In many third-quarter conference calls this earnings season, a key question kept popping up: “How are European sales holding up in light of the budding economic crisis?” A wide range of companies noted that sales are starting to slow and things could get worse in coming quarters. GM… Read More

As economists grapple with the ongoing global crises, they’re asking themselves a pair of important questions. First, why have European policies let problems fester for so long? And second, whatever happened to the notion that trade and budget deficits impact currency values? The… Read More

Score one for David Einhorn. The high-profile short-seller recently gave a series of speeches outlining concerns about one of the top-gaining stocks in 2011: Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (Nasdaq: GMCR). I recently looked at whether the stock might head to $120, as one sell-side analyst predicted, or would fall from… Read More

The stock market plunge in the last two months of the summer was, in hindsight, a clear overreaction. But the subsequent sharp rally may also be a false signal. Simply put, the economy remains unhealthy, Washington… Read More

Ever since the stock market began plunging in late July, a wide range of companies that had intended to conduct an Initial Public Offering (IPO) changed their mind. S-1 registrations that were on file with the Securities &… Read More

Focusing on “turnaround” stocks was a favorite angle for investors in the 1990s. Many companies had been run poorly, but new management could easily unlock value by focusing on a deep restructuring. The key was to find businesses that still possessed sizable… Read More

Congratulations to the founders and early investors in Groupon (Nasdaq: GRPN). What was just a humble new business idea a few short years ago is now valued at about $18 billion. That’s a higher valuation than RadioShack (NYSE: RSH), The Washington Post Co. (NYSE: WPO), U.S. Steel (NYSE: X), Whirlpool… Read More

With the market showing no clear direction at this point, it pays to stay focused on long and short ideas for your portfolio. In recent weeks, I’ve been trying to generate more short-oriented ideas for readers, and it pays to stay abreast of… Read More

The stock market is increasingly looking like a boxing match. In one corner, you have a global bruiser named Greece looking to send stocks down to new lows. In the other corner, you have earnings season, which has been generally — and surprisingly — positive. In fact, quarterly results have been so encouraging, two-thirds of the 350 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported results thus far have topped estimates, translating into an average 6% upside surprise. The… Read More

The stock market is increasingly looking like a boxing match. In one corner, you have a global bruiser named Greece looking to send stocks down to new lows. In the other corner, you have earnings season, which has been generally — and surprisingly — positive. In fact, quarterly results have been so encouraging, two-thirds of the 350 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported results thus far have topped estimates, translating into an average 6% upside surprise. The earnings theme helped propel the market higher in October, but events in Europe have put a new scare in the market in early November. At this point, however, it’s best to tune out the noise and focus on the company-specific positives. This strategy paid off handsomely for those willing to brave the challenges of August and September, and it will likely pay off again for the patient investor. The charm of earnings season is that it always presents new investment opportunities. So to in order to identify where investors should be focusing now, I’ve dug up… Read More

Circle your calendars for Nov. 23. That’s the deadline for Congress to pass — and the President to sign — major budget changes being drawn up by a bipartisan “super-committee.” Recall that the last agreement, struck in early August, tasked this group with a huge challenge: Come up with a… Read More