Archives for February 2015

February 2015 - Page 6 of 18 - Money Morning - Only the News You Can Profit From

How to Find the Best Biotech Shares - Every Time

When you're evaluating most new stocks, it makes good sense to look at technical indicators – such as price-to-earnings ratio (P/E), profit margins, or revenue per share, to name a couple – so you know what you're buying.

But here's the rub: When you're scouting a promising biotech stock, the indicators I mentioned just won't tell you what you need to know.

Of course, we're dealing with a sector that can hand out uncommonly large profits, so our approach needs to be a little different.

Weigh these before you take your next biotech position, and you'll enjoy much bigger potential profits and lower your risk...

Why the Dow Jones Fell Today - 44-Point Loss

The Dow Jones shed 44 points Thursday. Market uncertainty remains over Greece's ability to reach a compromise over its debt. The German finance ministry rejected a Greek proposal to extend its international bailout program.

Oil prices fell again today due to oversupply concerns after data revealed another huge glut from weekly crude inventories.

Here are the other top market stories - plus our new profit tip for investors...

Cybersecurity Stocks Just Got Another Huge Buy Signal

U.S. President Barack Obama doubled-down on his fight against cyberterrorism last week – which means he also delivered 2015's second major "buy" signal for cybersecurity stocks.

The first signal was in early February. That's when President Obama requested $14 billion in his 2016 fiscal-year budget for increased cyber defense. Roughly $5.5 billion of that is requested just for the Pentagon.

"In recent breaches, more than 100 million Americans had their personal data compromised, including, in some cases, credit card information," President Obama said.

That's why cybersecurity stocks are on our list of the most profitable opportunities for investors...

Tax Refund Fraud 2015: Five Ways to Avoid Getting Scammed

Tax refund fraud 2015: Americans, in total, spend 6 billion hours a year doing their taxes. They do it because it's a requirement – but also because it's a lifeline. For 70% of Americans, the tax refund is the biggest paycheck they'll receive all year.

Tax refund fraud, which has tripled in the last three years, threatens to take that lifeline away now more than ever. Currently, a little over $5 billion is lost every year to tax fraud according to Government Accountability Office (GAO) estimates. From 2013 to 2014, the number of people who identified themselves as tax fraud victims jumped by 36%. Already this year, 19 states' tax authorities reported high volumes of fraudulent returns.

You can reduce your risk of getting scammed. Taxpayers can take these steps to protect themselves from tax refund fraud in 2015...

Why These Apple Stock Predictions Are Still Too Low

While making Apple stock predictions isn't necessarily easy, most analysts are still aiming too low.

Analysts just never seem to catch up to the reality of the Apple juggernaut. And though many have raised their Apple stock price predictions in recent weeks, they're still not as high as they should be.

In fact, 22 of the current Apple stock predictions are lower than the AAPL stock price today. Even the consensus price target is just $123.41.

With Apple stock clearly headed to $170, these analysts have to be leaving something big out of their calculations...

U.S. Stock Futures Take a Small Step Back on Greece, Oil Price Concerns

Good morning! U.S. stock futures for Thursday, Feb. 19, forecasted a 20-point decrease from yesterday's close. Oil futures are down roughly 4%, and Greece-EU negotiations rage on.

On Wednesday, the Dow Jones slipped 17 points after the U.S. Federal Reserve released minutes from its January Federal Open Market Committee meeting. It seems the central bank is unlikely to raise interest rates in the near future.

Today, investors shifted focus back to Europe, and kept an eye on global crude oil prices. Greece's leftist government announced plans to submit a request to extend its loan agreement for another six months. The news raises hopes for a last-minute deal to keep the country's finances in order.

Here's what else you should know about the stock market today - including your "Money Morning Tip of the Day" - to make it a profitable Thursday...

What This "Ice Level" Means to Future Oil Prices

You'd have to be living under a rock (and one without Internet access at that) to have missed the oil price swoon that has taken place since June.

Even after a recent bounce back from an under-$50 per barrel low, and a trough-to-peak rebound of 24% since the end of January, the technical picture does not indicate smooth sailing upward from here. 

In fact, if there's only one metric we need to look at to determine where oil prices are going, it would be this one, and it's not showing the type of move we're hoping for any time soon.

In fact, it shows oil will have trouble "breaking the ice"...