There is no question that China has a bright economic future. China remains the fastest growing economy on Earth despite its recent slowdown. #-ad_banner-#Remember, just like the stock market, economies never travel at the same velocity in a straight line higher. There are always aggressive periods of growth and slow periods. Long-term investors can use the negativity surrounding the weaker-than-expected economic numbers to find bargains in this burgeoning market. One of my favorite sectors to profit from the Chinese economic growth story is telecommunications, specifically the mobile phone market. A recent study published by Business Insider revealed that smartphones are… Read More

There is no question that China has a bright economic future. China remains the fastest growing economy on Earth despite its recent slowdown. #-ad_banner-#Remember, just like the stock market, economies never travel at the same velocity in a straight line higher. There are always aggressive periods of growth and slow periods. Long-term investors can use the negativity surrounding the weaker-than-expected economic numbers to find bargains in this burgeoning market. One of my favorite sectors to profit from the Chinese economic growth story is telecommunications, specifically the mobile phone market. A recent study published by Business Insider revealed that smartphones are the fastest growing segment and will soon overtake feature phones in the nation.   The Chinese smartphone boom has helped a variety of companies prosper. One of my current favorites is Sky-mobi Limited (NASDAQ: MOBI). The company operates as a mobile application store that provides a platform to purchase smartphone applications, games, music, books and other media. It also provides a mobile social media network named Maopao Community. MOBI is well imbedded in the space and has contracts with 106 smartphone handset companies and 1,170 feature phone makers. Boasting a market cap of around $200 million and over 110 million… Read More

One of the big advantages here at StreetAuthority is that we have access to each other’s brains. That collective brain consists of a whole slate of investing minds across the StreetAuthority universe — experts who are constantly pulling together critical insights from all over the investing world. It was a recent dispatch from one of our top analysts that jogged my memory on a lesser-known way to invest in the consumer sector — one that I believe has considerable upside, but with much less risk of loss than your average consumer stock if the economy does happen to zig when… Read More

One of the big advantages here at StreetAuthority is that we have access to each other’s brains. That collective brain consists of a whole slate of investing minds across the StreetAuthority universe — experts who are constantly pulling together critical insights from all over the investing world. It was a recent dispatch from one of our top analysts that jogged my memory on a lesser-known way to invest in the consumer sector — one that I believe has considerable upside, but with much less risk of loss than your average consumer stock if the economy does happen to zig when we think it should zag. That dispatch came in the latest edition of Amy Calistri’s The Daily Paycheck. While looking for sectors with big dividend yields — but also below-average risk profiles suitable for income investors — Amy pointed out a very interesting chart, one I haven’t seen any other analysts talking about yet. #-ad_banner-#Her chart shows how there’s a boom underway in a place you might not expect: shipping. As the chart below shows, shipping rates — as measured by the Baltic Capesize Index — were on a tear in the second half in 2013. Amy points… Read More

The defense industry may now seem like an area best avoided by investors, what with the sequester eroding the U.S. defense budget and imposing total projected defense cuts of about $1 trillion over a 10-year span. #-ad_banner-#I wouldn’t categorically dismiss defense stocks, though. You could end up missing opportunities for some very nice investment returns. There’s one defense firm in particular that has held up quite well so far in spite of the sequester, with earnings per share (EPS) growing by 50% in the past 12 months. During that time, the company’s stock has more than doubled, compared with a… Read More

The defense industry may now seem like an area best avoided by investors, what with the sequester eroding the U.S. defense budget and imposing total projected defense cuts of about $1 trillion over a 10-year span. #-ad_banner-#I wouldn’t categorically dismiss defense stocks, though. You could end up missing opportunities for some very nice investment returns. There’s one defense firm in particular that has held up quite well so far in spite of the sequester, with earnings per share (EPS) growing by 50% in the past 12 months. During that time, the company’s stock has more than doubled, compared with a 23% return for the S&P 500. The firm has remained strong in large part because it’s so crucial to national defense, providing the bulk of the equipment and services necessary to keep the U.S. Navy operational. I wouldn’t be surprised if most investors were unfamiliar with the company because it certainly isn’t among the first names that typically come to mind when you think of firms involved in defense like Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), Boeing (NYSE: BA) and General Dynamics (NYSE: GD). However, the company was spun off a few years ago from another well-known defense firm, Northrop Grumman (NYSE:… Read More

My great-grandfather owned a small department store in the Pacific Northwest. With the help of my great -grandmother (who, I am told, watched the cash register like a hawk), they built a successful business — which they sold before the onset of the Great Depression. #-ad_banner-#From what I can piece together, my great-grandfather was a shrewd merchant — but I’m thankful the family got out of the department store business back then. Today, I don’t think we’d be as lucky. Two years ago, I gave the bear case for J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP). (Last week, my colleague David Sterman gave… Read More

