Stockerblog - The Stock Market Blog

100 High Yield Stocks Below $10 per Share

2012-05-30T22:15:00.001-07:00

If you ask the average investor if they prefer a low price stock over a high price stock, all things being equal, most prefer the lower price stock. As a matter of fact, even if all things weren't equal, many investors would prefer the lower priced stock. Psychologically, it feels good to buy the lower priced stocks. Investors think it is just as easy for a low price stock to rise one point as it is for a high price stock, even though in actuality it isn't true. So investors figure a one point rise in their ten dollar stock gives them a ten percent return, whereas the hundred dollar stock would return only one percent.

One strategy that low price stock investors can utilize is searching out ones that pay high dividends. The dividends provide an income and returns invested capital back to the investor, reducing the amount at risk. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com just updated its list of high yield stocks below $10 a share, turning up over a hundred different companies.

One example is PDL BioPharma (PDLI), which is involved in the humanization of monoclonal antibodies and the discovery of targeted treatments for cancer and immunologic diseases. The stock, which currently trades for less than $7 per share, provides a generous yield of 9.3%. The dividend is currently paid quarterly and has been paying dividends fairly regularly since 2006. The total dividend payout is $84 million is extremely well covered by the company's operating cash flow of $200 million. The stock trades at 5.4 times current earnings and 3.6 times forward earnings. Latest reported quarterly earnings were down about 10% on a 7.2% drop in earnings.

Alumina Ltd. (AWC) is an Australian company involved in the bauxite mining, alumina refining, and aluminum smelting businesses. The stock sports a very decent 6.9% yield, payable semi-annually. Dividends have been paid since 1990. Operating cash flow is $196 million, covering the $146 million in total dividend payouts. The current price to earnings ratio is 17.8, and the forward PE is 5.2. The stock sells for less than $4 a share.

Other low price high yielders include Crown Crafts Inc. (CRWS) paying 5.9%, Giant Interactive Group, Inc. (GA) yielding 5.7%, and Hickory Tech Corp. (HTCO) at 5.9%. To access a free list of over 100 high yield low price stocks, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Disclosure: Author didn't own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

Leave It to Beaver Stocks and Bonds

2012-05-30T19:56:00.000-07:00

Do you remember the Leave It to Beaver television show? Did you know one of the shows was about stocks and bonds? For the next seven days, TVLand.com is showing the full episode for the next seven days for free. The episode is about Wally and Beaver investing their own money and trying to decide between a conservative utility stock and a speculative penny stock. Click on the link below to watch.

Leave It to Beaver Stocks and Bonds

Exclusive Interview with Ken Fisher May 2012 - Part 1

2012-05-29T15:55:00.001-07:00

Volatility, Facebook, Ratios, and Debt

This exclusive interview is with Ken Fisher, the billionaire head of Fisher Investments, columnist at Forbes Magazine, and author of numerous books including his two latest, Markets Never Forget (But People Do): How Your Memory Is Costing You Money-and Why This Time Isn't Different and The Only Three Questions That Still Count: Investing By Knowing What Others Don't.

Stockerblog: A timely topic is volatility. In your book, Markets Never Forget, you dedicate a whole chapter to volatility and why volatility isn't necessarily bad. You also discuss volatility in Chapter 4 of your Three Questions book, saying that short-term volatility has nothing to do with long-term returns. So is volatility irrelevant in terms of which stock or sector to invest in?

Fisher: I think volatility is completely misunderstood by the world, and is largely irrelevant, in that, first, the way people tend to think is when stocks are up it's good and when it's down it's volatile. They don't get the notion that upside volatility and downside volatility are just flipsides of the same coin, duel edge of a knife, however you want to view it. You don't have stocks that go up a lot unless you have volatility. People just like one kind of volatility and they don't think of the other kind as volatility.

The other point that I make quite abundantly in my Markets Never Forget book, which is not so much in The Only Three Questions , is that the way the human memory works is terrible when it comes to investing. A normal motif that you can read over and over again in journalism is that volatility is more than it used to be, worse than it used to be, there's something afoot that's making markets more volatile than they used to be.

