Trying to figure out what Warren Buffett will invest in next is no small task. Although, you can bet it will not be small. In fact, he may try to acquire whole companies because anything else might not move the needle when it comes to increasing shareholder value at Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A / BRK.B).

This post is a follow up to Serious Money: Buffett Looking Beyond Our Borders, where I concluded that Buffett will seek an opportunity to invest in a company that is paying a dividend and has a very easy to understand product or service that will not become obsolete any time soon.

Continue reading Serious Money: Buffett Looking Beyond Our Borders -- Part 2

Serious Money: Buffett Looking Beyond Our Borders -- Part 2 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 17 Jun 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"The technical backdrop has taken a distinctly bullish turn," says Michael Ashbaugh in MarketWatch's The Technical Indicator. Here, he looks at the market averages and a trio of stock ideas.

"Perhaps most obviously, the S&P has staged a 10-to-1 rally, and a 28-to-1 spike, from its 200-day moving average. And by any measure, this raises a bullish technical flag.

"With a gravity-defying rally, the S&P extended its gains, clearing resistance at 930 last Thursday. From current levels, significant resistance holds at the 2009 closing high of 946 while initial support rests at 930.

"Meanwhile, the Dow's near-term view is similar. With this week's rally, it's staged a 'V'-shaped reversal, breaking to one-month highs. Looking ahead, significant resistance holds at 8,799 - matching the 2009 closing high - while support rests at 8,580, matching the breakout point.

Continue reading MarketWatch technician raises 'bullish flag'

MarketWatch technician raises 'bullish flag' originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 20 Jul 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"The steel stocks tend to go through boom and bust cycles depending on global economic activity; they have been pummeled over the last year, as the global economy slowed," notes turnaround expert George Putnam.

In his The Turnaround Letter, he explains, "But the news about steel is not all bad." Indeed, he believes some steel companies are poised for a turnaround. Here's his review of 6 leading steel production companies.

"Weakness in two big steel consuming industries, autos and construction, has been particularly troublesome for the steelmakers.

"However, there is evidence that steel inventories are gradually being worked off to low levels. There are also signs that economic activity in China, which is a huge consumer of steel, will not fall off as far as some economists initially feared.

Continue reading Steel: Six stocks with strong turnaround potential

Steel: Six stocks with strong turnaround potential originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 10 Jun 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Global Q & A: Conserve your resources

Global Q & A: Conserve your resources originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 13 Aug 2008 17:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Banc of America downgraded shares of Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) to Neutral from Buy as they believe that even if shareholders accept Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT) offer, the regulatory hurdles are significant.
• Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) to Perform from Outperform as they believe the current valuation is not sustainable in a year when the company will probably deliver results that will not be substantially better than peers.
• Jefferies lowered its rating on Bankrate (NASDAQ: RATE) to Hold from Buy on valuation, as they believe the run-up in shares reflects expectations for strong Q4 results and guidance.

• SiRF Technology (NASDAQ: SIRF) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies, to Market Weight from Overweight at Thomas Weisel and to Perform from Outperform at Oppenheimer.
• Goldman downgraded Posco (NYSE: PKX) to Sell from Neutral.
• Baird downgraded Associated Bancorp (NASDAQ: ASBC) to Neutral from Buy.

Analyst downgrades: YHOO, GS and RATE originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 05 Feb 2008 10:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Deutsche Bank upgraded shares of Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN) to Buy from Hold on valuation and the potential for protein complex improvement.
  
• Goldman upgraded shares of Unilever (NYSE: UN) to Neutral from Sell to reflect the company's diversified product range and growing exposure to developing and emerging markets.
  
• Bear Stearns raised its rating on Brooks Automation (NASDAQ: BRKS) to Outperform from Peer Perform. The firm cited the company's compelling valuation and growth drivers.
  
• Akzo Nobel (OTC: AKZOY) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at SNS Securities, as they see absolute total return greater than 20%.
  
• CIBC upgraded Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) to Sector Outperformer from Sector Performer on valuation following the recent pullback and their analysis of Yahoo's non-operating assets. They believe Yahoo's stake in Alibaba Group is now worth about $4/share and raised their target to $31 from $28.

• First Analysis upgraded Spss Inc (NASDAQ: SPSS) to Overweight from Equal Weight.
  
• UBS upgraded Yamana Gold (NYSE: AUY) to Buy from Neutral.
  
• WestLB upgraded Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) to Hold from Reduce.
  
• HSBC upgraded Posco (NYSE: PKX) to Overweight from Neutral.

Analyst upgrades: TSN, UN, BRKS, AKZOY and YHOO originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 13 Nov 2007 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Volatile Markets: Checking our stock picks, Week 7

Volatile Markets: Checking our stock picks, Week 7 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 05 Oct 2007 16:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

With the dollar hitting record lows every day, how can you make money in stocks? The short answer is to invest in growing companies based outside the U.S.

This strategy has propelled my investment newsletter to outperform the S&P 500 in the first nine months of 2007. Specifically, stocks highlighted in The Cohan Letter -- I highlight three stocks per month -- are up an average of 17%, compared to a 7% rise in the S&P 500 since the beginning of the year. Which three picks have done the best?·

• Posco (NYSE: PKX) rose 48% from $92.70 to $178.77. Barry Summerlin highlighted this Korean steel company, which I suggested might do well in an August post -- it's up 46% since then;
• CVRD (NYSE: RIO) -- the Latin American telecommunications mining company -- rose 45% from $18.50 to $33.85; and
• New Oriental Education and Technology Group (NYSE: EDU) -- a Chinese educational testing company -- rose 34% from $43.75 to $65.66.

