Friday, December 30, 2005

txn stalling

The stocks currently around the low 32 mark, but I think it can rise back to the 35 range soon. The current lull in price is due probably to some year end sellers and other people who are taking profits after the stock went from 27 to 34. After this round of selling is done, TXN will get back to 34-35 in early January 06.

Friday, December 23, 2005

a reminder of Japanese real estate

During the 80s, Japan's burgeoning economy led to a spectacular rise in real estate prices. This was shortly followed by a dramatic decline in prices. The problem that existed afterward was that many people were burdened with large loans on property with decreased value. In cities, families were living in small appartments because they have a large loan and can not sell their appartments for a substantial loss. This can happen here also. Already, appartment and condominium prices in cities have increased dramatically in the last decade due to low interest rates and other factors. House prices have increased in the surrounding suburbs and even rural areas of America have noticed house increases. Towns with a population of 30,000 have house prices unheard of ten years ago. As interest rates rise, house prices can drop since people are not willing to take on large loans with a high rate. This leaves previous buyers with a large loan and a loss in value of their property. For the economy as a whole, residents would be making payments on their homes and less money would be available for spending.

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

House prices are too high

It's getting difficult to sell homes in this market. Appears like prices are getting to be too high for buyers. Prices even in the rural south and midwest have increased by 100,000 over the past few years. This reminds me of the housing boom and bust in Japan about twenty years ago. People were locked into large loans for small houses. People will still spend money on improvements for their home to improve its market value.

8' Marble Columns - $1200
Marble Balusters - $25
Wrought Iron Gate - $2000

Available at http://www.geocities.com/malabarcoasttrade/

Investing in India

This is from an old article.

If you're trying to invest in India from America, you might have reognized that your options are limited or non-existent. India is the world's second most populated country with roughly one billion people. In addition to its population, its economy has also recently emerged as showing incredible growth. As of 2003, the country's GDP (a measure of its economic output) is growing at a rate of seven percent. Despite this growth, only two stocks allow you to invest in Indian companies from America: the India Fund (Ticker IFN) and the Morgan Stanley India Investment Fund (Ticker IIF). Both of these are exchange traded funds (ETFs). They are basically mutual funds that trade like stocks during the day. More information can be found at a good source for ETFs the ETFConnect website.
The website provides basic information like the fund's objective, its historical performance, and its top holdings in India.
One of the things to keep in mind when investing is the fund's premium or discount. Since you are buying a share of a group of holdings you may not be paying the actual worth of the holdings themselves. When an ETF is trading at a premium, the price of an ETF share is actually more than the value of the underlying assets. At a discount, the opposite is true. The ETFConnect website shows you the stock's recent permium or discount on the upper left. As of December 26, 2003, IIF is trading at a significant premium, and IFN is trading at a smaller premium.

12/26/2003

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Tobacco's effect on US healthcare

The US spends about $1 trillion dollars a year on healthcare. From limited experience looking at the patients admitted to hospitals, at least ten percent of the nation's healthcare expense is spent on treating the side effects of tobacco smoking: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, heart attacks, pulmonary embolisms, etc. For a closer impact, when waiting for hours in the ER to get seen by a physician, that physician is probably taking care of 2-3 patients with conditions related to cigarette smoking.

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Where did all the money go?

As Google's price has stabilized after a large run up in the last two months, this stock's history is reminiscent of many other internet stocks from years ago. As the stocks become overvalued, insiders sell their stakes and create vast fortunes for themselves, as expected for people who have worked and created this company. Other people making money include those who invested early after the initial offering. If a stock goes up steadily and keeps the trajectory as the company delivers good news over time, this situation would benefit everybody. In the past, stocks that have risen dramatically have left late investors holding large losses.

Thursday, December 01, 2005

TXN to 36

As I wrote in a previous post (http://investjs.blogspot.com/2005/11/txn-trading-range.html), this stock is approaching its analyst target of 36. From the way its moving, it could reach 36 within the next 2 weeks. It has moved significantly in the past few weeks, from touching its 200-day MA to well above its 50-day MA. 36 would be a new 52 week high, but it's only 2.15 away.
Chart
Chart from Yahoo Finance.

Monday, November 21, 2005

Turn around for GM

GM's stock price has been plummeting since late July 05. It has already bounced back from its 52 week low of 20 to 23.58, and yet it still remains significantly below its 50 and 200 day moving averages. Also, I believe the hammer sign on its candlestick graph is a bullish signal as it was earlier in late April 05 and early October 05. Chart
Graph from Yahoo Finance.

Sunday, November 20, 2005

TXN trading range

Texas Instruments price dropped significantly after its last earnings release, which provided a good buying opportunity under 28. Since then, TXN's share price has risen sharply back to 32. It still hasn't risen to its pre-release levels around 34. 34 appears to be the next level of resistance, and 36 appears to be a good target level above that as some analysts have stated.

How can eBay use Skype?

Since eBay acquired Skype for more than 2.5 billion dollars, how can they use Skype technology for their services? The combinations depend on the imaginations of the users of Skype and eBay. One possibility is eBay users posting links to their Skype account on their eBay listings. Skype's site has HTML code for its users to display on websites that allow people to click on links that will make Skype software call a certain user. Would a seller on eBay want to be bothered by VoIP calls about their multiple products for sale? For sellers of high priced items or barely selling any products on eBay, a Skype option would help them communicate exceptionally well with their customers.

Friday, November 18, 2005

P/E Ratio

Many of the stocks that have truly given investors amazing returns never had P/Es greater than 50. MSFT or Dell didn't have outrageous multiples; these companies delivered solid earnings over several years. This provided investors with larger returns than Google's recent gains. For this stocks ratio to go down to 20, it would have to earn $18 per share. This would mean it would have to earn around $5 billion dollars per year. So currently, the stock price reflects a company that is expected to earn this much and more. A stock at this valuation has a high downside risk with these expectations

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

How much can click fraud affect Google's stock price and earnings?

Google's stock price has risen from an IPO price of 85 to 395 dollars. Investors have bid up the price of this company since its earnings are growing at an incredible pace. Google's earnings are mainly based on its Adwords program for its own search engine and its Adsense program for third-party websites. In its Adsense program, Google gives 60 percent of the cost per click program to the website owner. Click fraud occurs when a website owner, some one else, or an automated program clicks on the advertisements to increase earnings. How much could click fraud end up increasing Google's earnings? Although Google states it combats click fraud, some sources say it can account up to 20 percent of clicks. Even if it accounts for five percent of earnings, earnings generated from click fraud could account for GOOG's soaring stock price. Independent investigators should see if click fraud can affect Google's earnings, especially considering the market has given it a 100 billion dollar market value.

Friday, November 04, 2005

Stock100.com

http://stock100.com/

http://stock100.com/plotForecast.asp?symbol=GOOG&history=200&future=30

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Fwd: Google Alert - "merger"

Google Alert for: "merger"
RBI facilitates merger of UCBs
Sify - Taramani,Chennai,India
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India, in a bid to smoothen the merger/amalgamation of Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs), has proposed to permit the acquirer UCB to ...
See all stories on this topic
Proposed Sigma, Arrow merger approved
The Age (subscription) - Melbourne,Victoria,Australia
Australia's competition watchdog said that it would not oppose a proposed merger between pharmaceutical firms Sigma Co Ltd and Arrow Pharmaceuticals Ltd. ...
See all stories on this topic
Hong Kong's New World Mobile confirms studying merger with another ...
Forbes - USA
The company said in a statement that it is premature to be engaged in the discussion on possible merger or acquisition activities before the outcome of the ...
See all stories on this topic
School Specialty and LBW Holdings terminate merger
Reuters - USA
... O: Quote, Profile, Research) and LBW Holdings, Inc., an affiliate of Bain Capital Partners, LLC, on Tuesday said they have agreed to terminate their merger plan ...
See all stories on this topic
Merger soap opera to roll on
VNUNet.com - Haarlem,Netherlands
... Hall, where both institutes' votes were revealed simultaneously, the ICAEW fell agonisingly short of the two-thirds majority required to push the merger through ...
See all stories on this topic
JP, Lincoln National CEOs: "No Problems, No Promises" Concerning ...
WFMY News 2 - Greensboro,NC,USA
Greensboro, NC -- The two architects of the merger between Jefferson Pilot and Lincoln Financial say the deal will eventually bring Greensboro more jobs and won ...
See all stories on this topic
Trinity Bank Shareholders Approve Merger With Citizens South Bank
PR Newswire (press release) - New York,NY,USA
25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Trinity Bank (OTC Bulletin Board: TYBN) announced that its shareholders approved the proposed merger with Citizens South Bank, the ...
Corruption uncovered in proposed Sasol-Engen merger
Resource Investor - Herndon,VA,USA
... responsible for hydrocarbons was suspended yesterday on allegations of misconduct following an attempt to intervene in Sasol Oil's mooted merger with Engen ...
See all stories on this topic
Siebel CRM strategy upstaged by merger with Oracle
Bangkok Post - Thailand
... The pending merger did not deter Siebel from announcing a new CRM strategy and vision for customer adaptive solutions designed to eliminate the gap between ...
Oracle-Siebel Merger Seen Closing In Early 2006
Forbes - USA
UBS Investment Research reiterated a "buy" rating on Oracle (nasdaq: ORCL - news - people ) and said the company's acquisition of Siebel Systems (nasdaq: SEBL ...
See all stories on this topic


