Investors Daily Edge

Pinocchio Goes to China

Investors Daily Edge — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:11:17 +0000

Pinocchio Goes to China

Big day for Disney yesterday … China gave it a thumbs-up to toss $3.5 billion down the rabbit hole. The money will be spent on a giant Disney theme park in Shanghai. What company wouldn’t be jumping for joy at the opportunity to tap into a population of 1.3 billion people?

So why am I getting this queasy feeling?

For one thing, remember what we told you yesterday about China’s Ghost Malls… beautiful, modern, extravagant malls that are 99% empty.

Could the same thing happen to Disney? A ghost theme park? No, of course not. But a lot of things could go wrong. Like …

• The U.S.’s relationship with China. It can get testy at times. And China’s leadership isn’t above whipping up anti-American sentiment when it suits them. Disney could get caught in the middle of it.

• A thrifty middle class. China’s middle class totals around 500 million people. Big, yes? But they make much less money than America’s middle class. Plus, they save much more than we do. Will China’s middle class spend their hard-earned cash at Disney? Affordability could kill the golden goose.

• Competition. There’s only one Disney. It’s an American institution. But the Chinese are great copycats. You can count on Chinese versions of similar theme parks springing up. And they’ll be much cheaper.

• The missing piece. Disney’s park in Paris started out with low attendance. For over a decade, the smart people at Disney couldn’t figure out what was missing. In 2005, they finally hit on it. The missing piece was alcohol. Once Disney allowed alcoholic drinks to be served on the grounds, attendance shot up. What will be missing from Shanghai’s Disney park? I don’t know. And neither does Disney.

A lot of things will have to go right for Disney in China. If they don’t and the stock drops, we may be presented with an opportunity to buy Disney at a substantial discount. We’ll keep you posted.

Asia’s Forgotten Country

The Philippines is not your run-of-the-mill Asian country. Sure, its economy is export driven (like that of a lot of Asian countries). Like India, it has a lot of backroom support and call centers – mostly for American companies. And, like the rest of Asia, both its exports and support-center growth have taken hits from the global recession.

But the Philippines taps into a revenue source that few countries have access to. I’m not talking about money from the IMF … or the Asian Development Bank … or the drug trade.

The Philippines gets a big chunk of revenue from Filipinos working all over the world.

Money sent to the Philippines by overseas workers is the most resilient part of the country’s economy. There hasn’t been much of a fall off in this revenue stream despite the state of the world’s economy.

No other Asian country has this kind of insulation from the global recession.

No wonder it’s one of the safest Asian countries to invest in.

So How to Invest?

One of its biggest businesses is the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PHI). It’s listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

It has a pretty good track record, as you can see, having more than doubled investors’ money in five years.

It’s especially good when you realize he S&P 500 would have given you a loss over the same period. AT&T would have given you back nothing. And Verizon would have handed you a 28% loss.

And, right now, you can buy PHI at a 29% discount compared to what other telecom companies are going for on average.

Welcome Back CNOOC

CNOOC’s (China National Offshore Oil Corp.) relentless quest for oil resources has led it all over the world.

Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, and Argentina have all been CNOOC targets. And it has joined Brazil’s Petrobras in developing some of its immense offshore oil basins. In short, CNOOC has become the most aggressive oil major in the world.

Their aggressiveness has not been well received in the United States. Remember CNOOC’s last visit? Back in 2005, it tried to buy Unocal for a cool $18.5 billion. Howls of protest from all areas of the country sent CNOOC back home with its tail between its legs.

CNOOC is taking it much slower the second time around. It bought small stakes in four deepwater exploration licenses in the Gulf of Mexico from Norway’s Statoil. The size of the deal is secret, but Statoil said it was small

Welcome back, CNOOC. We missed you.

It’s easy to like this company. Most oil companies have pared back spending. Not CNOOC. It’s increased its spending. Last year, it spent 34% more on production drilling. This year, it’s on track to spend another 19%.

Andrew Gordon recommended CNOOC to his INCOME subscribers a few months ago. They’ve already made 22% on their CNOOC shares.

You don’t have to believe in China’s Perpetual Growth Machine to like CNOOC. CNOOC’s stage is the world, not little ol’ China. It has shown that it’ll go anywhere for a barrel of oil. CNOOC is poised to make Andrew’s readers much more than 22%. If you would like to know more about his INCOME picks, check out Sound Profits when it debuts next month.

Invest Safely,

Bob Irish
Investment Director
Investor’s Daily Edge

The Next Black Monday

Investors Daily Edge — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:11:51 +0000

The New One-Two “Value” Punch

I liked the vaccine-manufacturer Baxter when I first recommended it a year ago. They make drugs and surgery-related products that patients and doctors absolutely need. But now I like them even more because of something they did recently …

Emerson Electric (another one of my recommendations during the past year) did the same thing. So did Teck Resources.

As a result, all three companies now give investors an irresistible one-two punch that is impossible to ignore.

1. They’re all in hot sectors.

2. And they’ve all raised a ton of money in the past few months.

Baxter makes vaccines, including the swine flu vaccine. Emerson Electric makes industrial automation and power-generating equipment. Its sales are growing rapidly in developing countries. Teck is Canada’s biggest base-metals producer. Metal prices have been surging these days.

Both Baxter and Emerson raised $500 million from issuing bonds earlier this year. Teck raised $4.3 billion.

Cash and growth is a nice combination. Of course, the extra cash helps them take advantage of the hot sectors they’re in. But it has another important advantage …

The Ultimate Protection from Banks

Banks aren’t the bad guys. More than likely Baxter could have gotten a $500 million loan. But a bank’s conditions, restrictions, covenants, and interest rates, taken together, are much more burdensome than issuing a bond.

Besides, banks are being more careful these days (as they should in the middle of a recession). For Baxter and shareholders alike, banks are just one less thing to worry about … one less thing that can go wrong.

Baxter, Emerson, And The Rest Of The Gang

Andrew Gordon has recommended these tremendous companies to his Income subscribers. Soon, the Income letter will be a part of the new Sound Profits when it launches this month. Members will get access to the rest of Andrew’s portfolio. To join Andrew and get a discounted charter membership to Sound Profits, click here.

Everyone Is Hoarding Cash

What will Baxter do with the extra cash? I would think they would use it to increase their production of swine-flu vaccine. They have some big contracts and, like many other vaccine makers, they’re running behind schedule.

