Tag Archives: Longtime Fool

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

3 Reasons Microsoft's Smart Watch Will Fail

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By Rick Munarriz, The Motley Fool

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Is the world ready for a Microsoft smart watch? Sources tell The Wall Street Journal that the software giant is starting to stockpile supplies to enter the market. 

Wearable computing is clearly going to be a big market. Google‘s push for high-tech glasses is the real deal. This isn’t science fiction anymore. Samsung last month announced that it’s exploring a smart watch. Then we have Apple , which has long been rumored to be working on a smart watch.

Given Apple‘s anemic share price, the hunger for innovation could make an Apple smart watch hit the market sooner rather than later. The surprising success for Kickstarter-funded Pebble naturally has Google and Samsung thinking of ways to exploit their successful platforms through Bluetooth-enabled watches.

Microsoft is in for an uphill battle. In this video, Rick Munarriz explores the three reasons Microsoft’s smart watch is likely to be a dud if it ever does hit the market. 

Smart watches are just the latest scuffle in the battle between the tech giants. It’s incredible to think just how much of our digital and technological lives are almost entirely shaped and molded by just a handful of companies. Find out “Who Will Win the War Between the 5 Biggest Tech Stocks” in The Motley Fool’s latest free report, which details the knock-down, drag-out battle being waged among the five kings of tech. Click here to keep reading.

The article 3 Reasons Microsoft’s Smart Watch Will Fail originally appeared on Fool.com.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends and owns shares of Apple, Google, and Microsoft. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don’t all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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From: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/04/15/3-reasons-microsofts-smart-watch-will-fail/

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Google Is Smarter Than You May Think

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By Rick Munarriz, The Motley Fool

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It’s official: Google‘s going to roll out its high-speed Internet and television service in Austin, Texas. After days of swirling rumors, the search giant confirmed Austin as its second expansion market on Tuesday.

Google Fiber is already giving residents of Kansas City (both Kansas and Missouri) Internet access at speeds that are 100 times faster than traditional broadband for just $70 a month. Gigabit Internet paired up with a high-def TV for just $120 is a steal — and that’s the point.

Google doesn’t want to compete against Comcast and smaller cable and satellite television providers. Big G just wants to keep them honest. In this video, Rick Munarriz details why Google is doing the right thing by taking on Comcast and other service providers, even if a model that’s high in initial capital outlays and low in subsequent profit margins is foreign to Google’s flagship other online pursuits. 

Google needs to keep the Internet fast and affordable, and Rick says it may as well lead by example.

The battle of titans isn’t just taking place when it comes to access. It’s incredible to think just how much of our digital and technological lives are almost entirely shaped and molded by just a handful of companies. Find out “Who Will Win the War Between the 5 Biggest Tech Stocks” in The Motley Fool’s latest free report, which details the knock-down, drag-out battle being waged among the five kings of tech. Click here to keep reading.

The article Google Is Smarter Than You May Think originally appeared on Fool.com.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends and owns shares of Google. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don’t all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

BlackBerry Performs a Mercy Killing

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By Rick Munarriz, The Motley Fool

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BlackBerry is doing the inevitable, informing its subscribers that it will be shutting down its BBM Music service in two months.

The late 2011 rollout of BBM Music was flawed from the start.

The price was right at $5 a month. The model itself is what was ridiculous. Subscribers would have access to just 50 songs — swapping out as many as half of them in any given month. The social gimmick was that then they would be able to access the 50 profile songs of anyone that they befriend on the platform. That was supposed to be the viral elixir, but we had seen how well social sharing went for Microsoft‘s Zune.

Those of us writing about BBM Music at the time of its launch in November 2011 were unimpressed.

It’s not the first time that a company took too long to realize that it failed in social music.

Microsoft overstayed its welcome with the Zune portable media player that was never able to make a dent in Apple‘s leading iPod platform. Apple itself wasn’t successful. Its own attempt at making music social — Ping — was mercifully scrapped from iTunes two years after its launch.

Smartphone companies need to let the social companies worry about social. Halfhearted attempts aren’t going to make their platforms any stickier.

