What’s wrong with Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO)? Seriously? That’s a good question that the market, in its infinite wisdom, has been unable to figure out for nearly 15 years. To borrow a phrase made famous by Wall Street legend Art Cashin, CSCO’s chart looks like “the EKG of a potato”: #-ad_banner-#I’ve been following the stock just for most of my career. I remember during the tech bubble days when the water cooler talk was of Cisco’s “whisper number” — the Street’s general yet quiet consensus on how much the company would beat its expected earnings. Those were incredibly… Read More

What’s wrong with Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO)? Seriously? That’s a good question that the market, in its infinite wisdom, has been unable to figure out for nearly 15 years. To borrow a phrase made famous by Wall Street legend Art Cashin, CSCO’s chart looks like “the EKG of a potato”: #-ad_banner-#I’ve been following the stock just for most of my career. I remember during the tech bubble days when the water cooler talk was of Cisco’s “whisper number” — the Street’s general yet quiet consensus on how much the company would beat its expected earnings. Those were incredibly shortsighted days as you can see from the stock’s 80% tumble during the tech bust. But after that, something marvelous happened: The stock became a bond. One of the tenets of Warren Buffett’s stock selection process is that if a business has a strong, well-established market position and competitive advantage, its earnings (and payouts) should be so predictable that owning its stock is like owning a bond. The example Buffett usually cites is his investment in soft drink giant Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO). The Oracle of Omaha has said on more than one occasion: “A ham sandwich could run Coca-Cola.” Cisco… Read More

In hundreds of biomedical labs across the country, researchers have been working to develop treatments for a wide range of cancers. Yet the medical community isn’t ignoring heart disease, the nation’s leading killer. #-ad_banner-#Changing demographics could lead to a surge in heart disease, which generally affects older Americans. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 40 million Americans age 65 or older in 2010. That figure is expected to rise to 89 million by 2050. Though there is no such thing as a cure for heart disease, a number of approaches are helping to reduce… Read More

In hundreds of biomedical labs across the country, researchers have been working to develop treatments for a wide range of cancers. Yet the medical community isn’t ignoring heart disease, the nation’s leading killer. #-ad_banner-#Changing demographics could lead to a surge in heart disease, which generally affects older Americans. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 40 million Americans age 65 or older in 2010. That figure is expected to rise to 89 million by 2050. Though there is no such thing as a cure for heart disease, a number of approaches are helping to reduce the initial risk of heart attack, or at least aid in avoiding their recurrence. Two young companies have devised novel approaches and could soon see their devices used by an increasing number of cardiologists. 1. BioTelemetry (Nasdaq: BEAT ) This company, once known as CardioNet, sells equipment that enables doctors to remotely analyze and diagnose a patient’s heart function. Patients’ vital signs are wirelessly transmitted back to the company’s network diagnostic center, and a medical professional is notified the moment a patient shows signs of a dangerous heart condition, such as arrhythmia or other heart rhythm disorders. Such signs are… Read More

Nothing feels worse for investors than missing the boat, and I’m sure there’s plenty of regret to go around these days. Stung by huge losses during the financial crisis, so many investors abandoned equities completely and stayed on the sidelines during what has been one of the most impressive stock market rebounds in decades. #-ad_banner-#But one of the things I’ve always liked about the stock market is it usually gives lots of second chances. They come in the form of corrections, declines of 10% or more.  Like many market watchers (like my colleague David Sterman, who gave his macroeconomic outlook… Read More

Nothing feels worse for investors than missing the boat, and I’m sure there’s plenty of regret to go around these days. Stung by huge losses during the financial crisis, so many investors abandoned equities completely and stayed on the sidelines during what has been one of the most impressive stock market rebounds in decades. #-ad_banner-#But one of the things I’ve always liked about the stock market is it usually gives lots of second chances. They come in the form of corrections, declines of 10% or more.  Like many market watchers (like my colleague David Sterman, who gave his macroeconomic outlook earlier this month), I strongly suspect we’re overdue for a correction because of things like overblown price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios, ongoing economic uncertainty domestically and abroad, and continued investor skittishness. Plus, the market has been showing the kind of increased volatility it often displays right before a major pullback. If the market does undergo a correction, I encourage investors to see it as a second chance — possibly a really good one — to get back into equities. With the level of mistrust in the stock market still so high, a typical sell-off could easily turn into a major rout. Indeed,… Read More

Wouldn’t it be great to have a crystal ball to see into the future? You could know when the next market crash will be, what stocks to buy, and which companies will be the fastest growing. While crystal balls remain a fantasy, there is a group of unique companies that have the next best thing. You see, there is a handful of companies that have been quietly developing what I call “Prediction Plants” — ultra-secret facilities with sophisticated technology that allow them to predict certain events before they happen.  You read that right. #-ad_banner-#These companies have built secret facilities thousands… Read More

