Author: Editor

When I first heard about Bitcoin, it traded around $100 back in 2013.

A buddy of mine was running around the office, telling everyone to “buy, buy, buy Bitcoin. It’s going to be massive.” It was like watching Jim Cramer running around the office, screaming, arms flailing.

Unfortunately, I didn’t listen. After all, it was too volatile.

I could find better opportunities elsewhere, I thought.

Even the press would have you believe cryptocurrencies would blow up in your face at the time.

Bitcoin is now up to $62,474 – a 62,374% move in eight years – with a market cap of $1.17 trillion. If I had just bought 100 Bitcoin for $10,000, I’d be sitting on about… actually I don’t even want to think about it. It’s a real shame time machines don’t exist.

These days, Bitcoin shows no signs of slowing.

According to Gemini’s 2021 State of Crypto in the U.S.:

“In 2020 we witnessed institutional investors step forward in public support of cryptocurrency and major companies like PayPal, MicroStrategy, and Twitter put forward plans to either support crypto payments or openly invest in it themselves by adding it to their balance sheets. The first few months of 2021 have shown no signs of crypto slowing down, as decentralized finance (DeFi) takes hold as a megatrend and bitcoin’s bull run continues to break price records.”

In addition, that report found that about 14% of the U.S. population owns cryptocurrency, or about 21.2 million people.

Major companies have also gotten involved. PayPal, MicroStrategy, Tesla, Mastercard, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Citi are all getting in on the cryptocurrency boom. The list goes on.

There’s also no shortage of Bitcoin bulls.

Fundstrat Global Advisors’ Tom Lee, for example, says Bitcoin could run to $100,000 this year.

Fidelity’s director of global macro, Jurrien Timmer, as noted by Yahoo Finance, says Bitcoin could hit $100,000 by 2023.

“So this move up [in bitcoin] has come without the help of momentum chasers, which I think is a good sign because it means there is something else making bitcoin go up. And, that is fundamental demand for bitcoin and its network. When I come up with $100,000 [for bitcoin prices], that’s a conservative estimate based on the intersections of my supply model and my demand model.”

In addition, according to JP Morgan, more institutions are buying Bitcoin, as a hedge against inflation. Helping even more, the first Bitcoin-focused futures ETF – the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) went live today.

Technically, if Bitcoin can break above prior resistance around 64,859, it could really take off.

In short, there’s plenty to get excited about here.

The post The Top Reasons to Buy and Hold Bitcoin Right Now appeared first on Morningology.

The 2021 holiday season is just weeks away.

So, we thought it would be a good idea to point you in the direction of what we believe could be some of the season’s biggest winners.

First up, Affirm Holdings (AFRM).

Affirm has been on fire since we highlighted it at $63 in early August.

With partnerships with Amazon and Target, the BNPL stock could easily see higher highs.

Even better, according to the company:

“Seven in 10 Americans say they typically go over budget during the holidays, according to new research from the first Affirm Consumer Spend Report, Affirm’s look at what consumers are up to—and where they’re headed next. With many Americans eager to make this year’s holiday season memorable, this year is no different. Affirm discovered nearly half (48%) plan to spend more money this year because they couldn’t celebrate like they normally would last year.”

With big spending likely with a BNPL account, Affirm could see $200 a share before year-end.

Next Up, WW International (WW).

WW International, or Weight Watchers is an interesting end of year trade.

In fact, if you look at a five year chart of WW, you can see the stock tends to rise around the holidays, with the exception of 2018. Down on its luck at the moment, the stock has become oversold at support dating back to late September 2020.

With leadership in transition, we’d use weakness as a. long-term opportunity.

Next is Apple (AAPL.).

Oversold, Apple is just starting to pivot higher. From a current price of $149, we’d like to see the stock closer to $157.50, near-term. Apple also has a strong history of running ahead of and during the holiday season. With new gadgets out, including the new iPhone 13, the stock could see another stellar holiday season ahead.

In addition, according to Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, as noted by Barron’s, “Apple announced the new hardware products heading into the holiday season and despite recent component shortages.” That includes new Macs and AirPods.

With that Ives added, “These products add to the biggest hardware product cycle at Apple in roughly a decade and remains a major growth catalyst for the story heading into 2022.”

The post Three Top Stocks to Buy Ahead of the 2021 Holidays appeared first on Morningology.

Affirm Holdings (AFRM) has become explosive.

