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Waiting for the Tide to Turn on Renren

October 5, 2011
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This is not, to put it mildly, a good time to be investing in stocks. The winds and tides of the market are blowing resolutely against you, which reduces your odds of making any real money to worse than an ant’s chances of making it across a freeway at rush hour. Those tides and winds seem to be paying special attention to Chinese stocks, pulling even the most robust of them lower. But a bad time for buying is a great time for working up a watch list, and Renren (RENN), one of the top candidates for the title...

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Three High-Potential Stocks

August 16, 2011
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Three High-Potential Stocks

As you’ve noticed, the world is falling apart. Well, not really. In the vast majority of countries, the vast majority of people continue to go about their business as they always have. They work, they raise families and they pursue their dreams. But the media have become very skilled at showing images of the world’s most troubled environments, from starving children in Ethiopia to burning vehicles in London to moaning stock traders in New York, and the result is that some investors get distracted. They think–or feel–that this time it’s different (as if we live in a Special Time)....

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Perceived Value and the LinkedIn IPO

May 23, 2011
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Perceived Value and the LinkedIn IPO

Last weekend I visited the Brimfield Antique Fair in Massachusetts to scour the seemingly endless booths for goodies to take home. I only ended up purchasing two picture frames, but I had a lot of fun browsing. I didn’t see anything directly related to stocks or investments, but Brimfield did make me think a lot about perceived value. Many of the vendors are selling actual antiques, while others are hawking vintage items and still others are selling just plain junk. And sometimes it’s difficult to tell the difference. I love going to Brimfield but I never really buy that...

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Youku.com: The YouTube of China

May 11, 2011
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For my stock idea today, I’m going with a small company with a big story that’s just had its first major pullback since blasting off in February.  I’m talking about Youku.com (YOKU), which has been called the YouTube of China, but in reality, it’s more like a combination of a Netflix or Hulu (because it offers generally professionally-made movies and shows) and YouTube (because advertising is the main source of revenue). The company just reported first-quarter earnings last Thursday evening, and while the loss per share of six cents was a bit better than expected, the real upside showed...

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RenRen (RENN): The “Facebook of China”

May 6, 2011
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My investment idea for today is really more of a research note than a stock recommendation. While the investment world is holding its breath during the run-up to the initial public offering of Facebook, the Chinese company Renren (RENN) (tagged with the catchy “Facebook of China” label) came public yesterday. RENN made a nice debut, officially offered at 14, soaring as high as 24 in early trading, then settling down at 19 for most of the day before ticking lower to 18 near the close. Trading action during the stock’s second day pulled it back to 16. The numbers...

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