But I’d be wrong. They say they’re going to use the money for things like working capital, capital spending, dividend payments, share repurchases, and business development. (I still think they should be doing everything in their power to step up production of that vaccine, though!)

Sounds like Baxter is keeping their options open.

Baxter is part of a bigger trend – companies accumulating cash not for any specific expenditure but just to have it.

As the CFO of Alcoa, another big cash hoarder says, “They’d have to beat me over my head to get it out of my hands.”

Watch the Cash Burn

Hoarding cash is not good for the economy, whether it’s done by individuals, banks, or companies. But as a value investor, I’ve always liked companies that generate lots of cash. Of course, what they do with that cash matters.

And this is where your judgment comes into play. If they’re sitting on the cash, are they being “prudent?” Or does it indicate a lack of confidence in the company’s future?

Alcoa’s CFO sounds like he puts the company’s cash under his pillow every night. Sorry, but that’s not very reassuring.

Baxter sounds like it wants to spread the cash around as it sees fit. That’s much better.

Emerson is going ahead with its plans to make a billion dollars’ worth of acquisitions this year. That’s better still.

That is what superstar companies do. While others are playing defense, they go on the offense. And at the end of the day, Emerson always makes sure they have enough cash to give their shareholders more money. They’ve raised dividends for 50 years in a row and counting.

The Next Black Monday?

On Black Monday, in October 1987, the market plunged over 500 points. It happened because the big trading companies weren’t able to shut down their computerized trading programs. And it could happen again. But this time, thanks to much more powerful computers, it would be far worse.

These powerful computers allow the giant brokerages that use them to process trades in a fraction of a second. It’s called “High Frequency Trading,” and it’s responsible for about 70% of the action on Wall Street.

That stinks. It means that those brokerages see the market before you do … react to the market before you do … and cause prices to go up or down before you’ve had a chance to blink.

That’s just slightly unfair to the individual stock trader, wouldn’t you say?

The SEC will have to deal with the transparency issues raised by High Frequency Trading. Meanwhile, you can protect yourself by following this advice from IDE’s Steve McDonald, editor of The Bond Trader.

1. Avoid the hot stock or trend of the week. With High Frequency Trading, it can turn against you in a nano-second.

2. Avoid day-trading as much as possible. With so many trades now occurring behind your back, it has become dangerous to play the price movement guessing game.

3. Stick with the investing strategy the entire IDE staff has been advocating since day one: a long-term time horizon, high-quality dividend stocks, and quality bonds at a discount. (For specific recommendations, start reading our flagship newsletter, Sound Profits.)

Riverside Resources Isn’t The Only Gem

Dr. Russell McDougal has spent the last 15 years becoming an expert at identifying which companies in this small, completely overlooked sector will explode.

In just the last 12 months, he has shown his readers open gains of 101%, 125%, and an astonishing 266%.

The most impressive part of Dr. McDougal’s work is that 18 of his last 22 recommendations are showing his readers gains. His readers are direct beneficiaries of his dedication to his craft.

To learn more about these gems and how you can join Rusty, click here.

Their Mistake, Your Big Opportunity

Last week, we brought you a special report on Rusty McDougal’s recent trip to the Arizona desert, where he discovered buried treasure. Rusty’s host for the trip, Riverside Resources, is in the process of figuring out how much gold is actually hidden in those desert sands.

The official estimate is 1.2 million ounces. Rusty says that’s the minimum. It’ll likely be much more.

But the market isn’t giving Riverside much credit for its buried gold – even if it turns out that’s all there is. With a market cap of $12 million, the market has, in effect, valued Riverside’s estimated 1.2 million ounces at about $4.29 per ounce.

“It doesn’t make any sense,” Rusty says. “I have another company in my portfolio and its buried gold is going for nearly $31.23. And they are very similar companies.”

Rusty has seen odd gaps like this before. And he says it’s only a matter of time before this one closes. As Riverside continues to document its find, the price per ounce will go higher, elevating the company’s share price. “Right now is the best time to buy shares of Riverside, while their price is undervalued,” he says.

For a report on Rusty’s trip, click here. See for yourself why Rusty says “Riverside is quite the bargain.”

Invest Safely,

Andrew Gordon

Investor’s Daily Edge

The Secret to Investing in China

Investors Daily Edge — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:37:22 +0000

All Eyes Should Be on Texas

The big gold news yesterday was India’s $6.7 billion purchase from the IMF. But it’s a much smaller number – $250 million – that’s making waves.

India’s gold purchase was no big deal. We’ve known for a while that central banks are buying more gold than usual.

But what a pension fund from Texas is doing with $250 million of its money is new. The Teacher Retirement System of Texas decided to create its own gold fund. And it’s stocking that fund with precious metals, mining stocks, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Teacher Retirement’s management simply wanted some protection for its $95 billion in assets. They realized that last year’s near-collapse of the financial system could have put the fund into bankruptcy. (It didn’t only because the government intervened.)

Back to the Future

Gold and other precious metals used to be a standard part of every investment portfolio. IDE’s Rusty McDougal reminds us that a mere 25 or 30 years ago, professionals recommended that every investor should have 5-15% of their money in precious metals.

When the dollar was taken off the gold standard, gold lost its popularity. Now funds and individuals are beginning to rediscover gold.

Shayne McGuire of the Teachers Retirement System says, “I think the largest institutions like our own are realizing that we barely own any. The same thing applies to most of the pension funds which manage trillions of dollars in world wealth.”

As pension funds increase their gold holdings, they will push prices higher.

Gold’s Comeback Is Just Beginning

Gold’s comeback is just beginning. Banks, funds, insurance companies, governments, and individuals all over the world hold $200 trillion worth of financial assets. Less than half-a-percent of that is in gold. For investors to increase that to just 1%, they would have to buy $800 billion worth more.

Rusty says, “Gold is still a vastly underused investment with a long way to go.”

Three Steps and You’re Golden

Guess what? You need financial insurance as much as the pension funds do. And you can get it through gold just like they’re doing. It’s not hard to create your own gold fund. Here’s how to get started …

1. Set aside 15% of your net worth for your gold fund, and put 10% in physical gold to hold long term. This is not an investment. It is the bedrock of your savings.

