After an impressive two-year surge that has seen its stock rise more than +200%, shares of Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) appear to have stalled. The stock has been stuck in a tight range between $300 and $320 for the past six weeks, as bulls and bears have at it. Yet this stock is far too popular and far too controversial to stay stuck in a trading range for very long. The key question for investors now: Will Apple resume its upward climb toward the $400 mark? Or is the long-awaited pullback that brings… Read More

After an impressive two-year surge that has seen its stock rise more than +200%, shares of Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) appear to have stalled. The stock has been stuck in a tight range between $300 and $320 for the past six weeks, as bulls and bears have at it. Yet this stock is far too popular and far too controversial to stay stuck in a trading range for very long. The key question for investors now: Will Apple resume its upward climb toward the $400 mark? Or is the long-awaited pullback that brings shares down to somewhere near $250 close at hand? Here are six catalysts to monitor that could move shares this winter. [Read more about catalysts and how they shape the market’s biggest winners] The positives. There’s no shortage of reasons to like Apple. Just ask Wall Street analysts. They universally sing the company’s praises, and most expect shares to eventually climb to $375 or higher. That’s not a huge stretch, as $375 reflects a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of just 15 on… Read More

Off the radar — but only for a little while longer. That’s the investment thesis I look for when searching for stock ideas. Good companies, doing all the right things, getting set to pop up on more investors’ radars in the coming year. These three companies look… Read More

The day will come when a public company becomes worth $1 trillion. It’s a big number to swallow, but I think it’s possible… When I say a company will one day become “worth $1 trillion,” I’m referring to when a company reaches a… Read More

Even with all of the hype around clean energy, a wide number of solar stocks have never been able to find much affection on Wall Street, settling for single-digit price-to-earnings (P/E) multiples. Blame it on Germany. The country has been such a huge supporter… Read More

Despite the recent financial crisis, worldwide industrialization is increasing at a never before seen pace. Asia and Latin America are the fastest growing regions of the world, led by China and Brazil. These two hyper-growth regions make perfect trading partners. China doesn’t have enough raw materials to… Read More

The impressive trading action on Wednesday holds an important lesson for investors. In the absence of any dire economic news, investors are playing a bullish hand. Earlier in the week, economic woes in Europe had pushed many to the sidelines. With a sense that a fresh crisis… Read More

Which sector is going to be hot in 2011? If history is any clue, it won’t be what was hot in 2010. In fact, a look back through history tells us the leading groups in one year often become disappointments the next. Moreover, lagging sectors in one particular year often blaze bullish trails in the next. Technology is one such example. Though the sector led the way in 2009 with a whopping +57% jump — and attracted a lot of buyers based on that strength — these stocks have actually scored in the bottom half of all… Read More

Which sector is going to be hot in 2011? If history is any clue, it won’t be what was hot in 2010. In fact, a look back through history tells us the leading groups in one year often become disappointments the next. Moreover, lagging sectors in one particular year often blaze bullish trails in the next. Technology is one such example. Though the sector led the way in 2009 with a whopping +57% jump — and attracted a lot of buyers based on that strength — these stocks have actually scored in the bottom half of all sectors during 2010, trailing the market by more than a little. Before identifying what’s waiting in the wings for 2011 though, let’s just walk through the industry ebb and flow for 2010 — using iShares’ major sector exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as a proxy to verify the premise. For the year so far, while basic materials haven’t surprised anyone as a leading group, it has not actually been the hottest sector of 2010. That title belongs to consumer services, up +18% year-to-date. Basic materials stocks are up an average of +14% for the year,… Read More

It’s no surprise when I started my Game-Changing Stocks service that my publisher and I picked the name we did. For me, this is what it’s all about — not market timing, value investing, vulture investing or swing trading; it’s about finding the next… Read More

As should be no surprise, there has been a wealth explosion in China. From 2003 to 2009, private wealth has grown at a compound annual rate of +24.8%. Even during the global financial crisis of 2008, private wealth grew by +8.3%. The rest of the world saw an -11.7% plunge. Read More

While staying focused on your best long-term ideas, it also helps to boost your portfolio by looking for stocks with a chance for quick moderate gains. And in the tech sector, we’ve seen all kinds of headline-induced winners in the past six months, thanks to M&A activity, robust quarterly results… Read More