John Dorfman Columns category, Page 6
John Dorfman: Try your luck in my Three Stock Derby
Contestants who picked energy stocks did well in my 14th annual stock picking contest. Almost everyone else did badly. My contest is called Dorfman’s Three Stock Derby. Each contestant picks three stocks. Total returns for the three are averaged, and the person with the highest average is the winner. Aside...
John Dorfman: Over 19 years, Old Faithful has averaged 21% return
Here are some new stocks to consider, spawned by my Old Faithful stock-picking paradigm. Old Faithful is a simple stock-picking tool, but my selections from it in this column have averaged a 21% return over 19 years. To pop up on this screen, a stock must: • Have a return...
John Dorfman: 5 stocks to buy in teeth of the small-stock debacle
The small-stock slaughter continues. In the 12 months through April 14, small stocks fell almost 10%, while large stocks rose 8%. Moreover, the market’s big boys have beaten the small fry in four of the past five years. With inflation roaring, the Federal Reserve raising interest rates and Russia waging...
John Dorfman: My 30-30 club has Alphabet, Nvidia and 45 more stocks
Few players — stars such as Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Mike Trout and Mookie Betts — can make baseball’s 30-30 Club. It’s for players who hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases in the same season. I have a 30-30 Club for companies. To make it, a company must...
John Dorfman: A wake-up call for bargain hunters
For bargain hunters, every stock market cloud has a silver lining. After a rough first quarter, dozens of stocks have descended to what I consider attractive levels. I’ve put five of them on my Casualty List, a quarterly roster of stocks that have been beaten up, and that I believe...
John Dorfman: In the Dow, 3 Stocks I Like, 3 I’d Avoid
At times like these, when investors are nervous, many will flee to the safety of the biggest, best-known stocks. The 30 stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average fit that description. They are chosen for the index specifically because they are industry leaders. Investors have reason to be skittish at...
John Dorfman: Apple, Diamondback and 3 other Nasdaq stocks I like
The Nasdaq Stock Market has a reputation as a home for up-and-comers. In the past year, it’s been more like down-and-outers. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell more than 3% in the 12 months through March 15, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 Total Return Index, widely viewed as a proxy...
John Dorfman: Intel’s CEO bought his own stock – should you?
Semiconductor chips are a strategic commodity. For the past few years, people have been saying that Intel Corp. (INTC) is at a disadvantage because most of its fabs (fabrication plants) are in the U.S. Chips can be produced more cheaply in Asia. Based in Santa Clara, Calif., Intel is the...
John Dorfman: Glory days pass you by. Ask IBM, General Electric
Bruce Springsteen sang that glory days will pass “in the wink of a young girl’s eye.” I was thinking about that song a few days ago when I cleaned out some files and came up a list of the stocks with the greatest market value as of June 15, 1990....
Come join my Derby of Economic Forecasting Talent
They never see it coming. By “they,” I mean almost everyone. By “it,” I mean a surprise in the economy. As evidence, consider my annual Derby of Economic Forecasting Talent (DEFT), which has just concluded its 19th year. Inflation in 2021 heated up to 7%. Not a single one of...
John Dorfman: Why I think George Soros is wrong about Rivian
George Soros recently bought shares of Rivian Automotive Inc. (RIVN). I think he’s wrong. Shares in Rivian, an electric-truck startup backed by Amazon.com Inc. and Ford Motor Co., trade for 6,637 times the company’s revenue for the past four quarters. That’s the kind of multiple you see when investors mentally...
John Dorfman: Beware of stocks selling for 100 times revenue
Just as there are no sure winners in the stock market, there are no sure losers. But I can tell you something that’s close. If you want excellent odds of losing your money, invest in a stock selling for 100 times revenue or more. Each year from 2000 through 2006,...
John Dorfman: All hail the balance sheet powerhouses
For the past half dozen years, investors couldn’t care less about a company’s balance sheet. But now that interest rates are rising, companies with lots of cash and little debt will increasingly hold the advantage. You’ll find 32 such companies this year on my annual list that I call Balance...
