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Our Outlook for Media & Telecom Stocks

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 19:06:18 GMT

We continue to favor the companies with strong competitive advantages.[More...]

Generating A Robust Recovery

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:56:53 GMT

Officially, the Great Recession may be coming to an end, but it will leave in its wake historically high unemployment and a host of other serious economic problems. How will policy-makers promote a robust, employment-led recovery that will lay the foundation for strong, long-term growth? Meeting this challenge requires both the will to continue investing in families hard hit by the recession despite growing budget deficits and the skill in crafting the right mix of policies to ensure that this recovery - unlike the last one - will bring significant numbers of new jobs and rising[More...]

Expecting Big Things From Wireless Infrastructure Stocks

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:09:15 GMT

Anyone who has tuned into Jim Cramer on Mad Money recently has probably heard one of his most prominent investment theories right now: mobile internet technology will shape our future. He compares the impact of the mobile internet tsunami to the advent of the internet itself or the personal computer (The Smart Phone Revolution Continues). On Thursday’s Mad Money, Cramer turned his attention to the companies that will be tasked with keeping the wireless networks able to handle the increased demand.[More...]

Bloomberg: Bernanke Bid To Lift Housing Scuttled By Rising Rates

Sat, 30 May 2009 18:58:44 GMT

First, the whole premise that the central bank of a country should be interfering in markets like this is shameful. Or better put, did the central bank ever apply the breaks to "cool things down" on the housing sector when it was screaming higher? Of course not... there were no actions even 1/100th of the magnitude when times were good... but all the king's horses (and men) have been called to the wall on the flip side of a bubble (that they helped create) The two title insurers we own have been obliterated of late - while we are "somewhat" hedged by our short of the iShares Barclays 20+ Year Bond ([More...]

Tax-Free Munis: Respect The Yield Curve

Thu, 14 May 2009 21:15:44 GMT

I had lunch over the weekend with a fellow money manager specializing in municipal bonds. Because of the growing volume of municipal bond business, I like to gather opinions about where the best opportunities are right now in this space. It’s no secret that the current yield spread between treasuries and municipal bonds is totally out of whack. In case you don’t know the historical norms, here is some background: Because municipal bonds purchased by state residents are often free of state and federal taxes, they typically yield less interest to investors than treasury securities with comparable maturities. Lately, treasuries yields have been abysmal in light of the recession. The ‘flight to safety’ play has treasury prices sky high and yields very low. Similarly, the highest rated municipal bonds (AAA) are paying much less interest than municipals bonds in the A and BBB space. I asked my friend if the depressed prices of these highly graded (but not highest[More...]

S&P 500 Stocks

Sun, 05 Apr 2009 01:35:00 GMT

The S&P 500 comprises of 500 large cap common stocks actively traded in the United States. The largees public companies that are traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and NASDAQ are included in the S&P 500 index. The S&P 500 index was lunched in 1957 and is a value weighted index which is based on the 500 American stocks with the largest market capitalizations. The S&P 500 is the most widely followed index After the Dow Jones Industrial Average index and it is considered a barometer for the American economy. The S&P 500 index is included in the Index of Leading Indicators. There are the number of trading vehicle that are designed to follow the S&P 500 index. Hundreds of billions of US dollars have been invested in this index. The SPY (Exchange Traded Fund) is one of the most actively trading stock over the world. The Rydex,[More...]

UK Unveils Plan To Insure Banks

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 15:51:00 GMT

The market is getting a nice bounce this morning, although you know I generally prefer a market that opens weak and closes strong. A strong market open like this too often runs the risk of fading by the closing bell. Let's hope I'm wrong this time. Yesterday's session was not that bad. Consider that the previous day the S&P rallied a strong +4% on heavy volume. 90% of the volume was "up" volume (stocks rising). Yesterday's 1% pullback on lower volume looks like it was just consolidating the previous day's rally. Europe is also up on the news that the UK government will insure assets at banks to help protect against future losses. The FT said the plan is expected to cover as much as 600 billion British pounds of assets. In economic news, new home sales for January were down -10.2% for the[More...]

Short Term Income Funds Update

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 22:25:00 GMT

Investment portfolio outcome successes depend primarily upon the age of the beneficiary or account owner and the long term probabilities of inflation, growth, and politics. The age of the beneficiary is well known while the other parameters are guesswork. Short term politics won't matter for a 20-30 year old, but matter a lot for a 60-70 year old. Thus for practical purposes we can ignore the long term and focus on life expectancy of the beneficiary and short term politics. However painful our impressions of the long term may be, we should ignore them. In this sense the outlooks of both younger and older investors are closer than most advisors would have us believe. Many advisors want all of us to stick our money into formula index plans based upon age and never move our money elsewhere. Nearly[More...]

