It took a talking duck to make one of the largest insurance companies rise from obscurity to one of the most recognized names in the business. Aflac Inc. (NYSE: AFL) provides health insurance for 40 million people worldwide and has received numerous awards for being the best-managed… Read More

One thing more than any other makes searching for value difficult these days: Loans. The best way to search for discounted companies is to set up a screen that looks at net asset value — assets minus liabilities. (To see… Read More

Next week the market will be focused on the nation’s banks, as the top U.S. financial institutions report their quarterly earnings. Their earnings parade actually started today, with a quarterly report from JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM),… Read More

Big Pharma needs some big ideas. If it can’t find them — and turn them into the next blockbuster drugs — then it will be in Big Trouble. The clock is always ticking for the nation’s drug makers. That’s because drug patents last only 20 years. The… Read More

The phrase “failure of imagination” has returned to the lexicon. It may turn out to be an appropriate catchphrase for the just-ended 2000s. It also applies to a few situations on Wall Street, where investors seem unable to wrap their arms around the idea that things won’t… Read More

The S&P 500 lost ground during the past decade, but this drug maker’s shares returned a gravity-defying +1,179%. That’s the good news. The better news is that the company looks like it’s setting itself up for a repeat performance. Read More

Admit it: You still have in the back of your desk drawer that long-forgotten key ring attached to the mini flashlight with the name of an insurance company emblazoned on it. The one you picked up at the auto show three years ago. And the flashlight still works. Read More

It’s a fair question: Is Warren Buffett right? He isn’t always, of course. Buffett beats himself up each year in his annual letter to shareholders, spelling out exactly what he flubbed up. On Tuesday the famed Oracle of Omaha sent out a different kind… Read More

It wasn’t just bad, it was a bloodbath. The just-ended year not only gave us the back half of one of the worst economic downturns in the past century, it also marked the long-anticipated end to a storied chapter in American history as General Motors and Chrysler… Read More

When 2008 ended with a -37.0% loss in the S&P 500, investors didn’t have a lot of good news to share. But 2009, happily, proved to be a comeback year, with the benchmark index… Read More