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Amazon (AMZN): 'The best is still ahead'

Two of the newsletter industry's leading growth stock advisors remain bullish on the prospects of online retailer Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN), based on growth in not only online retailing but new market areas ranging from the Kindle e-reader to cloud computing.

Mike Cintolo, editor of The Cabot Top Ten Report, explains, "Amazon.com recently blew away earnings expectations." Meanwhile, Alexander Green, investment director at The Oxford Club, says, "In our view, the best lies ahead for the company." Here are their reviews.

Mike Cintolo continues, "Amazon announced that its Kindle e-book reader is now its most popular selling item, both in units and in dollars. That led to a big acceleration in revenue growth (28%, the fastest in five quarters), while earnings leaped 67%.

Continue reading Amazon (AMZN): 'The best is still ahead'

Expedia (EXPE): Travel firm books gains

"Vacationers and professionals finally appear to be hitting the road, and many are relying on Expedia (NASDAQ: EXPE) to handle the details," says Nathan Slaughter in Half-Priced Stocks.

The value investor explains, "Expedia's travel sites processed 15.3 million transactions during the second quarter, 18% above the same period last year. Howevver, the gross dollar amount of those bookings dipped slightly to $5.6 billion/

"Whenever you have more trips bringing in less money, it's a pretty good indication that prices are way down.

Continue reading Expedia (EXPE): Travel firm books gains

Turnaround expert eyes Global Crossing (GLBC)

"Global Crossing (NASDAQ: GLBC) was started in 1997 to build a worldwide fiber optic cable network, with the strategy, 'if you build it, they will come'," says George Putnam, adding, "But as the telecom bubble burst around 2000, nobody came."

Now, in his always-excellent The Turnaround Letter, the advisor suggests, "We think the current stock price gives you the opportunity to buy into a very valuable communications network at a tiny fraction of its original cost."

"The new stock went as high as 36 shortly after it began trading after its bankruptcy. When it later dropped in price, several high-profile investors accumulated sizable positions.

Continue reading Turnaround expert eyes Global Crossing (GLBC)

Online security boosts VeriSign (VRSN)

Sy Harding, long-known as one of the newsletter advisory world's top market timers, has launched an new service -- Street Smart Long & Short Stock Advisory. Among his first buy recommendation is VeriSign (NASDAQ: VRSN).

Says Harding, "Chances are if you make online purchases of goods or services, VeriSign is involved, providing the website with the system and safeguards that protect the privacy and security of the transactions."

"VeriSign operates in several important areas of Internet commerce and communication. Since November, 2007 the company has sold 11 non-core businesses and its share of joint ventures, taking in some $575 million, to focus its attention on its core businesses.

Continue reading Online security boosts VeriSign (VRSN)

eBay (EBAY): Life after Skype

"In a move that has long been expected, eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) is selling Skype," reports Paul Tracy. In his Street Authority Market Advisor he reviews the deal and his bullish outlook on eBay.

"According to terms of the deal, the internet-based phone service will fall under the ownership of a private syndicate for about $1.9 billion.

"Former CEO Meg Whitman orchestrated the acquisition of Skype back in 2005 as a means of communication between buyers and sellers. And the service has attracted hordes of subscribers in a short period of time.

Continue reading eBay (EBAY): Life after Skype

Microsoft (MSFT): Bet on Bing?

"Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), already a holding on our buy list, was added to Goldman Sachs' Conviction Buy List," says Bill Martin. In BullMarket.com, he offers the reasoning for his continued buy rating.

"Analyst Sarah Friar at Goldman recently raised her price target on the name to $29 from $25 saying, 'We are adding Microsoft to our Conviction List as we think the combination of better revenue drivers, improved expense management, and sizable cash balances provides more opportunities for bottom-line beats.'

"'Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Bing, Xbox 360 and new Halo content, Office 2010, and the Azure Cloud provide renewed innovation beyond anything we have seen in multiple years,' Friar wrote.

Continue reading Microsoft (MSFT): Bet on Bing?

Take a trip with Expedia (EXPE)

"Expedia (NASDAQ: EXPE) has taken flight over the past two months, soaring more than 165% off their early-March low," says Paul Tracy.

The editor of Street Authority Market Advisor explains, "Despite a sharp slowdown in leisure and business travel, overall travel volume booked through Expedia's sites (which include Hotels.com and Hotwire.com) remains impressive.

