. . . Successful contrarians watch the market sentiment

There’s one market-timing indicator that beats all others – stupidity. One thing I’ve learned is that you can always bet on the crowd to do the WRONG thing with their money.  It’s spooky.  Every time a big enough group of people believes the same thing, it turns out to be a load of bullshit.  Dot-com stocks . . . the YRK bug . . . the housing bubble.  Put simply, crowds are dumb.  You can make them do just about anything and follow all sorts of stupid advice.

That’s why being a contrarian investor is so important. A true contrarian sells hysteria and buys despair.  History clearly shows this is the one of the only proven ways to make money over the long haul.  When prices are high there’s a self-correcting mechanism and when prices are low there’s a self-correcting mechanism.  Investors’ perceptions of the future are shaped by their immediate past and they tend to chase high-priced, popular sectors that are set for collapse and they tend to avoid low-priced sectors that are set to soar.  Just buying into a sector because it’s unpopular isn’t necessarily a good idea, however.  An astute contrarian invests in an unpopular sector that will become popular again.

“You’re either a contrarian or a victim.  The choice is yours.” says legendary resources investor, Rick Rule.

Most investors are lazy and choose the easier, less informative method of watching only the stock price– but understanding the price is absolutely useless information if you don’t know what it’s worth.  P/E ratios are a good place to start.  One simple way to invest like a true contrarian is to keep an eye on sentiment.  Sentiment tells you what the crowd is thinking.  There are two main types of sentiment indicators. Both are useful signals as to whether investors have become over optimistic…or over pessimistic.

1.     The Short Ratio – tells how many investors are short a stock or/and an entire market. That’s how many investors are betting a stock or a market will fall in price (calculated by dividing the short interest by average daily trading volume.)  An unusually low short ratio is often a sign of complacency and a signal to sell.  An unusually high ratio is a signal to buy.

2.     Investor Surveys – a number of surveys record the bullish vs. bearish percentage of investors.  One isInvestors Intelligence which tells you what percentage of investment advisors are bullish and what percentage are bearish.  Another useful measure from Hulbert’s Financial Digest tracks the sentiment of newsletter editors.  When newsletter editors are at bullish extremes, it’s time to sell. When they’re at bearish extremes it’s time to buy.

Successful contrarian investors need to do the hard leg work and homework on their investments — and watch the market sentiment.

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Everyone make sure to tune into ABC tomorrow night at 8:00 PM to watch a new episode of their hit show, Shark Tank. For those of you who’ve never see the show, your missing out. Shark Tank is where five successful entrepreneurs fight over promising startups, and ruthlessly chew up the unprepared or those who aren’t business minded. Anyone who is interested in the world of business, venture capital, or money will love this show. It provides a wealth of knowledge about what venture capitalists need to hear before they invest in your company. Plus the fighting between the sharks alone is as great as entertainment can come. The key to being successful when you come into the shark tank is as easy as three steps:

1. Have a great idea that either makes money or has potential to.
2. Be prepared, from top to bottom know the in’s and out’s of your business and have everything to present to wow the sharks. Being unprepared, stuttering, or having any mix-ups will get you eaten alive through harsh criticism and ruthless comments and leave you empty handed.
3. Have the X-Factor, something to wow the Sharks and get them opening their checkbooks to get a part of your business. If you nail the presentation and wow the Sharks your financial worries will be all over as you’ll have every Shark their willing to not only give you and your business the money needed to grow and expand but they will provide you with the necessary resources and contacts to take your business to the next level.

Like the business world, things can get quite ruthless in the Shark Tank and there is no holding back. It’s what makes the show such a hit and so entertaining the constant battling not only between the entrepreneurs and the sharks but the sharks themselves. Before we get into the many great business lessons you can learn from the show we first have to let you in on who the five sharks are that you will be presenting to, ranked from net-worth:

Mark Cuban, Net Worth $2.3 Billion: You might all know Mark Cuban as the flamboyant, outspoken owner of the Dallas Mavericks. You see all these great qualities in full effect during Shark Tank where Cuban constantly battles Kevin O’Leary as the most critical and harsh of the all Sharks. Cuban started out his career by launching a company, MicroSolutions, which was a system integrator and software reseller. He sold it to H&R Block for $6 million and used this seed capital to launch his next venture, Broadcast.com an online sports webcasting company. He capitalized by selling Broadcast during the dot come boom to Yahoo for $5.9 billion. Since then along with running the Dallas Mavericks and being a prominent figure on Shark Tank, Cuban runs his own investment company and has become a rather outspoken, popular media mogul.

Kevin O’Leary, Net Worth $300 Million: Kevin like Cuban is by far one of the most entertaining of the bunch. It’s because his ruthless behavior and no limits deliver great punch lines, sometimes they can be quite mean, as he doesn’t hold back. While some people might be offended others find it hysterical as if you like Simon Cowell from American Idol and the X-Factor and his harsh criticism then you will love Kevin, as it’s hard to imagine but he’s even more ruthless than Simon. The guy only cares about one thing and that’s making money. If you have a great idea then he’ll be your best friend but if you stutter or goof up at all during your presentation be ready for his ruthless comments. O’Leary has had a successful business career making the majority of his wealth by creating an education software program that he sold to Mattel for $3.8 billion. Since then along with his duties on Shark Tank and being a venture capitalist he runs O’Leary Funds, a mutual fund company that targets buy and hold investors.

Robert Herjavec, Net Worth $100 Million: Robert is the kindest of all the male Sharks however he can dish out criticism from time to time. A software guy himself he founded an Internet security company that he later sold to Nokia for $225 million. He currently is CEO of Herjacveck Group, a security software program he founded in 2003 along with being a venture capitalist through his Shark Tank duties.

Daymond John, Net Worth $100 Million: The original founder of the popular clothing line, FUBU. John is a true story of rags to riches as he use to sew and make his clothes himself in his mothers basement making $800 a day until he and his mother mortgaged their house for $100,000 to generate startup capital. Well this great risk paid off, as FUBU has become a prominent global clothing brand that at its peak has generated over $400 million in revenue in a single year. Along with being current CEO & President of Fubu, John is an active venture capitalist, which is why he has been a great addition to the show. While critical he is very articulate and educated when it comes to giving advice and voicing his opinion.

Barbara Corcoran, Net Worth $50 Million: Barbara is a real estate mogul and has been doing it for quite some time. She originally founded her company, The Corcoran Group, in 1973 with the help of her wealthy boyfriend, who fronted her the original loan. After having a successful career she sold her company for $66 million in 2003 and now along with being an investor on Shark Tank she has become a motivational speaker, author, and popular television personality. Considered the nicest of the bunch also being the only woman, Barbara often sides with female entrepreneurs and gangs up against the men calling them ruthless pigs. However don’t let her pretty face fool you, she can get down and dirty and be just as ruthless as the boys at times.

So now you know who the Sharks are make sure to tune into ABC every Friday at 8:00 PM to watch the show!

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Becoming a success investor is not rocket science but it does take some intelligence along with setting out a plan of action. Below are Five of Stocks on Wall Street’s Rules to Becoming a Successful Investor:

1. Invest without emotions. Use your head not your heart. Emotions get in the way of logic, make a plan that will let you be accountable and disciplined. Don’t get overcomplicated with your plan either. It can be a simple trading strategy with simple rules. Like Warren Buffet always has said, “you don’t need to be a genius to make good money investing.”

2. Don’t set your expectations too high, be realistic. Don’t expect to make $1,000 off a $2,500 investment in six months time. While it is always doable, don’t count on it. Set realistic expectations and then be happy when you exceed them.

3. Don’t think a trade is always going to recover; sometimes it’s the smarter move to take a small loss now instead of taking a large loss later.

4. Don’t always think a good company is going to make you good money. You make money from the company’s performance. Sometimes good companies will struggle and the stock can go down whereas sometimes-bad companies stocks will soar.

5. End of day do your own research and be comfortable with the trade before you make it. Don’t make a trade solely on what someone else says, do your own analysis and if you agree with their investment idea then be confident and make the trade.

What’s Next?

We are always hear to help you with any of your investment questions or needs. Two programs we now offer are Free Portfolio Reviews where we will overlook your investments, let you know what we think about each position, inform you on whether or not you have a balanced portfolio, & give you a detailed report on our findings.

Also if you don’t invest at all we do comprehensive Free Brokerage Account Setup’s where we will get you setup with the right brokerage account that fits your personal financial needs along with giving you an investment plan to help you reach financial freedom.

If you are interested in either simply Contact Us by Clicking on the LINK or email us at jameshartje@stocksonwallstreet.com!

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Want to be a successful businessman? Want to rule an industry? Want to be hated because you’re the best at what you do? Well if you wish for any of these, then just mimic everything Ari Gold does. For those of you who’ve never watched HBO’s proclaimed comedy ‘Entourage’ then you are sure missing out. In the show, one of the stars is Ari Gold, the star-studded agent and ruthless negotiator. You’ll quickly learn that the tactics that make Ari Gold so great at his job are the same tactics that make everyone else hate him. This is why we love Ari Gold and why we believe he has the characteristics, behavior, attitude, and tools to succeed in any industry:

1. His swag, his style. His quick twitch, ADD behavior which is a wrecking ball to anyone who gets in his way. He never takes NO as an answer.

2.  Ari Gold may be considered an a**hole to many, but results don’t lie and that’s something everyone needs to learn in life. The key in life is to get the job done. If your boss asks you to do something, do anything to get it done. Of course follow some form of moral/ethical code as we don’t want to create another Bernie Madoff here but beside the point, always get the job done. If you can get the job done & produce results you’ll have a job forever!

3. Ari Gold knows how to work the system. Never cheat the system, just use it to your advantage. It’s not lying if you don’t tell them the full extent of the truth. Find out the information you want to know first then let them in. Always leverage everything you have, even if it’s very little. Find flaws in the system and take advantage and capitalize on them.

4. Ari Gold is scared of no one, no opportunity, no challenge. In many cases throughout the life, take the path less traveled. Don’t be scared to take risks, as it’s those risks that will pay off the biggest rewards and if you do fail then it’s just another learning opportunity and a step towards success. Remember, you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.

5. Ari Gold knows how to convince anyone in any situation. Learning to convince people to side with you, take a chance in you, believe in you is the key in life. If you can convince one person, you can convince the world.

6. Ari Gold has a compassionate side and knows the importance of friendship & relationships. Throughout the series you will see the bond that grows between Vince and Ari. Never burn bridges that hold you up. There is no satisfaction in success if there is no one to share it with.

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Recently we were thinking about movies with some kind of financial lesson.  The financial side of making films has always intrigued us.  Historically the Oscars have always been proof that the biggest budget doesn’t always give the best ROI.  In 2010, the lowest grossing Oscar winning film in history – The Hurt Locker – beat out the highest grossing picture in history – Avatar.

Here’s my list of the top 10 movies ever made that have a financial lesson inside of them.

1.  Boiler Room (2000) – A college dropout gets a job and enjoys fast success at a brokerage house selling phony stock.  However, the job turns out not be as legit as it sounds.  This film is mix of Wall Street and Glengarry Glen Ross thrown in.  Although there’s no character here that can compare to Michael Douglas’ Gordon Gekko.

Lesson:  Great morality lesson dealing with the desire to get rich quick, regardless of the consequences.

2.  Wall Street (1987) – “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good”.  This line by ruthless corporate raider, Gordon Gekko, summed up the business ethics of the 1980s, when greed, corruption and the predatory nature of the financial world was at its most conspicuous.  The film charts the ascent of a young, ambitious stockbroker who’s taken under Gekko’s wing and struggles with whether it’s better to have money or integrity.  Gekko is the embodiment of corporate malfeasance, but also portrayed as a business guru.  His glamor and power probably inspired a lot of young men to enter investment banking over the last two decades. As Gekko said, “It’s all about bucks, kid. The rest is conversation.”

Lesson:  Greed is good.  What’s worth doing is worth doing for money.  Lunch is for wimps.  If you need a friend, buy a dog.  So goes the wisdom of Gordon Gekko, ruthless investor, legendary financier – and the star of one of the best movies ever made about money.  This film also provides a great backdrop to the landscape that led to the financial crisis of 2008.

3.  Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) – Times are tough.  This is the ultimate real estate high pressure sales environment film where making money is the bottom line.  A desperate group of Chicago investment property real estate salesmen suffer in a down market, a sales contest is launched and anyone who fails loses his job.

Now that the property bubble has burst, some real estate offices may soon seem a little bit more “Glengarry”.  There’s no room for losers, only ‘closers’ will get the good sales leads.  Some regarded this film as a critique of the impact of Reaganomics.

Lesson:  Too much pressure to succeed can boil over into tragedy with unforeseen consequences.

With the upcoming premiere of the film “Wall Street – Money Never Sleeps” it got me thinking about movies with some kind of financial lesson.  The financial side of making filmshasalways intrigued me.  This year’s Oscars were yet again proof that the biggest budget doesn’t always give the best ROI.  In 2010, the lowest grossing Oscar winning film in history – The Hurt Locker – beat out the highest grossing picture in history – Avatar.

Here’s my list of the top 10 movies ever made that have a financial lesson inside of them.

4.  Maxed Out. Hard times. Easy Credit. The Era of Predatory Lending (2006) – This documentary shows how the modern financial industry really works.  It explores America’s love with credit and leveraged debt and tells us why the poor are getting poorer and the rich getting richer.  When Hurricane Katrina ravaged America’s coast, it revealed that America was far from the world’s wealthiest nation.  It also highlighted America’s crumbling beneath a staggering burden of individual and government debt.  Maxed Out shows how predatory lending was out of control, including credit cards pumped to college kids who had no income.  This is a great movie.  It’ll make you feel different about your money.

