Filed under: International markets, Deals, International Business Machines (IBM), EMC Corp (EMC), Technology, Israel

With rumors in the Israeli press about IBM (NYSE: IBM) making a potential acquisition, what’s most interesting is the company that it is reported to be buying. As reported earlier in the week by Melly Alazraki, International Business Machines Corp. is in advanced talks to buy Israeli start-up XIV Information Systems for $300 million to $350 million, according to Israel’s financial daily Globes.

What makes the start-up XIV interesting is the financing, or lack thereof, that the company received. The usual model for Israeli high-tech companies is to raise millions and millions of dollars from venture capital firms. The company was founded by former EMC (NYSE: EMC) executive Moshe Yanai. Yanai basically self-funded the company with $3 million in 2002. Now he is going to cash in for $350 million. How many of us can say that we have had that kind of investment return over the last five years?

The question is whether this will be a new model of funding Israeli startups. Will entrepreneurs try to either put in a lot of their own money or turn to angels to help fund them, or will they continue to travel the traditional venture capital route instead? Only time will tell.

Aaron Katsman is the lead Portfolio Manager and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. and Senior Editor of IsraelNewsletter.com. Disclosure: Writer has no position long or short in any stock mentioned as of 1/1/08.

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Filed under: Law, Competitive strategy, QUALCOMM Inc (QCOM), Broadcom Corp’A’ (BRCM)

A federal judge has told Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) that it can no longer make chips based on three patents held by rival Broadcom (NASDAQ: BRCM). The company can make use of the intellectual property for another year, giving its some time to reach resolution with its rival.

Qualcomm will almost certainly have to pay royalties if it wants to keep marketing chips based on the Broadcom patents.

According to The Wall Street Journal, “The chips are used in two kinds of third-generation cellular networks — one called EV-DO, which Qualcomm developed, and another called WCDMA that is supported by a broader array of chip makers.”

Reuters quotes Broadcom’s general counsel as saying, “Broadcom should not have to compete against companies that use Broadcom’s own patented technology against us, and this injunction puts a stop to Qualcomm doing just that.”

It now appears that Qualcomm’s strategy of leaning on customers and rivals has come to an end.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

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Filed under: Google (GOOG), Apple Inc (AAPL), Cisco Systems (CSCO), Time Warner (TWX), Home Depot (HD), China, Indices, Halliburton (HAL), Altria Group (MO), NYSE Euronext (NYX), Goldman Sachs Group (GS), Duke Energy (DUK), Dow Chemical (DOW), Top Picks 2007, Valero Energy (VLO), PetroChina Co Ltd ADR (PTR), Huaneng Power Intl ADS (HNP), Level 3 Communications (LVLT), Chasing Value, Oil, S and P 500, DJIA, Stocks to Buy, Rite Aid Corp (RAD), Savient Pharmaceuticals (SVNT)

This is the final review of the seven stocks I picked twelve months ago, and the time has passed quickly. This covers the period from December 28 2006 through December 27 2007. It has been a stock pickers year for sure given that the S&P 500 index moved up only modestly. Having come to this conclusion, I must admit my seven picks were all over the place. Three beat the indices, two performed sorely and two were basically break even except for the healthy dividends.

If the stock you happened to pick was Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), which I included as sort of a “stalking horse” because of its popularity, it beat all else as a portfolio of one. As a matter of fact GOOG beat my picks by a whopping 930% meaning it bested my returns with very little effort with a gain 9.3 times the average of my seven stock picks.

The average of my seven picks fell dramatically in the last two months and I have gone from wonderboy with about a 22% YTD return, to waterboy with about 5.5% return — UGH! I rode the Chinese market up and down, among the macro events.

Luckily for me I did not stop picking stocks last December. My actual average of all recommendations in 2007 is notably higher, see: Chasing Value: My best and worst picks of 2007.

Highlighting the fact that this year was suited to the stock pickers, James Cramer’s average based on his nine picks beat all the indices by a healthy margin. Cramer, as you might imagine, had the most volatile picks. The two best Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Savient Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: SVNT) did spectacularly well. Apple was appreciating most of the year while Savient saved Cramers tush by doubling in the last month due to approval of one of their drug therapies.