"Over the past three months, Expedia's travel sites have booked $5.2 billion (retail value) worth of travel expenditures. That gross booking figure is down about 11% over last year, but represents a considerable 30% improvement over the prior quarter.

Continue reading Take a trip with Expedia (EXPE)

Go for growth with Google (GOOG)

"Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) remains the dominant search engine on the web," notes Paul Tracy. In his StreetAuthority Market Advisor, he views the stock as a solid buy for growth investors.

"In economic downturns, one of the first costs most companies cut is advertising. Not surprisingly, over the past year, most companies have slashed their advertising budgets in response to the severe economic downturn.

"But online ad spending has remained remarkably resilient. GOOG's system targets specific ads based on what users type into their search box, geographic location and other factors.

Continue reading Go for growth with Google (GOOG)

Cisco (CSCO): A 'true dominator'

"Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO), the bellwether company when it comes to performance in the tech industry, is hanging tough," says growth stock expert Toby Smith.

In his ChangeWave Investing he explains why "investors should own this stock before the economy shifts into a higher gear." Here's his review.

"As a true dominator, Cisco is beautifully positioned in several long-term secular trends including cloud computing and data center build-outs, unified communications, web-based video and telepresence.

Continue reading Cisco (CSCO): A 'true dominator'

Microsoft (MSFT): A 'safety-first' tech play

Money manager and newsletter advisor Jim Stack, well-known for his safety-first strategy, recently added Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) to his model portfolio, noting, "We had wanted to increase our allocation to technology which has typically been a leading sector in new bull markets."

In his InvesTech Market Analyst, he explains, "This stock exhibits all the qualities we look for in a new purchase and is currently selling at a very attractive valuation."

"From its founding in 1975, Microsoft has become the world's largest software company with offices in over 100 countries. Its Windows operating system –which runs on 90% of all PCs currently in use – and for the Windows Office applications utilized by over 400 million users.

"This firm is extremely profitable with company-wide operating margins in excess of 40%. The Windows operating system and Office productivity suite have operating margins averaging closer to 70%.

"The company is completely debt free and generates over $1 billion in free cash flow each month. Management has done an excellent job of utilizing shareholder capital with a return on equity of over 40% compared to an average of 15% for S&P 500 companies.

Continue reading Microsoft (MSFT): A 'safety-first' tech play

Under Armour (UA) and VMware (VMW): Short squeeze candidates?

"Under Armour (NYSE: UA) and VMware (NYSE: VMW) both have the potential for a short squeeze in coming months," says Paul Tracy in StreetAuthority Market Advisor.

"VMware is a market leader in software virtualization. Companies typically do not use the full computing power of their servers, and when not in use, that server sits idle.

"Virtualization technology allows IT managers to use that underutilized capacity -- running software across the organization's entire base of servers. Thus, virtualization is a key cost-cutting technology.

"VMware has a short interest ratio of 11.7 and a freely traded float of just 50 million shares. If all those shorts try to cover, the stock looks likely to be in short supply. Meanwhile, trading at 36 times 2009 earnings estimates with a long-term growth rate of 45%, VMW doesn't look overpriced.

"Under Armour (NYSE: UA) makes clothing (along with sports equipment) targeting the athletic and outdoor-oriented market. Specifically, the company makes clothes designed to wick moisture away from the skin and keep the wearer at a comfortable temperature, regardless of weather conditions.

"Meanwhile, the stock has seen strong earnings growth despite the slowdown in consumer spending -- earnings surged 42% in the fourth quarter. And management recently announced its looking for revenues to reach $765-775 million in 2008, representing around a 27% increase over 2007 levels.

"With a forward P/E of 23 and a long-term growth rate of 25%, UA looks inexpensive. With a float of less than 32 million shares and a short interest ratio approaching 12, Under Armour looks like a prime short-squeeze candidate."

Each day, Steven Halpern's TheStockAdvisors.com offers the latest market commentary and favorite investment ideas from the nation's leading financial newsletter advisors.

Media World: If Michael Milken can be redeemed, so can Henry Blodget

Question for Henry Blodget's many detractors: Are you mad that Michael Milken has become respectable?

Blodget and Milken symbolized the excesses of their internet bubble and 1980s respectively. Both were punished for their misdeeds. Milken, who went to prison, now devotes his time to his philanthropic work and an economic think tank. Blodget received a lifetime ban from the securities industry, a punishment he deserved.

