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Mike Steele

Editor's Choice

  • Investing Lessons from Star Trek's Ferengi

    By Mike Steele - April 1, 2013 | Tickers: BRK-B, CMG, KO, COST, WFM | Editor's Choice

    No race of aliens has taught us so much about finance, markets, and economics as Star Trek's Ferengi. The Ferengi Rules of Acquisition, a personal and financial code of ethics, offers a buffet of aphorisms on making money by any means necessary. Greed is the number one virtue for the Ferengi, and they use the word "ethics" only in its loosest form. But some of their rules may have more »

  • Can This Small-Cap Government Contractor Weather the Storm?

    By Mike Steele - November 21, 2012 | Tickers: CUB, LLL, LMT, RTN, SAI | Editor's Choice

    Cubic Corporation (NYSE: CUB) had a summer full of foul weather.  The dark clouds formed in June with the death of their founder and CEO, Walter J. Zable at the age of 97.  The heavy rain swept in as accounting problems surfaced in August.  Still, the sun is peeking out this fall and the company's share price is up slightly since the start of 2012, as the federal and more »

  • Stop Vampires from Sucking your Portfolio Dry

    By Mike Steele - October 31, 2012 | Tickers: BAX, CMXHY.PK, GRFS, MKC, NKE, WY | Editor's Choice

    If there's one thing I have learned from watching too much Buffy the Vampire Slayer, it's that a plucky band of teenagers is the only thing standing between civilization and a dark future in which humanity becomes a weak all-you-can-eat buffet for a legion of vampires. And while you may have already put some thought into how to survive a vampire apocalypse, few if any people consider how more »

  • Five Companies for a Baltimore Portfolio

    By Mike Steele - October 24, 2012 | Tickers: JOSB, LM, MKC, TROW, UA | Editor's Choice

    Are Tom Clancy and Edgar Allen Poe your favorite authors?  Are "The Star Spangled Banner" and songs from the musical "Hairspray" both in your MP3 playlist?  Do you drink Natty Boh with your soft shell crabs?  Are your favorite birds Ravens and Orioles?  If you answered yes to these questions, you might be from Baltimore. 

    Individual investors are most successful when they buy into the idea that they are owning more »

  • Understanding Government Contracts Part 3

    By Mike Steele - July 16, 2012 | Tickers: CACI, CUB, SAI | Editor's Choice

    If you invest invest in companies that earn their income as government contractors, you need to understand the basics of federal contracting.  In the third and final part of the series, we will talk about multiple awards, government-wide awards and schedules, and how contractors can spin their inclusion in one of these big awards into something that sounds more impressive than it really is, using examples of recent contract wins by Cubic, CACI, and SAIC.