Stock Market News & Stocks to Watch from StraightStocks » Canada

PSFT, HZHI, CVAT, PWRM, HCEI, TAXS, CSRH, AQNM, Stocks at a Glance. DrStockPick.com Report!

Dr. Stock Pick — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:23:58 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _________________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _________________________________________ Wednesday November 25, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! PSFT, HZHI, CVAT, PWRM, HCEI, TAXS, CSRH, AQNM ************************************************************** HCEI, Healthy Coffee International Inc., HCEI.PK HCEI is well positioned in the market place at the intersection of three mega-billion dollar industries: coffee, wellness and energy drinks, and has quickly established offices [...]

No Change in Deere’s Outlook – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:14:23 +0000

Earlier today, Deere & Company (DE) reported fiscal fourth quarter earnings of 23 cents per share (excluding goodwill impairment charges of 76 cents per share), which is well above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 5 cents per share. However, quarterly earnings were down 72% year over year, primarily due to a double-digit decline in sales.

Quarterly revenue of $5.3 billion was down 28% from the prior-year period. Net sales from the company’s worldwide equipment operations dropped 30% year over year to $4.7 billion due to lower shipment and production volumes. Equipment net sales in the U.S. and Canada fell 26%, while the net sales outside the U.S. and Canada were down 35%.

Agriculture & Turf segment sales fell 26% due to lower shipment volumes, partially offset by improved price realization. The segment’s operating profit (excluding the goodwill impairment charge) was $389 million, compared to $460 million last year. Lower operating profit was driven by lower revenue, partially offset by a decline in raw material and SG&A expenses.

Sales in the Construction and Forestry segment were down 47%, reflecting a significant decline in shipment and production volumes. The segment posted operating profit of $2 million for the reported quarter, compared to $89 million last year. Lower shipment and production volumes were partially offset by improved price realization, lower raw-material costs and lower SG&A expenses.

For the full-year fiscal 2009, Deere posted net income of $2.84 per share, compared to previous-year EPS of $4.70 per share. Total sales for the year were down 19% at $23.1 billion, as farmers and other customers cut their spending under recessionary conditions.

Deere projects a 1% drop in for fiscal 2010, including a 10% drop in the first quarter. The company’s forecast assumes a favorable currency translation impact of approximately 1% for the year and about 3% for the first quarter. Net income for fiscal 2010 is forecasted at around $900 million.

Full-year (fiscal 2010) sales from the Agriculture & Turf business are forecasted to decline 4% with lower expected sales from the U.S., Canada, and European markets and higher sales from South America. Construction and Forestry segment sales are expected to increase by about 18% in fiscal 2010, driven by aggressive inventory reductions made in fiscal 2009 to align the company’s production with retail demand.

We maintain a Neutral recommendation on Deere.
Read the full analyst report on "DE"
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HCEI, Healthy Coffee International Projects Seven Figure per Month Sales by November 2010

Dr. Stock Pick — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 16:48:21 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _______________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _______________________________________ Wednesday Nov 25, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** HCEI, Healthy Coffee International Inc., HCEI.PK HCEI’s proprietary formulas combine the health benefits of Ginseng, Reishi Mushroom, and other top quality ingredients with the world’s finest coffee beans to create a line of deliciously healthy instant gourmet coffee drinks. HCEI [...]

HZHI, Exclusive Agreement With Exmovere Holdings Inc., for Mobility Aid and BioSensor Products is Opening the Door to a Multi Million Dollar Industry for Horizon Health International

Dr. Stock Pick — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:41:25 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _________________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _________________________________________ Wednesday Nov 25, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** HZHI, Horizon Health International Corp., HZHI.PK Horizon Health International Corp. Enters Into an Exclusive Agreement With Exmovere Holdings Inc., for Mobility Aid and BioSensor Products, Opening the Door to a Multi Million Dollar Industry The market for mobility devices is [...]

Manulife Buys Stake, Raises Equity – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:15:00 +0000

Manulife Financial Corporation (MFC) has agreed to purchase a 49% stake in ABN AMRO TEDA Fund Management Co. for US$156 million in cash. The joint venture will be named Manulife TEDA Fund Management Co. Ltd. It will offer traditional retail and institutional asset management services in the Chinese market. Established in 2002, ABN AMRO TEDA Fund Management currently has assets of US$3.8 billion under management.

The 51% stake is owned by Northern International Trust, part of Tianjin TEDA Investment Holding Co., a company owned by Tianjin city in China. Manulife expects to complete the stake purchase in the first quarter of 2010. The company also expects this transaction to add to its earnings in the first year.

Manulife is also bolstering its capital position with a $2.5 billion common equity raise. The company recently announced that it has agreed to issue common shares to a syndicate of underwriters for an aggregate price of C$2.5 billion (US$2.37 billion) at C$19 each in a "bought deal" public offering in Canada. Manulife also intends to retire roughly $1 billion of outstanding debt under its credit facility with Canadian chartered banks using other cash resources of the company.

We believe that the stake purchase and equity offering are a strategic fit. The buying of the 49% stake will help the company to expand its business significantly in China. This equity raise would enable the company to significantly strengthen its capital position and to have access to the highest level of capital since it went public. Additionally, the company would have the flexibility to make meaningful acquisitions and explore growth opportunities.
Read the full analyst report on "MFC"
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XplosiveStocks.com HZHI, HCEI, NVSR (Brought to you by DrStockPick.com)

Dr. Stock Pick — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:03:44 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _________________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _________________________________________ Tuesday Nov 24, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** www.xplosivestocks.com November 24, 2009 Xplosive Picks Healthy Coffee, Part of a Hot Market! Healthy Coffee International (HCEI.PK) Coffee stocks are a hot commodity right now and HCEI is more than just another coffee company. Their product offering is allowing them to focus on three [...]

DrStockPick.com Stock Report! 11/24/09, HCEI, ABMD, SJR, F, PMRA, MHGC

Dr. Stock Pick — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:02:47 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _______________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _______________________________________ Tuesday Nov 24, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** Healthy Coffee International, Inc. (Other OTC: HCEI.PK) has established offices in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Canada, Pilipinas, Sweden, UK, and many more countries to achieve the company’s short term goal of $1 million a month in [...]

The New Crude Oil Benchmark That Could Change the Oil Market’s Price Dynamics

Investment U — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:46:09 +0000

The New Crude Oil Benchmark That Could Change the Oil Market’s Price Dynamics by Sheena Martin, Contributing Editor Tuesday, November 24, 2009 Earlier this month, the world’s largest oil producer set the table for a move away from traditional light, sweet crude oil. Saudi Aramco, the state-owned company of Saudi Arabia has decided to drop [...]

HZHI, Exclusive Agreement With Exmovere Holdings Inc., for Mobility Aid and BioSensor Products is Opening the Door to a Multi Million Dollar Industry for Horizon Health International

Dr. Stock Pick — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:28:47 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _________________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _________________________________________ Tuesday Nov 24, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** HZHI, Horizon Health International Corp., HZHI.PK Horizon Health International Corp. Enters Into an Exclusive Agreement With Exmovere Holdings Inc., for Mobility Aid and BioSensor Products, Opening the Door to a Multi Million Dollar Industry NORTH VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA–(CRWENEWSWIRE) - HORIZON [...]

November 23rd CEOcast Weekly Newsletter

QualityStocks — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:51:54 +0000

Companies featured in this edition of the newsletter: ACTC, CUR, CVM, DKAM, ENZ, IMUC, MFGD, NXOI, OMCM, ONEZ, PSID, XSNX Markets continued to carry momentum during the early stages of last week, as the absence of significant economic news led to a continuation of the upward trend characterizing the past few weeks, until an earnings miss [...]

HZHI, CVAT, PWRM, HCEI, PSFT, TAXS, CSRH, AQNM, Stocks at a Glance. DrStockPick.com Report!

Dr. Stock Pick — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:26:57 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _________________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _________________________________________ Monday November 23, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! HZHI CVAT, PWRM, HCEI, PSFT, TAXS, CSRH, AQNM ************************************************************** HCEI, Healthy Coffee International Inc., HCEI.PK HCEI is well positioned in the market place at the intersection of three mega-billion dollar industries: coffee, wellness and energy drinks, and has quickly established offices [...]

HCEI, Healthy Coffee International is Well Positioned in the Market Place at the Intersection of Three Mega-billion Dollar Industries

Dr. Stock Pick — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:25:57 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _______________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _______________________________________ Monday Nov 23, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** HCEI, Healthy Coffee International Inc., HCEI.PK HCEI’s proprietary formulas combine the health benefits of Ginseng, Reishi Mushroom, and other top quality ingredients with the world’s finest coffee beans to create a line of deliciously healthy instant gourmet coffee drinks. Last [...]

Marathon to Slash Spending – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:23:33 +0000

In its investor day meeting, integrated oil major Marathon Oil Corporation (MRO) offered a glimpse of its 2010 production and capital spending plans.

Capital Spending Trimmed

Marathon said that it will prune its capital expenditures by about $1 billion in 2010, as the company allocates a larger percentage of funds towards the Exploration & Production (E&P) segment as against the under-pressure refining business. The Houston-based firm has pegged its 2010 capital budget at about $5 billion, down nearly 7% from the $6 billion it expects to invest by the end of 2009. As per the plan, expenditure on the downstream business (refining, marketing and transportation), which constituted approximately 40% of this year’s budget, will fall to 23%, while the remaining portion will go to exploration and production projects.

Upstream Production Outlook

Marathon’s change in focus to the upstream business can be attributed to plummeting refining profits on the back of weak demand for gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. The company’s new area of emphasis will be deepwater exploration, unconventional resource plays in North America and development in Angola.

Marathon also guided towards 2009 E&P production growth of around 6% from the 2008 level. During the four-year period 2008–2011, the company expects upstream volumes to increase at a compound annual growth rate of approximately 4% (with contributions from new projects in the Gulf of Mexico, Canada's oil sands, Libya and Angola).

In 2010, Marathon plans to drill 3–4 significant wells in the Gulf of Mexico, 2 high-risk, high-potential wells in Indonesia, as well as commence activity in Norway, Libya, Angola and the domestic onshore resource plays.

Outlook

Marathon’s move to chop capital spending follows a similar decision by rival ConocoPhillips (COP), which earlier announced a 12% reduction in its 2010 budget. In contrast, super majors such as ExxonMobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX) have maintained their capital spending even during the current downturn in an effort to lift production.

We like Marathon’s large and geographically diverse reserve base, competitive downstream operation, and solid project pipeline. However, the uncertain commodity-price environment and the company’s heavy downstream exposure will continue to weigh on Marathon’s revenue and profitability, at least in the near term. As such, we see the stock performing in line with the broader market and rate it as Neutral.
Read the full analyst report on "MRO"
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DrStockPick.com Stock Report! 11/23/09, HZHI, PARD, DEG, CBSO, PWAV, UBET

Dr. Stock Pick — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:12:03 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _______________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _______________________________________ Monday Nov 23, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** HORIZON HEALTH INTERNATIONAL CORP. (PINK SHEETS:HZHI) announced that it has executed a Definitive Agreement with Exmovere Holdings Inc. of McLean, Virginia USA (Exmovere). Under the terms of the Agreement Horizon will pay Exmovere a total [...]

Akeena Solar, Inc. (AKNS) Partners with Highland Solar Achieving Canadian Market Penetration

QualityStocks — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:51:38 +0000

Akeena Solar Inc (AKNS), well-known for their Andalay AC power systems, which are stand-alone solar systems designed for the average home, announced a partnership with Highland Solar (HS) today, Monday, Nov. 23. HS, located in Ontario, will move at least 1.75 megawatts (MW) of the Andalay AC solar panels through 2010, via its local installers [...]

Cardio Vascular Medical Device Corp. (CVSL.OB) Applying for Patents in Europe, Canada, and Far East

QualityStocks — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:44:25 +0000

Cardio Vascular Medical Device Corp., an Israeli based developer of advanced cardiovascular surgery technologies, has announced that it will apply for additional patents for its proprietary steerable guidewire product for use in angioplasty procedures. The company already holds a U.S. patent for its innovative guidewire, but wants to obtain patents in Europe, Canada, and the [...]

Campbell’s Beats, Raises Guidance – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:42:33 +0000

Campbell Soup Co. (CPB) reported fiscal first-quarter earnings of 87 cents per share, which was above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 81 cents. Quarterly earnings were up 14.5% compared to the prior-year quarter.

Quarterly net sales declined 2.1% year over year due to a negative impact of 4% from volume and mix and 1% from increased promotional spending, partially offset by positive contributions of 2% from price and allowances and 1% from currency translation. Gross margin for the quarter expanded 170 basis points (bps) to 41.9% versus 40.2% in the year-ago quarter, reflecting productivity improvements and pricing benefits.

Sales of the US Soup, Sauces and Beverages segment decreased 5% year over year. US soup sales fell 3%, driven by sales declines in condensed, RTS and broth. Prego pasta sauce and Pace Mexican sales dropped due to competitive pressures, while beverage sales declined due to weak sales of V-8 vegetable juice.

Sales of the Baking and Snacking segment were up 4%, driven by growth in the Arnott's branded business, led by higher biscuits sales. Pepperidge Farm sales were similar to the year-ago level as increased sales in bakery business were offset by lower sales in the cookies and cracker business.

In the International Soups and Sauces business, sales contracted 2% due to declines in Europe, primarily attributable to divestitures and lower sales in Germany. In Canada, sales increased due to gain in soups and favorable impact of currency. Sales in the Asia-Pacific region also increased, led by strength in Malaysia, Hong Kong and Australia along with the favorable currency impact.

Sales in the North American Foodservice business declined 2% year over year due to continued weakness in the food service sector. Price and sales allowances benefits were more than offset by unfavorable volume and mix.

Based on its performance in the first quarter, Campbell raised its guidance for fiscal 2010. The company now expects net sales growth of 4%-5%, as compared to its previous guidance of 3%-4% growth. Annual earnings growth is expected in the range of 9% and 11%. Earlier, the company provided earnings growth guidance of 5% to 7%. The guidance is consistent with the company’s long-term growth targets.

We hold a Neutral recommendation on Campbell shares.
Read the full analyst report on "CPB"
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The Best Energy Investments in the World

Contrarian Profits — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:00:37 +0000

Brian Hunt, editor in chief of Stansberry’s free online investment digest, a href="http://www.thedailycrux.com/"The Daily Crux/a, interviewed Marin [Katusa, Casey Research]to get his take on where oil prices are headed for the long-term... the regions where investors and traders should focus their dollars... and some of his favorite energy companies with massive upside.

HZHI, Horizon Health International Corp. Enters Into an Exclusive Agreement With Exmovere Holdings Inc., for Mobility Aid and BioSensor Products, Opening the Door to a Multi Million Dollar Industry

Dr. Stock Pick — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:36:33 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _________________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _________________________________________ Monday Nov 23, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** HZHI, Horizon Health International Corp., HZHI.PK Horizon Health International Corp. Enters Into an Exclusive Agreement With Exmovere Holdings Inc., for Mobility Aid and BioSensor Products, Opening the Door to a Multi Million Dollar Industry NORTH VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA–(CRWENEWSWIRE - Nov [...]

Water Stocks News – Cancen Oil Canada acquires an additional site for remediation work – units required from Wescorp

Dawn Van Zant — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:00:00 +0000

CALGARY - November 23, 2009 - Wescorp Energy Inc. (OTCBB: WSCE) is pleased to announce that its joint venture partner, Cancen Oil Canada Corporation, has acquired an additional remediation facility in British Columbia, Canada.

SEED, CVAT, HZHI, DrStockPick.com Watch List! for Monday Nov 23, 2009, Origin Agritech Limited, Cavitation Technologies Inc. and Horizon Health International Corp.

