How to Earn 1% or More on an FDIC Bank Account

Are you concerned about the lofty levels of the stock market and have much of your investment assets in cash? But maybe you are sick of earning one hundredth of one percent (0.01%) on you savings. There are actually ways to earn a hundred times that amount, even more, and still get FDIC protection.

The number one question that potential customers ask is how these banks can offer an interest rate of 1% or more. Think about it. If it is an online bank, there are plenty of expenses that are eliminated which are required of brick-and-morter banks. Online banks don't have to pay a lease for retail space, no salaries or benefits for tellers, new account reps, and branch managers, no electricity, no alarm services, and so on.

All those savings are passed on to the depositors. If the opening of accounts and deposits and withdrawals are all handled online, there is very little expense involved.

So what banks make these offers, you might ask. Here is a list of several, all of which are offering FDIC insured accounts up to the maximum allowed by law. A couple of them do have minimums to open and/or maintain an account without incurring a fee.

Bank	Type Acct.	FDIC	Interest Rate	Min. to       Open	Min. for         Interest
SFGI Direct	Savings	yes	1.06%	$500	$1
Synchrony Bank	Savings	yes	1.05%	$30	$1
Ally Bank	Savings	yes	1.00%	$0	$1
Barclays	Savings	yes	1.00%	$0	$1
iGObanking.com	Savings	yes	1.00%	$0	$1
MySavingsDirect	Savings	yes	1.00%	$0	$1

Rates, fees, and minimums can change at any time, so read the details on the banks' website before depositing.

The Latest NEW Top Selling Stock Market Books

Those of you who had read my article about a week ago on the best selling stock market books may have noticed (along with the commenters) that all the books were published years ago.  So I heard your messages and your feedback and have come up with a list of the NEWEST best selling books in the areas of the stock market and investing.

Here are the latest New books relating to investing and stocks:

Investing in Private Securities For Dummies by Joel G. Block

If you've heard it once you've heard it a million times: the best way to build your investment portfolio is to diversify. But how many options are out there, really? Investing in Private Securities For Dummies introduces you to an alternative type of investment that can bring new opportunities to your portfolio. This illuminating book guides you in identifying and understanding the risks and rewards that are associated with private placements, and offers information that can help you avoid scams while taking advantage of new regulations that have made private placements a viable and lucrative option for your portfolio's expansion. This approachable yet informative reference answers the tricky questions that make investing intimidating, and arms you with the information and confidence you need to make educated decisions about private placement investment opportunities. 

A private placement is the sale of securities to a small number of investors. Organizations offer private placements to select investors, and aren't beholden to the same regulatory oversight as they are with other types of investments. As such, private placement is a great opportunity if you have it—but it's one about which you want to be educated.

About Daytrading The Market: How To Day Trade The Market For Embarrassing Juicy Profits Pull Massive Piles Of Hard Cold Cash To Easy Instant Forex ... 9-5, Live Anywhere And Join The New Rich by X, Trader
This book is not your regular hog wash advice that you will find from your broker and the other magic bullets and seven step series that you see on this site. This book teaches you how to trade like the pros. Shows you how the big banks and foreign nationals and institution trade. The book opens your eyes to how to piggy back on the big institutional traders and win. Ninety Five percent of the people that trade the Forex market lose money and give up. The market is continually replaced by fresh blood like yourself. Don't become part of the statistics.

Assessing Relative Valuation in Equity Markets: Bridging Research and Practice by Emanuele Rossi and Gianfranco Forte
This book addresses the gap between the widespread use of stock market multiples in valuation practice and the frontiers of research on multiples. The book's approach is twofold: the authors first analyse the performance of multiples metrics in predicting the market price of a set of liquid and highly traded US stocks. The authors then employ these results to test profitable stock purchasing strategies employed in order to 'beat the market'. The results presented widen our understanding of the “market performances” of the valuation tools practitioners utilise in their everyday work. The evidence is of interest to researchers  and equity analysts, who wish to analyse the circumstances in which valuation errors using multiples are more frequent and when market multiples become ineffective in estimating market prices.

