If we take a step back and look at where stocks are in the bigger picture, there is plenty of reason to believe the broader market should be taking a breather soon before pushing higher in the context of this longer-term secular bull market. More than five years after the 2009 bottom, through a cyclical lens, stocks are getting a little long in the tooth. And considering the potential seasonal headwinds in September and October, this could be an opportune time for the market to pause. However, price action thus far continues to defy any cyclical… Read More

If we take a step back and look at where stocks are in the bigger picture, there is plenty of reason to believe the broader market should be taking a breather soon before pushing higher in the context of this longer-term secular bull market. More than five years after the 2009 bottom, through a cyclical lens, stocks are getting a little long in the tooth. And considering the potential seasonal headwinds in September and October, this could be an opportune time for the market to pause. However, price action thus far continues to defy any cyclical or seasonal headwinds, and fighting this trend has been an expensive battle for the bears. #-ad_banner-#​While the broader market is higher for 2014, I am finding an increasing number of stocks that spent the better part of the year simply consolidating their 2012-2013 rallies that look ready to push higher. Athletic footwear and apparel extraordinaire Nike (NYSE: NKE) is among that group. The blue-chip stock is flat in terms of performance so far this year. However, NKE did see its fair share of price movement over the past eight… Read More

There’s an old saying that the people who profited most from the California gold rush of the 1850s weren’t the speculators, but those who sold picks and shovels. Well, there’s a modern-day gold rush underway — the domestic energy boom you’ve probably heard about. This is where new drilling methods, like hydraulic fracturing, are uncovering huge, previously inaccessible oil and gas reserves trapped in shale and other hard rock formations. #-ad_banner-#​Because of the success of such techniques, analysts are making bold predictions about domestic energy output. For instance, some say shale oil production could rise as… Read More

There’s an old saying that the people who profited most from the California gold rush of the 1850s weren’t the speculators, but those who sold picks and shovels. Well, there’s a modern-day gold rush underway — the domestic energy boom you’ve probably heard about. This is where new drilling methods, like hydraulic fracturing, are uncovering huge, previously inaccessible oil and gas reserves trapped in shale and other hard rock formations. #-ad_banner-#​Because of the success of such techniques, analysts are making bold predictions about domestic energy output. For instance, some say shale oil production could rise as much as 88% by 2020 to 16 million barrels per day. Of course, there are analysts who’d dispute this, but most agree the United States could soon become the world’s number one energy producer. But wait, it looks like there’s a big construction boom going on, as well. As you may have heard, housing starts rebounded nicely in July, climbing 15.7% to a seasonally adjusted 1.09 million units. The increase broke a two-month streak of declines, according to the Commerce Department. During the past year alone, revenues rose 17% for the overall residential construction… Read More

Investors love “sexy” investments. Green energy, IoT technology and trendy retailers tend to catch the eye more than say, a waste management company or a utility. In practice, however, dividend paying stocks in non-cyclical industries can outpace even so-called high-growth stocks. The private prison industry might not be “sexy,” some would argue it’s hated, but investors should pay attention. #-ad_banner-#​Overcrowding is a huge problem that the prison system hasn’t been able to keep up with. On a federal level, prisons operate at 136% capacity while some states report even higher figures –… Read More

Investors love “sexy” investments. Green energy, IoT technology and trendy retailers tend to catch the eye more than say, a waste management company or a utility. In practice, however, dividend paying stocks in non-cyclical industries can outpace even so-called high-growth stocks. The private prison industry might not be “sexy,” some would argue it’s hated, but investors should pay attention. #-ad_banner-#​Overcrowding is a huge problem that the prison system hasn’t been able to keep up with. On a federal level, prisons operate at 136% capacity while some states report even higher figures – California operates at 145%. This is due to a drastic increase in people in jail. In the United States, there are approximately two million incarcerated citizens. In 1972, the prison population was around 300,000 — a staggering 567% increase in 42 years. And many facilities are run down, over 100 years old and requiring major renovations.​ Just ten years ago, there were only five private prisons in operation in the United States and now there are well over 100. Still, private prisons account for just 10% of a $74 billion market, allowing plenty of… Read More

Marcelo Claure, the new CEO at Sprint (NYSE: S), is seeking a new twist on an old axiom: “If you can’t join them, beat them.”  For a number of years the wireless carrier had been seen as a weak player, scoring low marks in terms of wireless network reliability, network coverage and customer service.  Repeated attempts to implement pricing plans that were just a bit cheaper than those offered by rival’s Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and AT&T (NYSE: T) simply failed to deliver any market share gains. #-ad_banner-#In the first quarter of 2014, Sprint controlled just 16% of the U.S. market,… Read More

