FeedPosted Dec 31st 2009 4:30PM by Sheldon Liber (RSS feed)
Filed under: Forecasts, Competitive Strategy, General Electric (GE), Home Depot (HD), Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A), Getting Started, Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM), Options, Bargain Stocks, Chasing Value, Raytheon Company (RTN), E*TRADE (ETFC), EZCORP (EZPW), Williams Companies (WMB), Brasil Telecom (BTM) , Grubb and Ellis Co (GBE)
During my tenure at BloggingStocks I have expressed my opinion often about the contribution that dividends make to your overall return. Most shrewd investors, and especially "my pal Warren," know this and understand why I re-emphasize the point when I make my annual selections.
By now I hope you have had a chance to peruse my picks for 2010. If not the links below will give you another opportunity.
Continue reading Chasing Value: 2010 Dividends for Ten Stock Picks
Posted Dec 30th 2009 3:00PM by Sheldon Liber (RSS feed)
Filed under: Competitive Strategy, Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Apple Inc (AAPL), Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A), Bargain Stocks, Chasing Value, Commodities, Williams Companies (WMB)
The first four picks were all from the contenders list, but here I reach back to earlier in the year, when in May, I wrote about why I thought Williams Companies Inc. (WMB) would outperform four other, more popular stocks.
I compared it to Apple Inc. (AAPL), Google Inc. (GOOG), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.B).
During the past seven months this turned out to be true for half the period, but Apple came on strong and passed it by the second review.
Continue reading Chasing Value: 2010 -- #5 Williams Company
Posted Dec 29th 2009 4:40PM by Sheldon Liber (RSS feed)
Filed under: International Markets, Forecasts, Competitive Strategy, General Electric (GE), Home Depot (HD), Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A), Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM), Options, Bargain Stocks, Chasing Value, Raytheon Company (RTN), E*TRADE (ETFC), EZCORP (EZPW), Williams Companies (WMB), Brasil Telecom (BTM) , Grubb and Ellis Co (GBE)

To arrive at this years ten picks I scoured business journals and editorials, online and off. I also ran through a series of stock screens repeatedly over the last few months filtering for five primary value metrics identifying stocks worthy of further consideration.
The 5 data points were price-to-sales (P/S), price-to-book (P/B), price-to-cash flow (P/CF), dividend yield and return-on-equity (ROE). I did look at other things but these were the subject of my initial focus.
Continue reading Chasing Value: 10 Stock Picks for 2010
Posted Sep 18th 2009 5:20PM by Sheldon Liber (RSS feed)
Filed under: Rants and Raves, Market Matters, Anadarko Petroleum (APC), Wells Fargo (WFC), Chasing Value, Stocks to Buy, Intuitive Surgical Inc (ISRG), Newcastle Investment (NCT), Williams Companies (WMB), Olin Corp. (OLN)
Yesterday my 2009 portfolio closed up 201% for the year. It has been an interesting journey, and while it is rather self congratulatory to discuss it, there are lessons to be learned.
Before I review some of the reasons I was able to do this I want to make it clear that I do not think this can be easily repeated; I look at the portfolio every day thinking this is too good to be true, and we all know what that usually means.
Continue reading Chasing Value: Journey to 201%: APC, ISRG, WFC and more
Posted Jul 9th 2009 3:20PM by Sheldon Liber (RSS feed)
Filed under: International Markets, Market Matters, Diageo plc (DEO), Chevron Corp (CVX), Verizon Communications (VZ), BHP Billiton Ltd ADR (BHP), Anadarko Petroleum (APC), Serious Money, Commodities, Oil, Anglo American (AAUKY), Stocks to Buy, Southern Company (SO), Annaly Capital Management (NLY), Williams Companies (WMB), Olin Corp. (OLN)

In a race, when the yellow caution flag is out drivers are prohibited from advancing their position, and are subject to penalty.
In the stock market no such rule applies. When the caution flag goes up it is a sign you may be nearing an opportunity to advance your position, and it would be foolish not to do so. I think the market has definitely had the caution flag up the last two weeks as we enter earnings season.
I have written several
articles regarding watch-lists encouraging our readers to be prepared for buying opportunities, and as I look at my watch-list it appears that many stocks are nearing prices that would make it attractive to add to my position.
Continue reading Serious Money: Not cheating -- market waving the caution flag
Posted Jul 7th 2009 2:00PM by Steven Halpern (RSS feed)
Filed under: Newsletters, Commodities, Oil, Stocks to Buy, Williams Companies (WMB)
"Despite coming close to bankruptcy in 2002, Williams Co. (NYSE: WMB) has some of the premier assets in each of its business segments: exploration & production, mid-stream and pipelines," says turnaround expert George Putnam.
In his The Turnaround Letter, he explains, "The company now has the financial strength not only to survive the current downturn but to grow and prosper."
"Begun in 1908 as a pipeline construction company, Williams is now a major, integrated natural gas company; it produces, gathers, processes and transports natural gas throughout the United States.
Continue reading Turnaround for Williams (WMB): Pipeline profits
Posted May 11th 2009 2:10PM by Sheldon Liber (RSS feed)
Filed under: Rants and Raves, Market Matters, Anadarko Petroleum (APC), Wells Fargo (WFC), Politics, Recession, Financial Crisis, Williams Companies (WMB), Marathon Oil (MRO)

After a nine-week stock market rally it is time to tally up the winners and losers. In a market where almost everything gained, there must eventually be separation between those that went with the flow and those that had something to show.
The financial stocks, with the help of the government, were able to show some positive earnings. The banks do raise the suspicion that this is a case of "managing the numbers".
The government has helped them along by "reshaping" some accounting rules and giving them advance warning (and leaking to the public) of the results of its stress testing. Until now, they have gone with the flow as the hardest hit stocks and rallied the most.
Continue reading After the rally comes the tally
Posted Apr 30th 2009 11:30AM by Sheldon Liber (RSS feed)
Filed under: Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Apple Inc (AAPL), Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A), Bargain Stocks, Serious Money, Williams Companies (WMB)
This week I have been evaluating the Williams Companies Inc. (NYSE: WMB), a stock that I think would make a good core holding for anyone seeking a dependable dividend, growth potential, and relatively low risk given its current price.
The price was $13.77 when I started the series and $13.00 when I myself bought in.
After the first three posts, I hope the case has been made, but we will continue nevertheless looking at Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) , Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.B) for more supporting evidence.
Continue reading Serious Money: Better than Apple, Google, Microsoft & Berkshire Hathaway, Part 4
Posted Apr 28th 2009 3:40PM by Sheldon Liber (RSS feed)
Filed under: Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Apple Inc (AAPL), Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A), Bargain Stocks, Serious Money, Williams Companies (WMB)
In my first post on the subject yesterday, I discussed some of the advantages that Williams Companies Inc. (NYSE: WMB) might have over more popular stock "brands" like Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.B) -- all great companies.
I highlighted the yield, book value, and spread between natural gas and oil, concluding that even "my pal Warren" would prefer Williams. Today I continue to look at the various valuation metrics one might contemplate in examining a stock's potential.
Continue reading Serious Money: Better than Apple, Google, Microsoft & Berkshire Hathaway, Part 2
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