Most Americans are eating significant amounts of feces on a regular basis without even realizing it.  You might not mind this, but most people out there would not willingly eat feces if they could avoid it.  Not only is it disgusting, but feces is also a breeding ground for all kinds of dangerous diseases.  Read more…

New numbers that have just been released show that things are getting worse for American families.  According to the U.S. Census Bureau, median household income declined to $50,054 in 2011.  That is a 1.5 percent decline from the previous year, and median household income Read more…

If a major economic crisis hit us right now, the vast majority of Americans would be extremely vulnerable.  According to a recent CareerBuilder survey, 40 percent of all Americans live paycheck to paycheck all of the time, and 77 percent of all Americans Read more…

Michael Snyder: Barack Obama has destroyed the future of America in order to improve his chances of winning the next election.  Under Obama, 5.3 trillion dollars has been ruthlessly stolen from our children and our grandchildren.  That money has been used to pump Read more…

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Michael Snyder: Did you know that median household income in the United States is lower today than it was when the last recession supposedly ended?  Read more…

In early 2008, falling home prices and a declining stock market caused consumer spending to plummet. This lasted for about 18 months. But soon consumers started to realize that the economy wasn't going to remain in freefall forever. Today, the retailing industry has recovered quickly, is on much more solid footing, and certain players are set for a big move forward in terms of sales and earnings.

In 2011, higher food, fuel and commodity costs are keeping consumers focused on more basic necessities, including food, gas and clothing. But the fact that demand has recovered from the recession a couple of years ago means customers are again paying up for more fashionable and pricey merchandise. Near term, gas prices have already moderated recently, and the consumer spending climate is likely to continue to improve in the next couple of years along with the overall economy.

With that, below are three retailers that offer a decent combination of fashionable merchandise but also focus on selling products that consumers will need no matter the economic climate. Reasonable valuations combined with growth potential and a growing economy suggests big upside potential for investors within the next one to two years.

1. Kohl's
Business: Off-mall department store operator
P/E: 12.3

Like all retailers, Kohl's (NYSE: KSS) was adversely affected by the plummet in consumer spending that occurred during the credit crisis. However, sales dipped only slightly in 2008, falling less than 1% to $16.4 billion. Profits fell a more severe 14.7% to $885 million, or $2.89 per diluted share, but have come roaring back and hit $1.1 billion, or $3.65 per diluted share, in 2010. Growth should be very strong this year. Analysts project $4.39 in earnings for year-over-year growth of almost 20%.

Kohl's has it all as a retailer. Its focus on basic apparel fashion is a major reason it did well during the financial crisis. It also continues to open new stores across the United States, which now total about 1,100. It also does this profitably, with net margins of 6.1%, impressive for a retailer. Kohl's also generates strong operating cash flow that leaves enough to spend on maintaining or opening stores and plenty left over to buy back stock. The company even recently initiated a dividend, which amounts to a current yield of 1.8%. Finally, its valuation is appealingly low, with a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of 12.3.

2. Target
Business: Big-box general retailer
P/E: 11.8

Target (NYSE: TGT) also did well during the credit crisis on a sales basis, growing by 6.5% to $63.4 billion in 2008 from the previous year. A focus on general merchandise helped, but a more fashionable attitude toward its products did not. As a result, profits dipped a rather dramatic 14.1% to $2.86 per share but have come back in strong fashion, rising to almost $3 billion, or $4 per share last year. Analysts project a further recovery this year with earnings of $4.17 for modest year-over-year growth of 4.3%.

For reasons I detailed in a past article, Target's growth prospects recently perked up even further. In January, it announced ambitious growth plans in Canada and plans to open 100-150 stores in that country by 2014. Target has also acquired the leasehold interest for a total of 220 store sites that will allow it to grow the store base by more than 12%. The company also plans to grow quickly in Mexico and Latin America.

Domestically, Target is remodeling its store base to add more grocery products in order to bring customers in more often and steal market share from archrival Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) and local grocery store chains. At a forward P/E below 12, I see a rally of at least 50%, which is based off a P/E of 15 and $5 per share in potential earnings within three years.

When analysts received word on March 30 that Medicare would cover Dendreon's (Nasdaq: DNDN) pricey drug Provenge, used to treat prostate cancer, shares of the drug maker steadily rose from $35 to $43 in just one month. Many biotech watchers had expected the move and set themselves up for a nice and quick gain. Some analysts even suspect Dendreon will eventually power into the $60s, though profit-taking has pushed the stock back down to $38 for now.

