Conviction. It’s a concept that is rarely heard in investment circles these days, but is still one of the key traits of top investors. When they have conviction, they stick with an investment idea for the long haul, undeterred by any near-term concerns that may shake their faith. Indeed, many investors will book profits if a stock has had a strong run. It’s human nature — for most of us. Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) co-founder Bill Gates does the opposite. He continues to buy into his favorite ideas even after they’ve been powering higher. Case in point: AutoNation… Read More

Conviction. It’s a concept that is rarely heard in investment circles these days, but is still one of the key traits of top investors. When they have conviction, they stick with an investment idea for the long haul, undeterred by any near-term concerns that may shake their faith. Indeed, many investors will book profits if a stock has had a strong run. It’s human nature — for most of us. Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) co-founder Bill Gates does the opposite. He continues to buy into his favorite ideas even after they’ve been powering higher. Case in point: AutoNation (NYSE: AN). I told you about his interest in the company three months ago when shares traded for about $26. His bullishness came at a time when many analysts thought that shares were fully-valued on the basis of near-term operating metrics. With shares up about 42% to almost $34 since then, you’d think Gates might be content to book his profit.  But he’s buying even more. In fact he’s made three huge purchases, boosting his holdings by roughly 1.7 million shares… Read More

This iconic brand has a chequered history. Invented in the late 19th century, it was a marketed as a medicine that contained wine and cocaine. When prohibition set in, a non-alcoholic alternative had to be created. Later, the cocaine was replaced by a non-narcotic… Read More

I’ve been looking at the 2010 initial public offerings (IPOs) that have doubled in value — or more — and found a name poised for even more upside and another one that now looks vastly overvalued. Pricing an IPO… Read More

Last month, the world’s top high-tech manufacturers gathered in Las Vegas for the annual Consumer Electronics Show. They hobnobbed. They exchanged business cards. But most important, they introduced their latest innovations to the world. Remember, this is the venue where we got our first real glimpse of… Read More

Consumer spending has been improving for at least a year now, but you wouldn’t know that by looking at the stock price charts of the retailers across the United States. This disconnect is somewhat confusing given the holiday shopping season was strong, as was January when shoppers stayed busy grabbing… Read More

While it’s unlikely that anything will unseat Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) as the king of retail in our lifetime, that doesn’t mean there aren’t major opportunities to meaningfully penetrate the discount-store space. Take Target (NYSE: TGT), for instance. Despite Wal-Mart’s annoying domination, Target has capitalized on the inherent… Read More

While there are many high-growth tech companies, these can be tough investments to own. It’s often the case that they are one-hit wonders and competition will eat away at the core business. Yet there are some tech companies that are “built to last,” such as Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT), IBM… Read More

About 15 years ago I was held prisoner of war in Hartford, Conn., at a large, rookie broker re-education facility. While trudging to class each day, I passed by the headquarters of quite a few famous insurance companies. All were familiar except one: Phoenix. I did some research and learned that, at the time, it was a mutual company (owned by the policy holders) and not publicly traded. However, its investment management arm did trade publicly via master limited partnership (MLP) units. They were clearly trading at a deep discount… Read More

About 15 years ago I was held prisoner of war in Hartford, Conn., at a large, rookie broker re-education facility. While trudging to class each day, I passed by the headquarters of quite a few famous insurance companies. All were familiar except one: Phoenix. I did some research and learned that, at the time, it was a mutual company (owned by the policy holders) and not publicly traded. However, its investment management arm did trade publicly via master limited partnership (MLP) units. They were clearly trading at a deep discount to their actual value, so I bought what few shares I could. In less than a year, after collecting a couple dividend payments, Phoenix bought back all of the units they didn’t own and I made a nice little profit. Fast forward to now. Phoenix (NYSE: PNX) has long since demutualized. The investment arm was spun off a couple of years ago as a free-standing entity: Virtus (Nasdaq: VRTS). Phoenix’s common shares trade at an abysmal sub-$3.00 level The company just can’t seem to get out of its own way. The… Read More

Quick spurts of 50%, 75% or more aren’t uncommon. HiSoft Technologies (Nasdaq: HSFT) has surged 200% since it happened to their stock. JinkoSolar (NYSE: JKS) is already up more than 155%… in a matter of less than nine months. The best news?… Read More

The stock market is dominated by traders and investors. Traders simply focus on today’s market action. Investors hold a much broader view, finding winning stocks that will ride future trends. In recent sessions, traders have found plenty to dislike about employment search firm Monster Worldwide (NYSE: MWW). Shares were… Read More