Dr. Stock Pick — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 23:30:46 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _________________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _________________________________________ DrStockPick.com Watch List! My Picks for Monday Nov 23, 2009 are: ************************************************************** SEED, Origin Agritech Limited SEED, a leading agricultural biotechnology company and a top player in seed industry, specializes in research and development, production, sale and distribution of agricultural crop seeds. The Company’s major seed products [...]

CVAT, PWRM, HZHI, HCEI, PSFT, TAXS, CSRH, AQNM, Stocks at a Glance. DrStockPick.com Report!

Dr. Stock Pick — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:16:21 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _________________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _________________________________________ Sunday November 22, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! CVAT, PWRM, HZHI, HCEI, PSFT, TAXS, CSRH, AQNM ************************************************************** HCEI, Healthy Coffee International Inc., HCEI.PK HCEI is well positioned in the market place at the intersection of three mega-billion dollar industries: coffee, wellness and energy drinks, and has quickly established offices [...]

Exponential Growth, Finite World – Analyst Blog

Dirk Van Dijk — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:27:04 +0000

I want to talk about the challenge of exponential growth in a finite world. This is a concept that while on its surface seems easy to get, most people don’t fully grasp it.

Any growth rate that is positive will lead to a doubling in size eventually -- the higher the growth rate, the quicker the doubling. A quick "back of the envelope" method of figuring it out is known as the rule of 70. If you divide a growth rate into 70, it will roughly give you the time for something to double. Thus if something is growing at 2% a year, then it will double in about 35 years, at 5% only 14 years, etc. If you want to be more precise, you can always use your Y^x button on your calculator, but the rule of 70 will do for this discussion.

Clearly, exponential growth is what we are looking for when we invest -- better known as compound interest -- and it is vital to anyone’s financial health that they stay on the right side of it. People who get on the wrong side -- for example, by carrying a credit card balance -- are eventually headed towards financial oblivion. If that is you, then your best investment is probably not one of the stocks or ETFs that I recommend, it is paying down you damm Visa bill.

It is also why I try to watch the downside when I make investment decisions. It is far more important to avoid 50% losses than it is to have a 50% gain. After all, if you had a 50% gain in one year, but in the next year you suffered a 50% loss, at the end of two years that dollar would have turned into just $0.75 -- a 25% loss.

However, far more important to the world is the dark side of exponential growth. Let's start with the obvious one: population growth. The table below comes from Wikipedia, but is based on UN data. Note that from 1750 to 1800, the world population grew from 791 million to 978 million -- an increase of 187 million, or 0.4% per year. From 1850 to 1900, it grew from 1.262 billion to 1.650 billion -- an increase of 388 million or at 0.53% per year.

Thus, even very small growth rates can result in some very large increases extended long enough, and as the base grows, the absolute increase gets larger each year even if the rate of increase stays the same. Now look at what has happened more recently. From 1950 to 1999, world population increased by 3.457 billion, more than doubling from 2.521 billion, an increase of 1.78% per year. Lately we have seen a slowdown in the growth rate; from 1999 to 2008 it was just 1.29% per year, but that has meant an increase of 729 million in just nine years, or 92% of the entire world population in 1750.

Looking forward, the U.N does see a further reduction in the rate of growth, to just 0.68% per year, or almost back down to the growth rate in the very earliest days of the Industrial Revolution. But the base is so much larger, the absolute increase is 2.2 billion, or almost the world population of 1950. The effect is that a long-term graph of world population looks like a picture of a rocket launch. And unless you believe in the Mayan calendar or the equally silly "end times" nonsense, this is going to cause some very big problems (not that the end of the world in 2012 wouldn't be a very big problem on its own).

Now look at where the growth is coming from. The combined populations of North America (Mexico is included in the Latin American numbers, so basically the US and Canada) and Europe are actually expected to fall from the current 1.069 billion to 1.020 billion. All of the growth is coming from Asia, Africa and Latin America.

The only thing that can keep up with exponential growth is something that itself grows exponentially. Fortunately, the one thing that grows exponentially at a very fast rate is computing power, which in turn allows for technological advances. So far, technology has managed to hold off the worst of the problems that one might expect. After all, this analysis is not exactly original. It was first made by Thomas Malthus back before world population hit the 1 billion mark.

However, you can eat potato chips, not computer chips. One of the things that technology has done is level the playing field, so that people in Asia and eventually Africa will have the same shot at success as people in the U.S. and Europe. They can see how we live, and surprise, surprise -- they would prefer to live the way we do, and are increasingly able to do so. As they do, the economic growth opportunities will be huge.

That is why I like the emerging markets story so much. However, given the challenges of trying to research foreign firms who might be best positioned to take advantage of these trends, it probably makes sense to use ETFs such as the I-shares MSCI Emerging Market Fund (EEM) or more country-specific variants like the Claymore China Small Cap ETF (HAO) or the Wisdom Tree India Earnings ETF (EPI).

One of the things that has been absolutely key to our ability to have so much higher living standards today than back in, say, 1850 is that we use a lot more energy.

So let’s take a look at energy consumption per capita (the data I’m using comes from here if you want to investigate further). In 2005, people in North America used the equivalent of 8157.9 kilograms of oil per year (kgoe/y) per person, up from 7942.9 kgoe/y in 2000. Thus while our rate of increase in energy consumption was just 0.54% per year, it was on a high base so the absolute increase was 215 kgoe/y over that time.

Now look at Asia (excluding the Middle East). In 2000, they were using 865.2 kgoe/y, and by 2005 it was up to 1051.5 per year. That is an increase of 3.98% per year, or to go back to the rule of 70, it means that if it keeps up Asia’s energy consumption per capita will double by 2022. Combine that with a population that is expected to grow at 0.6% per year, and Houston, we have a problem.

However, note that the absolute increase in energy use per capita in Asia was just 186 kgoe/y, or just 86.5% of the increase in North America, despite the far higher growth rate. However, if the relative growth rates continue, that will not last. If we extrapolate out the growth rates of 2000 to 2005 then by 2015, Asia’s per capita consumption will grow to 1,553.0 kgoe/y, an increase of 501.5, while the absolute increase in North America will be "only" 451.4 kgoe/y.

Put another way, right now we use 7.76x as much energy per person as in Asia (keep in mind these figures include relatively rich countries like Japan and South Korea, as well as basket-cases like Burma and Bangladesh), and by 2015 that ratio will fall all the way down to 5.54x as much.

Now, the peak year for actual oil discovery in the world was in 1964, and as you pump oil out of the ground it is gone. Once you reach the point where you have pumped half the original oil in a field, it is basically impossible to increase the annual output from that field without causing serious damage that eventually results in that oil being trapped forever. Most of the currently producing fields are past their peak. As the International Energy Agency (IEA) found last year:

"Output from the world's oilfields is declining faster than previously thought, the IEA said in its annual report. Without extra investment to raise production, the natural annual global crude oil depletion rate is 9.1%. The findings suggest the world will struggle to produce enough oil to make up for steep declines in existing fields, such as in the North Sea, Russia and Alaska. The effort will become even more acute as prices fall and investment decisions are delayed. Even with investment, the annual rate of output decline is 6.4." (See here for full story.)

Now the situation is better for natural gas (NG) than it is for oil, but eventually that will run out as well. However, we have much more time thanks to the new shale plays here in the U.S. We need to shift to more usage of NG as a bridge towards the eventual goal of producing most of our energy from renewable sources like wind and solar. But given the tiny fraction of the world’s energy they now represent, we will need many years of very fast growth in them to make a substantial dent in world energy needs.

Natural gas also has the benefit of being located here in North America, rather than in rather unstable and hostile areas of the world, the way oil is.

The U.S. cannot continue to run massive trade deficits with the rest of the world. The trade deficit is the source of our external debt, not the fiscal deficit. Our external debt is now (as of 6/30/09) at $13.454 trillion -- up from just $7.744 trillion five years ago. That is a growth rate of 11.7% per year, and is clearly not sustainable (that might be overstating it since it is a gross number; we do hold some debts of other countries that offsets it in part). Still, even if the net growth rate is half that amount, it is clearly unsustainable, and is one of the reasons the dollar is going to be under long-term pressure.

Putting this all together it seems clear to me that the price of energy must continue to rise over the long term. Companies that are going to be able to increase their production of oil, such as Petrobras (PBR) are going to be exceptionally well positioned.

While natural gas should see a big growth in demand, it is not a perfect substitute for oil. Still, big gas producers like EnCana (ECA) have a very bright long-term future. I would also note that what I am saying about oil also holds true for other commodities. Energy and commodities are going to be the real stores of value and of wealth over the next few decades.
Read the full analyst report on "EEM"
Read the full analyst report on "HAO"
Read the full analyst report on "EPI"
Read the full analyst report on "PBR"
Read the full analyst report on "ECA"
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HCEI, Healthy Coffee International is Looking to Achieve Its Short Term Goal of $1 Million a Month in Sales

Dr. Stock Pick — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:36:53 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _______________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _______________________________________ Friday Nov 20, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** HCEI, Healthy Coffee International Inc., HCEI.PK HCEI’s proprietary formulas combine the health benefits of Ginseng, Reishi Mushroom, and other top quality ingredients with the world’s finest coffee beans to create a line of deliciously healthy instant gourmet coffee drinks. Last [...]

Smucker’s Beats, Raises Guidance – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:48:53 +0000

J.M. Smucker Company (SJM) reported second quarter results with earnings of $1.22 per share, which was well above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 99 cents. Quarterly earnings were up 21% compared to $1.01 reported in the prior-year quarter.

Net sales for the quarter grew 51.7% year-over-year, primarily due to the addition of the Folgers coffee business. Excluding Folgers, volumes increased 1%, driven by Pillsbury, Crisco oils, Jif peanut butter and Hungry Jack brands. These were partially offset by declines in canned milk, fruit spreads, foodservices and natural foods.

On segment basis -- the U.S. retail coffee market segment posted $445.1 million in sales during the quarter. Volume also increased by approximately 5%. The continued expansion of the Dunkin' Donuts brand in the gourmet category and strong growth in traditional roast and ground coffee led to the improvement.

Net sales of the U.S. retail consumer market segment were down 4% compared to the prior year, primarily due to flat volumes. Gains in Jif peanut butter and Hungry Jack pancake mixes and syrups were fully offset by declines in potatoes, fruit spreads, Smucker's Uncrustables sandwiches and the specialty foods business.

The U.S. retail oils and baking market segment sales declined 9% year-over-year. The decline reflected the impact of price declines in oils, flour and canned milk, and higher promotional spending on Crisco oils. However, volumes grew 3%, due to double-digit gains in Pillsbury and Crisco brands fully offsetting the declines in canned milk.

Net sales in the special markets segment grew 15%, driven primarily by the acquisition of Folgers. Volumes were down 1% due to declines in foodservice and natural foods partially offset by gains in Canada.

Gross margin for the quarter expanded 962 basis points (bps) to 38.5% versus 28.9% in the prior-year quarter. The acquisition of Folgers contributed almost 90% of this increase.

Interest expense for the quarter increased by 54% or $6.2 million during the quarter due to an increase in the debt level related to the Folgers transaction. However, the company had repaid approximately $75 million of debt on June 1, 2009.

Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the first half were $410 million, compared to $166 million in the prior-year quarter.

Based on the performance of the company during the second quarter, the company raised its guidance for fiscal 2010. Annual earnings are now expected to be in the range of $3.95 and $4.05 per share. Previous guidance was $3.65 and $3.80.

Net sales for the year are reiterated at approximately $4.5 billion.
Read the full analyst report on "SJM"
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HZHI, Horizon Health International Aims for Millions in Sales with its E-Commerce System – Now is Developing Two New Websites to Speed Up Online Transactions

Dr. Stock Pick — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:49:51 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _________________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _________________________________________ Friday November 20, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** HZHI, Horizon Health International Corp., HZHI.PK HZHI through its US and Canadian Subsidiaries is servicing all of North America through its E-Commerce System, providing services as a ‘Home, Office and Workplace Medical Equipment Specialist’ offering a complete end-to-end shopping [...]

Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Bank of America, MGIC, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Gymboree Corp. – Press Releases

Zacks Market Commentaries — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:42:27 +0000

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 20, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Bank of America (BAC), MGIC (MTG), Fannie Mae (FNM), Freddie Mac (FRE) and The Gymboree Corp. (GYMB).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Thursday’s Analyst Blog:

Mortgage Delinquencies: Record High

The delinquency rate is going up much faster than foreclosures are being started. With unemployment high and rising, it is hard to see a lot of those delinquencies getting cured. Either the lenders will have to let people live indefinitely in their houses without paying (unlikely that the banks would be so generous) or we will see another huge wave of foreclosures coming.

The absolute number of houses that are either in foreclosure or 90 days or more past due now exceeds the number of existing homes available for sale. That is a huge overhang of shadow inventory (although some of it is out of the shadows and currently listed for sale) that should continue to put pressure on housing prices, even with all the extraordinary government support trying to prop up housing prices.

While unemployment is one serious driver of mortgage foreclosures because it affects the ability to pay, falling home prices are another driver. An underwater home is a home that is at high risk of going into foreclosure. It is simply economically irrational to continue to make payments on a $500,000 mortgage that is secured by a property that is only worth $400,000. This, then, continues the vicious cycle, where falling prices lead to foreclosures, which leads to more distressed supply, which leads to further pressure on home prices that in turn leads to yet more foreclosures.

The entire mortgage complex is not yet out of the woods. That complex includes the big banks like Bank of America (BAC), the mortgage insurers like MGIC (MTG) as well as Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE). My inclination is to avoid all of them.

Gymboree Beats, but Outlook Down

Gymboree is a specialty retailer offering apparel and accessories for children under the Gymboree, Gymboree Outlet, Janie and Jack and Crazy 8 Brands, as well as play programs under the Gymboree Play & Music brand. At the end of October 2009, the company operated a total of 951 stores across the U.S., Canada and in Puerto Rico.

The company reported a nearly 2% increase in total sales to $269.1 million during the quarter, compared to $264.1 million in the year-ago quarter. The expansion was primarily driven by the addition of 78 new stores in the last one year period, partially offset by a 4% decline in same-store sales. During the quarter, the company opened a total of 25 new stores including six Gymboree stores, four Gymboree Outlets and 15 Crazy 8 stores.

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Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.

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Zacks Investment Research

PWRM, HZHI, HCEI, CVAT, PSFT, TAXS, CSRH, AQNM, DrStockPick.com Stock Report!

Dr. Stock Pick — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:45:12 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _________________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _________________________________________ Thursday November 18, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! PWRM, HZHI, HCEI, CVAT, PSFT, TAXS, CSRH, AQNM ************************************************************** HCEI, Healthy Coffee International Inc., HCEI.PK HCEI is well positioned in the market place at the intersection of three mega-billion dollar industries: coffee, wellness and energy drinks, and has quickly established offices [...]

HCEI, Healthy Coffee Projects Seven Figure per Month Sales by November 2010

Dr. Stock Pick — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:59:24 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _______________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _______________________________________ Thursday Nov 19, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** HCEI, Healthy Coffee International Inc., HCEI.PK HCEI’s proprietary formulas combine the health benefits of Ginseng, Reishi Mushroom, and other top quality ingredients with the world’s finest coffee beans to create a line of deliciously healthy instant gourmet coffee drinks. HCEI [...]

Patterson Meets Expectations – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:07:34 +0000

Patterson Companies, Inc. (PDCO) reported fiscal second-quarter earnings per share of 41 cents, meeting the Zacks Consensus Estimate. However, earnings were better than the year-ago figure of 40 cents.

Sales

Total sales in the reported quarter increased 7% year over year to roughly $815 million. In terms of business segments: Dental Supply revenues were approximately flat year over year at $537.2 million. Veterinary Supply sales increased 30% year over year to $160.7 million. Growth can be attributed to strong demand for the company’s own products and the acquisition of Columbus Serum in October 2008.

Rehabilitation Supply revenues increased 18% year over year to $117.1 million primarily due to the company’s internal sales growth and acquisitions.

