It’s Official: Windows 8 Is a Design Failure

For all the hubbub over Windows 8's new design, and how it's better suited to the newer generation of interactive touchscreen devices, Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT  ) most loyal customers want a PC they recognize. Windows 8 is a design failure for these users.

How do we know? The good folks at The Register quote data from PC management firm Soluto that says more than half of all Windows 8 users ignore the new start menu in order to preserve old habits. Touchscreen laptop and tablet owners also largely avoid Windows 8's most advanced features. No wonder sales haven't lived up to expectations, says Tim Beyers of Motley Fool Rule Breakers and Motley Fool Supernova.

Mr. Softy's problem is that it hasn't trained users to accept disruptive changes in design and development in the same way that Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) has. Instead, Windows customers expect Microsoft to be stable and predictable. Modernizing -- as Microsoft did with Windows 8 -- means risking alienating big chunk of the installed base, Tim says.

Do you agree? Please watch the video to get Tim's full take, and then let us know how you're using Windows 8.

A hard road for Mr. Softy
Is the brave new world of smart devices an opportunity for Microsoft, or a threat? A Motley Fool analyst answers this question and more in a new premium report on Microsoft. The report includes regular updates as key events occur, so make sure to claim your copy now by clicking here.

Compuware Goes Red

Compuware (Nasdaq: CPWR  ) reported earnings on May 21. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended March 31 (Q4), Compuware met expectations on revenues and met expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue shrank. Non-GAAP earnings per share dropped significantly. GAAP earnings per share dropped to a loss.

Gross margins increased, operating margins shrank, net margins dropped.

Revenue details
Compuware reported revenue of $239.9 million. The four analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ hoped for a top line of $239.7 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 9.8% lower than the prior-year quarter's $266.0 million.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
EPS came in at $0.05. The three earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.05 per share. Non-GAAP EPS of $0.05 for Q4 were 58% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.12 per share. GAAP EPS were -$0.30 for Q4 against $0.12 per share for the prior-year quarter.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 80.2%, much better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 7.2%, 640 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was -26.5%, much worse than the prior-year quarter. (Margins calculated in GAAP terms.)

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $230.7 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.07.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $1.01 billion. The average EPS estimate is $0.44.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a three-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 148 members out of 173 rating the stock outperform, and 25 members rating it underperform. Among 53 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 49 give Compuware a green thumbs-up, and four give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Compuware is outperform, with an average price target of $12.60.

Software and computerized services are being consumed in radically different ways, on new and increasingly mobile devices. Many old leaders will be left behind. Whether or not Compuware makes the coming cut, you should check out the company that Motley Fool analysts expect to lead the pack in "The Next Trillion-dollar Revolution." Click here for instant access to this free report.

Add Compuware to My Watchlist.

Can Intel's Haswell Kill Windows RT?

This year, Intel (NASDAQ: INTC  ) will launch its Haswell chips. One of the most important performance improvements of Haswell will be power efficiency and battery life. Meanwhile, Microsoft  (NASDAQ: MSFT  ) created Windows RT to run on ARM-based  (NASDAQ: ARMH  )  chips for better battery life. Microsoft's Surface RT runs an NVIDIA  (NASDAQ: NVDA  ) Tegra processor, and has better battery life than the Surface Pro, which sports an Intel chip.

If Haswell can live up to Intel's claims about the battery life improvements, there simply won't be a reason to have Windows RT around any more. Unifying around Windows 8 would benefit both Microsoft and Intel, while removing consumer confusion.

In the video below, Fool contributor Evan Niu, CFA, outlines how Haswell could signal the end of Windows RT.

When it comes to dominating markets, it doesn't get much better than Intel's position in the PC microprocessor arena. However, that market is maturing, and Intel finds itself in a precarious situation longer term if it doesn't find new avenues for growth. In this premium research report on Intel, our analyst runs through all of the key topics investors should understand about the chip giant. Click here now to learn more.

