Some investors probably lump all online shopping stocks together, thinking they are a waste of time and destined to be perpetual losers because of the bloated losses, quarter after quarter, of Amazon.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN). Billionaire Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s visionary founder, perhaps went off the tracks pursuing launches of everything from smart phones to drones, while forgetting the e-commerce sales model that started it all. Or maybe he has a grand plan that most of us have yet to realize. #-ad_banner-#Either way, it would be unwise to think other online shopping companies have no choice but to follow suit and expand to other businesses in order… Read More

Some investors probably lump all online shopping stocks together, thinking they are a waste of time and destined to be perpetual losers because of the bloated losses, quarter after quarter, of Amazon.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN). Billionaire Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s visionary founder, perhaps went off the tracks pursuing launches of everything from smart phones to drones, while forgetting the e-commerce sales model that started it all. Or maybe he has a grand plan that most of us have yet to realize. #-ad_banner-#Either way, it would be unwise to think other online shopping companies have no choice but to follow suit and expand to other businesses in order to make a buck. Three following three companies are doing are churning out solid, growing profits, offer a seemingly endless variety of goods and have a clearly defined direction — unlike Amazon. One is headquartered in the United States, one is Asian and the other is Latin American. The latter two have a particular appeal because emerging markets show strong potential for online shopping plays because of their less developed brick-and-mortar economies. Overstock.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: OSTK) Overstock.com, with a modest but growing $578 million market cap, is an online discount retailer headquartered near Salt Lake City, Utah. The company… Read More

One smart way to screen for stocks is to find the ones that are still going up when most other stocks are going down. These are stocks with investors who have strong conviction about the true value of the company and don’t get scared amid a declining market. #-ad_banner-#These stocks are often conspicuous — when looking at a heat map of the S&P 500 on a down day, they are the few green dots in a sea of red. In that vein, I found three promising stocks that managed to finish in the green for the first half of October,… Read More

One smart way to screen for stocks is to find the ones that are still going up when most other stocks are going down. These are stocks with investors who have strong conviction about the true value of the company and don’t get scared amid a declining market. #-ad_banner-#These stocks are often conspicuous — when looking at a heat map of the S&P 500 on a down day, they are the few green dots in a sea of red. In that vein, I found three promising stocks that managed to finish in the green for the first half of October, despite the volatility that roiled the broader market from top to bottom. The three are the kinds of companies that typically prosper later in an economic cycle, and each are components of the Barron’s 400 Index, a gauge of promising U.S. companies that tends toward a growth-at-a-reasonable-price (GARP) bent. Snap-on, Inc. (NYSE: SNA) Snap-on’s product lineup — in the industrial machinery category — includes hand and power tools, diagnostics and shop equipment for professional markets, including vehicle dealerships, repair centers, aviation and the military. The company has 4,800 mobile stores nationwide. A novel model, mobile stores are trucks or… Read More

It’s not often you come across a stock that can make more money if consumers cut back their spending. #-ad_banner-#In times when the market feels treacherous, investors’ favorite stocks suddenly don’t feel so safe anymore. That’s when it may be easy to run in the direction of utilities, bonds or even cash. But almost always there are companies that can continue to do well in a downturn. The trick is to find the ones that do not need a rising stock market and a growing economy to keep churning out profits. It helps even more when that kind of company… Read More

It’s not often you come across a stock that can make more money if consumers cut back their spending. #-ad_banner-#In times when the market feels treacherous, investors’ favorite stocks suddenly don’t feel so safe anymore. That’s when it may be easy to run in the direction of utilities, bonds or even cash. But almost always there are companies that can continue to do well in a downturn. The trick is to find the ones that do not need a rising stock market and a growing economy to keep churning out profits. It helps even more when that kind of company is also beaten down and under-loved. Outerwall, Inc. (Nasdaq: OUTR), an automated retailer, is perhaps best known for its Redbox movie kiosks. The company was dissed recently when it was included in a MarketWatch story headlined “15 Most Hated S&P 1500 Stocks In This Terrible Market.” Outerwall, as it turns out, is one of the most heavily shorted stocks around, according to FactSet. The naysayers may be very wrong. For starters, Redbox, despite its low-tech business model, is simply a consumer bargain. It costs between $1.20 and $1.50 per day to rent a Redbox movie — less than streaming services… Read More

