Will U.S. Courts Take Aim At Credit-Card Interchange? [View article]
The rates are pretty much evidence of monopoly or oligopoly pricing. The one thing the US forgot decades ago is that you must insure competition in everything in order to make capitalism work. Now we are paying the price as we become increasingly uncompetitive.
5 Stocks Expected To Decline In 2012 [View article]
Good calls all around. CAT is the most controversial, but its run but I agree that its advantage going to China has largely been valued into the stock already. As mentioned earlier by me, they will face increased competition from Deere and Japanese who are entering the Chinese heavy equipment market as well.
Warren Buffett And Bill Miller Agree On These 10 Winners [View article]
LOL this is in a big cap list that every garbage fund manager invests in not because they like or even understand their inner workings but because they are big blue chip companies. On that note their balance sheets are fairly healthy.
Some considerations to be noted. The drop in oil prices is not good for XOM although impacts them less than most because they pump oil cheaper than most anyone and don't go on exploration sprees that destroys their current value.
UPS will be affected by the post office crunch since most mail carriers actually use and depend on the postal services to carry out a vast majority of their mailing logistics.
GE hasn't really been that healthy after 2008 when its financing arm imploded. It had relied on very cheap subsidized lending to give it a competitive advantage. In the end it cost them dearly. They are now in need of a new plan and are pretty visionless (they need that light bulb more than the customer).
J&J has been racked with scandal from defective DePuy implants, children's Motrin and Tylenol that they knew was a health risk, to safety issues at their manufacturing sites. Management is spread too thin and can't keep their eyes on the ball save firefighting and acquiring even more businesses that need micromanaging which they can't do. Although J&J has been a good bellwether, past performance doesn't guarantee future success. I would not bet on them until they can prove they can run a healthcare based business without annual scandals.
Why Berkshire Is An Even Better Deal Than Buffett's Buyback Suggests [View article]
Berkshire is operating like an investment bank or high risk AIG like insurance company thanks to investment in isurers and banks. Book value is squishy on these because pinning down all liabilities and the real value of assets is an accounting game more than hard fact. Buffet has deviated from Graham and Dodd strict fundamental value investing a long time ago and it shows. It is also why people are irate at him trying to profit off of the government bank bailouts and getting high payout special treatment for investing in banks that destroy everyone else's wealth.
Warren Buffett's High Conviction Investments [View article]
If he sells his stake he will tank the stock even further. Perhaps he can get parity. The point is, he is going well off the beaten path of what he knows well.
Warren Buffett's High Conviction Investments [View article]
"Buffet only picks businesses he knows very well". Do you mean like BYD, Moody's, Lubrizol, Goldman Sacs, and railroads? Buffet has diverged from his own game plan a long time ago and is now in leauge with the scammers (BDY), the market manipulators and insiders Goldman Sacs and Moody's, and is looking for whatever deals he can make with the taxpayers as a backstop like Goldman Sacs. The fact his staff could pull the wool over his eyes on Lubrizol and BDY shows he is far from top form. If you want fundamental investment don't cut corners and follow someone blindly. Do it yourself after reading Graham and Dodd's security analysis.
5 Jim Cramer Stock Picks On Sale Now [View article]
Caterpillar has yet to be hit with weaker Chinese demand which will show in the next few quarters. I'd avoid it. Bank of America will be begging for capital hat in hand to keep from going under so that's not much of a bargain either. Coke is ok since they tend to successfully pass on cost to consumers.
Apple is still a good buy in my book for the long term. American Express will have a lot of changes to contend with including competition from NFC players in the next few years, but is not a bad company.
Another Cramer stock on sale is ISRG which may run into trouble as healthcare runs headlong into the recession and healthcare equipment spending slows. It also has exposure in Japan and Europe.
12 Stocks That Could Make 30% This Year [View article]
The way the politicians are playing with the debt ceiling and budget it may not just be military stocks that land hard the end of this year. It increasingly looks like both parties are ramping up the lets make the economy crappy so we can get elected machines. The public is the ones that suffer but apparently the politicians think they are powerless. I don't blame them for this perception since both parties seem not to have their interest in mind leaving the public with no good choices.
