Can Nvidia Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA) stock, which could do no wrong last year, be trusted in 2017? And by “trust” I mean can the company live up to all of the hype investors have created? Notice that I didn’t say Nvidia itself has created the hype. Living Inside The Nvidia Bubble While the company’s entry into the realm of virtual and augmented reality, data centers, self-driving cars, and other growth markets were well-timed moves, the shares have approached bubble territory. And some investors still believe the stock — even after more than 200% returns — has room to run… Read More

Can Nvidia Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA) stock, which could do no wrong last year, be trusted in 2017? And by “trust” I mean can the company live up to all of the hype investors have created? Notice that I didn’t say Nvidia itself has created the hype. Living Inside The Nvidia Bubble While the company’s entry into the realm of virtual and augmented reality, data centers, self-driving cars, and other growth markets were well-timed moves, the shares have approached bubble territory. And some investors still believe the stock — even after more than 200% returns — has room to run while ignoring the attractive short thesis the Nvidia story has created. #-ad_banner-#After crushing the Nasdaq 100 Index (NDX) with some 222% returns in 2016, the semiconductor company has a tough act to follow. That, however, hasn’t stopped retail investors from wanting to chase the returns they feel they’ve missed out on last year. Notably, on the heels of the stock soaring almost 35% in one month, analysts at Goldman Sachs added Nvidia to the Conviction Buy list. Who’s Left To Buy The Stock? But here’s the question Goldman — or any other long investor — must ask: Who’s left… Read More

As we enter 2017, between the incoming rate hikes and improved growth expectations, it looks as if new opportunities are developing among Real Estate Investment Trusts, or REITs. These stocks offer a simple way to invest in real estate for income as well as growth. REITs are designed to benefit from the attractive fundamentals of real estate, without saddling smaller investors with the high capital requirements and low liquidity of actual houses or other physical assets. Through various REITs, an investor can simultaneously become a landlord in an apartment complex 500 miles away, an owner of a high-end shopping center,… Read More

As we enter 2017, between the incoming rate hikes and improved growth expectations, it looks as if new opportunities are developing among Real Estate Investment Trusts, or REITs. These stocks offer a simple way to invest in real estate for income as well as growth. REITs are designed to benefit from the attractive fundamentals of real estate, without saddling smaller investors with the high capital requirements and low liquidity of actual houses or other physical assets. Through various REITs, an investor can simultaneously become a landlord in an apartment complex 500 miles away, an owner of a high-end shopping center, or a self-storage entrepreneur, without the hassle of actually running these businesses. A REIT structure allows investors to not only benefit from the long-term value appreciation of all these assets, but it also enables them to get their share of income. The high returns offered by some REITs fit perfectly with the goal of my premium newsletter, The Daily Paycheck: to provide my readers with fat monthly dividend checks. —Sponsored Link— Top 6 Ways To Invest in 2017 — No. 4 Will Surprise You Interested in gold stocks but unsure where the price is headed? … Read More

The pharmaceutical sector is well known as one of the most volatile and lucrative stock market sectors. It can also be the most emotionally rewarding, as you invest in companies that are creating innovative, life-saving treatments for various illnesses. #-ad_banner-#But with high returns come high risk, and the pharmaceutical sector’s reputation as one of the riskiest is well deserved. In fact, pharma’s inherent volatility can make it downright dangerous for investors. Share prices can quickly gain 100% on the back of the positive news or lose 50% or more in a short time when negative news hits the wire. The… Read More

The pharmaceutical sector is well known as one of the most volatile and lucrative stock market sectors. It can also be the most emotionally rewarding, as you invest in companies that are creating innovative, life-saving treatments for various illnesses. #-ad_banner-#But with high returns come high risk, and the pharmaceutical sector’s reputation as one of the riskiest is well deserved. In fact, pharma’s inherent volatility can make it downright dangerous for investors. Share prices can quickly gain 100% on the back of the positive news or lose 50% or more in a short time when negative news hits the wire. The key to success in pharmaceutical investing is to locate firms that are on the cutting edge of novel research and have multiple products in their pipeline. Ideally, you also want a company whose shares have recently taken a hit due to a short-term negative event that caused an investor overreaction. With these points in mind, I have located an ideal pharmaceutical stock that has been recently been pushed down, creating massive upside potential. The company, Alnylam (Nasdaq: ALNY), was founded in 2002 with a mandate to advance RNA interference (RNAi) as an entirely new class of medicines. RNAi is a… Read More

