With a mountain of technology patents under its belt, technology firm Rambus (Nasdaq: RMBS) has a long history of successfully suing any firm that appears to use its intellectual property (IP) without permission. Just last month, we discussed the company’s latest legal challenges to secure royalties. On… Read More

Among the biggest winners in Tuesday’s early trading are Worthington Industries (NYSE: WOR), Smithfield Foods (NYSE: SFD) and Alimera Sciences (Nasdaq: ALIM). Top Percentage Gainers — Tuesday, June 29, 2010 Company Name (Ticker) Intra-Day Price Intra-Day % Gain 52-Week High 52-Week Low Alimera Sciences (Nasdaq: ALIM) $8.51 +5.4% $11.30 $7.76 Smithfield Foods (NYSE: SFD) $15.52 +4.3% $21.48 $11.36 Worthington Industries (NYSE: WOR) $13.52 +3.4% $17.97 $10.70 *Table includes companies with minimum market capitalizations of $200 million and three month trading volumes of at least 100,000… Read More

Among the biggest winners in Tuesday’s early trading are Worthington Industries (NYSE: WOR), Smithfield Foods (NYSE: SFD) and Alimera Sciences (Nasdaq: ALIM). Top Percentage Gainers — Tuesday, June 29, 2010 Company Name (Ticker) Intra-Day Price Intra-Day % Gain 52-Week High 52-Week Low Alimera Sciences (Nasdaq: ALIM) $8.51 +5.4% $11.30 $7.76 Smithfield Foods (NYSE: SFD) $15.52 +4.3% $21.48 $11.36 Worthington Industries (NYSE: WOR) $13.52 +3.4% $17.97 $10.70 *Table includes companies with minimum market capitalizations of $200 million and three month trading volumes of at least 100,000 shares. All percentage returns are listed as of 11:30AM Eastern Standard Time. Click on ticker symbols for up-to-the-minute price quotes and percentage gain data. Bad News for Worthington, Good News for Investors If there is a silver lining to a horrendous trading environment that we are seeing in Tuesday trading, it is that companies with clearly good news to report can get lost in the shuffle. As a result, investors have time to pounce, as these shares almost always head higher once the market stabilizes. Shares of Worthington… Read More

Among the biggest losers in Tuesday’s early trading are Micron Technology (NYSE: MU), Baidu.com (Nasdaq: BIDU) and Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS). Top Percentage Losers –Tuesday, June 29, 2010 Company Name (Ticker) Intra-Day Price Intra-Day % Loss 52-Week High 52-Week Low Barnes and Noble (NYSE: BKS) $13.74 –16.3% $28.78 $13.58 Micron Technology  (NYSE: MU) $8.76 -12.6% $11.40 $4.55 Baidu.com (Nasdaq: BIDU) $69.37 –6.8% $82.29 $26.80 *Table includes companies with minimum market capitalizations of $200 million and three month trading volumes of at least 100,000… Read More

Among the biggest losers in Tuesday’s early trading are Micron Technology (NYSE: MU), Baidu.com (Nasdaq: BIDU) and Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS). Top Percentage Losers –Tuesday, June 29, 2010 Company Name (Ticker) Intra-Day Price Intra-Day % Loss 52-Week High 52-Week Low Barnes and Noble (NYSE: BKS) $13.74 –16.3% $28.78 $13.58 Micron Technology  (NYSE: MU) $8.76 -12.6% $11.40 $4.55 Baidu.com (Nasdaq: BIDU) $69.37 –6.8% $82.29 $26.80 *Table includes companies with minimum market capitalizations of $200 million and three month trading volumes of at least 100,000 shares. All percentage returns are listed as of 10:30AM Eastern Standard Time. Click on ticker symbols for up-to-the-minute price quotes and percentage gain data. Micron’s Mixed Bag Shares of Micron Technology (NYSE: MU) are trading down -12% this morning after the memory chip maker delivered decent results on Monday evening, but a slightly cautious near-term outlook. Shares had looked set to open with more modest downside, but a Tuesday morning rout in the Nasdaq is really sinking this boat. For a fuller look at Micron’s quarter, and its impact on the peer… Read More

Don’t let the stock action fool you. Just because shares of Micron Technology (NYSE: MU) are off more than -10% in Tuesday trading, the company’s Monday night earnings release should give a cheer to the entire tech sector — that is, when investors are ready to once again embrace this highly cyclical industry. Right now, the whole technology group is getting no love from investors for fear that global economic pressures will kill the party before it really gets underway. Read More

Don’t let the stock action fool you. Just because shares of Micron Technology (NYSE: MU) are off more than -10% in Tuesday trading, the company’s Monday night earnings release should give a cheer to the entire tech sector — that is, when investors are ready to once again embrace this highly cyclical industry. Right now, the whole technology group is getting no love from investors for fear that global economic pressures will kill the party before it really gets underway. But the party has already started, if you look at the tech results we saw in the spring. Micron’s fiscal third-quarter results simply underscore the industry momentum that is already underway. For example, Micron’s sales doubled from the year-ago quarter, and a $246 million operating loss back then has morphed into a $540 million gain in the most recent quarter. Gross margins rose from 9.7% a year ago to 37.1% this time around. (Analysts expected gross margins to be only 35% — not because selling prices were higher than they expected, but because cost control was… Read More

When it comes to price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios, the notion of “buy low and sell-high” doesn’t always apply. Some stocks with the lowest P/Es are cheap for good reason. Perhaps they are in the midst of a long-term decline that will see sales and profits… Read More

Investors may feel like they have nowhere to turn during times like these. Equity investors have seen a -35% return in the S&P 500 during the past 10 years, making it known as “The Lost Decade.” Meanwhile, those who turn to bonds are likely to find themselves sorely disappointed — the 10-year T-bill currently yields a measly 3.02%. So what’s an investor to do? Well, there is a security that provides diversification with bond-like regular income along with a shot at capital gains. Trouble is, most people haven’t heard of… Read More

Investors may feel like they have nowhere to turn during times like these. Equity investors have seen a -35% return in the S&P 500 during the past 10 years, making it known as “The Lost Decade.” Meanwhile, those who turn to bonds are likely to find themselves sorely disappointed — the 10-year T-bill currently yields a measly 3.02%. So what’s an investor to do? Well, there is a security that provides diversification with bond-like regular income along with a shot at capital gains. Trouble is, most people haven’t heard of it. And if they have, investors often shy away from them because they seem too complicated. It’s a real shame, because these readily available securities often make terrific investments for a portfolio. The security in question is known as “preferred stock.” Investors should think of preferreds as stock-bond hybrids, because they share characteristics of both. Let’s walk through how a preferred issuance is characterized and how investors can score juicy and stable returns. Hospital REIT Ashford Hospitality Trust (NYSE: AHT) issued eight million… Read More

It just might be one of the biggest, far-reaching pacts of the decade — and I’m betting you’ve never heard of it. It will govern business in more than a dozen countries, influence the shopping patterns of 1.9 billion consumers and facilitate trade in a region whose annual… Read More

Among the biggest winners in Monday’s early trading are Amylin (Nasdaq: AMLN), Orexigen (Nasdaq: OREX) and PolyMet Minerals (AMEX: PLM). Top Percentage Gainers — Monday, June 28, 2010 Company Name (Ticker) Intra-Day Price Intra-Day % Gain 52-Week High 52-Week Low Orexigen (Nasdaq: OREX) $4.95 +19.3% $10.83 $4.00 PolyMet Mining (AMEX: PLM) $1.77 +14.2% $3.79 $1.10 Amilyn (Nasdaq: AMLN) $19.76 +2.3% $24.21 $11.01 *Table includes companies with minimum market capitalizations of $200 million and three month trading volumes of at least 100,000 shares. All percentage… Read More

Among the biggest winners in Monday’s early trading are Amylin (Nasdaq: AMLN), Orexigen (Nasdaq: OREX) and PolyMet Minerals (AMEX: PLM). Top Percentage Gainers — Monday, June 28, 2010 Company Name (Ticker) Intra-Day Price Intra-Day % Gain 52-Week High 52-Week Low Orexigen (Nasdaq: OREX) $4.95 +19.3% $10.83 $4.00 PolyMet Mining (AMEX: PLM) $1.77 +14.2% $3.79 $1.10 Amilyn (Nasdaq: AMLN) $19.76 +2.3% $24.21 $11.01 *Table includes companies with minimum market capitalizations of $200 million and three month trading volumes of at least 100,000 shares. All percentage returns are listed as of 11:45AM Eastern Standard Time. Click on ticker symbols for up-to-the-minute price quotes and percentage gain data. Amylin Produces a Safe Profile During the past few weeks, several biotech stocks that are focused on diabetes have been in the news as sharp gainers or losers. It’s no coincidence. This is the time of year when many of these firms update the clinical progress for their key drugs and devices, highlighting their respective efficacy and toxicity. Diabetes is already a large and growing problem in the United States, and… Read More

Among the biggest losers in Monday’s early trading are Cellcom Israel (NYSE: CEL), Sinovac (NYSE: SVA) and Microvision (Nasdaq: MVIS). Top Percentage Losers –Monday, June 28, 2010 Company Name (Ticker) Intra-Day Price Intra-Day % Loss 52-Week High 52-Week Low Sinovac (NYSE: SVA) $4.53 -9.1% $12.50 $3.60 Microvision  (Nasdaq: MVIS) $3.28 –8.9% $5.75 $1.92 Cellcom Israel (NYSE: CEL) $26.40 –2.9% $36.41 $25.00 *Table includes companies with minimum market capitalizations of $200 million and three month trading volumes of at least 100,000… Read More

Among the biggest losers in Monday’s early trading are Cellcom Israel (NYSE: CEL), Sinovac (NYSE: SVA) and Microvision (Nasdaq: MVIS). Top Percentage Losers –Monday, June 28, 2010 Company Name (Ticker) Intra-Day Price Intra-Day % Loss 52-Week High 52-Week Low Sinovac (NYSE: SVA) $4.53 -9.1% $12.50 $3.60 Microvision  (Nasdaq: MVIS) $3.28 –8.9% $5.75 $1.92 Cellcom Israel (NYSE: CEL) $26.40 –2.9% $36.41 $25.00 *Table includes companies with minimum market capitalizations of $200 million and three month trading volumes of at least 100,000 shares. All percentage returns are listed as of 11:00AM Eastern Standard Time. Click on ticker symbols for up-to-the-minute price quotes and percentage gain data. For Cellcom, the Bad News Keeps on Coming It’s been a forgettable year for Israeli wireless communications firm Israel Cellcom (Nasdaq: CEL). Earlier in the year, analysts downgraded the stock, citing concerns that new firms would enter the race and steal market share. The market for Israeli voice and data services is nearly mature, so the key players… Read More

During the past few months, experts have been slowly ratcheting down their global economic growth forecasts. A robust first half rebound is likely to be followed by a second half slowdown. Where the global economy heads from there is a crucial question for… Read More