On February 6, a group of 653 men and women from the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom gathered in a private conference room in Boca Raton, Florida. But this wasn’t just any conference. The average person’s net worth in this room was $75 million. All these rich people were there for the same reason: They were sick and tired of walking around with a bullseye on their backs. You see, banks, private equity firms, hedge funds, and brokerage firms see the wealthy as “easy targets”. These are people they can siphon fees off of — and make a… Read More

On February 6, a group of 653 men and women from the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom gathered in a private conference room in Boca Raton, Florida. But this wasn’t just any conference. The average person’s net worth in this room was $75 million. All these rich people were there for the same reason: They were sick and tired of walking around with a bullseye on their backs. You see, banks, private equity firms, hedge funds, and brokerage firms see the wealthy as “easy targets”. These are people they can siphon fees off of — and make a killing. As one attendee — a former executive in five different companies — put it, “I felt the advice I was getting was always tainted.” Two others discovered they were using the same investment advisor, but one of them was paying more for the exact same service. Another one called stock brokers and wealth managers a “den of thieves” who want to “make themselves money first, then their clients.” So… with nowhere to go, and nobody they could trust with their money, they turned to each other. —Recommended Link— $1.3 Trillion In Cash For Folks Who Do Not Trust Wall… Read More

When it comes to stock picking, there are two primary schools of thought. The first, and by far most popular, school believes in selecting stocks based on strength. These investors buy breakouts, bullish signals, and uptrends. The second school teaches to look for price weakness when selecting stocks. Following the age-old mantra of buying weakness and selling strength, these investors love finding stable stocks that have been pushed lower.  Both these strategies have their place in a successful investor’s quiver of tactics. However, one beats the other when it comes to stock selection for the long term.  Buying weakness, not… Read More

When it comes to stock picking, there are two primary schools of thought. The first, and by far most popular, school believes in selecting stocks based on strength. These investors buy breakouts, bullish signals, and uptrends. The second school teaches to look for price weakness when selecting stocks. Following the age-old mantra of buying weakness and selling strength, these investors love finding stable stocks that have been pushed lower.  Both these strategies have their place in a successful investor’s quiver of tactics. However, one beats the other when it comes to stock selection for the long term.  Buying weakness, not strength, is the key to success for long-term investors. It all goes back to buying long-term value that is created when a solid stock dips in price. Remember, value and price are two different things, and when the price falls, it can create an opportunity to buy value at a discount. A Winning Value-Finding Tactic My favorite way to buy weakness is to scan for stocks with “gap downs” on the daily chart.  #-ad_banner-#Gap downs, which occur in a stock’s price chart when the price jumps down with no trading between, are usually caused by investors dumping shares on… Read More

When it comes to legislation and its effects on society, I try to forget about “party lines” and partisanship… You could almost say I’m agnostic to that kind of thing. That’s especially true of hotly debated healthcare issues. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) — better known as “Obamacare” — is, unfortunately, one act that’s divided many Americans. As we try to improve on its framework, I find it humorous that pundits on both sides get the argument wrong over and over again. No matter what you think about the ACA, I think it’s fair to say that all of us… Read More

When it comes to legislation and its effects on society, I try to forget about “party lines” and partisanship… You could almost say I’m agnostic to that kind of thing. That’s especially true of hotly debated healthcare issues. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) — better known as “Obamacare” — is, unfortunately, one act that’s divided many Americans. As we try to improve on its framework, I find it humorous that pundits on both sides get the argument wrong over and over again. No matter what you think about the ACA, I think it’s fair to say that all of us want quality healthcare that’s truly affordable — both insurance premiums and the cost of treatment. Lawmakers seem to think throwing money at the growing problem of uninsured Americans and soaring costs would help, but the biggest issue isn’t with the premiums themselves… it’s something totally different. The good news is that the part of the healthcare puzzle that’s missing is going to be found, even if part or all of the legislation is repealed — the best part is that we can profit from it! —Sponsored Link— Bill Gates’ Prediction Will Give You Goosebumps One… Read More

The classic buy-and-hold strategy is in decline. That’s too bad, because the strategy is a good one. So what explains the lack of support from investors and financial writers for the strategy that arguably set Warren Buffet apart from almost every other investor in history? Personally, I think it owes to a fundamental misunderstanding of the strategy. You see, buy and hold is a strategy that still works for stocks purchased at a discount to their intrinsic values. That means an investor must buy the stock at the right price. And if the investor does this correctly, a portfolio will… Read More

