It’s beginning to sound like something from a Hollywood disaster movie. The World Health Organization (WHO) says the Ebola virus has been spreading faster than health workers can control it. The potential for catastrophe includes the possibility that the fearsome disease will spread outside West Africa. The WHO has launched an all-out $100 million spending campaign to get the outbreak under control, and the World Bank has followed up with an emergency $200 million pledge. It has been blamed for killing over 900 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in a short time,… Read More

It’s beginning to sound like something from a Hollywood disaster movie. The World Health Organization (WHO) says the Ebola virus has been spreading faster than health workers can control it. The potential for catastrophe includes the possibility that the fearsome disease will spread outside West Africa. The WHO has launched an all-out $100 million spending campaign to get the outbreak under control, and the World Bank has followed up with an emergency $200 million pledge. It has been blamed for killing over 900 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in a short time, but it might not stop in Africa. #-ad_banner-#One thing that can help the usually fatal Ebola to cross borders and spread readily among populations is the fact it can take anywhere from two to 21 days before symptoms appear. Someone who contracts the virus in Lagos can board a plane and be in Tokyo or New York long before they know they are sick. It was only last month that the Food and Drug Administration put a clinical hold on one Ebola drug treatment that was already in trials with human subjects. The treatment,… Read More

To quote the late gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson: “When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.”  I would characterize the current state of the market as weird — so, following the Good Doctor’s advice, it’s definitely time to turn pro and capitalize on that weirdness. Fortunately, I’ve found just the stock for the job. If you’re familiar with my work for StreetAuthority, then you know about my penchant for asset management stocks. I favor these stocks for the predictability of their fee-based revenue streams and because… Read More

To quote the late gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson: “When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.”  I would characterize the current state of the market as weird — so, following the Good Doctor’s advice, it’s definitely time to turn pro and capitalize on that weirdness. Fortunately, I’ve found just the stock for the job. If you’re familiar with my work for StreetAuthority, then you know about my penchant for asset management stocks. I favor these stocks for the predictability of their fee-based revenue streams and because they’re often undervalued by the market.  Oaktree Capital Group (NYSE: OAK) complements those criteria with an extra attribute that makes the stock even more attractive — its focus on alternative investment strategies. #-ad_banner-#​Now, “alternative investments” is an extremely broad category that encompasses everything from simple shorting strategies to complex hedging and everything in between.  Oaktree deals primarily with six particular asset classes: distressed debt, corporate debt, control investing, convertible securities, real estate, and traditional listed equities. If you don’t know what one or more of… Read More

China has long been one of the most popular emerging markets, but it certainly isn’t all Asia has to offer those seeking fast growth. In some ways, it’s not even the best Asian play. #-ad_banner-#​While China’s GDP reportedly grew around 10% annually for the past decade and is expected to expand at more than a 7% rate in the future, who really knows how reliable these figures are? Publicly traded Chinese firms are among the least transparent on Earth. And China’s economy is under the thumb of the central government, which is secretive and riddled… Read More

China has long been one of the most popular emerging markets, but it certainly isn’t all Asia has to offer those seeking fast growth. In some ways, it’s not even the best Asian play. #-ad_banner-#​While China’s GDP reportedly grew around 10% annually for the past decade and is expected to expand at more than a 7% rate in the future, who really knows how reliable these figures are? Publicly traded Chinese firms are among the least transparent on Earth. And China’s economy is under the thumb of the central government, which is secretive and riddled with corruption. So despite being the world’s second-largest economy, China may not be doing as well as it seems. And Chinese stocks may sooner or later prove to be greatly overvalued, even with the underperformance of the past few years. I think investors will be better off limiting their China exposure and focusing more on another Asian region where there are exciting investment opportunities — and a more transparent business environment. As a “frontier market,” this area is one of the last places in the world with… Read More

The IPO path followed by Twitter (Nasdaq: TWTR) and Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) is a predictable one.  Many young companies come public with unrealistically high expectations, as sales growth is often front-loaded before the offering (to make the IPO more attractive) and expenses quickly spike after the deal (as the IPO funds start to get deployed into growth initiatives).  #-ad_banner-#As a result, shares often swoon before quarterly results improve. That’s the perfect time to catch a young IPO.   Here are three other companies that have stumbled out of the gate after going public this year — but they’re poised to… Read More

