Stock Market News & Stocks to Watch from StraightStocks » energy

CX Completes EURUS Construction – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:28:38 +0000

CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. (CX) announced the installation of the 167 wind turbines in the EURUS wind farm, which was completed on Nov 15, 2009 in Juchitan, Oaxaca, Mexico. EURUS has a capacity of 1.5 megawatts (MW) each built with ACCIONA Windpower technology. The wind farm represents an investment of US$550 million (approximately €367 million Euros). EURUS has 250 MW of power production capacity.

Cemex has been the promoter of this project developed by the joint venture between Cemex and ACCIONA. Part of the energy generated by EURUS will supply approximately 25% of Cemex's energy needs in its Mexican cement plants. ACCIONA financed, constructed and manages the wind farm.

The installation of wind turbines in the park was initiated in July 2008 and the wind turbines were connected to the electrical grid in February 2009. After the conclusion of the assembly of the wind turbines, the wind farm will be operative.

EURUS is located in Juchitan, in the Southern Mexican State of Oaxaca in a 2,500 hectare area in the Tehuantepec Isthmus, an area well-known for its wind resources.

The energy that will be produced by EURUS is estimated to be sufficient to power a Mexican city of half a million inhabitants, reducing CO2 emissions by approximately 600 thousand metric tons each year, which is approximately 25% of the total emissions generated by such a community.

EURUS will be one of the largest wind farms in the world and the second largest in terms of emissions reduction registered under the Clean Development Mechanism of the United Nations (Kyoto Protocol). It will also have one of the largest emission reduction indexes per installed capacity in the world.

The wind farm represents a major contribution towards the global effort that Cemex is making to reduce its emissions footprint and to become more sustainable.

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

FirstEnergy to Develop Norton – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:40:27 +0000

FirstEnergy Generation Corp., a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corporation (FE), has acquired the rights to develop the Norton Energy Storage Project - compressed air energy storage (CAES) facility in Norton, Ohio - from CAES Development Company, LLC. The transaction includes rights to a 600-acre underground cavern, formerly operated as a limestone mine, which is ideal for energy storage technology.

FirstEnergy believes that the compressed-air technology at this site will enable the company to store energy at night, when electricity demand is less, and use it during the day when demand escalates. It is normally observed that many renewable energy sources, like wind, are irregular and do not produce power when there is a high demand. Given the energy storage aspects of this project, the company sees Norton Storage as a key component to its overall renewable energy strategy.

FirstEnergy expects the project to create hundreds of construction jobs and additional green energy jobs. FirstEnergy is evaluating its options related to the project. The initial phase would involve installing two to four units capable of generating a minimum of 268 megawatts (MW) of electricity. With 9.6 million cubic meters of storage, the Norton Energy Storage Project has the potential of expanding to 2,700 MW of capacity.

Currently, there are two commercial-scale compressed air electric generating facilities: a 110 MW plant in McIntosh, Alabama; and a 290 MW facility in Bremen, Germany. While there are other compressed-air projects under development, none is expected to be comparable in size and scope to the Norton facility.

The Norton Energy Storage Project is part of FirstEnergy's overall environmental strategy, which includes continued investment in renewable and low-emitting energy resources. Compressed-air storage, when combined with renewable energy resources, provides for low-emitting power generation which is dispatched when customers need it. FirstEnergy currently has more than 800 MW of renewable capacity, including pumped-storage hydro and wind power. By the end of 2012, once the biomass project at the Burger Plant is complete, the company's renewable capacity is expected to be more than 1,000 MW.
Read the full analyst report on "FE"
Zacks Investment Research

AlumniFuel Power Corp. (AFPW.OB) Subsidiary Turns Heads with Technology at Naval Energy Forum

QualityStocks — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:02:46 +0000

One company that has been turning the heads of investors of late is AlumniFuel Power Incorporated. A Philadelphia based company, AlumniFuel Power (API) is the wholly owned operating subsidiary of American Power Corporation and is an early-stage alternative energy company that utilizes state-of-the-art technology to generate hydrogen gas and steam for multiple niche applications [...]

GWS Technologies to Distribute the Solaranda(TM) Solar Shade Structure

Stuart T. Smith — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:48:54 +0000

Nov. 24, 2009 (Business Wire) — GWS Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB: GWSC) an alternative energy company developing and marketing solar and wind-powered renewable energy products and solutions, announced today that it would begin distribution of the Solaranda(TM) Solar Shade Structure. “The Solaranda is innovative, creative, and just the solution to give the solar industry a boost,” said [...]

Williams Completes 2nd Phase – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:40:00 +0000

The Williams Companies (WMB) announced that it has placed the second phase of the Sentinel expansion project on its interstate Transco natural gas pipeline system into service, as a result increasing firm transportation capacity into the northeastern U.S. by 102 thousand dekatherms per day (Mdt/d).

The first portion of the project (Phase I), which provided an additional 40 Mdt/d, was placed into service in December 2008. Phase II construction included the addition/replacement of approximately 14 miles of 42-inch pipe, along with 8 compressor station upgrades at various locations in Pennsylvania and New Jersey .

The Transco natural gas pipeline is a 10,500-mile pipeline system that carries natural gas to markets all over the northeastern and southeastern U.S. The current expansion is expected to boost the total system capacity to approximately 8.6 billion cubic feet per day and will allow Williams to continue meeting the region's growing energy needs by providing clean-burning natural gas in time for the winter heating season.

The Williams Companies, Inc. is an energy firm that primarily finds, produces, gathers, processes, and transports natural gas. The company divides its business into four segments: Exploration & Production (E&P), Midstream Gas & Liquids, Gas Pipeline, and Gas Marketing Services.
Read the full analyst report on "WMB"
Zacks Investment Research

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

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

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

Solar Energy Initiatives, Inc. (SNRY.OB): Grass Roots Solar

QualityStocks — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:13:27 +0000

These days, solar is one of the most popular words in the green lexicon. You hear it everywhere, with most of the talk focusing on the increasingly large solar power plants that are now being built. New designs have dropped the price of large scale solar electricity generation by over 80% in the last 25 [...]

The Best Energy Investments in the World

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

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

Big Things: Website Redesign, Trader Talk Live, and Live Portfolio.

Steve Warshaw — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:50:53 +0000

Good Morning! If you haven't been to the Record Price Breakout.com blog since Friday, then you probably haven't noticed the dust. I've been busily working on a major redesign, making Record Price Breakout.com a fully functional website, in addition to the blog. I'd love to get your feedback on the new design, as well as a [...]

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

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

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

Exponential Growth, Finite World – Analyst Blog

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This Small Oil Producer is Ripe for a Takeover… Here’s How to Profit

Investment U — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:18:58 +0000

This Small Oil Producer is Ripe for a Takeover… Here’s How to Profit by Sheena Martin, Contributing Editor Friday, November 20, 2009 Takeovers are big news in the market at the moment. In fact, did you know that takeovers have the biggest one-day gain in stocks for any asset? As my colleague – and takeover expert [...]

Small Cap Voice Featured Company: Rival Technologies Inc. (RVTI.OB)

QualityStocks — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:00:36 +0000

Rival Technologies Inc. is an innovative energy related technology company focused on investing in emerging technologies that display extraordinary market potential. The company has filed several provisional patents and patent applications and is focused on licensing its technology for industry use. Rival Technologies. Inc. is the parent company of TRU Oiltech Inc. which researches alternative [...]

11-20-09 Daily Small Cap Market News and Stock Highlights from SmallCapVoice.com

Stuart T. Smith — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:28:50 +0000

Stocks are lower as the dollar rises and Wall Street digests a week of mixed economic reports Overseas markets declined. European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said the ECB plans to start pulling back some of its stimulus programs as the economy begins to recover. With little U.S. economic news to help sway the market Friday, the [...]

The Iron (Pipeline) Curtain

Robert Amsterdam — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:32:01 +0000

Stephen Fidler at the Wall Street Journal has an interesting piece running today about the annual winter pipeline politics (though the sensible agreement yesterday in Yalta may diminish a lot of fears). There are some interesting facts and numbers in...

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

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

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

Etrion Corp. (TSX: ETX) and SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ:SPWRA) Team Up to Deliver Four Italy-based Solar Plants

QualityStocks — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:47:51 +0000

Canadian energy company Etrion Corporation (TSX: ETX) and U.S.-based solar manufacturer SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ:SPWRA) (NASDAQ:SPWRB) today announced an agreement to build four solar power plants in the Puglia region of southern Italy. SunPower has more than 500 megawatts of solar power plants installed or under contract around the world, including Italian power plants in Milan [...]

Beacon Power Corp. (BCON) Breaks Ground on 20-Megawatt Flywheel Energy Storage Plant

QualityStocks — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:48:56 +0000

Beacon Power Corp. was joined today by state and local officials at a formal groundbreaking event in Stephentown, New York, signaling the start of construction for the nation’s first full-scale 20-megawatt flywheel frequency regulation plant. Initial construction on the plant will start this month, with full construction expected to begin in late first quarter of [...]

Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: PG&E Corporation, Edison International, Autodesk Inc., Adobe Systems Inc. and Apple Inc. – Press Releases

Zacks Market Commentaries — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:28:45 +0000

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 19, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: PG&E Corporation (PCG), Edison International (EIX), Autodesk Inc. (ADSK), Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) and Apple Inc. (AAPL).

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

Here are highlights from Wednesday’s Analyst Blog:

California May Ban High-Watt TVs

In California, an average residential customer’s 10% electrical consumption goes to television sets. However the regulatory apprehension is that with upgrade to larger television sets the consumption pattern for television sets will spike by as much as 8% annually. This is a worrisome trend for the power hungry state which has to import around 15% of its requirements from outside the state to meet its huge requirement.

The regulators are dreading a return to the gory days of the California electricity crisis at the beginning of the century. The crisis was aggravated as the then government kept the price of electricity artificially low, encouraging wastage.

An energy-efficient TV would save a household roughly $30 a year per set in lowered electricity costs. If all 35 million television sets in the state were replaced with more efficient sets, Californians would save $8.1 billion over 10 years, according to the Energy Commission report. The standard also could help California meet the goals of its 2006 global warming law, which calls for the state to cut greenhouse gases 25% by 2020.

To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, utilities operating in California are spending big money. California’s renewable portfolio standard requires utilities to generate 33% of power from renewable sources by fiscal 2020. PG&E Corporation (PCG) plans to invest around $13 billion in the period 2009 - 2011. Another utility, Edison International’s (EIX) subsidiary Southern California Edison, is projecting capital expenditures for the period 2009 - 2013 in the range of $16.8 billion - $19.8 billion.

Autodesk Beats, Guidance Mixed

Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) revenues of $416.9 million were down 31.3% year over year, mainly due to a decrease of 43.9% year over year in Licenses revenues and partially due to a 2.8% decrease in Maintenance revenues. However, revenues were flat sequentially.

