"I am quite confident that business students in the future will be reading case studies on the battle between Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) and McDonald's (NYSE: MCD)," says value investor Charles Mizrahi.

In his Hidden Values Alert, the advisor explains, "This is a classic case of a castle with a wide moat coming under attack because the attacker believes it has caught the duke napping." Here, Mizrahi shares a fascinating over the "Coffee War."

"As background, in 1982, Starbucks had five retail stores and was selling coffee to restaurants in Seattle, Washington. It was during that year that Howard Schultz signed on to manage retail sales and marketing. After traveling to Italy, he convinced the owners of Starbucks to open a coffee bar.

Continue reading The Coffee Wars: Starbucks (SBUX) vs. McDonald's (MCD)

The Coffee Wars: Starbucks (SBUX) vs. McDonald's (MCD) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 12 Feb 2008 14:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

For 25 years, Steven Halpern, editor of TheStockAdvisors.com, has surveyed the leading financial newsletter advisors asking for their favorite stocks for the coming year. This article is one of 100+ ideas in the Best Stocks for 2008 report.

"My conservative choice for 2008 is The Men's Wearhouse Inc. (NYSE: MW), one of the largest specialty retailers of men's suits," says value investor Charles Mizrahi, editor of Hidden Values Alert.

"Men's Wearhouse stores offer a broad selection of designer, brand-name and private label merchandise at prices 20% to 30% below the regular prices found at traditional department and specialty stores.

"The firm's US operations include 636 retail apparel stores. The brand targets middle- and upper-middle-income men by offering quality merchandise at everyday low prices. In addition to value, the company believes it provides a superior level of customer service.

"The shares outstanding have decreased by 10% over the past five years. In addition, long-term debt/equity is only 9% and it has $135 million in cash and short-term investments on its balance sheet (as of August 7, 2007).

Continue reading Best Stocks for 2008: Bargain shopping at The Men's Wearhouse (MW)

Best Stocks for 2008: Bargain shopping at The Men's Wearhouse (MW) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 28 Dec 2007 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

In addition, all three advisors see their banking bets as value-oriented positions with solid, long-term fundamentals. All three are also buyback and/or takeover plays.

Bill Martin, editor of FindProfit newsletter recommends Valley National Bancorp (NYSE: VLY), which he notes is based in the prime New York City metropolitan banking market.

He states, "VLY has seen its bottom line pressured, primarily due to the flat yield curve. However, there have been no credit issues at very conservatively run VLY, and we don't expect any to develop."

Looking forward, he says, we continue to believe that margins are 'as bad as they will get' for many banks, at least,he notes, for conservative banks without credit challenges such as Valley.

According to Martin, "This means that VLY's bottom-line results should bottom this year and start to improve in 2008."

Meanwhile, he speculatives, "We believe that VLY continues to be a takeout target, as the bank's footprint and under-leveraged balance sheet remains extremely attractive." Further, he states, "With outright ownership of more than 90 buildings in the NYC area, we believe its book value is materially understated."

Continue reading Three experts bank on regional banks

Three experts bank on regional banks originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 23 Jul 2007 09:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.