Congratulations to Mark Skousen; the world renowned economist has just celebrated 40 years of writing and editing his flagship investment newsletter, Forecasts & Strategies. Here's a look at one of his latest buy recommendations — a play in the social media sector.

On October 26, I recommended a new tech stock, Pinterest (PINS); it has already jumped 34%. Pinterest  is a San Francisco-based discovery engine that allows people to find inspiration for their lives, including recipes, home and crafts, travel destinations and more.

It shows visual recommendations based on people, personal tastes and interests. Pinterest has avoided the controversies surrounding other social media sites such as Facebook (FB); it’s about home and lifestyle, not politics.

In many ways, Pinterest is the “anti-Facebook.”  While Facebook is facing an antitrust suit and a host of forthcoming regulations, Pinterest is likely to stay under the radar and focus on positive personal experiences.

At the end of October, the social media company soundly beat Street estimates on revenue and earnings. Revenue jumped 58% to $443 million. The company ended the quarter with 442 million monthly users, up 37%, and beat estimates of 436.4 million users.

The company posted its first adjusted earnings (before taxes and depreciation) report as well. Advertising revenue surged 58% in the third quarter. It estimates that revenues will grow 60% year-over-year in the fourth quarter.

Pinterest has far to go to catch up with Facebook, but I think that it’s on its way. Like Instagram, it isn’t an alternative to Facebook, but a niche supplement.

Admittedly, the social media company is still not making money, but ad revenue from its website is growing slowly but surely and is now at $1.2 billion. Foreign interest is growing faster and is the source of new growth.

Even though the company is still losing money, it should be profitable by next year. Pinterest has more than $1.7 billion in cash, which is plenty to handle its modest $151 million in long-term debt.

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