which don’t even signal a negative outlook on the shares. Investors… Read More

Has it really been only nine years? On March 6, we celebrated yet another anniversary of the current bull market. This bull, having recorded a better than 300% return from the closing low of 666.79 set on March 6, 2009 (not counting dividends), is already in the running for the longest such run in history. However, this comparison to the bull markets of the past brings out fear of a pending bust. There have simply been too many instances where bear-market selloffs followed bull-market rallies. The “dot-com” crash, for instance, came at the end of the massive 12-plus years 1990s… Read More

Has it really been only nine years? On March 6, we celebrated yet another anniversary of the current bull market. This bull, having recorded a better than 300% return from the closing low of 666.79 set on March 6, 2009 (not counting dividends), is already in the running for the longest such run in history. However, this comparison to the bull markets of the past brings out fear of a pending bust. There have simply been too many instances where bear-market selloffs followed bull-market rallies. The “dot-com” crash, for instance, came at the end of the massive 12-plus years 1990s bull market (when stocks jumped by more than 800%). —Sponsored Link— ‘Forever Income’ Retirement Plan: 7.5% Dividends, 56% Upside If you’re currently investing in dividend stocks for retirement income — or nearing retirement and plan to live off dividends in the years ahead — then please take a few minutes to read this urgent new report. Not only could it prevent you from making a huge mistake, it will also show you how to secure 7.5% income and 56% gains! Click here for details, along with three great stocks to buy… Read More

A diversified portfolio is essential to long-term investment success. That’s because a well-thought-out strategy helps investors earn consistent returns. And it reduces overall portfolio risk. But there’s more to diversification than adding different asset classes to a portfolio. Investors need a balanced approach to diversification. And this need goes well beyond simply placing income-producing securities into an equity portfolio. #-ad_banner-#That’s because a properly diversified portfolio doesn’t just expose an investor to different asset classes. It offers geographic diversification through exposure to emerging market (EM) economies as well. This mitigates an investor’s exposure to the type of risk where some macroeconomic… Read More

A diversified portfolio is essential to long-term investment success. That’s because a well-thought-out strategy helps investors earn consistent returns. And it reduces overall portfolio risk. But there’s more to diversification than adding different asset classes to a portfolio. Investors need a balanced approach to diversification. And this need goes well beyond simply placing income-producing securities into an equity portfolio. #-ad_banner-#That’s because a properly diversified portfolio doesn’t just expose an investor to different asset classes. It offers geographic diversification through exposure to emerging market (EM) economies as well. This mitigates an investor’s exposure to the type of risk where some macroeconomic event affects all asset classes at the same time. But not everyone agrees. Some investment advisers decry the need for exposure to emerging markets. They believe that EMs depend too heavily on developed economies. This dependence means that emerging market economies mirror the volatility of the developed nations. But they do so with weaker political and social contracts. This makes them less suitable for conservative investors.  A New Era But these advisers are missing an important point. What was true in the past isn’t true anymore. You see, emerging market economies have entered a new era. They are now… Read More

Stock markets remain volatile. While this can sometimes be good news, unfortunately for traders, there is no clear directional bias to the volatility. —Sponsored Link— As Easy To Buy As Amazon Or Apple… And you can get into these stocks now. Before the next wave of money comes flooding into the market. One company posted 7,820% gains in just eight months! Another posted 6,233% gains in just four months! Click here to find out how… The chart below shows that prices are at the same level they were three weeks ago. Read More

Stock markets remain volatile. While this can sometimes be good news, unfortunately for traders, there is no clear directional bias to the volatility. —Sponsored Link— As Easy To Buy As Amazon Or Apple… And you can get into these stocks now. Before the next wave of money comes flooding into the market. One company posted 7,820% gains in just eight months! Another posted 6,233% gains in just four months! Click here to find out how… The chart below shows that prices are at the same level they were three weeks ago. But, to get nowhere, the S&P 500 index fell sharply, rallied sharply and then drifted lower.   This is a difficult market for positional traders who like clear trends. If the trend is up, they can simply buy and hold. If the trend is clearly down, traders can either hold cash or use strategies like selling futures contracts to benefit from the decline. In a trendless market, traders tend to suffer short-term losses no matter which strategy they use. This can lead to frustration. Some traders will become so frustrated that they look to other markets. One market many… Read More