Wednesday, August 1, 2018

Got an IRS Letter? Here's What to Do

When you filed your tax return back in April, you probably figured you were done with IRS matters for the year. But if anything on your return raised a red flag, now's the time when you might receive a letter from the IRS alerting you to a potential problem.

Your first inclination upon hearing from the IRS might be to panic. But rather than stress yourself out needlessly, here's what you should do instead.

1. Read the letter carefully

Most of the time, if the IRS has a problem with your tax return, it's due to a specific issue. Maybe you transposed some numbers on your return that resulted in an error.

For example, say you received a 1099 form stating you collected $2,430 in income from a given company last year. If you accidentally reported that income as $2,340, your taxable income will be $90 shy, so the IRS might send a letter along those lines since it receives copies of all 1099 forms. In that case, all you'd need to do is agree to that change, pay whatever small tax amount it results in, and move on with your life.

Man holding a piece of paper with panicked expression

IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES.

Generally speaking, when you get a letter from the IRS, it will contain specific instructions as to what the agency is looking for or what action you need to take. As long as you take the time to understand what's being asked of you, you'll probably come to find that it's a fairly simple matter.

2. Dig up and review your tax return

Whether you filed your taxes yourself this year or with the help of a professional, you should have a copy of your return somewhere. Dig it up and review it so you know how to properly respond to the letter you received. For example, you might get a letter from the IRS suggesting an amendment to your tax return, but that's not the sort of thing you'll want to agree to before reviewing the tax forms you submitted.

3. Respond in a timely fashion

If the IRS is proposing a change to your tax return that you agree with, you generally don't need to reply unless the result is that you owe more money. If that's the case, there will typically be a portion of the letter that you'll sign and remit along with your tax payment. If you can't pay the full amount the IRS is asking for but agree that the agency is due that amount, you can request a payment plan and submit what you owe in installments.

If you don't agree with what the IRS is proposing in its letter, you'll need to respond quickly stating your case. Your response should include supporting details or documentation that defend your initial tax return.

4. Contact the IRS -- or your tax preparer -- if you need more information

Most of the time, you can tackle an IRS letter without calling the agency for further information. But if you're confused as to how to respond, you can always call the IRS directly for assistance. You may need to wait on hold for a while, but once you reach an agent, that person should be able to help.

Along these lines, if you used a tax preparer to file your return, it pays to consult that person and get advice on how to respond to your letter. Your tax preparer might even tackle that response for you, depending on the nature of the issue at hand.

Getting an IRS letter can be pretty unnerving, but there's no need to lose your cool the second you find one in your mailbox. In many cases, the issue you're looking at will be minor in nature and fixable without penalties. You might even get a notice saying you overstated your income and therefore paid more taxes than necessary.

Either way, just follow the above instructions and do what that letter tells you to do. With any luck, you'll resolve the issue quickly and go on to enjoy the rest of your summer.

Tuesday, July 31, 2018

JobsCoin Price Reaches $0.0004 on Exchanges (JOBS)

JobsCoin (CURRENCY:JOBS) traded 20.9% higher against the dollar during the 24 hour period ending at 16:00 PM E.T. on July 21st. During the last seven days, JobsCoin has traded up 41.8% against the dollar. JobsCoin has a market capitalization of $47,094.00 and $0.00 worth of JobsCoin was traded on exchanges in the last 24 hours. One JobsCoin coin can currently be bought for $0.0004 or 0.00000006 BTC on popular exchanges.

Here is how similar cryptocurrencies have performed during the last 24 hours:

Get JobsCoin alerts: Tao (XTO) traded up 38.7% against the dollar and now trades at $0.82 or 0.00011000 BTC. Syndicate (SYNX) traded 0.4% higher against the dollar and now trades at $0.17 or 0.00002335 BTC. Capricoin (CPC) traded 2.2% higher against the dollar and now trades at $1.18 or 0.00015914 BTC. Monkey Project (MONK) traded down 41% against the dollar and now trades at $1.30 or 0.00017500 BTC. SuperCoin (SUPER) traded 448.3% higher against the dollar and now trades at $0.0258 or 0.00000348 BTC. TrustPlus (TRUST) traded 1% higher against the dollar and now trades at $0.0351 or 0.00000474 BTC. Magnet (MAG) traded 12.5% lower against the dollar and now trades at $0.0161 or 0.00000218 BTC. Piggycoin (PIGGY) traded 0.9% higher against the dollar and now trades at $0.0009 or 0.00000012 BTC. Regalcoin (REC) traded 2% lower against the dollar and now trades at $0.0205 or 0.00000277 BTC. Centurion (CNT) traded down 11.2% against the dollar and now trades at $0.0033 or 0.00000044 BTC.

JobsCoin Coin Profile

JobsCoin is a PoW/PoS coin that uses the
X11 hashing algorithm. It launched on October 5th, 2016. JobsCoin’s total supply is 200,019,300 coins and its circulating supply is 106,019,270 coins. JobsCoin’s official Twitter account is @Jobscoin. The official website for JobsCoin is jobscoin.us.

JobsCoin Coin Trading

JobsCoin can be purchased on these cryptocurrency exchanges: YoBit. It is usually not possible to buy alternative cryptocurrencies such as JobsCoin directly using US dollars. Investors seeking to trade JobsCoin should first buy Ethereum or Bitcoin using an exchange that deals in US dollars such as Gemini, Coinbase or GDAX. Investors can then use their newly-acquired Ethereum or Bitcoin to buy JobsCoin using one of the exchanges listed above.

new TradingView.widget({ “height”: 400, “width”: 650, “symbol”: “JOBSUSD”, “interval”: “D”, “timezone”: “Etc/UTC”, “theme”: “White”, “style”: “1”, “locale”: “en”, “toolbar_bg”: “#f1f3f6”, “enable_publishing”: false, “hideideas”: true, “referral_id”: “2588”});

Sunday, July 22, 2018

Roku's Speaker Deal Makes No Sense

After a blistering response to its IPO that included a 250% gain in its first two months as a publicly-traded company, Roku's (NASDAQ:ROKU) shares have noticeably cooled this year. Roku's stock currently trades hands at about $50 per share, down year-to-date and trailing the broad market as concerns about its rich valuation overshadow its strong earnings.��

CEO Anthony Wood has been aggressive in his attempts to grow the company. Last year, the company signed deals with Philips to include Roku's technology in their smart televisions; in April, the company inked a similar deal with Sanyo. And in March, the company came to an agreement with Samsung that will bring the ad-supported Roku channel to that manufacturer's line of smart televisions.

Now, Roku's back with a new hardware deal -- but this one doesn't seem as well thought out.

Man looking at chalkboard thinking of business decision.

Image Source: Getty Images

Roku joins the speaker industry ... sort of

Roku recently announced it would bring a new hardware product to market: wireless speakers. According to the company, the devices will sell for $199.99 after Oct. 15 (earlier prices are as low as $149.99) and will include two speakers plus remotes.

However, it appears their value is limited compared to other similar offerings. Although the product takes voice commands like the Google Home and Amazon�Echo, the functionality is limited to Roku control. Additionally, the speakers' wireless-connectivity function only works with Roku TVs, which the company admits only account for 25% of the smart TV market.

At first glance, Roku's speakers bring little to the table from a differentiation perspective: their limited wireless connectivity fares poorly when compared to the host of Bluetooth-enabled systems available (although the company notes its product will reduce latency to avoid the dreaded lip-sync delay) with limited smart-speaker functions.

A razor-and-blade model doesn't need new razors

The recent investment thesis for Roku was that the company was transitioning away from a lower-margin hardware-focused company to one that would make its money via monetizing streaming delivery. A simple look into the company's first-quarter financial statements shows how the transition is paying off with higher gross profit margins.

Metric Q1 2018 Q1 2017 YOY Growth
Platform Revenue �$75.1 �$36.4 106%
Player Revenue �$61.5 �$63.7 (3%)
Total Revenue �$136.6 �$100.1 36%
Platform Gross Profit �$53.4 �$28.1 90%
Player Gross Profit �$9.7 �$10.8 (10%)
Total Gross Profit �$63.1 �$38.9 62%

Revenue figures in millions. Data Source: Roku's 10Q.�

Although the company has grown total revenue 36% over the prior year,� its gross profit is up 62% because all of progress it's made in the higher-margin platform division.

In the last few quarters, the company's player gross profit has decreased, a natural result of its strategy of selling more hardware at lower prices so as to profit later the higher-margin content segment. Last quarter was celebrated as the first where platform revenue exceeded player revenue. Adding a new hardware product seems antithetical to this approach.

Not a game-changer

A further interesting point is that the speakers appear to be Roku-branded products. This is a clear departure from the pattern of its recent deals with Philips and Sanyo, under which Roku outsourced the hardware production process to a third party.

Although it's likely Roku has a white-box agreement with a manufacturer that allows them to outsource the entire process, the company will still have to deal with the same issues of inventory control, defective merchandise, and returns it has with its stand-alone dongles and players.

In the end, it's likely Roku's foray into speakers will have a limited impact on its bottom line, whether positive or negative. But this appears to be an unnecessary distraction from Roku's main plans to grow its ad-based platform revenue.

Saturday, July 21, 2018

Buy Rallis India; target of Rs 225: ICICI Direct


ICICI Direct's research report on Rallis India


Rallis India reported a healthy performance in Q1FY19 Consolidated revenues in Q1FY19 were at Rs 573.1 crore, up 28.6% YoY. Standalone revenues in Q1FY19 were at Rs 352.4 crore, up 42.5% YoY. Revenues of subsidiaries (Metahelix) in the seasonally important quarter i.e. Q1FY19 were at Rs 220.7 crore, up 11.4% YoY Consolidated EBITDA in Q1FY19 came in at Rs 83.1 crore with corresponding EBITDA margins at 14.5% (down 110 bps YoY). In the standalone business, Rallis continued to witness raw material pricing pressure, which was, to some extent, mitigated by operating leverage benefits with stable employee as well as other expenses EBITDA margins at subsidiaries were at 29.6% (down 120 bps YoY) Consolidated PAT in Q1FY19 came in at Rs 54.6 crore, up 20.4% YoY.


Outlook


On a consolidated basis, we expect revenues & PAT to grow at a CAGR of 10.8% & 14.2%, respectively, in FY18-20E (build in 30 bps EBITDA margin improvement in FY18-20E). We value Rallis at Rs 225 i.e. 20x P/E on FY20E EPS of Rs 11.2 and maintain our BUY rating on the stock.


For all recommendations report, click here


Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts/broking houses/rating agencies on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.

Read More First Published on Jul 20, 2018 05:08 pm

Thursday, July 19, 2018

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) Slips 1.1% Ahead of Earnings: What To Watch

Shares of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ ) ticked down 1.1% during regular hours Monday, the last day of trading before it releases its latest quarterly earnings report. Investors displayed hesitation ahead of the report, but this is certainly still a stock to watch once the full results are in.

JNJ made headlines last week after it was ordered by a jury to pay $4.69 billion in a case alleging that its talcum powder product causes ovarian cancer. However, it maintains a healthy and still-growing pharmaceutical segment that has been fueled by recent acquisitions. But given concerns about drug pricing, and JNJ’s position as the first pharmaceutical company to report earnings every quarter, Tuesday’s results will have a big role in shaping investor sentiment.

According to our latest Zacks Consensus Estimates, analysts expect Johnson & Johnson to report earnings of $2.06 per share on $20.25 billion in revenue. These results would mark year-over-year growth rates of 12.6% and 7.5%, respectively.

Investors should also note that JNJ’s consensus earnings projection has trended downward over the course of the quarter. Two negative revisions have caused the Zacks Consensus Estimate to tick one cent lower in the past 90 days. It has seen a positive estimate for the next quarter and next financial year, but at the same time has seen negative estimates across the board. This mixed revision activity has contributed to the stock’s Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Looking at share price performance, JNJ has added 2.7% over the past year. However, the stock has performed poorly as of late, losing nearly 11% on a year-to-date basis. More recently, shares have dropped 4.6% over the trailing 12 weeks.

A strong earnings beat might be what JNJ needs in order to start turning things around. To gauge how likely the company is to outperform estimates tomorrow morning, we can turn to our exclusive Earnings ESP figure.

Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction) compares the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter. The Most Accurate Estimate is a version of the Zacks Consensus whose definition is related to change.

This is done because, generally speaking, when an analyst posts an estimate right before an earnings release, it means that they have fresh information which could potentially be more accurate than what analysts thought about a company two or three months ago.

A positive Earnings ESP paired with a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or better ranking helps us feel confident about the potential for an earnings beat. In fact, our 10-year backtest has revealed that this methodology has accurately produced a positive surprise 70% of the time.

JNJ currently has an Earnings ESP of 0.24%. This, combined with its Zacks Rank, leaves us optimistic about its chances at beating earnings estimates on Tuesday. It is also worth noting that Johnson & Johnson has not missed earnings in over five years.

Make sure to check back here for our full analysis once Johnson & Johnson reports!

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Friday, July 13, 2018

D-Street Buzz: Oil & gas stocks rally with RIL up 5%; Nifty realty drags, 8K Miles Software shed

The Indian benchmark indices�including Nifty has jumped�90 points and is trading�at 11,037 mark�while�the Sensex is trading�higher�by�348 points at 36,614, reaching a new record high.

At�14:00�hrs,�the�Energy�index is outperforming the broader indices and is trading higher by�3.5 percent. From the BSE, Reliance Industries zoomed 5 percent after the company hit $100 billion market cap. MRPL, HPCL, BPCL and IOC are also trading higher by 2-4 percent.

PSU banks are also buzzing in the afternoon trade, up�1 percent led by Bank of Baroda which jumped 2 percent followed by State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank�and Canara Bank.

From the private banking space HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank and Yes Bank are the other gainers which added up to 1 percent in the afternoon trade.

related news Trent shares jump over 7% to hit record high after Jefferies upgrades to Buy, raises target Axis Bank rallies 6% in 5 straight days, Macquarie sees further 15% upside

Realty stocks have turned weak dragged by DLF, Indiabulls Real Estate and Oberoi Realty, each shedding 2 percent while Unitech traded higher.

The top gainers among Nifty constituents are Reliance Industries which zoomed 5 percent and hitting a new record high. HPCL, BPCL,�Dr Reddy's Labs and Bajaj Finance.

The most actively traded stocks on the NSE are Reliance Industries, TCS, Infosys, Yes Bank and HDFC.

Some of the top BSE gainers�include names like GMR Infra which jumped close to 6 percent followed by Reliance Industries, Time Technoplast, Balrampur Chini and Bajaj Electricals.

Bajaj Finance, Berger Paints, HDFC Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Jubilant Foodworks, Kotak Mahindra Bank, KPIT�Tech, Mphasis and Reliance Industries�are�some�of the very�few stocks that hit fresh 52-week high in the�afternoon trade.

Adani Power is trading lower by over 7 percent from the BSE midcap space while 8K Miles Software from the BSE smallcap space is down close to 10 percent.

The breadth of the market favoured declines, with�762 stocks advancing, 948 declining and�352 remaining unchanged. On BSE,�1113 stocks advanced, 1422 declined and�143 remained unchanged.

Disclosure: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd. First Published on Jul 12, 2018 02:29 pm

Thursday, July 12, 2018

Here's Why Stitch Fix (SFIX) Stock Is Soaring Today

Shares of Stitch Fix (SFIX ) were up more than 8% through early afternoon trading Tuesday after analysts from KeyBanc Capital Markets initiated coverage on the stock with an overweight rating and a bullish price target.

Specifically, KeyBanc’s Ed Yruma acknowledged the subscription-based personal shopping service’s unique use of data.

“Stitch Fix's use of data is a significant advantage relative to the traditional apparel/retail competitive set and allows it to build a scalable, yet highly human, recommendation model,” Yruma wrote in a note to clients.

“We think share gains will continue in the core women's market, and that men's, plus, and now kids will help to further accelerate growth.”

Yruma slapped a $38 price target on SFIX, marking a 22% upside to its previous close. In a further display of how the analyst views Stitch Fix in contrast to its traditional retail peers, he also downgraded shares of Nordstrom (JWN ) and Urban Outfitters (URBN ) .

Tuesday’s gains add to Stitch Fix’s recent momentum, and the stock has now added more than 30% in the past month. SFIX has also started to generate noticeable earnings estimate revision momentum.

Within the past two months, Stitch Fix has witnessed four positive revisions to its full-year 2018 earnings estimates. The company has seen zero negative revisions to full-year estimates in that time. These positive revisions have lifted the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Stitch Fix’s 2018 earnings by six cents.

Positive earnings estimates have earned SFIX a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). The stock is also sporting an “A” grade for Growth in our Style Scores system.

Want more market analysis from this author? Make sure to follow @Ryan_McQueeney on Twitter!

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Last year, it generated $8 billion in global revenues. By 2020, it's predicted to blast through the roof to $47 billion. Famed investor Mark Cuban says it will produce "the world's first trillionaires," but that should still leave plenty of money for regular investors who make the right trades early.

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Wednesday, July 11, 2018

Best Medical Stocks To Buy For 2019

tags:CNO,APRI,LXFT,BCPC,BNCL,

By: Lars Moffatt

Introduction

The Canadian cannabis market has exploded in value in the last year due to the upcoming legalization of marijuana that is expected to become law in Canada in July of 2018. Within this market, several large corporations are acquiring smaller production companies to increase their market share and prepare for the demand that will occur due to legalization.

Today��s North Channel Investment article will look at Aurora Cannabis Inc. (OTCQX:ACBFF), and why they could be very appealing to any investor looking for a stock that has great potential for long-term growth.

