While companies like Google (Nasdaq: GOOGL) and Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) are experimenting with the first self-driving cars, completely autonomous vehicles are probably at least a few years out. However, the technology that is making its way onto the road right now is still pretty amazing. For instance, with Tesla Motors’ (Nasdaq: TSLA) new autopilot system, its cars can brake, steer, accelerate, decelerate, change lanes and avoid obstacles by themselves. #-ad_banner-# Fully and partially self-driving cars rely on millions of miles of driving videos and data, which are fed into a computer’s data model. That’s where today’s stock pick… Read More

While companies like Google (Nasdaq: GOOGL) and Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) are experimenting with the first self-driving cars, completely autonomous vehicles are probably at least a few years out. However, the technology that is making its way onto the road right now is still pretty amazing. For instance, with Tesla Motors’ (Nasdaq: TSLA) new autopilot system, its cars can brake, steer, accelerate, decelerate, change lanes and avoid obstacles by themselves. #-ad_banner-# Fully and partially self-driving cars rely on millions of miles of driving videos and data, which are fed into a computer’s data model. That’s where today’s stock pick comes in. Nvidia (Nasdaq: NVDA), best known for powering PCs and video games with graphic processors, has made the leap into driver assistance and display systems. The company makes high-performance chips that enable driver assistance systems to process massive amounts of data. It sells a Tegra X1 chip for automotive and gaming uses, and this summer started shipping its latest Drive PX computing system for self-driving cars and driver-assist applications.  Tesla uses Nvidia chips in the 17-inch screen and the instrument cluster for its Model S and might use the Drive PX in its Model X SUV. Meanwhile, Audi also… Read More

#-ad_banner-#All major U.S. indices closed higher last week to log their fourth straight week of overall strength. The rally was led by the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100, which gained 4.2% and is now up an impressive 9.2% for the year, compared to the modest 0.8% year-to-date rise in the broader market S&P 500. Bringing up the rear last week was the small-cap Russell 2000, which, along with technology, typically leads U.S. market rallies, so I would ideally like to see some emerging strength in this index to help sustain a fourth-quarter advance. Most sectors of the S&P 500 also finished in… Read More

#-ad_banner-#All major U.S. indices closed higher last week to log their fourth straight week of overall strength. The rally was led by the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100, which gained 4.2% and is now up an impressive 9.2% for the year, compared to the modest 0.8% year-to-date rise in the broader market S&P 500. Bringing up the rear last week was the small-cap Russell 2000, which, along with technology, typically leads U.S. market rallies, so I would ideally like to see some emerging strength in this index to help sustain a fourth-quarter advance. Most sectors of the S&P 500 also finished in positive territory last week, led by — you guessed it — technology, which gained 4.4%. Moreover, the green highlights in the table below show that the biggest inflow of investor assets over the past week, according to Asbury Research’s own metric, was into technology. This should come as no surprise, as it is what actually drove the outperformance. The red highlights show that the biggest outflow of assets over the past one-week, one-month and three-month periods came from health care. This warns that the sector is vulnerable to more weakness after being a market leader for most of… Read More

Each year, research firm Gartner releases its Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies report — it is an interesting look into the innovations that will shape our lives and the fevers that will catch Wall Street.       The “Hype Cycle” maps new tech ideas from an innovation trigger through inflated expectations and eventually to productivity. I find the name an apt description for anyone investing in the markets and the often-times ridiculous valuations around companies involved.  #-ad_banner-#Here’s how the cycle typically works: First an innovation becomes commercialized and companies must rush to go public fast enough to meet… Read More

Each year, research firm Gartner releases its Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies report — it is an interesting look into the innovations that will shape our lives and the fevers that will catch Wall Street.       The “Hype Cycle” maps new tech ideas from an innovation trigger through inflated expectations and eventually to productivity. I find the name an apt description for anyone investing in the markets and the often-times ridiculous valuations around companies involved.  #-ad_banner-#Here’s how the cycle typically works: First an innovation becomes commercialized and companies must rush to go public fast enough to meet the boom in investor expectations. When the market realizes that profitability is still years away, the crash begins. Only those companies with the market share and balance sheet strength to survive make it to profitability.  As with all financial busts, disillusionment can take the good down with the bad and this sentiment often sinks a stock much further than a rational look at the outlook would suggest. Then when the market catches even a glimpse of profitability, the leaders’ stocks boom.  The 2015 Hype Cycle report shows that the 3D printing industry might be ready to take that last step… Read More

If you’re starting to get nervous about the stock market, I don’t blame you. Volatility is hitting record levels we haven’t seen in 25 years. Growth is slowing across the globe. The market is delivering one of its worst performances in years. But despite all these forces converging, you still have the chance to make once-in-a-decade gains, thanks to a time-honored StreetAuthority tradition. I’m talking about the latest edition of our annual report: “Top 10 Stocks for 2016.” Without a doubt, this is our most anticipated piece of research each year.  My staff and I… Read More

If you’re starting to get nervous about the stock market, I don’t blame you. Volatility is hitting record levels we haven’t seen in 25 years. Growth is slowing across the globe. The market is delivering one of its worst performances in years. But despite all these forces converging, you still have the chance to make once-in-a-decade gains, thanks to a time-honored StreetAuthority tradition. I’m talking about the latest edition of our annual report: “Top 10 Stocks for 2016.” Without a doubt, this is our most anticipated piece of research each year.  My staff and I have spent the past few months on this project, and it wasn’t cheap. I calculate the total cost of gathering, analyzing and distributing this data will come to more than $250,000. And we take a big risk in publishing it. There are no take-backs with this report. Once it’s published, we’re locked in for the year. If we make bad calls, we know investors will remember it. That means when we publish them for everyone to see, we’re putting ourselves out on a limb in a big way.  So far, that risk has paid off every… Read More

