Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights: Bank of America, Uber Technologies, Alphabet, United States Natural Gas ETF and Tellurian

Read MoreHide Full Article

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – February 24, 2023 – Today, Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights Bank of America (BAC - Free Report) , Uber Technologies (UBER - Free Report) , Alphabet (GOOGL - Free Report) , United States Natural Gas ETF (UNG - Free Report) and Tellurian (TELL - Free Report) .

Asymmetric Reward to Risk: The Holy Grail of Investing

Asymmetric reward to risk is a concept in investing that explains a situation where the potential gains from an investment are far greater than the potential losses. In other words, the risk of taking a slight loss is worth the potential substantial profits. Finding asymmetric reward to risk scenarios in the stock market is the holy grail – but it is not easy, requires risk management measures, counterintuitive thinking, and is not for the emotionally unstable.

Most of Wall Street’s legendary investors have made their fortunes through asymmetric bets, not winning percentages on trades. For example, billionaire fund manager Paul Tudor Jones proclaimed in an interview that he shoots for a reward-to-risk ratio of 5 to 1. For every dollar he risks, he aims to make five. By shooting for significant gains (running his winners and cutting his losers), Jones only needs a 20% hit rate to break even.

Real-Life Examples

In 2009, David Tepper bought a swath of distressed financial stocks such as Bank of America through his fund Appaloosa Management.

While no one wanted to touch financial stocks in the immediate aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis, Tepper correctly predicted that the U.S. government would not allow the U.S. banks to fail and would provide stimulus. By the end of the year, Tepper was able to parlay the 2008 crisis into his opportunity – netting Appaloosa Management a cool $7 billion, of which $4 billion went into his coffers.

Another example would be angel investing. Investing in start-ups is far from an exact science. In fact, most start-ups ultimately fail. However, occasionally angel investors stumble upon the next Uber Technologies or Alphabet. Again, what’s essential in this method of investing is not necessarily having a high percentage of correct investments, but rather profiting handsomely from a small percentage that ultimately makes up for the losses and fuel performance.

Natural Gas: A Potential Asymmetric Opportunity

Natural Gas prices are approaching all-time lows as production is nearing highs and demand stays near the average. However, this can change on a dime as China’s economy emerges from strict lockdowns, and demand is expected to increase dramatically.  Furthermore, European gas reserves will need to be replenished soon. While Natural Gas is a very volatile commodity to trade, investors in search of a potential asymmetric bet may want to give it a look because it has the following:

Defined Risk: A large price reversal on Wednesday gives investors a “line in the sand” area to trade against. The United States Natural Gas ETF reversed early losses to finish up 5.13%. Investors can implement a stop-loss or loss-cutting area at 10% or so or measure below Wednesday’s low to ensure that risk is defined.

Considerable Reversion to the Mean Potential: UNG’s 50-day moving average is some 35% higher than the current price. Investors can risk ~ $1 (distance to recent lows) to make $5 (distance to 50-day MA).

Extremes: UNG is showing signs of downside exhaustion. First, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) shows extreme oversold levels. Second, volume is reaching unprecedented levels over the past few weeks – a potential capitulation sign.

Conclusion

Most successful investors you hear about generate returns through a few large winners (and a lot of smaller losers). In baseball terms, investors should aim for a higher “slugging %” rather than a high batting average. By having a high reward-to-risk ratio, like 5 to 1, investors can eliminate the need to be perfect or even right more than 50% of the time.

Natural Gas is one attractive potential asymmetric opportunity developing. Because it is trading at extreme levels and has a defined reward-to-risk ratio, investors may want to give it a shot. If Natural Gas is to bounce, sister plays like Tellurian stand to benefit.

Why Haven’t You Looked at Zacks' Top Stocks?

Since 2000, our top stock-picking strategies have blown away the S&P's +6.2 average gain per year. Amazingly, they soared with average gains of +46.4%, +49.5% and +55.2% per year. Today you can access their live picks without cost or obligation.

See Stocks Free >>

Media Contact

Zacks Investment Research

800-767-3771 ext. 9339

support@zacks.com

https://www.zacks.com

Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

Published in