Stock Analysis
Caterpillar’s Earnings
It is interesting to observe the excitement the Street has with Caterpillar's (CAT) earnings. They were better than company thought last quarter.
Random thoughts, Stocks for the Long-Run, no more
Today I’ve caught up on my last three BusinessWeek podcasts, called “Story Behind the Story.” John Burns, BW’s editor, interviews the reporter who wrote this week’s cover story.
Four Reasons Why Investors Are Wrong on IMS Health
The word contrarian is often overused in investing, I have yet to meet an investor who bragged about being a crowd follower; therefore, everyone is a contrarian.
Six reasons why natural gas is better investment than oil
Six reasons why natural gas is better investment than oil
Five reasons to avoid the gold rush
The arguments for why one should sell the cat, pawn the mother-in-law and use the proceeds to buy gold are well known.
How Rising Stocks Lift the Economy
We often talk about how developments in the economy will impact the stock market, but we rarely discuss the other side of the relationship.
Microsoft’s best week in quite a while
Call it the wishful thinking of the guy who owns stock, but the news flow from the company this week was excellent: Microsoft (MSFT).
Susan Boyle of Software or Microsoft’s Got Talent
When I think of Microsoft stock, images of Susan Boyle in "Britain’s Got Talent" come to mind. The Scottish woman appeared and expectations of her singing were in line with her appearance.
What Future Holds?
A friend asked: What do you make of this rally? Is this May 2003 [beginning of four year cyclical bull market], or May 2008? [beginning of dramatic stock market declines]
The Danger of Leveraged ETFs
There is a tremendous misconception that leveraged ETFs are to be used as long-term investments. On the surface they make a lot of sense.
Pricing Power
Got a letter from Bank of America (BAC) today that informed me that I am a great customer and also mentioned that B of A will be raising fees.
Mister Softie, are you serious?
I own Microsoft (MSFT) stock, and I do believe it is one of the steals of the century. But when I read that the code name for a phone, that is supposed to capture the days of glory from Apple's iPhone.
Obama’s First Econ Lesson
Education is expensive, consumes a lot of time and the payoff is not worth the trouble. This is a very early wake up call on socializing medical care in the US.
The Next Great Bubble: China
After the bubbles in technology, housing, and commodities, we saw the mother of all bubbles: the one in global liquidity. The world economy seemed to require bubbles for its continued functioning.
Citi really earn money?
If you thought banks like Citigroup (C) made money in the first quarter, think again. Its business just deteriorated and bonds declined so much.
Petrochemicals story continued
Basically, global consumption of goods decline, fewer goods manufactured, and fewer ships are needed to cross the Atlantic. Simply, less petrochemicals used.
The slippery slope of petrochemicals
I am back from South Africa where I spoke about my range-bound market thesis to South African Society of CFA in both Johannesburg and Cape Town.
Jeremy Siegel is brilliant, uplifting and just plain wrong!
S&P 500 earnings topped out at about $84 a share in June 2007, while corporate profit margins were 44% above their average since 1980.
Exxon Apostasy Continued…
A very interesting cover story article in BusinessWeek about Exxon Mobil (XOM). I am usually skeptical of cover story articles, especially from BusinessWeek.
Worries in the Middle East
The Middle East is not immune to the problems around the world and to some degree it’s probably more vulnerable as these countries have not faced a crisis in a while.
Chrysler – Fiat Deal is Horrible for GM and Ford
Fiat's and Chrysler's new partnership is borderline good or, at a minimum, a non-event for Chrysler. It's great for Fiat, but horrible for General Motors (GM) and Ford (F).
