• Best Day in Nearly a Year
    Posted by on June 13th, 2007 at 4:22 pm

    Today was the market’s best day since last July. And it really didn’t get going until after 1 p.m.
    image478.png

  • Morgan Stanley Two Years On
    Posted by on June 13th, 2007 at 2:52 pm

    Remember Phil Purcell? Me neither.
    Apparently he used to be head of Morgan Stanley (MS) until the firm mutinied and drove him out. It was two years ago today that he announced his resignation.
    Let’s look at the results:
    Morgan Stanley’s stock on June 13, 2005: $49.20
    Morgan Stanley’s stock on June 13, 2007: $88.75

  • The WSJ on Schwarzman
    Posted by on June 13th, 2007 at 1:13 pm

    The WSJ has a long article on Blackstone’s Stephen Schwarzman this morning. It’s a paid link, but Bess Levin has the highlights at DealBreaker.
    The article covers such details as Schwarzman’s height (5’6″) and the size of his house (big), but out of 2,100 words, neither “skull” nor “bones” appears (though “Rod” and “Stewart” do).
    These folks need Murdoch. Now.

  • Lincare Holdings
    Posted by on June 13th, 2007 at 1:06 pm

    Since the beginning of 2006, the market value of the S&P 500 has increased by $2 trillion, but the health care sector has been warming the bench. Health care has chipped in just $66 billion, or about 3.3%, which is well below its sector weighting of 12%. Fortunately, lagging sectors are often good places to spot bargains.

    One mid-cap health care stock that I’ve got on my radar is Clearwater, FL-based Lincare Holdings (LNCR). Lincare is in the oxygen and respiratory therapy biz. You may have seen their portable oxygen tanks which, in Florida, are sorta like iPods for the retiree set.
    I’m not claiming to have any special insight here. I’ve just run the numbers on LNCR and it looks like a good stock at a good price. The shares are currently going for 13.6 times next year’s estimate, which is about a 13% discount to the market. EPS jumped 24% last quarter and is expected to rise 16% this year.
    I don’t own it, but in a market where Yahoo (YHOO) can fetch $27, Lincare at $39 ain’t bad.

  • Guess What’s Up 90% in the Past Year?
    Posted by on June 13th, 2007 at 11:41 am

    Nope, I’m not talking about a stock.
    The answer: Foreclosures.

  • The Return of Volatility
    Posted by on June 13th, 2007 at 10:59 am

    The stock market could be heading towards its fifth 100-point day move in the last six sessions. To add some perspective, there were five 100-point days in the entire fourth quarter.
    Of course, I remember when 100 points used to mean something….

  • Warren Buffett Talks to MBA Students
    Posted by on June 13th, 2007 at 10:34 am

    YouTube comes through again. I found this 10-part video of Warren Buffett speaking to MBA students.
    I don’t know the date, but it seems to be a few years old. Nevertheless, it’s a great talk. Buffett has a way of making complicated topics easy to understand.
    If you have a chance, I urge you to see the whole thing (about 90 minutes). Here’s part 1:

    Read more…

  • Quotes at Yahoo Finance
    Posted by on June 13th, 2007 at 9:57 am

    Just in case you’re using Yahoo Finance this morning, Fiserv (FISV) is not up 150% today.
    They have yesterday’s close listed at $22.29, instead of $56.49. The stock is really down a few pennies. I think this is all part of Terry Semel’s masterplan to take down Google — build ad revenue through wrong stock quotes. Still, it’s better than Panama.

  • Quit Following Me
    Posted by on June 12th, 2007 at 1:54 pm

    The stocks of Lehman (LEH) and Bear Stearns (BSC) for the past year:
    lehbsc.gif

  • Hold Off Selling Stock
    Posted by on June 12th, 2007 at 6:52 am

    Mark C. Leeds in today’s New York Post reminds investors in the 10% and 15% tax brackets — which includes many retirees — to hold off on selling stocks this year. On January 1, the capital gains tax will fall to 0% for both brackets. As of now, the tax cut will last through 2011.