Industry Focus

With hundreds of billions of dollars flowing into exchange-traded funds, we offer an introduction of how ETFs can serve your investing needs and how to leverage them specifically for the consumer and retail sector.

The end of the year is packed with holidays, family, and a million things to do — but it’s also your last opportunity to take advantage of potential tax deductions. Don’t let the chaos of the holiday season distract you from saving money and taking care of other miscellaneous personal finance activities. Join Motley Fool host Gaby Lapera as she chats about tax lowering strategies and FSAs with Dan Caplinger, an expert on personal finance. Find out what you need to do before the end of the year!

A cancer drugmaker, a marijuana drug researcher, and an insurer are serving up tasty performance this holiday season. 

As the holiday shopping season continues to make its outsized contribution to the top and bottom lines of our favorite companies, we look at the forecasts and key retail trends that will come into play this year. Black Friday may be losing its luster, but hundreds of billions of dollars are still up for grabs in the coming weeks.

No sector of the stock market has benefited more from Donald Trump's win in the presidential election than banks, with shares of the biggest banks in America climbing by upwards of 20% over the past two weeks.

Amazon and Domino's are aiming to reduce friction anywhere they can in the ordering process. Are they on to something, or are their tactics just gimmicks?

With GoPro’s crash-laden release of its Karma drone, some may be calling the future of consumer-facing drones into the question. In today’s Industry Focus podcast, Dylan Lewis and Taylor Muckerman discuss various uses for drones in the oil and gas sector, along with some companies that are a step ahead of their competition.  

Is shareholder dilution always a bad thing? What does it mean for you as an individual investor? What does it mean for activist investors? In this special crossover episode of Industry Focus, Kristine Harjes and Gaby Lapera present two case studies in healthcare and financials to illustrate the complexities of shareholder dilution.

Mash-up week continues on Industry Focus as we look at six major consumer trends and their close counterparts in the healthcare industry.

Join the Motley Fool’s Michael Douglass and Gaby Lapera as they dive into the exciting world of healthcare REITs. It’s crossover week on Industry Focus again! When healthcare and financials collide, you get interesting investing opportunities. On this show, Bureau Chief Michael Douglass and Gaby Lapera chat about what a real estate investment trust is, the exciting world of healthcare REITs, and two companies that might interest you in that space. 

With some post-election market uncertainty looming, we talk about a few dividend stocks we like and explain why it does (and doesn't) make sense to reinvest the dividends those companies pay out.

The United States has made its choice, here’s how President Trump’s policies will likely affect these dynamic sectors of the economy.

The election of Donald Trump creates challenges and opportunities across the industry.

Rumors have emerged that the leading name in e-commerce is evaluating and testing plans for retail store concepts with the potential to create a footprint of 2,000 locations across the country. How viable is this strategy, and what kind of impact would it actually have for a company generating over $120 billion in annual revenue? The cast also discusses new details for the upcoming DirecTV Now service.

The banking industry loses one of its most important executives while institutions wage war on fees.

Amazon and Twitter reported last week, but the Street only seemed to like one of the earnings releases. We explain why, and why there's more to the story for each company.

GE just placed a big bet on the energy industry – could this be a sign of better days ahead?

Drugmakers can generate future growth by inking collaboration deals or buying competitors outright. Is one approach better than the other?

Though the original loyalty programs date back as far as the Revolutionary War, the explosion of such offerings to everything from airlines and supermarkets to coffee shops and restaurants did not take hold until the late 20th century. We look at why businesses are so eager to sign up customers and how two companies are leveraging their own programs to succeed.

Estate planning isn't a fun topic, but it's a vital one to tackle in order to take care of your loved ones. In this Halloween edition of Industry Focus: Financials, Fool analyst Gaby Lapera and Dan Caplinger, the Fool's director of investment planning, talk about this scary subject, breaking it down into manageable bits that you can plan for. You'll learn what documents you need, whether a will or trust is better for you, various types of trusts, the taxes that some estates have to pay, and how you can tell your loved ones what they'll need to know after your death. Make it your Halloween resolution to tackle your estate planning and put a plan in place that will protect your family from financial harm.