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Ryan Peckyno

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  • A Few More REITs for Your IRA

    By Ryan Peckyno - March 5, 2013 | Tickers: CMO, DX, IVR, PMT

    A few weeks ago I wrote an article, Two REITs for Your IRA. 

    That article explains how REITs work and why you should consider investing in REITs.

    Since penning that article, I have done a lot of research on REITs.  And after starting with well over 100 REITs, I narrowed that list down to ten.

    Then I selected four of those to use in this article.

    Those four REITs are more »

  • Bargain Hunting in Korea

    By Ryan Peckyno - March 4, 2013 | Tickers: LPL, PKX, SKM, WF

    Over the past few days I wrote two articles: Bargain Hunting in Brazil and Bargain Hunting in France.  After reflecting on those pieces, I decided that I was going to go bargain hunting in a country that would provide an interesting contrast with France. I chose South Korea mainly because it has a nice story and a healthy economy.

    History

    Fifty years ago, South Korea’s per capita GDP was more »

  • A Portfolio of Iconic Brands

    By Ryan Peckyno - March 1, 2013 | Tickers: AAPL, KO, HOG, NKE, TGT

    Brands are part of lives. We eat them. We drink them. We ride them. We experience them.

    They are everywhere.  Whether it is McDonald’s Golden Arches, Nike’s Swoosh, Starbucks’ Coffee, Target’s Bulls-Eye, Altria’s Marlboro Man, or Playboy’s Bunny, we recognize iconic brands in an instant. 

    We immediately recognize iconic brands because iconic brands have risen above their product and service categories and have become part more »

  • Which Stocks are Hidden Treasures?

    By Ryan Peckyno - February 28, 2013 | Tickers: BIG, DG, DLTR, FDO

    In one of my past assignments, I worked as an Associate Brand Manager at a Fortune 100 company.  That company attempted to differentiate itself from the competition by having a superior understanding of the customer.  

    In that assignment, we did a number of things such as shop-alongs (where you literally shop alongside someone, make observations, and ask probing questions to help you understand how they make purchasing decisions), research studies more »

  • 5 Utilities to Consider

    By Ryan Peckyno - February 28, 2013 | Tickers: AEP, EXC, PPL, UIL, WR

    When I was a kid growing up, I used to love playing Monopoly.  But I never sought to own the utilities, because unlike the other properties you couldn’t build houses or hotels on them once you accumulated all of them. That means that if someone landed on one of your utilities late in the game you couldn’t bankrupt them.  By contrast, if you owned Park Place and Boardwalk more »

  • A Global Portfolio

    By Ryan Peckyno - February 27, 2013 | Tickers: FMX, HLSS, MX, BPOP, TM

    Today, instead of grabbing the Wall Street Journal, I read the Investor’s Business Daily.  After taking a cursory look through that newspaper, I thought that I would take a stab at creating a "Global Portfolio."

    The Global Portfolio that I came up with consists of 5 stocks: a Puerto Rican Bank, a Japanese Automaker, a Korean Chipmaker, a Mortgage Servicing Company in the Cayman Islands, and a Beverage Maker more »

  • Which PC Deal Will Be the Most Synergistic?

    By Ryan Peckyno - February 27, 2013 | Tickers: DELL, EMC, IBM, LNVGY.PK, MSFT

    On December 7, 2004, IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced that it was selling its Personal Computing Division to the Chinese computer company Lenovo.

    At that point in time, with approximately $12 billion in annual revenue, Lenovo was the world’s third largest PC company. 

    At the same time that IBM announced that it was selling its Personal Computing Division, it also announced that it was also taking an 18.9% equity more »

  • Bargain Hunting in France

    By Ryan Peckyno - February 25, 2013 | Tickers: ALU, FTE, TOT, VE

    A lot of people don't have the stomach for investing in many emerging markets. 

    That is because people feel uncomfortable investing in countries rampant with corruption, or in countries where more than half of the population is illiterate, or worse yet, in companies where the Government is the majority shareholder. 

    Or at least that is the feedback that I received after I wrote an article, Bargain Hunting in Brazil more »

  • 3 Great Calls and 1 Recommendation

    By Ryan Peckyno - February 22, 2013 | Tickers: HPQ, SWY, TEO, TEF

    On occasion, I find it worthwhile to do what a lot of us don’t do enough of and reflect.  After all, reflection is how you uncover flaws in your thinking and improve your analytical skills. 

    For less than two months now, I have written a few posts here and there for the Motley Fool.  So let’s look at a few of the calls that I have made thus more »

  • 5 Small Banks to Consider

    By Ryan Peckyno - February 21, 2013 | Tickers: BMRC, LKFN, PWOD, SAL, SMBC

    Editor's Note: The original version misstated Southern Missouri Bancorp's Book Value. This version has been corrected.

    A few weeks ago, I sold all of my shares of Bank of America. In the article, Why This Bank Is a Clear Sell, I explained my rationale for selling that stock.

