It’s one of the few holdings in my Daily Paycheck portfolio that has lost ground in 2019… But there’s a good reason. On January 3, Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) unveiled plans to buy Celgene (Nasdaq: CELG) in a blockbuster $74 billion transaction.  Acquirers typically fall when these mega-deals are announced, while shares of the target bolt higher. True to form, BMY slid 14% on the news, while CELG jumped 25%.  Despite the drop, my subscribers and I are still in the black on this one. But is this a good deal? And is BMY worth owning today?  First, let’s… Read More

It’s one of the few holdings in my Daily Paycheck portfolio that has lost ground in 2019… But there’s a good reason. On January 3, Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) unveiled plans to buy Celgene (Nasdaq: CELG) in a blockbuster $74 billion transaction.  Acquirers typically fall when these mega-deals are announced, while shares of the target bolt higher. True to form, BMY slid 14% on the news, while CELG jumped 25%.  Despite the drop, my subscribers and I are still in the black on this one. But is this a good deal? And is BMY worth owning today?  First, let’s get some of the specifics out of the way. Bristol Myers is offering one share of BMY and $50 cash for each share of CELG. There is also the possibility of additional cash remuneration for Celgene investors later down the line (known as a contingent value right, or CVR) if three drugs in the firm’s pipeline eventually gain regulatory approval.  Based on BMY’s share price at the time of the announcement, the bid (excluding CVRs) works out to a little more than $102 per share. That’s a healthy premium of 53% above where CELG closed the day before the announcement. … Read More

Back in December, I wrote about why the major cruise lines are compelling investment candidates right now. One of our loyal readers, Jim C., wrote in to point out that anyone who owns at least 100 shares of Carnival Cruise Lines (NYSE: CCL) is entitled to a unique fringe benefit — up to $250 in complimentary onboard spending credits per cruise.  This isn’t one of those promotional offers you see advertised to the general public. It’s a special perk reserved strictly for Carnival shareholders. Put another way, this $250 offer is equivalent to $2.50 per share for an investor who holds 100 shares. Read More

Back in December, I wrote about why the major cruise lines are compelling investment candidates right now. One of our loyal readers, Jim C., wrote in to point out that anyone who owns at least 100 shares of Carnival Cruise Lines (NYSE: CCL) is entitled to a unique fringe benefit — up to $250 in complimentary onboard spending credits per cruise.  This isn’t one of those promotional offers you see advertised to the general public. It’s a special perk reserved strictly for Carnival shareholders. Put another way, this $250 offer is equivalent to $2.50 per share for an investor who holds 100 shares. That represents a bonus payout of 5.1% on the $48 stock — on top of the 4.3% dividend yield. Double that if you happen to book two cruises. After Jim wrote in to us, my staff and I got to talking… And after doing a little research, it turns out a whole host of companies offers little-known “perks” like this. So I thought it would be fun to take a break from our regular format and focus on four companies that offer special shareholder benefits.  Of course, these enticements alone aren’t necessarily reasons to invest. But since these are all… Read More

It’s only been a little over three months since marijuana became legal in Canada, but the country’s government statistics agency has already added a relevant report to its monthly data set. Statistics Canada, the national statistical office, now reports revenues generated by cannabis as part of its standard monthly retail sales report. And thanks to that addition, we learned on Jan. 23 that Canadians bought $41 million (U.S. dollars) of marijuana from retail stores in November, the first full month since the legalization became a fact of life. If anything, this number is an understatement of the true market size… Read More

It’s only been a little over three months since marijuana became legal in Canada, but the country’s government statistics agency has already added a relevant report to its monthly data set. Statistics Canada, the national statistical office, now reports revenues generated by cannabis as part of its standard monthly retail sales report. And thanks to that addition, we learned on Jan. 23 that Canadians bought $41 million (U.S. dollars) of marijuana from retail stores in November, the first full month since the legalization became a fact of life. If anything, this number is an understatement of the true market size for legal pot in Canada. Retail stores are still opening; Ontario, the country’s largest state, still hasn’t opened any retail stores (in this state, sales are still limited to online orders). Further, the demand was so strong that a number of stores ran out of product. Canopy Growth: Best In The Business In the three months since I first added Canada’s Canopy Growth Corp. (NYSE: CGC) to the our Fast-Track Millionaire portfolio, the stock has handily outperformed its closest peer, Tilray (Nasdaq: TLRY). While TILR has lost nearly 30% of its value over these three months, CGC has appreciated by more… Read More

As investors, one of our first tasks when evaluating a prospective new portfolio candidate is to ascertain where the company’s sales are headed. There are plenty of other considerations, of course. But first, we need to make some educated assumptions about how many widgets will be going out the door.  Fortunately, we have plenty of tools at our disposal.  We can track inventory turnover rates and tune into conference calls discussing new product development. Sometimes analysts go a step further and conduct channel checks, a fancy way of saying they talk to the company’s suppliers to find out if they… Read More

