Archives for June 2013

June 2013 - Page 6 of 16 - Money Morning - Only the News You Can Profit From

New Facebook Video Sharing Takes On Twitter

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Those investors still betting on Facebook stock got hopeful news today as CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced a Facebook video sharing capability – courtesy of Instagram.

"A small team has been working on a big idea. Join us for coffee and learn about a new product," read invitations sent from Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB) to select journalists and media outlets for an announcement today.

The news was Facebook's attempt to capitalize on the popularity of video sharing – which has led teens, tweens and young adults to ditch Facebook for apps like Twitter's Vine.

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Why Gold Prices Are Going Down Today

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The answer to why gold prices are going down today isn't hard to find – it's a testament to the power behind Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke.

Comex August gold fell $76.50, or 5.56%, to 1,229.50 in early morning trading Thursday. The August contract traded as low as $1,285.00 in overnight trading as the U.S. dollar rose to the highest in more than a week against six major currencies.

Gold prices plunged Thursday to near three-year lows as precious metals investors took a "risk-off" stance following Wednesday's FOMC meeting. Bernanke announced that the current $85 billion worth of monthly bond purchases could slow near the end of this year, and end in 2014, if the economy keeps improving.

He said interest rates could increase "far in the future."

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The Best "Bargain" Silver Mining Stocks to Buy Now

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Precious metals related stocks have been under selling pressure all year, but smart investors are having a field day scooping up some of these best "bargain" silver stocks to buy right now.

Companies that mine gold and silver have seen their stock prices punished as the metals' prices have declined. So far this year gold is down 18% while silver prices have been punished even more severely, falling 28%.

The metals had experienced a multiyear strong run as fears of contrary instability and potential inflation drove investors into metals and miners alike. As the economy has shown signs of stabilizing and inflation concerns remain subdued, the rally has stalled.

The mining stocks have been hit even harder as marginal capacity became too expensive to maintain and profits fell sharply.

Now we appear to have reached an unsustainable condition in the price of silver mining stocks.

The total cost of producing an ounce of silver is estimated by some analysts to be as high as $24 an ounce. When this happens marginal capacity is forced out of the market place as higher cost mines are simply shuttered rather than run at a loss. Plans for expansion or exploration are delayed or eliminated and the level of production decreases.

We are seeing this in silver right now.

Are You Keeping Yourself From Getting Rich?

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"Why is it that people seem to plan for everything except success?"

My colleague Bill Patalon who heads up Private Briefing made that comment to me recently during one of our after-hours chats. We've held them almost every day for the past 7 years since we started working together.

Long after the markets have closed and most of the team has gone home, "BP" and I talk about the events of the day by phone. No matter where I am in the world, I look forward to the 15 or so minutes we spend together.

Last Thursday, though, BP changed things up based on a series of notes he received from subscribers about a call I made.

Those who'd followed my advice had made out big while those who hadn't were grousing about it. Hence his question which, truth be told, was more of an exasperated statement: Is it possible to be a successful investor over the long term?

The way I see things, it's absolutely possible for individual investors to beat both the stock market and Wall Street.

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Where to Uncover a Sweet Investment in Africa

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After traveling nearly 6,000 miles by plane, helicopter and jeep, Evan Smith, portfolio manager at U.S. Global, is walking along a dirt path in Kenema past dilapidated shops covered with rusted, corrugated metal.

He can hardly believe he has arrived at his destination. Surrounded by hundreds of miles of forest and savannah, it's tough to imagine an agricultural diamond-in-the-rough nearby called Kenema.

FOMC Meeting: Fed Provides No Direction to Markets on QE, Adding to Volatility

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Market participants were hoping for clarity following the highly anticipated FOMC meeting Wednesday on the big question: to taper, or not to taper?

As many expected, there were no explicit statements about when the Fed would end its massive quantitative easing (QE) measures.

"A few weeks back, I noted that Chairman Bernanke wouldn't have the guts to take his foot off the gas pedal when it came to stimulus, so it's no surprise to me that he's going to keep plowing $85 billion a month into bond buying," explained Money Morning Chief Investment Strategist Keith Fitz-Gerald. "What's interesting to me is that the market fell anyway, when he announced the economic risks have subsided."

