Tim Brugger

Editor's Choice

• Chesapeake’s Rise a Bet on Icahn

  By Tim Brugger - June 6, 2012 | Tickers: CHK, XEC, LINE |

  If today’s price movement is any indication Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) shareholders are betting on billionaire investor Carl Icahn to save the beleaguered one-time industry bellwether. It’s no secret Carl plays hard ball, which is exactly what owners of Chesapeake need right now. But don’t buy the hyped momentum or the reputation.

  Why not bet on Mr. Icahn you ask? After all he has a long history more »

• Google: This is Almost too Easy

  By Tim Brugger - June 1, 2012 | Tickers: AAPL, GOOG, LNKD, NFLX |

  Okay already, the employment figures disappointed, Europe looks downright gloomy and both companies and countries seem to be fighting for a place in line to sue Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) for pretty much anything and everything. But trading in the high $560s to low $570s a share? Value investors wake up - if you’re not salivating already you should be – this is just too easy.

  Revenue from Everywhere

  What’s made more »

• Red Hat Earnings: Two Months Later

  By Tim Brugger - May 26, 2012 | Tickers: IBM, MSFT, ORCL, RHT |

  It was about two months ago when the now $10 billion open source software provider Red Hat (NYSE: RHT) blew up – in a good way - for shareholders. The company had just released fiscal Q4 numbers and tech geeks everywhere were all aflutter. Revenue was up – again – and management guidance for the balance of 2012 and 2013 was unwavering.

  The Nerve!

  After the run-up of about 16% following the late March more »

• Incredibly, Facebook Actually Thought “Greed is Good” Still Applies

  By Tim Brugger - May 23, 2012 | Tickers: AOL, FB, GRPN, LNKD |

  Even before the recent announcement of the lawsuits aimed Facebook’s (NASDAQ: FB) way as a result of the botched IPO, the happenings a week or two before the company went public should have been enough to keep investors on the sidelines – at least for a while.

  The Suits

  The “news” that Facebook is facing earnings pressure as more and more people log on using their mobile devices vs. that more »

• The Barnes & Noble Deal: Microsoft Scores Another Win-Win

  By Tim Brugger - April 30, 2012 | Tickers: AMZN, BKS, CPSI, GOOG, MSFT |

  A lot has happened since the Barnes & Noble article written the first week in January. Certainly today’s announcement of a partnership with Microsoft to crank up the Nook business is getting all the headlines – as well it should. But that’s not the whole picture for the once beleagured book store.

  The huge gains for Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) shareholders comes on the heels of what now seems an more »

• Decisions, Decisions: Ford, Honda or GM

  By Tim Brugger - April 27, 2012 | Tickers: F, GM, HMC |

  Let’s assume for a moment you – like many – feel pretty good about the prospects for automakers for the balance of this year, and even into next. And why not, there’s a lot to like. Setting Europe in general and Spain in particular aside for a moment, most domestic indicators point to a great year for car sales. Consumer confidence is improving right along with spending, the employment situation more »

• Sifting Through The Mess: Wells, JPMorgan and Citi

  By Tim Brugger - April 16, 2012 | Tickers: C, JPM, WFC |

  Most investors are glad to be rid of last week, and good riddance. After Friday’s drop of another 1%+, the markets officially finished with the worst 5-day stretch so far this year – ugh. It got so bad even what appeared to be good news was brushed aside by anxious investors more concerned with global economic data than earnings. Not that there’s anything wrong with that mind you – that more »

• Nokia Contrarians Unite!

  By Tim Brugger - April 11, 2012 | Tickers: AAPL, GOOG, MSFT, NOK |

  Nokia’s (NYSE: NOK) recent plunge must have at least some contrarian investors absolutely salivating. Why? Because it shouldn’t be nearly the surprise it's become. The shift by management emphasizing the Lumia phone internationally and in North America was going to impact earnings in the short run -- how couldn't it? Nothing earth-shattering about that, what new product rollout – particularly into a market as aggressive as smartphones – isn more »

• eBay? Sure. But there’s no Explaining Amazon

  By Tim Brugger - March 22, 2012 | Tickers: AMZN, EBAY |

  In spite of the recent announcement regarding existing home sales and continued sky high oil prices, most economic indicators are trending positive – and they have been for some time. It was December of last year when consumer spending and confidence – particularly during the holiday shopping season – started gaining some traction. Not surprisingly this was great news for retail companies, including Amazon.

  Online sales set new records seemingly daily and investors more »

• This Isn’t Your Dad’s IBM

  By Tim Brugger - March 17, 2012 | Tickers: DELL, HPQ, IBM, MSFT |

  Coming off a stellar quarter and fiscal year, it shouldn’t be surprising new CEO Ginni Rometty is feeling a bit giddy. The first woman CEO in IBM’s (NYSE: IBM) long, storied history is a testament to a company that has worked hard to re-invent itself.

