As the leader in streaming TV services, Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) is in a class by itself. The streaming video pioneer, which popularized binge-watching, reached over $160 billion in market capitalization in 2019, even eclipsing Disney (NYSE:DIS) at one point in the year.

The surge in share price since Netflix entered the streaming market has been both explosive and persistent. As a result, any investor lucky enough to buy in during the early days -- and hold shares through the volatility -- has made a potentially life-changing purchase equating to returns of over 27,000%.

Image source: Getty Images.

Netflix went public in late May of 2002. At the time, it counted roughly 1 million subscribers who paid a monthly fee for access to its library of DVD movies and TV shows. Its most mature market was San Francisco, where its red envelopes shuttled to and from roughly 4% of households.

CEO Reed Hastings and his team thought they had a long runway for growth in fighting with rivals like Blockbuster, as DVD technology found its way into more households. Netflix's tech-based approach made it scalable, and its software roots gave it an edge over traditional retailers, management said back in 2003.

Those assets persuaded the company to price its IPO at $15 per share back in 2002. Netflix sold roughly 6 million shares at that price and raised about $86 million after expenses. That valued the company at less than $500 million.

Early investors were richly rewarded as Netflix battled with -- and beat -- major competitors like Blockbuster, Walmart, and Redbox for the DVD-by-mail niche. The stock reached a $15 billion market cap in 2011, in fact, translating into a 30-fold return for people who held for a decade after the IPO.

The company would go on to blow past those returns, but not before ensuring that shareholders earned their gains by withstanding a few bouts of epic volatility.

The streaming business was Netflix's real growth catalyst. Executives saw early on that there was much more potential for that entertainment channel, and so they launched a service in 2007 that supercharged subscriber growth. That move, combined with the shift into offering exclusive and original content, made the company a global powerhouse in the entertainment industry.

Along the way, Netflix only split its stock twice, once in 2004 (2-for-1) and again in 2015 (7-for-1). The two splits didn't impact the overall value of the company, but they did ensure that any investors who held through them both would own 14 times their initial number of shares.

So now we have everything we need to calculate your return if you had owned Netflix stock since the beginning.

For simplicity, you could have bought 7 shares for $105, which would have become 98 shares today after the two stock splits. Here in late 2019, Netflix stock is trading for around $314, which means your $105 buy would be worth over $30,770.For context, an equal investment in the S&P 500 would be worth $290 today for an almost 200% return in 17 years.

^SPX data by YCharts

Netflix's 27,000% return since its IPO makes it one of Wall Street's best performers, and those gains are mostly notable for how unusual they are. The other key factor to remember is that shareholders had to endure multiple periods of massive volatility and share price declines, including several 50% slumps, on the way to earning that phenomenal growth.

Together, these facts mean that, while rare, life-changing stock purchases are possible over periods as short as a dozen years. But investors also have to be willing to pay a price in volatility and patience to even have a shot at these massive payouts.

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If You Invested $100 in Netflixs IPO, This Is How Much Money Youd Have Now - Motley Fool

The oil market continues to send mixed signals, with a pending U.S.-China trade deal and potential production cut extension--or deepening--by OPEC counterbalanced by rising crude inventories and an ominous warning about a looming oil glut by the IEA. Oil prices have mostly been treading water in this sea of uncertainty, with WTI prices sitting nearly 8% above the one-month low of $54.18 per barrel.

Yet, even in the event that the bulls end up carrying the day, they might soon have to contend with yet another monster: a contango.

After remaining at or near backwardation for much of the year, the oil market has returned to contango--a situation that could punch big holes in any gains by oil futures traders.

Contango and Backwardation

Contango and backwardation are terms commonly used in commodity futures markets.

A contango market is one where futures contracts trade at a premium to the spot price. For example, if the price of a WTI crude oil contract today is $60 per barrel but the delivery price in six months is $65, then the market is in contango.

In the reverse scenario, supposing the price of a WTI crude oil contract today is $60 per barrel but the delivery price six months down the line is $55, then the market is said to be in backwardation.

A simple way to think of contango and backwardation is: Contango is a situation where the market believes the future price is set to be more expensive than the current spot price, whereas backwardation is said to occur when the market anticipates the future price to be less expensive than the current spot price. Related: Airstrikes Disrupt Production At Libyan Oilfield

The premium future price for a particular contract is usually associated with the cost of carry that includes storage costs and risk of obsolescence.

U.S. Futures Prices: 1st Month Minus Fourth Month Contract

Source: Forbes

In the chart above, a negative reading indicates backwardation while a positive one indicates contango. Backwardation indicates a bearish situation while contango portends the opposite.

To understand why contango and backwardation matter, it's important to understand that the vast majority of futures traders have no intention of handling the underlying physical commodity once their futures contracts expire--which would be impractical anyway for traders with contracts for hundreds of thousands or millions of barrels of oil.

Rather, these traders and speculators find other traders who are willing to hold their contracts to expiration and, in many cases, buy new replacement contracts (aka contract rolling).

In a contango market, the price of the replacement futures contracts is higher than the contract just sold, which in effect creates a small but significant loss that can quickly add up to potentially huge losses in time.

To understand the serious ramifications that contango can have on your portfolio, consider that the United States Oil ETF (NYSEARCA:USO), one of the most popular energy ETFs that rolls its contracts every month, pays high premiums on oil futures contracts (contango) that can cost investors anywhere from 10-80% per year.

Getting around contango

At this juncture, many readers might wonder why traders even bother investing in oil futures at all, especially when you consider that contango has occurred in the oil markets about 60% of the time over the past decade.

Given the ongoing volatility in oil markets, investing in the oil futures markets is a decidedly risky venture. Nevertheless, there are a few methodologies that traders can use to circumvent this challenge.

#1 Constantly monitor the futures curve

The most obvious solution to skirt the negative effects of contango is by constantly monitoring the futures curve and only investing in the market when its in backwardation.

When the curve is sloping upwards, trading futures contracts will erode your capital especially if you do it frequently. As USO has demonstrated, the cost over the course of the year could nearly wipe out your capital.

#2 Invest directly in oil companies

Another obvious solution is to avoid the futures market altogether and invest directly in oil companies instead.

Investing directly in companies that drill, distribute and/or sell oil is a reasonable alternative to holding oil futures. Related: The Natural Gas Nation Every Exporter Is Targeting

However, its also important to bear in mind that many of these companies frequently fail to accurately track oil prices closely enough--and the difference can be pretty dramatic.

For instance, in 2008 during the oil mega-bull market, oil prices climbed 200% compared to an 88% gain by oil and gas giant, Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE:XOM).

Another reasonable, if not precise, method is by investing in large energy ETFs such as Vanguard Energy ETF (NYSEARCA:VDE) and the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSEARCA:XLE) that offer diversified exposure to the industry.

The biggest risk of investing in these ETFs is that they frequently display large tracking errors because they invest in both oil and gas companies whereas price movements by the two commodities do not necessarily correlate. They also invest in exploration & drilling, equipment & transportation companies whose performance is not directly tied to energy prices.

Luckily, there are ETFs that track non-integrated oil companies. These include SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (NYSEARCA:XOP) and iShares U.S. Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (BATS:IEO). These are not without risk, though, since they also invest in small companies that are hugely volatile due to idiosyncratic factors that may be unrelated to oil prices.

#3 Use a hybrid model

So far, we have observed that each methodology that tries to avoid the negative effects of contango has its own limitations due to the how the company or exchange traded fund operates.

Therefore, we can surmise that the best way to get around the problem is by employing a hybrid model whereby you invest in the cheapest futures contract that optimizes between USO, PowerShares DB Oil ETF (NYSEARCA:DBO) and the United States 12 Month Oil ETF (NYSEARCA:USL) when the futures curve is in backwardation, then shift to general energy ETF such as XLE, IEO or VDE when its in contango.

This methodology certainly requires a little more elbow grease and constantly keeping an eye on the futures curve to identify any flipping points. However, it can potentially yield better results than the other two methodologies executed in isolation.

By Anes Alic for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:

Link:
How To Invest In An Oil Contango - OilPrice.com

If you're a young person today, you have the best investing advantage in the world: Time.

