'Vonage the Dog' bites back

From CNET News.com, it seems Jim Cramer has now started calling Vonage, Vonage the Dog. For good reasons of course. Now Vonage's CEO is saying that the ipo was successful because it raised funds. Yeah sure, but soon cable companies will begin offering voip with cable internet access. Skype and Yahoo are free, and the company is being sued. Doesn't look good for Vonage. I would stay away from the stock.

Cosi, Inc.

I've been keeping any eye on Cosi,Inc.(COSI) lately. Cosi is a restaurant in the order of Panera Bread. They are growing at an amazing pace, but their shares have been dow because of a missed quarter. However, they have improved restaurant effectiveness of late, and plan to open serveral hundred new restaurants in the next few years. Cosi is worth a look.

Cramer: Catch the Openwave

As Jim Cramer says, Catch the Openwave(OPWV). However I would wait a while before jumping in. I think this high potential stock has some bottoming out to go with the options semi-scandal hanging over it's head. Down to almost $11 today, I could see in going down another $2 at least. That, in my opinion, makes it a bargain.

Finance Sites: Yahoo Leads, Google Lags

Not a big surprise that when it comes to finance information, Yahoo Leads, Google Lags. Link from PC World.

How to Profit From a Cooling Real Estate Market: Why the Rich Get Richer - Yahoo! Finance

Robert Kiyosaki has a great article on investing in today's cooling real estate market, in his Why the Rich Get Richer series.

Personally, I've been putting off buying a new house in my area because of the, to me, outrageous prices on homes. I'm hopeful that some of my dream homes will come down in price to something I can afford to pay on every month. But on the flip side, my house will probably have an even harder time selling in a buyer's market, so it may not even matter. A cooling real estate market will bad for just about everyone.

High inflation and Stocks

Recent news of rising inflation has been flaming stocks today, however I ran across a good article from Marketwatch regarding how higher inflation doesn't have to be bad for stocks - MarketWatch.

From the article - "Investors who sell stocks when inflation rears its head are implicitly assuming that companies have no pricing power, and hence that their earnings growth rates don't change with inflation. But history shows that this is not the case, according to a study by Harvard economists John Campbell and Tuomo Vuolteenaho. They found that real (or inflation-adjusted) earnings growth, when measured over several-year periods, was relatively constant, and that nominal earnings growth fluctuated with inflation."

Finisar Gets Slammed

Finisar fell around 30% after releasing earnings this week. Estimates were in line with expectations, but investors were expecting a blowout quarter and shares were pummeled. I still believe the company is a good investment for the long term as mobile operators build out their network with 10-Gbit and Metro products. I see a good buying op if the shares dip below $3 in the coming weeks.

Vonage Holds Customers to IPO Pledge

Vonage shares have taken a major smackdown since going public at $17. Now the internet phone company, whose stock has dropped more than 29 percent since its stock market debut, said late Wednesday that customers who agreed to buy into its initial public offering last week must follow through on their commitment to buy their shares.

I can see their point, but it kind of seems desperate to start threatening customers at this point. I really like Vonage but I wonder if this is going to go down as one of the worst ipo's ever. Time will tell.