I have a friend named Tom who was fortunate enough to obtain a great-paying job out of college. He worked for a few years, saved some money with the employer’s retirement plan and slowly started climbing the corporate ladder. Tom lived in a one-bedroom… Read More

I want to show you a surprising statistic. It’s nothing tricky or complicated. In fact, it’s really simple and straightforward. My long-time readers know that I’m always on the lookout for “secrets of the pros.” I love to look at the wealth rich people have accumulated, and figure out how they did it. So a few months ago, I dug into Forbes’ list of the 400 wealthiest people on Earth. I wanted to see if anything jumped out… if there were any patterns.#-ad_banner-# Sure enough,… Read More

I want to show you a surprising statistic. It’s nothing tricky or complicated. In fact, it’s really simple and straightforward. My long-time readers know that I’m always on the lookout for “secrets of the pros.” I love to look at the wealth rich people have accumulated, and figure out how they did it. So a few months ago, I dug into Forbes’ list of the 400 wealthiest people on Earth. I wanted to see if anything jumped out… if there were any patterns.#-ad_banner-# Sure enough, there were. I found something that I think applies to every single one of us. It’s something that could help any investor — no matter their age or income level — earn a significant amount of money in the stock market. What I found was this: Approximately one-third of the people on Forbes’ top 400 list all made their money thanks to the same simple secret. Read More

I want to show you a surprising statistic. It’s nothing tricky or complicated. In fact, it’s really simple and straightforward. My long-time readers know that I’m always on the lookout for “secrets of the pros.” I love to look at the wealth rich people have accumulated, and figure out how they did it. So a few months ago, I dug into Forbes’ list of the 400 wealthiest people on Earth. I wanted to see if anything jumped out… if there were any patterns.#-ad_banner-# Sure enough,… Read More

I want to show you a surprising statistic. It’s nothing tricky or complicated. In fact, it’s really simple and straightforward. My long-time readers know that I’m always on the lookout for “secrets of the pros.” I love to look at the wealth rich people have accumulated, and figure out how they did it. So a few months ago, I dug into Forbes’ list of the 400 wealthiest people on Earth. I wanted to see if anything jumped out… if there were any patterns.#-ad_banner-# Sure enough, there were. I found something that I think applies to every single one of us. It’s something that could help any investor — no matter their age or income level — earn a significant amount of money in the stock market. What I found was this: Approximately one-third of the people on Forbes’ top 400 list all made their money thanks to the same simple secret. Read More

Las Vegas is one of the all-time great boom towns in U.S. history. Nothing more than a forgotten Dust Bowl in the 1940s, Vegas grew into one of the hottest tourist destinations in the world by the late ’50s and early ’60s. Tourists, vacationers, celebrities and gamblers from across the world flocked to Vegas, producing an economic boom that continues to produce huge gains for investors. But now, 50 years later, that same incredible growth story is repeating itself in another part of the world. In fact, this… Read More

Las Vegas is one of the all-time great boom towns in U.S. history. Nothing more than a forgotten Dust Bowl in the 1940s, Vegas grew into one of the hottest tourist destinations in the world by the late ’50s and early ’60s. Tourists, vacationers, celebrities and gamblers from across the world flocked to Vegas, producing an economic boom that continues to produce huge gains for investors. But now, 50 years later, that same incredible growth story is repeating itself in another part of the world. In fact, this Far East gambling destination is growing so fast that its annual revenue last year was more than six times that of Vegas. I’m talking about Macau, the undisputed leader in the global entertainment and gambling industry.#-ad_banner-# Along with Hong Kong, Macau is one of two special administrative regions of China. Under the principle of “one country, two systems,” Macau enjoys a high degree of autonomy, governed by its own legal system, police force, monetary system and immigration policy. Read More

If “Frankenstein” author Mary Shelley had been an investment fanatic, she might’ve liked the idea of the business development company, or BDC: Fashion a company out of parts of other companies, then set the creation loose by taking it public. Of course, society doesn’t shun BDCs as it did Victor Frankenstein’s monster, nor has Mel Brooks made a comedic movie about the investment (though that would be cool). In fact, BDCs can be gentle giants.#-ad_banner-# But before you invest in one, it’s best to understand a few key… Read More

