GOOGL - Alphabet Inc.
| Previous Close | 1,169.32 |
| Open | 1,180.79 |
| Bid | 1,178.00 x 800 |
| Ask | 1,180.43 x 900 |
| Day's Range | 1,173.25 - 1,183.83 |
| 52 Week Range | 977.66 - 1,296.97 |
| Volume | 1,265,187 |
| Avg. Volume | 1,605,514 |
| Market Cap | 816.94B |
| Beta (3Y Monthly) | 0.98 |
| PE Ratio (TTM) | 23.81 |
| EPS (TTM) | N/A |
| Earnings Date | N/A |
| Forward Dividend & Yield | N/A (N/A) |
| Ex-Dividend Date | N/A |
| 1y Target Est | N/A |
- Motley Fool
3 Reasons Lyft Is a Better Buy Than Uber
Uber may be the big, bad wolf of ridesharing; Lyft is the better buy by a mile.
- Motley Fool
Will Buybacks Propel Booking Holdings' Stock Price?
Growth is slowing, but the company is using cash flow to buy back gobs of its stock.
- SAY
Google Commits to Using Recycled Materials In All Products By 2022
Google has announced that by 2022, all their “Made By Google” products will include recycled material. What Goes Around The search engine giant is making a commitment to sustainability by using recyclable material seemingly as much as possible. Going forward, it will use reused material in all of its Pixelbook computers and phones, and has already begun using recycled plastic in its Chromecast streaming sticks. And by next year, all of its product shipments will be carbon neutral. The company also will prioritize the use of cargo ships over air delivery, thus lowering overall emissions. Make It Last Another sustainability initiative is that Google’s designers will now ensure that all of their products last as long as possible (as the less products one needs to buy, the less overall plastic one is consuming), and to be easier to recycle once the ghost finally gives out. Another Green World Google’s moves to emphasize recyclability and sustainability is yet more proof that corporations now realize that customers and shareholders are demanding that companies do more to combat climate change, and that working to be more green and sustainable is quickly becoming a requirement for all companies now, especially technology companies. Apple uses recycled plastic, recycled aluminum, and recycled tin in its products, and reuses old iPhone batteries when making new ones. Microsoft proudly flaunts that it has been Carbon neutral since 2012, and Intel has recently committed to restoring local watersheds located near its facilities as a way to make up for the large quantities of water it uses while manufacturing its computer chips. -Michael Tedder Photo by REUTERS
- MarketWatch
Goldman: Huawei deadline could further escalate a ‘full-blown economic conflict’ between U.S., China
U.S.-China trade tensions could escalate next week following the expiration of an export ban against Chinese telecom giant Huawei
- Barrons.com
Harvard University Sold Apple and Facebook Stock — and Bought Alphabet
Harvard University’s endowment made some bold stock trades in the calendar second quarter. Harvard Management Co., or HMC, the entity that manages the endowment, oversaw $405 million in U.S.-traded equities as of June 30.
- Bloomberg
Trump’s Dinner Guest on Friday Will Be Apple’s CEO Tim Cook
(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly lashed out at technology giants and their leaders, announced on Friday evening that he would be dining with Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook.“Having dinner tonight with Tim Cook of Apple,” Trump, who is staying at his golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey, wrote on Twitter. “They will be spending vast sums of money in the U.S. Great!”He did not elaborate, and Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the meeting.Heads of other major technology companies, including Amazon.com Inc., Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Facebook Inc. have not fared as well in the president’s tweets and public remarks.He and his political allies have made unsupported claims that social media companies muzzle conservative views. Trump has assailed Amazon for edging out brick-and-mortar retailers and criticized its founder Jeff Bezos, who owns the Washington Post.Pressure on tech companies is increasing in Washington as congressional Republicans examine accusations of bias against conservatives; Democrats in the House conduct an antitrust inquiry and officials at the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission divvy up oversight of Google, Facebook, Apple, and Amazon.Earlier this week, FTC Chairman Joe Simons said in an interview that he wouldn’t let Trump’s complaints about the size and political inclinations of large technology platforms affect his agency’s decisions.Cook visited the White House in June to discuss the Trump administration’s efforts to develop job training programs that meet the changing demands of U.S. employers. The meeting was part of the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board, a working group that includes many corporate leaders. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Trump’s daughter and adviser Ivanka Trump unveiled the initiative earlier this year.\--With assistance from Alistair Barr.To contact the reporter on this story: John Harney in Washington at jharney2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Kevin Whitelaw at kwhitelaw@bloomberg.net, John HarneyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- InvestorPlace
5 Top Stock Trades for Monday: AMD, BAC, FB, GE, DE
Friday was a big day for investors. On Thursday, we said bulls would have liked to see a bigger rebound following Wednesday's brutal beating. But Friday proved strong, with U.S. stocks posting impressive gains across the board. * 10 Cheap Dividend Stocks to Load Up On Let's look at a few top stock trades going forward.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips Top Stock Trades for Tomorrow: Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) has been all over the map lately. Luckily, we're getting new levels to work with on the charts.For now, the 100-day moving average is buoying the stock, with short-term uptrend support also helping to guide AMD higher. Ideally, bulls will see shares reclaim prior uptrend support (blue line), as well as the 20-day and 50-day moving averages.If AMD stock can do that, a test of resistance between $34 and $34.50 is on the table. If it can't reclaim these levels, they may act as resistance going forward. That puts the 100-day back on the table.If it falls below the 100-day, the $29.21 lows and the $27.65 lows are possible. Bank of America (BAC)Is Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) a safe buy? It's hard not to like the stock down here. Not only has this $26.25 to $26.50 area proven to be solid-range support for all of 2019, but BAC stock has put in three straight days with almost identical lows.The fact that these lows held gives longs a great risk/reward situation. $26 can be a stop out point for longs, while they look for a rebound higher. $27.50 is a conservative target, but $28 doesn't seem to be out of the picture.A rebound up to the 50-day and 100-day confluence near $28.75 also seams reasonable. Remember, this stock was at $31 a few weeks ago and these big shakeouts have usually been good buying opportunities. Near range support, it's a worthy risk. Facebook (FB)Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) is holding trend right now, while Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) has quite a bit of support nearby too. Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) though? Shares are looking suspect at the moment.So far, support is holding near $179 to $180, but downtrend resistance (blue line) is squeezing FB lower. Falling below most of its major moving averages isn't helping the bulls' case either.Over downtrend resistance will help, but for FB stock to really have upside potential, it needs to clear its 50-day and 100-day moving averages. Below $180, and range support at $160 is in play. General Electric (GE)What a wild ride this one has been on the past two days. Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) were pulverized on Thursday after a whistleblower cited concern over the company's accounting. The CEO shot back and put his money where his mouth is, buying $2 million worth of stock.The recent lows held well, as GE stock charges back toward $9. Now though, it's key to see if General Electric can reclaim the $9 to $9.25 area or if this zone acts as resistance. Deere (DE)Deere (NYSE:DE) stock is up almost 4% heading into the weekend after the company reported its quarterly results after the close. I don't love the set up in Deere, particularly given the current trading environment. However, shares did test roughly the same low for three straight sessions, all of which held.Anyone taking a long flyer on DE should note that level -- approximately $141 -- as their potential stop out mark. If shares break out over short-term downtrend resistance (blue line), a run to the 200-day is possible. If $142.50 holds as support, bulls can stay long.A breakdown below $141 could send DE stock down to $132.Bret Kenwell is the manager and author of Future Blue Chips and is on Twitter @BretKenwell. As of this writing, Bret Kenwell is long BAC, AMZN and GOOGL. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 10 Cheap Dividend Stocks to Load Up On * The 10 Biggest Losers from Q2 Earnings * 5 Dependable Dividend Stocks to Buy The post 5 Top Stock Trades for Monday: AMD, BAC, FB, GE, DE appeared first on InvestorPlace.
- Zacks
Nvidia Impresses Investors With A Bright Future Ahead
As both Nvidia and AMD compete to create the next best AI and cloud computing GPUs, the tech is only going to proliferate in performance and both companies stand to gain.
- Bloomberg
Touch-Screens in Cars Don’t Make Us Safer – Yet
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Two years ago, 10 sailors died when the U.S. Navy’s guided missile destroyer USS John S. McCain collided with a chemical tanker off Singapore. An investigation has determined that insufficient training and inadequate operating procedures were to blame, and both factors were related to a new touch-screen-based helm control system. The Navy has decided to revert its destroyers back to entirely physical throttles and helm controls.It’s worth exploring the Navy’s rationale for installing touch-screens (“Just because you can doesn’t mean you should,” says Rear Admiral Bill Galinis), as well as its rationale for getting rid of them:Galinis said that bridge design is something that shipbuilders have a lot of say in, as it’s not covered by any particular specification that the Navy requires builders to follow. As a result of innovation and a desire to incorporate new technology, “we got away from the physical throttles, and that was probably the number-one feedback from the fleet – they said, just give us the throttles that we can use.”There are lessons here — including a prescient one from 50 years ago — for other, more mundane transport-control interfaces as well.Large, interactive touch-screens are becoming increasingly prevalent in passenger cars; in the case of Tesla, they’re the only control interface. They’re lovely to look at, but as the Navy’s experience suggests, they might be more confusing than physical controls. That confusion isn’t academic, either: Distracted driving is an increasingly dangerous problem. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 10% of all fatal crashes from 2012 to 2017 involved distracted drivers. Mobile phones are a major cause of distraction, as we’d expect, but they’re an even bigger problem for younger drivers.Almost 50 years ago, robotics professor Masahiro Mori wrote an extraordinary essay, “The Uncanny Valley,” on people’s reactions to robots as they became more and more humanlike. As Mori said, our affinity for robots rises as they more closely resemble humans. That affinity plunges, becoming negative and finally rising again once a robot reaches the (possibly unattainable) full likeness of a human being.Something similar is at work in our current touch-screen-filled vehicles. To an extent, adding more screen real estate give us more information, and with it more safety — until it begins to provide an overwhelming amount of information and an overly complex set of choices for visual navigation. And moving from one information-rich interface to another is increasingly difficult, as another Navy rear admiral said in reviewing the John S. McCain collision:When you look at a screen, where do you find heading? Is it in the same place, or do you have to hunt every time you go to a different screen? So the more commonality we can drive into these kind of human-machine interfaces, the better it is for the operator to quickly pick up what the situational awareness is, whatever aspect he’s looking at, whether it’s helm control, radar pictures, whatever. So we’re trying to drive that.There are two ways our in-car screens could evolve. The first is that, for safety’s sake, they’ll move back down the curve, so to speak, and be less ambiguous and more full of knobs and dials and physical throttles. That’s the Navy’s new approach. The second, though, is that we won’t go back, at least in passenger applications, to a more tactile interface of specific controls. We’re probably going to get more screens, with more information. Maybe the only way out of this valley is to shift the interface completely to voice or, in the very long run, to obviate the issue by having cars drive themselves. That could be how we navigate this uncanny valley of vehicle interfaces — the removal of any need to control the vehicle at all, and the chance to fill our cars’ screens with pure entertainment. Weekend readingA greener energy industry is testing investors’ ability to adapt. One coal CEO says “make money while you can” in an industry that is in terminal decline. The venture capital arm of Royal Dutch Shell Plc has invested in Corvus Energy, a maritime and offshore battery systems company. America’s obsession with beef is killing leather. A look at how Phoenix comes alive at night, and how other cities might too in a hotter world. An exploration of how extreme climate change has arrived in America. The Anthropocene is a joke. On a geological time scale, human civilization is an event, not an epoch. Three years of misery inside Google, the happiest company in tech. Here’s what happens when Apple Inc. locks you out of its walled garden after fraud suspicions. Machine vision can spot unknown links between classic artworks. When Midwest startups sell, their hometown schools often lose. A programmer in California got a “NULL” vanity license plate in the hopes that the word would not compute in a database of traffic offenders. Instead, he was fined $12,049. Robert Ballard, discoverer of the Titanic, is exploring a startling clue that may help him find Amelia Earhart’s plane. Bugatti’s one-off La Voiture Noire debuted at the Pebble Beach Concours D’Elegance. It’s already been sold, for $18.68 million. Bloomberg Businessweek’s Peter Coy looks back on the 40 years since the magazine declared “ the death of equities.” Get Sparklines delivered to your inbox. Sign up here. And subscribe to Bloomberg All Access and get much, much more. You’ll receive our unmatched global news coverage and two in-depth daily newsletters, the Bloomberg Open and the Bloomberg Close.To contact the author of this story: Nathaniel Bullard at nbullard@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Brooke Sample at bsample1@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Nathaniel Bullard is a BloombergNEF energy analyst, covering technology and business model innovation and system-wide resource transitions.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- TechCrunch
Google discloses its acquisition of mobile learning app Socratic as it relaunches on iOS
Google publicly disclosed its acquisition of homework helper app Socratic inan announcement this week, detailing the added support for the company's AItechnology and its relaunch on iOS
- InvestorPlace
Amazon Stock Looks Poised to Be Hit by Multiple Compression
Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) stock has continued to fall along with the market. For the most part, the decline is not the fault of the company. An intensified U.S.-China trade war and the yield curve inversion have made investors uneasy, weighing on AMZN stock and most other equities.Source: Shutterstock However, problems unique to AMZN have also hurt the stock. Moreover, the company does not pay a dividend, and its valuation exceeds that of other mega-tech companies. Given these factors, the price-earnings (PE) ratio of Amazon stock appears set to fall further. Beware of Falling ValuationsThe yield-curve inversion has an effect on AMZN and other hot tech stocks that receives little attention. Specifically, the inversion facilitates multiple compression.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading TipsAmazon stock has traded at an elevated PE ratio, often reaching PE ratios of 100 or higher. Investors can attribute much of its recent swoon to the law of large numbers. However, in recessionary environments, even the hottest of companies struggle to hold onto their premium valuations. * 10 Cheap Dividend Stocks to Load Up On The forward PE of AMZN stock has now fallen to about 53. Even after the company's disappointing earnings report issued in July, analysts still, on average, expect profit growth of 16.6% this year and 41.4% next year. Typically, given the high profit-growth estimates, the elevated PE would not concern me. However, I see disturbing signs coming from the company itself.Specifically, analysts' profit estimates for AMZN continue to fall. Analysts, on average, had previously expected earnings for the fiscal year to come in at $27.46 per share. Due to AMZN's lowered guidance, they now forecast $23.49 per share. Moreover, the company's cloud unit, which accounts for the majority of its profits, has been hurt by stronger competition from Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL, NASDAQ:GOOG). The cloud unit generated $8.38 billion of revenue last quarter, versus analysts' average outlook of $8.48 billion .That should worry investors because they have treated and valued AMZN more like a cloud company than an e-commerce firm. Other Challenges Facing Amazon StockThe antitrust investigation that's likely to include AMZN as well as Alphabet, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), and Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) will also weigh on Amazon stock.But I question whether the probe will hurt AMZN stock over the long-term. Jeffries & Co. analyst Brent Thill estimates the value of the cloud business as a standalone company at $400 billion. I think a spin off of the cloud unit would unlock a significant amount of value. But the probe will breed more uncertainty in the short-termAmazon has also been blamed by President Trump for the losses of the United States Post Office (USPS). Thus far, the decision by FedEx (NYSE:FDX) to not deliver Amazon packages has probably hurt FedEx more than it has AMZN. Still, I think FedEx's move will be worrisome for AMZN if the President criticizes the retail giant's use of the USPS again.None of these challenges will undermine the company's operations. Still, investors now have a lot more reasons to question the multiple of AMZN stock, making the shares a poor bet in the shorter-term. The Bottom Line on Amazon StockMany signs suggest that the valuation of Amazon stock will drop. First, the inverted yield curve indicates that a recession is looming. Stock valuations tend to fall when recessions are looming. Moreover, the slowing growth of the cloud unit and the underwhelming growth of other divisions could lead investors to doubt the attractiveness of Amazon stock at its current levels. .I also agree with the assertion of another InvestorPlace columnist, James Brumley that Amazon will emerge as a winner after the slowdown runs its course. I also do not expect AMZN to be broken up, despite President Trump's feelings about the company.However, since AMZN does not pay a dividend and the outlook of AMZN stock is dimming, I would not recommend buying AMZN stock at this time.As of this writing, Will Healy did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned stocks. You can follow Will on Twitter at @HealyWriting. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 10 Cheap Dividend Stocks to Load Up On * The 10 Biggest Losers from Q2 Earnings * 5 Dependable Dividend Stocks to Buy The post Amazon Stock Looks Poised to Be Hit by Multiple Compression appeared first on InvestorPlace.
- Motley Fool
Why You Should Invest In International Stocks
Especially if you're an American investor, chances are good that you'd benefit from more international diversification.
- Benzinga
What Analysts Have To Say About Nvidia Following Earnings Beat
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA ) shares jumped 6.7% on Friday after the company reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue in the second quarter. Despite a 17% drop in sales compared to a year ...
- Motley Fool
ESG Investing: Is Microsoft a Responsible Investment?
If you’re searching for a feel-good stock, see how Microsoft, the world's largest company, scores on The Motley Fool’s ESG framework.
- Investor's Business Daily
Google Assistant Outsmarts Amazon Alexa, Apple Siri Among Voice Assistants
Alphabet's Google Assistant continues to outperform rivals Amazon Alexa and Apple Siri in tests of voice assistants. Venture capital firm Loup Ventures tested the assistants on smartphones.
- TechCrunch
8 million Android users tricked into downloading 85 adware apps from Google Play
Dozens of Android adware apps disguised as photo-editing apps and games havebeen caught serving ads that would take over users' screens as part of afraudulent money-making scheme
- MarketWatch
Hundreds of Google employees ask company not to work with ICE citing a ‘system of abuse’
Hundreds of Google (GOOG) employees are calling on the company to pledge it won’t work with U.S. Customs and Border Protection or Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A group of employees called Googlers for Human Rights posted a public petition urging the company not to bid on a cloud computing contract for CBP, the federal agency that oversees law enforcement for the country’s borders. It is not clear if Google expressed interest.
