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.
POWERSHARES QQQ ETF $91.06 (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.
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AMAZON.COM $373.23 (Nasdaq symbol AMZN; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (206-266-1000; www.amazon.com; Shares outstanding: 459.3 million; Market cap: $172.4 billion; No dividends paid) has raised the price of its Amazon Prime service to $99 a year from $79....
SASOL LTD. (ADR), $52.87, symbol SSL on New York, has developed a technology to convert coal and natural gas into motor fuels. The company is now the world’s largest producer of fuel from coal at its facility in Secunda, South Africa. It also makes synthetic fuels from natural gas at plants in Qatar and Nigeria. In addition, Sasol has substantial chemical production interests and produces oil and gas in Africa. It’s also South Africa’s third-largest coal producer. In Sasol’s 2014 fiscal first half, which ended December 31, 2013, its revenue rose 23.1%, to 98.3 billion South African rand (1 rand = $0.10 U.S.) from 79.9 billion rand in the first half of fiscal 2013. Earnings per ADR rose 25.7%, to 30.19 rand from 24.01 rand. Oil prices were relatively flat, and chemical prices were higher. The U.S. dollar also rose against the South African rand, which increased the value of Sasol’s sales outside South Africa....
CISCO SYSTEMS INC. $22 (Nasdaq symbol CSCO; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 5.2 billion; Market cap: $114.4 billion; Priceto- sales ratio: 2.5; Dividend yield 3.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.cisco.com) plans to invest $1 billion over the next two years on building a new cloud-computing service, which will let businesses lease data processing and storage systems instead of buying their own.
This is a small investment for Cisco, which earned $2.5 billion, or $0.47 a share, in its latest quarter. However, cloud computing could become an important new business for Cisco, and cut its reliance on selling routers and other networking hardware.
Demand for cloud services is growing fast, as they let corporations and government agencies cut their computing costs. Moreover, these big clients are more likely to trust wellestablished suppliers like Cisco instead of other cloud competitors like Amazon.com, which cater mainly to smaller businesses. (Note— Amazon is a recommendation of Stock Pickers Digest, our newsletter that focuses on aggressive investments.)
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This is a small investment for Cisco, which earned $2.5 billion, or $0.47 a share, in its latest quarter. However, cloud computing could become an important new business for Cisco, and cut its reliance on selling routers and other networking hardware.
Demand for cloud services is growing fast, as they let corporations and government agencies cut their computing costs. Moreover, these big clients are more likely to trust wellestablished suppliers like Cisco instead of other cloud competitors like Amazon.com, which cater mainly to smaller businesses. (Note— Amazon is a recommendation of Stock Pickers Digest, our newsletter that focuses on aggressive investments.)
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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....
ETFs trade on stock exchanges, just like stocks....
AMAZON.COM $373.23 (Nasdaq symbol AMZN; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (206-266-1000; www.amazon.com; Shares outstanding: 459.3 million; Market cap: $172.4 billion; No dividends paid) has raised the price of its Amazon Prime service to $99 a year from $79. This is the first price hike since the company launched Prime in 2005.
The fee gets customers two-day shipping on all their purchases. U.S. members also get two additional free services: Amazon Instant Video, which boasts 180,000 titles, and the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, which lets users borrow a free book each month from the thousands of titles Kindle offers.
It’s uncertain how many—or if any—Prime members will cancel after the price increase. But while the company hasn’t said how many Prime subscribers it has, the number is likely over 20 million. So the hike could increase its annual revenue by up to $400 million. Amazon had revenue of $74.5 billion in 2013.
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The fee gets customers two-day shipping on all their purchases. U.S. members also get two additional free services: Amazon Instant Video, which boasts 180,000 titles, and the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, which lets users borrow a free book each month from the thousands of titles Kindle offers.
It’s uncertain how many—or if any—Prime members will cancel after the price increase. But while the company hasn’t said how many Prime subscribers it has, the number is likely over 20 million. So the hike could increase its annual revenue by up to $400 million. Amazon had revenue of $74.5 billion in 2013.
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VANGUARD GROWTH ETF $88.97 (New York symbol VUG; buy or sell through brokers) aims to track the Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP) U.S. Large Cap Growth Index, a broadly diversified index that mainly consists of stocks of large U.S. companies. The fund’s MER is just 0.10%.
The $37.5-billion Vanguard Growth ETF’s top holdings are Apple, IBM, Google, Coca-Cola, Philip Morris International, Oracle, Amazon.com, Comcast, Qualcomm and Walt Disney Co.
The fund’s breakdown by industry is as follows: Technology (25.6%), Consumer Services (20.3%), Industrials (12.1%), Financials (11.9%), Consumer Goods (10.6%), Health Care (10.0%), Oil and Gas (7.1%), Materials (1.6%), Telecommunication Services (0.4%) and Utilities (0.4%).
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The $37.5-billion Vanguard Growth ETF’s top holdings are Apple, IBM, Google, Coca-Cola, Philip Morris International, Oracle, Amazon.com, Comcast, Qualcomm and Walt Disney Co.
The fund’s breakdown by industry is as follows: Technology (25.6%), Consumer Services (20.3%), Industrials (12.1%), Financials (11.9%), Consumer Goods (10.6%), Health Care (10.0%), Oil and Gas (7.1%), Materials (1.6%), Telecommunication Services (0.4%) and Utilities (0.4%).
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Pennsylvania-based Vanguard Group is one of the world’s largest investment management companies. The group administers over $2 trillion U.S. in 170 mutual funds.
Vanguard, which went into business in 1975, offers low-fee index mutual funds. Generally speaking, Canadians can’t buy units of mutual funds that are registered in the U.S., because they aren’t registered with provincial securities commissions....
Vanguard, which went into business in 1975, offers low-fee index mutual funds. Generally speaking, Canadians can’t buy units of mutual funds that are registered in the U.S., because they aren’t registered with provincial securities commissions....
POWERSHARES QQQ ETF $85.49 (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.
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AMAZON.COM $395.96 (Nasdaq symbol AMZN; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (206-266-1000; www.amazon.com; Shares outstanding: 457.7 million; Market cap: $177.4 billion; No dividends paid) has expanded its AmazonFresh same-day grocery delivery service to San Francisco....