It’s a simple fact of life: all good things must come to an end. Great books… relaxing tropical vacations… even bull markets have to end at some point. #-ad_banner-#You see, the market has only had two prolonged periods of low (or negative) returns in the past 35 years. But the overall trajectory of the market has been clear: up. It’s easy to see how investors may have become spoiled by this extended period of upward movement. But it could all be coming to an end, which is why it’s critical for… Read More

It’s a simple fact of life: all good things must come to an end. Great books… relaxing tropical vacations… even bull markets have to end at some point. #-ad_banner-#You see, the market has only had two prolonged periods of low (or negative) returns in the past 35 years. But the overall trajectory of the market has been clear: up. It’s easy to see how investors may have become spoiled by this extended period of upward movement. But it could all be coming to an end, which is why it’s critical for you to have a plan. “Bond King” Bill Gross has referred to the last 35 years as a “super cycle” for the market. It’s turned every $10,000 invested back in 1981 into more than $176,000 today. To understand what he’s talking about, take a look at this chart.   Investing gurus like Stanley Druckenmiller, George Soros, Ray Dalio and Jeremy Grantham have been warning investors to expect lower returns from the market in the coming years. And the “Bond King” shares this sentiment. When you consider the accumulation… Read More

#-ad_banner-#Right about now, the phrase “3-D printing” is the source of much eye-rolling. There was so much hype built around companies like 3-D Systems Corp. (NYSE: DDD) and Stratasys Ltd. (Nasdaq: SSYS), but impossibly high hopes for such firms were bound to be dashed. Each stock now sells for a fraction of their all-time high, and they have a long road ahead as they try to rebuild investor confidence. Still, it’s important to keep your eyes on the prize in this industry: 3-D printing remains as one of the most exciting new developments in the global industrial landscape. For investors,… Read More

#-ad_banner-#Right about now, the phrase “3-D printing” is the source of much eye-rolling. There was so much hype built around companies like 3-D Systems Corp. (NYSE: DDD) and Stratasys Ltd. (Nasdaq: SSYS), but impossibly high hopes for such firms were bound to be dashed. Each stock now sells for a fraction of their all-time high, and they have a long road ahead as they try to rebuild investor confidence. Still, it’s important to keep your eyes on the prize in this industry: 3-D printing remains as one of the most exciting new developments in the global industrial landscape. For investors, it’s a matter of finding the right horse to ride. Despite all the current gloom, 3-D printing industry revenues are slated to rise more than 50% this year, to more than $5 billion. Research firm Canalys predicts that the market will grow in excess of 40% annually through 2019 as well. Surging demand for 3-D hardware and software is coming from best-of-breed industrial firms such as The Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA), BMW and General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE). The industry’s two biggest players made a classic mistake. They tried to develop a soup-to-nuts set of… Read More

This event is one of the simplest, yet most often misunderstood ways for investors to beat the market. It can be tough to determine when or if this event will happen. But when it does, more often than not, investors make out like bandits. #-ad_banner-#I’m talking about spinoffs, which can happen for a variety of reasons… Sometimes they are done to trim the loose parts of a company after a major acquisition in order to satisfy anti-trust requirements. Other times, spinoffs are undertaken to resolve friction or conflicts of interest between… Read More

This event is one of the simplest, yet most often misunderstood ways for investors to beat the market. It can be tough to determine when or if this event will happen. But when it does, more often than not, investors make out like bandits. #-ad_banner-#I’m talking about spinoffs, which can happen for a variety of reasons… Sometimes they are done to trim the loose parts of a company after a major acquisition in order to satisfy anti-trust requirements. Other times, spinoffs are undertaken to resolve friction or conflicts of interest between a subsidiary and parent. Smaller subsidiaries or business units often lose out on the full recognition that they deserve only because they get overshadowed by the parent company. Once they are spun off, the market can truly appreciate their value. Some spinoffs need time to develop before they can fire on all cylinders, but once they do, history has proven that these new firms tend to outperform the market. Consider this: Both Marathon Petroleum (NYSE: MPC) and Huntington Ingalls (NYSE: HII) plodded along for a year or two… Read More

Successful companies don’t always need to target large markets. In some cases, a very narrow focus on a small niche market can also lead to huge profits. It certainly has for Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALXN). The company’s blockbuster drug, called Soliris, received FDA approval in 2007 and now accounts for more than $2 billion in annual sales (Annual net income now averages an impressive $600 million). #-ad_banner-#Soliris doesn’t target a leading malady such as diabetes or high cholesterol. Instead, this drug is aimed at people with very rare genetic… Read More

