I'm a disgruntled Chesapeake Energy (CHK) shareholder. I'm just a small shareholder, but I've been trying to share my message.

My message is simple. My message is that the current Board of Directors at Chesapeake must be held accountable for their abysmal performance representing (actually not representing) the shareholders of Chesapeake Energy.

As a shareholder I've been trying to tell this Board of Directors that I don't want them to represent me anymore.

I wrote this article for Seeking Alpha that spelled out the specific examples of how this Board of Directors has not lived up to its duties of representing shareholders. And based on the feedback I've received through the comment section on Seeking Alpha on this and other articles, and the e-mails I've received through my blog, I believe that many, if not most, of Chesapeake Energy's shareholders feel the same way that I do.

But I'm just

With the exception of a few minor anomalies, 3M (MMM) moves in unison with the Dow. As I have said on previous occasions, March 16, 2012 was a very important day in the market. Several Designated Market Makers were establishing important merchandising stances in their issues. A decline was being initiated and that is why we find the market at its current levels.

The following blocks illustrate the importance of March 16th, at least in this issue:

It should come as no surprise that 3M was peaking at the same time the Dow was at its highs. 3M is a very important component used to move the Dow. I cover this topic in my book The Stock Market Insiders Manifesto and the Dow Divisor in my May 8 Seeking Alpha article.

The Divisor is a very important tool used by the Designated Market Makers and it is often overlooked. In

On Thursday, Heinz (HNZ) reported its fourth-quarter earnings results along with its full year outlook. The earnings came in right around where Wall Street analysis were expecting them to. The company had to scale back its long-term growth projections due to an increasingly difficult economic climate, especially in developing markets. This is a recap of HNZ FY2012:

• Sales grew 8.8% to a record $11.6 billion, fueled by growth in Emerging Markets, Top 15 Brands and Global Ketchup
• Emerging Markets generated strong double-digit organic sales growth, up 16.4% (40.9% reported), and a record 21% of the Company's total sales
• Global Ketchup delivered organic sales growth of 8.0% (9.7% reported)
• Top 15 Brands delivered 5.0% organic sales growth (12.3% reported)
• EPS grew 9.5% to $3.35, excluding special charges ($2.85 reported)
• Reported net income was $923 million; Net income before special charges was $1.09 billion
• The Company generated strong operating free cash flow

Cabot Oil & Gas (COG) is a very attractive asset for investors looking to add an E&P to a portfolio. Cabot operates exclusively in North America and takes a very focused and measured approach toward its current operations and future projections. It shows conviction in its vision of future growth and shows versatility and industry knowledge in its diversification of its own portfolio. Both its financials and operations show high potential for growth through 2012 and more so in the long-term. I would view this is a predominately long-term investment with a high potential for future growth. Focusing on dominating the natural gas industry while growing in liquids, specifically oil is essential to its future success.

Right now is the best time to invest in Cabot because I don't believe its stock price will decrease by much, if at all through the remainder of 2012. Unlike the majority of competition

After doing several of these analyses for the coal sector, a couple of questions came up. One was whether the original Altman Z-score model was the most adequate to use with mining companies. Another was curiosity regarding how Chesapeake Energy (CHK) and Encana (ECA) fared in this analysis. This article will seek to address both concerns. I'll analyze CHK and ECA, using both the original model and an alternate non-manufacturing Z-score.

Altman Z-Score, an Introduction

For those that didn't follow previous articles on this subject, I'll repeat this here. The Altman Z-score, as defined by Wikipedia, is:

The Z-score formula for predicting bankruptcy was published in 1968 by Edward I. Altman, who was, at the time, an Assistant Professor of Finance at New York University. The formula may be used to predict the probability that a firm will go into bankruptcy within two years. Z-scores are used to predict corporate

There's no doubt that Ford Motor Company (F) is moving in the right direction from where it was a few years ago. The company has slashed debt, increased total revenues, and boosted operating income from the lackluster year, 2008. As of late however, the stock has stalled and for some, there is uncertainty why the stock has fallen after beating earnings expectations recently by 4 cents. The main culprit of this ongoing issue is Europe.

