Diversification is your best friend in the investment world. During the market crash of 2008-2009 that wiped some -55% off the major averages, a diversified portfolio allocated across many different types of investments suffered far less. Sometimes, even a single stock could provide… Read More

Very few companies went completely unscathed by the global economic downturn brought about by the credit crisis, but this firm was one of them. In fact, sales and earnings have steadily increased for the past decade. This recession-resistant quality has to… Read More

Just a few years ago, Eastman Kodak (NYSE: EK) looked set to go the way of the dodo bird. Obituaries for this former “Nifty Fifty” stalwart were being written at a furious pace as the digital photography revolution seemingly passed the company by. But Kodak has staged a phoenix-like rise… Read More

Every year, a handful of stocks emerge as intriguing high-growth stories that attract hordes of momentum investors. Shares of these hot stocks can climb and climb until the valuations move into the stratosphere. And then, inevitably, a company can become big enough that it… Read More

The natural gas industry seems to only know extremes. A few years ago, supply trailed demand, leading to a sharp spikes in prices. But then geologists realized that we’re sitting on a lot more of the energy source than we could ever have imagined. Suddenly new wells were being dug… Read More

There are certain items that Americans consider indispensable. If a company can provide one of those products and generate a monthly subscription fee from its use, it creates a sustainable business model. Once this model is in place, the company can upsell its… Read More

Confidence in the economy is increasing — at least that’s the news from the Conference Board, a private research group that reports on such matters each month. The New York-based group said Tuesday that confidence in the U.S. economy during the month of April… Read More

You’ll often see all of the same companies within a similar sector trade in tandem. That’s why many investors buy stock in company B after their rival, company A, blew past estimates. But that logic failed to hold for investors in Hutchinson Technology (Nasdaq: HTCH), which supplies subcomponents to disk… Read More

Semiconductor stocks continue to deliver upside surprises. Integrated Silicon Solution (Nasdaq: ISSI), is up nearly +20% today after topping estimates by a handy margin for the fourth straight quarter. Shares, which trade for less than 15 times projected 2010 profits, could see continued… Read More

Sometimes it pays to do some “meta-analysis.” That’s when you analyze the analysts that follow a company. Often times, these analysts tend to think in cautious terms, and look to the past to make assessments about the future. As a result, they can overlook powerful industry changes that render the… Read More