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Berkshire Class B, 50-1 stock split!

2009-11-03T18:56:00.000-08:00

Warren Buffet brings Berkshire to the masses

The big news that Berkshire buys Burlington North Sante Fe (BNI) for $100 a share and a stock split is great news for existing Berkshire holders.

Warren Buffett continues to sell Moody's stake

2009-11-02T21:04:00.000-08:00

Investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 2.9 percent of its holdings in debt ratings agency Moody's Corp (MCO) this week, raising $28.7 million in the transaction, according to a regulatory filing on Friday.

The move follows another reduction in Berkshire Hathaway's stake in Moody's in July, when it cut its stake to 16.98 percent from 20.4 percent.

The latest sales were completed Wednesday and Thursday at prices ranging between $24.86 and $25.27 per share. Following the sales, Berkshire held 38.1 million Moody's shares.

Genworth Book Value at $25.42, GNW at $10.

2009-11-01T09:35:00.000-08:00

"We have now reported a second sequential quarter of improved financial results as our businesses emerged from the recent financial crisis and economic downturn....book value per share increase through the second straight quarter and is up 34% since the first quarter to $25.42 per share despite the 13% increase in shares outstanding related to our secondary offering." -Patrick B. Kelleher

Investing guru, Eddie Lampert made a killing by buying this stock around $2! But even at $10, it's still selling for half it's book value.

-Earnings Conference Call Transcript

Oct 31: Pops and drops

2009-10-31T05:35:00.000-07:00

Oct 31: Stocks in the news

2009-10-31T05:10:00.000-07:00

CIT Group (CIT) , Carl Icahn is in a truce with the company. He now backs the company's prepackaged bankruptcy plan.

Metlife (MET), third quarter operating earnings were higher, $0.97 versus last year's $0.84, but the company said it may have to inject capital into its life insurance business and it's also cautious on the outlook.

Cummins (CMI), third quarter earnings fell to $0.48 from $1.17 last year. Sales fell 31 percent and the company sees a challenging year ahead.

Manitowoc Co (MTW), the company had earnings in the third quarter of $0.04 and that was $0.04 below the Wall Street estimate and way down from $0.71 last year.

Motorola (MOT) , third quarter earnings of $0.01 a share, versus a loss of $0.18 last year. The company said cost cuts helped offset a 27 percent drop in sales.

Merck (MRK), Federal Trade Commission approved its $41 billion takeover of Schering Plough, whose stock fell $0.31.

ExxonMobil (XOM), third quarter earnings $0.98. That's $0.05 below the Street estimate, way down from $2.58 a share a year ago.

Procter & Gamble (PG), first quarter earnings came in at $1.06, up from $1.03 last year, $0.07 better than the Street was expecting. Revenues up 2 percent. The company boosted its sales forecast.

Colgate Palmolive (CL), third quarter earnings up 18 percent to $1.12 versus $0.94 last year, a penny better than expected. Sales were up 1 1/2 percent.

Kellogg Co (K), third quarter earnings, $0.94. That's up from $0.89 last year, $0.10 better than expected as the company noted customer loyalty was a real plus for it.

Aetna (AET), the health insurance company, $0.69 in third quarter earnings, down from $1.12 last year, but $0.03 better than expected.

Genworth Financial (GNW), third quarter earnings of $0.18 a share. The Street was looking for a $0.02 loss.

Lincoln National (LNC), $0.84 in third quarter earnings, down from $1.16 but $0.08 better than expected.

Revlon (REV) , $0.45 in third quarter earnings, down from $0.57 last year, but the Street was looking for a loss of $0.16 a share.

Newmont Mining (NEM), strong third quarter earnings, $0.79, up from $0.42 last year, $0.24 better than expected.

ConocoPhillips (COP), the company had a 30 or a 73 percent drop in third quarter earnings to $1 versus $3.39 last year.

First Solar (FSLR) , third quarter earnings out, $1.79, $0.05 better than expected, but the stock tumbled on a revenue shortfall.

IBM (IBM), the board approved an additional $5 billion stock buyback. The company also declared its regular $0.55 per share quarterly cash dividend.

US Steel (S), third quarter loss of $2.11. That's down from earnings of about $7.79 last year. Revenues plummeted 61 percent and the company says it's also going to have a fourth quarter loss.

Apollo Group (APOL), the for-profit education provider who is the parent of University of Phoenix, reported fourth quarter earnings of $0.59, down from $1.43 a year ago and then what really hurt the stock, the SEC has launched an informal inquiry over the company's revenue recognition practices.

Wynn Resorts (WYNN), reported third quarter earnings of $0.33, down 33 percent from last year, although that was better than expected.

