Publications

New Gene Readers Could Lift Illumina’s Stock — The company dominates the market for gene sequencing used in treating many medical conditi… Barron’s, 10 October 2022, 755 words, (English) Newly announced gene sequencers from Illumina are just what the doctor ordered for the company’s stock, which has lost 60% since mid-2021 as investors fretted about circling rivals and Illumina’s costly purchase of the cancer tester Grail.

A New Soros? Stay Tuned. Barron’s, 10 October 2022, 813 words, (English) The recent U.K. market mayhem has yet to find its George Soros, the investor who earned $1 billion by selling the pound short in 1992. The trader nearest that feat may be Crispin Odey, founder of London’s Odey Capital Management, which runs…

Why Investors Have Wearied Of Illumina’s Big Bet on Grail — Regulatory setbacks and losses plague the deal for the cancer-test pioneer Barron’s, 12 September 2022, 674 words, (English) When Europe’s antitrust regulators barred Illumina’s $8 billion acquisition of cancer-test developer Grail this past Tuesday, Illumina stock rose. That reaction showed that many Illumina investors wish the gene-sequencing giant would just …

SEC’s Top Cop Puts Big Shots on Notice — In his first year on the job, Gurbir Grewal has gone after prominent people and companies. A… Barron’s, 5 September 2022, 875 words, (English) The $360 trillion of securities that trade in U.S. markets every year depend on investor confidence. Gurbir Grewal’s job is to guard that confidence.

A New Study Casts Doubt on a Paid-for-Order-Flow “Problem” — A paper analyzing 85,000 trades finds the best pricing at an order-flow… Barron’s, 29 August 2022, 1268 words, (English) Critics of retail brokers like Robinhood Markets condemn those companies for routing customers’ orders to market makers like Citadel Securities in exchange for payments. Gary Gensler, the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, has…

Finally, Weight-Loss Drugs That Work — New injectable drugs from Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk can help people safely shed as much as 20… Barron’s, 15 August 2022, 2516 words, (English) This is not a typical weight-loss story.After all of the diet, supplement, and workout fads we’ve endured, we’re about to have drugs that are safe and effective. They’re our best hope yet for stemming the obesity epidemic that threatens the…

Recession or Not, the Case for This Home iBuyer Still Stands — Opendoor shares have tumbled, just as the company has turned profitable. Barron’s, 1 August 2022, 567 words, (English) When Zillow Group abandoned its online buying of homes in November, investors walked. Zillow’s exit, however, also knocked half off the stocks of Opendoor Technologies and Offerpad Solutions, two pioneers of the use of algorithms to buy …

Antitrust Case Against Big Brokers Advances — Three pension funds claim that Street firms extract unfair profits from stock lending. The… Barron’s, 11 July 2022, 637 words, (English) Five Wall Street brokers are a step closer to defending class-action claims that they conspired to wring unfair profits from the nearly $2 trillion dollar market for stock loans.

Why Trucks Beat Trains Barron’s, 20 June 2022, 737 words, (English) The past few years of supply-chain turmoil, triggered by pandemic and war, have convinced corporate leaders that the U.S. is a stable, convenient, and well-connected place to make or source their products. That could mean rethinking the …

Stocks That Favor Inflation Barron’s, 20 June 2022, 688 words, (English) As inflation hit a 40-year high in May, the race to identify companies that could increase prices to keep pace with rising costs began in earnest. But analysts at London-based Quant Insight had another idea: Find stocks that actually move …

House Flipper Opendoor Says It Can Thrive in a Downturn — How the company’s beaten-down stock could climb more than 90% Barron’s, 23 May 2022, 549 words, (English) The stock market has been cruel to Opendoor Technologies. Shares of the online home buyer have crashed 75% since early 2021, when Opendoor and other digital disrupters like Carvana were lavished with fabulous valuations on fast-growing …

Debating the 2012 Jobs Act Barron’s, 25 April 2022, 783 words, (English) April marks the 10th anniversary of a law that relaxed rules for small stock offerings. Whether the Jobs Act of 2012 was a good thing depends on whom you talk to.

Putting a New Cancer Screen to the Test I Tried a New Cancer Test. What I Learned — This is the deck here this is the deck here A blood… Barron’s, 25 April 2022, 2550 words, (English) Cancer has long been an unwelcome part of our family. A fading photo shows my aunt with a dark expression that my mom swears was an emanation of the deadly cancer no one knew was in her. There has been cancer of the breast, colon, lymph—you…

For Investors, Time To Get Off Twitter — Muted response to Elon Musk’s offer highlights that near-term shareholders should cash out now Barron’s, 18 April 2022, 757 words, (English) Elon Musk’s embrace of Twitter leaves investors with a riddle wrapped in a mystery.Much as he has whipsawed the prices of Bitcoin and Dogecoin with his tweets in the past, Musk generated a frenzy of headlines over Twitter (ticker: TWTR) in …

Twitter Stock Needs More Than Just Elon Musk’s Tweets — The Tesla CEO has been outspoken about Twitter, but unless his plans go bey… Barron’s, 11 April 2022, 892 words, (English) Elation over Elon Musk’s investment in Twitter sent the stock flying. Now the stock could be stuck in place for a while. PHOTO: Photograph by JIM WATSON / AFP /Getty Images; Barron’s art department

A Gilded Age Flop. A 21st Century Gusher. — Texas Pacific Land gets royalties on oil-and-gas production on its vast acreage of scrubland. … Barron’s, 4 April 2022, 1002 words, (English) An unexpected consequence of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was to turn a Gilded Age Texas failure into a modern jackpot. The demand for non-Russian oil and natural gas has ignited the value of 880,000 acres owned by Texas Pacific Land in the…

What the War Means For the Markets — As fighting grinds on, eight top experts offer insights about world order, oil, and the opportunities… Barron’s, 7 March 2022, 226 words, (English) The fog of this particularly bitter war in Ukraine has crept into global markets. Investors confront a rapidly changing geopolitical scene atop an economy already struggling to cope with inflation, supply-chain woes, and looming …

Knightscope Stock—Like Its Security Robots—Has Its Ups and Downs Barron’s, 7 February 2022, 600 words, (English) Knightscope is a tiny firm that’s familiar to many investors, if only from news reports about its “autonomous security robots.” The rolling, 5-foot-high egg-shaped robots haven’t always performed as intended. In 2016, one of the company’s …

Did Hackers Get an Early Look At Earnings of 165+ Companies? — Prosecutors say a Russian group hacked two low-profile firms to see… Barron’s, 7 February 2022, 1649 words, (English) Hackers may have found a new way to get their hands on inside information for stock trading.Two indictments unsealed Dec. 20 in Boston’s federal court allege that a group led by a Russian cybersecurity executive stole early looks at …

As Covid Spreads, So Does Investor Optimism Barron’s, 27 December 2021, 711 words, (English) Undaunted by Omicron, stocks scaled new heights this past week.After a Monday setback, the S&P 500 index clambered up to a record high of 4725.79 by Thursday’s close, finishing the four-day week with a gain of 2.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial…

The Big Bet: There’s Gold In Sports Betting Data — Sportradar shares have sagged. But its upside is large as the U.S. plays catch-up in… Barron’s, 13 December 2021, 763 words, (English) More than 30 states have legalized sports betting. Nearly half of them allow online wagering. But when it comes to betting, the U.S. is only catching up to the rest of the world, where gambling has been legal and licensed for …

Cheap Bets on Digital Home Sales — Zillow may have failed at iBuying, but rivals Opendoor and Offerpad still have a chance. And their sto… Barron’s, 13 December 2021, 898 words, (English) Zillow Group’s exit from the iBuying business last month was a wrecking ball for the other companies in this new industry, which make online, all-cash purchases of homes by the thousands. Opendoor Technologies had its stock clipped nearly …

Twitter’s New CEO Could Fix The Stock — With a full-time chief executive, the company’s businesses may finally get the attention they deserve Barron’s, 6 December 2021, 940 words, (English) Wall Street folks used to say Twitter stock would jump when co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey finally surrendered the reins to a chief executive solely focused on the social-media company, rather than one trying to run both Twitter and Square …

Infrastructure: The Long Play Barron’s, 15 November 2021, 704 words, (English) Next week, President Joe Biden will sign the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill aimed at shoring up transportation and water facilities and the electric grid. One result: infrastructure stocks rose 10% on Monday, and 25% to 50% in the past …

Gene Therapy’s New Direction: Mass Diseases. It’ll Pay to Be Patient. — Companies are now targeting genetic once-and-done cures for… Barron’s, 8 November 2021, 1920 words, (English) America’s first injected gene therapy, Roche Holding’s Luxturna, treated an eye disease inherited by a couple of thousand people. The next gene therapy to be approved, Novartis’ Zolgensma, helped 20,000 people born with a serious muscle …

This Biotech May Have a Hit: a New Switch for Genes — MeiraGTx says it has a way to make gene therapy more effective—and cheaper. The… Barron’s, 18 October 2021, 934 words, (English) Since the excitement of multibillion-dollar acquisitions of gene-therapy firms by Novartis and Roche Holding a few years ago, many gene-therapy stocks have sunk to small-cap valuations. Among them is MeiraGTx Holdings, shares of which fell …

Post-Covid Biotech: What’s Next Barron’s, 18 October 2021, 1937 words, (English) Don’t call Noubar Afeyan a venture capitalist. Sure, the 59-year-old founder and CEO of “venture creation” firm Flagship Pioneering has helped launch some 70 biotech companies in the past several decades. But Flagship both backs and …

Fixing What Ails Aspirin Barron’s, 27 September 2021, 754 words, (English) Aspirin is an accepted, effective, inexpensive medicine that millions take daily to prevent heart attacks and strokes. Who could improve on that?

Will Illumina’s Grail Deal Kill Competition? — The FTC argues that a merger will monopolize a nascent market for blood tests that ca… Barron’s, 30 August 2021, 656 words, (English) As an antitrust trial began this past week on Illumina’s $8 billion acquisition of cancer-screening pioneer Grail, federal regulators claimed that the deal would stifle rivals aiming to compete against Grail’s new Galleri blood test that …

Sustaining a Steel Snapback Barron’s, 12 July 2021, 743 words, (English) Pricing for hot-rolled coils of steel has sizzled in the recovery, and the heat has ignited steel stocks. United States Steel and Cleveland-Cliffs are up two and three times the S&P 500 index’s 15% gain this year, respectively, while Nucor …

Sports Data Firm’s Risky Playbook — Genius Sports is betting heavily on a bold strategy: gaining exclusive access to sports data it sells… Barron’s, 5 July 2021, 876 words, (English) Nearly 20 states have legalized online sports betting, with more to come. Buses are plastered with ads for the sportsbook operators FanDuel and DraftKings. Investors have valued DraftKings (ticker: DKNG) at $30 billion, or 30 times its …

A Heavy Lift: Will the Masses Return to Planet Fitness? — The high-volume, low-price gym chain has seen its shares soar this year. But… Barron’s, 31 May 2021, 962 words, (English) As the pandemic shut down gatherings last year, health clubs were among the hardest hit. In March 2020, the gym industry’s leading stock play, Planet Fitness, saw its shares plunge from $88 to $24. Since then, 17% of U.S. gyms have gone out…

A New Look for Psychedelics Barron’s, 17 May 2021, 666 words, (English) Post-traumatic stress disorder is a crippling, hard-to-treat psychiatric affliction, and the U.S. spends billions annually on veterans who have it. Now there’s new hope for sufferers: psychedelics.

Abe Briloff: Tireless Critic Of Dubious Accounting Barron’s, 10 May 2021, 766 words, (English) Few writers exemplified the crusading spirit of Barron’s better than Abe Briloff. In the late 1960s, he brought to our readers a new kind of journalism, exposing the accounting tricks that he believed public companies were playing on their …

Canadian Rail War For KC Southern — Canadian Pacific and Canadian National want to build a North American network. Which will regulators favor? Barron’s, 26 April 2021, 483 words, (English) A new North American rail network will challenge Union Pacific and the Berkshire Hathaway-owned BNSF. The only question is who will create it.

The Blood Test Changing the Cancer Outlook — Liquid biopsies that track cancer-related DNA have spawned start-ups and eye-popping… Barron’s, 12 April 2021, 2368 words, (English) In 2009, Exact Sciences’ CEO Kevin Conroy visited the Mayo Clinic to meet the inventor of a test for colon cancer—a test the company later marketed as Cologuard. Conroy found that the Mayo researcher, David Ahlquist, had ambitions that went…

Want a Cancer Test? Be Patient. Barron’s, 12 April 2021, 274 words, (English) If you want a multicancer early-detection blood test, your options will be limited for now. Grail, which Illumina is trying to buy, is taking orders for its Galleri test from select physicians now, with a national launch later in the …

A SPAC, a Once Highflying Insurer, and the Hunt for Deals — Executives of AmTrust Financial, an insurer that has drawn scrutiny from the… Barron’s, 15 March 2021, 1281 words, (English) Pine Technology Acquisition came public on March 15, with its units trading under the ticker PTOCU. When the stock starts to trade separately, its ticker will be PTOC.

Prohibition’s Cons, From Booze to Pot Barron’s, 8 March 2021, 784 words, (English) The year 2021 may be for marijuana what 1933 was for alcohol.It was on Dec. 5, 1933, that the 21st Amendment repealed Prohibition. A week later, the return of legal alcohol consumption had Barron’s asking, “How Much Beer Can America Drink?”…

How Twitter and Jack Dorsey Proved Investors Wrong Barron’s, 1 March 2021, 576 words, (English) Twitter was center stage for the Trump era’s conversations and controversies. For most of that time, though, the social media platform remained a show-me stock. Well, co-founder Jack Dorsey has shown ’em.

Gene Editing Emerges as Biotech’s New Cutting Edge — Stocks of start-ups wielding tools that allow companies to edit DNA and attack… Barron’s, 18 January 2021, 3015 words, (English) The Nobel Prize got Wall Street’s attention. On Oct. 7, the Swedish Academy awarded 2020’s Nobel in chemistry to two scientists for the development of Crispr-Cas9—a molecular scissors that can find and edit almost any sequence in a cell’s …

Plug Power’s Powerful Performance Powers Patrons’ Profits Barron’s, 23 November 2020, 451 words, (English) One of this year’s stock market standouts has been Plug Power, a pioneer of clean-energy power supplies for forklifts and other traditional gas guzzlers. Its stock (ticker: PLUG) has soared sixfold in 2020, touching $25 a share this past …

Is Amazon Rx A Real Threat? Barron’s, 23 November 2020, 698 words, (English) Amazon.com raided the pharmacy on Tuesday, battering shares of CVS Health and Walgreens Boots Alliance. The online colossus said its Amazon Pharmacy will offer free two-day delivery of prescriptions to Amazon Prime members, a …

Covid Vaccine Could Be a Drug Industry Game Changer — Pfizer and BioNTech’s promising news could validate mRNA technology and spee… Barron’s, 16 November 2020, 676 words, (English) The value of vaccines has never, ever been clearer. With Covid-19 resurgent globally, Pfizer and BioNTech reported Monday that their vaccine looks as if it can cut infection rates by over 90%. Hearts and stocks leapt, especially stocks in …

Psychedelics Take a Trip to the Market — The Age of Aquarius is over. But a handful of start-ups are testing ancient psychoactive drugs to… Barron’s, 9 November 2020, 953 words, (English) A growing number of companies are asking investors to try psychedelic drugs. You may flash back to the 1960s, or to the cannabis stock bubble of 2018, but there’s nothing recreational about the current interest in psychedelics, at least …

Legal Weed Goes 4 for 4 Barron’s, 9 November 2020, 645 words, (English) Even if a blue wave didn’t wash across America on Tuesday, there was a green one. Citizens voted to legalize recreational marijuana by a wide margin in all four states where it was on the ballot: Arizona, Montana, New Jersey, and South …

An Rx for Investment Success Barron’s, 12 October 2020, 1710 words, (English) From his start as a pharmacist and part-time investor, Jason Wild, now 48, grew JW Asset Management over 21 years into a firm overseeing $1 billion. His flagship JW Partners fund has returned an average annualized 24.9%, net of fees, in …

Herbalife Faces a Fresh Legal Hurdle — A lawsuit aimed at the weight-loss company’s top salespeople has gathered steam. Could it hurt sales? Barron’s, 28 September 2020, 1073 words, (English) In 2010, Jeff Rodgers and his wife, Patti, decided to try selling the weight-loss products of Herbalife Nutrition. At training events, the distributors atop the company’s layers of independent sellers bragged of their rich earnings. So, …

The Numbers Barron’s, 10 August 2020, 81 words, (English) 14.6 BThe number of hours that Roku customers spent streaming video in the second quarter, a 55% rise4xE-commerce stock BigCommerce Holdings rose fourfold at its debut, from $24 to $100.

Harley Plans Its Comeback Barron’s, 3 August 2020, 715 words, (English) Accelerating into a turnaround, iconic U.S. motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson laid out plans for a dramatic restructuring—while reporting dramatic losses.

2 Picks and 4 Pans From A Savvy Pro Barron’s, 3 August 2020, 1954 words, (English) Brad Safalow’s investment ideas have beaten the market by a handy margin in the 10 years he has run his subscription service, PAA Research. The name stands for “please act accordingly,” and clients who followed his stock recommendations …

Hype Swamps Hope in Soaring Hydrogen Stocks — Green hydrogen is an important goal, but the pricey shares of Plug Power, Ballard Power Sys… Barron’s, 27 July 2020, 944 words, (English) Wall Street discovered hydrogen this year. It has been around for 13 billion years, but the big bucks earmarked for green-energy projects, and a fresh craze for shares of companies aiming to make hydrogen-fueled trucks, have raised the …

Treating Sickle Cell, Advancing Biotech — If cures for the disease are proved successful, it would demonstrate the potential for gene… Barron’s, 27 July 2020, 1970 words, (English) Victoria Gray, a 34-year-old mother of four in Forest, Miss., had been going to the hospital seven times a year for transfusions to help with the severe pain brought on by her sickle cell disease. In July 2019, she volunteered for a radical…

Return of the Roller Coaster Barron’s, 15 June 2020, 785 words, (English) Among pastimes hardest hit by social distancing are visits to theme parks, which closed their gates as Covid-19 hit. But now, as summer beckons, the parks—like Snow White—are reawakening. Universal Orlando and Shanghai Disneyland are open. …

Twitter’s Biggest Fight Yet — Twitter founder and CEO Jack Dorsey is facing pressure from inside the boardroom and from the White House…. Barron’s, 8 June 2020, 2414 words, (English) Twitter went public in 2013 with a bold mission statement to investors. It pledged to enable “any voice to echo around the world instantly and unfiltered.” Unlike many tech start-ups, Twitter lived up to its hype. But over time, its …

After the Lockdowns, Wayfair May Tumble — The stock of the online furniture seller surged ninefold as homebound consumers spiffed up their… Barron’s, 18 May 2020, 1102 words, (English) In the grip of the pandemic, certain stocks hold our highest hopes. Moderna is up threefold because the biotech may have a vaccine to put an end to Covid-19. Teladoc has doubled, with its distance doctoring. Then there’s Wayfair, the online…

This Used-Car Dealer’s Stock Is No Bargain — Bulls hail Carvana as the Amazon.com of car retailers. But its stock, which quadrupled in A… Barron’s, 4 May 2020, 1178 words, (English) Carvana’s stock is on one wild ride. Before the market began its pandemic plunge in February, the online used-car dealer’s shares hit a record high of $115, up tenfold just three years after its initial public offering. Then the pavement …

Where to Shelter in a Pandemic? With Pharma — The drug industry faces challenges in the crisis, but pipelines of essential products make… Barron’s, 20 April 2020, 1173 words, (English) Cowen’s 40th annual health-care conference in Boston last month was probably one of Wall Street’s last large gatherings for a long time. More than 2,000 people listened to pharmaceutical executives talking up their stocks. In the weeks that…

U.S. Pot Is Hot In a Pandemic Barron’s, 6 April 2020, 794 words, (English) As Covid-19 hit the U.S., sales of medical marijuana jumped at Florida-based Trulieve Cannabis, surging 50% in February’s third week over those in the corresponding week in January, then another 50% in March. “We are very accustomed to …

Stocks for a Post-Virus World Barron’s, 9 March 2020, 1690 words, (English) A few years before the start of this decadelong bull market, Paul Hickey, 45, and Justin Walters, 38, launched Bespoke Investment Group, a subscription research service that disseminates their stock market insights and investment …

Beware the Big Price Tag for a Mall REIT With Roots in Sears Barron’s, 9 March 2020, 771 words, (English) Real estate was the ace in the hole in Eddie Lampert’s investment strategy for Sears Holdings. So in 2015—a decade after the hedge fund manager’s ESL Investments took over the struggling retail chain—Sears spun off its interests in some 260…

Growing Old, Getting High Barron’s, 2 March 2020, 745 words, (English) As more and more states license cannabis sales, two geriatrics researchers wondered how many of the new users are elderly. Plenty, it turns out, according to their study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association’s …

Some of the Biggest Marijuana Companies Could Burn Through Cash in Months Barron’s, 17 February 2020, 1245 words, (English) Some of the biggest cannabis companies in the U.S. and Canada could burn through their cash balances in a matter of months unless they’re able to raise funds or cut spending, according to research from the boutique investment banking firm …

No High for Hemp CBD Barron’s, 10 February 2020, 765 words, (English) Many farmers planted hemp last year, hoping for some of the bonanza predicted for the newly legal, nonintoxicating variety of cannabis that yields the soothing stuff called CBD. But demand didn’t materialize, and the price fell 30% from …

New Flash Point In Flash-Trading Wars Barron’s, 25 November 2019, 1291 words, (English) When the heroes of Michael Lewis’ book Flash Boys launched the IEX exchange in 2016, Wall Street was split on the benefits of its attempt to slow high-speed traders by a fraction of a second. This June, after Cboe Global Markets proposed a …

A Sight for Shorts’ Eyes Barron’s, 21 October 2019, 1056 words, (English) National Vision Holdings has been the fastest-growing U.S. optical chain for a decade, with 70 quarters of unbroken same-store sales growth. Just about every broker calls the stock a Buy. One might call it the vision of a winner.

When Quant Meets Value Barron’s, 21 October 2019, 710 words, (English) Bernstein Research has beaten the market in recent years by combining two disciplines: fundamental research and quantitative analysis. Quant investing can be more objective, consistent, and testable than fundamental analysis, says …

Don’t Blame Market Makers for Volatility, a New Study Says Barron’s, 30 September 2019, 772 words, (English) Whenever markets suffer a bout of volatility, someone blames high-frequency traders. In the bumpy last months of 2018, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin urged a government investigation of high-speed trading. After the recent August …

TROUBLE AHEAD FOR U.S. RAILROADS Barron’s, 16 September 2019, 2062 words, (English) One of the hottest industrial companies is one of the oldest: CSX, a 190-year-old freight carrier once known as the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.

Drugmaker’s Litany of Woe Barron’s, 9 September 2019, 727 words, (English) The shares of drugmaker Mallinckrodt approached penny stock territory last week, after Bloomberg reported that it had hired restructuring advisors. Analysts say the company denies that it is close to filing for bankruptcy. But there’s not …

U.S. Pot Stocks Are Set To Grow Barron’s, 2 September 2019, 1840 words, (English) Rob Fagan is one of the few analysts anywhere who covers the stocks of U.S. cannabis chains like Green Thumb Industries or Curaleaf Holdings. The 39-year-old researcher at Canada’s GMP Securities believes that the U.S. operators have better…

Myriad Genetics Stock Has an F.D.A. Issue Barron’s, 19 August 2019, 521 words, (English) The stock of genetic testing company Myriad Genetics (MYGN) plunged 50% in two days last week, before crawling back to $25.35 by Friday—a 45% drop on the week. Late on Tuesday, Myriad had reported a surprise loss for its June quarter, as …

Pot Stocks’ Promise And Perils Barron’s, 10 June 2019, 1571 words, (English) Owen Bennett left Liverpool, England, for university and never went back. After stints at Deloitte and at Procter & Gamble’s European headquarters, he made his way to Jefferies Financial Group, where he covers tobacco and now 11 cannabis …

Making Marijuana On the Cheap Barron’s, 3 June 2019, 1525 words, (English) PHOTO: Illustration by Jackson GibbsThere used to be more than 180 rose growers along the highway in California’s Monterey County. Now they’re almost gone. The flower industry went south to the lower-cost country of Colombia.

Cannabis Legalization Has Taken a Couple of Big Steps Forward — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 10:30, 3 June 2019, 600 words, (English)

Don’t call Chicago the Second City any more.

Late Friday, the Illinois legislature approved recreational marijuana use for adults. It’s the first state to do so by legislature, as opposed to a voter referendum. With Gov. J.B. Priztker …

The Next Threat to Big Marijuana Companies Comes From Way South of the Border

Barron’s Online, 05:30, 3 June 2019, 1535 words, (English)

PHOTO: Illustration by Jackson Gibbs

There used to be more than 180 rose growers along the highway in California’s Monterey County. Now they’re almost gone. The flower industry went south to the lower-cost country of Colombia.

Marijuana Companies Curaleaf and Harvest Health Are Getting Way Bigger — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 10:21, 31 May 2019, 399 words, (English)

Two of the biggest cannabis chains in the U.S. reported strong sales growth in their March quarters and continued to roll up new acquisitions.

Marijuana Merchant Green Thumb Delivered Strong Sales in its Latest Quarter — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 17:24, 30 May 2019, 219 words, (English)

As its home state legislature ponders legalizing recreational pot, the Chicago-based cannabis chain Green Thumb Industries reported strong March quarter sales of $28 million. That represented a 34% rise from the December period, according …

Illinois Could Legalize Recreational Marijuana This Week

Barron’s Online, 11:11, 30 May 2019, 698 words, (English)

The Illinois state House has until Friday to vote on a bill to legalize recreational pot sales to adults, after the state Senate approved the measure Wednesday night in a bipartisan vote of 38 to 17. Friday is the last day of the current …

5 Marijuana Stocks to Buy — and 2 to Avoid, According to an Analyst

Barron’s Online, 05:30, 30 May 2019, 613 words, (English)

Five cannabis stocks got a thumbs-up from Jefferies on Feb. 25, as the firm started coverage of Canadian marijuana producers. But analyst Owen Bennett rated industry leader Canopy Growth Holdings as a Hold, while slapping Cronos Group with …

Canopy Growth Stock Has a Problem: There Aren’t Enough Marijuana Stores in Canada

Barron’s Online, 06:00, 29 May 2019, 281 words, (English)

Retail sales of marijuana in Canada will remain slow, BMO Securities analyst Tamy Chen said in a note released Monday. The scarcity of retail stores in the country probably put a lid on fiscal fourth-quarter revenue at Canopy Growth. The …

Aphria Is a Cheap Marijuana Stock That Could Double, Analyst Says

Barron’s Online, 11:08, 24 May 2019, 426 words, (English)

If you’re looking for a cheap way to get into cannabis, then Aphria is your stock. Jefferies analyst Owen Bennett started coverage Friday with a Buy rating and a belief that the Canadian marijuana producer’s stock could double.

Canopy Growth and Acreage Holdings Defend Their Deal to Create the World’s Largest Marijuana Company

Barron’s Online, 05:50, 24 May 2019, 784 words, (English)

The stock of American cannabis seller Acreage Holdings (ticker: ACRGF.OTC) jumped to $30 in April, when it agreed to a buyout by the Canadian marijuana producer Canopy Growth (CGC). Since then, however, Acreage stock has sunk below $19 per …

Marijuana Producers Lobby Congress to Let Them Use Banks

Barron’s Online, 05:35, 24 May 2019, 525 words, (English)

American marijuana producers, bankers, and real-estate firms came to Washington this week to lobby Congress in favor of Rep. Ed Perlmutter’s marijuana banking bill. The Colorado Democrat has labored for six years to let financial …

Marijuana Stock Harvest Health Could Almost Double, Analyst Says

Barron’s Online, 05:10, 23 May 2019, 557 words, (English)

Few analysts follow America’s marijuana stocks. One who does, Rob Fagan of the Canadian firm GMP Securities, launched coverage Wednesday on the national chain Harvest Health & Recreation. He says Harvest’s stock could nearly double.

4 Stocks to Ride the CBD Wave

Barron’s Online, 05:25, 22 May 2019, 440 words, (English)

With CBD making headlines everywhere, Piper Jaffray’s analysts added their voices to the chorus singing hosannas to the cannabis ingredient.

Canadians Are Using Marijuana More and Drinking Beer Less, Survey Says — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 10:37, 20 May 2019, 549 words, (English)

Pot use in Canada is about twice what was previously reported, according to a surprising survey published this morning by Cowen and Co.

Canadian pot producers such as Aurora Cannabis (ticker: ACB) have achieved disappointing sales since that…

Marijuana Paraphernalia Companies Are Taking a Hit From Tariffs

Barron’s, 20 May 2019, 445 words, (English)

If there’s any business untouched by the U.S.-China trade dispute, it should be the cannabis industry. None of that stuff crosses the border, right?

The Trader: How Pot Paraphernalia Companies Are Taking a Hit From Tariffs — Barron’s

Dow Jones Institutional News, 06:00, 18 May 2019, 472 words, (English)

If there’s any business untouched by the U.S.-China trade dispute, it should be the cannabis industry. None of that stuff crosses the border, right?

‘Millennial Aversion’ and Other Risks for Harley-Davidson Stock

Barron’s Online, 13:00, 17 May 2019, 365 words, (English)

Investors remain worried about bike maker Harley-Davidson.

That’s according to Wells Fargo analyst Timothy Conder, who addressed those worries in a note Friday. Promotional costs, credit risks, and lower-margin new products will test …

Used Harley-Davidson Prices Are Rising. Can the Stock Follow?

Barron’s Online, 11:19, 16 May 2019, 320 words, (English)

A thin ray of sunshine lit the gloom surrounding Harley-Davidson on Thursday, as Wedbush Securities noted that prices of used Harleys have ticked up. The motorcycle maker has suffered a revenue slump as its high-price bikes have gotten …

Aurora Cannabis Sold 9 Tons of Marijuana Last Quarter

Barron’s Online, 09:38, 15 May 2019, 907 words, (English)

Aurora Cannabis sold a ton of weed last quarter. Nine metric tons, in fact.

Like the other Canadian pot producers reporting earnings Tuesday, Aurora increased sales strongly in its March quarter. Investors had worried that the recreational …

The Whiskey Boom Ages, but It Still Has Kick

Barron’s, 13 May 2019, 1186 words, (English)

While tech stocks stampeded ahead this decade, one of the best-performing businesses has been one of America’s oldest: whiskey.

After collapsing in the 1970s, sales of Kentucky bourbon and Tennessee whiskey have elbowed aside beer to become …

A Need for Weed

Barron’s, 13 May 2019, 702 words, (English)

Poor little rich kids. Canadian cannabis vendor Cronos Group has $2 billion in its pocket and yet says it can’t find enough good marijuana.

The company blamed a shortage of suitable product on Canada’s wholesale market for its paltry $4 …

Review & Preview: A Need for Weed — Barron’s

Dow Jones Institutional News, 06:00, 11 May 2019, 730 words, (English)

Poor little rich kids. Canadian cannabis vendor Cronos Group has $2 billion in its pocket and yet says it can’t find enough good marijuana.

The company blamed a shortage of suitable product on Canada’s wholesale market for its paltry $4 …

Marijuana Company Cronos Group Reports Earnings Today. Here’s What to Expect.

Barron’s Online, 05:15, 9 May 2019, 524 words, (English)

When Canadian pot producer Cronos Group reports March quarter results on Thursday morning, investors should brace for a disappointment.

The Toronto-based company is one of the fledgling marijuana industry’s under-performers, and that’s why …

Marijuana Grower Cronos Group Has a Big Market Capitalization — and Tiny Marijuana Sales

Barron’s Online, 09:47, 9 May 2019, 516 words, (English)

Although investors value Canadian cannabis vendor Cronos Group at more than $5 billion, it sold scarcely more than $5 million worth of pot in its March quarter. The sales, announced Thursday morning, left it with a cash-flow loss of $13 …

A Marijuana Deal Between Canopy Growth and Acreage Holdings Has an Activist Hedge Fund Crying Foul

Barron’s Online, 05:45, 7 May 2019, 734 words, (English)

An activist hedge fund says that Canadian pot pioneer Canopy Growth’s $3.4 billion agreement to buy its American counterpart Acreage Holdings is a rotten deal.

Marijuana Stock Tilray Has Had a Tough Run. Why a Tilray Bear Now Sees Less Downside.

Barron’s Online, 11:18, 3 May 2019, 582 words, (English)

In a crowd of giddy boosters, cannabis analyst Owen Bennett stands out as a discerning voice. The Jefferies analyst launched coverage on the Canadian marijuana business two months back with a Sell rating on investor favorite Tilray (ticker:…

A Marijuana Merger Will Create the World’s Biggest Legal Dealer as Curaleaf and Cura Partners Combine

Barron’s Online, 09:58, 1 May 2019, 496 words, (English)

America’s biggest cannabis retailer will become the world’s biggest legal seller, with a billion dollar merger announced this morning. Curaleaf Holdings (ticker: CURA.Canada or CURLF.OTC) will buy privately held Cura Partners, a West Coast …

Fending Off Rivals, Amgen Posts Better Than Expected Sales

Barron’s Online, 18:05, 30 April 2019, 573 words, (English)

Drugmaker Amgen held the line against rivals selling biosimilar versions of Amgen’s lead product Neulasta, in its just-reported March quarter. The Thousand Oaks, Calif.-based company needs to maintain pricing and hold market share while it …

The American Marijuana Stocks Winning So Far This Year — and the Ones Losing

Barron’s Online, 05:05, 30 April 2019, 835 words, (English)

As cannabis stocks bounced back this year from their fall funk, some have bounced higher than others. Much higher. The divergence is quite striking among stocks of companies that sell marijuana in the U.S., where it is legal under the laws …

A Small U.S. Marijuana Company Wants to Sell Cannabis Cigarettes. It Won’t Be Easy.

Barron’s Online, 16:56, 29 April 2019, 655 words, (English)

It must be hard to get noticed, as pot stocks proliferate. Witness last week’s announcement by Vireo Health International, one of the smaller multistate cannabis sellers. It brands itself as “science-focused” and physician-led. Last …

More Records Fall as Stocks Defy Skeptics

Barron’s, 29 April 2019, 578 words, (English)

It’s hard to be a worry wart.

I don’t mean that it’s tough wearing the Barron’s bear suit. I’m saying that worries are hard to find—what with strong earnings reports, unexpectedly good economic growth and…and…oh yes, record market highs.

The Trader: More Records Fall as Stocks Defy Skeptics — Barron’s

Dow Jones Institutional News, 06:00, 27 April 2019, 604 words, (English)

It’s hard to be a worry wart.

I don’t mean that it’s tough wearing the Barron’s bear suit. I’m saying that worries are hard to find — what with strong earnings reports, unexpectedly good economic growth and…and…oh yes, record market …

U.S. Marijuana Companies Are Selling More Pot Than Their Canadian Competitors

Barron’s Online, 11:16, 24 April 2019, 551 words, (English)

One of the largest U.S. cannabis chains, Cresco Labs, on Wednesday reported $43 million in sales for 2018. Including the sales of its soon-to-be-acquired peer Origin House, revenue would have been $76 million.

iRobot Stock Takes a Hit Because There Are Too Many Robots

Barron’s Online, 13:43, 24 April 2019, 431 words, (English)

The stock of robot appliance maker iRobot (ticker: IRBT) has tumbled more than 20% Wednesday to $103.45, after its report of disappointing sales growth in the March quarter. iRobot’s operating profit narrowed and the Bedford, Mass.-based …

Marijuana Sales in Canada Are Going Nowhere Fast

Barron’s Online, 05:30, 24 April 2019, 296 words, (English)

Recreational pot sales in Canada haven’t exactly been red hot since the country became the first wealthy nation to legalize marijuana nationwide in October. Government data indicate that Canada’s legal weed sales in the first two months of …

Harvest Health Stock Is Rising Because the Marijuana Company Reported Strong Growth — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 14:55, 23 April 2019, 746 words, (English)

The stock of U.S. cannabis seller Harvest Health & Recreation was up 5% on Tuesday, after the company reported strong growth and discussed its high hopes for the future. In early afternoon trading on the U.S. OTC Market, the stock (ticker: …

Canopy Growth’s New Marijuana Deal Is a Winner for Constellation Brands

Barron’s Online, 13:23, 22 April 2019, 552 words, (English)

Last week, Canadian pot producer Canopy Growth agreed to buy U.S. seller Acreage Holdings once cannabis becomes legal under U.S. federal law. More than 30 states have legalized marijuana under their laws, but it’s still federally …

3 CBD Companies That Could Win a ‘Wild West’ Showdown in the Hemp Market

Barron’s Online, 05:00, 9 April 2019, 415 words, (English)

We’ve been seeing hemp, and its soothing extract CBD, everywhere since Congress decriminalized the innocuous strain of cannabisin December. The stock market never misses a fad, sopublic companies are eagerly adding hemp to their product …

How to Make a Winning Investment Bet Against the Fund Crowd Right Now, According to a Strategist

Barron’s Online, 07:00, 8 April 2019, 488 words, (English)

If you needed another reason to avoid crowds, be aware that they hurt your investment returns. Crowding has been blamed for the crummy performance of active managers in recent years, as too many hedge funds and mutual funds chase the same …

Hyped CBD Stocks Need to Chill

Barron’s, 8 April 2019, 1380 words, (English)

The signs are everywhere. Outside the Village Apothecary in Woodstock, N.Y., an A-frame sign blocks the sidewalk, screaming: “We have CBD!!” On Manhattan’s 42nd Street, a new billboard shows lotions from Uncle Bud’s Hemp.

Constellation Brands Stock Is Up Because America Loves Beer and Investors Love Marijuana

Barron’s Online, 14:09, 4 April 2019, 494 words, (English)

Beer and wine sales at Constellation Brands led their industry in the fiscal year ending February. But when the company reported earnings this morning, the cash it made from booze was dwarfed by gains on its investment in the cannabis …

The First Marijuana Analyst on Wall Street

Barron’s, 1 April 2019, 1687 words, (English)

Analyst Vivien Azer started covering the cannabis business for Cowen & Co. in 2016, two years before Canada legalized adult recreational use and the country’s pot producers listed stocks on the New York and Nasdaq exchanges. Even today, few…

Sputtering Harley Stock Faces New Bump in the Road

Barron’s Online, 12:26, 28 March 2019, 376 words, (English)

Mighty bike maker Harley-Davidson will continue to struggle with sputtering demand, and mounting problems lie ahead, says RBC Capital Markets analyst Joseph Spak, in a new note. He fears that retail sales in the U.S. will decline 10% in the…

Marijuana Stocks Fall as Legalization Bid Fails in New Jersey

Barron’s Online, 17:18, 25 March 2019, 408 words, (English)

The stocks of American cannabis companies sank this afternoon—along with legalization’s momentum—as the New Jersey legislature canceled a scheduled vote on recreational pot. State senate leaders said they couldn’t get enough Democrats …

The Great Marijuana Shortage Shows No Signs of Letting Up

Barron’s Online, 11:37, 25 March 2019, 368 words, (English)

Legal cannabis shortages were still a problem in Canada in early 2019, several months after the country began recreational sales to adults, says a report this morning by broker Cowen. A survey of five provinces’ online weed availability in …

Why This Marijuana REIT Is Flying High

Barron’s, 25 March 2019, 671 words, (English)

American cannabis producers have money problems, and that’s a lucky thing for Innovative Industrial Properties. Even after most states have legalized pot sales, the weed remains illegal under federal law. That federal ban closes big banks …

The Trader: Why This Marijuana REIT Is Flying High — Barron’s

Dow Jones Institutional News, 06:00, 23 March 2019, 697 words, (English)

American cannabis producers have money problems, and that’s a lucky thing for Innovative Industrial Properties. Even after most states have legalized pot sales, the weed remains illegal under federal law. That federal ban closes big banks …

Curaleaf Isn’t Just Selling Marijuana Anymore

Barron’s Online, 09:20, 21 March 2019, 356 words, (English)

As American cannabis seller Curaleaf Holdings reported a 43% sales rise from the September to December quarters, it announced that it’s jumping into the hemp field. Chief executive Joe Lusardi told Barron’s that the company’s Curaleaf Hemp …

Shares of Roomba Vacuum’s Maker Hit the Wall

Barron’s Online, 11:44, 19 March 2019, 387 words, (English)

After doubling in 12 months’ time, the stock of robot-vacuum seller iRobot has priced in the company’s good prospects. So says Needham’s Jim Ricchiuti, in a Tuesday morning note that downgrades the stock (ticker: IRBT) to Hold. Shares of …

Tilray Stock Is Down Because Good Marijuana Is Hard to Find

Barron’s Online, 11:05, 19 March 2019, 670 words, (English)

After Tilray reported $43 million in 2018 marijuana sales, CEO Brendan Kennedy told conference call listeners Monday night it has been hard to find good weed. But Canada’s shortage should be fixed by next year.

Cannabis Maker Tilray’s Big Loss Doesn’t Hurt Its Shares — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 17:06, 18 March 2019, 338 words, (English)

The stock of Tilray is bouncing around in after hours trading, after the Canadian cannabis producer met expectations for December-quarter sales, but reported a surprisingly big loss. At $74, the stock is up 2.5%, reversing the slight …

Tilray Stock Gains Because Earnings Don’t Matter When the Marijuana Opportunity Is This Big

Barron’s Online, 17:38, 18 March 2019, 338 words, (English)

The stock of Tilray is bouncing around in after hours trading, after the Canadian cannabis producer met expectations for December-quarter sales, but reported a surprisingly big loss. At $74, the stock is up 2.5%, reversing the slight …

Can Legalized Marijuana Help Revive Atlantic City? — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 06:59, 16 March 2019, 609 words, (English)

When New Jersey’s governor and legislative leaders agreed this week to legalize recreational pot, the strategy chief at cannabis chain iAnthus Capital Holdings was pleased. Beth Stavola’s firm already has a stake in the Garden State, but …

Tilray Stock is Wildly Overpriced. What You Need to Know Before Earnings.

Barron’s Online, 12:34, 15 March 2019, 399 words, (English)

Even if Tilray reports the kind of quarterly sales figures that Wall Street expects on Monday, the marijuana company’s stock will be trading at a whopping 100-times annualized revenue.

A Bitter Ruling for Tootsie Roll Shareholders

Barron’s Online, 07:30, 15 March 2019, 495 words, (English)

Confused candy lovers owe thanks to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey J. Helmick for his lollipop injunction. Wednesday, the Toledo, Ohio-based jurist told Tootsie Roll Industries to stop selling its Charms Mini Pops in bags that resemble those …

New Jersey Joins the Pot Parade in Win for Marijuana Company Curaleaf

Barron’s Online, 11:39, 13 March 2019, 488 words, (English)

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy made good on his promise to legalize recreational cannabis, and that’s great news for the stocks of the state’s licensed producers: Acreage Holdings, Curaleaf Holdings, Green Thumb Industries, Harvest Health …

Aurora Cannabis Stock Is Surging Because the Marijuana Company Has a Big New Partner — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 09:36, 13 March 2019, 329 words, (English)

Aurora Cannabis (ticker: ACB) stock has never enjoyed the steep valuation of its rival Canadian pot producers Canopy Growth (CGC) and Tilray (TLRY). That will change, after this morning’s announcement that activist Nelson Peltz joined …

A Solar Company’s Play in Emerging Markets Could Go Bad

Barron’s Online, 15:23, 11 March 2019, 950 words, (English)

Most solar power producers seek their fortunes in affluent places like North America or Europe. Not Scatec Solar.

The doughty Norwegian company (ticker: SSO. Norway) builds solar power plants in emerging markets such as South Africa, Egypt, …

Two U.S. Marijuana Retailers Hook Up, Possibly Creating Largest Chain

Barron’s Online, 11:36, 11 March 2019, 338 words, (English)

The American cannabis chain Harvest Health & Recreation announced an acquisition today that could make it the industry’s largest retail license holder—with the right to open 123 retail dispensaries across 16 states and territories. Its …

Constellation Stock Brews Fast-Growing Beer With a Cannabis Call Option — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 12:51, 11 March 2019, 306 words, (English)

Constellation Brands’s plan to sell its low-end wine business is finding lots of interested buyers and will let it focus on its Corona beer products and its investment in Canadian cannabis producer Canopy Growth — says Wells Fargo analyst …

How a Russian Bank Secretly Moved Billions Around the World

Barron’s Online, 10:47, 8 March 2019, 2306 words, (English)

Yaakov Dov Bleich, a New York rabbi, was surprised to hear recently that for nearly a decade more than $100 million had been debited and credited to an account under his name via a company in the British Virgin Islands. He says he had never…

Tilray Stock Slides After Analyst Says It Falls Short of Marijuana Rivals

Barron’s Online, 11:45, 8 March 2019, 559 words, (English)

Tilray stock fell 2.5% to $68, after Jefferies launched coverage of the cannabis company Friday morning with an Underperform rating.

The Canadian pot producer has a decent medical-cannabis business, says analyst Owen Bennett, but Tilray’s …

How a Russian Bank Secretly Moved Billions Around the World — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 10:47, 8 March 2019, 2335 words, (English)

Yaakov Dov Bleich, a New York rabbi, was surprised to hear recently that for nearly a decade more than $100 million had been debited and credited to an account under his name via a company in the British Virgin Islands. He says he had never…

Constellation Brands Stock Has Big Upside, Analyst Says — and Not Because It Also Owns a Marijuana Stock

Barron’s Online, 14:23, 7 March 2019, 498 words, (English)

Constellation Brands stock can rise by a third, an analyst said Thursday—and that’s not even counting the company’s stake in Canadian cannabis producer Canopy Growth.

Tax Refunds Could Fuel Harley-Davidson Sales, Analyst Says

Barron’s Online, 14:48, 6 March 2019, 267 words, (English)

Harley-Davidson’s sales skid continues, according to a note this morning from Wedbush Securities.

Analyst James Hardiman says his calls to dealers suggest January sales of Harley motor bikes fell by a low double-digit percentage, …

Meet the Obscure Firm Boosting MedMen and Other Marijuana Stocks

Barron’s Online, 11:11, 6 March 2019, 702 words, (English)

Of all America’s legal marijuana dealers, MedMen Enterprises has crafted its shops and packaging to the highest gloss. Not so much its investor communiqués. Earlier this week, the Canada-listed American cannabis chain (ticker: MMEN.Canada …

Marijuana Retailer MedMen Says It Paid for Article That Promoted Stock — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 09:59, 5 March 2019, 345 words, (English)

When MedMen Enterprises’ previous chief financial officer, James Parker, left the weed retailer, he alleged in a lawsuit that the company had ordered him to pay a consultant to buoy up the stock, but MedMen dismissed the suit as “baseless.”

Children’s Place Stock Is Getting Hammered Because Bankrupt Rival Gymboree Put Everything on Sale — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 10:52, 4 March 2019, 510 words, (English)

A sudden chill has hit Children’s Place stock, which opened down 10% on Monday after the clothing chain warned that its January quarter earnings were less than half what was expected.

U.S. Marijuana Retailer MedMen’s Stock Falls As It Puts Brakes on Spending

Barron’s Online, 17:19, 27 February 2019, 809 words, (English)

The stock of MedMen is off 1.5% this morning to $4.70 Canadian dollars this morning, after the U.S. cannabis seller announced a nice sales lift in its December quarter, to $30 million. Its losses widened, to $65 million, but on last night’s…

U.S. Marijuana Retailer MedMen Burns Cash as Sales Grow — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 17:19, 27 February 2019, 531 words, (English)

MedMen grew its cannabis sales nicely in the December quarter, hitting $30 million. Its losses, however, widened, to $65 million.

“We are in a new phase of growth,” says chief executive Adam Bierman, in the announcement released after …

Cannabis Makers’ New $16 Billion U.S. Opportunity

Barron’s Online, 05:00, 26 February 2019, 433 words, (English)

Now that hemp is legal, analysts at Cowen & Co. expect the plant will grow into a $16 billion opportunity for companies like Canopy Growth Holdings (ticker:CGC), Tilray (TLRY), and the little tobacco product seller Turning Point Brands …

Why Microsoft and Nvidia Could Be Added to the FANGs

Barron’s, 25 February 2019, 387 words, (English)

You may think the market loves a tech company for what it is, but sometimes the market cares more about a stock’s style. That’s the point of a recent note by Prashant Sundararajan, who heads quant research sales at Nomura Instinet.

Why Microsoft and Nvidia Could Be Added to the FANGs

Barron’s Online, 20:50, 22 February 2019, 417 words, (English)

You may think the market loves a tech company for what it is, but sometimes the market cares more about a stock’s style. That’s the point of a recent note by Prashant Sundararajan, who heads quant research sales at Nomura Instinet.

The Trader: Why Microsoft and Nvidia Could Be Added to the FANGs — Barron’s

Dow Jones Institutional News, 06:00, 23 February 2019, 413 words, (English)

You may think the market loves a tech company for what it is, but sometimes the market cares more about a stock’s style. That’s the point of a recent note by Prashant Sundararajan, who heads quant research sales at Nomura Instinet.

Why Microsoft and Nvidia Could Be Added to the FANGs — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 20:50, 22 February 2019, 400 words, (English)

You may think the market loves a tech company for what it is, but sometimes the market cares more about a stock’s style. That’s the point of a recent note by Prashant Sundararajan, who heads quant research sales at Nomura Instinet.

7 Marijuana Companies That Could Win the Great American Green Rush

Barron’s Online, 06:00, 20 February 2019, 750 words, (English)

As more and more states legalize marijuana, American companies are racing to establish multi-state cannabis empires. It is still illegal under federal law, so exchanges like the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq aren’t an option for these …

3 Things to Know Before You Buy Marijuana Stocks

Barron’s Online, 05:30, 20 February 2019, 439 words, (English)

America’s licensed marijuana sellers are just getting started.

They have only a few stores and profits are scarce. Their Canadian-listed stocks—they can’t trade on U.S. exchanges as marijuana remains illegal under federal law—also trade at …

U.S. Marijuana Makers Face A Tortuous Path to Growth

Barron’s, 18 February 2019, 513 words, (English)

Canadian cannabis companies have it easy. Since Oct. 17, they’ve been able to sell pot to adults under a single national law. The big U.S. stock exchanges are happy to list Canadian producers like Canopy Growth (ticker: CGC) and Tilray …

AMERICAN WEED

Barron’s, 18 February 2019, 3419 words, (English)

Beth Stavola feared she’d made a terrible investment mistake.

After having twins, the New Jersey mother of five took a break from her Wall Street career. In 2012, she heard of a business for sale in a small Arizona town. A visit impressed …

Water Works

Barron’s, 18 February 2019, 962 words, (English)

Matt Diserio and his partners started Water Asset Management about a decade ago, convinced that private capital could help solve environmental problems while making good returns. So far they have. But Matt doesn’t think every “sustainable” …

U.S. Marijuana Makers Face A Tortuous Path to Growth — Barron’s

Dow Jones Institutional News, 06:00, 16 February 2019, 539 words, (English)

Canadian cannabis companies have it easy. Since Oct. 17, they’ve been able to sell pot to adults under a single national law. The big U.S. stock exchanges are happy to list Canadian producers like Canopy Growth (ticker: CGC) and Tilray …

U.S. Doesn’t Offer the Most Fertile Soil for Marijuana Sales Growth

Barron’s Online, 15 February 2019, 540 words, (English)

Canadian cannabis companies have it easy. Since Oct. 17, they’ve been able to sell pot to adults under a single national law. The big U.S. stock exchanges are happy to list Canadian producers like Canopy Growth (ticker: CGC) and Tilray …

Myriad Genetics’ Stock Battles Depression

Barron’s, 11 February 2019, 1349 words, (English)

Many people suffering from depression aren’t helped by their first drug treatment. Genetics account for some of this treatment resistance, but whether we yet know enough about genes to help depressed patients is a fierce debate among …

Ex-CFO Sues U.S. Marijuana Retailer, Alleging CEO Used It as His ‘Piggy Bank’

Barron’s Online, 11:57, 5 February 2019, 973 words, (English)

There are no prettier cannabis stores than those of MedMen Enterprises, the chain whose West Hollywood flagship shop claims higher sales per square foot than Tiffany’s. But a new lawsuit filed by the pot chain’s former finance chief alleges…

Merck Stock Gains Because Cancer Drug Brings Rising Earnings

Barron’s Online, 09:33, 1 February 2019, 577 words, (English)

Merck stock was gaining after the pharmaceutical giant beat earnings forecasts thanks to strong sales of cancer-drug Keytruda.

Merck’s (MRK) results were again powered by the success of its cancer drug Keytruda, as the drugmaker reported …

Is Harley-Davidson Too Old to Ride? Stock Falls as Sales Skid Again.

Barron’s Online, 10:52, 29 January 2019, 1070 words, (English)

Sales at Harley-Davidson dealers continued to screech downward in 2018, falling 10% in the U.S. and 6% world-wide.

Tuesday morning, the classic bike maker reported earnings for its December quarter that were even uglier than feared. It …

Is Harley-Davidson Too Old to Ride? Sales Just Skidded Again. — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 08:50, 29 January 2019, 760 words, (English)

Sales at Harley-Davidson dealers continued to screech downward in 2018, falling 10% in the U.S. and 6% world-wide.

Tuesday morning, the classic bike maker reported earnings for its December quarter that were even uglier than feared. It …

Troubled Insurer AmTrust to Delist Preferred Stock

Barron’s, 28 January 2019, 777 words, (English)

The damage from AmTrust Financial’s troubles hit holders of $1 billion in preferred stock this week. Following the insurer’s management-led buyout of common stockholders, it announced late last Friday that it wants to delist its preferred …

The Trader: Troubled Insurer AmTrust to Delist Preferred Stock — Barron’s

Dow Jones Institutional News, 06:00, 26 January 2019, 803 words, (English)

The damage from AmTrust Financial’s troubles hit holders of $1 billion in preferred stock this week. Following the insurer’s management-led buyout of common stockholders, it announced late last Friday that it wants to delist its preferred …

Strong Earnings Can’t Boost Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock as It Gives Up on a Cancer Treatment

Barron’s Online, 11:54, 24 January 2019, 444 words, (English)

Bristol-Myers Squibb reported better-than-expected earnings for its December quarter, but the beat stemmed mainly from lower spending on research and development. The drug company also said it won’t seek approval of a lung cancer treatment …

Bristol-Myers Shares Flat on Earnings Gain, Disappointing Drug Results — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 11:44, 24 January 2019, 441 words, (English)

Bristol-Myers Squibb reported better-than-expected earnings for its December quarter, but the beat stemmed mainly from lower spending on research and development. The drug company also said it won’t seek approval of a lung cancer treatment …

Troubled Insurer AmTrust to Delist Preferred Stock

Barron’s Online, 14:59, 23 January 2019, 801 words, (English)

The damage from AmTrust Financial’s troubles hit holders of $1 billion in preferred stock this week. Following the insurer’s management-led buyout of common stockholders, it announced late last Friday that it wants to delist its preferred …

Troubled Insurer AmTrust to Delist Preferred Stock — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 14:59, 23 January 2019, 780 words, (English)

The damage from AmTrust Financial’s troubles hit holders of $1 billion in preferred stock this week. Following the insurer’s management-led buyout of common stockholders, it announced late last Friday that it wants to delist its preferred …

Tesla Stock Tanked After Elon Musk Said He’d Lay Off Thousands

Barron’s Online, 16:55, 18 January 2019, 426 words, (English)

Tesla stock (ticker: TSLA) fell nearly 13% on Friday after CEO Elon Musk told his workforce that he’s letting 7% of them go as the company struggles to deliver a lower-cost electric car.

New Stock Exchange No Immediate Threat to Stocks of ICE, Nasdaq, and Cboe

Barron’s, 14 January 2019, 851 words, (English)

This week’s announcement of a new U.S. stock exchange sent investors scrambling to predict its impact on the venerable New York and Nasdaq bourses.

Marijuana Stock Aurora Cannabis Is Rising After It Bought Whistler Medical Marijuana

Barron’s Online, 11:58, 14 January 2019, 444 words, (English)

Canadian marijuana company Aurora Cannabis (ACB) made news Monday, after a week in which its rivals Tilray (TLRY) and Aphria (APHA) got all the attention. The Edmonton, Alberta-based Aurora will expand its brand offerings with the …

The Trader: New Stock Exchange No Immediate Threat to Stocks of ICE, Nasdaq, and Cboe — Barron’s

Dow Jones Institutional News, 06:00, 12 January 2019, 878 words, (English)

This week’s announcement of a new U.S. stock exchange sent investors scrambling to predict its impact on the venerable New York and Nasdaq bourses.

New Stock Exchange No Immediate Threat to Stocks of ICE, Nasdaq, and Cboe

Dow Jones Institutional News, 06:00, 12 January 2019, 874 words, (English)

This week’s announcement of a new U.S. stock exchange sent investors scrambling to predict its impact on the venerable New York and Nasdaq bourses.

 

 Marijuana Stocks Tilray and Canopy Have Big Upside, Analyst Says

Barron’s Online, 13:11, 9 January 2019, 478 words, (English)

Marijuana continues to gain favor on Wall Street, with the firm PiperJaffray on Wednesday recommending the stocks of Canopy Growth and Tilray—and seeing about 30% upside in each.

