Perkins’ Picks

Listed below are five of the 25 people who you should be blaming for the financial crisis.

Angelo Mozilo - Co-founder of Countrywide (Mortgage lender).  Countrywide didn’t introduce the notion of subprime mortgages but they did legitimize the notion with their full on embrace of the practice
Phil Gram - Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.  He [...]

After six consecutive months of weakening sales the retail sector reported an unexpected 1$ rise in sales.  According to a government report released today by the Commerce Department, retail sales rose 1% versus a drop of 3% this past December.
Economists had estimated a .4% decrease for the month of November.  The rise in retail sales [...]

Interesting list that includes the usual suspects -

Barack Obama,
Ben Bernake
Lawrence Summers
Timothy Geithner
Jean-Claude Trichet

These names round out the top 5.  Check out why these people made the list and what they do below.
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Source
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Market Vectors Steel (SLX) is definitely something that everyone should look at.  Even before Obama entered office he voiced promises to invest in roads and bridges, renovate schools and improve Internet connections, you know, infrastructure.
In addition to having a strong endorsement by President Obama, international governments are palnning to pump life into their economies by [...]

Yesterday Netflix shares were downgraded by Needham & Co. to underperform citing concerns that the DVD rental company may be overpriced.  Previously Netflix’s stock was valued at $30 - that’s $5 dollars higher than its current price now.  Analyst Charlie Wolf comments that the downgrade was due to ‘the questionable prospects’ of digital distribution.
While Netflix has [...]

While 2008 has been a less than ideal year for the retail sector, Louis Vuitton Moet Hennesey (LVMH) has reported an increase in sales this quarter.  The world’s most well-known luxury brand garnered a 4.2% increase to 23.9 million billion in 2008.  That’s a lot of money my friends.  LVMH did not provide numbers for [...]

Liz Claiborne Inc. (LIZ) said it will cut 8% of its work force, citing the ” highly uncertain” economic environment, as the struggling apparel maker continues to reduce costs amid a restructuring and continuing woes in the retail sector.
Read more about it here.
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Super luxury brands are not holding back plans to execute lavish design plans that come with other wordly price tags.
An article from the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reminds me of a conversation I had with a friend who works at David Yurman last month.   She conceded that they’re profits were slightly down, but not with rich [...]

The NY Times posted an interesting article on how Apple has performed during Steve Jobs absence from the company.  Some of you might not be aware that from 1985 to 1997 Steve Jobs was not with the company.
Take a look at the slide show here to see how the company that launched the IPhone performed without [...]

Rockwood Holdings Inc (ROC): STRONG BUY
Hybrid cars have been a hot topic for nearly a decade. Growing emphasis has been placed on green energy and with mounting urgency to preserve our environment as well as revamp the auto industry, the technology used in hybrid cars has been moving forward. One of the biggest [...]