Through the initial weeks of 2018, my mind keeps drifting back to the people and books that helped shape my investment philosophy. Having spent some time on Wiley Finance’s pre-publication finance book review distribution list, I own hundreds of financial books, including many I have purchased on my own.  One of my first tasks as a journalist was to interview financial book authors, hedge fund managers, and other luminaries. I was fortunate enough to meet and converse with dozens of authors, hedge fund managers, traders, investors and even a few financial rogues.  This experience was mind-blowing to say the least. Read More

Through the initial weeks of 2018, my mind keeps drifting back to the people and books that helped shape my investment philosophy. Having spent some time on Wiley Finance’s pre-publication finance book review distribution list, I own hundreds of financial books, including many I have purchased on my own.  One of my first tasks as a journalist was to interview financial book authors, hedge fund managers, and other luminaries. I was fortunate enough to meet and converse with dozens of authors, hedge fund managers, traders, investors and even a few financial rogues.  This experience was mind-blowing to say the least. Being able to ask successful investors and other market winners pointed questions regarding their experience and ideas was instrumental in shaping my entire investing belief system.  All of these one-on-one brain probes were combined with hands-on, in-the-trenches, active investing experience. I quickly discovered that 90% of all investment books are nothing more than rehashed old wives tales, page-filling anecdotes, repetitive information, and ideas that only work in hindsight.  #-ad_banner-#In other words, there is a tremendous amount of useless noise in the world of investment books and very little actionable, working information.  However, a few books have been massively influential in… Read More

Welcome to 2018!  If you read last Tuesday’s issue of StreetAuthority Daily, then you know we’re about to launch the most anticipated research service in StreetAuthority’s 16-year history. —Sponsored Link— 10 Must-Own Stocks For 2018 The best investment strategies are about the future, not the past. From big moves by the Federal Reserve, to lawmakers running amok, to uncertainty in North Korea, there are huge forces reshaping the market… and we’ll show you how to profit from them in this FREE special report. We’re calling it Fast-Track Millionaire. Now, I want… Read More

Welcome to 2018!  If you read last Tuesday’s issue of StreetAuthority Daily, then you know we’re about to launch the most anticipated research service in StreetAuthority’s 16-year history. —Sponsored Link— 10 Must-Own Stocks For 2018 The best investment strategies are about the future, not the past. From big moves by the Federal Reserve, to lawmakers running amok, to uncertainty in North Korea, there are huge forces reshaping the market… and we’ll show you how to profit from them in this FREE special report. We’re calling it Fast-Track Millionaire. Now, I want to pull back the curtain and tell you more about this incredible new service, starting with the man behind it. For those of you who don’t already know, Fast-Track Millionaire is the brainchild of StreetAuthority veteran Andy Obermueller. That’s right… He’s back! #-ad_banner-#Longtime StreetAuthority readers are already familiar with Andy. But if you aren’t, you should know that he is without a doubt one of the best stock pickers we’ve ever seen at our company. Andy is responsible for identifying more than 90 triple-digit winners during his tenure with us — including some that are now up well… Read More

Many investors are struggling to find a way to invest in the hottest investing trend of the decade: cryptocurrencies.  But the asset class is unlike any other that has ever existed. You cannot buy cryptos via a regular brokerage account, and your neighborhood bank will not accept bitcoin as a deposit (at least not yet). While I expect this to change rapidly, today’s crypto investors and speculators remain forced to use specialized crypto-exchanges to buy and sell.  While there is a new bitcoin futures market tradeable via some traditional futures brokers, the market remains very thinly traded, with high margin… Read More