 

 Tilray and Other Marijuana Stocks Set to Grow in 2019, According to a Top Analyst

Barron’s Online, 05:30, 9 January 2019, 460 words, (English)

It should get easier to buy legal marijuana in 2019, an analyst said Tuesday, as companies like Canopy Growth (CGC) and Tilray (TLRY) overcome the supply problems that hobbled them in the fall when recreational pot use became legal in …

 

 Russian Lawyer in Trump Tower Meeting Is Charged in Money Laundering Case

Barron’s Online, 13:02, 8 January 2019, 405 words, (English)

Federal prosecutors unsealed criminal charges Tuesday against the Russian lawyer who convened the controversial Trump Tower meeting in 2016 with Trump campaign officials. She was in New York, at that time, because she was defending a …

 

 Blame the Bankers for Bad Corporate Behavior A New Kind of Activist

Barron’s, 7 January 2019, 1963 words, (English)

In 2010, Carson Block pioneered the activist short-selling tactic of publishing detailed critiques of companies he considered frauds. His firm, Muddy Waters, helped puncture that era’s bubble of dubious Chinese companies that evaded …

 

 Why Wall Street Wants to Build Its Own Stock Exchange

Barron’s Online, 16:30, 7 January 2019, 1042 words, (English)

The stocks of America’s big trading exchanges got shaken Monday by the announcement of a new competitor. As nine big Wall Street firms unveiled plans to form a stock exchange called MEMX, stock in the incumbents fell, in an otherwise rising…

 

 A New Kind of Activist — Barron’s

Dow Jones Institutional News, 06:00, 5 January 2019, 1997 words, (English)

In 2010, Carson Block pioneered the activist short-selling tactic of publishing detailed critiques of companies he considered frauds. His firm, Muddy Waters, helped puncture that era’s bubble of dubious Chinese companies that evaded …

 

 Blame the Bankers for Bad Corporate Behavior

Barron’s Online, 16:16, 4 January 2019, 2020 words, (English)

In 2010, Carson Block pioneered the activist short-selling tactic of publishing detailed critiques of companies he considered frauds. His firm, Muddy Waters, helped puncture that era’s bubble of dubious Chinese companies that evaded …

 

 Leaders & Laggards—Fourth Quarter 2018

Barron’s Online, 18:44, 4 January 2019, 28 words, (English)

Includes all funds over $50 million. Source: Lipper

Write to Bill Alpert at william.alpert@barrons.com

 

 Leaders & Laggards — Fourth Quarter 2018 — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 18:44, 4 January 2019, 41 words, (English)

Includes all funds over $50 million. Source: Lipper

Write to Bill Alpert at william.alpert@barrons.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 04, 2019 18:44 ET (23:44 GMT)

 

 Marijuana Stocks Just Got a Boost from JPMorgan

Barron’s Online, 12:37, 2 January 2019, 352 words, (English)

Cannabis stocks took another step toward Wall Street respectability today, as august JPMorgan launched coverage of GW Pharmaceuticals with an Outperform rating. The bank raised $345 million for the drug developer in an October stock …

 

 New Study Raises Concerns About Overuse of Stents — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 11:49, 31 December 2018, 1383 words, (English)

A new study revives concerns that cardiologists are overusing stents, the tiny tubes that open pinched heart arteries.

A Dec. 17 report in the Journal of the American Medical Association –Internal Medicine finds suggestive evidence that …

 

 Marijuana Stock Aphria Gives Back Gains as Deal Buzz Fizzles

Barron’s Online, 14:36, 31 December 2018, 636 words, (English)

Aphria (ticker: APHA) has been the most beleaguered of Canada’s pot stocks, and a takeover bid last week from a tiny cannabis startup opens another strange chapter in the Aphria saga.

 

 New Study Raises Concerns About Overuse of Stents

Barron’s Online, 12:00, 31 December 2018, 712 words, (English)

A new study revives concerns that cardiologists are overusing stents, the tiny tubes that open pinched heart arteries.

A Dec. 17 report in the Journal of the American Medical Association–Internal Medicine finds suggestive evidence that …

 

 The Trader: New Study Raises Concerns About Overuse of Stents — Barron’s

Dow Jones Institutional News, 06:00, 29 December 2018, 708 words, (English)

A new study revives concerns that cardiologists are overusing stents, the tiny tubes that open pinched heart arteries.

A Dec. 17 report in the Journal of the American Medical Association — Internal Medicine finds suggestive evidence that …

 

 New Study Raises Concerns About Overuse of Stents

Dow Jones Institutional News, 06:00, 29 December 2018, 704 words, (English)

A new study revives concerns that cardiologists are overusing stents, the tiny tubes that open pinched heart arteries.

A Dec. 17 report in the Journal of the American Medical Association — Internal Medicine finds suggestive evidence that …

 

 New Study Raises Concerns About Overuse of Stents — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 11:44, 26 December 2018, 691 words, (English)

A new study revives concerns that cardiologists are overusing stents, the tiny tubes that open pinched heart arteries.

The Dec. 17 report in the Journal of the American Medical Association-Internal Medicine finds suggestive evidence that …

 

 An Early Player in Artificial Intelligence for Stocks Gets Funding

Barron’s Online, 10:53, 24 December 2018, 308 words, (English)

With artificial intelligences talking back to us at home and taking the wheel of our cars, Wall Street was quick to look for an investing edge from smart machines. Among the first public forays in AI stock analysis were the stock sentiment …

 

 Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Sales Are Going Through the Floor, Survey Finds

Barron’s Online, 10:22, 20 December 2018, 409 words, (English)

Sales of Harley-Davidson motorcycles this year are falling even faster than expected, according to a survey of the company’s dealers by UBS analysts.

 

 Deal With AB InBev Gives Tilray Stock a Pop — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 07:59, 20 December 2018, 541 words, (English)

Cannabis pioneer Tilray is teaming with Anheuser Busch InBev to see if the brewer’s Labatt Blue needs a green sibling. Tilray stock (ticker: TLRY) jumped more than 10% after hours on Wednesday when the companies said they’d each invest up …

 

 Michael Flynn’s Wall Street Connection

Barron’s Online, 10:28, 19 December 2018, 710 words, (English)

When Lt. Gen. (ret.) Michael Flynn was tapped to be national security adviser in December 2016, he gave up his first and only public company gig. While still in that job, he had the engagement with Russian officials that led to his …

 

 The Trader: XPO Stock Hit by Short Seller’s Report — Barron’s

Dow Jones Institutional News, 06:00, 15 December 2018, 1194 words, (English)

XPO Logistics stock has been a darling of Wall Street banking firms. A short seller’s report out this morning argues that the Amazon.com rival uses aggressive accounting to hide the poor returns on XPO’s growth-by-acquisition strategy. One …

 

 XPO Stock Hit by Short Seller’s Report

Dow Jones Institutional News, 06:00, 15 December 2018, 1190 words, (English)

XPO Logistics stock has been a darling of Wall Street banking firms. A short seller’s report out this morning argues that the Amazon.com rival uses aggressive accounting to hide the poor returns on XPO’s growth-by-acquisition strategy. One …

 

 XPO Stock Hit by Short Seller’s Report

Barron’s Online, 13:49, 13 December 2018, 1188 words, (English)

XPO Logistics stock has been a darling of Wall Street banking firms. A short seller’s report out this morning argues that the Amazon.com rival uses aggressive accounting to hide the poor returns on XPO’s growth-by-acquisition strategy. One …

 

 First Solar’s Guidance Looks Too Sunny

Barron’s Online, 12:27, 12 December 2018, 349 words, (English)

Solar stock pioneer First Solar (FSLR) shared its 2019 guidance last night. The firm expects a nice sales jump, but its profit outlook is uninspiring. The stock is off 2% this morning, to $41.50. That’s a year-to-date drop of 38%.

 

 CBD Will Get a Boost With Passage of a New Farm Bill

Barron’s Online, 12:39, 11 December 2018, 742 words, (English)

An $867 billion farm bill that is expected to pass in Congress this week will fund food stamps, crop subsidies and—to the glee of many stock promoters—legalize industrial hemp, a source of the popular ingredient cannabidiol, or CBD. Brace …

 

 Good News Is on the Way for Blood Cancer Patients

Dow Jones Institutional News, 06:00, 1 December 2018, 776 words, (English)

Biotech investors will get an infusion of good news beginning this weekend when researchers gather in San Diego to hear about new blood cancer drugs.

 

 Constellation Brands’ Marijuana Investment Brings a Downgrade for the Stock

Barron’s Online, 15:00, 29 November 2018, 487 words, (English)

The stock of booze biggie Constellation Brands just recovered from a recent funk. The company got hit again Thursday morning with a thumbs down on its foray into marijuana.

 

 Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Dips on Failed Lung-Cancer Trial

Barron’s Online, 13:02, 27 November 2018, 458 words, (English)

The stock of Bristol-Myers Squibb (ticker: BMY) is down 3% Tuesday, to $51, after the company’s announcement that its leading anticancer drugs didn’t improve survival of lung-cancer patients in a clinical trial.

 

 This U.S. Cannabis Company Has Russian Roots

Barron’s, 26 November 2018, 1439 words, (English)

As pot prohibitions tumble state by state, companies are in a race across America for licenses and locations. The best funded of these cannabis contenders, Curaleaf Holdings, is a creation of Russian billionaires.

 

 The Trader: Why Cutting Corporate Debt Is Bad for Stocks — Barron’s

Dow Jones Institutional News, 06:00, 24 November 2018, 524 words, (English)

Corporate debt levels have fixed-income investors worried. But this is a stock market column and all that debt has been great for equities, because it funded acquisitions, dividends, and stock buybacks. Along with a free-spending Fed and an…

 

 Why Cutting Corporate Debt Is Bad for Stocks

Dow Jones Institutional News, 06:00, 24 November 2018, 520 words, (English)

Corporate debt levels have fixed-income investors worried. But this is a stock market column and all that debt has been great for equities, because it funded acquisitions, dividends, and stock buybacks. Along with a free-spending Fed and an…

 

 Corporate America Is Ready to Pay Down Its Debt. That’s Bad News for Stocks.

Barron’s Online, 08:00, 21 November 2018, 525 words, (English)

Corporate debt levels have fixed-income investors worried. But this is a stock market column and all that debt has been great for equities, because it funded acquisitions, dividends, and stock buybacks. Along with a free-spending Fed and an…

 

 One of America’s Richest Marijuana Companies Has Deep Russian Roots — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 05:59, 21 November 2018, 1464 words, (English)

As pot prohibitions tumble state by state, companies are in a race across America for licenses and locations. The best funded of these cannabis contenders, Curaleaf Holdings, is a creation of Russian billionaires.

 

 Marijuana Companies’ Sales Disappoint, and the Stocks Are Plunging

Barron’s Online, 10:03, 15 November 2018, 1230 words, (English)

Canada’s pot industry reported its latest financial results this week, and investors think the September quarter was a bust.

The U.S.-listed stocks of Canadian producers Canopy Growth (ticker: CGC), Aurora Cannabis (ACB), and Tilray (TLRY) …

 

 Trading in Samsung’s Biotech Stock Got Suspended

Barron’s Online, 06:45, 15 November 2018, 367 words, (English)

The Samsung Group’s grand ambitions in biotechnology were halted this week, along with trading in the stock of its Samsung Biologics unit. South Korea’s financial regulator suspended Biologics’ stock (ticker: 207940.Korea) after concluding …

 

 The New Boom In Defense

Barron’s, 12 November 2018, 1743 words, (English)

Ron Epstein has been covering the aerospace business for Merrill Lynch since 2001. Before that, he was an engineer at Boeing—one of the many defense and aerospace firms whose shares have soared above the market for several years.

 

 Marijuana Stocks Are the Election’s Big Winners

Barron’s Online, 07:26, 7 November 2018, 665 words, (English)

The pot business won big at the polls last night, as voters supported state referendums and candidates that will bring some big states into America’s legal cannabis market. Nationally, the Democrats’ capture of the U.S. House of …

 

 4 Places Where Marijuana Is on the Ballot in the Midterm Elections

Barron’s Online, 09:57, 6 November 2018, 703 words, (English)

As Democrats and Republicans wage a political battle for control of Congress in Tuesday’s midterm elections, there’s another issue in play that may surprise you: marijuana. Four states will consider legalizing marijuana within their …

 

 New York Times Stock Surges as Subscriptions Jump

Barron’s Online, 12:01, 1 November 2018, 401 words, (English)

The New York Times Co. continued its digital ascent in the September quarter. Nearly two-thirds of the quarter’s $417 million in revenue came from subscriptions, said the publisher this morning in an announcement that has sent its shares …

 

 Coca-Cola Is Taking a Pass on Marijuana-Infused Drinks. For Now.

Barron’s Online, 11:40, 30 October 2018, 350 words, (English)

Dizzy marijuana investors bid up stock in Aurora Cannabis (ticker: ACB) in September, when Bloomberg reported that the Canadian grower was talking to Coca-Cola (KO) about drinks infused with a marijuana derivative called CBD. On Tuesday …

 

 Merck and Bristol-Myers Squibb Are Seeing Rising Sales of Their Cancer Drugs — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 09:25, 25 October 2018, 621 words, (English)

Two leaders in the war against cancer reported September quarter earnings Thursday morning. Investors like Bristol-Myers Squibb and Merck & Co. for their growing sales of immune-oncology drugs: Bristol’s Opdivo and Merck’s Keytruda. Anyone …

 

 Merck and Bristol-Myers Squibb Are Seeing Rising Sales of Their Cancer Drugs

Barron’s Online, 11:44, 25 October 2018, 646 words, (English)

Two leaders in the war against cancer reported September quarter earnings Thursday morning. Investors like Bristol-Myers Squibb and Merck & Co. for their growing sales of immune-oncology drugs: Bristol’s Opdivo and Merck’s Keytruda. Anyone …

 

 Down More Than 30%, Biosimilar Stocks Still Aren’t Healthy for Investors

Barron’s Online, 15:00, 24 October 2018, 842 words, (English)

Generic drug stocks have had a bumpy history, as evidenced by the charts of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (ticker: TEVA), Mylan (MYL), and their peers that didn’t survive to have a chart. The same will probably prove true for companies …

 

 Harley-Davidson Earnings Probably Won’t Take the Stock for a Joyride

Barron’s Online, 05:45, 23 October 2018, 716 words, (English)

The past few years have battered that American icon, motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson. On Tuesday morning, the Milwaukee-based manufacturer will report results from its September quarter. As it has struggled against declining motorcycle …

 

 In a Desert of Money

Barron’s, 22 October 2018, 905 words, (English)

The suspected killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi is costing Saudi Arabia most of the big names that it hoped would adorn a conference known as “Davos in the Desert.” That should be the least of it.

 

 Constellation: New Boss, Legal Weed

Barron’s, 22 October 2018, 394 words, (English)

Constellation Brands (STZ), the alcoholic beverage seller that has enhanced its popularity among investors with its taste for cannabis, anointed its next chief executive Wednesday.

 

 Constellation Brands Is Changing CEOs — but Not Its Marijuana Strategy — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 14:17, 18 October 2018, 819 words, (English)

Constellation Brands (STZ), the alcoholic beverage seller that has enhanced its popularity among investors with its taste for cannabis, anointed its next chief executive Wednesday.

 

 Putin Foe Bill Browder Alleges Nordea Bank Handled Money Tied to Russian Theft

Barron’s Online, 09:40, 17 October 2018, 540 words, (English)

The Nordic nations’ largest financial firm, Nordea Bank, is alleged to have handled $175 million in suspicious transactions, according to a submission to Swedish and Norwegian authorities filed this week by the hedge fund manager and human …

 

 Marijuana Is Legal in Canada. Pot Stocks Fell

Barron’s Online, 17:08, 17 October 2018, 491 words, (English)

As recreational marijuana went on sale for the first day across Canada, marijuana stocks were selling off fast, too.

On twice its daily average trading volume Wednesday, stock in leading cannabis producer Canopy Growth (CGC) fell 4% to close…

 

 Marijuana Stocks Fell the Day Before Canada Legalizes It

Barron’s Online, 14:18, 16 October 2018, 473 words, (English)

Wednesday is the day that Canopy Growth boss Bruce Linton says will become Canada’s new Thanksgiving. That’s because on Oct. 17, cannabis producers like Canopy can start selling to recreational customers across Canada. The retail crowd also…

 

 Why Musk Is Wrong About Shorts

Barron’s, 15 October 2018, 1031 words, (English)

Elon Musk used to think short sellers were tolerable. He has changed his mind.

Back in 2012, when Tesla stock (ticker: TSLA) traded for a mere 27 bucks, the electric car maker’s chief was indulgent. “Even though they cause me grief,” he …

 

 The Trader: Marijuana Stocks Defied the Stock Market Plunge — Barron’s

Dow Jones Institutional News, 06:00, 13 October 2018, 393 words, (English)

In a cascading market Wednesday, at least one industry bucked the tide: cannabis.

Looking for anything good on the day’s list of gainers, there were dozens of bear-bet exchange-traded funds. Then came Tilray (ticker: TLRY), the Canadian pot …

 

 The Trader: Trump Says the New York Times Is ‘Failing.’ Its Stock Is Soaring — Barron’s

Dow Jones Institutional News, 06:00, 13 October 2018, 780 words, (English)

President Donald Trump loves to bash the New York Times. According to the newspaper’s July 2018 catalog of his insults against institutions and people, Trump had knocked the Times on 215 occasions since taking office, with his favorite …

 

 Marijuana Stocks Defied the Stock Market Plunge

Dow Jones Institutional News, 06:00, 13 October 2018, 389 words, (English)

In a cascading market Wednesday, at least one industry bucked the tide: cannabis.

Looking for anything good on the day’s list of gainers, there were dozens of bear-bet exchange-traded funds. Then came Tilray (ticker: TLRY), the Canadian pot …

 

 Trump Says the New York Times Is ‘Failing.’ Its Stock Is Soaring

Dow Jones Institutional News, 06:00, 13 October 2018, 776 words, (English)

President Donald Trump loves to bash the New York Times. According to the newspaper’s July 2018 catalog of his insults against institutions and people, Trump had knocked the Times on 215 occasions since taking office, with his favorite …

 

 New York Times’ Profits Are Poised to Grow Faster, Analyst Says — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 11:01, 11 October 2018, 319 words, (English)

Earnings growth at New York Times Co. is set to speed up over the next two years, says JPMorgan analyst Alexia Quadrani.

In a note Thursday morning, she raised her target price on the stock (ticker: NYT) to $32, from $27. The shares closed …

 

 Sorry, President Trump, but New York Times Stock Is Hardly ‘Failing’ — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 13:25, 9 October 2018, 1524 words, (English)

President Donald Trump loves to bash The New York Times. According to the paper’s July 2018 catalog of his insults against institutions and people, Trump had knocked the Times on 215 occasions since taking office, with his favorite epithets…

 

 Marijuana Stock Tilray Got a Big Target Price Increase but Still Lost Ground

Barron’s Online, 16:04, 9 October 2018, 532 words, (English)

Wall Street’s leading cannabis analyst radically raised her price target Tuesday for stock in producer Tilray, but the market seems unimpressed.

 

 Leaders & Laggards — Third Quarter 2018

Dow Jones Institutional News, 06:00, 6 October 2018, 393 words, (English)

 

U.S. Stock 

 Funds          5.66% 

CATEGORY        RETURN  BEST FUND              RETURN  WORST FUND            RETURN 

                        Pear Tree:Quality;Ord          Davis NY Venture;C / 

Large-Cap Core  6.79    / USBOX…

 

 Leaders & Laggards—Third Quarter 2018

Barron’s Online, 18:54, 5 October 2018, 32 words, (English)

Note: Includes all funds over $50 million.

Source: Lipper

Follow @blalpert

Write to Bill Alpert at william.alpert@barrons.com

 

 The Lawyer at the Center of SEC Pump-and-Dump Case

Barron’s Online, 13:50, 4 October 2018, 1530 words, (English)

In a stock fraud suit filed last month by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, regulators allege that billionaire drug entrepreneur Phillip Frost and his company Opko Health participated in pump-and-dump schemes organized by …

 

 Constellation Brands Stock Jumped on Higher Priced Wine and a Marijuana Bet

Barron’s Online, 14:40, 4 October 2018, 633 words, (English)

Investors raised a glass to Constellation Brands on Thursday, after the beer and wine vendor reported better-than-expected sales and earnings growth in its latest quarter. Constellation Brands stock (ticker: STZ) closed up more than 5%, to …

 

 Rising Alcohol Sales Lift Spirits About Constellation — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 14:40, 4 October 2018, 642 words, (English)

Investors are raising a glass to Constellation Brands today, after the beer and wine vendor reported better-than-expected sales and earnings growth in its latest quarter. Constellation shares (ticker: STZ) were up 5% by early afternoon, to …

 

 The Lawyer at the Center of SEC Pump-and-Dump Case — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 13:50, 4 October 2018, 1435 words, (English)

In a stock fraud suit filed last month by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, regulators allege that billionaire drug entrepreneur Phillip Frost and his company Opko Health participated in pump-and-dump schemes organized by …

 

 ‘People Treat Animals Like Parts of Their Family.’ Henry Schein Is Spinning Off Its Pet-Health Business

Barron’s Online, 05:00, 30 September 2018, 590 words, (English)

Hedge fund manager Ben Axler’s cat recently died, the latest in a long line of pet felines. So his familiarity with America’s pet fancies is firsthand and helped him change his mind on a stock he initially thought might be a short sale. On …

 

 Device Makers May Tempt J&J

Barron’s, 24 September 2018, 584 words, (English)

Like most everything else these days, medical technology stocks have reached their highest valuations in decades. But unlike some sectors—say, cannabis, that other kind of medical technology—med tech’s shares might stay aloft.

 

 Johnson & Johnson Might Be Tempted to Buy These 2 Device Makers

Barron’s Online, 09:39, 24 September 2018, 589 words, (English)

Like most everything else these days, medical technology stocks have reached their highest valuations in decades. But unlike some sectors—say, cannabis, that other kind of medical technology—med tech’s shares might stay aloft.

 

 Canadian Pot Stocks Are the New Bitcoin

Barron’s, 24 September 2018, 979 words, (English)

Marijuana stocks had a short strange trip this week. Led by Tilray, the U.S.-listed grower that just went public in July, the shares of Canada’s pot producers skyrocketed by Wednesday, then gave most of their gains back. Tilray opened the …

 

 Boston Scientific, Edwards Lifesciences May Tempt J&J — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 20:19, 21 September 2018, 640 words, (English)

Like most everything else these days, medical technology stocks have reached their highest valuations in decades. But unlike some sectors — say, cannabis, that other kind of medical technology — med tech’s shares might stay aloft.

 

 Tech Trader: Device Makers May Tempt J&J

Dow Jones Institutional News, 06:00, 22 September 2018, 652 words, (English)

Like most everything else these days, medical technology stocks have reached their highest valuations in decades. But unlike some sectors — say, cannabis, that other kind of medical technology — med tech’s shares might stay aloft.

 

 Tech Trader: Device Makers May Tempt J&J — Barron’s

Dow Jones Institutional News, 06:00, 22 September 2018, 655 words, (English)

Like most everything else these days, medical technology stocks have reached their highest valuations in decades. But unlike some sectors — say, cannabis, that other kind of medical technology — med tech’s shares might stay aloft.

 

 The Biggest Bank in Denmark Just Admitted to Laundering Billions of Dollars in Russian Money

Barron’s Online, 13:30, 19 September 2018, 671 words, (English)

Danske Bank has admitted its money laundering problem was even worse. More than $200 billion worse.

As part of a team of international reporters last year,  Barron’s helped expose about $1.2 billion in suspicious funds that had flowed from …

 

 Marijuana Stocks Just Keep Soaring Higher. But Even the Bulls See a Bubble

Barron’s Online, 12:35, 19 September 2018, 1298 words, (English)

Marijuana stocks are rising on a wave of giddy news.

It started in August, when booze biggie Constellation Brands (STZ) agreed to add $4 billion to its investment in Canada’s lead weed company Canopy Growth (CGC). The hysteria got a new …

 

 How to Make a Killing in Gene Therapy

Barron’s Online, 12:25, 18 September 2018, 1810 words, (English)

Tom Barton helped build the first multibillion-dollar short-selling hedge fund at Feshbach Brothers in the 1980s, where he exposed dozens of stock frauds. Then he became an early-stage investor, going long on health foods and satellite TV. …

 

 Congress’ Failed Stock Market Experiment Cost Investors $900 Million — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 17:42, 14 September 2018, 1404 words, (English)

A failed experiment to help small-company stocks will be buried at September’s end, the Securities and Exchange Commission said on Monday. The Tick Size Pilot Program was supposed to revitalize trading liquidity, stock offerings, and job …

 

 SEC Charges Against Phillip Frost Might Just Be the Tip of the Iceberg

Barron’s Online, 17:04, 10 September 2018, 1267 words, (English)

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed stock fraud chargeslate last week against billionaire drug entrepreneur Phillip Frost and a group of associates, accusing them of making $27 million in pump-and-dump stock schemes. The civil…

 

 SEC Charges Against Phillip Frost Might Just Be the Tip of the Iceberg — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 15:41, 10 September 2018, 1214 words, (English)

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed stock fraud charges late last week against billionaire drug entrepreneur Phillip Frost and a group of associates, accusing them of making $27 million in pump-and-dump stock schemes. The …

 

 Embattled U.S.-Listed Chinese Company’s Key Deal Collapses — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 14:33, 6 September 2018, 457 words, (English)

A U.S.-listed company that reached a $4 billion market value based on its plans for a river port in the central China city of Wuhan announced Thursday that its dream had fallen through. Yangtze River Port and Logistics (YRIV) said that it …

 

 Best Buy Stock Requires a Little Patience — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 11:18, 28 August 2018, 325 words, (English)

Investors apparently want a refund, after electronics retailer Best Buy (BBY) reported a good July quarter but a modest outlook for October. The stock had dropped 6% Tuesday morning, to $77, even though the Minneapolis-based chain grew its …

 

 A Troubled Chinese Company Is Seeking a Lifeline From U.S. Investors

Barron’s Online, 07:35, 27 August 2018, 1024 words, (English)

The central Chinese city of Wuhan, on the Yangtze River, aspires to be a trade hub to Europe and southeast Asia, and those hopes have lifted the market value of a small U.S. public company above $4 billion in the last year. But investors …

 

 A Closer Look at Netflix Earnings

Barron’s, 27 August 2018, 770 words, (English)

Netflix (ticker: NFLX) was mildly disappointed with subscriber growth last quarter, but it nevertheless added five million souls to bring its total members to 130 million. That’s a lot of people sending in money monthly. Earnings rose …

 

 Netflix Earnings: Where Accounting Meets Showbiz — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 19:10, 24 August 2018, 767 words, (English)

Netflix was mildly disappointed with subscriber growth last quarter, but it nevertheless added five million souls to bring its total members to 130 million. That’s a lot of people sending in money monthly. Earnings rose nearly sixfold, to …

 

 The Sweet Smell of Success Reaches Fertilizer Shares

Barron’s, 20 August 2018, 1325 words, (English)

With the planet’s population surging past 7.5 billion, you might expect steady demand for crops and also for the fertilizer that’s essential for crop yield. Farming isn’t that easy. The mid-decade crash in grain prices threw the big …

 

 The Merits of Musk

Barron’s, 20 August 2018, 1010 words, (English)

Elon Musk’s mood was a top story in Friday’s New York Times, along with President Donald Trump’s Russia problems, Google’s censorship pact with China, and our losing the Queen of Soul. These other stories might matter more to the world, but…

 

 Elon Musk Is Stressed, but Don’t Bet Against Tesla — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 12:08, 17 August 2018, 597 words, (English)

Elon Musk’s mood was a top story in today’s New York Times, along with Trump’s Russia problems, Google’s censorship pact with China, and our losing the Queen of Soul. These other stories may matter more to the world, but Musk’s electric …

 

 Elon Musk Is Stressed, but Don’t Bet Against Tesla

Barron’s Online, 12:08, 17 August 2018, 588 words, (English)

Elon Musk’s mood was a top story in today’s New York Times, along with Trump’s Russia problems, Google’s censorship pact with China, and our losing the Queen of Soul. These other stories may matter more to the world, but Musk’s electric …

 

 Corona’s Brewer Just Bet $4 Billion on Canadian Pot — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 14:02, 15 August 2018, 623 words, (English)

In the largest bet ever on cannabis, the U.S. beverage firm Constellation Brands said this morning that it will plunk down $4 billion to lift its stake in the Canadian cannabis seller Canopy Growth. The $37-a-share deal gives the Corona …

 

 Trump Tweet Pushes Harley Into New Skid — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 11:56, 13 August 2018, 323 words, (English)

In a Sunday tweet, President Donald Trump called for a boycott of Harley Davidson, the Wisconsin-based motorcycle maker that is planning to shift some production to Europe to avoid tariffs that the continent is levying on Harley’s U.S.-made…

 

 Blue Orca Takes Bite Out of GDS

Barron’s Online, 20:23, 10 August 2018, 730 words, (English)

On the last day of July, shares of the Chinese data-center developer GDS Holdings (GDS) fell as much as 47% after the release of a negative 50-page report on the company by an American short seller.

 

 The Trader: Blue Orca Takes Bite Out of GDS — Barron’s

Dow Jones Institutional News, 06:00, 11 August 2018, 739 words, (English)

On the last day of July, shares of the Chinese data-center developer GDS Holdings (GDS) fell as much as 47% after the release of a negative 50-page report on the company by an American short seller.

 

 Blue Orca Takes Bite Out of GDS — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 20:23, 10 August 2018, 736 words, (English)

On the last day of July, shares of the Chinese data-center developer GDS Holdings (GDS) fell as much as 47% after the release of a negative 50-page report on the company by an American short seller.

 

 Another Rite Aid Merger Collapsed. There’s No Cure in Sight — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 12:13, 9 August 2018, 523 words, (English)

Some Rite Aid stockholders were apparently unwilling to approve the pharmacy chain’s merger with grocer Albertsons in a vote scheduled Thursday, so on Wednesday night, Rite Aid and Albertsons called off the merger. Rite Aid’s balky …

 

 Zillow Struggles to Find New Growth — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 14:43, 7 August 2018, 535 words, (English)

The real-estate website operator Zillow Group fell short of the revenue expected for its June quarter and reduced guidance for the year, as some new business ventures got off to a slow start. But slowing growth in the number of users on the…

 

 Denmark Takes Up Investigation of Its Biggest Bank for Money Laundering — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 14:24, 6 August 2018, 382 words, (English)

Denmark’s prosecutors confirmed today that they’re investigating that nation’s largest bank for potential money-laundering crimes, following a recent complaint lodged by the hedge fund manager turned human rights activist, Bill Browder.

 

 CRISPR Still Holds Promise

Barron’s, 6 August 2018, 574 words, (English)

The gene-editing technology called CRISPR has worked such wonders in laboratories that Wall Street values the technique’s three pioneers at a collective $5 billion, even though nobody’s tested the stuff in people yet.

 

 eBay Founder Pierre Omidyar’s Group Wants to Help Prevent the Next Facebook Scandal — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 16:41, 3 August 2018, 438 words, (English)

The 20% plunges suffered by Facebook (FB) shares in March and June should convince anyone that public companies can’t focus solely on maximizing profits — sometimes they need trust. Facebook is scrambling to repair a reputation damaged by …

 

 The Trader: Value Managers See Growth — Barron’s

Dow Jones Institutional News, 06:00, 28 July 2018, 696 words, (English)

The active adults who read Barron’s are, by and large, active investors — scanning our pages for stock picks as they pedal their way through spin class. They can spin with confidence. A majority of active fund managers beat their …

 

 Value Managers See Growth

Barron’s Online, 20:32, 27 July 2018, 670 words, (English)

The active adults who read Barron’s are, by and large, active investors—scanning our pages for stock picks as they pedal their way through spin class. They can spin with confidence. A majority of active fund managers beat their benchmarks …

 

 Be Wary of Mutual Funds Run by Hedge Fund Managers — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 09:19, 26 July 2018, 898 words, (English)

If your mutual fund manager has a hedge fund on the side, you may justly wonder if you’re getting the best of his love. Those suspicions will be fanned by a recent study that finds that mutual fund managers who also run hedge funds …

 

 Browder Launches New Money-Laundering Complaint

Barron’s Online, 18:04, 25 July 2018, 653 words, (English)

Hedge-fund founder Bill Browder is hitting back, a week after the Helsinki summit press conference where Vladimir Putin asked Donald Trump to surrender the financier and human-rights activist to Russian interrogators. This week, Browder …

 

 Tesla Calls Lawsuit’s Claims ‘a Complete Lie’ — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 15:06, 24 July 2018, 655 words, (English)

The parallel universes inhabited by Tesla fanboys and haters were lit up this morning by the discovery of a two-week-old memo in a class-action suit against the electric-car maker.

 

 Online Educator 2U’s $5 Billion Valuation Looks Overblown

Barron’s Online, 16:45, 19 July 2018, 1169 words, (English)

Many prestigious universities have partnered with the tech company 2U to offer online classes. Schools like the University of Southern California, Yale University, and Harvard University let 2U keep up to two-thirds of the tuition that …

 

 Why Online Educator 2U’s $5 Billion Valuation Looks Overblown — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 16:45, 19 July 2018, 1183 words, (English)

Many prestigious universities have partnered with the tech company 2U to offer online classes. Schools like the University of Southern California, Yale University, and Harvard University let 2U keep up to two-thirds of the tuition that …

 

 Online Sports Betting: A Long-Term Play

Barron’s, 16 July 2018, 1039 words, (English)

Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that states can’t ban online sports betting, we wanted to help Barron’s readers prepare for the rise of sports betting as the next big alternative asset class.

 

 On Putin’s Most Wanted List: Hedge Fund Founder Bill Browder — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 17:07, 16 July 2018, 594 words, (English)

Amid the pressing subjects of today’s summit between the superpower presidents, Vladimir Putin found time on the podium to attack Bill Browder, the founder of what was the largest Russia-focused hedge fund. Browder has charged that the …

 

 Online Sports Betting: A Long-Term Play

Barron’s, 16 July 2018, 1034 words, (English)

now that the u.s. supreme court has ruled that states can’t ban online sports betting, we wanted to help Barron’s readers prepare for the rise of sports betting as the next big alternative asset class.

 

 Charting the Market

Barron’s, 16 July 2018, 413 words, (English)

Papa John’s International

The embattled pizza chain accepted the resignation of its founder and chairman John Schnatter after he admitted to using a racial slur on a conference call.

 

 Online Sports Betting: A Long-Term Wager

Barron’s Online, 14 July 2018, 1041 words, (English)

Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that states can’t ban online sports betting, we wanted to help Barron’s readers prepare for the rise of sports betting as the next big alternative asset class.

 

 Hedge Fund Seeks Inquiry Into Russian Money-Laundering at Danish Bank

Barron’s Online, 13:56, 13 July 2018, 810 words, (English)

A Russia-focused hedge fund has asked Danish authorities to investigate their country’s leading bank for allegedly allowing Russian officials to launder millions of dollars stolen over the last decade.

 

 Facebook Opens Up a Million Gigabytes of Data — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 16:17, 11 July 2018, 487 words, (English)

If you’re dubious about social media’s effect on elections around the world, a new data set from Facebook (FB) may provide some answers.

For one thing, it’s big. About a million gigabytes of data, holding a trillion numbers, said Gary King, …

 

 How Green Is Big Weed? — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 10:25, 11 July 2018, 477 words, (English)

In a couple of months, you’ll be able to buy cannabis legally for recreational use everywhere in Canada, and that’s made the nation the world’s hottest stock play for weed.

 Charting the Market

Barron’s, 2 July 2018, 433 words, (English)

Nike

Snapping a losing streak, the sportswear maker grew sales in North America 3% in the May quarter. Sales from its website rose 15%. It will buy back $15 billion in stock.

 

 The Shadow Over SolarEdge — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 08:54, 2 July 2018, 822 words, (English)

A bright patch in the clouded landscape of the solar power business has been SolarEdge Technologies (SEDG), a feisty Israeli maker of devices that serve as the brains of residential solar systems.

 

 Charting the Market

Barron’s Online, 30 June 2018, 433 words, (English)

Nike

Snapping a losing streak, the sportswear maker grew sales in North America 3% in the May quarter. Sales from its website rose 15%. It will buy back $15 billion in stock.

 

 Harley’s Skid Isn’t Over

Barron’s Online, 30 June 2018, 578 words, (English)

Harley-Davidson (HOG) learned this past week what shareholders of Trump Entertainment Resorts learned through three bankruptcies—Donald Trump can be a mercurial patron.

 

 Amazon’s Drug Push

Barron’s Online, 30 June 2018, 573 words, (English)

Drugstore stocks plunged on Thursday morning’s news that Amazon.com (ticker: AMZN) is buying a mail-order pharmacy.

The online giant announced that it would acquire PillPack, which ships prepackaged doses of medicine to consumers in all 50 …

 

 Amazon’s Drug Push — Barron’s

Dow Jones Institutional News, 07:12, 30 June 2018, 597 words, (English)

Drugstore stocks plunged on Thursday morning’s news that Amazon.com (ticker: AMZN) is buying a mail-order pharmacy.

The online giant announced that it would acquire PillPack, which ships prepackaged doses of medicine to consumers in all 50 …

 

 Harley’s Skid Isn’t Over — Barron’s

Dow Jones Institutional News, 07:12, 30 June 2018, 602 words, (English)

Harley-Davidson (HOG) learned this past week what shareholders of Trump Entertainment Resorts learned through three bankruptcies — Donald Trump can be a mercurial patron.

 

 Awed by Amazon’s Pharmacy Push? Don’t Ditch Walgreens — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 12:41, 28 June 2018, 638 words, (English)

Drugstore stocks plunged on this morning’s news that Amazon.com (ticker: AMZN) is buying a mail-order pharmacy.

The online giant announced that it would acquire PillPack, which ships pre-packaged doses of medicine to consumers in all 50 …

 

 Sports Betting: The Next Alternative Asset?

Barron’s Online, 14:45, 27 June 2018, 1380 words, (English)

Gaming stocks popped on the Supreme Court decision in May that ended a federal ban on commercial sports betting.

 

If sports wagering becomes widespread, it could allow professional investors to join the sharpies who have haunted …

 

 Mednax Shares Fall as It Loses Key Court Fight

Barron’s Online, 12:21, 25 June 2018, 656 words, (English)

The biggest hospital system in Charlotte. N.C., can replace about 90 anesthesiologists employed by Mednax come July 1, under a ruling last Friday by a state judge.

 

 Mednax Shares Fall as It Loses Key Court Fight — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 12:21, 25 June 2018, 605 words, (English)

The biggest hospital system in Charlotte. N.C., can replace about 90 anesthesiologists employed by Mednax come July 1, under a ruling last Friday by a state judge.

 

 Mednax Shares at Risk in Hospital Fights

Barron’s, 25 June 2018, 1045 words, (English)

Someone was trying to scare patients in hospitals around Charlotte, N.C. A few months ago, billboards and newspaper ads started warning that anesthesiologists were being cut from operating rooms. They showed a businessman wielding a …

 

 Charting the Market

Barron’s, 25 June 2018, 419 words, (English)

Marathon Oil

OPEC’s pact to boost output was more modest than expected, lifting oil prices–and the shares of producers like Marathon, Denbury, Oasis, and Whiting.

 

 Mednax Shares at Risk in Hospital Fights

Barron’s Online, 16:23, 20 June 2018, 1105 words, (English)

Someone was trying to scare patients in hospitals around Charlotte, N.C. A few months ago, billboards and newspaper ads started warning that anesthesiologists were being cut from operating rooms. They showed a businessman wielding a …

 

 Gene-Editing Selloff Is Overdone

Barron’s, 18 June 2018, 660 words, (English)

Review | Preview

It has been a rough week for the next big thing in biology. Shares of companies betting on the gene-editing technology known as CRISPR fell sharply on Monday after two studies in the science journal Nature Medicine …

 

 Gene-Editing Selloff Is Overdone

Barron’s, 18 June 2018, 650 words, (English)

it has been a rough week for the next big thing in biology. Shares of companies betting on the gene-editing technology known as CRISPR fell sharply on Monday after two studies in the science journal Nature Medicine questioned whether some …

 

 Charting the Market

Barron’s, 18 June 2018, 430 words, (English)

AT&T

Winning court approval and closing its purchase of Time Warner, the phone giant now owns Warner Bros. films, CNN, and HBO. It has $180 billion in net debt.

 

 Gene-Editing Selloff Is Overdone

Barron’s Online, 16 June 2018, 662 words, (English)

Review | Preview

It has been a rough week for the next big thing in biology. Shares of companies betting on the gene-editing technology known as CRISPR fell sharply on Monday after two studies in the science journal Nature Medicine …

 

 Charting the Market

Barron’s, 11 June 2018, 409 words, (English)

Tesla

At the electric-car maker’s annual meeting, Elon Musk said that by month’s end Tesla will “quite likely” hit its production goal of 5,000 Model 3 cars per week.

 

 What Makes Companies Lie

Barron’s Online, 9 June 2018, 486 words, (English)

You might think that company managers behave more honestly when they know they’re being watched. More analysts, more institutional investors, more nosy reporters equals reliable financial reporting, right?

 

 Canada’s Senate Votes for Weed As G-7 Convenes — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 11:21, 8 June 2018, 532 words, (English)

Despite harsh differences on trade and Russia, President Donald Trump may find the atmosphere at this weekend’s Group of Seven meeting pretty mellow. Just before the summit convened near Quebec City, that nation’s Senate passed a …

 

 Icahn Squeezes a Better Deal from AmTrust — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 09:56, 7 June 2018, 509 words, (English)

The families controlling AmTrust Financial Services (AFSI) agreed to raise their offer to take the troubled New York insurer private, after Carl Icahn successfully urged shareholders to vote against an earlier offer on June 4.

 

 Shareholders Back Icahn in Refusing AmTrust’s Buyout Offer — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 15:28, 4 June 2018, 802 words, (English)

AmTrust Financial Services announced this morning that its outside shareholders had spurned a buyout offer by the insurer’s controlling family. The defeat was exactly what investor Carl Icahn sought in a short, sharp proxy fight where he …

 

 Carl Icahn Moves to Block an AmTrust Buyout

Barron’s Online, 16:57, 30 May 2018, 1055 words, (English)

Carl Icahn has waded into one of the insurance industry’s biggest messes in years. On Monday, the activist investor wants shareholders to vote against a buyout by the founding family of AmTrust Financial Services, a troubled firm that is …

 

 Altice’s U.S. Spinoff Looks Like a Winning Play

Barron’s, 28 May 2018, 1045 words, (English)

Patrick Drahi was riding high in 2015, when his European telecom company Altice gobbled up the U.S. cable systems Suddenlink and Cablevision. Altice topped an enterprise value of $70 billion as it vowed to transform the stodgy cable …

 

 Altice’s U.S. Spinoff Looks Like a Winning Play

Barron’s, 28 May 2018, 1037 words, (English)

Patrick Drahi was riding high in 2015, when his European telecom company Altice gobbled up the U.S. cable systems Suddenlink and Cablevision. Altice topped an enterprise value of $70 billion as it vowed to transform the stodgy cable …

 

 Charting the Market

Barron’s, 28 May 2018, 443 words, (English)

Lowe’s

J.C. Penney CEO Marvin Ellison became the home-improvement retailer’s new chief in a busy week. Lowe’s missed estimates, but offered upbeat projections.

 

 Altice’s U.S. Spinoff Looks Like a Winning Bet

Barron’s Online, 26 May 2018, 1047 words, (English)

Patrick Drahi was riding high in 2015, when his European telecom company Altice gobbled up the U.S. cable systems Suddenlink and Cablevision. Altice topped an enterprise value of $70 billion as it vowed to transform the stodgy cable …

 

 Charting the Market

Barron’s, 21 May 2018, 402 words, (English)

Campbell Soup

Following years of declining soup sales and unsuccessful efforts to offset them with fresher food offerings, Chief Executive Denise Morrison is leaving.

 

 The Trader: Drone Stocks Hit Turbulence — Barron’s

Dow Jones Institutional News, 06:00, 19 May 2018, 806 words, (English)

Those sputtering sounds overhead last week were shares of military-drone makers AeroVironment and Kratos Defense & Security Solutions. We’ve written before about how drone hype carried the two companies’ stocks to valuations out of sync …

 

 Drone Stocks Hit Turbulence

Barron’s Online, 19 May 2018, 780 words, (English)

Those sputtering sounds overhead last week were shares of military-drone makers AeroVironment and Kratos Defense & Security Solutions. We’ve written before about how drone hype carried the two companies’ stocks to valuations out of sync …

 

 Does Crowdfunding Work in Venture Capital? — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 12:38, 16 May 2018, 619 words, (English)

Investors may wish they’d never heard the words “Reg A+”, a class of small stock offerings unleashed by a 2012 federal law dubbed the JOBS Act. These mini-IPOs have performed poorly, on average, and led to some alarming fraud allegations. …

 

 Two Canadian Cannabis Producers to Merge — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 13:14, 14 May 2018, 494 words, (English)

Two of Canada’s big pot producers announced a merger deal this morning that will help them bulk-up before their country’s expected legalization, later this year, of recreational cannabis use by adults. Aurora Cannabis (ticker: ACB.Canada) …

 

 Charting the Market

Barron’s, 14 May 2018, 399 words, (English)

Symantec

Prompting downgrades, the cybersecurity software outfit’s audit committee is probing its accounting, and figures could be revised. A weaker forecast hurt, too.

 

 Trump Trashes Pharma’s Middlemen, but the Stocks Rise — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 18:34, 11 May 2018, 332 words, (English)

President Donald Trump this afternoon unveiled his plan to crack down on high-priced drugs. Pharmaceutical industry investors were unfazed. In fact, the stocks of the firms he hit hardest-the “middlemen” known as pharmacy-benefit managers -…

 

 Wolverine Could Face Mounting Cleanup Costs

Barron’s, 7 May 2018, 1115 words, (English)

Jack McNaughton turned two last month. But his blood, based on his parents’ estimate, has 100 times the average level of some dangerous chemicals that were dumped in his family’s water supply from a Wolverine World Wide shoe factory near …

 

 Wolverine Could Face Mounting Cleanup Costs

Barron’s, 7 May 2018, 1015 words, (English)

Jack McNaughton turned two last month. But already his blood has 100 times recommended levels of some dangerous chemicals that were dumped in his family’s water supply from a Wolverine World Wide shoe factory near Grand Rapids, Mich.

 

 Wolverine Could Face Mounting Cleanup Costs — Barron’s

Dow Jones Institutional News, 06:00, 5 May 2018, 1203 words, (English)

Jack McNaughton turned two last month. But already his blood has 100 times the average level of some dangerous chemicals that were dumped in his family’s water supply from a Wolverine World Wide shoe factory near Grand Rapids, Mich.

 

 Wolverine Could Face Mounting Cleanup Costs

Barron’s Online, 5 May 2018, 1117 words, (English)

Jack McNaughton turned two last month. But his blood, based on his parents’ estimate, has 100 times the average level of some dangerous chemicals that were dumped in his family’s water supply from a Wolverine World Wide shoe factory near …

 

 Charting the Market

Barron’s Online, 5 May 2018, 427 words, (English)

NXP Semiconductors

Disappointing analysts, the Dutch chip maker posted first-quarter earnings of $1.52 a share. The stock offers a big discount to Qualcomm’s $127.50 bid.

 

 Charting the Market

Barron’s, 30 April 2018, 415 words, (English)

Amazon.com

Profit more than doubled in the March quarter, to $1.6 billion, or $3.27 a share, as the e-commerce giant’s sales topped $51 billion and its cloud business boomed.

 

 Net Element’s Amazing Cast — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 20:00, 27 April 2018, 784 words, (English)

Like many firms claiming they’ll get into blockchain, it’s otherwise hard to get excited about Net Element, an unprofitable processor of online payments, whose shares (NETE) have dropped to eight bucks since their Nasdaq debut five years …

 

 The Trader: Net Element’s Amazing Cast — Barron’s

Dow Jones Institutional News, 06:00, 28 April 2018, 796 words, (English)

Like many firms claiming they’ll get into blockchain, it’s otherwise hard to get excited about Net Element, an unprofitable processor of online payments, whose shares (NETE) have dropped to eight bucks since their Nasdaq debut five years …

 

 Net Element’s Amazing Cast

Barron’s Online, 28 April 2018, 747 words, (English)

Like many firms claiming they’ll get into blockchain, it’s otherwise hard to get excited about Net Element, an unprofitable processor of online payments, whose shares (NETE) have dropped to eight bucks since their Nasdaq debut five years …

 

 The Tech Company That Couldn’t Invest Straight

Barron’s Online, 14:55, 27 April 2018, 2352 words, (English)

One of the stocks boosted in the recent blockchain mania is Net Element, a small firm that offers a big lesson in the unlikely personal connections and influences that modern global markets facilitate.

 

 The Tech Company That Couldn’t Invest Straight — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 14:50, 25 April 2018, 2132 words, (English)

One of the stocks boosted in the recent blockchain mania is Net Element, a small firm that offers a big lesson in the unlikely personal connections and influences that modern global markets facilitate.

 

 Charting the Market

Barron’s, 23 April 2018, 414 words, (English)

General Electric

While the conglomerate took a $1.5 billion charge for its old subprime business, it reported progress in cost-cutting and said it remains on target for 2018 goals.

 

 Charting the Market

Barron’s Online, 21 April 2018, 414 words, (English)

General Electric

While the conglomerate took a $1.5 billion charge for its old subprime business, it reported progress in cost-cutting and said it remains on target for 2018 goals.

 

 Facebook Opens Up Its Data

Barron’s Online, 12:46, 17 April 2018, 1479 words, (English)

Congressional hearings like last week’s grilling of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg are a time-honored way to find what needs fixing in an industry. Journalists also play a role, uncovering scandals like Cambridge Analytica’s lifting of 87 …

 

 Facebook Opens Up Its Data — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 12:46, 17 April 2018, 1494 words, (English)

Congressional hearings like last week’s grilling of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg are a time-honored way to find what needs fixing in an industry. Journalists also play a role, uncovering scandals like Cambridge Analytica’s lifting of 87 …

 

 “Negative Wealth Shock”

Barron’s, 9 April 2018, 266 words, (English)

Having wealth and losing it is almost as bad for life expectancy as never having it at all. So concludes a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. To be precise, you’re 50% more likely to die within the next 20 …

 Getting Caught Short

Barron’s Online, 21:44, 6 April 2018, 515 words, (English)

After 20 years as investment advisors, Rich Gates and his partners at TFS Capital decided to close their West Chester, Pa., business last year. Gates had figured as one of the whistle-blowers in Flash Boys, Michael Lewis’ exposé of …

 Cryptocurrency Stock LongFin Halted, as SEC Charges Fraud — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 13:56, 6 April 2018, 444 words, (English)

In a fraud complaint unsealed today, the Securities and Exchange Commission asked a federal judge in Manhattan to freeze $27 million that the agency says are proceeds from illegal sales of shares in LongFin (ticker: LFIN), a company whose …

 

 Losing Your Money Could Kill You — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 10:43, 5 April 2018, 614 words, (English)

It might be better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. But money is different.

If you lose most of your wealth, you’re more likely to die sooner, according to a study just published in the Journal of the American Medical …

 

 Monday’s Market Plunge Won’t Last: JPMorgan — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 17:35, 2 April 2018, 268 words, (English)

It’s easy to blame the headlines for today’s 2%-plus drop in the S&P 500, but JPMorgan strategist Marko Kolanovic doubts that stocks are being undermined by China-U.S. trade tensions or tech company concerns. Rather, he suspects that a lack…

 

 A Budding Industry

Barron’s, 2 April 2018, 3122 words, (English)

A cold rain beat down recently on the boarded-up cinder-block homes and empty factories of Smiths Falls, Ontario, melting the last snows in this industrial town about an hour south of Ottawa. One parking lot was full, however. Inside a …

 

 When Chinese Stock Fraud Was Rampant

Barron’s Online, 15:10, 21 March 2018, 905 words, (English)

Before U.S. investors could get their hands on big China stocks like Tencent Holdings (ticker: 0700.Hong Kong) or Alibaba Group Holding (BABA), the way to ride China’s economic boom was to buy a reverse-takeover stock.

 

 The Trader: Medical Wars — Barron’s

Dow Jones Institutional News, 06:00, 17 March 2018, 628 words, (English)

Investment researcher Mark Roberts has made many successful short-sale recommendations over the years, but so far, Mednax ain’t one of them. On March 4, his Off Wall Street Consulting Group put a Sell on the shares of Mednax, which buys …

 

 Medical Wars

Barron’s Online, 17 March 2018, 602 words, (English)

Investment researcher Mark Roberts has made many successful short-sale recommendations over the years, but so far, Mednax ain’t one of them. On March 4, his Off Wall Street Consulting Group put a Sell on the shares of Mednax, which buys …

 

 Noted Shortseller Targets Defense Company’s Shares

Barron’s Online, 11:28, 16 March 2018, 799 words, (English)

San Diego-based Kratos Defense & Security Solutions is a small defense firm that hopes to make it big in drones. Kratos shares have more-than trebled since 2015, to a recent price of $10.25. That helped bring it to the attention of Ben …

 

 Beware: High Payouts Can Equal Low Stock Prices

Barron’s, 5 March 2018, 918 words, (English)

Investors who appreciate a dividend should love a company that shares its profits with stockholders. But that’s not true when rates are rising. In times like these, beware stocks with high dividend payouts.

 

 Why the S&P 500 Can Hit 3000

Barron’s Online, 13:32, 15 February 2018, 453 words, (English)

Amid last week’s selloff, JPMorgan strategist Marko Kolanovic remained a bull. His quant models told him the drop in stocks was amplified by automated hedging programs. On Wednesday, we asked him to walk us through the reasoning that’s …

 

 Why the S&P 500 Can Hit 3000 — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 13:32, 15 February 2018, 467 words, (English)

Amid last week’s selloff, JPMorgan strategist Marko Kolanovic remained a bull. His quant models told him the drop in stocks was amplified by automated hedging programs. On Wednesday, we asked him to walk us through the reasoning that’s …

 

 Chicken Soup Takes a Spill — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 10:18, 15 February 2018, 567 words, (English)

Shares of Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment (CSSE) fell as much as 9% yesterday, after an anonymous research report on SeekingAlpha.com questioned the television programmer’s earnings quality. By the close, the stock had narrowed its …

 

 Criteo Earnings: Ad Targeter Hits the Bullseye — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 15:30, 14 February 2018, 559 words, (English)

The stock of the online ad-targeting firm Criteo (CRTO) has popped 23% through mid-day, to $28.80, after the company reassured investors by reporting strong increases in December revenue and earnings. The Paris-based firm’s American …

 

 Most Mini-IPOs Fail the Market Test

Barron’s Online, 07:59, 13 February 2018, 2357 words, (English)

For years economists and others have complained that the U.S. suffers from a lack of dynamic young businesses. In 2012, a solution called The JOBS Act promised to cure this malaise by easing the rules for small stock offerings. We were …

 

 The Trader: Drug Tests in South Korea — Barron’s

Dow Jones Institutional News, 06:00, 10 February 2018, 974 words, (English)

While you watch the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, you may want to check out some other national champions who’ve been catching big air in South Korea–namely, the shares of the Korean biotech firms Celltrion and Samsung Biologics. …

 

 Drug Tests in South Korea — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 23:32, 9 February 2018, 961 words, (English)

While you watch the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, you may want to check out some other national champions who’ve been catching big air in South Korea–namely, the shares of the Korean biotech firms Celltrion and Samsung Biologics. …

 

 This Crazy Market is Great for Virtu Financial — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 15:23, 8 February 2018, 397 words, (English)

The market may be tanking, but shares of the electronic market maker Virtu Financial (VIRT) have leapt 25%, to a recent $25, as the New York firm soundly beat expectations for its December quarter. Bulls and bears may be getting pummeled in…

 

 Tesla Earnings: Look to Model 3 for Signs That Stock Can Stay in Orbit — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 12:40, 7 February 2018, 317 words, (English)

As an encore to the the successful launch of Elon Musk’s red sports car into orbit by sister-company SpaceX, Musk’s other company, Tesla (TSLA), will release its December quarter financials tonight. Analysts surveyed by FactSet predict an …

 

 Why Higher Volatility Is Creaming CBOE — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 13:01, 6 February 2018, 433 words, (English)

You’d think this week’s market volatility would be good for CBOE Global Markets (CBOE), which gets a quarter of its revenue from trading in options and future on the VIX volatility index (which is the Chicago Board Options Exchange’s …

 

 Top Doc Quits Prothena As Key Trial Nears — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 16:29, 5 February 2018, 279 words, (English)

On a day when almost everything got socked just because, shares of Prothena ( PRTA) plunged 18%, to a recent $32.50, on the news that the biotech drug developer’s chief medical officer plans to resign. The sudden departure seems to have …

 

 An Rx for Health Care?

Barron’s Online, 3 February 2018, 664 words, (English)

Health-care stocks dragged down the market on Tuesday, after the loud announcement of a medical cost-cutting venture by Berkshire Hathaway, Amazon, and JPMorgan Chase.

 

 Dismount! Harley, Polaris Shares Plummet — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 17:13, 31 January 2018, 507 words, (English)

The only thing worse than being an investor in Harley-Davidson or Polaris Industries, this week, is being one of their dealers. Since Monday morning, shares of the classic motorcycle maker (ticker: HOG) have dropped 13%, to a recent $48, …

 

 Winners and Losers as Buffett, Bezos, Dimon Tackle Health Care

Barron’s Online, 16:49, 30 January 2018, 1194 words, (English)

Investors seemed unsure which health-care stock to sell first, after today’s announcement of a medical cost-containment venture by Berkshire Hathaway (ticker: BRK.A), Amazon.com (AMZN), and JPMorgan Chase (JPM). The three firms gave few …

 

 Trailers Get Trashed — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 13:09, 26 January 2018, 338 words, (English)

Recreational-vehicle-maker stocks have skidded in the last two days, on news that wholesale RV shipments grew less in December than in prior months. Shares of industry leader Thor Industries (THO) have fallen 11% since Wednesday’s close, to…

 

 Inovio Drops 11% One Day After Soaring on Flu Vaccine Hopes — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 17:56, 24 January 2018, 561 words, (English)

Things are looking up for flu sufferers and for shares of Inovio Pharmaceuticals (INO), after the Plymouth Meeting, Penn.-based firm boasted yesterday that its experimental vaccine protected lab animals from every known strain of deadly …

 

 Should Preferred Shareholders Trust AmTrust? — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 15:55, 23 January 2018, 714 words, (English)

Since the founding family of AmTrust Financial Services (AFSI) offered to take the insurer private on January 9, the company’s previously sinking common stock is up more than 25% and remains comfortably above the $12.15 a share offer. But …

 

 U.S. Investors Swarm China’s Biotech Leader — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 15:13, 18 January 2018, 313 words, (English)

Depositary shares of the up-and-coming Chinese biotech firm BeiGene (ticker: BGNE) jumped 15% today, to $118, after the company successfully raised $750 million in a follow-on share offering. BeiGene has promising drugs under development, …

 

 Poisoned Pill: Avis Tumbles Following Efforts to Block Activist, Guidance — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 15:52, 16 January 2018, 451 words, (English)

Rental car shares skidded today after Avis Budget Group ( CAR) adopted a poison pill rights plan, to block the activist demands of its largest shareholder, and warned that Avis expects “ongoing headwinds in 2018.” Share of Avis are down 11%…

 

 KB Booms Along With Housing Expectations — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 13:38, 11 January 2018, 325 words, (English)

Shares of KB Home (ticker: KBH) have risen 11% today, to $38.18, after the Los Angeles-based homebuilder reported solid gains in the last quarter of its November 2017 fiscal year. The economy’s strength should drive housing demand in 2018, …

 

 In Buyout, AmTrust Takes Its Problems Private — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 11:02, 11 January 2018, 580 words, (English)

The stock of AmTrust Financial Services ( AFSI) jumped 25% today, to close at $12.69, after the insurer’s founding family offered to take the company private for $12.25 a share cash. If the deal goes ahead, after review by a board committee…

 

 A Look at Selected Stock Activity

Barron’s, 8 January 2018, 407 words, (English)

Intel

Two flaws in the company’s chips expose users to hacking. Software can fix one problem, but the other requires new chips. Rival AMD says its chips are safe.

