Do you want to know the secret to predicting which stock will make you money before it even begins its rise to the top? In a word: trends. Trends are our clues to investing, our road map to the financial world. “History repeats itself” is a cliche for a reason, and so I search for trends when picking stocks for my premium newsletter Stock of the Month. Let me be clear, though. I don’t just go looking for any trend. Any investor can follow the flavor of the month. And while you may have some success doing this, I can… Read More

Do you want to know the secret to predicting which stock will make you money before it even begins its rise to the top? In a word: trends. Trends are our clues to investing, our road map to the financial world. “History repeats itself” is a cliche for a reason, and so I search for trends when picking stocks for my premium newsletter Stock of the Month. Let me be clear, though. I don’t just go looking for any trend. Any investor can follow the flavor of the month. And while you may have some success doing this, I can guarantee it won’t last for long.   #-ad_banner-#​Instead, I spend my time looking for a specific type of trend: companies that are about to disrupt their industry, setting the table for a shift in the balance of power that can reward early investors with sizable gains.  Many companies attempt to be disrupters — but few succeed. Disrupters revolutionize their industries using one common strategy. They find elements of their industry models that customers hate — and make them disappear. For example, broker commissions used to be regulated and set at a flat fee, roughly 1% of the… Read More

Do you want to become a millionaire? That’s obviously a rhetorical question… the majority of us would love it. But what’s your plan for achieving that goal? #-ad_banner-#If your plan is to make that sort of wealth in the stock market, then what’s your strategy? Blue-chip stocks, index funds, or do you want to watch your “daily paychecks,” as my colleague Amy Calistri would say, roll in by the truck load? All of these strategies are great. There’s nothing wrong with them and they’ll probably make you money in the long run. But while investing in just steady-eddy, mature companies… Read More

Do you want to become a millionaire? That’s obviously a rhetorical question… the majority of us would love it. But what’s your plan for achieving that goal? #-ad_banner-#If your plan is to make that sort of wealth in the stock market, then what’s your strategy? Blue-chip stocks, index funds, or do you want to watch your “daily paychecks,” as my colleague Amy Calistri would say, roll in by the truck load? All of these strategies are great. There’s nothing wrong with them and they’ll probably make you money in the long run. But while investing in just steady-eddy, mature companies may keep the income flowing in, it isn’t going to make you a millionaire anytime soon. They’re not going to give you those “knocked-out-of-the-park” returns that you’ve heard about since you first learned of the stock market. No, I’m convinced that if your goal is to reach a seven-figure bank account, you need to add a “swing for the fences” element to your overall portfolio strategy… I call it the “10% solution.” The idea behind it is simple. If your goal is to become a millionaire in the market, then you need to dedicate a portion of your portfolio to… Read More

If you’re a long-time reader of StreetAuthority, you know by now that we rarely recommend stocks with yields higher than 10%. If the yield is higher than that, it’s usually a sign that the company’s fundamentals are sagging, investors are bracing for a dividend cut — or worse… But today, I’m going to show you how to break one of the cardinal rules of safe income investing and buy a stock yielding 17% without losing a single night’s sleep. #-ad_banner-#All you have to do is think more like a trader. Now, I know that doesn’t come easy to most income… Read More

If you’re a long-time reader of StreetAuthority, you know by now that we rarely recommend stocks with yields higher than 10%. If the yield is higher than that, it’s usually a sign that the company’s fundamentals are sagging, investors are bracing for a dividend cut — or worse… But today, I’m going to show you how to break one of the cardinal rules of safe income investing and buy a stock yielding 17% without losing a single night’s sleep. #-ad_banner-#All you have to do is think more like a trader. Now, I know that doesn’t come easy to most income investors, but it’s easier than it sounds. In fact, I’m going to show you how one simple tool allows you to know when it’s safe to buy stocks with ridiculously high yields, hold them for a period of time and collect any dividends you might receive, and then know when it’s time to get out before the rest of the crowd loses their shirts. But it’s one thing to tell you this. I want to prove it to you with one of the most followed high-yield mortgage real estate investment trusts (mREITs) of the past few years — American Capital… Read More

