The Wall Street Journal calls it “world-changing.” Both the Financial Times and CNBC say it’s a “game-changer.” And Business Insider calls it the “next trillion dollar industry.” #-ad_banner-#Stop me if you’ve heard this before. Longtime readers know I’ve written a lot about ground-breaking companies, trends and products that end up attracting this kind of copy from the financial press. But as I’ve said before, it’s often not the large, well-known company getting all the headlines that makes the outsized gains for investors. After all, when the mainstream press… Read More

The Wall Street Journal calls it “world-changing.” Both the Financial Times and CNBC say it’s a “game-changer.” And Business Insider calls it the “next trillion dollar industry.” #-ad_banner-#Stop me if you’ve heard this before. Longtime readers know I’ve written a lot about ground-breaking companies, trends and products that end up attracting this kind of copy from the financial press. But as I’ve said before, it’s often not the large, well-known company getting all the headlines that makes the outsized gains for investors. After all, when the mainstream press gets a hold of the kinds of ideas I regularly discuss in my newsletter, it’s often too late. Instead, it’s the smaller, lesser-known companies behind the innovation that savvy investors should put their money into — and it’s important to get in on the early stages before things really kick off. That’s where the real money is made. For example, up until recently I’ve dedicated a lot of time to telling readers of my Game-Changing Stocks newsletter about the revolutionary advances being made by Apple with its payment technology — Apple… Read More

Recently, I was listening to a podcast interview with market guru Byron Wien of Blackstone. While the talk focused mainly on building wealth with large, concentrated bets, the winning combination of investing in technology and emerging markets caught my attention. #-ad_banner-#Technology changes worlds and history and, if you choose wisely, makes investors rich. The same can be said for macro market and demographic trends. The world changed as wireless telecom penetrated emerging and frontier markets. People who had never had a telephone due to lack of infrastructure in their communities were now connected. While wireless phone proliferation in these economies… Read More

Recently, I was listening to a podcast interview with market guru Byron Wien of Blackstone. While the talk focused mainly on building wealth with large, concentrated bets, the winning combination of investing in technology and emerging markets caught my attention. #-ad_banner-#Technology changes worlds and history and, if you choose wisely, makes investors rich. The same can be said for macro market and demographic trends. The world changed as wireless telecom penetrated emerging and frontier markets. People who had never had a telephone due to lack of infrastructure in their communities were now connected. While wireless phone proliferation in these economies has exploded over the last decade, there’s still room to grow. Now, as the same emerging societies give birth to a new middle class thanks to a globalized economy, banking is emerging as the next growth industry in developing markets. I’ve found a stock that covers both: Vodafone (Nasdaq: VOD). The leading provider of international wireless telecommunications, Vodafone’s footprint covers more than 20 countries across four continents. If you’re a Verizon (NYSE: VZ) subscriber, you used to do business with Vodafone. Up until 2014, Vodafone owned a 45% stake in Verizon. After selling back to Verizon, Vodafone walked away with… Read More

I recently spent Memorial Day in Las Vegas on the tail-end of a road trip through Nevada and Utah. And while I didn’t win big in Sin City, I’m happy to report that I did well enough to pay for a nice dinner that night with a little bit left to spare. (Hey, if Vegas doesn’t get you one way, they get you another.) #-ad_banner-# As I was caught up in the action, I was reminded of how similar gambling and investing. It’s often the things we focus on least that are the biggest markers of success in… Read More

I recently spent Memorial Day in Las Vegas on the tail-end of a road trip through Nevada and Utah. And while I didn’t win big in Sin City, I’m happy to report that I did well enough to pay for a nice dinner that night with a little bit left to spare. (Hey, if Vegas doesn’t get you one way, they get you another.) #-ad_banner-# As I was caught up in the action, I was reminded of how similar gambling and investing. It’s often the things we focus on least that are the biggest markers of success in either endeavor. Think about it… Just like in poker, for example, long-term success in investing is more about not losing than winning. Avoiding losing investments is perhaps even more important than finding big winners. And knowing when to sell is just as important as knowing what to buy. My colleague Jimmy Butts recently touched on this idea in a recent issue of his premium newsletter, Maximum Profit:         “Ask Warren Buffett what it takes to be a successful investor and he’ll likely tell you this: “Rule No. Read More

As we explained yesterday, small-cap investments are a historically-proven way to beat the market.  Our goal when we started Project Alpha was to selectively pick small-cap stocks which could outperform the market without excess risk. Since our first pick in March of last year, the Project Alpha portfolio has returned 12.8% while the S&P 500 has returned a meager 0.19%. #-ad_banner-#While Project Alpha was originally reserved for premium subscribers, we have decided to open the series to all our readers. And today, we are excited to bring you our first new pick this summer. This Misunderstood Company Could Be The Next… Read More