The Check's In the Mail for Some Foreclosed Homeowners

The nation's largest banks will begin sending payments this week to millions of Americans who may have been wrongfully foreclosed on during the housing crisis. A total of $3.6 billion in cash will be distributed to 4.2 million borrowers who lost their homes or were at risk of foreclosure, the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Comptroller of the Currency said Tuesday. Payments will range from $300 to $125,000. About 90 percent of borrowers whose mortgages were serviced by 11 of the banks will receive payments by the end of April, the agencies said. The last group of payments is expected in mid-July. A large share of those receiving payments, about 3 million borrowers, will each get only $300 or $400, according to data issued by the two agencies. Around 80 percent of them will receive $1,000 or less. At the other end of the scale, $125,000 payments will go to 1,082 military personnel, who were foreclosed upon in violation of a law prohibiting foreclosures on active-duty service members, and to 53 borrowers who weren't in default on their mortgages but still lost their homes. Generally homeowners who were wrongly denied a loan modification are entitled to relatively small payments. By contrast borrowers whose homes were deemed to be unfairly seized are eligible for the biggest payments. The amounts apply to borrowers whose mortgages were serviced by the 11 banks. Details for the other two, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, will be announced in the near future, the agencies said. The 13 banks, which include Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Citigroup, reached a settlement with the federal agencies in January. They agreed to pay a total $9.3 billion in cash and in reductions of mortgage balances. The banks settled the regulators' complaints that they wrongfully foreclosed on borrowers with abuses such as "robo-signing," or automatically signing off on foreclosures without properly reviewing documents. The settlement covers borrowers whose homes were in any stage of the foreclosure process in 2009 or 2010. It ended an independent review of loan files that the two agencies ordered in 2011. Banks and consumer advocates had complained that the loan-by-loan reviews were time-consuming and costly and didn't reach many affected borrowers. Some questioned the independence of the consultants who performed the reviews, who often ruled against borrowers. Consumer advocates have criticized the deal, saying the regulators settled for too low a price by letting banks avoid full responsibility for wrongful foreclosures. The other banks in the settlement are HSBC, MetLife Bank, PNC Financial Services, Sovereign, SunTrust, U.S. Bank, Aurora, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.

How Will ACE (ACE) Stock React to Its Earnings Beat in After-Hours Trading Today?

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- ACE  (ACE) reported third quarter earnings and revenue ahead of analysts expectations after the closing bell on Tuesday.

The Swiss global insurance company reported third quarter earnings of $785 million, or $2.64 on an adjusted per diluted share basis, a 6% increase over the same period last year, and well ahead of analysts $2.36 per diluted share forecast.

Must Read: Warren Buffett's 25 Favorite Stocks

STOCKS TO BUY: TheStreet Quant Ratings has identified a handful of stocks that can potentially TRIPLE in the next 12 months. Learn more.

The company also posted revenue of $5.35 billion, ahead of analysts $4.3 billion estimates, with after-tax operating income of $891 million.

The company's shares have risen 3% since the beginning of the year but are down 0.66% to $105.51 in after-hours trading today. TheStreet Ratings team rates ACE LTD as a Buy with a ratings score of A. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation: "We rate ACE LTD (ACE) a BUY. This is based on the convergence of positive investment measures, which should help this stock outperform the majority of stocks that we rate. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and increase in stock price during the past year. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had sub par growth in net income." Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows: You can view the full analysis from the report here: ACE Ratings Report ACE data by YCharts

STOCKS TO BUY: TheStreet Quant Ratings has identified a handful of stocks that can potentially TRIPLE in the next 12 months. Learn more.

U.S. Stocks Crushed As Investors Seek Safety; Dow Drops 243 Points

U.S. stocks suffered broad weakness today, with large- and small-cap names selling off as investors fled to safety amid rising worries about the global economy, geopolitical unrest and interest rates.

The Dow fell 243 points, or 1.4% to 16,965.96, while the S&P 500 fell 29 points, or 1.45% to 1,969.25.

The Nasdaq Composite, meanwhile, dropped 82 points, or 1.8% to 4,473.08.

