By Alex Oleinic

Billionaire Mason Hawkins is one fund manager we follow very closely. No more than 45 days after the end of each calendar quarter, institutional investors are required to file their 13F forms with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Southeastern Asset Management recently disclosed its holdings; the original 13F can be found here. Our research has shown that retail investors can beat the market significantly by piggybacking hedge funds (discover the secrets of this strategy here).

Number One

Chesapeake Energy Corporation (CHK) is the most valuable equity in the 13F portfolio of Southeastern Asset Management. The fund disclosed ownership of 89,428,818 shares, worth $1.8 billion, vs. a $1.4 billion position in the previous 13F. With a year-to-date return of above 24%, Chesapeake Energy has one of the highest YTD returns in the energy sector, which has an aggregate year-to-date return of close to 6%,

In compiling the Dividend Champions list (found here: http://dripinvesting.org/Tools/Tools.asp) I get to see which companies are nearing the anniversaries of their previous dividend increases. Since most of these firms raise their payout about the same time every year, I can say with some confidence that they are likely to do so again. I have modified the Expected Increase series to reflect a more SA-friendly format by separating the Champions (25 or more years of higher dividends), Contenders (10-24 years), and Challengers (5-9 years) into distinct groupings, so please look for the other articles.

Dividend Growth Vacation

As expected, there was a strong pick-up in activity in April and May, coinciding with Annual Shareholder meetings, when many companies like to give their owners reason to be happy. But as I spelled out in this article more than 60% of the dividend increases among CCC companies take place in

FedEx's (FDX) stock has been a significant underperformer since the start of the year largely on concerns that more customers are shipping packages using inexpensive/low profit ground services from the company, rather than opting for high price/high profit air shipping. The concern among many investors was that this would not be a temporary phenomenon that reversed as the economy gets stronger, but rather that this was a permanent secular shift towards expense control by FedEx's clients.

Results from two small companies in the last month throw cold water on this thesis though. In particular, results from Expeditors International (EXPD) and Atlas Air Worldwide (AAWW) suggest the gloom may be over stated for FDX. (See my article on AAWW and why it is severely undervalued here.)

Let's start by looking at EXPD and their recent results. EXPD is a freight forwarder, customs broker, and logistics company. Mainly they help manufacturers

Stocks discussed on the in-depth session of Jim Cramer's Mad Money TV Program, Tuesday, May 7.

CEO Interview: Donald Knauss, Clorox (CLX)

On the 100th anniversary of the creation of the company, CEO Donald Knauss of Clorox (CLX), discussed the first major bleach product made from salt water with an electric charge. Knauss said there is a misconception that household bleach is unhealthy; it isn't the same bleach used for paper, and has natural ingredients. The stock has risen 32.5% since last year, but the company missed earnings estimates and sales projections in its recent quarter. However, management raised guidance for the full year.

CLX has 65% market share in bleach, 75% in household charcoal with its Kingsford brand and 35% market share in trash bags. Around 90% of its brands rank either first or second in their categories for market share. When it comes to worries about private label

In compiling the Dividend Champions list (found here: http://dripinvesting.org/Tools/Tools.asp) I get to see which companies are nearing the anniversaries of their previous dividend increases. Since most of these firms raise their payout about the same time every year, I can say with some confidence that they are likely to do so again. I have modified the Expected Increase series to reflect a more SA-friendly format by separating the Champions (25 or more years of higher dividends), Contenders (10-24 years), and Challengers (5-9 years) into distinct groupings, so please look for the other articles.

Dividend Growth Picks Up

After a relatively quiet period for dividend increase announcements, I expect to see a strong pick-up in activity as we head into late April, coinciding with Annual Shareholder meetings, which tend to be most prominent in the next month or so, when many companies like to give their owners reason

Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings Inc. (AAWW) is a holding company which owns Atlas Air, a provider of aviation services and outsourced aircraft. The firm has a market capitalization of roughly $1 billion, but despite its reasonable size, the firm is thinly covered by analysts and the financial press, and I believe it is often overlooked by investors. This article discusses the company, its current state, why I believe the future may be very bright for the firm, and what risks the company faces going forward.

