Archives for November 2012

November 2012 - Page 5 of 20 - Money Morning - Only the News You Can Profit From

BofI Holding - Value

BofI Holding, Inc. (BOFI) became a Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) on November 15, a week after this financial services provider announced strong fiscal first quarter results. In addition, a P/B multiple of just 1.4 should make this stock attractive for value investors. Impressive Fiscal First Quarter Results On November 8, BofI Holding earned 67 […]

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The "Two Outlooks" for Gold Prices

One of the best parts of my job is when I hear back from you.

And two recent columns in particular on gold generated a larger-than-normal response.

The comments were related to the two-parter on gold prices that we published on Nov. 5 ("The Secret Gold Standard") and Nov. 13 ("Why Obama's Victory Means Higher Gold Prices").

Let's take a look at what you had to say.

The comments related to the "Secret Gold Standard" column were especially intriguing because a number of you thought I was advocating a literal return to the "gold standard."

I wasn't, of course. I employed the term as a convenient metaphor to try and help folks understand how the world's central banks were adding gold reserves for the first time in nearly a quarter century.

In fact, a global return to the gold standard isn't possible – there literally isn't enough gold to allow that to happen. It would crimp money-supply growth in such a way that global economic growth would be stymied.

A number of you wrote in to make that same point – including one reader who actually performed all the necessary calculations to make his case.

Al K. wrote in to ask: "Some analysts believe gold will drop further & others believe gold has bottomed out now. What do the experts of Money Morning believe?"

Since Al requested an "expert" opinion – a fair request – I put in a call to Chief Investment Strategist Keith Fitz-Gerald.

The Outlook For Gold Prices

Right now, Keith explained, there are two separate outlooks for gold – one for the near-term and another for the longer-term.

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How I "Saw" the Carnage at Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ)

If you've been following my advice, you avoided the carnage at the fumbling tech giant, Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ)

In fact, I told my Radical Technology Profits readers on Sept. 18 not to buy into the hype that H-P was becoming a great turnaround story.

That was after I wrote in this Money Morning article from January that H-P was one of the five tech stocks to avoid. It's lost over half of its value since then.

And had you used my Real Demand Tracking System to check out this stock, you would have seen for yourself that H-P was a lousy investment.

No, I didn't have any insider source that warned me about the accounting scandal rocking this Silicon Valley giant.

It runs deeper than that — the fundamentals and the technicals were just plain horrible for what is clearly a deeply troubled stock.

Hewlett-Packard's Autonomy Problem

In case you missed the news, H-P got crushed last week, falling more than 11% on word that the firm is writing down some $8.8 billion in the most recent quarter.

Honestly, that's an outrage.

I know, the party line is that H-P got hoodwinked when it bought the U.K. software firm Autonomy. Seems a whistle blower has now come forward to say Autonomy's accounting practices made the company a financial house of cards.

But as I see it, there was plenty of reason for HP to have been more cautious.

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9 Ways To Save Your Portfolio From The Fiscal Cliff

Many investors believe that a fiscal cliff "dive" is inevitable.

It's hard to disagree.

Our politicians have refused to do anything but kick the can down the road to date.

The blame game started mere days after the election and it's highly unlikely that we'll see anything other than more foolishness out of Washington.

So what do you do about it?

Simple: First, you need to protect your savings from getting destroyed by the fiscal insanity. Second, you should look to reposition your portfolio with the goal of making a hefty profit. We call this one-two punch… Survive & Conquer the Fiscal Cliff.

In a minute we're going to show you exactly how to do both…

But first, here's why you need to pay very close attention, even if a miracle happens and Washington comes to an agreement.

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Why 185% Gains Are Just the Beginning For 3D Systems (NYSE: DDD)

Loose lips sink ships. Or at least they try to…

Take the case of 3D Systems Inc. (NYSE:DDD). Investors who bailed on the stock recently – and there were a lot of them – missed a great rally on Tuesday. That 8.5% gain on heavy volume put the stock among the top 20 gainers of its exchange.

