I think it’s one of the market’s biggest missed opportunities. Every day, millions of U.S. investors are missing out on the world’s highest-yielding securities. That’s because the vast majority of the world’s highest-yields aren’t found in the United States. #-ad_banner-#As the Chief Strategist of High-Yield International, my job is to scour the globe for the world’s highest yielding stocks, funds and ETFs. And at last count, my research shows that over 79% of the world’s highest-yielding stocks are based in international markets. (You can read more of my research about these stocks here.) That includes companies like global shipping giant… Read More

I think it’s one of the market’s biggest missed opportunities. Every day, millions of U.S. investors are missing out on the world’s highest-yielding securities. That’s because the vast majority of the world’s highest-yields aren’t found in the United States. #-ad_banner-#As the Chief Strategist of High-Yield International, my job is to scour the globe for the world’s highest yielding stocks, funds and ETFs. And at last count, my research shows that over 79% of the world’s highest-yielding stocks are based in international markets. (You can read more of my research about these stocks here.) That includes companies like global shipping giant Navios Maritime Partners (NYSE: NMM), which yields 9.3%. And Bermuda-based outfits like SeaDrill (NYSE: SDRL), which pays an impressive 7.9%. If you’re like most people, then you’ll probably never take advantage of foreign stocks like these. That’s a shame, because the average stock in the United Kingdom yields 3.8%… Brazil’s average yield is 4.4%… Australia yields 4.3%… and New Zealand pays 4.5%. By contrast, stocks here at home yield a paltry 2%, on average. Most U.S. investors dismiss the idea of investing abroad. They tend to think other countries are “riskier” than the United States. But that’s not always the… Read More

Last week, I profiled a widely ignored growth stock, Sherwin-Williams (NYSE: SHW). I thought investors should be aware of the stock because it has been crushing the market, more than tripling during the past five years — yet it hasn’t gotten much attention. Well, I’ve got another overlooked growth stock investors should consider. It’s up almost 170% during the past five years and, like SHW, is set for more impressive gains in the future. But most investors have probably never heard of this stock. The company is tiny, with a market capitalization of only $101 million. It’s not in a… Read More

Last week, I profiled a widely ignored growth stock, Sherwin-Williams (NYSE: SHW). I thought investors should be aware of the stock because it has been crushing the market, more than tripling during the past five years — yet it hasn’t gotten much attention. Well, I’ve got another overlooked growth stock investors should consider. It’s up almost 170% during the past five years and, like SHW, is set for more impressive gains in the future. But most investors have probably never heard of this stock. The company is tiny, with a market capitalization of only $101 million. It’s not in a very high-profile business, either, currently generating revenue of about $67 million a year selling transaction-based printers to the gambling, banking, food service, and oil and gas industries.  #-ad_banner-#A huge plus for this company is it often faces very little competition. For instance, it’s just one of two firms of its kind that sell to manufacturers of slot machines and other electronic casino games. The company also has an exclusive contract to provide printers to GTECH, the world’s largest provider of lottery ticket terminals. I’m referring to TransAct Technologies (Nasdaq: TACT). If things go as well for the company… Read More

With the rise of social media and the ease and speed with which consumers can give a favorable or unfavorable review of a product, advertisers are looking to engage their customers in ways never imagined before. The company that can connect companies and their products with their customers the fastest and most efficiently has the best chance of emerging as the leader in the digital advertising market. The real key for success in this market lies in the software as a service (SaaS) business model. SaaS is most commonly associated with cloud computing because the software is hosted in the… Read More

With the rise of social media and the ease and speed with which consumers can give a favorable or unfavorable review of a product, advertisers are looking to engage their customers in ways never imagined before. The company that can connect companies and their products with their customers the fastest and most efficiently has the best chance of emerging as the leader in the digital advertising market. The real key for success in this market lies in the software as a service (SaaS) business model. SaaS is most commonly associated with cloud computing because the software is hosted in the cloud. This allows companies to reduce their overall IT support costs because everything is handled by the SaaS provider.#-ad_banner-#​ So what company is at the forefront of combining SaaS and digital advertising? The answer is Bazaarvoice (Nasdaq: BV), which runs a network that connects brands and retailers with the voices of their customers.  Each month, more than 400 million people share and view opinions and experiences about the millions of products in the Bazaarvoice network. Using Bazaarvoice network analytics, various marketers and advertisers can increase their brand awareness, ideally leading to increased sales. In its fiscal second quarter, Bazaarvoice posted… Read More

Active trading is a never-ending educational process. No matter how long one has participated in the endeavor, there is always something new to learn. I have actively invested in the financial markets since 1990, and I am still constantly fascinated by new ideas and even sectors.#-ad_banner-# This is how the markets have captivated me for over two decades. They are never boring and are constantly offering up new ways to capture profits. My stock screener recently alerted me to a low-priced stock that could easily double in the next 90 days. This company is part of an industry… Read More

Active trading is a never-ending educational process. No matter how long one has participated in the endeavor, there is always something new to learn. I have actively invested in the financial markets since 1990, and I am still constantly fascinated by new ideas and even sectors.#-ad_banner-# This is how the markets have captivated me for over two decades. They are never boring and are constantly offering up new ways to capture profits. My stock screener recently alerted me to a low-priced stock that could easily double in the next 90 days. This company is part of an industry that I knew very little about, so I set out to learn all I could prior to investing. What I learned got me very excited about this company’s potential.  If you have ever spent time on the beach, you may have noticed several large cargo ships traveling along the horizon. These ships transport products around the world from their country of manufacture.  Shipping rates are determined by supply and demand for ships. Obviously, the supply of ships in this business is fixed or inelastic, as economists would call it. However, demand is variable (elastic), leading to shipping rates increasing as… Read More

