Data sets are getting larger and larger, and there’s a lot of useful information just waiting to be made sense of. Nowhere is this truer than in the health care industry.#-ad_banner-#       Different hospitals have different platforms for managing data, which makes it exceedingly difficult to exchange information. Although it has been a slow process, the U.S. is moving toward a health care market that provides care more efficiently. Part of this includes implementing electronic health records and managing hospital costs. The American Recovery and Reinvestment… Read More

Data sets are getting larger and larger, and there’s a lot of useful information just waiting to be made sense of. Nowhere is this truer than in the health care industry.#-ad_banner-#       Different hospitals have different platforms for managing data, which makes it exceedingly difficult to exchange information. Although it has been a slow process, the U.S. is moving toward a health care market that provides care more efficiently. Part of this includes implementing electronic health records and managing hospital costs. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act allocated about $20 billion for electronic health records. This portion of the act offers financial incentives to hospitals and physicians to adopt and use health care information technology. The other positive is that many organizations face penalties for non-compliance, starting in 2015. With all this “reform” coming to the health care industry, one of the best ways to invest in the coming health care data boom is Allscripts Healthcare Solutions (Nasdaq: MDRX). Yet the stock hasn’t been all that great to investors over the past couple of years. Thanks to a botched acquisition, MDRX is still down nearly 50%… Read More

If you ask most people, they will say there are two types of people that put money in the stock market. There are “investors” — those who put money to work in fundamentally sound companies for the long term. Then there are “traders” — those who buy stocks for a short-term gain, without much concern for the actual business. #-ad_banner-#The reality isn’t as clear cut. You see, if you aren’t using the principles of both investing and trading, then I think you’re limiting your returns and increasing your losses. But it’s one thing to tell you this. I want to… Read More

If you ask most people, they will say there are two types of people that put money in the stock market. There are “investors” — those who put money to work in fundamentally sound companies for the long term. Then there are “traders” — those who buy stocks for a short-term gain, without much concern for the actual business. #-ad_banner-#The reality isn’t as clear cut. You see, if you aren’t using the principles of both investing and trading, then I think you’re limiting your returns and increasing your losses. But it’s one thing to tell you this. I want to prove it to you with one of the most widely-followed stocks of the past decade — Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL). You’re no doubt familiar with Apple. You might have even owned some shares at some point. Maybe you still do. Apple is one of the most fundamentally sound companies on the planet. For years, the popularity of iPods, iPhones and its computers caused earnings and cash flow to soar. Since 2003, the company’s annual revenue has risen from $6.2 billion to $170.9 billion. Meanwhile, until very recently, Apple carried no debt. Instead, it boasts a $145 billion cash pile. That’s enough… Read More

I’m often asked how I come up with a consistent stream of investment ideas. There is really no single answer to this question.#-ad_banner-# I have been immersed in the financial markets since my first trade back in 1990. Since that time, my investing library has grown so large that it has overwhelmed my bookshelves and spread into attic storage boxes. I am also a voracious reader of the financial media, reading several magazines and newspapers on a near-daily basis — not to mention subscribing to real-time news services to stay up on what’s happening. While my investing library has provided… Read More

I’m often asked how I come up with a consistent stream of investment ideas. There is really no single answer to this question.#-ad_banner-# I have been immersed in the financial markets since my first trade back in 1990. Since that time, my investing library has grown so large that it has overwhelmed my bookshelves and spread into attic storage boxes. I am also a voracious reader of the financial media, reading several magazines and newspapers on a near-daily basis — not to mention subscribing to real-time news services to stay up on what’s happening. While my investing library has provided the foundation, and the daily financial media torrent turns the knowledge actionable, my favorite fresh idea source is other investors. New ideas can come from anyone, from the most naive beginner to the most sophisticated hedge fund manager and everyone in between. This is the reason I make it a point to talk to every trader and investor I meet about what’s working and what’s not working in their investing. Another way to learn from others is by following the big-money players. There are several large hedge fund managers who have earned my respect, and I watch their every publicly… Read More

Getting in shape is no longer just a New Year’s resolution.#-ad_banner-# In its annual Topline Report, the Physical Activity Council, a coalition of sports-related trade groups, found that more than 60% of Americans frequently engaged in fitness sports in 2012. That growing interest in health and fitness has led to a huge surge in the number of people joining fitness clubs. According to the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association, health club and gym memberships jumped to 51 million in 2012, up from 41 million in 2005. And looking forward, with Americans increasingly fighting back against… Read More

Getting in shape is no longer just a New Year’s resolution.#-ad_banner-# In its annual Topline Report, the Physical Activity Council, a coalition of sports-related trade groups, found that more than 60% of Americans frequently engaged in fitness sports in 2012. That growing interest in health and fitness has led to a huge surge in the number of people joining fitness clubs. According to the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association, health club and gym memberships jumped to 51 million in 2012, up from 41 million in 2005. And looking forward, with Americans increasingly fighting back against obesity and diabetes, and with baby boomers focused on staying in shape as they retire, the $21 billion domestic health and fitness industry is growing quickly. That’s one of the reasons I’m bullish on an industry-leading fitness club company. With 106 locations and more than 800,000 members, it’s already a juggernaut. But with plans to double its expansion rate in the next two years, it’s in a great position to capitalize on America’s growing interest in health and fitness. That has shares up nearly 300% in the past five years. Life Time Fitness (NYSE: LTM) is a $1.9… Read More

Buying value is an investment philosophy that works. To benefit from a value strategy, investors have to decide on a definition for value. There are numerous ways to decide when a stock offers value, and many of these methods work well as long as they are applied with discipline. For deciding when a stock market in general offers value, we prefer to use the CAPE ratio defined by Robert Shiller. The CAPE ratio — which stands for cyclically adjusted price-to-earnings (P/E) — is calculated with inflation-adjusted earnings over the past 10 years. This smoothes out the sudden spikes… Read More

Buying value is an investment philosophy that works. To benefit from a value strategy, investors have to decide on a definition for value. There are numerous ways to decide when a stock offers value, and many of these methods work well as long as they are applied with discipline. For deciding when a stock market in general offers value, we prefer to use the CAPE ratio defined by Robert Shiller. The CAPE ratio — which stands for cyclically adjusted price-to-earnings (P/E) — is calculated with inflation-adjusted earnings over the past 10 years. This smoothes out the sudden spikes in earnings seen in recessions and at the beginning of an economic expansion, and provides a way to judge a market’s value based on a full economic cycle. In the past, when the CAPE ratio has been high, stock prices have delivered below-average returns over the next few years. Low CAPE ratios highlight long-term buying opportunities. Shiller’s CAPE can be applied to any stock market in the world. Investors looking at CAPE to make investment decisions a year ago may have bought stocks in Greece where the CAPE ratio was 2.6, the lowest of any global stock market. Investors willing… Read More

​I like to track all the stocks I write about, maintaining watch lists by various categories. One of my favorite categories, “small cap stocks under $10” has been a tried-and-true group for me over the years.  Here are four of these stocks I’m focusing on right now. Each of them appears to have solid upside in the year ahead. 1. Maxwell Technologies (Nasdaq: MXWL )​ In the face of an air pollution epidemic, the Chinese government is finally getting serious. Any technologies that can sharply cut emissions from power plants and transportation are getting a fresh look, and this company… Read More

​I like to track all the stocks I write about, maintaining watch lists by various categories. One of my favorite categories, “small cap stocks under $10” has been a tried-and-true group for me over the years.  Here are four of these stocks I’m focusing on right now. Each of them appears to have solid upside in the year ahead. 1. Maxwell Technologies (Nasdaq: MXWL )​ In the face of an air pollution epidemic, the Chinese government is finally getting serious. Any technologies that can sharply cut emissions from power plants and transportation are getting a fresh look, and this company could be a clear beneficiary. Maxwell makes ultra-capacitors, which can deliver huge amounts of power in short bursts. The products are especially well-suited in transportation, in vehicles such as city buses. China has already been a strong customer in the past, as this article written by a sales executive at the company notes. But China has delayed renewing a subsidy program for hybrid buses. Shares have traded off a bit in the past few months in the face of such delays. I look at this stock’s performance in 2014 in a binary fashion. If China… Read More

If you were a kid in the 1970s and ‘80s like I was, then you may have noticed just how much better household pets generally have it these days.#-ad_banner-#​ Years ago, pets were more often treated like disposable possessions. People often acquired them without thinking much about how to keep them safe or healthy. And once the novelty of having them wore off, they were often cared for grudgingly, ignored, or simply gotten rid of. But today, people are much more likely to pamper their pets and treat them like indispensable family members. As… Read More

If you were a kid in the 1970s and ‘80s like I was, then you may have noticed just how much better household pets generally have it these days.#-ad_banner-#​ Years ago, pets were more often treated like disposable possessions. People often acquired them without thinking much about how to keep them safe or healthy. And once the novelty of having them wore off, they were often cared for grudgingly, ignored, or simply gotten rid of. But today, people are much more likely to pamper their pets and treat them like indispensable family members. As a result, the pet products and services industry has become enormous. Total spending on pets in the U.S. should top $55 billion this year, up from about $51 billion in 2011. It has nearly doubled during the past 10 years. With a 40% market share, one leading pet products and services company has taken major advantage of this trend. Since 2004, its sales have grown 8.5% annually and more than doubled, from $3 billion to $6.8 billion.  Not even the Great Recession could slow this company down much, suggesting its customers are highly loyal and tend to see pet-related spending… Read More

Saddled with a pile of debt and a looming war with England, France was in desperate need of cash in 1803. So Napoleon took the same course of action that many publicly traded companies do today — asset liquidation. The ensuing Louisiana Purchase was sealed for $15 million, or just 3 cents per acre. Thomas Jefferson’s emissaries to France struck an incredible bargain. They acquired a territory that stretched from the Gulf Coast to Canada, essentially doubling the size of the fledgling United States. France didn’t know it, but Jefferson was willing to pay $10 million just for the city… Read More

Saddled with a pile of debt and a looming war with England, France was in desperate need of cash in 1803. So Napoleon took the same course of action that many publicly traded companies do today — asset liquidation. The ensuing Louisiana Purchase was sealed for $15 million, or just 3 cents per acre. Thomas Jefferson’s emissaries to France struck an incredible bargain. They acquired a territory that stretched from the Gulf Coast to Canada, essentially doubling the size of the fledgling United States. France didn’t know it, but Jefferson was willing to pay $10 million just for the city of New Orleans. Control of the strategic port secured navigation and trade along the Mississippi River, which is what he was really after. #-ad_banner-#For half a century, this would be the cheapest and most transformative land grab in the nation’s history. But it was outdone in 1867, when Russia (a motivated seller that also feared war with England at the time) ceded what would later become the state of Alaska for $7.2 million. This purchase netted more than twice the land area of Texas for just 2 cents an acre. That’s an amazing deal — even before you consider the… Read More

The S&P 500 Index’s 28% return this year has come as a big surprise to even the most bullish investors.#-ad_banner-#​ But in spite of ongoing weakness in the global economy, there’s a very good reason the index is on pace for one of its best performances in the past 35 years. Individual investors scared away from the market during the financial crisis of 2008 are back. Inflows into domestic mutual funds are expected to top $450 billion in 2013, more than the last four years combined and the biggest annual inflow since 2000. Bond funds are also seeing… Read More

The S&P 500 Index’s 28% return this year has come as a big surprise to even the most bullish investors.#-ad_banner-#​ But in spite of ongoing weakness in the global economy, there’s a very good reason the index is on pace for one of its best performances in the past 35 years. Individual investors scared away from the market during the financial crisis of 2008 are back. Inflows into domestic mutual funds are expected to top $450 billion in 2013, more than the last four years combined and the biggest annual inflow since 2000. Bond funds are also seeing big movement, with $31 billion in outflows through October, also the most since 2000’s $50 billion. It’s clear that with the S&P 500 trading at an all-time high and the Federal Reserve losing its battle against higher interest rates, investors are shifting into a more active approach to stay ahead of the curve. That’s why I’m bullish on an industry-leading brokerage firm that benefits from higher trading volumes and flows in and out of mutual funds and other securities. Not only does this well-known company offer strong operating leverage against higher trading volumes and the financial services industry, it’s also… Read More

I am convinced that 2014 will go down in history as the year the European economy rose from the ashes. #-ad_banner-#​ Many nations in the European Union are showing signs of recovery after a prolonged economic slowdown. These slowly improving economies create profitable opportunities for savvy investors. The question is: What’s the best way to position your portfolio to capture profits from the nascent recovery? The answer lies in the United States’ financial crisis and recovery. While it isn’t likely that the European recovery will be as sharp and rapid as that of the U.S., powerful investing guidance can… Read More

I am convinced that 2014 will go down in history as the year the European economy rose from the ashes. #-ad_banner-#​ Many nations in the European Union are showing signs of recovery after a prolonged economic slowdown. These slowly improving economies create profitable opportunities for savvy investors. The question is: What’s the best way to position your portfolio to capture profits from the nascent recovery? The answer lies in the United States’ financial crisis and recovery. While it isn’t likely that the European recovery will be as sharp and rapid as that of the U.S., powerful investing guidance can be gleaned by studying what happened in the U.S. stock market during its dark days and recovery. First, let’s take a brief look at the European economic picture. In this year’s second quarter, the 17 countries comprised in the eurozone had collective economic growth of 0.3%. That doesn’t sound like much — until you look at it in context.  This is the first overall positive signal since 2011, and its importance is magnified by the fact that the Markit manufacturing purchasing managers’ index has remained above the critical 50 level through October. (I discussed the significance of PMI as a… Read More