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How to Triple Dip Your Rewards Points

by Fred Fuld III

It’s nice that you get cash back or rewards points when you use your credit card. It’s also great when you can get rewards from the company you make purchases from. It’s like double dipping.

But wouldn’t it be great if you could triple dip. How would you like to receive free stock in the companies that you buy from? Well now it’s possible.

There is a company called Bumped, which allows you to have a percentage of your purchase go towards fractional shares of stock in those companies. The percentage isn’t a lot but it adds up over time.

For example, if you buy rom Starbucks (SBUX), you get 2% of your purchase price going towards the company’s stock. If you buy from ExxonMobil (XOM), you get 0.5%. The range goes all the way up to 3% defending on the type of business.

Here are the categories and their percentages:

Coffee 2%
Gas/Convenience Stores 0.5%
Entertainment 2%
Family Dining 2%
Personal Care 1%
Quick Eats 3%
Vineyards 1%

So, for example, if I buy food and a beverage at Starbucks, and I pay with my cash back American Express (AXP) card, I will get the cash back bonus from AmEx at the end of the month. Plus, if I’m a member of the Starbucks rewards program, I get those benefits. Finally, if I have linked my AmEx card to Bumped, I get 2% of my purchase applied to the Starbucks stock.

There are a wide range of companies that are participating in this program. Just in the Quick Eats category alone, there is:

Burger King
Chipotle (CMG)
Jamba Juice
McDonalds (MCD)
Subway

Now you may ask, what about the private companies that are listed, such as Jamba Juice and Subway? Well, if you purchase from Jamba Juice, your 3% is applied towards the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF (VTI).

So when I bought a Jamba Juice recently, I got cash back on my AmEx card, I got more Jamba Juice points since I’m a member of their rewards program, and I got 3% of my purchase automatically invested in VTI.

Other companies that are part of the program include Peet’s Coffee, BP (BP), Chevron (CVX), Shell (RDSA), Netflix (NFLX), Spotify (SPOT), Lyft (LYFT), Uber (UBER), plus several restaurants and other businesses.

Unfortunately, there is a waiting list for Bumped, (they don’t want to get overwhelmed as they are growing) but once they notify you that you are eligible, you can jump on the triple dip bandwagon.

Disclosure: Author owns MCD, VTI, SBUX, & XOM. I did not receive any compensation from Bumped.

Are You Watching the Streaming Video Stocks?

by Fred Fuld III

Could you have imagined 15 years ago that you would have the ability to watch almost any movie or TV show whenever you want, as many times as you want, and could pause it and replay parts of it, without having to insert a disc into a player, would you have believed it?

Most major films and television programs can now be watched on your smart TV, you computer, your laptop, and even your phone. Several companies are benefiting from this major trend, providing investors with stocks that they should keep an eye on.

Amazon’s (AMZN) Prime Video is an Internet video on demand service that offers television shows and films for rent or purchase and Prime Video, a group of Amazon Studios original content and licensed acquisitions including Bosch, The Man in the High Castle, Sneaky Pete, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Amazon trades at 64 times forward earnings, and revenues for the latest reported quarter jumped by almost 20% year-over-year.

Netflix (NFLX) is the biggest pure play in this arena, having around 140 million subscribers. The company also has extensive original programming including stand-up comedy specials. The stock trades at 88 times forward earnings. Sales for the latest quarter went up by over 27%.

Streaming video is a small but growing piece of Disney (DIS) which owns 60% of Hulu, in addition to its own streaming services. Like Netflix and Amazon, Hulu has its own original content. Disney has a very reasonable forward price to earnings ratio of 16, and even pays a dividend of 1.53%.

Of course, video streaming is a small part of a lot of large companies, such as Apple (AAPL), Facebook (FB), and YouTube, owned by Alphabet (GOOG) (GOOGL), better known as Google.

Let’s watch and see which company will be the best performer.

Disclosure: Author owns AMZN, AAPL, and DIS.

How to Invest in Halloween

by Fred Fuld III

It’s time to buy Halloween candy yet for the trick-or-treaters. The candy manufacturers need your help. Other business can also benefit from Halloween holiday, such as the horror movie companies.

