Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) is one of the great high-tech success stories. Led by the visionary, charismatic and sometimes controversial Steve Jobs until his recent untimely death, Apple has become one of the world’s leading companies. After starting out as a personal computer maker, Apple is now best known for its mobile devices, which have catapulted it from a cult brand into the mainstream.#-ad_banner-# In less than five months, AAPL shares have soared from below $400 to about $520 currently. This 30% increase is impressive but well below the stock’s all-time high above $700 last year. Unfortunately for many investors, Apple’s… Read More

Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) is one of the great high-tech success stories. Led by the visionary, charismatic and sometimes controversial Steve Jobs until his recent untimely death, Apple has become one of the world’s leading companies. After starting out as a personal computer maker, Apple is now best known for its mobile devices, which have catapulted it from a cult brand into the mainstream.#-ad_banner-# In less than five months, AAPL shares have soared from below $400 to about $520 currently. This 30% increase is impressive but well below the stock’s all-time high above $700 last year. Unfortunately for many investors, Apple’s success has made trading its shares difficult. You have to be swinging a big stick to be able to commit $500,000-plus to trade just 1,000 shares. Options can be used as alternative tools to capture profits from Apple’s moves, but there is another, simpler way to profit from its success — and that is to purchase shares in companies that supply products and services to Apple. When these products or services are a critical part of the supply chain for Apple’s products, the company supplying them may ride Apple’s coattails to great success. The key is to identify a supplier… Read More

By many measures, 2013 is shaping up to be the best year for initial public offerings (IPOs) since 2007.#-ad_banner-# The volume of new offerings has surged, and hot new issues such as FireEye (Nasdaq: FEYE), Rally Software (Nasdaq: RALY) and Epizyme (Nasdaq: EPZM) have already bagged triple-digit gains. This week’s well-received IPO from Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) is merely icing on the cake. Yet amid the good news, some IPOs have been duds. Companies with short track records or an open-ended path to operating losses have been tossed in the IPO dust bin. But in the rubble, you can find some… Read More

By many measures, 2013 is shaping up to be the best year for initial public offerings (IPOs) since 2007.#-ad_banner-# The volume of new offerings has surged, and hot new issues such as FireEye (Nasdaq: FEYE), Rally Software (Nasdaq: RALY) and Epizyme (Nasdaq: EPZM) have already bagged triple-digit gains. This week’s well-received IPO from Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) is merely icing on the cake. Yet amid the good news, some IPOs have been duds. Companies with short track records or an open-ended path to operating losses have been tossed in the IPO dust bin. But in the rubble, you can find some deep value plays — and building products firm Ply Gem Holdings (NYSE: PGEM) is one of them. The recent IPO has traded down but now holds considerable upside. What Went Wrong? Ply Gem makes a range of products used in home construction and the repairs and upgrades of existing homes. The company has strong market share in windows, doors, paving stone, vinyl siding, and fencing. And as you’d suspect, sales have been rising for the past few years in tandem with the housing recovery: Sales rose 8% in 2012 to $1.12 billion, and operating income rose 56%… Read More

When I was a kid, I went to a Catholic grade school. And because our school was affiliated with a church, I volunteered to be an altar boy.#-ad_banner-# On the surface, it was a great way to make myself look good. I knew my parents would be happy. But in reality, it was just a good excuse to get out of class. I knew that every week, whether it was sunny, rainy, warm or cold, there were going to be a couple of funeral processions that would need altar boys to help celebrate Mass. Even though being an altar boy… Read More

When I was a kid, I went to a Catholic grade school. And because our school was affiliated with a church, I volunteered to be an altar boy.#-ad_banner-# On the surface, it was a great way to make myself look good. I knew my parents would be happy. But in reality, it was just a good excuse to get out of class. I knew that every week, whether it was sunny, rainy, warm or cold, there were going to be a couple of funeral processions that would need altar boys to help celebrate Mass. Even though being an altar boy at a funeral doesn’t sound like much fun, it was an early lesson about the nature of demand — mortality wasn’t just predictable, it was undeniable. But looking forward, that undeniable trend is accelerating. With more than 10,000 baby boomers retiring every day, the National Funeral Directors Association projects the U.S. death rate will increase from 8 deaths per 10,000 people to 10 by 2045.   That is setting the stage for a wave of demand for “death care” products and services. And there is one company ready to cash in. This little-known market leader is one of the largest… Read More

We’ve all accidently cut ourselves and stuck a bandage on it to stop the bleeding, then gone about our business. Usually the wound heals after a couple of days, and all is good. On occasion, though, a simple cut can turn complicated.#-ad_banner-# Say I’ve cut my finger and it begins to fester. I go to a doctor’s office and have a blood sample drawn and shipped to a lab for analysis. The doctor makes an educated guess as to which antibiotic might clear the infection and prescribes a 10-day supply. By the time your blood has gone through the routine… Read More

