Right now, bunches of savvy investors are getting paid cold, hard cash for nothing more than agreeing to buy stocks. Investors are giving them money to buy stock that they were looking to purchase anyway. Sound crazy? Well it isn’t
On Feb. 4, I recommended buying Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) stock as a long-term play with very important short-term catalysts that were about to unfold. The basis of the long term recommendation was the fact that I found in Amazon that elusive quality that I was taught to seek in business school a few decades ago: Strong, sustainable competitive advantages.
It seems everybody, including The Wall Street Journal, is pitching a tent in the “too far, too fast” camp – the belief the stock market rally is premature, overdone in light of the economic conditions and unprecedented. But ignore the chatter. Although plausible, the arguments are profoundly false.
As investors get lured back into stocks by the illusion of economic “good news,” the US equity markets are posting new year-to-date highs. Here at Notes, we reckon you’d have to be a lemming to be part of the frenzy… or an ice-cold cynic using each upward spike to take short-term profits before the feds start hiking the capital gains tax.
Perception and reality are not the same thing. And believing they are is a very dangerous for investors. Why? Because you can very easily fall into the trap of “market blindness” – you can assume you see everything while missing the elephant in the room.
The nerds of the world have a huge war going on: Microsoft versus Linux.
When it comes to making money in Brazil, most investors think of oil, coffee, cattle or any number of commodities that underlie the country’s vast resources. But Irwin Greenstein says grocery chain Companhia Brasil Ads (NYSE:CBD) could be one of the best value buys out there.
International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) surprised the market with its strong Q4 earnings. Horacio Marquez says the company’s superb business model enables it to grow even during a recession. IBM’s strong brand, solid balance sheet and steady cash flow makes it a strong buy, with the potential for 50% gains in the coming two years.
Every market period, just like the one we are in right now, has the silver lining of giving the experienced investor the very real chance of making a fortune. Conditions are perfect for the run of a lifetime.
Look in any direction and there are bargains. Stocks, commodities, even corporate bonds, after their recent run up, have started to drop off to the point where there are nice discounts again.
Options, usually the Vegas of investments, have had huge potential in the last few months. I have sold covered calls in the last two months that have given me returns as high as four to five percent per month.
Once again, though, the average Joe is being driven to inaction and all the…