The first time we spoke about the AFRM stock, it traded at $63 a share on August 2.  All after Square announced it was buying its competitor Afterpay in an all-stock transaction worth $29 billion. And all as “buy now, pay later (BNPL)” just begins to gain popularity.

Today, the AFRM stock is up to $156.32 – and could be headed to $200 a share.

Bank of America is bullish on the stock., raising the firm’s price target from $119 to $160.  

“AFRM is the clear bright spot,” said the analysts, as quoted by Yahoo Finance. While “all the other BNPL vendors saw deceleration in September app downloads and [monthly active users] growth compared to August and 1H, AFRM was the only provider that saw growth accelerate in both metrics,” they added.

“More people in the U.S. are starting to use BNPL, according to BofA’s survey of 1,124 BNPL users, which found that 47% of respondents had used BNPL eight or more times in the last 12 months, while 54% of respondents plan to use it eight or more times in the next 12 months.”

Again, with the BNPL boom showing no clear signs of slowing, AFRM could run to $200.

Growth is Quickly Gaining Momentum

In addition to partnerships with Amazon.com, Target, and Shopify, earnings growth is solid.

According to a company press release, Affirm Holdings:

• Exceeded Fourth Quarter Financial Outlook 
• Accelerated Q4 Gross Merchandise Volume Growth to 106% and Total Revenue Growth to 71% Year Over Year
• Expanded Network by Nearly Doubling Active Consumers and Growing Active Merchants by Over 400% Year Over Year 
• It also expects Fiscal Year 2022 GMV Growth of At Least 50%, or 70% Excluding Peloton, Prior to Any Benefit from the Recently Announced Amazon Partnership

From here, we just don’t see growth slowing any time soon.

Congratulations to those that bought AFRM around $63 on our August 2, 2021 note.

The post This is Why Affirm Holdings is Soaring at the Moment appeared first on Morningology.

Pay close attention to the plant based boom.

With millions of people all over the world switch to plant based diets, related stocks are just beginning to sprout. All as restaurants, food distributors, and fast food chains jumping on the plant based bandwagon, including Hormel, Burger King, McDonald’s, Nestle, and Tyson.

Even Unilever is bringing plant based meats to market.

“Plant-based innovations like these will support the delivery of Unilever’s strategic focus on developing the portfolio into high-growth spaces, and contribute towards its annual global sales target of €1 billion from plant-based meat and dairy alternatives by 2025-2027. The target forms part of Unilever’s ‘Future Foods’ ambition, launched globally with two key objectives: to help people transition towards healthier diets and to help reduce the environmental impact of the global food chain,” according to the company.

Even more impressive, “Veganism in the US has grown from obscurity to become a mainstream part of the American diet. Since 2004, the number of Americans turning plant-based has reached 9.7 million people, growing from around 290,000 over a period of 15 years,” according to Ipsos Retail Performance.

It’s just part of the reason stocks like Beyond Meat (BYND) are running again. Beyond Meat is also running on news McDonald’s will test the McPlant burger in eight U.S. restaurants in November 2021. Test locations include Irving and Carrollton in Texas, Cedar Falls, Iowa, Jennings and Lake Charles, Louisiana, and El Segundo and Manhattan Beach in California.

On the news, shares of Beyond Meat are up $2.25 on the day.

BYND is also just starting to pivot higher from double bottom support dating back to May 2021. From here, we’d like to see BYND test its prior high of more than $200 a share. All as the plant based boom just begins to sprout.

 

The post Plant Based Boom: Here’s Why Beyond Meat is Pushing Higher appeared first on Morningology.

Pay close attention to climate change stocks.

Over the next two weeks, President Biden will travel to Europe, with plans to discuss the global climate change issue. That could be a major boon for solar, wind, hydrogen, and even electric vehicle stocks, like Tesla (TSLA) and Nio (NIO).

Investors may also want to take a look at related ETFs, like the iShares Global Clean Energy ETF (ICLN), ALPS Clean Energy ETF (ACES), and the Invesco Solar ETF (TAN). Even stocks associated with climate-resilient buildings and infrastructure may do well, especially with a bill that could encourage the development of greener solutions.

All should perform well as the world pushes for a greener future.

While in Europe, Biden will attend the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties, or COP26 in early November. “COP26, which was originally due to take place in 2020 but was pushed back due to the pandemic, will see world leaders come together to discuss more ambitious climate action as U.N. researchers warn that global warming is dangerously close to spiraling out of control,” as reported by CNBC.

All after the UN warned that efforts to limit global warming “will be beyond reach” in the next two decades without an immediate reduction of emissions. It’s also part of the reason why countries all over the world are racing to cut emissions.

