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Larry Dignan (

Palm (PALM) moved a lot of smartphones–1 029 000 to be exact–and revenue was well ahead of expectations but the company’s turnaround is still a work in progress.

The company which has been living off the $99 Centro is hoping to raise margins with its new Treo Pro which currently doesn’t have a carrier. The Treo Pro will come unlocked but has generated some early buzz.

Palm reported a first quarter net loss (statement) of $41.9 million or 39 cents a share on revenue of $366.8 million up from $360.7 million a year ago. Excluding various charges and costs Palm reported a loss of $12.8 million or 12 cents a share. Palm was expected to report a loss of 18 cents a share excluding options expenses and 22 cents a share including charges. Revenue was expected to be $325 million according to Thomson Reuters.

In a Harvard Business School lecture given by Mark Sellers we gain the following insight into what separates the great investors from the average ones.  He says:

The rarest trait of all is the ability to live through volatility without changing your investment thought process.  Most people have a terrible time not selling their stocks at a loss they can't average down they can't handle short term pain even if it would result in long term gain.

I wanted to use this post to talk about few things I'm seeing in the market and around the financial blogosphere. Firstly Apple (AAPL) has reached its second major level of $120. Earlier I wrote about AAPL at a critical juncture when it was trading $150. If you caught the break to the downside you made a quick and easy 30 points. Now I want to put it on your radar screens again as it has reached an even more important support level of $120. You can buy the dip and stop out below the lows of $115 or follow whatever your rules say about placing stops.

The market is extremely oversold and the fear indicators are starting to head higher. However that's not to say we can't go even lower. I'd say try to play AAPL from the long side here. However if it takes out your stop swing it to the short side because AAPL will have violated a major support level. The technicals are really your only guide to the market right now as fundamentals and logic have been thrown out the window a long time ago.

Palm Inc. (PALM)

Analysts generally weren’t too impressed with Steve Jobs’ announcements about new iPod features and lower prices last week in San Francisco. But in light of the new iPhone 3G released in July with a lot of hype and a lower price the new $229+ price tag on the iPod Touch was an interesting move.

Is Apple (AAPL) trying to make the Touch appeal to people who want an iPhone but are bound to their carriers? Maybe. Consumer behavior seems to be saying that the Touch is a device more for iPhone fans than people who are only thinking about options in the iPod family.

I was talking to a couple of people I know and e-mailing a few more regarding Samsung’s (SSNLF.PK) $26/share offer for SanDisk (SNDK) - and SNDK’s prompt rejection of the [as it is now] - friendly overture from Samsung. So the question was - is a hostile takeover of SNDK possible at all?

For starters Eli Harari is an excellent CEO and SNDK is his baby - a symbol of all he has accomplished successfully as a technologist and a businessman. He is proud and has a modicum of ego (actually a lot more than that) and cannot imagine himself playing second fiddle to someone in charge of building ships and chips at Samsung. He has built a fantastic business out of making non-volatile memory and portable music devices (SNDK’s Sansa - though a distant second to the iPod has sales that are at least thrice that of Microsoft's (MSFT) Zune). 

Research in Motion Ltd.'s (RIMM) subscriber base is vulnerable to the U.S. financial services meltdown but it won't hugely impact the BlackBerry makers earnings says Citigroup Global Markets analyst Jim Suva.  

In a note to clients he said:

Here's an idea for the next Microsoft (MSFT)/Senfeld ad. Jerry and Bill Gates sitting in a McDonald's (MCD) eating Big Macs and listening to their Zunes as "regular people" peer at them with puzzled looks on their faces.

Buzz is building over Google's (GOOG) forthcoming Android powered smart-phone from T-Mobile.

Crunchgear says it's confirmed the phone will be formally announced on September 23rd and then released for sale in mid-October.

MIDs (Mobile Internet Devices) are being pushed by some notebook OEMs and silicon suppliers as the next big convergent handheld category. I've seen some presentations pitching the notion that they'll subsume smartphones encroach on netbooks and UMPCs and obsolete standalone GPS devices and media players.

There's no standard definition of a MID but the archetypes tend to be the Nokia (NOK) N810 a long thin prototype device Intel's (INTC) been showing and according to some viewpoints the Apple (AAPL) iPhone. Most people think MIDs will have a 4-7 inch screen a grade-A web experience some form(s) of wireless connectivity and plenty of memory and battery life. It'll probably have a lightweight OS of some sort (Linux Android Apple some cut-down version of Windows etc) and is likely to have various consumer multimedia capabilities.

ParkerVision Inc. (PRKR)

DTS Inc. (DTSI)

Well we’re about two-thirds of the way through 2008 - a year that could potentially be the worst one for stocks since 2002.

My last four blog posts have been dedicated to warning you all of this event. I hope you all listened and took action. So now the big question is where do we go next. What should we expect?

Let me start by commenting on how interesting it is that the Fed decided to not interfere. If this is their policy going forward the market is not going to like it because it is fraught with uncertainty. The market hates uncertainty.

