Social media stocks are still a tough call for investors. Growth in the space is much stronger than offline advertising media, but investors have been largely disappointed by monetization. Even powerhouse Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) saw shares plunge more than 50% from its IPO in 2012 when enthusiasm waned… Read More

The early December market swoon created a lot of opportunities for short-term traders and value investors alike to pick up some nice bargains. While major market indices have already fully recovered and trade in all-time high territory, Santa has yet to visit every stock.  Casino stocks were hit particularly hard this month and still have a lot of room to go to recover their losses.  Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ: WYNN) is a good representative of the entire sector. On Dec. 17, it gapped down on the open and continued to slide, hitting yet another new low for the year. But midday,… Read More

The early December market swoon created a lot of opportunities for short-term traders and value investors alike to pick up some nice bargains. While major market indices have already fully recovered and trade in all-time high territory, Santa has yet to visit every stock.  Casino stocks were hit particularly hard this month and still have a lot of room to go to recover their losses.  Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ: WYNN) is a good representative of the entire sector. On Dec. 17, it gapped down on the open and continued to slide, hitting yet another new low for the year. But midday, the bulls suddenly woke up. The stock closed near its high for the day, and that left a bullish hammer candle. In Japanese charting lore, the market is said to be “hammering out a bottom.” Basically, something happened in the middle of the day to change the tide. What was an undesirable stock became desirable, and from a charting point of view, it does not matter what that something was. #-ad_banner-# The next day, WYNN jumped up at the open leaving… Read More

There is something refreshing about being awake while the rest of the world sleeps. As I walk to work, I breathe the purest air of the day, drink my morning coffee while gazing at the moon and enjoy the sound of… silence. Not even the birds are awake. Oh how I miss the days of getting to the office before sunrise and leaving after sunset. Some people surely curse this lifestyle. And, after living it, I understand how such a schedule can get tiring. But being young and ambitious has its perks — mainly being able to function off of… Read More

There is something refreshing about being awake while the rest of the world sleeps. As I walk to work, I breathe the purest air of the day, drink my morning coffee while gazing at the moon and enjoy the sound of… silence. Not even the birds are awake. Oh how I miss the days of getting to the office before sunrise and leaving after sunset. Some people surely curse this lifestyle. And, after living it, I understand how such a schedule can get tiring. But being young and ambitious has its perks — mainly being able to function off of a few hours of sleep. Enduring long hours is the norm for individuals in the money management industry. You see, I had the unique experience of working for a money-manager right out of college in the beautiful state of Colorado. This portfolio manager I worked for was spectacular. He doesn’t have an Ivy League degree — he didn’t need it. He’s one of those self-made guys that you hear stories about. What he has are decades of experience and, most importantly, a stellar reputation. He turned me on to the most interesting market sector I had ever… Read More

I used to hate filling up my car with gas. Every time I spent over $60, I thought of the new pair of shoes or a quality meal I could’ve treated myself to instead. But now, I’m almost excited to see how much lower my receipt is every week. I know I’m not the only one feeling this way. For the 90% of Americans who drive a car to work, gasoline is a necessity. Even when prices rise, many drivers have a limited ability to cut back on the amount of… Read More

I used to hate filling up my car with gas. Every time I spent over $60, I thought of the new pair of shoes or a quality meal I could’ve treated myself to instead. But now, I’m almost excited to see how much lower my receipt is every week. I know I’m not the only one feeling this way. For the 90% of Americans who drive a car to work, gasoline is a necessity. Even when prices rise, many drivers have a limited ability to cut back on the amount of gas they use. So when prices fall, as they have recently, many consumers will end the month with more money left over for discretionary purchases. Just think. If I can fill up my tank now for $40, how much do I save every year? $20 per tank…four times per month… twelve months in a year. I’ll save $960, and that’s just the gas to get me to and from work. Now, who knows if most people will use this extra cash to go on a shopping spree or just add it… Read More

