Stock Alert: Former IBM Insider Reveals Powerful New Portfolio

In This Issue: Stock Alert: Former IBM Insider Reveals Powerful New Portfolio A Guide to Stock Splits Shining the Spotlight on Solar Gains 4 Ways to Profit from the Internet's Next Big Thing The Internet is going through another change that will rock your everyday life – again. It's a new wave in Internet capabilities led by cloud-computing technologies. Businesses are starting to use the cloud at breakneck speeds. Barron's estimates cloud computing will soar by 44% a year. McKinsey & Co estimates a $6.2 trillion impact by 2025. That's just one leg of the wave. There are three more that are detailed here. Plus, here are 4 ways to profit from the wave. Click here. Stock Alert: Former IBM Insider Reveals Powerful New Portfolio 8/27/2014 By Jim Pearce I'll never forget the day my friend Leo Boeckl made me $127,344. It was a cool fall evening in October 2008, and Leo and I had met for a beer, as we did on occasion. As the conversation drifted to the stock market crash, my normally reserved friend became visibly excited. He said he had been studying the auto industry, and in spite of everything it had going against it at the time, he was convinced Ford would be a big winner. "Leo," I responded, "That's just about the craziest thing I've ever heard. American carmakers are getting crushed. They're taking bailout money!" "But not Ford," he said. And as he explained why Ford would come out a winner, I knew what I had to do. The next morning, I bought 10,000 shares of Ford for a little over $2 each. Less than three years later, I sold Ford when it was close to $15! Imagine waking up one day to find $127,344 in profits sitting in your account. It happened to me. And if you stick with me to the end of this article, I'll show you how it could happen to you, too. Enter the "Tech Whisperer" In hindsight, I shouldn't have been surprised that Leo was right. He has an ability to pick winners that's unlike anything I've seen in my 31 years as a stockbroker, investment planner and financial adviser. And I haven't even gotten to his real strength yet: tech stocks, which have churned out some of the biggest gains the market has ever delivered. Leo knows that particular sector so well that for years I've teased him by nicknaming him the "Tech Whisperer." He was a global VP for EDS's Application Services Line, where he had 30,000 people working under him. It was an $8-billion division that generated 25% of the company's revenue. That alone would earn anyone the nickname "Tech Whisperer." But that's only the tip of the iceberg with Leo. He also put in 16 years as a competitive analyst at IBM. His job there was to look five years into the future and tell them which products were going to take off. The truth is, you simply don't get a job picking winners for one of the most respected tech companies on the planet unless you're the best at what you do. So when our publisher asked me to start Smart Tech Investor, an advisory geared toward helping investors make big money in tech stocks, there was only one person I called to join me… The Tech Whisperer himself. And true to form, the Tech Whisperer kept living up to his name. "Our Readers Made Money Both Ways" Some folks may have laughed in December, when Leo called Apple "the one tech stock to own in 2014." They may have also chuckled in February when he wrote: "We don't recommend buying Amazon.com (in fact, it is a short sell recommendation in our Equity Trades Portfolio) but do suggest buying Oracle, Microsoft and Apple. One has to wonder how much higher Amazon can continue to appreciate while generating very little profit and paying no dividend." But they certainly weren't laughing when Apple took off and Amazon cratered—just like the Tech Whisperer said they would—and our readers made money both ways! That was just the start. Months ago, I recommended Western Digital, Leo's highest-rated tech stock, and it handed readers 50% gains in less than 6 months! There are other examples I could draw on—such as his recent short sell recommendation on red-hot 3D Systems that worked out to an annualized gain of over 100%—but the bottom line is this: Leo knows the tech business. And he knows how to profit from it! So when he walked into my office the other day and said he'd found four new opportunities in something he calls the Next Wave of the Internet, you can bet I paid attention. Here are some things I knew right off the bat: The opportunities within this wave are proven; The companies he's identified have unlimited upside potential … And they're not risky IPOs. You see, Leo's Next Wave of the Internet isn't about building the Internet—in fact, it doesn't have anything to do with infrastructure at all. Instead, this wave is all about how the Internet will change every facet of our lives. It's so loaded with potential that we've created an entire portfolio around it. And here's the best part: We've put the four companies that form the backbone of that portfolio into a new free report called "Next Wave Profits: How to Bank Massive Gains from the NEW Internet Revolution." Make no mistake: Each