A company generating cash flow has a number of ways to put that money to work. They can expand the business, whether through internal growth or acquisitions. When a company gets large enough, it may also make sense to reward shareholders with cash dividends. But a company can also buy back its shares. That also rewards existing shareholders, as it reduces shares outstanding and increases earnings per share without growing the underlying business. In today’s market, beaten down stocks embracing bigger buybacks may end up strongly rewarding shareholders. One company that just upped ...

Typically, the stock market doesn’t mind when a company announces layoffs. In a bull market, it can be a sign that a company is finding ways to do the same (or more) work with fewer people. But in a bear market, it’s often treated as bad news, even as it lowers costs. That’s particularly true in financial markets, where companies can be quick to hire and quick to right-size when the market changes. Right now, the market has sold off shares ofMorgan Stanley (MS) following its latest layoffs amounting to 2 percent of staff. But the bank has been holding up well. Despite rising interest...

Stocks had a pretty strong rally on reports that the Federal Reserve would lower the rate at which it increases interest rates. But that rally ended as traders realized that rates would still rise—and a slower pace would allow the increases to continue for longer. However, we’re likely closer to the end of the rate hike cycle than the beginning. And for investors looking for year-end buys, it could be time to pick up some beaten-down names, particularly in big tech. That includes a number of chip-related companies, which have been hit so hard this year that they’re well priced for th...

There’s always some technological revolution going on somewhere. The past decade has seen a number of trends, and those growing trends have been great for investors in the right place. One of the most interesting trends today is the shift by major automakers from conventional gas-powered cars to hybrids and electric vehicles. While some challenges remain, it’s clear that investors like the trend overall, and rising EV sales tend to prove a boost for share prices. One company seeing its EV sales grow by leaps and bounds isFord Motors (F), which just doubled its EV sales for November c...

Some traders are betting the worst is over for markets. That’s based on the view that the Fed will start tapering its interest rate hikes. But as long as interest rates are being hiked, they’ll continue to weigh on stocks. For investors who don’t want to get whipsawed while this plays out, there are a number of investment strategies to focus on instead. The simplest and arguably best is simply to buy and hold dividend-paying stocks in industry-leading companies. While such a strategy seems boring in a bull market, in a bear market it plays out well. For instance, beverage giantCoca-C...

The past few years have seen a number of companies come to compete for cloud services. Most have focused around providing the hardware itself. That oligopoly looks fairly secure. But there’s still a rich environment for cloud services providers to benefit. Some are new players to the tech space, built up quickly over a few years. Other players aren’t new to the tech space, but have adapted with the times. One of those latter players is performing surprisingly strongly now. That company isHewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE). The company sees itself benefitting from the explosion of data,...

Cyber Monday’s growing influence over retail sales encompasses both the sale of physical goods from retailers online, as well as services that can be made online. The latter category, without storage or shipping costs, can be a higher profit-margin center for companies with such services. With this year’s holiday spending underway, a few early winners from Cyber Monday have emerged. And investing in those companies could make profits even beyond the holiday season. For instance,Electronic Arts (EA) saw some best-selling games this Cyber Monday, thanks to FIFA 23 and Madden 23, the an...

Black Friday and Cyber Monday have come and gone. It’s likely that the biggest bargains in retail for the holiday season have already been made. Sales appear to be higher, but adjusted for inflation, overall volumes may be lower. One way traders can wade through the opportunities in retail in the coming weeks is to look for companies that didn’t have excess inventory to clear, or needed to resort to massive discounts this holiday season. One potential winner is already emerging:Decker Outdoors Corporation (DECK). The maker of footwear is best known for its UGG brand boots, and the...

The past year has been brutal for tech companies. That’s true of both early-stage small-cap stocks or large-cap established names. But for those who have been patient, this year’s selloff has set the stage for a future rally – meaning it may be time to start buying in tech. Investors can start by buying the big-cap names. These are the companies that have the cash flow and market share to thrive right now, and aren’t as dependent on market conditions as smaller stocks. Among some of the biggest tech names isAmazon (AMZN). The company has become the first in history to lose over $1 tr...

Value investors are often ignored or derided during a bull market. That’s because high-growth names tend to take off. But when markets sell off, more value stocks emerge. Those who buy into value names can earn above-average returns, and often do so with less volatility. Investing in such stocks makes it easier to compound wealth over time, and often makes it easier to ride out extreme market conditions. Long-term investors can find a number of value names today. One place where investors can quietly compound wealth is in industrial stocks.Ingersoll Rand (IR), a maker of pumps and co...