Timing a short squeeze can be tricky. Jump in too soon and you could be sitting on dead money until management improves its outlook. Wait too long and you risk missing most of the upside. The most unloved companies are usually unloved for a reason — whether thanks to declining sales or some other fundamental weakness. But when sentiment turns, the rush to cover short positions can provide swift profits for the well-positioned bull. One of the most unloved companies in the market could be coming up on an inflection point. It’s a leader in its industry but… Read More

Timing a short squeeze can be tricky. Jump in too soon and you could be sitting on dead money until management improves its outlook. Wait too long and you risk missing most of the upside. The most unloved companies are usually unloved for a reason — whether thanks to declining sales or some other fundamental weakness. But when sentiment turns, the rush to cover short positions can provide swift profits for the well-positioned bull. One of the most unloved companies in the market could be coming up on an inflection point. It’s a leader in its industry but has been plagued by customer attrition over the past couple of years. Management has big plans for next year, though, saying the company should start booking a net gain in customers again. As a result, sentiment could be about to take a bullish turn. #-ad_banner-# The Tide Could Turn For This Unloved Leader In 2016 Only three other stocks in the S&P 500 are more heavily shorted than ADT Corporation (NYSE: ADT), which has 24.5% of its shares held short in the market. GameStop (NYSE: GME) almost perpetually tops this list as investors remain convinced it can’t win over the… Read More

I’ve been getting flooded with emails and my phone has been ringing non-stop from clients wondering if now is the time to pull the plug on their portfolio and move to cash. It’s a fair concern. Nobody likes to wake up and see red across their entire portfolio. It can be a gut wrenching feeling, but selling everything now could turn out to be a huge mistake. Last month, I shared a seasonal chart of the volatility index, or VIX, with readers of my premium options service, Income Multiplier. I talked about how August… Read More

I’ve been getting flooded with emails and my phone has been ringing non-stop from clients wondering if now is the time to pull the plug on their portfolio and move to cash. It’s a fair concern. Nobody likes to wake up and see red across their entire portfolio. It can be a gut wrenching feeling, but selling everything now could turn out to be a huge mistake. Last month, I shared a seasonal chart of the volatility index, or VIX, with readers of my premium options service, Income Multiplier. I talked about how August to October has historically been the most volatile for the S&P 500. That is turning out to be true again this year.   If history is any guide, this most recent spike in volatility can be a good thing. Corrections — and even bear markets — are normal events in a healthy market. American Funds conducted a study of the market’s ups and downs from 1900 to 2014. It found that a 10% decline in the stock market occurred on average once every 13 months. What the study also found is that when the… Read More

The market is coming unglued before our eyes. Yesterday morning the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged more than 1,000 points and is down about 15% from its recent highs. I’m not surprised. I’ve been warning readers for more than a month that a correction — or worse — was around the corner. #-ad_banner-#My analysis was based on slowing economic data, downward revisions in corporate earnings growth, a strong dollar and the S&P 500’s high price-to-earnings ratio (you can watch my warning here). I showed readers… Read More

The market is coming unglued before our eyes. Yesterday morning the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged more than 1,000 points and is down about 15% from its recent highs. I’m not surprised. I’ve been warning readers for more than a month that a correction — or worse — was around the corner. #-ad_banner-#My analysis was based on slowing economic data, downward revisions in corporate earnings growth, a strong dollar and the S&P 500’s high price-to-earnings ratio (you can watch my warning here). I showed readers of my premium newsletter, Profit Amplifier, how to protect themselves from a downturn using a simple options strategy. It’s working. My recent trades have delivered 39% in seven days, 69% in nine days and 33% in just four days. Given current market conditions, it’s crucial you understand how options work, specifically put options. If you’re completely new to buying put options, that’s okay. They’re one of the most basic and common options strategies. Puts 101 Puts are commonly used as a substitution for shorting stock. But with options, we have… Read More

I’m fortunate to have spent time in the Army. Especially working in intelligence gathering. If you’ve served, you know that one of the core beliefs of the Army is teamwork. You never leave anybody behind to fend for himself. #-ad_banner-#I apply this same thinking to the markets and life in general. I figured if I could learn and understand the markets, I could help my friends and family save for retirement and avoid catastrophic losses. When I began applying my military training to the markets, I realized that I was in… Read More

I’m fortunate to have spent time in the Army. Especially working in intelligence gathering. If you’ve served, you know that one of the core beliefs of the Army is teamwork. You never leave anybody behind to fend for himself. #-ad_banner-#I apply this same thinking to the markets and life in general. I figured if I could learn and understand the markets, I could help my friends and family save for retirement and avoid catastrophic losses. When I began applying my military training to the markets, I realized that I was in a unique position. I could use my analytical training to improve upon the most profitable investment strategies. And that’s exactly what I’ve done.   I started researching and writing about options investing. I worked with expert stock traders and read countless books. Before long, my work was featured in major trading publications. Technical Analysis of Stocks & Commodities, Stocks, Futures and Options (SFO) and a UK trading magazine called Shares all started publishing my work. Soon, using options, I not only replaced the income from my previous military position, I… Read More

The announcement caught everyone by surprise. Last week, China devalued its currency, the yuan, by 1.9%. According to Bloomberg, it was the currency’s largest single-day move in two decades. #-ad_banner-#The move sent shockwaves throughout the global marketplace. Stock markets in Asia, Europe and the United States were down across the board. Nothing was spared. Yet, despite the struggles in the global markets, there are always a handful of stocks that can buck the downward trend. And I recently found such a company in a sector that’s been hit the hardest: energy. Read More