By geography, revenue from the Americas increased 2% sequentially but decreased 25% from the year-ago period. EMEA revenues declined 3% sequentially and 35% year over year on a constant currency basis. Revenue from the Asia Pacific decreased 7% sequentially and 33% year over year on a constant currency basis. Revenues from emerging economies represented 15% of total revenue and decreased 3% sequentially and 45% year over year on a constant currency basis.

Moreover, revenues from 3D design solutions were down 25% from the year-ago period but were flat sequentially. Revenues from 2D horizontal and vertical products declined 37% year over year and decreased marginally from the last quarter. We are positive on Autodesk’s migration from 2D products to 3D products, which have a higher margin.

Combined revenue from AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT declined 39% year over year. Although the company has a strong market position in the "mainstream" CAD market, it faces competition from Dassault Systemes. Moreover, the company competes against Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) and Apple Inc. (AAPL), among others.

Autodesk has a strong balance sheet with cash, investments and securities totaling $1.05 billion at the end of quarter and no long-term debt.

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Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978 by Leonard Zacks. As a PhD in mathematics Len knew he could find patterns in stock market data that would lead to superior investment results. Amongst his many accomplishments was the formation of his proprietary stock picking system; the Zacks Rank, which continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros at http://at.zacks.com/?id=5518.

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Zacks Investment Research

Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Ford, CarMax, AutoNation, Apartment Investors and Equity Residential – Press Releases

Zacks Market Commentaries — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:20:18 +0000

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 19, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Ford (F), CarMax (KMX), AutoNation (AN), Apartment Investors (AIV) and Equity Residential (EQR).

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

Here are highlights from Wednesday’s Analyst Blog:

CPI Up on Cars, Energy

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for October rose by 0.3%, a little bit hotter than the 0.2% that was expected. If one strips out volatile food and energy prices to get the core consumer price index, prices were up 0.2%, also one tick higher than the 0.1% expected.

A rise in energy prices was not unexpected. Heck, one only has to see what the price of crude oil and natural gas have done over the last month or so. For the month, the price of energy rose 1.5% overall. The rise was sharpest among energy commodities, like gasoline and heating oil, which rose by 1.9%. Energy services, like electricity rose a more moderate -- but still steep -- 0.9%.

The rise in core consumer prices was a bit more of a surprise. However, the rising prices were very narrow, with almost all of the increases due to higher prices for cars and trucks, both new and used. For the month, the prices of new cars were up 1.6% while the prices for used cars jumped by 3.4%. That is very good news for Ford (F) as well as indirectly for the U.S. taxpayer, since we are now major stockholders at both General Motors and Chrysler.

The increase for used cars is also beneficial for the car dealers like CarMax (KMX) and AutoNation (AN). The Cash for Clunkers program continues to reverberate through the economy, even though it ended over two months ago. Every car that was turned in under the program was destroyed (at least the engine was, other parts could be stripped and reused). This reduction in supply helped support prices of the remaining used cars. This is the third month in a row of sharply higher prices for used cars, coming on top of a 1.6% increase in September and a 1.9% increase in August. I suspect that this effect is likely to wear off in the near future.

On a year-over-year basis, the overall consumer price index is down 0.2%, while the core consumer price index is up 1.7%, both of which are historically very low. The huge decline in energy prices happened a year ago and is in the process of rolling off. Thus look for the headline consumer price index to start to outpace the core consumer price index in the months to come on a year-over-year basis.

The divergence could become very large. The reason is that a very large part of the index is for Shelter, and the biggest part of that is rent -- both the normal rent that is paid by people who do not own their own houses, and "owners equivalent rent" (OER) or what it would cost you to rent an identical house next door to where you are living now. OER is how the government measures housing prices for inflation; what happens to the actual price of houses is totally irrelevant when it comes to measuring inflation. Thus, measured inflation was very much under control, even as the price of houses were soaring during the housing bubble, and the CPI did not decline as the bubble was bursting.

Together, regular rent paid to landlords and OER make up over 30% of the total consumer price index, and almost 40% of the core consumer price index. The overall price of shelter was unchanged in October, the second month in a row it was unchanged. Regular rent fell by 0.1%, over the last three months it is down at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 0.7%, and it is unchanged over the last six months.

Since most people own rather than rent where they live, OER has a much higher weight in the index (24.4% of the total index vs. 6.0%). It was unchanged on the month, is off by 0.3% over the last three months and up by just 0.2% over the last six months. However, if the reports from the big housing-oriented REIT’s like Apartment Investors (AIV) and Equity Residential (EQR) are to be believed, then the decline in regular rents is significantly understated.

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

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

About Zacks

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

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Contact:
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Visit: www.zacks.com

Zacks Investment Research

JLL is P&G’s Supplier of the Year – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:43:26 +0000

Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (JLL), a leading full-service real estate firm that provides corporate, financial and investment management services, has been recently selected as the "Supplier of the Year" by Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) for the second consecutive year. The award is recognition of Procter & Gamble’s suppliers and external business partners and is based on broad-based quantitative and qualitative evaluations of its employees.

Jones Lang was selected as the facility manager of Procter & Gamble in 2003. The mutually beneficial relationship has expanded over time, and Jones Lang currently provides integrated facility management, project management, transaction management and energy and sustainable services to Procter & Gamble.

Jones Lang has a broad range of real estate product and services, and an extensive knowledge of domestic and international real estate markets enabling it to operate as a single-source provider of real estate solutions. With a worldwide portfolio of approximately 1.4 billion square feet, Jones Lang is an industry leader in property and corporate facility management services, while its investment management business is one of the largest and most diverse in the real estate sector with over $37 billion of assets under management.
Read the full analyst report on "JLL"
Read the full analyst report on "PG"
Zacks Investment Research

California May Ban High-Watt TVs – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:25:05 +0000

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is evaluating a proposal to ban energy-inefficient television sets in the state. The proposal intends to lower electricity demand, and if implemented would be a first in the country. This would stipulate televisions sold in California to be more energy efficient from the inception of fiscal 2011.

The standards would apply to all television sets up to 58 inches. For example, all new 42-inch television sets have to use less than 183 watts by fiscal 2011 and less than 116 watts by fiscal 2013. That's considerably more efficient than current models in the market. A 42-inch Hitachi plasma TV sold in 2007 uses 313 watts while a 42-inch Sharp Liquid-crystal display, or LCD, TV draws 232 watts, according to Energy Commission research.

However, as of now only one-quarter of the television sets on the market meet the required standard. Television sets larger than 58 inches would not be covered by the rule, as those sets account for no more than 3% of the overall market.

In California, an average residential customer’s 10% electrical consumption goes to television sets. However the regulatory apprehension is that with upgrade to larger television sets the consumption pattern for television sets will spike by as much as 8% annually. This is a worrisome trend for the power hungry state which has to import around 15% of its requirements from outside the state to meet its huge requirement.

The regulators are dreading a return to the gory days of the California electricity crisis at the beginning of the century. The crisis was aggravated as the then government kept the price of electricity artificially low, encouraging wastage.

An energy-efficient TV would save a household roughly $30 a year per set in lowered electricity costs. If all 35 million television sets in the state were replaced with more efficient sets, Californians would save $8.1 billion over 10 years, according to the Energy Commission report. The standard also could help California meet the goals of its 2006 global warming law, which calls for the state to cut greenhouse gases 25% by 2020.

To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, utilities operating in California are spending big money. California’s renewable portfolio standard requires utilities to generate 33% of power from renewable sources by fiscal 2020. PG&E Corporation (PCG) plans to invest around $13 billion in the period 2009 - 2011. Another utility, Edison International’s (EIX) subsidiary Southern California Edison, is projecting capital expenditures for the period 2009 - 2013 in the range of $16.8 billion - $19.8 billion.
Read the full analyst report on "PCG"
Read the full analyst report on "EIX"
Zacks Investment Research

CPI Up on Cars, Energy – Analyst Blog

Dirk Van Dijk — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:51:24 +0000

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for October rose by 0.3%, a little bit hotter than the 0.2% that was expected. If one strips out volatile food and energy prices to get the core consumer price index, prices were up 0.2%, also one tick higher than the 0.1% expected.

A rise in energy prices was not unexpected. Heck, one only has to see what the price of crude oil and natural gas have done over the last month or so. For the month, the price of energy rose 1.5% overall. The rise was sharpest among energy commodities, like gasoline and heating oil, which rose by 1.9%. Energy services, like electricity rose a more moderate -- but still steep -- 0.9%.

The rise in core consumer prices was a bit more of a surprise. However, the rising prices were very narrow, with almost all of the increases due to higher prices for cars and trucks, both new and used. For the month, the prices of new cars were up 1.6% while the prices for used cars jumped by 3.4%. That is very good news for Ford (F) as well as indirectly for the U.S. taxpayer, since we are now major stockholders at both General Motors and Chrysler.

The increase for used cars is also beneficial for the car dealers like CarMax (KMX) and AutoNation (AN). The Cash for Clunkers program continues to reverberate through the economy, even though it ended over two months ago. Every car that was turned in under the program was destroyed (at least the engine was, other parts could be stripped and reused). This reduction in supply helped support prices of the remaining used cars. This is the third month in a row of sharply higher prices for used cars, coming on top of a 1.6% increase in September and a 1.9% increase in August. I suspect that this effect is likely to wear off in the near future.

On a year-over-year basis, the overall consumer price index is down 0.2%, while the core consumer price index is up 1.7%, both of which are historically very low. The huge decline in energy prices happened a year ago and is in the process of rolling off. Thus look for the headline consumer price index to start to outpace the core consumer price index in the months to come on a year-over-year basis.

The divergence could become very large. The reason is that a very large part of the index is for Shelter, and the biggest part of that is rent -- both the normal rent that is paid by people who do not own their own houses, and "owners equivalent rent" (OER) or what it would cost you to rent an identical house next door to where you are living now. OER is how the government measures housing prices for inflation; what happens to the actual price of houses is totally irrelevant when it comes to measuring inflation. Thus, measured inflation was very much under control, even as the price of houses were soaring during the housing bubble, and the CPI did not decline as the bubble was bursting.

Together, regular rent paid to landlords and OER make up over 30% of the total consumer price index, and almost 40% of the core consumer price index. The overall price of shelter was unchanged in October, the second month in a row it was unchanged. Regular rent fell by 0.1%, over the last three months it is down at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 0.7%, and it is unchanged over the last six months.

Since most people own rather than rent where they live, OER has a much higher weight in the index (24.4% of the total index vs. 6.0%). It was unchanged on the month, is off by 0.3% over the last three months and up by just 0.2% over the last six months. However, if the reports from the big housing-oriented REIT’s like Apartment Investors (AIV) and Equity Residential (EQR) are to be believed, then the decline in regular rents is significantly understated.

