The whole DVD rental business has befuddled short-sellers. For several years, Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) disproved its detractors, and its shares have steadily climbed, forcing short-sellers to eat big losses. The same appears to be happening for Netflix’s rival Coinstar (Nasdaq: CSTR), which rents… Read More

In cost-competitive markets, managements often need to decide to pursue either market share or firm pricing. One approach can preclude the other. Management at MEMC Electronic Materials (NYSE: WFR), which had been smarting from lost market share in recent years, chose to win… Read More

Just a few years ago, Eastman Kodak (NYSE: EK) looked set to go the way of the dodo bird. Obituaries for this former “Nifty Fifty” stalwart were being written at a furious pace as the digital photography revolution seemingly passed the company by. But Kodak has staged a phoenix-like rise… Read More

Every year, a handful of stocks emerge as intriguing high-growth stories that attract hordes of momentum investors. Shares of these hot stocks can climb and climb until the valuations move into the stratosphere. And then, inevitably, a company can become big enough that it… Read More

The natural gas industry seems to only know extremes. A few years ago, supply trailed demand, leading to a sharp spikes in prices. But then geologists realized that we’re sitting on a lot more of the energy source than we could ever have imagined. Suddenly new wells were being dug… Read More

You’ll often see all of the same companies within a similar sector trade in tandem. That’s why many investors buy stock in company B after their rival, company A, blew past estimates. But that logic failed to hold for investors in Hutchinson Technology (Nasdaq: HTCH), which supplies subcomponents to disk… Read More

Semiconductor stocks continue to deliver upside surprises. Integrated Silicon Solution (Nasdaq: ISSI), is up nearly +20% today after topping estimates by a handy margin for the fourth straight quarter. Shares, which trade for less than 15 times projected 2010 profits, could see continued… Read More

We saw a host of regional banks report stubbornly high loan losses on Monday, and investors have grown skittish about the regional banks that still have yet to report quarterly results. Sterling Financial (Nasdaq: STSA), Pacific State Bancorp (Nasdaq: PSBC), Midwest Banc Holdings (Nasdaq: MBHI), and W Holding (NYSE: WHI)… Read More

It’s been an extended stretch of misery for companies that supply equipment to wireless and wireline telecom companies. The massive network buildout of the 1990s led to more tepid capital spending in the last decade. But we may be entering a robust new phase of industry spending, according to telco… Read More

Now may be the optimal time to trade the financial sector. During the week of April 16, shares of many financial companies fell, following news of fraud charges against The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS). As a result, many financial… Read More