Due to the miracle of compounding investment returns, investing a small amount today in a winning investment idea has the potential to fund your entire retirement -- that is, if the idea is good enough, and if you hold for the long-term.

Don't believe me? Consider the track record of the world's best long-term value investor: Warren Buffett. If you had the luck of knowing Buffett back when he initially took over the struggling New England textile business Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK-A) (NYSE:BRK-B) in 1964, and had the ability to invest just $1,000, your retirement would be more than set right now.

Don't believe that just $1,000 could fund your entire retirement? You may be surprised.

Image source: The Motley Fool

Berkshire Hathaway had already existed as a public company before Buffett took it over. It actually traces its roots all the way back to 1839, and became a large textile manufacturer in New England over the next 130 years. Buffett began buying shares of the company through his investment partnership in 1962. In 1964, Berkshire's owner made an offer to buy out Buffett's shares for $11.50 each, which Buffett agreed to. However, when the offer came in, it was for $11.375, below the agreed-upon price. This made Buffett so angry that he decided to buy the rest of the company instead of selling, then fired the CEO that had slighted him.

Unfortunately, Berkshire Hathaway was a declining business, and was eventually shut down in 1985; but in the meantime, Buffett and his partner Charlie Munger took the cash flow from its operations, then diversified into insurance and many other businesses, using their value investing acumen to reap huge gains over time.

Buffett's early insurance wins came from investments in National Indemnity and GEICO, which Berkshire now owns, along with consumer businesses such as See's Candies and The Washington Post. Berkshire then compounded those gains with larger and larger investments in more recent years, including BNSF railroad and Midwestern Energy in the early 2000s.

In terms of public market investments, Buffett made a killing investing in Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO), Capital Cities/ ABC, and Gillette in the 1980s, thenWells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) in the 1990s. During the financial crisis of 2008, Buffett scooped up a large number of U.S. financial institutions, including Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) and Buffett's current favorite bank, Bank of America (NYSE:BAC). More recently, Buffett has bought stakes in all four major U.S. airlines, and over the 2016-2017 time frame took his largest public stock position of all in Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL).

Between 1964, the year that Buffett took over Berkshire, and 2018, Berkshire's market value has compounded at a stunning 20.5% annual rate, appreciating a whopping 2,472,627% over that period. Thus far in 2019, Berkshire's stock has gained almost 8% to $329,225 per A share. Berkshire has never split its A shares, though it introduced more modestly priced B shares in 1996.

BRK.A data by YCharts

Thus, from 1964 through November of 2019, Berkshire's stock is up 2,666,178%. That means if you had invested $1,000 in Berkshire back then -- perhaps because of your instinctual "belief in new management" under Buffett -- that stake would be worth a stunning $26.7 million today.

Needless to say, it can pay off -- and pay off big -- to seek out winning investments you can hold for the long-term. As Berkshire's stunning returns show, 54 years of compounding can turn just $1,000 into many millions, giving financial independence to you and your family in your later years. While it would be hard to match Buffett's long-term returns, the example shows that, given enough time, prudently adding even small sums of money to your investment account in high-quality businesses with good management can lead to a healthy and prosperous retirement.

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If You Invested $1,000 in Berkshires IPO, This Is How Much Money You'd Have Now - The Motley Fool

During Ronald Reagans second U.S. presidential debate with Walter Mondale in October 1984, the former movie star was asked about his age he was 73 and whether he would be able to handle the rigours of the toughest job in the world.

The oldest president in U.S. history responded: I want you to know that also I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponents youth and inexperience.

Brilliant. Even Mondale had to laugh.

Top tennis players typically reach their highest levels of performance at age 24, (although Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are making a strong argument that it can be past 30).

For baseball, the peak age is 28, the same for long distance runners. Its three years older for golf. For table tennis its 17 years. Its all downhill after that.

So, whats the peak performance age for investors? Well, there are a number of great investors who are still going strong in their golden years. Warren Buffett, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway and one of the richest men in the world, is 89. His right-hand man, Charlie Munger, is 95.

