Over the past half decade, the exchange-traded fund (ETF) industry has caught the mutual fund industry off-guard. The assets being managed by ETFs have more than doubled in size since 2009, compared with flat growth for their more mature counterparts (though mutual funds still manage more assets overall). #-ad_banner-#​ETFs have proved to be especially popular with investors seeking global exposure. There are now a few hundred country- and region-specific stock and bond ETFs, enabling investors to glean very targeted exposure. For example, as I wrote recently, I think Chile and Vietnam represent sound investment… Read More

Over the past half decade, the exchange-traded fund (ETF) industry has caught the mutual fund industry off-guard. The assets being managed by ETFs have more than doubled in size since 2009, compared with flat growth for their more mature counterparts (though mutual funds still manage more assets overall). #-ad_banner-#​ETFs have proved to be especially popular with investors seeking global exposure. There are now a few hundred country- and region-specific stock and bond ETFs, enabling investors to glean very targeted exposure. For example, as I wrote recently, I think Chile and Vietnam represent sound investment environments.  The appeal of country ETFs is self-evident: They are much cheaper to own than comparable mutual funds, and lower expense ratios can add up to big savings over the short or long haul.  But ETFs also have one major flaw: Their passive portfolios take the good with the bad, as they own a slice of every key company in any given market.  That makes them solid investments if you prefer global themes such as “the Brazilian middle class is growing,” or “South Korean interest rates are set to fall” — but the approach is not so good at drilling… Read More

America’s top two automakers, Ford (NYSE: F) and GM (NYSE : GM), are still trying to get their financial house in order. #-ad_banner-#GM is still faced with operational challenges as it aims to fix a long-broken culture, and Ford continues to invest heavily in new markets (such as China), while launching bold but expensive new vehicle platforms such as the soon-to-arrive all new aluminum F-150 pickup truck. Still, these companies are strong enough to offer up solid dividends that provide yields above 3%. The companies that do business with Ford and GM — auto parts suppliers — have gone a… Read More

America’s top two automakers, Ford (NYSE: F) and GM (NYSE : GM), are still trying to get their financial house in order. #-ad_banner-#GM is still faced with operational challenges as it aims to fix a long-broken culture, and Ford continues to invest heavily in new markets (such as China), while launching bold but expensive new vehicle platforms such as the soon-to-arrive all new aluminum F-150 pickup truck. Still, these companies are strong enough to offer up solid dividends that provide yields above 3%. The companies that do business with Ford and GM — auto parts suppliers — have gone a very different route. As I noted a year ago, these companies are leading the market when it comes to share buybacks. And judging by their recent plans, they have no plans to step on the brakes now. Here’s a quick snapshot of the falling share counts for these firms.  Shrinking Share Counts In theory, these stocks should have outperformed Ford and GM over the past 12 months, as share buybacks can boost per-share profits. Meanwhile, the Big Two’s focus on dividends doesn’t really have any sort of impact on earnings per share (EPS). It’s an interesting litmus test,… Read More

Martin Shkreli is having a very bad month.  The founder of biotech roll-up firm Retrophin (Nasdaq: RTRX) has spent nearly $3 million of his own money to acquire company stock over the past few months, culminating in a $500,000 purchase in early April. But like so many other investors, Shkreli had no idea that biotech stocks would suddenly crater. Those purchases are now deeply underwater.  #-ad_banner-#But this CEO’s loss may be your gain. With shares falling nearly 40% this month, investors have a chance to dig deep to see if there is value in these shares. Retrophin has acquired… Read More

Martin Shkreli is having a very bad month.  The founder of biotech roll-up firm Retrophin (Nasdaq: RTRX) has spent nearly $3 million of his own money to acquire company stock over the past few months, culminating in a $500,000 purchase in early April. But like so many other investors, Shkreli had no idea that biotech stocks would suddenly crater. Those purchases are now deeply underwater.  #-ad_banner-#But this CEO’s loss may be your gain. With shares falling nearly 40% this month, investors have a chance to dig deep to see if there is value in these shares. Retrophin has acquired a series of development-stage biotech firms, and Shkreli anticipates rising revenue streams in 2014 and 2015 from the acquired pipeline. A blogger on Seeking Alpha raised some legitimate concerns, but they were expressed when shares were still trading at $20.  Other companies have also seen solid recent insider buying (data provided by InsiderInsights.com), which include: 1. Intrexon (NYSE: XON )​ This is another biotech firm where an insider’s moves were poorly timed. Senior Vice President Gregory Ian Frost acquired more than $2 million in stock in early March, right before the entire sector skidded off the road. Read More

Britain’s Queen Victoria left an unfortunate legacy: Her descendants, spread across numerous European royal families, all inherited a genetic mutation that causes hemophilia. In fact, one out of every 5,000 to 10,000 males in the world is born with the defect. #-ad_banner-#But hemophilia may soon be a relic of the past. Baxter International’s (NYSE: BAX) recent acquisition of Chatham Therapeutics has led doctors to anticipate a reworking of the genes that cause the disease. In fact, a wide range of genetic mutations hidden in human DNA are now being targeted by biotechnology researchers.  The notion of fixing… Read More

