Short sellers must always stay on their toes. Any time the market is in rally mode — as it has been the last few months — they need to unwind their short bets, lest the rising market inflict untold pain. They tend to typically pile back into these closed short… Read More
David Sterman has worked as an investment analyst for nearly two decades. He started his Wall Street career in equity research at Smith Barney, culminating in a position as Senior Analyst covering European banks. While at Smith Barney, he learned of all the tricks used by Wall Street to steer the best advice to their top clients and their own trading desk. David has also served as Managing Editor at TheStreet.com and Director of Research at Individual Investor. In addition, David worked as Director of Research for Jesup & Lamont Securities. David has made numerous media appearances over the years, primarily on CNBC and Bloomberg TV, and has a master's degree in management from Georgia Tech. David Stermanon
Analyst Articles
This Could be a Surprise Sector for Stocks Next Year
There are so many reasons to dislike housing stocks. Foreclosures continue at an alarming rate, and with a rising tide of empty existing homes, who needs to buy a newly-built home? Yet while the gloomy headlines rule the day, the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index (HGX), which was stuck in… Read More
3 Consumer Rebound Stocks to Own Now
The fact that 151,000 jobs were created in October is impressive. The fact that August and September jobs numbers were upwardly revised by a collective 110,000 was even more impressive, as it underscores that things were not quite so bleak as had been feared a few months ago. Read More
3 Insider Stocks That Could Pop
As earnings season winds down, insider activity heats up. That’s because insiders (classified as company executives, directors and beneficial owners) get the green light to buy or sell their company’s stock on the open market once earnings… Read More
Heading into last week’s election and the Federal Reserve’s latest stimulus efforts, the stock market looked set to pause. After all, the major indices had been in rally mode since late August and bargain prices were harder to find. Yet the market rallied even further late last week, returning stocks… Read More
Bill Gates Can’t Get Enough of This Stock
The super-rich aren’t like you and me. They can’t invest a little here and a little there and hope to make serious returns. They have to bet big on particular investments to really get a payoff. And with such big bets to make, you can be sure they do lots… Read More
Look out Below: These Stocks are Headed Down
In search of undervalued companies, investors seek out stocks that tend to have an earnings growth rate that is higher than the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio. These stocks are known as low PEG stocks, or stocks with a… Read More
4 Speculative Stocks That Could Pay Off Big-Time
What’s the opposite of a value stock? A company with a large market value but a tiny or non-existent revenue base. These companies often hold a great deal of promise to their backers, but can also be a… Read More
5 Land Mines for Chinese Stocks in 2011
A very large grain of salt. That’s what economists suggest you take when digesting Chinese economic numbers. The country’s financial planners tend to massage key numbers to give the impression of an economy that is neither too hot nor too cold. To its credit, China’s decade-long growth spurt has been truly miraculous and policy planners seem to continually pull the right levers, even though those choices are often antithetical to Western economic dogma. Much of China’s success has come from its status as a low-cost provider of goods and comparatively low levels of… Read More
A very large grain of salt. That’s what economists suggest you take when digesting Chinese economic numbers. The country’s financial planners tend to massage key numbers to give the impression of an economy that is neither too hot nor too cold. To its credit, China’s decade-long growth spurt has been truly miraculous and policy planners seem to continually pull the right levers, even though those choices are often antithetical to Western economic dogma. Much of China’s success has come from its status as a low-cost provider of goods and comparatively low levels of per capita GDP, which enabled it to grow without bumping into hurdles that often come when economies achieve world-class status. But those days are over. China’s economy is now far larger — having recently surpassed Japan to occupy the No. 2 spot — and the government ‘s task of managing growth has become ever-more complex. Even as Chinese economic planners will continue to massage the numbers to give the appearance of a smooth-sailing ship, 2011 offers more potential pitfalls than ever. If… Read More
Here’s a bit of good news: states have been able to collect roughly +2.5% more in taxes in the first half of 2010 compared with a year earlier. Then again, most states are staring down the barrel of massive budget deficits for 2011 and 2012, and a few percentage points… Read More