The name of the game is electronic payments. Metal coins, paper money and plastic cards are increasingly becoming a thing of the past. Worldwide online retail sales, also known as business-to-consumer ecommerce, are expected to reach $1.5 trillion by year’s end  — and that number is only going to grow over the next few years, according to eMarketer’s recent forecast. As bits and bytes replace material money, a land grab is taking place among firms looking to stay ahead of the curve in the electronic payment space. A recent flurry of M&A activity led me… Read More

The name of the game is electronic payments. Metal coins, paper money and plastic cards are increasingly becoming a thing of the past. Worldwide online retail sales, also known as business-to-consumer ecommerce, are expected to reach $1.5 trillion by year’s end  — and that number is only going to grow over the next few years, according to eMarketer’s recent forecast. As bits and bytes replace material money, a land grab is taking place among firms looking to stay ahead of the curve in the electronic payment space. A recent flurry of M&A activity led me to look for the next acquisition candidate. For reference, Ebay’s most profitable venture, Paypal, which has been a dominant force in mobile payments since its founding in 1999, has recently started making waves again. Recognizing the continuous challenge to be at the forefront of the mobile payments revolution, PayPal has been scooping up mobile payment firms left and right. In fact, over the last two years they’ve acquired 8 different payments companies. #-ad_banner-#​Most notably, eBay paid an eight-times price-to-sales multiple, or $800 million, for Braintree, a global payment platform that… Read More

As earnings season comes to an end, so does the opportunity for a company’s officers and directors to snap up company shares with their own money. Most corporate governance policies restrict such activity to a fairly short period after quarterly earnings are announced. Judging by the sheer volume of meaningful insider purchases, insiders have been quite busy this month, according to data from Insiderinsights.com. #-ad_banner-#Trying to research the many companies with insider buying can be a daunting task. To winnow the field of research candidates, I only focus on companies with at least $100,000 — and preferably a lot more… Read More

As earnings season comes to an end, so does the opportunity for a company’s officers and directors to snap up company shares with their own money. Most corporate governance policies restrict such activity to a fairly short period after quarterly earnings are announced. Judging by the sheer volume of meaningful insider purchases, insiders have been quite busy this month, according to data from Insiderinsights.com. #-ad_banner-#Trying to research the many companies with insider buying can be a daunting task. To winnow the field of research candidates, I only focus on companies with at least $100,000 — and preferably a lot more — in buying, minimal insider selling and actual buying, and not just stock options-conversions, which many sources cite as a type of insider buying. Here’s a look at three companies with recent insider buying. 1.    Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: INO) One of the hottest areas of biotech research involves the alteration of DNA mutations. This company is taking a slightly different approach: it’s developing vaccines against rogue genes and various viruses, many of which can lead to various types of cancers. Inovio’s INO-5150, for example, is entering Phase III testing as a vaccine against prostate cancer.  Another vaccine, VGX-3100, targets… Read More

Last week wrapped up the final week of Q2 earnings. For many Wall Street firms, that means updating investment models, revising outlooks and adjusting price targets on companies that recently reported. One research and ranking system in particular has a storied following on Wall Street: Goldman Sachs’s Conviction Buy List. Whereas other firms may top out with a “buy” rating for stocks deemed worthy of investment, Goldman Sachs goes one step further to single out stocks they feel have a strong chance of beating the market. #-ad_banner-#​Typically saved for the firm’s clientele, the list… Read More

Last week wrapped up the final week of Q2 earnings. For many Wall Street firms, that means updating investment models, revising outlooks and adjusting price targets on companies that recently reported. One research and ranking system in particular has a storied following on Wall Street: Goldman Sachs’s Conviction Buy List. Whereas other firms may top out with a “buy” rating for stocks deemed worthy of investment, Goldman Sachs goes one step further to single out stocks they feel have a strong chance of beating the market. #-ad_banner-#​Typically saved for the firm’s clientele, the list still manages to reach the public through various news outlets, which often means a quick pop in the stock price as investors catch on. Given the firm’s reputation for top-tier equity research, I like to keep my eyes out for additions and deletions as they occur.  This summer has given way to a number of new names added to the list. Let’s see how they stack up against each other. The Valspar Corp. (NYSE: VAL) landed on the coveted ranking just a few weeks ago, making the jump from “neutral” to “conviction… Read More

Thomas Edison went through thousands of trials while he was inventing the light bulb. He struck out again and again, until finally… there was light. Later, he was asked if it was daunting, failing like that so many times. #-ad_banner-#His pithy reply has become famous: “If I find 10,000 ways something won’t work, I haven’t failed. I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.” It’s exactly that spirit of innovation and invention that’ drives many of the stocks I choose for my premium newsletter advisory, Top 10 Stocks. In… Read More

