The phrase “adult diapers” typically doesn’t whip investors into a buying frenzy. But with 10,000 American baby boomers turning 65 on a daily basis and a current population of 44.7 million people age 65+ in the United States, there is a big need that has to be filled. Everyone is focused on selling Boomers healthcare, retirement communities and wealth management; personal hygiene products are often overlooked. Domtar Corp. (NYSE: UFS) to the rescue. As the largest producer of uncoated freesheet paper in North America, Domtar is also major pulp producer. But the demand for uncoated, freesheet paper has been on… Read More

The phrase “adult diapers” typically doesn’t whip investors into a buying frenzy. But with 10,000 American baby boomers turning 65 on a daily basis and a current population of 44.7 million people age 65+ in the United States, there is a big need that has to be filled. Everyone is focused on selling Boomers healthcare, retirement communities and wealth management; personal hygiene products are often overlooked. Domtar Corp. (NYSE: UFS) to the rescue. As the largest producer of uncoated freesheet paper in North America, Domtar is also major pulp producer. But the demand for uncoated, freesheet paper has been on the decline due to the continuing proliferation of digital technology, forcing the company to reinvent itself through acquisition in the personal care product space. #-ad_banner-#The company was formed in 2006, merging the fine paper assets of Weyerhaeuser (NYSE: WY) and Domtar, Inc. Right now, 83% of revenue is generated from pulp and paper. Annually, the company produces about 1.6 million metric tons of pulp and paper with a total manufacturing capacity of 3.4 million metric tons. Personal care only represents 17% of annual sales which topped $5.2 billion last year. But that’s where the growth lies. The company’s top two… Read More

My colleague Andy Obermueller has been telling readers of his premium newsletter, Game-Changing Stocks, to target a number of well-known, high-quality stocks for months now. In case you’re not familiar, Andy advocates for his readers to take an “80/20” approach to investing. This means 80% of your portfolio is allocated to safer investments with a fairly predictable rate of return (think: index funds, blue chips, etc.). The other 20% is reserved for picks that can really move the needle on your portfolio — the kinds of innovative, world-changing companies he regularly recommends in his premium newsletter. #-ad_banner-#As he puts it,… Read More

My colleague Andy Obermueller has been telling readers of his premium newsletter, Game-Changing Stocks, to target a number of well-known, high-quality stocks for months now. In case you’re not familiar, Andy advocates for his readers to take an “80/20” approach to investing. This means 80% of your portfolio is allocated to safer investments with a fairly predictable rate of return (think: index funds, blue chips, etc.). The other 20% is reserved for picks that can really move the needle on your portfolio — the kinds of innovative, world-changing companies he regularly recommends in his premium newsletter. #-ad_banner-#As he puts it, the market’s volatility and global uncertainty make it tricky to recommend the aggressive-growth stocks he usually does. But on the flip-side, it also gives investors a chance to scoop up high-quality stocks at steep discounts that hold the kind of triple-digit “home-run” potential he and his readers usually target. I’d like to briefly run through a few of the high-quality names Andy has been recommending to his readers. For the sake of space, I won’t be able to give you Andy’s full thesis. To get a full rundown, you’ll need a subscription to Game-Changing Stocks. But as… Read More

Investors seem to be warming back up to U.S. stocks, with good reason: despite growing nervousness about a global economic slowdown, our economic indicators continue to look relatively strong — confirming the view of many economists, and the Federal Reserve Board, that the fourth-quarter slowdown did not presage a U.S. recession. When jobs and consumer spending are on the rise while interest rates and inflation remain low, it’s time to look beyond the safer, high-quality stocks that looked attractive after the correction and focus on slightly more leveraged plays on the economy: mid-cap growth stocks. Midsized companies can grow more… Read More

Investors seem to be warming back up to U.S. stocks, with good reason: despite growing nervousness about a global economic slowdown, our economic indicators continue to look relatively strong — confirming the view of many economists, and the Federal Reserve Board, that the fourth-quarter slowdown did not presage a U.S. recession. When jobs and consumer spending are on the rise while interest rates and inflation remain low, it’s time to look beyond the safer, high-quality stocks that looked attractive after the correction and focus on slightly more leveraged plays on the economy: mid-cap growth stocks. Midsized companies can grow more impressively, because they are improving on a lower, usually less-diversified base of revenue and earnings, and they tend to be nimbler than large, mature companies — a huge asset in a time of dynamic change in almost every industry. #-ad_banner-#The S&P 400 Mid Cap Index dropped 11.4% from the beginning of 2016 through February 11 — a full-fledged correction. Since then, it’s rallied 11%, almost back to its end-of-year level. That’s a solid sign that investors are finding bargains among midsized companies and recognize that the economy is robust enough to support continued growth. Some caution is in order. Despite… Read More

Normally this kind of information is kept secret. But due to regulatory requirements for its initial public offering (IPO), this company was forced to reveal its shocking record. From 2009 to 2013, a secretive high-frequency trading firm named Virtu managed to only have one losing day. #-ad_banner-#In 2014 it notched a perfect record. On its worst day, the firm was making between $800,000 and $1 million a day. It may sound too good to be true. But there it is, laid out in Virtu Financial’s IPO prospectus for any and everyone to see. But Virtu isn’t alone. J.P. Morgan didn’t… Read More

