Before analyzing a company for investment, it’s important to have a perspective on how well the business has performed. Because at the end of the day, if you are an investor, you are buying the business. The FAST Graphs™ presented with this article will focus first on the business behind the stock. The orange line... More »CSX Corp – Fundamental Stock Research Analysis
I hope you didn’t get caught off guard this past Monday with the broad market sell-off. If you did, you need to really think about risk management and having a good investment strategy in place so that you can avoid or minimize the impact of a market correction. And if you think that stocks will... More »Why Protecting Your Assets May Be Easier Than You Think
Coal is a gigantic problem. Because 40% or so of total U.S. railroad tonnage is coal—the most important commodity for railroad stocks—the railroad sector is under threat by low natural gas prices. According to the Association of American Railroads (AAR), the shipping of coal is responsible for about one in five railroad jobs. One of... More »Coal Under Threat by Low Natural Gas Prices; Will This Be the End for Railroad Stocks?
Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE/PM), an S&P 500 company in the consumer goods sector, reported disappointing corporate earnings for the first quarter of 2013. The company’s profits fell more than 1.6% from the same period last year. Wall Street analysts were expecting Philip Morris to show corporate earnings of $1.34 per share, but the company... More »Corporate Earnings for S&P 500 Companies Very Soft for First Quarter of 2013
As I have been writing in these pages, after a bull market that has gone on for 12 years, the recent pullback in gold bullion prices should be seen as a correction in an ongoing bull market in the metal. I see the pullback as a buying opportunity. While news headlines flash a bearish sentiment... More »“People Running Through the Gate” to Buy Gold?
Personal computer (PC) sales are on the decline. It’s clearly not a surprise whatsoever, as we have seen this trend developing for years following the major push of tablets into the marketplace, according to my stock analysis. We have seen all of the PC makers report declining sales and the need to re-invent and adapt... More »PCs a Relic for the Smithsonian; Intel Paints a Bleak Picture
The Single European Payments Area – you’re steadily seeing talk of it everywhere. The new financial structure for banking in the Eurozone will mean changes for every business based there. Here we present the practical information you need to get a grip on things, and take the right steps to make sure European businesses are... More »SEPA – What Should You be Thinking About? Part 4
During Google’s first quarter earnings call for 2013, Patrick Pichette – Google’s Senior VP and Chief Financial Officer – seemed to reveal the real reason behind Google Fiber, Google’s attempt to provide connection speeds “100 times faster than today’s broadband.” Google Fiber, currently active in Kansas City and coming soon to Provo, Utah, and Austin,... More »2013 Q1 Google Earnings Call Reveals Real Reason For Google Fiber?
Stability peppered with a little growth is what the stock market is looking for. Tomorrow, Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE/KMB) will report. Like many other blue chips, the company broke out significantly on the stock market and is looking decent before its earnings report. BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE/BLK) announced solid first-quarter earnings. Assets under management grew to a... More »BlackRock Takes in Billions for Equities: A Signal the Stock Market Is Near a Top?
According to CoreLogic, there were 54,000 foreclosures in the U.S. housing market in February. At the same time, and what is still even more worrisome, is the fact that there were 1.2 million homes in the foreclosure inventory. (Source: CoreLogic, March 28, 2013.) The top-five states with the highest level of foreclosure inventory to mortgaged... More »Homebuilders Turn Pessimistic on Housing Market
While cutting the growth outlook of the global economy, Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Olivier Blanchard said yesterday, “…the main challenge is very much in Europe.” (Source: “IMF Cuts Global Growth Outlook as Europe Demand Urged,” Bloomberg, April 16, 2013.) Blanchard showed further concerns regarding the economic slowdown in the eurozone, saying,... More »Next Tiny Country in the Eurozone to Bust
With the market hitting all-time highs, many investors are wondering how investor sentiment can be so positive when job creation is still not as strong as it should be. This divergence between the financial markets and the real economy cannot last forever. Investor sentiment has been propped up by the Federal Reserve, which is trying... More »Latest Retail Data Sending Warning to Investors
With capital shifting into the perceived safety of blue chips and large-cap stocks, small-caps and technology stocks have been declining on the charts. Given the advance so far this year in the equities market, it’s understandable to expect some hesitancy. The Dow is up 13.4% as of April 12, and it’s on pace for a... More »Technology Sector at the Bottom of the Pack: Time to Give Up on These Stocks?
The U.S. economy is fundamentally tormented; no amount of money printing can fix it. The Federal Reserve continues to print $85.0 billion a month in new money, and the government continues to spread hopes of economic growth. Sadly, there isn’t any. In fact, Americans are struggling. In a period of economic growth, the general standard... More »U.S. Economy Fundamentally Tormented; No Amount of Money Printing Can Fix It
Commodity prices have been heading lower on the charts. In fact, it has been an awful few days for gold as prices plummeted, failing to reach $1,500 an ounce. Prices dove right through support at $1,400 to $1,385.62 on Monday—the lowest level since 2011. The shining yellow ore is in a bear market. Down 27%... More »Is Gold’s Near-Death Crisis Over-Exaggerated? Concerns of a Market Meltdown May Not Be
With the recent news of a Bitcoin crash, many people are wondering what exactly a Bitcoin is and if it’s actually a real type of currency. First of all, Bitcoin is a real currency in which you can buy in to, sell and purchase goods and services with. Some of the benefits of Bitcoin are... More »What Is A Bitcoin?
This market is on steroids. The Federal Reserve is the dealer and the market participants are the buyers. This is a particularly dangerous stock market risk. So it’s not a surprise to see stocks go up and up without any signs of a pending correction. You really want to see a market adjustment, especially during... More »Why the Money-Driven Fed Rally is Impressive
The Walt Disney Company (NYSE/DIS) has been doing exceedingly well operationally and on the stock market over the last few years. Disney’s annual sales and earnings growth have been very good and consistent. The position just doubled on the stock market over the last 18 months, which is truly amazing. The company’s latest quarterly earnings... More »How Did Walt Disney Just Double on the Stock Market?
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