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  • Finance 0

    The Newest Dividend King

    Hormel (HRL) is the most recent dividend king to be crowned. The company recently raised its dividend by 16%, marking its 50th consecutive dividend increase. Any company that manages such an accomplishment is worth becoming familiar with, and HRL is no exception. The company has one of the safest dividends around and has grown its dividend by 18% per year over the last five years. While we don’t yet own HRL in our Top 20 Dividend Stocks portfolio, dividend investors might want to keep an eye on the company for several reasons. Business Overview HRL has been in operation for 125 years and is a multinational manufacturer and marketer of ...
    On January 26, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    AMZN Out, GOOGL In

    Two ‘internet stocks’ used to play the DJINET/stock market bounce scenario As noted the other day, I did what I thought was the right thing and de-risked the ‘bounce’ scenario by taking some profits.  Included in that was a sale of the over valued but awesome Amazon (AMZN). Today I replaced it with less over valued and maybe even more awesome Alphabet (GOOGL).  Each of these are just plays on NFTRH’s view of support for the DJINET at 280 as noted a week ago. So the market bounce labors on and though yesterday got a little hairy, the potential is still for SPX to probe up near 2000 (I still hold SPY, my largest current position)....
    On January 26, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    Bear Market Opportunity: Earn A Safe And Growing 24% Yield

    Hop on this once-in-a-decade opportunity to earn a 24% and growing yield from an ETF that only owns companies with stable, fee-based revenues. With little downside risk to the dividend being reduced, this is a best buy stock on sale today. With the recent declines in the stock market, I have been spending a lot of time talking with subscribers and followers about investing through this type of market and not giving in to the desire to sell and lose money. As a dividend-focused investor, I want to take advantage of periods when share prices are down; buying shares of high quality income stocks at a discount and with higher yields. An important...
    On January 26, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    January 2016 Conference Board Consumer Confidence Improves

    Written by Doug Short and Steven Hansen The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index improved to 98.1 in January from the December final reading of 96.3, a small downward revision of December’s initial 96.5. The market expected (from Bloomberg) this index to come in between 91.0 to 99.2 (consensus 96.0). Note that this data is considered preliminary, and the cutoff for these results was 14 January 2016. Here is an excerpt from The Conference Board: The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index®, which had increased in December, improved moderately in January. The Index now stands at 98.1 (1985=100), up from 96.3 in December. The...
    On January 26, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    SP 500 And NDX Futures Daily Charts – Rally Mode Of The Day – An APPL A Day

    US equities were in rally mode today, ahead of the FOMC decision tomorrow and Apple’s earnings out tonight. As you may recall I have suggested that we would see stocks rally off the recent bottom, and then go up and take back a goodly chunk of the recent decline. And unless something changes, and the Fed’s monetary policy *might* qualify if it changes enough, stocks are likely to fail in this rally at some point and go back down to test a new low, or at least retest the prior one. So let’s see what happens while the world waits for AAPL. Have a pleasant evening....
    On January 26, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    Oil Prices And Stocks Crashing For The Same Reason

    Peter Schiff recently appeared on Newmax Prime with J.D. Hayworth and tackled the issue of falling oil prices and crashing stock markets, saying there is no causal relationship between the two. In fact, both are crashing for the same reason: (Video length 00:04:26) Wall Street is just trying to blame the carnage in the stock market on oil prices. But that’s not really why stocks are going down. The reality is oil prices and stocks are both going down for the same reason, and it’s because the Federal Reserve is threatening to raise interest rates and the dollar has moved higher. Stocks and the oil price are adjusting down to reflect the h...
    On January 26, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    E Talking Numbers: Amazon

    Five years ago, Amazon (AMZN) closed at $171. It recently traded at $594. That is a pretty spectacular five year return – just over 28% annualized. Returns have been delivered by the stock. And performance has been delivered by the company. Sales per share have grown from $76 per share in 2010 to $227 per share expected for 2015. Cash Earnings per share [Estimated as Earnings Plus Depreciation, Amortization and Non-Cash Charges] has grown from $3.8 in 2010 to $12 expected for 2015. What’s to worry about? The shares have delivered spectacular returns, but the company has delivered an equally spectacular performance, so everything must be a...
    On January 26, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    Apple A Buy Prior To Q1 Earnings Report

    Apple Inc. (AAPL) is engaged in designing, manufacturing and marketing mobile communication and media devices, personal computers, and portable digital music players. The Company’s products and services include iPhone, iPad, Mac, iPod, Apple TV, a portfolio of consumer and professional software applications, the iOS and Mac OS X operating systems, iCloud, and a range of accessory, service and support offerings. It sells its products worldwide through its online stores, its retail stores, its direct sales force, third-party wholesalers, and resellers. Apple Inc. is headquartered in Cupertino, California. Apple is reporting Q1 earnings af...
    On January 26, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    5 Huge Misunderstandings About The Current Investing Environment

    Over the weekend, the Denver Broncos beat the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship. Popular football analysts had – across the board, it seemed – believed the Patriots were a “shoe-in.” They were wrong. Peyton Manning could still throw deep passes to score touchdowns. And Denver’s defense rattled Tom Brady on nearly every Patriot possession. In a similar vein, an overwhelming majority of analysts believed that the ending of QE3 in December of 2014 and the 0.25% rate hike in December of 2015 would not adversely affect risk assets. They were wrong. Fed monetary policy involves so much more than short-term overnight lending ra...
    On January 26, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    Bear Of The Day: Acacia Research

    Acacia Research (ACTG – Snapshot Report) has consistently been a Zacks #4 Rank (Sell) or #5 Rank (Strong Sell) for most of the past three years. In that time, the stock has fallen from $30 to new 7-year lows this month under $4. Acacia Research Corporation, through its subsidiaries, develops, acquires, and licenses patented technologies. It assists patent owners with the prosecution and development of their patent portfolios, protection of their patented inventions from unauthorized use, generation of licensing revenue from users of their patented technologies and enforcement against unauthorized users of their patented technologies....
    On January 26, 2016 / By