Social media came seemingly out of nowhere and took over our lives. And it’s not just the ubiquitous — some would even say obnoxious — need to check your Twitter (Nasdaq: TWTR) feed or post on Facebook (Nasdaq: FB). The way we get our news and communicate with friends and family has changed forever.  #-ad_banner-#Indeed, the public has adopted social media amazingly fast. It’s hard to believe that just a decade or so ago, it was in its early stages. In fact, the first tweet was sent just 10 years ago on March 21, 2006, almost 130 years to the… Read More

Social media came seemingly out of nowhere and took over our lives. And it’s not just the ubiquitous — some would even say obnoxious — need to check your Twitter (Nasdaq: TWTR) feed or post on Facebook (Nasdaq: FB). The way we get our news and communicate with friends and family has changed forever.  #-ad_banner-#Indeed, the public has adopted social media amazingly fast. It’s hard to believe that just a decade or so ago, it was in its early stages. In fact, the first tweet was sent just 10 years ago on March 21, 2006, almost 130 years to the day after Alexander Graham Bell famously made the first telephone call in his Boston lab.  Twitter officially launched its service on July 15, 2006. It now has 313 million monthly active users (82% of whom are using mobile devices), supports more than 40 languages, and counts 1 billion monthly unique visits to websites with embedded tweets. It’s hard to name a celebrity, politician, athlete, business or media outlet that doesn’t use Twitter to varying degrees. Twitter: A Primer For those of you not among those 300+ million active users, here’s a primer: A tweet is a message written in… Read More

It’s no secret that I don’t think much of the housing and real estate sectors in terms of stock market investments right now. Last week, I panned homebuilder Lennar (NYE: LEN), calling it one of the first stocks you should sell in a market correction. My recommendation to short LEN turned out to be a decent plan. Before the market opened on Tuesday, the company delivered an earnings beat… that was quickly shrugged off as shares closed 3.5% lower on the day. #-ad_banner-# The weakness was blamed on slowing orders for the homebuilder, as well as a report showing lower-than-expected… Read More

It’s no secret that I don’t think much of the housing and real estate sectors in terms of stock market investments right now. Last week, I panned homebuilder Lennar (NYE: LEN), calling it one of the first stocks you should sell in a market correction. My recommendation to short LEN turned out to be a decent plan. Before the market opened on Tuesday, the company delivered an earnings beat… that was quickly shrugged off as shares closed 3.5% lower on the day. #-ad_banner-# The weakness was blamed on slowing orders for the homebuilder, as well as a report showing lower-than-expected August housing starts that was also released on Tuesday. Related sectors such as home furnishings look rather weak, too, with the Dow Jones U.S. Home Furnishings index breaking down below support and its 50-day moving average.  The break was led by office furnishings stocks, but right on their heels is La-Z-Boy (NYSE: LZB), maker of the iconic reclining chair of the same name. This stock is one bad day away from a fresh breakdown of its own. La-Z-Boy had a very strong run from February to August, culminating in a breakout of a short-term range on Aug. 23, with shares… Read More

As investors, we face a great deal of uncertainty. We don’t know who the next President will be or which party will control the House or Senate. We don’t know when, or even if, the Federal Reserve will raise rates. We don’t know how far other central banks around the world will take negative interest rates.  Personally, I don’t expect much to change in the next few months. Interest rates will remain low and elections will continue to be held. Any changes to the current political and economic environment are likely to be small. This means, as investors, we can… Read More

As investors, we face a great deal of uncertainty. We don’t know who the next President will be or which party will control the House or Senate. We don’t know when, or even if, the Federal Reserve will raise rates. We don’t know how far other central banks around the world will take negative interest rates.  Personally, I don’t expect much to change in the next few months. Interest rates will remain low and elections will continue to be held. Any changes to the current political and economic environment are likely to be small. This means, as investors, we can remain focused on finding high-quality stocks with higher-than-average income, like the recent recommendation I made to my Maximum Income premium readers, Ford Motor (NYSE: F). —Recommended Link— The Next Epidemic (It Isn’t Zika Or Ebola)… While Zika and Ebola steal headlines, a much more dangerous epidemic has been developing in our hospitals. The CDC barely mentions it. But a NASA scientist, a Harvard MD, and a Johns Hopkins surgeon have shown that it’s claiming more lives than strokes, Alzheimer’s, and diabetes — combined… Full story here.  Ford is a company that needs no introduction. That, in a nutshell, is… Read More

Humans are creatures of habit. And since financial markets are, basically, a gigantic stew of the basest and most extreme of human nature, they too are creatures of habit. Things look bad? Get in there and sell, sell, sell! Things look good? Get in there and buy, buy, buy! Basic patterns often result in predictable results, and after a year or so into the energy bear market I’ve identified an interesting inflection point in the price of oil. It’s in the relationship between the prices of the two main oil benchmarks: West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent crude. I’ve noticed… Read More

Humans are creatures of habit. And since financial markets are, basically, a gigantic stew of the basest and most extreme of human nature, they too are creatures of habit. Things look bad? Get in there and sell, sell, sell! Things look good? Get in there and buy, buy, buy! Basic patterns often result in predictable results, and after a year or so into the energy bear market I’ve identified an interesting inflection point in the price of oil. It’s in the relationship between the prices of the two main oil benchmarks: West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent crude. I’ve noticed that whenever the prices of the two benchmarks reach parity, there’s typically a decent rally in oil prices. These charts show that.       When both Brent and WTI reached $44 a barrel, oil bounced better than 10%. It looks like we’re approaching the same inflection point. Here’s how to profit. The best way I’ve found to play oil directly is through using the iPath S&P GSCI Crude Total Return Index Exchange Traded Note (NYSE: OIL). OIL trades closest with WTI. Currently, OIL trades at around $5.39. This security pays no dividend or distribution so… Read More

