Brian Shaw

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• SodaStream Keeps Fizzing

  By Brian Shaw - May 13, 2013 | Tickers: KO, DPS, SODA

  It seems that every time I write an article about SodaStream (NASDAQ: SODA), the company's stock price has risen by $10.  After the release of another quarter of record results last week that solidly beat analyst expectations, the whispers that home soda making is simply a fad have finally started to fade away.  

  Strong growth in the United States

  SodaStream's first quarter results, particularly in the United States more »

• 5 Small Caps That Are "PEGged" for Success

  By Brian Shaw - May 8, 2013 | Tickers: KKD, LQDT, PEGA, SODA, TREX

  As I wrote in February, new highs in the stock market may give the sense that investors have missed the opportunity to buy solid growth companies at a discount. However, even as many stocks approach 52-week and all-time highs, there are plenty of bargains out there.

  These small caps are worth a look

  To take a more growth-oriented spin on the stock screen used in February’s article, today’s more »

• Apple Is NOT Microsoft!

  By Brian Shaw - May 1, 2013 | Tickers: AAPL, GOOG, MSFT

  Let’s make one fact clear: Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) is not likely to grow as fast during the next five years as it did during the past five years. Annual growth of 70% is not sustainable forever, especially for a company that is expected to generate over $170 billion in revenue this fiscal year.

  Analysts’ current expectations of 20% annual growth over the next five years are a more reasonable more »

• Is Now the Time to Take a Bite Out of This Restaurant Stock?

  By Brian Shaw - April 24, 2013 | Tickers: CMG, JACK, PNRA, SBUX, YUM

  Last week, Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) announced its first quarter results, and the company’s shares promptly rose 12%. Despite this highly favorable reaction by the market, the results were largely as expected. Revenue increased by 13% and earnings per share increased by 24%, both of which were slightly ahead of expectations. Meanwhile, same store sales rose just 1% and margins declined thanks to higher food and occupancy costs more »

• These Small Caps Will Profit from the Housing Recovery

  By Brian Shaw - April 17, 2013 | Tickers: LL, SCSS, TTS, TREX, Z

  Last week, I wrote about how housing markets around the country are showing signs of improvement. While the U.S. is still nowhere near the frenzied market (and prices) of five years ago, a resurgence of demand has led to some significant investing opportunities. The previous article emphasized how companies beyond home builders, home improvement stores, and banks are poised to benefit from this recovery; companies as diverse as copper more »

• These Small Caps Will Profit From the Housing Recovery

  By Brian Shaw - April 17, 2013 | Tickers: LL, SCSS, TTS, TREX, Z

  Last week, I wrote about how housing markets around the country are showing signs of improvement. While the U.S. is still nowhere near the frenzied market (and prices) of five years ago, a resurgence of demand has led to some significant investing opportunities. The previous article emphasized how companies beyond home builders, home improvement stores, and banks are poised to benefit from this recovery; companies as diverse as copper more »

• These Small Caps Will Profit From the Housing Recovery

  By Brian Shaw - April 17, 2013 | Tickers: LL, SCSS, TTS, TREX, Z

  Last week, I wrote about how housing markets around the country are showing signs of improvement. While the U.S. is still nowhere near the frenzied market (and prices) of five years ago, a resurgence of demand has led to some significant investing opportunities. The previous article emphasized how companies beyond home builders, home improvement stores, and banks are poised to benefit from this recovery; companies as diverse as copper more »

• These Small Caps Will Profit from the Housing Recovery

  By Brian Shaw - April 16, 2013 | Tickers: LL, SCSS, TTS, TREX, Z

  Last week, I wrote about how housing markets around the country are showing signs of improvement. While the U.S. is still nowhere near the frenzied market (and prices) of five years ago, a resurgence of demand has led to some significant investing opportunities. The previous article emphasized how companies beyond home builders, home improvement stores, and banks are poised to benefit from this recovery; companies as diverse as copper more »

• Housing Is Back! These Stocks Will Benefit from the Recovery

  By Brian Shaw - April 13, 2013 | Tickers: BBBY, FCX, PCL, WSM

  Housing is back. Housing starts have climbed to the highest levels in five years, inventory is low in many areas of the country, and continued low interest rates continue to persuade potential buyers to jump into the real estate fray. The painful memories of the past five years seem to be dissipating quickly, and homebuyers guides are declaring the end of the severe reduction in home prices and construction activity more »

• Housing Is Back! These Stocks Will Benefit from the Recovery

  By Brian Shaw - April 13, 2013 | Tickers: BBBY, FCX, PCL, WSM

  Housing is back. Housing starts have climbed to the highest levels in five years, inventory is low in many areas of the country, and continued low interest rates continue to persuade potential buyers to jump into the real estate fray. The painful memories of the past five years seem to be dissipating quickly, and homebuyers guides are declaring the end of the severe reduction in home prices and construction activity more »

