| Three Real Defensive Stocks Dr. Stephen Leeb submits:Readers often ask us why we continue to recommend investing in the defense industry. Actually, we hold three defense stocks in our Growth Portfolio: Northrop Grumman (NOC), Raytheon (RTN), and CACI International(CACI). Admittedly, the defense industry depends on government contracts, and casual observers might wonder if these will soon start to shrink. Given the extraordinarily high deficits the government is running up these days – including massive sending on entitlement programs, healthcare, corporate bailouts, and economic stimulus - surely even the most profligate politician will be combing the budget looking for areas where some savings can be made. Defense would seem to be a prime candidate for cutbacks, especially since the war in Iraq looks past its peak.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
If There's a Recovery Underway, How Come No One Is Shipping Anything? David Goldman submits: A senior executive of one of the world’s largest shipping companies told me recently that there has been no pickup whatever in business, and that shippers continue to lose money hand over fist. The Baltic Dry Index of freighter costs confirms this dour view. Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Motorcar Parts of America: Betting on Strong Earnings Michael Alexander submits: One thing about blogging on investments is that it lays out your successes or failures for everyone to see. This is especially true when you can be shown to be a fool within hours, not months. That said, I'll lay out my case here for Motorcar Parts of America (MPAA), which reports Monday morning. I really liked this at 5. I also think it's a decent bet at 5.80MPAA's business is to buy broken starters and alternators then mix and match the parts to rebuild them into working refurbished units. These are then sold primarily into the big auto parts stores like AutoZone (AZO). The leftover pieces are sold as scrap. I like where the company is situated due to both their competitive position and the macro factors in the business. I also think that the price is quite reasonable and has pretty good upside with modest downside risk.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Air Methods Corporation Q1 2010 Earnings Call Transcript Air Methods Corporation (AIRM)Q1 2010 Earnings Conference CallMay 6, 2010 4:15 PM ETComplete Story » seekingalpha.com |
GM Goes Subprime (Some Companies Just Never Learn) Chad Brand submits: Just when I thought General Motors was on solid footing and heading in the right direction after shedding a large portion of its liabilities in bankruptcy, they seem to have forgotten what has happened over the last several years in the world of credit. One of the big reasons GM’s losses were compounded during the recession was because they funded a lot of subprime loans for their vehicles through GMAC. When those loans went sour, the losses not only negated the razor thin margins they had on the vehicle sales themselves, but resulted in a company that lost money on most of their cars. Hence, SUVs (with their fat profit margins) became a focus for the company, even in the face of rising gas prices, which aided their competitors in stealing market share. Since GM has exited bankruptcy and the economy has stabilized management has stated publicly a desire to once again expand into the subprime auto finance market, but this time GMAC was hesitant (and understandably so). Undoubtedly, the result has been that GM could be selling more vehicles if they were willing to finance customers with bad credit who could not get loans elsewhere. This morning we learn that for $3.5 billion in cash GM is buying AmeriCredit (ACF), one of the larger subprime lenders in the country. They will use this new financing arm to get more cars into the hands of more people, many of whom could not get loans from third party lenders due to bad credit, no job, etc.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |