Starbucks is Too Expensive Starbucks (SBUX) is too expensive and not just the coffee but the stock itself. The stock reached a new 52 week low today as the market sold off during the morning and has rebounded some. But the price to earnings of the stock is still too expensive for the limited revenue growth and the declining earnings the company is now experiencing. Price to Earnings The price to earnings for Starbucks stock is 16.30 on a trailing twelve month basis and 14.77 on ...

The situation is increasingly bleak for Wachovia Corp. and the bank's mortgage portfolio will continue to lose value, "seriously jeopardizing" the company's ability to generate earnings, an influential analyst warned on Tuesday. The latest note of caution came as the government moved to reassure people their money is safe in the nation's banks. Yet fears about the system persisted and financial shares were broadly lower Tuesday, signaling another tough day for the stock market. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is scheduled to brief Congress Tuesday on the economy, which has been walloped by high energy prices and fallout from the housing slump and credit crunch. The testimony also comes amid a backdrop of rising oil prices and a slumping dollar, and as stock markets overseas tumble amid worries about the U.S. financial system. Continued at Yahoo Finance AP...

Continuing the theme of avoiding the stronger sectors and buying some weaker areas, I had almost bought Canadian Solar (CSIQ) just a few weeks ago in the mid $30s - it ramped to low $50s, and a missed opportunity went by the wayside. [Jun 17: Canadian Solar (CSIQ) Raises Guidance]It has now pulled back 30% from its high of $52 two weeks ago, and this appears to the be the market's current favorite - the only chart I can find in the sector where the stock has not broken the 50 day moving average. This is not my favorite name in the sector fundamentally - a huge amount of their last earnings were nothing more than currency gains - but the market doesn't peek beneath the hood to realize that, so we'll go with the market. And frankly, all that I've gained from buying ...

On December 4 2007 I wrote a piece called Roll with Landstar, Short CHRW, saying:

“Based solely on sales or operating margins, Landstar (LSTR - Annual Report) is about 35% the size of CH Robinson (CHRW - Annual Report). If it had the same relative valuation, it would trade at $52 per share.

CH Robinson’s forward price-to-earnings multiple is 24.6, compared with 19.3 for Landstar. At 24.6 times estimated 2008 earnings, Landstar would be trading north of $54. Assigning CHRW’s 1.67 PEG ratio (P/E ratio related to its growth rate) to Landstar would give it a $49 value.

CH Robinson has a lofty 16.1 times EV/EBITDA ratio. If Landstar got that multiple, its stock would be $60.”

The day I wrote the article, Landstar closed at $43.02 and CH Robinson was $53.03. Today, they are in a dead heat price-wise, with LSTR at $55.59 and CH Robinson at

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MondayEconomic: Chicago PMI (48.5)Earnings: Robbins & Myers (RBN), H&R Block (HRB)TuesdayEconomic: Truck & Auto, Construction (-0.6%), ISM Index (49.6)Earnings: Constellation Brands (STZ), MSC Ind (MSM), Apollo (APOL)WednesdayEconomic: Weekly Crude, ADP (28K), Factory Orders (0.6%)Earnings: Acuity Brands (AYI), Family Dollar (FDO)ThursdayEconomic: Weekly Claims (375K), Jobs Report (-50K, 5.4%, 0.3%), ISM Services (51.5)Earnings: NAhttp://stockweb.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Hess Corporation (HES) Not quite at a 52 week high, Hess Corporation is a New York based  explorer, purchaser, and developer of oil and natural gas. The company’s stock is a decent buy from the normal ...

Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK) is the company behind AutoCAD and will report Q2 2009 earnings in August. The stock has recovered from its low last month and now is up 15% in the past 3 months. So does Autodesk have what it takes to keep moving to benefit shareholders? On May 15th Autodesk Inc reported Q1 quarterly profit thanks to strong growth in emerging markets and demand for its model-based three-dimensional products. First-quarter income increased to $95 million, or 41 cents per share, from $83 million, or 24 cents a share, a year ago. Excluding special items, the company posted a profit of 50 cents ...

You've seen the commercials a million times on Bloomberg, CNBC, and Fox Business. Despite WISDOMTREE TRUST's (NYSE:EPI) 150 profitable companies what they fail to mention is the fund's performance, just down 20%, that's all. Either the fund is undervalued or maybe the hype was overvalued? For now the Masters aren't touching this one, India is hurting along with the U.S. economy. BANGALORE (Reuters) - Indian shares are likely to rise from current levels by the end of 2008 but are expected to end the year down 16 percent, ending a six-year bull run that saw the market rise more than six-fold, a Reuters poll shows. The global ...

In 2005 I travelled to the UK to study the UK banks. I should have shorted the lot of them. But I didn’t. But for the record here are my notes – written on a slow English train – about Northern Rock – and never finished. I have edited it only to remove references to my actual sources.

I put this up not to gloat (but its nice). Rather I am going to do an expose of another UK bank shortly.

I cannot gloat too much - because whilst these notes are amazingly prescient I did not make a fortune on the stock. I predicted rain - but its making an ark that counts!

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Quote:

Northern Rock – leverage mortgages to the max

Northern Rock is a very simple bank. It has only one strategy and it makes no

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In a tough tape on Friday Coal related stocks performed above average and look to continue to run with profitable expectations growing. Massey Energy (MEE), Alpha Natural Resources (ANR) and Arch Coal (ACI) all have rising earnings expectations and are at 52 week highs. Just this past Monday, a broker, David Khani from FBR Capital Markets raised his price guidance for coal for next couple of years. Massey Energy had a 1.48% increase on Friday when the S&P 500 fell 3%. This heavily covered producer of coal has had their current year earnings estimates increased for the current quarter from 0.50 to 0.76 in the past 90 days. The 13 analysts that cover the stock have also raised the yearly earnings estimates. The yearly earnings estimates have risen from 1.96 to 2.97 in the same 90 day period. Revenue is expected ...