Do you DRIP? If not, then you may be falling behind the times — and your portfolio might be suffering the consequences. Don’t worry; DRIP isn’t the latest dance craze or some new millennial technobabble phrase. It stands for Dividend Reinvestment Plan, and they’ve been around for decades. But as my colleague Amy Calistri points out in a recent issue of The Daily Paycheck, too few investors take advantage of these plans. For the uninitiated, DRIPs began as a way for companies to offer shareholders a way to invest directly with them. That means no broker (or brokerage fees). You… Read More

Do you DRIP? If not, then you may be falling behind the times — and your portfolio might be suffering the consequences. Don’t worry; DRIP isn’t the latest dance craze or some new millennial technobabble phrase. It stands for Dividend Reinvestment Plan, and they’ve been around for decades. But as my colleague Amy Calistri points out in a recent issue of The Daily Paycheck, too few investors take advantage of these plans. For the uninitiated, DRIPs began as a way for companies to offer shareholders a way to invest directly with them. That means no broker (or brokerage fees). You can simply buy shares by enrolling online or by calling directly, and then the company will reinvest your dividends back into the stock for you. Many investors aren’t aware of such programs, because companies aren’t allowed to advertise them. But today, many online brokerages offer their own DRIP service, which negates the need to deal with a company directly. To counter this, some companies will even offer you a discount on the current share price as an added perk for being a loyal shareholder and dealing directly with them. So Amy did some digging to find stocks with DRIPs that… Read More

Last week I sat down with StreetAuthority’s income expert Michael Vodicka to talk about his free “safe money” seminar and how he collects income from stocks no matter what is going on with the market.  We shared this interview in full in StreetAuthority Insider — an exclusive publication for members of one of our premium services. Judging from the phone calls and emails we’ve received, many of them were absolutely thrilled by Mike’s informative and thought-provoking discussion. For those of you who do not have “Insider” status as one of our premium subscribers, I’d like to do something a little… Read More

Last week I sat down with StreetAuthority’s income expert Michael Vodicka to talk about his free “safe money” seminar and how he collects income from stocks no matter what is going on with the market.  We shared this interview in full in StreetAuthority Insider — an exclusive publication for members of one of our premium services. Judging from the phone calls and emails we’ve received, many of them were absolutely thrilled by Mike’s informative and thought-provoking discussion. For those of you who do not have “Insider” status as one of our premium subscribers, I’d like to do something a little different and share an edited, excerpted version of the interview.  Insider: Before we get to the details of your strategy, let’s start off by first telling readers a little bit about you… Mike: Sure. I like to call myself a “reformed day trader.” By that I mean I started my career as a day trader at a multibillion-dollar trading firm.  I saw lots of day traders taking huge risks and making big gambles on market-moving news with their money. They would win big one day, only to lose it all the next. I learned a valuable lesson: trading is no quick… Read More

No matter if the day’s headlines are about the Federal Reserve, China, the Presidential debates — I don’t care what it is — chances are, 95% of the time it’s just market noise. It’s important for investors to spend the majority of their efforts looking for market opportunities. I’m not saying this “noise” should be completely ignored, but for most investors it means this should be filtered through a lens that’s focused simply on buying shares of fantastic companies at reasonable prices. #-ad_banner-#This has been on my mind recently during the volatility we’ve experienced during the past few weeks, and… Read More

No matter if the day’s headlines are about the Federal Reserve, China, the Presidential debates — I don’t care what it is — chances are, 95% of the time it’s just market noise. It’s important for investors to spend the majority of their efforts looking for market opportunities. I’m not saying this “noise” should be completely ignored, but for most investors it means this should be filtered through a lens that’s focused simply on buying shares of fantastic companies at reasonable prices. #-ad_banner-#This has been on my mind recently during the volatility we’ve experienced during the past few weeks, and it’s drawn my attention to a sector we don’t often talk about here at StreetAuthority.  On August 4, media entertainment giant Disney (NYSE: DIS) reported quarterly earnings. In its conference call, management said that cable subscriptions to its ESPN network would fall about 1% in 2016. For some reason, this seemed to shock investors, although this was not new news. The so-called “cord-cutting” movement — that is, consumers who choose to drop their cable services in favor of cheaper streaming alternatives like Netflix and Hulu — has been a known factor for some time. Nevertheless, shares of Disney took a dive,… Read More

