The U.S. stock market has been threatening a corrective decline for months, and it came to fruition last week with massive selling on Thursday and Friday. The Nasdaq 100 led the decline, falling 7.4%, but all major indices closed sharply lower for the week and slid into negative territory for 2015. Every sector of the S&P 500 ended in the red, led by energy, down 8.5%, and technology, off 6.7%.    #-ad_banner-#In fact, the only sector to do well recently has been utilities, which lost only 1.1% last week. I first mentioned this group as a potential… Read More

The U.S. stock market has been threatening a corrective decline for months, and it came to fruition last week with massive selling on Thursday and Friday. The Nasdaq 100 led the decline, falling 7.4%, but all major indices closed sharply lower for the week and slid into negative territory for 2015. Every sector of the S&P 500 ended in the red, led by energy, down 8.5%, and technology, off 6.7%.    #-ad_banner-#In fact, the only sector to do well recently has been utilities, which lost only 1.1% last week. I first mentioned this group as a potential sector to overweight this quarter in the Aug. 3 Market Outlook. Through Friday’s close, utilities had risen by 5.4% over the past month. It was the only sector to post a gain during this period, while outperforming the S&P 500 by a whopping 12.4 percentage points. Multiple Price Targets Met Last Week Two of my recent downside targets were hit during last week’s collapse. The London FTSE 100 fell through the 6,550 level first mentioned in the June 8 Market Outlook. And the sell-off in the small-cap Russell 2000 took it through the 1,175 level, which I pointed to in… Read More

If you want to start an instant argument, find adherents of technical analysis and adherents of fundamental analysis, and then ask them which investing approach is better. The technical analysts will tell you that a close read of a company’s financial statements won’t help you know if a stock represents a timely investment. The fundamental analysts will counter that simply looking at a series of trading charts only tells you where a stock has been, not where it is going. #-ad_banner-#With all due respect, they are both wrong. The real secret… Read More

If you want to start an instant argument, find adherents of technical analysis and adherents of fundamental analysis, and then ask them which investing approach is better. The technical analysts will tell you that a close read of a company’s financial statements won’t help you know if a stock represents a timely investment. The fundamental analysts will counter that simply looking at a series of trading charts only tells you where a stock has been, not where it is going. #-ad_banner-#With all due respect, they are both wrong. The real secret to successful investing is the marriage of both approaches. In fact, I’ve singled out a pair of factors — one from each camp — that can be used in tandem to deliver robust gains. It’s an approach that has led me to bag triple-digit gains, often in a matter of months, with stocks that represent a range of industries. I want to walk you through this two-pronged approach, what I call the “Alpha Score,” so you can profit from my strategy in your daily trading activities. It’s All Relative The… 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

Everyone makes mistakes, especially when it comes to investing. Some errors simply come with the territory. Others are so detrimental they could be costing you upward of three, eight, even as much as 21 times the returns you would have earned by not making them. Today’s essay is dedicated to identifying two of the deadliest investing mistakes you might not know you’re making. #-ad_banner-# Mistake #1: Growth stocks are not the fastest or safest way to grow your retirement. Ask ten investors the best way to grow your wealth in the… Read More

Everyone makes mistakes, especially when it comes to investing. Some errors simply come with the territory. Others are so detrimental they could be costing you upward of three, eight, even as much as 21 times the returns you would have earned by not making them. Today’s essay is dedicated to identifying two of the deadliest investing mistakes you might not know you’re making. #-ad_banner-# Mistake #1: Growth stocks are not the fastest or safest way to grow your retirement. Ask ten investors the best way to grow your wealth in the stock market, and I’m willing to bet nine of them will tell you the answer is long-term growth stocks. After all, growth stocks are plowing their cash back into the company, so surely they must be growing faster, right? Wrong. The truth is that dividend stocks — not growth stocks — have proven to be the best tools for building a robust nest egg. Not only have dividend stocks grown faster over time, they’ve also shown considerably more resilience in bear markets than growth stocks. In fact, Ned… Read More

