I’m not much of a country music fan. But I’ve always liked David Allan Coe’s rendition of You Never Even Called Me By My Name. As the lyrics tell us, the song was written by the late, great Steve Goodman, who considered it the perfect Country & Western song. Read More

Market volatility has recently moved to multi-year lows, leading to investor complacency. But it’s time to sit up and pay attention again: the Dow Jones is registering its third straight session of 150-point swings. That’s great for day traders and options players, but nerve-wracking for the buy-and-hold crowd. Read More

If you simply looked at the -20% drop in shares of Leapfrog (NYSE: LF) this morning, you’d think that the educational toy maker had lost its way. Yes, the company’s quarterly sales and profit results trailed forecasts, but they still represented a sharp improvement from year-ago results. Considering many investors had written this company off as a goner just 18 months ago when sales were in freefall and operating losses were seemingly open-ended, +42% year-over-year sales growth in the first quarter has to be considered a victory. Read More

If you simply looked at the -20% drop in shares of Leapfrog (NYSE: LF) this morning, you’d think that the educational toy maker had lost its way. Yes, the company’s quarterly sales and profit results trailed forecasts, but they still represented a sharp improvement from year-ago results. Considering many investors had written this company off as a goner just 18 months ago when sales were in freefall and operating losses were seemingly open-ended, +42% year-over-year sales growth in the first quarter has to be considered a victory. Of course, some of the shareholder base exiting the stock this morning jumped in when Leapfrog posted scorching results last quarter, which is the company’s seasonally most important period. But make no mistake, management has helped fuel a remarkable turnaround by maintaining investments in R&D that are now paying off. Rivals such as Mattel (NYSE: MAT) and Hasbro (NYSE: HAS) have had a number of years now to try and dethrone Leapfrog and its various “edutaining” platforms (the nexus of entertainment and education). Now that Leapfrog looks healthier – and not… Read More

The plot thickens. Investors have even more to chew on regarding Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) as possible criminal charges hit the rumor mill, and the Oracle of Omaha expresses his unabashed support. Shares fell about -20% after the Securities and Exchange Commission… Read More

The exchange-traded fund (ETF) world remains abuzz with activity on the new launch and product development fronts. Money managers like Pimco that have recently dipped their toes into the ETF waters with… Read More

If you’re anything like the average dividend investor, you want one thing: safe, reliable income. Sure, a large payout is nice, but at what cost? A high yield means nothing if it’s here today, gone tomorrow. Read More

This year’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B) annual meeting in Omaha provided CEO Warren Buffett to tackle really one main topic — The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS). Buffett, always the teacher, explained the transaction at issue, analyzed what Goldman did and what it should have done (which… Read More

It’s fun to be courted by two suitors. Rental-car firm DollarThrifty (NYSE: DTG) is back in play just days after Hertz (NYSE: HTZ) agreed to acquire the firm. Not so fast, says Avis Budget (NYSE: CAR), which hopes to top Hertz’s bid. Dollar Thrifty is no belle of the ball,… Read More

Until emergency crews can stem the flow of oil that is leaking from the broken well-head in the gulf, other drilling firms will continue to see their shares under pressure. The Obama administration has signaled that additional drilling permits may not be issued in… Read More

Most of the time, there’s a trade-off between yields and capital gains. Want a stock that could rapidly rise? You’ll have to give up a high dividend yield. Want a stock that pays double-digit income? The share price is unlikely to rise too… Read More