Over at Profit Amplifier, my premium options newsletter service, we’ve taken a decidedly bearish stance over the past month — even as stocks seem to be making new highs. As I’ve stated in many of my alerts, I’m not bearish on the entire market… just those companies that are at risk of slowing growth or are currently overvalued.  And while I see weakness in many areas, there is one sector I believe is undervalued and could continue to flourish despite the coming volatility I’ve forecasted. But before we dive into this sector, there are some important… Read More

Over at Profit Amplifier, my premium options newsletter service, we’ve taken a decidedly bearish stance over the past month — even as stocks seem to be making new highs. As I’ve stated in many of my alerts, I’m not bearish on the entire market… just those companies that are at risk of slowing growth or are currently overvalued.  And while I see weakness in many areas, there is one sector I believe is undervalued and could continue to flourish despite the coming volatility I’ve forecasted. But before we dive into this sector, there are some important market mechanics you must understand. At first glance, most retail investors seem to believe that the election of President Trump has lifted most stocks. While the market’s general performance seems to support that theory, it couldn’t be further from the truth. Many stocks and sectors, such as brick-and-mortar retailers and energy, have had a rough go in the first half of 2017. As I write this, the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE: XLE) is down 13% year to date, and Macy’s (NYSE: M) and many of its peers are down 40%, 50% or more from their recent highs. So… Read More

There are few things in the stock market as exciting as a mergers and acquisitions (M&A) announcement, which refers in this case to a consolidation of publicly-held companies.  Shares can soar or dive in price depending on how the market views the news. Investors try to gauge how effectively the combined company will be able to address its market, and whether the cost of the acquisition was worth it.  There are always multiple M&A opportunities pending, but at the moment there are only a few that everyday investors need to be keeping an eye on. Today’s Most Important M&A Deals … Read More

There are few things in the stock market as exciting as a mergers and acquisitions (M&A) announcement, which refers in this case to a consolidation of publicly-held companies.  Shares can soar or dive in price depending on how the market views the news. Investors try to gauge how effectively the combined company will be able to address its market, and whether the cost of the acquisition was worth it.  There are always multiple M&A opportunities pending, but at the moment there are only a few that everyday investors need to be keeping an eye on. Today’s Most Important M&A Deals  1. Bass Pro Shops’ Acquisition Of Cabela’s (NYSE: CAB) As an avid fisherman, I know both these firms and was quite surprised to learn of the buy-out. #-ad_banner-#The two heavyweights in the outdoor sporting goods market have decided to merge. Cabela’s shareholders recently voted to sell itself to privately held Bass Pro Shops for $5.5 billion or $65.50 per share.  The deal was approved by the FTC in early July and includes Cabela’s stores, website, and catalog business. There remains a hurdle to the deal closing. Cabela’s banking unit is agreed to be sold to Synovus Financial (NYSE: SNV)… Read More

  Federal Reserve officials are great at making forecasts. Unfortunately, their forecasts aren’t always very good. That’s probably why their forecasts attract so much attention.  Earlier this week, John Williams, the president of the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank, said, “The stock market seems to be running pretty much on fumes. It’s something that clearly is a risk to the U.S. economy, some correction there — it’s something we have to be prepared for to respond to if it does happen.” This can be read as a warning from a Fed president that stocks are due for a decline. Read More

  Federal Reserve officials are great at making forecasts. Unfortunately, their forecasts aren’t always very good. That’s probably why their forecasts attract so much attention.  Earlier this week, John Williams, the president of the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank, said, “The stock market seems to be running pretty much on fumes. It’s something that clearly is a risk to the U.S. economy, some correction there — it’s something we have to be prepared for to respond to if it does happen.” This can be read as a warning from a Fed president that stocks are due for a decline. This is the latest in a long line of stock market forecasts from the Fed. —Sponsored Link— The Greatest Commodity Shortage In History  It’s no secret the world faces shortages in many commodities. The world’s diminishing supply of everything from cocoa to coffee… Lithium to lumber… Phosphate to plutonium… Silver to sugar… Is of great concern. But there’s an even bigger and more imminent commodity shortage at hand that no one is talking about. Details here… The most famous warning that stocks could fall probably came from former Fed chairman Alan… Read More

