Barry Sternlicht knows a thing or two about real estate. The Harvard Business School grad got started early, buying up more than 7,000 residential apartment units in the early 1990s at fire-sale prices following the savings and loan crisis.  Soon after, he signed a mega-deal with real estate tycoon Sam Zell, exchanging many of these apartments for an ownership stake in Zell’s Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR). This transaction ultimately netted Sternlicht (and his investors) handsome triple-digit returns. But that was just the beginning for this savvy investor and the company he founded, Starwood Capital.  #-ad_banner-#Starwood later built an empire of… Read More

Barry Sternlicht knows a thing or two about real estate. The Harvard Business School grad got started early, buying up more than 7,000 residential apartment units in the early 1990s at fire-sale prices following the savings and loan crisis.  Soon after, he signed a mega-deal with real estate tycoon Sam Zell, exchanging many of these apartments for an ownership stake in Zell’s Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR). This transaction ultimately netted Sternlicht (and his investors) handsome triple-digit returns. But that was just the beginning for this savvy investor and the company he founded, Starwood Capital.  #-ad_banner-#Starwood later built an empire of luxury hotels, amassing a global portfolio of more than 1,200 resorts under upscale brands such as Westin, Sheraton, St. Regis, and Le Meridien. Incidentally, it sold this collection to Marriott last year for $13.6 billion.  Elsewhere, Starwood has made big investments in retail shopping malls in Sweden, suburban office parks in South Florida, and undeveloped land parcels in California. As I discussed last month with my High-Yield Investing premium subscribers, Starwood has also teamed up with Colony Capital to create Colony Starwood Homes (NYSE: SFR), which owns 35,000 rental homes. Sternlicht helped orchestrate this venture, which has already generated gains… Read More

Big pharma has some great long-term drivers, ranging from aging demographics to a growing middle-class around the world. Few products reach a level of importance as high as the drugs that keep us alive and healthy. It’s especially true as we get older, and that’s something happening to a record number of people these days. #-ad_banner-#Yet one more benefit of drug stocks is the counter-cyclical nature of sales. While people may skimp on everything from cars to tech when the economy turns sour, they aren’t going to stop taking their prescriptions.  In fact, my favorite pharma stock booked annualized growth… Read More

Big pharma has some great long-term drivers, ranging from aging demographics to a growing middle-class around the world. Few products reach a level of importance as high as the drugs that keep us alive and healthy. It’s especially true as we get older, and that’s something happening to a record number of people these days. #-ad_banner-#Yet one more benefit of drug stocks is the counter-cyclical nature of sales. While people may skimp on everything from cars to tech when the economy turns sour, they aren’t going to stop taking their prescriptions.  In fact, my favorite pharma stock booked annualized growth in sales of 11% over the three years through 2009. With a global economic outlook that’s looking pretty weak, that revenue resilience is a huge plus for investors. Looking at the industry, one company stood out for its pipeline of upcoming drugs and the potential for higher profits over the next few years. A Blockbuster Pipeline And Higher Profits Make This Leader My Top Pick Big pharma is all about the pipeline, and my top pick is no different. The company had a solid reputation for its R&D until a steep patent cliff in 2014 had investors worried. In… Read More

I’m sure it’s no shock to hear that stocks are expensive right now. But you might be surprised to find out just how expensive they are. Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) recently measured the market and found that the median stock trades in the 99th percentile of its historical valuation. Stocks are near historic highs on numerous valuation metrics, including price-to-earnings growth (PEG), enterprise-to-sales and forward price-to-earnings (P/E). You can argue that rock-bottom interest rates make stocks a “relatively” better investment than bonds and other asset types, but that argument sounds a little like every other excuse investors make… Read More