Strategists say there isn’t one single explanation for today's broad market decline, but rather drivers include worries about the conflict in Syria, speculation that Russia may start seizing foreign assets and a weak headline number for today's durable-goods report.

Add to all that, worries about interest rates. The strong jobs report released today has sparked fear that the Federal Reserve could start raising interest rates sooner rather than later.

Either way, investors were piling into U.S. government bonds. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury, which falls as bond prices rise, dropped to 2.515%.

Dennis DeBusschere, a strategist at ISI Group, writes:

The odds are increasing that we suffer a significant setback in risk assets. The number of check marks on our bearish market list are increasing. The decline in inflation expectations implies a weaker outlook for growth, which is putting pressure on stocks, which were close to fully valued according to our valuation work.

The Russell 2000, the benchmark for small-cap stocks, skidded, falling 14 points or 1.26% to 1,114.07, and remains on track to end September in the red.

In fact, the index has fallen 8% since setting a 52-week high in March, a growing divergence from the S&P 500, which hit a record high earlier this month.

And now, there's the so-called "death cross." That refers to the index's 50-day moving average crossing below its 200-day moving average earlier this week. Technicians typically see it as an indication that a short-term market decline has turned into a longer-term downtrend.

As my colleague Michael Kahn wrote earlier this week in his "Getting Technical" column:

And with Monday’s decline, the Russell’s 50-day moving average is now trading below its 200-day average. I do not want to invoke the moving average “death cross” label, but this is the first time since 2012 that the short-term trend proxy (50-day average) is below the long-term proxy.

There are too many levels of support within the Russell’s pattern to suggest a bear market has begun for small stocks. The real takeaway from the cross is that small stocks are not contributing to the bull market. In the military lingo we often borrow for stocks, the soldiers are not following the generals. It is hard to win a battle that way.

 

10 biggest market-moving events this week

Reuters

MarketWatch rounded up the 10 most important news events of the past week. We focused on market-related issues, but we've included other subjects of great interest to readers.

Woe is Portugal

The biggest shock of the week came Wednesday, when Banque Privee Espírito Santo SA of Portugal said its parent company, Espírito Santo International SA, would delay repayment of short-term notes that had been sold to private-banking clients through a Swiss subsidiary.

The parent company, which is privately held, announced in May it was in an "extremely negative financial position" because it had under-reserved for credit risk and had incorrectly valued assets.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down well over 100 points in early trading Thursday, but ended with a rather modest decline of less than 71 points, or 0.4%, to 16,915.07, despite headlines screaming of rising interest rates for Portuguese government bonds. But the worries were overblown, and when considering all the turmoil over the past several years, yields of less than 4.0% for 10-year Portugal bonds just aren't that high.

But European markets rebounded Friday, and yields on Portuguese 10-year bonds declined 8 basis points to 3.87%.

William Watts dug deeper into various aspects of Eurozone risk in 5 things to know about Banco Espirito Santo and Europe. Diana Furchtgott-Roth said the crisis may be the tip of the iceberg.

Dow 17,000

After the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA)  hit its historic 17,000 milestone, David Weidner spelled out the reasons why this bull market is different from previous ones, in an article that drew over 400 comments from readers.

The Federal Reserve's unprecedented policies of greatly expanding its balance sheet to hold long-term interest rates down, while keeping short-term rates near zero since late 2008, has worked. Asset prices continue to recover, and we've all gotten away with something, because the official inflation rate has remained roughly 2%.

But Weidner pointed out that most investors haven't been buying stocks, and U.S. GDP growth is nowhere near where it was during the previous bull market.

The Dow was down 1% for the week to close Friday at 16,943.81.

Fed minutes

The minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee's June 17-18 meeting, released Wednesday, indicated the wind-down of the Federal Reserve's "QE3" purchases of long-term U.S. Treasury and agency mortgage-backed securities will be completed in October, two months earlier than expected by many economists. QE3 was designed to hold down long-term interest rates, and the end of the bond-buying program sets the stage for a higher federal funds rate, which dictates commercial rates.

