The year 2010 has come and gone and my results are in. This is my fourth annual stock results to be reported on BlogginStocks, so something of a track record is starting to form. This past year ended with a modest improvement over the unmanaged Standard & Poors 500 index

The original story, Chasing Value: 10 Stock Picks for 2010, took readers through a review of many candidates, concluding with the ten picks, using prices from Dec. 28, 2009.

Continue reading Chasing Value: 2010 Final Review -- Winners and Losers

Chasing Value: 2010 Final Review -- Winners and Losers originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 04 Jan 2011 12:00:00 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.

This is the final post on why I believe you would be better off investing in the Williams Companies Inc. (NYSE: WMB) than you would in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) , Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), or Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.B).

I hope I made the case this week outlining the deeper value proposition, competitive advantages, reduced risk, and of course the dividend that make Williams the preferable investment for the long term.

Continue reading Serious Money: Better than Apple, Google, Microsoft & Berkshire Hathaway, Part 5

Serious Money: Better than Apple, Google, Microsoft & Berkshire Hathaway, Part 5 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 01 May 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

In my first post on the subject yesterday, I discussed some of the advantages that Williams Companies Inc. (NYSE: WMB) might have over more popular stock "brands" like Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.B) -- all great companies.

I highlighted the yield, book value, and spread between natural gas and oil, concluding that even "my pal Warren" would prefer Williams. Today I continue to look at the various valuation metrics one might contemplate in examining a stock's potential.

Continue reading Serious Money: Better than Apple, Google, Microsoft & Berkshire Hathaway, Part 2

Serious Money: Better than Apple, Google, Microsoft & Berkshire Hathaway, Part 2 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 28 Apr 2009 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Chasing Value: Williams has the pipes and it's not blowing smoke

Chasing Value: Williams has the pipes and it's not blowing smoke originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

With a turn of the calendar page, we drift into the middle portion of the current quarter, but the earnings season rolls on. Among the many companies scheduled to report quarterly results this coming week are Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX), Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), News Corp. (NYSE: NWS), and Whole Foods Market International (NASDAQ: WFMI). Let's take a look at which companies Wall Street analysts are expecting to be among the top earnings gainers and decliners this week.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expect the following to report strong earnings growth when compared to the same period of the previous year.

• DRS Technologies Inc. (NYSE: DRS): $0.85 EPS (+95.3%) on revenue of $823.8 million (+12.0%)
• Integrys Energy Group Inc. (NYSE: TEG): $0.40 EPS (+70.0%) on revenue of $2.6 billion (+9.7%)
• Cimarex Energy Co. (NYSE: XEC): $2.53 EPS (+64.4%) on revenue of $599.9 million (+75.4%)
• Forest Oil Corp. (NYSE: FST): $1.51 EPS (+55.6%) on revenue of $456.1 million (+79.1%)
• Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN): $3.28 EPS (+48.5%) on revenue of $4.1 billion (+38.5%)
• CMS Energy Corp. (NYSE: CMS): $0.13 EPS (+46.2%) on revenue of $1.4 billion (+6.7%)
• Transocean Inc. (NYSE: RIG): $3.23 EPS (+43.0%) on revenue of $3.1 billion (+112.9%)
• Sara Lee Corp. (NYSE: SLE): $0.26 EPS (+38.5%) on revenue of $3.5 billion (+8.9%)
• Williams Companies Inc. (NYSE: WMB): $0.69 EPS (+37.7%) on revenue of $3.4 billion (+20.0%)
• Harris Corp. (NYSE: HRS): $0.99 EPS (+28.3%) on revenue of $1.4 billion (+18.0%)

Continue reading The week in preview: Expectations remain high for energy and oil

The week in preview: Expectations remain high for energy and oil originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 03 Aug 2008 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"It may have been a rough and tumble year for natural gas, but the market is coming back with a vengeance," says Kevin Kerr in his Marketwatch Global Resources newsletter.

The natural gas market has had "an extremely volatile 12 months of trading," he recalls. Both the Amaranth hedge fund trading debacle and the lack of hurricanes over the past season drove the prices to extreme lows.

Now, he says, "All that may be changing as wholesale prices soar." Indeed, natural gas has rallied to a two-month high, coincident with the cold froze in the northern U.S.

According to Kerr, the "Perma-bears" in the natural gas market are discounting the cold weather, stating that it is hitting late in the season. They also are leery of gas inventories that are 21% higher than the average for the past five years.

Continue reading Cold freeze causes Suncor to shine

Cold freeze causes Suncor to shine originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 12 Feb 2007 10:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.