Continue reading Chasing Value: EZcorp Still Besting Apple

Chasing Value: EZcorp Still Besting Apple originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 14:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Serious Money: Buffett's Next Buys -- You Pick'em

Serious Money: Buffett's Next Buys -- You Pick'em originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 04 Mar 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple Inc. (AAPL) has had tremendous success with its App store, and it is once again approaching a major milestone as the company's stock continues to soar and set yet another 52-week high today.

Apple stock closed the day at its new 52-week high of $348.48, up 0.8% on the day.

Continue reading Apple Hits New High as 10 Billionth Download Approaches

Apple Hits New High as 10 Billionth Download Approaches originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 14 Jan 2011 17:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

One month ago I stuck my neck out a ways by making the statement that EZCorp (EZPW) was a superior investment to the current market darling Apple Inc. (AAPL). Furthermore that was not the limit of my claim, I wrote it was 33 to 1 better -- that's a lot. Since I am a glutton for punishment, I always post my good and bad calls.

I will be following this idea for one, three, six, and 12 months, if reader interest remains, to see how things progress. EZCorp is one of my 2009 and 2010 stock pick winners and I will be sticking with it in 2011, as well. See Chasing Value: 2011 Stock Picks -- The Journey Begins.

Continue reading Chasing Value: EZCorp Better Than Apple, One Month Review

Chasing Value: EZCorp Better Than Apple, One Month Review originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 06 Dec 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Investors are running scared again and that always means that stock bargains are not far behind. Apple Inc. (AAPL) dropped another $5.87 Tuesday, landing at $239.93, and another 8 cents was lost after-hours. For most of the year I have felt that Apple was not cheap and was not going to hit $300 per share, contrary to almost anyone else with a voice. Now I feel it is worth watching as things might get silly to the downside.

Apple rose to a high of $279.01 before pulling back 14%. That is not enough of a margin of safety for me, but it has become interesting again. It clearly has earned a spot on my watch list.

Continue reading Chasing Value: Apple Falling, Opportunity Calling

Chasing Value: Apple Falling, Opportunity Calling originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 25 Aug 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Chasing Value: Four Great Stocks -- Gov't Fears Savings Spiraling Out of Control

Chasing Value: Four Great Stocks -- Gov't Fears Savings Spiraling Out of Control originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 20 Aug 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Chasing Value: EZCORP Is Easy Buy, Beating APPL, ISRG and XOM

Chasing Value: EZCORP Is Easy Buy, Beating APPL, ISRG and XOM originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 16 Aug 2010 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Apple Stock Soars to All-Time High Following Strong Earnings Report

Apple Stock Soars to All-Time High Following Strong Earnings Report originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 21 Apr 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Apple's iPhone To Get Multitasking

Apple's iPhone To Get Multitasking originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 08 Apr 2010 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Nostradamus was a punk! Have we reached bottom?

Nostradamus was a punk! Have we reached bottom? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

There are few topics as popular on BloggingStocks as Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), one of the original eight we focused on. In the past 52 weeks, the stock has fallen from a high of $202.96 to a recent low of $79.14 amid the greatest market turmoil in 80 years.

Everyone has finally agreed that we are in the midst of a severe recession, and Wall Street has punished Apple, the inventive high flying growth story, because of fears that a slowdown in consumer spending will stall its market expansion.

Black Fridays promise aside, the market is in a wait and see mode. In the meantime, after five consecutive trading days in the upward direction, Apples shares closed Friday in a shortened trading day at $92.67, down for the day but notably off its earlier lows.

A sixth up day was too much to hope for as the market is down, and Apple hit a Monday low of $89.00

So what now? Is the growth story over? I think that for those who have an interest in owning this stock, now is the time to buy. Given a P/E of 17 and a reported $27 in cash and no debt, could there be a better time? I think not.

Continue reading Chasing Value: Apple may be one again

Chasing Value: Apple may be one again originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 01 Dec 2008 15:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

In a note to clients, Bernstein boosted its rating on AAPL from Market Perform to Outperform, and said that its "longer-term growth story remains intact." Analyst A.M. Sacconaghi added, "Investors appear to be valuing Apple on an earnings multiple, rather than on cash flow, which fundamentally undervalues the company given the huge deferred revenue growth associated with the iPhone."

Specifically, the brokerage firm estimates that the iPhone itself could add between $2.25 and $3.40 per share to cash flow above earnings in fiscal 2009.

However, following the stock's recent free-fall down the charts, Bernstein was forced to trim its price target on AAPL from $175 to $135. Credit Suisse followed suit, slashing its price target on the equity from $200 to $135. Despite today's gain of about 7% amid a massive rally in U.S. stocks, Apple shares could be vulnerable to more price-target cuts during the near term. Thomson Financial pegs the average 12-month price target at $176.33, a lofty premium of 82% to Friday's close at $96.80.

Elizabeth Harrow is an analyst and financial writer in the research department at Schaeffer's Investment Research. She is featured in the video series Schaeffer's Daily Q&A on SchaeffersResearch.com.

Apple attracts an upgrade on valuation, but can't escape price-target cuts originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 13 Oct 2008 12:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

While Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has had relatively smooth going in Europe introducing the iPhone, things are apparently less so in China (and Russia) where it is being reported: China Mobile to Buy Out iPhone in China.

The negotiations between China Mobile Ltd (NYSE: CHL) have led to many compromises on the part of Apple. To get the deal done it agreed to have no more sharing from toll revenues of cooperative carriers, and the Wi-Fi function of the multimedia smartphone is to be deleted.

Although it has been widely reported the Chinese anxiously want to sell iPhones to their hundreds of millions of potential customers -- something Apple has been vigorously pursuing -- it took several rounds of negotiations after which Apple got the short end of the stick.

Just one more company bending to the will of the Chinese. I wonder how long it will be before they reverse engineer the phone using Apple as another pawn in the game of technology transfer? I wonder if there is anything that should or can be done about it?

I'm sure after all is said and done Apple got the best deal it could. I just hope it works out as well as it envisioned.

Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the principal for design and research at an architecture & planning firm. He writes the columns Chasing Value and Serious Money. Disclosure: I do not own shares of AAPL.

Apple forced to play ball with China Mobile originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 08 Sep 2008 12:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Obama's $1000 giveaway is a take away!

Obama's $1000 giveaway is a take away! originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 08 Aug 2008 15:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Well, things played out as I thought and Apple, Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) closed on Friday August 1, 2008 at a price of $156.66 and opened pennies down today. I will be the first one to admit that a few of my calls have been terrible, but this one was right on target.

Quoting from one of last years posts, "However, I thought Apple might be worth up to $150 and a month later was willing to consider $160 and that is where I stood." So I'm on record pegging the stock between $150 and $160. Having made the call on the money I will now tell the world that a lot of this game is luck, but that is all I thought it was worth.

Why two rights? One of our brighter commentors, Beltway Greg had pegged Apple around $200 a year out and it made the number in December 2007 long before even he thought it might and I gave him credit at the time. I was looking farther out and as the current price evidences I was correct also. But what's wrong with this picture? When I wrote, I tried to figure what I thought the stock was worth as did Greg.

Continue reading Chasing Value: Apple -- two rights and one wrong

Chasing Value: Apple -- two rights and one wrong originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 04 Aug 2008 14:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

About a month ago I posted Serious Money: AAPL, EBAY, GE, GOOG, MSFT, TWX, WMT, YHOO -- one more look, covering the original Great Eight stocks we focused on at BloggingStocks. These were based on reader interest, which they do still generate today.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was the big winner among only four that had appreciated. The following indicates commonly used metrics for tracking and comparing stocks.

Reviewing the stocks in order of lowest to highest P/E ratio (TTM):

• Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) 14.84
• General Electric (NYSE: GE) 14.91
• Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) 17.08
• Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) 18.29
• Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) 34.25
• Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) 37.82
• Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) 40.28
• eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) 95.24

It is interesting to note that only two of the eight have a below market P/E ratio, while only two are average. On the other hand, four are double the average and beyond, which leads me to believe the overall market consensus is that it is still very early in the game for these stocks and their futures are yet to be determined. The P/E ratios of the four are also the most volatile as are the stock prices.

Continue reading Serious Money: Metrics anyone? -- AAPL, EBAY, GE, GOOG, MSFT, TWX, WMT, YHOO

Serious Money: Metrics anyone? -- AAPL, EBAY, GE, GOOG, MSFT, TWX, WMT, YHOO originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 12 May 2008 10:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This month saw great improvement after last month's disaster. Having to conclude my findings on a specific month end day, or any day, depending on the news, sometimes distorts results. For example news on March 31 sent the market down and on April first my picks shot up an unusual amount; hopefully the trend will continue.

My riskiest stock pick Newcastle Investment Corp (NYSE: NCT) was down the most in March but recovered about 35% of the loss in April leaving Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO) the dubious honor of being my worst performer, down over 30% in the first four months of the year.

April showed improvement as many companies reported positive earnings reports or beat expectations.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained some ground in April as did the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, and the technology heavy NASDAQ Composite Index was up with stocks like Apple, Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) improving significantly on very strong reports. Google is up over 25%.

Most of my picks improved. Higher food prices no doubt helped Bunge Limited (NYSE: BG) which recaptured losses moving up 23% from its recent bottom. My two winners Raytheon Co. (NYSE: RTN), the high tech defense contractor, and Reliance Steel & Aluminum (NYSE: RS) were joined by a third, Anglo American plc (ADR) (NASDAQ: AAUK) which had a 10% swing entering positive territory.

