i Auto Insurance 2013: November 2014

Monday, November 10, 2014

Guru Stocks at 52-Week Lows: IBM, SNY, SAN, RIO, E

According to GuruFocus list of 52-week lows, these Guru stocks have reached their 52-week lows.International Business Machines Corp (IBM) Reached the 52-Week Low of $162.07The prices of International Business Machines Corp (IBM) shares have declined to close to the 52-week low of $162.07, which is 19.7% off the 52-week high of $199.21. International Business Machines Corp is owned by 35 Gurus we are tracking. Among them, 15 have added to their positions during the past quarter. 14 reduced their positions.International Business Machines Corp was incorporated in the State of New York on June 16, 1911. International Business Machines Corp has a market cap of $160.39 billion; its shares were traded at around $162.07 with a P/E ratio of 13.30 and P/S ratio of 1.71. The dividend yield of International Business Machines Corp stocks is 2.62%. International Business Machines Corp had an annual average earnings growth of 11.10% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated International Business Machines Corp the business predictability rank of 4-star.IBM recently reported its third quarter 2014 financial results. The company announced diluted earnings for the quarter from continuing operations of $3.46 per share, compared with diluted earnings of $3.77 per share in the third quarter of 2013, a decrease of 8%.Brian Rogers (Trades, Portfolio) bought 750,000 shares in the quarter that ended on 06/30/2014, which is 0.48% of the $26.89 billion portfolio of T Rowe Price Equity Income Fund. Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio) owns 146,846 shares as of 06/30/2014, an increase of 712.29% from the previous quarter. This position accounts for 0.33% of the $7.99 billion portfolio of Gotham Asset Management, LLC. David Dreman (Trades, Portfolio) owns 11,540 shares as of 06/30/2014, a decrease of 25.5% of from the previous quarter. This position accounts for 0.16% of the $1.33 billion portfolio of Dreman Value Management.Chairman, Pres. and CEO Virginia M Rometty sold 10,819 shares of IBM stock on 08/27/2014 at the average price! of 191.86. Virginia M Rometty owns at least 131,394 shares after this. The price of the stock has decreased by 15.53% since.Sanofi (SNY) Reached the 52-Week Low of $45.69The prices of Sanofi (SNY) shares have declined to close to the 52-week low of $45.69, which is 22.5% off the 52-week high of $57.42. Sanofi is owned by 19 Gurus we are tracking. Among them, 9 have added to their positions during the past quarter. 7 reduced their positions. Sanofi was incorporated under the laws of France in 1994 as a form of limited liability company. Sanofi has a market cap of $120.7 billion; its shares were traded at around $45.69 with a P/E ratio of 23.50 and P/S ratio of 2.89. The dividend yield of Sanofi stocks is 4.18%. Sanofi had an annual average earnings growth of 3.90% over the past 10 years.Sanofi recently reported its third quarter 2014 financial results. The company announced that group sales were up 5.1%, to EUR8.78 billion. Business EPS increased 10.3% at CER to EUR1.47.Bill Nygren (Trades, Portfolio) owns 4,950,000 shares as of 06/30/2014, an increase of 90.38% from the previous quarter. This position accounts for 1.9% of the $13.96 billion portfolio of Oak Mark Fund. Chris Shumway (Trades, Portfolio) owns 892,762 shares as of 12/31/2010, an increase of 27.47% from the previous quarter. This position accounts for 0.39% of the $7.45 billion portfolio of Shumway Capital Partners LLC. John Hussman (Trades, Portfolio) sold out his holdings in the quarter that ended on 06/30/2014.Banco Santander SA (SAN) Reached the 52-Week Low of $8.27The prices of Banco Santander SA (SAN) shares have declined to close to the 52-week low of $8.27, which is 24.7% off the 52-week high of $10.75. Banco Santander SA is owned by 10 Gurus we are tracking. Among them, 6 have added to their positions during the past quarter. 