74% of money managers are bullish on U.S. stocks, according to Barron’s, an all-time high by the magazine’s measurement.  Only 7% were bearish. Uh oh. “All-times highs in bullishness” is not something I generally like to hear.  If these managers are talking their book—and we have to assume they are—then this means they are likely...Read More

Has Big Tobacco stumbled into a new growth market in electronic cigarettes? Well, sort of.  Use of e-cigarettes—which produced a smokeless water vapor infused with nicotine—is expected to more than double in 2013, which might ordinarily be good news for the major tobacco giants. Altria (NYSE:$MO), Reynolds American (NYSE:$RAI) and Lorillard (NYSE:$LO) are all active...Read More

The language of Wall Street is infused with pithy maxims.  “Don’t frown; average down.”  “The trend is your friend.”  And perhaps most relevant to us at this time of year, “Sell in May; go away.” The last one is perhaps the most dangerous because, at least for the past several years, it has held true. ...Read More

Earlier this year, I commented that semiconductor titan Intel (Nasdaq:$INTC) was my favorite tobacco stock. I said this tongue-in-cheek, of course.  I am aware that Intel designs and manufactures microprocessors, not cigarettes.  But my point was simply that slow-growth (or even no-growth) investments, such as tobacco stocks, can be wildly profitable under the right conditions:...Read More

I recently gave my thoughts on Netflix (Nasdaq:$NFLX) and its business model to the E-Commerce Times’ Erika Morphy: Netflix all but invented the content-over-Internet model, which is quickly reshaping the way consumers view media, said Covestor Model Manager Charles Lewis Sizemore. “Netflix and its competitors are the biggest shake-up to media since paid cable TV,” he told...Read More