Today as we speak, they wouldn't think we are at all-time highs in volatility but they think that 2008 and 2009 saw all-time highs in volatility. Which is all just nonsense. The fact is, volatility has bounced around for a really long time and the volatility of recent years is not outside the bandwidth of historic volatility that's been reached many times before. In Markets Never Forget, I go through that at some length in several different ways, but the fact of the matter is, the human brain doesn't think that way. The human brain thinks in terms of a recency effect and recent volatility is thought to be more.

This leads people to conclusions, because they don't like volatility, where the presence of volatility tend to make people more bearish and tends to make them miss out on opportunities. They would be better off if they embraced volatility as something necessary for success and that when the markets fall with volatility, not to take it so hard. People just simply don't like declining prices because people have, again what behaviorists define as myopic loss aversion, which is a much bigger hatred for downside volatility than they have love for upside volatility.

Stockerblog: Can you comment on the Facebook IPO?

Fisher: There is one thing about it that nobody has talked about, but other than that one thing, the Facebook offering is archetypal. IPO's on balance lose money, most of them lose money immediately. The history of IPO's has been disastrous overwhelmingly with a small percentage that have paid off and as I wrote in my book, The The Wall Street Waltz, twenty five years ago, IPO should stand for I, It's, P, Probably, O, Overpriced.

The only thing new about the Facebook offering as near as I can tell is that the total market cap was bigger on an inflation-adjusted basis. Other than that, I don't really see a difference here.

Hundreds of IPO's lose money almost immediately. This is a part where people don't remember correctly. IPO's were covered in my Markets Never Forget book and my Three Questions book, as not good things to invest in. The fact is, the IPO is always priced for the issuer, not priced for the buyer. If you went through the long-term history and sprinkled your money out among IPOs, you end up losing money. Not every single time, maybe a third of them pay off, maybe twenty five percent pay off, but much more than half of them lose money. There's nothing different here.

Typically, markets are supposed to be discounters of all known information. What is there about Facebook that any buyer thought they possibly knew that any other person, other than humans in the upper Amazon basin rapidly fleeing humanity, didn't already know.

Why is it that a buyer of Facebook IPO is getting in on a moneymaking deal? What part of finance is that consistent with? None.

Stockerblog: Chapter 6 of your Three Questions book, you discuss pretty thoroughly how government debts and deficits lead to good stock returns, and you did discuss a little about corporate debt. If you look at two stocks, one stock with a lot of debt, another has no debt, does that make a difference to you or not?

That by itself doesn't mean anything. The question is how well the company is able to cover its debt that it has based on its gross operating earnings. Modigliani won a Noble prize in the 1950's demonstrating that, but nobody has ever paid much attention to it, but it is true.

The way the normal human reacts is to react negatively to the increased debt relative to the ability to cover the debt and operating earnings, there should be no difference whatsoever. That's been known and proved for a very long time and yet humans never ever get that.

Stockerblog: In your The Only Three Questions That Still Count , you talk a lot about the P/E ratio and how it is far less useful in analyzing a stock now, and you debunked the theory that the low P/E stocks are better than the high P/E stocks. In your first books, you came up with the price sales ratio, that has become less useful but still useful for comparison purposes. Are there any new ratios that you have come up with that you look at that you would be willing to share?

Fisher: No, there's nothing that I've come up with. I'm an old guy and old guys don't come up with new things. Young people come up with new things. The answer is no, not at all. I have kind of come to the view as time has rolled on that, simply said, valuations sometimes work and also often don't when you think of the issue of something like low P/E. Low P/E stocks do well when all of value does well and low P/E stocks do badly when all value stocks do badly. The way most people think is that they like value stocks or they like growth stocks, or they like this or they like that, and they think it's better for all time, and they run into a long period of under-performance which changes their mind. But low P/E stocks on the one hand, do really well when value does well, although not as well when value does well as the profitless low price sales ratio companies.

The time when value typically does best, and this is typical, not all of the time, but throughout history, the real underpinnings of value are the first third of a bull market in time. The last two thirds of a bull market in time are typically led by growth. So what ends up happening is that if you take out that bounce off the bottom in the beginning of bull markets, the rest of long history growth looks better than value, and with some few exceptions, low P/E stocks don't do so well.

Low P/E stocks are a marvelous thing and low valuation stocks are a marvelous thing when you're bouncing off the bottom of a bear market into the beginnings of a bull market. The scary part about that is if you knew you were there, you would make money all kinds of ways. If you can figure out precisely when the beginning of a bull market is, you don't need low valuations, or this or that, to lever yourself to make more money.

