The U.S. military has been the largest investor in drones since the industry got its start 15 years ago. While U.S. military drone spending will continue growing, a recent regulatory breakthrough from the Federal Aviation Association (FAA) sets the stage for commercial drone sales to eclipse military spending and become one of the fastest growing industries in the world in the next five years. #-ad_banner-#A Regulatory Breakthrough The commercial drone industry scored a big win in late August. That was the day the Federal Aviation Association (FAA) opened up the skies to commercial drones. The FAA ruling allows for… Read More

The U.S. military has been the largest investor in drones since the industry got its start 15 years ago. While U.S. military drone spending will continue growing, a recent regulatory breakthrough from the Federal Aviation Association (FAA) sets the stage for commercial drone sales to eclipse military spending and become one of the fastest growing industries in the world in the next five years. #-ad_banner-#A Regulatory Breakthrough The commercial drone industry scored a big win in late August. That was the day the Federal Aviation Association (FAA) opened up the skies to commercial drones. The FAA ruling allows for small commercial drones to operate during daylight and below 400 feet. That alone is a regulatory breakthrough for the commercial drone industry. But the FAA also recently loosened its restriction on commercial drone pilots. Before, a commercial drone pilot needed an actual pilot license. Now, commercial drone pilots will only be required to pass a test that costs $150. These key regulatory adjustments clear the path for the most powerful S&P 500 companies to invest billions of dollars into their commercial drone programs. In fact, it’s already happening. Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) is testing Amazon Prime Air, its system to use… Read More

Geopolitical issues have dominated the markets this year, and polls have been useless in lending any kind of certainty to asset prices. OPEC has successfully managed expectations for a production freeze, even if an eventual deal is still unlikely, which has driven oil prices to nearly double since their February lows. Few would have predicted in January the momentum of the Trump campaign and the potential uncertainty on global trade. #-ad_banner-#As important as these events have been, however, 2016 will likely be remembered for one event in particular.  A referendum that most polls predicted would fail has forced a massive… Read More

Geopolitical issues have dominated the markets this year, and polls have been useless in lending any kind of certainty to asset prices. OPEC has successfully managed expectations for a production freeze, even if an eventual deal is still unlikely, which has driven oil prices to nearly double since their February lows. Few would have predicted in January the momentum of the Trump campaign and the potential uncertainty on global trade. #-ad_banner-#As important as these events have been, however, 2016 will likely be remembered for one event in particular.  A referendum that most polls predicted would fail has forced a massive selloff in one of the world’s top currencies, and has put in doubt the future of one of its largest economies. As is always the case, investors have rushed to the exits in this environment of economic uncertainty. When the dust settles, though, it may turn out to be one of the year’s best trades. Investors Fearfully Look To The Future Of The UK The British pound is now the worst performing currency of the year, down nearly 16% this year and to its lowest level in 31 years against the U.S. dollar. A flash crash of 6% in… Read More

The health care sector has led the market decline over the past few days, but that’s nothing new. It’s been the worst performer so far in 2016, and it looks like it will continue to move still lower in the coming weeks. The weakness in the sector is pervasive, hitting all subgroups, but drug stocks seem to be technically poised for a serious decline.  #-ad_banner-#I’ve noticed a pattern in some of the biggest drug stocks, specifically Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) and Merck (NYSE: MRK), where they trade near their 52-week highs in a tight range or rectangle pattern, break out on… Read More

The health care sector has led the market decline over the past few days, but that’s nothing new. It’s been the worst performer so far in 2016, and it looks like it will continue to move still lower in the coming weeks. The weakness in the sector is pervasive, hitting all subgroups, but drug stocks seem to be technically poised for a serious decline.  #-ad_banner-#I’ve noticed a pattern in some of the biggest drug stocks, specifically Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) and Merck (NYSE: MRK), where they trade near their 52-week highs in a tight range or rectangle pattern, break out on news and then fail badly. Pfizer did this in July and has been falling ever since. Merck, on the other hand, broke out and failed just this week, so the jury is still out on that one. A lesser-known drug stock is currently exhibiting the same pattern as Pfizer and Merck, which could result in a nice profit for short sellers. Zoetis (NYSE: ZTS), which focuses on drugs and vaccines for pets and livestock, was actually spun off from Pfizer in 2013, so there’s not a lot of history for chartists to ponder. But the short-term pattern of range, breakout… Read More