Lesson:  It delivers a great lesson on how to borrow and shows why you don’t want to live on credit.  Credit is the devil.  Do you know anyone who got into trouble because they didn’t borrow too much money?  Maxed Out paints a picture of a national nightmare which is all too real for most of us – out of control spending and an irrational use of credit.

5.  Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005) – Before Bernie Madoff, there were Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling who ran the Houston energy firm that was going to reinvent how energy was going to be done in America.  Enron was highly profitable, had a great amount of cash flow and earnings and the stock price soared.  Its executives cashed out options worth millions and told employees their best 401K option was Enron stock.  Thousands lost all their retirement savings because they put all their bets on one company.  Took Enron 16 yrs to from 10b assets to 65b assets, but it took them 24 days to go bankrupt.  It won the Academy Award for best documentary.

Lessons:   Have a financial plan, have a discipline.  If you have a stock that looks too good to be true and it just keeps going up, up, up, it’s probably too good to be true.  Diversify, Diversify, Diversify.  Don’t put all your eggs into one basket.

6.  Working Girl (1988) – Melanie Griffith plays Tess McGill.  Endearing 80s film.  Ultimately she takes a job as a secretary but she wants to rise in investment world.  Wants to rise to power, combines her business degree from night school w/ her street smart acumen & pulls of a mega-merger.  Total fantasy.  Prince charming happy ending w/ Harrison Ford.  “I have a head for business and a body for sex.”, says Melanie Griffith’s character.  Go back to night school, go back & get a degree.  Go get educated, you’ll get leverage.  No one can take your education away from you.

Lessons:  Your education, your smarts can’t be wiped out in a recession.  Your earning power is rooted in your skills, in your education.  Provides an entertaining reminder that if you have something to offer your co. & they don’t seem too interested, then take your skills elsewhere.  If you are a super powerful earner at one job, you can make yourself a super powerful earner anywhere.

7.  Treasure of the Sierra Madre.  1948.  Classic western cautionary tale about how not to launch a venture.  If you took everything that Howard Dobbs & Kutan did in this movie: “Get rich quickly without a credible business plan.”  “Badges, we don’t need no stinking badges.”  Don’t swing blindly, don’t come up w/ a get rich quick scheme, don’t do a pyramid scheme, don’t sell products from your house to your friends or recruit your friends.

Lesson:  In life, as in baseball, you’re gonna strike out.  You don’t want to strike out blindly while your pursuing a huge home run.  You gotta know your business, know your partners, know where you are in all of this.

8.  Mr. Blanding Builds His Dream House (1948) – Was remade into The Money Pit, starring Tom Hanks & Shelly Long.  Owning a home ain’t cheap.  It can turn into a massively expensive ordeal.  Home is really a money pit.  Owning a home comes w/ a lot of responsibility, gotta have credit, gotta have a down payment, pay your bills, maintain the home, gotta know the risks up front.  It’s expensive.  You gotta know the worse case scenarios, all the risks, the downside.

Lesson:  Shows how the American dream of owning a home can go terribly wrong.  Home ownership is not for everybody and shouldn’t be promoted as such by the government.

9.  Confessions Of A Shopaholic (2009) – About a chic who’s struggling with a debilitating obsession with shopping and has 12 maxed out credit cards.  She unintentionally lands a job as a financial journalist and falls for a wealthy entrepreneur. Don’t buy a $400 watch because it quickly depreciates to nothing.  I will buy a $4,000 Rolex – nothing less than a Rolex — because it can still be sold 10 yrs after you buy it for what you paid for it.  You use credit to buy things of value:  an education, a car to get you to work, (I prefer to buy 2-yr old used cars because it loses half its value up front when you drive it off the lot, but you can still get 50-60,000 miles out of it.)

Lesson:  Only use credit for things that have value.  Pay cash for everything else.

10.  Brewster’s Millions (1985) – The ultimate spending spree is something that most of us have daydreamt about at some time.  A minor league baseball player, Montgomery Brewster, (Richard Pryor) has to waste $30m in 30s days in order to inherit $300m; however, he’s not allowed to tell anyone about the $300m deal.

Lesson:  How corruptible too much money can be and how difficult it can be to use it responsibly.

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Don’t know what exactly a Stock is? Read the Mint’s info-graphic below and you’ll find out.

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Source: Mint

Hedge Fund titan Jon Paulson pulled off the greatest trade of all time in 2007, raking in a cool $15 billion in his bet against subprime mortgages - according to the International Business Times who ranked the top ten greatest trades of all-time. Some were brilliant masterminds, others were just plain lucky.

The Top Ten Greatest Trades of All-Time

1.    John Paulson’s bet against sub prime mortgages made him $15 billion in 2007

2.   Jesse Livermore’s call on the Crash of 1929 (a legendary trader featured in the popular book, Reminiscences of a Stock Operator).

3.   John Templeton’s foray into Japan in the 1960s (a true investment pioneer, Templeton foresaw the rise of Japan after World War II and profited hugely from it).

4.   George Soros’ breaking of the Bank of England in 1992 (Soros made $1 billion).

5.   Paul Tudor Jones’ shorting of Black Monday in October 1987 (he predicted the crash, bet a bundle & tripled his money as the market crashed 22% in one day).

6.   Andrew Hall’s $100 oil prediction (with oil trading at $30 per barrel in 2003, Hall bet prices would rise to $100 in 5 years; they did and he took home a personal paycheck of $100 million in 2008).

7.   David Tepper’s 2009 bet on financials (as the market hit its low in early 2009, Tepper bought financial services stocks & his fund earned $7 billion that year ($4 billion of that went to Tepper).

8.   Jim Chanos’ prescient shorts (his sharp analysis led him to predict the demise of Enron, WorldCom, and other firms, and he is known as the best short-seller in the world).

9.   Jim Rogers’ early call on commodities (he was bullish on commodities back in the 1990s & has been riding them to great profits ever since).

10.  Louis Bacon’s geopolitical play (he correctly predicted that Saddam Hussein would invade Kuwait in 1990 & profited handsomely by going long on oil & shorting stocks, which helped his fund return 86% that year).

Most of these trades were ‘global macro’ plays where huge, concentrated bets were made by analyzing fundamental economic/business conditions.  These investors excelled at turning a great observation about the world into a great investing idea. But, while these make the headlines, you never hear about the other investors who made a big call and missed, and ended up out of business.

It’s almost impossible for regular investor folks to make a ‘big score’ like these traders.  Rather than trying to throw a touchdown pass on every play and make a big score like these traders, the smarter game plan is to focus on trying to get consistent first downs. Do your homework, watch market/sector developments, don’t chase stocks up or down.  Do that, and the score may take care of itself.

Please also let us know which trade you find most impressive & your reason why by leaving a comment below, sending us a Tweet, of by commenting on our Facebook Fan Page!

Source: International Business Times

Shares of the iShares MSCI Turkey Investable Market Index Fund (NYSE: TUR) has soared throughout 2013 and has even hit its 52-week highs trading at $77.38. Turkey as a whole has been experiencing robust growth as the Borsa Istanbul National 100 has surged to its highest levels in the past 25 years. We have been huge supporters of TUR dating back to August 8^th, 2011 when we issued our first ‘BUY’ rating for the ETF in our article ‘iShares Turkey ETF (TUR) Poised for Success‘. Since then, TUR has appreciated +69.67% over the past 22 months.

What Attracts Investors to TUR

Investors looking to play the Turkish markets have few options. iShares MSCI Turkey Investable Market ETF (TUR) originally launched in 2008 is the only option avaliable to investors seeking a pure play exposure in the Turkish equity space. TUR is also the only ETF with dedicated Turkish exposure. The banking sector also plays a prominent role in the investable market in Turkey and TUR has a high concentration of financials in its portfolio.

What To Expect Going Forward

When it comes to Turkey, it has been the talk of a higher sovereign debt rating that has been lifting TUR, the lone ETF devoted exclusively to the country. Turkey, which has been engaged in a multi-decade conflict with Kurdish militants in the Southeast part of the country, is working to end the conflict. The government there is in negotiations with Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party or PKK, in a bid to end the bloodshed.

Just last month, Moody’s Investors reported that Turkey’s ongoing efforts to bring an end to the conflict could be a positive credit step. Fitch Ratings upgraded Turkey’s long-term foreign currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to BBB- from BB+ back in November and the Long-term local currency IDR to BBB from BB, this is huge news as it’s giving Turkey its first investment grade ratings in nearly two DECADES.

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This has been great news for investors as the speculation of a possible credit rating upgrade has lifted Turkish banks shares. TUR is heavily centered on the Turkish financial sector with 51.9% of its holdings in financial services stocks, quadruple its next largest sector weight, industrials.

Turkish Outlook

Turkey’s economy has some good signs heading their way. Beyond this falling inflation rate, investors should note that Turkey has seen a plunging growth rate as well.

Turkey has good medium-term growth prospects and a diverse economy. The nation’s debt-to-GDP ratio stands at 39.9%, much lower than the debt-to-GDP ratio of many developed economies. On top of this, the country has a low employment rate, government reforms, strong, solid banking system, and improved credit rating. Adding all these solid growth factors together and Turkey could prove to be a great investment market in Europe for years to come.

If you have any further questions on either TUR, Turkey’s economy or any investment at all don’t hesitatet to contact us at all by emailing us at jameshartje@StocksonWallStreet.com or Follow our Contact Form

Also make sure to tune in later this week for our long-term outlook on TUR along with more detailed analysis on both Turkey and other emerging markets.

The Cliff Stevenson Group is a leading real estate group that offers all the services one can expect from a top-tier real estate firm. From the start, one thing that really sets the Cliff Stevenson Group apart from its competition is their web presence and the amenities they offer online. Not only do they have a full service website with all the basic information but they also have many other great extra amenities that we rarely see other real estate agents implement. For example, all of the Cliff Stevenson Group’s current active listings are right there on the website so within one click of the mouse a potential buyer can see everything he has to offer including added details and information about each property. On top of that, you are able to access all of the Cliff Stevenson Group’s recent and past sales, which are great for prospective sellers who are shopping around real estate agents, as they are able to see the Cliff Stevenson Group’s track record and make the educated decision on whether or not it’s the right fit for them.

The thing that most impressed us about the Cliff Stevenson Group’s website is all the educational tools and resources they offer to their clients. By browsing through the website you are able to learn all the different aspects of buying and selling a home including added analysis on what effective strategies work and what doesn’t work. To most buyers this would be a huge resources as on average people don’t buy and sell their homes that often so it’s expected that they won’t know all the strategies to getting that great sale or making that great purchase. In addition to all the educational resources offered, the Cliff Stevenson Group also has a regular blog and a video blog to keep clients updated with their progress and to offer more additional resources and information. They also offer clients with market reports and detailed analysis on past and present sales plus what the real estate markets current trends are.

From going through the Cliff Stevenson Group’s website you can clearly see that not only are they a great real estate group offering all the top tier amenities and resources but that they also care and will go the extra mile to help you out.  If you select the ‘Meet the Team’ page you are able to get acquainted with each and every member of the Cliff Stevenson Group. In addition, you can also read past testimonials from various clients and after reading them you will see that everyone leaves more than pleased with the Cliff Stevenson Group’s service.  There is no question that the Cliff Stevenson Group is the premier real estate group in the Calgary area and if I were a home buyer or seller in that area I would hands down pick them to be my real estate broker and agent. Simply click on the link or go to http://www.cliffstevenson.com to get your own first hand experience at how great the Cliff Stevenson Group’s service is.

The senior citizens of today are slowly becoming more and more aggravated and increasingly discontented with their current life insurance plans. Part of this is because of the major changes that have taken place. In the past, people believed that life insurance was a necessity and as a result policies were accepted without argument. The reasons senior citizens are becoming more and more aggravated by the life insurance companies is due to the fact that the life insurance policies responsible for insuring individuals are not resourceful and offer little instruction to those interested in selling their policies. Furthermore, others have succumbed to simply receiving a small cash value for their policies, from the insurers themselves.

Due to all these problems, a third alternative has emerged, known as a life settlement. A life settlement is when a life insurance policy is sold to a party other than an insurance company, for more than its cash value, but less than the benefit that would be insured after death. For those who intend to liquidate their policies for financial gain, a life settlement can be an indispensable economic tool.

Currently the problem with life settlements is the fact that most of the population has no idea about what they are or how they work. As a result, many policyholders often resort to surrendering to a life insurance company just because they are not informed. Making such a move could cost you a significant amount of money, on average users can get 8 times the payout vs. surrendering to the life insurance company. That can add up to some serious money so make sure to read our full article as we are here to educate you on how the life settlement process works and how you can take action. We will also provide you with the right resources to take advantage of such an offer yourself.

What Are Life Settlements?

Life settlements function as a profitable source of security for senior citizens unable to afford their current policies. If a life insurance policy doesn’t meet the necessary requirements or if it fails to provide enough death benefits, the senior citizen is able to then sell his or her policy to a third party.

Once you have sold your life insurance policy, you are no longer required to pay for insurance premiums. Policy owners posses certain rights. Someone’s life insurances policy is basically their personal property therefore giving that owner the ability to manage or sell it if they wish. As far as sale value is concerned, there are no limitations to this process as a life insurance policy owner may sell their policy for whatever price they want. Life settlements work according to the policy owners’ rights. These liberties include changing the designation of the beneficiary, borrowing against the policy, selling the policy to another company or party, using the policy as collateral for a loan, and naming the beneficiary of the policy.

What Happens After You Sell

Once a sale is made, the seller may user the funds in any way they wish and they are not required to be above or below certain asset or income levels. During the sales process there are no upfront fees or hidden costs associated that might sneak up on a seller. After someone chooses to sell their policy, they then give all their death benefits to the new owner and in return receive a lump sum payment. The total amount of payment is based on the life expectancy of the seller.

