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Top 5 Eaton Vance Funds – Mutual Fund Education

Zacks Market Commentaries — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:03:18 +0000

Founded in 1924, Eaton Vance is one of the oldest investment management firms in the U.S. With over $161.6 billion of assets under management, the company and its affiliates provide a wide range of investment products and wealth management services to individuals and institutions. Operating in the investment space for over 85 years has given the company a long term perspective which it uses to deliver sustained value to its clients. It aims to become the country’s premier investment management organization and believes that its client-centric approach sets it apart from other organizations in the asset management industry.

Below we will share with you 5 top rated Eaton Vance funds. Each has earned a Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) as we expect the fund to outperform its peers in the future. To view the Zacks Rank and past performance of all Eaton Vance funds, then click here.

Eaton Vance Income Fund of Boston A (EVIBX) primarily invests in high yield corporate bonds, commonly known as junk bonds. It also invests in other income generating debt securities, including stocks paying significant dividends. The fund returned 51.53% over the last one year period.

The Eaton Vance fund has a minimum initial investment of $1,000 and an expense ratio of 1.07% compared to a category average of 1.21%.

Eaton Vance GA Municipals Income A (ETGAX) seeks current income which is exempt from income taxes levied by the Federal Government and the state of Georgia. At least 80% of its assets are invested in investment-grade municipal obligations from the State of Georgia. The fund returned 16.78% in 2009 and has a ten year annualized return of 5.3%.

Adam A. Weigold is the fund manager and he has managed this Eaton Vance fund since 1999.

Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Small Cap A (ETMGX) invests in a wide range of small-cap companies, seeking long- term, after-tax returns. It focuses on companies with market capitalizations which correspond to firms included in the S&P SmallCap 600 Index. The fund has a five year annualized return of 4.79%.

The Eaton Vance fund has an expense ratio of 1.27% compared to a category average of 1.60%.

Eaton Vance Large Cap Value A (EHSTX) seeks total return by investing in value stocks of companies with large market capitalizations. It focuses on purchasing dividend paying stocks and may invest in convertible debt securities. The fund has a ten year annualized return of 5.01%.

Keith J. Gardner is the fund manager and he has managed this Eaton Vance fund since 2006.

Eaton Vance Tax-Managed International Equity A (ETIGX) invests in a wide range of foreign equity securities and focuses on companies included in the Morgan Stanley Capital International Europe, Australia, Far East ('EAFE') Index. It seeks a high level of after tax return over the long term. The fund returned 29.89% over the last one year period.

As of December 2009, this fund held 72 issues, with 4.07% of its total assets invested in Banco Santander SA.

To view the Zacks Rank and past performance of all Eaton Vance funds, then click here.

About Zacks Mutual Fund Rank

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Eaton Vance Meets View – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 19:43:31 +0000

Asset manager Eaton Vance Corp.’s (EV) fiscal 2010 first-quarter earnings surged to $46.2 million from $24.7 million in the year-ago quarter, primarily driven by higher fees on its funds amid an ongoing recovery in capital markets.

Excluding special items, earnings per share came in at 36 cents, matching the Zacks Consensus Estimate. The company now has either topped or met the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last 4 quarters with an average positive surprise of 11.5%, or 4 cents.

Boston-based Eaton Vance provides investment management and counseling services to high-net-worth individuals and institutions. The company offers a range of products and services designed and managed to generate risk-adjusted returns over the long term. The asset manager operates through 4 affiliates − Eaton Vance Management, Boston Management and Research, Eaton Vance Investment Counsel and Eaton Vance Trust Co. − besides 4 other subsidiaries.

Quarterly revenue grew 29.9% year-over-year to $272.0 million, mainly driven by a 31.1% growth in investment advisory and administration fees to $210.4 million. The growth in fees was attributable to an increase in assets under management (AUM) to $161.6 billion from $121.9 billion a year-ago and $154.9 billion at the end of the last quarter.

Eaton Vance's AUM was primarily driven by strong inflows in institutional and high-net-worth separate accounts, which expanded 42.0% year-over-year to $60.0 billion at the end of the quarter. Furthermore, a 21.5% growth in equity fund assets to $56.6 billion coupled with a 34.5% increase in fixed income funds to $26.7 billion also boosted overall AUM.

Operating expenses increased 17.3% to $184.7 million from $157.5 million in the year-ago period. This was mainly attributable to higher compensation expense due to increased bonuses, incentives and stock-based compensation coupled with higher distribution and service expenses. However, the top-line growth more than offset the increase in operating expenses. Consequently, Eaton Vance recorded a robust 68.0% growth in operating income to $87.3 million from $52.0 million in the year-ago period.

The company ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $349.0 million, compared to $268.3 million in the year-ago quarter. During the quarter, Eaton Vance utilized $73.3 million for payment of dividends and $53.7 million for share buyback. The company is currently left with approximately 7.9 million shares out of an 8.0 million share repurchase authorization.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate on Eaton Vance’s earnings for the fiscal year ending October 2010 is currently pegged at $1.59 per share, which reduced 2 cents over the past month as 4 of 13 covering analysts lowered expectations. At $1.58 per share, the most accurate estimate is even more bearish.

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

Eaton Beats Estimates – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 20:59:36 +0000

Electrical equipment maker Eaton Corporation (ETN) reported fourth quarter earnings of $1.35 per share, beating its own guidance of $1.15-$1.25 and the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.23. Quarterly earnings also increased 25% from the year-ago profit of $1.08 per share.

For the full year 2009, Eaton reported earnings per share of $2.59, above its guidance range of $2.40−$2.50 and the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.47. However, full-year earnings were down 62% from $6.83 reported in 2008.

Eaton’s revenues fell 10% and 23% year over year to $3.1 billion and $11.9 billion for the fourth quarter and full year 2009, respectively. The revenue decline in the quarter was a result of 15% decline in core sales offset by a 5% growth in foreign exchange. End markets in the fourth quarter declined by 15%.

During the fourth quarter, the company witnessed double digit sales decline across its Electrical Americas, Hydraulics and Aerospace segments, which was offset by slight growth at its Truck and Automative segments. Sales for the Electrical Americas and Electrical rest of the world were down 20% and 1%, respectively.

Sales in the Electrical Americas segment fell primarily due to weakness in the non-residential electrical market. Electrical Rest of the World segment sales were down 1%, driven by a 15% decline in European markets and 7% decline in Asia-Pacific, both significantly lower rates of decline than in the third quarter.

The Aerospace and the Hydraulic segments posted sales decline of 15% and 21%, respectively. The Aerospace markets declined 10% in the quarter, with U.S. markets declining 5% and non-U.S. markets declining 20%. In the quarter, Hydraulics markets witnessed about a 30% drop from last year, with a 39% decline in the U.S. markets and a 21% decline outside the U.S.

However, the Truck and the Automative segments posted improvements of 1% and 9%, respectively. Automotive unit production increased 10% during the quarter. Sales in the Truck markets in the fourth quarter declined 8%, with U.S. markets down 22% and non-U.S. markets up 10%.

At year-end the company had free cash flow of $1.2 billion. The company used its cash flow in 2009 to markedly reduce its long-term liabilities, pay off $750 million of debt, contribute $270 million to its global pension plans in 2009 and an additional $300 million contributed to its U.S. pension plan in January 2010.

Thus, the company ended the year with an exceptionally strong liquidity position, with little commercial paper outstanding, no term debt maturities until the middle of 2012, and no additional contributions to the U.S. pension plan required until 2011.

Eaton now expects fourth quarter earnings of 75−85 cents per share and full-year 2010 earnings in the range of $3.70−$4.00. For 2010, the company expects its overall revenue to increase by 11% compared to 2009. The company expects the economic recovery experienced in the early cycle markets to continue going forward. It expects its markets in 2010 to grow 5% and its overall end markets to outgrow by roughly $300 million. The company also expects a $450 million growth from foreign exchange in 2010.

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

Top Eaton Vance Funds – Mutual Fund Education

Zacks Market Commentaries — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 06:57:50 +0000

Eaton Vance Dividend Income A (EDIAX) seeks long-term capital growth. It was incepted in September 1995.

The fund invests primarily in common stocks of information age companies expected to grow in value. Approximately 40% to 60% of its total assets is managed by Lloyd George Investment Management (Bermuda) Ltd, which invests in foreign securities, including securities issued by companies in emerging markets. The balance of the fund's assets is managed by Boston Management and Research, which invests in domestic and Canadian securities. The fund invests in companies with a broad range of market capitalizations, including smaller companies.

The fund has an expense ratio of 1.31%. As of July 2009, it has a portfolio turnover of 256%.

Aamer Khan has been lead manager of the fund since November 2005. Khan is a Vice President, Co-Portfolio Manager, and Equity Analyst at Eaton Vance and has been with the firm since 2000.

Eaton Vance Greater India A (ETGIX) was incepted in May 1994. The objective of the fund is to seek long-term capital appreciation.

The fund normally invests at least 80% of its net assets in equity securities of companies in India and surrounding countries of the Indian subcontinent. It normally invests at least 50% of total assets in equity securities of Indian companies, and no more than 5% of total assets in companies located in countries other than India, Pakistan or Sri Lanka. The fund invests in companies with a broad range of market capitalizations, including smaller companies.

The fund offers dividends and capital gains, if any, annually. It has an expense ratio of 2.34%.

Christopher Darling has been lead manager of the fund since March 2007. Prior to joining Lloyd George Investment Management, the advisor company to the fund in 2006, Darling was with the investment banking boutique, Fox-Pitt, Kelton Ltd,

Eaton Vance Float-Rate High Inc Adv (EAFHX) seeks to provide a high level of current income.. It was incepted in September 2000.

The fund invests primarily in senior floating-rate loans and secondarily in high-yield corporate bonds. It invests at least 80% of its total assets in a combination of income producing floating rate loans and other floating rate debt securities and high yield bonds. The fund may purchase fixed income debt securities, preferred stocks convertible securities, bonds not paying current income, bonds that do not make regular interest payments and money market instruments. It also invests 25% of its total assets in foreign securities and is engaged in certain hedging transactions.

Shareholders have to make a minimum initial investment of $1,000 to enter this Zacks #1 Rank ("Strong Buy") fund As of July 2009 it has a portfolio turnover of 24%.

Michael W. Weilheimer has been lead manager of the fund since September 2000. Weilheimer is a vice president of Eaton Vance Management and Co-Director of High Yield Investments.

Click here to see all the mutual funds offered by Eaton Vance.

Discover Many More Funds

Learn more about the new Zacks Mutual Fund Rank and discover some of the best market-beating mutual funds by browsing our mutual funds section. This part of Zacks.com offers a variety of tools, including mutual fund research, a new mutual fund screener, helpful answers to frequently asked questions and quick access to prospectuses and other information.

By applying the Zacks Rank to mutual funds, investors can find funds that not only outpaced the market in the past but are also expected to outperform going forward.

Zacks Investment Research

Top Health Equity Funds – Mutual Fund Commentary

Zacks Market Commentaries — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:44:55 +0000

Today we are featuring top-performing “Health" equity mutual funds , which primarily invest in equity securities of healthcare and related companies.

Investors can find such funds by checking out the entire list of the Zacks #1 Rank Health Equity Funds.

3 Healthy Picks

Eaton Vance Worldwide Health Sciences A (ETHSX) long-term capital growth by investing in a global and diversified portfolio of health sciences companies. It was incepted in July 1985.

The fund pursues its objective by investing in worldwide health sciences portfolio. The fund invests primarily in common stocks of companies engaged in the development, production or distribution of products related to scientific advances in health care and companies with a broad range of market capitalization's, including small companies.

The fund has an expense ratio of 2.06% and a portfolio turnover of 48% as May 2009. The fund offers dividends and capital gains annually.

Samuel D. Isaly has been lead manager of the fund since 26-Jul-85. Before joining OrbiMed Advisors Isaly was president and partner with Mehta and Isaly Asset Management.

Evergreen Health Care Fund A (EHABX) seeks long-term capital growth. The fund was incepted in December 1999.

The fund invests primarily in equity securities of healthcare companies. The fund is suitable for those investors who seek long-term growth of capital and a fund with the potential for higher return while being able to tolerate substantial volatility over time.

The fund offers dividends and capital gains, if any, annually. It has an expense ratio of 1.84%.

Robert C. Junkin has been lead manager of the fund since March2007. Before joining Evergreen in 2007, Junkin served as a vice president and portfolio manager with MFC Global Investment Management.

Rydex Biotechnology Inv (RYOIX) was incepted in April 1998. The fund seeks capital appreciation by investing in companies that are involved in the biotechnology industry, including companies involved in research and development, genetic or other biological engineering, and in the design, manufacture, or sale of related biotechnology products or services.

The fund invests substantially all of its assets in equity securities of biotechnology companies that are traded in the United States. The fund may also engage in futures and options transactions, purchase ADRs and U.S. government securities, and enter into repurchase agreements.

Shareholders have to make a minimum initial investment of $1,000 to enter this Zacks#1 Rank (“Strong Buy") fund. As of June 2009, it has a portfolio turnover of 370%.

Michael P. Byrum has been Lead Manager of the fund since 01-Apr-98. Byrum is a Charted Financial Analyst and is president and CIO of Rydex Investments.

Discover Many More Funds

Learn more about the new Zacks Mutual Fund Rank and discover some of the best market-beating mutual funds by browsing our new mutual funds section. This part of Zacks.com offers a variety of tools, including mutual fund research, a new mutual fund screener, helpful answers to frequently asked questions and quick access to prospectuses and other information.

By applying the Zacks Rank to mutual funds, investors can find funds that not only outpaced the market in the past but are also expected to outperform going forward.

Zacks Investment Research

Zacks Earnings Trends Highlights: Caterpillar, Eaton and Illinois Tool Works – Press Releases

Dirk Van Dijk — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:30:14 +0000

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 17, 2009 - Zacks Research Equity Strategist, Dirk Van Dijk says that S&P 500 earnings are continuing to show red ink. He tracks companies on the Zacks.com web site, naming names, while forecasting trends for the months ahead.

Great Earnings Season Coming to an End

It’s almost time to close the books on a fantastic earnings season. With over 90% of reports in, there have been 353 which have exceeded expectations while only 66 have fallen short, a ratio of 5.35. While it is true that most companies will normally try to under-promise and over-deliver, this quarter the beats are beating the misses by about twice the normal margin of 3:1.

Nor have all the surprises only been by a penny or two, but there have been lots of companies that simply crushed the earnings estimates. The median surprise is a very high 7.11%. Over the last five years, a median surprise of about 3.0% has been normal.

Part of the reason is that expectations were set very low going into the earnings season. For most companies, their earnings are still below year-ago levels, just not as far down as people thought they would be. Only 202 firms have posted positive year-over-year growth versus 259 which have fallen short of year-ago levels -- a ratio of 0.78.

The disparity between firms beating estimates but having negative year-over-year earnings growth is particularly noticeable in Tech, where the earnings surprise ratio is an awesome 8.50. However, the growth ratio (# of firms with positive growth/# of firms with negative growth) is just 0.60. Energy’s surprise ratio is not quite as high, at 3.38, but the disparity to its growth ratio, at just 0.05, is extreme. Staples and Medical have been both growing earnings and beating expectations.

For Industrials, some of the firms in this sector that have seen double-digit increases in both their mean estimate, and double digit numbers of estimate increases and had no cuts over the last month include Caterpillar (CAT), Eaton (ETN) and Illinois Tool Works (ITW).

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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.

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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Then, when changes are discovered, they’re applied to help assign more than 4,400 stocks into five Zacks Rank categories: #1 Strong Buy, #2 Buy, #3 Hold, #4 Sell, and #5 Strong Sell. This proprietary stock-picking system continues to outperform the market by a nearly 3-to-1 margin.

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Disclaimer: Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investors should always research companies and securities before making any investments. Nothing herein should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security.

Contact: Dirk Van Dijk, CFA
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Zacks Investment Research

Zacks Earnings Trends Highlights: Caterpillar, Eaton and Illinois Tool Works – Press Releases

Dirk Van Dijk — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:00:18 +0000

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 11, 2009 - Zacks Research Equity Strategist, Dirk Van Dijk says that S&P 500 earnings are continuing to show red ink. He tracks companies on the Zacks.com web site, naming names, while forecasting trends for the months ahead.

