Shares of used car retailer CarMax Inc. (KMX) tumbled over 4% after posting first-quarter 2021 financial results before the opening bell on Friday.

Like many other dealerships and automakers, the Richmond, Virginia-based company has felt the effects of the coronavirus lockdown as it closed or reduced operations at roughly half its more than 200 stores. It also furloughed 15,500 employees, stopped store expansions, reduced inventory levels and halted its share repurchase program. The company also noted that more than 80% of the days in the quarter, which ended May 31, were negatively impacted by the “mix of store closures and

Trevor Milton, founder and executive chairman of Nikola Corp. (NKLA), became the world’s newest billionaire this month as the company made its public market debut.

Under Milton’s leadership, Nikola has risen from startup obscurity in cell-powered vehicles to become a multi-billion-dollar enterprise on the verge of launching its first line of hydrogen fuel cell-powered trucks.

Nikola’s blowout IPO has thrown Milton into the spotlight, revealing some of his personality, character and leadership style. Intriguingly, Milton’s recent public statements, media interactions and investor communications display a remarkable similarity to those of another automotive entrepreneur: Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Inc.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 27,110.98 on Friday with a gain of 829.16 points or 3.15%. The S&P 500 closed at 3,193.93 for a gain of 81.58 points or 2.62%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 9,814.08 for a gain of 198.27 points or 2.06%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 24.18 for a loss of 1.63 points or -6.32%.

Friday’s market movers

U.S. indexes jumped on Friday after a much better-than-expected May jobs report. The labor market added 2.509 million jobs, beating the estimate of -8.870 million. The unemployment rate decreased to 13.3% from 14.7% and beat

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 26,281.82 on Thursday with a gain of 11.93 points or 0.05%. The S&P 500 closed at 3,112.35 for a loss of 10.52 points or -0.34%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 9,615.81 for a loss of 67.10 points or -0.69%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 25.51 for a loss of 0.15 points or -0.58%.

Thursday’s market movers

U.S. indexes ended mostly lower Thursday after a four-day rally. Applications for jobless claims decreased from the previous week, but still remained extremely high at 1.877 million. The number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits also

Unfortunately, as we collectively face challenging times during this pandemic, certain business models thrive and benefit in this kind of environment. One of the main beneficiaries of the coronavirus crisis, in my opinion, would have to be Aaron's Inc. (AAN).

Aaron's offers lease-purchase solutions primarily to an undeserved, credit-challenged segment of the population who tend to have a FICO score between 500-700. A lease-purchase solution is a written agreement between a seller and buyer giving the buyer an option to purchase the property when they have made lease payments until the full price is paid up.

Consumers with lease-purchase solutions

AutoNation (AN) released its first-quarter results on May 11 before the market opened. The automotive retailer surpassed quarterly earnings and revenue projections.

The Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based company recorded earnings of $0.91 per share, down from $1.04 in the year-ago period. Analysts had forecasted earnings of $0.70 per share. Revenue declined 6% to $4.67 billion, which was also above analysts’ projections.

Segment performance

The company’s Domestic segment, which sells cars produced by General Motors (GM), Ford (F) and Chrysler (FCAU), posted income of $54 million in the first quarter, which reflected a decline of 4% on a year-over-year basis.

The Import

Ford Motor Co. (F) released its first-quarter results on April 28 after the market closed. Earnings and revenue could not live up to analysts' expectations.as the coronavirus pandemic disrupted the company’s operations.

Overview of the quarter

The Michigan-based automaker recorded an adjusted loss per share of 23 cents. Automotive revenue of $31.34 billion was down from the prior-year quarter. Analysts had predicted a net loss of 10 cents per share on $32.7 billion in revenue.

Ford’s pickup trucks showed resilience amid the pandemic as sales were down a mere 5.4% in the reported quarter compared with a

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 23,719.37 on Thursday with a gain of 285.80 points or 1.22%. The S&P 500 closed at 2,789.82 for a gain of 39.84 points or 1.45%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 8,153.58 for a gain of 62.67 points or points or 0.77%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 41.55 for a loss of 1.80 points or 4.15%.