It would be easy to chalk that gain up to the market's overall rally that day.

No doubt, investors were thrilled to see evidence that Washington just may solve its budget impasse before we go over the "fiscal cliff." But that's not what's really going on here…

As I see it, DDD's rebound earlier this week was sweet justice indeed.

Or perhaps even revenge.

See, the stock had recently come under huge selling pressure after the financial advisory website Seeking Alpha slammed the company last week. An article on Seeking Alpha questioned the firm's huge recent sales growth, accusing management of "hiding something."

I've analyzed publicly traded firms for more than 30 years and I can tell you – that is a very serious charge.

In response, 3D Systems made the unusual move of holding a conference call to dispute Seeking Alpha's critique. Senior managers gave analysts an on-the-record look at the firm's accounting practices.
This call ranks as a key event in the recent history of 3D Systems' stock, which is up more than 185% so far this year. (Like I keep saying, you really can make a lot of money in this field.)

That's why I'm telling you, you have to be very careful who you listen to about tech stocks. So, let me take a moment to tell you what's really going on with DDD.

Here are three reasons I think DDD has the potential to blow that 185% gain out of the water.

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The Most Powerful Wealth Creator On Earth Right Now

Although it's only in its infancy, this "niche" we're going to tell you about today is red hot.

Today, there are more than 300 companies jockeying for position across this industry.

But our research and behind-the-scenes intelligence has narrowed the field to 27 companies that have serious potential to dominate the field.

Of those 27 companies, almost half (13) launched their IPOs since October 2006. And 8 have only gone public since August 2010.

Based on figures from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), we project this industry to grow up to 408% faster than any other industry tracked by the BEA for the next 7 years.

This is not a fad. This is a trend on steroids. And it has the potential to make smart investors a ton of money.

Just look at the following chart. It compares an equally weighted index of companies identified by Price Waterhouse Cooper as "pure plays" in this industry vs. the S&P 500.

Neutral on Caterpillar - Analyst Blog

We are maintaining our Neutral recommendation on Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) based on a muted fourth quarter outlook, reduced fiscal 2012 guidance, negative impact of the European debt crisis and a slowing Chinese economy. We currently have a Zacks #3 Rank (short-term Hold rating) on the stock. Caterpillar reported record third quarter both in terms of […]

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Flagstar Bancorp - Momentum

Earnings momentum for Flagstar Bancorp Inc. (FBC) has advanced since this savings bank posted impressive third quarter results in late October, which included an earnings surprise of more than 20%. FBC has now surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for three straight quarters. This Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) hit a new 52-week high on November […]

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Valmont Buys Katana Summit Assets - Analyst Blog

Valmont Industries Inc. (VMI) announced the acquisition of a 30,000 square-foot manufacturing plant of Katana Summit LLC. The acquired asset is located in Columbus and spreads across 75 acres of land. The financial terms of the acquisition remained undisclosed. Katana Summit LLC manufactures and supplies wind turbine towers in North America. The goal of the […]

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Billionaires Buying Gold Bullish for the Yellow Metal

When billionaire investors are buying gold, it probably means prices for the yellow metal are headed higher.

Three well-known billionaire investors – George Soros, John Paulsen and Julian Robertson – have been adding heavily to their gold holdings this year.

Gold buying by some of the world's most successful investors is a strong argument that gold prices, despite their impressive rise over the past several years, still have a long way to go.

The precious metal is expected to enjoy its 12th straight year of increases in 2013. So far this year, gold prices are up about 10%.

Forecasters see gold rising each quarter in 2013, ending at $1,925 an ounce in the last quarter, or 11% higher than current prices, according to Bloomberg.

While gold prices haven't moved much lately, investors need to stay focused on the long term.

On Tuesday, December gold futures on the Comex fell $8.50 (0.5%) to $1,725.9 an ounce. This came after remarks by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke that the looming fiscal cliff could threaten the U.S. economy.

Of course, such minor bumps haven't kept the smart money – billionaire investors — from buying gold.

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