5 reduced their positions. Banco Santander SA was established on March 21, 1857. Banco Santander Sa has a market cap of $99.14 billion; its shares were traded at around $8.27 with a P/E ratio of 14.60 and P/S ! ratio of ! 1.59. The dividend yield of Banco Santander Sa stocks is 7.61%.Vanguard Health Care Fund (Trades, Portfolio) owns 3,250,900 shares as of 09/30/2014, an increase of 27.39% from the previous quarter. This position accounts for 0.94% of the $39.18 billion portfolio of Vanguard Health Care Fund (Trades, Portfolio). Vanguard Health Care Fund (Trades, Portfolio) owns 2,551,898 shares as of 06/30/2014, an increase of 13.59% from the previous quarter. This position accounts for 0.72% of the $39.18 billion portfolio of Vanguard Health Care Fund (Trades, Portfolio).Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) Reached the 52-Week Low of $48.37The prices of Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) shares have declined to close to the 52-week low of $48.37, which is 22.8% off the 52-week high of $60.61. Rio Tinto PLC is owned by 9 Gurus we are tracking. Among them, 7 have added to their positions during the past quarter. 3 reduced their positions. Rio Tinto PLC Rio Tinto PLC is incorporated on March 30, 1962. Rio Tinto Plc has a market cap of $89.47 billion; its shares were traded at around $48.37 with a P/E ratio of 25.40 and P/S ratio of 1.82. The dividend yield of Rio Tinto Plc stocks is 4.25%.David Dreman (Trades, Portfolio) bought 840 shares in the quarter that ended on 06/30/2014, which is 0.0035% of the $1.33 billion portfolio of Dreman Value Management. Ken Fisher (Trades, Portfolio) owns 10,525 shares as of 06/30/2014, a decrease of 29.15% of from the previous quarter. This position accounts for 0.0012% of the $47.56 billion portfolio of Fisher Asset Management, LLC.Senior Officer De Mola, Eduardo Loret bought 5,000 shares of RIO stock on 06/10/2014 at the average price of 1.8. De Mola, Eduardo Loret owns at least 18,094 shares after this.Eni SpA (E) Reached the 52-Week Low of $41.02The prices of Eni SpA (E) shares have declined to close to the 52-week low of $41.02, which is 28.4% off the 52-week high of $55.70. Eni SpA is owned by 2 Gurus we are tracking. Among them, 2 have added to their positions during the past quarter. 4 reduced their positions.E! ni SpA th! e former Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi, a public law agency, established on February 10, 1953. Eni Spa has a market cap of $74.54 billion; its shares were traded at around $41.02 with a P/E ratio of 11.70 and P/S ratio of 0.52. The dividend yield of Eni Spa stocks is 5.80%. Eni Spa had an annual average earnings growth of 5.40% over the past 10 years.Charles Brandes (Trades, Portfolio) owns 2,859,795 shares as of 06/30/2014, which accounts for 1.9% of the $8.27 billion portfolio of Brandes Investment. Tom Gayner (Trades, Portfolio) sold out his holdings in the quarter that ended on 06/30/2014.Director, Senior Officer Leonard Jaroszuk, bought 41,000 shares of E stock on 09/26/2014 at the average price of 0.73. Leonard Jaroszuk, owns at least 5,148,568 shares after this. Also check out: Vanguard Health Care Fund Undervalued Stocks Vanguard Health Care Fund Top Growth Companies Vanguard Health Care Fund High Yield stocks, and Stocks that Vanguard Health Care Fund keeps buying David Dreman Undervalued Stocks David Dreman Top Growth Companies David Dreman High Yield stocks, and Stocks that David Dreman keeps buying