Marcelo Claure, the new CEO at Sprint (NYSE: S), is seeking a new twist on an old axiom: “If you can’t join them, beat them.”  For a number of years the wireless carrier had been seen as a weak player, scoring low marks in terms of wireless network reliability, network coverage and customer service.  Repeated attempts to implement pricing plans that were just a bit cheaper than those offered by rival’s Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and AT&T (NYSE: T) simply failed to deliver any market share gains. #-ad_banner-#In the first quarter of 2014, Sprint controlled just 16% of the U.S. market, roughly half of the market share of Verizon and AT&T, according to Statistica.com. In the second quarter, Sprint ended up in an even deeper hole: While Verizon and AT&T each added more than one million net new subscribers, Sprint lost 245,000. Low market share is a real problem in an industry that is characterized by high fixed costs. Building and maintaining national wireless networks costs billions of dollars, and you need a lot of customers to help defray those costs. Yet Sprint is feeling the effects of negative overhead leverage. In 2013, the carrier lost 1.7 million… Read More

Corporate America has been getting creative with how they reward shareholders. It’s something that will keep happening as long as interest rates remain low. And as PIMCO founder Bill Gross (a.k.a. the “Bond King”) said in a recent memo, that could be for a while. As Gross said: “We still believe the Fed will be on hold until mid-2015 and will hike [interest rates] only gradually to our New Neutral 2% by 2017.” #-ad_banner-#​While that’s disappointing news to those collecting next to nothing from their savings, it’s certainly… Read More

Corporate America has been getting creative with how they reward shareholders. It’s something that will keep happening as long as interest rates remain low. And as PIMCO founder Bill Gross (a.k.a. the “Bond King”) said in a recent memo, that could be for a while. As Gross said: “We still believe the Fed will be on hold until mid-2015 and will hike [interest rates] only gradually to our New Neutral 2% by 2017.” #-ad_banner-#​While that’s disappointing news to those collecting next to nothing from their savings, it’s certainly not bad for all. In fact, it’s led to some smart financial engineering that’s benefiting many of the largest U.S. corporations right now. And the tactics they’re using have steered investors to gains of 191%, 309% and even 392% in the past. More importantly, it’s an opportunity that could lead you to triple-digit gain potential in the future if you know what to look for. As our resident expert in all things related to dividends and buybacks, Nathan Slaughter, recently pointed out, U.S. corporations have been borrowing trillions to buy back… Read More

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE: CMG) has had an absolutely amazing run. Since going public in January 2006, the highly successful Mexican fast-casual chain has seen its stock soar nearly 1,440%. A mere $2,500 invested at the IPO price of $45 would be worth more than $38,000 today. But with its stock price fast approaching $680, how much more upside can Chipotle really have? Well, you may find this hard to believe, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility for shares to more than double in coming years. Essentially, if all goes… Read More

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE: CMG) has had an absolutely amazing run. Since going public in January 2006, the highly successful Mexican fast-casual chain has seen its stock soar nearly 1,440%. A mere $2,500 invested at the IPO price of $45 would be worth more than $38,000 today. But with its stock price fast approaching $680, how much more upside can Chipotle really have? Well, you may find this hard to believe, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility for shares to more than double in coming years. Essentially, if all goes well, we could relatively soon see Chipotle surpass $1,500 a share. Although highly intangible, reputation is as potent a catalyst as any for this sort of price appreciation. Simply put, Chipotle is pretty much number one in the fast-casual space and has done more than any other major fast food chain to meet the growing demand for healthy menu items made with fresh, high-quality, organic ingredients. To achieve this, Chipotle buys primarily from small local farmers who are “good stewards of their land.” Management defines “local” as within 350 miles of each restaurant. Read More

For many investors, it’s easy to ignore companies that don’t pay dividends. But sometimes it pays to dig a little deeper into a stock — especially when you realize some of those companies are actually spending their billions on share buybacks instead to reward shareholders. #-ad_banner-#​Why? Because these companies know that buybacks and dividends share one common trait — they’re both a transfer of wealth from the company to the shareholder. But unlike dividends, buybacks aren’t taxable to companies or their shareholders. That’s why I like… Read More

For many investors, it’s easy to ignore companies that don’t pay dividends. But sometimes it pays to dig a little deeper into a stock — especially when you realize some of those companies are actually spending their billions on share buybacks instead to reward shareholders. #-ad_banner-#​Why? Because these companies know that buybacks and dividends share one common trait — they’re both a transfer of wealth from the company to the shareholder. But unlike dividends, buybacks aren’t taxable to companies or their shareholders. That’s why I like to think of them as a sort of “tax-free dividend.” That’s just one of the reasons they’ve become more popular than dividends among shareholders and corporations alike… As I’ve pointed out several times in StreetAuthority Daily, companies have been increasingly choosing stock repurchases in lieu of dividends to create value for their shareholders for the past two decades. I explained more about how share repurchases transfer value in a previous article. Just look at how S&P 500 companies have been spending their excess cash, especially since 1998…… 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… 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