 This once a week Google Alert is brought to you by Google.
 

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Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Apple introduces video services

Apple has introduced downloadable video from its iTunes store, and it has also released a new iPod that can play up to 150 hours of videos. The videos are music videos and ABC television shows, and they cost $1.99 each.
http://www.apple.com/itunes/

Saturday, October 08, 2005

Flash Drives Make Any Computer 'Personal': Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

Flash Drives Make Any Computer 'Personal': Financial News - Yahoo! Finance
Flash drives with built in software such as Migo allow users to carry their personal settings and files to any computer. Apparently, plugging in the USB flash drive will allow access to personal documents, e-mail, and internet favorites. It's a great idea for people who work in places with several computers and move among them, such as a hospital.

Monday, October 03, 2005

LU at 3.31

Lucent recently gapped up to 3.27 as options expired. Currently, its at 3.31 which is higher than I thought it would be at this time. No earnings news or guidance was behind this price movement.

Saturday, September 10, 2005

LU at 3.17

Lucent has risen sharply to 3.17, but it will probably peak at 3.22. Then it'll drop down to the 2.80 level again. This should be a good sell and buy opportunity.

Monday, July 18, 2005

IBM profit rises, shares up nearly 5 pct

IBM profit rises, shares up nearly 5 pct
I really have to wonder why analysts months ago downgraded this stock and it fell down to 72. Now, its back to 85 in after hours trading after it reported strong profits this quarter. This has been another example of the street over reacting to disappointing short term results for a solid company.

Sunday, July 10, 2005

IBM, SIE rally to highs

IBM has moved from 72 to 79 currently. Sierra Health Services (SIE) has moved from 59 to 74, a twenty percent gain.

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

NCV: Summary for NICHOLASAPPLGT CV IN - Yahoo! Finance

NCV: Summary for NICHOLASAPPLGT CV IN - Yahoo! Finance
Nicholas Applegate Convertible & Income Fund yields 12.5 cents per month, and its current price is $15.80. Its got one of the highest yields I've been able to find among income stocks.

Monday, June 20, 2005

Friday, June 10, 2005

Citi Dividend Platinum Select Cash Back Card

Citi offers a Visa Platinum card with 1 to 5% percent cash back on all purchases. At least 1% cash back is available on all purchases, and 5% is available on purchases made at grocery stores, drug stores, and gas stations. After reaching "dividends" of $50, Citi will send a check upon request. $300 is the limit per year, but purchases made through the Dividend Merchant Network can accumulate unlimited dividends. Through the network, cash back can range from 5% to 30%. A popular example is 7% at Target.com.

Counting on a Little Momentum

Counting on a Little Momentum
S&P interview at BusinessWeek online.

Saturday, June 04, 2005

Sunday, May 29, 2005

Scottrade

Scottrade has the lowest fees for a beginning investor. At $7 for both market and limit orders, their fees are lower than those of Ameritrade, Etrade, or other discount brokerages. Another benefit is local branches in major cities, which make it easier to drop off deposits. Opening an account requires about $500. Although other services like Ameritrade Izone and Brown Co can offer trading stocks for $5 commissions, they require a $5,000 and $10,000 account minimums, respectively. Scottrade offers low rates set at $7 without additional fees and good customer service at local branches.

Friday, May 27, 2005

Hedge Funds Are Stumbling but Manager Salaries Aren't - New York Times

Hedge Funds Are Stumbling but Manager Salaries Aren't - New York Times

The biggest bucks are made here. Absolutely astonishing amounts of cash made in one year. Apparently, the top hedge fund managers can make anywhere between $300 million to $1 billion in a year.

