Stock Trading

Pharmaceuticals have been fairly unloved by investors for a number of years. However, as the equity rally continues and prices increase, to me, a number of these companies look incredibly cheap.The healthcare story is one many can relate to; demographics are changing, people are living longer as medicine and healthcare technology advances. Furthermore, the developing consumer demand in emerging and frontier markets for pharmaceutical goods offers and excellent growth opportunity.Although there are a number of companies worth investing in, AstraZeneca (AZN), the UK's second largest drug maker, is in a great position to offer significant upside in both its share price and earnings. Over the past few years there have been concerns with Patent Cliffs as a number of patents for blockbuster drugs created in the late 1990s run out. The loss in earnings can be significant, hence the overly suppressed valuations. This however does not detract

There was intensive insider selling in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (IRWD) in March when the stock was trading above $18. The stock is currently trading at $14.39 or 26.8% below the all time high made in March. (click to enlarge) With this episode in mind, I screened for stocks which have seen recent intensive insider selling. Intensive insider selling can be defined by the following three criteria: The stock was sold by three or more insiders within one month. The stock was not purchased by any insiders in the month of intensive selling. At least two sellers decreased their holdings by more than 10%. In this article, I will feature three stocks that met these three criteria of intensive insider selling in the last 30 days.1. Perrigo Company (PRGO) develops, manufactures, and distributes over-the-counter [OTC] and generic prescription [Rx] pharmaceuticals, infant formulas, nutritional products, and active

Introduction John Paulson, the popular manager who is the founder of Paulson & Co., one of the world's largest hedge funds shorted the Greek debt in 2012. I disagree with him and his biggest bets, including his gold stocks. This is why I wrote recently two articles discussing the financial "resurrection" of Greece and the opportunities this country currently offers to the investors.Several readers asked me through emails to my personal account or through the comments' section, how they can play Greece from the bullish side and which companies I recommend. I recommended them to diversify their cash to Alpha Bank (ALBKY.PK), National Bank (NBG), Piraeus Bank and Global X FTSE Greece (GREK), an ETF associated with the index of the Greek stock exchange. However, those who do not have direct access to the Greek stock exchange, they cannot buy Piraeus Bank because it is not traded in

Despite concerns about worldwide growth, flat revenues from the S&P this quarter and a myriad of other worries, the market continues to rally on the back of the continued largesse from the Federal Reserve. I am finding less and less value in this market especially in defensive sectors (Utilities & Consumer Staples) that has such significant rallies through the first four months of the year. Most of the value I do find while researching possible trades are in the Energy & Technology sectors. Embracing the current "Risk On" sentiment within the market currently, here are two speculative $7 stocks from the energy patch that should do well if the rally spreads to sectors that have underperformed the overall market so far in 2013.Willbros Group (WG) provides engineering, procurement, and construction services to the oil and gas, refinery, petrochemical, and electric power industries primarily in the United States and Canada.

By Jake King With a capital raise recently out of the way and a pivotal trial enrolling towards a regulatory filing in the U.S., Sunshine Heart's (SSH) $60M market capitalization drastically discounts the long-term potential of the company's experimental heart assist device. The C-Pulse Heart Assist System is an implantable device being developed for the treatment of moderate to severe heart failure (Class III and ambulatory Class IV patients), an immense market currently dominated by two left ventricular assist device (LVAD) developers, Thoratec (THOR) and Heartware (HTWR), which carry $1.9B and $1.6B market caps respectively. But two facets to the C-Pulse System may make it an even more compelling asset -- for investors and strategic acquirers -- than existing products: the C-Pulse System remains outside of a patients blood stream, and the product may address an even larger market than Thoratec and Heartware have been able to penetrate.

Japan's stock market is on a roll, largely because expectations have dramatically changed this year about the underlying state of macro for the planet's third-largest economy. The iShares MSCI Japan Index ETF (EWJ) is up a potent 24% year-to-date. That's a substantial premium over the 18% gain for US stocks (SPDR S&P 500 (SPY)), for instance. An aggressive new round of monetary and fiscal stimulus that's weakened the yen and revived animal spirits explains most of the rally. So-called Abenomics seems to be working. Is Japan's two-decade stretch of disappointing economic performance finally at an end? Possibly, although a few months of improvement vs. 20 years of stagnation is hardly definitive proof. But let's leave all that aside and consider the larger point of relevance for investing, namely: the surprise factor.How many investors anticipated Japan's return to glory? Surely there are a few brilliant (lucky?) ones out there.

I tried to create a growth stocks portfolio that can outperform the market by a big margin. The following screen shows such promise. I have searched for companies that are included in the Russell 3000 index that have strong growth prospects and their gross margin and current ratio have improved in the past year. Those stocks also would have to show low debt. Russell 3000 Index Description from Russell Investments: The Russell 3000 Index measures the performance of the largest 3000 U.S. companies representing approximately 98% of the investable U.S. equity market. The Russell 3000 Index is constructed to provide a comprehensive, unbiased, and stable barometer of the broad market and is completely reconstituted annually to ensure new and growing equities are reflected. The screen's method requires all stocks to comply with all following demands: The Trailing P/E is less than 20. The forward P/E is less than 15.

In order to identify attractively valued dividend stocks, I follow a monthly screening process, where I go through the list of dividend champions and dividend achievers to look for bargains. In addition, I often stumble upon quality income stocks during my review of the dividend raises for the week or on an ad hoc basis through interactions with other dividend investors. Some investors that I know have been purchasing Wells Fargo (WFC), which is one of the best run large banks in the country. The most prominent buyer of Wells Fargo is Warren Buffett, who has been accumulating the stock for the past four - five years in his personal portfolio and for Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) (BRK.B). Buffett finds that the key competitive advantage for Wells Fargo is its low cost of funds. The bank took out 25 billion from TARP, and as a result had to slash

This article originally appeared on Friday in BankThink, American Banker's blog about ideas, trends, and other developments in financial services.Let's say I offer you a bet on the flip of a fair coin. I'll pay you $2 for every $1 you bet if the coin lands on heads. If it lands on tails, you lose your bet. But we'll do this only once and you have to bet your entire net worth. Would you play?This is a bet with very large positive statistical expectation to you per dollar wagered, but it's so risky you'd be justified in taking a pass. And you'd be crazy to take the bet if I paid you only 75 cents for every $1 you bet. You'd be making a "sucker bet", one that offered insufficient odds.It's easy to calculate the expectation of the above bets, harder in games of imperfect

About a month ago the price of gold dropped sharply through several chart support levels, and the bounce that followed is already looking anemic as Peter Hug of kitco.com put it so well today. This mid-April drop follows a multi-month downtrend that has taken the spot price for one ounce of gold from $1795 in October 2012 to $1360 as this text is composed. It is the opinion of your humble scribe that we haven't seen the end of this trend yet and more pain is in store for investors snagged long in a gold-related trade.Gold miners are caught between a rock and a hard place; with the rock being the described spot price scenario and the hard place being production costs which have been rising substantially along with the spot price in recent years, but have so far refused to replicate the drop. Fellow writer Hebba Investments