While investors have a responsibility to research the companies they are interested in, knowing how to research sets apart the good investors from bad ones. Think about when you were in high school.  What separated good students from bad students? It often comes down to their studying habits, right? Student who struggle with grades and can’t study well — whether because they don’t know how or lack the time — can’t survive without a tutor, or in some instances, summer school. Similarly, investors who don’t know how to research or lack the time to do so effectively must come to… Read More

While investors have a responsibility to research the companies they are interested in, knowing how to research sets apart the good investors from bad ones. Think about when you were in high school.  What separated good students from bad students? It often comes down to their studying habits, right? Student who struggle with grades and can’t study well — whether because they don’t know how or lack the time — can’t survive without a tutor, or in some instances, summer school. Similarly, investors who don’t know how to research or lack the time to do so effectively must come to terms with this by knowing their strengths and weaknesses. How would someone know what to research if he or she doesn’t first know what they don’t know? By and large, sound research is where so many investors consistently struggle. The easiest way to compensate is to limit your research to only a handful of companies. Here’s why… Research Rule No. 1: You Can’t Follow Everything As of the most recent quarter, the New York Stock Exchange traded stocks for some 2,800 companies, while the Nasdaq has listed somewhere in the neighborhood of 3,100 others. Combined, this comes out to… Read More

The Trump Administration will likely create a tremendous opportunity for investors in several emerging markets. “What?” I can hear some of you saying, “Didn’t this guy just write an article trashing emerging markets and warning investors to stay far away?”  Yes, that is the truth. I am expecting the primary emerging markets like China, Thailand, Brazil, and South Korea to struggle under pending economic changes in the United States.  However, there are two emerging markets that I think will thrive despite the potential for radical domestic policy change.  Finding The Good Side Of An International Slowdown An interesting truth… Read More

The Trump Administration will likely create a tremendous opportunity for investors in several emerging markets. “What?” I can hear some of you saying, “Didn’t this guy just write an article trashing emerging markets and warning investors to stay far away?”  Yes, that is the truth. I am expecting the primary emerging markets like China, Thailand, Brazil, and South Korea to struggle under pending economic changes in the United States.  However, there are two emerging markets that I think will thrive despite the potential for radical domestic policy change.  Finding The Good Side Of An International Slowdown An interesting truth about the stock market is that every negative has a corresponding positive. Even in the direst bearish markets and individual company situations, someone is earning profits from the turmoil. Another similar market fact is that there is an exception to every rule. No matter how many examples can be shown that a certain market or stock behavior occurs after XYZ happens, there are other examples where it does not happen. #-ad_banner-#The same thing happens whenever a blanket statement is made about the markets. Although my past article issued a warning about emerging markets, not every emerging market will suffer the… Read More

Regardless of your political preferences, if you’re a small-cap investor, then you should be happy about the market’s recent showing. After more than two years of basically going nowhere, the Russell 2000 small-cap index rallied to new highs in the week and a half of post-election trading.  This is especially impressive considering the overall market’s performance. The S&P 500 index, a benchmark for the broad market, has also done well in these few post-election trading days, but its 2% rally cannot compare with the stellar, record-book-testing 10% return for the Russell 2000.  Why so much exuberance, and can… Read More

Regardless of your political preferences, if you’re a small-cap investor, then you should be happy about the market’s recent showing. After more than two years of basically going nowhere, the Russell 2000 small-cap index rallied to new highs in the week and a half of post-election trading.  This is especially impressive considering the overall market’s performance. The S&P 500 index, a benchmark for the broad market, has also done well in these few post-election trading days, but its 2% rally cannot compare with the stellar, record-book-testing 10% return for the Russell 2000.  Why so much exuberance, and can it possibly continue?  Let’s first look at the macro-economic reasons.  Small Cap Rally Points To Future Growth Most notably, such an amazing showing of relative strength clearly points toward stronger economic growth going forward — at least, this is what the market has been expecting, based on the amount of money being poured into small-cap stocks.  #-ad_banner-#Smaller companies tend to do well when the economy does well, and there isn’t much doubt among investors that the U.S. economy has been doing quite well.  The Federal Reserve has been telling us as much for most of the year, having emphasized… Read More

