Farah Lalani

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• Apple Faces a Battle between Quality and Time

  By Farah Lalani - May 1, 2013 | Tickers: AAPL

  Last week, the speculations surrounded Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) second-quarter earnings, then it shifted to the company’s massive bond offerings, and now the speculating eyes are set on the company’s main reason for existence—its products. Radical changes to iOS 7, the new version of the operating system that powers the company's iPhones and iPads, is thought to put the company at risk of falling behind its more »

• Millionaires, Middle-Class, or Retirees: Who Gets the Bigger Slice of Obama’s Budget?

  By Farah Lalani - April 22, 2013

  Remembering his State of the Union promise of a “rising and thriving middle-class,” President Obama focuses on quality of life, job creation, and education in his 2014 budget. Goals in these three areas will be achieved by $3.8 trillion in new spending.

  Nevertheless, taking care of the middle-class isn’t the only promise the president remembers.

  Debt reduction of 1.8 trillion in his budget comes straight from an more »

• Friday’s Market Mover— Jobs Report

  By Farah Lalani - September 6, 2012 | Tickers: BRC

  Economic situation for August is scheduled to be reported on Friday, September 7 at 8:30 a.m. ET. Only three more economic situation reports (job reports) are scheduled before the election. The American economy has to add another 316,000 jobs in the next 3 reports for Obama to break even. Meaning, get back to where it was in January 2009 when Obama was sworn in.

  In the last more »

• Diversify With Three Non-Cyclical Stocks Paying Dividends

  By Farah Lalani - April 11, 2012 | Tickers: KO, GIS, HNZ

  Last week's disappointing jobs report raised fresh concerns about the U.S. economy's recovery, as the Dow and the S&P 500 extended losses to a fifth day on Tuesday. After increases of 240,000 in February and 275,000 in January, payroll jobs in March advanced a modest 120,000.

  Coming off a period of towering optimism can be problematic. Investors cannot control the cycles of the more »

• Wells Fargo Shares Increase 40 Percent after Announcing a New Brand

  By Farah Lalani - April 5, 2012 | Tickers: BAC, C, JPM, WFC

  With $32.9 billion in client assets, Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) officially launched its Abbot Downing brand Monday to serve the ultra high net worth client sector. Since the initial announcement in November last year, shares of Wells Fargo has gained almost 40 percent.

  The new brand seeks to expand its market share among roughly 10,000 households in the U.S. that have $50 million or more in more »

• Capital Gain Potential in the Shares of a Major Automaker

  By Farah Lalani - April 4, 2012 | Tickers: F, GM, TM

  The world's second largest producer of cars and trucks, General Motors (NYSE: GM) has added more than 27 percent to its share price this year. General Motors went public again in late 2010, 16 months after emerging from bankruptcy protection. While the shares of General Motors have appreciated this year, there is still room for more growth. The fundamentals in place at the time of the $33 IPO just more »

• Time to Buy in for 3 to 5 Percent Yields on Four Notable Stocks

  By Farah Lalani - March 30, 2012 | Tickers: GIS, RTN, SYY, VZ

  With the dividend dates approaching for four notable stocks, investors wanting to get into the dividend game can be rewarded between 3 to 5 percent.

  Company	Dividend Yield	Dividend Rate	Ex- Date	Date of Record
  General Mills, Inc. (NYSE: GIS)	3.10%	1.22	April 5	April 10
  Sysco Corporation (NYSE: SYY)	3.60%	1.08	April 3	April 5
  Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN)	3.80%	2.00	April 2 more »

• A Well-Known Online Retailer to Feel Bullish About

  By Farah Lalani - March 28, 2012 | Tickers: AMZN, AAPL, BKS

  As the brick and mortar companies face threats from online retailers, the e-commerce industry doesn’t have it easy either. In fact, the competition between online retailers is even more fierce. When thinking about online retail businesses, one company immediately comes to mind and that is Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN).

  Amazon comes to mind for all the right reasons. A visionary leader, Jeff Bezos founded a humble company in 1994 more »

• Major Retailers Enjoy a Boost: Where do they stand now?

  By Farah Lalani - March 14, 2012 | Tickers: GPS, GM, M, TGT, WMT

  Retail sales rose 1.1 percent in February posting the largest gain in five months. Strength is seen in motor vehicle sales, which increased 1.6 percent and gasoline sales, which increased 3.3 percent lifted by higher gas prices.

  Triggered by positive auto sales, General Motors (NYSE: GM) was one of Tuesday’s notable stocks gaining 2.66 percent and closing at $26.07. General Motor's share price more »

• Southwest Airline in Focus: Is it in a better position than peers?

  By Farah Lalani - March 7, 2012 | Tickers: LUV, LCC

  Greatly known for its low fare brand, Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) is trading below its 50-day moving average of $9.33 on Tuesday, primarily down on rising oil prices and Greek woes. Rising oil prices is an industry-wide concern, but nowhere near the 2008 levels when oil prices hit over $140 per barrel. Southwest is in a better shape than its peers to continue to flourish. 

  How is Southwest preparing more »

• Better Sky Experience Despite High Oil Prices

  By Farah Lalani - February 27, 2012 | Tickers: DAL, JBLU, LUV, UAL, LCC

  Oil prices hit below $109 a barrel on Monday after a 14 percent gain this month driven by fears of an Iranian supply cut. Airline stocks remained mixed after plunging last week with US Airways (NYSE: LCC) and Jet Blue (NASDAQ: JBLU) both falling the hardest at 11.4 percent and 9.3 percent, respectively. Delta (NYSE: DAL), Southwest (NYSE: LUV), United Continental Holdings (NYSE: UAL) all fell between 4 more »

• How Major Airlines are Coping with Rising Oil Prices

  By Farah Lalani - February 24, 2012 | Tickers: DAL, JBLU, LUV, UAL

  Crude oil continues to trade above $106 per barrel since Iran cut off supply to Britain and France earlier this week. As the issues surrounding the Middle Eastern country's nuclear program escalates, the price of oil remains impacted.  

  Airline stocks plummeted this week due to intense volatility in oil prices. So far this week, JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ: JBLU) has been hit the hardest dropping almost 14 percent since last more »

• Moody’s Warning: Not a Big Deal for Financials

  By Farah Lalani - February 17, 2012 | Tickers: AIG, BAC, C, JPM

  Financials rose on Thursday despite a warning from Moody's about possible downgrades to credit ratings of 17 global and 114 European financial institutions.

  The S&P 500 hit a nine-month high in hopes for a deal on Greek bailout. Greece expects to get approval on Monday from euro zone finance ministers to begin a debt swap with private bondholders in an effort to avoid a disorderly default. The hopeful more »

• Why Bank of America is Attractive Again

  By Farah Lalani - February 13, 2012 | Tickers: BAC, C, JPM, WFC

  Stocks rose on Monday, led by bank shares after Greece's parliament voted for drastic spending cuts to pay for a 130 billion euro ($170 billion) bailout by the European Union and International Monetary Fund.

  So far this year, bank shares continue to outperform after posting deep losses in 2011. Leading the gains is Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), which closed up 2.2 percent at $8.25 on Monday more »

• Housing Settlement Signals Opportunities for Bank Stocks

  By Farah Lalani - February 9, 2012 | Tickers: BAC, C, JPM, WFC

  After months of internal strife, federal officials and five of the nation’s largest banks have agreed to a $26 billion settlement that could provide relief to nearly two million homeowners harmed by the housing crisis.

  The five mortgage servicers in the settlement — Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC), Citigroup (NYSE: C) and Ally Financial — will provide their individual portions of the aid more »