 

 A Cash Infusion from the Boss Props Up Intrexon — For Now — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 15:52, 3 January 2018, 648 words, (English)

Shares of Intrexon ( XON) have popped 19% this week, to 14 bucks, after the gene-tinkering outfit said its chief executive had bought some $14 million worth of its stock from the company. But that cash won’t make a big difference. …

 

 Shopping for REITs — The hard-hit sector looks ahead to a brighter 2018

Barron’s, 25 December 2017, 553 words, (English)

It’s time for income investors to give real estate investment trusts a chance.

Last week, analysts at Wells Fargo Securities upgraded their view of REITs that own regional malls and nearby big-box properties. After a year in which the sector…

 

 Charting the Market

Barron’s, 25 December 2017, 421 words, (English)

PG&E

The California utility suspended its dividend while it waits to learn if the state will find it financially responsible for the widespread damage by recent wildfires.

 

 Ignyta Purchase Brings A New Cancer Treatment to Roche — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 16:13, 22 December 2017, 310 words, (English)

By purchasing the San Diego-based drug developer Ignyta, Roche will get its hands on an experimental drug that worked dramatically on several kinds of cancer in Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials. After this morning’s announcement of a cash deal…

 

 Boeing Talks Send Embraer Flying — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 14:30, 21 December 2017, 318 words, (English)

Shares of aircraft maker Embraer SA ( ERJ) soared as much as 26% this morning after the Wall Street Journal reported that the Brazilian firm held buyout talks with Boeing ( BA). The U.S. giant wants to acquire Embraer to help counter the …

 

 Software Is the New BlackBerry — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 13:59, 20 December 2017, 257 words, (English)

The wireless communications outfit BlackBerry ( BB) nudged up sales guidance for its current year, after reporting record software and services revenue for its November quarter, as well as government contract wins. This morning’s good news …

 

 Keep on Trucking: Navistar Shows There’s Still Still Life in Big Rigs — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 15:46, 19 December 2017, 371 words, (English)

Shares of Navistar International ( NAV) have gained more than 9% today, as the truckmaker’s strong results for its October 2017 fiscal fourth quarter gave investors confidence that the Lisle, IL-based manufacturer had put its troubles …

 

 Charting the Market

Barron’s, 18 December 2017, 424 words, (English)

Oracle

Cloud computing sales rose 44% in the November quarter, amid $9.6 billion in total sales, but the software giant’s cloud growth will fall to 21%-25% this quarter.

 

 Lose No Time Avoiding Wins Finance — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 11:32, 14 December 2017, 450 words, (English)

A week ago Monday, Nasdaq allowed shares of Wins Finance to resume trading. They shot from 55 bucks to 161 that day, and have bounced around as madly since, on precious little trading volume. The tiny Beijing-based lender was one of …

 

 DaVita: Cash Flows from Kidney Care? — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 15:26, 12 December 2017, 456 words, (English)

After a divestiture deal that could raise nearly $5 billion for kidney dialysis leader DaVita ( DVA) is now 13% higher than the level where Barron’s warned that insurers were attacking DaVita’s profits (” Insurers Press Dialysis Claims,” …

 

 Can Iron Mountain Find Gold? — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 14:49, 12 December 2017, 319 words, (English)

Archiving experts Iron Mountain took another step toward going digital, with a $1.3 billion deal to buy four U.S. data centers. Shares of the real estate investment trust (ticker: IRM) are down 7% this morning, to 37.88, as Iron Mountain …

 

 Cancer meeting’s surprise winner: argenix — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 17:27, 11 December 2017, 296 words, (English)

One of the biotech stocks launched high by this week’s big hematology conference in Atlanta, GA, is argenx, a Dutch firm that based its technology on the powerful immune systems of llamas. Following the company’s talks today on the early …

 

 MBIA Shares Shrug Off Barron’s Concerns — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 13:07, 11 December 2017, 267 words, (English)

The market doesn’t seem too concerned about a Barron’s feature that scolded MBIA ( MBI) for using the funds of its regulated insurance subsidiary to buyback 25% of MBIA’s stock (see ” Muni Insurer MBIA Courts Risk in Share Buyback”). Its …

 

 Charting the Market

Barron’s, 11 December 2017, 413 words, (English)

Edison International

Wildfires raged across the service area of the utility’s Southern California Edison, knocking out power to 11,000 customers in San Bernadino, Ventura, and Santa Barbara.

 

 Insurer MBIA Courts Risk in Share Buyback

Barron’s, 11 December 2017, 903 words, (English)

In the years following the 2008 financial crisis, bond insurer MBIA tried to get back in the game of guaranteeing the timely payment of municipal bonds. That push ended in June, when its credit rating was cut two notches, doing away with …

 

 CVS and Aetna: Will It Work?

Barron’s, 11 December 2017, 451 words, (English)

Review | Preview

Cranky customers were swarming the pharmacy-benefit managers, when our July 2016 cover story warned that a big change was afoot.

 

 Charting the Market: Sage Therapeutics Could Cure Your Blues — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 12:57, 7 December 2017, 415 words, (English)

Shares of drug developer Sage Therapeutics (ticker: SAGE) are giddy this morning, up over 75% to $162 on a successful clinical trial of its novel drug for depression.

 

 White Alert! Antitrust Hurdles Have Tronox Seeing Red — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 12:50, 6 December 2017, 219 words, (English)

Shares of white pigment supplier Tronox ( TROX) are in the red today, after the Federal Trade Commission filed an antitrust challenge against the company’s planned merger with a rival, causing its stock to tumble more than 20%.

 

 British Judge Tosses Out Russian Claim Against Fund Manager Browder

Barron’s Online, 11:32, 6 December 2017, 699 words, (English)

In a decision Tuesday morning, a judge in London quashed the latest attempt by Russia to retaliate against Bill Browder, the hedge-fund manager who won human rights sanctions against the Russian officials involved in the 2009 death of …

 

 First Solar’s Future Gets Brighter — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 16:03, 5 December 2017, 283 words, (English)

First Solar told its annual analyst gathering today that solar power demand has reached an inflection point, and announced 2018 earnings guidance above most forecasts. Shares of the solar panel leader (ticker: FSLR) were up 7% at 3:30 pm.

 

 These Uranium Stocks Have Started to Glow — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 15:48, 4 December 2017, 195 words, (English)

Shares of uranium miners brightened today after a 20% production cut was announced by the world’s second largest producer, a Kazakhstan state-owned company. The biggest miner, Canada’s Cameco ( CCJ), has seen its stock jump 13% from today’s…

 

 Charting the Market

Barron’s, 4 December 2017, 420 words, (English)

Kroger

More online orders and lower prices helped the supermarket chain top sales expectations, growing 1.1% in the third quarter. It expects better in the fourth.

 

 “Aiera, Why Do You Like Amazon Shares?”

Barron’s, 4 December 2017, 1869 words, (English)

Ken Sena has become quite popular with the robot crowd since September, when the Wells Fargo Securities analyst introduced an artificial-intelligence system called Aiera that issues Buy and Sell calls on nearly 550 stocks. Aiera uses the …

 

 Charting the Market: Foundation Medicine’s Test Flags 324 Cancer Genes — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 17:23, 1 December 2017, 300 words, (English)

The government approved the company’s new test that finds flaws in 324 genes that can drive cancer growth. Foundation Medicine shares (ticker: FMI) rose 18% today, on 14-times recent average volumes, to close at $62.60.

 

 Does Express Scripts Clean Up Nicely? — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 12:13, 30 November 2017, 380 words, (English)

Shares of pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts ( ESRX) are up about 4% since last week, as the company reiterated its desire to adapt to healthcare industry upheavals.

 

 Malware attack didn’t mute Nuance’s auto-speech business — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 13:32, 29 November 2017, 422 words, (English)

Shares of automated speech recognition company Nuance Communications have risen to around 17 bucks today (ticker: NUAN), after its report of better-than-expected September quarter results.

 

 DaVita: Preparing for an Estate Sale? — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 12:31, 28 November 2017, 339 words, (English)

Kidney dialysis provider DaVita ( DVA) got a tepid boost today from Raymond James, which reiterated an Outperform rating on the heels of a report that DaVita wants to sell its division that manages doctors’ practices. Still, the analysts …

 

 Banker Bulls Still Like Qudian, Despite China’s Crackdown — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 13:24, 27 November 2017, 422 words, (English)

After losing more than 40% of its market value last week — as Chinese regulators tightened rules for online consumer lending — Qudian is seeing a 16% bounce today in its American depositary receipts (ticker: QD), to a recent $14.

 

 Charting the Market

Barron’s, 27 November 2017, 421 words, (English)

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

CEO Meg Whitman will step down in 2018 from the computer maker, which saw earnings fall by half in the September quarter and faces a weak December.

 

 Sweet Things Ahead for Mondelez

Barron’s, 27 November 2017, 931 words, (English)

Last Monday was the first day on the job for Dirk Van de Put, the new CEO of snack-food giant Mondelez International. He spent the day visiting stores in Europe and the United Kingdom, channel-checking his company’s power brands, such as …

 

 Qudian: Caught in China’s Payday Lender Crackdown — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 15:53, 24 November 2017, 281 words, (English)

Scarcely a month after its $900 million initial public offering — one of the biggest U.S. listings this year from China — online lender Qudian ( QD) is seeing its American Depositary Receipts collapse, as China’s government cracks down on…

 

 Riot: Now It’s a Blockchain Stock — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 15:23, 22 November 2017, 270 words, (English)

Today is the third consecutive day of double digit gains for Riot Blockchain ( RIOT), the tiny Colorado entity that recently changed its name from Bioptix to something likely to catch the attention of investors desperate for anything to do …

 

 Charting the Market: Signet Loses Its Shine — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 14:53, 21 November 2017, 344 words, (English)

Shares of Signet Jewelers ( SIG) have cracked 30% after the jewelry chain’s same-store sales tumbled and it cut guidance.

Signet blamed bad weather and computer problems for a 5% drop in same-store sales in its October quarter. Customers …

 

 Charting the Market

Barron’s, 20 November 2017, 406 words, (English)

General Electric

Street analysts abandoned the industrial giant after it cut its dividend and offered a disappointing restructuring plan. The new CEO bought shares.

 

 Charting the Market: Cummins Flops as the Future Is Now — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 14:28, 17 November 2017, 181 words, (English)

Cummins’ ( CMI) stock has slumped today after Tesla revealed the future of the 18-wheeler…maybe.

hares of the diesel engine maker sputtered a day after Tesla’s Elon Musk showed his prototype 18-wheeler powered by electric batteries. Musk …

 

 Charting the Market: Time Jumps on Buyout Reports — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 16:13, 16 November 2017, 212 words, (English)

Shares of Time (ticker: TIME) have soared more than 20% on reports of a takeover bid.

The magazine rival Meredith ( MDP) has again approached the publisher of People, Sports Illustrated and Time, this time with backing from banks and the …

 

 Two Lawsuits Hit Express Scripts Unit on Pricing

Barron’s Online, 19:22, 15 November 2017, 790 words, (English)

A securities filing made Tuesday by Express Scripts Holdings (ticker: ESRX) disclosed two large lawsuits that claim its subsidiary United Biosource helped drugmakers market their products in violation of antitrust and anti-kickback laws. …

 

 Charting the Market

Barron’s, 13 November 2017, 416 words, (English)

J.C. Penney

After having cut its third-quarter forecasts, the embattled retailer topped them with $2.8 billion in sales and a smaller-than-expected loss of 33 cents a share.

 

 Includes J.C. Penney, Valeant Pharmaceuticals, Roku

Barron’s Online, 11 November 2017, 415 words, (English)

J.C. Penney

After having cut its third-quarter forecasts, the embattled retailer topped them with $2.8 billion in sales and a smaller-than-expected loss of 33 cents a share.

 

 Charting the Market: Wix.com Whiffs — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 16:53, 8 November 2017, 196 words, (English)

Wix.com ( WIX) whiffed with investors when it released its financial results, causing its stock to tumble more than 13% today.

The website hosting firm’s September quarter revenues of $111 million grew 47% over the prior-year period, …

 

 The Biggest Loser: DaVita’s Got a Case of the Dropsies — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 16:17, 8 November 2017, 190 words, (English)

Shares of DaVita ( DVA) tumbled 7.9% to $54.33 today, as the kidney dialysis chain reported a $214 million loss for its September quarter from a $600 million write off on its business. Apart from these charges, DaVita said it earned $1.08 a…

 

 Tech Trader Daily: Lending Club: Not So Brilliant After All? — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 14:54, 8 November 2017, 197 words, (English)

Can someone please lend a hand to Lending Club ( LC)?

Although Lending Club grew revenue 34% in the September quarter, the online lending marketplace lowered guidance for December and said it would halt lending to certain borrowers with …

 

 Robo-Boosted Drone Maker AeroVironment May Be Headed for a Fall — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 11:53, 8 November 2017, 726 words, (English)

Shares of the military drone maker AeroVironment ( AVAV) doubled this year, to a September peak above $55, far above of the Nasdaq’s paltry 25% gain. That flight is hard to follow, because the company’s sales have been in a stall for years …

 

 Robo-Boosted Drone Maker AeroVironment May Be Headed for a Fall — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 10:23, 8 November 2017, 528 words, (English)

Shares of the military drone maker AeroVironment ( AVAV) doubled this year, to a September peak above $55, far above of the Nasdaq’s paltry 25% gain. That flight is hard to follow, because the company’s sales have been in a stall for years …

 

 No Deal? AT&T-Time Warner Odds Slip Below 50% — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 10:15, 8 November 2017, 240 words, (English)

The odds of the Time Warner ( TWX)/ AT&T ( T) merger getting completed have fallen below 50% this morning after AT&T’s chief financial officer warned this morning that the timing of the transaction is ” now uncertain” amid a more extensive …

 

 Charting the Market: Mallinckrodt Tumbles 35% — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 15:12, 7 November 2017, 164 words, (English)

Oh Mallinckrodt ( MNK).

Sales of the drugmaker’s controversial product H.P. Acthar Gel fell 5.6% in the September quarter, and Mallinckrodt warned that December sales would be lower, still. It said patients weren’t filling prescriptions for …

 

 AmTrust: Spinners Keep Spinning? — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 09:49, 7 November 2017, 347 words, (English)

The troubled property and casualty insurer AmTrust Financial Services ( AFSI) on Monday disclosed $327 million in losses above what it had reserved for past-year insurance policies. The New York-based company, which is one of the country’s …

 

 Charting the Market

Barron’s, 6 November 2017, 410 words, (English)

Apple

The iPhone maker topped Street expectations for both fourth-quarter sales and earnings, and executives expressed confidence in the iPhone X’s prospects.

 

 Artificial Intelligence’s Winners and Losers

Barron’s, 6 November 2017, 976 words, (English)

The board game Go is older and more complex than chess. While it’s been 20 years since IBM’s Deep Blue beat world chess champion Garry Kasparov, computers only started beating Go experts a few years ago. An Oct. 18 report in the science …

 

 Charting the Market

Barron’s, 30 October 2017, 407 words, (English)

Amazon.com

Sales grew 34% in the e-commerce giant’s quarter ended September on a 42% jump in cloud computing services. A new addition: Whole Foods Markets.

 

 Charting the Market

Barron’s, 23 October 2017, 407 words, (English)

General Electric

The industrial giant missed forecasts for the September quarter, and cut full year guidance from $1.65 a share to under $1.10. But aviation services did well.

 

 Tillerson, Cohn—Free to Leave

Barron’s, 23 October 2017, 976 words, (English)

The only place as cynical as our nation’s capital is Wall Street. Each of those haunts has a theory on why smart guys like Rex Tillerson, Gary Cohn, or Steve Mnuchin keep playing for the sorry team that is our current administration. The …

 

 Tootsie Roll Could Get Chewed Out

Barron’s Online, 10:46, 18 October 2017, 500 words, (English)

I was surprised when hedge-fund manager Ben Axler said that dentists don’t recommend Tootsie Rolls. I could swear my dentist hummed the Tootsie Roll jingle, as he replaced fillings I lost to the chewy candies.

 

 Charting the Market

Barron’s, 16 October 2017, 422 words, (English)

Wal-Mart Stores

The retailer boasted of traffic and comparable-store sales gains at its analyst day. It will buy back $20 billion in stock and expects online sales to grow 40% next year.

 

 The Trader: DaVita Discloses a Charitable Impact — Barron’s

Dow Jones Institutional News, 06:00, 14 October 2017, 339 words, (English)

Shares of kidney-dialysis provider DaVita (DVA) dropped last Monday from 60 bucks to below $54, after JPMorgan analyst Gary Taylor cut his rating to Underweight and reduced his target price from $66 to $51. This column recently discussed …

 

 The Trader: A Short Call on Canadian Tire — Barron’s

Dow Jones Institutional News, 06:00, 14 October 2017, 466 words, (English)

Denizens of Canada’s stock market have grown increasingly peevish at Yanks who bad-mouth hometown favorite stocks. An Oct. 6 article in Toronto’s Financial Post fretted about outspoken short sellers — ugly Americans all — who found fault …

 

 DaVita Discloses a Charitable Impact — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 00:37, 14 October 2017, 326 words, (English)

Shares of kidney-dialysis provider DaVita (DVA) dropped last Monday from 60 bucks to below $54, after JPMorgan analyst Gary Taylor cut his rating to Underweight and reduced his target price from $66 to $51. This column recently discussed …

 

 A Short Call on Canadian Tire — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 00:37, 14 October 2017, 453 words, (English)

Denizens of Canada’s stock market have grown increasingly peevish at Yanks who bad-mouth hometown favorite stocks. An Oct. 6 article in Toronto’s Financial Post fretted about outspoken short sellers — ugly Americans all — who found fault …

 

 A Short Call on Canadian Tire

Barron’s Online, 00:37, 14 October 2017, 440 words, (English)

Denizens of Canada’s stock market have grown increasingly peevish at Yanks who bad-mouth hometown favorite stocks. An Oct. 6 article in Toronto’s Financial Post fretted about outspoken short sellers—ugly Americans all—who found fault with …

 

 DaVita Discloses a Charitable Impact

Barron’s Online, 00:37, 14 October 2017, 313 words, (English)

Shares of kidney-dialysis provider DaVita (DVA) dropped last Monday from 60 bucks to below $54, after JPMorgan analyst Gary Taylor cut his rating to Underweight and reduced his target price from $66 to $51. This column recently discussed …

 

 RH: Pricey Wares, Pricey Shares

Barron’s Online, 14 October 2017, 946 words, (English)

Upscale furniture seller rh spent the last year streamlining and optimizing inventories. The San Francisco–based retailer and catalog merchant has cleared slow-moving products through its outlet stores. In July, RH disclosed that it had …

 

 Overstock.com: Look Who’s Bullish Now! — Barron’s Blog

Dow Jones Institutional News, 18:26, 10 October 2017, 625 words, (English)

The outspoken short seller Marc Cohodes urged the audience at a New York investment conference today to buy the stock of a company that once sued him and other short sellers. At the Plaza Hotel gathering hosted by Grant’s Interest Rate …

 

 Charting the Market

Barron’s, 9 October 2017, 399 words, (English)

Mylan

The FDA approved the company’s generic version of a multiple-sclerosis treatment that’s been a big seller for Teva and for Momenta. Their stocks sank.

 

 RH: Pricey Wares, Pricey Shares — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 23:15, 6 October 2017, 959 words, (English)

Upscale furniture seller rh spent the last year streamlining and optimizing inventories. The San Francisco–based retailer and catalog merchant has cleared slow-moving products through its outlet stores. In July, RH disclosed that it had …

 

 There Goes The Sun

Barron’s, 2 October 2017, 3111 words, (English)

Cheap imported solar cells have fueled an alternative-energy boom in the U.S., making solar cost-competitive with coal and natural gas in some states, and persuading over one million American homeowners to generate their own power. Now …

 

 Is Investors’ Thrill Ride at Six Flags Over?

Barron’s, 25 September 2017, 1394 words, (English)

Investors have had an incredible ride with theme-park operator Six Flags Entertainment. Its shares have climbed sixfold since it exited bankruptcy in 2010, with attendance now at more than 30 million visits a year at its 20 regional parks. …

 

 Charting the Market

Barron’s, 25 September 2017, 418 words, (English)

Sprint

The wireless carrier is reportedly making progress in talks to merge with T-Mobile US, says CNBC. A deal may take a year to get government approval.

 

 Invasion of the Vacuum-Cleaner Robots

Barron’s Online, 25 September 2017, 273 words, (English)

Follow Up: Puerto Rico Bonds | Review | Preview

As we warned in July, iRobot’s popular Roomba robot vacuum now has a formidable new rival, with the recent introduction of cheaper competitive products from SharkNinja (“iRobot Has ‘Roomba’ to …

 

 Charting the Market

Barron’s, 18 September 2017, 409 words, (English)

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries

Drug-industry veteran Kare Schultz will be the new CEO of the world’s biggest generic-drug firm, which is struggling with competition and debt.

 

 Charting the Market

Barron’s, 11 September 2017, 409 words, (English)

Equifax

Hackers got access to the personal data of 143 million Americans, admitted the credit reporting outfit. That’s two-thirds of U.S. adults. Congress plans a hearing.

 

 A Smart Strategy For Cable and Telecom Investors

Barron’s, 11 September 2017, 1652 words, (English)

Jonathan Atkin has covered the wireless, cable, tower, and data-center businesses since communications companies were called telcos. A well-regarded analyst at RBC Capital Markets in San Francisco, Atkin, 53, has seen dozens of telephone …

 

 Charting the Market

Barron’s, 4 September 2017, 397 words, (English)

Gilead Sciences

The big biotech company bid $11 billion to buy Kite Pharma , offering more validation for Kite’s cancer therapy based on modifying immune T-cells.

 

 Insurers Press Dialysis Claims — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 00:14, 2 September 2017, 707 words, (English)

Of the many problems plaguing Affordable Care Act programs, aka Obamacare, one of the hardest is kidney dialysis. Amid complaints about high premiums for individual coverage under the program, health insurers such as California Blue Shield …

 

 Charting the Market

Barron’s, 28 August 2017, 397 words, (English)

Splunk

Topping Street forecasts, the data analytics software outfit narrowed its second-quarter loss and extended its revenue gains. It also lifted guidance.

 

 Static Ahead for Motorola Solutions? — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 10:18, 21 August 2017, 1124 words, (English)

When Mike Poth was a cop and in a tight spot, he felt that his radio was his lifeline to civilization. Today, Poth heads a federal agency tasked with rolling out FirstNet, a multibillion-dollar broadband network that could link every …

 

 Charting the Market

Barron’s, 21 August 2017, 406 words, (English)

Calpine

The independent power provider agreed to a private-equity buyout for $5.6 billion in cash, or $15.25 a share. Calpine has 45 days to shop for a better deal.

 

 Microsoft: Riding High on the Cloud

Barron’s, 14 August 2017, 979 words, (English)

Metamorphosis isn’t supposed to look this easy. Microsoft has been shifting its decades-old products to the cloud without having to make a single insurance claim for business interruption. Indeed, revenue rose 13% in the quarter ended June …

 

 Tesla: Buy the Car, Not the Stock

Barron’s, 7 August 2017, 613 words, (English)

Review | Preview

Four years ago, a Barron’s cover story doubted Elon Musk’s Tesla could reduce the cost of batteries quickly enough to launch a mass-market electric car by 2017. Happily for our warming planet, we were wrong. At a July 28 …

 

 Charting the Market

Barron’s, 7 August 2017, 437 words, (English)

A graphic look at selected stock activity for the week ended August 4, 2017.

Teva Pharmaceutical

Heavy price competition and high debt forced the world’s biggest generic-drug maker to post weak quarterly results, cut its outlook, and slash …

 

 Charting the Market

Barron’s, 17 July 2017, 432 words, (English)

NRG Energy

The power company unveiled a “Transformation Plan” to cut annual expenses by $1 billion, sell more than $2.5 billion of assets, and remove $13 billion in debt.

 

 New Rule Promises to Shake Up Securities Research

Barron’s, 17 July 2017, 1063 words, (English)

Stock analysts around the world are counting down to Jan. 3, when new European regulations will change investment research everywhere. On that date, the European Union rules known as the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive will …

 

 Charting the Market

Barron’s Online, 15 July 2017, 432 words, (English)

NRG Energy

The power company unveiled a “Transformation Plan” to cut annual expenses by $1 billion, sell more than $2.5 billion of assets, and remove $13 billion in debt.

 

 The Coming Revolution in Investment Research

Barron’s Online, 15 July 2017, 1063 words, (English)

Stock analysts around the world are counting down to Jan. 3, when new European regulations will change investment research everywhere. On that date, the European Union rules known as the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive will …

 

 The Coming Revolution in Investment Research — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 00:45, 15 July 2017, 1050 words, (English)

Stock analysts around the world are counting down to Jan. 3, when new European regulations will change investment research everywhere. On that date, the European Union rules known as the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive will …

  iRobot Has “Roomba” to Fall

Barron’s Online, 01:54, 1 July 2017, 687 words, (English)

After moving sideways for years, shares of iRobot (IRBT) have nearly tripled in the past year or so, reaching an all-time high of $102 on June 26. That price valued the seller of the Roomba vacuuming robot at $2.9 billion, or four times …

 

 The Trader: IRobot Has “Roomba” to Fall — Barron’s

Dow Jones Institutional News, 06:00, 1 July 2017, 685 words, (English)

After moving sideways for years, shares of iRobot (IRBT) have nearly tripled in the past year or so, reaching an all-time high of $102 on June 26. That price valued the seller of the Roomba vacuuming robot at $2.9 billion, or four times …

 

 IRobot Has “Roomba” to Fall — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Institutional News, 01:54, 1 July 2017, 664 words, (English)

After moving sideways for years, shares of iRobot (IRBT) have nearly tripled in the past year or so, reaching an all-time high of $102 on June 26. That price valued the seller of the Roomba vacuuming robot at $2.9 billion, or four times …

 

 A New Target for Short Sellers?

Barron’s, 26 June 2017, 642 words, (English)

In Winnipeg, Manitoba, Exchange Income Corp. fears it has become the latest target of U.S. short sellers. A leading company in the Canadian west, Exchange had revenue of 900 million Canadian dollars last year and sports a market cap of C$1 …

 

 The Great White Short and Other Tales

Barron’s, 26 June 2017, 1168 words, (English)

Toronto’s Bay Street financial area seems like a cleaner, quieter version of Wall Street. The country’s six big banks passed relatively unscathed through the financial crisis. The local bourse’s TSX index has moved more or less sideways, …

 

 A New Target for Short Sellers? — Barron’s

Dow Jones Institutional News, 06:00, 24 June 2017, 641 words, (English)

In Winnipeg, Manitoba, Exchange Income Corp. fears it has become the latest target of U.S. short sellers. A leading company in the Canadian west, Exchange had revenue of 900 million Canadian dollars last year and sports a market cap of C$1 …

 

 A New Target for Short Sellers?

Dow Jones Institutional News, 06:00, 24 June 2017, 639 words, (English)

In Winnipeg, Manitoba, Exchange Income Corp. fears it has become the latest target of U.S. short sellers. A leading company in the Canadian west, Exchange had revenue of 900 million Canadian dollars last year and sports a market cap of C$1 …

 

Russians Settle Money-Laundering Suit

Barron’s Online, 17:07, 31 May 2017, 414 words, (English)

Days before jury selection was slated to start in a civil money-laundering case in New York, the defendants settled, with one agreeing to pay $6 million to the U.S. government. The settlement is the latest chapter in a long-running …

Ports and Power Lines, Anyone? A Soft Spot for Hard Asset

Barron’s, 29 May 2017, 1895 words, (English)

Brookfield Asset Management was founded in 1899 to finance streetcars and electric power in Brazil. Today, the Toronto-based firm has become a global player in alternative assets, managing about $250 billion in real estate, infrastructure, …

Why AmTrust Financial Services is Tumbling

Dow Jones Institutional News, 16:01, 9 May 2017, 623 words, (English)

Shares of AmTrust Financial Services ( AFSI) are down 15%, to $13, after the New York-based insurer reported a poor March quarter and said it would slow its longtime strategy of growing through acquisitions. Without acquired boosts to …

Suits Dog Guggenheim Chief

Barron’s, 8 May 2017, 1146 words, (English)

Mark R. Walter is best known as the lead owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, but he has achieved fame outside baseball as the chief of fund manager Guggenheim Partners. Even though Guggenheim shepherds more than a quarter of a …

Two Promising REITs — Outdoor-advertising companies have room to grow

Barron’s, 17 April 2017, 664 words, (English)

Media stocks have outpaced the market in the past year. Among the best-performing ones have been outdoor-advertising real estate investment trusts Lamar Advertising and Outfront Media—thanks to an influx of income investors, according to …

Barron’s Warned You First: AmTrust Sinks 20% On SEC Probe

Dow Jones Institutional News, 13:48, 11 April 2017, 503 words, (English)

Shares of insurer AmTrust Financial Services ( AFSI) are down over 20% today, to $14.99, after a Wall Street Journal story this morning reported that professional whistleblower Harry Markopolos has been investigating the insurer’s …

Time to Trade in Your CarMax Shares

Barron’s, 3 April 2017, 1076 words, (English)

On Thursday morning, used-car seller CarMax will report results for its latest fiscal year. The no-haggle pricing pioneer probably will show continued sales growth, but uncomfortable questions may arise about its car loans.

Probes Show How Russian Money Travels the World

Barron’s Online, 14:43, 22 March 2017, 3189 words, (English)

As Congress holds hearings on suspected Russian meddling in the recent U.S. presidential election and the Federal Bureau of Investigation probes for ties between Trump campaign officials and Russia, Barron’s now presents a detailed …

Uneasy Rider 

Leader of a Shrinking Pack — Harley-Davidson CEO Matt Levatich is focused on the next generation of hog owners—particular…

Barron’s, 27 February 2017, 2133 words, (English)

“It’s great to have Harley-Davidson,” said President Donald Trump as he welcomed executives and union reps from the American motorcycle maker to the White House early this month. “What a fantastic job you do,” the president told his guests,…

Mallinckrodt Deal Won’t Heal Shares

Barron’s, 23 January 2017, 331 words, (English)

In a $100 million settlement with antitrust regulators, the maker of a notoriously expensive drug agreed to help a competing product reach the U.S. market. A complaint filed on Wednesday in a District of Columbia federal court charged …

Coal Sparks Heated Battle

WILL SHAREHOLDERS GET SQUEEZED OUT? — Peabody’s shares tracked the price of metallurgical coal used in steel…

Barron’s, 16 January 2017, 1252 words, (English)

Shareholders usually get burned in bankruptcy court. But there’s been an especially sulfurous smell coming from the St. Louis courtroom where Peabody Energy last April sought refuge from a brutal slide in the price of coal. Low coal prices …

AquaVenture Investors May Get Swamped

Barron’s, 2 January 2017, 1033 words, (English)

With drinkable water an urgent need in coming years, investors naturally want to jump in. So in October, the obliging bankers at Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, and RBC Capital Markets raised $120 million for AquaVenture Holdings, a Tampa, …

A Chinese Mystery Stock

Barron’s, 26 December 2016, 696 words, (English)

You might feel smug this year if you held Nasdaq hotshots Nvidia or Advanced Micro Devices, up three- and four-fold, respectively, but were you smart enough to own Wins Finance Holdings?

Generic Drug Price-Fixing Case May Grow in Scope

Barron’s Online, 11:51, 16 December 2016, 818 words, (English)

Federal prosecutors in Philadelphia unsealed a criminal price-fixing case Wednesday against two executives from a small maker of generic drugs. But the filing suggests that the defendants are cooperating in a much larger antitrust …

Wall Street Joins Trump Camp

Barron’s, 5 December 2016, 499 words, (English)

It has come as a relief to many that Donald J. Trump didn’t mean what he said on the campaign trail. Wall off Mexico? Maybe a fence. Or some border grass. Drain Washington’s swamp? Maybe after the inauguration committee sells those ….

An Infrastructure Deal Sits on Shaky Ground

Barron’s, 21 November 2016, 1105 words, (English)

Three years ago, China’s leaders unveiled plans for the New Silk Road Economic Belt, to better tie their country with Europe and Southeast Asia by rail, road, air, and river. As central China’s transport hub, the city of Wuhan will benefit …

For-Profit Colleges Make the Grade Under Trump

Barron’s Online, 7:15, 10 November 2016, 523 words, (English)

After blue collar America handed Donald Trump his surprise victory over Bruce Springsteen yesterday, one of the sectors welcoming a Trump presidency seems to be the for-profit education business. …

Badger Scrambles to Find Right Tunnel

Barron’s, 31 October 2016, 998 words, (English)

The investor presentation for Badger Daylighting shows a Canadian town shattered by the explosion of a gas pipeline accidently struck by excavators. The calamity might have been avoided, Badger suggests, by renting its trucks, which use …

Underperforming Companies, Look Out! 

Mover and Shaker — Elliott is renowned for activist investing, and has taken positions in many…

Barron’s, 31 October 2016, 2175 words, (English)

Jon Pollock is co-chief executive officer and an equity partner of Elliott Management, whose flagship fund, Elliott Associates, has returned a compounded 13.5% a year since Paul Singer started it in 1977. That compares with a return of 11% …

Startling Twist in Russian Money-Laundering Case

Barron’s Online, 14:38, 18 October 2016, 780 words, (English)

In a startling decision late Monday, a federal appeals court in New York disqualified a famous former prosecutor from representing defendants in a civil money-laundering case that ensued from a gigantic 2007 Russian treasury heist.

Kudos to the SEC

Barron’s Online, 01:52, 8 October 2016, 877 words, (English)

It’s been a pretty good year for the bribery fighters at the Securities and Exchange Commission. Among recently settled cases are allegations that a hedge fund spent hundreds of millions of dollars to bribe African officials and that a …

What Not to Buy

Barron’s Online, 1 October 2016, 904 words, (English)

Times are hard for hedge funds. Pity the poor millionaires, who seem to be struggling to produce high returns—especially on their short positions. But even in an extended bull market, some stocks don’t go up. As the man said, those are the …

Sharing the Wealth

Barron’s, 12 September 2016, 981 words, (English)

Ben Axler is taking his investment research activism up a notch. For six years, the 39-year-old analyst has published short-sale ideas on the Internet and profited as the market, more often than not, agreed with his views. His 26 published …

The Next Drug War

 Pharmacy-Benefit Managers Under Fire Health-Care Costs Keep Rising Cash Spinner The End of the Uptrend? — Companies…

Barron’s, 25 July 2016, 2463 words, (English)

High-priced drugs have everyone ticked off this year. And for good reason. While health-care spending in the U.S. is growing faster than the economy, pharmaceutical costs are growing faster still. New treatments for arthritis and cancer

U.K. Pub Stocks’ Pint of Woe

Barron’s Online, 9 July 2016, 546 words, (English)

Whilst this penny dreadful keeps you apprised of the Brexit referendum’s effect on the pound and London markets, you’re surely keener to know what the U.K.’s vote to leave the EU will mean for beer. You’re right to worry: Although the FTSE

Small-Caps Offer Refuge From the Brexit Storm

Barron’s, 4 July 2016, 1882 words, (English)

For nearly two decades, Harry Nimmo has averaged investment returns of 14% a year running Standard ife Investments’ UK Smaller Companies fund, one of Britain’s top-performing small-cap funds. His European and global small-cap funds have …

Tesla, SolarCity Link Looks Like a Stretch

Barron’s, 27 June 2016, 880 words, (English)

Don’t call it a bailout. That’s what Elon Musk told analysts Wednesday after his Tesla Motors offered $2.7 billion of its stock to buy SolarCity, the clean-energy company, whose shares had dropped 60% in a year and whose convertible bonds …

Down More Than 40%, Opko Shares May Not Have Hit Bottom

Barron’s, 20 June 2016, 347 words, (English)

A year ago, billionaire drug entrepreneur Phillip Frost announced that his latest venture, Opko Health, was buying the U.S.’s third-largest clinical lab, Bio-Reference Laboratories, for about $1.5 billion worth of Opko shares, then trading …

Our Take: The Little Guy Still Wins

Barron’s, 20 June 2016, 784 words, (English)

Scarcely two years after author Michael Lewis brought fame to the trading venue IEX Group in his best-seller Flash Boys, the Securities and Exchange Commission staff recommended that the commission allow IEX to become a national exchange.

Bribes on Wall Street

Barron’s, 13 June 2016, 272 words, (English)

On Wednesday, federal prosecutors arrested hedge fund founder Murray Huberfeld, along with the president of New York City’s prison guard union, Norman Seabrook, on charges that the union boss took bribes in exchange for investing $20 …

Time to Reel in Profits on Cabela’s Stock

Barron’s, 6 June 2016, 953 words, (English)

Shares of hunting and fishing outfitter Cabela’s have climbed to $52 from $33 since October, when activists at Elliott Management disclosed a large stake in the retailer and demanded that the 55-year-old company consider selling itself. A …

SunEdison’s Ignominious Fall

Barron’s, 2 May 2016, 338 words, (English)

The world’s largest solar-power developer, SunEdison, filed for bankruptcy protection on April 21. Its shares have halted trading and are now just about worthless, but when we cast a skeptical eye on the company two years ago (“Shining a …

Is AmTrust Worth the Premium?

Barron’s, 25 April 2016, 1328 words, (English)

After a falling out between insurer AmTrust Financial Services and its broker in Italy last year, AmTrust says someone left a box at the home of its top executive there. Inside were nine bullets — one for each member of his family, the …

How “Fair” Are Brookfield’s Values?

Barron’s, 4 April 2016, 1057 words, (English)

Brookfield Asset Management has become a giant among alternative asset managers in the past two decades, as institutions and individuals sought exposure to “real assets” and gave the firm the wherewithal to amass a $225 billion global …

SEC to Decide on IEX Group Stock Exchange

Barron’s Online, 5 March 2016, 482 words, (English)

America has been a good place for retail stock traders. Thanks to automated brokers and market-makers, it’s never been cheaper or faster to trade 500 shares of stock—as a Barron’s computer study showed last year (“The Little Guy Wins!” …

Digging Into the Numbers at Alibaba

Barron’s, 22 February 2016, 1897 words, (English)

[An Interview with Herb Greenberg and Donn Vickrey Principals, Pacific Square Research] Herb Greenberg acquired some celebrity as CNBC’s resident sourpuss, providing well-researched ballast for the network’s frequent buoyancy. Then, about a …

Smoking May Finally Catch Up With Core-Mark

Barron’s, 15 February 2016, 1189 words, (English)

If you’ve grabbed a snack or some smokes while gassing up at a convenience store, your indulgences probably got there on a truck from Core-Mark Holding, one of the largest wholesale distributors in the U.S. When Barron’s first wrote about …

Enough Twists For a Russian Novel

Barron’s, 4 January 2016, 357 words, (English)

In a case stemming from a gigantic 2007 theft from Russia’s Treasury, a U.S. district court judge has given defense lawyers in a civil money-laundering case a chance to retain their role just a few days after he disqualified them.

A Chance to Invest With Elliott Management

Barron’s, 4 January 2016, 1013 words, (English)

While activist investors racked up big successes last year, they didn’t have much luck lifting the shares of specialized financial firms known as business-development companies. A profit pinch has beset BDCs, the congressionally created …

Hot Solar Stocks and Frozen Assets

Barron’s, 28 December 2015, 1557 words, (English)

The Gambler’s Fallacy says my luck at forecasting is about to turn, so pay heed. I’ve lamented the dodgy accounting and tax tricks of solar-power firms like SolarCity (ticker: SCTY) and SunEdison (SUNE), and their shares stumbled badly this …

Streetwise: Time for Small-Caps

Barron’s, 30 November 2015, 1252 words, (English)

I can’t write enough about Joe Mezrich, the Nomura Securities strategist who’s one of a few Wall Street quants to show his work to us muggles. That work always includes his historical test of any investment wizardry that he will urge on his …

Time to Switch to Small-Cap Stocks

Barron’s Online, 28 November 2015, 1244 words, (English)

I can’t write enough about Joe Mezrich, the Nomura Securities strategist who’s one of a few Wall Street quants to show his work to us muggles. That work always includes his historical test of any investment wizardry that he will urge on his …

1-Page’s Share Price is Up in the Clouds

Barron’s Online, 26 November 2015, 868 words, (English)

1-Page may be the most revolutionary company you’ve never heard of. The San Francisco-based firm says its cloud-based software is the “next generation human resources solution” for employers and recruiters seeking new hires. LinkedIn (LNKD) …

The Whole Story at Express Scripts

Barron’s, 23 November 2015, 1032 words, (English)

Express Scripts Holding became one of America’s biggest companies by promising to put a lid on rising drug costs. Revenues have passed $100 billion a year as the giant pharmacy-benefit manager flexes its muscles as the consumer’s defense …

Turn Out the Lights, This Party’s Over

Barron’s, 16 November 2015, 347 words, (English)

When we cast a cold eye last year on the shares of SunEdison, they were going for 20 bucks apiece and Greenlight Capital’s David Einhorn was telling his hedge fund’s investors that the solar-power developer should be worth $35 a share …

How Nu Skin Plays the Hunger Games

Barron’s, 9 November 2015, 1946 words, (English)

Christine Kipp has been to Malawi and seen the good works done in that African nation by Nu Skin Enterprises, the multilevel marketer whose vitamins and skin creams she sells back home in Arizona. Visiting emaciated families in Malawi, Kipp …

The “Recurring” Issue at Tessera

Barron’s, 5 October 2015, 1060 words, (English)

Shares of Tessera Technologies were mired around 15 bucks in late 2011, when activist hedge fund Starboard Value took an interest in the floundering San Jose, Calif.-based company. Starboard fought its way onto Tessera’s board and by 2013 …

Opko Could Face a Big Challenge with Bio-Reference Purchase

Barron’s, 21 September 2015, 867 words, (English)

When legendary medical entrepreneur Phil Frost closed his purchase of Bio-Reference Laboratories last month, the acquisition cost him a lot less than the originally expected price of $1.5 billion. That’s because the share price of Frost’s …

Chinese Stock Promoter Charged

Barron’s, 14 September 2015, 652 words, (English)

Federal prosecutors unsealed fraud and money-laundering charges on Thursday against Benjamin Wey, 43, a stock promoter who has been the subject of several Barron’s stories. Among them was a 2010 story about the dubious quality of many …

Race for the Cure

Barron’s, 24 August 2015, 3013 words, (English)

Four years ago, Bob Carlson learned he had lung cancer and would probably be dead in 24 months. He endured witches’ brews of chemotherapies, but each treatment eventually failed and made the 72-year-old Connecticut retiree feel so sick that …

Zillow’s Big Price Cut Still Isn’t Enough

Barron’s, 10 August 2015, 420 words, (English)

When we wrote about the house-hunting Website Zillow Group last year (“Pricey Fixer-Upper,” Aug. 11), the shares were going for 140 bucks each, and it seemed to be a fast-growing but overpriced Internet stock (ticker: Z). Now, at $74.52, …

Concerns Remain About Canadian Lender

Barron’s, 3 August 2015, 301 words, (English)

On more than seven times their typical daily volume, shares of Toronto-based mortgage firm Home Capital Group bounced back last Thursday after the company reassured investors spooked by a shortfall in its June-quarter loan originations. The …

Canadian Subprime Lender Comes Up Short

Barron’s, 27 July 2015, 918 words, (English)

Home Capital Group has been one of Canada’s barn-burner stocks, rising more than 100-fold from its start in the subprime-mortgage business in the 1980s. Then, on a recent Friday afternoon, while many Canadians were watching Toronto’s Pan Am …

It’s Official: Fidelity Top Broker for the “Little Guy”

Barron’s, 13 July 2015, 924 words, (English)

It’s easy to see if one broker’s commission is cheaper than another’s. Before now, however, it was hard to know which brokers were saving you the most money through good trade execution — for example, by getting you a stock price that’s …

Fidelity Tops in Price Improvement for Retail Investors

Barron’s Online, 11 July 2015, 951 words, (English)

EDITOR’S NOTE: Due to a production error, this July 11, 2015 story was mistakenly re-published on July 22, 2016 as if it were a new story. It’s easy to see if one broker’s commission is cheaper than another’s. Before now, however, it was

Misgivings About a Health-Care Merger

Barron’s, 22 June 2015, 1031 words, (English)

When two odd people find their way to each other, it’s a small marvel. So it is with companies. See, for example, this month’s merger agreement between Opko Health and Bio-Reference Laboratories.

Take Out a Loan, but Don’t Buy the Stocks

Barron’s, 8 June 2015, 1481 words, (English)

The Internet is supplanting taxi drivers, travel agents, and investment advisors. Why not bankers? Online lending sites like Lending Club and On Deck Capital are popping up everywhere — offering borrowers rates below those of banks and …

Defying Our Forecast, SunEdison Shines

Barron’s, 1 June 2015, 592 words, (English)

A year ago, we described a new kind of investment vehicle called a YieldCo, invented by solar- and wind-power developers to package their projects into spinoffs that would yield nice dividends for income-oriented investors. Yet, we feared …

Tech Trader Daily: Uber’s Catch-22

Barron’s, 25 May 2015, 550 words, (English)

I thought I was dozing last week in my New Jersey bedroom when the Uber email arrived at 5:45 AM asking if I’d loved my just-completed first ride. In London.

F for Corinthian, ITT

Barron’s, 18 May 2015, 248 words, (English)

As Barron’s followed investors’ love — then hate — for commercial colleges, we flagged two companies as sticking students and their taxpayer guarantors with the highest cost per educational credit: Corinthian Colleges (ticker: COCOQ) and …

Social Security’s Predictions: Off by $1 Trillion

Barron’s, 11 May 2015, 2052 words, (English)

As chief actuary of the Social Security Administration, Steve Goss might not seem the type who would attract controversy — or even much attention. By all accounts, the career public servant, 66, is a conscientious technocrat. But with …

Hunting Liquid Assets

Barron’s, 27 April 2015, 1188 words, (English)

Talking With Disque Deane Jr., Matt Diserio, and Marc Robert Managers, Water Asset Management] Water wasn’t an obvious investment theme when Matt Diserio and Disque Deane Jr. launched their hedge fund 10 years ago. Now, every day brings news …

The Best Bets of a Stellar Short Seller

Barron’s, 30 March 2015, 1989 words, (English)

An interview with Mark Roberts Founder, Off Wall Street Consulting Group] Mark Roberts started Off Wall Street Consulting Group in May 1990. In the years since, his Cambridge, Mass.-based team has cranked out hundreds of well-researched …

The Little Guy Wins!

Barron’s, 2 March 2015, 3288 words, (English)

In the furor surrounding last year’s best-seller Flash Boys, by Michael Lewis, many retail investors were spooked by the book’s claim that high-frequency traders use their technology edge to pick off the little guys, who, the author claims, …

Tales of Russia’s First Activist Investor

Barron’s, 9 February 2015, 2411 words, (English)

[An interview with Bill Browder Founder, The Hermitage Fund] Bill Browder, A grandson of the onetime leader of the American Communist Party, embraced capitalism and ran the largest hedge fund in Russia — until officials there allegedly took …

For-Profit Schools’ Stocks Still Get Failing Grades

Barron’s, 5 January 2015, 567 words, (English)

The for-profit education industry was the stock market’s standout five years ago, when we published a wary cover story. University of Phoenix operator Apollo Education Group (ticker: APOL), had run laps around the broad market, as …

Stockpickers’ Blues

Barron’s, 1 December 2014, 1624 words, (English)

Wall Street has gone passivist. A few hedge-fund activists, including Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman, are having a good year, but less than 15% of the money managers who actively select stocks are ahead of their benchmarks. Active mutual …

Russia’s Magnitsky Case Takes on New Twists

Barron’s Online, 10 November 2014, 974 words, (English)

In a money laundering case that federal prosecutors link to an infamous Russian treasury theft, a Manhattan federal judge last Wednesday said he’d sharply narrow his freeze order on the assets of a well-connected Russian businessman. …

Why Alibaba Will Flatten Its Rival

Barron’s, 3 November 2014, 1378 words, (English)

As China’s populace leaps toward the middle class, hundreds of millions of newly minted consumers have quickly found their way from the corner store to the Internet mall. Online-shopping sites like those operated by Alibaba Group Holding …

A Sudden Cooling in SolarCity Shares

Barron’s, 13 October 2014, 355 words, (English)

In a month, SolarCity shares have fallen over 25% in a flat overall market, skidding below $54. What has cast such a shadow upon the stock? Deep in SolarCity’s latest investor presentation, on page 17, keen-eyed analysts noticed that the …

Trouble on the Farm

Barron’s, 29 September 2014, 2149 words, (English)

The price of corn has fallen by two-thirds in two years. Justin Crownover sold half his crop in May, when a bushel traded at a still profitable level of five bucks. Four months later the season’s corn supply is looming like a tsunami and …

A Tale of Losses, Layoffs, and Inversion

Barron’s, 15 September 2014, 378 words, (English)

Among companies stampeding to low-tax domiciles, Auxilium Pharmaceuticals stands out because it has never paid any corporate tax. Since its founding in 1999, the Chesterbrook, Pa.-based company has almost consistently lost money marketing …

Pricey Fixer-Upper

Barron’s, 11 August 2014, 3343 words, (English)

Some major Internet stocks have stumbled this year, but shares of residential real estate Website Zillow have soared about 70%. And thanks in part to a merger announcement on July 28, so have those of its former rival, Trulia. Tens of …

MercadoLibre’s eBay Problem

Barron’s, 7 July 2014, 473 words, (English)

The idea for the e-commerce company MercadoLibre came to Marcos Galperin when he was at Stanford’s business school in the 1990s: Clone eBay in Latin America. He succeeded admirably, growing the company’s revenues to $473 million in 2013, …

A Little Less Breathing Room

Barron’s, 30 June 2014, 999 words, (English)

At a market moment when some tech and bio stocks go for incalculable valuations, ResMed seems like a solid growth stock. Over a remarkable two decades, the company has grown sales at a double-digit annual rate by focusing on one thing: home …

Feds Take Aim at Drug-Industry Charities

Barron’s, 23 June 2014, 334 words, (English)

Medicare’s anti-fraud monitors warned last month that some drug-maker-funded “patient assistance” charities might have violated criminal and civil laws by steering patients to the drug maker’s high-priced treatments.

An Insurer Whose Risk Is in Its Accounting

Barron’s, 2 June 2014, 1769 words, (English)

AmTrust Financial Services has turned heads in the property and casualty insurance business with its dramatic growth, exceptional margins, and acquisitive ways. Revenue doubled in its latest quarter to $1.1 billion, lifting the stock 10% to …

Shining a Light on SunEdison’s Growth Strategy

Barron’s, 5 May 2014, 1140 words, (English)

From the solar industry’s 2007 peak, shares of the company now called SunEdison fell flaming, from $96 to less than $1.50 by 2012. Just two years later, SunEdison has worked its way back into Wall Street’s good graces with a $20 stock …

As a Big Brazilian Water Utility Runs Dry, Investors Get Parched

Barron’s, 28 April 2014, 443 words, (English)

Since our story a year ago on the misregulation of Sao Paulo’s water utility, the tribulations of the Brazilian company Companhia de Saneamento Basico do Estado de Sao Paulo have gone from bureaucratic to biblical. One of the driest years …

The Magnitsky Affair

Barron’s, 21 April 2014, 1621 words, (English)

With the Nasdaq recovering a bit in the last week, let’s hope the market for public offerings doesn’t lose its mojo. Recent initial offerings like Weibo and Sabre made their debuts below the prices originally expected. If the new-issue …

Weekday Trader: Questcor’s Remarkable Rise

Barron’s, 14 April 2014, 688 words, (English)

Wall Street opinion may have been split over the one-drug company Questcor Pharmaceuticals, but everyone can agree that the firm will wind up as a textbook case at business schools.

Questcor Acquired By Mallinckrodt for $5.6 Billion

Barron’s Online, 8 April 2014, 609 words, (English)

Wall Street opinion may have been split over the one-drug pharma company Questcor Pharmaceuticals, but everyone can agree that the company will wind up as a textbook case for business schools.

Tesla’s Giga-Plan Looks Too Ambitious

Barron’s, 31 March 2014, 1002 words, (English)

Electric-car maker Tesla Motors has grabbed the attention of the auto industry, the electronics industry, and of course, the stock market, where the company’s shares reached $265 a month ago, as Tesla’s chief, Elon Musk, outlined his daring …

SolarCity Gives Light Year New Meaning

Barron’s, 10 March 2014, 1023 words, (English)

Even as the market rockets to the heavens, some stocks make it look like it’s standing still. SolarCity is one of them. Friday’s closing price of $77.80 valued the San Mateo, Calif.-based company at nearly $6.5 billion — a 10-fold increase …

An Insurer’s Feat: Turning Losses Into Gains

Barron’s, 10 February 2014, 1686 words, (English)

The success of AmTrust Financial Services crowns the American dream of Michael and George Karfunkel. Emigrating from Hungary after the 1956 revolution, the brothers made themselves billionaires over the next half century. They built …

Hits, Misses, and Stealth Realty Plays

Barron’s, 30 December 2013, 1491 words, (English)

With the stock market effervescing toward the Champagne close of a year that toasted 50 record highs for the Dow industrials, you might think I’d be gnashing my teeth and muttering “Curses . . . foiled again!” as the writer of this weekly’s …

Remembering Abe Briloff

Barron’s Online, 21 December 2013, 574 words, (English)

Almost every tale of Abraham Briloff’s heroic feats exposing the dirty tricks hidden in corporate America’s financial statements leaves ’til last the revelation that Abe showed us what we were all missing while he was legally blind. We …

How Long Will Athenahealth Investors Keep the Faith?

Barron’s, 16 December 2013, 1176 words, (English)

Expectations were steep, going into athenahealth’s annual investor meet-up on Thursday. In the first 11 months of this year, shares of the Watertown, Mass., outfit had doubled to an all-time high of $144 as it signed up doctors for its …

Healthy Food, Unhealthy Valuation

Barron’s, 25 November 2013, 436 words, (English)

Since our skeptical cover story a year ago on health-food packager Hain Celestial Group (“Unnaturally Good,” Nov. 26, 2012), the company has increased its sales of so-called lifestyle foods such as Terra Chips and Sensible Portions Veggie …

Ready to Jump the Rails

Barron’s, 18 November 2013, 1272 words, (English)

As oil gushes from North Dakota and Western Canada, far away from most pipelines and refineries, railroads are carrying record volumes of crude in trains a hundred tank cars long. One of the best investment plays on this rising …

Is Tesla Running Out of Juice?

Barron’s, 11 November 2013, 506 words, (English)

The growth reported last week by Tesla Motors was impressive for a car company, let alone an American car maker still in its first year of volume production.

Too Close for Comfort?

Barron’s, 21 October 2013, 1705 words, (English)

Off-duty cops secured the meeting rooms at the Gaylord Texan Resort last month, as the Chronic Disease Fund held its yearly conference at the Dallas-area hotel. Days before, the medical charity had canceled the registrations of some …

The High Price of Digging Up Dirt in China

Barron’s, 30 September 2013, 2575 words, (English)

Canadian stock analyst Kun Huang has been locked in a Luoyang, China, jail for more than a year, charged with defaming a Canadian company whose shares trade on the New York and Toronto exchanges. In 2011, a report circulated by Huang’s …

From Moscow to Manhattan, the Long Way

Barron’s, 16 September 2013, 1104 words, (English)

Federal prosecutors last week sought the forfeiture of $24 million worth of Manhattan real estate they say was purchased in part with funds connected to the notorious theft of $230 million from Russia’s Treasury in 2007. The crime assumed …

Gentleman Pig Farmer — A tough investment banker has met his match breeding Hungarian hogs

Barron’s, 16 September 2013, 1880 words, (English)

As an investment banker, G. Chris Andersen has advised business titans such as T. Boone Pickens and John Malone. Last month, however, he was hawking pork burgers in a booth at the New Jersey State Fair.

Russian Money Laundering Case Leads to NY

Barron’s Online, 11 September 2013, 954 words, (English)

Federal prosecutors Tuesday sought the forfeiture of $24 million worth of Manhattan real estate they say was purchased in part with funds connected to the notorious theft of $230 million from Russia’s Treasury in 2007. The crime assumed …

Bubble Trouble at Tesla

Barron’s, 12 August 2013, 414 words, (English)

Electric-car pioneer Tesla Motors reported a triumphal June quarter last Wednesday, jolting the company’s shares to $153 (ticker: TSLA) by week’s end. At a market value for Tesla of $18 billion, investors are looking far beyond its current …

How Long Can Green Mountain Stay Hot?

Barron’s, 5 August 2013, 838 words, (English)

Bill McClure is once again selling single-serve coffee packs for the Keurig machines popularized by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. A couple of years back, Green Mountain stopped supplying its K-Cup coffee products to his little online …

Bargains on the Baghdad Exchange

Barron’s, 29 July 2013, 2525 words, (English)

[An interview with Geoffrey Batt and Grant Felgenhauer Managing Partners, Euphrates Iraq Fund] Americans sacrificed lives and billions of dollars in Iraq. Geoffrey Batt, 35, is optimistic that those sacrifices weren’t in vain. In 2010, the …

MercadoLibre’s Venezuela Problem

Barron’s, 15 July 2013, 923 words, (English)

MercadoLibre has risen smartly amid the sliding economies and markets of its Latin American turf. The online marketplace showed better than 35% revenue growth in its March 2013 quarter, spurring its shares (ticker: MELI) to an all-time high …

Robo-Shock for Intuitive Surgical

Barron’s, 15 July 2013, 369 words, (English)

Intuitive Surgical warned investors last Monday that its June quarter revenue from the sale of operating room robots had fallen 6% from the year-earlier period. In the mature market of the U.S., robot placements fell 27%. The news shocked …

Two Years After, Feds Probe Ebix

Barron’s, 24 June 2013, 225 words, (English)

Robin Raina seemed to have triumphed over short sellers of his software company Ebix, when he announced on May 1 that Goldman Sachs would buy Ebix for $820 million, or $20 a share. Over 15 years, the chief executive had built his business …

Sliding Down Iron Mountain’s Slippery Slope

Barron’s, 17 June 2013, 436 words, (English)

A landslide overtook shares of Iron Mountain early this month, when the record warehousing company warned that the Internal Revenue Service was having second thoughts about the company’s proposed conversion to a real-estate investment …

Recharge Now!

