Shares of Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) went on a roller-coaster ride in 2015 worthy of one of its theme parks. They rallied from $90 to over $120, not once but twice, and by early 2016, they had fallen back to $90 again.  Investors may still be gun-shy when it comes to this blue chip, but the technicals have once again turned in its favor, and the stock may be ready to deliver gains — at least in the short term. #-ad_banner-# After the… Read More

Shares of Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) went on a roller-coaster ride in 2015 worthy of one of its theme parks. They rallied from $90 to over $120, not once but twice, and by early 2016, they had fallen back to $90 again.  Investors may still be gun-shy when it comes to this blue chip, but the technicals have once again turned in its favor, and the stock may be ready to deliver gains — at least in the short term. #-ad_banner-# After the close on Feb. 9, Disney reported better-than-expected earnings thanks to the release of the latest edition of “Star Wars.” But modest subscriber losses at ESPN spooked analysts and investors, who are concerned about declines in traditional cable subscriptions. The stock, which had already been in a decline since November, dropped sharply in after-hours trading, gapping down on the Feb. 10 open with selling continuing in the morning. But volume swelled that day, and DIS actually closed above its opening price. The following day, the bulls took over and prices moved higher, albeit at the same pace as the broader market. Read More

While worldwide GDP growth slows to a crawl reliable investments can be hard to find. But I’ve found a reliable dividend payer that could give your portfolio a boost. Over the last two weeks the S&P 500 Index (SPX) has rallied nearly 6%, a marked improvement from the beginning of the year’s poor performance. Many market observers, me included, think the volatility will stick around for 2016. #-ad_banner-# One of the main volatility drivers for this year will be investors accepting the fact that global economic growth will remain lackluster at best. For 2016, the World Bank sees U.S. real… Read More

While worldwide GDP growth slows to a crawl reliable investments can be hard to find. But I’ve found a reliable dividend payer that could give your portfolio a boost. Over the last two weeks the S&P 500 Index (SPX) has rallied nearly 6%, a marked improvement from the beginning of the year’s poor performance. Many market observers, me included, think the volatility will stick around for 2016. #-ad_banner-# One of the main volatility drivers for this year will be investors accepting the fact that global economic growth will remain lackluster at best. For 2016, the World Bank sees U.S. real GDP growth at 2.8%. The outlook for the Euro area and Japan is much more dismal at 1.8% and 1.7% respectively. On average, developed markets are poised to turn in anemic growth of just 2.4%. While forecast GDP growth for the developing world is better than 50% that of developed markets at an average of 5.2%, the double digit days seem to be long gone. While China targets 7% growth (if you can trust them), it’s a far cry from the “China Miracle” of old. As a professional investor, the challenge I face on a daily basis is finding stable… Read More

Many investors are familiar with Buffett’s famous holding of Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO). He began buying shares in 1988. At the time, Buffett said he expected to hang on to this “outstanding business” for “a long time.” And over the ensuing years, he continued to build his position in the iconic company. Today, Coca-Cola is one of Buffett’s largest holdings. As of February 19, Berkshire Hathaway owned 400 million shares of Coca-Cola, valued at roughly $17.2 billion. That’s nearly a fifth of the company’s equity portfolio. #-ad_banner-#But what many investors don’t know is the story… Read More

Many investors are familiar with Buffett’s famous holding of Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO). He began buying shares in 1988. At the time, Buffett said he expected to hang on to this “outstanding business” for “a long time.” And over the ensuing years, he continued to build his position in the iconic company. Today, Coca-Cola is one of Buffett’s largest holdings. As of February 19, Berkshire Hathaway owned 400 million shares of Coca-Cola, valued at roughly $17.2 billion. That’s nearly a fifth of the company’s equity portfolio. #-ad_banner-#But what many investors don’t know is the story about when Buffett used options on Coca-Cola. That’s right. The king of buy-and-hold uses options. More importantly, it’s the way Buffett used options in the case of Coca-Cola — which happens to be a safe, conservative way — that too many investors often ignore… In 1993, Coca-Cola was trading around $39 per share. Buffett, always the bargain hunter, believed that was too pricey. But the billionaire wasn’t content to passively wait for the stock to fall to his preferred price. Instead, he decided to use a simple options strategy that eventually… Read More

