Investment Ideas

Health Care Reform: Five Ways to Profit With Biotech Stocks & Bond Funds

There are a number of health care reform plans on the drawing boards right now, and they all seem to come with mind-numbing sticker shock. The administration’s new plan and Senator Kennedy’s plan are both estimated to cost $1 trillion over 10 years.

I’ll believe that when I see it. When was the last time the government completed any project on budget?

And I’m not the only one with doubts.

Health Systems Innovations, a health care consultant that has worked with private health insurers, estimates that Senator Kennedy’s bill would cost $4 trillion over 10 years.

Ouch…

Should a health care plan be passed that…

1Jul2009 | Investment U | 0 comments | Continued

U.S. Technology Sector Plays on the Rebound

If the last three months are any indication, the U.S. tech sector has shaken off its recession-heightened late-winter doldrums, and could see its fortunes soar in the year’s second half as businesses and consumers open their wallets and the broader economy picks up speed.

The technology-laden Nasdaq Composite Index was at the forefront of the most-recent market rally, having soared more than 45% since hitting its 52-week low on March 10. That outpaced both the Dow Jones Industrial Average - up 30% in that time - and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index - up about 37%.

According to industry analysts, the technology sector -…

1Jul2009 | Money Morning | 0 comments | Continued

Monday Will Be A Big Day For These Two Emerging Market Nations

Keep an eye on the Chinese and Brazilian stock markets on Monday.

The two emerging market nations - both members of the BRIC group (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) - will each welcome a major new IPO to their respective stock markets.

The fact that they’re debuting on the same day is purely coincidental, but the story here is that both are very significant not only to their own countries, but could also underpin the emerging market area.

Let’s take a look at these IPOs in the context of the broader emerging market topic… the effect this often volatile but flourishing pack of…

29Jun2009 | Smart Profits Report | 0 comments | Continued

Managed Futures Programs Are Going Mainstream

With trading strategies that are based on complex mathematical equations, or that are driven by sophisticated “black-box” computer programs, managed-futures programs are usually able to remove human emotion from the investment equation – a reality that certainly helped them post strong returns last year, even as the volatile U.S. stock market whipsawed investors out of about $7 trillion in shareholder wealth.

Managed futures programs - alternative-investment vehicles that enabled professional money managers to take positions in a wide variety of securities and derivatives - posted strong returns in a year that was marked mostly by investment losses. The average managed futures program…

26Jun2009 | Money Morning | 0 comments | Continued

Tax-Free Bonds: Why Now is the Time to Buy Munis

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Buy tax-free bonds - now.

Buy them through Vanguard if you are a mutual fund investor. (The average fund company charges expenses six times higher than Vanguard’s.)
If you are a closed-end investor, try a tax-free fund like Nuveen Insured Municipal Opportunity Fund (NYSE: NIO) trading at a 10% discount to its net asset value and yielding over 6% paid monthly.
Or, to avoid annual expenses and have the certainty of a final value on a particular date, buy individual tax-free bonds.

But, whatever you do, buy them - now.

Tax-Free Bonds: Why It’s Time To Buy Them…

23Jun2009 | Investment U | 0 comments | Continued

Not Even Government Interference Will Damage These Three Stocks

It’s bold. It’s ambitious. And if it works, it should make America a healthier nation.

Reform plans are a dime a dozen in Washington - many of which get stuck in political gridlock without ever reaching a satisfactory resolution.

And healthcare reform is no different, with multiple presidents trying - and failing - to pass a plan that would see every American covered by healthcare insurance.

The Obama administration is the latest to step up to the plate and take a swing. And with Congress currently chewing over the details of its plan, it has healthcare investors shaking in the knees, wondering how…

15Jun2009 | Smart Profits Report | 0 comments | Continued

Taking Profits on Diamond Offshore Drilling (NYSE: DO)

On Monday March 9, barely three months ago, I strongly recommended buying Diamond Offshore (NYSE: DO) as part of Money Morning’s “Buy, Sell, or Hold” feature.

Both the stock and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index had both hit 52-week lows the Friday before. But oil had already bottomed three weeks prior, and the lax fiscal and monetary policies of governments around the world seemed almost certain to promote reflation. Additionally, since the earlier oil bottom, Diamond Offshore stock had been outperforming the market.

Diamond not only had compelling fundamentals, it sported an incredibly high dividend yield, particularly if you combined both the regular…

15Jun2009 | Money Morning | 1 comment | Continued

This Quiet Land Grab is Just Beginning

According to the Economist, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and China have been “quietly” buying up more than $20 billion of this asset.

It’s not oil or natural gas assets though. And it’s not the molybdenum they need to build thousands of miles of new pipelines. They’re buying up one of my favorite long-term investments, farmland.

The way things are shaping up, investors who follow their lead now will do exceptionally well in the short-term and long-term. Let me explain.

Another Case of Great Expecations

It’s no secret we’re facing a big opportunity in agriculture. It’s something we’ve delved into quite a bit over the past…

12Jun2009 | Q1 Publishing | 0 comments | Continued

The Airline Industry: A “Lose-Lose” Business Model With Two Ways To Profit

“Pack your bags… it’s on.”

So says Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) CEO Gary Kelly at the end of the company’s latest television commercial.

He’d better hope so. The once trend-busting airline, whose savvy fuel hedging strategy and cheap, efficient service helped it chalk up profits, even as its rivals in the airline industry were collapsing, is now coming off three straight quarterly losses, including a $91 million first-quarter drop.

And the company’s May traffic dropped 3.6% from May 2008 - the end of a five-month spell that saw the airline fly 2.2% less revenue passenger miles (which measures miles flown per paying passenger) compared…

12Jun2009 | Smart Profits Report | 0 comments | Continued