Traders of the New Era Expanded Edition: Interviews with a Select Group of Day and Swing Traders Who are Still Beating the Markets in the Era of High Frequency Trading and Flash Crashes by Fernando Oliveira and Leandro Oliveira
In this expanded edition of the book Traders of the New Era there are 3 additional interviews (The Home Run Swing Trader, The Futures Scalper and the Futures and Options Veteran), 1 extra chapter (The Trader Tool Box: Tricks, techniques and methods to fight against HFT) as well as additional improvements and corrections. Most traders fail. This has been especially true after the rise of High Frequency Trading and electronic markets, but what are the main characteristics of the traders that do succeed? That and other answers are provided by Fernando Oliveira in this book with in-depth interviews with traders and market experts. If you are tired of outdated day and swing trading literature that is available in bookstores and are looking for something more in touch with the current market structure then this book will please you with a wealth of up to date advice, tips, strategies and techniques.


Elliot Wave Techniques Simplified: How to Use the Probability Matrix to Profit on More Trades by Bennett McDowell

Based on the principles of visionary analyst Ralph Nelson Elliott, the time-tested techniques you’ll find in this book have helped successful traders navigate the waves of the financial market since the 1930s. Now you can apply these classic but complicated methods using a modern, simplified approach that will help you identify cycles, anticipate trends, and cash in on your trades.

Developed and written by financial market expert Bennett A. McDowell―founder of TradersCoach.com® ―this easy-to-use guide shows you how to:

* Take the guesswork out of your trading strategy

* Read mass psychology signals and avoid emotional trading

* Identify market wave counts with the highest probabilities

* Combine classic and modern techniques for better results

* Anticipate and prepare for future price action in the market

* Sharpen your trading and forecasting skills for long-term success

Unlike other trading guides, this book provides a complete, systematic approach to Elliott Wave techniques based on “McDowell’s Probability Matrix,” a unique and powerful tool for verifying the signals of market trends and cycles through historic prices and patterns. You’ll find real-world case studies and step-by-step trading rules for McDowell’s favorite trade setups including the Flat Bottom Breakout and Wave 5 Breakout. You’ll be able to create your own probability matrix to identify the highest probability tradesand you’ll hear a firsthand account of McDowell’s system in action from a student of the “Trader’s Coach” himself. Best of all, you won’t need any specialized software other than the charting platform and market data feed you’re already using. If you need more guidance, the book supplies you with additional resources at no extra cost.

The New Wave of Trading: The Future of Trading Stocks, Options, and Futures by Andrew Keene
Andrew Keene is President & CEO of AlphaShark Trading, which he originally founded as KeeneOnTheMarket.com in 2011. Previously, Andrew Keene worked as a proprietary trader at the Chicago Board Options Exchange. He began his career in the prestigious Botta Capital ‘clerk-to-trade’ program, and would eventually co-found KATL Group, where he was the largest, independent on-the-floor Apple trader in the world. In his new book “The New Wave of Trading: The Future of Trading Stocks, Options and Futures,” 

Andrew breaks down some of the most difficult and misunderstood trading concepts in simple and easy to understand examples. Andrew has educated thousands of traders around the world and wrote this book to help retail traders move their trading to the next level. In this book Andrew will discuss important trading concepts like: - Understanding Price action and Price Momentum - Why Greeks Do Not Matter in Options - The Psychology of Trading - Different Types of Risk - Trading with a Plan - Much More! Over a decade of professional trading experience went into the writing of this book and it is written to in a way that is easy to understand and valuable for a trader of any skill level. Beginner traders and experts will find valuable pieces of trading information along with valuable tips and tricks to help their trading plan regardless of what they trade. If you have any interest in learning how to trade better this is the book for you!

Adventure Capitalism: Globalization and the Political Economy of Stock Markets in Africa by T. Moss
Sub-Saharan Africa, the poorest and least integrated region of the world, now has fifteen stock markets. Adventure Capitalism examines the economic and political forces behind this trend and discusses the potential consequences of financial market integration for developing countries. Using a political economy approach, it finds that financial globalization presents a formidable challenge for African policymakers, but is also an opportunity with a range of benefits.

Dividend investing : a quick beginner guide by Richard Smiths
This book contains proven steps and strategies on how to get started quickly on the path of dividend investing and ready to hit the ground running. 

Dividend Investing is an investing approach where money is invested in stocks, bonds, mutual funds for seeking dividends that are regularly distributed to invest in the form of either cash or extra shares. Dividend Investing has over the time served investing community very well thru various up or down market cycles with lesser risk and helped investors accumulate wealth over a period of time. 