The news from the Fed helped push down stocks Thursday, because equity prices have a tendency to react negatively to indications of less accommodative interest rate policies.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said the continued decline in U.S. unemployment was likely to push inflation to 2.4% by the end of 2015, above the Fed's long-term target of 2%. This could lead to a significant increase in short-term interest rates, which could spook equity investors, but would also be welcome by bankers, who are tired of seeing their net interest margins narrow.

Layoffs

It has been a while since we have seen almost daily headlines of massive layoffs across many industries, but General Cable Corp. (BGC) on Wednesday announced a restructuring that would "result in the elimination of approximately 1,000 positions globally, representing nearly 7% of the company's workforce."

General Cable expects to realize annual savings of $75 million in early 2016 and will record pretax charges of $200 million for the restructuring. The company's shares declined 4% Thursday and went down another 2% Friday to close at $23.72.

Bank earnings

Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) on Friday kicked off earnings season for the nation's largest banks by meeting the consensus second-quarter earnings estimate of $1.01 a share, among analysts polled by FactSet.

The bank's total revenue was down 1% from a year earlier to $21.07 billion, although it beat the consensus estimate of $20.76 billion. The year-over-year revenue decline reflected the industry trend of lower mortgage-banking volume. But the good news was that, quarter over quarter, mortgage-banking revenue rose 14% to $1.72 billion.

Global Conflict Affecting The Markets

The Russians and ISIS are coming, along with a host of others… with the Dow and S&P closing at another new all-time high, many traders we talk to think the S&P could be setting up for a quick jolt lower.

As technical analysts, we rely on trend lines and moving averages. But markets are also moved by global concerns. When President Obama started pulling out of Iraq in 2009, the U.S. stock market was setting up for one of the fastest and largest bounces in its history.

After a 190% bounce in the S&P (CME:SPU14) it’s not rates or the Fed taper that are worrying the markets; it’s the inability of the Iraqi armed forces to stand up to ISIS and a big pickup in attacks by Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan. If crude oil rises sharply the S&P will weaken, but energy prices will not be the only reason.

The Middle East seems to be going up in flames, while Eastern Europe remains in turmoil, and and it doesn’t seem like the U.S. government wants to throw its hat in the ring this time. Many applaud Obama’s nuanced approach, sending only 300 advisors. It is a stark contrast to the previous administration.

Doing nothing—or appearing to—creates more short-term uncertainty, but does that mean the S&P will actually go down? The answer is yes, the S&P can and will sell off if crude trades sharply higher, but will it stay down? I don’t think it will.

As we’ve said many times, the S&P and thus the entire stock market have a way of turning any news into a reason to rally. Even recovering from the initial shock of bad news seems to put the S&P into a rallying mood.

Unlike last week, there is going to be a pickup in economic reports both in the U.S. and Europe at the same time more families are going on vacations and cutting back from trading.

The Asian markets closed mostly lower (Hang Seng -1.68%) and in Europe 9 out of 12 markets are down. This week’s economic schedule picks up slightly from last week’s; there are 21 economic releases, 12 T-bill or T-bond announcements or auctions, and no Fed speak. Today’s economic schedule starts with the the Chicago Fed National Activity Index, PMI Manufacturing Index, existing home sales, 3- and 6-month T-bill auction and earnings from Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU) and Sonic Corp. (NASDAQ: SONC).

S&P futures up 14 of the last 16, up 6 in a row

Out with the June Quad Witch and in with the June Q2 rebalance. My gut tells me the E-mini S&P (CME:ESU14) can go a little higher from here but that we are getting close to some type of pullback.

I predict that summer trading volume in the ESU14 (including Globex volume) will drop to 750,000 contracts a day. Once the markets get past the end of June, July will be a catastrophe as more and more families go on vacation in the U.S. and Europe.

