Every security is a sell at one price, a hold at some lower price and a buy at yet some further decremented price when value is appreciably higher than the stock quote. Before the corrosive global financial crisis and at the apex of crude oil prices, Vestas Wind Systems (VWDRY.PK) closed at about $48/share on June 16, 2008. Today, shares trade hands around $3/share. That represents a breathtaking 94% reduction in Vestas’ share price.

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To be sure, Vestas was to be avoided at $48/share, but has the market punished Vestas’ share price enough that it now represents a compelling buying opportunity?

Business Overview:

Vestas Wind Systems A/S engages in the manufacture and sale of wind turbines and wind power systems in Europe, Africa, the Americas, and the Asia Pacific. It also offers wind project planning, procurement, construction, and operation services; and after sale services, as well as

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Will a new weight loss drug be approved in 2012?

Here we are, two months into 2012 and the FDA has another opportunity to approve a new drug to help fight obesity. Will this be a déjà vu event from 2010 or will we witness a turn in the hallways of the FDA that there are some acceptable risks in the name of weight loss? Obesity treatments remain the largest unmet medical need in all of pharma and a new option for physicians could lead to billions in revenue. So will either Vivus’ (VVUS) Qnexa or Arena’s (ARNA) Lorcaserin be approved in 2012?

On Wednesday, February 22nd, Vivus will face a second Advisory Committee for its weight loss drug – Qnexa. Last week, we received insight from the FDA on how it may be viewing the approvability of the drug and there are still some obstacles for Vivus to overcome.

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Stocks discussed on the Lightning Round session of Jim Cramer’s Mad Money TV Program, Tuesday February 21.

Bullish Calls:

Ralph Lauren (RL), VFCorp (VFC): “…Ralph Lauren pulled back…VFC pulled back. They are superior to Hanesbrands…we want to stick with best of breed.”

Bearish Calls:

Netflix (NFLX): “Comcast unveiled something that is going to be the definitive Netflix killer…to me, it reads bad for Netflix.”

R.R. Donnelly & Sons (RRD): “I looked into the company, and there is nothing there…that is a commercial printing company, and there isn’t a lot of commercial printing to go around…sell.”

Hanesbrands (HBI): “No…there are so many other good apparel companies to buy.”

Regeneron (REGN): “There is a lot of talk about an inflammation problem with the new drug. Until we get clarification, we are going to let the stock come down, because we have had such a monster win here, we don’t want to jeopardize

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Stocks discussed on the in-depth session of Jim Cramer’s Mad Money TV Program, Tuesday February 21.

Has Apple (AAPL)
Reached Its Peak?

Apple (AAPL) determines the direction of the market like few other stocks. The stock took a dive last Wednesday of 29 points, and analysts were wondering if Apple’s best days are behind it. Cramer noted that Apple can make dramatic moves, and has had four major corrections in 2.5 years, and the stock recovered to previous levels and higher each time. Its latest move was more parabolic than usual, which caused technicians to think there has been a buying climax. There might be some consolidation or sideways drift before Apple moves higher. Its 29 point dive last week may be a sign to some of a “bearish engulfing pattern” that rejects the rally higher, but Cramer says the charts don’t tell the entire story. Apple has fantastic earnings

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If you are like me and you were always skeptical of the peak oil theory, you are feeling pretty smug right now. New technologies and new oil discoveries are being made daily and politicians are once again musing about America becoming energy independent. You never even hear the phrase “peak oil” anymore unless it is from some jerk like me enjoying a self-satisfied pat on the back for being right.

However, I am becoming a believer in peak oil theory’s little cousin: peak cheap oil. Or peak conventional oil, if you prefer. Whatever you call it, it is undeniable that the face of oil production is changing. Conventional oil deposits are shrinking, as are margins at the oil majors. Oil exploration is becoming more expensive and most new oil reserves are coming from deep horizontal wells, hydraulic fracturing and deep-sea drilling.

As a young investor, I figured that the world

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With the recent talk of rebalancing the NASDAQ once again due to ongoing outperformance of Apple (AAPL) versus the other constituents of the index, one decision ETF investors face is whether to own the Powershares NASDAQ ETF (QQQ) or just own Apple outright. After all, wouldn’t QQQ investors have been much better off owning the top holding, (currently about 16 ½% of the index), than the index itself?

A look at Apple (red line) versus QQQ (green line) on a weekly chart answers the question quite clearly:

It appears that everyone should sell their QQQ and load up on Apple, right? Perhaps, but first allow me to note that I am a big fan of Apple and, as I’ve mentioned before, if anyone can get to a trillion in market cap, Apple can. I like their products, I like their story, and the valuation seems reasonable, so this is not

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Recently, I authored an article that placed the year-end 2011 price to trailing twelve months earnings ratio of the S&P 500 (SPY) in a historical context. Multiples of price to trailing earnings as low as 2011′s ratio have portended higher returns on average over the next one year. While the sample size of annual returns of the S&P 500 is statistically significant (55 observations 1957 – 2011) and appears to have predictive power, researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco have presented some compelling counterevidence against the hypothesis that today’s low earnings multiples will lead to above average forward returns that must be weighed by market participants.

A piece published by Zheng Liu and Mark Spiegel in August of 2011 points to a historical relationship between the age distribution of the nation’s population and equity market performance. The article makes the supposition that the transition of the large

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Activity in one of the more promising segments in the biotech industry is creating opportunities for investors and has implications for larger industry players jockeying for a piece of the pie. Immunotherapy centers on harnessing the bodies sophisticated immune system to combat cancer and other maladies. The logic makes sense: instead of poisoning our body with radiation and chemotherapy, perhaps we could use this most potent of all defense mechanisms in the treatment of cancer.

Investors are hopeful that this evolutionary leap might be at hand, and the key is to follow deal flow and clinical trial successes of the smaller market entrants. I will explore the prospects for several companies below as well as illuminate the path that larger companies have forged before them. History generally leaves clues and Amgen’s (AMGN) purchase of BioVex last year for close to $1 billion creates a blueprint for the structure and evolution

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