After A Roller-Coaster Month, Is A Bear Market On Its Way?

If the market was looking to get our attention, it has it now.

Since Jan. 13, the SP has dropped at least 1% on three occasions. It now stands nearly 5% below its 52-week high.

At this point, investors have begun to wonder if the market choppiness is a sign of a looming correction, which is defined as a 10% pullback (a bear market is a pullback of 20% or more).

It's been quite a while since we've had a market correction: It happened once in 2010, 2011 and in the middle of 2012, but it hasn't happened since.

Notably, each correction has been followed by an impressive rebound, and some investors would welcome such a purge. In a market where values remain hard to find, pullbacks create solid openings. If we are entering into a corrective phase, history suggests it would last a couple of months. (The 2011 correction was quite rapid and due solely to the government shutdown.) Continue reading "After A Roller-Coaster Month, Is A Bear Market On Its Way?"

Get Positioned Now for the Next Great Natural Gas Switch

The Energy Report: Ron, welcome. You are making a presentation at the Money-Show conference in Orlando in late January. What is the gist of your presentation?

Ron Muhlenkamp: The gist of my presentation is that natural gas has become an energy game changer in the U.S. We are cutting the cost of energy in half. This has already happened for homeowners like me who heat their homes with natural gas. We think the next up to benefit is probably the transportation sector.

TER: What is behind this game change? Continue reading "Get Positioned Now for the Next Great Natural Gas Switch"

Forget Nike: Get 30% Upside With This Apparel 'Startup' Instead

By: Marshall Hargrave of Street Authority

Technology is all around us and in everything: our homes, cars, offices -- and even in our clothing.

Apparel companies are looking more and more like technology companies these days. Wearable technology has become one of the fastest-growing markets over the past year, with apparel companies pushing the limits on recording our physical activity and then transforming it into useful data.

One of the fastest-growing and most innovative companies in the apparel space, Under Armour (NYSE: UA) is at the forefront of this trend. Under Armour has the insight of real-life athletes, the look of an apparel company and the feel of a tech company. Continue reading "Forget Nike: Get 30% Upside With This Apparel 'Startup' Instead"

Forget Gold: Demand Favors This Precious Metal

By: Jim Woods of Street Authority

Gold is getting hammered, and the pain in the sector is putting gold bulls in a panic. The yellow metal is down more than 27% year to date, and in just the past month, gold prices have tumbled more than 7%.

​The latest decline in gold came on Tuesday, when it traded lower by as much as 2.7%, breaking down below very weak support levels around $1,225. About the only hope for gold longs here is to pray for a bad jobs number Friday, as that may keep the Federal Reserve from tapering sooner rather than later. Continue reading "Forget Gold: Demand Favors This Precious Metal"

This Pioneering Chart Pattern Is Still One Of The Best

By: Amber Hestla, Michael J. Carr

The head-and-shoulders (HS) top is one of the best-known patterns in technical analysis. This pattern was first written about in 1930 by a financial editor at Forbes magazine who described how the HS forms and how it can be traded.

Many readers are familiar with the HS pattern. On a price chart, there will be three peaks in price at the end of the uptrend, with the center peak (the head) being higher than the other two. The peaks on the sides (the shoulders) should be about equal in height. Continue reading "This Pioneering Chart Pattern Is Still One Of The Best"