Apple and Buffett Push Stock Market Higher

Posted on by The INO.com Team

Hello traders everywhere. Stocks are on the rise with a sharp mover higher buoyed by news that Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. bought an additional 75 million shares of Apple Inc. in the first quarter of this year. That makes Berkshire the third-largest investor according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

In an interview on CBNC with Becky Quick, Buffet said that Apple has "a wide, wide gap. I mean it's an amazing business. You can put all of their products on a dining room table."

That news drove Apple to an all-time of $183.87 a share, gaining over 3.5% on the day. Buffett's announcement came just days after Apple reported quarterly sales and profit that topped analysts' estimates on surging services as revenue rose at the fastest pace in more than two years.

Apple Buffett Push Stock Market Higher

The Labor Department reported on Friday that Nonfarm payrolls increased by 164,000 jobs last month, falling short of the estimated 192,000 jobs that analysts were expecting. Data for March was revised up to show the economy adding 135,000 jobs instead of the previously reported 103,000. That was the fewest amount of jobs created in six months and followed the big gain of 324,000 in February. Continue reading "Apple and Buffett Push Stock Market Higher" →

The Worst Is Over For Hasbro

Posted on by Noah Kiedrowski

Noah Kiedrowski - INO.com Contributor - Biotech - Hasbro


Introduction:

Hasbro Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS) released earnings that were rife with headwinds attributable to the bankruptcy of Toys"R"Us. Hasbro reported a year-over-year overall revenue decline of 16% and missed on EPS by $0.24. Hasbro cited the liquidation of Toys"R"Us and retail inventory overhang, primarily in Europe, as drags on revenue domestically and internationally. Revenue in North America fell 19% while international revenue fell 17% year-over-year during the quarter. Despite the negative headline numbers, the stock bounced to the upside after the earnings call commentary painted a positive long-term narrative while weathering the Toys"R"Us liquidation. The stock responded by moving from $79 to $87 or 10% to the upside post-earnings. Hasbro is navigating the challenging retail landscape and provided positive commentary on the conference call for future growth avenues. As the company realigns and efficiently manages the Toys"R"Us liquidation, this challenging backdrop will likely resolve to Hasbro's benefit as there are many current and future growth catalysts despite the supply chain disruption.

Hasbro has many current and future growth catalysts with major billion dollar movie franchises in the fray while riding the coattails of Black Panther into the home entertainment window which posted record-breaking numbers with $685 million domestically and $1.33 billion internationally at the box office. Combine this success with the upcoming Marvel and Star Wars movies including Avengers: Infinity War, Star Wars Han Solo and Ant-Man and The Wasp to highlight a few major films. Hasbro recently increased its dividend from $0.57 to $0.63 per share. Hasbro has excellent Q2-Q3 2018 catalysts, boasts a ~3% dividend yield, weathering the Toys"R"Us liquidation and putting forth initiatives within Hasbro Studios to further propel growth thus presenting a compelling long-term buy. Continue reading "The Worst Is Over For Hasbro" →

7 Tips To Make Cannabis Stocks Profitable

Posted on by The INO.com Team

Analysis originally distributed on April 28, 2018 By: Michael Vodicka of Cannabis Stock Trades

Investing in cannabis stocks is exciting and can be very lucrative. However, given their volatility, it is important to keep these 7 tips in mind to confidently and successfully leverage this explosive sector.

1 – Create Realistic Expectations:

The legal cannabis industry is one of the most exciting investments I’ve ever been around in 17 years of trading and investing. Many cannabis stocks have delivered big returns in a short amount of time. These outsized returns have expectations running sky high for the cannabis stocks. Although I’m expecting great things from cannabis stocks, don’t get too excited about gains and don’t get too bummed about losses.

2 – Focus on the Long Run:

When analyzing an investment, sometimes I use a microscope and other times I use a telescope. For cannabis stocks, I am using my telescope. That means I am looking at this investment from 10,000 feet above. I am expecting plenty of volatility in the short run. But in the long run, I am expecting the industry and stocks to steadily move higher for many years. It’s another way of saying don’t sweat short-term volatility. Continue reading "7 Tips To Make Cannabis Stocks Profitable" →

Stocks Fall Ahead Of Fed Announcement

Posted on by The INO.com Team

Hello traders everywhere. Overall the U.S. stock market is trading lower on the day after a slow opening and trading lower on the week. The reason for today's soft open is the Fed, which is set to release its latest monetary policy decision at 2 p.m. ET. Market expectations for a May rate hike are just 5.7%, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool.

The NASDAQ is the only index in the green, but that is solely due to Apple. Apple is a cash generating machine rising +4% after it posted resilient iPhone sales in the face of waning global demand and promised $100 billion in additional stock buybacks. But the real surprise was the service revenue with total paid subscriptions reaching 270 million, that's up by 100 million from a year ago.

Fed Announcement

We finally got the green monthly Trade Triangle on the U.S. dollar as it passed through the $92 level hitting new 3 month highs and trading up a little over 1% on the week. The U.S. two-year Treasury yields hit a 9-1/2-year high after data showed U.S. private-sector payrolls for April came roughly in line with market forecasts, cementing expectations for a rate increase in June.

Bitcoin is up .2% on the day but is still stuck in a tight trading range. For the last 12 days, it's been trapped between the 50-day and 200-day moving averages. It needs to make a move above the 200-day MA, which currently stands at the 9,956.44 level, to break out to the upside. Continue reading "Stocks Fall Ahead Of Fed Announcement" →

Socially Responsible Investing Isn't Cut and Dry

Posted on by Matt Thalman

Matt Thalman - INO.com Contributor - ETFs - Socially Responsible Investing


When it comes to investing in socially responsible companies, a lot depends on what values and principles you hold in high regard when you are trying to find the right fund for you.

Socially responsible or ethical investing encompasses a wide range of sub-sectors which you need to sift through before just jumping into an “ethically responsible” fund. For example, there are environmentally focused funds, funds that concentrate their efforts on finding companies who have sound corporate governance policies, others that look at the impact a business has on society as a whole, and this is just to name a few.

One fund that may be “ethical” and may not be would be the Inspire Global Hope Large-Cap ETF (BLES). The fund tries to find companies which the fund manager believes to line-up with “biblical values” and even has a proprietary scoring system which measures a company’s level of participation in abortion, gambling, alcohol, pornography, “the LGBT lifestyle,” just to name some of the big topics. But while some people may find some “biblical-values” ethical, others may not find them to be, one, in particular, being the “LGBT lifestyle” metric. Continue reading "Socially Responsible Investing Isn't Cut and Dry" →