The announcement caught everyone by surprise. Last week, China devalued its currency, the yuan, by 1.9%. According to Bloomberg, it was the currency’s largest single-day move in two decades. #-ad_banner-#The move sent shockwaves throughout the global marketplace. Stock markets in Asia, Europe and the United States were down across the board. Nothing was spared. Yet, despite the struggles in the global markets, there are always a handful of stocks that can buck the downward trend. And I recently found such a company in a sector that’s been hit the hardest: energy. What’s more, my readers and I have made more than $1,910 without owning a single share of this company (I’ll explain exactly how we’ve done that in a moment). The energy sector has fallen nearly 15% since the beginning of the year — making it the worst performing sector over the past year. But like I mentioned above, there are always some resilient stocks that continue to rise. For example, there’s an oil refiner that operates six refineries in the western United States with a combined capacity of approximately 850,000 barrels… Read More

China is devaluing its currency. Oil is crashing. Greece is facing years of slow growth and might be dragging down the rest of Europe, where GDP growth is already slowing. The Federal Reserve is also concerned about global growth, which may delay an interest rate hike.  The news hasn’t been this bad at the end of the summer since… 2014. Last year, investors were worried about conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza. The death toll from the Ebola outbreak in Africa topped 1,000. Greece was still in crisis, and Congress was up in arms about corporate tax inversions. We… Read More

China is devaluing its currency. Oil is crashing. Greece is facing years of slow growth and might be dragging down the rest of Europe, where GDP growth is already slowing. The Federal Reserve is also concerned about global growth, which may delay an interest rate hike.  The news hasn’t been this bad at the end of the summer since… 2014. Last year, investors were worried about conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza. The death toll from the Ebola outbreak in Africa topped 1,000. Greece was still in crisis, and Congress was up in arms about corporate tax inversions. We see the same doom-and-gloom trend if we looked back at the summer of 2013 with the Detroit bankruptcy, Edward Snowden leaks, civil war in Syria and violent revolution in Egypt.  #-ad_banner-# My point is there are always going to be problems somewhere in the world. At times like these, I like to ask myself, “What would Warren Buffett do?” While I don’t have a direct line to his office, Buffett is famous for revealing his personal market insights and broad clues about his process in his writings.  For example, how did Buffett respond to a deluge of… Read More

One of the proven ways to become a great investor is to study great investors. Every time an investing legend makes a successful trade, a clue is left behind. For instance, every buy and sell decision Warren Buffett makes tells us more about his process, and those insights can help us create our own success. #-ad_banner-#Today, I’m going to focus on an important lesson from a lesser-known, but wildly successful investor. While I’m sure you’re familiar with Buffett, Peter Lynch and other well-known investors, you might not be familiar with Lynn… Read More

One of the proven ways to become a great investor is to study great investors. Every time an investing legend makes a successful trade, a clue is left behind. For instance, every buy and sell decision Warren Buffett makes tells us more about his process, and those insights can help us create our own success. #-ad_banner-#Today, I’m going to focus on an important lesson from a lesser-known, but wildly successful investor. While I’m sure you’re familiar with Buffett, Peter Lynch and other well-known investors, you might not be familiar with Lynn Tilton. Tilton is the CEO of the $8 billion private equity firm Patriarch Partners and one of the more obscure money managers I follow. She has a number of critics and has seen her fair share of controversy. But many of her investments have been successful and uncontroversial, and we can learn a great deal from them. Tilton is known for her ability to turn around struggling companies in basic industries, and she’s credited with saving 700,000 jobs at the roughly 75 companies Patriarch invests in, including MD Helicopters, Stila Cosmetics and Gorham Paper… Read More

With the vast majority of companies in the S&P 500 having reported earnings, it appears the index will post the first earnings decline since Q3 2012. Worse still, we will likely see the first back-to-back quarters of revenue decline since 2009, with Q2 sales estimated to drop 3.3%. Read More

I’ve studied and utilized a plethora of market theories and indicators over the years, many of which I still use on a regular basis. Of all the methods out there, the Dow Theory is arguably the oldest market timing system. Created more than 100 years ago from editorials written by Charles Dow, the founder of The Wall Street Journal, it’s also a theory I can easily examine, deconstruct and “build” with relative ease because of my years of experience working with it. #-ad_banner-#Today, I’m going to explain what the Dow Theory is telling us… Read More

I’ve studied and utilized a plethora of market theories and indicators over the years, many of which I still use on a regular basis. Of all the methods out there, the Dow Theory is arguably the oldest market timing system. Created more than 100 years ago from editorials written by Charles Dow, the founder of The Wall Street Journal, it’s also a theory I can easily examine, deconstruct and “build” with relative ease because of my years of experience working with it. #-ad_banner-#Today, I’m going to explain what the Dow Theory is telling us today — and how I plan to profit from it.   Dow Theory is based on the premise that the economy grows when manufacturers are producing as much as possible. Economic growth translates into profits for companies in the industrials sector, which should show up in the performance of their stocks. Getting goods to market requires that the transportation industry also be growing, which should drive the stocks of transport companies higher. This makes sense considering increased consumer activity and health should mean more cars being driven (automobiles and fuel), more goods being shipped… Read More

The odds of a September interest rate hike surged to 52% on Wednesday, up from 38% at the beginning of the week. The jump — which came on the back of surprisingly strong U.S. service-sector growth and comments by Atlanta Federal Reserve President Dennis Lockhart — caused some rate-sensitive stocks… Read More