My colleague Andy Obermueller has been telling readers of his premium newsletter, Game-Changing Stocks, to target a number of well-known, high-quality stocks for months now. In case you’re not familiar, Andy advocates for his readers to take an “80/20” approach to investing. This means 80% of your portfolio is allocated to safer investments with a fairly predictable rate of return (think: index funds, blue chips, etc.). The other 20% is reserved for picks that can really move the needle on your portfolio — the kinds of innovative, world-changing companies he regularly recommends in his premium newsletter. #-ad_banner-#As he puts it,… Read More

My colleague Andy Obermueller has been telling readers of his premium newsletter, Game-Changing Stocks, to target a number of well-known, high-quality stocks for months now. In case you’re not familiar, Andy advocates for his readers to take an “80/20” approach to investing. This means 80% of your portfolio is allocated to safer investments with a fairly predictable rate of return (think: index funds, blue chips, etc.). The other 20% is reserved for picks that can really move the needle on your portfolio — the kinds of innovative, world-changing companies he regularly recommends in his premium newsletter. #-ad_banner-#As he puts it, the market’s volatility and global uncertainty make it tricky to recommend the aggressive-growth stocks he usually does. But on the flip-side, it also gives investors a chance to scoop up high-quality stocks at steep discounts that hold the kind of triple-digit “home-run” potential he and his readers usually target. I’d like to briefly run through a few of the high-quality names Andy has been recommending to his readers. For the sake of space, I won’t be able to give you Andy’s full thesis. To get a full rundown, you’ll need a subscription to Game-Changing Stocks. But as… Read More

Many investors are familiar with Buffett’s famous holding of Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO). He began buying shares in 1988. At the time, Buffett said he expected to hang on to this “outstanding business” for “a long time.” And over the ensuing years, he continued to build his position in the iconic company. Today, Coca-Cola is one of Buffett’s largest holdings. As of February 19, Berkshire Hathaway owned 400 million shares of Coca-Cola, valued at roughly $17.2 billion. That’s nearly a fifth of the company’s equity portfolio. #-ad_banner-#But what many investors don’t know is the story… Read More

Many investors are familiar with Buffett’s famous holding of Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO). He began buying shares in 1988. At the time, Buffett said he expected to hang on to this “outstanding business” for “a long time.” And over the ensuing years, he continued to build his position in the iconic company. Today, Coca-Cola is one of Buffett’s largest holdings. As of February 19, Berkshire Hathaway owned 400 million shares of Coca-Cola, valued at roughly $17.2 billion. That’s nearly a fifth of the company’s equity portfolio. #-ad_banner-#But what many investors don’t know is the story about when Buffett used options on Coca-Cola. That’s right. The king of buy-and-hold uses options. More importantly, it’s the way Buffett used options in the case of Coca-Cola — which happens to be a safe, conservative way — that too many investors often ignore… In 1993, Coca-Cola was trading around $39 per share. Buffett, always the bargain hunter, believed that was too pricey. But the billionaire wasn’t content to passively wait for the stock to fall to his preferred price. Instead, he decided to use a simple options strategy that eventually… Read More

Warren Buffett strikes again. We learned this past Tuesday the billionaire investor has been buying when there’s “blood running in the streets” in the energy sector.  #-ad_banner-#It was no secret that Buffett and his investment team at Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B) are big fans of Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX), the nation’s largest refiner. Up until the fourth quarter of 2015, Buffett had steadily increased his stake in the company to the tune of 14.2% of shares outstanding (a position worth more than $5 billion).  But the big surprise in Berkshire’s latest 13F report revealed that instead of building onto their… Read More

Warren Buffett strikes again. We learned this past Tuesday the billionaire investor has been buying when there’s “blood running in the streets” in the energy sector.  #-ad_banner-#It was no secret that Buffett and his investment team at Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B) are big fans of Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX), the nation’s largest refiner. Up until the fourth quarter of 2015, Buffett had steadily increased his stake in the company to the tune of 14.2% of shares outstanding (a position worth more than $5 billion).  But the big surprise in Berkshire’s latest 13F report revealed that instead of building onto their stake in Phillips 66, Buffett and his investment managers (Ted Weschler and Todd Combs) seem to have found a new darling in the energy space: Kinder Morgan (NYSE: KMI). Kinder Morgan is the largest pipeline operator in the United States. And just as you’d expect, while the price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude has tanked over the past year, so too has the price of Kinder Morgan shares. Now that oil prices have rebounded somewhat in the past week (back to near $30), the talk on the Street is whether we’ve seen… Read More