Legendary investor Carl Icahn recently added a “sizable position” of Apple to his $16 billion holding company — Icahn Enterprises. Since he announced his purchase Sept. 11, Apple is up about 20%. After making the purchase, Icahn was quoted saying it was a “no-brainer” investment, citing that the company’s valuation was “extremely cheap” by the numbers. Icahn should know, too. Unlike most of today’s billionaires, he made his fortune entirely by investing in the stock market. Since he founded Icahn Enterprises less than 30 years ago, his company has enjoyed total returns in excess of 288,000%. To put that in… Read More

Legendary investor Carl Icahn recently added a “sizable position” of Apple to his $16 billion holding company — Icahn Enterprises. Since he announced his purchase Sept. 11, Apple is up about 20%. After making the purchase, Icahn was quoted saying it was a “no-brainer” investment, citing that the company’s valuation was “extremely cheap” by the numbers. Icahn should know, too. Unlike most of today’s billionaires, he made his fortune entirely by investing in the stock market. Since he founded Icahn Enterprises less than 30 years ago, his company has enjoyed total returns in excess of 288,000%. To put that in perspective, if you had invested $1,500 with him back in 1987, the size of your position would be worth over $4.3 million today That kind of performance is one reason Chartered Market Technician Michael J. Carr recently designed a trading system to leverage the financial genius of investing gurus, like Icahn. By applying his proprietary trading system to stocks that are held by the market’s 20 most successful gurus — including Warren Buffett, George Soros and David Einhorn — Michael has earned big gains betting alongside the world’s most renowned investors. For example, on Sept. 12,… Read More

If you ask most people, they will say there are two types of people that put money in the stock market. There are “investors” — those who put money to work in fundamentally sound companies for the long term. Then there are “traders” — those who buy stocks for a short-term gain, without much concern for the actual business. #-ad_banner-#The reality isn’t as clear cut. You see, if you aren’t using the principles of both investing and trading, then I think you’re limiting your returns and increasing your losses. But it’s one thing to tell you this. I want to… Read More

If you ask most people, they will say there are two types of people that put money in the stock market. There are “investors” — those who put money to work in fundamentally sound companies for the long term. Then there are “traders” — those who buy stocks for a short-term gain, without much concern for the actual business. #-ad_banner-#The reality isn’t as clear cut. You see, if you aren’t using the principles of both investing and trading, then I think you’re limiting your returns and increasing your losses. But it’s one thing to tell you this. I want to prove it to you with one of the most widely-followed stocks of the past decade — Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL). You’re no doubt familiar with Apple. You might have even owned some shares at some point. Maybe you still do. Apple is one of the most fundamentally sound companies on the planet. For years, the popularity of iPods, iPhones and its computers caused earnings and cash flow to soar. Since 2003, the company’s annual revenue has risen from $6.2 billion to $170.9 billion. Meanwhile, until very recently, Apple carried no debt. Instead, it boasts a $145 billion cash pile. That’s enough… Read More

I am a firm believer in using both technical analysis and fundamental research as stock picking tools. Many investors mistakenly specialize in one discipline or the other rather than a mixture of the two.  Market technicians are often guilty of reaching the conclusion that all the fundamental information is already inherent in the price of a security, therefore researching fundamentals is redundant. At the same time, hard-core fundamentalists believe that technical analysis only charts the past and thus cannot help with projecting the future. I have found both of these sentiments to be correct and to be wrong… Read More

I am a firm believer in using both technical analysis and fundamental research as stock picking tools. Many investors mistakenly specialize in one discipline or the other rather than a mixture of the two.  Market technicians are often guilty of reaching the conclusion that all the fundamental information is already inherent in the price of a security, therefore researching fundamentals is redundant. At the same time, hard-core fundamentalists believe that technical analysis only charts the past and thus cannot help with projecting the future. I have found both of these sentiments to be correct and to be wrong at the same time. All the fundamental information about a stock is inherent in its price. However, studying price alone will not increase your odds of making a winning trade. Knowing fundamentals while ignoring the technical picture may provide a reason for the stock movement, but does not confirm that price will move in any specific direction. Focusing solely on the technical picture will tell you what has happened and what may happen. But there are no guarantees or statistical tests that have uniformly proven much of traditional technical analysis works to provide an edge. So what’s an investor to… Read More