Barron’s, 10 June 2013, 2159 words, (English)

Google “Iron Man, Tony Stark” and within the first few results you’ll find Websites likening that superhero to Elon Musk, 41, the entrepreneur behind PayPal, the rocket maker SpaceX, and the electric-car sensation Tesla Motors. The …

Interpol Stands Up to Putin

Barron’s Online, 24 May 2013, 393 words, (English)

The international police organization Interpol on Friday rejected Russia’s request for help in arresting a hedge-fund chief who has accused the Russians of looting his fund.

Cash-Flow Drought

Barron’s, 29 April 2013, 949 words, (English)

Investors seeking emerging-economy juice from Brazil’s electric utilities got a jolt last year when the nation’s president, Dilma Rousseff, suggested slashing power bills to spur manufacturing and help consumers.

Quantamentally Speaking

Barron’s, 15 April 2013, 2185 words, (English)

An Interview With Adam Parker U.S. Equity Strategist, Morgan Stanley] Adam Parker, Morgan Stanley’s chief U.S. equity strategist, joined the firm in 2010 after 11 years at Sanford C. Bernstein. In his prior job, Parker, who holds a Ph.D. in …

Quantamentally Speaking

Barron’s Online, 13 April 2013, 2143 words, (English)

Adam Parker, Morgan Stanley’s chief U.S. equity strategist, joined the firm in 2010 after 11 years at Sanford C. Bernstein. In his prior job, Parker, who holds a Ph.D. in statistics, developed a fusion of quantitative and fundamental …

Vegas Magic Act: Making Russians’ Money Disappear

Barron’s, 1 April 2013, 2740 words, (English)

When Vassili Oxenuk sat down with some unhappy investors at San Francisco’s Grand Hyatt last May, he noted that they were meeting in the Warfield Room. “This is a war between you and me,” said the burly Russian emigre, according to one …

A Bad Feeling About Intuitive Surgical

Barron’s, 4 March 2013, 297 words, (English)

One advantage of Intuitive Surgical’s da Vinci robot is the way it steadies tremors in a doctor’s hands. There’s no such technology for shareholders of the stock (ticker: ISRG).

Forecast Remains Cloudy for First Solar

Barron’s Online, 1 March 2013, 478 words, (English)

It’s been a rough couple of days for shares of First Solar, which shed more than a quarter of its market value this week. The solar panel maker on Tuesday reported record sales of $1 billion for its December 2012 quarter, but an uncertain …

Robots in Search of Added Employment

Barron’s, 28 January 2013, 1429 words, (English)

On Wall Street, the robot reigns. Intuitive Surgical shares neared their all-time high last week, rising 11% to $578 after the maker of operating-room robots reported its earnings jumped 30% in 2012, to $15.98 a share. No other big …

The Dot-Com Era Finally Comes to an End

Barron’s, 7 January 2013, 1203 words, (English)

A new epoch begins this year on the Internet, ushered in by .MOVIE, .BEER, and perhaps, .FAIL. That tired old address suffix — .COM — will finally get some interesting company, as the directory overseers of the ‘net let loose with some …

More Clouds Gather Over Solar-Power Producers

Barron’s, 7 January 2013, 2236 words, (English)

[An Interview With Gordon L. Johnson Head of alternative-energy research, Axiom Capital Management] In recent years, overly optimistic analysts cost investors a pile of money in solar-energy stocks. Don’t blame Gordon Johnson. In a Sept. 28, …

Mystery: Who’s Buying All Those RVs?

Barron’s, 24 December 2012, 964 words, (English)

Travel trailers and motor homes are regaining favor among their baby-boomer fans. Investment researcher Mark Roberts isn’t one of them. Roberts is perplexed by the strong sales and stock performance of Thor Industries, the …

Ackman Spares No Venue in Trying to Extinguish Herbalife

Barron’s, 24 December 2012, 380 words, (English)

Activist hedge-fund manager Bill Ackman launched a remarkable crusade Thursday by renting a Manhattan auditorium to make a three-hour, 334-slide argument that the $5 billion New York-listed Herbalife is worth zero. Funds run by his Pershing …

Russian Informant’s Mysterious Death Fuels Speculation About the Cause

Barron’s, 3 December 2012, 615 words, (English)

Alexander Perepilichny’s puzzling death in a posh suburb of London set off a panic in Britain’s media last week. That’s because the Russian businessman, 44, had been the source of bank records that launched a Swiss money-laundering …

Unnaturally Good

Barron’s, 26 November 2012, 1658 words, (English)

Hain Celestial Group has reason to give thanks. While the grocery industry hungers for growth, sales have risen steadily for food that’s natural, organic, and free of antibiotics, gluten, meat, dairy, or genetically modified organisms. …

China Developer’s Problems Keep Building

Barron’s, 29 October 2012, 364 words, (English)

This past summer, we raised concerns about China’s residential-property developers, a vulnerable sector as that nation’s economy cools from red-hot. Our prime example: Evergrande Real Estate Group. Since we wrote (“A House of Straw?” July …

Medtronic Reaches for a Faster Beat

Barron’s, 15 October 2012, 582 words, (English)

Medical-device giant Medtronic two weeks ago agreed to an $800 million acquisition of China Kanghui Holdings, a Changzhou-based maker of orthopedic implants. The deal fits Medtronic’s strategy of seeking growth in developing nations now …

Sweating Out the Results of a Blood Test

Barron’s, 1 October 2012, 1385 words, (English)

Phillip Frost’s generosity is evident all around Miami, where his name adorns a university music school, a science center, and an art museum. The 75-year-old billionaire made a fortune building businesses like IVAX, a drug company whose …

Escape From Iron Mountain

Barron’s, 17 September 2012, 923 words, (English)

Iron Mountain shares shot up from $25 to $35 last year, when hedge-fund firm Elliott Management launched a proxy contest to oust management of the document-storage company. Revenue growth had been slowing at the Boston-based operator of …

 

 A House of Straw?

Barron’s, 2 July 2012, 1160 words, (English)

As China’s economy has boomed in the past two decades, its citizens have moved into better digs by the millions. And by the thousands, residential real-estate developers have rushed to build apartments and homes for the country’s swelling …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: Some Blemishes on a Beauty Business

Barron’s, 4 June 2012, 927 words, (English)

David Einhorn said nothing about Nu Skin, the multilevel marketing outfit whose shares tanked to $40 from $62 ahead of a May 16th conference where some had expected the hedge-fund celebrity to critique the company and its rival Herbalife …

 

 With Amazon in Hot Pursuit. . .

Barron’s, 28 May 2012, 880 words, (English)

As Latin America’s underdevelopment fades into memory, one of the businesses leading the region into the 21st Century is MercadoLibre, an online retail site that combines elements of eBay, PayPal and Amazon. Twelve years after founder and …

 

 Barron’s Mailbag: Questions of Compensation

Barron’s, 28 May 2012, 355 words, (English)

To the Editor:

In the May 14 article “Where Beauty is Skin Deep,” it was claimed “90% of [Herbalife’s] U.S. distributors make no profit,” a statement that is factually incorrect and misleading. It appears that Bill Alpert was only citing the …

 

 Where Beauty Is Skin Deep

Barron’s, 14 May 2012, 1931 words, (English)

In 2009 the anti-poverty program Grameen America opened an office in Omaha’s largely Latino south side, at the invitation of Warren Buffett’s family. Grameen had opened its first U.S. branch the year before in New York, making “microloans” …

 

 Fighting Investor-Rights Abuses in China

Barron’s, 7 May 2012, 2333 words, (English)

[An Interview With

Dan David Co-Founder, GeoInvesting]

Dan David was a one-time jewelry executive who didn’t know a word of Mandarin. Yet he helped unmask several frauds among the dozens of U.S.-listed China stocks that have burned investors …

 

 Clever Is as Clever Does

Barron’s, 16 April 2012, 1302 words, (English)

With America’s student loans pushing an estimated $1 trillion, it’s hard to ignore the for-profit education industry, which has added to that debt load at a faster rate than other teaching institutions. And among for-profit schools, ITT …

 

 Going With The Flow

Barron’s, 2 April 2012, 1275 words, (English)

Although rising gasoline prices are a sore point this election season, the price of domestic crude oil has languished. Why? Production in the North American heartland is rising faster than the inland crude can be piped to available …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: Inside Hedge Funds’ Ponzi Bets

Barron’s, 12 March 2012, 626 words, (English)

Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein is behind bars after bilking investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars. Now Jack Simony, the portfolio manager who directed $400 million into Rothstein’s fund on behalf of three New York hedge funds will …

 

 How Hedge Funds Got Hooked in a Ponzi Scheme

Barron’s, 27 February 2012, 1341 words, (English)

Scott Rothstein was a special kind of Ponzi schemer.

Unlike Bernie Madoff or Allen Stanford, who mostly hurt individual investors, the 49-year-old Rothstein sucked in a billion dollars from sophisticated investors — including New York hedge …

 

 Editor’s Letter: In the Footsteps of Clarence Barron

Barron’s, 27 February 2012, 579 words, (English)

Since Clarence Barron founded this magazine back in 1921, one of its goals has been to warn readers about trouble in the investment world.

Clarence himself exposed Charles Ponzi, the Boston swindler for whom the Ponzi scheme was named. In …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: Diamond Foods Cracks on Accounting Woes

Barron’s, 13 February 2012, 511 words, (English)

At the 47th Annual Colusa Farm Show on Wednesday, smartphones buzzed with news that Diamond Foods had acknowledged misaccounting for payments to the walnut growers whose farms fill Colusa County in northern California. Complaints from …

 

 Threats, Lies and Chinese Stocks

Barron’s, 30 January 2012, 941 words, (English)

Hundreds of Chinese businesses that became U.S.-listed stocks through a maneuver called a “reverse merger” now languish at penny-stock levels, down from tens of billions of dollars in aggregate market value a few years ago. Who’s to blame? …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: Chinese Company Fights Nasdaq Delisting

Barron’s, 2 January 2012, 478 words, (English)

On Dec. 20, CleanTech Innovations (ticker: CTEK.Pink Sheets) got a New York State Supreme Court judge to temporarily halt its delisting, which CleanTech says was “racially motivated” and inspired by the “vague and irresponsible” Barron’s …

 

 Stocks — The Trader: Parting Ways With Europe

Barron’s, 19 December 2011, 2066 words, (English)

Stocks fell about 3% last week but did manage to finish up from lows reached Wednesday. Market volatility shows little sign of abating, but trading was less panicky than such a big drop would have it. Is it possible all the volatility of …

 

 How a Putin Aide Gained $119 Million

Barron’s, 5 December 2011, 2280 words, (English)

Before his fame as an early investor in Facebook, Groupon and Twitter, the Moscow-based billionaire Alisher Usmanov bought 13% of the European steelmaker Corus Group, a business that employed thousands in the north of England when it was …

 

 Getting to the Nut of the Problem

Barron’s, 7 November 2011, 1083 words, (English)

After nearly a century as a walnut growers’ cooperative, Diamond Foods broke out of its shell with a 2005 initial public offering. The San Francisco company, which also sells pine nuts, almonds and pecans, proceeded to gobble up snack …

 

 The Floggings of First Solar and RIM

Barron’s, 7 November 2011, 1176 words, (English)

Last week offered several tipping points in tech stocks, to use an expression favored by fans of the new, new thing.

First Solar (ticker: FSLR), the blue-chip name in solar energy, conceded that the strategy that it and other solar companies …

 

 The Trouble at Fairholme

Barron’s, 24 October 2011, 2018 words, (English)

Bruce R. Berkowitz had plenty of admirers while his Fairholme Fund was tripling investors’ money over the past decade. Financial publications like this one encouraged readers to put their savings into the hands of the now 53-year-old …

 

 A Top Gun at Trend-Spotting

Barron’s, 17 October 2011, 2474 words, (English)

[An interview with Heidi Wood

Aerospace and Defense Analyst, Morgan Stanley]

Heidi Wood has followed aerospace and defense stocks for Morgan Stanley since 1999, so she’s no plebe. In fact, she gleefully recounts her long history of …

 

 Probing Questions About Cerner’s Health

Barron’s, 17 October 2011, 615 words, (English)

In a sickly market, Cerner is a noticeably healthy specimen. Shares of the hospital information-technology vendor are up 48% since start of the year, at a recent $70, while indexes have flat-lined. Cerner (ticker: CERN) dazzled investors …

 

 U.S. and China Play Chicken Over Accounting

Barron’s, 3 October 2011, 960 words, (English)

Experts are warning that a regulatory showdown between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and China’s Ministry of Finance could spiral out of control with consequences reminiscent of Dr. Strangelove and the Doomsday Device. …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: Tech Outfit Hit by Ill Wind From China

Barron’s, 26 September 2011, 298 words, (English)

American Superconductor has been pummeled by problems involving its main customer, and its shares (ticker: AMSC), at 5.08, are unlikely to recover soon.

 

 Joint Effort: Device Makers Look to Innovation

Barron’s, 26 September 2011, 2514 words, (English)

[An interview with Derrick Sung

Medical-Device Analyst, Bernstein Research]

Before Derrick Sung took over coverage of the medical-device industry for Bernstein Research three years ago, he worked for more than a decade in the business. The …

 

 Editor’s Letter: Barron’s Talent on the Move

Barron’s, 26 September 2011, 1049 words, (English)

Of all the things i’ve been blessed with these past 16 years as editor of Barron’s, none has been more important than our staff of talented journalists. As readers during that period, you have shown your approval for their work by …

 

 Stocks — The Trader: Stocks Skid 2.7% Friday on European Fears

Barron’s, 12 September 2011, 2117 words, (English)

Investors realized last week that a resolution to Europe’s financial crisis may be far more important to the future of the U.S. financial markets than just about anything President Obama can say or the Federal Reserve can do.

 

 Review & Preview

Barron’s, 12 September 2011, 1919 words, (English)

—

Last Week

 

   Dow Indicator 

 

   Dow Industrials            10992.13   -248.13 

   Dow Global Index             224.35     -7.72 

   10-Year Treasury Bonds         1.92     -0.08

 

 Review & Preview

Barron’s, 22 August 2011, 2197 words, (English)

Last Week

 

   Dow Indicator 

 

   Dow Industrials            10817.65   -451.37 

   Dow Global Index             222.93     -9.11 

   10-Year Treasury Bonds         2.07     -0.16

 

 Power Cut for Solar Stocks

Barron’s, 22 August 2011, 641 words, (English)

A downpour soaked solar stocks last week, as one company after another reported significant drops in pricing for photovoltaic products.

The largest maker of solar cells, JA Solar Holdings (ticker: JASO), actually had a negative gross margin …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: The College of “Boiler Room” Knowledge?

Barron’s, 15 August 2011, 465 words, (English)

The campus police want to break up the party.

In a Pittsburgh federal court last week, the U.S. and several states filed an expanded fraud complaint against Education Management, which runs dozens of widely advertised “art …

 

 Hitting the Switch on New Circuit Breakers

Barron’s, 15 August 2011, 1900 words, (English)

Just in the nick of time, it seems, stock exchanges have expanded a key safety mechanism aimed at preventing swoons like the May 2010 “flash crash,” when the Dow bizarrely dropped almost 1,000 points in 20 minutes, then snapped …

 

 Roundtable: The Smart Money Speaks

Barron’s, 15 August 2011, 3610 words, (English)

The dog days of summer? You gotta be kidding. It was more like the wild beasts of August last week, as stock markets around the world swooped and soared, leaving investors terrified and elated, depending on the hour and the day. It was hard …

 

 Prolonging A Foreign Tax Holiday

Barron’s, 18 July 2011, 1788 words, (English)

Shares of Ebix hit an all-time high of more than $30 in March, valuing the vendor of insurance software near $1.2 billion. Those numbers affirmed a decade-long turnaround, in which the Atlanta-based company had risen from a market cap of …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: The Trouble with Russia

Barron’s, 18 July 2011, 399 words, (English)

Russia’s official version of the prison death of Hermitage Capital lawyer Sergei Magnitsky got a sharp revision on July 5, when a human-rights council appointed by President Dmitry Medvedev reported that Magnitsky had been illegally …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: Bad News for A Gnarly Stock

Barron’s, 27 June 2011, 389 words, (English)

Last year we heralded the approval of a new treatment called Xiaflex for folks at risk of inheriting the “Viking disease,” a crippling finger deformity, common among those with North European roots. But we warned that the new …

 

 Even Short-Sellers Burned by Chinese Shares

Barron’s, 20 June 2011, 847 words, (English)

The epidemic fraud affecting dozens of U.S.-listed China stocks is one of this year’s big newspaper stories — after being one of last year’s big stories in your favorite stock-market weekly (see “Beware This Chinese …

 

 Barron’s Mailbag: Down Memory Lane

Barron’s, 20 June 2011, 336 words, (English)

To the Editor:

I enjoyed Bill Alpert’s story (“There will Be Blood,” May 23) because it took me down Memory Lane. [Bio-Reference Laboratories founder] Marc Grodman was/is one of the most dogged and brilliant men that I have …

 

 Keeping One Step Ahead of the News

Barron’s, 30 May 2011, 1535 words, (English)

Regulators are hotly pursuing insider trading. On May 11, federal prosecutors secured the conviction of Galleon hedge-fund boss Raj Rajaratnam for reaping over $60 million in profit by trading stocks on inside information, and federal …

 

 Russia’s Magnitsky Case: An Advertisement

Barron’s, 30 May 2011, 299 words, (English)

Swiss prosecutors have frozen eight million euros ($11.4 million) in Credit Suisse bank accounts of Vladlen Stepanov, a subject of our story about a $230 million tax scam in Russia that victimized the hedge-fund firm Hermitage Capital and …

 

 There Will Be Blood

Barron’s, 23 May 2011, 1760 words, (English)

In a brick industrial park amid whizzing New Jersey freeways, Bio-Reference Laboratories screens millions of patients each year for heart disease, infection, cancer or inherited disorders. Founder Marc D. Grodman proudly notes that when he …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: “Fredy” Bush Indicted in Financial Fraud

Barron’s, 16 May 2011, 327 words, (English)

A flamboyant entrepreneur in Chinese media whose self-dealing we exposed in 2007 was indicted last week by a federal grand jury in Washington. The charges allege that Loretta “Fredy” Bush conspired with longtime business associate …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: Questcor March Sweeps Past Our Pessimism

Barron’s, 9 May 2011, 513 words, (English)

Prescriptions for the sole drug of Questcor Pharmaceuticals show no sign of slowing, despite the dour forecasts we cited in a skeptical story (“Medical Marvel,” Feb. 7). The Anaheim, Calif., company reported net sales of reserves …

 

 Review & Preview

Barron’s, 2 May 2011, 2579 words, (English)

Last Week

 

  Dow Indicator 

 

   Dow Industrials            12810.54   +304.55 

   Dow Global Index             274.10     +4.56 

   10-Year Treasury Bonds         3.29     -0.10

 

 Barron’s Mailbag: An Important Story

Barron’s, 2 May 2011, 140 words, (English)

To the Editor:

Bill Alpert’s “Crime and Punishment in Putin’s Russia” is one of those rare and insightful pieces that summarizes the investment risks present in certain emerging markets.

 

 Crime and Punishment in Putin’s Russia

Barron’s, 18 April 2011, 3047 words, (English)

Russian police say they have closed the case file on the country’s largest tax fraud. It occurred on December 24 in 2007, when Moscow tax officials approved a same-day refund of 5.4 billion rubles — or $230 million — to a gang …

 

 Going With the Flow

Barron’s, 18 April 2011, 698 words, (English)

Cash flow among S&P 500 companies set a record in 2010, surging to $1.15 trillion from the previous high of $1.12 trillion in 2006. Free cash flow (operating cash flow minus capital expenditures) also hit a record: $495 billion last …

 

 The Alpha Advantage

Barron’s, 11 April 2011, 977 words, (English)

Mutual-fund critics have complained for years that an active stockpicker rarely beats an index fund over time. The few managers that outperform tend to raise their fees, or increase the assets they manage, until the gains to their investors …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: A Rude Education for Apollo Fans

Barron’s, 11 April 2011, 615 words, (English)

In the Apollo Group’s quarter ended in February, revenue at the for-profit school fell for the first time in memory. As the company broke the news on March 29 and warned that enrollment at its University of Phoenix could keep sliding …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: Supersized Cause for Worry

Barron’s, 11 April 2011, 300 words, (English)

When we read the Shanghai prospectus for Sinovel Wind Group, we began to worry for the shareholders of a U.S. company that was getting 80% of its revenue from the wind-turbine maker: American Superconductor (ticker: AMSC).

 

 Italy’s Solar Orgy

Barron’s, 21 February 2011, 988 words, (English)

Italy has found another passion. This time, it’s solar energy. At a hearing last month in that nation’s senate, regulators reported a subsidy offer for solar-generated electricity had elicited 2 1/2 times more installations than …

 

 Medical Marvel

Barron’s, 7 February 2011, 1107 words, (English)

For years, Questcor Pharmaceuticals lost money making Acthar, a drug for desperately ill babies. Then in 2007, it found a success strategy. It raised Acthar’s price from $1,650 a vial to $23,000, and has been solidly profitable ever …

 

 Mergers That Don’t Enrich Shareholders

Barron’s, 3 January 2011, 940 words, (English)

We were on to something when we warned investors against the hundreds of Chinese businesses that had their shares listed on U.S. exchanges through the back-door technique of reverse-takeovers (“Beware This Chinese Export,” Aug. …

 

 Flagging Winds from China

Barron’s, 13 December 2010, 820 words, (English)

Greg Yurek kept American Superconductor aloft through two decades as a public company, searching for a profitable market for its high-power wire. The company rode the dot-com surge to a $75 share price, then back down to $3.50 as it amassed …

 

 Barron’s Mailbag: Chinese Reverse Mergers

Barron’s, 13 December 2010, 471 words, (English)

To the Editor:

Regarding your article entitled “Beware This Chinese Import” (Aug. 28), I would like to take issue with the inferences drawn regarding the Chinese reverse- merger market and the way in which CCG Investor Relations, …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: Compensation Issues Cloud Tetragon’s Value

Barron’s, 29 November 2010, 769 words, (English)

Trading at a discount of almost 40% to book value, the Amsterdam-listed shares of Tetragon Financial Group (ticker: TFG.Netherlands) seem to underrate the company’s position as one of the few well-capitalized investors in the …

 

 Barron’s Mailbag: Frustrated Owner

Barron’s, 29 November 2010, 196 words, (English)

To the Editor:

I read with interest Bill Alpert’s Nov. 1 article regarding Tetragon Financial (“Surviving to Fight Another Day”). As an approximate 10% owner of Tetragon, I concur with his view that the shares are undervalued. …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: Pickens’ Clean Energy Stock Runs Out of Gas

Barron’s, 22 November 2010, 402 words, (English)

Poor T. Boone Pickens can’t seem to do well by doing good.

Six months ago (“T. Boone Pickens’ Gassy Stock,” April 12), we noted that his “Pickens Plan” for independence from foreign oil wasn’t getting much …

 

 Our Gadget of the Week: High Speed, Tight Deadline

Barron’s, 22 November 2010, 372 words, (English)

When Clearwire said it needed to raise cash, we rushed to finish this review of its 4G wireless service. The mobile-Internet provider (ticker: CLWR) just extended coverage to New York, and we sampled its Clear Internet + data service — …

 

 Foreign Investment — Asian Trader: China Jitters: Macro & Micro

Barron’s, 15 November 2010, 626 words, (English)

Investors in Chinese stocks got spooked last week by events large and small. On a macro scale, government data Thursday showed that China’s consumer-price index had jumped 4.4% in October, from the prior-year period. Predictions of …

 

 Surviving to Fight Another Day

Barron’s, 1 November 2010, 885 words, (English)

Soon after Tetragon Financial Group’s initial offering in April 2007, its strategy began to look like a bad idea. Tetragon had filled its portfolio with a type of collateralized-debt obligation that had delivered secure, stable returns …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: Selloff Cuts Into Robot Maker’s Shares

Barron’s, 25 October 2010, 384 words, (English)

The shares of surgical-robot maker Intuitive Surgical showed their range of motion again last week. September-quarter surgeries performed on its da Vinci systems rose 33% from the prior-year period, but investors had hoped for at least 35% …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: Airline Shares Will Stay Airborne

Barron’s, 25 October 2010, 330 words, (English)

Most airlines have just reported their best September quarter in three years. Thanks to international travel, restrained aircraft capacity and robust fare prices, carriers lifted their key performance measure: average revenue per mile, also …

 

 Dueling Views of Florida’s St. Joe

Barron’s, 18 October 2010, 462 words, (English)

Investing doesn’t get more dramatic than it did Wednesday at the Value Investing Congress in New York, where hedge-fund manager David Einhorn took apart the St. Joe Company in 139 slides. Before his speech had even ended, shares in the …

 

 Popular Vote Turns Against World Wrestling

Barron’s, 4 October 2010, 739 words, (English)

In her campaign to become U.S. senator from Connecticut, Linda McMahon urges voters to consider her “real-life business experience” at World Wrestling Entertainment — the promoter of staged brawls like SmackDown and Hell in a …

 

 Solar Outlook: Cloudy

Barron’s, 27 September 2010, 1774 words, (English)

Interview with Aaron Chew

Solar analyst, Hapoalim Securities

Barron’s: What makes you such an expert?

Chew: I was in equity research at JPMorgan for about four years. Then I worked at a clean-tech incubator in New York.

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: Few Options Beyond a Big Dividend Payout

Barron’s, 27 September 2010, 367 words, (English)

In the year since we attended a free “workshop” by the Optionetics unit of optionsXpress Holdings (ticker: OXPS) the online broker’s shares have dropped about 11% to 15.34. That’s half the decline suffered by rivals like …

 

 Barron’s Mailbag: Cheap Chinese Stocks

Barron’s, 13 September 2010, 315 words, (English)

To the Editor:

Your Aug. 30 article “Beware This Chinese Export” may be true, but harping repeatedly on a few rotten eggs creates the impression the entire group of stocks is bogus. Orient Paper may be cheating, a subject currently …

 

 Foreign Investment Asian Trader: China’s Nascent Stock Rally Could End Soon

Barron’s, 6 September 2010, 890 words, (English)

Corporate earnings in China rose sharply in this year’s first half, vindicating a recent rebound in stock prices. Yet new challenges are facing companies, suggesting equities could have trouble making further gains in the near term.

 

 Beware This Chinese Export

Barron’s, 30 August 2010, 4059 words, (English)

In China, if you want your business listed on an American stock exchange, you may find yourself talking to Du Qingsong. His electronics company was among the first to reach Nasdaq back in 1997. From the city of Xi’an, the end of the …

 

 Review &Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: Time to Take Short-Sale Profits in Battered For-Profit School Stocks?

Barron’s, 9 August 2010, 426 words, (English)

For-profit education stocks have earned flunking grades since we warned that the industry was saddling students with billions in federally backed loans that many likely aren’t able to repay. Wednesday investigators showed a Senate …

 

 More Heat on First Solar

Barron’s, 26 July 2010, 651 words, (English)

First Solar has worked mightily in the last year to reassure investors that its “thin-film” solar-energy panels will continue to enjoy a cost advantage over rivals’ increasingly cheap silicon-based wares. Shares of Tempe, …

 

 Good Medicine, Not-So-Great Math

Barron’s, 28 June 2010, 1029 words, (English)

A marvelous new treatment arrived this spring for a disease that for a millennium has crippled people of North European descent. This drug, Xiaflex, is the first nonsurgical remedy for the finger-gnarling condition called Dupuytren’s …

 

 Finding the Green in the Family Tree

Barron’s, 7 June 2010, 881 words, (English)

Earlier this spring, when football legend Emmitt Smith appeared on the NBC series Who Do You Think You Are? to search for his family’s roots, nearly seven million Americans were tuned in when he learned that his ancestors included not …

 

 T. Boone Pickens’ Gassy Stock

Barron’s, 12 April 2010, 2088 words, (English)

T. Boone Pickens says he started promoting natural-gas- fueled vehicles back in 1988, hoping to boost the price of his company’s natural gas. “I predicted I would do it within three years,” says the 81-year-old tycoon. …

 

 Review &Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: Picture Darkens For Two Solar Stocks

Barron’s, 5 April 2010, 373 words, (English)

Solar-energy investors haven’t done well in the past year by doing good. We warned a year ago that declining European subsidies and cheap silicon-based alternatives posed threats to First Solar (ticker: FSLR) and Energy Conversion …

 

 Smart Software Maker Has Gotten Ahead of Itself

Barron’s, 29 March 2010, 1085 words, (English)

As one of the few software companies in London’s FTSE-100 Index, Autonomy is a source of national pride and wonder. Investors in the U.K. don’t see many companies with earnings growth near 60% and a flair for Bayesian statistics. …

 

 Aiding the Drug Cartels

Barron’s, 22 March 2010, 641 words, (English)

Prosecutors in Miami announced $160 million in money-laundering penalties against Wachovia Bank on Wednesday, the largest penalty ever obtained under federal anti-money-laundering laws. The bank acknowledged its failure to adequately …

 

 Barron’s Mailbag: Other Side of The Post

Barron’s, 22 March 2010, 317 words, (English)

To the Editor:

The March 8 Streetwise column item on the Washington Post company — about a Department of Education program review of its Kaplan education subsidiary — did not mention that another DOE review of the company, begun Jan. 3, …

 

 Streetwise: Apathy Runs Wild; Washington Post Scooped

Barron’s, 8 March 2010, 802 words, (English)

People on the street are talking a lot about how little traffic they’re seeing.

Light traffic, that is, in stock-trading volume, which has been below average for a month, and been generally unimpressive since spring 2009, following the …

 

 Barron’s Mailbag: Golden Opportunity?

Barron’s, 1 March 2010, 393 words, (English)

To the Editor:

Bill Alpert’s Feb. 15 article “There’s (Possibly) Gold in Them Thar Hills” mentions insider selling at Seabridge Gold without acknowledging that insider purchases have exceeded insider sales. It says that …

 

 There’s (Possibly) Gold in Them Thar Hills

Barron’s, 15 February 2010, 2215 words, (English)

Gold prices have trebled in recent years. The big returns, however, have been in little gold stocks — exploration outfits known as “juniors.” These are the ever-hopeful speculations built upon the drill cores and inferences of a …

 

 Review &Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: Fear Not, Femsa Hasn’t Gone Flat

Barron’s, 18 January 2010, 314 words, (English)

Femsa’s sale of its mexican beer business to Heineken should have been cause for celebration. Instead, the $5.2 billion deal caused a hiccup in Femsa shares (ticker: FMX). Disappointed bulls dropped Femsa ADRs by 14%, from about 50 to …

 

 Review &Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: Can IMAX Keep Flying After Avatar?

Barron’s, 11 January 2010, 415 words, (English)

The Securities and Exchange Commission is still investigating the way IMAX used to keep its books, but the company is finally in the black, thanks toa new digital 3-D technology, an expanded network of theaters and IMAX-perfect movies like …

 

 Deal…or No Deal

Barron’s, 28 December 2009, 571 words, (English)

This column’s usual proprietor — Mark Veverka — expends much effort keeping readers abreast, and ahead, of tech-industry takeovers. As I man the shop for the holidays, I thought to review the expected and unexpected transactions of …

 

 The Dow’s Decade: More Bubbles Than Bubbly

Barron’s, 21 December 2009, 520 words, (English)

The “pop!” heard at the start of this decade wasn’t from a champagne cork; it was the stock market bursting from the tech bubble’s hot air. Ten years later, the Dow hasn’t fully recovered.

 

 Why Valeant Bought Shares

Barron’s, 14 December 2009, 533 words, (English)

We were dismayed that Valeant Pharmaceuticals declined to talk to us for a story that questioned the market’s valuation of the company and its proposed drug for epilepsy (“Hot Drug Stock in Need of a Chill Pill,” Nov. 23). …

 

 Review &Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: Risks Grow at For-Profit Schools

Barron’s, 7 December 2009, 497 words, (English)

For-profit educators took fright last Monday when the federal Department of Education suggested tougher rules for the industry’s recruiting and tuition. The draft rules — to be discussed this week by an advisory panel — would raise …

 

 Hot Drug Stock in Need of a Chill Pill

Barron’s, 23 November 2009, 912 words, (English)

After dissident shareholders took control of ICN Pharmaceuticals from founder Milan Panic seven years ago, the controversial entrepreneur said they had “destroyed what I dreamed.” But since then, the renamed Valeant …

 

 Barron’s Mailbag: Earning and Learning

Barron’s, 23 November 2009, 360 words, (English)

To the Editor:

The Nov. 9 cover story (“Leveraging Up To Learn”) presented a negative view of the proprietary education market. Its conclusion that investors should avoid the sector was based on partial information and is …

 

 Leveraging Up To Learn

Barron’s, 9 November 2009, 2186 words, (English)

The for-profit college business grew sensationally right through the recession. September-quarter enrollments rose 20% to 50% across the industry, from little Grand Canyon Education (ticker:LOPE) to giant Apollo Group (APOL), parent of the …

 

 Review &Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: Dubious Get-Rich Plans, Part II

Barron’s, 26 October 2009, 259 words, (English)

The optionetics trading workshop we attended in July was a tawdry “get rich quick” pitch by a guy named Mike Vogel, who said he’d made easy money with strategies taught by Optionetics — a seminar business recently acquired …

 

 All Pumped Up With Nowhere to Go

Barron’s, 19 October 2009, 848 words, (English)

EXTERRAN HOLDINGS IS THE largest independent builder and operator of the big pumps that drive natural gas out of wells and send it along pipelines. The Houston company resulted from the 2007 merger of two gas-compression rivals, and …

 

 Supply Glut Will Put the Heat on Solar Stocks

Barron’s, 28 September 2009, 2416 words, (English)

Interview With Gordon L. Johnson II

Solar-Energy Analyst, Hapoalim Securities

Solar-Energy stocks have been more volatile than the broad market in the past year, and one of the most influential commentators on the group has been Gordon L. …

 

 OptionsXpress: Out of the Money?

Barron’s, 28 September 2009, 1442 words, (English)

When George Fontanills e-mailed me about his high-profit, low-risk strategies to make money regardless of market direction, I resolved to take in a free workshop from Optionetics, the outfit that’s shared Fontanills’ trading …

 

 Stocks — The Trader: September Isn’t Living Up to Its Reputation

Barron’s, 14 September 2009, 1601 words, (English)

Go figure. September has long been the worst month for stocks. So it makes sense that gold, a bellwether of inflation fears and anti-stock sentiment, has jumped higher, ending at $1004.90 an ounce last week, its highest close this year. And …

 

 Stocks — The Trader: Stocks Slip 1% as Financials Flounder

Barron’s, 7 September 2009, 1423 words, (English)

Financial markets are exhibiting symptoms of anxiety disorder, after six months in recovery. Financial shares led a sharp retreat by stocks on Tuesday. Treasury yields are up, while gold is spurting ahead of other commodities.

 

 Powering First Solar

Barron’s, 17 August 2009, 556 words, (English)

In the weeks before First Solar reported June-quarter results, the solar-energy leader’s stock ran from 140 to 175 — pushing its market value toward $15 billion. And when the June numbers came out, they looked phenomenal. Sales had …

 

 Allegiant May Be Headed for a Turbulent Ride

Barron’s, 10 August 2009, 985 words, (English)

Airline stocks have provided a rotten ride in the past couple of years. Even Southwest Airlines bumped investors who thought they had a guaranteed ticket to seventh heaven. But one airline has defied the industry’s sputtering air …

 

 Put It on MasterCard

Barron’s, 27 July 2009, 1673 words, (English)

MasterCard is outnumbered by Visa in most every way. Visa handles 60% of the world’s card swipes, MasterCard about 30%. Visa carries more debit-card transactions. And even after a recent bounce in both stocks, Visa shares go for about …

 

 Barron’s Mailbag: Measure Performance

Barron’s, 20 July 2009, 217 words, (English)

To the Editor:

The comparative effectiveness studies that Bill Alpert discusses in the July 6 Tech Trader column “Marshalling Evidence for What Makes Sense in Health Care” are a crucial first step toward improving our nation’s …

 

 Marshalling Evidence for What Makes Sense in Health Care

Barron’s, 6 July 2009, 1047 words, (English)

Two government reports Tuesday offered early hints of the potential industry impact of a $1.1 billion federal program to compare the medical benefit and cost-effectiveness of surgeries, medicines and medical devices. The reports — by the …

 

 Shooting a Hole in the Outlook for Gun Stocks

Barron’s, 22 June 2009, 1142 words, (English)

The Obama Gun Run is slowing.

When the Democrats swept into Washington in November, gun fanciers scrambled for 15-round pistols and tactical rifles equipped with grenade launchers, flash suppressors and bayonets — in fear the new …

 

 Review &Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: Strange Trading at Russell Deadline

Barron’s, 8 June 2009, 531 words, (English)

The close of trading on Friday, May 29, was the once-a-year moment when Russell Investments measures stocks for inclusion in its influential small-cap index. Just as we predicted, several stocks traded in strange ways that could evidence …

 

 Barron’s Mailbag: Modest Vulnerabilities

Barron’s, 8 June 2009, 378 words, (English)

To the Editor:

The May 18 story “The Trouble with Transparency,” about recent research on Russell’s annual index-reconstitution process, focused on stocks hovering near the cutoff point for inclusion into the Russell 3000 …

 

 Green Mountain Coffee: Too Hot to Hold?

Barron’s, 1 June 2009, 832 words, (English)

With its popular organic coffee and hot stock, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters has warmed many an investor’s heart. The company’s strong sales of Keurig brewers and the associated single-portion coffee cartridges, known as …

 

 Review &Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: First Solar Faces Sweltering Week Ahead

Barron’s, 25 May 2009, 515 words, (English)

The coming week could get uncomfortably hot for First Solar, the solar- panel producer seemingly unscathed by its industry’s sliding prices.

 

 The Trouble With Transparency

Barron’s, 18 May 2009, 977 words, (English)

Dale Rosenthal made money in Grad School playing the Russell 2000 Index’s reconstitution. The small-cap benchmark’s spring shuffle is a favorite bet for quants like Rosenthal, who now teaches finance at the University of Illinois …

 

 Barron’s Mailbag: Expose or Hatchet Job?

Barron’s, 11 May 2009, 216 words, (English)

To the Editor:

Bill Alpert’s April 27 “Pumping It Up” article missed the mark and wasn’t creditable. He failed to adequately report on Zehil’s alleged fraud of $18 million.

 

 Pumping It Up

Barron’s, 27 April 2009, 1754 words, (English)

Calling himself “the other oracle from Omaha,” Mike Schaefer tells his newsletter readers that he learned about stocks hanging around the house of his neighbor, Warren Buffett. On Buffett’s advice, Schaefer says, he became an …

 

 Review &Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: The Sun Also Rises — but Slowly

Barron’s, 6 April 2009, 614 words, (English)

IT MAY BE A YEAR BEFORE APPLIED MAterials sees a spring thaw. The clouds blanketing the big supplier of semiconductor- production gear and its customers are thicker than even Barron’s expected when we skeptically examined the …

 

 Nightfall Comes to Solar Land

Barron’s, 30 March 2009, 1663 words, (English)

A year ago, refined silicon for solar cells cost 450 bucks a kilo on the spot market. You can have it today for closer to 100 and if you wait a month it may be cheaper still. Thanks to the workings of international capitalism, the 90% …

 

 Kings Of The Jungle

Barron’s, 23 March 2009, 7907 words, (English)

Frankly, we had some concerns about drawing up our annual list of the 30 Most Respected CEOs. In a year of devastating losses, plunging stock prices and endless scandal, could we really find 30 CEOs worthy of great respect? To our surprise, …

 

 Blowing the Whistle — and Paying the Price

Barron’s, 9 March 2009, 875 words, (English)

When Wachovia Bank compliance officer Martin Woods started seeing traveler’s checks arrive at his London branch from Mexican currency exchanges in 2006 — sequentially numbered, improperly endorsed, large denomination — he became …

 

 Santander Heaps Insult on Madoff Injury

Barron’s, 23 February 2009, 944 words, (English)

Spain’s giant Banco Santander got some good press last month with its offer to compensate clients for nearly $2 billion lost in Bernard L. Madoff’s alleged Ponzi scheme. Santander’s “solution” to its Madoff mess …

 

 Barron’s Mailbag: Cramer on the Hot Seat

Barron’s, 23 February 2009, 499 words, (English)

To the Editor:

Bill Alpert’s critique of Jim Cramer’s stock recommendations (“Cramer’s Star Outshines His Stock Picks,” Feb. 9) completely missed the point.

 

 Streetwise: Taking the Really Long View

Barron’s, 9 February 2009, 1692 words, (English)

It better be good.

After a few weeks of diffident, anxious, sideways trading in which investors seemed to shed the very idea that a government financial-support plan could ever work, word that Team Obama would divulge its strategy and …

 

 Cramer’s Star Outshines His Stock Picks

Barron’s, 9 February 2009, 2136 words, (English)

Jim Cramer’s celebrity is bigger than ever. As financial markets came apart in October, more than 600,000 viewers turned to his Mad Money show — the biggest crowd since the Nielsen Company started tracking the CNBC series. He is …

 

 Review &Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: Outlook Darkens At LDK Solar

Barron’s, 19 January 2009, 242 words, (English)

LDK Solar, the silicon-wafer producer in Xinyu City, China, warned Jan. 5 that revenue for the December quarter was only about 75% of the roughly $560 million that the company had led investors to expect. Gross margins were closer to 10% …

 

 Review &Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: The Day the Robots Stumbled

Barron’s, 12 January 2009, 384 words, (English)

Last Wednesday, robotic-surgery pioneer Intuitive Surgical warned of a December-quarter shortfall. Opening sharply lower on Thursday, the shares rose and then subsided, ending the week some 15% lower on the news. At 101.80, this onetime …

 

 Review &Preview

Barron’s, 5 January 2009, 2070 words, (English)

Last Week

Dow Indicator

 

Dow Industrials           9034.69     + 519.14 

Dow World Index           176.405       + 9.61 

10-Year Treasury Bonds       2.41       + 0.27

 

 A Cool Head Prevails

Barron’s, 29 December 2008, 2527 words, (English)

Interview with Mark Roberts

Founder, Off Wall Street Consulting Group

For almost two decades, Mark Roberts has run one of the most successful research boutiques on Wall Street. Sorry. We mean off Wall Street. From a side street in Cambridge, …

 

 A Bargain When the Chips Are Down

Barron’s, 15 December 2008, 810 words, (English)

Among today’s struggling industries, the semiconductor business hurts as much as any. Advanced Micro Devices makes more red ink than microprocessors. Memory makers like Micron Technology and Qimonda lose hundreds of millions a quarter. …

 

 Needed: New Policies

Barron’s, 24 November 2008, 1052 words, (English)

Disaster threatens the decade-long attempt by Jessica Bibliowicz to succeed in a business apart from her dad Sandy Weill, the grand conglomerator of Travelers and Citigroup. Shares of National Financial Partners, the insurance business that …

 

 The Threat to a Lender of Last Resort

Barron’s, 10 November 2008, 1907 words, (English)

Steve Trager has been a regular guest on Fox Business Network shows exploring the credit crisis. He dispenses Main Street insights from Louisville, where his Republic Bancorp is Kentucky’s largest locally owned bank. “We are …

 

 Review &Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: Martial-Arts Venture Takes a Kicking

Barron’s, 27 October 2008, 347 words, (English)

Instead of a sports-business triumph, it was a travesty. Kimbo Slice, a fighter hyped by mixed-martial-arts venture ProElite, got knocked out in the first 14 seconds of his CBS prime-time match. That’s one reason CBS last week declined …

 

 When the Market Turns, the Last Shall Be First

Barron’s, 20 October 2008, 928 words, (English)

If this market hasn’t sent you to cash, there’s a good chance you’ve sought refuge in the “quality trade” — filling your portfolio with brand-name businesses and rock-solid balance sheets like ExxonMobil (ticker: …

 

 AIG’s New Policy: Sell,Sell,Sell

Barron’s, 6 October 2008, 487 words, (English)

Just about everything acquired by American International Group in the past 20 years is for sale, the insurance giant said Friday, to help pay down AIG’s borrowings under an $85 billion credit lifeline extended by Uncle Sam two weeks …

 

 Going Where the Smart Money Is

Barron’s, 29 September 2008, 666 words, (English)

This is the year investors bolted from a stock at the first whiff of credit problems. Brokers. Lenders. Insurers. Gone. Gone. Gone. Value stocks floundered, despite attractive book values. High-yielding dividends counted for little. But …

 

 2008 Luxury Autos: The Latest Kings of the Road

Barron’s, 22 September 2008, 2412 words, (English)

THE R8 IS CERTAINLY NOT the most practical car. There’s little room inside for much more than a driver, passenger, and maybe, if you push it, a golf bag. And with a roofline about the height of my navel, the two-door mid-engine coupe …

 

 Review &Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: No News Isn’t Good News for ParkerVision

Barron’s, 8 September 2008, 599 words, (English)

After we wrote about Parkervision, its 15-year string of stock sales ($175 million worth) and its promised technological breakthroughs, the shares dipped for a day. Then they doubled. The stock hit a high of 15.82 precisely on December 31, …

 

 Putting BIDZ.com Shares on Sale

Barron’s, 1 September 2008, 2322 words, (English)

Over 20 years, David Zinberg has risen from a pawnbroker and bail bondsman to become chief executive of one of the largest online retailers of jewelry, BIDZ.com. This year, he expects his Website to auction nearly $250 million worth of …

 

 Review &Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: Plot, Alliances Shift In Superhero Drama

Barron’s, 25 August 2008, 400 words, (English)

Blows are flying in all directions in the strange legal fight over rights to Spider-Man and other Marvel superheroes created by Stan Lee. Last week, the 85-year-old comic book auteur filed fraud charges against Peter F. Paul, the convicted …

 

 Few Homers, Lots of Hits

Barron’s, 25 August 2008, 1372 words, (English)

Talking With

Praveen Gottipalli

Director of Equity Investments,

Symphony Asset Management

“If you try to hit too many home runs, you also tend to strike out more often,” says Praveen Gottipalli. A childhood Philadelphia Phillies fan, …

 

 Barron’s Mailbag: Checking the Books

Barron’s, 25 August 2008, 270 words, (English)

To the Editor:

After what by all accounts was a spectacular earnings announcement and substantially upwardly revised forward guidance, perhaps it is time for Bill Alpert to acknowledge he was wrong in March when he unfairly maligned LDK on …

 

 Prospects of Rain in Spain Make for Gloomy Solar Week

Barron’s, 28 July 2008, 1166 words, (English)

Solar stocks got burned last week, yet again.

As I noted in a feature story in last week’s issue, the industry is growing rapidly but faces considerable short-term headwinds. Getting the most attention lately is the prospect of a …

 

 Robot Dreams

Barron’s, 28 July 2008, 2685 words, (English)

When he told me I had prostate cancer, my doctor’s tone was sympathetic and vigilant — as if ready to catch me should I collapse. He needn’t have worried. I instantly reverted to reporting mode, grilling him about treatments and …

 

 Barron’s Mailbag: Creative Rights

Barron’s, 21 July 2008, 442 words, (English)

To the Editor:

Despite the charges reported in the June 30 article “The Rage Offstage at Marvel,” Stan Lee was always a Marvel employee. While much of his writing was done at home instead of the office, he was writing as an …

 

 The Numbers Speak for Themselves

Barron’s, 14 July 2008, 1392 words, (English)

Wall Street’s quants have been forced back to the drawing board. In 2007, many of these computer-skilled fund managers underperformed their liberal arts peers for the first time in almost a decade. Returns averaged 6% last year for the …

 

 The Rage Offstage at Marvel

Barron’s, 30 June 2008, 1232 words, (English)

The comic book’s splash page would show a close-up of Peter F. Paul brooding about Marvel Entertainment, its creative force Stan Lee and the Clintons. The next panel would reveal the electronic ankle bracelet that’s kept Paul …

 

 The Squeeze on Shire

Barron’s, 16 June 2008, 970 words, (English)

Health-care investors are obsessed with Shire’s “post-patent” period. This non-Gregorian Calendar scheme measures the British drug maker by the day that Adderall XR goes off patent: April 1, 2009. The “Before/After …

 

 Mexican Standoff: a New Threat to Oil

Barron’s, 16 June 2008, 878 words, (English)

Ay, caramba! Our petroleum and natural-gas supply pains could get a lot sharper, owing to both the growing potential for political instability in Mexico, which is waging war against powerful, home-grown drug cartels, and to soaring levels …

 

 Review &Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: Biovail Cops a Plea; Will Pay $22 Million

Barron’s, 9 June 2008, 287 words, (English)

Biovail has settled a criminal investigation into its marketing of the drug Cardizem LA by pleading guilty to conspiracy charges and agreeing to pay a $22 million fine.

 

 Review &Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: Timminco Holder’s IPO Is One to Avoid

Barron’s, 19 May 2008, 384 words, (English)

Canada’s most celebrated money manager, Eric Sprott, pulled off his investment firm’s initial offering last week.

The roadshow was complicated by our disclosure that his recent returns were attributable in large part to one stock, …

 

 Review &Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: Thomson Reuters Marriage Should Work

Barron’s, 12 May 2008, 303 words, (English)

The new Thomson Reuters recently reported solid results for its March quarter, and held its first investor Webcast since the companies closed their merger last month. Executives said, however, that Wall Street’s downturn might slow …

 

 Barron’s Mailbag: Sunny Days

Barron’s, 28 April 2008, 315 words, (English)

To the Editor:

Perhaps Bill Alpert just spent a bit too much time in the blazing sun preparing his “Applied Materials’ Forecast: Hazy, Rain Possible” (April 14). To him, the really big picture is clear as he notes that …

 

 Timminco Generates More Heat Than Light

Barron’s, 21 April 2008, 1010 words, (English)

Eric Sprott just filed for a Canadian public offering of his Toronto money-management firm, Sprott Asset Management. The offering could make him a billionaire. What’s remarkable is that Sprott owes a lot of this good fortune to his …

 

 REVIEW & PREVIEW

Barron’s, 21 April 2008, 2108 words, (English)

Last Week

 

   Dow Indicator 

 

Dow Industrials              12849.36  +523.94 

Dow World Index                285.85    +7.62 

10-Year Treasury Bonds           3.73    +0.26

 

 Applied Materials’ Forecast: Hazy, Rain Possible

Barron’s, 14 April 2008, 1516 words, (English)

It’s hard times for makers of semiconductor-production gear. “We’re in the throes of a very, very bad downturn,” says Jim Covello, the Goldman Sachs analyst who follows companies like Applied Materials. “The …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories:  SanDisk: Spending Big for Flash-Chip Share   

Barron’s, 7 April 2008, 354 words, (English)

SanDisk has a back full of arrows to show for pioneering flash memories — the chips that hold the pictures and music in mobile phones, cameras and MP3 players.   

 

 The Suits Look Better Than the Shares   

Barron’s, 31 March 2008, 812 words, (English)

The suits at Jos. A. Bank Clothiers never go out of style. That’s good, since some of them have been on the rack for a while. Defying industry wisdom (and Wall Street short sellers), the clothing chain has piles of inventory: 425 …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: SEC Doesn’t Buy Biovail’s Claims   

Barron’s, 31 March 2008, 324 words, (English)

Aggressive drug company entrepreneur Eugene Melnyk lost ground last week in his campaign to prove that a conspiracy of short-sellers and stock researchers caused shares of Biovail (ticker: BVF) to tank from 50 to 10 in the past five years. …

 

 An Insurance Roll-Up in Danger of Unraveling    

Barron’s, 17 March 2008, 1597 words, (English)

It was a happy moment in September 2003, when Jessica Bibliowicz rang the New York Stock Exchange bell to celebrate the IPO of her insurance sales company National Financial Partners. The 43-year-old chief executive wasn’t in the …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: At LDK, Sunlight Would Disinfect   

Barron’s, 3 March 2008, 276 words, (English)

Silicon-wafer maker  LDK Solar’s December-quarter balance sheet showed $30 million of “inventories to be processed beyond one year” — a strange long-term asset that seems to validate LDK’s former controller, who quit in …

 

 Wall Street Redefined   

Barron’s, 3 March 2008, 1583 words, (English)

Relationships count for little on Wall Street these days — fortunately. A hedge-fund manager can no longer make up for bad performance by buying you a fancy dinner. An institutional salesman can’t sustain fat commissions by reciting …

 

 Simply Marvell-ous

Barron’s, 25 February 2008, 1857 words, (English)

Sehat Sutardja, his wife, and his brother started Marvell Technology Group a decade ago with the crazy idea of entering a semiconductor niche already crowded by two dozen competitors. Big ones, in fact, like Texas Instruments (ticker: TXN), …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: Cisco: Plenty of Room to Run

Barron’s, 11 February 2008, 359 words, (English)

Cisco looks reasonably priced again. We’ve stayed on the right side of Cisco Systems’ shares since pointing out the networking vendor’s opportunities to upgrade Internet capacity to carry video (“Getting the World …

 

 Barron’s Mailbag: Systemax’s System  

Barron’s, 4 February 2008, 249 words, (English)

To the Editor:  

I personally have made many purchases from TigerDirect, as well as Global Computer, and always received my rebates on a timely basis with no need for follow-ups (“Can This Tiger Keep Roaring,” Jan. 28). The …

 

 Can This Tiger Keep Roaring?   

Barron’s, 28 January 2008, 1189 words, (English)

Shop the internet for a computer product, like the 17-inch  ViewSonic monitor. One of the cheapest prices you’ll find is the $139.99 quote from TigerDirect — a merchant owned by  Systemax.   

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: Penny Stock With Pounds of Trouble   

Barron’s, 7 January 2008, 313 words, (English)

For a no-account penny stock, Life Energy & Technology connected with many politicians around the world. The company was chaired by former Irish Prime Minister Albert Reynolds when we described an inability to find any of the 1,000 …

 

 A China Bubble of His Own?   

Barron’s, 31 December 2007, 491 words, (English)

China shares were very good for hedge funds in 2007. One beneficiary was the JLF Offshore Fund, managed by Jeff Feinberg in Del Mar, Calif. As of Thursday, Feinberg was up 39% for the year. The three-year returns of his offshore fund won it …

 

 Trouble in Paradise   

Barron’s, 24 December 2007, 875 words, (English)

Water stocks have drawn investors in recent years, as a thirsty world grows more populous. But a portfolio of water companies can spring leaks. Consider, for example, Consolidated Water, a richly valued firm that’s been gathering up …

 

 Barron’s Mailbag: Kinetic Evaluation   

Barron’s, 24 December 2007, 294 words, (English)

To the Editor:   

A number of important facts were not addressed in Bill Alpert’s Dec. 10 article on  Kinetic Concepts (“Will These Shares Get Bloodied?”).

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: Thinner Margins Top LDK’s Self-Acquittal   

Barron’s, 24 December 2007, 474 words, (English)

Last week should have been a sunny one for  LDK Solar. The China-based maker of silicon wafers for solar cells said Monday that its investigation of a former executive’s allegations of fraudulent inventory accounting had concluded that …

 

 Will These Shares Get Bloodied?   

Barron’s, 10 December 2007, 905 words, (English)

Kinetic Concepts’ vacuum dressings have transformed the way hospitals treat chronic skin wounds. Its products heal terrible bed sores and spare diabetes sufferers from amputation. For that, the company has had fast-rising revenues from …

 

 The Strange Case of ParkerVision   

Barron’s, 3 December 2007, 1815 words, (English)

Promising the biggest breakthrough in wireless since Marconi, Jeffrey L. Parker’s company ParkerVision has enjoyed the backing of sharp investors like Leucadia National and a member of the Barron’s Roundtable. It has also lost …

 

 Barron’s Mailbag: Turning Green   

Barron’s, 26 November 2007, 493 words, (English)

To the Editor:   

Re: Bill Alpert’s article on certification of claims about agricultural products (“Do-Gooders Who Could Do Better,” Nov. 12): Viewing claims of certified products through jaundiced eyes goes with the …

 

 Lilly’s New Heart Drug Skips a Beat   

Barron’s, 19 November 2007, 1239 words, (English)

Eli Lilly has a lot riding on its experimental clot-prevention drug prasugrel. The company’s gold-mine psychiatric drug Zyprexa goes generic in 2011, followed not long after by the patent expiration of several other Lilly blockbusters. …

 

 Do-Gooders Who Could Do Better   

Barron’s, 12 November 2007, 1625 words, (English)

Ethical consumerism is in. Sales have reached tens of billions of dollars for coffee, milk, lumber and other products grown organically. Or in an environmentally sustainable way. Or by farmers who got a fair piece of the action. The …

 

 Barron’s Mailbag: Skeptical   

Barron’s, 5 November 2007, 328 words, (English)

To the Editor:   

I am deeply angry at Barron’s attempt to artificially drive down the price of  LDK Solar over the past few weeks. Your magazine continually publishes the same defamatory articles by Bill Alpert about  LDK Solar. The …

 

 REVIEW & PREVIEW   

Barron’s, 22 October 2007, 2078 words, (English)

Last Week   

 

   Dow Indicator 

 

Dow Industrials                  13522.02  -571.06 

Dow World Index                    309.32    -8.42 

10-Year Treasury Bonds               4.41    -0.28

 

 China’s Solar Boom Loses Its Luster   

Barron’s, 8 October 2007, 1527 words, (English)

China’s solar-power stocks were a red-hot bubble until Wednesday. That’s when investors learned that an accounting officer had quit one of the industry’s hottest firms, the silicon-wafer maker  LDK Solar, while alleging that …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories:  Cisco: Is the Big Rally Ending?   

