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Tech Investing

How to Become a Graphene "Wildcatter"

By , Defense + Tech Specialist, Money Morning • @Robinson_STI - • Print | Email

You've got a rare opportunity to be a high-tech "wildcatter" – thanks to a new miracle material that is destined to revolutionize just about any industry you can think of.

Medicine and biotechnology … electronics … energy … computers … they'll each be revolutionized by this new substance.

For instance:

Doctors will soon use it to create implants that will end brain disease…

Technologists will use it to take the power of 1,000 mainframe computers and hardwire it into your smartphone …

And biotechnologists will use this very same substance to work as "synthetic blood."

I'm talking, of course, about graphene – a substance that I like to refer to as the "miracle material" of the 21st century.

You see, I've been following this exotic new substance for some time now and am struck by the high level of interest you readers have in this unique form of graphite (which, of course, is the stuff that's in the tip of your pencil).

And these days, I get more comments and questions about graphene than I do on any other high-tech topic that I cover.

So today I'm going to tell you about two brand-new breakthroughs that will hasten graphene's arrival as a commercially viable substance.

And I'm also going to show you how graphene can put profits right into your pocket.

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Commodities

Why Junior Miners Are Struggling to Survive

By , Money Morning - • Print | Email

Junior miners, small mining companies still in the exploration or early production stages of mine development, are having an increasingly hard time raising sufficient funds to get their mines into production.

With companies quickly burning through their limited capital, Bloomberg News estimates that on average, junior mining companies have only 5.7 months worth of cash on their balance sheets, down 25% from last year. Unless smaller mining companies can raise more capital, they will be unable to fund ongoing exploration projects and will have to cease operations.

Mitchell Krebs, chief executive officer of Coeur d'Alene, told Bloomberg, "You will see a lot of companies hit the wall in 2013."

That makes them tempting targets for some of the bigger, well-financed mining companies such as Coeur d'Alene Mines Corp (NYSE: CDE).

If a junior miner sitting on a strong claim gets shut out of the capital markets, a well-funded buyer can acquire the company and its claim for a song.

"Everyone seems to be running away from it now and looking at selling off assets," Newmont Mining (NYSE: NEM) CEO Gary Goldberg said in a Bloomberg interview Feb. 25. "That's the time to look in the opposite direction from the herd to see what opportunities might be out there."

Hot Stocks

Stocks to Buy Now: Cash in on Dividend Growth in this Energy Subsector

By , Money Morning - • Print | Email

Income investors looking for stocks to buy in the energy space have had several prominent choices over the years.

Integrated names such as Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) and Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX), for example, have lengthy dividend increase streaks, though neither fit into the high-yield category.

Royalty trusts and master limited partnerships (MLPs), two asset classes abundant in the energy sector, have surged in popularity in recent years mostly due to their large payouts and high yields. MLPs have also proven popular with conservative investors due to the predictable, prosaic nature of the oil and gas transportation business that leads to a steady stream of rising dividends.

But broadly speaking, the oil services subsector has been left out of the energy dividend conversation.

Oil services investors have had only a couple options within the sector when looking for dividend stocks to buy.

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Stock Market Today

Stock Market Today: With Dow at Record High, Will the Climb Last?

By , Contributing Writer, Money Morning - • Print | Email

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was at a record high after nearly six years, as the stock market today (Tuesday) rallied enough to push the index up nearly 70 points at the open.

Just minutes after the opening bell, the Dow sailed passed its all-time high of 14,165 hit on Oct. 9, 2007. Less than a half-hour into the trading session the Dow roared higher by triple digits propelling benchmark to yet another record.

By 1 p.m. the Dow was up 146.99, or 1.04%, at 14,274.81. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 17.32 or 1.14%, to 1,542.52, leaving it in striking distance if its record close of 1,565 hit in 2007. The Nasdaq climbed 43.39 or 1.37% to 3,225.42.

Money has poured into stocks over the last several months as individuals have begun to feel more comfortable about the health of the economy – but can it last?

"The question is, can the Dow maintain these levels? The market is interested in risk-that's why the Dow is higher, why the riskier currencies are higher," Matthew Lifson, currency trader at Cambridge Mercantile Group in Princeton told Reuters.

