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Stock Market Today
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Goldman Sachs Is Manipulating Gold Prices Right Before Your Eyes
If you want a lesson on how to manipulate gold prices, you need only look at what Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) has been doing over the past few months.
Goldman set the table by predicting a turn in gold prices back in December 2012, which no doubt contributed to the precious metal's 5% decline in the first two months of the year.
At the end of February, Goldman issued a research report that said the big Wall Street bank had soured on the yellow metal, and dropped its three-month target for gold prices from $1,825 an ounce to $1,615, its six-month forecast from $1,805 to $1,600, and its one-year outlook from $1,800 to $1,550.
Then, just yesterday (Wednesday), Goldman doubled down on its negative outlook for gold prices.
The bank's new targets for gold prices are $1,530 in three months, $1,490 in six months and $1,390 in one year.
The double whammy – two downgrades in two months – had its intended effect, as gold prices fell 2%, to $1,558.80, after Goldman released its report. It was the biggest single-day percentage drop for gold in nearly six months.
"If you've ever suspected gold prices are being manipulated, you're not alone – and you're right, they are," said Money Morning Chief Investment Strategist Keith Fitz-Gerald.
The proof is right in front of us.
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IPO Calendar 2013: This Could Be the Biggest Week of the Year
The third week of April is going to be a busy one for our IPO calendar. Six companies will be making their debut including some of the most anticipated offerings of the year so far.
The aftermarket has remained strong with recent offerings like Pinnacle Foods (NYSE: PF), which appreciated more than 20% following the IPO. As long as the equity markets remain stable and pricing in the aftermarket remains solid we should continue to see strong demand from institutional investors for IPOs.
Let's take a look at what investors have to watch in the IPO market next week.
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Best Investments: The One Stock to Buy in the Red-Hot Biotech Sector
For the best investments to add a little high-potential punch to your portfolio, nothing's better than biotech.
The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) (Nasdaq: IBB) rose 30.2% in the last 12 months and is already up a healthy 16.5% year to date.
In fact, the biotech sector has been a consistent performer for investors. The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index has notched 16.1% annualized returns for the last five years.
Big gains from just three stocks — Amgen Inc. (Nasdaq: AMGN), BiogenIdec Inc. (Nasdaq: BIIB) and Gilead Sciences Inc. (Nasdaq: GILD) — created a whopping $60 billion in combined shareholder gains in 2012.
And analysts expect the trend to continue.
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How to Double Your Money by Investing in Copper
Copper prices are up 170% over the past four years – meaning huge profits for anyone who has been investing in copper.
But now many investors are bailing on the red metal. Prices have slipped about 9% this year, and inventories are soaring.
Copper prices hit an eight-month low today (Wednesday) as slowing economic growth has led speculators to take more short positions on the metal.
Copper inventories also appear to signal low demand. Stockpiles of the red metal in the London Metals Exchange are at the highest level since October 2003.
But what appear to be bearish signals for investing in copper are not the case. Here's what investors need to understand…
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Stocks to Buy Now: The Best Takeover Targets as Energy M&A Heats Up
A wave of mergers and acquisitions is almost inevitable in the energy sector, making attractive takeover candidates among stocks to buy now.
Strategic buyers looking to maximize near-term growth opportunities, as well as private equity firms looking to capitalize on the industry's long-term potential, are making lists of possible takeover targets.
Individual investors should do the same.
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Why I Cancelled Everything in Germany and Took the Next Flight to Dubai
Something big unfolded on my trip to Frankfurt last week.
It began with meetings in Germany over natural gas prices, but morphed into an interesting sidebar on the impact government subsidies have on energy prices.
As I noted last week, a recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff report concluded that public-sector support largely created more harm than good.
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Stocks to Buy Now: How to Make Money from Banks
In the past, you used to be able to safely invest at the bank. But now, it might be wiser to invest in the bank, as the following institutions are looking more like attractive stocks to buy now.
Thanks to the U.S. Federal Reserve, interest rates will continue to be low for an extended period of time, meaning savers would be lucky to get 1%.
Meanwhile, bank stocks have gone from unloved and out of favor to being an industry on the verge of recovery – and able to pay dividends to shareholders.
Income investors have a new opportunity with certain bank stocks. Banks that eliminated or reduced dividend payouts to preserve capital during the crisis are now loosening the purse strings a bit.
For example, many regional banks are starting to reinstate and raise dividends. As residential and commercial real estate markets continue to stabilize, banks should start to grow once again and higher earnings will lead to very high rates of dividend growth.
These bank stocks should be part of every income investor's portfolio right now as the long-term prospects for capital gains in addition to income are excellent.
Here are a few that rank among the regional bank stocks to buy as they raise payouts.
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Why Britain is Looking to U.S. for 20 Years' Worth of LNG
With its domestic natural gas reserves nearly depleted, the U.K. is turning to a U.S. company to supply enough liquefied natural gas (LNG) to provide energy to nearly 2 million British homes for 20 years.
The $15.1 billion-plus deal between Houston-based Cheniere Energy Inc. (NYSE: LNG) and Centrica, a British energy firm, marks the first time Britain has ever imported natural gas from the U.S.
The deal has big implications for companies involved in the flourishing U.S. shale gas industry, in which gas is extracted through hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.
You see, fracking has led to an abundance of natural gas and will go a long way toward making the U.S. a net exporter of energy instead of a net importer in the coming years.
That, of course, will be a big boon to natural gas companies that export LNG.