In terms of products: Consumable and printed products sales increased 9.1% year over year to $538.7 million. Equipment and software sales increased 4.5% year over year to $210.0 million. Other category of revenues registered a growth of 2.4% year over year to $66.3 million.

Margins

Patterson witnessed a contraction in margins. Gross margin declined 70 basis points (bps) year over year to 32.7%. Operating margin declined 50 bps year over year to 10.4%.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow

Patterson ended the quarter with cash and short-term investments of roughly $170.2 million, an increase of approximately 8% in the first half of the fiscal year. The company had an outstanding long-term debt of roughly $525 million at the end of the second quarter. Cash flow from operations was $8.6 million for the quarter.

Outlook

Patterson reaffirmed its earnings per share guidance between $1.70 and $1.80 for full fiscal 2010.

Patterson Companies, Inc. is a distributor of dental, companion-pet veterinarian and rehabilitation supply markets in the U.S. and Canada.
Read the full analyst report on "PDCO"
Zacks Investment Research

HZHI, Horizon Health International is Devoloping Two New Websites to Speed Up Online Transactions

Dr. Stock Pick — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:28:58 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _________________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _________________________________________ Thursday November 19, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! HZHI, Horizon Health International Corp., HZHI.PK ************************************************************** HZHI, Horizon Health International Corp., HZHI.PK Horizon Health International Corp.-New Websites HORIZON HEALTH INTERNATIONAL CORP. (PINK SHEETS:HZHI) announced its two new websites. HZHI has commenced the development of two new websites to speed up the process [...]

Gymboree Beats, but Outlook Down – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:25:21 +0000

The Gymboree Corp. (GYMB) reported its fiscal third quarter results after the closing bell on Wednesday. The company posted earnings of $34.8 million, a growth of 12.6% from $30.9 million recorded in the year-ago period. Earnings per share came in at $1.15, which topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.13.

Gymboree is a specialty retailer offering apparel and accessories for children under the Gymboree, Gymboree Outlet, Janie and Jack and Crazy 8 Brands, as well as play programs under the Gymboree Play & Music brand. At the end of October 2009, the company operated a total of 951 stores across the U.S., Canada and in Puerto Rico.

The company reported a nearly 2% increase in total sales to $269.1 million during the quarter, compared to $264.1 million in the year-ago quarter. The expansion was primarily driven by the addition of 78 new stores in the last one year period, partially offset by a 4% decline in same-store sales. During the quarter, the company opened a total of 25 new stores including six Gymboree stores, four Gymboree Outlets and 15 Crazy 8 stores.

Gymboree’s gross margin remained flat at 51.0% as higher merchandise margin was offset by the deleveraging impact of occupancy expenses on lower same-store sales. Selling, general and administrative expenses dipped 4.4% year over year to $80.7 million, while as a percentage of sales, it declined by 200 basis points (bps) to 30.0%. The decrease was mainly caused by lower corporate, store and incentive compensation as well as reduced professional fees. Accordingly, Gymboree posted a growth of 12.4% in operating income to $56.4 million, compared to $50.2 million in the year-ago quarter, while operating margin expanded by 200 bps to 21.0%.

At quarter end, the company had cash and cash equivalents of $212.1 million, compared to $93.2 million in the year-ago period. Gymboree also stated that it has received approval from the board of directors to deploy up to $40 million of cash to buy back its common stock through October 30, 2010.

Concurrent with the earnings release the company also offered guidance for fiscal 2009 fourth quarter. The company expects earnings for the quarter to range between 95 cents and $1.03 per share assuming same-store sales to decline in the range of low to mid single digits. The guidance is below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.12 per share, which has reduced a penny over the past month as 3 of 8 covering analysts lowered expectations.

Gymboree also stated that it plans to open eight new stores during the fiscal fourth quarter comprising four Gymboree stores, three Crazy 8 stores and one Gymboree Outlet store. The company also intends to incur $41 million over the entire fiscal 2009 towards new store openings, remodels and relocations, investments in the distribution center and other information technology systems.
Read the full analyst report on "GYMB"
Zacks Investment Research

Gap Inc. – Growth And Income – Zacks Rank Buy

Alex Kolb — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:00:00 +0000

Gap Inc. (GPS), which announces third-quarter results after today's closing bell, just declared a quarterly dividend of $0.085 per share, which translates into an industry-leading dividend yield of 1.5%. The company also reported sales growth for the month of October.

Company Description

Gap Inc. is a global specialty retailer that sells clothing, accessories and personal care products for men, women, children and babies under the Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic, Piperlime and Athleta brands. The company operates stores in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Ireland and Japan.

Gap also has franchise agreements with unaffiliated franchisees to operate Gap and Banana Republic stores in many other countries around the world. Under these agreements, third parties operate or will operate stores that sell apparel, purchased from Gap, under Gap's brand names.

Estimates are Bullish Ahead of Earnings Announcement

Analysts polled by Zacks have been upbeat on GPS ahead of today's third-quarter report, pegging earnings at 43 cents per share for the third quarter. Last month, analysts were forecasting 37 cents.

For the current full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.49 per share was increased from last month's $1.40.

For the following year, Zacks analysts boosted the earnings forecast from $1.53 per share to $1.62 over the past 30 days.

Rewarding Shareholders with Competitive Income

The company just declared a quarterly dividend of $0.085 per share, which translates into an industry-leading dividend yield of 1.5%.

The dividend is payable on January 27 to shareholders of record at the close of business on January 6.

Stellar Sales

Gap's October net sales of $1.14 billion came in 5% above last year's $1.08 billion. Comparable store sales spiked 4% year-over-year. Zacks Investment Research

HZHI, Horizon Health International Corp.-New Websites

Dr. Stock Pick — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:15:50 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _________________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _________________________________________ Wednesday November 18, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! HZHI, Horizon Health International Corp., HZHI.PK ************************************************************** Horizon Health International Corp.-New Websites NORTH VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA–(CRWENEWSWIRE - Nov 18, 2009) - HORIZON HEALTH INTERNATIONAL CORP. (PINK SHEETS:HZHI) (The Company) is pleased to announce its two new websites. The company has commenced the development [...]

Acquisition by Green Mountain – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:44:29 +0000

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (GMCR) recently acquired Timothy’s Coffees of the World, Inc., an affiliate of Sun Capital Partners, Inc. The acquisition was a cash transaction of approximately $157 million.

The acquisition includes the Timothy’s World Coffee brand and the wholesale business. However, the deal does not include retail operations. The retail portion of the Timothy’s business has been purchased by Bruegger’s Enterprises, Inc. and will continue to support the Timothy’s brand across Canada . The acquisition includes a five-year coffee supply agreement with Bruegger’s Canadian affiliate and management expects to expand its relationship with Bruegger’s Enterprises as it already supplies to all of GMCR’s 290 locations in the U.S.

Timothy’s Coffees of the World, Inc will operate as a wholly owned Canadian subsidiary and the operations will be integrated into GMCR’s Specialty Coffee Business Unit. Timothy’s became a licensed roaster of Keurig, Incorporated, a wholly owned subsidiary of GMCR, in 2000.

GMCR expects the acquisition to be accretive to its earnings per share in fiscal year 2010. The acquisition is considered to be a strategic fit for GMCR as Timothy’s is a premium coffee company that produces specialty coffee, tea and other beverages in a variety of packaged forms. Timothy’s also produces K-Cup portion packs for the Keurig Single-Cup Brewing System that are sold under the Timothy’s World Coffee, Emeril’s and Kahlua Original K-Cup brands.

Furthermore, the acquisition will not only give GMCR a Canadian presence but also will provide a coffee roasting facility in Toronto . This will enable GMCR to accelerate its geographic expansion with a Canadian brand platform that includes manufacturing and distribution synergies.

After the acquisition, GMCR revised its estimates for fiscal 2010. The company now expects consolidated net sales growth in the range of 55% to 60% compared to the previous guidance of 50% to 55%. Annual GAAP earnings are now expected to be in the range of $1.85 to $1.95 per share. Previous guidance was $1.75 to $1.85. The guidance include $14 million pre-tax or $0.18 per share non-cash amortization expenses related to the identifiable intangibles of the company’s acquisitions.The guidance also includes estimated acquisition expenses related to the Timothy’s acquisition.

In addition, capital expenditures for fiscal 2010 are expected in the range of $95 million to $115 million compared to $90 million to $110 million stated earlier.

The company also revised its guidance for the first quarter of fiscal 2010. Net sales growth is expected in the range of 65% to 70% compared to the previous estimate of 61% to 66%. Quarterly GAAP earnings are expected in the range of $0.12 to $0.16, up from the previous guidance of $0.11 to $0.15 per share. The guidance includes estimated acquisition transaction expenses related to the Timothy’s acquisition.
Read the full analyst report on "GMCR"
Zacks Investment Research

Stock Guru Featured Company: Precious Metals Exchange Corp. (PRMX.PK)

QualityStocks — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:26:42 +0000

Precious Metals Exchange Corp. operates within the precious metals refining and recycling sector of the precious metals industry. The company’s core business is collecting unwanted and/or broken jewelry and other precious metal items, specifically targeting the U.S., Canada and Latin America markets. Utilizing direct marketing to identify potential customers, Precious Metals Exchange leverages a highly automated [...]

Solar Stocks News – Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ) Reports Third Quarter 2009 Results and Issues 2010 Guidance

Dawn Van Zant — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:00:00 +0000

ONTARIO, Canada - November 18, 2009 - Canadian Solar Inc. (Nasdaq: CSIQ) today announced its unaudited financial results for the third quarter of 2009 ended September 30, 2009

Costco Wholesale Corporation – Growth And Income – Zacks Rank Buy

Alex Kolb — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:00:00 +0000

Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) recently posted October net sales of $5.68 billion, a 7% increase over last year's $5.30 billion. Comparable sales spiked 5% year-over-year.

Company Description

Costco Wholesale Corporation operates an international chain of membership warehouses, mainly under the "Costco Wholesale" name. The company currently operates 562 warehouses, including 409 in the United States and Puerto Rico, 77 in Canada, 21 in the United Kingdom, 7 in Korea, 6 in Taiwan, 9 in Japan, 32 in Mexico and 1 in Australia. Costco also operates Costco Online at www.costco.com and at www.costco.ca in Canada. The company plans to open an additional five new warehouses (including the relocation of one warehouse to a larger and better-located facility), prior to the end of calendar 2009.

Recent Events

In recent news, it was reported that Costco will stop carrying Coke products due to a dispute over prices as the retail giant is trying to win over customers with low prices, while Coca-Cola Co. (KO) is working hard to maintain profits amid a recessionary environment.

Solid Sales

Costco recently posted October net sales of $5.68 billion, a 7% increase over last year's $5.30 billion. Comparable sales spiked 5% year-over-year.

Competitive Income

In early October, the company declared a quarterly dividend of 18 cents per share, which was paid out on November 6. The dividend translates into an industry-leading yield of 1.2%.

Bullish Forecasts

Analysts polled by Zacks are upbeat on earnings. For the fiscal year ending August 2010, the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.87 per share was increased from $2.71 over the past 60 days. For the following year, Zacks analysts are calling for $3.22 per share, up from the 2 months-ago level of $3.00.

Zacks Investment Research

Crown Equity Holdings, Inc Makes Two Acquisition Announcements in November: A Dr Stock Pick News Report!

Dr. Stock Pick — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:10:52 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _________________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _________________________________________ Tuesday November 17, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! Crown Equity Holdings - CRWE has been trading on the quiet side lately but it looks like things are starting to heat up! CRWE - Crown Equity Holdings, Inc has recently made some announcements regarding acquisitions that could have far [...]

HZHI, Horizon Health’s E-Commerce System in the Multi-billion Assistive Technology Market

Dr. Stock Pick — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:01:07 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _________________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _________________________________________ Tuesday November 17, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** HZHI, Horizon Health International Corp., HZHI.PK HZHI through its US and Canadian Subsidiaries is at present servicing all of North America through its E-Commerce System, as a ‘Home, Office and Workplace Medical Equipment Specialist’ offering a complete end-to-end shopping [...]

GM’s Loss Subsides – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:52:10 +0000

General Motors (hereafter, GM) -- presently, Motors Liquidation Company (MTLQQ) -- posted a narrower loss in the third quarter (Jul 10 - Sep 30) compared with the results depicted by "Old GM" in the first quarter, before the company was transformed by a stay in Chapter 11.

GM, which began operations as a new company on July 10, 2009, has revealed a net loss of $1.2 billion for the quarter, significantly less than $6 billion it lost in the first quarter. The company’s earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) before special items for the period were negative at $261 million. GM’s North American market showed a loss of $651 million while GM International Operations recorded a profit of $238 million.

The improvement was attributed to incentive programs including "Cash for Clunkers" and stability in the international market, especially China, Brazil, India and Russia (BRIC). In particular, the China market has been a significant contributor to the company’s results by maintaining a leading market share position.

GM and its joint venture partners in China continue to see an upward trend. They sold more than 478,000 vehicles in the quarter, up from approximately 364,000 and 451,000 units in the first and second quarters, respectively.

The company generated revenue of $28 billion -- up from the revenue recognized by "Old GM" in the prior quarter by $4.9 billion. The improvement in revenue was mainly caused by the Clunkers program and a higher global seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 67.8 million units compared to 62.7 million units in the previous quarter, besides GM’s stabilizing global share.

GM’s global share went up 0.3 percentage points to 11.9% in the quarter from the first half of the year. The U.S. market share was flat at 19.5% compared to the first half of the year. In BRIC, the company had 13% of the combined market share, up 0.2 percentage points from the prior quarter.

GM’s dealer inventories decreased 158,000 units to 424,000 vehicles in the U.S. at the end of reported quarter from the end of the prior quarter. Some of the brands that delivered strong retail performance in the U.S. include Chevrolet Camaro and GMC Terrain Chevrolet Equinox, Buick LaCrosse and Cadillac SRX. In the international market, brands that gained attention are Holden, Chevrolet Cruze, Daewoo Matiz Creative, Opel Astra and Chevrolet Agile.

GM’s structural cost has been significantly reduced by restructuring including salaried and hourly headcount reductions, engineering savings and volume related savings. In the first nine months of the year, structural cost declined by $6.7 million to $31.1 million compared to the year-ago period.

Financial Position and Loan Repayment

GM had positive operating cash flow, before special items, of $3.3 billion in the quarter. This reflected a favorable working capital impact from production start-up, timing of supplier payments and lower capital spending. As of Sep 30, 2009, cash and marketable securities grossed $42.6 billion.

GM has announced its plan to accelerate repayment of its outstanding $6.7 billion (13% of the $52 billion that U.S. taxpayers have invested in the company, mainly for a 61% ownership stake) in U.S. Treasury (UST) loans as well as the C$1.5 billion ($1.4 billion) in Export Development Canada (EDC) loans, ahead of the scheduled maturity date of July 2015. Improving global economic situation, stabilizing industry sales and healthier cash position are the underlying factors behind GM’s decision.

GM plans to repay the loans in quarterly installments from escrowed funds, beginning next month with an initial $1.2 billion payment to be made in December ($1 billion to the UST and $192 million to the EDC), followed by quarterly payments. Any escrowed funds available as of Jun 30, 2010, would be used to repay the UST and EDC loans unless the escrowed funds were extended one year by the UST. Any balance of funds would be released to the company after the repayment of the UST and EDC loans.

In addition, GM has begun to repay the German government loans that had been extended to support Opel. As of Sep 30, 2009, the company had a balance of €900 million ($1.3 billion), of which €500 million ($700 million) has been repaid in November. The outstanding amount of €400 million ($600 million) will be repaid at the end of the month.

Road Ahead

For the fourth quarter, GM has projected the industry SAAR volume in the U.S. to be 10.7 million units in the upcoming quarter, down from 11.7 million units in the reported quarter. Globally, the estimated figure is 65.4 million units. For 2010, GM has forecasted total industry volumes to be 62 - 65 million units globally and 11 - 12 million units in the U.S.