Many investors are struggling to find a way to invest in the hottest investing trend of the decade: cryptocurrencies.  But the asset class is unlike any other that has ever existed. You cannot buy cryptos via a regular brokerage account, and your neighborhood bank will not accept bitcoin as a deposit (at least not yet). While I expect this to change rapidly, today’s crypto investors and speculators remain forced to use specialized crypto-exchanges to buy and sell.  While there is a new bitcoin futures market tradeable via some traditional futures brokers, the market remains very thinly traded, with high margin requirements. This, plus the relatively heavy vetting required for trading futures, makes them only suitable for very active and experienced investors. Not to mention the fact that futures are bitcoin only, eliminating access to the wide variety of other opportunities in currencies like ethereum and litecoin.  Detractors still refer to bitcoin and the others as imaginary coins despite the burgeoning rates of acceptance, not to mention their monster gains. One of the reasons for the cynicism is that cryptocurrencies trade on unregulated and often international exchanges. The fact that Tokyo-based Mt. Gox, the largest cryptocurrency exchange at the time, lost… Read More

We live in an increasingly shallow society. Any way you slice it, Americans and consumers around the world are obsessed with their outward appearance — and it’s getting worse. In a world where people broadcast their lives and experiences on social media outlets like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, superficiality reigns supreme. One can’t help but compare their images to the thousands of retouched, filtered and fabricated pictures and videos flooding our social media circles. —Sponsored Link— [FREE REPORT] Collect The Biggest Dividends In Stock Market History 97% of investors are missing out on the biggest… Read More

We live in an increasingly shallow society. Any way you slice it, Americans and consumers around the world are obsessed with their outward appearance — and it’s getting worse. In a world where people broadcast their lives and experiences on social media outlets like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, superficiality reigns supreme. One can’t help but compare their images to the thousands of retouched, filtered and fabricated pictures and videos flooding our social media circles. —Sponsored Link— [FREE REPORT] Collect The Biggest Dividends In Stock Market History 97% of investors are missing out on the biggest dividend payments ever. Are you one of them? With the 2018 Tax Reform, a new wave of huge payouts could be coming very soon. Access this urgent research today… and stay up to speed on these developments with our FREE income alert service. Click here right now. People from all classes and social groups are becoming hyper sensitive of their physical appearance and increasingly self-centered. Nearly 10 years ago, psychologists Jean M. Twenge and W. Keith Campbell predicted these growing trends in their book “The Narcissism Epidemic,” and boy! Have they been… Read More

I’m a pilot. No, I’m not a professional pilot with thousands of hours of experience in multiple jet engines. I’m just a guy who likes to get into a single-engine Piper and take to the skies for fun. But I share a common trait with professional pilots. Before I ever strap in for a flight, I meticulously check (and re-check) the weather. Then I pre-flight my plane as if my life depended on it — because, frankly, it does! Once I’m done with my pre-flight, the weather is checked one last time. You see, most general aviation crashes involve pilot… Read More

I’m a pilot. No, I’m not a professional pilot with thousands of hours of experience in multiple jet engines. I’m just a guy who likes to get into a single-engine Piper and take to the skies for fun. But I share a common trait with professional pilots. Before I ever strap in for a flight, I meticulously check (and re-check) the weather. Then I pre-flight my plane as if my life depended on it — because, frankly, it does! Once I’m done with my pre-flight, the weather is checked one last time. You see, most general aviation crashes involve pilot error in dealing with weather. And weather can change fast. It’s not uncommon to take-off from an airport in clear skies and return an hour later to angry cumulus clouds.  #-ad_banner-#And since the majority of general aviation aircraft aren’t capable of reaching altitudes required to fly over heavy weather, avoiding it is the most prudent thing any private pilot can do. This is why many general aviation pilots consider themselves amateur meteorologists. It’s an act of self-preservation. What does this have to do with investing? In much the way I check, and re-check, the weather before flying, I constantly monitor… Read More

What an incredible year! 2017 smashed records as an investor’s dream year. While overshadowed by the cryptocurrency explosion, led by bitcoin’s 1,300% plus gains, the major stock market indexes surged to all-time highs. The Nasdaq jumped 26%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 22%, and the S&P 500 soared over 17%, creating massive wealth among investors. As expected, stock market fever gripped the nation. Usually cautious institutional players threw caution to the wind, as evidenced by the volatility index plunging nearly 22%. The unwinding of derivative hedges, designed to protect against market corrections, became common as the big players… Read More

