“Don’t get too accustomed to those big commission checks.” That’s what my old manager at regional brokerage house Morgan Keegan used to tell me. I was less of a cold-calling stockbroker and more of a financial advisor. Still, every now and then I’d field a random call for 100 shares of something or other. That could mean a quick $100 commission just for answering the phone. It was good money — but it wasn’t meant to last. Even then (this was the early 2000s), online trading was becoming a real threat to full-service brokers. It was difficult to justify charging… Read More

“Don’t get too accustomed to those big commission checks.” That’s what my old manager at regional brokerage house Morgan Keegan used to tell me. I was less of a cold-calling stockbroker and more of a financial advisor. Still, every now and then I’d field a random call for 100 shares of something or other. That could mean a quick $100 commission just for answering the phone. It was good money — but it wasn’t meant to last. Even then (this was the early 2000s), online trading was becoming a real threat to full-service brokers. It was difficult to justify charging $100 to buy or sell a stock when an internet site could process the same order for $10. Many investors (particularly the do-it-yourself set) were willing to forgo personalized advice in exchange for thousands of dollars in cost savings each year. Nobody wanted to admit it, but the discount online brokers were poaching customers left and right. The writing was on the wall — adapt or become obsolete. That’s the way of all business. Seeing a downhill slide in commission rates, we began steering clients away from transaction-based accounts toward fee-based platforms that charged fixed annual fees (maybe 1% to… Read More

You’ve most likely heard of the attack on a Saudi Arabian oil production facility. On September 14, a salvo of cruise missiles rained down on state-owned Saudi Aramco’s Abqaiq facility, crippling infrastructure that handles 5.7 million barrels per day. Approximately 5% of the world’s entire oil supply passes through this facility, making this one of the biggest supply disruptions on record. It was worse than Hurricane Katrina, the Invasion of Kuwait, the Libyan Civil War and other such events. #-ad_banner-#As you might expect, oil prices immediately shot higher on the news. Benchmark Brent Crude spiked about 20%. West Texas Intermediate… Read More

You’ve most likely heard of the attack on a Saudi Arabian oil production facility. On September 14, a salvo of cruise missiles rained down on state-owned Saudi Aramco’s Abqaiq facility, crippling infrastructure that handles 5.7 million barrels per day. Approximately 5% of the world’s entire oil supply passes through this facility, making this one of the biggest supply disruptions on record. It was worse than Hurricane Katrina, the Invasion of Kuwait, the Libyan Civil War and other such events. #-ad_banner-#As you might expect, oil prices immediately shot higher on the news. Benchmark Brent Crude spiked about 20%. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Crude also moved sharply higher. There has probably been an impact at your local gas station as well (mine went from $1.99 to $2.29 per gallon almost overnight). Government officials were quick to blame Iran for the strike. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo went so far as to declare the unprovoked attack an overt “act of war.” And the President ordered tightened economic sanctions. Meanwhile, investors wasted little time in bidding oil-related stocks sharply higher. Within hours of the opening bell the following Monday, Marathon Oil (NYSE: MRO) was up 12%, Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN) rallied 13%, and Apache… Read More

I took the family to see the adventures of Buzz, Woody and the rest of the gang in Toy Story 4 recently. We weren’t alone — the fourth installment in the blockbuster franchise has already netted over $1 billion in global box office revenue. That’s the fifth billion-dollar release for the Walt Disney studio alone this year. But what really struck me was the whole experience at the theatre and how it’s changed over the years. As an investor, this piqued my interest… I mean, is the movie business really dying after all? Could it just be that there’s an… Read More

I took the family to see the adventures of Buzz, Woody and the rest of the gang in Toy Story 4 recently. We weren’t alone — the fourth installment in the blockbuster franchise has already netted over $1 billion in global box office revenue. That’s the fifth billion-dollar release for the Walt Disney studio alone this year. But what really struck me was the whole experience at the theatre and how it’s changed over the years. As an investor, this piqued my interest… I mean, is the movie business really dying after all? Could it just be that there’s an overlooked opportunity here for investors?  So I did some digging and recently shared my findings with my High-Yield Investing subscribers. And today, I’d like to share them with you… —Recommended Link— Is This Trump’s Favorite $5 Tech Stock? In early 2019 President Trump warned this company’s biggest customers to “step up their 5G efforts.” A few months later, he banned their biggest competitor from doing business in the U.S. Now, this $5 stock could turn a $10,000 stake into $234,770 this year. But timing is critical. A single mention on the evening news and this… Read More

You’ve probably noticed a recent uptick in local gasoline prices. I paid $2.29 per gallon this morning, versus $1.99 a few weeks ago. The blame can be pinned squarely on a spike in crude oil following a surprise attack on a Saudi Arabian oil production facility. In case you missed it, here is the short version… On September 14, a salvo of cruise missiles rained down on state-owned Saudi Aramco’s Abqaiq facility, crippling infrastructure that handles 5.7 million barrels per day. Government officials were quick to blame Iran for the strike. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo went so far as… Read More