GM expects to have negative net cash flows in the fourth quarter due to several factors including cash outflows related to the Delphi settlement and payments for U.S., Canada, Ontario and German government loans. Consequently, cash balances at the end of the year are expected to be materially lower than third quarter levels of $42.6 billion.
Read the full analyst report on "MTLQQ"
Zacks Investment Research

11-10-09 Audio Interview with Juhl Wind, Inc. (OTCBB: JUHL)

Stuart T. Smith — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:00:00 +0000

John Mitola, President of Juhl Wind, Inc. (OTCBB: JUHL) talks about the management, achievements and goals for the company. Juhl Wind is an established leader in Community Based Wind Power development and management, focused on wind farm projects throughout the United States and Canada. Juhl Wind pioneered community-based wind farms, developing the currently accepted financial, [...]

DrStockPick.com Stock Report! 11/17/09, CSRH, HIL, CBEY, JAVA, USM, SLRW

Dr. Stock Pick — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:24:22 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _______________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _______________________________________ Tuesday November 17, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** Consorteum Holdings Inc. (OTCBB: CSRH) announced that it has proceeded to launch its consumer stored value rebate card. The consumer rebate card program will offer manufacturers and retailers a new way to process mail-in rebates that [...]

Trading Gold Exchange Funds

QualityStocks — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:33:39 +0000

Right off the bat, one must understand that chasing a trend is a rather dangerous thing to do. On the other hand, one must also understand that there may be more room to profit as a stock or commodity moves upward. This is a choice, made carefully, by any individual investor with advice from a [...]

Small Cap Voice Featured Company: Wind Works Power Corp. (WWPW.OB)

QualityStocks — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:26:23 +0000

Wind Works Power Corp. is on a mission to become a leading developer of wind energy projects in North America. To facilitate this business plan, WWPW has entered into a joint venture agreement and option agreement with Zero Emission People LLC, (“Zero Emission”) an entity controlled by Dr. Ingo Stuckmann, WWPW’s chief executive officer. Zero [...]

Donald Coxe – Investment Recommendations (November 2009)

Prieur du Plessis — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:51:07 +0000

The November edition of the Coxe Basic Points research report (subtitled "The Power of Zero") by Donald Coxe has just been published. His investment recommendations are listed in this post, and a link to the full report is also provided.

Canadian Pacific Issues Debt – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:12:58 +0000

Canadian Pacific Railway Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (CP), has announced a debt offering of $379 million.

The debt offering carries a coupon interest rate of 6.45% and will expire in November 2039. The offering will result in net proceeds of $377 million, which will be used for general corporate purposes including payment of debt and pension fund obligations.

The offering is being made in Canada under a shelf prospectus issued in June 2009 for up to $1.42 billion in medium-term notes.

Debt issued during the second quarter of 2009 included $350 million 7.25% 10-year notes for net proceeds of $408.5 million.

As of Sept. 30, 2009, the debt-to-capital ratio stood at 38.1%, fairly lower than targeted levels of 50.0%. However, interest coverage ratio at 3.2x was lower than the comfort levels of 4.0x. The interest coverage ratio has decreased due to a reduction in earnings and the unfavourable impact of a weakening Canadian dollar. The interest coverage ratio is below the management target due to lower volumes as a result of the global recession that occurred during the period.

Also as of Sept. 30, 2009, the company remains in compliance with all external financial covenants. In addition, earlier during the year, Canadian Pacific issued 13.9 million common shares, generating net proceeds of $488.9 million. The company also monetized certain assets to reduce indebtedness and further augment its cash position due to ongoing uncertainty about the timing of the economic recovery.
Read the full analyst report on "CP"
Zacks Investment Research

November 16th CEOcast Weekly Newsletter

QualityStocks — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:21:30 +0000

Companies featured in this edition of the newsletter: ACTC, CVM, CHIP, ENZ, HYTM, IWEB, ONEZ, PHC, SIHI, SRCO Markets continued their strong performance this week in the absence of any major market driving earnings or economic reports, as the broad based buying that characterized the previous week continued and led to gains in all of the [...]

Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) to Liquidate Undervalued Assets, Emphasize Onshore Infrastructure

QualityStocks — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:21:53 +0000

Devon Energy Corp. revealed details of its strategy to monetize all outstanding Gulf of Mexico and international assets today, Monday, Nov. 16. Following this divestiture, DVN – an Oklahoma based energy company engaged in oil and gas exploration, will channel the capital generated into its U.S. and Canada onshore infrastructure. DVN will elaborate further on [...]

NuStar Closes Public Offering – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:02:45 +0000

NuStar Energy L.P. (NS) announced the closing of its 5,750,000 common units of public offering, representing $52.45 per unit limited partner interest. Of this, 750,000 units were sold to underwriters. Total net proceeds from the public offering were $289 million, including the additional common units sold.

The partnership expects to use the proceeds of the public offering for general partnership purposes, including potential future acquisitions and growth capital expenditures. Net proceeds include the general partner’s − NuStar GP Holdings LLC (NSH) − proportionate capital contribution of $6.15 million. Pending the use of the proceeds for other purposes, the partnership intends to apply some or all of the net proceeds to reduce outstanding borrowings under its revolving credit facility.

NuStar Energy L.P. is a publicly traded limited partnership, with 8,417 miles of pipeline, 82 terminal facilities, four crude oil storage tank facilities and two asphalt refineries with a combined throughput capacity of 104,000 barrels per day. One of the largest asphalt refiners and marketers in the U.S. and the second largest independent liquids terminal operator in the nation, NuStar has operations in the United States, the Netherlands Antilles, Canada, Mexico, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

Read the full analyst report on "NS"
Read the full analyst report on "NSH"
Zacks Investment Research

Company News for November 16, 2009 – Corporate Summary

Zacks Market Commentaries — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:09:34 +0000

• Boeing's (NYSE:BA) new head of its commercial aircraft division, Jim Albaugh, said the long-awaited Dreamliner test will happen by yearend

• Citigroup (NYSE:C) plans to sell Bellsystem 24, a Japanese telemarketing company, to Bain Capital for $1 billion, bringing to $10.8 billion the dollar amount Citi has raised from sales of Japanese assets

• Hedge fund Paulson & Co. reported in a September 30 filing Citigroup (NYSE:C) holdings of 300 million shares, valued at $1.45 billion

• Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) raised its bid for Tandberg ASA to $3.4 billion, or about an 11% increase, and extended its offer to December 1

• According to a Bloomberg report, Mitsubishi UFJ has hired JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) to manage an $11 billion secondary offering, Japan's largest ever. The company plans to sell about 2.5 billion common shares

• Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) said it plans to spin off its 83% stake in Mead Johnson Nutrition Company

• JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM) said it is offering to purchase the remaining 50% of stockbroker Cazenove, placing a valuation on the firm of $3.32 billion

• General Motors (NYSE:GM) plans to start repaying its Treasury loan early, beginning by yearend with $1 billion quarterly installments to the US and $200 million quarterly to Canada

• General Motors' (NYSE:GM) third quarter revenues bettered estimates at $28 billion versus $22.9 billion expected, rising $4.9 billion from the second quarter. Inventories dropped 158,000 to 424,000

• Lowe's (NYSE:LOW) reported inline third quarter earnings of 24 cents on revenues of $11.38 billion, versus Zacks estimates of $11.27 billion. The company said, "We are beginning to see signs of improved performance in some of the hardest-hit housing markets including California, Florida and areas of the desert Southwest."

Zacks Investment Research

Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp, Quality Systems Inc., Allscripts-Misys Healthcare Solutions, Inc. and Cerner Corp. – Press Releases

Zacks Market Commentaries — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:45:26 +0000

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 16, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Apple Inc. (AAPL), Microsoft Corp (MSFT), Quality Systems Inc. (QSII), Allscripts-Misys Healthcare Solutions, Inc. (MDRX) and Cerner Corp. (CERN).

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Here are highlights from Friday’s Analyst Blog:

Apple Opens New Store in New York

To ensure a high-quality buying experience for its products, in which service and education are emphasized, the company has expanded and improved its distribution capabilities by opening its own retail stores in the U.S. and internationally.

The company operates a network of 280 retail stores in 10 countries across the world, including the U.S., U.K., Italy, Australia, Canada, Japan, China, Switzerland, Germany and France to drive the demand for its other products. Further, Apple is soon to open two new stores in Shanghai as well as London and Paris.

The company further plans to open 40 to 50 new larger retail stores next year, about half of which are expected to be outside the U.S. Apple had earlier estimated that it would open 25 to 50 new stores.

Retail sales increased 4.0% to $6.57 billion (averaging $26.0 million per store annually). Store traffic grew to around 170 million in fiscal 2009. The company has extended its footprint in international retail markets. Growing its presence in the international retail market, Apple opened its first store in Sydney and Beijing and opened stores in Switzerland, France and Germany during the calendar year 2008.

Apple's business strategy leverages its ability, through the design and development of its own operating system, hardware and many software applications and technologies, to provide its customers around the world with compelling new products and solutions, superior ease-of-use, seamless integration and innovative industrial design.

To attract customers during the holiday season, the company plans to offer gift-wrapping of any iPod or portable Mac for just $5. It will also allow customers to set aside a gift and pick it up at their local Apple store for free from Dec. 15 to Christmas Eve.

Apple’s stores hosted 42.7 million visitors during the last quarter, an increase of 7% from the year-ago period. The stores posted revenue of $1.87 billion ($7.6 million per store) in the quarter, the highest level ever and up 15% from the year-ago period.

Last month, Microsoft Corp (MSFT) announced the opening of its own first retail store in Arizona. But we do not expect Microsoft to catch up anytime.

Quality Systems Barely Beats

Quality Systems Inc. (QSII) reported fiscal second-quarter earnings of 41 cents, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny and the year-ago earnings by 4 cents.

Total revenues for the quarter increased 21.5% to $71.69 million from $58.98 million. The company’s NextGen Healthcare Information Systems division posted revenue of $67.4 million for the reported quarter, representing a 23% increase from the previous year.

Category-wise, System sales, including software, hardware and supplies, increased 5.9% to $26.24 million from $24.78 million. Revenues from maintenance, electronic data interchange (EDI), revenue cycle management (RCM) and other services grew 32.9% to $45.46 million from $34.19 million in the year-ago period.

The total cost of system sales, including software, hardware and supplies increased 16.8% to $7 million. Total cost of maintenance, EDI, RCM and other services for the quarter were $21.27 million as against $15.2 million in the year-ago quarter, up 39.9%. Consequently, total cost of revenues for the quarter increased 33.4% to $28.3 million. The company reported a gross profit of $43.4 million for the quarter opposed to $37.8 million in the year-ago period, up 14.8%.

Research & development spend for the quarter increased 30% to $4.34 million for the quarter. Selling, general and administrative expenses for the reported quarter increased 11.7% to $20.4 million.

Quality Systems exited the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $75.4 million opposed to cash and cash equivalents of $70.2 million at the end of fiscal 2009.

Quality Systems, headquartered in Irvine, California, develops and markets healthcare information systems that automate certain aspects of medical and dental practices, networks of practices such as physician hospital organizations and management service organizations, ambulatory care centers, community health centers, and medical and dental schools. The company competes with players like Allscripts-Misys Healthcare Solutions, Inc. (MDRX) and Cerner Corp. (CERN).

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Zacks Investment Research

Apple Opens New Store in New York – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:45:25 +0000

Apple Inc. (AAPL) will open its newest retail store with an 8,500 square feet retail space in New York tomorrow. The store will help Apple deliver more Macs, iPods and iPhones, taking advantage of the coming holiday season. The new store is the fourth in Manhattan and fifteenth in New York.

To ensure a high-quality buying experience for its products, in which service and education are emphasized, the company has expanded and improved its distribution capabilities by opening its own retail stores in the U.S. and internationally.

The company operates a network of 280 retail stores in 10 countries across the world, including the U.S., U.K., Italy, Australia, Canada, Japan, China, Switzerland, Germany and France to drive the demand for its other products. Further, Apple is soon to open two new stores in Shanghai as well as London and Paris.

The company further plans to open 40 to 50 new larger retail stores next year, about half of which are expected to be outside the U.S. Apple had earlier estimated that it would open 25 to 50 new stores.

Retail sales increased 4.0% to $6.57 billion (averaging $26.0 million per store annually). Store traffic grew to around 170 million in fiscal 2009. The company has extended its footprint in international retail markets. Growing its presence in the international retail market, Apple opened its first store in Sydney and Beijing and opened stores in Switzerland, France and Germany during the calendar year 2008.

Apple's business strategy leverages its ability, through the design and development of its own operating system, hardware and many software applications and technologies, to provide its customers around the world with compelling new products and solutions, superior ease-of-use, seamless integration and innovative industrial design.

To attract customers during the holiday season, the company plans to offer gift-wrapping of any iPod or portable Mac for just $5. It will also allow customers to set aside a gift and pick it up at their local Apple store for free from Dec. 15 to Christmas Eve.

Apple’s stores hosted 42.7 million visitors during the last quarter, an increase of 7% from the year-ago period. The stores posted revenue of $1.87 billion ($7.6 million per store) in the quarter, the highest level ever and up 15% from the year-ago period.

Last month, Microsoft Corp (MSFT) announced the opening of its own first retail store in Arizona. But we do not expect Microsoft to catch up anytime.

We maintain our Outperform rating on Apple, partly because of the remarkable success of the Apple Store.
Read the full analyst report on "AAPL"
Read the full analyst report on "MSFT"
Zacks Investment Research

Nov 13: Trade Decifit Up – Economic Highlights

Zacks Market Commentaries — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:06:15 +0000

The Trade Deficit decreased to $36.5 billion in September from $30.8 billion in August. September exports increased by $3.7 billion to $132.0 billion, offset by the increase in imports by $9.3 billion to $168.4 billion. The Commerce Department provided the September figures of the trade balance of the U.S. relative to selected trading partners, in billions of dollars, with surpluses in Hong Kong ($1.9), Australia ($0.9), Singapore ($0.3), and Egypt ($0.3). Deficits were recorded, in billions of dollars, with China ($22.1), OPEC ($7.9),the European Union ($5.5), Mexico ($4.6), Japan ($4.1), Venezuela ($2.0), Nigeria ($1.9), Canada ($1.5), Korea ($0.8), and Taiwan ($0.7).

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Zacks Investment Research

AstraZeneca Beats, Raises – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:17:16 +0000

AstraZeneca’s (AZN) third quarter earnings came in at $1.68 per American Depositary Shares (ADS), well above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.36 and $1.32 reported in the year-ago period. Revenues increased 10% at constant exchange rates (CER) to $8.2 billion compared to the same period last year.

The primary reasons for the increase in revenues were strong US sales of Toprol-XL benefiting from generic withdrawal, US sales of its H1N1 vaccine and robust growth in emerging markets.

AstraZeneca recorded strong sales across all geographies. Sales in North America, Emerging Markets and Established Markets increased (at CER) by 13%, 15% and 4%, respectively. The company expects double-digit revenue growth in Emerging Markets for the full year.

Among the product categories, apart from gastrointestinal and oncology, which recorded sales decline of 1% and 10% respectively, all other segments increased their revenues. AstraZeneca recorded more than 26% of its revenues during the quarter from cardiovascular drug sales.

This segment recorded the highest growth at 29%. Revenues for Respiratory and Inflammation, Neuroscience and Infection and others increased by 13%, 11% and 22%, respectively.

AstraZeneca’s gross margin improved to 84.9% from 81.3% in the year-ago period due to a reduction in cost of sales. Operating profit increased 29% to $3.6 billion due to improved gross margin and lower R&D expenditure, partially offset by higher SG&A expenses and less other income.

During the quarter, AstraZeneca received significant regulatory approval and entered into new licensing collaborations. These include:

·         Approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Onglyza (saxagliptin) to be used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus in adults. In addition, the drug received marketing authorization from the European Commission.

