I recently returned from a week of travels along the Caribbean coast of Colombia. #-ad_banner-#The sights were unbelievable… but the sounds were even more impeccable. You see, the region loves its music, particularly a type of music known locally as Vallenato (pronounced “ba-ji-an-ato”). From dawn until dusk you could hear the music being played from somewhere off in the distance. And though I enjoyed it all, as some of the locals informed me, the old singers are really the best because “they took the time to craft great songs.” You’ll probably… Read More

I recently returned from a week of travels along the Caribbean coast of Colombia. #-ad_banner-#The sights were unbelievable… but the sounds were even more impeccable. You see, the region loves its music, particularly a type of music known locally as Vallenato (pronounced “ba-ji-an-ato”). From dawn until dusk you could hear the music being played from somewhere off in the distance. And though I enjoyed it all, as some of the locals informed me, the old singers are really the best because “they took the time to craft great songs.” You’ll probably laugh when I tell you this, but this type of logic is exactly what has helped me succeed in the markets for years. It’s all about studying something so deeply that you really get to the bottom of what it’s all about. Because beating the market really just comes down to having discipline. Let me show you what I mean… Skimming the markets occasionally can help you find some decent investments. But if you really take the time to study and look carefully at all the options, there are some excellent opportunities that others… Read More

  The global economy can deliver a jolt to stock markets at any moment. These “Black Swan” events are hard to predict or anticipate, but are always on the back of our minds.     #-ad_banner-#Sometimes, we can even develop a vague sense that something is brewing. For example, investors could sense that market trouble was coming in 2000 and 2008, but the likelihood of trouble was so far outside of market sentiment that few were prepared.   With central banks and investors around the world completely preoccupied with deflation, could rising price pressures be the next unexpected event for… Read More

  The global economy can deliver a jolt to stock markets at any moment. These “Black Swan” events are hard to predict or anticipate, but are always on the back of our minds.     #-ad_banner-#Sometimes, we can even develop a vague sense that something is brewing. For example, investors could sense that market trouble was coming in 2000 and 2008, but the likelihood of trouble was so far outside of market sentiment that few were prepared.   With central banks and investors around the world completely preoccupied with deflation, could rising price pressures be the next unexpected event for which you should be preparing?   The clues are all there and we may be in for a trend of low growth, high unemployment and increasing prices. That combination, last seen several decades ago, is referred to as “stagflation.”   Disco Fever And The Great Stagflation The last time stagflation reared its ugly head, bell bottoms were all the rage and Richard Nixon was just starting his second term in the White House. Economic growth — adjusted for inflation — was an anemic 3% for the rest of that decade. Indeed ample price pressures meant that  the… Read More

Few investors have heard about China’s Winland Ocean Shipping Corp. or Denmark’s Copenship A/S. But these firms are the proverbial “canary in the coal mine.” #-ad_banner-#Both have declared bankruptcy in recent weeks, and they may soon have plenty of company. That’s what happens when heavily-indebted companies square up against deep industry distress. That industry: dry bulk shipping, which involves everything from iron ore and other commodities to processed industrial materials. The major shippers build massive (and expensive) boats and then hope that those boats can garner sufficiently high daily lease rates. Those rates,… Read More

Few investors have heard about China’s Winland Ocean Shipping Corp. or Denmark’s Copenship A/S. But these firms are the proverbial “canary in the coal mine.” #-ad_banner-#Both have declared bankruptcy in recent weeks, and they may soon have plenty of company. That’s what happens when heavily-indebted companies square up against deep industry distress. That industry: dry bulk shipping, which involves everything from iron ore and other commodities to processed industrial materials. The major shippers build massive (and expensive) boats and then hope that those boats can garner sufficiently high daily lease rates. Those rates, as measured by the Baltic Dry Index, have just moved to levels not seen since the 1980s. The index typically had support in the 650 range during past downturns, but we’ve now shot past that mark. (Remarkably, this index hit almost 12,000 back in 2008.) Why is this index plumbing fresh lows with each passing week? Demand for dry goods, especially in China, appears to be quickly slowing. Moreover, dry bulk shippers ordered a lot of new ships in 2013, many of which started plying the waters in the past 12 months. Too many ships chasing too little… Read More

All major U.S. indices closed higher for the third consecutive week, led by the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100, which gained 1.4% and is now up 4.9% for the year. As I’ve stated in previous reports, this is particularly important because technology issues, ideally with some help from small-cap stocks, typically lead the broader market both higher and lower. #-ad_banner-#From a sector standpoint, last week’s rally was led by health care and industrials, with the recently rejuvenated energy sector the only one in negative territory. Meanwhile, materials, which were extremely weak during the fourth quarter, have quietly been the strongest sector year… Read More