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Global Economy

Five Signs the Bull Market Is Getting Close to Topping Out

By , Associate Editor, Money Morning • @DavidGZeiler - • Print | Email

With the current bull market celebrating its fourth birthday by flirting with all-time highs, investors need to look hard for signs of where stocks are going from here.

Last week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average came within 20 points of its all-time record close of 14,164.53. Two weeks ago the Standard & Poor's 500 Index came within 31 points of its all-time high of 1,561.80.

Unfortunately, most market indicators are suggesting that the bull market that has carried U.S. stocks a long way from the lows of March 2009 is just about out of steam.

"There are a lot of measures that tell us markets are overbought at this point," Philip Saunders, head of multi-asset funds at Anglo-South African fund manager Investec, told the Financial Times. "Nothing goes up in a straight line."

That's not to say necessarily that we're facing a full-blown stock market crash, but that the likelihood of some sort of downturn has increased dramatically in recent months.

Many of the best indicators of a nearing change in the direction of stock markets are contrarian – that is, they appear to tell you the opposite of what you're currently observing.

But that's also what makes them valuable. No one wants to be the last person to leave the party, particularly when that party is a bull market.

Here are five indicators investors need to bear in mind:

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Silver Coins

Buying Silver Coins: All You Need to Know

By , Money Morning - • Print | Email

Investors have been buying silver coins at a lightning-fast pace this year. The U.S. Mint even sold out of 2013-dated American Silver Eagles in early January.

January Silver Eagle sales hit a record 7,498,000. After suspending sales Jan. 17, the U.S. Mint has allowed investors to resume buying silver coins, but with limits on how many coins dealers can order.

The good news: You can still cash in on buying silver coins. But before you buy, you need to know the best deals out there – and the ones to avoid.

That's why Money Morning Executive Editor William Patalon III explained everything you need to know about buying silver coins in this accompanying video.

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Tech Investing

The Profit Potential from 3D Printing is Massive

By , Defense + Tech Specialist, Money Morning • @Robinson_STI - • Print | Email

When I first started writing about 3D printing, most investors viewed it as a futuristic "gee-whiz" concept – and had no idea it was actually a "here-and-now" technology they could make money on.

And the mainstream news media didn't seem to know that this 3D technology even existed.

Today, as you know, many of the 3D stocks (including some that I've identified) have soared … and then fallen back to earth. Some pundits claim this was nothing but hype – or another tech bubble that now has burst.

Still others are writing this off as little more than a novelty niche.

Don't make that mistake.

With 3D printing, we're in the earliest stages of what's destined to become an entire new industry.

And, as I'm going to show you today, the profit potential is massive.

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Income

7 Dividend Stocks with 50 Years of Increasing Payouts

By , Money Morning - • Print | Email

As Money Morning Executive Editor Steve Christ told us this week, finding solid dividend stocks in different sectors is a key to finding financial freedom, thanks to compounding.

"This compounding effect arises when your dividend yield is added to the principal. From that moment on, the interest begins to earn interest on itself," explained Christ. "Over the long haul, that process can add up to a small fortune – even with very modest investments. All it takes is time."

How do you find theses reliable dividend payers?

For starters, consider dividend stocks that have a history of raising their payout. Dividend.com recently compiled a list of stocks that have hiked their dividends for at least 25 years.

To take it a step further, we compared that list to Standard & Poor's "Dividend Aristocrats" – large-cap, blue-chip companies that have increased dividends for at least 20 consecutive years.

Some of the "Aristocrats" have hiked their payouts for much longer than that, like these seven, which have done so for at least 50 years:

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Washington

You Only Wish You Could Live Like a Congressional Fat Cat

By , Money Morning - • Print | Email

Spoiled by congressional perks most Americans could only dream of, Washington lawmakers have utterly lost any sense they may have had of the true value of money.

With annual salaries more than triple that of the average American worker, short work weeks and an array of benefits that would make most CEOs jealous, it's no wonder members of Congress can't manage the nation's budget.

That's why the nation is more than $16.5 trillion in debt and needs to borrow 46 cents out of every dollar it is spending this year.

And it's a big reason why Congress can never seem to figure out how to solve any of America's most pressing fiscal problems.

Congress hasn't even passed a budget in four years, even though it is required by law to do so every year.

You won't believe how well these folks live – and every dime that pays for this lavish lifestyle comes straight out of the pockets of taxpayers.

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