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Friday, November 7, 2014

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on News Feed, Messenger, & the Gray T-Shirt

SAN DIEGO, CALIF. (The Street) -- A week after being peppered by Wall Street analysts, Facebook (FB) Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg answered to a more important audience -- the 1.35 billion people who use his social network each month -- and revealed something the world has always wanted to know.

Why does Zuckerberg wear the same gray t-shirt every day? For starters, it's not the exact same shirt, he insisted with back up from COO Sheryl Sandberg, as he owns more than one, but more to the point, the Facebook CEO said he'd rather focus all of his energy on Facebook.

"I want to clear my life, so I have to make as few decisions as possible," he said.

Must Read: Are Facebook and Twitter Your Next Impulse Shopping Destination? The revelation was made during Facebook's first-ever public question-and-answer session, streamed live Thursday evening to viewers from a special Facebook event page. In the week preceding the event, Zuckerberg fielded questions through a new Facebook event page called "Q&A with Mark, " and also took audience questions from a small crowd gathered at the company's Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters. Zuckerberg addressed some of Facebook members' biggest concerns, including questions as to when businesses can expect better distribution for their stories and why Facebook is forcing its users to install Messenger as a separate mobile application. Arguably, the most material disclosure came in response to a question on information overload. Zuckerberg used the query as an opportunity to promise more controls for News Feed. Facebook, he said, is working on tools to help members "tune" their News Feed, though he didn't reveal specifics. "This is something we've heard very loud and clear from a lot of people in our community, that it's very important to you," he said. Ultimately, the company wants News Feed to be "the perfect personalized newspaper for every person in the world." As for Facebook's controversial decision to separate Messenger from the main Facebook app, Zuckerberg wasn't exactly apologetic, but he was empathetic, saying he understood that it was "a big ask" to get people to install another application. "The reason we wanted to do this is because we really believe this is a better experience," he said. "We know messaging is one of the few things that people actually do more than social networking .... Even though it was a short-term, painful thing ... we knew we could never deliver the quality of experience inside the tab of the main Facebook app." The decision, despite being incredibly unpopular, has led to Messenger being the top downloaded app on Apple's App Store and Google Play for several weeks running. Unfortunately, Zuckerberg did not offer encouraging news for businesses who operate Facebook Pages and rely on the organic reach of their status updates -- a.k.a. free distribution to fans through News Feed -- to make an impression on customers. The executive, who made certain to stress that his company provides a "free" way to communicate with customers, said that Facebook will always default to optimizing the feed for members over businesses. The average person could see up to 1,500 stories per day, but only actually gets to 100 or so, he said, which means that only the "highest quality content" will get through. Zuckerberg's question-and-answer session comes a little more than a week after Facebook reported better-than-expected third quarter revenue of $3.2 billion and adjusted earnings per share of 42 cents. The social network company, however, spooked investors by talking up its plans to spend heavily in future quarters. CFO Dave Wehner guided Wall Street with the glum revelation that total costs in 2015 would increase between 55% and 75% over 2014. Facebook shares closed up Thursday around half a percent at $75.26, but remain discounted by more than 6% from prices before the company reported third-quarter results last week. Must Read: 3 Biggest Takeaways from Facebook's Third-Quarter Earnings Report --Written by Jennifer van Grove in San Diego, Calif. >Contact by Email. Follow @jbruin

Mid-Day Market Update: Genworth Declines On Downbeat Earnings; Sierra Wireless Shares Spike Higher

Related BZSUM Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Edge Lower; DirecTV Profit Tops Estimates #PreMarket Primer: Thursday, November 6: Obama, McConnell Prepare For Rocky Road Ahead

Midway through trading Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.17 percent to 17,514.94 while the NASDAQ declined 0.08 percent to 4,617.14. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.03 percent to 2,024.24.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

In trading on Thursday, industrials shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 0.66 percent. Top gainers in the sector included Alamo Group (NYSE: ALG), up 27.5 percent, and PMFG (NASDAQ: PMFG), up 7.8 percent.

Utilities shares fell by 0.86 percent on Thursday. Top losers in the sector included The AES (NYSE: AES), down 5.7 percent, and Exterran Partners, L.P. (NASDAQ: EXLP), off 2.6 percent.

Top Headline

DirecTV (NASDAQ: DTV) reported upbeat profit for the third quarter.

The El Segundo, California-based company reported a quarterly profit of $611 million, or $1.21 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $699 million, or $1.28 per share. Excluding non-recurring items, DirecTV’s adjusted earnings came in at $1.33 per share.

Its revenue climbed 6% to $8.37 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $1.30 per share on revenue of $8.3 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Sierra Wireless (NASDAQ: SWIR) shares shot up 23.06 percent to $32.66 after the company reported upbeat Q3 results and issued a strong Q4 forecast.

Shares of Polypore International (NYSE: PPO) got a boost, shooting up 21.98 percent to $52.38 after the company reported upbeat Q3 earnings. Polypore and Panasonic signed a letter of intent for Lithium-Ion battery separator development.

Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ: WFM) shares were also up, gaining 10.40 percent to $44.15 after the company beat fourth-quarter expectations and lifted its quarterly dividend by a penny.

Equities Trading DOWN

Shares of Genworth Financial (NYSE: GNW) were down 35.89 percent to $9.02 following Wednesday's earnings miss.

Web.com Group (NASDAQ: WWWW) shares tumbled 21.63 percent to $15.87 after the company reported Q3 earnings of $0.63 per share on revenue of $143.80 million and announced a $100 million stock repurchase authorization. JP Morgan downgraded Web.com Group from Overweight to Neutral and lowered the price target from $35.00 to $20.00.

Tangoe (NASDAQ: TNGO) was down, falling 16.46 percent to $12.23 after the company reported weaker-than-expected quarterly results and issued a downbeat outlook. Analysts at Raymond James downgraded Tangoe from Strong Buy to Market Perform and removed the price target of $19.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.19 percent to $77.74, while gold traded down 0.12 percent to $1,144.30.

Silver traded down 0.19 percent Thursday to $15.41, while copper rose 0.42 percent to $3.02.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 climbed 0.21 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index dropped 0.15 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 0.73 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX rose 0.66 percent and the French CAC 40 jumped 0.46 percent while UK shares climbed 0.18 percent.

Economics

US initial jobless claims dropped 10,000 to 278,000 in the week ended November 1. However, economists were expecting claims to reach 285,000 in the week.

US productivity rose at an annual pace of 2% in the third quarter, versus economists’ expectations for a 1.5% rise. Unit-labor costs rose 0.3% in the quarter.

Data on money supply will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.

Posted-In: Earnings News Guidance Eurozone Futures Commodities M&A Econ #s

Related Articles (AES + ALG) Mid-Day Market Update: Genworth Declines On Downbeat Earnings; Sierra Wireless Shares Spike Higher Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Edge Lower; DirecTV Profit Tops Estimates

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Investing In The Smart Home Boom

The corporate race is on to dominate the rapidly expanding market for smart homes, dwellings in which appliance, heating, entertainment and security systems communicate with each and can be controlled remotely via smart phones and other digital devices.

Consumers want to save time, energy and money, and the automated home market could reach by $71 billion by 2018 — up from $33 billion in 2013, according to a recent study by Juniper Research.

Platform wars

How best to invest in the smart home boom? The real winners will be the companies that win the platform wars.

[Related -How the Chinese Slowdown Will Impact Your Investments]

Rival corporate alliances are vying to control the communication protocols and software standards to allow different home systems to talk to each other.

There are various smartphone apps out there that control a single functions such as the Google (GOOG) Nest smart thermostats, the LG (LGEPF) Smart ThinQ refrigerators and Sonos speakers.

Trouble is, these systems don't speak to the same language.

Google and Apple

To change all that, Google Nest recently purchased Revolv, a hub that let's consumers control all of their automated home devices from one master app on their smartphones.

[Related -Most Investors Will Miss This Powerful Buy Signal on Amazon's Chart]

Apple (AAPL) is preparing a new software platform dubbed HomeKit that centers around the iPhone that would work with with security systems, lights and household appliances that might enhance demand for its franchise smartphone.

Not to be outdone, Samsung is working on its Smart Home platform that would sync with its Galaxy line-up.

Other contenders include Belkin's WeMo, which is making a serious run to be the dominant player in the connected home with wireless technology that will control power and appliances.

It recently introduced Belkin's WeMo Smart LED Bulbs that will bring it into competition with other brands such as Philips Hue Personal Wireless Lighting and General Electric's (GE) Link lighting products.

Microsoft

For its, part Microsoft (MSFT) has chosen startup 10 companies, including Chai Energy, Heatworks, and Red Balloon Security, to participate in its accelerator program, in which companies receive investments and technical training to develop commercially viable strategies.

Amazon.com (AMZN) is reaching out to developers for various smart home projects and has devoted $55 million for such research at its Silicon Valley engineering center, Lab126.

There's the possibility that open standards such as SmartThings and ZigBee could prevail, which could through the market wide open.

And the telcos are in the race as well. Take the Time Warner Cable's Intelligent Home program that offers energy management and 24-hour video security services.

Much will ride on how enthusiastically consumers embrace these technologies.

