I think the glory days are over for an iconic company.#-ad_banner-#​ Started in 1971 with a small store in Seattle, this company has grown into a global behemoth, with nearly 20,000 stores in more than 60 countries. In fact, this company has become so ubiquitous that it removed its name from its famous logo, since the image itself had become a universally known symbol for its brand. In other words, the logo transcended language, conveying its own message without the need for words — a marketing dream come true for any consumer-focused company. Translating this incredible story into… Read More

I think the glory days are over for an iconic company.#-ad_banner-#​ Started in 1971 with a small store in Seattle, this company has grown into a global behemoth, with nearly 20,000 stores in more than 60 countries. In fact, this company has become so ubiquitous that it removed its name from its famous logo, since the image itself had become a universally known symbol for its brand. In other words, the logo transcended language, conveying its own message without the need for words — a marketing dream come true for any consumer-focused company. Translating this incredible story into numbers reveals a market cap of over $57 billion, annual revenue of nearly $15 billion, and yearly gross profits of just over $8.5 billion. This company’s fiscal fourth quarter was very strong as well, with 13% revenue growth from the same period last year, a 29% increase in consolidated operating income and a 37% increase in earnings per share (EPS). The company’s entire fiscal 2013 was stellar, with more than 1,700 new stores opened and comparable-store growth of 9% in China/Asia Pacific and 7% worldwide. Reiterating what a great year it has been, this company’s CEO said the quarter “capped… Read More

General Electric (NYSE: GE) has taken its share of knocks over the years for lacking vision and its focus on short-term performance.#-ad_banner-# That said, I’m convinced that the $270 billion-plus company that used to “bring good things to life” is coming back to life…with a vengeance. Changes are happening rapidly at GE as the company gets smarter. After saying good riddance to its dead or dying segments over the past couple years — insurance, NBC, plastics and subprime lending operations, in addition to its commitment to further reduce GE Capital — GE has shifted its… Read More

General Electric (NYSE: GE) has taken its share of knocks over the years for lacking vision and its focus on short-term performance.#-ad_banner-# That said, I’m convinced that the $270 billion-plus company that used to “bring good things to life” is coming back to life…with a vengeance. Changes are happening rapidly at GE as the company gets smarter. After saying good riddance to its dead or dying segments over the past couple years — insurance, NBC, plastics and subprime lending operations, in addition to its commitment to further reduce GE Capital — GE has shifted its focus to the Industrial Internet. It’s a new era that could contribute as much as $15 trillion a year to the global economy by 2020, and GE is emerging as a key player. I’m not talking about futuristic technology that may not see the light of day for decades. This is about machines and people coming together today to connect billions and billions of smart sensors and devices that can manage large-scale industrial machines in the cloud. GE has engineered the platform for doing so and made two dozen technologies available for aviation, health care, rail, energy industries and others… Read More

If you spend a lot of time researching investments, then you’ve probably heard of Macau, a former Portuguese colony consisting of two islands in the South China Sea and a small peninsula on the south coast of China. As you may know, Macau has gained a reputation as the “Las Vegas of China” because its gambling industry has been growing at an incredible pace. By 2006, Macau had become the world’s biggest gambling center, upstaging Las Vegas itself.#-ad_banner-#​ In a couple of recent articles, one from this summer and the other from October, my colleague Marshall Hargrave illustrated the… Read More

If you spend a lot of time researching investments, then you’ve probably heard of Macau, a former Portuguese colony consisting of two islands in the South China Sea and a small peninsula on the south coast of China. As you may know, Macau has gained a reputation as the “Las Vegas of China” because its gambling industry has been growing at an incredible pace. By 2006, Macau had become the world’s biggest gambling center, upstaging Las Vegas itself.#-ad_banner-#​ In a couple of recent articles, one from this summer and the other from October, my colleague Marshall Hargrave illustrated the phenomenal rise of Macau’s gaming industry. He also provided excellent stock tips for those who wish to capitalize — and I’ve got another one for you to consider: a Macau-based subsidiary of a leading U.S. operator of casino resorts. Since going public in October 2009, the subsidiary has seen its stock rise nearly threefold. Shares are up almost 70% during the past 12 months alone. I’m a huge fan of the stock (and own a substantial amount myself) because it’s a pure play on Macau, meaning it generates all its revenue there. This means there are no weaker-performing revenue sources… Read More

In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first human woman created by the gods. As the gods created her, each gave Pandora a special gift. Apollo bestowed on her the gift of music. Fast-forward about 3,000 years, and the Internet radio company that has taken her namesake could have a gift for investors. Pandora Media (NYSE: P) has that attractive combination of a strong chart and an outstanding fundamental growth story. In its most recent quarter, the company posted 50% year-over-year revenue growth, with sales climbing past $180 million. The number of active listeners rose 20%, to 70.9 million… Read More

