With several major developments occurring around the world, many investors may wonder how they could affect their portfolios or their lives. Here are two of the current, newsworthy events and how investors may interpret them.

Libya

The oil from Libya totaled about 2 million barrels a day before the revolution, half of which was exported. About 1 million barrels a day are no longer available to the world. That isn't enough to really affect the price of oil for a long period of time. Plenty of other countries can supply that amount without straining their capacity. But they're unlikely to step in to fill the gap when oil prices are above $100 a barrel. That price should recede once the conflict finishes and a more stable government is in place.

Continue reading Comfort Zone Investing: Libya and Japan -- What They Mean for Investors

Comfort Zone Investing: Libya and Japan -- What They Mean for Investors originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 26 Mar 2011 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Coca-Cola (KO) has more than $13 billion in cash.

The top five companies (according to market cap) are:

• Exxon Mobil (XOM): $398.3 billion
• Apple (AAPL): $309.0 billion
• Microsoft (MSFT): $237.5 billion
• General Electric (GE): $215.0 billion
• Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A): $202.5 billion

Continue reading Comfort Zone Investing: Did You Know ... ?

Comfort Zone Investing: Did You Know ... ? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 05 Feb 2011 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Futures Down As Investors Await Earnings Reports, Economic Data

Futures Down As Investors Await Earnings Reports, Economic Data originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 25 Jan 2011 08:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Economies go in cycles. They push to their breaking points, then move in the opposite direction. We saw it clearly in the '90s when there was no end to up (except there was and we abruptly hit it in 2000). In 2008, it felt like there was no end to down. But we now know there is. Things are picking up, and there are numbers to prove it.

Don't be the last to figure out we're in an economic recovery. Sitting on the sidelines, waiting for one more chance to buy a stock at the bargain price you saw in March of 2009 isn't going to happen. Times have changed. The U.S. economy is on the mend.

Continue reading Comfort Zone Investing: Can You Feel the Pendulum Swinging?

Comfort Zone Investing: Can You Feel the Pendulum Swinging? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 15 Jan 2011 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading DuPont Purchasing Danish Firm Danisco

DuPont Purchasing Danish Firm Danisco originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 10 Jan 2011 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading U.S. Stock Futures Down, All Eyes on Alcoa Earnings

U.S. Stock Futures Down, All Eyes on Alcoa Earnings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 10 Jan 2011 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Yingli Green (YGE) to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
• National Semiconductor (NSM) to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.
• DuPont (DD) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Blackboard (BBBB) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Kindred Healthcare (KND) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Peabody Energy (BTU) to outperform from market perform at BMO Capital.
• Savvis (SVVS) to buy from neutral and InterActiveCorp (IACI) to neutral from underperform at BofA/Merrill.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: BRCM, BTU, DD, EBAY, KR, MRVL, NSM, PCX, SVVS, TWX ...

Analyst Calls: BRCM, BTU, DD, EBAY, KR, MRVL, NSM, PCX, SVVS, TWX ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 03 Dec 2010 10:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• DuPont (DD) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• UBS upgraded Deere (DE) to buy from neutral and AGCO (AGCO) to neutral from sell.
• Canadian Solar (CSIQ) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Macquarie.
• Thoratec (THOR) and DTE Energy (DTE) were upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• NICE Systems (NICE) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at HSBC.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Copa Holdings (CPA) to buy from hold.
• BofA/Merrill upgraded Nu Skin (NUS) to buy from neutral.
• Continental Resources (CLR) was upgraded to buy from hold at Jefferies.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: CLR, CSIQ, DD, DE, DECK, EMC, EMN, WFMI, WWW ...

Analyst Calls: CLR, CSIQ, DD, DE, DECK, EMC, EMN, WFMI, WWW ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 19 Nov 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

U.S. stock futures are lower Friday morning, as China raised the reserve requirement ratio for banks by 50 basis points. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average are down approximately 40 points, while S&P 500 index futures are down around four points. Nasdaq 100 futures have dropped 6.50 points.

Stocks closed higher Thursday, with the Dow index gaining 1.57%.

U.S. Federal Reserve board Chairman Ben Bernanke defended the quantitative-easing program at a conference organized by the European Central Bank in Frankfurt.

Continue reading U.S. Stock Futures Down as China Hikes Reserve Requirement Ratio

U.S. Stock Futures Down as China Hikes Reserve Requirement Ratio originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 19 Nov 2010 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

DuPont (DD) was in the red this afternoon. At the time of this writing, shares were off by 1.9% to $46.81. The chemical company reported earnings for the third quarter earlier today, giving shareholders some new data to deal with.

According to the Associated Press, profit dropped 11% on a per-share basis to 40 cents. However, the good news is that expectations were still beaten: the market had predicted an income level that was six pennies less than what was posted. In addition, the outlook for the full year saw an improvement.

Continue reading DuPont Down After Earnings Release

DuPont Down After Earnings Release originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 26 Oct 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The earnings crunch continues this week, and analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are anticipating lots of strong quarterly reports.