Contrarians love a good scandal. When a stock drops hard for no other reason, it often presents the chance to play the rebound for a quick profit. That seems to be the case with banking giant Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC). #-ad_banner-#On Sept. 9, news came to light that employees had been opening illegal accounts in an effort to meet sales targets and earn bonuses, and the stock got slammed. Of course, it didn’t help that the market tanked that day on rather hawkish comments by the Federal Reserve. Interestingly, though, while the stock was severely punished for its foibles, falling… Read More

Contrarians love a good scandal. When a stock drops hard for no other reason, it often presents the chance to play the rebound for a quick profit. That seems to be the case with banking giant Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC). #-ad_banner-#On Sept. 9, news came to light that employees had been opening illegal accounts in an effort to meet sales targets and earn bonuses, and the stock got slammed. Of course, it didn’t help that the market tanked that day on rather hawkish comments by the Federal Reserve. Interestingly, though, while the stock was severely punished for its foibles, falling 9% in just over a week’s time, analysts have not lowered their ratings on the stock, with the majority still considering WFC a “buy.” And with interest rates likely to start moving higher, the entire banking sector stands to benefit from a friendlier lending environment. A look at the KBW Nasdaq Bank Index (BKX) shows the sector setting a new high for the year early this month and finally outperforming the broader market. Wells Fargo, on the other hand, stalled last month right at resistance from earlier peaks in 2016. This set up a sizeable trading range for the year. Read More

In the small town where I grew up, our veterinarian was something of a local hero.  He’d take late night calls for a sick pet or a colicked horse. And given that our nearest hospital was an hour’s drive away, he even x-rayed my broken elbow.  I even witnessed him miraculously revive my sister’s dog after it had been struck by a car.  Like I said, he’s a local hero in my small hometown.  #-ad_banner-#But I’d wager that many folks across the country think of their animal physician as a hero. Similar to how grateful we are after a doctor… Read More

In the small town where I grew up, our veterinarian was something of a local hero.  He’d take late night calls for a sick pet or a colicked horse. And given that our nearest hospital was an hour’s drive away, he even x-rayed my broken elbow.  I even witnessed him miraculously revive my sister’s dog after it had been struck by a car.  Like I said, he’s a local hero in my small hometown.  #-ad_banner-#But I’d wager that many folks across the country think of their animal physician as a hero. Similar to how grateful we are after a doctor helps us battle through an illness or mend a broken arm, we are forever thankful for the animal clinic that’s cured our sick puppy or kitten. Pets are a large part of our lives. Here in Austin, Texas, dogs are welcome in nearly every establishment. And new ones that cater to man’s best friend are opening up all the time. Take Yard Bar for example — a local business that features more than 20,000 square feet of playground for your dog. You can grab a burger and beer while your dog runs around and makes friends. The menu also features… Read More

The S&P 500 is quietly having a great year. Despite recent volatility, the index has delivered a total return of 6.6% in 2016 – putting it on pace for a 12% return this year. While that looks like great news on the surface, it’s actually creating a problem. The leading index is expensive. Its P/E ratio of 20 is the highest in five years. Take a look below. That higher valuation has a lot of investors searching for a bargain. I’ve got the answer to one of the best pharmaceutical stocks to buy.  Gilead Sciences, Inc. Read More

The S&P 500 is quietly having a great year. Despite recent volatility, the index has delivered a total return of 6.6% in 2016 – putting it on pace for a 12% return this year. While that looks like great news on the surface, it’s actually creating a problem. The leading index is expensive. Its P/E ratio of 20 is the highest in five years. Take a look below. That higher valuation has a lot of investors searching for a bargain. I’ve got the answer to one of the best pharmaceutical stocks to buy.  Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: GILD) is one of the largest and well-known pharmaceutical companies in the world. A few years back, Gilead was one of the hottest stocks in the S&P 500 and big pharma industry. Its share price was up more than 500% from 2012 to 2015. But for the last year Gilead’s share price has struggled, falling more than 25% and recently hitting a multi-year low. That decline has been driven by weakness in Gilead’s Hepatitis C drug sales. This suite of drugs is responsible for almost half company revenue. #-ad_banner-#That was great when sales were growing… Read More

Mark your calendars. Tomorrow, Sept. 21 at 2 p.m. Eastern, is when the Federal Open Market Committee will announce whether or not it will raise interest rates. This, as my colleague Jared Levy points out, is an event that could easily turn this market on its head.  If the Fed takes a dovish outlook and chooses to not raise rates, then it could fuel another short-term rally (at the expense of risking higher inflation down the road). Jared recently pointed out to his Profit Amplifier readers that this seems to be what the consensus is expecting;… Read More

Mark your calendars. Tomorrow, Sept. 21 at 2 p.m. Eastern, is when the Federal Open Market Committee will announce whether or not it will raise interest rates. This, as my colleague Jared Levy points out, is an event that could easily turn this market on its head.  If the Fed takes a dovish outlook and chooses to not raise rates, then it could fuel another short-term rally (at the expense of risking higher inflation down the road). Jared recently pointed out to his Profit Amplifier readers that this seems to be what the consensus is expecting; both Bloomberg and Goldman Sachs believe there’s only a 25% chance we’ll see a rate hike next week. (My money is still on a rate hike by the end of the year, though.) Still, even though the odds are low this time around, a rate hike is still very much on the table. As many as six members of the 10-member committee have issued generally hawkish comments on the public record. So it’s just a matter of “when,” not “if.” And when the Fed does raise rates, then expect the news to trigger massive selling and a general reversal in… Read More