Informed Investments
Welcome to Informed Investments
How informed are your investments?
When you select a security to invest in, you want to make sure you've done your research. There are hundreds of sources, from your financial advisor to your buddy with the hot stock tip. The question is, how reliable is each source and how informed are they? The bottom line is that everyone, from Warren Buffet down to the casual Journal reader, can be wrong. If this wasn't the case, and someone had the market penned down, we'd be following their advice and not worrying about doing research. But we also know that the average person with full-time job doesn't have time to do hours and hours of research. At Informed Investments, we do the research for you and provide you with the bottom line... read more »
Can the Fed prevent inflation?
Can the Federal Reserve keep inflation at bay?
So far, the Fed has used $400 billion in lending programs, combined with interest rate cuts, to help keep inflation from taking over. A highly stimulative policy such as this one is similar to the approach used in 2001 following the bursting of the tech bubble. But will it be enough this time? Can the Fed prevent inflation? ... read more »
AAPL - Apple, Inc.
Is Apple heading in the right direction?
Does Apple know what it's doing when it continues to promote its commodity brands, with exclusive licenses and deals that close off third parties to extending their product features? Or will this tactic, successful up until now, eventually bit Apple in the butt as it has for Microsoft in its battle vs the open source (Google/ Linux) community? ...
SIRF - SiRF Technology Holdings
SiRF Technology Holdings (SIRF) is a semiconductor supplier of Global Positioning System, based location technology solutions designed to provide location awareness capabilities in mobile consumer and commercial systems. SiRF Technology Holdings was way oversold as it missed earnings expectations with less-than-expected sales at Garmin and Mio... read more »
Is the Housing Market Crash Over?
The housing market bubble burst - now what?
We're all very aware of the housing market bubble and the fact that is has burst. But where do we go from here? Have we hit bottom or is there more turmoil on the way? We're facing the same problem we faced when the tech bubble burst - the economy had not encountered the same unique combination of effects before, so in other words, we're in uncharted waters. But economists are not optimistic - some are expecting the market to continue it's decline, from 25 - 40%! ... read more »
AVR - Aventine Renewable Energy Holdings
Aventine Renewable Energy Holdings (AVR) and its subsidiaries, is a producer and marketer of ethanol in the United States. Surging corn prices and supply exceeding demand are putting immense pricing pressure on the ethanol industry, and Aventine Renewable Energy Holdings is feeling the pain... read more »
CWST - Casella Waste Systems, Inc.
Casella Waste Systems (CWST) provides collection, transfer, disposal and recycling services to residential, industrial and commercial customers, in the eastern United States. The financials on Casella Waste Systems are horrendous, but they are putting lots of effort into expanding into and focusing on recycling... read more »
When Will the Housing Market Recover?
For the Housing Market, the Worst Is Still Coming
The Fed's interest rate cuts in January have lifted the stock market somewhat, and gotten investors hopes back up, but those cuts are like trying to plug a dam with chewing gum. Some key questions that investors and policy makers are asking themselves during these trying times are... read more »
SOLD - HouseValues, Inc.
HouseValues, Inc. (SOLD) provides a comprehensive set of marketing and business management tools designed to help real estate professionals increase its productivity and income. HouseValues, Inc. has put all its eggs in the troubled real estate industry basket and is losing cash rapidly. At the same time, the online search market will continue to grow, which may give SOLD its needed boost... read more »
AMD - Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is a global semiconductor company with facilities around the world. It provides processing solutions for the computing, graphics and consumer electronics markets. Vendors (IBM, Dell, Apple, etc.) do not want to see competitor Intel in a monopolizing position, and Intel will not be able to sustain the price wars. At the same time, AMD carries a large debt load and has reported four consecutive quarterly losses... read more »