The biggest beneficiaries of Halloween are the confectionary makers. One example is Hershey Foods (HSY), one of the largest chocolate and candy companies in the world, with two of its most popular products being Hershey Kisses and Hershey Bars, along with Reese’s. The stock has a trailing price to earnings ratio of 20.4, a forward P/E ratio of 19.2, and pays a dividend yield of 2.7%. The latest quarterly earnings per share were up 13.7% year over year.

Tootsie Roll Industries (TR) has an assortment of candy kids, such as Tootsie Rolls, Tootsie Roll Pops, Caramel Apple Pops, Charms, Blow-Pops, Blue Razz, Zip-A-Dee Pops, Cella’s, Mason Dots, Mason Crows, Junior Mint, Sugar Daddys, and Sugar Babies. The stock has a P/E of 26.3 and a yield of 1.15%. Earnings per share for the latest quarter are down slightly from a year ago.

Mondelez International (MDLZ) is a multinational producer of candy, along with food and beverages. Its brands include Sour Patch, Swedish Fish, Cadbury, and Toblerone. Trailing P/E is 18.5 and the forward P/E is 16.2. The yield is a tasty 2.5%.

Watching scary movies is another popular event on Halloween. Netflix (NFLX), the huge provider of videos in the US, has an extensive selection of scary movies in its collection of titles. The stock trades as 114 times trailing earnings and 72 times forward earnings. It does not pay a dividend.

A major producer of scary movies is Lions Gate Entertainment (LGF.A), which has made such films as American Psycho, Ginger Snaps, Route 666, The Devil’s Rejects, House of the Dead 2, Saw VI, See No Evil, Hostel: Part II, My Bloody Valentine 3D and many others. Lionsgate has a price to earnings ratio of 11.4, and pays a dividend of 1.9%.

Then of course, Amazon (AMZN) has plenty of Halloween costumes. Amazon has a trailing PE of 167 and a forward PE of 60.

May your Halloween portfolio be a treat and not a trick.

Disclosure: Author didn’t own any of the above at the time the article was written.

The Yummies are Causing the All-Time Stock Market Highs

Many have wondered why the stock market continues to make all-time highs, almost every day. This exceptional rise may be due to the Yummies, the Young Upwardly Mobile Millennials. Yes, the Millennials, also known as Generation Y. Many traits have been ascribed to this generation, but you don’t ever hear the members referred to as being invetor-oriented.

So let’s look at the facts. Legg Mason Global Asset Management, the 20th largest asset manager in the world, produced the 2017 Global Investment Survey, and the Summary of U.S. Results are very enlightening.

For example, did you know that Millennials invest more in non-cash investments than the Generation X or the Baby Boomers? As a matter of fact, 77% of Yummies apply their funds toward these assets, versus 75% for Gen x and 69% for Baby Boomers.

Let’s look at some definitions before continuing. Legg mason consideres Millennials to be between the ages of 18 and 35, Gen X at age 36 to 52, with Baby Boomers ranging from 53 to 71 years old.

Some other interesting factoids about the Yummies. They invest three times as much as Boomers in non-traditional investments. Plus, a far greater percentage of Yummies put their money into investment real estate than the Baby Boomers.

But what is most amazing is the fact that 11% of the Yummies invest in gold and precious metals versus only 7% of the Gen Xers and a measly 2% for the Baby Boomers.

When the respondents were asked which investment categories they believe offer the best opportunities over the next 12 months, 46% of the Yummies said domestic stocks, with Gen X and Boomers closely agreeing, both at 42%. International stocks came in second as an investment opportunity in the opinion of the Millennials.

Finally, 87% of Yummies have saivings, investments, or both but only 81% of Boomers have these assets, and just 75% of Millennials.

Many wonder why the FAANG stocks, Facebook (FB), Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), Netflix (NFLX), and Google (GOOG), continue to rise. So now you know. If you are wondering who is driving up the price of stocks and cryptocurrency, you need look no further than the Yummies.

by Fred Fuld III

Disclosure: Author owns AAPL and AMZN.