Ford sales in the North America have been excellent and have continued to show growth in the slowly recovering U.S. economy. Their first quarter profit rose to $2.1 billion from $1.8 billion, revenue rose 4%, and they sold 36,000 more vehicles. Overall, though, their earnings fell 45% $1.4 billion due to the struggling European economy and poor sales in Asia. Uncertainty about Ford's success in markets outside North America have made investors cautious about buying

If we conducted a poll for the biggest story in 2012, which would you select to highlight the year thus far? Would it be Facebook (FB) and all the hype it received pre-IPO, followed by an epic flop? How about Europe, and its continued economic blunders weighing on U.S. equities? Well, if you don't say Apple (AAPL) and its back-to-back stellar quarters, accompanied by its parabolic run, it certainly should make your top three. It is undeniable that Apple is the talk of the tech world. With a new iPhone coming out every year, a new iPad that recently just debuted, and having a tight fisted grip on consumers, success is expected for a while to come. Aside from owning Apple outright, who better to ride on the coattails of that success than Qualcomm (QCOM)?

Qualcomm is one of the chip suppliers for Apple and its wireless devices. Things such

While no shareholder wants to see a company's expenses rise, sometimes it's a positive signal and should be embraced.

True, nascent industries that are on the cutting edge enjoy industry (and thus revenue) expansion with reckless abandon. And that's been great for Rackspace (RAX) and the multibillion-dollar cloud computing industry. In Q1 2012, the company's revenues grew by 6% from Q4 2011, and 31% year over year. Inevitably, however, the success of this high-growth industry brings new competition. Rackspace's need for increased marketing comes with that territory. Market leadership always requires a company to stay on top of its customer base. The growth of end-market use (such as Dropbox, Evernote, Facebook, and now Instagram) also supports the need for an increase in SG&A in order to keep pace with these applications -- and maintain top share in the cloud industry.

Let's examine Rackspace's billion-dollar revenue composition: organic growth from existing

On Tuesday Guess (NYSE: GES) slumped to nearly a three-year low. The designer/retailer was valued at almost 3.5 times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. That is the lowest of any apparel retailer in the U.S. and less than half of the median. This is Guess' first consecutive drop in profit in eight years. The global economic slump has done little to help in this area. Also, stiff competition is eroding the profit margins. Guess has sank 41% in the past year as the eurozone crisis undercut consumer demand and lower-priced brands pushed its operating margins to a six year low. This does not bode well for the company.

Guess does, however, have one pretty large positive. Cash. And lots of it. For this reason the retailer may still entice buyout firms. Guess maintains a higher free cash flow yield than 97% of its rivals. It also holds approximately

By Jonathan Yates

When it comes to Sirius XM (SIRI) there is plenty of coverage out there. There are also plenty of facts that investors can consider. The confusion surrounding this equity often comes from opinions regarding possible paths that can transpire as Liberty Media (LMCA) makes its moves for an end game regarding its position in Sirius XM.

The first thing we have to acknowledge is that informed speculation and discussion is healthy. The next point to consider is that as investors we need to step back and look at the issues from the standpoint of both Liberty Media and Sirius XM.

It has long been my opinion that Liberty Media is in the driver's seat and that anything current Sirius XM management can do is reactionary to a move made by Liberty Media. Realistically speaking there is nothing proactive Sirius XM can do other than to pick up the phone and

MetLife (NYSE: MET) is planning, among other things, to increase sales in emerging markets. The New York-based insurer is looking to increase sales in emerging markets to approximately 20%. It has stated that the opportunity to earn higher returns is greater in emerging markets. It expects this plan to leverage its global footprint and capitalize on trends and opportunities in key markets. This is a great plan for MetLife. It wishes to continue this growth pattern until 2015, increasing sales in emerging markets 20% each year. That is a sensible plan. Not too fast, but not slow enough to miss out on the opportunities either.

MetLife is fundamentally a strong company. It currently insures 90 million customers in over 50 countries. It provides insurance, annuities, and employee benefit programs. A little over a year ago MetLife purchased American Life Insurance Company, bringing together two well-established international businesses with track records

Chinese Internet search giant Baidu (BIDU) has seen its share price drop by around $30 since mid-April. However, with some big announcements recently, Baidu has already seen an increase of around $6. Interestingly enough, this increase has come on the back of work already done by Google (GOOG).