RadioShack (RSH), third quarter earnings fell to $0.30 from $0.38 last year, but the company said its financial performance improved in the latter part of the third quarter.

Ethan Allen (ETH), the company sees worse than expected losses in the first quarter, be around $0.21 to $0.23 in the red versus the Street estimate of a loss of only $0.08.

Cramer's top 10 Natural Gas stocks

2009-10-30T18:39:00.000-07:00

Jim Cramer's top 10 Natural gas stocks -Stock Article Link

Cramer's other top lists.

Cramer's 5 Breakout Bank Stocks
Cramer's 12 Stocks to Play the Recovery
Cramer's 15 Rules for Playing Defense
Cramer's 10 Tips for Building Wealth

Mohnish Pabrai interview

2009-10-28T16:36:00.000-07:00

"I started to invest in the public equity markets using Buffett's model in 1994 and basically did extremely well, north of 70% a year, till about 1999....

It started as a hobby in 1999 with about a million dollars from eight people. About a year later the business (TransTech) actually got sold, I wasn't running it anyway, but I was completely cashed out. And then I thought that let's make my hobby a real business, try to scale it up and get investors. We now manage about $500 million -- ten years later."

-Stock Interview Link

God Wants You To Be Rich

2009-10-28T15:49:00.000-07:00

Feeling stuck or blocked? Many talented and gifted people feel that they have insurmountable barriers to actualizing their dreams. This new uplifting movie and companion gift book answers what you can do when you feel envious, think you've missed out, or it seems your dreams are too big.

God Wants You To Be Rich Movie

Darling International, turning grease into money

2009-10-25T05:59:00.000-07:00

The company picks up grease and animal carcasses at 116,000 restaurants -- including 10% of McDonald's locations -- and slaughterhouses across the country.

Now Darling is eyeing a potentially lucrative new market: renewable fuels. The industrial giant Honeywell approached Darling 2½ years ago offering to license technology to make "green diesel" fuel using animal fats.

Darling just announced that Valero Energy has agreed to be a partner in its proposed $270 million green diesel plant in Louisiana.

"This may not be a game changer for our country, because all the animal fats and greases equate to less than 5% of the diesel we need," says analyst William Bremer at Maxim Group. "But it is for Darling." -Stock Article Link

Oct 25: Stock Pops and Drops

2009-10-25T05:18:00.000-07:00

Ackman shorting Realty Income Corp. and highlights Corrections Corp

2009-10-21T20:22:00.000-07:00

U.S. hedge fund manager William Ackman told investors on Friday why he is betting against Realty Income Corp.

Realty Income Corp(O), leases space to convenience stores and casual restaurants including Sports Authority and Friendly's and Ackman's Pershing Square believes the current 97 percent occupancy rate to drop. Pershing Square's research note said that some tenants have already filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and that there is a concern they might be forced to liquidate. -Stock Article Link

Ackman noted that Pershing Square has a 9.9% stake in Corrections Corp. (CXW) . Ackman is known as an activist investor, but he said on Tuesday that the Corrections stake is passive, because the company's management and directors are already doing a good job.

"The biggest risk for Corrections Corp. is that suddenly lots of people stop committing crimes," Ackman said, noting that the recession may increase crime rates. -Stock Article Link

Whitney Tilson: Housing Recovery a Costly Mirage

2009-10-21T19:50:00.000-07:00

"The rebound has been stronger than we've anticipated," Tilson told Yahoo! News.

Yet he remains "confident this is the mother of all head fakes."

"The total inventory is triple what's actually being reported," says Tilson, who estimates there are twice as many homes in foreclosure or near foreclosure that aren't for sale yet.

Though Tilson doesn’t foresee “another calamity to come” he thinks the housing sector won’t rebound until those homes are off the market — and he does expect another 10 percent decline in prices and no true bottom for the housing market for at least another year.

Stock Article Link

Coach's Mixed Bag (COH)

2009-10-21T19:41:00.000-07:00

Coach is a great company. I've been long this stock since the low $20. It's hard to find a company that gets 30%+ ROE a year and Coah is it.

Insight on Coach's earnings results, with Lew Frankfort, Coach chairman & CEO and CNBC's Maria Bartiromo.

Comparing REITS vs Oil & Gas Royalty Trust

2009-10-18T08:54:00.000-07:00

I'm looking at Real Estate Income Trust (REITS) to get some high dividend income to my portfolio but I've noticed the debt/equity for REITS too be way too high. When you look at the two blue chips of the sector, Vornado (VNO) and Simon Property (SPG), both are taking on more leverage over the years. Currently these stocks pay only around 4% dividend. Compared to REITS, Oil & Gas Royalty Trust seems like the better play. Not only do these stocks yield around 7% but they are virtually debt free. Sure sooner or later the natural reserves will run out but it's a good place holder for cash until you can find a real bargain. Looking at the history of these companies, all have gone higher since it's IPO.

