I sold my 1994 Mazda 626 — affectionately called “The Green Monster” — to a neighbor about two years ago. The car had served me well and still had enough life left to see his two teenagers through those dicey “new driver” years. I’m happy to report that the teens… Read More

During the past decade, analysts have collectively raised and lowered their rating on Walmart (NYSE: WMT) hundreds of times. Perhaps they shouldn’t have bothered. The stock has gone nowhere in 10 years, having been mostly stuck between $45 and $60 for all of that time. But just because the stock… Read More

U.S. debt is skyrocketing with no end in sight. And while the dollar has recently functioned as a short-term safe haven, its long-term fundamentals are deteriorating. #-ad_banner-#To put it in perspective, U.S. public debt in 2000 was $3.4 trillion. That has now more than doubled to $8.6… Read More

In many respects, the auto industry remains in a funk. Industry sales remain well below previous peaks, competition has never been more fierce, and the need to spend heavily to develop future technologies like electric cars are all creating profit headwinds. In that light,… Read More

If the BP (NYSE: BP) saga is a tale of three acts, Act One will soon be complete. The company’s leaking well is almost capped, new management is in place and a plan is emerging that will help cover recent costs and make sure the balance sheet doesn’t collapse. Act Two, which will play out during the next 18 months, will involve implementing the turnaround plan. And Act Three, which we’ll likely see in 2012, will be a new, smaller, post-crisis BP that is once… Read More

If the BP (NYSE: BP) saga is a tale of three acts, Act One will soon be complete. The company’s leaking well is almost capped, new management is in place and a plan is emerging that will help cover recent costs and make sure the balance sheet doesn’t collapse. Act Two, which will play out during the next 18 months, will involve implementing the turnaround plan. And Act Three, which we’ll likely see in 2012, will be a new, smaller, post-crisis BP that is once again valued on future profits and not simply a rough guess of assets and liabilities. BP’s debt/cash flow balancing act On its second-quarter conference call, BP management laid out plans to cover the spill’s costs by taking out a $32 billion charge. In our initial assessment back in early June, we assumed that costs would be less, in the $10 to $20 billion range. After our initial analysis, shares fell even further as concerns grew that liabilities would break the company. Shares have recently rallied to… Read More

Soon after taking office, U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner made U.S. banks undergo a stress test to see how they would fare in ever more dire economic scenarios. Almost all U.S. banks passed the test with flying colors. And as investors breathed a sigh of relief, they called their brokers… Read More

This could be a tough year for Unisys Corp (NYSE: UIS). As a global information technology (IT) company, Unisys conducts IT outsourcing, systems integration and computer infrastructure maintenance for government agencies, commercial organizations and financial companies worldwide. However, with the evolution of computer server… Read More

There are dozens of very large ships plying the global waters that do nothing but ferry dry goods. Think of coal, grain, steel and other such bulk goods. When major nations actively trade these goods, bulk ships are in hot demand and the cost to lease them can surge. But… Read More

I have a little quiz for you. I’ll describe a few features of one of the most intriguing places in the world to invest, and you tell me which nation I’m talking about. Ready? This country produces more copper than any other nation in the world. It… Read More

According to their by-laws, many mutual funds are forbidden from owning stocks that have a share price of less than $5. Of course, once those stocks hit the $5 mark, a whole new world of buyers takes a look at them. Here are some promising companies that you can buy… Read More