If you’re a fan of investment genius Warren Buffett or a shareholder of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B), then by now you’ve certainly heard his investment management company started accumulating stakes in General Motors (NYSE: GM) and Viacom (Nasdaq: VIAB) last quarter. And it makes sense. One is an old-school auto manufacturer getting back on its feet, while the other owns some of TV viewers’ favorite cable channels. Both businesses are easy to understand and both are based on relatively reliable business models. These qualities are right up… Read More

If you’re a fan of investment genius Warren Buffett or a shareholder of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B), then by now you’ve certainly heard his investment management company started accumulating stakes in General Motors (NYSE: GM) and Viacom (Nasdaq: VIAB) last quarter. And it makes sense. One is an old-school auto manufacturer getting back on its feet, while the other owns some of TV viewers’ favorite cable channels. Both businesses are easy to understand and both are based on relatively reliable business models. These qualities are right up Buffett’s alley, even though one or both of the two new illustrious members of his investment team — Todd Combs or Ted Weschler — likely made the picks. Yet, for investors looking to glean a stock pick, GM and Viacom may not be the best Berkshire coat-tails to ride — they’re just the highest-profile names being added to the $75 billion equity portfolio. Your best Buffett-based picks may actually be a trio of companies whose stakes he increased during the first quarter of the year. Here’s a closer look at them…… Read More

Trading is in my blood. I vividly remember, as an elementary school student, trading baseball cards with my classmates. My trading interest blossomed as I learned how to buy low and sell high via various part-time business endeavors. These businesses included selling produce I got for free from my grandparent’s… Read More

Here at StreetAuthority, we often talk about “catalyst investing.” Simply put, it’s not enough to find stocks that are inexpensive — hundreds of stocks can bubble up on various value screens. This often leads to the question “Why now?” After all, will this stock… Read More

We often talk about the prowess of the big-time money managers on Wall Street, but we often neglect to talk about their mistakes. After all, if it’s worth learning from the successes of these guys so that we can… Read More

Back in January, I highlighted that state and local governments were starting to turn to legalizing gambling to shore up their tax bases. Since then, the activity has only increased. Massachusetts recently held a forum to hear arguments on why it should develop casinos, and Maryland set up a… Read More

It’s so important to learn from the nation’s top investors. You don’t need to tell that to the thousands that flock to Omaha, Nebraska once a year to glean fresh wisdom from Warren Buffett. Many others follow the actions of George Soros, Carl Icahn or others. These top investors have… Read More

What on Earth is Steven A. Cohen thinking? He’s authorized traders at his investment firm, SAC Capital, to quickly build a large position in Accretive Health (NYSE: AH). Roughly a week ago, SAC announced that it had already bought so many shares that it… Read More

The second quarter of 2012 has been a bummer so far, especially when you think back to what was a great first quarter in which the S&P 500 rose more than 12%. But I’m not discouraged. While the recovery may be proceeding at an excruciatingly slow pace, I still think… Read More

Uber-investor Warren Buffett and I are quite different. Whereas Buffett typically looks for undervalued companies and buys them for the long haul, I usually like to buy stocks that are on a long-term uptrend that have a temporary pullback. And the quicker I can make a decent… Read More

Generic prescription drugs are the bane of big pharmaceutical companies and investors alike. As patents for name brand drugs expire, generics eat into revenue, shrink earnings, and depress stock prices of the Big Pharma players. But the smart investor knows that… Read More