Free Stock Investing Tips

October 18, 2009

stock-investing-tips Before taking any decision you have to take care of all the factors related to that particular thing and stock market is not the exception. Even in stock market you have to analyze every single step before taking the decision of investment in stock market.

Mostly people are ignorant about the investing strategy. Before investing small amount of your money, you should acquire better knowledge about investment. Investor should take care of the steps which he has to take in order to acquire potential gain and the surprises which are being awaited in the coming months.

One of the best methods of research is online via blogs, forums, and trusted news sites. Stays connected to the markets and follow your stocks fundamentals to better monitor your stocks to determine when they are over bought or under sold. Note: The Stocknod Alerts automate this analysis and can easily update you on over bought and under sold conditions within he markets.

You should have proper knowledge of investing in the stock market to get your bank balance in the running mode. To get the proper knowledge about investment you have to approach latest techniques offered by internet. People who are investing at first time should be careful of all the rules and regulations under the strategy. You can access lot of information about stock picking and investment plan from the internet, periodicals, books and other educational materials. The most important and positive tip that everyone has to follow is to test and test again until you can click your fortune in the market dramatically.

There are numerous important things that are to be kept in mind while issuing stocks in this economy. You should understand how the issuing of the stock may affect your company. You should also be aware of the tax considerations and valuation. When planning your company’s capitalization, you should also be cautious towards the security laws. Another important tip to be followed by the investors today is to invest by taking advantage of the huge market volatility witnesses every day in the stock markets.

When you are investing your money, the investments should preferably be in the form of stocks or bonds. Stocks provide the most flexibility for investors and the highest returns for those that are educated. Investing in stocks enable you to choose size and scope of the actual investments you wish to put your money behind. If you are looking for a simple investment, you should invest in mutual funds by buying the stocks or bonds straight out. If you want a long term return on your investment, investment in securities and bonds is the good decision.

Your first investments should be to learn how the stocks are moving in the current world. Also try to invest only in those stocks which is familiar and in which you have confidence. It would be better if you invest in more than one stock so that there is diverse chances fro gaining profit. Keeping all these things in mind can definitely make you successful investor. Stay Connected to the markets with the Stocknod Alerts.

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Sluggish Economy: Economists guardedly optimistic about timeline

October 18, 2009

economy-cube The beginning of an economic recovery appears to be just a few months away but unemployment is predicted to rise past 10% into next year by most surveyed economists. The jobless rate will peak at 10.2%, according to the median estimate of the 49 economists surveyed July 16-22 per USAToday. That’s up nearly a half-percentage point from the previous survey in April. The nation’s unemployment rate hit 9.5% in June, a 26-year high.

“About half of those surveyed said unemployment will peak in the first half of next year, while 16% said jobless rolls will swell into the latter part of 2010. The Federal Reserve forecasts unemployment peaking late this year at 9.8% to 10.1%.

The economy is expected to grow again during the second half of this year, and slightly more robustly than the April survey projected. Yet, the median growth-rate estimate of 2% for the fourth quarter is weak by historical standards.”

“I think (the recovery) is going to be anemic,” says Allen Sinai, chief economist at Decision Economics. He cites debt-laden consumers as the main obstacle.

“Households have to save a lot to fix their balance sheets before they can spend more,” he adds. “I don’t think consumers have the wherewithal to buy a lot of cars and a lot of houses.”

Another factor slowing the turnaround is still-tight credit markets that will limit business expansion, UBS chief economist Maury Harris says.

Overall, 63% of the economists say the recovery will be slow and gradual. Those surveyed expect businesses to continue to cut spending until early next year. As a result, Sinai says, unemployment will continue to rise.

There are some bright spots.

Two-thirds of economists say existing-home sales have hit bottom. Consumer spending has stabilized. And CEO confidence shot up in the second quarter, the Conference Board said recently. Such signals are prompting 37% of economists to predict a moderate or fast recovery.

Bill Cheney, chief economist at MFC Global Investment, says the housing and automobile markets plunged so sharply that “both have the potential to generate some quite large percentage increases.” Consumers could be moved to open their wallets because of rising values on the stock market, he says.

Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubushi, is also fairly bullish, expecting unemployment to top out at 9.7% this year.

“I think the key to a turnaround is that job losses stop quicker than people are expecting,” he says.