As investors, one of our first tasks when evaluating a prospective new portfolio candidate is to ascertain where the company’s sales are headed. There are plenty of other considerations, of course. But first, we need to make some educated assumptions about how many widgets will be going out the door.  Fortunately, we have plenty of tools at our disposal.  We can track inventory turnover rates and tune into conference calls discussing new product development. Sometimes analysts go a step further and conduct channel checks, a fancy way of saying they talk to the company’s suppliers to find out if they are ordering more (or fewer) raw materials and components. They might also query customers to see how fast certain products are moving. By collecting information from the supply chain and distribution channels, it’s possible to gain valuable insights on volume and pricing trends.  #-ad_banner-#There’s nothing wrong with any of that.  But sometimes, the most obvious solution is right in front of us. When companies are struggling, they often reduce their workforce. Conversely, when business is picking up, they expand and bring in new employees to meet the increased workload. So, you can gauge demand just by examining hiring trends —… Read More

Since December 24, when the S&P 500 registered its lowest mark of 2018 (and a near 20% pullback from its September highs) we’ve seen a robust rebound. The index has rallied more than 12% since then.  I don’t know whether we’re out of the woods just yet… but between a couple of bullish indicators that I’ll discuss below, and my Maximum Profit system signaling four new buys last week, I’d say that the outlook at the moment is positive.  —Recommended Link— What would YOU do with an extra $3,080 every month for the rest of your life? Never worry… Read More

Since December 24, when the S&P 500 registered its lowest mark of 2018 (and a near 20% pullback from its September highs) we’ve seen a robust rebound. The index has rallied more than 12% since then.  I don’t know whether we’re out of the woods just yet… but between a couple of bullish indicators that I’ll discuss below, and my Maximum Profit system signaling four new buys last week, I’d say that the outlook at the moment is positive.  —Recommended Link— What would YOU do with an extra $3,080 every month for the rest of your life? Never worry about cash again. Be free to live how YOU want… go on a lavish vacation… or build up a college fund for the grandkids–it’s up to you.  Get your share here… Indicator #1 The first bullish indicator is one that I touched on previously, and that’s the Advance-Decline Line (AD Line). This is a breadth indicator that shows us how many stocks in the underlying index — the NYSE Composite Index in this case — are advancing and how many are declining. The purpose of looking at a breadth indicator is to gauge market sentiment, whether it’s leaning… Read More

It’s been hard not to notice how slow this year has been when it comes to bringing new companies to the market via initial public offerings (IPOs).  Last quarter’s market selloff plus government shutdown-related staffing issues at regulatory agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission are largely to blame. As of last Friday, Jan. 18, only three companies had gone public so far this year, with another expected to make its debut on Jan. 25. In January 2018, by contrast, 20 companies had IPO-ed. This pace puts the IPO market of 2019 well behind the rate needed to match… Read More

It’s been hard not to notice how slow this year has been when it comes to bringing new companies to the market via initial public offerings (IPOs).  Last quarter’s market selloff plus government shutdown-related staffing issues at regulatory agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission are largely to blame. As of last Friday, Jan. 18, only three companies had gone public so far this year, with another expected to make its debut on Jan. 25. In January 2018, by contrast, 20 companies had IPO-ed. This pace puts the IPO market of 2019 well behind the rate needed to match or exceed the breakneck activity of 2018 when 190 companies went public.  But this does not mean we cannot learn or benefit from the IPO market — these 190 recently-minted public companies offer a lot of new ideas and fresh profit opportunities.  Because of the sheer number of these fledgling companies, I had to first narrow down my area of interest. At this time, I’m focusing on the consumer discretionary sector. With numerous innovations hitting the consumer market, I thought it would be interesting to see how well these companies are being received by the investing public.  Hence, today’s… Read More

I’ve never shopped at Macy’s (NYSE: M), nor have I followed it closely as an investment candidate. Like many, I know the iconic department store best from its prominent role in the classic Christmas film, Miracle on 34th Street. But Macy’s investors may remember January 10 as the Massacre on 34th Street. The stock fell off a cliff that day, tumbling nearly 19%, the sharpest decline in its storied history. It was a bad day for many retailers. JC Penney (NYSE: JCP) dropped 4.4%. Kohl’s tumbled more than 10% at one point. But the harshest punishment was reserved for Macy’s,… Read More

I’ve never shopped at Macy’s (NYSE: M), nor have I followed it closely as an investment candidate. Like many, I know the iconic department store best from its prominent role in the classic Christmas film, Miracle on 34th Street. But Macy’s investors may remember January 10 as the Massacre on 34th Street. The stock fell off a cliff that day, tumbling nearly 19%, the sharpest decline in its storied history. It was a bad day for many retailers. JC Penney (NYSE: JCP) dropped 4.4%. Kohl’s tumbled more than 10% at one point. But the harshest punishment was reserved for Macy’s, which lost $1.8 billion in market value in a single session. —Recommended Link— 9 Investment Revelations For 2019 From toppling the titans of Monday night entertainment to robotic heart surgery… 2019 will be a very interesting year for investors. Want to know where the smart money will be in 2019? Click here to discover the tickers now. So what terrible transgression did the company commit to bring down this wrath? Well, management said that revenues would be flat in 2018. Let’s be honest — nobody expected Macy’s to deliver sizzling growth. The prior outlook called for sales to inch… Read More