At first glance, China Mobile Ltd (NYSE: CHL), Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) and Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE: AMP) appear to have nothing in common. But if you dig a little deeper, then you’ll see why they are among the favorite stocks of my colleague Nathan Slaughter. Nathan is the author of StreetAuthority’s Total Yield newsletter, and he has seen each of those stocks rise more than 15% this year since he included them in his portfolio. #-ad_banner-#Their common trait: all three companies produce prodigious amounts of free cash flow, which has enabled them to aggressively buy back shares, pay… Read More

At first glance, China Mobile Ltd (NYSE: CHL), Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) and Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE: AMP) appear to have nothing in common. But if you dig a little deeper, then you’ll see why they are among the favorite stocks of my colleague Nathan Slaughter. Nathan is the author of StreetAuthority’s Total Yield newsletter, and he has seen each of those stocks rise more than 15% this year since he included them in his portfolio. #-ad_banner-#Their common trait: all three companies produce prodigious amounts of free cash flow, which has enabled them to aggressively buy back shares, pay sprightly dividends, slash their debt — or some combination of all three. Add up the impact of each of those three factors and you derive a Total Yield score. Such shareholder-friendly moves can often goose a stock price. These days, Nathan is in an enviable position. The choppy stock market has pushed the shares of a wide range of quality companies quite far from their 52-week highs. And many of them possess such robust free cash flow that they are now in a position to deliver an impressive Total Yield. Simply put, any company with a great free cash flow… Read More

As the old maxim goes, “Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door.” That was surely on Nick Woodman’s mind as he was growing up in Silicon Valley, home to numerous innovators. The founder and CEO of GoPro, Inc. (Nasdaq: GPRO) didn’t invent the camera, but he has surely built a better one. The company’s eponymous line of high-definition wearable cameras have garnered a huge amount of buzz and will help the company blow past the $1 billion revenue mark this year. That’s quite a feat for a company that only broke the $200… Read More

As the old maxim goes, “Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door.” That was surely on Nick Woodman’s mind as he was growing up in Silicon Valley, home to numerous innovators. The founder and CEO of GoPro, Inc. (Nasdaq: GPRO) didn’t invent the camera, but he has surely built a better one. The company’s eponymous line of high-definition wearable cameras have garnered a huge amount of buzz and will help the company blow past the $1 billion revenue mark this year. That’s quite a feat for a company that only broke the $200 million revenue threshold in 2011. #-ad_banner-#GoPro’s revenue surge has been accompanied by a remarkable upward move in the company’s stock: GoPro’s June 2014 IPO was priced at $24 a share and four months later, shares are trading hands in the low $90’s. As the company’s market value now approaches $12 billion, camera rivals, such as Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) and Canon, Inc. (NYSE: CAJ), can only look on with envy. Indeed, few would have guessed there was any innovation left in this consumer electronics niche. Yet as shares of GoPro keep rising, a simple question comes to mind: Is the… Read More

Less than a month ago, a little-noticed event took place in Asia that should catch every investor’s attention: the Vietnamese government gave the green light for an initial public offering of Vietnam Airlines, slated to take place next month. It’s one of many assets that  historically were owned by the government. With this announcement, the clock is ticking for a long-awaited program to privatize a range of other government assets. #-ad_banner-#Vietnam is following the playbook of other emerging markets by letting the private sector have a greater hand in key industries. In the Philippines, for example, a privatization process has… Read More

Less than a month ago, a little-noticed event took place in Asia that should catch every investor’s attention: the Vietnamese government gave the green light for an initial public offering of Vietnam Airlines, slated to take place next month. It’s one of many assets that  historically were owned by the government. With this announcement, the clock is ticking for a long-awaited program to privatize a range of other government assets. #-ad_banner-#Vietnam is following the playbook of other emerging markets by letting the private sector have a greater hand in key industries. In the Philippines, for example, a privatization process has been underway for a number of years. Its citizens are now reaping the rewards. According to the International Monetary Fund, the Filipino economy grew 7.2% in 2013 and is expected to grow at a 6.5% pace in both 2014 and 2015. Vietnam’s economy has also been in growth mode, but has not yet reached its full potential, in large part to still-high levels of government ownership in key industries. Investors have surely taken note. Since late 2010, when iShares MSCI Philippines ETF (Nasdaq: EPHE) was launched, it has outperformed the Market Vectors Vietnam ETF (NYSE: VNM) by roughly 60 percentage… Read More

Over the past few years, a predictable trend has dominated earnings season. Analysts lower their profit forecasts in the weeks and months ahead of quarterly results, and then companies manage to slightly exceed the lowered set of expectations. It’s happening again. #-ad_banner-#According to FactSet Research, on an aggregate basis, analysts lowered Q3 profit forecast by 4.2%, slightly above the typical 2.7% downward revision of the prior 20 quarters. In theory, lowering the bar further should boost the chances that companies manage to exceed current consensus forecasts. But the typical “cut and beat” game may not be the key theme this… Read More

