I’d like to share a little story with you today. I’ve told this one before, so if you’ve heard it, please bear with me. But I think it’s appropriate for today’s issue… A newlywed couple is on their honeymoon in Las Vegas.  They had a sensible budget for gambling: a thousand dollars. However, by the third night that money was gone.  When the husband settled into bed for the night, he noticed something on the dresser. It was a $5 chip that he decided to save as a souvenir earlier in the day as their gambling budget evaporated. Then, suddenly,… Read More

I’d like to share a little story with you today. I’ve told this one before, so if you’ve heard it, please bear with me. But I think it’s appropriate for today’s issue… A newlywed couple is on their honeymoon in Las Vegas.  They had a sensible budget for gambling: a thousand dollars. However, by the third night that money was gone.  When the husband settled into bed for the night, he noticed something on the dresser. It was a $5 chip that he decided to save as a souvenir earlier in the day as their gambling budget evaporated. Then, suddenly, a vision appeared in his mind’s eye. The number 17. It had to be a sign. The husband quickly threw on his hotel bathrobe and went downstairs to the roulette wheel. He placed the chip on number 17. Sure enough, the wheel hit 17 and the 35-1 bet paid $175.  He decided to let his winnings ride, and once again it landed on 17, paying $6,125. And so it went, again and again, until the lucky groom was about to wager $7.5 million. The pit boss intervenes, claiming the casino would not pay out the winnings on such a large… Read More

One of my favorite scenes from the brilliant Steve Martin film The Jerk was when the deranged sniper played by C. Emmett Walsh is firing at Martin’s character, the hapless gas station attendant Navin Johnson, yelling “Die milk face!” The sniper’s aim is poor and as the bullets whiz past him, Martin yells, “He hates these cans!” Having been a long-time bull on the seven-million-pound networking gorilla Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO) and for quite a while, I’ve felt a little like Navin Johnson where the market is the sniper and I’m running around yelling “It hates this stock!” What am… Read More

One of my favorite scenes from the brilliant Steve Martin film The Jerk was when the deranged sniper played by C. Emmett Walsh is firing at Martin’s character, the hapless gas station attendant Navin Johnson, yelling “Die milk face!” The sniper’s aim is poor and as the bullets whiz past him, Martin yells, “He hates these cans!” Having been a long-time bull on the seven-million-pound networking gorilla Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO) and for quite a while, I’ve felt a little like Navin Johnson where the market is the sniper and I’m running around yelling “It hates this stock!” What am I missing? Big Tech, Low Price On average, the company has grown earnings per share at an 11% annual rate over the last four years. The common dividend per share has grown at a 13% annual rate for the same time period. Total cash per share is a staggering $14.12, representing 45% of Cisco’s current share price. #-ad_banner-#Rationally, this is a stock investors looking for high quality, blue-chip brand names should own. But investors and markets are rarely, if ever, rational. The biggest concern the herd has is revenue weakness. For fiscal year 2017 (Cisco’s ends in… Read More

It’s time to face the music: As I explained in yesterday’s essay, the Social Security system is broken. And neither political party wants the fallout from enacting the reforms to make it solvent once again — advocating for a reduction in benefits is tantamount to political suicide. That’s bad news for regular Americans, but there is a way you can fight back — by taking charge of your retirement with what I call “Social Security Insurance.” —Sponsored Link— Breaking: New Marijuana Legislation Just Released A new government announcement could completely change the legalization of marijuana… Read More

It’s time to face the music: As I explained in yesterday’s essay, the Social Security system is broken. And neither political party wants the fallout from enacting the reforms to make it solvent once again — advocating for a reduction in benefits is tantamount to political suicide. That’s bad news for regular Americans, but there is a way you can fight back — by taking charge of your retirement with what I call “Social Security Insurance.” —Sponsored Link— Breaking: New Marijuana Legislation Just Released A new government announcement could completely change the legalization of marijuana — forever. In fact, if you haven’t already dipped your toes into cannabis investing, now is the time. You see, thanks to this historic announcement, tiny pot stocks trading for under $5 are getting set to double, triple, or quadruple. And by putting a couple hundred bucks into these penny stocks, you could pocket life-changing gains — turning a fortune overnight. America’s leading pot stock expert shares all the good news — including details on five tiny weed stocks — right here. Here’s How It Works…  There is no complicated system to learn. All you have to do is… Read More