- Bloomberg
Shopify’s Success Puts Spotlight on Next Canadian Tech Stars
(Bloomberg) -- Shopify Inc.’s scorching rally and Lightspeed POS Inc.’s successful trading debut this year are throwing the spotlight on who might be the next Canadian tech star to go public.A total of C$1 billion ($751 million) was invested in 142 venture capital deals in the first quarter, up 48% from a year earlier, according to the Canadian Venture & Private Equity Association. More than half of that was in tech and increasingly from U.S. investors.Here’s what the founders of some of Canada’s hottest tech firms are saying about the future of their companies, and the potential for initial public offerings:ClearbancClearbanc offers $10,000 to $10 million to startups to help fund their marketing campaigns on Facebook, Google and the like in return for a flat fee and a share of revenue.The Toronto-based investment firm, founded in 2015, raised $300 million in new funding led by Highland Capital Partners of the U.S., the largest disclosed VC-financing this year in Canada. That brings total funding to $420 million.Clearbanc plans to offer $1 billion in financing this year and is interested in funding parts of a business that could turn into a repeatable revenue stream--infrastructure, shipping and sales commissions.It’s expanding outside the U.S. and Canada, where there’s a less developed venture ecosystem and “banks are more conservative,” according to co-founder and chief executive officer, Andrew D’Souza.“We think that the fundamentals of the business, the market opportunity, justifies a large standalone business,” D’Souza said about the possibility of an IPO.WattpadWattpad Corp. may no longer be a startup but its ambitions just keep growing. Founded as a mobile-reading app, 12-year-old Wattpad now calls itself a “multi-platform entertainment company.”The Toronto-based company has provided content for one of the most re-watched movies on Netflix (“The Kissing Booth”), a Hulu series (“Light as a Feather”), and this year a Hollywood feature film (“After”), all through Wattpad Studios, launched in 2016.Last week it inked a deal with Penguin Random House in the U.K. to turn its online content, mainly created and read by young women, into books. That follows the launch of its own publishing imprint, Wattpad Books, in the U.S. in April.The company uses data from more than 80 million monthly active users to identify the best stories across its platform and turn them into content. It has launched a paid, ad-free version as well as exclusive content for a fee.Wattpad has raised $117.8 million from investors including OMERS Ventures, Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s capital arm, and August Capital Corp, and is generating revenue in “eight figures,” according to co-founder and chief executive, Allen Lau.As for an IPO, it’s “not what we spend time focusing on,” Lau said. “Our focus right now is on movies and TV shows, with our partners.”VidyardVidyard Inc. wants to be the YouTube of business videos. Its software allows companies to create personalized videos to engage with customers and use data from their viewing habits to analyze that engagement.Companies are expected to spend $103 billion annually in video-ad marketing by 2023, according to Forrester Research.Vidyard counts 1,200 businesses in over 170 countries as its customers, including enterprise customers such as Honeywell International Inc., LinkedIn and Citibank.“In terms of the next two to three years, we’re just focused on consistent, hockey-stick style growth,” says Devon Galloway, co-founder and chief technology officer at Kitchener, Ontario-based Vidyard.The company has raised $60 million to date from investors including OMERS Ventures, Inovia Capital and the venture capital arm of Salesforce Inc.Galloway said if Vidyard continues to grow as well as it has an IPO would certainly be on its path.WealthsimpleWealthsimple Inc., wishes to replace banks as a customer’s primary financial relationship, according to founder and CEO Michael Katchen.“We want to be a firm that demystifies money,” Katchen said in an interview in Bloomberg’s Toronto office. The investment-services company has more than C$5 billion in assets under management and 175,000 customers in Canada, the U.S. and U.K.The robo-adviser favored by millennials, is also targeting wealthier Canadians and has branched out into commission-free stock trading and savings products. Mortgages, life insurance and checking accounts could be next, Katchen said.Founded in 2014, WealthSimple is not yet profitable, but its backers are patient, Katchen said. These include Power Financial Corp., an investment arm run by the Desmarais family and Allianz SE.Katchen said he’s interested in an IPO but it’s still “a few years away.”(Updates with Clearbanc’s financing plan)To contact the reporter on this story: Simran Jagdev in Toronto at sjagdev1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Jacqueline Thorpe at jthorpe23@bloomberg.net;David Scanlan at dscanlan@bloomberg.netFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- InvestorPlace
10 Best Stocks to Buy and Hold Forever
[Editor's note: "10 Best Stocks to Buy and Hold Forever" was previously published in July 2019. It has since been updated to include the most relevant information available.]In a market environment that overwhelmingly encourages constant activity by investors who seemingly want to double their money every week, a discussion of stocks to buy and hold forever seems comically out of place.And yet, for better or worse, that's the mindset all of us should adopt when deploying most of our investing capital. More often than not, the more you trade, the worse you end up doing.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading TipsIt has been said (and verified) that 95% of true "day traders" -- the most aggressive and active of all market participants -- end up losing money by being too active for their own good. Conversely, the fact that Warren Buffett's favorite holding period is "forever" and how he's got a track record most investors would envy is just as telling. * 10 Cheap Dividend Stocks to Load Up On With that as the backdrop, here's a rundown of 10 stocks to buy and hold forever … or at least until something significant changes with your life plans or the companies themselves. AT&T (T)Dividend Yield: 5.% Year-to-date gain: 20%Calling a spade a spade, shares of telecom giant AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) haven't been easy to own in a while. The stock is down from its mid-2016 peak, while most other stocks are well up for the timeframe.Source: Shutterstock The impasse has been an increasingly-tougher wireless and broadband market. But now that it's acquired media outfit Time Warner Inc (NYSE:TWX), a turnaround might have begun.If your intended timeframe really is "forever" though, a tough couple of years is nothing … particularly considering you're collecting a healthy dividend yield on your position's current value.More than that though, this is a telco name with a lot of clout, and a little more than $50 billion in the bank. Alphabet (GOOGL, GOOG)Dividend Yield: N/A Year-to-date gain: 12.7%Fans and followers of the company will likely know that Google parent company Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL, NASDAQ:GOOG) beat Q4's earnings estimate, posting $12.77 per share.Source: Shutterstock What got lost in the shuffle is how operating margins fell to 21 % from last quarter's 24%.Appreciated or not, Alphabet is a profit and revenue growth machine that has earned its spot on a list of "forever" stocks to buy. It may not always beat estimates, but it does always increase its numbers. * 10 Cheap Dividend Stocks to Load Up On That's because it keeps finding a way to serve as the middleman for about 70% of web searches done on desktops, and boasts being the preferred search engine for about 90% of the queries made via a mobile device.If it was going to be toppled, we'd see evidence of it by now. 3M (MMM)Dividend Yield: 3.67% Year-to-date gain: -18%In an era where complicated companies are shedding disparate parts of themselves so each arm can be hyper-focused on doing one thing exceedingly well, 3M Co (NYSE:MMM) is something of an outlier.Source: Shutterstock It offers everything from office supplies to healthcare products to the power transformers you see perched on top of power-line poles.It's wild mix that seems to work for 3M though, giving the company something to sell regardless of the economic environment.The clincher: 3M has managed to pay and increase its dividend every year going all the way back to 1977. Walmart (WMT)Dividend Yield: 1.88% Year-to-date gain: 21%Yes, the advent of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) has proven problematic for the world's biggest retailer, Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT).Source: Shutterstock Rumors of Walmart's death at the hands of Amazon, however, have been greatly exaggerated.After being knocked over a few years ago, the company has regrouped, having figured out a way to fight the ever-growing reach of its online rival. The evidence? Last quarter's revenue, excluding currency fluctuations, jumped 2.9%. * 10 Cheap Dividend Stocks to Load Up On While it has been an ugly battle at times, Walmart has finally learned how to compete with Amazon.com. The fact that it can leverage its stores to do so only bolsters the bullish case. Southern Co (SO)Dividend Yield: 4.49% Year-to-date gain: 30%No list of stocks to buy and hold forever would be complete without a utility stock. In good times and bad, consumers almost always pay their electricity bill.Source: Shutterstock And, even though margins are thin and power providers don't have a ton of pricing power, they have little competition in most markets. Most requests for rate hikes are also approved without question.To that end, Southern Co (NYSE:SO) is one of the top picks of the litter.Southern serves nine million customers, mostly in the south, although it's represented in most of the major regions of the United States. More important, Southern Co has dished out stunningly consistent (even if tiny) profit growth, setting the stage for equally consistent dividends. It has not failed to increase its annual payout since the late 90's. Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)Dividend Yield: 2.9% Year-to-date gain: 1.15%As advanced as we've become as a society, the need for medicines, surgical products and simple healthcare solutions like Band-Aids and Tylenol is never going to go away.Source: Shutterstock That means Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) -- which maintains a bigger product portfolio than most investors realize -- will always have something to sell to someone.That being said, don't think for a minute that a play on J&J is capitulation in the search for respectable growth. The company isn't just about treating tummy troubles and selling no-tears baby shampoo. * 10 Cheap Dividend Stocks to Load Up On It still operates a pharmaceutical arm as well, with its pharma operational revenue jumping 4.4% year-over-year last quarter, Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B, BRK.A)Dividend Yield: N/A Year-to-date gain: -2%If the Warren Buffett mindset is the underlying philosophy in play here, why not go straight to the source and buy a piece of the fund he built from the ground up? That's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.B, NYSE:BRK.A).Source: Shutterstock Sure, in his most recent letter to shareholders, the Oracle of Omaha said he's struggling to find new companies at a "sensible purchase price," which is the life-blood of the organization's growth. There's also the stark reality that the 87-year-old Buffett is increasingly less involved with Berkshire Hathaway. That separation is only going to widen as time marches on.Still, he has more than proven his way works for the long haul. Over the course of the past half-century, Berkshire stock has performed about twice as well as the S&P 500 has. Waste Management (WM)Dividend Yield: 1.73% Year-to-date gain: 33%There's an old adage … the only two sure things in life are death and taxes.Source: Shutterstock It's a humorous point about the limited nature of human life and the far-reaching power of the IRS. But, it's not necessarily a complete cliche. There's a third certainty. That is, as long as people are living on the planet earth, they'll be creating garbage to shuttle to their nearby landfill. Some of the best stocks to buy and hold are companies that haul that garbage away.Enter Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM), which runs garbage-pickup services for 21 million North American customers. Although its top and bottom lines ebb and flow, the bigger trend for both is pointed upward. * 10 Cheap Dividend Stocks to Load Up On Look for more of the same too. As CEO Jim Fish pointed out last year, "The babyboomers are coming into a period of heavy medical spend. All of our parents are aging and spending more on medical spend. There is medical waste generated from that, we are in that business. The industrial economy is important to us.Whether it's through repatriation from the new tax law, or just through the fact the U.S. and Canada are great places to do business and the industrial economy is showing some signs of life, we are a big industrial player on the back-end of the cycle." American Water Works (AWK)Dividend Yield: 1.61% Year-to-date gain: 37.4%Perhaps just as certain as death, taxes and the creation of trash, as long as people are alive they're going to need water to survive. That puts a water utility name like American Water Works Company Inc (NYSE:AWK) in the catbird seat. Reliability