The IPO path followed by Twitter (Nasdaq: TWTR) and Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) is a predictable one.  Many young companies come public with unrealistically high expectations, as sales growth is often front-loaded before the offering (to make the IPO more attractive) and expenses quickly spike after the deal (as the IPO funds start to get deployed into growth initiatives).  #-ad_banner-#As a result, shares often swoon before quarterly results improve. That’s the perfect time to catch a young IPO.   Here are three other companies that have stumbled out of the gate after going public this year — but they’re poised to win back investors as they finally deliver on the promise they showed as private companies. 1. Opower (Nasdaq: OPWR) After nearly a century of predictable operations, power companies now face a much more challenging landscape. They are wrestling with tightening environmental regulations on their power plants, and they’re watching their customer base slowly gain independence as an increasing number of homeowners and businesses switch to solar power.  To adapt to these changes, they’re seeking out 21st-century data analysis techniques — and many of them are turning to Opower, which provides cloud-based energy usage analytics. This young company, which had just… Read More

In recent weeks, as officers and directors sat down for their periodic board meetings, many of them decided that stock buyback programs are a good use of company funds.   In addition to spending the company’s cash on shares, some of these insiders are spending their own cash to boost their stakes in the company. It’s hard to find a greater vote of confidence than that.  Here are three companies that have recently seen a significant amount of insider buying: 1.    Beazer Homes (NYSE: BZH) Here’s a rarely… Read More

In recent weeks, as officers and directors sat down for their periodic board meetings, many of them decided that stock buyback programs are a good use of company funds.   In addition to spending the company’s cash on shares, some of these insiders are spending their own cash to boost their stakes in the company. It’s hard to find a greater vote of confidence than that.  Here are three companies that have recently seen a significant amount of insider buying: 1.    Beazer Homes (NYSE: BZH) Here’s a rarely asked question: Do insiders read the research reports on their own companies?  #-ad_banner-#If the insiders at this homebuilder do, they likely were moved to action. Analysts at Sterne Agee boosted their price target to $23 last week, which corresponds with the projected book value in 2015. (Much of the book value assessment comes from an expected reversal of a deferred tax asset (DTA).)   Later in the week, on Aug. 1, five insiders acquired a combined 34,000 shares at an average price of $16.  Those purchases follow a $300,000 buy-in by a separate insider… Read More

A confluence of factors — including the heavy hand of regulators in Washington, D.C. — is creating an unprecedented profit opportunity for a select few companies in the rail industry. The federal obstacles for railroads certainly appear daunting. For starters, new EPA regulations set… Read More

It’s probably no surprise that Harvard University has cranked out more billionaires than any other university in the world. What might come as a surprise to you is just how much of that money from wealthy alums makes its way back into the prestigious Ivy League school, contributing to a jaw-dropping endowment of over $32 billion. That stockpile puts Harvard as the richest college in America, with Yale coming in at a distant second (with a relatively paltry $20.7 billion). (In fact, some joke the university is in fact a giant hedge fund with a tiny school attached… Read More

It’s probably no surprise that Harvard University has cranked out more billionaires than any other university in the world. What might come as a surprise to you is just how much of that money from wealthy alums makes its way back into the prestigious Ivy League school, contributing to a jaw-dropping endowment of over $32 billion. That stockpile puts Harvard as the richest college in America, with Yale coming in at a distant second (with a relatively paltry $20.7 billion). (In fact, some joke the university is in fact a giant hedge fund with a tiny school attached to it.)  #-ad_banner-#Nearly $1 billion of that cash is disclosed quarterly to the SEC in a Form 13F, which outlines Harvard Management Co.’s long-only stock and debt positions, as well as some option positions. Because they have a mandate to generate market-beating returns while fulfilling long-term fiduciary responsibilities, university management firms like Harvard’s are particularly interesting candidates for closer looks during filing season.   Harvard Management’s 13F for the first quarter of this year showed a heavy slant toward South America, with an emphasis on Brazil. Were these positions short-term trades to capitalize on the World Cup or rumors that… Read More

Saying that Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) is tight-lipped about impending hardware announcements is an understatement. However, that hasn’t stopped the rumor mill from kicking into high gear as the end of the summer approaches.   #-ad_banner-#Apple hasn’t made an official announcement, but there’s heavy speculation that the next generation of “i-” products will be released in the coming months, with the iPhone 6 expected to debut in September.  Other offerings expected to make a debut (either this year or early next) include a thinner and/or larger iPhone iteration, an iWatch, and an updated version of the iPad. The exact names and… Read More

Saying that Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) is tight-lipped about impending hardware announcements is an understatement. However, that hasn’t stopped the rumor mill from kicking into high gear as the end of the summer approaches.   #-ad_banner-#Apple hasn’t made an official announcement, but there’s heavy speculation that the next generation of “i-” products will be released in the coming months, with the iPhone 6 expected to debut in September.  Other offerings expected to make a debut (either this year or early next) include a thinner and/or larger iPhone iteration, an iWatch, and an updated version of the iPad. The exact names and specs of each of these seems to change with the tides, but Apple fanatics and analysts have long looked to one area to discern exact details about future releases — Apple’s suppliers.   My colleague Marshall Hargrave already let you in on one Apple supplier that’s made a home in some big-name investors’ portfolios. The Cupertino, California-based giant has a few more tricks up its supply-chain sleeve however, and the market has high hopes for the two companies I’ve uncovered going into Apple’s next hardware reveal.  GT Advanced Technologies (Nasdaq: GTAT) GT makes advanced materials for consumer products. Apple has… Read More

Today, one of the best places for value investors is technology. This comes as the share prices of some dot-com-era companies are still below where they were during the boom. #-ad_banner-#While their price-to-earnings (P/E) multiples were in the stratosphere back in 1999, they’re now in the value bin. Some of these durable companies are even trading at P/E’s below that of the S&P 500. This means there’s an opportunity for sophisticated investors to buy some great bargains. Although their share prices might have not climbed much in the past 10 years, their businesses have continued to grow. Today, with their… Read More

Today, one of the best places for value investors is technology. This comes as the share prices of some dot-com-era companies are still below where they were during the boom. #-ad_banner-#While their price-to-earnings (P/E) multiples were in the stratosphere back in 1999, they’re now in the value bin. Some of these durable companies are even trading at P/E’s below that of the S&P 500. This means there’s an opportunity for sophisticated investors to buy some great bargains. Although their share prices might have not climbed much in the past 10 years, their businesses have continued to grow. Today, with their steady businesses, these former high-fliers can almost be considered blue-chip stocks. One company that fits this mold is EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC). At the height of the dot-com bubble, EMC traded at nearly $100 a share. Today, shares trade near $29, a good 70% off the company’s all-time highs. (It is up 8%, however, since my colleague Joseph Hogue profiled EMC this spring.) EMC is more profitable now than ever, with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of $5.4 billion last year on revenue of $23.6 billion. Shares are trading at just 13 times… Read More

Investors seem to have gotten over the beating that Internet stocks took from early March to early May, when the group plummeted about 20%. Since then, these stocks have rallied nearly 17% and appear to be gaining momentum once again. #-ad_banner-#​Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) has done particularly well, jumping more than 30% from a late-April low of $56 to the current price of almost $75. Following a 15% plunge to $518 in early May, Google (Nasdaq: GOOGL) has made up most of the ground it lost and now trades near $600.  Other well-known Internet stocks have come back strongly,… Read More

Investors seem to have gotten over the beating that Internet stocks took from early March to early May, when the group plummeted about 20%. Since then, these stocks have rallied nearly 17% and appear to be gaining momentum once again. #-ad_banner-#​Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) has done particularly well, jumping more than 30% from a late-April low of $56 to the current price of almost $75. Following a 15% plunge to $518 in early May, Google (Nasdaq: GOOGL) has made up most of the ground it lost and now trades near $600.  Other well-known Internet stocks have come back strongly, too, including travel agent Priceline (Nasdaq: PCLN), retail behemoth Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) and auction/e-commerce leader eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY).  Those looking to profit from the rebound have the daunting task of deciding which stocks to choose. There are many good ones, but it’s hard to know which. The world of Internet investing is still relatively new and often makes little sense, with stock prices that may seem to based more on hype and unreasonable expectations than solid fundamentals. Basically, it’s just too easy to make the wrong picks and get burned, even if you do your homework. That’s why in this… Read More