Trading Goddess

Latest Warren Buffett News for First Week of June

noreply@blogger.com (Stockerblog) — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 17:59:00 +0000

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

Why did Warren Buffett buy 63 newspapers?

5 Stocks to Buy to Be Like Buffett

Is Buffett Buying Back Shares Of Berkshire Hathaway?

David Einhorn Slams Ice Cream Cone In Warren Buffett’s Face

Stocks Warren Buffett and Prem Watsa Have in Common in 2012

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

Stocks Going Ex Dividend the Second Week of June

noreply@blogger.com (Stockerblog) — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 17:10:00 +0000

Avery Dennison Corporation	AVY	$3.1B	6/4/2012	3.7%
Banco Bradesco SA (ADR)	BBD	$27.4B	6/4/2012	4.1%
STMicroelectronics N.V. (ADR)	STM	$4.5B	6/4/2012	7.9%
Cinemark Holdings, Inc.	CNK	$2.7B	6/4/2012	3.6%
BlackRock, Inc.	BLK	$30.8B	6/5/2012	3.5%

Gannett Co., Inc.	GCI	$3.0B	6/6/2012	6.2%
Genuine Parts Company	GPC	$9.7B	6/6/2012	3.2%
Kimberly Clark Corp	KMB	$31.2B	6/6/2012	3.7%
Potlatch Corporation	PCH	$1.2B	6/6/2012	4.3%
Public Service Enterprise Grou	PEG	$15.4B	6/6/2012	4.7%
PPL Corporation	PPL	$16.0B	6/6/2012	5.2%

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

100 High Yield Stocks Below $10 a Share

noreply@blogger.com (Stockerblog) — Thu, 31 May 2012 05:21:00 +0000

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

Exclusive Interview with Ken Fisher

noreply@blogger.com (Stockerblog) — Wed, 30 May 2012 14:06:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Stockerblog) — Tue, 29 May 2012 20:43:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Stockerblog) — Mon, 28 May 2012 03:56:00 +0000

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     7.5%
Cedar Fair, L.P.     FUN     $1.5B     6/1     6.0%
Hancock Holding Company     HBHC     $2.5B     6/1     3.2%
Old Republic International Corp.     ORI     $2.6B     6/1     7.1%
Regal Entertainment Group     RGC     $2.2B     6/1     5.9%
NV Energy, Inc.     NVE     $4.1B     6/1     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

noreply@blogger.com (Stockerblog) — Mon, 28 May 2012 01:06:00 +0000

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 Investor by Benjamin Graham

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

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

Hedge Fund Market Wizards Jack D. Schwager

The Only Three Questions That Still Count: Investing By Knowing What Others Don't by Ken Fisher

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

Jim Cramer's Getting Back to Even by Jim Cramer

Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Edwin Lefevre

Stocks Going Ex Dividend the Fifth Week of May

noreply@blogger.com (Stockerblog) — Fri, 25 May 2012 18:26:00 +0000

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%

Red Wine May Prevent Alzheimer's Effects: Wine Stocks

noreply@blogger.com (Stockerblog) — Fri, 25 May 2012 18:21:00 +0000

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

The Waterfall of Water Stocks

noreply@blogger.com (Stockerblog) — Wed, 23 May 2012 02:52:00 +0000

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?

noreply@blogger.com (Stockerblog) — Wed, 23 May 2012 02:49:00 +0000

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

Warren Buffett News Week of May 14

noreply@blogger.com (Stockerblog) — Thu, 17 May 2012 05:39:00 +0000

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 the Facebook Stock IPO

noreply@blogger.com (Stockerblog) — Wed, 16 May 2012 03:10:00 +0000

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.

Cloudy Stocks with a Silver Lining

noreply@blogger.com (Stockerblog) — Sat, 12 May 2012 17:55:00 +0000

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

Steve Jobs

noreply@blogger.com (Stockerblog) — Mon, 07 May 2012 01:06:00 +0000

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.

