While it’s unlikely that anything will unseat Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) as the king of retail in our lifetime, that doesn’t mean there aren’t major opportunities to meaningfully penetrate the discount-store space. Take Target (NYSE: TGT), for instance. Despite Wal-Mart’s annoying domination, Target has capitalized on the inherent… Read More

The world is undergoing a frantic search for new sources of oil. The reason is simple: World-wide oil supply is dwindling while demand is soaring. The planet is estimated to have 1.3 trillion barrels of proven reserves — only enough for 40 years at current consumption rates. Read More

When Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) announced plans in mid-January to spend an eye-popping $9 billion on capital spending, tech analysts sat up and took notice. Many of them have been lukewarm on chip stocks for so long that they simply didn’t see it coming. And when Samsung and Taiwan Semiconductor (NYSE: TSM) followed up with similarly aggressive plans for 2011, it became apparent that the entire chip industry was now in full-growth mode. The prime beneficiary of the newfound momentum in capital equipment spending: Applied Materials (Nasdaq: AMAT). I told readers to buy shares two months ago,… Read More

When Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) announced plans in mid-January to spend an eye-popping $9 billion on capital spending, tech analysts sat up and took notice. Many of them have been lukewarm on chip stocks for so long that they simply didn’t see it coming. And when Samsung and Taiwan Semiconductor (NYSE: TSM) followed up with similarly aggressive plans for 2011, it became apparent that the entire chip industry was now in full-growth mode. The prime beneficiary of the newfound momentum in capital equipment spending: Applied Materials (Nasdaq: AMAT). I told readers to buy shares two months ago, as there was simply too much pessimism around the world’s largest semiconductor capital equipment firm. And it looks as if The Street is still underestimating this tech powerhouse. The recent 28% spike in the stock was impressive, but I see another 25% or so move coming this spring.     On its way to $20? As I’ve noted in the past, analysts tend to move very slowly, judging stocks by how the next quarter will fare. Price targets are raised and lowered based on updated 90-day forecasts. But when… Read More

While there are many high-growth tech companies, these can be tough investments to own. It’s often the case that they are one-hit wonders and competition will eat away at the core business. Yet there are some tech companies that are “built to last,” such as Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT), IBM… Read More

If a CEO oversaw this sort of performance, they’d be ridden out on a rail. A fund manager? You better expect a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation and prison time. But there’s something different about this investment. It’s lost 99% in the past two years, yet it’s rarely in the news and it hasn’t been shut down. In fact, it still trades 30 million shares a day. Meet the Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (NYSE: FAZ). It takes the crown as the worst investment we at StreetAuthority have… Read More

If a CEO oversaw this sort of performance, they’d be ridden out on a rail. A fund manager? You better expect a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation and prison time. But there’s something different about this investment. It’s lost 99% in the past two years, yet it’s rarely in the news and it hasn’t been shut down. In fact, it still trades 30 million shares a day. Meet the Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (NYSE: FAZ). It takes the crown as the worst investment we at StreetAuthority have ever seen. The fund is built to triple the Russell 1000 Financial Services Index… in the opposite direction. So if the index is down 1 point, FAZ rises three points. During the financial crisis, buying a few shares would have actually been a nice hedge for your portfolio. But these highly leveraged short funds are time bombs if you hold them too long. Once the rebound took hold, owning FAZ meant disaster…   FAZ has its place — if you’re a trader or if… Read More

About 15 years ago I was held prisoner of war in Hartford, Conn., at a large, rookie broker re-education facility. While trudging to class each day, I passed by the headquarters of quite a few famous insurance companies. All were familiar except one: Phoenix. I did some research and learned that, at the time, it was a mutual company (owned by the policy holders) and not publicly traded. However, its investment management arm did trade publicly via master limited partnership (MLP) units. They were clearly trading at a deep discount… Read More

