[video_player type=”embed” style=”1″ dimensions=”640×360″ width=”640″ height=”360″ align=”center” margin_top=”0″ margin_bottom=”20″ ipad_color=”black”][/video_player] This month we’ve explored a few of my favorite fundamental criteria, like free cash flow and operating margin, to name a few, for picking safe stocks with great upside potential. Let’s keep it going, and look at two other boring-sounding numbers that can spice up your returns: assets-to-liabilities and the fixed charge coverage ratio. Trust me – getting a handle on these will provide plenty of excitement as your portfolio gets stronger and more lucrative. These are mainly all about debt. It’s not all the same, and what a company does with it and how it handles it can make all the difference. The companies I’m about to name will provide stability in the increasingly likely event we get profit-taking and selling at the very end of 2024 and into the new year. In other words, these are great for

[video_player type=”embed” style=”1″ dimensions=”640×360″ width=”640″ height=”360″ align=”center” margin_top=”0″ margin_bottom=”20″ ipad_color=”black”][/video_player] Stocks nailed a higher low last week – which we discussed at length in the TheoTrade live trading room. I’m seeing strong leadership from the tech sector and emerging strength in semiconductors, too. I’ve been pounding the table about this for a few weeks now; these two conditions tick that final “box” we need to confirm the bull. Crypto, too, is coming off a higher low here and we’re seeing fresh highs in many of our portfolio names. The market’s getting healthier by the day; we went from the worst market breadth of the year at the beginning of last week to the strongest by Friday. I’ve got every reason to believe participation will broaden going into 2025 – I’ll have more on this on Thursday with my Trinity Trade presentation. For now, let’s look at what’s on my screen

[video_player type=”embed” style=”1″ dimensions=”640×360″ width=”640″ height=”360″ align=”center” margin_top=”0″ margin_bottom=”20″ ipad_color=”black”][/video_player] We’re about to go through the “Turn” from 2024 to 2025… and I’ve got outperformance on my mind. I want to ensure we’re looking at the publicly traded stocks offering the best chance at superior returns in the coming year. We have to consider the likelihood that 2025 will not be like the FOMO-driven years 2024 – or 2023, for that matter. Inflation is in play (it never really left!) and the Fed is essentially rudderless and has been since long before last week’s debacle. So I think it’s a good idea to look at stocks that can give us what we need in the absence of a rally. That’s why I’m looking at dividend-payers, trading at reasonable valuations, and with a decent volume of calls being traded. Tonight I’ll show you what I’ve found…

[video_player type=”embed” style=”1″ dimensions=”640×360″ width=”640″ height=”360″ align=”center” margin_top=”0″ margin_bottom=”20″ ipad_color=”black”][/video_player] The Fed straight-up stole Christmas. But that’s not the only game in town. I’m talkin’ Festivus… the Pole, the Airing of Grievances, the Feats of Strength… I’d bet the last two days have left unprepared traders with a lot of grievances to get out there. No grievances from my Three Trades a Week people – we closed out a one-day 233% win with an SPX butterfly this afternoon. We took the market along for the ride up – the big indexes are anywhere from 1.5% to 1.6% higher than where we opened. All in all an eventful day with triple witching (around $4 trillion in notional value coming out – more in a second) and high volatility. I’ll take you inside it all tonight; we’ll look at opportunities in silver, bonds, and even Apple (AAPL) right now…

[video_player type=”embed” style=”1″ dimensions=”640×360″ width=”640″ height=”360″ align=”center” margin_top=”0″ margin_bottom=”20″ ipad_color=”black”][/video_player] The markets started the week half-asleep, but yesterday, when Fed Chairman Powell took future rate cuts off the table, they woke up terrified and fell right out of bed. A lot of leading stocks, like Tesla and Nvidia took massive, multibillion-dollar haircuts in a matter of minutes. A lot of investors considered these safe – “the only game in town,” even. It’s true some of yesterday’s biggest losers are rising again, but I’m looking at a subset of stocks right now with the “secret sauce” to get through extreme Fed-driven turbulence. A lot of these stocks did drop, but not quite in the same way as the rest; some didn’t sell much at all. They’re rebounding faster and with much more conviction, too. These names are uniquely positioned for us right now because they all have this one thing in

[video_player type=”embed” style=”1″ dimensions=”640×360″ width=”640″ height=”360″ align=”center” margin_top=”0″ margin_bottom=”20″ ipad_color=”black”][/video_player] The markets got the hawkish version of Powell today… and the implication that there won’t be any more rate cuts. The big indexes don’t like Hawkish Powell, not one bit. They took his remarks “poorly.” And by “poorly” I mean “they jumped off a cliff.” So what had been a kinda-up day turned into a big down day, anywhere from 2.5% to 3.5% after 2 PM. It was rough. And remember: At least according to the seasonality, we’re supposed to be in the Santa Claus rally right now. I have to say I don’t think it’s happening this year, at least not from where I’m standing. The good news is there are plenty of plays out there to make money – even if everyone else is losing theirs…