The Current Situation:

The company owns a fleet of 747 freighters and its major customers include airlines, freight forwarders, express delivery providers, and the US military. The company provides aircraft and the personnel to fly them to customers who need to move things around the world. The company's aircraft are used on six continents.

Let's start by looking at the company's basic financials.

To begin

Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) reported last week that its February machine retail sales were down 13 percent. The reports stated that February North America machine retail sales were down 12 percent, while Asia/Pacific machine retail sales were down a whopping 26 percent, and Latin America retail sales down 3 percent. Despite the slowdown the company is expected to unveil its latest innovative engine for hydraulic fracturing at the 13th China International Petroleum& Petrochemical Technology and Equipment Exhibition (CIPPE). February's machine sales are a bit worrying considering the global economy is supposed to be doing well with the equity indexes at all-time highs. It appears that emerging market sales are not as strong as previously expected, with worldwide sales being negative since Q4 2012. This was the first negative sales drop since 2010.

FedEx (NYSE: FDX) cut its outlook for the year last week stating that it will trim its flight capacity

Individual Investor Fund or IIF - March 2013 Quarterly Update and Review

The IIF portfolio, or Fund, is managed through a Roth Individual Retirement Account, or Roth IRA. There are two driving factors that mandate a current high cash position in the portfolio based on the fund's objectives. They are the constrained amount of allowed annual contributions ($5,500 for 2013) and the need to have an ample supply of cash for managing the portfolio. It is anticipated that over time that the ratio of cash will decrease, however, it is the philosophy of the fund to always have significant cash reserves available for investing opportunities.

The Fund has adjusted its objectives to include the consideration of companies within the $10 plus billion to $30 billion market capitalization range in addition to the primary focus on companies within the $300 million to $10 billion range. Additionally, the fund is now providing

Another quarter, another strong showing for US equities: The Dow Jones Industrials (DIA) gained 11.25% for the quarter. The S&P500 (SPY) gained 10.03%, while Tech-heavy NASDAQ (QQQ) gained a moderate 8.21.25%, held down by Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Cisco Systems (CSCO), and Priceline.com (PCLN)-all four ending up the quarter in the red.

Major Equity Indexes

In the meantime Gold and silver continued their descent with SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) losing 4.1%, iShares Silver Trust (SLV) losing 1.5%, and Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold losing 1.5 percent.

Major Precious Metals ETFs/Stocks

What's in the cards for

FedEx (FDX) is in the midst of rebalancing its U.S. to Asia product offering, as its FedEx Express segment experienced weakness in Q3. This was outlined in the company's Q3 2013 earnings call held on March 20, 2013. Frederick W. Smith, Founder, Executive Chairman, CEO and President, noted the weakness in FedEx Express is due to industry overcapacity and customers selecting less expensive and slower transit for international transport.

As a result of the issues in its express segment, FedEx is decreasing capacity to and from Asia and is managing traffic flows to place lower yielding traffic in lower-cost alternatives. David J. Bronczek, CEO and President of FedEx Express, further added the international marketplace has shifted and basically agreed with a conference caller that the company has the wrong assets in the wrong place for the type of business. Additionally, the company is planning on accelerating retirement of some

Most transportation companies are like a proxy for worldwide economic demand, as they transport everything under the sun from raw materials to important documents. One among them is the bellwether FedEx (FDX), which reported rather weak 3Q12 results. Its results took investors by surprise and increased woes regarding the global economic recovery. Despite that, I think FedEx is a good buy right now. In order to clarify my stand, let us take a peek at its 3Q results first.

3Q12 results

Although its revenues increased 4% to $11 billion (versus analyst expectations of $10.86 billion), operating income dipped 28% to $589 million. As a result operating margin declined 230bps to 5.4%, the biggest fall in third quarter profit. Integration expenses related to recent acquisitions in Brazil, France, Mexico and Poland also impacted margins. It reported net income of $361 million and EPS of $1.23 compared to the analyst consensus estimate

Anyone following the U.S. and the world economy closely cannot help but be concerned about Main Street, where the news is getting worse instead of better. Most notably a slowing U.S. consumer sector, capital spending sector, a European economy in recession, and a pick up in inflation.

The slow-down in the U.S. consumer sector is evidenced by much weaker than expected Chicago PMI released today, 52.4 versus an expectation of 56.5; a weaker than expected Consumer Confidence released on Tuesday, 59.7 versus an expectation of 66.9; and a weaker than expected Consumer Sentiment report out of University of Michigan last week, 71.8 versus the figure 79, which the market expected -- reflecting, perhaps, concerns over the rise in payroll taxes and looming government spending cuts.

Second, disappointing guidance from a leading cosmetics company, ULTA Salon Cosmetics (ULTA). Consumer spending counts more than two-thirds of the U.S. GDP, and is

Amazon.com (AMZN) has continued to charge ahead in 2013 on the booming potential of its cloud division, Amazon Web Services [AWS]. Bulls have always been quick to point out the massive competitive moat Amazon has been investing in (mostly big data centers) to build a long term advantage in the cloud industry. AWS has been on fire for the past 2-3 years, and is even projected to hit $3.8B in revenue in 2013.

Analysts have already pegged the value of the young AWS between $19-$30B, implying a hefty price/sales multiple and implications of massive growth. Even though $3.8B sounds like a lot to add to Amazon's topline, it's really not. Amazon is projected to bring in $75.6B in 2013, meaning AWS will represent just 5% of Amazon's revenue this year.

Where does all the rest come from? Mainly Amazon's bread and butter e-commerce business. But recently, several prominent

After a disappointing set of Q3 results from FedEx (FDX) last week driven by overcapacity in the international freight industry and an unfavorable volume-mix in the express package delivery segment, we have adjusted our price estimate for the company. Key drivers impacted by the change in our outlook for the company are average daily international priority and economy shipment volumes, and FedEx Express EBITDA margins.

According to our analysis the company now relies on its ground operations for more than 80% of its $107 valuation. Here, we take a look at the key factors driving the change in our outlook for the company.

See Our Complete Analysis of FedEx

Overcapacity In International Freight Industry Driving Lower Pounds

Sluggish global GDP growth driven by policy uncertainties in the U.S., China recording the slowest growth rate in a decade and Europe’s struggle with an economic nightmare is driving feeble consumer demand globally.

One of the classic forms of investment that hedge funds and sophisticated investors employ is known as a long/short strategy. This strategy attempts to limit volatility in the position and portfolio. The basic idea, is to be "long" (buy) the stronger company, and "short" (sell) the weaker company. A key when using this strategy is to make sure the positions are equal in size.

Generally, when using stocks, the companies used in this strategy are in the same industry. Ideally, if the market or industry is somewhat directionless, the stronger "longed" company increases in value, while the weaker "shorted" company declines, and there is a profit on both positions. When the market or industry advances strongly, both stocks may increase as well, but the stronger company should increase more than the short, providing a marginal gain. Likewise, if the market or industry declines, the weaker shorted company should decrease more

International shipping giant FedEx (FDX) reported weak third quarter results and a light outlook as its customers have flocked towards lower cost shipping options. Revenue grew 4% year-over-year to $11 billion, slightly above consensus expectations. Earnings fell 21% year-over-year on a non-GAAP basis to $1.13 per share, as operating margins declined 330 basis points to 5.4%.

On a segment basis, FedEx Express revenue grew just 2% year-over-year to $6.7 billion, with volumes and pricing up 1%, respectively in the US. International Economy shipping volumes grew 12%, while International Priority volumes increased just 2%. As a result, average export revenue per package fell 3%, leading segment operating margins down 350 basis points to 1.8%. CEO Fred Smith noted that the "door-to-door" international market is still performing well, but blamed the air cargo market for the lackluster results, saying:

"It is the air cargo market, and the air cargo market is,

There was a lot going on last week. While everyone was focused on the drama in Cyprus, a number of bellwether companies whose quarters ended in February reported earnings. Developments in Cyprus will likely dominate the headlines and market action this week. However, attention will soon turn to 1st quarter earnings. Studying these early reporters can give us clues into what to expect when earnings season gets underway in a few weeks.

Last Wednesday morning, Caterpillar (CAT), the leader in global construction and mining equipment, released February sales information in an 8-K. The report was significant because it showed an accelerating decline in machine sales, down 13% in the three months ending in February compared to down 4% in January. This weakness was driven by Asia/Pacific which was down 26%.

While Nike (NKE) reported a strong quarter after the close on Thursday, it was driven by North America and masked