A pioneer in her own right, her incredible journey is well documented… as it should be. It’s gone on to help save the lives of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of women. It also set the stage for one the greatest developments in medical history. The year was 1990, and Barbara Bradfield discovered one of the worst things anybody can find: a lump on her breast and swollen lymph nodes under her arm.  A biopsy confirmed her worst nightmare — she had metastatic breast cancer. Surgery to remove her breast and the lymph nodes quickly followed. Then chemotherapy —… Read More

A pioneer in her own right, her incredible journey is well documented… as it should be. It’s gone on to help save the lives of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of women. It also set the stage for one the greatest developments in medical history. The year was 1990, and Barbara Bradfield discovered one of the worst things anybody can find: a lump on her breast and swollen lymph nodes under her arm.  A biopsy confirmed her worst nightmare — she had metastatic breast cancer. Surgery to remove her breast and the lymph nodes quickly followed. Then chemotherapy — one of the few treatments available at the time. In 1991, more than 43,000 people died of breast cancer. Barbara expected to be one of them, as the survival rate for patients like her was about 20%. In fact, Barbara’s form of cancer was so aggressive that most doctors gave her no chance of surviving.  The surgery and chemotherapy didn’t work. Cancer returned. And her doctor offered the only thing he could at the time: more chemotherapy. But they both knew that this would only extend her life by a few months.  Barbara declined all further treatment.  She was staring… Read More

After many years in the trenches conducting investment research, I rarely get excited about mainstream public companies. However, every once in a while I’m surprised by an amazing success story and investment opportunity. And today I’ve found one such little-known, niche company.  With metrics revealing true longevity, like the steady 5% growth per year over the last half century, 16% compounded sales, and earnings growth since 1990, this company is a shocking find. Even better, it’s part of a growing $700 billion-plus market.  Add in the facts of the company being family run and that it only boasts around a… Read More

After many years in the trenches conducting investment research, I rarely get excited about mainstream public companies. However, every once in a while I’m surprised by an amazing success story and investment opportunity. And today I’ve found one such little-known, niche company.  With metrics revealing true longevity, like the steady 5% growth per year over the last half century, 16% compounded sales, and earnings growth since 1990, this company is a shocking find. Even better, it’s part of a growing $700 billion-plus market.  Add in the facts of the company being family run and that it only boasts around a 2% share of its market, and it paints a powerfully attractive long-term growth picture.  The company, Heico (NYSE: HEI), is a manufacturer based in Hollywood, Florida. It creates original equipment manufacturer (OEM) parts for the $700 billion plus aerospace sector.  According to Deloitte LLP’s 2017 Global Aerospace and Defense Sector Outlook, there is currently a backlog of 13,500 commercial aircraft, marking an all-time high. Deloitte analysts have forecasted commercial aerospace subsector operating earnings to grow 20.6%, while defense subsector’s operating earnings will likely rise 7.0%. Even defense returns are expected to increase at just over 3%… Read More

Imagine if you could have foreseen just how successful Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) was going to be at changing the music industry with the introduction of the iPod, iPhone and iTunes ecosystem. Or that folks would no longer run down to their local Blockbuster to rent a movie, but instead stream it over the internet — rendering DVDs all but dead. Of course, there are countless stories like these that illustrate how technological innovations killed off old stodgy companies and industries. 8-track and cassette tapes, VCR and DVD players, 3.5-inch floppy disks and developing film (Kodak) just to name a few. Read More

Imagine if you could have foreseen just how successful Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) was going to be at changing the music industry with the introduction of the iPod, iPhone and iTunes ecosystem. Or that folks would no longer run down to their local Blockbuster to rent a movie, but instead stream it over the internet — rendering DVDs all but dead. Of course, there are countless stories like these that illustrate how technological innovations killed off old stodgy companies and industries. 8-track and cassette tapes, VCR and DVD players, 3.5-inch floppy disks and developing film (Kodak) just to name a few. Heck, even the pound sign is being replaced with the hashtag. #-ad_banner-#In hindsight, it’s easy to spot these major trend changes, but of course forecasting the next major revolution is never that simple. Just take Sirius and XM radio, for example. These two companies aimed to change the radio industry by providing ad-free music to consumers across the nation. This novel idea seemed destined to kill off traditional radio as we knew it. After all, radio hadn’t seen any major advances in decades, plus it’s annoying to hear your favorite AM or FM radio station fade away as you traverse… Read More

Over at Profit Amplifier, my premium options newsletter service, we’ve taken a decidedly bearish stance over the past month — even as stocks seem to be making new highs. As I’ve stated in many of my alerts, I’m not bearish on the entire market… just those companies that are at risk of slowing growth or are currently overvalued.  And while I see weakness in many areas, there is one sector I believe is undervalued and could continue to flourish despite the coming volatility I’ve forecasted. But before we dive into this sector, there are some important… Read More