Here's the charm of health care: the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) establishes clear dates for when it will approve or reject a drug or a medical device. If you have a clear sense of the odds and can stomach a high degree of risk, then investing ahead of such dates can be wise — and profitable.

Friday's employment report has created an even hazier backdrop for stocks. Recent economic data showed an economy starting to cool, but with 244,000 jobs created in April — the best showing in 11 months — this expansion still may have legs after all. The key distinction: the economy's areas of support are not what you would have expected a few months ago.

In recent weeks and months, investors have been trying to assess stocks in the context of a sharp spike in commodities — from oil to silver to wheat. Only recently, we've seen how the massive flooding in the Midwest is leading to forecasts of sharply falling farm output and eventually, higher food prices. Consumers didn't need to hear that while gasoline prices were eating a hole in their pocketbooks.

Despite that, stocks were able to rally through much of April, thanks to a declining dollar that was boosting prospects for U.S. blue chips. In effect, the domestic economic picture looked troubling, while the rest of the world promised to provide at least a decent tailwind.

That scenario now looks backward, as former global growth pillars are starting to wobble. Efforts to slow the Chinese economy may be taking effect, as a range of data points in that all-important economy imply that growth in 2011 may move down to the mid single-digits from a seemingly never-ending run of nearly double-digit GDP growth. Brazil is trying to curb inflation, efforts of which have not always yielded soft landings. And in just a few trading sessions, high-flying commodities such as silver and oil have sharply pulled back while the dollar has begun to rebound. Many are suddenly shifting their sights back to the United States as an engine of growth. Friday's jobs report simply underscores that notion.

GM's (NYSE: GM) first-quarter results help tell the story. The automaker earned $908 million from its foreign operations a year ago. That figure dropped to $480 million in the recent first quarter. The company's chief financial officer, Daniel Ammann, told investors that GM's growth rate in China “is at 10% to 15%, down from the 40% to 50% we've been seeing.” Profits also fell sharply in South America from a year ago and Europe remains unprofitable. Here in the United States, GM is doing quite well: Earnings (before interest and taxes) at the North American division were about $1.3 billion, $100 million higher than a year ago. Merrill Lynch thinks North American earnings before interest and taxes will average around $2 billion for each of the next three quarters.

What it means
For investors, the question is whether today's jobs report (and the subsequent rally after four straight down sessions) means it's time to keep fully-exposed to the market. The answer is a qualified yes (I never like to be fully exposed, as it's nice to have cash set aside for major pullbacks that create value). Yet even as it pays to stay invested, the investing themes are now changing.

These changes include the following:

1. Airline stocks could really move into favor if oil keeps pulling back and U.S. job creation remains respectable. Oil has quickly moved from $114 last week to just under $100 late this week. It's no coincidence that the Amex Airline Index (AMEX: XAL) has surged 10% since April 19. [My colleague Ryan Fuhrmann profiled airlines a month ago.]

In a rising market, bad news for a company can be shrugged off as investors focus on the positives. But in recent weeks, investors have been less forgiving, meting out punishment to any company that delivers bad news. Let's take a look at all of the companies that have lost at least 25% of their value in the past month (and that have at least $200 million in market value) to see which ones might bounce back nicely when investors change their mood.

If you're seeking worthy biotech stocks, don't let the industry's high price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 28 deter you. Though generally expensive, the biotech sector still has great values.

In fact, there are biotech stocks with P/E ratios less than half the industry average. I foresee some of these stocks delivering absolute returns of up to 80% in the next three to five years. That's roughly 12% to 22% annually through 2016.

Here are two stocks which currently fit that description.

Gilead Sciences (NDQ: GILD) is a large cap that develops drug treatments for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. It's trading at only 12 times earnings — just 43% of the industry average — because key HIV drug patents will begin expiring. But that's not for five years, which gives the firm time to address the problem — a process that's already underway. Meanwhile, earnings are expected to grow an average of 11% to 12% annually.

Future depends on HIV meds
Gilead's patent concerns are related to Truvada, an HIV drug that accounts for a large portion of revenue (33% in 2010). Truvada is actually a combination of two other HIV drugs made by Gilead — Emtriva and Viread — whose patents expire in 2016 and 2017, respectively. While years off, the expirations could severely hinder long-term profitability by allowing rivals to introduce competing products.

