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Silicon Laboratories (SLAB): A Hot Stock

November 9, 2011
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One of my favorite stocks today–for aggressive investors only–is Silicon Laboratories (SLAB), a key player in the highly cyclical semiconductor industry.  The stocks in this industry act like rockets; they zoom to the sky, and then they fall to the ground, and if you don’t know what you’re doing, you can get hurt.  But if you do know, you can make big money fast in this group, especially if you know when to walk away. Silicon Laboratories has been recommended in Cabot Top Ten Trader in 2003 and 2006 and 2009, and investors who stayed on their toes made...

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A Tricky Market

November 7, 2011
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A Tricky Market

Halloween was last Monday, but it seems like the stock market has been playing tricks on investors all year. After the market’s meteoric rise last fall and early in 2011, it got tripped up in March. The market made an effort to get going again in the spring only to be dragged lower in the summer and pulled violently down in August. Since then, the market has chopped around wildly, creating whipsaws in market timing systems and leaving investors’ heads spinning. A chart of the Dow Jones Industrial Average below illustrates this roller coaster action. Just this week, the...

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China Mobile and Brazil Foods: Two Emerging Leaders

November 3, 2011
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China Mobile and Brazil Foods: Two Emerging Leaders

While a few leaders are starting to surface in emerging markets, we’re nowhere near anything like a real bull market. The sensitivity to bad news exhibited by developed market stocks is even higher for their emerging counterparts. I have two stocks that I’ve been following, although the reasons for my interest are different for each. China Mobile (CHL) is the dominant wireless service provider in China, with well over a half billion subscribers. China Mobile became a powerhouse by rolling up the old leading provincial wireless networks and turning them into a national network. The company has hit some...

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Does Ulta Salon Offer a Beautiful Set-Up?

October 27, 2011
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Does Ulta Salon Offer a Beautiful Set-Up?

As for the current market environment, it’s still not quite there yet.  Of course, the major indexes have bounced nicely, but most of the action has been in the off-the-bottom crowd … the stocks that fell 40% to 50% during the past three to six months like the financials, the transports, the oils, the commodities, the industrials and the semiconductors. Please don’t get me wrong–there is nothing wrong with the rally’s strength initially being led by these off-the bottom stocks and sectors.  But, in my experience, these names almost always slow down as all the unhappy shareholders who own...

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The Warren Buffett Approach

October 25, 2011
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The Warren Buffett Approach

I have always advised most investors to divide the stock portion of their portfolio into 50% value stocks and 50% growth stocks. I find, though, that many investors prefer growth stocks and disregard those slow-moving value stocks that have to be held “forever.” Poppycock! Value stocks belong in everyone’s portfolio. Now is a great time to transition money into conservative, dividend-paying, undervalued companies. The current stock market offers you an excellent opportunity to buy stocks at bargain prices. If the stock market continues to move in 100-point increments, you can take advantage at both ends of the spectrum. Buy...

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