Company Overview

Aurora Cannabis is a Canadian medical marijuana producer that is based out of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The company specializes in the production and distribution of cannabis and cannabis oil. Aurora sells and distributes to patients who are legally entitled to medical cannabis in Canada, where the company offers secure delivery services. These services can be accessed by phone, online, and the company��s innovative mobile application. There are numerous emerging cannabis sellers and producers across North America, however, Aurora is one of Canada��s largest and fastest growing sellers of cannabis and oils. The company owns several subsidiaries that are located in Canada, United States, Germany and Australia. Some of the names of these subsidiaries are as follows:

Best Medical Stocks To Buy For 2019: CNO Financial Group, Inc.(CNO)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Stephan Byrd]

    CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) hit a new 52-week high and low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $19.32 and last traded at $19.49, with a volume of 149704 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $19.81.

  • [By Shane Hupp]

    Coin(O) (CURRENCY:CNO) traded flat against the U.S. dollar during the twenty-four hour period ending at 21:00 PM ET on May 12th. One Coin(O) coin can now be purchased for about $0.0021 or 0.00000025 BTC on popular exchanges. Coin(O) has a market cap of $222,284.00 and $40.00 worth of Coin(O) was traded on exchanges in the last 24 hours. Over the last seven days, Coin(O) has traded 21.2% lower against the U.S. dollar.

  • [By Joseph Griffin]

    CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 10th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 11th will be given a dividend of 0.10 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, June 25th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 8th. This is a boost from CNO Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09.

Best Medical Stocks To Buy For 2019: Apricus Biosciences, Inc(APRI)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Chris Lange]

    Apricus Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ: APRI) has a PDUFA goal date for completion of the FDA��s review of the Vitaros NDA set on February 17. Vitaros is a novel, on-demand topical cream for the treatment of erectile dysfunction (ED) and a new potential entrant into the U.S. ED treatment market. So far Vitaros has been approved in Canada, Mexico and certain countries in Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. Shares of Apricus were last seen at $2.22, with a 52-week range of $0.86 to $3.49 and a consensus price target of $3.50.

  • [By Paul Ausick]

    Apricus Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ: APRI) also dropped about 38% Monday to post a new 52-week low of $0.26. Shares closed at $0.42 on Friday and the stock’s 52-week high is $3.34. Volume was more than three times the daily average of around 1.4 million shares. The company is considering its options after the U.S. FDA directed the firm to develop a new formulation for its erectile dysfunction drug, Vitaros.

  • [By William Romov]

    California-based Apricus Biosciences Inc. (Nasdaq: APRI) develops treatments in the areas of urology and rheumatology. Its lead product, Vitaros, is a topically applied cream for the treatment of erectile dysfunction (ED).

Best Medical Stocks To Buy For 2019: Luxoft Holding, Inc.(LXFT)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Logan Wallace]

    Luxoft (NYSE: LXFT) and Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, dividends, risk and earnings.

  • [By Lisa Levin]

    Luxoft Holding, Inc. (NYSE: LXFT) was down, falling around 26 percent to $32.15. Luxoft posted in-line Q4 earnings, but issued weak forecast for the current quarter.

  • [By Shane Hupp]

    Luxoft Holding Inc (NYSE:LXFT) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the fourteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $53.33.

  • [By Motley Fool Staff]

    Luxoft Holding (NYSE:LXFT) Q4 2018 Earnings Conference CallMay. 24, 2018 8:00 a.m. ET

    Contents: Prepared Remarks Questions and Answers Call Participants Prepared Remarks:

    Operator

  • [By Steve Symington]

    Shares of Luxoft Holding Inc. (NYSE:LXFT) were down 21.3% as of 11:30 a.m. EDT Thursday after the software development company announced strong quarterly results, but followed with light guidance.

Best Medical Stocks To Buy For 2019: Balchem Corporation(BCPC)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Stephan Byrd]

    Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC) shares reached a new 52-week high and low on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $96.61 and last traded at $96.33, with a volume of 2460 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $95.08.

  • [By Logan Wallace]

    JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC) by 20.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 73,196 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 12,487 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Balchem were worth $5,985,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

  • [By Logan Wallace]

    Shares of Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC) hit a new 52-week high and low on Monday . The company traded as low as $97.20 and last traded at $96.87, with a volume of 107919 shares. The stock had previously closed at $96.52.

  • [By Travis Hoium]

    Nearly every business Balchem�(NASDAQ:BCPC) is in has seen strong growth in 2018, and that's driving the company's financial results higher. Fracking is seeing the biggest growth, but human and animal health continue to be great businesses for the company.�

  • [By Max Byerly]

    Carillon Tower Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC) by 656.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 55,180 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 47,884 shares during the period. Carillon Tower Advisers Inc. owned about 0.17% of Balchem worth $4,510,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Best Medical Stocks To Buy For 2019: Beneficial Mutual Bancorp Inc.(BNCL)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Joseph Griffin]

    Media coverage about Beneficial Bancorp (NASDAQ:BNCL) has trended positive recently, according to Accern. Accern identifies positive and negative news coverage by monitoring more than twenty million news and blog sources in real-time. Accern ranks coverage of publicly-traded companies on a scale of negative one to one, with scores closest to one being the most favorable. Beneficial Bancorp earned a news impact score of 0.38 on Accern’s scale. Accern also gave media headlines about the bank an impact score of 45.8699493506664 out of 100, meaning that recent news coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an effect on the stock’s share price in the next several days.

  • [By Ethan Ryder]

    BidaskClub upgraded shares of Beneficial Bancorp (NASDAQ:BNCL) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Tuesday morning.

    Shares of Beneficial Bancorp opened at $16.35 on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.44 and a beta of 0.55. Beneficial Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $14.40 and a fifty-two week high of $17.50.

  • [By Logan Wallace]

    Beneficial Bancorp (NASDAQ: BNCL) and Home Bancorp (NASDAQ:HBCP) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends and valuation.

  • [By Joseph Griffin]

    Beneficial Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:BNCL) Director Thomas J. Lewis sold 973 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.50, for a total value of $16,054.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Monday, July 9, 2018

Top 5 Warren Buffett Stocks To Watch For 2019

tags:FORM,SHPG,SOL,IBKR,ENX,

Warren Buffett believes trying to time the market is a waste of time and hazardous to investment success.

The Oracle of Omaha explained why investors should avoid market predictions during Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting in 1994, obtained through the CNBC Warren Buffett archive.

"I never have an opinion about the market because it wouldn't be any good and it might interfere with the opinions we have that are good," Buffett said. "If we're right about a business, if we think a business is attractive, it would be very foolish for us to not take action on that because we thought something about what the market was going to do. �� If you're right about the businesses, you'll end up doing fine."

Bill Pugliano | Getty Images Warren Buffett

Buffett said it is a "mistake" to not invest in a great company due to market worries.

Top 5 Warren Buffett Stocks To Watch For 2019: FormFactor, Inc.(FORM)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Lisa Levin]

    Check out these big penny stock gainers and losers

    Losers World Fuel Services Corporation (NYSE: INT) tumbled 18 percent to $22.90 following Q1 results. Biglari Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BH) fell 17.4 percent to $349.52. Washington Prime Group will replace Biglari Holdings in the S&P SmallCap 600 on Tuesday, May 1. Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ: FLEX) dipped 15.7 percent to $14.03 after a mixed fourth quarter report. FormFactor, Inc. (NASDAQ: FORM) fell 15.3 percent to $11.65. FormFactor is expected to release Q1 results on May 2. Data I/O Corporation (NASDAQ: DAIO) dropped 14.3 percent to $6.24 following Q1 results. National Instruments Corporation (NASDAQ: NATI) fell 14.3 percent to $ 42.34 after reporting Q1 results. United States Steel Corporation (NYSE: X) dipped 14.2 percent to $32.37 following Q1 results. Civeo Corporation (NYSE: CVEO) dropped 13.5 percent to $3.33. Civeo posted a Q1 loss of $0.42 per share on sales of $101.504 million. athenahealth, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATHN) fell 12.4 percent to $125.310 after reporting Q1 results. Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTR) shares tumbled 12.1 percent to $262.06 as the company posted Q1 results. Value Line, Inc. (NASDAQ: VALU) fell 11.3 percent to $19.10. Federated Investors, Inc. (NYSE: FII) shares dropped 11.2 percent to $27.605 after the company posted downbeat quarterly earnings. AV Homes, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVHI) declined 10.7 percent to $17.20 following Q1 results. CalAmp Corp. (NASDAQ: CAMP) dropped 9.4 percent to $21.01 after reporting Q4 results. Tandem Diabetes Care, Inc. (NASDAQ: TNDM) shares fell 8.9 percent to $7.280 following mixed Q1 results. Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE) shares fell 8.4 percent to $45.97 after reporting Q4 results. LogMeIn Inc (NASDAQ: LOGM) fell 8.2 percent to $109.825. LogMeIn reported upbeat earnings for its first quarter, but issued weak second quarter and FY18 earning guidance. Eleven Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: EBIO
  • [By Ethan Ryder]

    Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on FormFactor (FORM)

    For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

Top 5 Warren Buffett Stocks To Watch For 2019: Shire plc(SHPG)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By ]

    Allergan's (NYSE: AGN) recent decision to back out of a bidding war for Shire (Nasdaq: SHPG) gives me new confidence in the company. While the acquisition could have given Allergan a diversified rare-disease portfolio of drugs, it would have meant a debt-binging acquisition and I'm always hesitant around the 'winner' of bidding wars.

