Archives for February 2014

February 2014 - Page 12 of 20 - Money Morning - Only the News You Can Profit From

Bypass These Pitfalls to (Major) Profits in Bioscience

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Anyone who's very familiar with the bioscience/pharmaceutical sector will tell you investing in experimental drugs can be an object lesson in volatility.

As the drugs progress toward FDA approval or denial, the stock prices of the companies backing them can be in for the same volatile ride.

A stock's surge or decline is often premised on general assumptions about the likelihood of FDA approval.

But within specific bioscience sectors, that likelihood varies… widely.

That's why I wanted to navigate through some types of drugs that generate a lot of enthusiasm but often crash before delivery.

That way you can avoid some of the downside risk of this often lucrative market...

Don't Fear the Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA)-Time Warner Cable Deal

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The proposed $45.2 billion Comcast-Time Warner Cable deal will create a colossus within the cable industry bound to fill both consumer groups and regulators with anxiety, but it's not as scary as it looks.

The announcement of the marriage between the nation's two largest cable companies came late Wednesday. The deal calls for Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA) to pay $158.82 per share for Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC) in an all-stock deal that represents a little more than a 17% premium over Wednesday's closing price of $135.31.

Here's why the cable industry needed this deal to happen...

Why U.S. Retail Sales Dropped in January - and How You Can Profit

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U.S. retail sales – which account for 70% of economic activity – unexpectedly fell 0.4% for the month of January according to the Commerce Department today (Thursday). The decline marks the second straight drop after a 0.1% fall in December.

Auto sales were the major contributor to the miss. Sales of motor vehicles and parts dropped 2.1%, while Americans also spent less on restaurants and clothing. The report also showed soft holiday sales for retailers at the end of last year.

To continue reading, please click here...

Stock Market Crash History: The Dow's 10 Biggest One-Day Plunges

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 326 points (2.1%) on Feb. 3, triggering a flood of stock market crash talk. 

January wasn't any better – the Dow suffered its worst January since 2009 and its worst month since May 2012, deflating 5.3%. (The S&P 500 slid 3.6%, also its worst monthly performance since May 2012, and the Nasdaq dropped 1.7%, its worst since October 2012.)

Three factors are making market-watchers fearful of a full-blown stock market crash:

  1. The Dow climbed 27.36% in 2013.
  2. An official market correction – defined as a decline of 10% or more – hasn't happened since 2011.
  3. The VIX, Wall Street's volatility measure and "fear gauge," climbed almost 9% on Feb. 3, its highest level since October 2013.

To continue reading, please click here...

China Sends Bullish Signal for Gold Prices in 2014

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In a stellar year-to-date showing, gold prices in 2014 are up 7.6% – compared to the Dow Jones Industrial Average's 3.9% drop.

Gold set a new closing high record for 2014 on Wednesday when it added $5.30 to hit $1,295.20 an ounce.

Pushing gold to a near three-month high this week was testimony from new Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen. Yellen made it clear she isn't about to make any abrupt changes to the central bank's pledge of a measured tapering of bond purchases. Additionally, Yellen said interest rates will remain near zero for a good while.

But what will continue to stoke gold in 2014 is this news from China...

Why Wall Street Would Love to Bug Our Phones

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Every month or so, Keith Fitz-Gerald, Shah Gilani or a few of the other editors here at Money Map Press will wonder aloud if the big Wall Street investment banks have secreted a bunch of listening-device "bugs" in our offices or on our phones.

They haven't, of course. And our comments were made in jest – and meant only as a joke.
But the coincidences that prompt these surveillance-by-Big-Brother quips can be quite remarkable.

Let me share a brand-new story that shows you what I mean….

Let me share a brand-new story that shows you what I mean....