Dow futures plummeted more than 900 points in overnight trading on November 8 as Donald Trump took key swing states and looked ready to seal the election. However, a switch went off before official trading started on the 9th. The uncertainty around a Trump presidency has turned to optimism on hopes for up to $1 trillion in fiscal stimulus. #-ad_banner-#Market expectations have led the S&P 500 3.2% higher since the election but investors in a few sectors have not enjoyed the rally.  The rate on the 10-year Treasury has jumped 21% to its highest point since the beginning of the… Read More

Dow futures plummeted more than 900 points in overnight trading on November 8 as Donald Trump took key swing states and looked ready to seal the election. However, a switch went off before official trading started on the 9th. The uncertainty around a Trump presidency has turned to optimism on hopes for up to $1 trillion in fiscal stimulus. #-ad_banner-#Market expectations have led the S&P 500 3.2% higher since the election but investors in a few sectors have not enjoyed the rally.  The rate on the 10-year Treasury has jumped 21% to its highest point since the beginning of the year. That rise in rates has caused rate-sensitive sectors like utilities and consumer staples to plunge as investors find better yield in bonds.  The Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSE: XLU) is down 2.3% and the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSE: XLP) is 2.5% lower since the election. But more than seven years into the bull market, investors can’t afford to neglect stocks that can protect their portfolio when market volatility heats up. Stocks may already be priced to perfection and the slightest hit to confidence in the economy could send the market tumbling. Protecting your portfolio may… Read More

Next time you see your landlord ask him or her to buy you a beer.  If they’re like the millions of other landlords across the country, chances are they are having another great year. U.S. rents have reached another all-time high in 2016. A recent report from Apartment List, a rental market research company, showed that national rents hit a new all-time high in August of 2016. Take a look below. And 2% is just the national average. In many cities, the influx of new residents is outpacing the construction of new apartments. There just isn’t any space… Read More

Next time you see your landlord ask him or her to buy you a beer.  If they’re like the millions of other landlords across the country, chances are they are having another great year. U.S. rents have reached another all-time high in 2016. A recent report from Apartment List, a rental market research company, showed that national rents hit a new all-time high in August of 2016. Take a look below. And 2% is just the national average. In many cities, the influx of new residents is outpacing the construction of new apartments. There just isn’t any space to build in downtown Chicago or Boston, yet rental demand is climbing 6% to 7% annually. That leads to a shortage of available units, which inevitably exerts upward pressure on prices.  A decent unit runs about $1,500 per month in Denver and $2,200 in Washington. #-ad_banner-#Those price gains are being driven by simple economics — rising demand and limited supply. And looking forward there doesn’t appear to be any quick solution. U.S. housing inventories are near a record low and new home buyers are struggling to save enough cash to make a down payment. Also, tightened bank lending standards have… Read More

Editor’s Note: Recently, we’ve been telling StreetAuthority readers about how the recent loosening of regulations make it possible for regular investors to buy in to some of the most exciting companies in the world — before they go public.  In recent issues we’ve talked a lot about the concept of pre-IPO investing itself — how it works, and the promise it holds for investors. But what happens during the research phase when you find an interesting startup that seems to hold a lot of promise?  One of the most important next steps is to assess the people behind the enterprise. In… Read More

Editor’s Note: Recently, we’ve been telling StreetAuthority readers about how the recent loosening of regulations make it possible for regular investors to buy in to some of the most exciting companies in the world — before they go public.  In recent issues we’ve talked a lot about the concept of pre-IPO investing itself — how it works, and the promise it holds for investors. But what happens during the research phase when you find an interesting startup that seems to hold a lot of promise?  One of the most important next steps is to assess the people behind the enterprise. In the following essay, Joseph Hogue, Chief Strategist of Pre-IPO Millionaire, draws on his years of experience as a venture capital analyst to highlight what he sees as the five most important qualities of a successful entrepreneur. It also demonstrates the value of having an experienced analyst working for you in this space. After all, if you want to invest like an elite venture capitalist, why not have an experienced VC analyst working for you? They say you can’t judge a book by its cover, but you can tell a great deal about an entrepreneur from a very short conversation and… Read More

The U.S. stock market posted its third consecutive weekly gain last week, led once again by the small-cap Russell 2000, which added 2.4% to bring its year-to-date gains to a whopping 18.6%. To put that in perspective, the next best performer is the Dow Jones Industrial Average with a 9.9% gain for the year. #-ad_banner-#Last week’s advance was broad-based with all sectors of the S&P 500 except for health care (-0.3%) finishing in positive territory. It was led by materials (2.6%) and industrials (2.3%). For the year, energy (20.6%) and industrials (18.3%) have been the best performers, while real estate… Read More

