"Warren Buffett's holding company, Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.B), has been the single greatest investment of our lifetimes," says Alexander Green, noting, "His compounded annual gain from 1966 to 2007 was 21.1% vs. 10.3% or the S&P 500."
In the Oxford Insight, the investment director explains, "It is now time to buy the 'ultimate no-brainer'." Here's his assessment.
"Despite this strong long-term performance, Buffett experienced a rare earnings letdown during the second quarter of this year.
"Although revenue increased 10% to $29.3 billion, insurance related write-downs hurt the company's bottom line. Still, the shortfall was far from cataclysmic. For the quarter, earnings fell 7.6% to $2.88 billion.
"Despite the shortfall, the company still maintains a top-notch credit rating and has over $28 billion in cash, a war chest for the world's greatest investor. How has Buffett been so successful? He takes a disciplined value approach to investing. And he sticks with it.
"People want to own more gold when there's a perception of growing global economic and political turmoil," explain resource experts Roger Conrad and Yiannis Mostrous.
In their Vital Resource Investor, the advisor offer their long-term bullish assessment for gold as well their favorite gold mining stock: "Goldcorp (NYSE: GG).
"Every commodity bull market eventually ends when consumers permanently reduce demand with conservation and switch to alternatives, and the producers ultimately over-expand. This, however, only happens over a period of many years.
"To be sure, we've seen demand in the US drop for many vital resources, from copper to energy, as the economy has slowed. Demand from developing nations, however, remains entrenched by necessity, as these suddenly more affluent nations struggle to upgrade their vital infrastructure.
"And although we may see Chinese economic growth slow from its current off-the-chart 10% rate, that country will still face critical needs to build out its cities to meet the millions of new migrants that come every year. And that's a huge call on raw materials.
For several years I held Washington Mutual (NYSE: WM) stock, happy with some slow growth and a very sizable dividend yield. It was so stable for so long that I and others included it in our 'safe havens' selections. This eventually turned into a disaster with the collapse of the financial sector and WaMu along with it.
There is quite a lot of debate as to whether it is time to get back into financial stocks or if we are in for years of more torment in the sector. The bad news and write-downs certainly have not abated recently.
My colleague Zac Bissonnette posted Value investors leap out of financials: sign of a bottom? raising the issue of capitulation by those who might have been hanging on to a shred of hope for a turnaround. Now they are taking their losses. Perhaps they will take advantage of the 30-day rule and get back in next month after booking the losses.
"The decline in Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) has been sharp, reacting to the mortgage crisis and the associated financial meltdown. However, here are sectors of the real estate market that have not been affected by the mortgage crisis.
"Such sectors like health care and multi-family projects and self-storage buildings are relatively less sensitive to the economic cycle. In addition, these sectors may have an inverse benefit from foreclosures such as rental properties and self-storage.
"The Neuberger Berman Real Estate Securities Income Trust fund invests in REITs in defensive areas such as health care and multi-family projects. Common stocks of REITs are trading at a discount to the properties they own, a reversal of premiums evident in last year.
"This closed end fund trades at 9% discount to its net asset value. In essence, a shareholder gets a portfolio of REITs that trade at a discount to their real estate value at another discount. In addition to the double discount, the fund yields an astounding 24.89% paid monthly.
"The fund trades at $7.38 versus its net asset value of $8.11. Should the real estate market see a decline, fund holders are doubly protected by the high yield and double discount. The fund's top holdings are Ventas Inc. (5.7%), Omega Healthcare Investors (4.8%) and Nationwide Health Properties (4.8%)."
Steven Halpern's TheStockAdvisors.com offers a daily look at the latest market commentary and favorite stock picks and investment ideas from the nation's leading financial newsletter advisors.
Dollar Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: DLLR) operates over 1,450 financially-oriented service stores in the U.S., Canada, Ireland and the U.K. Its customers are typically low to moderate income service sector earners, who don't use, or have access to banks. Services include check cashing, short-term consumer loans, money order/transfer products, reloadable debit cards, electronic tax filing, bill payment services and legal document processing. The company does business under the names Money Mart, Loan Mart, Insta-Cheques and Money Shop.
Dollar Financial pleased investors last week, when it reported fiscal Q4 EPS of 59 cents and revenues of $150.3 million. Analysts had been looking for 58 cents and $136.3 million. The CEO noted that fiscal 2008 brought record annual revenues and a record net income. Management also guided FY09 revenues to $595-$625 million, versus Street consensus of $586.28 million. JMP Securities subsequently reiterated its "market outperform" rating on the stock. Jefferies and Roth Capital reiterated their "buys".
