Sell Softbank: Not the Asia Internet startup exposure I wanted from this stock
Tomorrow April 6 I’m going to sell Softbank Group (SFTBY) out of my Jubak Picks portfolio. The shares are up 21.19% since I added them to this portfolio back on February 20, 2015. I originally bought these shares because I liked Softbank’s portfolio of...
Sell Vulcan Materials–I don’t see an infrastructure package this year
With the Senate about to go nuclear as Republicans change the Senate rules so they can avoid a Democratic filibuster and send Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, any small chance that Democrats would work with Republicans to pass some version of President Trump’s...
Incyte shares up as stock heads for S&P 500 index
In a change effective February 28 Incyte (INCY) will replace Spectra Energy (SE) in the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index. Spectra Energy is being acquired by Enbridge (ENB.) All those index funds and ETFs that track the S&P 500 will have to buy shares...
Incyte is on the way to becoming a complete drug company–or an expensive acquisition candidate
Usually with a biotech stock you trade the present for the future: no revenue now but the promise of big revenue to come. Incyte’s (INCY) most recent quarter, reported on February 14, doesn’t require that trade off. Which means investors should be asking a...
Great news for Autoliv: Someone else is going to win Takata sweepstakes
Whew! And Yay! Whew, that it looks like someone else is going to win the bidding to acquire what’s left of airbag maker and Autoliv competitor Takata. Yay, that the likely acquirer is an airbag maker owned by China’s Ningbo Joyson Electronic. I’m...
Incyte ended 2016 with big news; begins 2017 the same way–and stock climbs 9.44% on the day
Incyte (INCY) ended 2016 with a big deal. The company agreed to pay Merus (MRUS) $120 million and to buy $80 million in Merus stock for the exclusive rights to 11 bispecific antibody programs. The companies will work together to develop and commercialize these...
Shares of Jubak Pick Acadia Pharmaceuticals pop 11% on buyout rumors
Update January 4. Shares of Acadia Pharmaceuticals (ACAD) were up 12% this morning, January 4, before closing with a gain of 11.02% to $31.94. The action came on rumors that Pfizer (PFE) or another big drug company would make a bid for the biotech on the strength of...
What’s the “quid” for Softbank’s “quo”?
Update December 30,2016. Softbank (SFTBY) has been in the headlines a lot recently–usually after an announcement by President-elect Donald Trump. There was Softbank CEO and chairman Masayoshi Son emerging after a meeting with Trump at Trump Tower to announce...
Raising my target price on Jubak Picks Cheniere Energy
Update December 9, 2016 The Cheniere Energy story is pretty simple. The company got the first license to export liquified natural gas from the United States, locked in long-term contracts for its Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi terminals, and then waited for revenue to...
Stillwater Mining up 18% on acquisition news
Stillwater Mining (SWC) has agreed to an acquisition offer from South Africa’s Sibanye Gold (SBGL.) The proposed purchase price of $2.2 billion works out to $18.00 a share for the largest primary producer of platinum and palladium outside of South Africa and...
My second Trump administration stock pick–this time it’s infrastructure
When big macro news comes down the pike that promises to change the fundamentals in a sector, frequently the stocks that rally hardest are those that belong to the most “endangered” companies. Which doesn’t mean those are the shares that you want to...
Selling Allergan out of my 12-18 month Jubak Picks portfolio; will be adding it to long-term 50 Stocks portfolio
I still like Allergan’s (AGN) portfolio of anti-aging drugs, especially it’s Botox franchise. But I’m not especially fond of the company’s current strategy of acquisitions in the very hot market for NASH drugs. Yes, someone will win a key...
Good news for Ionis pipeline from this trial–upping target price to $65
Sometimes the importance of a clinical trial extends way beyond the specific drug under study. That’s the case with the Phase II data recently released by Ionis for FIXRx. The trial did show efficacy in the treatment of kidney disease. But the most important...
More good news for Jubak Pick Incyte–raising target price to $125
Incyte (INCY) has been one of the big movers in the biotech rally after Donald Trump’s victory in the November 8 presidential election. The stock is up 26.7% from the close on November 3 to the close today, November 17. (Incyte is a member of my Jubak Picks...
