Understanding this one catalyst could dramatically change where and how you invest… #-ad_banner-#Right now, it’s the foundation of the largest transfer of wealth in our history — more money will change hands over the coming years from this trend than the annual sales of Wal-Mart (Nasdaq: WMT), Kroger (NYSE: KR), Costco (Nasdaq: COST), Target (NYSE: TGT) and Sears (Nasdaq: SHLD) combined. It’s revolutionized entire industries, created new markets and saved entire corporations. Take the baby food industry for example. In the early 40’s and 50’s this very catalyst helped launch a relatively unknown… Read More

Understanding this one catalyst could dramatically change where and how you invest… #-ad_banner-#Right now, it’s the foundation of the largest transfer of wealth in our history — more money will change hands over the coming years from this trend than the annual sales of Wal-Mart (Nasdaq: WMT), Kroger (NYSE: KR), Costco (Nasdaq: COST), Target (NYSE: TGT) and Sears (Nasdaq: SHLD) combined. It’s revolutionized entire industries, created new markets and saved entire corporations. Take the baby food industry for example. In the early 40’s and 50’s this very catalyst helped launch a relatively unknown company — called the Freemont Canning Company — into a global icon. The company — now better known as Gerber — went from selling just 590,000 jars of baby food per year to nearly two million jars per day. By 1955, when Gerber’s sales swelled to 1.8 billion jars of baby food per year, it sold more jars of baby food in one year than in the company’s first 18 years combined. Toy maker Hasbro (Nasdaq: HAS) was next in line. In 1952, the company invented “Mr. Potato Head” — a plastic toy that… Read More

In an unexpected bidding war for Starwood Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: HOT), Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE: MAR) came out on top against China’s Anbang Insurance Group with a deal worth $13.6 billion. The deal was months in the making. Marriott first put in its bid back in November 2015. But in mid-March, out of the blue, a Chinese consortium led by Anbang slipped in a bid of its own. And it was a whopper. #-ad_banner-#The consortium’s proposal equaled a value of $83.67 per share, heads and shoulders above the Marriott bid, valued at $71.00 per share. Suddenly, Marriott was sent… Read More

In an unexpected bidding war for Starwood Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: HOT), Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE: MAR) came out on top against China’s Anbang Insurance Group with a deal worth $13.6 billion. The deal was months in the making. Marriott first put in its bid back in November 2015. But in mid-March, out of the blue, a Chinese consortium led by Anbang slipped in a bid of its own. And it was a whopper. #-ad_banner-#The consortium’s proposal equaled a value of $83.67 per share, heads and shoulders above the Marriott bid, valued at $71.00 per share. Suddenly, Marriott was sent scrambling to hold on to what could be a great growth opportunity. Starwood owns such well-known brands as Weston and Sheraton. As of the end of 2015, the company owned or managed 1,282 hotels and 15 vacation resort properties in over 100 countries. Interestingly, on March 19, Starwood signed three hotel deals in Cuba, making it the first U.S.-based hospitality company to enter the market in nearly 60 years. Marriott, on the other hand, is nearly three times Starwood’s size, with more than 4,400 properties across 87 countries. The tie-up with Starwood will give Marriott access to more countries. The… Read More

The price of oil has jumped more than 50% since hitting a 12-year low in February, on hopes of production freezes that could reduce the global supply glut. But there is good reason to believe the market is getting ahead of itself. Little has changed in the oil supply picture to merit this price rebound. In fact, several signs suggest there could actually be even more supply over the next few months.  Another plunge in oil prices would not just drag down companies in the space, but likely the entire market, which is why I want to have… Read More

The price of oil has jumped more than 50% since hitting a 12-year low in February, on hopes of production freezes that could reduce the global supply glut. But there is good reason to believe the market is getting ahead of itself. Little has changed in the oil supply picture to merit this price rebound. In fact, several signs suggest there could actually be even more supply over the next few months.  Another plunge in oil prices would not just drag down companies in the space, but likely the entire market, which is why I want to have some protection in place.  Oil Rally Not Driven By Fundamentals The problem with the recent run in oil prices is that it hasn’t been driven by fundamentals; it’s been driven by speculation and trading. We have seen massive short covering in oil futures. Data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) shows investors increased net-long positions by 17% in the week ending March 15 to the highest level since June.   But once weak fundamentals come back into focus, the market may not be so positive. #-ad_banner-# For starters, the Saudi-Russian agreement to freeze production at current levels may not… Read More

After five weeks of consecutive gains, the major U.S. stock indices closed in the red last week. They were led lower by the Russell 2000, which declined 2%.   In the March 14 Market Outlook, I said that a chart pattern in the Russell 2000 targeted an eventual 19% decline to 880 as long as the 1,096 area loosely held as overhead resistance. The small-cap index traded as high as 1,104 on March 21 before closing at 1,080 on Friday. As long as resistance continues to contain on the upside, my 880 target remains valid. #-ad_banner-# Every sector… Read More

After five weeks of consecutive gains, the major U.S. stock indices closed in the red last week. They were led lower by the Russell 2000, which declined 2%.   In the March 14 Market Outlook, I said that a chart pattern in the Russell 2000 targeted an eventual 19% decline to 880 as long as the 1,096 area loosely held as overhead resistance. The small-cap index traded as high as 1,104 on March 21 before closing at 1,080 on Friday. As long as resistance continues to contain on the upside, my 880 target remains valid. #-ad_banner-# Every sector of the S&P 500 finished in negative territory last week except for health care, which gained 1.6%. This was the reverse of the previous week, which saw all sectors finish higher except for health care. Asbury Research’s proprietary metric shows that the biggest sector-related inflows of investor assets over the past month went into energy and technology, which are up 2.5% and 1.8%, respectively, for the year. As long as these two sectors continue to attract investor assets from other sectors, they are likely to outperform the S&P 500 in the weeks and potentially months ahead. Focus On Technology This… Read More

Editor’s Note: Here at StreetAuthority we occasionally like to feature one of our “Hall of Fame” issues to readers as a reminder of some of the classic investing advice and analysis our experts have offered over the years.  What follows is an interview I did with options expert Michael Vodicka back in October of last year. Keep in mind, some of the numbers and dates referenced may be different now, but the wisdom still holds true. I hope you enjoy. StreetAuthority Daily: Before we get to the details of your strategy, let’s start off by first telling readers a little… Read More

Editor’s Note: Here at StreetAuthority we occasionally like to feature one of our “Hall of Fame” issues to readers as a reminder of some of the classic investing advice and analysis our experts have offered over the years.  What follows is an interview I did with options expert Michael Vodicka back in October of last year. Keep in mind, some of the numbers and dates referenced may be different now, but the wisdom still holds true. I hope you enjoy. StreetAuthority Daily: Before we get to the details of your strategy, let’s start off by first telling readers a little bit about you… Mike: Sure. I like to call myself a “reformed day trader.” By that I mean I started my career as a day trader at a multibillion-dollar trading firm. #-ad_banner-#I saw lots of day traders taking huge risks and making big gambles on market-moving news with their money. They would win big one day, only to lose it all the next. I learned a valuable lesson: trading is no quick path to riches. After spending years fully entrenched in the markets and learning from the sharpest minds in the business, I finally decided… Read More

Investors have been fickle this year. Before the New Year’s confetti had even settled, the market was in full-blown retreat, with recession-resistant safe havens holding up well and economically sensitive cyclicals bearing the brunt of the correction. Commodity stocks, for example, were clobbered. But since mid-February, market sentiment has shifted markedly toward sectors that would benefit from continued U.S. economic growth; commodities have rallied, too — a sign that investors now believe the gloomy forecasts of winter were overdone and spring may bring a rosier economic climate. For U.S. stocks, the shift toward growth was aided by attractive valuations for… Read More

Investors have been fickle this year. Before the New Year’s confetti had even settled, the market was in full-blown retreat, with recession-resistant safe havens holding up well and economically sensitive cyclicals bearing the brunt of the correction. Commodity stocks, for example, were clobbered. But since mid-February, market sentiment has shifted markedly toward sectors that would benefit from continued U.S. economic growth; commodities have rallied, too — a sign that investors now believe the gloomy forecasts of winter were overdone and spring may bring a rosier economic climate. For U.S. stocks, the shift toward growth was aided by attractive valuations for many fine companies unfairly caught up in the selloff. In many cases, those stocks are no longer cheap. But a careful perusal of the growth-stock catalog reveals that some excellent companies still trade at prices that make for attractive entry points. #-ad_banner-#One is Rockwell Automation (NYSE: ROK), which I recommended in early February. The stock is up about 14% since then, and not quite as cheap, but its valuation remains low enough to merit a buy for long-term investors. Rockwell Automation remains a beneficiary of the strong growth of the global robotics market. Robots now perform about 10% of all… Read More

Short sellers get a bad rap. They are often villainized by the media for “ganging up” on troubled companies or even causing market crashes.  There is little evidence to support the latter, though, and the truth is short sellers are a necessary part of the market. They help provide liquidity and keep overpriced stocks in check.  #-ad_banner-#I don’t know about you, but I’m not content only making profits on the upside. There is an extraordinary amount of money to be made on the downside, especially in a market like this. But when you short a stock, you risk an unlimited… Read More

Short sellers get a bad rap. They are often villainized by the media for “ganging up” on troubled companies or even causing market crashes.  There is little evidence to support the latter, though, and the truth is short sellers are a necessary part of the market. They help provide liquidity and keep overpriced stocks in check.  #-ad_banner-#I don’t know about you, but I’m not content only making profits on the upside. There is an extraordinary amount of money to be made on the downside, especially in a market like this. But when you short a stock, you risk an unlimited loss for a limited gain. I’m a probability guy, and I don’t like those odds.  Plus, there is a strategy for profiting when stocks fall that offers limited risk and substantial (though not quite unlimited) gains. Given that, I’m not sure why anyone would choose to short stocks.  Now, my strategy involves options, another area of the market that gets a bad rap. But unlike short selling, options — when used properly — can actually help limit your risk.  Today, I want to cover how to use basic put options to profit as stocks fall. To do so, I’m going… Read More

Google’s (Nasdaq: GOOG) new cloud chief Diane Greene threw down the gauntlet recently and is pushing the company to drive its data center business harder. The world’s second largest publicly-traded company is intent to focus on its enterprise cloud services with new infrastructure and staffing. The plans won’t be taken lightly by the two leaders in data center and cloud services, Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) and Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT). Amazon has already announced an infrastructure buildout for more data centers and Microsoft is focusing heavily on international centers for availability of its Azure platform. #-ad_banner-#It’s too early to call a winner… Read More

Google’s (Nasdaq: GOOG) new cloud chief Diane Greene threw down the gauntlet recently and is pushing the company to drive its data center business harder. The world’s second largest publicly-traded company is intent to focus on its enterprise cloud services with new infrastructure and staffing. The plans won’t be taken lightly by the two leaders in data center and cloud services, Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) and Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT). Amazon has already announced an infrastructure buildout for more data centers and Microsoft is focusing heavily on international centers for availability of its Azure platform. #-ad_banner-#It’s too early to call a winner in the race to build out data centers and the increased competition in cloud services. All three tech behemoths have billions available to invest and drive their expansion. There will be a more immediate winner to the buildout: an industry that has been struggling under lower growth but could be ready to surge on the increased spending. Two names emerge as leaders in the space and valuations could be about to jump. The Cloud Wars Have Begun When Diane Greene addressed employees in an internal sales meeting this month her message was clear: push harder.  In a break from… Read More

Pundits fall all over themselves trying to pick stocks that will beat the market. However, in the current market environment it seems traditional filters are not working the way we would normally expect. Success today requires thinking outside the box and a different type of strategy — one that does not correlate with the broader market. #-ad_banner-# I call it “swinging for the fences” because if I am right, I could hit a home run. However, striking out is a distinct possibility. While that means potentially losing money — and possibly quickly — we can manage that risk… Read More

Pundits fall all over themselves trying to pick stocks that will beat the market. However, in the current market environment it seems traditional filters are not working the way we would normally expect. Success today requires thinking outside the box and a different type of strategy — one that does not correlate with the broader market. #-ad_banner-# I call it “swinging for the fences” because if I am right, I could hit a home run. However, striking out is a distinct possibility. While that means potentially losing money — and possibly quickly — we can manage that risk with a stop-loss. Avon Products (NYSE: AVP) looks to have turned a corner from a technical point of view.  To be sure, the fundamentals still look lousy. The company has a history of earnings misses and slashed its dividend a few years ago. Even after that, the dividend yield still stands at a very rich 5.3%, a result of the bearish price activity. But the market often sniffs out a turnaround in a stock long before the fundamentals show any improvement. It is in this spirit that I think Avon would be a good speculative bet. Prior to the 2008… Read More