There is no easier way to achieve financial independence than to make more money while spending less. This principle has held true for generations and will continue to do so for years to come. What you do with the money you save is even more pivotal. Savvy individuals choose to invest it. Understanding different avenues of investing is pivotal to ensure your success in personal finance and towards your retirement. 

Mindset: The New Psychology of Trading Success: Losers Are Born And Winners Are Made (How To Grow Small Account Book 1) by Kemal Choudhury
Traders get stuck at predictable points in their journey to trading success. Despite years of training and effort, something holds them back from the success they know is possible. They want and need the fruits of trading success. They can feel the urgency of it. But, week after week (month after month), it stays out of their grasp. And they remain marginal traders. This is normal, for practically every trader gets struck here. The question is for how long. 

When the trader finally recognizes that he or she is the problem in their trading and decides to do something about it (rather than keep delaying), this is when things can change. The lack of trading success is not a hidden character flaw. Rather it is rooted in the biological commandments that compel us to seek certainty and control even when confronted again and again by the lack of certainty and control over outcome in the world of trading. 

Do you want to learn how to adapt your brain and mind so that it stays disciplined, focused, and poised when engaged with a world that cannot be known for sure?

Change: Investing in a Low Growth World by Rudy Filapek-Vandyck
An expose on the many macro trends that are keeping a lid on economic growth, inflation, bond yields and interest rates and how this is impacting on companies and economies worldwide. The underlying thesis is investors should no longer rely on what worked in the past, but instead they should adapt to the new environment and adjust their portfolios and strategies accordingly. Many of the themes have a global carry, but when it comes to the nitty gritty, this book is aimed at the Australian share market.

Short Selling: Finding Uncommon Short Ideas by Amit Kumar

When an investor believes a stock is overvalued and will soon drop in price, he might decide to "short" it. First, he borrows an amount of the stock, and then sells it. He waits for the stock to tank before buying back the same amount of shares at a deflated price. After returning the shares to his lender, he pockets the difference―unless any one of several hard-to-predict variables interferes, and the stock fails to drop. 

Since these variables are so hard to predict, short selling is difficult for even seasoned investors. It takes great talent and experience to isolate the best short ideas for falling stocks―skills Amit Kumar developed and honed over decades of market analysis and trading. This book shares his short-selling framework, built on themes common to falling stocks and the market's endemic strengths and cycles. Featuring key case studies and exclusive interviews with successful fund managers Bill Ackman (Pershing Square Capital Management) and Mark Roberts (Off Wall Street Consulting Group), Kumar shows investors how to avoid traps and profit from well-researched short ideas. Investors may not always act on short ideas, but they can avoid losses by using Kumar's framework to identify overvalued stocks. Professionals and amateur investors alike will benefit from this fundamental research approach, which transforms short selling into a long-term strategy.

Happy reading!!!

What Stocks the Presidential Candidates Own

This has probably been the wildest election year in the history of the United States. What makes it interesting from a financial standpoint is that the candidates file an OGE Form 278 Public Financial Disclosure Report. By seeing what they own, maybe you can glean what will happen to these stocks if they get elected. Here are the investment holdings as of the candidates' latest filings.

Hillary Clinton (Democrat)

Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton has a couple of Northwestern Mutual cash value whole life insurance policies, plus a universal life policy through AIG (AIG). She also has over $5,000,000 in cash in a J.P Morgan (JPM) account. In addition, she owns over $5,000,000 of the Vanguard 500 Index Fund (VFINX).

And that's basically it in terms of investment assets. However, she has received millions of dollars in honorariums from numerous companies, many of which are publicly traded, such as eBay (EBAY), Qualcomm (QCOM), and Salesforce.com (CRM).

Donald Trump (Republican)

Donald Trump

Donald Trump's form seems to go on forever, pages and pages of stock holdings. Instead of listing every one of them (around 600 listings), I've decided to list just a few of the stocks that he owns.

Agrium
AT&T (T)
Bank of Montreal
CenturyLink
Freeport-McMoran
General Electric (GE)
GlaxoSmithKline
Halliburton
International Paper
Mosaic
Pepsico (PEP)
Raytheon
Seadrill
Transocean
Verizon (VZ)
Wal Mart (WMT)
Apple (AAPL)
Caterpillar (CAT)
VISA
Gilead
Waste Management
Yahoo
Amgen
Philip Morris
UPS
MasterCard
Pfizer
Amazon (AMZN)
Costco
Disney (DIS)
Google (GOOGL)
Microsoft (MSFT)
Nike (NKE)
and the list goes on and on

Bernie Sanders (Democrat)

Bernie Sanders

It appears that Bernie Sanders doesn't own any stocks or investments. However, his wife owns over a dozen VALIC mutual funds. She also owns four Vanguard funds, each amounting to somewhere between $1,000 and $15,000 each.