Earnings Season in Home Stretch

For a large sector, the revisions ratio of 9.07 for the Industrials is extremely impressive, and would seem to support the idea that the economy is gaining some real traction. More than five times as many firms in the sector saw their mean estimate for 2010 rise over the last month than suffered a decline in their expectations.

Some of the firms in the sector that have seen double-digit increases in both their mean estimate and double-digit numbers of estimate increases and have had no cuts over the last month include Caterpillar (CAT), Eaton (ETN) and Illinois Tool Works (ITW).

Want stock picks from Zacks Equity Research that are based on earnings estimates? Subscribe to the free "Profit from the Pros" newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5617.

About Zacks Equity Research

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=5618.

About Zacks

Join us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Zacks-Investment-Research/57553657748?ref=ts

Visit http://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

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312-265-9211
Visit: www.zacks.com

Zacks Investment Research

Earnings Season in Home Stretch – Earnings Trends

Dirk Van Dijk — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:00:00 +0000

Key Points:
•    Earnings Surprise Ratio (#beat/#miss) at 5.47, almost double normal
•    Median Earnings Surprise 7.11%, very strong
•    Year over year Earnings Growth Ratio (# Pos Growth/# Neg Growth) at 0.77
•    Sales Surprise Ratio at 1.37
•    Sales Growth Ratio at just 0.40
•    Total Net Income for S&P 500 reported so far is 11.6% below what those same 444 firms reported a year ago, 11.8% above what they earned in the 2Q09
•    Total S&P 500 Revenues reported so far down 13.4% year over year, up 2.0% from 2Q09
•    2009 Earnings Revisions ratio for full S&P 500 up to 3.05, up from 2.48 last week
•    2010 ratio at 2.14, down slightly from 2.17 last week
•    S&P500 expected to earn $570.6 billion in 2008, $706.8 billion in 2010
•    Bottom Up estimates: $61.62 for 2009, $76.70 for 2010
•    Top Down estimates: $54.38 for 2009, $70.05 for 2010

Welcome to the new Earnings Trends. We have decided to start focusing our analysis of the S&P 500 based on Zacks' own sector groupings rather than the S&P GICS sectors. There are 16 Zacks sectors and only 10 GICS sectors, so the new groupings will result in better granularity of the data. The old way simply grouped too many very different companies together. In addition, we for the first time are presenting top-line as well as bottom-line expectations and surprise information. This is very much a work in progress, and we will be adding additional information, tables and perhaps even some graphs over the next few months.

It’s almost time to close the books on a fantastic earnings season. With almost 90% of reports in, there have been 339 that have exceeded expectations while only 62 have fallen short -- a ratio of 5.47. While it is true that most companies will normally try to under-promise and over-deliver, this quarter the beats are beating the misses by about twice the normal margin of 3:1.

Nor have all the surprises only been by a penny or two, but there have been lots of companies that simply crushed their earnings estimates. The median surprise is a very high 7.11%. Over the last five years, a median surprise of about 3.0% has been normal. Part of the reason is that expectations were set very low going into the earnings season.

For most companies, their earnings are still below year ago levels, just not as far down as people thought they would be. Only 193 firms have posted positive year-over-year growth, versus 251 that have fallen short of year-ago levels -- a ratio of 0.77.

The disparity between firms beating estimates but having negative year-over-year earnings growth is particularly noticeable in Tech, where the earnings surprise ratio is an awesome 9.25. However, the growth ratio (# of firms with positive growth/# of firms with negative growth) is just 0.49. A similar situation, but not quite as extreme, is true for Materials. Staples and Medical have been both growing earnings and beating expectations.

On the top line, it has also been a successful season so far (relative to expectations), but in terms of actual year-over-year growth it has been downright ugly The total revenues of the 444 firms that have already reported are 13.4% below year-ago levels. A total of 241 firms have reported higher-than-expected revenues, versus 176 that have disappointed, for a ratio of 1.37. On the other hand, only 127 actually had higher sales than a year ago, versus 314 with lower revenues, a ratio of 0.40. Put another way, only 28.6% of all firms reporting so far have had higher sales than a year ago.

In other words, cost-cutting has been the major force driving earnings and earnings surprises. However, the costs to one company are either the revenues of another company or someone’s paycheck, which is then spent to create revenues for firms. The bottom-up data coming out of all these individual firms seems to confirm what we have been getting from the government's macro statistics. The economy is growing due to increases in productivity. Higher GDP with fewer workers.

However, the strategy seems to be working, as earnings are coming in much better than expected and analysts have responded by increasing earnings estimates for 2009. The estimate increases are widespread across sectors, with five sectors seeing more than five increases for each cut. No sector is seeing more cuts than increases.

For the S&P 500 as a whole, the revisions ratio now stands at 3.26, its highest level in over a year and in distinct contrast to earlier in the year when it fell below 0.15 at one point. The better-than-expected earnings are translating into estimate increases for 2010 as well as 2009, with a revisions ratio of 2.15 for next year.

Scorecard & Earnings Surprise
•    Season almost over -- 444, or 88.8% of reports in
•    Data presented reflects only firms that have reported so far
•    Reports so far extremely positive relative to expectations
•    Earnings Surprise Ratio (#beat/#miss) at 5.47
•    Medical almost perfect with a ratio of 35 to 1, Staples strong with a ratio of 11.3
•    Median Earnings Surprise 7.11%, very strong reading
•    Five sectors totally done
•    Year over year Earnings Growth ratio (# Positive Growth/# Negative Growth) at 0.77
•    Massive positive surprises in cyclical Construction, Industrial and Discretionary sectors

In evaluating the data presented here, keep the percentage reported in mind; for some sectors, the sample size is extremely small. The move to the 16 Zacks sectors means that even when all reports are in, some of the sectors will still have relatively few firms in them. For firms with only a few reports in, the median surprise will be very volatile as new firms are added to the sample.

Overall, two small sectors, Conglomerates and Business Services, appear to have the most impressive performance so far this quarter on the surprise front. Among the larger sectors, strong arguments could be made for Staples having the best surprise profile.

Scorecard & Earnings Surprise
Income Surprises	Yr/Yr Growth	% Reported	Surprise Median	EPS Surp Pos	EPS Surp Neg	# Grow Pos	# Grow Neg
Consumer Staples	1.03%	84.09%	10.87	34	3	25	12
Consumer Discretionary	-16.21%	93.33%	12.36	21	4	6	22
Retail/Wholesale	0.80%	60.00%	5.94	21	4	14	13
Medical	3.36%	95.45%	5.86	35	1	33	9
Auto	-16.45%	100.00%	1.54	3	2	2	4
Basic Materials	-47.72%	100.00%	6.73	14	4	4	16
Industrial Products	-26.52%	86.36%	15.15	19	0	9	10
Construction	66.67%	81.82%	28.57	6	2	4	5
Conglomerates	-21.64%	100.00%	16.41	8	0	1	8
Computer and Tech	-10.56%	83.13%	7.69	47	6	26	42
Aerospace	-59.63%	100.00%	6.74	8	2	4	6
Oils and Energy	-62.65%	95.12%	4.84	28	9	2	37
Finance	378.04%	98.72%	5.69	56	15	39	38
Utilities	5.76%	92.11%	4.55	25	8	21	14
Transportation	-36.21%	100.00%	3.09	7	2	1	9
Business Service	6.73%	88.89%	11.80	7	0	2	6
S&P	-11.56%	88.80%	7.11	339	62	193	251

Sales Surprises
•    Sales Surprise Ratio at 1.38
•    Staples missing on Sales even as they beat on Earnings
•    Tech looks terrific -- 3:1 positive sales surprise ratio
•    Sales Growth Ratio at just 0.40
•    Most Tech firms have declining sales, but less of a drop than expected
•    Only 28.6% of all firms reporting so far have higher revenues than last year

Sales Surprises
Sales Surprises	Yr/Yr Growth	% Reported	Surprise Median	Sales Surp Pos	Sales Surp Neg	# Grow Pos	# Grow Neg
Consumer Staples	-7.44%	84.09%	-0.12	15	21	8	29
Consumer Discretionary	-11.51%	93.33%	0.83	19	9	6	22
Retail/Wholesale	2.69%	60.00%	0.21	15	12	15	12
Medical	4.66%	95.45%	0.80	31	11	33	8
Auto	-11.94%	100.00%	1.08	6	0	0	6
Basic Materials	-28.79%	100.00%	0.25	11	9	1	19
Industrial Products	-20.00%	86.36%	0.03	10	9	1	18
Construction	-27.28%	81.82%	-0.88	4	5	0	9
Conglomerates	-16.29%	100.00%	0.45	5	3	1	8
Computer and Tech	-4.95%	83.13%	2.47	52	17	16	53
Aerospace	4.64%	100.00%	-1.73	3	7	7	3
Oils and Energy	-40.47%	95.12%	0.46	22	17	3	36
Finance	7.82%	98.72%	1.25	33	18	30	44
Utilities	-18.64%	92.11%	-13.45	7	28	3	32
Transportation	-19.93%	100.00%	-0.36	3	7	0	10
Business Service	-6.73%	88.89%	0.84	5	3	3	5
S&P	-13.42%	88.80%	0.43	241	176	127	314

Reported Quarterly Growth: Total Net Income
•    Massive 378.0% growth in Financials due to low year-ago base, earnings up 5.2% from 2Q09
•    Total Net Income for S&P 500 reported so far is 11.6% below what those same 444 firms reported a year ago, 11.8% above what they earned in the 2Q09
•    Going into the quarter, a decline of 23% was forecast for total year-over-year earnings
•    Materials down hard year over year in second and third quarters, but expects huge rebound in the 4Q

Reported Growth: Total Net Income
Income Growth	Sequential Q4/Q3 E	Sequential Q3/Q2 A	Year over Year 3Q 09 A	Year over Year 4Q 09 E	Year over Year 2Q 09 A
Consumer Staples	-16.31%	4.87%	1.03%	-1.78%	6.47%
Consumer Discretionary	0.66%	29.42%	-16.21%	5.01%	-19.25%
Retail/Wholesale	-2.93%	4.23%	0.80%	6.83%	-2.54%
Medical	-9.64%	4.80%	3.36%	-6.38%	1.58%
Auto	-53.45%	201.81%	-16.45%	21.05%	744.07%
Basic Materials	-19.88%	50.30%	-47.72%	475.63%	-69.62%
Industrial Products	-25.80%	21.95%	-26.52%	-25.49%	-45.06%
Construction	-490.00%	62.96%	66.67%	0.69%	-167.92%
Conglomerates	-13.44%	-1.66%	-21.64%	-9.44%	-29.50%
Computer and Tech	17.70%	11.19%	-10.56%	18.94%	-20.13%
Aerospace	150.69%	-60.94%	-59.63%	5.51%	-1.53%
Oils and Energy	5.34%	25.33%	-62.65%	-28.22%	-66.92%
Finance	-25.62%	5.19%	378.04%	32.01%	-2.89%
Utilities	-38.82%	50.40%	5.76%	0.24%	-3.34%
Transportation	4.39%	11.58%	-36.21%	-28.94%	-35.44%
Business Service	-13.57%	12.48%	6.73%	2.76%	-1.93%
S&P	-6.57%	11.83%	-11.56%	117.86%	-26.04%

Reported Quarterly Growth: Total Revenues
•    Total S&P 500 revenues down 13.66% year over year, up 2.91% from 2Q09
•    Year-over-year revenue expected to turn positive in 4Q with 0.63% increase
•    Consumer Discretionary revenue growth up 9.1% from 2Q09, but down 12.2% from year ago
•    Seasonality can greatly affect sequential growth (see the 238.4% sequential growth for retail expected in the 4Q), but year-ago was unusual and may be distorting year-over-year figures
•    Four sectors posting positive yr/yr revenue growth so far, 12 sectors negative

Reported Growth: Total Revenues
Sales Growth	Sequential Q4/Q3 E	Sequential Q3/Q2 A	Year over Year 3Q 09 A	Year over Year 4Q 09 E	Year over Year 2Q 09 A
Consumer Staples	-6.01%	-0.70%	-7.44%	-7.27%	-8.34%
Consumer Discretionary	4.77%	6.34%	-11.51%	-5.51%	-14.85%
Retail/Wholesale	2.54%	3.24%	2.69%	3.40%	2.56%
Medical	3.35%	0.79%	4.66%	7.50%	2.53%
Auto	-2.99%	11.99%	-11.94%	-1.13%	-30.44%
Basic Materials	0.37%	5.31%	-28.79%	-3.06%	-34.50%
Industrial Products	0.11%	1.47%	-20.00%	-12.79%	-23.57%
Construction	-1.48%	5.33%	-27.28%	-17.68%	-35.54%
Conglomerates	4.97%	-0.78%	-16.29%	-9.02%	-17.47%
Computer and Tech	6.76%	2.71%	-4.95%	2.78%	-8.55%
Aerospace	6.72%	-2.14%	4.64%	12.63%	2.18%
Oils and Energy	-3.45%	11.11%	-40.47%	-8.31%	-45.14%
Finance	-3.35%	-9.67%	7.82%	24.23%	4.96%
Utilities	14.66%	11.17%	-18.64%	8.28%	-13.42%
Transportation	3.53%	4.63%	-19.93%	-10.14%	-21.46%
Business Service	-1.54%	3.00%	-6.73%	-3.57%	-10.84%
S&P	0.40%	2.03%	-13.42%	0.43%	-16.06%

Annual Total Net Income Growth
•    Total S&P 500 Net Income in 2009 expected to be 5.4% below 2008 levels
•    Total earnings for the S&P 500 expected to jump 23.9% in 2010, 13.7% further in 2011
•    Data for 2011 is still thin, so take with a grain of salt
•    Construction, Medical and Business Service only sectors to see positive growth for 2009, although Finance is moving from a loss to a profit. Autos to see much smaller loss in 2009, move to profit in 2010

Annual Total Net Income Growth
EPS Growth	2008	2009	2010	2011
Consumer Staples	-2.51%	1.15%	11.53%	7.31%
Consumer Discretionary	6.94%	-9.45%	11.10%	15.62%
Retail/Wholesale	6.95%	-4.39%	12.01%	13.94%
Medical	9.17%	1.78%	8.77%	9.54%
Auto	-270.72%	-93.47%	- to +	84.06%
Basic Materials	-12.91%	-64.14%	95.61%	26.72%
Industrial Products	4.52%	-38.19%	22.84%	-15.20%
Construction	-89.63%	718.01%	55.10%	47.33%
Conglomerates	-7.84%	-24.65%	5.03%	21.04%
Computer and Tech	8.96%	-9.85%	21.67%	-13.22%
Aerospace	20.00%	1.72%	3.66%	10.41%
Oils and Energy	0.34%	-56.64%	50.98%	32.30%
Finance	+ to -	- to +	49.87%	37.33%
Utilities	9.98%	-0.13%	12.27%	13.51%
Transportation	7.32%	-28.38%	20.80%	19.57%
Business Service	13.07%	1.31%	12.91%	19.55%
S&P	-22.72%	-5.41%	23.85%	13.74%

Annual Total Revenue Growth
•    Total S&P 500 Revenue in 2009 expected to be 9.4% below 2008 levels
•    Total revenues for the S&P 500 expected to rise 6.7% in 2010
•    For 2009, revenues fall more than earnings; for 2010, earnings rise faster than sales -- both mean big margin expansion
•    Energy, Autos, Materials and Construction see biggest revenue declines in 2009, but will see large increases in 2010

Annual Total Revenue Growth
Sales Growth	2008	2009	2010
Consumer Staples	1.74%	-8.91%	4.44%
Consumer Discretionary	5.22%	-9.61%	3.68%
Retail/Wholesale	6.17%	3.94%	5.26%
Medical	7.78%	3.96%	5.23%
Auto	-8.67%	-24.59%	6.24%
Basic Materials	11.50%	-25.15%	13.19%
Industrial Products	9.64%	-16.87%	5.93%
Construction	-19.68%	-19.28%	10.08%
Conglomerates	8.66%	-9.76%	1.87%
Computer and Tech	5.04%	-4.19%	5.12%
Aerospace	7.20%	4.39%	3.98%
Oils and Energy	23.63%	-32.80%	20.58%
Finance	-23.95%	2.07%	-0.71%
Utilities	19.77%	5.33%	14.64%
Transportation	8.21%	-16.69%	6.89%
Business Service	8.77%	-10.16%	4.19%
S&P	4.21%	-9.42%	6.68%

Revisions: Earnings
The Zacks Revisions Ratio: 2009
•    Revisions ratio for full S&P 500 up to 3.26 from 3.05
•    Positive surprises translating to estimate increases for 2009
•    5 sectors seem more than 5 estimate increases for each cut
•    No sector seeing estimates cut on balance
•    Utilities and Aerospace continue to see estimates cut
•    Business Service and Conglomerates lead, Staples and Tech also strong
•    Ratio of firms with rising to falling mean estimates climbs to 3.18 from 2.01
•    Total number of revisions (4-week total) up to 4,614 from 3,638 last week (26.9%)
•    Increases up to 3,534 from 2,739 (29.0%), cuts up to 1,084 from 899 (20.6%)
•    Total Revisions activity approaching peak for this earnings season

Analysts are responding to better-than-expected 3Q earnings by raising 2009 estimates almost across the board. Unlike the data presented above for the surprises, the revisions data is for all 500 firms in the index. Total revisions activity has picked up dramatically, and will continue to do so over the next week or two, but we are getting towards peak activity.

