Investors tend to place a strong emphasis on growth. If a company is boosting sales at a fast clip, then its stock may be lavished with a rich multiple. Yet the top-line focus causes many to overlook a much more important metric: cash-flow growth. It’s easy to miss, especially when… Read More

In a Rolling Stone article from April 2010, in a now famous tirade against Wall Street investment banks, journalist Matt Taibbi described Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) as “a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money.” This is… Read More

Technical and fundamental investors are fond of using indicators to divine which direction stocks may be headed. These cues can come from almost anywhere: interest-rate yield curves, put/call ratios, manufacturing surveys… you name it. Some even use the Super Bowl as a prognosticating tool. Read More

In the past 100 years, a clear pattern has been in place. The stock market has tended to trade in a similar fashion in each of the four years of a presidential cycle — that is to say, first-year results are similar from term to term, and so on. The… Read More

Gold and silver have appreciated about 30% and 130%, respectively, in the past year. Given the returns, a pullback or correction in precious metals-related stocks would not be surprising. However, should the rally in precious metals continue to have legs, I have three… Read More

One of the real charms of energy sector is the potential for fast gains. Unlike staid utility stocks, energy stocks are so volatile that a six or 12-month price target can be secured in a matter of months. My “Better than Exxon” pick of Sandridge Energy (NYSE:… Read More

The Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B) shareholder meeting takes place each year during the first weekend in May in Omaha, Neb. The 2010 meeting, held this past weekend, was attended by an estimated 40,000 loyal shareholders, many of which have held shares of Berkshire for decades and have become wealthy due to Warren Buffett’s ability to grow money at one of the most rapid rates in history. Since Berkshire’s start in 1965 and running through 2010, Berkshire has experienced a 20.2% annual growth rate in… Read More

The Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B) shareholder meeting takes place each year during the first weekend in May in Omaha, Neb. The 2010 meeting, held this past weekend, was attended by an estimated 40,000 loyal shareholders, many of which have held shares of Berkshire for decades and have become wealthy due to Warren Buffett’s ability to grow money at one of the most rapid rates in history. Since Berkshire’s start in 1965 and running through 2010, Berkshire has experienced a 20.2% annual growth rate in book value. This is more than double the 9.4% annual growth rate in the stock market, as measured by the return of the S&P 500 Index. Over this period, this means that Berkshire has returned 490,409% — while the market is up 6,262%. Both rates of growth have been impressive, but Berkshire’s qualifies as spectacular. #-ad_banner-#Buffett has relayed numerous times that future growth rates at Berkshire will fall below its historical growth trends, but there is still potential for investors to earn above-average returns by investing in the stock. Just… Read More

I remember how nutty investors were for shares of the big pharmaceutical companies 15 years ago. Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) had just put the spark back into middle-aged marriages, thanks to its failed blood pressure med that had a surprisingly pleasant side affect. Other companies followed suit with similar… Read More

Some things still aren’t discussed in polite society. Obesity and erectile dysfunction are among them. But if I abided by this convention, then you’d miss out on what could be the next-big-thing in the drug stock space. Instead, in the interest of your portfolio, I’m willing to… Read More

If you’ve read my wife, Carla Pasternak’s High-Yield Investing newsletter or her free Dividend Opportunities publication, you know she spots investment trends with uncanny accuracy. Carla’s trend-spotting ability also carries over to her fashion choices. She prefers the latest styles — especially when hitting the gym,… Read More