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BA McKenna

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  • Why Wal-Mart’s e-Commerce Push Won't Budge Amazon’s Core Customers

    By BA McKenna - May 21, 2013 | Tickers: AMZN, WMT

    If I were compiling a list a la High Fidelity style of the “Top 5 Things That Make Life Easier,” Amazon’s (NASDAQ: AMZN) online shopping would make the cut.

    I was an early online shopper. I didn’t need any convincing that perusing a wide array of offerings on my schedule and in the comfort of my home was not only usually more pleasant than shopping with the masses more »

  • Will Google, Tesla & Others Have a Bidding War for this 19-Year-Old?

    By BA McKenna - May 20, 2013 | Tickers: GOOG, TSLA

    If I were one of the Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) co-founders or Tesla Motors (NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO Elon Musk, I’d certainly want to scoop up 19-year-old Romanian Ionut Budisteanu for my team.

    The high school student took top prize – the $75,000 Gordon E. Moore Award – last Friday at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix. He received the scholarship award for using artificial intelligence to create a more »

  • Splicing & Dicing Myriad Genetics Amidst the Angelina Jolie Disclosure

    By BA McKenna - May 20, 2013 | Tickers: ILMN, MYGN

    Myriad Genetics (NASDAQ: MYGN) and the topic of genetic testing to determine one's risk of disease was in the spotlight last week thanks to film star Angelina Jolie. Myriad's no stranger to the biotech spotlight given its Supreme Court case pertaining to whether human genes can be patented, but Jolie put genetic testing front and center in the public view. 

    One has to give credit to Jolie for more »

  • Driverless Vehicles: What Are The Investment Implications? (Part 1)

    By BA McKenna - May 14, 2013 | Tickers: GOOG, TSLA

    And we’ll have drivers, drivers, drivers ‘til Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) takes the T-Bird (driver’s seat) away…”  An 'A' for you if you got that that’s a take on the Beach Boy’s Fun, Fun, Fun. This and countless other popular songs lose their meaning in a driverless vehicle world. 

    The point: There are far-reaching implications of any hugely disruptive technology, and by letting your brain take the more »

  • iPad-Controlled Self-Driving Car in Development at Oxford

    By BA McKenna - May 9, 2013 | Tickers: AAPL, GOOG | Editor's Choice

    One has to wonder if the Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) guys kept a stiff upper lip when they learned that the U.K.'s Oxford University is working on developing a self-driving car controlled by Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPad. The project is called "Auto Drive" and involves a modified Nissan Leaf electric vehicle.  

    First, a brief look at the driverless vehicle landscape, before we hone in on the Oxford project more »

  • Driverless Vehicles: The Music Industry Will Never Be the Same, But What Are Other Possible Implications? (Part 2)

    By BA McKenna - May 7, 2013 | Tickers: CMG, GOOG, MCD, STAN, CB

    Part I opened with the following: And we’ll have drivers, drivers, drivers ‘til Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) takes the T-Bird (driver’s seat) away…”

    Yes, a take on the Beach Boy’s Fun, Fun, Fun. As many know, Google is considered the leader in developing driverless vehicles. In a driverless vehicle world, countless popular songs lose their meanings. So driverless vehicles will affect the music industry, but what are some more »

  • This Earth Day Week: You Can Have Your Conscience & Count Your Profits, Too!

    By BA McKenna - April 27, 2013 | Tickers: AWR, NEE, VMI

    In honor of Earth Day, which was Monday, this article is for those who would rather not invest in the Big Oils such as ExxonMobil, Chevron, and BP Plc. Though I'm using the oil companies here, the point is universal: You don't have to choose between investing in industries or companies with which you have ethical issues or settling for lesser returns than those with no such qualms more »

  • Voice: The User Interface for the Personal Assistant Age

    By BA McKenna - April 27, 2013 | Tickers: AMZN, AAPL, GOOG, MSFT, NUAN | Editor's Choice

    The activity in the voice technologies space continues to heat up, making it loud and clear that voice, particularly natural language speech, is fast becoming an increasingly important user-interface mode.

    Tech Crunch reported last week that Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) acquired True Knowledge, a British company that developed a personal assistant app for Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iOS and Google’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android called “Evi” using its internally developed natural more »

  • McCormick Isn't Just a Food Industry Play

    By BA McKenna - April 22, 2013 | Tickers: ASBFY, MKC, WFM

    If there were a stock market in 400 B.C., Hippocrates might be plunking down a few Greek drachmas on spice king McCormick & Company (NYSE: MKC). The father of western medicine’s philosophy was, "Let your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food." So, it seems likely he'd consider McCormick not only a food industry play, but also a health and wellness one. 

    Spices as the more »

  • McCormick Isn't Just a Food Industry Play

    By BA McKenna - April 18, 2013 | Tickers: ASBFY, MKC, WFM

    If there were a stock market in 400 B.C., Hippocrates might be plunking down a few Greek drachmas on spice king McCormick & Company (NYSE: MKC). The father of western medicine’s philosophy was, "Let your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food." So, it seems likely he'd consider McCormick not only a food industry play, but also a health and wellness one. 

    Spices as the more »

  • The 3-D Printers: How Do the Players Stack Up?