What an incredible year! 2017 smashed records as an investor’s dream year. While overshadowed by the cryptocurrency explosion, led by bitcoin’s 1,300% plus gains, the major stock market indexes surged to all-time highs. The Nasdaq jumped 26%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 22%, and the S&P 500 soared over 17%, creating massive wealth among investors. As expected, stock market fever gripped the nation. Usually cautious institutional players threw caution to the wind, as evidenced by the volatility index plunging nearly 22%. The unwinding of derivative hedges, designed to protect against market corrections, became common as the big players piled into stocks.  The bullish excitement goes far beyond the stock market.  It appears we are on the verge of a total economic paradigm shift. Cryptocurrencies, once thought of as just imaginary currency, are in the process of turning mainstream. Major institutions and retailers are in the process of implementing the many benefits of blockchain and cryptocurrency into their operations.  #-ad_banner-#The shift from centrally-backed paper currency to a decentralized, digital currency backed by the immutable proofs of blockchain will change our world in ways not even imagined.  Not to mention the thriving small business sector in the United States. Fueled… Read More

As we begin a new year, it’s reasonable to ask what it holds in store… But, in all likelihood, we should expect this new year to be a lot like this year. —Sponsored Link— Bitcoin Up 30,000X — Here’s Your Backdoor In Discover a behind-the-scenes strategy to invest in a market we think has 11x the upside of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies… with significantly less risk. Click here to learn more. That’s almost always the case. In our personal lives, sometimes there is a significant life event — like a marriage… Read More

As we begin a new year, it’s reasonable to ask what it holds in store… But, in all likelihood, we should expect this new year to be a lot like this year. —Sponsored Link— Bitcoin Up 30,000X — Here’s Your Backdoor In Discover a behind-the-scenes strategy to invest in a market we think has 11x the upside of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies… with significantly less risk. Click here to learn more. That’s almost always the case. In our personal lives, sometimes there is a significant life event — like a marriage or the arrival of a new child — but most of the time, the turning of a page on a calendar doesn’t matter much. Most days, there are changes, but they are small. Our children, for example, change over time, but the changes are difficult to notice. Most of the time, we think they are acting normally. #-ad_banner-#Slow change is just a fact of life. That’s also true in the stock market. Although analysts try to forecast the next year, the truth is that next year is often a lot like the year before. I know this isn’t what we… Read More

The Russell 2000 had a good year — all things considered. The index has gained 13.7% in 2017 compared to a 19.6% return for the broader S&P 500 index. Both indices are charted in the graph below. But something doesn’t pass the smell test. While both indices have solid gains for the year, it’s interesting to note that most of the Russell 2000’s gains occurred since August 21, 2017, when the index closed at 1356.90. That means that more than 77% of the year’s gains have occurred in just the past 120 days. This is likely a result… Read More

The Russell 2000 had a good year — all things considered. The index has gained 13.7% in 2017 compared to a 19.6% return for the broader S&P 500 index. Both indices are charted in the graph below. But something doesn’t pass the smell test. While both indices have solid gains for the year, it’s interesting to note that most of the Russell 2000’s gains occurred since August 21, 2017, when the index closed at 1356.90. That means that more than 77% of the year’s gains have occurred in just the past 120 days. This is likely a result of an influx of retail investors. While that in and of itself isn’t too troubling, there’s something ominous about the valuation of the small-cap market index of the bottom 2,000 stocks in the Russell 3000 Index. You see, at its current value of roughly 1545, the stocks of the Russell 2000 have a combined value of approximately $4.5 trillion. #-ad_banner-#What’s so ominous about that? Well, the net income from these 2000 stocks is just $42 billion, meaning the Russell 2000 is priced at more than 107 times earnings. It doesn’t matter how you look at the markets today, but any… Read More