Nasdaq could plunge 15 percent or more, Morgan Stanley's Mike Wilson warns

Morgan Stanley's Michael Wilson believes the stock market is entering a destructive phase.

"The Nasdaq could correct by 15 percent plus, the S&P 500 probably goes down about 10 [percent]," the firm's chief U.S. equity strategist said Thursday.

His comments came on CNBC's "Trading Nation," where he was speaking publicly on Monday's correction warning research note for the first time. Wilson contends financial conditions are tightening more than most investors appreciate, and a correction has already started.

"The market has just been getting narrower and narrower. So what we've seen is every sector within the S&P has gone through about a 20 percent correction on valuation except for two: technology and consumer discretionary �� basically growth stocks," Wilson said. "Our view is that this rolling bear market has to complete itself by hitting those two sectors, and we think that's actually begun."

Wilson, who was one of last year's biggest bulls, sees this shift from growth to value stocks creating a lot of trouble because technology and consumer discretionary groups make up nearly half the S&P.

"If the growth stocks get hit disproportionately hard, it's going to be very difficult for that money to leak into other parts of the market without having some loss of value," he said.

Wilson's S&P year-end target is 2,750 �� 4 percent below the index's record high of 2,872 hit on Jan. 26 and about 3 percent from current levels.

As for next year, he doesn't see the situation getting much better.

"There are definitely a lot of signs already that there's a view that things are going to slow materially next year whether there is a recession or not," Wilson said. "

However, he isn't bailing on stocks altogether. Wilson likes energy, utilities, industrials and financials as a rotation from growth to value picks up steam.

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show chapters A ‘rolling bear market’ is already claiming victims, Mike Wilson goes into correction mode    18 Hours Ago | 04:57 Disclaimer

Indraprastha Gas Q1 PAT seen up 10.2% YoY to Rs. 178 cr: KR Choksey

KR Choksey has come out with its first quarter (April-June�� 18) earnings estimates for the Oil & Gas sector. The brokerage house expects Indraprastha Gas to report net profit at Rs. 178 crore up 10.2% year-on-year (up 12.2% quarter-on-quarter).

Net Sales are expected to increase by 25.9 percent Y-o-Y (up 7.1 percent Q-o-Q) to Rs. 1,320.6 crore, according to KR Choksey.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) are likely to rise by 9.9 percent Y-o-Y (up 10.7 percent Q-o-Q) to Rs. 304.8 crore.

Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.

Read More First Published on Jul 22, 2018 07:32 pm

Waste Management, Inc. (WM) Shares Sold by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lessened its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 4.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,400 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,903,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Gables Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the first quarter worth $102,000. Bruderman Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the first quarter worth $127,000. Rainier Group Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the first quarter worth $135,000. Trust Department MB Financial Bank N A purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the second quarter worth $138,000. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 8,276.6% during the first quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 152,621 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $153,000 after acquiring an additional 150,799 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.99% of the company’s stock.

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Several research firms have issued reports on WM. Zacks Investment Research downgraded Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 30th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Waste Management from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $90.89.

Waste Management stock opened at $82.69 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.65 billion, a PE ratio of 25.68, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.69. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.48 and a fifty-two week high of $89.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 20th. The business services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $3.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.57 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 14.06% and a return on equity of 26.73%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 8th were issued a $0.465 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 7th. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 57.76%.

In related news, Director Patrick W. Gross sold 406 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.22, for a total value of $33,787.32. Following the transaction, the director now owns 24,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,009,679.78. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Barry H. Caldwell sold 10,844 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.00, for a total value of $910,896.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,641,548. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

About Waste Management

Waste Management, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides waste management environmental services to residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers in North America. It provides collection services, including picking up and transporting waste and recyclable materials from where it was generated to a transfer station, material recovery facility (MRF), or disposal site; and owns, develops, and operates landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the United States, as well as owns and operates transfer stations.

See Also: What does RSI mean?

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM).

Air Lease Corp (AL) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Air Lease Corp (NYSE:AL) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $53.81.

AL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Investment Research cut shares of Air Lease from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Air Lease from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 12th. Finally, ValuEngine cut shares of Air Lease from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 23rd.

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Shares of Air Lease traded up $0.84, reaching $43.85, during mid-day trading on Friday, according to MarketBeat.com. 6,003 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 588,971. Air Lease has a 52 week low of $38.46 and a 52 week high of $50.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $4.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.74.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 10th. The transportation company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.05. Air Lease had a net margin of 50.86% and a return on equity of 11.03%. The company had revenue of $381.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $379.74 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.33 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. analysts forecast that Air Lease will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 5th were given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 4th. Air Lease’s payout ratio is presently 10.96%.

In other Air Lease news, EVP John D. Poerschke sold 12,144 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.98, for a total value of $546,237.12. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,500 shares in the company, valued at $1,956,630. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Marc H. Baer sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.52, for a total transaction of $227,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 132,891 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,049,198.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 44,144 shares of company stock worth $1,990,187. 9.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of Air Lease by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,555,116 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $364,619,000 after purchasing an additional 239,216 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Air Lease by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,024,171 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $171,509,000 after purchasing an additional 54,450 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Air Lease by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,127,392 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $48,050,000 after purchasing an additional 11,507 shares in the last quarter. Klingenstein Fields & Co. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Air Lease by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Klingenstein Fields & Co. LLC now owns 868,182 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $37,002,000 after purchasing an additional 24,993 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its stake in shares of Air Lease by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 588,900 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $25,099,000 after purchasing an additional 25,720 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.98% of the company’s stock.

Air Lease Company Profile

Air Lease Corporation, an aircraft leasing company, engages in the purchase and leasing of commercial jet transport aircraft to airlines worldwide. The company also sells aircraft from its operating lease portfolio to third parties, including other leasing companies, financial services companies, and airlines.

Featured Story: Book Value Of Equity Per Share �� BVPS Explained

Twitter shares up 50% since late April means most upside priced in, analyst says in downgrade

Macquarie Research lowered its rating on shares of Twitter to "neutral" from "buy" on Wednesday, saying the best is behind the stock after moving nearly 50 percent move higher since the firm upgraded the stock in April.

