COSCO Shipping reported its quarterly results and they were spectacular. Revenues increased by 41% but profits jumped by 140%. COSCO has a fleet of 90 ships and they are pretty darn busy.

Employees are not the only ones seriously affected by outsourcing. Large banks have outsourced customer accounts to third parties. There has been at least one instance of call-center employees making fraudulent transactions. Examples of poor service abound. Investments in branding are wasted, apart from the crippling loss of customer goodwill.

This kind of outsourcing may be to a foreign national who was previously employed by the bank. That is why employees move swiftly to brush outsourcing dirt under the carpet. Presidential candidates speak of national employment effects of sending jobs abroad, but the effects on stocks have been hidden from the views of most investors.

The chemical lead in toys, and quality issues with life-saving medicines, are extreme examples of serious business lapses due to outsourcing. It is up to stock investors to ask relevant questions of executives and directors at quarterly conferences. Window-dressing of quarterly results through

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Hansen Natural (HANS), which makes Monster energy drink, reported lower-than-expected quarterly results as cost increases drove down profitability, sending its shares down 13 percent after hours. The company posted a first-quarter net income of $28.8 million, or 29 cents a share, compared with $20.2 million, or 21 cents a share, a year earlier. Analysts expected the company to earn 35 cents a share. Hansen lost sales as customers made early purchases in the fourth quarter to beat price increases. It also demonstrates the short attention span suffered by most investors, as this was all discussed on the conference call three months ago. At the time, I said “Hansen Natural is giving back the last month’s gains today after reporting higher than expected sales and lower than expected margins. Both were explained by customers stocking up ahead of a price increase.” Early this year I felt that growth was available on ...

Gafisa (GFA) is trading back down almost text book post earnings; could not ask for a better trade than what we just enjoyed here. We doubled (0.9% stake to 1.8% stake) the position last Monday near $38 We took out a smaller portion at $43 Wednesday We took out (down to 0.6% stake) a big position Friday AM at $49.60 We added (back up to 0.9% stake) a small bit yesterday below $45 We added a much larger piece back at $42 this AM Downside remains first to upper $39s (near $40) - first support - and then at $38 (stronger support) but my largest sell was at $49.60 (Friday) and largest buyback was $42 (today) so we cleared 15% on that transaction in a 2 session period. I'll take that all day, every day. I'll buy more on a pullback to $38, but for now Gafisa is back to a 2.4% ...