Free Investing

Davy Bui submits: By this time, readers should be well-acquainted with my utter disdain for mainstream chatter and the pundits who peddle it. Yet it is also important not to let inherent biases blind us to opportunities. Even as I despise Wall Street and their endless, self-serving babble, analysts can be useful. This week's screen is based on my attempt to find some use in this muck. In the past, I've run contrarian screens based on analyst sell signals; this time, I decided to look at strong buys. Most analysts love growth and I love cheap so only PEG ratios under 1.0 were included. To narrow the field, I came back to my tried and true metrics of strong free cash flow and good yields. Here's the full criteria for the screen:Complete Story »

Trader Mark submits:I continue to be amazed at the power analysts have over stocks; especially when anyone who follows the market for years sees how badly analysts are off the mark, and all the conflicts of interest in the industry. After consolidating a huge move in 2009 the past 6 weeks, hotel operator Wyndham Worldwide (WYN) had some worrisome action yesterday, falling to the very low of its recent range before a late day rally saved it. Then this morning an upgrade has created a gap up, and pushed the stock out of this sideways range. Technically this is a "breakout"; however I'd rather see it happen naturally than on an analyst upgrade. For now, I will just sit on my hands with our current stake and see how the stock reacts going forward.Complete Story »

Hickey and Walters (Bespoke) submit:
The average year to date change of stocks in the S&P 500 is 33.27%, even though the index itself is up just 16.54% YTD. The average estimated P/E ratio for next year for stocks that actually have earnings in the index is 19.47. Twenty-six stocks in the S&P 500 are expected to lose money over the next year. Below we provide a list of S&P 500 stocks that are up more than 100% year to date along with their estimated P/E ratios. As shown, there is a pretty wide variation in valuations of the best performing stocks year to date, with some having low P/Es and some having high or negative P/Es. Micron (MU), Advanced Micro (AMD), Sun Micro (JAVA), Sprint (S), and Office Depot (ODP) are the five stocks up more than 100% in 2009 with negative estimated P/Es. Other strong performing stocks with high valuations include THC, F, SNDK, MOT, and MWV. XL Capital has the lowest P/E estimate of the stocks listed below at 7.40. It is up 370% year to date. Genworth (GNW) is up 325% with a P/E estimate of 11.06, and WDC is up 218% with a P/E estimate of 9.76. Other stocks on the list with a ratio below 20 include FCX, GT, EXPE, WYN, MEE, JWN, GS, CTSH, and LIFE. Complete Story »

Trader Mark submits:Bespoke blog shows us the top performing stocks in the S&P 500 since March 9th. Note - while the intraday low of 666 was reached March 6th, the S&P 500 closed at 683 that Friday. The true "closing" low was actually that following Monday the 9th when the S&P 500 closed at 676 (lower than the Friday close). However it is much more spooky and cool to say, the market bottomed on the 6th at 666.Whatever the case, it seems impossible to believe that that bottoming event happened earlier this year; it now feels like it was a few eons ago.Complete Story »

Rick Newman submits:Sooner or later, the economy's going to turn a corner. Some think it won't be until 2010 or even 2011, since unemployment seems certain to rise for the foreseeable future and fall only slowly after it finally peaks. Others are more optimistic, pointing to evidence of an imminent turnaround. Merrill Lynch, for instance, declared in a recent research note that "the recession is over." Whenever it happens, a recovery is likely to be sporadic and uneven. Industries that have held up over the last 18 months, like healthcare, education, pharmaceuticals, energy, telecom, and some high-tech sectors, should remain stable places to work. A few industries that have been battered during the recession may actually be poised for a bit of growth, since failed companies and consolidation have left openings that healthy companies can exploit. Some smaller regional banks, for instance, could nab credit-card business from wounded giants like Citigroup (C) and Bank of America (BAC). And while billions in government bailouts once signaled the fragility of the financial and insurance industries, they've also helped contain the damage, which could bring back some jobs over the next couple of years.Complete Story »