The writing was on the wall for BBM Music when it wasn’t part of the BlackBerry 10 mobile operating system upgrade. However, it was doomed from the start. Who would pay $5 a month and have to jump through social hoops when Spotify has millions of songs streaming on demand for just twice as much? If money was a factor, Pandora is the popular choice of ad-based free streaming. There were 67.7 million active monthly users of Pandora’s service in February, and it’s one of the music apps that have been ported to BB10.

If there’s any surprise here, it’s that BlackBerry is eliminating its proprietary music service at a time when popular streaming apps including Spotify and Rdio haven’t decided if BB10 will grow enough to justify developing a BlackBerry app. There’s a void to fill, but it doesn’t look good when even BlackBerry is throwing in the towel.

Tech is a battlefield
It’s incredible to think just how much of our digital and technological lives are almost entirely shaped and molded by just a handful of companies. Find out “Who Will Win the War Between the 5 Biggest Tech Stocks?” in The Motley Fool’s latest free report, which details the knock-down, drag-out battle being waged by the five kings of tech. Click here to keep reading.

The article BlackBerry Performs a Mercy Killing originally appeared on Fool.com.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Apple. The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple and Microsoft. Try any of our Foolish …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

True Religion Doesn't Have to Sell Itself Cheap

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By Rick Aristotle Munarriz, The Motley Fool

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True Religion is having a crisis of faith this week.

Its founding CEO was shown the door earlier this week, and now there’s chatter that buyout talks for the maker of high-end casual wear have stalled. The stock is trading lower today on news that bidders are dropping out as True Religion‘s price has moved higher on the takeover speculation.

Shares of the apparel retailer popped in October after revealing that it was exploring strategic alternatives. It seemed to be a bad sign that the CEO would step down at this juncture, before a buyout was announced. Jeff Lubell was the company’s chairman, CEO, and creative director. If an acquisition was coming soon, one would think that the buyer would want Lubell around to make sure that the baton was being handed over as smoothly as possible.

However, some viewed Lubell as an obstacle, according to the New York Post. Founding CEOs can be stubborn that way. Sources are telling the paper that the three potential private equity firm buyers have dropped out of the bidding process.

True Religion‘s stock was at $21 before the retailer went public, and a buyout at $30 may have been realistic; but the fear here is that a buyer would have to pay more than that now that the stock has been floating in the mid-$20s.

Let’s buck fashion. Let’s play contrarian here. Let’s argue that True Religion doesn’t need a buyout.

It may have been shameless to be a company selling a pair of jeans for $300 during the darkest recessionary stretches, but the economy’s humming along now. Smaller rival Joe’s Jeans hit a two-year high last week. Analysts see True Religion growing revenue and earnings at healthy rates in the high single digits, and Joe’s Jeans is growing even faster.

Last month’s monster report by Michael Kors was an eye opener. The retailer of upscale handbags and accessories stunned the market with a 70% spike in revenue on an amazing 41% spike in comps.

Investors shouldn’t necessarily expect this kind of burst at True Religion, or even the faster growing Joe’s Jeans; but consumer appetite for luxury goods is moving in the right direction.

Let the bidders drop out of True Religion. If the economy continues to inch in the right direction, Mr. Market will be willing to pay more.

You may not dress like you’re rich, but it’s not too late to be rich
Are you part of the 99%? The Motley Fool’s new free report highlights three less-than-luxurious stocks the 1% may be overlooking. Just click here to read it now.

The article True Religion Doesn’t Have to Sell Itself Cheap originally appeared on Fool.com.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

If FedEx and Cintas Fail, We Fail

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By Rick Aristotle Munarriz, The Motley Fool

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Yesterday was a bad day for FedEx and Cintas investors, but it may also mean that we’re all having a bad day.

Shares of FedEx and Cintas tumbled 7% and 4%, respectively, yesterday. The speedy package delivery giant and the leading supplier of workplace uniforms slipped after posting disappointing quarterly reports.

