Sometimes you need to venture off the beaten path to find the best investment ideas. As Chief Investment Strategist of StreetAuthority’s High-Yield International newsletter, I can personally attest to the truth in that statement. I spend my days in search of the best dividend payers around the world, unearthing the kinds of high-yielding investment ideas you’re not likely to hear about anywhere else. This has allowed my subscribers and me to earn double-digit yields from solid international companies, while most investors limit themselves to the paltry yields offered by U.S. stocks. Read More

Sometimes you need to venture off the beaten path to find the best investment ideas. As Chief Investment Strategist of StreetAuthority’s High-Yield International newsletter, I can personally attest to the truth in that statement. I spend my days in search of the best dividend payers around the world, unearthing the kinds of high-yielding investment ideas you’re not likely to hear about anywhere else. This has allowed my subscribers and me to earn double-digit yields from solid international companies, while most investors limit themselves to the paltry yields offered by U.S. stocks. Today, I want to share one of my latest investment ideas with you — one that I don’t think you’ll hear about anywhere else. Due to centuries of overfishing, global wild fish supplies have been depleted to crisis levels. The Census of Marine Life completed a 10-year study in 2010 and found that 90% of the world’s big fish had disappeared from the ocean. The United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization released a study in 2014 that found 87% of the world’s marine stocks fully fished or overfished. Read More

After the pain and suffering caused by the global financial crisis, not to mention the losses many investors experienced, a lot of people still feel disillusioned with Wall Street. Maybe you’re one of them. I don’t blame you if that’s the case. After all, the crisis we experienced wasn’t a market anomaly. It was a house of cards built by large banks, risky traders and short-sighted government policies that came crashing down on our heads. But if you’re one of the many investors who has used this painful experience as an excuse to sit out of the market, my advice… Read More

After the pain and suffering caused by the global financial crisis, not to mention the losses many investors experienced, a lot of people still feel disillusioned with Wall Street. Maybe you’re one of them. I don’t blame you if that’s the case. After all, the crisis we experienced wasn’t a market anomaly. It was a house of cards built by large banks, risky traders and short-sighted government policies that came crashing down on our heads. But if you’re one of the many investors who has used this painful experience as an excuse to sit out of the market, my advice to you is stop. It’s one of the worst mistakes you could make with your portfolio. #-ad_banner-# In fact, I would argue that if the events of the financial crisis taught us anything, it’s how incredibly important it is for individual investors to take charge of their own portfolios. One of those ways is to exercise the certain rights and freedoms that go along with stock ownership. Unfortunately, most shareholders rarely exercise their full rights. As one of the fathers of value investing, Benjamin Graham (also Warren Buffett’s mentor), wrote in his classic book “Security Analysis”: “It is a notorious… Read More

The title of last week’s Market Outlook posed the question: “Could Complacency Reverse Last Week’s Gains?” The answer was a resounding, “Yes.” One week after aggressively rebounding from the major support levels I identified earlier in July, all major U.S. stock indices collapsed. The S&P 500 fell 2.2%, the Dow lost 2.9%, the Nasdaq 100 declined 2.3% and the Russell 2000 dropped 3.2%. #-ad_banner-# All sectors of the S&P 500 closed down for the week, led lower by economically sensitive materials, energy and industrials, which warns of a global slowdown that could put even more downside pressure on… Read More

The title of last week’s Market Outlook posed the question: “Could Complacency Reverse Last Week’s Gains?” The answer was a resounding, “Yes.” One week after aggressively rebounding from the major support levels I identified earlier in July, all major U.S. stock indices collapsed. The S&P 500 fell 2.2%, the Dow lost 2.9%, the Nasdaq 100 declined 2.3% and the Russell 2000 dropped 3.2%. #-ad_banner-# All sectors of the S&P 500 closed down for the week, led lower by economically sensitive materials, energy and industrials, which warns of a global slowdown that could put even more downside pressure on world stock markets in the weeks ahead. Nasdaq Fails at Tech Bubble Highs In last week’s Market Outlook, I pointed out that my 4,600 upside target in the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NDX) was met on July 17. I also warned that corrective declines often begin once initial price targets have been met as investors take profits.  The big question, I said, was how much upside was left. I noted that one key to answering that question was whether the Nasdaq Composite, the Nasdaq 100’s broader cousin, could remain above secular overhead resistance at 5,133, which was the tech bubble high… Read More