The last Saturday in April this year marks the beginning of another Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting. Held at Berkshire’s hometown headquarters in Omaha, the Woodstock of Capitalism grows bigger and attracts more attention each and every year. But beneath the spectacle is an opportunity to hear directly from one of the greatest investors in history. Every year, Buffett holds court with shareholders and the press, fielding questions and giving frank, honest answers with his trademark Midwestern wit. #-ad_banner-#I said this last year, but to put it simply, investors would be wise to pay attention to what Buffett says at… Read More

The last Saturday in April this year marks the beginning of another Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting. Held at Berkshire’s hometown headquarters in Omaha, the Woodstock of Capitalism grows bigger and attracts more attention each and every year. But beneath the spectacle is an opportunity to hear directly from one of the greatest investors in history. Every year, Buffett holds court with shareholders and the press, fielding questions and giving frank, honest answers with his trademark Midwestern wit. #-ad_banner-#I said this last year, but to put it simply, investors would be wise to pay attention to what Buffett says at this event. At 85 years old, this could be one of the last times we’ll be able to hear straight from the “Oracle of Omaha” about his thoughts on the market, the U.S. economy, and what it means to be a successful investor. Many of our analysts here at StreetAuthority have attended Berkshire meetings over the years, and they all spoke highly of their experience. But one thing that has always stuck with me about Warren Buffett is that while everyone wants to hear him speak, what often seems to be lost is what Buffett actually says… or more importantly,… Read More

We’ve received a lot of questions and comments from subscribers in the past few weeks. In general, most are centered on one idea: What to do about the volatility the market has experienced since the start of the year. These questions and concerns are understandable. After all, owning a solid investment does nothing for you if you can’t sleep at night. So I decided to address these questions by talking about an idea that many investors ignore all too often. #-ad_banner-#I’m talking about risk management.  You see, I can’t think of a single investor I know who’s better at managing… Read More

We’ve received a lot of questions and comments from subscribers in the past few weeks. In general, most are centered on one idea: What to do about the volatility the market has experienced since the start of the year. These questions and concerns are understandable. After all, owning a solid investment does nothing for you if you can’t sleep at night. So I decided to address these questions by talking about an idea that many investors ignore all too often. #-ad_banner-#I’m talking about risk management.  You see, I can’t think of a single investor I know who’s better at managing risk than my colleague Amy Calistri. This especially serves her well when it comes to her premium newsletter, The Daily Paycheck. At roughly 60 holdings across the portfolio, and with a mandate to use the power of dividend reinvestment to grow that portfolio into a robust income stream, it’s imperative that she watch each and every one of those holdings like a hawk. As Amy puts it, managing the risk in her portfolio is a far better use of her time than actually worrying about what’s going on in the world or in the… Read More

David Ricardo is often thought of as the most important economist since Adam Smith. We have him to thank for ideas such as the law of comparative advantage, and he advocated for things like free trade and sound money policies. But what you may not know is that he was also one of the richest economists in history. #-ad_banner-#Ricardo made his money as a broker and financial market speculator. But he owed most of his investing success to a single bet he made in 1815. In short, the prices on bonds that lent money to the British government during wartime… Read More

David Ricardo is often thought of as the most important economist since Adam Smith. We have him to thank for ideas such as the law of comparative advantage, and he advocated for things like free trade and sound money policies. But what you may not know is that he was also one of the richest economists in history. #-ad_banner-#Ricardo made his money as a broker and financial market speculator. But he owed most of his investing success to a single bet he made in 1815. In short, the prices on bonds that lent money to the British government during wartime were extremely depressed. Ricardo scooped up the bonds and when the outcome of the war was far from certain and later became a millionaire when Wellington defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. But it’s not exactly the fortune Ricardo amassed or his economic theories that I want to bring to your attention. Rather, it’s one of the most famous sayings in all of trading history that is attributed to him: “Cut short your losses; let your profits run on.” Even though Ricardo said this back in the 1800s, it still holds true today. It may seem like an obvious piece of advice. Read More

Today I want to tell you about a strategy that could make you a lot of money. You probably haven’t heard much about it. That’s because up until recently, our publishers made this investing system available only to a select group of loyal StreetAuthority readers. But now, we’re ready to open it up to the wider public. #-ad_banner-#First, a little background…  This system comes on the back of about three and a half years of development. We compiled a motley crew of experts to build it: two StreetAuthority veterans, a licensed, Certified Market Technician (CMT), an accountant, a financial advisor,… Read More