There are others who were even older. Phil Carret, one of Buffetts role models and the founder of one of the first mutual funds in the U.S., was still investing when he died at 101. Irving Kahn, an early disciple to Benjamin Graham, a.k.a. the father of value investing, was the worlds oldest active investor when he passed away in 2015 at the age of 109. Interestingly, all of the them are (or were) value investors.

There seems to be no age limit, barring cognitive impairment or other ailments, that hampers ones ability to be a great investor.

Great investing has nothing to do with getting older. In fact, its quite the opposite. I asked Carret at a Berkshire Hathaway meeting many years ago to what he owed his longevity. He thought for a moment and said, Well, I never smoked, I drink in moderation and I dont worry about anything.

I believe its the latter element that was the most important. All of these aforementioned investors had the ability to block out short-term market gyrations and not be upset by them. In fact, they saw big drops or even collapses in stock prices as something to celebrate and they saw them many times during their careers.

Age gives you something that the young simply cant have experience and mistakes. Consider the thoughts of Thomas Edison, inventor of the light bulb.

I have not failed 10,000 times. I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those 10,000 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work, he said.

Those who have never experienced large market declines are at a distinct disadvantage to those who have. Many investors today dont even remember the near-collapse in 2008, the bear market of 2000 to 2002 or the white-knuckle abyss of 1987.

Investors who have been around a few years possess the huge advantage of having lived through both bull and bear markets. They have witnessed the wild elation of investors throwing rational thought to the wind and paying ridiculously high prices for businesses. They have also seen their despair at the opposite end of the investing spectrum when selling their holdings for rock-bottom values. Reading the history of such events is one thing. Living through the real-world behaviour of Mr. Market, the imaginary investor in Grahams 1949 book, The Intelligent Investor, is something else altogether.

Experience is invaluable in investing. Yes, having the right education is essential. Studying economics, accounting and mathematics helps to build an important foundation. But the classroom is light years away from the ultra-competitive and cut-throat real world of investing.

In that arena, my mistakes have taught me way more than my successes. The pains of losses are incredibly great teachers.

What do you learn from mistakes? Well, you do not want to do them ever again. For example, buying into a value trap or owning a company run by a bunch of crooks can feel like getting hit in the head by a brick. Paying far too much for a business, even a good one, can be another path to pain and learning the hard way.

So, what are the young investors who have never experienced these long-term events to do?

One suggestion: Read the history of markets. There are many great books that have been written about market manias, the subsequent panics and human behaviour.

This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly by Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff and A Short History of Financial Euphoria by John Kenneth Galbraith are two of the best. The latter is a delightfully, entertaining short history of market madness through the ages. For a deeper understanding of the 1920s, Galbraiths brilliant book, The Great Crash 1929, is also essential reading.

Otherwise, you will live the horror of what Galbraith reportedly said many years ago the old generation has to die off so a new set of idiots can make the same mistakes all over again.

Larry Sarbit is a Portfolio Manager at Value Partners Investments in Winnipeg.

Link:
The pain of a failed investment can be the best teacher of all - Financial Post

Bonds offer stability and income.

Investors often choose bonds to avoid market volatility and generate income, especially as they get closer to retiring. Government bonds such as municipal bonds and U.S. Treasurys provide income, but pay a lower yield when the Federal Reserve lowers interest rates for a longer period. Fixed-income investments provide a balance to stock portfolios during volatility and investors can choose from individual bonds, mutual funds or exchange-traded funds, says Daren Blonski, managing principal of Sonoma Wealth Advisors. "It's important to note that fixed-income tends to underperform stocks over the long run," he says. "Fixed-income investments should not be used as a replacement for stock investments." Here are seven types of fixed-income investments.

Bond ETFs or mutual funds

Choosing a single government or corporate bond can increase risk. Another approach is to add an ETF or mutual fund that owns many bonds, such as the Vanguard Long-Term Bond ETF (ticker: BLV). Investors receive a broader exposure with an ETF like JPMorgan U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (JAGG) and investment-grade bonds, Blonski says. Investors seeking a higher return can select an actively managed mutual fund to seek an advantage, such as the Lord Abbott Short Duration Mutual Fund (LALDX). "The value of using a fund over an individual holding is that funds can provide an element of diversification," he says. "It's really important to understand the underlying assets you are buying."