Natural Gas Stocks are a Gas Gas Gas

noreply@blogger.com (Stockerblog) — Sun, 06 May 2012 04:11:00 +0000

Natural gas has tanked 39% this year, the worst performer of all the commodities. Natural gas should increase to $4 per million BTU pretty soon, according to Goldman Sachs (GS). This is primarily due to production cutbacks from major producers and increased demand from utilities this year. It is significant since gas dropped 39% this year, the worst performing of all utilities.

There are many publicly traded companies involved in the distribution of natural gas, to both homes and businesses, and over 15 over them have yields in excess of 3%. For example, TransCanada Corp. (TRP), based in Calgery, Alberta, Canada, owns and operates natural gas pipelines and regulated gas storage facilities throughout Northern California. The company, which trades at 20 times earnings, pays a generous yield of 4.0%. (Talk to your accountant about foreign withholding tax, especially when foreign stocks are put in a retirement plan.) Earnings for the latest quarter were up 37.5% on a 14.7% rise in revenues.

Enterprise Products Partners LP (EPD) is another high yielder gas company, which yields 4.9%. The stock trades at 21.6 times earnings, and earnings for the latest reported quarter ending December 31, were up an amazing 351.3% year over year, on a revenue increase of 20.9%. The company reports earning on May 2.

More options are available and worth further research including Northwest Natural Gas (NWN) at a 3.9% yield, WGL Holdings Inc (WGL) paying 4.0%, and Sempra Energy (SRE) at 3.7%. You can access a free list of over 25 natural gas companies, along with their price to earnings data, at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

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

By Stockerblog.com

Top Yielding Electric Utilities Stocks

noreply@blogger.com (Stockerblog) — Wed, 02 May 2012 05:08:00 +0000

With the volatility of the stock market recently, many investors have decided to stick with the tried and true income generating investments called utilities. Investors like the steady income and relative stability of electric utility stocks, which pay quarterly dividends. Some income investors use a 'laddering' technique, whereby they purchase three utilities with dividend payout days in different months, in order to achieve income coming in every month of the year.

The yields on these stock range from 3.0% to above 7.0%, according to the free list of electric utility stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com. There are over 30 different utilities to choose from.

An interesting utility is Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. (HE). This is one of the leading utilities involved in the utilization of renewable energy sources for the generation of electricity. The sources include wind, solar, photovoltaic, geothermal, wave, hydroelectric, sugarcane waste, municipal waste, and other biofuels. There must be something to this as the latest reported quarterly earnings ending December 31 were up over 38% on a 22% increase in revenues. With a 4.7% yield and trading at 17 times forward earnings, this stock might be worth a closer look. On May 8, the company reports earnings for the quarter ending March 31.

Duke Energy (DUK) also pays 4.7%, as does Westar Energy (WR). They also both happen to have forward price to earnings ratios of 14.

Another high yield example is Ameren Corporation (AEE), which operates as a public utility holding company which serves customers in Missouri and Illinois. The stock trades at 17 times forward earnings and pays a nice yield of 5.0%. This St. Louis based company generates its electricity from coal, nuclear, gas, and hydroelectric sources. The company reports earnings on May 4.

For a list of over 30 high yield electric utility 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

Coffee Beans Help with Weight Loss: More Great News You've Been Waiting For

noreply@blogger.com (Stockerblog) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 06:07:00 +0000

Here is some great news for coffee drinkers interested in losing weight. According to a recent study presented at the American Chemical Society's meeting in San Diego, participants in the study who took unroasted, green coffee bean extract lost in excess of 10% of their body weight on average, in less than six month. Please note: that's not ten pounds, that's ten percent. So for someone weighing 150 pounds, that's a 15 pound loss. For someone who weighs 250 pounds, it is a 25 pound loss.