The data on OER us always suspect, since it is collected by the government -- calling people up on the phone and asking them what they thought it would cost them to rent an equivalent home in their neighborhood. I suspect the vast majority of people really have no idea, since in many neighborhoods very few people rent, and owners are not regularly calling on rental agents to find out what the prices around them are.

The final part of the shelter component is lodging away from home, otherwise known as the price of a hotel room. It rose by 0.4% on the month, but that follows a 1.5% increase last month. Perhaps there is a glimmer of hope for the hotel chains like Marriott (MAR).

Overall, the report suggests that inflation is well under control, especially outside of Energy prices. As the first blue graph shows, we are coming off a very rare instance of actual deflation at the headline level. Even at the core level, the change in prices over the last year is near its lowest point on the graph which goes back to 1983, and I removed the earlier period from the graph since inflation was so high then that one could not make out the more recent trends. This is particularly true if I am right that the effect of Cash for Clunkers on auto prices is going to wear off soon.

This means it is clear sailing for the Fed to keep interest rates low. The problem the economy faces is high unemployment and low levels of production. There is zero danger of the economy overheating and pushing inflation into overdrive anytime soon. Yes, there is a danger that continued easy money could form a bubble in asset prices, but it does not look like we are there yet.

Think of easy money as air being pumped into a tire. When the tire is flat air simply makes the tire usable again; when the tire fills with air, you run the danger of the tire popping from being overinflated. We are nowhere close to the tire popping. (Perhaps the more interesting question is if the tire has a big hole in it, so pumping more air does nothing as it just leaks out.)

Keep in mind that the way up in an asset bubble is a lot of fun, so if that is happening, enjoy it while you can. I think it has a ways to go before it pops. Heck, the tire is still looking pretty flat.

The second green graph presents the same data, but on a continuously compounded annual rate of change basis. It shows a few things of note. The first is that the huge decline in the overall consumer price index happened a year ago as energy prices crashed. That, however, is about to roll off, which should mean that the year-over-year change in the overall CPI should be headed back up in the near future (notice on the top graph that it is already becoming far less negative). Also note that the core consumer price index is very stable from month to month, unlike the headline numbers that can really swing big time, and that it is still on a gradual secular decline path.

While we may be seeing more inflation at the gasoline pump in the near future, in part due to the weak dollar, we are seeing downward price pressures elsewhere in the economy. In other words, there is a change in the relative price level of energy (food prices are being well behaved, rising only 0.1% for the month), not a rise in the general price level. The Fed should not be tightening in response to changes in relative prices, only to changes in the overall price level. For investors, changes in relative prices are very important, and the data suggests that energy stocks are a good place to be parking your money these days.

Read the full analyst report on "F"
Read the full analyst report on "CMX"
Read the full analyst report on "AN"
Read the full analyst report on "AIV"
Read the full analyst report on "EQR"
Read the full analyst report on "MAR"
Zacks Investment Research

Williams Files for Expansion – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:02:25 +0000

Williams Companies Inc. (WMB) has filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to expand its Transco natural gas pipeline to serve markets in the southeastern United States. On approval from FERC, Williams expects the Mobile Bay South II Expansion project to provide services by spring 2011.

Through the expansion project, Williams expects to add 380,000 dekatherms of southbound, year-round firm transportation capacity on the Mobile Bay Lateral from Transco's mainline at Station 85 near Butler, Alabama, to its interconnect with Gulfstream Natural Gas System in Coden, Alabama.

Williams estimates that the project will require a compression addition of 8,180 horsepower at Transco compressor station 85 and facility modifications at Station 83. It expects the project facilities to cost approximately $36 million.

Recently, the company’s Mobile Bay natural gas processing plant returned to service, processing between 100 million and 200 million cubic feet per day with volumes, after shutting due to lost production from Tropical Storm Ida. The plant did not sustain any damage from the storm, which was downgraded to a tropical depression after coming ashore near Mobile, Alabama. The plant is capable of processing of about 700 million cubic feet of supply per day.

Williams is an energy firm that finds, produces, gathers, processes, and transports natural gas. The company divides its business into four segments: Exploration & Production, Midstream Gas & Liquids, Gas Pipeline, and Gas Marketing Services. The company’s operations are primarily concentrated in the Pacific Northwest, Rocky Mountains, Gulf Coast and Eastern Seaboard.

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

Solar Energy Initiatives, Inc. (SNRY.OB) Announces Signing of Financing Agreement for Municipal Solar Projects

QualityStocks — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:56:50 +0000

Solar Energy Initiatives, Inc. this morning announced that it has signed a Financing and Joint Marketing Agreement with a Municipal financial services company located in the Western U.S. This agreement mandates that the financial services institution exclusively market Solar Energy Initiatives solar solutions to over 100,000 municipalities. According to the terms of the agreement, the [...]

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

Dr. Stock Pick — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:44:50 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _________________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _________________________________________ Tuesday November 17, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! PWRM, HZHI, HCEI, CVAT, PSFT, CSRH, AQNM ************************************************************** HCEI, Healthy Coffee International Inc., HCEI.PK HCEI is well positioned in the market place at the intersection of three mega-billion dollar industries: coffee, wellness and energy drinks, and has quickly established offices in [...]

The Gas Comics: EU Sells Out Human Rights to Turkmenistan

Robert Amsterdam — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:10:51 +0000

You've got to respect Global Witness ... for a watchdog NGO, they bring a lot of creativity and innovation to their cause (see this past campaign for another example). GW has also done a tremendous job in the past...

China Technology Development Group Corp. (CTDC) Teams Up With ISEC-UNIDO to Develop Chinese Solar Research Lab

QualityStocks — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:59:48 +0000

China Technology Development Group Corp., a clean energy group focused on bringing together related technologies to create solar energy systems, announced today a cooperative agreement between China Technology Solar Power Holdings Limited (CTSP), and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization International Solar Energy Center for Technology Promotion and Transfer (ISEC-UNIDO). This agreement will co-establish the [...]

Producer Price Index Tame – Analyst Blog

Dirk Van Dijk — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:44:31 +0000

In September, the Producer Price Index rose by 0.3%. While this is an acceleration from the 0.6% decline in September, it is well below consensus expectations of a 0.5% increase.

All of the price pressures were coming from food and energy. If they are stripped out to get the Core Producer Price Index, prices fell by 0.6% for the month -- a much faster decline than the 0.1% decline last month, and even farther below the consensus expectations of a 0.1% increase for the month. Both food and energy rose by 1.6% at the finished level in September.

For energy, though, it was just a partial reversal of the 2.4% decline in September. In September, finished food prices fell only 0.1%. On a year-over-year basis, the total Producer Price Index is down 1.9%. However, last month the year-over-year decline was 4.8%. Thus on a year-over-year basis, the deflationary pressures are abating -- but just think about where we were a year ago!

The finished goods producer price index is the one that gets all the headlines. The core producer price index at the finished level also gets a fair amount of attention. However, the Bureau of Labor Statistics also provides data on what is happening further up the food chain, with data on intermediate and crude goods. To keep the three levels straight in your mind, think Wheat (crude), Flour (intermediate) and Bread (finished).

At those levels, there is some evidence of minor inflationary pressures, but again it is all driven by food and energy costs. At the intermediate level, prices rose 0.3% following a 0.2% increase in September. On a year-over-year basis, prices are down 7.5% at the intermediate level. The huge price declines of a year ago are rolling off.

In September, the year-over-year decline in the intermediate producer price index was 11.7%. Intermediate food prices were down 0.2%, following a 0.5% decline in September. Energy prices rose by 2.3% at the intermediate level -- more than reversing a 2.1% decline in September. Core prices at the intermediate level dropped by 0.2%, following a 0.9% increase in September. Keep in mind price swings tend to be more extreme at the intermediate level than they are at the finished goods level.

Far more extreme, though, are the swings in the crude level producer price index. After all, there is another name for crude goods -- commodities. Overall crude goods rose by 5.4% in October, more than making up for the 2.1% decline in September. Over the last year, prices for crude goods have dropped by 14.1%.

The bulk of that decline, however, came last year as the price of all commodities absolutely collapsed. In October of last year, the crude goods index plunged 16.1% and it was followed by a further 13.1% decline in November. Those will roll off soon, so the year-over-year numbers are going to show much smaller declines. Core crude prices rose by 0.5% in October, on top of a 0.5% rise in September. Crude energy prices rose by 8.3% -- more than offsetting a 5.4% decline in September. Similarly, crude food prices were up 5.2% for the month after having fallen by 1.9% in September.

This report shows that aside from food, and especially energy, there is no real inflation pressure in the economic system. Even looking far up the production chain, price pressures for core goods are very moderate. Thus the Fed should continue to hold down interest rates and be as accommodative as possible. After all, the Fed has two mandates -- price stability and full employment.

With core producer prices falling for two months in a row, and in four of the last six months, price stability would argue for MORE inflation, since we are facing deflation. Yes, the deflationary pressures are less than a year old, but year-over-year declines -- even throwing in food and energy prices of 1.9% -- are a far cry from Weimar Germany, or even the U.S. experience of the 1970’s.

The enemy right now is unemployment, not inflation. It also means that people should just shut the heck up about the decline of the dollar and stop treating it like it's some type of disaster. Yeah, it is sort of bad that a ski trip vacation to Davos, Switzerland will cost a lot more, but hey, maybe it will cause some folks to decide to ski Aspen, instead. Perhaps a few Europeans or Japanese will decide to come vacation in the U.S. since with the low dollar, vacations here are very cheap for them. That would actually create a few jobs in restaurants and hotels here.

More importantly, perhaps companies will decide to buy products made by General Electric (GE) instead of the competing products made by Siemens (SI). We might just start to shrink the yawning trade deficit that is an absolute cancer on the economy.

Talk of the Fed tightening is probably premature by at least a year. Yes, a weaker dollar will mean higher prices for internationally traded goods, most importantly for oil. That, however, would help stimulate more drilling activity, greatly helping the bottom lines for companies like Pride International (PDE) and making the existing reserves of companies like Anadarko (APC) much more valuable. It might just help keep demand for oil down, and accelerate the shift to alternative energy sources, such as wind and solar.

Don’t overlook natural gas as a potential alternative energy source, since we have vast supplies of it here in North America. That would be good news for firms like EnCana (ECA). Yeah, nobody really wants to pay more at the pump, but with other price pressures being kept well at bay, we can afford it -- especially if it leads to more jobs.

Look for the gap between headline and core producer prices to continue to widen, but overall, price pressures are very well contained. This gives the Fed free reign to keep interest rates at extraordinarily low levels for a very extended period of time. And not doing so would be extremely irresponsible.
Read the full analyst report on "GE"
Read the full analyst report on "SI"
Read the full analyst report on "PDE"
Read the full analyst report on "APC"
Read the full analyst report on "ECA"
Zacks Investment Research

VIASPACE, Inc. (VSPC.OB) Announces Q3 2009 Financial Results

QualityStocks — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:45:08 +0000

VIASPACE Inc., a clean energy company providing products and technology for renewable and alternative energy, this morning reported its financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2009. Revenues totaled $1.23 million, including $1.06 million from the late-2008 strategic acquisition of Inter-Pacific Arts, Inc. (IPA), and $171,000 primarily from Ionfinity’s military contracts for monitoring and [...]

