There are some stocks you just buy and hold forever. These stocks represent businesses so fundamental to the daily lives of so many people, they deserve to be at the core of any serious long-term investor’s portfolio. Buy them, never sell… Read More

When a trade turns sour, smart investors stand by their convictions and use any share price weakness to build a bigger position. And that’s just what George Soros is doing with his investment in electronics retailer Best Buy (NYSE: BBY). Shares touched a new intra-day low on Monday, but Soros is holding firm. According to TickerSpy.com, he owns more than three million shares, and his last move was as a buyer of another 299,000 shares. Soros isn’t looking like much of a market timer these days, as shares of Best Buy… Read More

When a trade turns sour, smart investors stand by their convictions and use any share price weakness to build a bigger position. And that’s just what George Soros is doing with his investment in electronics retailer Best Buy (NYSE: BBY). Shares touched a new intra-day low on Monday, but Soros is holding firm. According to TickerSpy.com, he owns more than three million shares, and his last move was as a buyer of another 299,000 shares. Soros isn’t looking like much of a market timer these days, as shares of Best Buy have fallen by nearly -25% during the past three months. But the legendary fund manager is focused on an important basic fact. This retailer isn’t hurting from increased competition (and indeed now has far less competition with the demise of Circuit City). Instead, demand for consumer electronics has hit a flat spot thanks to a weak economy and a lack of compelling new consumer electronics to buy. That flat spot should come to an end in a few quarters, and Soros will likely end up with a… Read More

ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) is a $300 billion company trading at nearly 12 times earnings. Has this super major oil company reached a peak valuation — or should these shares be an immediate addition to your portfolio? My take: ExxonMobil is a buy. I have five reasons for it. 1. Easy oil is gone. In the early days of the oil business, oil lurked, somewhat reliably, in certain geological formations. Wildcatters sought to capitalize on this untapped wealth. And while the… Read More

ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) is a $300 billion company trading at nearly 12 times earnings. Has this super major oil company reached a peak valuation — or should these shares be an immediate addition to your portfolio? My take: ExxonMobil is a buy. I have five reasons for it. 1. Easy oil is gone. In the early days of the oil business, oil lurked, somewhat reliably, in certain geological formations. Wildcatters sought to capitalize on this untapped wealth. And while the oil business was never really “easy,” it seemed like there was an unlimited supply. But that was not the case, and as many of the United States’ largest fields have been tapped. Finding major new fields is becoming harder and harder. Most onshore oil reserves are government-controlled. That’s great news for Exxon. As a capable cost manager and with a reputation for delivering results on time, it’s the go-to oil company to help nations develop their petroleum reserves. In the next two years alone, Exxon will start major projects in Qatar, Canada, Russia and throughout Africa, with… Read More

A recent survey by Interbrand, a leading brand consulting firm, awarded top brand honors to Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO). Should this come as any surprise? Perhaps not. But what is surprising is that a new related product appears to be breathing new life into the firm’s more mature markets, while the company continues to expand at an impressive clip in faster-growing emerging markets. Just recently, Coca-Cola’s home market was seen as a liability that was dragging down more compelling growth prospects overseas, especially in the high-growth BRIC (Brazil, Russia,… Read More

A recent survey by Interbrand, a leading brand consulting firm, awarded top brand honors to Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO). Should this come as any surprise? Perhaps not. But what is surprising is that a new related product appears to be breathing new life into the firm’s more mature markets, while the company continues to expand at an impressive clip in faster-growing emerging markets. Just recently, Coca-Cola’s home market was seen as a liability that was dragging down more compelling growth prospects overseas, especially in the high-growth BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) countries and those quickly developing a new class of mass consumers. But then, almost completely out of nowhere, Coke Zero came along. The zero-calorie take on the company’s flagship beverage pushed volume growth up a couple of percent in North America — a notable reversal of an extended period of flat volume trends. Second quarter results released late in July saw total worldwide volume increase +5% — even ahead of even the company’s own expectations. Volumes led by the flagship Coca-Cola brand grew +5% as well. The Interbrand survey cited above placed… Read More

When communications software firm VirnetX Holdings (AMEX: VHC) released quarterly results last Monday, investors may have thought the company’s press release had a glaring error. Sales, which had never exceeded $21,000 in any prior quarter, suddenly exploded to $200 million. It was no misprint. VirnetX finally got a nice payoff after several years of lawsuits regarding patent infringements. Other companies that sue to get royalties are also hopeful for similar windfalls. And when these companies prevail, profits can grow quickly, as patent and royalty income often flow straight to the… Read More

When communications software firm VirnetX Holdings (AMEX: VHC) released quarterly results last Monday, investors may have thought the company’s press release had a glaring error. Sales, which had never exceeded $21,000 in any prior quarter, suddenly exploded to $200 million. It was no misprint. VirnetX finally got a nice payoff after several years of lawsuits regarding patent infringements. Other companies that sue to get royalties are also hopeful for similar windfalls. And when these companies prevail, profits can grow quickly, as patent and royalty income often flow straight to the bottom line. So how can investors profit from companies with potentially lucrative patents? I’ve uncovered three companies sitting on potential gold mines in terms of their intellectual property. 1. VirnetX Holdings In the next 12 months, consumers should see an array of new smart phones offering super-fast download speeds. [See: The Time is Ripe to Short this Wireless Upstart] Yet as more and more personal and corporate information is sent out over the mobile broadband airwaves, the risk of data theft also rises. To… Read More

Many companies are handling these tough times in a defensive crouch. Keeping sales stable and expenses at a minimum enables them to survive until the economy gets back on its feet. But select companies are able to take advantage of these challenging times, aggressively… Read More

The Dow Jones Industrial Average isn’t considered the most accurate reflection of the market’s overall performance, but few can argue against the fact that it is the most widely recognized and highly symbolic representation of the state of American stocks. Outside of the large-cap, old-line American companies… Read More

I’ve never been an alarmist. I spend far more time talking about promising investment opportunities than spouting financial doom and gloom. But there’s a real debt crisis brewing in the United States, and turning a blind eye to the problem won’t make it go away. An endless… Read More

If I were to reverse engineer the ideal company to invest in, it would be one that is a leader in its industry, operates in a fast-growing market, has a globally diversified revenue stream that emphasizes emerging economies, has a strong balance sheet with no debt, boasts high profit margins and double-digit returns on invested capital. Sounds like an investor’s dream, doesn’t it? But wait, it gets better…   Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO) nearly owns the market for communications equipment. The tech… Read More

If I were to reverse engineer the ideal company to invest in, it would be one that is a leader in its industry, operates in a fast-growing market, has a globally diversified revenue stream that emphasizes emerging economies, has a strong balance sheet with no debt, boasts high profit margins and double-digit returns on invested capital. Sounds like an investor’s dream, doesn’t it? But wait, it gets better…   Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO) nearly owns the market for communications equipment. The tech titan just completed a year in which global sales grew +11% in a very challenging economic environment, reported +35% growth in emerging markets, has a net cash hoard of $28 billion, logged a net profit margin of 19.4% and returns on invested capital (ROIC) of 16%. (If you remove excess cash from the equation, ROIC is even higher). Yet for some reason the market knocked the shares down more than -9% in Thursday trading, as fourth quarter sales… Read More