There are certain items that Americans consider indispensable. If a company can provide one of those products and generate a monthly subscription fee from its use, it creates a sustainable business model. Once this model is in place, the company can upsell its… Read More

We saw a host of regional banks report stubbornly high loan losses on Monday, and investors have grown skittish about the regional banks that still have yet to report quarterly results. Sterling Financial (Nasdaq: STSA), Pacific State Bancorp (Nasdaq: PSBC), Midwest Banc Holdings (Nasdaq: MBHI), and W Holding (NYSE: WHI)… Read More

Retailers of all stripes have fallen back into favor among investors, and many of them have risen +300% or +400% in the last year. The profit outlook is surely brightening for the group, but consumers still remain quite stressed, so these stocks may… Read More

Shares of Hertz (NYSE: HTZ) rose roughly +20% this morning after the world’s largest car rental firm agreed to acquire rival Dollar Thrifty (NYSE: DTG) for a modest premium. Investors in Dollar Thrifty can’t complain: shares are now up twenty-fold since plummeting to… Read More

The U.S. unemployment rate hit the dreaded 10% mark in late 2009. As bad as this has been for firms and their underlying employees, it has been even more difficult for companies that help other companies with human resources. On the flip side,… Read More

Fact: The S&P 500 is up more than +68% since the lows of March 2009. In light of this bit of information, it might be tempting for investors to become discouraged. After all, how much farther can the market rise? But looking at the past will only… Read More

As the U.S. government builds higher deficits, many investors have sought the safe haven of precious metals – especially gold. Rising government debt loads can trigger inflation and gold bugs see the yellow metal as a safe haven. Silver has often been seen as… Read More

The beer market is very mature in developed markets as has been around for hundreds of years. Case in point: Molson has been in operation since 1786 while Coors was founded in 1873. Legend has it that beer is as old as civilization itself, dating back thousands of years and… Read More

The Securities and Exchange Commission shocked Wall Street today with its accusation, duly filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan, that Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) engaged in fraud during the subprime debacle. Shares have taken a dive, losing… Read More

Back in 1973, Warren Buffett began accumulating shares in The Washington Post Co. (NYSE: WPO), which at the time consisted of the prestigious namesake newspaper publication as well as a number of television broadcasting and cable television systems. More than three and a half… Read More