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Financial fraud has been around for as long as financial systems themselves, but the proliferation of the internet has drastically increased the opportunities for scammers to separate you from your hard-earned money. This month, we’ll take a hard look at the most common scams and schemes that you face today, who they affect, and practical steps you can take right now to protect yourself.

In my view, the best strategy for overseas markets is to play the trends with a contrarian value approach. For example, the Hang Seng China Enterprises index, a closely followed gauge of large Chinese listings in Hong Kong, has fallen about 11% so far this month after losing 14% last year. Foreign investors have sold about 90% of the $33 billion worth of Chinese stocks that they had purchased earlier in 2023 and have continued selling this year.

So today, we go against the grain on China.

Gold hit $4,000 an ounce and the signal this is sending is not hard to grasp.

Investors are enjoying stock gains but are hedging downside currency and stock price risk as well as a hedge on growing government debt and geopolitical risk. Gold seems the most popular safe haven as it is viewed as a safe harbor asset in a way that the greenback used to be viewed. Gold’s rally began almost three years ago, fueled by central banks and Chinese investors leery of both its stock and property markets.

Market action has gotten hairy, but it’s no reason to panic. In today’s issue I suggest some defensive moves, plus I have a new, nearly-bulletproof recommendation for dividend growth investors.

Today’s stock is a name you’ll know. The company was born in the early days of the internet and today it’s all grown up—a major player in the world of financial transactions.

Explorer stocks had a good week, but I wanted to highlight that recently, Warren Buffett sold almost 400 million of Apple (AAPL) stock during the second quarter. The Oracle of Omaha sold about 390 million shares of Apple stock, reducing Berkshire Hathaway’s ownership to roughly 400 million shares.

Granted, Berkshire booked some giant investment gains during the second quarter, with Apple accounting for a big share of those winnings. This is nothing to sneeze at, but why did Buffett and company decide to sell the shares, thereby missing out on some big capital gains? Forbes notes that Apple’s average closing price in the second quarter was 186, which is well below the 226 at which the stock closed on August 20.

The rally since the election continues as Bitcoin reached $90,000 for the first time. Tesla (TSLA) has climbed more than 40%, and the KBW Nasdaq Bank Index, which tracks shares of some of the nation’s largest lenders, is surging.

Dutch Bros (BROS) shares jumped 36% this week as it beat analysts’ expectations on the top and bottom lines while offering improved guidance for the remainder of 2024. Sea Limited (SE) soared 10.3% as the Singapore-based company reported overall net income that beat estimates at $153.3 million, with a better-than-projected 31% rise in revenue for the September quarter.

The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady and signaled it is open to cutting later this year, especially if economic growth and employment slow in an election year. Big tech earnings so far are a mixed bag and below elevated expectations.

But cybersecurity companies have been resilient due to ever-growing demand. And today, we add a familiar cybersecurity name to the Explorer portfolio.

As many analysts focus on inflation and the job market, they miss that earnings per share for companies in the S&P 500 for the first quarter now look to be up 5.2% from a year earlier, according to FactSet. Since profits and profit growth are the lifeblood of an economy and stock market, it pays to watch them closely.

For this week’s new idea, we go to a Canadian-based company focused on a different resource and technology crucial to North America and beyond.

Last week’s recommendation, Virgin Galactic (SPCE), took off like a rocket and this week we go underground to recommend a premier global company that provides the backbone for future-oriented technologies such as green energy and electric vehicles.

Looking at the big picture impacting global stocks, U.S.-China haggling continues but the NAFTA redo looks like a done deal as we head into the end-of-year rush. As a result, our Emerging Markets Timer (EEM) moved into a stronger bullish position, putting some distance between its 25- and 50-day averages as it moves back towards 44.

A broad-based Republican victory in the election is spurring a sharp rally on Wall Street as investors bank on investor-friendly policies.


Bitcoin, the U.S. dollar, and gold also rose. It was reported that the gold reserves of Italy and France have risen in value by about $100 billion in the last two years. It is unusual historically for gold and the U.S. dollar to rise in tandem. Gold’s steady rise is also unusual given that traders would normally take profits along the way. U.S. economic sanctions have encouraged many to move into gold beyond the long reach of the U.S. government.



It is amazing how much money is being spent on politics. More than 11,000 political groups spent almost $15 billion to influence the election. Of course, this amount seems small weighed against a global economy of about $100 trillion, with the U.S. accounting for about $23 trillion (and about 35% of global debt).



It will be very interesting who gets the top economic policy posts and the GOP strategy going forward.

Real estate investment trusts (REITs) have largely struggled amid Covid-19. But these two niche REITs are thriving - and are poised to continue doing so.

During any market drop, you might ask, “Should I sell my stocks?” Here are a few guidelines on when to sell stocks and when to hold them.

Alternative energy is the world’s fastest growing energy source & even conservative investors can get in on the amazing growth of this sector