The reason that low valuation stocks typically do well coming off bear markets into bull markets is the tremendous pessimism. Value stocks are typically thought of as lower quality than growth stocks. A Proctor and Gamble is thought of as a higher quality stock than let's say a Dow Chemical. That’s because it is less economically sensitive than the Dow Chemical would be, and so in a bad bear market, as people are afraid that the economy is going to hell in a handbasket, and will never get better, the more economically sensitive things, which are already cheaper, get beaten down even further and then when the world doesn't really do that terribly, maybe badly but not that terribly, they've been oversold and they bounce back more.

So it's those economically sensitive low P/E stocks that get that initial bounce, people like that, at that point in time. But then later, as you move into the later stages of bull markets and people start thinking about the long term and holding stocks for a really long time, they stop wanting those economically sensitive things and they want things that can grow regardless of economic sensitivity and move more towards growth stocks. Maybe not high growth stocks at extreme high rates, but more of a perception of quality, something I could buy and put away for five years when I go to a desert island.

Stockerblog: You mentioned in the same book that you would rather be a little early than a little late as you would miss the upside when the recovery in the market takes place.

Fisher: Yes, the standard line that you hear a lot in bear market type environments, and sometimes other types, is I want to wait for things to be more clear. Things are never more clear.

To access a free list of stocks that Ken Fisher recommended in Forbes, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com

Stay tuned for Part 2 of the interview.

The books of Ken Fisher are available at Amazon.com.

Neither Stockerblog nor the interviewer nor the interviewee are rendering tax, legal, or investment advice in this interview. All opinions are those of Ken Fisher, and do not represent the opinions of Stockerblog.com or the interviewer.

Latest Warren Buffett News for the Last Week in May 2012

2012-05-29T13:37:00.001-07:00

The latest news about Warren Buffett, head of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) (BRK-B):

Warren Buffett-backed BYD slumps after crash in China

Media General: Warren Buffett Letter to 63 Daily and Weekly Newspapers

Buffett now bullish on papers

Buy Avon stock for 50% less than what Buffett blessed

Warren Buffett recently apologized to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders

Warren Buffett Declares Free News Unsustainable

For a Free list of Warren Buffett Berkshire Hathaway stocks, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com

Stocks Going Ex Dividend the First Week of June 2012

2012-05-27T20:30:00.000-07:00

Here is our latest update on the stock trading technique called 'Buying Dividends'. This is the process of buying stocks before the ex dividend date and selling the stock shortly after the ex date at about the same price, yet still being entitled to the dividend. This technique generally works only in bull markets. In flat or choppy markets, you have to be extremely careful, and may need to avoid the technique during those times.

In order to be entitled to the dividend, you have to buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, and you can't sell the stock until after the ex date. The actual dividend may not be paid for another few weeks. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has compiled a downloadable and sortable list of the stocks going ex dividend during the next week or two. The list contains many dividend paying companies, all with market caps over $500 million, and yields over 2%. Here are a few examples showing the stock symbol, the market capitalization, the ex-dividend date and the yield.

CenturyLink, Inc.	CTL	$24.2B	6/1/2012	7.5%
Cedar Fair, L.P.	FUN	$1.5B	6/1/2012	6.0%
Hancock Holding Company	HBHC	$2.5B	6/1/2012	3.2%

Old Republic International Corp.	ORI	$2.6B	6/1/2012	7.1%
Regal Entertainment Group	RGC	$2.2B	6/1/2012	5.9%
NV Energy, Inc.	NVE	$4.1B	6/1/2012	4.0%

The additional ex-dividend stocks can be found at wsnn.com. (If you have been to the website before, and the latest link doesn't show up, you may have to empty your cache.) If you like dividend stocks, you should check out the high yield utility stocks and the Monthly Dividend Stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com or WSNN.com.
Dividend definitions:
Declaration date: the day that the company declares that there is going to be an upcoming dividend.

Ex-dividend date: the day on which if you buy the stock, you would not be entitled to that particular dividend; or the first day on which a shareholder can sell the shares and still be entitled to the dividend.

Monthly Dividend Stock List
Record date: the day when you must be on the company's books as a shareholder to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is normally set for stocks two business days before the record date.

