Category: INO.com Contributors

Trump To GOP: Drop Dead

Posted on by George Yacik

George Yacik - INO.com Contributor - Fed & Interest Rates


As much as I don’t like the fact that President Trump had to make a deal with the Devils – i.e., Democrats – to reach a temporary budget agreement, he did the only sensible thing he could do to avoid a government shutdown. He was able to increase the government’s borrowing limit and get emergency aid for Hurricane Harvey victims, all in one fell swoop.

Rather than wait around for the do-nothing Republicans in Congress to, well, do nothing, Trump agreed to a deal with the likes of Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi to at least get something done that needed to be done quickly. Was it the deal he really wanted? No. Was it the best deal? Probably not. Was it the best deal he could get right now under the circumstances? Probably. That’s politics.

But it might lead to bigger, better and more important agreements down the road, most immediately tax reform, and that was more likely Trump’s primary goal. He knew he couldn’t rely on Republicans for that. Continue reading "Trump To GOP: Drop Dead" →

Investing Before Or After A Natural Disaster

Posted on by Matt Thalman

Matt Thalman - INO.com Contributor - ETFs


Similar to investing in "Sin Stocks," i.e., alcohol, tobacco, casino, weapons companies, investing with the mindset of making money before or after a natural disaster, such as a hurricane like Harvey that hit Texas a few weeks ago is often a touchy subject.

But, if you are someone who is alright with investing in this 'morally gray' area, or just want to learn about how others pursue it, together we can take a look at how it is accomplished and a few things to be aware of before deploying capital.

First, while every natural disaster can be incredibly devastating, hurricanes typically seem to account for the bulk of the damage here in the US. In most cases, they are the only real disasters which you can invest around because of their predictability, which gives investors a chance to make investments both before and after the disaster occurs.

Since hurricanes occur along the coast, and more often in the gulf coast region, the one industry they seem to affect is the oil industry. This is because a significant amount of oil is drilled for in the Gulf of Mexico and because a large number of the US's oil refineries and oil shipping ports are found in this region. Continue reading "Investing Before Or After A Natural Disaster" →

Bitcoin Bonanza Rolls On

Posted on by Matt Thalman

Matt Thalman - INO.com Contributor - ETFs


As the Bitcoin phenomenon rolls on, we continue to see new prospectuses for possible Bitcoin funds despite the Securities Exchange Commission denying the creation of one Bitcoin Exchange Traded Fund due to the lack of market surveillance and regulation. Oddly enough, the currency was started to give its user autonomy from governments and other regulatory agencies.

So the main reason why the currency grew in popularity is the reason why investors are finding it difficult to invest in the asset. Thus far two different proposed Exchange Traded Funds have been denied in the US, but it would appear the once denied Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF might have a chance of being approved the second time around. What is interesting is that the Winklevoss Twins were not the ones who filed the petition for reconsideration of their ETF, it was the Bats exchange, which the proposed ETF would trade on if approved. Continue reading "Bitcoin Bonanza Rolls On" →

Analysis Of Hurricane Harvey Impacts On The U.S. Oil Industry

Posted on by Robert Boslego

Robert Boslego - INO.com Contributor - Energies


Information from the Gulf of Mexico is developing each day, and the extent of damage from Harvey to the energy industry’s infrastructure is still largely unknown as of September 5th. I detail below the potential impacts on supply and demand for crude and petroleum products. I have also contrasted them to supply/demand responses to Hurricane Katrina (2005) followed by Hurricane Rita.

Crude Production

The best data show that about 324,000 b/d is shut down in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). Also, up to 300,000 b/d of inland production may be affected in Eagle Ford.

Hurricane Katrina made its landfall on August 29, 2005, in Southeast Louisiana, not Texas, as a Category 3 hurricane. It caused significant damage to oil and gas industry infrastructure. It was followed by Hurricane Rita, which made landfall on September 24th, also as a Category 3 hurricane.

The initial impact on crude production was about 1.2 million barrels per day (mmbd). GOM production at that time was about 400,000 b/d lower than the most recent estimates.

U.S. Crude Production
Continue reading "Analysis Of Hurricane Harvey Impacts On The U.S. Oil Industry" →

These Stocks Could Offer A Bargain As Silver Soars

Posted on by Aibek Burabayev

Aibek Burabayev - INO.com Contributor - Metals


Silver hit a 3-month high last week, but there is still plenty room for gains on the way to the conservative upside target above $21 level.

Last week I analyzed the top gold stocks, and I thought it would be interesting to look at the silver stocks to see if there are good opportunities amid Silver's growth. My previous update on the top silver stocks ranked by P/E was posted in July. This time I will use ROE (return on equity) as a selection criterion.

Table 1. Top Silver Stocks By Return-On-Equity (ROE)

Top Silver Stocks By Return-On-Equity (ROE)
Image courtesy of finviz.com

Top 3 silver stocks by ROE are SSR Mining Inc. (SSRM) (former ticker SSRI), Coeur Mining, Inc. (CDE) and Pan American Silver Corp. (PAAS) .

The leading silver stocks show pale performance compared to the top gold stocks, which have a ROE range between 10% and 30% while only one of the silver stock’s reading is above the 10% threshold. But the ROE above 8.5% is still an outstanding performance overall. Continue reading "These Stocks Could Offer A Bargain As Silver Soars" →