Category: INO.com Contributors

Want To Invest In Real Estate?

Posted on by Chris Vermeulen

As an asset class, real estate should be a part of every balanced investment portfolio. That’s because real estate investments generally have a low correlation to stocks, can offer lower risk, and provide greater diversification.

Today about 65% of Americans own a home, but that means that tens of millions of Americans have no exposure to real estate. Making matters worse, becoming a homeowner today is harder than in previous generations, with 1 in 5 millennials believing they will never be able to afford a home. Is there a way to get exposure to the real estate market for as little as $100?

Residential Real Estate Market Trend

From the chart below, we can see that the residential real estate market continues to climb, and the median price of houses sold in the US is near recent all-time highs of $347,500. Even though mortgage rates remain near all-time lows, the appreciation of prices in certain pockets of the country are making many cities and areas simply unaffordable for most. Things look much the same for industrial, commercial, agricultural, and most other specialized real estate subsectors.

Real Estate

How Can You Invest In Real Estate Through The Stock Market

The stock markets offer three different ways you can invest in real estate, and today we will be looking at three of them: REITs, ETNs, and ETFs. Continue reading "Want To Invest In Real Estate?" →

Tech Earnings On Tap - Priced For Perfection?

Posted on by Noah Kiedrowski

Tech stocks continue to appreciate regardless of any ebb and flow in the COVID-19 backdrop or the prospect of rising interest rates. Albeit there was a minor sell-off in late February as a function of rising interest rates that has been quickly erased. Tech underpins the stay-at-home economy and the so-called back-to-normal economy. And now more than ever, technology serves as an integral part of every slice of the economy. These stocks have remained strong despite the massive rotation into value stocks throughout 2021. Considering many of these names have appreciated since their February lows and breaking through their 52-week highs, these large-cap tech companies are priced for perfection heading into earnings. Stocks such as Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT), and the broader index Powershares (QQQ) have appreciated double digits over a two-week period as we head into earnings.

The Value Rotation and Roaring Tech

The market has witnessed a massive sea change as the large-scale vaccination efforts in the US is coming to fruition. The Dow Jones, S&P 500, and Nasdaq have rallied to all-time highs while recovery and value names have recaptured more of their lost market capitalization due to COVID-19. Meanwhile, many technology stocks that powered the market higher in the initial stages of this post-COVID-19 rally have stalled out early in 2021 to now rip higher as well. Once the value rotation began, many high-quality technology names fell from their highs and have traded sideways since their highs back in September. Now tech participation has been a major driver to propel the markets even higher and to even more lofty levels. Continue reading "Tech Earnings On Tap - Priced For Perfection?" →

Be Careful What You Wish For

Posted on by George Yacik

Remember when over the past four years, we were warned repeatedly about the dangers of “politicizing” the Federal Reserve? Well, apparently, that had nothing to do with politics per se, just which side was doing the politicizing. Now that a different party is pushing the Fed in another direction, we don’t hear much about the dangers of politicizing the Fed anymore.

Indeed, an op-ed in the Financial Times goes one step further, arguing that the Fed – and central banks in general – should not only be above politics but allowed to dictate the rules for us mere mortals by executive fiat. And what issue is so important that it can’t be left to our elected representatives to decide what to do? Well, climate change, of course.

“We are facing a climate emergency that demands collective action, and central banks must undergo another transformation, perhaps an uncomfortable one, to play their part in dealing with it,” the author writes. “By reshaping their interventions in asset markets, they can accelerate reductions in carbon emissions and change the cost of capital to address hidden climate risks in the financial system.”

“The magnitude of the physical risks associated with climate change means central banks need to use their full suite of powers to help the transition towards a low-carbon world. And one of their tools is speed,” the writer continues. “Rather than waiting for governments to agree on legislation, investment programs or carbon taxes, central banks can act now to reflect better the cost of climate change in the cost of capital and to change the behavior of businesses, increasing it for emitters and lowering it for investment in carbon reduction (emphasis mine).”

In other words, who needs laws when the Fed can just order us around? Continue reading "Be Careful What You Wish For" →

Weekly Stock Market Forecast

Posted on by The INO.com Team

This week we have a stock market forecast for the week of 4/25/21 from our friend Bo Yoder of the Market Forecasting Academy. Be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think!

The S&P 500 (SPY)

SPY Daily Chart - Stock Market Forecast

After the market’s recent Fed-induced “melt-up,” S&P 500 (analyzed here using SPY) is processing a new short-term top as traders react to its absurdly overbought levels.

My short-term forecast is as seen in the daily chart here. The rally will likely find strong resistance and begin to either correct or form a range near highs. Continue reading "Weekly Stock Market Forecast" →

What The Blockchain And Cryptocurrency Mean To You

Posted on by Wayne Burritt

So, what does the blockchain and cryptocurrency really mean to you? Well, really everything.

Blockchain technology and cryptocurrency are fundamentally transforming our lives, unlike anything we’ve seen in a long time.

In fact, when you think about that transformation, you’ll put it up there with the other giant shifts in technology. I mean...

The printing press... antibiotics... railroads... steel... automobiles... windows... the internet.

Blockchain and cryptocurrency are next.

Right now, I can think of dozens or even hundreds of ways this transformation will impact you. But if I had to boil it down to two big ones, they would be... Continue reading "What The Blockchain And Cryptocurrency Mean To You" →