Markets have recovered their post-Brexit selloff, but that doesn’t mean the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union won’t have some big effects on corporate profits.  While the actual process to leave the EU could take years, corporations will be positioning ahead of the new environment and clear winners will emerge before the separation is final.  #-ad_banner-#One group will be looking to capitalize on the power shift in the global financial market — U.S. banks. Not only will this group benefit as UK and EU competitors struggle with uncertainty, but its own government may be getting out of the… Read More

Markets have recovered their post-Brexit selloff, but that doesn’t mean the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union won’t have some big effects on corporate profits.  While the actual process to leave the EU could take years, corporations will be positioning ahead of the new environment and clear winners will emerge before the separation is final.  #-ad_banner-#One group will be looking to capitalize on the power shift in the global financial market — U.S. banks. Not only will this group benefit as UK and EU competitors struggle with uncertainty, but its own government may be getting out of the way as well, something that’s weighed on the industry since 2009. One company in particular looks poised to benefit from the new scenario, and it’s just tripled its dividend in victory. London’s Pain Is The New World’s Gain As London sees its power as a major financial hub weaken one of the few winners of the Brexit vote could be U.S.-based banks. At risk are the current privileges enjoyed by UK-based firms to easily move staff around the European Union. EU leaders are saying “no” to trade negotiations without immigration concessions by the Britons, which could hold up a… Read More

These days, investors are bombarded with a lot of chatter from the market. The internet, TV and radio are flooded with so-called “experts” claiming to know the future of the economy and offering varying opinions on where investors should place their hard earned dollars. #-ad_banner-#On any given day, you might come across a dozen articles online claiming the market is in-store for a major bull run, only to see a news report claiming the next recession is just around the corner, not even an hour later. With the market presenting you such a mixed bag of opinions, how are you… Read More

These days, investors are bombarded with a lot of chatter from the market. The internet, TV and radio are flooded with so-called “experts” claiming to know the future of the economy and offering varying opinions on where investors should place their hard earned dollars. #-ad_banner-#On any given day, you might come across a dozen articles online claiming the market is in-store for a major bull run, only to see a news report claiming the next recession is just around the corner, not even an hour later. With the market presenting you such a mixed bag of opinions, how are you to know what investments you can actually trust? Simple: just ignore it completely. Now, I know that might sound like a stretch, but trust me, it isn’t. The market — and its thousands of pundits — often panders to what I think is an investor’s absolute worst enemy: their emotions. Whether its fear, optimism, excitement or panic, many investors have a way of letting their emotions completely cloud their judgments. And often times, that can cost them a big gain or lead them to some hefty losses. The truth is ignoring the market allows to you completely take the emotion… Read More

In last week’s Market Outlook, I said that even though the short term still looked risky, the tide was turning in favor of the bulls. That remains the case as the U.S. stock market put in another good performance last week. #-ad_banner-#The across-the-board gains in the major indices were led by the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100, which added 2.1%. Moreover, through Friday’s close, this market-leading index has gained a whopping 350 points, or 8.3%, since the bottom of the Brexit sell-off on June 27. Despite this strength, however, the market still has one more big obstacle to deal with before it… Read More

In last week’s Market Outlook, I said that even though the short term still looked risky, the tide was turning in favor of the bulls. That remains the case as the U.S. stock market put in another good performance last week. #-ad_banner-#The across-the-board gains in the major indices were led by the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100, which added 2.1%. Moreover, through Friday’s close, this market-leading index has gained a whopping 350 points, or 8.3%, since the bottom of the Brexit sell-off on June 27. Despite this strength, however, the market still has one more big obstacle to deal with before it is out of the woods, which I will discuss in just a minute. Last week’s broad-based strength was also very apparent at the sector level, as all sectors of the S&P 500 finished with gains except for energy, which lost 1.3%. The rally was led by consumer discretionary (2.2%) and health care (2.1%). Tech Bellwether Also Points Higher In last week’s report, I reminded readers that the mid-April breakout in the bellwether Dow industrials targeted a 14% rise to 20,400. I also said the late-June retest and rebound from the upper boundary of the indecision area near 17,446 established a… Read More

The Brexit dominated headlines at the beginning of last week. By week’s end, investors had shrugged it off. And while risks remain for Europe’s economy in the aftermath, there’s another part of the globe that could be much more problematic for the markets. I’m talking about China. Policymakers in China have been playing a game of smoke and mirrors for years. They’re hoping Chinese citizens — and global investors — aren’t paying attention to what they’re really up to. But my colleague Jared Levy has had his eye on China for a while. Jared and his… Read More

The Brexit dominated headlines at the beginning of last week. By week’s end, investors had shrugged it off. And while risks remain for Europe’s economy in the aftermath, there’s another part of the globe that could be much more problematic for the markets. I’m talking about China. Policymakers in China have been playing a game of smoke and mirrors for years. They’re hoping Chinese citizens — and global investors — aren’t paying attention to what they’re really up to. But my colleague Jared Levy has had his eye on China for a while. Jared and his Profit Amplifier readers have made money from bearish China-related trades several times over the past year. Take a look for yourself…      The reasons to be worried about China are numerous — so much so that we don’t have the space to cover all of them in today’s essay. But let’s take a quick look at some highlights… #-ad_banner-#The Smart Money Is Betting Against China Experts are saying China is “overheated” and “full of bubbles.” In fact, Jared… Read More

