While old media stocks like Viacom (Nasdaq: VIAB), Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) and 21st Century Fox (Nasdaq: FOXA) were hit with bad news and huge losses last week, Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) scored three straight record closing highs before succumbing to profit-taking on Friday. Shares have been on a tear, more than doubling in the past four months. I’m sure plenty of investors are kicking themselves for missing the boat, but it’s not too late. When a stock makes a new all-time high, especially a high-momentum growth stock like NFLX, it tends to keep moving higher. And Friday’s sell-off provides an… Read More

While old media stocks like Viacom (Nasdaq: VIAB), Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) and 21st Century Fox (Nasdaq: FOXA) were hit with bad news and huge losses last week, Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) scored three straight record closing highs before succumbing to profit-taking on Friday. Shares have been on a tear, more than doubling in the past four months. I’m sure plenty of investors are kicking themselves for missing the boat, but it’s not too late. When a stock makes a new all-time high, especially a high-momentum growth stock like NFLX, it tends to keep moving higher. And Friday’s sell-off provides an attractive short-term entry level. Netflix is being driven by strong growth domestically and abroad. On July 15, the video streaming giant reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings of $0.06 per share on revenues of $1.64 billion. #-ad_banner-# At the end of the quarter, its subscriber count stood at 65.6 million globally, 31% higher than the same quarter last year. Both domestic and international subscriber gains were well ahead of estimates, and the company introduced its services in Australia and New Zealand. Now it has its sights set on Japan and Europe. The Japanese launch is set for Sept. 2. And in Europe,… Read More

For companies looking to hire and groom executive talent, executive search firm Korn Ferry (NYSE: KFY) is often a no-brainer. It has been ranked as the top executive search firm since 1990 and operates 80 offices across the globe.  Now, it’s in the right place at the right time. #-ad_banner-#As of late last year, IDC had estimated employers were spending around $20 billion per year to attract, assess and retain workers in the wake of a recovering job market. Around halfway through 2015, the job market continues to recover. The U.S. unemployment rate is currently 5.3% — the lowest rate… Read More

For companies looking to hire and groom executive talent, executive search firm Korn Ferry (NYSE: KFY) is often a no-brainer. It has been ranked as the top executive search firm since 1990 and operates 80 offices across the globe.  Now, it’s in the right place at the right time. #-ad_banner-#As of late last year, IDC had estimated employers were spending around $20 billion per year to attract, assess and retain workers in the wake of a recovering job market. Around halfway through 2015, the job market continues to recover. The U.S. unemployment rate is currently 5.3% — the lowest rate in seven years — and according to Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, the growth in U.S. employment should continue in “high gear.” Since Korn Ferry provides a variety of products and services for employers, a booming job market means booming demand. A Closer Look at Korn Ferry’s Strong Fundamentals  One thing that Korn Ferry does as a recruitment specialist is publish interview guides and software that helps managers identify and cultivate employees with high potential. More specifically, many of the company’s services and instruments help companies identify people with what it terms “learning agility.” This is defined… Read More

I have to admit it: McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) is not one of my favorite fast-food restaurants. As I age, I am increasingly concerned about the effect diet has my health, so I try to eat lots of fruits and vegetables and avoid foods high in salt and fat. True, you can find some relatively healthy options at McDonalds if you choose wisely. However, if you indulge regularly in high-fat, sodium-rich hamburgers and fries, it can lead to an increased risk for Type 2 diabetes and heart disease, among other things.  My beef with the chain goes beyond its food, though. Read More

I have to admit it: McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) is not one of my favorite fast-food restaurants. As I age, I am increasingly concerned about the effect diet has my health, so I try to eat lots of fruits and vegetables and avoid foods high in salt and fat. True, you can find some relatively healthy options at McDonalds if you choose wisely. However, if you indulge regularly in high-fat, sodium-rich hamburgers and fries, it can lead to an increased risk for Type 2 diabetes and heart disease, among other things.  My beef with the chain goes beyond its food, though. The company also uses way too much packaging from my point of view — a sin it shares with many of its fast-food brethren. For anyone with a sensitive environmental conscience, what gets dumped into the trash can at the end of a McDonald’s meal causes added distress. My complaint with McDonald’s stock goes beyond my dislike for the restaurant. With the broader market reeling from the effects of the Greek debt crisis and the massive sell-off in Chinese stocks, I believe McDonald’s may be on the brink of a major correction. As a result, it is setting itself up… Read More

One of my favorite types of stocks is those that have recently hit new all-time highs. That’s because with no overhead resistance in their path there is nothing to stop them from moving even higher from a technical perspective. And when that stock has an upbeat fundamental outlook to support the strong technical picture, I know I have likely found a winner. That’s why I’m enthusiastic about Dollar General (NYSE: DG), the largest U.S. discount retailer by store count. The stock is in a powerful uptrend, making new high after new high this year. A quick note before we get… Read More