12 Stocks That Could Make 30% This Year [View article]
RTN like other military and Aerospace companies may be in for a hard landing as government spending is curtailed. Aside from that the other stocks look interesting save COF just because financials are on shaky ground these days. I won't trust any of their balance sheets given the current lax bank accounting in place. Get rid of off balance sheet accounting and implement mark to market and we can then really separate the wheat from the chaff.
Customize Your Earnings Season Calendar [View article]
Wow Intel the worst performer in this pack did much better. It should ignite tech tomorrow.
ISRG is too regular in beating estimates it would seem. It beat again today. It is down right now in after market but it all depends on the conference call. ISRG should take off this year given estimates are way too low. If it raises estimates and shows justification for more market penetration the after market crowd may regret their snap decision to sell. I have stated I own ISRG but restate the fact here.
Ray Dalio's Favorite Long-Term Picks [View article]
This is more a Bridgewater sales sheet more than stock or economics article. And in fact, the addition of their own cash and disclosure as to increased investment can pump a stock themselves. As many fund managers can attest to, removing their position out of a stock often drags it down to the point in which they bought it or lower.
Are Analysts Right About Berkshire's Valuation and the Possibility of a Dividend? [View article]
Berkshire must stock up in case any of the states they insure withold payment or are further downgraded. Also, why should BKS issue a dividend when it returns a rate far in excess of any rate you can get anywhere else. The only reason to do it would to be to announce that BKS can not find sufficient value vehicles going forward which is bad for the US much more than BKS.
My only real fear of BKS is Buffet's inevitable letting go of the reigns. I think there is some discounting related to that potential in the stock these days.
Consumer Credit: Competition in Payments [View article]
This is just another component of what's killing the economy, competitiveness, and business. Charges and penalties at banks, high transaction costs for buying and selling property 6%, taxes on sales, fees from credit cards to customers and merchants, unduely wide spreads on stock transactions caused by flash trades, etc.
Whereas a competitive free market capitalistic system should wring out inefficiencies and waste we have been accumulating them for decades now. Banks do not have their customers in mind, nor do brokerages, or politicians. They just layer fat upon fat until the whole machine comes to a stop. When you get ripped off on every transaction and you pay a penalty for everything you do, you tend to chose not to buy and do as little as you can. That is not good for the economy.
There is a vast difference between costly regulation and regulation that encourages efficiency and competitiveness. We need the later including ways to infuse competitiveness in payment systems and create a little efficiency in it. To think that Visa Mastercard is tantamount to the best most efficient credit and payment system we can have is an utter joke. For me, I use cash as much as possible. I suggest you do to.
Why Is the Fed So Bank-Friendly on Credit Cards? [View article]
Well the Fed basically is too friendly on everything they do since they represent the very institutions they regulate (and are possibly owned by them although they managed to make it legal not to disclose who their shareholders are. Shouldn't the shareholders be the public which they are suppose to protect?).
Anyway, making the Fed a regulatory body is akin to no regulation as we have so recently found out.
Recent Earnings Send Message to the Fed [View article]
"The credit market is fully recovered but the stock market has about 20% more to go. Stocks are still cheap." What world is he on? Stocks are only cheap in comparison to how cheap the dollar is.
As for Bernake and fighting the Fed. The Fed's QE money show ends Friday. Unless something changes that alone puts a damper on the free money jig the banks and financials have been doing as they transfer your wealth through depreciation of US dollar assets into their pockets and gamble it on stocks and high risk instruments yet once again.
Really, does the Federal Reserve, regulators, or the government ever learn? When financial eat another big loss from overexposure to stocks, bonds, and commodities are we really going to TARP II them? After all, it's in the best interest of us to do so. Isn't it? Wouldn't it be in the best interest of all of us to prevent them from being able to lose it is the firse place? Oh sorry, that's meddling in the free market? What do you think we are doing nowadays?
If Stalin was around these days he would be boasting that American capitalism has fallen and the free market has finally succumbed to complete socialism. With Bernake, Paulson, and Greenspan, he wouldn't be too far off the mark.
