BlackBerry ($BBRY) shares fell off a cliff on Friday morning, down more than 25% after 1st quarter earnings were released, and through mid-morning on Monday they hadn’t recovered much.  It appears that the “make or break” BB10 operating system is looking like more of a break than a make. BlackBerry sold 2.7 million BB10 devices...Read More

I genuinely enjoy following Barron’s Roundtable every year (see “Shifting Winds”).  The venerable old rag puts together a team of 10 outspoken money managers and allows them to do the journalistic equivalent of a cage fight.  The participants are free to grill each other over their recommendations, and it can get pretty intense.  Some years,...Read More

Back in March, I recommended that readers use the recent weakness in Daimler (DDAIF) shares to add to their positions.   American and Japanese automakers had enjoyed a fantastic first quarter while German automakers Daimler, BMW (BAMXY) and Volkswagen (VLKAY) had seriously underperformed. The reason for the rough ride? Investors had been punishing the German automakers...Read More

Back in April, I asked if E-Cigarettes would relight Big Tobacco’s prospects.   I had my doubts. E-cigs seemed to be a more pleasurable version of a nicotine patch: something that an existing smoker might switch to for health reasons but not exactly an attractive or glamorous product for someone who doesn’t already smoke.  (Humphrey Bogart...Read More

“Sell in May” would have been terrible advice for stock investors in 2013.  The S&P 500 tacked on about 4% in the month, even if the last week and a half was a little rough. But for investors in REIT and MLP shares—which up until this month were two of the best-performing asset classes—have suffered...Read More