Britain’s Queen Victoria left an unfortunate legacy: Her descendants, spread across numerous European royal families, all inherited a genetic mutation that causes hemophilia. In fact, one out of every 5,000 to 10,000 males in the world is born with the defect. #-ad_banner-#But hemophilia may soon be a relic of the past. Baxter International’s (NYSE: BAX) recent acquisition of Chatham Therapeutics has led doctors to anticipate a reworking of the genes that cause the disease. In fact, a wide range of genetic mutations hidden in human DNA are now being targeted by biotechnology researchers.  The notion of fixing broken genes, so-called gene therapy, has been around since 1972 — and once seemed like a bad idea. Clinical trials involving the approach sometimes led to sudden and lethal outcomes for patients.   Yet over the past decade, as researchers have developed a better understanding of the human genome, major progress has been made. By 2012, the first gene therapy drug, Glybera, received regulatory approval, and the next half decade could bring dozens more.   The company behind Glybera, UniQure (Nasdaq: QURE), has a series of other gene therapies undergoing clinical testing as well. UniQure’s targets include… Read More

As the market surged ever higher over the past five years, short sellers were knocked off their game.  #-ad_banner-#Every time they targeted a seemingly overvalued high-flier such as Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) or Netflix (Nasdaq: Nasdaq: NFLX), they were forced to cover their positions as these stocks scaled new heights. Such repeated bruisings left the short sellers gun-shy, and in recent months, they simply steered clear of the most richly valued stocks. As I noted in late March, “short sellers are going after the major tech firms that represent much better value.”  That turned out to be unwise. Value-oriented tech stocks,… Read More

As the market surged ever higher over the past five years, short sellers were knocked off their game.  #-ad_banner-#Every time they targeted a seemingly overvalued high-flier such as Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) or Netflix (Nasdaq: Nasdaq: NFLX), they were forced to cover their positions as these stocks scaled new heights. Such repeated bruisings left the short sellers gun-shy, and in recent months, they simply steered clear of the most richly valued stocks. As I noted in late March, “short sellers are going after the major tech firms that represent much better value.”  That turned out to be unwise. Value-oriented tech stocks, such as Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) and Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO) saw big short interest spikes in recent months, but actually held up fairly well in the recent tech stock rout. The high-flying dot-com stocks that the shorts should have been targeting turned out to deliver the most downside in recent sessions. Still, it pays to track the actions of short sellers. They may not be doing so well with their macro calls lately (such as value-versus-growth tech) but their company-specific targets are worth monitoring. I like to see which stocks have more than 40% of their stock held by short… Read More

The trading action of 2014 thus far has been truly strange. A hot IPO market led to many impressive one-day gains for newly public companies. But many of those same stocks are now falling like a stone. So if you’re the type that waits for inevitable pullbacks in hot new issues, your opening is at hand. #-ad_banner-#These stocks are getting especially hard hit for several reasons. First, they were initially bought by investors looking for quick gains, not great long-term investments. Second, many of them are on a path for continued operating losses, and investors fear that a market mood… Read More

The trading action of 2014 thus far has been truly strange. A hot IPO market led to many impressive one-day gains for newly public companies. But many of those same stocks are now falling like a stone. So if you’re the type that waits for inevitable pullbacks in hot new issues, your opening is at hand. #-ad_banner-#These stocks are getting especially hard hit for several reasons. First, they were initially bought by investors looking for quick gains, not great long-term investments. Second, many of them are on a path for continued operating losses, and investors fear that a market mood shift will keep these firms from raising more capital. Open-ended losses are an especially strong concern for biotechs, which are basically built to lose money until a key drug is approved or partnerships is inked. So plenty of recently surging biotech IPOs have fallen sharply. Here’s a quick list of some that have already fallen from 30% from their post-IPO peak. The stock price chart for Dicerna Therapeutics highlights the bipolar investor attitude toward this group. Other biotech stocks that have fallen far from their recent peak include: • Mediwound (Nasdaq: MDWD) • Akebia Therapeutics (Nasdaq: AKBA)… Read More

It’s increasingly clear that the polar vortex created havoc for retailers. As the snow piled up and temperatures plunged, many consumers simply stayed away from the malls. You can expect to hear all about it as earnings season unfolds.  #-ad_banner-#Investors have already responded, shunning consumer stocks, and the key ETFs (exchange-traded funds) that track consumer discretionary spending are all under water for the year. As Citigroup analysts noted, “The worst performing sector thus far in 2014 is Consumer Discretionary, with the Retailing industry group plummeting nearly 8% this year.” But a late winter thaw may have set the stage for… Read More