and demand make water utilities safe stocks to buy when others seem sketchy.Source: Shutterstock Much like electricity providers Southern Company, American Water Works Company -- which offers water and sewer services to 15 million people in the United States -- is rarely told no when it wants to raise rates.Water service prices have risen at above-inflation rates for the past several years, and American Water Works Company has benefited from that industry-wide trend. It's not apt to change anytime soon. Colgate-Palmolive (CL)Dividend Yield: 2.40% Year-to-date gain: 21%Last but not least, while the purchase of things like cars are cyclical, and the automobile industry itself is subject to constant reinvention, there are some consumer goods people just buy over and over again without a second thought. When it comes to the best stocks to buy and hold, you just can't forget consumer staples.Source: Shutterstock Among those often-repurchased items are Colgate toothpaste, Palmolive dish soap, Speed Stick deodorant and Cuddly fabric conditioner.Yep, they're all made by Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL), though they're only a small sampling of the brands you'll find under the company's umbrella. * 10 Cheap Dividend Stocks to Load Up On Those who know the Colgate-Palmolive story well will know the company has gotten into some sloppy spending habits, crimping margins more than most shareholders would like. That's starting to change, however, with a serious and rather impressive cost-cutting initiative. The benefits of that work could last years, if not decades.As of this writing, James Brumley hold a long position in AT&T. You can follow him on Twitter, at @jbrumley. More From InvestorPlace * 4 Top American Penny Pot Stocks (Buy Before June 21) * 7 Stocks to Buy for June * 7 Stocks to Buy From One of America's Best Pension Funds * 4 Consumer Staples Stocks for Both Income and Growth The post 10 Best Stocks to Buy and Hold Forever appeared first on InvestorPlace.
- Zacks
Tencent (TCEHY) Q2 Earnings Beat Estimates, Revenues Up Y/Y
Tencent's (TCEHY) second-quarter 2019 results benefit from robust FinTech and Business Services revenues despite sluggish ad environment in China.
- Market Realist
Google Employee Protests Stop Company Contracts
Google (GOOGL) employees are petitioning the company to not accept contracts from US immigration agencies that commit human rights violations.
- InvestorPlace
With Spectacle 3, Snap Stock Is All Set for Another Major Failure
There is no question that Snap (NYSE:SNAP) CEO and co-founder Evan Spiegel is sitting in a better position eight months into 2019. SNAP stock is up 197% year to date through August 14.Source: Shutterstock More than that, the company just issued $1.1 billion in convertible notes at the bargain-basement interest rate of 0.75%. As my InvestorPlace colleague James Brumley recently admitted, "Snap CEO Evan Spiegel has become a savvy CEO rather quickly, making SNAP stock the compelling prospect it was supposed to be two years ago (but wasn't)." When Snap went public in 2017, I wasn't a fan. Two years later, I've found myself predicting that SNAP stock will hit $20 by the end of the year. InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading TipsSpiegel has done an excellent job focusing the company on monetizing its social media app while at the same time cutting expenses. Don't get me wrong, I'm not thrilled that it lost $202 million on an EBITDA basis in the first six months of the year, but revenues continue to grow at a significant rate while free cash flow usage is diminishing. * 10 Stocks Under $5 to Buy for Fall The business is getting stronger in almost every way possible, including the ever-important daily active users, which have jumped 8% over the past 12 months to 203 million. Take a bow, Evan Spiegel. Thanks to your efforts over the past year, your net worth has risen exponentially. A Loss of FocusA piece of earth-shattering news came across the wires August 13. Team Snap announced the launch of Spectacles 3, the third version of its costly Spectacles sunglasses that capture the world in 3D. Available for pre-order at $380; they'll begin shipping the sunglasses in the fall. Remember that focus I was talking about in the intro. The development of Spectacles is the antithesis of focus. While innovation is to be applauded, Spectacles isn't the kind of creativity that will reward Snap shareholders. Not now, not ever. "Grossly overestimating demand for Spectacles in 2016, Snap was forced to take a $40 million write-down on all the first-generation units it couldn't sell… which was most of them," Brumley wrote in November 2018. Here's what I said about Spectacles in September 2018:"I wish Snap would forget about those ridiculous Spectacles. While the second generation might look a lot better, they're nothing but a distraction from its real business of selling advertising."The crazy thing about the third version is that it's almost double the price of the second. Sure, Spectacles 3 comes equipped with a second HD camera, but who in their right mind is going to pay that kind of price for two HD cameras? Perhaps the price increase is meant to ensure the company makes money on each pair sold, but something tells me this fascination with sunglasses is going to end with another writedown. It's All About Making MoneyI can understand Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) making this kind of crazy bet on 3D sunglasses. It generated $27.4 billion in free cash flow over the past 12 months; it's got an entire division dedicated to moonshots that aren't likely to pan out. Snap's free cash flow usage over the trailing 12 months ended Q2 2019 is $489 million, down considerably from $914 million a year earlier. It's reduced its free cash flow usage for four straight quarters, so it's going in the right direction. However, I fail to see how Spectacles 3 is going to help reduce that number even further. Until it's generating positive free cash flow, investors ought to be suspicious of vanity projects such as this one. They're a waste of time, resources and focus. While I still believe Snap stock could still hit $20 in 2019, the company's insistence on maintaining the Spectacles business portends a potential correction in 2020.If you're considering money-losing social media, I continue to prefer Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) over SNAP stock because it's got a better pathway to profitability. And most importantly, it's unlikely to make a spectacle of itself.At the time of this writing Will Ashworth did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 10 Stocks Under $5 to Buy for Fall * 5 Stocks to Avoid Amid the Ongoing Trade War * 7 5G Stocks to Buy Now for the Future The post With Spectacle 3, Snap Stock Is All Set for Another Major Failure appeared first on InvestorPlace.