The broad increases in earnings estimates seems to reflect a much better short-term outlook for the economy. Note that some of the most cyclical areas such as Retailers, Materials and Autos are seeing a large preponderance of upward over downward earnings revisions, and that most of the firms in those sectors are seeing their consensus estimates increase.

On the other hand, the defensive Staples sector has a very high revisions ratio of 8.71, so it’s not just the cyclicals. Then again given the great performance by the Staples on the surprise front, a strong estimate revisions performance is not surprising.

The Zacks Revisions Ratio: 2009
Sector	%Ch Curr Fiscal Yr Est - 4 wks	# Firms Up	# Firms Down	# Ests Up	# Ests Down	Revisions Ratio	Firms up/down
Consumer Staples	2.63	35	6	244	28	8.71	5.83
Consumer Discretionary	6.09	26	4	203	52	3.90	6.50
Retail/Wholesale	2.51	32	12	330	54	6.11	2.67
Medical	2.83	32	11	408	132	3.09	2.91
Auto	-2.12	4	2	36	16	2.25	2.00
Basic Materials	6.56	15	5	147	40	3.68	3.00
Industrial Products	16.33	17	3	147	32	4.59	5.67
Construction	0.82	5	4	44	21	2.10	1.25
Conglomerates	2.14	8	0	79	11	7.18	NM
Computer and Tech	4.39	59	14	701	116	6.04	4.21
Aerospace	-2.71	6	4	102	35	2.91	1.50
Oils and Energy	3.34	30	11	306	159	1.92	2.73
Finance	2.73	54	23	575	275	2.09	2.35
Utilities	1.02	24	12	79	59	1.34	2.00
Transportation	0.06	7	3	69	49	1.41	2.33
Business Service	3.42	8	0	64	5	12.80	NM
S&P	3.24	362	114	3534	1084	3.26	3.18

Revisions: Earnings
The Zacks Revisions Ratio: 2010
•    Revisions Ratio for full S&P 500 edges up to 2.15 from 2.14
•    Positive surprises translating to estimate increases for 2010, as well as 2009
•    Eclectic mix of strong sectors -- Industrials lead, followed by Staples
•    Ratio of firms with rising estimate to falling mean estimates at 1.98, up from 1.85 last week

For a large sector, the revisions ratio of 9.07 for the Industrials is extremely impressive, and would seem to support the idea that the economy is gaining some real traction. More than five times as many firms in the sector saw their mean estimate for 2010 rise over the last month than suffered a decline in their expectations. Some of the firms in the sector that have seen double-digit increases in both their mean estimate and double-digit numbers of estimate increases and have had no cuts over the last month include Caterpillar (CAT), Eaton (ETN) and Illinois Tool Works (ITW).

The Zacks Revisions Ratio: 2010
Sector	%Ch Next Fiscal Yr Est - 4 wks	# Firms Up	# Firms Down	# Ests Up	# Ests Down	Revisions Ratio	Firms up/down
Consumer Staples	3.75	31	9	196	35	5.60	3.44
Consumer Discretionary	3.09	24	6	176	52	3.38	4.00
Retail/Wholesale	2.80	36	9	288	56	5.14	4.00
Medical	1.41	26	17	278	168	1.65	1.53
Auto	3.53	3	3	23	13	1.77	1.00
Basic Materials	3.01	13	7	98	42	2.33	1.86
Industrial Products	8.31	16	3	127	14	9.07	5.33
Construction	0.62	6	3	34	27	1.26	2.00
Conglomerates	1.88	7	1	60	22	2.73	7.00
Computer and Tech	5.18	57	17	584	151	3.87	3.35
Aerospace	-1.49	4	6	51	76	0.67	0.67
Oils and Energy	1.95	28	13	268	165	1.62	2.15
Finance	-2.50	37	39	450	353	1.27	0.95
Utilities	-0.57	17	20	61	73	0.84	0.85
Transportation	-0.15	5	5	43	36	1.19	1.00
Business Service	2.38	6	2	50	12	4.17	3.00
S&P	2.06	316	160	2787	1295	2.15	1.98

Total Income and Share
•    S&P500 expected to earn $570.6 billion in 2008, $706.8 billion in 2010
•    Excluding Financials, total net income expected to be down 19.9% in 2009
•    Energy Share of total earnings plunges to 11.3% in 2009 from 24.6% in 2008
•    Finance share of total earnings moves from deficit in 2008 to 11.3% in 2009, 13.7% in 2010
•    Medical share of total earnings far exceeds market cap share (index weight)

Total Income and Share

Sector

Total
Net
Income
$ 2008

Total
Net
Income
$ 2009

Total
Net
Income
$ 2010

% Total
S&P Earn
2008

% Total
S&P Earn
2009

% Total
S&P
Earn
2010

% Total
S&P Mkt
Cap

Consumer Staples

$54,721.70

$55,349.23

$61,728.80

9.07%

9.70%

8.73%

8.61%

Consumer Discretionary

$34,582.03

$31,312.81

$34,788.34

5.73%

5.49%

4.92%

5.17%

Retail/Wholesale

$56,295.12

$53,823.23

$60,289.11

9.33%

9.43%

8.53%

9.11%

Medical

$85,649.09

WAG) decided to acquire the assets of 12 Eaton Apothecary pharmacies in the Boston area from D.A.W., Inc., a subsidiary of Nyer Medical Group Inc. (NYER) for approximately $19 million. The acquisition, subject to certain terms and conditions, is expected to close within the next 90 days. Following the transaction, Nyer would liquidate. We believe the acquisition will boost the company’s revenues going forward.

Walgreen’s strong balance sheet has enabled it to grow its business through acquisitions even in the midst of recession. The company generated $852 million in the fourth quarter and $4.1 billion for the year in cash flow from operations, an increase of 55% and 35%, respectively driven by strong drugstore performance, including improved working capital. At the end of the last quarter, Walgreen had $2.1 billion in cash and cash equivalents. We had expected earlier that the company would use the available funds for suitable acquisitions as well as rewarding its shareholders with generous dividend payments.

In order to make the best use of available resources, Walgreen has scaled down its plan of opening stores from the current level of 9% to 4.5%-5% in 2010 and 2.5% - 3% in fiscal 2011. This is evident from the decline in opening of new stores during the quarter. During the fourth quarter, the company opened 149 new drugstores compared with 162 in the third quarter and 199 in the year-ago quarter. We believe this decision will benefit the company as new stores take 2-3 years to become profitable.

The current economic scenario is a major challenge for Walgreen but we expect it to withstand it based on its strong cash balance and vast network of retail stores. The current U.S. government’s agenda of reforming the healthcare system will affect the company on its margin and reimbursement front. However, the inclusion of about 47 million uninsured people under the insurance net will increase the prescription volume manifold, which should help boost the top-line. We have a Neutral rating on the stock.

Read the full analyst report on "WAG"
Read the full analyst report on "NYER"
Zacks Investment Research

Nyer Medical Group to Sell 12 Pharmacies to Walgreen Co. for about $19 million. NYER, X-Treme Hot Stock Alert by DrStockPick.com

Dr. Stock Pick — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 18:44:07 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _______________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _______________________________________ Saturday October 24, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** NYER, Nyer Medical Group, Inc. NYER is a holding company that, through its pharmacy subsidiary, operates pharmacies and provides pharmacy management services to various not-for-profit entities in the greater Boston area. NYER and its subsidiary D.A.W., Inc. (which does business under [...]

Company News for October 19, 2009 – Corporate Summary

Zacks Market Commentaries — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:18:36 +0000

• Eaton (NYSE:ETN) reported third quarter earnings were benefitted by "improved production and lower costs." The company reports third-quarter EPS of $1.21 ex-items versus $1.95 a year earlier, and well above Zacks projections of $0.91 as revenues fell 26% to $3.03 billion. The company set full year operating projections at $2.40-$2.50

• Hasbro (NYSE:HAS) reported third quarter earnings of 99 cents, versus Zacks estimates of 92 cents a share, although revenues of $1.28 billion were below Zacks projections of $1.34 billion

• BB&T (NYSE:BBT) reported third quarter fully diluted results of 23 cents versus 65 cents a year earlier, inline with Zacks estimates of 23 cents. According CEO King, "Our revenue growth for the quarter was very strong at 16.1%, the net interest margin is improved, growth in noninterest-bearing deposits is exceptional and the impact from the Colonial acquisition is positive. However, our earnings continue to be negatively affected by a significant provision for credit losses and other costs related to the credit environment"

• FBR upgraded American Express (NYSE:AXP) shares to "market perform" from "underperform," with the price target lifted to $37 from $25

Zacks Investment Research

Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day Highlights: Cytori Therapeutics, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc., Ford, Eaton and TRW Automotive – Press Releases

Zacks Market Commentaries — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:00:42 +0000

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – October 19, 2009 – Zacks Equity Research highlights Cytori Therapeutics (CYTX) as the Bull of the Day and Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc. (RRGB) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Ford (F), Eaton (ETN) and TRW Automotive (TRW).

Full analysis of all these stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2676

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day:

We continue to be very positive on Cytori Therapeutics (CYTX) and believe the company's Celution System, a better mousetrap for quickly and efficiently harvesting adult stem cells, will see sales ramp significantly over the next few years.

Sales of the system have been tracking with our expectations. Ultimately, the clinical data will determine the pace at which the ramp continues. So far, the clinical data has been exciting, and with several investigator-sponsored programs ongoing. Additional data expected over the next few years will have an immediate impact on the financial results.

Today's price represents a very attractive entry point in our view. We are maintaining our Outperform rating and $8 target.

Bear of the Day:

Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc. (RRGB) is vulnerable to economic headwinds, and we believe that the stock will continue to underperform the restaurant industry. Impeding the growth is its sagging same-store sales and declining traffic counts.

The company's second-quarter 2009 same-store sales fell 11.5%. The chain expects guest counts to remain negative, and expects restaurant-level operating margins to decline by 50 to 80 basis points in fiscal year 2009.

In addition, more than 50% of total restaurants are located in areas, which have been hit hard by the housing downturn and economic slowdown. This may dampen the company's growth potential.

Capacity Utilization Improves – Analyst Blog

Dirk Van Dijk — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:23:49 +0000

In September, total Industrial Production rose by 0.7% from August -- its third straight monthly increase after a string where it was down 17 of 18 months. Total Capacity Utilization also climbed to 70.5%, up from an upwardly revised 69.9% (originally 69.6%) in August. While both are still at extremely low levels, the three straight months of improvement is a VERY good sign.

Turning first the the Industrial Production numbers, the increase in total production was 0.7%, which is a distinct slowdown from the 1.2% gain in August, and from the 0.9% gain in July. However, the August number was revised up sharply from 0.8% growth originally reported (July was revised down from up 1.0%). Thus the gain was coming against a higher base than was thought, and things were better in August than we thought.

Still, from a longer term perspective it is not all that good -- year-over-year total Industrial Production is down 6.1%. The most important part of industrial production is manufacturing production. It posted a 0.9% gain, following a 1.2% (revised from 0.6%) increase in August and a 1.2% rise in July (revised from 1.4%). On a year-over-year basis, it is down 7.7%.

Mine output was not hit as hard as manufacturing output, but it too is starting to increase, rising 0.7% in September after gains of 1.1% and 1.2% in August and July, respectively. It is actually up a slight 0.2% from a year ago. Utility output, which can be affected by the weather as much as by the state of the economy, fell 0.7% -- partially reversing the big 1.9% increase last month. In July, Utility output fell 1.5%. Relative to a year ago, it is down 2.1%.

Production of materials was up 0.8% following back-to-back increases of 1.3%, but is still down 6.1% from last year. Total output of finished goods increased 0.9% following increases of 1.4% and 0.8%, but is down 3.9% from a year ago. Finished goods output is composed of both consumer goods and business equipment. Output of consumer goods is doing better than that of business equipment.

Production of consumer goods rose 1.1% in September following gains of 1.6% in August and 0.6% in July. It has nearly recovered in year-over-year terms, down just 1.7%. Output of business equipment, on the other hand, rose just 0.1% -- a sharp slowdown from gains of 1.1% in August and 1.0% in July. Since last year, output is down 8.0%

Part of the reason for the lackluster increases in business equipment output can be found in the capacity utilization numbers. Here is the general rule of thumb on capacity utilization, which can be seen in the graph below (from http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/): if capacity utilization (particularly in manufacturing, utility utilization can be flakey due to weather) is above 85%, the country is in an economic boom, and is in danger of overheating, and the Fed should consider tightening up to prevent an outbreak of inflation. Around 80% is the sweet spot and signifies the economy is healthy. Historically (the data only goes back to 1967, unfortunately), 75% represents a deep recession.

Capacity utilization rates below 70% have only been seen in the current downturn. The rise back above the 70% level to 70.5% is a very welcome sign, and the historic low of 68.3% set in June was trurely horriffic. However, it emphasizes just how far we have to go to get back to something resembling economic health.

Not only did capacity utilization rise in September, but the August number was revised up to 69.9% from 69.6%. As with Industrial Production, manufacturing is the most important part of capacity utilization to watch. It rose to 67.5% in September from 66.8% in August (originally 66.6%) and 66.0% (was 66.0%) in July.

Its record low was hit in June, at 65.1%. Just think about that for a minute: over one-third of our manufacturing capacity was sitting idle -- one out of three plants shut down. While the patient is showing signs of getting better, he is still one very sick puppy.

Capacity utilization in mining rose to 83.6% from 82.9% in August and 81.9% in July. Normally, mining utilization runs higher than manufacturing utilization. The long-run average mining utilization is 87.6%, versus 79.6% for manufacturing. Thus, miners such as Freeport McMoRan (FCX) are still depressed, even if they are faring better than are manufacturing firms. Utility utilization fell to 78.1% from 78.7% in August, but remains above the 77.4% level in July.

The numbers are some what distorted since total capacity in utilities has grown by 1.8% over the last year, while it is down (i.e permament closures of facilities) 0.9% in manufacturing and down 0.4% for mines. Like mines and factories, utility utilization is still well below its long-term average level of 86.8%.

By stage of processing, we are doing better at the base of production, with utilization of crude goods (sort of reflects more mine output than factory output) at 82.6%, up from 81.4% in Auguast and 80.3% in July. Semitfinsihed utilization rose to 67.3% from 67.0% in August and 66.3% in July. The utilization of factories making finished goods rose to 69.3% from 68.6% in August and 67.5% in July.

Much of the increase in output (and utilization) comes from the Auto industry, where production rose 7.4% in September after gains averageing 11.0% in August and July. The increase in output at firms like Ford (F) and its suppliers like Eaton (ETN) and TRW Automotive (TRW) was clearly tied to the Cash for Clunkers program. Now that the program is over, and the depleted inventories have been rebuilt, the big question is: can it continue? If it does in October and November, it will be a very good sign for the economy.

Overall, this is an encouraging report. We are headed in the right direction, but we still have a very long way to go.

