In the technology sector, even the best companies can stumble. Shares of Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) recently took a hit from subpar quarterly results, largely due to a hiccup in iPhone sales ahead of the launch of a an upgraded phone. Mighty Amazon.com (Nasdaq:… Read More

At the end of 2008, investors were fleeing the stock market in droves, selling stocks as fast as they could. The few investors that had the temerity to buy stocks when others were selling often focused on seemingly defensive plays such as dividend-paying utilities… Read More

If you’ve ever invested in semiconductor and semiconductor-equipment stocks, then you’ve seen the dramatic ups and downs these shares can take. To make money with these chip stocks, you have to figure out the right time to buy (ahead of the next peak… Read More

In today’s uneven stock market, investors end up overlooking many appealing companies. And right now, they are particularly ignoring growth stocks. This usually happens when fears surface that the global economy could be heading into… Read More

Performance is relative. If a stock manages to move sideways or modestly rise when most stocks are plunging, then investors should be pleased. Better yet, these are precisely the kinds of stocks that tend to outperform when most other stocks simply stabilize. We’re not there yet, but we’re getting awfully… Read More

Here’s a bit of good news. With millions of Americans now taking anticholesterol drugs (known as statins), heart disease may soon lose its status as the leading cause of deaths in the United States. In 2009 (the year for which the most recent data is available), 598,000 Americans died of… Read More

For the millions of Americans who suffer from high cholesterol, Nov. 30 will be a big day. That’s when Pfizer’s (NYSE: PFE) blockbuster drug Lipitor will lose patent protection, promising massive savings for high-cholesterol patients. The $7 billion drug (according to projected 2011 sales) also represents a big deal for… Read More

We are on the brink of a revolution. But let me tell you, this revolution doesn’t involve explosive growth in Asia, the collapse of the euro, or the end of the world as we know it (although some may be wondering about that in light of today’s… Read More

In recent weeks, I’ve been focusing all my efforts on large- and mid-cap stocks, especially those with strong balance sheets and consistent free cash flow. Many of these rock-solid companies offer a degree of stability in this… Read More

A winning trade is often about connecting the dots. If one company is set to steal market share from another, it often pays to take two actions: Go long the market share winner and short the market share loser.   Unfortunately, I… Read More