With the stock market at all-time highs, investors can either jump in at high prices, look for value trades, or focus on great companies trading at reasonable prices. That last category has been strong for strategies such as dividend growth. More companies continue to raise their dividends, signaling a return to normal, or at least that a company can thrive during a pandemic. One of the latest companies to announce a dividend increase isPapa John’s International (PZZA). The pizza giant has had strong sales, with earnings up over 56 percent in the past year and revenue up 12 percen...

Yes, the energy industry is changing. But it’s a trend that won’t happen overnight. A number of oil giants are looking into going carbon neutral, but setting goal dates as far out as 2050, nearly 30 years away. Even the shift towards electric vehicles this year is unlikely to become a majority of vehicle sales this decade, at least not without the heavy push of the hands of governments of developed nations. That still leaves oil as a viable investment opportunity for years to come. Plenty of oil giants are attractively priced, even after the runup in oil prices in the past year, as t...

Companies that can pivot to new business lines can thrive. Those that don’t are likely to be poor performers at best, or go out of business. One European conglomerate, in business for over a century, is looking to expand into the cloud space, going toe-to-toe with big US tech giants. That’s resulting in strong operational performance, and a chance to move beyond industrial roots. That player?Siemens (SIEGY). The German company was founded in 1847, and is one of Europe’s largest companies. The company is expanding into what it calls “digital industries” but what really means infrastru...

The semiconductor shortage continues to wreak havoc on a number of industries. But other key tech components, and the companies that manufacture them, are also performing strongly right now. That includes everything from server components to hard drives. There’s been a tug of war between those two businesses over the years, based on falling, and now rising, PC sales. The Covid-driven boom in PC sales has been particularly good for hard drives. That’s whereWestern Digital (WDC) has been a winner. The company reported better-than-expected earnings this week, and also provided strong gu...

Price is what you pay, value is what you get. For some companies, it’s hard to get an exceptional value. Consumer goods companies, which tend to have solid profit margins thanks to brand loyalties, tend to be expensive to buy into, although they may be worth it over time. With inflation fears picking off individual stocks right now, however, a few buying opportunities in this space are emerging with an eye for a rebound in the months ahead. For instance,Clorox (CLX) just saw its largest one-day drop in more than 20 years. The maker of bleach products, among other things, was a popula...

Investors are catching on to the video game sector, which already topped box office sales before the pandemic hit. The space is as popular as ever, and the latest generation of consoles are driving sales and new games. Video games also hit that sweet spot of software where development costs are fixed, and exceeding sales expectations can lead to big profits. That’s great news for a number of companies, even if the market isn’t always ready to acknowledge that. Case in point?Take Two Interactive (TTWO). The company reported better-than-expected earnings and revenues in the most recent...

Bond investors have been on a wild ride over the past year. Yields have fluctuated between around 0.5 percent and 1.75 on a 10-year US Treasury. While that entire range is historically low, the changes in those rates also create wild swings in bond prices. And with yields so low, there’s a type of company that stands out in the market today. That type of company is the dividend growth stock. These are a small group of companies that can grow the income they pay to shareholders no matter what the economy is doing. Even better, because they tend to raise their dividends over time, they...

Last week saw a large number of companies reporting earnings for the second quarter of the year, as well as a strong GDP report. The most important data? The fact that the US economy has now surpassed its pre-Covid levels. There’s still a long way to go, especially among lower-income workers. But the trend also points to more profits ahead in one key sector. That sector? Financial services, especially credit card spending.Mastercard (MA) reported solid numbers last week, hitting $4.5 billion in revenues. That’s a 3.7 percent beat. More importantly, the company beat on earnings. Wh...

With a large number of companies reporting this week, hundreds of firms have been updating their shareholders. A lot of attention has gone into mega-cap names, particularly in the tech space. But any company in any sector that’s a leader and showing earnings growth right now could be an attractive investment. That’s doubly true for any company that’s been growing over the past few quarters and has gotten some momentum going. One such non-tech name isMcDonald’s (MCD). The company beat second quarter earnings handily, by nearly $400 million. And earnings trounced expectations, coming i...

Investors are looking for guidance right now, and many companies simply aren’t delivering. That’s a lingering effect of the pandemic that will eventually go away. Until then, even a company that reports great earnings for the prior quarter can see their shares sell off as traders look forward. That’s been the case just this week with major companies reporting such asMicrosoft (MSFT) andAdvanced Micro Devices (AMD). Both companies saw an immediate drop in share price when they reported earnings after the bell on Tuesday. But one of the best earnings beats this quarter came fromApple (...