Continue reading Chasing Value: 7 for 2007 review: Props to Cramer for his 2007 picks

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Filed under: Bad news, Conventions and conferences, General Electric (GE), Private equity, Blackstone Group L.P (BX)

The Blackstone (NYSE: BX) and General Electric (NYSE: GE) buyout of mortgage and vehicle leasing company PHH fell apart. The reason given was lack of available financing. In truth, PHH (NYSE: PHH) is in a business that is currently as far out of favor on Wall Street as an industry can get.

According to Bloomberg, “GE agreed on March 15 to buy PHH, sell the mortgage division to New York-based Blackstone and keep the vehicle-leasing unit. The acquisition price was $31.50 a share.” PHH shares currently trade below $18.

The company’s third-quarter results were reason enough to cause a buyer to walk. Revenue fell almost 10% to $484 million, and the net loss increased over five-fold to $38 million.

No one should be surprised if the shares go below $15 and stay there for some time.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

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2007 was a watershed year for housing. The market took a major turn during the summer but much of the cracks in the housing juggernaut were seen earlier in the year. As the media is blasting the negative news on housing it is hard to believe that only a few months ago, it was playing the housing appreciation song. You have to wonder how the Hope Now Alliance is going to play out in the next few months since we are now officially entering the stage where some of the mortgage rate freezes will show results in the real world. This year it was hard for the housing market not to impact someone you know or someone in your neighborhood, maybe even you. I am reminded by a quote by Walter Bagehot:

“You may talk of the tyranny of Nero and Tiberius; but the real tyranny is the tyranny of your next-door neighbour.”

The real mess was right in our own backyard. In this post, we will go through 2007 to recount how the housing bubble pop unfolded over the year.

January - March

In January reports were coming out that approximately $1 trillion in loans were going to reset in 2007. The numbers didn’t exactly play out as predicted but without a doubt, they had the same impact. The subprime disaster was being predicted in 2005 and without a doubt, it was already expected that 2007 would be a definite turning point for the market. It was also reported that foreclosures jumped by an astounding 40 percent statewide. I love the spin that was added to this during January. As DataQuick reports:

“While foreclosure properties tugged property values down by almost 10 percent in some areas nine years ago, the effect on today’s market is negligible, DataQuick reported.”

Yes, the effect was negligible on the market. Not only that, notice of defaults surged statewide by 145 percent. This was a crystal ball into the housing future yet you see how the media was able to put a positive spin on this. It reminds me of those Geico commercials. Your house just lost $50,000 but you just saved a lot of money on your car insurance.

All leading indicators were pointing toward a housing decline but the prices told us a very different story. Southern California was up 3.3 percent on a year over year basis and Los Angeles hit a median price of $522,000. For those of you that think we were subtle about predicting a decline in 2007, maybe this title will tell you were we stood in January of 2007:

Time for Mortal Kombat Housing! The Subprime Market will face a Fatality in 2007!

Okay, maybe my forte isn’t subtlety. You have to give me some points for connecting subprime loans to Mortal Kombat! You would think that the mainstream media would get it but look at this L.A. Times article:

Remember `normal’?; Housing market shows signs of stabilizing in 2007, forecasters say.

If you think that is enough to entice would be buyers, you’ll love a quote from the article:

Prices: Last year home appreciation slowed down. The median price of all new and existing single-family homes and condos in the Southland increased only 5.7% from the previous year, compared with the 16.8% gain of 2005, according to DataQuick. The upside for 2007 is that prices overall should hold that current level of growth through the end of the year, [John Karevoll] said. The median price of a home in Southern California in December was $495,000, up 3.3% from the year before. The median price in Los Angeles County was $522,000, a record.

Aside from the mainstream media thinking August was the turning point in the housing market, subprime lenders were facing major cracks in February:

Did you Feel That? Housing Just Hit the Third Rail.

What Did I Tell You? If a Butterfly Flutters in Brazil The Subprime Market Will Collapse. Dow Down 415+ Points.

These were the first major jitters in the housing market. New Century Financial, one of the largest players in the subprime market started facing market scrutiny over their loans. The first few times, the market recovered rather quickly but when the market fell 415 points in one day, I think many analysts realized that subprime had a much larger impact than simply subprime loans and that it could impact other market sectors. Orange County went down $42,000 in one month according to median housing reports but the media was still utterly silent even though they normally used median price as a market sentiment indicator. You would think that the mainstream media would be cautious about issuing optimistic housing reports but here is another headline grabber from the New York Times:

Housing Market Heats Up Again in New York City

In March, it was clear that subprime was not going to be a bump in the road as one of the major lenders that took a hit in February, got hammered in March:

NEW Century Down 70% After it Announces it is Under Investigation by Federal Regulators

In fact, at a certain point in the month it looked like this company with a market cap of $92 million had loans outstanding of $8 billion. Now that is incredible leverage. People started wondering how could it be possible to have so many bad loans floating out there. Who in the world was buying these toxic products? The mortgage market started impacting the overall stock market and the mainstream media started picking up some of the warning signals as the San Francisco Chronicle Reported:

Mortgage market trouble generates stock sell-off: Some fear loan woes will spread through the whole economy

The first quarter was winding down and the housing market was giving off clear warning signs of where it would be heading.

April - June

The 2^nd quarter started out with New Century filing for bankruptcy. During this time we started examining the issue of manias and panics and also the codependence of this nation on housing was becoming apparent:

America’s Codependence on Housing: 30% of Job Growth Contributed by Real Estate. 5 Point Plan on how the Bubble Will Burst.

Home sales posted their worst drop in 18 years and this is the time we started setting records not for price gains, but for market drops. During this period we also reported on an incredible story of a farmer making $14,000 a year being able to get a loan for $720,000. You would think stories like this would put the breaks on housing expansion but take a look at what Countrywide did in May:

Report: Countrywide to Offer 50-Year Subprime Loans

Reuters, reporting from a Wall Street conference, says Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo unveiled plans for new reverse mortgage products and 50-year-subprime loans, and also said Countrywide plans to add 2,000 sales jobs this year.

Even approaching mid-year with all the emerging negative housing news, many in the industry were sending mixed signals. The fact that we even put the idea of 50 year mortgages on the table was absolutely absurd. At this point we examined the reality that housing was pushed in a boiler room fashion:

Why Did the Housing Phenomenon Spread? 3 Key Reasons for a Social Epidemic: Housing Connectors; Mavens; and Salespeople.

During this time we were hearing about the coming summer jump in housing and how things were going to improve. It was hard to combat the fact that Southern California was still positive on a year over year basis. In fact in June it was reported that the median Los Angeles price was $550,000 and Orange County hit $635,000. If housing was going down it certainly wasn’t happening in Southern California. Even though sales were dropping by 30+ percent, prices were still holding strong which the media was still reporting:

Housing numbers are down, but no concern of slump.

With headlines like that, why even worry about housing!

July – September

During the much anticipated summer months, not only did housing not rebound but all hell broke out. First, we realized that sales were not going to rebound and the credit worries started permeating throughout the entire economy. We reported that housing had hit its Minsky Moment:

Housing Minsky Moment: 3 Factors. Prime Contagion, Record Foreclosures, and Publicity.

The negative press was starting to get louder and louder and declining sales prices were now starting to reflect in bottom line prices. We also did a piece on the foreclosure story showing how this issue is bigger than subprime; even people making $100,000+ a year can face foreclosure. During the summer major players in the mortgage industry started teetering with bankruptcy as the credit crunch hit full swing:

Countrywide teeters on the brink of bankruptcy, The bubble has burst – have you prepared for the after-life?

Fed awakes to another bubble bursting

Suddenly fear took over the market and the Fed had to step in dropping liquidity from helicopters but it didn’t do much since this was an issue of solvency, not liquidity. How is it going to help the cash strapped buyer that needs $10,000 to pay off high interest credit cards or make a resetting mortgage payment? The only way to solve this is to turn on the printing presses and increase actual cold hard cash but the Fed didn’t want to spur further inflation and instead of a bursting bubble, we would have a full on crash. This was their predicament. They increased credit trying to stimulate banks but what did this matter since the consumer was completely strapped and the risk of many of these mortgages were showing up in the asset backed markets. The secondary mortgage market completely collapsed and now, you actually had to verify you had enough money to purchase a home without going with a zero down banana republic mortgage.

