“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”  Try telling that to a company that has just been “Einhorned.” Hedge fund billionaire David Einhorn has the ability to crater a company’s share price with the mere mention of its name in one of his closely followed investment presentations. That ability has turned his name into a verb, spawning the expression that a company is being “Einhorned” when targeted by short sellers.#-ad_banner-# Einhorn’s forensic approach to research has… Read More

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”  Try telling that to a company that has just been “Einhorned.” Hedge fund billionaire David Einhorn has the ability to crater a company’s share price with the mere mention of its name in one of his closely followed investment presentations. That ability has turned his name into a verb, spawning the expression that a company is being “Einhorned” when targeted by short sellers.#-ad_banner-# Einhorn’s forensic approach to research has enabled him to sniff out some of the most publicized and successful shorts in the past 10 years. That includes one of the earliest calls and moves on Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy and a short on Green Mountain Coffee (Nasdaq: GMCR) that netted his firm hundreds of millions. That has turned Einhorn into one of the most popular figures on the Street — but also one of its most polarizing. Some call him a genius; others oppose his ability to profit from struggling… Read More

The financial crisis forced every company in the world to re-evaluate its business model. Frozen credit markets, a recessionary global economy and weak consumer demand scared even the most profitable and… Read More

I love investing in companies that have strong emotional connections with their customers. Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX) is a great example. Starbucks has extremely loyal customers because of the warm atmosphere of its cafes, the reliable quality and convenience of its goods, and its… Read More

The market is flashing big warning signals right now. The biggest concern is the Federal Reserve tapering its quantitative easing program. The impact of the world’s most powerful central bank reducing the size of its monthly… Read More

The leveraged buyout was one of the great financial inventions of the 1980s. Buying companies with little money down and stuffing them with debt before exiting with a massive… Read More

Ron Paul is a lot like licorice; not everyone likes him, but the ones who do really like him.#-ad_banner-# The former Texas congressman built his reputation and loyal following by taking strong positions on a number of controversial… Read More

Bonds are supposed to be safe investments. But what most fixed-income investors don’t realize is that bonds have rarely been more risky. That’s because with interest rates near record… Read More

Second-quarter earnings season was a bit of a bust. Although earnings remain at an all-time high, the pace of earnings growth continues to look weak. Earnings growth is up just 3% from last year, a small improvement from the first quarter’s 2.6% gain and the 2.8% average for the past four quarters. The headlines reflected that disappointment, with stories about the biggest… Read More

Second-quarter earnings season was a bit of a bust. Although earnings remain at an all-time high, the pace of earnings growth continues to look weak. Earnings growth is up just 3% from last year, a small improvement from the first quarter’s 2.6% gain and the 2.8% average for the past four quarters. The headlines reflected that disappointment, with stories about the biggest blue chips struggling with the weak global economy and falling short of expectations. That includes misses from bellwethers like IBM (NYSE: IBM), Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) and Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT). But in spite of some earnings headwinds, there were a number of companies that bucked the trend and delivered big earnings surprises. For instance, take Facebook (Nasdaq: FB), which delivered a 44% earnings surprise last month that sent the company’s share price soaring. But if you missed out on that first… Read More

The United States has made improving its infrastructure a clear objective. In recent speeches promoting his renewed emphasis on the economy, President Barack Obama has been reinforcing his commitment to investing in the country’s infrastructure, saying, “We know strong infrastructure is a key ingredient to a thriving economy.”  That comes on the heels of his “fix it first” infrastructure proposal earlier this year that would allocate $40 billion for ailing highways, bridges and airports while setting another $10 billion aside to… Read More

The United States has made improving its infrastructure a clear objective. In recent speeches promoting his renewed emphasis on the economy, President Barack Obama has been reinforcing his commitment to investing in the country’s infrastructure, saying, “We know strong infrastructure is a key ingredient to a thriving economy.”  That comes on the heels of his “fix it first” infrastructure proposal earlier this year that would allocate $40 billion for ailing highways, bridges and airports while setting another $10 billion aside to create a national infrastructure bank. The push for more spending on infrastructure comes in response to data from the National Association of Civil Engineers that says domestic infrastructure is in dire need of an upgrade, projecting long-term spending needs in excess of $2 trillion. Long-term investments in rebuilding the country’s infrastructure will benefit the entire economy, but there is one company in better position than others to profit. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE: BIP) owns and operates an impressive portfolio of… Read More

Going against the masses rarely pays off in investing. Finding an opportunity that the rest of the market is completely missing, identifying the right instruments, calculating the right amount of leverage and… Read More