wall street
Pat McKeough responds to many requests from members of his Inner Circle for specific advice on buying stocks as well as questions on investment strategy and the economy. Every week, his comments and recommendations on the most intriguing questions of the past week go out to all Inner Circle members. And each week, we offer you one of the highlights from these Q&A sessions. While we reserve our buy-hold-sell advice for Inner Circle members, these excerpts provide a great deal of information and analysis on stocks we’ve covered for members of Pat’s Inner Circle....
Starbucks Corp., $75.65, symbol SBUX on Nasdaq (Shares outstanding: 753.6 million; Market cap: $56.6 billion; www.starbucks.com), is a leading seller and roaster of specialty coffee. Starbucks has 8,078 company-operated stores and 5,415 licensed outlets in 62 countries. Stores in the Americas supply 74% of its sales, followed by Europe, the Middle East and Africa (8%), and China and the Asia-Pacific region (6%). It gets a further 6% of its sales by selling coffee and other beverages through supermarkets and 3% from other activities, like online sales. In its 2013 fiscal year, which ended September 29, 2013, Starbucks’ sales rose 12.7%, to $14.9 billion from $13.3 billion in fiscal 2012. That’s partly because the company opened 1,701 new stores during the year. On a same-store basis, sales rose 7%, reflecting a 5% increase in the number of transactions and a 2% rise in selling prices....
PLEASE NOTE: One week from today, on January 17, 2014, shortly after the stock market closes at 4:00 p.m. Toronto time, we will reveal our #1 Canadian Stock of 2014 to subscribers of The Successful Investor. You can be among the first to hear about our #1 Pick for 2014. Because you’re a loyal subscriber, we are happy to offer you a bargain-priced, no-risk introduction to The Successful Investor. It gives you the first month—and the 2014 Stock of the Year—FREE. But you must act now. Click here. MCKESSON CORP., $175.44, New York symbol MCK, has raised its offer to buy Celesio AG, a German firm that distributes prescription drugs in Europe and Brazil. The new offer is 2.2% higher than the original bid. If you include Celesio’s debt, the deal is now worth $8.4 billion. To put that in context, McKesson’s market cap (or the value of all its outstanding shares) is $40.3 billion....
In next week’s Successful Investor Hotline, we’ll reveal our #1 stock pick for 2014. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to profit. CGI GROUP INC., $34.37, Toronto symbol GIB.A, fell 2.5% on Friday after the U.S. government said it would use another company to fix the Healthcare.gov website, which lets Americans shop for health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act (or Obamacare). GCI is the lead contractor for the website. Since the site began operating on October 1, 2013, visitors have had trouble logging on and evaluating the various health plans. As a result, fewer users than expected have signed up....
New technology has increased oil production from North American shale rock formations. Even so, oil prices have held up due to the improving global economy and lower output from conventional wells....
At first glance, managing an investment portfolio may resemble prize fighting, with an investor bobbing and weaving to get the upper hand on the market. But for successful investors, good portfolio management is much more like a multi-dimensional tightrope act. And you must be able to perform these 4 balancing acts to succeed.
WELLS FARGO & CO., $45.34, New York symbol WFC, has agreed to settle a lawsuit related to troubled mortgages and other loans it sold to the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) before 2009. As a result, Wells Fargo will pay $541 million. That’s equal to 10% of the $5.6 billion, or $0.99 a share, that it earned in the three months ended September 30, 2013. The bank has already set aside enough funds to cover this settlement, so the payment will not impact its future earnings....
BAXTER INTERNATIONAL INC. (New York symbol BAX; www.baxter.com) continues to expand overseas, which helps cut its exposure to the 2.3% excise tax it must pay on sales of medical devices as part of the Affordable Care Act (or Obamacare). In 2012, overseas markets supplied 58% of Baxter’s revenue....
AMERICAN EXPRESS CO. (New York symbol AXP, www.americanexpress.com) gets most of its revenue from the fees it charges merchants who accept its charge cards (which have no pre-set spending limit and must be paid in full each month) and credit cards (which can carry a balance)....
PLEASE NOTE: This is our last Hotline for 2013. Our next Hotline will go out on Friday, January 3, 2014. CONAGRA FOODS INC., $33.54, New York symbol CAG, plans to appeal a ruling by the Superior Court of California ordering it to pay into a fund to clean up homes contaminated with lead paint. Beatrice Company owned paint maker W.P. Fuller until 1967. ConAgra acquired Beatrice in 1991 and became liable for any outstanding lead-paint lawsuits against W.P. Fuller....