This is the fourth update to my ranting eight months ago that acquiring six of the most hated, and most highly traded stocks with constant negative headlines would outperform the overall market. The theory has born fruit as the toxic stocks are ahead and the difference is increasing over time.

Continue reading Chasing Value: Toxic Stock Update #4 -- BAC, BP, C, GE, GS, RIG

Chasing Value: Toxic Stock Update #4 -- BAC, BP, C, GE, GS, RIG originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 11 Mar 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Chasing Value: Homeowners Choice Earnings, Another Great Quarter

Chasing Value: Homeowners Choice Earnings, Another Great Quarter originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 09 Mar 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Chasing Value: 2011 Picks Dust the S&P

Chasing Value: 2011 Picks Dust the S&P originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 01 Feb 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This is the fifth year that I am posting my stock picks for the year. There is a lot of foolishness in doing so because each year that I have made such suggestions, including 2009 when I owned all of the picks, it is assumed that I would hold all of the positions without responding to market conditions, or changes in the specific company. No adding to, or cutting a position. This is not the real world.

It is not possible for everything to remain static. For example, you might find that you hold a stock that made a great run through three quarters, beyond your wildest expectations, and decide it has passed a point where the metrics cannot support anything close to the price. Under normal circumstances you might sell it, except you cannot. By the end of the year the profit you might have realized fades away and you end up reporting on something that is not a true measure of your objective strategy. Nevertheless, once again I will stick with this approach because this seems to be how its done in every publication's annual picks. This year there are eleven.

Continue reading Chasing Value: 2011 Stock Picks -- 5 of 11

Chasing Value: 2011 Stock Picks -- 5 of 11 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 05 Jan 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Looking for a shopping list of new stock ideas for 2011?

Each year for 28 years, TheStockAdvisors.com has turned to the nation's most respected and well-known newsletter advisors and asked them for their favorite investment ideas for the coming 12 months.

With 65 advisors participating in this year's survey, there's something for every type of investor, from high-quality blue chips to speculative home runs.

Continue reading Top Picks 2011: Favorite Stocks from 60+ Advisors

Top Picks 2011: Favorite Stocks from 60+ Advisors originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 27 Dec 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The list of stocks has been whittled down to four. Chevron Corporation (CVX) made the cut to become the oil company stock. Three defense sector powerhouses are competing for one spot in Chasing Value: 2011 Stock Picks -- The Journey Begin.

Today we take a more comprehensive view returning to earlier metrics, and adding some other criteria in order to reach a conclusion. This series began with the contention that making specific predictions was a fools errand with the danger to your portfolio coming from "black swans". To try and add some general counter measures to this possibility I decided that the defense and oil sectors might provide protection against the greatest of threats, war and terrorism. On that basis I posted Chasing Value: You Must Own Defense and Oil for Safety.

Continue reading Chasing Value: Defense and Oil -- Part 4 Conclusion

Chasing Value: Defense and Oil -- Part 4 Conclusion originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 17 Dec 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The list of stocks under consideration has been reduced from eleven to ten, to seven and now in today's story four. Starting with five major defense contractors and six major oil companies (see Chasing Value: You Must Own Defense and Oil for Safety), I began a search to find one stock in each sector that might be suitable for inclusion in my list of 2011 stock picks posted last week Chasing Value: 2011 Stock Picks -- The Journey Begin.

Today we continue our analysis by examining return on equity (ROE), return on invested capital (ROIC), and price-to-earnings-to-growth (PEG). Each stock is ranked by sector and metric from best to worst. Sometimes there are clear winners and others there is little to separate one stock from the next. However, in total, a picture can be drawn that does portray a superior opportunity.

Continue reading Chasing Value: Defense and Oil -- Part 3

Chasing Value: Defense and Oil -- Part 3 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 16 Dec 2010 12:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This series started with five major defense contractors and six major oil companies that are worthy considerations to help your portfolio survive a global crisis (see Chasing Value: You Must Own Defense and Oil for Safety). After the first review, one stock was eliminated from consideration: Petroleo Brasileiro (PBR). The reason is in the first story.

Today we continue our analysis by examining price-to-book (P/B), price-to-cash-flow (P/CF), and dividend yield. Each stock is ranked by sector and metric from best to worst. In the end we hope to narrow down our choices for candidates that might be added to Chasing Value: 2011 Stock Picks -- The Journey Begins.

Continue reading Chasing Value: Defense and Oil -- Part 2

Chasing Value: Defense and Oil -- Part 2 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 15 Dec 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

In the middle of the summer with the stock market smoldering from the economic aftershocks of the BP (BP) oil spill, I decided to post a contrarian story emphasizing a very common refrain among value investors, "my pal Warren" being head of the class: buy on fear (sell on greed). This notion is continuing to work for what I called the toxic stock portfolio.

This is the third update to my ranting five months ago that six of the most reviled and most highly traded stocks featured by daily bad press as a group would outperform the overall market. It has, with the big winner rising from being one of the biggest losers.

Continue reading Chasing Value: Toxic Stock Update #3 -- BAC, BP, C, GE, GS, RIG

Chasing Value: Toxic Stock Update #3 -- BAC, BP, C, GE, GS, RIG originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 13 Dec 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Serious Money: Buying the Super Caps, Part 6 -- Conclusions

Serious Money: Buying the Super Caps, Part 6 -- Conclusions originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 25 May 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The market continues to be very volatile and trending down. When the seas are this turbulent you want to be on the biggest ships and thus I continue my review of the super cap stocks. This time, I'm going to examine return-on-equity (ROE) and return on-invested-capital (ROIC).