Gary Johnson (Libertarian)

Gary Johnson

The financial statement for Gary Johnson, the Libertarian candidate and former Governor of New Mexico, is not as up-to-date as the other three candidates. He owns lots of real estate including interests in motels and office buildings. In addition, he owns over 509,000 shares of Cannabis Sativa Inc. (CBDS).

If you want to see the real forms, you can check them out at OpenSecrets.org.

If you like interesting stock lists like this, be sure to check out many of the free stock lists at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com

Stocks Going Ex Dividend the First Week of June

Here is our latest update on the stock trading technique called 'Buying Dividends,' also commonly referred to as 'Dividend Capture.' This is the process of buying stocks before the ex dividend date and selling the stock shortly after the ex date at about the same price, yet still being entitled to the dividend. This technique generally works only in bull markets, and can work in flat or choppy markets, but you need to avoid the technique during bear markets.

In order to be entitled to the dividend, you have to buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, and you can't sell the stock until after the ex date. The actual dividend may not be paid for another few weeks. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has compiled a downloadable and sortable list of the stocks going ex dividend in the near future. The list contains many dividend paying companies, lots with market caps over $500 million, and yields over 2%. Here are a few examples showing the stock symbol, the ex-dividend date, and the yield.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.	AJG	6/1/2016	3.2%
American National Bankshares	AMNB	6/1/2016	3.6%
American National Insurance	ANAT	6/1/2016	2.8%
Arrow Financial	AROW	6/1/2016	3.5%
AVX Corp	AVX	6/1/2016	3.1%
General Cable Corporation	BGC	6/1/2016	5.2%
Brooks Automation	BRKS	6/1/2016	3.7%
Chemical Financial	CHFC	6/1/2016	2.6%
Coach, Inc.	COH	6/1/2016	3.4%

The additional ex-dividend stocks can be found at wsnn.com. (If you have been to the website before, and the latest link doesn't show up, you may have to empty your cache.) If you like dividend stocks, you should check out some of the other high yield stock lists at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com or WSNN.com. Most of the lists are free. 

Dividend definitions:

Declaration date: the day that the company declares that there is going to be an upcoming dividend.

Ex-dividend date: the day on which if you buy the stock, you would not be entitled to that particular dividend; or the first day on which a shareholder can sell the shares and still be entitled to the dividend.

Monthly Dividend Stock List
Record date: the day when you must be on the company's books as a shareholder to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is normally set for stocks at two business days before the record date.

Payment date: the day on which the dividend payment is actually made, which can be as long at two months after the ex date.

Book now available: Buying Dividends Revised and Expanded

Book now available: Stock Market Trivia Makes a Great Gift!

Don't forget to reconfirm the ex-dividend date with the company before implementing this technique.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

Nasdaq Denies Cannabis Technology Company MassRoots; Shuns the Regulated Cannabis Industry

Denver, CO (May 25, 2016): MassRoots (OTCQB: MSRT), one of the largest and fastest growing technology platforms for the cannabis industry, received notification on Monday, May 23, 2016, that the Nasdaq will be denying MassRoots’ application for listing. The Nasdaq determined that as MassRoots may be deemed as aiding and abetting the distribution of an illegal substance, they are unwilling to proceed with MassRoots’ listing application. MassRoots plans to appeal the staff decision to the Nasdaq Listing and Hearings Review Panel.

“With this decision, the Nasdaq has set a dangerous precedent that will prevent nearly every company in the regulated cannabis industry from listing on a national exchange. This will have ripple effects across the entire industry, making it more difficult for cannabis entrepreneurs to raise capital and slow the progression of cannabis legalization in the United States,” stated MassRoots CEO Isaac Dietrich. “This decision must not be allowed to stand and we’re asking every cannabis investor, business, activist and supporter to write a brief note to the Nasdaq in support of our appeal here.”

“If we were a social network for tobacco users or alcohol consumers, the Nasdaq would likely be moving forward on our application even though alcohol and tobacco cause far more deaths and societal damage than cannabis ever will.  Moreover, the Nasdaq has already listed at least 4 biotechnology companies that extract compounds from the cannabis plant for scientific research – actually touching the plant as part of their business model,” continued Dietrich. “We believe the Nasdaq has inappropriately denied our application and look forward to making our case not just to the Nasdaq Listing and Hearings Review Panel, but directly to the American public.”

MassRoots has requested the Nasdaq’s denial letter in writing and will file an 8-K within 4 business days of receipt. The Company plans to appeal the Nasdaq’s decision shortly thereafter. MassRoots will not be affecting a reverse stock split unless its appeal from the Nasdaq is granted.

About MassRoots

MassRoots is one of the largest and most active technology platforms for cannabis consumers, businesses and activists with 900,000 users. It is proud to be affiliated with the leading organizations in the cannabis industry, including the ArcView Group and National Cannabis Industry Association. MassRoots has been covered by the Financial Times, Forbes, Fox Business, Bloomberg, Fortune, and CNBC. For more information, please visit MassRoots.com/Investors.

This information does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy securities or assets of MassRoots. All information presented herein with respect to the existing business and the historical operating results of MassRoots and estimates and projections as to future operations, the success of events that we are attending, and other information, is based on materials prepared by the management of MassRoots and involve significant elements of subjective judgment and analysis which may or may not be correct. While the information provided herein is believed to be accurate and reliable, MassRoots makes no representations or warranties, expressed or implied, as to the accuracy or completeness of such information. In furnishing this information, MassRoots reserves the right to amend or replace some or all of the information herein at any time and undertakes no obligation to provide the recipient with access to any additional information.  

Forward-looking Statements:

Certain matters discussed in this announcement contain statements, estimates and projections about the growth of MassRoots' advertising business, potential partnerships, and our related business strategy. Such statements, estimates and projections may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by the statements made herein include, among others, the success of our advertising initiatives, the continued growth and engagement of our user base, our ability to work with partners of the Company, and unforeseen technical or other problems or issues that could affect the performance of our products or our business. Further information on our risk factors is contained in our filings with the SEC, including the Amendment to our S-1 Registration Statement filed on October 29, 2015. Factors or events that could cause our actual results to differ may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of them. MassRoots undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The recipient of this information is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

Twitter Annual Shareholder Meeting Was Today

Jack Dorsey, CEO,
Anthony Noto, CFO,
Vijaya Gadde, General Counsel
Twitter (TWTR)

Today, May 25, 2016, the Twitter Annual Meeting was held today at the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco, California. There was a turnout of about 60 shareholders. At last year's meeting, Jesse Jackson showed up, but he wasn't there for the meeting this year. On the stage were Jack Dorsey, CEO, Anthony Noto, CFO, and Vijaya Gadde, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary.

Jack Dorsey lead off the meeting showing a presentation of various tweets and videos. He also went over the five priorities for the company, including refining core services and safety. He mentioned the live streaming deal with the NFL.

Then Noto went over the financials. The business part of the meeting, run by Gadde,  took about 15 minutes, where Jack Dorsey and Hugh Johnston were elected to the Board of Directors to serve until the 2019 annual meeting. Also, the Name Executive Officer Compensation passed, the appointment of PriceWaterhouseCoopers as the accounting firm passed, and and the approval of the 2016 Equity Incentive Plan passed.

Then the fun part began: the question and answer period. The first shareholder asked how the expense for software engineers is shown on the financial statements (mostly R&D), and how the stock based compensation is shown (R&D).  Noto explained that the company currently doesn't use stock options; it only issues restricted stock.

Twitter Annual Shareholder Meeting

The same shareholder also asked what types of software the programmers use. Dorsey took that question and said that it has been a transition, starting with Ruby, then Java, Objective-C, then Swift. He said that several programming languages are used, and the programmers use whatever they need to get the job done.

The next shareholder came up with three new verified statuses. He had previously recommended three last year, two of which have been verified.

One young woman came up with a couple suggestions. One was having the ability to send money through Twitter. The other was having the ability to buy Twitter stock through Twitter. Dorsey said that they are looking into a money transfer system.

A shareholder asked about what the catalyst is for an increase in the stock price and both Dorsey and Noto emphasized the push for more live streaming in the areas of sports, entertainment, and news and politics.

When asked if they were open to a takeover offer or a partnership, the answer was essentially no.

Finally, the $3.6 billion in cash that the company has came up. Noto said that they have a couple of options: share buybacks and acquisitions. Management is regularly evaluation how the money should be spent.