Imagine a company that takes humanity’s most dreaded diseases, predicts your probability of contracting them and recommends the best course of prevention and treatment at a personalized level. At best, it sounds like an exercise in wishful thinking. #-ad_banner-#But there is a company that is using historic biotechnological breakthroughs to target a who’s who of the biggest public health enemies in the world — breast, ovarian,  colon,  prostate and lung cancers; melanoma; rheumatoid arthritis; and autoimmune maladies. Early diagnosis and treatment is often cited as essential to defeating potentially fatal diseases.  That is often easier said than done, however. Myriad… Read More

Imagine a company that takes humanity’s most dreaded diseases, predicts your probability of contracting them and recommends the best course of prevention and treatment at a personalized level. At best, it sounds like an exercise in wishful thinking. #-ad_banner-#But there is a company that is using historic biotechnological breakthroughs to target a who’s who of the biggest public health enemies in the world — breast, ovarian,  colon,  prostate and lung cancers; melanoma; rheumatoid arthritis; and autoimmune maladies. Early diagnosis and treatment is often cited as essential to defeating potentially fatal diseases.  That is often easier said than done, however. Myriad Genetics, Inc. (Nasdaq: MYGN) uses the human body’s genetic mapping to create landmark results in the field of molecular diagnostics, which has been successful in the United States and has largely untapped global potential. The company currently dominates the U.S. hereditary cancer market with its flagship product that measures the risk of breast cancer in women with an estimated 82% accuracy rate. I wrote about another health stock with an experimental treatment for Ebola, Tekmira Pharmaceuticals, in August and since then it is up about 70%. In addition to its expertise in predictive medicine, Myriad offers breakthroughs in personalized medicine by… Read More

Global demographic history is being written at this very moment. #-ad_banner-#It’s no secret that the U.S. population nearing senior citizen status is at all-time highs — an aging Baby Boomer population has been news for years now. The same demographic wave is playing out in Europe, Japan, China, Australia and countries the world over. And whenever there is a wave of change in society, there is usually an investment opportunity as well. Perhaps the biggest opportunity that comes with it is in medical care. Even better, the opportunity is further bolstered by the fact that the global population growth is… Read More

Global demographic history is being written at this very moment. #-ad_banner-#It’s no secret that the U.S. population nearing senior citizen status is at all-time highs — an aging Baby Boomer population has been news for years now. The same demographic wave is playing out in Europe, Japan, China, Australia and countries the world over. And whenever there is a wave of change in society, there is usually an investment opportunity as well. Perhaps the biggest opportunity that comes with it is in medical care. Even better, the opportunity is further bolstered by the fact that the global population growth is increasing  too — meaning there will be more people tomorrow, next year and next decade in need of medical care than ever before. Medical care represents an unprecedented level of investment potential.and the burgeoning field of medical technology shows the greatest growth promise — more specifically,  the medical robotics sector. This includes surgical robots, non-invasive radiosurgery, rehabilitation robots, prosthetics and robotics in the pharmacy and emergency response areas. These machines can be used to conduct minimally invasive surgeries and tests, and is increasingly being utilized by hospitals for a host of duties from treating neurological and orthopedic problems to providing… Read More

Some experts argue that history never repeats itself exactly — there is always some twist to even familiar events that make them different from what occurred in the past. Take U.S. oil production, for instance. #-ad_banner-#As recently as the early 1970s, before OPEC rose to prominence and easy-to-tap domestic oil reserves were still abundant, American energy production was the envy of the world. It cost $0.36 a gallon to fill up a gas-guzzling full-size Buick in 1971, and oil patch buccaneers from Texas to California were exporting oceans of crude oil. America is unlikely to return to those… Read More

Some experts argue that history never repeats itself exactly — there is always some twist to even familiar events that make them different from what occurred in the past. Take U.S. oil production, for instance. #-ad_banner-#As recently as the early 1970s, before OPEC rose to prominence and easy-to-tap domestic oil reserves were still abundant, American energy production was the envy of the world. It cost $0.36 a gallon to fill up a gas-guzzling full-size Buick in 1971, and oil patch buccaneers from Texas to California were exporting oceans of crude oil. America is unlikely to return to those gas prices or gas-guzzling autos, but energy production and exports appear to be headed for a deja-vu renaissance. By now, most everyone has heard of the fracking revolution that is reviving the U.S. energy industry and returning the United States to its historic role as the world’s largest energy producer. That renewed volume of oil and gas is good for America. It will be especially good for those companies that transport, store and distribute the new energy wealth — more of the stuff will be moving to market than it… Read More

