Nice call on FLO. Long FLO since 2006, and I have been impressed with the way this company is run. A very good operation, sensible acquisitions, and a conservative financial approach. Also, the management and board members own more than 10% of the company shares, so they have a vested interest in improving shareholder value.
Clorox Hikes Dividend, But Is It A Buy At Current Levels? [View article]
Typed like someone who has never seen 14% interest rates. The balance sheet does matter. The share price of Clorox will fall like a rock if/when interest rates increase.
My Good-Yielding Stocks Portfolio That Can Outperform The Market By A Big Margin [View article]
Bikerguy's point is correct. If you're swapping stocks out every four weeks, you will miss out on a lot of the dividends. How does this kind of churn make sense?
5 Energy Sector Stocks With Potential To Reach 15% Yield On Cost In 10 Years [View article]
FStorm: This is the second of your articles that I've read carrying a similar theme and methodology. (The first was a few weeks ago and included Sturm, Ruger as one of the prospects.) I think you could improve the value to readers by including some evaluation of a recommended company's financial prospects to support the thesis that the cash payout will continue to grow in the future at the same rate that it grew in the past. Not easy, of course, but better than running forward while looking backward. Saw a kid on the school playground do that not long ago, and he ended up with stitches in his forehead. (He was OK - kids wounds heal much faster than adults' losses in the market.)
Why Microsoft Stock Is Going Up Despite Windows 8 Going Down [View article]
My comment is about the second part of the article title. Last week, I bought a new HP Envy desktop computer with an Intel i7 processor, Beats Audio, and Windows 8 software. Windows 8 has proven to be no problem at all. And I'm an old fart stuck in my ways....
Oh, yeah - this powerful machine cost less than my wife's browse-only iPad.
10 Small-Cap Dividend Stocks That Can Outperform The Market By A Big Margin [View article]
One other comment on CALM - the yield shown in the chart is over-stated. CALM's dividend is variable based on quarterly financial results, so it's not valid to take the current quarter's yield and multiply times four. The past four dividends total $1.27 on a stock that has averaged about $41 per share - or about 3%.
10 Small-Cap Dividend Stocks That Can Outperform The Market By A Big Margin [View article]
Not sure about that either, curls. I guess some articles hit readers' hot buttons and some don't.
I agree that hand-picked small-cap stocks can outperform the market, but it's the "hand-picked" aspect that is important to me. There are two companies on your list that I have experience with, and both good. ASEI was very attractive back when there was more emphasis and money spent on security. Got a great return from owning their shares, but sold a couple of years ago when their revenues and income flattened out. Not sure it's a very good prospect now. CALM is one of the larger holdings in my portfolio and has been for about three years. The dividends and price appreciation have both been very good. Looking forward, the company still appears to be undervalued , and there remain good prospects for further consolidation in the industry. CALM is a keeper for me.
Thanx for the listing Mr Goren. Plan to check some of them out further.
Homeowners Choice: Housing Recovery Side Bet [View article]
I moved away from the gulf coast to avoid the effects of strong hurricanes, as I'm now too old to deal with all the disruption they cause. If this company's success and your prediction of growth depends on not having another Ivan or Katrina, good luck.
Just so you know, I also avoid any investment in companies that are based near the New Madrid fault.
Converted some equities to cash on the upward market Tuesday. Holding about 18% cash, waiting for some sanity. (Would have been over 20% but I had to send the friggin IRS a check on Monday, dammit!)
Liked your Tootsie Roll Pop analogy, but here's where it differed for me. I would suck on the candy, throw away the chocolate center, and spend the rest of the day chewing on the paper stick. There's gain to be had with the stick....
One note on NPK - they actually pay an annual dividend that is adjusted based on financial results for the year. The last four annual dividends have ranged between $6 and $8.25 per share. Much higher than the 1.3% mentioned in the article.
Why You Should Accumulate Shares Of BlackBerry [View article]
The smart phone market is changing too rapidly for anyone to do more than guess what will happen next. Why not stick to stocks where you can better understand the market? BBRY is one of those shares that is attractive to the swashbuckling gamblers among us....