The study analyzed 16 overweight adults between the ages of 22 to 46 years of age. The average weight loss was 17 pounds with a 16 percent decrease in body fat, with no side effects. Researchers at the University of Scranton believe that it may be due to the chlorogenic acid in the unroasted coffee bean. Unfortunately, roasted coffee has much less of this ingredient than unroasted coffee.

From an investor standpoint, there are many coffee companies available as investments. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has recently updated its list of publicly traded companies in the coffee business, several of which pay dividends.

A major wholesaler of green coffee is Coffee Holding Co. (JVA), which also markets private label coffee and branded coffee in the US and Canada. The company has 90 varieties of raw green coffee beans which it imports from around the world and sold to large and small operators. The stock trades at 8.2 times forward earnings and pays a CD-beating dividend yield of 1.3%. Earnings for the latest reported quarter rose by an incredible 51.6% on a 120% increase in revenues. The company has $7.36 million in cash, giving the stock $1.16 in cash per share.

On the retail side, there is Peet's Coffee & Tea, Inc. (PEET), a specialty coffee roaster, marketer, and retailer founded in 1966 in Berkeley, California. The stock trades at 32 times forward earnings. Revenues for the latest quarter were up 10.9%, but earnings dropped by about 12.2%. The company does not pay a dividend.

Starbucks (SBUX) is the largest coffeehouse retailer in the world, with outlets in 50 countries and over 17,000 shops worldwide. The stock trades at 25.5 times forward earnings and pays a yield of 1.2%. Earnings for the latest quarter were up 10.2% on an 16.4% increase in revenues.

The J. M. Smucker Co. (SJM) sells the Folgers brand of coffee, along with spreads, toppings, and beverages. The stock has a forward price to earnings ratio of 15.2 and a very favorable yield of 2.4%. Earnings dropped 11.5% on an 11.8% rise in sales.

For a free list of about 20 coffee stocks, including more than half a dozen that pay dividends, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com. The list can be downloaded, sorted, and updated.

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

By Stockerblog.com

Chocolate May Keep You Slim: The News You've Been Waiting For

noreply@blogger.com (Stockerblog) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 06:03:00 +0000

All right, you like to eat chocolate, make that LOVE to eat chocolate, but you are concerned about your figure. Well, maybe you need not be concerned any more. Fortunately for you, researchers at the University of California at San Diego discovered that people who ate lots of chocolate tended to be slimmer than those who ate less chocolate.

Researchers believe that the results of the study may be due to the fact that chocolate ingredients may favor weight loss more than fat creation. According to the study, which was published in Archives of Internal Medicine, there was a correlation between regular chocolate consumption and lower BMI.

So what companies may benefit from the chocolate craze? Here are a few ideas from WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, which has a free list of about a dozen chocolate and candy stocks, most of which pay dividends. Here are some ideas:

Hershey (HSY), largest manufacturer of chocolate in North America
Forward PE ratio 21.9, yield 2.5%.

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory (RMCF), makes and markets chocolate caramels, creams, mints, and truffles
Forward PE ratio 15.6, yield 4.3%.

Nestle (NSRGY.PK), famous chocolate manufacturer
Forward P/E ratio 18.7

Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) (BRK-B), Warren Buffett's company, owns See's Candies (obviously a very small portion of its portfolio)
PE ratio 19.1

Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli (LSPN.DE) (COCXF.PK), sells its products under the Lindt, Ghirardelli, and Caffarel brands.
PE ratio 23.2

If you want to see a free list of all the publicly traded chocolate and candy stocks, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com. The list, which includes several companies that pay dividends, can be downloaded, updated, and sorted.

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

Make Shorting Stocks a Part of Your Portfolio

noreply@blogger.com (shortzilla) — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 21:12:00 +0000

Most investors hold a portfolio of stocks they hope will increase in value, usually a diversified portfolio of stocks in various industries or sectors. Many are scared to short a stock as it often perceived as risky, taboo and almost un-american. I'm here to tell you that with the right knowledge, tools and a little bit of leg work, shorting stocks can be a profitable part of your investment portfolio.