Over the past few years, a predictable trend has dominated earnings season. Analysts lower their profit forecasts in the weeks and months ahead of quarterly results, and then companies manage to slightly exceed the lowered set of expectations. It’s happening again. #-ad_banner-#According to FactSet Research, on an aggregate basis, analysts lowered Q3 profit forecast by 4.2%, slightly above the typical 2.7% downward revision of the prior 20 quarters. In theory, lowering the bar further should boost the chances that companies manage to exceed current consensus forecasts. But the typical “cut and beat” game may not be the key theme this time around. As third quarter earnings season gets underway later this week (as Alcoa (NYSE: AA) weighs in on Wednesday, October 8), a range of cross-currents promise to make this one of the more unpredictable earnings seasons in quite some time. Both positive and negative factors are likely to keep analysts and investors on their toes. This is not time to take a casual approach to earnings season. After rising 6% in the first six months of 2013, the S&P 500 rose less than 1% in the third quarter. Here are four key themes you need to monitor to help… Read More

When it comes to commodities, you’ll usually find a set of countervailing forces that keep prices at an equilibrium. Yet when it comes to oil, all of the factors behind price swings are heading in the same direction.  As oil prices head lower yet, investors will feel both pain and gain — depending on the make-up of their portfolios. A Perfect Storm For much of the past year, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate Crude fetched around $100 a barrel on the spot market. Yet since late July, a series of factors have conspired to push prices lower:… Read More

When it comes to commodities, you’ll usually find a set of countervailing forces that keep prices at an equilibrium. Yet when it comes to oil, all of the factors behind price swings are heading in the same direction.  As oil prices head lower yet, investors will feel both pain and gain — depending on the make-up of their portfolios. A Perfect Storm For much of the past year, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate Crude fetched around $100 a barrel on the spot market. Yet since late July, a series of factors have conspired to push prices lower: — A rally in the dollar, which tends to push all commodity prices lower. — A further slowing in the European, Japanese and Chinese economies, which crimps demand. — A surge in output in Libya to 800,000 barrels a day, up from 240,000 barrels a day in June amid civil war skirmishes near key oil installations. — An oil production surge in Russia, which is back at peak post-Soviet era levels.  — A rapidly rising output in Kurdistan as new key oil installations come on line. — OPEC’s recent inability to curtail production… Read More

Just a few months ago, all was quiet on the investing front, as most market indices continually broke new all-time highs. But in early August, the quiet was broken by a sudden surge by the dollar against the euro, the yen, Australian dollar and other currencies. At the time, the rallying dollar was merely seen as the beneficiary of a relatively robust U.S. economic growth rate in 2015, at least compared to Europe and Japan. #-ad_banner-#In hindsight, the currency shifts now appear to be the result of something more concerning: European economic activity has slowed to a crawl, the Chinese… Read More

Just a few months ago, all was quiet on the investing front, as most market indices continually broke new all-time highs. But in early August, the quiet was broken by a sudden surge by the dollar against the euro, the yen, Australian dollar and other currencies. At the time, the rallying dollar was merely seen as the beneficiary of a relatively robust U.S. economic growth rate in 2015, at least compared to Europe and Japan. #-ad_banner-#In hindsight, the currency shifts now appear to be the result of something more concerning: European economic activity has slowed to a crawl, the Chinese government is leaning towards a policy of reform over stimulus — compounded by brewing political troubles in Hong Kong — and U.S. investors are finally waking up to the reality that global economic growth will likely be subpar in 2015. That dim view may also explain why West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil has now slipped below $90 a barrel for the first time in 17 months. Then again, oil prices may be slumping because the dollar is rallying, which always hurts the price of commodities such as oil. Or perhaps it’s the fact that too much… Read More

Article Correction: The following article has been altered to correct inaccurate Q2 2014 statistics in the table below. Data under the “Cash On Hand” column for Viggle, Inc. has been updated to reflect accurate Q2 2014 figures. All reference of Liquid Holdings Group, Inc. and Aerohive Networks, Inc. has been removed, as the accurate data does not warrant these companies’ inclusion in this article. The recent blockbuster initial public offering, or IPO, for Alibaba Group Holding Limited (Nasdaq: BABA) helped secure an impressive milestone. According to Renaissance Capital, “In terms of proceeds, 2014 is now the biggest year for the… Read More

Article Correction: The following article has been altered to correct inaccurate Q2 2014 statistics in the table below. Data under the “Cash On Hand” column for Viggle, Inc. has been updated to reflect accurate Q2 2014 figures. All reference of Liquid Holdings Group, Inc. and Aerohive Networks, Inc. has been removed, as the accurate data does not warrant these companies’ inclusion in this article. The recent blockbuster initial public offering, or IPO, for Alibaba Group Holding Limited (Nasdaq: BABA) helped secure an impressive milestone. According to Renaissance Capital, “In terms of proceeds, 2014 is now the biggest year for the IPO market since 2000, when 406 companies raised $97 billion. Renaissance identified many more IPOs still set to be priced in the fourth quarter, perhaps setting the stage for an all-time record. Yet investors should also heed the concern of venture capitalist Marc Andreessen — older investors may remember Andreessen as the founder of Netscape Communications. In a recent Twitter post, he warned that many young companies may eventually “vaporize.” Market open, market closed One of the hallmarks of the current bull market is its remarkable IPO backdrop. We’re seeing so many deals simply… Read More