Two things have changed over the past 15 years to increase the cost of diesel vs gasoline: Sulfur content - both in Europe and the US, government mandates have dropped the sulfur content of on-road diesel by a factor of about 50. The diesel cut of crude oil has a higher sulfur content than the gasoline cuts, and it's harder to remove via the refining process.
Demand - in Europe, the percentage of diesel-driven vehicles has gone way up, encouraged by taxation policies that favor diesel engines. When I first moved to the UK in 1995, there were very few diesel cars, and now they make up more than 50% of the vehicles on the road. That shift (increased diesel demand, decreased gasoline demand) has made a marked change in the market values between the two fuels. And it really is a world market when it comes to liquid hydrocarbons.
For over 30 years, my job was producing and marketing petroleum products, and I commend you on your article. It does a good job of laying out the fundamentals of the gasoline market quite well. A few nuances that I would add:
State involvement - aside from the taxes you already mentioned, there are some states that discourage retail competition through minimum mark-up laws and rules that prevent price competition. The stated objective is to protect the 'mom and pop' operators from large predatory marketers, but the reality is that independent marketing associations make a lot of local political donations that help keep their margins fat. OK, AL, WI, MN are all guilty of this - those are the ones that I'm familiar with, but there are probably more. Also, Oregon and New Jersey force higher prices by requiring that all gas stations provide full attended service.
Price collusion - in some small towns the local marketers fix prices amongst themselves. It's illegal, but they operate in areas where the feds don't pay any attention.
Ethanol - it's a political issue, not an energy one. It takes more energy to produce a gallon of ethanol than you get back when you burn it. Only the government mandates and tax breaks for ethanol put it into the gasoline mix. At least it keeps the farmers happy.
Credit card costs - at current prices, a gas station operator pays credit card companies 7-10 cents/gallon for every credit card purchase. The banks make more off of that gallon than the retailer does. American Express is notorious for having the highest fees, and that's why some marketers have stopped accepting AMEX.
Marketing hype - Major oil companies spend a lot of money in advertising to convince consumers that their fuel is better than anyone else's, and that premium gasoline is better for your car. It's all hype - if they can convince you to buy mid-grade or premium fuel, their profit margins skyrocket, and your performance doesn't change one whit, but you feel better about taking care of your car. (There are some high-end vehicles that require premium fuel, but the vast majority of cars on the road don't benefit from it.)
Keep up the good work, Mr Spencer. The world can always use more understanding of how things work.
Bull Of The Day: Flowers Foods [View article]
Long FLO since 2006, and I have been impressed with the way this company is run. A very good operation, sensible acquisitions, and a conservative financial approach. Also, the management and board members own more than 10% of the company shares, so they have a vested interest in improving shareholder value.
Clorox Hikes Dividend, But Is It A Buy At Current Levels? [View article]
The balance sheet does matter.
The share price of Clorox will fall like a rock if/when interest rates increase.
My Good-Yielding Stocks Portfolio That Can Outperform The Market By A Big Margin [View article]
5 Energy Sector Stocks With Potential To Reach 15% Yield On Cost In 10 Years [View article]
5 Energy Sector Stocks With Potential To Reach 15% Yield On Cost In 10 Years [View article]
This is the second of your articles that I've read carrying a similar theme and methodology. (The first was a few weeks ago and included Sturm, Ruger as one of the prospects.)
I think you could improve the value to readers by including some evaluation of a recommended company's financial prospects to support the thesis that the cash payout will continue to grow in the future at the same rate that it grew in the past.
Not easy, of course, but better than running forward while looking backward. Saw a kid on the school playground do that not long ago, and he ended up with stitches in his forehead. (He was OK - kids wounds heal much faster than adults' losses in the market.)
Why Microsoft Stock Is Going Up Despite Windows 8 Going Down [View article]
Last week, I bought a new HP Envy desktop computer with an Intel i7 processor, Beats Audio, and Windows 8 software. Windows 8 has proven to be no problem at all. And I'm an old fart stuck in my ways....
