This is BIG… For the first time since 1933, the SEC is now allowing regular people like you and me to invest in brand-new, explosive-growth companies BEFORE THEY GO PUBLIC. Imagine getting in on the next Facebook for 33 cents a share or the next Apple at 78 cents. In StreetAuthority’s Pre-IPO Millionaire, I vet six to eight deals like this one, and offer my exclusive in-depth analysis of a single opportunity that I believe could return 1,000% or more. Click here for more information. — Joseph Hogue, CFA Organic food sales in the United States jumped 11% in 2015… Read More

This is BIG… For the first time since 1933, the SEC is now allowing regular people like you and me to invest in brand-new, explosive-growth companies BEFORE THEY GO PUBLIC. Imagine getting in on the next Facebook for 33 cents a share or the next Apple at 78 cents. In StreetAuthority’s Pre-IPO Millionaire, I vet six to eight deals like this one, and offer my exclusive in-depth analysis of a single opportunity that I believe could return 1,000% or more. Click here for more information. — Joseph Hogue, CFA Organic food sales in the United States jumped 11% in 2015 to a record $43.3 billion, almost four times the 3% growth in overall food sales. Despite this rapid pace of growth, organic sales still account for just 5% of total food sales in the United States. #-ad_banner-#The market for organic food is just getting started, and one company is bringing the trend from the farm straight to your home. It’s developed a countertop appliance that could become as common as a toaster or coffee-maker. You can’t buy shares in the stock market. This is still a private company. But you can get a piece of the action as a pre-IPO… Read More

Chasing Nike’s (NYSE: NKE) dominant position in the athletic footwear business has been a tiring exercise for competitors such as Under Armour (NYSE: UA), Adidas (OTC:ADDYY), and Skechers (NYSE: SKX) over the past couple of years. In 2016, however, chasing Nike stock has proven to be an even more frustrating… Read More

Legendary investor John Templeton had a simple explanation for the cycle of bull markets, saying they are “born on pessimism, grow on skepticism, mature on optimism, and die on euphoria.” At 2,800-plus days and counting, the current bull market, which was born from the ashes of the 2008-2009 financial crises and has been the second-longest in history, seems to be exiting the skepticism stage and entering the optimism stage. Longtime subscribers of my premium investing service, Maximum Profit, know that I was very skeptical of how much longer the bull market would last at the beginning of the year. I… Read More

Legendary investor John Templeton had a simple explanation for the cycle of bull markets, saying they are “born on pessimism, grow on skepticism, mature on optimism, and die on euphoria.” At 2,800-plus days and counting, the current bull market, which was born from the ashes of the 2008-2009 financial crises and has been the second-longest in history, seems to be exiting the skepticism stage and entering the optimism stage. Longtime subscribers of my premium investing service, Maximum Profit, know that I was very skeptical of how much longer the bull market would last at the beginning of the year. I cited slow economic growth, declining earnings in S&P 500 companies’ earnings, and the fact that my proprietary momentum-based investing system was finding very few companies that had the cash flow growth  needed to warrant a “buy” signal under my system’s rules. —Sponsored Link— New Gold Law To Impact 1.6 Billion People A new global law in effect this December could deliver an unexpected shock to the markets. No less than 32 major central banks are scrambling to prepare for the inevitable fallout. They’re shifting their money into one single asset that could explode in value,… Read More

The financial services industry underwent a massive transformation on July 21, 2010, when the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was signed into federal law by President Obama. Dodd-Frank was one of the largest regulatory overhauls any U.S. industry has ever seen.  It was designed to reduce the concentration of risk in the financial sector. Whether it achieved that goal depends on who you ask. #-ad_banner-#Some say it helped curb reckless trading at the big banks — the kind of trading that left the industry bankrupt in 2008. Others say it hurt small businesses with its expensive-to-implement compliancy… Read More

The financial services industry underwent a massive transformation on July 21, 2010, when the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was signed into federal law by President Obama. Dodd-Frank was one of the largest regulatory overhauls any U.S. industry has ever seen.  It was designed to reduce the concentration of risk in the financial sector. Whether it achieved that goal depends on who you ask. #-ad_banner-#Some say it helped curb reckless trading at the big banks — the kind of trading that left the industry bankrupt in 2008. Others say it hurt small businesses with its expensive-to-implement compliancy programs at regional and local banks. It’s easier for big banks to absorb these expenses. I say it’s probably a little bit of both. Today — almost eight years after it was passed — Dodd-Frank is about to get a big makeover. This is a profit trigger for the world’s largest derivatives exchange and that pays a “secret” 4.5% dividend. Let me explain. Dodd-Frank Is Set For A Major Overhaul Under The Incoming Treasury Secretary The U.S. Secretary of the Treasury is one of the most powerful and influential cabinet positions. The Treasury controls federal regulations for business, banking,… Read More

November was a scary month for bond investors. The Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate Total Return Index fell 4% in November, shedding a record $1.7 trillion in value. That loss ranks as the worst monthly performance since the index was created in 1990, more than 26 years ago. And some of the “safest” bond-related ETFs in the market fared even worse. The iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (Nasdaq: TLT) was down 8% in November for a total of almost 20% since July. Similarly, the iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond Fund (NYSE: IEF) is down 9% from its 52-week high and… Read More