  • [By Todd Campbell]

    Unfortunately for investors, June's discovery wasn't exciting enough for Sangamo partners Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) and Shire (NASDAQ:SHPG). In 2015, Biogen announced a delay to its beta-thalassemia and sickle-cell disease treatment program with Sangamo. And then Shire, a Sangamo collaboration partner since 2012, walked away from Sangamo's hemophilia program.

  • [By Lisa Levin] Gainers Sanmina Corp (NASDAQ: SANM) shares rose 15.2 percent to $31.90 in pre-market trading as the company reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its second quarter on Monday. Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CDNS) rose 12.4 percent to $41.30 in pre-market trading after the company posted upbeat Q1 results and issued a strong Q2 forecast. Aeglea BioTherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: AGLE) rose 10.8 percent to $8.75 in pre-market trading. Mitel Networks Corporation (NASDAQ: MITL) rose 8.8 percent to $11.05 in pre-market trading after the company agreed to be acquired by affiliates of Searchlight Capital Partners for $2.0 billion. Galectin Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: GALT) rose 7.3 percent to $3.70 in pre-market trading. Riot Blockchain, Inc. (NASDAQ: RIOT) shares rose 6.9 percent to $7.00 in pre-market trading after declining 1.50 percent on Monday. Hallmark Financial Services, Inc. (NASDAQ: HALL) rose 6.5 percent to $10.68 in pre-market trading. Boot Barn Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: BOOT) rose 5.2 percent to $20.40 in pre-market trading after gaining 4.53 percent on Monday. New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. (NYSE: EDU) rose 5 percent to $91.16 in pre-market trading after reporting Q3 results. Shire plc (NASDAQ: SHPG) rose 5 percent to $167.98 in pre-market trading after Bloomberg reported that Takeda is nearing a preliminary agreement to acquire Shire after sweetened bid. Outfront Media Inc. (NYSE: OUT) shares rose 5 percent to $19.00 in pre-market trading. Geron Corporation (NASDAQ: GERN) rose 4.3 percent to $4.18 in pre-market trading after gaining 5.80 percent on Monday. SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) rose 3.7 percent to $109.80 in pre-market trading after the company posted strong quarterly results and raised its outlook for the year. Golden Ocean Group Limited (NASDAQ: GOGL) shares rose 3.7 percent to $8.70 in pre-market trading after gaining 1.45 percent on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft (NYSE: D

Top 5 Warren Buffett Stocks To Watch For 2019: Renesola Ltd.(SOL)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Joseph Griffin]

    These are some of the media headlines that may have impacted Accern’s scoring:

    Get ReneSola alerts: ReneSola Sells North Carolina Solar Project To Greenbacker (solarindustrymag.com) ReneSola (SOL) Rating Increased to Neutral at Roth Capital (americanbankingnews.com) ReneSola (SOL) Q1 Earnings in Line, Revenues Top Estimates (zacks.com) ReneSola’s (SOL) CEO Xianshou Li on Q1 2018 Results – Earnings Call Transcript (seekingalpha.com) ReneSola (SOL) Releases Earnings Results (americanbankingnews.com)

    Shares of ReneSola traded up $0.08, hitting $2.76, during trading on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. The stock had a trading volume of 124,969 shares, compared to its average volume of 108,565. The firm has a market capitalization of $102.11 million, a PE ratio of 21.23 and a beta of 2.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. ReneSola has a 12 month low of $2.12 and a 12 month high of $3.79.

Top 5 Warren Buffett Stocks To Watch For 2019: Interactive Brokers Group, Inc.(IBKR)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Stephan Byrd]

    Interactive Brokers Group (NASDAQ: IBKR) and Charles Schwab Co. Common Stock (NYSE:SCHW) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability and risk.

  • [By Dustin Blitchok]

    The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation takes effect May 25, and Steve Sanders, the executive vice president of marketing and product development at Interactive Brokers (NASDAQ: IBKR), described it as the “bane of my existence.” Compliance with the regulations is taking resources from other products at the online brokerage, he said.

  • [By Joseph Griffin]

    Here are some of the headlines that may have effected Accern Sentiment Analysis’s analysis:

    Get Interactive Brokers Group alerts: What Could Attract Investors to Interactive Brokers (finance.yahoo.com) Reviewing Charles Schwab (SCHW) and Interactive Brokers Group (IBKR) (americanbankingnews.com) Interactive Brokers Group (IBKR) Presents At Sandler O’Neill’s Global Exchange And Brokerage Conference – Slideshow (seekingalpha.com) Should You Invest In The Financial Stock Interactive Brokers Group Inc (NASDAQ:IBKR)? (finance.yahoo.com) Interactive Brokers Welcomes New Bond Disclosure Rules (finance.yahoo.com)

    Shares of Interactive Brokers Group traded up $1.20, reaching $71.38, during midday trading on Friday, according to MarketBeat Ratings. 1,131,168 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 859,815. The stock has a market cap of $29.39 billion, a PE ratio of 46.65, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.95. Interactive Brokers Group has a one year low of $36.23 and a one year high of $80.32.

  • [By Max Byerly]

    Compass Point started coverage on shares of Interactive Brokers Group (NASDAQ:IBKR) in a research note published on Tuesday. The brokerage issued a neutral rating and a $74.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock.

  • [By Logan Wallace]

    Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Interactive Brokers Group (IBKR)

    For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

Top 5 Warren Buffett Stocks To Watch For 2019: Eaton Vance New York Municipal Bond Fund(ENX)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Logan Wallace]

    Eaton Vance New York Municipal Bond Fund (NYSEAMERICAN:ENX) announced a monthly dividend on Monday, June 4th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 22nd will be given a dividend of 0.0448 per share on Friday, June 29th. This represents a $0.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 21st.

  • [By Logan Wallace]

    Eaton Vance New York Municipal Bond Fund (NYSEAMERICAN:ENX) announced a monthly dividend on Thursday, July 5th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 24th will be paid a dividend of 0.0448 per share on Tuesday, July 31st. This represents a $0.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 23rd.

  • [By Joseph Griffin]

    Euronext Amsterdam (EPA:ENX) has been assigned a €51.00 ($60.71) price target by investment analysts at UBS in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, www.boersen-zeitung.de reports. The firm presently has a “sell” rating on the stock. UBS’s target price would suggest a potential downside of 15.63% from the stock’s current price.

Friday, July 6, 2018

Over 160 stocks hit fresh 52-week low on BSE; DEN Networks, Hathway, BHEL, Andhra Bank top losers

The Indian benchmark indices are trading on a positive note this Friday afternoon�with the Nifty�adding�47�points and is trading at 10,796 mark. The Sensex is trading higher by�147�points at 35,722.

The breadth of the market favoured�advances, with�1056�stocks advancing, 600�declining and�409�remaining unchanged. On BSE,�1280�stocks advanced, 938�declined and�119�remained unchanged.

However, in the BSE, over 160 stocks have hit fresh 52-week low including names like Conart Engineers which is down close to 10 percent followed by Hathway Cable, DEN Networks, Ujaas Energy, JBF Industries, Kwality, Visa Steel, SRS, Finolex Industries, EROS International, Dena Bank, PTC India Financial, INOX Wind, Andhra Bank, Vedanta, HDIL, Capital First, BHEL and REC among others.

However, BSE Auto and BSE Capital goods has gained over 1 percent led by stocks like Hero Moto, Bajaj Auto, Ashok Leyland, Bharat Forge, Motherson Sumi and Tata Motors among others.

related news D-Street Buzz: Auto stocks rally with Tata Motors, Hero Moto up 3-4%; Asian Paints hits new 52-week high, Adani Power spikes Kotak Securities upgrades Ashok Leyland to buy; slowdown concerns is overdone

Capital good stocks are also up led by BEML, Bharat Electronics, CG Power, Greaves Cotton,�Larsen & Toubro and V-Guard Industries among others.

Vakrangee from the BSE midcap space is trading lower by 5 percent while Hathway Cable is down over 10 percent which is the top smallcap loser.

Den Networks which is trading lower by 6 percent, Vakrangee shedding 5 percent followed by Kwality and IL&FS Transportation are the top stocks to have hit fresh 52-week low in the afternoon trade. First Published on Jul 6, 2018 12:14 pm

Wednesday, July 4, 2018

Nebula Acquisition Corp’s (NEBUU) Lock-Up Period Set To End on July 9th

Nebula Acquisition’s (NASDAQ:NEBUU) lock-up period will end on Monday, July 9th. Nebula Acquisition had issued 25,000,000 shares in its IPO on January 10th. The total size of the offering was $250,000,000 based on an initial share price of $10.00. Shares of the company owned by major shareholders and company insiders will be eligible for trade following the expiration of the lock-up period.

Nebula Acquisition opened at $10.07 on Wednesday, according to Marketbeat.com. Nebula Acquisition has a 12 month low of $9.96 and a 12 month high of $10.15.

