wall street

IBM $128.48 (New York symbol IBM; Shares outstanding: 1.3 billion; Market cap: $166.9 billion; SI Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 1.7%) has formed a long-term alliance with Broadridge Financial Services (New York symbol BR). Broadridge is a recommendation of two of our affiliated publications, Wall Street Stock Forecaster and Stock Pickers Digest. Broadridge serves the investment industry in three main areas: investor communications, securities processing and transaction clearing. Broadridge mails and processes 70% of all proxy votes. Under the terms of the 10-year deal, IBM will assume responsibility for all of Broadridge’s computer networks. IBM’s expertise will help Broadridge make its transaction-processing services more efficient. This alliance will also make it easier for Broadridge to develop new services....

Every year, you gain an additional $5,000 of contribution room in your tax free savings account (TFSA). That means you have $10,000 of contribution room in 2010, rising to $15,000 in 2011, $20,000 in 2012 and so on. You also get to carry forward unused contribution room from previous years. Tax-free savings accounts let you earn investment income — including interest, dividends and capital gains — tax free. But unlike registered retirement savings plans (RRSPs), contributions to tax free savings accounts are not tax deductible. However, withdrawals from a TFSA are not taxed. Here are three tips you can use to make sure you’re getting the most profit — and tax benefits —from your tax free savings account:...

APPLE INC., $235.97, Nasdaq symbol AAPL, rose 2% this week on media reports that the company will soon launch a new version of its hugely popular iPhone. Aside from being thinner than the current iPhone, the new model will likely have more memory and a number of new features. Apple may also be developing an iPhone that runs on code division multiple access (CDMA) cellphone networks. Right now, the iPhone uses global system for mobile communications (GSM) technology. More cellphone providers use GSM than CDMA. However, some large U.S. carriers, including Verizon (see below) and T-Mobile, use CDMA networks. A CDMA iPhone would let Apple expand its market share by making the iPhone available to these carriers....

It always pays to be skeptical when a company claims to have a have a revolutionary new invention or technology. That’s because, when you invest based on company marketing claims, you risk becoming too focused on the innovation and failing to look at the stock’s fundamentals, such as p/e ratios and other measures of value and risk. Sound-bite-based investing also ignores (or glosses over) a company’s industry position and the conditions within its particular market.

Many investors ignored the risks of solar-power stocks

...

Calloway Real Estate Investment Trust, $21.56, symbol CWT.UN on Toronto (Units outstanding: 85.2 million; Market cap: $1.8 billion), owns, develops and operates big-box outdoor malls across Canada. These malls feature large stores that are usually part of a chain. In all, Calloway owns 125 shopping centres and two office buildings, with 22.8 million square feet of leasable area. Its malls are located in the suburbs of larger cities, and have lots of room for parking and additional building. The trust gets 58% of its revenue from Ontario, 14% from Quebec, 10% from B.C., 5% from Manitoba, 4% from Saskatchewan, 3% from Newfoundland, 3% from Alberta, 1% from Nova Scotia, 1% from New Brunswick and 1% from Prince Edward Island....

Some U.S. bank stocks have reported improved profits lately. And many banks have repaid some or all of the loans they received under the U.S. government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) in 2008. That frees these bank stocks from government control, and improves their long-term prospects. However, the U.S. banking sector remains highly volatile. As well, the industry could face greater regulation and higher costs if the Obama administration moves ahead with its reform plans. For example, Senate Banking Chairman Christopher Dodd recently released a bill that proposes to tax the largest bank stocks and financial institutions. The proceeds would be used to support a $50-billion U.S. fund aimed at dealing with failing banks and financial firms in the future....

On Sunday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Obama administration’s massive overhaul of the U.S. health-care system, nicknamed Obamacare. On Tuesday, the president signed the bill into law. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office puts the cost of Obamacare at about $940 billion over ten years. The administration plans to cover this cost with a new tax on high-income earners, Medicare savings and new taxes on health-care companies, including major U.S. drug stocks. However, a number of health-care firms, including drug stocks and medical-equipment suppliers, stand to benefit from Obamacare. That’s mainly because it will extend coverage to over 32 million Americans who are currently uninsured....

These days, we see lots of ads for books, seminars and software that purport to show you how you can consistently make returns of 50% to 100% (or more) yearly in forex investments. Some even go so far as to say you can do it in a few minutes a day. Forex investments involve dealing in foreign currency futures and options. Futures and options on foreign-exchange investments (or anything else) offer a great deal of leverage. If you could get that leverage to consistently work for you, you could make the kinds of returns on your initial stake that promoters of forex investments claim. However, leverage works two ways: It magnifies your profits when the market moves in your favour, but it magnifies your losses just as effectively when the market moves against you. That’s because the amount you owe on your investment loan stays the same, so every dollar you lose comes out of your equity....

Hidden value is one of the key factors we look for when we choose stocks to recommend in our newsletters and investment services, including Wall Street Stock Forecaster, our newsletter that covers the U.S. stock market. By hidden value, we mean valuable assets that are not getting the attention they deserve from investors. When a company’s assets are wholly or partially hidden, the stock trades for less than it’s really worth, so you get to buy at a bargain price.

High research spending could mean big gains lie ahead for technology stocks

...

QUAKER CHEMICAL CORP., $25.19, New York symbol KWR, makes lubricants and specialty chemicals that protect machinery from corrosion. The stock rose 26% this week after the company reported 2009 earnings that were much higher than expected. Quaker earned $16.2 million in 2009. That’s up 45.7% from $11.1 million the previous year. Earnings per share rose 40.0%, to $1.47 from $1.05, on more shares outstanding. Both years included costs related to Quaker’s restructuring plan, which included a 10% cut to the company’s workforce. As well, Quaker’s former chief executive officer retired in October 2008 and entered into a three-year consulting contract with the company. That cost Quaker $3.5 million in 2008 and $2.4 million in 2009. It will pay a further $1.3 million this year....