Author: Editor

Don’t write off Bitcoin just yet.

After plunging from nearly $70,000, the digital currency is showing signs of life. Should it continue to recover along with the broader market, Bitcoin could test $100,000.

In fact, according to Samson Mow, chief strategy officer for Blockstream, as quoted by Yahoo Finance, “We’ll see $100k within the first half of the year.”

According to NewsBTC.com, “The experts from the top fintech companies predict that by the end of 2022, bitcoin will reach an all-time high of $93,717 – more than 24K dollars higher than its current all-time high price.”

They added, “Experts predict that by the end of 2025, bitcoin will trade at $192k and mount up over 300% from its November 2021 peak and reach nearly half a million dollars by 2030.”

If that’s the case, investors may want to invest in beaten down crypto-beneficiaries, such as:

Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA)

As of January 1, 2022, the company produced approximately 3,197 self-mined Bitcoin in fiscal year 2021, an 846% increase. It produced 1,098 self-mined Bitcoin during Q4 2021, including a record 484.5 self-mined bitcoin during December 2021. It also increased total bitcoin holdings to approximately 8,133 BTC with a fair market value of approximately $375.8 million.

Plus, Jefferies analyst Jonathan Petersen, as noted by TheFly.com just “initiated coverage of Marathon Digital – which he sees being on pace to become the largest public Bitcoin miner on an EH/s basis in 2022 – with a Buy rating and $51 price target.”

Amplify Transformational Data Sharing ETF (BLOK)

The Amplify Transformational Data Sharing ETF is a great way to gain exposure to multiple companies that are involve in the development and utilization of blockchain technologies.

The ETF offers exposure to Marathon Digital Holdings, Hut 8 Mining, HIVE Blockchain, as well as large cap companies that have invested millions in Bitcoin. That includes Coinbase Global, Microstrategy Inc., Paypal Holdings, and Square for example.

MicroStrategy Inc. (MSTR)

MSTR plummeted from about $900 to about $307 on the cryptocurrency pullback. Oversold, with strong support, the stock is just starting to pivot higher. From a current price of $420, we’d like to see MSTR refill its bearish gap around $450 initially.

MSTR just invested another $25 million in Bitcoin. According to NDTV Profit, “MicroStrategy is reportedly the biggest corporate investor of the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market value. The company now holds a total of more than 1,25,000 Bitcoins.”

Love him or hate him, it’s tough to ignore the impact of Donald Trump on stocks.

Look at Digital World Acquisition (DWAC), for example.

After trading at less than $10 a share in October 2021, it’s now up to $83.25. All in anticipation of the launch of Trump’s Truth Social app on February 21, 2022, which will reportedly “stand up to the tyranny of Big Tech.”

Trump added, “We live in a world where the Taliban has a huge presence on Twitter, yet your favorite American President has been silenced,” as quoted by the Associated Press.

Plus, if you take a look at the TMTG slideshow, found here, some of the top competitors could include Twitter, Facebook, even Amazon Web Services, Azure, Stripe, and Google Cloud. Other potential competitors include Netflix, Disney, and iHeartMedia, with Trump’s plans to also launch TMTG+, an on-demand streaming service.

With a market cap of $3.09 billion, the stock was up another 14% on Tuesday. Volume spiked to 9.7 million shares, as compared to daily average volume of 6.03 million shares.

As we get closer to the February 21 launch date, DWAC could see higher highs.

Oil prices topped $90 a barrel.

That’s a number we haven’t seen since 2014.

By summer, analysts say we could see $100 a barrel.

All thanks to tight supply with rebounding demand, and of course, geopolitical issues. OPEC hasn’t been able to increase oil output to pre-pandemic numbers. Angola, Nigeria, and Iraq are having production issues.

“The oil market is heading for simultaneously low inventories, low spare capacity and still low investment,” Morgan Stanley analysts wrote in a research note, lifting their price forecast for the summer quarter by $10 a barrel, to $100 for Brent and $97.50 for West Texas Intermediate,” as noted by The Wall Street Journal.

