Top Stocks

It's hard to imagine this happening with any other "product": The price drops 12% for the next quarter, and the stock market essentially shrugs it off.  

On a bad day for the market, Aug. 30, when the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index dropped by 1.47%, the shares of the world's biggest producer of this product fell by 1.29%.  

And on a good day for the market, Sept. 1, when the S&P 500 jumped by 3%, shares of the largest producer rocketed upward by 5.5% and shares of number two went up 6.1%.

 

By Richard Young, InvestorPlace.com

Let me tell you about a group of high-yield dividend stocks called "retirement compounders." These companies are dividend-paying domestic and international stocks that offer high yield but also boast strong balance sheets and a consistent record of annual dividend payments. I favor companies that operate in industries with high barriers to entry, those that possess durable competitive advantages and businesses that are less prone to the volatility of the business cycle.

 

The financial sector was one of the hardest hit during the recent stock market downturn. The Financial SPDR ETF (XLF), which invests in the likes of Bank of America (BAC) and JPMorgan (JPM), is down 17.4% from its springtime high. Compare that to the 11% loss for the S&P 500.

 

There were plenty of reasons for investors to sell. We had the government's case against Goldman Sachs (GS). At home, we had the Dodd-Frank bill, which cut Wall Street's ability to speculate for its own account and reduces the profitability of dealing in derivatives like swaps. Globally, banks will face more stringent capital requirements under the "Basel III" regulations currently being debated. And, of course, we had concerns that a renewed slide for the housing market would result in another round of foreclosures and loan losses.

 

Netflix (NFLX) shares have been on fire the last two days, and hit $138 Thursday. And it's all thanks to Apple (AAPL).

That's because Netflix came out looking like a major winner with a prominent spot in the new Apple TV device coming out this month. Netflix customers can use Apple TV to access Netflix's growing library of on-demand movies and shows.

"Depending on the fate of Apple's device, the relationship could further establish Netflix as a mainstay in electronics devices that deliver Web content to the living room," writes Nick Wingfield in The Wall Street Journal. 

Burger King (BKC) has agreed to a $4 billion buyout and will be taken private (see the news on Market Dispatches).

It's worth noting that before shares jumped on rumor of the buyout, Burger King stock has been anything but royal. Shares of the fast food chain had been down about 6% from when it went public in May of 2006, The New York Times reported.

Compare that with the spectacular rise of McDonald's (MCD), whose shares have soared 111% during that same period. 

Here's an interesting theory from Bloomberg News: The chances of a double dip back into recession are slim because the data just can't get much worse.

The key sectors of the economy that normally are recession indicators are extremely depressed. Car sales are pathetic. Housing construction is miserable. Things are so bad, in fact, there's nowhere to go but up.

So, uh, that's good news? "It doesn't rule out a recession," one economic researcher told Bloomberg. "It just makes it less likely than otherwise." 

By Philip van Doorn, TheStreet

 

After decent performance in July, when the great majority of stocks among the 50 largest public U.S. bank and thrift holding companies (by total assets) showed gains, August was a return to misery for the banking sector, with 49 out of 50 declining.

 

Here are the five best stock performers among the group during August:

 

5. Hudson City Bancorp

 

Company Profile: Headquartered in Paramus, N.J., Hudson City Bancorp (HCBK) operates more than 130 branches in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. Shares declined 6% during August to close-out the month at $11.53.

 

By Jim Cramer, TheStreet

 

The afterglow of yesterday's rally is a good time to talk about what I see the Obama administration cooking up against business. The Obama camp loves to cultivate the media. They do a fabulous job of it. And one thing the media despises is companies with richly paid CEOs, stockpiling money rather than hiring.

 

We now know that, despite Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner's assurances to the contrary, the administration will let the capital gains and dividend taxes go all the way back up. The tax rate on dividends for the middle class and upper-middle class, as well as the upper class, is going to ordinary income levels, as this administration thinks the stock market is the plaything of the rich. We know that capital gains are viewed as the scourge of the hard left -- as the only people with capital gains are wealthy -- in this administration's heavily left-leaning orientation.

