For the third straight year, the stock market is slumping badly as we head into summer. It’s as if every rally eventually hits a wall and is knocked back to the ground. And every time it happens, investors become further convinced that owning stocks… Read More

Whenever I hear the term “buggy whip,” I think of Homer Simpson’s boss, Charles Montgomery Burns, the billionaire character in “The Simpsons” whose quirks lampoon the attitudes of the robber baron class of America’s Gilded Age. One of my favorite bits in the cartoon is when some of Mr. Burns’… Read More

Whenever you see the markets slump badly, you need to look at the other side of the coin. You should ask yourself, “What investments can actually prosper from a darkening economic outlook?”  Well, we know that bonds rally sharply. For example, the iShares Barclays… Read More

One way to earn large profits in the stock market is by discovering and playing the macro trends in the economy. Think of the Internet revolution and the billions that were… Read More

Shareholder activists hate to see a company with too much cash. They rattle cages in hopes of getting a company to issue a one-time hefty dividend, or make some other bold move that can shake up a stock. But many companies simply refuse… Read More

In a rising stock market, it pays to focus on a company’s income statement. Each move up in the share price usually correlates to the company’s bottom-line performance. But when the market is in sell-off mode, you should shift your focus to the balance sheet. That’s where you can measure a company’s real worth and get a handle on how much risk the stock can hold.  Although a company’s market value can fall below the… Read More

In a rising stock market, it pays to focus on a company’s income statement. Each move up in the share price usually correlates to the company’s bottom-line performance. But when the market is in sell-off mode, you should shift your focus to the balance sheet. That’s where you can measure a company’s real worth and get a handle on how much risk the stock can hold.  Although a company’s market value can fall below the level of tangible book value on its balance sheet, it is likely to fall much less than most, even if the broader market plunges to fresh lows. That’s no small concern at a time when the European and Chinese economies are now weakening. Fresh reports point to a global economic slowdown, and you should be focusing on defensive “below book” stocks right now. These carry solid upside like growth stocks, but defensive stocks that trade below tangible book value will allow you to sleep better at night.  #-ad_banner-#After reviewing the 1,500 stocks that comprise… Read More

  If you were angling for a piece of the Facebook (NYSE: FB) IPO — only to see it quickly drop — then know that it could have been worse. You could have invested in stocks like Brightcove (Nasdaq: BCOV) or Millennial Media… Read More

  It is a good thing for long-term investors when the market only looks at things a quarter or two at a time. This short-sightedness causes lots of day-to-day volatility, but it can also create some attractive bargains. Lately, for example, the market has… 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… 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

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