2. Put another 4% in global companies that mine for gold, as well as the ETFs that track gold or gold mining companies.

3. Put your final 1% into small gold-exploration companies.

Why only 1% into the small exploration companies? This is the most speculative part of your gold fund. You can make a great deal of money with these companies, but it’s tough to single out the ones that will be successful at such an early stage. To increase your odds, follow IDE’s Rusty McDougal’s suggestions in his Resource Windfall Speculator. So far this year, Rusty has made recommendations good for gains of 224%. .. 258% … 123% … 142% … and 113%.

In addition to what you get from Rusty, you can follow Andrew Gordon’s gold-related ETF recommendations and the precious-metals-related options recommendations that Ted Peroulakis gives in his Options Power Trader.

China’s Ghost Malls

Around 500 new malls have been built in China over the last five years. You’d think with a population of 1.3 billion these malls would be teeming with people. Think again.

Many are still waiting for the crowds of shoppers to arrive.

For example, the New South China Mall opened in 2005 and is 99% empty. Fewer than a dozen stores are open in its 9.6 million square feet of floor space.

The U.S. isn’t the only country where questionable lending and borrowing has led to disaster…which is all the more reason to be careful when investing in China. But one fund has come up with a stunningly successful formula…

The Secret Behind the World’s Most Successful China Fund

The most successful China fund in the world has beaten 99% of its peers over the past five years. Its strategy is not investing in Chinese companies. Whoa! Say again?

Only half the fund is invested in Chinese stocks. The other half is invested in multinational companies that get at least a third of their profits from selling to China. This has allowed the fund to benefit from the Chinese boom while minimizing the country risk. You can employ a similar strategy.

By the way, one of the fund’s longest-held stocks is also Andrew Gordon’s next recommendation for his INCOME portfolio. If you have an interest in diversifying overseas with less risk you’ll soon be able to check out Andrew’s Income picks in Sound Profits. It will debut in December.

Invest Safely,

Bob Irish
Investment Director
Investor’s Daily Edge

The Buck Stops Here

Investors Daily Edge — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:29:14 +0000

The “Other Bonds”

Wall Street’s best-kept secret is also its most dangerous one. It gives hundreds of thousands of investors the false impression that their savings are safe and will grow (although slowly).

The fact is, buying 10-year Treasuries now makes you only 1.46% after inflation. That’s before taxes. After taxes, your returns barely break above zero.

You can do better. But don’t expect brokers to tell you that. They’re still dishing out the fiction that government bonds are “safe.” Hogwash. What’s so safe about investments guaranteed not to grow your savings? There’s no upside. So why buy them?

The government is spending way more than it makes. (It’s not good for you to do that. And the same holds for the government.)

It’s not patriotic for you to reward that bad behavior. Neither is it convenient. Government bonds can tie up your money for years and years. And, unfortunately, buying T-bonds doesn’t support the dollar. The dollar is going down in any case.

IDE’s Steve McDonald says there’s a better way to invest safely – and, over the long haul, you’d be making a bigger profit than what you’d make from the stock market. What you do is invest in the “other” U.S. bonds: corporate bonds. The risk is almost negligible … they don’t tie up your money … and you’re loaning your money to produce economic assets instead of to the deadbeat government.

Steve can show you exactly how it’s done …

A Safe Annualized Return of 41.9%

In early June, he recommended an investment-grade corporate bond to his Bond Trader readers that had a 99.7% success ratio over an 80-year period. Here is Steve with the details …

“It was a Textron bond I recommended on June 2 at a price of $840 per bond. If we held it to maturity (August 15, 2014), it would have made us 9.93% per year, almost three times higher than what a 10-year U.S. government bond would have provided. But usually you can do better by selling these bonds way before the maturity date. And such was the case with Textron’s bond. I told my readers to sell last week. They got $950 for the bond plus the interest earned since their purchase date.”

In 19 weeks, Steve’s readers made 15.32%, working out to an annualized return of 41.9%. This was the 23rd bond this year in the Bond Trader portfolio that Steve recommended selling for big gains. How big? Steve says these bonds have given his readers about four times the average long-term return of the stock market.

Wall Street and the government want you to keep putting your money into supposedly safe government bonds. But, as you can see, Steve has a better alternative. If you’re interested, take a look at his Bond Trader service.

The Buck Stops Here

If you gave $100 to a friend, he wouldn’t throw it on the ground and stomp on it, would he? But that’s pretty much what pro-Western Turkey is doing. It announced last week that it’s no longer using dollars for its commodity trading with Iran and China. From now on, it’ll be using national currencies. The amount of money affected by this move – $65 billion – isn’t chump change. But that, in itself, is not going to bring down the dollar. Still, as an investor, you have to think of what it could lead to …

Toasted Dollars

I’d like nothing more than to see a strong U.S. dollar. A sound currency reflects a vibrant economy and prudent budgetary management. But that doesn’t exactly describe our country nowadays. The Treasury is issuing debt like maniacs. And when nobody else buys our IOUs, they buy them themselves.

There are consequences. And almost all of them are bad. For one, imports will become more expensive. Boob jobs, Hollywood movies, military weapons, Caterpillar tractors, and heavy-duty trucks still wear the “Made in America” label – but most of what we consume comes from other countries.

The dollar isn’t in the dumper yet. But IDE’s Rusty McDougal says it’s living on borrowed time … “The government pumps up the stock market with freshly printed greenbacks to bribe Wall Street with windfall profits and keep pension and 401(k) funds from pissing off aging boomers. They screw Detroit in the name of free enterprise and send bonuses to Hampton house-owners in the name of ‘too big to fail.’”

There is one thing on the plus side, though. U.S. exporters love cheap dollars. It makes their products more affordable overseas. And what they earn in Dongs and Yen can buy back more inexpensive greenbacks.

Who benefits the most? The big global companies. At least 15 of the 500 biggest companies in the MSCI World Index of developed nations get more than half their revenue from the emerging markets (according to Bloomberg). Here are the top 5:

Anheuser-Busch InBev NV
AES Corp.
Avon Products Inc.
British American Tobacco Plc
Ericsson AB

The Best Globals

But this list is far from comprehensive. And it ignores many other global companies with better balance sheets and stronger overseas growth potential. One of them is my next recommendation for the INCOME portfolio. This company gets more than 65% of its revenue from outside America. And it’s heading for its eighth straight year of double-digit earnings growth in 2010.

If you’re interested in safe investments that pay off in the long run, check out the new Sound Profits. It will feature IDE’s best money-making portfolios including the INCOME portfolio of the strongest globals in the world (when it debuts in December).

