New York based The Travelers Companies, Inc. (TRV – Analyst Report) is one of the leading writer of auto and homeowners’ insurance through independent agents as well as writer of commercial U.S. property-casualty insurance. Travelers’ focus on reducing operating expenses and acquisition costs in order to improve underwriting margins bodes well for to have more competitively priced product…
In several posts over the past few years, I have written about the many constraints binding the housing market. Based on recent news, the situation has yet to improve and has probably worsened. This is a good time for a quick review because the Federal Reserve is preparing to hike interest rates even as the…
Mining stocks had a rough day yesterday to say the least. Popular mining ETF GDX fell almost 11% yesterday, hitting all-time lows. Does falling 10% or more happen very often? The above chart looks at Gold Bugs Index (HUI) and looks at times when it fell 10% or more in a single day. As you can see, this happened…
It is a bit too familiar, isn’t it? Greece received a new loan so it can service its debt to the official creditors. In exchange for the funds, of which practically none stay in Greece, the government has promised to carry out the reforms that the past few governments had agreed to but failed to implement….
Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA) shares fell nearly -5% in pre-market trading after the company received a downgrade from Colin Langan at UBS. The analyst lowered his price target on the stock from $220 to $210. Langan doubts that Tesla will be able to keep up demand in the future and that Tesla’s vehicles will be in…
Novartis (NVS – Analyst Report) has a strong presence in the healthcare market across the world. This Switzerland based company has a presence in the field of oncology, neuroscience, ophthalmology and generics. However, like many of its peers, Novartis is facing generic competition and pricing pressure for some of the products in its pharmaceutical segment. Novartis’ blockbuster drug,…
Many investors rent out their stocks every month to generate potentially larger returns. Of course, when they do that, they don’t call it renting: The term they use is a “covered call.” That’s when you sell an option to another investor to buy your stock at an agreed-upon figure, called a strike price. Why would…
Verizon released its second quarter earnings report before opening bell this morning, posting earnings of $1.04 per share, both GAAP and non-GAAP, compared to last year’s GAAP earnings of $1.01 per share and non-GAAP earnings of 91 cents per share. Revenue was $32.2 billion, a 2.4% increase year over year. Analysts had been expecting earnings…
After being under fire from activist investor Carl Icahn, eBay Inc. (EBAY) announced plans back in September 2014 to spin off Paypal Holdings Inc. (PYPL); the digital payments company it acquired more than a decade ago for $1.2 billion. On July 20, Icahn’s dream became a reality as Paypal marked its first official day trading as…
Hot stock of the day: GDX Video length: 00:02:58
