Noting that positive (negative) earnings surprises tend to be followed by more positive (negative) earnings surprises, economist Dr. Hersh Shefrin makes the point that this occurs because the investor/analyst tends to be overconfident, and furthermore fails to fully incorporate new information (i.e. he is "anchored" to his previous opinion).
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As Warren Buffett has become more public with his political views, he has been the target of an increasing number of attacks. Some of the arguments against Buffett's proposals are intelligent, but these don't appear to be the ones that get the most airtime. Instead, the most common response from those who oppose Buffett's minimum tax on the wealthy argues that Buffett is a hypocrite for saying one thing, but behaving in an apparently contradictory matter. The argument goes something like this:

"If Buffett thinks taxes should be higher, why doesn't he just pay more and leave the rest of us alone?"

But are Buffett's actions really contradictory/hypocritical?
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The author of the excellent book for beginners, Value Investing: From Graham to Buffett..., is back, this time with a book about how to understand and analyze competitive advantages. Investors interested in better understanding what gives a company a competitive advantage must give this book a read.
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The author of the excellent book for beginners, Value Investing: From Graham to Buffett..., is back, this time with a book about how to understand and analyze competitive advantages. Investors interested in better understanding what gives a company a competitive advantage must give this book a read.
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Recently, two apparent value stocks were discussed on this site for their looming catalysts, New Frontier Media and Paulson Capital. Add another one to the list; yesterday, in releasing its fourth quarter results, PMC Commercial Trust stated that it has "received certain inquiries expressing a preliminary interest in potential strategic transactions."
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Shares of Sterling Construction (STRL) fell 13% yesterday following the announcement of the company's net loss for Q4 and weak guidance for 2012. As a result, while the rest of the market is doing well, shares of Sterling are now near a 7-year low! Consequently, value investors may be interested in going long this builder of highways and other transportation infrastructure.
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As value investors, we tend to put more emphasis than do others on the balance sheet. But Nate over at Oddball Stocks discovered a potential value investment with no balance sheet! This is because the company requires no capital
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