Out Fox The $treet

Apple remains in an enviable position with a massive cash position. The tech giant faces a large repatriation tax bill payable over eight years. Previous capital allocation moves favored maintaining large cash balances contrary to analyst calls for large capital returns or a mega acquisition. A strong war chest reduces investment risk. A lot of discussion surrounds whether  Apple  ( AAPL ) will ramp up stock buybacks and acquisitions due to the repatriation of foreign earnings provision in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. A couple of analysts suggest a ramp up in stock buybacks while my  previous research  doesn't back this theory due to a big repatriation tax hit. Read full article on Seeking Alpha.  Disclosure: Long AAPL. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Cisco Systems faces a large tax bill from the mandatory repatriation of foreign earnings. The tech giant has one of the largest cash balances impacted by the tax law. The current capital return plan is solid, but the net payout yield fails to impress. One company flying under the radar of the mandatory tax repatriation of foreign earnings is  Cisco Systems  ( CSCO ). The market constantly focuses on the other tech giants like  Apple  ( AAPL ) and  Microsoft  ( MSFT ) or new tech companies, but Cisco Systems actually has one of the largest balances of cash stashed in international locations. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha.  Disclosure: Long AAPL. Please review disclaimer page for more details. 

Some good points today from Barry James of James Advantage Funds. With the expected repeal of the Bush Tax Cuts and the future Medicare Tax of 3.8% on unearned income will favor stocks that buyback stock over dividends. During the crushing losses in the 2008 bear market, we've alot of negative comments about companies that bought stock at much higher prices. It seemed alot of investors were leaning back towards dividends, but the higher taxes could very well favor companies that buyback stocks as investors won't be taxed on those. Our Net Payout Yield Portfolio has always sought a balance between dividends and buybacks to provide cash flow for clients from dividends but also to limit any tax burden with companies that buyback stock. Besides history has shown that the combined yield is much more predictive of returns then dividend alone. It very much appears that the buyback portion could shift back into focus starting in the 2nd half of this year. In the past stocks like Caterp...