June Quad Witch Out, June Quarterly Rebalance In

As always, please make sure to use protective stops when trading futures…

In Asia, 8 of 11 markets closed lower: Shanghai Comp. -0.11%, Hang Seng -1.68%, Nikkei +0.13%. In Europe, 9 of 12 markets are trading lower: DAX -0.41% , FTSE -0.27% Morning headline: “S&P seen higher as ISIS spreads regional fears” Fair value: S&P-8.57 , NASDAQ -9.54 , Dow Jones -85.41 Total volume: 1.15mil ESU and 2.2k SPU traded Economic calendar: Chicago Fed National Activity Index, PMI Manufacturing Index, existing home sales, 3- and 6-month T-bill auction and earnings from Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU) and Sonic Corp. (NASDAQ: SONC). E-mini S&P 5000.00N/A - N/A Crude0.00N/A - N/A Shanghai Composite0.00N/A - N/A Hang Seng22804.811-389.25 - -1.68% Nikkei 22515369.28+19.86 - +0.13% DAX9920.92-66.32 - -0.66% FTSE 1006800.56-24.64 - -0.36% Euro1.3601

The following article is from one of our external contributors. It does not represent the opinion of Benzinga and has not been edited.

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Is Your Credit Card Debt Average? And What's Average?

Alamy Savvy consumers know that credit card debt is something to banish from your financial home if you can. But just how bad is your debt situation compared to others'?

Tax Q&A: Why can't I deduct my rental property…

With the April 15 tax deadline fast approaching, you probably have questions. Fortunately, we have answers. Every day until April 15, members of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants have agreed to answer selected tax questions fromUSA TODAY readers. Submit your questions to jwaggoner@usatoday.com.

Q. My tax preparer tells me that since my adjusted gross income is above 150k that I cannot take the mileage and loss from my rental property business. Is this correct?

A. That is generally correct -- for most taxpayers. Rental activities are considered "passive" activities and a loss on a passive activity is not deductible against non-passive income, such as wages. TA special rule lets you deduct up to $25,000 of losses from rental real estate in which you actively participate. The $25,000 deduction is phased out when your modified adjusted gross income is between $100,000 and $150,000, resulting in no deduction above $150,000 (for a married filing joint return). See IRS Publication 925 for additional information.

There is a group of taxpayers who are allowed to fully deduct losses from rental real estate. These are the people who are considered real estate professionals. To qualify, you (or your spouse), need to have more than one-half of your personal services, and more than 750 hours, in various real estate activities in which you materially participate. See IRS Publications 527and 925 for a detailed discussion of these requirements.

NEED HELP: Get all the latest tax news and advice

While you may not be able to deduct your rental loss this year, it is still important to report the loss on your tax return. Any unused loss will be carried forward to your next tax year for possible deduction, or it will ultimately be allowed as a deduction when the property is sold.

David Stolz, CPA/PFS, CFP, Takoma, Wash.

Previous questions:

Can I put money back into my IRA?

Who qualifies as a dependent?

Deductions for a business with ! no income?

How to report 401(k) rollover?

Are health insurance premiums deductible?

Should my daughters file taxes?

Can pension income go to a Roth IRA?

What to do if you forgot a tax payment

Is a gift from an IRA taxable?

Analyst Seriously Discounts Teen Usage Concerns on Facebook

Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) may have a problem down the road if its teenage user rates do not start to normalize. Or will it? The answer depends upon whom you speak to on this matter. Sterne Agee’s Arvind Bhatia and Brett Strauser sent out a post-earnings note for the social media group addressing what seems to be lower and lower usage among teens.

If you watched the post-earnings reaction in Facebook shares you might wonder if teen usage rates are worth anything at all. To be clear, Sterne Agee still has a Buy rating and a $70 price target. Shares even hit a post-IPO high on Tuesday.

The Sterne Agee team’s note is “Teenager Engagement on Facebook” and addresses an article in eMarketer on Tuesday which was titled “Are Teens Really Unfriending Facebook?”