Special Edition: Real Country of Genius: Today we Salute you America. Mortgage Implosions from Sea to Shining Sea.

We would all benefit from taking a look at a letter written by a banking president during the Great Depression:

Lessons From the Great Depression: A Letter from a former Banking President Discussing the Bubble.

Summer came and went and it was clear that the housing market did not get a desperately needed boost during the summer months. At this point the media was in full swing sounding like most housing bubble blogs:

Who’s To Blame For Housing Bubble? - Forbes

Desperate Realtors Applaud Bailout – Motley Fool

The Housing Bubble Pops: The Nation: Fix Requires Helping Sub-Prime Buyers, Action From Federal Reserve – CBS News

During this juncture we started hearing the words of “bailout” uttered and everyone seemed to have an idea of how to stop the housing market from tanking. Unfortunately none of these voices stepped in when housing prices were appreciating 20+ percent on a year over year basis.

October – December

In the fourth quarter we realized that the Fed was not going to sit on the sidelines:

The Credit Conundrum: The New Loan Shark is the Fed.

This meltdown was too big and simple liquidity injections was not enough. They were going to need to attack this mortgage debacle from multiple angles. This is when we also have the Hope Now Alliance coming about and anonymous discount window borrowing. Market prices were tanking and up apparently becomes down at this point. Countrywide announces over a billion in losses and the stock soars briefly on the word that the forth quarter will be positive for the company. Incredibly, people were still asking for nothing down mortgages during this time!

There were two major turning points here as well:

The Short Sale Report: Volume 1 – The True Barometer of the Housing Market

The Housing Wave of the Future: Two Main Mortgage Tsunamis.

A thing called short sales started hitting the California market in large numbers. For over a decade this once obscure real estate selling method was coming back in full force. Here, sellers try to get the lender to approve a sale for less than the current mortgage balance. Not the optimal way of selling but better in some cases than a full on foreclosure. Next, we realize that subprime is only one piece of the puzzle and we have another demon looking at us straight in the face, Alt-A and option ARM mortgages. In November Southern California hit a big psychological wall:

Heart of Foreclosure Darkness: Every County in Southern California is now Negative Year over Year.

The early in the year predictions were now completely out the window. Housing was in complete survival mode. We also talked about the mortgage birth story and how once local lending suddenly became this complicated alphabet soup of letters and in some sort of poetic justice, in some instances no one really knew who the true note holder was of a home’s mortgage. During these few months the Governator mentioned that he developed a plan to work with four major lenders but it turns out that this plan was already on the books and wouldn’t change much.

As we hit December, it was very clear that this mortgage debacle would potentially lead the nation into the dread “R” word. A recession was now openly discussed in the mainstream media and we also realized that NINJA loans were going the way of the Dodo. As the year closed out, Southern California hit an incredible 10 percent median price year over year decline:

Sexy Bottom: The Naked Truth of the 10 Percent Southern California Housing Drop.

We have to be careful not to jump the gun like housing pundits since estimating housing prices on the downside is like trying to guess how many jelly beans are in a jar:

The Quest for Accurate Housing Prices: Three Counties and Multiple Prices.

And so 2007 ends with a big bang. We have our first national year over year median home price decline since the Great Depression and major hold outs such as California have broken and have given way to massive price declines. The first half of the year was full of hope that this was only a minor setback in perpetual housing gains but after the summer credit crunch, it was clear that this had the potential to bring down the global economy.

What are your predictions for 2008?

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Filed under: Major movement, Forecasts, Other issues, Google (GOOG), Apple Inc (AAPL), Research in Motion (RIMM), Presidential elections, S and P 500, DJIA, Best Stocks for 2008

With Wall Street analysts forecasting where the market will be 12 months from now, I figured I would take a crack as well. As an overview, I expect market volatility to continue throughout the first quarter and mid-way through the second as well. Then it will be clear to all that the U.S. never was in a recession, we will start hearing companies talk about how well their businesses are doing, and analysts will re-work their estimates higher. The second half of the year should be very strong for markets with the potential caveat of some kind of unexpected result in the upcoming U.S. presidential elections.

I think that the Dow will end the year at 14,350. The S&P 500 will be at 1,630, a nice gain of over 11%. The Nasdaq is the interesting index to predict. In ‘07, the Nasdaq finished up a drop under 10%, but much of that gain came from just three stocks, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), and Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM). With the exception of RIMM, I have a hard time believing that Apple and Google will repeat their ‘07 performances. That being said, I do think that we will have more strength in the broader market so look for the Nasdaq to be at 3,025 in a year.

Aaron Katsman is the lead Portfolio Manager and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. and Senior Editor of IsraelNewsletter.com. Disclosure: Writer has no position long or short in any stock mentioned as of 1/1/08.

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Filed under: Google (GOOG), Apple Inc (AAPL), Cisco Systems (CSCO), Time Warner (TWX), Home Depot (HD), China, Indices, Halliburton (HAL), Altria Group (MO), NYSE Euronext (NYX), Goldman Sachs Group (GS), Duke Energy (DUK), Dow Chemical (DOW), Top Picks 2007, Valero Energy (VLO), PetroChina Co Ltd ADR (PTR), Huaneng Power Intl ADS (HNP), Level 3 Communications (LVLT), Chasing Value, Oil, S and P 500, DJIA, Stocks to Buy, Rite Aid Corp (RAD), Savient Pharmaceuticals (SVNT)

This is the final review of the seven stocks I picked twelve months ago, and the time has passed quickly. This covers the period from December 28 2006 through December 27 2007. It has been a stock pickers year for sure given that the S&P 500 index moved up only modestly. Having come to this conclusion, I must admit my seven picks were all over the place. Three beat the indices, two performed sorely and two were basically break even except for the healthy dividends.

If the stock you happened to pick was Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), which I included as sort of a “stalking horse” because of its popularity, it beat all else as a portfolio of one. As a matter of fact GOOG beat my picks by a whopping 930% meaning it bested my returns with very little effort with a gain 9.3 times the average of my seven stock picks.

The average of my seven picks fell dramatically in the last two months and I have gone from wonderboy with about a 22% YTD return, to waterboy with about 5.5% return — UGH! I rode the Chinese market up and down, among the macro events.

Luckily for me I did not stop picking stocks last December. My actual average of all recommendations in 2007 is much higher, see: Chasing Value: My best and worst picks of 2007.

Highlighting the fact that this year was suited to the stock pickers, James Cramer’s average based on his nine picks beat all the indices by a healthy margin. Cramer, as you might imagine, had the most volatile picks. The two best Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Savient Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: SVNT) did spectacularly well. Apple was appreciating most of the year while Savient saved Cramers tush by doubling in the last month due to approval of one of their drug therapies.

During November the Dow Jones Industrial Average was within striking distance of its all-time high of above 14,000, reached late last July. However, December proved treacherous and it was just not meant to be. One of my colleagues had predicted the DJIA would reach 15,000 this year — but alas, that proved overly optimistic to say the least with oil, gold, and food going up drastically while the dollar, housing, and financials got smashed!

Summary of Results:

• Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), has seen trading in a $50 dollar range over the last month or so, but ended on a strong note in December. It is still a favorite on Wall Street with few investors pausing to take a breath. GOOG closed at $707.74, for a solid +51.49% gain through the 12 months of the year for the top spot.
• Jim Cramer’s average return on his nine picks was 19.44% over the 12 months, beating the Standard & Poor’s index, the DJIA, and the NASDAQ. Adding the dividend portion of 0.66%, brings Cramer’s gain to +20.1%. Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was his best pick all year. The new products and software launches, combined with the current products assured that 2007 was another one for Apple’s record books.
• None of the indices made a strong showing this year, with the NASDAQ having the best of it and S&P barely waking up. The overall average of the three indices was +6.95%. Adding the the dividend yield of 1.8% brings the total gain to +8.75%, a notable return on investment, beating out most fixed income securities.
• My picks went down considerably in December, and throughout the full year only made a paltry +2.74% gain. Adding the dividend portion of 2.89% brings the total return to +5.63%, narrowly beating the S&P but falling behind the indices average for the year. This thoroughly unimpressive showing would hardly make the effort worth while. Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE: VLO) has been the leader most of the year and that is how it ended up. Time Warner, Inc. (NYSE: TWX) finished the year as one of my most disappointing holdings.