FedEx and Cintas both reported quarterly profits that were short of Wall Street expectations. You have to go back more than three years to find the last time that Cintas fell short on the bottom line. The economy was in pretty sad shape at the time. FedEx investors don’t need to jog their memories as hard. The overnight delivery specialist with the world’s largest air express fleet also missed three months ago.

FedEx saw its revenue climb 4%, but profitability plummeted 31%. Cintas saw revenue climb 6%, but operating profits and net income declined.

FedEx blames the bottom-line shortfall on its international customers switching to slower and cheaper options where the margins aren’t as beefy as its premium-priced next-day service. Cintas blames its margin crunch on higher costs — material cost amortization and increasing its route capacity — on a boost in new customers.

The news would appear to be mixed. FedEx customers are shaving costs. Cintas has to invest in its growth. However, both companies ultimately offered uninspiring near-term outlooks.

Did you really think that Cintas’ stock would fall if its only problem was a deluge of new leads?

Investors shouldn’t dismiss these two disappointing reports. FedEx and Cintas are bellwethers. They are smart ways to gauge the pulse of corporate America.

Cintas serves more than 900,000 businesses with more than just freshly pressed uniforms. FedEx offers a more global snapshot, but it’s still at the mercy of the economy. If FedEx and Cintas aren’t doing so well, it’s a pretty safe bet that the economic recovery isn’t humming along as well as we’ve been led to believe.

Read up on three globetrotters worth buying
Profiting from our increasingly global economy can be as easy as investing in your own backyard. The Motley Fool’s free report “3 American Companies Set to Dominate the World” shows you how. Click here to get your free copy before it’s gone.

The article If FedEx and Cintas Fail, We Fail originally appeared on Fool.com.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Cintas and FedEx. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

(function(c,a){window.mixpanel=a;var b,d,h,e;b=c.createElement(“script”);
…read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Can a Nike Exec Save This Apple Bandwagon Hopper?

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By Rick Munarriz, Munarriz, The Motley Fool

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Skullcandy has had its skull rocked as a public company, but a new CEO may help turn things around.

Shares of the maker of in-ear headphones opened 8% higher after announcing that Nike‘s Hoby Darling will be taking the helm at Skullcandy.

Darling was the GM of the Nike+ Digital Sport division of the footwear giant. Fueled by the success of last year’s NikeFuel fitness-monitoring bracelet and the growing popularity of NikeFuel, the division was growing in importance at Nike. Did Darling feel that the Skullcandy opportunity was too good to pass up? Did Darling feel that the digital sport market was about to get more competitive now that even the new Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone packs a pedometer and proprietary tracking applications?

Skullcandy will be a challenge.

The stock has been a colossal disappointment since going public at $20 two summers ago, and things got worse earlier this month when Skullcandy offered dreadful guidance after a mixed quarterly report. Skullcandy’s eyeing a loss on a 30% drop in revenue in the current quarter. Analysts were eyeing a profitable showing with double-digit top-line growth.

The prospects were brighter before Skullcandy went public. The success of Apple — first with the iPod and then with the iPhone — was a massive opportunity for Skullcandy. Apple’s stock earbuds were dull. Skullcandy’s alternatives were edgy and colorful.

The market for third-party accessory makers riding on Apple’s coattails have been snipped short lately. Skullcandy and Zagg have fallen into the single digits.

Unlike Skullcandy, Zagg’s still growing sales of its invisibleSHIELD protective covers and Bluetooth tablet keyboards. However, both companies failed to live up to Wall Street‘s profit targets during the holiday quarter.

It will be interesting to see if Darling parlays some of his work at Nike+ Digital Spot into making Skullcandy accessories more interactive. Skullcandy’s roots came in the field of extreme sports, and one can argue that folks buying earbuds are on the move.

However, it’s probably Darling’s earlier work with Nike’s affiliate brands and at youth-oriented retailer Volcom before that which ultimately got him the gig. There’s a fading brand to bring back to life, and Darling has his work cut out for him.

A thinking investor’s play on mobile
The mobile revolution is still in its infancy, but with so many different companies it can be daunting to know how to profit in the space. Fortunately, The Motley Fool has released a free report on mobile named “The Next Trillion-Dollar Revolution” that tells you how. The report describes why this seismic shift will dwarf any other technology revolution seen before it and also names the company at the forefront of the trend. You can access this report today by clicking here — it’s free.

