New Constructs
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Sell Starbucks (SBUX) – Still A Bad Stock

Similar to my prior interviews on SBUX, I found it easy to make the bear case for a stock that is as expensive as Starbucks (SBUX). As my regular readers know, when I say "expensive", I back that up with details such as: to justify its $40 stock price (closing price from prior day), SBUX had to grow profits at 10% compounded annually for more than 25 years.
by David Trainer, Founder & CEO
1Comments

Buy LRCX: More Value Than Meets the Eye

Most of my research and publishing tends to focus on companies manipulating accounting rules to make their reported earnings look better than the real economic cash flows of their business. It is unfortunately rare that I find a company whose economic earnings are outpacing the reported accounting results and whose stock is cheap. One such company is Lam Research (LRCX – very attractive rating). One of September’s most attractive stocks, LRCX offers investors hidden value.
by David Trainer, Founder & CEO
New Constructs
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Should Directors Ignore Those One-Time Items?

I do not think so. The question, however, is not so much about what directors ignore. You cannot ignore something about which you are unaware. The real issue is that most directors and investors are simply unaware of the many one-time items because they are buried deep in the annals of footnotes in annual reports or 10-K filings.
by David Trainer, Founder & CEO
2Comments

S&P’s Downgrade Did Us a Favor

Too much of the rhetoric surrounding S&P’s downgrade of US debt misses the largest and most important point made by S&P’s bold move: the U.S. financial situation is very bad and getting worse with no reconciliation in sight. It is difficult to deny the poor credit quality of an entity that grossly overspends its revenues, has a mountain of debt (most of which matures within the next few years) and has taken no meaningful steps toward remedying the situation? By quibbling over S&P’s procedures and calculations, the Treasury and White House reveal that they have no solid rationale for disagreeing with the downgrade.
by David Trainer, Founder & CEO