By the time the U.S. budget deficit reached $1.4 trillion in fiscal (October) 2009, alarm bells were sounding everywhere. Unless the government could get its fiscal house in order, the future promised years of misery as the U.S. kowtowed to its bondholders in China, Japan and elsewhere. But this crisis simply never came to pass. Thanks to a range of factors for which both political parties can take some credit, the budget gap has already narrowed sharply. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the budget deficit will fall even further in fiscal 2014 and 2015. A Fast-Shrinking Deficit… Read More

By the time the U.S. budget deficit reached $1.4 trillion in fiscal (October) 2009, alarm bells were sounding everywhere. Unless the government could get its fiscal house in order, the future promised years of misery as the U.S. kowtowed to its bondholders in China, Japan and elsewhere. But this crisis simply never came to pass. Thanks to a range of factors for which both political parties can take some credit, the budget gap has already narrowed sharply. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the budget deficit will fall even further in fiscal 2014 and 2015. A Fast-Shrinking Deficit In another bit of good news, the recent era of very low interest rates has enabled Uncle Sam to keep interest payments in check. Five years ago, the government was paying a roughly 4% interest rate on its debt. That figure has fallen by more than 150 basis points since then. *CBO estimate #-ad_banner-#The net result of the drop in interest rates: Uncle Sam has saved nearly $200 billion in annual interest expense (in light of the growing total debt since then and assuming interest rates had stayed constant at 2008 levels). The tougher… Read More

Being healthy is no longer a fad. In many respects, it’s becoming a requirement.#-ad_banner-# People are spending increasing amounts of money on healthy lifestyles, from gym memberships to supplements. However, there has been some controversy recently around multivitamins and whether they actually provide any health benefits. Most notably, an editorial last month in the Annals of Internal Medicine, a prestigious academic journal, questioned the validity of vitamins in preventing heart attacks and cancer. But nutritionists are rushing to the defense of the multivitamin industry, noting that the purpose of taking a multivitamin is to address the nutritional deficiencies in our… Read More

Being healthy is no longer a fad. In many respects, it’s becoming a requirement.#-ad_banner-# People are spending increasing amounts of money on healthy lifestyles, from gym memberships to supplements. However, there has been some controversy recently around multivitamins and whether they actually provide any health benefits. Most notably, an editorial last month in the Annals of Internal Medicine, a prestigious academic journal, questioned the validity of vitamins in preventing heart attacks and cancer. But nutritionists are rushing to the defense of the multivitamin industry, noting that the purpose of taking a multivitamin is to address the nutritional deficiencies in our diets. For vitamin company investors, the thing to remember is that this isn’t the first time that the benefits of multivitamins have been called into question. The same debate came up in the early ’90s, but the industry has remained resilient and grown into a billion-dollar market. People want to look and feel good, and they’ll continue to spend on supplements to do so. With 6,500 stores and a growing presence in e-commerce, GNC (NYSE: GNC) is one of the top retailers of vitamins and supplements. One of the most commonly overlooked aspects of GNC is its suite of proprietary… Read More

Recently, I told StreetAuthority readers about two of the most famous land deals in history. And while most history buffs know the story behind the Louisiana Purchase and the cession of Alaska to the United States by Russia, my point in relating those two stories was to illustrate the timeless wealth potential of real estate that still makes for a smart investment to this very day. I recently retold the story of another famous land deal to readers of my premium income newsletter, High-Yield Investing, to further drive home the point. I’d like to share that story with you… Read More

Recently, I told StreetAuthority readers about two of the most famous land deals in history. And while most history buffs know the story behind the Louisiana Purchase and the cession of Alaska to the United States by Russia, my point in relating those two stories was to illustrate the timeless wealth potential of real estate that still makes for a smart investment to this very day. I recently retold the story of another famous land deal to readers of my premium income newsletter, High-Yield Investing, to further drive home the point. I’d like to share that story with you today — and tell you about how regular investors can gain exposure to some of the most valuable real estate in the world without having to risk enormous amounts of capital… #-ad_banner-#Neither of these two famous land purchases I recounted earlier compares with the real estate coup that was orchestrated by a man named Peter Minuit in May 1626. Legend has it that Minuit, a representative of the Dutch West India Co., bartered some goods worth 60 Dutch guilders to local Indians in exchange for what is now the island of Manhattan. Now, this tale is part truth and part… Read More

It’s funny sometimes how a great growth stock can be right under our noses, but we just don’t notice. #-ad_banner-# The company might have lots of locations, offer quality products, be doing a brisk business, and have a soaring stock price. Yet for some reason, it really isn’t on anyone’s radar. I say this with a particular company in mind — a large, well-established, well-known company with products just about every consumer is familiar with. Sales at this company have been strong and steady, climbing 7% a year from $7.1 billion in 2009 to $9.6 billion in 2013. Earnings per… Read More

It’s funny sometimes how a great growth stock can be right under our noses, but we just don’t notice. #-ad_banner-# The company might have lots of locations, offer quality products, be doing a brisk business, and have a soaring stock price. Yet for some reason, it really isn’t on anyone’s radar. I say this with a particular company in mind — a large, well-established, well-known company with products just about every consumer is familiar with. Sales at this company have been strong and steady, climbing 7% a year from $7.1 billion in 2009 to $9.6 billion in 2013. Earnings per share (EPS) have also been solid, rising 12.5% a year from $3.78 in 2009 to $6.80 this year. The company’s stock has been awesome: Since the beginning of 2009, it’s up about 205%. That’s nearly twice the 104% return of SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY), an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracks the overall market. You’d think a stock like that would be making headlines everywhere. But you don’t see it mentioned much, maybe because it’s not in a very glamorous business. Or investors might assume it lacks the potential for appreciation simply because the company has been around so long… Read More