Monday, May 23, 2005

Klipfolio to track stocks

Klipfolio is a small program that will download information and display it on a desktop in small windows. One window can show stock quotes, and another window can show the latest headlines from an RSS feed, like the New York Times Business Section.
Download Klipfolio here.
Download the Stock Klip here.
Find other Klips at the Klipfarm. Other Klips can check your Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, or POP3 e-mail.
To set up the NY Times news service, right click the face (RSS reader) and enter one of the XML URLs found at the NY Times RSS Section.

Saturday, May 21, 2005

Monday, May 09, 2005

Lucent Surge

LU: Summary for LUCENT TECH INC - Yahoo! Finance
Lucent was up 13 percent in one day, up 0.34 to 2.92. Barron's report stating the stock may have hit a bottom and it could be a takeover target.

Sunday, April 24, 2005

Smartmoney.com: Ahead of the Curve: Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Bear?

Smartmoney.com: Ahead of the Curve: Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Bear?

This article talks about the undervalued stock market, and the possibility of a forty percent increase in the market. Other issues are the tax policy, Chinese currency, and possible trade tariffs.

Thursday, April 21, 2005

SIE: Summary for SIERRA HEALTH SVS - Yahoo! Finance

SIE: Summary for SIERRA HEALTH SVS - Yahoo! Finance

Stocks been bouncing around between 59 and 62. Could be a good buying opportunity for later. Currently down at 59.54.

IBM: Summary for INTL BUSINESS MACH - Yahoo! Finance

IBM: Summary for INTL BUSINESS MACH - Yahoo! Finance

A huge sell off in IBM this past week. Stocks gone from a highof 99.10 to 72.01 after reporting weak earnings this quarter. Five year low is around the low 60s. The P/E is a low 14.78.

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Free iPod

Hey- Check out this great site that is giving away totally FREE iPods! I've joined and I think you should as well. It's a completely legitimate offer, and this company has already given away $4 million in FREE stuff! All you have to do is join, complete an online offer, and refer friends to do the same. That's it! Here is my referral link. To help me get my iPod, click this exact link to join, or copy and paste it into a browser:http://www.freeiPods.com/?r=17539794
If you want a new credit card, sign up for this, and you might get a free iPod also. Current credit cards available are Bank of America Power Rewards Platinum, Citi Platinum Select, Citi Platinum Select for Students, and GM Card.

Sign up for Napster's 14 day free trial>wait one-three days for confirmation on freeipods.com>cancel Napster>get five more people to do the same

Here's the basics: sign up for free, sign up for a trial of a service, and refer five other people to do the same.

Friday, April 15, 2005

Dreyfus High Yield Fund (DHF) Price Drop

DHF has dropped from 4.77 to 4.30. It currently has a 10+% dividend, given out monthly as 4 cents per share. The price may also rebound back to its previous levels.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=DHF

Thursday, April 14, 2005

Sierra Health (SIE) Price Drop

Sierra Health Services, a health service provider in Nevada, was trading at a high of 69.09 before dropping precipitously to 59.37. This happened after Prudential downgraded the stock. No other significant news was reported. The price depreciation has brought this stock down to a P/E more reasonable with other health service providers.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=SIE

Friday, March 11, 2005

Dreyfus High Yield Strategies Fund

Dreyfus High Yield Strategies Fund is an ETF investing in high yield corporate bonds. Its a good way to diversify your portfolio for income, especially considering the new 15% federal tax on dividends. Every month, it pays out a dividend of $0.04. Currently, its trading at $4.74, so its yield is about 10 percent. The price has stayed relatively stable for a while. For more information, click here: http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=DHF&d=t.

Wednesday, March 09, 2005

New Century Feb. Loan Originations Rise

New Century Feb. Loan Originations Rise
New Century is a REIT that is currently paying out an 11 percent dividend yield. Its currently trading at 49.85, and this article says it expects to pay a dividend of at least $6.50 this year.

Tuesday, March 08, 2005

Animas FDA Warning

Latest News and Financial Information Reuters.com
Animas has received a warning letter from the FDA about its manufacturing practices and reporting of medical information. The stock is down by 79 cents to 20.96.

Monday, February 28, 2005

J&J May Pump Up Animas

J&J May Pump Up Animas
Animas is a recently released glucose pump maker. Its shares have risen from 15 to 22 within the last few months. This article talks about why Johnson & Johnson would buy Animas.

About this Blog

Welcome to InvestJS. I'll be posting about different companies for investment.