As investors scour the financial media, they come across investment ideas that appear to be winning moves. It’s hard enough to know which of the ideas hold merit, but even when you decide to pull the trigger and buy a… Read More

Investors looking for clues about the future of the biofuel industry in the United States need to take a look at Brazil. That’s because according to many analysts, the leading emerging market in South America is considered to have the world’s first sustainable biofuels economy.  There are a few very good reasons for this.We’ve assembled 5 biofuel stocks; buy these to keep the industry in your portfolio. #-ad_banner-# The first is age. Brazil’s ethanol fuel… Read More

Investors looking for clues about the future of the biofuel industry in the United States need to take a look at Brazil. That’s because according to many analysts, the leading emerging market in South America is considered to have the world’s first sustainable biofuels economy.  There are a few very good reasons for this.We’ve assembled 5 biofuel stocks; buy these to keep the industry in your portfolio. #-ad_banner-# The first is age. Brazil’s ethanol fuel program is 37 years old, giving the local industry, economy and infrastructure time to adapt to this new source of energy. The second is government fuel standards, which include a federal mandate that domestic gasoline contains an 18% mix of anhydrous ethanol. And finally, probably the most important element in the success of Brazil’s biofuel industry is its prodigious agriculture industry, enabling it to source biomaterials to convert into ethanol. The success of the country’s biofuel industry is a mirror image of what is currently happening in the United States. Much like Brazil, the United States biofuel… Read More

From a technical analysis standpoint, the chart of Safeway (NYSE: SWY) excites me. First, shares of the second-largest U.S. grocery-store chain have just broken a major downtrend line that dates back… Read More

Although gold prices have taken a big hit of late and may be at the onset of a major pullback, there’s one metal that’s only recently started to rebound and is taking some stocks with it — aluminum. Since August of… Read More

I just wrote a check this morning for my monthly power bill, made payable to American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) in the amount of $260.02.  I’m not alone. AEP serves five million residential and business customers in 11 states.  #-ad_banner-#Rain or shine, that’s five million checks that pour in each… Read More

During the course of 2012, investing in agricultural stocks proved to be tricky. One of the nation’s worst droughts on record up-ended the business model of so many companies as crops wilted and cattle were brought to premature slaughter.#-ad_banner-# Yet there were a few beneficiaries of the drought. Back in July, I suggested that Bunge (NYSE: BG) and Ingredion (Nasdaq: INGR) would prosper, and in that time, they’ve scored gains of 22% and 42% respectively. Back… Read More

During the course of 2012, investing in agricultural stocks proved to be tricky. One of the nation’s worst droughts on record up-ended the business model of so many companies as crops wilted and cattle were brought to premature slaughter.#-ad_banner-# Yet there were a few beneficiaries of the drought. Back in July, I suggested that Bunge (NYSE: BG) and Ingredion (Nasdaq: INGR) would prosper, and in that time, they’ve scored gains of 22% and 42% respectively. Back then, I looked at another major agricultural play, but sensed that it was too soon — perhaps the back half of 2013 and into 2014 was the time to really focus on this company, I thought. Find out why Warren Buffett buys agricultural stock, and how it’s the next big thing. He’s already loading up on shares of Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE: ADM), acquiring 6 million shares in the fourth quarter of 2012 at an average price of $27. Shares have risen a bit further since, and show signs of… Read More

I’ll never forget my first visit to Starbucks (NYSE: SBUX). Many of my friends were talking enthusiastically about this fancy new coffee shop from Seattle that had just opened in the neighborhood. When I saw the prices and the strange names of the beverages, I nearly fainted in surprise. Heck,… Read More

The biotech industry is known for extreme innovation that can frequently lead to huge gains for early investors. Take Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) for example. When the company released its groundbreaking cholesterol medicine Lipitor in 1996, the best-selling drug in the history of the pharmaceutical industry,… Read More

My colleague David Sterman recently highlighted an interesting company called Equinix (Nasdaq: EQIX), which owns facilities that house Internet traffic equipment. That may not sound interesting by itself, but it was a rather unusual move the company recently made that caught my attention. Equinix decided to become a … Read More

Finding winning investment ideas isn’t just about being correct; it’s about being timely. Nearly a year ago, I suggested that huge upside lay ahead for MEMC Electronic Materials (NYSE: WFR). The… Read More