Making Money Alert: A Bull in Sin City

This week’s Making Money Alert comes to you directly from Sin City, a.k.a. Las Vegas, Nev. I’m here for the next couple of days at the annual Money Show, an event that I’ve been attending and speaking at every year for as long as I can remember.

I must say that this year, attendance is robust. I don’t have any kind of official head count, but in my non-scientific estimation, attendance at this year’s show is about 25% higher than it was last year.

Not coincidentally, the stock market also has seen a big move higher since last year, with the S&P 500 Index up about 25% during the past 12 months. The chart here of the broad measure of domestic equities clearly shows the bullish trend since last May.

In my conversations with Money Show attendees, many of whom are subscribers to my newsletter advisory services, people really want to know how to participate in this rally in unconventional ways. They also are looking for trading ideas that aren’t so well known that the big money has already been made.

One of the presentations I’m making during the show is on how to use exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to participate in new rising uptrends. The key concept here is “new” rising uptrends. Hey, we all know that domestic stocks have enjoyed big gains of late, but where is the next big money going to be made?

One area I like is natural gas. After experiencing a sharp decline from November through early January, natural gas prices, as represented here by the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG), have been on a roll. The chart below shows us that UNG broke above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages in early March.

The tremendous technological developments in the extraction and liquefying process of natural gas, and the newly discovered supply of this vital energy source in North America, could make natural gas an exportable commodity in the future. Moreover, the need for clean sources of energy by an environmentally conscious consuming public means that natural gas prices — as well as many of the stocks in the space — could be entering new bull market territory.

The natural gas story is just one of many ideas for investors looking to get into the next bull market. If you’d like to find out about other sectors I think are ready to take off, then check out my Successful Investing newsletter today!

On Experience and Mistakes

“Experience is the name so many people give to their mistakes.”

–Oscar Wilde

If you’ve reached adulthood, then I don’t have to tell you that the more experienced you are, the more mistakes you’ve likely made. Of course, making the same mistakes over and over again doesn’t really equate to experience. In order to cultivate experience, you need to learn from your mistakes and not let yourself repeat the errors of the past.

Wisdom about money, investing and life can be found anywhere. If you have a good quote you’d like me to share with your fellow Making Money Alert readers, send it to me, along with any comments, questions and suggestions you have about my audio podcast, newsletters, seminars or anything else. Click here to ask Doug.

To read my e-letter from last week, please click here. I also invite you to comment about my column in the space provided below.