One of my favorite types of stocks is those that have recently hit new all-time highs. That’s because with no overhead resistance in their path there is nothing to stop them from moving even higher from a technical perspective. And when that stock has an upbeat fundamental outlook to support the strong technical picture, I know I have likely found a winner. That’s why I’m enthusiastic about Dollar General (NYSE: DG), the largest U.S. discount retailer by store count. The stock is in a powerful uptrend, making new high after new high this year. A quick note before we get to the trade: Many investors are reluctant to buy stocks near 52-week highs, regardless of any positive news or information about the company. This is due to “buy low, sell high” conditioning. Yet, there is proven reason why this is a huge mistake. If you’re serious about momentum investing, there is a presentation I think you should see. #-ad_banner-# Dollar General — which sells everything from A to Z (apparel to Ziplock bags) — has over 12,000… Read More

Mirror, mirror on the wall, which freight company is the fastest growing of them all? While you might guess it’s FedEx (NYSE: FDX) or United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS), since they are both household names, the answer is the relatively unknown XPO Logistics (NYSE: XPO).  When it comes to revenue growth, it’s no contest. Last year, while FedEx grew sales at a 2.9% year-over-year pace and UPS’ revenues were up 5%, XPO’s sales soared 236%.  True, XPO’s revenues totaled $2.4 billion in 2014, while FexEx had more than $45 billion and UPS more than $58 billion. But if you’re looking… Read More

Mirror, mirror on the wall, which freight company is the fastest growing of them all? While you might guess it’s FedEx (NYSE: FDX) or United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS), since they are both household names, the answer is the relatively unknown XPO Logistics (NYSE: XPO).  When it comes to revenue growth, it’s no contest. Last year, while FedEx grew sales at a 2.9% year-over-year pace and UPS’ revenues were up 5%, XPO’s sales soared 236%.  True, XPO’s revenues totaled $2.4 billion in 2014, while FexEx had more than $45 billion and UPS more than $58 billion. But if you’re looking for growth, XPO is the place to be. #-ad_banner-# Traders have taken notice, and the stock has more than doubled in the past year and is up more than 300% in less than three years. While organic growth has been solid, a large reason for increased revenues is XPO’s furious pace of acquisition. It bought three key companies in 2014: Pacer International, New Breed Logistics and Atlantic Central Logistics. In fact, XPO has been on a buying spree, acquiring 16 different firms between… Read More

One of my favorite things to see in a long candidate is a pattern of beating Wall Street’s earnings estimates. After all, if a stock beats the Street consistently, it is doing many things right.   An earnings beat will often cause a stock’s price to pop, and when that stock also sports a superb long-term chart, I know I have found a winner. The Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE: BK) fits this description to a T. In the company’s past 18 quarterly earnings reports, going back to the end of 2010, it has only missed Zacks’ consensus estimate… Read More

One of my favorite things to see in a long candidate is a pattern of beating Wall Street’s earnings estimates. After all, if a stock beats the Street consistently, it is doing many things right.   An earnings beat will often cause a stock’s price to pop, and when that stock also sports a superb long-term chart, I know I have found a winner. The Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE: BK) fits this description to a T. In the company’s past 18 quarterly earnings reports, going back to the end of 2010, it has only missed Zacks’ consensus estimate three times. And it has beaten estimates more than 72% of the time. In the most recently reported quarter, announced in April, Bank of New York Mellon exceeded estimates by nearly 14%. #-ad_banner-# The financial institution has a storied history. The Bank of New York was founded in 1784 by the future first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, whose portrait adorns the $10 bill. It grew steadily over the centuries and merged with Mellon Financial in 2007.   The Bank of… Read More

The Minnesota Real Estate Journal brought a striking fact to my attention: There are three times as many self-storage facilities in the United States as there are McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD).  It may seem like there is practically a Golden Arches on every street corner, with the fast food chain operating 14,350 restaurants in the country in 2014. But the number of storage facilities dwarfed that at 48,500. Currently, about 10% of Americans rent a storage facility. And about 50% have used one at some point in their lives. These numbers will grow as storage demand increases. According… Read More

The Minnesota Real Estate Journal brought a striking fact to my attention: There are three times as many self-storage facilities in the United States as there are McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD).  It may seem like there is practically a Golden Arches on every street corner, with the fast food chain operating 14,350 restaurants in the country in 2014. But the number of storage facilities dwarfed that at 48,500. Currently, about 10% of Americans rent a storage facility. And about 50% have used one at some point in their lives. These numbers will grow as storage demand increases. According to the Self Storage Association, over the past 40 years, this has been one of the fastest growing segments of the commercial real estate sector. #-ad_banner-#​Stephen Mutty, senior vice president of real estate service company Colliers International, said the industry is growing because people “simply can’t throw stuff away.” So, consumers pay to buy it, and then they pay to store it. The U.S. self-storage industry generates more than $24 billion in annual revenue, and market research firm IBISWorld estimates that figure will grow to $31 billion in 2019. The sector has been described by analysts as “recession… Read More

