One of the screens we use to pick stocks is Jim Cramer’s stock picks. Jim Cramer has a bad reputation because he makes thousands of recommendations on TV and investors tend to remember bad experiences, not the good ones. You wouldn’t believe this but there is an academic study that showed that Cramer’s stock picks actually beat the market by a significant margin. In this article we will take a closer look at five stocks that are in Cramer’s charitable trust’s portfolio and decide whether they are good investments for investors looking for large capital gains. (more…)

Jim Cramer used to own a hedge fund, Cramer & Co, which he founded in 1987. Between 1988 and 2000 the fund only had one year of negative returns. It returned 47% in 1999 and 28% in 2000, beating the market by 38 percentage points. Cramer generated an average return of 24% per year during his tenure with the fund. Today, Jim Cramer is the host of CNBC’s Mad Money. Cramer expresses his views on stocks during his TV shows, which has helped many ordinary investors who watch his show daily on TV to make their own investments. Jim Cramer also owns a charitable trust and purchases some of the stocks that he recommends on TV for this trust. In this article, we are going to focus on the technology stocks that Jim Cramer bought for this charitable trust. (more…)

When it comes to domestic airlines, there are four main players in the US – Delta Airlines (DAL), US Airways Group (LCC), United Continental (UAL) and American Airlines, which filed for bankruptcy protection in November. However, if DAL has its way, that all could soon change. (more…)

The energy sector is a minefield. There are those that predict that the world will see another oil shock by the end of 2013, as the natural gas boom is threatened by concerns over fracking. Then there are the issues related to American energy independence, a feat that will likely come only with some degree of concentration and the development of new energy technologies – both things that would most likely affect the bottom line of the energy sector as it currently stands. Regulation, whether it stems from fracking or otherwise, is also a major concern. Many say regulation is the primary reason why the US is still dependent on foreign energy, citing restrictions on drilling and environmental concerns. Leaving those political subjects to the side, what does this mean for investors putting their money in the energy sector? (more…)

UBS Investment Research’s report, “US Morning Meeting Highlights”, from January 13^th discusses how stocks will be affected from the elections. The analysts are of the opinion that Obama’s victory would have a positive impact on “tech and industrial companies”, whereas the “healthcare, financial, energy and consumer” companies will be negatively influenced due to tougher regulations. A republican victory, on the other hand, could prove to be beneficial for “universal banks, managed care, coal, defense, and high-end consumer stocks”.

In this article, we will discuss the buy-rated stocks mentioned in UBS’s report (read the first part of this article). (more…)

In the United States, healthcare is a fast-growing industry. Healthcare spending is rising at about 8% per year. A typical American Family of four spent about $18,000 on medical costs in 2010, compared with $16,771 in 2009. Between 2006 and 2010, the annual medical costs have increased by almost 35%. The rising healthcare costs are not good for the patients, but those who invest in healthcare stocks will benefit from such growth. As healthcare spending and costs are rising, we believe healthcare stocks will continue to be in the portfolios of most smart investors in the future. Below we compiled a list of top 10 most profitable healthcare companies based in US. All companies have at least $10 billion market cap, operating margin of over 20%, and EPS growth rate of more than 10% over the past five years. (more…)

UBS Investment Research’s recently published report, “US Morning Meeting Highlights”, discusses different companies and how they are likely to be affected this year. The report is published on January 13^th and we will summarize its main points. UBS analysts are of the opinion that Obama’s victory would have a positive impact on the “tech and industrial companies”, whereas the “healthcare, financial, energy and consumer” companies will be negatively affected due to the tougher regulations imposed. A Republican victory, on the other hand could be beneficial for “universal banks, managed care, coal, defense, and high-end consumer stocks”. In this article, we will discuss the buy-rated stocks mentioned in UBS’s report. (more…)

Jim Cramer is a former hedge fund manager. Cramer expresses his views on stocks during his TV shows, which has helped many ordinary investors who watch his show daily on TV make their own investments. We believe that by focusing on Jim Cramer’s top recommendations, investors are more likely to beat the market in the long term. In this article, we are going to focus on the technology stocks Cramer are bullish about recently. All companies have at least $10 billion market cap and were recommended by Cramer during his TV show over the past month. (more…)

