Here’s one hot off the press:

Oh my, where do we begin? This beast calls for bullet points:

• Obviously, Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) is no longer No. 1. That title now goes to Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A). The American consumer is out, and a global oil conglomerate is in… ’nuff said
• There’s a clear sea change in American business. AIG, Lehman and Bear Stearns fell off the list from 2008-2009. Nike (NYSE:NKE), Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) moved up
• The world is increasingly less Amero-centric. An American company is not No. 1 for the first time in over a decade. In the whole list for 2009, 140 companies are American, the lowest number on record
• The world is increasingly more Sino-centric. Look at China National Petroleum and Sinopec (NYSE:SHI). Both Chinese companies are by far the biggest movers up from 2008-2009. Sinopec, an oil and gas company, also marks China’s first foray into Fortunes’ top 10. China now has 37 companies in the list of 500, its largest presence ever
• Oil is still where it’s at. In spite of all the price drama over the last year, seven of the top 10 firms are oil companies
• In the face of the worst global economic environment of our lifetimes, the world’s biggest companies are still making lots of money. The 2008 top 25 pulled in $4.88 trillion in revenue. This year, they made $5.38 trillion
• And freakin’ GE… what a black box. The world’s producer of everything was one of very few companies to retain the same position from 2008-2009. And despite the infamous GE Capital, the finance arm that apparently threatened to torpedo the whole company, GE ended up increasing revenues by nearly $7 billion. Hmmm…

Source: The Great Shift of 2009

The battle between two industry rivals is heating up. One company is mature, managed by a team of seasoned executives and has a pile of cash. The other company has a powerful brand, but little else.

Shares of Nike (NYSE:NKE) and Under Armour (NYSE:UA) are in the red today as the Street digests the latest earnings figures from the industry’s top dog.

Nike revealed its net income dropped to $341.4 million over the past three months, down from last year’s figure of $490.5 million.

Considering the drop was due to a $200 million re-structuring charge as Nike shed 1,750 workers, the quarter was not too bad. Without the charge, the sportswear maker beat most analyst estimates.

But, of course, the market looks forward, not backwards. That means investors are acting on the company’s outlook released last night, which gives little reason to bid up share price today.

With revenue dropping by 7% last quarter and orders through the next “several” months down by 12% from last year’s figures, the future is not nearly as bright as most had hoped.

In fact, the company’s CEO expects the recovery to mimic the company’s trademark “swoosh” logo, a long, gradual climb.

If that is the case, investors are better off taking their money elsewhere. Anywhere but Under Armour, that is.

All about cash

If the Baltimore-based company’s upcoming revenues and outlook mirror Nike’s figures, Under Armour investors will be downright depressed.

With just $65 million in cash, versus Nike’s whopping position of close to $2 billion, Under Armour had better be prepared to protect the ground it recently stole from its chief competitor.

As the economic malaise continues, Under Armour will be forced to curtail its growth, giving a much more liquid Nike more than enough ammunition to start grabbing market share.

Under Armour has the brand power and the momentum of several years of phenomenal growth on its side, but now that the industry is getting downright tough, only the strong will survive.

With its skin-tight product line, Under Armour may look tough. But we all know the guys with the piles of cash almost always win.

Source: Nike Gets Ready for Competition

But while many analysts suggest this company may be a one trick pony – akin to Crocs, (Nasdaq: CROX). They couldn’t be more wrong. The reason its share price was penalized was that analysts were expecting $1.09 instead of the .79 reported.

This is a classic case of overreaction from a negative earnings report.

The fact of the matter is that this brand has developed a premium niche within the sportswear market, and it’s expanding that brand recognition to other areas.

Yes, there are numerous knock-offs of their breathable fabrics. And several competitors for the highly coveted retail space they occupy. But you have to hand it to UA. It was able to outmaneuver entrenched companies like Adidas AG (OTC: ADDYY) and Nike (NYSE: NKE). That wasn’t easy.

Under Armour’s integration into professional and college sports, has put its product into the hands of millions of athletes. From younger athletes see their sports idols wearing UA, to the armchair quarterbacks who want to do the same, its specialty sportswear has mass appeal. That brand dominance will allow it to keep its spot for the long haul.

It’s no surprise, really, that it’s being affected by the current economic downturn – like most other companies. But a few missed analyst estimates does not make a company un-investable – or unprofitable.