Payment date: the day on which the dividend payment is actually made, which can be as long at two months after the ex date.

Don't forget to reconfirm the ex-dividend date with the company before implementing this technique.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

Gift Ideas for Father's Day

2012-05-27T13:47:00.001-07:00

Father's Day is coming up. Sunday, June 17 to be exact. Have you started your shopping yet? Here are a few ideas for the Dad that likes to invest.

Electronics

Kindle Fire with Full Color 7" Multi-touch Display and Wi-Fi

Apple iPod touch with 8GB

Stuff for the Office

Wall Street Bull and Bear Silver Plated Sculpture Figurines Paperweights

Gold-Tone Bull & Bear Cufflinks by Cuff-Daddy

Wall Street Bull and Bear Duel Statue

DVD's

Wall Street [Blu-ray]

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

The History of Dow Jones

Boiler Room

Books

The Intelligent Investorby Benjamin Graham

One Up On Wall Street : How To Use What You Already Know To Make Money In The Marketby Peter Lynch

The Alpha Masters: Unlocking the Genius of the World's Top Hedge Fundsby Maneet Ahuja

Hedge Fund Market WizardsJack D. Schwager

The Only Three Questions That Still Count: Investing By Knowing What Others Don'tby Ken Fisher

Markets Never Forget (But People Do): How Your Memory Is Costing You Money-and Why This Time Isn't Differentby Ken Fisher

Jim Cramer's Getting Back to Evenby Jim Cramer

Reminiscences of a Stock Operatorby Edwin Lefevre

Red Wine May Prevent Alzheimer's Effects: Wine Stocks

2012-05-25T00:34:00.000-07:00

Many studies have taken place showing that the consumption of red wine may help prevent memory loss, primarily due to resveratrol in the beverage. But most of these studies have been small. However, now a large scale clinical trial is taking place through the National Institute on Aging. It will involve a 26-center clinical trial which will study resveratrol's effects on brain function in people with Alzheimer's disease. Resveratrol, which occurs naturally in peanuts and tomatoes, has the highest concentration in red wine.

So what wine stocks are available to investors? According to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, there are over a dozen stocks that distribute wine and liquor, a couple of which pay dividends. The largest is Diageo (DEO), an alcoholic beverage distributor which sells many brands of wine, including Blossom Hill, Sterling Vineyards, Beaulieu Vineyard, Navarro Correas, Acacia Vineyard, Rosenblum Cellars, Piat d'Or, Chalone Vineyard, and Santa Rita. The stock trades at 14.4 times forward earnings and sports a decent yield of 2.2%. Earnings for the quarter ending December 31 were down over 20% on an 8% rise in revenues.

Brown-Forman Corporation (BF-B) is another liquor distributor which is most known for its Jack Daniel's and Southern Comfort brands. It also sells the Sonoma-Cutrer brand of wines and Corbel California Champaigne. The stock has a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 22 and pays a yield of 1.6%. Quarterly earnings were down 5.4% on relatively flat revenues.

If you are looking for a winery, there is a small one based in Turner, Oregon, Willamette Valley Vineyards Inc. (WVVI), which produces and markets Syrah, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, The Griffin, and Viognier under the Griffin Creek label. The stock trades at 16.6 times earnings. Although quarterly revenues were down 11.6%, earnings were up 557%.

For a free list of all the other wine and liquor stocks, which can be downloaded, sorted and updated, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

Stocks Going Ex Dividend the Fifth Week of May 2012

2012-05-22T19:45:00.000-07:00

Kellogg Company	K	$19.3B	5/30/2012	3.2%
MGE Energy, Inc.	MGEE	$1.0B	5/30/2012	3.4%
VimpelCom Ltd	VIP	$16.6B	5/30/2012	7.8%

The Waterfall of Water Stocks

2012-05-20T21:27:00.000-07:00

Income investors who invest in electric and gas utilities are always looking for ways to diversify, yet still get a decent yield. What better way to branch out than to invest in water utilities. Compared to electric utilities which require the purchase of fuel to run their generators, water utilities are a simple concept. Take the water which occurs freely and pump it out to the customers. Of course, this is over-simplifying as water companies are involved in water treatment, developing water treatment plants, storage facilities, dams, and pumping stations.

