Archives for December 2018

December 2018 - Money Morning - Only the News You Can Profit From

Dow Jones Industrial Average Jumps 175 Points as Trump Cites "Big Progress" on China Trade Deal  

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This morning, the Dow rose over 175 points on its final trading day of 2018.

Investors turned bullish after President Donald Trump said there has been "big progress" on a deal with China on trade.

Coming into Monday, the Dow Jones has been off 6.7% in 2018. That represents the worst annual downturn since 2008.

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How We've Been Profiting on Oil's Wild Moves

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How We've Been Profiting on Oil's Wild Moves
Crude's whipsaw "roller-coaster ride" won't last forever

By Dr. Kent Moors, Global Energy Strategist, Money Morning

Government shutdowns, geopolitical angst, protracted instability inside the Beltway, and outright market manipulation are combining to make this a profoundly volatile, unsettling time.

On Wednesday, for instance, both West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the benchmark crude rate set in New York, and Brent, the more widely used oil trading standard set in London, spiked ferociously – more than for any one session in well over a decade. WTI ended trading up by 8.7%; Brent by 8%.

With these spikes coming after historic price declines, everyone in the media is now looking for the oil price "floor" that can enable steadier upward moves.

I don't expect that floor to be a factor until into 2019. Year-end tax sales, low holiday volume, and institutional portfolio adjustments mean any floor, if it shows up, probably won't register until January.

And yet, these kinds of violent swings can be remarkably profitable. Late last week, my Energy Inner Circle readers following along got the chance to close out a 1,000% profit on a Brent "straddle" – a call and a put expiring on the same date at different strike prices – that saw us play the "up" and the "down."

There are three things in play right now obscuring the "floor" and keeping crude prices untamable, but that will ultimately give way to a much smoother, upward price trend...

3 Strategies - and 3 Stocks - to Protect You in 2019  

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Those are just four of the dozens of breathless, almost hysterical chyrons and headlines I've seen plastered across the office television and my computer monitor this morning. U.S. markets have been open for less than 90 minutes as I write this, and the Dow is down around 193 points; the S&P 500, down just under 13.

The market "feels" like it's trying to find a bid. Maybe it will. Maybe it won't. If I didn't know any better, I'd think the media wanted us to feel like we're falling down a flight of stairs in the dark.

Because the economy's in fine shape, more of us are working, and we've got what will likely be a mighty solid earnings season coming up in a few weeks' time. 

What's happened is emotion has swamped logic; fear is weighted more heavily than value right now.

How did we get here? That's a story for a different day. The important thing is you can make all of that volatility and uncertainty – all the "FEAR!" – work in your favor. Spectacularly, I might add.

I'm not talking about trading the VIX, or puts, or shorting stocks – although you can make a killing doing that, too.

I'm talking about a classic approach to simple, buy-and-hold investing my friend and colleague Bill Patalon told me about.

It takes less than four minutes to learn the ins and outs of Bill's approach – and at the end of it, he's going to name three dynamite stocks to buy for this market.

It couldn't be easier. Let's take a look...

This 1.3 Billion Figure Makes Apple Stock a Buy

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It's been a tough year for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL).

Flat iPhone sales, trade war attrition, and volatile market conditions have driven Apple stock down 26% over the last three months.

The trend has put a bad taste in Wall Street's mouth.

Over the last 30 days, eight financial analysts lowered their price targets for Apple.

However, Apple's sudden price drop isn't a sign of impending doom for the tech juggernaut - it's the result of analysts missing the bigger picture.

Here's What You Need to Know About Marijuana Mergers

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We've seen time and again how "takeover targets" provide the opportunity for truly explosive gains. The right company finds the right buyer, and investors gleefully strap in for a virtually instantaneous double- or triple-digit ride.

Dealmaking in general has done some "exploding" of its own over the past few years. 2018 broke records, with some $3.3 trillion worth of dried ink in place by September. That figure was bolstered by the advent of so-called "megadeals" worth more than $5 billion.

Companies have finally figured out the mother of all corporate no-brainers: If you can't beat 'em… buy 'em.

They've realized there's no point in throwing millions (or billions) of your – scratch that, your shareholders' – dollars at a thorny R&D, tech, or PR problem when you can just ride out, find some smaller company that's already done the work, and… acquire, acquire, acquire.

So, when we come across a frenzy of M&A activity in an already rapidly growing, high-profit sector like legal cannabis, it pays to stop and take a good hard look at what's happening. 

Let's take a look at how powerful a moneymaker marijuana deals could be next year...

3 Top Penny Stocks to Buy in January 2019

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Investors searching for robust gains need to look at our penny stocks to buy in January 2019.

You see, we've chosen three top penny stocks that can generate tremendous profits for your portfolio – not only in January, but far into the new year.

It's important to remember that penny stocks can be risky investments. Because of their low cost, even small price fluctuations can cause dramatic gains – and losses.

Investors interested in penny stocks should place no more than 2% of their overall portfolio in a penny stock.

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