Implementing all of the facets of the Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as Obamacare, has come with an unfortunate side effect: So much time and money has been spent on adapting processes like ICD-10 (a mandated set of codes that enables healthcare data to be more freely exchanged among providers) that there has been little time or money to address other needs. #-ad_banner-#The good news: The heavy lifting to meet the mandates is now mostly done, and the healthcare industry is again focusing its IT resources on a burgeoning new trend: Digital technology. As analysts at Leerink Partners note,… Read More

Implementing all of the facets of the Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as Obamacare, has come with an unfortunate side effect: So much time and money has been spent on adapting processes like ICD-10 (a mandated set of codes that enables healthcare data to be more freely exchanged among providers) that there has been little time or money to address other needs. #-ad_banner-#The good news: The heavy lifting to meet the mandates is now mostly done, and the healthcare industry is again focusing its IT resources on a burgeoning new trend: Digital technology. As analysts at Leerink Partners note, “the same digital revolution that re-ordered the media sector has now arrived at the healthcare sector, creating winners and losers.” Frankly, the entire healthcare profession seems to be just exiting the dark ages. Let’s quote from the Leerink analysts again: “While U.S. businesses were pioneering world-class productivity, collaboration and automation systems in offices and factories, healthcare’s payers and providers seemed stuck in a darkly-humorous parallel universe of old and kludgey technology, including telephone answering services, color-coded manila folders, large film negatives, paper clips, monochrome computer screens, multiple computer key-function codes from 1980s DOS manuals, handwritten phone messages on pink sheets… Read More

With thousands of publicly traded companies out there, it can be overwhelming trying to figure out which stocks to buy. Now add in a constantly changing market. #-ad_banner-#From tensions in Eastern Europe, Ebola scares, various quantitative easing policies — not to mention quarterly earnings — many factors influence the market on any given day. Between understanding what makes a good stock to buy and when is a good time to buy it, many investors end up frustrated or confused as to what they should do. One way to alleviate this stress — follow some simple rules. It’s worked very well… Read More

With thousands of publicly traded companies out there, it can be overwhelming trying to figure out which stocks to buy. Now add in a constantly changing market. #-ad_banner-#From tensions in Eastern Europe, Ebola scares, various quantitative easing policies — not to mention quarterly earnings — many factors influence the market on any given day. Between understanding what makes a good stock to buy and when is a good time to buy it, many investors end up frustrated or confused as to what they should do. One way to alleviate this stress — follow some simple rules. It’s worked very well for me and readers of my premium newsletter, Alpha Trader. Our system focuses on stocks outperforming the market today, which tend to continue beating the market in the months that follow. That’s been proven in academic journals, and it’s something I’ve talked about several times (here, and here). But that’s only half the story. Below are a handful of closed trades that significantly outpaced the market while we held them. While these stocks performed well, it’s not why I bring them up…   Stock Total Return S&P 500 Return Difference Hi-Crush Partners LP (NYSE: HCLP) 66.1% 22.0% +44.1%… Read More

We are just two weeks away from the day when Americans gather with their families to consume over 45 million turkeys. Butterball, the largest producer of turkey products in the United States, is a subsidiary of privately owned Seaboard Corporation, but another type of poultry has piqued my trading interest. Turkeys are always a hit during the holidays, but the real story here is growing global meat consumption, specifically poultry.  According to the agricultural outlook from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, poultry will overtake pork as the most consumed meat in… Read More

We are just two weeks away from the day when Americans gather with their families to consume over 45 million turkeys. Butterball, the largest producer of turkey products in the United States, is a subsidiary of privately owned Seaboard Corporation, but another type of poultry has piqued my trading interest. Turkeys are always a hit during the holidays, but the real story here is growing global meat consumption, specifically poultry.  According to the agricultural outlook from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, poultry will overtake pork as the most consumed meat in the world by 2020. In the United States, chicken is already the No. 1 consumed meat, surpassing pork in 1996, and overtaking beef in recent years. Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN) is one of the world’s largest meat processors and the second-largest food production company in the Fortune 500. It provides 21% of all chicken produced in the United States, which accounts for nearly one-third of its revenue. #-ad_banner-#Tyson provides birds, feed and technical advice to poultry producers, who provide labor, housing and utilities. While the growers are insulated from changes in commodity prices for chicken and feed ingredients,… Read More

Is it fair to give Ben Bernanke (and his predecessor Janet Yellen) much of the credit for the current bull market? After all, many have come to believe that ultra-low interest rates, coupled with aggressive stimulus in the form of bond buying, has lit a strong and durable flame under stocks. These same folks also fret about the market’s eventual response when the Fed finally starts raising rates, perhaps in the middle of 2015. To be sure, the Fed’s actions haven’t hurt. The era of easy money has helped the current bull to become the fourth-longest since 1929. Longest Bull… Read More