We’ve all accidently cut ourselves and stuck a bandage on it to stop the bleeding, then gone about our business. Usually the wound heals after a couple of days, and all is good. On occasion, though, a simple cut can turn complicated.#-ad_banner-# Say I’ve cut my finger and it begins to fester. I go to a doctor’s office and have a blood sample drawn and shipped to a lab for analysis. The doctor makes an educated guess as to which antibiotic might clear the infection and prescribes a 10-day supply. By the time your blood has gone through the routine tests to identify the infection and determine the correct antibiotic, five days have passed. But after a few days — and pills — you feel better. This time the doctor guessed right, averting a possible crisis. However, more than 250,000 people die from sepsis — the spread of bacteria from a point of infection — every year. A simple infection from a cut, or pneumonia, or any number of sources can quickly turn to sepsis — which can be deadly without prompt and proper treatment. Until recently, doctors had to rely on antiquated tests that took days to deliver results… Read More

I like buying stocks, not selling stocks — unless, of course, I am selling them for a big profit. And while I suspect that this market is headed higher over the next couple of months, and that you should be buying the “air pockets,” I also think there are certain stocks that need to be jettisoned from your holdings due to a lack of upside catalysts in the short and/or intermediate term.#-ad_banner-# One of the stocks I think is headed lower is tech giant Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO). The network equipment maker has long been a… Read More

I like buying stocks, not selling stocks — unless, of course, I am selling them for a big profit. And while I suspect that this market is headed higher over the next couple of months, and that you should be buying the “air pockets,” I also think there are certain stocks that need to be jettisoned from your holdings due to a lack of upside catalysts in the short and/or intermediate term.#-ad_banner-# One of the stocks I think is headed lower is tech giant Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO). The network equipment maker has long been a stalwart in the tech space, and I’ve been buying and selling CSCO shares with very good results since the late 1990s. So far this year, Cisco shares are up 20.5%. Unfortunately, over the past three months, the stock has tumbled more than 11%. The trouble with CSCO shares started midway through August, which not coincidentally was when the company reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings. Although it managed to beat earnings expectations, Cisco’s sales were less than impressive. Perhaps more importantly, Cisco announced plans to slash about 5% of its workforce, presumably in an effort to maintain profit margins in the wake… Read More

The bungled initial public offering (IPO) for Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) was a real eye-opener for any company looking to go public.#-ad_banner-# Facebook’s shares famously plunged soon after they started trading, in large part because the $16 billion offering was so large that it created a great deal of investor confusion as share allocations were misdirected.  Lesson learned. Twitter’s (NYSE: TWTR) IPO valued the company at just $1.8 billion. Sure, that’s far higher than the initial $1 billion planned offering, but still a much smaller fish for the markets to digest. In a sure sign that investors must own this company,… Read More

The bungled initial public offering (IPO) for Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) was a real eye-opener for any company looking to go public.#-ad_banner-# Facebook’s shares famously plunged soon after they started trading, in large part because the $16 billion offering was so large that it created a great deal of investor confusion as share allocations were misdirected.  Lesson learned. Twitter’s (NYSE: TWTR) IPO valued the company at just $1.8 billion. Sure, that’s far higher than the initial $1 billion planned offering, but still a much smaller fish for the markets to digest. In a sure sign that investors must own this company, shares were initially set to be priced at around $20, the deal was eventually bumped to around $26, and opened at an eye-popping $45.10 a share. At that price, Twitter is now valued at more than $25 billion. Most of the company is still in private hands. Look for Twitter to slowly offer more shares in various secondary offerings, but the initial scarcity factor is going to make huge instant profits for some investors. But if you missed out on this morning’s offering, then you should wait. Twitter is now valued at more than 30 times projected 2014 sales, a… Read More

There are few legal monopolies.#-ad_banner-# One commonly cited example in the public markets is Sirius XM (Nasdaq: SIRI). Sure, Sirius is the only satellite operator in the market, but radio listeners have alternatives — including the likes of local broadcast radio. Even other common monopolies have alternatives, such as the U.S. Postal Service, where you can opt to use FedEx (NYSE: FDX) or UPS (NYSE: UPS). However, is there any market in which customers don’t have a choice? But what if there were a legal monopoly that embodied “customer captivity”? Imagine a company that has agreements that give it unrivaled… Read More

There are few legal monopolies.#-ad_banner-# One commonly cited example in the public markets is Sirius XM (Nasdaq: SIRI). Sure, Sirius is the only satellite operator in the market, but radio listeners have alternatives — including the likes of local broadcast radio. Even other common monopolies have alternatives, such as the U.S. Postal Service, where you can opt to use FedEx (NYSE: FDX) or UPS (NYSE: UPS). However, is there any market in which customers don’t have a choice? But what if there were a legal monopoly that embodied “customer captivity”? Imagine a company that has agreements that give it unrivaled power. And imagine that this same company operates in the fastest-growing industry in the world — the Internet. That company is VeriSign (Nasdaq: VRSN), which has a virtual monopoly on Internet domains. This company has a high level of customer captivity, meaning that its customers rely heavily on its services and cannot get said services elsewhere. VeriSign offers domain name registry services. What this means is that VeriSign operates the authoritative directory of dot-com, dot-net, dot-cc, dot-tv and dot-name domains. The company saw a sizable pullback in late 2012, after the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) approved… Read More