How to Get Started

If you are now interested in taking advantage of the life settlement process or just want to learn a little more about how it works and speak to a professional broker then simply go to A Life Settlement’s website and click the ‘FREE! Get Started’ button. To be directed to the website simply click on the link below or go to http://www.alifesettlement.com/

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If you haven’t booked your summer plans yet, brace yourself. There’s actually good news this year, for a change. Airfares to many popular U.S. destinations have dropped. This is according to the Wall Street Journal who earlier this week posted an insightful article detailing the best places to fly this summer. WSJ added an entertaining graphic as well which you can see below:

As for the airline industry, as many of you know Stocks on Wall Street has been very bullish the past two years. Most specifically when it comes to the five airline stocks we hold:

Allegiant Travel (NASDAQ: ALGT)

Boeing (NYSE: BA)

Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL)

Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV)

UAL Corp (NYSE: UAL)

For those of you who haven’t read any of our past articles on the airline industry, simply click on the links below:

Five Airline Stocks That Continue To Soar

Five Airline Stocks That Have Soared to New Heights

Five Airline Stocks Ready to Pop

Going forward, we think that the airline industry might have seen it’s best days. We will be going into more detail about our thoughts in our article next week so make sure to tune into SWS throughout the week to find out more!

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Source: The Wall Street Journal

If you were able to flip a switch & go back a year ago today you know what you would have?  A lot of big questions marks & some major unknowns about what to expect from Stocks on Wall Street most recent investment advice. On April 30^th, 2012 to a lot of people’s surprise, Stocks on Wall Street published an article titled:

Three Small to Mid-Cap Chinese Tech Stocks Worth Watching!

The title is rather self-explanatory but just to make sure it’s clear to everyone we recommended our readers to invest in three relatively unknown, highly speculative small to mid cap Chinese tech stocks.

When we originally made these picks it was an interesting time to be involved in the technology sector.  Mark Zuckenburg has just taken Facebook public and thanks to the IPO heard around the world, many analysts and investors alike focused their full attention on Facebook’s IPO not recognizing that there was plenty of better investment opportunities out there, they just needed to be found. At the time, analysts were raving about America’s growing tech boom and all the different strong technology giants we had in the U.S. The thing was, many of these U.S. tech giants had done nothing to prove themselves and really it was the media blowing everything out of proportion most infamously the whole Facebook IPO and it’s 24/7 news coverage. When you looked at the facts, it was really China with the upper hand and the one in the driver seat. With a population of over 1.4 billion and a booming tech industry it was really China who had emerged as the true player in the tech world holding many of the top up and coming tech stocks. At the time our favorite Chinese tech stock was Tencent Holdings who is the equivalent of Facebook to China. All you need to do is put both Tencent Holdings (0700.HK) and Facebook’s (FB) charts next to each other to see which company was leading the way. At the time, we had already been current Tencent shareholders leading even more to our reasoning of finding a completely new investment route than we are use to.

Instead of choosing to invest in what many considered to be China’s three can’t miss, large-cap tech stocks. They are as follows, Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU), China Mobile (NYSE: CHL), & Sina Corporation (NASDAQ: SINA). We on the other hand decided to take the road less traveled and in this case steep.

Collectively we decided we would target three small to mid-cap Chinese tech stocks. The highly speculative nature of the picks was something that intrigued us quite a bit. While these stocks were relatively unknown to the average investor they weren’t to us. Like when making all our investment decisions, we made sure we new the inside and outs of all three picks and while they had some relatively high risks to them we believe the potential gains made them worth the risk. As a result, we invested in the following three Chinese tech stocks and for those of you who have read our original article you would know that we did outline the speculative nature of these picks just so our readers new that they weren’t your typical, conservative investment opportunity. The three stocks we invested in were the following:

1. RDA Microelectronics (NASDAQ: RDA)
2. Spreadtrum Communications (NASDAQ: SPRD)
3. Vimicro International (NASDAQ: VIMC)

Let a year quickly fly by & that’s how you get to where we are today. Did we make the right decision? Should we have gone with the Chinese Large Cap Options Instead?

Hands down we had made the right decision & no we were lucky we avoided investing in any of the Large Cap Chinese Stock Picks. Instead going the route of our three speculative Chinese tech plays ended up being the right call.  You can overlook these things in every possible nature but overall our decision paid off big-time especially when you factor in how our three Large Cap counterparts performed during that same time period.

If we had gone with our large cap tech strategy we would have held positions in the following:

1. Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU)
2. China Mobile (NYSE: CHL)
3. Sina Corporation (NASDAQ: SINA)

Over the past year, all three stocks performed well below their expectations producing negative overall yields across the board.

1. Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU) -36%
2. China Mobile (NYSE: CHL) -2%
3. Sina Corporation (NASDAQ: SINA) -6%

Together the three stocks resulted in a total loss of -44%. If you average that out over the three different picks you’d get -14.66% each.

How happy do you think our readers would have been if all we had to show them was a total net loss of -44%? Not happy one bit, we can tell you that.

Luckily, we chose the alternative route & as a result we believe our readers will be extremely pleased with our overall performance. Over the past year, all three stocks have taken virtually a different route than planned but the good part is RDA was the only pick that failed to produce any substantial gains. That’s right, RDA really struggled last year & heading into 2013 with the overall share price falling -28%. The good news is that SPRD decided to have an exceptional year grossing +57%, which will put us comfortably back in the lead. Finally, last but not least we have VIMC who performed steady & strong all year long grossing a total of +17%.

1.     RDA Microelectronics (NASDAQ: RDA) -28%

2.     Spreadtrum Communications (NASDAQ: SPRD) +57%

3.     Vimicro International (NASDAQ: VIMC) +17%

Together the three stocks resulted in a total gain of +46%. If you average that out over the three picks you’d get +15.33% each.

As you can see, it was quite a different tale of the two story lines.

A large part of our success comes directly thanks to the exceptional year that SPRD had appreciating over +57%.

You can’t let VIMC’s performance & achievements go unrecognized, as +17% is still a great one-year yield.

As for RDA, there’s not much we can say other than it just wasn’t their year. If anything, they were lucky they got to team up with such a dynamic duo as RDA’s -28% would them only behind BIDU as the worst pick of the group.

Not quite done just yet, there is one last thing we’d still like to analyze. Lets see how our 12-month price targets matched up with each picks actual total net gains.

To start we have VIMC who we originally bought at $1.28 per share. While VIMC had a solid year appreciating +17%, it didn’t come close to our 12-month price target as we set the bar ridiculously high with a price of $2 per share. This would have resulted in a total yield of 56%. C’mon now they’re not SPRD lol!

As for SPRD, they were another pick where we set the bar ridiculously high. We bought our original shares at $13.80 so issuing them a 12-month price target of $21 per share is a tough feat as that’s a total yield of 52%. We sure hope you all remember just how great SPRD performed & the yield they brought in this year as even though we set the bar high, they still beat it by a cool +5%.

Last but not least we have RDA holding up the bottom at -28%. When we first invested in RDA it was trading at $12.87. Originally we had anticipated RDA would at least be trading in the positive territory throughout 2012 & 2013 so we set a modest 12-month price target of $14.50 resulting in a total yield of 12.66%. Sadly even with the modest expectations it just wasn’t RDA’s year at all, lets just hope they come back next year stronger than ever.

To some people the RDA pick will bother them as they have a tough time accepting defeat especially if that was your decision making that let to the defeat. But since all three picks were made collectively together it’s in our best interest to put RDA behind us & focus in on the all the good things that came of today. It’s all about looking at the big picture & seeing that there is nothing worth complaining about as in fact we should be quite satisfied with ourselves & equally impressed as producing a total net yield of +46% is a great achievement. It stands even more impressive when you factor in just how bad the Chinese large cap tech stocks performed. If there is one thing you can still easily see is that our economy is still struggling worldwide & that we are still a ways away from times of economic prosperity. These aren’t your fathers boom years where whatever you put your money into in the markets it just went up. You try that kind of strategy now a days & you’ll be quickly asking where’d your money go. It clearly takes a strategic investment mind & someone with in-depth knowledge about the markets & what they’re doing to produce consistent gains trade after trade.

A comparison we always like to make is to see how both the NASDAQ & Dow Jones Industrial Average have been performing during the same time period. Over the past year it was actually the NASDAQ who slightly edged out the Dow Jones appreciating +14% compared to +12.15%. That’s where I like to factor in our average yield per pick which was +15.33% & you can see that even with RDA’s struggles we were able to beat the markets & that we made the right overall decision in investing our money. Now the next question is where to next?

Everyone make sure to tune in later this week for more in-depth analysis on all three of our picks. Stocks on Wall Street will be reassessing our overall position on each of them, offering new analysis & guidance going forward, we will be again handing out our 12-month price targets along with offering our final overall decision on whether we are going to hold onto any of the three stock picks or whether we decide to take our gains & relocate somewhere else to find the next great investment opportunity.

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Mark Cuban went onto CNBC to discuss the current state of the markets and Cuban responded by saying ’I rarely invest in stocks as there are no new names, new energy or new opportunities in stocks because of a lack of trust in the market.’ Does Cuban have a valid point with his call on the markets lack of new products, names, or opportunities?

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Here are three of the biggest risks and threats to your financial future and your wealth today. Also read for advice on how you can exert more control over each one and enjoy more of what’s yours.

Risk #1:  Currency Fluctuation.  The U.S. dollar has taken a real beating this past year and is expected to stay down over the long term.  Having all of your assets in U.S. dollars (or any single currency) is not sound financial planning.  You don’t have a diversified portfolio if all your assets are in one currency.  By going offshore and holding portions of your assets in other currencies, you are truly diversifying and protecting yourself from the ups and downs of one currency.

Investing in currencies on your own, without an ETF, can be difficult.  Most retail investors are better off with currency ETFs (exchange-traded funds) which track a single foreign currency or basket of currencies by using foreign cash deposits or futures contracts.  Currency ETF’s allow investors to speculate in the currency market without the risk of investing directly in currencies and without entering the forex market.  Some of the most popular currency ETFs are offered by Wisdom Tree Dreyfus, Rydex, PowerShares, Market Vector and Barclays.  But you need to do your homework before diving in.

Risk #2:  Rising Taxes.  Beginning Jan. 1, 2013, all American citizens will experience significant tax increases, many in the form of hidden taxes and fees.  At the same time, U.S. citizens with foreign bank accounts may pay a withholding tax of 30% on transfers of funds to and from these accounts (a provision of the recently amended and little-known HIRE Act).  So, if you run your own business, it makes great sense right now to think about moving your business to a more tax-friendly environment offshore.  Or, you could stay in the U.S. and keep an account offshore where it is free of U.S. tax obligations.

The key point is that, whatever you’re going to do, you should do it as soon as possible and well in advance of 2013.

Risk #3:  Litigation. The U.S. is a litigious society; a new litigation suit is filed every 17 seconds.  This may or may not affect everybody.  But, if you’re a doctor, for example, or someone with a high profile who’s more susceptible to being sued, then you understand the increased risk.  In this case, the best solution is to protect your assets by moving them offshore.  Your offshore assets will be outside the realm of U.S. judgment and, therefore, far more difficult for creditors to get at.  This should not be confused with the fact that U.S. citizens and green card holders will continue to be taxed on their worldwide income, no matter where they reside or hold their assets.  Income tax is unavoidable other than legitimate tax reduction strategies.  However, you can minimize litigation risk to your assets by going offshore.

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Back on July 2^nd, Stocks on Wall Street released an article on Rex Energy (NASDAQ: REXX) recommending the stock as a ‘BUY’ and signaling to investors to purchase shares at the price of $11.62. Due to overall strong performance and increased optimism around both Rex Energy and the growing region they drill in we decided to upgrade our position and offer some new changes and updated guidance on Rex.

How Has Rex Energy Actually Performed?

Since our recommendation REXX has performed exceptionally well soaring over 39% in a 9-month period all the way to $16.11. At its peak, shares hit $17.33 a total yield of well over 50%. After further examining REXX’s financial statements we are still optimistic especially since overall numbers have improved, better positioning the company for the long-run. Below are some five reasons to continue to be bullish on Rex.

Five Reasons to Continue to Be Bullish on Rex Energy

1. REXX’s PEG Ratio improved substantially rising from 0.96 back in July 2012 to currently 0.51. This is direct proof that management’s overall strategy and efficiency have been very effective positioning the company for a strong year going forward.
2. The company has beat earnings estimates the last two quarters and as a result consensus earnings estimates for 2013 and 2014 have increased.
3. Three initial test results from the Utica prove to be hugely successful and big wins for Rex indicating the liquid-rich area is even more prosperous than they originally projected.
4. As a result of all the positive feedback, strong numbers, & overall consistent performance analysts across the board have raised their price target for REXX from $16 to well over $19 a share while continuing to maintain an ‘Outperform” rating on the stock. Overall 82% of the analysts watching the stock have issued a ‘BUY’ rating or higher.
5. Like we have mentioned before REXX continues to be a logical acquisition candidate for a bigger player. Why? It’s due to the fact that REXX is a small cap company worth a little over $1B however their robust production, growth and valuable set of assets make them a very desirable company in the eyes of the big players.

What Risk Factors to Account For

REXX is not immune to everything and if there is a weakness it’s the concern in their liquidity going forward especially if gas prices were to fall much lower.  Investors shouldn’t be all to concerned however as we continue to see management effectively combatting this issue and in the past they have always found ways to keep production fully up and running so we have no reason to doubt that they would stop such efficient business practices now. In addition, Rex still has various assets for sale, which have helped provide a safety net if liquidity issues were to ever arises. After examining the books, it looks like REXX is in a much better financial situation now then it was just 9-months ago which is a good indicator going forward. When we first recommend Rex, the company had about three years of liquidity before they would have had to start cutting back on their drilling program or finding other sources of cash. Today’s current rate shows Rex has well over four years worth of liquidity, an optimistic sign for investors and further proof of management’s effectiveness.

