The Federal Reserve has been teasing the market with an interest rate hike for most of the last five years. Finally, it looks like the most powerful central bank in the world is finally ready to make good on its promise. And while that may be considered a threat to industries that rely on cheap cash, it would be a $1.5 billion profit trigger for one of the four largest banks in the United States. Let me explain. Expectations for a Fed rate hike in December recently spiked to a multi-month high. #-ad_banner-#The Federal Funds Futures, a contract traded at… Read More

The Federal Reserve has been teasing the market with an interest rate hike for most of the last five years. Finally, it looks like the most powerful central bank in the world is finally ready to make good on its promise. And while that may be considered a threat to industries that rely on cheap cash, it would be a $1.5 billion profit trigger for one of the four largest banks in the United States. Let me explain. Expectations for a Fed rate hike in December recently spiked to a multi-month high. #-ad_banner-#The Federal Funds Futures, a contract traded at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange that calculates the probability of a rate hike, just hit a multi-month high of 64%. Minutes from the Fed’s September 20-21 meetings reveal that its 7-3 vote to leave rates unchanged was a “close call” and that voting members planned to raise rates “relatively soon.”Both of these indicators point to a high probability that the Fed will finally pull the trigger on raising interest rates before the end of the year. For industries such as real estate and building that rely on low interest rates, this isn’t great news. It threatens to restrict the easy flow… Read More

We are a nation of discount shoppers. Just like stock market investors love to buy shares at a discount, consumers love to find bargains when shopping. Retailers exploit this discount purchasing desire in numerous ways. Consumer savvy sellers do everything from issuing discount coupons and participating in loss-leader Groupon-type programs, to holding sales events and carefully setting price amounts to psychologically pleasing figures. Discount shopping is such a dominant force that the International Monetary Fund listed discount retailer Walmart (NYSE: WMT) as 28th on the list of the world’s largest economies in 2013. This means that the discount retailer’s economic… Read More

We are a nation of discount shoppers. Just like stock market investors love to buy shares at a discount, consumers love to find bargains when shopping. Retailers exploit this discount purchasing desire in numerous ways. Consumer savvy sellers do everything from issuing discount coupons and participating in loss-leader Groupon-type programs, to holding sales events and carefully setting price amounts to psychologically pleasing figures. Discount shopping is such a dominant force that the International Monetary Fund listed discount retailer Walmart (NYSE: WMT) as 28th on the list of the world’s largest economies in 2013. This means that the discount retailer’s economic power is greater than most nations, serving as a testament to the success of the discount shopping model.   #-ad_banner-#The Next Level Of Discount Shopping An entire industry has emerged pushing the discount concept to the extreme in the brick & mortar space. Known as dollar stores, these deep-discount retailers have become a thriving industry, while creating over $25 billion in annual revenue. Dollar stores are defined as stores that sell most of their merchandise at a single low price. As the name suggests, the price is generally $1.00 or so per item. These retailers focus on regions that… Read More

It only takes three things to get me very excited about a stock market opportunity: sleeper stocks pushing toward yearly highs, technical price breakouts, and corporate spinoffs. Each one of these items can be signaling bullish times ahead for the shares. Combine all three signals with a 148-year-old, $52 billion market cap behemoth boasting over 90 million customers in more than 60 nations, and it paints a bright future for the shares. First, let’s take a closer look at each of the three bullish factors at work then dig into the specifics of the opportunity. #-ad_banner-#Sleeper stocks are companies holding… Read More

It only takes three things to get me very excited about a stock market opportunity: sleeper stocks pushing toward yearly highs, technical price breakouts, and corporate spinoffs. Each one of these items can be signaling bullish times ahead for the shares. Combine all three signals with a 148-year-old, $52 billion market cap behemoth boasting over 90 million customers in more than 60 nations, and it paints a bright future for the shares. First, let’s take a closer look at each of the three bullish factors at work then dig into the specifics of the opportunity. #-ad_banner-#Sleeper stocks are companies holding little interest to short-term, fast money type stock market investors. They tend to be slow movers but can make great long-term investments. These stocks are often from old, boring industries such as insurance. When a sleeper stock is observed pushing toward new highs, it may be signaling more than just a short-term move based on price alone. That’s because it often takes a seriously bullish fundamental catalyst to trigger a move higher in a sleeper stock. Next, a technical breakout occurs whenever the share price moves above a resistance level on a price chart.  Many technical analysts consider the 200-day… Read More

The third-quarter earnings season kicked off Tuesday, with Alcoa (NYSE: AA) announcing before the bell. According to FactSet, Q3 earnings for companies in the S&P 500 are expected to drop 2.1%, which would mark the sixth consecutive quarter of year-over-year declines. #-ad_banner-#This would be an improvement from the 3.5% drop in earnings in the second quarter, though. And while I have voiced my concerns about what the current earnings recession means for the broader market going forward, there’s no denying that the upcoming earnings season will present plenty of opportunity for traders to make quick, outsized profits. FactSet notes that… Read More

