Investors often look for stocks that are “selling below book value.” That’s a fancy way of saying that the company’s stock market value is even lower than the assets (minus debts) it has sitting on its… Read More

Carl Icahn just can’t help himself. Rather than sit patiently and wait for his large investment in Motorola (NYSE: MOT) to ripen, he keeps pulling out his check book to buy another large block of the telecom giant’s stock. In late August, he bought another $111 million… Read More

To pull off a successful initial public offering (IPO), bankers need to drum up lots of interest. That’s bad news for companies that went public last month. Many investors and traders tend to take time off in August, and demand for… Read More

Rapid hardware and software innovation are working to shift the world from a PC-centric focus to servers, smart phones and a stunning number of related technology devices. However, the demise of the computer is greatly exaggerated, and though growth isn’t as robust at it used to be, recent trends are… Read More

It’s important to maintain a watch list of stock ideas. Many of your investment ideas can be intriguing, but not quite tempting enough to merit your hard-earned dollars just yet. I like to check in on all of these investment ideas almost daily, waiting to see if the stock falls down to a level that I can’t resist, or if the company has announced new initiatives or quarterly results that make the stock a true bargain. But a stock’s downward move may be the result of bad news that has dimmed the investment picture. The question is… Read More

It’s important to maintain a watch list of stock ideas. Many of your investment ideas can be intriguing, but not quite tempting enough to merit your hard-earned dollars just yet. I like to check in on all of these investment ideas almost daily, waiting to see if the stock falls down to a level that I can’t resist, or if the company has announced new initiatives or quarterly results that make the stock a true bargain. But a stock’s downward move may be the result of bad news that has dimmed the investment picture. The question is whether the downward move is justified, or if it has sharply overshot the mark, well below where shares should trade. That scenario is playing out with DG FastChannel (Nasdaq: DGIT), which has run into some short-term growing pains after a long stretch of solid growth. Growth stalls out for now Following the dot-com boom, DG FastChannel was a perennially frustrating story. The company’s advanced media placement services, tailor made for the digital era, never saw the demand that investors had expected. In hindsight, the company arrived… Read More

Investors are always on the lookout for a competitive edge. The ability to peer slightly into the future is a key edge to exploit, be it company guidance for the next quarter or analyst projections over the next couple of years. But one company has gone a step further than… Read More

After Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) started their bidding for data storage firm 3PAR (NYSE: PAR), investors quickly went in search of possible other deals, bidding up names of several rivals that may soon be bought out themselves. [Read: This Company’s 10-Day, +169% Run is Heating up an Entire Sector] So as Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) announces plans to acquire the wireless chip division of Germany-based Infineon Technologies, it makes sense to see what other firms might be in play. (We made a similar review when Intel announced plans to buy McAfee (NYSE: MFE).) [See:… Read More

After Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) started their bidding for data storage firm 3PAR (NYSE: PAR), investors quickly went in search of possible other deals, bidding up names of several rivals that may soon be bought out themselves. [Read: This Company’s 10-Day, +169% Run is Heating up an Entire Sector] So as Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) announces plans to acquire the wireless chip division of Germany-based Infineon Technologies, it makes sense to see what other firms might be in play. (We made a similar review when Intel announced plans to buy McAfee (NYSE: MFE).) [See: Why Today’s Intel Deal Makes Tech Even More Appealing] The untethered revolution Intel’s decision to wade further into wireless technology is completely understandable. Smart phones and tablet computers are paving the way for a tech revolution that untethers us from cable modems and other desk-bound Internet connections. Industry watchers expect to see desktop-PC sales shrink and tablet sales rise in coming years. Inifineon can boast of customers such as Nokia (NYSE: NOK), Research in Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM) and LG, but has barely made any profits on these chips that transmit wireless signals. Intel… Read More

For years, market strategists have tried to explain that investor bullishness is bad for future stock returns, and when investors are very bearish, it’s a great time to buy. They’re right. I’ve gone over 25 years of data compiled by the American Association of Individual Investors (AAII), and found this investing maxim to be remarkably accurate. And guess what? The AAII’s weekly survey has just revealed another low in investor sentiment. First, let’s take a look at what happened in the late 1980s when investors had just come out of a sharp market crash (the infamous… Read More

For years, market strategists have tried to explain that investor bullishness is bad for future stock returns, and when investors are very bearish, it’s a great time to buy. They’re right. I’ve gone over 25 years of data compiled by the American Association of Individual Investors (AAII), and found this investing maxim to be remarkably accurate. And guess what? The AAII’s weekly survey has just revealed another low in investor sentiment. First, let’s take a look at what happened in the late 1980s when investors had just come out of a sharp market crash (the infamous Black Friday of October, 1987) and sentiment was fairly bearish. This table shows the annual low point for investor sentiment from 1987 through 1993 and how the market subsequently fared. Throughout this period, investors were very bearish, and less than one in five investors considered themselves to be bullish. Those lonely bulls sure made some money, though. Reported Date Bullish Neutral Bearish 1-Mo. Return 6-Mo. Return 1-Year Return 2-Year Return 3-Year Return 12/11/87 23.0% 45.0% 32.0% +3% +9% +18% +48% +40% 07/22/88 16.0% 58.0% 26.0% -1% +9% +30% +34% +45% 03/10/89 13.0%… Read More

In this tough market environment, many stocks have seen their value fall by -30% or even -40%. But I came across a foursome of stocks that have fallen a whopping -70% since the end of February. But don’t blame the bad economy: these stocks are stumbling for company-specific reasons. For… Read More

The energy industry has been especially turbulent recently, and investors looking for opportunity in companies afflicted by the offshore rig explosion and subsequent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico are positioned right in the middle of the hurricane. I’ve spent some time in the hurricane and… Read More