Since the idea of “wearables” and trackers was introduced to the public, any hope of these devices becoming the next major consumer craze has faded, despite their limited popularity. This has caused more than a few competitors in this space to pull products and cut their losses. Shares of Garmin (Nasdaq: GRMN) have been basically flat this year. Apple, meanwhile, refuses to issue details for sales for its smartwatch. In an anticipated filing, San Francisco-based Jawbone went into liquidation last week. Chief Executive Hosain Rahman has already moved on, founding a new company in the health space. The liquidation is… Read More

Since the idea of “wearables” and trackers was introduced to the public, any hope of these devices becoming the next major consumer craze has faded, despite their limited popularity. This has caused more than a few competitors in this space to pull products and cut their losses. Shares of Garmin (Nasdaq: GRMN) have been basically flat this year. Apple, meanwhile, refuses to issue details for sales for its smartwatch. In an anticipated filing, San Francisco-based Jawbone went into liquidation last week. Chief Executive Hosain Rahman has already moved on, founding a new company in the health space. The liquidation is a far cry from the company’s 2014 valuation of $3.2 billion. While the market is facing obvious challenges, the death of the wearables market may be greatly exaggerated. CCS Insight forecasts 2020 sales of $34 billion — more than double last year’s $14 billion. Fitbit Inc. (NYSE: FIT), the one-time leader in the space, has seen its shares plunge 82% since its 2015 IPO. Most investors have written the company off as a has-been with little chance to recover. But I’ve found three reasons that the device maker surge by as much as 52% through this… Read More

Well, we’re just past the midway point of the year. And if nothing changes over the next six months, 2017 will go down as a pretty good year for U.S. stocks. Through June 30, the benchmark S&P 500 had already delivered a return of 10.5%.  If it holds, that would be the strongest performance since 2013.  Unfortunately, if you don’t hold a handful of large-cap tech stocks, then you probably aren’t doing quite as well. You know the ones I’m referring to: Facebook (NYSE: FB), Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN), Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) and Alphabet (Nasdaq: GOOG), previously known as Google. —Recommended… Read More

Well, we’re just past the midway point of the year. And if nothing changes over the next six months, 2017 will go down as a pretty good year for U.S. stocks. Through June 30, the benchmark S&P 500 had already delivered a return of 10.5%.  If it holds, that would be the strongest performance since 2013.  Unfortunately, if you don’t hold a handful of large-cap tech stocks, then you probably aren’t doing quite as well. You know the ones I’m referring to: Facebook (NYSE: FB), Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN), Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) and Alphabet (Nasdaq: GOOG), previously known as Google. —Recommended Link— The U.S. Government Gave You A Gift I know it sounds incredible, but the IRS offers a retirement program that lets you opt-out of the tax system completely. Apply it in a specific way and it can triple your cash flow in retirement. Roger N. made the move and now collects $10,000 a month. He says “It doesn’t get any better…” As long as you are a U.S. citizen with a retirement account, you can make the same move. Here is what you need to do right now.  At the time of this writing, these four giants have… Read More

What a fantastic year in the U.S. stock market. Bullish investors are jumping with joy as the bear brigade has gone into hibernation. The Federal Reserve, showing signs of slowing down its interest rate hike program, has removed a significant headwind to continued advances.  Despite the naysayers trying to tell you otherwise, I think the market will continue surging this year and the top performers will keep pushing higher. Even better, there’s a proven strategy for capturing profits from soaring stocks. What Is Trend Following? Trend Following is a simple yet highly effective method of earning huge returns in… Read More