Manhattan is the most exclusive real estate market in the world. The tiny, 34-square-mile island is home to Wall Street, the global headquarters of the United Nations and some of the most powerful and influential companies in the world. That exclusivity has driven big gains for one of Manhattan’s most prized properties. Since going public in the spring of 2010, Madison Square Garden (NYSE: MSG) is up a market-crushing 198%. #-ad_banner-#But if you missed out on that impressive run, don’t worry. The most exclusive real estate market in the world is setting the stage for another big winner. Read More

Manhattan is the most exclusive real estate market in the world. The tiny, 34-square-mile island is home to Wall Street, the global headquarters of the United Nations and some of the most powerful and influential companies in the world. That exclusivity has driven big gains for one of Manhattan’s most prized properties. Since going public in the spring of 2010, Madison Square Garden (NYSE: MSG) is up a market-crushing 198%. #-ad_banner-#But if you missed out on that impressive run, don’t worry. The most exclusive real estate market in the world is setting the stage for another big winner. Clocking in at $1.3 billion, this company’s recent IPO was the second-largest ever for a U.S. REIT (real-estate investment trust). It controls more than 8 million square feet of some of the most desirable commercial real estate in the world. And it also pays investors to own shares with a solid dividend yield that is higher than the benchmark 10-year Treasury. Empire State Realty Trust (NYSE: ESRT) went public in early October. The REIT owns 12 office properties and six retail properties. The trust’s prized asset is the iconic Empire State Building, which is the second-tallest building in New York… Read More

Everybody loves a lottery ticket. People will weekly put down their hard-earned money for a 1-in-175 million chance of being rich.#-ad_banner-# And that is the kind of fervor that has driven shares of Tesla Motors (Nasdaq: TSLA) up more than 450% over the past year. Sure, the automaker is increasing production and profits are increasing, but there is nothing that can explain the surge in the stock price like good old-fashioned irrational exuberance. For investors who got in at the ground floor in 2010, congratulations. For those that have recently bought into the shares and are hoping on another quadrupling,… Read More

Everybody loves a lottery ticket. People will weekly put down their hard-earned money for a 1-in-175 million chance of being rich.#-ad_banner-# And that is the kind of fervor that has driven shares of Tesla Motors (Nasdaq: TSLA) up more than 450% over the past year. Sure, the automaker is increasing production and profits are increasing, but there is nothing that can explain the surge in the stock price like good old-fashioned irrational exuberance. For investors who got in at the ground floor in 2010, congratulations. For those that have recently bought into the shares and are hoping on another quadrupling, you may want to read on. You thought the car fire was bad Shares of the $19.6 billion company tumbled 10% in the two days after an Oct. 1 video showed a Model S on fire in California. CEO Elon Musk eventually identified the cause of the fire as a loose piece of metal from a passing truck that punctured the car’s battery. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has said it will not investigate the incident, but shares of TSLA still have not recovered to their pre-video high. Worse than the car fire, however,… Read More

Throw away your wallet. Toss out all those heavy, antiquated coins. Burn your checkbook. Cut up your credit cards. But make sure you keep your mobile phone. It’s how you soon may pay for almost everything you buy using a method some call the “mobile wallet” and others term “mobile money” but is most commonly known as mobile payment solutions. Mobile payment transactions are exploding. According to a report by Gartner Research, these types of payments totaled roughly $171.5 billion in 2012, a 62% rise from $105.9 billion in 2011. In 2012, roughly 212 million people worldwide made mobile payments,… Read More

Throw away your wallet. Toss out all those heavy, antiquated coins. Burn your checkbook. Cut up your credit cards. But make sure you keep your mobile phone. It’s how you soon may pay for almost everything you buy using a method some call the “mobile wallet” and others term “mobile money” but is most commonly known as mobile payment solutions. Mobile payment transactions are exploding. According to a report by Gartner Research, these types of payments totaled roughly $171.5 billion in 2012, a 62% rise from $105.9 billion in 2011. In 2012, roughly 212 million people worldwide made mobile payments, up 32% from nearly 160 million users in 2011. More importantly, Gartner expects mobile transactions will grow at an average pace of 42% a year. By 2016, the firm forecasts the mobile transaction market will be worth $617 billion with 448 million global users. This amazing growth outlook means tremendous opportunity for mobile payment service providers. Traders tapping into the trend now could also make stellar returns. Of the publicly traded mobile payment solutions companies, the one I like best is NXP Semiconductors (Nasdaq: NXPI) based on its solid chart and increasing revenue and profits.#-ad_banner-# The hardware… Read More