Sometimes, an insult is actually a compliment. Warren Buffett once quipped that an idiot in the corner office is not necessarily a bad thing. I’ll let the Sage of Omaha say it is his own words: “I try to buy stock in businesses that are so wonderful that an idiot can run them. Because sooner or later, one will.” #-ad_banner-#It’s actually a brilliant bit of insight. Let me explain. So many companies have floundered once the management baton has been handed from the founders to the next generation of management. The… Read More

Sometimes, an insult is actually a compliment. Warren Buffett once quipped that an idiot in the corner office is not necessarily a bad thing. I’ll let the Sage of Omaha say it is his own words: “I try to buy stock in businesses that are so wonderful that an idiot can run them. Because sooner or later, one will.” #-ad_banner-#It’s actually a brilliant bit of insight. Let me explain. So many companies have floundered once the management baton has been handed from the founders to the next generation of management. The only way such a transition can be successfully handled is by establishing clear and simple principles that are easy to execute. The next CEO just has to keep his hand on the rudder and keep the boat sailing on the right heading. I’m always cognizant of that notion when adding new holdings to my Top 10 Stocks portfolio. I would never want to invest in a company that required a lengthy explanation of its mission statement. “Keep it simple,” is the mantra that we should all heed. Here’s the real problem… Read More

I look over hundreds of financial statements week in and week out, and I’ve come to one important conclusion: There’s a lot of unintentional financial trickery that goes on when corporations report their annual financial performance. #-ad_banner-#It’s a simple result of the fact that financial reporting has become so complex that few people — even those preparing the numbers — truly understand what’s behind the figures. And while on some level that’s concerning, I think it actually creates a major opportunity for investors who are willing to dig into the numbers… Read More

I look over hundreds of financial statements week in and week out, and I’ve come to one important conclusion: There’s a lot of unintentional financial trickery that goes on when corporations report their annual financial performance. #-ad_banner-#It’s a simple result of the fact that financial reporting has become so complex that few people — even those preparing the numbers — truly understand what’s behind the figures. And while on some level that’s concerning, I think it actually creates a major opportunity for investors who are willing to dig into the numbers and find out what they really mean. Let me show you. Most corporate financial announcements usually focus on one number: earnings. They typically compare this figure to the previous quarter or the year-ago period (ex. “profits were down 5% as compared to Q1 2014”). Now don’t get me wrong, it is an important metric, but here’s the problem: earnings are affected by a lot of things that may or may not make a difference to the business, such as non-cash charges for things like stock options or depreciation… Read More

“You can’t time the market.” It’s one of the most often-repeated investment phrases. And it’s wrong. History has shown that a simple ratio delivers impressive market gains. In fact, it appears when most investors have little desire to buy stocks. Let me explain. Every week, the American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) asks its members to answer one simple question in an online survey: Regarding the future direction of the stock market, are you bullish, bearish or neutral? Over the long haul, investors feel bullish about 39% of the time, and at times of maximum optimism, more than… Read More

“You can’t time the market.” It’s one of the most often-repeated investment phrases. And it’s wrong. History has shown that a simple ratio delivers impressive market gains. In fact, it appears when most investors have little desire to buy stocks. Let me explain. Every week, the American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) asks its members to answer one simple question in an online survey: Regarding the future direction of the stock market, are you bullish, bearish or neutral? Over the long haul, investors feel bullish about 39% of the time, and at times of maximum optimism, more than half of respondents will answer with a bullish response.  #-ad_banner-#Yet at rare pressure points in the market, what Sir John Templeton once cited as “the point of maximum pessimism,” the entire crowd can turn bearish. Indeed at various points over the past three decades, the vast majority of respondents in the AAII survey express extreme bearishness. Presumably, such investors are selling stocks at these times and moving to cash.  And that has proven to be a big mistake. I’ve tallied the market performance whenever the crowd turns bearish, and on almost every occasion the market has gone on to post… Read More

