Nearly two years into a bull market driven by AI, returns on big-cap tech companies have slowed. While they’re likely worth picking up during a market correction, better returns may lie elsewhere. Rather, it’s smaller players less directly involved with the AI space that are likely to lead here. That still includes several hardware plays, as well as investments related to expanding the power grid and increased automation brought about by AI. In that space, industrial automation leaderEmerson Electric (EMR) may fit the bill. The company’s products and services play out for a long r...

Right now, trillions of dollars sit on the sidelines. It’s being invested in short-term cash, which still earns a relatively high yield. But with interest rates starting to trend lower, cash will soon offer a less attractive yield. Meanwhile, stocks are still near their all-time highs, but could see some volatility. It wouldn’t be surprising if some of that sidelined cash took advantage of market fears to invest in stronger long-term prospects. One company with a massive cash hoard is Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B). The conglomerate has $325 billion in cash, largely rolling over in short...

Friday’s jobs data indicates a slowdown in the labor market. And year-over-year PCE inflation data from last week shows that’s trending down as well. The slowing economy may be slowing too quickly for some, even if it’s still growing overall. No matter what the economy does, investors have plenty of opportunities that should continue to produce safe, steady returns. Whether the economy further slows, or accelerates back to growth. One long-term potential winner is retail giant Walmart (WMT). The biggest company by employees and revenues, it’s also reshaped retail into providing custo...

The stock market remains near all-time highs. After a big run higher over the past two years, many companies are looking overbought and ready to take a breather. Investors looking for opportunities now need to get more strategic. One strategy is to look for companies with upside catalysts. That could include a potentially hot new product, a successful turnaround strategy, or even finding a way to unlock value by spinning off a business line. Cable and media giant Comcast (CMCSA) is looking to do just that, shedding its cable business. At one time the company’s core business, Comcast ...

In the stock market, short-term news often wins the day. For traders, a company’s forward guidance during earnings may be more important than earnings itself. However, over time, growing revenues and growing earnings should translate to a higher share price. When a stock sells off on fearful guidance in the short-term, investors can look at earnings trends to determine if a stock is an oversold buy for the long haul. This week’s earnings season is ripe with opportunities. Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is one of them. The chipmaker sold off 10% after providing weak guidance d...

Many assets have performed well this year. Stocks hit new all-time highs. So have gold. Even bitcoin is back into rally mode. But oil can’t seem to catch a break. In theory, a strong economy should mean rising energy demand, which should be good for oil.Yet despite OPEC production cuts, oil prices can’t seem to hold much past $70. And that’s hitting energy company earnings hard. That’s creating poor performance for energy players. Among the major oil firms, BP (BP) has lagged its competitors. Shares are off 15% this year, and the company has posted a loss overall, although they did j...

Investors have been focused on AI-related technologies for nearly two years. And that focus has led to poor returns for other high-tech investment opportunities. With interest in AI still strong, but interest in AI stocks starting to wane, investors looking for a better opportunity may find it in other tech plays. That’s because non-AI technologies can also offer high growth potential. From a new gadget to a biotech breakthrough, more off-the-radar tech plays look ready to move higher. For instance, ON Semiconductor (ON), just reported mixed results. For the chipmaker, which focuses ...

We’re nearly two years into a bull market driven by AI. We’ve seen big tech companies soar as new AI programs have rolled out. More recently, investors have turned to data centers, and now nuclear energy as ways to benefit from this rollout. There’s one more component that’s starting to gain attention and traction for the AI boom. It’s a hardware play that’s been overlooked among the massive demand for GPUs and servers. The play? Hard drive storage. No matter how complicated AI gets, it still needs to be able to store massive amounts of data to function. That’s starting to show up on...

Investors have spent the past few quarters looking at how companies are spending on AI. Some of that is to see how that spending is impacting the bottom line. Companies that spend without early results are starting to get punished. Likewise, companies that have been investing in AI and are seeing a payoff are being rewarded by the market. Companies that can grow their AI-driven services, even if they spend more on AI, could be winning trades for investors. For instance, workflow software giantServiceNow (NOW) reported strong earnings, and even increased their full-year guidance. That...

The stock market often climbs the “wall of worry.” Any negative event, no matter how small, seems like a potential threat to a stock that’s been rallying. Over time, most negative events look like little more than a speed bump on a long-term stock chart. Even the Crash of 1987, when stocks slid 19% in a day doesn’t look so bad on a multi-decade chart. For traders, smaller selloffs from short-term news events can be a top time to buy. One possible buy now? McDonald’s (MCD). Shares slid on news of an E. coli outbreak in Colorado. We know from experience that when a restaurant chain ...