In the spring of 2008, Corporate America was caught off guard. Many companies carried hefty debt loads, and once the financial crisis hit that summer, a number of stocks plunged precipitously on looming bankruptcy fears. The most vulnerable among them: companies with more debt coming due in the following 12… Read More

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I walked into the store. There were literally dozens of smartly-dressed women excitedly seeking out their sizes in a variety of clothing items. The shoppers were completely undeterred by the relatively high prices but rather focused on just how good their purchases would make them look at the gym, yoga class or just as casual wear. I quickly remembered Fidelity Investments’ Peter Lynch and his investing rule, “buy what you know,” as my wife came out of the dressing room modeling her latest tennis/workout skirt for my approval. Not only did… Read More

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I walked into the store. There were literally dozens of smartly-dressed women excitedly seeking out their sizes in a variety of clothing items. The shoppers were completely undeterred by the relatively high prices but rather focused on just how good their purchases would make them look at the gym, yoga class or just as casual wear. I quickly remembered Fidelity Investments’ Peter Lynch and his investing rule, “buy what you know,” as my wife came out of the dressing room modeling her latest tennis/workout skirt for my approval. Not only did the outfit look great, but the craftsmanship and unique fabric sealed the deal — despite the very high price point. If you haven’t guessed it, then the store we were in was lululemon athletica (Nasdaq: LULU). Riding on the resurgence of the fitness/yoga craze that started in the 1970s, lululemon has built a powerhouse fashion empire on women’s desire for quality, looks, comfort and functionality. It’s also been one of the hottest stocks on Wall Street in recent memory… Interestingly, half the women in the store didn’t… Read More

According to official data, the Chinese economy is cooling a bit, with 2012 growth projected to come in around 7% or 8% — a multi-year low.  Don’t you believe it.  Statistics provided by the Chinese government are strictly a form of propaganda, used to… Read More

They’re arguably the most successful high-yield stocks to ever hit the market. I’d venture more fortunes have been made with these securities than just about any other income investment out there. And thanks to the market’s recent drop, I think they present a… Read More

Every spring, the same headline flashes across the screen: “The housing sector is perking up and it’s time to buy.” As time passed, the newfound momentum invariably petered out, leading to the follow-up refrain “wait ’til next year.”  #-ad_banner-#The fact that housing stocks posted solid gains in the past few… Read More

By now, you’ve probably heard about the biggest story in energy. New drilling technologies in natural gas exploration and production have opened the floodgates to new supplies, creating all kinds of possibilities for consumers and investors. [See this article for an example of what I’m talking about.]  But this natural gas revolution has so far been a mixed blessing for producers, as natural gas prices have gone into a tail spin. From highs of $8 per million Btu (British thermal units) four years ago, natural gas prices at the wellhead have plummeted to a recent $2 per million Btu, the… Read More

By now, you’ve probably heard about the biggest story in energy. New drilling technologies in natural gas exploration and production have opened the floodgates to new supplies, creating all kinds of possibilities for consumers and investors. [See this article for an example of what I’m talking about.]  But this natural gas revolution has so far been a mixed blessing for producers, as natural gas prices have gone into a tail spin. From highs of $8 per million Btu (British thermal units) four years ago, natural gas prices at the wellhead have plummeted to a recent $2 per million Btu, the lowest point in more than a decade. As expected, major natural gas producers are feeling the pain. Well-known natural gas players such as Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK), for instance, have lost 50% of their share price in the past 12 months alone (although, to be fair, some of that has to do with bad press regarding revelations of some of management’s practices).  #-ad_banner-#The good news is that in the investment world, for every loser there is also a winner. So you should be thinking about buying shares of the dozens of other… Read More

If I told you about a stock that’s delivered gains of nearly 20% to investors for the past five years, then I imagine you’d be a little skeptical. After all, the past five years have been some of the most tumultuous years in recent memory. And even if it weren’t,… Read More

“They need to get rid of Zuckerberg. Facebook may have a chance if a talented leader is appointed; otherwise it’s a no-go. The guy is a master at the start-up, but he needs to turn the reigns over to someone else to run the company”, exclaimed an under-the-radar Internet insider I recently chatted with in South Florida.  His words proved semi-prescient as the heavily anticipated Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) IPO has gone down in history as providing the worst return of any large IPO in the past… Read More

“They need to get rid of Zuckerberg. Facebook may have a chance if a talented leader is appointed; otherwise it’s a no-go. The guy is a master at the start-up, but he needs to turn the reigns over to someone else to run the company”, exclaimed an under-the-radar Internet insider I recently chatted with in South Florida.  His words proved semi-prescient as the heavily anticipated Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) IPO has gone down in history as providing the worst return of any large IPO in the past decade.  The massive $16 billion IPO was fraught with issues from its launch on May 18. A lack of communication at Nasdaq appears to be the initial trigger of the strife, causing the IPO to be delayed, and some investors complained that their orders weren’t being filled or that they were getting shares at a much higher price than they wanted.  #-ad_banner-#The confusion resulted in about $115 million in losses for the four major market-makers in the IPO: Knight Capital Group, Citigroup’s Automated Trading Desk,… Read More

  I got a chance to catch up with old colleagues at a tech investment conference this past week. And one topic dominated our hour-long discussion: Now that Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) are trading far from their all-time highs, is either one a bargain? More specifically, how… Read More

It’s the largest cell phone provider in the world… It has more customers than AT&T (NYSE: T), Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and Sprint (NYSE: S) combined. In fact, with 650 million subscribers, this company has twice as many customers as the United States has people. #-ad_banner-#But I doubt you’ve ever heard of it… The company I’m talking about is China Mobile (NYSE: CHL), China’s largest cell-phone provider. Now before you dismiss this as another risky emerging-market growth stock… let’s see the facts. China mobile is the world’s largest wireless telecommunications company with more than 650 million subscribers. The company controls about… Read More

It’s the largest cell phone provider in the world… It has more customers than AT&T (NYSE: T), Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and Sprint (NYSE: S) combined. In fact, with 650 million subscribers, this company has twice as many customers as the United States has people. #-ad_banner-#But I doubt you’ve ever heard of it… The company I’m talking about is China Mobile (NYSE: CHL), China’s largest cell-phone provider. Now before you dismiss this as another risky emerging-market growth stock… let’s see the facts. China mobile is the world’s largest wireless telecommunications company with more than 650 million subscribers. The company controls about two-thirds of the total Chinese mobile phone market and about 45% of the nation’s third-generation (3G) mobile data market. In other words, this is a dominant company. With a $200 billion market cap and $84 billion in annual revenue, China Mobile is just as big as the leading U.S. cell-phone service provider, AT&T. But unlike AT&T, China Mobile has a lot more room for growth. In the United States, more than 100% of the population owns a mobile phone. Even other markets including Brazil, Russia, Turkey… Read More