of these four stocks has the potential to become bigger than Microsoft, better than Apple and smarter than Google—and make you rich in the process! Now here's how you can … Grab Onto These 4 Winners Now! We'll rush you your own copy of "Next Wave Profits" free just for taking Smart Tech Investor for a risk-free 90-day test run. In its pages, you'll discover Next Wave Profit Opportunity #1, a forward-thinking company that's riding surging spending on cloud computing. Consider this: In the past four years, companies have invested $339 billion in the cloud. But in the next four, they plan to spend $788 billion—or more than twice as much as they already have! And this outfit is in prime position to harness a growing share of those dollars—it's in the process of taking the cloud to the insurance business. Let's face it, there aren't many industries more boring than insurance. All the data and actuarial analysis insurance companies handle could quickly put you to sleep… …but that only makes a company that gives them an unprecedented amount of computing power and storage even more exciting. Particularly one that's currently valued more like a stodgy insurance company—at just 10 times forward earnings—instead of the exploding cloud company it really is. That means just one thing: the days of its shares trading around $15 are numbered. Your Profit Window Is Closing Quickly! Now I have to tell you something here: the share prices on some of these companies are already creeping higher—and Leo says others (such as Next Wave Profit Opportunity #3, which you'll read about in your free report) could triple by the end of this year. There's no doubt that word is starting to get out, so if you're going to add these 4 screaming buys to your portfolio—you'd better do it now. Don't wait another minute. Click here to grab this incredible new report now! Editor's Note: Leo Boeckl's ability to pick winners is proven—you only have to look at his incredible call on Ford, not to mention 3D Systems, Apple, Amazon and Western Digital, to name just a few. The bottom line is this: The next wave of the Internet (with $788 billion in spending on cloud computing alone!) is certain to touch off massive gains for a select group of companies. And the four picks Leo reveals in his latest report should be at the top of your list. The time to act is now. Don't wait. Go here to get download this revealing free report right away. More Internet Connections Than People… In 2005, there were more people than devices connected to the Internet. But times have changed. Based on trends, the number of connected devices (from thermostats to security systems) will outnumber people over three to one by next year and seven to one by 2020. It's setting up a massive profit opportunity for companies who had the foresight to get there first. I've found the four best and I'll reveal them to you when you click here. A Guide to Stock Splits 8/27/2014 By Chad Fraser On the surface, stock splits have no impact on your investments, but it pays to know how they work and why companies undertake them. Under a stock split, a company divides its current shares into multiple shares. Two-for-one is the most common ratio, but 3-for-1 and 5-for-4 splits are not uncommon. This reduces the price per share but has no effect on the company's market cap, or the value of all its outstanding shares. As a result, the size of your stake remains unchanged. Apple's Share Split By the Numbers The recent high-profile share split by Apple Inc. (NasdaqGS: AAPL)---a recommendation of our Smart Tech Investor advisory (more on this service's market-beating performance below)---provides an example. On April 23, 2014, the company announced that it would split its stock on a 7-for-1 basis. This meant that each Apple investor received six additional shares for each one they held. The move marked the fourth split in Apple's history. The others (all 2-for-1) occurred in May 1987, June 2000 and February 2005. On Friday, June 6, the day before the latest split took effect, Apple shares closed at $645.57. At that time, the company had 861.38 million shares outstanding, giving it a market cap of about $556.1 billion ($645.57 x 861.38 million). On Monday, June 9, the stock opened at $92.70---or roughly one-seventh of its closing price the previous trading day---reflecting the 7-for-1 split. In addition, Apple's number of shares outstanding jumped sevenfold, to about 6.03 billion. However, its market cap largely held steady at about $559.0 billion ($92.70 x 6.03 billion). Here are two common reasons why a company may choose to undertake a stock split: To attract a broader range of investors: When a firm's share price rises beyond a certain level, some investors may see it as too expensive, so the company uses a split to bring the price down to a level that it feels will attract a larger number of buyers. It's also common for companies to announce dividend hikes at the same time as stock splits. To improve liquidity: When a stock's price rises into the hundreds or thousands of dollars, trading volume can slow and bid/ask spreads can widen. Increasing the share count