Short-term bonds

Both corporate and government bonds have maturity dates that range from one year to as long as 30 years. When a bond matures, the issuer pays the principal or face value of the bond. A shorter maturity means the risk of interest rates rising is less and the investor receives a lower yield. Since the yield curve is flat, investors should stick with short-term bonds, says Charles Sizemore, a portfolio manager at Interactive Advisors. "When we see the 10-year Treasury yield get close to a 3% yield again, it might make sense to buy longer-term bonds," he says. "Until then, staying in T-bills or very short-term corporate bonds is the smarter move."

Preferred stock

Preferred stock is a hybrid investment that has characteristics of both common stock and bonds. Investors receive a coupon that specifies the yield, says Rohan Reddy, a research analyst at Global X ETFs. Preferred securities are sensitive to interest rates. When rates decline, preferreds rise in value and provide consistent dividend payments. They are typically issued by banks and insurance companies. Investors near retirement often seek more yield and some turn to preferred stock, since the yield tops most bonds, Reddy says. "Preferred stock dividends often come with favorable tax characteristics compared to bonds," he says. "A decent portion of preferred stock dividends are classified as qualified dividends, meaning dividends received by investors are taxed at their long-term capital gains rate."

Leveraged bond funds

Similar to stock funds and ETFs that use leverage to boost returns, bond funds have similar strategies. Be wary of bond funds that employ too much leverage because when "rates go the other way, they will be feeling some pain," says Ron McCoy, CEO of Freedom Capital Advisors. "An 8%, 10% or 12% yield is alluring to many and with the dip in rates this year, many have climbed higher in price," he says. Investors should be willing to accept to accept less yield in return for safety, McCoy adds. "The higher the yield, the more likely you will see volatility when things adjust."

Municipal bonds

Municipal bonds are issued by a city, state or government agency. The issuer agrees to pay the face value of the bond when it matures and interest. Municipal bonds can be free of taxes if you meet certain residency rules. With the potential tax benefit, it doesn't make sense to hold these bonds in a retirement account, but can they create tax-exempt interest income outside of a retirement portfolio, says Alex Chalekian, CEO of Lake Avenue Financial. A municipal bond mutual fund or ETF can also diversify the risk. "We tend to lean more towards the mutual fund option as we prefer active management of the bond holdings instead of an index," Chalekian says.

Story continues

Corporate bonds

Corporate bonds are one way for investors to lend money to a company and also earn a set yield along with the return of the principal amount. These bonds are ranked by ratings agencies on the likelihood of them defaulting. Experts typically recommend that investors stick with bonds that have an investment-grade rating, such as AAA, but no lower than BBB. Bonds can be downgraded before they mature, which makes them a riskier option in a portfolio, especially for people seeking income. Also, a company's stock price and corporate bond yield do not always have a correlation.

Government bonds

Government bonds include Treasurys and municipal bonds. They are at risk of interest rates declining. Investors who purchased longer-dated bonds that mature in 15 or 30 years face the most risk. Investors near retirement can avoid interest-rate risk by overweighting short maturity debt, says Derek Horstmeyer, an assistant finance professor at George Mason University. A risk of default should always be assessed by investors before adding a local or state bond to a portfolio. "Treasurys are a good place to invest money that you need better returns than you can get on cash, but also want to minimize the risk of loss," Blonski says.

Types of fixed-income investments:

-- Bond ETFs or mutual funds

-- Short-term bonds

-- Preferred stock

-- Leveraged bond funds

-- Municipal bonds

-- Corporate bonds

-- Government bonds

More From US News & World Report

More here:
7 Types of Fixed-Income Investments - Yahoo Finance

The Cavar wind complex will feature four windfarms. Credit: Iberdrola Navarra.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has agreed to provide financing of 50m for the construction of the Cavar windfarm in Navarra, Spain. The windfarm will be built by Renovables de la Ribera, a 50/50 joint venture (JV) between the Spanish electric utility company Iberdrola and Caja Rural de Navarra.

Located between the municipalities of Cadreita and Valtierra, the Cavar complex will comprise four windfarms with a total capacity of 111 MW and will be operational in the first quarter of 2020.