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 Investment Research

Waste Mgmt Raises Capital – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:52:00 +0000

Waste Management, Inc. (WM) announced that it has priced an underwritten public offering of $600 million aggregate principal amount of 6.125% senior notes due November 30, 2039. The company expects the notes to be assigned ratings of BBB by both Standard & Poor’s and Fitch and Baa3 by Moody’s. The offering is expected to close on November 17.

The company said that the net proceeds from the offering will be used to fund certain equity investments and acquisitions and the remaining proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes and funding of other potential acquisitions and investments.

In August, the company entered into an agreement to purchase a 40% percent equity investment in Shanghai Environment Group (SEG), a subsidiary of Shanghai Chengtou Holding, for approximately $140 million. As a joint venture partner in SEG, Waste Management will participate in the operation and management of waste-to-energy and other waste services in the Chinese market. The transaction is expected to be approved in early 2010. The company is focused on expanding its waste-to-energy business and is actively pursuing various projects in the United States and internationally.

Further, in October, WM Healthcare Solutions, Inc. acquired Mountain High Medical Disposal Services, Inc., a medical waste collection, transportation and processing company. Management said that this acquisition fits into Waste Management’s strategy to manage solid waste, medical, recycling and pharmaceutical waste for the healthcare industry. With this purchase, WM Healthcare Solutions will provide these services to facilities in Salt Lake City as well as Idaho. This acquisition expands the company’s capacity and geographic presence to treat and manage waste from healthcare customers.
Read the full analyst report on "WM"
Zacks Investment Research

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

Dr. Stock Pick — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:37:17 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _________________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _________________________________________ Monday November 16, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! HCEI, HZHI, CVAT, PWRM, PSFT, CSRH, AQNM ************************************************************** HCEI, Healthy Coffee International Inc., HCEI.PK HCEI is well positioned in the market place at the intersection of three mega-billion dollar industries: coffee, wellness and energy drinks, and has quickly established offices in [...]

November 16th CEOcast Weekly Newsletter

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

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

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

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

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

The Strongest BRIC Country

Martin D. Weiss, Ph.D. — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:57:58 +0000

I have a trick question for you, especially if you're interested in emerging markets: Among the four BRIC countries — Brazil, Russia, India and China — which offers the best stock market performance for American investors? Be careful how you answer, because appearances can ...

Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: JC Penney Company Inc., Toyota, Honda, EnCana and Chesapeake – Press Releases

Zacks Market Commentaries — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:45:50 +0000

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 16, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: JC Penney Company Inc. (JCP), Toyota (TM), Honda (HMC), EnCana (ECA) and Chesapeake (CHK).

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

Here are highlights from Friday’s Analyst Blog:

JC Penney Beats on Low Earnings

JC Penney Company Inc. (JCP), a leading retailer of apparel and footwear, accessories, fashion jewelry, beauty products and home furnishings, recently reported third-quarter 2009 results.

The quarterly earnings of 11 cents a share tumbled 80% from 55 cents posted in the prior-year quarter, weighed down by qualified pension plan expense. Earnings missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny.

The retailer, however, mentioned that earnings outshined the company’s initial guidance range of a loss of 5 cents to profit of 5 cents a share on the heels of effective inventory management and lowered unprofitable discounting. Consequently, gross profit rose 1.9% year-on-year to $1,696 million.

On stronger-than-expected results, JC Penney raised its fiscal year 2009 earnings outlook. Management now expects earnings in the range of 93 cents to $1.08 per share, as against 75 cents to 90 cents previously anticipated. For the fourth-quarter 2009, earnings are expected between 70 cents and 85 cents a share.

Imports Surge in September

So what was driving the increase in the deficit? Part of it was that we imported more cars from the Toyotas (TM) and Hondas (HMC) of the world as dealers restocked after inventories were depleted due to Cash for Clunkers. However, for the month, the biggest increase in our imports was Industrial Supplies and Materials -- a category that includes oil. Oil is a big part of the reason why our trade deficit has been so intractable, and the decline in the price of oil from a year ago is a big part of the reason that we have seen an improvement in the deficit over the last year.

We started making progress on reducing our non-oil deficit towards the end of 2005, and until the last few months, have continued to make steady progress. However, as the price of oil rose, that progress was offset by an ever increasing oil bill.

The net result was that from mid-2005 through the summer of 2008, our trade deficit remained stable at a horrendous level of roughly $60 billion a month. As a percentage of GDP, it exceeded 5.0% in every quarter from the second quarter of 2004 through the second quarter of 2008, and was extremely close to that level through the third quarter of 2008. It was not until oil prices collapsed in the fall of 2008 (along with everything else) that we saw a dramatic improvement in the trade deficit. Now with oil prices on the rebound, the deficit is deteriorating rapidly again.

There are really only two solutions to solving the chronic deficit problem. The first is that the dollar falls, thus making imports more expensive to U.S. consumers and businesses, and our exports much cheaper to foreign consumers and businesses. Yes, a weak dollar would not be fun next time you decide to vacation in Paris. It also would have the potential to be inflationary. However, right now, there are big deflationary pressures elsewhere in the economy (for example, housing prices and rents), so a little bit of inflation pressure coming from higher import prices is not a huge worry.

Creating export-led jobs is much more important right now. That would help increase Investment’s share of the economy, and decrease the Consumer’s share. Over time it is vitally important that we do this.

One big problem, though, as far as the weak dollar is concerned in curing this cancer -- it is not weak against every other currency. Most importantly, it has been absolutely stable against the Yuan, and our deficit with China was $22.1 billion in September, up from $20.1 billion in August.

As a percentage of the total, then, it was 60.5% in September -- down from 65.6% in August, but still a huge part of the problem. It is also an issue that a weak dollar does not address (unless China stops pegging to the dollar and moves to say pegging it to a basket of major currencies, I doubt they will go to a full free-float of the Yuan).

The second solution is that we get serious about creating domestic sources of energy to offset the need for us to import so much oil. Since we have already extracted most of our original endowment of oil, "drill baby drill" is looking less and less like the right answer.

However, we have lots and lots of natural gas (NG), thanks to the new Shale plays. Our ability to switch from oil to gas immediately is limited. Butiven the cost differential on a BTU basis right now, there is every incentive in the world already for businesses to make the switch if they can. Strictly on the basis of the amount of energy in them, a barrel of oil should be worth 6x as much as an MCF of natural gas.

Right now, oil is going for $75.86 a barrel while NG is going for $4.42, so if a business has the ability, they could be buying the equivalent of a barrel of oil for just $26.52. That is a big incentive to switch. Over the medium-to-long term, it is easier to make that change. Only relatively minor modifications are needed to switch, say, vehicles to natural gas -- it's not like it is some sort of cutting-edge technology.

However, it is not free, and we do not have the nationwide refilling infrastructure to do so. If this differential persists, I would expect more and more fleet-type vehicles (i.e. city buses and delivery trucks) to switch over. This would obviously be a good thing for the big producers of natural gas like EnCana (ECA) and Chesapeake (CHK).

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Ways to Invest in Oil and Gas

Terry Stanfield — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 08:42:26 +0000

If you are interested in oil and gas investing there are three primary ways you can go about starting your investment. These ways include investing in companies, mutual funds, and commodities. You can make a lot of money in this industry if you are smart about your investments.

District Energy Magazine publishes carbon recycling article featuring Mantra’s ERC technology

Stuart T. Smith — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:58:53 +0000

Nov. 13, 2009 (PR Newswire) — SEATTLE, Nov. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ – Mantra Venture Group Ltd. (’Mantra’, OTCBB: MVTG, FSE: 5MV), developer of the revolutionary carbon recycling ERC technology, was featured in the Fourth Quarter 2009 edition of District Energy Magazine (District Energy). The article, entitled “Carbon Recycling: An alternative to carbon capture and storage,” takes [...]

Tata and Sikorsky Ink JV – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:09:49 +0000

Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. and Tata Advanced Systems Ltd. (TASL) today announced creation of a joint venture that will manufacture aerospace components for Sikorsky in India, including components for S-92® helicopter cabins. The joint venture agreement builds upon a long-term contract signed in Jun 2009 for TASL to assemble Sikorsky S-92® helicopter cabins. Sikorsky is a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. (UTX) and TASL is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Sons.

Both the joint venture agreement and the cabin assembly contract stem from a MOU signed in Feb 2007 by the companies to explore the creation of aerospace operations in India. The cabin assembly contract signed in June 2009 has led to ongoing construction in Hyderabad, in the state of Andhra Pradesh, where TASL will assemble S-92 helicopter cabins starting in 2010.

The new joint venture will be positioned to manufacture components for other aerospace Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) as well as detailed parts for the Sikorsky S-92® helicopter cabin. It is expected that the joint venture operations will be housed in a second greenfield facility that will be constructed in Hyderabad, next to the cabin assembly building. Construction for the joint venture company's facility is targeted for completion by 2011, with production beginning in late 2012.

Tata companies operate in seven business sectors: communications and information technology, engineering, materials, services, energy, consumer products and chemicals. They are, by and large, based in India and have significant international operations. The total revenue of Tata companies, taken together, was $70.8 billion in 2008-09, with 64.7% of this coming from business outside India, and they employ around 357,000 people worldwide.

United Technologies provides high technology products and services to the building systems and aerospace industries worldwide. Operating units include businesses with operations throughout the world. Otis, Carrier and UTC Fire & Security (collectively referred to as the commercial businesses) serve customers in the commercial and residential property industries worldwide; Carrier also serves commercial, industrial, transport refrigeration and food service equipment customers.

Pratt & Whitney, Hamilton Sundstrand and Sikorsky (collectively referred to as the aerospace businesses) primarily serve commercial and government customers in both the original equipment and aftermarket parts and services markets of the aerospace industry; Hamilton Sundstrand and Pratt & Whitney also serve customers in certain industrial markets. Major competitor is Boeing Co. (BA).

We currently have a Neutral recommendation on UTX.

Read the full analyst report on "TASL"
Read the full analyst report on "UTX"
Zacks Investment Research

Imports Surge in September – Analyst Blog

Dirk Van Dijk — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:32:42 +0000

In September, the trade deficit expanded to $36.5 billion -- an increase of $5.7 billion or 18.5% over August. This was a much bigger increase than was expected, as consensus expectations were for a deficit of $31.8 billion. Since the trade deficit is a direct input into the GDP calculations, look for the next iteration of the third quarter GDP numbers to be revised down from the original read of 3.5% growth.