Disclosure: Author owns TWTR.

Stocks Going Ex Dividend the Fifth Week of May

Here is our latest update on the stock trading technique called 'Buying Dividends,' also commonly referred to as 'Dividend Capture.' This is the process of buying stocks before the ex dividend date and selling the stock shortly after the ex date at about the same price, yet still being entitled to the dividend. This technique generally works only in bull markets, and can work in flat or choppy markets, but you need to avoid the technique during bear markets.

In order to be entitled to the dividend, you have to buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, and you can't sell the stock until after the ex date. The actual dividend may not be paid for another few weeks. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has compiled a downloadable and sortable list of the stocks going ex dividend in the near future. The list contains many dividend paying companies, lots with market caps over $500 million, and yields over 2%. Here are a few examples showing the stock symbol, the ex-dividend date, and the yield.

Gaming and Leisure Prop REIT	GLPI	5/31/2016	6.9%
Nielsen Holdings N.V.	NLSN	5/31/2016	2.4%
Whitestone REIT Cl B Shs	WSR	5/31/2016	8.7%

The additional ex-dividend stocks can be found at wsnn.com. (If you have been to the website before, and the latest link doesn't show up, you may have to empty your cache.) If you like dividend stocks, you should check out some of the other high yield stock lists at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com or WSNN.com. Most of the lists are free. 

Dividend definitions:

Declaration date: the day that the company declares that there is going to be an upcoming dividend.

Ex-dividend date: the day on which if you buy the stock, you would not be entitled to that particular dividend; or the first day on which a shareholder can sell the shares and still be entitled to the dividend.

Monthly Dividend Stock List
Record date: the day when you must be on the company's books as a shareholder to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is normally set for stocks at two business days before the record date.

Payment date: the day on which the dividend payment is actually made, which can be as long at two months after the ex date.

Book now available: Buying Dividends Revised and Expanded

Book now available: Stock Market Trivia Makes a Great Gift!

Don't forget to reconfirm the ex-dividend date with the company before implementing this technique.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

Stock Earnings Reports for this Week

Looking for some interesting moves in some stocks this week? Check out the companies that will be reporting earnings this week.

If earnings exceed analysts' expectations, the stocks can shoot up. If the numbers underperform, the stock can tank. Then again, occasionally, stocks don't move the way you would have expected.

Anyway, many traders use earnings plays for trading strategies. Also, option traders look for high implied volatility of stocks for for option selling strategies.

Here are many of the stocks reporting earnings this week:

Monday

none

Tuesday

DSW
TOL
VAL 
BBY
INTU

Wednesday

EXPR
COST
GES
WSM

Thursday

ANF 
BURL
SHLD
DECK
GME
ULTA

Friday

BIG
JKS

Top Summer Reading Stock Market Books That Are Must Reads

Summer is approaching, which means vacations, travel, beaches, and swimming pools. While sitting on a plane or lying by the water, what better to keep you occupied than a book on the stock market. There are plenty of great investment books to choose from, all with four stars or higher.

Here is a list of the top sellers:

How to Make Money in Stocks: A Winning System in Good Times and Bad, Fourth Edition by William J. O'Neil

Through every type of market, William J. O’Neil’s national bestseller, How to Make Money in Stocks, has shown over 2 million investors the secrets to building wealth. O’Neil’s powerful CAN SLIM® Investing System―a proven 7-step process for minimizing risk and maximizing gains―has influenced generations of investors.

Based on a major study of market winners from 1880 to 2009, this expanded edition gives you:

• Proven techniques for finding winning stocks before they make big price gains 
• Tips on picking the best stocks, mutual funds, and ETFs to maximize your gains 
• 100 new charts to help you spot today’s most profitable trends

One Up On Wall Street: How To Use What You Already Know To Make Money In The Market by Peter Lynch
More than one million copies have been sold of this seminal book on investing in which legendary mutual-fund manager Peter Lynch explains the advantages that average investors have over professionals and how they can use these advantages to achieve financial success.

America’s most successful money manager tells how average investors can beat the pros by using what they know. According to Lynch, investment opportunities are everywhere. From the supermarket to the workplace, we encounter products and services all day long. By paying attention to the best ones, we can find companies in which to invest before the professional analysts discover them. When investors get in early, they can find the “tenbaggers,” the stocks that appreciate tenfold from the initial investment. A few tenbaggers will turn an average stock portfolio into a star performer.