I have noted that dividends have been added to the results and that this is one of the criteria I use in my stock picks. This year, as always there were many lessons to be learned. To my amazement and irony the portion of my total gain attributable to the dividends was greater than the stock appreciation.

Two of my picks were often mentioned as buyout candidates, but the rhetoric has died down considerably until this month when The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) finally had some news: The Dow Chemical Company and Petrochemical Industries Company of Kuwait Announce Global Petrochemicals Joint Venture. Not exactly the buyout Wall Street may have been banking on and seems to have help deflate the stock at least temporarily. The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE: HD) received the most negative sentiment all year, and the crushed housing market is keeping it from rebounding despite what many market watchers see as a deeply discounted turnaround play, and I would agree. I am even considering Home Depot again for next year.

The following are the closing prices as of December 28, 2006 and 12 month returns for the seven stocks I recommended, plus the addition of Spectra Energy Corp. (NYSE: SE) that was spun out of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE: DUK). Among Cramer’s picks, Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE: KFT), which was spun out of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE: MO), is included in the calculations.

1. The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW): $40.02 is up to $40.27 (+0.6%) 3.54% yield
2. Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE: DUK): $33.02 (incl. Spectra Energy Corp. (NYSE: SE)) is up. Dividend only $33.09 (0.0%) 4.31% yield
3. The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE: HD): $39.73 is down to $26.27 (-33.88%) 2.31% yield
4. Huaneng Power International ADS (NYSE: HNP): $36 is up to $41.43 (+15.08%) 3.62% yield
5. PetroChina Company Limited ADR (NYSE: PTR): $142.12 is up to $178.90 (+25.88%) 4.5% yield
6. Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX): $22.00 is down to $16.67 (-24.23%) 1.1% yield
7. Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE: VLO): $51.61 is up to $70.05 (+35.73%) 0.84% yield

The following index comparisons are also from December 28, 2006:

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 12,501.52 is up to 13,359.61 (+6.86%)
• NASDAQ Composite Index: 2,425.57 is up to 2,676.79 (+10.36%)
• Standard & Poor’s 500 Index: 1,424.73 is up to 1,476.37 (+3.62%)

The Cramer Speculative Stocks for 2007:

1) Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: LVLT): $5.66 is down to $3.05 (-46.11%) No dividend
2) Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE: RAD): $5.49 is down to $2.86 (-47.91%) No dividend
3) Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: SVNT): $12.01 is up to $22.93. (+90.92%) No dividend

The Cramer Growth Picks are:
1) New York Stock Exchange Group (NYSE: NYX): $97.51 down to $87.15 (-10.62%) No dividend
2) Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL): $80.87 up to $198.57 (+145.54%) No dividend
3) Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO): $27.42 up to $27.79 (+1.35%) No dividend

The Cramer Value Picks are:
1) Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE: MO): $86.23 up to $76.23 (+Kraft at .692024 x $32.93 = $22.79) to $99.02 (+14.83%) 4.12%yield
2) Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS): $200.80 up to $211.95 (+5.55%) 0.72% yield
3) Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL): $31.26 up to $37.94 (+21.37%) .97% yield

The New Powerhouse: Google

Google had an amazing year — again! After twelve months of tracking Google, it has grown into one of the largest capitalized companies in the world, now exceeding $200 billion, and remains of broad interest to the investing public and internet users alike. Google closed December 28, 2006 at $462.56, rose in January, then traded downward for a few months before rising again following the overall market. But in the last few months it has been hot until finally settling down for year at $707.74, for a solid gain of $238.18 per share for a championship gain of +51.49%. Google does not pay a dividend.

In Closing

It has been an interesting process, and tedious at times. For most of the year Apple has lead the way, with Google, and Valero shining brightly as well.

Many people including me at times have made fun of Cramer’s television antics. I have read all kinds of stories about Cramer not having a very good over all record, not being consistent, and even outright contradicting himself in short order. Nevertheless, If you would have bought into his 9 picks in equal dollar amounts last December you would have done great. You just would have had a scary ride some of the way. This year, with these picks, which I have methodically tracked, he did better than most and better than I did.

My own biggest frustration and surprise out of the entire year long story is Time Warner our parent company. I can rationalize Home Depot not doing well in a market where housing has been slammed, but what can I say about TWX? During the year I said plenty: Time Warner: No catalyst or no leadership? Some comparisons. I did not know if TWX would have a fantastic year but Idid envision a scenario that put it a few dollars higher than it started. To finish the year down almost 25% is shocking!

In 2008 I will be outlining another group of stocks that hopefully are more consistent. It seems that was something that this year the market was not. I will also post an abbreviated version of this story after the first quarter. I tend to buy and hold and these stocks may prove better in 2008 than 2007 — thank for reading my rants!

Have a peaceful, healthy and prosperous new year!

Disclosure: I own shares of DOW, DUK, HNP, PTR, SE, TWX, and VLO.

To find more potential opportunities and verify my track record read Chasing Value or Serious Money.

Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the design and research principal for an architecture & planning firm. Check out his other posts for BloggingStocks here.

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Filed under: International markets, Newsletters, Stocks to Buy, Israel, Best Stocks for 2008

For 25 years, Steven Halpern, editor of TheStockAdvisors.com, has surveyed the leading financial newsletter advisors asking for their favorite stocks for the coming year. This article is one of 100+ ideas in the Best Stocks for 2008 report.

“Elbit Medical Imaging Ltd. (NASDAQ: EMITF) — my top speculative idea for 2008 — is about to change its name to Elbit Imaging, following shareholder approval,” notes Vivian Lewis in her Global Investing Pro. Vivian was the top performer in last year’s Best Stocks report, with her selection of DryShips rising nearly 400%.

“EMITF is a subsidiary of Europe Israel (M.M.S.) Ltd., which operates in the construction, operation, management and sale of shopping and entertainment centers in Israel, Central and Eastern Europe, and India.

“The company also owns hotels, primarily in major European cities, and manages and sells hotels through its Elscint Ltd. subsidiary.

“The company is also involved in investments in the research and development, production, and marketing of magnetic resonance imaging guided focused ultrasound treatment equipment, through its subsidiary InSightec Ltd.

Continue reading Best Stocks for 2008: Top stock picker picks Elbit Medical (EMITF)

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Filed under: Other issues, Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Apple Inc (AAPL), eBay (EBAY), Indices, Countrywide Financial (CFC), S and P 500

2007 was not a fun year for many investors. The stock market wasn’t just volatile, it was downright manic, swooning between euphoric highs and cataclysmic depressions in the blink of an eye.

Stocks took frequent and at times unjustified beatings as investors fretted about everything from the subprime mortgage crisis to political instability in the Middle East. Nonetheless, the major indices ended the year on a positive note, which indicates that at least some people on Wall Street, including Warren Buffett, see reason for optimism.

For example, the S&P 500 Index ended this year up 3.5%, which should give millions of index fund investors reason to celebrate in their own quiet, conservative way. The big winners were energy companies, which according to Bloomberg News, gained 34% as a group. National-Oilwell Varco Inc. (NYSE: NOV), the biggest oilfield services company, surged 143% through December 28, the most of any company in the index, Bloomberg says, adding that the biggest loser was Countrywide Financial Corp. (NYSE: CFC), not surprisingly.

Continue reading 2007: The year in investing numbers

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Filed under: International markets, Newsletters, Mutual funds, Stocks to Buy, Best Stocks for 2008

For 25 years, Steven Halpern, editor of TheStockAdvisors.com, has surveyed the leading financial newsletter advisors asking for their favorite stocks for the coming year. This article is one of 100+ ideas in the Best Stocks for 2008 report.

In his Forbes ETF Trader, Jim Lowell says his top 2008 speculative bet is PowerShares DB G10 Currency Harvest Fund (ASE: DBV).

“This exchange-traded fund is a unique way to play the bank shot of the wildly volatile currency markets. It seeks investment results that correspond to the price and yield performance of the Deutsche Bank G10 Currency Future Harvest Index.

“This index is intended to take advantage of the fact that currencies associated with high-interest rates tend to rise in value relative with those associated with low-interest rates.

“The ten currencies that the index selects from are the US dollar, the euro, Japanese yen, Canadian dollar, Swiss franc, British pound, Australian dollar, New Zealand dollar, Norwegian krone, and Swedish krona.

“The upshot: interest rates are always rising in one of the above economies while falling in another — 2008 will be no different.”

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