Top Stocks

By Antoine Gara

Warren Buffett-run Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) boosted some of its biggest investments in the first quarter of 2013 while taking new positions in Chicago Bridge & Iron (CBI) and Liberty Media (LMCA).

Berkshire's biggest trades in 2013 appear to reflect an increasing diversity in the investment conglomerate's portfolio as Buffett adds to his 'big four' stock holdings and lieutenants Todd Combs and Ted Weschler take on larger discretionary investments.

In the first quarter, Berkshire increased its stake in Wells Fargo (WFC) by 4.2% to a total holding of over 458 million shares worth about $18 billion as of the close of Wednesday trading.

 

By Mike Schuster

In recent years, reports of stolen smartphones have surged. As of last November, it's estimated that as many as 113 smartphones are lost or stolen just in the United States every minute. The problem has gotten so bad that New York City actually saw its first uptick in crime in the last two decades due to the numerous theft reports -- and Gotham is all the way down at number nine in the top-10 worst U.S. cities for smartphone thievery. (Way to go, Philly!)

In light of all the snatched Droids (GOOG) and iPhones (AAPL), New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has called upon Apple, Google, Microsoft (MSFT), and Samsung (SSNLF) to increase preventative tactics to reduce crime on the streets.

 

Information provided by Theflyonthewall.com

Thursday's noteworthy upgrades include:

• Beazer Homes (BZH) upgraded to Buy from Fair Value at CRT Capital
• Potash (POT) upgraded to Buy from Hold at BGC Partners
• Endo Health (ENDP) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Buckingham
• Ford (F) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Craig-Hallum
• Constellation Brands (STZ) upgraded to Strong Buy from Buy at ISI Group, and to Buy from Hold at Stifel

 

By Richard Moroney, Upside Stocks

Our Quadrix Value score reflects a stock's percentile rank on more than 20 variables, but four of the most effective metrics are the price-to-earnings, price-to-sales, price-to-cash flow and the enterprise ratio.

Screening for standouts on these four measures, Coinstar (CSTR) and Dillard's (DDS) are two especially cheap stocks.

Coinstar faces numerous questions regarding the future of DVDs and Blu-ray discs as faster cable speeds make streaming video an attractive alternative.

And though Coinstar and partner Verizon have launched a subscription service for streaming video, competitors Amazon (AMZN) and Netflix (NFLX) are already firmly entrenched in the business.

 

Here's a visionary memo I am writing now for people in the press one year from now:

 

"As of today, we will no longer do 'wall-to-wall' coverage of 13F filings, because it doesn't help our viewers or our readers." The visionary memo continues: "This cottage industry of looking at filings, most of which are extremely dated, causes people who aren't sophisticated enough in the process to make wrong moves."

 

But, because the writer of the memo doesn't want to push back 100%, he adds, "There will be exceptions. We will continue to cover what Warren Buffett buys and sells, because his fund is not a hedge fund darting in and out of stocks. We will also, if we believe it to be the case, cover funds that seem to be struggling, like John Paulson's gold fund. But, beyond this, we are simply going to de-emphasize the breathless reporting on these matters, because at a certain point we have to conclude that it is our equivalent of prurience and nothing more than that."

 

By Moby Waller, BigTrends.com 

It's been another strong year for the U.S. markets in 2013, thus far (as we had forecast after the first few weeks of the year). 

But many international single-country ETFs are lagging, or even actually down on the year. Only one big country name is outperforming the S&P 500 (SPY), and that country is . . . Japan (EWJ).

Take a look at the relative performance data below:

 

By Matthew Kanterman

U.S. equity futures were nearly unchanged in early premarket trade following a stronger than expected GDP report from Japan. Japan reported first quarter GDP rose 3.5% on an annualized basis, better than the 2.7% expected growth rate. Notably, the GDP deflator, a measure of inflation, fell to -1.2%, lower than the -0.9% expected, showing continued deflation in Japan.

In other news, the World Gold Council announced that global gold demand fell 13% in the first quarter with gold investment declining by nearly one half. However, the Council also said that supply constraints of gold bars were increasing as production slows.

Foreign direct investment into China fell once again in April to 1.21% annualized growth from 1.42% growth in the previous month, showing continued caution on investment in emerging markets.

 

Gold (-GC) fell below $1,400 on Wednesday for the first time in nearly three weeks, giving rise to predictions it is headed lower still.

Silver (-SI) also moved lower, along with copper (-HG) and platinum (-PL).

Gold settled at $1,396.20 an ounce in New York, down $28.30 or 2% from Tuesday and down 16.7% for the year. Since peaking in August 2011, gold has fallen more than 26%. The late London fixing was $1,410 an ounce, down from Tuesday's $1,433.75.

Silver was off 72.1 cents to $22.66, a 3.1% decline. It's down 25% in 2013 as well. Copper, down 2.3 cents to $3.265 a pound, is down 10.6% this year. 

By Tim Parker

Apple's (AAPL) re-design of iOS under the management of famed Apple hardware designer Jony Ive has gone from rumor to being generally accepted as fact. Among the most notable changes is the reported flat graphical design.

A source quoted by 9to5mac reported the new interface is "very, very flat," while another said it loses all signs of shine and gloss. In other words, no more cute pictures of a sun on the weather icon or the yellow legal pad look in its notes app.

The question then becomes, is this nothing more than a cosmetic facelift to the UI or is it a brand new way of interacting with your iOS device? If it's the latter, Apple is taking a big risk.

 

 

A weaker yen continues to drive Japanese stocks higher.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 ($N225) closed above 15,000 for the first time since December 28, 2007 on Wednesday. The index is now up 77% from its November 2012 bottom. Toyota Motor (TM) and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MTU), two members of my Jubak’s Picks portfolio, were up 3.7% and 3.1%, respectively in Tokyo trading.

The yen fell as low as 102.42 to the U.S. dollar, the lowest level for the Japanese currency since October 2008, before closing at 102.24 in Tokyo.

The financial markets seem to be betting that the yen has a clear path down to 105 to the dollar.

 

Share of Google (GOOG) hit an all-time high. Meanwhile, CEO Larry Page discloses he is facing a medical challenge. Page has been diagnosed with vocal-cord paralysis. However, he says, while the condition has weakened his voice it has not affected his day-to-day management of the company.
 
The disclosure comes as Google readies to launch a subscription music service.   In our lead story on Investor Beat, Motley Fool analysts Jason Moser and Matt Argersinger explain what it means for investors. 

By Aaron Levitt

It's no secret at this point that gold miners are going through a rough patch.

After the precious metal's recent routing, firms that dig it out of the ground have fallen by the wayside, and they continue to drift lower as labor issues and political problems have raised production costs to reduce margins. 

Some smaller miners have even crossed the critical "marginal cost of production" line, deeming many projects unprofitable.

Given the various headwinds, it's easy to see why the inverse Direxion Daily Gold Miners Bear 3X Shares (DUST) -- which basically shorts the sector, with some leverage -- has been one of the best-performing investments of 2013.

 

Information provided by Theflyonthewall.com 

Instead of selling in May and going away, investors are scrambling to buy into a stock market that's gone parabolic.

 

Shares are blasting higher with no clear catalysts and indirect opposition to weak economic data, extended market technicals, extreme bullish sentiment, and signs we are in the late stage of the corporate profit cycle. And it enabled quick hit profits in picks like AMD (AMD) and Nokia (NOK), which gained 45% and 10% respectively since I recommended them earlier this month.

 

Wednesday, on confirmation of an ongoing European recession -- now joined by Germany -- and weakening manufacturing activity here at home, there were signs that this is a surge to sell into. Here's why.