 

But the levy that is missing is the tax on companies that don't hire. I am predicting right now, right here, that we will see a tax on those earnings not being put to work hiring. It's too juicy.

 

It's taken a while, but the joint venture announced in February between Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.B) and Brazilian sugar and ethanol giant Cosan (CZZ) has finally moved to the signing of binding agreements.  

The deal, when completed, would create the third largest ethanol producer in the world, with annual production of 440 million gallons and a sales network of 4,500 stations. Estimated annual sales revenue would come to $21 billion.

  

The deal seems a natural: Combine Brazil's largest processor of sugar cane (Cosan will contribute its 23 sugar cane mills; all of its co-generation plants; 1,730 retail outlets, and other ethanol assets to the deal) with 2,740 retail stations operated by Europe's largest oil company.

 

Everybody from Amazon (AMZN) to Google(GOOG) is getting into the online video business, and the competition will be intense within a matter of months.

None of the products out there are outstanding yet. Apple (AAPL) made a half-hearted attempt years ago with its own Apple TV product, which the company admits was never a huge hit.

But that's all changed now. The company unveiled a new Apple TV (pictured) Wednesday that aims straight for mass adoption with a new business model that favors renting over buying. Apple wants this to be huge. Apple also overhauled its entire iPod line for the holidays, making the devices smaller and with more features.

Here's what you need to know about Apple TV: 

It's been a dismal couple of months for the stock market. There's been fear over the European debt crisis, and we've seen uncertainty over the health of the economic recovery and, of course, fresh concerns over the state of the housing market. The result was the worst August for equities in nine years, with shares down more than 14% from their April highs.

 

But that's all changing now. Stocks are blasting higher today off of strong support near 1,040 on the S&P 500 -- it was tested back in February, in May, in June and again over the past week. Other technical indicators, such as market breadth and volume trends, are also supportive of higher prices.

 

Yet the most compelling reason to buy stocks right now is valuation.

 

By Jake Lynch, TheStreet

 

U.S. stocks slid last month, with the S&P 500 ($INX) falling 4.7% as investors loaded up on fixed-income securities.

Here are some stocks that are struggling despite exceptionally low price-to-earnings ratios. When stocks rebound, these shares could  fare best.

The companies are ordered from cheap to cheapest.

 

By Adam Feuerstein, TheStreet

 

If it were up to the hedge funds, the acquisition of Genzyme (GENZ) by Sanofi-Aventis (SNY) would already be well on its way toward completion at a price in the range of $74 to $77 a share.

 

That's the headline from a survey of 129 health care investors taken Monday and released Tuesday by ISI Group biotech analyst Mark Schoenebaum.

 

Eighty percent of respondents to Schoenebaum's survey believe Sanofi will acquire Genzyme before the end of the year. The average minimum price: $74 a share. The average maximum price: $77 a share.

 

By Jim Cramer, TheStreet

 

Maybe the best analogy for this market is that it's a losing team. It's the Washington Nationals, way behind, with no chance of ever catching up, stuck in a bad season in which even the bright light -- Stephen Strasburg -- gets hurt and is knocked out for the year.

 

As a former sports writer, I know what it is like to write about losing teams. Every play is second-guessed. Every win is considered an insane gift that makes no sense. Every loss is a given, a natural. You don't expect to win, and you lose in a million different ways.

 

The press coverage for this team that is our stock market? Uniformly horrible. The excuses the team gives? Hapless.

 

Oddly enough, on a day when investors are again feeling nervous about growth, machinery stocks are showing relative strength. 

Among the standouts Tuesday: Caterpillar (CAT), Joy Global (JOYG), Bucyrus (BUCY), and Deere (DE).

This group went through a day much like this not so long ago. On Aug. 12, the same stocks were up -- except for Caterpillar, which was down slightly, even though it was the catalyst for the sector's strong showing that day.