There are about a thousand of them listed on the U.S. exchanges. They track everything from the S&P 500… to gold… to Treasury bonds… and much more. #-ad_banner-#They are basically nothing more than portfolios of stocks, bonds or commodities that trade on the major exchanges as a single security. But underneath a placid exterior, one of America’s fastest-growing asset classes reached a key milestone just a few short years ago: Total assets invested in U.S. exchange-traded funds (ETFs) surpassed $1 trillion for the first time. That represents the culmination of a remarkable episode of growth. The first U.S.-traded ETF was… Read More

There are about a thousand of them listed on the U.S. exchanges. They track everything from the S&P 500… to gold… to Treasury bonds… and much more. #-ad_banner-#They are basically nothing more than portfolios of stocks, bonds or commodities that trade on the major exchanges as a single security. But underneath a placid exterior, one of America’s fastest-growing asset classes reached a key milestone just a few short years ago: Total assets invested in U.S. exchange-traded funds (ETFs) surpassed $1 trillion for the first time. That represents the culmination of a remarkable episode of growth. The first U.S.-traded ETF was launched on January 29, 1993 — so it took fewer than 19 years for the ETF industry to crack the $1 trillion barrier. To put that in perspective, it took the mutual fund industry (first launched in 1924) 66 years to surpass $1 trillion in assets. Assets invested in ETFs grew at a 31% annualized pace from 2000 to 2011 compared to just 6% annual growth for mutual funds. And alongside the growth of ETFs is the growth in closed-end funds (CEFs). The differences between CEFs and ETFs are small — both allow you to buy into a basket of… Read More

In mid-December, I warned that although my intermediate-term outlook (one to two quarters) for the U.S. stock market was bullish, Market Outlook readers should consider adopting defensive strategies to protect assets in the short term. Following an ill-fated attempt at a Santa Claus rally, the weakness I was afraid of emerged with a vengeance last week. In fact, this year’s nasty stock market decline has already done so much technical damage that it calls my positive intermediate-term bias into question. ​#-ad_banner-#The S&P 500 collapsed by 122 points, or 6%, to its lowest level… Read More

In mid-December, I warned that although my intermediate-term outlook (one to two quarters) for the U.S. stock market was bullish, Market Outlook readers should consider adopting defensive strategies to protect assets in the short term. Following an ill-fated attempt at a Santa Claus rally, the weakness I was afraid of emerged with a vengeance last week. In fact, this year’s nasty stock market decline has already done so much technical damage that it calls my positive intermediate-term bias into question. ​#-ad_banner-#The S&P 500 collapsed by 122 points, or 6%, to its lowest level since early October, exceeding my initial downside target of 1,965. The market-leading Nasdaq 100 and Russell 2000, which represent the technology and small-cap spaces, fared even worse, declining 7% and 7.9%, respectively.   From a sector standpoint, last week’s broader market decline was led by financial services, which lost 8.7%. This was driven by a strong shift in investor assets back into the relative safety of U.S. Treasuries, which pushed long-term interest rates lower. Declining long-term interest rates eat into the profits of lending institutions.  The best-performing sector was utilities, which only lost 0.4%. The decline in long-term rates encouraged… Read More

One of the best income strategies in the world involves a market some investors completely ignore. It allows individual investors to generate income from the best companies in the world without buying stocks most of the time. I’ve been recommending trades in this market for over a year. And so far, the results have been astounding — each of the 105 trades I’ve closed has been a winner. #-ad_banner-#I don’t want to beat around the bush or make this sound like some super-secret investing strategy only I can tell you about. I am talking about selling options. Now, before you… Read More

One of the best income strategies in the world involves a market some investors completely ignore. It allows individual investors to generate income from the best companies in the world without buying stocks most of the time. I’ve been recommending trades in this market for over a year. And so far, the results have been astounding — each of the 105 trades I’ve closed has been a winner. #-ad_banner-#I don’t want to beat around the bush or make this sound like some super-secret investing strategy only I can tell you about. I am talking about selling options. Now, before you decide that you never want to try options trading, let me show you what a recent subscriber to my Income Trader newsletter, which focuses on selling options, had to say about my strategy: “When I first started using [Amber’s] picks, my goal was to earn $500. Then I quickly realized I can earn at least $1,000 per month. I use the profits to buy more… Not only are your picks excellent with low risk, it teaches you to look for other options on your own, which I have done.” — Nathan S., West Long Branch… Read More

With markets tumbling everywhere you look, I’ve started shifting focus to the Best of Breed stocks that will weather a correction… or worse. If economic growth slows or if investors just get a little jittery, I want to be in stocks that dominate their market and have rock-solid balance sheets to get them over a rough spot. While market weakness or general economic disappointment might weigh on these stocks, they’ll be able to withstand the environment far better than competitors and will emerge stronger.  #-ad_banner-#One of my favorite Best of Breed stocks isn’t resting on a huge lead within its… Read More

With markets tumbling everywhere you look, I’ve started shifting focus to the Best of Breed stocks that will weather a correction… or worse. If economic growth slows or if investors just get a little jittery, I want to be in stocks that dominate their market and have rock-solid balance sheets to get them over a rough spot. While market weakness or general economic disappointment might weigh on these stocks, they’ll be able to withstand the environment far better than competitors and will emerge stronger.  #-ad_banner-#One of my favorite Best of Breed stocks isn’t resting on a huge lead within its market, it’s expanding into other markets and cross-selling new products. While competitors will see lower sales on any economic pullback, this company may actually increase sales as customers entrench their business with one provider that can provide bundled discount offers.  This Best of Breed Is Expanding Its Market Red Hat (NYSE: RHT) is the de facto source for the Linux open source operating system. Popularity of the Linux OS has grown and it now drives more than half of all servers with Red Hat supporting 75% of paid Linux deployments. The company has a strong competitive advantage in its… Read More

