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Top 5 Performing Stocks To Buy For 2019

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According to GuruFocus’ All-in-One Guru Screener, the following are some of the stocks that have outperformed the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index over the last 12 months and were bought by gurus during the last quarter.

Thor Industries Inc. (THO) with a market cap of $5.79 billion has outperformed the S&P 500 Index by 85.6% over the last 12 months.

The company is engaged in manufacturing recreational vehicles in the U.S. and sells those vehicles in the U.S. and Canada. Its segments are towable recreational vehicles and motorized recreational vehicles.

Its shares are trading with a price-book (P/B) ratio of 4.42. According to the DCF calculator the company looks overpriced by 33% at $110.16 per share. The price is 111.07% above its 52-week low and 1.91% below its 52-week high.

The company has a profitability and growth rating of 8 out of 10. Its return on equity (ROE) of -23.66% and return on assets (ROA) of 14.89% are outperforming 88% of the companies in the Global Recreational Vehicles industry. Financial strength has a rating of 8 out of 10. The cash-debt ratio is 0.48 below the industry median of 0.59.

Top 5 Performing Stocks To Buy For 2019: BioScrip, Inc.(BIOS)

Advisors’ Opinion:

  • [By Chris Lange]

    On Tuesday, BioScrip Inc. (NASDAQ: BIOS) reported third-quarter financial results before the markets opened. The company said that it had a net loss of $0.09 per share and $224.5 million in revenues. The consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters had called for a net loss of $0.05 per share and revenues of $223.26 million. The same period of last year reportedly EPS of had $0.04 and $247.22 million in revenues.

  • [By Money Morning News Team]

    BioScrip Inc.(Nasdaq: BIOS) provides at-home medical care and services across the United States.

    BIOS’s central profit opportunity is in the rapid growth of the pharmaceutical industry. The pharmaceutical market is currently worth $12 billion and is expected to grow at an annual rate of five to seven percent.

  • [By Chris Lange]

    BioScrip, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIOS) saw its shares make a solid gain on Tuesday after another analyst issued a positive rating on the stock. Lake Street Capital initiated its coverage with a Buy rating and a $4.50 price target. This is implying an upside of over 300% from the previous closing price of $1.04.

Top 5 Performing Stocks To Buy For 2019: WEC Energy Group, Inc.(WEC)

Advisors’ Opinion:

  • [By Shane Hupp]

    Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on WEC Energy Group (WEC)

    For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

Top 5 Performing Stocks To Buy For 2019: Buenaventura Mining Company Inc.(BVN)

Advisors’ Opinion:

  • [By Alex McGuire]

    You see, Money Morning Resource Specialist Peter Krauth expects gold prices to gain 15.4% from their current $1,213 level to $1,400 an ounce this year. This rise will lead to an even bigger rally for gold stocks. Since the beginning of 2017, gold prices are up 5.1%. But the gains in gold stocks like Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. (NYSE:AEM) and Compania de Minas Buenaventura SAA (NYSE ADR: BVN) have doubled and quadrupled the year-to-date gold price return.

  • [By WWW.GURUFOCUS.COM]

    For the details of Somerset Capital Management LLP’s stock buys and sells, go to www.gurufocus.com/StockBuy.php?GuruName=Somerset+Capital+Management+LLP

    These are the top 5 holdings of Somerset Capital Management LLPFomento Economico Mexicano SAB de CV (FMX) – 1,268,818 shares, 36.15% of the total portfolio. Shares reduced by 9.36%Yandex NV (YNDX) – 3,352,412 shares, 25.48% of the total portfolio. Shares reduced by 3.61%ICICI Bank Ltd (IBN) – 5,074,899 shares, 13.19% of the total portfolio. Shares reduced by 11.08%Infosys Ltd (INFY) – 1,596,414 shares, 6.95% of the total portfolio. Shares reduced by 15.58%KT Corp (KT) – 1,330,431 shares, 6.41% of the

Top 5 Performing Stocks To Buy For 2019: Alphabet Inc.(GOOGL)

Advisors’ Opinion:

  • [By ]

    (1) For you stock chart fans, Facebook’s stock has found support at the March 27 intraday low at $150.75 (current price: $157.93); (2) Chip stocks on the move off a big new JPMorgan note titled: “The Data Era Becomes Investable.” Nvidia and Seagate (STX) likely to gt a boost off the report’s upgrades on each. Positive mentions included Cisco (CSCO) , Action Alerts PLUS holdings Alphabet (GOOGL) and Amazon (AMZN) , and Alibaba (BABA) ; (3) M&A activity in the consumer space has been muted of late, but TheStreet’s sister publication, The Deal, reported that is poised to change soon; (4) Billionaire Mark Cuban is no Trump fan, but he tells TheStreet he does dig Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

  • [By Chris Lange]

    Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) is scheduled to release its most recent quarterly results after the markets close on Monday. Thomson Reuters has consensus estimates calling for $9.35 in earnings per share (EPS) on $30.36 billion in revenue. The same period of last year reportedly had $7.73 in EPS on $24.75 billion in revenue.

  • [By Ashley Moore]

    Here is a table of the 10 most expensive stocks trading on U.S. markets today:

    Company (Ticker)Price per ShareMarket CapBerkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A)$ 257,227.52$ 419.50 billionSeaboard Corp. (NYSEMKT: SEB)$ 3,760.00$ 4.48 billionNVR Inc. (NYSE: NVR)$ 1,944.23$ 7.19 billionThe Priceline Group Inc. (Nasdaq: PCLN)$ 1,727.94$ 80.82 billionMarkel Corp. (NYSE: MKL)$ 978.51$ 13.78 billionWhite Mountains Insurance Group Ltd. (NYSE: WTM)$ 935.01$ 4.25 billionAmazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN)$ 846.08$ 408.27 billionAlphabet Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOGL)$ 844.06$ 582.85 billionAutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO)$ 744.26$ 21.04 billionIntuitive Surgical Inc. (Nasdaq: ISRG)$ 735.63$ 28.41 billion

  • [By WWW.THESTREET.COM]

    Apple better gets it act together: It would be great if Apple (AAPL) shows its hand next week at its WWDC on its self-driving car ambitions. Surely it won’t. But others, such as Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Waymo, are slowly leading the discussion on the space, as TheStreet’s Paul Spring writes.

  • [By Nicholas Rossolillo]

    Alphabet’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) autonomous car division, Waymo, recently signed a contract to add Jaguar’s first all-electric car to its fleet of self-driving vehicles. For the Google parent company, the deal will be a blip on its pathto driving automation, albeit an exciting one. For shareholders of Jaguar parent Tata Motors (NYSE:TTM), it’s an early sign the new vehicle will be a winner for the automaker.

  • [By WWW.THESTREET.COM]

    Kalanick also dismissed a top Uber executive over a prior harassment claim at Alphabet (GOOGL) .

    In January the privately held Uber, which has a valuation of about $69 billion, faced a growing #deleteUber campaign after some said the company was trying to capitalize on a New York taxi drivers’ protest against President Trump’s travel ban. Kalanick was also criticized for participating in Trump’s economic advisory council. He eventually resigned from the council.

Top 5 Performing Stocks To Buy For 2019: Myers Industries, Inc.(MYE)

Advisors’ Opinion:

  • [By Lisa Levin]

    In trading on Tuesday, basic materials shares fell 0.63 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Myers Industries, Inc. (NYSE: MYE), down 7 percent, and CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CF) down 6 percent.

Slowly But Surely, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd Will Feel the Burden of Being a Powerhouse

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Over the course of the past few months, at separate times, I’ve argued that sooner or later, time and competition are going to catch up with Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN). Though its ever-increasing size allows it to reach deeper into consumers’ pockets in more ways, each of a company’s moving parts makes the whole machine more prone to failure.

It’s a warning that also needs to be passed along to Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) shareholders, particularly in light of some recent developments from its top competitors.

It may not matter right now, or even a few months from now, but other e-commerce and internet companies — frustrated with Alibaba’s dominance — are finally starting to find ways to beat Alibaba at its own game.

Partnerships Are the Key

How does the old saying go? Eventually, every contest becomes a two-horse race?

It’s not a universally true, immutable axiom. There is quite a bit of credibility to the idea, though. The Coca-Cola Co (NYSE:KO) and PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) were for all intents and purposes the only relevant soda players when soda was their core product. All other players were either acquired or obliterated.

The same idea more or less applies to AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), which dominate the United States’ telecom scene, leaving the rest of the industry fighting for leftovers and scraps.

Times have changed a bit, though. Now, an outright merger or acquisition is less likely than a formidable partnership intended to take aim at the dominant player in an industry.

Enter SINA Corp (NASDAQ:SINA) and JD.Com Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:JD). The former operates one of China’s search engines, and the latter is of course China’s second-biggest e-commerce outfit.

The two have teamed up to share information that will ultimately give both parties greater insight about consumer behaviors. Not that Alibaba isn’t armed with plenty of consumer behavior data of its own, but it’s a direct jab at China’s e-commerce powerhouse.

Were it the only team-up of its ilk, it might be able to be dismissed. It’s hardly the only one, though.

Case(s) in point? Late last year, Chinese gaming and app outfit Tencent Holding/ADR (OTCMKTS:TCEHY) partnered up with JD.com and purchased a stake in China’s third-largest e-commerce platform, Vipshop Holdings Ltd – ADR (NYSE:VIPS).

Early this year, JD partnered with Meili in a move that’s intended to woo female shoppers away from Alibaba’s Tmall.

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Then just this month, JD.com made a pitch to European makers of luxury goods, saying it could do a better job of keeping counterfeit goods in check than Alibaba has. And, maybe it can. If nothing else, the sheer size of Alibaba’s Tmall makes it difficult to keep close tabs on every listed item.

These recent developments are, more importantly, a microcosm of the competitive thinking and partnering being done almost exclusively to slow Alibaba down. When the whole world is gunning for you specifically, enough shots will eventually hit the target to create trouble.

To that end, know that Alibaba won’t be stifled by one sweeping blow. It will be nagged into submission by all the nickels and dimes it has to spend to remain the beast it’s become.

Bottom Line for BABA Stock

Don’t read too much into the warning, if you’re asking yourself, “Should I buy Alibaba stock today?” Though it’s something that may adversely impact the Alibaba stock price in 10 years, it’s not going to matter much over the course of the next 10 days, or even the next 10 months. Much can happen in the meantime, and the Alibaba story is still a good one.

You can never afford to assume an organization is perpetually invulnerable, though. Just ask the Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE:KODK) or Xerox Corp (NYSE:XRX), neither of which saw the winds of change blowing in time to do anything about it.

That’s not to suggest any headwind Alibaba could meet will be as dramatic as the plunge into obsolescence that Xerox and Kodak suffered. It is to say, though, that investors need to be very careful about making assumptions. BABA isn’t necessarily the bulletproof name some believe it is.

And for what it’s worth, it’s not like Amazon doesn’t continue to face more and more seemingly innocuous threats as well.

Take for instance how Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) and Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL, NASDAQ:GOOG) got together late last year to develop a voice-activated shopping app for Google’s smart speaker.

Neither company was theoretically the best partner for the other to cocreate the platform. In both cases, Amazon itself was arguably the more potent partner. But neither company feels like continuing to feed its competition. BABA is in that same boat as Amazon.

It’s a small step to be sure, but enough small steps can add up over time.

As of this writing, James Brumley did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. You can follow him on Twitter, at

Upcoming Earnings: Industrial Conglomerate GE Reports Friday Morning

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Industrial conglomerate General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) is scheduled to report earnings before market open on Friday, Apr. 20.

CEO John Flannery has faced plenty of challenges since he took over in August 2017, working to streamline the massive company and improve transparency. In recent quarters, GE’s issues have been numerous and well publicized.

In the time that Flannery has been at the helm, GE has halved its dividend; it took a surprise $6.2 billion after-tax charge in Q4 2017 related to GE Capital’s insurance portfolio, while adding $15 billion to its reserves  for future payouts over the next seven years; and recently restated 2016 and 2017 financials, reducing earnings by $0.30 per share. The restated financials also included adjustments related to pensions, cash flows and income taxes.

Clearly, the company’s turnaround efforts, which include a multi-year plan to improve GE Power as well as exiting more than $20 billion worth of business over the next several years, are going to take time.

There have been some signs of progress from Flannery’s plan so far. When GE reported Q4 2017 results, it generated $9.7 billion in adjusted cash flow from operating activities for fiscal 2017, compared to guidance of $7 billion.

Since announcing plans to exit $20 billion in business, it has sold its industrial solution business in a $2.6 billion deal to ABB (ABB) and recently announced a $1.05 billion deal to sell healthcare IT businesses to private equity firm Veritas.  And Bloomberg reported that several companies are considering a bid for GE’s Jenbacher unit for more than $3 billion.

On tomorrow’s calls, analysts are likely to be digging in to get a better idea of restructuring progress.

GE Earnings

For Q1 2018, GE is expected to report adjusted EPS of $0.11 on revenue of $27.88 billion, according to third-party consensus estimates. In Q4 2017, revenue missed estimates, coming in at $31.4 billion versus expectations for $32.7 billion, and earnings also came up short by a penny at $0.27 per share after removing charges and one-time items.

GE previously lowered its earnings guidance for all of fiscal 2018 to a range of $1.00 to $1.07, but analysts seem to think that’s a little optimistic given they have an average estimate of $0.95. Out of 17 analyst ratings, earnings estimates range from $0.87 to $1.04 per share.

GE Options Trading Activity

Around GE’s upcoming report, options traders have priced in a 4.8% share price move in either direction, according to the Market Maker Move indicator on the thinkorswim® platform. Implied volatility was at the 76th percentile as of this morning. 

general-electric-ge-stock-chart-q1-2018.png
GE 1-YEAR CHART. GE shares have dropped from a 52-week high of $30.54 all the way to a new 52-week low of $12.73 on March 26. The stock has bounced a little bit off that level and has been trading around the mid-$13 range for the past few sessions. Chart source: thinkorswim® by TD Ameritrade.  Not a recommendation. For illustrative purposes only. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

In short-term trading at the Apr. 20 monthly expiration and the next several weekly expirations, a lot of the activity has been concentrated at the 14 strike for both puts and calls, just out of the money. At the May 20 expiration, trading has also been heavier at the 14-strike call, while activity on the put side has been mostly at the 13 and 14 strikes. 

Overall during yesterday’s session, trading was heavier on the call side, with a put/call ratio of 0.476.

Note: Call options represent the right, but not the obligation, to buy the underlying security at a predetermined price over a set period of time. Put options represent the right, but not the obligation to sell the underlying security at a predetermined price over a set period of time.

What’s Coming Up

Next week brings results from many of the largest companies in the tech sector:

Google-parent Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG) reports after the close Monday, Apr. 23
Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) reports before market open Wednesday, Apr. 25 and Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) reports after the close the same day
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) report after the close Thursday, Apr. 26

In addition to the tech-heavy week, some of the other companies on the docket are Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F), General Motors Company (NYSE: GM), Caterpillar Inc (NYSE: CAT), Boeing Co (NYSE: BA), Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) and Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM). If you have time, make sure to check out today’s market update for a look at what else is going on.

Information from TDA is not intended to be investment advice or construed as a recommendation or endorsement of any particular investment or investment strategy, and is for illustrative purposes only. Be sure to understand all risks involved with each strategy, including commission costs, before attempting to place any trade.

Earnings: 3 Tech Stocks to Watch This Month

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It’s earnings season again — and tech giants are readying their latest quarterly releases. This month, in particular, is packed with action, including earnings reports from Alphabet(NASDAQ:GOOGL)(NASDAQ:GOOG), Facebook(NASDAQ:FB), andMicrosoft(NASDAQ:MSFT).The three will report earnings on April 23, 25, and 26, respectively.

For Alphabet, investors will want to see strength in search and more sharp growth from the company’s “Google other” segment. In Microsoft’s report, they’ll be watching for sustained momentum in commercial cloud revenue. Finally, Facebook’s guidance will come into focus amid the company’s public image challenges.

Google Home speakers lined up in seven colors

Image source: Alphabet.

Here’s a preview of each company’s earnings report:

1. Alphabet

Alphabet’s year-over-year quarterly revenue growth rates accelerated throughout 2017, setting the bar high going into the company’s first-quarter earnings report.

In Alphabet’s fourth quarter of 2017, the Google parent reported a 24% higher revenue and 15% higher operating income compared to the fourth quarter of 2016. Earnings per share increased 28% year over year when excluding the impact of the Tax Act.

Though Alphabet’s strong performance was helped by a nice 21% increase in advertising revenue from its core search business, Alphabet’sGoogle other segment, which is primarily driven by the Android app store, Google Cloud, and Google-branded hardware, is playing an increasingly larger role in the company’s results. Google other revenue jumped 38% year over year in Q4. Look for a similar trend in Q1.

2. Microsoft

In its second quarter of fiscal 2018 (the fourth calendar quarter of 2017), Microsoft continued to reap the benefits of its ongoing transformation to a cloudcentric business model. Revenue and operating income were both up double digits on a year-over-year basis, climbing 12% and 10%, respectively.

But the biggest highlight from the quarter was arguably Microsoft’s 56% year-over-year increase in commercial cloud revenue. Surging to $5.3 billion during the period, commercial cloud revenue now represents a meaningful 18% of revenue. Investors should expect this catalyst to keep its momentum in Q3.

3. Facebook

Social network Facebook has been forced into the spotlight recently. Its press release in March about user data that had been mishandled by a third-party developersent shockwaves in the media, as pressure mounted for the CEO to testify before Congress about the company’s user data and privacy policies. The CEO has cooperated with requests to testify and has taken responsibility for the company’s shortfalls in its efforts to mitigate abuse, fake news, hate speech, and foreign influence in elections.

With most of this negative media attention occurring toward the end of Q1 and the beginning of Q2, the company’s first-quarter results won’t likely be materially impacted by any headwinds with users or advertisers. But it will be interesting to see how the scandal will impact the social network’s guidance, particularly its outlook for spending on user data and privacy protection. Facebook had already committed to a 45% to 60% jump in operating expenses in 2018 compared to 2017, driven in part by “sizable security investments in people and technology to strengthen our systems and prevent abuse.”

Will Facebook forecast an even larger increase in expenses after its user data scandal?

Can Amazon (AMZN) Shake Off Trump By Battling Google (GOOGL) in Search?

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Shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) battled to maintain their early gains on Tuesday amid continued pressure from President Donald Trump and his ongoing war of words with the e-commerce company. Trump on Tuesday morning tweeted negative comments about Amazon for the fourth time in one week.

Can Amazon (AMZN) Shake Off Trump By Battling Google (GOOGL) in Search?Source: Shutterstock

Today’s criticism included another assessment that Amazon is costing U.S. taxpayers “many billions of dollars” through the United States Postal Service.

I am right about Amazon costing the United States Post Office massive amounts of money for being their Delivery Boy. Amazon should pay these costs (plus) and not have them bourne by the American Taxpayer. Many billions of dollars. P.O. leaders don’t have a clue (or do they?)!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 3, 2018

In recent days, Trump has claimed that the Post Office loses a “fortune” from Amazon’s heavy shipping volumes. Others have argued, on the other hand, that Amazon’s business has kept the USPS afloat while demand for physical mail continues to decline.

Trump’s disdain for Amazon also seems focused on the e-commerce behemoth’s disruption of the traditional retail industry. The president has remarked that Amazon’s tax policy, including its practice of not collecting state taxes from most third-party sellers, threatens “many thousands of retailers.”

Amazon does, however, collect state and local taxes from some third-party sellers and on sales of products it sells directly. The company’s third-party business represents about half of its total unit sales.

Trump’s Personal Beef With Bezos

But lying just under the surface of Trump’s rebuke of Amazon’s business model is the president’s personal beef with the Seattle-based firm’s CEO, Jeff Bezos. The enigmatic Bezos also owns The Washington Post—a newspaper that has been vocal critic of the Trump administration. Trump has repeatedly referred to the publication as the “Amazon Washington Post.”

The Trump administration is certainly no stranger to singling out perceived enemies and critics, and if the president can find a legal way to target Amazon for legitimate issues, it stands to reason that he would love to settle his score with Bezos by levying the e-commerce brand with new regulatory headwinds.

Still, the news was not all bad for Amazon investors on Tuesday, with analysts from Cenkos Securities highlighting the company’s budding advertising business and its new efforts to challenge the likes of Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in search.

“I think Amazon will do retail search and take Google to the cleaners on retail search using their estate,” the firm’s Alex DeGroote told CNBC. “Slowly over time you will use Amazon as your retail search engine rather than Google.”

DeGroote estimates that North America’s ad market is worth about $200 billion right now. Google and Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) currently hog the majority of this market, but the analyst expects Amazon could increase its share to $8 billion in North America and $20 billion globally as soon as 2020.

Amazon and Google already face off in the public cloud computing space, so the two companies should be accustom to battling it out for control of a key tech business. But a growing advertising industry should give both firms a healthy opportunity, and any additional share that Amazon can steal should be a bullish catalyst.

Want more market analysis from this author? Make sure to follow @Ryan_McQueeney on Twitter!

The Hottest Tech Mega-Trend of All

Last year, it generated $8 billion in global revenues. By 2020, it’s predicted to blast through the roof to $47 billion. Famed investor Mark Cuban says it will produce “the world’s first trillionaires,” but that should still leave plenty of money for regular investors who make the right trades early.

See Zacks’ 3 Best Stocks to Play This Trend >>

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