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A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Park West Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Nebula Acquisition in the 1st quarter valued at $20,240,000. Highbridge Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nebula Acquisition during the 1st quarter valued at $13,098,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in shares of Nebula Acquisition during the 1st quarter valued at $12,690,000. OZ Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Nebula Acquisition during the 1st quarter valued at $10,120,000. Finally, Her Majesty the Queen in Right of the Province of Alberta as represented by Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Nebula Acquisition during the 1st quarter valued at $4,554,000.

About Nebula Acquisition

Nebula Acquisition Corporation is a blank check company. The Company is formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. The Company intends to focus its search for a target business in the technology industry.

Friday, June 8, 2018

Corporacion America (CAAP) vs. Grupo Aeroportuario Centro Norte (OMAB) Critical Contrast

Corporacion America (NYSE: CAAP) and Grupo Aeroportuario Centro Norte (NASDAQ:OMAB) are both small-cap transportation companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends and risk.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

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10.4% of Corporacion America shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 16.7% of Grupo Aeroportuario Centro Norte shares are owned by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Corporacion America and Grupo Aeroportuario Centro Norte, as provided by MarketBeat.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score
Corporacion America 0 0 0 0 N/A
Grupo Aeroportuario Centro Norte 1 0 3 0 2.50

Grupo Aeroportuario Centro Norte has a consensus target price of $46.00, suggesting a potential upside of 19.54%. Given Grupo Aeroportuario Centro Norte’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Grupo Aeroportuario Centro Norte is more favorable than Corporacion America.

Dividends

Grupo Aeroportuario Centro Norte pays an annual dividend of $1.41 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Corporacion America does not pay a dividend. Grupo Aeroportuario Centro Norte pays out 64.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Corporacion America and Grupo Aeroportuario Centro Norte’s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio
Corporacion America $1.58 billion 1.18 $63.49 million $0.47 24.79
Grupo Aeroportuario Centro Norte $378.07 million 4.38 $108.30 million $2.19 17.57

Grupo Aeroportuario Centro Norte has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Corporacion America. Grupo Aeroportuario Centro Norte is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Corporacion America, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Corporacion America and Grupo Aeroportuario Centro Norte’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets
Corporacion America N/A N/A N/A
Grupo Aeroportuario Centro Norte 31.13% 33.76% 16.91%

Summary

Grupo Aeroportuario Centro Norte beats Corporacion America on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

Corporacion America Company Profile

Corporaci贸n Am茅rica Airports S.A. acquires, develops, and operates airport concessions. It operates 51 airports in Latin America, Europe, and Eurasia. The company was formerly knwona as A.C.I. Airports International S.� r.l. The company was founded in 1998 and is based in Luxembourg. Corporaci贸n Am茅rica Airports S.A. is a subsidiary of A.C.I. Airports S.� r.l.

Grupo Aeroportuario Centro Norte Company Profile

Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte, S. A. B. de C. V., through its subsidiaries, holds concessions to develop, operate, and maintain airports in Mexico. It also operates NH Collection Hotel in Terminal 2 of the Mexico City International Airport; and a hotel under the Hilton Garden Inn name at the Monterrey Airport. The company operates 13 international airports in Monterrey, Acapulco, Mazatl谩n, Zihuatanejo, Chihuahua, Culiac谩n, Durango, San Luis Potos铆, Tampico, Torre贸n, Zacatecas, Ciudad Ju谩rez, and Reynosa cities. In addition, it provides aeronautical services, which include passenger, aircraft landing and parking, passenger walkway, and airport security services. Further, the company offers non-aeronautical services that comprise leasing of space at its airports to retailers, restaurants, airlines, and other commercial tenants, as well as operation of parking facilities; and complementary services, such as baggage-screening, non-permanent ground transportation, and access rights services. Additionally, it provides construction services. Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte, S. A. B. de C. V. has a strategic alliance with VYNMSA Desarrollo Inmobiliario, S.A. de C.V. to build and operate an industrial park at the Monterrey airport. The company is headquartered in San Pedro Garza Garc铆a, Mexico. Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte, S. A. B. de C. V. is a subsidiary of Controladora de Operaciones de Infraestructa, S.A. de C.V.

Tuesday, May 29, 2018

TravelCenters of America (TA) Expected to Post Quarterly Sales of $1.87 Billion

Equities analysts expect TravelCenters of America (NASDAQ:TA) to report sales of $1.87 billion for the current quarter, Zacks Investment Research reports. Two analysts have issued estimates for TravelCenters of America’s earnings, with the highest sales estimate coming in at $1.98 billion and the lowest estimate coming in at $1.77 billion. TravelCenters of America reported sales of $1.50 billion in the same quarter last year, which would indicate a positive year over year growth rate of 24.7%. The company is expected to report its next earnings results on Tuesday, August 14th.

On average, analysts expect that TravelCenters of America will report full year sales of $7.18 billion for the current fiscal year, with estimates ranging from $6.97 billion to $7.40 billion. For the next fiscal year, analysts forecast that the company will post sales of $7.40 billion per share, with estimates ranging from $7.35 billion to $7.44 billion. Zacks’ sales averages are a mean average based on a survey of research analysts that cover TravelCenters of America.

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TravelCenters of America (NASDAQ:TA) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 7th. The specialty retailer reported ($0.67) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the Zacks’ consensus estimate of ($0.16) by ($0.51). The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. TravelCenters of America had a net margin of 0.46% and a negative return on equity of 5.55%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.53) earnings per share.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. B. Riley set a $9.00 target price on TravelCenters of America and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. TheStreet downgraded TravelCenters of America from a “c-” rating to a “d” rating in a report on Thursday, April 19th. Zacks Investment Research raised TravelCenters of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 9th. Finally, Citigroup set a $4.00 price target on TravelCenters of America and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $7.00.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in TA. Two Sigma Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of TravelCenters of America during the fourth quarter worth about $113,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in shares of TravelCenters of America by 57.0% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 40,522 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $166,000 after purchasing an additional 14,708 shares in the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of TravelCenters of America by 64.0% during the first quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 61,624 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 24,048 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in shares of TravelCenters of America by 37.4% during the fourth quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 54,719 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 14,887 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of TravelCenters of America during the fourth quarter worth about $380,000. 30.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

TravelCenters of America opened at $3.10 on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.00 million, a P/E ratio of -10.33 and a beta of 1.68. TravelCenters of America has a 12-month low of $2.95 and a 12-month high of $5.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23.

TravelCenters of America Company Profile

TravelCenters of America LLC operates travel centers and convenience stores in the United States and Canada. It operates in two segments, Travel Centers and Convenience Stores. Its travel centers offer a range of products and services, including diesel fuel and gasoline, as well as nonfuel products and services, such as truck repair and maintenance services, full service restaurants, quick service restaurants (QSR), and various customer amenities.

Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on TravelCenters of America (TA)

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Earnings History and Estimates for TravelCenters of America (NASDAQ:TA)

Sunday, May 27, 2018

Archer Daniels Midland Co (ADM) Shares Bought by Natixis Advisors L.P.

Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Archer Daniels Midland Co (NYSE:ADM) by 32.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 264,276 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 65,246 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P.’s holdings in Archer Daniels Midland were worth $11,461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Synovus Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of Archer Daniels Midland during the 1st quarter worth about $104,000. Ffcm LLC lifted its position in shares of Archer Daniels Midland by 126.4% during the 4th quarter. Ffcm LLC now owns 2,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $102,000 after purchasing an additional 1,424 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of Archer Daniels Midland by 188.3% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,554 shares of the company’s stock worth $102,000 after purchasing an additional 1,668 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC acquired a new position in shares of Archer Daniels Midland during the 1st quarter worth about $112,000. Finally, G&S Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Archer Daniels Midland during the 4th quarter worth about $106,000. 75.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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In other news, insider Ambrose Michael D sold 20,762 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $934,290.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 219,384 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,872,280. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ADM shares. Zacks Investment Research cut Archer Daniels Midland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 8th. Buckingham Research boosted their price objective on Archer Daniels Midland from $47.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 9th. ValuEngine cut Archer Daniels Midland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 2nd. Vertical Group raised Archer Daniels Midland from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $49.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Archer Daniels Midland from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 2nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. The company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $45.56.

Shares of Archer Daniels Midland opened at $44.55 on Friday, according to MarketBeat. Archer Daniels Midland Co has a 12-month low of $38.59 and a 12-month high of $46.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.57. The stock has a market cap of $24.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.68 and a beta of 1.01.

Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE:ADM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.21. Archer Daniels Midland had a return on equity of 7.96% and a net margin of 2.69%. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. analysts anticipate that Archer Daniels Midland Co will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 17th will be paid a $0.335 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 16th. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. Archer Daniels Midland’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.14%.

About Archer Daniels Midland

Archer-Daniels-Midland Company procures, transports, stores, processes, and merchandises agricultural commodities, products, and ingredients in the United States and internationally. It operates through four segments: Carbohydrate Solutions, Nutrition, Oilseeds, and Origination. The company offers oilseeds, corn, wheat, milo, oats, rice, and barley; and structured trade finance, as well as processes wheat into wheat flour.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ADM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Archer Daniels Midland Co (NYSE:ADM).