"After [the] recent rise in the stock, valuation will likely limit upside from current levels," the firm said in a note to investors.

Twitter stock fell nearly 1 percent in premarket trading Wednesday. The company's shares are up 86 percent this year at Tuesday's close of $44.71 per share.

"While product improvements are a positive for current users, we don't see it having dramatic impacts on Twitter's ability to attract new users," Macquarie Research said.

Macquarie said its Twitter rating raise in April was for five reasons: "negative headlines created a buying opportunity," the company's business had both strong momentum and an attractive valuation, while Twitter was also improving both its profitability and its product.

"While we expect business fundamentals to continue to improve ... the valuation, after the recent rise in the stock, will likely limit upside from current levels," Macquarie said.

The firm also raised its price target on Twitter shares to $42 from $36.

Nuclear Energy Just Got A Big Vote Of Confidence

A consortium of countries spearheaded by the United States has just formed an international pact to explore new ways to promote the responsible growth of nuclear energy. According to Deputy Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette, the initiative seeks to "highlight the value of nuclear energy as a clean, reliable energy source."�

This new alliance was announced at a clean energy forum last week in Denmark. Other members of the pact include Argentina, Canada, Japan, Poland, Romania, Russia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

My View: After the devastating destruction of Japan's Fukushima power plant in 2011, critics started writing the obituary for nuclear energy. In the years that followed, the industry was indeed battered and bruised. Amid mounting opposition, some nuclear plants went into early retirement, while new construction projects around the globe were postponed or scrapped.�

A number of countries decided to gradually phase out nuclear energy altogether. Germany, for example, has reduced its dependency from 25% of the power grid (17 reactors) in 2011 to just 12% (seven reactors) today. Just look at a long-term chart of uranium prices, and it's easy to see the damage inflicted by changing government policies.�

Yet, the industry is still standing. And if anything, the wounds are mending, not getting worse. Policy often gives way to pragmatism. Poland, for instance, wants to cut its reliance on Russian and oil and gas, and it has found nuclear power the best and most economical way to reach that goal.�

In the aftermath of Fukushima, France (a big nuclear proponent) decided to trim its nuclear power share from 75% to 50% by 2025. But after realizing there wasn't enough fossil fuels or renewable plants to make up the difference, the plan was quickly abandoned.�

More recently, Japanese safety regulators have just granted unanimous approval for Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) to restart two reactors at the massive Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant. This complex is the world's largest nuclear facility, with eight reactors that generate 8.2 million kilowatts of electricity -- enough to power 16 million homes.

It's highly encouraging to see this facility (which has been mothballed since 2011) re-open and start meeting Japan's growing energy needs.�

And that brings us to the recent announcement. The new initiative not only endorses existing reactors but also ongoing investment to spur new technologies. That includes the development of hybrid nuclear-renewable systems, which utilize reliable nuclear sources to pick up the slack from solar or wind farms, whose output can be variable.

Nothing will change overnight -- nuclear energy projects require a long lead-time from drawing board to completion. Still, the market finds this vote of confidence from big energy consumers like the United States and Japan reassuring. From a long-term investment perspective, this is unmistakably bullish.�

Action To Take: While controversial, nuclear energy is still a clean and efficient source of electricity that can't easily be replaced. This initiative is yet another sign that the sleeping industry is finally beginning to re-awaken.�

There are company-specific wildcards for uranium giant Cameco (NYSE: CCJ), including a tax dispute with Canada's Internal Revenue Agency and the upcoming Tepco breach-of-contract arbitration hearing.�

But there are 56 new nuclear power reactors currently under development around the globe (a third of them in China) with an appetite for uranium fuel. And Cameco remains a best-in-class option for investors seeking exposure. Once the issues above are resolved, it may be worth revisiting the stock.

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PIMCO Income Opportunity Fund (PKO) to Issue Monthly Dividend of $0.19 on August 1st

PIMCO Income Opportunity Fund (NYSE:PKO) declared a monthly dividend on Monday, July 2nd, NASDAQ reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 13th will be given a dividend of 0.19 per share by the financial services provider on Wednesday, August 1st. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.23%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 12th.

PIMCO Income Opportunity Fund has decreased its dividend by an average of 5.4% annually over the last three years.

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PIMCO Income Opportunity Fund opened at $27.72 on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. PIMCO Income Opportunity Fund has a 1-year low of $24.50 and a 1-year high of $27.98.

About PIMCO Income Opportunity Fund

PIMCO Income Opportunity Fund (the Fund) is a diversified closed-end management investment company. The Fund’s investment objective is to seek current income as a primary focus and also capital appreciation. The Fund invests a substantial portion of assets in a variety of mortgage-related securities and may hold common stocks, including those received from conversion of other portfolio securities.

The 5 Best Restaurant Stocks of 2018 (So Far)

This year hasn't been great for the broader restaurant industry. Leading companies, including Starbucks�and McDonald's, have been struggling with negative customer traffic trends as more diners opt to stay closer to home, or to have their food delivered.

A few restaurant chains have managed to buck that downtrend, though, and their business success has contributed to market-beating stock-price gains for shareholders.

Below, we'll take a closer look at a few of these outperforming chains.

Image source: Getty Images.

