If you’re going to be a landlord, then it’s crucial to find good tenants — ones that will never bounce a check, always pay on time and stick around for the long-term.  I’ve found a company that rents to the absolute most dependable tenant you can find: The U.S. Government. You see, although Uncle Sam owns nearly 10,000 buildings, he’s also the nation’s largest renter.  And as it turns out, renting to the government is quite profitable. Think about it… Government tenants tend to stay in the same office for decades without moving around, and they don’t bounce rent checks. Read More

If you’re going to be a landlord, then it’s crucial to find good tenants — ones that will never bounce a check, always pay on time and stick around for the long-term.  I’ve found a company that rents to the absolute most dependable tenant you can find: The U.S. Government. You see, although Uncle Sam owns nearly 10,000 buildings, he’s also the nation’s largest renter.  And as it turns out, renting to the government is quite profitable. Think about it… Government tenants tend to stay in the same office for decades without moving around, and they don’t bounce rent checks.   That’s why I like Government Properties Trust (NYSE: GOV) so much. As a top landlord to Uncle Sam, this real estate investment trust (or REIT) throws off ample cash flow, translating into a rock-solid 10% dividend yield for investors who buy the stock today.  That’s a lot of reward for very little risk.  The company leases office buildings to well-funded government agencies such as the Department of Defense, the Social Security Administration, the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Justice, the Department of Energy, the Department of Homeland Security, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Centers for… Read More

It’s one of the biggest and best retailers in the world with a market cap of more than $230 billion and more than 11,400 stores around the globe. These include discount stores, supermarkets, supercenters, warehouse clubs and restaurants, along with retail websites. It’s been around for decades, withstanding… Read More

For some companies, specialization is the path to success. For others, it is diversification. One fast-growing mid-cap that favors the latter approach is global consumer products distributor Jarden Corp. (NYSE: JAH). #-ad_banner-# Thanks to a steady slate of acquisitions over the years, this company now has a diverse product portfolio of 120 leading brands. These range from Bicycle playing cards and Coleman camping equipment, to Sunbeam home appliances and Rawlings baseball gear. The company’s distribution channels are extensive as well, and include buying clubs, retail chains, mass merchants and direct-to-consumer channels (such as the Internet). By continually adding top brands… Read More

For some companies, specialization is the path to success. For others, it is diversification. One fast-growing mid-cap that favors the latter approach is global consumer products distributor Jarden Corp. (NYSE: JAH). #-ad_banner-# Thanks to a steady slate of acquisitions over the years, this company now has a diverse product portfolio of 120 leading brands. These range from Bicycle playing cards and Coleman camping equipment, to Sunbeam home appliances and Rawlings baseball gear. The company’s distribution channels are extensive as well, and include buying clubs, retail chains, mass merchants and direct-to-consumer channels (such as the Internet). By continually adding top brands and broadening their sales channel exposure, Jarden has posted one the best expansion records of the past decade. Since 2005, sales have nearly tripled to $8.3 billion, and profits jumped nearly ten-fold to $0.98 per share. Not surprisingly, shares of the firm are crushing the market.     After such a steep run-up, it’s also no surprise that Jarden now sports a frothy price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio. At 57, it’s more than twice the stock’s five-year average of 27. While this could indicate that shares are topping out, I believe they still have market-beating gain potential in the coming 12 months,… Read More

#-ad_banner-#Like many of my readers, I like to set aside time every week to read the latest issue of my colleague John Kosar’s Market Outlook advisory.  If you don’t read Market Outlook, I highly recommend adding it to your list; the quality analysis from my fellow Chartered Market Technician provides an in-depth look at what’s going on in the major indices, commodities markets and important market news — information all investors should stay on top of. Plus, it comes free with every subscription to my premium advisory, Alpha Trader. In the past few issues, John’s outlook has turned cautious as… Read More