The article Can a Nike Exec Save This Apple Bandwagon Hopper? originally appeared on Fool.com.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz has …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Clear Channel Attacks Pandora and Sirius XM

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By Rick Munarriz, Munarriz, The Motley Fool

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No one expects the disrupted to be the disruptor, but that appears to be what terrestrial radio giant CC Media Holdings is doing today.

The parent company behind Clear Channel — the AM and FM behemoth with 850 radio stations attracting 243 million monthly listeners across the country — is beefing up its iHeartRadio app. The new “Add-Ins” feature lets listeners of iHeartRadio’s customized stations to have brief local news, weather, and traffic updates inserted into their streams.

In other words, you now have as many as three fewer reasons to listen to Clear Channel‘s traditional radio stations if you have smartphone in a newer model car that allows Bluetooth streaming.

It’s a bold move for Clear Channel to get ahead of the trend, even if it means sacrificing its own business.

Burning your own boats is naturally a risky strategy, but it has paid off handsomely before. Netflix was the country’s leading DVD rental service, but that didn’t stop the video service from taking the lead in the video-streaming revolution. It’s a strategy that played out nicely for Netflix. It now has more than 33 million streaming subscribers worldwide, and that’s roughly twice as many DVD-based accounts it had at its peak.

Clear Channel‘s move will raise the stakes for Pandora and Spotify, and it may even challenge Sirius XM Radio for dashboard attention.

After all, Sirius XM and its lesser terrestrial radio peers have always had the advantage of live content. Sirius XM benefits from its ability to pay up for premium programming, setting itself apart from the music-centric Pandora and Spotify. Traditional radio stations offer local perspectives that even Sirius XM can’t match outside of its traffic and weather updates for major metropolitan markets.

The beauty of Add-Ins is that it’s not just about the local perspective. Add-Ins can be customized. Someone that isn’t hitting the open road may not care about traffic. Someone staying in may not care about the weather. Not everyone cares about local news headlines.

Yes, iHeartRadio’s biggest threat will be to Clear Channel‘s own stations, but the move ultimately raises the bar for Pandora, as the rival free ad-supported service and other premium digital platforms will need to offer more to remain competitive.

Despite Sirius XM being one of the market‘s biggest winners since bottoming out three years ago, there is still some healthy upside to be had if things go right for it — and plenty of room for it to fall if things don’t. Read all about Sirius in our brand new premium report. To get started, just click here now.

The article Clear Channel Attacks Pandora and Sirius XM originally appeared on Fool.com.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz owns shares of Netflix. The Motley Fool recommends Netflix. The Motley Fool owns shares of Netflix. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

5 of Last Week's Biggest Winners

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By Rick Aristotle Munarriz, The Motley Fool

Filed under:

What’s better than momentum? Mo’ momentum. Let’s take a closer look at five of this past week’s biggest scorchers.

Company

March 1

Weekly Gain

MediciNova

$2.98

47%

MGIC Investment

$3.79

39%

MAKO Surgical

$12.75

13%

Ebix

$15.33

11%

Celldex Therapeutics

$10.26

10%

Source: Barron’s.

MediciNova was an obscure and thinly traded biotech until it received fast-track designation from the FDA for its potentially promising treatment of methamphetamine dependence on Monday afternoon. Fast-track status grants an expedited review of drugs that aim to fill an unmet medical niche or treat serious diseases. More than 6 million shares of MediciNova traded hands last week, and it’s safe to say that MediciNova will no longer be an obscure and thinly traded biotech.

MGIC soared despite posting its 10th consecutive quarterly loss on Thursday. The shares rallied on the market’s confidence that home prices in general will continue to firm, making MGIC’s dicey portfolio less risky.

MAKO Surgical also bounced back after posting uninspiring financial results. They key here is that the company behind the RIO surgical robotics system for orthopedic procedures had already braced investors for the soft showing back in January. The market was won over by its cautious outlook for the year ahead, calling for the sale of 45 to 48 new RIO systems and roughly 13,500 to 14,500 procedures for all of 2013.