The reason for the growth in the trade deficit is also a bit of a silver lining. It happened because imports rose by $9.3 billion to $168.4 billion, while exports rose by $3.7 billion. The increase in both imports and exports indicates that world trade -- which is very important to global growth -- is on the mend.

A 5.8% monthly increase is unusual, but is probably a reflection of higher overall demand in the economy, which at this point is a good thing. A 2.6% monthly increase in exports is respectable, but is overshadowed by the big increase in imports.

The month-to-month numbers are in distinct contrast to the year-over-year figures. Relative to September 2008, imports are down 43.7 billion or 20.6%, while exports are down $20.0 billion of 13.2%. Thus on a year-over-year basis, the deficit is down $23.7 billion or 39.4%.

The decline in trade, as shown by the fall in both imports and exports, is both a reflection and a partial cause of the overall worldwide recession. On the other hand, without the decline in the trade deficit year over year, the decline in U.S. GDP would have been sharper than it was.

The first graph, (from http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/) shows the history of our imports and exports back to 1994. Note that both imports and exports declined in the last recession as well, but nowhere near as severely. Also note that the blue export line never crosses over the red import line, and that the two lines have been consistently diverging except during recessions. Now they are diverging once again.

This is not a good thing. It is the trade deficit that drives our external indebtedness, not the fiscal deficit. It is what gives China its huge political leverage over us by holding over $1.5 Trillion of our obligations. The chronic trade deficits are a cancer eating away at our economy.

So what was driving the increase in the deficit? Part of it was that we imported more cars from the Toyotas (TM) and Hondas (HMC) of the world as dealers restocked after inventories were depleted due to Cash for Clunkers. However, for the month, the biggest increase in our imports was Industrial Supplies and Materials -- a category that includes oil. Oil is a big part of the reason why our trade deficit has been so intractable, and the decline in the price of oil from a year ago is a big part of the reason that we have seen an improvement in the deficit over the last year.

The second graph (also from http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/) breaks out the deficit cause by our oil bill, and the deficit caused by everything else. We started making progress on reducing our non-oil deficit towards the end of 2005, and until the last few months, have continued to make steady progress. However, as the price of oil rose, that progress was offset by an ever increasing oil bill.

The net result was that from mid-2005 through the summer of 2008, our trade deficit remained stable at a horrendous level of roughly $60 billion a month. As a percentage of GDP, it exceeded 5.0% in every quarter from the second quarter of 2004 through the second quarter of 2008, and was extremely close to that level through the third quarter of 2008. It was not until oil prices collapsed in the fall of 2008 (along with everything else) that we saw a dramatic improvement in the trade deficit. Now with oil prices on the rebound, the deficit is deteriorating rapidly again.

There are really only two solutions to solving the chronic deficit problem. The first is that the dollar falls, thus making imports more expensive to U.S. consumers and businesses, and our exports much cheaper to foreign consumers and businesses. Yes, a weak dollar would not be fun next time you decide to vacation in Paris. It also would have the potential to be inflationary. However, right now, there are big deflationary pressures elsewhere in the economy (for example, housing prices and rents), so a little bit of inflation pressure coming from higher import prices is not a huge worry.

Creating export-led jobs is much more important right now. That would help increase Investment’s share of the economy, and decrease the Consumer’s share. Over time it is vitally important that we do this.

One big problem, though, as far as the weak dollar is concerned in curing this cancer -- it is not weak against every other currency. Most importantly, it has been absolutely stable against the Yuan, and our deficit with China was $22.1 billion in September, up from $20.1 billion in August.

As a percentage of the total, then, it was 60.5% in September -- down from 65.6% in August, but still a huge part of the problem. It is also an issue that a weak dollar does not address (unless China stops pegging to the dollar and moves to say pegging it to a basket of major currencies, I doubt they will go to a full free-float of the Yuan).

The second solution is that we get serious about creating domestic sources of energy to offset the need for us to import so much oil. Since we have already extracted most of our original endowment of oil, "drill baby drill" is looking less and less like the right answer.

However, we have lots and lots of natural gas (NG), thanks to the new Shale plays. Our ability to switch from oil to gas immediately is limited. Butiven the cost differential on a BTU basis right now, there is every incentive in the world already for businesses to make the switch if they can. Strictly on the basis of the amount of energy in them, a barrel of oil should be worth 6x as much as an MCF of natural gas.

Right now, oil is going for $75.86 a barrel while NG is going for $4.42, so if a business has the ability, they could be buying the equivalent of a barrel of oil for just $26.52. That is a big incentive to switch. Over the medium-to-long term, it is easier to make that change. Only relatively minor modifications are needed to switch, say, vehicles to natural gas -- it's not like it is some sort of cutting-edge technology.

However, it is not free, and we do not have the nationwide refilling infrastructure to do so. If this differential persists, I would expect more and more fleet-type vehicles (i.e. city buses and delivery trucks) to switch over. This would obviously be a good thing for the big producers of natural gas like EnCana (ECA) and Chesapeake (CHK).

It would also be a very big improvement environmentally. Natural gas is still a carbon-based fossil fuel, but it has much less of a carbon footprint than does oil or coal.

Increasing our use of renewable energy, such as wind and solar, and using the increased electrical output to power plug in hybrids would also be a big help in this regard. Natural gas is a great complement to them, since the output of renewable sources tends to be highly variable (it gets cloudy or the wind changes speeds). Gas-fired power plants can change their output levels much faster than can coal-fired plants.

We will need to significantly improve our overall power grid for that to happen though, since the best locations for alternative power are far from where the power is needed. New Mexico has lots of sun, and North Dakota has lots of wind, but neither consumes a large percentage of the country’s energy.

The Stimulus Bill made some tentative steps in the right direction, but not on the scale needed. I would argue that large investments in improving the power grid to enable large scale adoption of alternative energy would do more for our national security than increasing our military commitments in certain parts of the world. It would also do a lot more to bring down the unemployment rate, as well as being a big step in solving the chronic trade problem we have.
Read the full analyst report on "TM"
Read the full analyst report on "HMC"
Read the full analyst report on "ECA"
Read the full analyst report on "CHK"
Zacks Investment Research

Stock Market News for November 13, 2009 – Market News

Zacks Market Commentaries — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:28:03 +0000

A rebounding dollar and persisting worries about the economy kept investors on a wait-and-watch mode and stocks fell broadly as weakness in energy shares, precipitated by reports of flush U.S. reserves, weighed on sentiments. In a broad based decline, major stock indexes fell about 1% from their 13-month highs.

The strength in US dollar, based upon its safe-haven appeal, undermined investors' appetites for riskier, high-yielding assets such as equities as upside guidance from DJIA components Wal-Mart and Hewlett-Packard failed to stem the retreat.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 94 points, or 0.9%, to close at 10,197.47. The S&P 500 retreated 11 points, or 1%, to close at 1,087.24, after climbing to an intraday high of 1,101.97. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index retreated 18 points, or 0.8%, to settle at 2,149.02. On the New York Stock Exchange, declining issues outpaced those that advanced in price by a four-to-one margin as volume slowed to 828 million shares.

Twenty-six of the thirty Dow average components ended lower, with energy and financial shares leading the decliners. The CBOE Vix volatility gauge jumped 5.21% to 24.24. Gold prices fell $8 to $1106.60.

On the S&P 500, shares of financial companies were the second-steepest decliners among the 10 industry groups, falling 1.8%. Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) dropped 2.3% to $16.06 and JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) fell 2.3% to $43.30. Energy shares slumped 2% and led the decliners among 10 groups. The falling shares wiped off an earlier advance in tech shares that was fueled by Hewlett-Packard Co.’s (NYSE:HPQ) takeover of 3Com Corp. (NASDAQ:COMS).

Meanwhile, the US Treasury said budget deficit widened to $176.4 billion in October, the largest October shortfall on record and the fifth largest monthly deficit ever. Economists had expected a $150 billion shortfall.

Zacks Investment Research

Steel Industry – Industry Outlook

Zacks Market Commentaries — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:00:00 +0000

Steel Output Mounting

The Steel industry, which consists of companies engaged in the extraction of iron ore and coke coal for the processing of iron and steel, has the major chunk of sales concentrated with a few producers. The industry includes metal ore exploration and mining services, iron and steel foundries for smelting, rolling, forging, spinning, recycling, stamping, polishing and plating of iron and steel products such as pipes, tubes, wire, spring, rolls and bars.

The largest drivers of steel consumption have historically been the automotive and construction markets, which make up more than 50% of total steel consumption. Other steel consuming industries include appliances, converters, containers, tin, energy, electrical equipment, agricultural, domestic and commercial equipment and industrial machinery. Large automakers such as General Motors, Ford Motor Company ([url=http://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/f]F[/url]), Toyota Motor Corporation ([url=http://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/tm]TM[/url]) and Honda Motor Company ([url=http://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/hmc]HMC[/url]) depend upon the steel industry.

ArcelorMittal ([url=http://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/mt]MT[/url]) is the world’s largest steel company with steel production of 103.3 million tons in 2008. Other major players in the industry are POSCO ([url=http://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/pkx]PKX[/url]), Steel Dynamics Inc. ([url=http://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/stld]STLD[/url]), AK Steel Holding Corporation ([url=http://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/aks]AKS[/url]), United States Steel Corporation ([url=http://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/x]X[/url]) and Nucor Corporation ([url=http://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/nue]NUE[/url]).

The Asia-Pacific region, especially China and India, is witnessing higher production and consumption of steel. This is due to the per capita consumption reaching up to U.S./European levels, which could, theoretically at least, double steel demand in the longer-term. China has set up the largest steel industries in the world, driven by increasing demand for rapid urbanization and large infrastructure projects. The country accounted for nearly 50% of monthly total world production in August 2009.

China’s share is larger than the combined production of the U.S., the European Union (EU), Russia and Japan, which have historically been the largest producers of steel. In 2001, China's annual share of world production stood at 17%, while the EU accounted for the largest share at 18%. In eight years, China's share of world production has almost tripled, while other producers have seen their shares decrease. Ranked behind China are Japan and the U.S.

According to the World Steel Association, global steel output had increased to 107 million tons in the month of September 2009, down marginally (0.6%) from the same month of the previous year. Month-on-month, steel output improved slightly from 106.5 million tons. World crude steel production has continued to show a steady increase since April 2009. Steel production had reached its highest level in July this year on the back of a moderate rise in demand and the resumption of idled facilities by producers. The total output of 103.9 million tons was an improvement of 4% from 99.8 million tons produced in October, but down 11.1% year over year.

All major steel producing countries -- China, Japan, Germany, the U.S., Brazil, Turkey, Russia and the Ukraine -- have shown peak monthly figures so far this year. Production in the Middle East, where demand was buoyant last year due to booming infrastructure spending, edged up by 2.0% in September, while monthly steel output in Asia increased 15% to over 60 million tons. Of this, production in China climbed 28.7% to 39.4 million tons. However, global steel production was down 32.3% in North America while production in Europe saw a drop of 23.7%.