As the owner of Shortzilla, a short based research firm, I may be biased, but I am a firm believer that 'going long' is not the only way to invest in the stock market.

So what do you need?   First off, a margin account is necessary.   Most brokerage houses will also usually not let you short a non-marginable stock--meaning most bulletin board or pink sheet traded stocks.

Once you are ready to trade on margin, it's now time to find the best stocks to short. But first, let's be sure you are aware of a few key terms. (Also check out our primer--"What is Short Selling?")

An important term that all investors should be familiar with is the short interest, and the short squeeze.   Short interest means the amount of shares that are currently short for a particular stock. A good reading to evaluate the level of short activity for a stock is the short interest/float, which divides the short interest by the amount of outstanding shares. A high number of short interest to oustanding float indicates that the stock has a high level of pessimism surrounding it, and there could be danger of a short squeeze.

A short squeeze can be a dangerous event for any short seller--in simple terms it occurs when short sellers panic as a stock rises.   A significant level of short interest can make a short squeeze much more painful, as short sellers scramble to buy to cover their short positions.

Now onto the good stuff! What do I short? you might be asking. Well, I can't say that shorting is an easy task. I almost consider shorting to be in line with a private investigation.   I like to find companies that have significant problems--either legal, or structural business issues.   Companies that under SEC investigation are often the first companies that I look at.   Know that you will need to READ a lot! Read the 10-K's and the 10-Q's for the companies that you feel smell just a bit funny.

Check out the latest quarterly call transcripts to see what the sell side analysts are questioning the company about. This can often give a signal into the troubles ahead for any company.   Also, read as much sell side research as you can --just to get the bare bone basics for the stock--(Trust me the sell side is often wrong-but they can provide you with some of the up to date news on a company).

Once you've gathered your data and formulated an opinion, check with your broker to make sure they have stock available to short.   Sometimes if a stock is an extremely popular short they may also charge a borrowing cost.   Groupon right now has a very high borrowing cost.   You must evaluate the costs in comparison to what you feel you might be able to earn in profit if the stock does decline.    I also recommened shorting a stock that only in a downtrend technically.   A stock may be in an uptrend and appear overvalued--but there likely is good reason that the stock may go higer. Avoid those stocks and stick to the ones that are heading lower.

And if you're looking for help, head over to Shortzilla.    We have free resources for short sellers along with a paid subscription service which provides real time short recommendations and research.   Good luck to all short sellers! and to those who are just getting their feet wet! It's a fun ride.

Warren Buffett Dressed as a Paper Boy and Singing

noreply@blogger.com (Stockerblog) — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 02:06:00 +0000

Last week, at the Omaha Press Club Show, Warren Buffett, head of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) (BRK-B) was dressed up as an old fashioned paperboy and sang a song. Here is a video of the Warren Buffett entertainment. It starts after the first 15 second public safety announcement.

You can find a free list of Warren Buffett Berkshire Hathaway stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

How to Beat CD Yields and Get Income Monthly

noreply@blogger.com (Stockerblog) — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 02:03:00 +0000

The average one-year yield for a bank certificate of deposit is currently 0.34%. Even if you tie up your funds in a five-year CD, the average yield is still only 1.15%. So what is an income investor to do? One very popular alternative is the closed end bond fund. One of the best features of this type of investment is the fact that many of them pay dividends monthly. Another monthly dividend alternative is the real estate investment trust.

Monthly dividend investments can return your capital faster, and can provide faster compounding. The monthly payments can also reduce volatility. Fortunately, there are over 150 different stocks that pay dividends monthly. Actually, even though these investments are often referred to as stocks, they are technically closed end bond funds, real estate investment trusts, oil income trusts, and closed end income stock funds, which pay dividends every month.

These monthly dividend investments can be found at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, which lists almost 200 different companies that pay dividends monthly, over 50 of which have high yields in excess of 7%.

