Those gains came from companies you are probably already familiar with: Roche Holdings, Wal-Mart of Mexico, and Adidas. These three companies have a combined market cap of $177 billion, yet produced enormous penny stock-sized gains.

Beyond being large, international, and profitable, these three have something else in common: none of them trade on a major U.S. exchange.

Roche is Swiss, Adidas is German, and Wal-Mart of Mexico is a southern neighbor. So unless you live in Switzerland, Germany, or Mexico, you might be wondering how you can get in on opportunities like these.

Until a few years ago, we wouldn’t have had an answer for you. Luckily, the international investment landscape made at least one change for the better in recent years…

67 Companies That Are 3.4 Times Larger Than the Whole OTC Market

You may already be familiar with the Pink Sheets, now known as the Pink OTC Markets. The Pink OTC is just the information center of the over-the-counter market. It’s not actually an exchange like the New York Stock Exchange. Instead, it just gives individual investors access to OTC broker-dealers. Broker-dealers are the people that actually trade these securities.

One common criticism of OTC companies, especially those on the Pinks, is their lack of financial reporting.

To get listed on the NYSE, AMEX, or NASDAQ, you have to submit on-time, regular financial results to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

OTCBB-listed companies are required to report, but not as much as others.

Pinks, on-the-other hand, don’t have to report anything… ever. That’s why large institutional investors — like investment banks and mutual funds — aren’t usually allowed to touch these companies. Individuals like you, however, can trade Pinks using a simple online broker.

In 2007, the people at Pink Sheets brought us a new classification system to help us evaluate these often-misjudged securities: the OTCQX.

The OTCQX is a listing service with NYSE-like requirements. A few of these include minimum ownership requirements, trading volume, regular financial reporting, and ongoing business operations. These seem like a no-brainer, but millions of dollars are thrown at companies in the regular Pink Sheets that don’t meet any of these requirements.

This new OTCQX also opened another door… this one on the global stage.

Many foreign companies don’t seek listing their securities on the NYSE or AMEX because of these exchanges’ stringent filing requirements — not to mention the obscene fees they charge. With the OTCQX, these companies finally have another access point to U.S. investors.

Most OTCQX International-listed companies were previously traded on the Pink Sheets. In many cases, individual investors took it upon themselves to do this. Meaning the company didn’t have to draft a U.S. investor prospectus or sign a formal American Depositary Receipt bank agreement. U.S. investors and investment banks would literally travel to these companies’ home-country exchanges, buy shares, and trade them on the Pinks. With the OTCQX, and its massive success, these companies are now actively seeking this kind of trade volume.

Take a look at the traffic the OTCQX has spurred compared to its OTC counterparts:

More Than 3 Times More Dollar Volume Than Its Competitors Combined

As you can probably tell by now, the companies we discussed are all listed on the OTCQX International. But they are still on a relatively short list. According to the OTCQX website, there are only 53 in this category — out of only 67 total OTCQX-approved companies.

In coming months and years, these numbers will increase. As you can see, investors are already benefiting from this short list.

We have one OTCQX International company currently catching our attention. This $29 billion company is a global leader in its industry. It’s also growing at double-digit rates — 53% in the first half of this year!

If we decide to pull the trigger on it, we’ll do so to our Lifetime Income Report readers.

Sincerely,
Jim Nelson

Source: Grab Secret Penny Stock Gains from the World’s Best Blue Chips

There was more money available to buy shares than at any time in almost two decades. The $8.85 trillion held in cash, bank deposits and money market funds was equal to 74% of the market value of U.S. companies, the highest ratio since 1990, according to the Federal Reserve.

What happened in the past when cash reached these levels?

• In September 1974, cash on hand reached $604.5 billion, representing a record 1.21 times the U.S. stock market’s capitalization. That preceded a 31% gain in equities between October 1974 and March 1975.
• In July 1982, just as a 20-month bear market was ending, cash as a percentage of the U.S. stock market’s value rose to 95%. The S&P 500 began a six-month, 36% advance. According to Bloomberg, the eight previous times that cash peaked compared with the market’s capitalization, the S&P 500 rose an average 24% in six months.

This time, of course, it didn’t take nearly as long for the market to rally.

Still, the greatest appreciation so far has been in smaller stocks. That’s normal in an early bull market. But if the bull market continues, the big, blue-chip stocks are likely to lead the market higher for two key reasons:

• First, there is still over $8 trillion on the sidelines earning next to nothing in short-term deposits. Investors tip-toeing back into the market are likely to gravitate here since these stocks are the safest.
• And then there is the growing influence of cash-rich sovereign wealth funds…

Sovereign Wealth Funds – The Financial Assets of a Country

Sovereign wealth funds are the financial assets of a country – usually part of the national savings – that are owned and organized into a state-controlled fund and put to work to earn a higher return on investment.

(Sovereign wealth funds are not the same entities as foreign exchange reserves, which are often used for short-term currency stabilization and liquidity.)