For the week, the Dow Jones gained 12.7%, the S&P 500 gained 12.1% and the Nasdaq gained 10.6%. For the year, the Dow Jones has a loss of 16.89%, the S&P 500 is down 13.65% and

Ford Motor Co. (F) released its first-quarter sales report on April 2.

Quarterly sales declined year over year as the coronavirus brought production and sales activities to a near-halt. The carmaker's results were also weighed down by poor demand for trucks, SUVs and passenger cars.

Overview of the quarter

The Michigan-based automaker sold a total of 516,330 units in the first quarter, down 12.5% from the same period last year.

Sales were down 5.4% for trucks, 11% for SUVs and 36% for passenger cars. Passenger car sales were adversely affected as the company plans to shift its focus from sedans

Tesla Inc. (TSLA) entered 2020 on a high note. The electric vehicle (EV) company enjoyed a surging share price amid increasing investor enthusiasm and growing public confidence in its future success. In February, the stock briefly reached $968.99, its all-time high.

Unfortunately, the fun was not to last for the EV automaker. The rapid spread of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) compelled many manufacturers to shutter production. The “Big Three” automakers – Ford (F), General Motors (GM) and Fiat Chrysler (FCAU) – announced they were closing their

For cyclical industries such as auto manufacturing, economic shocks can be extremely painful, or even fatal. That proved to be the case for General Motors Co. (GM) during the 2008 financial crisis. The automaker was forced to take a government lifeline and its equity was virtually wiped out in the restructuring.

Not all automakers need share such an ignominious fate, however, as Ford Motor Co. (F) showed. The venerable automaker survived the Great Recession and went on to grow and thrive during the long bull market that followed. Today, the company faces

In light of Ford Motor Co. (F) suspending its dividend to strengthen its cash position amid the coronavirus outbreak, five dividend growth stocks broadly owned by hedge fund gurus are Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS), MSC International Direct Co. Inc. (MSM), W.W. Grainger Inc. (GWW), Lincoln Electric Holdings Inc. (LECO) and Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO).

The Dividend Growth Portfolio, one of our Premium screens within the All-in-One Screener, seeks high-quality companies that have grown dividends over the past five years. The above stocks have at least two hedge fund gurus owning shares as of the December 2019 filing.

If you've not heard of Walter Schloss, I highly recommend seeking out any material you can find on this legendary value investor.

Walter Schloss was, in many ways, one of the last real deep value investors. As many deep value investors gave up on buying cheap stocks, Schloss persevered.

It is said that when Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio) decided to close his investment partnerships in the late 1960s, Schloss was the first person he called to sell off many of his deep value holdings - the ones he could not find a buyer for in the market.

As February draws to a close, U.S. markets continue their downslide as fears of the new coronavirus (Covid-19) abound. In midday trading as of Feb. 28, the S&P 500 is down 13.09% from the previous week, marking the fastest correction since the financial crisis in 2008.

While stock prices inevitably take a hit during market corrections and recessions, their underlying companies may not all suffer as much as the general investing public fears. For example, people may buy fewer luxury goods in financially lean times, but few (if any) are going to stop buying essentials like food, toothpaste and toilet

The largest insider buys this week were for Salesforce.com Inc. (CRM), Ford Motor Co. (F), Catalent Inc. (CTLT) and PPD Inc. (PPD).

Salesforce director bought 1,100 shares

Director Susan Wojcicki bought 1,100 shares on Feb. 12 for an average price of $189.36. The stock has gained 0.31% since then.

Salesforce is an American cloud computing company. Although most of its revenue comes from a customer relationship management product, the company also capitalizes on commercial applications of social networking through acquisition. The company has a market capitalization of $168.49 billion; as of Feb. 14, it traded at $189.95.

On Dec. 12,

I recently came across a section of the 1999 annual Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A)(BRK.B) shareholder meeting during which Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio) and Charlie Munger (Trades, Portfolio) were asked about the then-rapidly growing telecommunications sector.

The two gurus were asked whether they had looked at this sector and whether they thought that it would be a good place to deploy capital. Buffett has historically been reticent to buy companies in industries that he does not understand, which tends to include new, rapidly growing sectors like technology:

“I think for people that understand it