It’s a simple fact of life: all good things must come to an end. Great books… relaxing tropical vacations… even bull markets have to end at some point. #-ad_banner-#You see, the market has only had two prolonged periods of low (or negative) returns in the past 35 years. But the overall trajectory of the market has been clear: up. It’s easy to see how investors may have become spoiled by this extended period of upward movement. But it could all be coming to an end, which is why it’s critical for… Read More

It’s a simple fact of life: all good things must come to an end. Great books… relaxing tropical vacations… even bull markets have to end at some point. #-ad_banner-#You see, the market has only had two prolonged periods of low (or negative) returns in the past 35 years. But the overall trajectory of the market has been clear: up. It’s easy to see how investors may have become spoiled by this extended period of upward movement. But it could all be coming to an end, which is why it’s critical for you to have a plan. “Bond King” Bill Gross has referred to the last 35 years as a “super cycle” for the market. It’s turned every $10,000 invested back in 1981 into more than $176,000 today. To understand what he’s talking about, take a look at this chart.   Investing gurus like Stanley Druckenmiller, George Soros, Ray Dalio and Jeremy Grantham have been warning investors to expect lower returns from the market in the coming years. And the “Bond King” shares this sentiment. When you consider the accumulation… Read More

There’s a dangerous idea in the world of finance that’s been floating around for years. The man who coined this idea won a Nobel Prize for his work, but even he has stated that there are “threats” to his theory. #-ad_banner-#Today, I’m going to tell you about one of those “threats,” and why it’s time to put this dangerous idea to bed for good. Because if you buy into it, you could miss out on some of the greatest opportunities the market has to offer. To frame our discussion, I’d like you to… Read More

There’s a dangerous idea in the world of finance that’s been floating around for years. The man who coined this idea won a Nobel Prize for his work, but even he has stated that there are “threats” to his theory. #-ad_banner-#Today, I’m going to tell you about one of those “threats,” and why it’s time to put this dangerous idea to bed for good. Because if you buy into it, you could miss out on some of the greatest opportunities the market has to offer. To frame our discussion, I’d like you to consider one thing: When an investor buys shares of a stock hoping that its value will rise, the person is often betting against the market — that other investors are wrong (about the stock’s value) and that his valuation is correct. It’s with this idea that theory called the “efficient market hypothesis” becomes important. The man behind the theory — economist Dr. Eugene Fama — is hailed as one of the fathers of modern finance. At its most basic, his hypothesis says that because the public has access to every bit… Read More

Apple is a “no brainer” investment, and it has been for years. The company’s first quarter earnings for 2015 only drive home that point. The firm’s new products and features are wildly popular, the company is growing sales in markets outside the United States and every year Apple sells a greater quantity of devices than it did the year prior. What’s interesting about Apple is that for all the hype surrounding the company and its products, it still remains undervalued. Consider this: analysts expect Apple to earn $8.79 per share in 2015. That’s a 38.6% increase over the prior year. Read More

Apple is a “no brainer” investment, and it has been for years. The company’s first quarter earnings for 2015 only drive home that point. The firm’s new products and features are wildly popular, the company is growing sales in markets outside the United States and every year Apple sells a greater quantity of devices than it did the year prior. What’s interesting about Apple is that for all the hype surrounding the company and its products, it still remains undervalued. Consider this: analysts expect Apple to earn $8.79 per share in 2015. That’s a 38.6% increase over the prior year. Putting aside for a moment the fact that analysts consistently underestimate Apple’s earnings potential (the company hasn’t had a consensus “miss” on quarterly earnings since 2012), the stock trades at a forward price-to-earnings of 14.6. #-ad_banner-#Companies in the S&P 500 as a whole are expected to grow earnings by 4.2%, giving the broader index a forward multiple of 17.9. So what we have is the largest company by market capitalization expected to outpace the market’s earnings growth this year by more than nine fold, yet it trades at a discount (of more than 18%) to the market. Read More

The first Saturday in May this year will herald an extraordinary annual event — one that we will likely not have the chance to witness on many more occasions in our lifetime. The event is widely celebrated in the financial press, marking a time where investors come together to celebrate, speculate about and witness one of the great masters of investing in the flesh. #-ad_banner-#I’m talking, of course, about Warren Buffett and the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting. At 84 years old, this will be one of the remaining few times we’ll have the chance to hear straight from the… Read More

