The price chart below looks like any investor’s dream if they got in at the right time. Things definitely have been going Apple’s way of late – in their latest quarter, Apple had record quarterly sales for Mac products (3.05 million units), iPod Touch sales grew 100% year-on-year, iTunes maintained its position as the world’s largest music retailer, iPhone sales (7.4 million units) rose 185% year-on-year and Apple now has $34 billion in cash and other liquid securities on their balance sheet. Phenomenal – to say the least, considering that we are only now coming out of a recession. But here’s the million (or billion) dollar question – can Apple really maintain or improve on these staggering growth rates? Expectations for Apple are now set at stratospheric highs, only perfection will do – nothing less.

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Ralph Lauren’s outperforming of earnings estimated for the 9-months ended September got the company and stock a lot of attention; RL beat S&P’s earnings estimate of $1.25 by $0.50, a 40% surprise, while still suffering a 4% decrease in sales (also above average expectations of -8%). Considering the recession we’ve been in, Polo Ralph Lauren’s premium lifestyle brand has shown the kind of inelasticity in its product offerings that show investors a durable competitive advantage.

Especially in a time when consumers are conscientious towards quality/value, RL is there with a diverse brand portfolio that uses its core brand to dominate across markets, price points, distribution channels and geographies. This was exhibited by the 8th consecutive EPS outperformance – a positive sign of undervaluation you don’t

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A study on IFRS showed that 50% of companies demonstrated higher equity under IFRS accounting standards than GAAP, and a huge 65% showed higher earnings. Would that influence your investments? Most investors don’t realize that IFRS will have significant implications on financial statements, and are in danger of using outdated analysis methods and comparison to old benchmarks.

Being one of the few accountants venturing into the financial markets, I thought it would be helpful to provide insight into how the upcoming MASSIVE global shift in accounting standards to IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) is going to affect financial statement analysis. The changes, officially being implemented by all publically accountable entities by 2011 are far from being as clear as those in financial reporting would like to see.

Not only is the transition to IFRS pervasive to almost all

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When you think of an advertising agency, what comes to mind? I instantly think of traditional print and TV ad campaigns that many of us are no longer paying attention to. And whenever I think of CEO’s of the advertising giants that make these campaigns, I think of old men who are hoarding their advertising profit margins, being resistant to the new ‘unsexy’ world of decreased margins in the digital space.

However, I am completely wrong. Even though decreased margins will never be sexy, industry leaders like Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP Group (2nd largest advertising group in the world), and Maurice Levy, Chairman and CEO of Publicis Groupe (4th largest), are embracing the digital world and are transforming their agencies into digital power houses. Publicis

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The USD vs the JPY is weakest in years. Yes, the DXY dollar index has been hitting new lows around 74. Yes, US government debt and deficits (the 2 infamous “D”s) have been skyrocketing and are projected to keep on growing in the coming years. Yes, the printing presses started by Ben Bernanke might be running faster than most people are comfortable with. And yes, the coming inflation will lead to further devaluation of the dollar which the government will not attempt to stop because they are happy to inflate away their piles of debt.

We’ve all heard the reasons for the demise of the US dollar. But here’s the bigger picture. The USD does not exist in isolation in the forex markets. Every USD exchange rate that is quoted is RELATIVE to other currencies.

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Windows 7 sales have so far been nothing short of expectations, exceeding sales of any other operating system by Microsoft for the first 10 days of release and obtaining the thumbs up from industry experts such as Walt Mossberg. From my own experience with it, very fun and comparable to Snow Leopard as well.

The current situation…

Vista lead to disappointing financial results for Microsoft in fiscal 08 and 09 and has made minimal encroachment into the corporate environment. Both the economic slowdown and the rumoured (and then turned real) dissatisfaction due to complexity and bugs with Vista provided reason for companies to defer upgrades from Windows XP; and since Windows 7 was rumoured to be released ever since 2007-ish, it made sense to put off any major investments both by homes and corporates.

Now that

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You wake up, switch on the light, and get ready for work. You start-up your car, drive to work, and the first thing you do when you get into the office is turn on the computer. Unless you live your entire life in a tent perched in the middle of nowhere, you can’t escape using some Energy sector by-product. However, as exciting as the Energy sector is – let’s face it – it’s pretty complicated. Let’s take a peek into the Global Energy sector and try to understand what makes it turn.

The Industry

The easiest way to think about the Global Energy sector is by segmenting it into two main industries: Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels and Energy Equipment & Services. Most people associate their daily interactions with the former – it includes the Essos, Sunocos, and Petro Canadas of the world.

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There may be a pot of gold bars and precious metal at the end of the rainbow after all – regardless of which direction the global economy heads from here on. Mining commodities such as copper, nickel, aluminum, and particularly gold, have traditionally been regarded as a hedge against inflation and bearish economic times. So it makes sense that gold has recently hit an all-time high and is seemingly on a continued ramp-up. However, I believe that gold and mining will flourish regardless of economic collapse or boom.

First, the bear scenario

History has already proven that gold thrives as an investment in bearish economic times. I don’t need to convince you that this is the case in the current global economy as well. Just for completeness – back to econ101, gold assumes its natural role

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Just as important as deciding to go long natural gas is how that view is translated into an investing strategy. The value chain of the natural gas industry, shown below (Source: Wikinvest), provides a good overview. There are numerous investment opportunities throughout the value chain that can be capitalized upon.

Betting on the actual spot price:

Buying natural gas futures outright – If you have access to the futures market, are experienced enough to understand its intricacies and have enough capital, then take a dip in natural gas futures. The December futures are already trading at a 14% premium to the November futures, on the hopes of a cold winter pulling up demand. Inexperienced investors should probably stay away from the futures market. Buying ETFs that hold natural gas futures – The biggest and most liquid one of these is ...

Why Natural Gas?

The NYMEX Natural Gas Futures (Front Month) hit 10 year lows of around $2.50 a few weeks ago and have since sky-rocketed to around $4.80 at the close of Oct 9, 09. In the process, it has very powerfully broken the downtrend that it was in for the past year. This could well be the best opportunity to get exposure to natural gas, here’s why:

The period of seasonally high demand for natural gas is nearly upon us. With forecasts of a harsh winter in North America, the additional heating usage will provide the necessary demand that has been missing for the past quarters. The market perception is that the inventory overhang is too large for a demand increase to cause a recovery in prices. I continue to believe that the market is over-reacting to the supply ...