EIB vice-president Emma Navarro said: Spain has major renewable energy potential, and the EIB wants to help it to become a reference point in the sector by providing investments to promote the transition to a low-carbon economy while simultaneously fostering growth and employment.

As part of its aim to establish itself as the EU climate bank, the EIB has reaffirmed its commitment to increasing its financing to support Europe in its plans to become the first carbon-neutral continent by 2050.

Once operational, the complex will generate enough power that will be sufficient to meet the electricity needs of 46,500 people, while offsetting 84,000 tonnes of carbon emissions into the atmosphere annually.

Around 40MW of energy generated by the windfarm will be supplied to Nike in Europe under a power purchase agreement (PPA).

During the construction phase, the project is expected to create 200 employment opportunities in the region. By providing finance to the project, EIB has further strengthened its efforts to promote clean energy production in Spain.

The EIB is supporting the project through a Green Loan. Additionally, the financing will support European Commissions proposed goal of generating 32% of the energy used in the EU from renewable sources by 2030.

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The European Investment Bank to finance Cavar wind complex in Spain - Power Technology

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) stock has proved a terrific investment for those who bought it at its initial public offering (IPO) in August 2004 -- when the company was then named Google -- and held on for the long run.

So, just how great an investment has the tech giant and Google search engine owner been? Let's take a look.

Image source: Alphabet.

On Thursday, Aug. 19, 2004, while American swimmers were capturing three gold medals at the Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, things weren't going as swimmingly for Google stock's debut on the Nasdaq.

Despite much hype preceding the IPO, investors didn't seem as keen on what was then strictly a search engine stock as management had hoped. The company ended up pricing shares at $85, the low end of its revised range of $85 to $95 -- and that range was considerably lower than its original target of $108 to $135. Moreover, first-day trading action wasn't nearly as hot as the summer weather in much of the country. Google stock opened at $100.00 -- more than 17% higher than its offer price -- and closed the day at $100.34, an 18% gain from the IPO price. This is a solid performance but not one befitting what I well remember was being touted as the hottest tech IPO since the dot-com bubble burst in 2000.

Every dollar invested in Google stock at its IPO price has turned into $30. Here's how much various dollar amounts invested at the IPO would now be worth as of the market close on Nov. 22. (These figures take into account the company's controversial 2014 stock split, which we'll get to in a moment.)

$32,831 (second column); $40,193 (third column)

Data as of Nov. 22, 2019.

So, the answer to the headline question of how much money you'd have now if you invested $10,000 in Google's IPO is more than $300,000! Now this is assuming you bought at the $85 IPO price -- an unrealistic assumption for most folks. I've included a more realistic look at how much money you'd have now by assuming you bought the stock at the high end of its trading range on IPO day. In this case, there's not a huge difference, but there are often massive differences in instances involving popular IPOs.

As for the stock split, in 2014, the company not only doubled the number of shares outstanding, but it also created a new class of shares, Class C shares, which have no voting power. Public shareholders received one Class C share for every Class A share (1 vote each) they owned, while insiders who owned Class B shares (10 votes each) also received one Class C share for each Class B share they owned. This unusual move was made so the company's founders could split the stock and still retain their majority voting power. Class C shares began trading under the company's original ticker symbol, GOOG, while the Class A shares began trading as GOOGL following the split.

At the time of the stock split, the company also restructured its business and changed its corporate name to Alphabet, with Google becoming its largest operating unit.

The stock split means that in order to calculate how much one share of Google bought at its IPO is worth today, we have to add the current share prices of the Class A ($1,293.67) and Class C ($1,295.34) shares. That gives us $2,589.01. By contrast, had you decided to plunk $85 in a fund that tracks the S&P 500, your investment would now be worth $332, as the index has returned 291% since Google's IPO.

In 15 years, Alphabet has become the third-largest stock, by market cap, trading on a U.S. stock exchange, trailing only Apple and Microsoft. That's darn impressive when you consider that both of those companies have been around and publicly traded much longer, as the iPhone maker IPO'd in 1980 and the computer software behemoth followed in 1986.