The first Saturday in May this year will herald an extraordinary annual event — one that we will likely not have the chance to witness on many more occasions in our lifetime. The event is widely celebrated in the financial press, marking a time where investors come together to celebrate, speculate about and witness one of the great masters of investing in the flesh. #-ad_banner-#I’m talking, of course, about Warren Buffett and the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting. At 84 years old, this will be one of the remaining few times we’ll have the chance to hear straight from the famous “Oracle of Omaha” about his thoughts on the market, where the U.S. economy is headed, and what it means to be a successful investor. Many of our analysts here at StreetAuthority have had the chance to attend Berkshire meetings over the years. I’ve had conversations with many of them about the spectacle, which seems to grow with each passing year. But one thing has always stuck with me that I think is worth mentioning, and it’s that while the event always makes for good television, what often seems to be lost is what Buffett actually says… or more importantly,… Read More

“Don’t run for the exits just yet…”… Read More

“Don’t run for the exits just yet…” That’s what my colleague Jimmy Butts and I told readers in the most recent issue of our premium newsletter, Maximum Profit. #-ad_banner-#Yet it seems like every day for the past week or so, we’ve seen headlines about the possibility of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates in June. And depending on how investors… Read More

Normally at StreetAuthority, we focus on the “long” side of the market, but today we’re going to spend some time explaining the other side: shorting stocks. If shorting stocks isn’t already part of your profit strategy, then be prepared to expand your horizons… You see, shorting a stock is as easy as going long a stock — once you understand the basics. And because stocks tend to fall much faster than they rise, there’s a chance to make bigger profits in less time. #-ad_banner-#This is especially true with the types of stocks Dr. Thomas Carr regularly highlights in StreetAuthority’s newest… Read More

Normally at StreetAuthority, we focus on the “long” side of the market, but today we’re going to spend some time explaining the other side: shorting stocks. If shorting stocks isn’t already part of your profit strategy, then be prepared to expand your horizons… You see, shorting a stock is as easy as going long a stock — once you understand the basics. And because stocks tend to fall much faster than they rise, there’s a chance to make bigger profits in less time. #-ad_banner-#This is especially true with the types of stocks Dr. Thomas Carr regularly highlights in StreetAuthority’s newest premium newsletter service, Trader’s Edge. Along with his regular long trades, his system pinpoints the top three stocks in any given week that are poised to fall sharply after achieving unsustainable highs. When you think about it, shorting some stocks, while going long on others, can theoretically double your overall returns. But to be fair, this doesn’t come without risks (more on that in a moment). Plus, shorting can provide a substantial hedge during market downturns. How To Short Stocks When investors go long, it means they’re buying shares of a stock in the belief that the… Read More

About a year ago, our colleague Frank Bermea, publisher of StreetAuthority’s sister company, Profitable Trading, met a man named Jared Levy, who knows more about options trading than anyone we’ve ever met. #-ad_banner-#Jared is something of a wunderkind. He began trading options at age 16 and quickly found himself making upward of $600,000 a year. Nowadays, you might find him regularly featured as a guest on financial news programs like CNBC or Fox Business. (In fact, he appeared on Fox Business, to discuss Apple, among other things. You can check out the video at… Read More

About a year ago, our colleague Frank Bermea, publisher of StreetAuthority’s sister company, Profitable Trading, met a man named Jared Levy, who knows more about options trading than anyone we’ve ever met. #-ad_banner-#Jared is something of a wunderkind. He began trading options at age 16 and quickly found himself making upward of $600,000 a year. Nowadays, you might find him regularly featured as a guest on financial news programs like CNBC or Fox Business. (In fact, he appeared on Fox Business, to discuss Apple, among other things. You can check out the video at this link.) If you’ve been a regular reader of StreetAuthority Daily, then you know that we’ve been growing concerned about the possibility of a market correction. No, I’m not saying you should sell all of your investments and run for the hills (yet), but you need to have a plan for when this bull market turns on its head. Jared agrees. In fact, in his second official issue of Profit Amplifier, a new options service launched by our friends at Profitable Trading, Jared warned his readers about… Read More