Domino's Pizza: Up 48%

Investors had been worried that Domino's�(NYSE:DPZ) impressive growth streak was coming to an end, but the pizza chain put those fears to rest in its fiscal first-quarter earnings report. That announcement revealed that sales gains sped up to an 8% pace from 4% in the prior quarter thanks to market share gains in both the U.S. and international segments. Domino's franchised business model, meanwhile, continued to show off its strength as operating margin jumped to 38% of sales from 31%. The company is hoping to continue expanding sales at existing locations at a healthy clip, but its long-term growth plans�center on building out its store base to an even deeper penetration in the U.S. and in other countries around the world. ��

Fiesta Restaurant Group: Up 53%

Fiesta Restaurant Group�(NASDAQ:FRGI), home of the Pollo Tropical and Taco Cabana fast-casual chains, is back in Wall Street's good graces after a tough 2017 that was marked by falling sales at existing locations and an overall net loss. Its rebound plan, which includes cost cuts, menu improvements, and increased marketing investments, appears to be working. Sales returned to modest growth in the Pollo Tropical segment and are looking better at Taco Cabana. Those gains represent just the first small step in bringing the business back toward the nearly 10% operating margin shareholders saw in 2015, up from roughly 3% today.�

Chipotle Mexican Grill: Up 55%

Former highflier Chipotle�(NYSE:CMG) has had an impressive rally this year. Investors are happy to see both sales and profits headed in the right direction after a brutal multiyear stretch of declines that was brought on by food safety issues in 2015. In the fiscal first quarter, revenue rose 2.2% as higher menu prices offset slight traffic declines. Profit margin jumped to 20% of sales from 18% a year ago. Investors betting on the stock today have to hope that new CEO Brian Niccol can extend those modestly positive results through a risky turnaround plan that includes new menu items and a revamped loyalty program.

BJ's Restaurants: Up 69%

California-based brewhouse chain BJ's Restaurants�(NASDAQ:BJRI) has had a good year so far. Comparable-store sales rose 4.2% in the first quarter, and while most of those gains came from higher menu prices, the restaurant was also aided by modestly higher customer traffic. BJ's has seen many of its newest menu initiatives, including slow-roast prime rib, hit a chord with in-store diners even as its delivery sales spike. CEO Greg Trojan and his team are hoping to press both of those advantages over the coming quarters, but investors are even more optimistic about the company's balanced approach to store launches. It plans to open six restaurants this fiscal year, down from 10 in 2017, and surpass 200 locations across just over 26 U.S. states.

Noodles & Co.: Up 131%

It might seem odd that the industry's biggest winner so far this year isn't growing. In fact, Noodles & Co. (NASDAQ:NDLS) recently posted a quarterly net loss while revenue decreased 5%. But that result still shot past investors' expectations by showing surprising progress in the casual-dining chain's recovery efforts. Noodles & Co. has lots of work ahead of it before it can snap out of its four-year stretch of annual net losses. Yet, with shares having fallen by over 80% since 2013, even modestly good news proved to be enough to spark at least a short-term rally in the stock.

Picking favorites

The above list offers investment opportunities that include powerful, established franchises in addition to struggling rebound candidates. If you prefer the first category, you might want to take a closer look at industry leader Domino's. As for those riskier turnaround options, Chipotle offers an attractive mix of brand power and modest growth expectations that could lay the foundation for solid long-term returns from here.

There's No Way Apple Isn't Building a Video-Streaming Service

Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) outgoing music chief, Jimmy Iovine, is largely credited with pushing the company to invest in original video content. While it was a clear misstep to use that content in an effort to differentiate Apple Music from competing music-streaming services, at least it put the Mac maker on a path toward potentially creating a video-streaming service that could further its ambitions for its services business. Despite services chief Eddy Cue once saying that Apple is "not trying to compete with Netflix�(NASDAQ:NFLX) or compete with Comcast," that's very clearly what Apple should do.

At this point, there should be little doubt left in any investor's mind that Apple is indeed building a video-streaming service.

Image source: Apple.

All this content has to go somewhere

The most obvious evidence is simply the growing list of shows, series, and movies that Apple is buying up (or in the process of buying) in Hollywood. If anything, the rate at which Apple is acquiring content has only accelerated in recent months. Here's the reported list so far, in no particular order:

Planet of the Apps Carpool Karaoke A children's show from the creators of Sesame Street An animated movie from an Oscar-nominated animation studio based in Ireland A dystopian drama�that takes in place in the future called See A rebooted�version of Steven Spielberg's anthology series Amazing Stories Some mysterious multiyear partnership with Oprah Winfrey (this one got an official press release) A different drama series�made by the director of La La Land A thriller series produced�by M. Night Shyamalan A space drama�from the creator of Battlestar Galactica A scripted morning show starring Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston An adaptation of Isaac Asimov's famous Foundation series of science fiction novels

There's also a fair chance there are more shows in the works that we simply haven't heard of. Beyond all of this evidence, there's another very simple explanation.

Double your money

Music streaming is a tough business. Iovine noted last year that there are "no margins" in music streaming, which was soon confirmed by Spotify's IPO. Those businesses pay massive royalties to record labels in order to stream music, which makes it hard enough to squeeze out a profit. The idea of any company -- even one as ridiculously profitable as Apple -- investing over a billion dollars in original video content to be bundled with a music-streaming service is just laughable and has been for quite some time.

In order for Apple to recoup all of the money it's investing in original video content, it needs to create a new service that generates revenue on its own. Over-the-top video services go for $10 to $15 per month these days, and Netflix has demonstrated that a strong slate of original content can command considerable pricing power.

Why would Apple choose to hemorrhage cash by bundling original video content in Apple Music for $10 per month when it can instead earn $20 per month or more by selling both Apple Music and an Apple-branded video-streaming service? Perhaps the biggest question at this point is what Apple will call it, since Apple TV is taken and "Apple Video" just sounds silly. Maybe "Apple Flix"?

Soybean prices plunge to nine-year low on US-China trade war fears

Soybean futures plunged Tuesday to their lowest in more than nine years following renewed concerns about a U.S.-China trade war.

A war of words between the two countries picked up overnight, following announcements of tit-for-tat tariffs on $34 billion worth of imports late last week. In retaliation against planned U.S. duties, Beijing intends to impose a 25 percent tariff on 545 U.S. goods, including soybeans.

Soybean futures for July delivery dropped more than 7 percent to a low of $8.415 a bushel, their lowest since March 2009, according to Thomson Reuters. They were trading near $8.64 a bushel as of 11 a.m. ET.

There are a lot of "unknowns and no confidence," said Rich Nelson, director of research at Allendale, an agricultural market research and trading firm. He added that prices could reverse just as quickly if headlines on trade changed.