Is it fair to give Ben Bernanke (and his predecessor Janet Yellen) much of the credit for the current bull market? After all, many have come to believe that ultra-low interest rates, coupled with aggressive stimulus in the form of bond buying, has lit a strong and durable flame under stocks. These same folks also fret about the market’s eventual response when the Fed finally starts raising rates, perhaps in the middle of 2015. To be sure, the Fed’s actions haven’t hurt. The era of easy money has helped the current bull to become the fourth-longest since 1929. Longest Bull Markets Start End # Of Days 12/04/1987 03/24/2000 4,494 06/13/1949 08/02/1956 2,607 10/03/1974 11/28/1980 2,248 03/09/2009 Present 2,062 07/23/2002 10/09/2007 1,904 08/12/1982 `08/25/1987 1,839 Source: Bespoke Investments Yet the Fed fixation obscures another key driver of the ongoing bull market: Corporate profits. They’ve been rising at a solid pace since 2009, for some fairly direct reasons, including: — Steady top-line growth, which, of course, is the key factor behind profit growth. — Automation enabling companies to produce more with fewer workers. — Economic insecurity, which has given employers the upper hand in salary discussions. Read More

The most recent election was a good night for Republicans, but possibly even better for investors. That’s not necessarily because Republican wins lead to better stock returns, but because historically the market performs better in the year following midterm elections. #-ad_banner-#In fact, there’s a 66% chance that the market will post positive gains for 2014, according to research by StockTradersAlmanac.com. Looking at stock market movements from every midterm election from 1970 to 2010, their research found that 66% of the time the stock market ended higher from election day to year’s end. And for all midterms since 1970, the stock… Read More

The most recent election was a good night for Republicans, but possibly even better for investors. That’s not necessarily because Republican wins lead to better stock returns, but because historically the market performs better in the year following midterm elections. #-ad_banner-#In fact, there’s a 66% chance that the market will post positive gains for 2014, according to research by StockTradersAlmanac.com. Looking at stock market movements from every midterm election from 1970 to 2010, their research found that 66% of the time the stock market ended higher from election day to year’s end. And for all midterms since 1970, the stock market gained an average of 2.1% from election day to the end of year. You can see for yourself in the table below: If a 2.1% gain possibility over the next two months doesn’t sound groundbreaking, then this might. Holding stocks for a full year after a midterm has historically been very profitable, according to research by Chief Equity Strategist Sam Stovall of S&P Capital IQ. Since 1946, there have been 17 midterm elections. As this article points out, Stovall’s research shows that in each of those cases, from October 31 of the midterm year through… Read More

Some investors probably lump all online shopping stocks together, thinking they are a waste of time and destined to be perpetual losers because of the bloated losses, quarter after quarter, of Amazon.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN). Billionaire Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s visionary founder, perhaps went off the tracks pursuing launches of everything from smart phones to drones, while forgetting the e-commerce sales model that started it all. Or maybe he has a grand plan that most of us have yet to realize. #-ad_banner-#Either way, it would be unwise to think other online shopping companies have no choice but to follow suit and expand to other businesses in order… Read More

Some investors probably lump all online shopping stocks together, thinking they are a waste of time and destined to be perpetual losers because of the bloated losses, quarter after quarter, of Amazon.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN). Billionaire Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s visionary founder, perhaps went off the tracks pursuing launches of everything from smart phones to drones, while forgetting the e-commerce sales model that started it all. Or maybe he has a grand plan that most of us have yet to realize. #-ad_banner-#Either way, it would be unwise to think other online shopping companies have no choice but to follow suit and expand to other businesses in order to make a buck. Three following three companies are doing are churning out solid, growing profits, offer a seemingly endless variety of goods and have a clearly defined direction — unlike Amazon. One is headquartered in the United States, one is Asian and the other is Latin American. The latter two have a particular appeal because emerging markets show strong potential for online shopping plays because of their less developed brick-and-mortar economies. Overstock.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: OSTK) Overstock.com, with a modest but growing $578 million market cap, is an online discount retailer headquartered near Salt Lake City, Utah. The company… Read More

One of the most interesting changes in the market over the past few years is the resurgence in investor interest for U.S.-led profits. This is in stark contrast to before the financial crisis when many investors passed over domestic stocks for emerging market growth. You couldn’t watch 10 minutes of CNBC without hearing how developing world growth would crush the stagnant economies of the United States, Japan and Europe.  The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets (NYSE: EEM) surged more than 200% in the four years to September 2007, compared with 46% for the S&P 500, and it seemed investor sentiment couldn’t… Read More

One of the most interesting changes in the market over the past few years is the resurgence in investor interest for U.S.-led profits. This is in stark contrast to before the financial crisis when many investors passed over domestic stocks for emerging market growth. You couldn’t watch 10 minutes of CNBC without hearing how developing world growth would crush the stagnant economies of the United States, Japan and Europe.  The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets (NYSE: EEM) surged more than 200% in the four years to September 2007, compared with 46% for the S&P 500, and it seemed investor sentiment couldn’t get more bullish. And of course, it didn’t. The emerging market fund is down almost 10% since September 2007 against a 36% gain on stocks in the S&P 500. #-ad_banner-#But have things really changed that much? The U.S. will probably eke out 2% GDP growth this year, according to the IMF, which is still well below the 4.4% growth projection for the emerging world. The United States is still running a nearly $500 billion deficit, and the greenback is more than 10% weaker over the past decade against a basket of peers.  The weakness in emerging market stocks will not… Read More