J.P. Morgan published a report entitled “IT and BPO Services” on January 12, 2012. The report isn’t publicly available but we will share its main points. In the report, Tien-tsin Huang, Puneet Jain, and Dick Wei share their opinion of the IT and BPO Services stocks performing better relative to the S&P 500 in 2012. Stocks that have a high mix of offshore delivery, have the ability to cut costs of clients, have high exposure to healthcare, and have investments with a long-term impact on growth profile are preferred. The overall IT services budget is expected to be flat “with a potential for modest declines” as the macroeconomic environment worsens. Here are the stocks discussed in the report: (more…)

Value investing is one of the best investment strategies individual investors can use to beat the market in the long run. Even though the stock market was pretty stagnant during the last 10 years, value investors were able to return around 7 percent per year.

In the search for large-cap value stocks, we ran a screen for stocks that were rated 5 stars, or “strong buy,” by Standard & Poor’s. We found the following list of 7 stocks each of which has a P/E ratio of 10 or less. (more…)

UBS Research Analyst Kevin Crissey and Associate Analyst Kevin Grasmick published a report titled “US Airline Sector Note: That was ugly” on January 03, 2012. The analysts have analyzed the US Airline sector’s performance during 2011 and concluded that it was disappointing. Although the airline sector witnessed a strong revenue growth over the last year, their final results have been dismal (excluding Alaska and Allegiant). Hence, on average, airline stocks lost 25%. Revenue estimates for the airline sector were increased to 10% from 7%, while the estimates for growth in fuel cost were also 20% higher. Moreover, analysts believe that managements of these companies were not able to pass on the fuel price increase entirely to the consumer, generating a negative impact on the bottom-line. Given that the revenue outlook for the sector remains strong in the US, analysts are bullish on selected stocks like DAL and LCC. (more…)

Barclays Capital published a report entitled “Go with the Flow” on January 03, 2012. Daniel Ford, Gregg Orrill, Theodore W. Brooks, Ross A. Fowler, M. Beth Straka and Noah Hauser have identified their most preferred power and utilities stocks for investment in 2012. Here are the five power and utilities stocks Barclays Capital is bullish about: (more…)

Credit Suisse Research analysts Christian Buss and Bilun Boyner published a report titled “US Apparel / Footwear / Specialty Softlines: What Worked This Holiday Season?” on January 05, 2012. The report isn’t available online but we will discuss its findings. The analysts have gathered recent commentaries on key demand trends this Holiday season from various retailers, and have published the resulting analysis. According to the analysts, women’s accessories and handbags witnessed the strongest demand pattern. The demand for footwear stayed on the higher side, while warm winters hit the cold weather merchandise demand. (more…)

Goldman Sachs published a report entitled “Americas: Technology: IT Services” on January 11, 2012. The report isn’t publicly available but we will discuss its main points. In their report, Julio C. Quinteros Jr., Vincent Lin, Roman Leal, and Geo John are defensive for the IT services sector in the year 2012. Goldman Sachs (GS) is concerned about the “current macro backdrop, with expectations for a slower global growth clouding visibility as we head onto 2012”. They have concentrated on stocks that are U.S. based mentioning a number of buy and sell rated stocks. We will discuss the stocks in two articles. This is the first of two articles, focusing on the buy rated stocks. (more…)

UBS Investment Research published a report entitled “UBS Pharma- Large Cap and Specialty” on January 11, 2012. The report isn’t publicy available but we will summarize its main points. In their report, Marc Goodman, Ami Fadia, Matthew Harrison, and Derek Yuan discuss the expectations for the fourth quarter of 2011 for selected pharmaceutical companies. UBS Investment Research also believes that there are many opportunities in the special pharmaceutical sector, with continued synergies, significant deal glows, and robust core growth. In this article we will discuss those stocks in the Specialty Branded sector that UBS has given a buy rating from within its coverage universe. (more…)