While Wall Street analysts focus on how a company will fare in the next quarter, I’m always thinking about what a business will look like in five, 10 or even 20 years down the road. Some companies simply hope that business will be good in future years, while others can speak with a high degree of confidence about their long-term goals. That’s because these firms share one key trait: they have a “sticky” customer base. #-ad_banner-#Let’s take Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ADP) as an example. The company provides outsourced payroll… Read More

While Wall Street analysts focus on how a company will fare in the next quarter, I’m always thinking about what a business will look like in five, 10 or even 20 years down the road. Some companies simply hope that business will be good in future years, while others can speak with a high degree of confidence about their long-term goals. That’s because these firms share one key trait: they have a “sticky” customer base. #-ad_banner-#Let’s take Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ADP) as an example. The company provides outsourced payroll management and other services typically handled by human resources departments. Although ADP provides clear value to its clients, the company boasts of a 91% annual retention rate for another reason: switching costs. You see, once a client has agreed to turn over its business processes to ADP, it becomes awfully hard to take that business back. That means a new customer that ADP signs up today is likely to stick around through the next bear market and the next bull market. We can see proof of this by looking at how ADP fared during… Read More

If you’re a regular reader of StreetAuthority, you know I love getting and reinvesting dividend paychecks. Simply put, my goal is to earn a paycheck every day of the month by owning a basket of solid income securities, then grow the size of those paychecks by harnessing the power of compounding through dividend reinvestment. So far, the results have been very rewarding. From an initial $200,000 investment, I’m earning $18,613 in dividends a year (more than $1,551 a month) using this strategy. And that doesn’t even include a penny from the healthy capital gains I’ve made from… Read More

If you’re a regular reader of StreetAuthority, you know I love getting and reinvesting dividend paychecks. Simply put, my goal is to earn a paycheck every day of the month by owning a basket of solid income securities, then grow the size of those paychecks by harnessing the power of compounding through dividend reinvestment. So far, the results have been very rewarding. From an initial $200,000 investment, I’m earning $18,613 in dividends a year (more than $1,551 a month) using this strategy. And that doesn’t even include a penny from the healthy capital gains I’ve made from most of my holdings. But as I said, you may have already heard this before. My goal today is to show you how to get the most out of your income investments using a simple, yet effective, three-part strategy. I like to think of it as a dividend “trifecta,” and it’s the cornerstone of my Daily Paycheck Retirement Strategy. The great thing about this trifecta is that it’s fully customizable to your own needs. You can use it to multiply your wealth over time, preserve capital, even bring in a second income to fund… Read More

Most major indices finished lower for the second consecutive week. Only the small-cap Russell 2000 managed to eke out a 1.2% gain.  The U.S. markets were pressured by a number of factors. These included sharply rising long-term U.S. interest rates and worries of a debt default in Greece. Generally favorable U.S. economic data had investors concerned the Federal Reserve will begin raising short-term interest rates sooner rather than later. Another negative factor last week was generally declining global equity prices, which I’ll discuss in more detail later in the report.  At the sector level, only financials, consumer discretionary and industrials… Read More

Most major indices finished lower for the second consecutive week. Only the small-cap Russell 2000 managed to eke out a 1.2% gain.  The U.S. markets were pressured by a number of factors. These included sharply rising long-term U.S. interest rates and worries of a debt default in Greece. Generally favorable U.S. economic data had investors concerned the Federal Reserve will begin raising short-term interest rates sooner rather than later. Another negative factor last week was generally declining global equity prices, which I’ll discuss in more detail later in the report.  At the sector level, only financials, consumer discretionary and industrials finished in positive territory last week. Financials were driven by rising interest rates and a steepening yield curve that will help banks become more profitable. The weakest sector last week was utilities as rising interest rates lured yield-seeking investors out of this sector and into safer U.S. Treasuries.  Keep a Close Eye on Technology This Week  In last week’s Market Outlook, I discussed the importance of the 5,133 March 2000 tech bubble high in the Nasdaq Composite. I said, “Historic benchmark highs like this one are seldom appreciably and sustainably broken without at least a multiweek decline first.”  What I… Read More