  It wasn’t that long ago IBM was sitting atop the technology world as the clear leader in all things IT. And – as more »

• Can Dell Become the Next IBM?

  By Tim Brugger - March 13, 2012 | Tickers: DELL, HPQ, IBM |

  With all the talk of smartphones, wireless space, notepads, the Cloud and a host of other new age technologies it’s easy to overlook little $30.5 billion Dell. They’re the guys that sell those old-fashioned desktop computers, right? Well yeah, and they sell a lot of them. But if today’s announcement is any indication – and it is – Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) is hardly content with continuing to fly more »

• McDonald's: You Just Can't Please Some People

  By Tim Brugger - March 8, 2012 | Tickers: JACK, MCD, YUM |

  Apparently 7.5% global growth -- including 4% in economically depressed Europe -- in February was disappointing to a lot of analysts. Why? Because they’d expected more from industry leading McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD). Overall consensus estimates put global same-store sales expectations at 7.7% -- what a disappointment huh?

  Pre-market trading hasn’t been kind to McDonald’s, dropping about 3%. So, what should investors make of all this? Once again more »

• Does the Cashier's Job Satisfaction Affect the Company's Stock?

  By Tim Brugger - March 5, 2012 | Tickers: COST, JCP, SHLD, TGT, WMT |

  Defining corporate culture is an elusive thing. Even more elusive is trying to determine the impact culture has from an investor’s perspective. I reviewed glassdoor.com to get a sense of what employees are saying about a few retail companies – some of which have performed well and some not so much -- and then compared that to stock performance.

  The guinea pigs are Sears (NASDAQ: SHLD), Target (NYSE: TGT), industry more »

• What are Target and Wal-Mart Investors Waiting For?

  By Tim Brugger - March 1, 2012 | Tickers: COST, TGT, WMT |

  There have been a couple of changes since my article from a little over a week ago discussing the merits of Target (NYSE: TGT) and Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT). Target’s stock price has (finally) risen and Wal-Mart management has increased what was already a solid dividend.

  Both changes were and are great news for investors, but here’s the thing – why so little stock price movement since? The news coming more »

• Banks and Revenue: It’s Time to Change Expectations

  By Tim Brugger - February 29, 2012 | Tickers: BAC, C, JPM, WFC |

  Despite what you may read, the banking industry is making a recovery. While profits for the industry were the highest they’ve been in 6 years according to the FDIC, you’re likely to hear analyst’s bemoan the lack of non-interest income, and even the slight drop in interest income industry-wide.

  So how does the industry post overall pofit gains at the same time it’s losing revenue? Stronger more »

• Nokia Betting Quality Leads to Quantity

  By Tim Brugger - February 28, 2012 | Tickers: AAPL, MSFT, NOK |

  There’s no denying investors weren’t happy with Nokia’s (NYSE: NOK) earnings call a few weeks back. Revenue and earnings were down year-over-year and every bit as distressing for investors was the news management is pushing for a decrease in Nokia’s divided from the current $0.26 to $0.20 a share.

  The result was as you’d expect -- the stock dropped from $5.85 a share more »

• Not All Wine and Roses for Salesforce.com

  By Tim Brugger - February 24, 2012 | Tickers: ORCL, CRM, SAP |

  As the premier online CRM provider on the planet Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) has a lot to happy about. In many respects the company revolutionized the industry -- coming at a time when the alternatives look almost silly in retrospect. Who can forget some of those old, clunky CRM solutions that took far and away more effort to update and utilize than they were worth.

  The company isn’t resting on more »

• Sears: Heavy Losses Only Part of the Problem

  By Tim Brugger - February 23, 2012 | Tickers: SHLD, TGT, WMT |

  It seems a bit odd to offer anything but flattery for a stock that’s up about 20% on the day, sort of counterintuitive. Not to mention a stock that’s literally doubled in price since the start of the year. What’s behind all the excitement? Sears (NASDAQ: SHLD) management has confirmed what many have long suspected -- they’re going into the real estate business.

  It’s been clear more »

• Netflix: Look to Google

  By Tim Brugger - February 22, 2012 | Tickers: AMZN, CSTR, CMCSA, GOOG, NFLX, VZ |

  It wasn’t but a month or two back that Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) was riding high after announcing their foray into England and Ireland. The news was met with unbridled enthusiasm over the prospects of expansion, so much so the stock was up over 7% that day on the news. Of course, as NFLX shareholders know, those kinds of swings are nothing new for this company.

  Even with existing competition more »

• Is Capital One Worth The Risk?

  By Tim Brugger - February 8, 2012 | Tickers: AXP, COF |

  Judging by the reaction it appears investors are betting the word from the Fed regarding Capital One’s (NYSE: COF) purchase of ING Direct -- the company’s online banking unit for a cool $8.9 billion -- will be allowed. What’s the hold up? The fear is Capital One becoming another of the infamous too-big-to-fail institutions at a time when the bitter taste of bailouts, foreclosures and failed banks still more »