Archive for March, 2006

  • Top 10 Industry Groups Year-to-Date
    , March 23rd, 2006 at 6:46 pm

    Steel……………………………………………….38.95% Precious Metals……………………………….30.77% Commercial Vehicles………………………..24.28% Telecommunications…………………………17.12% Heavy Construction…………………………..16.44% Fixed-Line Telecommunications…………15.92% Building Materials…………………………….15.28% Industrial Supplies…………………………..14.78% Gambling…………………………………………14.76% Defense…………………………………………..14.56%

  • GM Sweetens Buyout Deal with New Toyotas
    , March 23rd, 2006 at 6:28 pm

    I love it. General Motors today sweetened its $35,000 buyout deal for 113,000 hourly workers at GM and Delphi, saying that each employee who leaves [...]

  • The Numbers Guy
    , March 23rd, 2006 at 3:19 pm

    Carl Bialik writes the “Numbers Guy” column for the Wall Street Journal. Today he has a fun article looking at the chances of picking perfect [...]

  • Medtronic Wins Patent Ruling
    , March 23rd, 2006 at 2:16 pm

    From the AP: An arbitrator has ruled in favor of Medtronic Inc. in a patent dispute with Johnson & Johnson over the design of its [...]

  • Defense & Aerospace Stocks
    , March 23rd, 2006 at 12:00 pm

    One of the hottest sectors of late has been defense and aerospace stocks. This decade’s NASDAQ might be the Spade Defense Index (^DXS), which is [...]

  • The Morning Market
    , March 23rd, 2006 at 10:16 am

    Here are a few quick items for this morning: First is that Respironics (RESP) was upgraded by Wachovia. It’s about time this stock got some [...]

  • Crushing Your Enemies in a Pile of Collapsing Debris
    , March 23rd, 2006 at 9:40 am

    Behold! The Dell XPS 600 Renegade, the ulimate in computer gaming technology. The price tag, $10,000. Best. Computer. Ever. But what can it do? The [...]

  • Language Matters
    , March 22nd, 2006 at 3:08 pm

    Polonius: What do you read, my lord? Hamlet: Words, words, words – Hamlet: Act II, Scene 2 According to a recent academic paper, company press [...]

  • The Trend Away from Earnings Guidance
    , March 22nd, 2006 at 10:35 am

    Pfizer is doing it. Motorola said it will do it too. Companies like Citigroup, Google and General Motors already do it. More and more companies [...]

  • What’s Wrong with the Newspaper Biz?
    , March 22nd, 2006 at 10:17 am

    Holman Jenkins in today’s WSJ: Peter Drucker once pointed out that new business models are seldom pioneered by old companies, because old companies are loath [...]

  • Bernanke Warns
    , March 22nd, 2006 at 6:54 am

    Reuters: Bernanke warns on mixing banking, commerce CBC News: Bernanke warns about size of U.S. deficit AP: Bernanke warns community banks on loans UK Telegraph: [...]

  • Microsoft delays consumer launch of Windows Vista
    , March 22nd, 2006 at 6:38 am

    The tech sector should open lower today: Microsoft Corp. said on Tuesday it plans to delay the consumer launch of its much-anticipated Windows Vista until [...]

  • The Market Today
    , March 21st, 2006 at 4:00 pm

    Today’s early rally fizzled. The S&P 500 dropped -0.60%. Bonds sold off, possibly due to Bernanke’s speech. The core PPI rate was higher-than-expected, but commodity [...]

  • The Global Saving Glut
    , March 21st, 2006 at 2:39 pm

    Here’s the speech Ben Bernanke gave yesterday to the Economic Club of New York. This has been getting a lot of attention in investing circles. [...]

  • The Case Against Buy-and-Hold?
    , March 21st, 2006 at 1:00 pm

    In today’s Investor’s Business Daily, Trang Ho makes an unconvincing case against buy-and-hold: Sitting tight may be prudent during brief downturns, but in many cases [...]

  • FactSet Research Systems Beats Earnings
    , March 21st, 2006 at 11:13 am

    FactSet Research Systems (FDS) earned 38 cents a share last quarter, one penny more than estimates. Revenue totaled $93.7 million, a 23 percent jump from [...]

  • Google Finance
    , March 21st, 2006 at 9:52 am

    http://finance.google.com is live. The reviews are mixed so far. The Internet Stock Blog has a summary of the new features: After much speculation, Google (GOOG) [...]

  • Dell sees 2006 sales growing faster than market
    , March 21st, 2006 at 9:49 am

    More good news from Dell (DELL): Dell Inc., the world’s largest maker of personal computers, expects its sales growth to outpace the broader industry this [...]

  • The Miracle of Warsaw, Indiana
    , March 21st, 2006 at 6:00 am

    One of the more interesting figures of the American Revolution is Thaddeus Kosciuszko, a Polish army officer who was so moved by the patriot’s cause [...]

  • The Market Today
    , March 20th, 2006 at 4:23 pm

    Today was a good day for our Buy List. The S&P 500 snapped its six-session winning streak as it closed -0.17% lower. Our Buy List [...]