What a fantastic year in the U.S. stock market. Bullish investors are jumping with joy as the bear brigade has gone into hibernation. The Federal Reserve, showing signs of slowing down its interest rate hike program, has removed a significant headwind to continued advances.  Despite the naysayers trying to tell you otherwise, I think the market will continue surging this year and the top performers will keep pushing higher. Even better, there’s a proven strategy for capturing profits from soaring stocks. What Is Trend Following? Trend Following is a simple yet highly effective method of earning huge returns in the stock market.  At its most elementary, trend following is buying new highs and technical breakouts with the expectation that the upside momentum will continue.  #-ad_banner-#The idea behind trend following is a lot like Newton’s first law of motion. That is, an object in motion tends to remain in motion unless acted upon by an outside force.  The object in this case is price, and the higher it goes, the more investment it attracts, reinforcing the upside momentum.  Buying breakouts and new highs are not the only way to trend follow. Many trend followers believe in waiting for a short… Read More

It was a lightly reported story. It didn’t even warrant more than a short blurb in your local newspaper. Unless you are an industry insider or Washington Beltway junkie, you may have missed it entirely. But last month, the White House orchestrated a landmark agreement paving the way for exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to China.  Right now, U.S. producers are largely shut out of this lucrative market. Most of China’s LNG deliveries come from Australia or Qatar. But that could be changing soon.  As with most commodities, China has a hungry appetite for LNG. In fact, it’s the… Read More

It was a lightly reported story. It didn’t even warrant more than a short blurb in your local newspaper. Unless you are an industry insider or Washington Beltway junkie, you may have missed it entirely. But last month, the White House orchestrated a landmark agreement paving the way for exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to China.  Right now, U.S. producers are largely shut out of this lucrative market. Most of China’s LNG deliveries come from Australia or Qatar. But that could be changing soon.  As with most commodities, China has a hungry appetite for LNG. In fact, it’s the world’s third-biggest consumer, behind only Japan and Korea. Last year, China imported 26 million tons of LNG, an increase of 33% — making it the world’s fastest-growing market.  Wood Mackenzie put pencil to paper and attached a potential dollar amount to this deal. Assuming current prices and projected usage, China could be importing $26 billion worth of LNG a year by 2030.  The question is, how do we get it there?  —Recommended Link— Pick & Shovel Investing For The 21st Century ‘Gold Rush’ From Russian gas and Saudi oil to the isolated cobalt mines of Central Africa — the… Read More

German automaker Volkswagen briefly rocketed to become the most valuable company on earth in a single day. Another stock soared from around $9 per share to over $170 per share in under a year. These crazy bullish moves wiped out a wide swath of investors; while a savvy minority made fortunes during the same timeframe.  Shares, in both examples, were heavily shorted as many investors were betting on the stock to continue lower. However, bullish news took the shorts by surprise, resulting in the infamous short squeeze.  What Is A Short Squeeze? A short squeeze occurs when a stock’s… Read More

German automaker Volkswagen briefly rocketed to become the most valuable company on earth in a single day. Another stock soared from around $9 per share to over $170 per share in under a year. These crazy bullish moves wiped out a wide swath of investors; while a savvy minority made fortunes during the same timeframe.  Shares, in both examples, were heavily shorted as many investors were betting on the stock to continue lower. However, bullish news took the shorts by surprise, resulting in the infamous short squeeze.  What Is A Short Squeeze? A short squeeze occurs when a stock’s outstanding shares are comprised of a significant percentage of short positions. When an unexpected bullish change occurs, the shorts hurry to cover their positions by purchasing back shares.  #-ad_banner-#The resulting buying pressure rapidly pushes the share price higher while trapping the shorts. The climbing price forces greater numbers of short positions to cover, creating a vicious cycle of massive upside momentum. This punishes short sellers while rewarding those few lucky or smart enough to have taken on long positions.  How To Locate Possible Short Squeezes The way to find potential short squeezes is to scan and rank stocks by… Read More