Earnings season is full of problems for investors. If a company doesn’t meet analysts’ expectations, you can expect its stock to fall. But there’s another concern… one most investors don’t pay attention to. What should you do if a company you’re watching does beat estimates? Should you take that as a sign to buy? Some traders might suggest you do just that. But for anyone looking for a long-term investment, an earnings “beat” could be the exact wrong time to get in. Take Fitbit Inc. (NYSE: FIT), for instance.  Fitbit is one of the hottest stocks of the year. The… Read More

Earnings season is full of problems for investors. If a company doesn’t meet analysts’ expectations, you can expect its stock to fall. But there’s another concern… one most investors don’t pay attention to. What should you do if a company you’re watching does beat estimates? Should you take that as a sign to buy? Some traders might suggest you do just that. But for anyone looking for a long-term investment, an earnings “beat” could be the exact wrong time to get in. Take Fitbit Inc. (NYSE: FIT), for instance.  Fitbit is one of the hottest stocks of the year. The maker of active, wearable tech launched its IPO this summer at around $30 and almost immediately spiked to $50. Yesterday, after the closing bell, the company announced its third-quarter earnings. It raked in 19 cents per share in earnings compared to the Street’s average estimate of 10 cents per share.  Many investors saw those results and bought. Those investors might already be sitting on a loss. The stock fell 8.55% on November 3. You see, along with better-than-expected earnings, the company also announced that it was going to sell additional shares on the open market. In other words, shareholders that… Read More

One company has been around since the 1800s and is the ultimate “crash protection” stock. Another turned every $1,000 invested in 1972 into more than $2.6 million. Still another might just be one of Warren Buffett’s new favorite stocks (he owns $1.3 billion worth). #-ad_banner-#Welcome to the Top 10 Stocks For 2016. We’ve mentioned this report in previous articles on StreetAuthority. But today, I’d like to give you a taste of this year’s report by discussing one of the picks in particular and why it made this year’s list. But first, you should know that we’ve been issuing this report since… Read More

One company has been around since the 1800s and is the ultimate “crash protection” stock. Another turned every $1,000 invested in 1972 into more than $2.6 million. Still another might just be one of Warren Buffett’s new favorite stocks (he owns $1.3 billion worth). #-ad_banner-#Welcome to the Top 10 Stocks For 2016. We’ve mentioned this report in previous articles on StreetAuthority. But today, I’d like to give you a taste of this year’s report by discussing one of the picks in particular and why it made this year’s list. But first, you should know that we’ve been issuing this report since 2003. And during that time — through raging bull markets, the Great Recession and global uncertainly — the picks delivered by our report have been among the most profitable we’ve ever uncovered. With that kind of track record, coming up with winning picks every single year to keep the streak going can be a tall order. Luckily, we’re confident in this year’s picks because they share three distinct advantages over the average stock that make them uniquely positioned to weather storms on the horizon and beat the market in 2016. They essentially boil down to this: – Irreplaceable… Read More

As I discussed last week, China — while still among the fastest-growing of the world’s largest economies — is going through some economic doldrums. Its GDP is expected to grow less than 7% in 2015, down from an average of 8.1% annually for the first four years of the decade. I told you last week about some of the industries, and a few specific companies, that have enormous exposure to China. If your portfolio is heavily leveraged on Chinese growth, you may want to pare back holdings in these areas. #-ad_banner-#Today, I’ll highlight another stock that has no exposure to… Read More

