It’s been clear for years now that those who bet on the demise of major automakers were on the wrong side of history.  A report this week confirmed that car makers are doing just fine, thank you. About 17.5 million cars and trucks were sold in the United States last year, beating the previous record of 17.3 million set in 2000. Last year’s tally represented a 6% increase from 2014 and was up 68% from the 10.4 million sold in 2009. Americans spent a whopping $437 billion on cars and trucks last year, and that number has risen for six… Read More

It’s been clear for years now that those who bet on the demise of major automakers were on the wrong side of history.  A report this week confirmed that car makers are doing just fine, thank you. About 17.5 million cars and trucks were sold in the United States last year, beating the previous record of 17.3 million set in 2000. Last year’s tally represented a 6% increase from 2014 and was up 68% from the 10.4 million sold in 2009. Americans spent a whopping $437 billion on cars and trucks last year, and that number has risen for six straight years. #-ad_banner-#In some ways, 2015 was a perfect environment for vehicle sales. More Americans have jobs (unemployment dropped to only 5%) and gasoline prices fell sharply along with the price of oil — at year-end, the average price nationally was $2.03 a gallon, down 28 cents from the year-earlier price. And interest rates were at rock bottom most of the year, as the Federal Reserve raised interest rates only in mid-December. Meanwhile, many Americans have been deferring new-car purchases; the average car on the road is more than 11 years old. It’s a far cry from the auto industry’s… Read More

The weather phenomenon El Nino is bringing the much need moisture to the west, where places like California are suffering from a four-year drought. And the early signs of snow pleased many snow enthusiasts, while allowing many ski resorts to open early.   Colder temperatures also bring the possibility of thicker profits for many companies that rely heavily on seasonal trends. Companies like Douglas Dynamics (NYSE: PLOW) which supplies snow and ice removal equipment and Arctic Cat (Nasdaq: ACAT) which sells all-terrain vehicles, notably its snowmobile lineup, lean heavily on the hope for a good winter to boost… Read More

The weather phenomenon El Nino is bringing the much need moisture to the west, where places like California are suffering from a four-year drought. And the early signs of snow pleased many snow enthusiasts, while allowing many ski resorts to open early.   Colder temperatures also bring the possibility of thicker profits for many companies that rely heavily on seasonal trends. Companies like Douglas Dynamics (NYSE: PLOW) which supplies snow and ice removal equipment and Arctic Cat (Nasdaq: ACAT) which sells all-terrain vehicles, notably its snowmobile lineup, lean heavily on the hope for a good winter to boost sales. #-ad_banner-#But there are two companies that stand above the rest when it comes to finding the best stocks to take advantage of winter. Winter Basics Before you can take advantage of all that winter offers you must first be prepared. Having the proper outerwear can be the difference between a great time and a miserable time when either out on the mountain or walking the ski village in Vail, Colorado. And if you’re looking for some great gear then look no further than the Portland, Oregon based Columbia Sportswear (Nasdaq: COLM). The outdoor apparel and equipment company operates… Read More

Last week, I discussed why aerospace and defense stocks could be among the market’s biggest winners over the next two years. #-ad_banner-#Essentially, Congress and President Obama have unfrozen the defense budget from spending caps, agreeing to spend $37 billion more than expected over the next two fiscal years. The bottom line: instead of a continuation of steep spending cuts in defense, the budget will actually increase for the first time in six years. And no one is breathing a bigger sigh of relief than defense contractors, many of whose revenues and earnings depend substantially on Department of Defense procurement. While… Read More

Last week, I discussed why aerospace and defense stocks could be among the market’s biggest winners over the next two years. #-ad_banner-#Essentially, Congress and President Obama have unfrozen the defense budget from spending caps, agreeing to spend $37 billion more than expected over the next two fiscal years. The bottom line: instead of a continuation of steep spending cuts in defense, the budget will actually increase for the first time in six years. And no one is breathing a bigger sigh of relief than defense contractors, many of whose revenues and earnings depend substantially on Department of Defense procurement. While the budget agreement only covered the next two years, analysts expect that regardless of who is elected president next November, defense spending will continue to rise in the coming years.  Here are two more stocks that also are likely to capitalize on the trend: Boeing (NYSE: BA) is the world’s largest aerospace company and one of the largest defense contractors in the world. With Airbus (OTC: EADSY), it is one of only two major makers of commercial wide-body aircraft. Its business is split among commercial aircraft, defense and space — all of them growth sectors in… Read More