What drove Alphabet's fast entree into the mammoth-company club? Primarily, this powerful combo: the torrid growth of the internet + the company's increasing share of the search engine market. This duo allowed Alphabet to sell more and more digital ads and at higher and higher prices. (The company originally made all of its money from ad sales, and today, the bulk of its revenue is still generated from ads.) Here's a look at the first part of this equation:

Image source: Statista.

Now let's get to Google's increasing dominance of the search engine market. In March 2004, several months before its IPO, the company had a leading 40.9% share of the U.S. search market, followed by Yahoo! (27.4%) and MSN (19.6%), according to Datahub.io. As of October 2019, Google search controls 88.3% of the U.S. search market, according to gs.statcounter.com. Moreover, that same source pegs the company's current share of the global market at 92.8%.

Alphabet's online sites (notably mobile and desktop search and video-sharing platform YouTube) are still its primary growth drivers. However, in recent years, the company has been getting a nice boost from its nonadvertising businesses. These include its cloud computing service, Google Cloud, and its hardware business, which includes phones powered by its Android operating system and its smart-home business, centered on Google Home, its smart speaker.

There are good reasons to believe that Alphabet stock will continue to outperform the market for some time. In addition to having growth potential left in its more established businesses, the company's newer and more newly monetized businesses have potentially huge runways for growth. For instance, its autonomous-vehicle subsidiary, Waymo, is poised to benefit big when driverless vehicles become legal across the United States. In late 2018, Waymo started generating revenue when it began offering a limited-scope ride-hailing service in the Phoenix, Arizona, area.

Read the original here:
If You Invested $10,000 in Google's IPO, This Is How Much Money You've Have Now - The Motley Fool

Looking for broad exposure to the Healthcare - Biotech segment of the equity market? You should consider the Invesco Dynamic Biotechnology & Genome ETF (PBE), a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 06/23/2005.

An increasingly popular option among retail and institutional investors, passively managed ETFs offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; they are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.

Sector ETFs are also funds of convenience, offering many ways to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Healthcare - Biotech is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 3, placing it in top 19%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by Invesco. It has amassed assets over $233.71 M, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Healthcare - Biotech segment of the equity market. PBE seeks to match the performance of the Dynamic Biotechnology & Genome Intellidex Index before fees and expenses.

This is comprised of stocks of 30 U.S. biotechnology and genome companies. These are companies that are principally engaged in the research, development, manufacture and marketing and distribution of various biotechnological products, services and processes and companies that benefit significantly from scientific and technological advances in biotechnology and genetic engineering and research.

Costs

Since cheaper funds tend to produce better results than more expensive funds, assuming all other factors remain equal, it is important for investors to pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.57%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund's holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

Looking at individual holdings, Biogen Inc (BIIB) accounts for about 6.28% of total assets, followed by Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc (VRTX) and Neurocrine Biosciences Inc (NBIX).

The top 10 holdings account for about 50.41% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the Invesco Dynamic Biotechnology & Genome ETF has added roughly 17.18% so far, and it's up approximately 7.20% over the last 12 months (as of 11/27/2019). PBE has traded between $43.44 and $56.26 in this past 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 1.43 and standard deviation of 22.73% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 29 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.

Alternatives

Invesco Dynamic Biotechnology & Genome ETF carries a Zacks ETF Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Thus, PBE is a reasonable option for those seeking exposure to the Health Care ETFs area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI) tracks S&P Biotechnology Select Industry Index and the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB) tracks Nasdaq Biotechnology Index. SPDR S&P Biotech ETF has $4.20 B in assets, iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF has $7.54 B. XBI has an expense ratio of 0.35% and IBB charges 0.47%.

Bottom Line

To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Invesco Dynamic Biotechnology & Genome ETF (PBE): ETF Research Reports iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB): ETF Research Reports SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI): ETF Research Reports Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (VRTX) : Free Stock Analysis Report Biogen Inc. (BIIB) : Free Stock Analysis Report Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NBIX) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research

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Should You Invest in the Invesco Dynamic Biotechnology & Genome ETF (PBE)? - Yahoo Finance

One resolution that can be difficult to keepor startis investing. But building an investment portfolio does not have to be difficult.

