Category: INO.com Contributors

Energize Your Portfolio With This Alternative Energy Play

Posted on by Daniel Cross

Daniel Cross - INO.com Contributor - Equities


Oil has dominated the headlines for energy markets this year so you might have missed out on the growth building up in alternative energy. Specifically – solar.

Just take a look at the chart for Guggenheim Solar ETF (TAN).

NYSE:TAN
Chart courtesy of StockCharts.com

It's sold off quite a bit from its mid-April highs, but looks severely oversold based on its RSI reading of just 28.52. Still, it's up more than 20% year-to-date and looks like it will reverse course and trend higher from here.

The solar industry may be a volatile market, but it's also the fastest growing sector of new energy capacity for the next year according to a report by Bloomberg. It's expected to grow 30% compared to wind at 12%. According to one source, solar could power over 7.6 million homes by 2016 – a 21 times increase over the 360,000 homes powered by solar in 2009. Continue reading "Energize Your Portfolio With This Alternative Energy Play" →

The Easy Money Has Already Been Made

Posted on by George Yacik

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


As a financial journalist, I talk to lots of financial planners and investment advisors on a regular basis. One common thread in their comments is how hard it is to make money – or, more accurately, not lose money – by investing in the financial markets.

"Almost nobody ever makes money consistently over time in the stock market – I mean almost no one," says one adviser who's been in the business for more than 30 years. If people make money one year, or even three or four years in a row, they wind up losing it when the correction comes, and then they're back to square one – if they're not actually in the red.

Indeed, the goal for many advisors is simply to "preserve capital," as they say in the business, which simply means not to lose money. "You win by not losing big," this advisor says. "Make it and keep it," says another, who's been managing clients' money for more than 50 years.

Why such modest goals? Continue reading "The Easy Money Has Already Been Made" →

Dollar Correction Not Over

Posted on by Lior Alkalay

Lior Alkalay - INO.com Contributor - Forex


It was back on 13 April that I highlighted the breaking point for the dollar, which could lead to a dollar correction after a prolonged rally. What was that breaking point? If inflation gauges showed that the strong dollar weighed on the inflation outlook, then the dollar would begin its correction. And so indeed, shortly after, the dollar began to plunge against its European peer, the euro, as investors switched into euro longs and dollar shorts. The reason? Data suggested that the US economy wasn't growing as quickly as expected, and most inflation gauges suggested that inflation still wasn't returning.

And then, two weeks ago, the tide turned once again and investors began dollar buying once more as core inflation nudged up and the Eurozone, with the looming Greek crisis, seemed weak again. But is the dollar correction really over? Don't count on it… Continue reading "Dollar Correction Not Over" →

This Stock Is Best In Class In The High Growth Auto Parts Industry

Posted on by Daniel Cross

Daniel Cross - INO.com Contributor - Equities


The S&P 500 is expected to return around 10% for 2015 – year-to-date though, it's only up 2.35%. Yields on bonds are slowly tracking higher in advance of the Fed interest rate hike, but still remain far below historical averages. Commodities haven't fared well either with oil plunging in the past year and gold trading relatively flat. However, there's no such thing as a market without opportunity.

The auto parts industry is growing at a tremendous rate – for one company, the 5-year expected EPS growth rate is over 20%. In April, I wrote about the opportunities in the auto industry for manufacturers. The auto parts segment is a great way to play off of that angle.

A significant tailwind for the industry is the fall in gas prices that we've seen over the last few months. While prices have begun to rise again, consumers have already been logging more miles in their vehicles since they can travel further for the same cost. Increased wear and tear on motor vehicles translates into high demand for auto parts. Continue reading "This Stock Is Best In Class In The High Growth Auto Parts Industry" →

Move Over Hedge Funds, ETF's Are Taking Over

Posted on by Matt Thalman

Matt Thalman - INO.com Contributor - ETFs


Ease of use and open access, transparency, lower costs, and frankly better performance by ETF's compared to hedge funds is causing a massive shift in the way small and more importantly large institutions invest. Early in May, the amount of funds in global ETF's, which have only been around for just the past 22 years, topped $3 trillion. May also has marked the first time ETF's total asset value topped that of the 66 year old investment vehicle known as hedge funds, which currently sit around $2.9 trillion globally.

While mutual funds still dominate the investment world with more than $15 trillion in assets under US managed funds, ETF's certainly appear to be heading as the clear #2 in terms of total dollars invested. The industry has seen massive growth over the past few years, specifically in the US; 2013 US ETF assets rose by $188 billion, 2014 that figure jumped to $243 billion, and at the start of May year-to-date US inflow were already at $72 billion, which is a must faster start than experienced in 2014 when only $35 billion had been pumped into ETF's from the start of January to the beginning of May.

While the massive growth in ETF's over just the past five years is astonishing, due to the four qualities they offer which hedge funds don't, it shouldn’t be of a surprise that their popularity has and will continue to grow. So let's take a look at the four qualities. Continue reading "Move Over Hedge Funds, ETF's Are Taking Over" →