Over at Profit Amplifier, my premium options newsletter service, we’ve taken a decidedly bearish stance over the past month — even as stocks seem to be making new highs. As I’ve stated in many of my alerts, I’m not bearish on the entire market… just those companies that are at risk of slowing growth or are currently overvalued.  And while I see weakness in many areas, there is one sector I believe is undervalued and could continue to flourish despite the coming volatility I’ve forecasted. But before we dive into this sector, there are some important market mechanics you must understand. At first glance, most retail investors seem to believe that the election of President Trump has lifted most stocks. While the market’s general performance seems to support that theory, it couldn’t be further from the truth. Many stocks and sectors, such as brick-and-mortar retailers and energy, have had a rough go in the first half of 2017. As I write this, the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE: XLE) is down 13% year to date, and Macy’s (NYSE: M) and many of its peers are down 40%, 50% or more from their recent highs. So… Read More

There are few things in the stock market as exciting as a mergers and acquisitions (M&A) announcement, which refers in this case to a consolidation of publicly-held companies.  Shares can soar or dive in price depending on how the market views the news. Investors try to gauge how effectively the combined company will be able to address its market, and whether the cost of the acquisition was worth it.  There are always multiple M&A opportunities pending, but at the moment there are only a few that everyday investors need to be keeping an eye on. Today’s Most Important M&A Deals … Read More

There are few things in the stock market as exciting as a mergers and acquisitions (M&A) announcement, which refers in this case to a consolidation of publicly-held companies.  Shares can soar or dive in price depending on how the market views the news. Investors try to gauge how effectively the combined company will be able to address its market, and whether the cost of the acquisition was worth it.  There are always multiple M&A opportunities pending, but at the moment there are only a few that everyday investors need to be keeping an eye on. Today’s Most Important M&A Deals  1. Bass Pro Shops’ Acquisition Of Cabela’s (NYSE: CAB) As an avid fisherman, I know both these firms and was quite surprised to learn of the buy-out. #-ad_banner-#The two heavyweights in the outdoor sporting goods market have decided to merge. Cabela’s shareholders recently voted to sell itself to privately held Bass Pro Shops for $5.5 billion or $65.50 per share.  The deal was approved by the FTC in early July and includes Cabela’s stores, website, and catalog business. There remains a hurdle to the deal closing. Cabela’s banking unit is agreed to be sold to Synovus Financial (NYSE: SNV)… Read More

  Federal Reserve officials are great at making forecasts. Unfortunately, their forecasts aren’t always very good. That’s probably why their forecasts attract so much attention.  Earlier this week, John Williams, the president of the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank, said, “The stock market seems to be running pretty much on fumes. It’s something that clearly is a risk to the U.S. economy, some correction there — it’s something we have to be prepared for to respond to if it does happen.” This can be read as a warning from a Fed president that stocks are due for a decline. Read More

  Federal Reserve officials are great at making forecasts. Unfortunately, their forecasts aren’t always very good. That’s probably why their forecasts attract so much attention.  Earlier this week, John Williams, the president of the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank, said, “The stock market seems to be running pretty much on fumes. It’s something that clearly is a risk to the U.S. economy, some correction there — it’s something we have to be prepared for to respond to if it does happen.” This can be read as a warning from a Fed president that stocks are due for a decline. This is the latest in a long line of stock market forecasts from the Fed. —Sponsored Link— The Greatest Commodity Shortage In History  It’s no secret the world faces shortages in many commodities. The world’s diminishing supply of everything from cocoa to coffee… Lithium to lumber… Phosphate to plutonium… Silver to sugar… Is of great concern. But there’s an even bigger and more imminent commodity shortage at hand that no one is talking about. Details here… The most famous warning that stocks could fall probably came from former Fed chairman Alan… Read More

Since the idea of “wearables” and trackers was introduced to the public, any hope of these devices becoming the next major consumer craze has faded, despite their limited popularity. This has caused more than a few competitors in this space to pull products and cut their losses. Shares of Garmin (Nasdaq: GRMN) have been basically flat this year. Apple, meanwhile, refuses to issue details for sales for its smartwatch. In an anticipated filing, San Francisco-based Jawbone went into liquidation last week. Chief Executive Hosain Rahman has already moved on, founding a new company in the health space. The liquidation is… Read More

Since the idea of “wearables” and trackers was introduced to the public, any hope of these devices becoming the next major consumer craze has faded, despite their limited popularity. This has caused more than a few competitors in this space to pull products and cut their losses. Shares of Garmin (Nasdaq: GRMN) have been basically flat this year. Apple, meanwhile, refuses to issue details for sales for its smartwatch. In an anticipated filing, San Francisco-based Jawbone went into liquidation last week. Chief Executive Hosain Rahman has already moved on, founding a new company in the health space. The liquidation is a far cry from the company’s 2014 valuation of $3.2 billion. While the market is facing obvious challenges, the death of the wearables market may be greatly exaggerated. CCS Insight forecasts 2020 sales of $34 billion — more than double last year’s $14 billion. Fitbit Inc. (NYSE: FIT), the one-time leader in the space, has seen its shares plunge 82% since its 2015 IPO. Most investors have written the company off as a has-been with little chance to recover. But I’ve found three reasons that the device maker surge by as much as 52% through this… Read More