When Circuit City went bankrupt in 2008, it should have been immediately clear that rival Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) was set to win a whole bunch of new customers. But the economy was lousy, so investors were in no hurry to go after shares of Best Buy. They should have been. Just a few quarters later, Best Buy was delivering great results, and shares, which had fallen below $20 in the market swoon of early 2009, jumped past $40 by the middle of 2009. Read More

When Circuit City went bankrupt in 2008, it should have been immediately clear that rival Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) was set to win a whole bunch of new customers. But the economy was lousy, so investors were in no hurry to go after shares of Best Buy. They should have been. Just a few quarters later, Best Buy was delivering great results, and shares, which had fallen below $20 in the market swoon of early 2009, jumped past $40 by the middle of 2009. We’ve seen this all before. When Chrysler and GM had to radically shrink to survive, it was clear that Ford (NYSE: F) could pick up market share. It did, and shares, belatedly, quadrupled. Only recently, we saw Pier One (NYSE: PIR) boast that business has never been better, now that Linens & Things is out of business. But Linens & Things closed up shop more than a year ago, and any market share shift took a few quarters to become apparent. Investors may have a chance to… Read More

Warren Buffett — and Benjamin Graham before him — made their fortunes off of one simple strategy: buying assets at cheap, undervalued prices and then helping those assets realize their value. It’s a tried and true strategy that’s spawned generations of value investors. For an investor, it… Read More

One thing was abundantly clear in the most recent earnings season: Quarterly results were often terrific as analysts had apparently underestimated the earnings strength of a wide range of companies in a wide swath of industries. And in… Read More

Among the biggest winners in Thursday’s early trading are Hasbro (NYSE: HAS) and Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS). Top Percentage Gainers — Thursday, June 24, 2010 Company Name (Ticker) Intra-Day Price Intra-Day % Gain 52-Week High 52-Week Low Discover Financial (NYSE: DFS) $14.35 +2.4% $17.36 $9.00 Hasbro (NYSE: HAS) $42.06 +2.3% $43.39 $22.79 *Table includes companies with minimum market capitalizations of $200 million and three month trading volumes of at least 100,000 shares. All percentage returns are listed as of… Read More

Among the biggest winners in Thursday’s early trading are Hasbro (NYSE: HAS) and Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS). Top Percentage Gainers — Thursday, June 24, 2010 Company Name (Ticker) Intra-Day Price Intra-Day % Gain 52-Week High 52-Week Low Discover Financial (NYSE: DFS) $14.35 +2.4% $17.36 $9.00 Hasbro (NYSE: HAS) $42.06 +2.3% $43.39 $22.79 *Table includes companies with minimum market capitalizations of $200 million and three month trading volumes of at least 100,000 shares. All percentage returns are listed as of 11:40AM Eastern Standard Time. Click on ticker symbols for up-to-the-minute price quotes and percentage gain data. Hasbro’s Cash Flow Appeal A leading private equity (PE) firm apparently asked to look under the hood at toy and game maker Hasbro (NYSE: HAS), according to The Wall Street Journal. Shares were up nearly +10% in pre-market trading. But right after the market opened, Hasbro issued a statement that it’s not for sale. So shares are settling for a modest +2% gain in Thursday trading in an otherwise down market. Read More

Among the biggest losers in Thursday’s early trading are Bed, Bath & Beyond (Nasdaq: BBBY), Nike (NYSE: NKE) and Sotheby’s (NYSE: BID). Top Percentage Losers — Thursday, June 24, 2010 Company Name (Ticker) Intra-Day Price Intra-Day % Loss 52-Week High 52-Week Low Sotheby’s (NYSE: BID) $25.90 -8.3% $46.52 $11.14 Nike (NYSE: NKE) $69.68 -3.9% $78.55 $50.16 Bed, Bath & Beyond (Nasdaq: BBBY) $39.87 -3.8% $48.52 $26.50 *Table includes companies with minimum market capitalizations of $200 million and three month trading volumes of at least 100,000… Read More

Among the biggest losers in Thursday’s early trading are Bed, Bath & Beyond (Nasdaq: BBBY), Nike (NYSE: NKE) and Sotheby’s (NYSE: BID). Top Percentage Losers — Thursday, June 24, 2010 Company Name (Ticker) Intra-Day Price Intra-Day % Loss 52-Week High 52-Week Low Sotheby’s (NYSE: BID) $25.90 -8.3% $46.52 $11.14 Nike (NYSE: NKE) $69.68 -3.9% $78.55 $50.16 Bed, Bath & Beyond (Nasdaq: BBBY) $39.87 -3.8% $48.52 $26.50 *Table includes companies with minimum market capitalizations of $200 million and three month trading volumes of at least 100,000 shares. All percentage returns are listed as of 11:01AM Eastern Standard Time. Click on ticker symbols for up-to-the-minute price quotes and percentage gain data. A Bar too High Shares of Bed, Bath & Beyond (Nasdaq: BBBY) are off nearly -3% on Thursday, thanks to unrealistically high investor expectations. The company reported very impressive fiscal first quarter results last night, and although management took a conservative stance with respect to the second-quarter outlook, investors had set a very high bar, hoping to see a very bullish forecast after rivals such as… Read More

Stock market volatility has caused many investors to question their commitment to buying individual stocks. This combined with a decade of flat to slightly negative stock market returns has stoked a debate over whether buy-and-hold investing makes any sense going forward. Defensive-minded investors looking to lower equity… Read More