The classic buy-and-hold strategy is in decline. That’s too bad, because the strategy is a good one. So what explains the lack of support from investors and financial writers for the strategy that arguably set Warren Buffet apart from almost every other investor in history? Personally, I think it owes to a fundamental misunderstanding of the strategy. You see, buy and hold is a strategy that still works for stocks purchased at a discount to their intrinsic values. That means an investor must buy the stock at the right price. And if the investor does this correctly, a portfolio will contain stocks that will be held for a very long time.  You see, a long holding period is just a natural result of prudent stock picking.  For sure, the hardest part of this process is resisting the temptation to sell — especially in times of economic distress. But significant gains can be had when investors hold stocks for the long term.  And this isn’t just an academic exercise, either… Below is a brief overview of three stocks I own which I will likely never sell. The High-Tech Darling The first is Nvidia (Nasdaq: NVDA). For readers familiar with… Read More

Let me ask you a question. Do you like heavy, clunky cell phones whose batteries lose their charge quickly? Of course not. Nobody does. And that’s why manufacturers are constantly seeking battery designs that are more compact and powerful.  In the old days, the best we could do was nickel-cadmium chemistries. You can still find them in ancient cordless phones built in the early 1990s. But then lithium-ion made its breakthrough, and the world has never looked back.  Lithium has more uses than duct tape. You’ll find it in fireworks, airplanes, glass cookware, and medicine cabinets. It’s even a key… Read More

Let me ask you a question. Do you like heavy, clunky cell phones whose batteries lose their charge quickly? Of course not. Nobody does. And that’s why manufacturers are constantly seeking battery designs that are more compact and powerful.  In the old days, the best we could do was nickel-cadmium chemistries. You can still find them in ancient cordless phones built in the early 1990s. But then lithium-ion made its breakthrough, and the world has never looked back.  Lithium has more uses than duct tape. You’ll find it in fireworks, airplanes, glass cookware, and medicine cabinets. It’s even a key raw material for rocket fuel propellant and nuclear reactor coolant.  But that’s not why I like it. These are just niche applications.  The true utility comes from the fact that lithium is endowed with some curious properties. It is the lightest of all metals (it can actually float on water) and has twice the energy storage density of previous materials. That’s an ideal combination, which is why lithium is coveted by battery makers.  Last quarter alone, approximately 307 million smartphones were produced worldwide (about 140,000 per hour), most of which were outfitted with lithium batteries. And it’s not just phones. Read More

Stock market investors are a very fickle bunch. Once-wildly popular stocks can quickly be relegated to the dustbin of history. Other times, barely-known companies can trigger an investor stampede, sending share prices into the stratosphere.  Most investors like to own stocks while they are in this viral phase. It’s exciting and can be very profitable to follow the hype. However, popular-stock chasing can have a dark side.  Investors who buy stocks on the upswing, called momentum buyers, always run the risk that they are late to the party. This can sometimes leave them facing a selloff as soon as they… Read More

Stock market investors are a very fickle bunch. Once-wildly popular stocks can quickly be relegated to the dustbin of history. Other times, barely-known companies can trigger an investor stampede, sending share prices into the stratosphere.  Most investors like to own stocks while they are in this viral phase. It’s exciting and can be very profitable to follow the hype. However, popular-stock chasing can have a dark side.  Investors who buy stocks on the upswing, called momentum buyers, always run the risk that they are late to the party. This can sometimes leave them facing a selloff as soon as they buy in to the stock.  I prefer to take the opposite tact by investing in stocks that have fallen out of favor with the masses. These forgotten stocks can often provide outsized returns with barely any attention.  My theory is that despite being forgotten, investors are still familiar with these companies from their glory days. Therefore, just a tiny bit of good news will instantly attract investors on name recognition. In other words, investors are already psychologically “sold” on the stock, making the buy decision much easier than for an unknown company.  Today, I’ve found three forgotten stocks that have… Read More

Alan Greenspan is back in the news. The former chairman of the Federal Reserve is now 91 years old but still sounds just like he did 30 years ago when he burst onto the world stage. I’ve always found that he speaks in a reassuring tone, which was important back in 1987, when he was beginning his tenure at the Fed. You see, in October of that year — just months after Greenspan’s nomination was confirmed by the Senate — the market suffered a major crash. While investors were reacting, Greenspan reassured the world that the Fed would be the lender of… Read More

Alan Greenspan is back in the news. The former chairman of the Federal Reserve is now 91 years old but still sounds just like he did 30 years ago when he burst onto the world stage. I’ve always found that he speaks in a reassuring tone, which was important back in 1987, when he was beginning his tenure at the Fed. You see, in October of that year — just months after Greenspan’s nomination was confirmed by the Senate — the market suffered a major crash. While investors were reacting, Greenspan reassured the world that the Fed would be the lender of last resort, ensuring the financial system didn’t fail. In the end, Greenspan never needed to act because the stock market stopped its decline as quickly as it began. Maybe the markets calmed down because Greenspan jumped in front of the news so quickly. We’ll never know what caused the panic selling to end but we know Greenspan continued to exert a calming influence on the markets. —Sponsored Link— Buy These 5 Stocks To Cash In On The Marijuana Megatrend Legalization of marijuana for medicinal and recreational use is creating a multibillion-dollar industry. But don’t think… Read More