AAPL

To cut your investing risk, we recommend following our three-part system: Hold mostly high-quality, dividend-paying stocks, spread your money out across the five main economic sectors (Manufacturing & Industry; Resources; Consumer; Finance; Utilities) and avoid or downplay stocks in the broker/public relations limelight.

How “in-the-limelight” stocks can hurt your portfolio

Even well-established large cap stocks (or shares of larger-sized companies) can stumble. …read more »

APPLE INC. $204 (Nasdaq symbol AAPL; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 900.7 million; Market cap: $183.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 5.0; WSSF Rating: Average) has won its court case against Psystar Corp., a Miami-based company that sells computers that run on Apple’s Mac operating system. Apple refuses to let other computer makers use its software, and the …read more »

The U.S. dollar is down 22% against the Canadian dollar so far this year. Many investors fear it will keep falling.

If you knew the U.S. dollar would keep falling, the best strategy would be to sell all of your U.S. stocks and buy them back when the dollar stabilizes. However, you don’t know where the U.S./Canada exchange rate is …read more »

APPLE INC. $186 (Nasdaq symbol AAPL; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 895.8 million; Market cap: $166.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.8; WSSF Rating: Average) requires iPhone buyers to enter a two-year service contract. Because it offers users free software updates, accounting rules force Apple to spread the value and costs of these sales over two years. This …read more »

APPLE INC. $97 (Nasdaq symbol AAPL; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 888.3 million; Market cap: $86.2 billion; WSSF Rating: Average) has dropped 40% in the past two months, as investors fear that a slowing economy will cut consumer demand for electronics.

However, Apple’s customers tend to be more loyal than other computer buyers. The strong growth of …read more »

APPLE INC. $175 (Nasdaq symbol AAPL; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 885.9 million; Market cap: $155.0 billion; WSSF Rating: Average) makes computers and consumer electronic devices.

Unlike other computer makers, Apple’s products use only the company’s own operating system (called Mac OS). That gives Apple more control over the final product. The company prefers to focus on …read more »

APPLE INC. $139 (Nasdaq symbol AAPL; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 875.5 million; Market cap: $121.7 billion; WSSF Rating: Average) now lets customers rent movies through its iTunes store. The company hopes this will fuel sales of its computers and videocapable iPods. It should also spur interest in its Apple TV device, which can now download …read more »

APPLE INC. $153 (Nasdaq symbol AAPL; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 869.6 million; Market cap: $133.0 billion; WSSF Rating: Average) plans to start selling its new iPhone in the United Kingdom on November 9, at prices similar to the U.S. version.

Although the iPhone connects to the Internet at slower speeds than comparable European devices, other features …read more »

APPLE INC. $93 (Nasdaq symbol AAPL; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 861.9 million; Market cap: $80.2 billion; WSSF Rating: Extra risk) has started shipping its new “Apple TV” set-top device, about a month behind its original schedule. This product uses wireless technology to transfer movies and other videos from a computer to a regular TV set. …read more »

In the past year, the SEC has investigated more than 120 companies over the backdating of executive stock options. The agency thinks companies improperly or illegally manipulated the exercise price on stock options they granted to their managers, to expand the manager’s profits at the expense of investors.

Only four of our recommendations are on the SEC list. Any restatements will …read more »