Invest Safely,

Andrew Gordon

Investor’s Daily Edge

When It’s Right It Feels So Wrong

Investors Daily Edge — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:24:48 +0000

Here’s Why He Won’t Squeeze the Trigger

“Did you see how much the market was off today?” Tim asked as I was enjoying a JFR Super Toro Maduro at Joe’s cigar bar.

“Yup. Maybe the most anticipated correction in the last 10 years is finally materializing,” I replied.

“I sure hope so,” said Tim. “I’ve got a lot of dry powder sitting in cash and I’m ready to make my move.”

“How long have you been in cash?” I asked.

“Since February,” said Tim.

“When do you plan on getting in?” I asked.

“Once the market is off 10 percent from its recent high, I’m putting my finger on the trigger. Then I’m going to keep an eye on things and make my move when it feels right.”

Loss Aversion

“Good luck with that. And let me know when you make your move,” I said, turning my attention back to my cigar.

I truly hope Tim makes the right call and gets in at the right time. But I doubt that he will. Most investors don’t. The fact that Tim went to cash in February is telling.

He rode the market down from October 2007, waiting for a rally that never came. He finally threw in the towel in February, just as the market was close to a bottom.

Why didn’t Tim get out of the market sooner? Simple. Loss aversion. Behavioral scientists have demonstrated many times that people will go to extraordinary lengths to avoid feelings of regret. How far will they go?

Mr. A or Mr. B?

Consider this study conducted by behavioral economist Richard Thaler …

Researchers presented subjects with two scenarios:

* Mr. A is waiting in line at a movie theater. He gets to the ticket window and is told that, as their 100,000th customer, he has just won $100.

* Mr. B is waiting at a different theater. The man in front of him wins $1,000 for being their millionth customer. Mr. B wins $150 for being customer number 1 million and 1.

“Who would you rather be,” the study participants were then asked, “Mr. A (who won $100) or Mr. B (who won $150)?”

Me? I’d rather be Mr. B. I’ll take $150 over $100 every time. Amazingly, twice as many people said they would prefer to be Mr. A!

Why?

Because Mr. B “lost” $850 just for arriving at the theater a bit late. So they would forgo the $50 difference to feel like a winner instead of a loser.

Don’t look for logic here. It’s pure emotion.

When It’s Right It Feels Wrong

So why did Tim ride the market almost all the way to the bottom? Emotionally, he couldn’t take on a loss until he was overcome with fear. Logic played no part in his bailout decision in February.

And my guess is logic will play no part his reentry scheme.

Let’s say the Dow drops to 9000 – which is beyond Tim’s 10 percent threshold. Will Tim invest then? I doubt it. He’ll worry that the market will head lower, and loss aversion will prevent him from making a move. Should the market actually head lower, the cycle will repeat itself.

In all likelihood, Tim will commit his money to the market when all the economic forecasts are good and it feels safe. That’s called a market top.

Remember 1999? Arguably the worst year to invest in recent memory. Yet investors were falling all over themselves to get a piece of the action. When it’s wrong, it feels right.

Emotional Rescue

The fact is, buying high and selling low feels natural for most people. As human beings, we are hardwired this way for reasons best left to another posting. But you have to override your instincts and let logic, not emotions, dictate your actions.

Commit one-twelfth of your cash to equities and pick a day to invest that money this month. Invest another one-twelfth of your cash on that same day every month for the next 11 months – regardless of what’s going on in the markets.

This is called “dollar cost averaging.” Here is an oversimplified illustration of how it works:

Let’s say you commit $1,000 a month to an investment in XYZ corp. The stock is trading at $5 a share in month one, so you buy 200 shares. The next month, the stock trades for $10 a share, so you buy 100 shares. In the third month, the stock falls to $7.50 a share, so you buy 133 shares.

Got it?

Okay. So now you have invested $3,000 and own 433 shares of XYZ. At $7.50 a share, your investment is currently worth $3,247. You’ve made 8.25 percent.

(Can you see how investing this way takes your emotions out of the equation?)

Where to Invest

I’m sorry if I sound like a broken record, but my advice remains the same:

* Sell your dogs and move into quality issues.

* Favor stocks with healthy (and growing) dividends.

* Add high-quality corporate bonds to your asset mix.

* Diversify overseas.

* Buy gold.

If you think this is easier said than done, then you need advice you can trust. And you can get it from Sound Profits, IDE’s investment trade service which tells you how to invest both safely and profitably. It’s debuting next month.

Invest Safely,

Bob Irish
Investment Director
Investor’s Daily Edge

Why Not Now?

Investors Daily Edge — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:19:50 +0000

Why Not Now?

Have you repositioned your portfolio to benefit from our phony recovery?

Not yet? You’ve been meaning to, but just haven’t gotten around to it?

Imagine that it’s October 2007. The Dow is hovering near 14,000. By every metric, the market appears overvalued. Your portfolio has had a nice run, and you’re contemplating taking some profits. You know, getting a little more defensive. But you don’t. Maybe you’re too busy. Maybe tomorrow.

But that tomorrow never arrives.

And then the market starts to get sick. Stock prices decline big time. You kick yourself and wait for a rally so you can do some selling. But the market doesn’t cooperate. By the time it bottoms out in March 2009, more than $37 trillion in company values – 59 percent – have been wiped out.

What if you’d made your move in October 2007?

What If?

What if today is the 2009 equivalent of October 2007? The danger in the current markets isn’t a secret:

P/Es are significantly above fair value after the 50 percent move off the bottom.
The only spending in this economy is coming from Washington.
The budget deficit for this year is $1.8 trillion.
U.S. debt this year will be 98 percent of GDP.
Insiders are selling like crazy.

What you should be doing with your portfolio isn’t a secret either. You should:

Sell your dogs and move into quality issues.
Favor stocks with healthy cash holdings and growing dividends.
Add high-quality corporate bonds to your asset mix.
Diversify overseas.
Buy gold.

What’s Stopping You?

Too busy? Maybe you’ll do it tomorrow?

Stop kidding yourself.

There are always “reasons” not to get important things done. But you can get your portfolio repositioned in one day.

Here’s how …

Take a Trip

Think about the last time you went on vacation. More specifically, think about the day before you left. If you’re like me, that was one of the most productive days you had all year.

So imagine that tomorrow is the day before vacation.

And it’s October 2007. Act accordingly.

From To-Do to Done

How good would it feel to finally get your investment house in order? How good would it have felt to have taken control in October of 2007?

