Finding good stocks to buy is always a challenge, and mutual funds face that challenge just like individual investors. Although many studies find that the average mutual fund lags the market, some funds do have amazing long-term records and it is often a good… Read More

There’s a drama unfolding in the health care field that is as dramatic as the daytime soap operas. Lots of “he said, she said” has been tossed around, and just to add a little spice, a “bete noire” has also appeared on the scene to cause trouble. If this drama plays out a certain way, then shareholders of one or two of the companies involved may see a big windfall. The drama began back in 2006 when little-known Pharmathene (NYSE: PIP) sued Siga Technologies (Nasdaq: SIGA) for damages stemming from a broken business deal. Pharmathene had loaned… Read More

There’s a drama unfolding in the health care field that is as dramatic as the daytime soap operas. Lots of “he said, she said” has been tossed around, and just to add a little spice, a “bete noire” has also appeared on the scene to cause trouble. If this drama plays out a certain way, then shareholders of one or two of the companies involved may see a big windfall. The drama began back in 2006 when little-known Pharmathene (NYSE: PIP) sued Siga Technologies (Nasdaq: SIGA) for damages stemming from a broken business deal. Pharmathene had loaned Siga money to fund research into a vaccination against smallpox. The loan was presumed to be an interim step before the two firms eventually merged. At a minimum, Pharmathene hoped to at least be granted rights to Siga’s drug, known as ST-246. The two firms had even drawn up documents that appear to imply a merger discussion was the eventual expected result. Siga appeared to eventually lose interest in any deal, figuring that it no longer needed Pharmathene’s stronger balance sheet to help fund the… Read More

In the last two weeks of May, short sellers boosted their bets on many companies. They hold a dim view for stocks in general during the coming months, as evidenced by the fact that short interest in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSE: SPY) and the iShares Russell… Read More

#-ad_banner-#When shares of recent initial public offering (IPO) Boingo Wireless (Nasdaq: WIFI) surged more than 20% on June 13, investors shouldn’t have been so surprised. After all, that was the day analysts were allowed to comment on the stock — the end of the 25-day “… Read More

Oil and gas drillers have really perked up in the year or so since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill sloshed about 200 million gallons of crude into the Gulf of Mexico. As a group, these stocks have returned nearly 45% in the past 12 months and are up almost 6%… Read More

#-ad_banner-#I have a chart I have to show you. Every once and a while, an opportunity like this appears. There’s no way to predict when it will happen. You simply have to be vigilant. The good news is that vigilance usually pays off. Read More

There is a current raging debate about the merits of government support for Big Oil compared with support for clean-energy technologies such as wind and solar power. The clean-energy crowd is adjusting to a world of fewer government subsidies, but these “green” advocates insist that wind, solar and other technologies… Read More

This tech stock tells of a classic “dot bomb” recovery story. But unlike most of its peers that recovered in the early years of the past decade, this stock is just now blooming, thanks to a recent surge in demand for its cloud-based communications services. This late recovery gives savvy… Read More

It’s an open secret that Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) can’t seem to find meaningful growth opportunities. The massive retailer’s sales grew just 1% in fiscal (January) 2010, 3% in fiscal 2011 and will be hard-pressed to grow much more in fiscal 2011 and 2012. Tepid growth explains why shares have… Read More

Despite the market’s miserable performance during the past five weeks, corporate earnings as well as the overall economy have been improving on a quarter-to-quarter basis since mid-2009. The growth pace may be slowing now, but progress is still being eked out. Interestingly though, a few… Read More