Here’s a simple question: Do you invest in stocks or in companies? Stock-focused investors assess financial statements, technical charts and other gauges to help them know a good value when they see one. Investors in companies prefer to focus on the business itself, while fundamental and technical considerations play a secondary role. #-ad_banner-#This “buy a great company at any price” approach may seem foolish, but it’s actually quite wise. Let me explain. Great companies will deliver solid returns year after year. You may not find such a company… Read More

Here’s a simple question: Do you invest in stocks or in companies? Stock-focused investors assess financial statements, technical charts and other gauges to help them know a good value when they see one. Investors in companies prefer to focus on the business itself, while fundamental and technical considerations play a secondary role. #-ad_banner-#This “buy a great company at any price” approach may seem foolish, but it’s actually quite wise. Let me explain. Great companies will deliver solid returns year after year. You may not find such a company before the crowd, but you can still reap ample gains after the train has left the station. To illustrate my point, let’s talk about Magellan Midstream Partners, L.P. (NYSE: MMP). A decade ago, this nationwide oil and gas pipeline operator was added to my colleague Nathan Slaughter’s High-Yield Investing portfolio when shares traded for around $10. At the time, the company paid a $1 annual dividend, good for an impressive 10% yield. If you were a subscriber to Nathan’s newsletter at the start of 2011, you would likely have noted that… Read More

#-ad_banner-#Health care stocks have delivered the strongest recent gains of any sector. As a group, they have risen  roughly 24% annually over the past five years, topping the rate of return from the next-best sector — consumer cyclicals — by more than three percentage points. Look for this outperformance to continue. Among the sector’s strongest catalysts: the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare), which looks like it’s here to stay following a recent Supreme Court decision to uphold the premium subsidies available under the Act. Despite harsh criticism and numerous repeal attempts, the five-year-old law has proven to be a boon… Read More

#-ad_banner-#Health care stocks have delivered the strongest recent gains of any sector. As a group, they have risen  roughly 24% annually over the past five years, topping the rate of return from the next-best sector — consumer cyclicals — by more than three percentage points. Look for this outperformance to continue. Among the sector’s strongest catalysts: the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare), which looks like it’s here to stay following a recent Supreme Court decision to uphold the premium subsidies available under the Act. Despite harsh criticism and numerous repeal attempts, the five-year-old law has proven to be a boon to many health care firms by getting millions of previously uninsured people into the market for health care products and services. The graying of the U.S. population is a powerful growth catalyst, too, progressively increasing health care utilization as age-related maladies surge. Clearly, broad exposure to health care stocks makes good sense. The question is: how best to get that exposure? For investors who favor actively managed, no-load mutual funds, I’ve identified three top choices. They all have high performance ranks and reasonable expense ratios. But they’re noticeably different in terms of risk. Here are all the pertinent details. Vanguard… Read More

#-ad_banner-#The twin pillars of global population growth and economic development are leading to concerns about water scarcity. In the inaugural article of this three-part series, I painted the issue in broad strokes. Part two delved into the world of irrigation technology and how outdated and inefficient methods are slowing being replaced with modern, conservation-oriented systems. Agriculture and irrigation currently account for a bulk of water usage and that is unlikely to change (for the better) any time soon. Over the course of coming decades, natural fresh water sources will be depleted in various regions across the world, and the only… Read More

#-ad_banner-#The twin pillars of global population growth and economic development are leading to concerns about water scarcity. In the inaugural article of this three-part series, I painted the issue in broad strokes. Part two delved into the world of irrigation technology and how outdated and inefficient methods are slowing being replaced with modern, conservation-oriented systems. Agriculture and irrigation currently account for a bulk of water usage and that is unlikely to change (for the better) any time soon. Over the course of coming decades, natural fresh water sources will be depleted in various regions across the world, and the only solution is to invest in efficient, renewable sources of potable water. However, at current spending levels, the world is ill prepared. In a 2009 report, the United Nations estimated that the annual global water infrastructure financing gap (between what is required and what is currently being spent each year) may be as high as $85 billion, with over a third of that attributed to developed Asia and China.  A Salty Problem Earth’s surface is dominated by water, 97% of which is salty. If even a fraction of that can be converted to drinkable water for municipal purposes and usable… Read More

For companies looking to hire and groom executive talent, executive search firm Korn Ferry (NYSE: KFY) is often a no-brainer. It has been ranked as the top executive search firm since 1990 and operates 80 offices across the globe.  Now, it’s in the right place at the right time. #-ad_banner-#As of late last year, IDC had estimated employers were spending around $20 billion per year to attract, assess and retain workers in the wake of a recovering job market. Around halfway through 2015, the job market continues to recover. The U.S. unemployment rate is currently 5.3% — the lowest rate… Read More

For companies looking to hire and groom executive talent, executive search firm Korn Ferry (NYSE: KFY) is often a no-brainer. It has been ranked as the top executive search firm since 1990 and operates 80 offices across the globe.  Now, it’s in the right place at the right time. #-ad_banner-#As of late last year, IDC had estimated employers were spending around $20 billion per year to attract, assess and retain workers in the wake of a recovering job market. Around halfway through 2015, the job market continues to recover. The U.S. unemployment rate is currently 5.3% — the lowest rate in seven years — and according to Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, the growth in U.S. employment should continue in “high gear.” Since Korn Ferry provides a variety of products and services for employers, a booming job market means booming demand. A Closer Look at Korn Ferry’s Strong Fundamentals  One thing that Korn Ferry does as a recruitment specialist is publish interview guides and software that helps managers identify and cultivate employees with high potential. More specifically, many of the company’s services and instruments help companies identify people with what it terms “learning agility.” This is defined… Read More

I consider myself lucky to have begun my career before the catastrophe of the dot-com crash. I got to see up close what a boom and bust looks like. As a 20-year-old on the Philadelphia trading floor, it was truly shocking. Friends, family and colleagues were getting suckered into companies that had no real business being publicly traded, let alone recommended by financial advisors. #-ad_banner-#It was this jarring experience that taught me invaluable lessons about the market, and today I would like to share with you an alarming trend I’m currently seeing that reminds… Read More

I consider myself lucky to have begun my career before the catastrophe of the dot-com crash. I got to see up close what a boom and bust looks like. As a 20-year-old on the Philadelphia trading floor, it was truly shocking. Friends, family and colleagues were getting suckered into companies that had no real business being publicly traded, let alone recommended by financial advisors. #-ad_banner-#It was this jarring experience that taught me invaluable lessons about the market, and today I would like to share with you an alarming trend I’m currently seeing that reminds me of those tragic days in early 2000. In the beginning they laughed at me when I said it was all a pipe dream. But in a few short months, I witnessed fellow traders with much more experience than me break down in tears. Some never recovered. It was hard to watch, and I was fortunate to not get caught up in the frenzy. I was able to sidestep the wreckage and come away in the black. Most importantly, that experience has helped me spot and profit from many corrections since. Read More

With each passing year, access to clean, potable water is an increasingly contentious issue. In part one of this three-part series on water scarcity, I outlined the issue at hand. To recap, at current consumption rates, half the world’s population will be living in water-stressed areas within 15 years, and by 2050, water availability will fall by half. Farmers currently use roughly 70% of available fresh water, and more than half the water they use is lost to run-off and evaporation. #-ad_banner-#The only solution: Increased capital investment in water infrastructure, especially in agriculture. To understand which companies stand to benefit,… Read More

With each passing year, access to clean, potable water is an increasingly contentious issue. In part one of this three-part series on water scarcity, I outlined the issue at hand. To recap, at current consumption rates, half the world’s population will be living in water-stressed areas within 15 years, and by 2050, water availability will fall by half. Farmers currently use roughly 70% of available fresh water, and more than half the water they use is lost to run-off and evaporation. #-ad_banner-#The only solution: Increased capital investment in water infrastructure, especially in agriculture. To understand which companies stand to benefit, you must first analyze the current state of irrigation technology. Replacing The Old World The most common irrigation is gravity-based system, referred to as furrow irrigation, which involves water running down slight declines in canals. This process is inefficient and often leads to overwatering and wasted resources. Increasingly, this technique is being replaced by pivot, lateral and drip irrigation systems, which reduce weed growth and increase crop yields by providing optimal water levels to the plant’s roots. These systems are aided by automated wireless and GPS monitoring systems that release water at times of the day when less water… Read More