My friend Barbara phoned and invited me to lunch a few weeks ago. When she offered to pay, I knew something was up. Barbara talked about her workout routine, her daughter’s job search, and her upcoming vacation to Panama. After asking me a cursory question or two,… Read More

Let’s get down to it. Here’s what Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B) sold in the most recent quarter, according to Tuesday’s filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission:  1 million shares of Carmax (NYSE: KMX) 19.7 million shares of… Read More

Certain stocks are either loved or hated. Investors shun them when sales and profits are sliding, yet become quickly enamored when results start to improve. But any rebound in a company’s operating picture can come in fits and starts, so when speed bumps emerge in the story, momentum-chasing investors tend… Read More

Investors have suffered through 14 bear market plunges in the post-WWII era. Fortunately, those declines have been followed by 14 bull markets. The bounce-backs are typically far more powerful, but predicting the inflection points… Read More

Certain companies are always worth owning. Happily, short-term market anomalies can transform such companies from a good buy into a screaming buy. Now may be such a screaming-buy time for a certain company in the energy industry. The demand for crude oil fell in… Read More

When procrastinating husbands open their wallets to pay for decadent Valentine’s Day chocolate, they’re likely to wind up paying a little more than usual this year. They can thank the growing worldwide sugar shortage for that. Read More

Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) released a new tablet computer, a 10-inch touchscreen device called the iPad that can deliver video, music and other online content. The arrival of the tablet has been, as is Apple’s wont, shrouded in secrecy. All that remains secret is whether the iPad will… Read More

The fourth-largest grocer in the United States was in trouble. Its debt was growing and its earnings were shrinking, an unsustainable combination. It needed a turnaround — and quick. Read More

It’s been more than a decade since JetBlue’s (Nasdaq: JBLU) planes first took to the skies. As the company’s business model gained altitude, consumers have continually voted for JetBlue as their favorite carrier. Yet even with its legions of fans on… Read More

A year ago, high-yield bonds were outcasts. The financial world braced for Armageddon, and investors fled riskier high-yield bonds in droves in anticipation of widespread defaults. Yield spreads — in this case, the difference between yields on high-yield bonds and yields on “AAA”-rated corporate bonds — soared to a record… Read More