Whenever I hear the term “buggy whip,” I think of Homer Simpson’s boss, Charles Montgomery Burns, the billionaire character in “The Simpsons” whose quirks lampoon the attitudes of the robber baron class of America’s Gilded Age. One of my favorite bits in the cartoon is when some of Mr. Burns’… Read More

Ah yes… it’s 13-F season, the time when investors’ fancies turn to what the investment gurus are buying.  Bill Ackman, the legendary value brain behind Pershing Square Capital Management, has been pretty busy these days. With a focused management style that typically involves accumulating… Read More

Generic prescription drugs are the bane of big pharmaceutical companies and investors alike. As patents for name brand drugs expire, generics eat into revenue, shrink earnings, and depress stock prices of the Big Pharma players. But the smart investor knows that… Read More

In the mid 1980s, my favorite band was R.E.M. At that time, they were the kings of college radio and snotty rock critics. But high school kids were still using Van Halen, Loverboy and Journey as their soundtrack for getting in trouble. When classmates would kid me about listening to… Read More

Last year, the Dow Jones Utility Average (DJU) was on a tear. At least for a boring utility index, it was. The index returned 15% before dividends, its best annual performance in four years.   Throw dividends in, and we’re probably… Read More

Whenever financial markets start to sell off, I can’t help but remember the scene from “Trading Places” (perhaps the greatest investment business movie of all time) when Eddie Murphy discusses pork-belly trading strategy with stodgy commodities brokers Ralph Belamy and Don Ameche. Murphy’s streetwise character — Billy Ray Valentine —… Read More

Europe, as we say in the South, “is a big ‘ol mess.” Authorities have put a tiny band aid on the wound, which is also known as “Greece.” Yet massive problems lie ahead in the other Euro-peripherals: Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Italy. But, as you may know,… Read More

Six months ago, I wrote an article  profiling vertically integrated oiler ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP). One of Conoco’s strengths is that its reserves are accessible in areas that Bill O’Grady of Confluence Asset Management refers to as “places where you’d want to raise children.”… Read More

Lately, when I look at the price levels of a lot of headline tech stocks, the Prince song “1999” comes to mind. And like the lyrics from that 1982 smash hit, these stocks certainly are partying “… like it’s 1999.” Rarely, are pop stars visionaries. Indeed, tech… Read More

More often than not, a successful investment usually involves a good, basic business that sells a lot of something everybody needs. It’s a path that guys like Warren Buffett have taken time and time again to score huge long-term returns. This should also be the kind of… Read More