#-ad_banner-#Like many of my readers, I like to set aside time every week to read the latest issue of my colleague John Kosar’s Market Outlook advisory.  If you don’t read Market Outlook, I highly recommend adding it to your list; the quality analysis from my fellow Chartered Market Technician provides an in-depth look at what’s going on in the major indices, commodities markets and important market news — information all investors should stay on top of. Plus, it comes free with every subscription to my premium advisory, Alpha Trader. In the past few issues, John’s outlook has turned cautious as a handful of the important technical indicators he covers start to flash bright yellow warning signals. Concurrently, my Alpha Score system — which ranks stocks from 0 to 200 based on technical and fundamental indicators — has tagged fewer buy recommendations than normal.  So, what’s going on with the market? If you look solely at the major indices, nothing seems amiss — the S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite and Wilshire 5000 are off only modestly from their 52-week highs. But despite the relative calm on the surface, hundreds of stocks are quietly tanking. A classic technical indicator has confirmed my belief… Read More

Although you could not tell from looking at the Dow Jones U.S. Restaurants & Bars Index, the group has had a rough time lately. From earnings bombs to reduced outlooks, there is something ugly happening beneath the surface. And that means the restaurant sector is a prime place to look for stocks about to crack. To be sure, the index and some of the heavyweights in the group are still in rising trends, trading above their 50-day moving averages. But we do not have to look too hard to find stocks that are not quite as healthy. … Read More

Although you could not tell from looking at the Dow Jones U.S. Restaurants & Bars Index, the group has had a rough time lately. From earnings bombs to reduced outlooks, there is something ugly happening beneath the surface. And that means the restaurant sector is a prime place to look for stocks about to crack. To be sure, the index and some of the heavyweights in the group are still in rising trends, trading above their 50-day moving averages. But we do not have to look too hard to find stocks that are not quite as healthy.  #-ad_banner-# For instance, Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG), a market favorite for the past few years, looks ready to tumble. From a fundamental perspective, we have to wonder why restaurant fortunes in general have not improved in recent months. Over the winter, the unusually cold weather was blamed. But as the days got warmer, sales did not heat up. And even as gasoline prices plummeted diners did not open their wallets any wider.  On the sentiment front, poor action on good news is bearish. When things go wrong when there is every reason for them to go right… Read More

Growing up in the 1970’s, I thought America was doomed. Inflation was on a path into double-digit territory, and unemployment rates remained stubbornly high. Economists even coined a term for our malaise, adding the unemployment and inflation rates together in a combined “misery index.”  By 1980, this figure briefly exceeded 20%. Misery Index Highs In The United States   Unemployment Rate + Inflation Rate = Misery Index May 1959 5.1% 0.3% 5.4% November 1965 4.1% 1.6% 5.7% June 1980 7.6% 14.4% 22.0% April 1998 4.3% 1.4% 5.7% October 2006 4.4% 1.3% 5.7%… Read More

Growing up in the 1970’s, I thought America was doomed. Inflation was on a path into double-digit territory, and unemployment rates remained stubbornly high. Economists even coined a term for our malaise, adding the unemployment and inflation rates together in a combined “misery index.”  By 1980, this figure briefly exceeded 20%. Misery Index Highs In The United States   Unemployment Rate + Inflation Rate = Misery Index May 1959 5.1% 0.3% 5.4% November 1965 4.1% 1.6% 5.7% June 1980 7.6% 14.4% 22.0% April 1998 4.3% 1.4% 5.7% October 2006 4.4% 1.3% 5.7% January 2015 5.7% -0.1% 5.6% Source: LPL Research, Haver Analytics   Although it may seem counter-intuitive, 1980 would have been a brilliant time to become bullish. Indeed the major stock market indices have risen so much in the past 35 years precisely because the misery index has fallen from its lofty heights. The reasoning is quite simple. Falling inflation helps boost the earnings multiple applied to stocks, because corporations generate higher profits when they operate in an environment of fuller employment. And higher multiples on higher profits always translates into market gains. #-ad_banner-# Misery Can Help Change The Status Quo… Read More

#-ad_banner-#When buy and sell decisions are motivated by emotion and then amplified by mindless computer programs, stock movements can become irrational. But after the dust settles and traders gather their wits, we often find prime trading opportunities. The starkest example of this recently is Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), which has suffered a mini-crash in the past three weeks with shares down as much as 16% from their July 20 high. Ironically, Apple’s violent move lower began after the company reported record Q3 earnings, beating estimates on the top and bottom lines. However, it sold only 47.5… Read More

