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Monthly Archives: April 2009

Guns Stocks are Still Strong

April 6, 2009
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Guns Stocks are Still Strong

Today, I’m going to reprise a post from a few weeks ago when I wrote, “Why are gun stocks strong?  The first reason, apparently, is that many Americans fear President Barack Obama and his associates will soon make guns more difficult to buy … so they’re buying them now.  The second reason is fear of burglary and robbery, and the other crimes that tend to increase during recessionary times.” I followed that with profiles of the three top-performing stocks in the sector, Sturm, Ruger (RGR) and Smith & Wesson (SWHC), who make guns, and Cabela’s (CAB), who sells them...

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The Early Bird Gets the Worm … Except in the Stock Market

April 3, 2009
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The Early Bird Gets the Worm … Except in the Stock Market

In my last Cabot Wealth Advisory (dated March 19), I gave you 10 tricks of the trade to help you become a better investor.  I also tried to make the point that, when developing your system (you are following a system, right?), you want to base it on how the market ACTUALLY works, and not how some pundit or TV personality THINKS it works. One point that I’ve touched on in the past but want to expand on today is the issue of patience.  Everyone’s heard from their parents that patience is a virtue, and that definitely comes into...

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FNF: A Big Potential Turnaround Play

April 2, 2009
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FNF: A Big Potential Turnaround Play

My wife and I have been actively house hunting in recent weeks, and believe it or not, we actually put in our first offer yesterday.  We’ll see how it goes–the house just came back on the market after being on for much of last year, and at a drastically reduced price.  So we’re not sure how much the seller is willing to budge. But I’m not telling you just to babble about my life.  What surprised us as we began shopping is that the housing market is, well, pretty strong, at least around here.  I’m not saying prices are...

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AMZN: A Digital Contender

April 1, 2009
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AMZN: A Digital Contender

So, putting on our investment hat, let’s look at United Parcel Service and FedEx and then at a potential competitor from the digital universe. United Parcel Service (UPS), headquartered in Atlanta, is the big dog.  With annual revenues of $51 billion, it’s already two-thirds the size of the USPS.  Its bread-and-butter is packages, representing 62% of revenues.  International packages account for 21%, and supply chain logistics and freight make the rest. Flash Player 9 or higher is required to view the chart Click here to download Flash Player now View the full UPS chart at Wikinvest Revenues have grown...

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