Imagine buying a used paperback book for $5, reading the first few chapters, and then finding a $1 bill tucked neatly between two of the pages. Because the book came with a little cash, the net purchase price essentially drops to just $4. That’s essentially what we see with cash-rich companies like GPS-maker Garmin for example. The company holds $13.84 per share in cash with zero debt. So a potential acquirer that bought all the outstanding shares at the recent price of $46.25 would really only end up paying about $32.41. #-ad_banner-#Of course, buying a few shares doesn’t mean you… Read More

Imagine buying a used paperback book for $5, reading the first few chapters, and then finding a $1 bill tucked neatly between two of the pages. Because the book came with a little cash, the net purchase price essentially drops to just $4. That’s essentially what we see with cash-rich companies like GPS-maker Garmin for example. The company holds $13.84 per share in cash with zero debt. So a potential acquirer that bought all the outstanding shares at the recent price of $46.25 would really only end up paying about $32.41. #-ad_banner-#Of course, buying a few shares doesn’t mean you can march in and demand payment. But as a stockholder, you do have a pro-rata claim on that cash. And while you can’t spend it freely like the $1 in the book, it can still be used in numerous ways to enhance shareholder value.  That money can be used to repurchase stock, to make a special dividend distribution, to pay down debt, to upgrade equipment, to fund an acquisition… you name it. Equally important, having access to that much cash negates many of the financial worries that can cripple a stock. Expanding companies need capital, and raising it isn’t always… Read More

We’re told as children (and even as adults) that you can’t have your cake and eat it too. You can’t turn a hobby into a paying job, and if an activity is fun, there’s probably no money in it.  Good news: You can — and there is.#-ad_banner-# It’s true that the economy has changed our way of life over the past five years. We’re more conscious of saving and downsizing to match our spending habits. The proliferation of fuel-efficient automobiles has crossed into a market that was once thought purely recreational.  Winnebago Industries (NYSE: WGO) and Harley-Davidson (NYSE: HOG) are… Read More

We’re told as children (and even as adults) that you can’t have your cake and eat it too. You can’t turn a hobby into a paying job, and if an activity is fun, there’s probably no money in it.  Good news: You can — and there is.#-ad_banner-# It’s true that the economy has changed our way of life over the past five years. We’re more conscious of saving and downsizing to match our spending habits. The proliferation of fuel-efficient automobiles has crossed into a market that was once thought purely recreational.  Winnebago Industries (NYSE: WGO) and Harley-Davidson (NYSE: HOG) are up nearly 75% and 35%, respectively, as baby boomers take to America’s roads. Clearly, recreational vehicles are in full swing, but there’s yet another type of vehicle that hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves: all-terrain vehicles (ATVs).  This category includes snowmobiles, ATVs and utility task vehicles (UTVs). Sales of UTVs have exploded in the past year: The two leading UTV manufacturers have posted quarterly earnings growth of 217% and 185% year over year. Polaris Industries (NYSE: PII) has been the undisputed leader in UTV, ATV and snowmobile sales, while an upstart competitor has been taking market share away from its… Read More

A steady scan of the financial headlines these days implies that it’s the golden era of dividend investing. But it’s not true.#-ad_banner-# Though many companies are boosting their dividends at a solid pace, dividend yields remain far below the levels seen back in the 1970s. Back then, companies earmarked the vast majority of their profits for dividends. Today, payout ratios usually hover below 35%. If one investment theme is surely at a high point, it’s stock buybacks. As I noted two months ago, companies have bought back more than $1 trillion since 2009, and the pace of buyback activity has… Read More

A steady scan of the financial headlines these days implies that it’s the golden era of dividend investing. But it’s not true.#-ad_banner-# Though many companies are boosting their dividends at a solid pace, dividend yields remain far below the levels seen back in the 1970s. Back then, companies earmarked the vast majority of their profits for dividends. Today, payout ratios usually hover below 35%. If one investment theme is surely at a high point, it’s stock buybacks. As I noted two months ago, companies have bought back more than $1 trillion since 2009, and the pace of buyback activity has actually grown stronger in 2012 and 2013. The timing is curious. The market has posted impressive gains since bottoming out more than four years ago, and many stocks are trading near all-time highs. In the past, companies would only pursue large stock buybacks when their shares were in the doghouse. Still, it’s worth tracking any buybacks plans that promise to retire 10% or even 15% of the current share count. And in the current earnings season, we’ve seen a fresh batch of hefty plans that fulfill that mandate. Here are a dozen companies, each sporting a market value of at… Read More

As the market continues to flirt with all-time highs, a considerable amount of churn is taking place beneath the surface. Investors are increasingly flocking to companies that are seemingly big and safe, while shedding exposure to smaller and riskier names. It’s a logical move, considering the current bull market is getting along in years. Indeed, I extolled the virtues of mega-cap stocks back in August, and you can still find some great bargains among America’s largest companies. Yet if the market is going in this direction, it also means that smaller stocks are falling to levels that hold real appeal. Read More

As the market continues to flirt with all-time highs, a considerable amount of churn is taking place beneath the surface. Investors are increasingly flocking to companies that are seemingly big and safe, while shedding exposure to smaller and riskier names. It’s a logical move, considering the current bull market is getting along in years. Indeed, I extolled the virtues of mega-cap stocks back in August, and you can still find some great bargains among America’s largest companies. Yet if the market is going in this direction, it also means that smaller stocks are falling to levels that hold real appeal. And in no sector is this divergence more apparent than in biotechs. The biggest biotech stocks appear fully priced — while their smaller brethren are now far from their 52-week highs. #-ad_banner-#These large biotechs have posted very strong gains over the past few years, and no longer sport the low price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios that they did a few years back. New drug launches are expected to help some of them post solid sales growth in 2013 and 2014, but it’s hard to find a combination of impressive growth and in-check valuations in this group. Of course, smaller biotechs… Read More

One of the most underappreciated areas of health care is also instrumental for human development. Baby formula isn’t exactly a market that many investors would consider a growth industry — but that could be about to change. The United Nations estimates that the world’s population could hit 11 billion by 2100, up from a current 7 billion. That’s many more mouths to feed. One of the biggest markets for baby formula is China: With 1.3 billion people and a birth rate of 1.2%, that’s 15.6 million babies a year. The baby formula market is huge and growing — so what’s… Read More

One of the most underappreciated areas of health care is also instrumental for human development. Baby formula isn’t exactly a market that many investors would consider a growth industry — but that could be about to change. The United Nations estimates that the world’s population could hit 11 billion by 2100, up from a current 7 billion. That’s many more mouths to feed. One of the biggest markets for baby formula is China: With 1.3 billion people and a birth rate of 1.2%, that’s 15.6 million babies a year. The baby formula market is huge and growing — so what’s the best way to invest in it? Mead Johnson Nutrition (NYSE: MJN) is the only pure-play pediatric nutrition company, and one that has a strong presence in China, to boot. Mead covers all stages of pediatric development, from newborns to 5-year-olds. It generates over 75% of its revenue from outside the U.S., most notably from China, which accounts for over 25% of its revenue. Infant formula makes up around 60% of revenues, with children’s nutrition accounting for the other 40%. Mead’s major products are sold under the Enfa brand. Mead was spun off from Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) in 2009. Read More

They say to never trust a skinny cook, the logic being that any chef who works in a kitchen all day and creates irresistible dishes probably can’t help but overindulge and pack on a few pounds. For much the same reason, I find it reassuring when a mutual fund manager invests their personal cash in his or her own fund. And I like it even better when CEOs and other top executives stash a sizable percentage of their net worth in their own company’s stock. Conventional wisdom says that it’s a bullish sign when a company invests in itself through… Read More

They say to never trust a skinny cook, the logic being that any chef who works in a kitchen all day and creates irresistible dishes probably can’t help but overindulge and pack on a few pounds. For much the same reason, I find it reassuring when a mutual fund manager invests their personal cash in his or her own fund. And I like it even better when CEOs and other top executives stash a sizable percentage of their net worth in their own company’s stock. Conventional wisdom says that it’s a bullish sign when a company invests in itself through stock buybacks. If that’s true (and in most cases it is), then what does it say when these same managers sink a few million dollars of their OWN money in the shares? After all, board members, directors, chairmen and other upper executives know the business and the industry better than anyone else. Who understands the inner workings of Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) better than Tim Cook? Who has their finger on the pulse of online advertising quite like Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) boss Larry Page? These well-connected individuals also have access to privileged information that the rest of us don’t get to… Read More

If you missed the news last week, U.S. GDP rose a reported 2.8% in the third quarter instead of the 2% economists expected. This was framed as bad news in many news stories because the jump resulted from businesses holding larger-than-expected inventories. Just over a week earlier, the U.S. Census Bureau released a report on the inventory-to-sales ratio showing inventories weren’t really a problem. When a business sees sales rising, it will often increase its inventory to meet the higher demand. The relationship between inventory and sales can be summarized in a ratio that shows how many days’ worth of… Read More

If you missed the news last week, U.S. GDP rose a reported 2.8% in the third quarter instead of the 2% economists expected. This was framed as bad news in many news stories because the jump resulted from businesses holding larger-than-expected inventories. Just over a week earlier, the U.S. Census Bureau released a report on the inventory-to-sales ratio showing inventories weren’t really a problem. When a business sees sales rising, it will often increase its inventory to meet the higher demand. The relationship between inventory and sales can be summarized in a ratio that shows how many days’ worth of inventory is available based on the amount of sales recorded in a day. The inventory-to-sales ratio was 1.29 in the most recent report, which used data from August, down from 1.3 a year ago. Inventories rose 3.1% from a year ago, while sales increased 4.2% over that time. We would expect to see inventories increase if sales are rising, and the decline in the ratio shows that sales are rising faster than inventories. News reports seem to reflect the mood of the market, and that is the basis for the “magazine cover indicator.” According to this indicator, when the media… Read More

Change is the only constant in the world. This is particularly true when it comes to the Internet. It was only in 1989 when the first commercial dial-up Internet service provider (ISP) was launched. Few realized that this ISP, named The World, would spark a radical global revolution. Visionary companies jumped on board as the public started using the Internet as a means of shopping, information and entertainment. Many companies took to the stock markets to raise capital for a foray into the Internet frontier. If your company name included “dot-com,” investment banks were probably clamoring to take it public. Read More

Change is the only constant in the world. This is particularly true when it comes to the Internet. It was only in 1989 when the first commercial dial-up Internet service provider (ISP) was launched. Few realized that this ISP, named The World, would spark a radical global revolution. Visionary companies jumped on board as the public started using the Internet as a means of shopping, information and entertainment. Many companies took to the stock markets to raise capital for a foray into the Internet frontier. If your company name included “dot-com,” investment banks were probably clamoring to take it public. Companies that were little more than an idea and some rented office space were able to raise millions quickly and easily. Not since the Dutch tulip mania of the 1600s had the world seen such an investment frenzy, but the vast majority of these companies failed to gain traction after the initial hype. Names like Webvan, eToys.com, Flooz.com and Kozmo.com, plus hundreds of others, have been relegated to the dustbin of history despite massive funding and the leadership of aggressive, intelligent entrepreneurs. Many of these firms were simply before their time, as consumers and businesses just weren’t ready to use… Read More

Income investors often set a minimum dividend yield as a requirement for their buy decisions. That eliminates a number of stocks from consideration. This requirement could also increase market risk since it tends to limit investments to just a few sectors. A diversified portfolio should hold more than large drug companies and big-name tech stocks that are no longer growing rapidly but are paying large dividends. Covered calls can increase the number of stocks that income investors can select from and help them diversify their portfolio without sacrificing income. A covered-call strategy involves selling… Read More

Income investors often set a minimum dividend yield as a requirement for their buy decisions. That eliminates a number of stocks from consideration. This requirement could also increase market risk since it tends to limit investments to just a few sectors. A diversified portfolio should hold more than large drug companies and big-name tech stocks that are no longer growing rapidly but are paying large dividends. Covered calls can increase the number of stocks that income investors can select from and help them diversify their portfolio without sacrificing income. A covered-call strategy involves selling call options on a stock you own. Selling calls generates instant income known as a premium. A covered call allows you to participate in the upside of the stock, while the income will help offset any downside. This is an excellent strategy for income investors to consider, and I want to use an example of a trade I like right now to illustrate the amount of income that is possible. Arkansas Best (Nasdaq: ABFS) is a trucking company that has been around since 1935. It operates about 3,700 tractors and 20,000 trailers in long-haul and local pickup… Read More