It’s a private stock market shared by millionaires, celebrities and double-digit dividend yields. This market is riddled with current and former government big shots… The Clintons, Mitt Romney, Al Gore, Rudy Giuliani and George H.W. Bush have all made millions in it. According to Bloomberg News, Hillary Clinton made $15.4 million in this market between 2003 and 2007. #-ad_banner-#Warren Buffett, Goldman Sachs, George Soros and others have made billions from this private market, too. …Yet I doubt your average investor has ever even heard of it. That’s because… Read More

It’s a private stock market shared by millionaires, celebrities and double-digit dividend yields. This market is riddled with current and former government big shots… The Clintons, Mitt Romney, Al Gore, Rudy Giuliani and George H.W. Bush have all made millions in it. According to Bloomberg News, Hillary Clinton made $15.4 million in this market between 2003 and 2007. #-ad_banner-#Warren Buffett, Goldman Sachs, George Soros and others have made billions from this private market, too. …Yet I doubt your average investor has ever even heard of it. That’s because for the most part, no one but the wealthiest 6% of investors has had access to this “millionaires only” market. But that’s quickly changing. In fact, I predict that in 2016, this private market will open up to more investors than ever before. And today, I am going to tell you about a way to tap into this premier market immediately and without having to be a millionaire. Similar to the double-digit yielding, “secret wealth” investments I talked about in a recent issue of StreetAuthority Daily, these investments give ordinary investors the ability to… Read More

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the economy added 211,000 jobs for the month. That’s good growth right on the heels of October’s job report, which, at 298,000 jobs for the month, was the strongest job creation this year, shattering estimates for around 180,000.  This is just one report. Still, when taken with other indicators such as job postings and unemployment claims, the big picture suggests a labor market that is firmly on the mend. The unemployment rate has fallen to 5.0%, the lowest level since April 2008. I should note that this figure doesn’t reflect the number of… Read More

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the economy added 211,000 jobs for the month. That’s good growth right on the heels of October’s job report, which, at 298,000 jobs for the month, was the strongest job creation this year, shattering estimates for around 180,000.  This is just one report. Still, when taken with other indicators such as job postings and unemployment claims, the big picture suggests a labor market that is firmly on the mend. The unemployment rate has fallen to 5.0%, the lowest level since April 2008. I should note that this figure doesn’t reflect the number of people on the sidelines that have stopped trying to look for work. The labor force participation rate of 62.4% is still the lowest in 38 years. But after a summer lull, recent strong job growth is an encouraging sign. Even better, average hourly wages have also ticked up by $0.09 (or 2.5%) to $25.50 per hour. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen any upward pressure on wages.  The main upshot of this is the U.S. Federal Reserve now has a stronger argument in favor of lifting interest rates at the December meeting. Based on testimony from Chair Janet… Read More

Let me start off today’s issue with a warning…  I’m 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. I certainly don’t think that, and neither should you.  That being said, I’ve been spending a lot of time around the office thinking about a topic that has dominated headlines recently — one that StreetAuthority’s Andy Obermueller has been spot-on with his analysis since Day 1.  #-ad_banner-#I’m talking about pandemics.  Now, again, I want to be perfectly clear that we’re not saying some sort of global… Read More

Let me start off today’s issue with a warning…  I’m 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. I certainly don’t think that, and neither should you.  That being said, I’ve been spending a lot of time around the office thinking about a topic that has dominated headlines recently — one that StreetAuthority’s Andy Obermueller has been spot-on with his analysis since Day 1.  #-ad_banner-#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 — and its move to the United States — you know that the next potential outbreak of some kind is always around the corner.  Since first being discovered in 1976, the most recent outbreak of Ebola has been the most deadly. At last count the World Health Organization concluded it has infected 24,797 people in West Africa and killed an astonishing 8,764. This deadly strain of Ebola has a 60 percent fatality rate. To put that in perspective, the 1918 flu pandemic… Read More

Only once a lifetime — twice, if you’re lucky — does an invention come along that truly changes the world. The wheel. The plow. The printing press. The combustion engine. The semiconductor. But with the benefits that come from mankind’s past and future achievements, there will always be exploitation. The wheel — and eventually the combustion engine — became (amongst other uses) weapons of war and oppression. The printing press can be used to spread propaganda, libel and plagiarism. Over-plowing depletes a soil’s nutrients and makes farmland infertile. Not only were these problems not solved overnight, but many of them… Read More

Only once a lifetime — twice, if you’re lucky — does an invention come along that truly changes the world. The wheel. The plow. The printing press. The combustion engine. The semiconductor. But with the benefits that come from mankind’s past and future achievements, there will always be exploitation. The wheel — and eventually the combustion engine — became (amongst other uses) weapons of war and oppression. The printing press can be used to spread propaganda, libel and plagiarism. Over-plowing depletes a soil’s nutrients and makes farmland infertile. Not only were these problems not solved overnight, but many of them are largely still present to this day… decades, even centuries, after the original tool was invented. Today, we are in the midst of a technological renaissance. The power of a semiconductor (the heart of most of today’s technological innovation) doubles every two years, according to the universally accepted Moore’s Law. Gadgets that nearly every American owns today are more powerful than the satellites launched into space decades ago. Nearly every aspect of life is now digitized: from family photos and funny videos to medical records and bank statements. And for the technologically savvy, all of that information is practically up… Read More

