Welcome to John Ransom’s Stocks in the News where the headlines meet the trendlines:
Stock number one: Federal National Mortgage Association
1 Billionaire Tells Us Why He Owns Nearly 10% of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac--Motley Fool
In November, Pershing Square Capital Management disclosed it has a 9.98% stake in Fannie Mae and a 9.77% position in Freddie Mac. The fund is headlined by activist investor Bill Ackman, who is recently known for his conflict with other activist investor Carl Icahn over the direction of nutrition company Herbalife -- Icahn famously disputed Ackman's decision to short the company -- and his major position in J.C. Penney, on which he lost an estimated $400 million.
Note: Ackman, according to Fool thinks there is 1,000-1,500 percent upside.
Symbol: FNMA
Trailing PE: NA; Forward PE: 1.88
PEG: 0.26
Dividend: NA
Estimate Trend: Flat
Ransom Note Trendline: Avoid Fannie Mae
Stock number two: Ford Motor Co.
Ford's Approach To Achievable Growth In A Depressed European Market- Seeking Alpha
It is understandable that you could be pessimistic about the outlook for the European new vehicle market. After all, 2013 saw the lowest sales level across Europe since the economic crisis began, with sales of just 13.7 million vehicles - a far cry from the more than 18 million vehicles sold in 2007 - and with sales declining every year since 2008. While the market might now have hit rock bottom and some improvement is expected in 2014, recovery will be modest with volumes increasing to about 15 million vehicles a year by mid-decade, by Ford's (F) projection.
Symbol: F
Trailing PE: 8.74 Forward PE: 8.02
PEG: 0.98
Dividend: 3.30%
Estimate Trend: Up
Ransom Note Trendline: Buy Ford
Stock number three: Facebook, Inc.
WhatsApp may generate significant revenue for Facebook, analyst says- Fly on the Wall
In 2016, WhatsApp will generate $685M in revenue for Facebook (FB), and the social networking giant could obtain tens of billions of dollars of revenue from the start-up over the longer term, research firm Sterne Agee predicted in a note to investors earlier today. WHAT'S NEW: In 2015, WhatsApp will generate $344M in revenue, Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia estimated. In the following year, the service's revenue will reach $685M, he predicted
Symbol: FB
Trailing PE: 116; Forward PE: 42
PEG: 1.73
Dividend: NA
Estimate Trend: Flat
Ransom Note Trendline: Hold Facebook
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