·         Approval from the US FDA for the H1N1 vaccine.

·         Collaboration agreement with Forest Laboratories (FRX) for the development and commercialization of ceftaroline in all major markets other than the U.S., Canada and Japan. The drug is in a late stage of development for the treatment of complicated skin and skin structure infections (cSSSI) and community-acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP). While Forest expects to file a New Drug Application (NDA) in the US by the end of 2009, AstraZeneca expects to file a Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) in Europe by the end of 2010.

·         An exclusive worldwide license agreement with Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) for two drug candidates; NKTR-118, a late stage investigational product for the treatment of opioid-induced constipation and NKTR-119, an early stage compound intended to deliver products for the treatment of pain without constipation as its side effect.

·         AstraZeneca submitted a MAA for Brilinta and expects to submit the NDA by the year end.

While all these were positive developments, AstraZeneca has had its share of failures too. The company had to withdraw the regulatory submissions for the use of Zactima (vandetanib) 100mg in combination with chemotherapy in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) from both the US and the EU. The submission was withdrawn due to lack of positive data.

Based on strong quarterly results, AstraZeneca provided guidance for the full year of 2009. The company expects its earnings per ADS in the range of $6.20-$6.40.
Read the full analyst report on "AZN"
Read the full analyst report on "FRX"
Read the full analyst report on "NKTR"
Zacks Investment Research

Gilead Awaits Committee Outcome – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 06:30:09 +0000

Gilead Sciences, Inc (GILD) is awaiting the outcome of the Anti-Infective Drugs Advisory Committee of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) scheduled on December 10, 2009. The committee will review Gilead ’s aztreonam for inhalation solution, an investigational product for the treatment of chronic pulmonary infections due to Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). Earlier, in September 2008, the drug was denied approval by the FDA, which then asked Gilead to resubmit the application with more data.

In September 2009, the drug received conditional marketing approval in Canada and Europe under the trade name Cayston (aztreonam lysine 75 mg powder and solvent for nebuliser solution). Gilead plans to make the product available in Germany and the UK in early 2010. Aztreonam formulated with lysine is a proprietary formulation of aztreonam developed specifically for inhalation, which has orphan drug status in the US and Europe . Applications for marketing approval of Cayston are pending in Australia , Switzerland and Turkey .

CF is a chronic, debilitating genetic disease that affects the respiratory and digestive systems of approximately 70,000 people worldwide, including 35,000 people in the European Union. Cayston was granted conditional marketing authorization to address the unmet medical need of the CF patients. A decision regarding full marketing authorization will be based on the completion of the ongoing phase III study examining the efficacy and safety of Cayston compared to Novartis’ (NVS) tobramycin inhalation solution (TOBI) in CF patients with pulmonary P. aeruginosa.

During the third quarter conference call, Gilead stated that it expects to complete enrollment by the year end and make the data available towards the middle of next year. We believe positive data from this study will help it to receive approval from the regulatory authorities in both US and Europe . We have a Neutral recommendation on the stock.
Read the full analyst report on "GILD"
Read the full analyst report on "NVS"
Zacks Investment Research

Commodity Companies Index (CCI) Up 214% YTD!

Lorimer Wilson — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:20:34 +0000

Up until now investors, analysts and newsletter writers have relied on the price performance of the commodities themselves (such as gold, silver, crude oil, etc.), the Reuters CRB Commodity Index or the HUI, XAU, GDM or CDNX indices to determine the health, performance and trends in commodities. Fortunately, for all [...]

HZHI, Horizon Health International Receives eBay Vendor Status as Part of its Product Awareness Campaign

Dr. Stock Pick — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:17:23 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _________________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _________________________________________ Thursday November 12, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** HZHI, Horizon Health International Corp., HZHI.PK Horizon Health International Receives eBay Vendor Status as Part of its Product Awareness Campaign NORTH VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA–(CRWENEWSWIRE) Nov 12, 2009 - HORIZON HEALTH INTERNATIONAL CORP. (PINK SHEETS:HZHI - News), (The Company) is pleased [...]

HZHI, Horizon Health’s E-Commerce System on the MULTI-BILLION Assistive Technology Market

Dr. Stock Pick — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:49:09 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _________________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _________________________________________ Thursday November 12, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** HZHI, Horizon Health International Corp., HZHI.PK HZHI, Horizon Health’s E-Commerce System on the MULTI-BILLION Assistive Technology Market HZHI through its US and Canadian Subsidiaries is servicing all of North America through its E-Commerce System, providing services as a ‘Home, Office [...]

How to play the dangerous dollar

Andrew Snyder — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:15:38 +0000

pBaltimore – (a href="http://www.todaysfinancial.com" target="_blank"TFN/a): The dollar is a dangerous entity these days. Never has there been such a globally important currency with as much political and financial manipulation./p pThe distortions from reality are mind-boggling, yet all of us depend on the status of the simple fiat for our financial wellbeing. /p pThe person with the most skin in the dollar game is, no doubt, President Obama. The nation’s economy hinges on the fate of the greenback and the White House knows it. That is why it is doing anything it can to slow the slide./p pEven if it is entirely psychological./p pToday, reports are flowing from Washington that show Obama may have plans to use up to $210 billion in TARP money to lower the#8230;/p

NBTY Inc. – Value – Zacks Rank Buy

Tracey Ryniec — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:00:00 +0000

NBTY Inc. (NTY) just posted record results for the fiscal fourth quarter as sales jumped 12%. The company is not only a value stock but analysts expect earnings to grow at 13.75% over the next 5 years. NBTY has a PEG ratio of just 0.90.

Company Description

NBTY manufactures and distributes nutritional supplements in the United States and around the globe. The company offers 22,000 products under the name brands Vitamin World, Puritan's Pride, Holland & Barrett, Rexall, Sundown, Worldwide Sport Nutrition and GNC (UK), among others.

NBTY Reports Record Fourth Quarter Results

On Nov 9, NBTY reported fiscal fourth quarter results which easily beat on the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 12.05%. Earnings per share were 93 cents compared to the Zacks Consensus of 83 cents. EPS was 28 cents in the year ago period.

Sales soared by 12% to a record $674 million from $602 million. Sales for the Wholesale/US Nutrition division rose 13% to $404 million. It markets brands such as Nature's Bounty, Rexall and Sundown.

For the quarter, the division outperformed the industry, which saw industry-wide sales of vitamins and other supplements rise by 11% while the company's wholesale brands segment climbed 13.6%.

On the retail side, the company's Vitamin World Stores in the U.S. and LeNaturiste stores in Canada saw net sales up 2% in the quarter but comparable store sales were flat.

Zacks Consensus Estimates Rise

Analysts like what they've heard in the fourth quarter results. The fiscal 2010 first quarter and full year Zacks Consensus Estimates are both moving higher.

The first quarter Zacks Consensus Estimates rose 6 cents to 84 cents in the last 7 days, as 3 out of 6 covering analysts raised in that time.

For fiscal 2010, half of the 8 covering analysts raised in the last week to $3.33 from $3.17 per share. Analysts expect 2010 earnings per share growth of 33.89%.

Value Fundamentals

NBTY is a Zacks #1 Rank (strong buy) stock. It is trading with a forward P/E of 12.32 and a price-to-book of 2.31. The company has a strong 5-year average return on equity (ROE) of 15.67%.

Zacks Investment Research

ArvinMeritor’s Loss Deepens – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:14:36 +0000

ArvinMeritor (ARM) showed a loss of $20 million or 28 cents per share, before special items, in the fourth quarter of its fiscal year ended Sep 30, 2009. This is wider than the quarter-ago loss of 25 cents per share and compared to year-ago profit of $26 million or 35 cents per share.

The loss was attributed to incremental tax expenses during the quarter due to the inability to recognize the tax benefit of losses in certain countries. However, the loss was narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 32 cents per share.

Sales in the quarter totaled $984 million, a decline of 36% from the year-ago level of $1.5 billion. This was driven by continued weakness across the global markets. However, sales increased by 4% compared to the previous quarter of fiscal year 2009 due to improved conditions in global markets, particularly in China, India and Brazil.

Cost Reductions

ArvinMeritor achieved cost savings of $195 million in fiscal 2009, exceeding the target of $125 million under its Performance Plus plan. The cost savings were helped by layoffs and temporary salary reductions, curtailment in capital spending, extended manufacturing shutdowns, elimination of training programs, suspension of the quarterly dividend and elimination of all non-critical discretionary spending.

The company also announced the closure of its assembly, machining and casting facility in Carrollton, Kentucky and the braking systems facility in Tilbury, Ontario, Canada.

Divestitures

ArvinMeritor completed the sale of its entire ownership interest in Gabriel de Venezuela and Meritor Suspension Systems Company joint ventures, Wheels business and Gabriel Ride Control Products in North America.

These transactions largely completed the divestiture of Chassis Systems business under the company’s Light Vehicle Systems (LVS) business segment. The divestments reduced the company's overall light vehicle business to 25% of total sales at the end of its fiscal year.

Business Segments Redefined

ArvinMeritor redefined its reporting segments following the recent divestiture of most of its LVS businesses. For continuing operations, the company has informed that it will report results as defined within Commercial Truck, Industrial, Aftermarket & Trailer and Light Vehicle Systems. Of these four segments, the first three have been considered core to the company.

Financial Position

ArvinMeritor had cash and cash equivalents of $95 million as of Sep 30, 2009. Long-term debt amounted to $1.1 billion as of that date. The company had a shareholder deficit of $1.3 billion as of the same period.

Free cash flow was $22 million in the fourth quarter compared to $103 million in the prior fiscal year quarter. The company had $95 million in cash balance and an unutilized commitment of $611 million under its revolving credit facility as of Sep 30, 2009.

In fiscal 2009, ArvinMeritor had a net cash outflow of $295 million from operating activities, in sharp contrast to an inflow of $163 million in the previous fiscal year. Meanwhile, capital expenditure reduced to $111 million from $138 million in fiscal 2008.

Looking Ahead

In the upcoming fiscal year, ArvinMeritor expects revenue to be higher and free cash flow to breakeven. In addition, the company expects capital expenditures in the range of $90 million to $110 million.

Despite its efficient cost management and commendable global footprint, we believe difficult market conditions across the global automotive markets will continue to adversely affect the company. This has led us to maintain our Neutral recommendation for the stock.
Read the full analyst report on "ARM"
Zacks Investment Research

Jacobs Wins Contract in Canada – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:14:10 +0000

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (JEC) has received a contract from Suncor Energy to provide project management, engineering and procurement services to complete the scoping study and Design Basis Memorandum (DBM) for tailings and water transfer projects. These projects are a portion of the Tailings Reduction Operations (TRO) implementation at Suncor's oil sands mining, extraction and upgrading facility located 30 kilometers north of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. Officials have not disclosed the contract value.

TRO is Suncor's new initiative to implement a Mature Fine Tailings (MFT) drying process, which results in the dry material to be reclaimed in place or moved to another location for final reclamation. The process helps achieve a dryer landscape in a shorter period of time and allows for accelerated reclamation timelines, shrinking the environmental footprint of oil sands mining operations.

With annual revenues exceeding $12 billion, Jacobs is one of the world's largest and most diverse providers of technical, professional and construction services. Its major competitors are Foster Wheeler AG (FWLT) and Fluor Corp. (FLR).

The company’s diversification in terms of markets, geography and services will continue to facilitate future growth. Moreover, Jacobs’ cost focus puts it in a dominant position to expand margins under difficult economic circumstances.

At the end of the quarter, the company’s net cash position grew to $1 billion, up $254 million from the previous quarter and over $450 million from the beginning of 2009. This is a great story from an investment perspective. Jacobs has a strong balance sheet, which is expected to grow at a compound rate of 15% over the long term.

Jacobs is among those infrastructure stocks that may benefit from the coming construction boom. Looking forward, as banks get healthy and are willing to lend and the next round of stimulus begins, investors can expect infrastructure projects to increase.
Read the full analyst report on "JEC"
Read the full analyst report on "FWLT"
Read the full analyst report on "FLR"
Zacks Investment Research

Wind Works Power Corp. (WWPW.OB) to Acquire 50MW Wind Energy Project in Hungary

QualityStocks — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:27:20 +0000

Canadian-based Wind Works Power Corp. announced today that they have signed an option agreement to acquire a 100% interest in Ecsed, a 50 megawatt wind energy project in Hungary, for $500,000. This transaction followed on the heels of another announcement Monday in which the company announced they signed an option agreement to acquire a 100% [...]

HZHI, Horizon Health International Corp., will be Entering into Discussions with all 70 franchisees of MediChair Corporate to License its Website

Dr. Stock Pick — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:21:13 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _________________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _________________________________________ Wednesday November 11, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** HZHI, Horizon Health International Corp., HZHI.PK HZHI through its US and Canadian Subsidiaries is servicing all of North America through its E-Commerce System, providing services as a ‘Home, Office and Workplace Medical Equipment Specialist’ offering a complete end-to-end shopping experience [...]

Taseko Mines Ltd. (TGB) Extends Capacity and Life of its Primary Gold Opportunity

QualityStocks — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:43:58 +0000

Paying attention to gold mining in recent quarters has become a requirement as investors look at the price of the dollar and swings in price of several differing factors. In any sense, a position in a stable commodity is needed to balance a portfolio, but to what extent? This is an individual assessment but one [...]

A Green Energy Investing Guideline

Investment U — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:03:54 +0000

A Green Energy Investing Guideline by Louise Harris, Investment U Research Typically, when investors think about making money from climate change, they think about buying shares of companies that specialize in biofuels or alternative or green energy. But those aren’t the only ways to profit from the green movement. Deutsche Bank Group (NYSE: DB) [...]

Primerica Under Review – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:15:00 +0000

On Monday, A.M. Best Co. placed the financial strength rating of A+ ( Superior ) and issuer credit ratings of “aa-" of Primerica Life Insurance Company ( Boston , MA ) and its subsidiaries under review with negative implications. These actions are a result of a recent announcement by Citigroup Inc. (C) that it has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) of Primerica, Inc.

Primerica, Inc. is the newly established holding company for Primerica Life and its affiliates that also include National Benefit Life Insurance Company and Primerica Life Insurance Company of Canada . Citigroup is looking to divest its entire stake in Primerica, Inc. soon after the IPO’s completion, which is planned for early 2010.

Prior to the completion of the offering, Primerica, Inc. will enter into four coinsurance agreements with three affiliates of Citigroup, where the vast majority of Primerica Life’s term life insurance policies in force as of December 31, 2009 will be ceded to Citigroup. The reinsurance transactions will include the transfer of a substantial portion of Primerica Life’s reserves and assets.

The rating agency intends to keep the ratings under review until the successful completion of the IPO and its discussions with management regarding Primerica Inc.’s future operating projections, investment portfolio and capital structure. Citigroup, once the largest U.S. bank by assets, fell behind last year after a series of acquisitions by rivals.

The bank has also been severely hurt by billions in losses and write-downs of problem loans and toxic assets. Citigroup's third quarter 2009 loss from continuing operations of 23 cents per share was in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. This compares favorably with a net loss of 72 cents in the prior-year quarter. Results for the quarter included $8 billion in net credit losses and an $802 million in net loan loss reserve build.

The U.S. government injected $45 billion in bailout funds into the bank, $25 billion of which was recently converted to a 34% equity ownership stake. We expect Citigroup to incur higher credit losses in the upcoming quarters as its restructuring process continues. As such, we are maintaining our Neutral recommendation on the shares of Citigroup.
Read the full analyst report on "C"
Zacks Investment Research

Conference Call Wednesday November 11, 2009, to Discuss U. S. Geothermal’s 2nd Quarter Results

Stuart T. Smith — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:03:12 +0000

BOISE, IDAHO — (Marketwire) — 11/10/09 — U.S. Geothermal Inc. (TSX: GTH)(NYSE Amex: HTM), will host a telephone conference call for investors and analysts on Wednesday, November 11, 2009 at 4:30 a.m. EDT (2:30 p.m. MDT) to discuss the 2nd Quarter Financials, which were filed on November 9, 2009. The conference call may be accessed by [...]

