In a recent article on StreetAuthority.com I told readers all about my new list of The Top 10 Stocks For 2015. I decided to do more than just listing off a few names and ticker symbols. I wanted readers, like you, to be able to go out and find similar stocks on your own. That’s why I revealed the three distinct characteristics I use to track down my collection #-ad_banner-#of the market’s best performing stocks for the coming year. Today, I’d like to highlight one of these categories a little more in depth. Because quite frankly,… Read More

In a recent article on StreetAuthority.com I told readers all about my new list of The Top 10 Stocks For 2015. I decided to do more than just listing off a few names and ticker symbols. I wanted readers, like you, to be able to go out and find similar stocks on your own. That’s why I revealed the three distinct characteristics I use to track down my collection #-ad_banner-#of the market’s best performing stocks for the coming year. Today, I’d like to highlight one of these categories a little more in depth. Because quite frankly, I’m not sure any one of my criteria is more important than this… The ability to retain a loyal customer base and keep them buying your products for years is a hallmark of the world’s best businesses. This trait has led my Top 10 Stocks subscribers and me to some exceptional investment opportunities over the years. Firms that can lock in a loyal group of followers are able to generate strong cash flows and superior profit margins, putting them in a better position to return money to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks. Read More

These are five of the most widely owned stocks in the market. You have, without a doubt, heard of them, and it’s very possible you even own a few. #-ad_banner-#Despite being featured prominently in the media and being held by some of the world’s top investment gurus, I wouldn’t touch any of them with a 10-foot pole. One of these stocks is owned by hedge fund titan Steve Mandel of Lone Pine Capital, who holds 2.8 million shares of this casino and resort operator. But it has collapsed 25% over the past six months. I’m also recommending you… Read More

These are five of the most widely owned stocks in the market. You have, without a doubt, heard of them, and it’s very possible you even own a few. #-ad_banner-#Despite being featured prominently in the media and being held by some of the world’s top investment gurus, I wouldn’t touch any of them with a 10-foot pole. One of these stocks is owned by hedge fund titan Steve Mandel of Lone Pine Capital, who holds 2.8 million shares of this casino and resort operator. But it has collapsed 25% over the past six months. I’m also recommending you stay away from a blue-chip heavy equipment manufacturer that has shed 18% in the past 26 weeks, a much-touted alternative energy stock that is down 31%, and a huge oil services firm that lost a whopping 36% during that same time.  Plus, there’s a popular chipmaker that is down 15% in the past six months and has basically been dead money for the past two years. Although these companies are very different, they all have two things in common. First, each of these stocks has low relative strength (RS). Relative strength compares the price performance of a stock against every… Read More

  The European Central Bank’s (ECB) recent announcement of a huge bond-buying program has made investors understandably giddy. The move could help jumpstart Europe’s flagging economy.   #-ad_banner-#Moreover, a similar program of so-called quantitative easing by the Federal Reserve was a major tailwind in the multi-year run-up of U.S. stocks to all-time highs. So investors are anticipating a similar effect on European stocks from ECB stimulus.   The impact on exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that invest in European stocks, bonds and commodities is already evident, as they are seeing record inflows. In January, these funds took in an all-time one-month high… Read More

  The European Central Bank’s (ECB) recent announcement of a huge bond-buying program has made investors understandably giddy. The move could help jumpstart Europe’s flagging economy.   #-ad_banner-#Moreover, a similar program of so-called quantitative easing by the Federal Reserve was a major tailwind in the multi-year run-up of U.S. stocks to all-time highs. So investors are anticipating a similar effect on European stocks from ECB stimulus.   The impact on exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that invest in European stocks, bonds and commodities is already evident, as they are seeing record inflows. In January, these funds took in an all-time one-month high of $13.7 billion, with the lion’s share going to equity-focused ETFs, according to BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK).   European stocks have risen nearly 5% thus far in 2015, based on the performance of the MSCI EAFE (Europe, Australasia and Far East) Index. In contrast, the S&P 500 is roughly flat thus far this year.   If you’re bullish on Europe, then there’s a key risk factor to consider before you dive in: the strong U.S. dollar. The greenback is at a 10-year high against a basket of foreign currencies, including the euro. For U.S. Read More

  When analysts and pundits start talking about a bubble, most investors shrug it off as the usual market sensationalism.   #-ad_banner-#When a member of the Federal Reserve Board starts talking about a bubble, you may want to sit up and take notice. And when it is a bubble in the world’s most liquid investment, which serves as a benchmark for pricing in the $67 trillion global market for bonds, you may even want to start thinking about worst-case scenarios.   In fact, things have gotten so far out of whack that volatility in this “safe-haven” investment is now higher… Read More

