Commercial Real Estate – why now’s the time to buy!
David Fessler, regular contributor to Investment U, shares his current analysis of the Commercial Real Estate market – and why now might be the time to jump right in!
A little stress does a body good
By Andrew Snyder, TodaysFinancialNews.com
Baltimore — (TFN): Sometimes a little stress pays big rewards. The last four days have been about as haywire as I ever want to endure. On Friday, my pregnant wife endured a surgery where the ever-dreaded “C” word was discussed.
On Saturday we had the worst December snowfall on record. And on Sunday, when I tried to bring the pretty lady home our driveway was plowed shut with over two feet of snow blocking our path.
So, I did what any husband would do, parked the car in the neighbor’s driveway, cranked up the heat for the wife and got to shoveling.
In the end, it all worked out. We can rule out cancer. The baby is 100% healthy.…
Put your hand under the cash waterfall
By Andrew Snyder, TodaysFinancialNews.com
Baltimore — (TFN): We all have a friend like him. For me it’s a guy named Greg. He has some great ideas and his entrepreneurial spirit runs deep, but for some reason, his plans never seem to make it to fruition. Somewhere from the drawing board to the production line, he runs into a debilitating snag.
Most of the time, it’s money.
He’s got great ideas but nary a penny to his name. That’s why I told him to ring up old Uncle Sam… collect. Washington’s handing out all sorts of dollars these days. He might as well put his hand under the waterfall.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the Department of Energy is handing out some $40 billion…
Solar Energy Stocks – Why you shouldn’t listen to the experts
David Fessler, Advisory Panelist for Investment U, looks at the state of alternative energy and why conventional experts may be wrong about the industry.
When in doubt, buy booze, babes and bullets
By Andrew Snyder, TodaysFinancialNews.com
Baltimore — (TFN): As we get older, the list of regrets grows. It’s natural. The more days we put in, the more mistakes we make. Hopefully, the list of successes grows even faster, but today’s about the mistakes.
We’ll say it’s in honor of Tiger Woods, the last celeb to bit nibble the forbidden fruit.
We all have regrets. The house we should have bought. The car we shouldn’t have sold. The girl we should have taken to prom. Or the pilot we shouldn’t have trusted.
And of course, there are the stocks we should have bought and the one’s we never should have touched. The more you invest, the longer your list will grow.
For a good friend of mine, one…
Gold – Not the end, but possibly a correction
The price of gold has surged this year, taking gold shares upwards with it. Readers of my Xcelerated Profits Report have rung the register with 45% profits on Goldcorp (NYSE: GG) and a triple-digit winner on Golden Star Resources (NYSE: GSS). We’re also up big on Yamana Gold (NYSE: AUY) at the moment.
All is good, right?
On the surface, perhaps. But not if you believe what the options market is saying…
Investment Basics: Ten Rules for Success
Keith Fitz-Gerald (Money Morning):
With all the financial woes in the global economy, the worst thing an investor can do is to “freeze up.” With all the ups and downs in the market, it’s all too easy for investors to allow their emotions to take control. That’s when the smallest mistakes turn into the biggest mistakes.
There’s one antidote for this problem … remembering a few basic rules. Just embrace the 10 ideas that follow and you’ll be in line to make some serious money in the months ahead.
Rule Number 1: Invest on the Right Side of Major Economic Trends:That old investing adage “Don’t fight the Fed” serves as a good example here. Rising interest-rate environments make meaningful gains difficult to sustain…
The Two Investing Mistakes to Avoid at all Costs
Two distinct groups of investors have emerged since the U.S. stock market rally began in early March. Initially overly cautious and smug in their desire to protect themselves, the first group of investors were convinced the rally was going to sputter and stall. It hasn’t, and 57% later these investors now believe they’re getting left behind, so they’re piling into the key indices in effort to make up lost ground.
The second group consists of investors who believe they can outsmart the market. They’ve stayed on the sidelines, planning to buy in and make their fortunes when the markets break down a second time. But they may never get their chance.
Both strategies are flawed. And both ignore the single strategy that…
Retail Industry is Getting Attractive
The downtrodden retail industry is on the move today. Thanks to good news from companies like Liz Claiborne (NYSE:LIZ) and Wet Seal (NASDAQ:WTSLA), investors are putting some profits in their shopping bags.
Prepare for the worst. Hope for the best. That’s the motto of the nation’s retail industry these days.
With consumers stitching their wallets shut and retailers slashing their margins in an attempt to attract the few Americans left that are willing to spend, expectations are not high for stores setting up shop in the nation’s malls.
But with low expectations come big surprises.
With the first batter of the latest earnings season, Alcoa (NYSE:AA), hitting a triple last night, optimism is on the rise. Thanks to some better-than-expected same-store sales figures…
Why You Need to Look at these Three ‘Zombie-Free Zones’
Quantum Fund co-founder George Soros had it right on Monday, when he said the U.S. recovery would be held back by “basically bankrupt” banks and companies.
I call them the “zombies,” the institutions being propped up by government bailouts. Companies like Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C), Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC), General Motors Corp., Chrysler LLC, etc. On an operating level, these walking dead are sucking the life out of the recovery.
Unlike in previous downturns, huge resources have been devoted to propping up entities that should have been taken out of the picture.
Of course, it’s easy to avoid zombies directly. No one is going to force you to take a position in GM. But if you really want to know where to look…
Natural Gas Industry Braces for Impact
If the news today is an indication of things to come, the next few months are not going to be pretty. If the big boys are preparing for the worst, imagine the fear from the debt-ridden little guys.
And so it begins. Just yesterday, we here at the TFN offices got into a late-day discussion about the fate of the nation’s natural gas markets.
With prices remaining low and entirely removed from the recent commodities bonanza, the nation’s expanding natural gas drilling industry is headed for trouble.
Today we got the news that proves our theory.
ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP), the third largest of the nation’s Big Oil players, announced it is cutting its capital spending budget by nearly 10% and is selling some $10 billion…
H.J. Heinz Co. (NYSE: HNZ) Is a Long-Term Keeper, but Will Struggle in the Months Ahead
H.J. Heinz Co. (NYSE: HNZ) dominates in the ketchup market. There is no second. And Heinz has taken advantage of its revered ketchup brand over the years to develop organically and acquire other brands.
However, its overdependence on developed markets and a sluggish U.S. consumer are currently holding the company back.
Emerging markets are where growth is today. It’s clear that Heinz understands that, because emerging markets now account for about 14% of the company’s sales. But the rate of Heinz’s emerging market sales growth is still disappointing.
Heinz has been growing this category, but only at a rate of about 1% to 2% of its total sales per year – even with the company’s brand acquisitions. And to make matters worse Heinz…
hhgregg, Inc.: The Only Retail Stock Worth Buying Right Now
For the first time in six months, retail sales ticked higher in August.
Granted, it wasn’t by much – a scant 0.7% higher than July. But it’s inevitable that consumers will eventually get back to their spending ways as this recession subsides.
And if you’re looking for a way to play it, consider hhgregg, Inc. (NYSE: HGG). Here’s why…
hhgregg, Inc: This Retailer is Bucking the Industry Trend
Based in Indianapolis, the hhgregg operates 111 retail stores selling consumer electronics and home appliances. Yes, I know that’s the same stuff you can get at your typical Best Buy (NYSE: BBY), Home Depot (NYSE: HD), or Lowe’s (NYSE: LOW).
But this company is hardly typical.
While most retailers are focused on survival, hhgregg’s in full-on attack mode. It’s not pinching pennies…