It’s increasingly clear that the polar vortex created havoc for retailers. As the snow piled up and temperatures plunged, many consumers simply stayed away from the malls. You can expect to hear all about it as earnings season unfolds.  #-ad_banner-#Investors have already responded, shunning consumer stocks, and the key ETFs (exchange-traded funds) that track consumer discretionary spending are all under water for the year. As Citigroup analysts noted, “The worst performing sector thus far in 2014 is Consumer Discretionary, with the Retailing industry group plummeting nearly 8% this year.” But a late winter thaw may have set the stage for much better days to come. And this lagging sector could deliver much better news as coming quarters unfold.  Analysts at Deutsche Bank suspect that the end of the deep freeze in early March coincided with a profound change in economic activity: “The March economic data have bounced back sharply after being severely depressed in January and February,” they wrote this week, adding that “this weather-related payback is most evident in motor vehicle sales and the index of aggregate hours.”  And though the widely followed Redbook store sales survey showed continued weakness in March, the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)… Read More

When the financial news website MarketWatch.com went public in January 1999, it registered one of the largest one-day gains ever. #-ad_banner-#Within a few quarters, TheStreet.com (Nasdaq: TST) came public, as did Edgar Online, while a host of already-public rivals (including my then-employer, Individual Investor) also raised large news sums of money in the secondary market.  And it all ended quite badly. All of these firms, flush with cash, cranked out massive amounts of content, spent millions marketing their brands, and built up expensive executive teams. And this happened as they all crested on the… Read More

When the financial news website MarketWatch.com went public in January 1999, it registered one of the largest one-day gains ever. #-ad_banner-#Within a few quarters, TheStreet.com (Nasdaq: TST) came public, as did Edgar Online, while a host of already-public rivals (including my then-employer, Individual Investor) also raised large news sums of money in the secondary market.  And it all ended quite badly. All of these firms, flush with cash, cranked out massive amounts of content, spent millions marketing their brands, and built up expensive executive teams. And this happened as they all crested on the wave of the dot-com boom, when they were collectively worth several billion dollars.  These days, TheStreet.com is the lone surviving public company, and its market value is less than $40 million when cash is excluded. The obvious lesson in this and other dot-com debacles is that valuations got out of hand. Yet the less obvious but more important lesson is that a flood of IPO money can lead to all kinds of distortions in an industry. And it’s happening again. The IPO market has been so strong in recent quarters that the fourth, fifth or even sixth-best operator in a… Read More

It usually pays to track which stocks are making new 52-week highs and new 52-week lows. #-ad_banner-#The new highs provide insights into what is working in the investing sphere at the moment. Scanning the list of new lows can help you spot which stocks are being deeply shunned by the crowd. But in recent years, it’s hardly been worth the effort. It seems that most stocks and sectors have been moving to new highs, quarter after quarter, and the list of new lows has been isolated to a handful of true dogs. However, the times are changing: This week alone,… Read More

It usually pays to track which stocks are making new 52-week highs and new 52-week lows. #-ad_banner-#The new highs provide insights into what is working in the investing sphere at the moment. Scanning the list of new lows can help you spot which stocks are being deeply shunned by the crowd. But in recent years, it’s hardly been worth the effort. It seems that most stocks and sectors have been moving to new highs, quarter after quarter, and the list of new lows has been isolated to a handful of true dogs. However, the times are changing: This week alone, we’ve seen more than 150 stocks make fresh 52-week lows. And buried among them are some high-quality companies that are simply enduring a temporary rough stretch. For farsighted investors with the patience to see such beaten-down stocks regain their footing, the upside could be significant. At a minimum, their downside is likely more muted, as any remaining bulls have been shaken out. Here are three I’m tracking right now. 1. Chart Industries (Nasdaq: GTLS ) This company’s ticker symbol, which is a reference to gas-to-liquids, represents Chart’s strong positioning in the field of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Thanks to strong demand… Read More

It’s an exciting time again for clean energy stocks.  #-ad_banner-#To take a couple of examples, the Guggenheim Solar ETF (NYSE: TAN) is up 160% in the past 12 months, and the PowerShares Global Clean Energy ETF (NYSE: PBD) is up 60%.   But these gains pale in comparison to a group of small alternative-energy players that have generated some of the strongest gains of any stock in the past few quarters.  When I first looked at these companies back in mid-February, they had already posted sharp gains. Since then, they’ve surged yet higher. In just the past seven weeks, they… Read More

It’s an exciting time again for clean energy stocks.  #-ad_banner-#To take a couple of examples, the Guggenheim Solar ETF (NYSE: TAN) is up 160% in the past 12 months, and the PowerShares Global Clean Energy ETF (NYSE: PBD) is up 60%.   But these gains pale in comparison to a group of small alternative-energy players that have generated some of the strongest gains of any stock in the past few quarters.  When I first looked at these companies back in mid-February, they had already posted sharp gains. Since then, they’ve surged yet higher. In just the past seven weeks, they have risen on average around 65%. At this point, a mea culpa is in order. When I looked at this group back in February, I singled out Ballard Power (Nasdaq: BLDP) and Capstone Turbine (Nasdaq: CPST) for further gains — but suggested that Fuel Cell Energy (Nasdaq: FCEL) and Plug Power (Nasdaq: PLUG) likely had more limited upside. I noted that “It’s hard to see how these firms will ever generate robust profits, especially as they have several dozen rivals (most of which are privately held) pursuing the exact same niche.” Clearly, the broader market has no such… Read More