How to Master Smart Speculation

Alexander Green shares his top four strategies for smart speculative investing.  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ [Browser View]( [Wealthy Retirement]( How to Master Smart Speculation Alexander Green, Chief Investment Strategist, The Oxford Club [Justice Is Blind]([This New Law Is Going to !#@% Off a Lot of Investors]( Investors will say... "I should have seen it coming." Discover which government - [with new law C-45]( - has finally tipped its hand.  Editor's Note: Today, Wealthy Retirement is excited to feature Alexander Green, editor of our sister e-letter Liberty Through Wealth. Below, Alex explains his philosophy for "smart speculation" - the process of taking on a little risk for dramatic potential upside. Using this strategy, investors seek out opportunities they understand well - and reap the benefits when those investments soar up severalfold. In fact, Alex uses this strategy when identifying the microcaps with the highest potential for his readers. Before, he could share those companies' identities only with small groups of Members - but the opportunities he identified could have landed investors gains of 1,795% or more. Now, at his Microcap Millionaire Summit, Alex wants you to join these winners. At the Summit, he'll reveal how his strategy for smart speculation can help you get advance notice on tomorrow's highest fliers. [Click here to join the Summit.]( We often discuss long-term "buy and hold" investing here at Wealthy Retirement - but smart speculation also has an important role in a healthy investing strategy. Read on below to discover how you can apply this philosophy to your own investing. - Mable Buchanan, Assistant Managing Editor ---------------------------------------------------------------  [Alexander Green]  It's been said that one good speculation is worth a lifetime of prudent investing. I know this to be true from personal experience. Three of my investments - each up more than hundredfold - have had a dramatic effect on my long-term returns and total net worth. How do you identify an investment with the potential to go up severalfold?  Question of the Week  How much of your holiday shopping is complete so far? [Click here to answer.](  There's a process. I call it "mastering the art of intelligent speculation." Let's start by defining the terms investor, trader and speculator. Investors measure their returns in years - or decades - and ignore short-term fluctuations. (Typical investment selections include blue chip stocks, index funds and high-grade bonds.) Traders, on the other hand, measure their returns in weeks or months. They don't ignore short-term fluctuations. They seek to capitalize on them. (Typical trading vehicles are small cap and midcap stocks, hypergrowth stocks, and other high-beta equities.) Speculators seek even higher short-term gains and are willing to risk more - potentially the entire investment - to achieve their goals. (This category includes options, futures, penny stocks and cryptocurrencies, for example.) The three groups are not mutually exclusive, of course. In my experience, the best approach is to be a long-term investor who also trades regularly and speculates occasionally. Intelligent speculators, in my view, combine the best qualities of each. They are short-term oriented and willing to risk more in the pursuit of much higher-than-average returns - but are also willing to hold longer term if it maximizes profits. To better understand intelligent speculation, let's consider four things that it is not... 1. Timing the market If part of your speculation is based on a guess about what any market - stocks, bonds, currencies, metals, commodities - is about to do next, it is fundamentally flawed. I am a militant agnostic on this subject. (I don't know what the market will do next - and neither do you.) Everything about the future that is known or highly probable is already discounted in stocks by rational, self-interested investors. (That's why academics call financial markets "efficient.") What will move stocks tomorrow or next week is tomorrow's or next week's news. We can't know that now. And betting on the unknowable is gambling, not intelligent speculation.  [Let's "Make Americans RICH Again!" - Bill O'Reilly]( [Bill O'Reilly](He's the highest-rated news host of all time... And the bestselling nonfiction author of all time... And today, he's revealing the secret way he's "made a lotta money." (Hint: It's NOT from his TV show.) Join Bill O'Reilly on his EXCLUSIVE new project to help Americans get rich. [Go HERE now.](  2. Investing in things you don't understand Warren Buffett missed the dramatic run-up in internet stocks two decades ago. He also sidestepped their complete meltdown. Why? Because he didn't understand them. In Berkshire Hathaway's annual report 18 years ago, he said, "We have embraced the 21st century by entering such cutting-edge industries as brick, carpet, insulation and paint. Try to control your excitement." If you are an expert on cryptocurrencies, blockchain, nano caps, angel investing or arbitrage, go knock yourself out. The rest of us can reasonably pass on these categories. 