Desperate times call for desperate measures. Facing a gargantuan budget deficit, New York Governor David Paterson has announced plans to add another $1.60 in taxes to every pack of cigarettes sold in his state. That will push the average retail price above the… Read More

BP’s (NYSE: BP) web site is filled with a wide range of Gulf-spill related updates. The energy giant is overwhelming visitors with frequent updates in a bid to show that it is taking matters quite seriously. Lost in all those updates, investors may have missed a fairly… Read More

There are literally thousands of companies that have been built on how people behave. Most of the time, these companies exist to serve people’s demands for something convenient, necessary or entertaining. But some companies exist because everyone is prone to mistakes. These are the kinds of investments… Read More

The past weekend’s news that China will allow its currency, the yuan, to appreciate against the dollar sent positive waves through the market for much of Monday’s trading session. Aluminum and steel stocks were up, as were domestic consumer plays in mainland China. But,… Read More

If you read my article from late last week, you know about my family farm in Kansas. And you’ll also remember that I work out of the StreetAuthority offices in Austin, Texas. So what do those two places have to do with today’s investment idea? One word:… Read More

In the early 1970s, the concept of “light beer” hadn’t yet caught on with most beer drinkers, particularly men. So to help promote its new Miller-Lite brand, Miller Brewing turned to ad agency McCann-Erickson — which came up with an ingenious idea. The company began running a… Read More

I apologize for the brevity of today’s article, but I have a long drive ahead of me. Most of you probably think I’m just a research fanatic that locks himself in the office for hours on end… well, you’re right. But fact is, I grew up on… Read More

In the hunt for stocks, equity investors often turn to mechanical things like screeners to help guide them. They set various criteria such as earnings growth or market cap and blindly follow the answers that get spit out. There’s nothing wrong with this approach,… Read More

For many years, investors had to sit and wait for profits as cable and satellite companies re-invested every spare penny into building their business. That wait is now over, most notably for investors in DirecTV (NYSE: DTV). The satellite TV provider is now throwing off large amounts of… Read More

If you read about the markets — whether from papers like The Wall Street Journal, publishers like StreetAuthority, or even blogs like 247WallSt.com — I think you’ll start to notice how much press is devoted to China. It’s for good reason. China, especially… Read More