Author: admin

Forget Apple, This Rival Is a Much Better Bargain

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When assessing any stock, you need to weigh the risk against reward. Yet for Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) shareholders, it's a challenging task. To be sure, it's really hard to see how much risk there is when Apple's net cash balance stands at $137 billion -- and is on its way to $200 billion in a few years. Management has started dropping hints that shareholder-friendly moves are coming, which usually means stock buybacks or big dividend boosts.

Still, even as Apple carries relatively minor risk, it's not clear what kind of upside investors should expect either. As I noted a couple days ago, competition is gaining on Apple, which could lead to market share erosion and falling margins as price cuts ensue. Continue reading "Forget Apple, This Rival Is a Much Better Bargain" →

David Baker's Three Must-Haves for the New Generation of Gold Companies: Accountability, Accountability and Accountability

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The Gold Report: The major gold producers have ceded market share to gold exchange-traded funds and royalty companies and are vastly underperforming those investment vehicles. If you were running a major gold producer, how would you go about restoring the appeal of your company's shares?

David Baker: Mining companies need to restore trust and give more clarity. They are confusing investors because on the one hand they tell us they have so many ounces of gold in reserves and are producing so many ounces of gold, and then they confuse us by benchmarking all this to dollarsa depreciating asset. We believe the mining companies should be consistent and report in gold; this would then give investors a clearer picture on how much gold it is costing to mine the resource and how many ounces of gold are added to the shareholder vault. Continue reading "David Baker's Three Must-Haves for the New Generation of Gold Companies: Accountability, Accountability and Accountability" →

The Simplest Way to Profit From Gold And Silver Right Now

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The Federal Reserve Bank has been pulling out all the stops to help the U.S. economy gain strength, but many fear the Bank's aggressive moves eventually could lead to a serious backlash.

We spelled out those concerns in this article, and though the Fed's bold $1 trillion move hasn't led to ruinous inflation just yet, many inflation hawks have been loading up on gold and silver -- just in case.

Of course, buying and storing gold and silver bullion is no simple task. That's why many investors prefer to own these two commodities through exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

There are a wide range of options, and here's a quick primer on the topic. Continue reading "The Simplest Way to Profit From Gold And Silver Right Now" →

Crisis Investing 101: How to Protect Your Portfolio With Commodities

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I'll never forget my first meeting with uber-investor and hedge fund manager, Jim Rogers. He was my market hero of sorts, having founded the Quantum Fund with George Soros. He has explored the world by motorcycle and automobile, all while writing about his adventures and being a fixture on financial news TV shows. I have met some quirky characters in the financial markets, but he was the first to chat with me while jogging on a treadmill.

Rogers is known as being a huge proponent of commodities. His new book, Hot Commodities, lays out the case for commodity investments extensively.

He has reinforced the notion that commodities are different from stocks in that they represent life's necessities rather than simply a company's profits. Commodities are all around us and are far simpler investments than stocks -- they're purely driven by supply and demand.  Continue reading "Crisis Investing 101: How to Protect Your Portfolio With Commodities" →

Chris Ecclestone: Gold Will Fall, Time to Switch to Specialty Metals?

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The Metals Report: Christopher, you believe that the market will recover in 2013. Why?

Chris Ecclestone: We'll have a different type of recovery than we've had in the past, when everything was driven by the financial industry and house price inflation. The U.S. keeps driving along the edge of the cliff like Thelma and Louise, but never actually going over.

I get the feeling that there will inevitably have to be a recuperation. The ducks are in the row now for an industrial recuperation probably a construction-led one. I'm not talking about a rip-roaring recovery, but there is such a delicate balance in base metals between supply and demand that it doesn't take much recovery to vacuum up lingering stocks and tip the markets back into a deficit situation again.

TMR: The Dow Jones Industrial Average is a couple of hundred points away from its all-time high. Do you get the sense that retail investor sentiment has changed? Continue reading "Chris Ecclestone: Gold Will Fall, Time to Switch to Specialty Metals?" →