Barron’s, 1 October 2007, 471 words, (English)

Back then, the market was just starting to appreciate how  Cisco (ticker: CSCO) would benefit from rising video traffic on the Internet.  Cisco’s business outlook remains bright, but now that the company’s shares are getting their …

 

 Today’s Hottest Tech Product: the Humble PC   

Barron’s, 17 September 2007, 1194 words, (English)

For the past several weeks in this space, I’ve been writing about how on the one hand, big-cap tech stocks have been red-hot, while on the other hand, investors have become understandably skittish about companies that generate …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: Dashed Hopes, Again   

Barron’s, 10 September 2007, 374 words, (English)

Neurochem, a Quebec-based biotech company founded by Francesco Bellini, reported last month that its Alzheimer’s treatment had failed to make a statistically significant clinical difference in 1,050 patients in a Phase III trial. The …

 

 This War Horse Looks Like a Winner   

Barron’s, 27 August 2007, 966 words, (English)

For investors who want to keep marching ahead in a battered market, shares of the mine-resistant vehicle maker Force Protection (ticker: FRPT) could provide a shield. The Ladson, S.C.-based firm produces a new class of armored military …

 

 Barron’s Mailbag   

Barron’s, 27 August 2007, 1111 words, (English)

We received more than 100 e-mails, pro and con, regarding our Aug. 20 cover story on CNBC’s Jim Cramer. Some appear here. More can be found on a free section of Barron’s Online (  www.barrons.com  ).   

 

 An Unloved Store of Value   

Barron’s, 20 August 2007, 817 words, (English)

The eagerly awaited initial public offering on Tuesday of software maker VMware was a blowout success, with the stock rising 76% from its offer price of $29. Not so for VMware’s parent, EMC (ticker: EMC), which owns 86% of VMware: Its …

 

 Shorting Cramer   

Barron’s, 20 August 2007, 2564 words, (English)

Thanks to his nightly CNBC show Mad Money, Jim Cramer has become the chief cheerleader for the bull market, or what was the bull market until a few weeks ago. Last spring, he was giddily exhorting the Dow Jones Industrial Average toward …

 

 Cisco’s Great Expectations   

Barron’s, 13 August 2007, 964 words, (English)

Credit crunch be damned: the $191 billion market-cap computer-networking vendor Cisco Systems (ticker: CSCO) will not be slowed by a bump in the road, says Chief Executive John Chambers. On Tuesday,  Cisco reported sales of $9.4 billion for …

 

 Hey, Sport, Here’s a Stock for You   

Barron’s, 16 July 2007, 952 words, (English)

Daktronics and its massive video scoreboards have had little trouble gaining the appreciation of sports fans.   

But when it comes to investors, it’s been a different story for the South Dakota-based maker of electronic advertising …

 

 Foreign Investment — Asian Trader: Chinese Medicine Show   

Barron’s, 25 June 2007, 862 words, (English)

Few investing concepts are as hot as China, so it’s no wonder that companies are rushing to tap the well. One is Big Board-listed American Oriental Bioengineering (ticker: AOB), a Chinese herbal medicine outfit that this week plans to …

 

 Bringing Analysis to Bear and Bull   

Barron’s, 18 June 2007, 1706 words, (English)

A lot has changed in the 60 years since W. H. Auden told Harvard’s Phi Bates, “Thou shalt not sit with statisticians.” That was obvious last week, when Mohamed El-Erian and his colleagues from Harvard’s endowment sat in …

 

 Key Query for Internet Dealmakers: Author, Author?   

Barron’s, 11 June 2007, 1611 words, (English)

It all seems so logical.   

In recent weeks, the Internet sector has been picked nearly clean of independent online advertising and marketing firms. Google (ticker: GOOG) triggered the shopping spree in mid-April with its $3.1 billion deal …

 

 REVIEW & PREVIEW   

Barron’s, 11 June 2007, 1871 words, (English)

Last Week   

 

   Dow Indicator 

 

Dow Industrials               13424.39  -243.72 

Dow World Index                 298.95    -7.38 

10-Year Treasury Bonds            5.12    +0.16

 

 Foreign Investment — Asian Trader: Can Xinhua Put Its House in Order?   

Barron’s, 28 May 2007, 1116 words, (English)

Within moments of my asking Xinhua Finance about its key executive Shelly Singhal earlier this month, the Chinese company shot me his resignation announcement. It wasn’t even a finished press release. Singhal’s history of …

 

 Sometimes, It’s a Numbers Game   

Barron’s, 28 May 2007, 950 words, (English)

In the bubble market before this one, tech companies used to hide their lack of cash earnings by presenting “pro forma” versions of net income. Such follies are supposedly past — but recent evidence suggests otherwise. In fact, …

 

 Ignoring an Inconvenient Truth   

Barron’s, 21 May 2007, 810 words, (English)

Asian business media tapped Fredy Bush as the “entrepreneur of the year” last October for building her Xinhua Finance into a Chinese media and financial information powerhouse.   

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: Micron Looks Cheap   

Barron’s, 21 May 2007, 443 words, (English)

Disaster has overtaken the memory-chip market this year. Spot prices for DRAM memories have plunged 70% from December-quarter levels, in the worst meltdown since the tech bubble burst in 2000. That has clobbered memory makers like Micron …

 

 A Chance to Rewrite the Financial League Tables   

Barron’s, 14 May 2007, 1524 words, (English)

The financial data of Thomson suffered a blot in March when some professors revealed integrity problems in the company’s popular database of stock-analyst recommendations, known as I/B/E/S. A deal disclosed last week for Thomson to …

 

 Barron’s Mailbag: Required Reading   

Barron’s, 14 May 2007, 83 words, (English)

To the Editor:   

Bill Alpert’s article on  Nano Chemical Systems Holdings (“Giving New Meaning to Green Revolution,” April 30) was interesting and ought to be required reading for every novice investor. I for one really value …

 

 Waiting for Rupert’s Call   

Barron’s, 7 May 2007, 1130 words, (English)

Rupert Murdoch hasn’t yet called me. I hear he plans to pitch journalists as part of his campaign for Dow Jones and since I’m sure I’d be first on his list, he must not have started. I’ll let you know.   

 

 Giving New Meaning to Green Revolution   

Barron’s, 30 April 2007, 827 words, (English)

The full page ad in Wednesday’s New York Times suggested to me that my industry’s ad sales must be really struggling. It promised riches to anyone who bought Nano Chemical Systems Holdings, a penny stock with two very important …

 

 REVIEW & PREVIEW   

Barron’s, 30 April 2007, 2644 words, (English)

Last Week    

 

              Dow Indicator 

 

  Dow Industrials        13120.94        + 158.96 

  Dow World Index          297.45          + 0.18 

  10-Year Treasury Bonds     4.70          + 0.02

 

 Building Your Very own Google 

Barron’s, 23 April 2007, 1035 words, (English)

Snoopy’s doghouse has a bloomberg. Jim Cramer spills Wall Street’s secrets to Joe Twelvepack. Everybody subscribes to Barron’s — or claims to, when they’re threatening to cancel after one of my stories. 

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: The Limits of a Promising Drug   

Barron’s, 23 April 2007, 828 words, (English)

For the nearly one million Americans diagnosed with hepatitis C, a promising group of drugs is on its way to combat the dreadful liver disease. A week ago, at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver, some …

 

 For Cepheid, the Diagnosis Is Disappointing 

Barron’s, 16 April 2007, 943 words, (English)

The bidding war over Biosite, a medical-diagnostics company, has sent other potential buyers looking for opportunity in the diagnostics sector. Biosite (ticker: BSTE) agreed to a $1.6 billion bid from Beckman Coulter (BEC) last month, and …

 

 Here’s How the Drama Over ‘Net Neutrality Ends 

Barron’s, 9 April 2007, 1161 words, (English)

The Federal Communications Commission said last month that it would study ‘Net Neutrality. But I will make the daring prediction that the debate over ‘Net Neutrality is over. The argument arose as Websites like Google and Yahoo! …

 

 Alzheimer’s Cure 

Barron’s, 2 April 2007, 2706 words, (English)

About a year ago, James Smith’s life changed. “At age 46,” he says, “something like Alzheimer’s disease wasn’t even on my radar screen.” 

 

 Barron’s Mailbag: Earnings Test   

Barron’s, 2 April 2007, 172 words, (English)

To the Editor:   

Bill Alpert’s March 19 Tech Trader column on ST Microelectronics said STM sells at 23 times trailing earnings while Texas Instruments trades for only 11 times. That is true if you count $1.09 in earnings-per-share gain …

 

 Finally, Airborne and Ready to Soar   

Barron’s, 19 March 2007, 967 words, (English)

Its backlog alone provides a lot of thrust for Textron shares. With customers plunking down $250,000 deposits for business jets that won’t arrive until 2010, the aircraft maker doesn’t have to do much more than deliver those …

 

 ST Microelectronics Shares as Pricey as a European Vacation   

Barron’s, 19 March 2007, 1107 words, (English)

I’m used to seeing Europeans pay low multiples for their continent’s tech stocks. That was before I saw where  ST Microelectronics has been trading lately. The Geneva-based firm (ADR Ticker: STM) is one of the world’s top …

 

 Tech Trader: Looking a Little Harder at Software Acquisitions   

Barron’s, 12 March 2007, 1014 words, (English)

Larry Ellison’s Oracle is not the only software company that’s looked to acquisitions for growth. The stock market has been pretty happy with the Redwood, City, Calif., company’s purchase of firms like PeopleSoft and, just …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories:  Medtronic: Healthier Than It Seems   

Barron’s, 12 March 2007, 839 words, (English)

Medtronic shares have skipped more than a few beats in recent weeks. The first shock came when January-quarter results showed that the Minneapolis company’s U.S. sales of implantable cardioverter defibrillators had slipped 10% from the …

 

 Mysterious Changes in KeyWall Street Data   

Barron’s, 5 March 2007, 1135 words, (English)

Want to improve your batting average? Don’t head for the batting cage or your locker-room steroids dealer. Just rewrite your historical record, adding hits and erasing strikeouts. A recent study by a trio of professors makes me suspect …

 

 For Biotech, Here Come the Clones  

Barron’s, 19 February 2007, 1107 words, (English)

Generic competition for biotechfirms like Amgen and Genzyme drew a step closer Wednesday, when a bipartisan group in Congress introduced a bill to authorize Food and Drug Administration approval of generic biologic drugs. Traditional drugs …

 

 Biopharma Giant Set to Rule Insulin Market  

Barron’s, 12 February 2007, 1132 words, (English)

With diabetes expected to double its prevalence worldwide by 2030 — to nearly 400 million people — Novo Nordisk should have growing demand for its insulin products. The Danish firm (ticker: NVO) has been the leader in sales of …

 

 The Return of Michael Dell: No Quick Fix for His Company  

Barron’s, 5 February 2007, 1070 words, (English)

Investors, after initially bidding up Dell’s shares (ticker:Dell) on last week’s shakeup, soon came to realize not much would change. The stock eased to 23.50 by week’s end — far from its five-year high of more than 40 just …

 

 Paying the PIPER at SulphCo   

Barron’s, 5 February 2007, 3535 words, (English)

The collapse of Sulphco stock in the past year shouldn’t merit much attention. After all, lots of hyped tech stocks bomb out. But this little Reno gamble shows the risks of betting on unorthodox science claims — especially when Wall …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: The Limits of Ethanol  

Barron’s, 29 January 2007, 653 words, (English)

Plant corn and pray for good weather. That seems to be the best agribusiness strategy, following President George W. Bush’s plug for biofuels in his State of the Union address Tuesday.  

 

 Tech Trader: Why It’s Too Early to Walk Away from Cisco  

Barron’s, 22 January 2007, 1170 words, (English)

Shares of Cisco Systems fell 8% last week, to 26.70 by Friday, after analysts at three brokerage firms downgraded the stock from Buy to Neutral. I wrote about the improving prospects for the San Jose, Calif.-based networking giant (ticker: …

 

 The Inner Workings of InnerWorkings  

Barron’s, 15 January 2007, 1184 words, (English)

In a road show continuing this week, Morgan Stanley hopes to persuade investors to part with $150 million for the follow-on stock offering of a company called InnerWorkings. This Chicago-based company claims that its proprietary software is …

 

 Headwinds Are Gathering Force  

Barron’s, 8 January 2007, 1091 words, (English)

Goldman Sachs’ tech analysts described their early 2007 “positioning” in a report last week. They are positioning themselves out the door.  

 

 Tech Trader: The Memory Glut of 2007  

Barron’s, 1 January 2007, 949 words, (English)

When Microsoft starts selling consumers the Vista version of Windows at the end of the month, the software giant can look forward to a good cycle of upgrade sales. That’s why the Redmond, Wash., firm’s shares rose 14% last year …

 

 Tech Trader: A Respectable Report Card  

Barron’s, 25 December 2006, 941 words, (English)

The Nasdaq is up about 9% this year, the Dow is up 15% and the S&P 500 13%. But enough about them.  

Let’s talk about me. Or at least the part of me that matters — my reportage in this column. Turning back through the …

 

 Where Risk Isn’t a Factor  

Barron’s, 25 December 2006, 1877 words, (English)

Profile: Curtis Macnguyen  

Founder

Ivory Investment Management

Hedge funds are the places investors go with their risk capital. But in a year of high-profile losses — Amaranth Advisors and Global Alpha, to name two — investors are …

 

 Tech Trader: A Loss of Direction  

Barron’s, 18 December 2006, 909 words, (English)

Shares of SiRF hit a shoal last week, when an analyst decried a significant new competitor for the dominant supplier of chips to navigation devices. It’s the competitor I’d warned about in a column last month (“SiRF Rides the …

 

 Doctoring by BlackBerry?  

Barron’s, 11 December 2006, 1048 words, (English)

Can Medtronic keep its sales upticking? That’s the challenge facing the leader in implantable defibrillators and other devices for managing out-of-step hearts. Investors cheered when the company showed renewed growth in its latest …

 

 Barron’s Mailbag: Combined Therapies   

Barron’s, 11 December 2006, 287 words, (English)

To the Editor:   

After saying that the standard therapy for hepatitis C (peg-interferon-alpha and ribavirin) is “not tolerated by many patients,” Bill Alpert wrote that the newer candidate drugs had all been tested in combination …

 

 Tech Trader: Microsoft’s Bold Voyage Begins  

Barron’s, 4 December 2006, 1034 words, (English)

On Thursday, Microsoft smashed champagne bottles on the bows of its two biggest product upgrades ever, with a Times Square press conference celebrating the release of new versions of its monopoly software products: the Windows operating …

 

 REVIEW & PREVIEW  

Barron’s, 4 December 2006, 2403 words, (English)

Last Week  

 

   Dow Indicator 

 

Dow Industrials              12194.13  -86.04 

Dow World Index                271.67   +1.41 

10-Year Treasury Bonds           4.44   -0.12

 

 Tech Trader: A Gene by Any Other Name  

Barron’s, 27 November 2006, 653 words, (English)

I beg my readers’ help. Your letters have shown me that you’re far more informed and sophisticated than I, with your backgrounds in medicine, law and engineering. So please help me answer this urgent investing question: Which …

 

 Medicine’s Cocktail Party  

Barron’s, 27 November 2006, 1057 words, (English)

If you have a liver to donate, press “1” when you call the Center for Liver Disease and Transplantation at Columbia University Medical Center in New York. The hepatitis C virus kills over 10,000 Americans a year of the three …

 

 Tech Trader: Looking for a Pulse  

Barron’s, 20 November 2006, 959 words, (English)

Thanks to reassuring safety studies, the chances for recovery have improved for shares of cardiac-device makers.  

Device sales had slowed after a two-year stretch of manufacturing recalls hurt demand for implantable defibrillators. Shares …

 

 A Dubious Inheritance  

Barron’s, 13 November 2006, 979 words, (English)

As the Internet eats the lunch of the print media, I fret for investors who might someday find themselves with only online sources to inform them. I have an obvious self-interest in print journalism, but so do investors. With rare …

 

 Tech Trader: SiRF Rides the GPS Boom   

Barron’s, 6 November 2006, 885 words, (English)

GPS stocks have been where it’s at, this year. Industry sales have doubled for the dashboard-mounted navigation devices, which show your location using signals from the satellites of the government’s Global Positioning System. …

 

 Fund of Information: A Talent for Tech Funds   

Barron’s, 6 November 2006, 1339 words, (English)

Technology funds have been on a crazy coaster ride this year, but the good times are rolling now.   

“It felt like we were dying in July, but we have been riding a wave ever since then,” says Telis D. Bertsekas, an MFS funds …

 

 Brutal Brawl  

Barron’s, 30 October 2006, 3381 words, (English)

Peering into the outlook for tech companies used to require timing the IBM mainframe cycle and surveying the chief information officers of large enterprises.  

 

 Beam Me Up, Cisco  

Barron’s, 16 October 2006, 1109 words, (English)

It seems like only a week since I wrote a cover story about Cisco Systems. Duh, it was.  

Yet I worry that my readers have lost sleep over the unresolved issues in the Cisco (ticker: CSCO) story. Will businessfolk take to videoconferencing? …

 

 Getting the World Wired  

Barron’s, 9 October 2006, 3044 words, (English)

In recent years, Cisco Systems Chief Executive John Chambers has had trouble persuading investors that data-networking still is a growth business.  

 

 Fun With Fiber, Verizon-Style  

Barron’s, 2 October 2006, 928 words, (English)

Verizon Communications wowed ’em on Wednesday, with a Webcast conference showing some cable-defying tricks made possible by the phone company’s FiOS fiber-optic service. You could have your own television channel, visible only to …

 

 First-Tier Ambitions  

Barron’s, 2 October 2006, 2719 words, (English)

Interview with Jong-Yong Yun  

Chief Executive, Samsung Electronics

Since Jong-Yong Yun, an engineer, became chief executive of Samsung Electronics in 1997, earnings have jumped almost 4,000% and the company’s market capitalization has …

 

 NeuStar’s New Number  

Barron’s, 25 September 2006, 1007 words, (English)

The shares of a high-flying database operator named NeuStar were jostled Friday by a fierce debate. In the morning the New York-listed NeuStar (ticker: NSR) fell four bucks, or about 14%, to $25, because NeuStar said it had agreed to a 10% …

 

 Charting a New Course  

Barron’s, 18 September 2006, 1067 words, (English)

They may have spent decades building their wealth, but retiring executives often take just minutes on the big financial question of life’s next phase: Will I have enough money to do what I want? “It’s not uncommon for an …

 

 OmniVision’s Cloudy Picture   

Barron’s, 18 September 2006, 922 words, (English)

The imaging chip maker OmniVision Technologies looks absurdly cheap (ticker: OVTI). There’s plenty of demand for the image-sensor chips that capture scenes for camera phones, computers or backing-up cars. The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based …

 

 A Good Name Above All  

Barron’s, 11 September 2006, 3955 words, (English)

[The World’s Most Respected Companies]  

A good reputation is more valuable than money.

— Latin writer Publilius.

Well, he never worked on Wall Street

 

 Tech Trader: The H-P Enemy List  

Barron’s, 11 September 2006, 955 words, (English)

Good thing I don’t write about Hewlett-Packard. I panicked when I saw that the ink- cartridge seller (ticker:HPQ) had spied on reporters, as well as its directors. My panic subsided when I realized that my Bay Area colleagues have done …

 

 Tech Trader: Cat and Mouse at PetMed   

Barron’s, 4 September 2006, 928 words, (English)

PetMed Express is the kind of stock that leaves you scratching your head. For fleas. The Pompano Beach, Fla.-based online seller of pet supplies has grown sales and earnings at annual rates above 20% in recent years — yet its shares have …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: Scary Movie for IMAX and ImClone   

Barron’s, 4 September 2006, 245 words, (English)

Shares of ImClone (ticker: IMCL) now trade at $29.89, down 22% from the level where we examined the biotech company’s legal risks, while IMAX (IMAX) has fallen about 55% from its spring price, to a recent $4.54.   

 

 Barron’s Mailbag: Ethanology  

Barron’s, 21 August 2006, 561 words, (English)

To the Editor:  

I read Bill Alpert’s article on corn and ethanol (“The Corn Conundrum,” Aug. 7), but was left dissatisfied. Although his central premise is reasonable — that ethanol producers in the U.S. appear overvalued — …

 

 WiMAX War Heats Up  

Barron’s, 14 August 2006, 893 words, (English)

We realize that today’s competitive media give our readers many alternative sources for financial advice: blogs, boob tubes, blimps. I realized this when I saw the cover of Elle magazine crying: “Go Short! Go Long! Go Blond!” …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: Stronger Outlook for Cisco  

Barron’s, 14 August 2006, 507 words, (English)

Among big tech stocks this year, there’s a better growth story for data communications than for computing.  

Personal computer companies like Dell (ticker: DELL) have warned of disappointing earnings. But Tuesday’s earnings …

 

 The Corn Conundrum   

Barron’s, 7 August 2006, 2840 words, (English)

Ethanol is having a bumper year. Prices for the corn-based gasoline additive have spiked, along with oil prices. Bountiful harvests have held down the cost of corn, the primary feedstock for making the grain alcohol. So ethanol refiners are …

 

 Chips Are Up for WiFi  

Barron’s, 7 August 2006, 476 words, (English)

With the semiconductor sector such a disappointment this year, it was nice to see the fine June-quarter results turned in by wireless chip makers like the WiFi specialist Atheros Communications and Bluetooth leader CSR Ltd. At U.K.-listed …

 

 Bets Beyond Intel, AMD  

Barron’s, 31 July 2006, 968 words, (English)

The PC semiconductor business is getting competitive in ways that may be better for consumers than investors. Intel and Advanced Micro Devices are battling brilliantly on price and technology, but growth in their PC end-market has …

 

 Amgen Fights Rivals, Clock  

Barron’s, 24 July 2006, 522 words, (English)

Amgen shares have tumbled with the biotech sector this year, from a January level of about 80 bucks to the mid-60s. But its investors have a specific reason to be worried.  

 

 ImClone Patent Ruling Due  

Barron’s, 17 July 2006, 533 words, (English)

ImClone systems, the stock that dressed Martha Stewart in prison stripes, has bucked the spring slump in biotech shares.  

Prodded by notable biotech mavens like Carl Icahn, the New York-based company (ticker: IMCL) put itself on the block …

 

 Flat-Screen Bright Spot  

Barron’s, 10 July 2006, 1141 words, (English)

Bill Gates says he’s got three computer screens on his desk, synchronized to form a single desktop that he can use with his keyboard and mouse. That large work area, he explains, makes him more productive. Multiple-monitor desks also …

 

 Roundtable Rascals?  

Barron’s, 3 July 2006, 1880 words, (English)

But recent regulatory misfortunes have brought less flattering publicity to two Roundtable members: Mario J. Gabelli, of the mutual-fund firm Gamco Investors, and Arthur J. Samberg, of the hedge-fund manager Pequot Capital. Has …

 

 Tech Trader: The Pfizer Factor  

Barron’s, 26 June 2006, 1082 words, (English)

American buyers of prescription drugs started getting a socko price break on Friday, as the U.S. patent expired on Merck’s cholesterol-lowering pill, Zocor.  

 

 A Radical Rx for the Jitters  

Barron’s, 19 June 2006, 1711 words, (English)

Are the choppy markets of recent months a sailor’s delight or a storm warning? The crosswinds have startled investors who’d been lulled by a four-year decline in volatility — the measure of how much stock prices zig and zag. In …

 

 Our Gadget of the Week: This Old Network   

Barron’s, 12 June 2006, 208 words, (English)

“This can’t work,” I thought, as I unplugged a lamp and plugged in a powerline networking device, billed as faster than my home’s Wi-Fi network. My electrical wiring runs through knobs and tubes dating from the 1930s. So …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: An Authentic Win for Copycats  

Barron’s, 12 June 2006, 417 words, (English)

The Food & Drug Administration has given a lift to copycat biotech drugs. On May 31, the agency approved the first copied version of a biotech drug made by recombinant techniques — the Norvartis product Omnitrope, a form of human …

 

 Storing Up Value   

Barron’s, 12 June 2006, 968 words, (English)

It’s the rain. New York City was a puddle as EMC staged its analyst meeting Wednesday. Even though the data-storage company reaffirmed its growth guidance, that didn’t halt the slow melt of EMC stock. Global warming’s …

 

 A Sunny View of Cypress  

Barron’s, 5 June 2006, 558 words, (English)

Before I became a Barron’s writer of modest renown, I was a modest analyst at a hedge fund. And before that, I was a Barron’s writer, so maybe I just dreamed the hedge fund part. Isn’t life a dream? In this dream — or was it …

 

 Micron’s New Muscle    

Barron’s, 5 June 2006, 928 words, (English)

Micron Technology is trying to put its volatile ways behind it. Only a few years back, the chip maker got nearly all its revenue from selling the commodity memory chips known as DRAMs to a handful of PC manufacturers who didn’t mind …

 

 Oversized Load   

Barron’s, 29 May 2006, 538 words, (English)

For a business that doesn’t yet exist, “wireless backhaul” has investors pretty excited. The last year has seen a better than two-fold leap in shares of First Avenue Networks, a McLean, Va.-based company that wants to use …

 

 Biotech’s New Battlefield  

Barron’s, 22 May 2006, 2229 words, (English)

Generic competition hasn’t been much of a problem for biotechnology investors. When patents expired on early biotech products, copycat versions didn’t appear. Reason: Since 2002, the Food and Drug Administration has stifled a …

 

 SanDisk’s Hope: Flash Chips Everywhere    

Barron’s, 15 May 2006, 895 words, (English)

Sandisk was in town last week, to pick up $1 billion for its flash-memory factories.    

In a sit-down with your favorite tech-stock columnist, SanDisk CEO Eli Harari said it was unbelievably easy for SanDisk to sell the convertible notes …

 

 Broadband Power Play

Barron’s, 8 May 2006, 512 words, (English)

While rival cable and phone companies splinter their lances on each other, the court jester of broadband is quietly advancing plans to elope with the fair maiden. To date, Broadband over Power Line, or BPL, hasn’t seemed much of a …

 

 Imax’s Real Picture Show   

Barron’s, 1 May 2006, 1108 words, (English)

I love an Imax movie. Over the years, I’ve hauled my kids in from the suburbs to watch the dinosaurs crash through the 3-D underbrush on the 80-foot high screen. For investors, Imax has furnished an equally hair-raising experience. In …

 

 Toothsome Prospects  

Barron’s, 24 April 2006, 509 words, (English)

Investors who look at growth stocks remain fascinated by CSR, the Cambridge, England-based leader in wireless Bluetooth chips. Long term, Bluetooth may become just another feature on the multifunction chips of Broadcom (ticker: BRCM) or …

 

 Finding Good Medicine  

Barron’s, 17 April 2006, 3823 words, (English)

Our health-care roundtable features two docttors and a veteran of the medical device industry. Dr. Kris Jenner manages the $1.7 billion Health Sciences fund for T. Rowe Price, where he has averaged annual returns above 20% in the last three …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: An Upbeat Prognosis for Medtronic  

Barron’s, 17 April 2006, 402 words, (English)

Wall Street has gotten faint-hearted about Medtronic. Shares of the cardiac-device maker have dropped 14% since the year began, to about 50, as investors wonder if sales growth has leveled off for the implantable defibrillators produced by …

 

 Barron’s Mailbag: Re-reading The Little Book  

Barron’s, 10 April 2006, 163 words, (English)

To the Editor:  

Re Bill Alpert’s March 27 article, “The Little Book’s Little Flaw,” about Joel Greenblatt’s Little Book That Beats the Market: The weak link of magic-formula investing is the assumption that a magic …

 

 Intelligence Failure   

Barron’s, 10 April 2006, 1045 words, (English)

A couple of weeks ago, onetime presidential candidate and retired four-star general Wesley K. Clark joined the board of ViaSpace, a Pasadena company that says it’s applying NASA’s technology to the fight against terrorism. …

 

 A Promising Head Case   

Barron’s, 3 April 2006, 958 words, (English)

Aspect Medical Systems has built a business out of preventing a rare problem in patients etherized on the operating-room table. Nearly half the ORs in the country now have one of the Newton, Mass., company’s brain monitors, which can …

 

 The Little Book’s Little Flaw  

Barron’s, 27 March 2006, 2524 words, (English)

The Little Book That Beats the Market has become a bestseller since it appeared in November. In it, hedge-fund manager Joel Greenblatt describes a “magic formula” for picking stocks and shows how the formula identified winners …

 

 Long Live Cable, Phone  

Barron’s, 27 March 2006, 524 words, (English)

Over the past few years, shares of cable and telephone companies have sagged amid fears that subscribers will get television shows and movies directly off the Internet, or from rival technologies such as WiMAX and broadband-over-power line. …

 

 Fun at the Foundry  

Barron’s, 20 March 2006, 500 words, (English)

Asia’s semiconductor foundries will play key parts in delivering this year’s hot chips. My kid has been calling Best Buy every day in search of the sold-out Xbox360 console from Microsoft. The IBM-designed processors for that …

 

 SanDisk’s New Problem   

Barron’s, 13 March 2006, 1082 words, (English)

The surprise deal that Micron Technology made to acquire Lexar Media can’t be a very good thing for flash-memory favorite SanDisk.   

Lexar has trailed SanDisk in U.S. retail sales of those little cards that store digital photos, music …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories — Amedisys Stock: Still in Sick Bay   

Barron’s, 13 March 2006, 518 words, (English)

Home-health-care provider Amedisys will have to deliver several quarters of improved results before it wins back the trust of the investors who had lifted the company’s stock tenfold in the last three years.   

 

 My Biovail Travails   

Barron’s, 6 March 2006, 1066 words, (English)

Where’s my subpoena? Other reporters have gotten subpoenas from the Securities and Exchange Commission lately, as the agency apparently looks into an Arizona investment research firm. My Dow Jones colleagues, Herb Greenberg and Carol …

 

 Bluetooth Blues?   

Barron’s, 20 February 2006, 543 words, (English)

People have always walked around New York City talking to themselves. But now you see even well-dressed professionals arguing with the air. Often, there’s a little blue glow by their ear. It’s not alien mind-control. It’s …

 

 Barron’s Mailbag: SulphCo Response   

Barron’s, 20 February 2006, 390 words, (English)

To the Editor:   

Bill Alpert (“A Crank Case?” Jan. 23) gives a distorted picture of SulphCo, its technology, and its founder, Dr. Rudolf W. Gunnerman. The article ignored important facts demonstrating SulphCo to be reputable, with …

 

 At Last, Digital Doctors   

Barron’s, 13 February 2006, 900 words, (English)

Doctors have computerized their practices at a rate I find hard to describe: Unhurried? Sluggish? Snail-paced? Enter your doctor’s office and the administrator still hands you a clipboard, stacked with paper forms for you to bring up …

 

 Up Next, TV by AT&T

Barron’s, 6 February 2006, 575 words, (English)

What has cast such a shadow upon once-serene telecom investors? The Cable.

“If there’s been one thing that has been an overhang on our stock, it’s been cable competition,” said AT&T’s financial chief, Richard G. …

 

 Sizing Up a Diabetes Drug    

Barron’s, 30 January 2006, 1221 words, (English)

As the diabetes epidemic steadily worsens, Wall Street has crowded into Amylin Pharmaceuticals, which has a promising drug to help control the perilous disease. Amylin shares (ticker: AMLN) have tripled to the mid-40s since April, when the …

 

 A Crank Case?  

Barron’s, 23 January 2006, 1114 words, (English)

SINCE OCTOBER, THE STOCK OF A COMPANY CALLED SulphCo has quadrupled to a billion-dollar market value, in excitement over a SulphCo process that’s supposed to turn low-grade crude oil into high-priced, cleanburning stuff. For just …

 

 Wi-Fi Gets Set to Fly   

Barron’s, 23 January 2006, 522 words, (English)

The engineers of the IEEE endured the rigors of Hawaii last week so they could design you a next generation Wi-Fi. Fighting their way down the beach of Waikoloa, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers established a standard …

 

 11,000 Little Pieces   

Barron’s, 16 January 2006, 2073 words, (English)

Essential truth.” that’s what author James Frey says can be found in A Million Little Pieces, the “memoir” of his life as an addict and his ultimate rehabilitation. After Oprah Winfrey selected it for her “book …

 

 Time to Cool Off  

Barron’s, 16 January 2006, 522 words, (English)

Tech stocks began the year at a sprint. Apple Computer (ticker: AAPL) and Sandisk (SNDK) have run out of sight, while Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Applied Materials (AMAT) are reaching levels they’ve not seen in years.  

 

 Calling All iPods  

Barron’s, 9 January 2006, 1082 words, (English)

Two fiends are grabbing at the halo of Apple’s iPod. They are Microsoft and Verizon Wireless, and on Jan. 16 they’ll start their cellphone assault on the portable music miracle that canonized Apple Computer (ticker: AAPL) in the …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: Filling a Prime Minister’s Shoes   

Barron’s, 2 January 2006, 371 words, (English)

Global Environmental Energy, a small company with big plans for deploying trash-to-energy burners (“Burning Questions,” March 15, 2004), may not have any revenue to show for itself, but it sure has an intriguing board. The Pink …

 

 My Report Card  

Barron’s, 2 January 2006, 1039 words, (English)

It’s time for me to mark my columns to market and see how much of a dope I’ve been in the past year.  

Actually, the 2005 performance of this column’s picks and pans wasn’t so bad. A hypothetical portfolio would have …

 

 Too Sunny on MEMC?   

Barron’s, 26 December 2005, 967 words, (English)

There’s loads of sand around, of course, but limited industrial capacity to refine it into high-grade polysilicon — the raw material of semiconductors and solar cells. Investors like Paul Wick, of the Seligman Communications and …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: Medtronic Pumps It Up  

Barron’s, 26 December 2005, 442 words, (English)

Medtronic executives feel flattered by the bidding war that’s erupted over the company’s cardiac-device rival, Guidant. Gary Ellis, chief financial officer of Medtronic (ticker: MDT), says he isn’t surprised to see Boston …

 

 Will Microsoft Take on the iPod?  

Barron’s, 19 December 2005, 442 words, (English)

The “soft” will no doubt remain the most important part of Microsoft. In fact, the company announced Friday that it is buying the software and Internet assets of UMT, a small New York firm, for an undisclosed price. But such …

 

 Waging a No-Risk War  

Barron’s, 12 December 2005, 1053 words, (English)

Boston Scientific prides itself on audacity. A year after Johnson & Johnson introduced the first drug-eluting coronary stent, for propping narrowed heart arteries, Boston Scientific entered the market and swiped the lead from J&J …

 

 Taking Aim at SanDisk   

Barron’s, 5 December 2005, 1032 words, (English)

Sandisk’s patent battles are getting ugly. A new lawsuit against the memory-chip maker (ticker: SNDK) alleges that SanDisk’s multibillion-dollar empire in flash memory chips was founded on fraud.   

 

 Stars Misalign for SanDisk   

Barron’s, 28 November 2005, 1076 words, (English)

I never suspected that SanDisk shares were at their year’s peak of 65 bucks when I reviewed some of the downside risks facing the maker of flash- memory chips (“A Threat to SanDisk,” Nov. 7). Rival memory technologies and …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: Why J&J Looks Like a Buy  

Barron’s, 28 November 2005, 859 words, (English)

On the collapsing rope-bridge of the U.S. drug industry, Johnson & Johnson has stayed well ahead of the falling planks, as the industry’s expiring patents plunge it into a new-product void.  

 

 Making Healthy Profits In Home Health Care   

Barron’s, 21 November 2005, 2059 words, (English)

America is graying. Hospitals are releasing patients quicker and sicker. That’s why many investors favor home-health-care providers, whose nurses and therapists tend to homebound patients. The industry could be a low-cost palliative …

 

 Barron’s Mailbag: Palmier Days Ahead   

Barron’s, 14 November 2005, 224 words, (English)

To the Editor:   

In the Oct. 31 Tech Trader Column item “RIMM Shot,” Bill Alpert says a “BlackBerry service shutdown, or just the threat of a shutdown, helps sell the services of Good Technology and its partners like Nokia, …

 

 Biotech Deals Get Pricey  

Barron’s, 14 November 2005, 1060 words, (English)

After recently reporting its third consecutive quarter of earnings growth, Schering-Plough (ticker: SGP) chief exec Fred Hassan said the drug company’s turnaround was well enough along that he’s in the market to acquire new …

 

 Curb Your Cravings For This Stock   

Barron’s, 7 November 2005, 983 words, (English)

Hythiam’s publicists called Barron’s last week to say that our financial-industry readers would be interested in the company’s patent-pending treatments for alcohol, cocaine and methamphetamine addiction. “There is a …

 

 A Threat to SanDisk  

Barron’s, 7 November 2005, 540 words, (English)

You hate to fall on your face when you’re on stilts. Up 158% this year to 64.51, shares of flash-memory maker SanDisk are at a stilt-like altitude that values them at six times this year’s expected sales. So investors are wary of …

 

 Intel’s Server Stumble  

Barron’s, 31 October 2005, 1096 words, (English)

Intel laced on its running shoes this year to catch the fast Intel-compatible processors sold by Advanced Micro Devices. Unfortunately, Intel keeps tying its laces together. It disclosed another stumble last Monday, as it announced delays …

 

 Stocks — The Trader: Is the Bull on His Last Legs?  

Barron’s, 24 October 2005, 2448 words, (English)

The stock market for yet an-other week defied the convenient and popular reasons for why it ought to go up.  

The bullish plurality on Wall Street for a couple of months has ticked off several things that should jog the market out of its …

 

 Boston Scientific Heads To the Recovery Room  

Barron’s, 24 October 2005, 1769 words, (English)

Heart doctors learn quickly. In rapid succession they’ve deployed new technologies like the angioplasty balloon, which opens a clogged heart artery without surgery; the stent, a tube implant that holds the artery open; and the …

 

 It’s Not Easy Being Green  

Barron’s, 24 October 2005, 571 words, (English)

A tiny Israeli semiconductor firm sees itself as the hero in a David and Goliath story. Green Power Technologies is fighting for its life against German chip giant Infineon Technologies (ticker: IFX), which it accuses of stealing a …

 

 Barron’s Mailbag: Antipodean Enthusiasm   

Barron’s, 17 October 2005, 373 words, (English)

To the Editor:   

Bill Alpert’s Oct. 3 column “Aussie Medicine Show,” painted a misleading picture of Novogen and Marshall Edwards Inc. Phenoxodiol, our investigational cancer treatment, is currently in Phase II trials …

 

 Out of the Ether  

Barron’s, 17 October 2005, 1062 words, (English)

Metro Ethernet proponents told me last week not to over-hype their technology. At the same time, they asked me to tell everyone to use it. The Metro Ethernet Forum met on Wednesday, with new schemes to help Ethernet conquer the universe.  

 

 Pfizer’s New Headache  

Barron’s, 10 October 2005, 1157 words, (English)

Drug-benefit manager Express Scripts has yanked the beard of the biggest lion. Now, investors will see if it emerges a hero or gets mauled.  

 

 Headed for Heartache?   

Barron’s, 3 October 2005, 977 words, (English)

Edwards Lifesciences has led the heart-valve business since its spinoff from Baxter International in 2000. In fact, Edwards has been pioneering artificial heart valves since it took the first one commercial in the 1960s.   

 

 Aussie Medicine Show   

Barron’s, 3 October 2005, 532 words, (English)

The world’s drug companies have flocked to America for its talented research and uncontrolled pricing. They’re not all prize catches. Consider Novogen, an Australian firm that’s repeatedly tapped U.S. capital markets while it …

 

 All Maxed Out?  

Barron’s, 26 September 2005, 501 words, (English)

Where’s WiMAX? The high-speed wireless technology was billed as the cellular killer — faster and cheaper than the cellular technology sold by vendors like Qualcomm (ticker: QCOM). But as cellular operators roll out …

 

 The Forecast on Options  

Barron’s, 19 September 2005, 521 words, (English)

Stock options became an expense this quarter for tech companies with June fiscal years, under the generally accepted accounting principles set by our principal bean-counting regulators. But none of this amounts to a hill of beans if Wall …

 

 Memory Games  

Barron’s, 12 September 2005, 2016 words, (English)

With a wave of his hand last week, Steve Jobs confirmed the rumors: Flash memory is clobbering the hard disk drive. At a San Francisco press event on Wednesday, the Apple Computer chief showed off the company’s new digital music …

 

 The Inside Skinny on Tips from Doctors   

Barron’s, 5 September 2005, 969 words, (English)

An important story appeared in the Seattle Times last month, on the scandalous way doctors take Wall Street’s money to discuss investigational drugs. Such consulting has gotten pervasive in recent years, and the paper’s Website …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: A High-Def Payday  

Barron’s, 5 September 2005, 334 words, (English)

The satellite-communications industry is providing a quick and handsome score for private-equity investors. Last week PanAmSat Holding (ticker: PA) announced its $3.2 billion sale to rival satellite operator Intelsat. If approved by …

 

 Fat Chance: Spreading Epidemic  

Barron’s, 15 August 2005, 2282 words, (English)

As the country gets fat and gray, diabetes threatens medical and economic disaster. At least 17 million Americans already suffer from the disorder’s uncontrolled blood-glucose levels, raising their risk of heart disease, kidney failure …

 

 High-Priced Storage   

Barron’s, 8 August 2005, 1063 words, (English)

The premium-priced shares of Network Appliance, a firm that sells bargain-priced data storage, took a hit last week when the company warned that its sales had fallen short of expectations for its fiscal quarter ended July. The disappointing …

 

 A New Loral Takes Flight  

Barron’s, 1 August 2005, 1111 words, (English)

Bill Bubbers started buying stock in Loral Space & Communications in 2000, after it eased from its bubble-market heights. “I was reading the press releases and it sounded pretty good,” says the Florida accountant. Even after …

 

 The Emerging Strategy  

Barron’s, 25 July 2005, 1096 words, (English)

Where it’s at is the emerging market. LM Ericsson (Ticker: ERICY) just reported more June-quarter revenues from Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa than it got from Western Europe. Nokia (NOK) predicted that developing nations …

 

 A Win for Freescale  

Barron’s, 18 July 2005, 1075 words, (English)

Freescale Semiconductor has been answering lots of questions in the year since its spinoff from Motorola. Can it maintain its sales to Motorola, which contributes more than a quarter of total Freescale revenue and nearly three-quarters of …

 

 REVIEW & PREVIEW  

Barron’s, 18 July 2005, 2464 words, (English)

Last Week  

 

            Dow Indicator 

 

Dow Industrials       10640.83  +191.69 

Dow World Index         216.21    +3.29 

10-Year Treasury Bonds    4.17    +0.08

 

 Powerline Promise — By William Alpert

Barron’s, 11 July 2005, 972 words, (English)

Within a few years, everyone will be trying to sell every kind of communication service. Cable, phone, satellite and wireless firms will offer voice, data and television. That’s made it hard to predict where market share and pricing will …

 

 Barron’s Mailbag: ‘Absolutely Horrible’   

Barron’s, 11 July 2005, 135 words, (English)

To the Editor:   

Bill Alpert’s June 27 article (“Apple’s Pie in the Sky,”) was absolutely horrible.

Alpert’s big mistake is pitting a product (the iPod) against the concept of a product (the cellphone capable of …

 

 WiMax’s Strong Signal   

Barron’s, 4 July 2005, 998 words, (English)

The oldest annual wireless-broadband convention met last week in Washington, D.C. For 18 years, the Wireless Communications Association has lived in the shadow of large groups like the cellular industry’s CTIA. But since Intel (ticker: …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories — The Spoils of Chip Warfare: If AMD wins its legal fight against Intel…

Barron’s, 4 July 2005, 362 words, (English)

Many folks think Advanced Micro Devices makes better processors than Intel, but AMD’s share of the Intel-compatible PC market has remained stuck at around 16%.  

 

 Bites Off the Apple  

Barron’s, 27 June 2005, 2974 words, (English)

The iPod shows why Apple Computer is a great company. With elegant hardware and friendly software, Apple’s portable player made a profitable business out of digital music — a trick that had eluded record labels and such erstwhile …

 

 Extra Cheese, Via the ‘Net   

Barron’s, 20 June 2005, 1067 words, (English)

As they pummel each other, the cable and phone industries agree on one thing: They need to get their networks onto the Internet Protocol, or IP. At their respective trade shows this month, the communications rivals extolled the benefits of …

 

 Tech Trader: Mexican Standoff  

Barron’s, 13 June 2005, 1102 words, (English)

By year-end, the cable, phone and satellite firms will all be trying to sell TV programming. Their need to relay those programs by satellite transponder prompted large investors to buy into the depressed satellite industry in the past two …

 

 Hope for Stroke Victims  

Barron’s, 6 June 2005, 502 words, (English)

A new emergency-room drama series started last week, featuring Cerovive, a stroke drug being tested by AstraZeneca, and the small bio-pharma firm Renovis. Shares of South San Francisco-based Renovis (ticker: RNVS) dropped to 12 from about …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up: New Orders Bolster Loral Stockholders  

Barron’s, 6 June 2005, 752 words, (English)

Loral Space & Communications seemed a few steps closer to exiting bankruptcy court last week, with its reported win of a satellite-construction contract and the scheduling of a July 13 hearing on a reorganization plan. The hearing will …

 

 Tech Trader: Tracking Garmin’s Rival  

Barron’s, 30 May 2005, 1086 words, (English)

Garmin has proven itself an innovator and a nimble competitor in the market for navigation devices that use the satellite-based Global Positioning System. In cars, boats and planes, Garmin’s dashboard-mounted displays show you where …

 

 HDTV: Who Wins, Who Loses  

Barron’s, 23 May 2005, 2746 words, (English)

After more fits than starts, high-definition television is finally showing up . . . just about everywhere. When a few over-the-air stations started sending HDTV signals in 1998, there were hardly any shows — or TV sets — available in the …

 

 Tech Trader: Unwiring the World

Barron’s, 16 May 2005, 505 words, (English)

While we hope this redesigned issue of Barron’s will expand readership, I’m already worrying about the next billion readers. How can I get beyond Tech Trader’s first billion readers when most people in the world can’t afford a computer. . . …

 

 Tech Trader: What if AMD Beats Intel?  

Barron’s, 9 May 2005, 637 words, (English)

A couple of weeks ago, I briefly discussed the new “dual-core” processor chips from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices, which can crunch more data because they put two processors on one piece of silicon. Some readers thought I …

 

 Barron’s Mailbag: Chipping Away at Intel  

Barron’s, 9 May 2005, 350 words, (English)

To the Editor:  

Bill Alpert’s comparison of the dual-core CPU architectures of AMD and Intel and the relative investment merits of the two companies was too superficial (“Intel, not AMD, Looks Like the Horse to Bet On,” Tech …

 

 What’s is Loral Worth? Shareholders wage a battle in bankrcuptcy court to retain their stake in a reorganization  

Barron’s, 9 May 2005, 2311 words, (English)

Tony Christ looked out of place last month in the Manhattan courtroom. Crisply-dressed lawyers snickered to each other as Christ made his rambling, inartful plea to survive as a stockholder of Loral Space & Communications, the …

 

 Tech Trader: A Family Threatened on the ‘Net  

Barron’s, 2 May 2005, 1112 words, (English)

We financial writers spend our time looking for dollar bills lying on the sidewalks of Wall Street, and hundred-dollar bills offered at suspicious discounts. But sometimes we take the more redeeming role of a Neighborhood Watch, shouting …

 

 Tech Trader: Intel, not AMD, Looks Like the Horse to Bet on  

Barron’s, 25 April 2005, 1191 words, (English)

Both Intel and Advanced Micro Devices introduced dual-core chips last week, which cram two processors onto one piece of silicon. The chip from Intel (ticker: INTC) is for desktops, while AMD (AMD) is first addressing the larger computers …

 

 The Goose Was Loose; So Were We  

Barron’s, 25 April 2005, 565 words, (English)

Memo to Boss:  

About that $100 expense-account item for vodka. To start with, they were just little bottles, and what kind of magazine would publish a story about the liquor industry without having a taste test, anyway?

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories — Spitzer’s Next Hit: How he picks his fights   

Barron’s, 18 April 2005, 565 words, (English)

New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer told an audience of independent stock analysts on Wednesday that Wall Street research has more integrity now than before May 2003. That’s the date when 10 big brokers agreed to reform their …

 

 Tech Trader: Red Alert on Tech-Stock Quote Screens  

Barron’s, 18 April 2005, 1181 words, (English)

Tech was missing last week, no matter where you looked for it. Weak corporate spending caused Sun Microsystems (ticker SUNW) to report a sales drop, (if you adjust for currency exchange rates). International Business Machines (IBM) said …

 

 Tech Trader: Will Dell and Lexmark Stay Together?  

Barron’s, 11 April 2005, 1177 words, (English)

For such a good business, Lexmark International has been a lousy stock. Despite sales growth of 10%, and even better gains in earnings, the printer manufacturer has seen its shares fall from 97 to 79 since last June, while the short …

 

 Roche’s Revolution: The Swiss giant is coming on strong in biotech  

Barron’s, 4 April 2005, 3438 words, (English)

Biotech has been no cure-all for health-care investors lately. The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index has fallen 15% this year, with many companies suffering product failures. One notable exception to the industry malaise is Roche Holding.  

 

 WiMAX  

Barron’s, 28 March 2005, 1098 words, (English)

Technology this year is full of “second half” stories, which urge investors to keep the faith through a crummy quarter because they’ll be rewarded with heavenly revenues come December. But the story may actually come true for …

 

 Barron’s Mailbag: Mobile Cycles  

Barron’s, 28 March 2005, 176 words, (English)

To the Editor:  

Bill Alpert’s negative article on Ericsson (Tech Trader, March 14) surprised me. I’m still very bullish on the stock. Yes, the margins will fall — this is a cyclical business. But not in the near future. We are in …

 

 Tech Trader: Feeling the Heat from Digital River  

Barron’s, 21 March 2005, 1238 words, (English)

Digital River has gotten its billion dollar market value by selling lots of downloaded copies of Symantec’s Norton AntiVirus. The e-commerce firm has also kept its shares aloft by silencing stock analysts with the threat of a lawsuit.  …

 

 the Case for an Alliance  

Barron’s, 14 March 2005, 1166 words, (English)

The malaise of Sun Microsystems has drawn many prescriptions from Wall Street analysts, and I can only imagine how many from investment bankers. The company’s shares are off about 20% this year, to a recent 4.40, with only the faintest …

 

 Losing the Signal: Ericsson turned around nicely — but its margins and stock price may have topped out  

Barron’s, 14 March 2005, 1958 words, (English)

LM Ericsson’s profitability fell apart with the bursting of the tech bubble. A year ago, analysts wondered if the Swedish wireless-equipment supplier could ever again scratch out a profit margin of a few percent. Then Ericsson enjoyed …

 

 Tech Trader: Running With the Bulls  

Barron’s, 7 March 2005, 1087 words, (English)

Wall Street’s bullishness toward semiconductor stocks neared unanimity last week. Lehman Brothers and JP Morgan joined the ebullient crowd that believes business will get better for the chip makers this quarter…or by second quarter. …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories — For Whom the Bell Tolls: Even if Qwest doesn’t get MCI, it’s doing well  

Barron’s, 21 February 2005, 658 words, (English)

The weakest of the remaining Baby Bells is refusing to step aside for the strongest. Late Thursday, Qwest Communications International said it aims to outbid the much bigger Verizon Communications for the acquisition of MCI. Even if Qwest …

 

 Tech Trader: Cyberonics’ CEO Saves Firm and Dumps Stock  

Barron’s, 21 February 2005, 1117 words, (English)

With all due respect, Cyberonics has been a crazy stock. Sane investors have gone nuts watching the medical-device maker struggle for approval to market its electronic implant for treatment of severe depression. Since June, Cyberonics’ …

 

 Tech Trader: Cisco Rewrites History As Its Growth Starts to Slow  

Barron’s, 14 February 2005, 1059 words, (English)

Here’s a question for the tech-analysis midterms. When a company has an extra week in its quarter, the effect is: a) lousy, because it only adds expenses; b) delayed, because it adds orders; or c) immediate, because it adds revenues.  

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories — Busy, Busy, Busy: A CEO fails to avoid a court date   

Barron’s, 14 February 2005, 838 words, (English)

A little Nasdaq company whose chairman is onetime Irish Prime Minister ALbert Reynolds has made big changes since Barron’s wrote about it (“Burning Questions,” March 15, 2004).   

 

 Tech Trader: Misguided Valentines for Chip Stocks   

Barron’s, 7 February 2005, 1115 words, (English)

Last week, more people on Wall Street swore they could see the chip sector’s bottom. In upgrading the chip stocks Friday morning, both Prudential and Cowen mooned about a June 2005 recovery in semiconductor sales and profit margins. …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories — Taken to Heart: Medicare decision gives lift to Medtronic  

Barron’s, 31 January 2005, 1024 words, (English)

Medicare extended coverage for implantable cardioverter defibrillators Thursday to hundreds of thousands of patients, ensuring a growth spurt for Medtronic, Guidant and St. Jude Medical. Shares in the companies jumped Friday, with Medtronic …

 

 Dialing for Software   

Barron’s, 31 January 2005, 607 words, (English)

The phone industry is in the midst of an implosive consolidation. Cingular has merged with AT&T Wireless. Sprint will merge with Nextel. AT&T might join up with SBC. And Verizon might grab any one of ’em. All this consolidating …

 

 Tech Trader: The Case for Breaking Up AMD  

Barron’s, 24 January 2005, 644 words, (English)

After an unprofitable December quarter, investors have renewed calls for Advanced Micro Devices to hive off its flash memory business. Shares of the Sunnyvale, Calif., chip maker have fallen from about 25 to 15.49 in a little more than a …

 

 a Satellite-TV Reality Show  

Barron’s, 17 January 2005, 1130 words, (English)

Cable television stocks dropped last year after phone companies announced plans to whip ’em with a fiberoptic line. But if the Regional Bell Operating Companies ultimately succeed in the multichannel TV business — by running fiber to …

 

 Tech Trader: There’s No Business Like Phone Business  

Barron’s, 10 January 2005, 602 words, (English)

The first U.S. video service for cellphones was announced by Verizon Wireless Friday at the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show. For $15 more a month, starting February, Verizon Wireless customers will have access to several hundred daily …

 

 Plugged In: Sweeping Options Under the Rug   

Barron’s, 3 January 2005, 979 words, (English)

Tech earnings will suffer a 20% hit this year if companies start expensing stock options. Yet the stock market couldn’t care less.   

The Financial Accounting Standards Board last month issued a long-debated rule that would require …

 

 Tech Trader: Nvidia Joins the PlayStation Party  

Barron’s, 3 January 2005, 658 words, (English)

IBM and Sony think they can keep Intel out of your living room. Intel hopes you’ll use a Pentium-powered computer to entertain yourself, but a radically different platform has been under development by Big Blue, Sony and their third …

 

 Keeping Pace: Medtronic, undervalued by the Street, should profit heartily from growing defibrillator market  

Barron’s, 27 December 2004, 1184 words, (English)

Johnson & Johnson is spending $25 billion for Guidant, mainly to get into the market for implantable defibrillators. J&J clearly stands among those who believe that the $5 billion defibrillator market is one of health care’s …

 

 HEDGE FUNDS — Fund of Information — Pitched and Tossed: Why many hedge funds got a lashing in ’04; And, some better tacks for ’05   

Barron’s, 27 December 2004, 909 words, (English)

The year 2004 probably won’t go down as a great one for hedge-fund marketing departments. Tepid returns, for the most part, ruled.   

“It was a challenging year,” says Robert Jaeger, chief investment officer of EACM Advisors …

 

 Tech Trader: Rating Myself, and Thanking Mom  

Barron’s, 27 December 2004, 633 words, (English)

Mom turns 80 this week. She’s learned a thing or two in her time, and I should’ve listened to her. She always told me that if I didn’t have anything nice to say, then I shouldn’t say anything at all.  

 

 Tech Trader: The Revival of Telecom Equipment  

Barron’s, 20 December 2004, 1148 words, (English)

Telecom-equipment vendors shivered through three years of global cooling after the heat wave of spending that peaked in the year 2000. In a cold auditorium at New York’s Plaza Hotel on Wednesday, they huddled in a conference sponsored …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories: Breach of Discipline? Possible J&J buy of Guidant draws sceptics  

Barron’s, 13 December 2004, 828 words, (English)

With drug stocks finishing another miserable year, Johnson & Johnson continues to outshine the health-care industry and confound skeptics who expected the fast-moving giant to hit potholes (“Bitter Pills,” June 9, 2003). Since …

 

 Tech Trader: Network Appliance Aims for the Sky  

Barron’s, 6 December 2004, 1068 words, (English)

Network Appliance shareholders want exceptional sales growth, says chief executive Dan Warmenhoven. And growth is what NetApp pledged in its analysts’ meeting last week.  

 

 Crank Call_ Hang Up on This VoIP Stock  

Barron’s, 29 November 2004, 1113 words, (English)

As phone firms lose customers to a technology that sends voice calls across the Internet, investors seek plays on that Internet technology — known as Voice-over-Internet-Protocol, or VoIP. Wall Street is obliging. Earlier this month, for …

 

 Barron’s Mailbag: The Calling Game  

Barron’s, 29 November 2004, 128 words, (English)

To the Editor:  

Bill Alpert’s article on sleazy and unintentionally hilarious investment telemarketers (“Phone Games,” Nov. 15) mentions in passing that Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s, uses …

 

 Tech Trader: Treating Disease by Killing the Messenger  

Barron’s, 22 November 2004, 588 words, (English)

A new approach to treating disease, known as RNA interference, was proven practical earlier this month by researchers at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals. In the science journal Nature on Nov. 10, the Alnylam scientists said they’d reduced …

 

 Tech Trader: Firing Up Check Point’s Firewalls  

Barron’s, 15 November 2004, 567 words, (English)

Check Point Software Technologies has always had an interesting business, supplying software that secures corporate networks against hackers and snoops. But the Israeli company hasn’t had much of an interesting growth story in recent …

 

 Phone Games: Investment telemarketers, shut out from your home, may now get you at the office  

Barron’s, 15 November 2004, 2206 words, (English)

I’m grateful for the government’s Do Not Call rule. It stopped telemarketers from calling my home, and started them ringing my office with electrifying offers to invest in upside-down Elvis stamps, bankrupt gas drillers and …

 

 Barron’s Mailbag: Some Issues in Testing   

Barron’s, 15 November 2004, 287 words, (English)

To the Editor:   

In a recent article on the CART-2 clinical trial, (“Did AtheroGenics Hype Its Test Results?” Tech Trader, Oct. 4), I was misquoted as saying there were “technical errors” in the study. I had stated to …

 

 Tech Trader: Nokia’s Bold Expansion Plans  

Barron’s, 8 November 2004, 1119 words, (English)

This year, Nokia’s American depository shares are off 4.5%, to about 16 bucks apiece. The Finland-based firm lost market share in the second quarter, as consumers cottoned to Motorola’s clamshell-style camera phones, instead of …

 

 Barron’s Mailbag: Analyzing Analysts   

Barron’s, 1 November 2004, 399 words, (English)

To the Editor:   

Over a long period, Bill Alpert has turned his Tech Trader column into a free platform for Jim Covello of Goldman Sachs to express simplistic, negative views on the semiconductor-equipment industry and its growth prospects. …

 

 Tech Trader: Sticking Up for Chips  

Barron’s, 1 November 2004, 586 words, (English)

Haven’t computer-chip stocks suffered enough? Smith Barney’s analysts think so. The broker upgraded more than a dozen semiconductor shares last Monday. And some of the companies weren’t even its investment-banking clients.  