Investors have always referred to underperforming stocks as dogs. One of history’s most well-known dividend value investing strategies is known simply as “the Dogs of the Dow”. With the recent re-pricing of energy stocks, primarily master limited partnerships (MLPs), I’ve gone in search of some real dogs. Here’s what I’ve found. Take a look at a chart of the Alerian MLP Exchange Traded Fund (NYSE: AMLP) Shares of this popular ETF track the performance of a basket of the most widely held energy MLPs traded. And as the energy sector crashed, no one was spared. The price of… Read More

Investors have always referred to underperforming stocks as dogs. One of history’s most well-known dividend value investing strategies is known simply as “the Dogs of the Dow”. With the recent re-pricing of energy stocks, primarily master limited partnerships (MLPs), I’ve gone in search of some real dogs. Here’s what I’ve found. Take a look at a chart of the Alerian MLP Exchange Traded Fund (NYSE: AMLP) Shares of this popular ETF track the performance of a basket of the most widely held energy MLPs traded. And as the energy sector crashed, no one was spared. The price of the fund was basically cut in half at the darkest point and, while AMLP has recovered by well over 50% it’s still trading at an attractive 21% discount to the 52-week high. In all, AMLP holds a basket of 24 different energy MLPs. On average, the top ten MLPs are trading at around a 21% discount to their 52-week highs. I decided to drill deeper. I identified the three names trading at the deepest discounts to their 52-week highs:   Discount To 52-Week High Yield MLPX LP (NYSE: MPLX) 48% 6.2% Plains All American Pipeline LP (NYSE: PAA) 38% 10.2% Williams Partners LP (NYSE: WPZ) 32%… Read More

The S&P 500 has already gained back much of its Brexit-related selloff, down just 0.7% from its June 23 close, but that doesn’t mean investors are out of the woods yet.  The market still has to deal with a myriad of problems from a slowing China to a seven-year bull market that has stretched valuations. Earnings for S&P 500 companies are expected to drop 5.2% when second quarter results start coming out next week, the fifth consecutive quarter of lower earnings and the worst run since 2009. #-ad_banner-#Even as the UK negotiates its exit from the European Union over the… Read More

The S&P 500 has already gained back much of its Brexit-related selloff, down just 0.7% from its June 23 close, but that doesn’t mean investors are out of the woods yet.  The market still has to deal with a myriad of problems from a slowing China to a seven-year bull market that has stretched valuations. Earnings for S&P 500 companies are expected to drop 5.2% when second quarter results start coming out next week, the fifth consecutive quarter of lower earnings and the worst run since 2009. #-ad_banner-#Even as the UK negotiates its exit from the European Union over the next two years, it will have to deal with an immediate recession in the second half of this year according to most economists. The effect on the global economy should be muted, but the uncertainty around trade could weigh on already sluggish growth.  There is one sector that stands to benefit from the Brexit vote and inevitable aftermath. Prices were hit hard after the vote, and it could be the next target for yield-hungry global investors.  Don’t Fight The Global Fed The S&P 500 is up just 2.6% since January 2015, months after the U.S. Federal Reserve ended its… Read More

It’s been an exciting couple of weeks.  As recently discussed, the resources world turned topsy-turvy in the wake of the “leave” vote in the U.K. Brexit referendum. Gold soared (and gold stocks too), and almost everything else tanked.  #-ad_banner-# And since then, the situation has grown all the more interesting.  All indications are that the initial panic over the Brexit vote was largely overdone. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has recovered about 80% of the losses it suffered in the two-day panic following the Brexit news.  That rebound has extended to most of the commodities sector. This is a development… Read More

It’s been an exciting couple of weeks.  As recently discussed, the resources world turned topsy-turvy in the wake of the “leave” vote in the U.K. Brexit referendum. Gold soared (and gold stocks too), and almost everything else tanked.  #-ad_banner-# And since then, the situation has grown all the more interesting.  All indications are that the initial panic over the Brexit vote was largely overdone. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has recovered about 80% of the losses it suffered in the two-day panic following the Brexit news.  That rebound has extended to most of the commodities sector. This is a development I thought we’d see. Investments like oil and copper have overcome investor fears and are staging a strong bounce off post-Brexit lows.  Copper, for example, had plunged as low as $2.07 per pound on the morning of June 24. But the metal has stormed back more than 7% since then, currently trading at $2.22 per pound as I write.  Copper is now trading at its highest level in nearly two months That’s a strong sign that fears about lost demand in the face of the Brexit vote were overdone. And it makes sense, given that the actual process of the… Read More

The banking sector is down so much it almost seems risky to sell it further. However, to paraphrase the song, that’s what trends are for. #-ad_banner-# While the S&P 500 has nearly recovered all of its losses from the Brexit panic, Capital One Financial (NYSE: COF) is down over 6% from its pre-Brexit close. Looked at another way, while the broader market index is not far off its 52-week highs, COF is much closer to its 52-week lows. The question is, how long can banks stay low as the broader… Read More

The banking sector is down so much it almost seems risky to sell it further. However, to paraphrase the song, that’s what trends are for. #-ad_banner-# While the S&P 500 has nearly recovered all of its losses from the Brexit panic, Capital One Financial (NYSE: COF) is down over 6% from its pre-Brexit close. Looked at another way, while the broader market index is not far off its 52-week highs, COF is much closer to its 52-week lows. The question is, how long can banks stay low as the broader market holds firm? If you believe in trends — as you should — then that is a question for the market to answer. The trend in Capital One is down since its April rally high and down from its July 2015 all-time high. In the absence of strong evidence to the contrary, there is no reason to suspect COF’s bear market is over. And that means selling bounces can be a lucrative strategy. Let’s start with the big picture. As we can see in the chart, the bull market from 2009 ended in 2015 with a trendline breakdown and test… Read More