Read the full analyst report on "FCX"
Read the full analyst report on "F"
Read the full analyst report on "ETN"
Read the full analyst report on "TRW"
Zacks Investment Research

New Mutual Fund Rank Reveals 3 “Strong Buys”: Fidelity Select Medical Equipment & Systems, Evergreen Health Care A and Eaton Vance Worldwide Health Sciences A – Press Releases

Zacks Market Commentaries — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 15:15:15 +0000

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – September 2, 2009 – Three mutual funds rose to the highest level of a new ranking system and are being highlighted today on Zacks.com.

These free "Strong Buy" picks are being made available to promote the new Mutual Fund Rank of the investment world's leading independent research firm.

Highlighted Today: Health Equity Funds

Fidelity Select Medical Equipment & Systems (FSMEX) seeks capital appreciation. The fund is non-diversified. It may invest in securities of foreign issuers or a significant percentage of assets in a single issuer. Its key holdings include Medtronic Inc. (MDT), Baxter International Inc. (BAX) and Boston Scientific Inc. (BSX).

Evergreen Health Care A (EHABX) was incepted in December 1999. The investment seeks long-term capital growth. The fund normally invests at least 80% of its assets in equity securities of healthcare companies. Robert C. Junkin has been lead manager at the fund since March 2007. It has an expense ratio of 1.84%.

Eaton Vance Worldwide Health Sciences A (ETHSX) seeks long-term capital growth by investing in reasonably priced equity securities of healthcare companies. It normally invests in issuers located in at least three different countries and may also invest in fixed-income securities. Shareholders have to make a minimum initial investment of $1,000 to enter this Zacks#1 Rank (“Strong Buy") fund.

As part of this promotion, investors are invited to instantly find the rating of nearly 19,000 funds – evaluating, comparing, and tracking them. It's also simple to pinpoint top-rated funds in 42 categories and for 500+ fund families.

Many Funds Are Ranked for Their Future Potential

This is the first new ranking system in many years. Unlike others that are based entirely on past performance, the new Zacks Mutual Fund Rank looks for future potential. In fact, U.S. funds are ranked on the earnings-based Zacks Rank of the individual stocks they hold.

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About Zacks

Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978 by Len Zacks. The company established that earnings estimate revisions are the most powerful force impacting stock prices. It continually processes stock reports issued by 3,000 analysts from 150 brokerage firms. It monitors more than 200,000 earnings estimates, looking for changes.

Then, when changes are discovered, they’re applied to help assign more than 4,400 stocks into five Zacks Rank categories: #1 Strong Buy, #2 Buy, #3 Hold, #4 Sell, and #5 Strong Sell.

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Zacks Investment Research

Top Health Equity Funds – Mutual Fund Commentary

Zacks Market Commentaries — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 06:06:43 +0000

Today we are featuring top-performing “Health" equity mutual funds, which primarily invest in equity securities of health care and related companies.

Investors can find such funds by checking out the entire list of the Zacks #1 Rank Health Equity Funds.

3 Robust Samples

Fidelity Select Medical Equipment & Systems (FSMEX) seeks capital appreciation. The fund is non-diversified.

The fund invests in common stocks of firms that are engaged in research, development, manufacture, distribution, supply or sale of medical equipment and devices and related technologies. It may invest in securities of foreign issuers or a significant percentage of assets in a single issuer.

The fund’s key holdings include Medtronic Inc. (MDT), Baxter International Inc. (BAX) and Boston Scientific Inc. (BSX).

Evergreen Health Care A (EHABX) was incepted in December 1999. The investment seeks long-term capital growth.

The fund normally invests at least 80% of its assets in equity securities of healthcare companies. It may invest in securities of relatively well known and large companies as well as small- and medium-sized companies.

Robert C. Junkin has been lead manager at the fund since March 2007. It has an expense ratio of 1.84%.

Eaton Vance Worldwide Health Sciences A (ETHSX) seeks long-term capital growth by investing in reasonably priced equity securities of healthcare companies.

The fund invests in companies that are expected to grow in value over time and have the potential to outperform market. It normally invests in issuers located in at least three different countries and may also invest in fixed-income securities of health sciences firms.

Shareholders have to make a minimum initial investment of $1,000 to enter this Zacks#1 Rank (“Strong Buy") fund. It offers dividends and capital gains, if any, annually.

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By applying the Zacks Rank to mutual funds, investors can find funds that not only outpaced the market in the past but are also expected to outperform going forward.

Zacks Investment Research

Eaton Vance Matches Expectations – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 20:11:50 +0000

Asset manager Eaton Vance Corp.’s (EV) reported fiscal third-quarter net income of $31.2 million, a decline of 37% year-over-year as performance was affected by sluggish fee income amid weak fund inflows. Excluding a charge associated with an IPO, earnings per share came in at 28 cents, matching the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

The company stated that quarterly revenue slumped 19% year over year to $228.4 million as investment advisory and administration fees declined 17% to $175.2 million. Distribution and service fees also fell 31% and 26% to $21.7 million and $29.9 million respectively.

The slump in fees was caused by a decline in assets under management (AUM) to $143.7 billion, compared to $155.8 billion in the year-ago quarter as clients adopted a cautious approach towards closed-end funds. Eaton’s AUM was particularly affected by equity fund assets, which contracted 21% year over year to $52.9 billion. However, sequentially AUM recorded a growth of 13% primarily driven by the recent rally in stock markets.

Operating expenses, as a percentage of revenue, increased 660 basis points (bps) to 74.1%, compared to the year-ago quarter. This was mainly attributable to a 570 bps rise in compensation expenses on account of increased base salary and benefits, partially offset by lower incentives, distribution and service expenses. Accordingly, operating income fell nearly 36% year over year to $59.2 million, while operating margin slipped 660 bps to 25.9%.

The company ended the quarter with cash and equivalents of $333.2 million, compared to $380.5 million in the year-ago period. Eaton also stated that it has deployed $24.7 million towards share buyback and $71.6 million for payment of dividends over the past 12 months.

Boston-based Eaton Vance provides investment management and counseling services to high-net-worth individuals and institutions. The company offers a range of products and services designed and managed to generate risk-adjusted returns over the long term. The asset manager operates through 4 affiliates, Eaton Vance Management, Boston Management and Research, Eaton Vance Investment Counsel and Eaton Vance Trust Co. and 4 other subsidiaries.

Meanwhile, competitor Legg Mason (LM) posted fiscal first-quarter earnings of 35 cents per share last month, topping the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 66.7% amid a 4% sequential growth in AUM to $656.9 billion. Another rival, AllianceBernstein Holding (AB), also reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of 41 cents per share, 7 cents ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate accompanied by nearly 9% sequential expansion in AUM to $447 billion.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate on Eaton’s earnings for the fiscal year ending Oct 2009 is currently pegged at $1.02 per share, which has moved up by 5 cents, or 5.2%, over the past month as 9 of 12 covering analysts raised projections. The most accurate estimate is slightly bullish at $1.03 per share.
Read the full analyst report on "EV"
Read the full analyst report on "LM"
Read the full analyst report on "AB"
Zacks Investment Research

Top Global Equity Funds – Mutual Fund Commentary

Zacks Market Commentaries — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 06:53:21 +0000

Today we are featuring top-performing “Global" equity mutual funds, which primarily invest equity securities of both U.S. and foreign companies.

Investors can find such funds by checking out the entire list of the Zacks #1 Rank Global Equity Funds.

3 Superb Choices

Eaton Vance International Equity A (PARWX) seeks total return for shareholders. The fund primarily invests in foreign equity securities.

The fund focuses on a diversified portfolio of foreign common stocks of companies domiciled in countries represented in the Morgan Stanley Capital International Europe, Australasia and Far East index. As of April 2009, its portfolio turnover was 35%.

Nestle SA, Novartis AG (NVS) and British American Tobacco Plc (BTI) are among the fund’s top holdings.

EM Capital India Gateway A (EMINX) was incepted in July 2007. The investment seeks long-term capital growth and income.

The fund invests at least 80% of its assets in equity securities of Indian companies listed on Indian stock exchanges and Indian-related companies listed on global stock exchanges. It primarily focuses on small and mid-cap companies.

Unit holders have to make a minimum initial investment of $1,000 to enter this Zacks#1 Rank (“Strong Buy") fund. It distributes dividends and capital gains, if any, annually.

William Blair International Growth (WBIIX) seeks long-term capital appreciation. The fund invests in common stocks from a broad range of foreign companies of all sizes, including developed and emerging markets.

The fund follows in-depth, bottom-up research methods to select well-managed, quality growth companies that are expected to maintain superior growth, profitability and quality relative to other companies in the same industry worldwide.

W. George Greig has been lead manager at the fund since its inception in July 2002. The fund has an expense ratio of 0.98%.

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Zacks Investment Research

Stock Market News for July 20, 2009 – Market News

Zacks Market Commentaries — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:24:37 +0000

After better-than-expected numbers from Goldman Sachs and Intel set off a broad weekly rally on Wall Street, stocks lacked direction Friday and ended the day little changed as investors braced for fresh corporate announcements. Also fueling the rally was analyst Meredith Whitney’s bullish stance on Goldman as she assigned a “buy" rating on the bank. That set the stage for a 7% market rally in just five sessions with the Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 index posting their best weekly performance since the week ending March 13.

For the week, the DJIA jumped 597.42 points, or 7.3%, to 8,743.94 points and the S&P 500 rose 7% to 940.38. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index rose for eight consecutive sessions, its longest run since 2005, ending the week up 131 points, or 7.4% to 1,887.

As Goldman announced earnings of $4.93 a share, well above analysts’ estimate of $3.57 per share, financials rallied and the gains spilled over to the broader market. JP Morgan's (NYSE:JPM) second quarter earnings of 28 cents a share were 24 cents ahead of Street estimates, as revenues grew 2.9% year-over-year to $27.7 billion. The firm, however, warned of credit card losses this year and next as well as commercial real estate losses over the next several quarters. Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) CEO Kenneth Lewis also sounded a grim note, cautioning "difficult challenges lie ahead from continued weakness in the global economy, rising unemployment and deteriorating credit quality that will affect our performance for the rest of the year and into 2010." Nevertheless, BofA’s second quarter earnings of 33 cents a share, bettered Street estimates of 28 cents a share, on revenues of $32.77 billion, versus estimates of $33.1 billion.

Intel's (NASDAQ:INTC) second-quarter numbers were also better than expected, as the company reported second-quarter earnings of 18 cents a share, versus expectations of 8 cents a share, as revenues of $8.0 billion beat estimates of $7.3 billion. Most importantly, Intel’s third-quarter outlook for stronger-than-expected revenues had technology stocks rallying. Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) warned of gross margin pressure in the second quarter, likely to generate only slight sequential revenue gains versus estimates of 1.6% growth. Although Dell said it expected stabilization in its IT product demand YoY, the firm stated profits were affected by "the result of higher component costs, a competitive pricing environment, and an unfavorable mix of product and business-segment demand." IBM (NYSE:IBM) shares gained 3.2% ahead of its earnings release. After the markets closed, the company reported earnings of $2.32 per share versus expectations of $2.01 a share, even as revenue fell 13% hurt by corporate spending cutbacks. Nevertheless, the Big Blue noted that it will comfortably meet its 2010 earnings target of $10 to $11 per share. Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) beat estimates of $5.08 a share, reporting second-quarter earnings of $5.36 a share versus $4.63. Johnson and Johnson's (NYSE:JNJ) second quarter bettered consensus estimates as well, posting at $1.15 down from $1.17 a year ago and beating estimates of $1.11 a share; the firm reiterated 2009 adjusted earnings guidance of $4.45 to $4.55 a share.

Companies due to report earnings today include Eaton (NYSE:ETN), Halliburton (NYSE:HAL), Hasbro (NYSE:HAS), while Texas Instruments (NYSE:TXN) and Legg Mason (NYSE:LM) are due to report after the close.

Zacks Investment Research

Top Health Equity Funds – Mutual Fund Commentary

Zacks Market Commentaries — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 06:58:39 +0000

Today we are featuring top-performing "Health" equity mutual funds, which primarily invest in equity securities of companies from the health care sector or related industries.

Investors can find such funds by checking out the entire list of the Zacks #1 Rank Health equity Funds.

3 Healthy Choices

Saratoga Health & Biotechnology A (WBRBX) was incepted in July 1999. The investment seeks long-term capital growth. The fund is non-diversified.

The fund utilizes a top-down investment approach focused on long-term economic trends for identifying high quality companies within the healthcare sector and seeks to acquire them at attractive prices.

Mark W. Oelschlager has been lead manager at the fund since November 2005. The fund has topped the total returns of its benchmark index in the last 1-andf 3-year periods.

Fidelity Select Health Care (FSPHX) seeks capital appreciation by primarily investing in equity securities of companies engaged in the design, manufacture, or sale of products or services used for or in connection with health care.

Unit holders need to make a minimum initial investment of $2,500 to enter the fund. Dividends and capital gains are declared in April and December every year.

The fund's top holdings include Wyeth (WYE), Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) and Allergan Inc. (AGN).

Eaton Vance Worldwide Health Sciences A (ETHSX) seeks long-term capital growth by investing in a worldwide and diversified portfolio of health sciences companies. It currently seeks to meet its objective by investing in Worldwide Health Sciences Portfolio.

The fund normally invests in issuers located in at least three different countries. It may invest in companies with a broad range of market capitalizations, including small firms.

The fund may invest in fixed-income securities of health sciences companies. It has an expense ratio of 1.52%.

Discover Many More Funds

By applying the Zacks Rank to mutual funds, investors can find funds that not only outpaced the market in the past but are also expected to outperform going forward.

Zacks Investment Research

Earnings Preview for May 18 – 22 – Earnings Preview

Charles Rotblut — Fri, 15 May 2009 05:00:00 +0000

First-quarter earnings season nears an end with Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Home Depot (HD), Lowe's (LOW) and Target (TGT) reporting. Joining them will be 15 other members of the S&P 500. In total, we have confirmed reports from 124 companies.

There is not much on the economic calendar, though the minutes from the April Fed meeting will be released on Wednesday afternoon (2 p.m.).

Tuesday: April building permits and housing starts
Wednesday: April Fed minutes, weekly crude inventories
Thursday: Phili Fed survey, April Leading Indicators, weekly initial jobless claims

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will deliver a commencement speech at the Boston College Law School on Friday afternoon. Vice Chairman Donald Kohn will speak at a conference about fiscal policy in Princeton, N.J. on Saturday afternoon.

Volume could be light on Friday as traders and fund managers leave early for the holiday weekend. The U.S. markets will be closed on Monday, May 25.

Keep an eye on General Motors (GM). A bankruptcy filing could occur any day now.

The end of first-quarter earnings season removes a catalyst for the bulls. Given that stocks have rallied for 8 out of 10 weeks, a pullback is overdue and I think it has started.

Companies That Could Issue Positive Earnings Surprises

Despite the recession, Aeropostale (ARO) continues to enjoy strong growth. April same-store sales surged 20%, leading the company to hike its first-quarter guidance by 14 cents to 46 cents per share. Brokerage analysts are even more bullish and think the casual clothing retailer could announce profits of 48 cents per share. ARO has topped expectations during 3 out of the last 4 quarters. Aeropostale is scheduled to report on Thursday, Apr 21, after the close of trading.

Though same-store sales continue to fall, Gap Inc. (GPS) recently said that first-quarter earnings would top expectations. The company guided for profits of 29 to 30 cents per share, 6 cents more than what brokerage analysts were projecting in early May. (Revisions by 11 of the 19 covering analysts have since pushed the consensus earnings estimate up to 30 cents per share.) GPS has a long track record of topping expectations. GAP is scheduled to report on May 21, after the close of trading.

About one-quarter of the covering brokerage analysts have raised their fourth-quarter estimates on Home Depot (HD) in recent weeks. The revisions have nudged the consensus earnings estimate a penny higher to 28 cents per share. The most accurate estimate is more bullish at 30 cents per share. The home improvement retailer has topped expectations for 4 consecutive quarters. Home Depot is scheduled to report on Tuesday, May 19, before the start of trading.

Target (TGT) recently predicted that its first-quarter earnings would be "well above" the consensus estimate. Brokerage analysts quickly adjusted their models, sending the consensus earnings estimate up to 60 cents per share - an increase of 11 cents from 30 days ago. The most accurate estimate is slightly more bullish at 61 cents per share. This is a riskier call, however, because TGT does not have a good history of topping expectations. Target is scheduled to report on Wednesday, May 20, before the start of trading.