Top Halloween Stocks

Have you bought your Halloween candy yet for the trick-or-treaters? If not, you better get going, so that you can support the candy companies. Other industries can also benefit from Halloween stocks.

Of course, the biggest beneficiaries of Halloween are the producers of sweets. Hershey Foods (HSY) is one of the largest chocolate and confectionery companies in the world, known for its Hershey Kisses and Hershey Bars. The stock has a forward price to earnings ratio of 21, and a yield of 2.3%.

Tootsie Roll Industries (TR) has various candy brands for trick-or-treaters including Tootsie Rolls, Tootsie Roll Pops, Caramel Apple Pops, Charms, Blow-Pops, Blue Razz, Zip-A-Dee Pops, Cella’s, Mason Dots, Mason Crows, Junior Mint, Charleston Chew, Sugar Daddys, and Sugar Babies. The stock has a P/E of 35 and a yield of 0.9%.

Hopefully, your Halloween stocks become treats and not tricks.

Disclosure: Author didn’t own any of the above at the time the article was written.

How to Invest in the Halloween Industry

Just a week to go until Halloween. You still have time to buy your candy, for the trick-or-treaters, provide income for the candy companies. Maybe you can find some treats, not tricks, in the following Halloween stocks.

Watching horror movies is one of the popular activities of teenagers on Halloween. Netflix (NFLX), the largest provider of videos in the US, has a huge number of scary movies in its collection of titles. The stock trades as 146 times forward earnings. Earnings for the latest quarter were up 26.8% on a rise of 8.8% in revenues.

A major producer of scary movies is Lions Gate Entertainment (LGF), which has made such films as American Psycho, Ginger Snaps, Route 666, The Devil’s Rejects, House of the Dead 2, Saw VI, See No Evil, Hostel: Part II, My Bloody Valentine 3D and many others. Lionsgate has a price to earnings ratio of 287 and pays a yield of 1.8%.

The biggest beneficiaries of Halloween are the candy companies. Hershey Foods (HSY) is the large chocolate and confectionery company made famous by its Hershey Kisses and Hershey Bars. The stock has a P/E of 21, and a yield of 2.5%.

Tootsie Roll Industries (TR) makes all kinds of candy for trick-or-treaters including Tootsie Rolls, Tootsie Roll Pops, Caramel Apple Pops, Charms, Blow-Pops, Blue Razz, Zip-A-Dee Pops, Cella’s, Mason Dots, Mason Crows, Junior Mint, Charleston Chew, Sugar Daddys, and Sugar Babies. The stock has a P/E of 26.5 and a yield of 1.0%.

Halloween costumes and decorations are available at discount retailers such as Wal-Mart (WMT). It has a P/E of 16, and a yield of 2.9%.

If you like interesting stock industries, such as coffee stocks, robotics stocks, and chocolate and candy stocks, check out many of the lists here at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Disclosure: Author didn’t own any of the above at the time the article was written.

Corporate Stock Earnings Report for Week 3 of October

Looking for some interesting moves in some stocks this upcoming week? Check out the companies that will be reporting earnings this week.

If earnings exceed analysts’ expectations, the stocks can shoot up. If the numbers underperform, the stock can tank. Then again, occasionally, stocks don’t move the way you would have expected.

Anyway, many traders use earnings plays for trading strategies. Also, option traders look for high implied volatility of stocks for for option selling strategies.

Here are many of the enormous number of stocks reporting earnings this week:

Monday

BAC
CE
TACO
HAS
IBM
NFLX
UAL

Tuesday

BLK
CMA
CREE
DPZ
GS
HOG
HA
INTC
JNJ
PM
UNH

Wednesday

ABT
AXP
EBAY
GPC
HAL
MAT
MS
XLNX

Thursday

AMD
AAL
SAM
ETFC
MXIM
NUE

PYPL
SLB
TXT
VZ
WBA

Friday

HON

MCD

SAP

If you like interesting stock lists like this, be sure to check out many of the free stock lists here at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.