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Shanghai’s Stock Exchange Bubble

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 13:23:24 GMT

More evidence appears today of the bubble affecting the Chinese stock market after part of the Chinese stimulus was diverted into the markets. The French economic daily Les Echos reports today that the Shanghai stock exchange is today the world’s fourth largest market with a capitalization of about 2.3 trillion USD. The Shanghai SSE index moved up by 89 % since the beginning of the year. What is more, irrational exuberance continues on any IPO taking place. The introduction yesterday of Sichuan Expressway, a highway company saw the share jump by[More...]

Guru Investing And A Vote For Kennametal

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 17:00:00 GMT

Congratulations to John Reese on his new book, The Guru Investor, which teaches investors how to beat the market using the investment strategies of the market's leading gurus, such as Benjamin Graham, John Neff, Warren Buffett, David Dreman, and Peter Lynch. Meanwhile, in Validea newsletter, he looks to the investment approach of Kenneth Fisher and one stock that scores 100% on this screen -- [More...]

Small-Cap Water Infrastructure Plays for the Stimulus Package

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 14:59:00 GMT

One of the major themes of 2009 to this point has been investor speculation on global infrastructure. With the recent $787 U.S. stimulus package signed into law by President Barack Obama, analysts are at a crossroads in looking where to invest to get the best exposure to bailout money. But where exactly is the money going to be? After digging into the stimulus, it seems to me that all signs are pointing to the road and water infrastructure as leading areas of the package. If you want the “pure play” on this plan, one needs to look beyond the larger companies and focus on the[More...]

Machinery Industry - Industry Outlook

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 20:23:00 GMT

We remain extremely cautious on the machinery sector. As foreign economies deal with weaker exports to the U.S and Europe, industrial customers are cutting back on capital spending. Equipment orders are decelerating in almost every end-market -- from machines used in construction, infrastructure, agriculture to base metal projects. There are several data points that help to paint the picture of a sharply deteriorating global economic backdrop. Japan's core machine orders fell 1.7% in December, and fell in 8 months of the full year 2008. What's more, according to the cabinet office in Japan, overseas orders fell a whopping 26.8% in December and 16.7% for the fourth quarter of 2008. While a manufacturing survey conducted by the cabinet office indicated core orders would rise 4.1% in the first quarter of 2009, we think this forecast may prove to be too optimistic. We would not be surprised to see core orders[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...]

Alamo Group (ALG) & Revisiting a Stock Pick

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 00:08:00 GMT

Hello Friends! Thanks so much for stopping by and visiting my blog, Stock Picks Bob's Advice! As always, please remember that I am an amateur investor, so please remember to consult with your professional investment advisers prior to making any investment decisions based on information on this website. Sometimes looking through the lists of the top % gainers, I suspect that my strategy of searching there is obsolete and no longer useful. Simply put, there haven't been a lot of stocks that report anything close to 'good' earnings[More...]

The Obama Infrastructure Play

Fri, 02 Jan 2009 03:20:00 GMT

President-elect Barack Obama has been in the news over the past few weeks speaking about “the largest investment in infrastructure since the creation of the interstate highway system under Dwight D. Eisenhower,” but we’ll have to wait and see if democrats in the legislative branch actually ask “how high” when Obama says “jump.” If all goes according to plan, Obama is looking to launch a 2-year, $850 billion stimulus package with a large proportion going towards an extreme makeover of our national infrastructure. This will target roads, bridges, and other public works. In this potential tax-payer’s nightmare, some industrial[More...]

More Bad Choices

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 02:27:00 GMT

Politicians are notorious for taking the easy way out -- adopting short-term-oriented, seemingly painless "solutions" that usually end up costing taxpayers far more in the long run than those choices that involved brutal honesty and tough decisions up front. Such a mindset explains, among other things, elected officials' penchant for debt-driven spending and costly promises (read: pensions) that tend not to be fully accounted for until some point far in the future. Under the circumstances, it's hard to believe that with public officials adopting strategies like those described bv the Associated Press in "Cash-Strapped States Weigh Selling Roads, Parks," taxpayers won't end up getting the short end of the stick once[More...]

Open Letter To Sirius XM - More Music, Less Talk

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 17:43:00 GMT

Dear Sirius XM, When the concept of a merger came up, I was excited about the prospects of the company. I looked forward to a satellite radio company that could bring about the best that both services had to offer.Sirius and XM each had passionate fans that were 100% behind the service that they subscribed to. Certainly, the combination of the best of both worlds would be a success. I am sorry to say that so far the success is marginal in many ways. As part of the channel line-up shift, New Country (a Sirius channel) was replaced by the Highway (an XM channel). The Highway has a lot more talk, and yesterday I heard something that made my skin crawl. A DJ came on and announced some sort of trivia question. He then proceeded to take callers who attempted their answers. When one finally got it right, they won a “green frog”. In other words, they won nothing. The whole process burned about 3 minutes of time, and in the end the Highway[More...]