Wouldn’t it be great to have a crystal ball to see into the future? You could know when the next market crash will be, what stocks to buy, and which companies will be the fastest growing. While crystal balls remain a fantasy, there is a group of unique companies that have the next best thing. You see, there is a handful of companies that have been quietly developing what I call “Prediction Plants” — ultra-secret facilities with sophisticated technology that allow them to predict certain events before they happen.  You read that right. #-ad_banner-#These companies have built secret facilities thousands of miles from Wall Street that hold the key to predicting the future. As a result, some of them have already seen gains as high as 650% and 884% over the past decade. And experts believe that these companies will create $14 trillion in new wealth by 2018. That’s why I believe these companies are in a growth trend still in its infant stages.  They’ve already predicted flu outbreaks… what book customers are most likely to buy… where the next vacation hotspot will be… and a whole lot more. And in some cases, instead of predicting what you want to… Read More

Across the main thoroughfares of the Shinjuku neighborhood of Tokyo, trendy consumers are embracing Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) latest iPhone. Just about every other trendy neighborhood in Japan, for that matter, is doing the same.  #-ad_banner-#According to the Japan Daily Press, Apple now controls more than one-third of the Japanese smartphone market. Apple has taken market share away from rivals such as Sharp and Fujitsu, though the U.S. juggernaut is causing especially pronounced pain for its most famous Japanese rival — Sony (NYSE: SNE).  For a company that was once synonymous with consumer technology innovation, a fourth-place… Read More

Across the main thoroughfares of the Shinjuku neighborhood of Tokyo, trendy consumers are embracing Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) latest iPhone. Just about every other trendy neighborhood in Japan, for that matter, is doing the same.  #-ad_banner-#According to the Japan Daily Press, Apple now controls more than one-third of the Japanese smartphone market. Apple has taken market share away from rivals such as Sharp and Fujitsu, though the U.S. juggernaut is causing especially pronounced pain for its most famous Japanese rival — Sony (NYSE: SNE).  For a company that was once synonymous with consumer technology innovation, a fourth-place standing on its home turf is quite sobering. Adding insult to injury, Sony’s once-vaunted VAIO laptops no longer hold much cachet either. Sony’s losing streak has been underway for quite some time. Sales have shrunk every year since fiscal 2008, with revenue falling more than $20 billion since then to a recent $66.5 billion. SNE has dropped by more than two-thirds since 2007. In that time, shares of Apple have soared more than 500%. Yet as is often the case in Japan, such a dismal performance has not been met with much complaint or action by shareholder activists. Read More

Among the broader bull market of 2013, one sector enjoyed a boom so substantial that it increased investors’ holdings by $2.2 trillion. And I’d bet that most readers are already participating in this explosive trend. #-ad_banner-#I’m talking about the housing market — but unbelievably, many financial pundits and self-proclaimed gurus are warning of the coming dangers in this market while overlooking the facts.  While it’s easy to have your investment decision swayed by a well-expressed opinion, the only way to drill down into financial reality is to tune out the noise and study the actual numbers. In this… Read More

Among the broader bull market of 2013, one sector enjoyed a boom so substantial that it increased investors’ holdings by $2.2 trillion. And I’d bet that most readers are already participating in this explosive trend. #-ad_banner-#I’m talking about the housing market — but unbelievably, many financial pundits and self-proclaimed gurus are warning of the coming dangers in this market while overlooking the facts.  While it’s easy to have your investment decision swayed by a well-expressed opinion, the only way to drill down into financial reality is to tune out the noise and study the actual numbers. In this case, the numbers tell a far more bullish story than the fearmongers and perma-bears would have you believe. According to a recent study by research firm CoreLogic, nearly 4 million U.S. homes shifted from negative equity to positive last year. The Federal Reserve has reported that homeowners’ net equity holdings surged by $2.2 trillion between the third quarter of last year and the same period in 2012.  This tremendous increase in equity provides consumers confidence, which boosts spending across the board and lifts the entire economy. Additionally, greater access to more capital means more investment, further fueling the economic rebound. Read More

Many investors thought it was a suicidal decision. Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) should be investing domestically and in itself rather than in a speculative and relatively unknown Chinese Internet company.  Or so went the conventional wisdom back in 2005. As many successful companies have done, Yahoo bucked the conventional wisdom with its purchase of 24% of Alibaba. Since then, Alibaba has grown to be considered Yahoo’s most valuable asset. For example, Yahoo’s massive uptrend in 2013 can be attributed to Alibaba’s incredible growth.   While the exact date of the Alibaba IPO remains… Read More

Many investors thought it was a suicidal decision. Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) should be investing domestically and in itself rather than in a speculative and relatively unknown Chinese Internet company.  Or so went the conventional wisdom back in 2005. As many successful companies have done, Yahoo bucked the conventional wisdom with its purchase of 24% of Alibaba. Since then, Alibaba has grown to be considered Yahoo’s most valuable asset. For example, Yahoo’s massive uptrend in 2013 can be attributed to Alibaba’s incredible growth.   While the exact date of the Alibaba IPO remains uncertain, the company has vowed it will happen in 2014. With a soaring valuation of $153 billion, up from $120 billion in October, Alibaba is slated to be the largest initial public offering ever. Serving China’s 618 million Web users, the company had sales of $160 billion in 2012, crushing the $86 billion posted by e-commerce giant Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN).     The IPO will likely make Alibaba’s investors — which, in addition to Yahoo, include SoftBank (OTC: SFTBY) with 37% and Chairman Jack Ma and the company’s other founders with 10% — quite wealthy. Unfortunately, it will be difficult… Read More