Source: Under Armour (UA) Gets Penalized by Analysts

This from Investment U:

Look at every investment disaster individual investors have endured throughout history and the cause is virtually always the same. They neglected to ask a simple question: What if I’m wrong?

• Take the guy whose retirement account is loaded up with shares of one company, the same one he works for. He exposes himself to a career downturn and an investment disaster at the same time. He forgets to ask, “What if I’m wrong?”

• Or the woman who buys an investment property in a hot market, taking out a mortgage she can barely afford. What if she’s wrong?

• Take the trader who loads up on call options, trades heavily on margin or bets the farm on the bull market in oil continuing. What if he’s wrong?

Of course, every investor can be wrong. We all are occasionally. Successful investing is about taking – and intelligently managing – risk.

We Know The Future Is Unknowable At Investment U

We at Investment U are well aware that to a large extent the future is unknowable. So despite our well laid plans, we always hedge our bets.

That means buying quality, diversifying broadly and running trailing stops behind each of our individual stock positions. Anyone who has done that over the past 12 months is miles ahead of the average investor.

As the old saying goes, “The winner in a bull market is he who makes the most. The winner in a bear market is he who loses the least.”

Although we’re in a bear market now, the time has already come to start looking ahead.  Investment legends like Warren Buffett and Mark Mobius know this. (They have the benefit of a well-informed investment perspective.) Your average talking head, apparently, does not.

For instance, there have been six major bear markets over the past 80 years. The average decline in the Dow Jones Industrial Average of the previous five disasters – from peak to trough – was 43%.

That’s just about the low point of the current bear market. Unless we’re about to enter a “Greater Depression,” we’re a lot closer to the bottom than the top.

Scared Investors Are Missing the Easy Investment Opportunities

And there are investment opportunities galore, although most investors are too scared to move on much of anything.

• Many of them are tucked safely away in T-bills, where they can sleep soundly at night. But is the purpose of your investment portfolio to provide for you and your family in retirement or is it to play Brahms’ Lullaby?

• Many of these investors have deluded themselves that they will wait until the coast is clear of any investment disasters and then safely re-enter the market down the road.

In other words, having failed to see the top of the market – like 99.9% of all investors – they are now confident they can pick the bottom.

What if they’re wrong? What if the market is already discounting a severe recession? They run the risk of sitting in cash, collecting a pittance, when the market starts to rally again in earnest.

13 Companies At Bargain Basement Levels – For Starters

Meanwhile, there are plenty of companies out there trading at bargain basement levels. If you don’t have much faith in near-term earnings, try a different tack. Buy a few companies that are loaded with cash.

Which ones? Well, for starters, there is:

• AutoDesk (NASDAQ:ADSK)

• Amdocs (NYSE:DOX)

• Dell (NASDAQ:DELL)

• Expedia (NASDAQ:EXPE)

• Foster Wheeler (NASDAQ:FWLT)

• NCR (NYSE:NCR)

• Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO)

• BMC Software (NYSE:BMC)

• McDermott International (NYSE:MDR)

• Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ)

• Intel (NASDAQ:INTC)

• Nike (NYSE:NKE)

What if I’m wrong? What if these cash-rich companies go down in the near future, too?

That’s always a possibility.

Limit Your Downside Risk With Trailing Stops

But if you use our recommended 25% trailing stop, you’re not just buying cheap… you’re strictly limiting your downside risk.

The investor holed up in cash, on the other hand, is earning a meager 2% or so on his money.   He may not reach his investment goals. But he sleeps well… and he feels safe.

What if he’s wrong?

Source: What If You’re Wrong?

• Oil prices slid back below $106 a barrel yesterday (Wednesday) after the Energy Information Administration said demand for gasoline over the four weeks ended Sept. 19 was 3.5% lower than a year earlier, averaging 9 million barrels a day. Light, sweet crude for November delivery fell 88 cents to settle at $105.73 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after having risen about $15 in the past week.

• Prices of existing homes fell by record amounts in August and the rate of sales tumbled the National Association of Realtors said yesterday (Wednesday). The pace of existing home sales decreased 2.2% to an annual pace of 4.91 million units while the median national home price declined a record 9.5% to $203,100, the group said.

• Nike Inc. (NKE) said yesterday (Wednesday) that it posted a 10% rise in adjusted first-quarter earnings. First-quarter net profit was $510.5 million, or $1.03 per share, down from $569.7 million, or $1.12 per share, a year earlier. But that was largely due to a $105.4 million tax benefit in 2007. Revenue rose 17% to $5.4 billion in the quarter.

