Stock Trading

We evaluated Student Transportation Inc. (STB) as an investment during the fall of 2011. We were intrigued by its high yield of 8% however we were displeased by the fact that the company was guzzling gas for acquisitions and increased capital expenditures. We were not foolhardy enough to recommending an outright short sale of the company because we felt that the 8% dividend yield was supporting the price of the shares and that we felt that dividend hungry investors didn't know, didn't show or didn't care that the company's biggest source of cash inflows was debt and equity issuance. STB's dividend yield is now 8.6% and it remains to be seen if its reduced appetite for acquisitions will pay dividends for shareholders. When we first considered STB as an investment in 2011, we determined that it would be an underperformer relative to the major indexes such as the S&P 500

Good dividend yield, low payout ratio, consistent dividend growth and low debt with significant free cash flow are a good combination for long term dividend stocks strategy.I tried to create such a strategy that can outperform the market by a big margin. The following screen shows such promise. I have searched for companies that are included in the Russell 1000 index with a decent dividend yield with a low payout ratio and low debt that consistently have raised dividend payments and have a low price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. Many investors prefer using free cash flow instead of net income to measure a company's financial performance because free cash flow is more difficult to manipulate. Free cash flow is the operating cash flow minus capital expenditure. Russell 1000 Index Description from Russell Investments: The Russell 1000 Index measures the performance of the large-cap segment of the U.S. equity universe. It is

Now, I know what you're thinking, there's been a lot of talk of 'broken mining stocks', and to be honest there's a plethora of attractive commodity stocks available, many of which offer attractive dividend yields.Taking a look at the daily chart of Intrepid Potash (IPI), it has been stagnant at best, churning around the 52 week low of 16.88, and well below the 50 and 200 period moving averages (daily chart). (click to enlarge) Until recently, it looked listless before rallying 4.28% Friday (to close at 18.28), on news of insider buying by co-founder Bob Jornayvaz (purchasing 20k shares at an average price of 17.438).I did some digging to see how the stock reacted after previous large insider buys, but found nothing, going back up to four years…If anyone remembers a few years back this sector underwent serious consolidation. CF engaged in a hostile takeover of

The world's largest fixed-income manager, Pimco's Bill Gross, told Bloomberg recently that he "see[s] bubbles everywhere." Talk about an ominous statement for investors. But if his "everywhere" includes the residential real estate market, Gross is sorely mistaken. As I shared recently, the real estate recovery is legitimate. And it's gaining traction, too. However, the way we capitalize on this trend is evolving. Forget the Usual Suspects No longer can we expect to book the biggest profits on the most obvious beneficiaries of a housing recovery -- homebuilders. Nor can we bank on "first derivative" opportunities -- companies with obvious ties to an uptick in home sales. I'm talking about home improvement stores like Home Depot (HD) and Lowe’s (LOW), and building materials suppliers like Lumber Liquidators Holdings (LL) and Masco Corporation (MAS). As I told you in late February, these plays are too obvious and overcrowded

ASML (ASML) continues to impress me, but the uncertainty in a changeover in company management can result in some lost momentum. CEO Eric Meurice, who over nine years solidified the company's position as the dominant supplier of machines for manufacturing computer chips, is to step down on July 1 and become Chairman of the Board. Peter Wennink, CFO of the company, will succeed Meurice.ASML clearly dominates the semiconductor lithography market, as shown in the chart below. Under CEO Meurice, ASML moved the company from second place position in 2003 to first place in 2004 and the company never looked back. (click to enlarge) More importantly, ASML dominates the lucrative, high-end 193nm deep UV (DUV) wet market, as shown below, with an 83.1% share in 2012. (click to enlarge) Source: The Information NetworkThat was history. Let's look at the future. The semiconductor lithography market is at a crossroads as

Deutsche Lufthansa AG, United Airlines, Continental, and Air Canada agreed to give up airport spaces in Frankfurt and New York in a concession to European antitrust investigations, which were sparked under fear that the revenue-sharing, pricing, and capacity pacts between the four airlines would drive up the price of transatlantic flights. United Airlines and Continental merged in 2010 under United Continental Holdings (NYSE:UAL), which is now the biggest airline in the world. NEW! Discover a new stock idea each week for less than the cost of 1 trade. CLICK HERE for your Weekly Stock Cheat Sheets NOW! Members of the European Union’s antitrust group conducted rigorous tests to be sure the deal wouldn’t raise ticket prices for first and business-class passengers on transatlantic flights. The effects the pacts would have on short-haul and connecting flights were also examined. The agreement reached will remain legally binding for 10 years. As part of the settlement, the airlines agreed to make ticketing and flight connection agreements with competitors. Airlines have been seeking partnerships in recent years to cut costs, but must make concessions in order to maintain competition. A similar deal between British Airways and Iberia of Spain (now IAG-SA) with American Airlines, owned by AMR Corp., won approval after also making a concession to give up operating slots in order to maintain competition. Joaquin Almunia, the EU’s antitrust commissioner, said in a statement, “Thanks to the commitments offered by the three airlines, passengers on the Frankfurt-New York route will benefit from stronger competition. This decision is a further milestone in our effort to create a level playing field on transatlantic aviation markets.” NEW! Discover a new stock idea each week for less than the cost of 1 trade. CLICK HERE for your Weekly Stock Cheat Sheets NOW! In October the airlines were warned that their joint venture agreement could infringe antitrust rules because it would end competition between Lufthansa and United on the New York-Frankfurt route. The agreement reached calls for rival airlines to be able to make up to seven weekly flights between New York and Frankfurt. The EU antitrust commission will have its work cut out for it if airlines continue to make similar cost-cutting pacts. Don’t Miss: How to Retire: All At Once, Or a Little At a Time? Read the original article from Wall St. Cheat Sheet