SOPW, HZHI, BOCL, DrStockPick.com Watch List! for Wednesday November 11, 2009, Solar Power, Inc., Bio-Clean Inc. and Horizon Health International Corp.

Dr. Stock Pick — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:22:24 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _________________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _________________________________________ DrStockPick.com Watch List! My Picks for Wednesday November 11, 2009 are: ************************************************************** SOPW, Solar Power, Inc., SOPW.OB SOPW is a vertically integrated solar energy solution provider offering the North American commercial and public sector building markets a complete solution through a single brand. Throughout Europe, Asia and Australia [...]

Open letter from Amnesty International to Prime Minister Stephen Harper

Robert Amsterdam — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:21:46 +0000

We have just received a copy of an open letter from Amnesty International Canada to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in advance of his upcoming trip to the forthcoming APEC meeting in Singapore, followed by a visit to India. The...

DDR to Raise Capital through TALF – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:52:07 +0000

Developers Diversified Realty Corporation (DDR), a leading real estate investment trust (REIT), is planning to raise $400 million through Term Asset-backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF program). The TALF was created by the Fed to support the issuance of asset-backed securities (ABS) collateralized by student loans, auto loans, credit card loans and loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration.

The deal is being eagerly anticipated by the $700 billion market for commercial mortgage backed securities (CMBS), which took a severe beating in 2008 from the economic downturn. With the deal, Developers Diversified would be able to raise significant capital to increase its liquidity. By the end of the third quarter of 2009, the company had over $5 billion of consolidated debt.

Developers Diversified specializes in the acquisition, ownership, development, redevelopment, leasing and management of shopping centers and business centers. The company owns and manages 670 retail operating (including joint ventures) and development properties spanning approximately 148 million square feet of real estate in 44 states in the US, and Puerto Rico, Brazil, Russia and Canada.
Read the full analyst report on "DDR"
Zacks Investment Research

Nexen Falls Short of Ests – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:00:22 +0000

Nexen Inc. (NXY) reported third-quarter recurring earnings of 21 cents (23 Canadian cents) per share, below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 27 cents and lasts year’s earnings of $1.62 (C$1.68).

Production during the quarter, before royalties, averaged 214 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (MBOE/d), or 184 MBOE/d net of royalties, comprising 83% crude oil and 15% natural gas. Production before royalties was down 14% year over year, mainly due to turnarounds and
maintenance activities at a number of fields. On a net-of-royalty basis, production was down slightly by 12% year over year to 184 MBOE/d.

While the quarter’s productions were hampered by the scheduled turnarounds on a number of the company’s fields, current production (275 MBOE/d) is increasing with the ramp-up of production at Ettrick, Longhorn and Long Lake. Management hinted that the fourth quarter production will be higher than the reported quarter level.

Nexen’s average oil price realization during the quarter was C$72.95 ($66.4) per barrel, down approximately 37% year over year but up approximately 6.8% sequentially. Natural gas average price realization during the quarter was C$3.04 ($2.76) per Mcf, down 19% sequentially and
6.5% year over year.

Nexen spent C$671 million ($611 million) on capital programs during the quarter. At the end of the quarter, the company had C$2.1 billion ($1.91) in cash and C$7.4 billion ($6.74 billion) in long-term debt, with a debt-to-capitalization ratio of 50.1%.

Nexen’s diversified portfolio of E&P assets includes high-impact exploration prospects in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, offshore West Africa and the North Sea, stable operations in Yemen and Canada and an attractive unconventional resource base in Canada. This provides the company with a multi-year inventory of development projects and a positive long-term production-growth profile. We, however, believe that this is already discounted in the current valuation.

Additionally, we are also concerned about the downside risks such as execution risk and cost inflation. Rising costs remain a major concern, as cost increases are observed on all fronts. In the first nine months of 2009, costs increased more than 10%, a trend that is not expected to
subside in the near term. We are unchanged with our Neutral rating.

Read the full analyst report on "NXY"
Zacks Investment Research

DrStockPick.com Stock Report! 11/10/09, HZHI, BEZ, SON, KDKN, FDX, ICNN

Dr. Stock Pick — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:47:44 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _______________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _______________________________________ Tuesday November 10, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** HORIZON HEALTH INTERNATIONAL CORP. (PINK SHEETS:HZHI) announced the successful launch of their e-commerce website www.medichair-calgary.com. In May of 2009 Samson Industries, the Company’s Canadian Subsidiary, entered into a Licensing Agreement with MEDIchair Calgary, Canada. Under [...]

Talisman Net Slumps on Lower Prices – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:56:22 +0000

Canadian energy explorer Talisman Energy Inc. (TLM) reported marginally better-than-expected third quarter results, helped by in-line production volumes. Earnings per share from continuing operations, excluding one-time items came in at 15 Canadian cents (14 cents), a penny above the Zacks Consensus Estimate. However, on a year-over-year basis, Talisman’s adjusted earnings per share slumped approximately 77%, while revenues declined 42.3% to C$1.5 billion, hurt by lower prices of oil and natural gas.

Volume Analysis

Production during the quarter was down approximately 9.5% from the year-ago level to 401 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (MBOE/d), reflecting asset sales in Western Canada and maintenance downtime.

Oil & liquids production during the quarter was down 16.9% to 192.3 thousand barrels per day (MBbl/d), or 48% of total volumes. Volumes in North America, the U.K., Scandinavia , and other international regions were down 23.4%, 31.2%, 4.4%, and 30.5% to 31.4 MBbl/d, 71.3 MBbl/d, 30.1 MBbl/d, and 14.4 MBbl/d respectively. Oil & liquids production from Southeast Asia was, however, up 30.4% to 45.1 MBbl/d.

Talisman’s third quarter natural gas volumes were modestly down, approximately 1.2% to 1.3 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d). Production was down approximately 8.1% to 790 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) in North America and 62.2% in the U.K. to 14 MMcf/d. But volumes were up 111.1% in Scandinavia and 16.4% in Southeast Asia to 38 MMcf/d and 411 MMcf/d, respectively.

Realized Prices

During the quarter, the company’s realized commodity prices were down 42.9% from the year-ago quarter to C$50.29 per barrels of oil equivalent (BOE), reflecting significantly weaker oil and natural gas prices across the board.

Overall natural gas prices decreased approximately 50.3% year over year to C$5.01 per Mcf. In North America, unit realization declined 55.9% to C$4.05 per Mcf. Natural gas prices were down 67.8% in the U.K. and 44.1% in Southeast Asia to C$3.24 per Mcf and C$6.92 per Mcf, respectively, while Scandinavia experienced a 37.4% decline in realized prices to C4.83 per Mcf.

Oil & liquids realizations averaged C$72.24 per barrel, down 36.2% from the year-ago level. Prices realized in North America, U.K., Scandinavia, and Southeast Asian regions were C$60.17 per barrel (down 42.2% year over year), C$74.59 per barrel (down 35.2%), C$76.53 per barrel (down 31.9%) and C$74.30 per barrel (down approximately 36.8%), respectively.

Acreage Addition

Talisman added 90,000 acres of properties in Pennsylvania's Marcellus shale region, while boosting land holdings in the Montney region of British Columbia by 80,000 acres.

Cash Flows & Capital Expenditure

Cash flows from continuing operations during the quarter totaled C$828 million, down 46.6% from the year-earlier quarter, while the company spent C$871 million on exploration and development activities.

Balance Sheet

At the end of the quarter, Talisman had cash and cash equivalents of approximately C$2.0 billion and long-term debt of $3.9 billion, representing a debt-to-capitalization ratio of 33.5%.

Guidance

Management hiked its 2009 capital budget by 25% to C$4.5 billion, primarily to increase drilling on its shale properties and acquire new exploration lands. Talisman is targeting average production of 423,000 – 426,000 BOE/d for the year, slightly down from its previous 430,000 BOE/d forecast, as it expects to sell some non-core oil and gas assets. The company further informed that it plans to reorganize its North American operations into separate conventional and unconventional (focusing exclusively on shale gas) assets.
Read the full analyst report on "TLM"
Zacks Investment Research

StockGuru Featured Company: Save The World Air, Inc. (ZERO.OB)

QualityStocks — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:56:55 +0000

Save the World Air, Inc. (STWA) is a pioneer in the clean technology industry focused on energy efficiency and air quality issues. The company’s patented and patent pending technologies, including the innovative ELEKTRA under development with Temple University, provide a highly affordable and effective means of meeting the world’s increasing emission quality standards, boosting fuel [...]

HZHI, Horizon Health International Aims for Five Million in Sales With Its New E-Commerce Website

Dr. Stock Pick — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:42:31 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _________________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _________________________________________ Tuesday November 10, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! HZHI, Horizon Health International Corp., HZHI.PK ************************************************************** Horizon Health International Aims for Five Million in Sales With Launch of New E-Commerce Website HZHI, Horizon Health International Corp. Horizon Health’s Business: HZHI through its US and Canadian Subsidiaries is servicing all of North America through [...]

Hain’s Earnings in Line – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:15:41 +0000

The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (HAIN), recently reported first-quarter 2010 results. The quarterly earnings of 23 cents a share were in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate, but fell 17.9% from 28 cents delivered in the prior-year quarter.

However, on a reported basis, including one-time items, quarterly earnings came in at 20 cents, and jumped 17.6% from 17 cents posted in the year-ago quarter. Management reiterated that it expects its fiscal year 2010 earnings in the range of $1.19 to $1.28 per share. The Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.22 per share lies at the low end of the range.

Revenue for the quarter tumbled 19.6% to $230.5 million from $286.8 million reported in the prior-year quarter. The quarterly revenue was hurt by higher promotional cost, fall in personal care product sales to drug stores and foreign currency fluctuations.

Included in the prior-year quarter revenue is $38.4 million sales related to Hain Pure Protein (HPP). Excluding this, revenue for the quarter fell 7.2% year-over-year. Effective Jun 30, 2009, Hain is not incorporating HPP’s results due to the reduction in the company’s ownership interest to 48.7% from 50.1%.

Hain Pure Protein Corporation processes, markets and distributes antibiotic-free chicken and turkey products. The company expects fiscal year 2010 sales to increase in the range of 4% to 6%. Net sales are anticipated between $1 billion to $1.02 billion.

The company in order to protect its shrunken revenue base is attempting to pare its cost structure by trimming headcount, consolidating production locations and achieving optimum productivity. Gross margin expanded 280 basis points to 26.8% during the quarter.The quarterly result also benefited from 20.2% decline in the selling, general and administrative expenses.

Hain Celestial produces, distributes, markets, and sells various natural and organic foods as well as personal care products in the United States (U.S.), Canada and Europe . Despite the economic headwinds, management indicated that its U.S. operations remain strong.

The company generated free cash flow of $30.4 million in the trailing 12-month period. Hain’s balance sheet remains healthy with debt being 33.8% of shareholders’ equity of $716.1 million. During the quarter, the company lowered its debt by $16.3 million.
Read the full analyst report on "HAIN"
Zacks Investment Research

HZHI, HCEI, DrStockPick.com Stock Watch! Horizon Health International Corp., HZHI.PK and Healthy Coffee International Inc., HCEI.PK

Dr. Stock Pick — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:02:56 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _________________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _________________________________________ Monday November 9, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Watch! ************************************************************** HZHI, Horizon Health International Corp., HZHI.PK HZHI through its US and Canadian Subsidiaries is servicing all of North America through its E-Commerce System, providing services as a ‘Home, Office and Workplace Medical Equipment Specialist’ offering a complete end-to-end shopping [...]

November 9th CEOcast Weekly Newsletter

QualityStocks — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:58:57 +0000

Companies featured in this edition of the newsletter: ACTC, CHIP, CVM, DKAM, ENZ, IWEB, MBCI, MFGD, PHC Markets rebounded last week, on the strength of upbeat productivity and manufacturing reports that led to solid gains in all of the major indices. Despite news that the unemployment rate had hit its highest levels in 25 years, the [...]

DrStockPick.com Stock Report! 11/09/09, PWRM, NTCT, RPFG, SEE, EFOI, LVS

Dr. Stock Pick — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:32:37 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _______________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _______________________________________ Monday November 9, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** Power3 Medical Products, Inc. (OTCBB: PWRM), a leader in neurodegenerative disease and cancer biomarkers and diagnostic tests, announces further international recognition of validity as the company’s President and CSO, Dr. Ira Goldknopf, will deliver an [...]

Global Health Ventures Receives the First Shipment of Its Commercially Manufactured Male Enhancement Drug “X-Excite”

Stuart T. Smith — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:55:25 +0000

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA — (Marketwire) — 11/09/09 — Global Health Ventures Inc. (OTCBB: GHLV), or the “Company” a Specialty Pharma is pleased to announce today that it has completed the prototype manufacturing of the drug “X-Excite” Global’s male enhancement drug. The manufacturing of the product was carried out under contract with Vida Pharma of Montreal, [...]

Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Avnet, Inc., Arrow Electronics, VeriSign, Inc., Patterson-UTI Inc. and Nabors Industries – Press Releases

Zacks Market Commentaries — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:50:41 +0000

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 9, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Avnet, Inc. (AVT), Arrow Electronics (ARW), VeriSign, Inc. (VRSN), Patterson-UTI Inc. (PTEN) and Nabors Industries (NBR).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Friday’s Analyst Blog:

Avnet Tops Estimates

Avnet, Inc. (AVT) recently reported revenues of $4.36 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2010, down 3.1% from a year ago. Excluding the negative impact of foreign currency exchange rates, revenues declined 0.6%.

Management stated that the impact of global slowdown led to the year-over-year decline, but the business environment is improving.

Earlier, rival Arrow Electronics (ARW) reported a small profit and provided a disappointing forecast. Profit narrowed significantly at Arrow due to restructuring charges. The company provided a conservative guidance for the fourth quarter, due to limited visibility.

VeriSign Beats Forecast

Last night, VeriSign, Inc. (VRSN) reported revenues of $258 million from continuing operations in the third quarter of 2009.

Core businesses (Internet Infrastructure and Identity Services) generated revenues of $257 million, up 1% sequentially and up 6% year-over-year. Revenues from discontinued operations came in at $41 million.

Patterson Net Falls, but Beats View

In the year-ago period, the company earned 69 cents per share. Revenue was down 71.1% year over year to $176.2 million. The negative comparisons compared to the year-ago period reflect lower drilling activity. The number of rigs operating during the quarter averaged 73 (70 located in the U.S. and 3 in Canada), compared to 276 average rigs operating in the third quarter of 2008. However, it was up from 63 rigs operating in the June quarter.

We remain concerned about the North American land drilling scene and its impact on Patterson-UTI, one of the largest onshore drillers. We believe that the current supply overhang in the natural gas market will continue to weigh on the company’s dayrates and margins during the next few quarters.

On the positive side, Patterson-UTI’s premium newbuild fleet and stellar financial health (free cash flow positive and a debt-free balance sheet) should help it weather the downturn better than its peers, such as Nabors Industries (NBR). Considering these factors, we believe that Patterson-UTI shares are fairly valued at current levels. As such, we see the stock performing in line with the broader market and rate it as Neutral.

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Zacks Investment Research

Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc., Darden Restaurants Inc., Brinker International Inc., Cosi Inc. and Tower Group Inc. – Press Releases

Zacks Market Commentaries — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:30:51 +0000

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 9, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc. (RRGB), Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI), Brinker International Inc. (EAT), Cosi Inc. (COSI) and Tower Group Inc. (TWGP).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Friday’s Analyst Blog:

Red Robin Fails to Lure Diners

Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc. (RRGB), the casual dining restaurant operator, recently reported dismal third-quarter 2009 results. The quarterly earnings of 37 cents per share missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny and fell 17.8% from 45 cents posted in the prior-year quarter.