There was an important news story in the latter half of December that seems to have been overlooked by many news sources. Bloomberg’s headline was “Calpers Rings Pension Warning Bell.” The response has been muted, but the truth is this story will affect millions of retirees and taxpayers around the country. Bloomberg explained, “The chief investment officer of the $303 billion California Public Employees’ Retirement System just recommended that it lower its annual assumed rate of return to 7% from 7.5%, which will require workers to contribute more money to the plan.” That’s bad news for most pensions. This news… Read More

There was an important news story in the latter half of December that seems to have been overlooked by many news sources. Bloomberg’s headline was “Calpers Rings Pension Warning Bell.” The response has been muted, but the truth is this story will affect millions of retirees and taxpayers around the country. Bloomberg explained, “The chief investment officer of the $303 billion California Public Employees’ Retirement System just recommended that it lower its annual assumed rate of return to 7% from 7.5%, which will require workers to contribute more money to the plan.” That’s bad news for most pensions. This news presents a problem because many pension funds assume returns of 7.5% or more. Lowering the level of assumed returns means employees and taxpayers need to contribute more or benefits must be cut. The pension problem will obviously affects taxes, public services, schools, and a number of other areas. But I want to focus on a less obvious question, which is what an individual investor should expect to earn from their investments. We all need to ask ourselves if we can really do better than Calpers, which has access to the best investment managers in the world. I believe we can,… Read More

My wife grew up in a largish Catholic family. It’s no surprise that most of her childhood was spent in the back of their Oldsmobile station wagon shuttling to different local grocery stores (this was pre-wholesale club) to take advantage of various sale items advertised in newspaper ads and circulars. For consumer staples, price ALWAYS matters. The same holds true when buying the stocks of packaged goods companies. At the bottom of the 2008 financial crisis, shell-shocked investors tiptoed back into equities via consumer staples stocks. The defensive nature of this sector and its dependable dividend streams made sense in… Read More

My wife grew up in a largish Catholic family. It’s no surprise that most of her childhood was spent in the back of their Oldsmobile station wagon shuttling to different local grocery stores (this was pre-wholesale club) to take advantage of various sale items advertised in newspaper ads and circulars. For consumer staples, price ALWAYS matters. The same holds true when buying the stocks of packaged goods companies. At the bottom of the 2008 financial crisis, shell-shocked investors tiptoed back into equities via consumer staples stocks. The defensive nature of this sector and its dependable dividend streams made sense in uncertain times. But, like with all investor trends, the sector became crowded and expensive. Until now. From its mid-year high, the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSE: XLP), dropped nearly 10% before beginning a recovery in December. While the exchange traded fund basket approach is not a bad idea, especially with a discounted price and an attractive 2.5% dividend yield, there are better bargains available in individual names. Consumer staple titan General Mills (NYSE: GIS) has pulled back nearly 15% from its recent high, pushing the dividend yield to near 3%, a 20% pickup in yield over… Read More

A rising interest rate environment also supports a bearish case for some stocks, and I’ve found a trade to capitalize on this scenario.  Janet Yellen and the FOMC increased interest rates another quarter point last Wednesday, and Yellen made it very clear that she intends on being more aggressive with hikes than previously expected. Some are calling this new, market restrictive policy the “Yellen Collar.” Her promise for higher rates will slow down the flow of money in the economy, and will also trigger investors to move out of certain income-oriented sectors and into other assets.  This is where my… Read More