• Housing Is Back! These Stocks Will Benefit from the Recovery

  By Brian Shaw - April 12, 2013 | Tickers: BBBY, FCX, PCL, WSM

  Housing is back. Housing starts have climbed to the highest levels in five years, inventory is low in many areas of the country, and continued low interest rates continue to persuade potential buyers to jump into the real estate fray. The painful memories of the past five years seem to be dissipating quickly, and homebuyers guides are declaring the end of the severe reduction in home prices and construction activity more »

• This Small Acquisition May Have Huge Benefits

  By Brian Shaw - April 4, 2013 | Tickers: FB, GOOG, RST, Z

  Just a month ago, I detailed how Rosetta Stone (NYSE: RST) CEO Steve Swad has led an impressive turnaround for the company in just over one year at the helm. Among the opportunities (and risks) remaining as Rosetta Stone pushes forward is the relatively new idea that Rosetta Stone may use some of its $148 million in cash (and no debt) to grow by acquisition.  This strategy has already begun more »

• Happy Hour Drives Market Beating Stock Returns

  By Brian Shaw - April 1, 2013 | Tickers: BUD, SAM, STZ, BREW, DEO

  Last summer, I outlined five wine and spirit producers poised to capitalize on strong growth trends. Over the past eight months, this thesis has begun to play out. Each of the five stocks has increased in value over that period, and as a group the five have outperformed the S&P 500 by a comfortable margin thanks in part to the strong performance by Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ). While the more »

• This Stock Requires Patience, but the Opportunity Is Tremendous

  By Brian Shaw - March 26, 2013 | Tickers: AMRC, RST, WPRT

  For individual investors, it is critically important to develop a simple, coherent investment thesis prior to purchasing shares of a company. The thesis should be easy enough to explain to a friend, and should be based on research rather than relying on a premise like "my cousin knows a guy who said this stock is going to skyrocket 1,000%."

  Here's an example. A barely-followed small cap company is more »

• This ETF Is a Case Study in “De-worsification”

  By Brian Shaw - March 19, 2013 | Tickers: AMRC, FSLR, ITC, PBW, STP

  Recently, I made the argument that PowerShares’ Water Resources ETF is poised to beat the market thanks to inevitable trends in demand for fresh water. However, the benefits of owning a diversified basket of stocks that can take advantage of global trends will only lead to market outperformance if you take time to develop an understanding of the ETF's components, the weighting of specific companies (or particular niches within more »

• This ETF Is Poised to Benefit From an Inevitable Trend

  By Brian Shaw - March 13, 2013 | Tickers: CWT, SBS, CWCO, ITRI, PHO

  For the sophisticated investor, exchange traded funds are often looked down upon. After all, part of the benefit of taking control of your personal investments is to cut back on as many performance-deflating expenses as possible. Plus, the diversification that ETF creators tout comes with a corresponding negative: both the best and worst companies in a particular industry or index are part of the ETF. So why would an in more »

• The Turnaround Continues for Rosetta Stone

  By Brian Shaw - March 3, 2013 | Tickers: EA, RST, ROVI, TTWO, ZNGA |

  What a difference a year and a new CEO make. This time last year, Rosetta Stone (NYSE: RST) was touching all-time lows with a share price in the single digits as the company seemed to be adrift without any clear vision. Four quarters later, a dramatic turnaround is underway that has reversed many of the negative trends that have plagued Rosetta Stone over the past couple of years.

  Then and more »

• The Intersection of Cloud and Big Data ... And Investing Opportunity

  By Brian Shaw - March 3, 2013 | Tickers: EMC, RAX, SYMC, TDC, VMW

  EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) is usually thought of as an information storage provider. While information storage still represents two-thirds of the company's revenues, EMC touts its competitive position at "the intersection of cloud and big data."

  Not only does EMC offer a broad portfolio of enterprise storage solutions including backup and recovery, but the company also has leading information security technology through its RSA subsidiary and virtual computing technology more »

• Big Values to be Found in Big Tech

  By Brian Shaw - February 23, 2013 | Tickers: AAPL, CSCO, INTC, MSFT, ORCL

  When Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) first released the iPad in 2010, it was met with quite a bit of skepticism, with thousands of blogs making statements like "The iPad you buy today will be e-waste in a year or two (less, if you decide not to pay to have the battery changed for you)." Not even three years later, the world has already declared "The Death of the PC" at the more »

• The Market Is Still in Denial...

  By Brian Shaw - February 20, 2013 | Tickers: CPB, KO, DPS, SODA

  Six months ago, I made the bold statement that "the market is in denial" with respect to SodaStream (NASDAQ: SODA) and its long-term investment thesis. Despite a 26% increase in the SodaStream's stock price since that analysis, the market's reaction to SodaStream's record fourth-quarter earnings demonstrates that investors still don't appreciate the great growth story that is unfolding.

  Revenue grew 51% for the year while net more »

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