I’m sure it’s no shock to hear that stocks are expensive right now. But you might be surprised to find out just how expensive they are. Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) recently measured the market and found that the median stock trades in the 99th percentile of its historical valuation. Stocks are near historic highs on numerous valuation metrics, including price-to-earnings growth (PEG), enterprise-to-sales and forward price-to-earnings (P/E). You can argue that rock-bottom interest rates make stocks a “relatively” better investment than bonds and other asset types, but that argument sounds a little like every other excuse investors make at the height of a market bubble. #-ad_banner-# Investors with long time horizons can shift to cash and wait until the market rolls over, snapping up stocks at better valuations. Traders and shorter-term investors don’t have that luxury. They need to capitalize on weakness and hedge their long holdings. I’ve found a company that may be a perfect candidate for one of my favorite market-hedging strategies.  Insiders and an activist hedge fund are unloading millions of this company’s shares, which are trading at a 74% premium to the five-year average… Read More

It’s been nearly three decades since the prefix “robo” entered the popular lexicon, thanks to the 1987 film RoboCop, in which a fatally wounded policeman returns to fight crime as a powerful cyborg. (My own initial viewing of the movie came courtesy of a bootlegged VHS tape in a basement in Ukraine, but that’s another story.) Since then, we’ve been exposed to robopets, robosigners, robocallers, and robochefs, among others. And now the investing community has a “robo” of its own, and it’s emerging as one of the biggest trends in the money-management business: robo-advising.  —Sponsored Link—… Read More

It’s been nearly three decades since the prefix “robo” entered the popular lexicon, thanks to the 1987 film RoboCop, in which a fatally wounded policeman returns to fight crime as a powerful cyborg. (My own initial viewing of the movie came courtesy of a bootlegged VHS tape in a basement in Ukraine, but that’s another story.) Since then, we’ve been exposed to robopets, robosigners, robocallers, and robochefs, among others. And now the investing community has a “robo” of its own, and it’s emerging as one of the biggest trends in the money-management business: robo-advising.  —Sponsored Link— The Greatest Commodity Shortage In History It’s no secret the world faces shortages in many commodities. The world’s diminishing supply of everything from cocoa to coffee… lithium to lumber… phosphate to plutonium… silver to sugar… is of great concern. But there’s an even bigger and more imminent commodity shortage at hand that no one is talking about. Details here. Mostly thanks to their rock-bottom costs — robo-advisers have progressed from relative obscurity just a few years ago to a becoming a significant force in the industry.  Management consulting firm A.T. Kearney recently predicted that robo-advisors… Read More

Does anyone ever believe anybody who says, “We’ll be fine”? My guess is that this phrase is met with an awful lot of skepticism, as it should be. It’s a bit too nonchalant, isn’t it? Especially when it comes on the back end of a $4.1 billion investment. Yes, those are the words that came out of CEO Steve Wynn’s mouth after the opening of the — what CNBC calls — lavish Wynn Palace in Macau: In every business there are good years and bad years. For our return on investment, I expect we will be fine. Wynn Resorts… Read More

Does anyone ever believe anybody who says, “We’ll be fine”? My guess is that this phrase is met with an awful lot of skepticism, as it should be. It’s a bit too nonchalant, isn’t it? Especially when it comes on the back end of a $4.1 billion investment. Yes, those are the words that came out of CEO Steve Wynn’s mouth after the opening of the — what CNBC calls — lavish Wynn Palace in Macau: In every business there are good years and bad years. For our return on investment, I expect we will be fine. Wynn Resorts (Nasdaq: WYNN) opened its $4.1 billion Wynn Palace on Monday, August 22, in the middle of a gambling slump. From CNBC: July marked Macau’s 26th consecutive monthly gaming revenue decline, with gross gaming revenues declining 4.5 percent during the month on a year-over-year basis. Daiwa estimates Macau’s GGR will fall by 10 percent in 2016 from the prior year. So that’s why Steve Wynn’s comments don’t inspire a lot of confidence from me. #-ad_banner-#But I have to say that this slump is a bit heavier than I expected it to be. I’ve spent a lot of time researching and… Read More

A recent breakout sets shares up for a rally to last year’s highs and possibly beyond. As the broader market moves sideways in a fairly tight range, we must dig a little deeper for opportunities. After all, quiet markets let the underlying conditions develop away from prying eyes. #-ad_banner-#And as the market awaits Friday’s speech by Federal Reserve Chief Janet Yellen — where everyone hopes to get a clue as to when interest rates will finally be raised — the auto sector is showing some quiet strength. We are seeing short-term rallies in automakers, parts suppliers and tire makers.  Today’s… Read More