Bank of America says we could see West Texas Intermediate at $117 by July.

Even Evercore ISI says, “the oil rally is supported by a smorgasbord of catalysts, including a waning omicron wave; political unrest in Libya, protests in Kazakhstan, sabotage in Nigeria as well as the threat of war between Russia, a major energy producer, and Ukraine, a major energy transit hub,” as quoted by OilPrice.com.

While investors can always pick up oil ETFs, such as SPDR Energy Select Sector ETF (XLE), Invesco DB Oil Fund (DBO), and iShares Global Energy ETF (IXC), take at oil stocks that also pay out healthy dividends. For example, BP PLC (BP) carries a dividend yield of 4.21%.

Exxon Mobil (XOM) carries a dividend yield of 4.69%.

Most recently, “XOM declared a cash dividend of $0.88 per share on the Common Stock, payable on March 10, 2022 to shareholders of record of Common Stock at the close of business on February 10, 2022. This first quarter dividend is at the same level as the dividend paid in the fourth quarter of 2021. Through its dividends, the corporation has shared its success with its shareholders for more than 100 years and has increased its annual dividend payment to shareholders for 39 consecutive years,” as noted by the company.

Williams Companies Inc. (WMB) carries a yield of 5.6%. The company has paid a dividend every quarter since 2974.

Markets have been wild.

Since the year began, the Dow Jones slipped from a high of about 37,000 to 33,150. The NASDAQ fell from 15,852 to 13,094. The S&P 500 plummeted from 4,818 to 4,222.

Fear exploded, with the Volatility Index (VIX) up to 38.94. All thanks to a lack of any real clarity from the Federal Reserve. At the same time, the pullback became overkill.

However, it also created obscenely oversold opportunities.

Look at Microsoft (MSFT) for example.

After failing at triple top resistance around $345 to a low of $285.17, the stock appears to have caught strong support dating back to October. Plus, it’s also severely oversold on RSI, MACD, and Williams’ %R. Better, earnings weren’t bad at all.

In its second quarter, the company posted adjusted EPS of $2.48, as compared to expectations for $2.31. Revenue of $51.73 billion was above estimates for $50.88 billion.

Analysts like the stock here, too. “We’d be buyers here,” said Christopher Ouimet, a portfolio manager at Logan Capital, as quoted by CNBC. “We think there’s a lot of noise in the marketplace right now. Most of the high-growth stocks are getting washed out here, but we don’t really feel like the 10-year going from 1.5% to 1.8% means Microsoft isn’t going to be able to sell Azure contracts.” Even Piper Jaffray says the MSFT pullback is overdone.

From a current price of $288.49, we’d like to see MSFT again challenge triple top resistance around $345 again, near-term.

Or, look at Tesla (TSLA).

Tesla also pulled back from triple top resistance around $1,200, and caught support around $850. It’s another example of overkill. Plus, with the electric vehicle boom showing no signs of slowing down, investors may want to use weakness as a buying opportunity.

Better, analysts love this stock.

Piper Jaffray analyst Alexander Potter, for example, just raised his estimates for TSLA to reflect better than expected fourth quarter delivery numbers, as well as a higher estimate for 2022, as noted by TheFly.com. “He now expects 1.53M units delivered in 2022, up from 1.38M previously. Potter is also nudging his 2022 margin expectations higher. With strong volume and a rising contribution from software, Tesla will continue exceeding profitability expectations.”

From a current price of $969.60, we’d like to see the stock closer to $1,200, near-term.

There’s even Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).

Advanced Micro Devices plummeted from about $155 to a low of $107.50 – another instance of overkill with the tech rout. It’s also wildly oversold on RSI, MACD, and Williams’ %R, and could recover from its 200-day moving average at around $109 back to $155.

With a good deal of negativity priced into the stock, the stock could really take off heading into its next round of earnings, too. Plus, as it continues to chip away at major competitors, analysts love the stock here, too. Barclays for example, just raised its target to $148 from $135. Mizuho raised its target price from $135 to $150. Even Cowen boosted its target to $150 from $145.

We believe the AMD dip offers a solid opportunity at a significant discount.

We’re not even four weeks into New Year 2022, and markets have been a disaster.

Just yesterday, the Dow fell 1,000 points, midday. Then, out of the blue, it closed up about 100. This morning, the Dow was down another 450 points. Even the market’s fear gauge soared to highs we haven’t seen since late 2020. All thanks to potential interest rate hikes, and news Russia could attack Ukraine, destabilizing the region.

Despite the chaos, some stocks have managed to buck the trend, including:

Halliburton (HAL)

Since the year began, shares of HAL ran from about $23 to a high of $29.99. Not only did the company beat earnings, it raised its dividend. For its most recent quarter, the company reported adjusted EPS of 36 cents on sales of $4.3 billion. The Street was looking for 34 cents on sales of $4.1 billion. HAL also raised its dividend from 4.5 cents to 12 cents.

Helping, oil prices are still rising. Last checked, crude was up $1.40 to $84.71.

Kohl’s Corporation (KSS)

Kohl’s exploded on news the company received interest from potential acquirers. In fact, according to The Wall Street Journal, a group backed by Starboard Value offered to buy the retailer for $9 billion, or $64 in cash. In addition, Sycamore Partners reportedly inquired about acquiring the retailer, with an offer of $65 a share.

Per a Kohl’s press release, the company “confirmed that it has received letters expressing interest in acquiring the Company. The Kohl’s Board of Directors will determine the course of action that it believes is in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders. Shareholders are not required to take any action at this time.”

Activision Blizzard (ATVI)

ATVI exploded from a low of $62.50 to a high of $86.90.

All on news Microsoft is buying the company in a $68.7 billion all-cash deal. Not only could this boost Microsoft’s standing in the growing gaming industry, it’ll give the tech giant greater exposure to the metaverse. “Acquiring Activision will help jump start MSFT’s broader gaming endeavors and ultimately its move into the metaverse with gaming the first monetization piece of the metaverse in our opinion,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said, as quoted by CNN.

Oil prices are pushing aggressively higher.

In fact, last checked, crude was up another $1.55 to $87 a barrel.

For one, there’s fear of an imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine, which Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is trying to diffuse.

However, according to NBC News, Blinken “reiterated Washington’s commitment to the country’s territorial integrity and repeated warnings that renewed Russian aggression would be met with ‘very severe consequences,” which could make the situation far more tense.

Two, a deadly drone attack in the UAE capital could mark a dangerous turning point in the Middle East, and could also drive oil prices higher.

“In addition to being the first deadly attack in the UAE in many years, the drone attacks on Monday demonstrated the Houthis’ ability to launch long-range attacks,” added CNN. “Yemen’s rebels frequently conduct cross-border attacks on Saudi Arabia, Yemen’s neighbor, but these were relatively short distances in comparison with Abu Dhabi, and the vast majority of the missiles and drones were intercepted before they hit their targets.”

Three, oil supply is tight.

Not only did Turkey just say it would cut oil flows on the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline, analysts are forecasting tight oil supply in 2022, with some calling for the return of $100 oil.

The good news is we can profit from higher oil with ETFs for example, including:

SPDR Energy Select Sector ETF (XLE)

When we first highlighted the XLE, it traded at $52.70. It’s now up to $64.43, and could be headed to $70, near-term. 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. Not only does an ETF allow for diversification, you can buy it for less.

Invesco DB Oil Fund (DBO)

DBO traded at $13.85 when we first mentioned it. It’s now at $14.92, and could push higher with oil prices. 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. It trades WTI crude futures.

iShares Global Energy ETF (IXC)

IXC was at $27. It’s now at $31.81, and could push higher. The iShares Global Energy ETF seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of global equities in the energy sector. Trading at $27, some of its top holdings include Exxon Mobil, Chevron Corporation, BP PLC, Total SA, and EOG Resources.