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Small Cap Favorites

October 18, 2009

hotstocks1 While yearly results can be volatile, disciplined investors who remain invested in a portfolio of high-growth, small-cap equities can achieve an exceptional return. Indeed, over the past 33 years, the model portfolio in his The Oberweis Report has generated a compound rate of return of 19.9%, vs. 7.2% for the S&P 500 Index (excluding dividends). Below is a trio hot pack of my current small cap favorites you should add to your watchlist.

Lincoln Educational Services (NASDAQ: LINC) is a for-profit provider of post-secondary education. The company offers recent high school graduates and working adults degree and diploma programs in health sciences, auto technology, skilled trades, hospitality, and IT. As of June 30, 2009, Lincoln had over 26,000 students enrolled at 43 campuses in 17 states. The company recently completed the public offering of 4 million shares of stock sold by Back to School Acquisition LLC, a selling shareholder, for $20.25 per share. Back to School still owns more than 10 million shares post-offering. In the company’s latest reported second quarter, sales increased approximately 50% to $128.1 million from $85.1 million in the second quarter of last year, aided by acquisitions.
Lincoln reported earnings per share of $.43 in the latest reported second quarter versus $.05 in the same quarter of last year.
LogMeIn (NASDAQ: LOGM) is a leading provider of remote-connectivity solutions; its remote access solutions allow users to access and back up their home or work computers from anywhere with an internet connection, including through the use of an iPhone.LogMeIn products also provide remote support and management services to businesses and IT help desks, helping them to increase functionality and efficiency. Their LogMeIn Rescue offering allows support teams such as Best Buy’s Geek Squad to quickly access, view and fix remote devices. Given permission from the computer user, a computer technician can access, view, and even control the end-user’s computer to resolve any problems, all through an Internet chat window without requiring pre-installed software on the end-user’s computer. In the company’s latest reported second quarter, sales increased approximately 58% to $18.0 million from $11.4 million in the second quarter of last year. LogMeIn reported earnings per share of $0.17 in the latest reported second quarter versus a loss in the same quarter of last year.
PrivateBancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: PVTB) provides commercial banking services, real estate services, wealth management and individual banking services to business owners and executives, entrepreneurs and families within the communities they serve.It has 34 offices in 10 states, serving the greater Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Des Moines, Detroit, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Minneapolis and St. Louis metropolitan areas.In the company’s latest reported second quarter, sales increased appproximately 80% to $95.8 million from $53.1 million in the second quarter of last year. PrivateBancorp reported earnings per share of $.06 in the latest reported second quarter versus loss in the same quarter of last year.Clients of Oberweis Asset Management own approximately 150,000 shares each of of LIncoln Educational and PrivateBancorp and 24,000 shares of LogMeIn.

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Oil Prices Might Halt Stock Rally

October 15, 2009

oilprices1 Investors may be pleased to see stock prices hitting highs this year, but there’s something else soaring that’s a bit scary: oil prices. Oil prices are storming higher because investors anticipate stronger global demand as factories, cars and idled production facilities creak back to life.

Gains in oil prices are head-turning. The price of a barrel of oil has jumped to more than $78, a high this year and a staggering 76% rise in 2009. That gain dwarfs stocks’ 20.4% increase this year as measured by the Standard & Poor’s 500.

Most troubling, though, is that the last time oil started spiking was late 2007. That jump in energy prices helped start a decline that knocked stocks into the worst bear market since the Depression.

Now that oil prices are ticking up again, some are wondering whether rising oil prices are the potential spoiler for this market rally.

The rising price of oil “triggered part of the recession,” says Doug Roberts of market research firm ChannelCapitalResearch.com. “If it continues to rise, it could be a problem.”

Investors wondering how rising oil prices could affect stocks will be watching for:

•Onerous energy burden on consumers. Consumers are cutting borrowing costs, but rising energy prices could undermine savings efforts, says Jim Paulsen at Wells Capital Management.

Energy costs as a percentage of disposable personal income jumped 3 percentage points from 2002 through 2008, to 6.3%, Paulsen says, a much larger hit than the 1 percentage point rise of debt obligations, he says. The energy burden is now 4.4% of income, and an increase could be hard for consumers to take, especially with unemployment stubbornly high.

•The $80-a-barrel barrier. Rising oil prices weren’t a problem for stocks until they cracked $80 a barrel in September 2007, says Jack Ablin of Harris Private Bank. It’s at that level, historically, that energy prices could start negatively affecting consumer behavior, he says.