[video_player type=”embed” style=”1″ dimensions=”640×360″ width=”640″ height=”360″ align=”center” margin_top=”0″ margin_bottom=”20″ ipad_color=”black”]<img src=”https://theotrade.com/wp-content/themes/optimizePressTheme/lib/images/video_placeholder.png” alt=”PGlmcmFtZSB3aWR0aD0iNjQwIiBoZWlnaHQ9IjM2MCIgc3JjPSJodHRwczovL3d3dy55b3V0dWJlLW5vY29va2llLmNvbS9lbWJlZC9KSmVxRDNEcjN6ST9zaT1Nc0xPblBaZFpoMFAyTGFsIiB0aXRsZT0iWW91VHViZSB2aWRlbyBwbGF5ZXIiIGZyYW1lYm9yZGVyPSIwIiBhbGxvdz0iYWNjZWxlcm9tZXRlcjsgYXV0b3BsYXk7IGNsaXBib2FyZC13cml0ZTsgZW5jcnlwdGVkLW1lZGlhOyBneXJvc2NvcGU7IHBpY3R1cmUtaW4tcGljdHVyZTsgd2ViLXNoYXJlIiByZWZlcnJlcnBvbGljeT0ic3RyaWN0LW9yaWdpbi13aGVuLWNyb3NzLW9yaWdpbiIgYWxsb3dmdWxsc2NyZWVuPSIiPjwvaWZyYW1lPg==” width=”1″ height=”1″ />[/video_player] The big indexes are split up and down at the moment, and I’m sensing some concern over this out there. Tonight we’ll get to the bottom of the “worry or opportunity?” question. There’s plenty of weight to the “opportunity” argument. We’ve seen the NASDAQ reclaim and reassert its leadership over the last few weeks. If you’ve been with me for a while, you’ll know I view this as a really good sign. The Dow, on the other hand, is in the middle of its second week of correction. I’m watching closely for a bottom – and a setup – to occur in the coming days. There’s a brewing setup for a low in bonds, as well. So there are reasons for optimism; the Fed’s rate cut is coming tomorrow, and liquidity conditions are improving which

[video_player type=”embed” style=”1″ dimensions=”640×360″ width=”640″ height=”360″ align=”center” margin_top=”0″ margin_bottom=”20″ ipad_color=”black”][/video_player] Sure, I get it: You’re searching for the best, soundest stocks to buy in the market. You seek that secret sauce that will make you profitable heading into 2025. What you may not know is that it’s not necessarily about fundamental or technical analysis. It’s all about a handful of mega-cap stocks, and here’s why. The uncertainty in the market is palpable right now; you could cut it with a knife. The VIX is low and has lifted the market as volatility has been sold. Today, as the S&P 500 gained 0.43%, the VIX rose. But the SKEW index is in “nosebleed” territory, pegged at 169 as of Friday. This suggests crash risk is extreme right now. All we know right now about 2025 is… we don’t know. The volatility markets are putting us on notice. So, when volatility and

[video_player type=”embed” style=”1″ dimensions=”640×360″ width=”640″ height=”360″ align=”center” margin_top=”0″ margin_bottom=”20″ ipad_color=”black”][/video_player] It’s not looking great for the bulls – not that I’m complaining. Divergence continues to grow – weekly gains for the NASDAQ, losses for the Dow30 and S&P 500. The advance/decline line of what’s going up versus what’s going down continues to decline. The usual suspects in the Magnificent Seven were dead today – flat or down. Tesla was the only stock hanging on. Broadcom was the stock of the session, almost singlehandedly delivering gains for the tech index. The newest member of the Trillion Dollar Club’s market cap surged by $250 billion today. That’s how stocks moved this week; virtually every day the session was “saved” by one or two Magnificent Seven – make that Magnificent Eight – stocks. So we’ve got a handful of tech stocks swooping in to save the markets every day. That’s been the story

[video_player type=”embed” style=”1″ dimensions=”640×360″ width=”640″ height=”360″ align=”center” margin_top=”0″ margin_bottom=”20″ ipad_color=”black”][/video_player] We’ve been spending time on fundamental analysis, which is really the absolute best way to get a handle on a company’s medium- and long-term prospects. Is it worth your money? That’s a question this kind of analysis can help you answer. Last week, we looked at free cash flow. In tonight’s video, we’re going to look at another critical factor: operating margin. Knowing this can help you determine how “safe” and healthy a business’ operations – and profitability – are. But of course, we’re traders, right? Well, with a good grasp of fundamentals we can pivot to good ol’ technical analysis to size up the quality of the trade setups on our charts. Tonight, we’re going to do that with some consumer staple and utility stocks I’ve got in mind. Let’s get started…