    Since making that decision, shares are down roughly 5% from the price that I sold them at.  Needless to say more »

  • A Portfolio of Safety Stocks

    By Ryan Peckyno - February 15, 2013 | Tickers: GIS, JNJ, KMB, SYY

    A few days ago, I started searching for the best Safety Stocks.  These are stocks that I feel will hold up well in the face of a bad economy or recession.  They make products that people need, have stable customer bases, have strong brands, and are solid performers in almost any environment.  They are stocks that an investment advisor was never fired for recommending. 

    You can expect these stocks to more »

  • 4 Top Internet Stock Picks

    By Ryan Peckyno - February 14, 2013 | Tickers: EBAY, LNKD, QIHU, TCTZF, TRIP

    A few days ago I penned an article after reading about J.P. Morgan’s Top Internet Stock Picks, 4 Top Internet Stock Picks from J.P. Morgan. 

    After seeing J.P. Morgan’s Top Picks, I decided to come up with my own 4 Top Internet Stock Picks.  After all, most people like a Joes vs. "Pros" matchup.

    Admittedly, I am not a big fan of most internet stocks more »

  • Leading Growth Stocks

    By Ryan Peckyno - February 13, 2013 | Tickers: DDD, ARMH, QIHU

    A few weeks ago I set out on a mission to uncover the next Netflix, eBay, Apple, or Amazon.  Admittedly, that is a formidable task.  But I am up to the challenge and with time I feel confident that I will uncover more than a few hidden gems.  After all, I did find some very interesting, innovative companies that might present worthy investments.  

    That said, this article is sort of more »

  • Stocks That Could Continue to Run

    By Ryan Peckyno - February 12, 2013 | Tickers: NSR, ASGN, SODA

    One area that I have identified as an area of opportunity for myself (and most investors) is identifying and considering stocks that have the potential to continue to reach new highs.  That is because instinctively I want to do what we all want to do: buy low and sell high. 

    That said, the stocks in this article are not value stocks.  They are not stocks that have price to earnings more »

  • A Controversial High Yield Stock

    By Ryan Peckyno - February 12, 2013 | Tickers: FB, PBI

    A few months ago I initiated a very modest position in Pitney Bowes (NYSE: PBI). 

    At that point in time, I decided to buy Pitney Bowes because I felt that Pitney Bowes was attractively valued, diversified, innovative, and very profitable. 

    The market appeared to unfairly assume worst case scenarios for Pitney Bowes' dividend and business and these events were already more than priced into Pitney Bowes' stock price.  

    By contrast more »

  • Bargain Hunting in Brazil

    By Ryan Peckyno - February 12, 2013 | Tickers: CIG, VALE, ITUB, PBR

    A few years ago Brazil – a member of the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) – was the hottest emerging market on the planet.  Brazil’s stock market returned a remarkable 350% from 2004 to 2008.  By contrast, the S&P returned a solid 40% over that same time period. 

    Then Brazil made a series of policy blunders, such as raising interest rates and interfering with capital markets, that soured investors more »

  • 3 Dividend Darlings to Consider

    By Ryan Peckyno - February 7, 2013 | Tickers: DRI, LMT, PPL

    A few days ago I started searching for the best dividend paying companies.  Instead of just focusing on dividend yield, I looked for companies that are well-managed, have dominant positions in their respective sectors, have strong and stable businesses, are attractively valued, and pay a nice dividend.  After all, there are a lot of companies with higher dividend yields – but not very many that meet all of those criteria.

    Lockheed more »

  • 3 Stocks Almost Priced Right

    By Ryan Peckyno - February 7, 2013 | Tickers: FDO, KSS, LTM

    I recently cashed out of a few of my stocks that had made a nice run, and now I am deciding what to do with money that is currently sitting on the sidelines.  The problem is that with the Dow hovering above 14,000 and many stocks trading at valuations that assume perpetual growth, there aren’t that many stocks that look very attractive.  But I have found 3 stocks more »

  • Investing in Gold and Silver

    By Ryan Peckyno - January 28, 2013 | Tickers: IAU, SLV, GOLD, SLW

    When I was a kid I used to go to the local coin shop with money that I earned mowing lawns and buy an ounce or two or five every now and then – usually about once a month.  Gold was too expensive for a kid from a middle class family.  But back then an ounce of silver was around $4 – $5 compared to the $30 that it is today.     

    In more »

  • 4 Top Internet Stock Picks From J.P. Morgan

    By Ryan Peckyno - January 28, 2013 | Tickers: EBAY, FB, P, PCLN

    A few days ago I read a few articles that started off by saying, “J.P. Morgan names Facebook, eBay, Priceline and Pandora as its top picks among Internet stocks for 2013.”  That was followed by a link to read more. 

    I was initially a little perplexed – so much so that I clicked on the link so that I could understand J.P. Morgan’s rationale for selecting these as more »

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