Fidelity recently released its annual study of retirement health care costs. The news, as it has been for the last decade, is not good.  A newly-retired, 65-year old couple will need an estimated $275,000 in savings just to pay for healthcare. That’s a 6% jump from last year’s estimate and more than three times the general rate of consumer inflation. If that sounds like a hard pill to swallow for those trying to retire, it’s only going to get worse. At the rate of expected increases in health care costs, a 45-year old couple could need… Read More

Fidelity recently released its annual study of retirement health care costs. The news, as it has been for the last decade, is not good.  A newly-retired, 65-year old couple will need an estimated $275,000 in savings just to pay for healthcare. That’s a 6% jump from last year’s estimate and more than three times the general rate of consumer inflation. If that sounds like a hard pill to swallow for those trying to retire, it’s only going to get worse. At the rate of expected increases in health care costs, a 45-year old couple could need as much as $800,000 just to pay for medical expenses when they prepare to retire in 20 years! Health Care Costs Are Doubling Every Decade While health care cost inflation has slowed from an 11.9% surge in 2007, costs have increased at a compound rate of 7.85% annually over the last decade. In another report, HealthView Services estimated health care expenses could rise at an annual average rate of 5.5% over the next decade, more than double the 2.6% annual projected cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) on Social Security benefits.  That gap between cost-of-living adjustments and health… Read More

Over the years I have discovered a technical buy entry signal that is highly useful in timing stock entries. While nothing is foolproof in the financial markets, this tool provides a serious edge when combined with common sense and the application of basic fundamental concepts.  The purpose of technical analysis to attempt to time trades based on movements and patterns in the price of a stock. Understanding when price trends are about to reverse is the secret to successful trades. Most investors wait for a trend to be well underway before purchasing the stock. This tactic can work in strongly… Read More

Over the years I have discovered a technical buy entry signal that is highly useful in timing stock entries. While nothing is foolproof in the financial markets, this tool provides a serious edge when combined with common sense and the application of basic fundamental concepts.  The purpose of technical analysis to attempt to time trades based on movements and patterns in the price of a stock. Understanding when price trends are about to reverse is the secret to successful trades. Most investors wait for a trend to be well underway before purchasing the stock. This tactic can work in strongly trending markets, but trends have an uncanny way of ending as soon as they are identified. Smart investors attempt to get a jump on the crowd before a significant trend starts to maximize the potential profit from the move. And the perfect technical tool for timing this type of move is called the Parabolic SAR.  #-ad_banner-#Created by Welles Wilder, the Parabolic SAR consists of a series of dots on top of and below price bars on a chart. There is no practical need to understand how the indicator is derived since most online investing platforms have Parabolic SAR built into… Read More

Yesterday, we published part one of an exclusive interview I recently had with options expert Jared Levy within the pages of StreetAuthority Insider — a free newsletter reserved for premium StreetAuthority subscribers only. In part one (which you can read here), Jared discussed why he’s concerned with the market’s fundamentals, the Trump Trade, and why regular investors need to add his “raiding” technique to their arsenal in order to survive a possible market correction. In part two (below), Jared details why he’s worried about small-cap stocks, how they could be the “canary in the coal mine,” and how he’s already… Read More

Yesterday, we published part one of an exclusive interview I recently had with options expert Jared Levy within the pages of StreetAuthority Insider — a free newsletter reserved for premium StreetAuthority subscribers only. In part one (which you can read here), Jared discussed why he’s concerned with the market’s fundamentals, the Trump Trade, and why regular investors need to add his “raiding” technique to their arsenal in order to survive a possible market correction. In part two (below), Jared details why he’s worried about small-cap stocks, how they could be the “canary in the coal mine,” and how he’s already made 38.9% from this weakness in four days — with more gains to come. —Sponsored Link— Do You Live In One Of The 46 ‘Tobacco Money’ States? It’s no secret that tobacco kills. Most of us have been affected in one way or another by it. But thanks to a little known clause in one of the largest legal settlements ever, Big Tobacco is doling out hundreds of billions of dollars to 46 state municipalities to pay off their misdeeds. And YOU could be eligible to collect. So the only question is: Do… Read More