Successful companies don’t always need to target large markets. In some cases, a very narrow focus on a small niche market can also lead to huge profits. It certainly has for Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALXN). The company’s blockbuster drug, called Soliris, received FDA approval in 2007 and now accounts for more than $2 billion in annual sales (Annual net income now averages an impressive $600 million). #-ad_banner-#Soliris doesn’t target a leading malady such as diabetes or high cholesterol. Instead, this drug is aimed at people with very rare genetic blood disorders, which cause the body to destroy its own red blood cells. If these disorders sound deadly, it’s because they are. Left untreated, they’re highly likely to kill within five years of diagnosis. But those affected can live a normal life with proper therapy, and at present Soliris is the only option. Like many rare-disease treatments, the drug carries an eye-popping price tag:currently $400,000-to-$500,000 a year per patient. Since these patients can’t survive without Soliris, governments and other third-party payers are typically willing to shoulder the cost, ensuring blockbuster status… Read More

I would bet few investors really understand what’s behind the success of technology behemoth, Apple, Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL). The rags-to-riches story of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak building the first Apple computer in a garage is widely known. And of course, its products like the iPod, iPhone and Macbook are undeniably popular. #-ad_banner-#But today I want to share with you the secret that’s led Apple to become the world’s largest company by market capitalization and helped its share price sky rocket more than 12,600% since 2001. Despite what most people think,… Read More

I would bet few investors really understand what’s behind the success of technology behemoth, Apple, Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL). The rags-to-riches story of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak building the first Apple computer in a garage is widely known. And of course, its products like the iPod, iPhone and Macbook are undeniably popular. #-ad_banner-#But today I want to share with you the secret that’s led Apple to become the world’s largest company by market capitalization and helped its share price sky rocket more than 12,600% since 2001. Despite what most people think, it’s not the company’s revolutionary products that drive its success… The key to understanding Apple’s success can be seen in a simple pattern. Once you identify this pattern, the catalyst to future growth for Apple — and the way investors can make money from the company today — will be apparent. After Apple sold the first iPod in October 2001, it was not received well by critics, consumers and investors. Just look at this chart showing Apple’s share price in the 18 months following the iPod launch: Not what you’d expect,… Read More

As cross-border trade expands, U.S.-based healthcare providers are increasingly finding customers around the globe. Source: Abbott Labs 2014 Annual Report In the United States, healthcare spending is a whopping 18% of GDP. On the other hand, in emerging economies healthcare makes up only 6% of GDP. A growing middle class in developing nations means that number is rising. Companies focusing overseas are going to grow faster than U.S.-focused counterparts. Here are three companies following the growth around the world: Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) Abbott is a global provider of branded pharmaceuticals and other healthcare… Read More

As cross-border trade expands, U.S.-based healthcare providers are increasingly finding customers around the globe. Source: Abbott Labs 2014 Annual Report In the United States, healthcare spending is a whopping 18% of GDP. On the other hand, in emerging economies healthcare makes up only 6% of GDP. A growing middle class in developing nations means that number is rising. Companies focusing overseas are going to grow faster than U.S.-focused counterparts. Here are three companies following the growth around the world: Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) Abbott is a global provider of branded pharmaceuticals and other healthcare products. It operates in more than 100 countries and generates close to 70% of its revenue outside the United States. Asia represents Abbott’s fastest-growing region. #-ad_banner-#The Asia-Pacific region’s healthcare spending is expected to grow at a rate of 7.1 percent from 2013 to 2017, according to The Economist. China is one of the firm’s major markets, where Abbott Labs is excelling  despite a complex regulatory environment. The firm has grown sales in the country 24% per year since 2012, and China is now the company’s second-largest market behind the United States. Its third-largest market is India. Sales in the country… Read More

I spend a lot of time on the road. As far as I’m concerned, to truly grasp the investment opportunities that emerge each year across the globe, there’s no better way than to actually see it in person. My travels recently took me to Hong Kong, the island protectorate that has been home to the some of the most stunning stock market gains seen in quite some time. #-ad_banner-#While visiting the area, which has been under Chinese control since 1999, I had a chance to sit down with friends working and investing in Hong… Read More