Based on the free list of water utility stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, there are ten stocks, all with yields of 3% or more. An example is American Water (AWK), which is a New Jersey based company that provides drinking water and wastewater services to 30 states and 2 Canadian provinces. The stock trades at 15.7 times forward earnings and generates a yield of 3%. Earnings for the latest quarter were up an unbelievable 59.2% on a 3.7% increase in revenues.

Middlesex Water Co. (MSEX) is another water utility that has been around for over a century, as it was founded in 1897. The company primarily serves New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. The stock has a forward price to earnings ratio of 17.8, which is a bit on the high side, however, it pays a generous yield of 4.1%. Earnings were down over 31% for the latest quarter, on a revenue drop of 1.9%.

SJW Corp. (SJW) based in San Jose, California, provides water to the area around Silicon Valley. Investors receive a yield of 3.1% and the stock carries a forward price to earnings ratio of 17.5. The high tech area serves the company well, as quarterly earnings were up an outrageous 81.8% on a 17.1% revenue increase. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com just updated its free list of dividend paying water utility stocks, which shows the price to earnings ratio, and the yield.

Disclosure: Author didn't own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

Are Your Stocks in Prison?

2012-05-20T19:59:00.000-07:00

This private prison industry is an interesting business. However, stocks in this arena have been relatively flat over the last five years. One reason; since 2001, violent crime rates have dropped every year, according to the census bureau. This statistic is for both total number of crimes and the number of crimes per 100,000. But maybe this information is built into the prices of these stocks, and maybe there are some buying opportunities to help your portfolio get out of jail.

The largest company in this business, according to the free list of prison stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, is Corrections Corporation of America (CXW), a Nashville, Tennessee owner and operator of privatized correctional and detention facilities in 20 states. The stock trades at 17.5 times current earning, and 15.5 times future earnings, with a generous yield of 3.1%. Although quarterly revenues were up 2.4%, earnings for the latest quarter tanked over 21%. This was primarily due to the $4 million of start-up costs at Jenkins and Cimarron, the reduction in U.S. Marshals populations at certain facilities, and an increase in employee medical and workers' compensation claims.

The second largest is Geo Group (GEO) which trades at 17.8 time current earnings and at 13.2 times forward earnings. The company operates in the United States, Australia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and Canada as a provider of government-outsourced services, primarily correctional, detention, mental health, residential treatment, and re-entry facilities. Earnings dropped 10.5% on a revenue increase of 5.3%.

The short list of prison stocks is available at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, which can be downloaded, updated, and sorted.

Disclosure: Author didn't own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain

2012-05-20T11:17:00.001-07:00

A fascinating, fascinating book! David Eagleman's book, Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain, delves into how the brain really works. Did you know that if you see a bunch of photos and some are photoshopped to show larger pupils, that you are more likely to find those people more attractive?

If you are looking for the business and investing aspect to the book, Eagleman covers how Ulysses and the credit crunch have something in common. He talks about a study where people are offered a choice of $100 now or $110 a week from now. The study showed that most people would rather take the $100 now, in spite of the fact that by waiting one week, they are losing out on, in essence, a 14,104% return on an annualized basis. He also describes why strippers who are not on birth control pills make more money than those on the pill.

He discusses the mere exposure effect in terms of product branding, which shows that if you continue to see a product over and over, you will end up liking it more. Then of course, there is the illusion of truth effect which states that you are more likely to believe something if you have heard it before, whether or not it is true.

The neurological trivia he has come up with is incredible, and all of it comes from research that shows statistical significance. For example, did you know that you are more likely to marry someone with the first letter of their first name the same as yours? Do you want your child to grow up to be a lawyer? Name them Lawrence or Laura. Would you rather your baby become a dentist? Name them Dennis or Denise. It won't guarantee it, but it will increase their odds. Did you know that keeping a secret may be hazard to your health? Remember, all this is backed up by thorough extensive research.

One of the most interesting chapters in the book is about Mel Gibson. Is he an anti-Semite or not? Many people believe that when Gibson was drunk, he was showing his true colors. Many others believe that when you are drunk, you say all kinds of things, things that you don't believe in at all. So what do you think? The book's answer will surprise you (and I'm not going to tell you the answer; you have to read the book to find out).

If you want to expand your mind and have fun doing it, I strongly recommend that you read Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain.

