The Answer to the Next Crisis
Bloomberg had an article yesterday about “where the next crisis will come from.” The list included unsettled politics, problem banks and growing debt.
Guess what? That’s a woefully incomplete list. But don’t expect me to complete it because the truth is we don’t know what the next crisis will be.
Part of the reason that crises hit markets hard is that they’re unexpected. Few people anticipated the housing market crash that led to the financial crisis nearly a decade ago. In 2011, when China and Brazil were fueling world growth, no one expected both countries to be reining it in just a few years later. And less than three years ago, energy execs were partying it up as crude oil was well over $100 a barrel with no expectation that it would soon crash.
The point is problems hit the markets with sudden force. As investors, our job is to prepare to pounce.
Sometimes bad news is followed unexpectedly by good developments. When Congress and the White House surprisingly agreed to boost defense spending again last fall—after three years of cutbacks that were part of the so-called budget sequester—the stocks of small defense contractors soared.
I jumped on one called Arotech (NSDQ: ARTX) on Dec. 17 when the shares were at $1.87; by April, the price was at $4.05. The company makes simulation programs for military and civilian pilots as well as high-performance batteries for U.S. and foreign militaries, and my research found a cutting-edge provider poised for a huge influx of orders.
The next crisis—or opportunity—isn’t known. But we do know that smart research can uncover stocks and other investments on the verge of benefiting. When market shakeups occur, as they inevitably will, we’ll be ready to exploit them.
Right now, few markets are exhibiting the kind of opportunities that the energy sector provides. And Robert Rapier, chief investment strategist of Investing Daily’s The Energy Strategist, has the deep industry knowledge to identify them—and to know when to pounce.
His system includes “energy skimming,” reaping profits from imbalances in supply and demand across the energy spectrum. These are short-term trades that rack up gains without requiring long-term patience. Over time, they can add up to big bucks.