Increased Spending Followed By Increased Expectations

Going forward expect Rex to continue to perform exceptionally well as they increase the amount of capital they’re spending on production, which in return should deliver much higher revenue numbers. When talking about the successful recent tests and the future potential in the region Rex’s CEO, Tom Stabley, said, “that the company believes the past results demonstrate the huge opportunity that exists for continued superior well performance in this region going forward.” Stabley used these tests as a key reasoning behind the company’s huge capital spending program. Rex isn’t the only one increasing their spending either as both Gulfport and Magnum Hunter Resources are following suit and spending a large portion of their 2013 capital budget on the play. With such a huge increase in capital spending, expectations are very high, as hopefully the move will prove it’s worth generating significant liquids-rich growth for all three companies.

Overall Long-Term Outlook

Overall, we continue to be very Bullish about Rex Energy anticipating huge liquids growth production coming from the Utica shale. As a result we expect REXX shares to continue to outperform their peers and as a result we are raising our original 12-month price target from $18.50 to $20 per share, a total net yield of 72% on the year and an additional 32% from the current stock price.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE ON REX ENERGY

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Delaying making investments in order to launch your career can cost you dearly later on. Smaller investments made between the ages of 18-25 will yield much greater returns than larger investments made later on over a longer period from ages 26-65. Consider the classic parable taught in many basic economic courses:

Jack decided not to go to college. He got a job at 18 and invested $4,000 each year into an IRA. He stopped after eight years after investing a total of $32,000. His sister, Jill, went to medical school, started her medical practice at age 26, at which point she began contributing $4,000 to her IRA. Jill did this for 40 years from 26 to 65. She invested a total of $160,000 and put her money into the same investment as her brother. Jill started investing the same year Jack stopped, and she saved for 40 years compared to just eight years for her brother.

By age 65, whose IRA account do you thing was worth more money?

Assuming both Jack and Jill earned a 10% annual return, Jill accumulated $1,327,778. But Jack had $1,552,739 – $224,961 more than his sister!

Jack’s account grows to a higher value because he started sooner!

+$224,961

Jack stopped investing at age 26 having invested only $32,000 to Jill’s $160,000. But Jack’s money earned interest for eight years longer than his sister. It wasn’t the money that made him successful – it was the time value of money. Jack didn’t put off investing when he first launched his career. By investing sooner than Jill, his account grew larger.

The moral of this story is not to forego a college education and its promise of higher earning potential. No doubt, Jill earned more disposable income during her career. But Jack’s investment head start was far superior, resulting in substantially greater savings.

Without question, procrastination is the most common cause of financial failure.

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Hope everyone had a solid work week & are ready to enjoy a great weekend! For those of you who love to read we have a great list of articles for you. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the articles below. Like always, if you have any investment questions or need advice on a specific stock, Stocks on Wall Street is always here for you so feel free to Contact Us at anytime. We always love to hear from our readers so please shoot us an email. Also let us know what you think about the articles below and your thoughts on the market’s current climate by either commenting below, posting on our Facebook Fan Page or by sending either Stocks on Wall Street or our Founder a Tweet.

Apple’s Next Big Thing (Slate)

Why Does Apple Care About Its Share Price? (Businessweek)

Apple to Tap a Hungry Debt Market (WSJ)

The second coming of Facebook (CNNMoney)

Facebook Leans In (Vanity Fair)

What If We Never Run Out of Oil? (Atlantic)

Everything Is Rigged: The Biggest Price-Fixing Scandal Ever (Rolling Stone)

Talkin’ ’bout a revolution: Why Occupy Wall Street Failed (FT.com)

This Bud’s for You! Legal Pot in the U.S. (GQ.com)

Everything you ‘know’ about the Fed is wrong (Minyanville)

Consumers Are Just Fine, Thank You.  (WSJ)

Dixon’s Take: Traders Beware, ‘News’ Ain’t What It Used to Be (Minyanville)