According to the data released by the International Trade Administration, steel prices increased across almost all product groups in September 2009 from August 2009. Hot-rolled sheet prices increased 12.6% to $535 per ton from $475 per ton. Cold-rolled sheet increased 10.04% to $625 per from $568 per ton. Stainless sheet prices increased 2.7% to $2,334 per ton.

Steel prices across all product groups have fallen significantly from the previous year despite recent price increases, with the price of hot-rolled sheet showing a 54.6% decrease and cold-rolled sheet a 41.3% decrease from September 2008.

In 2007, China’s steel industry revealed signs of consolidation in a market that was previously rather fragmented and in need of mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Despite the current slowdown in consolidation within the global steel industry, M&A activity remains a critically important business strategy for companies. While the economic downturn is a significant factor in short-term decisions regarding M&A activity, steel companies expect to make acquisitions over the next three years.

OPPORTUNITIES

We expect global steel demand to improve in the long term with the recovery of the user industries. China is expected to remain the largest consumer of steel going forward. World Steel is forecasting an 8.6% year over year decline in steel production, better than the previous forecast of a 14.1% decline, driven by a strong growth in Chinese steel demand. With signs of a recovery across the world since the beginning of the second half of 2009, the association is anticipating global steel demand in 2010 to grow by 9.2% to 1,206 million tons, which is similar to the level in 2008.

With steel demand picking up in the last couple of months, steel producers are restarting facilities. U.S. Steel Corp. is restarting its blast furnace at its Hamilton, Ontario plant after a nine-month shutdown. The company had closed its Hamilton blast furnace in November 2008. It had suspended the remaining operations at Hamilton and the Nanticoke operation in March 2009 due to a drop in demand. Both the facilities were running at less than half their capacity.

Net losses for Nucor Corporation, the largest recycler of steel scrap in the U.S., narrowed to $29.5 million, or 10 cents per share, for the third quarter of 2009. The result was more positive than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 14 cents. Long-term contracts, cost reduction efforts and a dominant acquisition strategy inspire optimism about the company’s performance in the coming quarters.

The third largest steel maker in the U.S., Steel Dynamics Inc. reported net income of $69 million -- 30 cents per share -- for the third quarter of 2009, after reporting losses for three consecutive quarters. The earnings, which were driven by cost reduction through higher production and shipping volumes at the Flat Roll Division and better-than-expected performance in the Metals Recycling segment, were higher than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 23 cents. However, on a year-over-year basis, earnings were down 69%.

WEAKNESSES

The global steel industry is cyclical, highly competitive and has historically been characterized by overcapacity. Production cuts of up to 35% are occurring to keep operating rates in the low-80s and keep the market balanced. The U.S. domestic production capacity utilization has fallen dramatically since August 2008. Capacity utilization peaked in February 2008 at a level of 91.6%. In May 2009, estimated capacity utilization was 44.3%, less than half of its level six months ago. Capacity utilization reached its lowest point, 40.9%, in December 2008, though it has increased again since May 2009.

Overcapacity in the global steel industry could increase the level of steel imports and result in downward pressure on steel prices. Overcapacity in China has the potential to result in a further increase in imports of low-priced, unfairly traded steel and steel products to the U.S. In recent years, capacity growth in China has significantly exceeded the growth in Chinese market demand. A continuation of this unbalanced growth trend or a significant decrease in China’s rate of economic expansion could result in China increasing steel exports.

Key steel consuming industries such as auto, shipbuilding and construction had been experiencing weak demand in the last quarters, forcing global steel makers to slacken production levels. U.S. Steel, the eighth largest steel producer in the world, the largest integrated steel producer headquartered in North America, and one of the largest integrated flat-rolled producers in Central Europe, slashed production by almost 62% during the second quarter of 2009, while Korean steel maker POSCO cut production by about 15% in December last year. This was the first time in its history that POSCO was forced to take such a measure, proof of the very bad operating environment.

The current low demand from the automotive and residential sectors and rising labor costs are affecting producers in the steel industry. Weak demand and significantly lower operating rates have forced producers to shut down facilities. The slowdown in the U.S./Europe/Japanese economies remains a negative issue facing steel producers. The automotive market has yet to recover fully. Steel shipments are off at a double-digit rate.

As a whole, the steel industry posted weak results in the third quarter of 2009. U.S. Steel Corporation recorded its third sequential loss -- $3.03 billion, or $2.11 per share -- in the third quarter of 2009, in contrast to a net income of $9.19 billion or $7.79 per share in the third quarter of 2008. Commercial metals company AK Steel posted a negligible income of $6.2 million compared to $188.3 million in the same quarter of 2008.

Despite a sharp rise in steel prices in September 2009, the future pricing remains uncertain, and we believe continued demand weakness, production resumption by some mills and lower iron ore and coking coal prices in the second half of 2009 would drive monthly prices down again. The recent significant reduction in global steel production in late 2008 and into 2009 has resulted in decreases in many raw material prices.

We expect that such prices will rebound when global steel production returns to more customary levels. In contrast, prices for steelmaking commodities such as steel scrap, coal, coke, iron ore, zinc, tin and other metallic additions have escalated significantly over the last several years due primarily to growth in worldwide steel production, especially in China.Zacks Investment Research

PASKO: I can’t take any more of the powers’ optimism

Robert Amsterdam — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 02:19:35 +0000

Если Вы хотите прочитать оригинал данной статьи на русском языке, нажмите сюда.I was listening to our president and recalled Jerzy Lec: "I am so full of optimism that I can't take any more of it." What didn't Dmitry Medvedev promise...

Syneron Skin Products to Hit Asia – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:51:53 +0000

Syneron Medical Ltd. (ELOS) announced the commercial launch of the elure topical skin whitening products in several Asian markets. The company will sell these products through its dermatologists, beauty salons and spas in Asia from the first quarter of 2010.

The elure skin whitening product is an enzymatic skin whitening treatment that targets and decomposes melanin to reveal a visibly lighter and exceptionally luminous skin tone. The product uses a naturally occurring bio-active substance, Melanozyme, which decomposes the melanin in a fast and safe manner with no side effects.

In the process, Melanozyme is combined with a bio-activator to diminish the dark colored pigment in the skin. The use of Melanozyme eliminates side effects such as skin redness and burning sensation which are seen in the case of other skin whitening products available in the market.

It has been estimated that skin whitening is one of the fastest growing segments of the global beauty industry. The global whitening market is expected to grow over 10% annually. In particular, the Asian market is estimated to be roughly $18 billion per annum in size and is expected to grow rapidly.

Headquartered in Yokneam Illit, Israel, Syneron Medical was founded in 2000 and is engaged in the design, development, and marketing of aesthetic medical products based on its proprietary electro-optical synergy (ELOS) technology. Its medical aesthetic devices are powered by proprietary software, and use the combined-energy technology of bi-polar radio frequency (RF) and optical energy (laser or non-coherent light).

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

SmallCapSentinel.com: Solar Solutions in Arizona

Stuart T. Smith — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:17:32 +0000

LAS VEGAS, Nov. 12, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — News released this week by GWS Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB:GWSC), an alternative energy company developing and marketing solar and wind-powered renewable energy products and solutions, could mean major advancements in the use of solar power in Arizona. GWS has announced that they are working with Dominion Real Estate [...]

ICE Launches New Energy Contracts – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:00:00 +0000

On Monday, Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) launched 40 new over-the-counter (OTC) energy contracts for North American natural gas, power, natural gas liquids and global oil products. Trading of the above contracts is scheduled to begin on Dec 7, 2009.

The new cleared oil contracts include a differential calendar swap contract and a differential trade-month swap contract based on the Argus Sour Crude Index (ASCI). The two ASCI swap contracts will be available from Nov 13.

These contracts will provide a set of complementary risk-management tools to the marketplace. Including these new products, the company now offers a total of 280 cleared OTC energy contracts, including nearly 190 new OTC contracts since the launch of ICE Clear Europe in Nov 2008. The transatlantic exchange, which operates in over 50 countries, is headquartered in Atlanta , with offices in New York , London , Chicago , Winnipeg , Calgary , Houston and Singapore .

The company operates leading regulated exchanges, trading platforms and clearing houses serving the global markets for agricultural, credit, currency, emissions, energy and equity index markets. Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. reported its third quarter results on Nov 4. The company swung to a GAAP net income of $86.9 million or $1.18 per share from a net income of $75 million or $1.04 in the year-ago period.

Results came in 3 cents ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.15. The quarterly results benefited from position limitations on speculators, sweeping regulatory reforms, lower expenses and record futures trading. The upside was also attributable to growth in the company’s core businesses, significant progress from new initiatives and stronger margins.
Read the full analyst report on "ICE"
Zacks Investment Research

Investment Basics: Ten Rules for Success

Contrarian Profits — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:21:46 +0000

pKeith Fitz-Gerald (a href="http://www.moneymorning.com" class="alinks_links"Money Morning/a):br / With all the financial woes in the global economy, the worst thing an investor can do is to “freeze up.” With all the ups and downs in the market, it’s all too easy for investors to allow their emotions to take control. That’s when the smallest mistakes turn into the biggest mistakes./p pThere’s one antidote for this problem … remembering a few basic rules. Just embrace the 10 ideas that follow and you’ll be in line to make some serious money in the months ahead./p pRule Number 1: Invest on the Right Side of Major Economic Trends:That old investing adage “Don’t fight the Fed” serves as a good example here. Rising interest-rate environments make meaningful gains difficult to sustain#8230;/p

Green Investor News – SmallCapSentinel.com: Solar Solutions in Arizona

Dawn Van Zant — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:00:00 +0000

LAS VEGAS - Nov. 12, 2009 - News released this week by GWS Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB: GWSC), an alternative energy company developing and marketing solar and wind-powered renewable energy products and solutions, could mean major advancements in the use of solar power in Arizona.

Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Macy’s Inc., Nissan, Priceline.com, General Electric Co. and United Technologies Corp. – Press Releases

Zacks Market Commentaries — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:30:27 +0000

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 12, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Macy’s Inc. (M), Nissan (NSANY), Priceline.com (PCLN), General Electric Co. (GE) and United Technologies Corp. (UTX).

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

Here are highlights from Wednesday’s Analyst Blog:

Macy’s Raises Earnings Guidance

Macy’s Inc. (M) recently reported third-quarter 2009 results. The company posted a loss of 3 cents a share that outshined the Zacks Consensus Estimate loss of 9 cents, and improved substantially from a loss of 8 cents delivered in the prior-year quarter.

Effective inventory management and division consolidation to lower costs helped the company to post a narrower quarterly loss.

The better-than-expected results prompted management to raise its earnings guidance. Macy’s now expects full year 2009 earnings in the range of $1.01 to $1.06 per share, up from the previously anticipated 70 cents to 80 cents a share. For the fourth-quarter 2009, earnings are expected between $1.00 and $1.05 per share.