Note: Stay tuned at the end of this article for a bonus trade you can make immediately to turn a 16% stock move into 62% gains in the next eight and a half months. And if you’d like to receive more profit amplifying trades each week, you can sign up here. I’ll admit it. I’m an online video addict. I watch video highlights of virtually every Calgary Flames hockey game and hang on every word of Coach Bob Hartley’s taped post-game interviews on my computer. When I’m out, I watch live game footage on my iPhone. Read More

Note: Stay tuned at the end of this article for a bonus trade you can make immediately to turn a 16% stock move into 62% gains in the next eight and a half months. And if you’d like to receive more profit amplifying trades each week, you can sign up here. I’ll admit it. I’m an online video addict. I watch video highlights of virtually every Calgary Flames hockey game and hang on every word of Coach Bob Hartley’s taped post-game interviews on my computer. When I’m out, I watch live game footage on my iPhone. Back home, before I go bed, I check Yahoo and CNBC for market analysis. When I’ve caught up on stocks, I turn to geopolitical events. My appetite for video is diverse and omnivorous. Moreover, I’m far from alone, and that creates a trading opportunity. #-ad_banner-#One of the best ways to profit from the explosion in online video is Level 3 Communications (NYSE: LVLT).  The company provides one of the largest international Internet backbones and is instrumental in transmitting data, video and voice across the world. It operates in over 500 markets across 60 countries. Read More

By the end of 2015, it’s estimated that nearly 4.9 billion people worldwide will use mobile phones, up 5% from last year. By 2018, it’s projected there will be 5.5 billion users, a 12% increase in a three-year period. This growth provides a strong tailwind for select telecom stocks. I say “select” because mobile phone usage is not evenly divided across the world. In many countries, the market is already close to saturated. China, India and the United States, for example, have the highest mobile usage, in that order. In the United States, there are more mobile phones in use… Read More

By the end of 2015, it’s estimated that nearly 4.9 billion people worldwide will use mobile phones, up 5% from last year. By 2018, it’s projected there will be 5.5 billion users, a 12% increase in a three-year period. This growth provides a strong tailwind for select telecom stocks. I say “select” because mobile phone usage is not evenly divided across the world. In many countries, the market is already close to saturated. China, India and the United States, for example, have the highest mobile usage, in that order. In the United States, there are more mobile phones in use than there are people living in the country, as many people have more than one active phone. The U.S. market is also fragmented. There are five major wireless providers and dozens of smaller ones. #-ad_banner-#The picture is much different north of the border. In Canada, there is far less competition. In fact, there are only three main providers: BCE (NYSE: BCE), formerly known as Bell Canada Enterprises, Rogers Communications (NYSE: RCI) and Telus (NYSE: TU).  Although Canada’s population and market is smaller than that of the United States, several factors point to strong mobile phone growth ahead. Currently, only about… Read More

“The world is on the brink of a demographic milestone,” claims the World Health Organization (WHO). According to WHO, children have outnumbered adults since the beginning of recorded history. But this situation is poised to change. For the first time, seniors over age 65 will soon outnumber children under 5. Two factors primarily account for this shift: declining fertility rates and medical advances prolonging life spans. This demographic shift creates a big opportunity for select health care firms. #-ad_banner-#Against the backdrop of the increasing need for medical care due to longer life expectancies, a trend is emerging. U.S. hospitals appear… Read More

“The world is on the brink of a demographic milestone,” claims the World Health Organization (WHO). According to WHO, children have outnumbered adults since the beginning of recorded history. But this situation is poised to change. For the first time, seniors over age 65 will soon outnumber children under 5. Two factors primarily account for this shift: declining fertility rates and medical advances prolonging life spans. This demographic shift creates a big opportunity for select health care firms. #-ad_banner-#Against the backdrop of the increasing need for medical care due to longer life expectancies, a trend is emerging. U.S. hospitals appear to be losing patients to ambulatory and homecare services. Over the past five years, hospital inpatient stays have declined 4% while the home health care market has grown. And it looks like this trend will continue. According to a 2014 report by Transparency Market Research, the global home health care market is expected to explode to $303.6 billion in 2020, up from $176.1 billion in 2013, growing at a compound rate of more than 8% per year. One company that should be a direct beneficiary of the growth in home health care is Kentucky-based Almost Family (NASDAQ:… Read More