Yes, you’ve been “meaning to.” But “meaning to” doesn’t cut it. Consider the following little ditty from an anonymous poet. We posted it in IDE a couple of months ago. It’s worth looking at again:

Mr. Meant-to has a comrade,
And his name is Didn’t-do.
Have you ever chanced to meet him?
Did he ever call on you?
These two fellows live together
In the house of Never-win.
And I’m told that it is haunted
By the ghost of Might-have-been.

Sound Profits

For guidance on where to invest, count on IDE’s team of experienced analysts. And look for the new Sound Profits newsletter, debuting in a couple of weeks.

Meanwhile, we can tell you one thing to do right now: Buy gold. Yesterday, we told you why we’re absolutely sure that gold will go up. Today, we want to tell you how you can make gold part of your portfolio.

How to Buy Gold

Buying gold can be tricky. You can’t just walk into Walmart and ask for a pound of the stuff. So I asked IDE’s Rusty McDougal, our resident expert on all things shiny and yellow and Editor of the Resource Windfall Speculator, how he would do it.

Rusty doesn’t trust the “paper golds,” like the gold ETF with the symbol GLD. He says they could claim to have gold that may not be there. Instead, he suggests that you start off with “physical gold that you can get your hands on and leave fingerprints. This should serve as a foundation for precious metals investing. Gold stocks can be added on this foundation, if desired.”

Rusty says that taking delivery from COMEX is a bit of a task but an excellent way to purchase large quantities of physical gold. He also suggests looking into online companies like Tulving.com that specialize in delivering physical metals.

If you are only interested in having a short-term trading position in gold, the ETFs may suffice. But Rusty warns that you shouldn’t expect that type of gold investment to protect you in case of a monetary breakdown. A sudden and widespread run on those instruments would likely expose them as having much less gold than advertised.

Invest Safely,

Bob Irish
Investment Director
Investor’s Daily Edge

The Secret to Investing in Gold

Investors Daily Edge — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:28:31 +0000

The Secret to Investing in Gold

The secret to investing in gold is to know what makes it go up. Most people think it’s many things. It’s not. It’s just one thing. And it’s incredibly easy to track. But few people even know about it. Instead, some invest in gold when they see inflation rising or the economy doing poorly. Others invest when political tensions mount in some “hot spot” in the world. Still others invest when they see the value of the dollar declining.

These are all good reasons to buy gold for safety … as a store of value that won’t let your savings dissolve into worthless paper. But none of them have anything to do with what makes gold go up in the short term.

To see where gold is headed right now, all you have to do is look up the Fed Funds Rate. You can easily find it on the bankrate.com site under “Mortgage.” The target rate is now 0-0.25.

If it’s below 2 percent, gold tends to rise. IDE’s Rusty McDougal tells us that’s because “gold thrives when funny money is printed willy-nilly, which is what a miniscule Fed Funds Rate is all about. The more fiat money printed, the higher gold will go.” And Rusty expects higher gold prices will give his Resource Windfall Speculator portfolio a major boost in upcoming months.

There. Now you know.

Good News for Gold, Bad News for the Economy

The Fed is keeping the Fund Rate down to ease credit. The lower the rate, the more people and businesses can afford loans. The more they borrow, the more they have to spend. And spending is what keeps the economy humming.

But, as I’ve said before, the economy is not so much recovering as stabilizing at a very low level of performance. The last thing the Fed wants to do is hinder spending by raising interest rates. Practically everybody agrees that rates will remain low for at least another year. But I think it will be several years longer than that.

That may be bad news for the economy. But it’s good news for gold holders. The price of gold will be going up for at least another year. Unless the U.S. economy discovers a miracle cure, it could be as many as 5-7 years.

Asia Rising?

The taxi driver in Singapore told me, “I want to visit my niece in America.”

The schoolteacher in Surabaya, Indonesia told me, “I want to visit my brother-in-law in America.”

The engineer’s mother in Taiwan told me, “I want to visit my son in America.”

I’ve been to Asia dozens of times. (In a previous life, my trading company had an office in Jakarta.) And wherever I went, I heard the same thing … from business colleagues to hotel clerks: “I want to go to America.”

For them, America symbolized the future.

But now it’s clear that, for many Westerners, Asia has taken over that role.

Who Has the Baton?

If Asia is leading the rest of the world out of the global recession (like Wall Street says it is), we’re in trouble.

Asia has big problems. I saw some of them first-hand: overcrowded cities, pollution, and way too much poverty. As a businessman closing deals over there, I also got a close-up view of the corruption in the government and bloated state-owned enterprises.

Asian countries are trying hard to grow their middle classes and, thus, the spending power of their populations. But they have a long way to go. Their economies still live and die by how well their exports do. And to keep their exports going, all of them – led by China – are rigging their currencies. They’re about 30-40 percent undervalued against the dollar.

But Asia’s biggest problem is its demographics. The older generation in Asia is failing to replace itself. The birth rate in the U.S. is 2.12 per woman. In Taiwan? 1.13. In Korea? 1.2. In Japan? 1.22. In China? 1.77.

An aging population puts undue strain on a country’s social programs. But the problem goes deeper than that. It’s the younger generations that drive change and technological innovation. An aging population becomes a little more set in its ways. Think of the mostly young online media versus the older established print media. Who’s winning that battle?

Asia will have its day. However, I’m not quite ready to hand off the baton to my counterpart in Kuala Lumpur.

But there’s one Asian country that isn’t following the example of its Asian neighbors. For example, its birth rate is 2.34 per woman.

The Biggest Asian Country You’ve Never Invested In

The biggest Asian country you’ve never invested in (I’m betting) has gone up 120 percent in the last year. A clue: It’s not China.

Unlike China, this country doesn’t have to worry about bubbles forming or the economy cooling off.

Its biggest telecommunications company has handed shareholders an 80 percent profit over the last 12 months. Compare that to Verizon and AT&T. They went up only a few percentage points during the same period.

So, besides China, which country has the most impressive growth in Asia? It’s Indonesia. Its economy grew 4 percent in the second quarter of this year, 4.4 percent in the first quarter.

Indonesia has gone down a different path from its neighbors. Much of its growth is fueled by domestic demand. And that has shielded it from the worst of the global recession. Car sales have risen 10 percent in the past three months. Consumption is buoyant. And its companies’ shares are relatively cheap.