  When analysts and pundits start talking about a bubble, most investors shrug it off as the usual market sensationalism.   #-ad_banner-#When a member of the Federal Reserve Board starts talking about a bubble, you may want to sit up and take notice. And when it is a bubble in the world’s most liquid investment, which serves as a benchmark for pricing in the $67 trillion global market for bonds, you may even want to start thinking about worst-case scenarios.   In fact, things have gotten so far out of whack that volatility in this “safe-haven” investment is now higher than volatility for stocks in the S&P 500.   Is This The Single-Biggest Threat To The Market? The market for U.S. government debt tops $12.5 trillion, the most liquid of any investment and the benchmark for all other bond rates. The market for treasuries serves as a quick pricing mechanism for  other bonds and is known as the safe-haven investment in times of volatility.   But something has changed in the market for U.S. government debt, and the consequences could shock global markets. What’s worse, no one is talking about it.   From my viewpoint, it might… Read More

As Executive Editor of StreetAuthority, I get to have a front-row seat to the analysis made by some of the brightest financial minds in the country. #-ad_banner-#After doing this for many years, it usually takes a lot for something to really stand out and grab my attention. That’s why when I noticed that one of our most conservative analysts recently make a big, bold contrarian call involving the energy sector and a stock currently yielding 14%, I took notice. If he’s right, it could easily become one of the most profitable calls any of… Read More

As Executive Editor of StreetAuthority, I get to have a front-row seat to the analysis made by some of the brightest financial minds in the country. #-ad_banner-#After doing this for many years, it usually takes a lot for something to really stand out and grab my attention. That’s why when I noticed that one of our most conservative analysts recently make a big, bold contrarian call involving the energy sector and a stock currently yielding 14%, I took notice. If he’s right, it could easily become one of the most profitable calls any of our analysts make this year — including myself. Let me explain… Many of you are probably familiar with Nathan Slaughter. As Chief Investment Strategist of our premium newsletter, Total Yield, Nathan is all about two things: dividends and buybacks. It’s this quest to find investments that deliver shareholder value that normally lead him to be one of our most conservative analysts. In fact, Nathan has warned his subscribers in the past about chasing after high yields that may seem too good to be true. After all, what good is a stock… Read More

“This is what competitive devaluation looks like.” #-ad_banner-#That’s what Bloomberg anchor Olivia Sterns said Wednesday morning, referring to news that China’s central bank was cutting rates. In an effort to revive slowing economic growth, the People’s Bank of China decided to cut its reserve requirement ratio (RRR) — the amount of deposits banks must hold in reserve rather than lend out — by 0.5% for large commercial banks and 1% for smaller banks. This is the first time the bank has cut the ratio in almost three years, and its effort is estimated to increase cash in the system by… Read More

“This is what competitive devaluation looks like.” #-ad_banner-#That’s what Bloomberg anchor Olivia Sterns said Wednesday morning, referring to news that China’s central bank was cutting rates. In an effort to revive slowing economic growth, the People’s Bank of China decided to cut its reserve requirement ratio (RRR) — the amount of deposits banks must hold in reserve rather than lend out — by 0.5% for large commercial banks and 1% for smaller banks. This is the first time the bank has cut the ratio in almost three years, and its effort is estimated to increase cash in the system by 700 billion yuan, or $112 billion. China’s economic growth, while still relatively strong around 7%, has been slowing for the past few years, but the central bank had previously been reluctant to increase monetary stimulus. So, why ease up now? In short, because everyone else is doing it. When the buying power of one currency falls, it makes imports from other countries much more expensive. Not only do the locals buy more of their domestic products, but so do other foreign markets, leading to a boost in demand for domestic products and employment. It does a pretty good job of… Read More

One of the most remarkable aspects of the past half-decade has been a complete lack of change. Year after year, the economy grew at a subpar pace, inflation remained subdued and stocks have bounded ever higher. Simply owning a cross section of industries yielded solid annual results. #-ad_banner-#Yet in just the first five weeks of 2015, it’s become increasingly clear that we’ve busted out of the same old, same old. Across the global economy, major changes are afoot. And investors can no longer hang back and let the market simply work its magic. It’s time for a more active approach… Read More

One of the most remarkable aspects of the past half-decade has been a complete lack of change. Year after year, the economy grew at a subpar pace, inflation remained subdued and stocks have bounded ever higher. Simply owning a cross section of industries yielded solid annual results. #-ad_banner-#Yet in just the first five weeks of 2015, it’s become increasingly clear that we’ve busted out of the same old, same old. Across the global economy, major changes are afoot. And investors can no longer hang back and let the market simply work its magic. It’s time for a more active approach to portfolio management. Here are five key stats that explain why 2015 is already quite distinct from 2014. Rig Count The fallout from plunging oil prices began to be felt two-to-three months ago, but we’re just getting started. Consumers have been inclined to save the windfall thus far, but may be emboldened to start spending more once their bank accounts are sturdy enough. Meanwhile, capital spending and employment levels in the U.S. energy industry are only now starting to feel the impact, a trend which should strengthen with each passing quarter. The number of oil and gas rigs in… Read More