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories — IBM Aims High: Stock could return to $100  

Barron’s, 25 October 2004, 480 words, (English)

Growth doesn’t come easy for tech companies at the moment, and many seem to have settled on a strategy of talking down the earnings forecasts of Wall Street — to levels that they can then beat.  

 

 Stocks — The Trader: Market Slouches in Mega-Cap Malaise   

Barron’s, 25 October 2004, 2793 words, (English)

The last thing a gambler, or investor, wants is to look down at a pile of blue chips that have inexplicably turned red.   

That’s pretty much the situation now among anyone who bought a collection of big, seasoned stocks in the hope …

 

 Tech Trader: THQ’s Wrestling Team Gets Tagged   

Barron’s, 25 October 2004, 1141 words, (English)

Here comes the pain, for THQ and Jakks Pacific — the companies behind the video-game industry’s best-selling wrestling titles. Wrestling promoter World Wrestling Entertainment — formerly known as the WWF — filed suit in …

 

 Letter from the Managing Editor: Kafka Lives, Down Under    

Barron’s, 25 October 2004, 906 words, (English)

To Our Readers    

Australia has a lot going for it: the Great Barrier Reef, the Sydney Opera House, fabulous beaches and, not least, Nicole Kidman. What it doesn’t have is a rational libel law. While one might think that this is a …

 

 Intel Stuck Outside: PC-chip giant makes few inroads against Texas Instruments in celphones  

Barron’s, 18 October 2004, 2152 words, (English)

Intel has done well in the personal-computer business, where it reaps a third of that industry’s profits. But sales now are growing barely 10% a year, so the chipmaker has searched for new opportunities — such as cellphones. At more …

 

 Barron’s Mailbag: Drug Wars   

Barron’s, 18 October 2004, 286 words, (English)

To the Editor:   

I listened to the AtheroGenics conference call and reread the transcript. In my view, it was a balanced presentation of what had been done, what was left to do, and the critical nature of the clinical trial results …

 

 Tech Trader: Big Blue’s Shark Attack  

Barron’s, 18 October 2004, 594 words, (English)

IBM claims it has reclaimed the initiative in the data-storage game, with newly enhanced disk arrays called Sharks. The new Sharks — used to hold the data in large computer centers — feature speedier processors and more disk-drive …

 

 Tech Trader: The New Challengers to Cellphones

Barron’s, 11 October 2004, 596 words, (English)

Voice-Over-Internet-Protocol — you’ll remember it as “VoIP” — is one of those disruptive technologies that are robbing traditional phone companies of their cash-cow subscribers. Recently, however, I’ve heard folks talking about the …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories — Skipping a Beat: AstraZeneca looks pricey  

Barron’s, 4 October 2004, 323 words, (English)

After an FDA advisory panel voted against an AstraZeneca heart drug on Sept. 10, investors have started to reassess their high hopes for the European drugmaker. The heart drug, Exanta, was the most important thing in AstraZeneca”s …

 

 Tech Trader: Did AtheroGenics Hype Its Test Results?   

Barron’s, 4 October 2004, 929 words, (English)

Merck’s recall of its painkiller Vioxx should have made last week a triumph for Steve Nissen and Eric Topol, cardiologists at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. The doctors had sounded the first alarm over the heart attack risks of …

 

 Tech Trader: Sun Strikes Back at Red Hat  

Barron’s, 27 September 2004, 663 words, (English)

One of the sins of Sun Microsystems — besides having done well in the Internet boom — was the way Sun held back its Unix software from Intel-based computers. Sun told you to buy its proprietary server computers, if you wanted its sturdy …

 

 Tech Trader: The Fall Outlook for Biotech    

Barron’s, 20 September 2004, 607 words, (English)

Biotech stocks took the summer off, as they have every year since the first antibody-producing cell gained immortality. By early August, the Nasdaq Biotech Index had fallen to a loss of 12% on the year. But in the past month, biotech has …

 

 The Call From Hell: An analyst’s Sell rating on a drug stock sparked threats and a vicious message-board furor   

Barron’s, 20 September 2004, 2261 words, (English)

At around 1 a.m., the man from Georgia called for the third time that night. He was still angry about the Sell recommendation that Kevin McNamara had published about a drug-company stock. While McNamara’s wife listened on an extension, …

 

 Tech Trader: EMC Won’t Bow to Hitachi’s “God Box”   

Barron’s, 13 September 2004, 1140 words, (English)

Did you dump your shares of EMC? Well, somebody did. At a recent 11.15, the data storage giant’s shares have fallen by almost 30% since January, more than most big tech stocks.   

 

 Barron’s Mailbag: Costs and Benefits   

Barron’s, 30 August 2004, 710 words, (English)

To the Editor:   

The Aug. 16 article “Tough Test” fittingly addresses the challenges faced by many constituencies charged with delivering quality health care in the U.S., including drug and device companies developing new …

 

 Tech Trader: Neil Bush’s Chilling Adventure   

Barron’s, 30 August 2004, 626 words, (English)

I don’t have a science PhD. Yet here I am telling you what’s what in tech stocks. You probably don’t have a doctorate either, but that doesn’t stop you from investing in software or biotech. We share the rather American …

 

 Tech Trader: Judging the Oracle  

Barron’s, 23 August 2004, 1085 words, (English)

As soon as this week, Oracle expects that a judge will rule on antitrust objections to the software giant’s hostile bid for PeopleSoft. Federal District Court Judge Vaughn Walker might soon rule because he has another trial scheduled …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories — Significant Change: Alfacell plunges on sell call  

Barron’s, 23 August 2004, 405 words, (English)

Stock analyst Kevin McNamara is sorry he ever gave a nod to Alfacell — a biotech firm in Bloomfield, N.J., that’s spent $71 million since 1981 on a cancer treatment that’s yet to gain approval by the U.S. Food and Drug …

 

 Tech Trader: For Cyberonics, Depression Regression  

Barron’s, 16 August 2004, 461 words, (English)

I withdraw my apology.  

One of my worst calls last quarter was a story in which I critiqued the cut-rate clinical trials with which Cyberonics was seeking the Food and Drug Administration’s approval to sell a kind of brain-pacemaker …

 

 Tough Test: New biotech drugs haven’t been subject to cost-effectiveness reviews, but that may change  

Barron’s, 16 August 2004, 2048 words, (English)

The biotech industry delivered two new treatments for cancer this year: Genentech’s Avastin and ImClone Systems’ Erbitux. But the price of these new products has drawn criticism. For about $40,000, Avastin adds, on average, 16 …

 

 Tech Trader: A Shocker for Broadband Services   

Barron’s, 9 August 2004, 540 words, (English)

Tom Wolzien was staying in a none-too-fancy hotel in Raleigh, N.C., when he learned that the hotel offered fast Internet service, for free. Because he follows the cable modem business as an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein, Wolzien was …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories — Medicare Savings: Drug payments curtailed  

Barron’s, 2 August 2004, 481 words, (English)

Medicare last week detailed its plans to slash what it pays for some drugs, affecting more than $10 billion in annual payments to cancer and urology clinics as well as home health-care providers such as U.S. Oncology, Apria Healthcare, …

 

 Tech Trader: A Nortel Chief’s Crammed Calendar  

Barron’s, 2 August 2004, 641 words, (English)

The tiller men at Nortel Networks have thrown investors through some awful jibes since the telecom supplier sailed the crest of the Internet bubble. Just when the Nortel seemed to have regained its keel in April, the Toronto-based …

 

 Tech Trader: Tech’s Economic Shock  

Barron’s, 26 July 2004, 588 words, (English)

Since you’re reading this column, you’re either trapped in an elevator or you consider new technologies to be sources of economic growth. Well, a new economic study says that technology actually shrinks the economy — at least in …

 

 Takeover Time? Many software firms look like targets, especially if Oracle wins the PeopleSoft antitrust suit   

Barron’s, 19 July 2004, 923 words, (English)

From the audience microphone at Oracle’s analyst meeting Wednesday, the same question kept coming up: What about software-industry consolidation? Oracle boss Larry Ellison has gained fame for his hot pursuits, most recently as he …

 

 Barron’s Mailbag: Debating Alfacell  

Barron’s, 19 July 2004, 560 words, (English)

To the Editor:  

As a shareholder of Alfacell, I found Bill Alpert’s July 5 Tech Trader column extremely disturbing. In comparing the column with Alfacell’s written response published on the PR Newswire July 6, and with my …

 

 Tech Trader: The Sales Slump in Software  

Barron’s, 12 July 2004, 588 words, (English)

A lot of software’s gone missing. First, Veritas Software. . . then Siebel Systems, PeopleSoft, BMC Software and Computer Associates. They all missed the sales and earnings expected for the June quarter, with most blaming shortfalls on …

 

 Running Up Hill: Passive managers had an edge in the quarter, but a tech fund, small-cap portfolio were winners  

Barron’s, 12 July 2004, 1683 words, (English)

There were few active investors among the top-performing funds of the second quarter. With the U.S. stock market delivering less than a 2% total return (with dividends reinvested), the standouts were mostly funds that passively index the …

 

 Tech Trader: A Case of Stented Growth  

Barron’s, 5 July 2004, 650 words, (English)

Two coronary stent stocks gave investors angina last week. For Boston Scientific it was probably just a spasm, but the outlook for Guidant is poor.  

 

 Tech Trader: The Big Fib About Fiber  

Barron’s, 28 June 2004, 591 words, (English)

At the telecom industry’s SuperComm trade show last week, the big announcement was SBC Communications’ plan to spend up to $6 billion stringing fiber- optic lines in its customers’ neighborhoods. San Antonio-based SBC is the …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories — Hotter on Kohl’s: The darkest days are over  

Barron’s, 28 June 2004, 578 words, (English)

Shares of Kohl’s, a department-store chain and one-time stock-market darling, appear to have bottomed at a recent 43 after a long, lugubrious slide. In a bid to boost sales and earnings, the company is cutting store inventories, …

 

 Drug War: Who Wins and Loses in the Brawl Over Cholesterol-Lowering Medications    

Barron’s, 14 June 2004, 2738 words, (English)

Statin drugs should probably be in the water, like fluoride. These cholesterol-fighting wonders have been proven to prevent heart attacks and strokes, with only rare side effects. Recent studies hint that statins might fend off …

 

 Tech Trader: From Intel, a Joy Ride Inside   

Barron’s, 7 June 2004, 572 words, (English)

This month, Intel cuts the ribbon on a speedy new version of the data highway that connects the chips inside a PC. The new technology, PCI Express, is a big part of Intel’s campaign to sex up the PC — transforming it from a white-box …

 

 Mood Swing: Cyberonics’ device for depression is facing a big test; Failure could clobber the stock  

Barron’s, 31 May 2004, 2045 words, (English)

On June 15, a panel of Food & Drug Administration advisers will vote on a company’s request to sell an implantable pacemaker for treating people who suffer depression. The submission by Cyberonics is a first for the FDA, because …

 

 Mom, Can You Hear Me Now?   

Barron’s, 24 May 2004, 870 words, (English)

For the past two weeks, my colleague Bill Alpert and I have been testing phone services that use VOIP, or voice-over-Internet protocol. We used our moms, among others, as test subjects. Both of us tried AT&T’s CallVantage service. …

 

 Tech Trader: The Price of Mending a Broken Heart  

Barron’s, 24 May 2004, 594 words, (English)

Medical devices can do a lot for the weak-hearted. Studies in recent months have shown that a jolt from an implanted defibrillator can ward off sudden death for people with serious heart problems. In March, a Medtronic-backed study showed …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories — IBM’s Happy Tune: Big Blue eyes outsourcing   

Barron’s, 24 May 2004, 470 words, (English)

IBM’s chief executive, Sam Palmisano, defiantly predicts that Big Blue will outperform its computer rivals-and the Standard & Poor’s 500 — in the coming years.   

 

 High Hopes for Notebooks  

Barron’s, 17 May 2004, 605 words, (English)

Semiconductor firms reaffirmed their faith in a growing future as they met with analysts last week. Investors have felt less optimism, to judge by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. The SOX index is down 9% this year, after rising 75% in …

 

 Here Come e-Pills: Doctors are changing the way they send in prescriptions; Which companies gain, which lose?   

Barron’s, 17 May 2004, 2155 words, (English)

For years, everyone has agreed we’d be better off if doctors wrote electronic prescriptions that they zapped to the pharmacy. More patients would stay on their blood pressure pills. More patients would get the right blood pressure …

 

 Tech Trader: Red Hat Takes Aim at Microsoft  

Barron’s, 10 May 2004, 602 words, (English)

Another hat got tossed onto the Linux desktop on Tuesday, as Red Hat Software announced plans to sell a desktop version of the operating system that it sells for back-office computers, known as servers. Linux is the freely-downloadable …

 

 Tech Trader: Handicapping the Four Horsemen  

Barron’s, 3 May 2004, 1067 words, (English)

Four stocks dominate technology portfolios: Microsoft, Intel, Cisco and IBM.  

The stock-market value of these four firms adds up to a combined $760 billion, which represents 35% of the entire tech universe’s market cap. But one of the …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories — High-Priced Miracle: OSI shares have peaked on cancer-pill news  

Barron’s, 3 May 2004, 696 words, (English)

Biotechnology shares took a frenzied leap last Monday — and it wasn’t because of our preceding week’s cover story on the drug industry’s need to fill its product pipeline with biotech acquisitions (“Ripe for the …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories — Pump, Dump, Plea: Lawyer is squealing  

Barron’s, 26 April 2004, 518 words, (English)

A lawyer involved in many controversial small stock promotions pleaded guilty last week to the pumping-and-dumping of an Internet stock in 1999. In a Newark, N.J., federal district court, Allen Barry Witz pleaded guilty to conspiring to …

 

 Getting Personal: Linux’s Next Step  

Barron’s, 26 April 2004, 614 words, (English)

The freely available software known as Linux has sure hurt Sun Microsystem’s sales of large server computers. When might Linux make a dent in Microsoft’s personal computer empire? Eventually.  

 

 Investing In Health — Ripe for the Picking: Little biotech firms are catching the eye of Big Pharma; Juicy stocks?  

Barron’s, 19 April 2004, 2007 words, (English)

In biotech, it’s a great time to be small.  

Patents will soon expire on some of the pharmaceutical industry’s blockbuster drugs, and there isn’t enough in the industry’s own development pipeline to fill the breach. So …

 

 Tech Trader: The Trouble With Hydrogen  

Barron’s, 12 April 2004, 617 words, (English)

As the price of oil has spiked above $35 a barrel, investors have been cruising for alternative-energy plays. Alternatives that weren’t economic with $25 oil might become competitive with $35 oil, these investors reason.  

 

 Stocks — The Trader: Live From Baghdad, Subdued on the Street  

Barron’s, 12 April 2004, 2711 words, (English)

A year ago, the live footage from Iraq that commanded traders’ attention was a buy signal, as the globally televised fall of Baghdad helped embolden investors and obscure troubling economic realities.  

 

 Chip in Some Ideas  

Barron’s, 5 April 2004, 576 words, (English)

IBM wants your ideas. They’ve gone about as far as they can go in shrinking transistors to make computer chips faster, cheaper and better. At a New York City presentation on Wednesday, IBM announced it would allow anyone to freely …

 

 Tech Trader: Inside Amgen’s Laboratory  

Barron’s, 29 March 2004, 623 words, (English)

Amgen asked for some respect last week, in its first research and development meeting with analysts. Investors knock the biotech firm for its reliance on just a few important products. At the Tuesday gathering in New York City, Amgen showed …

 

 Tech Trader: Three Cheers for 3G  

Barron’s, 22 March 2004, 619 words, (English)

Gee whiz! In two big shows this month, the wizards of wireless are baring their 3Gs. Over in Hannover, Germany, at the just-ending CeBIT trade show, Europe’s wireless carriers announced rollout dates for their Third Generation …

 

 Burning Questions: Nasdaq-listed Life Energy has made big claims for its incinerator business; Are they valid?  

Barron’s, 15 March 2004, 5226 words, (English)

Albert Reynolds, the Irish prime minister who brought peace to his troubled island in the 1990s, wants to clean up the world. Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1995, he now is chairman of a Nasdaq firm called Life Energy & …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories — Stuffed Shelves: AaiPharma revisits its sales numbers after analysts…

Barron’s, 15 March 2004, 428 words, (English)

When aaiPharma recently disclosed doubts about sales numbers it reported last year, the drug maker’s shares lost a third of their value — and a Raymond James analyst was vindicated.  

 

 Tech Trader: Will Garmin Lose Its Way?  

Barron’s, 8 March 2004, 598 words, (English)

Investors like gadget stocks, and Garmin has been an easy stock to like. For 13 years, the Olathe, Kan., firm has led the consumer market for gear that tells you where you are — using signals from the government satellites of the Global …

 

 Proxy Power: SEC may help dissidents get on the ballot  

Barron’s, 1 March 2004, 809 words, (English)

The battle for votes at Wednesday’s annual meeting of Walt Disney shareholders is starting the 2004 proxy season with a bang. Such proxy contests are rare. But come May, the Securities and Exchange Commission hopes to adopt a new rule …

 

 Tech Trader: Flashy Prospects for SanDisk  

Barron’s, 1 March 2004, 605 words, (English)

Hosting its first analyst day ever on Thursday, SanDisk told investors that growth opportunities are everywhere for the firm’s flash memory products. With shares of the Sunnyvale, Calif., company down more than a third since early …

 

 Tech Trader: Faint Applause for Applied Materials  

Barron’s, 23 February 2004, 622 words, (English)

The end is near . . . or at least nearer than you think. That seems to be the market’s view of the chip industry’s current upturn. Over in Silicon Valley, industry insiders have been hoping that sales would continue rising through …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories — Splurge to Merge: Synergies rarely add up to equal the rich prices being…

Barron’s, 23 February 2004, 681 words, (English)

Last Tuesday, Cingular justified its $41 billion purchase price for AT&T Wireless by citing synergies that would result from the merger of the cellular-phone networks. Those synergies include anticipated cost savings in network expenses …

 

 Radio Days  

Barron’s, 16 February 2004, 611 words, (English)

Texas Instruments wants to make waves for its rivals this week at a leading-edge semiconductor conference. It will be making waves digitally, with a cellular radio that’s built with the same technology used in inexpensive computing …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories — Storing Up Gains: Network Appliance prevails  

Barron’s, 9 February 2004, 441 words, (English)

A year ago, we worried that Network Appliance shares might suffer at the hands of the competitors who were arraying themselves against the data-storage maker (“Storage Crunch,” Dec. 30, 2002). Boy, did they show us.  

 

 Barron’s Mailbag: Soft Policy  

Barron’s, 9 February 2004, 288 words, (English)

To the Editor:  

Bill Alpert’s Jan. 26 Review & Preview “Big Foot” item made some insightful observations about soft dollars and the ways in which the recent Investment Company Institute proposal would, if adopted by the …

 

 Tech Trader: Prime Time for TV Chips  

Barron’s, 9 February 2004, 611 words, (English)

Television hasn’t been an exciting end market for semiconductors. As an outlet for chips, consumer electronics shrank through the 1990s, in proportion to computers and networks. But new digital TV technologies from Texas Instruments …

 

 REVIEW & PREVIEW   

Barron’s, 26 January 2004, 2160 words, (English)

Last Week   

 

                DOW INDICATOR 

 

Dow Industrials       10568.29   – 32.22 

Dow World Index         193.70    + 1.82 

30-Yr T-Bonds             4.95    + 0.05

 

 Tech Trader: Cisco and the Big Bang  

Barron’s, 26 January 2004, 608 words, (English)

Cisco Systems better show somethin’ great, when it reports on Feb. 3. Its January quarter’s end makes Cisco one of the last big techies to disclose year-end sales. Everyone from EMC to Juniper Networks said demand revived in the …

 

 Tech Trader: At Last, Businesses Start Buying  

Barron’s, 19 January 2004, 635 words, (English)

Business is buying tech. The solid sales reported last week by IBM, NCR and Sun Microsystems show that corporations have finally joined consumers in buying computers. All three firms get most of their revenues from corporate customers — a …

 

 Heartburn Hotel: The purple-pill maker has been flying, but keep one eye on the questions about its new drugs   

Barron’s, 5 January 2004, 2022 words, (English)

Investors like AstraZeneca, with good reason. Since emerging from the 1999 combination of Sweden’s Astra and Britain’s Zeneca, the company has tapped a pipeline of successful drugs — such as Nexium, its widely advertised …

 

 Tech Trader: Intel Raises the Speed Limit   

Barron’s, 29 December 2003, 1141 words, (English)

“Get on the bus!” That’s Intel talking. The bus in question is the PCI Express — the next generation of the “bus” line that carries data inside a personal computer, between the processor and other chips. The PCI …

 

 BEA: the Spice of Life?  

Barron’s, 22 December 2003, 1159 words, (English)

Two towers shadow the landscape of enterprise computing. One is Microsoft. The other is IBM. I can’t tell you which of them is Sauron’s Barad-Dur and which is Saruman’s Orthanc — I’ll wait to hear from readers more …

 

 Barron’s Mailbag: Not Enough Competition    

Barron’s, 22 December 2003, 596 words, (English)

To the Editor:    

Without question, Pfizer is the largest pharmaceutical company in the world and has created blockbuster drugs to treat everything from high cholesterol to sexual dysfunction. While I enjoyed reading Bill Alpert’s …

 

 Tech Trader: Burning Up the Phone Lines  

Barron’s, 15 December 2003, 1190 words, (English)

Don’t you call tech investors mindless. In fact, they favor mind over matter, lifting some stocks in defiance of gravity. Their latest mind-over-matter feat is called Voice-over-Internet-Protocol. Call it VoIP (pronounced voyp, with …

 

 Tech Trader: Cash-Register King May Ring Up Gains  

Barron’s, 8 December 2003, 614 words, (English)

Investors in NCR have finally gotten some ka-ching in their holdings. Off the March market bottom, shares of the cash-register pioneer have doubled to a recent 34.  

 

 Noble Ambition: Pfizer, the world’s largest drug maker, craves Wall Street’s respect — and deserves it    

Barron’s, 1 December 2003, 2828 words, (English)

With a dark rain draping his corner office windows, Hank McKinnell was feeling undervalued. “We’re the industry and the company that nobody loves,” said the chief executive of Pfizer, the world’s largest pharmaceuticals …

 

 Tech Trader: An Analyst’s Holiday Wish List  

Barron’s, 1 December 2003, 601 words, (English)

When a stock doubles, investment pros start eyeing the exits. Unless, of course, the pro works as a sell-side analyst. In that case, he may invent new arguments to urge investors to even higher target prices.  

 

 Tech Trader: The Silicon Speed Freaks  

Barron’s, 17 November 2003, 611 words, (English)

Every data bit is in such a hurry, these days. A hurry to get across the ocean.  

A hurry to get to the processor an inch across the circuit board. Computer designers at IBM and switch makers at Cisco Systems demand more speed. But every bit …

 

 On The Ball: IBM finds its balance — just as businesses may boost tech spending   

Barron’s, 10 November 2003, 3161 words, (English)

Tech stocks have nearly doubled this year — but not IBM.   

Shares of Big Blue are up barely 15%, at a recent 88, since the technology rally started rolling in March. Yet the colossus of Armonk, N.Y., should be one of the big beneficiaries …

 

 Tech Trader: A Ruckus Over Seagate’s Quiet Drives  

Barron’s, 3 November 2003, 610 words, (English)

Disc-drive makers had a good third quarter. So why have their shares crashed?  

Maxtor sales rose 30% to $1.1 billion, and the No. 2 drive maker swung to a profit of $30 million, or 12 cents a share, after losing money last year. At market …

 

 Media Power   

Barron’s, 27 October 2003, 1243 words, (English)

Tech is all fun and games now. Businesses aren’t spending much — the PC on my desk at work is going on its fifth year. Consumers now drive the innovation in chips and software.   

 

 Tech Trader: When Intel Isn’t Inside  

Barron’s, 20 October 2003, 1316 words, (English)

Intel sold a record amount of microprocessors last quarter, but its rivals still don’t think they’re licked. On Tuesday, those companies huddled at the annual Microprocessor Forum in San Jose, showing off the latest round of chips …

 

 Tech Trader: Duck Ahead of Earnings’ Peaking  

Barron’s, 13 October 2003, 1122 words, (English)

For months, tech stocks have bubbled up in anticipation of an industry upturn. Now, Wall Street’s trying to figure out how to fade and trade the peak of that cycle in 2005. Should you keep buying Applied Materials, for example, based …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories — APP Controversy: How good is cancer drug?  

Barron’s, 6 October 2003, 579 words, (English)

Shares of American Pharmaceutical Partners reached a record intraday high of 44 on Sept. 24, when the company announced in a release the clinical trial outcome for its cancer drug, Abraxane. The statement gave remarkably few details on the …

 

 Tech Trader: A Sudden Setback for Biovail   

Barron’s, 6 October 2003, 580 words, (English)

Tuesday may have been the last day of the quarter, but as tech salespeople like to joke, that meant that the quarter was only half over. The same calendar must be used in the drug industry: On Friday the Canadian drugmaker Biovail announced …

 

 Tech Trader: Intel Eyes the Telecom Business  

Barron’s, 29 September 2003, 574 words, (English)

Traders bidding up copper futures this year may not have noticed what Intel has been up to. Thursday, the chipmaker sponsored an “unwired” day of free access to public wireless networks at bookstores, airports and other WiFi …

 

 Barron’s Mailbag: The Future of Pharma  

Barron’s, 22 September 2003, 872 words, (English)

To the Editor:  

Please! Save your tears for the poor (and mythical) Dr. Chen in “Requiem for Research” (Editorial Commentary, Sept. 8). What a sob story. Author J.D. Kleinke must imagine that she worked for some clunker of a drug …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories — Heartening Test: Boston Scientific’s Stent outdoes Johnson & Johnson’s  

Barron’s, 22 September 2003, 629 words, (English)

As a breakthrough in cardiology, the Cypher stent from Johnson & Johnson is a hard act to follow. Threaded into a pinched heart artery, the special drug coating on Cypher’s tiny mesh tube helped the stent remain open in all but …

 

 Tech Trader: Shooting at Moving Targets  

Barron’s, 22 September 2003, 625 words, (English)

Every day-trader is a genius again, because the Russell 2000 Index has jumped 60% in a year. Scarier still, Wall Street analysts are again sounding like bubble heads. That’s not to say their heads are empty — but rather, that their …

 

 Tech Trader: The Next Brawl in Enterprise Software   

Barron’s, 15 September 2003, 1432 words, (English)

Glance at the headlines and you’ll agree that business needs more intelligence. The vendors of “Business Intelligence” software have been trying to address that need — and the spiffy performance of BI stocks like Cognos and …

 

 Heart-Fought Battle: J&J seeks to block Boston Scientific’s rival stent, but Wall St. doesn’t seem to have noticed   

Barron’s, 8 September 2003, 1609 words, (English)

Boston Scientific shares have doubled this year, in anticipation of the company’s entry into the U.S. market for drug-eluting stents. A cardiology breakthrough, these mesh tubes are designed to prop open a diseased heart artery and to …

 

 Tech Trader: In the Money at Cisco  

Barron’s, 8 September 2003, 572 words, (English)

There was no quiet period following Cisco Systems’ latest issue of employee stock options — even if there was one before the issue. On Tuesday, the Big Switcheroo issued its employees 141 million stock options priced at $19.59. The …

 

 Tech Trader: Born Again E-Commerce

Barron’s, 1 September 2003, 901 words, (English)

When the internet was driving Wall Street’s trading volume, back in the bubble days, fans bet that all industries would soon do their buying and selling online. That’s proved a bad bet for investors in e-commerce stocks like Neoforma, the …

 

 Review & Preview Follow-Up — A Return Visit to Earlier Stories — Drug Bust: Biovail marketing ploy draws federal scrutiny  

Barron’s, 1 September 2003, 347 words, (English)

Biovail’s payments to doctors prescribing its new drug, Cardizem LA, have sparked a federal inquiry into the launch of the heart medication. As reported (“Pill Pusher,” July 21), doctors got up to $1,000 for prescribing the …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Intel Inside: The Chips Get Hot

 

 Barron’s , 25 August 2003, 525 words, (English)

 

Things are looking up for intel. up about 11%, to be precise. The chip

giant delivered its mid-quarter update on Friday, about two weeks

earlier than expected, to tell the world that it’s seeing good demand

for its Pentium chips. …

 

Rescued by Biotech:

Health-care investor chalks up a 43% gain in a comeback performance

 

 Barron’s , 25 August 2003, 2917 words, (English)

 

An Interview With Stuart Weisbrod

 

He has achieved more-than-respectable returns in the five years since

he started the investing firm Merlin BioMed Group in Manhattan. With a

team of doctors and financial analysts, Weisbrod focuses on …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

ATI’s Moment of Glory

 

 Barron’s , 18 August 2003, 583 words, (English)

 

Ten minutes after the market opened Thursday, ATI Technologies became

the world’s largest computer graphics company . . . the stock market’s

measure, at any rate. Investors thrilled at news that the Canadian

chipmaker would …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Has Texas Instruments Peaked?

 

 Barron’s , 4 August 2003, 602 words, (English)

 

Fans of Texas Instruments have been bidding up the shares in hopes the

company will benefit this year from rising demand for wireless

communications chips. Adam Parker isn’t a fan — not at these prices, at

least. With TI shares …

 

Barron’s Mailbag:

Drug Dispute

 

 Barron’s , 28 July 2003, 182 words, (English)

 

To the Editor:

 

I am writing to correct misstatements in Bill Alpert’s article

concerning Biovail’s Late Phase clinical study for the drug Cardizem LA

(“Pill Pusher,” July 21).

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

On the Internet, a Second Act

 

 Barron’s , 28 July 2003, 1092 words, (English)

 

Michael S. Wachs has become a bit of a celebrity in the online

investing world. Since he started the investor relations firm CEOcast

three years ago, he’s supplied over 700 financial Websites with his

audio interviews of chief …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Street’s Hunger for Yield Puts Heat on Techs

 

 Barron’s , 21 July 2003, 577 words, (English)

 

There’s a new obligatory discussion topic on companies’ earnings

conference calls these days. You’ll still hear analysts asking for help

in coaxing their Excel earnings models toward the forecasted numbers.

And the word …

 

Pill Pusher:

Drug maker Biovail sparks controversy by paying doctors to write

prescriptions

 

 Barron’s , 21 July 2003, 1927 words, (English)

 

Dr. Emanuel Goldberg gets several calls a week from drug-company

salespeople. But he got one that he considered remarkable several weeks

ago: How would he feel about receiving $1,000 to write 15 prescriptions

for Biovail’s new …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Taking Money Off the Table

 

 Barron’s , 14 July 2003, 641 words, (English)

 

In a red-hot tech market, like today’s, you watch for savvy

stockholders who seem to be taking money off the table. Two such moves

occurred this week, involving shares of the memory chip maker Micron

Technology and the cancer-drug …

 

Wedding Belles:

Here are 35 stocks that might whet an acquirer’s appetite

 

 Barron’s , 14 July 2003, 552 words, (English)

 

Mergers and acquisitions are back. For that, Wall Street can thank

rising share prices, which have produced a high-priced currency for

buyouts.

 

A Corrupt Calculus:

The line between `making the numbers’ and making them up remains

blurry, so caveat emptor

 

 Barron’s , 7 July 2003, 1415 words, (English)

 

The Number

 

By Alex Berenson

 

Random House; 304 pages; $24.95

 

Reviewed by MICHAEL NIEMIRA

 

One sentence says it all: “bit by bit, the number started to run

companies rather than the other way around.” In that quotation from …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

A Graphic Shoot-Em-Up

 

 Barron’s , 7 July 2003, 1151 words, (English)

 

Doom is swell for computer graphics firms. Doom III, that is. The

third version of the shoot-em-up PC game should arrive this fall with

such 3D realism that it leaves a smoking hole where your old graphics

chip was. How nice for ATI …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories —

First, Nab the Lawyers:

Guilty plea by British attorney ends international shell game

 

 Barron’s , 7 July 2003, 366 words, (English)

 

With last month’s guilty plea by Andrew Warren, a 56-year-old London

lawyer, Manhattan prosecutors say they’ve nearly mopped up an

international ring of lawyers who supplied shell companies to American

stock swindlers. Warren …

 

REVIEW & PREVIEW

 

 Barron’s , 30 June 2003, 1814 words, (English)

 

Last Week

 

                     DOW INDICATOR

 

Dow Industrials        8989.05   -211.70

Dow World Index         156.19    – 3.05

30-Yr T-Bonds             4.58    + 0.13

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

J&J’s Stent Bumps into Reality

 

 Barron’s , 30 June 2003, 1122 words, (English)

 

For a medical breakthrough, Johnson & Johnson’s Cypher stent attracts

a lot of flak. Friday, Dow Jones Newswires reported that two patients

had died at a suburban New York hospital after doctors propped open

scarred heart arteries …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories —

Cashing in the Chips:

Micron, up 33% since April, may be peaking

 

 Barron’s , 30 June 2003, 439 words, (English)

 

Micron Technology shares have ramped from 9 to a high of near 14 since

April, when Barron’s wondered if they’d bottomed out (“When the Chips

are Down,” April 7). Now may be a good time to take some profits. The

shares, …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

A Warning Flash for SanDisk

 

 Barron’s , 23 June 2003, 581 words, (English)

 

Mark Roberts missed a big chance. In November, the accomplished

investment researcher, who runs Off Wall Street Consulting in Cambridge,

Mass., told hedge fund clients to sell shares of the flash-memory maker

SanDisk. The stock was at 26 …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories —

A Shot of Reality:

J&J arthritis drug’s problematic profit margin

 

 Barron’s , 23 June 2003, 315 words, (English)

 

Johnson & Johnson begs to differ with Glenn M. Reicin, the Morgan

Stanley drug analyst whose concerns about J&J’s growth we mentioned here

recently (“Bitter Pills,” June 9). Reicin’s dim view of the …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories —

Sibling Rivalry:

Brothers who founded chip firm tangle in fraud case

 

 Barron’s , 16 June 2003, 252 words, (English)

 

Thursday’s $3 billion stock-fraud suit filed against Cree in the

Greensboro, N.C., federal district court might have seemed like just

another overblown legal charge — if it hadn’t been filed by one of that

semiconductor …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Keeping the Home Fibers Burning

 

 Barron’s , 16 June 2003, 598 words, (English)

 

Here come the Bell companies with the next big telecommunications

rollout: Fiber to the Premise. This week, network suppliers may receive

their invitations from Verizon Communications, BellSouth and SBC

Communications to bid gear for …

 

Barron’s Mailbag:

Dangerous Drugs

 

 Barron’s , 9 June 2003, 261 words, (English)

 

To the Editor:

 

Bill Alpert’s May 26 article “The Supreme Court’s Drug Bust,” was

right on the money. The Maine Rx program smacks of legally sanctioned

communism and holds unintended consequences for …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Ready for the Big Squeeze?

 

 Barron’s , 9 June 2003, 636 words, (English)

 

With the nasdaq perking along, Ray Dirks has come back to paste

“Squeeze Me” signs on the backs of shortsellers. Dirks is the infamous

microcap stock promoter who’s made a career of organizing short

squeezes: that strategy …

 

Bitter Pills:

Once invincible, J&J faces fresh competition across its product spectrum

 

 Barron’s , 9 June 2003, 2175 words, (English)

 

Johnson and Johnson’s perch is teetering. For a decade, the world’s

biggest health-care company dazzled investors with growing sales of

drugs to treat anemia, arthritis and schizophrenia. And investors

returned the favor, lifting …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Vying for a Giga-Contract

 

 Barron’s , 2 June 2003, 619 words, (English)

 

Commercial fiber-optic network builders have been too busy filling out

bankruptcy petitions to request many bids from suppliers such as Ciena,

Lucent Technologies and Nortel Networks. That’s why a thrill ran through

the tech investing …

 

Barron’s Mailbag:

Quality of Independence

 

 Barron’s , 26 May 2003, 376 words, (English)

 

To the Editor:

 

In the May 5  “Tainted Goods” article about the quality of Wall

Street’s “independent” research, Bill Alpert missed a key point. To

assess the value of a firm’s equity research, just look at …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

The Supreme Court’s Drug Bust

 

 Barron’s , 26 May 2003, 1120 words, (English)

 

Drug stock prices got clipped 10%, early last week when the U.S.

Supreme Court refused to stop the State of Maine’s attempt to clip drug

prices. With big pharmaceutical stocks knocked down to the market’s

multiple of earnings — …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Pile-up at the Phone Booth

 

 Barron’s , 19 May 2003, 603 words, (English)

 

Free Wi-Fi could get dangerous. On Tuesday, Verizon Communications

announced plans to pepper Manhattan with Wi-Fi wireless hotspots, making

untethered Internet access freely available to anyone who’s also a home

subscriber to …

 

Health Frontier —

Seven Miracles Of Medicine:

Innovations like coated stents, computerized gene analysis and immune

therapies for…

 Barron’s , 19 May 2003, 2716 words, (English)

 

Medicine progresses like this: from a handful of inventors at Johnson

& Johnson, to dozens of test clinics, to two dozen FDA reviewers and,

finally, to Bob Middlebrook’s heart. Three days after mentioning to his

doctor that he …

 

Medical roundtable —

Black-Bag:

Stockpickers Three physicians-turned-investment-pros size up the health

sector

 

 Barron’s , 19 May 2003, 2984 words, (English)

 

An Interview With Howard Furst, Kris Jenner and Faraz Naqvi

 

It’s almost as if you need a medical degree these days to get through

the annual report of a drug company. So, to size up the state of

health-care stocks, we enlisted three …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Waiting for the Internet Traffic Jam

 

 Barron’s , 12 May 2003, 612 words, (English)

 

Somewhere, somebody must have sent an e-mail.That’s the only

explanation for the last month’s 25% pop in Internet hardware stocks:

Cisco, Ciena, Juniper Networks, Nortel Networks, as well as their

component suppliers such as …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories —

Tainted Goods:

Wall Street’s $1.4 billion settlement promises “independent” research;

Is it any good?

 

 Barron’s , 5 May 2003, 921 words, (English)

 

As part of last week’s historic, $1.4 billion settlement over corrupt

equity research, 10 Wall Street firms agreed to routinely supply

independent research to clients. That won’t hurt investors, but it may

not help them much …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Super Switches Emerge on Data Networks

 

 Barron’s , 5 May 2003, 1093 words, (English)

 

Network colossus Cisco Systems teamed up last week with data-storage

stalwart EMC — as the storage firm agreed to supply software and

distribution for Cisco’s new intelligent “super switch.”

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Chipmakers Aim to Conquer the Air

 

 Barron’s , 28 April 2003, 1150 words, (English)

 

The Wi-Fi bubble has a slow leak. Every treehouse is getting a

wireless data network . . . but strong stock plays seem in short supply.

Intersil, the chipmaker best known for Wi-Fi wares, actually saw

shrinking sales from that technology …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories —

Cool Tool:

AMD’s Intel-challenger chip arrives

 

 Barron’s , 28 April 2003, 405 words, (English)

 

Advanced Micro Devices finally has a Hammer. It hopes that every

computing job will look like a nail.

 

On Tuesday, the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based chipmaker introduced its

long-awaited chip for large computers — code-named “Hammer” …

 

“War-Driving”: the New Way to Snoop

 

 Barron’s , 28 April 2003, 814 words, (English)

 

The antenna looks like a bazooka. So we got icy stares from folks when

we pointed it at the New York Stock Exchange.

 

But the flak-jacketed cops could’ve cared less. Dejected, I realized

that Wi-Fi eavesdropping must have already …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Will Cheap Discs Ding Seagate?

 

 Barron’s , 21 April 2003, 1126 words, (English)

 

Cheap disc drives have become good enough for some large computing

jobs. That’s good news for users and for storage-array vendors like

Network Appliance and EMC. But no one’s sure if it’s good news for

drivemakers like …

 

 TECHNOLOGY WEEK — Tech Trader: Taiwan’s Chip Foundries: Zombies No More

Barron’s, 14 April 2003, 1142 words, (English)

In recent months, investors have left Taiwan’s semiconductor foundries for dead. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and its rival United Microelectronics had themselves a world-class business making computer chips for customers like the …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

BEA’s Open-Source Headache

 

 Barron’s , 7 April 2003, 1098 words, (English)

 

BEA Systems has been humbled since the dot-com glory days, when it

commanded a $35 billion stock market value. The San Jose, Calif., firm

popularized the “application server,” a layer of UNIX software that

enables corporate …

 

When the Chips Are Down:

Micron Technology has hit bottom — and better days could lie ahead

 

 Barron’s , 7 April 2003, 1780 words, (English)

 

At last, there’s good news for Micron Technology. Tuesday, the

Commerce Department proposed heavy tariffs on rival Hynix Semiconductor

after finding that South Korea had unfairly propped up the floundering

memory-chip maker — and …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Stent Stocks Could Pop

 

 Barron’s , 31 March 2003, 591 words, (English)

 

The best new medical technology in years, the coated stent, enjoys the

spotlight this week, as heart doctors gather in Chicago for their annual

scientific meeting. These tiny mesh tubes for propping open scarred

heart arteries have a drug …

 

 TECHNOLOGY WEEK — Tech Trader: Verizon’s 100-Megabit Challenge

Barron’s, 24 March 2003, 1135 words, (English)

Between the plumes of oil-well smoke, tech investors are glimpsing patches of exuberant blue sky. With the Nasdaq up more than 10% in little more than a week, it almost looks like the Internet’s glory days.

 

Barron’s Mailbag:

Another Dose

 

 Barron’s , 17 March 2003, 151 words, (English)

 

To the Editor,

 

After reading your story on Bristol-Myers Squibb (“Take Your

Medicine,” March 3), I think that anybody who buys this stock would have

to take medicine. Bill Alpert writes of billions and billions of lost

dollars …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

And Now, A Phone Called WANDA

 

 Barron’s , 17 March 2003, 623 words, (English)

 

I left my notes for this column at home. I wish that I could get my

wife to beam the file to my cellphone, so I could transfer it by

wireless network to my PC, before zapping it to my printer by a wireless

Bluetooth connection. But I …

 

Whose Drugs?

Big Pharma’s patents draw some ugly attacks

 

 Barron’s , 17 March 2003, 1980 words, (English)

 

She was a Beagle named 240712. There’s no cute name for the pup,

because she went directly from a kennel in upstate New York to the drug

lab of Eli Lilly. And there, according to a lawsuit, Lilly killed her in

a scheme to win a patent …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Unix Owner Strikes Back, Sues IBM for $1 Billion

 

 Barron’s , 10 March 2003, 1195 words, (English)

 

Caldera International launched a new business venture Thursday, by

suing IBM for $1 billion. Caldera is the Lindon, Utah, software company

that acquired the Unix computer code originally developed by AT&T. Its

lawsuit alleges that IBM …

 

Take Your Medicine:

Bristol-Myers Squibb has ‘fessed up to its sins. Its shares are cheap

and its outlook intriguing

 

 Barron’s , 3 March 2003, 1912 words, (English)

 

A couple of years ago, Bristol-Myers Squibb was a preeminent drug

company with a market value of more than $140 billion. Then it was

struck by more lightning than the state of Florida. In December 2001,

the company’s $2 billion bet on …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

The Worst Is Over for Lucent and Nortel

 

 Barron’s , 3 March 2003, 583 words, (English)

 

The Baby Bell phone companies aren’t gonna boost capital spending, and

they blame the government. That’s as I feared in my Jan. 13 rumination

(“Wanna Buy a Switch?”).

 

REVIEW & PREVIEW

 

 Barron’s , 17 February 2003, 2236 words, (English)

 

Last Week

 

                     Dow Indicator

 

Dow Industrials        7908.80   + 44.57

Dow World Index         133.99    + 0.49

30-Yr T-Bonds             4.89    + 0.08

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Elephants on a Chip

 

 Barron’s , 17 February 2003, 586 words, (English)

 

Intel’s out to get Texas Instruments. Thursday, Intel unveiled its

highly integrated Manitoba chip for the wireless market — a market

where TI holds sway to nearly the same extent as Intel dominates in PCs.

While Dallas-based Texas …

 

Cardiac Arrest?

Dubious rumors fly about J&J heart stent

 

 Barron’s , 17 February 2003, 896 words, (English)

 

Everyday, a rumor. Investors have had a rattling ride to market as

they await final FDA approval of a breakthrough treatment for heart

disease — Johnson & Johnson’s drug-coated stent. Has the Food & Drug

Administration found …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

EMC Reclaims Bragging Rights

 

 Barron’s , 10 February 2003, 1165 words, (English)

 

That ‘Nineties stock market champ, EMC, got pummeled after the

decade’s end. Data centers stopped throwing money around. Competitors

caught up to EMC’s data storage products. And one of those competitors,

Hitachi Data …

 

Barron’s Mailbag:

Another Pill

 

 Barron’s , 10 February 2003, 186 words, (English)

 

To the Editor,

 

Re “Rx for Prosperity,” Jan. 20: I believe that the pharmacy-benefit

management companies are illegally practicing medicine by aggressively

using formularies, suggesting that they, not the doctor, know …

 

Inspiring Surprise:

A program for AIDS drugs in Africa could have benefits in America

 

 Barron’s , 3 February 2003, 1452 words, (English)

 

The surprise that greeted President Bush’s new proposal for the U.S.

to lead and finance an assault on the plague of AIDS in Africa reminded

us that this White House likes secrets for their own sake. Bush’s staff

keeps secrets, …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Applied Materials Blindsides a Bull

 

 Barron’s , 3 February 2003, 1034 words, (English)

 

Poor Byron. A seasoned and skeptical analyst of semiconductor capital

equipment stocks, UBS Warburg’s Byron Walker finally decided last week

that Applied Materials shares had gotten cheap enough to buy.

 

 A Return Visit to Earlier Stories — Big Pharma’s Fantasy? Drug-related stocks get brief boost from a Bush plan that faces uphill fight

Barron’s, 3 February 2003, 673 words, (English)

President Bush doesn’t yet have Congressional support for the Medicare drug program he proposed in his State of the Union address. Even some Republicans balk at having the elderly opt for managed care in exchange for a prescription benefit. …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

IBM’s Linux Show

 

 Barron’s , 27 January 2003, 986 words, (English)

 

First thing you saw walking into the LinuxWorld show last Wednesday

was a giant IBM booth. It stole center stage from the longhairs who

invented the counter-commercial Linux software. They sat at card tables

in a back aisle, shooting …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories —

Dueling Drugs:

Biogen readies skin remedy

 

 Barron’s , 27 January 2003, 433 words, (English)

 

Any day now, the government will give marketing approval to Amevive,

the first of the biotech treatments for psoriasis that Barron’s

described in 2001 (“Surface Warfare,” June 4, 2001). The few hundred

thousand Americans …

 

Rx for Prosperity:

Destpite legal woes, pharmacy-benefit managers have powerful medicine

for cutting costs

 

 Barron’s , 20 January 2003, 2175 words, (English)

 

Only tobacco makers seem to get worse press than the companies that

manage pharmacy benefits. Indeed, some fearsome tobacco class-action

lawyers have turned their guns on these outfits. Legal worries weighed

on shares of industry leader …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Jump-Starting Broadband

 

 Barron’s , 20 January 2003, 1015 words, (English)

 

For the first time ever, all five members of the Federal

Communications Commission appeared before the the U.S. Senate’s Commerce

Committee, answering questions about deregulation of local Bell phone

monopolies.

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Wanna Buy a Switch?

 

 Barron’s , 13 January 2003, 1066 words, (English)

 

Telecom firms have been slashing spending on new gear. SBC

Communications, for instance, cut its capital budget from $7.5 billion

in 2002 to $5 billion for this year. Why? Business is weak, but the

local phone giants also blame federal …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Integration Rehabilitation

 

 Barron’s , 6 January 2003, 1074 words, (English)

 

After the Internet gold rush, Rich Scocozza went south, along with

most of the stocks he’d helped bring public as a Bear Stearns analyst.

Now with Raymond James, in St. Petersburg, Fla., Scocozza resumed

coverage last month of Tibco …

 

Storage Crunch:

Network Applicance faces fresh competition from all sides

 

 Barron’s , 30 December 2002, 1378 words, (English)

 

In an industry of broken dreams, Network Appliance has an enviable

record. While data-storage rivals such as EMC have seen margins crumble

from slowing computer demand and better competition, Network Appliance

continues to enjoy king-sized …

 

Barron’s Mailbag:

Serious Numbers

 

 Barron’s , 30 December 2002, 562 words, (English)

 

To the Editor:

 

Bill Alpert’s column item on “Funny Numbers” (Tech Trader, Dec. 16,

2002) reported a study by Jonathan Koomey debunking “mythical numbers”

being passed along by journalists, in such a way that the …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Linux and Microsoft: Together in 2003?

 

 Barron’s , 30 December 2002, 1059 words, (English)

 

I don’t see why technology investors should care for predictions at

New Year’s, any more than at other times of year. Surely my smart

readers look to the future every day. But because investment performance

gets measured by the …

 

Barron’s Mailbag:

More Numbers

 

 Barron’s , 30 December 2002, 768 words, (English)

 

To the Editor:

 

There was an apparent conflict between the “funny numbers” theme of

Bill Alpert in the Dec. 16 issue and the cover story by Jay Palmer,

“Clearing the Air.” The entire history of the fuel-cell industry …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Spitzer Saves Investors From Wall Street Muggers!

 

 Barron’s , 23 December 2002, 1029 words, (English)

 

Eliot Spitzer was beaming as regulators announced Friday’s $1.4

billion settlement of government investigations into research conflicts

at Wall Street firms. The gold-leafed boardroom of the New York Stock

Exchange was crammed with …

 

Barron’s Mailbag:

Educating Analysts

 

 Barron’s , 16 December 2002, 580 words, (English)

 

To the Editor:

 

Bill Alpert’s prescriptions for fixing Wall Street research (“Now Hear

This,” Dec. 2) are much too complicated. A simpler solution: Fire all

the analysts, starting with Mary Meeker, and don’t replace …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Veritas Chief: Linux Will Soon Get a Big Lift

 

 Barron’s , 16 December 2002, 1043 words, (English)

 

Stopping by to chat Wednesday, Veritas Software’s CEO, Gary Bloom,

predicted that the free operating system Linux would halt Microsoft’s

march into enterprise computing. Big computing shops haven’t yet put a

lot of Linux …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories —

Down, Under:

Ruling on Barron’s article

worries Internet publishers

 

 Barron’s , 16 December 2002, 327 words, (English)

 

Australia’s highest court last week dealt a blow to Barron’s publisher

Dow Jones and raised new legal hazards for media companies that

distribute products online.

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Gene Therapy Could Soon Get a Needed Boost

 

 Barron’s , 9 December 2002, 1088 words, (English)

 

Gene therapy has suffered many setbacks, as doctors have vainly tried

to rewrite the faulty genetic instructions that cause inborn diseases

like cystic fibrosis. Investors are betting that Monday will bring good

news when doctors, at a …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories —

Low Impact:

New French rules shouldn’t put: big crimp in sales of J&J’s anemia drug

 

 Barron’s , 9 December 2002, 711 words, (English)

 

It could have been much worse. Johnson & Johnson shares fell 2% last

Monday morning, on reports that French regulators might ban the

company’s anemia drug, Eprex. The drug has been associated with a rare

but grave antibody …

 

Now Hear This:

Wall Street’s research stinks; Here’s how to fix it

 

 Barron’s , 2 December 2002, 3970 words, (English)

 

Despite all the drama surrounding current efforts to reform Wall

Street’s tainted research departments, one fundamental problem has been

left unaddressed: Most analysts’ reports are just plain lousy.

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Semicap Fracas: He Says Buy, I Say Sell

 

 Barron’s , 2 December 2002, 1039 words, (English)

 

Biased? Me?

 

They know how to push my buttons at Goldman Sachs, where

semiconductor- capital-equipment analyst Jim Covello told his clientele

that Barron’s coverage of semicap stocks was sensationalistic

propaganda. Jim said I made …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Chipmakers’ Troubles May Drown Equipment Stocks

 

 Barron’s , 25 November 2002, 1052 words, (English)

 

What do chipmakers get, for all their investment in production gear

sold by the likes of Applied Materials? Less and less.

 

That’s why Banc of America analyst Mark F. FitzGerald wouldn’t chase

the current rally in semiconductor …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

New Cracks Appear in Resurgent Chip Stocks

 

 Barron’s , 18 November 2002, 1082 words, (English)

 

Computer-chip shares got knocked back on their heels Friday, after

Merrill Lynch analyst Joe Osha said the sector looks overpriced. He hung

Sell ratings on Intel, Analog Devices and a handful of telecom-chip

suppliers. Intel dropped 41 …

 

The Hand That

Rocks the Cradle

 

 Barron’s , 11 November 2002, 554 words, (English)

 

Hand-helds aren’t hot anymore.

 

Market-leader Palm, which in March 2000 had an astonishing market

value of $90 billion, continues to lose money. In its August quarter,

Palm’s sales dropped 20% from the prior year, to $172 …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Cranking Up the Hype Machine for Tablet PCs

 

 Barron’s , 11 November 2002, 1058 words, (English)

 

Investors overpay when they buy into hype, and the Thursday launch of

Microsoft’s Tablet PC was klieg-lighted. If Bill Gates thinks he can buy

media prominence with appearances by actor Rob Lowe and writer Amy Tan,

then he don’t …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Money Managers Jam Waldorf Game Arcade

 

 Barron’s , 4 November 2002, 1050 words, (English)

 

Hey! I saw your money manager last week. He was playing video games.

 

No joke! Just ’cause the Nasdaq’s been perking, your fiduciary has not

relaxed his quest for outperformance. There he was — puncturing

inflation, blasting …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Earnings Matter, After All

 

 Barron’s , 28 October 2002, 998 words, (English)

 

As America scrapes off the slime of the burst bubble market,

accounting firms have said they’re not to blame. The fault lies in

financial reporting standards, according to a statement issued by the

big auditing firms after the Enron …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Hunting for Trades in a Bear Market Rally

 

 Barron’s , 21 October 2002, 1076 words, (English)

 

Since early October, there’s been a 23% rally in the 100 large

technology shares indexed by Merrill Lynch. By comparison, the S&P 500

has risen 12%. Merrill’s Steve Milunovich is hard-pressed to explain the

excitement on Wall …

 

Scary Statistics:

Myriad Genetics may be overstating its case

 

 Barron’s , 21 October 2002, 816 words, (English)

 

After being treated for breast cancer, Sue Friedman took a test that

showed she’d inherited a gene flaw that predisposed her to cancer. So at

age 35, she made the decision to have a preventive mastectomy. “It’s …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

The Vision Thing at Microsoft

 

 Barron’s , 14 October 2002, 1068 words, (English)

 

They’re having visions at Microsoft. Last week alone, company leaders

announced three new visions to their cult gatherings. At an Anaheim,

Calif., meeting of programmers, the company revealed two visions that it

calls …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

RealNetworks Strikes Back Against Microsoft

 

 Barron’s , 7 October 2002, 1060 words, (English)

 

Internet World was a bread-and-water banquet last week. With most of

the cement floor curtained off and bare, you could still frisbee an AOL

software disk through the booths and hit no one. Attendance was down 30%

from last year, and …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Bell Labs Faker Won’t Slow Molecular Computing

 

 Barron’s , 30 September 2002, 1031 words, (English)

 

Technology miracles such as optical networks and roomy disk drives are

going cheap these days. But the once and future value of the computer

industry still rides on those researchers tinkering with the next

miracles, such as molecule-sized …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Sharp Elbows Fly in Rare-Disease Drug Rivalry

 

 Barron’s , 23 September 2002, 1087 words, (English)

 

A showdown is looming between Genzyme and Transkaryotic Therapies,

makers of rival drugs for treating Fabry’s disease, a rare and awful

inherited illness. But investors who were looking for a resolution this

week from a Food and Drug …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Radio Intel May Drown Out Wireless Chip Rivals

 

 Barron’s , 16 September 2002, 1137 words, (English)

 

Intel wants to give you a free radio with every processor you buy.

Merrill Lynch semiconductor analyst Joe Osha spotted this sales gimmick

last week, at Intel’s fall conference for product developers. The San

Jose, Calif., conference …

 

Taiwan’s Chips Are Still Getting Trimmed

 

 Barron’s , 16 September 2002, 1664 words, (English)

 

The outlook for the chip industry sank anew last week, as Taiwan

Semiconductor Manufacturing halved its production targets for a

next-generation plant and Royal Philips Electronics, Europe’s

third-largest chipmaker, cut sales …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories —

Avastin Letdown:

Genentech’s cancer drug fails to hike survival rates

 

 Barron’s , 16 September 2002, 443 words, (English)

 

Another magic bullet against cancer looks like a dud. Last week,

Genentech said its biotech product Avastin didn’t improve the survival

rate of women with advanced breast cancer.

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

‘Net Metrics Never Really Amounted to Much

 

 Barron’s , 9 September 2002, 1027 words, (English)

 

Eyeballs. Unique Visitors. Stickiness.

 

These were the measures of share value for Internet bulls such as Mary

Meeker of Morgan Stanley, when the bubble was bulging. The crash has

discredited the bulls and their valuation arguments — but …

 

High-Stakes Game:

Amgen wants to retake sales of its top-selling drug from J&J; For the

benefit of patients, of course

 

 Barron’s , 2 September 2002, 1567 words, (English)

 

Amgen is the world’s biggest biotech firm. But it’s not the biggest

seller of its top-selling drug, EPO. Johnson & Johnson sells twice as

much of the anti-anemia drug than does Amgen — under a market-sharing

deal that Amgen …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—-

Tech Trader:

Semiconductor Gear-Makers Still Sucking Wind

 

 Barron’s , 2 September 2002, 1039 words, (English)

 

In August, the outlook for semiconductor production equippers went

from cautious optimism, to cautious. Shares of leaders like Applied

Materials and KLA-Tencor have given up 20% in the last week or so, as

investors revised expectations for …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Is Wi-Fi a Threat to Third-Generation Wireless?

