They are a rarity on the market today. Most of the headlines over the summer have been about how the stock market is nearing all-time highs… making it difficult for investors to find a good entry point… Read More

We get a lot of emails here at StreetAuthority… and we read every single one of them. We don’t have time to respond to all of them, but we try. Recently we started getting a rather persistent email from a subscriber to my High-Yield Investing newsletter. Here’s what the subscriber wrote: “The newsletter is called ‘High-Yield Investing!’ Stocks with 4% yields do not constitute high yield. Maybe ‘Conservative-Yield’ would be a more appropriate title. I am deeply disappointed… High Yields… Read More

We get a lot of emails here at StreetAuthority… and we read every single one of them. We don’t have time to respond to all of them, but we try. Recently we started getting a rather persistent email from a subscriber to my High-Yield Investing newsletter. Here’s what the subscriber wrote: “The newsletter is called ‘High-Yield Investing!’ Stocks with 4% yields do not constitute high yield. Maybe ‘Conservative-Yield’ would be a more appropriate title. I am deeply disappointed… High Yields [start] at 9% minimum.” — H.W. I appreciate the feedback from H.W., but the truth is, I think he may not be paying attention to what’s going in the market today. My short answer to H.W.: It’s not 1980 or 2009. But here is my long answer… I would love to be able to showcase high-quality, low-risk stocks and bonds with robust yields of 9% or better to my High-Yield Investing readers week in and week out. If I did, I would likely be writing to you… Read More

I remember when the housing bubble burst back in 2007. Most people thought it would never make a comeback. Some went so far as to predict it would take America 50 years or more for the housing sector to climb back to pre-recession levels. Well, just a short five years later, I am pleased to say that housing is back. #-ad_banner-#The latest housing data from the Commerce Department from July shows that new home purchases are up 6.8% and median home prices gained 8.3% since a year ago. Read More

I remember when the housing bubble burst back in 2007. Most people thought it would never make a comeback. Some went so far as to predict it would take America 50 years or more for the housing sector to climb back to pre-recession levels. Well, just a short five years later, I am pleased to say that housing is back. #-ad_banner-#The latest housing data from the Commerce Department from July shows that new home purchases are up 6.8% and median home prices gained 8.3% since a year ago. And a survey by Standard & Poor’s found that housing in 20 of the largest U.S. cities — from Boston to Los Angeles — posted gains in June. After going through what was the housing market‘s darkest hour, housing is now one of the most popular investments in America. But that’s only half the story. There’s a much larger force in play behind the uptrend in the housing market. And it’s not what you’d expect. Read More

Americans are being betrayed by their own government. Never in our 237 years as a country have 12 faceless bureaucrats had so much control over our wealth. You see, these bureaucrats, along with their leader — in the blink of an eye — could soon be responsible for one of the worst market crashes in history. #-ad_banner-#I’ll explain more about that in a minute. But first, you should know that when this crucial event takes place, you’ll want to have your portfolio ready to ride it out…… Read More

Americans are being betrayed by their own government. Never in our 237 years as a country have 12 faceless bureaucrats had so much control over our wealth. You see, these bureaucrats, along with their leader — in the blink of an eye — could soon be responsible for one of the worst market crashes in history. #-ad_banner-#I’ll explain more about that in a minute. But first, you should know that when this crucial event takes place, you’ll want to have your portfolio ready to ride it out… and potentially profit tremendously. So what market do I think is about to take one of the biggest hits in a century?  The bond market. And this won’t be an isolated incidence — every investor will be affected.  When Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and the 12 voting members of the Federal Reserve Board meet in late October, there is a very real possibility they’ll vote to taper the $85-billion-a-month bond-buying program, or… Read More

It’s easy for articles about the shale boom to get lost in the shuffle. After being flooded with articles (each more optimistic than the last), it’s no wonder some investors have started to become desensitized to any oil-related news. After all, we’ve already learned that the U.S. Read More

If you want to be successful in the stock market, then sometimes you must think like a contrarian. I’ve spent 15 years in the investment industry. In that time, I’ve seen many investors struggle and many others make a fortune. The difference between success and failure usually has little to do with intelligence or analytical skills. Rather, the best investors generally have an ability to stay cool under pressure and the fortitude to break… Read More

If you want to be successful in the stock market, then sometimes you must think like a contrarian. I’ve spent 15 years in the investment industry. In that time, I’ve seen many investors struggle and many others make a fortune. The difference between success and failure usually has little to do with intelligence or analytical skills. Rather, the best investors generally have an ability to stay cool under pressure and the fortitude to break away from the herd when necessary.#-ad_banner-# This is the best way to make money when it comes to commodity investing. Like many investors, I’ve been neutral to bearish for most precious and industrial metals over the past couple of months. However, there is one notable exception. Before I tell you about this metal, let me give you some background on it first… It’s one the scarcest metals on the planet. In fact, for every… Read More

As the editor of two natural resources newsletters, I stay closely attuned to various industry costs: the average cost to mine an ounce of gold, the cost to refine a barrel of oil into gasoline, the cost to produce and ship a ton of coal from Australia to China. It goes without saying that fluctuations in these costs have a direct impact on the bottom line (and thus the share prices) of the companies involved. And in most cases, expenses are trending higher. Labor costs climb with each passing… Read More

As the editor of two natural resources newsletters, I stay closely attuned to various industry costs: the average cost to mine an ounce of gold, the cost to refine a barrel of oil into gasoline, the cost to produce and ship a ton of coal from Australia to China. It goes without saying that fluctuations in these costs have a direct impact on the bottom line (and thus the share prices) of the companies involved. And in most cases, expenses are trending higher. Labor costs climb with each passing year as workers receive salary bumps. Businesses that lease property and equipment usually see annual rent increases. And, of course, the raw materials needed to make finished products have grown more expensive. Many of these businesses aren’t in a position to raise prices, so they simply have to absorb the higher operating expenses and watch their profit margins get squeezed. Trust me, the market hates margin contraction. But there’s one small group of… Read More

Sometimes the best way to play a commodity is to find one getting beaten up by Wall Street. As any seasoned investor knows, Wall Street has a tendency to overreact, and that’s happening right now with one of the most important metals on Earth… At the moment, commodities … Read More

Sometimes the best way to play a commodity is to find one getting beaten up by Wall Street. As any seasoned investor knows, Wall Street has a tendency to overreact, and that’s happening right now with one of the most important metals on Earth… At the moment, commodities analysts flat-out hate iron ore. Forecasters at prominent brokerage houses like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have slashed their short and long-term price forecasts. And top Australianeconomists are projecting prices to slide from an average of $119 per ton this year to just $90 per ton by 2015. Nobody knows the iron ore … Read More

In case you couldn’t tell from the gasoline prices in your area, oil prices have been on the move. The chart below pretty much says it all. As you can see, benchmark West Texas Intermediate Crude has seen substantial… Read More

As you probably already know, gold suffered a historic collapse this week. As surprising as it may sound, this could actually be good news for commodity investors.  But I am not about to tell you to enter into the gold… Read More