I spend a lot of time on the road. As far as I’m concerned, to truly grasp the investment opportunities that emerge each year across the globe, there’s no better way than to actually see it in person. My travels recently took me to Hong Kong, the island protectorate that has been home to the some of the most stunning stock market gains seen in quite some time. #-ad_banner-#While visiting the area, which has been under Chinese control since 1999, I had a chance to sit down with friends working and investing in Hong Kong — first over tapas and wine on the famed Old Bailey Street in Central district, and then whiskey and Cuban cigars at a friend’s private club. And what they told me confirmed the data I’ve been seeing on this part of the world: a powerful investment trend is in full swing. You see, over the past two months, the Hong Kong stock exchange has been on a tear. Beginning March 11, the benchmark Hang Seng index gained 20% to hit a high of around 28,500 in late April. Since then,… Read More

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer number of differing opinions regarding the market. Talking heads shout them at you through the TV. Your financial advisor suggests a different strategy. A close relative swears by yet another completely unique way to put your hard-earned money to work. For some it might seem impossible to separate the noise from the advice that can secure the future you desire for yourself and your family. But actually, there’s one simple thing that can help you ignore the false prophets and identify true winners. Read More

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer number of differing opinions regarding the market. Talking heads shout them at you through the TV. Your financial advisor suggests a different strategy. A close relative swears by yet another completely unique way to put your hard-earned money to work. For some it might seem impossible to separate the noise from the advice that can secure the future you desire for yourself and your family. But actually, there’s one simple thing that can help you ignore the false prophets and identify true winners. Follow the results. #-ad_banner-#You see, anyone can get lucky enough to stumble upon triple-digit gains once… maybe even twice. But I’ve done it 23 times in the four years since I joined the Game-Changing Stocks newsletter. That means, on average, I’ve helped my readers identify at least one stock that gains 100% or more every other month. That’s somewhere around six triple-digit winners per year, in addition to the many double-digit winners I’ve uncovered. One area, in particular, where I’ve been able… Read More

In theory, successful stock investing hinges on a single, simple premise: buy low, sell high. If only it were that easy. In the real world, knowing when a stock is truly undervalued or overvalued  can be terribly difficult, even with the cache of valuation metrics that investors have at their disposal. Take The Middleby Corp. (Nasdaq: MIDD), a prominent worldwide food service equipment supplier with roughly $1.7 billion in annual revenue. During the past 15 years, Middleby’s stock rose more than 8,300%. Recent gains have pushed the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio to 31, which is about 10 points higher than the… Read More

In theory, successful stock investing hinges on a single, simple premise: buy low, sell high. If only it were that easy. In the real world, knowing when a stock is truly undervalued or overvalued  can be terribly difficult, even with the cache of valuation metrics that investors have at their disposal. Take The Middleby Corp. (Nasdaq: MIDD), a prominent worldwide food service equipment supplier with roughly $1.7 billion in annual revenue. During the past 15 years, Middleby’s stock rose more than 8,300%. Recent gains have pushed the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio to 31, which is about 10 points higher than the S&P 500’s earnings multiple. Thus, it might seem safe to conclude that Middleby has run its course, at least for now. After all, this is a company that makes everyday commercial and residential kitchen appliances, like foodwarmers, ovens, cooktops and refrigerators. With its roots in such a mundane industry, how much higher could its stock be expected to rise from current levels? Actually, several catalysts portend substantially higher stock prices in the coming years. These include a knack for acquiring state-of-the-art innovations that complement a growing product portfolio. Earlier this year, for example, Middleby purchased New Jersey-based oven… Read More

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are exploding in popularity with retail and institutional investors alike. Financial services firm Price Waterhouse Coopers expects the ETF industry to at least double to $5 trillion in assets under management by 2020. This will mean big profits for two asset management companies who are leaders in the industry. Exchange-traded funds are mostly commodity products. There are dozens of companies that offer an S&P 500 ETF, for example, and all hold the exact same companies. The best way an asset manager can differentiate itself among competitors is to become the lowest cost provider,… Read More

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are exploding in popularity with retail and institutional investors alike. Financial services firm Price Waterhouse Coopers expects the ETF industry to at least double to $5 trillion in assets under management by 2020. This will mean big profits for two asset management companies who are leaders in the industry. Exchange-traded funds are mostly commodity products. There are dozens of companies that offer an S&P 500 ETF, for example, and all hold the exact same companies. The best way an asset manager can differentiate itself among competitors is to become the lowest cost provider, which means being the biggest. ​BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK) is a global asset management business and the world’s largest provider of ETFs. It has more than $1 trillion under management, spread across its many iShares funds. Blackrock is  growing assets under management in the iShares business at a compounded annual growth rate of 16% over the past five years. This rapid growth combined with a scalable business and low fixed costs, allows Blackrock to keep costs to customers low, which attracts more customers and assets. iShares is only one quarter of Blackrock’s total business, but the evidence of the business’… Read More