3. Getting stuck in illiquid securities You wouldn't enter a building without clear, easy-to-find and well-marked exits. The same should be true in your portfolio. Always prefer securities that are easy and inexpensive to trade, have plenty of volume (i.e., high liquidity), and have no surrender penalties. To me, intelligent speculation means giving a pass to hedge funds, annuities, art and collectibles, private equity, venture capital, and options that trade by appointment only. You should be able to exit any speculation on a moment's notice and - especially in today's world of deep-discount brokers - at a cost of no more than a few dollars. 4. Overestimating the potential of low-priced stocks It may seem reasonable to you - as it appears to be to so many investors - that it is easier for a $5 stock to go to $10 than it is for a $50 stock to go to $100. I can assure you this is not the case. Plenty of research confirms this. Unfortunately, the same studies also show that it is a whole lot easier for a $5 stock to go to zero than it is for a $50 stock. I could get into a long, technical explanation of why low-priced stocks do not outperform higher-priced ones, but let the following suffice... Corporate officers and directors receive much of their compensation in the form of option grants. That means the better the stock performs, the higher their compensation. If a low-priced stock truly outperformed a higher-priced one, wouldn't they simply split the stock down to a few dollars a share and reap the rewards? They don't because it wouldn't. The share price of a stock tells you nothing about its upside potential. These are just a few examples of the wrong ways to go about speculating. In my next column, we'll look at the right ways. Intelligent speculation is not an oxymoron. And following just a few important principles will dramatically impact your real-world returns. Good investing, Alex P.S. [Click here to join my Microcap Millionaire Summit.]( In it, I pull back the curtain on how I pick out the most profitable microcap companies for my readers. Now that I'm finally allowed to share my research with a wider audience, I want to make sure you're not left out. [Click here to learn more.](  [Click Here to Comment](  [Gold Chart]( [Do you own gold?]( See that volume spike? [Somebody just decided to buy a LOT of gold.]( And I think I know why... it's all about a meeting that's scheduled for December 11. If you own gold (even just a few ounces of it) you've got to see what's happening. The big announcement is just days away. [Click here now.](  - More From Wealthy Retirement -   [Sad Santa Claus]( [Will This Grinch Stop the Santa Claus Rally?]( [This year's Santa Claus rally may be short-lived if "Tariff Man" intervenes.](  [Macy's Day Parade]( [Can This 9.9% Yield Keep Up Its Tradition?]( [Revenue at this retail giant has been slowly slipping. As a result, its dividend safety may be at risk.](  [Global Stocks]( [3 Reasons to Buy International Stocks]( [Investors should consider adding more global stocks to their portfolios.](    [Facebook]( [Twitter](   [Michigan Sailor Discovers $90K/Year Income Secret]( [Man Waving From Boat]( Shawn Daly spent his career testing medical safety procedures. Yet thanks to a bold new retirement tactic, he tells us he's now "enjoying my new 42-foot boat and looking forward to cruising the Great Lakes." Shawn adds, "I'm now collecting a very comfortable income" of $90,000 per year! To see how even cautious seniors can collect these BIG income payouts, [just click here](.  You are receiving this email because you subscribed to Wealthy Retirement. To unsubscribe from Wealthy Retirement, [click here](. Need help with your account? [Click here](. Have a question or comment for the editor? [Click here]( mailto:mailbag@oxfordclub.com?subject=Wealthy%20Retirement ). Please do not reply to this email as it goes to an unmonitored inbox. To cancel by mail or for any other subscription issues, write us at: Wealthy Retirement | Attn: Member Services | 105 West Monument Street | Baltimore, MD 21201 North America: [1.855.402.3939]( | International: [+1.443.353.4057]( | Fax: [1.410.329.1923]( Website: [www.wealthyretirement.com]( Keep the emails you value from falling into your spam folder. [Whitelist Wealthy Retirement](. © 2019 The Oxford Club LLC All Rights Reserved [Oxford Club] The Oxford Club is a financial publisher that does not offer any personal financial advice or advocate the purchase or sale of any security or investment for any specific individual. Members should be aware that although our track record is highly rated by an independent analysis and has been legally reviewed, investment markets have inherent risks and there can be no guarantee of future profits. The stated returns may also include option trades. We expressly forbid our writers from having a financial interest in their own securities recommendations to readers. All of our employees and agents must wait 24 hours after online publication or 72 hours after the mailing of printed-only publications prior to following an initial recommendation. Any investments recommended by The Oxford Club should be made only after consulting with your investment advisor and only after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company. Protected by copyright laws of the United States and international treaties. The information found on this website may only be used pursuant to the membership or subscription agreement and any reproduction, copying, or redistribution (electronic or otherwise, including on the world wide web), in whole or in part, is strictly prohibited without the express written permission of The Oxford Club, 105 W. Monument Street, Baltimore MD 21201. Â