On a reported basis, including one-time items, Macy’s reported a quarterly loss of 8 cents a share, an improvement over a loss of 10 cents delivered in the year-ago quarter.

Nissan to Build World’s Cheapest Car

Carlos Ghosn, the Chief Executive of the alliance Renault and Nissan (NSANY), has revealed that the company will roll out a small car with its Indian partner, Bajaj Auto, that will be cheaper than any other car in India -- and in the world. The car, which is scheduled for launch in India in 2012, would beat India’s largest automaker Tata Motors’ Nano both in terms of pricing and fuel-efficiency, and become the world's cheapest car.

Presently, Tata Nano is the world's cheapest car. The car has a starting price of about Rs100,000 ($2,150). When Renault and Bajaj started discussing on their "ultra low-cost" car 2 years ago, it has been revealed that the car would have been priced between $2,500 and $3,000. However, at the World Economic Forum meeting in New Delhi, India, Mr.Ghosn announced that the ultra low-cost car would be cheaper than the Nano.

So far, India’s bottom-end motor vehicles market has been well known for motorcycles. After the hearty response to the Tata Nano, automakers around the world realized the huge market potential for small cars in India. Hence the initiative for the world's cheapest car.

Priceline Beats, Guidance Strong

Priceline.com (PCLN) reported very strong third quarter results, with earnings beating the consensus by 57 cents and revenue beating by 5.3%.

Revenue of $730.7 million was up 21.0% sequentially and 30.1% year over year. The significant increase from the year-ago quarter was helped by easier comps as the third quarter of 2008 was impacted by the recession, while the third quarter of 2009 benefited from strengthening demand.

Revenue growth was driven by significantly higher room night volumes, which offset the decline in average daily rates (ADRs). Room nights increased 14.1% sequentially and 56.3% year over year. Both airline ticket units and rental car days declined sequentially, although they were up 30.2% and11.6%, respectively from the year-ago quarter.

GE to Sell Security Systems

General Electric Co. (GE) is in talks to sell its security systems unit, most likely to United Technologies Corp. (UTX), for more than $1.5 billion in an effort to reshuffle its extensive portfolio and raise capital for strategic acquisitions.

United Technologies Corp. is a diversified company whose products include Carrier heating and air conditioning, Hamilton Sundstrand aerospace systems and industrial products, Otis elevators and escalators, Pratt & Whitney aircraft engines, Sikorsky helicopters, UTC Fire & Security systems and UTC Power fuel cells. The company has been lately looking to expand its security business.

GE’s move to sell its fire alarms and security division comes as it is finalizing a bigger deal to hive off its NBC Universal television and movie unit into a joint venture controlled by the cable operator Comcast. Strategically, GE wants to raise funds to expand its core businesses – which include infrastructure, oil and gas equipment, and energy – partly by hiving off peripheral divisions.

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4 Brazilian Stocks to Spice Up Your Portfolio – Investment Ideas

Michael Vodicka — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:00:00 +0000

International stocks continue to gain popularity as investors look to align their portfolios with emerging market economies and creditor nations. Brazilian stocks have been at the top of the list, with the South American juggernaut being fueled by a pro-growth government, booming exports and the modernization of its infrastructure.

Pro-Growth Government

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, otherwise known as "Lula", has led the country's pro-growth strategy, appointing the market oriented economist and former CEO of Bank Boston Henrique Meirelles as head of the Brazilian Central Bank. Lula and his administration quickly strengthened the country's relationship with the IMF by renewing agreements and paying off its debt early.

Next up was the Growth Acceleration Program, an initiative designed to free the country's economy from growth constraints. By 2008 Brazil had became a creditor nation, with its debt recently getting the nod from Standard & Poors as investment grade.

Booming Exports

Much of Brazil's incredible growth trajectory is being driven by its strong export business as a commodities powerhouse. Brazil is the world's leading beef and soybeans exporter, and ranks high in a number of other agricultural categories like chicken, orange juice and coffee. The country's service industry is also on the rise, with new exchanges and financial services companies helping to create a more balanced economy.

Infrastructure

An infrastructure story will be a recurring theme associated with emerging markets, but infrastructure development is literally and figuratively the road that leads a country to prosperity. In 2007, Brazil launched a four-year plan to spend $300 billion to modernize its roads, power plants and ports. The development of modern infrastructure and middle-class amenities has helped Brazil establish credibility as a progressive nation and future economic leader.

Now comes the important part, how to capitalize. One way would be to move to Brazil and invest in a textile plant or soybean farm. That actually sounds like a lot of fun, but might not be realistic for most of us. Here is an easier way; buy Brazilian stocks.

There are plenty of great Brazilian stocks that trade as ADRs on American exchanges, providing a nice dose of transparency and regulation to a less familiar investment destination. Here are four Brazilian stocks to watch.

4 Brazilian Stocks

Gafisa SA (GFA) is a Brazilian real-estate developer. The company just reported amazing third-quarter results, with its revenue more than doubling from last year. Analysts are looking for next-year earnings of $2.79 per share, a bullish 72% growth projection. Based on the current-year estimate, GFA has a forward P/E multiple of 20X, a reasonable valuation for a company growing this quickly in the strong Brazilian economy.

Pão de Açúcar (CBD) operates as a retailer of food, clothing and various consumer appliances. This Zacks #1 rank stock has been on a tear over the last 6 months as shares have risen in tandem with estimates. The forward P/E of 29X does look a bit pricey, but CBD looks like a solid play on Brazil's emerging consumer class and has a hefty 21% next-year growth projection to boot.

Basico do Estado (SBS) provides sanitation and environmental services in Sao Paul, the most populous Brazilian city. As a utility, this is one of the more conservative Brazilian stocks, but that helps create a more balanced approach to the market. The Zacks #2 rank stock looks like a great value pick, trading at just 6.5X projected current-year earnings.

Petrobras (PBR) is a name many may be familiar with as one of the more popular Brazilian stocks. This integrated energy company will be involved in some of the largest oil projects in the world in coming years as it works to tap into the deap-sea discoveries off the coast of Brazil. The next-year estimate looks solid at $3.57, a 22% growth projection.

Brazilian stocks are going to be volatile in the short-term as the economy adjusts to its rapid growth. But in the long run, Brazilian stocks stands to spice up your portfolio with the capacity to produce outsized gains.

Additional Resources

Zacks Research Wizard-Use this fundamental screener to find Brazilian stocks for your portfolio.

Zacks Free Custom Screener-This is a totally free screening tool to help you find the best Brazilian stocks.Zacks Investment Research

GE to Sell Security Systems – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:02:13 +0000

The security services unit operates in more than 26 countries around the world and caters to individuals, companies, governments and the military. The Florida-based division expanded when GE bought Edwards Systems Technology, a maker of fire detection equipment, from the US group SPX in 2004 for $1.4bn in cash.

Addition of GE’s security division could fulfill the United Technologies’ ambition to expand in a sector that it estimates to be worth $100 billion.

GE operates as a technology, media, and financial services company worldwide. Major competitors include Citigroup Inc. (C) and Siemens AG (SI).

We currently have a Neutral recommendation on GE.

Read the full analyst report on "GE"
Read the full analyst report on "UTX"
Read the full analyst report on "C"
Read the full analyst report on "SI"
Zacks Investment Research

Small Cap Voice Featured Company: U.S. Geothermal Inc. (HTM)

QualityStocks — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:00:20 +0000

U.S. Geothermal Inc., a renewable energy company focused on the production of electricity from geothermal energy, owns and operates geothermal power plants at Raft River, Idaho and San Emidio, Nevada, and is developing the Neal Hot Springs project in Oregon. The company strives to create enhanced value for stakeholders while addressing America’s domestic energy needs [...]

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

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

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

A Green Energy Investing Guideline

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

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

A New Audio Interview with Mark Alsentzer, CEO of Pure Earth, Inc., Is Now at SmallCapVoice.com

Stuart T. Smith — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:13:23 +0000

Nov. 11, 2009 (Business Wire) — SmallCapVoice.com, Inc. announced today that a new audio interview with Pure Earth, Inc., (OTCBB:PREA), a leading provider of innovative, unique, and sustainable solutions to alternate energy and recovery services in the United States, is now available. The interview can be heard at http://smallcapvoice.com/blog/11-10-09-audio-interview-with-pure-earth-inc-otcbb-prea/. SmallCapVoice.com is a recognized corporate investor relations [...]

Dollar Decline in Perspective – Analyst Blog

Dirk Van Dijk — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:44:42 +0000

The dollar has clearly been under pressure this year. Most of the graphs of it that you have seen probably look like the first graph below, which shows what the dollar has done against two indexes since the start of the year. The blue line is how the greenback has fared against the major currencies like the Euro and the Yen, and the red line includes those, but also looks at how it has fared against a much broader collection of currencies.

Since March 9th, the day the market hit bottom -- and the dollar hit its high for the year -- it is down 14.4% against the major currencies and down 11.5% against the broad basket of currencies.

This has a number of implications. For starters, anyone from outside the country has seen nice gains if they invested in the U.S. market, but not nearly as eye-popping as the returns that domestic investors have seen. It also means that commodity prices have gone up much less for people based in Europe or Japan than they have for people in the U.S. Yes, the price of oil is up in Yen and Euros this year, but not by nearly as much as in the U.S.

There are those (many with very large soapboxes) who would have you believe that the decline in the dollar is a crisis. I, however, beg to differ.

While in the big picture over time it is not desirable to have the currency constantly devalued, at this point the decline is not likely to cause major problems. The major downside to a falling dollar is that it makes our imports more expensive, and thus can contribute to inflation. This is particularly true in the case of oil, which tends to rise as the dollar falls. After all, why should the price of oil for someone in France or Japan go down just because the dollar is weak?

However, right now such inflation is just offsetting deflation in other parts of the economy. The biggest weighting in the CPI is owner’s equivalent rent, or what it would cost you to rent a home identical to the one you own next door to your house. It makes up almost 24% of the overall CPI. Add in the rent that people pay to landlords if they don’t own a house and the figure gets close to 30%. It is part of core inflation, so if you strip out food and energy prices it is almost 40% of the core basket of goods.

Due to the weak housing market, and rapidly rising rental vacancy rates, rents are likely to be under substantial pressure for some time to come.

There is one currency, though, that the dollar has not declined against, and that is the Chinese Yuan, since the Chinese peg it to the dollar. Since we import a lot of goods from China, the decline in the dollar is not going to cause inflation in those prices.

The upside is that it means that our exports are much more competitive. This applies even in China, since we are often going head to head, not against local Chinese companies, but against European or Japanese firms. More exports mean more jobs, and a lower trade deficit.

