Infrastructure Stocks for 2017 - Aecom [ACM]

Aecom  [ACM]

     The infrastructure industry is a hot topic as we roll into 2017. The Trump administration has said part of the plan to 'Make America Great Again' is to fix the crumbling infrastructure. That being roads, bridges, water structures, and things of that nature. Estimates have placed the total cost to fix all the roads and bridges to be in the trillions of dollars. Trumps believes his plan will pay for itself. He'd offer 137 billion in tax credits to private companies hired to fix the problems. The money the private companies save from the tax credits is assumed to be made back in tax revenue from the increased wages paid out to the employees and the profits to the contractors. Whether that is true and capable of happening, it's clear that Trump and wants to spend some money on building some things. (Some info gathered from article here) 

Barnes and Noble Stinks...

Barnes and Noble    [BKS]

     Barnes and Noble has cut forecasts because they had a terrible holiday season. The same store sales were considerably lower this holiday season and causing B&N to become reactive and cut its outlook for the fiscal year. In the 9 weeks leading up to the last of the year, B&N reported a decrease in same store sales of 9.1%. This news came out this morning and today along with most other retail stocks taking a big hit as well. Over the last 5 days, the stock is down 8.73% and 5.58% of that is just from today.

Rising Tide Raises All Ships

     After Trump was voted President, there was a lot of talk about what he would do to the steel industry. He had been saying that China has been taking manufacturing jobs away from the USA and how he will bring them back. The reason China can do that is because they have subsidized the steel industry. And they have done it against the rules of any trade laws that had been made. Steel is so cheap that they are just dumping it into the US market leaving no market share for domestic manufacturers to gain. The question remains... How will Trump negotiate the trade laws so that he can bring back US manufacturing, in this case steel and iron, and how will it affect domestic manufacturing as a whole?

The Marijuana Market

        The marijuana market is the fastest growing market/industry in the world. After doing some research and reading online in an article written by Tirthankar Chakraborty, "The industry grew 24% to $5.7 billion last year," and "the industry is expected to grow by $7.1 billion this year," AND "that legal cannabis industry sales will grow more than 200% to $22.8 billion in the next four years" (4 Best Marijuana Stocks to Play the Green Rush, Zacks).

India's Money Problem

I was tweeting about this yesterday. I have had some more time to think about it and read about it and come to realize how the situation that country is in stinks. I'll do my best to explain, be patient!

Here is what the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, did to their money supply. 

I Love The Straddle

     

     Boy oh boy do I enjoy this strategy. It's a pretty simple concept to learn and

to understand. I have been using it in the game I'm playing and it has worked fairly well for me. I have been using it when I know there is going to be big news announced for a stock. Particularly earnings. Let me try and explain the straddle and the pros and cons with it.

(on the left we can see Tyga and Kylie perfecting the straddle)