Categories: Smart Money Masters HotlinesStock Market News

U.S. Markets Flat as Prem Watsa’s Bet Breaks out

U.S. stock markets endured another seesaw week with the major averages closing within 1% of where they started.

The Dow Jones lost 0.61%, the S&P 500 fell by 0.5% and the Nasdaq dropped 0.13%. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index also pulled back 0.18%.

Among your Smart Money Masters‘ holdings, Kraft Heinz (KHC) rose 1.84%, Paypal Holdings (PYPL) gained 0.94% and Restaurant Brands International (QSR) ended the week 0.43% higher.

All of your positions except for Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B) are trading above their 50-day moving averages and therefore are BUYS.

The big news of the week was related to your latest recommendation, BlackBerry Ltd. (BBRY), which soared by double-digit percentages the very day I recommended it.

BlackBerry shot up on news that Qualcomm (QCOM) was ordered to pay BlackBerry roughly $815 million in royalties to license technologies for its smartphone business between 2010 and 2015.

This development was unexpected, and BlackBerry’s stock rose by roughly 16% in Wednesday’s trading.

The $815 million award translates into about $1.53 per share of value for BlackBerry’s stock. With the award, BlackBerry’s cash position increases to $1.9 billion. That gives the company the resources to seek out new acquisitions.

BlackBerry acquired six companies between 2014 and 2015, including its $425 million purchase of enterprise mobility software provider Good Technologies. It likely will pursue further opportunities in the cyber security area.

As bad luck would have it, your recommendation did not hit your email inbox until after the market’s close.

Still, the $815 million settlement only boosts the bullish case for BlackBerry and Prem Watsa’s massive bet on the stock.

Portfolio Update

Sincerely,

Nicholas A. Vardy

Nicholas Vardy

Nicholas Vardy has a unique background that has proven his knack for making money in different markets around the world. He was the Editor of The Global Guru, a free weekly e-newsletter, and also edited the trading services Momentum Trader Alert, which focused on making short-term profits in the hottest markets in the world, and The Alpha Algorithm, which was designed specifically to deliver big, fast triple-digit winners, month after month. He was also the editor of Smart Money Masters, a monthly service focused on longer term investments recommended by the brightest minds in the business. Mr. Vardy has been a regular commentator on CNN International and the Fox Business Network. He has also published articles in The New Republic, The World and I, and The Baker & McKenzie Legal Review. The Global Guru/Nicholas Vardy has been cited in The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Fox Business News, CBS MarketWatch, Yahoo! Finance, and MSN Money Central. Mr. Vardy graduated from Stanford with a B.A. — with honors and distinction — in both Economics and History, and he also earned an M.A in Modern European Intellectual History. After winning a Fulbright Scholarship, he earned a J.D. degree at Harvard Law School where he was an editor of the Harvard International Law Journal. When not uncovering investment opportunities for his subscribers and investors, Mr. Vardy is a keep-fit enthusiast and an avid student of classical music.