The big news is Baidu's new low cost smart phone. Baidu plans to keep the cost of its smart phone very low by using its cloud platform. Since Google's search engine is very poor in China due to high censorship that causes poor load times, Baidu will be able to capitalize on the fact that Android uses Google's search.

Instead of using a slow, unreliable search engine, Baidu is banking on consumers desire to use Baidu, thus switching to its smart phone. Since Android places the Google search engine front and center, a Baidu phone that replaces Google's engine with its own

In many ways Suntech Power's (STP) first quarter earnings report provided some supportive insight into the process of consolidation currently underway in the solar industry. The financial numbers were of course less than constructive, though much as expected as pricing pressures continue to make life difficult for the sector. However, perhaps of more interest were the company's insights into the inroads being made in the industry regarding the over supply situation and their own progress on reducing production costs. Both of these factors point to a process which will eventually right the industry, leaving a bright future for those competitive producers who survive the current turmoil. Light at the end of the tunnel. However, the tunnel still seems to be about 6 to 12 months long. Given the market's general lack of ability to be significantly forward-looking in the current difficult environment that probably means that any hopes for sustained

Last week Media General (MEG) came up with a very favorable announcement whereby it reached an agreement to sell its newspaper division, excluding the Tampa Tribune, to Warren Buffett’s BH Media Group for $142MM. In addition, Buffett would also provide MEG with a new Term Loan and revolver in exchange for roughly 20% of additional equity. This is great news for MEG, hitting on a number of points I touched on in my "gamechanger" post a few months ago.

Management’s string of value destruction maneuvers in recent years led to an expected dose of investor skepticism. When shares reached $6 in early March, MEG management did what it always does - give the shaft to shareholders - with a pathetically worded announcement that it could give no assurances of reaching an agreement to refinance with its lenders. Just one week later management wanted to let investors know it was back

The accuracy of last week's block data for the market in general and Take-Two Interactive (TTWO) in particular was questionable. This is especially true concerning the data of May 15. Somehow the data has since corrected itself and we will run another download tonight to confirm that all is as it should be.

For example: Somehow a block of 3,148,286 shares traded at $45.55 after the close. The split in 2005 not withstanding,Take-Two Interactive has never been near those levels.

Unfortunately, I do not know anyone who is reporting these anomalies except me. We were seeing trades from exchanges that do not exist and at prices that were completely erroneous. The provided example speaks for itself. Enough said about that.

If you review the chart in Figure 2.3 you can see that the vertical lines index with points of reference the most significant blocks in this issue.

I am going

A few years ago when I was buying shares of Ford (F) at prices below $2, my friends kept telling me I was crazy. They told me I was throwing good money after bad money. Then my investment in Ford returned me about 900% in 3 years. Now the same friends are saying the same thing to me as I add to my Nokia (NOK) shares at prices below $3 - not to mention when I increased my Bank of America (BAC) exposure when it fell below $5 last year. Many people say "you are just speculating," however, I wouldn't call buying shares of Nokia speculation, just like I wouldn't call buying shares of Ford as a speculation in 2009. Speculation is something different.

This is an example of speculating: XYZ is a drug company that never got FDA approval in its history. Currently it is working on a secret

Yahoo (YHOO) is getting strong reviews for its new Axis browser. The browser is designed around mobile, and delivered first on Apple's (AAPL) iOS.

It's not a Chrome-Explorer-Firefox replacement per se, however. For most browser applications it's an add-on, which mainly makes search easier by giving most results in thumbnails (rather than text links).

Economically, it seems to make no sense. Yahoo is taking away ad business from Google (GOOG), perhaps, but it's not bringing money into its own coffers. [OK, I get it. That was the reason so many companies sponsored the Mozilla Foundation and Firefox -- to take money from Microsoft (MSFT).]

But this is not the kind of move a struggling company should be making. A struggling company should be looking to make money for itself, not keep someone else from getting a taste.

Unless, that is, the struggling company in question is positioning itself to be