In a bid to steal some thunder in the burgeoning market for handheld electronic readers, Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) announced this week that it will cut prices on its Nook e-reader. Bad move. Rival Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) was waiting for such a development, and quickly offered up its own price cuts for its Kindle 2. Falling prices and rising market share are part of Amazon’s long-term playbook, and many past rivals have been bloodied by trying to compete with Amazon’s global scale. At first blush, this is a real win… Read More

In a bid to steal some thunder in the burgeoning market for handheld electronic readers, Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) announced this week that it will cut prices on its Nook e-reader. Bad move. Rival Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) was waiting for such a development, and quickly offered up its own price cuts for its Kindle 2. Falling prices and rising market share are part of Amazon’s long-term playbook, and many past rivals have been bloodied by trying to compete with Amazon’s global scale. At first blush, this is a real win for consumers. For those who don’t want to pay the $500 to $700 for Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPad, the new $200 price point for the Nook and the Kindle 2 should prove enticing. These firms know that they won’t make much money on these devices, but they do offer the chance to build a loyal customer base for many years to come. That’s just what Apple did with iTunes nearly a decade ago. Of course, both Barnes & Noble and Amazon should see sales of their readers rise at a solid clip this year, though it’s safe… Read More

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Facing a gargantuan budget deficit, New York Governor David Paterson has announced plans to add another $1.60 in taxes to every pack of cigarettes sold in his state. That will push the average retail price above the… Read More

Among the biggest winners in Wednesday’s early trading are Jabil Circuit (NYSE: JBL), CarMax (NYSE: KMX), and ZymoGenetics (Nasdaq: ZGEN). Top Percentage Gainers — Wednesday, June 23, 2010 Company Name (Ticker) Intra-Day Price Intra-Day % Gain 52-Week High 52-Week Low Jabil Circuit (NYSE: JBL) $14.91 +9.7% $18.49 $6.59 CarMax (NYSE: KMX) $21.74 +8.7% $26.50 $13.06 ZymoGenetics (Nasdaq: ZGEN) $4.58 +7.7% $7.31 $4.05 *Table includes companies with minimum market capitalizations of $200 million and three month trading volumes of at least 100,000 shares. All percentage returns… Read More

Among the biggest winners in Wednesday’s early trading are Jabil Circuit (NYSE: JBL), CarMax (NYSE: KMX), and ZymoGenetics (Nasdaq: ZGEN). Top Percentage Gainers — Wednesday, June 23, 2010 Company Name (Ticker) Intra-Day Price Intra-Day % Gain 52-Week High 52-Week Low Jabil Circuit (NYSE: JBL) $14.91 +9.7% $18.49 $6.59 CarMax (NYSE: KMX) $21.74 +8.7% $26.50 $13.06 ZymoGenetics (Nasdaq: ZGEN) $4.58 +7.7% $7.31 $4.05 *Table includes companies with minimum market capitalizations of $200 million and three month trading volumes of at least 100,000 shares. All percentage returns are listed as of 11:30AM Eastern Standard Time. Click on ticker symbols for up-to-the-minute price quotes and percentage gain data. Jabil’s Bright Outlook Good news for investors of Jabil Circuit (NYSE: JBL), and for investors everywhere that are looking for signs that the global economy is getting stronger. Jabil, which provides outsourced manufacturing services to a wide range of technology firms, delivered another impressive quarter Tuesday night, pushing shares up +9% in Wednesday trading. You can see the company’s momentum build quarter by… Read More

Among the biggest losers in Wednesday’s early trading are Apogee Enterprises (Nasdaq: APOG), Wilmington Trust (NYSE: WL) and Progress Software (Nasdaq: PRGS). Top Percentage Losers –Wednesday, June 23, 2010 Company Name (Ticker) Intra-Day Price Intra-Day % Loss 52-Week High 52-Week Low Apogee Enterprises (Nasdaq: APOG) $11.75 –7.8% $16.89 $11.13 Wilmington Trust (NYSE: WL) $12.00 -7.6% $20.23 $9.75 Progress Software (Nasdaq: PRGS) $30.47 –3.3% $34.94 $20.05 *Table includes companies with minimum market capitalizations of $200 million and three month trading volumes of at least 100,000… Read More

Among the biggest losers in Wednesday’s early trading are Apogee Enterprises (Nasdaq: APOG), Wilmington Trust (NYSE: WL) and Progress Software (Nasdaq: PRGS). Top Percentage Losers –Wednesday, June 23, 2010 Company Name (Ticker) Intra-Day Price Intra-Day % Loss 52-Week High 52-Week Low Apogee Enterprises (Nasdaq: APOG) $11.75 –7.8% $16.89 $11.13 Wilmington Trust (NYSE: WL) $12.00 -7.6% $20.23 $9.75 Progress Software (Nasdaq: PRGS) $30.47 –3.3% $34.94 $20.05 *Table includes companies with minimum market capitalizations of $200 million and three month trading volumes of at least 100,000 shares. All percentage returns are listed as of 10:30AM Eastern Standard Time. Click on ticker symbols for up-to-the-minute price quotes and percentage gain data. Paying up for Delaying an Integration Over the past decade, Progress Software (Nasdaq: PRGS), which offers various applications to enhance communication between various computer programs and networks, pursued a growth-through-acquisition strategy. The deal-making frenzy paid off in the form of steadily-rising earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), at… Read More