Trading Tips

Every holiday season has its fair share of controversy.  Nativity scenes get the public in arms… while family members pick up their left over arguments from Thanksgiving. But no matter the holiday controversy, it pales in comparison to the firestorm I’ve started with my staff this holiday season. And it is going to affect EVERY [...]

From The Desk Of Manny Backus Here are your updates for the week… A Two-Fisted Power Pick When it comes to energy, there’s no more powerful stock than PWR, officially known as Quanta Services. This little-known giant employs 14,000 people and sprawls across 40 states, delivering power in the form of electricity as well as [...]

Everyone knows that when you take big risks, you expose yourself to big losses — but this is also the best way to make big gains, right? What if I told you this was wrong? And what if I told you that this wasn’t an opinion, but it was a documented, statistical fact? Volatility is [...]

Buying stocks and call options lets you make money in a bull market. Short-selling stocks and buying put options lets you make money in a bear market. But making money in a sideways or stable market? That’s hard. VIX options make it a whole lot easier. The VIX is the CBOE’s volatility index. It measures [...]

Fundamental analysts look at a company’s earnings, balance sheet, statement of cash flows, valuation metrics, important ratios, and projected growth rates, among many other things. They then compare these numbers to those of the company’s peers, but even then, they’re not finished. No, instead, they have to learn everything they can about the stock by [...]

I’m excited to present you with one of this week’s greatest stock picks from our new service Consensus Picks! Not only is this a great opportunity, but it has quite an interesting story behind it as well. It starts with Thomas Edison who jump-started the global lighting industry 133 years ago. His brilliant invention was, [...]

“You plan to fail when you fail to plan.” Truer words have never been spoken, or written — and they’re especially true when it comes to stock trading. Look, I bet you think that having a written trading plan is good in theory, but not really necessary, right? WRONG. Even if you think you have [...]

The wife of a close friend of mine was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. Thankfully, it was successfully removed and her prognosis is good. Interestingly, because of a genetic analysis of the tumor tissue, she was spared chemotherapy—something that she would have routinely been prescribed only five years ago. That kind of genetic analysis is [...]

Are you a value investor? There are two possible answers to that question: (1) Yes, or (2) No, I’m a trader or growth investor. But even traders and growth investors like to buy stocks that are undervalued, right? It can’t hurt! There are many measures for determining if a stock is undervalued. The most basic [...]

Analysts agree we’re in a bull market, but many feel that we’re closer to the end than the beginning. At this stage, growth stocks are expensive, but as money has flowed out of safer, blue-chip plays and into more speculative ones, there is a lot of value to be had out there — especially with [...]