Stock Trading

According to the American Diabetes Association, over 25 million people in the US alone have diabetes and the numbers keep on growing. Although insulin injections have come a long way, poking yourself with a needle in public still draws unwanted attention. MannKind Corporation (MNKD) is on the cusp of releasing an inhalable insulin treatment, Afrezza, that promises to revolutionize the way people treat this disease. The Exubera Menace Back in mid-2006, Pfizer (PFE) introduced an inhalable insulin treatment system created by Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR). Put mildly, it was a disaster. Just over a year after introducing the drug, Pfizer pulled the plug after losing about $2.8 billion on the flop.The Exubera debacle still haunts MannKind, scaring away potential investors. What the market as a whole hasn't considered is that although both the treatments involve an inhalable form or insulin, the similarities stop there.Pfizer tried to market

John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (JW.A) provides content and content-enabled digital services to customers worldwide.Core businesses produce scientific, technical, medical and scholarly journals, reference works, books, database services, and advertising; professional books, subscription products, certification and training services and online applications; and educational content and services.Education content and services include integrated online teaching and learning resources for undergraduate and graduate students, educators, and lifelong learners worldwide as well as secondary school students in Australia.The use of technology enables the company to make its content efficiently more accessible to its customers around the world. The company maintains publishing, marketing, and distribution centers in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and Australia. 1. Highly Rated Brand John Wiley & Sons is consistently one of the highest rated publishers in the Thomson ISI Journal Citation Report, an important evaluator of journal impact. This has had an impact on its

In this article, I will be searching for companies in the Materials sector, which has lagged the S&P 500 (SPY). I chose the materials sector because out of the nine major sectors of SPDR, the materials sector ETF (XLB) has lagged the S&P 500 by the most. So far this year, the S&P 500 has returned 16.62% whereas the XLB has returned 9.17%, which shows a significant outperformance by the SPY. I will be searching for companies that in addition to lagging the SPY have also lagged the XLB.Goal #1: Select stocks that are ProfitableGoal #2: Select stocks with a dividend yield higher than the 10-year US Treasury rate.Goal #3: Select stocks that are debt free.Goal #4: Select stocks with the lowest beta.To find stocks that meet all my goals, I will be using the TD Ameritrade stock screener. In

Apple (AAPL) is in a fierce battle with Samsung (SSNLF.PK) for market share in smartphones and tablets. It was recently reported on Forbes.com Samsung now has double the market share of Apple in smartphones with a 30% increase year-over-year for the first quarter of 2013. Samsung's strategy has been to compete in all segments of the smartphone market and has benefited from the higher growth in low-cost smartphones where Apple is not currently competing. The tablet market is seeing equally tough competition from Samsung and the other Android OS (GOOG) vendors. Apple now has a market share of 46.4% in this market which is still growing at an amazing pace. The overall tablet market grew by over 100% year-over-year with smaller tablets seeing the most growth. Microsoft (MSFT) is competing well in the tablet market as well taking the number three spot in terms of market share. Apple needs

I recently evaluated my portfolio and realized I was completely invested in companies with market capitalizations over $100 billion. With what looks like a recovery to the overall economy of the US, I wanted to reallocate some of my portfolio to gain exposure to small cap stocks. I have always been fascinated by the biotechnology industry and wanted to add a little to my portfolio. The problem for me was I didn't really know much about the industry and that can spell disaster for an investor particularly with this industry which is universally defined as a high risk. The performance of these stocks is tied to the successful completion of phase I, II, and III clinical trials and FDA approval to commercialize the product. Failure at any one of these milestones can destroy the stock's value and subsequently the investor's portfolio. Of course the flip-side of that equation is also

Amgen (AMGN) shares (up over 22% year-to-date) have had an impressive run this year, outpacing the S&P 500 by about 6%. Nevertheless, despite outpacing the broader market, Amgen has only matched the Health Care Sector Select Sector SPDR (XLV) (up about 22% YTD) and has greatly lagged its large-cap biotech peers. For instance, this year so far shares of Gilead Sciences (GILD) (up 50% YTD), Celgene (CELG) (up 57% YTD), Biogen Idec (BIIB) (up 55% YTD), and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN) (up 55% YTD) have all increased between 50 and 57% (see graph below). But is this divergence in performance between AMGN and other large-cap biotech stocks justified? (click to enlarge) I understand that these other, large-cap biotech stocks deserve higher multiples (i.e. higher P/E ratios and P/S ratios) because of their higher near-term growth prospects. But I believe Amgen deserves at least some degree of additional multiple expansion in the

It has been a great week for the USD as it gained against all the majors. The New Zealand dollar was the last market where the futures traders were long. Early in the week, the kiwi bought .8316 cents per USD, but by the end of the week, it was down under the 81 handle. Should the weekly chart close around this level, it looks like there will be some more to the downside. Remember one of the tricks of The Turtles, as taught by Ritch Dennis, was to hammer a weak Friday close, or, if the market is soaring, buy some more. Their theory was markets will continue their momentum. Speculators, according to last week's COT report, were big longs in this very small market. This could get ugly.We doubt, however, it will get as ugly as has the AUD versus the USD (AUDUSD, FXA), Two weeks

Last week's "5 Stocks to Watch" performed fairly well, as four of the five selections traded higher. For this week's edition, I am hoping to have continued success as I choose five stocks in five different industries that are all showing signs of a breakout higher. Each stock below is trading with a great deal of momentum yet range in company size and has seen a variety of different performance levels. With that said, let's get started and take a look at five stocks that could rally in the immediate future. After Breaking $50 this Stock Looks Poised to Trade Higher For what it's worth, I hate to be a fair-weather fan, but shares of Citigroup (C) are rocketing higher with a complete change in sentiment and I am starting to like it more than my long-time favorite Wells Fargo (WFC). Last week the stock exploded from

This week we learned that E-Commerce Retail Sales growth slowed in the first quarter of 2013 compared to Q4 of 2012. Obviously, this is important information for Amazon.com (AMZN) shareholders, but does it mean we should sell the stock? Shareholders will be glad to hear that it is not a reason to sell the stock in my view. However, short sellers will be interested in why I would sell AMZN anyway.The government published Quarterly E-Commerce Retail Sales data for the first quarter of 2013 this past week. The report showed sales increased 2.7% over Q4 2012, which was slower than reported fourth quarter growth of 4.4%. Total Retail Sales only managed 1.1% first quarter growth, reflecting the continued market share grab for e-commerce sales. However, e-commerce accounted for just 5.5% of total sales in Q1 versus only a slightly lower 5.4% share in Q4.But what caused the

Shares of Campbell Soup Company (CPB) are riding high so far in 2013 with the manufacturer of popular convenience food brands experiencing a 37 percent rise in its stock year-to-date. On May 20, Campbell Soup Company is scheduled to report its third quarter 2013 earnings results, covering the three month period from February to April, and will hold a conference call for investors at 10AM Eastern Daylight Time. For a company that was founded during the post-bellum period after the U.S. Civil War, Campbell Soup Company is still generating excitement in 2013 after nearly 145 years in business. Specifically, the company will update analysts and investors during Monday's conference call about several innovative new food and beverage products that were announced at the end of 2012. The third quarter 2013 release will also provide insights into the financial performance of Campbell Soup Company with analysts expecting a consensus