Market volatility has recently moved to multi-year lows, leading to investor complacency. But it’s time to sit up and pay attention again: the Dow Jones is registering its third straight session of 150-point swings. That’s great for day traders and options players, but nerve-wracking for the buy-and-hold crowd. Read More

It’s fun to be courted by two suitors. Rental-car firm DollarThrifty (NYSE: DTG) is back in play just days after Hertz (NYSE: HTZ) agreed to acquire the firm. Not so fast, says Avis Budget (NYSE: CAR), which hopes to top Hertz’s bid. Dollar Thrifty is no belle of the ball,… Read More

Until emergency crews can stem the flow of oil that is leaking from the broken well-head in the gulf, other drilling firms will continue to see their shares under pressure. The Obama administration has signaled that additional drilling permits may not be issued in… Read More

The whole DVD rental business has befuddled short-sellers. For several years, Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) disproved its detractors, and its shares have steadily climbed, forcing short-sellers to eat big losses. The same appears to be happening for Netflix’s rival Coinstar (Nasdaq: CSTR), which rents… Read More

In cost-competitive markets, managements often need to decide to pursue either market share or firm pricing. One approach can preclude the other. Management at MEMC Electronic Materials (NYSE: WFR), which had been smarting from lost market share in recent years, chose to win… Read More

Just a few years ago, Eastman Kodak (NYSE: EK) looked set to go the way of the dodo bird. Obituaries for this former “Nifty Fifty” stalwart were being written at a furious pace as the digital photography revolution seemingly passed the company by. But Kodak has staged a phoenix-like rise… Read More

Every year, a handful of stocks emerge as intriguing high-growth stories that attract hordes of momentum investors. Shares of these hot stocks can climb and climb until the valuations move into the stratosphere. And then, inevitably, a company can become big enough that it… Read More

The natural gas industry seems to only know extremes. A few years ago, supply trailed demand, leading to a sharp spikes in prices. But then geologists realized that we’re sitting on a lot more of the energy source than we could ever have imagined. Suddenly new wells were being dug… Read More

You’ll often see all of the same companies within a similar sector trade in tandem. That’s why many investors buy stock in company B after their rival, company A, blew past estimates. But that logic failed to hold for investors in Hutchinson Technology (Nasdaq: HTCH), which supplies subcomponents to disk… Read More

Semiconductor stocks continue to deliver upside surprises. Integrated Silicon Solution (Nasdaq: ISSI), is up nearly +20% today after topping estimates by a handy margin for the fourth straight quarter. Shares, which trade for less than 15 times projected 2010 profits, could see continued… Read More