If you still haven't put any defense and aerospace stocks in your portfolio you should seriously consider doing so before October. There are plenty of these 'war' stocks to choose from including ones that pay high yields. Here are some that you may want to site your scopes on and possibly pull the trigger. All of these have market caps over $1 billion:

• Alliant Techsystems Inc. (ATK) manufactures and markets aerospace and defense products and ammunition. The stock has a P/E of 16 and a PEG of 1.56.
• Boeing (BA) makes and markets jets military aircraft missile defense systems satellites and launch systems. The stock has a P/E of 11 a PEG of 0.83 and pays a yield of 2.8%.
• CAE Inc. (CGT) makes and markets simulation equipment and services to the civil aviation industry military organizations and defense organizations. The stock has a P/E of 17 and pays a yield of 1.2%.
• DRS Technologies Inc. (DRS) a provider of defense electronic products defense systems and military support services. The stock has a P/E of 19 a PEG of 1.34 and pays a yield of 0.2%.
• Elbit Systems Ltd. (ESLT) is an Israeli company that makes unmanned air vehicles advanced electro-optic and space technologies electronic warfare suites airborne warning systems electronic intelligence systems and military communications systems. The stock has a P/E of 18 a PEG of 1.77 and pays a yield of 1.7%.
• Embraer also known as Empresa Brasileira De Aeronutica S.A. (ERJ) based in Brazil makes and markets jets and aircraft for defense and civil aviation markets. The stock has a P/E of 14 a PEG of 0.86 and pays a yield of 3.9%.
• General Dynamics Corp. (GD) manufactures aviation products combat vehicles weapons systems and munitions. The stock has a P/E of 14 a PEG of 1.32 and pays a yield of 1.7%.
• Goodrich Petroleum Corp. (GDP) makes and markets components and systems for the commercial and general aviation airplane markets and the defense and space markets. The stock has a P/E of 10 a PEG of 0.62 and pays a yield of 2%.
• Honeywell International Inc. (HON) is involved in the business of aerospace automation solutions specialty materials and transportation systems. The stock has a P/E of 13 a PEG of 1.05 and a yield of 2.5%.
• Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT) manufactures military aircraft and air vehicles including the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter the F-22 air dominance attack aircraft and the F-16 multi-role fighter. The stock has a P/E of 15 a PEG of 1.25 and pays a yield of 1.6%.
• Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC) provides aerospace products electronics and shipbuilding to the military government and commercial customers. The stock has a P/E of 13 a PEG of 1.03 and pays a yield of 2.5%.
• Raytheon (RTN) has six divisions: Integrated Defense Systems Intelligence and Information Systems Missile Systems Network Centric Systems Space and Airborne Systems and Technical Services. The stock has a P/E of 15 a PEG of 1.11 and pays a yield of 2%.
• Rockwell Collins Inc. (COL) makes and markets communications and aviation electronics. The stock has a P/E of 13 a PEG of 0.8 and pays a yield of 2%.

If you like high yield stocks you should also consider Top Monthly Dividend Stocks Top Yielding NYSE Stocks and Stocks with Tax Free Dividends.

As oil prices put a strain on consumers PowerShares announced the debut of its Global Progressive Transportation (PTRP) set for September 18. PTRP represents PowerShares’ response to a cost-conscious environmentally aware set of investors with a focus on companies that pledge to improve the energy efficiency of global transportation. With many investors reeling from financial sector woes PTRP provides a fresh look at companies that could shape global economies in future months.

A wide range of factors pushed oil to record highs in 2008—subsequently causing investors to seek energy alternatives. Even though the price of oil has receded in recent weeks summer’s record highs have helped to raise investor awareness about energy alternatives. With the election hovering on the horizon energy and fuel costs permeate national debate and “green” energy solutions gain traction across America.

Our friends in the airline industry made a big deal about oil speculation when oil prices were flirting with $150.

They even encouraged their customers to sign up for a website to stop oil speculation.

With all the talk about high gas prices the car companies are rushing to launch high mileage or alternative power vehicles. General Motors (GM) has just announced the new Chevy Volt a rechargeable electric car. The car is entirely powered by electricity from its lithium ion battery. It is initially charged from any 120 volt household electric outlet and can travel forty miles on a single charge.

Forty miles isn't a lot but fortunately there's an extended range capability. A small gasoline engine kicks in when the battery runs low. However the gasoline engine doesn't power the drive train like most hybrid cards. Instead it generates electricity for the electric motors which propel the car at all times.

Transports have provided a safe haven for investors with the iShares Dow Transports (IYT) registering a small gain over the past year in spite of a meltdown in financials and sharp losses in the overall market averages. The gains in the Dow Transport ETF were largely the result of a strong performance by the top four U.S.-based railroads by market cap which I wrote about on Monday as a bullish trade accounting for over 30% of the stock holdings for IYT.

By Julian Murdoch

The last time we looked at shipping was all the way back in April. At the time we commented on the new entrants into the index market for dry bulk shipping - UBS and their Blue Sea Index. Six months later we have another new entrant; this time in the form of an actual investible exchange-traded fund.

One of the lessons I learnt as a young value pupil was to take note of my surroundings and learn to view investing with a slightly different perspective. One lesson taught to me by Charles was an insight that investors are often “far too eager to discuss their investing successes than they ever will be in talking about their failures” and this should serve as an important lesson for where my investing education should build its foundation. For all the individual successes I’ve studied of various investors I’ve examined a greater amount which have failed. It’s easy to label Warren Buffett as the most successful investor of all time but very few ever consider or study his mistakes and what we can learn from them.

My Value Rules serve as a reminder of all the successes and failures that I’ve studied learnt from and experienced in business. While they don’t guarantee success they serve as a template and instructional tool for evaluating an investment from a number of different perspectives.