Oil & Gas Royalty Trust stocks:

B P PRUDHOE BAY UTS (BPT)
Cross Timbers Royalty Trust (CRT)
DOMINION RES WARR TR (DOM)
GREAT NORTHERN IRON(GNI)
Hugoton Royalty Trust (HGT)
NORTH EUROPEAN OIL(NRT)
PERMIAN BASIN ROY TR(PBT)
SABINE RYLTY TR UBI(SBR)

I like HGT because 80% of profits come from natural gas and I believe this commodity will go up very soon. Also insider buyer, Bob Simpson, the co-founder of XTO Energy, bought about $4,000,000 worth of stock at around $13-$14.

Oct 17: Pops and drops for the week

2009-10-17T04:46:00.000-07:00

Bank of America (BAC), third quarter loss, $0.26, $0.05 worse than expected.

General Electric (GE),lower earnings was down $0.71 and separately, News Corporation said it is not in any kind of talks with GE about its NBC affiliate.

IBM (IBM), third quarter earnings were $2.40, up from $2.04 a year ago, but the services sector of the company, the revenues there were well below expectations.

Harris (HRS) was awarded by the U.S. Army, a $419 million contract to supply manpack radios and power amplifiers.

Estee Lauder (EL), first quarter earnings will be significantly higher than previously thought due to better than expected sales and very effective cost cutting.

MGIC Investment (MTG), this is the nation's largest mortgage insurance company and it posted a third quarter loss of $4.17 a share, way above the Wall Street estimate of $1.62 loss.

Google (GOOG), blockbuster earnings came out after the close yesterday, $0.47 better than expected.

Mattel (MAT), which now trades on NASDAQ, third quarter earnings just barely lower than last year, $0.63 versus $0.65 then and worldwide sales were up only 8 percent.

Nokia (NOK), third quarter loss of .15 euros versus a big gain last year. Sales plummeted 20 percent in the third quarter for Nokia.

Harley-Davison (HOG) third quarter earnings plunged 84 percent, $0.11 this year from $0.71 last year and that was $0.10 worse than the Street expected, but the company was positive on overseas sales outlook.

Safeway (SWY), the big grocery chain, third quarter earnings, $0.31. That was down from $0.46 last year but $0.02 above the Street expectation.

Polaris Industries (PII), the all-terrain vehicle maker, third quarter earnings were lower, $0.94 versus $1.13 last year, but that was about $0.09 to $0.10 better than expected and the company did boost its full year earnings guidance.

Las Vegas Sands (LVS) stock down due to China's Hong Kong province tightened its residence visa restrictions to Macau to one visit every two months and that will take a bit of a toll on possible earnings from Las Vegas.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM), third quarter earnings of $0.82 a share, $0.30 better than the Street was expecting and revenues soared 81 percent on the strong investment banking business that the company did.

Abbott Labs (ABT) third quarter earnings excluding one-time items came in at $0.92 a share, up from $0.79 a year ago and $0.02 better than the Street was expecting and also the company boosted its outlook.

CSX (CSX), the big rail company, third quarter earnings of $0.74 versus $0.93 last year, but $0.03 better than expected and the company said the worst of the recession is behind it.

Group 1 Automotive (GPI), the company expects its third quarter earnings to be in the range of $0.68 to $0.72 a share. The Street estimate is only $0.51.

Conseco (CNO), the insurance firm, big percentage move up. The company will sell 16.4 million of its common shares along with warrants to buy five million more shares to Paulson & Co. That's a hedge fund.

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), third quarter earnings came in at $1.20, up from $1.17 a year ago, $0.07 better than the Street expectation, but revenues fell a very disappointing 5 percent.

Blackstone (BX), the company's planning to exchange list up to eight of its own companies that it owns and sell at least five others in a complete reversal of the company's pessimistic view of the global economy and financial markets.

Black & Decker (BDK), the company boosted its third quarter earnings guidance from $0.35 to $0.45, all the way up to $0.91 a share.

George Soros bearish on US Economy.

2009-10-15T19:33:00.000-07:00

Speaking at conference sponsored by the Economist magazine, Soros, who runs Soros Fund Management, said "The world economy is going to have some growth, but we are bound to be flat."