As analysts debate over when oil prices will find a bottom, crude continues to plunge. While traders are chasing the sell-off in “Texas Tea,” there is a perfect bearish storm brewing in another popular commodity. Traders who get positioned now stand to make 32% in the next few months. While oil officially entered a bear market in October, precious metals have been in a bear market for the past three years. Gold is 38% off its all-time high of $1,923, made in September 2011, while silver has fared even worse. It is down 68% from its April 2011 high just… Read More

As analysts debate over when oil prices will find a bottom, crude continues to plunge. While traders are chasing the sell-off in “Texas Tea,” there is a perfect bearish storm brewing in another popular commodity. Traders who get positioned now stand to make 32% in the next few months. While oil officially entered a bear market in October, precious metals have been in a bear market for the past three years. Gold is 38% off its all-time high of $1,923, made in September 2011, while silver has fared even worse. It is down 68% from its April 2011 high just shy of $50. Given a confluence of factors, the slide in precious metals, and in particular silver, is set to continue through at least the first part of 2015. Silver Is Not A Safe Haven Precious metals have long been touted as a safe haven. And in previous decades, investors did move into gold when times got tough in the equity markets. However, over the past 10 years or so, the inverse correlation between gold and stocks has broken down, which was evidenced during the recession of 2008-2009, when investors largely sold gold along with stocks. Silver… Read More

Among his many investing maxims, Warren Buffett makes ample sense when he says “only buy something you’d be perfectly happy to hold if the market shut down for 10 years.”                    It gives food for thought. If you had to buy and hold a specific stock, which would you choose?   My choice: Leggett & Platt, Inc. (NYSE: LEG), which makes dozens of engineered products. It’s a mid-cap stock and not exactly a household name, but this dividend aristocrat has all the characteristics of an investment well worth buying and holding for the long-term.     #-ad_banner-#​Since… Read More

Among his many investing maxims, Warren Buffett makes ample sense when he says “only buy something you’d be perfectly happy to hold if the market shut down for 10 years.”                    It gives food for thought. If you had to buy and hold a specific stock, which would you choose?   My choice: Leggett & Platt, Inc. (NYSE: LEG), which makes dozens of engineered products. It’s a mid-cap stock and not exactly a household name, but this dividend aristocrat has all the characteristics of an investment well worth buying and holding for the long-term.     #-ad_banner-#​Since getting its start back in 1883 as a pioneer in steel-coil bedsprings, Leggett & Platt has evolved into a leading manufacturer of myriad consumer and commercial products. For many years, the firm has been organized into four main segments, each with its own specialized offerings.   Residential Furnishings: innersprings; adjustable beds; furniture hardware; carpet underlay. Commercial Fixturing & Components: standard and custom shelving, counters, showcases and garment racks for retailers; office furniture. Industrial Materials: wire products; steel rods; steel tubing; titanium and nickel tubing for aerospace applications. Specialized Products: car seat suspensions; automotive control… Read More

       Haste makes waste. That’s the possible view on the corner offices at software giant Oracle Corp. (Nasdaq: ORCL), which seems to have taken its sweet time in embracing cloud computing.   Now, management appears to have a clear vision of how it wants the firm to be positioned in the “cloud.” Cloud software is loosely defined as the migration of data storage and analytics to the public internet and away from private, local servers.   To be sure, the $38.5 billion (in revenue) behemoth is well behind cloud leaders like Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:… Read More

       Haste makes waste. That’s the possible view on the corner offices at software giant Oracle Corp. (Nasdaq: ORCL), which seems to have taken its sweet time in embracing cloud computing.   Now, management appears to have a clear vision of how it wants the firm to be positioned in the “cloud.” Cloud software is loosely defined as the migration of data storage and analytics to the public internet and away from private, local servers.   To be sure, the $38.5 billion (in revenue) behemoth is well behind cloud leaders like Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT); however, its vast resources and huge customer base make it a good bet to become a top player in what’s still an emerging industry.   What’s more, Oracle doesn’t have to make the transition overnight.   #-ad_banner-#What investors sometimes forget is the broader movement to the cloud is still relatively new and will be a multi-year process. So Oracle’s traditional business remains an enormous asset. In fact, the firm still has 310,000 database customers and about nine in 10 of these renew each year.   As a result, things like software… Read More