2009 Stimulus Plan Highlights

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:23:00 GMT

While the Congress is still battling to get the final version of the massive 2009 economic stimulus plan (could cost tax payers as much as $800 billion when the deal is finalized) done before the weekend, I think it’s time to get an idea on what we can expect from the proposed plan. After all, we, the tax payers, will eventually shoulder the bill, so we better know what benefits we will get from it, directly or indirectly. So far we have heard so much talk about whether there will be a second stimulus payment check for every one, like the one we received early last year when the first economic stimulus plan was implemented, about whether the $7,500 first-time homebuyer tax credit has to be paid back (a $15,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers has been approved by the Senate already, but[More...]

Notes on Obama's New Conference

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 18:31:00 GMT

Highlights include Emerson Electric (EME), General Electric (GE) and 3M (MMM). Two things were clear last night -- first is that Obama has a solid grasp of economics. The second is that he understands just how serious the problem is, even if he is erring a bit on the optimistic side. Hey, that is understandable given his position that he would not want to totally spook the markets. It's a fine line between being truthful about the situation we are in and inducing panic. The watered-down stimulus bill had already cleared the Senate; hopefully it can be improved in the conference committee and still retain enough Senate votes to overcome the opposition's[More...]

American Tower Reports 8% Rise in Q4 Revenues

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 12:38:37 GMT

Independent owner, operator and developer of broadcast and wireless communications sites American Tower Corporation has reported that its total revenues increased 8% to $408.3 million for the fourth ended December 31, 2008. Rental and management segment revenues increased 6.4% to $394.3 million during the quarter.[More...]

Editorials on President Obama's Speech to Congress

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:52:00 GMT

The following editorial appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer on Wednesday, Feb. 25:
In his speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night, President Obama outlined a sobering course for bringing the country back to fiscal responsibility.
tonight I want every American to know this: We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before," Obama said.

: iStockAnalyst.com Symbols Feed

Our Outlook for Media & Telecom Stocks

Generating A Robust Recovery

Expecting Big Things From Wireless Infrastructure Stocks

Bloomberg: Bernanke Bid To Lift Housing Scuttled By Rising Rates

Tax-Free Munis: Respect The Yield Curve

S&P 500 Stocks

UK Unveils Plan To Insure Banks

Short Term Income Funds Update

2009 Stimulus Plan Highlights

Notes on Obama's New Conference

American Tower Reports 8% Rise in Q4 Revenues

Editorials on President Obama's Speech to Congress

EDITORIAL: Spend Stimulus Money Wisely

EDITORIAL: Let's Hope This Stimulus Bill is Stimulus Enough

Senate Passes Stimulus Bill

CBO: Budget Deficits Likely to Mount

Movers: Wyeth, Elan, Comcast, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Energizer, Garmin

American Tower Corporation Reports Third Quarter 2009 Financial Results

BenchmarkJournal.Com Free Analyst Review for PVH, COH, AMT, CRM, CIM and APC

Amsterdam Molecular Therapeutics Reports Half Year Results 2009

American Tower Corporation Calls for Redemption of All Outstanding 3.00% Convertible Notes

American Tower Corporation Reports Second Quarter 2009 Financial Results

American Tower Corporation Announces Completion of Redemption of Outstanding 7.50% Senior Notes

American Tower Plans Second Quarter 2009 Earnings Release and Conference Call

American Tower Corporation Announces Completion of Tender Offer for 7.50% Senior Notes Due 2012

American Tower Corporation Calls for Redemption of All Outstanding 7.50% Senior Notes

Glybera(TM) Shows Long-Term Health Benefits

Form 4 BUA JEAN A For: Aug 18 (10K)

Form 4 AMERICAN TOWER CORP /MA/ For: Jul 30 Filed by: HESS WILLIAM H (10K)

Form 4 AMERICAN TOWER CORP /MA/ For: May 01 Filed by: HESS WILLIAM H (10K)

Form 4 Bartlett Thomas A For: Apr 01 (10K)

Form 3 Bartlett Thomas A For: Apr 01 (10K)

Form 4 AMERICAN TOWER CORP /MA/ For: Mar 10 Filed by: THOMPSON SAMME L (10K)

Form 4 TAICLET JAMES D JR For: Mar 10 (10K)

Form 4 Sharma Amit For: Mar 10 (10K)

Form 4 REED JOANN A For: Mar 10 (10K)

Form 4 Meyer Robert Joseph JR For: Mar 10 (10K)