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE:ADM)

Friday, May 25, 2018

Great Quotes, Vol. 8: 5 Clever Quips for the Era of Conscious Capitalism

For this�Rule Breaker Investing podcast, Motley Fool co-founder David Gardner once again climbs up onto the shoulders of giants with a "Great Quotes" episode. These five memorable bon mots offer him excellent entries into topics that Foolish investors ought to be considering.

Specifically, because May is Conscious Capitalism month, he focused on wise words that can apply to that evolving holistic business philosophy. His sources range from a Roman-era Greek Stoic to a boundary-breaking astronaut, and as usual, their memorable ideas apply in realms beyond the workaday world.

A full transcript follows the video.

This video was recorded on May 16, 2018.

David Gardner: And welcome back to Rule Breaker Investing. It's Conscious Capitalism Month. The month of May, here -- May 2018 -- [is] Conscious Capitalism Month for Rule Breaker Investing. I hope you've been enjoying our podcasts and podcasts on top of podcasts this month because, in the first week, I interviewed Alexander McCobin and Raj Sisodia as part of the standard Wednesday podcast, but then we also presented you an extra with Ed Freeman, professor of business at Darden Business School, even though he, himself, had never taken a business course, which you kinda gotta love.

And then last week we had Five Winners in a Thinking World. We reviewed those stocks, saw how they did, and then we welcomed on Selim Bassoul, the CEO of Middleby Corporation. Middleby didn't have great earnings that week. I think the stock was down double-digit percentages the day the podcast came out, but he's in it for the long term. We are, too. It was funny timing, but I was honored to have Selim Bassoul join me on the podcast. And then we had three [Conscious Entrepreneurs] for you last week in another Rule Breaker extra.

Well, if you're sick of Rule Breaker extras, I have some good news for you. We won't have any this weekend. If, on the other hand, you've been enjoying extras [a little bit of extra RBI for your weekend], sorry. It will feel hollow this weekend, but nope. We're just going to go with this podcast this week. And it's one of my Great Quotes podcasts.

This is the eighth time -- this is the eighth entry -- in my Great Quotes Vol. X series. Loved the first seven. Started it a few years ago in 2015. This will be the eighth installment of that series and we're going to go with "All Conscious Capitalism" in celebration of Conscious Capitalism Month. That's where we're headed this particular week.

And as has been my wont and the tradition for this particular series, it will always be five quotes. I've lined up five great quotations, but I'm going to cheat a little bit, because there's a sixth one that won't fit the series that I want to just lead off with as a great challenge to your own thinking and maybe some inspiration for your week ahead.

And, in fact, this quote comes from a personal friend of mine. A friend to many in the Conscious Capitalism movement. His name was Jeff Klein. I'm using the past tense because unfortunately Jeff, four years ago this summer, died in his sleep. A really sad moment. He was in his late 50s.

He was an author of the award-winning book Working for Good: Making a Difference While Making a Living. He had a number of other books. He produced a lot of the events that leaders in the Conscious Capitalism movement have enjoyed together. He was an activator. A process facilitator. He was just an all-around catalyst for good.

So, Jeff Klein, you are missed, and I wanted to start off this podcast with a quote from Jeff. It kind of speaks for itself, but I might say a thing or two about it. Here it is. And I quote, "Wherever there is conflict, there is an opportunity for learning and growth." Love it.

You can think of all kinds of conflict in this world. You can think about conflicts between nations. Conflicts between people. Movements. Conflicts in your own soul. It doesn't take much time, at all, to find a conflict if you just start looking for one, but how wonderful is it when you and I frame it up as an opportunity [in Jeff's words] for learning and growth.

That is such a wonderful way to confront any conflict that you see around you. And I challenge you in the week ahead -- and I encourage you -- when you encounter a conflict in whatever context; immediately, if possible, reframe it in your mind as an opportunity for learning and growth. That is Foolish. That runs against the conventional wisdom and, Jeff Klein, thank you for your work and for that thought.

Great Quote No. 1: Now, we're going to go chronologically through time with these, so let's go back a few thousand years. Why not? Let's spend a little time with the Greeks. Let's specifically tap the Greek stoic philosopher Epictetus. Now, I have to admit I never did take classical Greek. I didn't really do that great a job studying philosophy. I recognize Epictetus. I could certainly spell it for you quite easily. But if you're like me, you may not exactly remember who Epictetus was, so before I give his quote, just a little bit of a Wikipedia backgrounder here.

Epictetus was born in the year 55 AD. He lived for 80 years -- 55 AD to 135 AD. He was born a slave at Hierapolis in Phrygia, which is present-day Turkey, and he lived in Rome until his banishment, when he went to Nicopolis in Northwestern Greece for the rest of his life. His teachings were written down and published by his pupil [as was so often the case back then]. In this case it was Arrian and those two books are his Discourses and his Enchiridion.

Epictetus taught that philosophy is a way of life and not just a theoretical discipline. To Epictetus [again, just finishing out, here, with Wikipedia], "all external events are beyond our control. We should accept calmly and dispassionately whatever happens." That doesn't feel fully Foolish to me, but then listen to this. "However, individuals are responsible for their own actions, which they can examine and control through rigorous self-discipline." There's a quick backgrounder on Epictetus.

Here's the quote [a lot shorter than the bio]. And I quote, "No great thing is created suddenly." Love it. Of course, I love all these. Why would I even present great quotes on the Great Quotes series if I didn't love it and want to share it and share it out?

Let's think about it a little bit together. "No great thing is created suddenly." Well, the first thing I think about, when I think about that, is businesses, since that's what we talk a lot about with Rule Breaker Investing, and while there have been some early start-ups that gained great scale and rose to great prominence much quicker than at any other points in history [and I'm thinking of Alphabet, or I'm thinking of Facebook], the truth is that even those companies are 10+ years old, which isn't really that much in the grander scheme of time, but is still worth respecting. And of course, many great businesses [think of something like Starbucks or Walmart] were created over decades. There are businesses that have been created over centuries that still exist today, but no great thing is created suddenly.

Now, I think America is a great country. I think there are a lot of admirable things about our country. I say that somewhat chauvinistically; i.e., I am a fan of my own country, but I'm the first to say we have a lot of faults and you, whoever you are in your own country, I hope that you admire aspects of your own and could explain that to a foreigner about what's great about what you've got.

And when I think about America, it wasn't created suddenly. In some ways it came together awfully quickly in the 1770s, but people had been living for more than a hundred years in and around the mainland, and while the Revolution happened pretty quickly and then later the Articles of Confederation and the U.S. Constitution; it all kind of came together in one era. It wasn't created suddenly, and I don't think wealth is created suddenly, either.

Back to our main focus of this podcast. I love this line from Brian Chesky. That's the CEO of Airbnb, who would be a better-known person and probably a little bit more celebrated if his company were public. You and I can't actually invest in shares of Airbnb unless we were part of the venture cap teams that have funded that massive enterprise.

But Brian Chesky recently described a conversation he'd gotten to have with Jeff Bezos and Warren Buffett. He was a younger Brian Chesky back then. He's still a pretty young guy today, but he was more like a student getting a rare opportunity to have a meal with the two gentlemen.

And he said to Jeff Bezos, "Jeff, what's the best advice that Warren ever gave you?"

And Bezos said, "Well, I asked [this of Warren]. I said, 'Your investment thesis is so simple. You're the second richest guy in the world and it's so simple, why doesn't everyone just copy you?'" [A lot of people have tried to copy Amazon at different points over the course of time.] "Why doesn't everyone just copy you, Warren?"

And Buffett answered, "Because nobody wants to get rich slow."

And what a beautiful and profound point. It's really true in this day and age. In every day and age, get rich quick will always sound great, and there are a lot of schemes promoting the idea that that is possible. But the one thing that I think you and I know, as Foolish investors, is that we can, and we will, get rich, and by doing so slowly, that's the sure way to riches.

Everything else is speculation. The more you try to compact your time frame and hit it big, the much lower your odds, and the much higher the chance that you'll end up very disappointed [maybe even alienated], and that's sad because you had a chance to do what Warren Buffett does, and what we, here, at The Motley Fool do [and throw out as a halo effect of our efforts as many places around the globe as possible], and that is to get rich slow. To enjoy the markets' compounded returns, 10% or so on average, over time. Just do the math. 10% up over 10 years or 20 [years] or 50 [years] rolls up to a remarkable sum of money that you'd love to be on top of.

And, hey, what if you could beat that 10%? What if you were, maybe, a Rule Breaker, and you had a habit of outperforming that percentage over time? That's the way to get rich. And when I think [before we go on to our next quote] of a recent conversation I had with an Uber driver, I started talking about what I do at The Motley Fool.

He said, "Do you do crypto?"

And I said, "I'm interested in it. I think that it's a technology worth following."

And it became clear to me that he only really understood investing in terms of saving money to put it into cryptocurrencies.

