Upcoming IPOs

After the Thanksgiving holiday, we are entering a slow period for IPOs. The number of new issues scheduled for the next couple weeks is small, with only a few Initial Public Offerings. Here are the companies, expected IPO date, and anticipated stock ticker symbol.

12/5/2013 Kofax Ltd. (KFX)

12/9/2013 Autohome (ATHM)

12/12/2013 CatchMark Timber Trust (CTT)

Stocks Going Ex Dividend the First Week of December

 Here is our latest update on the stock trading technique called 'Buying Dividends'. This is the process of buying stocks before the ex dividend date and selling the stock shortly after the ex date at about the same price, yet still being entitled to the dividend. This technique generally works only in bull markets, and can work in flat or choppy markets, but you need to avoid the technique during bear markets.

In order to be entitled to the dividend, you have to buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, and you can't sell the stock until after the ex date. The actual dividend may not be paid for another few weeks. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has compiled a downloadable and sortable list of the stocks going ex dividend in the near future. The list contains many dividend paying companies, many with market caps over $500 million, and yields over 2%. Here are a few examples showing the stock symbol, the ex-dividend date, and the yield.


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Waste Management	WM	12/2/2013	3.2%
Greenhill & Co.	GHL	12/2/2013	3.3%
Arrow Financial	AROW	12/2/2013	3.7%
Regal Entertainment Group	RGC	12/2/2013	4.3%
Cedar Fair L.P.	FUN	12/2/2013	5.8%

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Kronos Worldwide Inc	KRO	12/3/2013	3.7%
Weingarten Realty	WRI	12/3/2013	4.2%
NL Industries	NL	12/3/2013	4.5%

-->

Newmont Mining

NEM

12/3/2013

3.1%

The additional ex-dividend stocks can be found at wsnn.com. (If you have been to the website before, and the latest link doesn't show up, you may have to empty your cache.) If you like dividend stocks, you should check out some of the other high yield stock lists at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com or WSNN.com. Most of the lists are free.
Dividend definitions:

Declaration date: the day that the company declares that there is going to be an upcoming dividend.

Ex-dividend date: the day on which if you buy the stock, you would not be entitled to that particular dividend; or the first day on which a shareholder can sell the shares and still be entitled to the dividend.


Monthly Dividend Stock List
Record date: the day when you must be on the company's books as a shareholder to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is normally set for stocks at two business days before the record date.

Payment date: the day on which the dividend payment is actually made, which can be as long at two months after the ex date.

Book now available: Buying Dividends Revised and Expanded
Don't forget to reconfirm the ex-dividend date with the company before implementing this technique.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

How to Invest in Bitcoins Without Owning Bitcoins

Unless you never read anything on the Internet, which probably isn't you since you are reading this, you are aware of bitcoins. And you may have heard the news that bitcoins have increased in value from $208 per bitcoin a month ago to $824 today, a 296% increase. Bitcoins have received a lot of bad press over the last few months, with the most visible relating to the Silk Road website. Silk Road was an online marketplace for virtually anything, legal or illegal, until it was shut down by the FBI. However, bitcoins are also accepted by many legitimate businesses.

What is a Bitcoin?

If you have heard of them but not exactly sure of what a bitcoin is, I will try to explain it in simple terms. Bitcoins are a peer-to-peer digital currency without any government backing or control. Fewer bitcoins are being created and there is only a limited number of bitcoins that can ever be created. Bitcoins are stored in electronic repositories called wallets, either online, on computers, tablets, or smartphones. Occasionally, they are stored on paper with the appropriate codes.

 Bitcoin Investment Trust

So let's say that you want to invest (or should I say speculate) in bitcoins. Let's look at a few possible ways. First, there is the Bitcoin Investment Trust, which was founded this year in New York, and promoted by SecondMarket, Inc. and Alternative Currency Asset Management, LLC, according to filings with the SEC. This is a Form D Rule 506(c) filing with sales of pooled investment trust units which began September 25 of this year. Minimum investment was set at $25,000 with total amount sold of $2,542,818. According to the Form D, the total offering amount and total remaining to be sold is indefinite. You should be aware that this offering is only available to accredited investors.