A rising interest rate environment also supports a bearish case for some stocks, and I’ve found a trade to capitalize on this scenario.  Janet Yellen and the FOMC increased interest rates another quarter point last Wednesday, and Yellen made it very clear that she intends on being more aggressive with hikes than previously expected. Some are calling this new, market restrictive policy the “Yellen Collar.” Her promise for higher rates will slow down the flow of money in the economy, and will also trigger investors to move out of certain income-oriented sectors and into other assets.  This is where my Profit Amplifier readers and I will position our next trade. —Recommended Link— How This Small Group Will Make MILLIONS On The Greatest Tech Innovation Of 2017 In the last few years they’ve seen gains of 296%… 545%… even as much as 696%! But a single new technology is poised to make 2017 their biggest year yet… Full story… How Rising Rate Environments Hurt Real Estate  One of the most rate sensitive investments is real estate. When interest rates rise, the higher loan costs squeeze profit margins and diminish investors’ returns. The affordability of real… Read More

The old saying that every dog has its day is particularly applicable on Wall Street. In this case, the dogs are reliable companies that have underperformed over a one-year period that then outperform over the next year. In many instances, the opposite is also true; outperformers one year can be… Read More

The consumer is back with multi-year-high confidence and strong spending numbers. Amazon is reporting its best holiday season ever and the National Retail Federation says total holiday spending could far exceed its initial estimate of $655 billion. #-ad_banner-#Expectations for 2017 have also grown, taking stocks along for the ride. Consumer confidence in November rose to its highest point since 2007 and sentiment among households earning $100,000 and more is at a 10-year high.   Keep in mind that this rising tide may not lift all boats equally. Recent government data supports this, showing uneven spending trends across categories. Read More

The consumer is back with multi-year-high confidence and strong spending numbers. Amazon is reporting its best holiday season ever and the National Retail Federation says total holiday spending could far exceed its initial estimate of $655 billion. #-ad_banner-#Expectations for 2017 have also grown, taking stocks along for the ride. Consumer confidence in November rose to its highest point since 2007 and sentiment among households earning $100,000 and more is at a 10-year high.   Keep in mind that this rising tide may not lift all boats equally. Recent government data supports this, showing uneven spending trends across categories. Finding the best investments in retail, then, may depend on following the money in consumer trends while avoiding sectors facing a weaker outlook. Not All Consumer Stocks Are Created Equal Investors have high expectations for 2017 and recent economic data points to a stronger consumer next year. The labor market is approaching full employment with unemployment at just 4.6% and fiscal stimulus next year could mean even more hiring. Consumer spending has bounced this year on higher wage growth. A survey by Deloitte estimates holiday spending could be as much as 4% higher compared to last year. Despite the… Read More

Construct a game plan, and I promise you will become a better investor.  With proper planning and perseverance, Profitable Trading’s Jared Levy became a successful trader at a young age.  After reading today’s essay, I hope you, too, will understand the importance of strategizing in order to maximize gains. By the time Jared was 18, he was making $600,000 a year. He was also one of the youngest-ever members of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange. But without goals and a roadmap with which to achieve them, Jared wouldn’t be where he is today.  Before I get into the details of how… Read More

Construct a game plan, and I promise you will become a better investor.  With proper planning and perseverance, Profitable Trading’s Jared Levy became a successful trader at a young age.  After reading today’s essay, I hope you, too, will understand the importance of strategizing in order to maximize gains. By the time Jared was 18, he was making $600,000 a year. He was also one of the youngest-ever members of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange. But without goals and a roadmap with which to achieve them, Jared wouldn’t be where he is today.  Before I get into the details of how Jared made so much money in the markets, please note that his investing strategy involves options, and options involve leverage.  Don’t let those words scare you. Jared’s approach is perfectly suited for beginners. In fact, I’d venture to say that they’re ideal for someone looking to cut their teeth in the investing world.  I know that sounds like a bold claim. Most investors think of options as an advanced, risky strategy. But this couldn’t be further from the truth.  Whether you want to dabble in options or not, I urge you to continue reading. What I’m about to explain will… Read More