Even the best companies are finding it hard to generate solid revenue growth these days.#-ad_banner-# The slow-growth economy means that the majority of companies in the S&P 500 are expected to boost… Read More

Last week’s gains in the stock market highlight the increasing bullishness of traders. But one little-known indicator shows this market looks surprisingly like 2007. However, because longer-term indicators show economic… Read More

Revenge can be so sweet, especially when it takes nearly a decade. It all started 10 years ago when Bill Ackman’s first hedge fund was imploding. Ackman reluctantly turned to fellow hedge fund manager Carl Icahn for help. Read More

Today’s essay is a little different than you’re used to. I’m not going to talk about any specific investment. Nor am I going to tell you about a stock that I think is about to take off. Frankly,… Read More

This week, my Maximum Profit system flashed a cautionary signal, one I think all investors need to know about. Right now, the stock market faces an unusual amount of… Read More

Fix your mind on a pair of percentages: 73% and 27%. These two figures hold the key to why the long-term appeal of stocks remains quite bright (even if many investors would welcome a pullback in the near… Read More

We generally stand by a simple rule at StreetAuthority: Find great companies and tune out the market noise. The nation’s top companies deliver shareholder value on a consistent basis, which puts… Read More

In some ways, Bill Ackman invests like he’s riding a bicycle. In the summer of 2012, Ackman joined fellow hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb and half-dozen other cyclists on a very long bike ride. Although Ackman, a fierce competitor, was admittedly out of shape for such a ride, he pulled out to lead the pack early, only to eventually fall well behind the others. One participant noted, “I’ve never had an experience where someone has gone from being so aggressive on a bike to being so hopelessly unable to even turn the pedals… (Ackman’s)… Read More

In some ways, Bill Ackman invests like he’s riding a bicycle. In the summer of 2012, Ackman joined fellow hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb and half-dozen other cyclists on a very long bike ride. Although Ackman, a fierce competitor, was admittedly out of shape for such a ride, he pulled out to lead the pack early, only to eventually fall well behind the others. One participant noted, “I’ve never had an experience where someone has gone from being so aggressive on a bike to being so hopelessly unable to even turn the pedals… (Ackman’s) mind wrote a check that his body couldn’t cash.”#-ad_banner-# Some activist investors like to start with a small position or take a “backseat” role, but Ackman starts out in high gear: He takes on management directly and generally looks for a board seat immediately. Ackman does all his research upfront — as seen from some of his multi-hundred-slide presentations — before taking a stake, and he has a goal in mind before even approaching management. He’s come a long way over the past decade, now that… Read More

A short-term head-and-shoulders pattern is starting to look like it could have long-term and ominous significance for the stock market. SPY Turned Back by a Gap In last week’s Market Outlook, I highlighted a head-and-shoulders top that had formed in SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY). The price target for that pattern had been achieved and SPY was moving toward resistance defined by a gap. The gap is… Read More

A short-term head-and-shoulders pattern is starting to look like it could have long-term and ominous significance for the stock market. SPY Turned Back by a Gap In last week’s Market Outlook, I highlighted a head-and-shoulders top that had formed in SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY). The price target for that pattern had been achieved and SPY was moving toward resistance defined by a gap. The gap is at the neckline of the head-and-shoulders, giving it additional significance. That chart has been updated to include the most recent price action. After meeting resistance, SPY fell and ended the week down 1.78%. Small-cap stocks fared worse with iShares Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) falling 2.7%. Small caps often lead the market at turning points. Both indexes are more than 4% below their all-time highs reached in the first week of August.#-ad_banner-# This is still a rather shallow pullback, but… Read More

In the 1980s and ’90s, an investor theme emerged that likely played a role in a 20-year upward move for the stock market. #-ad_banner-# In that era, baby boomers reached financial maturity, spending hundreds of billions of dollars on housing, leisure, retirement savings plans, transportation and many other categories. Financial pundits sought ways to suggest profitable ways to track baby boomer… Read More

In the 1980s and ’90s, an investor theme emerged that likely played a role in a 20-year upward move for the stock market. #-ad_banner-# In that era, baby boomers reached financial maturity, spending hundreds of billions of dollars on housing, leisure, retirement savings plans, transportation and many other categories. Financial pundits sought ways to suggest profitable ways to track baby boomer spending, coining the phrase “boomer investing.” Of course, as the oldest baby boomers (born right after World War II) are now near retirement, and younger boomers pass their peak spending ages as well, it’s time to shift gears and focus on the next massive demographic trend. The “millennials” or “echo boomers,” mostly born in the ’80s and ’90s, which are set to overtake the economy. How big is this group? Demographers suggest that there are (or were) 77 million baby boomers. The millennials: 82 million. Skinflints… Read More