Ebix bounced back after getting pounded a week earlier on a bearish report. The insurance industry software specialist rose after hosting a conference call to refute the negative claims in the report. Ebix was apparently convincing enough to gain back a good chunk of the prior week’s hit.

Celldex Therapeutics has now come through with three straight weeks featuring gains of 8% or better. Momentum continues to build after revealing positive test results for its treatment for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation last month.

Keep the good vibes coming
To learn more about a few ETFs that have great promise for delivering profits to shareholders in a recovering global economy, check out The Motley Fool’s special free report “3 ETFs Set to Soar During the Recovery.” Just click here to access it now.

The article 5 of Last Week’s Biggest Winners originally appeared on Fool.com.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Aristotle Munarriz owns shares of Ebix. The Motley Fool recommends Ebix and MAKO Surgical and owns shares of Ebix. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don’t all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

(function(c,a){window.mixpanel=a;var b,d,h,e;b=c.createElement(“script”);
b.type=”text/javascript”;b.async=!0;b.src=(“https:”===c.location.protocol?”https:”:”http:”)+
…read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

5 of Last Week's Biggest Losers

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By Rick Aristotle Munarriz, The Motley Fool

Filed under:

There’s never a shortage of losers in the stock market. Let’s take a closer look at five of this past week’s biggest sinkers.

Company

March 1

Weekly Loss

ITT Educational Services

$13.56

27%

Molycorp

$5.81

12%

GT Advanced Technologies

$2.78

12%

Halcon Resources

$6.65

11%

OmniVision Technologies

$13.61

11%

Source: Barron’s.

ITT Educational Services flunked out after revealing that the SEC was investigating the accounting behind the post-secondary educator’s private loans program.

Molycorp fell after delaying its fourth-quarter report to March 15. The rare-earth minerals producer still isn’t sure how big a goodwill hit it will be taking related to last year’s purchase of Neo Material Technologies.

Facing challenging conditions in the solar and LED markets, GT Advanced Technologies posted disappointing quarterly results. GT served up a loss as revenue declined sequentially and year over year. The company booked just $6.5 million in new orders during the quarter.

Global Hunter Securities downgraded Halcon Resources this week, even after the Bakken oil producer delivered strong growth in its latest quarter.

Finally we have OmniVision posting a double-digit percentage decline after offering a weak near-term outlook. OmniVision is the top dog in image sensors at a time when high-quality cameras are a priority in smartphones and tablets. The problem for OmniVision is that this has become a very competitive market.

Sure, OmniVision far exceeded Wall Street expectations on the top and bottom line during the holiday quarter, but its near-term outlook isn’t as rosy. OmniVision’s guidance for earning $0.14 to $0.29 a share on no more than $330 million in revenue is well short of the $0.32 profit on $371.5 million in revenue that analysts were forecasting.

Ready for a bounce
If you owned some of these losers, how about following the smart money into winners?

Profiting from our increasingly global economy can be as easy as investing in your own backyard. The Motley Fool’s free report “3 American Companies Set to Dominate the World” shows you how. Click here to get your free copy before it’s gone.

The article 5 of Last Week’s Biggest Losers originally appeared on Fool.com.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Aristotle Munarriz and The Motley Fool have no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don’t all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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b.type=”text/javascript”;b.async=!0;b.src=(“https:”===c.location.protocol?”https:”:”http:”)+
‘//cdn.mxpnl.com/libs/mixpanel-2.2.min.js’;d=c.getElementsByTagName(“script”)[0];
d.parentNode.insertBefore(b,d);a._i=[];a.init=function(b,c,f){function d(a,b){
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f=”mixpanel”;g.people=g.people||[];h=[‘disable’,’track’,’track_pageview’,’track_links’,
…read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

The Fool Looks Ahead

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By Rick Aristotle Munarriz, The Motley Fool

Filed under:

There’s never a dull week on Wall Street. Let’s go over some of the news that will shape the week to come.