Normally this kind of information is kept secret. But due to regulatory requirements for its initial public offering (IPO), this company was forced to reveal its shocking record. From 2009 to 2013, a secretive high-frequency trading firm named Virtu managed to only have one losing day. #-ad_banner-#In 2014 it notched a perfect record. On its worst day, the firm was making between $800,000 and $1 million a day. It may sound too good to be true. But there it is, laid out in Virtu Financial’s IPO prospectus for any and everyone to see. But Virtu isn’t alone. J.P. Morgan didn’t have a single losing day in 2013. Bank of America notched a perfect performance of its own in the first quarter of 2013. Clearly, Wall Street trades and invests its own money differently than the traditional buy-and-hold strategy its clients typically use. I’ll let you in on one of Wall Street’s best-kept secrets: selling put options. Does that sound scary? Intimidating? If it does, there’s a very good reason for that: That’s exactly how Wall Street wants it. As a former derivatives trader for a billion-dollar firm at the Chicago Board of Trade, I saw firsthand how secretive the best… Read More

Today, I’m going to do something I don’t usually do… For those of you who don’t know me, I’m the chief investment strategist of Profitable Trading’s premium Alpha Trader service.  I am a Chartered Market Technician (CMT) with more than 20 years of trading experience and a profitable history of using trading systems to manage money for investors. The Alpha Trader system combines proven technical and fundamental indicators to find market-beating investments for 10 different portfolios. And today, I’m going to share one of the picks I just recommended to my subscribers. It comes from our Doublers Portfolio, which covers… Read More

Today, I’m going to do something I don’t usually do… For those of you who don’t know me, I’m the chief investment strategist of Profitable Trading’s premium Alpha Trader service.  I am a Chartered Market Technician (CMT) with more than 20 years of trading experience and a profitable history of using trading systems to manage money for investors. The Alpha Trader system combines proven technical and fundamental indicators to find market-beating investments for 10 different portfolios. And today, I’m going to share one of the picks I just recommended to my subscribers. It comes from our Doublers Portfolio, which covers top-rated small-cap stocks likely to double in the next 12 months. #-ad_banner-# If you’re not an Alpha Trader subscriber, I’d venture to say you’ve never heard of this company, but it’s hitting it out of the park with its nut business.  That’s right — nuts.  John B Sanfilippo & Son (Nasdaq: JBSS) processes, markets and distributes nuts like pecans, cashews, peanuts, walnuts and almonds in dry roast, oil roast, salted, unsalted, trail mix, chocolate and yogurt-covered varieties under the Fisher, Orchard Valley Harvest… Read More

The major U.S. indices politely responded to the title of last week’s Market Outlook, “Odds Favor a Continued Rally in Stocks,” with a broad-based advance. They were led by the small-cap Russell 2000, which gained 4.3%. #-ad_banner-#However, despite a nice rally over the past few weeks, the Russell 2000, S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq 100 remain down between 2% to 6% for the year. All sectors of the S&P 500 finished last week in positive territory, led by energy and financials, up 6.5% and 4.5%, respectively. Defensive health care brought up the rear, gaining just… Read More

The major U.S. indices politely responded to the title of last week’s Market Outlook, “Odds Favor a Continued Rally in Stocks,” with a broad-based advance. They were led by the small-cap Russell 2000, which gained 4.3%. #-ad_banner-#However, despite a nice rally over the past few weeks, the Russell 2000, S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq 100 remain down between 2% to 6% for the year. All sectors of the S&P 500 finished last week in positive territory, led by energy and financials, up 6.5% and 4.5%, respectively. Defensive health care brought up the rear, gaining just 0.2% last week.  Asbury Research’s own metric shows the biggest inflow of ETF-related investor assets went into financials in the past week and into energy in the past month. The biggest outflow of assets during both time periods came from health care. Market Testing Formidable Resistance Last week, I said the bullish chart pattern in the Dow Jones Industrial Average targeted a move to 17,500. The blue-chip index finished last week 2.8% below that objective. For that target to be met, though, the broader market, as represented by the S&P 500, must first break a formidable band… Read More

Investing is always about fear and greed.  And as we’ve all been witnessing over the last few weeks, fear has the upper hand right now, as U.S. stocks got off to their worst start in seven years.  #-ad_banner-#Despite a strong rally during the last few days January, the S&P 500 finished the month with a 5.1% decline. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 5.5%. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 7.9% — its worst performance since May 2010.  That kind of short-term volatility has lots of investors reaching for the Maalox. If you’re anxious about what lies ahead, you’re not alone. But… Read More

Investing is always about fear and greed.  And as we’ve all been witnessing over the last few weeks, fear has the upper hand right now, as U.S. stocks got off to their worst start in seven years.  #-ad_banner-#Despite a strong rally during the last few days January, the S&P 500 finished the month with a 5.1% decline. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 5.5%. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 7.9% — its worst performance since May 2010.  That kind of short-term volatility has lots of investors reaching for the Maalox. If you’re anxious about what lies ahead, you’re not alone. But keep reading, because I can help. I’m about to show you three ways you can actually profit during this current market pullback — and well beyond.  In fact, I’m going to show you how you could have collected $7,690 in profits from the last official market correction back in August, and how you could already have locked in $1,550 during January’s market dive — all with minimal risk.  Pullback Profit Strategy #1: Make Your Investments ‘Plunge Proof’ Imagine there’s a stock you really want to own, but market volatility is making you nervous about what price you’d be paying. Read More

Warren Buffett’s 2015 Letter to Shareholders is out and all investors are talking about is the Oracle’s losing bet in IBM (NYSE: IBM) and his warning of widespread earnings manipulation in the market.  #-ad_banner-#While both of these may be interesting and important topics, most investors have completely missed one of the most important ideas in the letter. In fact, this one idea contributed to 85% of Berkshire Hathaway’s (NYSE: BRK-B) increase in net worth and it did it with just five investments. Buffett talk just briefly about his Powerhouse Five portfolio this year on page four… Read More

Warren Buffett’s 2015 Letter to Shareholders is out and all investors are talking about is the Oracle’s losing bet in IBM (NYSE: IBM) and his warning of widespread earnings manipulation in the market.  #-ad_banner-#While both of these may be interesting and important topics, most investors have completely missed one of the most important ideas in the letter. In fact, this one idea contributed to 85% of Berkshire Hathaway’s (NYSE: BRK-B) increase in net worth and it did it with just five investments. Buffett talk just briefly about his Powerhouse Five portfolio this year on page four of the letter. These are the five most profitable non-insurance businesses owned by Berkshire Hathaway and has been a focus of the legendary investor for nearly two decades.  The group is a critical component of the Berkshire portfolio and accounted for 85% of the 2015 increase in Berkshire’s net worth. The $13.1 billion earned by just five companies represented a 5.2% gain over the year before and well above the 12.5% loss the Berkshire portfolio suffered in market value during the period. How To Create Your Own Powerhouse Portfolio Buffett doesn’t talk at length about his Powerhouse Portfolio and… Read More

Most investors think it’s just the oil industry that suffers from bottom-of-the-barrel prices, but that’s not true. Consider this: Major integrated Oil & Gas companies have a debt-to-equity of 41.4. Chevron (NYSE: CVX) alone has $35.88 billion in debt. And that debt touches other industries and sectors, like banks. And just how much of U.S. bank assets do these energy loans make up? The answer might surprise you. #-ad_banner-#U.S. banks have thrown down enough money on energy to fund a small country: A whopping $123 billion-worth of outstanding loans and lending commitments. To put that in perspective, that $123 billion… Read More

Most investors think it’s just the oil industry that suffers from bottom-of-the-barrel prices, but that’s not true. Consider this: Major integrated Oil & Gas companies have a debt-to-equity of 41.4. Chevron (NYSE: CVX) alone has $35.88 billion in debt. And that debt touches other industries and sectors, like banks. And just how much of U.S. bank assets do these energy loans make up? The answer might surprise you. #-ad_banner-#U.S. banks have thrown down enough money on energy to fund a small country: A whopping $123 billion-worth of outstanding loans and lending commitments. To put that in perspective, that $123 billion is greater than the annual GDP of Ghana, and twice the size of the GDP of Puerto Rico. These loans and lending commitments account only for U.S. banks’ stakes. The global implications of oil debt could forecast a far scarier scenario for the global economy. What happens when these banks’ bets on energy is wrong? What happens if energy companies default on their loans, a la the housing crisis? According to the report, these assets wouldn’t trigger a financial crisis like the mortgage scandal back in 2008. But that doesn’t mean that these banks are going to weather an energy… Read More

It is exceedingly valuable to keep an eye on what’s going on abroad. Most of the world’s business transactions take place, after all, without the U.S. on either side of the trade. Our economy, at some $17.3 trillion annually, is less than a quarter of the earth’s total output. Or, to put it another way, 78% of the world’s business is none of ours. So when the United States economy takes a breather from reality, as it seems to be these days, it’s a wise bet to look for opportunities abroad. #-ad_banner-# This hasn’t always… Read More

It is exceedingly valuable to keep an eye on what’s going on abroad. Most of the world’s business transactions take place, after all, without the U.S. on either side of the trade. Our economy, at some $17.3 trillion annually, is less than a quarter of the earth’s total output. Or, to put it another way, 78% of the world’s business is none of ours. So when the United States economy takes a breather from reality, as it seems to be these days, it’s a wise bet to look for opportunities abroad. #-ad_banner-# This hasn’t always been so easy. But today, with new financial products and ever more participation in equity markets, you can allocate part of your portfolio to places you’d need Google Maps to find just as easily as you can order an Uber, get movie tickets or buy shares in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ). Some sophisticated investors, through services like Interactive Brokers, can directly participate in major foreign markets. But even that’s not needed anymore. Your regular brokerage account can provide all the international access you need. A quick look at the data shows fairly anemic… Read More