Will U.S. Courts Take Aim At Credit-Card Interchange? [View article]
5 Stocks Expected To Decline In 2012 [View article]
Warren Buffett And Bill Miller Agree On These 10 Winners [View article]
Some considerations to be noted. The drop in oil prices is not good for XOM although impacts them less than most because they pump oil cheaper than most anyone and don't go on exploration sprees that destroys their current value.
UPS will be affected by the post office crunch since most mail carriers actually use and depend on the postal services to carry out a vast majority of their mailing logistics.
GE hasn't really been that healthy after 2008 when its financing arm imploded. It had relied on very cheap subsidized lending to give it a competitive advantage. In the end it cost them dearly. They are now in need of a new plan and are pretty visionless (they need that light bulb more than the customer).
J&J has been racked with scandal from defective DePuy implants, children's Motrin and Tylenol that they knew was a health risk, to safety issues at their manufacturing sites. Management is spread too thin and can't keep their eyes on the ball save firefighting and acquiring even more businesses that need micromanaging which they can't do. Although J&J has been a good bellwether, past performance doesn't guarantee future success. I would not bet on them until they can prove they can run a healthcare based business without annual scandals.
Why Berkshire Is An Even Better Deal Than Buffett's Buyback Suggests [View article]
Warren Buffett's High Conviction Investments [View article]
Warren Buffett's High Conviction Investments [View article]
5 Jim Cramer Stock Picks On Sale Now [View article]
Apple is still a good buy in my book for the long term. American Express will have a lot of changes to contend with including competition from NFC players in the next few years, but is not a bad company.
Another Cramer stock on sale is ISRG which may run into trouble as healthcare runs headlong into the recession and healthcare equipment spending slows. It also has exposure in Japan and Europe.
12 Stocks That Could Make 30% This Year [View article]
12 Stocks That Could Make 30% This Year [View article]
Customize Your Earnings Season Calendar [View article]
ISRG is too regular in beating estimates it would seem. It beat again today. It is down right now in after market but it all depends on the conference call. ISRG should take off this year given estimates are way too low. If it raises estimates and shows justification for more market penetration the after market crowd may regret their snap decision to sell. I have stated I own ISRG but restate the fact here.
Ray Dalio's Favorite Long-Term Picks [View article]
Are Analysts Right About Berkshire's Valuation and the Possibility of a Dividend? [View article]
My only real fear of BKS is Buffet's inevitable letting go of the reigns. I think there is some discounting related to that potential in the stock these days.
Consumer Credit: Competition in Payments [View article]
Whereas a competitive free market capitalistic system should wring out inefficiencies and waste we have been accumulating them for decades now. Banks do not have their customers in mind, nor do brokerages, or politicians. They just layer fat upon fat until the whole machine comes to a stop. When you get ripped off on every transaction and you pay a penalty for everything you do, you tend to chose not to buy and do as little as you can. That is not good for the economy.
There is a vast difference between costly regulation and regulation that encourages efficiency and competitiveness. We need the later including ways to infuse competitiveness in payment systems and create a little efficiency in it. To think that Visa Mastercard is tantamount to the best most efficient credit and payment system we can have is an utter joke. For me, I use cash as much as possible. I suggest you do to.
Why Is the Fed So Bank-Friendly on Credit Cards? [View article]
Anyway, making the Fed a regulatory body is akin to no regulation as we have so recently found out.
Recent Earnings Send Message to the Fed [View article]
As for Bernake and fighting the Fed. The Fed's QE money show ends Friday. Unless something changes that alone puts a damper on the free money jig the banks and financials have been doing as they transfer your wealth through depreciation of US dollar assets into their pockets and gamble it on stocks and high risk instruments yet once again.
Really, does the Federal Reserve, regulators, or the government ever learn? When financial eat another big loss from overexposure to stocks, bonds, and commodities are we really going to TARP II them? After all, it's in the best interest of us to do so. Isn't it? Wouldn't it be in the best interest of all of us to prevent them from being able to lose it is the firse place? Oh sorry, that's meddling in the free market? What do you think we are doing nowadays?
If Stalin was around these days he would be boasting that American capitalism has fallen and the free market has finally succumbed to complete socialism. With Bernake, Paulson, and Greenspan, he wouldn't be too far off the mark.