With Tuesday's late morning sell-off, soybean prices are now more than 17 percent lower for the quarter and down more than 10 percent for the year.

Corn futures tumbled to their lowest price in more than six months. Wheat and oat futures fell roughly 1.4 percent and 3 percent, respectively, while rough rice futures were mildly lower.

"The dramatic drop today is soybeans because soybeans is first and foremost what the Chinese like to buy from us," said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at The Price Futures Group.

More than half of U.S. soybeans go to China, the world's largest consumer of the beans.

If Beijing imposed a 10 percent tariff on U.S. soybeans, total American soybean exports could drop by 18 percent, according to a study for the U.S. Soybean Export Council by Purdue University agricultural economists Wally Tyner and Farzad Taheripour.

If China implemented a 30 percent tariff, total U.S. soybean exports could fall 40 percent, according to the study, released in late March. Prices would fall 2 or 5 percent over a few years, respectively, under the two different scenarios, the analysis said.

In addition to negative sentiment around the trade dispute, Flynn attributed the drop in soybean prices to dollar strength, which makes U.S. goods relatively more expensive overseas. The U.S. dollar index rose about 0.3 percent Tuesday and is up 5.5 percent this quarter.

"I think ultimately the world is going to buy our beans," Flynn said. "The demand is there. People have to eat. The decrease in price may offset the fact there might be a tariff."

Head-To-Head Comparison: Trinseo (TSE) vs. Rogers (ROG)

Trinseo (NYSE: TSE) and Rogers (NYSE:ROG) are both mid-cap basic materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, earnings, valuation and dividends.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

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97.0% of Trinseo shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.8% of Rogers shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Trinseo shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of Rogers shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Trinseo has a beta of 2.3, indicating that its share price is 130% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Rogers has a beta of 1.51, indicating that its share price is 51% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Trinseo and Rogers’ revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Trinseo	$4.45 billion	0.73	$328.30 million	$8.13	9.25
Rogers	$821.04 million	2.65	$80.45 million	$5.76	20.55

Trinseo has higher revenue and earnings than Rogers. Trinseo is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Rogers, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Trinseo pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Rogers does not pay a dividend. Trinseo pays out 17.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Trinseo and Rogers, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Trinseo	0	2	4	0	2.67
Rogers	0	0	3	0	3.00

Trinseo presently has a consensus price target of $88.60, indicating a potential upside of 17.82%. Rogers has a consensus price target of $151.67, indicating a potential upside of 28.15%. Given Rogers’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Rogers is more favorable than Trinseo.

Profitability

This table compares Trinseo and Rogers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Trinseo	7.42%	59.08%	13.86%
Rogers	9.56%	13.71%	9.34%

Summary

Trinseo beats Rogers on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

Trinseo Company Profile

Trinseo S.A., a materials company, manufactures and markets synthetic rubber, latex binders, and plastic products in Europe, the United States, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company operates through Latex Binders, Synthetic Rubber, Performance Plastics, Basic Plastics, Feedstocks, and Americas Styrenics segments. The Latex Binders segment offers styrene-butadiene, styrene-acrylate, vinylidene chloride, and butadiene-methacrylate latex products for the commercial and niche carpet markets, as well as performance latex products for the adhesive, building and construction, and technical textile paper markets. The Synthetic Rubber segment provides styrene-butadiene rubber, emulsion styrene-butadiene rubber, nickel polybutadiene rubber, and neodymium polybutadiene rubber for use in tires, modifiers, and technical rubber products. The Performance Plastics segment offers engineered compounds and blend products for the automotive, consumer electronics, medical, electrical, and lighting markets. The Basic Plastics segment provides polystyrene, polycarbonate, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene, and styrene-acrylonitrile for use in appliances, food packaging and food service disposables, consumer electronics, and building and construction materials. The Feedstocks segment offers styrene monomer, a basic building block of plastics. The Americas Styrenics segment provides styrene and polystyrene, as well as general purpose polystyrenes, high heat, high impact resin, and STYRON A-TECH polystyrene products. The company's products are also used in carpet and artificial turf backing, coated and specialty paper, and other markets. Trinseo S.A. was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Berwyn, Pennsylvania.

Rogers Company Profile

Rogers Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, and sells engineered materials and components worldwide. The company's Advanced Connectivity Solutions segment offers circuit materials and solutions for connectivity applications in wireless communications infrastructure, automotive, connected devices, wired infrastructure, consumer electronics, and aerospace/defense. Its Elastomeric Material Solutions segment provides elastomeric material solutions for critical cushioning, sealing, impact protection, and vibration management applications, including general industrial, portable electronics, consumer goods, automotive, mass transportation, construction, and printing applications. The company's Power Electronics Solutions segment offers ceramic substrate materials for power module applications, laminated bus bars for power inverter and high power interconnect applications, and micro-channel coolers. Its Other segment provides elastomeric components for applications in ground transportation, office equipment, consumer, and other markets; elastomer floats for level sensing in fuel tanks, motors, and storage tanks; and inverters for portable communications and automotive markets. The company also manufactures and sells polytetrafluoroethylene, ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene films, pressure sensitive tapes, and specialty products for the industrial, aerospace, automotive, and electronics markets. Rogers Corporation was founded in 1832 and is headquartered in Chandler, Arizona.

Will Rising Gas Prices Play a Role in Consumer Summer Travel Plans?

Summer vacations have never been cheap. Americans, as a whole, spent $100 billion on summer vacations in 2017, according to a report released by Allianz Global Assistance. While older generations are likely to spend more money on travel, even thrifty millenials spend on average $1,373 on summer travel. With this being the case, rising gasoline prices could influence summer travel plans starting this Memorial Day weekend.

This year, 41.5 million Americans plan to travel over the Memorial Day Weekend, according to the AAA. Nearly 37 million plan to drive to their destination. Currently, the average gas prices hover near $3 per gallon, and this could have an impact on how consumers plan to spend their vacation time.