As we explained yesterday, small-cap investments are a historically-proven way to beat the market.  Our goal when we started Project Alpha was to selectively pick small-cap stocks which could outperform the market without excess risk. Since our first pick in March of last year, the Project Alpha portfolio has returned 12.8% while the S&P 500 has returned a meager 0.19%. #-ad_banner-#While Project Alpha was originally reserved for premium subscribers, we have decided to open the series to all our readers. And today, we are excited to bring you our first new pick this summer. This Misunderstood Company Could Be The Next Big Tech Breakthrough Though small caps outperform the market in the long term, these picks are far from a dime a dozen. In fact, small-cap companies often face more obstacles than their larger counterparts. One of the biggest difficulties small-cap companies encounter is staying on top of innovation. Frequently strapped for R&D capital, these firms can easily be crushed by well established companies with huge budgets and armies of researchers. It’s even harder for these companies to achieve sufficient market penetration, and it is rare for them to gain the traction needed to compete with the “big kids” on the… Read More

There’s an old adage in finance that goes, “sell in May and go away,” and it’s not without good reason. According to the Stock Trader’s Almanac, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has returned -1.1% on average from May to October since 1950 compared to an average 8.4% return from November to April. #-ad_banner-#Selling all your holdings every summer isn’t always reasonable, though, due to transactions costs and various tax penalties. Instead, we here at StreetAuthority decided to focus on a different strategy. Small-Cap Companies: A Proven Approach To Beating The Market Rather than investing in a lagging market over the… Read More

There’s an old adage in finance that goes, “sell in May and go away,” and it’s not without good reason. According to the Stock Trader’s Almanac, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has returned -1.1% on average from May to October since 1950 compared to an average 8.4% return from November to April. #-ad_banner-#Selling all your holdings every summer isn’t always reasonable, though, due to transactions costs and various tax penalties. Instead, we here at StreetAuthority decided to focus on a different strategy. Small-Cap Companies: A Proven Approach To Beating The Market Rather than investing in a lagging market over the summer, we wanted to find small stocks primed to outperform in the long-term. It’s a pretty simple concept — just like people, companies have the most room to grow when they are still small. Historically, small-cap companies (firms with a market value of less than $2 billion), have significantly outperformed their larger peers in the S&P 500. The chart below shows the performance of a small-cap ETF compared to the S&P 500 since 2000.     ​   Guided by this principle, we started a series called Project Alpha. On Wall Street, alpha is a term to describe high returns… Read More

The S&P 500 is almost exactly where it was one year ago. But fortunately, it took a bumpy path to get back to this point. Corrections in August and January, and milder but significant selloffs in September, November and February, created ample buying opportunities for attractive stocks — and we were happy to take advantage. Let’s take a look at some of our winners to see whether they remain worthwhile buy candidates, or if holding or taking profits makes more sense. #-ad_banner-#​Arotech (Nasdaq: ARTX) is up about 50% since I recommended it on Dec. 17. The specialty defense contractor makes… Read More

The S&P 500 is almost exactly where it was one year ago. But fortunately, it took a bumpy path to get back to this point. Corrections in August and January, and milder but significant selloffs in September, November and February, created ample buying opportunities for attractive stocks — and we were happy to take advantage. Let’s take a look at some of our winners to see whether they remain worthwhile buy candidates, or if holding or taking profits makes more sense. #-ad_banner-#​Arotech (Nasdaq: ARTX) is up about 50% since I recommended it on Dec. 17. The specialty defense contractor makes simulators, trainers and high-performance batteries for aviation and marine use. Its customers include U.S. and foreign military and homeland security forces. As I wrote in December, the U.S. defense budget is on the rise, thanks to a rare bipartisan agreement between Congress and the White House that loosened the purse strings after a few years of austerity. Arotech’s innovative products are on the shopping lists of every military procurement strategist, as they provide next-generation capabilities of use in modern conflicts. For example, Arotech is the supplier for the U.S. Army’s SWIPES program (Soldier Worn Integrated Power Equipment Systems), which give… Read More

A few years ago I bought a Dodge Ram pickup — fire-engine red. It had a Hemi V8 that could have powered an aircraft carrier. It was ridiculously fast. I’d barely have my foot on the gas pedal, and I’d be doing 90. There was no cruise control, a rubber floor — I was lucky the darn thing even had a radio. It got about 12 miles to the gallon. I loved it. Whoever owned it before me installed some serious exhaust upgrades, and that truck was the loudest-running vehicle I’ve ever heard, including our farm equipment. Read More