 

 Barron’s , 26 August 2002, 1122 words, (English)

 

How’s this for an exciting new networking stock: Starbucks. Wednesday,

the coffeehouse chain announced that 1,200 of its cafes in the U.S. and

Europe had become hotspots for wireless networking. By year-end, the

Seattle-based …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories —

Stung:

Suspected stock tout indicted

 

 Barron’s , 26 August 2002, 504 words, (English)

 

Almost four years ago, Ivana Trump was touting a luxury goods Website

called The 5th Avenue Channel. When Barron’s warned that a chunk of that

little public company was held by promoter Charles S. Arnold (“Ivana Get

Rich,” …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Diabetes Link Could Cool Lilly’s Hottest Drug

 

 Barron’s , 19 August 2002, 1065 words, (English)

 

There’s an ominous billboard near Corpus Christi, Tex.: A law firm

asks travelers if they’ve taken the drug Zyprexa and suffered diabetes.

Eli Lilly used to need the antidepressant Prozac. Now it needs the

antipsychotic Zyprexa. …

 

 TECHNOLOGY WEEK — Tech Trader: Sprint PCS Rolls Out 3G; Should Investors Care?

Barron’s, 12 August 2002, 1109 words, (English)

Third-generation wireless service is everywhere — on Sprint PCS, at least. Thursday, the wireless carrier announced the first nationwide availability of 3G service. The new “Vision” offering has a data rate several times faster than …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories —

Decompressed:

Hanover Compressor falls on restatement, exec exits

 

 Barron’s , 12 August 2002, 394 words, (English)

 

After independent analyst Mark Roberts told Barron’s that Hanover

Compressor was a profitless “cash trap,” the company’s shares fell 40%,

to 15.

 

Full-Priced Goods:

Kohl’s has charmed Wall Street and Main, but the company’s growth may

start to slow

 

 Barron’s , 12 August 2002, 2192 words, (English)

 

Modern American retailing has few gods above Kohl’s. The company’s

brightly merchandised stores brim with attractive clothing, shoes and

housewares, drawing hordes of shoppers to strip malls where mere mortal

chains have failed. …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Does Stericycle Have Too Much Market Clout?

 

 Barron’s , 29 July 2002, 1081 words, (English)

 

With medical stocks suffering massive bleeds this year, savvy

health-care investors have found succor in Stericycle. The Lake Forest,

Ill., firm’s business is simple and essential. Stericycle collects

medical waste — the potentially …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Did WorldCom Overstate its ‘Net Traffic, Too?

 

 Barron’s , 22 July 2002, 1056 words, (English)

 

Dot.com hitchhikers still waiting for all the promised Internet

traffic can direct complaints to John Sidgmore. Dark fiber flickered

Thursday — if briefly — with e-mails of a story on the online news

site Light Reading that says …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Perot Systems Gets a Bum Rap in California

 

 Barron’s , 15 July 2002, 1051 words, (English)

 

Perot Systems got its pinstripes caught in the political wringer of

the California energy crisis. Shares of the computer-outsourcing firm,

chaired by H. Ross Perot, Sr., got sheared in half last month. That’s

because a California …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Is Optical Equipment Poised for a Comeback?

 

 Barron’s , 8 July 2002, 1122 words, (English)

 

In the crater left by the bursting of the bubble market, the lowest

circle is filled with optical network stocks. The road to that crater is

paved with dark fiber that we once thought would blaze with Internet

traffic. To the devil with …

 

Letter From The Editor:

When Will Tech Rebound?

 

 Barron’s , 24 June 2002, 1164 words, (English)

 

Chief executives in Silicon Valley are understandably shellshocked by

the sharp and continuing downturn in technology spending. Ask them about

the long-term prospects for their business and they are almost uniformly

optimistic. Ask them …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Chilly Prospects for Prostate Freeze-Treatment Firm

 

 Barron’s , 17 June 2002, 1131 words, (English)

 

Half of men over 60 will get prostate cancer. That would seem like a

big market for urology suppliers like Endocare. Unfortunately, prostate

treatment is a field riven by scientific and financial conflicts —

conflicts that Endocare must …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Qualcomm’s Plan to Conquer the World

 

 Barron’s , 3 June 2002, 1058 words, (English)

 

Wireless phone leader Nokia has been looking over its shoulder at

Microsoft, whose invasion plans for the cellular market threaten Nokia’s

hegemony. Instead, Nokia ought to worry about Qualcomm.

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

The First Stop for the Tech Recovery May Be India

 

 Barron’s , 27 May 2002, 1037 words, (English)

 

John A. McKinley, Jr., isn’t sure when he’ll get budget relief. But

when he does, the Merrill Lynch Chief Technology Officer has a shopping

list. Atop that list are systems integration services — the kind

supplied by outside …

 

Health-Care Roundtable —

Prognosis For An Ailing Industry:

Our panel, flush with success, conducts a follow-up examination

 

 Barron’s , 20 May 2002, 3169 words, (English)

 

Big pharmaceutical stocks are in the sick bay; biotech’s in the ICU.

Last year’s Health-Care Roundtable members did surprisingly well,

however, so we invited them back one more time. At Lehman Brothers,

Lawrence C. Marsh heads up …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Genentech’s New Cancer Drug Should Boost Profits

 

 Barron’s , 20 May 2002, 1095 words, (English)

 

Heather Hurley’s cancer had been four years in remission when it

reappeared. This time around, doctors had new hope to offer the

31-year-old North Carolina woman. She recently finished 15 rounds with

the chemotherapy drug called Taxol …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Corning’s Woes are Not Over Yet

 

 Barron’s , 13 May 2002, 958 words, (English)

 

Investors are wrestling over what lies ahead for that 150-year old

technology company, Corning. At the height of the telecom spending boom

in 2000, the Corning, N.Y.-based firm, had a $120 stock and thousands of

miles of optical fiber sold …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

FTC Looking at Pharmaceutical Deals

 

 Barron’s , 6 May 2002, 1044 words, (English)

 

America’s drug companies have long enjoyed the trust of both patients

and investors. But this is the year of antitrust.

 

This summer, the Federal Trade Commission will release a study of the

drug industry’s alleged attempts to …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Blades Will Be Sharp When Buyers Start Buying Again

 

 Barron’s , 29 April 2002, 1106 words, (English)

 

If anyone were buying servers, they’d want blade servers. Along with a

Hollywood-sexy name, blade servers offer to slice the expense of running

data centers, where big enterprises do their critical computing on racks

of powerful …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Barron’s Online —

Recovery in the Cards:

American Express comes back after 2001

 

 Barron’s , 29 April 2002, 815 words, (English)

 

American Express is one of the world’s best-known brands. But last

year, it was better known for its lackluster performance.

 

The charge-card and financial behemoth had a tough time in a tough

economy, which pummeled its main …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Will New Drugs Make Cancer Cells Self-Destruct?

 

 Barron’s , 22 April 2002, 1013 words, (English)

 

The shares of anti-cancer biotech stocks fared poorly last year. But

Stephens Inc. analyst Jason Y. Zhang notes that more than 400 cancer

drugs are in human trials, with many of those trials nearing the

clinical finish line.

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Chip-Equipment Stocks Aren’t as Rich as They Seem

 

 Barron’s , 15 April 2002, 1100 words, (English)

 

Has the semiconductor-equipment business turned up? Smart gains by

shares like Applied Materials and KLA-Tencor say yes.

 

But are these firms selling more of their chipmaking tools? Thanks to

the unintended effect of government accounting …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories —

A Better Hand:

Revived Palm just might give investors something to cheer about

 

 Barron’s , 8 April 2002, 523 words, (English)

 

Color is returning to pallid Palm. Two weeks ago, the pioneer of

handheld computing announced better-than-expected results for its

February quarter, lifting the stock 22%, to 3.90. On sales of $293

million, the Santa Clara, Calif., outfit …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Quants Live! The Revenge of the Big Brains

 

 Barron’s , 8 April 2002, 1076 words, (English)

 

The crash of a math firm like Long-Term Capital Management reassures

those among us without Nobels, those pleased to know p-doodle about

statistics. Yet the Quants are alive, and making money. They are using

computers to figure out that …

 

Monty Pythonomics

 

 Barron’s , 8 April 2002, 2077 words, (English)

 

Nobody expects the Spanish inquisition!” Blurt that out at your next

soiree, preferably after a glass or three, and you should expect blank,

nervous stares from all those who think you’re drunk, daft or worse. Or,

if it’s a …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Will New Problems Nuke Nuclear Energy Stocks?

 

 Barron’s , 1 April 2002, 1092 words, (English)

 

The nuclear power industry has spent a decade shaking off its bad

reputation. It succeeded — among investors, at least, who have stopped

discounting nuke operators for risk. But on March 12, FirstEnergy

disclosed that a reactor outside …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Guidant Shares Could Gain on Coated Stent News

 

 Barron’s , 25 March 2002, 1137 words, (English)

 

Zero.

 

That’s a great number. Heart doctors reported last week that one year

after placing devices called drug-coated stents in pinched arteries,

none of the stents clogged with scar tissue. No patients suffered heart

attacks. The …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories —

No Cold Cure Yet:

ViroPharma drug nixed

 

 Barron’s , 25 March 2002, 386 words, (English)

 

The common cold will remain common. Expert advisers of the Food and

Drug Administration voted Tuesday against recommending approval of

ViroPharma’s cold treatment. Shares in the Exton, Pa., firm halted

trading, as the FDA advisory …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Dirty Tricks in the Land of Generic Drugs

 

 Barron’s , 11 March 2002, 1131 words, (English)

 

In the no man’s land where patents end and generic-drug sales start,

few firms have fought as grimly as Andrx Pharmaceuticals and Biovail.

And that’s before they get to market. The Nasdaq-traded Andrx and New

York-listed Biovail …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Plugged In:

Odds Favor Carly in H-P/Compaq Merger Showdown

 

 Barron’s , 11 March 2002, 1212 words, (English)

 

It is difficult to fashion Walter Hewlett as a David versus Carly

Fiorina’s Goliath, but that is precisely what this tiff of a proxy fight

has come to. With ample personal wealth, an 18% block of shares under

his control, and the …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

IBM’s Faster, Cheaper Chips Bode Well for Telecom

 

 Barron’s , 4 March 2002, 1067 words, (English)

 

Before last Monday, the speed record for semiconductors belonged to

exotic stuff like indium phosphide. For the Internet’s backbone, for

cell-phone radios or for the military’s global positioning systems,

silicon would not do. …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK — Technology

—

Plugged in:

Roxio Looks to Keep Burning Up the CD Scene

 

 Barron’s , 25 February 2002, 1552 words, (English)

 

The fall of Napster may have emancipated immeasurable bandwidth in

college computer networks from coast to coast, but it has hardly

dampened enthusiasm for the nascent art of compact-disc burning.

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories —

Rx for Confusion:

Despite skeptics, it may be too early to tell if ImClone — and its

stock — are…

 Barron’s , 25 February 2002, 562 words, (English)

 

Last September’s $2 billion pledge by Bristol-Myers Squibb, for a

small piece of ImClone Systems and its aspiring cancer treatment

Erbitux, set a new high in the pricing of biotech companies and their

products. But since the Food and …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Some Hear Static in Microtune’s Bullish Song

 

 Barron’s , 25 February 2002, 1125 words, (English)

 

Microtune sells communications chips into some of the same markets

that made hot stocks out of BroadCom and Anadigics. And Microtune was

itself a hot stock once, trading as high as 60 after its 2000 debut,

before settling back into a range …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Will Tech Companies Get Called on Options?

 

 Barron’s , 18 February 2002, 1135 words, (English)

 

Reform is on a roll, after Enron. Accounting reformers have renewed

calls for companies to count the costs of stock options. Few issues

affect tech-industry profits as broadly as option accounting. Without

the padding of reported profits …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Check Point Turns Up the Heat on Rivals

 

 Barron’s , 11 February 2002, 1127 words, (English)

 

Appliances are bothering Check Point Software Technologies. Not

malicious Maytags, mind you, but those gadgets known as network security

appliances. Sales of inexpensive, easy-to-deploy appliances are the

fastest-growing part of the …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Microsoft’s Next Target: Wirless Phones

 

 Barron’s , 4 February 2002, 1128 words, (English)

 

Convergence or collision? The parallel worlds of the handheld computer

and the cellular telephone are converging fast. Even in the wide open

spaces of the wireless market, they look to be on a collision course.

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Did Compaq Boost Profits by Giving Away PCs?

 

 Barron’s , 28 January 2002, 1120 words, (English)

 

With its Hewlett-Packard merger in dispute, Compaq Computer needed to

show a good December quarter. By most appearances, it did — increasing

sales 13% from the September quarter, to $8.5 billion, while reporting

earnings of $92 million, …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Inside the Implosion at Imclone Systems

 

 Barron’s , 21 January 2002, 1066 words, (English)

 

Just two months ago, Bristol-Myers Squibb paid $70 a share — $1

billion — for a chunk of ImClone Systems and its aspiring cancer drug

Erbitux. On Friday, trading of ImClone was halted at 25, as a

Congressional committee began …

 

Letter From The Editor

 

 Barron’s , 14 January 2002, 1260 words, (English)

 

Since Barron’s was first published in 1921, we have been covering

technology intensely. Back then, the established tech stocks were

railroads, which had transformed American commerce during the previous

50 years. The hottest shares …

 

TECHNOLOGY WEEK

—

Tech Trader:

Will Joystick Accounting Vaporize Game Stocks?

 

 Barron’s , 14 January 2002, 1145 words, (English)

 

The Christmas tree’s on the curb. The Enya CD exchanged for Eminem.

 

One holiday gift that investors surely appreciated, however, was the

fourth-quarter performance of tech stocks. The Russell 2000 Tech Index

rose more than 45% in the …

 

A Bottom? Or a Blip?

 

 Barron’s , 31 December 2001, 840 words, (English)

 

Since the stock market poked its head out from September’s rubble,

some high-tech stocks have become right frisky.

 

As a group, the shares of data-storage vendors have doubled. Some of

those stocks — Veritas, Qlogic and McData —  …

 

Short Eyes:

Analyst Mark Roberts had a great 2001; He still sees plenty of

short-sale opportunities

 

 Barron’s , 31 December 2001, 2018 words, (English)

 

With the righteous anger of hindsight, senators and journalists have

demanded why no one foresaw the failure of Enron. In fact, someone did.

And it’s in writing. Last May, when Enron shares traded at 59, Off Wall

Street Consulting …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories —

Take Two:

The SEC asks questions

 

 Barron’s , 17 December 2001, 400 words, (English)

 

Stealing cars and flipping them off highway ramps. Those are things

that Patrick Li, a suburban New Jersey teen, likes about Grand Theft

Auto 3. The videogame, not the statutory crime.

 

Blood Will Tell:

Approval for Chiron’s much-touted new blood test may come later than

many expect

 

 Barron’s , 10 December 2001, 1187 words, (English)

 

With traditional growth stocks on sick leave, investors have lately

been reaching for biotech shares. Research-and-development pipelines

full of breakthrough drugs will fuel future growth, the reasoning goes.

So biotech firms with any sort …

 

Can Computerized Language Analysis Predict the Market?

 

 Barron’s , 19 November 2001, 1308 words, (English)

 

You’ve heard the rumor that warnings of the September 11 terror attack

sat unexamined in a government inbox. True or not, such risks have kept

Victor Lavrenko working for six years to vanquish information overload.

In a computer lab …

 

Investing in the Home Office

—

Handheld Computers:

Knockout Blow?

—

Tenacious and flush with cash, Microsoft is bearing down on the now…

 Barron’s , 12 November 2001, 1744 words, (English)

 

Peter Green’s Jornada handheld computer is always on. When he enters

his office building, the slim little Hewlett-Packard device bleeps,

telling him he’s been automatically connected to a wireless data

network. Waiting e-mail …

 

The Terabyte Warriors:

Abandoned by investors, storage giant EMC soldiers on; Recovery ahead?

 

 Barron’s , 5 November 2001, 1811 words, (English)

 

Eight prospective buyers used to visit EMC’s Hopkinton, Massachusetts,

computer lab on an average day. But visits halted after September 11,

and since then the sales tours have returned to just half their historic

frequency. The weak …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories —

No PC Panacea:

Post-attack buys won’t help

 

 Barron’s , 1 October 2001, 459 words, (English)

 

Since the September 11 terrorist attacks, affected firms have ordered

millions of dollars worth of personal computers. In the dazed view of

displaced workers, those orders seem huge. But PC industry analysts say

that such sales won’t …

 

Market Outlook —

Mission Critical:

A burst of replacement spending won’t offset weak market for technology

— or the lost lives

 

 Barron’s , 24 September 2001, 2583 words, (English)

 

When terrorists crashed jets into the World Trade Center two weeks

ago, one of the first victims was a brilliant software engineer from Sun

Microsystems named Phil Rosenzweig. The 47-year-old father of two was

among the 90 people on the …

 

Can Generic Arthritis Drugs Challenge the Big Guns?

 

 Barron’s , 20 August 2001, 1520 words, (English)

 

After a notable career as biotech analyst for brokers like Merrill

Lynch, Stuart Weisbrod went to the respectable side of Wall Street to

work for hedge funds, like the one he now runs in Manhattan, called

Merlin BioMed. He also became a …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories —

Insecurity’s Joys:

Threats from viruses

aid Internet-firewall firms

 

 Barron’s , 20 August 2001, 368 words, (English)

 

Despite the screeching slowdown in dot.com spending, demand has

continued to rise for Internet security systems. Both SonicWALL and

WatchGuard Technologies have shown dandy sales growth since Barron’s

first checked out their niche …

 

Maybe Pro-Forma Earnings Aren’t So Evil After All

 

 Barron’s , 6 August 2001, 1537 words, (English)

 

Read the financial pages and you’d think investors have been

pervasively bilked by tech companies reporting “pro-forma earnings” —

you know, those degenerate earnings reports that leave out merger costs,

restructuring …

 

New Morning:

A glut of senior housing sent assisted-living stocks into the tank; Is

Sunrise a survivor?

 

 Barron’s , 30 July 2001, 1553 words, (English)

 

When Paul Klaassen and his wife Teresa built the first Sunrise

Assisted Living Center in the 1980s, there was no place for elders who

needed daily help, but were not so frail as to need a nursing home. Two

decades later, there seem to be …

 

FDA Rejections Plague Drug Companies

 

 Barron’s , 16 July 2001, 1414 words, (English)

 

Some biotechnology investors grumble that the Food and Drug

Administration is doing its job too well this year. Agency reviewers

have rejected a surprising number of new drug applications — demanding

additional data from drug companies …

 

Beating The PC Blues:

Compaq is remaking itself in IBM’s mold

 

 Barron’s , 16 July 2001, 2174 words, (English)

 

The personal computer wars are over, and if you ask Wall Street,

everybody lost. Even Michael Dell, whose Dell Computer has plowed under

scores of competitors over the years, now boasts only that his firm will

be the last in the group to …

 

Microsoft: No Settlement Unless a Breakup is off the Table

 

 Barron’s , 2 July 2001, 1509 words, (English)

 

This page may soon be blank. While economists debate whether

Thursday’s reversal of a court-ordered breakup of Microsoft is bad for

the computer business, I’m telling you the appeals court ruling will be

bad for my journalism …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories —

Here’s the Skinny:

Debating psoriasis drugs

 

 Barron’s , 2 July 2001, 360 words, (English)

 

A 75% improvement in psoriasis symptoms was reported for roughly 40%

of the patients in separate Phase III studies of several new drugs aimed

at treating the skin condition, researchers reported at the

International Psoriasis Symposium in …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories —

Lawsuit’s End:

Broker agrees to settle

SEC civil complaint

 

 Barron’s , 25 June 2001, 273 words, (English)

 

Judah L. Wernick, a Woodmere, New York, stockbroker whose work brought

him in contact with celebrated and controversial stock promoters,

settled claims of stock manipulation brought by the Securities and

Exchange Commission. On June 5, …

 

Columnistsplit.com:

Online spat leads to a messy divorce

 

 Barron’s , 25 June 2001, 789 words, (English)

 

Want to see a dream exploding? Then just watch the vicious brawl

between the chiefs of TheStreet.com and MetaMarkets.com.

 

Both Websites bubbled up on the late ‘Nineties flood of Internet

investing: TheStreet.com as a hub of online …

 

Fired Up:

Capstone Turbine generates investor enthusiasm, but not profits

 

 Barron’s , 18 June 2001, 865 words, (English)

 

With electric power in short supply from California to Brazil,

alternative energy stocks have caught the eye of investors. Fuel cells

and fly wheels have sparked flights of fancy share prices.

 

Surface Warfare:

In the battle to bring psoriasis drugs to market, the only sure winners

will be the patients

 

 Barron’s , 4 June 2001, 1980 words, (English)

 

When he was 13, Dale Baker’s parents tried to treat his psoriasis by

spraying him with gasoline. They had to pin him down to make him endure

their home remedy. In subsequent years, Baker’s doctors couldn’t offer

much more …

 

Investing in Health

—

Wealth in Health:

Three investment experts dissect the prospects for health-care stocks

 

 Barron’s , 21 May 2001, 4391 words, (English)

 

Health-care stocks rose on a floodtide last year. This year, that tide

has ebbed, so Barron’s asked three old salts if last year’s surge was a

10-year flood or a 100-year flood. Arnold H. Snider’s Deerfield

Management runs …

 

Investing in Health

—

Letter from the Editor:

“If It Doesn’t Kill You, Science Doesn’t Care”

 

 Barron’s , 21 May 2001, 449 words, (English)

 

Under the thin guise of reporting, I once dated a doctor. Over a

series of expense-account dinners, she explained how the new biotech

drugs worked and handicapped the players for me. The discussions moved

on, from Van Morrison to movies to …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories —

Unlucky Lucent:

The cash drain continues

 

 Barron’s , 30 April 2001, 463 words, (English)

 

Troubles continue to mount at Lucent Technologies. And that led some

investors to give credence to a rumor Friday that the troubled telecom

supplier might merge with France’s Alcatel.

 

The Fiber Glut-ons for Punishment Are Wrong

 

 Barron’s , 23 April 2001, 1342 words, (English)

 

These are dark days for dark fiber. Companies like Level 3

Communications and Williams Communications Group spent billions

stringing fiberoptic lines across the land, delivering on dreams of

cheap bandwidth. But now that they’re …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories —

Mining Trouble:

Gutnick firm stumbles

 

 Barron’s , 16 April 2001, 447 words, (English)

 

After falling behind on junk-bond interest payments, the flagship

mining company of Australian investor Joseph Gutnick was placed into

receivership last month. The receivers, who plan to sell the company’s

assets, stepped in to …

 

Offerings In The Offing —

Power to the People:

Aquila leads list of energy-supplier issues

 

 Barron’s , 16 April 2001, 888 words, (English)

 

[A Brief Look at Coming Issues]

 

Despite flagging demand for optical networks, investment magazines

and — yes — initial public offerings, one commodity is scarce:

electricity.

 

Not-So-Heavy-Metal Fans:

Aluminum seen rising despite economy

 

 Barron’s , 9 April 2001, 796 words, (English)

 

Weak demand around the world has weighed down metals prices this year.

On the London Metals Exchange cash prices for copper dropped 9% since

December to about $1,660 per metric ton (or about 75 cents per pound).

Aluminum has fared only …

 

Skeptical

 

 Barron’s , 2 April 2001, 106 words, (English)

 

To the Editor:

 

The implications of Bill Alpert’s interview of Michael Margolies and

David Hines (“Detective Stories,” March 26) were important.

 

Detective Stories:

Research firm scores big returns sleuthing for institutional customers

 

 Barron’s , 26 March 2001, 3193 words, (English)

 

[An Interview With Michael Margolies and David Hines]

 

Wall Street’s shortage of “Sell” recommendations left customers fully

exposed to the bear market’s bite. You had to look 1,000 miles south to

find a broker who …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories —

Alive & Kicking:

Nascar popularity may rise despite racing tragedy

 

 Barron’s , 19 March 2001, 454 words, (English)

 

Motor sports fans were shaken when stock-car racer Dale Earnhardt died

in a crash four weeks ago. So were motor sports investors. Shares in

International Speedway and Speedway Motorsports each dropped about 10%

after the tragedy.

 

Zadehs on Zadeh

 

 Barron’s , 5 March 2001, 364 words, (English)

 

To the Editor:

 

After many years of reading Barron’s quality reporting, I was shocked

by Bill Alpert’s recent portrayal of me (“Bull Market Lothario,”

February 19). The article basically attacks my masculinity and …

 

Bull Market Lothario:

For now, Norm Zadeh is funding an adolescent fantasy with his market

gains

 

 Barron’s , 19 February 2001, 1360 words, (English)

 

The bull market made winners of many Americans. While some spent their

winnings on SUVs and Sub-Zero fridges, hedge-fund manager Norman Zadeh

put his profits toward a Hugh Hefner lifestyle, complete with a harem of

hotties and his own skin …

 

Stopped Clock?

 

 Barron’s , 12 February 2001, 88 words, (English)

 

To the Editor:

 

How can Bill Alpert (Up & Down Wall Street, February 5) say that Gail

Dudack has called all the right turns? She was so wrong so often that

Louis Rukeyser dropped her from his “Elves Index” on Wall $treet …

 

Roaring Mouse

 

 Barron’s , 5 February 2001, 1451 words, (English)

 

The good news, says stock strategist gail Dudack, is that 2001 will be

disappointing. The market won’t be as bad as last year, even if it

doesn’t recover as quickly as people hope. The averages will finish this

year more or less …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories —

Hardball:

Small-cap dispute gets ugly

 

 Barron’s , 29 January 2001, 390 words, (English)

 

Two years ago, excitement about the Fifth Avenue Channel, Ivana

Trump’s erstwhile Web venture, pushed the company’s stock up fourfold,

to 25 (“Ivana Get Rich,” December 7, 1998). But with Ivana now gone and

financials …

 

Static on the Line For Income Investors:

Will debt force British Telecom to cut its payout?

 

 Barron’s , 22 January 2001, 832 words, (English)

 

Reports swirled last week that British Telecommunications, with its

current-year earnings expected to lag its historical dividend payout,

might slash its common-stock dividend. But BT angrily dismissed those

rumors as …

 

The Happy Bear

—

After a season in the wilderness, short analyst Mark Roberts is back in

the game

 

 Barron’s , 15 January 2001, 1497 words, (English)

 

  While most investors are nursing their wounds, Mark Roberts has just

finished his best year ever. Grateful clients have sent bonus payments

to his Off Wall Street Consulting Group, a Cambridge, Massachusetts,

firm that recommends short …

 

Laser Shootout:

Emcore and its rivals gird for battle in a commodity business

 

 Barron’s , 1 January 2001, 1692 words, (English)

 

Like laser light bouncing between mirrors, the shares of Emcore spent

the year careening between 18 and 80. The small firm had a stock-market

capitalization of $2.5 billion, and then $1.5 billion, as its shares

fell back to a recent 49. …

 

A Street Dissenter Weighs In on a B2B Star

 

 Barron’s , 18 December 2000, 1537 words, (English)

 

40 brokerage-firm analysts have lavished praise on Ariba, the

stock-market star of business-to-business e-commerce. But one launched

coverage of the procurement-software firm Tuesday with a Neutral rating,

and clipped a third off …

 

Florida Court Gores Stocks in After-Hours Trade

 

 Barron’s , 11 December 2000, 2659 words, (English)

 

Good news for presidential hopeful Al Gore late Friday could mean

rough sledding for the stock market Monday, as it upends what had been a

growing conviction on Wall Street that Texas Governor George W. Bush

would finally win the bizarre …

 

Seeing The Light:

Optical switches will be the next big thing in data transmission

 

 Barron’s , 4 December 2000, 1994 words, (English)

 

The optical Internet is a modern wonder. In the last decade, the cost

for a kilometer’s worth of gear that carries a billion bits per second

of data has plummeted — from $1,000 to $100. Firms like Nortel Networks

and Ciena delivered …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories —

Chainsaw Justice?

SEC staff viewed as seeking civil action against Dunlap

 

 Barron’s , 27 November 2000, 419 words, (English)

 

Investigators at the Securities and Exchange Commission plan to

recommend filing civil claims against Alfred J. Dunlap, former Sunbeam

Corp. chief executive, says Dunlap’s attorney, Donald S. Zakarin. But he

says he has seen no sign …

 

Investing in Your Virtual Office

—

Microsoft vs. Palm:

Hand-to-Hand Combat

—

Microsoft’s Pocket PC software for handheld devices…

 Barron’s , 13 November 2000, 2258 words, (English)

 

Microsoft’s business practices might be reviled, but there’s no

denying the inexorable improvement in the company’s software products.

Everyone who snickered at the clumsy Windows 3.1 or Word 2.0 stifled

their laughter after …

 

Securing a Niche:

Two companies thrive by offering Internet protection on the cheap

 

 Barron’s , 13 November 2000, 1765 words, (English)

 

Steady demand for Internet security products has let Check Point

Software enjoy celebrity status long after most ‘Net stocks outlived

their 15 minutes of fame. Now two small companies are building a niche

by selling simpler, cheaper …

 

 Unholy Gains: When stock promoters cross paths with religious charities, investors had best be on guard [AMENDED]  

Barron’s, 30 October 2000, 3228 words, (English)

Australia is famous for its audacious entrepreneurs. And one of the boldest these days is Joseph I. Gutnick. As a promoter of some of the largest gold mines in the outback, Gutnick, 48, has amassed a fortune once estimated to be as high as …

 

Money Machine

 

 Barron’s , 30 October 2000, 767 words, (English)

 

When it comes to cultivating religious charities, and drawing them

into stock deals involving tiny companies, Murray A. Huberfeld and David

B. Bodner seem to be without peer. “Mssrs. Huberfeld and Bodner are

among the top …

 

Mystery in Brooklyn

 

 Barron’s , 30 October 2000, 617 words, (English)

 

By his own account, Joseph Gutnick in the 1980s had many levers to

pull when it came to promoting his stocks, including three mutual funds

he ran and a maze of companies he controlled. In the 1990s, Gutnick’s

stocks found different …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories —

Credibility GAAP:

Pro forma rules okayed

 

 Barron’s , 2 October 2000, 382 words, (English)

 

America’s auditors have volunteered to standardize the quirky numbers

that high-tech firms increasingly report. On Tuesday, the Auditing

Standards Board of the profession’s national association approved

standards for auditors to …

 

Criticizing a Critic

 

 Barron’s , 25 September 2000, 546 words, (English)

 

To the Editor:

 

I was appalled at the recent article by Bill Alpert on MRV

Communications (Offerings in the Offing, September 18). The brief,

ill-informed piece quoting Mark Roberts of Off Wall Street Consulting

Group was a disgrace. …

 

Vitria Looks Like the Pick of the Litter

 

 Barron’s , 18 September 2000, 1526 words, (English)

 

Got Infrastructure? As readers of our Technology Forum last week can

tell you, everybody’s talking Internet infrastructure. And why not?

Judging by our esteemed panel of pros, that’s where a good chunk of the

smart money is …

 

Offerings In The Offing —

Optical Illusion?

What are MRV and its offspring worth?

 

 Barron’s , 18 September 2000, 965 words, (English)

 

[A Brief Look at Coming Issues]

 

Investors are famished for optical networking stocks. These

businesses supply the gear that’s boosting Internet bandwidth by

converting electrons to photons, then running the traffic over

fiberoptic …

 

The Numbers Game:

Reporting of pro forma earnings is rising, and so is the debate about it

 

 Barron’s , 11 September 2000, 1808 words, (English)

 

The headline of Amazon.com’s June earnings release bragged of “pro

forma” operating profits on sales of books and records. Only investors

who delved deeply into the financials learned that the online retailer’s

actual …

 

What Now?

 

 Barron’s , 28 August 2000, 2021 words, (English)

 

It’s surely no surprise that the public’s preoccupation with the stock

market has ebbed markedly from earlier in the year. After all, we’re in

the Dog Days of summer when many investment pros and others are

vacationing or …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories —

Fuller Disclosure:

SEC okays rule to ban selective leaks without curbing enterprising

sleuths

 

 Barron’s , 14 August 2000, 425 words, (English)

 

Wall Street’s ferrets are safe — at least those with a press pass.

 

The SEC approved a new rule Thursday that it hopes will deter

companies from giving favored Wall Street professionals advance notice

of important news. The …

 

Dow Tops 11,000 Again, but Telecoms Don’t Join the Ride

 

 Barron’s , 14 August 2000, 2492 words, (English)

 

Even as the Dow Jones Industrial Average pierced the 11,000 barrier

for the first time since April, an important group of stocks,

telecommunications providers, continued to weaken last week, with

bellwether issues like AT&T, WorldCom …

 

Will RealNetworks Be “Netscaped” by Microsoft?

 

 Barron’s , 7 August 2000, 1533 words, (English)

 

Investors must decide which of two simplistic analogies to hang on

RealNetworks. The Seattle purveyor of streaming Internet media faces a

renewed competitive assault by that other Seattle firm called Microsoft.

In July, that other firm …

 

Back to Business

 

 Barron’s , 31 July 2000, 1364 words, (English)

 

Upside down.

 

The Internet’s Big Bang turned many investment ideas upside down. Up

with burn rates. Down with value. Down with the downside.

 

Offerings In The Offing —

Snapple Redux:

Beverage maker plans to tea off anew

 

 Barron’s , 3 July 2000, 900 words, (English)

 

[A Brief Look at Coming Issues]

 

Investors might be thirsty for a low-tech growth stock, but will they

take a second swig of Snapple? The premium beverage maker’s current

owner, New York-based Triarc Cos., will find out soon enough, …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories —

TroubleClick:

Anti-snoop movement derails DoubleClick

 

 Barron’s , 3 July 2000, 404 words, (English)

 

Back in January, when we paid a few compliments to DoubleClick, the

Internet advertising concern, we worried nonetheless that the stock, at

$114, was a tad rich (“The Battle for Eyeballs,” January 17, 2000).

Analysts, however, …

 

Let’s Make a Deal:

Who are the real winners when ailing U.S. companies merge with Israeli

tech start-ups?

 

 Barron’s , 26 June 2000, 3371 words, (English)

 

How does a tiny company on the verge of being delisted from Nasdaq

suddenly boast a market capitalization of almost $1 billion? A group of

U.S. investors and Israeli companies have discovered a cookie-cutter

formula for such financial …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories —

Next Stop — Nepal:

Declaring corporate victory, Osicom chief is departing

 

 Barron’s , 19 June 2000, 383 words, (English)

 

I am ready for peace,” said Par Chadha, on a teleconference discussing

his planned resignation as chairman and chief executive of Osicom

Technologies last week.

 

Which Half Will Get the Brains in the Microsoft Split?

 

 Barron’s , 19 June 2000, 940 words, (English)

 

The prospect of carving Microsoft into at least two distinct bodies is

daunting enough, but the task of taking a knife to the software

behemoth’s gray matter poses even more vexing problems.

 

Cardinal Sin:

In a market expecting strong profit gains, weak results can be deadly

 

 Barron’s , 19 June 2000, 1496 words, (English)

 

Wall Street has high hopes for corporate earnings, and that is ma king

the disappointment keener whenever companies confess bad news in this

June quarter’s “pre-announcement season.” The Street already has shown

how …

 

Microsoft May Have to Cop a Plea if Breakup Isn’t Stayed

 

 Barron’s , 12 June 2000, 1832 words, (English)

 

Were the Japanese allowed to propose the terms of their surrender?”

Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson asked that historic question in a

Wednesday interview with The Wall Street Journal, following his equally

historic breakup order against …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories —

Lingering Ailment:

House panel examining Medicare drug prices

 

 Barron’s , 5 June 2000, 480 words, (English)

 

Four years after Barron’s exposed misleading drug prices that had cost

the public billions, the story is news again. Last month, our sister

publication, The Wall Street Journal, published a front-page article

recounting some of what …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories:

Just a Pit Stop?

Despite big TV pact, motorsports shares sputter

 

 Barron’s , 29 May 2000, 573 words, (English)

 

As motorsports fans watch cars gun through the Indianapolis 500 and

the CocaCola 600 over the Memorial Day weekend, motorsports investors

may be wondering when their stocks will pull out of their slump. Since

last fall, shares of …

 

Trained Tiger:

CNET chief, a Julian Robertson alum, sizes up the Internet industry

 

 Barron’s , 22 May 2000, 2712 words, (English)

 

An Interview With Shelby Bonnie

 

While most Internet chief executives can tell investors what they

want to hear, Bonnie, of CNET Networks, knows what investors really want

to hear. That’s because he used to be a professional investor …

 

Investing in Health

—

The Roundtable:

Healthy Exchange

 

 Barron’s , 15 May 2000, 4208 words, (English)

 

The charts of health-care stocks often bounce like electrocardiograms,

and L. John Wilkerson has watched the bouncing for a quarter-century, as

a stock analyst, industry consultant and, for the past decade, as

general partner of a …

 

No Bear Heaven

 

 Barron’s , 15 May 2000, 2041 words, (English)

 

“You are mixing a good concept, such as the Internet, with irrational

excess. But if you mix raisins with turds, they are still turds.”

 

Much Ado:

Is the SEC’s proposal the death of research or a new dawn for small

investors?

 

 Barron’s , 8 May 2000, 1148 words, (English)

 

Maybe you thought Wall Street research was ruined by its thirst for

underwriting fees. The Street wants you to know who’s really out to kill

investment research. It’s the SEC. That’s the industry view of the

Securities & …

 

Doing Well:

United Therapeutics’ founder helped her sick daughter and herself

 

 Barron’s , 1 May 2000, 1331 words, (English)

 

Jenesis Alia Rothblatt got awful news in 1994. The 10-year-old learned

she had pulmonary hypertension, a predictably fatal disease. Luckily for

Jenesis, she had parents who went to unprecedented lengths to find

treatments for the rare …

 

Barrons’s Mailbag:

Sounds Familiar

 

 Barron’s , 24 April 2000, 211 words, (English)

 

To the Editor:

 

Bill Alpert (“Microsoft Reborn,” April 17) describes the environment

Microsoft is facing as a “mixed-up, muddled-up, shookup world.”

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories —

Microsoft Reborn:

Rumors of Windows’ death premature

 

 Barron’s , 17 April 2000, 653 words, (English)

 

Two and a half years ago, we predicted that Sun Microsystems’ Java

programming language would be the death of Windows. (“Going Soft,”

September 15, 1997). But Java isn’t killing Windows. Nor is the Justice

Department.

 

What Now?

After a worrisome week, investors seem surprisingly sanguine

 

 Barron’s , 10 April 2000, 2064 words, (English)

 

For a few long moments on Tuesday, the market’s tremors made one

wonder if an explosion were going to rip open a crater or blow a hole in

the sky. Happily for investors, the violent shaking did both, but then

abated, allowing the …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories —

Relaxing @Home:

A cable-modem company fixes its Y2002 problem

 

 Barron’s , 3 April 2000, 376 words, (English)

 

While the rest of world was focused on the much-hyped Y2K problem,

Excite@Home’s biggest worry was Y2002. That’s the year the cable

Internet service’s exclusive relationships with its large cable-TV

backers ran out …

 

Friendly Rivals:

EMC and Veritas Software aren’t butting heads — yet

 

 Barron’s , 3 April 2000, 1630 words, (English)

 

It wasn’t that long ago that data-storage products were lumped in with

printers and modems as computer peripherals. But since the emergence of

the Internet, storage has become central to computing. “E-commerce

requires absolute …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories —

Good Connections:

3Com goes for hot sectors

 

 Barron’s , 27 March 2000, 341 words, (English)

 

When 3Com Corp.’s shares sank under its problematic purchase of US

Robotics, Barron’s saw opportunities in broadband networking (“The

Future Is 3Com,” December 1, 1997). With the successful initial public

offering of …

 

All for One, One for…

 

 Barron’s , 27 March 2000, 76 words, (English)

 

To the Editor:

 

Many thanks to Bill Alpert (Up & Down Wall Street, March 13) for

explaining “cross investments” and other aid being exchanged by the

venture capital world’s “keiretsu partners.” I was wondering …

 

Offerings in the Offing —

Cyberspace Attic:

A company’s solution to data-storage woes

 

 Barron’s , 27 March 2000, 852 words, (English)

 

Like a flash flood, the Internet threatens to drown the world in data.

All that stuff — MP3 files, videos, consumer-credit profiles — either

begins or ends up on a disc drive. By the lights of Forrester Research,

the data stored online …

 

Role Reversal

 

 Barron’s , 20 March 2000, 1798 words, (English)

 

March Madness.

 

And we are not referring to the mass hysteria served up this time

every year by those for-profit peddlers of amateur sport known as the

NCAA.

 

Keiretsu West

 

 Barron’s , 13 March 2000, 1798 words, (English)

 

Master of the Universe.

 

That worshipful name once belonged to the investment banker. These

days it more properly belongs to the venture capitalist, who has pulled

the world’s center of mass from Wall Street to Menlo Park, …

 

Undressed Window:

Click on their site and watch these money managers at work

 

 Barron’s , 28 February 2000, 4001 words, (English)

 

An Interview With Donald L. Luskin, H. Davis Nadig and Maurice

Werdegar

 

OpenFund is a $28 million mutual fund that runs stark naked. Window

dressing is impossible. That’s because the South San Francisco-based

manager of the fund, …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories —

DoubleTrouble:

Threats of Congressional action and lawsuits whack DoubleClick

 

 Barron’s , 21 February 2000, 446 words, (English)

 

Failure to respect people’s privacy isn’t just rude, it’s downright

expensive. At least that’s the verdict the market issued on DoubleClick

last week when the online ad network disclosed that state and …

 

According to GARP:

Research ace builds a record finding growth stocks at friendly prices

 

 Barron’s , 14 February 2000, 4274 words, (English)

 

An Interview With William W. Baker

 

The mid-cap stocks recommended by the Towson, Maryland, newsletter

writer have had annual gains averaging 52%. Equally weighted, his 1999

picks rose 91%. His firm, GARP Research, looks for “growth …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories —

Down, Not Out:

Why battered Lucent should get off the mat

 

 Barron’s , 24 January 2000, 600 words, (English)

 

The Internet’s heady growth has tripped up Lucent Technologies, but

the company should recover.

 

Thursday, the Murray Hill, New Jersey, networking firm officially

reported that, for the first time in 15 quarters, its growth had …

 

The Battle for Eyeballs:

In the race for new media advertising hegemony, bet on DoubleClick

 

 Barron’s , 17 January 2000, 1690 words, (English)

 

For most World Wide Web surfers, Internet advertising is a nuisance.

Banner ads come, and banner ads go. Most people are so busy clicking

from site to site that they never stop to click on the ads. But in the

year just past, shares of …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories —

Baan Voyage:

Another CEO departs

 

 Barron’s , 10 January 2000, 288 words, (English)

 

Shares in Baan NV, the Dutch software firm, fell nearly 50% last week

after the resignation of its chief executive on Tuesday. Worse still,

the company said it would lose $240-$250 million in the fourth quarter

of 1999, including a $200 …

 

REVIEW & PREVIEW

 

 Barron’s , 3 January 2000, 2084 words, (English)

 

Last Week

 

                     Dow Indicator

 

Dow Industrials       11,497.12    +91.36

Dow World Index          252.41     +0.47

30-Year Treasury Bonds    6.477%   -0.008

 

1999 Scoreboard —

Familiar Story:

Not surprisingly, many of ’99’s best were tech stocks

 

 Barron’s , 3 January 2000, 1091 words, (English)

 

                          WINNERS

                            NYSE

 

                          Closing               Percent

                           Price     Net Chg.     Chg.

Titan Corp                 47 5/16   + 41 13/16   …

 

E-Commerce — A Special Report

—

‘Net Gains:

The year’s biggest winners (and losers) among Internet stocks

 

 Barron’s , 20 December 1999, 1064 words, (English)

 

Capping a decade in which the best U.S. stock was America Online,

America’s online stocks have had a heck of a 1999. “We kind of got

discovered this year,” says Peter Downs, treasurer at BroadVision, a

vendor of Website …

 

VA Linux Has a Great Product and a Crazy Share Price; It’s Time to Get

Excited Again About Excite@Home

 

 Barron’s , 13 December 1999, 1486 words, (English)

 

Linux software has captured Wall Street’s imagination and is holding

it hostage. Investors eagerly paid a ransom on Thursday, when VA Linux

stock surged a record 698% after its initial public offering at $30 a

share. The first-day …

 

Offerings in the Offing:

A Brief Look at Coming Issues

—

Cashing In on Linux:

A firm hopes to match Red Hat’s success

 

 Barron’s , 6 December 1999, 876 words, (English)

 

It’s a great time to be offering initial public offerings. Shares of

McAfee.com quadrupled Thursday, after debuting at $12. The best IPO to

be peddling, however, is a Linux stock. About a half-dozen firms

involved with Linux software …

 

The View From 5th Avenue

 

 Barron’s , 6 December 1999, 705 words, (English)

 

To the Editor:

 

Bill Alpert (“The Company She Keeps,” November 1) has again, in a

spurious tabloid style, weaved together facts, falsehoods, fiction and

hearsay into a fabric that rehashes misinformation published a year ago

by …

 

Worry…please!

 

 Barron’s , 29 November 1999, 1722 words, (English)

 

We’re worried.

 

What we’re worried about is the wall of worry. That’s the wall that’s

absolutely essential for a bull market, because a bull market is a

market that goes up and for a market to go up it needs something …

 

Offerings in the Offing:

A Brief Look at Coming Issues

—

The Feeling’s DeMutual:

Here come the big life insurers

 

 Barron’s , 29 November 1999, 861 words, (English)

 

John Hancock and MetLife, two of America’s largest life insurers, are

demutualizing. In delightfully big IPOs that may take until next year to

pull off, both aim to complete transformations from policyholder-owned

mutual insurers into …

 

Offerings in the Offing:

A Brief Look at Coming Issues

 

 Barron’s , 22 November 1999, 906 words, (English)

 

Egads! E-Purchasing Kiss the sweet treatment goodbye There was a time

when purchasing agents got sweet treatment from suppliers who hoped to

loosen the purchaser’s grip on corporate purse strings. FreeMarkets

wants to spoil all that.

 

Barron’s Virtual Office:

Bumps on the Info Highway

—

High-speed Internet connections to the home are all the rage; But just

try getting…

 Barron’s , 15 November 1999, 1495 words, (English)

 

Much ink has been spilt in recent years about the real dawning of the

Internet age occasioned by high-speed hookups, like cable modems and

digital subscriber lines.

 

Barron’s Virtual Office:

Soft Wired

—

Software is moving off the desktop and onto the Internet. Who needs

Microsoft?

 

 Barron’s , 15 November 1999, 1264 words, (English)

 

Software theorists have postulated the existence of an alternative

universe to Microsoft software. In that world, no one would need Word or

Excel or even Windows. You could simply reach across the ‘Net to

mail-merge a letter, build a …

 

Dead Men Do Talk:

What a murder victim told Barron’s about skulduggery on Wall Street

 

 Barron’s , 8 November 1999, 1835 words, (English)

 

The recent murders of two stock promoters at a mansion in Colts Neck,

New Jersey, struck a serious chord at several publications, including

Barron’s, because one of the victims, Maier S. Lehmann, had been trying

for nearly two years …

 

The Company She Keeps:

The crowd around Ivana’s latest business venture makes Donald look sweet

 

 Barron’s , 1 November 1999, 1935 words, (English)

 

Not quite a year ago, Barron’s exposed the shameless stock promoters

and thugs connected to Ivana Trump’s latest business venture. Within

days of the story’s appearance, a micro-cap stock promoter named Maier

Lehmann called …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories —

Bump on the Track:

Goodyear stops providing tires to both CART and Indy when talks fail

 

 Barron’s , 1 November 1999, 509 words, (English)

 

Claiming frustration at the continuing schism in open-wheel racing,

Goodyear Tire & Rubber last week said it would stop providing tires to

the Indy Racing League, known as IRL, and its rival series, Championship

Auto Racing Teams, or …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories —

On The Mark:

Lexmark’s new printers print even more money

 

 Barron’s , 27 September 1999, 473 words, (English)

 

Lexmark International has continued to print money since Barron’s

looked at the firm (“Printing Money”, April 5). As sales of its ink jet

and laser printers have continued to grow, Lexmark shares have risen

from $56 to a …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories:

Was Business Week Duped?

Odd source plugs Log On America

 

 Barron’s , 20 September 1999, 749 words, (English)

 

Business Week columnist Gene C. Marcial says that his Inside Wall

Street is an “equal opportunity column” with the mission of letting

readers in on the thoughts of the “big guys and insiders.”

 

Missing the Boat?

 

 Barron’s , 13 September 1999, 1330 words, (English)

 

To the Editor:

 

“Pacific Overtures” (September 6) misleads your readers about Pacific

Gateway and its cable-industry competitors.

 

Offerings in the Offing:

A Brief Look at Coming Issues

—

Always a Bridesmaid:

Will NETsilicon make it to the IPO altar?

 

 Barron’s , 13 September 1999, 865 words, (English)

 

If you’re an Internet company, it hasn’t been hard to come public in

the last year. But one company that’s had trouble making it to the altar

is NETsilicon, a Waltham, Massachusetts, maker of networking devices.

NETsilicon …

 

Pacific Overtures:

Can undersea cable live up to Wall Street’s expectations?

 

 Barron’s , 6 September 1999, 1395 words, (English)

 

Calling your mom just gets cheaper by the day, whether she’s in

Dubuque or Dublin. Wonderful, right? Not if you’re in the long-distance

phone business. While AT&T fights its consumer calling war against

Sprint and MCI …

 

Software Hardball:

More than egos are at stake as Oracle takes on fast-growing Siebel

 

 Barron’s , 23 August 1999, 1338 words, (English)

 

The Dark Lord of Oracle Systems, Larry Ellison, has cast his Death

Star’s shadow on one of America’s fastest-growing public companies. That

company is Siebel Systems, which presides over a prospering corner of

the software …

 

Offerings in the Offing:

A Brief Look at Coming Issues

—

Wrestlemania?

WWF hopes to body-slam IPO market

 

 Barron’s , 9 August 1999, 889 words, (English)

 

The Internet is under water. Drought has scorched America’s lawns but

cyber-stock gains have been swept away in one of history’s biggest

dam-bursts. With the market capitalizations of Amazon.com down $20

billion since the spring, …

 

Up & Down Wall Street:

Do Diligence

 

 Barron’s , 2 August 1999, 1951 words, (English)

 

Bookings on the Titanic.

 

If interested, please contact the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq.

 

In an act of unsurpassed altruism, both of those estimable

institutions have chosen to share their wealth and good fortune with the

average …

 

Wall Street Revolution

—

Technology is toppling trading’s Berlin Wall

 

 Barron’s , 26 July 1999, 2064 words, (English)

 

Since the first trickle of electronic trading in 1969, seers have

forecast the toppling of the world’s mightiest stock exchanges. “It’s

like the fall of communism,” says Doug Atkin, chief executive of …

 

Quarterly Scoreboard:

Real and Imagined

 

 Barron’s , 5 July 1999, 1343 words, (English)

 

Surely the strangest winners in the June quarter were the mistakes. At

quarter’s end, shares had tripled for Nasdaq-listed ABR Information

Services and Amex-listed Pitt-Des Moines because of apparent hopes that

those shares would be …

 

Up & Down Wall Street: Head Hunting

 

 Barron’s , 28 June 1999, 1891 words, (English)

 

Groovy.

 

Or, perhaps, clefty would be more apropos. The latest discovery about

Einstein’s brain, we mean.

 

According to a team of Canadian researchers who have been poking

around the remains of Albert’s gray matter seeking a clue …

 

More Shell Games:

Two years of investigation into money laundering yields additional

arrests

 

 Barron’s , 28 June 1999, 1706 words, (English)

 

The mysteries just multiply as prosecutors unseal indictments in a

long-running probe of transatlantic money laundering and stock fraud.

The latest indictment accuses 42-year-old London lawyer Andrew R. Warren

of creating fake shell …

 

Stop Calling!

 

 Barron’s , 28 June 1999, 231 words, (English)

 

To the Editor:

 

A short phrase in Bill Alpert’s June 14 Plugged In column jumped out

and grabbed me: “Voicemail would integrate with e-mail, telemarketing

with e-commerce. . . .”

 

Barrons’s Mailbag:

Mahalo to You, Too

 

 Barron’s , 21 June 1999, 84 words, (English)

 

To the Editor:

 

Bill Alpert’s Plugged In column on the open-system revolution in

telecommunications was the most informative article in the June 14 issue

of Barron’s.

 

A Letter From The Editor:

Plugged In, With Mark Veverka

 

 Barron’s , 21 June 1999, 567 words, (English)

 

With this issue, we welcome Mark Veverka, who will write our Plugged

In column from San Francisco. His name may be new to many of you, but

not to residents of the Bay Area. For the past year, Mark has penned the

Street Smarts column three …

 

Seitel’s View

 

 Barron’s , 21 June 1999, 524 words, (English)

 

To the Editor:

 

Here we go again. Barron’s provides a forum for information from

those in the securities industry who espouse “short selling.”

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories:

Ouch!

Becton Dickinson shares are stuck by bad news

 

 Barron’s , 21 June 1999, 347 words, (English)

 

Needle maker Becton Dickinson jabbed shareholders Monday with a

warning that earnings will fall short for the remainder of its fiscal

year, which ends in September. Just weeks before, the Franklin Lakes,

New Jersey, hospital supplier had …

 

Data Mining:

Seitel boosts profits by writing down costs slowly

 

 Barron’s , 14 June 1999, 1893 words, (English)

 

The timing of an echo from a seismic signal shows surveyors where

there’s oil underground. An accounting entry’s timing shows where the

money is. This law of fiscal physics determines how investors get a fix

on reported profits …

 

Thinking Out of the Box: As Telephony Moves To Open Systems, Growth

Looks Like It’s About to Surge

 

 Barron’s , 14 June 1999, 1502 words, (English)

 

Wintel PCs and Unix servers have eclipsed such “legacy systems” as the

mainframe. But the planet’s largest legacy system persists, in the form

of the world’s phone system.

 

Flying Start:

Did Penske tell employees of ISC merger ahead of public?

 

 Barron’s , 31 May 1999, 964 words, (English)

 

Any gearhead knows that motor-racing success depends on good

preparation, as exemplified by what’s known in the sport as the

Checklist. But some motorsports moguls seem to have jumbled their

checklist’s order, when announcing a …

 

Trading Places:

How Internet Ad Barter Generates Over Half of Some Firms’ Revenues

 

 Barron’s , 31 May 1999, 1118 words, (English)

 

As in the May-September romances shown in so many movies, old and new

media firms are saying: “Let’s get together.” Infoseek is losing itself

in Disney’s arms. IVillage and NBC crossfertilize. Even Lycos and …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories:

Big Rebound:

HP doesn’t mean “Hard Pressed”

 

 Barron’s , 24 May 1999, 503 words, (English)

 

Strong earnings pushed up shares of Hewlett-Packard last week. That’s

quite a contrast to the reception the stock was getting in August 1996,

when Barron’s, in a cover article entitled “Hewlett-Packard’s …

 

Strange Bedfellows: Cybergaming Company

Snuggles Up With the Playboy Bunny

 

 Barron’s , 17 May 1999, 1255 words, (English)

 

Imagine Bill Gates and Hugh Hefner, sex symbols of their eras,

side-by-side at a blackjack table. On the Internet, it could happen, but

it probably won’t.

 

Investors Report to the SEC

 

 Barron’s , 17 May 1999, 605 words, (English)

 

13Ds are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 10

days of an entity’s attaining a 5% or more position in any class of a

company’s securities. Any subsequent change in holdings or intentions

must be reported on …

 

Letter from the Editor:

Hidden Value

 

 Barron’s , 17 May 1999, 390 words, (English)

 

Drug companies have been among the most dynamic forces in the

investment community for the past two decades, but you would never know

it from looking at the market right now. Investors’ excitement these

days tends to center on the …

 

Health Stocks:

A Clean Bill

—

Why some depressed drug shares may soon experience a recovery

 

 Barron’s , 17 May 1999, 1874 words, (English)

 

After leading the bull market higher for nearly two decades, drug

stocks seem to have run out of oomph, eking out a gain of only 1% so far

this year, considerably less than the 10% jump in the Standard & Poor’s

500 Index and the …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories:

Missing Chapters:

Online gambling honcho’s history omits some details

 

 Barron’s , 10 May 1999, 589 words, (English)

 

History is bunk, said Henry Ford. Apparently, Steven Michael Abboud’s

publicists agree.

 

The 35-year-old Abboud heads Omaha-based Global Entertainment

Holdings/Equities, an OTC Bulletin Board firm that, readers might

recall, supplies …

 

One Internet Supernova, Log On America,

Seems to Be Dancing With Some Dubious Characters

 

 Barron’s , 3 May 1999, 1440 words, (English)

 

Henry Nothhaft, chief executive of the Internet service firm

Concentric Network, wants his fair share of the mania. Seeing recent

Internet stock offerings triple on their first day of trading, he

laments that his San Jose-based firm is …

 

Trouble at Osicom:

Stock dives as prospect of big order fades

 

 Barron’s , 26 April 1999, 627 words, (English)

 

Last Tuesday evening, Osicom Technologies disclosed that February

orders hadn’t materialized on a contract the Santa Monica, California,

computer-networking firm had valued at $90 million in a July 1998 press

release. The next …

 

Clash of the Titans:

Cisco, Lucent and Nortel Go to War Over Switching Technology

 

 Barron’s , 19 April 1999, 1477 words, (English)

 

The geeks call it a war between packets and circuits. We savvy folks

at Barron’s recognize it as a war between California and New Jersey.

We’re talking about Cisco Systems versus Lucent Technologies. Oh, we

know Northern …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories:

Goodwill Uptick:

Under pressure, high-tech firms reverse the charges

 

 Barron’s , 12 April 1999, 429 words, (English)

 

Goodwill is growing in Silicon Valley. Don’t credit Saint Nick. Thank

the Securities and Exchange Commission.