Companies That Could Issue Negative Earnings Surprises

Deere & Co. (DE) has missed expectations for 4 consecutive quarters. Analysts seem to be bracing for another miss as is evident by the recent 2-cent drop in the consensus earnings estimate. The average fiscal second-quarter forecast now calls for profits of $1.10 per share. The most accurate estimate is more bearish at a $1.07 per share. Deere is scheduled to report on Wednesday, May 20, before the start of trading.

Charles Rotblut, CFA is the senior market analyst for Zacks.com. He can be reached at crotblut@zacks.com.

Surprise Trader can help you turn earnings surprises into quick profits. Learn how.

Earnings Calendar

Here is a list of companies that we have confirmed will report during the week of May 18 - 22¹. Prices are as of Thursday's, May 14, market close.

Company	Stock	Zacks Estimate	Year Ago EPS	Last Qtr Surprise	Date	Time	Price
Airmedia Gp-Adr	AMCN	$0.00	$0.10	(13.3%)	5/18	AMC	$5.72
Amer Apparel	APP	($0.02)	$0.02	(28.6%)	5/18	AMC	$5.45
China Ritar Pwr	CRTP	$0.02	$0.03	(86.7%)	5/18	N/A	$1.90
Derma Sciences	DSCI	($0.01)	($0.04)	0.0%	5/18	BTO	$0.36
Doctor Reddys	RDY	$0.33	$0.15	N/A	5/18	N/A	$11.65
Dri Corp	TBUS	($0.03)	$0.06	20.0%	5/18	N/A	$1.20
Hasting Entmt	HAST	$0.13	$0.28	(350.0%)	5/18	BTO	$3.48
Himax Tech-Adr	HIMX	$0.03	$0.18	12.5%	5/18	AMC	$2.52
Ituran Location	ITRN	$0.18	$0.18	(3.5%)	5/18	BTO	$7.47
Kit Digital Inc	KDGL	($0.33)	($9.44)	0.0%	5/18	AMC	$8.49
Lowes Cos	LOW	$0.25	$0.41	(8.3%)	5/18	N/A	$18.87
Perfect World	PWRD	$0.47	$0.38	65.6%	5/18	BTO	$18.34
Petro Resources	PRC	($0.02)	($0.04)	(300.0%)	5/18	N/A	$0.33
Radiant Logist	RLGT	$0.01	$0.00	200.0%	5/18	N/A	$0.16
Simcere Pharmac	SCR	$0.17	$0.25	(25.0%)	5/18	AMC	$7.65
Smf Energy Corp	FUEL	($0.04)	($0.10)	28.6%	5/18	N/A	$0.26
Spectrum Pharma	SPPI	($0.11)	($0.28)	29.4%	5/18	N/A	$4.07
Tsakos Egy Navg	TNP	$0.64	$1.70	(7.5%)	5/18	BTO	$19.01
Valspar Corp	VAL	$0.35	$0.41	(4.8%)	5/18	BTO	$22.78
Vimicro Int-Ads	VIMC	($0.14)	($0.09)	(50.0%)	5/18	AMC	$1.79
012 Smile.Com	SMLC	$0.18	$0.25	(25.0%)	5/19	BTO	$5.49
3Sbio Inc-Ads	SSRX	$0.12	$0.13	(27.3%)	5/19	AMC	$8.01
Analog Devices	ADI	$0.09	$0.44	20.0%	5/19	AMC	$20.09
Dicks Sprtg Gds	DKS	$0.06	$0.17	5.8%	5/19	BTO	$17.94
Dycom Inds	DY	$0.05	$0.14	(100.0%)	5/19	AMC	$7.82
E-House China	EJ	$0.05	$0.11	16.7%	5/19	BTO	$12.49
Excel Maritime	EXM	$0.12	$1.93	141.5%	5/19	AMC	$9.06
Hewlett Packard	HPQ	$0.86	$0.87	0.0%	5/19	AMC	$34.93
Home Depot	HD	$0.28	$0.41	18.8%	5/19	BTO	$24.53
Ja Solar Holdgs	JASO	($0.06)	$0.14	(366.7%)	5/19	BTO	$3.35
Kana Software	KANA	($0.03)	($0.01)	(300.0%)	5/19	AMC	$0.72
Kemet Corp	KEME	($0.09)	($0.02)	25.0%	5/19	N/A	$0.62
Medtronic	MDT	$0.82	$0.78	0.0%	5/19	BTO	$33.59
Oceanfreight In	OCNF	$0.13	$0.88	26.5%	5/19	AMC	$1.39
Opnext Inc	OPXT	($0.26)	$0.01	(1200.0%)	5/19	BTO	$2.30
Paragon Shpgn-A	PRGN	$0.52	$0.59	(8.8%)	5/19	AMC	$3.45
Phillips Van He	PVH	$0.48	$0.90	10.7%	5/19	AMC	$26.18
Raven Inds Inc	RAVN	$0.47	$0.60	(10.3%)	5/19	BTO	$24.74
Saks Inc	SKS	($0.24)	$0.13	(73.3%)	5/19	BTO	$3.60
Solarfun Power	SOLF	($0.17)	$0.32	(471.4%)	5/19	BTO	$4.75
The9 Ltd-Adr	NCTY	$0.33	$0.46	(26.5%)	5/19	AMC	$9.15
Tjx Cos Inc New	TJX	$0.49	$0.41	7.8%	5/19	BTO	$26.85
Tti Team Tele	TTIL	($0.04)	$0.05	(225.0%)	5/19	N/A	$0.77
Advance Auto Pt	AAP	$0.90	$0.86	37.8%	5/20	AMC	$39.93
Anntaylor Stres	ANN	($0.21)	$0.47	(90.7%)	5/20	BTO	$7.87
Bj'S Wholesale	BJ	$0.44	$0.29	3.5%	5/20	BTO	$36.40
Brady Corp Cl A	BRC	$0.33	$0.63	(44.1%)	5/20	N/A	$21.91
Cato Corp A	CTR	$0.62	$0.58	18.2%	5/20	BTO	$17.98
Chinaedu Cp-Adr	CEDU	$0.03	$0.01	500.0%	5/20	AMC	$5.40
Citi Trends Inc	CTRN	$0.43	$0.36	32.1%	5/20	AMC	$22.33
Columbus Mckinn	CMCO	$0.33	$0.72	29.3%	5/20	BTO	$12.83
Comp Science	CSC	$1.47	$1.44	4.9%	5/20	AMC	$36.47
Deere & Co	DE	$1.10	$1.74	(25.0%)	5/20	BTO	$41.78
Eaton Vance	EV	$0.21	$0.43	15.8%	5/20	BTO	$27.40
Elbit Systems	ESLT	$1.02	$0.75	5.3%	5/20	BTO	$53.52
Gymboree Corp	GYMB	$0.71	$0.86	2.0%	5/20	AMC	$32.76
Hoku Scientific	HOKU	($0.08)	($0.12)	(300.0%)	5/20	BTO	$2.75
Hot Topic Inc	HOTT	$0.02	($0.03)	0.0%	5/20	AMC	$8.74
Intuit Inc	INTU	$1.53	$1.33	8.0%	5/20	AMC	$24.32
Limited Inc	LTD	($0.04)	$0.10	6.3%	5/20	AMC	$11.13
Medcath Corp	MDTH	$0.23	$0.30	(6.3%)	5/20	AMC	$9.74
Melco Pbl Entmt	MPEL	($0.07)	$0.10	20.0%	5/20	BTO	$5.48
Miva Inc	MIVA	($0.06)	($0.16)	7.1%	5/20	AMC	$0.31
Netapp Inc	NTAP	$0.15	$0.31	0.0%	5/20	AMC	$17.41
Netease.Com-Adr	NTES	$0.46	$0.30	27.3%	5/20	AMC	$30.55
Petsmart Inc	PETM	$0.30	$0.32	5.1%	5/20	AMC	$21.10
Semtech Corp	SMTC	$0.06	$0.17	0.0%	5/20	AMC	$14.14
Synopsys Inc	SNPS	$0.31	$0.33	8.8%	5/20	AMC	$20.56
Target Corp	TGT	$0.60	$0.74	(3.6%)	5/20	BTO	$40.48
Techtarget	TTGT	($0.06)	$0.00	0.0%	5/20	AMC	$4.45
Tween Brands	TWB	($0.16)	$0.21	(188.1%)	5/20	BTO	$2.90
Westell Tech-A	WSTL	($0.03)	($0.05)	0.0%	5/20	AMC	$0.44
8X8 Inc	EGHT	$0.01	$0.01	(100.0%)	5/21	AMC	$0.71
Aeropostale Inc	ARO	$0.48	$0.26	1.0%	5/21	AMC	$32.79
Alkermes Inc	ALKS	($0.13)	($0.07)	(1.7%)	5/21	AMC	$8.63
Aruba Networks	ARUN	($0.08)	($0.07)	37.5%	5/21	AMC	$4.76
Autodesk Inc	ADSK	$0.00	$0.41	(7.1%)	5/21	AMC	$18.84
Barnes & Noble	BKS	($0.15)	$0.05	12.2%	5/21	BTO	$22.23
Black Box Corp	BBOX	$0.64	$0.74	3.7%	5/21	AMC	$25.20
Bon-Ton Stores	BONT	($3.72)	($2.03)	(13.2%)	5/21	BTO	$3.64
Bristow Group	BRS	$0.63	$0.82	(8.5%)	5/21	BTO	$25.57
Brocade Comm Sy	BRCD	$0.06	$0.15	7.1%	5/21	AMC	$6.00
Buckle Inc	BKE	$0.49	$0.41	1.4%	5/21	BTO	$31.45
Casual Male Ret	CMRG	($0.04)	$0.00	(1100.0%)	5/21	BTO	$1.34
Childrens Place	PLCE	$0.74	$0.66	4.3%	5/21	BTO	$32.21
Cost Plus Inc	CPWM	($0.84)	($1.00)	(340.0%)	5/21	AMC	$1.90
Dillards Inc-A	DDS	($0.23)	$0.05	(206.7%)	5/21	AMC	$7.60
Dress Barn	DBRN	$0.31	$0.39	(300.0%)	5/21	AMC	$13.79
Foot Locker Inc	FL	$0.13	$0.14	41.2%	5/21	AMC	$10.76
Gamestop Corp	GME	$0.41	$0.38	0.0%	5/21	BTO	$25.97
Gap Inc	GPS	$0.30	$0.34	6.3%	5/21	AMC	$15.41
Global Srcs-Ltd	GSOL	$0.03	$0.15	45.5%	5/21	BTO	$5.84
Hibbet Sports	HIBB	$0.37	$0.32	0.0%	5/21	AMC	$18.01
Hormel Foods Cp	HRL	$0.50	$0.56	17.6%	5/21	BTO	$32.44
Hurray Hldg-Adr	HRAY	($0.08)	$0.07	(3700.0%)	5/21	BTO	$2.80
Kirklands Inc	KIRK	($0.09)	($0.11)	13.5%	5/21	BTO	$5.83
Ldk Solar Co	LDK	($0.08)	$0.45	(48.8%)	5/21	AMC	$8.12
Mf Global Ltd	MF	$0.09	($0.59)	0.0%	5/21	BTO	$5.87
New York & Co	NWY	($0.08)	$0.11	(11.1%)	5/21	BTO	$4.38
Nordson Corp	NDSN	$0.27	$0.97	25.8%	5/21	AMC	$35.92
Pac Sunwear Cal	PSUN	($0.30)	($0.17)	6.0%	5/21	AMC	$3.74
Parlux Fragranc	PARL	$0.04	N/A	(414.3%)	5/21	AMC	$1.79
Patterson Cos	PDCO	$0.50	$0.51	2.3%	5/21	BTO	$22.25
Perry Ellis Int	PERY	$0.23	$0.60	(3300.0%)	5/21	AMC	$5.87
Red Robin Gourm	RRGB	$0.33	$0.43	34.4%	5/21	AMC	$19.93
Renesola Lt-Adr	SOL	$0.07	$0.28	(187.5%)	5/21	BTO	$3.40
Rosetta Genomic	ROSG	($0.23)	($0.33)	10.7%	5/21	BTO	$3.02
Ross Stores	ROST	$0.72	$0.60	0.0%	5/21	BTO	$35.23
Safe Bulkers	SB	$0.65	N/A	(4.8%)	5/21	AMC	$5.68
Salesforce.Com	CRM	$0.11	$0.08	57.1%	5/21	AMC	$39.77
Schawk Inc-Cl A	SGK	($0.05)	$0.15	(55.6%)	5/21	AMC	$6.91
Skillsoft Plc	SKIL	$0.13	$0.07	87.5%	5/21	AMC	$7.37
Stage Stores	SSI	($0.04)	$0.06	0.0%	5/21	BTO	$10.97
Stein Mart Inc	SMRT	$0.12	$0.17	(39.0%)	5/21	BTO	$3.83
Suntech Pwr Hld	STP	($0.07)	$0.35	(29.2%)	5/21	BTO	$14.73
Tech Data Corp	TECD	$0.33	$0.43	60.3%	5/21	BTO	$27.77
Telvent Git Sa	TLVT	$0.29	$0.37	33.9%	5/21	BTO	$20.17
Toro Co	TTC	$0.93	$1.60	0.0%	5/21	BTO	$27.31
Verigy Ltd	VRGY	($0.65)	$0.23	(18.6%)	5/21	AMC	$10.68
Zumiez Inc	ZUMZ	($0.08)	$0.05	10.53%	5/21	AMC	$10.19
British Airways	BAIRY	($2.77)	N/A	N/A	5/22	N/A	$24.52
Campbell Soup	CPB	$0.43	$0.43	1.6%	5/22	BTO	$26.75
Met-Pro Corp	MPR	$0.12	$0.13	(25.0%)	5/22	BTO	$9.88
Yingli Green En	YGE	$0.03	$0.25	62.5%	5/22	BTO	$8.08

BTO = Before The Market Open, AMC = After The Market Close

¹Some of the companies listed in the earnings calendar may not be in the Zacks Rank universe.

Zacks Investment Research

Top Flexible Mutual Funds – Mutual Fund Commentary

Alex Kolb — Wed, 13 May 2009 06:43:51 +0000

Today we are featuring top-performing "flexible" mutual funds. These funds mainly seek income or total return by investing in stocks, bonds or cash.

Investors can find such funds by checking out the entire list of the Zacks #1 Rank Flexible Funds list.

3 Solid Performers

Eaton Vance Global Macro A (EAGMX) seeks total return. The fund typically invests in fixed-income and derivative instruments in different countries and currencies. It invests over half of its net assets in high-grade debt securities.

The fund is non-diversified that currently focuses on intermediate bonds, foreign bonds and high yield bonds. As of October 2008, its portfolio turnover was 26%.

Mark S. Venezia has been the lead manager at the Zacks#1 Rank ("Strong Buy") fund since its inception in June 2007.

GAMCO Mathers Fund (MATRX) seeks to achieve capital appreciation over the long term in various market conditions without excessive risk of capital loss. It invests primarily in common stocks but may invest all or any portion of assets in fixed -income securities.

The fund may invest all or a portion of its assets primarily in U.S. Treasury securities when the risk of loss from investing in stocks is high. MATRX distributes dividends and capital gains annually.

Caldwell & Orkin Market Opportunity (COAGX) seeks long-term capital growth with a short-term focus on capital preservation. It typically invests between 50% and 100% of net assets in U.S. common stocks.

COAGX's investments include both long positions and short positions and may be made in companies of any size. It has allocated 55.65% of its assets in large-growth stocks. The fund distributes dividends and capital gains annually.

Unit holders have to make a minimum initial investment of $25,000 to enter this Zacks #1 Rank ("Strong Buy") fund.

Michael B. Orkin has been the lead manager at the fund since Aug 1992. Prior to his current position, Orkin was an analyst with Pacific Equity Management, Oppenheimer Capital Corp. and Ned Davis Research Inc.

Discover Many More Funds

By applying the Zacks Rank to mutual funds, investors can find funds that not only outpaced the market in the past but are also expected to outperform going forward.