Whether or not these high prices will affect the number of people who travel this summer is yet to be seen. GasBuddy predicted in their Annual Summer Travel Survey that the high prices will negatively impact travel, and that 24% fewer people will travel during summer 2018 than in 2017. Those who do travel may choose to stay closer to home and have shorter vacations than in previous years.

Andrew Challenger, Vice President of global outplacement and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, commented:

Americans haven’t experienced prices like these in nearly three years, and it is possible that these prices could hold steady or continue to rise throughout the whole summer. One major cost associated with traveling might hurt summer travel this year – transportation. For those driving this summer, high gas prices present a growing concern.

ALSO READ: Gas Prices Rise, Summer Travel Plans Plunge

Predicting The Markets Is Tough But Worthy Task

&l;p&g;&l;img class=&q;dam-image getty size-large wp-image-959623612&q; src=&q;https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/dam/imageserve/959623612/960x0.jpg?fit=scale&q; data-height=&q;638&q; data-width=&q;960&q;&g; Bryan R. Smith/AFP/Getty Images)

Trying to predict the markets is a near-impossible task and those who attempt to do so almost always fail. Many investors who persist in attempting to untangle the many conflicting events and investor opinions, including the sophisticated players who earn a living investing in the stock market, readily admit that trying to accurately forecast market behavior is mostly a fool&a;rsquo;s game.

The stock market is, indeed, very difficult to diagnose because it is a conglomeration of human behavior influenced by world and local events. To put it simply, investors trying to forecast or beat the markets have to be attuned to the consistencies and inconsistencies of human nature.

The stock market, for the most part, is driven by humans and human judgment, fraught with inconsistencies and conflicting thoughts. But that hasn&a;rsquo;t stopped hordes of investors from making big bets on what they believe the market will perform at any given time.

&a;ldquo;The trick is to learn from the hits and misses of the forecasting process .&a;hellip; and first and foremost, current analysis requires a thorough grounding in the economic and financial data,&a;rdquo; says Ed Yardeni, president of Yardeni Research, who recently published the book, &a;ldquo;Predicting The Markets, A Professional Autobiography.&a;rdquo; The research firm provides global investment strategy and asset allocation analyses and recommendations. It also publishes for clients a daily report on its observations on what&a;rsquo;s happening in the stock, bond and commodity markets, as well as what&a;rsquo;s currently significant in various currencies.

If there is a Wall Street pro who is supremely qualified to make sense of the markets and who is particularly prescient as a successful investor and prognosticator of where they are likely to be heading, it is Yardeni. His career has spanned an extraordinary secular bull market in stocks, punctuated by plenty of nasty corrections and severe, wicked bear markets along the way.

Take a look at where the Dow Jones industrial average has been since Yardeni started his Wall Street career in 1978 &a;mdash; and where he landed through January 2017 as a stock market analyst: When he started working at the brokerage firm E.F. Hutton in 1978, the Dow had been trading at around 1,000. Then on Oct. 11, 1982, the Dow industrials finally climbed above 1,000. And by Nov. 21, 1995, the Dow had jumped five-fold, to 5,000.

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By Aug. 25, 2017, the Dow had zoomed to 20,000 &a;mdash; a 20-fold climb since Yardeni started his career on the Street. And by Nov. 30, 2017, the Dow closed well above that level, to 24,000. Today (May 24, 2018), the Dow industrial average is trading at around 24,800.

Yardeni stayed bullish most of the time during all those 40 years. &a;ldquo;I remained bullish during all the corrections. And I was bearish when the tech and housing bubbles burst. However, I saw both selloffs as buying opportunities, as selloffs within a secular bull market,&a;rdquo; said Yardeni.

His career also blossomed during those years. Yardeni received a Ph.D in economics from Yale University in 1976, after completing his undergraduate studies in international relations (magna cum laude) from Cornell University in 1968. On Wall Street, Yardeni pursued an active and productive career, becoming Chief Economist at Oak Industries, Prudential Equity Group, and Prudential Bank&a;rsquo;s US equities division in New York City. He also served as Chief Economist at investment firms CJ Lawrence, Prudential-Bach Securities, and EF Hutton.

Yardeni also taught at Columbia Business School and became an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, s position that&a;rsquo;s much sought after. He also held enviable positions at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and the US Treasury Department in Washington DC.

In his book, Yardeni shares his professional insight into predicting the economy and financial markets. Here&a;rsquo;s how he described the jigsaw puzzle that could be compared with the stock market: Instead of being able to change the pieces you need to solve a jigsaw puzzle, the stock market is a more dynamic game in that the &q;picture changes as new puzzle pieces are constantly thrown on the table.&a;rdquo; The puzzle pieces consists mostly of economic news, including current events and data releases, which surely is a live streaming series of activities.

&a;ldquo;The job of a Wall Street economist and investment strategist is always interesting because we, along with investors and traders, are constantly monitoring the news events that might be relevant to the financial markets,&q; notes Yardeni. All financial markets, he points out, are affected by the business cycle and inflation, and they are all affected by interest rates. So in predicting the markets, they necessarily have to be part of the process of deciphering the puzzle.

So where is the stock market headed next? There are only two variables to predict, argues Yardeni: Earnings and the price-earnings ratio. &a;ldquo;They are not so easy to get right, given the myriad of factors collectively determine them,&a;rdquo; he cautions. The tougher of the two to divine is valuation as it is more subjective. But the earnings variable is determined by such factors as economic growth, inflation, and interest rates.

Valuation is affected by those same factors, but it is also subject to hard-to-assess psychological influences that affect investor behavior, such as confidence, fear and greed. And there is also the problem of investors having to assess earnings expectations and how much they are willing to pay for them.

What makes market forecasting even much more difficult is that so many variables align and often compete with one another at certain times. Yardeni goes through these various variables and enlightens investors about how they are important to pay attention to.

He thinks the essential issues and sets of events to be mindful of are &a;ldquo;Globalization and Geopolitics, Demography and Growth, Technology, Inflation and Productivity, Central Banks and Cryptopcurrencies, and Science and Prosperity.&a;rdquo;

So what does Yardeni foresees ahead? His principal predictions: &q;I predict that prosperity will prevail in our interconnected global economy long into the future. If so, then so should the bull market in stocks, as it has over the past 40 years.

Yardeni&a;rsquo;s 595-page finely written book is an amazing read for its wide-ranging perspective and insightful analyses of one of the most convoluted financial subjects to understand, much less elucidate on how the capitalist world functions, and succeeds.

It is certainly a thoroughly informative must-read book not only for investors but for those potential Masters of the Universe looking to conquer the challenging world of money and finance.

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Euronet Worldwide (EEFT) versus Payment Data Systems (PYDS) Head to Head Analysis

Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ: EEFT) and Payment Data Systems (NASDAQ:PYDS) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, risk, dividends and earnings.

Analyst Ratings

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This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Euronet Worldwide and Payment Data Systems, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Euronet Worldwide	0	1	7	0	2.88
Payment Data Systems	0	0	1	0	3.00

Euronet Worldwide presently has a consensus target price of $109.43, suggesting a potential upside of 33.45%. Payment Data Systems has a consensus target price of $4.00, suggesting a potential upside of 136.69%. Given Payment Data Systems’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Payment Data Systems is more favorable than Euronet Worldwide.

Risk & Volatility

Euronet Worldwide has a beta of 1.48, suggesting that its stock price is 48% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Payment Data Systems has a beta of 0.76, suggesting that its stock price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

1.1% of Payment Data Systems shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.4% of Euronet Worldwide shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 46.6% of Payment Data Systems shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Euronet Worldwide and Payment Data Systems’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Euronet Worldwide	6.66%	20.77%	7.62%
Payment Data Systems	-21.43%	-29.43%	-5.18%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Euronet Worldwide and Payment Data Systems’ top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Euronet Worldwide	$2.25 billion	1.87	$156.84 million	$4.33	18.94
Payment Data Systems	$14.57 million	1.84	-$3.00 million	N/A	N/A

Euronet Worldwide has higher revenue and earnings than Payment Data Systems.

Summary

Euronet Worldwide beats Payment Data Systems on 8 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

Euronet Worldwide Company Profile

Euronet Worldwide, Inc. provides payment and transaction processing and distribution solutions to financial institutions, retailers, service providers, and individual consumers worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Electronic Financial Transaction (EFT) Processing, epay, and Money Transfer. The EFT Processing segment provides electronic payment solutions, including automated teller machine (ATM) cash withdrawal and deposit services, ATM network participation, outsourced ATM and point-of-sale (POS) management solutions, credit and debit card outsourcing, card issuing, and merchant acquiring services. This segment also offers ATM and POS dynamic currency conversion, advertising, customer relationship management, mobile top-up, bill payment, fraud management, and foreign remittance payout services; and integrated EFT software solutions for electronic payments and transaction delivery systems. As of December 31, 2017, it operated a network of 37,133 ATMs; and approximately 248,000 EFT POS terminals. The epay segment provides distribution, processing, and collection services for prepaid mobile airtime and other electronic payment products; and vouchers and physical gift fulfillment, and gift card distribution and processing services. This segment operated a network of approximately 707,000 POS terminals. The Money Transfer segment provides consumer-to-consumer money transfer services primarily under the Ria, AFEX Money Express, and IME brands; account-to-account money transfer services under the HiFX and xe brands; customers bill payment services; payment alternatives, such as money orders and prepaid debit cards; check cashing services; foreign currency exchange and mobile top-up services; and cash management and foreign currency risk management services. The company was formerly known as Euronet Services, Inc. and changed its name to Euronet Worldwide, Inc. in August 2001. Euronet Worldwide, Inc. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Leawood, Kansas.

Payment Data Systems Company Profile

Payment Data Systems, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated electronic payment processing services to merchants and businesses in the United States. The company offers various types of automated clearing house (ACH) processing; and credit, prepaid card, and debit card-based processing services. Its ACH processing services include Represented Check, a consumer non-sufficient funds check that is represented for payment electronically rather than through the paper check collection system; and Accounts Receivable Check Conversion, a consumer paper check payment, which is converted into an e-check. The company also offers merchant account services for the processing of card-based transactions through the VISA, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, and JCB networks, including online terminal services accessed through a Website or retail services accessed through a physical terminal. In addition, it provides a proprietary Web-based customer service application that allows companies to process one-time and recurring payments through e-checks or credit cards; and an interactive voice response telephone system to companies, which accept payments directly from consumers over the telephone using e-checks or credit cards. Further, the company creates, manages, and processes prepaid card programs for corporate clients to issue prepaid cards to their customer base or employees; and issues general purpose reloadable cards to consumers as an alternative to a traditional bank account. Additionally, it operates billx.com, a consumer Website that allows consumers to process online payments to pay other individual; and provides prepaid cards to consumers for use in as a tool to stay on budget, manage allowances, and share money with family and friends. The company markets and sells its products and services directly, as well as through non-exclusive resellers. Payment Data Systems, Inc. was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas.

Ashland (ASH) Reaches New 1-Year High and Low at $79.68

Shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) hit a new 52-week high and low on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $79.68 and last traded at $78.99, with a volume of 15166 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $78.71.

ASH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TheStreet upgraded Ashland from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 2nd. Jefferies Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ashland in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Credit Suisse Group set a $86.00 price target on Ashland and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 11th. Longbow Research upgraded Ashland from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 26th. Finally, Seaport Global Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 target price on shares of Ashland in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Ashland presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $84.50.

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The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company has a market cap of $4.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.33, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.13.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $974.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $955.39 million. Ashland had a positive return on equity of 5.77% and a negative net margin of 0.62%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.71 EPS. equities research analysts forecast that Ashland Inc. will post 3.44 EPS for the current year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 1st will be paid a $0.225 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 31st. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.89%.

Ashland announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, March 20th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the basic materials company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

In other Ashland news, VP Keith C. Silverman sold 1,678 shares of Ashland stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total transaction of $117,493.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,358 shares in the company, valued at approximately $95,087.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.14% of the company’s stock.

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASH. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new position in Ashland during the 4th quarter valued at about $263,000. Patten & Patten Inc. TN lifted its position in shares of Ashland by 331.1% during the 4th quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 25,676 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,828,000 after buying an additional 19,720 shares in the last quarter. Boussard & Gavaudan Investment Management LLP lifted its position in shares of Ashland by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Boussard & Gavaudan Investment Management LLP now owns 113,232 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $8,085,000 after buying an additional 9,138 shares in the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ashland by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 54,649 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,891,000 after buying an additional 770 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of Ashland by 57.0% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 3,364 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $240,000 after buying an additional 1,222 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.46% of the company’s stock.

Ashland Company Profile

Ashland Global Holdings Inc provides specialty chemical solutions worldwide. Its Specialty Ingredients segment provides products, technologies, and resources for solving formulation and product-performance challenges. It offers solutions using natural, synthetic, and semisynthetic polymers derived from plant and seed extract, cellulose ethers, vinyl pyrrolidones, and acrylic polymers, as well as polyester and polyurethane-based adhesives.

This Is the One Stock I Would Own Forever

Tim Melvin

Every now and then, I'm asked a common – yet somewhat annoying – question by friends and fellow market experts alike…

If I could only own one stock for the rest of my life, which one would it be?

It can be an irritating question, because even though the askers often have good intentions, they unwittingly expect a stupid answer.

They expect me to say Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN), Alphabet Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOGL), or any other popular tech giant trading at multiples so high that owning the stock probably gives you vertigo…

…or a biotech company that could "change the world," even though the odds of successfully betting on a biotech firm hitting that jackpot are extremely small…

…or a driverless car company, or a drone manufacturer, or some other firm making a device that everyone expects to be ubiquitous in a few years…

Which of these super sexy and exciting stocks would I buy now and hold forever?

None of them.

I would instead pick a company that will rent those super sexy firms their office and warehouse space. My company will supply electricity, sell fuel, provide water, and dispose of wastewater for those "super sexy" companies and whoever ends up replacing them over the next few decades.

The First Step on Your Road to Millions Starts Here: All you need is a computer or smartphone and just 10 minutes of "work" to potentially put $1 million in your bank account faster than you ever dreamed. Read more…

I'll admit I'm not smart enough to know which tech company will dominate the next 50 years. Or which will be replaced by three guys in a garage experimenting on a gaming system in Toledo. But I am smart enough to know that, no matter which tech company wins, it will always need infrastructure, power, water, and other basics.

Much like Levi Strauss getting richer than any miner during the California Gold Rush, I will get rich and stay rich selling those basics to the explorers.

This stock also has a�Money Morning�Stock VQScore�⒙�of 4 – indicating that it has strong growth potential in addition to its solid financials.

And the company I'm showing you today does all of that, boasting one of the most profitable and uniquely diverse businesses I've ever seen…

The Massive Global Reach of My "Forever Investment"

Join the conversation. Click here to jump to comments…

Tim Melvin

About the Author

Browse Tim's articles | View Tim's research services

Plugging In With The First 'Cold Wallet' Device For Your Smartphone

&l;p&g;&l;img class=&q;size-full wp-image-787&q; src=&q;http://blogs-images.forbes.com/andrewrossow/files/2018/05/xeedaaaa.jpg?width=960&q; alt=&q;&q; data-height=&q;756&q; data-width=&q;750&q;&g; Xeeda&s;s &s;cold wallet&s; device which plugs directly into the user&s;s smartphone

If the blockchain space were to have a theme song, Katy Perry&a;rsquo;s &a;ldquo;&l;em&g;Hot N Cold&a;rdquo; &l;/em&g;song may just be the winner. In the world of &a;lsquo;hardware wallets&a;rsquo;, there are some very important features that need to be identified and explained to those investors breaking into the space.

&l;strong&g;Understanding Hardware Wallets&l;/strong&g;

With over 1,200 cryptocurrencies in existence, and growing, it is essential for investors and those breaking into the space to understand how to secure their digital currencies and investments properly.

The first question to ask is how you&a;rsquo;re going to store your funds. The answer is simple, so you think&a;mdash;you need a wallet or some platform to hold your funds. Sure. But what kind? Yes, there are variations as to the kind of wallet and why one may be favorable over another, depending upon the transaction you are engaging in.

Let&a;rsquo;s talk about the only wallets you need to know about&a;mdash;hardware wallets.

For those investors looking for long-term cryptocurrency storage, it is recommended to divide funds into &a;ldquo;hot&a;rdquo; and &a;ldquo;cold&a;rdquo; wallets. Many investors in the space who hold digital assets and currencies utilize both hot and cold wallets for different storage purposes.

&l;strong&g;Hot Wallets&l;/strong&g;

&a;ldquo;Hot wallets&a;rdquo; are &l;a href=&q;https://www.blockchain-council.org/cryptocurrency/hot-wallet-vs-cold-wallet/&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;comparable&l;/a&g; to your bank&a;rsquo;s checking account&a;mdash;where they are used for the everyday spending of cryptocurrencies, typically holding only small amounts of any fund(s). It&a;rsquo;s similar to the physical wallet we carry on us on a daily basis. The biggest feature to know about these types of wallets is that they are almost invariably connected to the Internet in order to be readily usable. You can see where this may cause concern when it comes to security and vulnerabilities.

&l;strong&g;Cold Wallets&l;/strong&g;

On the other hand, &a;ldquo;cold wallets&a;rdquo; are comparable to your average savings account, used for long-term secure storage of your cryptocurrencies, typically holding larger sums of monies that are not intended to be touched or used very frequently. Unlike hot wallets, cold wallets are not &l;em&g;actively &l;/em&g;connected to the Internet. By &l;em&g;actively&l;/em&g;, I mean that there may be some battery or Wi-Fi enabled feature that could allow it to connect to the internet.