Now pundits including MarketWatch's David Weidner and my colleague Zac Bissonnette say they are outraged that Blodget's writing is published in leading news outlets including the New York Times. What about Milken? Bloomberg News just interviewed him about the housing crisis. Should my former employer have killed the story given Milken's notorious past? Of course not.

Milken did his time and paid his fines. He's a brilliant man who still has plenty of interesting things to say. Same goes for Blodget. To be clear, investors shouldn't forgive or forget them for what they did. As far as I know Blodget has stayed out of legal trouble since he was banned from the securities industry. In 1998, Milken agreed to pay a $47 million fine to settle an SEC complaint that he violated his lifetime ban.

Continue reading Media World: If Michael Milken can be redeemed, so can Henry Blodget

Serious Money: Google (GOOG) has no moat -- beware of false prophets

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) logoToday Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) is the top Internet search and advertising property there is -- No Question! Yesterday it was something else. Why do investors believe that everything now ends with Google? Have we already reached the end of the internet revolution. Maybe we just think Google has locked up the next stages as well.

Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) started with two graduate students from Standford University and was all the rage. Google started with two graduate students from Stanford University and now it is all the rage. Do we think Stanford is running out of bright graduate students all of a sudden? I would call them and make an inquiry but surely they would not take me seriously.

Has Google perfected Internet advertising? I don't think so, do you? Will Yahoo, Microsoft Inc. (NASDAQ: MSFT), eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY), News Corp (NYSE: NWS) and all the international players concede an inch of ground more than temporarily?

I am not saying that Google won't eventually conquer the Internet world, (because I do not know) but this feat is by no means as certain as the market currently seems to believe: driving the price of GOOG up $95 per share as I write this story, on no news, in about eight weeks.

Continue reading Serious Money: Google (GOOG) has no moat -- beware of false prophets

Cramer calls for $1,000 on Google, well $600.00 anyway

Jim Cramer says Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) has stayed put for long enough and is ready to run.

He thinks Google is headed to $600 on a conservative basis, but he did note several valuation comparisons that could take it to $700, $900, and even more than $1,000, because Google is now the cheapest of all internet stocks and the metrics make this the case.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) has soared almost 80% this year with a much richer valuation than Google, a situation the market is bound to correct, according to the Mad Money host.

I would normally think that Jimbo's gone over the edge, because Google does have a $147 billion market cap and Amazon has a $28 billion market cap. I am not sure he hasn't gone nuts, but that's another discussion. These two might not be as comparable (or contrasting) as he thinks because of the huge difference in their sizes.

Google closed up marginally at $474.33, but traded up close to 1% at $477.75 in after-hours trading.

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Mulligan mulls over a MSFT-YHOO deal

"The Internet and Media sectors have been exploding with merger talks lately," notes Wayne Mulligan in The Tycoon Report, noting that Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) have been part of the most talked about "potential" merger over the last year, even though nothing has yet come of their "supposed talks."

Says Mulligan, "I'm not quite sure where a software based operating system company has any business owning a pure-play Internet company like Yahoo, but they seem to think it'll work."

Rather, he notes, "I feel that a spin-off of MSN-Yahoo would make the most sense from a competitive perspective and possibly include Microsoft's Live unit and its experimental entertainment division (Zune player, Xbox, etc.) in the mix as well."

This, he notes, would allow the company to have a substantially larger piece of the search engine and search marketing pie. However, he adds, consolidating those operations under a single technology standard would prove to be extremely difficult "considering the fact that both companies have yet to really refine their advertising software offerings."

Yahoo, he points out, being the smaller company (at $50 billion), would have to be the one to get "swallowed up by the Redmond giant." He notes, "This would obviously do wonders for Yahoo's languishing share price, but that's not the issue here."

But, he asks, "Can this add exponential value to the combined entity?" He explains, "With Microsoft's product line and Yahoo's existing traffic base, I definitely think some cross-promotional ventures could add a lot of fuel to both businesses."

For more stock picks from the leading financial newsletter advisors, visit Steven Halpern's free daily website, TheStockAdvisors.com.

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Symbol Lookup
IndexesChangePrice
DJIA+20.0310,246.97
NASDAQ-2.982,151.08
S&P 500-0.071,093.01

Last updated: November 11, 2009: 02:31 AM

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