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Monthly Archives: April 2010

Stock Market Analysis Video: Earnings Preview

April 16, 2010
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Now on to Cabot’s weekly Stock Market Analysis Video with Cabot China & Emerging Markets Report Editor Paul Goodwin. Paul points out that the markets are steaming ahead, showing lots of optimism as the indexes head higher. This is also when you can begin to get worried, but it’s important to remember that trends can continue longer than you think. Paul also discusses earnings season, which can send stocks flying higher or plunging down. Remember that a good earnings report can mean that stocks are buyable immediately after. Paul gives earnings previews for Vmware (VMW), Boeing (BA) and Amazon.com...

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Amazon.com (AMZN): A Pre-Earnings Buy

April 16, 2010
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Amazon.com (AMZN): A Pre-Earnings Buy

As for the current environment, we are seeing amazing strength in the marketplace.  In fact, on Wednesday, when the Dow rallied more than 100 points, the number of stocks hitting new 52-week highs totaled 611.  That was slightly higher than the 601 figure seen in mid-March and the highest in many years! I’ve written about this before, but here’s what such a strong reading usually means.  In the short-term, it’s a negative–the flood of new highs tells you that enthusiasm is reaching a crescendo, and that most investors who want to buy in have already done so.  In fact,...

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Calvin Coolidge on Taxes

April 15, 2010
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Calvin Coolidge on Taxes

Since today is Tax Day (ugh), I wanted to give you something to think about. Here’s a quote from a speech Calvin Coolidge (the 30th President of the United States) gave back on February 12, 1924 where he discussed his proposed bill to slash certain taxes that was pending before Congress. But this post isn’t about the politics of cutting tax rates–the speech really gave insight into the relationships of tax rates, the economy and Federal revenues. As a disclaimer, this is NOT a political talking point on my end; it’s a reasoned economic argument that rarely gets mentioned...

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The Cocktail Party Mutual Fund

April 14, 2010
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The Cocktail Party Mutual Fund

One of my favorite mutual funds used to be an offering from a big Boston investment house that took the favorite picks of a large number of the company’s stock and bond fund managers and put them all into one fund. Think of it!  A large-cap managers’ favorite large-cap, a tech fund manager’s top technology pick, and so on.  It seemed ideal. The trouble was, the fund consistently underperformed both the broad market and the funds run by the various managers.  It seemed that the manager’s success with their funds was more due to their portfolio construction and risk...

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Lululemon: A Strong Retail Stock

April 13, 2010
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Lululemon: A Strong Retail Stock

Investors have known for more than a year that the worst is over and the future is bright. The stock market always looks ahead, so when it’s been rising as much as it has since the March 2009 bottom, you know good times are ahead. The economy is just now catching up, with many leaders in the U.S. government finally providing some optimistic views. Jobless rates are still high, but many indicators, like consumer spending, are rebounding. In fact, the U.S. Shopping Center Executive Business Barometer, a survey of mall owners and developers, recently showed that business conditions improved...

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