Another year, another overreaction. Stocks plunged in China on Monday after December’s industrial manufacturing number came in lower than expected. After dropping 7%, trading was halted prematurely for the first time ever. U.S. stocks sold off sharply on the open, though they calmed after that and rallied at day’s end. When it was over, the S&P 500 dropped about 1.5%. Not a great start to the year! #-ad_banner-#While it’s scary to experience a sharp downward trend after the holiday lull, calmer heads seemed to prevail — at least in U.S. markets — and that makes sense. China’s economic slowdown has… Read More

Another year, another overreaction. Stocks plunged in China on Monday after December’s industrial manufacturing number came in lower than expected. After dropping 7%, trading was halted prematurely for the first time ever. U.S. stocks sold off sharply on the open, though they calmed after that and rallied at day’s end. When it was over, the S&P 500 dropped about 1.5%. Not a great start to the year! #-ad_banner-#While it’s scary to experience a sharp downward trend after the holiday lull, calmer heads seemed to prevail — at least in U.S. markets — and that makes sense. China’s economic slowdown has been common knowledge for several quarters, and the December numbers were far from catastrophic. And China’s economy is far less dependent on manufacturing than it was a decade ago. The country’s burgeoning middle class has created a fast-growing consumer sector that is relatively healthy. Even if China’s economic growth is lower than expected in 2016, it’s still expected to continue to grow faster than ours, and the U.S. economy is chugging along fairly well and should remain in an expansion mode. U.S. companies and consumers have spent the past several years getting their balance sheets in order and accumulating cash. Read More

We are nowhere near April 15th on the calendar. Still, for millions of taxpayers seeking to limit their liability this spring, the clock is ticking. The deadline to close out trades that went south to deduct capital losses is December 31.  Given the natural inclination of procrastinators to wait until the last minute, there is always a flurry of activity as millions of investors dump their losers in the final weeks of the year. Institutional mutual fund managers are also busy removing laggards and adding winners to window dress their portfolios.  #-ad_banner-#This doesn’t do much for performance — it is… Read More

We are nowhere near April 15th on the calendar. Still, for millions of taxpayers seeking to limit their liability this spring, the clock is ticking. The deadline to close out trades that went south to deduct capital losses is December 31.  Given the natural inclination of procrastinators to wait until the last minute, there is always a flurry of activity as millions of investors dump their losers in the final weeks of the year. Institutional mutual fund managers are also busy removing laggards and adding winners to window dress their portfolios.  #-ad_banner-#This doesn’t do much for performance — it is purely a cosmetic enhancement right before annual reports go out. So many stocks that struggle during the year are beaten down even further in December. Once the loss is harvested, the proceeds usually rotate back into the market shortly after, sometimes into the same stocks, as investors anticipate a rebound. Aside from tax harvesting in December and reinvesting in January, many workers also plow year-end bonuses into their accounts shortly after the New Year begins. All of this means that January is typically a good month for inflows into stocks and equity mutual funds. In fact, market observers as far… Read More

He’s the richest person in history. I’m not talking about Warren Buffett. At his peak, Buffett’s wealth is less than one-fifth this man’s fortune. #-ad_banner-#Bill Gates doesn’t even come close. Neither does Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, telecom magnate Carlos Slim or Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook. None of these men can hold a candle to the $336 billion fortune (adjusted for inflation) amassed by a name synonymous with wealth… John D. Rockefeller. But when I tell you I’ve found what I call a “Rockefeller” investment, I’m not… Read More

He’s the richest person in history. I’m not talking about Warren Buffett. At his peak, Buffett’s wealth is less than one-fifth this man’s fortune. #-ad_banner-#Bill Gates doesn’t even come close. Neither does Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, telecom magnate Carlos Slim or Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook. None of these men can hold a candle to the $336 billion fortune (adjusted for inflation) amassed by a name synonymous with wealth… John D. Rockefeller. But when I tell you I’ve found what I call a “Rockefeller” investment, I’m not saying it because I think it will make us billionaires — even though I’d love to be able to say that. No, I call it a “Rockefeller” investment because of what this company invests in. This stock owns a rare breed of assets that are nearly impossible for small investors like you and me to purchase directly. Typically, only major companies or industrial titans like Rockefeller can buy them. Most people know Rockefeller got rich through his company, Standard Oil. And while I want to invest in the same… Read More

President Obama called it, “one of the most serious national security challenges [America] must confront.” Others are calling it “America’s greatest threat to national security.” In January, James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, revised the annual list of the largest threats the United States faces, and he moved this threat to the top spot. #-ad_banner-#I’m talking about cyberattacks. Most people know that hackers and identity thieves are a growing threat — not just to individuals, but to national security. But what most people don’t realize is that… Read More