As I discussed last week, China — while still among the fastest-growing of the world’s largest economies — is going through some economic doldrums. Its GDP is expected to grow less than 7% in 2015, down from an average of 8.1% annually for the first four years of the decade. I told you last week about some of the industries, and a few specific companies, that have enormous exposure to China. If your portfolio is heavily leveraged on Chinese growth, you may want to pare back holdings in these areas. #-ad_banner-#Today, I’ll highlight another stock that has no exposure to China’s economy. A slowdown that’s worse than expected over there will have no impact on this all-American gem’s bottom line. Before I get to the specific recommendation, consider the parts of our economy that don’t do much business with China — either by selling goods and services to China’s huge, growing middle class or by taking advantage of Chinese manufacturing plants.  The most obvious such area is a service provider focused solely on U.S. customers. For example, most hospital and home healthcare companies have little overseas exposure other than in Canada; Kindred Healthcare (NYSE: KND) is a prominent example. And… Read More

Do you want to become a millionaire? That’s obviously a rhetorical question… the majority of us would love it. But what’s your plan for achieving that goal? If your plan is to make that sort of wealth in the stock market, what’s your strategy? Blue-chip stocks, index funds, or are you an income investor who wants to watch their dividend “paychecks” (as my colleague Amy Calistri would say) roll in by the truckload? All of those strategies are great. There’s nothing wrong with them, and they’ll probably make you money in the long run. But I doubt they’ll make you… Read More

Do you want to become a millionaire? That’s obviously a rhetorical question… the majority of us would love it. But what’s your plan for achieving that goal? If your plan is to make that sort of wealth in the stock market, what’s your strategy? Blue-chip stocks, index funds, or are you an income investor who wants to watch their dividend “paychecks” (as my colleague Amy Calistri would say) roll in by the truckload? All of those strategies are great. There’s nothing wrong with them, and they’ll probably make you money in the long run. But I doubt they’ll make you a millionaire… at least in time for you to enjoy it. They’re not going to give you those “knocked out of the park” returns that you’ve heard about since you first learned of the stock market. No, I’m convinced that if your goal is to reach a seven-figure bank account, you need to follow something I like to call the “20% solution.” The idea behind it is simple. If your goal is to become a millionaire in the market, then you need to dedicate a portion of your portfolio to swing for the fences. Let me explain… My daughter is… Read More

As an avid motorcycle rider and Harley enthusiast, it almost feels like sacrilege to bet against Harley-Davidson (NYSE: HOG). But with a seasonal sales lull on the way, increasing competition and too-rich valuations, I’m expecting continued weakness from the iconic motorcycle manufacturer. The good news is I’ve got the perfect strategy to capitalize on it.  Harley is the world’s largest manufacturer of heavy motorcycles, but it’s hardly invincible. #-ad_banner-# Case in point: On Oct. 20, the company reported third-quarter net income… Read More

As an avid motorcycle rider and Harley enthusiast, it almost feels like sacrilege to bet against Harley-Davidson (NYSE: HOG). But with a seasonal sales lull on the way, increasing competition and too-rich valuations, I’m expecting continued weakness from the iconic motorcycle manufacturer. The good news is I’ve got the perfect strategy to capitalize on it.  Harley is the world’s largest manufacturer of heavy motorcycles, but it’s hardly invincible. #-ad_banner-# Case in point: On Oct. 20, the company reported third-quarter net income fell 6.5% year over year, while diluted earnings of $0.69 were flat and missed analysts’ estimates by 11.5%. Revenue also came up short and management lowered shipment guidance. Shares plunged 14% on the day as investors rushed for the exits. That day, the company also announced it would lay off 250 employees, about 4% of its workforce, increase marketing spend and work to expand its network of dealerships. While these tactics may pay off in the long run, they will cost money in the short term. Harley expects to spend $30 million to $35 million on the layoffs alone in… Read More

All major U.S. indices closed higher last week except the small-cap Russell 2000, which lost just 0.4%. This was the market’s fifth week of overall strength, and the modest advance nudged the S&P 500 back into positive territory for the year.  The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 remains in the lead this year, up 9.7% through the end of October. Technology stocks, specifically the Nasdaq 100 and Composite indices, are critical to overall market performance this month. We will be taking a closer look at both of these in a moment. Read More

All major U.S. indices closed higher last week except the small-cap Russell 2000, which lost just 0.4%. This was the market’s fifth week of overall strength, and the modest advance nudged the S&P 500 back into positive territory for the year.  The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 remains in the lead this year, up 9.7% through the end of October. Technology stocks, specifically the Nasdaq 100 and Composite indices, are critical to overall market performance this month. We will be taking a closer look at both of these in a moment. #-ad_banner-# From a sector standpoint, last week’s advance was led by health care and consumer discretionary, which gained 3% and 1.7%, respectively. Asbury Research’s own ETF-based metric shows the biggest sector-related investor inflows during the past week went into health care, fueling strength in the sector.  The two weakest sectors last week were utilities and consumer staples, which lost 1.9% and 1.7%, respectively. Technology At Critical Decision Point In last week’s Market Outlook, I pointed out the Nasdaq 100’s move above its 4,451 Sept. 17 high on Oct. 22 suggested “the index’s… Read More

The Wall Street Journal calls it “world-changing.” Both the Financial Times and CNBC say it’s a “game-changer.” And Business Insider calls it the “next trillion dollar industry.” #-ad_banner-#Stop me if you’ve heard this before. Longtime readers know I’ve written a lot about ground-breaking companies, trends and products that end up attracting this kind of copy from the financial press. But as I’ve said before, it’s often not the large, well-known company getting all the headlines that makes the outsized gains for investors. After all, when the mainstream press gets a hold of the kinds of ideas I regularly discuss in… Read More

The Wall Street Journal calls it “world-changing.” Both the Financial Times and CNBC say it’s a “game-changer.” And Business Insider calls it the “next trillion dollar industry.” #-ad_banner-#Stop me if you’ve heard this before. Longtime readers know I’ve written a lot about ground-breaking companies, trends and products that end up attracting this kind of copy from the financial press. But as I’ve said before, it’s often not the large, well-known company getting all the headlines that makes the outsized gains for investors. After all, when the mainstream press gets a hold of the kinds of ideas I regularly discuss in my newsletter, it’s often too late.  Instead, it’s the smaller, lesser-known companies behind the innovation that savvy investors should put their money into — and it’s important to get in on the early stages before things really kick off. That’s where the real money is made. For example, up until recently I’ve dedicated a lot of time to telling readers of my Game-Changing Stocks newsletter about the revolutionary advances being made by Apple with its payment technology — Apple Pay — and how investors can profit from the companies working behind the scenes to make it happen. This has led… Read More

Is there any stopping Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) and its dominance of the online retail trend? In October, the online e-tailing megalith blew past first quarter estimates to report sales growth of 23% over the same period last year. Amazon captured 36% of all retail growth volume in North America for the year through September and is expecting a very merry holiday shopping season. The company just hired 100,000 seasonal workers in addition to 25,000 new full-time staff. As traditional retailers like Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) warn investors of sluggish brick-and-mortar sales, online retail is surging.   Forrester Research estimates that U.S. Read More

Is there any stopping Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) and its dominance of the online retail trend? In October, the online e-tailing megalith blew past first quarter estimates to report sales growth of 23% over the same period last year. Amazon captured 36% of all retail growth volume in North America for the year through September and is expecting a very merry holiday shopping season. The company just hired 100,000 seasonal workers in addition to 25,000 new full-time staff. As traditional retailers like Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) warn investors of sluggish brick-and-mortar sales, online retail is surging.   Forrester Research estimates that U.S. online retail sales will reach $334 billion this year, growth of 9% from last year, and could grow to $480 billion by 2019. More than half (57%) of Americans bought something online over the last year and e-commerce accounts for 12.7% of total retail. Expected growth in online retail is more than double the 3.7% growth expected at brick-and-mortar stores according to the National Retail Federation. There’s no doubt that Amazon is crushing the retailing competition and will play a very big role in the future of shopping but the short-term risks are just as glaring. Shares have doubled over… Read More