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What’s everyone think about the new $100 bill that will be coming out this year?

~~~

Source: New Money

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Apple’s stock has taken a beating since reaching all-time highs over $700.  Apple may be down but it’s by no means out.  I believe the stock will finish 2013 with a strong rally somewhere above the $500 mark.  The best Apple present this Christmas may not be an iPad Mini but rather Apple stock.

Analysts are mixed on Apple (AAPL).  Schwab’s Equity Rating is D, Underperform.  Ned Davis is Neutral.  Credit Suisses rates Apple an Outperform.  And the Reuters average rating is Outperform.  So, let’s examine the pro and cons of owning Apple stock.

Apple Cons

Concerns center around pace of innovation, supply problems and structural issues around gross margins.  And, of course, there’s the never-ending grumbling about capital allocation of its $140 billion hoard of cash and whether Apple should issue a dividend.  Many analysts worry Apple cannot sustain its gross margins, which has historically been well above industry competitors.

Other concerns hover around the increased competitive scenario and the fact that Apple no longer enjoys a monopoly.  People are excited about new products from Samsung (SSNLF.PK) which seems determined to continue its onslaught in spite of lawsuit setbacks against Apple.  And let’s not forget new forays into hardware offerings from Google and Facebook.  Apple is very dependent on iPhone for sales — about 70% comes from iPhone.  Plus, Apple has no recurring revenue stream other than iTunes and their revenues are based on what they sell.  We saw this in the 1980s with Sony when Sony was conquering the world of technology innovation.  The world loves Apple.   But people are waiting for a dramatic new product from Apple.  The world owns it.  But haven’t we seen this before with IBM or Cisco?

Apple’s lucrative margins are under attack, forcing it to protect its profits by pressuring its suppliers.  It’s not that Apple is doomed though.  It’s only likely to become less profitable.

Apple is going through a transition from a hyper-growth story to a more traditional, high quality branded company.  It grew earnings at +45%+ per year for ten consecutive quarters.  Recently, it has grown earnings a little above 20%.  Apple will have over $200 billion in annual revenue this year.  It’s impossible to keep growing at that rate.  So, it will be a more traditional growth company with a great consumer brand and with great products.

Most of Apple’s cash is offshore – a constraint to returning cash to shareholders in the form of dividends.  Coke trades at a higher multiple than Apple.  People have expectations of growth from Apple that they can’t live up to.

Are Apple’s days of growth over?  Is Apple the new Coke?  Are its days of hyperbolic growth over?  Is Apple now the great new value play?  Or, is it a value trap?

Apple Pros

Apple may well continue a bumpy ride in the near term.  However, Apple’s fundamentals are still fantastic going forward if you take an outlook of more than a quarter or two.  Apple’s second quarter 2013 results are expected to beat expectations.  Credit Suise’s Kulbinder Garcha put an Outperform rating and a price target of $600 on Apple.

New iPhone demand will be strong

While 2013 may not have enough new products from Apple to satisfy everyone, the next iPhone will begin production this quarter according to a recent Wall Street Journal report.  Apple is reportedly working on a less expensive version with a plastic case that could be on the market before Christmas.  Regardless of which features are included, the new iPhone will be better than the last one.  The iPhone 5 has sold more than the 4S and Apple sold a record 47.8 million iPhones in the first fiscal quarter of 2013 – up 29% from a year ago.  The first iPhone 4S customers who bought in October, 2011 will be primed for a new phone now that their 2-year contact is about to end.  So, according to Morningstar analyst Brian Collello, the upgrade cycle will likely keep demand strong.  He maintains that the smartphone market is still in the “early-to-middle innings.”

Apple continues to lead in tablets

Apple remains the undisputed leader in the tablet market.  With more iPad and iPad mini models to come, expect tablets to bring in more app revenue for Apple than from smartphones.  iPads are also predicted to show strong sales for the second quarter – an increase of 61% year over year to 19 million units.  iPad minis will account for more than half of that.

Apple Apps remains the heavyweight

iPads are pulling in more revenue from each app than the iPhone, most likely due to higher-priced apps or apps that get more in-app purchases.  It’s also possible that games are playing into this because the iPad’s bigger screen lends itself to more complex games.  According to research by App Annie, app store downloads from iPad users doubled from 100 million in January 2012 to 200 million in January 2013.  More surprising was the amount of revenue the iPads generated from app downloads.  In January 2012, iPad has less than 20% the app downloads of the iPhone, but had nearly 50% the app store revenue.  In January 2013, the gap narrowed with the iPad accounting for 30% less app store revenue than the iPhone.

Canalys issued a report on app downloads at the four major mobile stores:  Apple, Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT) Windows Phone Store and Research in Motion’s (BBRY) BlackBerry World.  Apple’s App Store accounted for the largest share of revenue among the four stores, around 74%.  Google saw the greatest number of downloads (about 51%) with Apple close behind.

Apple trades below intrinsic value

Apple has an attractive valuation and is currently trading well below intrinsic value.  Apple’s revenue growth should continue to be robust in the 20% range and is trading at PE ratio estimated at 9.6 and just 8.38 times next year’s earnings.  Compare that to the S&P 500 PE ratios which Robert Shiller estimates is currently trading at 18.17.

With the shares hovering around $425, there seems to be little downside, especially when you take into account about $100 in net cash per share if Apple were to bring all the overseas cash back and pay U.S. taxes on it.  Apple’s capital allocation is a continuing source of speculation.  With an estimated $140 billion in cash hoard – 75% of which is trapped overseas – a buy back would be viewed very positively.

Other pros for Apple include a potential China upside that has not yet played out, strong cash flow and the “leveragability” of iTunes.

My Take  

If you missed the opportunity to buy Apple before, take a hard look now.   There is little downside at $425.  Even if there is no big new product announcement, iPhones and iPads continue to sell well.  Apple is a well-managed, cash-rich company that’s proven it can juggle the profit margin pressures inherent with the transition to new, lower-priced product innovations.  While Apple may not climb back to it’s record-high levels, I expect it to hit somewhere north of the $500 mark by Christmas.

Smart investors will continue to profit from Apple and might be wise to consider putting Apple stock in their Christmas stockings rather than just another iPhone or iPad upgrade.  Awesome Stock.  Awesome Products.  Awesome Potential.

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Whatever you are currently doing, no matter how important or how busy you are, STOP NOW!

Take a good hour, relax, & watch The Documentary Trader: An Insight into the Life & Investment Strategy of Paul Tudor Jones. It will be one of the most enlightenting & educating things you can learn from. Words cannot even describe how much it will help improve your investing repertoire. If you call yourself a trader or investor & don’t know who Paul Tudor Jones is then you have a serious problem. For the rest of you, here is a brief little bio to give some background on what both myself & Stocks on Wall Street consider to be one of the greatest fund managers/traders of all-time & a mentor we have long studied & used to implement our own trading strategies. Just in our article the other day, “The Top Ten Greatest Trades of All-Time” we mentioned Paul Tudor Jones as he came in #5 on the list for his infamous call of Black Monday on October 1987 when he predicted the crash, shorted the markets by betting a bundle & tripled his money as the market tanked 22%. That’s just one of the many great achievements this man has accomplished throughout his career, the bio below followed by his documentary will give you the true insight to his greatness.

Paul Tudor Jones II

Paul Tudor Jones II is the founder of Tudor Investment Corporation, a multi-billion dollar hedge fund. He is worth an estimated $6.3 billion in 2009 and was ranked by Forbes in March 2007 as the 369th richest person in the world.  In 1976 he started working on the trading floorsas a clerk and then became a broker for E.F. Hutton. In 1980 he went strictly on his own for two and a half profitable years, before he “really got bored.” He then applied to the Harvard Business School, he was accepted, and packed to go when the idea occurred to him that: “this is crazy, because for what I’m doing here, they’re not going to teach me anything. To be a trader, this skill set is not something that they teach in business school.”

He consulted his cousin, William Dunavant Jr., for advice. Dunavant, whose Dunavant Enterprises is one of the world’s largest cotton merchants, sent Jones down to New Orleans to talk with commodity broker Eli Tullis, who hired and then mentored him in trading cotton futures at the New York Cotton Exchange.  During his time working for Eli, Jones was quoted saying:

“He was the toughest son of a bitch I ever knew. He taught me that trading is very competitive and you have to be able to handle getting your butt kicked. No matter how you cut it, there are enormous emotional ups and downs involved.”

In 1980, Paul Tudor Jones founded Tudor Investment Corporation which is today a leading asset management firm headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut. The Tudor Group, which consists of Tudor Investment Corporation and its affiliates, is involved in active trading, investing and research in the global equity, venture capital, debt, currency, and commodities markets. They manage around roughly $18 billion dollars in capital.

One of Jones’ earliest and major successes was predicting Black Monday in 1987, tripling his money during the event due to large short positions.

Jones uses a global macro strategy when trading in some of his funds. If you want to see this strategy it can be seen in the 1987 film “TRADER: The Documentary”.  The film shows Mr. Jones as a young man predicting the 1987 crash using methods similar to market forecaster Robert Pretcher. This video is absolutely thrilling because of the amount of detail it gives into how he trades and manages risk.

The video used to sell for hundreds of dollars as competitors/enthusiast viewed it as the Holy Grail into Jones trading strategy. It has been banned from circulation; only original copies exist.  It was original shown on public television in November 1987, however very few copies exist. Those that do are hoarded by traders who watch the hour-long movie in the hope of gleaning possible trading tips from Jones. According to Michael Glyn, the video’s director, Jones requested in the 1990s that the documentary be removed from circulation. Jones in fact, even went as far as purchasing what he thought were all the remanining copies of the docunemnaty but he was unfortuantely unaware of the power of the internet & how quick something can virally spread.  

Still as it is there are very few websites that have the original version of ‘Trader’ so luckily for you, Stocks on Wall Street was able to get our hands on the original for you all to enjoy. How we found it, don’t ask but to re-emphasize the main point, EVERYONE NEEDS TO MUST WATCH THIS VIDEO ASAP.  If you have any aspirations of becoming successful in the world of trading one day then you must watch this video.  If you have work in the morning- you shouldn’t go until you’ve watched this; it’s your mom’s birthday tonight? – Not until you’ve watched this video; you’re tired and need sleep? – You don’t sleep until you’ve watched this.  I hope we emphasized the importance and the value this video has.  Don’t take for granted how much longer it will be live as Jones is still on his witchhunt to take it down across the web.  So share with your collegaues, family, and friends heck even all your social media buddies as this is one of the greatest gifts you can send them. To watch the video simply follow the link below, enjoy!

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO

href=”http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/XH5W4vffBbY/”>http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/XH5W4vffBbY/

When it comes to money, people are always making dumb decisions. From spending what’s not theres, to buying a house they can’t afford, or leasing that car that doesn’t fit their budget. Time after time we make mistakes with our money and fail to recognize the warning signals that could have prevented us from making these costly errors. The key to avoiding these possible life blunders is to always stay informed and educate yourself before making a decision. This will greatly lower your chances of making a poor, dumb decision that costs you for years to come.

Brett Arends is a writer for the Wall Street Journal. This weekend he wrote a great, short, small column offering five simple pieces of good advice. Below are Brett’s Five Really Dumb Money Moves You’ve Got to Avoid:

1. Reaching for yield
2. Going into the poor house to send Junior to a country-club college
3. Owning stock in your employer
4. Taking Social Security too early
5. Buying long-term bonds

For those of you interested in reading more, follow the link below as the full article is worth your time.

Source: Five Really Dumb Money Moves You’ve Got to Avoid

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If anyone ever tells you that over time investing in the stock market is not a wise decision, just show them this chart below!

Long-term investing has always been the catalyst to building great wealth. You ever wonder why the rich have so much money? It’s because they have strategic investments that over time are always earning them income.

You will never become wealthy by just earning your salary, an equity position is necessary to become wealthy.

Take note as it doesn’t matter what age you are, you’re never too old or too young to start investing. If you haven’t started investing yet please contact us, we’ll be happy to get you setup and on a plan for financial freedom. Remember everyday you wait is costing you potential future earnings. In the meantime, just look at that chart below and realize that the stock market is a boom and bust industry and over time it’s historically always gone up.

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Hope everyone has had a great weekend! We have something to help you all enjoy it a little more. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the articles below. Like always, if you have any investment questions or need advice on a specific stock, Stocks on Wall Street is always here for you so feel free to Contact Us at anytime. We always love to hear from our readers so please shoot us an email. Also let us know what you think about the articles below and your thoughts on the market’s current climate by either commenting below, posting on our Facebook Fan Page or by sending either Stocks on Wall Street or our Founder a Tweet.

Don’t Jump in Stocks Unless You Plan to Stay - Howard Gold, MarketWatch

Mortgages’ Future Looks Too Much Like Past - Gretchen Morgenson, NYT

3 Lessons From the Shale Gas Revolution - Tyler Crowe, The Motley Fool

Does Dr. Copper Deserve a Malpractice Suit? - Myra Saefong, MarketWatch

Cyprus Can’t Happen Here? It Already Has - Jonathan Trugman, NY Post

Bitcoin: Virtual Currency Enters Real World - Kirsten Salyer, Bloomberg

Why Ralph Acampora Is Bullish On Stocks - Maria Bartiromo, USA Today

Lucky U.S. Must Not Wreck Its Recovery - Richard Blackden, The Telegraph

Tax Cuts Work, As Clinton Well Knows - Editorial, Investor’s Business Daily

Fed Won’t Fix Itself, So Congress Must Step It Up - Editorial, New York Sun

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When it comes to filing your tax, you want to make sure that you have everything right. You can get into serious trouble if you end up making certain mistakes, and therefore it is a good idea to check over it multiple times. Some people will probably give them a day or two to look over their taxes and ensure that they have made all the right calculations. Some people will hire an accountant, although this is going to depend on how much you are actually going to have to file. It is going to be different depending on the person.

When filing a tax, you may find that you have the right claim back money on certain things. If you do not earn enough to file tax, it is still advised that you do so. You will end up getting the money back anyway. Tax relief can give you a nice surprise within the next few months. Over time, however, you may find that you have unclaimed tax that you can claim. It is important, therefore, to find out how you will be able to get this.

Filing for Your Return

If you know that you have unclaimed tax from the IRS, then you will need to file for it no later than three years after the due date. This is usually going to happen in cases where you know that you have unclaimed tax, but it has not been delivered to your or you have not yet claimed it from the IRS.

Undelivered Returns

If you know that you have undelivered claims, then you need to know that all claims are sent to your last known address. These checks are given back to the IRS if you do not inform them of your change of address.

Contact the IRS

If you are unsure about your status, then one of the best things that you can do is contact the IRS. You can either write a letter, send an email or phone them. They will be more than happy to give you information regarding the tax that you did not receive, and whether or not you have a balance in your account. Alternatively, you can go on the Internet and see what their website says. The IRS will have all of the necessary information for when it comes to finding out your unclaimed tax, so it is a good idea to do this fast.

Always remember that there is a time limit on claiming the tax that you are owed. If your tax was meant to be delivered to you at a certain date, then you will have a certain amount of time to collect it if it does not arrive. As stated before, always make sure to collect it within three years from the date that it was meant to arrive at your home, or you could end up losing it.

Author Bio:

Liam is a freelance writer and blogger.If you are interested in more tax relief tips, the author recommends you visit OptimaTaxRelief.com

This article submitted by: Solid Trust Pay

Chargeback Basics You Should Know

Along with the widespread use of the credit card as a method of payment there is also the rise in various risks associated with the use of credit cards that can dearly cost a business. Chargeback is one such risk which a merchant needs to be fully aware of.

What is Chargeback? It is a payment of the dollar value made by a credit card issuer to a customer who has disputed a charge on his credit card.

Credit card holders in the United States are guaranteed reversal rights by two US regulations, namely The Federal Reserve Regulation Z Truth in Lending Act to govern credit cards and Federal Reserve Regulation E Electronic Funds Transfer Act for debit cards.

Chargeback is s serious concern for merchants as they lose the money that was paid to them by the customer along with the product or service they provided, time and energy and also having to pay processing fees to the merchant bank as well.