In the early months of President Obama’s first term, there was a great deal of talk about the need to invest in clean energy to reduce our reliance on oil imports and create jobs. Indeed, billions were earmarked for various clean energy initiatives, though those funds mostly have dried up in subsequent years. And it’s not just government spending. As we now know, domestic oil and gas production surged, blunting the move toward a reduction in fossil fuel consumption. That created headwinds for clean energy technologies such as solar and wind, though technology gains have helped these renewable sources of power… Read More

In the early months of President Obama’s first term, there was a great deal of talk about the need to invest in clean energy to reduce our reliance on oil imports and create jobs. Indeed, billions were earmarked for various clean energy initiatives, though those funds mostly have dried up in subsequent years. And it’s not just government spending. As we now know, domestic oil and gas production surged, blunting the move toward a reduction in fossil fuel consumption. That created headwinds for clean energy technologies such as solar and wind, though technology gains have helped these renewable sources of power stay relevant. #-ad_banner-#​One part of the 2009 clean energy playbook — energy efficiency — has drifted away. You can see the current lack of interest in energy efficiency spending by glancing at the income statement of Ameresco (NYSE: AMRC), which helps reduce the energy footprint of office buildings, college campuses and other facilities. Ameresco’s sales soared from $400 million in 2008 to above $700 million by 2011, but have since been in decline. The company’s sales appear stuck in the $550 million to $600 million range these days, and shares have fallen by more than half from their… Read More

In an era of tight academic budgets, many U.S. colleges and universities are breathing a sigh of relief as a record number of foreign students apply to study here. It’s quite a windfall for the schools, as these students rarely get any scholarships or financial aid. #-ad_banner-#But it’s worth it. With the exception of elite universities in other countries, the domestic academic opportunities simply can’t compare to the quality of a U.S. education. Nowhere is the situation of greater concern than China, which spends just 3% of GDP on education, compared to 5% in the United States and Western Europe. Read More

In an era of tight academic budgets, many U.S. colleges and universities are breathing a sigh of relief as a record number of foreign students apply to study here. It’s quite a windfall for the schools, as these students rarely get any scholarships or financial aid. #-ad_banner-#But it’s worth it. With the exception of elite universities in other countries, the domestic academic opportunities simply can’t compare to the quality of a U.S. education. Nowhere is the situation of greater concern than China, which spends just 3% of GDP on education, compared to 5% in the United States and Western Europe. The lack of resources creates extra pressure on the roughly 10 million students that take China’s high school entrance exam (Zhong Kao) or the country’s national higher education exam (Gao Kao) every year. That’s where the private sector comes in — and where investors can profit — from this education gap. Here’s a closer look. You can look at investable opportunities in this sector as four distinct sub-groups:  — K-12 preparation for parents that want their kids to land in an elite college, which accounts for two-thirds of the total non-governmental spending on education;  — Distance learning, also known… Read More

Over the past few years, many fund managers have made the same complaint: “It’s hard to find deep values in this surging bull market.” #-ad_banner-#Now they can stop complaining. The steady erosion in the small cap side of the market — defined as companies with a market value between $100 million and $2 billion — means that dozens of companies now trade for less than 10 times projected 2014 profits. In fact, a recent screen reveals more than 100 such stocks. I narrowed this group down to a manageable few dozen by excluding banks, insurers, real estate investment trusts and… Read More

Over the past few years, many fund managers have made the same complaint: “It’s hard to find deep values in this surging bull market.” #-ad_banner-#Now they can stop complaining. The steady erosion in the small cap side of the market — defined as companies with a market value between $100 million and $2 billion — means that dozens of companies now trade for less than 10 times projected 2014 profits. In fact, a recent screen reveals more than 100 such stocks. I narrowed this group down to a manageable few dozen by excluding banks, insurers, real estate investment trusts and master limited partnerships. It’s not that these groups don’t hold appeal. It’s just that a price-to-earnings, or P/E, ratio is not necessarily the best way to assess them. With a narrowed list, it becomes apparent that some stocks are absurdly cheap. Yet they’re cheap for a reason. Their businesses are in trouble. Here’s a look at a handful of ultra-cheap small caps and the reasons they are so heavily-discounted. Company 2014 P/E Market Capitalization ($ millions) Reason They’re Cheap ITT Educational Services (ESI) 1.6 $102 For-profit education is struggling PDL BioPharma (PDLI) 3.4 $1,206 Unproven acquisition strategy Higher One Holdings… Read More