The third-quarter earnings season kicked off Tuesday, with Alcoa (NYSE: AA) announcing before the bell. According to FactSet, Q3 earnings for companies in the S&P 500 are expected to drop 2.1%, which would mark the sixth consecutive quarter of year-over-year declines. #-ad_banner-#This would be an improvement from the 3.5% drop in earnings in the second quarter, though. And while I have voiced my concerns about what the current earnings recession means for the broader market going forward, there’s no denying that the upcoming earnings season will present plenty of opportunity for traders to make quick, outsized profits. FactSet notes that 72% of S&P 500 companies beat Q2 earnings estimates, while 19% missed expectations. This means only 9% of companies reported results that were in line with analysts’ estimates. Given the high number of surprises, both bullish and bearish, it’s no wonder we see increased volatility (i.e., big stock moves) during earning season. Yet, despite the opportunity for quick gains from post-earnings moves, many investors shy away from trading around earnings reports. Their reason is simple: It’s risky. Sure, you may see gains of 5% or even 10% in a single day if you call it right. But if you’re wrong,… Read More

The U.S. military has been the largest investor in drones since the industry got its start 15 years ago. While U.S. military drone spending will continue growing, a recent regulatory breakthrough from the Federal Aviation Association (FAA) sets the stage for commercial drone sales to eclipse military spending and become one of the fastest growing industries in the world in the next five years. #-ad_banner-#A Regulatory Breakthrough The commercial drone industry scored a big win in late August. That was the day the Federal Aviation Association (FAA) opened up the skies to commercial drones. The FAA ruling allows for… Read More

The U.S. military has been the largest investor in drones since the industry got its start 15 years ago. While U.S. military drone spending will continue growing, a recent regulatory breakthrough from the Federal Aviation Association (FAA) sets the stage for commercial drone sales to eclipse military spending and become one of the fastest growing industries in the world in the next five years. #-ad_banner-#A Regulatory Breakthrough The commercial drone industry scored a big win in late August. That was the day the Federal Aviation Association (FAA) opened up the skies to commercial drones. The FAA ruling allows for small commercial drones to operate during daylight and below 400 feet. That alone is a regulatory breakthrough for the commercial drone industry. But the FAA also recently loosened its restriction on commercial drone pilots. Before, a commercial drone pilot needed an actual pilot license. Now, commercial drone pilots will only be required to pass a test that costs $150. These key regulatory adjustments clear the path for the most powerful S&P 500 companies to invest billions of dollars into their commercial drone programs. In fact, it’s already happening. Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) is testing Amazon Prime Air, its system to use… Read More

The health care sector has led the market decline over the past few days, but that’s nothing new. It’s been the worst performer so far in 2016, and it looks like it will continue to move still lower in the coming weeks. The weakness in the sector is pervasive, hitting all subgroups, but drug stocks seem to be technically poised for a serious decline.  #-ad_banner-#I’ve noticed a pattern in some of the biggest drug stocks, specifically Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) and Merck (NYSE: MRK), where they trade near their 52-week highs in a tight range or rectangle pattern, break out on… Read More

The health care sector has led the market decline over the past few days, but that’s nothing new. It’s been the worst performer so far in 2016, and it looks like it will continue to move still lower in the coming weeks. The weakness in the sector is pervasive, hitting all subgroups, but drug stocks seem to be technically poised for a serious decline.  #-ad_banner-#I’ve noticed a pattern in some of the biggest drug stocks, specifically Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) and Merck (NYSE: MRK), where they trade near their 52-week highs in a tight range or rectangle pattern, break out on news and then fail badly. Pfizer did this in July and has been falling ever since. Merck, on the other hand, broke out and failed just this week, so the jury is still out on that one. A lesser-known drug stock is currently exhibiting the same pattern as Pfizer and Merck, which could result in a nice profit for short sellers. Zoetis (NYSE: ZTS), which focuses on drugs and vaccines for pets and livestock, was actually spun off from Pfizer in 2013, so there’s not a lot of history for chartists to ponder. But the short-term pattern of range, breakout… Read More

Nestled within the beauty of Maine’s Acadia National Park, on the picturesque Mount Desert Island, is a place known to many scientists and health care investors as the place where the term “genomics” was coined.  I’m talking about The Jackson Laboratory. #-ad_banner-#I mention this little piece of trivia mostly because of the timeline. It was only 30 years ago when one of the most powerful game-changing trends in health and science, nameless until then, received its title.  The mapping of the human genome only started in the 1970s. Today, only a few decades later and 12 years after the completion… Read More