The first step in a Chargeback is when a customer files a complaint with the issuing bank disputing a charge on his card. The issuer will then refer the transaction to the relevant merchant bank that will investigate the issue and if unable to resolve it forward it to the merchant who will either accept the charge in the event he does not have proof of the transaction or resubmit it to the merchant bank along with proof such as a sales receipt to prove that the transaction was valid. If the chargeback is accepted the merchant bank will inform the issuer and it will be re posted to the customer’s account. If not it will be sent for arbitration for a final decision.

These disputes could arise due to one of many reasons.

• Customer disputes – these arise as a result of the goods ordered not being delivered, the received goods being damaged, the goods or services received not being  as it was described, and the recurrence of a cancelled transaction are some such reasons.

• Authorization issues – where the credit card holder has not authorized the transaction and usually happens as a result of identity theft.

• Payment processing errors – can occur mostly at the point of sale resulting in duplicate processing.

• Credit card fraud- can happen when stolen, fake and outdated cards are used.

Considering the widespread use of credit and debit cards in today’s society, it may be an uphill task to completely eliminate chargebacks. But it can be reduced if the merchants are more aware of this and take preventive steps such as checking a card before processing to ensure it is not a stolen card and by keeping accurate sales records in the event the information is required to counter a chargeback. One could also minimize the cost resulting from chargebacks by opening the merchant account with a bank that provides premium chargeback and fraud loss protection.

If you are going to open a merchant account make sure you educate yourself on the facts relating to chargeback and keep up with all the new regulations relating to it to safeguard your business.

Happy Tuesday everyone, we hope you are having a great week so far. Below we have a great list of articles. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the articles below. Like always, if you have any investment questions or need advice on a specific stock, Stocks on Wall Street is always here for you so feel free to Contact Us at anytime. We always love to hear from our readers so please shoot us an email. Also let us know what you think about the articles below and your thoughts on the market’s current climate by either commenting below, posting on our Facebook Fan Page or by sending us either Stocks on Wall Street or our Founder a Tweet.

Doug Short: Is This Bull Market Fundamentally Driven? A Look at PE Expansion (Advisor Perspectives)

A Beginner’s Guide to Irrational Behavior (Coursera)

Perspectives on a Sluggish Recovery (Conversable Economist)

Jamie Dimon Told Regulators He Would Not Follow Regulations (FDL)

K is not capital, L is not labor (Interfluidity)

Martin Wolf: Why bankers are intellectually naked (The Financial Times)

When emotions rise or fall with the Dow (MarketWatch)

Bernanke Tightens Hold on Fed Message Against Hawks (Bloomberg)

One of the Most Sentiment-Driven Rallies Ever (TRB)

Stock Bulls Get New Member of Club (The Wall Street Journal)

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With all the scandals coming from the banking sector over the course of the past few years, the average consumer has lost faith in their bank. This is not just the big banks we’re talking about, it trickles all the way down to your local bank and credit union. The big question left is have you lost trust in your bank? If so do you believe this is something that can be changed or forever will banks be viewed as greedy corporations not looking out for the best interest of their customers? Please share your thoughts below or on our Facebook Fan Page or our Twitter Page.

(Below is a poll illustrating the levels at which people distrust their bank)

Source: The Financial Brand

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Copper Predicted to Rebound in 2013  

Although copper prices hit a one-month low this week, we believe the broader global trend bodes well for copper prices to rebound through the remainder of 2013.  The convergence of emerging market demand, a global boom in infrastructure development and a constraint on new supplies of copper will pus copper prices higher.

Prices will be influenced by demand from China and emerging markets, economic activity in the U.S. and other industrialized countries and especially a renewed international and U.S. push to rebuild global infrastructure.

Limited New Supplies of Copper  

A major factor will be the timing of new supplies of copper and production levels of mines and copper smelters.  Companies that have a high leverage to copper prices will benefit immensely from the potential demand for the metal in the developing markets.  We believe that a slowdown in developing new copper supplies presents a major investment opportunity.  Copper mining stocks that are well positioned to capitalize on this slowdown and poised to quickly develop new supplies of copper supplies represent a significant investment opportunity.

Temporary Weakness, but Strong Outlook.  

Weaker-than-expected U.S. housing construction data and worries about China’s real estate market fueled concerns about future demand for copper.  China accounts for 40% of global copper usage.  And real estate construction is a major drive of copper demand.  This week’s $3.63 per pound price on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange is the lowest traded price since Jan. 17.

Traders still see positive signs in the U.S. housing report, however.  Compared with a year ago, new U.S. home sales were up 23.6%.  Investors follow construction data closely for clues about future demand for copper.  Analysts at Goldman Sachs said in a report, “The ongoing structural recovery in U.S. housing activity is set to be an important contributor to global copper demand growth (as well as market sentiment) in 2013, and should be a bullish drive of copper prices.”  Goldman reiterated its forecast for copper prices to reach $4.08 per pound within the next six months.

Talk that China might introduce new restrictions for its property market also drove copper prices lower.  Some local Chinese governments set limits on mortgage lending to dampen speculation as property prices in major Chinese cities rose for the first time since 2011.

Copper Prices Correlate Strongly to Economic Outlooks  

Copper ranks third after iron and aluminum in terms of consumption of industrial metals.  It is particularly important for infrastructure development.  Construction comprises the single largest market for copper, followed by electronics, transportation, industrial machinery and consumer products.  We witnessed record high prices for copper from 2006 to 2008 as growing demand from emerging economies and, in particular, China powered a surge in prices and very low inventory levels.  Then prices dipped in December 2007 to a low of $1.26 per pound due to the U.S. financial market crisis, concerns about the global economy and reduced consumption.  However, Copper prices bounced back to an average of $4.00 per pound in 2011 and averaged $3.61 per pound in 2012 – a drop of 10% from 2011.  This drop reflected concerns about China’s slowdown, the European sovereign debt crisis and a sluggish U.S. economy.

The drop in price has hurt the results of major copper producers like Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE:FCX), Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) and Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) – all of which suffered in 2012.

Long-term Bullish View on Copper

Nevertheless, in spite of its volatility, we have a long-term bullish view on copper.  Our perspective is supported by copper’s widespread use in construction, limited supplies from existing mines and especially the absence of major new development projects.

Zack’s Industry Outlook (Feb. 14, 2013) stated that all signs point to a recovery in copper prices driven, in part, by accelerated production among Chinese manufacturers.  Morgan Stanley predicts copper prices will rise 7.6% in 2013 to $3.88 per pound or $8,554 per metric ton (MT), up from $7,952 in 2012.  HSBC’s chief economist, Hongbin Qu, said last week that, “Despite the still tepid external demand, the domestic-driven restocking process is likely to add steam to China’s ongoing recovery in the coming months.”  And Bloomberg reported that the forecast for rising copper prices is based on anticipated demand increases from China, the U.S. and even Europe.

Global Infrastructure Investments will drive Copper Higher  

The push to expand global infrastructure is a key indicator in our belief that copper prices will continue to push higher through the remainder of 2013.  Consider these key indicators driving global infrastructure investments:

Emerging Markets.  Growth in the emerging markets, particularly China and India, was a major driver of copper demand over the last few years. However, of late, demand in China has slowed down. China’s recent $150 billion infrastructure stimulus has helped improve the sentiment somewhat and holds promise for the metals and mining industry going forward, as we note below.  This global economic slowdown is the biggest headwind for the metals space overall at present.  Nevertheless, the long-term picture remains a lot more promising as the emerging market economies are expected to get back in shape with the help of expected fiscal and monetary stimuli.

China’s Infrastructure Expansion.  China’s economy is beginning to rebound even though the pace of the recovery will be slower than previous periods.  China’s new leadership recently announced fresh stimulus measures that will likely bolster demand for copper. Although Chinese exports remain weak, the good news is that home prices and homes sales in China are rebounding.  The new Chinese leadership has reiterated its support for a conventional mix of proactive fiscal policy and many analysts believe they will be successful in boosting growth from +7.8% in 2012 to +8.0% in 2013 and +8.3% in 2014.  The implication for the construction market is that growth will continue.  The stabilization in investment since mid-2012 has prevented China’s slip toward a feared hard landing, supported by a V-shaped recovery in infrastructure, which hit a trough with a -4% contraction in the first two months of 2012, but is now increasing by nearly +15% year-on-year.

The main construction driver in China will continue to be infrastructure.  Although the heyday of growth for China’s construction market may be over, the sheer size of the market will keep it among the most attractive in the world for the foreseeable future.  China’s new leaders are pushing a new type of urbanization that has major implications for the construction sector and, in turn, for copper prices.  In particular, their “intelligent city drive” which relies on modern information technologies such as telecommunications and cloud computing, will involved the building of intelligent systems serving a wide range of sectors from public security, healthcare, transportation and the power grid.

Group 20 Global Infrastructure Push.  A hot topic this week in Moscow at the The Group of 20 agenda is an issue that has long affect emerging markets’ economic growth plans:  weak infrastructure.  India has called for better infrastructure funding.  Russia has made investment financing a priority on how to kick-start global growth.  In emerging Asia, much-needed infrastructure projects fall through as a result of funding problems. The World Bank estimates that countries in the East Asia Pacific region need $400 billion of investment in infrastructure annually, while South Asia needs around $200 billion.  Infrastructure spending will remain a key issue throughout 2013.  This focus on construction will only serve to drive global demand for co copper.

Obama’s “Fix it First” Policy.  President Obama’s recent State of the Union plan to repair the nation’s ailing infrastructure should not be overlooked.  His “fix it first” policy calls for investing $50 billion in transportation infrastructure.  Obama also called for the creation of a National Infrastructure Bank to bring public and private financing together to plan projects.  Coupled with the U.S. housing recovery we touched on earlier, we believe the U.S. will certainly contribute to what we believe will be a growing demand for copper in 2013.

Bottom Line:  The bottom line here is that the global push to rebuild infrastructure will almost certainly create a knock-on effect that will drive the prices of industrial metals higher.  Copper promises to be at the forefront of that trend.

Supply Constraints will Drive Demand Higher.  

Copper prices will be heavily influenced by the timing of new supplies of copper and the production levels of mines and copper smelters.  Companies that have a high leverage to copper prices will benefit immensely from the potential demand for the metal in the developing markets.  Cost inflation in the sector is also expected to be a headwind for metal and mining companies over the next several years, driven by a number of factors such as labor, energy, ore grades, currencies, supply constraints and taxes.  Plus, global economic uncertainties, softening commodity prices and higher input costs are increasing the pressure on company margins.

To counter all this, mining and metals companies must constantly review their portfolios to identify underperforming assets and shut down or divest high cost and non-core assets.  Industry consolidation, automation technology, owner-operated mines and investment in energy assets are some of the steps that companies can take to offset to the impact of rising costs.

Production drops for World’s Largest Copper Company.  

Expanding copper mining production continues to be a challenge for Chile’s Codelco, the largest copper producing company in the world.  Codelco (the National Copper Corporation of Chile) is the Chilean state-owned copper mining company, formed in 1976 from the foreign-owned copper companies that were nationalized in 1971.  Codelco produced 1.66 million tons in 2007 – 11% of the world total.  It controls about 20% the total global copper reserves.  They recently reported that their own production dropped in 2012 to the lowest level in four years.  And figures from the last monthly newsletter issued by Cochilco (Chilean Copper Commission) show that the state-owned copper company produced a 5.1% less copper in 2012 if compared against 2011.  According to CEO, Thomas Keller, Codelco’s 2012 production was down primarily due to “dwindling ore grades” in all its deposits.  BHP executive, Peter Beaven, recently told an industry gathering in Santiago, “Mining in Chile is at a turning point as the industry requires large expenditures just to maintain throughput.”

Copper miners across the globe continue to expand production.  Grupo Mexico (OTC Pink: GMBXF) plans to spend $2 billion on its mining division this year, a portion of which will go towards the company’s Buenavista mine in Northern Mexico.  The company wants to produce 1.4 million metric tons of copper per year by 2015, Reuters reported.  BHP Billiton (NYSE:BHP) expects its copper production to increase in 2013 and 2014 by a 10% compound annual rate, largely driven by its Escondida mine in Chile, which is on track to increase its production by 20%.

Freeport-McMoRan’s (NYSE: FCX) fourth-quarter net income rose 16%, to $743 million, as sales in the previous year were depressed by labor disruptions in Indonesia.  The company aims to grow its annual copper production to over 5 billion pounds per year in 2015 from 3.66 billion pounds in 2012, and expects its $20-billion acquisition of Plains Exploration & Production (NYSE:PXP) and McMoRan Exploration (NYSE:MMR) to close in the second quarter of this year.  Union workers at two of Southern Copper’s (NYSE:SCCO) properties in Peru may go on strike if they don’t reach an agreement with the company within 15 days, Fox Business reported, citing a union leader.

Back to copper, the metal is essential for modern living. It delivers electricity and clean water into our homes and cities and makes an important contribution to sustainable development. More than that, it is essential for life itself. Copper is interwoven with the story of humanity’s progress. It has crucial role in our homes, in transportation, as well as in infrastructure and in our industries is omnipresent.

Economically, copper consumption is closely associated with industrial production, and therefore, tends to follow economic cycles. During an expansion, demand for copper tends to increase, thereby driving up the price. As a result, copper prices are volatile and cyclical. Swingplane Ventures has seen some analysts pick up as one research firm just issued a $10 target price on Swingplane Ventures. The firm said that a due diligence property evaluation suggests there is a significant opportunity to further develop the mineral potential of the property and dramatically increase the current level of production. The company intends to evaluate potential to: 1) increase the current level of production and 2) undertake construction of a processing facility to maximize recovery of economic grades of copper concentrate.

Notably, in early January, First Quantum Minerals, a $9 billion mining company, made an offer of $5.1 billion to purchase Inmet Mining which holds a very coveted copper mine in Panama. Inmet Mining, a company with a prized copper mine has almost doubled in market valuation this past year alone. Swingplane Ventures operates in the copper market in Chile, located in South America. This part of the world has been proven to possess extremely profitable copper mines as seen by First Quantum’s offer for Inmet. After further due diligence and research, we are upgrading the stock to $11.50 with a possibly buyout looming.

There have been some worries surrounding copper because of the short-term macroeconomic concerns regarding the US and Europe. However, the fundamentals are still excellent for copper: as Asia represents over 60% of world demand with China by itself at 39% and could reach 45% in 5 years. Southern Copper forecasts that China and Emerging Markets countries will continue growing, albeit at a lesser pace, but still showing substantial gains. The company also notes that limited production upside and falling grades will result in a deficit copper market going forward.

Now, we take a closer look into a recent news item for the metal signifying of some larger trends. The fundamentals for copper are clearly improving as the world’s copper usage and demand for copper is picking up. Friday, was a prime example of that as copper futures rose the most in a week as China’s trade expanded more than forecast, and car sales jumped to a record in the Asian nation, the world’s biggest consumer of industrial metals. In January, exports from China surged 25% and imports climbed 29% from a year earlier, both topping projections by economists in Bloomberg surveys, government data showed today. Sales of passenger vehicles surged 49%, a state-backed trade group said. A 6 month price chart of copper follows.

Knowing that we are not the only ones bullish on the metal has given us more confidence in our own thesis. This fact was demonstrated this week when Kevin Puil, the Malcolm Gissen & Associates portfolio manager, went through his bullish thesis on Seeking Alpha. Puil said “The fundamentals for copper remain highly favorable and I continue to see secular demand for most commodities, copper in particular. Industrialization and urbanization, especially in the BRIC [Brazil, Russia, India, China] countries, is not about to stop, and this continues to put pressure on copper miners, who struggle to keep up with demand. Supply growth has slowed due to lower grades, higher costs and political unrest. In addition, the new projects and mine expansions that were scheduled to come on-line haven’t materialized, and if they do, it will not be in a timely fashion. Quite frankly, I think you could see copper peak above $4 a pound [$4/lb] this year…”