President Obama called it, “one of the most serious national security challenges [America] must confront.” Others are calling it “America’s greatest threat to national security.” In January, James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, revised the annual list of the largest threats the United States faces, and he moved this threat to the top spot. #-ad_banner-#I’m talking about cyberattacks. Most people know that hackers and identity thieves are a growing threat — not just to individuals, but to national security. But what most people don’t realize is that the end of this threat could very well be on the horizon. Imagine technology capable of predicting data breaches days before they occur. This is the long-term goal of researchers and scientists in the U.S. intelligence community. Academics and industry scientists are teaming up to build software that can analyze publicly available data and find patterns suggesting the likelihood of a hack. The ultimate goal of their plan is to create a supercomputer capable of predicting things like whether or not China will try to intercept sensitive data from the President’s Daily… Read More

Steeped in rich history, DuPont (NYSE: DD) and Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE: DOW) the massive chemical companies responsible for the development of everything from gunpowder to plastics to pesticides and other agricultural products recently announced plans to merge. Subject to regulatory approval the deal will give shareholders from each company roughly 50% ownership of the new company’s shares. The deal alone is not a shocking development. The two companies have been in talks for years about a possible merger. It’s what this new company will do after the completion of this merger that may… Read More

Steeped in rich history, DuPont (NYSE: DD) and Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE: DOW) the massive chemical companies responsible for the development of everything from gunpowder to plastics to pesticides and other agricultural products recently announced plans to merge. Subject to regulatory approval the deal will give shareholders from each company roughly 50% ownership of the new company’s shares. The deal alone is not a shocking development. The two companies have been in talks for years about a possible merger. It’s what this new company will do after the completion of this merger that may have many scratching their heads.  The combined company, to be named DowDuPont, will immediately begin disbanding the moment it begins running as one business. You see, right now, each of the two separate companies operates a number of separate businesses.  Like I mentioned, Dow and DuPont make a multitude of agriculture products, specialty chemicals for manufacturing and paints, sealants and insulation products for consumers, and that’s only the tip of the iceberg. There are hundreds – likely thousands – of different products sold be each company if you were to list them all. Obviously, when dealing with such a large… Read More

The last two months have been good for U.S. aerospace and defense companies — and the next two years could mark a bull market for stocks of those best-positioned for this new environment. The turning point came in late October, when Congress and the Obama Administration agreed to a two-year budget deal that authorizes Pentagon spending over the next two years by about $37 billion more than the spending caps established by the so-called sequester budget agreement that began in 2012. That $37 billion was actually less than President Obama requested, but it’s still a major shot in the arm… Read More

The last two months have been good for U.S. aerospace and defense companies — and the next two years could mark a bull market for stocks of those best-positioned for this new environment. The turning point came in late October, when Congress and the Obama Administration agreed to a two-year budget deal that authorizes Pentagon spending over the next two years by about $37 billion more than the spending caps established by the so-called sequester budget agreement that began in 2012. That $37 billion was actually less than President Obama requested, but it’s still a major shot in the arm for the defense industry. #-ad_banner-#To understand why, let’s review the trend in U.S. defense spending this century. After an uninterrupted annual rise since 9/11 — due in large part to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but also to substantial spending on new weapons programs for every branch and the burgeoning Homeland Security sector — defense spending fell about 15% total from fiscal 2011 (ended September 2011) through fiscal 2015.  Part of the decrease was due to the U.S. winding down combat operations in Iraq, which corresponded to a contraction in the size of our armed forces. But the reduction… Read More

Longtime readers know that I make it my business to identify “the next big thing.” This can come in the form of a product, service, technology or a company that materially disrupts the baseline assumptions for doing business in a particular industry.  In my premium newsletter, Game-Changing Stocks, I usually focus on a big idea and give readers my take on stocks that could deliver triple-digit gains for investors. I also recommend allocating about 20% of your portfolio to these kinds of picks in order to really juice your portfolio while compounding the other 80% of your money in “autopilot”… Read More

Longtime readers know that I make it my business to identify “the next big thing.” This can come in the form of a product, service, technology or a company that materially disrupts the baseline assumptions for doing business in a particular industry.  In my premium newsletter, Game-Changing Stocks, I usually focus on a big idea and give readers my take on stocks that could deliver triple-digit gains for investors. I also recommend allocating about 20% of your portfolio to these kinds of picks in order to really juice your portfolio while compounding the other 80% of your money in “autopilot” mode through safe, stable index funds or blue-chip stocks. But lately I’ve been making the case that the market is too overvalued and volatile for anything but the most tactical of new investment dollars. Until things return to normal, it’s the prudent thing to do right now.  So recently, I had a reader ask me this: Andy, if I’m sidelining new S&P 500 allocations, is there anything I should invest in in the meantime? If the S&P 500 is a no-go for a while, do you have any suggestions that meet YOUR criteria for a good 80% “Autopilot” stock? It… Read More