Oh, yeah - this powerful machine cost less than my wife's browse-only iPad.
10 Small-Cap Dividend Stocks That Can Outperform The Market By A Big Margin [View article]
10 Small-Cap Dividend Stocks That Can Outperform The Market By A Big Margin [View article]
I agree that hand-picked small-cap stocks can outperform the market, but it's the "hand-picked" aspect that is important to me. There are two companies on your list that I have experience with, and both good.
ASEI was very attractive back when there was more emphasis and money spent on security. Got a great return from owning their shares, but sold a couple of years ago when their revenues and income flattened out. Not sure it's a very good prospect now.
CALM is one of the larger holdings in my portfolio and has been for about three years. The dividends and price appreciation have both been very good. Looking forward, the company still appears to be undervalued , and there remain good prospects for further consolidation in the industry. CALM is a keeper for me.
Thanx for the listing Mr Goren. Plan to check some of them out further.
Homeowners Choice: Housing Recovery Side Bet [View article]
Just so you know, I also avoid any investment in companies that are based near the New Madrid fault.
3 Things Apple Must Do To Regain Its Dominance [View article]
Our Tootsie Pop Market [View article]
Liked your Tootsie Roll Pop analogy, but here's where it differed for me. I would suck on the candy, throw away the chocolate center, and spend the rest of the day chewing on the paper stick. There's gain to be had with the stick....
3 Undervalued Low-Debt Dividend Stocks With Encouraging Sales Trends [View article]
Long NPK.
Why You Should Accumulate Shares Of BlackBerry [View article]
BBRY is one of those shares that is attractive to the swashbuckling gamblers among us....
How Gas Really Gets Priced [View article]
Sulfur content - both in Europe and the US, government mandates have dropped the sulfur content of on-road diesel by a factor of about 50. The diesel cut of crude oil has a higher sulfur content than the gasoline cuts, and it's harder to remove via the refining process.
Demand - in Europe, the percentage of diesel-driven vehicles has gone way up, encouraged by taxation policies that favor diesel engines. When I first moved to the UK in 1995, there were very few diesel cars, and now they make up more than 50% of the vehicles on the road. That shift (increased diesel demand, decreased gasoline demand) has made a marked change in the market values between the two fuels. And it really is a world market when it comes to liquid hydrocarbons.
How Gas Really Gets Priced [View article]
A few nuances that I would add:
State involvement - aside from the taxes you already mentioned, there are some states that discourage retail competition through minimum mark-up laws and rules that prevent price competition. The stated objective is to protect the 'mom and pop' operators from large predatory marketers, but the reality is that independent marketing associations make a lot of local political donations that help keep their margins fat. OK, AL, WI, MN are all guilty of this - those are the ones that I'm familiar with, but there are probably more. Also, Oregon and New Jersey force higher prices by requiring that all gas stations provide full attended service.
Price collusion - in some small towns the local marketers fix prices amongst themselves. It's illegal, but they operate in areas where the feds don't pay any attention.
Ethanol - it's a political issue, not an energy one. It takes more energy to produce a gallon of ethanol than you get back when you burn it. Only the government mandates and tax breaks for ethanol put it into the gasoline mix. At least it keeps the farmers happy.
Credit card costs - at current prices, a gas station operator pays credit card companies 7-10 cents/gallon for every credit card purchase. The banks make more off of that gallon than the retailer does. American Express is notorious for having the highest fees, and that's why some marketers have stopped accepting AMEX.
Marketing hype - Major oil companies spend a lot of money in advertising to convince consumers that their fuel is better than anyone else's, and that premium gasoline is better for your car. It's all hype - if they can convince you to buy mid-grade or premium fuel, their profit margins skyrocket, and your performance doesn't change one whit, but you feel better about taking care of your car. (There are some high-end vehicles that require premium fuel, but the vast majority of cars on the road don't benefit from it.)
Keep up the good work, Mr Spencer. The world can always use more understanding of how things work.
Long MUR, COP, BP.