Donald Trump continues to dominate U.S. headlines. So today we turn again to Bonner & Partners chief analyst Chris Mayer to explain what investors can learn from “The Donald”…

From Chris Mayer, chief investment strategist, Bonner & Partners: Whether he wins the presidency or not, Trump can teach us a thing or two about investing…

Not long ago, I finished his first memoir, The Art of the Deal. It’s a fun read. Trump tells great stories. He’s funny. And he certainly knows how to make a deal.

“Deals are my art form,” Trump writes. “Other people paint beautifully on canvas or write wonderful poetry. I like making deals, preferably big deals.”

Many people write off Trump’s success because his father, Fred Trump, was already a wealthy real estate developer. They say Trump Sr. gave his son a leg up. But there were five Trump children… and only Donald became a billionaire.

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His first big deal was the Commodore Hotel at Grand Central Station. The owner of the hotel, Penn Central, was in financial trouble.

Trump knew that unless “the city literally died,” the location of the Commodore could make the hotel a hit. He struck a deal with Penn Central, once again using little of his own money. (His father helped with a debt guarantee, a fact Trump conveniently omits in his book.)

Today, the Commodore (Grand Hyatt) is a four-star hotel. Trump sold his interest for $140 million in 1996—about 14 times his purchase price.

Throughout the book, Trump repeats this strategy. He gets the property cheap enough to cover his downside risk… and he buys it with leverage.

Sometimes the strategy didn’t pan out. But using leverage allowed Trump to magnify his wins. It’s a secret of many great investors, including Warren Buffett.

Trump’s early success boils down to this: Buy cheap. And use other people’s money.

With the downside covered, the upside can be enormous.

Reeves’ Note: Like “The Donald,” Chris only buys assets when they are cheap and have plenty of upside. It’s the first of his five-step investment methodology. Between 2004 and 2014, he used this process for an average annualized return of 17.7% for his subscribers. That gave them a chance to turn every $100,000 invested in his ideas into $480,000.

Chris is so confident you’ll succeed using this method, he’s putting $1 million on the line to prove it to you. You can get the details right here.

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