Zacks Investment Research

Why You Should Buy These 5 Dirt-Cheap Buffet Stocks Now

Contrarian Profits — Tue, 12 May 2009 20:39:30 +0000

pSmartMoney.com associate editor Jack Hough says now is a good time to pick up Buffett-favored stocks on the cheap. /p p“I’m more interested in exploiting Buffett than defending him,” Hough writes. “The shortest path to being a great investor is to copy one.”/p pHe recommends against Berkshire shares because of its concentration in financial service companies. “Investors who prefer to avoid that can simply cherry-pick from its holdings, which are reported quarterly.”/p pHough chose five stocks that “Buffett says he still likes but that Berkshire has trimmed its stake in to make room for new purchases.”/p pThe selections: Burlington Northern (NYSE:a href="http://www.google.com/finance?q=BNI"BNI/a); Eaton (NYSE:a href="http://www.google.com/finance?q=ETN"ETN/a), an industrial products company; ConocoPhillips (NYSE:a href="http://www.google.com/finance?q=COP"COP/a); Kraft (NYSE:a href="http://www.google.com/finance?q=KFT"KFT/a); and NRG Energy (NYSE:a href="http://www.google.com/finance?q=NRG"NRG/a), a utility./p

Flood of Earnings Begin – Monday/Tuesday Preview

Trader Mark — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 03:45:00 +0000

Long time readers will know our love/hate relationship with earnings season. As information hogs we love more data; but as stock market participants we hate the massive overreactions to companies based on 90 days of business and a penny here or there ...

Aspire Misery Index for the Week Ended February 27, 2009

Small Cap Pulse — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 23:46:00 +0000

Despite all of the ballyhoo in Washington about this administrationrsquo;s commitment to alternative energy, clean technology and energy efficiency, and the clear writing on the wall that hundreds of billions will be invested in the next few years into developing this emerging energy sector, stocks continued to take a beating this week. Here is the performance of our indices: middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Biofuels group ndash; down 21% on the week and 30% year-to-date middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Energy management group ndash; down 8% on the week and 11% year-to-date middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Energy storage group ndash; down 5% on the week and 13% year-to-date middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Geothermal group ndash; down 9% on the week, and 1% year-to-date middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Upstream solar group ndash; down 1% on the week and 20% year-to-date middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Midstream solar group ndash; down 11% on the week and 31% year-to-date middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Downstream solar ndash; down 4% on the week and 8% year-to-date middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Solar equipment group ndash; down 11% on the week and 8% year-to-date middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Wind group - nbsp;down 8% on the week, and 21% year-to-date; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; The DJIA fell 4% on the week, and is down 19% year-to-date; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; The Samp;P 500 fell about 5% on the week, and is down 18% year-to-date; while middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; The Nasdaq fell 5% on the week and is down 12% year-to-date.nbsp;nbsp; One would think that alternative energy and clean tech had the esteem of coal these days. To be sure, the markets continue to discount the groups in the face of tight credit conditions which are stalling residential and commercial projects. It seems the only warm markets in the near term will be driven by utilities and the federal government. In addition, it is going to be tough to get any real traction amidst broader erosion in the macroeconomic environment. Here is a taste of what we mean with this weekrsquo;s Aspire Misery Index: U.S. Foreign Owned Debt -As of the most recent report, and in December, China has increased its holdings of U.S. Treasuries to $696.2 billion, a 2% increase over the prior month, and 45.7% on a year-over-year basis. In December, the total amount of debt being held by foreigners was $3.12 trillion, an increase of 32% year over year. nbsp;Consumer Confidence ndash; The Conference Board reported that its Consumer Confidence Index fell more than 12 points in February to 25. Expectations were for the number to come in at 35.5. Last February the index was at 76.4. The Expectations Index (outlook for next 6 months) fell to 27.5 from 42.5. Markets ndash; The Samp;P 500 Index fell to April 1997 levels on Monday while the DJIA reached October 1997 levels. Profit Warnings ndash; Ceradyne, Henry Schein, Herbalife, Big 5, Eaton, Job Cuts ndash; Western Watts (100 part-time jobs), Micron Tech (up to 2,000 jobs), Spansion (3,000 jobs), PPL Corp. (600 jobs or about 6% of workforce), Nokia (seeking 1,000 voluntary layoffs), nbsp;Dow Corning (800 jobs worldwide), Providence Journal (100 jobs), Hartford Courant (100 jobs), Nortel (3,200 more jobs),nbsp; Stanley Furniture (100 jobs), Maui Land amp; Pineapple (100 positions), Akeena (20 jobs), CNH Global NV (about 140 jobs), NiSource (370 to 380 jobs), Phoenix (about 250 jobs), Jobless Claims ndash; New jobless claims hit a record 667,000 while continuing claims rose to more than 5.1 million. Last year at this time, new jobless claims were about 359,000. State Unemployment ndash; Washingtonrsquo;s unemployment rate hit 7.8% in January, Georgiarsquo;s unemployment rate hit 8.6%,nbsp; Minnesotarsquo;s unemployment rate hit 7.6%, Arizonarsquo;s unemployment rate rose to 7%, Tennesseersquo;s unemployment rate hit 8.6%, Ohiorsquo;s unemployment rate hit 8.8%, Oregonrsquo;s unemployment rate hit 9.9%, Wisconsinrsquo;s unemployment rate hit 7.6%, Mass Layoffs - During the 14 months from December 2007 through January 2009, the total number of mass layoff events (seasonally adjusted) was 25,712, and the number of initial claims (seasonally adjusted) was 2,632,336. (December 2007 was the start of a recession as designated by the National Bureau of Economic Research.) Durable Goods - New orders for manufactured durable goods in January decreased $9.0 billion or 5.2 percent to $163.8 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. This was the sixth consecutive monthly decrease and followed a 4.6 percent December decrease. Excluding transportation, new orders decreased 2.5 percent. Excluding defense, new orders decreased 2.3 percent.Credit Ratings ndash; Moodyrsquo;s cut Marshal amp; Ilsley, Samp;P cut Janus, Fitch cut Host Hotels amp; Resorts, Fitch cut Hertz Corp., Fitch cut Tenneco, Fitch and Moodyrsquo;s cut Limited Brands, Chapter 11 ndash; Philadelphia Newspapers filed, the Journal Register filed, Chapter 7 ndash; Eclipse is moving out of Chapter 11 and into Chapter 7 Closing the Doors ndash; Denverrsquo;s Rocky Mountain News, Financial Bailouts ndash; The Treasury wrote a check for $365.4 million to 23 banks. Healthcarenbsp; Costs ndash; The Department of Health and Human Services said healthcare costs will be more than $8,000 per person this year - while the number of uninsured has risen to about 48 million. Estimates are that health costs will reach $13,100 per person in 2018, account for $1 out of every $5 spent in the economy. Notable Lows ndash; Microsoft hit 10-year low Housing Market ndash; the Samp;P/Case Schiller U.S. National Home Price Index fell by more than 18% duringnbsp; the Q4 on a Y/Y basis. Prices in the Case-Schiller 20-city index fell 27% since they peaked in 2006 and the 10-city index is down 28% over that period. The Federal Housing Finance Agency said home prices have declined 8% in the quarter from the year ago period, the largest decline since 1991. Sales of existing homes fellnbsp; 5.3% to 4.49 million in January, the lowest level since 1997. The median sales price in January fell to $170,300 from $199,800 the prior year. In the midwest, existing home sales fell 16% Y/Y with the median price slipping to $138,100. Homes sales in the northeast fell more than 22% Y/Y with the median price dropping to $228,200. Sales of new one-family houses in January 2009 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 309,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 10.2 percent (plusmn;15.4%)* below the revised December rate of 344,000 and is 48.2 percent (plusmn;6.8%) below the January 2008 estimate of 597,000. The median sales price of new houses sold in January 2009 was $201,100; the average sales price was $234,600. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of January was 342,000. This represents a supply of 13.3 months at the current sales rate. Our Outlook for Alternative and Clean Tech We donrsquo;t expect alternative energy and clean tech to buck the broader market trends too significantly in the near to mid-term. There continues to be too much uncertainty and erosion out there in the global economy. That being said, the fundamental outlook has never nbsp;been better. There has never been the level of local, state, regional, federal and international support behind alternative energy and developing technologies to reduce climate change. It seems uncontroversial to us that there will be hundreds of billions invested in the coming years to developing and rolling out alternative energy projects and platforms on a worldwide basis and in our opinion, we are just at the beginning of a 20 year energy revolution. What is uncanny is that the growth seems to be priced out of the majority of companies trading in this space. We see this as a unique opportunity to begin accumulating some tremendous growth companies, market leaders, at near book, and in some cases below book value. Near term there will continue to be challenges that need to be worked out relating to conditions in the credit markets and getting projects funded. This weekrsquo;s news with Citigroup and the general uncertainty that brought about in the financial markets wasnrsquo;t helpful. In the current environment, it is hard to see how financial institutions will feel compelled, let alone comfortable, with extending credit. That will lead to companies putting expansion and projects on hold, protecting their own cash and credit lines and continued reduction of workforce. In turn, this will continue to drive unemployment higher and, with consumers expected to carry more than 70% of the GDP ndash; which is ridiculous and unsustainable in our opinion ndash; the vicious cycle will likely continue in the near term. The massive stimulus being injected by the Obama administration is supposed to break that cycle. Only time will tell if it will. But again, when we look around at sectors to invest in, there just donrsquo;t seem to us to be any more attractive groups than alternative energy and clean tech ndash; in the long term. nbsp;

Dividend payers of note

Declan Fallon — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 13:36:00 +0000

With (accurate) earnings proving to be a difficult metric to rank stocks I took a look at stocks which paid a dividend yield of at least 5%, had no long term debt but had a market cap over $100m. The list was short, coming in at strong32/strong stocks. Top of the list was Eaton Vance Risk Managed Diversified (strongETJ/strong); it had a quoted yield of 10.2% and has a market cap of $1.2bn. According to the blurb:br /br /blockquoteEaton Vance Risk-Managed Diversified Equity Income Fund (the Fund) is diversified, closed-end management investment company. The Fund's primary investment objective is to provide current income and gains, with a secondary objective of capital appreciation. The Fund invests primarily in a portfolio of common stocks and index put options. Under normal market conditions, the Fund seeks to generate current earnings in part by employing an options strategy of writing put options on individual stocks and index call options with respect to a portion of its common stock portfolio. /blockquotebr /span class="fullpost"Other than the September/October blip the chart isn't one for momentum traders. The former trading range looks to have dropped a notch and if it was to give up $14.82 support it could drift back to $11.35 as part of a low retest.br /br /a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WWGUfU1tOjI/SZ1wSx19BbI/AAAAAAAAAxA/aZYXNMR8520/s1600-h/ETJFeb19.png"img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 191px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WWGUfU1tOjI/SZ1wSx19BbI/AAAAAAAAAxA/aZYXNMR8520/s320/ETJFeb19.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5304519404031903154" //abr /Dominion Resources Black Warrior Trust (strongDOM/strong) is on the low end of the Market Cap range at $154m. It has a reported (but sustainable?) yield of 18%. The last quarterly payment made was in November 2008 at $0.91. br /br /blockquoteDominion Resources Black Warrior Trust is a grantor trust formed to acquire and hold certain overriding royalty interests (the Royalty Interests) burdening proved natural gas properties located in the Pottsville coal formation of the Black Warrior Basin, Tuscaloosa County, Alabama (the Underlying Properties). The only assets of the Trust, other than cash and temporary investments being held for the payment of expenses and liabilities and for distribution to Unitholders, are the Royalty Interests. The Royalty Interests consist of overriding royalty interests burdening the Company’s interest in the Underlying Properties. The Black Warrior Basin covers 6,000 square miles in west central Alabama and contains seven Pennsylvania-age multi-seam coal groups in the Pottsville formation: the Black Creek, Mary Lee, Pratt, Cobb, Gwin, Utley and Brookwood coal groups./blockquotebr /Dominion has done well to recover from the October collapse but now has the challenge of consolidation resistance, plus a more general resistance from what was former support around the $20s in 2008. The big gap from $17 looks ripe for a retest so there may be a little weakness in its immediate future. br /br /a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WWGUfU1tOjI/SZ1zRaOcpZI/AAAAAAAAAxI/a-vz55xrBVo/s1600-h/DOMFeb19.png"img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 178px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WWGUfU1tOjI/SZ1zRaOcpZI/AAAAAAAAAxI/a-vz55xrBVo/s320/DOMFeb19.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5304522679047202194" //abr /Third stock of note (which is not a resource company) is Biovail (strongBVF/strong). It has a reported dividend yield of 12.71% and a market cap of $1.7B. It made a recent quarterly dividend payment of $0.38 in December.br /br /blockquoteBiovail Corporation (Biovail) is a specialty pharmaceutical company that applies advanced drug-delivery technologies to improve the clinical effectiveness of medicines. The Company is engaged in the formulation, clinical testing, registration, manufacture and commercialization of pharmaceutical products. Its main therapeutic areas of focus are central nervous system (CNS) disorders, pain management and cardiovascular disease. The primary markets for its products are the United States and Canada. Biovail has a portfolio of drug-delivery technologies includes controlled release, enhanced absorption, rapid absorption, taste masking, and oral disintegration technologies, among others./blockquotebr /At the start of the year Biovail (strongBVF/strong) enjoyed a huge gap breakout to take it past declining resistance dating back to last March. The stock subsequently based around $11 which was a resistance level from late summer 2008. The next real challenge is resistance at $12.87 but much depends on it holding $10.48, the reaction low of 2009. Given that I have entered a Zignals a href="http://www.zignals.com/main/charts/trystockcharts.aspx?param=Vlc2OTg=?end"YourCall/a for a move to $12.79 with a stop at $10.39. Lets see how it gets on. br / br /a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WWGUfU1tOjI/SZ18bhLWQCI/AAAAAAAAAxQ/Bv9VdIEwCvU/s1600-h/BVFFeb19.png"img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 192px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WWGUfU1tOjI/SZ18bhLWQCI/AAAAAAAAAxQ/Bv9VdIEwCvU/s320/BVFFeb19.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5304532748316590114" //abr /span style="font-size:80%; color:#cccccc;"Dr. Declan Fallon, Senior Market Technician, a href="http://www.zignals.com"Zignals.com/a the free stock alerts, market alerts, and stock charts website /span/span

Aspire Misery Index for the Week Ended January 30, 2009 (updated Friday a.m. Jan. 30)

Small Cap Pulse — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 22:57:00 +0000