Nestled within the beauty of Maine’s Acadia National Park, on the picturesque Mount Desert Island, is a place known to many scientists and health care investors as the place where the term “genomics” was coined.  I’m talking about The Jackson Laboratory. #-ad_banner-#I mention this little piece of trivia mostly because of the timeline. It was only 30 years ago when one of the most powerful game-changing trends in health and science, nameless until then, received its title.  The mapping of the human genome only started in the 1970s. Today, only a few decades later and 12 years after the completion of the Human Genome Project, it’s hard to understate the impact genomics and genetic mapping has made in health sciences and medicine.  Newer, better diagnostic and treatment choices are now available as a result. For instance, because of recent advances in genomics, doctors are now armed with tools enabling them to locate the risk genes for many genetic diseases. Medical researchers are hard at work to apply these tools to heart disease, diabetes, and more. This leads me to Genomic Health (Nasdaq: GHDX), one of several recent additions I’ve made to the portfolio of my premium newsletter, Game-Changing Stocks. Founded… Read More

It’s the “Las Vegas of Asia.” Sitting at the mouth of the Pearl River Delta — about an hour’s ferry ride from Hong Kong on the south end of mainland China, the former Portuguese colony of Macau is the only place in China where gambling is legal. And in the past decade, it has developed into one of the world’s biggest gambling destinations.  #-ad_banner-#In 2013, gaming revenue in Macau hit $45 billion — nearly seven times larger than Las Vegas.  Many of the large casino players, like Wynn Resorts (Nasdaq: WYNN) and Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS), were among the… Read More

It’s the “Las Vegas of Asia.” Sitting at the mouth of the Pearl River Delta — about an hour’s ferry ride from Hong Kong on the south end of mainland China, the former Portuguese colony of Macau is the only place in China where gambling is legal. And in the past decade, it has developed into one of the world’s biggest gambling destinations.  #-ad_banner-#In 2013, gaming revenue in Macau hit $45 billion — nearly seven times larger than Las Vegas.  Many of the large casino players, like Wynn Resorts (Nasdaq: WYNN) and Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS), were among the first companies to secure a gambling license in Macau, opening their first casinos there in 2006. The timing couldn’t have been better as gaming revenues soared.   And you can see, shares of those stocks climbed right along with those revenues:     The Wild West Of The 21st Century There was just one problem… Prior to 2014, it wasn’t only gambling that took place in Macau… As signs began to creep up in 2014 that China’s economy was not growing as fast as it once was, and the government… Read More

You can’t be a little pregnant, and you can’t have a little inflation. It’s the old axiom about rising prices that the market seems to have forgotten over the last several years. Stubbornly weak economic growth and deflationary pressure on global trade from low-cost producers in Asia have kept U.S. inflation well under the Federal Reserve’s 2% target since April 2012. The benign threat of higher prices has emboldened the central bank to keep rates low and money cheap. But there’s a growing disconnect between the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation and others. #-ad_banner-#In fact, another measure of inflation points… Read More

You can’t be a little pregnant, and you can’t have a little inflation. It’s the old axiom about rising prices that the market seems to have forgotten over the last several years. Stubbornly weak economic growth and deflationary pressure on global trade from low-cost producers in Asia have kept U.S. inflation well under the Federal Reserve’s 2% target since April 2012. The benign threat of higher prices has emboldened the central bank to keep rates low and money cheap. But there’s a growing disconnect between the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation and others. #-ad_banner-#In fact, another measure of inflation points to price increases that are 70% higher than the rate the Fed is watching. Combine that with the fact that prices on one of the biggest downward factors on recent inflation are surging and the market may soon be reminded of what it’s like to have a ‘little’ inflation. Is The Fed Looking In The Wrong Place? Several regional Fed presidents have expressed concern about rising inflation and the need to raise interest rates. Philly Fed President Harker told Bloomberg in late September that rising energy prices have convinced him that we will see target inflation, “sooner rather than… Read More

Amazon (NYSE: AMZN) booked more than $107 billion in 2015 sales on over 300 million active customer accounts. The ecommerce giant is booking 20% annual sales growth as traditional retailers struggle and is predicted to surpass Macy’s (NYSE: M) as America’s top apparel seller next year. Analysts at Morgan Stanley found that the department store share of the apparel market has fallen by $30 billion over the last decade while Amazon and other online retailers have picked up over $28 billion in market share over the same period. #-ad_banner-#Retailers like Sears (Nasdaq: SHLD) and J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) have all… Read More

Amazon (NYSE: AMZN) booked more than $107 billion in 2015 sales on over 300 million active customer accounts. The ecommerce giant is booking 20% annual sales growth as traditional retailers struggle and is predicted to surpass Macy’s (NYSE: M) as America’s top apparel seller next year. Analysts at Morgan Stanley found that the department store share of the apparel market has fallen by $30 billion over the last decade while Amazon and other online retailers have picked up over $28 billion in market share over the same period. #-ad_banner-#Retailers like Sears (Nasdaq: SHLD) and J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) have all but vanished and other retail segments are feeling the squeeze. The $397 billion e-commerce leader has already started ramping up to steal sales from brick-and-mortar stores this holiday season with its second annual Prime Day. Research firm Forrester estimates that Amazon accounted for 60% of all online sales growth in the United States last year. But not all retailers may be feeling the bite of Amazon’s growth story. A few may even be able to beat Amazon on the ground and in the ‘net. Retail Categories And Companies Set To Win Some retail categories may fair better than others… Read More