Where Will Google Stock Be in 1 Year? This $3.4 Million Option Provides an Estimate

Someone placed a big bet today on where GOOGL will be in January 2016, buying 1,000 contracts for $585 call options at $34.20. This $3.42 million bet has been placed with the expectation that GOOGL will be above $620 by January 15, 2016 (today it closed at $532.11).

Given GOOGL stock's poor performance this year, do they know something we don't? Online commentators speculate that this may have something to do with Google Glass, Glass self-driving cars, or simply someone hedging an existing position.

Is Solar3D a Good Investment?

On Friday, November 7, Solar3D (OTCMKTS:SLTD) was up 25.72%, matching an all-time high for the stock at $0.26. The company is attempting to develop a 3-dimensional photovoltaic solar cell technology and has recently acquired a solar installation company.

The consensus among analysts appears to be that the stock is good for speculation, but not so good for investment.

Recent news:

• News Recap: Solar3D Inc. signed a definitive purchase agreement to acquire 100% of MD Energy, LLC
• Solar3D: Just Another Californian Solar Installer?
• Solar3D Confirms Commitment to Growth-Through-Acquisition
• Solar3D Inc. (OTCMKTS:SLTD) Trying To Rise Again
• Is Solar3D Inc (OTCMKTS:SLTD) geared up to Break Resistance?

SLTD message boards:

• BoardCentral
• InvestorsHub
• Yahoo! Finance

Interviews during the past year with James Nelson, CEO of Solar3D:





SLTD Stock Analysis:

How to Invest in a Business Venture: Warren Buffett on What to Look for When Investing and What Makes a Great Manager

Warren Buffett explained how his company, Berkshire Hathaway, selected businesses to invest in. According to Buffett, it is all about looking at past performance and the quality of the management team:

We do look for intelligence, energy and integrity. Our managers overwhelmingly come with the businesses that we buy, so we have the chance to look at what they've done over twenty or thirty, forty years and we can see their abilities just as if you were hiring soccer players and you had the chance to see how they performed over the previous ten years, you would know what you were getting. I would not be able to do as well in evaluating managers if I were to select, we'll say, from a class of a hundred MBAs. I would not know that much about their... I would know they're pretty smart or they wouldn't be there. And I'd know that they all had energy, but I wouldn't have the track record that I get when we buy a business. When we buy a business, we're looking at a management that's been there for a long time. We can see their performance, we can see how they've behaved in difficult situations. We can see how they've treated their employees and customers, and we can get a very good reading on them.

Will BIDU Beat Earnings? When Will They Announce Earnings? Will the Stock Go Up?

In advance of the earnings announcement on October 29, 2014 for Baidu (BIDU), the following assessments have been made:

• Seeking Alpha is leaning towards a yes: "Baidu might beat consensus estimates again after a successful Q2".
• Zacks is inconclusive: "Our proven model does not conclusively show that Baidu will beat earnings this quarter."

MarketWatch has an average price target of $262.59, while the NASDAQ's website is reporting a 12-month price target range consensus of $246. Zacks' price target is $231.50, while Deutsche Bank's consensus target is $238.96. BIDU was trading $219.92 at end of day Monday, October 27.

How Can I Trade Stocks for Free?

While most stock trading platforms charge a $10 commission per trade, there are some lower-cost options:

• Interactive Brokers charges around $1 per order for active investors with a certain amount of volume.
• Option House has a $4.75 flat rate.
• TradeKing offers a $4.95 flat rate.

Finally, Robin Hood is purporting to offer zero commission stock trading, but there is currently a waiting list to gain access. 

Warren Buffett Teaches You How to Invest: The Stock Market for the Average Investor

Simple, easy-to-understand advice from the greatest investor of all-time. In an interview, Buffett explained a stock market strategy for the average investor without advanced financial knowledge:

I would recommend that they put a similar sum then maybe they'd be earning more as they went along. But save something every month and basically put it in an index fund. They are not in a position to make judgments on stocks themselves, they're not in the game any more than I can prescribe medicine or something of the sort. They will get a good result. The American economy has done wonderfully. I mean, if you take the 20th century, the Dow started at 66 and it ended at 11,400. Now think of that. How could anybody get a bad result investing starting at 66 and 11,400? But a lot of people do because they jump in at the wrong time or they think they know this stock versus that stock. But the average person should just consistently buy equities, which to me are by far the most attractive investment choice around and put it in, and if they do that for twenty or thirty years, they'll do very well.