Most people think being ignored or unpopular is a bad thing. But when it comes to stocks, it’s a blessing in disguise. There are about 63,000 publicly-traded companies in the world, according to data from Bloomberg. Of these 63,000, about 15,000 are based in the United States, with about 5,000 being traded on public exchanges and the other 10,000 traded in various over-the-counter (OTC) markets.#-ad_banner-# But while many large, well-known companies such as Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL), Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) and Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) have more than 30 analysts providing coverage, the majority of… Read More

Most people think being ignored or unpopular is a bad thing. But when it comes to stocks, it’s a blessing in disguise. There are about 63,000 publicly-traded companies in the world, according to data from Bloomberg. Of these 63,000, about 15,000 are based in the United States, with about 5,000 being traded on public exchanges and the other 10,000 traded in various over-the-counter (OTC) markets.#-ad_banner-# But while many large, well-known companies such as Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL), Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) and Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) have more than 30 analysts providing coverage, the majority of public companies are being almost totally ignored by the analyst community, with little to no coverage at all. And like I said before, that’s a good thing for investors. That’s because stocks with high analyst coverage have usually already cycled through the early stages of rapid growth that produce big gains for early investors. These high levels of growth and big gains frequently trigger more interest from investors, which in turn make it much more profitable for investment research companies to create and sell research reports in high demand. On the institutional side, stocks… Read More

After surging above $13 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf) in 2008, natural gas prices have never recovered. They stood at $6 per Mcf at the end of 2010, $4.75 by the end of 2011 and now sit just above the $3 mark.  Still, that’s seen in a… Read More

When it comes to investing, bigger isn’t always better.#-ad_banner-# In fact, the opposite is sometimes true. Small-cap stocks outperformed large caps by an annual average of just more than 2% from 1926 to 2006, according to the “Stocks,… Read More

Hedge funds have been lining up on both sides of the fence regarding nutritional supplement multi-level marketing company Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE: HLF). The stock made a 52-week high of $73 last spring before… Read More

What if there was a way to reap high returns in the market…while positively affecting the lives of millions of people? Don’t get me wrong. I work for one of the top financial publishers in the country. And our job is to make our customers money. That’s the bottom line. #-ad_banner-#But is it possible to make money and make a difference?  As investors, we place our money and our trust in companies. Shouldn’t we also have some pride or belief… Read More

What if there was a way to reap high returns in the market…while positively affecting the lives of millions of people? Don’t get me wrong. I work for one of the top financial publishers in the country. And our job is to make our customers money. That’s the bottom line. #-ad_banner-#But is it possible to make money and make a difference?  As investors, we place our money and our trust in companies. Shouldn’t we also have some pride or belief in what that business does?  Warren Buffett has been saying for years that you should only buy “companies you understand.” I think you could also add “companies you respect.”  During a recent interview with Forbes magazine, John Mackey, the co-founder and co-CEO of Whole Foods Market (Nasdaq: WFM), was asked how companies can make a profit and give back to the community. This was his reply: “Businesses can do both by practicing conscious capitalism [and] always being grounded in its “credo”: That… Read More

Hedge funds have been lining up on both sides of the fence regarding nutritional supplement multi-level marketing company Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE: HLF). The stock made a 52-week high of $73 last spring before shares took a huge hit following accusations from hedge fund investor William Ackman that the company was nothing more than a pyramid scheme. The seven-month trading range between $56 and $42 a share projected a downside target of $28 ($14 height… Read More

Hedge funds have been lining up on both sides of the fence regarding nutritional supplement multi-level marketing company Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE: HLF). The stock made a 52-week high of $73 last spring before shares took a huge hit following accusations from hedge fund investor William Ackman that the company was nothing more than a pyramid scheme. The seven-month trading range between $56 and $42 a share projected a downside target of $28 ($14 height of the pattern subtracted from the breakdown level of $42). A volatility spike occurred when the downside channel support at $42 was broken in December, and as often happens at price extremes, the selling pressured the stock to $24 before a rebound.  Recent action has seen the price rally back above breakdown point at $42, which acts as the pivot point, to about $44. As the battle between short sellers and value buyers continues, traders can use a different approach to profit from Herbalife. Because of the high volatility, another word… Read More

So far in 2013, we’ve seen the market basically tread water. After the huge fiscal cliff deal inspired buying in the first trading day of the year, the markets have drifted lower, and we are right about where we were when we started the… Read More

Right now, many quality European multinationals are cheaper than their U.S. peers, as investors’ concerns about Europe’s economy have lowered share prices. The S&P 500 currently trades at 2.14 times book value and 12.4 times projected 2013… Read More

The best dividend-paying stocks are often familiar names that have been around forever, but don’t get much attention from analysts. And right now is the best time to invest in stocks that pretty much provide investors with a steady stream of income that grows… Read More

There’s a wave of wealth sweeping rural areas across North America.#-ad_banner-# Sleepy, rundown towns are bustling with commerce and activity as the new-found money breathes life into the… Read More