Thomas Edison went through thousands of trials while he was inventing the light bulb. He struck out again and again, until finally… there was light. Later, he was asked if it was daunting, failing like that so many times. #-ad_banner-#His pithy reply has become famous: “If I find 10,000 ways something won’t work, I haven’t failed. I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.” It’s exactly that spirit of innovation and invention that’ drives many of the stocks I choose for my premium newsletter advisory, Top 10 Stocks. In fact, I even have a name for these stocks… I call them “American Innovators.” And today, I want to share with you one recent example of the kind of success we’ve had investing in American Innovators. I firmly believe the recent success we’ve had from this pick is a signal of further big changes coming for American industry — and that it will create substantial opportunities most investors have no idea are coming. On June 26 this year, I sold my holdings in Alcoa (NYSE: AA), locking in a strong gain of more than 60% over… Read More

Let me start off today’s issue with a warning… We’re not trying to sound alarmist. It does absolutely zero good if you walk away from today’s essay with a “the sky is falling” mentality. We certainly don’t think that, and neither should you. #-ad_banner-#That being said, we’ve been spending a lot of time around the office thinking about a topic that has dominated headlines recently — one that our own Andy Obermueller has been spot-on with his analysis since Day 1. I’m talking about pandemics. Now, again, I want to be perfectly clear that we’re not saying some sort of… Read More

Let me start off today’s issue with a warning… We’re not trying to sound alarmist. It does absolutely zero good if you walk away from today’s essay with a “the sky is falling” mentality. We certainly don’t think that, and neither should you. #-ad_banner-#That being said, we’ve been spending a lot of time around the office thinking about a topic that has dominated headlines recently — one that our own Andy Obermueller has been spot-on with his analysis since Day 1. I’m talking about pandemics. Now, again, I want to be perfectly clear that we’re not saying some sort of global pandemic is imminent. But if you’ve paid any attention to the news regarding the Ebola outbreaks in Africa, you know that the next potential outbreak of some kind is always around the corner. Since first being discovered in 1976, this recent outbreak of Ebola has been the most deadly. According to the World Health Organization, as of Thursday, it has infected 2,473 people in West Africa and killed an astonishing 1,350. This deadly strain of Ebola has a 60 percent fatality rate. To put that in perspective, the 1918 flu pandemic had a fatality rate between 10-20 percent… and… Read More

Whether you’ve been following the news closely or just overheard your coworkers talking about it, chances are you know about the controversy taking place in Ferguson, Missouri. In the wake of these events, protests and civil unrest have broken out across the city — leaving many around the country speculating as to what actually transpired on August 9. And it’s those speculations that could lead to a major boom for one market in the coming months. #-ad_banner-#The truth is: we may never know what happened that day. There was no video evidence and very few witnesses. But over the past… Read More

Whether you’ve been following the news closely or just overheard your coworkers talking about it, chances are you know about the controversy taking place in Ferguson, Missouri. In the wake of these events, protests and civil unrest have broken out across the city — leaving many around the country speculating as to what actually transpired on August 9. And it’s those speculations that could lead to a major boom for one market in the coming months. #-ad_banner-#The truth is: we may never know what happened that day. There was no video evidence and very few witnesses. But over the past few weeks, a growing number of police departments across the country are placing orders for body cameras that officers can wear to document their interactions with the public. The cameras will be able to record nearly everything an officer sees. Several petitions are gaining traction that will mandate police nationwide to begin wearing them. Aside from the Ferguson controversy, there’s been recent public outcry for change in New York and Los Angeles after incidents of alleged police brutality were caught on camera by pedestrians. A 2012 study conducted by the police department in Rialto, California —… Read More

If I ever truly need to find out what’s going on with mobile computing and telecom, I check my kids’ phones. Both bypassed Facebook altogether and went straight to Instagram. Their interest waned in Instagram about the time Facebook bought the firm for $1 billion. #-ad_banner-#​Now their attention has turned to Snapchat. This app company has yet to turn a profit but is valued by some experts, according to a Bloomberg report, at $10 billion or better. I’m sorry. That’s insane. I remember Pets.com. Read More

If I ever truly need to find out what’s going on with mobile computing and telecom, I check my kids’ phones. Both bypassed Facebook altogether and went straight to Instagram. Their interest waned in Instagram about the time Facebook bought the firm for $1 billion. #-ad_banner-#​Now their attention has turned to Snapchat. This app company has yet to turn a profit but is valued by some experts, according to a Bloomberg report, at $10 billion or better. I’m sorry. That’s insane. I remember Pets.com. Yes, the way these apps enable us to communicate is nothing short of the Jetsons. But when a company does not make money, it ostensibly adds zero value to its industry and the broader economy. However, many firms in the tech industry should be approached from a different perspective. While the market obsesses on high valuations for companies that have yet to go public, real value is derived from a solid operating history, earnings growth and generous dividend yields. The following is a list of companies that are well-positioned to withstand any potential tech… Read More

