On Wednesday stocks extended mild gains and led the Dow to reach its second straight record high. The release of several encouraging economic reports boosted the markets in the US, including news of an unexpectedly large rise in private sector employment and modest housing market recovery noted in the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book. Global markets
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Market Commentary
Dow Reaches Second Straight Record High; Dell Leads Techs (DELL, SPLS)
March 6th, 2013Five Stocks to Watch in March
March 6th, 2013A tenable recovery in the United States economy has made the first quarter of 2013 beneficial to many investors in the stock market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average made an all-time high of 14,221 Tuesday morning, beating the previous high made on October 9th, 2007. The Dow is up almost eight percent so far this
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Dow Closes at an All-Time High on Profits and Service Sector Reading (JCP, HPQ)
March 5th, 2013The Dow soared past its previous record high in October 2007 on Tuesday, led by market front-runners such as Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) and Sears Holding Corp (SHLD). The tech industry also had a good day with shares of Qualcomm (QCOM) and Apple (AAPL) jumping higher. JC Penney (JCP) on the other hand slid 10% on
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First Solar (FSLR) Faces an Eclipse in 2013
March 5th, 2013Shares of First Solar (FSLR: Analysis) plunged last week, after its reported weak fourth quarter earnings followed by poor guidance for the next quarter. The solar power company, which lost nearly 90% of its market cap over the past five years, repo…
US Indices Push Forward as Oil Falls to New 2013 Low on China Concerns
March 4th, 2013On Monday the major US indices finished with gains despite earlier losses stemming from concerns over China’s new announcement of property-buying restrictions. Worries also surfaced after Italy’s recent inconclusive election and the euro fell to a two-month low against the dollar. Policy makers from several large central bansk will meet later in the week to
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Anheuser-Busch InBev NV (BUD) Gets Accused of Watering Down its Beers After Reporting Robust Earnings
March 4th, 2013Shares of Anheuser-Busch InBev NV (BUD: Analysis), the largest brewer in the world, came under pressure last week despite reporting fairly robust earnings. For its fourth quarter, Anheuser-Busch – best known for its Budweiser, Bud Light, Stella Arto…
Markets Creep Higher as Positive Economic Data Offsets Sequester (GRPN, BBY)
March 1st, 2013Markets ended the week on a positive note as strong economic data outweighed investors’ concerns over the impact of impending sequestration cuts. Negative news from abroad weighed on stocks early in the session, with Europe reporting that output …
Cracker Barrel (CBRL) Rallies Sharply as it Cracks Expectations
March 1st, 2013Shares of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store (CBRL: Analysis) rallied sharply this week, after the retail and restaurant chain reported second quarter earnings that topped analyst estimates.
The Lebanon, Tennessee-based company posted earnings of …
Wall Street Gains for the Week Despite Sequestration Worries (HD, GPS, BBY, JPM)
February 28th, 2013Weekly Wrap Up The Dow, NASDAQ, and S&P all finished the week higher as reassuring comments by Ben Bernanke and better-than-expected earnings boosted investor confidence. Although GDP grew less than expected in Q4 of 2012 and Washington failed to reach a budget deal on Friday, investors remained optimistic on reports that manufacturing and consumer confidence
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Markets Down Slightly on Disappointing GDP Data (GRPN, GPS)
February 28th, 2013Stocks ended the day down slightly on news that U.S. GDP had grown slower than analysts had forecast in Q4. GDP grew by just 0.1%, on a forecast of 0.5%, and was the lowest since Q1 of 2011. Thursday saw positive employment news as jobless clai…
Home Depot (HD) Crushes Lowe’s (LOW) With a Strong Fourth Quarter
February 28th, 2013Home Depot (HD: Analysis) recently impressed investors after it posted stronger than expected fourth quarter earnings, after an improving U.S. housing market and sales related to Hurricane Sandy boosted its top and bottom line growth. Home Depot earned 68 cents per share, or $1.0 billion – up 36% from the 50 cents per share, or
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Markets Rise Again Wednesday as the Dow Hits 5-Year High (TGT, PCLN, AAPL)
February 27th, 2013Investors saw another positive day on Wednesday as the S&P, Dow and NASDAQ each closed up over 1%. The markets reacted positively to Ben Bernanke again showing his support of the Fed’s stimulus policies during testimony to the House Financial…
Macy’s Earnings Beat the Street
February 27th, 2013Shares of Macy’s Inc. (M: Analysis) closed up 2.78% to $39.59 per share on Tuesday after the company announced higher fourth quarter earnings. Macy’s reported profits which came out better than expected and upwardly revised their guidance for the company’s 2013 fiscal year. While diluted earnings were $2.05 per share on revenue of $9.35 million
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Wall Street Rebounds After Bernanke Comments Ease Investors’ Concerns (HD, M)
February 26th, 2013Following a Monday in which they saw their worst day since November, stocks rebounded on Tuesday after comments from Ben Bernanke that defended the Fed’s bond-buying stimulus program and quelled investors’ worries that it may pull back on stimulus…
Six Flags (SIX) Tops Off a Record Year
February 26th, 2013In 2010, Six Flags (SIX: Analysis) emerged from bankruptcy after reducing its debt by over a billion dollars. Since those dark days, Six Flags’ outlook has brightened considerably. The Grand Prairie, Texas-based company, the largest regional theme p…
Markets Retreat on Worries Over Italy’s Elections (LOW, BKS, MS, BAC)
February 25th, 2013Although they started the day strong, all major indexes ended Monday down more than 1% as investors worried that the outcome of the Italian election could put a damper on Europe making it through its financial crisis. The Euro continued to lose g…
VeriFone (PAY) Loses One Third of its Market Cap
February 25th, 2013Credit card terminal manufacturer VeriFone Systems (PAY: Analysis) plunged nearly 40% last week after the company announced preliminary first quarter earnings that widely missed analyst estimates. For its first quarter, VeriFone expects to earn non-…
Wall Street, Led by Hewlett-Packard, Finishes the Week on a High Note (HPQ, AIG, AAPL)
February 22nd, 2013Markets closed the week on a positive note Friday as Dow component Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) jumped over 10% on strong results. Insurer American International Group Inc (AIG) also posted surprisingly positive Q4 results, driving shares up over 2.5% f…
Sina (SINA) Rallies After the Company Stumbles Over Lowered Expectations
February 22nd, 2013Shares of Chinese online media company Sina Corporation (SINA: Charts, News) surged yesterday, after the company topped analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines. Sina is a digital portal website, similar to Yahoo (YHOO: Charts, News) with …
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Exclusive Interview with Legendary Investor Jim Rogers
March 7th, 2013The internet has a depressingly low signal-to-noise ratio, making it difficult for investors to find high-quality, unbiased sources of information and insight. One of the few I’ve found consistently reliable is Jim Rogers, because he combines three important traits that I look for: First, he’s an amazing investor with a truly remarkable long-term track record,
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