Esterline Technologies (NYSE: ESL) is engaged in the design, manufacture, and marketing of engineered products and systems for applications in the aerospace and defense industries. The Avionics & Controls unit makes communications systems, medical equipment, and interface systems for aircraft and military vehicles. The Sensors & Systems operation manufactures temperature and pressure sensors, as well as fluid and motion control products. The Advanced Materials segment makes elastomer products, combustible ammunition components and electronic warfare countermeasures. Boeing (NYSE: BA) is a major customer. Eaton Corporation (NYSE: ETN) is a competitor.
The company surprised investors last week, when it reported Q3 EPS of 68 cents and revenues of $382.1 million. The Street had been expecting 64 cents and $374.6 million. Backlog at the end of the quarter was up 11.1% (yr/yr) to $1.06 billion. The CEO attributed success to robust aftermarket activity in both the commercial aerospace and defense markets. Management also guided FY08 EPS to $3.50-$3.60, versus consensus of $3.58.
"The latest annual rate of inflation measured from last July to this July was 5.6%, the largest annual gain since way back in January 1991," observes Alexander Green.
Here, the investment director for the industry-leading The Oxford Club suggests that investors consider the iShares Lehman TIPS Bond Fund (ASE: TIP), noting, "This is a great way to buy a diversified portfolio of inflation-adjusted Treasuries and track them quite easily."
"The latest consumer price index figures were a bit of a shock; the annual rate of inflation measured from last July to this July was 5.6%, the largest annual gain since way back in January 1991.
"Despite these horrendous inflation figures, gold, mining shares and other inflation-sensitive indicators did nothing – or even fell. What gives?
"Remember that the market is always looking forward, not back. Investors are always more concerned with what lies ahead than what happened in the recent past. Next month or next year may be a different story entirely.
"That's why every investor should have a hedge in his portfolio, like inflation-adjusted Treasuries. These bonds are unique in the investment world. They are the only investment guaranteed to beat inflation. And they are great portfolio diversifiers. They don't march in step with either stocks or bonds.
Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) is engaged in the design, manufacture, and retailing of fine jewelry, timepieces, sterling silverware, china, crystal, stationery, fragrances and personal accessories. The firm sells its goods exclusively through some 150 stores worldwide, a Web site and catalogs.
The company pleased investors last week, when it reported Q2 EPS of 63 cents and revenues of $732.4 million. Analysts had been expecting 55 cents and $720.6 million. Management also guided FY09 EPS to $2.82-$2.92 ($2.83 consensus). The CEO noted, "Our continued expansion throughout Asia and Europe should contribute to increasingly consistent and resilient long-term earnings growth." Lehman Brothers subsequently reiterated its "overweight" rating on the issue.
"We continue to apply our value-oriented principles in selecting new growth stocks as we look for companies with superior profitability and strong balance sheets," says Jim Stack.
In his InvesTech Market Analyst, he and analyst Bruce Morison explain, "Our latest featured investment, Charles Schwab Corp. (NASDAQ: SCHW), is a prime example and stands out as a conservative way to access to opportunities in the battered financial group."
"We are increasing our equity allocation in stocks that should show strong relative performance in a market upturn.
"We continue, however, to be very selective in terms of quality, as well as downside risk. Over the past 20 years, brokerage/asset management firms have produced more than twice the return of the market following a bear market.
"The Charles Schwab brand is one of the most well-known and trusted names in the financial services industry. Its strategy is to be competitively priced, but more importantly to be positioned as the gold standard in client service and integrity.
Ladies and gentleman, this fund investor grew tired of watching his family's portfolio get pummeled by double-digit percentage points and decided to become a stockholder. So, I snapped up a tiny position in Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS).
Before now, I avoided individual equities for several reasons, including that I was prohibited from owning them because of my previous job. I also felt uncomfortable owning stocks since I write about so many of them. My financial planner also discouraged us from taking positions in individual stocks, saying funds are a better way to go.
But after taking a quick look at my last brokerage statement, which showed my portfolio is down about 10 percent, I soon got over my unease. I realize that it's foolish to chase short-term gains but I thought something had to be done. One of the funds we owned seemed to be heavily weighted with gambling and leisure stocks, a sector that I don't expect to come back for a while. We got rid of it and added an ETF that covers the tech sector, which should be among the first to rebound once the economy starts to improve. Still, I wondered if I could do better.
Disney caught my eye a year ago when I labeled it a "slacker stock"because it was such an underachiever. The shares have barely budged this year, moving down about 3%, which in the current market is not bad. Moreover, Disney is outperforming peers such as Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA) and Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX), both of which are down double digits. The stock is trading at forward multiple of 13, which appears cheap to me considering it's lower than Time Warner and unlike Viacom pays a dividend.
"While watching the Olympics, I couldn't thinking about the investment opportunities of the various countries participating in the games," says exchange-traded fund expert Carl Delfeld.
