The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made a groundbreaking policy change last year that is having a large impact on the biotech industry and creating a big opportunity for investors. To create a faster path to commercialization for potentially life-saving drugs and medicine, the FDA in July introduced a new “breakthrough” status for drugs that show “substantial improvement on existing therapies for clinically significant endpoints.”#-ad_banner-# For an industry that is accustomed to a costly 10-year commercialization process, the breakthrough status is a welcome shift. An accelerated channel to… Read More

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made a groundbreaking policy change last year that is having a large impact on the biotech industry and creating a big opportunity for investors. To create a faster path to commercialization for potentially life-saving drugs and medicine, the FDA in July introduced a new “breakthrough” status for drugs that show “substantial improvement on existing therapies for clinically significant endpoints.”#-ad_banner-# For an industry that is accustomed to a costly 10-year commercialization process, the breakthrough status is a welcome shift. An accelerated channel to commercialization could enable drug companies to shave years and billions of dollars from the cumbersome process. But the FDA’s new breakthrough status isn’t just a win for drug companies and the health care industry — it’s also creating an opportunity to invest in the most innovative companies in the world. The companies winning breakthrough status for their drugs are in the hunt for the next billion-dollar blockbuster, something that can send both earnings and shares soaring. And now, just six months… Read More

As 2012 came to a close, investors increasingly questioned the wisdom of owning gold or gold-related stocks and funds. After all, a commodity known as an inflation hedge is of dubious value when inflation is nonexistent. And for investors who still expected the Federal Reserve’s aggressive stimulus efforts to eventually fuel inflation, patience was starting to wear thin. What began as a steady exodus out of gold in… Read More

As 2012 came to a close, investors increasingly questioned the wisdom of owning gold or gold-related stocks and funds. After all, a commodity known as an inflation hedge is of dubious value when inflation is nonexistent. And for investors who still expected the Federal Reserve’s aggressive stimulus efforts to eventually fuel inflation, patience was starting to wear thin. What began as a steady exodus out of gold in the winter morphed into something a lot more dramatic this spring. In the past few months, gold has endured a pair of scary plunges that has pushed even its most ardent supporters to the sidelines. Gold prices now sit at their lowest levels in nearly three years. But does the Fed‘s recent announcement that it will begin to wind down its massive quantitative easing (QE) program change the picture for… Read More

Grocery stores don’t usually provoke thoughts of big gains from investors. And that’s for a good reason. The domestic grocery market is relatively mature, with analysts projecting annual sales growth of 1% in the next few years. But there is one segment of the domestic grocery market that continues to experience explosive growth. With consumers increasingly prioritizing health and wellness, annual organic food sales are on pace to reach $42 billion in 2014, an… Read More

Grocery stores don’t usually provoke thoughts of big gains from investors. And that’s for a good reason. The domestic grocery market is relatively mature, with analysts projecting annual sales growth of 1% in the next few years. But there is one segment of the domestic grocery market that continues to experience explosive growth. With consumers increasingly prioritizing health and wellness, annual organic food sales are on pace to reach $42 billion in 2014, an increase of 31% from $29 billion in 2010. That bullish trend has been fueling market-beating gains for leading organic grocer Whole Foods Market (NYSE: WFM). Although Whole Foods is a great company that will continue to profit from the bullish trend in organic food, its market cap of $20 billion and status as a large cap means it is probably past peak growth. That’s why… Read More

Investing in little-known micro-cap stocks can be frustrating — but it can also be rewarding. Even if a company appears to be making substantial progress with product design or customer orders,… Read More

When investors seek-out high-yield stocks, most of them end up finding high-profile large-cap names. I’m talking about companies like natural gas middleman SandRidge Mississippian Trust (NYSE: SDT), with its current payout rate of 17.3%, or a mortgage real estate investment trust (REIT) company such Capstead Mortgage (NYSE: CMO), which currently boasts a 10% yield. Even a more conventional… Read More

When investors seek-out high-yield stocks, most of them end up finding high-profile large-cap names. I’m talking about companies like natural gas middleman SandRidge Mississippian Trust (NYSE: SDT), with its current payout rate of 17.3%, or a mortgage real estate investment trust (REIT) company such Capstead Mortgage (NYSE: CMO), which currently boasts a 10% yield. Even a more conventional equity like Dow component AT&T (NYSE: T), with its 5% yield, is sought by many investors for its reliable cash payout. However, there’s a downside to owning large-cap stocks that were built largely on the premise of paying dividends: There’s little opportunity for major growth in the dividend. There’s also scant opportunity for significant appreciation in the share price. Income investors looking for overall growth that has a shot at outpacing… Read More

In May, the interest rate on the 10-year Treasury note rose from about 1.6% to more than 2.2%. As rates rise, bond prices fall, and an exchange-traded fund… Read More

I’m going to show you a simple strategy that has never lost money in the market. A recent study by mega-investment firm Oppenheimer proved just as much. Don’t worry, it’s not some “too good to be true” story. But there are some caveats. First, I could tell 100 people about this strategy… and I’d guess 99 of them would flat ignore it. That’s despite the evidence I’ll show you backing it up. “That strategy is for suckers.” “Its time has passed.” “You have to be an idiot… Read More

I’m going to show you a simple strategy that has never lost money in the market. A recent study by mega-investment firm Oppenheimer proved just as much. Don’t worry, it’s not some “too good to be true” story. But there are some caveats. First, I could tell 100 people about this strategy… and I’d guess 99 of them would flat ignore it. That’s despite the evidence I’ll show you backing it up. “That strategy is for suckers.” “Its time has passed.” “You have to be an idiot to think that would work today.” I know some people will say this — because they already have. We asked some of our regular readers to give us their thoughts on this strategy. Those were the type of responses I heard from some people. I was shocked. Second, you can’t use this strategy for every stock. Use it on the wrong ideas, and you can still lose money. But across the market as a whole, it hasn’t failed once in the past 60 years. The truth is, you… Read More

You may not be familiar with the name “Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo & Co.” — but you should be. Led by fund industry guru Jeremy Grantham, GMO is a Boston-based money management firm with… Read More

Editor’s Note: This article is brought to you by Steve Reitmeister, Executive VP with Zacks Investment Research. I wasn’t always a good investor. Over the past 32 years I’ve made just about every mistake imaginable.  — Jumped in at the peak — Jumped out too late — Bought falling knives — Doubled down on losers — You name it, I probably did it. By the time I joined up with Zacks Investment Research in August 1999, I had eradicated most of those bad habits. But as Len Zacks, founder, and his brother Ben pointed out… I… Read More

Editor’s Note: This article is brought to you by Steve Reitmeister, Executive VP with Zacks Investment Research. I wasn’t always a good investor. Over the past 32 years I’ve made just about every mistake imaginable.  — Jumped in at the peak — Jumped out too late — Bought falling knives — Doubled down on losers — You name it, I probably did it. By the time I joined up with Zacks Investment Research in August 1999, I had eradicated most of those bad habits. But as Len Zacks, founder, and his brother Ben pointed out… I had a lot to learn. You see, Len’s life’s work has been to help investors find success and in 1978, armed with his PhD from MIT, he hit upon a key discovery: Earnings estimate revisions are the most powerful force impacting stock prices. What I quickly learned is, indeed, earnings estimate revisions (EER) are the most powerful force impacting stock prices. And nothing captures that power more than the Zacks Rank… Read More

It’s easy for articles about the shale boom to get lost in the shuffle. After being flooded with articles (each more optimistic than the last), it’s no wonder some investors have started to become desensitized to any oil-related news. After all, we’ve already learned that the U.S. Read More