Nestled within the beauty of Maine’s Acadia National Park, on the picturesque Mount Desert Island, is a place known to many scientists and health care investors as the place where the term “genomics” was coined.  I’m talking about The Jackson Laboratory. #-ad_banner-#I mention this little piece of trivia mostly because of the timeline. It was only 30 years ago when one of the most powerful game-changing trends in health and science, nameless until then, received its title.  The mapping of the human genome only started in the 1970s. Today, only a few decades later and 12 years after the completion… Read More

Nestled within the beauty of Maine’s Acadia National Park, on the picturesque Mount Desert Island, is a place known to many scientists and health care investors as the place where the term “genomics” was coined.  I’m talking about The Jackson Laboratory. #-ad_banner-#I mention this little piece of trivia mostly because of the timeline. It was only 30 years ago when one of the most powerful game-changing trends in health and science, nameless until then, received its title.  The mapping of the human genome only started in the 1970s. Today, only a few decades later and 12 years after the completion of the Human Genome Project, it’s hard to understate the impact genomics and genetic mapping has made in health sciences and medicine.  Newer, better diagnostic and treatment choices are now available as a result. For instance, because of recent advances in genomics, doctors are now armed with tools enabling them to locate the risk genes for many genetic diseases. Medical researchers are hard at work to apply these tools to heart disease, diabetes, and more. This leads me to Genomic Health (Nasdaq: GHDX), one of several recent additions I’ve made to the portfolio of my premium newsletter, Game-Changing Stocks. Founded… Read More

Stephen King’s The Lawnmower Man was adapted for the big screen in 1992, the story of a disabled landscaper hooked up to a virtual reality landscape and experimental drugs. The VR experiment boosted the title character’s intelligence exponentially and even helped him talk to the opposite sex.  I watched this moving having just turned 16 years old, and I would be forever hooked on the potential of virtual reality. #-ad_banner-#VR and augmented reality have remained more fiction than fact — until recently. The 2012 Kickstarter campaign for headset maker Oculus Rift raised millions but still lacked the software development to… Read More

Stephen King’s The Lawnmower Man was adapted for the big screen in 1992, the story of a disabled landscaper hooked up to a virtual reality landscape and experimental drugs. The VR experiment boosted the title character’s intelligence exponentially and even helped him talk to the opposite sex.  I watched this moving having just turned 16 years old, and I would be forever hooked on the potential of virtual reality. #-ad_banner-#VR and augmented reality have remained more fiction than fact — until recently. The 2012 Kickstarter campaign for headset maker Oculus Rift raised millions but still lacked the software development to complete the experience. Software and hardware are now coming together and the momentum could create a market to rival the iPhone.  The coming technological leap in consumer electronics could turn a decades long dream into reality… and I’ve found three companies that could benefit big time. This Tech Revolution Is Nearly A Reality Virtual reality and augmented reality (AR) are developing fastest in gaming and entertainment but potential uses can be found in nearly every sector from battlefield training for the troops to buying a home.  There are more than 1.2 billion gamers in the world, an easy market… Read More

It’s the “Las Vegas of Asia.” Sitting at the mouth of the Pearl River Delta — about an hour’s ferry ride from Hong Kong on the south end of mainland China, the former Portuguese colony of Macau is the only place in China where gambling is legal. And in the past decade, it has developed into one of the world’s biggest gambling destinations.  #-ad_banner-#In 2013, gaming revenue in Macau hit $45 billion — nearly seven times larger than Las Vegas.  Many of the large casino players, like Wynn Resorts (Nasdaq: WYNN) and Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS), were among the… Read More

It’s the “Las Vegas of Asia.” Sitting at the mouth of the Pearl River Delta — about an hour’s ferry ride from Hong Kong on the south end of mainland China, the former Portuguese colony of Macau is the only place in China where gambling is legal. And in the past decade, it has developed into one of the world’s biggest gambling destinations.  #-ad_banner-#In 2013, gaming revenue in Macau hit $45 billion — nearly seven times larger than Las Vegas.  Many of the large casino players, like Wynn Resorts (Nasdaq: WYNN) and Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS), were among the first companies to secure a gambling license in Macau, opening their first casinos there in 2006. The timing couldn’t have been better as gaming revenues soared.   And you can see, shares of those stocks climbed right along with those revenues:     The Wild West Of The 21st Century There was just one problem… Prior to 2014, it wasn’t only gambling that took place in Macau… As signs began to creep up in 2014 that China’s economy was not growing as fast as it once was, and the government… Read More

