"I have four Hurricane Season stock picks -- two bullish, two bearish -- to play this summer's potentially wild weather," says Sean Broderick in his Uncommon Wisdom advisory.

"Last year's stormy weather spawned 16 named storms, which was higher than the long-term average of about 10 tropical storms and six hurricanes per year in a typical Atlantic hurricane season.

"The major hurricane forecasters have now made their predictions, and it's for a 'moderate' hurricane season. That's good news for America's oil and gas industry.

Continue reading Hurricane plays: Winners and losers

Hurricane plays: Winners and losers originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"There are always stocks that can buck the trend and go up when most others are going down; one such issue is Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX)," says Sean Broderick.

In Money and Markets, he explains, "Netflix has exceptional growth prospects as it ventures into streaming movies and games over the Internet.

"Netflix is doing bang-up business, and if history is any guide, should continue to do so. During the Great Depression, movies were one of the few growth industries, as a weary world turned to escapist entertainment.

"Netflix had an excellent recent quarter. Revenues jumped 19% and earnings rose 58%. EBITA, a widely used measure of a company's efficiency and profitability, hit a six-year high, and was up 18% over the year earlier.

Continue reading Netflix: A new world for video

Netflix: A new world for video originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 18 Mar 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"Our hope is that the new administration decides to fund 'the future'," says Sean Broderick. In Money and Markets he looks to some favored exchange traded funds offering long-term investors exposure to alternative energy, wind power, electric cars and the rebuilding of our nation's infrastructure.

"We need an efficient power grid that can carry renewable energy -- solar from the Mojave Desert and wind from the Great Plains -- to the population centers of the U.S. Too bad our power grid is 100 years old and falling apart at the seams. And demand is growing every year.

"In addition, we need more railroads for an energy independent America. Building those lines is a good bottom-up way to boost the economy. And we need an electric car program.

"I'm talking about developing mass-market battery-powered cars (hybrid or plug-in) that achieve at least 100 mpg of gasoline on new fleets by the year 2015.

"These three programs have one thing in common: Good American jobs that can't be shipped overseas. If you want to jump-start the economy, that's a 1-2-3 that might work.

Continue reading Obama Picks: Funding the future, from electric cars to wind power

Obama Picks: Funding the future, from electric cars to wind power originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 05 Nov 2008 14:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

For 25 years, Steven Halpern, editor of TheStockAdvisors.com, has surveyed the leading financial newsletter advisors asking for their favorite stocks for the coming year. This article is one of 100+ ideas in the Best Stocks for 2008 report.

"The commodity bull market has a long way to run, powered by explosive growth in the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) countries," says Sean Broderick, resource stocks editor for Money & Markets.

"My top conservative pick to play the broad commodities bull market is the broad-based exchange-traded PowerShares DB Commodity Index Tracking Fund (NYSE: DBC).

"As an ETF, it is like a mutual fund. However, ETFs usually have lower costs than a mutual fund and you can buy and sell an ETF throughout the day, whereas a mutual fund trades once a day.

The PowerShares DB Commodity Index Tracking Fund has a long name but a simple idea -- the fund invests in commodities: crude oil, heating oil, aluminum, gold, corn and wheat. DBC invests in that basket of commodities by purchasing futures contracts. It rebalances annually to 35% crude, 20% heating oil, and 10% to 12.5% of the other four."

Best Stocks for 2008: Bet on commodity bull with DB Commodity ETF (DBC) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 19 Dec 2007 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.