Back in June, I first introduced you to Michael J. Carr’s groundbreaking investment research. I told you a little about his history (he retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force before managing $200 million) and how he was working on a project that used a few simple trading… Read More

For 41 weeks in a row, the options trades I’ve recommended to my Income Trader readers have been profitable. And on average, my readers are collecting 7.5% in “Instant Income” every 48 days. So far, we’re 32 for 32 when it comes to closed trades. How am I doing it? It’s actually pretty simple… but it requires some investors to leave their comfort zone. Options are one of the most misunderstood corners of the financial world. Many investors steer clear of options because they have a reputation for being risky, but that’s not always the case…… Read More

For 41 weeks in a row, the options trades I’ve recommended to my Income Trader readers have been profitable. And on average, my readers are collecting 7.5% in “Instant Income” every 48 days. So far, we’re 32 for 32 when it comes to closed trades. How am I doing it? It’s actually pretty simple… but it requires some investors to leave their comfort zone. Options are one of the most misunderstood corners of the financial world. Many investors steer clear of options because they have a reputation for being risky, but that’s not always the case… My strategy involves selling options on undervalued stocks. And as I’ve mentioned here, here and here, selling “put” options is one of the most effective income strategies in the world. #-ad_banner-# But today, I want to tell you about a different strategy — selling covered calls. A covered call strategy involves selling call options on stocks that you own. This allows you to generate income from selling options while benefitting from the potential upside by owning the stock. The downside risk is partly reduced by the income generated from selling options, which offsets potential losses in the stock. If you’re… Read More

Every home has at least one. From the White House to a shotgun shack in Appalachia, this product is notable for its widespread use across every demographic. Virtually all of us spend nearly a third of our lives using this product, which commands a wide range of prices — from less than $100 for basic versions to well over $10,000 for custom-built ones. In addition, this product is so commonplace you might not give it a second thought after the purchasing decision. U.S. manufacturers produce about 35 million units a year, and the industry’s revenues neared $6 billion in 2009.#-ad_banner-#… Read More

Every home has at least one. From the White House to a shotgun shack in Appalachia, this product is notable for its widespread use across every demographic. Virtually all of us spend nearly a third of our lives using this product, which commands a wide range of prices — from less than $100 for basic versions to well over $10,000 for custom-built ones. In addition, this product is so commonplace you might not give it a second thought after the purchasing decision. U.S. manufacturers produce about 35 million units a year, and the industry’s revenues neared $6 billion in 2009.#-ad_banner-# If you haven’t guessed it yet, I am referring to the lowly mattress. I recently had a great experience with a particular brand over the last several years, but right now I would avoid or even short the stock. When my wife and I were newlyweds, one of the most important purchases for our new household was a mattress. I’m a restless sleeper, and my wife sleeps so silently and still that sometimes I have to check to be sure she’s still breathing. My rolling about at night disturbs my wife when we sleep on spring-based mattress, so much so… Read More

The major indices keep hitting new all-time highs, and as a trader, that makes life pretty easy. Basically, you have a bullish tailwind at your back that can forgive your loser picks, while at the same time helping your winners move up nicely.#-ad_banner-# Indeed, in this era of quantitative easing, which is likely to continue based on the Senate testimony last week of Federal Reserve chair nominee Janet Yellen, I think it makes more sense than ever to buy the “air pockets” in this market. Yet there are some stocks that are just a bit too… Read More

The major indices keep hitting new all-time highs, and as a trader, that makes life pretty easy. Basically, you have a bullish tailwind at your back that can forgive your loser picks, while at the same time helping your winners move up nicely.#-ad_banner-# Indeed, in this era of quantitative easing, which is likely to continue based on the Senate testimony last week of Federal Reserve chair nominee Janet Yellen, I think it makes more sense than ever to buy the “air pockets” in this market. Yet there are some stocks that are just a bit too risky here and probably should be sent packing from your portfolio. I alerted readers to one such stock earlier this month when I said tech giant Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) was likely on the downslope. On Thursday, the stock vindicated my call, as it plunged as much as 13.5% after a dreadful earnings report that missed expectations and a warning that next quarter’s revenue would drop 8% to 10% from the same period last year. In addition to Cisco, there are some other stocks that have performed very well of late that I suspect could be… Read More