I started with the 12 highest valued companies but remained with 10 after running them through several screens. Among those 10 super, caps the company that is producing the highest returns is Microsoft (MSFT).

Continue reading Serious Money: Buying the Super Caps, Part 5 -- ROE, ROIC

Serious Money: Buying the Super Caps, Part 5 -- ROE, ROIC originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 24 May 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Sunday Funnies: Crazy Market, Places to Hide

Sunday Funnies: Crazy Market, Places to Hide originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 23 May 2010 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Band-Aid Economics -- J&J Loving It

Band-Aid Economics -- J&J Loving It originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 10 May 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The first quarter of 2010 is closed and the results are in. My picks surpassed the primary indices by a large margin. The original story, Chasing Value: 10 Stock Picks for 2010 , was the culmination of a process presented to our readers and finally narrowed down to the select group using final prices from Monday, December 28, 2009.

Continue reading Chasing Value: 2010 Picks Triple Market Returns

Chasing Value: 2010 Picks Triple Market Returns originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 05 Apr 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Many retail investors have been shrieking as General Electric (GE) hovers around ten year lows and has gone nowhere all year while almost everything else has appreciated. GE is on hot lists and not lists for 2010.

It is one of my holdover picks from 2009 and if it does not improve in the next few days will be my only loser -- for the other, a winner, see: Chasing Value: 2010 -- #3 EZCORP.

Continue reading Chasing Value: 2010 -- #6 General Electric

Chasing Value: 2010 -- #6 General Electric originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 30 Dec 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Chasing Value: Intuitive Surgical surging ahead!

Chasing Value: Intuitive Surgical surging ahead! originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The index for comparison is the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, which closed on June 30, 2008 at 1,280.00. The S&P closed Friday at 1,099.23 , down 14.12%.

Each of my five picks is beating the market and three of the five are actually up despite crushing news in the financial sector, unemployment and housing. Congress did pass a Wall Street backstop/bailout bill that President Bush has signed, but only after adding another 450 pages and $130 billion to the amount. Although the five stocks have averaged a 0.75% loss, as intended, they easily beat the S&P by 13.37%.

Here are the five stocks that I still think are worth considering. For my original rationale see the linked story above.

1) Johnson and Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) -- when recommended, the stock closed at $64.34 and paid a 2.89% dividend yield. It closed Friday at $66.16 -- up 2.75%. JNJ was featured in Barron's this month as the most respected from the top 100 companies in the world.

Continue reading Serious Money: Stable stocks beating S&P 500 - CB, DIS, JNJ, TEVA, XEL

Serious Money: Stable stocks beating S&P 500 - CB, DIS, JNJ, TEVA, XEL originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 06 Oct 2008 13:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It was only yesterday that I wrote about Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE: FCX), noting the favorable metrics and that I put it on my watch list. And this morning I find that Gold & platinum prices soared to new highs, with gold futures setting a new record of $952.40 an ounce.

It seems investors the world over are rediscovering the precious metal after years of neglect. How could you expect anything else with social unrest, war and recession fears on the front pages of every newspaper, with China and India growing rapidly, placing high demand on all commodities, and with a head-in-the-sand administration just now lifting itself up to take a gander at the last few months of its dubious leadership.

Despite recession fears, there is also the serious possibility of dramatic inflation in the next few years based on deficit spending, the ever expanding federal government and lack of concern for the value (buying power) of the currency. It's pitiful. Gold has been an historic hedge against inflation, so why should now be any different?This has ignited one of my 2008 picks Chasing Value: Anglo American (AAUK) is down...but!, which has moved up sharply in the last week.

I do not know where the ceiling is on gold prices, but it does not seem historically high, and I still think AAUK and FCX belong on everyone's watch list.

Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the principal for design and research at an architecture & planning firm. He writes the columns Chasing Value and Serious Money. Disclosure: I own shares of AAUK.

Serious Money: Gold & platinum hit new highs originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 21 Feb 2008 10:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

David Swensen has led Yale's endowment to phenomenal results since taking charge in 1988. According to the New York Times, his advice for individual investors is simple: "use index funds, exchange-traded funds and other low-cost instruments, and stick to your long-term asset allocation -- even when the markets are in tumult."

What's interesting about the Times interview is that Mr. Swensen decided to use it as an opportunity to take some shots at Mad Money host Jim Cramer: "There is nothing that Cramer says that can help people make intelligent decisions. He takes something that is very serious and turns it into a game. If you want to have fun, go to Disney World."

Mr. Swensen sure did manage to come across as an aristocratic snob. But I'm actually inclined to agree with him to a certain extent: I would never follow Cramer's stock picks. I think he gives way, way too many tips. But I do watch Mad Money regularly because Jim Cramer is a really smart guy and has been down in the trenches of money management. Some of his broader ideas are useful, and let's face it: his is one of the few really entertaining shows on CNBC.

Yale's top investor bashes Jim Cramer originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 17 Feb 2008 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading An 11th stock under $10: Skyworks Solutions

An 11th stock under $10: Skyworks Solutions originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 29 Nov 2007 17:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.