However, there's a new “quad” medication in the works that combines four of Gilead's HIV drugs. The quad drug's efficacy hasn't been conclusively proven yet, so the Phase III clinical trial results expected late this year will provide crucial data.

Favorable findings would likely push Gilead's stock up immediately even though the quad drug wouldn't be on the market before late 2012. Because the HIV epidemic keeps growing, strong demand is certain as soon as the drug is available — provided it does well in the Phase III trial. If it does, then the stock could pop 5% to 10% right off the bat followed by additional gains of 50% to 70% in the next several years.

A lot rides on the new drug, but Gilead also has other meaningful revenue sources like royalties on the influenza drug Tamiflu, a line of hepatitis B therapies and new heart-disease drugs. The company is also looking for acquisitions to enhance the heart disease and hepatitis B franchises, and reduce reliance on HIV medications.

Amgen (NDQ: AMGN), also a large-cap biotech company, has three key drug types: anemia medications for patients with chronic kidney failure, infection fighters for chemotherapy recipients and autoimmune therapies for diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis. This stock trades at only 11 times earnings, a mere 39% of the industry average.

Why so cheap?

Two of the firm's blockbuster anemia drugs, Epogen and Aranesp, were found to have safety issues. On Feb. 16, 2010, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) confirmed reports beginning in 2007 that both drugs can increase tumor growth and shorten survival in cancer patients at higher doses. They can also raise the risk of heart attack, heart failure, stroke and blood clots in non-cancer patients.

As a result, shares have been trading in a fairly narrow range despite rising profits and measures to address the risks of the drugs. It's a value opportunity you don't see that often, especially three years into a bull market.

Controlling risk through REMS
To avoid further safety issues with Epogen and Aranesp, Amgen has developed an FDA-mandated Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS). That simply means patients treated with Epogen or Aranesp have to get a printed guide detailing all drug risks and benefits. Amgen must also ensure the drugs are only prescribed by hospitals and health care providers who've completed an FDA-mandated training program.

Despite the Epogen and Aranesp headaches or perhaps because of them, Amgen's stock has 80% upside potential through 2016. It's very much a case of the stock price catching up with prior earnings, which grew an average of nearly 11% annually during the past four years even as the stock went virtually nowhere.

Importantly, earnings growth for Amgen is expected to remain solid, averaging an estimated 7% to 8% annually in the coming three to five years on existing product sales and new acquisitions. In January, for example, Amgen bought the Massachusetts-based biotech company BioVex for $1 billion, thus adding the promising cancer vaccine OncoVex to its product pipeline.

The list of current blockbusters includes five drugs, each with annual sales of more than $1 billion. Two examples are Neulasta and Neupogen, drugs used to prevent infection in chemotherapy patients. Prolia, an osteoporosis drug approved by the FDA on June 2, 2010, could easily join that list.

And while safety issues have hurt sales of Epogen and Aranesp, both are still bringing in big bucks — about $2.5 billion each last year. Epogen faces growing competition from generic alternatives in Europe though, and its U.S. patent expires in 2013. Aranesp's U.S. patent expires in 2014.

Action to Take –> Of the two stocks I've described, Gilead is obviously more speculative because its future depends so much on the new quad drug it's developing. The drug has shown lots of promise and could be highly profitable if proven effective.

Previous study findings have been mixed, though. So it's up to the Phase III trial to provide the definitive results that either help propel the stock to large gains or prompt the market to mete out some more severe punishment.

I'd wait for those results and buy Gilead stock if the findings are positive. Since key patents begin expiring in five years, I'd also evaluate the stock regularly to see if it's worth holding beyond the intermediate term.

Amgen seems a surer bet because of its impressive list of blockbuster drugs and more varied product pipeline. I suggest buying it now before the market realizes it overreacted to the troubles with Epogen and Aranesp.

– Tim Begany

P.S. — I don't know if you're aware of this or not, but a 20-year energy agreement between the United States and Russia is about to expire. The problem is, this deal supplies 10% of America's electricity. When the Russians refuse to renew the agreement, the U.S. will face an entirely new kind of energy crisis. This disruption could send a handful of energy stocks through the roof. Keep reading…

This article originally appeared on StreetAuthority
Author: Tim Begany
2 Cheap Biotechs With up to 80% Upside

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2 Cheap Biotechs With up to 80% Upside

It can pay to keep an eye on companies that have been public for only a few quarters. Many of them stumble out of the gate and get lost in the crowd. By the time these companies start to get back on track, you may be one of the few investors still looking at them. I specifically focus on companies that have been public for about a year. That's just enough time to iron out the kinks.