and lowering the price helps alleviate that situation. Stock Splits: Benefit or Drawback? There is an ongoing debate over whether stock splits are a plus for investors. Warren Buffett is one detractor. The class A shares of his holding company, Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A), have never split and currently trade at a lofty $204,500. That's because the Oracle of Omaha prefers investors who see themselves as business owners who plan to stick around for a long time, not simply traders. A split would attract "people who buy for non-value reasons" and "are likely to sell for non-value reasons," Buffett wrote in his 1983 letter to shareholders. "Would a potential one-share purchaser be better off if we split 100 for 1 so he could buy 100 shares? Those who think so and who would buy the stock because of the split or in anticipation of one would definitely downgrade the quality of our present shareholder group," he wrote. (It should be noted that Berkshire Hathaway did split its class B shares on a 50-for-1 basis on January 1, 2010, so it could offer stock to investors in Burlington Northern Santa Fe, which it acquired in November 2009.) However, some studies have found that companies that split their shares tend to outperform their peers. One is a 1996 study by David Ikenberry of Rice University that compared 1,275 U.S. firms that split their shares between 1975 and 1990 and with similar firms that did not. His findings? Shares of the splitters outperformed the non-splitters by 8% after one year and 16% after three. John Heinzl, an investment columnist at Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper, sees the results as a sign that stock splits can be a predictor of future stock performance---but it all comes back to fundamentals. "When you think about it, it makes sense that companies that split do well, he wrote in a June 2011 article. "After all, a split is usually preceded by a sizable rise in price, which often reflects a company's strong or improving fundamentals. Assuming the company continues to perform well, the stock will rise." Trouncing the Nasdaq by 58%! That's right. New numbers show that Smart Tech Investor's portfolio beat the Nasdaq Composite Index by an incredible 58% through the first half of 2014! The secret? A stock-picking guru so successful they call him the Tech Whisperer. For 16 years, IBM paid him to look five years into the future and tell them which products were going to take off.Now the Tech Whisperer works for us---and you won't believe what he's recommending next: four under-the-radar stocks set to skyrocket with the Internet's next stunning growth wave. Get full details here. The Next Wave of the Internet The Internet is about to change your life – again! We're calling it the Next Wave of the Internet. Companies will spend $788 billion in the next four years just on one leg of the wave. It's the next big thing and could make early investors rich. McKinsey & Co estimate it's a $6.2 trillion wave! We're so excited about the millionaire-making potential that we've created an entire portfolio around the wave. A full explanation of how this wave will change your life – and, more importantly, make you richer, faster than any other tech investment you'll ever see – is just a click away. Shining the Spotlight on Solar Gains 8/26/2014 By Robert Rapier While the world will continue to utilize fossil fuels for decades to come, I believe that solar power is destined to ultimately become our most important energy source. It is already the fastest-growing one, with global solar power consumption increasing 11-fold in just the past five years. However, two factors prevent solar from growing even faster. The first is that solar, like wind, is intermittent power. In order to make use of solar power when the sun isn't shining, we have to be able to store the sun's energy. There are a few ways of doing this, but none are especially cost effective. A solar photovoltaic (PV) system for a home may use deep cycle batteries that are charged during periods of high sunlight and discharged at night. These can be lead acid batteries like those used for marine vessels, and they are designed to be regularly deeply discharged (unlike a car battery). But these batteries tend to be costly, and they must be replaced several times during the useful life of a typical solar PV system. Solar power storage can also be accomplished at a utility scale. Concentrating solar power (CSP) systems use lenses or mirrors to concentrate the sun's rays, similar to a magnifying glass. The concentrated rays are then used to produce heat, which may be used to generate steam that can then be passed through a turbine to produce electricity. Alternatively the heat may be used to produce molten salt, which retains heat when the sun doesn't shine and can enable CSP plants to run 24 hours a day. CSP output has grown nearly 50% annually, on average, over the past five years. Spain has dominated this technology in recent years, but the US has been the site of two large CSP plants brought online in the last two years. The 250 megawatt (MW) Solana plant completed in Arizona