It was classic Washington protectionism… disguised, of course, as “looking out for the little guy.” Regulators claimed that this kind of investing was too dangerous for “regular people,” so they made it off limits. Well, you know how these things work… It turns out that this “off-limits” niche of the market has helped a privileged few walk away with fortunes. Meanwhile, the other 97% of Americans were completely shut out — simply because they didn’t meet the SEC’s strict net-worth requirements. In other words, they simply weren’t rich enough to enter the playground enjoyed by elite investors. But on May… Read More

It was classic Washington protectionism… disguised, of course, as “looking out for the little guy.” Regulators claimed that this kind of investing was too dangerous for “regular people,” so they made it off limits. Well, you know how these things work… It turns out that this “off-limits” niche of the market has helped a privileged few walk away with fortunes. Meanwhile, the other 97% of Americans were completely shut out — simply because they didn’t meet the SEC’s strict net-worth requirements. In other words, they simply weren’t rich enough to enter the playground enjoyed by elite investors. But on May 16, 2016 everything changed. —Recommended Link— The Greatest Commodity Shortage In History It’s no secret the world faces shortages in many commodities. The world’s diminishing supply of everything from cocoa to coffee. lithium to lumber. phosphate to plutonium. silver to sugar. is of great concern. But there’s an even bigger and more imminent commodity shortage at hand that no one is talking about. Details here. On that Monday, the SEC opened up these restricted opportunities to you, me and everyone else in America. Now, for the first time since 1933, the… Read More

Things are changing in America. In fact, change will likely be the single word best describing the next several years in future history books.  #-ad_banner-#We are expecting a new presidential administration with grand visions of a thriving domestic economy. There will be a House and Senate united under a single-party majority, and business and personal income taxes are expected to be slashed. All these changes combine to create an economy supercharged with expansion. And all of this growth will be incredibly beneficial to the American people.  However, to economists and investors, there will likely be a dark side to such… Read More

Things are changing in America. In fact, change will likely be the single word best describing the next several years in future history books.  #-ad_banner-#We are expecting a new presidential administration with grand visions of a thriving domestic economy. There will be a House and Senate united under a single-party majority, and business and personal income taxes are expected to be slashed. All these changes combine to create an economy supercharged with expansion. And all of this growth will be incredibly beneficial to the American people.  However, to economists and investors, there will likely be a dark side to such rapid expansion. This dark side will be the Federal Reserve aggressively stepping in to slow the growth via interest rate increases. Rates have already started to ease higher, as evidenced by the 0.25% advance last December, in response to a successful fiscal stimulus program. We all know that higher interest rates are thought to slow economic growth and strengthen the U.S. dollar. However, don’t despair. Opportunities will abound in a climbing-rate environment. Stock market investors can profit from a climbing interest rate environment by going long greenback ETF’s like PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish ETF (NYSE: UUP). Other sectors… Read More

If there is one certainty during a Trump presidency it’s that America’s relationship with its southern neighbor will be changing.  President-elect Trump has not only promised to reassess America’s trade agreements, most of all the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), but to also reinforce the nation’s border with Mexico. Read More

There are three primary factors that should come into play whenever choosing a winning stock for a long-term investment.  The shares must be undervalued, they must possess a solid dividend yield, and there must be internal and external catalysts that will push shares higher. #-ad_banner-#I have identified a company that… Read More

May 2016 marked an historic event for individual investors, yet it was largely neglected by Wall Street and the mainstream media.  The new opportunity revolves around an asset class that has meant out-sized returns for the wealthy and has remained off-limits to everyone else. Regulations around access to this investment have also meant limited funding for entrepreneurship in America. Now for the first time since 1933, individual investors have been given the same access to this market, and it could be bigger than the Internet boom of the 1990s. — Recommended Link — Which Stock Indicator Is Most Accurate? Click here for… Read More