Since the 2008 collapse, sales of light vehicles have been the standout for the U.S. economy. Against a backdrop of sluggish growth in wages and retail, sales of autos and light trucks have surged to a 15-year record this year. However, not all auto-related stocks are created equal. And investors who aren’t selective may soon find themselves in the red.  That’s because there are two critical roadblocks approaching that could derail the industry’s terrific bull run. But despite the coming headwinds, there are two auto stocks that I like going into next year. Dual Roadblocks Coming For The Auto Industry… Read More

Since the 2008 collapse, sales of light vehicles have been the standout for the U.S. economy. Against a backdrop of sluggish growth in wages and retail, sales of autos and light trucks have surged to a 15-year record this year. However, not all auto-related stocks are created equal. And investors who aren’t selective may soon find themselves in the red.  That’s because there are two critical roadblocks approaching that could derail the industry’s terrific bull run. But despite the coming headwinds, there are two auto stocks that I like going into next year. Dual Roadblocks Coming For The Auto Industry Many believe that sales will continue to soar, pointing to the fact that the average vehicle on the road is 11.5 years old — a record. But what is not as frequently mentioned is that the average age is creeping higher largely as a result of vehicle quality. Cars are holding up better, and new car buyers are holding onto their vehicle for an average of 77.8 months before selling them, an increase of 26 months since 2006.  More than the age of cars on the road, much of the surge in demand for new cars can be attributed… Read More

As I wrote on Wednesday, the Paris climate change conference (COP21) is now in full swing. If it results in a binding global agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we’ll see winners and losers as governments around the world initiate or intensify policies to execute the plan. As an example of what might occur, take India, the world’s second-largest country by population and the seventh-largest economy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pledged to reduce emissions by 35% of 2005 levels and raise the percentage of its power generation that comes from non-fossil fuels to 40%. That will mean quadrupling its… Read More

As I wrote on Wednesday, the Paris climate change conference (COP21) is now in full swing. If it results in a binding global agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we’ll see winners and losers as governments around the world initiate or intensify policies to execute the plan. As an example of what might occur, take India, the world’s second-largest country by population and the seventh-largest economy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pledged to reduce emissions by 35% of 2005 levels and raise the percentage of its power generation that comes from non-fossil fuels to 40%. That will mean quadrupling its capacity of renewable energy generation by 2022, to 175 gigawatts. (By comparison, the United States’ current total renewable capacity was around 165 gigawatts in 2014.) #-ad_banner-#This is an ambitious goal, but experts say it’s achievable. Amazingly, 300 million people in India have no electricity today — so the nation needs to make enormous investments in energy infrastructure anyway. They’ll just do so with renewables — mainly solar and wind. India plans to add 100 gigawatts of solar capacity, 60 of wind, 10 of biomass and five of hydroelectric. And that’s just India. All of the major economies are making similar… Read More

The biggest problem with investing in stocks is not knowing when to buy… it’s knowing when to sell. Or, to put it a better way, it’s knowing how to sell.   You see, anyone can tell that today’s market is overpriced. The average S&P 500 stock is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 22. Historically, they average 15 times their earnings. Meaning, on the most basic level, the average U.S. stock is overvalued by as much as 47%. You have tech stocks like Alphabet (Nasdaq: GOOG), formerly Google, and Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) trading at even higher valuations. Even boring old… Read More

The biggest problem with investing in stocks is not knowing when to buy… it’s knowing when to sell. Or, to put it a better way, it’s knowing how to sell.   You see, anyone can tell that today’s market is overpriced. The average S&P 500 stock is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 22. Historically, they average 15 times their earnings. Meaning, on the most basic level, the average U.S. stock is overvalued by as much as 47%. You have tech stocks like Alphabet (Nasdaq: GOOG), formerly Google, and Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) trading at even higher valuations. Even boring old Dow Jones Industrial Average blue chips like General Electric (NYSE: GE) and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) are objectively overpriced. But does that mean you should sell all of your stock positions?  It would be nice if investing was that simple. But it’s not. Stocks can — and often do — remain overvalued for extended periods of time. In fact, they could still go up significantly from here. But more importantly, even if you would sell your stocks, then what? If you trade into bonds, you face huge interest rate risk. More than half of the economists on the news… Read More