In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first human woman created by the gods. As the gods created her, each gave Pandora a special gift. Apollo bestowed on her the gift of music. Fast-forward about 3,000 years, and the Internet radio company that has taken her namesake could have a gift for investors. Pandora Media (NYSE: P) has that attractive combination of a strong chart and an outstanding fundamental growth story. In its most recent quarter, the company posted 50% year-over-year revenue growth, with sales climbing past $180 million. The number of active listeners rose 20%, to 70.9 million users.#-ad_banner-# Pandora is a free service, although it does offer a paid premium service. However, its free offerings can be highly profitable for the company since its growing user base has caught the attention of advertisers. Mobile ad revenue is a tremendous growth area for the company. In its fiscal third quarter, mobile ad sales hit $104.9 million, a 58% increase from the same period last year. Pandora’s mobile ad platform is very attractive because the site specializes in collecting and aggregating user data based on listening preferences. This capability allows advertisers to accurately market products to specific target markets. Read More

Across the country, investment bankers are catching up on their sleep. They’ve been remarkably busy helping a stunning number of companies go public over the past two months. The IPO docket should now be quiet for the next few weeks as the market digests more than 50 IPOs that were launched since late October, according to Renaissance Capital. And that only counts deals underwritten by top-tier firms such as Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch.#-ad_banner-#​ The flurry of activity caps off one of the busiest years for IPOs in recent memory. Dealogic notes that 166… Read More

Across the country, investment bankers are catching up on their sleep. They’ve been remarkably busy helping a stunning number of companies go public over the past two months. The IPO docket should now be quiet for the next few weeks as the market digests more than 50 IPOs that were launched since late October, according to Renaissance Capital. And that only counts deals underwritten by top-tier firms such as Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch.#-ad_banner-#​ The flurry of activity caps off one of the busiest years for IPOs in recent memory. Dealogic notes that 166 companies have raised $64 billion thus far this year. To put that in perspective, there were never more than 80 IPOs in any given year from 2006 through 2011, and around 120 last year. The volume of secondary offerings this year (in terms of number of deals and dollars raised), is also on track to break records. And these aren’t no-name companies stepping up to the IPO trough: Household names such as Hilton (NYSE: HLT), Extended Stay America (Nasdaq: STAY), The Container Store (NYSE: TCS) and of course Twitter (Nasdaq: TWTR) have all come public in… Read More

Although the conventional wisdom is that the choice to purchase a home is the most important and expensive economic decision the average person or couple will make, there is another choice that is even costlier and more important — the choice to have children.#-ad_banner-# Raising children is an extremely expensive undertaking. This is particularly true if both spouses work and outside child care is necessary. One recent study found that annual child care costs varied by state, ranging from $4,863 to $16,430 per child. In addition, the Census Bureau reported in 2011 that child care… Read More

Although the conventional wisdom is that the choice to purchase a home is the most important and expensive economic decision the average person or couple will make, there is another choice that is even costlier and more important — the choice to have children.#-ad_banner-# Raising children is an extremely expensive undertaking. This is particularly true if both spouses work and outside child care is necessary. One recent study found that annual child care costs varied by state, ranging from $4,863 to $16,430 per child. In addition, the Census Bureau reported in 2011 that child care costs have increased dramatically since the 1980s. No matter how you slice it, this is one huge expense. The fact that the rising costs for families hasn’t translated into increased salaries for child care workers (per the Census Bureau’s report) can mean only one thing: Someone is making huge profits in the child care business. After recovering from the shock of these figures, I went to work to discover a way to profit from them. The child care business is primarily a fragmented industry of small-time operators ranging from home-based centers to regional chains. However, a newly public player in… Read More

There is a dangerous malady sweeping the United States.#-ad_banner-# According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over a third of American adults — more than 72 million people — suffer from this ailment. It is a well-known cause of killers like heart disease, stroke, certain cancers and Type 2 diabetes.  Unfortunately, here in the U.S., many aspects of advertising and the general culture actually seem to promote this condition, even though it costs Americans an estimated $147 billion in annual medical costs — nearly 10% of all U.S. medical spending. The American… Read More

There is a dangerous malady sweeping the United States.#-ad_banner-# According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over a third of American adults — more than 72 million people — suffer from this ailment. It is a well-known cause of killers like heart disease, stroke, certain cancers and Type 2 diabetes.  Unfortunately, here in the U.S., many aspects of advertising and the general culture actually seem to promote this condition, even though it costs Americans an estimated $147 billion in annual medical costs — nearly 10% of all U.S. medical spending. The American Heart Association has gone so far as to call this issue an epidemic and has projected that 44% of the U.S. population may be afflicted with this condition by 2030.   If you haven’t guessed, I’m referring to obesity. While the causes of this malady are many, society does little to curtail the constant promotion of factors that eventually result in an obese population. High-fat and high-sugar foods are not only usually among the least expensive, they are the most readily and easily available, not to mention the most heavily advertised.  Fortunately, many companies are focused on solving the obesity… Read More