A recent breakout sets shares up for a rally to last year’s highs and possibly beyond. As the broader market moves sideways in a fairly tight range, we must dig a little deeper for opportunities. After all, quiet markets let the underlying conditions develop away from prying eyes. #-ad_banner-#And as the market awaits Friday’s speech by Federal Reserve Chief Janet Yellen — where everyone hopes to get a clue as to when interest rates will finally be raised — the auto sector is showing some quiet strength. We are seeing short-term rallies in automakers, parts suppliers and tire makers.  Today’s trade, Lear Corp. (NYSE: LEA), a manufacturer of automotive seat systems and electronic modules, has been trading mostly sideways but with a rather dramatic inflow of money for the past two months.   The majority of fundamental analysts following Lear rate it a buy or strong buy, with none rating it a sell. And even a chart watcher can appreciate a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio below 9. However, it is the chart itself that offers the most compelling reason to buy LEA. In June, the stock took a big hit along with many of its peers, dropping 15% in two… Read More

Oil prices are dragging down the market this morning as we got news that China is ramping up exports of refined products and the U.S. rig count increased again. But lately, I’ve been hearing a saying again and again in regard to oil prices: “Low prices are a cure for low prices.” Pithy “truths” like this make for a good quip, but they tend to overlook a number of important factors, like the forces responsible for the price slump and whether those forces are actually changing direction. For example, even though oil prices have been low for nearly two years… Read More

Oil prices are dragging down the market this morning as we got news that China is ramping up exports of refined products and the U.S. rig count increased again. But lately, I’ve been hearing a saying again and again in regard to oil prices: “Low prices are a cure for low prices.” Pithy “truths” like this make for a good quip, but they tend to overlook a number of important factors, like the forces responsible for the price slump and whether those forces are actually changing direction. For example, even though oil prices have been low for nearly two years now, we still haven’t seen a transition to a recovery for energy companies. If low prices aren’t triggering increased consumption, then the problem doesn’t lie with prices, but with the economy itself. —Sponsored Link— Protect Yourself From ‘Market Shaking’ Events Get your free email alerts containing breaking market headlines, political and world news, sudden movements of stocks, bonds, metals, commodities and more that can have a positive or negative impact on your portfolio. Politics and My Portfolio’s mission is to provide investors with timely and reliable information to protect themselves. Subscribe… Read More

There’s no arguing that utility stocks have knocked it out of the park this year. Year to date, the Dow Jones Utility Average is up better than 18%. Utility stocks are always attractive to income oriented investors because of their dividend yields. But is now the time to buy?  Probably not. In fact, I recently recommend taking profits in utility bellwether Southern Company (NYSE: SO). But it looks like investors will get an opportunity relatively soon to pick up some high quality names in this dependable, dividend paying sector. It’s been quite… Read More

There’s no arguing that utility stocks have knocked it out of the park this year. Year to date, the Dow Jones Utility Average is up better than 18%. Utility stocks are always attractive to income oriented investors because of their dividend yields. But is now the time to buy?  Probably not. In fact, I recently recommend taking profits in utility bellwether Southern Company (NYSE: SO). But it looks like investors will get an opportunity relatively soon to pick up some high quality names in this dependable, dividend paying sector. It’s been quite a run for the average. Utility stocks have returned more than twice the S&P 500 year to date; 18.1% versus 8.29%. However, it looks as if the utility rally is running out of gas. The average is down 4.1% since its July peak. #-ad_banner-#Why? Interest rates, maybe? Probably not. Typically, as rates rise, utility stock prices soften. Utility companies are heavily dependent on the debt markets for operational financing. Usually, utility stock holders become nervous when interest rates rise. Higher borrowing costs can put the squeeze on margins, earnings and eventually the beloved dividends utility companies are known for paying. Read More