The dismal condition of the solar industry, and the response of the U.S. and Europe to Chinese solar imports, brings to the fore what the strategy being fought over is all about. On the part of the Chinese, they're attempting to build market share while temporarily forsaking profits. Revenue is what they're generating, not earnings. This has disturbed the U.S. and Europe, which aren't able to effectively compete against the Chinese strategy at this time. While this is attempted to be spun as unfair competition, it's in fact a common business practice that is employed all the time. For example, think of Facebook (FB), Twitter, and Tumblr, or any other social networking company for that matter. They build out economies of scale and from there work on ways to monetize it. This is done across all industries at some point in time. So to disingenuously assert the Chinese are

When it comes right down to it, Samsung (SSNLF.PK) doesn’t seem able to sell a single model of its smartphones quite as fast as Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) does. Instead, it might sell a number of models of its smartphones. It’s clear that Samsung is the champion in the global smartphone market, with far more device sales in each quarter than any other manufacturer. What is likely helping Samsung is that it makes so many different devices. Having numerous devices at different form factors and prices allows Samsung to tap into the market at almost any level. Is Apple now a once-in-a-decade buying opportunity? Click here to get your 24-page Ultimate Cheat Sheet to Apple’s Stock now! For Apple, things aren’t so easy. From the start, Apple has essentially only released one iPhone model at a time. Of course, there were minor variations to support different carriers and options for storage size, but the devices were largely the same. It’s impressive that Apple has been so successful on the back of only one device at a time, as it’s managed to hold second place in the global smartphone market In the middle of May, Samsung announced that it had reached 6 million sales — to carriers — with its Galaxy S 4 device. Just a week later and one day shy of a month after the launch of the device, the company announced it had reached 10 million sales. Interestingly enough, it seems that Apple’s and Samsung’s devices sell very differently. Initially, the iPhone 5 set a pace that refused to be beaten. In the first 24 hours that the device was offered, it pulled in two million pre-orders. But, quick sales early on might not be enough to beat Samsung. Looking at the Galaxy S 4 sales, it seems they are more steady over time and less explosive. Apple has consistently beaten the sales of its previous devices with its latest models, so it might be able to hold its seat as second in the smartphone market, but Samsung is showing signs that it could be slipping away from Apple with a further lead. Samsung, too, has been seen to top its previous sales, and it also doesn’t fool around with just one device at a time. NEW! Discover a new stock idea each week for less than the cost of 1 trade. CLICK HERE for your Weekly Stock Cheat Sheets NOW! Samsung already has two different versions of the Galaxy S 4 on the market — a quad-core and an eight-core variant — and it plans to come out with a few more models. It will be adding 2 smaller models — the Galaxy S 4 Mini, and Galaxy S 4 Zoom — with 4.3-inch screens and slightly lower-end hardware. However, the Zoom is said to feature a 16-megapixel camera with 10-times optical zoom. It’s also rumored that Samsung might launch a ruggedized version of the device. If Samsung could hit 10 million sales in a month, it could take that number much higher with five different models of the Galaxy S 4. Apple may win the sprint races, but Samsung seems focused and strong in the long run. Follow Mark on Twitter (@WallStMarkSheet) Don’t Miss: Analyst: iWatch Not Coming Before Next Year. Read the original article from Wall St. Cheat Sheet

By: The ETF ProfessorNatural gas futures are volatile.That much is widely known and that volatility explains the allure of an ETF such as the U.S. Natural Gas Fund (UNG) for active, short-term traders. With natural gas futures soaring recently and getting another lift Tuesday after the U.S. National Weather Service issued a warmer-than-expected six-to-ten-day forecast for the eastern part of the U.S., UNG is again in the spotlight.And with that comes traders embracing even more volatile fare such as the leveraged ProShares Ultra DJ-UBS Natural Gas (BOIL), BOIL's bearish equivalent, the ProShares UltraShort DJ-UBS Natural Gas (KOLD), and the VelocityShares 3x Long Natural Gas ETN (UGAZ).Those that want to take a more conservative to profiting from rising natural gas futures have options, too. One of the better choices is the First Trust ISE-Revere Natural Gas Index Fund (FCG). As has been

(This article continues my Seeking Alpha series on high-dividend paying stocks. For those interested, some past articles in this series can be found here, here, and here. My blog details more on my investing philosophy here. All data used in this article are taken from EuroStat, the World Bank, OECD, and the stock exchanges.)With U.S. stock markets surging over the last few months, investors still looking to put more cash into the market, but wary of the possibility of froth in the U.S. markets, may need to look outside this country for attractive opportunities. Fortunately in today's modern investing world, individual investors can put money to work in many different countries around the world without having to set up international brokerage accounts or worry about language barriers. In fact, for most retail investors today, international investing is probably best done through one of two choices: