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Posted
Nov 18 2008, 05:51 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
As of the end of the third quarter, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway had significant holdings in almost 40 major U.S. companies.
Buffett lightened up his ownership in a small number of public firms compared to what he held in the second quarter. Most notable was a reduction in his piece of Carmax. The used car company is being hammered by rising unemployment and lack of consumer credit availability. Its shares have lost 70% of their value over the last year.
Buffett's position in Bank of America also fell from nine million shares in June to five million in the most recent period. Since the bank's stock is off 55% over the last six months, the reduction in exposure turned out to be a good call. Buffett also cut his stakes in Home Depot and Lowe's moving him out of companies with significant risks tied to housing.
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Posted
Jun 22 2009, 04:04 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Who needs Advil when it is more expensive than aspirin and probably does no better at reducing pain? Who needs Starbucks (SBUX) when Maxwell House has just as much caffeine?
A new survey of purchasing data from 23,000 stores conducted by the Pointer Media Network shows that many shoppers are simply walking away from their favorite brands because they can’t afford them due to high prices during a recession.
According to Reuters, from 2007 to 2008, of shoppers surveyed “33 percent completely defected to another brand.”
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Posted
Jan 02 2009, 07:15 AM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) dropped 32% last year, the worst performance in 30 years, Bloomberg reports. The biggest part of the decline happened after Buffett wrote a controversial editorial three months ago urging people to buy American stocks. But at least Berkshire is maintaining its track record of outperforming the S&P 500 Index, which plunged 38% last year. “Berkshire can’t escape the general fate of American businesses," a money manager told Bloomberg. "What Buffett tries to do is ensure that Berkshire Hathaway does less badly than other companies.” What's taking Berkshire down?
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Posted
Jan 15 2009, 11:21 AM
by
Anthony Mirhaydari
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
After years of prosperity pushing 800-calorie Big Gulps, the makers and bottlers of sugary sodas are threatened by a new tax passing through New York state government.
Budget shortfalls in 38 states and the relative popularity of sin taxes means that the proposed 18% excise tax will spread well beyond the Empire State. "Other states have asked to share copies of the draft and have shown interest in adopting it," said a source in Albany.
As you can imagine, this is terrible news for the likes of Coca-Cola (KO), Pepsi (PEP) and the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group (DPS).
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Posted
Jul 14 2008, 01:28 PM
by
Anthony Mirhaydari
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Soft-drink companies are bracing for a slowdown in what has been a surefire moneymaker: Selling filtered tap water, straight up or with flavor and nutrients as "enhanced water" beverages. But the companies still offer opportunity for investors.
Not only are people shying away from water costing the equivalent of $12 a gallon when gasoline is over $4 a gallon, but environmental sensitivity to those ugly, non-biodegradable plastic bottles is on the rise as well.
A recent survey by venerable Morgan Stanley beverage analyst William Pecoriello found 16% of consumers are reducing bottled water consumption due to environmental concerns. This is up from just 5% last year. Of these, 34% are reusing their plastic water bottles more often while 23% are just going with tap water instead.
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Posted
Jan 16 2009, 09:53 AM
by
Minyanville
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Some revered him as a savior long before he set foot in the Oval Office. Now that’s he’s ready for his White House close-up, President Barack Obama is looking to a multi-faceted approach to help resuscitate the American economy.
But the sheer brilliance of the president’s iconography, established over almost 2 years of nationwide campaigning, is already helping to build up certain industries. It’s a fascination that, for better or worse, has created its own unique cottage industry - and is starting to expand far beyond politics.
The fascination with Barack Obama was percolating long before November 4th. But the day after that historic election, the nation’s newspapers experienced a run on print issues not seen in ages.
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Posted
Jul 14 2009, 12:22 PM
by
Minyanville
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Click here to view the 10 most horrific commercial jingles of all time!
Music is usually hailed as a uniting force in a divided world. But in the late 1930s, one song may have inadvertently started a war. While Pepsi’s (PEP) “Pepsi Cola Hits the Spot” didn’t play much of a role in World War II, it did eventually start a serious branding rivalry by inspiring a series of equally catchy commercial jingles from rival Coca-Cola (KO), most notably “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing.”
The 2 beverages have since spent decades unleashing some of history’s most addictive jingles -- one of which was responsible for literally setting Michael Jackson's hair on fire.
The world of jingles, be they original compositions or older songs, has since exploded. The money has gotten much bigger, too. When Microsoft (MSFT) used songs from the Rolling Stones and Madonna to promote its new Windows operating systems, both artists were reportedly paid $12 million apiece for their songs.
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Posted
Jan 31 2008, 02:23 PM
by
Robert Walberg
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
There are some rumors that never die. Elvis is living on a beach in South America. There are bunch of alien life forms locked up in a government warehouse somewhere in the Nevada desert. The shot came from the grassy knoll. And Coca-Cola Co. is about to buy Hansen Natural.
Unfortunately, there's no more evidence behind the Hansen rumor than any of the others. Yes, the stock shot up over 4% yesterday on about 1.5 times normal volume, and, yes, word spread that a UBS analyst noted that Coke was interested in Hansen, but that doesn't add up to an offer, or even the hint of an offer.
First of all, Hansen fell by more than 10% the day before on roughly two times average volume. Consequently, the fact that the stock bounced a bit in Thursday's session should come as no surprise -- especially given the market tone and the comments from the UBS analyst about Coca-Cola. However it should be noted that a kid taking introduction to business in high school could tell you that Coke has an interest in Hansen. It's about as obvious as speculating that Paris Hilton has an interest in publicity, or that Senator Hillary Clinton has an interest in the primary outcomes on February 5th. In other words, this wasn't the stuff of genius. More like obvious speculation. Like saying the Chicago Bears have an interest in Tom Brady.
With Hansen Natural's stock down about 44% from its highs a few months back, the stock would appear to be cheap. So if you're the management team at Coke and you've been thinking about buying Hansen, now would seem like a good time to pull the trigger on a deal. Obvious... right?
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Posted
Jan 14 2009, 03:59 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Coca-Cola (KO) has decided to market its flagship product as a way for people beaten down by the recession to feel better about themselves and the world around them.
The soft drink company is launching a new advertising campaign that makes Coke seem like a sorcerer's brew to cure all of life's problems.
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Posted
Aug 27 2009, 07:44 AM
by
John Reese
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Berkshire Hathaway recently filed its latest holdings statement with the SEC, and one major position Warren Buffett is keeping steady is consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble (PG). Berkshire owned close to 100 million shares of P&G at the end of the second quarter, according to the filing, making it one of Buffett's biggest positions. In fact, the only companies that Berkshire (BRK.B) has greater stock stakes in, dollar-wise, are well-known Buffett favorites Coca-Cola (KO), Wells Fargo (WFC), and Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNI).
P&G certainly has some of the qualities Buffett has typically looked for in his investments. For example, both the company and many of its products, including Pampers, Tide, Crest, and Bounty, have strong, recognizable brand names that give P&G an advantage over some peers.
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