• General Motors Corp. (GM) is looking to sell a plant in Strasbourg, France, and will entertain possible buyers next month when it goes to sell its Hummer SUV brand, Reuters reported. The company previously outlined a plan to raise up to $4 billion by next year, but it did not mention the Stasbourg plant. GM said it would make further announcements about its asset sales program in the fourth quarter.

• Digg Inc., the Web site that allows users to vote on news stories, yesterday (Wednesday) raised another $28.7 million from venture-capital investors. Digg’s Chief Executive Jay Adelson says the company will use the funds to expand the size of its current staff and to create regional versions of the site, The New York Times reported.

• Overall ad spending was down 1.6% in the first-half of 2008, according to a recent study from TNS, a division of Taylor Nelson Sofres PLC (PINK: TYNLF) that tracks ad spending across 20 media segments, Forbes reported. Second-half results could be higher due to the media blitz surrounding the Summer Olympics.

• Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) yesterday (Wednesday) introduced an upgrade to its online advertising platform. The new service known as APT is targeted at winning back display ad market share from rivals, The Wall Street Journal reported.

• Daimler AG (DAI) is in talks with Cerberus Capital Management LP to sell its remaining 19.9% stake in domestic automaker. “We are currently in discussions,” Cerberus spokesman Peter Duda said, Bloomberg News reported. “In the event of a successful transaction, all existing industrial relationships between Daimler and Chrysler would continue.”

Source: Global Investing Roundups Thursday, September 25th, 2008

As an investor, I need to be able to assign values to things. If I do not know what the future holds, I cannot make calculations with even a hint of certainty. I can’t assign a value to a company if I have no idea what assets will remain on its balance sheet.

It is impossible to invest in any financial institution with any sort of certainty. All you would be doing is making a very risky gamble.

Fortunately, the financial sector is far from the only game on Wall Street. With the banking world in turmoil, valuations of other American companies have been drug deep into undeserved territory.

An oasis of safety and profitability

For proof, look at the news from Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Nike Inc. (NYSE:NKE). Investors in both companies are smiling today thanks to news of major increases in the firms’ share buyback programs.

The maker of the software that runs the world announced this morning it is increasing its share repurchase program by $40 billion, while increasing its dividend by two cents. And the company that helps the world run comfortably, Nike, announced it will purchase another $5 billion worth of shares from the Street.

Both of these announcements show that some companies believe they are undervalued and will see positive times ahead. It also helps current investors sleep better at night knowing there is a firm technical floor under the share price. In a market as tumultuous as this one, these are the kinds of companies you need to be studying and investing in.

Last week, I recommended shares of Altria (NYSE:MO). It is another strong company that is buying back its own shares, while paying a hefty dividend. If you have not already, grab some shares of this vice-industry powerhouse.

Parts of Wall Street are downright scary this week. The answer is simple. Stay away from them.

Head to the undervalued companies with proven business models and strong balance sheets with figures you can actually trust and measure.

Take a look at the three companies I mentioned, plus the multitude of firms in similar situations, and invest away. Do not be afraid. As this market rebounds, you will be glad you followed my advice and did not stash your cash under your mattress.

Source: Markets in flux: No bailout needed for Nike (NKE), Microsoft (MSFT) or Altria (MO)

On Sunday Anheuser-Busch (BUD) accepted a $49.9 billion takeover bid from Belgian-based InBev (INB). This consolidation in the market has sent brewery stocks rallying while US benchmark indexes tumble.

If the takeover goes through, Ian Davis  in The Growth Stock Wire says InBev will be the undisputed leader in the global market. This is not only a safe option during an economic downturn, but it’s also a great way of investing in emerging markets…

I’ll start today’s column with an incredible statistic… 48.

Forty-eight is how many out of every 100 domestic beers sold in America are made by Anheuser-Busch (NYSE:BUD).

This is why, along with companies like Nike (NYSE:NKE), Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO), and Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG), Anheuser-Busch is one of the most valuable brands ever created… And it’s why a Belgian brewery will most likely be the proud owner of the company.

On Friday, InBev (EBR:INB) – which makes Stella Artois and Beck’s – got a little closer to acquiring Anheuser-Busch. InBev is the world’s second-largest brewery by volume sold.

This consolidation talk has been bullish for the beer sector. As the following chart shows, an index of brewers is up 13% since February. The S&P 500, on the other hand, is down 10.8% over the same period.

Brewers Have Soared 13% Since February

This strength is a classic case of a “defensive” sector doing its job. Here’s the argument: In tough economic times, consumers tend to cut down on expensive motorcycles and boats, but they’ll keep drinking beer. (If they’re behind on their subprime loan payments, they may even increase their beer intake.)

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Anheuser-Busch isn’t solely responsible for the Brewery Index’s strong performance. Since February, Boston Beer (NYSE:SAM) is up 6.9%, Molson Coors Brewing (NYSE:TAP) is up 16.3%, and Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) is nearly flat at -1.4%. This is actually fantastic performance when the S&P 500 is cratering.

These shares are also doing well because speculators are betting more consolidation is in the works. Whether this consolidation happens or not, you should still consider a position in breweries. They’re simply one of the steadiest sectors in the market… especially during a recession.

Consider that Anheuser-Busch’s earnings grew from $1.33 per share in 2000 to $2.44 per share in 2003, during the dot-com crash. And here’s a look at how its stock and other major alcohol distributors performed.

Performance from March 2000 to March 2003 Boston Beer (SAM) 81.8% Molson Coors Brewing (TAP) 10.0% Constellation Brands (STZ) 93.3% S&P 500 -40.5%

As you can see, breweries are a solid recession investment. (They’re also a phenomenal way to invest in emerging markets. A single company often dominates an emerging-market’s beer industry.)

Brewery stocks are getting too much media attention these days (because of the Anheuser-Busch story)… so I won’t be surprised if they move lower over the next few weeks.

However, if the takeover goes through, InBev may be an interesting investment opportunity as the world’s undisputed king of beers. If you buy this stock – and others like it – you’re getting in on one of the world’s steadiest trends.

Source: A Simple Investment That Can Soar in a Recession

• As the Federal Reserve pondered interest rates yesterday, the Commerce Department released data showing that sales of new single-family homes fell 2.5% in May from April, and more than 40% year-over-year. In a separate report, new orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods were unchanged in May after two months of decline, Reuters reported.

• Unlike our northern neighbor, Mexico has been fairly able to stave off the effects of the U.S. slowdown. Agustin Carstens, Mexico’s finance minister, said that the Mexican economy grew more than 3% in the first half, Bloomberg reported. For the medium to long term, the government may reevaluate its gasoline subsidy, he said.

• Monsanto Co. (MON) reported higher-than-expected quarterly profit and raised its full-year forecast yesterday (Wednesday). The company said revenue jumped 26% to a record $3.6 billion in the quarter ended May 31, and net income climbed 42% to $811 million. Monsanto also expects full-year net earnings of about $3.63 a share, up from the $3.15-$3.25 a share previously forecast.

• MasterCard Inc. (MA) will pay out $1.8 billion to American Express Co. (AXP) to settle an antitrust lawsuit. American Express had accused the credit and debit card processor of conspiring to keep some banks from issuing its credit cards. Last year, the company reached a $2.7 billion settlement with Visa Inc. in a similar suit, the Associated Press reported.

• Billionaire investor Warren Buffett said yesterday (Wednesday) that he’s concerned about “stagflation,” or flat growth in the U.S. economy while inflation accelerates. “We’re right in the middle of it right now,” Buffett said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. “I think the ‘flation’ part will heat up and I think the ’stag’ part will get worse.”

• With a 5-3 vote, the U.S. Supreme court reduced the punitive damages against Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) for the Valdez disaster that spilled 11 million gallons of oil off the Alaska coast in 1989. Stating the spill was due to recklessness and not intentional, the court cut the award to $507.5 million from $2.5 billion, Bloomberg News reported.

• Nike Inc. (NKE) announced yesterday (Wednesday) that net profits rose on the strength of overseas sales, particularly in Asia, Reuters reported. Net income for the sports apparel manufacturer increased to $490.5 million, or 98 cents per share, in its fiscal fourth quarter, from $437.9 million, or 86 cents per share, for the same period the year prior. Revenue grew 16% for the quarter to $5.1 billion.

• J.C. Penney Company Inc. (JCP) announced further cutbacks in new store openings in the face of a tough U.S. retail environment, the Triangle Business Journal reported. The struggling retailer said it would open just 20 new stores in 2009, down from the 36 planned for 2008, and reduce capital expenditures from $1 billion this year to just $650 million next year.

Source: Global Investing Roundups: Thursday, June 26th, 2008