Total revenue tumbled 10.4% year-over-year to $187 million, as cash-strapped consumers are either trading down to quick-service restaurants or preferring to eat at home, leading to fall in traffic and same-store sales.

Same-store sales fell 14.9% for company-operated restaurants, driven by a 13.8% decline in guest counts and a 1.1% fall in the average guest check. Management expects guest count to decline in fiscal year 2009. Same-store sales for franchised restaurants in the U.S. dropped 14.4% and franchised restaurants in Canada fell 0.2%.

Other operators in the casual dining segment are Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI), Brinker International Inc. (EAT) and Cosi Inc. (COSI).

Tower Group Falls in Line

Tower Group Inc.’s (TWGP) third-quarter earnings of 74 cents were in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Results were affected favorably by an increase in premiums written due to the acquisitions of CastlePoint and Hermitage. Last year, the company had reported earnings of 79 cents per share.

Gross premiums written and produced increased 39.4% year-over-year to $283 million. Total revenues increased 96.1% year-over-year to $256.3 million. Net premiums earned of $223.9 million represented 87.3% of total revenues in the reported quarter, compared to 67.5% for the same period in 2008.

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Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.

Zacks "Profit from the Pros" e-mail newsletter provides highlights of the latest analysis from Zacks Equity Research. Subscribe to this free newsletter today: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5517

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Zacks Investment Research

Red Robin Fails to Lure Diners – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:29:17 +0000

Other operators in the casual dining segment are Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI), Brinker International Inc. (EAT) and Cosi Inc. (COSI).

Red Robin's total revenue comprises restaurant sales (down 10.4% to $183.9 million), franchise royalties and fees (down 8% to $3 million) and rent revenue (down 35.8% to $34,000).

Restaurant operating profit margin at company-operated units shrank 200 basis points (bps) to 16.5% in the quarter. The restaurant margin was hurt by a 160 bps rise in labor costs to 34.9% and a 100 bps increase in occupancy costs to 7.8%, partly offset by a 30 bps fall in cost of sales to 23.4% as well as in operating costs to 17.4%.

Management expects restaurant operating profit margin to fall 150 to 160 bps in fiscal year 2009. With every 10 bps change in the restaurant operating profit margin, earnings are expected to be affected by 4 cents a share.

Amid the recession, casual dining operators are either postponing their restaurant openings or slowing restaurant unit growth to reduce costs. Management plans to open 20 restaurants (15 company-operated and 5 franchisees) in 2009 compared to 41 restaurants (31 company-operated and 10 franchisees) opened last year. In fiscal year 2010, management expects to open 15 company-owned restaurants.

Read the full analyst report on "RRGB"
Read the full analyst report on "DRI"
Read the full analyst report on "EAT"
Read the full analyst report on "COSI"
Zacks Investment Research

Patterson Net Falls, but Beats View – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:24:43 +0000

Patterson-UTI Inc. (PTEN) reported a narrower-than-expected third-quarter loss of 12 cents per share, reflecting a recovery in rig demand as customers prepare for ramped up drilling activities in 2010. The Zacks Consensus Estimate was pegged at a loss of 16 cents per share.

In the year-ago period, the company earned 69 cents per share. Revenue was down 71.1% year over year to $176.2 million. The negative comparisons compared to the year-ago period reflect lower drilling activity. The number of rigs operating during the quarter averaged 73 (70 located in the U.S. and 3 in Canada), compared to 276 average rigs operating in the third quarter of 2008. However, it was up from 63 rigs operating in the June quarter.

Contract Drilling

Contract Drilling revenue totaled $112.3 million (64% of total revenue), down approximately 77.5% year-over-year. Average revenue per operating day was $16,800, down 5.5% sequentially, while average direct costs per operating day increased 6.7% to reach $10,630. The segment reported an operating loss of $19.9 million as against operating income of $157.2 million in the year-ago quarter. The weak results of this segment primarily reflect the significant decrease in the average number of rigs operating, compared to the year-ago period (73 as against 276) on the back of decreased demand largely caused by lower commodity prices for natural gas and oil.

Pressure Pumping

The company’s Pressure Pumping business recorded revenue of $41.7 million, a decrease of 31.2% year-over-year. In anticipation of increased activity associated with Marcellus Shale, the company has added equipment and workforce during recent years. However, delays in development of the shale have caused a slower ramp-up of customer activity, which in turn affected the profitability of this segment.

Additionally, the company’s customers have increased their focus on the development of unconventional reservoirs in the Appalachian Basin and the larger jobs related to it. As a result of this and declining commodity prices, Patterson-UTI experienced a decrease in the number of smaller traditional pressure pumping jobs, which led to an overall decrease in the number of total jobs. Consequently, the Pressure Pumping business’ operating profit was down significantly (by 90.6%) to $1.2 million.

Drilling & Completion Fluids

Revenue from Drilling & Completion Fluids fell 53.9% year over year to $16.5 million. The segment reported an operating loss of $2.3 million, $1.4 million more than that recorded during the third quarter of 2008. The weak results can be attributed to decreased sales volumes, both on land and offshore in the Gulf of Mexico.

Oil & Natural Gas

Revenue generated from the Oil & Natural Gas business was $5.7 million, down 58.4% from the year-ago quarter. This segment posted an operating income of $1.9 million, down significantly from the year-ago period, as it suffered from lower average sales prices of oil and natural gas.

Capital Expenditure & Balance Sheet

During the quarter, Patterson-UTI spent approximately $104.1 million on capital programs, of which approximately 90% went to the Contract Drilling segment. As of September 30, 2009, the company had $119.2 million in cash and no long-term debt.

Outlook

We remain concerned about the North American land drilling scene and its impact on Patterson-UTI, one of the largest onshore drillers. We believe that the current supply overhang in the natural gas market will continue to weigh on the company’s dayrates and margins during the next few quarters.

On the positive side, Patterson-UTI’s premium newbuild fleet and stellar financial health (free cash flow positive and a debt-free balance sheet) should help it weather the downturn better than its peers, such as Nabors Industries (NBR). Considering these factors, we believe that Patterson-UTI shares are fairly valued at current levels. As such, we see the stock performing in line with the broader market and rate it as Neutral.
Read the full analyst report on "PTEN"
Read the full analyst report on "NBR"
Zacks Investment Research

MoneyGram Rewards Reaches Canada – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:47:56 +0000

MoneyGram International Inc. (MGI) announced the expansion of MoneyGram Rewards into Canada, a loyalty program that offers members fee discounts, receive notices, and fast and convenient money transfers.

MoneyGram Rewards were expanded earlier this year into Germany, Spain and France. It was first introduced in the U.S. in 2008 and now has more than 3.5 million customers who enjoy the benefits of membership, which include discounted transactions, a personalized card for expediting money transfers, quarterly statements and the ability to manage one’s account and profile online.

Further in September, MoneyGram added a feature to the program that allows members to be notified via SMS text message when their money transfer transaction has been picked up by the receiver.

The expansion of the program is a part of MoneyGram’s growth plans in Canada. In July, the company announced the roll-out of thousands of additional Canada Post locations, resulting in MoneyGram money transfer services available at more than 5,000 Canada Post outlets coast to coast.

On Oct 30, MoneyGram reported third-quarter loss of 25 cents, substantially short of the Zacks Consensus estimate of 3 cents. The downside was mainly due to $37.4 million in one-time costs for a patent lawsuit, a legal settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, stock-based compensation and severance costs, asset write-downs and securities gains.
Read the full analyst report on "MGI"
Zacks Investment Research

11-6-09 Daily Small Cap Market News and Stock Highlights from SmallCapVoice.com

Stuart T. Smith — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:37:34 +0000

Stocks rise on GE upgrade despite weak employment data U.S. stocks rose on Friday as investors took heart after the government said monthly payroll losses slowed, even as unemployment rose above 10 percent. General Electric Co shares jumped more than 5 percent after a brokerage upgrade, and helped lead the industrial sector higher. The market had opened lower [...]

Goldcorp’s Profit Doubled – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:15:00 +0000

Leading gold producer, Goldcorp’s (GG) adjusted net profit in the third quarter of 2009 more than doubled to 19 cents from last year’s 9 cents on higher gold prices and lower cash costs per ounce of gold. Reported earnings were also higher than the Zacks Consensus estimate of 15 cents.

However, on a GAAP basis, net earnings dropped 62% to 16 cents from 42 cents in the previous year due to a foreign exchange loss of $28.1 million. Revenues were up 25% to $691.9 million from $552.2 million in the previous year driven by a 12% rise in average realized prices to $968 per ounce from $865 per ounce in the year-ago quarter and a 9% increase in gold sales volumes to 601,500 ounces.

Gold production increased by 11% year over year to 621,100 ounces compared with 557,400 ounces in 2008 following higher production at the Red Lake and Porcupine mines in Canada, Wharf mine in US and El Sauzal mine in Mexico. Total cash cost of $295 per ounce of gold reflected a 15% decline from $346 per ounce in the same quarter of the previous year.

Operating expenses increased modestly by $24.3 million year over year, primarily as a result of increases in labour and planned maintenance costs. Long-term debt as of Sep 30, 2009 was $712.2 million, considerably higher than $5.3 million as of Dec 31, 2008. Goldcorp embarked upon external sources to finance its capital expenditure.

However, with cash and cash equivalent of $785.3 million as of Sep 30, 2009, higher debt should not be a major concern for Goldcorp. The Canadian gold miner is the world's second-largest by market value following the Toronto-based largest gold producer, Barrick Gold Corporation (ABX).

Goldcorp has raised its 2009 production outlook and chopped its cost guidance for the full year 2009. Gold production for 2009 has been raised to 2.4 million ounces, from the 2.3 million ounces projected in July. Last month, the company had begun producing metal concentrates at the Penasquito mine in Mexico. The project, which will yield gold, silver, lead and zinc, is on schedule to be commissioned by the end of this year.

Goldcorp has also lowered its forecast for 2009 bringing the total cash costs to about $300 an ounce, which includes revenue from silver and copper byproducts, from $365 an ounce forecast in May. Goldcorp is developing new mines to benefit from higher prices for gold.

However, the company is exposed to foreign exchange risk as it pays most costs in local currencies and sells metal in dollars, hurting profits when currencies such as the Mexican peso and Canadian dollar rise, in spite of the company selling more gold at higher prices.
Read the full analyst report on "GG"
Read the full analyst report on "ABX"
Zacks Investment Research

Murphy in Line, Robust Production – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:20:24 +0000

Murphy Oil Corporation (MUR) posted earnings from continuing operations of 98 cents per share in the third quarter, almost in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 97 cents. However, results were significantly below earnings of $3.04 reported last year, largely driven by lower commodity prices in the Exploration & Production (E&P) segment accompanied by lower earnings from the Refining & Marketing (R&M) operations.

Earnings from Murphy’s E&P business declined 65% from a year ago, primarily based on lower oil and gas prices, higher production costs and depreciation. Exploration expenses improved 55% to $37.9 million in the quarter versus $83.4 million last year, primarily attributable to lower dry hole costs in the Gulf of Mexico and offshore Malaysia, and lower undeveloped lease amortization expense for the Tupper properties. R&M earnings also fell by 57% from last year due to weaker U.S. retail marketing margins and U.K. refining margins.

Revenues in the quarter dropped 37% year over year to $5.2 billion, on account of lower oil and gas prices.

Total oil and gas liquids production surged 18% averaging 131,637 barrels per day. This was driven by higher production at the Kikeh field, Malaysia, and new production at the Thunder Hawk field and the Azurite field that started up during the quarter. Oil sales improved 15% to 128,187 barrels per day compared to last year. Natural gas sales volumes increased nearly 300% over last year to 182 million cubic feet per day, mainly due to higher production at the Tupper area in Western Canada and at the Kikeh field. Oil and natural gas prices averaged $61.13 per barrel (down 46%) and $3.01 per thousand cubic feet (down 74%), respectively.

For the fourth quarter, Murphy guided production to average 193,000 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) per day, with sales volumes of 184,000 BOE per day. It expects earnings in the range of 75−90 cents per share, based on projected losses of $24.0 million from the R&M business and exploration expense range of $40−$75 million.
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Zacks Investment Research

Cisco Beats, Guides Up – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:30:29 +0000

Cisco Systems’ (CSCO) first quarter 2010 earnings beat the Zacks consensus by 13 cents. Revenue beat by 3.1%. Both revenue and EPS were significantly better than the guided range.

Revenue
Revenue of $9.02 billion was up 5.7% sequentially and down 12.7% year over year. Revenue was at the high-end of management’s guidance range of a year-over-year decline of 15-17%.

Products generated 80% of revenue, increasing 7.0% sequentially and declining 16.6% year over year. Order rates also strengthened, particularly in the U.S. , indicating continued revenue growth in the next quarter. Management stated that the company saw bottom in the fiscal fourth quarter, with improvement in the first. Results are likely to trend upward going forward.

Around 55% of total revenue was generated in the U.S. & Canada (up 5.1% sequentially), 20% came from Europe (up 9.3%), Emerging markets 9% (up 7.4%), Asia Pacific 11% (down 0.4%) and Japan 4% (up 12.4%). All geographies declined on a year-over-year basis, with the exception of Japan , which increased 2%. This was mainly due to recession-related weakness, as a result of which growth came off a smaller base.

Revenue by Product Line
Routers were 17% of total revenue, representing a sequential increase of 5.2% and a year-over-year decline of 17.0%. All categories of routers, including low-, mid- and high-range, declined double-digits from the year-ago period.

Switches were 32% of revenue, flat sequentially and down 20.6% year over year, with modular and fixed switches contributing almost equally to the year-over-year decline.

Advanced Technologies generated 26% of revenue, up 13.6% sequentially and down 15.1% year over year. There was particular weakness in video systems, although unified communications and security were also significantly weaker than the year-ago quarter.

The Other segment brought in 5% of revenue, increasing 24.3% sequentially and 8.8% year over year, mainly due to the impact of the Pure Digital acquisition and strength in tele-presence.

Services generated 20% of total revenue, growing 0.8% sequentially and 7.4% year over year.

Gross Margin
The company generated a gross margin of 66.3% in the last quarter, which was a sequential increase of 94 bps and a year-over-year increase of 66 bps.

The product gross margin was 65.5%, up 167 bps sequentially and down 1bp year over year. The sequential increase was driven by lower discounts, increased cost savings and higher volumes shipped. The services gross margin declined 20 bps sequentially and increased 392 bps year over year. The sequential decline was on account of investment in certain projects, partially offset by volume. The year-over-year increase was driven by improved margins in both technical support and advanced services, as well as higher volumes.

Operating Performance
The operating expenses of $3.38 billion were higher than the previous quarter’s $3.35 billion. The operating margin was 28.8%, up 272 bps sequentially and down 98 bps year over year. The operating margin improvement was largely on account of cost controls, especially G&A (as a percentage of sales). G&A expenses were down 475 bps sequentially, although COGS, R&D and S&M also declined (as a percentage of sales).

On a pro forma basis, CSCO generated a net income of $2.26 billion, or a 25.1% net income margin compared to a $1.84 billion, or 21.5% in the previous quarter and $2.50 billion or 24.2% net income margin in the same quarter last year.

The fully diluted pro forma earnings per share (EPS) was $0.39, compared to $0.32 in the Jun quarter and $0.42 in the prior-year quarter. Our pro forma estimate excludes acquisition-related costs, deferred stock compensation and amortization of intangibles in the last quarter. Our pro forma calculations may differ from management’s presentation due to the inclusion/exclusion of some items that were not considered by management.

On a fully diluted GAAP basis, the company recorded a net income of $1.79 billion ($0.30 per share) compared to $1.08 billion ($0.19 per share) in the previous quarter and $2.20 billion ($0.37 per share) in the prior-year quarter.