Today I want to tell you about a strategy that could make you a lot of money. You probably haven’t heard much about it. That’s because up until recently, our publishers made this investing system available only to a select group of loyal StreetAuthority readers. But now, we’re ready to open it up to the wider public. #-ad_banner-#First, a little background…  This system comes on the back of about three and a half years of development. We compiled a motley crew of experts to build it: two StreetAuthority veterans, a licensed, Certified Market Technician (CMT), an accountant, a financial advisor, and even a college-aged computer whiz.  Needless to say, each of these team members brought their own unique expertise to the table — and each had their own strong opinions about “what works” in the world of investing.  After spending countless hours reading through academic research, building computer algorithms and backtesting results, the team came up with a system that we think could make you more money in the stock market than anything we’ve ever created before. In short: it solves one of the most common problems every investor faces — how to get bigger gains in a shorter amount… Read More

If you’re feeling the pain from the recent selloff, you’re not alone. David Einhorn is probably feeling it, too. The investing guru is in the process of recovering from one of his worst years on record. Einhorn’s firm, Greenlight Capital, lost 20% of its value in 2015. The S&P 500, by contrast, gained about 1%. And after the rough selloff we’ve experienced to start 2016, things might be looking even worse. This was only the second losing year in Greenlight’s nearly 20-year history. The fund has returned 1,902% over its existence, or 16.5% annualized, after fees and expenses. The other… Read More

If you’re feeling the pain from the recent selloff, you’re not alone. David Einhorn is probably feeling it, too. The investing guru is in the process of recovering from one of his worst years on record. Einhorn’s firm, Greenlight Capital, lost 20% of its value in 2015. The S&P 500, by contrast, gained about 1%. And after the rough selloff we’ve experienced to start 2016, things might be looking even worse. This was only the second losing year in Greenlight’s nearly 20-year history. The fund has returned 1,902% over its existence, or 16.5% annualized, after fees and expenses. The other losing year was, understandably, in 2008. The fund’s value dropped 23% that year. #-ad_banner-#Posting a year like Einhorn did means that not only are his fortune and reputation at stake, but so too are the fortunes of those who’ve invested with his hedge fund. But before you shed crocodile tears for a hedge fund billionaire and the wealthy individuals who participate in Einhorn’s fund, just remember that if one of the most successful investors of the modern era can suddenly witness a sea of red wash across his portfolio, then so can you and I. So what went wrong? Einhorn’s… Read More

It’s official: we’re in correction territory. A correction is officially defined as when a stock or index declines by 10% or more. If we get a 20% dip, then it’s a full-blown bear market. There are a couple of culprits for the rocky start to 2016, but it essentially boils down to two things: 1) China is a mess — something we’ve touched on repeatedly here at StreetAuthority (see: this and this); 2) Oil prices continue to plummet (more on that in today’s issue). The current correction looks remarkably similar to the one we experienced last August. That was also largely blamed… Read More

It’s official: we’re in correction territory. A correction is officially defined as when a stock or index declines by 10% or more. If we get a 20% dip, then it’s a full-blown bear market. There are a couple of culprits for the rocky start to 2016, but it essentially boils down to two things: 1) China is a mess — something we’ve touched on repeatedly here at StreetAuthority (see: this and this); 2) Oil prices continue to plummet (more on that in today’s issue). The current correction looks remarkably similar to the one we experienced last August. That was also largely blamed on the same two factors: China and oil. As you can see in the chart above, the last time we saw a market correction, things eventually simmered down and share prices recovered.  Whether recent history repeats itself is anybody’s guess.  I know that may sound disconcerting to some of you. But I don’t believe in making hunches or predictions in order to mollify nervous readers. That’s simply not our style. Our job is to help make you a better investor and identify what we think are some of the best opportunities to profit along the way. #-ad_banner-#So what… Read More

Shortly after Chinese stocks tanked last summer (dragging down global markets as well), I warned that the situation in China was much worse than you might think. Spurred by economic worries and the devaluation of the yuan, Chinese stocks were still up more than 40% year-to-date after the selloff. To put it simply, we saw more pain on the horizon. Here’s what my colleague Jared Levy said about the situation back then:         For a number of years, all we heard from government officials was how fast… Read More

Shortly after Chinese stocks tanked last summer (dragging down global markets as well), I warned that the situation in China was much worse than you might think. Spurred by economic worries and the devaluation of the yuan, Chinese stocks were still up more than 40% year-to-date after the selloff. To put it simply, we saw more pain on the horizon. Here’s what my colleague Jared Levy said about the situation back then:         For a number of years, all we heard from government officials was how fast the country was expanding… how quickly the middle class was expanding… how well the economy was performing… But we now know things weren’t as wonderful as they were made out to be. There’s a lot we don’t actually know about what’s going on inside the country’s walls, which has led to confusion over whether the market is cheap or about to tank. Here’s what we do know: 1) Government meddling has propped up China’s stock market. 2) Even as the Chinese stock market has stabilized, economic data… Read More