How Video Game Companies Make Money

One of the quietest growth stories over the last few years has come from what is possibly the loudest consumer industry in existence (besides rock and roll I guess). The video game industry has been exploding over the last decade, and investors are starting to see serious returns from … [Read more...]

How Search Engines Make Money & How You Can Too

Google has revolutionized the stock market as much as it has the internet. Starting with its application of its legendary real-time auction model to its initial public offering, Google has continued to exceed expectations for its bottom line as an investment opportunity. From it, … [Read more...]

How Zynga Generates Revenues

The last company I want to discuss in this series is the one with the most direct-to-consumer model of business. Zynga’s business model specifically surrounds directly engaging consumers with their line of social gaming products, but then creates income for investors through both a … [Read more...]

Why Computer Manufacturers are Targeting Specific Niches Now

Earlier this decade we saw an explosion in the profitability associated with the manufacture and distribution of personal computer. Companies like Dell, HP, and Apple have made fantastic returns from producing their hardware systems to consumers. However, over the years, competition … [Read more...]

Why Computer Chip Manufacturers are Traded Like Commodity Producers

Something that’s always intrigued me about the technology sector is the cyclical nature of chip products. These are the companies that manufacture the highly complex computer chips that go into the hardware into our phones and computers, and yet they are treated by the market like … [Read more...]

How an Online Business Creates Value for an Investor

A fascinating new trend from the last three years has been the emergence of social media. Having created value through serving advertisements on a scale comparable to Google (sort of), companies like Facebook have created all sorts of amazing business opportunities for aggressive … [Read more...]

Where Does Linkedin’s Value Come From

The first major social media company to go public this year was LinkedIn. This offering was a major event in the stock market, because it created a reference point against which other social media companies to could be valued. Specifically, people are always interested in trying to … [Read more...]

Research in Motion The Failing Giant

Research in Motion has been in the front page of the news for years now. As the manufacturer of the highly sophisticated mobile products in the blackberry line, RIM was able to capture a huge share of the corporate technology market. Focusing on creating secure business communications … [Read more...]

Research in Motion Value Play

In the past, we’ve discussed how it is that value investments are those opportunities that allow us to invest in assets that are trading below their true worth. In the interest of trading dimes for dollars, a value investor is often considered to be a contrarian, because a security … [Read more...]

How Do Patent Companies Create Value?

One of the hottest sectors to invest in over the last decade has been the technology space. However, technology securities are also notoriously volatile, and dangerous. It takes a sophisticated investor, capable of quickly dealing with new information as it arrives, and interpreting … [Read more...]

Software as a Service for Consistency

The continuing theme of this column is to discuss the value of cash flows and income. From my perspective, personal investors should focus on scaling down their exposure to risk in a way that allows them to maintain exposure to predictable cash flows over time. Be these cash flows be … [Read more...]