In the face of a tough second-quarter economy, these two portfolio holdings managed just fine. Here’s why looking out a year or two, these businesses should really flourish… It is purely coincidental that two of my favorite companies delivered decent second-quarter results on the… Read More

At the height of the dot-com era, with the Nasdaq trading at 5,000, the airwaves were filled with predictions of even bigger gains to come. One prediction that called for “Dow 36,000” was a sure sign that stocks were headed for trouble. Bubbles get pricked right at the time of… Read More

Secular investment opportunities don’t come around very often. Think about Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) or Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO) in the 1990s. Both companies saw huge gains as the infrastructure for a high-tech world was being paved. Any investor with the vision to see how networking equipment and operating systems… Read More

There’s Wall Street, and then there’s the “Wallflowers.” These are companies that go out of their way to avoid the Wall Street banking-and-research mill, content to let their businesses speak for themselves. Some companies end up as Wallflowers even if they prefer otherwise. Read More

As an old colleague often reminds me, “trading is easy, but investing is hard.” When you trade stocks, you only need to stick around for a few days or weeks to see whether your investment thesis is correct. But if you invest — and really want to score big gains… Read More

When the economy is sluggish like we’ve seen during the past few years, consumers look to cut out unnecessary expenses. Often, the luxury items (vacations, jewelry, and large purchase items) get back seat treatment. Yet, consumers won’t shut off the heat, won’t stop eating and will keep the lights… Read More

If you follow the news avidly, then you’re undoubtedly aware the pharmaceutical industry is currently running off a so-called patent cliff. Problem is, many of the drugs losing their patent protection also happen to be the blockbuster drugs driving the bulk of Big Pharma’s revenue.  It’s not that these large… Read More

During the 1970s, perhaps one of the strangest decades for American fads, CB radios and trucker-style entertainment blew up big. From cheesy novelty radio hits like “Convoy” to movies like “Smokey and the Bandit” and TV shows like “B.J. and the… Read More

Imagine a train speeding down a track, just a few miles away from a wall that it will crash into. You can’t see the wall yet, but you’re told it’s there anyway. As the train chugs down the track, the wall gets closer until it comes into view. Before long,… Read More

There are few things that can light a fire under a stock like an earnings surprise. When a company chimes in with a big earnings surprise, analysts and portfolio managers update their models, forecasts are increased and… Read More