The fearmongers are having a field day with the notion of the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare) being implemented. These fears have become so strong that Obamacare’s opponents have effectively shut down the U.S. government since the majority of the law took effect Oct. 1. The purpose of this article isn’t to argue for or against Obamacare. It isn’t perfect, and it will likely undergo a difficult evolution before being fully implemented. However, in contrast to the political posturing going on in Washington, a group of investors have been booking substantial profits over the past year due to… Read More

The fearmongers are having a field day with the notion of the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare) being implemented. These fears have become so strong that Obamacare’s opponents have effectively shut down the U.S. government since the majority of the law took effect Oct. 1. The purpose of this article isn’t to argue for or against Obamacare. It isn’t perfect, and it will likely undergo a difficult evolution before being fully implemented. However, in contrast to the political posturing going on in Washington, a group of investors have been booking substantial profits over the past year due to the implementation of the new law. While some of these profitable avenues are obvious, others remain under the radar of all but the most sophisticated investors. Obvious names such as hospital operators like Community Health Systems (NYSE: CYH) and HCA Holdings (NYSE: HCA) have seen their shares advance by nearly 50% over the past 52 weeks. In addition, the Health Care Sector Select SPDR (NYSE: XLV) exchange-traded fund (ETF) is nearly 30% higher during the past 10 months.#-ad_banner-# One of the main reasons for the outperformance of health care and hospital stocks is the fact that revenues will increase for… Read More

In the expanding universe of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), it’s sink or swim. #-ad_banner-# Any ETFs that fail to gain a big enough investor following eventually are shut down. It simply costs too much to operate fund that only has a few million dollars and trades only a few thousand shares… Read More

When I was a kid, it was a privilege to be allowed to mow the lawn. I recall the enjoyment of using the walk-behind lawn mower to tackle our half-acre of grass in 100-degree heat.#-ad_banner-# Nowadays, mowing the lawn is a chore, often outsourced to landscaping companies… Read More

“Sin stocks” are popular because they benefit from extremely loyal customers. But the problem for growth investors is that most of these companies are fairly mature and well past their years of producing big capital gains.#-ad_banner-# Phillip Morris (NYSE: PM) is a good example. Although PM pays… Read More

I received an interesting email recently from John R., who writes to say that he desires “something that I can profit from within six months instead of two years. I am looking for not only a unique company, but one that is off the ground floor and is zooming upward… Read More

Even if you don’t own a SodaStream (Nasdaq: SODA), chances are you’ve heard the name. These magical machines turn their users into “beverage engineers.” Users can create nearly every imaginable soft drink (and various other beverages), right from their kitchen. Knowing that, why would anyone ever buy… Read More

The summer of 2008 was a brutal period for investors focused on micro-cap stocks (typically defined as companies with a market value below $200 million). Many of these stocks plunged sharply in a matter of months, even more profoundly than their large-cap peers. Yet the performance of this high-risk asset… Read More

As I regularly scan Wall Street research, I sometimes come across an eye-catching headline. Merrill Lynch’s recent report on agricultural equipment provider Agco (Nasdaq: AGCO) is a great example: “Margin Upside, Divy Could Soar, Raising Estimates.” It’s the middle part that got my attention.#-ad_banner-# Merrill’s analysts noted the dividend could… Read More

The stock market is on fire. It’s surging upward to challenge the record highs set at the start of August. It will not be surprising if these highs are taken out by the end of the year.#-ad_banner-# I bet by this point, many readers are thinking: “What, have you lost… Read More