Shares of Disney (NYSE: DIS) are trading below $100, yet again. The stock appears to be having serious issues with breaking through its all-time high of around $122 a share.  This comes as Disney has a real problem on its hands. DIS has traded up to $120 per share twice in the past six months. Both times it quickly tumbled to below $100, due to worries about growth challenges for cable channel ESPN.  #-ad_banner-#The stock is now off close to 20% in just the last three months after a damning earnings report. The big question has become: what could help… Read More

Shares of Disney (NYSE: DIS) are trading below $100, yet again. The stock appears to be having serious issues with breaking through its all-time high of around $122 a share.  This comes as Disney has a real problem on its hands. DIS has traded up to $120 per share twice in the past six months. Both times it quickly tumbled to below $100, due to worries about growth challenges for cable channel ESPN.  #-ad_banner-#The stock is now off close to 20% in just the last three months after a damning earnings report. The big question has become: what could help Disney finally break through the $120 level in 2016?  The short answer is a break-up.  That’s right, breaking up the House of Mouse might be the answer. But even if we don’t see a breakup, investors should take a closer look at Disney.  Does ESPN Need To Go?  The obvious answer is to get rid of the problem child. Right now, Disney’s biggest issue is ESPN. The media industry is troubled, to say the least. Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) has tried to buy 21st Century Fox (Nasdaq: FOXA), and an activist investor is pushing for change at Viacom (Nasdaq:… Read More

Yesterday, I took a hard look at the recent performance of various sectors of the stock market. One area stood out: the construction & engineering sector — companies that build civil engineering projects, major commercial and industrial buildings and national infrastructure — is down about 13% over the past 12 months, but up 5.7% over the past month, a period during which the broad market rose less than 1%. Given the headline consensus that global economic growth is slowing, and that we may in fact be on the brink of a modest but real worldwide recession, why would shares of… Read More

Yesterday, I took a hard look at the recent performance of various sectors of the stock market. One area stood out: the construction & engineering sector — companies that build civil engineering projects, major commercial and industrial buildings and national infrastructure — is down about 13% over the past 12 months, but up 5.7% over the past month, a period during which the broad market rose less than 1%. Given the headline consensus that global economic growth is slowing, and that we may in fact be on the brink of a modest but real worldwide recession, why would shares of companies that rely on capital investment be rallying so sharply?  #-ad_banner-#Maybe investors in these companies are collectively wiser than the broad market’s conventional wisdom.  One reason for the sector’s rally was strong rebounds by a few stocks whose companies reported better-than-expected earnings. But that’s not the whole story. Across the board, investors are moving back into an area that seems vulnerable in the current climate. That’s a good sign that the market correction, while warranted somewhat by news from China, Brazil and OPEC, was an overreaction — and that investors realize that global demand for heavy infrastructure projects, particularly in… Read More

If you’re like me, then you never want to worry about money again… whether that means merely being financially independent or becoming filthy rich is beside the point. And while blue-chip stocks, index funds and dividend payers can keep the income flowing, the truth is these securities will take decades to amass real wealth. You’ll need something else if you’re after a seven-figure bank account: a “swing for the fences” strategy. #-ad_banner-#So today I’m going to show you how to position yourself for ‘out-of-the-park’ gains without jeopardizing your safer investments. I call it the “20% solution.” The idea behind it… Read More

If you’re like me, then you never want to worry about money again… whether that means merely being financially independent or becoming filthy rich is beside the point. And while blue-chip stocks, index funds and dividend payers can keep the income flowing, the truth is these securities will take decades to amass real wealth. You’ll need something else if you’re after a seven-figure bank account: a “swing for the fences” strategy. #-ad_banner-#So today I’m going to show you how to position yourself for ‘out-of-the-park’ gains without jeopardizing your safer investments. I call it the “20% solution.” The idea behind it is simple: dedicate a portion of your portfolio to aggressive growth stocks. Let me explain. My daughter is in private school. In a few years she may go to college. Eventually she’ll need a car, an apartment and someday a wedding. All of which cost money. For her and the rest of my family, I’ve allocated 80% of my portfolio to safe, reliable assets. These are securities that I know will allow me to keep living comfortably and adequately provide for my family. We want this money to grow hands-free. So in this section of our portfolio, we want investments… Read More

