Today The Energy Strategist Analyst Robert Rapier recommends a “super oil” that’s
perfect for conservative, risk-averse but income-seeking investors.
“While ExxonMobil (XOM) may be considered the pace-setter in the integrated oil
and gas business, Conservative Portfolio holding Chevron Corp. (CVX $120 NYSE)
has outperformed its larger rival over the past five years. CVX pays a slightly higher
Regional banks are having a moment in the sun, as the larger U.S. financial institutons continue to make headlines for their failures and missteps. Regional banks make neither headlines nor trades—they just make loans, interest and money. Today’s Spotlight Stock is a bank chain based in Georgia, serving Florida, the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic. Read More »
“A mechanic with an eighth-grade education founded Cummins, Inc. (CMI) in 1919. It has grown to become the largest independent maker of diesel engines in the world. Based in Columbus, Indiana, the company sells diesel engines around the world in 190 countries through a network of 600 distributor facilities. The company expects international sales to grow from the present level of 65% to 75% by 2020. Most of this growth is driven by escalating demand from emerging markets. Read More »
“Few investors pay much attention to insurance companies because they are hard to understand—and they seem to take on awfully big risks. But I’ve learned over my career that many of the best investors always focus their portfolios on insurance stocks. Consider Warren Buffett, the greatest investor who has ever lived. Read More »
“Baker Bros. Advisors, the hedge fund I wrote about in a recent issue, is obligated to make a filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission every quarter to detail its stock holdings. A recent filing showed a huge block of shares in Incyte Corp. (INCY). As of the Dec. 31, 2011 filing, the $255 million Incyte position is one of the fund’s largest, accounting for 10% of its total holdings and 12.3% of Incyte’s outstanding shares. No number on Wall Street is worth anything unless it can be compared to another number, and the most important number in this case can be found not in the Dec. 31, 2011 filing, but in the previous one, which covered the period ended Sept. 30, 2011. That filing showed a position of 11 million Incyte shares. Baker Bros. increased its stake by more than 40%. I don’t know about you, but when smart people who control billions of dollars make that kind of move, I want to try to understand why. That is what we are going to do today. Read More »
“For EMC Corp. (EMC), a cloudy forecast suggests a sunny outcome. The company primarily sells storage devices and software that help companies handle the avalanche of electronic data. But EMC is also positioned to benefit from the migration to cloud computing, which allows companies to reduce costs by taking advantage of underutilized computing power. EMC is a Buy and a Long-Term Buy. Read More »
“VeriFone Systems, Inc. (PAY 46.03 NYSE) provides retail electronic payment devices that process debit and credit cards. Next time you’re at a gas station or department store, take a look at the machine that reads your card. With 20 million locations globally, chances are that machine was provided by VeriFone. But VeriFone does more than put their name on the machine. VeriFone produces the systems, software, and services that enable the acceptance and processing of electronic payments for goods and services. In other words, your credit card would be as worthless as a used envelope without them. Read More »
“Las Vegas is a poster child for the excesses of the real estate bubble. Land that was bid up to astronomical levels now sits vacant, strewn with half-finished projects that were abandoned when funding dried up. Overcapacity from the construction boom has made life difficult, even for experienced operators. Just look at Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS), which owns the glitzy Venetian and Palazzo mega-resorts. The shares ran up to the exorbitant price of $148 in October 2007 amid unbridled optimism. But they plummeted 99% over the next 18 months. By March 2009, you could pick up LVS for about the price of a cup of coffee—$1.38 per share. Clearly, the market overcorrected to the downside. The stock has since clawed its way back to $47. Bargain hunters who invested just $1,380 to scoop up 1,000 shares at the bottom are now sitting on a cool $47,000. Read More »
“Paychex, Inc. (PAYX) is a leading provider of payroll, human resource and benefits outsourcing solutions for small and medium-sized businesses. With a strong brand, Paychex has more than 100 offices nationwide and serves more than 564,000 payroll clients. The company’s average client has 17 employees. Payroll processing is the bedrock of the company’s business and will continue to be so in the future. There are over 11 million businesses in the markets Paychex serves, with only a 15% penetration rate by the industry—providing plenty of future growth opportunities. Read More »
“Online gaming is one of the fastest-growing segments of the global technology sector and the pastime’s popularity has grown beyond the geek squad. In the U.S., 67% of households have at least one gamer who devotes an average of eight hours per week to playing video games. With 49% of gamers between the ages of 18 and 49 years, gaming is no longer exclusively the domain of youth. In fact, the average gamer is now 34 years old. Although the majority of gamers are male, women comprise 40% of the market and their share is growing every year. Read More »
