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A Basket-Case of Stocks

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Only a handful of stocks, the 10 largest, are responsible for 53% of the S&P 500’s 4.7% advance this year according to Fundstrat Global Advisors. You know the names. But these three stand out the most as The WSJ’s Chris Dieterich writes, “Technology-oriented companies dominate the list: Apple AAPL 0.55% Inc., the world’s largest company by market capitalization, is up more than 22% this year through Monday. Social-media company Facebook Inc. FB 1.46% has risen nearly 23% while e-commerce powerhouse Amazon.com Inc.AMZN 1.96% has climbed 20%.”

It’s a perpetual-cycle. As money flows into index funds that money is required to go into these stocks. Is that the best way to invest your money? Is it blind luck? Very few investors know when to sell. And it has been my experience that they often learn this lesson the hard way over and over again during their investing lifetime.

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E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zildjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West (RIP JB) and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com To sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter, click here.
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