Browse by Tags
-
Posted
Mar 17 2009, 10:42 AM
by
MSN Editors
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
MSN Money investing columnist Jim Jubak frequently updates recent columns and offers insights on economic news. These updates appeared in his most recent column, "Higher food prices are on the way," published March 17. To see more of Jim's picks and their performance, click here.
"Exxon Mobil to profit from the pain": The pain in the oil patch is becoming excruciating. The credit squeeze first forced companies to curtail drilling and exploration, then pushed them to sell off noncore assets. And now, some banks are using their annual reviews of borrowers' debt levels to force companies to pay off existing debts. With the equity markets still closed to many companies, small oil and natural-gas producers are looking at selling off key oil and gas wells and acres in development for future production. That is, if they can find buyers.
In recent weeks, companies such as Pacific Energy Resources and DayStar Oil & Gas have been forced into bankruptcy. Edge Petroleum (EPEX) is a typical victim of the squeeze.
Read More...
-
Posted
May 28 2009, 09:05 PM
by
Charley Blaine
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
With Thursday’s rally, the Dow Jones industrials, S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite Index are poised to finish higher in May, the third monthly gains in a row for each index. The last time that happened was August, September and October 2007 -- when the market peaked.
It would require a loss of some 237 Dow points to turn May into a loser. It’s possible, but I suspect it won’t happen because the wild volatility of last fall seems to have worked itself out.
Nonetheless, the rally since March looks like it’s running out of gas
Read More...
-
Posted
Jun 15 2009, 04:57 PM
by
Kelley Wright
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Investor sentiment can be visualized as an emotional roller coaster with highs and lows that gives new meaning to the term bi-polar. At the March lows sentiment was black bearish; all news was bad news. Almost on cue, the market reversed and began the first meaningful retracement of the declines from the October, 2007 highs, with green shoots and other assorted flora and fauna nonetheless! Hallelujah, happy days are here again!
As few current market participants were around for the last real bear market from 1966 through 1974, they can be forgiven for not knowing that all trends, be they bull or bear, move in waves. No market trend goes straight up or straight down from beginning to its ultimate conclusion. Both markets and participants need a time of pause to collect their breath, digest the preceding action and gather energy for the next phase of the primary trend.
The typical pattern in a bear market is three down legs interspersed with two very profitable retracements. In the case of this bear market the logical places for a retracement were sliced through like a hot knife through butter, in effect completing two down legs in one fell swoop (if 18 months of declines can be characterized as such).
With so much damage done to the market averages and investors psyches, it’s understandable that investors are hesitant to take long-term positions when quick profits have been readily available. While this approach works well in a bear market rally, it isn’t a long-term strategy with legs.
Shelby Davis (the founder of the Davis family of funds) has been credited with saying that “most of the big money is made by buying in a bear market; you just don’t realize it at the time.” That makes a lot of sense to us, which is why we put together a list of ten stocks we feel will outperform the market over the next five years in each issue of Investment Quality Trends.
Read More...
-
Posted
May 29 2009, 03:46 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
In May, oil will post its largest one-month rise since 1999. That does not seem possible, given that it rocketed up to $147 in the middle of last year. The news is a sign that crude prices are on a march that may not end this month.
According to Bloomberg, much of the fuel for the increase is the desire to put money that has been on the sidelines for months to work. If so, crude is going up for one of the same reasons that the stock market is -– speculation.
Read More...
-
Posted
Apr 27 2009, 10:06 AM
by
Louis Navellier
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Fortune magazine is out with its updated list of top 500 companies
in the country.In the old days, that was a list that meant something to investors.Some investors, in fact, even used it as a list of recommendations. Today, that strategy would be foolish. Just look at some of the top names -- General Electric (GE), General Motors (GM), ConocoPhillips (COP). Not exactly profit-makers for shareholders. Will these companies turnaround? Sure, some of them will. But don't let the cheap prices of these big names lure you into thinking you can own a guaranteed slam dunk at a dirt cheap price. As with any investment, you have to look at each Fortune 500 company on its own merits. Here are five Fortune 500 companies to steer clear of
Read More...
-
Posted
Aug 25 2009, 04:03 PM
by
CAPS Editor
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
 This post comes from Matt Koppenheffer at partner site The Motley Fool.
If I asked you to cook up your ideal company, what would it look like?
I'm not asking for your favorite Fortune 500 company or an up-and-coming small-cap. I want you to think about the components you'd give to a company you could concoct right from scratch.