The U.S. central bank kept its benchmark interest rate at 0%-0.25%, and kept in place its $85 billion a month bond purchase program. The consensus remains that the Fed will start to "taper" QE before the end of the year – although the timeline wasn't made clear today.

"I think the markets didn't get the clarification they wanted," Fitz-Gerald continued. "Are things good enough that stimulus is no long warranted or bad enough that bond purchases are still required? For a guy who promised a new era in Fed transparency, this is yet more double talk."

As for when interest rates (near zero since December 2008) could be raised – likely a separate and farther-out move than tapering QE – Morgan Stanley Chief Economist and former FOMC secretary and economist Vincent Reinhart has said the clue is in when QE starts to end.

He says if QE and rate decisions are data dependent, as the Fed maintains, the two cannot be separated. So any future Fed tapering talks suggests Team Bernanke has grown more optimistic about the health of the economy and less inclined to believe further QE will prove advantageous.

Bernanke said today any change in policy will come after stability in the Fed's economic forecasts.

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The Six Questions that Can Make You Rich (Part Five)

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Do you want to make a lot of money on a next-generation technology?

Then you're going to want to say "yes" to the fifth question in our series called The Six Questions that Can Make You Rich when evaluating your next technology investment.

Companies that engage in next-generation technologies with a wide scale of development have provided investors with some of the highest returns on investment over the past 10 years. And that isn't going to change as we move into the second half of this decade.

Yesterday, we discussed how companies are capable of harnessing other technological innovations in order to make their products unique, successful, and most of all profitable.

Also yesterday a lot of new buzz emerged on Amazon's integration with Facebook to create Amazon Gift. By harnessing Facebook's messaging and data mining capabilities, the new service will allow users to send gifts to friends through its online shopping and delivery portals.

Today we want to explore the fifth question of successful technology investing.

Is this technology vital and practical to the lives of billions around the world?

If you can answer yes this question, you may have found the next great in-demand technology to sweep the globe in just a few years.

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What Ashton Kutcher Can Teach You About Tech Investing

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In the days when Ashton Kutcher was playing the ditsy Michael Kelso on "That 70s Show," few could imagine him as a highly respected and knowledgeable tech investing venture capitalist.

Yet in recent years, Kutcher has established himself as just that — a savvy venture capitalist specializing in discovering and nurturing young technology companies.

Most Americans know Kutcher as Kelso, or from his current role as billionaire Walden Schmidt on the CBS TV series "Two and a Half Men," or from the publicity surrounding his marriage and impending divorce from Demi Moore.

And with his unkempt hair and baby face, the 35-year-old hardly looks like a seasoned, in-demand tech investor.

So you can be forgiven for having the same reaction that many in the venture capital investing community had when they first encountered Kutcher.

"When I first met him, I was deeply skeptical of him because he's an actor and famous, and I thought he just wanted to dabble," David Lee, who co-founded SV Angel, an early-stage investment firm in Silicon Valley, told The New York Times. "I've seen his movies, I've seen 'Dude, Where's My Car?' and was not sure what to expect."

But Lee changed his tune after jointly investing with Kutcher in promising tech startup companies.

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How to Profit from the Supreme Court DNA Ruling

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A rather complicated U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc. came out last week on whether life or more specifically DNA can be patented.

I don't want to talk about the science behind the ruling. It gets complicated. Rather, I'd like to simply breakdown how the High Court's decision can affect your wallet.

There are two distinct parts in the unanimous decision and both parts impact the market in different ways.

You may have seen Angelina Jolie in the news lately? She had a preventative double mastectomy because a genetic test indicated she was highly at risk for developing breast cancer.

Well, the Supreme Court ruling actually deals directly with the development of genetic testing.

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How to Invest in Biotech Now and Double Your Money

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Some of the most lucrative opportunities you can find now are in the biotechnology industry – which is why we've been working to uncover the best ways for how to invest in this sector.

The best biotech companies overflow with innovation. They can offer a steady stream of game-changing products – which often translates to record-breaking revenue.

The biotech industry is also known for its stiff competition. The race to be a consumer favorite causes companies to take big risks.

Sometimes, these lead to embarrassing flops, but when they get it right, the payoffs are huge.