The power of options is evident in a stock substitution trade in Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS). The stock is up about $2.25 since my recommendation on Aug. 29, an impressive 15% gain in just over a week’s time. The payoff on the deep… Read More

Think of where you’d be right now if you’d made this move 10 years ago.#-ad_banner-# The S&P 500 has returned 92% during that time (a 7% average annual gain). Meanwhile, Permian Basin Royalty Trust (NYSE: PBT) is up 575% during the same… Read More

Investors and traders are an entirely different breed. While investors assess a stock’s value in the context of long-term profit growth, traders solely focus on key near-term events. So while I’ve been convinced that Ford Motor (NYSE: F) represents a compelling long-term investment,… Read More

Shoppers and shareholders alike have reason to love this big-box retailer. The no-frills superstore offers its customers deeply discounted prices and rewards traders with a steadily increasing share price. The stock is up about 28% in the past year, and may be on the verge of a significant technical breakout. Read More

What do Ford (NYSE: F), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) and Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO) have in common? They’re all in the clutches of short sellers, and they are all up more than 10% in the past month. It’s no coincidence. Heavily-shorted stocks are some of the… Read More

Everyone is talking about them… You can’t turn on CNBC or open an issue of The Wall Street Journal without hearing about them. Even Warren Buffett has made the headlines recently because of these “risky”… Read More

I recently wrote about how September is historically the worst month for stocks, and that this September, there are more reason than ever to expect a sell-off. Some of those reasons include a potential disappointment from the Federal Reserve on the stimulus front, continued economic slowing in… Read More

In response to news from central banks in Europe and the United States, stocks and gold ended the week with solid gains following big moves on Thursday and Friday. Easing has been bullish in the past, and traders have learned they… Read More

If you’re like me, then you’ve grown dependent on a digital video recorder (DVR) for your evening’s entertainment. The ability to store hours of my favorite shows — and access them instantly — was only hinted at when video-tape recorders (VCRs) were first introduced in the 1980s.  But as it… Read More

It’s often said that what is past is prologue, and that’s usually true when it comes to financial markets. And when we look at past performance for the markets in September, we get a gloomy sense of prologue. That’s because, historically, September is the worst-performing month of the year for… Read More