As a player for the famed Brooklyn Dodgers, Eddie Stanky earned his stripes as a baseball great. His manager, Leo Durocher, summed him up this way: “He can’t hit, he can’t run, he can’t field. He’s no nice guy…all the little SOB can do is win.”  Stocks can be the same way. They can be in lackluster sectors. They can have terrible headwinds. But the companies keep delivering year after year. One of my favorite Stanky-like stocks is food giant ConAgra Foods, Inc. (NYSE: CAG). I’ve held this stock through the years in portfolios and it’s time to look at it again. Outside of… Read More

As a player for the famed Brooklyn Dodgers, Eddie Stanky earned his stripes as a baseball great. His manager, Leo Durocher, summed him up this way: “He can’t hit, he can’t run, he can’t field. He’s no nice guy…all the little SOB can do is win.”  Stocks can be the same way. They can be in lackluster sectors. They can have terrible headwinds. But the companies keep delivering year after year. One of my favorite Stanky-like stocks is food giant ConAgra Foods, Inc. (NYSE: CAG). I’ve held this stock through the years in portfolios and it’s time to look at it again. Outside of a decent run up in 2013, shares are basically flat. However, based on some of ConAgra’s average five year metrics, investors have an opportunity to buy a quality name at an extremely reasonable price. Five Year Trend   Growth Revenue Growth 8% EPS (Earnings per Share) Growth 6% Dividend Growth 6% Source: Morningstar Are they gargantuan, triple-digit growth? No. But considering ConAgra’s five year average net margin is less than 5%, revenue growth is a consistent 8%, plus healthy dividend increases, this stock is very attractive. The strength ConAgra brings to the table is the power of its brand portfolio. … Read More

It’s a CEO’s worst nightmare. You wake up one morning to find that your company’s stock has been targeted by short sellers and millions of dollars have suddenly been shaved from the firm’s market value. On March 23, 2011, it happened to Robin Raina, CEO of Ebix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EBIX). The company, which sells software and e-commerce platforms to the insurance industry, saw its shares plunge from $29 to $22 the next day. #-ad_banner-#But the damage has been done and Raina has been trying to contain the fallout ever since. Shares now trade for less than half the levels seen… Read More

It’s a CEO’s worst nightmare. You wake up one morning to find that your company’s stock has been targeted by short sellers and millions of dollars have suddenly been shaved from the firm’s market value. On March 23, 2011, it happened to Robin Raina, CEO of Ebix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EBIX). The company, which sells software and e-commerce platforms to the insurance industry, saw its shares plunge from $29 to $22 the next day. #-ad_banner-#But the damage has been done and Raina has been trying to contain the fallout ever since. Shares now trade for less than half the levels seen before short sellers first appeared.  For investors not yet familiar with this company, the forward view is what counts. By my math, this stock could rebound into the mid-$20’s over the next year if Ebix plays its hand well in coming quarters. Ebix is known as a “roll up” firm because it made a long stretch of acquisitions to boost sales. Such business models are much-loved when they work, but a target for short sellers when it appears that the deal-making yields few bottom-line gains. Roll up strategies do bring a clear negative:  Nearly $350 million in goodwill sits on… Read More

If there’s a single word I’d use to describe recent market activity it would be “volatile.” During the July 21 trading week, the S&P 500 hit an all-time high at 1,991. Within two weeks, the index shed more than 4%, dropping to a low of 1,905. This week, it surged to yet another new all-time high. While I am concerned about what could be negative momentum,divergence based on the Moving Average Convergence/Divergence (MACD) on the daily chart, I still have to respect… Read More

If there’s a single word I’d use to describe recent market activity it would be “volatile.” During the July 21 trading week, the S&P 500 hit an all-time high at 1,991. Within two weeks, the index shed more than 4%, dropping to a low of 1,905. This week, it surged to yet another new all-time high. While I am concerned about what could be negative momentum,divergence based on the Moving Average Convergence/Divergence (MACD) on the daily chart, I still have to respect the S&P’s ability to rally in the face of a dicey geopolitical environment. One sector I am excited about is tech. According to Morningstar, technology has been the top-performing sector in the past year with a 32% return. #-ad_banner-#Within the tech sector, memory chip supplier Micron Technology (Nasdaq: MU) is a leader. Over the past year, shares have brought traders outstanding returns of more than 135%! And the bullish technical and fundamental outlook makes the stock an attractive buy in my book. Strong demand for Micron’s specialized DRAM and NAND flash… Read More