Can you and I beat the legendary returns of Warren Buffett? Absolutely. What’s more, we can do it while “translating” a slice of our gains into a big income stream (with special dividends on the table, too). I’ll show you how in a moment. First, we need to talk about how the 94-year-old Oracle of Omaha, who is now stepping back from the position of president and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A), has changed the course of investing over the years. Every year, as you likely know, Buffett releases a simple letter to investors showing what’s happened with Berkshire’s portfolio.…

The president’s erratic policies are raising concerns the economy might be headed for a downturn, but history suggests that franchise values will continue to climb regardless. When the Boston Red Sox took the field for a belated Opening Day in 2020, there were no fans cheering in the stands, or lined up at the concession stands, or browsing the team shop. The streets around Fenway Park, usually bustling in July, had become a ghost town. That was the norm in Major League Baseball—and countless other sports leagues around the globe—as the Covid-19 pandemic emptied stadiums, canceled games and otherwise decimated…

With an ever-growing list of similar-sounding ETFs to choose from, finding the best is an increasingly difficult task. How can investors change the game to shift the odds in their favor? Don’t Trust ETF Labels There are at least 108 different Technology ETFs and at least 346 ETFs across eleven sectors. Do investors need 31+ choices on average per sector? How different can the ETFs be? Those 108 Technology ETFs are very different from each other. With anywhere from 2 to 442 holdings, many of these Technology ETFs have drastically different portfolios with differing risk profiles and performance outlooks. The…

Historical Bull and Bear Setups The S&P 500 has had a strong rally from its April 7 intraday low of 4,835. As of intraday Thursday, May 8, the market has moved up towards 5,700 and is approaching its 200-Daily Moving Average (DMA) at 5,748. A move above the 200 DMA would be a bullish signal and increase the odds that a new bull run has begun. Given this, we think it is a good time to re-circulate our work on U.S. market corrections and bear market rallies. For historical purposes, we use the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) as our…

Week in Review Asian equities were mostly higher this week on the beginning of trade talks between the US and China, as Japan and China outperformed, while Pakistan and India underperformed as conflict flared up in Kashmir. As of the market close on Thursday, both Hong Kong and Mainland China had fully recovered losses after the April 2nd “Liberation Day” tariff announcements. China executed on multiple policy easing measures on Wednesday, including cutting the reserve requirement ratio (RRR), the 7-day reverse repo rate, and commercial bank lending rates. China’s May Day holiday, which concluded this week, saw increased travel and…

International Consolidated Airlines (IAG) shares flew higher on Friday as the airline group announced forecast-beating results for quarter one. At 294.4p per share, the FTSE 100 company was 1.4% higher in end-of-week trading. The business – whose airline brands include British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus – saw revenues rise 9.6% between January and March, to €7 billion. Operating profit swelled 191.2%, to €198 million, helped by a 17-basis-point improvement in operating margin which increased to 2.8%. IAG said that rising profits reflected “strong revenue growth and a lower fuel price [which] offset expected cost increases.” Net debt dropped by…

Brand execs are always blind-sided when ad campaigns blow up in their faces, but the pain is usually self-inflicted. What’s a Chief Marketing Officer to do? As if Nike didn’t have enough problems (sales slump, stale designs, unfocused branding, executive shakeup), the company recently found itself on center stage in one of those increasingly frequent cultural sideshows that masquerade as news. In Nike’s case, the culprit was a branded slogan that appeared prominently on giant billboards during a recent marathon in London. In bold black letters on a solid field of deep red—“Never Again,” on the top line and “Until…

Key News Asian equities were mixed overnight, as Northeast Asia outperformed Southeast Asia. Pakistan plunged 6.7% as their skirmish with India continues, though India was off only 0.58%. I had no idea how well Pakistan’s stock market has done since it bottomed in mid-2023, which puts the pullback in perspective. Both Hong Kong and Mainland China posted gains after yesterday’s interest rate cuts and economic policy support, as market indices are back at the pre-Liberation Day level, which appears to be acting as resistance. President Trump’s announcement of a major trade deal may have helped sentiment, though the release of…

Vanilla investors fixate on price. We contrarians, focusing on retirement income, know better. It’s all about the NAV. Net asset value, baby. Price is what people pay at a given moment. But people panic. Many like to buy high—and sell low! NAV, on the other hand, is what something is worth at that same moment. Price and NAV can become disconnected, especially during emotional market moments. When this happens, it is often a buying opportunity for careful contrarians like us. Let’s take a pop quiz. Think about the funds you hold in your portfolio. What was your top performing NAV…

Global exchange-traded funds (ETFs) backed by gold bullion reported their highest monthly inflows for more than three years in April, data from the World Gold Council (WGC) shows. Ending the month at 3,561 tonnes, total holdings in these gold funds rose by 115 tonnes from March’s levels. Consequently, holdings reached levels not seen since the pandemic era in October 2020. The total value of last month’s inflows came in at $11 billion, a figure that helped drive total assets under management (AUMs) to fresh record peaks of $379 billion. AUMs also benefitted from yellow metal values reaching new record peaks…