In addition, Indonesia has a good man at the top: President Susilo Bambang Yudhhoyono. He’s honest. He’s pro-business. And he’s a reformist. I hear good things about him from my old colleagues in Indonesia. And he was just re-elected to another term in office.

Yes, this is the same country where suicide bombers blew up two upscale hotels (in Jakarta) earlier in the year. I’ve stayed at both hotels. They were good at making their mostly Western guests feel at home. I guess the terrorists didn’t like that.

Bombings like these kill and injure far more Indonesians than Westerners. And that’s raised the hackles of the local population. The vast majority of Indonesians oppose such terrorist tactics. As a matter of fact, they’re very pro-Western. And the government has done a good job of rooting out many of the culprits.

Like any self-respecting country, Indonesia now has its own ETF tracking the domestic stock market: Market Vectors Indonesia ETF (IDX). Indonesia’s time has come. By the way, ETFs are a great way to invest globally. To get in line for IDE’s new ETF investment service (which I’ll be running), click here.

The Dumbest Thing We’ve Heard All Week …

On Tuesday, I talked about the big banks’ favored status. That $3 trillion payback owed to us by the banks? Make that $3,019,000,000, thanks to some rather unbelievable stupidity on the part of the New York Fed.

When the U.S. injected $80 billion into AIG last year, it gained 77.9 percent ownership and effective control. That’s when the fun began.

AIG had sold billions of dollars worth of “financial insurance policies” to banks. When the banks’ financial assets (they were debt instruments) soured, AIG owed them more money than they had. So AIG began negotiating a settlement to pay off their insurance obligations at 60 cents on the dollar. Then the New York Fed, led by its president, Timothy Geithner, took over AIG.

After less than a week of back and forth, Geithner’s team issued new terms. As a result, instead of paying the banks 60 cents on the dollar, $19.5 billion, AIG paid the full amount: $32.5 billion. A difference of $13 billion!

“There’s no way they should have paid at par,” said Janet Tavakoli, head of Tavakoli Structured Finance. Another Wall Street researcher said, “In cases like this, the outcome is always along the lines of 50, 60, or 70 cents on the dollar.”

So how did the banks avoid getting a haircut from a basically bankrupt AIG?

Dumb, of course, is the benign interpretation of AIG’s actions. Believe it if you want. I believe in a much darker interpretation. I think the Geithner-led New York Fed knew exactly what it was doing…

It was giving banks a big wet kiss and American taxpayers the finger.

Invest Safely,

Andrew Gordon

Investor’s Daily Edge

Buried Treasure in the BDS

Investors Daily Edge — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:22:25 +0000

Lessons From Joe

“How’s business?” I asked.

Joe’s answer surprised me. “Never been better.”

Joe as you may recall from earlier IDE posts is the proprietor of my favorite upscale cigar bar. He has an extensive wine and beer menu and a wide assortment of top shelf spirits. Cigars are priced from a low of $5 to over $25 a stick.

“Hasn’t this recession hurt you at all?” I asked.

“Nope” said Joe while knocking on wood. “It’s not that my customers haven’t been hurt by the recession. They have. More than a few have lost their jobs and business seems to be down for most everybody. But not here.”

“Good for you Joe.” I responded.

Joe continued, “You know what it boils down to? In times like these, as folks tighten their belts, the last thing people are going to do is to give up drinking and smoking. This business is recession proof.”

S&S Sells

Some products sell well – even in the middle of a recession. As an investor, you won’t fall in love with these products. You won’t find iPods or Blackberries among them. Nike doesn’t make the list. And forget about Rolex watches and Tiffany necklaces.

But Philip Morris sells them. So does Clorox. And Constellation Brands.

The products these companies sell fall under the category of “staples and sin” (S&S).

Philip Morris sells cigarettes, including their signature brand Marlboro. Clorox sells boring cleaning supplies. And Constellation Brands sells wines (Mondavi, Ravenswood), spirits (Olde English), beers, and soft drinks. (Soft drinks? How did that get in there?)

In the middle of a consumer meltdown, these are big retail winners. They may not be the very cheapest brands you’ll see on the shelves, but they provide good value. People keep buying them – and their global sales keep going up.

The Other Winning Factors

If it were just a matter of price, Genesee Beer would be doing a lot better than they are. But the S&S companies I’m talking about have more to offer than that …

Think low-end but with quality service and great execution thrown in.

Trends come and go. But a crappy bar of soap today will be a crappy bar of soap six months from now. Value is much more sustainable.

Not only are their products a good value, the companies themselves are priced to sell. I always like companies priced at the lower end of what they historically go for compared with earnings.

A Portfolio of “S & S” Stocks….And Much More

Every month in Sound Profits, you can get a peek into Andrew Gordon’s portfolio.

His portfolio contains the “S & S” stocks that can protect your portfolio in a downturn. The best part is these companies are still trading for a discount.

To become a charter member and receive a special discount on Sound Profits, click here.

The Market Is Never Right

You’ve heard just the opposite, right? That the market automatically weighs all the information out there in order to arrive at the “correct” price for a stock.

It’s a very elegant argument – and also very wrong. It’s called the “efficient market hypothesis,” and it’s one of the biggest pieces of B.S. that ever came out of academia (in this case, the Chicago School of Business).

The market is never right. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

I’ve seen the market get carried away a million times, selling companies short or pushing prices up far past reasonable levels.

And why are many of the big, global S&S companies going for a discount these days? Because the market never gets it right.

The suckers buy the overpriced companies that have been going up forever. You get to buy the companies the market is ignoring and are, therefore, going for a 10-30 percent discount.

The market is never right. That’s how you make money.

4-5 S&S Retailers Can Recession-Proof Your Portfolio

I asked my colleague Andrew Gordon if he had any specific recommendations for outstanding S&S companies. Here’s what he said …

“One ‘value’ retailer I know increased sales by 5.1 percent in September. That’s smokin’ compared to the vast majority of retailers whose sales have declined. And if the U.S. doesn’t rebound next year (like many expect), this company will still be posting sales gains. There are about 4-5 retailers that look irresistible right now. This is one of them. It’s doing better than 98 percent of retailers in the U.S. And its European and Asian outlets are outshining its U.S. sales. By the way, its price is still cheap.”

If you’re interested in what Andy has to say about safe and profitable investing, click here.

The REAL Way To Play The Gold Bull Market

While we love gold above $1000 an ounce, there is a far more exciting way to profit on the long-term gold bull market.