Morgan Stanley Bought a Ton of Stock to Help Facebook Price

2012-05-19T21:33:00.002-07:00

The lead underwriter of the Facebook (FB) IPO reportedly bought a bunch of the stock in order to maintain the stock price above its initial offering price of 38, according to an article at Bloomberg. The stock first starting trading at 42 but ended the day at slightly above 38.

The Human iPod Dock

2012-05-18T21:43:00.000-07:00

This video shows how a guy turned himself into a human Apple (AAPL) iPod Docking Station, the iDermal. It's pretty gross; be prepared to see blood.

How You Can Have Lunch With Warren Buffett

2012-05-16T22:59:00.001-07:00

Wouldn't it be a great opportunity to sit down to lunch with Warren Buffett, head of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) (BRK-B), and pick his brain? Well now is your chance. You have the opportunity to bid on the lunch through eBay (EBAY).

The auction will run from June 3 through June 8, closing at 7:30pm. Proceeds go towards the GLIDE Foundation in San Francisco. The starting bid will be $25,000 and you must pre-qualify for the auction.

For a free list of Warren Buffett stocks, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com

Latest Warren Buffett News Week of May 14

2012-05-16T22:22:00.001-07:00

The latest news about Warren Buffett, head of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) (BRK-B):

Warren Buffett's investment firm buys 10 million shares of GM

Warren Buffett’s company reports several investment moves

What Yahoo! Could Learn From Warren Buffett

Remote islands seek help from US finance guru Warren Buffett

For a free list of Warren Buffett stocks, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com

Latest News about Facebook Stock for Week of May 14

2012-05-15T19:58:00.001-07:00

Here is the latest news about Facebook stock and the Facebook IPO:

Exchanges Lay Plans For Facebook's Market Debut

Facebook IPO has individual investors in a tizzy

Facebook raises IPO price as offering nears

Investing in the Facebook IPO? You may have a mental disorder

Facebook IPO: Who is selling stock?

To see the original Facebook prospectus as a pdf file that can be downloaded, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Image of Facebook Stock Certificate courtesy of the SEC EDGAR service.

Stocks Going Ex Dividend the Fourth Week of May 2012

2012-05-12T11:08:00.000-07:00

Park National Corporation	PRK	$1.0B	5/21/2012	5.7%
Alpine Total Dynamic Dividend Fund	AOD	$1.0B	5/21/2012	14.2%
Applied Materials, Inc.	AMAT	$15.2B	5/22/2012	3.1%

Carnival Corporation	CCL	$18.9B	5/23/2012	3.2%
Carnival plc (ADR)	CUK	$5.7B	5/23/2012	3.2%

Cloudy Stocks with a Silver Lining

2012-05-12T10:17:00.001-07:00

I remember in the 'old' days, when I was using AOL (AOL), I had the option of saving my mail on my own computer or AOL could save it for me. Back then, I thought it was 'safer' to save it locally. But then I ran into a problem. When I was using my laptop, I couldn't access the mail on my desktop computer, and vice-versa. Plus, I had mail stored in two different places, and wasn't sure what was saved where. I finally gave in and had AOL save my mail for me. This concept is a very simple example of cloud computing. So to understand clouds a bit more, let me give you a couple more examples, without using a lot of technospeak, and keeping it in layman's terms.

Cloud computing is having your programs and data stored remotely on a server in another location, instead of on your own individual computer. As long as you have an Internet connection, you can have a cheap old computer and still take advantage of cloud computing. The servers of companies that provide this service represent the 'clouds', and those servers can be located anywhere. Yahoo (YHOO) mail, Google (GOOG) gmail, and Microsoft's (MSFT) hotmail are examples of cloud computing in a limited way. The email servers are not in your office or home as you use the Yahoo or Google or Microsoft servers. Many corporations, organizations, and universities are utilizing the email services of Google, which saves them money on servers and saves on staffing.

For corporations, cloud benefits are substantial. Cloud computing can reduce waste and carbon footprints along with providing significant cost savings. Companies that utilize cloud computing don't need to keep buying more servers. Costs relating to the disposal of old computers and servers is cut back significantly. Data security is the job of the cloud computing firm. Businesses can eliminate the techs that have to come out and install new software to each employees' station, and network administrators monitoring the company's servers are reduced.

Investors like the green and financial benefits of cloud computing companies. According to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, there are over 25 stocks in the cloud field, based oh the free Cloud Computer Stock List, which includes companies involved in server farms and outsourced storage systems.

The one of the largest corporations that falls into the cloud computer arena is Salesforce.com (CRM), which is a provider of customer-relationship management services. The company's stock symbol stands for Customer Relationship Management. Salesforce has customers of all sizes, including Staples (SPLS), Expedia (EXPE), News Corp. (NWS-A), and SunTrust Banks (STI). Salesforce trades at 66 times forward earnings. Quarterly revenues ending January 31 were up 38% year-over-year. The company reports latest earnings on May 17.

Citrix Systems, Inc. (CTXS) provides on demand applications and online services, including GoToMeeting, GoToWebinar, GoToTraining, GoToAssist, and GoToMyPC. This company has a forward price to earnings ratio of 25. The latest quarterly earnings were down 7%, however, revenues were up 20%. I like the fact that the company is debt free.

VMware (VMW) is another major cloud and virtualization company. Its product VMware vSphere is a cloud computing data center platform. It sports a forward price to earnings ratio of 44. The company reported that latest earnings increased an incredible 52% in earnings on an amazing 25% increase in revenues. Although VMware has $450 million in total debt, it holds $5.2 billion in cash.

To access the free database of numerous companies involved in cloud computing in some way, that can be downloaded, sorted, and updated, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com. A couple of them even pay dividends.

You can also get info on the green aspects of cloud computing from my book The Green Light on Green Stocks: A Quick Guide to Green Investing and Making Money in Alternative Energy Stocks, available through the publisher or through Amazon.com (AMZN), which also happens to be involved in the cloud computer business. As far as I know, my book is the first to publish information on cloud computing as a green industry.

Disclosure: Author owns AOL, AMZN, and YHOO.

By Stockerblog.com

Who will get $5,000 from Warren Buffett

2012-05-11T19:29:00.000-07:00

It's called the Secret Millionaire's Club "Grow Your Own Business" contest, sponsored by billionaire investor warren Buffett, head of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) (BRK-B). t is designed to teach entrepreneurship and available to kids between 7 and 16 years old. The winning prize is $5,000.

Latest News about Warren Buffett for the Week of May 7

2012-05-08T23:10:00.000-07:00

The latest news about Warren Buffett, head of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) (BRK-B):

Reflecting on Buffett, Business and Politics

Warren Buffett Calls for 90% Billionaire Wealth Tax

Buffett's investing basics: Easily imported to families

Warren Buffett says his successor will be a man

Warren Buffett: Wal-Mart View Unchanged, May Have Overpaid For ConocoPhillips

Warren Buffett won’t invest in Facebook IPO

For a free list of Warren Buffett stocks, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com

Latest News on Facebook Stock for the Week of May 7

2012-05-07T22:57:00.000-07:00

This is the latest news on Facebook and the Facebook IPO stock offering:

Why Facebook Stock Makes the Best Graduation Gift

Reddit Founder Says He Won't Buy Facebook's Stock

Start-up to tap Facebook as a no-fee investment platform

Facebook likely to be the fourth richest flotation in stock market history

Mark Zuckerberg kicks off Facebook roadshow to pitch IPO

Closed End Funds that Own Facebook Stock

Steve Jobs

2012-05-06T17:53:00.000-07:00

If you have not read the book Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson, you need to read it. Even if you are a Microsoft (MSFT) Windows person and not an Apple (AAPL), Mac person. Even if you use a Research In Motion (RIMM) BlackBerry, instead of an iPhone. You need to read this book.

It is not just the historical information, which is very, very extensive, going back to the grandparents of Jobs and continues to almost his death. It is not just the fascinating trivia about Jobs, including the drugs, the feet soaking in toilets, the veganism, and how he once turned into a carrot (you have to read the book!). By the way, there is a ton of trivia, and I really don't want to give any more of it away.

What makes this book great is the combination of a psychoanalysis of Jobs combined with an evolutionary business analysis of Apple, Inc. and its founder. One of the key elements of the book, at least in the first part, is the interaction and relationship between Jobs and Steve Wozniak. They are complete opposites in numerous ways, physically, mentally, emotionally, philosophically, behaviorally, yet they worked together so well and complimented each other almost perfectly.