You’ve probably noticed a recent uptick in local gasoline prices. I paid $2.29 per gallon this morning, versus $1.99 a few weeks ago. The blame can be pinned squarely on a spike in crude oil following a surprise attack on a Saudi Arabian oil production facility. In case you missed it, here is the short version… On September 14, a salvo of cruise missiles rained down on state-owned Saudi Aramco’s Abqaiq facility, crippling infrastructure that handles 5.7 million barrels per day. Government officials were quick to blame Iran for the strike. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo went so far as to declare the unprovoked attack an overt “act of war,” and the President ordered tightened economic sanctions. About 5% of the world’s entire oil supply passes through this facility, making this one of the biggest supply disruptions on record. Worse than Hurricane Katrina, the Invasion of Kuwait, the Libyan Civil War, and other such events. The surgical strike was designed to inflict heavy damage to key equipment in at least 17 different spots. It remains to be seen how much capacity stays offline and for how long. Benchmark Brent crude prices shot up about 20% in the aftermath, but have… Read More

It’s that time again — where I make an informed prediction on what companies could announce a dividend hike in the coming month.  As a refresher, I scan the market for noteworthy special distributions on the horizon, as well as for potential dividend hikes over the next four to six weeks. I give special attention to outsized double-digit increases and reliable dividend-payers that have been steadily growing payouts for a decade or more. I flag these stocks first for my premium High-Yield Investing readers, and then share them with the public.  Here’s what I’m looking at right now… 1. Starbucks… Read More

It’s that time again — where I make an informed prediction on what companies could announce a dividend hike in the coming month.  As a refresher, I scan the market for noteworthy special distributions on the horizon, as well as for potential dividend hikes over the next four to six weeks. I give special attention to outsized double-digit increases and reliable dividend-payers that have been steadily growing payouts for a decade or more. I flag these stocks first for my premium High-Yield Investing readers, and then share them with the public.  Here’s what I’m looking at right now… 1. Starbucks (NYSE: SBUX) – You gotta love the fall. The air is suddenly crisp and the leaves begin to turn. The World Series gets underway. And cash generators like Starbucks reward their faithful shareholders with dividend hikes. The upscale coffee vendor raised its distributions to $0.25 from $0.20 per share in November 2016 and then to $0.30 in November 2017. Last year’s increase came a bit early (in August), lifting the payout to $0.36 per share. Perhaps management just couldn’t wait to surprise investors. At the time, it upped its capital return program by $10 billion, pledging to return $25 billion… Read More

I spent most of Tuesday morning perusing the U.S. Commerce Department’s August retail sales report. It’s not exactly light reading – I’d prefer a Clive Cussler novel any day. Still, this spending barometer reveals quite a bit about the state of the economy in general and carries broad implications for several of my holdings. #-ad_banner-#While the data can be choppy from month to month, it’s pretty clear that the U.S. consumer is in a good mood right now. Various consumer confidence surveys are giving conflicting readings. Taken together, they suggest attitudes remain upbeat, but with a… Read More

I spent most of Tuesday morning perusing the U.S. Commerce Department’s August retail sales report. It’s not exactly light reading – I’d prefer a Clive Cussler novel any day. Still, this spending barometer reveals quite a bit about the state of the economy in general and carries broad implications for several of my holdings. #-ad_banner-#While the data can be choppy from month to month, it’s pretty clear that the U.S. consumer is in a good mood right now. Various consumer confidence surveys are giving conflicting readings. Taken together, they suggest attitudes remain upbeat, but with a growing level of unease. However, that anxiety has had a negligible impact on the collective pocketbook. Retail expenditures climbed 0.4% in August from the prior month. That might sound tepid. But in a $20 trillion economy, even fractions of a percent equate to billions of additional dollars going into cash registers. The growth rate was also double what economists were expecting (which has been the norm lately). Actual results have overshot economists’ projections in four of the past five months. August’s robust growth comes on top of an upwardly-revised 0.8% increase in July, about three times what the market was… Read More

Suppose you were a job hunter presented with two options: a position offering a flat $50,000 per year with no pay hikes or one starting at $40,000 with a guaranteed 10% raise each year. If you were only a year away from retirement, the first option would make more sense. But for those with a bit longer to go, option number two would be the better deal. Not only will your paycheck grow each year, but it will do so by an increasing amount — $4,000 after the first 12 months, $4,400 after the next 12, and so on. After… Read More

Suppose you were a job hunter presented with two options: a position offering a flat $50,000 per year with no pay hikes or one starting at $40,000 with a guaranteed 10% raise each year. If you were only a year away from retirement, the first option would make more sense. But for those with a bit longer to go, option number two would be the better deal. Not only will your paycheck grow each year, but it will do so by an increasing amount — $4,000 after the first 12 months, $4,400 after the next 12, and so on. After just five years, you would be pulling down about $64,000 per year. And if the base compensation alone didn’t sway you, what if I also mentioned that the second job offer was from a prosperous, growing company that also offered nice incentives such as generous 401(K) matching? I’m guessing that would only reinforce your decision. If this simple analogy makes sense, congratulations — you’re already a step ahead of the yield-hungry crowd and that much closer to financial independence. —Recommended Link— Ground-Breaking interview unveils secret to success with pot trading On September 24 at 1… Read More