It’s going to touch everything. It will make a difference in what we eat, where we travel, how we heat and cool our homes, even how much we save and spend. Actually, these sorts of changes are already taking place. But over the next… Read More

Whenever a stock takes a major hit, I like to wait a few days before assessing the wreckage. It gives time to let the issues clarify and provides a chance to see where shares end up once investors have finished selling. After plunging from $64… Read More

The life cycle of a company follows four distinct steps. The last two are maturity and decline, and both are generally not the stages when you want to invest. The first is introduction and covers the period when a company is in its start-up phase and progresses to introducing some… Read More

If you’re the CEO of a large corporation, you do not want to see your company’s name in this article. The companies in this article stumbled — badly — in the past year and have seen their shares prices fall by half — or… Read More

In my recent article The Perfect Way to Short Nuclear Power Stocks, I describe how the nuclear crisis in Japan is negatively impacting nuclear power companies worldwide, providing potentially profitable trading opportunities. However, another way to profit from the ongoing nuclear crisis is to invest in… Read More

With a rising economy comes rising expectations. CEOs at mid-sized and large companies need to find new paths to growth to justify — or boost — their company’s stock price. That’s no mean feat in an economy still in slow-growth mode. As a… Read More

In the annual shareholder letter released Feb. 11 by Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B), Warren Buffett announced the need for major acquisitions to help him grow Berkshire’s profits at a “decent rate.” Given the billions in cash Berkshire generates (Buffett estimates $12 billion in annual earnings power) in any given year, Buffett declared his “elephant gun has been reloaded” and that his “trigger finger is itchy” for big acquisitions. His itch was partially scratched, recently when, on March 14, Berkshire announced it would be acquiring specialty chemical firm Lubrizol (NYSE: LZ) for $9 billion in cash and… Read More

In the annual shareholder letter released Feb. 11 by Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B), Warren Buffett announced the need for major acquisitions to help him grow Berkshire’s profits at a “decent rate.” Given the billions in cash Berkshire generates (Buffett estimates $12 billion in annual earnings power) in any given year, Buffett declared his “elephant gun has been reloaded” and that his “trigger finger is itchy” for big acquisitions. His itch was partially scratched, recently when, on March 14, Berkshire announced it would be acquiring specialty chemical firm Lubrizol (NYSE: LZ) for $9 billion in cash and the assumption of $700 million in debt. Buffett said he liked Lubrizol’s global leadership position in several areas, which include its lubricant additives for engine oils and related fuel additives for gasoline and diesel fuel. The buyout price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is less than 14 based on trailing earnings and will qualify as the fourth-largest acquisition in Berkshire’s storied history. Buffett recently said he was still interested in more acquisitions and isn’t ruling out any sector or area of the world, save for… Read More

T.S. Eliot once wrote that “April is the cruelest month.” Yet a half-dozen companies that sell optical networking equipment would beg to differ: March has been quite cruel and they’re hoping April will be far kinder. The entire group rallied higher in the first week on word… Read More

Think of the economic cycle as a wheel…     This image roughly captures the whole cycle, highlighting the various stages of economic growth and contraction. Right now, we’re just past “9 o’clock” on the wheel, as commodity prices have been steadily rising (although with some recent profit-taking). We’re surely done with the “8 o’clock” phase, where we saw stocks post a remarkable two-year rally after a sudden plunge. If the current cycle plays out as it has in the past, then more stock gains lie ahead, but perhaps in a more limited… Read More

Think of the economic cycle as a wheel…     This image roughly captures the whole cycle, highlighting the various stages of economic growth and contraction. Right now, we’re just past “9 o’clock” on the wheel, as commodity prices have been steadily rising (although with some recent profit-taking). We’re surely done with the “8 o’clock” phase, where we saw stocks post a remarkable two-year rally after a sudden plunge. If the current cycle plays out as it has in the past, then more stock gains lie ahead, but perhaps in a more limited fashion than some realize. We may be looking at an extended period of economic expansion in coming years, but stocks prices always look ahead and have already anticipated some of that expansion. [For more on how sector rotation can lead you to the right stocks to profit, go here.] The economy has started to sputter back to life, as seen by rising employment figures and positive quarterly gross domestic product (GDP) reports. We’re just about at “9 o’clock,” or “general recovery.” When monthly employment trends really start to… Read More

You’ve no doubt heard plenty as to why commodities are going through the roof. Yes, turmoil in the Middle East plays a part. As does a weakening U.S. dollar. But perhaps the underlying catalyst in the commodities pits is China. The… Read More