A few years ago I bought a Dodge Ram pickup — fire-engine red. It had a Hemi V8 that could have powered an aircraft carrier. It was ridiculously fast. I’d barely have my foot on the gas pedal, and I’d be doing 90. There was no cruise control, a rubber floor — I was lucky the darn thing even had a radio. It got about 12 miles to the gallon. I loved it. Whoever owned it before me installed some serious exhaust upgrades, and that truck was the loudest-running vehicle I’ve ever heard, including our farm equipment. It sounded like a pack of Harleys tearing through a Billy Idol concert. Sometimes I’d sneak out of church early. But my wife, Pastor Jen, always knew — she could hear my truck start up over the mighty old pipe organ. #-ad_banner-# My daughter Laurel loved the pickup. She liked that she was allowed to sit in front, as it had no back seat, and she loved being up high. She was also completely blown away by the windows. She had never before seen crank windows. She thought they were a new feature. She was used to cars… Read More

There’s a dangerous idea in the world of finance that’s been floating around for years. The man who coined this idea won a Nobel Prize for his work, but even he has stated that there are “threats” to his theory. #-ad_banner-#Today, I’m going to tell you about one of those “threats,” and why it’s time to put this dangerous idea to bed for good. Because if you buy into it, you could miss out on some of the greatest opportunities the market has to offer. To frame our discussion, I’d like… Read More

There’s a dangerous idea in the world of finance that’s been floating around for years. The man who coined this idea won a Nobel Prize for his work, but even he has stated that there are “threats” to his theory. #-ad_banner-#Today, I’m going to tell you about one of those “threats,” and why it’s time to put this dangerous idea to bed for good. Because if you buy into it, you could miss out on some of the greatest opportunities the market has to offer. To frame our discussion, I’d like you to consider one thing: When an investor buys shares of a stock hoping that its value will rise, the person is often betting against the market — that other investors are wrong (about the stock’s value) and that his valuation is correct. It’s with this idea that theory called the “efficient market hypothesis” becomes important. The man behind the theory — economist Dr. Eugene Fama — is hailed as one of the fathers of modern finance. At its most basic, his hypothesis says that because the public has access to… Read More

We all know the constant struggle between the bulls and the bears on Wall Street. Some investors are always convinced that we sit on the edge of a cliff, that the enemies are always ready to storm the castle. Others take a rosier view. I’m with the latter crowd for two reasons. #-ad_banner-#First, I love business, and I love people who leverage their passion to Do Something and build an enterprise that serves a need or even creates one. One day a fellow named Lonnie Johnson was sitting around, thinking about heaven knows what, and he decided to build a… Read More

We all know the constant struggle between the bulls and the bears on Wall Street. Some investors are always convinced that we sit on the edge of a cliff, that the enemies are always ready to storm the castle. Others take a rosier view. I’m with the latter crowd for two reasons. #-ad_banner-#First, I love business, and I love people who leverage their passion to Do Something and build an enterprise that serves a need or even creates one. One day a fellow named Lonnie Johnson was sitting around, thinking about heaven knows what, and he decided to build a better water gun. The SuperSoaker is now a staple of the top 20 toys since its release in 1989. Sales have surpassed a billion dollars. I learned about Johnson — an African American who has some 80 patents to his name — a decade or so ago. He was the subject of a student essay I was helping judge for Black History Month. The SuperSoaker was a game-changer — such to the point that it has become a part of our language. It’s not like the world was clamoring for a better water pistol, but Johnson had an idea, and… Read More

Today I want to tell you about an investing strategy that defies logic. It shouldn’t work based on everything you’ve learned about the stock market. Yet it does. In fact, for over half a century, investors and traders have used this strategy to produce unparalleled results. #-ad_banner-#And no, for those of you who may be wondering, this strategy doesn’t involve options, derivatives or any other obscure financial product. What’s more, what I’m about to show you can be used as part of any general investing strategy — regardless of whether you’re focusing on income, growth, blue chips, small caps or… Read More

Today I want to tell you about an investing strategy that defies logic. It shouldn’t work based on everything you’ve learned about the stock market. Yet it does. In fact, for over half a century, investors and traders have used this strategy to produce unparalleled results. #-ad_banner-#And no, for those of you who may be wondering, this strategy doesn’t involve options, derivatives or any other obscure financial product. What’s more, what I’m about to show you can be used as part of any general investing strategy — regardless of whether you’re focusing on income, growth, blue chips, small caps or commodities. Specifically, I’m talking about relative-strength investing. Longtime readers might already be familiar with relative-strength investing. We’ve talked about it before in previous StreetAuthority Daily issues. But for those who need a refresher, allow me to provide a brief recap. Relative-strength investing is simply a type of momentum investing. It involves buying the best-performing stocks (relative to the market) and holding them until their momentum changes course. To most investors, especially those considered value investors, this strategy probably sounds ridiculous. After all, most people have heard the phrase “buy low, sell high.” Since relative-strength investors buy stocks that are already… Read More