The S&P 500 is trapped in a nasty earnings recession. Earnings have now declined for five consecutive quarters. The last time that happened was during the financial crisis in 2009. In the elusive quest for earnings growth, more companies are turning to a controversial strategy: replacing humans with robots to help cut costs and increase productivity. #-ad_banner-#For example, Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) has more than 30,000 Kiva Robots buzzing around its global network of warehouses. According to Dave Clark, Amazon’s SVP of Worldwide Operations and Customer Service, the robots helped reduce operating expenses by 20%. Just five years ago, those tasks… Read More

The S&P 500 is trapped in a nasty earnings recession. Earnings have now declined for five consecutive quarters. The last time that happened was during the financial crisis in 2009. In the elusive quest for earnings growth, more companies are turning to a controversial strategy: replacing humans with robots to help cut costs and increase productivity. #-ad_banner-#For example, Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) has more than 30,000 Kiva Robots buzzing around its global network of warehouses. According to Dave Clark, Amazon’s SVP of Worldwide Operations and Customer Service, the robots helped reduce operating expenses by 20%. Just five years ago, those tasks were being performed by people. Deutsche Bank estimates that adding a fleet of robots to a new warehouse saves $22 million in fulfillment expenses. Other S&P 500 companies are following Amazon’s lead. Drug store leader CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) has replaced cashiers with self-checkout kiosks in most of its stores. Fast food leaders McDonalds (NYSE: MCD) and Pizza Hut are experimenting with replacing human labor with automated machinery in their restaurants. As Amazon, CVS, McDonalds and Pizza Hut demonstrate, robots can have a huge impact on a company’s profitability. Not only do they have the ability to operate 24/7, robots… Read More

If there’s one lesson that stands out among all those I’ve learned in my 20 years of trading, it’s that even the best research, resources and skills can’t guarantee success. When I was coming up as a pit trader, I was fortunate enough to work alongside and learn from some of the best traders that have every played the market. Many generously revealed their favorite metrics and secret tips to finding market trends and picking the best stocks.  #-ad_banner-#But the thing we never talked about was how often or how badly they lost on trades. Unbeknownst to me, this was… Read More

If there’s one lesson that stands out among all those I’ve learned in my 20 years of trading, it’s that even the best research, resources and skills can’t guarantee success. When I was coming up as a pit trader, I was fortunate enough to work alongside and learn from some of the best traders that have every played the market. Many generously revealed their favorite metrics and secret tips to finding market trends and picking the best stocks.  #-ad_banner-#But the thing we never talked about was how often or how badly they lost on trades. Unbeknownst to me, this was a critical part of the equation, and one that most market gurus never address. I remember feeling inadequate because, as hard as I tried, I still couldn’t pick winners 100% of the time. It wasn’t until I became an options market maker that I learned how to add real odds to my trading. As a market marker, I was required to trade hundreds of contracts on a daily basis. For every trade I took, I was trying desperately to time the market so I could gain a sliver of an advantage. One of my competitors, a trader named Brett, noticed… Read More

The S&P 500 continues to trade within a relatively narrow four-month range, as investors await indication of when the Federal Reserve’s next interest rate hike will be and who will win the presidential election in November. The major U.S. stock indices closed only slightly lower last week, led down by the small-cap Russell 2000, which lost 1.2%. But a sector breakdown looks much worse, with every sector of the S&P 500 finishing the week in negative territory except for financials and energy. #-ad_banner-#The strength in financials was directly attributable to a big jump in long-term interest rates. The yield of… Read More

The S&P 500 continues to trade within a relatively narrow four-month range, as investors await indication of when the Federal Reserve’s next interest rate hike will be and who will win the presidential election in November. The major U.S. stock indices closed only slightly lower last week, led down by the small-cap Russell 2000, which lost 1.2%. But a sector breakdown looks much worse, with every sector of the S&P 500 finishing the week in negative territory except for financials and energy. #-ad_banner-#The strength in financials was directly attributable to a big jump in long-term interest rates. The yield of the benchmark 10-year Treasury note jumped from 1.56% on Sept. 27 to 1.75% on Oct. 6 — a 19-basis-point rise in just seven trading days. This move was apparently triggered by Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s semiannual testimony to the House Financial Services Committee, in which she said she expects the unemployment rate to move even lower but will not hold interest rates low for much longer.  Fear Continues to Act as an Invisible Lid on the Market I try to bring different charts and metrics into Market Outlook each week so it can be a learning tool as well… Read More