The table below highlights seven companies that went public in the second quarter of 2010, all of which are now trading below their offering price (with one exception, which I'll soon explain). For this exercise I'm looking only at companies with market capitalizations larger than $150 million, because companies with market values below that level may toil in anonymity for a long while to come. Of the group, several stand out as clear rebound candidates.

“High oil prices start to apply the brake on drivers,” says a headline in The Financial Times.

As predicted, the feds’ easy money policies are turning into hard times for the middle and lower classes. Oil prices have gone up with the Fed’s balance sheet. For every dollar the Fed added, the price of oil ticked up too.

Now, the Fed has three times the monetary base it had before the crisis. And oil is three times as expensive.

Of course, you’d be hard-pressed to prove a direct cause and effect linkage. We wouldn’t even try.

But here’s something else. Where’s the price of gold? It hit a new record yesterday. $1,458. That’s up about 3 times too? What a coincidence!

Yeah, just a coincidence. No real connection between the feds pumping up the supply of money and prices going up….

Yeah…just a coincidence.

And not a happy one for consumers. The FT article tells us that drivers are driving less. Especially those who are looking for work.

They’re “home-bound.” They’re stuck with houses they can’t afford to leave. And they’re stuck in places where they can’t find jobs – distant suburbs built for a different world. America was built on cheap energy. Now that energy is no longer so cheap, a lot of what was built no longer makes sense.

That leaves a lot of people in a fix. Many have been unemployed for so long they’ve stopped looking and the government has stopped counting them. They’ve disappeared into the vast mortgaged suburbs…the vast edifice of late, degenerate capitalism.

Uh oh…but what’s this…there’s trouble in Zombie City too. Yes Dear Reader, the zombies are getting nervous. They’re worried….

“Washington Braced for a shutdown,” says another headline in the FT.

Experts say a shutdown of the federal government would cost the economy $8 billion per week – much of it in the Washington, DC area.

Business leaders have expressed alarm. They’re coming up with emergency plans. Zombies are in a state of “high alert,” says the news report.

While they’re worried about a temporary government shutdown, the bigger worry for the zombie world is that well-meaning budget cutters might actually succeed in cutting zombies off from their food supplies. Rep. Paul Ryan, looking either like presidential lumber…or easy-to-burn kindling… has proposed to take $5.8 trillion out of the deficit total over the next 10 years.

This is the first serious discussion of reforming federal finances. Could it have serious consequences?

The zombies are concerned. But they can sleep comfortably. According to our Daily Reckoning theory of How the World Works, once a system becomes degenerate it will continue to become more and more degenerate until it finally falls apart. Clear thinking, earnest reformers can try to put it right. But can they do it? Can they cut the zombies off the payrolls? Or are they only volunteering for martyrdom and taking their places on the scaffold?

We’ll see…

If it comes to that, Paul Ryan won’t be the first reformer to sacrifice himself in vain.

The Gracchi brothers set the pace in the 2nd century BC. Born into a good family at a bad time, the Gracchis tried to reform the Roman economy in 123, which they must have thought was in as bad shape as the US in 2011.

They were actually the great grandchildren of Scipio Africanus, hero of the war against Carthage.

Older brother Tiberius began by reforming the system of landholdings, so small landowners could earn more money and employ laborers. But a mob caught up with him and killed him. Then, his brother Gaius took over. He was elected Tribune and tried to reform the judiciary…as well as continue his brother’s land reforms. He didn’t last long either. In 121 BC he was set upon by his enemies…he fled and then committed suicide. Three thousand of his supporters were rounded up and killed.

Regards,

Bill Bonner
for The Daily Reckoning

The Coincidental Rise of Oil and the Monetary Base originally appeared in the Daily Reckoning. The Daily Reckoning recently featured articles on stagflation, best libertarian books, and QE2

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The Coincidental Rise of Oil and the Monetary Base

The Daily Reckoning is a contrarian e-letter, brought to you by New York Times best-selling authors Bill Bonner and Addison Wiggin since 1999. The DR looks at the economic world-at-large and offers its major players – investors, politicians, economists and the average consumer – some much-needed constructive criticism.