#-ad_banner-#When buy and sell decisions are motivated by emotion and then amplified by mindless computer programs, stock movements can become irrational. But after the dust settles and traders gather their wits, we often find prime trading opportunities. The starkest example of this recently is Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), which has suffered a mini-crash in the past three weeks with shares down as much as 16% from their July 20 high. Ironically, Apple’s violent move lower began after the company reported record Q3 earnings, beating estimates on the top and bottom lines. However, it sold only 47.5 million iPhones, less than the 48.8 million analysts had expected. Shares immediately plummeted 6.7%, which was a gross overreaction in my opinion. But the selling continued and Apple dipped below its 200-day moving average on Aug. 3. Many consider the 200-day to be an important trend indicator. Stocks trading above this average are said to be in an uptrend, while stocks trading below it are considered to be in a downtrend. More importantly, a downside penetration of the 200-day moving average triggers sell orders. So… Read More

While the broader stock market has been in a recent mini-slump, a group of social media stocks have stumbled very badly. Shares of Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) and LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE: LNKD), for example, have slipped 15% to 20% in just a few months — in sharp contrast to Facebook (Nasdaq: FB), which remain near all-time highs. The contrasting moves should come as no surprise to careful watchers of key digital advertising trends. #-ad_banner-# How Do Advertisers See Social Media? To see the social media as advertisers do, investors only need to put themselves in marketers’ shoes. Which sites offer… Read More

While the broader stock market has been in a recent mini-slump, a group of social media stocks have stumbled very badly. Shares of Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) and LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE: LNKD), for example, have slipped 15% to 20% in just a few months — in sharp contrast to Facebook (Nasdaq: FB), which remain near all-time highs. The contrasting moves should come as no surprise to careful watchers of key digital advertising trends. #-ad_banner-# How Do Advertisers See Social Media? To see the social media as advertisers do, investors only need to put themselves in marketers’ shoes. Which sites offer the audience I want and can drive appreciable traffic back to the product?   Research firm Shareaholic found that 31% of traffic to websites originated from social media in the fourth quarter of 2014, up from 23% the year before. Of that traffic, Facebook accounted for 25% of traffic (79% of all social media referrals) followed by Pinterest, which originated 5% of the traffic. Twitter and LinkedIn originated just 0.8% and 0.03% of website social referral traffic. Worse still for the two lagging networks, their share of traffic origination has continuously fallen over the last three years.   Social Media… Read More

#-ad_banner-#Today I want to tell you about an investing strategy that defies logic. It shouldn’t work based on everything we’ve learned about the stock market. Yet it does. In fact, for over half a century, investors and traders have used this strategy to produce unparalleled results. And no, for those of you who may be wondering, this strategy doesn’t involve options, derivatives or any other obscure financial product. What’s more, what I’m about to show you can be used as part of any general investing strategy — regardless of whether you’re focusing on income, growth, blue chips, small… Read More

#-ad_banner-#Today I want to tell you about an investing strategy that defies logic. It shouldn’t work based on everything we’ve learned about the stock market. Yet it does. In fact, for over half a century, investors and traders have used this strategy to produce unparalleled results. And no, for those of you who may be wondering, this strategy doesn’t involve options, derivatives or any other obscure financial product. What’s more, what I’m about to show you can be used as part of any general investing strategy — regardless of whether you’re focusing on income, growth, blue chips, small caps or commodities. Specifically, I’m talking about relative-strength investing. Longtime readers might already be familiar with relative-strength investing. We’ve talked about it before in previous StreetAuthority Daily issues. But for those who need a refresher, allow me to provide a brief recap. Relative-strength investing is simply a type of momentum investing. It involves buying the best-performing stocks (relative to the market) and holding them until their momentum changes course. To most investors, especially those considered value investors, this strategy probably sounds ridiculous. After all, most people have heard the phrase “buy low, sell high.” Since relative-strength investors buy stocks that… Read More