The U.S. stock market has demonstrated rising volatility of late, as jittery investors are focusing less on economic or stock-specific fundamentals and more on external factors: terrorism, the climate-change talks, Donald Trump’s latest remarks. #-ad_banner-#But look past the short-term noise and you’ll see the market in a holding pattern over the past two months. The S&P 500’s high and low since October 12 are about 5% apart. The reason for this muted range, I believe, is that investors have been waiting for the Federal Reserve’s first increase in short-term interest rates in seven years. If the rate hike occurs next… Read More

The U.S. stock market has demonstrated rising volatility of late, as jittery investors are focusing less on economic or stock-specific fundamentals and more on external factors: terrorism, the climate-change talks, Donald Trump’s latest remarks. #-ad_banner-#But look past the short-term noise and you’ll see the market in a holding pattern over the past two months. The S&P 500’s high and low since October 12 are about 5% apart. The reason for this muted range, I believe, is that investors have been waiting for the Federal Reserve’s first increase in short-term interest rates in seven years. If the rate hike occurs next week, the cloud will lift and investors will start to trade a bit more freely, perhaps after taking a holiday break. The timing of the Fed’s hike couldn’t be better for undervalued stocks. Coming at the end of the year, when professional and individual investors alike dump some of their losing stocks to harvest capital losses for tax purposes, the cloud-lifting environment I anticipate could raise interest in some down-and-out stocks that don’t deserve their recent rough treatment. Both of the following stocks have suffered this year but they boast top shares in growing markets and are excellent candidates for… Read More

The U.N.-sponsored COP-21 conference taking place in Paris this month is expected to result in a binding international agreement to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide. All of the largest economies have already made commitments, and political momentum for an agreement has never been higher — especially given the mounting scientific evidence that the world is reaching a point of irreversible consequences if nothing changes. #-ad_banner-#While details remain under discussion, there’s little doubt about the areas that will be impacted. The biggest carbon emitters are power plants, especially coal plants; cars; and factories, especially chemical plants. Governments are… Read More

The U.N.-sponsored COP-21 conference taking place in Paris this month is expected to result in a binding international agreement to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide. All of the largest economies have already made commitments, and political momentum for an agreement has never been higher — especially given the mounting scientific evidence that the world is reaching a point of irreversible consequences if nothing changes. #-ad_banner-#While details remain under discussion, there’s little doubt about the areas that will be impacted. The biggest carbon emitters are power plants, especially coal plants; cars; and factories, especially chemical plants. Governments are expected to accelerate the trend toward using cleaner fuels for these purposes — and over the long run, to shift considerably away from fossil fuels toward renewable fuel sources. I wrote about the industries I expect to suffer from any agreements made at the COP-21 here. In short, the industries that will be most hurt will be coal; oil and natural gas; paper and packaging; and chemicals. As for the industries that should get a boost(renewable energy (solar and wind); power storage; equipment makers; and infrastructure), I wrote in length about those industries here. Today, I’m presenting three specific stocks… Read More

Back in September, I noted how comments stemming from media giant Disney’s (NYSE: DIS) third-quarter earnings announcement caused a broad selloff in the media sector. Before I update you on the situation (including a new way to profit), let’s recap what I said:       On August 4, media entertainment giant Disney reported quarterly earnings. In its conference call, management said that cable subscriptions to its ESPN network would fall about 1% in 2016. For some reason, this seemed to shock investors, although this was not new news. The so-called “cord-cutting” movement — that is, consumers… Read More

Back in September, I noted how comments stemming from media giant Disney’s (NYSE: DIS) third-quarter earnings announcement caused a broad selloff in the media sector. Before I update you on the situation (including a new way to profit), let’s recap what I said:       On August 4, media entertainment giant Disney reported quarterly earnings. In its conference call, management said that cable subscriptions to its ESPN network would fall about 1% in 2016. For some reason, this seemed to shock investors, although this was not new news. The so-called “cord-cutting” movement — that is, consumers who choose to drop their cable services in favor of cheaper streaming alternatives like Netflix and Hulu — has been a known factor for some time. Nevertheless, shares of Disney took a dive, and are off nearly 15% since then. I went on to note how the loss in subscribers should have already been a known-quantity among investors and thus priced into the stock. It was also well-known that ESPN had undertaken a program of cost cutting measures, which had yet to take full effect. Combine that with ESPN’s unique position among cable networks and Disney’s upcoming… Read More