Economic Roadkill

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 14:50:00 GMT

From it's mid-summer record peak, the Baltic Dry Index, a benchmark index of shipping rates for 26 dry bulk routes calculated by the London-based Baltic Exchange, has fallen by more than 90 percent, a crash of epic proportions. Yet the carnage in the transportation industry has not been limited to international operations. Both within and beyond our shores, a fast-spreading economic downturn is having a deleterious impact on firms that transport goods in all sorts of ways, over long and short distances. In "Freight Haulers Slam on the Brakes," The Wall Street[More...]

Highway Holdings Reports Fiscal 2010 First Quarter Results

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 11:50:00 GMT

HONG KONG, Aug. 17, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Highway Holdings Limited (Nasdaq:HIHO) today reported results for its fiscal first quarter ended June 30, 2009, reflecting the impact of global economic conditions on the company's major European customers and new pricing policies.
Net sales for the fiscal 2010 first quarter were $4.6 million compared with $9.3 million during the same period a year earlier - a period that benefited from an inflated order backlog due to a fiscal 2008 fourth quarter labor slowdown.
The company reported a net loss for the fiscal 2010 first quarter of $136,000, or $0.04 per share, compared with net income of $287,000, or $0.08 per diluted share, last year.

[More...]

Highway Holding Forms Joint Venture to Manufacture Automation Equipment

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 11:45:00 GMT

HONG KONG, Aug. 10, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Highway Holdings Limited (Nasdaq:HIHO) today announced it has formed a joint venture with Xenon Automatisierungstechnik GmbH, based in Dresden, Germany, and Matrix Systems International Ltd., a Hong Kong company, to manufacture and provide maintenance services for German-designed automation equipment to be used in the manufacturing process of industrial companies in Asia.
Highway Holdings will be the largest shareholder of the joint venture.
"Demand for sophisticated automation equipment for the manufacturing industry in China is expected to increase dramatically as a result of rising labor costs during the past two years.

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Highway Holdings Limited Declares Cash Dividend

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:48:00 GMT

HONG KONG, July 8, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Highway Holdings Limited (Nasdaq:HIHO) today announced that its board of directors has declared a cash dividend of $0.03 per share on the company's common stock.
The dividend will be paid on August 28, 2009 to shareholders of record on August 18, 2009.
Highway Holdings currently operates three manufacturing facilities in the People's Republic of China.

[More...]

Highway Holdings Reports Fiscal 2009 Fourth Quarter/Year-End Results

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 11:25:00 GMT

reflecting gross margin expansion, a return to profitability and a strong balance sheet.[More...]

Highway Holdings Reports Fiscal 2009 Third Quarter Results

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 11:26:00 GMT

Highway Holdings Limited today reported results for its third fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2008, representing a return to profitability on a year-over-year basis, a strong balance sheet and continued improvements to operating efficiencies.[More...]

Highway Holdings Announces Insider Share Purchases

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 14:55:00 GMT

Highway Holdings Limited today announced Roland Kohl, the company's president and chief executive officer, and Dirk Hermann, a member of its board of directors, recently purchased 40,000 and 93,500 shares, respectively, in the open market. The transactions were executed during an open window trading period subsequent to issuing the company's fiscal 2009 second quarter financial results on November 3, 2008.[More...]

Highway Holdings Receives Tooling Order From Japanese ODM/OEM to Produce Metal Components

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:10:00 GMT

Highway Holdings Limited today announced it has received a tooling order from UMC Electronics Co., Ltd. which will be used to produce several metal components for a new Windows CE-based personal mobile terminal product sold by a leading Japanese electronic products manufacturer.[More...]

Highway Holdings Reports Fiscal 2009 Second Quarter Results

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 11:26:00 GMT

Highway Holdings Limited today reported results for its second fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2008, reflecting increased profitability, sales and improved efficiency in its manufacturing process.[More...]

Highway Holdings Expands Coleman OEM Business With New Tooling Order For Air Pumps

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 11:25:00 GMT

Highway Holdings Limited today announced it has received a tooling order for a new series of battery-operated air pumps from The Coleman Company, Inc., located in Wichita, Kansas. Terms were not disclosed.[More...]

Highway Holdings Receives Additional OEM Business From Tridonic. ATCO for Lighting Fixture Components

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 11:26:00 GMT

Highway Holdings Limited today announced an expansion of its existing original equipment manufacturing business from Tridonic.ATCO, with six new tooling orders to produce electronic ballast casings utilized in fluorescent lighting products. Terms were not disclosed.[More...]