Archive

Tuesday, November 30, 2021

Why 'iBuying' May Not Work in the U.S., One Indian Startup's Alternative... and Why Banks May Be the 'FAANGS' of India

By Herb Greenberg

Should the flop of Zillow's (Z) home-flipping business be a warning for its competitors? Its biggest public peers among so-called instant buyers (or "iBuyers") – notably, Opendoor Technologies (OPEN) and Offerpad Solutions (OPAD), but also increasingly Redfin (RDFN) – have insisted the problem was Zillow's, not theirs. Don't be so sure. I started thinking about […]

Tuesday, November 23, 2021

The Ponzi Market... And The Poster Child of Indefensible Market Positions

By Herb Greenberg

It's so easy to want to call this a Ponzi market... Ponzi, of course, refers to Charles Ponzi, the 1920s swindler whose claim to infamy was promising big, fast investment gains, and did... but only because he would funnel money from new investors to old investors. The catch is that the scheme needs a steady […]

Tuesday, November 16, 2021

Why Buying a Basket of EV Charging Station Stocks May Not Be a Good Idea

By Herb Greenberg

The day after electric vehicle ('EV') maker Rivian's (RIVN) incredibly (some might say, ridiculously) hot initial public offering ('IPO') last week, EV stocks shifted into high gear... As one analyst on CNBC observed, "You can't underestimate investor appetite for all things EV." I looked over at the screen and noticed that one of the biggest […]

Tuesday, November 9, 2021

One ESG Pioneer's Pet-Peeve... And Did Allbirds Push the ESG Envelope Too Far?

By Herb Greenberg

One of the hottest trends in investing today is 'ESG,' which stands for environmental, social, and governance... As my Empire Financial Daily co-author Berna Barshay has written numerous times, public companies are tripping over themselves to show that they're best-in-class ESG investments. The goal, of course, is to position themselves as must-buys for investment funds […]

Friday, November 5, 2021

When Betting on a Hot Real Estate Market Backfires

By Herb Greenberg

One of the great disconnects over the past year has been the stock of almost any company directly involved in the sale or financing of residential real estate... Almost all of them have pulled back sharply, even though housing prices keep hitting new highs. Perhaps the most notable is Zillow (Z), whose foray into home-flipping... […]

Tuesday, November 2, 2021

A Historic Set-Up for Cannabis?

By Herb Greenberg

I remember exactly where I was when I started thinking seriously about investing in cannabis... It was early August 2020, and I was walking up a steep hill on my normal walking route. Usually, on the first two miles of the walk, which is flat-to-downhill, I listen to a podcast – most often some kind […]

Friday, October 29, 2021

The Hype Surrounding Autonomous Trucks and Flying Taxis

By Herb Greenberg

► You've seen it before: claims that some new whiz-bang technology will shake up the world at some point in the future... If done right, it will spawn headlines, excitement, and enthusiasm. If the company is public, its stock might even spike. If it isn't, investment bankers are likely to urge it to cash in […]

Tuesday, October 26, 2021

When Should a Company Know Why Business Is Bad?

By Herb Greenberg

► Every now and then, companies surprise investors with warnings that earnings are likely to disappoint... Sometimes these "preannouncements" come before the end of a quarter. Sometimes, after. But the bigger question is: When should management know? This became a hot topic last week when plant-based meat company Beyond Meat (BYND) warned that its third […]

Tuesday, October 19, 2021

The Buyback Bubble at Oracle, and Readers Weigh In on Dutch Bros

By Herb Greenberg

► We all have at least one of them... I'm talking about stocks we never want to hear about again. You know, the stocks that you know you had nailed – long or short – that went on to remind you just how humbling the stock market can be. High on my own list is […]

Friday, October 15, 2021

Despite a Hot IPO, Think Twice Before Rushing Into This Growth Story

By Herb Greenberg

► One of my favorite interviews – many years ago – was with Gordon Segal, founder of home décor retailer Crate & Barrel... We discussed why he never got tempted by the riches offered by investment bankers to take Crate & Barrel public. Segal hated, just hated, the thought of putting up stores for the […]

Tuesday, October 12, 2021

Medicare: The Outrage... and a Company That Stands to Benefit

By Herb Greenberg

► When it comes to the mess at Medicare, if you haven't done this, you have only yourself to blame... Every year since I turned 65, I remind my friends... Medicare open enrollment starts on Friday. But the new pricing is already up on the Medicare website... If I were you, I'd get a head […]

Friday, October 8, 2021

Welcome to My World

By Herb Greenberg

► When I set out to start a short activist firm earlier this year, my motto was: 'Exposing fraud, greed, misrepresentation, and stupidity'... Fraud and greed go hand in hand. Misrepresentation, especially if intentional, isn't far behind. Then there's stupidity, my favorite and maybe the most important of all. That's because smart people do very […]

Thursday, October 7, 2021

When Your Inner Voice Tells You It's Time for a Change

By Herb Greenberg

Editor's note: We're thrilled to announce that longtime journalist and CNBC contributor Herb Greenberg has joined the Empire Financial Research team. Herb is one of the most accomplished journalists around, having appeared in Fortune, the Wall Street Journal, the San Francisco Chronicle, 60 Minutes, the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Financial Times, Barron's, […]