amazon.com Inc.
NASDAQ symbol AMZN, is the leading bookseller on the Internet, as well as a leading video and music seller. It also has numerous other store categories, including electronics, computer games, toys and tools. Through Amazon Services, the company also offers programs that let sellers market on its web sites.
The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund, $70.81, symbol XLY on New York (Units outstanding: 131.9 million; Market cap: $9.3 billion; www.spdrs.com), aims to track the S&P Consumer Discretionary Select Sector Index. The ETF’s top holdings are Walt Disney Co., Comcast, Home Depot, Amazon.com, McDonald’s, Time Warner, Twenty-First Century Fox, Nike, Lowes Companies and Starbucks. Many consumer stocks have risen in the last year, as an improving U.S. economy and employment numbers benefit firms that rely on purchases of non-essential goods. Consumer spending accounts for almost 70% of the U.S. economy....
DOREL INDUSTRIES, $40.09, symbol DII.B on Toronto, is our Stock of the Year for 2015. The company makes a range of items, including ready-to-assemble home and office furniture; juvenile products, such as car seats, strollers, high chairs, toddler beds and cribs; and recreational goods, mainly bicycles. Dorel has grown quickly over the last 10 years, with revenue doubling from $1.2 billion in 2003 to $2.4 billion in 2013 (all figures except share price in U.S. dollars). This period included two big acquisitions: France’s Ampa Group for $240 million in 2003 and Dorel’s 2004 purchase of Pacific Cycle for $310 million....
POWERSHARES QQQ ETF $101.36 (Nasdaq symbol QQQQ; buy or sell through brokers; www.invescopowershares- .com), formerly called Nasdaq 100 Trust Shares, holds stocks that represent the Nasdaq 100 Index, which consists of the 100 largest shares on the Nasdaq exchange, based on market cap.
The Nasdaq 100 Index contains shares of companies in a number of major industries, including computer hardware and software, telecommunications, retail/wholesale trade and biotechnology. It does not contain financial companies. The fund’s expenses are about 0.20% of its assets.
The index’s highest-weighted stocks are Apple, Microsoft, Amgen, Google, Cisco Systems, Intel, Amazon.com, Gilead Sciences, Comcast Corp. and Facebook.
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The Nasdaq 100 Index contains shares of companies in a number of major industries, including computer hardware and software, telecommunications, retail/wholesale trade and biotechnology. It does not contain financial companies. The fund’s expenses are about 0.20% of its assets.
The index’s highest-weighted stocks are Apple, Microsoft, Amgen, Google, Cisco Systems, Intel, Amazon.com, Gilead Sciences, Comcast Corp. and Facebook.
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Exchange traded funds (ETFs) are set up to mirror the performance of a stock market index or sub-index. They hold a more or less fixed selection of securities that represent the holdings that go into the calculation of the index or sub-index. ETFs trade on stock exchanges, just like stocks. That’s different from mutual funds, which you can only buy at the end of the day at a price that reflects the fund’s value at the close of trading. Prices of ETFs are quoted in newspaper stock tables and online. You pay brokerage commissions to buy and sell them, but their low management fees give them a cost advantage over most mutual funds....
We haven’t found any industrial REITs we recommend as buys, but some are okay to hold as part of a well-balanced portfolio. Here’s a look at the three you asked about:
- WPT Industrial REIT, $10.80, symbol WIR.U on Toronto (Units outstanding: 29.4 million; Market cap: $317.5 million; www.wptreit.com), is a Canadian REIT that owns and manages industrial properties in the U.S. Right now, WPT has 42 properties in 12 states. In all, they include 12.8 million square feet of leasable area....
When they look for stocks to buy, investors sometimes fall into a habit of focusing on those with a particularly attractive reading on a single investment measure. These readings include a low per-share ratio of price-to-earnings, a low price-to-book-value ratio, or a high dividend yield. This seems like a quick, easy way of spotting an investment bargain. However, most investment measures fall on a spectrum that ranges from suspiciously cheap to extraordinarily expensive. For example, suppose you decide you will only consider buying stocks with a per-share price-to-earnings ratio of 10.0 or less. That way, you hope to get more earnings for each dollar you invest. But the “e” or earnings in the p/e only covers earnings, or an earnings estimate, for a single year. The year your low p/e covers may coincide with a peak in the company’s earnings, for any number of reasons....
PEPSICO INC. $94 (New York symbol PEP; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 1.5 billion; Market cap: $141.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.2; Dividend yield: 2.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.pepsico.com) has launched Pepsi True, a new cola that has 30% less sugar than regular Pepsi. This new drink uses stevia, an all-natural sweetener without the calories or health drawbacks of sugar. Pepsi True will also contain no artificial sweeteners or high-fructose corn syrup. The launch follows a nine-year decline in U.S. soft drink sales as a result of increased health concerns spurred by research linking these drinks to obesity and other conditions....
L BRANDS INC. $69 (www.lb.com) reported that its sales rose 8.6% in September 2014, to $853.5 million from $786.0 million in September 2013. Overall same-store sales gained 6%. Thanks to strong demand for its Pink brand, which targets college-age women, Victoria’s Secret same-store sales rose 4% during the month, while its online and catalogue sales improved 5%....
POWERSHARES QQQ ETF $97.21 (Nasdaq symbol QQQQ; buy or sell through brokers; www.invescopowershares.com), formerly called Nasdaq 100 Trust Shares, holds stocks that represent the Nasdaq 100 Index, which consists of the 100 largest shares on the Nasdaq exchange, based on market cap.
The Nasdaq 100 Index contains shares of companies in a number of major industries, including computer hardware and software, telecommunications, retail/wholesale trade and biotechnology. It does not contain financial companies. The fund’s expenses are about 0.20% of its assets.
The index’s highest-weighted stocks are Apple, Microsoft, Qualcomm, Google, Cisco Systems, Intel, Amazon.com, Gilead Sciences, Comcast Corp. and Facebook.
...
The Nasdaq 100 Index contains shares of companies in a number of major industries, including computer hardware and software, telecommunications, retail/wholesale trade and biotechnology. It does not contain financial companies. The fund’s expenses are about 0.20% of its assets.
The index’s highest-weighted stocks are Apple, Microsoft, Qualcomm, Google, Cisco Systems, Intel, Amazon.com, Gilead Sciences, Comcast Corp. and Facebook.
...
PEPSICO INC. $94 (New York symbol PEP; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 1.5 billion; Market cap: $141.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.2; Dividend yield: 2.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.pepsico.com) has launched Pepsi True, a new cola that has 30% less sugar than regular Pepsi.
This new drink uses stevia, an all-natural sweetener without the calories or health drawbacks of sugar. Pepsi True will also contain no artificial sweeteners or high-fructose corn syrup.
The launch follows a nine-year decline in U.S. soft drink sales as a result of increased health concerns spurred by research linking these drinks to obesity and other conditions.
...
This new drink uses stevia, an all-natural sweetener without the calories or health drawbacks of sugar. Pepsi True will also contain no artificial sweeteners or high-fructose corn syrup.
The launch follows a nine-year decline in U.S. soft drink sales as a result of increased health concerns spurred by research linking these drinks to obesity and other conditions.
...