The U.S. stock market posted its third consecutive weekly gain last week, led once again by the small-cap Russell 2000, which added 2.4% to bring its year-to-date gains to a whopping 18.6%. To put that in perspective, the next best performer is the Dow Jones Industrial Average with a 9.9% gain for the year. #-ad_banner-#Last week’s advance was broad-based with all sectors of the S&P 500 except for health care (-0.3%) finishing in positive territory. It was led by materials (2.6%) and industrials (2.3%). For the year, energy (20.6%) and industrials (18.3%) have been the best performers, while real estate (-3.6%) and health care (-3.5%) are bringing up the rear. According to Asbury Research’s ETF-based metric, the biggest inflows on a percentage basis over the past week went into consumer discretionary, while the biggest outflows were from consumer staples. If this trend continues, it bodes well for upcoming relative outperformance of the consumer discretionary sector into early 2017. New Highs And Unmet Targets Are Intermediate-Term Bullish The benchmark S&P 500 broke overhead resistance at 2,194 last week, hitting new all-time highs. However, the bellwether Dow industrials, which rose 1.5% last week, are still 6.5% below my 20,400… Read More

Over the summer I had the opportunity to visit Newport, Rhode Island. Talk about an incredible place to visit! I was struck by the amazing mansions lining the Cliffside ocean vistas.  The over-the-top architecture combined with no-holds-barred luxury appointments were truly a sight to behold. This Disneyland of the Gilded… Read More

Shares of Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO) were under heavy selling pressure late last week, falling as much as 6.2% to a session low of $29.61 even though the company reported fiscal first-quarter results that beat Wall Street’s estimates on both the top and bottom lines. The problem? The network equipment giant spooked investors with weak guidance for the fiscal second quarter. #-ad_banner-#But does the guidance justify the punishment? If you recall, Cisco in July basically telegraphed the level of weakness within the telecom sector by issuing a combination of mixed fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and downbeat order metrics. Cisco hinted that… Read More

Shares of Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO) were under heavy selling pressure late last week, falling as much as 6.2% to a session low of $29.61 even though the company reported fiscal first-quarter results that beat Wall Street’s estimates on both the top and bottom lines. The problem? The network equipment giant spooked investors with weak guidance for the fiscal second quarter. #-ad_banner-#But does the guidance justify the punishment? If you recall, Cisco in July basically telegraphed the level of weakness within the telecom sector by issuing a combination of mixed fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and downbeat order metrics. Cisco hinted that telecommunication companies such as AT&T, Inc. (NYSE: T) and Comcast Communications (NYSE: CMCSA) were delaying purchases, and in some cases, not buying anything at all. These headwinds culminated on what Cisco announced on November 16. For the three months that ended October, the San Francisco-based company reported fiscal first quarter adjusted earnings per share of 61 cents, marking a 3% rise year over year, on revenue of $12.35 billion, which climbed about 1% year over year. Both measures surpassed analyst estimates of 59 cents per share on $12.33 billion in revenue, according to analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. The beat… Read More

We just experienced what seemed like the most contentious and intense Presidential election race in the history of the United States. At times, it was so crazy that it seemed very possible that the country would splinter into two or more pieces. There just couldn’t be an incumbent and same-party candidate more different than the opposing party.  #-ad_banner-#And now the election is over. A new President and political party will be leading us for the next four or more years under a very different philosophy. Despite the radical differences between the incumbent and incoming Presidents, there is one thing that… Read More

We just experienced what seemed like the most contentious and intense Presidential election race in the history of the United States. At times, it was so crazy that it seemed very possible that the country would splinter into two or more pieces. There just couldn’t be an incumbent and same-party candidate more different than the opposing party.  #-ad_banner-#And now the election is over. A new President and political party will be leading us for the next four or more years under a very different philosophy. Despite the radical differences between the incumbent and incoming Presidents, there is one thing that they have in common. As an investor, this similarity will tell you where to deploy your capital over the next several years. On a grander scale, it will dictate the direction of the entire domestic economy. This one commonality is infrastructure spending. Both Obama and Trump are very supportive of improving our nation’s crumbling infrastructure. Investing in the leaders in this sector should therefore make a profitable investment over the next few years.  Here’s why: In 2015, Obama signed into law the first long-term transportation bill passed by Congress in a decade. Known as the FAST (Fixing America’s Surface Transportation)… Read More