May 2016 marked an historic event for individual investors, yet it was largely neglected by Wall Street and the mainstream media.  The new opportunity revolves around an asset class that has meant out-sized returns for the wealthy and has remained off-limits to everyone else. Regulations around access to this investment have also meant limited funding for entrepreneurship in America. Now for the first time since 1933, individual investors have been given the same access to this market, and it could be bigger than the Internet boom of the 1990s. — Recommended Link — Which Stock Indicator Is Most Accurate? Click here for the revealing answer. I’m talking about the concept of investing in companies before they go public on the major stock exchanges — specifically, investing in pre-IPO companies with equity crowdfunding. #-ad_banner-#If this sounds new to you, then pay close attention, because it’s going to change the very idea of investing as you know it. And understanding this new opportunity means looking deeper and knowing where to find the analysis you need to move the odds in your favor. Your Ticket To ‘The Next Big Thing’ Until this year, by law, only the wealthiest among us could invest in “pre-IPO”… Read More

Imagine being arrested for a crime that you haven’t even committed yet. Noted science-fiction author Philip K. Dick wrote about this possibility many years ago. His premise was that predictive analytics and massive computer power would allow law enforcement to predict, and stop, crime before the actual occurrence based on strong probabilities of it occurring.  While Philip K. Dick’s vision of a dystopian future remains a distant possibility, parts of similar technology are actively used in the corporate environment.  #-ad_banner-#Artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, and big data are no longer in the realm of science fiction. These high-tech skills, services, and… Read More

Imagine being arrested for a crime that you haven’t even committed yet. Noted science-fiction author Philip K. Dick wrote about this possibility many years ago. His premise was that predictive analytics and massive computer power would allow law enforcement to predict, and stop, crime before the actual occurrence based on strong probabilities of it occurring.  While Philip K. Dick’s vision of a dystopian future remains a distant possibility, parts of similar technology are actively used in the corporate environment.  #-ad_banner-#Artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, and big data are no longer in the realm of science fiction. These high-tech skills, services, and products are now a must-have to compete in today’s quantitatively driven corporate environment.  However, these firms remain in their infancy, offering years of upside potential for savvy investors who can choose the right companies in the space now. The leading company in this sector is already up over 18% this year and has just posted strong third quarter results. Even better, its share price has set it up to be an ideal buy candidate. Let’s take a closer look. Nice Ltd (Nasdaq: NICE) is an Israeli-based, $4.2 billion-market cap big data/artificial intelligence company. The shares trade in the United States… Read More

American singles bored with the bar scene are increasingly going online to find love. According to a report from the Pew Research Center, the number of American adults that have used online dating increased to 15% in the summer of 2015 from 13% in 2013. That seemingly small 2 percentage point increase represents a full 5 million new customers. As expected, the gains were skewed toward younger people — usage among 18-24 year olds tripled. #-ad_banner-#But as it turns out, older Americans are getting in on the action too. The number of 55-64 year olds that have used online dating… Read More

American singles bored with the bar scene are increasingly going online to find love. According to a report from the Pew Research Center, the number of American adults that have used online dating increased to 15% in the summer of 2015 from 13% in 2013. That seemingly small 2 percentage point increase represents a full 5 million new customers. As expected, the gains were skewed toward younger people — usage among 18-24 year olds tripled. #-ad_banner-#But as it turns out, older Americans are getting in on the action too. The number of 55-64 year olds that have used online dating apps doubled to 12% from 6% in 2013. Both statistics paint a promising outlook for the industry. The surge in popularity has the online dating industry on pace to generate $2.4 billion in sales in 2016. Looking forward, I am expecting industry sales to grow around 5% annually for the next two years. That 5% growth projection might not jump off the page. However, if a big chunk of that growth is captured by one global leader, it becomes significant. The online dating industry has become much more competitive in the last two years, creating nearly impassable barriers to entry. Read More