Recognizing that this is not a "scientific" approach nor a primary basis for seriously determining one's asset allocation the editor of Around the World with ETFs speculates, "While it is admittedly a stretch, let's consider what an ETF porfolio of the top ten countries in the Beijing Olympics medal count would look like."
"I hope that while watching the Olympic games many investors were also reminded at how the world is changing and why they need a global portfolio to capture value and growth around the world.
"The U.S. did remarkably well across the board underscoring its role as the world's leading investment destination. China surged to win the most gold and reach the symbolic level of 100 medals.
"Quite an achievement that punctuates China's growing heft. With the Shanghai Composite down 55% this year, it has come down to earth and is interesting from a valuation perspective.
"Next comes Russia with a performance fueled by a strong Olympian tradition and petro dollars but perhaps a bit overshadowed by the Georgian fiasco. I will take a pass on this one even though it is off 36% since just May.
"At the Morningstar Investment Conference, I had a chance to hear directly from manager of several of our 'best buy' funds," says fund expert Mark Salzinger.
Salzinger explains, "The managements of these equity funds are sticking to its guns. In the case of Dodge & Cox Stock, this means a continuation of a contrarian focus on large out-of-favor stocks. often in equally out-of-favor sectors.
"In the case of T. Rowe Price Equity Income, this means a continuation of focus on high quality companies that appear historically cheap based on various levels of valuation, including their dividend yield relative to the market.
"Charles Pohl, the chief investment officer of Dodge & Cox and a member of the portfolio management team on DODGX, spoke strongly about what he considers to be the attractive opportunities in financials now that the sector is so out of favor.
"He says that the Dodge & Cox team is focusing on intense analysis of companies within subsets of the financial services industry, looking for stocks that have been beaten down with their peers despite superior operations, including safer historical underwriting standards.
Alliant Energy Corporation (NYSE: LNT) is a Midwestern U.S. energy utility, serving approximately one million electric and 400,000 natural gas customers through regulated subsidiaries Interstate Power and Light and Wisconsin Power and Light. Nonregulated operations include rail and marine transportation services, independent power production and real estate. Alliant also provides engineering, consulting, and management services. Xcel Energy (NYSE: XEL) is a major competitor.
The company pleased investors last month, when it reported Q2 EPS of 47 cents and revenues of $827.4 million. Analysts had been looking for 39 cents and $770 million. The CEO noted that Alliant had secured 500 megawatts of wind turbine generators during the quarter, expecting wind to play an integral part in meeting future customer needs. Management also guided FY08 EPS to $2.60-$2.80, versus Street consensus of $2.57.
TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says with gas coming down further, the coming rally could be broad and fierce.
The great hurricane fakeout leaves us with oil much lower than it began, having launched itself from $112. Now that the $110 level's been breached and natural gas has gone as low as $7.50, we can begin to put together a holiday scenario that might -- just might -- explain the incredible run in retail that's been going on.
The presumption in retail, if you use Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) (Cramer's Take) as retail, was that once the stimulus wore off, presumably last month, the stocks would get hammered. On Aug. 7, Wal-Mart as much as told you that, and the stock dropped to $57 from $60.90.
Ever since then, it has been creeping up. Kohl's (NYSE: KSS) (Cramer's Take) dropped a point from that warning, going from $45 to $44. It is now at $49. Macy's (NYSE: M) (Cramer's Take) went from $19.80 to $18.90 before bouncing to $20.82. Jones (NYSE: JNY) (Cramer's Take) went from $17.40 to $17.20 before roaring to $19.80. Ralph Lauren (NYSE: RL) (Cramer's Take), because of a great quarter, didn't even get hurt, rallying from $67 to $75.
The editors of All Star Investor explain, "This graphic chip manufacturer stumbled earlier this year, but we find a compelling a turnaround story." Here's his review.
"This is a difficult environment for short-term investors. When the Dow jumps up 200 points one day, and crashes 200 points the next, it's hard to tell where to turn. Calling bottoms is nearly impossible
"In this market, we have become value investors -- seeking an inexpensive company that's almost-undiscovered by mainstream investors.
"Technology is not typically known as a place for value. In fact, quite the opposite. Since the Tech crash, a shift has happened. Certain semiconductors have been hammered over the past several years -- especially in the last 12 months.
"One of those, a leader in graphics chips, has been especially beaten down. NVIDIA fell from a 52-week high of $39.67 last October. The Santa Clara-based chip designer is now trading around $12.00 today. Did it really deserve the punishment the market delivered? We don't think so.
For several years I held 
Ladies and gentleman, this fund investor grew tired of watching his family's portfolio get pummeled by double-digit percentage points and decided to become a stockholder. So, I snapped up a tiny position in 
The week in preview: Chicken soup (or a doughnut) for the recession-weary soul?
Comfort Zone Investing: Oil's down, which is a start, but not good enough
Stocks have their worst week in six years