Continue reading Chasing Value: 8 stocks for 2008 -- April Bunge's back

Chasing Value: 8 stocks for 2008 -- April Bunge's back originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 01 May 2008 15:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Since I have been a shareholder of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A), I have enjoyed reading with great interest the musings of company chairman Warren Buffett as he gives almost a play-by-play review of the year in his letter to shareholders. He writes in a tone I would compare to Will Rogers, the writer, actor, comedian, cowboy and former mayor of Beverly Hills.

"My pal Warren" highlights both the triumphs and disasters of the year and his own perspective of the State of the Union and the economy like only he can. I strongly recommend investors take the time to read his letter(s).

One of the most often referred to items in Buffett's letters is regarding the quality of the management at each of the companies that Berkshire owns, or has major stock holdings in. There are many shrewd investors who will make a convincing argument that the quality of management is the highest priority.

He glowingly speaks of the wisdom, integrity and hard work of his management partners. He openly states that one reason that most of Berkshire acquisitions tend to work so well is the mutual appreciation of these character traits they all share. Unlike many companies that look to make money by shaking up the management structure, Buffett bases his investment strategy on keeping the strong management that built the enterprise in place.

Continue reading Serious Money: The page on Buffett Part V: Company Management

Serious Money: The page on Buffett Part V: Company Management originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 17 Apr 2008 17:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It was June 7, 2006 when I set up a tracking portfolio for our great eight stocks. AOL Money & Finance started BloggingStocks with a focus on these companies based on investor interest. Today, they still stimulate a lot of interest, and comments.

The following share prices are from the original tracking date now updated to last Friday's close, April 11, 2008. Earnings season is upon us again. The Iraq war is still in the headlines, as are the presidential elections, energy prices, recession fears and our latest calamity -- the shameful Washington/Wall Street axis of financial evil. Here are the BloggingStocks eight:

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was $60.00 and is up to $147.14 gaining 145%.

eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) was $32.00 and is down to $30.87 losing 3.35%.

General Electric (NYSE: GE) was $34.50 and is down to $32.05 losing 7.1%.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) was $380.00 and is up to $457.45 gaining 20.38%.

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) was $22.50 and is up to $28.28 gaining 25.69%.

Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) was $17.50 and is down to $14.27 losing 18.46%.

Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) was $47.00 and is up to $54.80 gaining 16.6%.

Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) was $31.00 and is down to $28.34 losing 8.58%.

So after 22 months we find four stocks are up and four stocks are down. Apple is the clear winner and remains the company to watch going forward. New trend-setting products are introduced regularly and few companies can match its inventiveness or marketing genius. Steve Jobs has hit a grand slam. Microsoft, the perennial cash generating machine, came in second with very strong results given the current state of the economy.

Among the surprises and the one I have taken the most flack for is that Google has not done very well in my eyes. It has been highly volatile and makes for a good trading stock, but if you add the dividend of 3.48% to Wal-Marts appreciation you have about the same growth with one tenth the downside risk.

eBay and GE are remarkable for having achieved nothing over our review period, and although they are down now I consider them break-even investments because they have been trading a few bucks higher and a few lower the entire period. Lots of promise, little results.

Lastly, Time Warner and Yahoo! are big disappointments. Time Warner (owner of BloggingStocks) has a new CEO and change is in the air. Yahoo! is in Microsoft's cross-hairs and looks like it will be something else in a few months. Ironically the two companies are in the midst of discussions to find a way to help each other out of their stagnation. I hope they succeed. Both have great franchises that are struggling to gain traction. Both must contend with Google and Microsoft.

Going forward Apple may be the best bet and Microsoft will probably continue to mint money. The others may just tread water for a while.

Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the principal for design and research at an architecture & planning firm. He writes the columns Chasing Value and Serious Money. Disclosure: I own shares of EBAY, and TWX.

Serious Money: AAPL, EBAY, GE, GOOG, MSFT, TWX, WMT, YHOO -- one more look originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 14 Apr 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

After three months it is time to face the facts: two of the three indices beat my picks handily. I have not made a good showing so far and unlike most investment idea sources, I feel obliged to air my dirty laundry for all to see.

My riskiest stock pick Newcastle Investment Corp (NYSE:NCT) is down almost 37% this year, and the energy stocks did almost as poorly even though fuel prices are near all-time highs. The downers were not offset by this months' repeat winners.

March was a seesaw battle, but in the end there was not much to show for it. However, unlike the last day of January (down 370 points in the Dow) and February's last trading day (down 315 points), March had a final day of plus 46.49, which is not very meaningful.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gave some ground in March as did the Standard & Poor's 500 Index while the technology heavy NASDAQ Composite Index was marginally up with stocks like Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) improving notably.

Most of my picks sagged a little more, while two remain in positive territory. Raytheon Co. (NYSE: RTN), the high tech defense contractor is up and Reliance Steel & Aluminum (NYSE: RS) is way up.

Continue reading Chasing Value: March review -- 8 stocks for 2008 -- not so refined

Chasing Value: March review -- 8 stocks for 2008 -- not so refined originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 07 Apr 2008 15:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.