Aspire Misery Index for the Week Ended, January 30, 2009 Another week chalked with downbeat earnings performance, profit warnings, and further indications of economic erosion here in the U.S., and abroad is almost behind us, and now we can start focusing on the Super Bowl. Here is a list of bullets to consider when setting expectations for stock, portfolio and indices performance (not 100% comprehensive but a pretty good gauge of this weekrsquo;s lowlights in the U.S. economy): GDP ndash; The U.S. economy contracted by 3.8% in the Q4, the most since 1982. The good news is that economists were expecting the number to come in at 5.4%. For 2008, GDP growth was 1.8%. Consumer Spending ndash; dropped by 3.5% last quarter following a 3.8% in the prior quarter. Durable Goods ndash; durable goods orders fell for the fifth straight month in December by 2.6%. Economists had expected a 2% decline. Orders fell 5.7% for the year, the second biggest decline on record. Retail Industry ndash; The National Retail Federation released a forecast for retailers in 2009 to record a 0.5% drop in revenue. Sales for the first half of 2009 are expected to decline by 2.5%, then a 1.1% decline in Q3 and a 3.6% increase in Q4. Auto Industry ndash; The National Association of Auto Dealers expects sales of at least 12.7 million vehicles in the U.S. this year. Mitsubishi extended the downtime at its Illinois factory for an extra five weeks. A irline Industry ndash; The International Air Transport Association said the industry lost $5 billion in 2008 on lower traffic.nbsp;nbsp; Mobile Phone Industry - Global mobile phone market will shrink 9% in 2009, its first decline since 2001 and with the first half set to be especially grim, Strategy Analytics said. Job Cuts ndash; Caterpillar (20,000 jobs), Sprint Nextel (8,000 jobs), Deere (700 jobs), Home Depot (7,000 jobs), GM (2,000 jobs), Wyeth (8,000 jobs ndash; on consolidation from Pfizer purchase), Brooks Automation (350 jobs, or 20% of workforce), Corning (3,500 jobs), Quiksilver (200 jobs), Weyerhauser (221 jobs), STM Microelectronics (4,500 jobs), IBM (estimated 4,000 jobs), Target (1,000 headquarters jobs),nbsp; Volvo (laying off 650 at Virginia plant), JL French Automotive Castings (300 jobs), Starbucks (7,000 more jobs), Citrix (about 462 jobs), Boeing (10,000 jobs), Jabil Circuit (3,000 jobs), AOL (700 jobs), nbsp;Wet Seal (41 jobs), Readerrsquo;s Digest (about 280 jobs), Revel (lays off 400), Pacific Sunwear (57 jobs), Analogic (140 jobs), Kodak (3,500 to 4,500 jobs), Black amp; Decker (1,200 jobs), Teradyne (14% of workforce), Bon-Ton (1,150 jobs), Cessna (2,000 jobs), AstraZeneca (another 6,000 jobs), New Jersey hospital system (cutting 180 jobs), Caterpillar (added 2,100 more jobs to its already announced 20,000 jobs), Unemployment ndash; The Conference Board said unemployment could rise to 9%. Nevadarsquo;s jobless rate reached 9.1% in December. Unemployment in Kansas rose to 4.9% in December from 4% the year prior. Coloradorsquo;s unemployment rate in December hit 6.1%. South Carolinarsquo;s unemployment rate rose to 9.5%. Indianarsquo;s unemployment rate rose to 8.2% in December. Arkansasrsquo; unemployment rate rose to 6.2% in December. Mainersquo;s unemployment rate rose to 7% in December. Montanarsquo;s unemployment rate rose to 5.4% in December. West Virginiarsquo;s jobless rate is expected to increase to between 8.7% and 9.5% by the last quarter of 2009. The Labor Department reported that weekly jobless claims rose to 588,000 while the continuing claims rose to an all-time high of almost 4.8 million. Nebraska unemployment rose to 4% in December. nbsp; Profit Warnings ndash; Caterpillar, Applied Industrial Tech, Eaton, Max Capital Group, Moog, McGraw Hill, Quanex, Lexmark, Jacobs Engineering, U.S. Steel, AK Steel, Yahoo, Total Systems, Rayonier, ATamp;T, McCormick, Tyco, Norsk Hyrdo, Cirrus Logic, Baker Hughes, Canon, Qualcomm, Textron, Oshkosh, NEC, Honda, Hitachi, Credit Ratings ndash; Fitch lowered Johnson Control ratings, Moodyrsquo;s downgraded Sealy, Samp;P cut Ryder System, Samp;P and Moodyrsquo;s cut Blythrsquo;s ratings, Samp;P cut rates on PPL Corp and PPL Electric, Samp;P cut ratings on SunTrust Banks, Samp;P cuts Hexion, Moodyrsquo;s cuts Intrsquo;l Game Technology, Samp;P cut Golden Nugget, Chapter 11 ndash; Hartmarx (Obamarsquo;s suit maker), Smurfit-Stone, Closing the Doors ndash; Weyerhauser is closing two mills in southwestern Washington, Starbucks is closing 300 stores, Venture Capital ndash; Investments in Q4 fell by 33% Y/Y to $5.4 billion.nbsp; Investment into biotech and medical device companies fell 31% Y/Y to $1.6 billion. Investment into software companies fell by 28% Y/Y to $1 billion. The only sector bucking the trend was alternative energy and clean tech, which raised $908.2 million in the Q4, up 26% over the same period last year. For the full year, VC invested $28.3 billion, down 8% Y/Y. State Budgets ndash; Nevadarsquo;s unemployment rate rose to 9.1% in December; Home Sales ndash; Existing home sales rose 6.5% in December while the median home sales price fell 15.3% Y/Y to $175,400. For 2008, homes sales were down 13% TO 4.9 million homes, the lowest level since 1997. The National Association of Realtors said southern existing home sales fell almost 7% in December on a Y/Y basis, while the median sales price fell 8% to $158,600; existing home sales in the Midwest fell almost 5% in December on a Y/Y basis and the media sale price declined to $140,800. The Commerce Department reported new homes fell 14.7% in December to the slowest pace since 1963. The median price of new homes sold in December was $206,500, a decline of 9.3% Y/Y. Home Prices - Samp;P Case/Shiller index reported that home prices in 20 U.S. cities declined by 18.2% in November on a Y/Y basis. Ken Rose, UC Berkeley Economist projected home prices to slide 6% in 2009. Leading Indicators ndash; The Conference Boardrsquo;s monthly forecast of economic activity increased 0.3% in December. Stock Dividends ndash; the AP reported that dividends are being cut at the fastest pace in at least 50 years. Colleges ndash; universities are cutting budgets, and college endowments are down 3% in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008, and in the first five months of FY2009, endowments are down 23% (source: TIAA-CREF and NACUBO). Tourism ndash; The U.N. World Tourism Organization said global tourism could decline by up to 2% in 2009. Hawaiirsquo;s tourism industry saw a 16.5% decline in December, and 10.8% for the year. pa href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/smallcappulse/feed?a=13Fjnk"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/smallcappulse/feed?i=13Fjnk" border="0"/img/a/p

Aspire Misery Index for the Week Ended January 30, 2009 (updated Tuesday a.m. January 27)

Small Cap Pulse — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 21:24:00 +0000

Aspire Misery Index for the Week Ended, January 30, 2009 We are only one full day into this weekrsquo;s session and already there has been enough downer news to last a quarter. That being said, from the performance of stocks lately, it looks like traders have priced much of the bad news in already: Retail Industry ndash; The National Retail Federation released a forecast for retailers in 2009 to record a 0.5% drop in revenue. Sales for the first half of 2009 are expected to decline by 2.5%, then a 1.1% decline in Q3 and a 3.6% increase in Q4. Auto Industry ndash; The National Association of Auto Dealers expects sales of at least 12.7 million vehicles in the U.S. this year. Mobile Phone Industry - Global mobile phone market will shrink 9% in 2009, its first decline since 2001 and with the first half set to be especially grim, Strategy Analytics said. Job Cuts ndash; Caterpillar (20,000 jobs), Sprint Nextel (8,000 jobs), Deere (700 jobs), Home Depot (7,000 jobs), GM (2,000 jobs), Wyeth (8,000 jobs ndash; on consolidation from Pfizer purchase), Brooks Automation (350 jobs, or 20% of workforce), Corning (3,500 jobs), Quiksilver (200 jobs), Weyerhauser (221 jobs) Unemployment ndash; The Conference Board said unemployment could rise to 9%. Nevadarsquo;s jobless rate reached 9.1% in December. Profit Warnings ndash; Caterpillar, Applied Industrial Tech, Eaton, Max Capital Group, Moog, McGraw Hill, Quanex, Lexmark, Jacobs Engineering, Credit Ratings ndash; Fitch lowered Johnson Control ratings, Moodyrsquo;s downgraded Sealy, Samp;P cut Ryder System, Samp;P and Moodyrsquo;s cut Blythrsquo;s ratings, Chapter 11 ndash; Hartmarx (Obamarsquo;s suit maker), Smurfit-Stone, Closing the Doors ndash; Weyerhauser is closing two mills in southwestern Washington Venture Capital ndash; Investments in Q4 fell by 33% Y/Y to $5.4 billion. nbsp;Investment into biotech and medical device companies fell 31% Y/Y to $1.6 billion. Investment into software companies fell by 28% Y/Y to $1 billion. The only sector bucking the trend was alternative energy and clean tech, which raised $908.2 million in the Q4, up 26% over the same period last year. For the full year, VC invested $28.3 billion, down 8% Y/Y. State Budgets ndash; Nevadarsquo;s unemployment rate rose to 9.1% in December; Home Sales ndash; Existing home sales rose 6.5% in December while the median home sales price fell 15.3% Y/Y to $175,400. For 2008, homes sales were down 13% TO 4.9 million homes, the lowest level since 1997. The National Association of Realtors said southern existing home sales fell almost 7% in December on a Y/Y basis, while the median sales price fell 8% to $158,600; existing home sales in the Midwest fell almost 5% in December on a Y/Y basis and the media sale price declined to $140,800. Home Prices - Samp;P Case/Shiller index reported that home prices in 20 U.S. cities declined by 18.2% in November on a Y/Y basis. Leading Indicators ndash; The Conference Boardrsquo;s monthly forecast of economic activity increased 0.3% in December. Stock Dividends ndash; the AP reported that dividends are being cut at the fastest pace in at least 50 years. Colleges ndash; universities are cutting budgets, and college endowments are down 3% in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008, and in the first five months of FY2009, endowments are down 23% (source: TIAA-CREF and NACUBO). nbsp; pa href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/smallcappulse/feed?a=erNbcI"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/smallcappulse/feed?i=erNbcI" border="0"/img/a/p

Aspire’s Misery Index for the Week Ended January 23, 2009

Small Cap Pulse — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 07:31:00 +0000

Misery Index for the Week Ended January 23, 2009 January 23, 2009 ndash; The DJIA lost 202 points this last week, or 2.4%, as the drip of negative economic data and downbeat corporate earnings reports continued. All things being equal, it could have been worse, as the 8,000 level was breached each trading session of the shortened week. Here is this weekrsquo;s past Misery Index:nbsp;nbsp; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Profit warnings ndash; BASF, ECB, Varian, Estee Lauder, Elizabeth Arden, Belden, AZZ, Inc., TD Ameritrade, Ultralife Batteries, Parker Hannifin, United Rentals, Cash America, Air Products, WSP Holdings, Wonder Auto, Electro, Lockheed Martin, Sony, Northrop Grumman, Molina Healthcare, Schlumberger, nbsp;Genuine Parts, MEMC, Interline Brands.nbsp;nbsp; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Job Cuts ndash; Time Warner (almost 800 jobs), Rio Tinto (1,100 jobs worldwide), Bose (1,000 jobs or 10% of staff),nbsp; Rohm amp; Hahs (900 jobs), Tandy Brands (about 17% of workforce),nbsp; Burberry (more than 500 jobs), BHP Billiton (6,000 jobs), Eaton (5,200 jobs), Alexander and Baldwin (60 jobs), Marylandrsquo;s government budget is calling for 700 layoffs; JELD-WEN (94 jobs), GM (300 jobs at NY engine plant), Intel (6,000 jobs), Huntsman (1,175 jobs), Microsoft (up to 5,000 jobs), CC Media Holdings (1,850 jobs), Arctic Cat (100 jobs, or 7% of work force), Harley (1,100 jobs), Compass Bank (1,200 jobs, or 10% of workforce), Hutchinson Technology (300 jobs), American Greetings (200 jobs), Employerrsquo;s Holdings (154 jobs, or 14% of workforce), Interline Brands (85 jobs), Vermontrsquo;s governor is cutting 600 jobs in staff, Polaris (460 jobs).nbsp;nbsp; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Closing the Doors ndash; JELD-WEN closing central Pa. plant; Huntsman is closing a Grimsby UK plant; Hutchinson Technology is closing its Sioux Falls plant; Griffin Land amp; Nurseries closing a Florida farm.nbsp;nbsp; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; State Jobless Rates ndash; Michiganrsquo;s rate hit to 10.6% in December; New Jerseyrsquo;s jobless rate hit 7.1%, the highest level in 15 years; Washingtonrsquo;s rate hit 7.1% in December, up from 6.4% in November ndash; the largest sequential increase since 1976; West Virginia claims in the first weeks of January are up 36% over the same period last year; Floridarsquo;s unemployment rate climbed to 8.1% in December; California reported an unemployment rate of 9.3%; Mississippirsquo;s unemployment rose to 7.3%, the highest level in 25 years; Connecticutrsquo;s unemployment rate in December hit 7.1%; Ohiorsquo;s unemployment rose to 7.8% in December the highest rate in more than 20 years; North Carolina unemployment rose to 8.7%; Texasrsquo; unemployment rate rose to 6% in December; Alabamarsquo;s unemployment rate rose to 6.7% in December; Rhode Island hit 10%, a 30-year high.nbsp;nbsp; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Weekly jobless claims rose to 589,000. Expectations were 543,000.nbsp;nbsp; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; The national unemployment rate is 7.2%.nbsp;nbsp; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; State Pension Funds ndash; Montanarsquo;s state pension funds fell by $1.7 billion in the past six months.nbsp;nbsp; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Warren Buffet told the press over the weekend that the U.S. is engaged in an ldquo;economic Pearl Harborrdquo;nbsp;nbsp; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; A forecast released this weekend by the U.S. Conference of Mayors said that only five metropolitan areas in the U.S. will escape job losses this year. Unemployment is expected to top 10% in 70 areas.nbsp;nbsp; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Ratings ndash; Moodyrsquo;s lowered Bank of America ratings; Moodyrsquo;s lowered Merrill Lynch ratings; Samp;P affirmed negative outlook on Bank of America; Fitch revised HSBC Holdings outlook to negative; Fitch placed Deutsche Bank on rating watch negative; Samp;P cut ratings on Transatlantic, Moodyrsquo;s cuts United Rentals ratings; Moodyrsquo;s cut State Street ratings; Samp;P cut Overseas Shipholding, Fitch cut KLA Tencor, Moodyrsquo;s cut Johnson Controls, Moodyrsquo;s cut Dillards, Moodyrsquo;s cut NY Times to lsquo;junkrsquo;, Moodyrsquo;s downgraded Rite Aid, Fitch cut FairPoint Communications.nbsp;nbsp; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Labor Market ndash; Hertz Global (more than 4,000 jobs cut); WellPoint (about 1,500 jobs cut).nbsp;nbsp; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Real Estate ndash; Moodyrsquo;s Investors Service said commercial real estate rates declined 3.4% in November compared to October, and 14.3% Y/Y.nbsp;nbsp; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Housing starts fell to 550,000. Expectations were for 625,000.nbsp;nbsp; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Building permits fell to 549,000. Expectations were for 600,000.nbsp;nbsp; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Handset Market ndash; Nokia forecast global handset sales to decline 10% this year over last.nbsp;nbsp; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Auto Industry (global) ndash; Volkswagen is reducing work hours for about 60,000 employees while BMW is reducing hours for about 26,000 employees. Mitsubishi is halting production at its biggest plant in Japan for three weeks in February. Vehicle production in the declined by 48% in December on a Y/Y basis.nbsp;nbsp; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Auto Industry (domestic) ndash; GM said cash may run out by March 31.nbsp; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Wall Street - Louis Yamada of LY Advisors said the DJIA could be headed to 6,000 this year. While Mort Zuckerman of Boston Properties said the financial system still faces close to a trillion in losses. He said stock investors should brace for the worst in 2009, with multiple compression. He thinks the downside risk at current levels outweighs the upside opportunity.nbsp;nbsp; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Oil amp; Exploration ndash; the number of active rigs dropped by 53 this week to 1,515. pa href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/smallcappulse/feed?a=vbJw3P"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/smallcappulse/feed?i=vbJw3P" border="0"/img/a/p

How to Profit from Oil’s Contango

Contrarian Profits — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 20:25:20 +0000

tr HIDDEN VALUE /tr tr pIf Crude oil Breaks Through $53, It’s a Screaming Buy/p pDear Value Seeker,/p pAmerica’s job losses have come into sharp focus again today./p pemThe New York Times/em calls it a “rising tide.” It’s more like a tsunami#8230;/p pInitial jobless claims for the week ended January 17 shot up by 62,000 to 589,000. This is the highest weekly rise in unemployment since November 1982./p pMeanwhile, Microsoft ensured an abrupt reversal of yesterday’s stock market rally by warning that it was “not immune” to the recession./p pThe tech giant also announced it would give 5,000 workers their marching orders, including 1,400 today./p pMicrosoft joins a long and growing list of blue chips that have announced job cuts in 2009./p pIt’s a list emThe Wall Street Journal/em’s Real Time Economics#8230;/p/tr

Panic Selling a Good Time to Buy

Michael E. Brisky — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 21:23:00 +0000

Historically, these periods of panic selling have proven to be excellent times to buy stocks. Right now we are not only seeing panic selling, which actually took place mostly last month, but forced selling. I think its more forced selling right now. Hedge funds and mutual funds are seeing massive redemptions, and many margin calls for individuals. During these periods the fundamentals get largely ignored. I heard Jim Rogers talking about this being a big factor in the commodities sell-off, and why this is a nice time to buy. He said commodities typically bottom first, and do well during periods of economic weakness as there is low supply. I can agree with that.