Their aim is to put the issue of teenager engagement in perspective. The key conclusions mentioned in the article were that Facebook has more than 95% of teenagers that use social networks. They also noted, "It's not so much that Facebook is losing teens as that it's losing the exclusive power to define what social networking means for them… While Snapchat, Vine and Instagram (owned by Facebook) may be attracting teens, the all-important fact is that Facebook is still far and away the largest social platform and mobile app used."

eMarketer said,

“A brand is in a tricky position when it has no place to go but down. Given its must-have status among US teens in recent years—eMarketer estimates 95.9% of social networkers ages 12 to 17 used Facebook in 2013—that's the position Facebook finds itself in, according to a new eMarketer report, US Teens: Sizing Up the Selfie-Expressive Generation… And there are indications it’s vulnerable to a downturn."

Again, Sterne Agee’s research note is keeping a Buy rating and a $70 price target. The team has earnings estimates of $1.32 per share for 2014 and $1.70 per share for 2015. The Thomson Reuters consensus earnings estimates are $1.25 per share in 2014 and $1.68 for 2015.

The long and short of the matter is that Sterne Agee’s team here is looking for above-consensus earnings estimates. If teen use is a problem, they are discounting it almost entirely. Facebook’s stock price was up 2% at $64.86 right at the close of trading on Tuesday, and the stock hit a new all-time high and post-IPO high of $65.00.

A New Strategy for Smart Tech Investors

Leading newsletter publisher Investing Daily is launching a new publication today; Jim Pearce walks us through the strategy behind Smart Tech Investor, highlighting how its indicators determine over- and under-valuation in the sector.

Steve Halpern: Investing Daily is known for some of the advisory industry's most popular and long-running newsletters, including the flagship Personal Finance, and we are here today with Investing Daily's Wealth Society director, Jim Pearce. How are you doing today?

Jim Pearce: Great, Steve. How are you?

Steve Halpern: Very good. The timing of this interview is no accident, in fact, today is the launch of your latest newsletter, Smart Tech Investor. First, can you give us an overview of why you have chosen the tech sector for this latest product launch?

Jim Pearce: Sure. Actually, there are several reasons; one, of course, is that there is an awful lot of interest in tech stocks at the moment.

A day does not go by, it seems like, to me at least, when I am driving in to work, that I do not hear on the radio the latest news on Facebook, Yahoo, Microsoft's search for a new CEO, Twitter's IPO, I mean, it is just all over the news.

A lot of our subscribers have been asking about it. In fact, earlier this year, we began an interview series with a tech sector expert, originally with the intent of just providing some additional coverage for our Wealth Society members.

Over the course of doing that interview series, we realized we had a huge asset in the person of Leo Boeckl, and we wanted to be able to continue to help our subscribers invest better in the tech market. A couple of months ago, we decided to launch a new publication based around his kind of unique approach to evaluating tech stocks.

Steve Halpern: Now, in analyzing stocks, you use a proprietary valuation model that he developed called the BIQ. Could you briefly explain how this works?

Jim Pearce: Sure. The BIQ is spelled B-I-Q and it stands for Boeckl Innogration Quotient, and, of course, Boeckl is Leo's last name.

Innogration is a term that no one knows, because Leo invented it, and I will explain what that is in a second. It is really a model that puts a numerical value on each individual tech stock we cover, based on the three specific elements of Leo's approach to evaluating tech stocks.

Implicit in that is Leo's theory of innogration—and innogration is the combination of the two words, innovation and integration, and, in simplest terms, it is based on the idea that the leading tech stocks of today, and in the future, are those that not only innovate internally, but also use their resources to acquire functionalities from external sources to create a market-leading product.

He has identified three specific variables that contribute to successful integration and assigned a numerical value to each of those, so that the total value, it is a scale of zero to ten, so the highest the company could score, if it is was perfect in every category, is a ten and the worst, of course, is a zero.

I can tell you there are no zeros or tens, but there are some companies that are down in the one to two range, and there are some others that are up in the eight and nine range.

It is a very useful tool in sifting through all the noise in the market to really zero-in on those companies that, not only are popular today, but will be the market leaders in the future.

Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Next Page The expert featured in this column, James Pearce, may or may not own positions in any investment vehicle mentioned here. The views and opinions expressed are his or her own.