In the past, most countries put their liquid assets to work in foreign currency deposits, government bonds or gold. (The hard-working Japanese and Chinese, for example, have kept our interest rates low by maintaining a steady appetite for U.S. Treasury obligations.)

But with the dollar relatively weak and interest rates on Treasuries near record lows, U.S. government bonds are not generating the kind of returns you write home about.

So world governments are slowly moving money into global equity markets. And the sums involved are fairly staggering.

Sovereign Wealth Funds Control More Than $7 Trillion…

According to The Economist, sovereign wealth funds already control more than $7 trillion today. The exact amount is impossible to ascertain due to lack of transparency.

But China, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates alone are known to control more than $2 trillion. And more money is being allocated to these funds all the time.

What does this mean for you as an investor?

Expect to see cash coming off the sidelines to accumulate shares of the largest, most liquid firms around the globe. Quite frankly, they are the only companies that can easily absorb buying on this scale.

For example, take a look at the Dow Jones Global Titans Fund (NYSE: DGT). It holds the world’s 50 largest publicly traded companies.

World-Class Diversification in a Blue-Chip Portfolio

When you buy this cheaply valued blue-chip portfolio, you’re getting world-class diversification.

Companies like:

• Exxon Mobile (NYSE:XOM),
• IBM,
• Proctor & Gamble (NYSE:PG),
• Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT),
• Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO),
• Nestlé,
• Toyota Motor (NYSE:TM),
• Roche Holdings,
• Samsung Electronics

… Are just a few of the names that are major holdings of the DGT fund.

These firms will almost certainly be an early stop for U.S. investors who get frustrated with low yields and start venturing back into the game.

These same companies are a natural home for sovereign wealth funds – and the growing trillions they control.

History shows that cash on the sidelines always grows itchy with time. The Dow Jones Global Titans (NYSE: DGT) is a good way to take advantage of it – ahead of the crowd.

Good investing,

Alexander Green

Source: Sovereign Wealth Funds: $7 Trillion Reasons to Stay Invested

But now that the party is over, biotech stocks are coming back in a big way. According to mutual-fund research firm Lipper, two biotech funds were amongst the top five best-performing vehicles in July – a dramatic reversal from June when commodities funds were leading the charge.

Big Pharma is buying up promising biotech companies in an effort to boost profit margins. This creates great opportunities for investors, and it’ only just the beginning…

Forget financial, energy, and retail companies. Well, maybe you shouldn’t just forget them. There are deals there, too. But, something much better is starting and you need to know about it…For the past few years, Wall Street has beaten down one of the most lucrative industries in the whole lot of them…biotechs.

Biotechs offer investors with  to get in on breakthrough technologies, while they are still in the lab. Many times, they also offer average people with a way to invest in future cures and solutions to the world’s most dangerous diseases. That’s quite a one-two punch.

So why have investors stopped investing in these ground-floor companies?As the leader of the free world said, “There’s no question about it. Wall Street got drunk…it got drunk and now it’s got a hangover.”

That’s really the only way to describe what has happened the past few years. If you have ever had a bit too many to drink in your life, you know that you sometimes get a little too focused on certain things, and forget about other things completely. That’s what Wall Street did with the biotech industry…

You see, investors have been too busy buying up investment banks and mortgage fiascos. Now that the dust is starting to settle (even though we expect that to take quite a while), more and more interest is being paid to technologies and biotechs. That hasn’t happened on any large scale since the tech bubble burst.

A few weeks ago, Big Pharma went head first into this recent breakout, when Switzerland-based Roche Holdings offered to buy up the other 44% of Genetech Inc. (NYSE:DNA) that it didn’t own. The news of this possible deal sent shares flying 15% overnight.

Just a few days ago, Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) offered to buy ImClone Systems (NASDAQ:IMCL) — a small $5 billion biotech — for $60 per share. While that one was instantly rejected it did send ImClone shares flying, giving investors a nice, one-day 40% gain.

These stories are starting to roll in now. There’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for it…

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When the Gold-to-Silver Ratio Slides into Balance, You Get Rich

The world has about five times more gold than silver. What if silver cost one-fifth the price of gold?

It would skyrocket over 950%!

I’m not saying it will soar that high. I’m not ruling it out, either. At the very least, I’m convinced you’ll see the white metal price rocket above the 300% level very soon. Even the pressure from rising gold prices alone demands it.

Just check out this report, to see how you can make those kinds of profits…

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Big Pharma is struggling to keep up with shareholder demands of larger profits, while they are fighting generics and more competition. To combat falling margins, these mega companies are buying up biotechs that have a few promising products in their pipelines. These new products are the future of the industry, and Big Pharma knows it.

All these deals are also bringing new interest to the industry. Investors, who have previously forgotten about the pharmaceutical industry, are just now starting to jump back in. Over the past few weeks, biotechs have outperformed the rest of the market in a big way. This is only the start. Smart money says we have a long way to go from here:

But, if you want to try and call the bottom of the financials flop, or the mortgage bankers’ bankruptcy, be my guest. We’ll be busy looking for the best biotech to own as the industry starts its march north.

Source: Biotech Rally Just Beginning