AAR Corp (NYSE: AIR) has enjoyed a solid week (up about 6 percent from last week’s closing price) thanks to and a general rally in airline shares. Since joining our portfolio on February 24, 2017, AIR has returned better than 10 percent, which compares favorably to the S&P 500’s 4.5… Read More

The U.S. Labor Department today reported that in June the economy added 222,000 non-farm jobs, well above the 178,000 expected by economists. This is the best monthly showing since February and brings the first-half average to 180,000, about in line with the 2016 monthly average of 187,000. The unemployment rate… Read More

Water irrigation company Lindsay Corporation (NYSE: LNN) reported earnings for its fiscal third quarter (ended May 31) yesterday. Net earnings for the quarter were $11 million, or $1.02 per share, a 14 percent year-over-year improvement. Irrigation revenues in both the U.S. and international markets modestly improved, while revenues from the… Read More

On Friday morning we made a change to our portfolio. We removed First Majestic Silver (NYSE: AG), and replaced it with BYD Company (OTCMKTS: BYDDF). While we think AG still retains a good production growth profile, our mission is to follow the best funds we can find. Our reference fund… Read More

Heading into this week’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting, most expected another rate hike, and the Fed delivered. With one dissenter, the committee voted to up the target federal funds rate to a range of 1 to 1.25 percent. This marks the fourth quarter-percentage point rate increase since the Financial… Read More

Biotech Theravance Biopharma (Nasdaq: TBPH) this week reported another piece of good clinical data. The company reported that multiple studies conducted on VIBATIV—currently its only marketed drug—showed superior in vitro potency for VIBATIV against the S. aureus pathogens compared to other commercially available antibiotics. VIBATIV is already approved to treat S. aureus, but the company hopes the studies will differentiate it from competing antibiotics. Read More

After a weak March, then a strong April, U.S. hiring activity again fell lower than expected in May. Today’s Labor Department monthly report shows that non-farm payrolls only increased by 138,000, well below the 182,000 consensus economist projection. Furthermore, the estimates for March and April were revised downward by a… Read More

This week we review our reference funds’ latest moves vis-à-vis our Brain Trust Profits stocks to see how the Wall Street gurus’ holdings of our stocks have changed, if at all. Marcato Capital Management has upped its position in AAR Corp (NYSE: AIR) by roughly 324,000 shares,… Read More

Average Annualized Return Per Closed Trade: 15.2% Average Return Per Closed Trade: 14.1% Average Holding Period: 340 days On Wednesday, the market had its worst one day decline since the election, as an FBI memo leaked to the press shows that President Trump had asked… Read More

Average Annualized Return Per Closed Trade: 17.9% Average Return Per Closed Trade: 15.5% Average Holding Period: 320 days Sotheby’s (BID) reported another solid quarter this week. Although its fiscal first quarter (ended March 31) tends to be seasonally weak compared to others, adjusted for non-recurring items, the company… Read More

Average Annualized Return Per Closed Trade: 17.9% Average Return Per Closed Trade: 15.5% Average Holding Period: 320 days After weak March hiring activity, the job market rebounded in April. The Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this morning that the U.S. economy added 211,000… Read More

Average Annualized Return Per Closed Trade: 17.9% Average Return Per Closed Trade: 15.5% Average Holding Period: 320 days Stocks reacted very positively to the outcome of the French election last Sunday. Ex-investment banker and ex-economic minister Emmanuel Macron took first place with 24.0 percent of… Read More

Average Annualized Return Per Closed Trade: 17.9% Average Return Per Closed Trade: 15.5% Average Holding Period: 320 days Just mere days after the murder of a policeman in Paris by an Islamic gunman, the French will cast their votes for their next president on Sunday. Read More

Average Annualized Return Per Closed Trade: 17.9% Average Return Per Closed Trade: 15.5% Average Holding Period: 320 days Less than one week after ordering an airstrike in Syria in retaliation for Assad’s use of chemical weapons—the first direct U.S. attack against the Syrian government—President Trump… Read More

Average Annualized Return Per Closed Trade: 17.9% Average Return Per Closed Trade: 15.5% Average Holding Period: 320 days This morning the Labor Department reported that the U.S. employment rate fell to 4.5 percent in March, the lowest it’s been since mid-2007, nearly ten years ago. Read More

Average Annualized Return Per Closed Trade: 17.9% Average Return Per Closed Trade: 15.5% Average Holding Period: 320 days Read More

Average Annualized Return Per Closed Trade: 17.9% Average Return Per Closed Trade: 15.5% Average Holding Period: 320 days It has been a while since potential Washington drama has negatively impacted markets and optimism has run high since the November election. However, this week’s health-care bill… Read More

Average Annualized Return Per Closed Trade: 17.9% Average Return Per Closed Trade: 15.5% Average Holding Period: 320 days At the March Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting this week, the Fed raised the benchmark federal funds rate to a target range of 0.75 percent to… Read More

Average Annualized Return Per Closed Trade: 17.9% Average Return Per Closed Trade: 15.5% Average Holding Period: 320 days Since reaching a peak last Thursday after President Trump’s first Congressional address, the S&P 500 has largely trod water—closing yesterday roughly 1 percent from its March 1… Read More

Average Annualized Return Per Closed Trade: 17.9% Average Return Per Closed Trade: 15.5% Average Holding Period: 320 days Read More