Surgery is big business, and it’s going to get bigger for years to come.  There are about 51 million in-patient procedures — those serious enough to require hospital admission — done every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control. And while the economy is growing at a low-single-digit rate, revenue for makers of medical equipment, surgical supplies and related products and services is increasing 8% to 10% a year. As Chief Investment Strategist of Game-Changing Stocks, I can’t ignore a number like that. My job is to research new trends and innovations that I think are going to revolutionize… Read More

Surgery is big business, and it’s going to get bigger for years to come.  There are about 51 million in-patient procedures — those serious enough to require hospital admission — done every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control. And while the economy is growing at a low-single-digit rate, revenue for makers of medical equipment, surgical supplies and related products and services is increasing 8% to 10% a year. As Chief Investment Strategist of Game-Changing Stocks, I can’t ignore a number like that. My job is to research new trends and innovations that I think are going to revolutionize the world. And companies in the surgical equipment industry are doing just that. America is beginning to age. Those 65 and over account for just over 14% of the population today, and the group is expected to grow to 21.7% by 2040.  This is big news for the surgical industry because while some surgical procedures are common among younger people, the majority of them — like joint replacements and bypasses — tend to be more frequent among older Americans.  As these surgeries begin to become necessary more often, hospitals will have huge incentive to remain on the cutting edge for… Read More

Once a stock market darling, Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) has fallen into an undeserved funk. Earnings are expected to be reported Tuesday after market close, and even though my proprietary earnings algorithm is forecasting a beat for the tech giant, the stock has a reputation for being unpredictable following its reports. The good news is that with a little statistical analysis and the right strategy, we can greatly increase our chances of profiting from Apple’s post-earnings move — even if the stock doesn’t move higher. #-ad_banner-#​In fact, all AAPL has to do is stay above… Read More

Once a stock market darling, Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) has fallen into an undeserved funk. Earnings are expected to be reported Tuesday after market close, and even though my proprietary earnings algorithm is forecasting a beat for the tech giant, the stock has a reputation for being unpredictable following its reports. The good news is that with a little statistical analysis and the right strategy, we can greatly increase our chances of profiting from Apple’s post-earnings move — even if the stock doesn’t move higher. #-ad_banner-#​In fact, all AAPL has to do is stay above $107 and today’s trade will deliver a return of more than 15% in less than a month’s time. Apple Skittish After Earnings After kicking off 2015 with a 20% rally to its late-February highs, AAPL traded in a sideways pattern for most of the spring and summer, unable to break to new highs.  During the late-September correction, shares fell below previous support and failed to bounce back. The stock now trades in a new channel with resistance around $117. Despite posting record iPhone sales and beating analysts’ estimates on both the top and bottom line in the most recently reported… Read More

It’s one of the most important pieces of research we do all year — and it just went “live” this week. If you’ve been a StreetAuthority reader for a while, then you probably know each year we release a report on the best stocks to own for the coming year. Hundreds of thousands of investors have read — and profited — from this advice. Since we started issuing our forecast, we’ve beaten the market more times than Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway. And we’ve even had years where the picks in our Top 10 Stocks report delivered average gains of 37%…… Read More

It’s one of the most important pieces of research we do all year — and it just went “live” this week. If you’ve been a StreetAuthority reader for a while, then you probably know each year we release a report on the best stocks to own for the coming year. Hundreds of thousands of investors have read — and profited — from this advice. Since we started issuing our forecast, we’ve beaten the market more times than Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway. And we’ve even had years where the picks in our Top 10 Stocks report delivered average gains of 37%… 38%… even 39%. By comparison, the S&P 500 has only posted 37% annual gains once in the past 40 years. We don’t tout these numbers to simply brag. There’s a reason our annual report — The Top 10 Stocks For 2016 — is one of our most important and popular pieces of research. You see, one of the things we believe in as a company is that investors too often get caught up in the market’s wild swings, the machinations of the Federal Reserve and the daily market chatter. And while there are many ways to do well in the… Read More

What should be obvious in investing is that the best companies last the longest, reward their shareholders the best and avoid widespread collapses like we saw in 2008-09.  But investors still search for high-risk, low-reward stocks simply because they are more fun to talk about. Just think of the “hot, new IPOs” we’ve seen over the past several years: Facebook (Nasdaq: FB), Twitter (NYSE: TWTR), Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA), etc. Are these great companies? One could easily argue that none of them have the earnings, let alone margins, to be considered real money makers.  So when my colleague over at Top… Read More

What should be obvious in investing is that the best companies last the longest, reward their shareholders the best and avoid widespread collapses like we saw in 2008-09.  But investors still search for high-risk, low-reward stocks simply because they are more fun to talk about. Just think of the “hot, new IPOs” we’ve seen over the past several years: Facebook (Nasdaq: FB), Twitter (NYSE: TWTR), Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA), etc. Are these great companies? One could easily argue that none of them have the earnings, let alone margins, to be considered real money makers.  So when my colleague over at Top 10 Stocks, Dave Forest, began discussing what actually makes a great company, my ears pricked up. Among the many qualities he looks for, two stand out to me. Each great company has to have irreplaceable assets and top-tier customer retention. The first is obvious. If you own something that you can’t get anywhere else, it has a high value. That goes for anything from a patent on a one-of-a-kind consumer gadget to a piece of real estate next to a major throughway.  The second is where the flash-in-the-pan type stocks lose their charm. If you make a product that becomes… Read More