Try Bitcoin, Inc.

Then there is Try Bitcoin, Inc. based in Stanford, California. This is a Form D Rule 506(b) offering. According to the company's website, "TryBTC is a tutorial website crafted to show the world how to use Bitcoin in under 5 minutes." The company was formed as a Delaware corporation in January 29, 2013 and the initial offering was September 19. It is interesting to note that the filing shows that the minimum investment was zero, and the total amount offered and sold was only $25,000. Since the total amount remaining to be sold is zero, then there appears to be no opportunity for investors. By the way, the Winklevoss twins are listed as donors.

Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust

In case you don't remember the Winklevoss twins, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss were the ones that claimed rights to Facebook (FB). They have filed a Form S-1 with the SEC for an IPO called the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust.

According to the SEC filing:

"The Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust (Trust) will issue Winklevoss Bitcoin Shares (Shares) which represent units of fractional undivided beneficial interest in and ownership of the Trust. Math-Based Asset Services LLC is the sponsor of the Trust (Sponsor) and [TRUSTEE] is the trustee and custodian of the Trust (Trustee) using proprietary and patent-pending technology to administer the Trust. The Trust intends to issue additional Shares on a continuous basis. The Shares may be purchased from the Trust only in one or more blocks of [50,000] Shares (a block of [50,000] Shares is called a Basket). The Trust will issue Shares in Baskets to certain authorized participants (Authorized Participants) on an ongoing basis as described in “Plan of Distribution.” Baskets will be offered continuously at the net asset value (NAV) for [50,000] Shares on the day that an order to create a Basket is accepted by the Trustee. The Trust will not issue fractions of a Basket."

Now if you are looking for regular publicly traded companies involved in bitcoins, there are a couple you might want to look at that accept bitcoins for their business. However, at least for now, the fact that they accept bitcoins in addition to regular currency would affect only a small portion of their revenues. According to Forbes both Baidu (BIDU) and IAC/InterActiveCorp's (IACI) OkCupid accept bitcoins.

Baidu

Baidu is the large Chinese languarge Internet search engine that trades at 33 times trailing earnings and four times future earnings. The company recently reported a 1.3% increase in quarterly earnings year over year on a 42.3% rise in revenues.

IAC/InterActiveCorp

IAC, in addition to owning the OkCupid dating site, also owns Ask.com, About.com, Dictionary.com, Match.com, Chemistry.com, OurTime.com, BlackPeopleMeet.com, and CitiGrid. The stock trades at 20 times earnings and 13 times forward earnings. The earnings spiked an incredible 138.1%, on a 5.9% boost in revenues. The company even pays a 1.7% dividend yield.

If you want a free list of stocks that have some connection to bitcoins, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, which includes information on when the company was founded, the PE ratio, the forward PE ratio, and other data. Because of the increasing popularity of bitcoins and the extensive press that bitcoins are receiving, there are sure to be additional bitcoin investment offerings in the future. By the way, if you like this article, please share.

Disclosure: Author didn't own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

Just published! Get the book Stock Market Trivia

4 More Ways to Buy Stocks Without Paying a Commission

For investors and traders, every little bit of savings can help.  If you can save on commissions, it can certainly help your bottom line. This year, I've incurred $4,000 in commissions, and some of my trader friends have paid out many times that amount during the last eleven months.

A couple months ago, I featured an article called How to Buy Stocks Without Paying a Commission: 10 Different Ways. So I've decided to follow up with a few more ideas.

1. Free Commission Offers for a Period of Time

Some online stock brokerage firms offer free trading for a certain period. For example, if you fund a new account with OptionsHouse, you can trade free for 60 days.

Also, you can trade commission free for 30 days at tradeMONSTER.

2. Commission Free on Certain Types of Investments

An example is Firstrade, which allows commission free trading on ten types of ETFs.