There is a classic conundrum facing dividend-focused investors: Income or capital appreciation?   The iShares Select Dividend ETF (NYSE: DVY) is a classic example. It delivers a 3% yield and relatively low volatility, but has underperformed the iShares S&P 500 Growth Fund (NYSE: IVW) by roughly 40 percentage points  over the past ten years on  a total return basis.      A decent yield is always nice, but a 40% gap is too large to ignore.   There is one way to get the best of both worlds. The secret is what type of income stocks you… Read More

There is a classic conundrum facing dividend-focused investors: Income or capital appreciation?   The iShares Select Dividend ETF (NYSE: DVY) is a classic example. It delivers a 3% yield and relatively low volatility, but has underperformed the iShares S&P 500 Growth Fund (NYSE: IVW) by roughly 40 percentage points  over the past ten years on  a total return basis.      A decent yield is always nice, but a 40% gap is too large to ignore.   There is one way to get the best of both worlds. The secret is what type of income stocks you focus on.   Many  dividend-paying companies operate in mature industries with slower sales growth and competitive environments. Such dynamics often generate solid cash flow, but high payout ratios and saturated markets mean little in the way of stock price appreciation.   Find one of these cash machines with new growth engines and you’ve got yourself a stock that could be the best of both worlds.   A Cash Machine With Nowhere To Go For years, the U.S. telecom sector has been the model of slow-growth dividend stocks. Despite fairly reliable cash yields, the iShares U.S. Telecommunications ETF (NYSE: IYZ), for… Read More

Today, I want to show you the right way to sell put options. Whether you’re an investment veteran or just opening your first brokerage account, I urge you to listen. Chances are you need to hear this message. #-ad_banner-#Regular readers of StreetAuthority likely know that a put option is a security that gives the buyer the right — but not the obligation — to sell a stock for a certain price in the future. In return for opening the trade, the seller receives an upfront cash payment known as a premium. Done correctly, selling puts is one of the best… Read More

Today, I want to show you the right way to sell put options. Whether you’re an investment veteran or just opening your first brokerage account, I urge you to listen. Chances are you need to hear this message. #-ad_banner-#Regular readers of StreetAuthority likely know that a put option is a security that gives the buyer the right — but not the obligation — to sell a stock for a certain price in the future. In return for opening the trade, the seller receives an upfront cash payment known as a premium. Done correctly, selling puts is one of the best investment strategies available. It’s a great way to collect thousands of dollars in additional monthly income. The problem is that many investors sell puts the wrong way. When most options sellers approach a trade, they engage in something I like to call “premium chasing.” That is, they only look for trades that offer the highest premiums. They’ll sell puts on things like gold miners, tech startups or boom-and-bust companies. Because these stocks are volatile, they tend to offer higher payouts. This is without a doubt the biggest mistake an options seller can make. Selling options on high-risk stocks just because… Read More

Basic materials stocks got a bad rap this fall as the global economy stumbled. It didn’t help that the sector news was dominated by plunging gold prices.  But a look at charts in the sector shows things are not as bad as the headlines might suggest. Plus, China’s stock market has been soaring. China consumes a massive amount of basic materials, such as steel and coal, and most related industries can hop on those coattails for a ride higher. Consider container and packaging companies to be one such group. And a stock trading near its 52-week lows… Read More

Basic materials stocks got a bad rap this fall as the global economy stumbled. It didn’t help that the sector news was dominated by plunging gold prices.  But a look at charts in the sector shows things are not as bad as the headlines might suggest. Plus, China’s stock market has been soaring. China consumes a massive amount of basic materials, such as steel and coal, and most related industries can hop on those coattails for a ride higher. Consider container and packaging companies to be one such group. And a stock trading near its 52-week lows but just emerging from a base looks attractive right now.  Greif (NYSE: GEF) makes containers and packaging materials sold globally.  On the chart, we can see GEF had a rough summer, as analysts slashed their earnings outlooks. Shares fell 25% from their July high to October low. The stock now sits 18% off those highs, while its peers are setting new 52-week highs.  So, why am I bullish on GEF? In October, at about the same time the broad market began its strong rebound, shares finally offered the first sign the bear run was over. It was not… Read More