Now, I'm not going to be here to bash cryptocurrencies. Again, I think the technology is interesting, and I did find out recently that for the last four or five months, the No. 1 searched term at Fool.com is "bitcoin." That's right. For several months now, the No. 1 most-searched term at Fool.com is bitcoin, so I understand there's a lot of interest, there, and I respect that.

But, I would always want anybody, whether he or she is an Uber driver, a student, or a student of the game of life of any age, to understand, first of all, that getting rich slowly [is] by being a part owner of stocks, of corporations [of understanding that you're actually owning a part of that company and you're owning a part of Facebook when you buy a share of Facebook] as opposed to speculative cryptocurrencies.

I think speculative cryptocurrencies can be great as a small, let's say 1-5% of your portfolio. You could even go higher than that if you're going with the safer, beefier ones and maybe not just investing in cryptocurrencies, but stocks of companies that are doing blockchain. Great! But I would always want anybody of any age to make sure that they understood the stock market and what it is. It's a farmer's market, except rather than getting fruits and vegetables, you're getting parts of public companies. I would want to make sure everybody understood that and realized that's where you want to have almost all your money. You want to keep saving and be inspired by better and better returns you'll get over time with compounding in the stock market.

Back to Epictetus. "No great thing is created suddenly," and more recently Warren Buffett, "Yeah, I get rich slow."

Now, I should mention where I [found] these quotes. Where did I find Epictetus's quote? Well, at the Conscious Capitalism Conference earlier this month in Dallas, Texas, there was an area with several clotheslines. And one of the clothespins on the top clothesline had an eight and a half by 11 piece of paper pinned to it, and it said, "Spark quotes: Quips and quotes to spark an idea, ignite your passion, and keep you stoked." And all of the other things hanging on these clotheslines were small cards with some of the quotes that I am reading to you. So, I'm swiping the Spark Quotes from this conference to share with you and here's No.2.

Great Quote No. 2 comes from Teddy Roosevelt. I'm a big T.R. fan. I know I'm speaking to a lot of others. I hope you've enjoyed Candice Millard's wonderful book, The River of Doubt, which tells the remarkable story of Teddy Roosevelt's voyage into South America trying to find the source of a mysterious and very dangerous river after he was president in his 50s. A remarkable story. Candice has been on this podcast. We talked a little bit about The River of Doubt. I'm looking forward to her next book, which will be about finding the source of the Nile. That's a few years hence, but excited about that.

Teddy Roosevelt -- here's what he said. "Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing."

Now, I don't know what that spawns for you, but that spawns two thoughts for me. The first is that I want that for my life and I hope you want that for your life. I want that for your life. "Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing."

It's often been pointed out that not all of America's workforce is highly engaged. My brother Tom has a fun way of putting this. He said, "If we're all in a canoe together paddling, and we have 10 of us, and we're each representing one-tenth of the American workforce, there are three people in the front paddling hard forward. 30% of America's workforce is engaged and excited and passionate about its work. The five people sitting behind them in the canoe are not paddling at all. They're just along for the ride. And then, unfortunately, there are one or two people in the back who are actively disengaged. That is, they're hostile to their own organization and, if you will, paddling backward."

Now, just imagine how much faster our canoes could move if all of us, or at least the majority of us, were paddling forward, and if you're visualizing at least five people paddling forward and nobody paddling backward, you're starting to see the kinds of companies that we invest in as Rule Breakers, because we're looking into the hearts of the companies of the stocks that we pick, and we're looking for places that people want to work and feel great about the work that [they're] doing.

So, thought No. 1 spawned by Theodore Roosevelt. I sure hope that's true of your work, and if it's not, I would encourage you to make whatever changes you can as rapidly as possible to get into a place where the work that you're doing is worth doing and you want to work hard at it because selfishly, I'm going to be a lot better off if that's true of you, just like you will of me, because we're co-creating value together and, in fact, we're paying taxes together. We're only paying taxes out of profits and salaries if we're employed. Everything is better, worldwide, when people have found the right work for them.

And then the second thought about that quote goes right back to the heart of Rule Breaker Investing. We're looking for companies that are doing important things in this world. The stocks that I'm picking -- the ones that we talk about in our five-stock samplers on this podcast -- if you're a stock market investor [and I sure hope you are], I hope some of these companies are in your portfolio. Think about what the work is worth doing and make sure your dollars are there.

Sometimes I've said, "Looking backward over the last 25 years are you able to say the big trends of my time -- the zeitgeists, the spirit of my age -- I had my money in those companies." Were you, let's say, 25 years ago invested in America Online, the decade that America came online? It was an amazing stock for quite a while there.

Or more recently as the whole world has shifted toward the internet, have you been invested in Netflix? And let's not even look backwards. How about going forwards? Do you think this is a company that's going to get bigger and add more and more value to the world over the next 20 years? I sure do think so. This should be true of as many of the companies as you look down your brokerage statement as possible. Ask, "Are they working hard at work worth doing?"

Genomics. Curing cancer. Making your home smarter. Artificial intelligence making the products and services around us better and better. Is this work worth doing and are you invested in it? I sure hope you are.

Great Quote No. 3: Another Spark Quote. This is from the, well, mostly 20th century, although Warren Bennis did live pretty decently in the 21st century. Writer and thinker about leadership. His book -- On [Becoming] a Leader -- if that's something that sounds good to you and you've not read it, I would highly suggest you take a look at Warren Bennis's thoughts for you on being a leader.

I'm not quite sure which of his writings [and] many books this quote came from, but here's the Spark Quote I pulled from Dallas. "Too many companies believe people are interchangeable. Truly gifted people never are. They have unique talents. Such people cannot be forced into roles they are not suited for, nor should they be. Effective leaders allow great people to do the work they were born to do."

I almost feel like I don't need to illustrate that one for you because it just says something so well and so truthfully. But, hey, this is a podcast. You've tuned in to hear me blabber a little bit every week, so here's a thought or two about what Warren Bennis [I almost said Warren Buffett], has for us when we think about truly gifted people.

Here's a term from economics, at least that's where I first found the word "fungible." You might know fungible [F-U-N-G-I-B-L-E]. I believe it's one of those terms we should all know, whether or not we took any econ courses. It just means when one thing can be replaced by another.

What's fungible out there? Well, I certainly agree with Mr. Bennis that people are among the least fungible resources I've gotten to know in our world so far. Everyone is different. Everyone has a different perspective and diversity, which is increasingly celebrated in this world.

I think the best way of thinking about diversity isn't so much that you need to have difference from one person to the next, but rather to recognize that each person is unique. That each person on your team comes from different places and different insights and in that sense, the greater the diversity of those places and insights, I think the stronger you, your team, and your company will be. It's to celebrate the uniqueness.

And so, people are not really interchangeable. We could say at a large company, "We're looking for a director of marketing." You might already have a hundred of them, but each one's different. The director of marketing at one company is probably quite different from the director of marketing at a different company. And even what marketing means -- one of those catch-all words that means too many things -- that is, itself, usually a uniquely different thing in each company.

And so, the more that we attempt to fit square pegs in round holes, the less successful we'll be. The more that we recognize each person's unique talent and what they can bring. What is your superhero power? What is her superhero power?

Some weeks ago, on this podcast, we did our most recent installment of company culture tips, and I introduced the catchphrase, "What's Your Motley?" That's something that we say, here, at The Motley Fool. And I said if there's one core value that any organization should feel free to steal -- just swipe flat out from The Motley Fool -- it's, "What's Your Motley?"

It's our way of asking anybody that we come across [your fellow employees, or a Motley Fool member that we're meeting at an event like FoolFest coming up later this month, or just somebody on the street, or if you're embarrassed in an elevator and have nothing else to say,] "What's Your Motley?" You're asking that person what is the value that they're bringing to our organization. What is your perspective? How can you enrich what we're doing? You already know our company values or purpose whatever your company is, but how can you add to it with something that's your own? That's uniquely your own. It makes me think, again, of Warren Bennis.

So, the best leader in you and the best leader in me probably is when we're being enabled to unleash our own personal superhero powers. Whatever we're best at. The unique talents that we bring. And one more thought about leadership. The job of leaders is to make sure that their people are getting put in those positions and getting those opportunities to shine.

Great Quote No. 4: All right, quote No. 4 and our final two quotes each involve the word "limits." A good word. Different views of limits. Quote No. 4. Now, this one comes from Mae Jemison. Now, I didn't, right off the top, recognize the name Mae Jemison. I bet a bunch of you will, but I'll make it clear very quickly who this is after I give her quote.

Mae said, "Never be limited by other people's limited imaginations. Never be limited by other people's limited imaginations."

Now, who's Mae Jemison you might be wondering? Well, she's an American engineer, a physician, and a NASA astronaut. In fact, on September 12th of 1992, she became the first African-American woman to travel in space aboard the space shuttle Endeavour.

Since then, having resigned from NASA in 1993, she's appeared on television several times. She was on an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, for example. She's a dancer. She holds nine honorary doctorates in science, engineering, letters, and the humanities. Dr. Mae Jemison, today 61 years old, from Decatur, Alabama. "Never be limited by other people's limited imaginations."

