I spent most of Wednesday between the computer repair shop, the Doubletree hotel where an investor day was being held by one of our recommended companies, and Bloomberg’s offices and mine, all a short walking distance from each other. It was bitter cold. But given the weather in Buffalo, I figure I got off lightly….
This information was originally sent to subscribers on Nov. 14, 2014. Oil Market Conditions and Opportunities Oil prices are in a period of strong decline. That has hurt the prices of energy companies generally, as you see in the following chart. West Texas Intermediate Crude (gold line) is down about 23% YTD, and that has…
Big-tech behemoth Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) leapfrogged ExxonMobil Corporation (XOM) last week to become the second-largest company in the world by market cap. MSFT stock weighs in at a valuation of $405 billion compared to $402 billion for XOM stock. Both still have a long way to go before catching up with Apple Inc.’s (AAPL) world-leading…
The Chart of the Day belongs to Validus Holdings (NYSE:VR). I found the stock by sorting the All Time High list for the best Barchart technical buy signals then used the Flipchart feature to review the charts. Since the Trend Spotter signaled a buy on 9/26 the stock gained 4.09%. Validus Holdings, Ltd., through its…
For all the obfuscation surrounding the topic of stock buybacks and corporations returning record amounts of cash to their shareholders, the bottom line is as simple as it gets. This is what you are taught in CFO 101 class: if you see organic growth opportunities for your business, or if you want to maintain the…
Promises of additional monetary easing measures seem to arrive on a weekly basis, providing a boost to share prices globally as investors are encouraged to take on more risk. At the same time, we’re seeing increasing signs of a global slowdown. History has taught us that the “stock market is not the economy.” We are…
Next week will be a short trading week because of the US Thanksgiving holiday. Monday will be the last Comex option expiration for the year, for the December contract. We may wish to brace for shenanigans. We are reaching a more critical point in the markets, but do not, absolutely do not, expect this to…
About 10 months ago I wrote that I thought Apple was worth $114 to $128 per share (split adjusted). That day the stock closed at $72. Today it closed at $116, 60% higher. So this morning I sold it. Here’s why: Fundamentally, the company has gone from being very undervalued to fairly valued in a very short…
Are you in better shape financially than you were last Thanksgiving? If so, you should consider yourself to be very fortunate because most Americans are not. As you chow down on turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce this Thursday, please remember that there are millions of Americans that simply cannot afford to eat such a meal….
The global financial system has come unglued. Everywhere the real world evidence points to cooling growth, faltering investment, slowing trade, vast excess industrial capacity, peak private debt, public fiscal exhaustion, currency wars, intensified politico-military conflict and an unprecedented disconnect between debt-saturated real economies and irrationally exuberant financial markets. Yet overnight two central banks promised what amounts to more monetary heroin and, presto, the…
