Empire's special investigation goes live today; Under the Radar of Coastal Elites; Panic attack leaving my phone in a taxi; Running in Central Park
1) Today is the day...
At 1 p.m. Eastern time, we're releasing Empire Financial Research's full investigation into what I've been calling the "1,000% Windfall" – what could be my hottest investment idea of the next 12 months.
The fates of entire national economies could be riding on this "1000% Windfall"... and this situation has the potential to change everything in your daily life – from where you shop for groceries, to what kind of car you'll drive, to where you'll go next year on vacation.
Make sure you're on the list to be alerted when this investigation goes live – and get a free "sneak preview" of what we found – by clicking here.
2) If you had to guess the best-performing stocks over a recent 50-year period, what would make the cut?
In 2019, business and finance publisher Kiplinger broke it down and ranked the top 25 performers over the previous half-century.
These stocks delivered to shareholders compounded annualized returns, including dividends, ranging from 13.7% to an astounding 19.8%. Over the same period, the benchmark S&P 500 Index delivered an annualized return, including dividends, of 9.5%.
Coming in with the highest return of 19.8%, I wasn't surprised to see the A-class shares of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) – which I've long called "America's No. 1 Retirement Stock." And even at the other end of the list, asset manager State Street's (STT) 13.7% return still crushed that of the broad market.
Here's the full list:
At pretty much any time in the past half-century, investors would have been well rewarded for buying any one of these stocks – in other words, they would have earned returns far above the market average. By definition, therefore, these stocks were undervalued – not just for years, but for decades – and not somewhat undervalued, but massively so.
Imagine, for example, that you discovered Berkshire at the end of the 1970s, a decade in which the A-shares had soared 662% from $42 to $320... or at the end of the 1980s, after they skyrocketed another 2,611% to $8,675... or even at the dawn of the new millennium, when the shares had jumped another 547% to $56,100.
At each point, even if you had missed the first 10, 20, or even 30 years of phenomenal performance, Berkshire was still hugely undervalued.
What could possibly explain this? Aren't markets supposed to be efficient?
To help answer this question, I looked at the entire list and, in addition to Berkshire, 10 other companies caught my eye:
- Brown-Forman (BF-B)
- Dollar General (DG)
- W.W. Grainger (GWW)
- Home Depot (HD)
- Hormel Foods (HRL)
- Illinois Tool Works (ITW)
- Lowe's (LOW)
- Sherwin-Williams (SHW)
- Tyson Foods (TSN)
- Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA)
These businesses all have two things in common that, I suspect, go a long way toward explaining why they were undervalued for so long: They're in boring businesses and are headquartered in the Midwest and South, far from the financial centers on the coasts where the vast majority of analysts and institutional investors live.
Do you think Buffett and Berkshire would have remained undiscovered and undervalued for so long if they were in New York City rather than Omaha, Nebraska? Not a chance!
I think similar dynamics explain why this month's Empire Investment Report recommendation remains undervalued despite exceptional financial performance over the past decade...
To find out how to learn the name of the company I found and read my full write-up – and how to gain instant access to all of the open recommendations in Empire Investment Report – click here.
3) I was on the phone with someone as my taxi pulled up in front of my building on Sunday night, the last stage of my return from my big trip to Poland and Ukraine.
As I walked in the door of my building, the doormen asked to see a few pictures, so I reached for my phone... and it wasn't there – I had left it in the taxi!
In a total panic, I sprinted down 98th Street, where I saw the taxi crossing Madison Avenue toward 97th Street. By the time I got to Madison, it was still a block away, turning right up Park Avenue.
As I rounded the corner onto Park, I hoped to see it stopped at the light at 97th, but it passed through a yellow light and continued on. I thought I was sunk and was momentarily defeated – it wasn't only my phone, but my driver's license and credit card in a pocket on the back (I no longer carry a wallet)!
But then I saw the taxi stop at a red light on 96th and Park, so I sprinted up the hill... and got there 15 seconds before the light turned!
The taxi driver was a little freaked when I banged on his window, but then he recognized me, unlocked the side door, and there was my phone – I've never been so relieved!
The taxi driver was really sweet, got out, and, seeing me bent over gasping for air, gave me a hug and drove me back to my apartment (I wish I'd taken a selfie with him)...
4) I went for a jog on Tuesday in Central Park – two laps around the reservoir – with my wonderful friends in my "Whitney and the ladies" running group, which I try to make as often as I can (which, sadly, isn't very often these days) at 9 a.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays. Here's a picture of me Tuesday, an earlier one with my group, and one with our awesome coach, Alan Bautista...
Best regards,
Whitney
P.S. I welcome your feedback at WTDfeedback@empirefinancialresearch.com.