All major U.S. indices closed higher for the third consecutive week, led by the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100, which gained 1.4% and is now up 4.9% for the year. As I’ve stated in previous reports, this is particularly important because technology issues, ideally with some help from small-cap stocks, typically lead the broader market both higher and lower. #-ad_banner-#From a sector standpoint, last week’s rally was led by health care and industrials, with the recently rejuvenated energy sector the only one in negative territory. Meanwhile, materials, which were extremely weak during the fourth quarter, have quietly been the strongest sector year to date, up 6.9%. This suggests the opportunity I pointed to in copper futures and PowerShares DB Base Metals ETF (NYSE: DBB) in the Dec. 8 Market Outlook could begin to get some traction in the marketplace. I continue to watch the materials sector and copper as emerging investment opportunities in 2015. Cisco Leading Technology Higher In the previous report, I highlighted an emerging breakout in the Nasdaq 100 following 10 weeks of investor indecision that targeted a 5% rise to 4,600. In the past week alone, the index gained 1.4% to… Read More

For sufferers of Rheumatoid Arthritis, Crohn’s Disease, psoriasis, colitis and other auto-immune diseases, AbbVie, Inc.’s (Nasdaq: ABBV) Humira has been an utter godsend. The drug has proven so successful in reducing inflammation associated with these maladies that it is now the world’s third-largest best-seller. #-ad_banner-#But success doesn’t come cheap. AbbVie charges thousands per dose, which can have a costly impact on insurers and their clients’ insurance premiums. AbbVie, which makes more than $12 billion a year from sales of Humira, is able to charge so much for a simple reason — at least in the United States: It has limited… Read More

For sufferers of Rheumatoid Arthritis, Crohn’s Disease, psoriasis, colitis and other auto-immune diseases, AbbVie, Inc.’s (Nasdaq: ABBV) Humira has been an utter godsend. The drug has proven so successful in reducing inflammation associated with these maladies that it is now the world’s third-largest best-seller. #-ad_banner-#But success doesn’t come cheap. AbbVie charges thousands per dose, which can have a costly impact on insurers and their clients’ insurance premiums. AbbVie, which makes more than $12 billion a year from sales of Humira, is able to charge so much for a simple reason — at least in the United States: It has limited competition. Humira is in a class of drugs, known as biologics, which are drugs that can’t be simply synthesized in a lab, but instead must be genetically engineered with living cells. The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has always known that such biologic drugs are hard to engineer and as a result, has historically kept the door closed to generic competition. When the FDA established the ground rules for bioloigic production, it was a niche market. Such drugs now account for roughly 30% of the entire U.S. pharmaceutical industry. In light of the meteoric growth for these pricey drugs, the… Read More

Even if you never decide to pursue short selling, you still need to track the key actions of short sellers. These contrarian investors may be highlighting potential troubles for a stock that you own in a long-focused portfolio. And they also often provide key clues about the economy’s underlying changes. #-ad_banner-#As I recently noted, the year ahead is likely to be quite different from the recent past, impacting companies and industries in myriad ways. And you can add the impact of a strong U.S. dollar to the group of factors that are impacting business conditions. What do the shorts have… Read More

Even if you never decide to pursue short selling, you still need to track the key actions of short sellers. These contrarian investors may be highlighting potential troubles for a stock that you own in a long-focused portfolio. And they also often provide key clues about the economy’s underlying changes. #-ad_banner-#As I recently noted, the year ahead is likely to be quite different from the recent past, impacting companies and industries in myriad ways. And you can add the impact of a strong U.S. dollar to the group of factors that are impacting business conditions. What do the shorts have to say about these economic changes? Well, they are targeting several companies and industries that appear increasingly vulnerable to an economy-led pullback. Perhaps the most obvious example of an industry in flux, is the laser-like focus of short sellers on AT&T, Inc. (NYSE: T). As of the end of January, the short interest in this telecom giant stood at a whopping 303 million shares. For a bit of context, the short interest stood at roughly 100 million in September 2013 and has been steadily rising ever since. This stock now has nearly twice the short interest of the second most-heavily… Read More

In a recent article on StreetAuthority.com I told readers all about my new list of The Top 10 Stocks For 2015. I decided to do more than just listing off a few names and ticker symbols. I wanted readers, like you, to be able to go out and find similar stocks on your own. That’s why I revealed the three distinct characteristics I use to track down my collection #-ad_banner-#of the market’s best performing stocks for the coming year. Today, I’d like to highlight one of these categories a little more in depth. Because quite frankly,… Read More