The U.S. just pledged to cut emissions in half by 2030. The European Union has plans to cut carbon emissions by 55% by 2030. China said it wants to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.

With all of that happening, there’s still time to jump on green stocks.

The post This Could be a Major Catalyst for Green Stocks appeared first on Morningology.

Vaping stocks are on the move.

British American Tobacco (BTI) is up about 80 cents to $35.53. Altria (MO) is up about 75 cents to $47.90. Philip Morris (PM) is up about $1.64 to $97.21.

All after the US FDA authorized marketing for an e-cigarette for the first time in the U.S.

According to the agency, “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced it has authorized the marketing of three new tobacco products, marking the first set of electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) products ever to be authorized by the FDA through the Premarket Tobacco Product Application (PMTA) pathway.”

“The FDA issued marketing granted orders to R.J. Reynolds (RJR) Vapor Company for its Vuse Solo closed ENDS device and accompanying tobacco-flavored e-liquid pods, specifically, Vuse Solo Power Unit, Vuse Replacement Cartridge Original 4.8% G1, and Vuse Replacement Cartridge Original 4.8% G2,” they added.

Helping, the US FDA said data submitted by R.J. Reynolds showed that its Vuse e-cigarettes helped smokers quit or reduce their use of cigarettes.

While that’s great news for vaping stocks now, the US FDA could withdraw its authorization.

According to Mitch Zeller, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, as noted by The Washington Post, “the agency would monitor R.J. Reynolds’s marketing of the Vuse products and that if ‘evidence emerges of significant use’ by people who had not previously used tobacco products, including young people, the FDA could withdraw its authorization.”

The post US FDA Just Authorized e-Cigarettes for the First Time in the U.S. appeared first on Morningology.

The food delivery market has become explosive.

“Nowadays, food delivery has become a global market worth more than $150 billion, having more than tripled since 2017. In the United States, the market has more than doubled during the pandemic, following healthy historical growth of 8 percent,” says McKinsey & Company.

Even with restaurants reopening, and consumers crowding food stores, more Americans are ordering groceries online, according to Gallup. 

“The percentage of U.S. adults who now say they order groceries online for pickup or delivery at least monthly has doubled, from 11% in 2019 to 23% today. This includes 3% who do so more than once a week, 9% weekly, and 11% once or twice a month,” says the firm.

Also, the number of Americans dining out is dropping, too.

At the moment, about 74% of Americans say they eat at a restaurant at least once a month, as compared to 87% in 2019. “The greatest decrease is in the percentage who say they eat out more than once a week, which has declined seven points to 17%.”

The last time we spoke about food delivery on August 19, we highlighted opportunity in:

• Uber Technologies (UBER), which has since run from $40 to $46
• Grubhub (GRUB), which has since fallen from about $18 to $14.56
• DoorDash (DASH), which ran from $180 to $200
• Blue Apron Holdings (APRN), which ran from $3.70 to $8.03
• Waitr Holdings (WTRH), which fell from $1.19 to 83 cents

All could perform much better as the food delivery boom heats up.  In fact, with millions of people ordering takeout far more frequently, the sector could balloon to a $400 billion valuation by 2024. According to Euromonitor, it could surge to $1 trillion over the next decade.

The post How to Profit from a Potential $1 Trillion Food Delivery Boom appeared first on Morningology.

The global semiconductor shortage is causing major problems.

With far more demand than supply, millions of products – including the smartphones, and autos – are in short supply.

Sony recently said it would take “some time” before PS5 shortages are over.

In fact, “Sony is so sick of the problems that it’s going to set up its own factory to make the chips it needs itself. According to a Nikkei report covered by Reuters, Sony is entering a joint venture with Taiwanese company TMSC to build the factory in Japan, with the Japanese government also ready to pay some of the ¥800 billion investment,” as reported by Metro.

Chip shortages are even expected to cost the global auto industry $210 billion in revenue this year, as noted by CNBC. “AlixPartners is now forecasting that 7.7 million units of production will be lost in 2021, up from 3.9 million in its May forecast.”

Marvell CEO Matt Murphy even just said the chip shortage could extend through 2022.

“Right now, every single end market for semiconductors is up simultaneously; I’ve been in this industry 27 years, I’ve never seen that happen,” he added, as quoted by CNBC. “If it stays business as usual, and everything’s up and to the right, this is going to be a very painful period, including in 2022 for the duration of the year.”

