David Merkel submits: Imagine for a moment that you were approached by a very wealthy foundation, and they asked you to invest their money. They offer a low asset-based fee, but the assets are so large that it looks like a dream to you. Then they tell you the conditions: We want this fund to last forever.It must be able to deliver cash proceeds of 5% of assets each year.We want it to generate a return that exceeds 7%/year over the long haul.It must be able to do this through all environments, regardless of war, including civil war, socialism, famine, plague, etc. This is the “forever fund.”And if inflation becomes rampant, over 5% / year, you need to earn the inflation rate plus 2% at minimum. You gulp, and say, “But sir, that’s impossible. The need for current cash is at odds with a forever mandate. Investing to earn the greater of 7% or 2% more than inflation is an unattainable goal. Who can predict inflation? Away from that, the record of investors during times of extreme societal stress is bad at best.”Complete Story »
optionMONSTER submits: By Bryan McCormickOnly a handful of economic releases are scheduled for today, with the consumer sentiment data likely to be the calendar's key report.Complete Story »
optionMONSTER submits: By David RussellPrivateBancorp (PVTB) is trying to rebound from a gut-wrenching selloff, but traders have other ideas.Complete Story »
Stone Fox Capital submits:Kona Grill (KONA) has long been a favorite concept of Stone Fox Capital with its blend of sushi with western foods, but it clearly lost its way over the last couple of years due to questionable management. Last Monday, KONA announced a new CEO plus a new BOD member. Positive signs that they've finally got quality management on board to turn the concept around. KONA was always criticized for being run by a hedge fund manager instead of an industry expert. Now we'll see. Mr. Buehler was the Chief Executive Officer of LS Management, Inc., the owner and operator of the Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon/Texas Land and Cattle Steak House restaurant concepts, as well as Lone Star Business Solutions, an external accounting, IT and HR provider, where he served from July 2007 to May 2009. Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon consists of 141 company restaurants, 5 domestic franchise restaurants, and 10 international franchise restaurants, while Texas Land and Cattle Steak House consists of 28 company restaurants. Complete Story »
Shaun Rein of the China Market Research Group submits: This commentary originally appeared in Forbes .When President Barack Obama arrives in China for his first official visit next week, he will find a very different nation from the one President George W. Bush first went to almost a decade ago. No longer is China a net recipient of aid. On Sunday it promised $10 billion in loans to Africa and forgave the debts of several countries. Another hundred million Chinese have been pulled out of poverty, and the nation is now the world's second-largest market for luxury items. Consumers buy $6.5 billion worth every year.Complete Story »
optionMONSTER submits: By Chris McKhannAs CBS (CBS) continues its roller-coaster ride, the stock fell 3 percent yesterday with option activity in the puts.Complete Story »
Ken Doctor submits: It's hard to gauge the impact of New York Times (NYT) and Wall Street Journal (NWS) moves into metro markets. They could be simple, print retention strategies aimed, at holding on to valuable print readers -- the magnets for still-lucrative print advertising -- for as long as possible.Longer-term, it could be a Last Man Standing strategy, figuring that newspaper readers may well scale back their daily reading to a single paper, as they increasingly go digital. Or, it could be toehold, for an expanded digital strategy, adding local options to their national and global products.Complete Story »
Stockerblog submits: There are a couple ways of buying stocks at a discount to their present value. One way is by investing in closed end funds, also known as CEFs, that are trading at a discount from Net Asset Value, also known as NAV. The NAV is similar to the book value of stocks. In other words, the NAV is calculated by adding up all the stocks in the portfolio, and dividing that amount by the number of shares.A closed end fund is similar to a regular mutual fund except that the trading price of the CEFs can fluctuate way above or way below the NAV. In addition, the number of shares is fixed. There are over 20 closed end funds that are trading at a discount of over 20% of their net asset value. Many investors invest in these discounted CEFs in the hopes that the gap between NAV and price per share will close.Complete Story »
Trace Mayer submits:Back in June of 2008 after the Cambridge House Investment Conference I wrote about how Vietnam had limited gold imports but with all the updates to RunToGold it appears the article was lost to the Internet ether. The last time I was in Vietnam to visit a few factories, including one of Nike’s (NKE), I found the people so nice and gracious, learned about the mangosteen for the first time and had the best ice cream in the whole world. And the chocolate pancakes were amazing. The extremely low prices would amaze you. Bloomberg reported on 12 November 2009 thatComplete Story »
Michael Arrington submits: I’ve had a nagging frustration in my otherwise perfect relationship with Google Voice. The service systematically replaces my friend’s phone numbers with their Google Voice numbers when they call, even when they aren’t calling from Google Voice. Not only has this led to a lot of confusing and time wasting “how did you get my Google Voice phone number?” conversations, it is a clear violation of Google’s (GOOG) own privacy policy. Here’s how this works: Let’s say you signed up for Google Voice sometime in the past. The main benefit of Google Voice is that it forwards calls to your other phones – the whole “one number for life” thing. So you probably told Google Voice a few of your other phone numbers – home, work, mobile, etc. And then perhaps you stopped using the service after testing it.Complete Story »
The LFB submits:Overall, the dollar index managed to bounce from just under the 76.00 area, the lowest value touched over the last 15-months of trade, as equity and oil trade found sellers. The dollar index managed to strengthen across the board during the day, posting important gains especially against the euro and the aussie, which plunged at a very strong pace throughout the European and U.S. sessions. As long as the equity markets remain in the red, the dollar index is set to continue the current uptrend. Complete Story »
The LFB submits:Equity Futures: Dow -91.00. S&P -10.60. NASDAQ -9.25. Japan Nikkei -40.00. German Dax -10.00 U.S. Trade: The U.S. market was dragged lower by the sell-off seen in the commodity market on Thursday, continuing the theme started in the European session, which saw strong declines posted by crude oil and metals. Crude oil tumbled 3% on higher U.S. inventories and is currently trading just above the $76.60 support, that has been holding the market for a month, and is a huge technical area to hold.Complete Story »
Larry Dignan (ZDNet) submits: Dell (DELL) officially hatched its grand smartphone plan and it’s focused on emerging markets and the Android operating system. The company confirmed its plans to launch smartphones in China and Brazil. In a statement Friday, Dell said it will distribute its Mini 3 smartphones through China Mobile, the wireless behemoth in China. In Brazil, Dell has inked a deal with Claro, which has more than 42 million customers.Complete Story »