About 15 years ago I was held prisoner of war in Hartford, Conn., at a large, rookie broker re-education facility. While trudging to class each day, I passed by the headquarters of quite a few famous insurance companies. All were familiar except one: Phoenix. I did some research and learned that, at the time, it was a mutual company (owned by the policy holders) and not publicly traded. However, its investment management arm did trade publicly via master limited partnership (MLP) units. They were clearly trading at a deep discount to their actual value, so I bought what few shares I could. In less than a year, after collecting a couple dividend payments, Phoenix bought back all of the units they didn’t own and I made a nice little profit. Fast forward to now. Phoenix (NYSE: PNX) has long since demutualized. The investment arm was spun off a couple of years ago as a free-standing entity: Virtus (Nasdaq: VRTS). Phoenix’s common shares trade at an abysmal sub-$3.00 level The company just can’t seem to get out of its own way. The… Read More

Quick spurts of 50%, 75% or more aren’t uncommon. HiSoft Technologies (Nasdaq: HSFT) has surged 200% since it happened to their stock. JinkoSolar (NYSE: JKS) is already up more than 155%… in a matter of less than nine months. The best news?… Read More

For a decade, you’ve heard the glowing stories: enormous GDP growth, massive infrastructure building — even 15-story hotels being built in six days… China’s growth is unstoppable. It’s only a matter of time before it overtakes the United States as the largest economy in the world. Not so fast… China’s market is flashing a major warning sign. If you have money invested in Chinese stocks, keep a close eye. I use the iShares FTSE China 25 ETF (NYSE: FXI) as an easy way to keep tabs… Read More

For a decade, you’ve heard the glowing stories: enormous GDP growth, massive infrastructure building — even 15-story hotels being built in six days… China’s growth is unstoppable. It’s only a matter of time before it overtakes the United States as the largest economy in the world. Not so fast… China’s market is flashing a major warning sign. If you have money invested in Chinese stocks, keep a close eye. I use the iShares FTSE China 25 ETF (NYSE: FXI) as an easy way to keep tabs on China’s market. It holds 25 of the biggest companies in China, across all industries… banks, telecoms, oil companies. You can think of it as China’s Dow Jones Industrial Average. Well, China’s “Dow” is having problems:   A period of consolidation after a big rebound would be expected if this were anywhere but “unstoppable” China. And when you compare that flat performance with our own Dow, which has gained about 30% in the same time frame, you really start to see the trouble brewing. If you’re invested in China,… Read More

The stock market is dominated by traders and investors. Traders simply focus on today’s market action. Investors hold a much broader view, finding winning stocks that will ride future trends. In recent sessions, traders have found plenty to dislike about employment search firm Monster Worldwide (NYSE: MWW). Shares were… Read More

Want a peek at this summer’s headlines? Then just watch the action in the oil market. The price of oil has been rising steadily for nearly two years, and it’s coming close to the point of inflicting real pain on many businesses. If current trends continue, we may be talking about $4 for a gallon of gasoline by spring, and surging home heating oil costs later in the year. In many respects, the United States can tolerate $70 oil, or even $90 oil. But at $100 or even $110, so many companies will start speaking of profit-margin… Read More

Want a peek at this summer’s headlines? Then just watch the action in the oil market. The price of oil has been rising steadily for nearly two years, and it’s coming close to the point of inflicting real pain on many businesses. If current trends continue, we may be talking about $4 for a gallon of gasoline by spring, and surging home heating oil costs later in the year. In many respects, the United States can tolerate $70 oil, or even $90 oil. But at $100 or even $110, so many companies will start speaking of profit-margin pressures. And profit margins are the key factor behind many strategists’ forecasts for continued stock market gains in 2011. This is why you should be worried, even if you don’t own oil stocks in your portfolio. Up until now, stocks have been rallying in tandem with oil prices. That’s quite unusual. We’ve been in a rare period where rising economic activity has been good for both assets. Yet if history is any guide, further oil price spikes will tend to deflate stock prices. Here are three stocks in particular that simply cannot… Read More