Lynch offers easy-to-follow advice for sorting out the long shots from the no-shots by reviewing a company’s financial statements and knowing which numbers really count. He offers guidelines for investing in cyclical, turnaround, and fast-growing companies.

The Little Book of Common Sense Investing: The Only Way to Guarantee Your Fair Share of Stock Market Returns by John C. Bogle

To learn how to make index investing work for you, there’s no better mentor than legendary mutual fund industry veteran John C. Bogle. Over the course of his long career, Bogle—founder of the Vanguard Group and creator of the world’s first index mutual fund—has relied primarily on index investing to help Vanguard’s clients build substantial wealth. Now, with The Little Book of Common Sense Investing, he wants to help you do the same.

Filled with in-depth insights and practical advice, The Little Book of Common Sense Investing will show you how to incorporate this proven investment strategy into your portfolio. It will also change the very way you think about investing. Successful investing is not easy. (It requires discipline and patience.) But it is simple. For it’s all about common sense.

With The Little Book of Common Sense Investing as your guide, you’ll discover how to make investing a winner’s game:

• Why business reality—dividend yields and earnings growth—is more important than market expectations
• How to overcome the powerful impact of investment costs, taxes, and inflation
• How the magic of compounding returns is overwhelmed by the tyranny of compounding costs
• What expert investors and brilliant academics—from Warren Buffett and Benjamin Graham to Paul Samuelson and Burton Malkiel—have to say about index investing
• And much more

Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Edwin Lefevre
First published in 1923, Reminiscences of a Stock Operator is the most widely read, highly recommended investment book ever. Generations of readers have found that it has more to teach them about markets and people than years of experience. This is a timeless tale that will enrich your life—and your portfolio.

You Can Be a Stock Market Genius: Uncover the Secret Hiding Places of Stock Market Profits by Joel Greenblatt
A comprehensive and practical guide to the stock market from a successful fund manager—filled with case studies, important background information, and all the tools you’ll need to become a stock market genius.

Fund manager Joel Greenblatt has been beating the Dow (with returns of 50 percent a year) for more than a decade. And now, in this highly accessible guide, he’s going to show you how to do it, too. You’re about to discover investment opportunities that portfolio managers, business-school professors, and top investment experts regularly miss—uncharted areas where the individual investor has a huge advantage over the Wall Street wizards. Here is your personal treasure map to special situations in which big profits are possible, including:

· Spin-offs
· Restructurings
· Merger Securities
· Rights Offerings
· Recapitalizations
· Bankruptcies
· Risk Arbitrage

Where Are the Customers' Yachts: or A Good Hard Look at Wall Street by Fred Schwed
Humorous and entertaining, this book exposes the folly and hypocrisy of Wall Street. The title refers to a story about a visitor to New York who admired the yachts of the bankers and brokers. Naively, he asked where all the customers' yachts were? Of course, none of the customers could afford yachts, even though they dutifully followed the advice of their bankers and brokers. Full of wise contrarian advice and offering a true look at the world of investing, in which brokers get rich while their customers go broke, this book continues to open the eyes of investors to the reality of Wall Street.

It is interesting to note that most of these are classics that have been around for several years, yet they still remain bestsellers. As a matter of fact, Reminiscences of a Stock Operator was written back in 1923. If you haven't read it, you really should buy it. It is a must read!!!

Happy summer reading!

Stocks Going Ex Dividend the Fourth Week of May

Here is our latest update on the stock trading technique called 'Buying Dividends,' also commonly referred to as 'Dividend Capture.' This is the process of buying stocks before the ex dividend date and selling the stock shortly after the ex date at about the same price, yet still being entitled to the dividend. This technique generally works only in bull markets, and can work in flat or choppy markets, but you need to avoid the technique during bear markets.

In order to be entitled to the dividend, you have to buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, and you can't sell the stock until after the ex date. The actual dividend may not be paid for another few weeks. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has compiled a downloadable and sortable list of the stocks going ex dividend in the near future. The list contains many dividend paying companies, lots with market caps over $500 million, and yields over 2%. Here are a few examples showing the stock symbol, the ex-dividend date, and the yield.