•A rapid surge in oil prices from here. Some investors aren’t worried about the absolute price of oil as much as the direction and speed. Slow and steady increases can be absorbed by the healing economy, says Charles Crane of Douglass Winthrop Advisors. A surge, though, could be a problem.

Concern about rising oil prices is just another sign of how investors, while pleased to see stocks rising, are watching for anything threatening the momentum, says Hugh Johnson of Johnson Illington Advisors.

In keeping with the past, this bull market has a lot to overcome, and the biggest hurdle is rising oil prices.

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McKesson Healthcare Winner

October 15, 2009

McKesson (NYSE: MCK Price) is a 175-year old company and is the nation’s leading generic drug wholesaler; approximately one-third of North America’s entire drug supply passes through McKesson’s hands at some level. Even though it’s impossible to know what specific changes are in store once Congress reaches an accord, investors can safely count on three general trends. More on McKesson Stock News

1.) You can expect to see continued reliance on generic drugs. These inexpensive alternatives already account for about 70% of all prescriptions nationwide, and a record number of brand-name products are facing patent expiration during the next couple of years.

2.) There will be a massive influx of new patients as we seek to assimilate 47 million uninsured Americans into the system. This will naturally trigger greater demand for everything from flu shots to surgical lasers.

3.) The one thing both sides can agree on is that outdated paper medical records need to enter the digital age. In an industry that is rife with inefficiencies, upgrading to electronic systems will cut down on duplicate tests, erroneous lab results and other common administrative snafus that waste as much as $900 million annually.

At the confluence of these powerful currents stands a prime beneficiary — McKesson. The company distributes over $1 billion worth of medicines to Rite Aid, Wal-Mart and thousands of other pharmacies and healthcare providers each week.

The company supplies more than 300,000 doctors’ offices and hospitals with an extensive array of vaccines, medical supplies and surgical equipment.

It even has products that enable managed care organizations like Aetna and Blue Cross/Blue Shield to communicate with providers and process claims for 160 million plan members.

Still not a believer, then consider this, the company has an entire division focused on healthcare IT solutions. This suite of software and related services encompasses everything from electronic health records to practice management software to clinical diagnostic and support tools. For example, the firm’s RelayHealth network, is a connective portal that gives doctors, patients, pharmacies and insurance companies secure online access to shared patient information. Among many other uses, this next-generation product can handle e-prescriptions, facilitate online bill paying and support Internet-based consultations with physicians.

With the staunch support of President Obama, last year’s stimulus package included nearly $20 billion in funding to speed up the transition.

Thanks to incentive payments of up to $5 million for those that comply (and costly Medicare reimbursement penalties for those that don’t) penetration rates for healthcare IT could soar to 55% for hospitals and 85% for doctors’ offices within the next five years.

The company is involved at all points of the healthcare spectrum — from the doctor to the pharmacy to the insurance company.

I have this one as a winner especially if you can catch it under 60. McKesson NYSE: MCK Stock Quotes

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Maximizing Your Tax Return

October 11, 2009

If your goal is to make money from trading and investment, maximizing your return is always uppermost in your mind. There are many strategies that the savvy trader can use to maximize their trading returns, though some have more obvious benefits than others.

Both taking a large position in trading and increasing the frequency of your trades can help to maximize your returns, but you must be very careful when employing either of these strategies. A large position may put a high percentage of an account at risk, thus causing the trader to want to back out. The trading system must also be chosen carefully when attempting to use this strategy, as it will only work with a system that does not have too many negative trades. Trading more frequently can also increase your returns, but, again, has risks for the trader. Due to the enormous amount of work required to keep up on such frequent trades, traders attempting this strategy often get burned out and are unable to keep up with the workload.

The most useful method of increasing returns is to find trades that have a favorable risk to reward ratio. If a trade has a higher reward than it does a risk, it is a good bet it will help to maximize returns. These safe and profitable trades lack the negative aspects of the other methods, ensuring both peace of mind and monetary reward for the trader who chooses wisely.

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Consumer Index and the Stock Market

October 6, 2009

Whether a buy and hold investor, swing trader or even a day trader, the consumer confidence is a very influential component that contributes to the rise and fall of the stock market. When consumers are confident in their financial situation, it is only logical that they will be more free with their money, boost the economy, and stimulate the stock market. Unfortunately, the reverse is also true. And what is real and what is being over hyped by the media can make huge impacts in both short and long term investments.

