Many companies are handling these tough times in a defensive crouch. Keeping sales stable and expenses at a minimum enables them to survive until the economy gets back on its feet. But select companies are able to take advantage of these challenging times, aggressively… Read More

The Dow Jones Industrial Average isn’t considered the most accurate reflection of the market’s overall performance, but few can argue against the fact that it is the most widely recognized and highly symbolic representation of the state of American stocks. Outside of the large-cap, old-line American companies… Read More

I’ve never been an alarmist. I spend far more time talking about promising investment opportunities than spouting financial doom and gloom. But there’s a real debt crisis brewing in the United States, and turning a blind eye to the problem won’t make it go away. An endless… Read More

If I were to reverse engineer the ideal company to invest in, it would be one that is a leader in its industry, operates in a fast-growing market, has a globally diversified revenue stream that emphasizes emerging economies, has a strong balance sheet with no debt, boasts high profit margins and double-digit returns on invested capital. Sounds like an investor’s dream, doesn’t it? But wait, it gets better…   Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO) nearly owns the market for communications equipment. The tech… Read More

If I were to reverse engineer the ideal company to invest in, it would be one that is a leader in its industry, operates in a fast-growing market, has a globally diversified revenue stream that emphasizes emerging economies, has a strong balance sheet with no debt, boasts high profit margins and double-digit returns on invested capital. Sounds like an investor’s dream, doesn’t it? But wait, it gets better…   Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO) nearly owns the market for communications equipment. The tech titan just completed a year in which global sales grew +11% in a very challenging economic environment, reported +35% growth in emerging markets, has a net cash hoard of $28 billion, logged a net profit margin of 19.4% and returns on invested capital (ROIC) of 16%. (If you remove excess cash from the equation, ROIC is even higher). Yet for some reason the market knocked the shares down more than -9% in Thursday trading, as fourth quarter sales… Read More

A fair number of initial public offerings (IPOs) have flourished in this choppy market . Indian travel site MakeMyTrip (Nasdaq: MMYT), up as much as +66% in its first day of trading Thursday, and rental housing software firm RealPage (Nasdaq: RP), up +30%, are two of the latest examples. Read More

Depending on your investment style, either growth stocks or value stocks likely hold greater appeal. But sometimes you don’t have to choose. On rare occasion, a stock can represent the best of both worlds. These GARP (Growth at a Reasonable Price) stocks tend… Read More

I’ve been investigating fad stocks lately, and thought one article might be enough, until I came across such a perfect example, I thought investors absolutely had to know about it. [See: 3 “Fad” Stocks That Collapsed. . . and the Next One To Fall] We often learn… Read More

Bearish comments from analysts at JP Morgan and Robert W. Baird this week regarding tech spending has put an already-weak sector under even greater pressure. Major tech names like Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) and Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) are retreating from recent gains and some tech stocks are quickly falling into the abyss. On Tuesday, shares of Applied Materials (Nasdaq: AMAT), Seagate Technology (NYSE: STX), and Symantec (Nasdaq: SYMC) all hit 52-week lows. For existing shareholders, it’s fair to wonder if it’s time to cut their losses. And for investors that have… Read More

Bearish comments from analysts at JP Morgan and Robert W. Baird this week regarding tech spending has put an already-weak sector under even greater pressure. Major tech names like Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) and Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) are retreating from recent gains and some tech stocks are quickly falling into the abyss. On Tuesday, shares of Applied Materials (Nasdaq: AMAT), Seagate Technology (NYSE: STX), and Symantec (Nasdaq: SYMC) all hit 52-week lows. For existing shareholders, it’s fair to wonder if it’s time to cut their losses. And for investors that have avoided this sector as it has tumbled, do these newly-cheapened stocks signal it’s time to jump in? Let’s take a look… Applied Materials One of the key challenges for all tech stocks involves the steep peaks and dips in revenue and profit streams. With such robust swings, investors always apply relatively low multiples. In the area of semiconductors, investors are often even more wary, as capital spending cycles enter into boom and bust cycles with alarming frequency. Applied Materials, for example, saw sales plunge -38% in fiscal (October) 2009, yet… Read More

In a former life, I worked as a manager and analyst at IBM (NYSE: IBM) for almost 20 years. During my time there, I was in charge of some pretty big budgets — some reaching nearly $100 million a year. But at a major company like IBM, there are some even larger numbers in play. Case in point: On Monday of last week, IBM sold $1.5 billion in bonds. It was a good time to do it, too. According to The Wall Street Journal, the three-year notes were issued with an interest rate of… Read More

In a former life, I worked as a manager and analyst at IBM (NYSE: IBM) for almost 20 years. During my time there, I was in charge of some pretty big budgets — some reaching nearly $100 million a year. But at a major company like IBM, there are some even larger numbers in play. Case in point: On Monday of last week, IBM sold $1.5 billion in bonds. It was a good time to do it, too. According to The Wall Street Journal, the three-year notes were issued with an interest rate of just 1% — barely above what similar Treasuries pay. But it’s not news that companies are issuing debt now to fund their business. Remember: rates are at record lows. If you think you’ll need the money, it’s a great time to issue bonds. However, it is news that IBM is doing it. My former employer has an uncanny track record when it comes to the timing of its debt offerings. IBM seems to know when interest rates have hit lows, and issues debt just as rates are about to ratchet back… Read More

In the battle for television viewers against traditional cable companies, the country’s two-leading satellite cable providers have been engaged in a low-grade war these past years. With each passing quarter, either DirecTV (NYSE: DTV) or Dish Network (Nasdaq: DISH) scores a direct hit. Both fighters benefit while the industry is… Read More