The medical device sector is still reeling from the healthcare reform bill. Slapped with a 3% tax increase effective January 2013, many medical device manufacturers and distributors such as Medtronics (NYSE: MDT) and Stryker (NYSE: SYK) fear future sales and earnings… Read More

As European countries step up in support of Greece (and by extension the banks who are lending to that troubled country), it should come as no surprise that major European bank stocks are posting strong gains in Monday trading. Shares of Netherlands-based ING (NYSE:… Read More

Today’s market action is a rising tide that is lifting all boats. Well, almost all of them. Dean Foods (NYSE: DF), which makes a wide range of products found in the dairy section of supermarkets, hit a 52-week low after announcing that pricing pressures are forcing… Read More

Shares of Crocs (Nasdaq: CROX) continued their remarkable rebound, only a year after many had assumed that the once-hot footwear maker would not survive much longer. An impressive quarterly report released Thursday evening pushed shares up +8% in Friday trading. Crocs’ plastic shoes… Read More

Throughout much of the last decade, Hansen Natural (Nasdaq: HANS) dominated the lists of potential buyout candidates. The beverage maker was seeing tremendous demand for its various juices and sodas, especially its Monster energy drink, right at a time when the largest beverage… Read More

As I write this shortly after Thursday’s market close, it wasn’t clear how much — if any — of today’s plunge could be attributed to human or computer error, or illiquid electronic trading systems for that matter. The one thing we do know for sure: the Dow… Read More

Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. Magna International’s (NYSE: MGA) efforts to buy Chrysler, as well as the Opel arm of GM failed. Had the company succeeded in buying one of those brands, Magna could well be producing massive operating losses right now. Instead, Magna has remained focused… Read More

In a bid to keep growing, some companies resort to a steady stream of acquisitions. But appearances can be quite deceptive, as these deals often come with newly-issued shares and/or rising debt, both of which can impede per-share profits from growing. This “inorganic growth”… Read More

The economic slowdown was especially pronounced in the media and advertising industries as companies grew weary of promoting products to cash-strapped customers who weren’t going to buy their products anyway. But consumer spending has started to perk up, leading ad budgets to re-open. Large media companies are now speaking of… Read More

Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPhone has become a handy tool for driving directions. And Google’s (Nasdaq: GOOG) new Android phones actually gives away GPS directions for free. But anything that’s free is a real problem for anyone trying to charge for a product. So we shouldn’t be surprised to see Garmin… Read More