There’s an iconic U.S. company in trouble right now. This major player on the international stage symbolizes the American dream to many around the world. However, if you own this stock, now is the time to sell your shares. #-ad_banner-#The company is so popular that its mascot has posed with every U.S. president since Harry Truman, with the exception of Lyndon Johnson, and it once claimed that its mascot’s image had a 98% awareness rate among children aged 3-11 worldwide.  Launched in 1923, the company owns the world’s largest media company and one of the globe’s top providers of family… Read More

There’s an iconic U.S. company in trouble right now. This major player on the international stage symbolizes the American dream to many around the world. However, if you own this stock, now is the time to sell your shares. #-ad_banner-#The company is so popular that its mascot has posed with every U.S. president since Harry Truman, with the exception of Lyndon Johnson, and it once claimed that its mascot’s image had a 98% awareness rate among children aged 3-11 worldwide.  Launched in 1923, the company owns the world’s largest media company and one of the globe’s top providers of family travel and leisure experiences.  If you have not guessed it, I am referencing Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS). Disney is a monster corporation with over $56 billion in revenue and a massive market cap of nearly $150 billion. Headquartered in Burbank, California, this global entertainment powerhouse has operations in over 40 nations and has become a symbol of the United States. As a member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500, nearly every financial institution or individual passive index investor has exposure to Disney stock.  This widespread ownership has paid off for investors in Disney over the… Read More

An old trader once told me, “Trading is the hardest easy money you’ll ever make.”  In theory, trading is easy enough — all you have to do is buy low and sell high, right? After all, there are thousands of books claiming to have all the information we’ll ever need.  In practice, however, trading is among the most difficult activities in the financial world. Despite the availability of a wealth of information, few do it well. #-ad_banner-#​ In fact, all that accessible information actually makes it harder to trade successfully. As an old trader once told me, “To know what… Read More

An old trader once told me, “Trading is the hardest easy money you’ll ever make.”  In theory, trading is easy enough — all you have to do is buy low and sell high, right? After all, there are thousands of books claiming to have all the information we’ll ever need.  In practice, however, trading is among the most difficult activities in the financial world. Despite the availability of a wealth of information, few do it well. #-ad_banner-#​ In fact, all that accessible information actually makes it harder to trade successfully. As an old trader once told me, “To know what everyone knows is to know nothing.” If everyone has the same tools, it’s difficult to use them to gain an advantage over everyone else. Think about that for a moment.  If you could really win in the markets by simply buying stocks with low price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios, then we would all be successful. The secret to beating the market — and your fellow investors — is to use little-known indicators, which act like secret weapons for trading. That’s why I developed my own indicator, which I call the Income Trader Volatility (ITV) indicator.  ITV is similar to the Volatility S&P… Read More

It’s like a report card for the economy. Late last month, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) of the U.S. Commerce Department released the latest information on our country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the three months ended in September.  #-ad_banner-#As with all economic report cards, investors await this report eagerly and read it closely, looking for clues about the nation’s economic health. Of course, the main idea is to give us a sense of how fast the economy can grow and whether it’s been doing better or worse than in previous quarters and years. But investors also look… Read More

It’s like a report card for the economy. Late last month, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) of the U.S. Commerce Department released the latest information on our country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the three months ended in September.  #-ad_banner-#As with all economic report cards, investors await this report eagerly and read it closely, looking for clues about the nation’s economic health. Of course, the main idea is to give us a sense of how fast the economy can grow and whether it’s been doing better or worse than in previous quarters and years. But investors also look for details on where the growth comes from and how well the U.S. economy is positioned to continue economic progress.  The GDP report also provides hints about overall economic and industry trends. But perhaps the biggest question on investors’ minds these days is whether — and when — the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates.  While third-quarter GDP increased at an annualized rate of 2.9% (which was much better than the 2.5% that most economists had expected), much of the growth stemmed from one-time factors.  For instance, a build-up in inventories accounted for 60 basis points of that growth. On… Read More