Bank bashing is back, stocks suffer

Posted by & filed under Governments & Regulators, Growth & Valuation, Industry Analysis.

Description: Banks are making a profit but they are taking heat from all sides. Neither the market nor Main Street is happy with them right now. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report Date: 06/23/2011 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2011/06/23/n_bz_bank_bashing_stocks.cnnmoney/ Questions for discussion: Summarize the issues related to why banks and bank stocks are out of favor? Do you agree… Read more »

Keeping companies like Facebook private – forever

Posted by & filed under Company Analysis, Growth & Valuation.

Description:  Fortune editors Dan Roth and Dan Primack believe companies will continue to go public even if regulators relax rules forcing them to. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report Date: 06/15/2011 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2011/06/15/f_deal_ipo_facebook.fortune/ Questions for discussion: Summarize the issues related to the laws governing when a firm must go public. Are there winners or losers in… Read more »

Aflac’s comeback

Posted by & filed under Company Analysis, Growth & Valuation.

Description:  Shares of Aflac have taken a beating lately but name recognition is helping the insurer turn things around. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report Date: 06/10/2011 Link:  http://money.cnn.com/video/markets/2011/06/10/mkts_mids_aflac.cnnmoney/ Questions for discussion: Do you consider Aflac a good investment today? How about insurance companies in general? Why might recent natural and man-made disasters be interpreted as… Read more »

50,000 BitTorrent users sued for alleged illegal downloads

Posted by & filed under Economic Analysis, Financial Planning, Growth & Valuation.

Description: The turn of the 21st century was rife with bitter anti-piracy lawsuits pitting studios against their potential customers, with music labels banding together to blast Napster — and its massive user base — to smithereens. Source: CNNMoney.com Date: 06/10/2011 Link: http://money.cnn.com/2011/06/10/technology/bittorrent_lawsuits/index.htm Questions for discussion: How can this legal intervention affect BitTorrent? Is the business… Read more »

Groupon IPO: Tech boom or bubble?

Posted by & filed under Company Analysis, Growth & Valuation.

Description: Deal site Groupon and music service Pandora could continue the tech IPO boom started by LinkedIn and Renren. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report Date: 06/03/2011 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/markets/2011/06/03/mkts_groupon_pandora.cnnmoney/ Questions for discussion: Do you think there is a bubble forming in these tech stocks? Do you think these firms are raising sufficient funds for growth purposes?… Read more »

Sino-Forest fire singes bubble king Paulson

Posted by & filed under Economic Analysis, Financial Planning, Growth & Valuation.

Description: The biggest loser in the latest apparent Chinese reverse merger fraud is John Paulson. Source: Fortune.com Date: 06/03/2011 Link: http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2011/06/03/sino-forest-fire-singes-bubble-king-paulson/ Questions for discussion: Summarize reasons for the dramatic fall in share value. Do you think there might be illegal activity on somebody’s part? How might the firm mitigate this publicity?

Tiffany dazzles

Posted by & filed under Company Analysis, Growth & Valuation.

Description:  The luxury jeweler, know for its little blue box, reported a 20% jump in global sales. Signet, owner of Kays and Jared, also fared well. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report Date: 05/26/2011 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/markets/2011/05/26/mkts_tiffanys_0526.cnnmoney/ Questions for discussion: What significance, if any, is there to the results reported? How do you think investors will react… Read more »

What Are the Largest Hedge Funds Holding?

Posted by & filed under Company Analysis, Growth & Valuation, Industry Analysis.

Description: W.R. Grace, Potash Corp. and Viacom are among the top holdings of the world’s largest hedge funds, according to Mazin Jadallah, founder and CEO of AlphaClone, who says the funds are overweight materials and also financials. Alistair Barr reports. Source: Moneywatch.com – video report Date: 05/23/2011 Link: http://www.marketwatch.com/video/asset/what-are-the-largest-hedge-funds-holding/4D9E306D-DE9E-433A-B458-9E5721F9B298 Questions for discussion: Summarized the essence… Read more »

BlackRock’s Rick Rieder takes a stand on bonds

Posted by & filed under Economic Analysis, Financial Planning, Growth & Valuation.

Description: Rick Rieder is not the best-known man in bonds. That honor belongs to Pimco’s Bill Gross, manager of Total Return, the world’s largest bond fund. But Rieder, 49, is a titan in his own right. Source: Fortune.com Date: 05/27/2011 Link: http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/25/pf/rick_rieder_blackrock.fortune/index.htm Questions for discussion: Summarize Rick Rieder’s strategic thinking as reported in the article…. Read more »

LinkedIn CEO: Why we’re so valuable

Posted by & filed under Company Analysis, Financial Planning, Growth & Valuation.

Description: CEO Jeff Weiner says LinkedIn’s “exclusive focus on professionals” is what makes his company’s social platform so valuable to investors. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report Date: 05/20/2011 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2011/05/20/n_linkedin_ceo.cnnmoney/ Questions for discussion: Do you think LinkedIn is worth the IPO price? What revenue streams are available to the firm? What types of acquisitions would… Read more »