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Tag: WMT

Walmart Finally Making Traction

When I go to Walmart (WMT), I always see long lines of people buying tons of stuff in a huge warehouse that contains goods for eating, playing, working, and everything that you need to do whatever you want and need. It is one of the only warehouse where their are crowds of people that are coming in and out of a store. It sometimes is annoying to have to stop and go for the crowd of people because any Walmart is always so crowded with shoppers.

Also living nearby their distribution center for Walmart.com, I know that they are taking great strides to play in the internet market. They know that internet distribution is key but they also have the volume and revenue to play in a space only reserved for Amazon.com. The great thing about brick and mortar stores that have an online presence is they can offer you the option to not only order and deliver to your house but the more quick option would be the pick-up at their stores where you can get in two hours.

Remember, that they also have the Sam’s Club brand which competes with the fiercely competitive Costco warehouse stores.  In February 2016, they started accepting Visa which means they allow all major credit cards which also include American Express, Discover, and Mastercard.  This will allow a huge network of consumers to shop in their stores and it should mean more growth for the company overall.

Employee morale is higher with proper hourly wages.  They have gotten rid of the strange welcome people in their stores and replaced them with security to check the consumers purchased items before exiting the store.  I feel that they are making all the necessary steps to perform at a much more competitive market.  They recently had a beat in their quarterly earnings and I expect this to continue in the future.  With a PE that is less than 15, there is really not much downside in the stock.  It has already seen the worse and it will continue to improve going forward.

Wal-Mart is a Bargain Right Now!!

How did I miss this stock?  We get so busy looking at our portfolio that we miss these opportunities.  Well, it just so happens that I was viewing the tweets on StockTwits and someone mentioned that Facebook (FB) has taken a higher market value than Wal-Mart (WMT).  They put the stock chart side-by-side and my surprise was seeing that Wal-Mart has dropped rapidly the past 3 months.

Ok, so yes, Facebook (FB) has higher marketshare and it definitely can keep moving up higher.  However, we need to have some conservative stocks that will also continue to do well for the long-term.  Wal-Mart is the answer to the conservation stock picker that wants to get long-term growth, appreciation, and a steady winner.

Why Wal-Mart?

Fundamentals are really good for Wal-Mart.  It currently trades at a PE of 14.7.  Compare that to its competitors Target that is running at a PE of 20.5 and you have a winner of a stock that is under-valued, under-appreciated, and you know it won’t last forever.  You also get to collect a nice 2.7% dividend for owning WMT.

Can it go down further?

Of course the stock can go down further, no one holds a crystal ball.  However, I’m sure big companies like Berkshire Hathaway know what they are doing when almost 5% of their portfolio is invested in Wal-Mart.

iGo is Worth the Gamble

I apologize I have not been writing about specific stocks in a while. But I promise to make it up to you with this small-cap stock. It only have a market cap of 60 million but that means there’s much potential in it. The stock symbol is IGOI. The company is called iGo and they make chargers. Their website is at http://www.igoi.com.

Why do I like them?

The business is simple. They make chargers and sell them. You can read their SEC filings and you won’t find anything other than that.

They also hold lots of patents. One patent that has got a lot of news is their ability to protect against Vampire power. Check out www.vampirepowersucks.com to find out more information. Vampire power is the power that gets drained out of your devices even though they have already been recharged. This means you are wasting valuable electricity and paying higher prices because of your inefficient chargers.

They have received multiple accreditions from PC World and have won Best of CES 2010 for their green chargers. If you wish to invest in green energy, then you’ve found the company here. Think about if they were to get big companies to buy their iGo chargers. The companies would save a bunch on electricity and be “green friendly.” The government would be a proponent for that.

They also have tons of potential. To give you a little history, they used to be an OEM supplier of chargers. They actually produced chargers for other companies that would rebrand them and sell it. Targus was a major buyer of their products. Many of the new iGo chargers have similar functionality to the old Targus chargers, but with more functions and fixes. Their stock price plummetted in the past few years when their sales starting going down and Targus stopped buying their chargers. Management is doing the right thing – cut the middleman and sell it themselves.

iGo chargers are just beginning to get big. They already have some viral media out with their ‘Vampire Sucks’ videos. They also are giving iGo chargers away through shows like Bonnie Hunt. They need to continue to press social media and get the word out of their chargers. Being new to the game of selling their mechandise, if they can maintain high quality products and get those distributed, they will be a game changer in the recharger business. Exposure is a big thing going forward for them. I doubt many people have heard about this business.

Here’s one of the biggest things I see going forward: Wal-Mart. Yes, they have got accepted to Wal-mart after doing some small trial runs with them. Starting in the second half of 2010, you will see green chargers in Wal-Mart. iGo chargers are already being distributed to Radio Shack and Office Max. You can bet after it gets into Wal-Mart that other big good stores like Target will want to sell their brand.

Currently it sells for $1.73. It was at $1.68 earlier today. The stock was up at a high $2.06 this past month. I am sure the stock will be hitting new highs soon. There’s just so much reward to risk in this stock to pass this opportunity up. It has already broke the last resistance at $1.80. The next resistance would be at $3 which would give it almost a 50% gain from where it’s at right now.

Disclosure: I own IGOI

Markel – The Next Warren Buffett Stock

For people looking for similar to Berkshire Hathaway, I suggest Markel (MKL).  It’s like a little baby Berkshire with a stock price in the three digit range.  Actually when you purchase this stock you are purchasing Berkshire Hathaway since the fund invests heavily on good stocks.  The CEO follows the value investing theories of Warren Buffett and Benjamin Graham.  The price is at $353 which is close to the 5-year low.  At this price, it is a definite bargain and it won’t be there for too long.

What does Markel do? They are a insurance company, but they do ‘niche’ insurance. You won’t find them providing insurance for automobiles or health care. They insure weird stuff like derby horses, commercial buildings against disasters (hurricanes, earthquakes), high-value motorcycles, personal watercraft, airplanes, and even energy-producing activities.

If you look at the stock price, you’ll notice a huge drop in 2008. There was the immediate effect of wall street that brought the price down. In addition, there was the losses from insuring the buildings covered against the Hurricane Ike and Gustav. However, it still managed to pull off a profit for 2009. The secret sauce is lots of the company is just like Berkshire. They invest in other companies.

Tom Gayner, Chief Information Officer, follows the Warren Buffet philosophy. He looks for companies that are long-term profitable, high return on equity, and a low stock price. About $1.3 billion of the company consists of a large portfolio of big name stocks – 3M Co. (MMM), Abbott Laboratories (ABT), Campbell Soup Co. (CPB), The Walt Disney Co. (DIS), General Electric Co. (GE), International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), PepsiCo Inc. (PEP), The Procter & Gamble Co. (PG), and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT). Markel’s largest holding is probably Berkshire Hathaway (898 Class A shares valued at about $91 million and 31,418 Class B shares, worth about $106 million). With a market cap is $3.46 billion, their stock portfolio makes up a huge source of their business.

For those that are looking to buy long-term stocks , Markel might be a good one to look at. You don’t need to do the research of individually picking the stocks. You got a financially savvy stock guru that holds billions of dollars to back up your investment. If you read their latest 4th quarter report, Gayner states that his company is ready to handle the rising inflation. He’s prepared for the future and I’m willing to bet some money to agree with that.

Prosperous Times are Ahead for 2010

We have just went through one of the worse periods ever in the United States.  The second great depression has finally past.  It’s time to rebuild.  We, as a nation, will continue to have a flourishing economy.  Better times are ahead, and with that, we will have continued stock growth.
Commodities will continue to become a key player.  The billions of dollars being produced will bring us out of one of the worse catostrophies in US history.  It will bring on an offset of inflation that will beset to become another problem the government will have to control.  We can use this to our advantage.  Oil, gold, platinum, palladium, silver, all these commodities will become more valuable.  We’ve already hit $1200 gold.  We still haven’t seen this record growth in the ‘useful’ metals.  I’m talking the commodities that are used to build things.  As the global economy continues to grow, we will see another surge of industry booms.  This means more demand for oil, more tools to be built with silver, and platinum and palladium being used to build more cars.  Don’t listen to the naysayers.  The dollar might be strengthening now but long-term commodities will become more valuable.
As we continue to get away from fossil fuels we will become more dependent our clean resources.  Natural gas will continue to get more popular.  We have stockpiles of natural gas.  Fractural drilling has brought on one of the largest stock piles of natural gas in the US.  We saw the prices hit rock-bottom in 2009.  Watch the natural gas stocks start moving up like oil has for the past 30 years.
Alternative energy will continue to prosper.  We are in no period to which we can reverse.  It’s not the 1980s where we will hit rock-bottom oil prices.
China is growing at a record pace.  It will need more oil.  Same as other growth counties.  As we use up the last stockpiles of oil we will need to adjust our demand for fossil fuels and move into alternative energies.  Look for wind power, solar power, geothermal energy, and nuclear energy to grow.  We are still figuring out the potential of each.  With Obama money you will see continued growth in all these alternative energies.  Climate change will furthur strengthen the cause for alternative energies.  Diversify.  Put money into good companies and watch your stocks grow as the economy improves.
Healthcare will again become a growing industry.  We have a bunch of boomers that have reached retirement age.  They will need healthcare, retirement centers, and bring another influx of necessary services to help the seniors.  We also have a new government funded health plan that will bring insurance to all the people.  Demand for generics will increase.  Look for major healthcare companies to find ways to make money in these areas.
As people begin working again look for retail to increase.  Look for major stores that will produce affordable goods.  Look to supermarket stocks such as Kroger to grow.  They produce affordable perfumes and other items that people would normally go to malls to buy.  They have diversified their inventory base to produce for affordability and the frugal consumer.  They are producing for the future where we will become a saver nation. Watch for major department stores such as Wal-Mart to continue to be key leaders in their industry.
The banking industry will continue to grow once again.  Banks have finally paid off their TARP money.  Small and medium size banks will consolidate to the bigger Wells-Fargo, Citigroup, JP Morgan, and Bank of America.  Major banks will become the defining financial companies to run our country.  Agree to disagree.  The government will make sure these financial companies stay in business to keep us running.
Prospering times are ahead.  We will have our normal corrections, but let it be known, we have reached the bottom of the economic cycle.  It might take a while to start moving up, but it’s time to position your investments for the future.  Now, let’s make some money!

Let the Carnage Pan out…

Ouch!  Another eye-sore!  The dow has hit a all-time low of 6,793, something not seen since 1997.  I, for one, are starting to feel the fear in the market.  I thought things were bad enough when we broke 10,000, but at this rate, we are hitting new lows like there is no tomorrow.  There are still lots of quarterly earning reports that have to be reported, and I bet they are not looking good.  I’d hold off unless you are going to get some dividend stocks and just wait it out.

I wouldn’t expect anyone to start any purchases until the DOW hits 6,500.  It might be tomorrow, it might be in a month, but if you have the patience to wait it out, there will be good investments in the end.  Look for big names such as Wal-Mart (WMT) or Colgate (CL) to put your money in.  These names have continued to prosper during this time since their products are always necessary no matter what is happening in the economy.