All major U.S. indices closed in positive territory last week, reversing the previous week’s negative closes, led by the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which gained 3.8%. This good one-week showing was enough to nudge the industrials into positive territory for 2015; the index is up just over one point year-to-date, for a return of 0.01%. All other major indices are still in negative territory for 2015, except for the small-cap Russell 2000, which is now up 0.1%. I’ll discuss this market-leading index in more detail later in today’s report. #-ad_banner-#​Back in the Jan. 19 Market Outlook,… Read More

All major U.S. indices closed in positive territory last week, reversing the previous week’s negative closes, led by the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which gained 3.8%. This good one-week showing was enough to nudge the industrials into positive territory for 2015; the index is up just over one point year-to-date, for a return of 0.01%. All other major indices are still in negative territory for 2015, except for the small-cap Russell 2000, which is now up 0.1%. I’ll discuss this market-leading index in more detail later in today’s report. #-ad_banner-#​Back in the Jan. 19 Market Outlook, I pointed out that my own ETF-based metric showed the biggest one-week inflow of investor assets was into energy, and that, should this expansion in assets continue, it would “suggest an emerging buying opportunity in this unloved and washed-out sector.” This expansion of assets into energy has indeed continued, as my metric now shows that the biggest inflow of sector bet-related assets over the past one-week, three-week and three-month periods have all been into that sector. Meanwhile, the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSE: XLE) has already outperformed the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSE: SPY) by 4.2 percentage points since… Read More

I’m going to do something today that I’ve never done before… #-ad_banner-#For those who don’t know, I’m the Co-Chief Investment Strategist of Maximum Profit — StreetAuthority’s proprietary trading system that’s designed to identify when a stock is about to deliver double- or even triple-digit gains in the coming days, weeks and months. Every two weeks we publish an issue telling readers exactly which stocks to buy and which stocks to sell in our premium advisory. Our readers pay good money for our research and so I can’t just give away all of our recent… Read More

I’m going to do something today that I’ve never done before… #-ad_banner-#For those who don’t know, I’m the Co-Chief Investment Strategist of Maximum Profit — StreetAuthority’s proprietary trading system that’s designed to identify when a stock is about to deliver double- or even triple-digit gains in the coming days, weeks and months. Every two weeks we publish an issue telling readers exactly which stocks to buy and which stocks to sell in our premium advisory. Our readers pay good money for our research and so I can’t just give away all of our recent trades to the public. It wouldn’t be fair to our paying subscribers. But today I’m breaking that rule. That’s because after delivering a string of winners to our paying subscribers, I wanted to share one of our recent recommended trades with the public — so you can have the chance of profiting alongside us. After discussing this with my editor, he gave me the go-ahead to let the cat out of the bag. I know this won’t always be the case, so make sure to pay close attention to the rest of this issue. Read More

  Right around the time analysts gave up trying to predict the bottom for oil prices, the all-important commodity mounted a strong comeback.         In fact, oil’s recent reversal is leading to predictions that the commodity has finally bottomed and is poised for a “V-shaped recovery,” which means it could rise so fast that its price chart forms the letter V.   What’s more, many asset managers have started to say it’s safe to go back into oil stocks and, in some cases, are forecasting such stocks will be 2015’s best investments.   Those are… Read More

  Right around the time analysts gave up trying to predict the bottom for oil prices, the all-important commodity mounted a strong comeback.         In fact, oil’s recent reversal is leading to predictions that the commodity has finally bottomed and is poised for a “V-shaped recovery,” which means it could rise so fast that its price chart forms the letter V.   What’s more, many asset managers have started to say it’s safe to go back into oil stocks and, in some cases, are forecasting such stocks will be 2015’s best investments.   Those are bold claims, and they could be right. But I doubt it.   #-ad_banner-#Simply put, the fundamentals behind the bear market in oil haven’t changed much: there are still too many factors that could weigh on oil prices in coming months. Indeed, there are at least four reasons why it’s probably far too soon to call a bottom in oil and why prices could still set new lows before heading consistently higher.   1. Production Far Outpaces Demand Plunging oil is prompting many U.S. energy firms to cut output. Oilfield services firm Baker Hughes, Inc. (NYSE: BHI) notes that during the… Read More