Monday
The market kicks off with Stratasys reporting its latest quarterly results on Monday morning. Three-dimensional printing was one of last year’s hottest sectors, though investors have been steering clear of the few publicly traded companies specializing in additive manufacturing lately. Stratasys will give the niche a shot to get back into the limelight.

Tuesday
Qihoo 360 reports on Tuesday. The company behind China‘s leading Internet browser and provider of online security solutions turned heads this summer when it rolled out its own search engine. The market was even more surprised when Qihoo 360’s engine began to take off at the expense of the market darling.

Qihoo 360 will shed some light on its progress on Tuesday, and that will hopefully include some insight into the recent legal fisticuffs in the world’s largest Internet market.

Wednesday
Alon USA Parnters checks in on Wednesday. The limited partnership has the capacity to crank out 70,000 barrels a day through a crude oil refinery in Texas. Analysts are holding out for a juicy quarterly profit of $1.83 a unit when it reports.

Thursday
Skullcandy is one of the bigger disappointments of the 2011 IPO class. The maker of headphones and other audio accessories went public at $20, and it has since shed more than two thirds of its value. We’ll see on Thursday whether it can turn in an amplified performance with its latest report.

Friday
Friday is usually quiet on the earnings front, but that won’t stop Arcos Dorados from reporting. The Argentina-based company is the world’s largest Mickey D’s franchisee, serving up Big Macs and fries across Latin America and the Caribbean. If there’s every any doubt where its burger-flipping allegiance lies, just know that the corporate moniker means “Golden Arches” in Spanish.

Beyond next week
The Motley Fool’s chief investment officer has selected his No. 1 stock for the next year. Find out which stock it is in the brand-new free report: “The Motley Fool’s Top Stock for 2013.” Just click here to access the report and find out the name of this under-the-radar company.

The article The Fool Looks Ahead originally appeared on Fool.com.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Aristotle Munarriz has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Stratasys and owns shares of Arcos Dorados, Skullcandy, and Stratasys. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don’t all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

A Fool Looks Back

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By Rick Aristotle Munarriz, The Motley Fool

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Best Buy‘s founder may be ready to move on. The consumer-electronics retailer briefly delayed this week’s quarterly earnings announcement to give Richard Schulze time to formalize any potential takeover bid. It failed to materialize by Thursday night’s deadline.

“The company received no such offer and will continue to focus on its transformation for the benefit of all of its stakeholders,” reads the release.

It’s just as well. The last thing Schulze wanted was to have to chase the company higher, and Friday morning’s quarterly report was refreshingly better than expected. Revenue inched marginally higher on positive stateside store comps. Analysts were banking on a top-line decline. Profitability took a hit, but the retailer earned more than Wall Street was forecasting.

The future will be challenging. How can it not for a gadgetry and media retailer in an era where digital delivery is becoming the new normal? However, the report was enough to give new CEO Hubert Joly enough ammo to keep working on his turnaround plan.

Briefly in the news
And now let’s take a quick look at some of the other stories that shaped our week.

  • 3D Systems saw its quarterly revenue surge 45%, though organic growth clocked in at a more modest 19%. The 3-D printing revolution lives on.
  • Hecla Mining closed out a successful 2012, during which it was able to produce 6.4 million ounces of silver. Hecla’s targeting 8 million to 9 million ounces of silver this year.
  • Income investors have been piling into business development companies for their chunky yields, and Ares Capital didn’t disappoint this week. This BDC, with investments in 152 financing-hungry entities, posted better-than-expected bottom-line results. That will keep the distributions coming.

Get smart about tomorrow, too
With so many of the big finance firms getting bad press these days, you may be inclined to stay away from the sector entirely, but that could be a huge mistake. In fact, some of the best opportunities over the next few years can be found there, including one small, under-the-radar bank. It’s been called one of The Stocks Only the Smartest Investors Are Buying. You can learn about it, and more, in The Motley Fool’s exclusive free report. Just click here to keep reading.

The article A Fool Looks Back originally appeared on Fool.com.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Aristotle Munarriz has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends, owns shares of, and has options on 3D Systems. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don’t all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

…read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance