The Motley Fool's CAPS investing service is great way for investors to work together to beat the market -- and maybe get famous while they're at it. Among its features, CAPS lets users blog about their picks, investing strategy, market view, their favorite college football team, or whatever floats their boat.
As the CAPS blogosphere continues to grow, members are adding more great content on a daily basis. To make it easier to find some of the gems out there, I've dug through the past week's posts to find some of CAPS' best insights. Of course, with room for only seven posts here I can't possibly cover all of the great stuff in the CAPS blogosphere. So when you're done here I highly recommend heading over to CAPS and checking out what some of the other investors have to say.
News from the auto front
One of the great aspects of the CAPS community is that its members work in all sorts of industries and can provide the rest of the community some insider insight. As Ford (NYSE:F), General Motors (NYSE:GM), and Chrysler hurtle toward what appears to be inevitable bankruptcy or government bailout, iamamartin has chimed in with an auto worker's perspective on why the government should step in and play Deus ex machina to the imploding industry. Head over to iamamartin's blog to get his thoughts.
10 things to do while waiting for the market to recover
You've chewed through all ten of your fingernails, you've shaken your computer monitor like an Etch A Sketch hoping to erase your losses, and you've given CNBC guests the finger more than a couple times. Maybe it's time to take a break from it all. Need ideas? You're in luck, CAPS blogger jerryguru69 has come up with ten things to do instead of watching your stocks. Click through to jerry's blog for his list.
The ugly duckling of alternative energy
Raser Technology, scam or the next big thing? CAPS member TheHuney tackles exactly this question in a recent blog post. Rather than steal the thunder from TheHuney and his great write-up, I'll just point you in the direction of his blog.
Comments on Applied Materials' Q4
Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) fourth-quarter earnings may have topped analysts' estimates, but its outlook and planned restructuring left investors less than excited. CAPS blogger weiwentg isn't terribly concerned about current or near-term results -- he's more focused on the fact that the company is in a strong financial position to survive the recession and come back strong during the next cyclical upturn for the semiconductor industry. To get weiwentg's full take, as well as why he prefers Applied Materials over MEMC Electronic Materials (NYSE:WFR) when it comes to solar, head over to his blog.
Helmerich and Payne -- am I early?
CAPS member DemonDoug poses the above question as he looks at Helmerich and Payne as a play on a potential recovery in oil prices. He thinks that HP will provide better returns in a recovery than other front-of-mind energy companies like ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) and Petrobras (NYSE:PBR), but DemonDoug realizes that -- as value investor Seth Klarman has emphasized -- being early can often be indistinguishable from being wrong. So do you have some thoughts on HP? Or do you want to see what the rest of the community told DemonDoug? Head over to his blog already!
Time to buy shares of mining companies?
If you ask CAPS blogger Scotbgaw, the answer is a resounding "yes." Attracted to the steep fall of the sector and the continued need for metals, Scotbgaw thinks that now could be a good time to look at mining names like Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX). Click through to Scotbgaw's blog to read his take.
Tweets of the week
Like your news in bite-sized chunks? Then The Motley Fool's Twitter feed may be right up your alley. Check out TMFNato's blog for a list of the top Twitter headlines over the past week.
And that's our round-up for this week. Be sure to check back next week for more great blogging action. In the meantime, why not head over to CAPS and add your two cents to the community pool?
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