The past decade has been tough for stocks, with the bursting of the Internet and housing bubbles creating share price volatility too extreme for many investors. As for blue chip companies, sky-high valuations in 2000 have left little in terms of total stock returns, even though… Read More

When the stock market is on the upswing, private companies get in line to sell their shares and become members of the new crop of initial public offerings (IPOs). Bankers like to know that investors are in a buying mood when taking these companies… Read More

A number of stocks are hitting new lows for 2010 this week, and an increasing number are also hitting 52-week lows. In fact, more than 100 stocks hit 52-week lows on Tuesday for the first time in more than a year. The rising list of laggards is surprising considering we just came off of a very robust earnings season. Some are simply drifting lower in this challenging market, while others certainly merit a sell-off. Here’s a look at some stocks that hit 52-week lows on Tuesday, but which should move back… Read More

A number of stocks are hitting new lows for 2010 this week, and an increasing number are also hitting 52-week lows. In fact, more than 100 stocks hit 52-week lows on Tuesday for the first time in more than a year. The rising list of laggards is surprising considering we just came off of a very robust earnings season. Some are simply drifting lower in this challenging market, while others certainly merit a sell-off. Here’s a look at some stocks that hit 52-week lows on Tuesday, but which should move back up when buyers re-take charge of the market. AOL AOL (NYSE: AOL) went public at $25 a share last November, and after a recent march toward the $30 mark, touched almost $20 on Tuesday, an all-time low. You would think this IPO would have fared well, as advertising rates on websites have started to firm up after declining for several years. But the company has admitted that its sales force was not meeting expectations, and a recent re-shuffle of the sales team is expected to… Read More

Investors tend to buy stocks when the market is on the upswing and avoid them when the market is flashing red. But if you focus simply on value, then you should be buying at lows. And right now, a whole host of stocks are trading at lows for the year,… Read More

Here’s the most important number you need to know today: $8 billion. That’s the amount of cash that BP (NYSE: BP) is likely to generate, year-in and year-out, assuming energy prices stay where they are right now. And that number should be kept in mind as investors tally up all… Read More

Stocks with scant analyst coverage often offer opportunity for individual investors to exploit market inefficiencies. The small-cap arena is usually the most fruitful place to uncover these opportunities, but every now and then a firm with a larger market capitalization will fail to get… Read More

Investors have been parsing retail sales data for May, but if they want to know the real direction for the group, they’ll need to check out the monthly snapshot of employment trends, which will be released Friday morning. The U.S. economy has begun adding… Read More

I’ve been on a kick lately researching global brands. The reason is because these companies not only make for great defensive positions to have in a down market, but a certain number of these stalwarts have been able to reinvent themselves in recent years. This oftentimes transforms companies from boring,… Read More

After plunging steadily in recent weeks, share prices in the oil and gas exploration appear to have finally found a floor. Some stocks such as Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) and Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB) sharply rose on Wednesday after falling close to their 52-week lows, while other stocks such as Diamond Offshore… Read More

During the past year, exchange-traded fund (ETF) investors have welcomed a plethora of new funds to the marketplace. These new funds cover everything from municipal bonds to emerging market financials. But one of the most intriguing of this latest batch is a fund that… Read More