Industry Focus

The IF crew is looking back at some of their favorite episodes of 2016 . . . From the apparel industry to your local grocery store, metrics like inventory turnover can tell investors a lot about a company and its operations. But in the words of one of the most well-known CEOs today, should management treat inventory as “fundamentally evil”?  

The IF crew is looking back at some of their favorite episodes of 2016 . . . Can improving your writing skills boost your investing returns?  

We look ahead to the new year and make a few predictions about wearables, M&A, and where big tech companies will be focusing their resources.

Big players are starting to make big moves as the energy markets gain some certainty -- here's what you need to know. 

Stuffing holiday stockings with... stocks! Stocks that benefit from the Cure's Act; plus top healthcare stocks to buy in 2017.  

From the perennial No. 3 fast food chain to a recovering soda company, the team picks their two favorite stocks of the year that surprised the market before turning their attention to 2017 and beyond.

Need a last minute present? Or maybe you know someone who could use a little book learning? Check out the Motley Fool’s book list!

A long overdue update on the autonomous driving space -- Alphabet's decision to turn it's self-driving car project into an Alphabet subsidiary, what's going on over at Apple, and why Uber is causing problems in San Francisco.

The energy sector is getting strong representation in the Trump administration, and here’s what investors need to know.

Alexion's top-brass has hit the exits amid an investigation into sales practices, and Ophthotech's future is in jeopardy following a high-profile phase 3 failure.

DirecTV Now is supposed to represent the future of content delivery, but this new service has a long way to go before it makes a difference to AT&T shareholders. And Netflix finally gives in to demands for offline viewing.

China is welcoming foreign investors to its markets, but should investors accept the invitation?

Rumors are swirling that Sirius XM is interested in acquiring the streaming music company. It doesn't make sense at first glance, but Pandora might "get by with a little help from {Sirius'} friends."

OPEC finally cut production for the first time in 8 years – here’s some of the top plays leveraged to decreasing supplies.

The 21st Century Cures Act ignites innovation with perks to biopharma and medical device makers. Also, Kite Pharma and Novartis prep plans to pitch their CAR-T cancer therapies to the FDA.

Under Armour announced last week that it would be changing the ticker symbols for its publicly traded A and C shares, but the real story here is the large spread in where those two stocks are trading. We welcome Seth McNew to discuss dual share classes, founder Kevin Plank, and trends for the sports apparel industry.

It’s tempting to think that the American economy is still struggling to recover from the financial crisis, but the data says otherwise. Eight years after the Crash of 1929, the U.S. economy was still mired in the Great Depression. Fast forward to today, eight years after the financial crisis, which was the worst economic downturn since the 1930s, and the economy is looking as robust as ever. In this episode of Industry Focus: Financials, The Motley Fool’s Gaby Lapera and John Maxfield talk about the state of the U.S. economy right now, digging through the statistics and trends that matter most.     

Facebook recently announced a $6 billion share buyback authorization, but investors shouldn’t expect to see the company’s total shares outstanding dip any time soon. We explain why and draw on a couple other examples to show how buybacks are generally used a little differently in tech.

After nearly three decades of claiming the industry is a terrible place to invest, the Oracle of Omaha recently purchased shares in several major airlines – is this a major shift?

Shares in Juno Therapeutics and Amicus Therapeutics tumble on disappointing news; and one important drug at Pfizer takes a big step forward.