When it comes to biotech, so much vital R&D money goes down the drain.
Little wonder then that a major drug player might want to realign its operations to be less focused on the boom-and-bust cycle of drug research.
Today, we'll explore a Big Pharma leader that's doing just that.
It got started on this move three years ago.
It just made a big promotion that will serve as a further catalyst in this same direction.
The mainstream financial media would have you think that blindly following Wall Street's march will put you on the road to wealth.
In reality, that's a path to ho-hum returns.
You can do better with your money.
Much better.
The hottest sector in the stock market is about to have one of those special "flashpoint" days.
As you know, legal marijuana is already booming in the 28 U.S. states where recreational and/or medical cannabis is legal.
Now comes the first major countrywide, full legalization of weed… in Canada.
A laser-toting drone hovers outside a third-floor window at a secure military facility.
Inside the office sits an open flatbed scanner – and a computer network already infected with malware.
The Pentagon's cybersecurity system had rendered the malware harmless.
But that's where the drone's laser – a simple one you or I could purchase online – comes in.
The laser infiltrates that scanner – and takes 3.2 seconds to transmit data that takes command of the Pentagon computer network.
What happens next – "shut down defense systems"… "launch missile" – I'll leave to your imagination.
This isn't a plot line from the latest Mission: Impossible series.
It's a recent "thought experiment" conducted by two researchers from the Cyber Security Research Center at Israel's Ben-Gurion University.
I share this scenario not to scare you but to highlight the resourcefulness of lasers.
While you may still think of lasers as "fantasy" weapons in Star Wars movies, they're used for optical communications, engraving, measuring, positioning, bar-code scanning, 3D printing, surgery, and machine vision. The Pentagon is testing them as a weapon. No semiconductor could be built without them.
And the tech, defense, medical, and industrial sectors find new uses for them every day.
Indeed, MarketsandMarkets says the laser market's value will rise by 44.4% from the 2015 base year to a value of $14.7 billion by 2022.
That's a trend… a growth curve… we want to be in on.
So today let's look at a company – a laser "pure play" – with one of this market's deepest product lineups.
I've identified five reasons why this is a tech stock you want to own – and I'll reveal all of those.
But here's the reason that matters most.
"You heard it here first."
That's what the Fox Business Network's Stuart Varney said after a stock-price prediction I made during an interview rendered the polished TV host momentarily speechless.
During my Dec. 5, 2013, appearance on his popular Varney & Co., I predicted Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) shares would be taking up residence in the $1,000-a-share neighborhood pretty quickly. (Post-split, that figures as $142.85 a share.)
Now, technically speaking, you heard it here first, as I had made that same forecast six weeks earlier right here at Strategic Tech Investor.
However, as Varney's reaction made clear, this was the first time any tech analyst had made such a bold public prediction about Apple on national television.
Since then, many have doubted me along the way. Even Varney himself has ribbed me about it more than a few times.
But I've always stuck by this prediction. And I hope you have, too.
If you have, you're sitting on some tasty 80%+ gains.
That's because Apple just broke through that $142.85 mark… shortly after noon Eastern on Tuesday, to be exact.
Where is it going from here?
Well, I've got another prediction…
If you want to be a great tech investor, sometimes you have to forget some of your consumer habits.
From the time we're children, we're taught to be price sensitive, to look for bargains.
That's a good idea in stocks, too – if you compare stocks' price-earnings ratios and other metrics to find deals.
But too many investors just look at the "price tag."
Before I began working for you folks, I served as a senior advisor to a dozen tech startups and sat on the board of a Silicon Valley venture capital firm (VC).
And when it comes to finding profit-producing tech investments before mainstream stock analysts do, that gives me a leg up on Wall Street.
In fact, it gives me a "secret" method.
Besides following the stock market and keeping my ear to the ground here in Silicon Valley, I spend hours each week intensely studying VC funding.
Imagine this…
You or the manufacturer mount a device on your dashboard.
As the device's software algorithms "interpret" a video feed in real time, it detects anything in your car's path – pedestrians, other vehicles, animals, large debris – and your distance from it.
If the software interprets what it "sees" as "trouble," it alerts the driver with a series of beeps and flashing lights.
It can also "read" and interpret traffic signs and signals.
No, this isn't a driverless car yet – you still need to hit the brakes – but it's a big part of the advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) that will get us there.
And to me at least, it's pretty amazing technology.
Intel thinks so, too. It picked up the developer of this technology for $15.3 billion last week – sending the much smaller firm's stock up 30% that day.
And suddenly Wall Street has fallen in love with the "car of the future"?
We know better. In fact, you're way ahead of the Street.
We were in this stock years ago – and another "car of the future" company that got acquired recently – and we've made a bundle on both.
So let's go over those two deals today – see what happened and exactly how much money we made.
And then we'll take a look at what I think is the best pick in the connected and driverless vehicle space right now.
One billion hours of video is a lot.
In fact, it's nearly impossible to conceive it.
But let's try…
If all you did was watch online movies 24/7, it would take you roughly 41.7 million days to view 1 billion hours of video. That's about 114,155 years.
Sometimes it pays to sound like a broken record.
Literally…
For several years now, I've been telling investors – over and over again – that if you want to transform your net worth… if you want to secure a wealthy retirement… you absolutely have to be in high tech and the life sciences.
Like we always say, the road to wealth is paved by tech…
I'm bringing this up with you today – because I can prove it.
Yesterday marked the eighth anniversary of the bull market, the second-longest on record.
During this period, the S&P 500 rose roughly 207%, turning every $10,000 into $30,700. That sounds great.
Until you compare it to tech…
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite did nearly 50% better. From March 9, 2009, through yesterday's close, it had gained nearly 308% – turning every $10,000 invested into $40,800.
You might think this is over.
However, over the last few days, we've gotten two pieces of evidence that tell me this market still has life.
We'll talk about those in today's report.
Better yet, I'll reveal three of my favorite cost-effective but profitable ways to play this tech boom.
