Of all the controversial plays on Wall Street, penny stocks take the cake. The risk-tolerant flock to these names as the potential for share prices to grow from pocket change to more than a few dollars is too tempting to ignore.That said, these tickers aren’t without their pitfalls. Some investors avoid them entirely, arguing that the bargain price tags are too good to be true. Rather, the fact that shares are trading at such low levels could reflect problems lying beneath the surface, whether it be poor fundamentals or overpowering headwinds. So, how are investors supposed to distinguish between the long-term winners and those set to come up short? One strategy is to follow the activity of the pros.Enter Israel “Izzy” Englander, who is widely known for his impressive stock picking abilities. Englander expressed interest in the stock market since he was young, and in 1989, co-founded hedge fund Millennium Management...
Investors who owned stocks in the 2010s generally experienced some big gains. In fact, the SPDR S&P 500's (NYSE: SPY) total return for the decade was 250.5%. But there's no question some big-name stocks did much better than others along the way.Marathon's Difficult Decade: One underperformer of the last decade was U.S. oil exploration & production company Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE: MRO).Marathon's past 10 years were dominated by a major restructuring, a surge in U.S. shale oil production and an unprecedented collapse in oil prices due to COVID-19.Marathon shares started the 2010s trading at around $19.25 but hit their decade-high above $37.99 in mid-2014 just prior to the first collapse in oil prices. That first downturn was driven by a supply glut credited in large part to a booming U.S. shale oil industry.In 2011, during the shale oil boom, Marathon restructured its company, spinning off its refining business into its own...
(Bloomberg) -- Oil retreated to near $38 a barrel after a U.S. industry report signaled a surprise jump in crude inventories, underscoring the market’s patchy road to rebalancing.Futures dropped 1.6% in New York. The American Petroleum Institute reported that stockpiles expanded by 8.42 million barrels last week, according to people familiar with the data. If confirmed by government figures later on Wednesday, it would be the largest build since the end of April. Inventories at a key European hub jumped to a two-year high last week, Genscape Inc. reported.Oil’s recovery from the virus-driven demand crash and swollen stockpiles remains uneven. Consumption is showing signs of uptick in India, where Indian Oil Corp. is boosting processing at its refineries this month. Still, the OECD is forecasting a sharp contraction in the global economy this year, and one that could get worse if there’s a second wave of virus infections.“Indications from the American...
(Bloomberg) -- U.S. equity-index futures advanced on Wednesday as investors bet the Federal Reserve will maintain policy support for America’s economic recovery from its coronavirus-induced recession. The dollar slipped along with Treasury yields.Contracts on the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average fluctuated before turning higher as tech giants including Apple and Facebook extended gains in the pre-market. Nasdaq 100 futures traded in the green all morning, suggesting the tech-heavy gauge may add to yesterday’s rise when U.S. markets open. The Stoxx Europe 600 index swung between gains and losses after the OECD forecast a 6% contraction in the global economy. Crude oil retreated.While the Fed is expected to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged after its meeting on Wednesday, investors will be looking for reassurance on the central bank’s willingness to keep providing extraordinary support for the economy. Policy makers may also comment on potentially targeting yields for some Treasury...
