Continue reading GM Announces Surprise CFO Resignation

GM Announces Surprise CFO Resignation originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 10 Mar 2011 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Investors spend most of their time looking for a great stock, anxious to buy one before others discover what they have. But equally important is knowing when to sell or when not to buy a stock. Here are a few red flags that stocks wave, no matter how good their numbers.

Dividends Are Very High. Stocks paying a dividend are a smart part of any portfolio. But when those dividends are much higher than average payments from companies in their industry, that's a problem waiting to happen. For example, if the average payment from the utility sector is 4% and the one you own is paying 10%, most likely the company's in trouble. Investors are selling the stock for a reason, making the dividend go ever higher (yield is: annual dividend/price ... the lower the price, the higher the yield). Sometimes the reasons for selling aren't known but become apparent after the quarterly earnings report. Or an announcement is made such as losing a contract that explains the downward pressure.

Continue reading Comfort Zone Investing: When Stocks Wave Red Flags

Comfort Zone Investing: When Stocks Wave Red Flags originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 08 Jan 2011 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yes, there is a secret ingredient to a successful stock. It's called great management. No company sustains superior growth without management that is focused and honest. That last part is crucial. Ask investors in Tyco, Enron, or the old MCI. As Warren Buffett once said, ""In looking for people to hire, look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if they don't have the first, the other two will kill you. If you hire somebody without the first, you really want them to be dumb and lazy." You're hiring a company's management when you buy a stock. Here are two measures to help determine how well they're doing.

Continue reading Comfort Zone Investing: One Thing All Great Stocks Have

Comfort Zone Investing: One Thing All Great Stocks Have originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 25 Dec 2010 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Shares of consulting giant Accenture (ACN) are trading sharply higher in after hours trading today following a strong fourth quarter earnings report.

As we noted in our earnings preview last night, analysts had been expecting to see Accenture post earnings of $0.63 per share, but actual earnings came in above expectations at $0.66.

Continue reading Accenture Posts Better-Than-Expected Q4 Earnings

Accenture Posts Better-Than-Expected Q4 Earnings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 30 Sep 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If investing were only about numbers, then the math Ph.D.s would have all the money. But they don't. While numbers are very important and provide the majority of an investment decision, other elements come into play that are critical to any stock's success. They're hard to find sometimes but always worth the effort.

If you can discover these elements in a stock and great numbers, too, you've got all the odds for investing success in your favor.

The number one, most important piece of the investing puzzle is management. Management is everything. It's where all ideas begin and execution of them is implemented. Management can turn around a bad company and make it great. Management can take a good idea and turn it into a successful business.

Continue reading Comfort Zone Investing: Successful Stocks -- More Than Numbers

Comfort Zone Investing: Successful Stocks -- More Than Numbers originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 20 Feb 2010 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Baidu.com Chief Technology Officer Resigns

Baidu.com Chief Technology Officer Resigns originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 19 Jan 2010 13:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Corning (GLW) CFO touts LCD demand

Corning (GLW) CFO touts LCD demand originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 16 Dec 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

General Motors Co. Chairman Ed Whitacre told reporters Tuesday he doesn't intend to remain in the chief executive post indefinitely.

The search for a new CEO has been underway for about a week, but so far there are no candidates, Whitacre said. He's open to candidates of all backgrounds, whether a company insider or a seasoned executive from elsewhere, with or without auto industry experience. But he'd also like the next CEO to be a inspirational and motivating leader who can restore GM to former icon status.

Continue reading Help wanted: Search for General Motors CEO continues

Help wanted: Search for General Motors CEO continues originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading How fragile are stock returns?

How fragile are stock returns? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 08 Oct 2009 17:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) CEO resigns

Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) CEO resigns originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 15 Sep 2009 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If you are not reading the commentary we receive then you are missing some gems. One of our regulars reminded me of something "my pal Warren" said: "... find companies which can be run by idiots because sooner or later an idiot will be running it."

In Buffett's case he can actually call them up and talk to them. In many cases, he could probably get them to resign. For most of us, all we know is basic things like how's the stock price or has the idiot been indicted?

Continue reading Is an idiot running your company?

Is an idiot running your company? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 08 Sep 2009 12:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Caterpillar (CAT) CEO very bullish on his company's prospects

Caterpillar (CAT) CEO very bullish on his company's prospects originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 04 Aug 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

During the private equity boom years, one of the most common criticisms of the private equity kingpins went like this: "All they do is buy companies at a discount, leverage up the balance sheet, and use the cash flow to pay off the debt -- extracting millions in fees in the process."

Well now that access to cheap, covenant-lite debt has dried up, buyout shops are turning to the other option for making money: operational improvements. A new white paper released by Grant Thornton and the Association for Corporate Growth -- admittedly a private equity trade group -- found that 42% of private equity firms are devoting between 51% and 75% of their time on the management of companies they already control.

Continue reading Private equity firms actually do try to improve portfolio companies

Private equity firms actually do try to improve portfolio companies originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 26 Jul 2009 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Plenty of GM news: Sale of Saturn, management shakeup, Delphi buyout

Plenty of GM news: Sale of Saturn, management shakeup, Delphi buyout originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 05 Jun 2009 09:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Associated Press reports that many publicly traded U.S. companies are cutting back on the amount of forecasting they're willing to do, leaving investors in the dark with little in the way of "forward-looking statements" to rely on.

It's easy to understand why: The tough economy has given many companies trouble in meeting their forecasts, and hell hath no fury like a stockholder or Wall Street analyst whose investment hasn't performed as well as management had predicted.

According to the AP, "A third of the 600 companies responding to a recent survey by the National Investor Relations Institute said their policies about financial guidance had changed. Most eliminated or limited the amount of guidance they provide about earnings and revenue."

Continue reading Companies tighten up on 'forward-looking statements'

Companies tighten up on 'forward-looking statements' originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Acquisitions are great for sellers and bad for buyers

Acquisitions are great for sellers and bad for buyers originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 02 Apr 2009 15:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription required) that "The nonfinancial firms in the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index have a total of $811 billion in cash and marketable securities on their books," according to calculations by Goldman Sachs. This amount not only is "just shy of a record high in nominal terms," it is also "up $43 billion from the depths of the financial crisis last fall."

Cash piles are increasing as companies slash capital expenditures and pull back on share buybacks, which seems stupid given how much lower stock prices are than when companies were buying back their own shares with reckless abandon.

Continue reading Are public companies sitting on too much cash?

Are public companies sitting on too much cash? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 16 Mar 2009 14:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading 'Golden coffins' getting a second look

'Golden coffins' getting a second look originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Front office shake-up at UBS

Front office shake-up at UBS originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 26 Feb 2009 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Washington Post (WPO) misses the mark

Washington Post (WPO) misses the mark originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 25 Feb 2009 11:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.