Considering the broad macroeconomic forces in play and the way the individual stocks are trading, miners of base metals are in an interesting spot. During the past several years, base metal miners have been heavily correlated with emerging markets, and specifically to China’s economic growth. This is because China has provided an incredible amount of demand for construction metals, such as copper and iron ore. The more China invests in its infrastructure, the better the business… Read More

Considering the broad macroeconomic forces in play and the way the individual stocks are trading, miners of base metals are in an interesting spot. During the past several years, base metal miners have been heavily correlated with emerging markets, and specifically to China’s economic growth. This is because China has provided an incredible amount of demand for construction metals, such as copper and iron ore. The more China invests in its infrastructure, the better the business environment for these miners. So it comes as no surprise that as investors have lost faith in China’s economic growth, stock prices for miners such as Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE: FCX), BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) and Vale (NYSE: VALE) have been under pressure.#-ad_banner-# But in recent weeks, these stocks have begun to trade higher. Last week, Bloomberg reported an uptick in Chinese manufacturing, with the country’s preliminary purchasing managers’ index rising to 50.1 from 47.7 in July. Keep in mind,… Read More

Two key issues have been in play in the stock market as we head into the long Labor Day weekend. Read More

When the U.S. economy was on the cusp of falling into an abyss in late 2008, companies across the nation collectively decided to cut all unnecessary spending. An uncertain road ahead meant it was time to preserve cash. Of course, these companies eventually loosened up, and as we’ve seen in the past four years, have been buying back massive amounts of their own stock while doling out ever-higher dividends. But there is one area that companies remain quite conservative:… Read More

When the U.S. economy was on the cusp of falling into an abyss in late 2008, companies across the nation collectively decided to cut all unnecessary spending. An uncertain road ahead meant it was time to preserve cash. Of course, these companies eventually loosened up, and as we’ve seen in the past four years, have been buying back massive amounts of their own stock while doling out ever-higher dividends. But there is one area that companies remain quite conservative: capital spending, also known as capital investment or capital expenditures (or capex, for short).#-ad_banner-# Although capital spending has moved up from the crisis-era lows, it still remains far below typical levels. Analysts at Goldman Sachs who have studied the spending patterns see “the U.S. reaching a near 50-year low in private non-residential fixed investment when measured against GDP.” These analysts believe it would take… Read More

On Aug. 27, the market did something it hasn’t done in more than a year. On both the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq composite index, the number of stocks making new 52-week lows exceeded the number of stocks making new 52-week highs. Although this reversal is leading to a lot of hand-wringing among technical analysts, fundamental… Read More

On Aug. 27, the market did something it hasn’t done in more than a year. On both the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq composite index, the number of stocks making new 52-week lows exceeded the number of stocks making new 52-week highs. Although this reversal is leading to a lot of hand-wringing among technical analysts, fundamental analysts have a different take. Fresh lows can point the way to deep value opportunities — if you heed a few key caveats.#-ad_banner-# First, you need to be sure that the stocks making fresh lows already fully reflect a period of weakness to come. If the estimates for the next quarter still look too high, then you may as well be patient until those decks have been cleared. Second, you want to be sure that they sport value metrics that represent real value. There is a wide variety of stocks that have fallen sharply in the past few weeks and… Read More

I love investing in companies that have strong emotional connections with their customers. Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX) is a great example. Starbucks has extremely loyal customers because of the warm atmosphere of its cafes, the reliable quality and convenience of its goods, and its… Read More

It’s happened to all of us. We’re running down an airport corridor, sweating like a stevedore and hoping like hell we make the flight. We fly down the concourse and arrive at the gate just as the ground crew is beginning to close the door. Huffing and puffing, we make… Read More

The semiconductor industry has been around since the 1960s and has grown to be a nearly $300 billion global business. Basically, semiconductors control the flow of electricity by forming the basis of integrated circuits, transistors, solid-state electronics and solar cells, among many other functions. In other words, semiconductors form the base of our modern electronics-driven society.  Over the years, investors have made trillions of dollars investing in this sector. Most everyone is familiar with major semiconductor companies like Intel (Nasdaq: INTC), Micron Technology (Nasdaq: MU) and… Read More

The semiconductor industry has been around since the 1960s and has grown to be a nearly $300 billion global business. Basically, semiconductors control the flow of electricity by forming the basis of integrated circuits, transistors, solid-state electronics and solar cells, among many other functions. In other words, semiconductors form the base of our modern electronics-driven society.  Over the years, investors have made trillions of dollars investing in this sector. Most everyone is familiar with major semiconductor companies like Intel (Nasdaq: INTC), Micron Technology (Nasdaq: MU) and Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN).  However, there are dozens of smaller companies that don’t have the market share of the top names, but are masters of their particular niches. My stock scanning recently discovered one of these under-the-radar semiconductor companies is setting up to be a great investment. The company is Skyworks Solutions (Nasdaq: SWKS). This Massachusetts-based semiconductor company was founded in 1962. It provides products for the GPS, broadband, cellular infrastructure, smartphone and tablet markets, among other applications. The company… Read More

As the Federal Reserve gets set to end its massive multi-year stimulus program, emerging markets are shuddering. That’s because the possibility of imminent Fed “tapering” is leading many investors to yank their money out of emerging-market stocks and bonds and placing them in higher-yielding U.S. bonds. I recently wrote about the burgeoning appeal of emerging-market stocks, which are currently in turmoil but starting to look like deep value plays for long-term investors. Still, until… Read More

As the Federal Reserve gets set to end its massive multi-year stimulus program, emerging markets are shuddering. That’s because the possibility of imminent Fed “tapering” is leading many investors to yank their money out of emerging-market stocks and bonds and placing them in higher-yielding U.S. bonds. I recently wrote about the burgeoning appeal of emerging-market stocks, which are currently in turmoil but starting to look like deep value plays for long-term investors. Still, until these markets settle down and form a bottom, it’s wiser to nibble than go whole hog.#-ad_banner-# Yet when it comes to emerging-market bonds, there is a different set of factors to consider. They are interrelated and can help determine which bonds are safe — and which are potentially toxic. Those three factors: trade balances, foreign currency reserves and currency changes. Let’s take a closer look. Surplus Or Deficit? A nation’s trade balance… Read More

When I think about lending money to friends and family, I cringe a little. After all, lending to “regular” people you know is fraught with emotional pitfalls as well as the possibility that you won’t ever get your money back. And you usually don’t… Read More

The semiconductor industry has been around since the 1960s and has grown to be a nearly $300 billion global business. Basically, semiconductors control the flow of electricity by forming the basis of integrated circuits, transistors, solid-state electronics and solar cells, among many other functions. In other words, semiconductors form the base of our modern electronics-driven society.  Over the years, investors have made trillions of dollars investing in this sector. Most everyone is familiar with major semiconductor companies like Intel (Nasdaq: INTC), Micron Technology (Nasdaq: MU) and… Read More

The semiconductor industry has been around since the 1960s and has grown to be a nearly $300 billion global business. Basically, semiconductors control the flow of electricity by forming the basis of integrated circuits, transistors, solid-state electronics and solar cells, among many other functions. In other words, semiconductors form the base of our modern electronics-driven society.  Over the years, investors have made trillions of dollars investing in this sector. Most everyone is familiar with major semiconductor companies like Intel (Nasdaq: INTC), Micron Technology (Nasdaq: MU) and Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN).  However, there are dozens of smaller companies that don’t have the market share of the top names, but are masters of their particular niches. My stock scanning recently discovered one of these under-the-radar semiconductor companies is setting up to be a great investment. The company is Skyworks Solutions (Nasdaq: SWKS). This Massachusetts-based semiconductor company was founded in 1962. It provides products for the GPS, broadband, cellular infrastructure, smartphone and tablet markets, among other applications. The company… Read More