For every $1 move in gold, these stocks move $2 or $3.

Isn’t leverage beautiful…

The manager of a $1.5 billion fund says that these companies represent “the best value”.

Our resource expert Dr. Russell McDougal has spent the last 15 years studying these companies and honing his skills at identifying the true “breakout” performers.

With open gains like 101%, 129%, and 212% Rusty knows how to find exceptional opportunities. And with 17 of his last 22 picks showing positive gains for his readers, you know it’s not a fluke.

To learn more about these tremendous opportunities, click here.

Buried Treasure in the BDS

IDE’s Rusty McDougal came back from the Arizona desert on Sunday, believing he had just spent the day with his next 1,000 percent winner.

That’s Rusty’s niche – figuring out which small exploration companies have what it takes to find buried treasure … gold, silver, oil, uranium or rare earth elements.

Most of the small companies don’t measure up. They don’t have the expertise, money, patience, or the right property. But this company impressed Rusty, from its Harvard-trained CEO to the proprietary databases they use.

Usually, Rusty keeps his reports between himself and his subscribers. But he’s letting me share this one with you … just this one time. In his 17 years of doing this kind of analysis, Rusty can’t remember seeing a project quite this big. “The term Big Damn System was repeatedly used during the tour, and a few fellow analysts took to calling the project BDS,” he said.

Rusty thinks there’s lots of buried treasure in Arizona. How much depends on just how far out and down you want to go …

“A very recent drill was continued to 230 meters instead of the planned 150 meters due to the gold hosting rocks still being present. An old drill hole went over 800 meters and was still finding these gold-hosting rocks. The rocks that hold the gold mineralization are whiter to the eye than the surrounding rocks. These white rocks can be seen for 2 kilometers in one direction.”

The company’s market cap is only $12 million. And Rusty says, “It’s not unusual to see proven gold deposits [like this one should develop into] go for $200-250 million.”

In other words, the company could be sitting on gold deposits worth up to 21 times its present value.

(Rusty is thinking karma here. “The property is a mere 100 miles from where I grew up many decades ago,” he told me.)

For information on Rusty’s Resource Windfall Speculator, click right here.

Invest Safely,

Bob Irish
Investment Director
Investor’s Daily Edge

The Boomer $10 Trillion Riptide

Investors Daily Edge — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:21:10 +0000

The Baby Boomers’ $10 Trillion Riptide

When my kids Nick and Rachie were growing up, my wife used to joke with them: “Okay, which one of you will take us in when we’re old and grey?” “I will.” “No, I will.” Both wanted to be their parents’ keeper … God bless them.

But the last thing we want is to have to move in with our children. And when I say that, I think I can speak for all of my fellow boomers too.

Boomers who have not yet secured their financial future don’t have much time left. Many have retired or will be retiring soon. But they do have one remaining weapon: a $10 trillion riptide that will be coursing through the U.S. financial system.

It’s going to catch a lot of investors by surprise. But those who know what it is and know it’s coming can make a lot of money from it.

Boomer Power!

For the last 50 years, boomers have been pouring cash into their favorite products and causes. In fact, they’ve been the dominant commercial force in the U.S. since 1946.

The flow of cash began with the parents of boomers. They spent liberally on their children – on everything from Gerber foods to hula-hoops – before the boomers themselves took over. The boomers then helped themselves to ever-bigger houses, cars, and TVs. They grew addicted to the convenience of fast food, cellphones, and indoor malls. And they cemented the reputations of iconic brands – from Coke to Jack, T-Bird to Cadillac, and Kleenex to Clorox.

With boomer patronage, businesses grew into giant global companies, and their share prices grew accordingly.Companies favored by boomers like Coke, Clorox, McDonald’s, and Brown-Forman (maker of Jack Daniels) have all gone up around 2,000 percent in just the past 25 years.

Making the Money Last

Now, boomers are scared that they’ll outlive their nest eggs. A research report from BlackRock indicates that 70 percent of their retirement-age clients would be willing to move their accounts to another firm, if that firm could help them avoid running out of money.

Boomers can’t afford any more losses. They have no choice but to play it safe. That’s why I expect that riptide – at least $10 trillion of boomer money – to flood into conservative investments like bonds and the big companies the boomers helped build. Investments in those “boring” companies would give the boomers some much-needed cash income and stretch out their savings.

Playing It Safe With the Best of the Big Global Companies

The best of the boring big companies are in my “Elite 88.” These companies hate to disappoint their shareholders. And they’ve been raising their dividends year in and year out, doubling those payments every 5-10 years. Four percent becomes 8 percent, 8 percent becomes 16 percent, and so on. It adds up to astonishing sums. In just two decades, these companies gave enormous profits to shareholders …

Coca-Cola – 9,350%
IBM – 2,056%
3M – 2,216%
Procter & Gamble – 4,732%

For more than half a century, businesses and individuals have been making money by tapping into boomer trends and lifestyle choices. Boomers have one last trend in them. And that gives you one last chance to climb aboard the boomer bandwagon.

If you’re interested in the “Elite 88,” you can find out more about them in the Sound Profts investment service. Just click here.

Gold Stocks’ Next Big Breakout

I don’t know anybody who knows more about gold and gold stocks than Rusty McDougal, who runs IDE’s The Resource Speculator.

He says gold stocks are going up. No doubt about it.

And when they do, he expects them to rise between 20 percent and 30 percent over a 3-4 day period. Some will double.

That doesn’t give you much time to take action.

You can learn more about the explosive opportunities in the gold market and Rusty’s service here.

The Banks’ $3 Trillion Payback

Home sales in the Hamptons are rising. They surged 32 percent in the third quarter. Detroit’s sales are dropping like a lead balloon. Anything surprising here?

The industrial powerhouse that once was America is no more. Say good-bye to “What’s good for GM is good for the country.” Say hello to “What’s good for Wall Street is good for the country.” The government gave out hundreds of billions of dollars to save our big banks. And now bankers are making big bonuses again … and again buying mansions in the Hamptons.

The eventual bill to American taxpayers will climb into the trillions, according to the Peterson Institute for International Economics. They say: “The amount of working capital you’d expect the government to take into this would be around $3 trillion to $4 trillion.”

The government took over GM and dismissed its CEO. It gave strict orders to Detroit’s “Big 3” to shrink. So far, GM has let go over 21,000 workers.