3. Free Commission Offers for a Certain Number of Trades

 In addition to the time frame offer, you have an alternative offer of 100 commission-free trades when you open and fund an account at OptionsHouse.

4. Absolutely and Totally Commission Free Investing

There is a relatively new online broker called Loyal3, which charges no fees or commissions, whatsoever. The minimum investment? Only $10, unless it's for an IPO (which they do participate in), then the minimum account balance is $350.  How does the company make this offer? They use the affinity factor and according to the company's website, they provide services to the companies for which they offer transactions in, in return the companies cover the commissions and expenses.

This is primarily designed for the small investor who invests for the long term. The issues to be aware of are the maximum investments, limited to $2500 a month per stock, and the fact that trades are only placed once a day on a batched order process basis. In addition, they only currently handle transactions 53 stocks.

3 Top Debt Free Stocks with Lots of Cash and Paying Dividends

Up until recently, one of the popular features of Apple (AAPL) was the fact that the company had no debt and a huge amount of cash. And over the last five years, the stock has appreciated from around $80 a share to over $500 a share. I've always been a big fan of debt free stocks, and when I find one with lots of cash, that's just icing on the cake. If it also pays a dividend, that's an added bonus. 

Do You want to Position Your Portfolio with this Stock?

Fortunately, there are several companies that fall into the category of high cash, debt free, and dividend paying. Garmin (GRMN) may be getting a boost to sales this quarter from gift buying for the holidays. I could use a Garmin GPS as a gift (I can't believe I still don't have a GPS). This company has no debt and has $1.2 billion in the bank, amounting to $6.16 per share in cash. The company recently reported earnings and although sales were down slightly, quarterly earnings spiked 33.7% year over year. On top of that, the company provides its shareholders with a fairly generous dividend yield of 3.8%. The stock trades at 19 times forward earnings. The company's growth is coming from the marine and aviation market. In addition, it is expanding into the fitness arena.

The Stock that Brings Water to Crops

Another high cash company is Lindsay Corporation (LNN) which is a maker and marketer of agricultural irrigation systems. This debt free company has over $151 million in cash, which works out to $11.80 in cash per share. Earnings for the quarter ending August 31 were up 19.1% on a 16.1% rise in revenues. The stock has a forward price to earnings ratio of 15 and yields 0.7%. The company boosted its dividend payout by 13% back in August.

The Stock that Gets It There

Expeditors International of Washington (EXPT) is also debt free and has $1.41 billion in cash. This company, which is involved in air and ocean freight logistics services, trades at 22 times forward earnings, with earnings growth for the latest quarter of 4.4% on a slight increase in revenues. Current yield is 1.4%, with its semi-annual payout being increased by 7% in May earlier this year. Cash per share amounts to $6.86.

More High Cash, No Debt, Dividend Paying Stocks

If you like these kinds of stocks with high cash, no debt, and paying dividends, you can get a free list at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com. The list shows the market cap, the forward PE, the cash per share, the yield, and the cash per share versus the price, and more. And if you like this article, please share.

Disclosure: Author didn't own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

Stocks Going Ex Dividend the Fifth Week of November

 Here is our latest update on the stock trading technique called 'Buying Dividends'. This is the process of buying stocks before the ex dividend date and selling the stock shortly after the ex date at about the same price, yet still being entitled to the dividend. This technique generally works only in bull markets, and can work in flat or choppy markets, but you need to avoid the technique during bear markets.

In order to be entitled to the dividend, you have to buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, and you can't sell the stock until after the ex date. The actual dividend may not be paid for another few weeks. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has compiled a downloadable and sortable list of the stocks going ex dividend in the near future. The list contains many dividend paying companies, many with market caps over $500 million, and yields over 2%. Here are a few examples showing the stock symbol, the ex-dividend date, and the yield.

