Today I’d like to introduce you to my friend Mike. Mike is a real person and that is, in fact, his real name. He and I met in college and have been close friends since. He’s extremely intelligent, a partner in a major law firm, and he has, to my… Read More

When the stock market is on the upswing, private companies get in line to sell their shares and become members of the new crop of initial public offerings (IPOs). Bankers like to know that investors are in a buying mood when taking these companies… Read More

There are some companies that work in distasteful industries. Companies like payday lenders, mortuaries and waste management services just aren’t the sexy companies people get excited about. Some even get on a soapbox and proclaim these businesses to be unethical and immoral. But the simple fact is that investors can… Read More

During the past two years, only one non-financial services stock has lost more than $50 billion in value. This one-time highflyer made mistake after mistake, and has seen market capitalization drop in value from $77 billion to $27 billion. I’m talking… Read More

You can’t blame investors for bagging profits on big winners. Many investors that bought into... Read More

You can’t blame investors for bagging profits on big winners. Many investors that bought into Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) back when shares traded for the price of a Big Mac have been exiting the... Read More

As the Obama administration gets set to spell out the restrictions placed on offshore drilling, one... Read More

As the Obama administration gets set to spell out the restrictions placed on offshore drilling, one thing is clear: The domestic supply of oil and natural gas is bound to be cut — at least in... Read More

Can you imagine anything worse than being a retailer in this recessionary environment? What if you knew there was a retailer so adept at reinventing itself while catering to the beautiful people, that it will survive the recession in very good shape? As an investor, it would certainly grab my… Read More

In investing, boring can be beautiful. Many investors like to chase stocks with hot new products from the likes of Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), with the tradeoff being that emotions can create volatile stock prices as greed and fear play as much a part as underlying business… Read More

Here’s the most important number you need to know today: $8 billion. That’s the amount of cash that BP (NYSE: BP) is likely to generate, year-in and year-out, assuming energy prices stay where they are right now. And that number should be kept in mind as investors tally up all… Read More

Rome wasn’t built in a day. That refrain is often employed when management embarks on a turnaround. The problem, though, is that investors may begin to lose their confidence. If they’re forced to wait too long, they may lose hope, sell out and force… Read More