A clear trend has emerged in the health care sector. Large companies are having an awfully hard time finding ways to grow. As an example, I recently took a look at the dimming outlook for industry giant Medtronic (NYSE: MDT). [Read more.] In that column, I added… Read More

When a recession hits, especially as hard as this one has, the last investment you want to make is in financial stocks. This would be true even if banks and mortgage companies hadn’t been at the center of the maelstrom. You want to increase… Read More

Back in the mid-1980s, I was a bit of a computer nerd. I was not only fluent in basic (a programming language now deader than Latin), but also probably the only kid in school who new what DOS stood for. That would be “disk operating system” for… Read More

Investors breathed a sigh of relief on Tuesday morning when Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) delivered a fairly impressive quarter. Shares, which had been close to a 52-week low, are up more than +6%. Were it not for the large group of investors that see real danger in the consumer economy, shares would have posted even stronger gains. Six months from now, when Best Buy is discussing holiday season sales, those concerns should be officially put to bed. Meanwhile, shares are awfully cheap, which sets the stage for… Read More

Investors breathed a sigh of relief on Tuesday morning when Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) delivered a fairly impressive quarter. Shares, which had been close to a 52-week low, are up more than +6%. Were it not for the large group of investors that see real danger in the consumer economy, shares would have posted even stronger gains. Six months from now, when Best Buy is discussing holiday season sales, those concerns should be officially put to bed. Meanwhile, shares are awfully cheap, which sets the stage for one of the best retail plays ahead of the holiday season. Before we look ahead, it’s important to see what is driving profits in the near-term. To be sure, consumer spending remains cautious: same-store sales fell -0.1% in the quarter, which is actually below the +2% growth rate in consumer incomes seen in recent periods. There is also a dearth of hot new items that consumers must own right now. #-ad_banner-#But that’s about to change. In the next few months, expect to hear about a wave of new consumer electronics devices, especially those that… Read More

Every Monday, I like to look at all the stocks that saw fresh rounds of insider buying in the previous week. Such so-called insider buying can alert you to undervalued stocks before most investors take note. That’s because insiders (defined as any officer or director of a company, or any… Read More

One of the reasons Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) was such a great stock for so many years was that it was essentially a monopoly. And even the most inexperienced investor should know that a monopoly is one of the best investments one can make. Read More

Editor’s Note: This story replaces an earlier article we published about the new banking reserve requirements. The original article was based on inaccurate information, which led to mistaken conclusions about the effect of the new regulations on earnings at the major banks. Wall Street cheered… Read More

Sometimes you don’t have to scour the market for a good trade. Occasionally, it can be found in some of the most visible stocks on the market. Clorox (NYSE: CLX), also known as “the bleach company,” looks to be one of those trades. As a top manufacturer… Read More