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Posted
May 04 2009, 02:02 AM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
 These days, it's hard to find a growth story quite like Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR). The company wowed investors last week with two pieces of news. Profit more than doubled from a year ago, handily beating analyst estimates, while sales rose 60%. And Green Mountain is headed for Wal-Mart (WMT).
Green Mountain owns the Keurig line of brewing systems, which make single cups of coffee using disposable "K-Cup" inserts. It can handle tea and cocoa as well. A Keurig is pricey, particularly compared to the Mr. Coffees of the world. But there's no denying the convenience factor, or that it serves a pretty fine cup of brew. Are customers happy with the Keurig? Take a look at the product reviews on Amazon. You'd be hard-pressed to find a more loyal bunch. And with its new placement in Wal-Mart stores, Keurig is headed for the mass-market. The Wal-Mart deal led Green Mountain to
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Posted
Apr 22 2009, 09:21 AM
by
Louis Navellier
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Can you imagine being in the McDonald’s Corp (MCD) corporate board room when some brave manager raised his hand and said, “Let's reposition our coffee to take direct aim at Starbucks”?
Say what? You want me to believe that we can take our overheated poor excuse for a caffeinated beverage and convince people to buy ours instead of the gourmet blend down the street?
The brainchild of that idea had to be laughed out of the room. But as you can see with my 3 Hot E-Business Stocks to Buy Now, businesses that embrace out-of-the-box thinking have the potential for huge rewards.
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Posted
Jul 24 2009, 03:31 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
The media made a big deal of the fact that the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose above 9,000 for the first time in nearly eight months. The index was under 6,550 in early March, so the advance has been 38% since then, but the index is still well below the 14,000 mark hit in October 2007. The Dow would have to rise 54% to get back to that point. That is an extraordinarily depressing figure given how far the market has already come and how hard it will be for it to rise to that number in what is still a harsh economic environment.
There are obviously a number of good reasons for the run-up, but there are an equal number of reasons that it has gone too far. Housing has begun to make what could only be called a most modest recovery, or, at least it has created a credible mirage.
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Posted
Jul 29 2009, 10:22 AM
by
Minyanville
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
We’re smack-dab in the middle of what Maria Bartiromo has dubbed as “the most important earnings season in a decade." It’s certainly an unprecedented time for businesses to prove their financial strength to investors. However, I can only half agree with Maria, because in this particular earnings season, it isn’t all about the profits. That may sound crazy, given most of the traditional financial media’s tendency to fixate on bottom-line figures. To clarify, I’m not suggesting that earnings aren’t important. Profits earned by companies operating in a well-oiled economy are, for the most part, reasonable indicators of how well a firm is performing. However, businesses today are faced with anything but normal economic conditions. As the world economy began to collapse, many management teams rushed into survival mode and took drastic measures to shield their companies from sagging bottom lines. For the time being, the actions taken may temper earnings declines or losses. Heck -- many companies might even be able to report better-than-expected earnings.
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Posted
Jul 22 2009, 03:42 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
The recovery has really begun to lift all ships when the hedge fund industry can claim it has risen almost instantly from the death that it suffered in the final quarter of last year. The Financial Times reports that outflows from funds in that quarter were $152 billion.
Hundreds of funds went out of business or into hibernation as a result of client desertions. Many experts who follow the money management industry assumed that clients would not return for years because the losses they had suffered were so monstrous.
The quarter that just ended was one in which much of the bad fortune of hedge funds was reversed. Hedge Fund Research told the FT that assets under management rose $142 billion. Overall, performance of funds was the best it has been in 10 years.
There is a temptation to say that hedge fund managers got some of their skills back and that attests for the stunning improvement. What the industry has avoided advertising is that the S&P 500 rose from 676 in mid-March to 923 on July 1. A monkey throwing darts should have matched the 36% return in the index over that period.
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Posted
Jun 17 2009, 09:35 AM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
 Forget about going to Starbucks (SBUX) to do anything that requires concentration. Starbucks is a noisy place, and soon, you'll hear more grinding along with the whirring, blending, tapping, beeping, ordering and serving.
The coffee behemoth is changing its brewing policies, according to a batch of internal memos reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Instead of grinding beans only in the morning, the Journal writes, employees will now grind beans every time they brew a new pot of coffee. A timer will buzz when it's time to brew more. The idea is to immerse customers in the sights, smells and sounds of coffee. The smell of fresh ground coffee wafting through the air. Aaaah. Everyone likes that. But what about the sound of timers buzzing and grinders chewing up beans? Does that complete the coffee experience?
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Posted
Nov 09 2008, 07:30 PM
by
Andrew Horowitz
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Upwards of 65% of the S&P 500 companies have reported thus far and we have been continuing to see disappointment after disappointment. Profits for the entire index are estimated to be 11.7% lower than last year. Yet many companies have only started to feel the effects of the significant drop in sales which accelerated through October.
This week will probably add to concerns about the near-term outlook as we continue to accept that this will not be a V-shaped recovery. Though this is the start of a much longer slowdown, there are some opportunities to profit as stocks will bounce around, even in the ugliest of market conditions. Here are a few ideas.
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Posted
Sep 29 2009, 03:47 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
 Starbucks (SBUX) has been talking about its foray into the instant coffee business, and its product, “VIA Ready-Brew,” finally launches in the U.S. and Canada today.
According to the company, VIA "is made with a proprietary, U.S. patent-pending microgrind technology to preserve the coffee’s taste, quality and freshness.” Chief executive Howard Schultz sees the launch as a way to get the firm into the $21 billion instant coffee business using its brand power as leverage (see video below).
It may not matter if VIA is “better” than the coffee that Starbucks sells in its stores, since that will be a subjective decision on the part of consumers. What will matter is that the margins on the instant product are probably very high, at $2.95 for a three pack.
That will help Starbucks keep the momentum that cost cuts and slightly improving sales have given to its share price, which, at above $20, is more than double its 52-week low.
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Posted
Oct 03 2007, 11:46 AM
by
Robert Walberg
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Why is one of the great growth stocks of the last decade languishing near its 52-week lows when the market is racing to new highs? I know the cost of coffee is on the rise and that energy costs are pinching margins as well, but this is Starbucks -- a company that somehow made people feel good about paying more than $2 for a cup of joe.
Is it possible that management has lost its way? Pay increases combined with the rapid pace of new store openings might not be the most prudent moves at a time when commodity expenses are high and the economy is slowing down. In fact, concerns over rising costs prompted one analyst to issue a sell rating last week -- a move that promped plenty of debate on the Starbucks gossip blog.
Of course, issuing a sell rating when the stock is already down 25% this year isn't exactly the stuff of legends. It would have been nice to see that rating months ago when it might have made a difference to investors long the stock. Coming now when the bad news is already out, comps are soft and commodity prices are at their highs might be the signal small investors need to get back into the stock
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Posted
Aug 21 2009, 03:54 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Starbucks (SBUX) has come up with a plan to lower prices on many of its drinks and raise prices on others. The process is almost certainly not random, but the company’s thinking will not be passed on to customers.
The cost of small coffees and lattes will drop as much as 10 cents in many markets. Starbucks is probably admitting that the lower end of its customer base, people with the least money, are unwilling to part with more than a couple of dollars at a time. The pricing for drinks might be called recession specials.
Starbucks has almost certainly become more clever and methodical about what it charges consumers. The prices on the most expensive drinks that it sells will go up as much as 25 cents. People who pay $3 or $4 for a beverage are probably less likely to be bothered by the increase. Starbucks’ most elaborate beverages, which contain a number of ingredients, are probably more expensive to make.
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