I don't know whether these particular stocks have peaked, but if the dollar keeps dropping, they could continue to do well.

Peter Cohan is president of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in the securities mentioned.

Making money in a weak dollar market originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 30 Sep 2007 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Volatile Markets: Checking our stock picks - Week 6

Volatile Markets: Checking our stock picks - Week 6 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 28 Sep 2007 11:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Ben Bernanke's buyout bailout is helping push the dollar to record lows. While this will make your travel outside the U.S. shockingly expensive, the Washington Post offers some ways you can invest to ease some of that pain:

• Buy foreign stocks. The U.S. investor converts dollars into the currency needed to buy the stocks, whether euros, pounds, yen or something else. Then, if the share price holds and the dollar falls, the investor gains when he sells the stock and converts the money back into dollars. If the share price has risen, the profit is even greater. Of course, if the dollar appreciates in the interim, the process works in reverse. As Barry Summerlin notes, my recommendation of Posco (NYSE: PKX) has gone up significantly since August, probably due in part to this effect.
• Buy U.S. companies with overseas earnings. buy the stocks of big, multinational U.S. companies that benefit from the weaker currency. A lower dollar helps boost U.S. exports by making them relatively cheap on world markets The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) is among the beneficiaries of this trend.
• Buy CDs, mutual funds and exchange-traded funds packed with various currencies or linked to baskets of foreign exchange. More than $2.7 billion was invested in open-end currency funds by the end of July, up from $36 million at the end of July 2000, according to estimates by Lipper. So far, the falling dollar fund is the better bet: It is up 7.91% for the year, as of Thursday. The rising dollar fund is down 2.66%.

Continue reading Profiting from the dollar's decline

Profiting from the dollar's decline originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 23 Sep 2007 09:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Volatile Markets: Checking our stock picks - Week 5

Volatile Markets: Checking our stock picks - Week 5 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 20 Sep 2007 19:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Volatile Markets: Checking our stock picks - Week 2

Volatile Markets: Checking our stock picks - Week 2 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 31 Aug 2007 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

An ultra-low-cost Korean steel company in which Warren Buffett invested -- Posco (NYSE: PKX) -- is looking like a bigger bargain in this turbulent market. Buffett may have acquired much of his 3.49 million share -- or 4% -- position (as of March 2007) in 2005, when Posco -- the world's third largest steel company -- shares were low -- bottoming at $44 in June of that year -- due to anxiety over rising competition from Chinese steelmakers.

Buffett inspired me to take a look at Posco which I recommended in The Cohan Letter back in February 2007 when it traded at $92.70 -- it's up 45% since then. I liked it in February because at a Price Earnings to Growth (PEG) ratio of 0.6 -- on a P/E of 6.8 it looked cheap relative to its forecasted 12% earnings growth to $10.05 in 2007 (the 2007 forecast has since been raised 10% to $11.02). Posco peaked at $154 on July 23rd and is down 16% since then.

So why does Posco look cheap now? Its strength is derived from infrastructure development and automobiles in Korea, China and India which spurs demand for Posco's products. This demand is not likely to decline in the face of market volatility. And at a P/E of 11.1, Posco looks like even more of a bargain than it did in February -- trading at a PEG of 0.4 on 27.3% earnings growth to $14.02 in 2008.

If Posco drops further and its earnings growth remains high, Bufett could back up the truck. And perhaps, so should you.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates, a management consulting and venture capital firm. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in Posco.

Continue reading Volatile Markets: Dip makes Posco (PKX) a bigger bargain

Volatile Markets: Dip makes Posco (PKX) a bigger bargain originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 15 Aug 2007 15:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM) is reportedly attempting to tighten its financial reporting procedures, the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reported. The auto maker is under investigation by the SEC and a federal grand jury for its accounting of transactions as far back as 2000.
• The Financial Times (subscription required) reported that Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) is in talks with India's Reliance Industries for a joint venture that would enable Dow to reduce its exposure to commodity products and gain access to cheaper raw materials. Indian newspapers report that a deal could lead to a full takeover by Reliance.

• According to the Korea Economic Daily, citing an unnamed Posco ADS (NYSE: PKX) executive, a senior Arcelor Mittal Steel Company (NYSE: MT) executive expressed interest in Posco's merger plans. Posco denied the report, saying "There was no discussion on issues related to M&A when the Mittal executive met Posco CEO last month," according to the Economic Times.
• The Independent reported that Imperial Tobacco Group plc (NYSE: ITY) has made a GBP7.6B bid for the Franco-Spanish tobacco company Altadis. The private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts is also reported to have interest in acquiring Altadis. An Imperial-Altadis merger could derail a hostile bid by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts.
  
• BusinessWeek's "Inside Wall Street" section mentioned Newmont Mining Corp (NYSE: NEM), CB Richard Ellis Group Inc (NYSE: CBG) and Superior Energy Services Inc (NYSE: SPN) positively.
• Which gold producer will shine brightest? Newmont Mining "is the one," says Vincent Carrino, Chief of Brookhaven Capital Management, which has loaded up on its stock.
  
• Douglas Roberts at Channel Capital Research Institute doesn't see the Fed cutting rates soon, and hence he likes CB Richard Ellis Group.
• Superior Energy Services aims to be everything to oil-and-gas explorers in the Gulf of Mexico, and in most cases it is. "Superior can't keep up with the tremendous demand for its repair and recovery services, which will provide strong growth through the end of the decade," says Martin Sass, CEO of MDSass, which owns a 1.2% stake.

Newspaper wrap-up 3-16-07: Imperial Tobacco bids for Altadis originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 16 Mar 2007 09:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.