The decline in output that Puil discussed is already being seen in the financial markets as Teck Resources (TCK), Canada’s largest diversified miner, may consider acquisitions in copper mining to help offset an expected decline in the company’s output of the metal.

(HBM) is a Canadian integrated mining company with operations, development properties and exploration activities across the Americas principally focused on the discovery, reduction and marketing of base and precious metals. The company’s objective is to create sustainable value through increased commodity exposure on a per share basis by growing long-life deposits in high-quality and mining-friendly jurisdictions. HudBay is a strong stock with great analyst coverage. Of the five analysts currently covering HBM, all five have buy ratings or higher.

Southern Copper (SCCO) is one of the largest integrated copper producers in the world, and has the largest copper reserves of the industry. The company produces copper, molybdenum, zinc, lead, coal and silver. SCCO is 81.3% owned by Grupo Mexico, a Mexican company listed on the Mexican Stock Exchange. The remaining 18.7% ownership interest is held by the international investment community. All of its mining, smelting and refining facilities are located in Peru and Mexico, and the company conducts exploration activities in those countries and Chile. Southern Copper has performed quite well recently with shares soaring more than 23% over the course of the past three months.

China’s Jiangxi Copper (SSE:600362) and Japan’s Pan Pacific Copper said mining companies will pay “at least 10% more in fees” to process copper this year, China Daily reported.  And Chinese mining companies have invested more than $1 billion in copper.  Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) expects gold and copper production in 2013 of approximately 4.8 million to 5.1 million ounces and between 150 and 170 million pounds, respectively. The company plans to spend up to $2.3 billion on various projects this year.  Sierra Metals (TSXV:SMT) announced that in 2012 its copper production rose 51%, to 15.9 million pounds, from the year before.  For 2013, it expects copper production of up to 23.1 million pounds.

Bullish Stance on Copper

Notwithstanding the current volatility in prices, we have a long-term bullish stance on copper, supported by its widespread use, limited supplies from existing mines and the absence of significant new development projects. Prices will be influenced by demand from China and emerging markets, economic activity in the U.S. and other industrialized countries, the timing of new supplies of copper and production levels of mines and copper smelters.  Companies that have a high leverage to copper prices will benefit immensely from the potential demand for the metal in the developing markets.

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Six More Weeks of Manufactured Financial Crisis

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On today’s great occasion we would like to celebrate the 4th official birthday of Stocks on Wall Street. It was just four years ago that we started out as a small blogspot.com site and to see how far we have grown since I have no doubt that the sky is the limit for this company and team of people.  Lets enjoy this day and celebrate and then get back to work to continue offering a better product to our readers day-by-day.

- James Hartje, President & Founder

Copper continues to play an important role in the world as its superior electrical conductivity, corrosion resistance, structural capability, efficient heat transfer and aesthetics make it a popular ingredient of many industrial products. This popularity has led to multitude of multinationals being involved in the mining of the metal with the two of most well-known copper miners being Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) and Southern Copper (SCCO).

First mined by man more than 10,000 years ago, copper today is one of the most common and versatile metals in use around the world. It is an internationally traded commodity, and its price is effectively determined by the major metals exchanges- the London Metal Exchange, the New York Commodity Exchange and the Shanghai Futures Exchange. Prices on these exchanges generally reflect the worldwide balance of copper supply and demand, but from time to time, they are also influenced significantly by investment flows and currency exchange rates.

Copper prices have rallied over the past 3 months, rising from about $3.45/lb to about $3.70/lb at today’s prices. The rally is expected to continue as the economic data from some of the world’s biggest economies continues to improve.

Copper is found in many places in the world, but Chile is a notable hotbed for Copper. Chile is not only the largest copper producer in the world, but also the country with the largest worldwide reserves of the red metal, reveals the latest commodity report by the U.S. Geological Survey. According to the agency, Chile has 28% of the world reserves, more than twice the reserves of its neighbor, Peru, the No. 2 global copper producer. It means that the South American country has reserves of 190,000 million tons of copper — 26% more than it was thought (150,000 million tons) — which guarantees copper extraction for the next 100 years, at the current extraction rate.

The economic data has been the big driver behind copper gains, and here is an overview. The news from China has been positive. China’s economy grew by 7.9% year over year in the fourth quarter, up from 7.4% in the third quarter. The news provided relief to commodity bulls, who feared that the world’s second-largest economy may have continued to slow after growing at the weakest pace in three years in Q3. Instead, it seems as if China’s growth may have stabilized above the official government target of 7.5% — a positive outcome.

Analysts have also come out positive on the metal. One analyst recently said that the economic recovery and growth should push prices up. “Copper is one of those metals that people feel is linked to the industrial cycle,” said Carole Ferguson, an analyst at SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP, a broker and adviser in London. “Demand is obviously returning, we’ve had good numbers coming out of China and the U.S. definitely looks as if it’s in a recovery trend.”

HSBC raised its 2013 copper price forecast, saying it expects positive sentiment to drive prices for the metal in a structurally balanced market. The bank lifted its 2013 forecast for the average cash copper price to $8,000 per ton from $7,500 (London’s copper metric) to reflect the metal’s relatively good start to the year. “Copper, perennially described as fundamentally tight, actually finished 2012 posting a gain in inventories,” analyst Andrew Keen said in a note to clients. “This market remains balanced in our view, and this is enough to keep prices high when sentiment is good.”

With that said, the copper sentiment is positive, and should continue to be so. As a result below are two great stocks to own to play off this copper rally:

HudBay Minerals (HBM) is a Canadian integrated mining company with operations, development properties and exploration activities across the Americas principally focused on the discovery, reduction and marketing of base and precious metals. The company’s objective is to create sustainable value through increased commodity exposure on a per share basis by growing long-life deposits in high-quality and mining-friendly jurisdictions. HudBay is a strong stock with great analyst coverage. Of the five analysts currently covering HBM, all five have buy ratings or higher.

(click to enlarge)

Copper is an industrial metal and therefore, it is very sensitive to economic cycles. Copper has a variety of uses, and it is a key component of every-day life, from the coins in our pockets to the powerlines that provide us with electricity. Furthermore, its extensive use in “green” technologies, such as solar cells and electric vehicles, ensures that copper will continue to play a key role in our sustainable future. Copper is conductive, durable, malleable, and eminently recyclable, making it one of the world´s most useful natural resources.

There have been some worries surrounding copper because of the short-term macroeconomic concerns regarding the US and Europe. However, the fundamentals are still excellent for copper: as Asia represents over 60% of world demand with China by itself at 39% and could reach 45% in 5 years. Southern Copper forecasts that China and Emerging Markets countries will continue growing, albeit at a lesser pace, but still showing substantial gains. The company also notes that limited production upside and falling grades will result in a deficit copper market going forward.

Two weeks ago, China’s neighbor, Japan, also reported positive economic news. Japan raised its expectations for the economy for the first time in eight months, as private consumption held firm and business sentiment improved in a sign that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s policy of easy money and big spending had begun taking effect. “The economy is weak, but signs of bottoming out can be seen in some areas,” the report said. That was an improvement from last month, when the government said the outlook was weakening because of a slowdown in overseas economies. HBM has performed substantially well the past three months with shares rising over 26%.

(click to enlarge)

HBM is a quieter and smaller copper name, but nonetheless, is an interesting one to take a look at with the growth projections. HBM expects its copper production to increase 390% between now and 2015, with a 115% increase in precious metals production and 30% growth in zinc over the same time period, which are some pretty hefty growth figures. There also is significant downside protection built in with its balance sheet containing $1.4 billion of cash.

Swingplane Ventures (SWVI.OB) is one company involved in copper one of the newer entrants in the space. Already though, the company is generating a buzz as can be seen by the stock chart.

The company owns one major property, the Algarrobo Property that is located in Chile. The mineralized trends for the mine are very well defined at surface through abundant workings, both historical and from more recent work. The workings range from shallow pits and near surface workings to more extensive mine development extending up to 450m below surface.

Swingplan Ventures has seen some analysts pick up as one research firm just issued a $10 target price on Swingplane Ventures. The firm said that a due diligence property evaluation suggests there is a significant opportunity to further develop the mineral potential of the property and dramatically increase the current level of production. The company intends to evaluate potential to: 1) increase the current level of production and 2) undertake construction of a processing facility to maximize recovery of economic grades of copper concentrate.

Notably, in early January, First Quantum Minerals, a $9 billion mining company, made an offer of $5.1 billion to purchase Inmet Mining which holds a very coveted copper mine in Panama. Inmet Mining, a company with a prized copper mine has almost doubled in market valuation this past year alone. Swingplane Ventures operates in the copper market in Chile, located in South America. This part of the world has been proven to possess extremely profitable copper mines as seen by First Quantum’s offer for Inmet. After further due diligence and research, we are upgrading the stock to $11.50 with a possibly buyout looming.

Now, we take a closer look into a recent news item for the metal signifying of some larger trends. The fundamentals for copper are clearly improving as the world’s copper usage and demand for copper is picking up. Friday, was a prime example of that as copper futures rose the most in a week as China’s trade expanded more than forecast, and car sales jumped to a record in the Asian nation, the world’s biggest consumer of industrial metals. In January, exports from China surged 25% and imports climbed 29% from a year earlier, both topping projections by economists in Bloomberg surveys, government data showed today. Sales of passenger vehicles surged 49%, a state-backed trade group said. A 6 month price chart of copper follows.

Recent news for Swingplane included the President’s discussion of the property. The Algarrobo Property is located approximately 850 km north of Santiago, in the III Region, Province of Copiapo, Chile. The city of Copiapo is located approximately 43 km to the southeast of the Property, with the small port city of Caldera 25 km to the east. The Property consists of 32 tenures, comprising a total of 6,161 hectares.

The current limited artisanal workings are now producing 9% copper ore on 10 acres. The 3 current veins that are being worked on have been trenched and sampled and shown to be over 6 km in length. From existing information on adjacent mines ie: the Viuda Mine, which is 250 meters in depth, the evidence suggests that the company has the same formation.

Knowing that we are not the only ones bullish on the metal has given us more confidence in our own thesis. This fact was demonstrated this week when Kevin Puil, the Malcolm Gissen & Associates portfolio manager, went through his bullish thesis on Seeking Alpha. Puil said “The fundamentals for copper remain highly favorable and I continue to see secular demand for most commodities, copper in particular. Industrialization and urbanization, especially in the BRIC [Brazil, Russia, India, China] countries, is not about to stop, and this continues to put pressure on copper miners, who struggle to keep up with demand. Supply growth has slowed due to lower grades, higher costs and political unrest. In addition, the new projects and mine expansions that were scheduled to come on-line haven’t materialized, and if they do, it will not be in a timely fashion. Quite frankly, I think you could see copper peak above $4 a pound [$4/lb] this year…”

The decline in output that Puil discussed is already being seen in the financial markets as Teck Resources (TCK), Canada’s largest diversified miner, may consider acquisitions in copper mining to help offset an expected decline in the company’s output of the metal, Chief Executive Officer Don Lindsay said. “Copper is a priority for us with declining production for the next couple of years,” Lindsay said on a conference call to discuss the company’s fourth-quarter results. “Something that might fill the gap would be of interest to us.”

Based on size and time on the market, Swingplace Ventures most closely compares to HBM, which rose to $7 a share in its first year on the market.

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Throughout the past few years the airline industry has been completely reshuffled, through various bankruptcies and mergers have reduced the major U.S. airlines down to four mega-carriers. Stocks on Wall Street has been a huge supporter of the airline industry specifically five stocks we invested in. Their overall performance since we originally invested are listed below:

Allegiant Travel (NASDAQ: ALGT) ⇧86.13%

Boeing (NYSE: BA) ⇧19.21%

Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL)  ⇧104.61%

Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) ⇧36.35%

UAL Corp (NYSE: UAL)  ⇧60.42%

Total: ⇧306.72%

Average: ⇧61.34%

To read our original article on the airline stocks, click on the link: Five Airline Stocks That Continue To Soar

Below is a chart to see how exactly the airline industry has shifted over the years and how America has now ended up with four major airlines.

click for ginormous graphic

Source: CNN/Money

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Thanks to Merrill Lynch we have a chart showcasing the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s overall performance from 1900 up until the present.Please Follow Us on Facebook & Twitter & Don’t Be Shy To Leave a Comment Below!

I’m sure everyone has heard about the ludicrous lawsuit brought upon by the Obama administration. The government is suing the S&P over its rating of CDOs and mortgage-backed securities, alleging that the fault ratings helped contribute to the worldwide financial crisis.  The government is seeking close to $5 billion from McGraw Hill, a little less than one-third of the company’s market cap.  Seems like a desperate measure for the government, who we all know is in such financial mess that they would look for any scapegoat or way collect more funds that they can waste. Below is a funny political cartoon pointing fun at this situation, enjoy!

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Dilbert always gives everyone a laugh so enjoy! 

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Source: Dilbert

After a busy few weeks, earnings season is finally starting to wind down. Nevertheless, this week will still be full of major earnings reports from quite a variety of companies.

Wall Street Investors will see earnings reports from the likes of American Financial (NYSE: AFG), Campbell Soup (NYSE: CPB), McGraw-Hill (NYSE: MHP), Michael Kors (NYSE: KORS), Goodyear Tire (NASDAQ: GT), Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA), Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO), Zillow (NASDAQ: Z), Weight Watchers (NYSE: WTW), Cabela’s (NYSE: CAB), Pepsico (NYSE: PEP), Whole Foods (NASDAQ: WFM), Nielsen Holdings (NYSE: NLSN), and Goldcorp (NYSE: GG).

Monday is a rather lackluster day with nothing too  exciting going on.

Tuesday we will see earnings from McGraw-Hill. In a typical quarter, the holding company generally wouldn’t attract much investor attention, however this isn’t a typical quarter. McGraw-Hill has become a hot stock over the past week, as it ‘s the parent company of the ratings agency Standard & Poor’s who is currently being sued by the Obama Administration.

That’s right, you heard correctly. Just last week, the Obama administration sued the S&P over its rating of CDOs and mortgage-backed securities, alleging that the fault ratings helped contribute to the worldwide financial crisis.  The government is seeking close to $5 billion from McGraw Hill, a little less than one-third of the company’s market cap.  Seems like a desperate measure for the government, who we all know is in such financial mess that they would look for any scapegoat or way collect more funds that they can waste. We don’t expect this lawsuit to hold up, if so it would cripple McGraw Hill.

Analysts recently upgraded their outlook on McGraw Hill to a Buy, holding a price target of $57 per share. Analysts are confident McGraw-Hill will report a strong quarter Tuesday, however they say that the market might not give them the credit they deserve. As for the lawsuit from the government, they claim it is totally politically motivated and claim the S&P has done nothing wrong, as ratings don’t predict bond prices. As a result, don’t be worried about the potential suit and focus more on the strong long-term prospects and outlook McGraw-Hill has going forward.

Tuesday will continue to be a busy day for another popular fashion designer and retailer, Michael Kors (NASDAQ: KORS). Analysts currently expect the company to post earnings per share of $0.41 on revenue of $540.30 million. Michael Kors has performed exceptionally well since their IPO in 2011 as shares are up well over 130%. In the last three months alone, shares are up over 13%. Michael Kors receives exceptional analysts coverage with all 13 analysts currently covering the stock issuing a Buy rating or higher. As a result analysts continue to be Bullish and have set out a price target of $71 per share. Going into earnings, KORS is a top pick as they are a leading retail growth story with high estimate achievability and strong growth prospects going forward.

Wednesday’s big earnings come from the networking giant, Cisco. Shares are up well over 25% the past three months. Analysts expect the company to report earnings per share figure of $0.48 on revenue of $12.06 billion.

67% of analysts covering Cisco have a Buy rating or higher. Analysts remain positive going forward and have issued at price target of $24 per share. We agree with their assessment and believe revenues will be right in line with management’s guidance. Also, we expect sequential growth in switching and routing. By geography, we expect to see relative strength from North America and potential for Europe to beat very low expectations.

When it comes to economics, the U.S. investors will get data on retail sales Wednesday along with industrial production and consumer confidence Friday.

Don’t expect much from the international markets this week. From the Chinese celebrating Chinese New New Year, to Brazil celebrating carnival many of the banks will be closed much this week. Chinese banks will be closed all five days, Japan will also be closed on Monday for Founder’s Day and Brazil’s stock exchange will be closed Monday through Thursday due to Carnival.

So as you can see the international markets will be rather quiet. As a result, expect earnings reports to dominate the markets and signal which direction they will go. We expect the markets to continue to trade on fundamentals, as the risks associated with Asia are limited due to the holiday. Europe could be a threat to the bull markets but we still believe earnings will b                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              e a bigger factor.

Monday

Reports: China, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Brazil Markets Closed

Earnings from: American Financial (NYSE: AFG), Nielsen Holdings (NYSE: NLSN), Lowes (NYSE: L)

Tuesday

Reports: China, Hong Kong and Brazil Markets Closed; U.S. Federal Budget Balance (Expected -$2B); South Korean Unemployment Rate (Prior 3%)

Earnings from: Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), McGraw-Hill, Western Union (NYSE:WU), Level 3 Communications (NYSE: LVLT), Rackspace Hosting (NYSE: RAX), Michael Kors, Goodyear Tire

Wednesday

Reports: China, Hong Kong and Brazil Markets Closed; U.S. Core Retail Sales (Expected 0.1%); Japanese GDP (Expected 0.1%)

Earnings from: Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA), CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL), Dean Foods (NYSE: DF), Whole Foods (NASDAQ: WFM), Zillow, Lorillard (NYSE: LO)

Thursday

Reports: China and Brazil Markets Closed; German GDP Expected (Expected -0.5%); Eurozone GDP (Expected -0.4%)

Earnings from: Cabela’s, Pepsico, Goldcorp, Alpha Natural Resources (NYSE: ANR), Molson Coors (NYSE: TAP)

Friday

Reports: Chinese Market Closed; U.K. Retail Sales (Expected 0.8% Year-over-Year); U.S. Industrial Production (Expected 0.2% Month-over-Month); U.S. University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment (Expected 74.8)

Earnings from: JM Smucker (NYSE: SJM), Campbell Soup (NYSE: CPB)

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NY Post:

“While foreclosures nationally fell 3 percent last year, New York City filings climbed 19 percent, or 13,116 properties, according to a new report.

The outer boroughs were the hardest hit, with Queens seeing a 164 percent rise year-over-year and Staten Island rising 19 percent over the same time frame, according to RealtyTrac, which expects another spike this year.

As the new numbers were released, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced a paltry $1.9 million settlement deal with robosigning giant Lender Processing Services.”

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TGIF everyone, we hope you had a great week and are excited for the weekend to finally be. Below we have a great list of articles. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the articles below. Like always, if you have any investment questions or need advice on a specific stock, Stocks on Wall Street is always here for you so feel free to Contact Us at anytime. We always love to hear from our readers so please shoot us an email. Also let us know what you think about the articles below and your thoughts on the market’s current climate by either commenting below, posting on our Facebook Fan Page or by sending us either Stocks on Wall Street or our Founder a Tweet.

Is Facebook Over? (Salon) 

Twitter’s Route to Maturity, Can We Expect an IPO Soon? (WSJ)

Credit Suisse Global Investment Returns Yearbook 2013 (CS PDF)

Why Do People Hate Rising Stock Prices? (Pragmatic Capitalism)

100 Startling Facts About the Economy (The Motley Fool)

Mr. Buffett on the Stock Market circa 1999  (Fortune)

E-Mails Imply JPM Knew Some Mortgage Deals Were Bad (DealBook)

How to Get an “Iffy” loan approved at JPM Chase (TBP)

Understanding Apple Requires an Analysis of Fundamentals and Psychology (Institutional Investor) 

 iTunes Store Sets New Record with 25 Billion Songs Sold (Apple)

The Next Secular Bull Market Is Still A Few Years Away (Street Talk Live)

Insiders now aggressively bearish (MarketWatch)

Money Changes Everything (NYT)

Establishing Your Top 10 Investment Default Settings (Above the Market)

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The Market’s Blowout Woos Investors From Sidelines
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Source: WSJ & Fiduciary News

Below is a great article by CNN/Money on why The NFL is a Money Machine.

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Source: CNN/Money

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL)has been dominating the headlines lately after the stock took a significant dip as the sales outlook for the company diminished for once as higher costs and increased competition is finally taking a toll on Apple as they are losing a significant share of the smart phone market to Samsung, Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), and other major competitors, a sector they once dominated. Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is another huge company and an interesting play to watch as they expand their business into other sectors, most recently the smart phone market going head to head with Apple. Amazon already has it’s own tablet which competes against the iPad so this was just the next step for Amazon to challenge Apple once again. As a result, we thought it would be interesting to compare the valuations of both companies.

First consider these headlines:

Reuters: “Amazon shares set record after strong quarterly profit”

Fortune: “Amazon profits take a dive“

Than ask yourself: “What is wrong with this pictures?”

click for larger graphic
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Source: Fortune

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 Source: J.P. Morgan

Thanks to ETF Database we have a very interesting set of graphs showcasing the historical looks of the S&P 500′s Top 10 Largest Components of All-Time. See the graphs below to see how things progressed over time dating back from the 1980s up until today.

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Source: ETF Database

If you’re looking for strong, compelling investment opportunities then look no further than the oil and natural gas sector. We believe oil and natural gas are long-term winners as they’re finite resources that will serve a vital role in our global economy for many years to come. The industry as a whole is primed for an uptick. In fact, the industry anticipates spending close to half a trillion dollars on exploration and production in the coming year. With the world’s largest companies like Chevron and ExxonMobil leading the way, it’s hard to believe that this is just a hunch.

As the BP Oil Spill is finally becoming a thing of the past, we are starting to see a huge shift from the cautious spending we have seen the past few years. With oil and natural gas prices expected to be at least sustainable if not substantially increase, expect the industry as a whole to continue to profit especially Deep-water drilling plays. Below we have two great Deep-water drilling stocks that you should invest in:

GulfMark Offshore (NYSE: GLF)

GulfMark Offshore provides offshore marine services throughout the world to companies involved in the exploration and production of oil and natural gas. We believe GLF is a strong buy opportunity for several reasons. To start, GLF has one of the youngest fleets in the industry and has seen recent drilling success in areas like East Africa. On top of that we’ve seen increased activity in other areas like the Black Sea and Falklands giving the company reason for optimism. 14% of GLF’s shares are currently owned by insiders, an optimistic indictor especially as GLF executives are required to hold shares giving them further incentives to contribute to GLF’s future success.

In recent months, GLF has gone relatively unnoticed due to the lingering effects from BP’s Deep-water oil spill. However, we believe we are finally turning a page on that incident. Analysts are finally Bullish on GLF as 85% of the 13 analysts covering the stock rate it as a BUY or higher. GLF has shown us the ability to make money, producing solid profit margins and total revenues for several consecutive months now. Going forward expect GLF’s capital expenditures to drop significantly, giving the company a nice boost in cash flows. The stock currently trades around 0.9 times its book value, below its 10-year average of 1.7 making it a more enticing play. Like we stated earlier, we believe oil and natural gas are long-term winners and GLF is a direct pay on that outlook.

Our 12-month price target is $50, which would result in a total-yield of 35% add on a 2.70% dividend and you have a total net yield of 37.70%.

Transocean (NYSE: RIG)

Transocean is now notorious for being known as the company that operated the fateful Deep water Horizon drilling rig for BP. Investors who know the company; realize that it’s much more than that.  Transocean is the world’s largest offshore drilling contractor with 140 rigs operating around the world. Locations include Africa, the North Sea, South America, Southeast Asia, and of course the Gulf.

RIG contracts the operation of these rigs to oil companies like BP, ExxonMobil, and Anadarko. These companies pay Transocean a day rate ranging from $50,000 to $650,000 per day, depending on the type of rig. Ultra-deep water rigs, ones that drill up to 40,000 feet in water, command the most, while standard jackups command the least.

We believe Transocean is a strong investment and a compelling play as the market has unfairly set some really low expectations for the stock.  Despite the horrific incident in the Gulf, global oil demand is not declining. As a result, RIG will continue to play a leading role in extracting oil worldwide.

RIG has a solid book of business overall. We like their 0.67 PEG Ratio, $10 billion in revenues, and the 6 billion in cash on the books. Analysts are also finally becoming bullish on Transocean as 71% of the 41 analysts currently covering the stock hold a BUY rating or higher.

Overall we believe RIG is a compelling undervalued play and an investment opportunity you should take advantage of. Our 12-month price target is $75, which would result in a total-yield of 31%.

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Hope everyone’s week is going just fine so far. Below we have a great list of articles. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the articles below. Like always, if you have any investment questions or need advice on a specific stock, Stocks on Wall Street is always here for you so feel free to Contact Us at anytime. We always love to hear from our readers so please shoot us an email. Also let us know what you think about the articles below and your thoughts on the market’s current climate by either commenting below, posting on our Facebook Fan Page or by sending us either Stocks on Wall Street or our Founder a Tweet.

The Question You Should Be Asking About the Stock Market (Bucks)

Friends of Fraud (NYT)

A Billion-Dollar Club, and Not So Exclusive (NYT)

The World War I Debts That Wouldn’t Go Away (Echoes)

One Recession Cost Is Lower Social Security Benefits (Economix)

Baby Boomers Sicker Than Parents’ Generation, Study Finds (Bloomberg)

College Is (Still) Worth It (Economix)

‘The Blackout Bowl,’ or ‘The Most Depressing Super Bowl Column You’ll Read’ (The Nation)

Money Matters: A bull-and-bear naturalist (Winnipeg Free Press)

The Question You Should Be Asking About the Stock Market (Bucks)

Unplugged: Why is Michael Dell buying back his company? (USA Today)

Silicon Valley’s Favorite Stories (Bits)

Paul Kedrosky Has A Fascinating Theory About What Has Gone Wrong At Apple (Business Insider)

More than one way to rebalance Portfolios (Morningstar)

The deadly quest for safety (Coppola Comment)

The Constant Correction Call (The Reformed Broker)

Michael Lewis: The Trouble with Wall Street — shocking news that Goldman Sachs is greedy (New Republic)

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Even after a busy week capping off with a Ravens Super Bowl victory, earnings season continues to kick into full gear.  Investors will receive earnings from major players like Visa (NYSE: V), Sprint (NYSE: S), Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), Humana (NYSE: HUM) Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU) Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG), Noble Energy (NYSE: NBL), Activision-Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI), AOL (NYSE: AOL), Zynga (NASDAQ: ZNGA), Kellogg (NYSE: K), Akamai Tech (NASDAQ: AKAM), and Expedia (NASDAQ: EXPE). Not to mention many other companies we failed to list.

Monday is none too exciting other than receiving earnings from the Chinese website giant, Baidu.

Zynga will report earnings on Tuesday. The social gaming company has struggled ever since they went public. ZNGA peaked at $15 following the IPO, but ever since shares have collapsed. On Friday, Zynga closed at $2.66 so you can see just how far shares have fallen. Of the 23 analysts currently covering Zynga, 78% have a HOLD rating on the stock. Some say ZNGA is a volatile risky bet that could pay off with enormous returns however we are skeptical and would remain cautious and avoid the stock altogether.

Wednesday’s big earnings come from Visa. Visa is up 10% over the past three months and shares closed at $158.56 on Friday. Analyst are high on Visa as 71% of the thirty-four analysts covering the stock hold a BUY Rating or higher. 45% of those analysts rate Visa as a STRONG BUY. As the U.S. debit market continues to strengthen along with overall global growth Visa shares should stabilize. We like Visa here; they are a strong company and a solid stock so expect them to report another strong quarter.

Thursday investors will see an earnings report from Coca-Cola. KO has failed to capitalize on the market’s recent rally as shares up less than 1% over the course of the past three months. Analysts are moderately Bullish about KO, with 62% of 18 analysts holding a BUY rating or higher and 33% of analysts rating Coca-Cola as a HOLD. The most famous investor, Warren Buffet is a huge supporter of KO and thinks it’s a great buy. If you’re one of those investors who follows Buffet’s investment strategy then buy it here. We think KO is a solid company overall and expect them to do just fine going forward.  Thursday will also be a key day for the international markets The European Central Bank and the Bank of England will release their interest rate decisions.

Friday the big focus is on U.S. economic data, as we will be given with the new unemployment rate. It’s a busy week overall, hope everyone’s ready for the ride!

Monday

Reports: Australian Interest Rate Decision (Expected 3%)

Earnings from: Humana (NYSE: HUM), Life Tech (NASDAQ: LIFE), Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU)

Tuesday

Reports: Eurozone Retail Sales (Expected -0.5%), U.S. ISM Non-manufacturing (Expected 55.1)

Earnings from: Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG), Computer Sciences (NYSE: CSC), Zynga, Kellogg (NYSE: K)

Wednesday

Reports: Unemployment Rate (Expected 5.5%)

Earnings from: Visa, Allstate (NYSE: ALL), Green Mountain Coffee (NASDAQ: GMCR)

Thursday

Reports: Bank of England Interest Rate Decision (Expected 0.50%), ECB Interest Rate Decision (Expected 0.75%), U.S. Nonfarm Productivity (Expected -1.2%), U.S. Unit Labor Costs (Expected 2.9%)

Earnings from: Noble Energy (NYSE: NBL), Coinstar (NASDAQ: CSTR), Sprint, Cigna (NYSE: CI), Activision-Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI)

Friday

Reports: Chinese CPI (Expected 2.0% Year-over-Year), Canadian Unemployment Rate (Expected 7%), U.S. Trade Balance (Expected -$46B)

Earnings from: AOL (NYSE: AOL)

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Who’s ready for the Super Bowl? To get you excited for the big game, below we have a great list of Super Bowl related articles. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the articles below. Like always, if you have any investment questions or need advice on a specific stock, Stocks on Wall Street is always here for you so feel free to Contact Us at anytime. We always love to hear from our readers so please shoot us an email. Also let us know what you think about the articles below and your thoughts on the markets current climate by either commenting below, posting on our Facebook Fan Page or by sending us either Stocks on Wall Street or our Founder a Tweet.

Why Football is Still a Money Machine: The $10 Billion NFL Market (CNN/Money)

7 Super Bowl Investing Lessons (Above the Market)

An Old-School Super Bowl (The New Yorker)

The Good, The Bad, & The Sexy: Two Advertising Legends Analyze 14 New Super Bowl Spots (Forbes)

Meet the Real Hero of Today’s Super Bowl, Steve Gleason (Forbes)

Harvard’s Birk Shuns Wall Street for Spot in Super Bowl (Bloomberg)

Before Beyonce, the Greatest Super Bowl Halftime Show (Bloomberg)

Why Advertisers Are Betting Big on the Super Bowl (Yahoo Finance)

12 Most Unusual Super Bowl Bets (CNBC)

ANOTHER SOCIALIST SUCKLING AT TEAT OF GOVT: Subsidies for Saints Owner Open New Orleans to Super Bowl (Bloomberg)

 If you can’t access some of the articles it might be because you need to have a subscription, to get a Free-Trial or Subscribe to any of the Top Financial Publications, Simply Click on the Link! 

Hope everyone had a great weekend and is excited to watch the Superbowl. Below we have a great list of articles. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the articles below. Like always, if you have any investment questions or need advice on a specific stock, Stocks on Wall Street is always here for you so feel free to Contact Us at anytime. We always love to hear from our readers so please shoot us an email. Also let us know what you think about the articles below and your thoughts on the markets current climate by either commenting below, posting on our Facebook Fan Page or by sending us either Stocks on Wall Street or our Founder a Tweet.

Is the Stock Market Ready For a Correction? (MarketWatch)

This iWatch Concept Features Seamless Linking To iPhone, Is Perfect In Every Way (Redmond Pie)

BlackBerry 10 Critical to Research in Motion (NYT)

Disney’s Bob Iger Talks Deal-Making With Steve Jobs, Importance of Risk (The Wrap)

Disney CEO went to Steve Jobs to find out if Disney films “sucked” (arstechnica)

Fund manager betting on a bear market in government (Philly.com)

A Warning to Wall St. About Misleading Clients (DealBook)

To Fix The Economy, Fix Immigration (Bloomberg)

Th Economics Of Immigration (TIME)

More Students Delaying on Repaying College Loans (MarketWatch)

Is Netflix Becoming HBO? (GQ)

Amazon is Not Netflix (The Street)

If you can’t access some of the articles it might be because you need to have a subscription, to get a Free-Trial or Subscribe to any of the Top Financial Publications, Simply Click on the Link!