Building an investment portfolio with ETFs is one way to help you achieve your goals. An ETF (exchange-traded fund) is a diversified collection of securities (like a mutual fund) that trades on an exchange (like a stock). There are over 1,800 ETFs listed in the United States, and iShares, BlackRock's ETF business, offers more than 300 to choose from in the U.S. and 800 globally, across a broad range of asset classes, sectors and geographical regions.1 You can pick and choose any number of ETFs that best suit you, your goals and your passions.

Here are three ways ETFs can help you achieve your goals for 2020 and beyond.

iShares Core ETFs are broad stock and bond funds that are designed to be long-term portfolio holdings.

If you care most about seeking to preserve your nest egg, you may want to consider a mix of iShares Core Funds that have a heavy allocation toward bonds and a small allocation toward stocks.

If you are the type of investor who is seeking long-term growth and is less concerned about market swings, you may want to consider a majority stock portfolio. Consider a mix of iShares Core Funds that have a heavy allocation in stocks and a smaller portion in bonds.

ETFs may help minimize capital gains distributions and thus the tax liabilities that investors are required to pay each year, as they tend to be tax efficient.

Capital gains result from sales of securities that have increased in value over time in fund portfolios. With any fund, when gains from sales exceed losses, they are distributed to fund investors. But for traditional mutual funds, capital gains are more likely to be passed through to investors regardless of whether or not they have chosen to sell.

This is because ETFs generally follow strategies that trade less frequently than mutual funds and have structural features that help prevent capital gains from being passed on to remaining fund investors. Over the past five years, 58% of mutual funds paid capital gains taxes while only 6% of iShares ETFs did.2With ETFs, investors can typically exercise greater control over their personal tax situations by seeking to limit themselves from capital gains distributions.

As you look ahead at the beginning of a new year, making a positive impact on the world might be one of your resolutions, and sustainable investing is one way to help make that happen.

Sustainable investing is about investing in progress, pioneering better ways of doing business and creating the momentum to encourage more people to build a sustainable future.

BlackRock is committed to making sustainable investing as simple as traditional investing, providing investors with a range of iShares ETFs that allow them to make a positive impact while pursuing their financial objectives. One option is to select ETFs that hold companies that rate highly in terms of their commitments to positive environmental, social and governance (ESG) business practices. Another option is to select ETFs that focus on a particular E, S or G issue, like clean energy.

With iShares ETFs, you can pursue both your financial and personal goals, whether you are looking to quickly and easily get started at a low cost, find a tax-efficient solution or build a sustainable investment portfolio.

For more information on how you can start pursuing your goals for 2020 and beyond using iShares ETFs, click here.

Carefully consider the Funds' investment objectives, risk factors, and charges and expenses before investing. This and other information can be found in the Funds' prospectuses or, if available, the summary prospectuses, which may be obtained by visiting http://www.iShares.com or http://www.blackrock.com. Read the prospectus carefully before investing.

Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal.

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Invest With A Purpose: Pursuing Your New Years Goals With ETFs - Forbes

Is your business interested in international trade? Youre invited to join Gilberts Office of Economic Development, the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce, and Gilbert Sister Cities for an International Trade Seminar on Tuesday, December 10, from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at the Gilbert University Building located at 92 W. Vaughn Avenue, Gilbert, AZ 85233.

International trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) play an essential role in ensuring economic growth and prosperity, creating highly-compensated jobs, spurring innovation, and driving exports. At the event, representatives from Gilbert Sister Cities, Arizona Commerce Authority, Invest Northern Ireland, and the Greater Phoenix Economic Council will provide details about financial assistance and programs available to businesses interested in expanding internationally, and present information on business opportunities in Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom. Attendees will also learn about an exciting opportunity to join a trade and investment mission in the Spring of 2020 to the United Kingdom as part of Gilberts Sister Cities program with Antrim and Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland.

Businesses interested in international trade, especially those interested in exploring business opportunities with Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom, should plan to attend this event. Through this partnership, Gilbert hopes to locate businesses that are looking to expand internationally and assist them in relationship building, importing and exporting assistance, finding financial resources, and more.

Register for the International Trade Seminar.

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Gilbert will host International Trade and Investment Seminar - AZ Big Media