This business and financial side of Apple was significantly covered in the book, but probably just as interesting, if not more so, is the personal side of Jobs and all the major players in his life. And what a life.

Here is a guy who basically created his own market, his own Industry. He is responsible for providing employment to over 60,000 people directly, and hundreds of thousands of workers indirectly. He has made millionaires out of thousands and thousands of employees and investors. Not bad for a dollar-a-year man.

Isaacson has done his homework for this book, not only through interviews of Jobs, but also his co-workers, staff, family, friends, and even enemies. The research is extensively annotated at the end. The book even includes over 20 pictures. This tome is over 600 pages long, perfect for summer reading, vacation reading, or just one-chapter-a-night-before-you-go-to-bed reading. It is even available as a Steve Jobs Kindle book. If you are looking for a book as a gift, either for a friend, family member, or even yourself, Steve Jobs is the book worth getting.

Profit from the Kentucky Derby

2012-05-05T21:07:00.000-07:00

The Kentucky Derby, considered to be the most famous horse race in the United States, was held this Saturday in Louisville, Kentucky. It is the first of the three major races of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing and will be followed by the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes.

Is there a way to make money on horse racing without betting on the outcome of a race? Definitely. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com turned up a list of a dozen stocks in the horse racing industry, and several of them pay dividends.

A perfect example is Churchill Downs Inc. (CHDN), the host of the Kentucky Derby. This is the holding company of the Churchill Downs Racetrack that originally opened in 1875. It also owns Arlington Park, the Calder Race Course, the Fair Grounds Race Course, and the Trackside Off-Track-Betting Facilities. The stock trades at 17.2 times forward earnings, and pays a yield of 1.0%. Revenues were up 8.8% for the latest reported quarter.

Dover Downs Gaming & Entertainment Inc. (DDE) owns Dover Downs Raceway, a harness racing track with pari-mutuel wagering. The company has a forward price to earnings ratio of 9 and pays a generous yield of 4.3%. Revenues were up 7.9% for the latest quarter.

Penn National Gaming Inc. (PENN) owns racetracks and off-track wagering facilities in Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ontario. The stock has a forward PE of 15.6 but does not pay a dividend.

For a free list of stocks involved in the horse racing industry which you can download, sort and update, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

By the way, if you want a free horse race handicapping program, check out the one at horsetip.com.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

Stocks Going Ex Dividend the Third Week of May 2012

2012-05-05T19:11:00.002-07:00

Consolidated Edison, Inc.	ED	$17.2B	5/14/2012	4.1%
H&R Real Estate Investment Trust	HRUFF	$2.8B	5/14/2012	4.9%

Sonoco Products Company	SON	$3.4B	5/16/2012	3.6%
Whirlpool Corporation	WHR	$4.9B	5/16/2012	3.1%
China Mobile Ltd. (ADR)	CHL	$224.9B	5/17/2012	3.8%
Highwoods Properties Inc	HIW	$2.5B	5/17/2012	5.0%

The additional ex-dividend stocks can be found at wsnn.com. (If you have been to the website before, and the latest link doesn't show up, you may have to empty your cache.) If you like dividend stocks, you should check out the high yield utility stocks and the Monthly Dividend Stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com or WSNN.com.

Dividend definitions:
Declaration date: the day that the company declares that there is going to be an upcoming dividend.

Ex-dividend date: the day on which if you buy the stock, you would not be entitled to that particular dividend; or the first day on which a shareholder can sell the shares and still be entitled to the dividend.

Monthly Dividend Stock List Record date: the day when you must be on the company's books as a shareholder to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is normally set for stocks two business days before the record date.

Payment date: the day on which the dividend payment is actually made, which can be as long at two months after the ex date.

Don't forget to reconfirm the ex-dividend date with the company before implementing this technique.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

Weekly Warren Buffett News for May 1

2012-05-01T23:17:00.001-07:00

The latest news about Warren Buffett, head of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) (BRK-B).

Buffett's cancer to be No. 1 topic at Berkshire meeting

Chance to Make Business Pitch to Buffett

The Other Buffett Rules

Buffett and Companies Give $500K to 2012 Campaigns

Brooks Sports to roll out shoes with Warren Buffett's image

Women and Warren Buffett do well in stock market