Stocks
Stock Investing: Dr. Doom Just Got Bullish!
Last month’s huge stock market rally is extending into February. The surge over the past few weeks reminds me of the Energizer Bunny. It just keeps going, and going, and going… The Dow is up nearly 6% on the year, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq are up 8% and 11% respectively. No matter how […]
Biotech Stocks: Takeover Mania Sweeping Biotech Sector
Biotech stocks are off to a fast start in 2012. After gaining just 6.9% last year, the cutting-edge industry is up 17.7% year-to-date. That’s eye-popping performance no matter how you slice it. To put this in perspective, you need only look at the year-to-date performance of the major market indices. The Dow Jones Industrials are […]
Shorting Netflix
Last Friday, I got a call from a friend who loves to gamble. As soon as I answered the phone, the tone of his voice told me he’d gambled and lost. I couldn’t resist finding out what happened. I don’t know if it was morbid curiosity or what, but I offered to meet him for […]
Defense Stocks: Avoid This Industry In 2012
The past decade was very kind to the US aerospace and defense industry. Government spending on national defense increased dramatically after 9/11 to fight the war on terror. And it increased even more as the decade wore on to support the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. According to the Department of Defense (DOD), base military […]
Cheap Stocks And Greedy Investors Are A Great Combination
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again right now… It’s a great time to buy stocks. Last week I made the case that the Fed will likely roll out a third round of quantitative easing (QE) sometime soon. And when they do, stocks are going to soar. But here’s the thing, the markets […]
Apple To The Rescue!
The numbers are out. And they’re not pretty. US retail sales inched ahead in the final month of 2011 at the slowest pace since June. According to the Commerce Department, retail sales increased by an anemic 0.1%. That’s far behind the 0.3% growth economists were expecting. December also marked the third straight month retail sales […]
Macy’s Had A Great 2011 Holiday Shopping Season
Reports of a strong holiday shopping season were a bit exaggerated. Large retail store sales for the month of December missed estimates by a wide margin. Analysts were expecting sales to increase by 3.8%. But they advanced by just 3.3%. The weak economy, high unemployment, and low consumer confidence kept consumers cautious and sensitive to […]
Education Stocks Are Setting Up For A Short Selling Opportunity
It’s not every day that I talk about shorting stock. But today, I’m making an exception. You see, I’ve made a bunch of money over the years selling stock short. And I think we can make a lot of money in 2012 with this strategy. The stock market volatility we saw in 2011 will likely […]
CES Is A Launching Pad For New Tech Products
It’s that time of year again… The International Consumer Electronics Show, or CES, kicks off in Las Vegas today. This massive technology trade show is the size of 31 football fields. And it isn’t open to the public. But industry insiders are flocking to the Las Vegas Convention Center to get a look at the […]