One example is The MFS Multimarket Income Trust (MMT) pays a yield of 7.1%. It invests in fixed in fixed income investments throughout the world. The stock trades at a 0.8% discount to net asset value. The company, which has been around since 1987, has a management fee of 0.82%.

Gas Natural Inc. (EGAS), previously called Energy, Inc., It is a distributor of natural gas in Montana, Wyoming, North Carolina, and Maine. It was founded in 1909. The stock pays a yield of 4.9% and sports a price to earnings ratio of 14.1.

The Advent Claymore Convertible Securities & Income Fund (AVK) sports a yield of 6.6%, sells at about a 11.4% discount to net asset value, and carries a 0.92% management fee. This closed end fund, founded in 2003, invests approximately 60% of its portfolio in convertible securities and 40% in lower-grade non-convertible income securities.

LMP Real Estate Income Fund Inc. (RIT) is a way of investing in real estate and receive monthly income. It is an exchange traded fund that invests in real estate related companies including real estate investment trusts. It carries a yield of 7.9%, and has paid dividends since 2002. It is trading at a 14.9% discount to net asset value. The management fee is 1.2%.

Pengrowth Energy Trust (PGH) is a Canadian oil royalty income trust that yields 7.5%. The company was founded in 1988. The company explores, develops, and produces oil and natural gas reserves in western Canada.

Realty Income Corp. (O), one of the few stocks with a single letter stock ticker symbol, yields 5.1%. This real estate investment trust which specializes in commercial retail real estate, has been around since 1969. The stock trades at 18.2 times forward earnings.

When looking for monthly dividend investments investors should avoid investments with high management fees, limited liquidity, ones that trade at a premium to net asset value, and the ones using excessive leverage. The municipal bond closed end funds may trigger the Alternative Minimum Tax; check with your accountant about this possibility.

A list of over a couple hundred monthly dividend stocks, including many that have yields of 6% or more, is available at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com. Keep in mind that very high yields may not be sustainable.

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

By Stockerblog.com

What Stocks has Warren Buffett been Buying?

noreply@blogger.com (Stockerblog) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:05:00 +0000

Warren Buffett, head of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) (BRK-B), is the third richest person in the world, due to his astute investing. Many investors follow in the footsteps of this famous trader and investor by piggybacking on his investments. So what has he been up to lately according to reports filed with the SEC?

First let's start with what he has gotten rid of. He sold off his holdings in ExxonMobil (XOM), selling off over 421,000 shares for about $30.6 million. But he is not totally bearish on major oil companies, as he still owns shares in ConocoPhillips (COP), a stock which yields 3.4%.

In terms of what he has been buying, according to the latest free list of Warren Buffett stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, he purchased shares of DaVita Inc. (DVA), a provider of kidney dialysis services. The stock trades at 18 times current earnings and 12.9 times forward earnings. Earnings for the latest quarter were up 114.6% on a 13.1% rise in revenues. The company does not pay a dividend.

Warren Buffett also purchased shares of Liberty Media Corporation (LMCA), a media and entertainment company. The stock has a price to earnings ration of 13.1. Earnings were down over 50% for the latest quarter, however revenues almost doubled. Thsi stock also does not pay a dividend.

For a list of all the Warren Buffett Berkeshire Hathaway 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

Funds that Own Facebook Stock

noreply@blogger.com (Stockerblog) — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 04:19:00 +0000

It is now much harder for the wealthy to buy shares of Facebook in private transactions. SharesPost, one of the leading marketplaces for non-publicly traded companies, just announced that the company "will cease facilitating transactions in Facebook stock as of Friday end of day to help ensure the company's orderly transition into the public markets." This was done at the request of Facebook.

Yet, investors both big and small still have an opportunity to acquire shares indirectly, by buying stock in funds that own shares of Facebook. The options are mutual funds, which are priced once a day based on the net asset value, or closed end funds, which trade on exchanges all day long just like a regular stock.

WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has turned up two closed end funds that own shares of Facebook, on its free list of Facebook Stocks. One of the CEFs is GSV Capital (GSVC), which specializes in investing in venture capital backed private companies. The company name comes from Global Silicon Valley Capital. It owns a fairly diverse portfolio of innovative businesses, such as Bloom Energy, Dropbox, TrueCar, Twitter, and even SharesPost. It also owns a couple companies that have recently gone public, including Zynga (ZNGA) and Groupon (GRPN).

But most important, according to the company's fourth quarter Schedule of Investments as of December 31, 2011, there are 350,000 Class B common shares on the books at a cost of $10,465,981. The holdings represent 14.63% of the company's portfolio.

In the last three months, the GSV share price has risen from around 14 per share to 20 currently, an increase of 42%. Yes GSV has yet moved as much as another CEF that owns Facebook, the Firsthand Technology Value Fund (SVVC), which has increased in price from less than 15 per share to almost 37 today, a boost of 60%. It actually traded above 40 a couple days ago but had a pullback.

In terms of mutual funds that own Facebook stock, the T. Rowe Price Media & Telecommunications Fund (PRMTX) has approximately 1.2% of its portfolio in Facebook shares, a fairly small percentage compared to the closed end funds.

To see a list of over 25 of the companies that own Facebook stock, check out the free list at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, which can be downloaded, sorted, and updated.

Disclosure: Author owns GSVC and SVVC. No recommendations of any of the above stocks is expressed or implied.

By Stockerblog.com

The 3 Chart Patterns You Can't Afford Not to Trade

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 10:07:00 +0000

Chart patterns are specific price-action patterns in stock prices that have repeated themselves for decades, giving prudent traders many profitable trading opportunities. However, there are many chart patterns that are unreliable and not profitable. In this article we will cover the 3 highest win rate patterns that almost guarantee long-term profitability and gains.

Pattern #1: Head & Shoulders
The Head & Shoulders is one of the most reliable chart patterns, having accuracy of almost 90% and generating profits for decades. The head & shoulders is a reversal pattern, that indicates a shift in trend and beginning of a reversal.

We will usually trade this pattern when the neckline is broken, and will join the trade right at the breakout. However, for even more accurate entry it is recommended to wait for price to pull back to the neckline, and begin the new trend. The pullback entry is even more accurate than the breakout one, reaching around 95% accuracy. This is a chart pattern you must trade and master.

Pattern #2: Double Top
The Double Top is another pattern which you must trade, as it provides very good win rate (around 76% winning trades) and very consistent profits in many stocks and Forex pairs.

The Double Top is created when price tries to break a resistance level twice and is unable to, creating a shape resembling the letter 'M'. Eventually price breaks the neckline downwards, which is the sell signal for chart traders. We will also enter a short trade if price pulls back to the broken neckline from below.

Pattern #3: The Channel
The Channel is one of the most accurate chart patterns that appears in almost any Stock or index, and are the foundation of trends. The Channel consists of two parallel trend lines in a certain direction - it can be either ascending or descending.

The Channel symbolizes a healthy trend in which price moves forward in a certain rythem. We can trade the channel chart pattern in several methods: The first one is to take trades on the trend lines themselves (make sure to enter only with the direction of the trend and not against it).

Another trading method that is particularly powerful with channels is to enter after it is broken: entering short when an ascending channel is broken and entering long when a descending channel is broken. For extra accuracy we recommend not to enter the breakout itself but wait for the pullback.

Conclusion
Chart patterns are a very reliable and consistent way of trading, and if you focus just on the 3 patterns mentioned above, you will generate stable profits from any market you trade. Choose one pattern at a time, learn to identify it on historical charts and then proceed to master it in real trading.

Steve Sollheiser is a trading veteran with experience in trading stock chart patterns and trading Forex. In his site he shares his insight about chart trading and trading psychology.