For security purposes, it is &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelwolfson/2018/04/25/security-officials-weigh-in-on-protecting-cryptocurrencies-following-myetherwallet-hack/2/#7f68ec0f3424&q;&g;smarter&l;/a&g; to keep the majority of your assets in a cold wallet, while a smaller portion of your funds are kept in the hot wallet for purchasing and sales transactions. Why? A cold wallet makes it much more difficult for hackers to steal your funds, because it&a;rsquo;s not connected to the Internet, or any Wi-Fi enabled services.

While the current wallets out there are functional, they are still difficult to use, as many of the features leave the user exposed to hacking attempts. One company, &l;a href=&q;https://www.xeeda.io/&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;Xeeda&l;/a&g;, has had made it its mission to change the way in which users access their wallets and allowing for trading, exchanging, and other transactions that may come along.

&l;strong&g;If We Are On The Go, How Can We Take Our Wallets and Funds With Us?&l;/strong&g;

Moving past the structural aspects of the wallets, we next turn to security, convenience, and accessibility. When it comes to hardware wallets, there isn&a;rsquo;t a &l;em&g;truly mobile&l;/em&g; wallet out there that allows you to plug into your smartphone. Recognizing that it isn&a;rsquo;t the first on wallets, Xeeda is the first in developing a hardware wallet that connects directly to the smartphone,&a;rdquo; said Kevin Maloney, CEO of Xeeda. The &l;a href=&q;https://www.nasdaq.com/press-release/xeeda-partners-with-zencash-to-launch-worlds-first-cryptocurrency-hardware-wallet-designed-solely-20180404-00609&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;Nasdaq&l;/a&g; described Xeeda in a report as a simple, secure, and convenient way to access, exchange, and manage bitcoins and other digital currency assets directly from a smartphone.

Maloney told me that the company believes that three-quarters of the audience will benefit from having that mobile access because most of these folks are very comfortable with their mobile devices and are always on the go. &a;ldquo;They prefer to transact on the market, whether up or down, through the convenience of their mobile device,&a;rdquo; says Maloney.

Xeeda&a;rsquo;s Chief Revenue Officer, Scott Jackson, added that in an already established space, there is still an imbalance when it comes to ensuring compliance, security, and peace of mind for all users. &a;ldquo;Right now, there is a lack of a &l;em&g;truly&l;/em&g; mobile solution for a hardware wallet that is designed specifically for smartphones.&a;rdquo;

&l;em&g;Ensuring Compliance and Regulation&l;/em&g;

&a;ldquo;We aren&a;rsquo;t storing anyone&a;rsquo;s cryptocurrency, instead, we are storing their &l;em&g;personal access keys&l;/em&g;&a;mdash;the public and private keuys that allow them to access their funds in the blockchain.&a;rdquo; Having an ecosystem that provides a convenient solution with minimal retainment of personally identifiable information as well as financial information is vital especially in recent months following the Equifax and Facebook data breaches.

&l;em&g;How Does A &a;lsquo;Mobile&a;rsquo; Hardware Wallet Work&l;/em&g;

I was curious as to the structure of Xeeda&a;rsquo;s &a;lsquo;truly mobile wallet&a;rsquo;, as there is no AC adapter and no ethernet or wired cables. Maloney walked me through their structure:

&l;strong&g;#1 &a;ndash; It Needs To Be Truly Mobile&l;/strong&g;

As we learned earlier when it comes to hot and cold wallets, for a truly mobile solution, users need to understand that if they are using a cold wallet for offline storage, then that device shouldn&a;rsquo;t have any potential to connect to the Internet or any third-party servers or services.

In other words, you won&a;rsquo;t find a battery or Wi-Fi enabled means to connect the device to the Internet. Both Maloney and Jackson told me that their device has no such battery or means in which it can be connected to the internet, because &a;ldquo;it&a;rsquo;s just not necessary and defeats the entire purpose of mobility and security.&a;rdquo;

&l;strong&g;# 2&a;mdash;Plug N&a;rsquo; Pin&l;/strong&g;

Upon connecting the device directly into the smartphone, the application still needs to verify that the user is the intended user connecting. Thus, the need to create and/or enter a pin is required. Again, this is something the user would need to write down, offline, in the event they forget it.

&l;strong&g;#3 &a;ndash;Master Key&l;/strong&g;

Like all cryptowallets out there, the user is required to set up a &a;ldquo;master key&a;rdquo; or catchphrase. Xeeda calls it &a;lsquo;master seeds&a;rsquo;, or sets of randomly generated words, which the user must write down and store in a safe place, offline. Typically, this would be in a safe or jewelry box.

Once the master seed or key is generated, you don&a;rsquo;t really need that again unless you lose the device&a;mdash;while these devices are intended to be shockproof and waterproof, they aren&a;rsquo;t safe as against you losing your key. Thus, you can still access your funds in the blockchain as long as you have the master seed.

&l;strong&g;#4 &a;ndash;Authentication&l;/strong&g;

When it comes to a user plugging the device into the phone, there still needs to be a way to ensure that the person connecting it to the phone, is the holder of the funds. Thus, Xeeda allows for &l;a href=&q;http://pr.report/dRbLmhPN&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;biometric scanners&l;/a&g; and authentication, via facial recognition or fingerprint scanning. This allows the holder of the funds to make the mobile application accessible to them and only them, regardless of who plugs the device in.

&l;strong&g;#5 &a;ndash;Start Trading&l;/strong&g;

From the application, you are able to pull down any/all supported currencies, coins, altcoins that you have from your cold wallet/storage and transact small amounts by selling/exchanging goods, or putting them into your hot wallet, which is connected to the Internet through an app.

As users of digital currencies become more mainstream, businesses need to find new, innovative ways in which to provide convenient and secure mobile access to these currencies and their users across the globe.

Platforms need to offer ways in which users can toggle between exchanges, coins, and fee structures that they are most intrigued by. Xeeda has identified this major issue and is already acting on the solution, providing users with a new, yet secure experience in how they invest and trade.

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