Meanwhile, central bank money is almost free. Big banks are helping themselves to dollops. They’re doing more trading than lending with it. And their profits have surged. Can’t argue with the bottom line, can we?

U.S. carmakers got a one-month buying surge in August from the clunker program. Sales in September were horrible.

The Obama government has already decided not to limit the size of banks. And at the first sign of trouble, the government will have their backs. But remember what happened when two of the big three auto companies got into trouble? They were allowed to go into Chapter 11.

Getting the picture?

The big banks own Washington lock, stock, and barrel. Coddled and protected by the government, they have all the juice. And the auto industry is getting squeezed.

IDE’s Ted Peroulakis thinks it stinks. But that didn’t prevent him from betting on the financial sector at the beginning of earnings season. And he made a cool 100 percent profit for subscribers of Options Power Trader. For how you can participate in Ted’s other options plays, click here.

Invest Safely,

Andrew Gordon

Investor’s Daily Edge

Gaming Wall Street’s Favorite Charade

Investors Daily Edge — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:13:19 +0000

Gaming Wall Street’s Public Relations Charade

Every three months investors get a chance to game Wall Street’s great public relations charade. CEOs solemnly declare their recent quarterly profits. They then explain what went right (and to a lesser degree what went wrong) to those listening in on the conference call.

But what appears to be the objective disclosure of a company’s recent performance is anything but. They’re carefully orchestrated PR session. They remind me of the public appearances of politicians running for office in campaigns elaborately planned by highly paid people.

And the financial media industry which is bought and paid for by Wall Street sends their 25-year old kids down there to lap it up.

Every once in a great while an analyst questions the logic imperiously imparted by the CEO. For example, one such analyst, Meredith Whitney, questioned the health of banks a couple of years ago when everybody else considered toxic assets a minor irritant.

But for every Ms. Whitney there are 500 analysts who drink the Kool-Aid.

As an investor, if you know how this game works you can make a lot of money. IDE’s Ted Peroulakis has been observing these public relations charade for over a decade. He knows how the game is played. And he knows how to work it to his advantage.

When Bad Performances Are Good Enough

Ted does most of the hard work well before these public relations charade take place. Ted explained to me just how he does it…

“If you follow a company closely, you can see how they are spinning their performances. And if analysts are falling for it. Recently I’ve seen many instances of analysts making big downward adjustments in response to pessimistic statements by companies. For every 20 companies this happens to, I pick one or two to make a play on.”

Recently Ted noticed that analysts were paying too much attention to JP Morgan Chase’s weak loan portfolio and not enough attention to its profit-making trading activities. Ted correctly predicted that the bank would beat expectations. And they did so easily when they reported last week. Ted’s recommended call option on a financial ETF gave his Options Power Trader readers a 100% gain.

Ted did the same thing with Freeport McMoRan, the huge copper and gold mining company. He noticed the company had made big cuts. At the same time it was complaining about rising mining costs. While analysts focused on rising operational costs, Ted focused on rising commodity prices. Convinced that Freeport would easily exceed expectations, he suggested a call option and nailed it. Last week the option gave his readers another 100% profit.

Another company, Research in Motion, also convinced analysts that it wasn’t doing so well. Ted saw another opportunity to make his readers a quick profit. He suggested a call option. The results? A 152% gain for his readers.

If you’re interested in Ted’s Options Power Trader service, click here.

Why Not Now?

I’m amazed at how many of my friends insist on ignoring their portfolio. These are smart and successful people who usually like to tackle issues head-on. But when it comes to investing, they morph into wishy-washy bystanders. What’s going on?

I can think of three reasons why people ignore their investments and I’ve seen all three in play during the past year…

The stock market is climbing ferociously and your portfolio is making great gains.
The stock market is sinking along with your portfolio. It’s too ugly to contemplate, much less do something about it.
The market goes up some days and goes down others. You’re confused and unsure what to do. And there’s no consensus in the mainstream financial media what is going on. Without a clear direction you do nothing.

The Invention of the So-Called Self-Adjusting Portfolio

It’s never good to ignore your portfolio. Your oven may be self-cleaning. Your computer may automatically clear your hard drive of stray viruses. But your investments require your attention…always. There are no exceptions to this rule, not even for target-allocation funds.

What are target-allocation funds? If you believe Wall Street brokerages, they self-adjust to your changing toleration for risk. These funds take into account your age and assume that the older you are, the less risk you want. So as you grow older, the funds automatically increase your bond investments and decrease your stock investments.

That’s fine as far as it goes, but it leaves out a lot. They don’t take into account whether the stock market is rising or falling. They don’t take into account whether the interest from bonds will cover the rate of inflation. And these funds had a horrible 2008. They offered little in the way of protection.

Target-allocation funds are no substitute for staying on top of your portfolio, whatever the markets are doing…

This Market Is Full of Hot Air

Even if the market is rising (like it has been), you need to watch for these three things:

Valuation. If stocks are getting pricy at the same time as revenues are falling or stagnant, a correction may be at hand. Companies are right now valued as if this were the third year of the recovery, not the third month (if that).
Sentiment. What are investors thinking? When everybody is excited about the market, that usually means the market is running out of buyers to push up stock prices. We’re not quite there but we’re getting close.
Strength of the economy. The market has bought into the phony recovery we’re having. I can’t remind you enough times that what we have isn’t a recovery. The economy has stabilized at a very low level of performance. The market can’t keep going in one direction and the economy in the other indefinitely.

Taking Stock of the Globe

So what can you do when things get ugly here? You know we’re in a global economy. You can always escape Dodge by looking overseas. It’s time your portfolio reflected the real world, especially when you have so much to gain by doing so.

The average American investor has just 6% of his portfolio outside the good ole USA. It should be at least double that. Here are five reasons to diversify outside the U.S.:

Many non-US markets offer faster rates of economic growth than the U.S.
Many of the world’s leading companies are domiciled outside U.S.
The US stock market is not among the 10 best performing equity markets this year
From 1970 to present the U.S. market never ranked as the top performing developed market for any one year
71% of world GDP is generated outside the United States

The easiest way to invest globally is through ETFs (Exchange-Traded Funds). You can pick countries, regions, or global sectors like healthcare, industrials and energy. Andrew Gordon’s most recent pick in his ETF service covers a corner of the global energy market that is preparing for a very long climb. If you want more information on Andy’s service, click here.

Invest Safely,

Bob Irish
Investment Director
Investor’s Daily Edge