John Dorfman: 3 stocks bucking downtrend
It’s been a rough year for the stock market so far. Here are three stocks that are bucking the downtrend and that also are relatively inexpensive, selling for 15 times earnings or less. These stocks have managed to rise even as the Standard & Poor’s 500 Total Return Index fell...
John Dorfman: Catching falling knives: Jim Cramer’s picks and my own
Jim Cramer is one of the most controversial stock-market pundits and one of the most widely followed. He hosts the “Mad Money” segment on CNBC television and founded The Street.com, a popular financial website. On Jan. 28, Cramer recommended a few stocks that have fallen sharply in this year’s stock-market...
John Dorfman: January’s slide doesn’t mean stock market doomed for 2022
“As January goes, so goes the year” in the stock market. Thus runs a common belief among traders. If you believe it, you’re probably scared right now, as the Standard & Poor’s 500 Total Return Index was down 7.66% in the first three weeks of this year. Take heart. The...
John Dorfman: EBay and Overstock.com are on the Casualty List
I’ve always liked stocks that have taken a beating. The market has punished them for their sins, but sometimes the market goes overboard. That’s why each quarter I compile my Casualty List, comprising stocks that have been pummeled in the latest quarter, and that I think have major comeback potential....
John Dorfman: Analysts’ most-adored stocks trailed the market yet again
Suppose your son falls in love with a beautiful Wall Street analyst. What should you do? Don’t try to block the wedding, but don’t take your future daughter-in-law’s advice on which stocks to buy. For more than two decades, I’ve been tracking the fate of the four stocks analysts love...
John Dorfman: Robot portfolio: value in extreme
Investors are keenly aware that growth stocks have beaten value stocks five years in a row. So what am I going to recommend today? Some extreme value stocks. Beginning in 1998, I’ve started the year with the Robot Portfolio, comprising the ten cheapest stocks in the market. My measure of...
John Dorfman: Why I own only 2 of the Sacred Seven stocks
There are seven stocks that investors seem to worship. In the parlance of the 1970s, they are one-decision stocks: You are supposed to buy them and never sell them. Call them the Sacred Seven. The blessed septet are Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL, formerly Google), Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), Apple Inc. (AAPL), Meta...
John Dorfman: Peloton leads market’s parade of losers
Part of Peloton Interactive Inc.’s stock decline this year was funny. But the loss of 73% for the year to date (through Dec. 21) was not so humorous. As shown in the accompanying table, Peloton suffered the biggest loss of all stocks with a market value of $5 billion or...
John Dorfman: The Bunny roared in 2021
The Bunny Portfolio is hopping again. It bounced to a 36.6% return in the past year. I named this hypothetical portfolio after the Energizer Bunny of battery-commercial fame, which is “still going” long after you’d expect it to lose its energy. The companies in the Bunny Portfolio have done well...
John Dorfman: CEOs buy their own shares at loanDepot, Uber
It pays to keep an eye open when corporate chieftains buy or sell their company’s stock. Here are four dispatches from the (legal) insider trading front. loanDepot Based in Foothill Ranch, Calif., loanDepot Inc. (LDI), is a nonbank consumer lender. Much of its business consists of home equity loans and...
John Dorfman: So far, Joe Biden leads all presidents in market performance
So far, Joe Biden leads all U.S. presidents in stock-market performance. We’re in the early days, of course. Biden hasn’t served a full year yet. And the market slide on Nov. 26, if sustained, could change the numbers rapidly. But through Nov. 26, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index has...
John Dorfman: 5 GARP stocks that look like good bets to me
Barring a reversal in the last few weeks of this year, growth stocks will beat value stocks in 2021 for the fifth time in a row. These things tend to run in spurts. Value beat growth seven years in a row from 2000 through 2006. For those who don’t know...