The Consumer Confidence Index, or CCI, is used as a basis of measurement to judge the emotional economic climate. The CCI is based upon the purchasing plans of consumers over the next six months and is intended to give a general idea of how money will be spent. This index becomes especially important before the holiday shopping season due to the huge economic impact of retail sales during this time. Wouldn’t it behoove the US government to insure a higher than true CCI? While the CCI is closely followed by investors it is rarely accurate. Currently you can flip the news channel and hear (depending on Party support) anything from the US Economy is poised for a record Christmas with consumer spending levels soaring or if on Fox you will hear there is a mass exodus and US heading for worst depression in history.

A worried consumer base who is unsure of job security and investments will spend less, invest less, and generally influence the health of the stock market negatively. The current economic climate Consumer Confidence Index is 53.1. In comparison in February of 2009 the CCI was hovering between 20-25 and in 1985 it was 100. Read More

Just this week we are hearing stories that early indicators of the so called “stress test” were painted and spun into a much rosier picture of what level of recovery we have actually achieved. Some economists and Jim Rogers (see this week’s Words of Wisdom YouTube video) are predicting an outfall similar to that of 1929 recessions where legislation and American and European politicians got overly involved with the world banking and caused the worst depression in history.

Use the CCI cautiously and monitor the economy from news worthy sources other than main stream media.

CCI_2009

Use the CCI cautiously and monitor the economy from news worthy sources other than main stream media. The left will give a too high of CCI and the conservative right news always too low.

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Great Winter for Natural Gas

October 2, 2009

Natural gas prices have mostly moved in one direction this summer, down, and the vast caverns that hold it are close to reaching capacity. Yet since the beginning of the month prices have spiked 44 percent.

A record number of futures contracts were snapped up this week, most likely because buyers didn’t see prices for natural gas getting much cheaper.

The jump in price would certainly be a troubling sign for people who use natural gas to heat their homes, save for the fact that, even with a 28 percent run-up this week, prices are still about a third of they were last year.

It’s extremely cheap and no one expects that to change anytime soon.

“It’s going to be very good winter for natural gas customers,” analyst and trader Stephen Schork said.

Natural gas for October delivery added 32 cents Friday to settle at $3.778 per 1,000 cubic feet on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

All other types of fuel sank. Benchmark crude for October delivery gave up 43 cents to settle at $72.04 a barrel.

Just as oil prices spiked and then leveled off earlier this year, natural gas prices jumped more than 44 percent after sinking to $2.40 per 1,000 cubic feet on Sept. 4.

Investors flooded the market and natural gas futures reached a record 404,450 contracts on Tuesday, according to derivatives market CME Group.

The reason consumers and businesses that use a lot of electricity needn’t worry is simple. The supply of natural gas is enormous.

American power plants are using a lot less natural gas because the recession has sapped demand for power. Stockpiles are quickly approaching the limit for what can be stored in underground caverns, and producers may start pushing excess supplies onto the open market.

“Where else will it go? We’re not going to be able to put any more gas into the ground,” Schork said.

The government said Thursday that there is nearly 3.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in storage, 16.4 percent more the five-year average for this time of year.

Analyst Addison Armstrong estimates that if producers keep pumping more gas into storage, the country’s stockpiles will surpass the previous record of 3.545 trillion cubic feet in the next seven weeks.

It’s not just natural gas, either.

The Energy Information Administration said Wednesday that the country is sitting on a sea of distillate fuels including heating oil, with stockpiles approaching a 27-year high. U.S. crude stockpiles are 14 percent larger than last year.

Other than natural gas, prices on Nymex sank to end the week.

Gasoline for October delivery slipped 1.88 cents to settle at $1.8324 a gallon, and heating oil fell 1.3 cents to settle at $1.8279 a gallon.

At the pump, retail gas prices were unchanged at $2.55 a gallon, according to auto club AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. A gallon of regular unleaded is 7.8 cents cheaper than last month and $1.285 cheaper than a year ago.

T.Boone and Warren Buffett have been harping on natural gas for more than two years now, and you can bet that this early frenze feeding will only grow stronger as winter approaches. Get in, capture it and get out and have a great start to 2010.