He also said the U.S. is going to be a drag. -Stock Article Link

Jim Cramer says expect a good earnings report from Citigroup

2009-10-13T08:47:00.000-07:00

The company’s book value is just $5.65 a share, Cramer said, so an increase in profits would boost that figure and push up the share price “over time.”

Citigroup earnings comes Oct 15.

Carl Icahn warns about a Double dip recession

2009-10-13T06:39:00.000-07:00

"If you get a double-dip recession and they start coming down, it's going to be a bit of a bloodbath," Icahn said.

"The amateur investor is going to get hit badly again because they're pouring money into these funds. Some of these funds managers I do not think are experienced enough to handle some of the distressed stuff they're buying and they're going to get burned," he said.

Icahn said he questions why "any individual in their right mind" would buy into Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT). Investors could never liquidate the underlying value of the buildings on their portfolios, he said.

"I think there's overcapacity in the office market and in shopping centers because you have a secular change in the way retailers are behaving and the way consumers are behaving," he added.

-Stock Article Link

Jim Rogers sees Gold going to $2000 ounce.

2009-10-12T12:30:00.000-07:00

Investor guru, Jim Rogers, predicts Gold going to maybe 2014 or 2019. "Buy real assets during currency depreciation....the U.S government is spending lots of money it doesn't have. But don't buy gold which is at an all time high now, buy silver or agriculture".

-Gold Stock Video Link

-Inflation Stock Video Link

Oct 10: The week that was, Pops and Drops

2009-10-10T15:32:00.000-07:00

Moodys and McGraw-Hill, still a monopoly

2009-10-06T21:07:00.001-07:00

Both Credit ratings agencies Moodys (MCO) and Mcgraw-Hill (MHP) have been taking a lot of heat lately for it's failure for detecting the financial crisis. Even worse when ex-Moody's analyst contacted regulators to inform them he thought the firm was improperly boosting its ratings on securities.

Taking a long term view though and what ever the penalty regulators decide, Moodys and Mcgraw-Hill, (MHP owns Standards and Poors) will still have its' monopoly over the rating system. That's why with MCO below $20 and MHP below $25 is a buy in my book. Both have a p/e around 11-12 and MHP also shows a good dividend at 3.7% plus it has Businessweek magazine and JD Power and Associates to go with it. Good diversification of businesses. Never buy all at once and buy in wide scales.

Oct 4: Stock news of the week

2009-10-04T07:43:00.000-07:00

Then Bank of America (BAC), the company has selected six of its directors for a chief executive officer search committee to replace Ken Lewis, who's stepping down at the end of the year.

First Solar (FSLR), stock will replace Wyeth in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, Wyeth being acquired of course by Pfizer.

Cisco Systems (CSCO) will acquire Norwegian video conferencing firm Tandberg (ph) and the price: $3 billion in cash.

Nike (NKE), first quarter earnings came in at $1.04, only a penny more than last year, but $0.07 above the Street estimate and the company said cost cuts offset a 12 percent drop in revenues.

Omnova Solutions (OMN), this is a chemical company, more than tripled its third quarter earnings from last year, $0.23 versus $0.07 then and the company cited lower raw material costs as the reason and the company sees fourth quarter earnings well above year ago levels.

Darden Restaurants (DRI), the company had higher first quarter earnings though, $0.67 versus $0.58 last year, but the company's cautious on the outlook for the restaurant industry.

American Superconductor (AMSC), the company won a $100 million contract to supply electrical components for a company making wind turbines in China.

Walgreen Co (WAG) fourth quarter earnings came in at $0.44, a penny below a year ago, but $0.05 better than the Street expected.

Gannett Co (GCI), the newspaper publisher, up $1.76. The company is predicting third quarter earnings of $0.39 to $0.42 a share, well above the Street estimate of $0.28.

Thor industries (THO) reports that RV sales are improving and today, Thor reported fourth quarter earnings of $0.45, way up from $0.09 last year. The company said cost cutting offset a 23 percent drop in sales.

Oct 2: Pops and Drops for the week

2009-10-02T19:34:00.000-07:00

Indonesia: The Fifth BRIC

2009-09-29T15:19:00.000-07:00

Indonesia stats.
6.1% growth in GDP
16th largest GDP in the world

The only investable ADR stocks on the NYSE I found are 2 telecom companies, Telkom Indonesia (TLK) and Indosat tbk PT(IIT). Both have attractive dividend yields above 3% but TLK has the better balance sheet. Also there is the indonesia ETF (IDX).

Citigroup's International Strategy

2009-09-29T05:45:00.000-07:00

I just bought some Citigroup at $4.57.

Citigroup's new strategy of pairing back its retail bank branches is the right move and should drive the stock higher.