If “Frankenstein” author Mary Shelley had been an investment fanatic, she might’ve liked the idea of the business development company, or BDC: Fashion a company out of parts of other companies, then set the creation loose by taking it public. Of course, society doesn’t shun BDCs as it did Victor Frankenstein’s monster, nor has Mel Brooks made a comedic movie about the investment (though that would be cool). In fact, BDCs can be gentle giants.#-ad_banner-# But before you invest in one, it’s best to understand a few key terms, lest you wake one night to a financial monster staring back at you. What’s A BDC? First things first: What is a BDC? It’s basically a private equity or venture capital firm that goes public. It uses the proceeds of the public offering to invest (typically) in small or midsize private companies — but it can’t invest in just any company. The goal is to invest in new companies and provide… Read More

When I first started writing about investing in the 1990s, the whole notion of “e-commerce” was just getting going. Analysts then thought this emerging form of retail would continually take away market share from traditional brick-and-mortar stores. They might not have expected that e-commerce would still be growing at a fast clip nearly two decades later.#-ad_banner-# Last year, U.S. e-commerce sales rose 15.6% to $71 billion, triple the growth… Read More

When I first started writing about investing in the 1990s, the whole notion of “e-commerce” was just getting going. Analysts then thought this emerging form of retail would continually take away market share from traditional brick-and-mortar stores. They might not have expected that e-commerce would still be growing at a fast clip nearly two decades later.#-ad_banner-# Last year, U.S. e-commerce sales rose 15.6% to $71 billion, triple the growth rate of traditional retail sales. However, considering that e-commerce sales still account for less than 6% of all sales, there’s no reason to expect this niche to slow down anytime soon. In fact, revenues of the major players could double in size over the next five years and still reach just 10% penetration (assuming that traditional store-based sales also rise a modest amount). Of course, much of that growth will be picked up by Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN), which had more than $60 billion in sales… Read More

When I first started writing about investing in the 1990s, the whole notion of “e-commerce” was just getting going. Analysts then thought this emerging form of retail would continually take away market share from traditional brick-and-mortar stores. They might not have expected that e-commerce would still be growing at a fast clip nearly two decades later.#-ad_banner-# Last year, U.S. e-commerce sales rose 15.6% to $71 billion, triple the growth… Read More

When I first started writing about investing in the 1990s, the whole notion of “e-commerce” was just getting going. Analysts then thought this emerging form of retail would continually take away market share from traditional brick-and-mortar stores. They might not have expected that e-commerce would still be growing at a fast clip nearly two decades later.#-ad_banner-# Last year, U.S. e-commerce sales rose 15.6% to $71 billion, triple the growth rate of traditional retail sales. However, considering that e-commerce sales still account for less than 6% of all sales, there’s no reason to expect this niche to slow down anytime soon. In fact, revenues of the major players could double in size over the next five years and still reach just 10% penetration (assuming that traditional store-based sales also rise a modest amount). Of course, much of that growth will be picked up by Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN), which had more than $60 billion in sales… Read More

During the past half decade, few industries have suffered as much as the for-profit education industry.#-ad_banner-# Congress took these companies to task when it became apparent that their students had poor graduation rates and many of those students were unable to find jobs and repay government-backed… Read More

After reading through hundreds of press releases in the just-completed earnings season, I’m not surprised that CEOs are quite excited about their company’s prospects. However, with every company putting a positive spin on its operations and outlook, it can be hard to separate the wheat from the chaff. One distinguishing factor: the executives and directors who back up their words with actual insider buying. Committing thousands of dollars to buy company stock is a huge… Read More

After reading through hundreds of press releases in the just-completed earnings season, I’m not surprised that CEOs are quite excited about their company’s prospects. However, with every company putting a positive spin on its operations and outlook, it can be hard to separate the wheat from the chaff. One distinguishing factor: the executives and directors who back up their words with actual insider buying. Committing thousands of dollars to buy company stock is a huge vote of confidence. Throughout the past winter, insider buying activity was relatively dormant as an ever-rising market led most insiders to think about cashing in options rather than buying fresh shares. Yet in the past month, we’ve seen a notable upturn in insider buying activity. Here are three stocks that have seen renewed interest from insiders. (Credit to InsiderInsights.com for data on insider activity.) 1. Read More

In fits and starts, the U.S. economy appears to be gaining steam. Recent economic reports have been giving mixed signals — the consumer is feeling better while manufacturers retrench a bit — but on balance, the recent trends hint at… Read More