in 2013 by Abengoa Solar (NASDAQ: ABGB) was the world's largest parabolic trough plant when it was built, and was the first US CSP plant with thermal solar energy storage -- designed to run for six hours without direct sunlight. In early 2014, the 377 MW Ivanpah plant started up in California and became the largest operating solar thermal electric facility of any type in the world. This plant has received some unwanted publicity recently because of the number of birds that are being killed when flying through the concentrated beams of solar energy. (A recent report from the US Fish and Wildlife Service called the plant a "megatrap" and made recommendations on how to make CSP safer for birds.) Spanish companies lead the CSP industry with ownership interests in almost three-quarters of the CSP capacity deployed around the world. As of early 2013, Abengoa Solar had the world's largest portfolio of plants in operation or under construction. Behind Abengoa, the top CSP companies were the Spanish companies Acciona (OTC: ACXIF), ACS Cobra (Madrid: ACS), and Torresol Energy; and the US companies Brightsource and Solar Reserve. The global installed capacity of CSP in 2013 was 3.4 GW. The US Department of Energy estimates the current levelized cost of producing CSP at $0.13 per kilowatt hour (kWh) (versus $0.112/kWh for solar PV), but expects that cost to fall to $0.06/kWh by 2020. The solar PV market is much larger than the CSP one, with a global installed capacity of 139 GW last year. Solar PV uses materials such as various types of silicon or cadmium telluride that are capable of producing electricity when struck by solar radiation. Most commercial solar PV cells convert solar radiation into electricity at efficiencies ranging from 10% to 15%. As a result of generous government incentives, Germany has led the world in solar power consumption since 2006. In 2013 Germany's 30 terawatt-hours (TWh) of solar power consumption was 24 percent of the world's total. Behind Germany the rest of the top five solar consumers were Italy (22.4 TWh), Spain (13.1 TWh), China (11.9 TWh) and Japan (10.7 TWh). The US was sixth globally, but the 114 percent increase in US solar consumption over 2012 was largest gain among the top 20 global consumers of solar power. Asia accounts for nearly 90 percent of global production of solar PV modules, with China producing 67 percent of the world total. The top five solar PV manufacturers globally are Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE) in China, rival Chinese producer Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL), Canadian Solar (NASDAQ: CSIQ), JinkoSolar (NYSE: JKS; China), and ReneSola (NYSE: SOL; China). The US share of global solar PV manufacturing is 2.6 percent. The largest US solar PV manufacturer is First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR). A recent Bloomberg News story noted that solar PV installations are expected to grow by as much as 29% this year, and by more than 50% over the next two years. This is expected to reverse a glut of solar PV manufacturing capacity that has persisted for the past two years. In fact, the solar PV industry is expecting a possible shortage of panels for the first time since 2006, which will benefit the bottom lines of the largest solar PV makers. Conclusions The solar power industry is booming and is expected to continue to grow rapidly in the near term as technological improvements drive down costs. In 2013, new capacity additions of solar PV surpassed wind power capacity additions for the first time in history. I expect this trend to continue, and for solar to be the best long-term bet in the renewable energy space. We have profitably recommended three solar power companies in The Energy Strategist, including First Solar, which is up more than 91% since we made the case for it a year ago this week. We've added two more names in recent months that are performing strongly, and hope you will join us as we continue to evaluate outstanding opportunities in the sector. This article originally appeared in the The Energy Letter column. Never miss an issue. Sign up to receive The Energy Letter by email. A $14.4 Trillion Opportunity Very soon, just about every single electronic device will be connected to the Internet… Cisco Systems estimates the Internet of Everything (from thermostats to security systems to washing machines) will generate over $14 trillion in the next 10 years. That's a massive number. But it's also a reasonable one when you consider that by 2020, the number of devices connected to the Internet will outnumber people seven to one. If you're looking for safe, smart ways to cash in on this boom, click here for the four best ones. You are receiving this email at benjamart.ss.stock@blogger.com as part of your subscription to Investing Daily's Stocks To Watch, published by Investing Daily. To ensure delivery directly to your inbox, please add postoffice@investingdaily.com to your address book today. Email Preferences | About Us | Premium Services | Contact Us | Privacy Policy Copyright 2014 Investing Daily. 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