During uncertain economic times, true value becomes the consumer’s guiding mantra. Getting your money’s worth on whatever it’s spent on is the definition of true value in this sense. Whether it’s a great meal at a discount, a good deal on a luxury car or going on a first-class vacation at a fraction of the expected price, true value for one’s discretionary income has become a driving force in consumer culture.  Evidence of the consumer seeking his money’s worth is made clear in the success of discount coupon… Read More

During uncertain economic times, true value becomes the consumer’s guiding mantra. Getting your money’s worth on whatever it’s spent on is the definition of true value in this sense. Whether it’s a great meal at a discount, a good deal on a luxury car or going on a first-class vacation at a fraction of the expected price, true value for one’s discretionary income has become a driving force in consumer culture.  Evidence of the consumer seeking his money’s worth is made clear in the success of discount coupon websites like Groupon (Nasdaq: GRPN) and Living Social as well as the proliferation of peer-to-peer deal/auction businesses like eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY). But nowhere is the pursuit of true value followed as strongly as in the leisure/travel business. Limited resources and uncertain economic times force consumers to seek out the most bang for their buck as possible.  And I think I smell an opportunity for investors in this space… The growth in the cruise line business is proof of this search for true value. Once reserved strictly for the wealthy, cruising has become the go-to vacation choice for the masses.  Not… Read More

We’re inching ever closer to an official “market correction.” The S&P 500 is down almost 10% from its recent peak, which means we’ll soon hear that phrase bandied about in the financial media.  These pullbacks are painful but bring a… Read More

As the market moved steadily higher throughout the fourth quarter of 2011 and the first quarter of 2012, insider buying slowed to a crawl and eventually ground to a halt. That’s just how… Read More

It’s one of the most overlooked investments I’ve found. Ask 10 people on the street, and I’d guess that none of them would have heard of this business. It only trades 165,000 units a day. That’s what market darling Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) trades in about three minutes. That’s because this business rarely gets any press. If most investors knew what I’m about to tell you, I think interest would soar. #-ad_banner-#You see, this company doesn’t have a flashy business. It doesn’t sell its product with glossy magazine ads. Read More

It’s one of the most overlooked investments I’ve found. Ask 10 people on the street, and I’d guess that none of them would have heard of this business. It only trades 165,000 units a day. That’s what market darling Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) trades in about three minutes. That’s because this business rarely gets any press. If most investors knew what I’m about to tell you, I think interest would soar. #-ad_banner-#You see, this company doesn’t have a flashy business. It doesn’t sell its product with glossy magazine ads. And it doesn’t have a breakthrough new product that gets a lot of attention. But it does make investors money. In fact, the units just hit a 5-year high. Meanwhile, it’s paid a steady monthly dividend that hasn’t faltered going all the way back to 2005. And one more thing: This business sells a staggering 99% of its product. Earlier this month, I told you that you can find REITs in Canada that are yielding up to 13.5%. As I said, Canadian REITs (CanREITs) are similar in many… Read More

If everybody deserves a second chance, then shouldn’t the same apply to stocks? Most every company faces a major challenge at some point in its history that sends share prices tumbling and yields climbing. A few never recover, but the best ones regain their former luster with… Read More

Reckless actions will get you punished. That’s what JP Morgan’s (NYSE: JPM) CEO, Jamie Dimon, was surely thinking after he learned that a key employee at his firm had lost roughly $2 billion on an ill-conceived trading strategy. In fact, his firm’s losses from this debacle could easily reach twice or three times as much as that initial amount, causing Dimon more sleepless nights ahead. But was this misstep really worth $30 billion? That’s the stunning amount of market value that this venerable bank… Read More

Reckless actions will get you punished. That’s what JP Morgan’s (NYSE: JPM) CEO, Jamie Dimon, was surely thinking after he learned that a key employee at his firm had lost roughly $2 billion on an ill-conceived trading strategy. In fact, his firm’s losses from this debacle could easily reach twice or three times as much as that initial amount, causing Dimon more sleepless nights ahead. But was this misstep really worth $30 billion? That’s the stunning amount of market value that this venerable bank has lost in recent weeks since the trading scandal was announced. Shares have been tarred and feathered so badly that they now trade below tangible book value. Twin pressures That steep drop in shareholder value also likely stems from a pair of other factors. First, the trading losses make it more likely that the entire banking sector will be put in handcuffs when it comes to risky trading for the firms’ own accounts. The Volcker Rule, banking legislation which was likely to be… Read More

With all of the headwinds swirling around stocks today, many investors are seeking the safety of cash. It’s a wise move, but not for the reasons you may think. Cash is not just “safe,” but it is also firepower for the next major upward move in the stock market. Read More

The business world is full of examples of innovators being left in the dust by imitators. Think Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) was the first company to think of the tablet PC? Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) first developed the idea a decade prior to the advent of the iPad. Think Mark Zuckerberg came… Read More

It’s that time of year again, when investment managers are required to disclose their fund’s holdings to the SEC, and by extension, to all investors. And for most investment companies and hedge funds, it’s a pretty straight-forward process… just make a list of all the stocks you own, and how much of them you own. If you’re Greenlight Capital’s David Einhorn, however, it’s not quite that simple. With Einhorn’s willingness to hold short as well as long positions (not to mention his willingness to speak out about them) in the $7 billion hedge fund,… Read More

It’s that time of year again, when investment managers are required to disclose their fund’s holdings to the SEC, and by extension, to all investors. And for most investment companies and hedge funds, it’s a pretty straight-forward process… just make a list of all the stocks you own, and how much of them you own. If you’re Greenlight Capital’s David Einhorn, however, it’s not quite that simple. With Einhorn’s willingness to hold short as well as long positions (not to mention his willingness to speak out about them) in the $7 billion hedge fund, it’s a bit of a process to truly figure out what he’s thinking, or trading. On the other hand, considering his fund has returned an average of 21% per year for the past 15 years, sifting through the data is worth the effort. What Einhorn likes Of course, closed trades are history and don’t offer investors any new specific coattails to ride. The best clues traders can glean from Greenlight’s exits last quarter are to look at what he bought. There were only three new positions added in the first quarter, in addition to only three existing… Read More