There are often two phases in the trajectory of a hot stock. The first phase is when growth prospects are pushing shares higher. The second phase comes when momentum investors take over and keep pushing shares higher still, even if the financial statements are flashing warning signs. That second phase can end quite badly when momentum investors head for the exits. That encapsulates the rapid rise and sudden plunge for 3D Systems (NYSE: DDD), which after a meteoric rise in recent years, has stumbled badly in 2014 and is now below its 100-day moving average. #-ad_banner-#​… Read More

There are often two phases in the trajectory of a hot stock. The first phase is when growth prospects are pushing shares higher. The second phase comes when momentum investors take over and keep pushing shares higher still, even if the financial statements are flashing warning signs. That second phase can end quite badly when momentum investors head for the exits. That encapsulates the rapid rise and sudden plunge for 3D Systems (NYSE: DDD), which after a meteoric rise in recent years, has stumbled badly in 2014 and is now below its 100-day moving average. #-ad_banner-#​After nearly reaching the $100 mark in early January, shares began to lose altitude in ensuing weeks and plunged sharply last week after the company reported disappointing fourth-quarter results.  Investors should not have been caught off-guard. As I noted back in September, the company’s repeated capital raises in prior years were frittered away on questionable acquisitions, and 3D Systems’ accounts receivables and cash-flow metrics were also flashing red.  Shares moved much higher after I raised those concerns — as momentum investors took hold of the stock — and now they are almost back down to levels seen back in… Read More

Turnabout is fair play. Just as Monster Worldwide (NYSE: MWW) took the job recruitment industry by storm a decade ago, catching recruitment firms and newspaper advertisers off guard, LinkedIn (Nasdaq: LNKD) eventually turned Monster into an also-ran. #-ad_banner-#​Back in 2008, LinkedIn had just $79 million in revenue while Monster had $1.3 billion. Fast-forward to 2013, and Monster’s revenues slumped to just $800 million, while LinkedIn’s sales base surpassed $1.5 billion. And look for more of the same in 2014 and 2015, by which time LinkedIn’s sales are expected to approach $3 billion. Monster’s projected 2015 sales: stuck at… Read More

Turnabout is fair play. Just as Monster Worldwide (NYSE: MWW) took the job recruitment industry by storm a decade ago, catching recruitment firms and newspaper advertisers off guard, LinkedIn (Nasdaq: LNKD) eventually turned Monster into an also-ran. #-ad_banner-#​Back in 2008, LinkedIn had just $79 million in revenue while Monster had $1.3 billion. Fast-forward to 2013, and Monster’s revenues slumped to just $800 million, while LinkedIn’s sales base surpassed $1.5 billion. And look for more of the same in 2014 and 2015, by which time LinkedIn’s sales are expected to approach $3 billion. Monster’s projected 2015 sales: stuck at around $800 million. At least that was the consensus view before each of these firms released quarterly results late last week.  LinkedIn is starting to show growing pains, while Monster, for the second straight quarter, showed signs of a growth rebound. That may explain why shares of Monster have soared 50% since mid-October while shares of LinkedIn have tumbled nearly 20%. Despite those divergent stock moves, shares of LinkedIn still trade for more than 11 times projected 2014 sales while Monster is valued at less than one times sales. The question for investors: Is that kind of valuation… Read More

America is an agricultural juggernaut. #-ad_banner-#The United States has more arable land than any other nation on the planet and some of the highest crop yields per acre. However, only 20% of the country’s land area, about 408 million acres, is used for crop production. With this combination of amazing efficiency and the lack of capacity utilization, it’s clear that U.S. agriculture is a growth industry.  Seriously, agriculture has been an American growth industry since Squanto taught the pilgrims how to grow corn. But there’s real money to be made now. Outside of raw farmland — which has actually seen… Read More

America is an agricultural juggernaut. #-ad_banner-#The United States has more arable land than any other nation on the planet and some of the highest crop yields per acre. However, only 20% of the country’s land area, about 408 million acres, is used for crop production. With this combination of amazing efficiency and the lack of capacity utilization, it’s clear that U.S. agriculture is a growth industry.  Seriously, agriculture has been an American growth industry since Squanto taught the pilgrims how to grow corn. But there’s real money to be made now. Outside of raw farmland — which has actually seen some bubble-style price expansion over the past few years — the best way to cash in on the American Renaissance in agriculture is by owning the three D’s of American agriculture: chemical manufacturers Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW) and DuPont (NYSE: DD), and equipment king Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE). All three names offer exceptional growth and value. Dow: Consistent Growth, With More To Come Since the market bottom of 2009, investors in DOW have been well rewarded. Not including dividends, the stock has produced an average annual return of 160%:  While some observers might think that the stock… Read More