 

Last fall, the SEC decried an accounting gimmick it blamed for

inflating tech-stock profits after expensive acquisitions. …

 

Hey, Sport, Want to Take a Real Gamble?

 

 Barron’s , 5 April 1999, 1764 words, (English)

 

You gotta love those Internet casino stocks.

 

No, not uBid and E*Trade. I mean the other Internet casinosthe ones

taking the old-fashioned kind of bet, online from legal gambling havens

like Antigua. In the time it takes a penny-stock …

 

Printing Money:

Replacement parts power profits from Lexmark’s cheap PC printers

 

 Barron’s , 5 April 1999, 1742 words, (English)

 

In a few years, the printing plant for this magazine may well sit on

your desk. It will print photographic-quality color and you’ll probably

buy it in Wal-Mart, next to the toasters. Pioneering this decentralized

printing market is no …

 

Is Success Really in the Cards for SCM Microsystems?

 

 Barron’s , 22 March 1999, 1646 words, (English)

 

With dot.com stocks in orbit despite having no earnings, investors

should welcome a profitable firm with key technologies for digital

commerce. Hence the billion-dollar stock market value enjoyed by SCM

Microsytems. Shares of this …

 

Offerings in the Offing:

Markdown Maven:

But its shares may be no bargain

 

 Barron’s , 22 March 1999, 768 words, (English)

 

Amid the droves of Internet offerings is the proposed return to public

ownership of Tuesday Morning, the Dallas-based chain of closeout stores.

The offering, led by Merrill Lynch and William Blair, would be a quick

payday on the …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories:

Not Working:

Slowing network card sales cut into earnings of 3Com

 

 Barron’s , 15 March 1999, 278 words, (English)

 

Just as Barron’s took note of the recovery of 3Com shares to the $50

range (“Flying High,” January 25), the networking firm’s sales were

slowing. The stock slid through February, as the company hinted that its

third …

 

Offerings in the Offing:

DSL Derby:

NorthPoint’s a player in fast ‘Net connections

 

 Barron’s , 15 March 1999, 832 words, (English)

 

You want the world and you want it. . . now. Well, you can take

delivery of its data two ways: By cable modem or by a telephone

technology called DSL.

 

Yes, Knight/Trimark Profits by Trading ‘Net Stocks, But the Question Is:

Does It Profit Too Much?

 

 Barron’s , 8 March 1999, 2386 words, (English)

 

The nation’s legions of online traders have made Amazon.com and Yahoo

into giddy stocks. Day traders have also made a great business for

Knight/Trimark Group, the market-maker executing more than 15% of trades

in Internet stocks.

 

Dell, a Bit Beaten Up, Still is the Champ

 

 Barron’s , 22 February 1999, 1643 words, (English)

 

The Greatest PC company took a dive last week. Dell Computer shares

closed at $80, blinking up from the canvas at the spotlights where

they’d floated at $110 just weeks before. They got stung by Tuesday’s

sales report for the …

 

Monica Who?

Bill’s top 1998 regret? Maybe that he wasn’t invested with Essex

Management

 

 Barron’s , 15 February 1999, 1537 words, (English)

 

Some investors feel smart to say they own Internet stocks, others feel

smarter to say they don’t. Joseph C. McNay, of Essex Investment

Management, can boast of owning lots of Internet shares last year — and

lots less now. More …

 

Tales From the Cryptic:

—

Rewards Await Those Who Perfect Virtual Private Nets

 

 Barron’s , 8 February 1999, 1250 words, (English)

 

Today, my column exposes a far-reaching conspiracy to turn everything

on the Internet into gibberish — as if there weren’t enough of it on

the ‘Net already.

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories:

Flying High:

3Com is soaring again

 

 Barron’s , 25 January 1999, 518 words, (English)

 

Network supplier 3Com is finally regaining altitude, after taking on

the staggering U.S. Robotics modem business in 1997. 3Com’s momentum

stalled with that $7 billion merger, as it worked down Robotics’

surprisingly large …

 

As E-tailing Booms on the ‘Net,

So Does the Demand for Virtual Security

 

 Barron’s , 25 January 1999, 1440 words, (English)

 

Someone pinched my charge card number. Not the card, just the number

— and used it to make a few hundred dollars’ worth of calls from Fair

Lawn, New Jersey, to Austria and Australia.

 

Dudgeons & Dragons

 

 Barron’s , 18 January 1999, 171 words, (English)

 

To the Editor:

 

Bill Alpert (Plugged In, November 30) makes a play on words that

requires more than just lazy-minded computer literacy. “Hy dudgeon” is

the father of all puns, or at least one very good one. His fellow …

 

Forget Amazon.com, Take a Look at Firms

That Make Real Money by Sorting Out Our Data Glut

 

 Barron’s , 11 January 1999, 2110 words, (English)

 

All great reporters are sloppy. When you see files strewn about the

floor and stacks of newspapers cascading out an office door, you know

you’re in the presence of true talent. Some people may dispute these

notions, but I believe them …

 

Amid the Delirium Over Internet Auctions, Investors Turn Deaf Ear to

Telephony Over the Web

 

 Barron’s , 28 December 1998, 1532 words, (English)

 

Investors were going mad last week for Internet flea markets like

uBid, whose shares jumped 104 points in two days, to an intraday

delirium of 189 before plunging 68 1/2 Thursday to 121 5/8. But Wall

Street could hardly care less about …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories:

Ivana, Part III:

She quits Tel-Com, only to rejoin the next day

 

 Barron’s , 21 December 1998, 339 words, (English)

 

After Barron’s reported last week that investors in Tel-Com Wireless

Cable TV said they had been threatened by convicted criminals, Ivana

Trump cut her ties to the fledgling Internet retailer — for 24 hours.

By late Tuesday, she …

 

Portal Outfits Have Opened the Door To Sustainable Ad Revenues on the

‘Net

 

 Barron’s , 14 December 1998, 1753 words, (English)

 

Bonnie Booster, stock analyst of the Internet stars, is tired of the

rumors. Gossip columns denigrate her virtue, saying she falls for any

online slogan without regard to stock valuation. She’s heard naysayers

mutter that she’s …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories:

The Ivana Channel, Part II:

Are crooks trying to boost Tel-Com shares?

 

 Barron’s , 14 December 1998, 557 words, (English)

 

Friday morning, Ivana Trump’s 5th Avenue Channel opened for business

on the Internet, offering more than 10,000 items for sale. The site

looked great. But also on Friday morning, several terrified investors

told Barron’s and the …

 

Investing in the Home Office

 

 Barron’s , 7 December 1998, 577 words, (English)

 

Dear Readers,

 

Are you surprised by the prediction that one out of every two U.S.

homes will have an office by the year 2000? You shouldn’t be. Americans

are being pushed to do more office work at home by the confluence of …

 

Investing in the Home Office — On the Road:

How You Can Keep in Touch

 

 Barron’s , 7 December 1998, 2103 words, (English)

 

Just as Americans are starting to see the home office as a necessity,

a small contingent of us are leaping ahead to the next frontier. These

are the folks who carry their home offices with them, either in a

briefcase or a pocket. The …

 

Graham & Dodd, The Sequel

 

 Barron’s , 7 December 1998, 318 words, (English)

 

SECURITY ANALYSIS ON WALL STREET

 

By Jeffrey C. Hooke

 

John Wiley & Sons, $69.95, 434p

 

It’s a rotten world, when books on daytrading outsell more deserving

books like Jeffrey Hooke’s. Security Analysis on Wall Street is …

 

Investing in the Home Office — Getting On the ‘Net, and Fast:

No More Traffic Jams

 

 Barron’s , 7 December 1998, 2309 words, (English)

 

I’m here to tell you that the techno-geeks are right about one thing:

Distance will soon be dead. I came to that conclusion while testing the

latest services that give you rapid access to the Internet. I saw

complex investment charts, …

 

Ivana Get Rich:

The Donald’s ex gets mixed up with some questionable characters

 

 Barron’s , 7 December 1998, 1321 words, (English)

 

Ivana Trump has found a deeper pocket than her ex-hubby Donald: the

stock market. But her latest enterprise involves her with some highly

questionable characters, and it’s unclear whether or not she knows about

their past history of …

 

AOL’s Purchase of Netscape Fills a Void

By Providing a Yardstick for ‘Net Stock Values

 

 Barron’s , 30 November 1998, 1346 words, (English)

 

It’s holiday time in the stock market, but our buddy Hy Dudgeon is

blue. The money manager has received notice from some of his investors

who intend to pull their money at year’s end. They don’t care if Dudgeon

was right to …

 

Virtual Delirium

 

 Barron’s , 30 November 1998, 2000 words, (English)

 

Flight to risk.

 

That’s as good a description as any of the change in investor mood

that has sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average catapulting 2,000 points

in barely over a month to a new all-time high north of 9300. What

triggered …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories:

Second Thoughts:

Envoy, at SEC’s urging, restates results back to ’96

 

 Barron’s , 23 November 1998, 367 words, (English)

 

You know the numbers game has gotten muddy when the SEC forces a

company to increase reported earnings.

 

That’s what happened to Envoy Corp. last week. After informal

discussions with the staff of the Securities and Exchange …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories:

Oops!

Scoring big investment gains, Paul Allen proves us wrong

 

 Barron’s , 16 November 1998, 503 words, (English)

 

When Microsoft cofounder Paul G. Allen brought Ticketmaster public two

years ago, Barron’s dissed his investing skills (“Expensive Tickets,”

November 18, 1996). After the IPO, we predicted, his 54% of the

unprofitable …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories:

Mudbath:

COHR probes attacks,

Blames former officer

 

 Barron’s , 16 November 1998, 247 words, (English)

 

COHR, the hospital-equipment maintenance firm Barron’s examined last

spring (“Rotten at the COHR?” April 20), has announced an investigation

of its own. The firm, based in the suburban Los Angeles town of

Chatsworth, says …

 

Wacky Days Are Here Again for Internet Stocks;

Tech Companies’ Accounting Looks Weird, Too

 

 Barron’s , 16 November 1998, 1380 words, (English)

 

“Internet Stocks.”

 

Did you catch the sneer in that voice? That’s the tone of everyone

who’s missed the ride. The leap in online stocks in just the two weeks

since you last saw this column has old-time traders grumbling …

 

Wall Street’s Love Affair With eBay Could be a Fling, Not a Long-Term

Romance

 

 Barron’s , 2 November 1998, 1652 words, (English)

 

It’s not hard to see why Wall Street has fallen in love with eBay. For

starters, it makes money — not many Internet companies can say that.

More importantly, it does so with a business model that has investors

awestruck. The eBay …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories:

Networking With Big Names:

—

That’s stoking Concord’s strong growth

 

 Barron’s , 26 October 1998, 498 words, (English)

 

Since Barron’s looked at Concord Communications (“The Right Rx,”

February 9), investors have discarded small-cap stocks as so much

litter. Yet Concord shares soared from 19 in February to a high of 46,

to put a $600 million …

 

Rx for Survival:

Drug issues help two health-care funds stay robust in the storm

 

 Barron’s , 12 October 1998, 2316 words, (English)

 

John Schroer got into drugs at a good time. Now, everybody’s doing it.

For the past four years, the 33-year-old Schroer has managed two mutual

funds that focus on health care. The largest is $1.2 billion Invesco

Strategic Health …

 

Quarterly Scoreboard:

Stormy Sailing

 

 Barron’s , 5 October 1998, 1272 words, (English)

 

With the tide running out, stocks needed help to lift their boats in

the September quarter. Many of the winners rose on takeover premiums,

not fundamentals. Large-caps foundered, pulling down the Dow Industrials

12.4% and the S&P 500 …

 

Low Enough?

Earnings slump is still a key to the direction of stocks, say market

watchers

 

 Barron’s , 21 September 1998, 1166 words, (English)

 

It is a jaw-rattling market. First, stocks skidded from the heights of

July and now they are pitching across potholes. The potholes are big,

too — as big as Japan, Brazil and Russia. And, as the recent New York

mayor’s report showed, …

 

Off No More:

Mark Roberts ventures where other analysts dare not tread

 

 Barron’s , 14 September 1998, 2645 words, (English)

 

When shares of real-estate lender Resource America plunged 75% last

month, the company traced the selloff to a dense 20-page report

published by the Off Wall Street Consulting Group, a research boutique

that Mark Roberts runs in Cambridge, …

 

Payback Time:

After taking a licking, David Tice’s Prudent Bear Fund bounces back

 

 Barron’s , 7 September 1998, 2025 words, (English)

 

“Go sell shoes.” That’s what an angry reader told David Tice when

Applied Materials stock rose to a split-adjusted 53 after Tice

recommended shorting it. And no, the reader probably wasn’t urging the

short sale of …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories:

Holding the Bag:

Samsonite investors crushed as stock plummets

 

 Barron’s , 31 August 1998, 375 words, (English)

 

Samsonite stock has been crushed by exiting investors since Barron’s

looked at the luggage maker’s problems last winter, when its shares were

in the mid-30s (“Stuck in a Suitcase,” January 12). Carried out the

door, …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories:

Third-Guessing:

Envoy to second-guess its auditor’s second-guessing

 

 Barron’s , 24 August 1998, 262 words, (English)

 

Shares in Envoy Corp. plunged by one-third to the low 20s after the

Nashville firm said last week it was hiring a second auditor to

second-guess the second-guessing of Envoy’s regular auditor, Ernst &

Young.

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories:

A Bit Peaked:

Envoy’s medical claims drop quarter-to-quarter

 

 Barron’s , 17 August 1998, 434 words, (English)

 

Envoy’s shares remained quite healthy after a premature Barron’s story

looked at the Nashville company’s challenges (“Bitter Pill,” September

22, 1997).

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories:

Blame It on Rio:

Race-car group endures tragedy, and a fat tab

 

 Barron’s , 10 August 1998, 466 words, (English)

 

Race-car drivers dodge calamity regularly, and the racing company

Championship Auto Racing Teams has had a couple of close calls just

months after its initial public offering.

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories:

Just the Beginning?

Two plead guilty in a stock-fraud case

 

 Barron’s , 10 August 1998, 803 words, (English)

 

Criminal charges and two guilty pleas have been filed in a saga

chronicled by Barron’s last year (“Buyer Beware!” August 25, 1997) and

involving allegations of international stock fraud and money-laundering.

 

Wounded Lion:

One splinter in the paw: stocks from a small New York firm

 

 Barron’s , 6 July 1998, 1173 words, (English)

 

Many have heard how the lion hurt his paw: Two Dreyfus mutual funds

stepped on some sharp-edged, illiquid penny issues. Media and,

reportedly, government investigators are looking at Michael L.

Schonberg, who until April 8 was lead man …

 

Cold Reality:

A conspiracy? Or is there no cure after all for common cases of the

sniffles?

 

 Barron’s , 29 June 1998, 1398 words, (English)

 

Quigley’s zinc lozenges were the “first and only product clinically

proven” to stop a cold. Until last week. That’s when the Journal of the

American Medical Association reported a study showing the lozenges had

no …

 

Up & Down Wall Street: Busy Signal

 

 Barron’s , 29 June 1998, 1867 words, (English)

 

A simple, but infallible, investment rule of thumb:

 

No one ever got rich buying what AT&T buys. No one ever got rich

buying what John Malone sells.

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories:

Rotten COHR:

Special charge contributes to loss of $27 million

 

 Barron’s , 15 June 1998, 275 words, (English)

 

Medical equipment servicer COHR Inc., after disputing an April 20

Barron’s story detailing allegations that COHR overcharged hospitals

across the country, announced this month the departure of the two

officers in charge of its service …

 

Cold Hands:

Will new gizmos make open-heart surgery obsolete?

 

 Barron’s , 8 June 1998, 1271 words, (English)

 

Does your doctor have a cold bedside manner? Don’t complain too much;

your next surgery could be performed by a robot. This may sound like

science fiction, but robots are about to be used in the operating room,

particularly to carry …

 

Ouch!!!

 

 Barron’s , 8 June 1998, 513 words, (English)

 

Ask a guy when he stopped playing softball and he’s likely to scratch

his head for a minute and tell you, “I guess it was after I broke my

ankle,” or “Right after I destroyed my knee.”

 

Taking Stock:

Buying the right health-care shares could be good for what ails your

portfolio

 

 Barron’s , 8 June 1998, 4186 words, (English)

 

Health-care stocks have been behaving in an unusually unpredictable

manner in the 1990s. They were famously knocked for a loop by fears of

nationalized medicine in the first Clinton Administration. Then they

were further depressed by …

 

Perclose’s View

 

 Barron’s , 8 June 1998, 602 words, (English)

 

To the Editor:

 

Bill Alpert’s article on our company (“Plug Ugly,” May 25) included a

number of statements we consider to be inaccuracies.

 

They’re Ba-a-a-ck, Sort Of: Mortgage REITs

 

 Barron’s , 1 June 1998, 1291 words, (English)

 

A rapid-fire run of new real-estate investment trusts has been hitting

the market since late last year, companies specializing in commercial

mortgage-backed securities and other debt financing for income-producing

properties. The initial …

 

Plug Ugly:

The mathematics of a device to stem arterial bleeding don’t add up

 

 Barron’s , 25 May 1998, 1514 words, (English)

 

Need you pay a doctor extra to close you up after surgery? That

question is raised by a $200 disposable device now gaining popularity

with heart doctors.

 

Creme de la Cart

 

 Barron’s , 4 May 1998, 280 words, (English)

 

To the Editor

 

As a member of the small army of unpaid volunteers from the Detroit

Chapter of the Sportscar Club of America, without whose efforts the

Detroit Grand Prix wouldn’t have operated for years as a Formula

One-sanctioned and …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories:

Pfizer Has a Hit:

But other potency drugs haven’t given up the fight

 

 Barron’s , 27 April 1998, 516 words, (English)

 

In the month that Viagra has been on the market, the Pfizer pill for

treating male impotence has won 80% of new prescriptions for that

condition. According to IMS America, a market-research firm, new

prescriptions fell by more than 25% for …

 

Rotten at the COHR?

California firm’s employees say hospitals were cheated

 

 Barron’s , 20 April 1998, 2253 words, (English)

 

COHR Inc. should have done well by doing good. The Chatsworth,

California, firm was started in 1976 by a non-profit group of California

hospitals as a way to trim the cost of keeping medical equipment in

working order. Over the next 20 …

 

Quarterly Scoreboard:

Greater Fools?

 

 Barron’s , 6 April 1998, 1317 words, (English)

 

If you had listened to the online gurus at The Motley Fool, in May

1995 you’d have bought Iomega at $1.28 (adjusted for stock splits). Even

after the stock’s 44% drop in the first quarter, which made it one of

the period’s …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories:

Pumped Up:

A nutritional supplement keeps Rexall healthy

 

 Barron’s , 30 March 1998, 616 words, (English)

 

When an unflattering newspaper story knocked nearly 15% off his firm’s

stock price last week, Carl DeSantis says he was in shock. Luckily,

maybe with the help of products made by Rexall Sundown, the vitamin

maker of which he is …

 

Our Man in Boca:

Mike Margolies’ moles help him find buys…and sells

 

 Barron’s , 23 March 1998, 1747 words, (English)

 

Mike Margolies works barefoot at his Boca Raton office, a golden

retriever named Iowa by his chair. You might not suspect that 100 big

money managers buy his investment research. That’s how he wants it. “It

allows you to be …

 

In Gear:

A racing outfit revs up to go public; should investors go along for the

ride?

 

 Barron’s , 9 March 1998, 2081 words, (English)

 

Ever grumble about what you’d do if you were the baseball commissioner

(if there were a real baseball commissioner, that is)? Here ‘s your

chance. In the first stock offering by a pro sports sanctioning body,

you’re invited …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories:

Drug Bust:

J&J to halt funding for Amylin product

 

 Barron’s , 9 March 1998, 193 words, (English)

 

Unhappy with slim clinical achievements after $155 million in studies,

Johnson & Johnson is jilting Amylin Pharmaceuticals. The medical giant

had been splitting research costs for pramlintide, the diabetes drug

created by San …

 

Boning Up:

Getting an education on some promising — and unusual — medical-product

firms

 

 Barron’s , 23 February 1998, 2074 words, (English)

 

Tony Viscogliosi isn’t the only guy on Wall Street interested in

breaking legs. But he’s one of the few who studies them. For several

years, the Rodman & Renshaw analyst has followed stocks related to

orthopedics. He …

 

The Right Rx:

Guarding computer networks’ health puts a software maker in the pink

 

 Barron’s , 9 February 1998, 1081 words, (English)

 

Airlines may overbook their planes, but they never want to overbook

their data networks. So when Southwest Airlines saw that spikes in one

reservation center’s data traffic were overloading its communications

links last year, it …

 

Let’s Be Fair to Doctors

 

 Barron’s , 26 January 1998, 290 words, (English)

 

To the Editor:

 

I continue to be surprised at your reiteration of the Clinton

Administration’s line that doctors treating patients with expensive

chemotherapy agents should be reimbursed only the price they pay for the

drugs …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories:

Modem Guy:

3Com in the digital catbird seat

 

 Barron’s , 26 January 1998, 568 words, (English)

 

With phone and computer firms massing this week to endorse standards

for warp-speed service over phone lines, the Telephone Guy will soon vie

with the Cable Guy to be your escort to the stars.

 

Vivus Fan Speaks Out

 

 Barron’s , 12 January 1998, 372 words, (English)

 

To the Editor:

 

“Flagging Fortunes” (December 22) did a good job of making Vivus Inc.

look bad. My question is whether the article was balanced or biased.

Here’s why: You properly reported that Vivus can’t meet …

 

Stuck In a Suitcase:

By reaching for growth, Samsonite irks its customers

 

 Barron’s , 12 January 1998, 1636 words, (English)

 

After Richard Nicolosi took command of Samsonite Corp. in 1996, he

vowed that the beleaguered luggage company would be “the Cinderella

Story of 1997.” Nicolosi had no shortage of such inspirational phrases.

After all, he learned …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories:

Medicine Show:

Government health watchdog says drug companies gouging Medicare

 

 Barron’s , 5 January 1998, 629 words, (English)

 

Lobbyists for the healthcare industry dismiss Medicare investigators

as “hotheads,” whose recommendations should be ignored by fair-minded

politicians.

 

Quarterly Scoreboard:

Lost Glitter

 

 Barron’s , 5 January 1998, 1284 words, (English)

 

A company had to be in gold or disc drives — or Southeast Asia — to

miss out on the fun in 1997’s fourth quarter. Homebuilders enjoyed

strong orders, particularly in the western markets served by Big

Board-listed MDC Holdings and …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories:

Flagging Fortunes:

Impotence drug gets off to a fast start but falters in the face of

competition

 

 Barron’s , 22 December 1997, 661 words, (English)

 

Vivus was a hot number last February, when investors drove its shares

up to nearly 42, giving the startup drug company a market value of $1.3

billion. Vivus’s claim to fame was its innovative MUSE treatment for

impotence, which …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories:

Bad Deal:

Medicare paid $450 million too much for various drugs

 

 Barron’s , 8 December 1997, 269 words, (English)

 

Medicare overpaid doctors and home health-care firms by at least $450

million for drugs in 1996, according to a government report released

Friday. Published prices for prescription drugs “bear little or no

resemblance” to actual …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories:

First the Bad News:

3Com says inventory glut, Asian slump depress profits

 

 Barron’s , 8 December 1997, 551 words, (English)

 

Sales channels overstocked with 3Com’s modems have led many to fear

that the networking firm’s business would get worse before it got better

(“3Com’s Promise,” December 1). It got worse Tuesday when 3Com …

 

The Future is 3Com:

This beleaguered firm has an ace up its

Sleeve: mind-blowing Internet capabilities

 

 Barron’s , 1 December 1997, 2144 words, (English)

 

When I bought my house, I installed a cable TV jack near my personal

computer. I was ready for one of the new cable modems that would allow

me to surf the Internet hundreds of times faster than the clunker modem

that’s attached to my …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories

—

Payday Deferred:

Amylin extends testing

Period for diabetes drug

 

 Barron’s , 24 November 1997, 704 words, (English)

 

Payday will come at least a year later for Amylin Pharmaceuticals, the

biotech firm whose novel diabetes drug was the subject of a recent

Barron’s story (“Sweet Prospects,” Nov. 10). The San Diego firm has

decided to extend …

 

Sweet Prospects?

Amylin’s diabetes drug could be effective,

Despite inconclusive test findings

 

 Barron’s , 10 November 1997, 1962 words, (English)

 

Since she was 14, Heidi McNutt Paterson started each day with a shot

of insulin. Because she had diabetes, she’d take more insulin before

every meal, and sometimes become disoriented because of her seesaw

blood-sugar levels. But two …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories

—

A Drug Bust in the Making?

Probing an alleged pricing scam,

Feds demand data from big firms

 

 Barron’s , 27 October 1997, 549 words, (English)

 

Federal investigators have subpoenaed more than a dozen large drug

makers in the past week to see if doctors and pharmacy firms overbilled

taxpayers by billions of dollars on prescription medicines. According to

several government …

Batting 1.000

—

That’s how some funds have done since ’87,

While others have struck out

 

 Barron’s , 20 October 1997, 1999 words, (English)

 

You didn’t honestly think you’d escape another item about the crash of

’87 by turning here, did you? Yes, mutual funds did exist in those dark

days, though Lipper Analytical records just 647 with track records going

back to …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories

—

E*Trading:

Online broker E*Trade Group

Is hoisted on its own discount petard

 

 Barron’s , 13 October 1997, 681 words, (English)

 

Fears of a price war between online stockbrokers hit shares of E*Trade

Group last week. When Fidelity Investments cut its rates for certain

trades Monday, rivals Quick & Reilly and AmeriTrade quickly responded in

kind. The low …

 

Quarterly Scoreboard:

Techies Ascendant

 

 Barron’s , 6 October 1997, 1324 words, (English)

 

The September quarter saw small-cap stocks outperform blue-chips, and

the best of the best were the purest bets on the future-Internet stocks.

The viability of the ‘Net as an alternative to traditional phone links

gained credibility …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories

—

Ascend Descends:

It’s been all downhill

For a onetime highflyer

 

 Barron’s , 29 September 1997, 510 words, (English)

 

It looked like the slump was over for Ascend Communications when it

announced last week that a large customer was buying more than 170,000

of its MAX TNT switches, the devices that receive your call when your PC

dials up the Internet.

 

Bitter Pill:

Competition heats up for Envoy,

A medical-payments firm

 

 Barron’s , 22 September 1997, 1724 words, (English)

 

Health-insurance forms are a nuisance for patients. They’re also a

billion-dollar administrative hassle for doctors and insurers. Yet while

banks handle most payments as electronic transactions, the health-care

industry still deals …

 

First and Still Foremost:

Centocor’s anti-clotting drug could stand up

Surprisingly well against highly touted newcomers

 

 Barron’s , 22 September 1997, 1091 words, (English)

 

Harlan Weisman never expected such good luck for his firm’s heart

drug. Like most biotech scientists, Weisman, the vice president of

clinical research for Centocor, thought his company’s clot-preventing

drug ReoPro would be …

 

Behind the Veil of Secrecy:

—

Union Bank of Switzerland unit plays

A disturbing role in the Scorpion debacle

 

 Barron’s , 25 August 1997, 1233 words, (English)

 

Of all the rascals in the Scorpion mess, one of the most troubling is

a subsidiary of the giant Union Bank of Switzerland. The unit, called

Edsaco Ltd., seems to specialize in disguising the identities and

activities of UBS clients. …

 

Buyer, Beware!

Dizzying deals raise question about

California’s fast-growing Osicom Technologies

 

 Barron’s , 25 August 1997, 5242 words, (English)

 

Just a few years ago, Barry Witz and Parvinder Chadha were ponytailed

promoters of penny stocks. By early this year, though, the ponytails

were gone and the duo had transformed Osicom Technologies Inc., into one

of California’s …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories

—

Singin’ Low:

But it’s not Bye-Bye

Blackbird just yet

 

 Barron’s , 11 August 1997, 363 words, (English)

 

The fraudbusters at Cellular Technical Services themselves stand

accused of defrauding shareholders. Classaction suits in U.S. District

Court allege that the Seattle-based company misled investors about the

sales outlook for its Blackbird …

 

Quarterly Scoreboard:

Another Bonanza

 

 Barron’s , 30 June 1997, 1355 words, (English)

 

Against all odds — and most market pundits’ predictions — the stock

market delivered another great stretch in the quarter (minus one day)

ended Friday.

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories

—

Time To Gasp?

Oxygen firms may face cuts

 

 Barron’s , 19 May 1997, 278 words, (English)

 

After years of fending off federal cost-cutters, firms like Lincare

Holdings, Apria, American Home Patient and Rotech seem sure to feel the

axe hit the $2 billion business of delivering oxygen to the homes of

people with respiratory …

 

Mind Bender:

How three economists profit

On frailties of the human brain

 

 Barron’s , 12 May 1997, 1876 words, (English)

 

Nobel Prize-winning economists have long argued that individual

investors can’t consistently beat the overall market. But in recent

years, academics have found that stocks with certain characteristics do

routinely beat the market. …

 

Vitamin D — minus:

Rexall Sundown’s shares lack vigor, but the firm’s

Associates don’t lack for colorful histories

 

 Barron’s , 14 April 1997, 2050 words, (English)

 

Something ails the shares of vitamin maker Rexall Sundown. Although

earnings at the Boca Raton, Fla., firm have doubled over last year, its

stock has been cut in half since peaking near $40 a share last

September. “My clients keep …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories

—

Bad Connections:

Networkers face tough road

 

 Barron’s , 7 April 1997, 188 words, (English)

 

When Barron’s looked at all the giant networking firms trying to

squeeze into the market for Internet access hardware (“Remote Chance,”

Jan. 27), Cisco Systems was a $68 stock and Ascend Communications traded

for $78. The …

 

Barron’s Mailbag:

Drug War

 

 Barron’s , 7 April 1997, 327 words, (English)

 

To the Editor:

 

While Bill Alpert’s article (“Exciting Drugs,” Feb. 24) provided an

enlightening discussion of the enormous potential for impotence drugs,

he appears to have missed a few of the hard facts likely to …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories

—

Impotence Update:

Researchers to report

Encouraging drug results

 

 Barron’s , 7 April 1997, 387 words, (English)

 

Since Barron’s wrote about Vivus’s Muse treatment for impotence, when

the Menlo Park, Calif., firm’s shares were trading above $65 (“Exciting

Drugs,” Feb. 24), investors have awaited this week’s annual meeting …

 

Quarterly Scoreboard:

A Shaky Stretch

 

 Barron’s , 31 March 1997, 1301 words, (English)

 

While no one knows whether we’re at a market top, exuberant financial

markets sure seem to inspire bad bookkeeping. Restated earnings plague

many of this quarter’s losers, evidence of management who paid more

attention to their …

 

Pole Position:

Racing companies are

Ready to peel out

 

 Barron’s , 17 March 1997, 1995 words, (English)

 

When a stock car racer turns on the speed, he shifts his engine into

higher and higher gears, and that’s pretty much what the stock car

industry is doing right now. For investors, the acceleration could prove

awesome. The fact is that …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories

—

Videogame Revival:

Newest systems could rev up

A variety of firms

 

 Barron’s , 10 March 1997, 584 words, (English)

 

My nephew found a store recently that let him trade in his used Sony

PlayStation for the new Nintendo 64 system. If his grades improve, his

mom might let him open the box. Then he’d be part of a rapidly growing

crowd: Sales of the N64 …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories

—

Copping a Plea:

Accused con man

Admits tax evasion

 

 Barron’s , 10 March 1997, 332 words, (English)

 

Melvin Lloyd Richards, an accused swindler whose Internet stock

promotions Barron’s exposed last year, has agreed to plead guilty to tax

evasion. In exchange, federal prosecutors won’t pursue charges against

him for hyping the …

 

Exciting Drugs:

Investors are hot about impotence treatments;

Will new techniques cool their ardor?

 

 Barron’s , 24 February 1997, 1890 words, (English)

 

Impotence is a problem nobody wants to talk about — except on Wall

Street. In the past month, investors have gone wild for a handful of

firms that offer novel treatments for the complaint that has cramped

many a man’s style for many …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories

—

Clinton To Clip Profits:

Administration’s budget calls for cuts

In Medicare for cancer drugs and…

 Barron’s , 17 February 1997, 443 words, (English)

 

The government’s Medicare program could get a price break on the

billions of dollars of drugs and oxygen it buys if certain proposals in

the Clinton Administration’s 1998 budget clear Congress. Good for

taxpayers. But the changes …

 

Heart Stoppers

 

 Barron’s , 10 February 1997, 1249 words, (English)

 

In recent months, surgeons have begun doing complex heart operations,

ranging from valve replacement to bypassing of clogged arteries, through

small incisions. These “minimally invasive” procedures have attracted

great interest, …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories

—

A Slight Chill:

Quigley quivers on sale

 

 Barron’s , 3 February 1997, 203 words, (English)

 

A chill ran through shares of Quigley Thursday, after the cold-cure

firm’s chief outside medical investigator filed to sell 10,000 shares.

Dr. Michael Macknin, chairman of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation’s

pediatrics department, …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories

—

Microsoft Rules:

Booming NT sales pull

Along host of other firms

 

 Barron’s , 27 January 1997, 617 words, (English)

 

Last year, Barron’s predicted (“The Belated Wave,” Feb. 5) that heavy

corporate purchases of Microsoft’s NT operating-system software in the

second half of 1996 would pull along a host of other companies.

 

Remote Chance:

As the Internet-hardware market grows,

Can all the players thrive?

 

 Barron’s , 27 January 1997, 2011 words, (English)

 

The newest product from Ascend Communications is a dud, a trade weekly

claimed in November. Disappointed customers, said the publication, were

returning the system, which Ascend had named “The Next Thing,” or TNT.

But the article …

 

Cure for the Common Cold?

As Quiqley shares soar, questions arise

About medical studies, shady associates

 

 Barron’s , 13 January 1997, 2004 words, (English)

 

With much of America covered in snow and seemingly half the folks in

the Northeast sniffling on these blustery winter days, it may be

appropriate that one of the hottest stocks trading on the NASD’s

bulletin board is Quigley Corp., a …

 

Quarterly Scoreboard:

A Great Ending…

 

 Barron’s , 6 January 1997, 1241 words, (English)

 

As a group, oil and gas stocks, such as driller Unit Corp. and

producers Saba Petroleum and UTI Energy, did best in the fourth quarter,

thanks to cold weather and a limited supply of drilling services. But

the winningest individual stocks …

 

Yearly Scoreboard:

…To a Fabulous Year

 

 Barron’s , 6 January 1997, 1318 words, (English)

 

A six-year high for petroleum prices made winning stocks of oil

explorers and producers. Flores & Rucks plans greatly expanded

exploration, and United Meridian found natural gas off of West Africa.

Williams Energy and Saba Petroleum …

 

Quarterly Scoreboard:

A First-Class Finale

 

 Barron’s , 30 December 1996, 1284 words, (English)

 

It took a turnaround story for a stock to stand out in such a good

quarter as 1996’s fourth. Having missed most of the 1996 party, stocks

like Converse, Timberland and Advanced Micro Devices boogied furiously

and were awarded prize …

 

Ignored Orphans:

With new stock issues at a record pace,

Some deals are bound to be overlooked

 

 Barron’s , 16 December 1996, 1268 words, (English)

 

In a year when 692 companies were brought public for a record $46

billion, it follows that a lot of the small fry would go unnoticed. As

the hordes chase after huge offerings like those by Lucent Technologies

and Deutsche Telekom, we …

 

Bye-Bye, Blackbird?

A battle is shaping up in antifraud

Technology for cell phones

 

 Barron’s , 16 December 1996, 1588 words, (English)

 

Peter Rohr discovered he’d been cloned when he dialed out on his

cellular phone recently and found himself automatically hotlined to

customer service. Cunning crooks had snatched his cell phone’s ID out of

the air and used it to …

 

On Fire:

Fear of hackers should keep the

Computer firewall market smokin’

 

 Barron’s , 25 November 1996, 2401 words, (English)

 

Worried that Israeli spies are reading your computer files? Maybe

you’re paranoid. Or maybe you need an Internet firewall — a pricey

piece of software that organizations purchase to keep hackers from

reaching across the Internet and …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories

—

This May Hurt:

Managed care crimping

Profits on cancer drugs

 

 Barron’s , 11 November 1996, 323 words, (English)

 

Physician Reliance Network of Dallas, the practice-management company

for cancer doctors, recently reported September-quarter revenues of $63

million, almost 80% above the year-earlier quarter’s, yet its share

price was halved to less …

 

Tangled Web:

Internet stock promoter has

A long history of shady deals

 

 Barron’s , 28 October 1996, 2131 words, (English)

 

The Internet page greets you with a woman’s voice in a cultured

foreign accent: “Welcome to Equity Investors’ home page.” Here are firms

with “explosive growth potential,” she says, $2 stocks offering …

 

Horror Flick:

Avid Technology has a great product,

But its stock ended up in the dumps anyway

 

 Barron’s , 14 October 1996, 1692 words, (English)

 

You’ve probably never heard of Avid Technology, but the company’s

equipment is used in making some television shows you have heard of,

including Cosby, Seinfeld and ER, not to mention movies such as Nixon

and True Lies. Avid won …

 

Barron’s Mailbag:

Airing Both Sides

 

 Barron’s , 7 October 1996, 326 words, (English)

 

To the Editor:

 

Bill Alpert’s comparisons between Veterans Administration and

Medicare reimbursements for home oxygen are misleading (“Heavy

Breathers,” Sept. 2). Medicare pays a bundled rate of approximately $280

for all of …

 

A Return Visit to Earlier Stories

—

Just What the Kid Needs:

In Toys R Us, Baby Superstore

Is Getting a Stern Parent

 

 Barron’s , 7 October 1996, 637 words, (English)

 

Adoption is the new alternative for Toys R Us, which announced last

week the purchase of Baby Superstore for $400 million in stock. After

years of growing its own chain of superstores for toys and kids’

clothes, Paramus, N.J.-based …

 

The Faux Hundred

 

 Barron’s , 7 October 1996, 1675 words, (English)

 

Every year about this time, with dread and foreboding, we scan

Forbes’s freshly minted list of the 400 richest people in America.

 

Our anxiety is prompted not by the prospect of discovering some

deserving soul has been left off the …

 

Barron’s Mailbag:

Baby’s Breath

 

 Barron’s , 16 September 1996, 152 words, (English)

 

To the Editor:

 

I was concerned to see Pediatric Services of America lumped together

with the large home respiratory firms in Bill Alpert’s article, “Heavy

Breathers” (Sept. 2).

 

Barron’s Mailbag:

Why They Hate Managed Care

 

 Barron’s , 9 September 1996, 510 words, (English)

 

To the Editor:

 

Bill Alpert’s article on managed care and doctors (“What’s Up, Docs?”

Aug. 26) was mostly on the money, but he didn’t mention one effect of

controlling reimbursements to physicians — the early …

 

Heavy Breathers:

Lower oxygen reimbursements would

Have home-care firms gasping

 

 Barron’s , 2 September 1996, 2142 words, (English)

 

That sucking sound was the home health-care industry taking a deep

breath. After a year’s lull, the federal program that pays most of the

bills for the $30 billion industry is renewing its fight for a 40% cut

in Medicare’s …

Un-WellCare: Authorities prod HMO, Seeking better accounting

Barron’s , 26 August 1996, 152 words, (English)

Last May, WellCare Management Group, the upstate New York-based HMO Barron’s first scrutinized on March 18, restated its earnings from prior years. The restatement came after we wrote about some strange deals that had improperly …

Getting Doctors To Work for You — Physicians are selling their practices; Should we be buying?

Barron’s , 26 August 1996, 2725 words, (English)

Doctors feel miserable. After seeing their paychecks rise for decades, physicians have for the past two years been faced with stagnant incomes. Long the kings of the health-care industry, doctors usually have to answer to somebody these …

Still Bullish: Long run, this trio predicts Hefty stock gains

Barron’s , 22 July 1996, 1296 words, (English)

Don Hays slept right through the worst of last week’s market. As the investment strategist for Wheat First Butcher Singer awaited surgery on a slipped disk Tuesday morning, he remembers hearing that stocks had opened up after ..

Futures Shock: Publisher to pay $670,000

Barron’s , 8 July 1996, 363 words, (English)

Investors curious about Futures Magazine have a new 800 number they can call: 800-6764NFA. It’s the disciplinary information line of the National Futures Association.

Big Boppers: Stock splits? At some companies, They’ve long been out of style

Barron’s , 24 June 1996, 1627 words, (English)

Maybe investors who viewed Presstek as expensive at $200 a share were simply short-sighted. Just look at the stock of Mechanics Bank of Richmond, Calif ., which recently was quoted at $9,600. Mechanics is a member of a small but stubborn …

 Comeback Kid: After two-year battering, Fund chief posts gain

Barron’s , 17 June 1996, 340 words, (English)

The redemptions have slowed enough so that Heiko Thieme now sells a stock because he wants to, rather than because he has to in order to pay off decamping shareholders. His American Heritage fund is up 22% this year, so he even has weeks …

Hooked on Drugs: Why do insurers pay such outrageous Prices for pharmaceuticals?

Barron’s , 10 June 1996, 3005 words, (English)

Jim Fanning saw the plaque in a doctor’s splendid home: “This is the house that leucovorin built.” Leucovorin is one of the cancer drugs that typifies a basic drug-industry pricing convention that, in Fanning’s view, is …

Still Stumbling: Results Disappointing At Baby Superstore

Barron’s , 3 June 1996, 339 words, (English)

Baby Superstore took another spill last week, as it announced disappointing earnings for its first quarter, ended May 1. Shares in the Duncan, S.C., retailer of baby products slid by more than 10 points Tuesday after the announcement, and …

‘Fessing Up: WellCare restates Two years of earnings

Barron’s , 20 May 1996, 379 words, (English)

In restating its results last week, WellCare Management Group essentially admitted to the accounting devices originally exposed in a March 18 Barron’s story — an article that the upstate New York HMO had denounced as …

WellCare Unwell: Scarlet letter was just the Beginning; NASD may delist

Barron’s , 6 May 1996, 564 words, (English)

Try to punch up WellCare Management Group on your screen and you’ll find you need a new ticker symbol: WELLE. And in a couple of weeks, even that may not be enough.

Cash Transfusion? Automated collection could aid the U.S. Blood supply and Haemonetics’ bottom line

Barron’s , 29 April 1996, 1695 words, (English)

There aren’t enough people like Derek Gordon. That’s why the New York Blood Center calls him every eight weeks. The 32-year-old mathematician has Type O blood — the “universal-donor” strain — that can be given to most …

What’s in the Chips? Weak book-to-bill ratio depresses Chipmakers, could help other firms

Barron’s , 15 April 1996, 434 words, (English)

Last November, Barron’s was among the first to report that prices were falling for memory chips, the important components of personal computers, known as dynamic random access memory chips. D-RAMs, for short.

How Well Is WellCare These Days? Its auditors puzzle over how To restate the HMO’s earnings

Barron’s , 8 April 1996, 549 words, (English)

The examining room is getting crowded with various professionals probing the condition of WellCare Management Group. The health maintenance organization admitted last week that it will probably have to restate its previously reported …

Quarterly Roundup: Winning Big

Barron’s , 1 April 1996, 1285 words, (English)

Investors showered money on stock mutual funds in the first quarter. It seemed as if any fool could make money on equities. No wonder the Gardner brothers, who run the Motley Fool online investing forum, were on every magazine’s …

WELLCARE MANAGEMENT GROUP: Conflicting Accounts

Barron’s , 18 March 1996, 2403 words, (English)

The young detective sat knee-to-knee with the doctor. “You transmitted stolen property” the detective said in a quiet but threatening way. “The issues we’re investigating are felonies, an attempt to manipulate the share …

Oh, Baby! A $2.1 Million Profits “Miscount” Pummels Shares of Baby Superstore

Barron’s , 4 March 1996, 579 words, (English)

Baby Superstore shares fell out of bed last Monday, after the retailer disclosed that it had overstated its cash balances. On that news, the stock slid 29% to close just under 35, despite the Duncan, S.C., firm’s assurances that it …

Painful Profit: Cancer-treatment firms may soon See their plump margins slashed

Barron’s , 26 February 1996, 1797 words, (English)

When LuVonne Shaffer got her first dose of cancer drugs, the bill came to a staggering $5,504. But the stuff seemed to work, and when the Cleveland-area first-grade teacher finished her chemotherapy three months later, her CAT scans and …

Express Check-Out: Low-cost, extended-stay hotels are all The rage among investors, but for how long?

Barron’s , 12 February 1996, 1315 words, (English)

Why are so many investors hopping into bed with a young hotel chain even as top management appears to be preparing to check out, having filed documents that would allow them to sell all their shares in the company? One reason is that the …

The Belated Wave: If corporate use of Windows 95 and NT swells, Some tech stocks could surf to gains

Barron’s , 5 February 1996, 1755 words, (English)

By the end of March, all the executives at Charles Schwab & Co.’s headquarters will have Microsoft’s Windows 95 on their personal computers. “A majority of our customers and future customers are heading toward Windows …

FOUNDATION HEALTH CORP.: Reserve Judgment

Barron’s , 1 January 1996, 1806 words, (English)

When it comes to pressuring doctors, dentists and hospitals to cut their bills, few outfits measure up to Foundation Health. And for this penny-pinching, shareholders in this Sacramento-based health-maintenance organization have been amply …

A Very Good Year

Barron’s , 1 January 1996, 4187 words, (English)

Well, Uncle Clem beat George Soros this year. And that was just one of the marvels of the stock market in the year just ended. After 40 years in the back offices of Wall Street, old Clem retired to a sunny place. He’s my neighbor …

Memory Lane: Why cheaper memory chips will help Some companies and hurt others

Barron’s , 20 November 1995, 1771 words, (English)

In decades past, the most important raw material for industrial America was steel, and Wall Street strategists were known to track even the most minute movement in its price. Lately, the markets have been more affected by silicon, …

D.C. Shuffle: Lower capital gains tax rates May take effect Jan. 1, 1996

Barron’s , 13 November 1995, 1013 words, (English)

Right now it looks likely that the tax rate on capital gains will be cut by the end of this year, but uncertainty about the details is leaving investors in limbo. The biggest question: When will the lower rates take effect? Last April the …

BABY SUPERSTORE: Growing Pains

Barron’s , 23 October 1995, 1362 words, (English)

Brian and Becky Yeoman recently drove over 30 miles to the Baby Superstore in Jacksonville, Fla., passing right by the Toys `R’ Us and the Baby Depot at the Burlington Coat Factory. Their shopping list took them from strollers to …

THE TAX CHASM IN DISABILITY INSURANCE

New York Times Abstracts , 24 September 1995, 89 words, (English)

Long-term disability benefits available under company-paid plans may be greatly reduced by Federal taxes if the employees do not pay taxes on premiums paid by the employers, who frequently do not include that benefit in calculating …

INVESTING IT: THE TIMES ARE RISKY, THE GAME IS DANGEROUS

New York Times Abstracts , 27 August 1995, 37 words, (English)

Rising margin debt and its implications for stock market discussed; risks and rewards of buying on margin noted; graph; drawings

MUTUAL FUNDS: ENTERTAINMENT STOCKS: CAN THE RUN GO ON?

New York Times Abstracts , 6 August 1995, 45 words, (English)

Managers of mutual funds that specialize in entertainment and media expect long run of lucrative developments for industry; Invesco Strategic Leisure fund manager Tim Miller comments; graph; table; photo

Hard Knocks: Graduates of Future Vision Currency-trading school get pummeled

Barron’s , 31 July 1995, 2812 words, (English)

Driving a taxi at night in Miami is one of America’s most dangerous jobs. Turkish immigrant Mehmet Pendik learned that at knifepoint one night, when his passenger reached over from the backseat, put a blade to Pendik’s throat and …

Hypothetically Terrific

Barron’s , 31 July 1995, 533 words, (English)

The ad shouted out from the June issue of Futures magazine: “$500,000 a year. Unique trading method uses low risk and exact timing to capture the brass ring. Only $1,500. Call Jack 1-800-747-2205.”

INVESTING IT: ALL-IN-ONE ACCOUNTS ARE NOT FOR ONE AND ALL

New York Times Abstracts , 25 June 1995, 46 words, (English)

Advice on ‘central asset’ accounts offered by brokerage firms, banks and mutual fund companies for securities and cash holdings; notes accounts’ terms vary greatly’ table

Force-Fed Profits — A Doting Parent Nurtures Preferred Health Care

Barron’s , 29 August 1988, 4052 words, (English)

JUST a year ago, at the crest of the bull market, The Wall Street Journal singled out the 10 hottest initial public offerings of the stock market’s five-year rally. No. 3 on the list was Preferred Health Care Ltd. Its shares, first …

Only Skin Deep? — Scientists Are Skeptical Of Organogenesis’s Claims

Barron’s , 8 August 1988, 6414 words, (English)

PONCE de Leon would have loved it. The theme of a recent special report of the ABC news show 20/20 was the modern search for the Fountain of Youth.

Speed Freaks — Two Newcomers Cash In on Fast Chips

Barron’s , 23 May 1988, 3018 words, (English)

IN A bloodless revolution, high-power desktop computers are seizing a growing share of the world’s computing work from traditional minicomputers and mainframes. The usurpers have staged their coup brandishing a new technology …

Blooming Business — Daisy Systems Is Mounting A Comeback Bid

Barron’s , 18 April 1988, 2547 words, (English)

AS HE waded into his new swimming pool, Aryeh Finegold posed for the photographer. It was 1984, and the firm he had founded, Daisy Systems Corp., was pioneering Silicon Valley’s latest glamour business, computer-aided engineering. …

Scientists and Stock Pushers — They Make Strange and Embarassing Bedfellows

Barron’s , 21 March 1988, 8022 words, (English)

WHEN Bruce Knight, director of the biophysics laboratory at Rockefeller University, found out a few weeks back that Neurotech Corp. had run afoul of the law, his reaction was that he “wasn’t surprised.” Neurotech’s …

The Year of “Anti-Id” — And Synbiotics Corp. Holds an Early Lead

Barron’s , 7 March 1988, 2183 words, (English)

IN THE weeks following the October stock-market crash, investors were quite emphatic: They didn’t want to hear about stocks. And they especially didn’t want to hear about obscure over-the-counter issues like Synbiotics Corp.

The Short Parade — It’s Led by Drug, Technology, Financial Shares on the OTC

Barron’s , 29 February 1988, 2098 words, (English)

IT IS not hard to see why LyphoMed was the most-shorted stock in the Feb. 12 tally of the over-the-counter market. The fast growth of the Chicago-based maker of generic drugs came to a screeching halt in November, after inspectors from the …

Better Than Alchemy — How Goldcor, Once a Penny Stock, Hit Pay Dirt

Barron’s , 22 February 1988, 5111 words, (English)

IT was hard to miss the armed guards at last July’s annual get-together of Fitzgerald, DeArman & Roberts. The small Southwestern brokerage firm had gathered its reps at Tulsa’s Doubletree Hotel for several days of parties and …

High-Tech Niche Picker — Keithley Instruments Cashes In on Its Specialty Role

Barron’s , 18 January 1988, 1934 words, (English)

WHEN IBM researchers won the 1987 Nobel Prize for Physics, for discovering electrical superconductivity at a high temperature, the publicity shot of one of the winning scientists gave the folks at Keithley Instruments a happy moment. In …

Judgment Day — Ivan Boesky Draws Three-Year Jail Term

Barron’s , 21 December 1987, 1437 words, (English)

“WALL Street must be made to realize that you cannot calculate the price of crime with a cost/benefit analysis,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney John K. Carroll, to the crowded courtroom.

The Acid Test — Home Office Reference Lab Faces Stiff Competition

Barron’s , 21 December 1987, 3076 words, (English)

BY 1991, the annual hospital bill for Americans suffering from acquired immune deficiency syndrome could reach $16 billion, predicts the U.S. Public Health Service. A large share of the tab will be picked up by private insurers. In the …

LM Ericsson

Barron’s , 14 December 1987, 1184 words, (English)

THE brightest hopes for Sweden’s LM Ericsson are in the United States. Over the next 10 years, the regional Bell holding companies in the U.S. will replace as much as two-thirds of their aging telephone switches. Although it faces …

Consolidated Rail Corp.

Barron’s , 23 November 1987, 1546 words, (English)

OCTOBER’S stock-market landslide undermined faith in cyclical stocks, such as railroads, as investors became fearful that slowed consumer spending would put a brake on the economy. Consolidated Rail Corp. shares were hit especially …

Don’t Cry for Cray — The Supercomputer Maker’s Prospects Remain Super

Barron’s , 16 November 1987, 2338 words, (English)

WALL Street broke off its love affair with Cray Research this year. Shares of the high-performance computer firm climbed to a peak of $135 apiece in April, capping a decade-long rise from barely a dollar. But last month, when the roof fell …

Texas Instruments

Barron’s , 2 November 1987, 1494 words, (English)

SOME of the hardest knocks, in the market’s pummeling, have been taken by semiconductor firms. Since September, for example, shares of Texas Instruments have dropped from over $70 to as low as $35. Lately they’ve traded around …

Baxter Travenol Labs

Barron’s , 2 November 1987, 1231 words, (English)

OCTOBER 22 was the day picked by the chairman of Baxter Travenol Laboratories, Vernon Loucks Jr., for the company’s first presentation to securities analysts since the 1985 merger of Baxter Travenol and American Hospital Supply.

Dealing With DEC — Little System Industries Is One Digital Competitor That’s Thriving

Barron’s , 19 October 1987, 2204 words, (English)

DIGITAL Equipment Corp. has been the hottest thing in computers for a couple of years now, and it shows no signs of cooling off. Going head-to-head with DEC, as Digital is familiarly known, can be a bruising experience (just ask IBM). Yet …

What’s Wrong With This Picture? — Too Many Companies Are Making the Video Scene

Barron’s , 21 September 1987, 4706 words, (English)

“THE hottest franchise opportunity since Mc-you-know-who.” So boast recent ads for National Video Inc., a Portland, Ore., firm that runs the world’s largest chain of video cassette outlets. Their message to potential video …

A Visitor to the Plant Finds Hope Springs Anew

Barron’s , 7 September 1987, 712 words, (English)

STAMFORD, Conn. — A pail filled with metal springs dips slowly back and forth, from a hot water bath to a cold water bath. These aren’t just any old springs. These are shape-memory alloy springs.

Viratek’s Latest News

Barron’s , 7 September 1987, 391 words, (English)

NEARLY a week after hearing from the Food and Drug Administration, ICN Pharmaceuticals and its subsidiary, Viratek, finally told shareholders that the FDA had refused the firms’ second attempt to secure approval of the drug ribavirin …

Hearts and Dollars — Q-Med’s Cardiac Monitor Controversy

Barron’s , 24 August 1987, 3383 words, (English)

NOT LONG after a “letter to the editor” he penned appeared in a leading business magazine a few months ago, Dr. Thomas Graboys had an unsettling experience. The physician — an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical …

The Baby Crays — Convex and Alliant Ring Up Impressive Numbers

Barron’s , 20 July 1987, 4999 words, (English)

IN THE SUMMER of 1985, doctors at The Research Institute of Scripps Clinic, in La Jolla, Calif., were working feverishly on a medical breakthrough — mapping the three-dimensional structure of a human virus. The feat would help researchers …

Seminal Hype — A Report on a Med-Tech Conference

Barron’s , 22 June 1987, 3613 words, (English)

“I WISH D.H. Blair didn’t have to take the leading role in curing the major problems,” sighed Morty Davis, chairman of D.H. Blair & Co. It is his underwriting firm that is funding cures for cancer and AIDS, as well as a …

Red-Hot CASE — A New Computer Tool Catches Fire

Barron’s , 1 June 1987, 3440 words, (English)

A NEW buzzword is making its way from the computer room to Wall Street. It’s “CASE” — short for Computer-Aided Software Engineering — and it joins such acronymic company as CAD/CAM (computer-aided design/computer-aided …

Competition for Cheyenne — Rivals Crowd Into a Software Niche Picker’s Niches

Barron’s , 11 May 1987, 3323 words, (English)

IN October 1985, Cheyenne Software Inc. of Roslyn, Long Island, had been public barely a month when it enjoyed a piece of extraordinary good luck. The software marketing group of Chemical New York, the giant bank holding company, was …

OTC — Trading Ideas Over the Counter: The Abracadabra Man — Part I — Step Right Up and See Him Turn Pennies Into Millions

Barron’s , 16 March 1987, 12289 words, (English)

SOME investors have a Midas touch. Or, at least, an alchemist’s. They can put their money in the most unpromising, certainly the most unprepossessing places, and strike it rich.

OTC — Trading Ideas Over the Counter: The Abracadabra Man — Part II — Step Right Up and See Him Turn Pennies Into Millions

Barron’s , 16 March 1987, 12425 words, (English)

{The following is the continuation of the saga of Henry Lorin.} Of the Texor documents he did receive, Sklut remained sharply skeptical. “I didn’t believe a single bit on the Texor financial statement. They had given us to June …

OTC — Trading Ideas Over the Counter: The Abracadabra Man — Part III — Step Right Up and See Him Turn Pennies Into Millions

Barron’s , 16 March 1987, 2877 words, (English)

{The following is the conclusion of the saga of Henry Lorin.} But the current lack of competition may well explain Won-Door’s gross profit margins, which exceed 50%. After-tax margins, after adding back partnership royalties …

No More Cloning Around — IBM Takes Dead Aim On Rival PC Makers

Barron’s , 30 March 1987, 4854 words, (English)

NEXT week, before a hand-picked audience of some 3,000 of its dealers in Miami, IBM is expected to take the wraps off a new family of super PCs that, it’s widely anticipated, will shake the very foundations on which its rivals in …

Good News/Bad News — Many Potential AIDS Drugs in View, but Much Testing Needed

Barron’s , 9 March 1987, 2945 words, (English)

WITH the spread of AIDS threatening hundreds of thousands of lives here and abroad, medical researchers and drug companies are exploring many avenues in search of, if not a cure, at least a treatment. With the stakes so high, it’s …

The Inside Story at ICN Pharmaceuticals

Barron’s , 16 February 1987, 787 words, (English)

THE increasing and increasingly publicized AIDS threat has prompted investors to seek out the shares of companies that might benefit from efforts to prevent or treat the fatal disease.