Would it be in a particular industry? Would it provide services, or would it make products? Would it have fat profit margins or make money instead by doing a huge volume?
We could spend all day going over the details of this magnifique dish, but I'd guess there's one ingredient we'd all liberally add to our creations: growth. All other additives are great, but how interesting can a business be if it's stagnating without avenues for expansion?
Find on Bing: More on growth investing
I've dug up a sample of real-world companies expected to post significant growth in the years ahead. To see which might be the best bets, I've consulted with MSN CAPS, the investment community organized to help individuals beat the market. CAPS incorporates the knowledge, information and skills of more than 135,000 investors.
Read More...
-
Posted
May 29 2009, 01:21 PM
by
Kelley Wright
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
 Crude oil, if you hadn’t noticed, has been on a tear of late. While there is definitely some seasonality at play here, this is a commodity that was as underpriced at $34 per barrel in January as it was overpriced at $140 in July 2008. Trading as high as $66 per barrel recently, it is clear that price discovery is back and traders are on the hunt for equilibrium.
When crude gets hot, most of the focus in the stock world goes toward the majors, the drillers and the service companies. While those are certainly viable options when playing the oil patch, it is easy to overlook the fact that crude oil has to make it from the oil patch to the refineries before it and its byproducts can reach the end user.
In 2006, McQuilling Services projected that 57% of the world’s oil is transported by sea. As oil production declines in areas such as the North Sea and China diversifies its imports from the Middle East to increasing production from West Africa, Russia Venezuela and Brazil, there is an increase in ton-mile demand (which is a measurement of tons of cargo carried, multiplied by the distance traveled). Increases in ton miles is favorable to shipping as the greater number of laden days in any given period of time results in more revenue earning days.
With supply routes changing and the price of crude oil rising, shares of seaborne transportation companies are attractive and offer a compelling alternative to playing the oil patch. One such company that recently hit our radar screen at Investment Quality Trends represents excellent historic value based on its juicy dividend yield.
Read More...
-
Posted
Jun 08 2009, 03:48 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) is the largest oil company in Europe and one of the biggest in the world. Its assessment of the industry and the direction of the price of oil is probably as accurate as any. The firm sees crude prices rocketing up.
Bloomberg reports that the chief executive of Shell believes that “the economy will turn, demand will come back and the overcapacity of supply will disappear.”
That reasoning is sound. Many oil traders believe that the price per barrel will drop from where it is now, near $70, back in the direction of $50 because the erosion of demand caused by the recession will not support the the current level.
Read More...
-
Posted
Jun 04 2009, 07:22 AM
by
Andrew Rosenbaum
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Stock markets in emerging markets like India, China, Brazil and Peru are booming. Their success makes the much-touted three-month rally on U.S. markets look like a tame fizzle.
India's Nifty Stock Index has increased 64% in the past three months. Brazil's Bovespa has advanced 41%. Russia RTS Index is up 90%!
Meanwhile the Dow Jones Industrial Average has risen a mere 28% in the same period. Where would you put your money?
Read More...
-
Posted
Aug 19 2009, 09:35 AM
by
Minyanville
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
 This article was written by Minyanville's Keith Fitz-Gerald
If you’re looking for the next “Big Oil” play, bet on Beijing. As my firm has been reporting for the past several years, China has been on a global commodities shopping spree, which includes locking up every source of oil that it can. The Red Dragon has cut deals in Africa, South America, Russia, and the Middle East -- and won’t stop there. Even the mainstream news media is finally becoming aware of this crucial trend. But here’s the thing. It’s not enough just to know that this is happening. In order to profit, an investor really needs to understand why it’s happening -- and to invest accordingly. Investors who lack this insight may make the strategic misstep of betting heavily (or exclusively) on the Western heavyweights-- Exxon Mobil (XOM), BP PLC (BP) or Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) -- while ignoring the oil sector’s real growth story, which is China. See, "Four Oil and Gas Stocks Powering Ahead."
Bing: More on Chinese Oil
Just this year alone:
China and Russia have signed a multi-billion-dollar, intergovernmental agreement to construct an oil line from Russia that will supply directly to China. Actually seven agreements in one, the terms depict a deal worth trillions of dollars -- including a 20-year oil contract to pump Russian oil to the Chinese market. In return, China has agreed to provide a total of $25 billion in loans to Russian oil companies Transneft and OAO Rosneft Oil Co. China even gets a cut of Rosneft’s production, as part of the deal.
Read More...
More Posts Next page »
|