Carnival Corp	CCL	5/25/2016	2.8%
Evercore Partners	EVR	5/25/2016	2.4%
Oceaneering International	OII	5/25/2016	3.1%
Reliance Steel	RS	5/25/2016	2.2%
Bank of Hawaii	BOH	5/26/2016	2.8%
Brookfield Canada Office Prop	BOXC	5/26/2016	4.5%
Crane Co.	CR	5/26/2016	2.3%

The additional ex-dividend stocks can be found at wsnn.com. (If you have been to the website before, and the latest link doesn't show up, you may have to empty your cache.) If you like dividend stocks, you should check out some of the other high yield stock lists at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com or WSNN.com. Most of the lists are free. 

Dividend definitions:

Declaration date: the day that the company declares that there is going to be an upcoming dividend.

Ex-dividend date: the day on which if you buy the stock, you would not be entitled to that particular dividend; or the first day on which a shareholder can sell the shares and still be entitled to the dividend.

Monthly Dividend Stock List
Record date: the day when you must be on the company's books as a shareholder to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is normally set for stocks at two business days before the record date.

Payment date: the day on which the dividend payment is actually made, which can be as long at two months after the ex date.

Book now available: Buying Dividends Revised and Expanded

Book now available: Stock Market Trivia Makes a Great Gift!

Don't forget to reconfirm the ex-dividend date with the company before implementing this technique.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

It Became Legal Yesterday

Yesterday, May 16, 2016, was a significant day for investors, especially non-accredited investors. First, let me give you some background.

Up until yesterday, if you wanted to invest in private equity, venture capital, or startups, you basically had to be an accredited investor. An accredited investor is anyone who earned income that exceeded $200,000 (or $300,000 together with a spouse) in each of the prior two years, and reasonably expects the same for the current year, OR has a net worth over $1 million, either alone or together with a spouse (excluding the value of the person’s primary residence).

With these very high thresholds, most investors were excluded from participating hot private deals, especially pre-IPO investments. However, with the implementation of Title III of the JOBS Act (Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act), the rules have changed giving all investors more of a level playing field for investing in private equity offerings. 

As an example, if you have a net worth or income less than $100,000, you can invest the lower of either $2,000 or 5% of your annual income or net worth. Yet, there is a $2,000 floor, so you can invest a minimum of $2,000 per year without regard to your annual income or net worth.

This is similar to crowdfunding, yet instead of the contributor getting a product or being invited to a launch party, they receive equity in the company. 

It is not just the small and medium size investors who benefit, the small startups will now have a lot of advantages. such as simplified financial disclosures and streamlined filings, as long as the amount raised  is less than $1 million. 

If you feel so inclined to read the actual Securities and Exchange Commission Summary of Title III, you can read it here. 

Some of the top equity crowdfunding platforms include CircleUp, RockThePost, MicroVentures, AngelList, and FoundersClub. 

Warren Buffett Berkshire Hathaway 50th Anniversary Symposium - Free Viewing

If you missed the Berkshire Hathaway 50th Anniversary Symposium at The Museum of American Finance in New York City, you missed a great event. Fortunately, the Symposium was videotaped and  the symposium's keynote address, by Lawrence Cunningham, is now available free.

Those new to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway will find all parts of the address to be educational and informative. Aficionados will be particularly interested in Cunningham's critique of "Berkshire's Blemishes," in Part 3. This includes prescriptions for modifying Berkshire, both now and especially when Warren Buffett leaves the scene.

The presentation is divided into five segments and can be found below:

Part 1: What Will Happen to Berkshire After Buffett? 




Part 2: The Beauty of the Berkshire Model




Part 3: The Blemishes of the Berkshire Model




Part 4: Audience Q&A Session 1




Part 5: Audience Q&A Session 2




More more information on the Museum of American Finance, go here.

Stocks Reporting Earnings for this Week

Looking for some interesting moves in some stocks this week? Check out the companies that will be reporting earnings this week.

If earnings exceed analysts' expectations, the stocks can shoot up. If the numbers underperform, the stock can tank. Then again, occasionally, stocks don't move the way you would have expected.

Anyway, many traders use earnings plays for trading strategies. Also, option traders look for high implied volatility of stocks for for option selling strategies.

Here are many of the stocks reporting earnings this week:

Monday

none

Tuesday

HD

RRGB

TJX

VOD

Wednesday

ADI

HRL

LOW

SPLS

TGT

AEO

CSCO

LB

CRM

TTWO,

URBN

Thursday

AAP

DKS

WMT

AMAT

BRCD

GPS

ROST

Friday

CPB

DE

FL