- InvestorPlace
iQiyi Stock Will See Lower Prices
It doesn't take a genius to point out iQiyi (NASDAQ:IQ) has been in a bearish trend. But looking forward and with earnings on tap, both off and on the price chart IQ stock's pain looks far from over. Let me explain.Source: Shutterstock iQiyi has been hailed as the Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) of China. But IQ stock actually operates a lot more like an amalgam of Netflix, Alphabet's (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) YouTube and Amazon's (NASDAQ:AMZN) Twitch. It sounds interesting, but the IQ story faces an uphill battle which it's unlikely to conquer.Off the chart, IQ stock has delivered large and indefensible losses which aren't going away anytime soon. The trend of producing original but very costly content has only continued to increase. In fact it absorbed a staggering 79% of iQiyi's revenue in Q1 and up 38% from the prior year.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading TipsBottom line, competing in today's streaming video market is a serious threat in IQ stock's ability to reach profitability -- unless IQ stock miraculously produces a great deal more revenue growth than the company has so far. But don't hold your breath.With China's economy continuing to weaken and ad revenues from the company's YouTube inspired business shrinking, the reality of profitability for IQ stock is even further out of reach. And as InvestorPlace's Mark Hake points out, with a massive annual cash burn rate of 53%, iQiyi's difficulties are even more pronounced. * 10 Cheap Dividend Stocks to Load Up On And it only gets worse for IQ stock. The company has a couple of other big problems. iQiyi is being challenged by much larger, profitable and well-capitalized Chinese tech giants Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) and Tencent (OTCMKTS:TCEHY). Not only do these companies have the wherewithal to absorb losses to gain market-share, they're in position to stay the course, even if today's slower growth environment becomes a full-blown recession.Lastly, there's also IQ's price chart. It's our technical view iQiyi shares aren't in position to win over any fans, except perhaps bearish traders comfortable with shorting stock. IQ Stock Daily Chart Following a very brief respite which saw shares surge higher and unsuccessfully challenge the 200-day simple moving average earlier this summer, it has been all downhill for IQ stock investors. And right now, shares of IQ are setting up in a bearish pattern pointing at even lower prices.Specifically, IQ stock has formed a flag under price support which preceded the jump in share price and beneath the 76% retracement level. That's not good news for bulls. Moreover, with stochastics curling into a bearish crossover inside neutral territory, iQiyi is in position for shorting. Trading IQ Stock Gaining short exposure in IQ stock before the company reports next Monday looks approachable. But the possibility of increased earnings volatility, which can work against the position, needs to be respected. As much, and for those seeking a bearish position in front of the iQIYI report, I wouldn't recommend shorting shares outright. But that doesn't mean you can't trade IQ stock.Instead, I'd suggest using a slightly out-of-the-money bear put spread. One favored vertical of this type is the weeklys Sep 27 $16/$14 put spread for 50 cents. Unlike short stock, a bearish vertical spread can control and reduce risk to the debit paid and offer big-time profits in the event iQIYI stock trades aggressively lower.Investment accounts under Christopher Tyler's management do not currently own positions in any securities mentioned in this article. The information offered is based upon Christopher Tyler's observations and strictly intended for educational purposes only; the use of which is the responsibility of the individual. . For additional market insights and related musings, follow Chris on Twitter @Options_CAT and StockTwits. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 10 Cheap Dividend Stocks to Load Up On * The 10 Biggest Losers from Q2 Earnings * 5 Dependable Dividend Stocks to Buy The post iQiyi Stock Will See Lower Prices appeared first on InvestorPlace.
- TheStreet.com
[video]Amazon Could Be Your Defensive Play in the Event of Recession
If a recession hits, Amazon's focus on low prices and hooking consumers on subscription shopping could be the right recipe to outperform large-cap tech peers.
- Yahoo Finance Video
Savers targeted with ads on Google for 'bonds' that put all their money at risk
Yahoo Finance UK investigated Google searches for terms like “high interest savings”, and “high interest savings accounts UK” and found that ads popped up for mini-bonds..which is a form of high-risk debt product. Yahoo Finance’s Edmund Heaphy breaks down the details.