Shares of retailers have struggled to hold on to gains this year, even as the rest of the market enjoys record highs.  Employment growth has only just started to turn higher and real hourly wages fell for almost every segment of the workforce during the first half of the year. Against the backdrop of sluggish sales and the unknown of the holiday shopping season, you probably wouldn’t be surprised if retailers played it safe with their advertising as we move through third quarter earnings. But one retail giant is stepping out into the limelight with… Read More

Shares of retailers have struggled to hold on to gains this year, even as the rest of the market enjoys record highs.  Employment growth has only just started to turn higher and real hourly wages fell for almost every segment of the workforce during the first half of the year. Against the backdrop of sluggish sales and the unknown of the holiday shopping season, you probably wouldn’t be surprised if retailers played it safe with their advertising as we move through third quarter earnings. But one retail giant is stepping out into the limelight with a new series of ads directed by an up-and-comer from one of America’s most celebrated movie families.  #-ad_banner-#Instead of putting out the traditional drivel of holiday hopes and dreams, the company is taking a chance on something memorable enough to move the needle on sales.  While holiday sales disappointed investors last year, things are looking up for the upcoming shopping season and this company’s striking new ads may bring buyers back in a big way. Can ‘Endearingly Weird’ Save This Fashion Heavyweight? The Gap, Inc. (NYSE: GPS) shares plunged 12.4% on October 9 with the release of… Read More

Analog and mixed-signal semiconductor device maker Skyworks Solutions (NASDAQ: SWKS) has enjoyed a huge run over the past 52 weeks, up more than 130% and trading at levels not seen in over a decade. The company makes high-tech microchips used in mobile devices, wireless networks and the automotive market. Its mixed-signal devices convert and boost radio frequency signals in smartphones, making the user experience much more powerful. Given the huge growth in the mobile device and networking space over the past several years, there’s been heavy demand for Skyworks Solutions’ radio frequency microchips. This demand has analysts projecting double-digit sales… Read More

Analog and mixed-signal semiconductor device maker Skyworks Solutions (NASDAQ: SWKS) has enjoyed a huge run over the past 52 weeks, up more than 130% and trading at levels not seen in over a decade. The company makes high-tech microchips used in mobile devices, wireless networks and the automotive market. Its mixed-signal devices convert and boost radio frequency signals in smartphones, making the user experience much more powerful. Given the huge growth in the mobile device and networking space over the past several years, there’s been heavy demand for Skyworks Solutions’ radio frequency microchips. This demand has analysts projecting double-digit sales and EPS growth for the foreseeable future. #-ad_banner-#On average, analysts expect the company to grow earnings about 20% a year for the next five years. Skyworks Solutions is set to report fiscal fourth-quarter earnings after the closing bell on Thursday, Nov. 6. Expectations are high due in large part to an upwardly revised guidance the company offered Wall Street in mid-October.  Management boosted its Q4 revenue outlook to $718 million, which represents a 51% year-over-year increase. It also lifted its earnings-per-share projections to $1.08, which translates to a 69% increase from the year-ago quarter. This was up from previous guidance… Read More

As any CEO will tell you, working toward an initial public offering is an arduous process. Lawyers need to file reams of paperwork, bankers need to determine a suitable valuation and trading desks must line up demand for shares. Yet for some companies, the tough days don’t end there. After the IPO takes place, weak market action or simply a fickle base of initial shareholders can turn a potentially promising new stock into a dud. Every year, more than a few IPOs end up trading at levels lower than the offering price. #-ad_banner-#That’s why as every year winds down, I look… Read More

As any CEO will tell you, working toward an initial public offering is an arduous process. Lawyers need to file reams of paperwork, bankers need to determine a suitable valuation and trading desks must line up demand for shares. Yet for some companies, the tough days don’t end there. After the IPO takes place, weak market action or simply a fickle base of initial shareholders can turn a potentially promising new stock into a dud. Every year, more than a few IPOs end up trading at levels lower than the offering price. #-ad_banner-#That’s why as every year winds down, I look at the crop of IPOs, seeing which young companies have already been placed in the bargain bin. To be sure, some stocks deserve to be unloved. They represent companies with a dim future and the IPO was simply a way for its former backers to dump shares on someone else’s hands. But there are also some diamonds in the rough that deserve a second look. Here are three that I am focusing for a rebound in their sophomore years. MediWound Ltd (Nasdaq: MDWD) A number of biotech IPOs traded down this year as investors grew to fear that they… Read More