    By BA McKenna - April 16, 2013 | Tickers: DDD, ONVO, SSYS, XONE, XRX

    3D Systems (NYSE: DDD) & Stratasys (NASDAQ: SSYS)have been printing money so fast that they're showing up the Fed! I was so sure of their ability to churn out the green last June that I did what I make a point not to do: initiate communication with a friend or relative about particular stocks using definitive terms. 

    The stocks of the two major 3-D printing companies have returned an more »

  • The Tech Turnarounds Owned the First Quarter. Where Do They Go From Here?

    By BA McKenna - April 13, 2013 | Tickers: DELL, HPQ, YHOO

    Whether you're rooting for the once-mighty 99-pound tech weaklings to metamorphose back into powerhouses or hoping they'll get more sand kicked in their faces, the fact remains: The first quarter 2013 belonged to the tech turnarounds. 

    Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), Dell (NASDAQ: DELL), Xerox, Ericsson, and Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) were the ones doing the sand-kicking in the quarter as their stock price performances ranked No. 1, 4, 8, 10 more »

  • Dear Google Guys: Beat Philly's Tech Whimsy Factor!

    By BA McKenna - April 10, 2013 | Tickers: AME, GOOG, IDCC, TGI

    Dear Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) Guys,

    I realize Larry is running your humble 50,000+ employee venture, Sergey's cruising the NYC transit system with Google Glass specs, and you're both busy tooling around in driverless cars. But there's no excuse for letting Philadelphia trump you in the tech whimsy factor! As a native East Coaster, I am not surprised, and am feeling a bit smug. If you expect more »

  • The Ultimate Monopoly Industry -- And There Are No Substitutes

    By BA McKenna - April 8, 2013 | Tickers: AWR, AWK, WTR

    Let's toast to an average 40% total annual return on three stocks with an average price volatility less than one-third the overall stock market's. Our toasting beverage is water -- the product of our winning stocks, American States Water (NYSE: AWR), Aqua America (NYSE: WTR), and American Water Works (NYSE: AWK).  

    First, a look at the returns the water utilities have been pouring out  -- and then why water stocks more »

  • Dear Google Guys: Beat This Tech Whimsy Factor!

    By BA McKenna - April 7, 2013 | Tickers: AME, GOOG, IDCC, TGI

    Dear Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) Guys,

    I realize Larry is running your humble 50,000+ employee venture, Sergey's cruising the NYC transit system with Google Glass specs, and you're both busy tooling around in driverless cars. But there's no excuse for letting Philadelphia trump you in the tech whimsy factor! As a native East Coaster, I am not surprised, and am feeling a bit smug. If you expect more »

  • This Stock Rose 67% in the First Quarter

    By BA McKenna - April 4, 2013 | Tickers: ACN, HPQ, IBM

    Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) stock rose 67% in the first quarter 2013, making it the best-performing stock among the 86 large cap technology stocks trading on major U.S. exchanges. 

    Why the big jump? HP posted better than expected earnings in its fiscal Q1 2013, ending Jan. 31. Better here means "less bad," given the behemoth's turnaround status. The quarterly jump places the stock's share price 3% above where more »

  • 5 Reasons Celgene Remains a Long-Term Buy

    By BA McKenna - March 28, 2013 | Tickers: CELG, JNJ, ONXX

    Celgene (NASDAQ: CELG) is up 32.1% through March 27 (vs. the S&P 500's 6.9% and the NASDAQ Biotech Index's 9.9%) since my favorable article on January 7. I still like the stock – and I’ll provide 5 reasons why. First, a company snapshot.

    Celgene Snapshot

    Celgene is a biotech company focused on therapies to treat cancer and immune-inflammatory related diseases. Its $47.1 billion more »

  • Are There Irish Stocks That Could Keep the St. Patrick’s Day Celebration Going?

    By BA McKenna - March 25, 2013 | Tickers: ACN, IR, IBM, STX, TRIB

    While dancing leprechauns and other St. Patty's levity was at the fore last weekend, I got to wondering:  Are there Irish stocks that could keep the feel-good feeling going?

    The Irish Stock Sea

    There are 19 Irish stocks trading on major US exchanges.

    The sector breakdown: 6 healthcare, 4 techs, 4 financials, 3 industrial goods, and 2 services. Size-wise, there are 6 Large Caps, 5 Mid Caps, 6 Small more »

  • Irrigation Stocks -- A Pre-Planting Season Check-up

    By BA McKenna - March 19, 2013 | Tickers: LNN, VMI

    During the midst of the US heat wave and widespread drought last July, I wrote, "Are Irrigation Stocks Raining Profits?" That article covered the two publicly-traded agricultural irrigation stocks: Valmont Industries (NYSE: VMI) and Lindsay Corp. (NYSE: LNN). 

    Last year’s record warm temperatures and drought conditions combined with favorable agricultural economics (record or near-record plantings and commodity prices) increased demand for irrigation systems, as well as fertilizers and water more »

  • Taking an Innovative Road Trip with Google, Tesla & Goodyear

    By BA McKenna - February 8, 2013 | Tickers: AAPL, GOOG, TSLA, GT

    Jump in my Tesla Motors (NASDAQ: TSLA) Model S, equipped with Goodyear (NASDAQ: GT) self-inflatable tires, and put on your Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) Glasses! We’re going on a road trip through Time Magazine’s “Best Inventions of 2012.”

    Why? (1) It should be informative; (2) More importantly, you might be able to spot a promising stock investment -- either directly or by revving up your brainstorming gray matter.

    An example more »

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