In a recent article on StreetAuthority.com I told readers all about my new list of The Top 10 Stocks For 2015. I decided to do more than just listing off a few names and ticker symbols. I wanted readers, like you, to be able to go out and find similar stocks on your own. That’s why I revealed the three distinct characteristics I use to track down my collection #-ad_banner-#of the market’s best performing stocks for the coming year. Today, I’d like to highlight one of these categories a little more in depth. Because quite frankly, I’m not sure any one of my criteria is more important than this… The ability to retain a loyal customer base and keep them buying your products for years is a hallmark of the world’s best businesses. This trait has led my Top 10 Stocks subscribers and me to some exceptional investment opportunities over the years. Firms that can lock in a loyal group of followers are able to generate strong cash flows and superior profit margins, putting them in a better position to return money to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks. Read More

I’m going to do something today that I’ve never done before… #-ad_banner-#For those who don’t know, I’m the Co-Chief Investment Strategist of Maximum Profit — StreetAuthority’s proprietary trading system that’s designed to identify when a stock is about to deliver double- or even triple-digit gains in the coming days, weeks and months. Every two weeks we publish an issue telling readers exactly which stocks to buy and which stocks to sell in our premium advisory. Our readers pay good money for our research and so I can’t just give away all of our recent… Read More

I’m going to do something today that I’ve never done before… #-ad_banner-#For those who don’t know, I’m the Co-Chief Investment Strategist of Maximum Profit — StreetAuthority’s proprietary trading system that’s designed to identify when a stock is about to deliver double- or even triple-digit gains in the coming days, weeks and months. Every two weeks we publish an issue telling readers exactly which stocks to buy and which stocks to sell in our premium advisory. Our readers pay good money for our research and so I can’t just give away all of our recent trades to the public. It wouldn’t be fair to our paying subscribers. But today I’m breaking that rule. That’s because after delivering a string of winners to our paying subscribers, I wanted to share one of our recent recommended trades with the public — so you can have the chance of profiting alongside us. After discussing this with my editor, he gave me the go-ahead to let the cat out of the bag. I know this won’t always be the case, so make sure to pay close attention to the rest of this issue. Read More

  Right around the time analysts gave up trying to predict the bottom for oil prices, the all-important commodity mounted a strong comeback.         In fact, oil’s recent reversal is leading to predictions that the commodity has finally bottomed and is poised for a “V-shaped recovery,” which means it could rise so fast that its price chart forms the letter V.   What’s more, many asset managers have started to say it’s safe to go back into oil stocks and, in some cases, are forecasting such stocks will be 2015’s best investments.   Those are… Read More

  Right around the time analysts gave up trying to predict the bottom for oil prices, the all-important commodity mounted a strong comeback.         In fact, oil’s recent reversal is leading to predictions that the commodity has finally bottomed and is poised for a “V-shaped recovery,” which means it could rise so fast that its price chart forms the letter V.   What’s more, many asset managers have started to say it’s safe to go back into oil stocks and, in some cases, are forecasting such stocks will be 2015’s best investments.   Those are bold claims, and they could be right. But I doubt it.   #-ad_banner-#Simply put, the fundamentals behind the bear market in oil haven’t changed much: there are still too many factors that could weigh on oil prices in coming months. Indeed, there are at least four reasons why it’s probably far too soon to call a bottom in oil and why prices could still set new lows before heading consistently higher.   1. Production Far Outpaces Demand Plunging oil is prompting many U.S. energy firms to cut output. Oilfield services firm Baker Hughes, Inc. (NYSE: BHI) notes that during the… Read More

Today I’d like to introduce you to a man that has developed and perfected a system that he says can lead investors to profits no matter what the market is doing. #-ad_banner-#With markets at new highs and worries of a correction becoming more prevalent, I can’t think of a better time to be talking about his simple, tested strategy. Meet Dr. Thomas Carr. I recently sat down with Dr. Carr for an interview in StreetAuthority Insider, a free newsletter for all active StreetAuthority premium subscribers. Today, I’d like to share it… Read More

Today I’d like to introduce you to a man that has developed and perfected a system that he says can lead investors to profits no matter what the market is doing. #-ad_banner-#With markets at new highs and worries of a correction becoming more prevalent, I can’t think of a better time to be talking about his simple, tested strategy. Meet Dr. Thomas Carr. I recently sat down with Dr. Carr for an interview in StreetAuthority Insider, a free newsletter for all active StreetAuthority premium subscribers. Today, I’d like to share it with you. These questions and answers are meant to give you a better sense of his system and why we think it’s one of the most potentially lucrative strategies we’ve come across in a long time. In short, Dr. Carr has come across what he thinks might be the “holy grail” of trading systems. By the time you finish reading this interview, we think you’ll agree. Briggs: Before we get to the details of your strategy, tell us a little about yourself. Carr: I began trading stocks on… Read More