How Exposed are You to Apple?

Matt Thalman - INO.com Contributor - ETFs


Apple Inc. (AAPL) now has a market capitalization of more than $750 billion. That makes Apple easily the largest company, not only today, but of all-time. The next largest publicly traded company is Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM) which has a market cap of $377 billion. That makes Apple just a mere $4 billion shy of being twice the size of the next largest company in the world.

With Apple's history of stock price appreciation and overall market crushing returns, and no real signs of slowing down when it comes to its business, it is understandable that a large number of money managers own shares of the company in theirs funds. But, what is interesting is the size that Apple represents in a large number of ETF's available to investors.

It is understandable that Apple is the largest holding in sum funds. For example Apple represents 3.89% and 3.87% in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) respectively, which are designed to mirror the make-up and performance of the S&P 500 index. Therefore since Apple is twice the size of the next largest company, it explains why it is double to size of Exxon in those ETF's. Continue reading "How Exposed are You to Apple?"

Is This Index Predicting The Future?

Today I'm going to be looking into the Dow 30 Index. This index is home to some of the biggest and most valuable companies in the world.

Using our Trade Triangle technology, you can quickly see that out of the 30 stocks that make up this index, just three stocks remain in a bullish trend. Out of the remaining 27 stocks, 6 are in a trading range and 21 stocks are in downtrends.

With two-thirds of the stocks in this important index in downtrends, this index is casting a shadow over the general economy.

The 3 stocks that remain in uptrends are rather mundane companies that have been around a long time.

Here are the 3 stocks that are still bullish and I will be looking at in today's video: Continue reading "Is This Index Predicting The Future?"

A Peek Inside 3 Billionaires' Portfolios

Today, I'm going to look at three of the biggest portfolio managers in the world and what they're holding in their portfolios. Each of these three billionaire investors have over half of their portfolios in just three stocks.

Warren Buffett

Everyone it seems has heard of Warren Buffett, the legendary investor from Omaha. I'll be looking at Mr. Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway holdings and his top three stocks and comparing them with the Trade Triangle signals.

Here are Mr. Buffett's (Berkshire Hathaway) top three holdings as of today: Continue reading "A Peek Inside 3 Billionaires' Portfolios"

Coke Vs. Pepsi: By The Numbers

History has shown us that America was built on the back of positive rivalries.

Like the long-standing feud between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox... or the U.S. vs. Russia in the Olympics. That's to say nothing of more serious rivalries like the political feud between Democrats and Republicans.

Nothing can drive competitors to perform their best like a well-matched rivalry. This is particularly true in the world of business. Think of Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) and Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), Ford (NYSE: F) and General Motors (NYSE: GM), or ATT (NYSE: T) and Sprint (NYSE: S).

All of these (and dozens of others) have resulted in increased innovation, industry growth and -- most critically for investors -- shareholder value. One rivalry in particular stands out to me in terms of longevity, pure competitive zeal and using nearly every trick in the book for the upper hand: the epic cola war between Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) and Pepsico (NYSE: PEP).

Both of these companies have made great investments over the years, both offer solid growing dividend yields, and both excel in a particular niche. However, going forward, I think one of these companies has the edge on the other as an investment. Continue reading "Coke Vs. Pepsi: By The Numbers"

A Big Win For Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (NASDAQ:GMCR)

Hello traders everywhere! Adam Hewison here, President of INO.com and co-creator of MarketClub, with your video update for Thursday, the 6th of February.

Yesterday, the Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) announced it was buying a 10% stake in Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (NASDAQ:GMCR). Under the terms of the deal, Coke will purchase 16.7 million shares in Green Mountain for about $1.5 billion.

This appears to be a match made in heaven as Green Mountain will now become the official maker of the soda giant's single-serve cold beverages, built on its Keurig pod-based system. Continue reading "A Big Win For Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (NASDAQ:GMCR)"