November was a scary month for bond investors. The Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate Total Return Index fell 4% in November, shedding a record $1.7 trillion in value. That loss ranks as the worst monthly performance since the index was created in 1990, more than 26 years ago. And some of the “safest” bond-related ETFs in the market fared even worse. The iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (Nasdaq: TLT) was down 8% in November for a total of almost 20% since July. Similarly, the iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond Fund (NYSE: IEF) is down 9% from its 52-week high and the iShares IBoxx Investment Grade Corporate Bond Fund (NYSE: LQD) is down 7% from its 52-week high. These losses are being driven by a tectonic shift at the Federal Reserve — the central banking system that controls U.S. interest rates. For the first time in 10 years, the Fed has raised interest rates. #-ad_banner-#This has big implications for bond investors — when interest rates go up, most bond prices go down. This is what triggered the huge capital outflow from bonds in November, as investors were pricing in a rate hike. A lot of short-term capital that was… Read More

Trading stocks involves a combination of paying attention to present factors while also forecasting the future. And the closer we get to the end of the year, the more emphasis people seem to place on what’s to come. We already have forecasts for 2017 from more than a dozen major Wall Street firms, which I’ve collected in the table below. So far, analysts are thinking “inside the box,” with all estimates relatively close to one another. Some firms provide an outlook for earnings per share (EPS) on the S&P 500 while others provide a price target on the index, with… Read More

Trading stocks involves a combination of paying attention to present factors while also forecasting the future. And the closer we get to the end of the year, the more emphasis people seem to place on what’s to come. We already have forecasts for 2017 from more than a dozen major Wall Street firms, which I’ve collected in the table below. So far, analysts are thinking “inside the box,” with all estimates relatively close to one another. Some firms provide an outlook for earnings per share (EPS) on the S&P 500 while others provide a price target on the index, with many firms providing both. For comparison, EPS is expected to be about $110 for 2016.   2017 Projected EPS 2017 Index Target   Upside Potential Bank of America $129.00 2,300   4.9% Barclay’s $127.00       Canaccord $130.00 2,340   6.8% Citi $129.00 2,325   6.1% Credit Suisse   2,300   4.9% Deutsche Bank $130.00 2,350   7.2 Goldman Sachs $123.00 2,300   4.9% Jeffries $131.90 2,325   6.1% JP Morgan   2,300   4.9% Morgan Stanley $128.70 2,300   4.9% RBC $127.00 2,350   7.2 SocGen   2,400   9.5% UBS $127.00 2,300   4.9%… Read More

The price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude oil (WTI) has jumped 15% in the last month and is nearly double its February low. The first agreement for an OPEC production cut in 15 years has sent energy prices and stocks soaring. But has the energy market really shrugged off the problems that sent crude to a 13-year low? #-ad_banner-#There’s evidence that non-OPEC producers may be getting ready for the second great boom in production. That could force OPEC’s hand and send oil prices into another downward spiral. Energy stocks have surged higher on the relief rally but I’ve… Read More

The price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude oil (WTI) has jumped 15% in the last month and is nearly double its February low. The first agreement for an OPEC production cut in 15 years has sent energy prices and stocks soaring. But has the energy market really shrugged off the problems that sent crude to a 13-year low? #-ad_banner-#There’s evidence that non-OPEC producers may be getting ready for the second great boom in production. That could force OPEC’s hand and send oil prices into another downward spiral. Energy stocks have surged higher on the relief rally but I’ve found two that still carry dangerous amounts of debt. Another drop in crude and investors could be in for a rude awakening. OPEC Becomes The Shale Drillers’ Best Friend Oil prices jumped again this week when more non-OPEC countries agreed to cut 2017 production and Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said his country would cut further below where it had agreed in the late-November agreement. OPEC and a group of non-OPEC members including Russia agreed last month to a combined cut of up to 1.5 million barrels per day from their current production levels. The announcement sent the price… Read More

Shares of Microsoft Corporation (Nasdaq: MSFT) have been on a steady uptrend over the past couple of months, rising about 11% since mid-October. And while Microsoft stock hasn’t crushed the S&P 500 index to the extent of banking stocks since the election, the world’s largest software company — fresh on the heels of the closing of its $26.2 billion blockbuster deal for LinkedIn Corporation– is nonetheless trading at all-time highs. And with LinkedIn now under its umbrella, Microsoft resembles a startup, given the many new markets it can pursue and growth opportunities it can take. #-ad_banner-#Indeed, with Microsoft having landed… Read More

Shares of Microsoft Corporation (Nasdaq: MSFT) have been on a steady uptrend over the past couple of months, rising about 11% since mid-October. And while Microsoft stock hasn’t crushed the S&P 500 index to the extent of banking stocks since the election, the world’s largest software company — fresh on the heels of the closing of its $26.2 billion blockbuster deal for LinkedIn Corporation– is nonetheless trading at all-time highs. And with LinkedIn now under its umbrella, Microsoft resembles a startup, given the many new markets it can pursue and growth opportunities it can take. #-ad_banner-#Indeed, with Microsoft having landed its social network prize, the hard work of integrating LinkedIn must begin. While there is a ton of execution risk tied to the merger, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has established a strong track record of pushing the right buttons at the right the time. Combined with momentum the company has established in the cloud with Office 365 and its dominant Azure platform, Microsoft is no longer just a PC-centric business. So, despite the seemingly pricey stock or the associated risk with integrating LinkedIn, it would be a mistake to exit a MFST position now.  What LinkedIn Brings To The Table… Read More

Last week, I told readers that our annual “Predictions” report on 10 game-changing trends for the next year and beyond had just been released to the public. This is easily one of the most profitable (and popular) pieces of research we publish — and this year’s edition promises to deliver… Read More