In addition to huge daily swings, 2016 has been characterized by a flight to safety as the markets sharply corrected in the first few weeks of the new year.  Even though stocks have regained some of those losses in the past few weeks, the only sectors to show year-to-date gains are defensive utilities and consumer staples. In fact, the stampede to safety has pushed the latter to multiyear highs and lofty valuations. If the economic landscape is not as dire as many investors think in 2016 — and I don’t think it will be — we… Read More

In addition to huge daily swings, 2016 has been characterized by a flight to safety as the markets sharply corrected in the first few weeks of the new year.  Even though stocks have regained some of those losses in the past few weeks, the only sectors to show year-to-date gains are defensive utilities and consumer staples. In fact, the stampede to safety has pushed the latter to multiyear highs and lofty valuations. If the economic landscape is not as dire as many investors think in 2016 — and I don’t think it will be — we have a chance to capitalize on our fellow investors’ irrationality with a trade that could land you 78%. #-ad_banner-# How Much Are You Willing To Pay For Safety? I compiled the weekly returns of the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSE: XLP) going back to its launch in 1998. Between Nov. 16 and Feb. 8, XLP outperformed the S&P 500 for 12 consecutive weeks, which has never happened before in the history of the fund. In addition to the recent rush to safety, the sector has benefited for years from yield-seeking investors leaving lower payouts in… Read More

The 2016 general election looks to be a close one, with no presidential candidates claiming an insurmountable lead and the Democrats within just five seats of regaining control of the Senate. Political spending during presidential election years has consistently smashed total spending in previous years and it looks like this year could top the $6.3 billion mark set in 2012. #-ad_banner-#And that spending could be heading into overdrive with the Super Tuesday primaries in 14 states on March 1. Both sides of the aisle have seen multiple candidates come out on top in other state races. Clinton and Cruz topped… Read More

The 2016 general election looks to be a close one, with no presidential candidates claiming an insurmountable lead and the Democrats within just five seats of regaining control of the Senate. Political spending during presidential election years has consistently smashed total spending in previous years and it looks like this year could top the $6.3 billion mark set in 2012. #-ad_banner-#And that spending could be heading into overdrive with the Super Tuesday primaries in 14 states on March 1. Both sides of the aisle have seen multiple candidates come out on top in other state races. Clinton and Cruz topped the Iowa caucuses while Trump and Sanders ran away with the New Hampshire primary.  Candidates and political action committees (PACs) will be opening their pockets to get their candidate nominated and sent to Washington. Rather than picking the winners of each race, investors should be focusing on picking the winners in the election spending race. Super Spending Ahead Of Super Tuesday Political spending has surged ever since the 2010 Supreme Court decision that campaign spending by independent groups, i.e. PACs, was protected by the First Amendment. The 2012 election hit an historic $6.3 billion with the cost of the… Read More

The economy has been growing, albeit slowly, over the past six years, and the biggest banks have managed to survive and even thrive in some cases. But there’s a canary in the coal mine that’s giving me pause… one that no one is talking about. #-ad_banner-# Looking back at the recovery, I noticed an eerie phenomenon that could foretell the future for large banks. According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), more than 455 banks have collapsed since the Great Recession… Read More

The economy has been growing, albeit slowly, over the past six years, and the biggest banks have managed to survive and even thrive in some cases. But there’s a canary in the coal mine that’s giving me pause… one that no one is talking about. #-ad_banner-# Looking back at the recovery, I noticed an eerie phenomenon that could foretell the future for large banks. According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), more than 455 banks have collapsed since the Great Recession ended in June 2009. Depending on how closely you follow the banking sector, that may or may not seem like an astronomical number. So let me put it into context for you: In the six years before the recession began, there were 21 bank failures, and during the recession, only 70 banks went under. You’d think it would be the other way around, with the recession taking out all the weak banks and the recovery helping to keep closures at a minimum. At the very least, you’d expect a healthy recovery to spur new bank charters, but that hasn’t been… Read More