Technology is all around us and in everything: our homes, cars, offices — and even in our clothing.#-ad_banner-# Apparel companies are looking more and more like technology companies these days. Wearable technology has become one of the fastest-growing markets over the past year, with apparel companies pushing the limits on recording our physical activity and then transforming it into useful data.  One of the fastest-growing and most innovative companies in the apparel space, Under Armour (NYSE: UA) is at the forefront of this trend. Under Armour has the insight of real-life athletes, the look of an apparel company… Read More

Technology is all around us and in everything: our homes, cars, offices — and even in our clothing.#-ad_banner-# Apparel companies are looking more and more like technology companies these days. Wearable technology has become one of the fastest-growing markets over the past year, with apparel companies pushing the limits on recording our physical activity and then transforming it into useful data.  One of the fastest-growing and most innovative companies in the apparel space, Under Armour (NYSE: UA) is at the forefront of this trend. Under Armour has the insight of real-life athletes, the look of an apparel company and the feel of a tech company. Under Armour’s products are sold to a number of teams and athletes, from colleges to the pros. The company’s founder, Kevin Plank, came up with the idea of performance apparel during the mid-1990s as the special teams captain of the University of Maryland football team.  When you look under the hood, Under Armour operates a little like a tech startup, hosting contests to improve its products and hiring more developers to build and improve their technology. And even though Under Armour has a well-recognized brand by now, it’s still a growth story.  Its… Read More

We are closing the books on a remarkable six-year cycle for stocks, bonds and the global economy. You can break this cycle down into four distinct phases: • In early 2008, global economies began to show some cracks, especially in the all-important U.S. housing sector, yet concerns of global overheating were still evident, as seen by the “super-spike” in crude oil to more than $140 a barrel in June 2008. That surge may have been the tipping point that pushed many economies to the breaking point, and by year’s end, the global economy was in freefall.  • In… Read More

We are closing the books on a remarkable six-year cycle for stocks, bonds and the global economy. You can break this cycle down into four distinct phases: • In early 2008, global economies began to show some cracks, especially in the all-important U.S. housing sector, yet concerns of global overheating were still evident, as seen by the “super-spike” in crude oil to more than $140 a barrel in June 2008. That surge may have been the tipping point that pushed many economies to the breaking point, and by year’s end, the global economy was in freefall.  • In 2009, unemployment surged, a slew of European economies appeared to be on the cusp of collapse, and government policy makers were scrambling to avoid a truly catastrophic global economic meltdown. • In 2010 and 2011, business conditions began to improve, most notably in the U.S. And China’s economic resilience helped many Asian neighbors buck the global malaise.  • In 2012 and 2013, investors finally realized that further global crises wouldn’t derail an impressive market rally in the U.S. (and eventually Europe), and as we wind down this six-year cycle, economists are calling for calmer days ahead in 2014, led by… Read More

It’s been hard to lose money in the market in 2013. But anyone unlucky enough to own the worst-performing stocks among the various S&P indices (400, 500 and 600) has to be less than displeased.​ In my first look at 2013’s losers earlier this week, I reviewed the carnage among commodity producers and retailers. This time around, I’m looking at the rest of the 2013 laggards in search of the best rebound candidates. I took a look at the factors affecting these stocks, and to be sure, many of them should still be avoided. #-ad_banner-#​Among… Read More

It’s been hard to lose money in the market in 2013. But anyone unlucky enough to own the worst-performing stocks among the various S&P indices (400, 500 and 600) has to be less than displeased.​ In my first look at 2013’s losers earlier this week, I reviewed the carnage among commodity producers and retailers. This time around, I’m looking at the rest of the 2013 laggards in search of the best rebound candidates. I took a look at the factors affecting these stocks, and to be sure, many of them should still be avoided. #-ad_banner-#​Among the “don’t bother” names: • Cincinnati Bell (NYSE: CBB), which is on the wrong end of the sweeping changes in the wireline and wireless telecom industry. • Strayer Education (Nasdaq: STRA), a for-profit educator that is posting falling sales and profits in the face of staff layoffs and school closures. • Rackspace Holding (NYSE: RAX), as price cuts from cloud storage rivals such as Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) ratchet up the pressure. Similar competitive pressures will likely dog Teradata (NYSE: TDC) in 2014 as well.  Among the remaining stocks on that table, some have huge upside but carry… Read More