Well, most of all, I think here, I'm not speaking to investors. I mean, I think it can be helpful for us as investors. It can be helpful to try to picture what things can become. For example, Intuitive Surgical, a wonderful company behind the da Vinci Surgical robot. When we first recommended that stock and got invested in it more than a decade ago, we [questioned whether] robotic surgery would catch on. The good news is it has. We were rewarded, there, but forget about the past. Let's look forward.

How about a company like 2U? A company that's bringing distance learning into the classrooms of some of the best universities today. Partnering with universities to reach more students than they would have otherwise. What might that become in time? Or what about MercadoLibre? How much higher could Latin American commerce go in the next 25 years? MercadoLibre, the leader. Or what about Twitter? What might Twitter become? I'm not quite sure 10 years from now. It will be fascinating to watch.

So, yes, it can be helpful not to limit your own imagination when you're thinking as an investor but here, I also think about how we talk to our kids. One of the things I always tried not to do was to limit my children, especially when talking to others. Do you have any friends who do this? They'll say something like this. "Yes, Anne is my smart child," and they'll say that right in front of Anne.

And, I mean, Anne [I'm looking at Anne Henry, one of our producers right now], is very smart. I'm not actually talking about Anne, but I'm thinking about Anne. It's awesome to have a child who's really talented or gifted. Or maybe tardy. "David is our tardy child." When parents talk about that in front of their kids, especially to other people with their kids, there, I think you start to limit them. It might not even be a bad thing. Maybe you're limiting them into being a great kid -- or the brilliant child is getting it -- but I think we're better off praising effort in our children rather than roping them into a cookie-cutter view of how they fit in within a family, or within their class, or within their generation.

So, never be limited by other people's limited imaginations, Dr. Mae Jemison said, and that's especially true [when you] think about you as a kid. When you were a kid was that true of you and how you were spoken to? It can be positive or negative, but it can be helpful to be conscious of this, both in how you were raised and how it may have affected you, but also, more importantly, how you talk going forward to people around you, especially younger members of new generations. So, never be limited by other people's limited imaginations.

All right, so our previous quote was about not allowing what we might call "false limits" to limit who and what you might be or become. This one is praising limits for a different reason. Here we go. This is from Roz Brewer, and I'll say a little bit more about her in a second.

Great Quote No. 5: "You can and should set your own limits and clearly articulate them. This takes courage, but it is also liberating and empowering, and often earns you new respect."

So, Dr. Mae Jemison telling us not to be limited by other people's limited imaginations, but Roz Brewer saying you can and should set your own limits and clearly articulate them. And I want to speak to both of those very briefly.

Many times, in the past, on Rule Breaker Investing, I have [I think "decried" might be a fair word], I have decried the lack of accountability within so much of the financial world, especially financial punditry. People on television constantly making new pronouncements about where the market's going, or where a certain stock is going up or down; and yet, nobody really keeping score.

I'm a big baseball fan. There's no financial punditry encyclopedia that I can consult and see how often this or that person is right or wrong. As a consequence, we have people constantly being quoted in the financial media and you really don't know if you're listening to Babe Ruth right now or Biff Johnson, a generic player who clearly wasn't as good at baseball as Babe Ruth.

Is it Babe Ruth or is it Biff Johnson? You can't tell because there's no scoring going on, and even if there were, there's no real reporting of that scoring. As a consequence, we're all living within a system where with no score being kept there's no self-correction happening. After all, when you start losing at anything and the results are being tabulated, you start to change your game and get better. And when you start winning, you start figuring out that you're winning and you can figure out why you're winning. Those are great things. Those are systems that are self-improving systems because systems that are self-improving have scoring going on and accountability.

Back to Roz Brewer. You can and should set your own limits; i.e., in my mind, score ourselves, whether we're talking about stock picking, or just personal predictions. Betting a friend. That's a good way to keep track of a prediction. Bet a friend ten bucks either way. You can and should set your own limits, and clearly articulate them. So, it takes guts, as she goes on to say. This takes courage, but it's also liberating and empowering and often earns you new respect.

I think about Motley Fool CAPS, an opportunity that you and I have to go online at caps.fool.com and thumb a stock up or down because you believe that stock may beat or lose to the market averages. You can pick your time frame. You can pick your stock. It's a great way to start scoring whether your instincts are good or not about a given company, industry, or the market overall. And it's something that I love about The Motley Fool -- that we have caps.fool.com -- and you and I can each hold ourselves accountable and see other people holding themselves accountable anytime they pick a stock, thumb up or thumb down, on CAPS.

Now Roz Brewer, I should mention in closing [if you don't recognize her] is an American businesswoman. She was the president and CEO of Sam's Club which is, of course, a division of Walmart Stores. Recently she moved companies. She's now the chief operating officer of a little global company you might recognize called Starbucks. In fact, she was the first woman and the first African-American to fill the role of a CEO at one of [the divisions] of Walmart Stores, and today Roz is the COO of Starbucks.

So, it takes courage -- doesn't it? -- but it also is liberating, empowering, and often earns you new respect, she says, and she's somebody who would understand that having earned the acclaim and respect that she has gained over the course of her business career.

You know, one thought in closing. I don't think we do a good enough job finding and celebrating great businesspeople. I think a lot of us recognize great athletes if we're sports fans, and there's a lot of acclaim and promotion behind great athletes.

I think a lot of us know the political leaders. You might like them, or you might not like them in your country or your neighborhood, but there's a lot of studying that we do of the politics of our country and history. History is often seen in political terms or military terms. A lot of memorizing of how this or that war started. Those are important things, and I certainly wouldn't want to skip that in my schoolboy learnings.

But I also believe there's a whole aspect of history and culture that is underplayed, both in academia and in popular culture; and that's just doing business really well. That's the great people that are behind the kinds of companies that we talk about, here, on Rule Breaker Investing, so I'm delighted to double underline the success of somebody like Roz Brewer, or to suggest, as I did recently to a friend who's an academic, "Hey, you know a great thing you could go into that doesn't seem like historians are going into nearly enough?" I said to this person, "corporate history."

I think in a country built on entrepreneurship, every schoolboy and schoolgirl should know the story of Apple Computer and how that came to be. Or Disney. Or Ford. Or any one of a number [Starbucks] of iconic American companies. Don't you think every school child should know five or 10 of these and be able to fairly easily [60 seconds] explain the history of this or that company and the people that are usually behind them?

I think that feels like an area of academia that is largely unexplored, so I'm putting out, right now, to future academics, that I think somebody should specialize on corporate histories, because you have a lot of blue sky around you without many people poking around, and I think that's some of the most exciting and interesting history that I've yet come across in my 52 years.

Well, thanks a lot for joining me this week on Rule Breaker Investing, where the aim is always to educate, to amuse, and to enrich. It was my pleasure to present these stolen quotes from the Spark Quotes section of the Conscious Capitalism Conference earlier this month.

In the couple of weeks ahead -- at the end of this month -- we, of course, have our mailbag. Next week I'll be doing a hodgepodge. In fact, it's a continuation of one of my series. It will be Volume II of Old, New, Borrowed, & Blue. I'm sure there will be a little bit of Conscious Capitalism theming there, but I don't want to lay it on too thick this month, either, so we'll keep it pretty motley. A hodgepodge. In the meantime, I hope you have a great week. Fool on!

As always, people on this program may have interest in the stocks they talk about, and The Motley Fool may have formal recommendations for or against, so don't buy or sell stocks based solely on what you hear. Learn more about Rule Breaker Investing at RBI.Fool.com.

Thursday, May 24, 2018

Trade Wars: Episode IV, Fed June Hike, Krugman EM Alert: Eco Day

Welcome to Thursday, Asia. Here’s news from Bloomberg Economics to help get your day started:

Trade travails. The Trump administration is considering slapping tariffs on imported automobiles and the president is backing away from a trade agreement with China, under pressure from hawks. Meantime, here’s a rundown of pressure points ahead of Wilbur Ross’s Beijing tripFed officials signaled they’re set to raise rates in June, but sent no clear message on whether they’d then hike one or two more times. Policy makers are calmly yet hesitantly addressing signs of firmer inflationPaul Krugman is joining economists and money managers from Carmen Reinhart to Mark Mobius warning of an emerging market meltdownTurkey’s central bank raised rates at an emergency meeting as President Erdogan bowed to pressure from financial markets after sparking a currency crisis. The move fails to address the underlying problem -- the direction in which Erdogan is taking the countryTough first day. When Perry Warjiyo is sworn in as Indonesia’s central bank governor he faces trial by fire as investors dump stocks and bondsModi’s oil problem. India’s leader faces a budget dilemma from rising energy prices ahead of polls as Saudi Arabia presses for crude above $80Australia’s central bank chief Philip Lowe sought common ground with China as political tensions between the nations simmer, saying together they can be a force for an open global trading systemThe global economic rebound expected this quarter is failing to fire outside the U.S. LISTEN TO ARTICLE 1:32 Share Share on Facebook Post to Twitter Send as an Email Print