Balance Sheet
Inventories increased 1.4% to $1.09 billion, yielding inventory turns of 11.2x. Days sales outstanding (DSOs) were around 32 days. The company ended with a cash and investments balance of $35.37 billion, an increase of $364 million from the end of the previous quarter. In the first quarter, the company generated $1.49 billion cash from operations and spent $1.87 billion on share repurchases. Cisco had $10.27 billion in long term debt, amounting to a net cash balance of $25.09 billion. Including long term liabilities, the debt-cap ratio was a mere 27.9%.

Guidance
In the second quarter, management expects revenue growth of 2-5% on a sequential basis and 1-4% on a year-over-year basis. The gross margin is expected to be 64-65%, operating expenses 37.5-38.5% of revenue, interest and other income of approximately $25 million, tax rate 22% and a decline in the weighted average share count of approximately 50 million. The company expects one-time charges, such as stock based compensation and acquisition-related expenses of around $0.06 to $0.08 per share. Management expects the company to generate operating cash flow of $1.8-2.1 billion.
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Juhl Wind, Inc. (JUHL.OB) Secures 20-Year $46 Million Community Wind Farm Contract

QualityStocks — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:36:06 +0000

Juhl Wind Inc., an established leader in community-based wind power development and management, specializing on wind farm projects throughout the United States and Canada, recently announced that the company has secured a 20-year, 19.8 MW power purchase agreement between Adams Wind Generations, LLC and Xcel Energy. Located in Meeker County in West Central Minnesota, the [...]

Kraft Beats, Raises Guidance – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:45:54 +0000

Kraft Foods (KFT) reported strong second-quarter results with earnings of 55 cents per share, above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 48 cents. Quarterly earnings were also up 61.8% year-over-year.

However, net revenues for the quarter declined 5.7% year-over-year to $9.8 billion, primarily due to the unfavorable negative 5.6% impact of foreign currency and a negative 0.6% impact from divestitures. Organic revenues increased 0.5%, driven by a 0.7% gain from volume and mix, which was partially offset by negative 0.2% from pricing.

In the North American segment (KNAC) sales declined 2.5% year-over-year as gains in U.S. Convenient Meals (5.0%), and U.S. Beverages (1.5%) were fully offset by the declines in U.S. Cheese 10.3%, U.S. Grocery 3.0%, U.S. Snacks 3.3% and Canada & North American Foodservice 4.9%.

In the International segment, net revenues in the European Union decreased 11.5% while the top-line in developing markets contracted 8.4%.

Gross margins for the quarter expanded 434 basis points (bps) to 36.1% versus 31.8% in the comparable prior-year quarter. The increase was primarily due to cost saving programs undertaken by the company. The operating margin for the quarter also expanded 464 bps to 14.5%.

Year-to-date, free cash flow was $2.7 billion, up 67% compared to the prior-year quarter. The increase was primarily attributable to efficient working capital management and lower capital expenditures.

Based on the strong year-to-date performance, management has raised guidance for fiscal 2009. The company now expects annual earnings of at least $1.97 per share compared to $1.93 guided earlier. This guidance reflects strong year-to-date profit performance and a reduction in its full-year effective tax rate to approximately 30.0%.

The new guidance also reflects further investments in marketing to drive future growth and an estimate for certain costs in connection with the company's possible combination with Cadbury plc (CBY).

The organic net revenue growth is now expected to be 2% compared to 3% stated earlier. The change in outlook primarily reflects a lower contribution from pricing due to lower-than-expected input costs.

Driven by the company's increased profit guidance, and the benefit of improved working capital management, the company raised its outlook for full-year free cash flow to approximately $3.0 billion versus the previous estimate of $2.6 billion.

In Sept. 2009, Kraft had proposed a takeover of Cadbury for $16.2 billion (£10.2 billion). However, Cadbury rejected the offer. However, the company has little time left to make a firm offer for Cadbury. British regulators have set a deadline of Nov. 9 for Kraft to make a formal bid or the company will have to wait for 6 months.
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Zacks Investment Research

International Opportunities Offer Solid Profit Potential for Those that Take the Long View

QualityStocks — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:07:54 +0000

As the world economy begins its journey back, there are emerging market opportunities that were present before the collapse and still remain. The consumer is perhaps the largest opportunity in this regard. As one considers this investing rout, looking at the United States model may well be advised as one considers options and other developing [...]

Bio-Solutions Corp. (BISU.OB) Announces Distribution Agreement with Jupiter-Agro Biotech, Inc.

QualityStocks — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:53:46 +0000

Today, Bio-Solutions Corp. announced a distribution agreement with Jupiter-Agro Biotech, Inc. to market NutraAnimal™, an active organic dietary supplement. The agreement represents a minimum of $350,000 in revenues for the first year. It also projects potential revenue of one million in the Canadian poultry market; at maturity, the American poultry market represents multi million dollars [...]

Biopack Environmental Solutions (BPAC.OB) Announces its First Distributor in Canada

QualityStocks — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:46:25 +0000

Hong Kong-based Biopack Environmental Solutions manufactures 100% biodegradable consumer packaging products from locally available sugar cane waste called bagasse. The company’s products are manufactured in China and distributed under the “Roots Biopack” trademark. Biopack’s unique line of compostable packaging is currently sold in 12 European countries plus the United States and Canada. The company announced today [...]

The Andersons Inc. – Value – Zacks Rank Buy

Tracey Ryniec — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:00:00 +0000

The Andersons, Inc. (ANDE) is scheduled to report third quarter earnings after the bell on Nov 4. Despite a slowdown in the agriculture sector analysts are bullish on the quarter and expect 2009 year over year earnings growth of 23.80%.

Company Description

The Andersons is an agribusiness company operating with five business segments: Grain and Ethanol Group; Rail Group; Plant Nutrients Group, Turf & Specialty Group and Retail Group.

The company has operations in 14 states including Puerto Rico and also has rail equipment leasing interests in Canada and Mexico.

Zacks Consensus Estimates Rise

The Andersons has missed on estimates 3 out of the last 4 quarters but analysts are bullish ahead of the Nov 4 third quarter results as both the quarterly and full year estimates have been rising.

The third quarter Zacks Consensus Estimate climbed 3 cents to 39 cents in the last 30 days.

The full-year Zacks Consensus Estimate is up 1 penny to $2.22 over the last month.

Grain Was the Standout Segment in the Second Quarter

Revenues fell to $811 million from $1.1 billion in the second quarter of 2008 but with sky high fertilizer prices in 2008, year over year comparisons will be hard to make. Two thirds of the income in the second quarter of 2008 came from the Plant Nutrient Group.

The grain business, however, had its third best second quarter mainly due to good space income. The ethanol business was also profitable in the quarter.

Economic conditions slammed the Rail Group as rail traffic fell sharply. Income fell to $0.6 million from $4.9 million in the year ago period.

In the second quarter results, the company believed the worst of the price declines in the nutrient group were behind it. We'll find out this week with the third quarter results.

Value Fundamentals

The Andersons is a Zacks #1 Rank (strong buy) stock. It has a forward P/E of 14 and a price-to-book of 1.47. The company has a stellar average 5-year average return on equity (ROE) of 16.66%.

Additionally, the company also pays a dividend with a current yield of 1.10%.

Zacks Investment Research

The TJX Companies – Growth And Income – Zacks Rank Buy

Alex Kolb — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:00:00 +0000

The TJX Companies, Inc. (TJX) recently upped its earnings guidance. For the fiscal year, the company sees earnings coming in between $2.46 - $2.54 per share. Analysts polled by Zacks are currently calling for earnings of $2.57 per share, an increase from last month's $2.41.

Company Description

The TJX Companies is a discount retailer, selling apparel and home fashions worldwide. The Company operates 882 T.J. Maxx, 811 Marshalls, 323 HomeGoods, and 141 A.J. Wright stores in the United States. In Canada, The TJX Companies operates 203 Winners, 75 HomeSense and 3 STYLESENSE stores, and in Europe, 243 T.K. Maxx and 8 HomeSense stores.

TJX Sees Higher Earnings

The company recently upped its earnings guidance. For the fiscal year, the company sees earnings coming in between $2.46 - $2.54 per share. Analysts polled by Zacks are currently calling for earnings of $2.57 per share, an increase from last month's $2.41.

TJX Companies is scheduled to announce earnings for the third quarter on November 17.

Solid September Sales

The company announced that sales for the month of September were up 8% year-over-year at $2.0 billion. Consolidated comparable store sales jumped 7%.

Strong Momentum and Stellar Fundamentals

TJX stacks up well against the market, outperforming the major averages over the past year and over the short-term. Shares are trading near a 52-week high.

TJX's return on equity (ROE) of 40% more than doubles the industry average of 18%. The company's net profit margin of 5% tops the industry average of 3%. The Growth and Income pick also offers an industry-leading dividend yield of 1.3%. Zacks Investment Research

Are Higher Prices the ‘New Normal’ for Oil?

Frank Holmes — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 06:00:00 +0000

This analysis is from Evan Smith and Brian Hicks, co-managers of the Global Resources Fund (PSPFX). Oil prices have bounced more than 150 percent off of December 2008 lows but inventory levels remain at historically high levels despite a healing global economy. However, Goldman Sachs says robust 2010 oil demand growth will deplete these inventories over the next 12-to-18 months and diminishing production rates in key areas around the world will create a supply/demand imbalance. The above chart shows the decline in production from the worldrsquo;s top 230 projects. After peaking in 2009, production from these projects is set to fall for the next several years. Excluding OPEC countries (right chart), the decline rates quadruple from 2007 to 2012 (est). Over that time period, non-OPEC production is expected to fall by 2.5 million barrels per day. Only Brazil, Canada and the former countries of the Soviet Union are expected to see production growth. One of the largest contributing factors for this is chronic decline rates from some of the worldrsquo;s top mature fields. Mexicorsquo;s Cantarell field, one of the largest oil fields in the world, produced 30 percent less oil in 2008 than it did in 2007mdash;a trend thatrsquo;s expected to continue. Norway, the worldrsquo;s 11th largest oil producer in 2008, saw its oil production peak in 2001 and is down 27 percent since. Another big producer, Venezuelarsquo;s state-owned oil company PdVSA has seen annual decline rates of more than 25 percent in certain fields according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Adding to the dilemma, many countries without decline-rate issues have been holding out production increases until projects become more cost effective; this is why we recently saw Russia overtake Saudi Arabia as the worldrsquo;s largest oil producer. The Saudis have been content to sit on the sidelines while awaiting the return of higher prices. The same goes for other OPEC countries; PIRA, an oil-industry consultant, says the cost of oil will have to rise above $80 per barrel in order for the cartel to increase production. With oil prices currently hovering around that $80 level, OPEC officials have recently hinted that production increases arenrsquo;t off the table for the cartelrsquo;s upcoming December meeting. Even if we see a production increase out of OPEC, decline rates from maturing fields and high barriers of entry to bring new fields online should keep the supply/demand balance tight for years to come. Brian Hicks and Evan Smith will be co-hosting a free webcast event with U.S. Global Investors CEO Frank Holmes titled ldquo;Whatrsquo;s Driving Energy?rdquo; on Tuesday, November 3 at 12:00 PM ET. The presenters will be detailing the critical factors supporting long-term energy demand. Click Here to Register Please consider carefully a fundrsquo;s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. For this and other important information, obtain a fund prospectus by visiting www.usfunds.com or by calling 1-800-US-FUNDS (1-800-873-8637). Read it carefully before investing. Distributed by U.S. Global Brokerage, Inc. All opinions expressed and data provided are subject to change without notice. Some of these opinions may not be appropriate to every investor. Because the Global Resources Fund concentrates its investments in a specific industry, the fund may be subject to greater risks and fluctuations than a portfolio representing a broader range of industries. Foreign and emerging market investing involves special risks such as currency fluctuation and less public disclosure, as well as economic and political risk. #09-762

Weak Third Quarter for Cliffs – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:09:32 +0000

Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF), the largest producer of iron ore pellets in the U.S., recorded third-quarter 2009 profits of 45 cents, significantly lower than last year’s earnings of $1.61 per share, on weak iron volumes and prices. However, reported earnings were in contrast to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 6 cents. Consistent with weaker year-over-year global demand for iron ore -- the steelmaking raw material -- revenues in the quarter tumbled 44% to $666.4 million.

Performance by Segments

North American Iron Ore: Sales in the segment slipped 47% to $428.2 million on a 31% decline in volumes to 5.5 million tons. Iron ore production halved to 4.6 million tons in the quarter. Demand for iron ore pellets remained weak year over year despite steel demand picking up in the last quarter. Capacity utilization in the North American steel industry ramped from 49% in the beginning of the quarter to 59% at the end. However, the current utilization of 60% remains well below the 2008 levels.

North American Coal: Revenues in the segment plunged 63% to $37.9 million on a 62% drop in volumes to 343,000 tons. Lower sales volume was driven by weak market conditions impacting demand for steel in both US and Europe. Coal production was down 63% to 294 million tons.

Asia-Pacific Iron Ore: Sales dipped 29% to $165.3 million despite a 23% increase in volumes. Average prices for iron ore shipments declined 42% to $62.71 per ton from $108.23 per ton in the year-ago period. Cliffs is currently selling to customers in China under provisional pricing arrangements that are consistent with the 2009 iron ore settlements for iron ore lumps and fines reached between producers and other Asia-based consumers outside of China.

Third-quarter 2009 production of 2.1 million tons in Asia-Pacific Iron Ore was a 53% increase year over year, driven by higher production at Koolyanobbing mine in Australia. We expect production to improve further with production start-up at the Cockatoo Island Joint Venture in 2010 upon completion of a seawall project at the mine.

At the end of the quarter, Cliffs had $359.9 million of cash and cash equivalents, compared with $179.0 million at Dec. 31, 2008. With a debt of $525 million, the company has maintained its debt to capitalization ratio at a comfortable 20%. This should help Cliffs to raise funds for acquisition, if required.

Outlook

Cliffs expects to sell about 17.4 million tons of iron ore in 2009, foreseeing a sequential increase in demand. Recently, certain steelmakers in Europe agreed to a price settlement decrease of about 48% for iron ore pellets. As a result, the company expects average revenue per ton in the North American Iron Ore business segment to be about $75 to $80 in 2009. Currently, the North American Iron Ore business segment is expected to produce 15 million tons in 2009 at a cost of $65 to $70 per ton.

Cliffs has narrowed its sales guidance to 1.8 million tons of coal from 2 million tons at average revenues of $95 to $100 per ton. A reduction in expected production is decreasing leverage over fixed costs, which is expected to result in average cost of sales of $135 to $140 per ton, down from the initial expectation of $150 to $160 per ton in 2009.

Asia-Pacific Iron Ore 2009 sales volume is expected to be 8.5 million tons, an increase from previous expectations of 8.0 million tons. Anticipated production of 8.1 million ton is slightly above the previous expectation of 8.0 million tons. Cliffs expects Asia-Pacific Iron Ore to achieve 2009 revenue per ton of $60 to $65, with costs per ton of $50 to $55 per ton.

Cliffs has a 45% economic interest in Sonoma Coal and expects total production of 2.9 million tons for 2009. Sonoma is expected to have a sales volume of 3.1 million tons. Declining demand for high cost metallurgical grade coal has forced Cliffs to cut production. The company expects sales mix between thermal and metallurgical grade coal to be about 70% and 30%, respectively, compared with the previous guidance of 60% and 40%. As a result, in 2009 revenue per ton is expected to be $100 to $105, with per-ton cost at Sonoma from $85 to $90, higher than the previous estimate of $75 to $85.

We are optimistic about Cliffs’ focus on growing its international exposure after facing a consistent decline in North American production. The recent Wabush mine acquisition -- which owns and operates iron ore mining and pellet facilities in Newfoundland, Labrador and Quebec in Canada -- is consistent with this approach, as the production will be sold primarily in Europe. We reiterate our Neutral recommendation on the stock.
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