FeedPosted Apr 4th 2011 1:20PM by Sheldon Liber (RSS feed)
Filed under: Management, Rants and Raves, Competitive Strategy, General Electric (GE), Ford Motor (F), Johnson and Johnson (JNJ), Procter and Gamble (PG), Chasing Value™
There have been many lessons to learn from the "Great Recession." But while the message is often clear, we can't always muster the courage, discipline or consensus to act on these lessons.
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is about to enter its second season -- the playoffs. And for a Laker fan in Los Angeles, there is much to look forward to. However, the current NBA collective bargaining agreement will end and we will have to witness another battle between the billionaires and the millionaires.
Why can't the NBA learn from other businesses that have successfully maneuvered through economic turmoil to achieve profitability?
Continue reading Chasing Value: The NBA Should Learn from Others
Posted Mar 30th 2011 10:00AM by Steven Halpern (RSS feed)
Filed under: Coca-Cola (KO), PepsiCo (PEP), Home Depot (HD), Newsletters, AT and T (T), Johnson and Johnson (JNJ), Abbott Laboratories (ABT), Procter and Gamble (PG), United Technologies (UTX), Stocks to Buy
"Our goal is helping investors grow their capital and income base from which to derive cash for their current and future needs," notes dividend expert Kelley Wright.
The editor of Investment Quality Trends explains, "To that end we believe that high-quality stocks purchased at historically low-price-to-high-yield offers the best potential for downside protection and upside appreciation. Our Timely Ten list represents our current top ideas.
Continue reading The Timely Ten: Blue Chip Dividends
Posted Mar 8th 2011 9:30AM by Joseph Lazzaro (RSS feed)
Filed under: Johnson and Johnson (JNJ), Stocks to Buy
The shares of health care products and pharmaceutical giant

(
JNJ) continue to aggravate and consternate.
JNJ, first discussed here on May 20, 2010 at a price of $55.87, formed a double-bottom last summer, after which the shares re-took the $60 level, rose to $65, only to retreat this winter
to $60.
The sell/stop loss is not far away at $56, and the way JNJ has performed, some investors with long positions are probably rooting for it. I would argue that JNJ has one more chance to break through $70 this year, or the position will be closed.
From a fundamental standpoint, JNJ's revenue should increase 3% to 4% in FY2011, despite some sales erosion to generics. Meanwhile, new orthopedic and cardiovascular products should help the company's medical device unit perform adequately in 2011. A 2% to 3% revenue rise also is seen for FY2012.
Continue reading Johnson & Johnson Re-Trenches to $60
Posted Feb 1st 2011 5:00PM by Steven Mallas (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings Reports, Pfizer (PFE), Johnson and Johnson (JNJ), Electronic Arts (ERTS)
I'm now going to take a brief look at two stocks that were affected by earnings releases earlier today. The two companies are a study in completely different business models: one sells video games, the other sells drugs. Then again, video games are a drug to some, so maybe they aren't so different?
First up: Electronic Arts (ERTS). EA wasn't exciting during the regular session. It closed up fractionally to $15.62; volume was strong, though. And after looking at the extended-hours reaction to the earnings report that was released following the ringing of the bell, it might be understandable why so many players were intent on getting in on the stock.
Continue reading Two Quarterly Reports: Electronic Arts and Pfizer
Posted Jan 28th 2011 10:00AM by Steven Halpern (RSS feed)
Filed under: Coca-Cola (KO), PepsiCo (PEP), Newsletters, AT and T (T), Johnson and Johnson (JNJ), Abbott Laboratories (ABT), Altria Group (MO), Procter and Gamble (PG), United Technologies (UTX), S and P 500, DJIA, Stocks to Buy, Molson Coors Brewing Co. (TAP)

