web analytics

Monthly Archives: December 2009

American Superconductor: A Favorite Growth Story

December 11, 2009
By
American Superconductor: A Favorite Growth Story

My stock idea for today is one of my favorite growth stories … but the stock itself hasn’t done much in months.  So why write about it here?  Because it’s showing signs of wanting to get going … and once it does, I believe it’s going to embark on a major run. The company is American Superconductor (AMSC), a firm that tried for years to make a name for itself in high-performance superconducting wires.  And, in fact, that business should do well over time, as the U.S. and other countries build out so-called smart grids. However, the big money...

Read more »

Three Large U.S. Industries Show Progress

December 10, 2009
By
Three Large U.S. Industries Show Progress

There’s great progress being made in three large American industries, but to see this progress, you’ve got to look beyond the whining of the people who are being hurt by the changes. Exhibit one is the newspaper industry, which has suffered from the migration of advertising from the printed page to the Internet. This is a centuries-old industry, which we all know and understand, and for many people, the mere thought of losing their daily paper is traumatic.   But that’s only because they can’t see a better alternative. Supplying the vision for us, in last Thursday’s Wall Street Journal,...

Read more »

Healthcare Feedback from Readers

December 9, 2009
By
Healthcare Feedback from Readers

Last Monday I published what I feared was a relatively unfocused column, touching on medical insurance, health care in Massachusetts, obesity and swimming … and tried to wrap it all up in the mantle of “personal responsibility.”  I wasn’t especially proud of the organization of the whole, but I was proud of some of the ideas. And I was happy to see that you liked them, too.  The quantity and quality of your feedback was impressive.  Below are some of the most notable responses. “Your comments on the current Health Care bill are right on! “It totally ignores actions...

Read more »

Cree: A Bright Investment

December 8, 2009
By

Today’s investment idea is all about lighting.  No, it’s not those curly compact fluorescents that are filled with MERCURY and require you to evacuate the room if you break one.  The main reason we’ve got those today is that the energy savings sounded good to the folks in Washington and the profits sounded good to the manufacturers. No, my idea is about the NEXT stage of the lighting revolution, the era of Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs), which are basically silicon chips. The leader in the industry is Cree (CREE), of Durham, North Carolina, the market leader in the industry. ...

Read more »

A Strong Stock from Brazil

December 7, 2009
By
A Strong Stock from Brazil

Emerging markets are hot, but volatile, as the end of the year approaches, and most of us have better things to do than ride herd on a flock of growth stocks that are acting like a box of puppies.  It’s a good time to look for a strong stock with some good defensive characteristics that won’t spring an unpleasant surprise on you while you’re shopping for a Christmas tree. And Itaú Unibanco (ITUB) definitely qualifies.  This Brazilian banking giant is hugely liquid (trades over 12 million shares a day on average), pays a dividend (forward annual dividend yield of...

Read more »