Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (Ticker symbol: BMY) is a Fortune 500 pharmaceutical corporation with locations in NY, NJ, CT, and around the world. The company was formed in 1989 as a result of a merger between Bristol-Myers and Squibb companies, who have both been in business since the 1800s. As a historical side note, the original Squibb Corporation founder was the late E.R. Squibb M.D., a US Navy surgeon and science pioneer, who made great contributions to the field of medicine, as well as the city of New York.
Over the last few years, Bristol-Myers Squibb has been diversifying itself away from strictly pharmaceutical drugs to expand its focus on biological therapies. Its latest acquisition of Inhibitex earlier this month is in line with this strategy and according to executives, will support long term growth potential and enhance the company’s position in virology and hepatitis C treatments.
As far as the company stock is concerned, Bristol Myers has been stuck in a $20-$30 trading range for the last decade. After breaking out to the upside late last year and hitting $35, BMY has come off its recent highs primarily due to FDA rejection of an experimental diabetes drug called Dapaglifozin. This pullback should be viewed as a nice buying opportunity to pick up some shares. Currently trading at $32.25, Bristol Myers looks like an attractive investment for both the short and long term. A retest of the $34-$35 area would be a good price target to take profits for traders, while investors can benefit from the juicy 4% dividend yield with future upside potential.
Note: Bristol-Myers reports 4th quarter earnings results on Thursday January 26, 2012 before the bell.
If you can get to Bogota, you may be eligible to receive $200 for free. Think the cost of flying to Colombia will cost more? It probably will, but don’t worry because I’m talking about New Jersey! That’s right, Bogota Savings Bank, located in Bogota, NJ (just 10 miles from NYC) will give new customers a $200 account bonus when you open a personal or business checking account with direct deposit/online banking by February 29, 2012. Go to BogotaSavingsBank.com for full details.
The United States is in the midst of a natural gas boom and many companies are profiting from it. One such company is Targa Resources Inc. a gas utility operating out of Houston, TX. The corporation is publicly traded on the NYSE under ticker symbol TRGP. In a sentence, Targa basically provides natural gas services including gathering, storage, and transportation throughout the United States. Riding the current wave, Targa has seen its stock increase 42% since October 2011. After such a large increase, you may think you’re late to the party, but there is still plenty of upside to be had. The stock should continue to remain attractive to buyers in the near term, as it is expected to pay out its quarterly dividend (3% annual yield) in the next couple weeks. Currently trading in the $39 range, Targa could be a nice buy for both short term traders and long term investors.
According to a 2010 Gallup poll, Americans spend an average of about 45 minutes per day commuting to work. As gas prices continue to rise, so does the cost of commuting. There are a few things that you can do to help reduce this cost, such as walking, riding your bicycle, carpooling, using mass transit, or trading in your car for a more fuel efficient vehicle. Some of these options however may not be availabe to you or even practical, depending on your personal situation.
However, if you do drive, one way that you can start saving money right now is to avoid tolls while commuting to work or anywhere for that matter. Many highway and transportation authorities have approved toll hikes of anywhere from 10 percent to 50 percent in recent months, with even more on the way. Something as simple as avoiding tolls on your daily commute can literally save you hundreds of dollars per year. Keep in mind that this idea won’t work for everyone. For example, if you have to cross a bridge to get to the workplace, good luck avoiding the toll! Also, if avoiding tolls significantly increases your commuting time, distance, gas expense, or even stress, it really won’t make a lot of sense to do so.
For many commuters though, this can be a very simple way to immediately cut costs. I personally tried this out exploring a few different routes until I found a nice combination of highways and back roads that avoids all tolls and most traffic. It takes me roughly the same amount of time to commute using this alternate route and saves be about $50 per month ($600 per year).
If you don’t have a great sense of direction, try using a GPS navigation system or Google Maps to help you plan your commute. You can select the option to avoid tolls when requesting driving directions. Keep in mind that the suggested routes may not necessarily be the most direct way to your destination.