Investors may want to keep an eye on NFT (non-fungible token) stock.

As we near development of the metaverse, the stock could see higher highs, especially with its potential NFT (non-fungible tokens). After all, according to Binance, NFTs “are the bridge to the metaverse, and facilitate identity, community, and social experience.”

Binance added, “The metaverses and NFT blockchain gaming will become an integral part of Web 3.0, an era where real-world businesses expand into the digital space, and users uncover the versatility of such environments. We believe that NFT ownership is key and will open up a world of opportunities in the emerging metaverses.”

Look at Coinbase (COIN), for example.

While COIN doesn’t have exposure to NFTs, the company recently announced its NFT market will go live in 2022.

“At Coinbase, we want to help pull all the pieces of identity together — essentially creating an identity on-ramp into the Metaverse. That’s the idea behind our work with ENS, which makes it possible to create a unique username NFT that resolves to a wallet. Eventually, this will allow users to carry a unique ID across different worlds in the Metaverse.”

Plus, with 8.8 million users to date, it has a solid advantage over competitors, like OpenSea, which has about 1.8 million users. Better, analysts at JP Morgan just upgraded the stock to a buy rating, with a price target of $447.

Or, take a look at Gamestop Corp. (GME).

GME may be launching a division to develop an NFT and cryptocurrency marketplace.

“GameStop is in a very unique position, because a lot of these NFT projects are starting to add gaming utility behind the NFTs themselves,” said Adam Hollander, an NFT investor and creator of the “Hungry Wolves” NFT collection, as quoted by CNBC. “GameStop is well positioned, in my opinion, to be able to capitalize on the fact that they have hundreds of millions of people that play video games that least recognize GameStop as a credible brand.”

Or, look at an ETF such as the Defiance Digital Revolution ETF (NFTZ).

At $16.45, with an expense ratio of 0.65%, the NFTZ ETF is “NFTZ is an NFT ETF with relevant thematic exposure to a range of NFT stocks, involved in Non-Fungible Tokens , blockchain and cryptocurrency – together forming the ecosystem in which NFTs thrive. It seeks to track the performance before fees and expenses of a rules-based, weighted Index of such equities.”

With it, investors have exposure to stocks such as Coinbase Global, Draftkings, Voyager Digital, Block Inc., Hive Blockchain Technologies, Cloudflare Inc., Cleanspark Inc., Riot Blockchain, Mogo Inc., Bigg Digital Assets, and dozens more.

The pullback in lithium stocks is opportunity.

In fact, after pulling back in recent weeks, Albemarle (ALB), Lithium Americas (LAC), Livent (LTHM), and American Lithium (LIACF) are all just starting to bottom out and pivot higher.

After all, it’s tough to argue against the lithium story.

With substantial demand, and significant supply shortages, lithium prices just ran about 400% year over year. However, with shortages persisting, lithium prices could head higher – which could be great news for related companies.

All thanks to a massive, global shift to electric vehicle adoption. At the moment, governments all over the world want millions of EVs on the roads over the next decade. The U.S. for example wants about 50% of all car sales to be electric by 2030. Companies, like Ford, General Motors, Volkswagen, and Mercedes are racing to develop them.

But there’s a MAJOR problem. We just don’t have enough lithium supply.

In fact, according to Forbes:

“It is estimated that the U.S. alone will need 500,000 metric tons per year of unrefined lithium by 2034 just to power EVs. The U.S. produces just a fraction of that today. The current global production of lithium in 2020 was about 440,000 metric tons of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE, contains about 18% of pure lithium), and not all of that is in pure enough form for batteries, according to Chris Doornbos, CEO of E3 Metals Corp, a lithium extraction firm located in Calgary, Canada, which plans to produce battery-grade lithium hydroxide.”

With the lithium story only set to accelerate, weakness in related stocks is opportunity.