It’s been clear for years now that those who bet on the demise of major automakers were on the wrong side of history.  A report this week confirmed that car makers are doing just fine, thank you. About 17.5 million cars and trucks were sold in the United States last year, beating the previous record of 17.3 million set in 2000. Last year’s tally represented a 6% increase from 2014 and was up 68% from the 10.4 million sold in 2009. Americans spent a whopping $437 billion on cars and trucks last year, and that number has risen for six… Read More

It’s been clear for years now that those who bet on the demise of major automakers were on the wrong side of history.  A report this week confirmed that car makers are doing just fine, thank you. About 17.5 million cars and trucks were sold in the United States last year, beating the previous record of 17.3 million set in 2000. Last year’s tally represented a 6% increase from 2014 and was up 68% from the 10.4 million sold in 2009. Americans spent a whopping $437 billion on cars and trucks last year, and that number has risen for six straight years. #-ad_banner-#In some ways, 2015 was a perfect environment for vehicle sales. More Americans have jobs (unemployment dropped to only 5%) and gasoline prices fell sharply along with the price of oil — at year-end, the average price nationally was $2.03 a gallon, down 28 cents from the year-earlier price. And interest rates were at rock bottom most of the year, as the Federal Reserve raised interest rates only in mid-December. Meanwhile, many Americans have been deferring new-car purchases; the average car on the road is more than 11 years old. It’s a far cry from the auto industry’s… Read More

Talk about an inauspicious start to 2016. On the first trading day of the year, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 276 points lower after dropping by as much as 467 points. As I write this, the Dow has continued its slide. And it’s anybody’s guess how bad things might get. #-ad_banner-#The reason? Well, the initial selloff on Monday was widely attributed to the big sell-off in China overnight. But there are plenty of other causes for concern: low oil prices, the Fed, tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran… I’ll continue to monitor national and international developments and their impact… Read More

Talk about an inauspicious start to 2016. On the first trading day of the year, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 276 points lower after dropping by as much as 467 points. As I write this, the Dow has continued its slide. And it’s anybody’s guess how bad things might get. #-ad_banner-#The reason? Well, the initial selloff on Monday was widely attributed to the big sell-off in China overnight. But there are plenty of other causes for concern: low oil prices, the Fed, tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran… I’ll continue to monitor national and international developments and their impact on the markets, but bottom line, I don’t see any immediate causes for major concern here. Why? I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: It’s times like these when it’s great to own a “Forever” stock. The idea of Forever stocks is simple: as an investor, you want to buy great businesses that can be held for months, years, even decades, without worry. Stocks like these are the foundation of my premium newsletter, Top 10 Stocks. This idea may sound simple, but few investors actually follow it during good times, let alone periods of market volatility. Take a… Read More

The weather phenomenon El Nino is bringing the much need moisture to the west, where places like California are suffering from a four-year drought. And the early signs of snow pleased many snow enthusiasts, while allowing many ski resorts to open early.   Colder temperatures also bring the possibility of thicker profits for many companies that rely heavily on seasonal trends. Companies like Douglas Dynamics (NYSE: PLOW) which supplies snow and ice removal equipment and Arctic Cat (Nasdaq: ACAT) which sells all-terrain vehicles, notably its snowmobile lineup, lean heavily on the hope for a good winter to boost… Read More

The weather phenomenon El Nino is bringing the much need moisture to the west, where places like California are suffering from a four-year drought. And the early signs of snow pleased many snow enthusiasts, while allowing many ski resorts to open early.   Colder temperatures also bring the possibility of thicker profits for many companies that rely heavily on seasonal trends. Companies like Douglas Dynamics (NYSE: PLOW) which supplies snow and ice removal equipment and Arctic Cat (Nasdaq: ACAT) which sells all-terrain vehicles, notably its snowmobile lineup, lean heavily on the hope for a good winter to boost sales. #-ad_banner-#But there are two companies that stand above the rest when it comes to finding the best stocks to take advantage of winter. Winter Basics Before you can take advantage of all that winter offers you must first be prepared. Having the proper outerwear can be the difference between a great time and a miserable time when either out on the mountain or walking the ski village in Vail, Colorado. And if you’re looking for some great gear then look no further than the Portland, Oregon based Columbia Sportswear (Nasdaq: COLM). The outdoor apparel and equipment company operates… Read More

Health care was the leading sector for several years, but when the market stumbled this past summer it was not able to recover. Currently, many areas within the sector show long-term breakdowns on the charts and are on the verge of ending corrective bounces. Health care products maker Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) is a good example, and thanks to the market’s sell-off to open the year, it has already broken down again. We’ll start with the big picture by looking at the weekly chart, which shows a 25% drop from mid-July to late September. To call that… Read More

Health care was the leading sector for several years, but when the market stumbled this past summer it was not able to recover. Currently, many areas within the sector show long-term breakdowns on the charts and are on the verge of ending corrective bounces. Health care products maker Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) is a good example, and thanks to the market’s sell-off to open the year, it has already broken down again. We’ll start with the big picture by looking at the weekly chart, which shows a 25% drop from mid-July to late September. To call that a mere correction would be wrong; although calling it a bear market for reaching the 20% loss threshold would be just as wrong. To me, this was a serious break that ended a four-year bull market.  After such a move, we’d expect the stock to lick its wounds for a while, but Abbott had the good fortune of a broader market that came roaring out of its own decline. However, the S&P 500 was down “only” 12% over the same span, which is far more palatable in what at the time could still be considered a healthy… 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