Top Stocks

By David Banister

I used to half joke with some of my investing friends that the best time to buy stocks is during or right after a crash. Think 1987, 2000-2002, 2008-2009, and now -- perhaps gold miners? 

Well, before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let's examine evidence of a "crash." I like to use crowd behavioral, empirical, and technical evidence in combination.

1.  In a recent money managers' poll, virtually nobody was bullish on gold or gold stocks, and more than 80% of those polled were bullish on the S&P 500 ($INX) and U.S. stocks.

 

 

By Louis Bedigian

Electronic Arts (EA) CFO Blake Jorgensen has confirmed that, contrary to previous comments from company spokesperson Jeff Brown (and a barrage of negative tweets from an EA engineer), the company is developing games for Nintendo's (NTDOY) Wii U console after all.

According to IGN, Jorgensen made the announcement at the Stifel Nicolaus 2013 Internet, Media and Communications Conference.

"You know, I think Nintendo's business was more [an] extension of their last console," said Jorgensen, as quoted by IGN. "I think what the consumer will find is a lot more powerful gameplay with the new boxes that are coming out, and a lot of excitement, but it'll remain to be seen as to the services associated with those as to how consumers decide which direction they might want to go."

 

The ridiculousness of the market was on display Wednesday as turmoil followed the Congressional testimony of Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, as well as the release of the minutes of the last Fed policy meeting.

 

The overall theme: The market, full of overconfident and increasingly complacent investors, is fully addicted to the cheap money coming from the Fed and other global central banks.

 

By David Fabian

The search for income continues to be one of the most sought after investment themes of 2013, as investors pour billions of dollars into both fixed and equity-income ETFs.  

A quick look at year-to-date asset flows from Index Universe shows that investors are actively pursuing dividend-oriented funds such as the PowerShares Senior Loan Portfolio (BKLN) and the Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG).  Both of these ETFs have garnered over $2 billion in new money over the last five months alone. 

However, as the market continues to hit new all-time highs nearly every day, the yields on these securities are starting to get compressed to rock-bottom levels. 

 

By Matt Egan

 

Shares of Saks (SKS) spiked 18% to five-year highs Wednesday morning following a report that the retailer has hired Goldman Sachs (GS) to explore a possible sale to a deep-pocketed private-equity or sovereign-wealth fund.

 

The knee-jerk rally indicates Wall Street is betting the owner of Saks Fifth Avenue is primed to fetch a healthy premium in a potential auction after years of cutting costs.

 

According to the New York Post, Saks has hired Goldman to explore strategic options, including a possible sale of the entire company.

 

Information provided by Theflyonthewall.com 

By David Sobek

 

The market loves mergers and acquisition rumors and recently, investors have been chattering a lot about Cubist Pharmaceuticals (CBST) and Optimer Pharmaceuticals (OPTR).

 

Even before Optimer put itself up for sale earlier this year, Cubist reportedly made an unsolicited $1 billion bid for the company, according to media reports. 

The rationale for Cubist buying Optimer is fairly easy to understand. The companies are already partners in the co-promotion of Optimer's antibiotic Dificid. Buying Optimer would also help Cubist achieve its five-year strategic goals, one of which is to grow revenue to $2 billion annually.

 

By Michael Vodicka

Steve Jobs once famously commented that simplicity is genius.

That attitude helped Apple Inc. (AAPL) redefine the personal electronics space and create an entire new ecosystem surrounding its products and services.

But now, a few years after Jobs passing, it looks like the financial services industry is taking a few pointers from the late and great founder of Apple.

One of the mutual fund industry's simplest product offerings is gaining popularity with investors. The growing trend has been fueled by the Pension Protection Act of 2006, which approved their use as a default option for 401(k) plan sponsors, who are allowed to automatically select them for participants who have not selected on their own. 

Vale (VALE) has announced a 30% reduction in its 2013 target for coal exports out of its Moatize mine in Mozambique. The target has been reduced from 4.9 million tonnes planned earlier to 3.4 million tonnes. The revision follows incidents of labor disruptions and heavy flooding, which rendered its railway line temporarily unusable.

Infrastructural limitations in Mozambique continue to pose a challenge to Vale, hampering its ability to get the coal produced from pit to port.

The reduction in export volumes, combined with falling coking coal prices in the international market, will impact revenues negatively. However, since the coal division constitutes just 2% to 2.5% of the company's total gross operating revenues, the overall impact is expected to be muted. On the other hand, the news exposes the fragility of Vale's Mozambican business and the significant challenges it faces to diversify away from its iron ore business.

 

By Ilan Moscovitz and John Reeves

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon began his most recent letter to shareholders on a triumphant note. He proudly reported a record $21.3 billion in net income for 2012, which he said marked the third consecutive year of record profits.

Dimon also pointed to the solid performance of the company's stock over the past eight and a half years, and said that the company is optimistic about the future.

Despite this commendable performance by JPMorgan, we strongly believe that investors should pass on buying its stock. 

 

By Antoine Gara

 

Kudos to Apple (AAPL) for figuring how to legally shuffle $44 billion in profits to non-tax jurisdictions.

 

Unfortunately, while the iPhone designer may have broken new ground in tax avoidance -- according to a Senate Subcommittee on Investigations -- the company would be better off not holding the most swollen bank account among non-financial companies in the history of Corporate America.

 

Currently, Apple is sitting on about $137 billion in relatively interest free cash. The company even recently raised $17 billion in debt financing to boost its dividend and increase share buybacks, while leaving its cash untouched.

 

By Suzanne McGee

Call it a triumph of practicality over idealism.

Jamie Dimon not only survived a nonbinding vote to unseat him from his role as chairman of JPMorgan Chase (JPM), but the proposal to split the roles of CEO and chairman got less support from shareholders than it received last year.  

Information provided by Theflyonthewall.com

Wednesday's noteworthy upgrades include:

• Bristol-Myers (BMY) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup
• Roche (RHHBY) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup
• Volcano (VOLC) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at First Analysis
• Cree (CREE) upgraded at Sterne Agee from Neutral to Buy
• Chesapeake (CHK) upgraded to Positive from Neutral at Susquehanna

 

By John Dobosz, Forbes Dividend Investor

Oil is bubbling higher again over the past month, with both West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude prices up 10%, since hitting short-term bottoms in mid-April.

Shares of U.S. oil majors Exxon Mobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX) are modestly higher by about 4% in that time, but several European majors, like previously recommended Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) and Total (TOT), have rallied 7% and higher.

Lean valuations and fat yields in the group prompt me to add another global energy giant to our list of recommendations -- Britain's BP (BP). The company is one of the largest integrated oil and gas companies in the world, with upstream (exploration and production), midstream (transportation and storage), and downstream (refining and marketing) operations.