 

Arch Coal	ACI	11/26/13	3.0%
Brookfield Properties	BPO	11/26/13	3.0%
NextEra Energy, Inc.	NEE	11/26/13	3.1%
Meredith Corp	MDP	11/26/13	3.2%
Trustmark Corp	TRMK	11/26/13	3.3%
Lexmark International Inc.	LXK	11/26/13	3.4%

The additional ex-dividend stocks can be found at wsnn.com. (If you have been to the website before, and the latest link doesn't show up, you may have to empty your cache.) If you like dividend stocks, you should check out some of the other high yield stock lists at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com or WSNN.com. Most of the lists are free.
Dividend definitions:

Declaration date: the day that the company declares that there is going to be an upcoming dividend.

Ex-dividend date: the day on which if you buy the stock, you would not be entitled to that particular dividend; or the first day on which a shareholder can sell the shares and still be entitled to the dividend.


Monthly Dividend Stock List
Record date: the day when you must be on the company's books as a shareholder to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is normally set for stocks at two business days before the record date.

Payment date: the day on which the dividend payment is actually made, which can be as long at two months after the ex date.

Book now available: Buying Dividends Revised and Expanded
Don't forget to reconfirm the ex-dividend date with the company before implementing this technique.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

Why Higher Interest Rates will be Great for Apple

Investors don't like high interest rates. Investors worry that rising rates will make it more difficult to buy homes, make it more costly for businesses to get and repay loans, and the possibility of higher rates on credit cards. Many companies may suffer with higher interest rates, such as banks, REITs and utilities, and other companies with debt.

However, there is one stock that will do extremely well with higher interest rates. The  company is Apple Inc. (AAPL). The reasons are simple.

The company has a huge amount of cash. It has so much cash, that it is practically money market fund. Apple has $14.259 billion in cash and cash equivalents plus $26.287 billion in short term marketable securities, for a total of $40.546 billion.

Apple's weighted average interest rate is 1.03% for the current year. Of the funds in cash and short term, total income based on the weighted rate is about $417.6 million.

If the rate increased to 3% and assuming the balance remains the same, interest income on this cash would rise to $1.216 billion, and at 5%, the income would be $2.027 billion, or $1.13 in additional earnings per share. This additional interest is a pre-tax number, but based on the company’s effective tax rate, additional earnings would be $0.83 a share.

Plus there are no other expenses related to the production of this income. No salaries, no capital expenditures of manufacturing equipment, no purchase of raw materials, no office space rental, no nothing; maybe just the salary of someone to keep track of the investments. This is an easy way to make money.

If you want to check out the lists of stocks which have a lot of cash, which can be downloaded, sorted, and updated, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Disclosure: Author owns AAPL.

By Stockerblog.com

The Wine Shortage: Will It Help or Hurt Wine Stocks?

Did you know there is a wine shortage? It is being caused by the increasing number of wine drinkers, and the amount of wine being consumed by those wine drinkers is also increasing. In addition, the amount of wine being produced is dropping, according to Morgan Stanley Research, which showed that wine production hasn't been this low since before 1970.

One reason why the consumption of wine is increasing is that studies have shown that red wine may help prevent memory loss and even reduce the effects of Alzheimer's, primarily due to the resveratrol.  Red wine has a much higher concentration of resveratrolthan other foods such as peanuts and tomatoes.

There are several companies involved in the production and distribution of wine, but in many cases, it is not the major portion of the business. Based on the free list at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, there are over twelve stocks that distribute wine and liquor, two of which pay dividends. Constellation Brands (STZ) makes and sells table wines, sparkling wines and dessert wines. The stock trades at 7.4 times trailing earnings and 18.5 times forward earnings.

The largest is Diageo (DEO), an alcoholic beverage distributor which sells many brands of wine, including Blossom Hill, Sterling Vineyards, Beaulieu Vineyard, Navarro Correas, Acacia Vineyard, Rosenblum Cellars, Piat d'Or, Chalone Vineyard, and Santa Rita. The stock trades at 20.5 times trailing earnings and 17.2 times forward earnings. It pays a yield of 2.9%. 

Brown-Forman Corporation (BF-B) is another liquor distributor which is most known for its Jack Daniel's and Southern Comfort brands. It also sells the Sonoma-Cutrer brand of wines and Corbel California Champaigne. The stock has a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 23.1, an improvement over its trailing PE of 27.6. The company pays a yield of 1.6%. Latest quarterly earnings were down 2.7% on 3% increase in revenues.

If you are looking for more of a pure play, there is a small one based in Turner, Oregon, Willamette Valley Vineyards Inc. (WVVI), which produces and markets Syrah, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, The Griffin, and Viognier under the Griffin Creek label. The stock trades at 18 times earnings, but does not pay a dividend.


Treasury Wine Estates (TSRYF), which tradee at 71.8 times earnings, distributes the Berenger and Chateau St. Jean wine brands.
For a free list of all the other wine and liquor stocks, which can be downloaded, sorted and updated, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

Upcoming IPOs This Week

Here is a list of initial public offerings for the upcoming week. The dates are subject to change.

TREVENA INC	TRVN	11/20/2013
NAVIGATOR HOLDINGS LTD.	NVGS	11/21/2013
VITAL THERAPIES INC	VTL	11/21/2013
TETRALOGIC PHARMACEUTICALS	TLOG	11/21/2013
GFI SOFTWARE S.A.	GFIS	11/22/2013
APPAREL HOLDING CORP.	VNCE	11/22/2013
OXFORD IMMUNOTEC GLOBAL PLC	OXFD	11/22/2013
500.COM LTD	WBAI	11/22/2013
SUNGY MOBILE LTD	GOMO	11/22/2013

Stock Market Trivia

Stock Market Trivia, the book

 

Who said Wall Street is boring? Do you know what stock traded for over a million dollars a share, the stock that had the symbol OO, or the stock that paid $8.5 million for a domain name? The new book, Stock Market Trivia: With a Special Section on the Weird Words of Wall Street, has this information and much, much more unusual and fascinating financial trivia.

Stock Market Trivia is a compilation of numerous interesting facts about Wall Street and the stock market. The book covers everything from the billionaire investor who was in a soap opera to Baby Bonds to Wall Street jokes to the stock that owned a rock that had George Washington's graffiti on it. It is an easy read that would make a great gift for the person who invests in the stock market. The book, published by CreateSpace, retails for $19.95.

The book is available from Amazon 

"It is refreshingly different and very fun. It is very much out of the ordinary and unusual."
~ Ken Fisher, CEO of Fisher Investments, Forbes columnist, billionaire, and author 

Top 'Selling' Free Kindle Books for Investors and Traders

Here is a list of the top 'selling' investing and business related free Kindle books. Actually, they aren't the top selling because they are free so aren't really being sold. These are the top downloaded free books.


Finding Your Inner Etsy-preneur: Unleashing Your Personality, Dreams, Skills, Strengths, Creativity and Encouragement Styles for a Flourishing Business

Entrepreneur's quotation-book

The Natural Gas Revolution: At the Pivot of the World's Energy Future

Cheated - Understanding the economic crisis and impending financial collapse

The Railroad Builders; a chronicle of the welding of the states

Just published! Get the book Stock Market Trivia

Who Else Wants a Wall Street Gift?

Have you started doing your holiday shopping yet? If not, maybe you just can't find the right gift. Here is a list of items that would make great gifts for your investor/trader friends and relatives (and you).


Bull and Bear Silver Plated Paperweights


Bull and Bear Cufflinks


Bronzed Eternal Struggle Of Bull & Bear


Wall Street Bull and Bear Key Chain


Brass Bull & Bear Marble Bookends, Chrome Plated


Wall Street in Blu-ray


Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps Blu-ray


Stock Market Trivia


Photography Poster of the New York Stock Exchange trading floor on Wall Street


Framed Art Poster of the New York Stock Exchange 1911


New York Stock Exchange in Wall Street Peel and Stick Wall Decal