Aptiv was also forced to cut sales and guidance for 2021. That’s because about three million cars can’t be shipped because of a lack of chips.

In short, we’re looking at a real fiasco here that could last through next year.

To potentially profit from the shortage, consider trading the pullbacks in the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH), the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX), Cirrus Logic (CRUS), Qualcomm (QCOM), Micron (MU), and Skyworks (SWKS).

The post The Top Ways to Trade the Never-Ending Chip Shortage appeared first on Morningology.

Tesla (TSLA) could rally back to $1,000 a share.

After breaking above prior resistance at $780.79, the stock is now stuck in a consolidation pattern just under $795. If it can break out, we could see a near-term test of $877.77, and perhaps even $1,000 per share, as noted by Wedbush analyst Dan Ives in Barron’s.

Helping, countries all around the world want millions of electric vehicles on the roads. Plus, according to the Boston Consulting Group, by 2025, EVs could account for a third of all auto sales. By 2030, EVs could surpass combustion engine vehicles with a market share of 51%.

Analysts Seem to Love the TSLA Stock

Dan Ives rates Tesla a buy with a price target of $1,000 on production capacity.

“While the chip shortage has been a clear headwind for Tesla and the overall auto/tech industry, we believe building out manufacturing capacity globally remains a key to Musk & Co. success in 2022 and beyond,” he said, as quoted by Barron’s, adding that, “Austin and Berlin [factories are] set to expand Tesla capacity into 2022.”

Better, Canaccord analyst Jed Dorsheimer raised his target price on TSLA to $940 from $768.
All after the company’s annual shareholder meeting and ahead of earnings.

“At the meeting, CEO Elon Musk gave a presentation that “directly touched on key points to our investment thesis,” Dorsheimer said, as quoted by TheFly.com. “He is increasing the multiple he applies to reach his price target to represent his sentiment on Tesla going into the quarter as he sees upside based on what he expects to be strong delivery numbers and increased gross margin from the Model S and Made-in-China Model 3 and Y.”

With plenty of catalysts, Tesla could easily run to $1,000+ from here.

The post EV Boom: This is Why Tesla Could Run to $1,000 appeared first on Morningology.

Oil prices just hit $80 a barrel – and could be headed to $200.

Unfortunately, that’s not a typo.

For one, as reported by S&P Global Platts, “Global oil prices could soar to $200/b if no new investments are made in the oil and gas sector in the short-term, Oman’s energy and minerals minister said Sept. 9, in reply to the International Energy Agency’s assessment for reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.”

Two, JP Morgan analysts just said, “We believe the evolution of coal prices might reflect supply, demand, cost of capital and energy transitioning issues for all fossil fuels, and it would certainly be possible that oil prices will follow the same pattern (inflation adjusted for oil, that would be in a $150-200/bbl range).”

That would be an absolute disaster that would send the economy and stocks into a tailspin.

On top of those grim scenarios, Goldman Sachs said oil could run to $87 on supply disruption and stronger demand. By October 4, Bank of America jumped on the bandwagon, and said it could run to $100. Today, oil topped $80 – it’s highest level in about seven years.

“The $80 print became an inevitability,” said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital, as quoted by CNBC. “Despite the rise in U.S. crude oil inventories in this week’s report, the global market remains tight and in a supply deficit. … Unless and until OPEC+ acts to meaningfully increase supplies, prices will grind higher still.”

In short, it’s going to get painful at the pump.

However, as we noted on October 4, investors can profit from the surge with the:

SPDR Energy Select Sector ETF (XLE)

Since our note on October 4, the XLE ran from $52.70 to $56.35 so far. The XLE ETF provides exposure to companies in the oil, gas and consumable fuel, energy equipment and services industries, as noted by State Street SPDR.

Invesco DB Oil Fund (DBO)

So far, the DBO has run from $13.85 to $14.47. This ETF seeks to track changes, whether positive or negative, in the level of the DBIQ Optimum Yield Crude Oil Index Excess Return plus the interest income from the Fund’s holdings of primarily US Treasury securities and money market income less the Fund’s expenses.

iShares Global Energy ETF (IXC)

The IXC ran from $27 to $28.60. The iShares Global Energy ETF seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of global equities in the energy sector. Some of its top holdings include Exxon Mobil, Chevron Corporation, BP PLC, Total SA, and EOG Resources.

All could push higher, as oil prices boom.

The post $200 Oil Prices Could be a Real Possibility – That’s Not a Typo appeared first on Morningology.