There is likely nothing that has done more to shape the modern world than energy – both for good and evil. It created gushers of oil riches for the likes of tycoons J.D. Rockefeller and J. Paul Getty, helped foster global conflicts the world over, transformed economies and standards of living nearly everywhere and arguably caused irreparable damage to the environment. #-ad_banner-#For decades, the world has been on a search for a new source of energy – most alternatives, critics argue, are too expensive to be considered a replacement for oil. Battery power is usually lumped in with other touchy-feely… Read More

There is likely nothing that has done more to shape the modern world than energy – both for good and evil. It created gushers of oil riches for the likes of tycoons J.D. Rockefeller and J. Paul Getty, helped foster global conflicts the world over, transformed economies and standards of living nearly everywhere and arguably caused irreparable damage to the environment. #-ad_banner-#For decades, the world has been on a search for a new source of energy – most alternatives, critics argue, are too expensive to be considered a replacement for oil. Battery power is usually lumped in with other touchy-feely alt-energy sources as unprofitable and unrealistic, but now there may be a breakthrough. Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) are you listening? There are two big problems with battery technology. First, it so expensive, batteries are hardly profitable. Second, its capabilities for energy storage are limited. Applied Materials, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMAT), a company that created fortunes around the time of the Dotcom meltdown in 2000, may have accomplished some strides that could make battery power firmly profitable. AMAT recently began shipping chip technology for innovative new solid-state batteries that could help double their energy storage. What’s more, the company says it… Read More

Many stocks these days seem to live and die by their most recent quarterly results. What if I said I found a stock whose customers are virtually guaranteed not to go out of business, a client that will be around forever? What’s more, the customers are likely to generate more revenues every year no matter what, and the more the client grows, which it seems to always be growing, the more the stock naturally benefits. If the stock sounds too good to be true, it’s not. If it sounds like the government, you’re getting warm. NIC, Inc. (Nasdaq: EGOV) is… Read More

Many stocks these days seem to live and die by their most recent quarterly results. What if I said I found a stock whose customers are virtually guaranteed not to go out of business, a client that will be around forever? What’s more, the customers are likely to generate more revenues every year no matter what, and the more the client grows, which it seems to always be growing, the more the stock naturally benefits. If the stock sounds too good to be true, it’s not. If it sounds like the government, you’re getting warm. NIC, Inc. (Nasdaq: EGOV) is a long established company that provides services to local, state and federal government agencies. Specifically, it builds and maintains official websites, online services and secure payment processing solutions for more than 3,500 government customers in 29 states across the United States. The United States government tends not to get smaller from year to year. Even in the maw of the Great Recession, in most cases, it was only the rate of growth in government spending that declined, not the level of spending itself. And, now that the recession is over, business is booming. #-ad_banner-#NIC is ranked No. 20 on Forbes… Read More

It’s beginning to sound like something from a Hollywood disaster movie. The World Health Organization (WHO) says the Ebola virus has been spreading faster than health workers can control it. The potential for catastrophe includes the possibility that the fearsome disease will spread outside West Africa. The WHO has launched an all-out $100 million spending campaign to get the outbreak under control, and the World Bank has followed up with an emergency $200 million pledge. It has been blamed for killing over 900 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in a short time,… Read More

It’s beginning to sound like something from a Hollywood disaster movie. The World Health Organization (WHO) says the Ebola virus has been spreading faster than health workers can control it. The potential for catastrophe includes the possibility that the fearsome disease will spread outside West Africa. The WHO has launched an all-out $100 million spending campaign to get the outbreak under control, and the World Bank has followed up with an emergency $200 million pledge. It has been blamed for killing over 900 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in a short time, but it might not stop in Africa. #-ad_banner-#One thing that can help the usually fatal Ebola to cross borders and spread readily among populations is the fact it can take anywhere from two to 21 days before symptoms appear. Someone who contracts the virus in Lagos can board a plane and be in Tokyo or New York long before they know they are sick. It was only last month that the Food and Drug Administration put a clinical hold on one Ebola drug treatment that was already in trials with human subjects. The treatment,… Read More

A confluence of factors — including the heavy hand of regulators in Washington, D.C. — is creating an unprecedented profit opportunity for a select few companies in the rail industry. The federal obstacles for railroads certainly appear daunting. For starters, new EPA regulations set… Read More