I'm still not touching bank stocks. Like I've said before, these companies have eroded any competitive advantages they may have had, and this will impact their earnings for many years.

I'm looking at a few stocks here. Eaton (ETN) is an industrial electrical company trading at 5x earnings and less than 1x book value. They have improved their business and balance sheet to preform well not on a cyclical basis but secular. They're working hard on energy efficiency, and I see a lot of money being spent under the new administration updating our power grid and increasing efficiency. If you need any further convincing, Warren Buffett has been buying this stock.

Same holds true for Swiss giant ABB (ABB). I've held this stock awhile, and under $10, where it closed today, its a steal.

I'd also dabble in some companies with no debt. Although they aren't immune from weakness in the economy, they don't have to worry about funding their operations by borrowing money, which is tough to come by right now. I picked up some Google (GOOG) today (they're sitting on $14bil in cash and no debt). I'm also looking to buy a little bit of T Rowe Price Stock (TROW). Again, earnings will be difficult here as money is being pulled from their funds, but they have a great company, no debt, and the market always gives this stock a premium, which should help it to recover quicker than many other stocks. Plus, a 3% dividend.

Its not a great economy, but if you're willing to holding through some ups and downs, its a pretty good time to buy stocks. But avoid the urge to buy banks or other trouble companies.

Keepin Up with the Joneses

Trader Mark — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 08:00:00 +0000

It has been an exasperating past few months to say the least. Looking at the fund performance I wanted to take some time and see how I've been doing versus what I consider the "best of the best". While we did finish as of Jul 31st as the #1 fund in mid [...]

Earnings Preview for Aug 18 – 22

Charles Rotblut — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Dow components Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and Home Depot (HD) headline the last official week of second-quarter earnings season. Joining them will be S&P 500 members Gap (GPS), Lowe's (LOW), Limited (LTD) and Target (TGT).

Overall, we have confirmed reports from 106 companies, 13 of which are in the S&P 500. Retailers will again be prominent, with 40 listed to release results.

There is not much on the economic calendar, though we will get inflation numbers on Tuesday. Key data will include:

Tuesday: July producer prices (PPI), July housing starts, July building permits
Wednesday: Weekly crude inventories
Thursday: July Leading Indicators, August Phili Fed survey, weekly initial jobless claims

The Kansas City Fed will hold its economic symposium at Jackson Hole, WY. Fed Chairman Fed Ben Bernanke will speak about financial stability on Friday.

Volume could be modest through Labor Day as traders try to get in late summer vacations. Late August can be tricky for the markets, so be prudent. Oil remains a wildcard and it is hurricane season.

Companies That Could Issue Positive Earnings Surprises during the Week of Aug 18 - 22

Aeropostale (ARO) enjoyed a 13% increase in August same-stores sales, at a time when many other retailers were struggling. The strong performance led the teen apparel chain to raise its second-quarter EPS guidance by 5 cents to between 30 and 31 cents per share. Brokerage analysts believe the company will report 31 cents per share. ARO has surprised to the upside for 3 consecutive quarters, so current projections may prove to be conservative. Aeropostale is scheduled to report on Thursday, Aug 21, after the close of trading.

Discount retailer Ross Stores (ROST) credited bargain-hunting consumers, the stimulus checks and favorable weather for driving July same-store sales 4% higher. Given last month's good performance, the company believes quarterly profits will total between 53 and 54 cents per share, a slight increase over previous guidance. Revisions by 5 brokerage analysts pushed the consensus earnings estimate 2 cents higher to 54 cents per share. ROST has topped expectations for 3 consecutive quarters. Ross Stores is scheduled to report on Wednesday, Aug 20, before the start of trading.

Companies That Could Issue Negative Earnings Surprises during the Week of Aug 18 - 22

Trends were not favorable for Saks (SKS), which experienced a 5.3% drop in August same-store sales. The company observed that business trends worsened as the second quarter progressed and, as a result, brokerage analysts have been steadily lowering their projections. The second-quarter consensus estimate calls for a loss of 18 cents per share, reflecting cuts from a majority of the 7 covering analysts. SKS missed expectations last quarter by a margin of 4 cents per share. Saks is scheduled to report on Tuesday, Aug 19, before the start of trading.

Charles Rotblut, CFA is the senior market analyst for Zacks.com. He can be reached at crotblut@zacks.com.

Surprise Trader can help you turn earnings surprises into quick profits. Learn how.

Earnings Calendar

Here is a list of companies that we have confirmed will report during the week of Aug 18 - 22¹.

Company	Ticker	Zacks Consensus Estimate	Year Ago Actual	Last Qtr Surprise	Report Date	Report Time
Analog Devices	ADI	$0.45	$0.38	7.3%	8/19/2008	AMC
Amer Woodmark	AMWD	$0.11	$0.34	(100.0%)	8/20/2008	BTO
Anntaylor Stres	ANN	$0.47	$0.50	4.4%	8/22/2008	BTO
Accuray Inc	ARAY	$0.03	$0.01	(80.0%)	8/19/2008	AMC
Aeropostale Inc	ARO	$0.31	$0.19	4.0%	8/21/2008	AMC
Acorn Intl-Adr	ATV	$0.08	$0.09	(55.6%)	8/20/2008	N/A
Avanex Corp	AVNXD	$0.06	$0.00	100.0%	8/21/2008	AMC
Blue Coat Sys	BCSI	$0.11	$0.22	(33.3%)	8/21/2008	AMC
Bebe Stores Inc	BEBE	$0.17	$0.21	0.0%	8/21/2008	AMC
Bj'S Wholesale	BJ	$0.57	$0.46	7.4%	8/20/2008	BTO
Burger King Hld	BKC	$0.34	$0.29	11.1%	8/21/2008	BTO
Buckle Inc	BKE	$0.60	$0.38	7.0%	8/21/2008	BTO
Barnes & Noble	BKS	$0.09	$0.12	0.0%	8/21/2008	BTO
Bon-Ton Stores	BONT	($1.43)	($0.91)	14.0%	8/21/2008	BTO
Bally Tech Inc	BYI	$0.54	$0.33	10.6%	8/20/2008	AMC
Concurrent New	CCUR	$0.09	($0.10)	0.0%	8/19/2008	BTO
Charming Shoppe	CHRS	$0.00	$0.14	183.3%	8/20/2008	N/A
Candela Corp	CLZR	($0.09)	($0.03)	(28.6%)	8/20/2008	AMC
Casual Male Ret	CMRG	$0.05	$0.07	(100.0%)	8/21/2008	BTO
China Techfaith	CNTF	$0.08	($0.09)	(12.5%)	8/18/2008	AMC
Cost Plus Inc	CPWM	($0.92)	($0.64)	(3.1%)	8/21/2008	AMC
Salesforce.Com	CRM	$0.08	$0.04	50.0%	8/20/2008	AMC
China Sunergy	CSUN	$0.03	($0.14)	125.0%	8/22/2008	BTO
Cato Corp A	CTR	$0.42	$0.39	5.4%	8/21/2008	BTO
Citi Trends Inc	CTRN	$0.17	$0.07	5.9%	8/20/2008	AMC
Cyberonics Inc	CYBX	$0.03	($0.31)	300.0%	8/21/2008	BTO
Ditech Networks	DITC	($0.24)	($0.02)	(182.4%)	8/21/2008	AMC
Dicks Sprtg Gds	DKS	$0.36	$0.41	(5.6%)	8/21/2008	N/A
Edap Tms Sa-Adr	EDAP	($0.21)	($0.11)	(75.0%)	8/21/2008	BTO
E-House China	EJ	$0.13	$0.09	10.0%	8/20/2008	BTO
Eaton Vance	EV	$0.47	$0.48	0.0%	8/20/2008	BTO
Foot Locker Inc	FL	$0.01	($0.12)	(6.7%)	8/21/2008	AMC
Focus Media Hld	FMCN	$0.35	$0.32	7.1%	8/17/2008	AMC
Frontline Ltd	FRO	$2.38	$1.65	(2.4%)	8/21/2008	N/A
Stealthgas Inc	GASS	$0.34	$0.37	6.3%	8/19/2008	BTO
Gamestop Corp	GME	$0.28	$0.14	11.8%	8/21/2008	BTO
Gap Inc	GPS	$0.31	$0.21	9.7%	8/21/2008	AMC
Gymboree Corp	GYMB	$0.23	$0.19	1.2%	8/20/2008	AMC
Hasting Entmt	HAST	$0.13	$0.09	21.7%	8/18/2008	BTO
Home Depot	HD	$0.60	$0.77	10.8%	8/19/2008	BTO
Hibbet Sports	HIBB	$0.15	$0.15	14.3%	8/21/2008	AMC
Heinz (Hj) Co	HNZ	$0.66	$0.63	0.0%	8/21/2008	BTO
Hot Topic Inc	HOTT	($0.01)	($0.04)	0.0%	8/20/2008	AMC
Harris Interact	HPOL	($0.01)	$0.06	(500.0%)	8/22/2008	BTO
Hewlett Packard	HPQ	$0.83	$0.71	2.3%	8/19/2008	AMC
Hurray Hldg-Adr	HRAY	$0.00	$0.01	333.3%	8/21/2008	AMC
Hormel Foods Cp	HRL	$0.38	$0.41	1.8%	8/21/2008	BTO
Chipmos Tec Ltd	IMOS	$0.01	$0.13	(300.0%)	8/20/2008	AMC
Intuit Inc	INTU	($0.12)	($0.06)	3.1%	8/21/2008	AMC
Isoray Inc	ISR	($0.07)	N/A	(33.3%)	8/20/2008	BTO
Jds Uniphase Cp	JDSU	$0.04	$0.06	11.1%	8/20/2008	AMC
Jack Henry Assc	JKHY	$0.32	$0.32	(11.8%)	8/19/2008	AMC
Jamba Inc	JMBA	$0.02	$0.04	(55.6%)	8/21/2008	AMC
Kensey Nash Cp	KNSY	$0.32	$0.11	12.0%	8/21/2008	BTO
Key Tronic	KTCC	$0.13	$0.17	57.1%	8/19/2008	AMC
Lancaster Colon	LANC	$0.32	$0.54	(31.8%)	8/21/2008	BTO
Lowes Cos	LOW	$0.56	$0.67	2.5%	8/18/2008	BTO
Limited Inc	LTD	$0.20	$0.20	42.9%	8/20/2008	AMC
Lsi Industries	LYTS	$0.07	$0.32	(44.4%)	8/21/2008	BTO
La-Z-Boy Inc	LZB	($0.06)	($0.13)	0.0%	8/19/2008	AMC
Medtronic	MDT	$0.69	$0.62	6.8%	8/19/2008	BTO
Mentor Graphics	MENT	($0.17)	$0.09	(40.0%)	8/20/2008	BTO
Met-Pro Corp	MPR	$0.18	$0.17	0.0%	8/21/2008	BTO
Myriad Genetics	MYGN	($0.23)	($0.18)	0.0%	8/19/2008	BTO
Noah Education	NED	$0.05	N/A	53.8%	8/21/2008	AMC
Novatel Wireles	NVTL	$0.12	$0.25	7.7%	8/19/2008	AMC
Open Text Corp	OTEX	$0.53	$0.52	6.8%	8/19/2008	AMC
Patterson Cos	PDCO	$0.39	$0.35	0.0%	8/21/2008	BTO
Peoples Educatn	PEDH	$0.06	$0.01	5.0%	8/21/2008	AMC
Childrens Place	PLCE	($0.45)	($0.97)	37.5%	8/21/2008	BTO
Perrigo Company	PRGO	$0.40	$0.24	4.8%	8/18/2008	BTO
Pac Sunwear Cal	PSUN	$0.06	$0.07	(88.9%)	8/21/2008	AMC
Phillips Van He	PVH	$0.65	$0.68	3.5%	8/20/2008	AMC
Perfect World	PWRD	$0.38	N/A	22.6%	8/18/2008	BTO
Qad Inc	QADI	$0.00	$0.02	(100.0%)	8/21/2008	AMC
Raven Inds Inc	RAVN	$0.31	$0.32	20.0%	8/19/2008	BTO
Regis Corp/Mn	RGS	$0.58	$0.53	0.0%	8/20/2008	BTO
Rosetta Genomic	ROSG	($0.34)	($0.19)	(3.1%)	8/19/2008	BTO
Ross Stores	ROST	$0.54	$0.37	3.5%	8/20/2008	BTO
Intl Royalty Cp	ROY	$0.04	$0.03	(66.7%)	8/18/2008	N/A
School Specialt	SCHS	$1.97	$1.87	(1.5%)	8/21/2008	BTO
Scansource Inc	SCSC	$0.47	$0.48	(12.5%)	8/21/2008	AMC
Shoe Carnival	SCVL	$0.00	$0.01	(2.6%)	8/21/2008	BTO
Schawk Inc-Cl A	SGK	$0.20	$0.36	0.0%	8/18/2008	AMC
Shamir Optical	SHMR	$0.11	$0.12	30.8%	8/21/2008	BTO
Shoretel Inc	SHOR	($0.07)	$0.05	0.0%	8/21/2008	AMC
Saks Inc	SKS	($0.18)	($0.14)	(23.5%)	8/19/2008	BTO
Stein Mart Inc	SMRT	($0.13)	$0.05	383.3%	8/21/2008	BTO
Semtech Corp	SMTC	$0.17	$0.14	21.4%	8/20/2008	AMC
Synopsys Inc	SNPS	$0.31	$0.23	6.9%	8/20/2008	AMC
Renesola Lt-Adr	SOL	$0.31	N/A	16.7%	8/19/2008	BTO
Stage Stores	SSI	$0.23	$0.23	(14.3%)	8/21/2008	N/A
Suntech Pwr Hld	STP	$0.33	$0.25	25.0%	8/20/2008	BTO
Symmetricom Inc	SYMM	$0.05	$0.04	(133.3%)	8/20/2008	AMC
Tech Data Corp	TECD	$0.46	$0.50	0.0%	8/21/2008	BTO
Target Corp	TGT	$0.77	$0.80	2.8%	8/19/2008	BTO
Aktieselskabet	TRMD	$1.29	$1.00	(28.6%)	8/20/2008	N/A
Tower Semicond	TSEM	($0.22)	($0.28)	(20.0%)	8/20/2008	BTO
Trina Solar Ltd	TSL	$0.78	$0.32	6.3%	8/18/2008	BTO
Toro Co	TTC	$0.97	$1.02	0.0%	8/21/2008	BTO
Verigy Ltd	VRGY	$0.28	$0.50	27.8%	8/21/2008	AMC
Valuevision Cla	VVTV	($0.21)	($0.11)	(28.1%)	8/20/2008	N/A
Wet Seal Inc -A	WTSLA	$0.10	$0.07	12.5%	8/21/2008	AMC
Xinhua Finance	XFML	$0.05	N/A	0.0%	8/18/2008	AMC
Yucheng Technol	YTEC	$0.10	$0.17	(16.7%)	8/18/2008	BTO
Zumiez Inc	ZUMZ	$0.07	$0.11	66.67%	8/21/2008	AMC

BMO = Before The Market Open, AMC = After Market Close

¹Some of the companies listed in the earnings calendar may not be in the Zacks Rank universe.

"ROST" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
"PRFT" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
"LINT" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
"HOMD" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
"ARO2" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
"DNC" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
"GAPS" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
"HWP" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
Zacks Investment Research

AmeriChip International, Inc. (ACII.OB) Working with Eaton Corporation

QualityStocks — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 12:12:25 +0000

AmeriChip International, Inc. (OTCBB: ACII) announced that they have received their first Laser Assisted Chip Control production order from Eaton Corporation. Eaton is a diversified manufacturing company that conducts operations worldwide and has produced over $13 billion in annual revenue. “Kenneth W. Mann, CEO of AmeriChip, said, “AmeriChip secured the Eaton order because we are [...]

Reflection: Wins and Losses

Asif Suria — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 15:37:28 +0000

Back in the summer of 2005, I was really excited about the potential of a new wireless technology called WiMax and the prospects of graphics card maker ATI Technologies, which was about to launch its next generation of products to compete against rival Nvidia (NVDA). While sharing my thoughts about both these opportunities with my [...]