My great-grandfather owned a small department store in the Pacific Northwest. With the help of my great -grandmother (who, I am told, watched the cash register like a hawk), they built a successful business — which they sold before the onset of the Great Depression. #-ad_banner-#From what I can piece together, my great-grandfather was a shrewd merchant — but I’m thankful the family got out of the department store business back then. Today, I don’t think we’d be as lucky. Two years ago, I gave the bear case for J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP). (Last week, my colleague David Sterman gave a bullish take.) Back then, JCP traded at around $27. Today, the stock is treading water just above $6. Granted, most of J.C. Penney’s wounds seemed mostly self- inflicted due to the hedge-fund-controlled board selecting a CEO with zero department store experience who tried to radically revamp the entire franchise and wound up alienating the store’s well-established core demographic. However, the company (and the department store sector as a whole) had been in critical condition prior to the stumble. Face it. Big department stores are a dying breed — and I’ve found the next casualty. Window Dressing My wife’s… Read More

One of the biggest success stories in the market over the past several years is the amazing performance of electric car pioneer Tesla Motors (Nasdaq: TSLA). That company’s shares have delivered a mighty 625%-plus gain over the past 12 months, and the stock has shown no real signs of slowing down. #-ad_banner-#Yet many traders and investors I know have already made big money in Tesla, and they’re now looking for peripheral electric car plays with the potential for Tesla-like returns. Enter Kandi Technologies (Nasdaq: KNDI). This China-based company is a maker of vehicles such as ATVs, motorcycles and other small… Read More

One of the biggest success stories in the market over the past several years is the amazing performance of electric car pioneer Tesla Motors (Nasdaq: TSLA). That company’s shares have delivered a mighty 625%-plus gain over the past 12 months, and the stock has shown no real signs of slowing down. #-ad_banner-#Yet many traders and investors I know have already made big money in Tesla, and they’re now looking for peripheral electric car plays with the potential for Tesla-like returns. Enter Kandi Technologies (Nasdaq: KNDI). This China-based company is a maker of vehicles such as ATVs, motorcycles and other small utility vehicles, including electric cars. And while its vehicles don’t approach the high-tech, luxury level of a Tesla Model S, they are in demand in China, and that demand is expected to continue in the years to come. According to a recent SEC filing, which was actually a Q-and-A session from the company’s December shareholder meeting, Kandi, which is a joint venture with China manufacturer Geely, said it expected to deliver some 2,800 electric vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2013. That’s huge when compared with the 3,915 vehicle deliveries the company had in all of 2012. Kandi CEO Hu… Read More

Buying in bulk remains a great value proposition for shoppers, but it can also be a great way to invest. #-ad_banner-#There’s only one pure play on the U.S. warehouse retail market. Even better, this stock is one of the best investments in retail thanks to its wide moat. Sadly, investors won’t get a discount for buying the stock in bulk — but they can still make money over the long term by buying the stock in bulk. Costco (Nasdaq: COST) remains the only pure play on the U.S. warehouse retail market. Its most formidable competitor, Sam’s Club, is owned by… Read More

Buying in bulk remains a great value proposition for shoppers, but it can also be a great way to invest. #-ad_banner-#There’s only one pure play on the U.S. warehouse retail market. Even better, this stock is one of the best investments in retail thanks to its wide moat. Sadly, investors won’t get a discount for buying the stock in bulk — but they can still make money over the long term by buying the stock in bulk. Costco (Nasdaq: COST) remains the only pure play on the U.S. warehouse retail market. Its most formidable competitor, Sam’s Club, is owned by Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), and another major peer, BJ’s Warehouse, was taken private in 2011. To shop at the major warehouse retailers, customers must buy a membership, which then allows them to save money by buying a wide variety of products in bulk. Costco uses its membership fees to offset the cost of the goods it sells, keeping its prices even lower for shoppers. Costco often gets unfairly grouped with many of the discount and variety retailers. These include the likes of Wal-Mart and Target (NYSE: TGT), as well as the various dollar stores. However, many of these other retailers lack… Read More

After the market closed for trading on Wednesday, Feb. 26, short sellers quickly scanned the latest short interest data (which had just been released for the two weeks ended Feb. 15). These shorts know that if a company they are targeting is also being targeted by many others as well, they can get badly burned in a short squeeze ensues. #-ad_banner-#The fact that the short interest in struggling retailer J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) had just spiked another 10 million shares in just two weeks (to 128.5 million shares, representing 43% of the trading float) was a… Read More

After the market closed for trading on Wednesday, Feb. 26, short sellers quickly scanned the latest short interest data (which had just been released for the two weeks ended Feb. 15). These shorts know that if a company they are targeting is also being targeted by many others as well, they can get badly burned in a short squeeze ensues. #-ad_banner-#The fact that the short interest in struggling retailer J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) had just spiked another 10 million shares in just two weeks (to 128.5 million shares, representing 43% of the trading float) was a cause for concern. The morning after the fresh short interest data came out, shares were squeezed a stunning 25% higher. Management’s prediction that J.C. Penney would not run out of money any time soon was not wanted short sellers were hoping to hear. At this point, both the shorts — as well as the company’s bulls — are wondering: What’s next for this stock? Let’s take a closer look at each argument. Going Terminal? Short sellers love to target stocks that they believe will eventually fall to zero, known as a “terminal short.” And at first glance, J.C. Penney… Read More

Some of the most successful companies have taken iconic American brands and rolled them out internationally to generate incredible growth. Take Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX), for example. Starbucks first built its powerful brand in the United States, then famously rolled it out everywhere in the world. Investors who jumped on the Starbucks wagon in 1992 and held on for the long term have made 70 times their original investment. #-ad_banner-#When Starbucks went public in June 1992, the company had 140 outlets and revenue of $73 million. All of those 140 locations were in North America. The first Starbucks location… Read More

Some of the most successful companies have taken iconic American brands and rolled them out internationally to generate incredible growth. Take Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX), for example. Starbucks first built its powerful brand in the United States, then famously rolled it out everywhere in the world. Investors who jumped on the Starbucks wagon in 1992 and held on for the long term have made 70 times their original investment. #-ad_banner-#When Starbucks went public in June 1992, the company had 140 outlets and revenue of $73 million. All of those 140 locations were in North America. The first Starbucks location outside of North America didn’t even open until 1996, when the company opened a store in Tokyo. Today Starbucks covers much of the globe, operating in 63 countries with over 5,500 international stores. Since going international, shares of Starbucks have returned more than 2,500%. And even with thousands of international locations, Starbucks still has significant long-term expansion plans. There clearly is huge potential for companies that own highly recognizable American brands to compound their profits by going international. And I’ve found a company that I think is just about to start what could be a similarly long and lucrative growth… Read More

Based on a lot of the talk these days about people’s moviegoing habits, you might get the impression the cinema industry is barely surviving. #-ad_banner-#Granted, the industry’s best days may be behind it, thanks to hot competition from the many on-demand forms of video entertainment now available like Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX), Roku (which may be going public sometime this year), tablets and mobile devices. But cinemas are far from dead. In fact, the industry is still growing — and quite briskly in some parts of the world. Growth in the mature U.S. market will probably remain tepid, though, with industrywide… Read More

Based on a lot of the talk these days about people’s moviegoing habits, you might get the impression the cinema industry is barely surviving. #-ad_banner-#Granted, the industry’s best days may be behind it, thanks to hot competition from the many on-demand forms of video entertainment now available like Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX), Roku (which may be going public sometime this year), tablets and mobile devices. But cinemas are far from dead. In fact, the industry is still growing — and quite briskly in some parts of the world. Growth in the mature U.S. market will probably remain tepid, though, with industrywide revenue expansion of 2.3% in 2014, projects Australian research firm IBISWorld. That’s a touch slower than the 2.5% growth rate of 2011 through 2013. Latin America, on the other hand, has an especially robust movie theater industry with annual revenue growth in the 8% range. What’s more, this region should see much better growth at the box office for years because its middle class is expanding. As overall prosperity keeps rising, even more Latin Americans should be able to afford regular trips to the movies. This presents a particularly good chance at profits for one movie theater company with large… Read More

We’re in the midst of a wireless telecom revolution that promises to save consumers millions of dollars. The radical new pricing strategies adopted by wireless industry laggard T-Mobile (NYSE: TMUS) have led to all-out price wars, and things may only get worse for key rivals — and better for consumers.#-ad_banner-# T-Mobile’s aggressive pricing strategies aren’t merely a gimmick to rattle the competition: They’re aimed at building sales and profits. After digesting just-released fourth-quarter results, analysts now expect the carrier to boost revenue roughly 10% to 12% this year to around $29 billion. Operating cash flow is… Read More

We’re in the midst of a wireless telecom revolution that promises to save consumers millions of dollars. The radical new pricing strategies adopted by wireless industry laggard T-Mobile (NYSE: TMUS) have led to all-out price wars, and things may only get worse for key rivals — and better for consumers.#-ad_banner-# T-Mobile’s aggressive pricing strategies aren’t merely a gimmick to rattle the competition: They’re aimed at building sales and profits. After digesting just-released fourth-quarter results, analysts now expect the carrier to boost revenue roughly 10% to 12% this year to around $29 billion. Operating cash flow is now expected to move up around 25% to 30% this year, to around $4.6 billion, according to consensus forecasts. And the company is starting to get the attention of hedge fund managers, many of whom like to own companies that have a chance to shake up an industry. Third Point’s Daniel Loeb bought 7.6 million shares in the fourth quarter of 2013 at an average price of $27.41. And Leon Cooperman (who I profiled a year ago) also established a fresh 3 million-share position at the same buy-in price as Loeb. Here’s the unusual thing: This stock traded under $10… Read More