Financial markets decide the S&P earnings recession is over–time to sell my S&P short ETF
It looks like the third quarter saw the end of the long earning recession for Standard & Poor’s 500 companies. That recession had seen earnings for the S&P 500 companies drop for five straight quarters. With more than 90% of the S&P 500 companies...
Acadia Pharmaceuticals is my first Trump stock pick
The big test for Acadia Pharmaceuticals (ACAD) this quarter certainly wasn’t earnings. As an early stage biotech losses are expected and that’s exactly what the company delivered when it reported third quarter results on November 7. The loss came to 61...
Bristol-Myers continues to make up lost ground after August failure of Opdivo trial
Back on August 8 Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) announced that its key immuno-oncology drug Opdivo had failed to demonstrate its efficacy in a trial for treating lung cancer. At the time I characterized this particular trial as a part of a go-for-broke strategy that would...
MGM Resorts still has more upside from here
MGM Resorts International (MGM) hit a new 52-week high during intraday trading on November 7. The stock is now up 119.96% since I added it to my Jubak Picks portfolio back on May 4, 2012. Shouldn’t I just take my profits and run? Well, Yes if all the catalysts...
Selling my Treasury ETF because my scenario on global central bank policy was wrong
When I bought shares of the iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF (IEF) back on June 28, 2016, it was in the belief that the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates (as early as September or as late as December) while other central banks remained committed to their...
Itau Unibanco gains on interest rate cut but advance in Brazilian stocks is muted by arrest of another big-fish politico
Yesterday the Banco Central do Brasil reduced Brazil’s benchmark Selic interest rate for the first time in four years. The cut, 25 basis points to 14%, was less than the 50 basis points the market was hoping for. But the dream is that it will be just the first...
Abbott Labs acquisition candidate St. Jude has a battery problem
Back on September 20 I questioned whether management at Abbott Laboratories had the skills to execute a growth through acquisitions strategy. At the time the company was–and it still is–involved in a dispute with Allere (ALR) over whether that company had...
Brazil–and Itau Unibanco–is rallying big on hopes of an interest rate cut from the central bank
Update September 26, 2016 Could Brazil see the first interest rate cut since 2012 in October? With the Banco Central do Brasil’s benchmark Selic interest rate at 14.25% there’s certainly plenty of room. And even though the country’s politics are a...
Two acquisitions in a day: What is Allergan up to?
Update September 23, 2016 Allergan (AGN), which I added to my Jubak’s Picks portfolio on July 30, 2015 on the strength of its Botox franchise, acquired two companies on September 20. Neither is in the Botox or cosmetic drugs space. Both, in fact, are companies...
Bristol-Myers gambled and lost on a quick expansion of cancer drug Opdivo’s market–but there’s still good upside in the shares
Update September 21. Let’s be clear about what happened to Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) and its key immuno-oncology drug Opdivo on Friday, August 8, when the company announced that Opdivo had failed to demonstrate its efficacy in a trial for treating lung cancer....
Catching up on performance reporting: Jubak Picks up 4.91% in 2014
I’ve never liked doing all the calculations required to figure out the performance of my Jubak’s Picks portfolio. Frankly, figuring out the exact gains in positions that have, because of history, come to have radically different numbers of shares and then...
Time for me to stop fighting the Fed and its delays on raising interest rates, and sell Capital One
There’s really nothing wrong with the shares of Capital One Financial (COF) that a stronger U.S. economy, a more confident U.S.consumer, and an interest rate increase–or two–from the Federal Reserve wouldn’t fix. It’s just that I...
Alibaba’s 59% increase in revenue puts growth worries to bed
Update: August 11, 2016. Okay, the top line numbers were impressive. Today Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) reported a 59% increase in revenue for its June quarter. But for the first time Alibaba provided segment details on its various businesses–due at least in...Jubak’s Picks Performance: 2011 down 2.3%; yearend cash reaches 37%
The Jubak’s Picks, my 12-18 month portfolio, lost 2.3% for 2011. That trailed the 2.1% return for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index during the year. The problem for the portfolio was my inability to stay nimble enough to navigate the market’s volatility in 2011. Or...
Treasuries slip as market struggles to absorb supply
Update July 12. The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose to 1.52%, the highest level this month (and prices fell). Last week the yield on the 10-year Treasury hit a record low of 1.318%. The climb in Treasury yields is likely to be temporary, in my opinion. The market is...Jim’s Daily Email Alerts:
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