"High-quality stocks bought at historically low-price-to-high-yield offer the best potential for downside protection and upside appreciation," says dividend specialist
Kelley Wright.
The editor of
IQ Trends explains, "Our 'Timely Ten' list is our reasoned expectation based on our methodology and experience for what we believe will perform best over the next five years.
"Our 'Timely Ten' list is our reasoned expectation based on our methodology and experience for what we believe will perform best over the next five years. Do we believe that all 10 will go up simultaneously or immediately? Of course not.
Continue reading The Timely 10: Best Blue Chip Dividend Buys
Posted Dec 27th 2010 12:00PM by Sheldon Liber (RSS feed)
Filed under: Apple Inc (AAPL), General Electric (GE), Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A), Diageo plc (DEO), Citigroup Inc. (C), Johnson and Johnson (JNJ), Novartis AG ADS (NVS), Chevron Corp (CVX), Teva Pharm Indus ADR (TEVA), China Life Insurance ADS (LFC), Bargain Stocks, Chasing Value™, Oil, Newcastle Investment (NCT), Raytheon Company (RTN), EZCORP (EZPW), Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A), Telefonica SA (TEF), Noble Corporation (NE)
Could a stock that you made 1,100% on still have room to run? Yes, it is possible. In particular if it had a near death experience as a penny stock for a while.
That is the case with Newcastle Investments (NCT), the CMBS lender and real estate investment company that reached a recent high of $7.10 and has settled back down, most recently hovering between $6.70 to $7.00. It closed Thursday December 23 at $6.71.
Continue reading Chasing Value: 2011 Stock Picks -- Part 2
Posted Dec 9th 2010 12:00PM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst Reports, Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades, Home Depot (HD), Walgreen Co (WAG), Johnson and Johnson (JNJ), Lowe's Cos (LOW), Under Armour'A' (UA), QUALCOMM Inc (QCOM), Analyst Initiations, Goodyear Tire and Rubber (GT), AOL (AOL)
Analyst Upgrades
- Walgreen (WAG) and Triumph Group (TGI) to buy from neutral at UBS.
- Focus Media (FMCN) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
- Home Depot (HD) to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.
- Arbitron (ARB) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
- Waddell & Reed (WDR) and Legg Mason (LM) to overweight from equal weight, and Janus Capital (JNS) to overweight from underweight, at Barclays.
- Central Euro Media (CETV) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
- GenOn Energy (GEN) and Ntelos (NTLS) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
- Cooper Tire (CTB) to buy from neutral and Goodyear Tire (GT) to buy from underperform at BofA/Merrill.
Continue reading Analyst Calls: AOL, FMCN, GT, HD, JNJ, JNS, LOW, QCOM, RY, UA, WAG ...
Posted Dec 2nd 2010 3:20PM by Sheldon Liber (RSS feed)
Filed under: Forecasts, Apple Inc (AAPL), General Electric (GE), Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A), Diageo plc (DEO), Johnson and Johnson (JNJ), Novartis AG ADS (NVS), Teva Pharm Indus ADR (TEVA), China Life Insurance ADS (LFC), Chasing Value™, Israel, EZCORP (EZPW), Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A), Telefonica SA (TEF)
It's that time of year when I start thinking about my 2011 stock picks, and enough folks have been nudging me that I might as well get on with it. The list will not be finalized until the end of the month. During the interim time I will take readers through a number of possibilities, explaining the rational for my suggestions along the way and adding and subtracting until I get the list down to ten.
Today I will start by reviewing opportunities discussed in another post and determine which of these stocks might provide the best value. The list was originally cast as a globally diversified, large cap, dividend paying and relatively stable group of companies that would likely weather any storm. See: Chasing Value: Bonds, Gold, Stocks and Capital Flight
Continue reading Chasing Value: 2011 Stock Picks -- The Journey Begins
Posted Nov 15th 2010 4:30PM by Sheldon Liber (RSS feed)
Filed under: International Markets, Competitive Strategy, General Electric (GE), China, Getting Started, Diageo plc (DEO), Johnson and Johnson (JNJ), Novartis AG ADS (NVS), Teva Pharm Indus ADR (TEVA), China Life Insurance ADS (LFC), Chasing Value™, Israel, Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A), Telefonica SA (TEF)

It certainly is presumptuous, perhaps even self serving of me to assume the market is going higher in the face of so much
uncertainty.
The reason I hold this belief is that so much money is sitting on the sidelines and much of it is getting restless. It's one thing for those on a fixed income to suffer because the Federal Reserve is keeping interest rates so low, but it is quite another thing to expect $2 trillion dollars of corporate cash to want to live like senior citizens. That cash is a bigger drag on earnings with each passing day.
Continue reading Chasing Value: Bonds, Gold, Stocks and Capital Flight
Posted Nov 11th 2010 2:30PM by Sheldon Liber (RSS feed)
Filed under: Other Issues, Microsoft (MSFT), Cisco Systems (CSCO), General Electric (GE), Johnson and Johnson (JNJ), Procter and Gamble (PG), Chasing Value™, Recession

The market is down and the
headlines are blaming Cisco Systems (
CSCO), in part because they reported tepid earnings and somber growth projections. This once again underscores the fact that stock prices are always determined at the margins. Most folks could care less, and this is reflected by the big silent yawn of the majority of investors.
Cisco is not the bell-weather it has been in the past. Some of its business is down because there are more alternatives from competitors, "the cloud" keeps growing, and also many products have become commodities.
There are many other companies I would consider better measures of how the economy is doing.
Continue reading Chasing Value: Cisco Shmisco -- It's Nothing
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