Trading and Investing

The August CPI numbers didn’t provide any real comfort as far as inflation is concerned, with headline inflation remaining above 8%, where it’s been for months now. Though fuel prices have fallen somewhat, shelter, food, and medical care indexes were through the roof last month. We’re paying over 13% more right now for groceries compared […]

Over the past two months, I’ve covered several of my favorite inflation-beating investment ideas, everything from floating rate investments to master limited partnerships (MLPs) and real estate investment trusts (REITs). Today I want to bring our focus back to business development companies, also known as BDCs for short. A business development company is an organization […]

As complicated as the world and markets are now, there are ways to make money on what’s happening, ways to play volatility, ways to trade that will make you a successful investor for the rest of your life. I know because I’ve been doing it for 40 years, and I’m raking in big gains in […]

Today marks the first edition of my Watchlist. From now on, every week, I’m going to tee-up what I’m watching in the days ahead, why it’s important, and how to trade what’s hot and what’s not.

This week is going to be crazy, I can guarantee you that.

If you thought the worst of the financial crisis was way behind us, you’re about to get a rude awakening.

Mortgage Massacre 2.0 is right around the corner.

Here’s how “forbearance” and “rent strikes” are already impacting the mortgage market and how what’s barreling down on us is going to make 2020 look like 2008 all over again…

There’s a magical unicorn coming our way, and we’re being offered a ride high into profitable skies if we grab its horn and jump on.

At least that’s what Lyft’s IPO bankers and early investors want us to believe.

The truth is there’s no such thing as a unicorn in real life (in business, a unicorn is a private company that investors claim is worth more than $1 billion), and Lyft isn’t any kind of highflying substitute.

What the upcoming Lyft IPO is more likely to be is a fat payday for bankers, underwriters, and especially early investors, and a bucking-off of late-to-the-party IPO share buyers.

And while Lyft may not have much higher to go, if you’re still interested in learning about IPOs, I have the perfect IPO opportunity for you…

As if two new Boeing 737 Max 8 jets crashing and killing 346 people isn’t frightening enough, government investigations might reveal even more frightening news.

Like the fact that Boeing didn’t require pilots who were certified on 737s to get certified on the new Max 8 aircrafts.

Or like the fact that Boeing marketed the cost savings of the lack of these certifications as a positive.

These facts, and yes, they’re facts, not speculation, are just the tip of the iceberg that sank the Titanic, or rather, brought down the 737s.

Today, I’m going to tell you the real story of what happened, most of which has been kept from the public.

And, as a bonus, when Boeing flops, I’ll show you a way to play the airspace sector…

There was a time when Facebook Inc. (NasdaqGS:FB) was one of my favorite stocks. I mean, I loved it and thought it would be something I’d probably never sell.

Then, all kinds of negative press hit the stock – and my opinion of its worth.

While I’m presently out of FB, I want to buy back in at some level.

The problem is I don’t think the company’s cleared the hurdles that brought it down. The stock probably has lower to go.

FB has made routine mistakes, and one particular lame maneuver it just pulled says a lot.

Here is what’s holding me back from buying the stock and what you can do in the meantime before jumping in…

Last week at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference & Festival in Austin, Texas, freshman New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC, for short) pronounced capitalism as being “irredeemable.”

That’s nonsense and, frankly, dangerous talk.

Here’s why capitalism is not irredeemable and what’s dangerous about what AOC is saying…

While I’m cautiously optimistic there will be a trade dispute announcement out of the proposed late March summit between President Xi Jinping and President Trump, it won’t be great.

In fact, it will probably be just enough of a positive kind of “we’re going to keep working on it and agree to agree” announcement, with lots of concessions and positives to move the markets up, possibly to new highs.

My optimism is based on the needs of both presidents to make nice for their own reasons.

President Trump wants the stock market to go a lot higher and knows clearing the economic forest of tariffs and uncertainty will do that.

President Xi desperately needs a deal because China’s economy is slipping into indebted slow-growth (and possibly stagnation) and exports are still China’s lifeblood.

But, there’s a big difference between the removal of tariffs and a comprehensive trade deal that covers what’s really at the bottom of the two nations’ “trade” dispute.

And the chance of that happening is exactly between slim and none.

Here’s why…