Nate Wooley

Editor's Choice

• What the H... Heck Is Going On At Dell?

  By Nate Wooley - March 27, 2013 | Tickers: AAPL, DELL, HPQ, IBM, MSFT |

  Who would have thought that Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) – of all places – could generate so much interest at this point? Somehow or other, the computer maker is all over the news, in all ways, all the time. Whether it's a failed attempt to go private, the potential for long-time CEO, Michael Dell, to be forced out in the subsequent mess and even the fact that there might be a bidding more »

• Pandora Will Fight the Bigs in the Streaming Content War to Come

  By Nate Wooley - March 12, 2013 | Tickers: AAPL, GOOG, MSFT, P |

  The longtime CEO of Internet radio service Pandora (NYSE: P) Joe Kennedy is leaving the company. He announced it in the firm's 4th quarter earnings call. Predictably, and with little reason, the shares jumped 20% on the news. I don't say 'with little reason' to say that all has been well under Kennedy's watch at Pandora, just that the market behaves in strange ways to any unexpected more »

• Minimum Wage, the Economy and the Markets

  By Nate Wooley - March 8, 2013 | Tickers: BKW, COST, MCD, WMT |

  So in the same week that the Dow Jones Industrial Average surpasses its record we also have a move in congress to raise the minimum wage. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Rep. George Miller (D-CA) have introduced a bill to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour. It would be the first increase in the minimum wage since 2009.

  It's brought about the predictable battle cries more »

• Break Up the Banks? Not Likely to Hurt Your Portfolio

  By Nate Wooley - February 14, 2013 | Tickers: BAC, C, JPM, WFC |

  An interesting thing is happening to the banks on Capitol Hill. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and David Vitter (R-LA) just managed to push through some legislation aimed at studying controlling the size of banks. The goal is to end the entire concept of 'too big to fail,' the notion that some banks are so large that to see them go under would hurt the overall economy and lead to another more »

• The Extraction Industry and the Department of the Interior

  By Nate Wooley - February 9, 2013 | Tickers: ANR, BHP, HES, MRO |

  It was interesting to see that President Obama nominated Sally Jewell, CEO of REI, to be the new Secretary of the Interior. Jewell's a business leader and outdoor enthusiast. It made her a good choice to head the privately held REI and it makes her a good choice to head the Department of the Interior.

  But not an obvious one. Yes, by appointing an apparently apolitical business leader who more »

• How Will the Sequester Hit Defense Stocks?

  By Nate Wooley - February 5, 2013 | Tickers: BAH, LLL, LMT, NOC |

  So we're a little more than a month away from yet another round of Capitol Hill-induced economic chaos. I'm speaking of course, about the reappearing sequestration. The sequester is a set of automatically occurring cuts to federal spending that will hit both defense and social budget items. The idea was to make the cuts so horrible that the politicians on Capitol Hill would work hard to avoid them more »

• Obamacare: Three Firms That Will Do Well From the Affordable Care Act

  By Nate Wooley - January 24, 2013 | Tickers: HCA, MD, THC |

  The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, is beginning to be felt in the healthcare community. Health providers and insurance companies are starting to deal with the changes in our health system. How can you take advantage of it?

  I'm not here to judge Obamacare. That's not my role. My job is to look into the future and provide some advice about how to invest your more »

• Keystone XL Pipeline: Which Stocks Will Win?

  By Nate Wooley - January 24, 2013 | Tickers: ENB, EPD, TRP, VLO |

  The long-delayed and controversial Keystone XL pipeline is finally moving forward. It's got the financial and, finally, political backing for the extension through Nebraska to be completed. It's been rerouted around the environmentally sensitive Sand Hills region and is again under consideration. The U.S. Department of State has said that a final decision will be made sometime after March, 2013.

  Trust me on this: it will be more »

• Richard Cordray, New Mortgage Rules, and Bank Stocks: Should You Fret?

  By Nate Wooley - January 10, 2013 | Tickers: BAC, STI, USB, WFC |

  So, it looks like the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is finally getting around to placing controls on mortgage lenders. According to the reports I've read this morning (Jan 10, 2013) the CFPB, led by former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray, is planning a sweeping set of rules controlling the types of mortgage loans that will be allowable going forward.

  Coming on top of yesterday's news that international more »

• Dividend-Paying Companies: A Job Where You Don't Have to Work

  By Nate Wooley - January 9, 2013 | Tickers: T, COP, GE, MCD, MRK |

  So, this is Christmas. And yeah, my two girls got toys and clothes and such. But they also got checks from various grandparents, like always.

  I suppose some parents just cash the checks and give the money to their kids. Not us. We're big, meanie parents who only let the girls have 10% of what they're given. The rest goes into a savings and investment account for each more »

• Chuck Hagel and the Worry About Defense Stocks

  By Nate Wooley - January 8, 2013 | Tickers: GD, HON, LLL, LMT, NOC |

  Over at The Washington Post there's a story today about the nomination of Sen. Chuck Hagel to fill the post of Secretary of Defense. Hagel would replace outgoing SecDef Leon Panetta, and there are concerns about the cutbacks that Hagel will be required to make to the budget at the Pentagon.

  Let no one lie to you -- budget cutbacks in the defense sector are coming. There's simply no more »