“I could tell that my parents hated me. My bath toys were a toaster and a radio.” – Rodney Dangerfield
My name will never be used as a verb. First off, it’s much too difficult for most people to even attempt to pronounce. Looking at it, do you Americanize it? Do you go old school French-Canadian? What’s the proper tense? I’m at peace with it. Believe me, it more »
“Did the fire look at you?” – Ronald Bartel, Backdraft
I am constantly amazed at the overwhelming number of analysts and screaming TV heads that discuss “the market” as if it were a living, breathing being, capable of thoughts, feelings, even speech. As I listen to these people and read their words, “Mr. Market” takes an animated, human form, and depending on the market’s “mood,” it has a vast number more »
“It is better to be looked over than overlooked.” – Mae West
Last year when I started this glorious duty of blogging unrelenting waves of nonsense and throwing a few stock ideas here and there, I mentioned two crushes I had for the year of 2012. I had several thoughts, ideas, and opinions, probably about 51% to the good, so take it with a grain of salt. For our joyous New more »
“You could have a change of heart, if you would only change your mind.” – Def Leppard, When Love and Hate Collide
I typically ring in the New Year with a few companies that I have mild to intense crushes on, stocks that might not be the most popular kids in school, but could potentially become “most likely to succeed.” I have mentioned 2 such stocks for this, the Year of more »
“Be the change you want to see in the world.” – Mahatma Gandhi
Completely imitated, often duplicated, not at all anticipated, it’s finally arrived: my first crush of 2013. Like many of you, I’m sure, I have had a very long relationship with Yahoo!(NASDAQ: YHOO), in some form or fashion, and not necessarily as an investor. And although it goes completely against my harsh exterior, I do enjoy more »
It should have been an obvious “buy” signal when I changed my Twitter avatar to the beloved, yet misunderstood, Ticket Oak in early October last year. The mighty muse of StubHub, an eBay(NASDAQ: EBAY), company, isn’t the only reason I love the online auctioneer as my second crush of 2013. In case the 7 of you that follow me religiously are still here, you know I have mentioned more »
“You don’t tug on Superman’s cape…” – Jim Croce, Don’t Mess Around With Jim
I know. I’ve used that quote in a previous post. My apologies for lack of creativity and originality, something all of you depend on from me. But it fits here, painfully appropriate, and I use it because I care. I love my local Target(NYSE: TGT), which is perched across a side street more »
The year-end spate of special dividends has lonely, little investors like me scratching their heads at the impulse reaction of several CEOs and their seeming need to follow the lemmings, allocating capital like a band-aid on a severed limb. But in our society, whcih has become more and more accustomed to entitlements and everyone receiving a participation medal, it makes perfect sense.
“Are you crazy? The fall will probably kill you.” – Butch Cassidy
If you are overly concerned about the impact of the fiscal cliff, I urge you to stop reading and move on. I’m tired of hearing about it, sick of reading those very words, utterly and completely exhausted with the political posturing before each and every feeble attempt to resolve it. If you wake up every day worried about more »
I have been a little tough on Netflix(NASDAQ: NFLX), publicly and personally, well before I started wreaking havoc on this blogging site. I’ve listened to countless analysts, frustrated customers, and questionable conference calls, watching the stock cough up millions of dollars in market share along the way. After learning of the deal inked with Disney(NYSE: DIS) yesterday and hearing the terms, I wondered if the knee-jerk stock more »
SIRIUS XM(NASDAQ: SIRI) CEO Mel Karmazin recently announced his plans to clean out his corner office, effective Feb. 1, 2013. It appears as though Liberty Media (NASDAQ: STRZA) CEO John Malone has finally wore Karmazin down.
Progress Report: Linn Energy(NASDAQ: LINE), mentioned February 3, is up over 11% since the infamous post, which spawned several scathing comments. Annaly Capital Management (NYSE: NLY), mentioned in the same post, is down almost 10% from that dubious moment in blogging history.
Since nobody else will, it seems I have to, and believe me I am anything but a self-promoting horn-blower. That being declared, I feel it is necessary more »
So my last post mentioned the David Einhorn presentation, with his ideas for Chipotle and Cigna, now it seems “good buddy” (sarcasm), Dan Loeb (founder of hedge fund, Third Point), has a few ideas of his own with respect to Murphy Oil(NYSE: MUR). After snagging a couple of boardroom chairs at Yahoo! HQ, and exposing the CEO’s résumé gaffes, Loeb’s fund has reportedly accumulated just under 5 more »
When an All-Star fund manager targets one of your stocks as a potential opportunity for a short, what do you do? When the discussion includes jokes people actually laugh at, and a Spielberg-inspired Power Point presentation, what should our initial reaction be? Should we even have one at all? Do we treat these people like E.F. Hutton and throw the investment off a bridge the first chance we get more »
“The first wealth is health.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
I haven’t written much (translation: anything), about healthcare stocks due in large part to the Obamacare/Nobamacare/election, fracas that is swimming around every one of us like starving sharks at feeding time. Following the Supreme Court’s ruling concerning the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA, more commonly referred to as Obamacare), I think it’s time I started more »
“It is an unfortunate human failing that a full pocketbook often groans more loudly than an empty stomach.” - Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Progress Report: Philip Morris International(NYSE: PM), mentioned January 16, 2012 trading around $76 per share, currently flirting with 52-week highs around $92 a share (“Healthy Yield, Bad Habit”).
There are an awful lot of analysts out there. Too many, it seems. Add to that the countless knuckleheads such more »
Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke announced QE3 and whether you agree or disagree, accept it and figure out where you need to go from here (another reason why I don’t short stocks). I had several posts that had to be scrapped because of this grand announcement, and a few that were no longer relevant (in the short term), so it’s time to grow up, be an adult, and more »
“You can’t go! All the plants are gonna die!” – John Winger, Stripes
Progress Report: Ford Motor Co.(NYSE: F), first mentioned December 30, 2011 (“My First Crush of 2012”), with a closing price of $10.76 per share, slightly lower than flat (down about 3%).
I have publicly posted, for all to see, my opinion of Ford President and CEO, Alan Mulally. The terms, “man-crush,” “bromance,” and a few more »
“When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.” – Will Rogers
Ever since I took ownership of my own investments over a decade ago, I have never really given much consideration to the coal names. Even though I spent most of my life in Kentucky, the business of the coal industry had always left more than seemingly inescapable black dust on my mind. From the company executives that presided over more »
“I don’t want the cheese, I just want to get out of the trap.” – Spanish Proverb
After reading the news that Dennis Gartman has exited stocks completely (a mere month after exalting that it was time to get into banks; I assume to rob them), I am seriously considering cashing in everything and purchasing thousands of Powerball tickets. It makes perfect sense, what with the pundits predicting the upcoming more »