For example, year-over-year earnings growth from big oil Chevron (CVX), ConocoPhillips (COP), ExxonMobil (XOM) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) are expected to be in double digits. The same is true of many other energy and mining concerns reporting this week: Allegheny Technologies (ATI), Alliant Energy (LNT), Arch Coal (ACI), Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF), CMS Energy (CMS), CONSOL Energy (CNX), DPL (DPL), Hess Corp. (HES), Minerals Technologies (MTX), Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD), PPL Corp. (PPL), Southwestern Energy (SWN), Total (TOT), Whiting Petroleum (WLL), Williams Companies (WMB) and Wisconsin Energy (WEC).

Continue reading Week in Preview: The Earnings Crunch Rolls On (MSFT, COP, V)

Week in Preview: The Earnings Crunch Rolls On (MSFT, COP, V) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 24 Oct 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Piper Jaffray upgraded Edwards Lifesciences (EW) to overweight from neutral and raised its target price for shares to $77 from $53 after The New England Journal of Medicine reported the company's PARTNER Trial met primary endpoints.
• UBS upgraded Endo Pharmaceuticals (ENDP) to buy from neutral and raised its price target to $36 from $25. UBS is positive on Endo's creative strategic deals and believes the switch to Opana TRF from Opana ER will be easy. Additionally, the analyst believes pipeline expectations are very low.
• BMO Capital upgraded Nvidia (NVDA) to outperform from market perform based on expectations that share loss in the core GPU business will stop, Tegra momentum and valuation. The firm raised its price target to $16 from $9.
• FirstEnergy (FE) and Allegheny Energy (AYE) were upgraded to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Mylan (MYL) was upgraded to conviction buy from buy at Goldman. Warner
• Chilcott (WCRX) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: CALM, CWT, DD, DYN, ENDP, EW, MO, MOS, NVDA, OXPS, PPL ...

Analyst Calls: CALM, CWT, DD, DYN, ENDP, EW, MO, MOS, NVDA, OXPS, PPL ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 23 Sep 2010 11:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

With current tough times, and maybe getting tougher with deflation as a real possibility, investors who think more defensively may see better returns with more conservative stocks, ones with dividends and solid balance sheets. Now isn't the time to be too aggressive. With that in mind, here are five stocks that made our column dedicated to conservative investors.

Avista Corp. (AVA): an energy company, engaged in the generation, transmission, and distribution of energy and energy-related businesses in the United States and Canada. The company operates through two segments, Avista Utilities and Advantage IQ.

Continue reading Comfort Zone Investing: Five Defensive Stocks

Comfort Zone Investing: Five Defensive Stocks originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 14 Aug 2010 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Is DuPont a Buy?

Is DuPont a Buy? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 27 Jul 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Let's have a quick look at two Dow components. One is famous for its chemical products, while the other is known for its iconic sticky stationery.

Chemical manufacturer E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company (DD) was, at the time of this writing, down $1.16, or 2.8%, to $39.79. A disappointment, to be sure, since the stock has been doing so well over the last twelve months. The following chart shows the upward bias, and one might have expected a decent trading day after the first-quarter earnings were released.

Continue reading Two from the Dow: DuPont and 3M

Two from the Dow: DuPont and 3M originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 27 Apr 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

To those taking time off for Good Friday: "May the Force Be with You!" To those working half days, enjoy your time with your families. The U.S. stock markets are closed today and that might be best so that we all can take a breather.

Given that stock markets all around the world were up yesterday, including ours -- again ... April Fool's Day! -- even day traders expressed confidence because they obviously were willing to hold stocks knowing the long weekend left plenty of time for unforeseen bad news to to slam their positions.

Continue reading Serious Money: Dow Top Ten -- If Only the Market Was Open

Serious Money: Dow Top Ten -- If Only the Market Was Open originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 02 Apr 2010 13:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Serious Money: Cheapest Stocks List Shrinks from 26 to 21

Serious Money: Cheapest Stocks List Shrinks from 26 to 21 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Serious Money: Cheapest Stocks Yet -- From 35 to 26

Serious Money: Cheapest Stocks Yet -- From 35 to 26 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 03 Feb 2010 10:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Serious Money: Still Cheap Market -- 35 Stocks + Yields & Growth

Serious Money: Still Cheap Market -- 35 Stocks + Yields & Growth originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 01 Feb 2010 14:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are looking for life insurance giant MetLife Inc. (MET) to report that its earnings rose 80.0% from a year ago to $0.95 per share for the three months that ended in December. Revenue, however, is expected to total $12.6 billion, which is down 10.1% from a year ago, during a fourth quarter in which it offered guidance and declared a quarterly dividend. The analysts' forecast for the full year calls for earnings of $2.89 per share (-25.7%) on $48.3 billion in revenue (-5.3%). This New York-based insurer's earnings results have been better than expected in three of the past four quarters, beating estimates by as much as 20 cents per share.

MetLife's long-term EPS growth forecast is 10.7%, which is better than that of competitor Prudential Financial Inc. (PRU), and its earnings multiple is 8.8x. The First Call consensus recommendation has been to buy MET for more than 90 days, despite a recent downgrade of the stock. The mean price target is $42.87. Shares have been trading between $32.00 and $40.00 since August and closed the week at $35.32.

Continue reading The Week in Preview: MetLife, BP, MasterCard, Dow Chemical, Toyota Earnings

The Week in Preview: MetLife, BP, MasterCard, Dow Chemical, Toyota Earnings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 31 Jan 2010 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.