Market Insight

Markets rarely move at random. InvestorPlace’s leading analysts break down macro trends, sector dynamics, and recurring market patterns to help investors understand what is changing, what matters most, and where opportunities may emerge.

Best Buy Up on Strong Earnings

By Paul Ausick
Best Buy (BBY) shares are up nearly 8% this morning following the company's fourth quarter earnings report. For the quarter ended in February, Best Buy reported diluted EPS of $1.82, up from $1.35 a year ago. Revenue jumped 12%, to $16.55 billion for the quarter. Analysts were expecting EPS of $1.79 on revenues of $16.08 billion.

Consumer Spending Now Tops 2008 Peak … Really!

By Jon Markman, Editor, Trader's Advantage and CounterPoint Options
Some new data out of ISI Group puts the surprising strength of the American public in full view. The data shows that nominal consumer spending made a new high four months ago and is now clearly above its 2008 peak (based on core retail sales, February spending probably rose 0.5%).

Pharmacy Stocks Helped by Healthcare Reform (CVS, ESRX, RAD, MHS, WAG, WMT)

By Jeff Reeves
President Obama signed the health care reform bill into law Tuesday, and despite the huffing and puffing of Republicans, there's not much that can be done to change things. The legislation gives 32 million currently uninsured Americans access to medical procedures and prescription drugs -- making them prospective customers of leading prescription providers like CVS Caremark (CVS), Express Scripts (ESRX), Rite Aid (RAD), Medco Health Solutions (MHS), Walgreens (WAG) and Wal-Mart (WMT).

Global Banking Set for a Comeback

By Jon Markman, Editor, Trader's Advantage and CounterPoint Options
One of my most out-of-consensus ideas at the moment is that regional banks stocks are on the verge of new swing higher. And that means it just might be crazy enough to come true. Sentiment is terrible: The February 2010 Fund Manager Survey ranked global bank stocks as the most underweighted sector by institutional investors.

Conoco’s New Plan for Success (COP, XOM, CVX)

By Paul Ausick
Of the three remaining US-based supermajor oil companies, Exxon Mobil (XOM), Chevron (CVX), and ConocoPhillips (COP), Conoco has surfaced as the one facing the most serious problems going forward. Today the company announced its plans for "creating and delivering value to our shareholders," according to the company's chairman and CEO.

Starbucks SBUX to Pay First-Ever Dividend

By Jeff Reeves
Starbucks (SBUX) just announced today that it will begin paying regular quarterly dividends of 10 cents a share -- a move Wall Street greeted by bidding up shares about 2% after the announcement. If the move was meant to perk up investor sentiment, it certainly worked. The Seattle company also said it will buy back an extra 15 million SBUX shares over a previously announced 6.3 million buyback plan.

Four Tech Stocks to Watch This Week (ADBE, RHT, BBY, ORCL)

By Jon Ogg
Tech earnings to come this week include reports from Adobe Systems (ADBE), Red Hat (RHT), Best Buy (BBY) and Oracle Corp. (ORCL).

MGM Auction Doesn’t Generate Much Drama (TWX, LGF, LINTA, T, NWSA, BBI, NFLX)

By Paul Ausick
The bidding for independently-held MGM Studios failed to generate the $2 billion bid that current private equity owners had hoped for despite drawing bids from Time Warner (TWX), Lions Gate Entertainment (LGF) and AT&T (T) to name a few.

Bill Gates Goes Nuclear

By Paul Ausick
TerraPower LLC, a company owned by Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, has reportedly begun discussions of a partnership with Toshiba Corporation to develop a new nuclear reactor.

Baidu Price Target Raised on Google’s Move to Hong Kong

By Paul Ausick
Google's (GOOG) move to Hong Kong has caused Goldman Sachs (GS) to lift its price target on Baidu (BIDU) from $575 per share to $675 per share.

3 Stocks That May Snatch Up Gamestop

By Jeff Reeves
Gamestop (GME) is Wall Street's favorite dog to kick around. Shares are down -20% from the March lows of 2009 despite a red-hot rally of about 70% in the broader market. But that may not be fair, and competitors like Best Buy (BBY), Blockbuster (BBI) and Walmart (WMT) may want to buy out GME soon.

Congress Runs Up Debt, But Stocks Owe Less

By Paul Ausick
U.S. companies included on the Standard and Poor's 500 have cut their debt by the lowest amount in a decade. That includes Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. (BRK-A), Proctor and Gamble Co. (PG), Johnson and Johnson (JNJ), and Lowe's Companies (LOW).

Financial Media – Does the Financial Media Have a Hidden Agenda?

By Ron Ianieri
Can you trust what you hear from independent analysts and the media, or do they have something besides your best interest at heart?

Pepsi Sets Sights on Sodium Levels

By Paul Ausick
Economists call taxes "incentives," by which they mean that taxes are intended to change the behavior and re-direct resources to other, more desirable outcomes. Taxes on cigarettes, for example, are intended to make the coffin nails too expensive for people to buy, and to fund the additional health problems that smokers are very likely to have.

Global Sales Now Nearly Half Domino’s Pie

By Jeff Reeves
Though Peppy Paneer may not be a popular pizza topping in the U.S., Indians are eating up the tofu-esque offering from Domino's Pizza (DPZ) that caters to regional tastes on the subcontinent. And increasingly at DPZ, it's what the international pizza crowd wants that matters.

Do Market Milestones Matter?

By Jon Markman, Editor, Trader's Advantage and CounterPoint Options
A couple of milestones for world markets were hit in the past week. The S and P 500 is up 70% since its March 9 low, which is nice as far as it goes but more importantly for the real economy, vehicle production in the United States is up 45%, semiconductor sales are up 48% worldwide, China retail sales are up 32%, U.S. chain store sales are up 4% and if you put it all together and take out labor, you'll see that corporate profits are up 40%.

Tiffany (TIF) Stock Needs Polishing

By Paul Ausick
The people behind the little blue box, Tiffany and Co. (TIF) issued a mixed report today on the company's fourth quarter and full-year results for the period ending January 2010. Fourth quarter profits rose to $140.4 million (EPS of $1.10) from last year's dismal $31.1 million (EPS $0.25). Revenues also grew nearly 15% compared with the year-ago quarter.

Biotech Somaxon Soars on FDA Approval

By Jon Ogg
Somaxon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (SOMX) soared last week after the FDA approved its Silenor as the only treatment of insomnia treatment that was not accompanied by all of the side-effects for numerous sleep-actions and additive issues seen in other sleep-aid drugs. Before the FDA approval, this was a $4.00 stock. It ran to $10.60 before closing at $8.25 last week as major profit taking came into play.

February Video Game Sales Slump (GME, MSFT, SNE, ATVI, TTWO, ERTS, NTDOY)

By Jeff Reeves
Last week, we learned that U.S. retail sales of video games declined 15% in February, part of an ongoing decline for the industry. 2010 could be shaping up to be bad all over, and that could spell disaster for many already-battered video game stocks including retailer Gamestop (GME); hardware makers Microsoft (MSFT), Sony (SNE) and Nintendo (NTDOY) and game studios Activision Blizzard (ATVI), Take Two Interactive (TTWO) and Electronic Arts (ERTS).
Load More Articles