If you've had CNBC on today, you have undoubtedly heard that today is the 5-year anniversary of Google's (GOOG) IPO. Someone on the channel even called it the most important IPO of all time. While buyers of GOOG's IPO have certainly made money (+423%), to call it the most important IPO of all time is a bit of hyperbole. Historically, there have been plenty of IPOs that have made investors more money over similar or shorter periods of time. BIDU and FSLR are just two examples of IPOs that have returned more than 800% in a shorter period of time. Additionally, of the current Russell 3000 stocks that were around at the time of GOOG's IPO, 38 have returned more to shareholders over the same time period.

The 38 stocks that are up more than Google over the last five years aren't all penny stocks either. Many of the names highlighted below have market caps of more than $10 billion. The only stock on the list that is larger than GOOG, however, is Apple Computer (AAPL), which has gained more than twice GOOG's 423%. Hmm. Maybe it was a case of stock envy that recently caused GOOG CEO Eric Schmidt to resign from Apple's board.

Q2 2009 Earnings Call

August 7, 2009 11:30 am ET

The outlook for oil seems to be brightening amid scant new reserve discoveries and declining reserves at the world's large oil fields. "We believe we're in a fundamentally positive market for oil in the 21st century," says Art Smith, president of Triple Double Advisors, who anticipates oil moving back into the three-digit price range within three to five years. In this exclusive interview with The Energy Report, the 35-year veteran of oil analysis shares his knowledge of energy markets and reveals some of his own investment strategies.

At the end of each trading week, Hillbent scans for the equity market for potential anomalies which exhibit extremely oversold and overbought conditions. Past observations have revealed that such candidates may experience reversal corrections to the upside or downside once the market reconfirms that their fundamentals remain solidly intact or relatively poor. From a contrarian perspective, these lists may also serve as a precursor to changes in institutional sentiment and underlying fundamentals.

(The purpose of this report is not to provide specific recommendations, but instead serve as a time-saving reference tool and starting point for investment ideas as the upcoming trading week unfolds. Of course, the results generated are not always perfect and users are strongly encouraged to perform their own due diligence on these names. Note that overbought and oversold conditions are based upon proprietary algorithms and quantitative models instead of conventional technical analysis indicators. As a supplement to this report, please refer to our Market Condition Summary to determine if market direction trends support a bullish or bearish investment bias over short-term, intermediate, and long-term timeframes.)

Darth Vader vs. Luke Skywalker. Batman vs. the Joker. And now..the Bulls vs. the Bears.

Q4 2008 Earnings Call

March 3, 2009 11:30 am ET

While global economies continue to weaken, natural gas production appears to be growing despite soft demand and the threat of liquefied natural gas heading to the U.S. this summer without a home.

Many producers in the exploration and production space have made more than one round of spending and production cuts for 2009. Their primary concern is liquidity, while the sentiment in the oil patch is that the current downturn will be worse than previous cycles in the recent past.

The vast number of one-of-a-kind events experienced recently make the coming year for capital markets very difficult to call. Lending by central banks and the velocity of money supply, massive refinancing of U.S. government debt, inflation or deflation, the direction of the U.S. dollar, an extremely weak consumer environment and huge cash positions among investors are just a few.

Canaccord Adams has outlined four scenarios it believes are most likely to occur in 2009, their respective probabilities and related stock picks.

Q3 2008 Earnings Call

November 6, 2008 11:30 am ET

Panic is irrational by definition. Remember Y2K? My mother was stockpiling water and canned goods; there were a bunch of people filling sheds preparing for the second cold-war. If you’re good, you can always take advantage of bad times. Still don’t believe me? I’ll point out Dick Fuld as the most recent example. Fear is raining down and I’m sowing seeds of opportunity. It’s earnings season. I’m trying to grow a “fortune.”

The companies are sorted in descending order from their categories by my personal allocations. All my comments are relative to historical market performance, future market expectations, and current pricing of industries and the S&P 500 in general. I try my best to find highly successful companies trading at prices that ignore their risk/reward potential (all prices as of yesterday morning).

Q2 2008 Earnings Call

August 7, 2008 11:30 am ET

Visa (V) has a great model and in the long run will be a great stock. Visa, once the economy rises and we have a sound financial sector, will continue to go up to eventually surpass MasterCard (MA).

But recent events show that Visa, like any other stock, is not bullet proof. Visa is susceptible to the financial sector. It is susceptible to the economy. It is susceptible to a BEAR market. It is susceptible to the rise in oil. Not because I say so. Because Wall Street says so. Despite the fact that Visa had stellar earnings, it did not rise to the expectations of many.

TWST: May we start with a short history and overview of your company?

While it isn't one of the "heavy hitters" in the oil & gas industry, Arena Resources, Inc. (ARD) still benefits from the favorable – in fact, enviable – conditions in that lucrative sector. This gives ARD a better chance than most to make sharp gains in share price moving forward, and analysts are backing up that possibility.

With only four analysts covering the stock, ARD is relatively under-represented for its robust industry. However, all four of those analysts raised estimates in the past month, sending expectations for this year higher by 22% to $2.22 from $1.82.

Q1 2008 Earnings Call

May 08, 2008, 12:00 pm ET

Q4 2007 Earnings Call

March 13, 2008 11:00 am ET

The Energy Boom Is Just Starting by Joseph Dancy

Summary: Declining gas inventories and rising U.S. demand tip the scales heavily in favor of the energy investor; inventories currently cover less than 21 demand days, their lowest level in 50 years. The last new U.S. refinery was built over 30 years ago, meaning frequent equipment failures and ongoing supply issues. One play on "creaky [U.S.] refining infrastructure" is Matrix Service Company (MTRX), which repairs oil refining equipment. Globally, the IEA says oil demand will grow 1.8% in 2007, and Barron's says supply will be hard put to keep up with that kind of growth. One company that has the ability to rapidly boost production is Arena Resources Inc. (ARD), which managed to boost oil and equivalent production by 76% y/y. Natural gas supply is also declining as new technologies are enabling producers to empty wells at unheard of paces, driving annual decline rates from 14% in 1990 to a present 31%. Companies that help producers extract gas from unconventional sources like shale, sands and coalbeds stand to gain, as unconventional supply has risen from 22% in 1990 to a present 56%. They include: OMNI Energy Services Corp. (OMNI) [seismic], Pioneer Drilling Co. (PDC) [drilling], and Natural Gas Services Group Inc. (NGS) [compression]. Interoil Corp. (IOC) has nine million acres under license in New Guinea, making it an interesting play on liquefied natural gas.