The Motley Fool's CAPS investing service is one of the newest additions to the investing community at Fool.com, and it's another great way for investors to work together to beat the market. One of the features in CAPS allows users to set up a blog to talk about their picks, investing strategy, market view, or their favorite baseball team (if they so desire).
I've scoured through the CAPS blog universe to bring you a generous helping of the top blog posts of the past week.
The 10-99
In a recent post, fellow Fool TMFHollywoodDan explores some of the top picks from some of the top players on CAPS. Among the quality picks that Dan digs up is dELiA*s, a pick from pencils2. pencils2 is underwater on the pick right now, but likes the fact that "earnings are growing at a very nice pace, the business is producing good cash flow, the balance sheet is healthy, and the company itself has plenty of room to expand." yippiekiyeh, the recent winner of the Fool vs. World contest on CAPS, also made it onto Dan's list with his pick of Synchronoss Technologies (Nasdaq: SNCR ) .
Should we ride the Wells Fargo stagecoach?
Over the past year, Wells Fargo's (NYSE: WFC ) stock has returned a not-so-impressive 0.24% versus 20.5% for the S&P 500. However, it is one of the largest banks in the U.S., pays a 3.2% dividend, and is currently trading at a P/E of 14. So is it time to hop on that stagecoach? CAPS All-Star rd80 takes a closer look at the company in this recent blog post.
What?! I thought ethanol was our silver bullet!
Though companies like Pacific Ethanol (Nasdaq: PEIX ) and Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE: ADM ) are hoping that ethanol continues to be a favored alternative energy source, there have been some rumblings that maybe ethanol isn't all it's cracked up to be. In his recent post, tim2pac reviews a recent article that explores some of the potential environmental concerns of ethanol production.
How the super-rich fly
Are you just about sick of flying like all the rest of us plebes on Southwest (NYSE: LUV ) ? Maybe you even feel a bit too good for Berkshire (NYSE: BRK-A ) (NYSE: BRK-B ) subsidiary NetJets? In a blog post last Monday, camistocks shared some info about a Swiss company called Jet Aviation, which designs the interiors of big planes for use by private parties. Perhaps even more interesting are the photos of some of the interiors, which camistocks also shares.
I'm a banking bear
CAPS All-Star dwot was recently asked why she gave the big red thumbs-down to banking giant Citigroup (NYSE: C ) . After all, Citi pays a 4%-plus dividend and sports a P/E ratio right around 11. In her blog post, dwot outlines why she thinks Citi, and other financial institutions like it, still have more pain ahead from the mortgage market. She says:
I do not usually rate under perform for a stock paying a good dividend and having a low P/E, however, I do not believe any financial institution will ride out the subprime fallout very well and I think the consequences of the sub prime lending market will be felt for years. These mortgages have been repackaged and sold and repackaged and sold again. They are hiding everywhere in financial institutions and investors would be very hard pressed to figure out any individual institution's exposure to risk.
Is peak oil recognized by the market?
Say "peak oil" out loud in a crowded room and you'll no doubt hear any number of opinions: We've hit peak oil! We're about to hit it! We're nowhere near it! It doesn't even exist! In his blog post, CAPS player rudolphsteiner talks about the market's perception of peak oil and where opportunity may be hiding out.
Help!
This recent blog post by RayK25 was short and sweet -- Ray said he is entering the world of investing as a neophyte and was reaching out to the CAPS community for some beginner tips. What I found particularly notable about Ray's post was the speed at which the CAPS community jumped on it. The same day that Ray posted, one of CAPS' All-Star players, StockSpreadsheet (a.k.a. cetalley), responded with a long reply sharing some of his insights.
So now it's your turn -- get off the sidelines, join CAPS, and start up your own CAPS blog to share your knowledge and insights with the rest of the CAPS universe.
More CAPS Foolishness:
Berkshire Hathaway is a recommendation of both Stock Advisor and Inside Value. You can take a free trial of either newsletter (or both!) by clicking here.
Fool contributor Matt Koppenheffer shares some thoughts of his own on his CAPS blog. He owns does not own shares of any of the companies mentioned. The Fool's disclosure policy does not have its own CAPS blog, but if it did, it would blow your mind.
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