Today’s market environment might be uncertain, but one thing is certain: the crowd is flocking to bonds. In 2009, investors put $375 billion into bond funds, about 14 times more than in 2008 and more than double the previous record in… Read More

Talk about great timing. Major casino operators decided a decade ago to build massive new casinos in Macau, just a stone’s throw from Hong Kong and mainland China. Those new gambling halls are now packed to the gills, thanks to the region’s ever-rising tide of freshly-minted millionaires. Meanwhile, traffic at casinos in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Biloxi and elsewhere in the United States remains in a funk. The fact that shares of Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) and Wynn Resorts (Nasdaq: WYNN) are up +110% and +50% year-to-date, respectively, is solely… Read More

Talk about great timing. Major casino operators decided a decade ago to build massive new casinos in Macau, just a stone’s throw from Hong Kong and mainland China. Those new gambling halls are now packed to the gills, thanks to the region’s ever-rising tide of freshly-minted millionaires. Meanwhile, traffic at casinos in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Biloxi and elsewhere in the United States remains in a funk. The fact that shares of Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) and Wynn Resorts (Nasdaq: WYNN) are up +110% and +50% year-to-date, respectively, is solely due to their exposure to Macau. U.S.-focused Casino operators like Isle of Capri (Nasdaq: ISLE) can only look on with envy. That firm announced very tepid quarterly results August 31st, pushing shares down -14%. If you think you missed the Macau surge, fret not. There is a way to play the region with a stock that is only starting to find appreciation among investors. #-ad_banner-#Building boom After years of construction, new casinos have been opening at a frenzied pace during the past few years in Macau. Industry revenue rose more than +50%… Read More

Investors mine ideas from many different sources, but many investors overlook a resource that provides some of the best ideas from the greatest minds. Most people believe that the world of hedge funds is not within their grasp. In truth, some of the best stock-pickers make their choices widely… Read More

Executives at Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC), Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) and privately-held Cox Communications have taken their customers for granted for far too long. Even as consumer income has barely kept up with inflation in recent years, cable bills soar ever higher. Here in upstate New York, Time Warner gets $130 from me every month so I can get high-speed Internet access, a DVR and far more channels than I ever bother to watch. I have long vowed to cut the cord, as soon as it was practical. Read More

Executives at Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC), Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) and privately-held Cox Communications have taken their customers for granted for far too long. Even as consumer income has barely kept up with inflation in recent years, cable bills soar ever higher. Here in upstate New York, Time Warner gets $130 from me every month so I can get high-speed Internet access, a DVR and far more channels than I ever bother to watch. I have long vowed to cut the cord, as soon as it was practical. That day is finally here. Technologies are rolling out that will expand consumer’s choices. And most ominously for those big cable companies, many of those choices will be either free or far cheaper. Breaking it down As I look over my monthly cable bill, a few things stand out. I like to record shows and watch them when it’s convenient. Time Warner charges me $13 a month for the service. Trouble is, to get a DVR, I also need to get digital cable ($7) and the “Standard Service” ($43), which is largely comprised of obscure channels… Read More

Legendary fund manager Peter Lynch went out of his way to find companies that did yucky things because they were often great businesses. My approach takes that concept one step further: I’ve found one stock that provides an underlying service for a whole sector, a service the sector simply can… Read More

The BRICs are out-of-style. Brazil, Russia, India and China are already yesterday’s investing theme. And as it becomes increasingly apparent that the United States and Europe will be growth-constrained in the near future, investors are now checking out a new bloc of emerging economies called the CIVETS (Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa). Growth in these countries has started to catch the attention of globally-focused money managers and, conveniently, there is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) focusing on each country that allows individual investors to own a piece. The… Read More

The BRICs are out-of-style. Brazil, Russia, India and China are already yesterday’s investing theme. And as it becomes increasingly apparent that the United States and Europe will be growth-constrained in the near future, investors are now checking out a new bloc of emerging economies called the CIVETS (Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa). Growth in these countries has started to catch the attention of globally-focused money managers and, conveniently, there is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) focusing on each country that allows individual investors to own a piece. The question is, are these countries suitable for your portfolio? #-ad_banner-#Looking under the hood Over the years, I have had the good fortune to travel extensively and have brought back a few investing perspectives from my trips to Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt and Turkey (I’ve never been to South Africa). And after consulting with Nathan Slaughter, our resident ETF expert at StreetAuthority, here are my cursory thoughts: Vietnam — I was extremely impressed by this country during my visit in 2007. It is blessed with a low-cost but… Read More

Lost in all of this spring’s hand-wringing about the potentially negative impacts from President Obama’s health care overhaul, investors seemed to overlook two more powerful forces that could severely impact the health care industry. Consumers’ financial distress is leading to a sharp slowdown in elective medical procedures (as my colleague… Read More

You and I drive 70% of economic activity in this country. We are consumers. If we lose our jobs or our confidence in the economy, we stop spending. Businesses make less money and pull back on production. They lay off workers, who spend less money, and the vicious cycle continues. Some companies survive recessions and prosper in good economies because they make things we can’t do without, like toilet paper, soap and food. Other companies serve folks who have extra money to spend on special things, like hotels, jewelry and air… Read More

You and I drive 70% of economic activity in this country. We are consumers. If we lose our jobs or our confidence in the economy, we stop spending. Businesses make less money and pull back on production. They lay off workers, who spend less money, and the vicious cycle continues. Some companies survive recessions and prosper in good economies because they make things we can’t do without, like toilet paper, soap and food. Other companies serve folks who have extra money to spend on special things, like hotels, jewelry and air travel. [Read: 3 Reasons Why this Small Cap Could Return +200%] There is, however, a further class of discretionary expense called the luxury item. If a company sells luxury items, then chances are it has been devastated in this recession and its stock has been destroyed. #-ad_banner-#But if that company can survive the recession, bargain hunters may find a multi-bagger investment that others totally miss. I found one such company that a lot of investors had written off, but has since rocketed +400% off its lows. But even… Read More

Investors in 3PAR (NYSE: PAR) can’t believe their good fortune. They woke up last Monday to find that their investment had nearly doubled in value after Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) announced plans to buy the data storage company. And this Monday morning, they got another gift when Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) announced… Read More

Over the next few quarters, look for Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) to keep up the pressure on Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) as it enters the music download business, strengthens the Android software platform’s capabilities, and likely rolls out a few new technologies and services we have not yet heard about. [Read: Apple’s… Read More