A survey by research firm icontrol networks published earlier this suggested that tech enthusiasts are most likely to be interested in automated homes.

These younger consumers are most interested in family security and the convenience of automating the functions inside their homes.

Click to Enlarge

Sunday, November 2, 2014

The Surprising Trick to Becoming a Great Negotiator

For many people, negotiation is the worst part of a transaction, whether it's buying a car, getting a new job, or entering into a business partnership.

But it doesn't have to be. You can become a truly great negotiator by cultivating a single tool: the power of a positive attitude.

You might roll your eyes here -- but wait! Academic research has demonstrated that positivity is the key to great negotiations. As the paper I just hyperlinked to notes, "The single best predictor of negotiation performance is positive expectations."

So how can you develop it?

Practice, practice, practice
By practicing negotiations, you can help yourself develop the belief that you will succeed in future negotiations. This is a key part of a positive attitude: simple self-belief.

Whether it's attending a class, seeking out new negotiation scenarios, or even preparing for and "acting out" an upcoming negotiation with a trusted colleague, find ways to practice the skill. The more you do it, the less intimidating it will become -- and before you know it, you might feel like a pretty good negotiator.

Once you've developed that confidence, a positive attitude about the potential outcomes will follow.

Think of all the potential outcomes -- not just the bad ones
We can borrow another tool for cultivating positivity from behavioral psychology.

Think about a tough negotiation you had. Were you mired down thinking about how everything might go wrong? Were you worried about overpaying for the car, getting a lower salary than your colleagues, or having the wool pulled over your eyes in that big business deal?

Those situations are all a bummer, and they can be hard not to think about. However, the worst possible outcome is never the only possible outcome.

Next time you enter into a negotiation, think to yourself, what is the best possible outcome for this negotiation? What will maximize my own interests? Then think about all the other potential outcomes. Maybe you'll overpay a little for the car, or maybe they'll throw in the maintenance plan for free.

In other words, think about all the possible outcomes. This will help you come up with ideas about the different combinations of trades that you can make -- maybe there are several that would leave both parties happy at the end of the day.

Match your negotiation to your personality
Do you prefer to cooperate rather than compete, or maybe the opposite? In either case, try to favor negotiations that best suit your personality. This is an easy way to build up your confidence and your positivity.

For example, a more cooperative negotiating style might be the most appropriate way to deal with your child's baby sitter, while a competitive approach could be better suited for buying the new car. The same holds in business: A new client might call for a more cooperative style, while a supplier relationship could be best cemented with tougher tactics.

To the extent possible, use your existing personality characteristics by engaging in negotiations that fit with your character. This will not only help you build tools in accordance with your existing traits, it could help you find the confidence and optimism that will make you even better in the future.

But remember, personality isn't destiny
That being said, being a cooperative person doesn't mean you can't succeed in a competitive negotiation. Remember, the most important factor in success isn't your personality, it's your attitude.

So how can you adapt?

It's all about learning everything you can. Find a colleague with a different negotiating style and see if you can act as a shadow to observe and learn some new techniques. How does your colleague frame an opening offer? Respond to a counteroffer? Protect their self-interest?

By breaking down your colleague's style into a set of tactics and strategies, you'll be able to build a tool kit that works for different scenarios and negotiations outside of your comfort zone.

From there, practice and prepare. Try out your new tools on your friends and loved ones (with their consent, perhaps), and test different frameworks on each negotiating situation you find yourself in. Brainstorm ideas that fit more easily with your personality, and then do the same thing using your "second" toolbox.

It will require practice, but you'll find that, with time, it will become easier to find the most appropriate tools for a given negotiation.

And then, suddenly, you might notice that you've become that person everyone comes to for help -- being, as you are, a great negotiator.

Speaking of negotiation -- maybe it's time to take advantage of this little-known tax "loophole"
Recent tax increases have affected nearly every American taxpayer. But with the right planning, you can take steps to take control of your taxes and potentially even lower your tax bill. In our brand-new special report "The IRS Is Daring You to Make This Investment Now!," you'll learn about the simple strategy to take advantage of a little-known IRS rule. Don't miss out on advice that could help you cut taxes for decades to come. Click here to learn more.