Remember that net exports are a direct input into the GDP calculations. With an unemployment rate of 10.2% and rising, getting the economy moving again is a FAR higher priority than fighting inflation during a time of major deflationary pressures.

Since many U.S. companies have substantial operations abroad, or export goods, the decline in the dollar means a major tailwind to their earnings, since the euro they earned is worth more in dollars today than the euro they earned a few months ago was worth then. For the S&P 500 as a whole, more than 40% of the earnings come from abroad. For many companies like Coca Cola (KO) and Colgate Palmolive (CL), it is much higher than that.

One also has to take a longer-term look. The dollar has been slipping against both indexes since 2001, but there was a huge and sharp counter-trend rally a year ago as the world economy saw the wheels come off. The U.S. has always been a safe haven in times of distress, and around the world people flocked to pull their money out of Pounds and Rupees as they tried to find a safe place to hide in the turmoil.

The dollar still has not returned to the lows it saw early last year. Seeing the dollar decline as a crisis is sort of like seeing the decline in the TED spread as a crisis. It is not -- it is a sign that things are getting back to normal.

Also, the dollar has suffered far greater declines in the past with no major ill effects on the economy. To believe that a 14.4% decline in the dollar today is going to cause major havoc in the economy, then one must remember the last half of the 1980’s -- when the dollar fell by almost 40% against other major currencies -- as a period of economic disaster. Somehow that is not my recollection of the time.

Given the chronic trade deficits this country is running, and has been running for a long time, a weak dollar might not be good, but it is necessary. The last quarter we ran a trade surplus in was the 3Q of 1980. That’s right, when Jimmy Carter was in the White House.

While recently the trade deficit has come down, it was still 2.71% of GDP in the third quarter. That is still an awful number for our long-term economic health. However, it looks great when you consider that the trade deficit has averaged 4.575 of GDP so far this century and was over 5% of GDP for three straight years, from the second quarter of 2004 through the second quarter of 2007.

It is the trade deficit that determines how indebted we are to the rest of the world, not the fiscal deficit. We have run up big debts to the rest of the world, resulting in China for example owning over $1.5 Trillion in T-notes. In return, we got all the stuff that line the shelves of Wal-Mart (WMT). Now the credit card statement has come and we have to start paying. As the dollar falls it means we get to pay that debt back cheaper. We have to make and sell less stuff overseas compared to the stuff that was made abroad and sent here.

Now, other countries might not be all that happy about it, but what are they going to do? Sell their dollars so we can repay even cheaper? As long as the decline in the dollar is gradual and orderly, it will help boost the economy. The stock market realizes this. The fact that the market bottomed on the same day the dollar peaked out was no coincidence.
Read the full analyst report on "KO"
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Zacks Investment Research

Green Investor News – GWS Technologies Announces Development of a 7 Megawatt Solar Farm in Arizona

Dawn Van Zant — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:00:00 +0000

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - November 10, 2009 - GWS Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB: GWSC), an alternative energy company developing and marketing solar and wind-powered renewable energy products and solutions, announced today that it is working with Dominion Real Estate Investments, LLC to develop a 36-acre solar farm in Florence, Arizona.

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	AES) adjusted EPS of 26 cents in the third quarter of fiscal 2009 was in line with the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate for the quarter. However, adjusted EPS for the quarter fell short by five cents compared to the year-ago EPS of 31 cents. The year-ago adjusted EPS had been boosted by 6 cents from currency transaction losses, 2 cents from incremental losses and a penny from mark-to-market losses. In comparison, the reported quarter’s EPS was affected by 3 cents from currency transaction gain and 2 cents from disposition losses. This was partially offset by 3 cents from mark-to-market losses. In the reported quarter, consolidated revenue decreased $481 million year-over-year to $3.8 billion. Of the downside, $367 million was due to the strengthening of the U.S. dollar relative to the Brazilian real, which depreciated 13%. Also, lower commodity input prices translated into lower revenues at its generation businesses in Chile, New York, Hungary and Northern Ireland. This was partially offset by higher revenues from the Latin American utilities business due to increases in tariff rates in Brazil, reflecting the recovery of energy purchases that had been passed on to customers. Consolidated gross margin increased $46 million to $1.0 billion, benefiting from improved operating performance at the generation businesses in Chile and the Philippines, as well as the recovery of bad debts at Eletropaulo, one of the company’s utilities in Brazil. These improvements were offset in part by the strengthening of the U.S. dollar relative to foreign currencies, totaling $79 million, and lower volume at Eastern Energy in New York due to unfavorable electricity pricing, resulting in lower dispatch. Proportional gross margin decreased $46 million to $555 million, primarily due to the unfavorable impact of foreign exchange rates as well as lower volumes at its wholly owned generation business in New York and its integrated utility in Indiana. These factors were offset in part by improved operations at Gener in Chile and Masinloc in the Philippines. AES Corporation reported cash and cash equivalents of $2.0 billion at the end of first nine months of fiscal 2009 from $903 million at year-end fiscal 2008. The company reported $1.9 billion in cash from operating activities at the end of the first nine months of fiscal 2009, compared to $1.6 billion at the end of the first nine months of fiscal 2008. Long term liabilities increased to $24.4 billion at the end of the first nine months of fiscal 2009 from $22.5 billion at the end of fiscal 2008. AES Corporation raised the mid-point of adjusted EPS guidance for fiscal 2009 by 1 cent to 9 cents. Earlier, the company had forecasted adjusted EPS to be in the range of $1.05 to $1.10. Read the full analyst report on "AES" Zacks Investment Research Wind Works Power Corp. (WWPW.OB) is “One to Watch” QualityStocks — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:00:44 +0000 Wind Works Power Corp.’s mission is to become a leading developer of wind energy projects in North America. They have a variety of wind park projects in Canada and the United States. The Company has their headquarters in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. They trade on the OTC Bulletin Board. Wind Works Power Corp.’s projects include the [...] Xplosive – Monday Morning Edition GSAE, MBST, HCEI, HZHI (Brought to you by DrStockPick.com) Dr. Stock Pick — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:06:05 +0000 www.XplosiveStocks.com The Xplosive Monday Morning Edition You have had all weekend to perform your research, and we know you are all eager to maximize your returns. Well before you do let us give you that one last information update you need to make the right decision, and the most profitable one! 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Other strategic capabilities that the company has built for its Performance Materials business include a technology center in Shanghai's Zhangjiang Industrial Park, a triethylenediamine manufacturing facility for polyurethane additives in Changzhou, warehouses in Changzhou, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Nanjing. The plant has also enhanced Air Products' ability to supply differentiated products. The initial focus will be on several performance-oriented products marketed by Air Products' epoxy additive and polyurethane additive product lines, including the Polycat and Dabco series of amine catalysts, and Ancamine, Ancamide and Sunmide series of epoxy curing agents used in diverse industries, such as coatings, inks, adhesives, construction, appliance and automotive. This apart, Air Products also plans to build a new world-scale air separation unit (ASU) at its La Porte, Texas industrial gases facility. The energy efficient ASU will replace older assets at the site and provide benefits to customers through higher-reliability pipeline of oxygen and nitrogen supply, and enhanced production of merchant and electronics products including argon and xenon. The new ASU is to be on-stream in October 2011. The ASU at La Porte will serve customers across Air Products' three major business areas of Tonnage Gases, Merchant Gases and Electronics and increase supply security and reliability. The company expects the ASU to deliver significant productivity gains through decreased energy consumption and operating costs. Air Products also plans to purchase and operate four existing air separation units to supply industrial gases to Xingtai Iron and Steel Corp., Ltd., one of China’s largest specialty steel manufacturers located in Hebei province, China. Air Products is the second largest industrial gas supplier in North America and the fourth largest in the world. The company serves customers in the industrial, energy, technology and healthcare markets worldwide. Read the full analyst report on "APD" Zacks Investment Research Solar Energy Initiatives, Inc. (SNRY.OB) Announces QualityStocks Coverage QualityStocks — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:18:22 +0000 Solar Energy Initiatives, Inc. announced they will be featured in upcoming Daily Newsletters, Daily Blogs, and Message Boards. QualityStocks has over 750,000 subscribers to The Daily Stock Newsletter, which is a free service that collects data from hundreds of Small-Cap and Micro-Cap online Investment Newsletters and puts it all into one Free Daily Newsletter Report. Solar [...] DuPont Reaffirms Outlook – Analyst Blog Zacks Market Commentaries — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:10:00 +0000 Ei Dupont De Nemours Co.(DuPont) (DD) recently announced that it expects to generate about 10% growth in the top-line during 2009-2012. The chemical giant also plans to capture $1 billion in fixed cost productivity and $1 billion in working capital productivity gains during the 2010-2012. On average, DuPont expects to deliver almost 20% year-over-year growth in earnings per share between 2009 and 2012. Despite an expected decline in pharmaceutical royalties after expiry of patents in 2010, DuPont expects to grow earnings between $2.10 and $2.40 per share in the year. The company has also reaffirmed its full-year 2009 earnings outlook of $1.95 to $2.05 per share, excluding significant items, which are estimated to be $0.15 per share for full-year 2009 or $1.80 to $1.90 per share on a reported basis. It had previously forecasted earnings of $1.70 to $2.10 a share. DuPont expects improving demand in key markets, as well as lower raw material costs. For the full year 2009, the Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at $2.10, slightly higher than management's guidance. For the fourth quarter of the current year, Zacks is expecting DuPont to flash earnings of 41 cents. DuPont reported third-quarter 2009 earnings of 45 cents, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 33 cents, helped by significant cost cuts and lower raw material, energy and freight expenses. In the Agriculture & Nutrition (Pioneer Hi-Bred, Crop Protection, Nutrition & Health) business, DuPont expects to generate more than $2 billion in top-line growth through 2012 by growing North America corn and soya volumes and market share. The company expects margins to improve in the Electronics & Communications business. The company anticipates top-line growth by leveraging an established leadership position in photovoltaics and displays; introducing key products and capitalizing on recovery opportunities and providing operational discipline with a lean business structure. In the Performance Coatings business, DuPont plans to restore pre-tax operating margins to low double digits by 2012 by delivering $300 million in fixed and variable cost productivity, while expanding and leveraging its leadership in refinish products and growing the portfolio in emerging markets. For Performance Materials (Performance Polymers and Packaging & Industrial Polymers) business, the company plans to focus on emerging markets by delivering lightweight and renewably-sourced materials to meet escalating global demands and continuing intense focus on productivity. In the Safety & Protection (Protection Technologies, Building Innovations, Safety Resources) segment, DuPont expects to generate 12%-16% annual revenue growth by launching new science-based products, including lighter weight and next-generation advanced materials. In the Performance Chemicals (Chemicals & Fluoroproducts, Titanium Technologies) business, DuPont will focus on cost productivity improvement; accelerating globalization to capture emerging markets growth. The company has merged two businesses in this segment (DuPont Chemical Solutions Enterprise and DuPont Fluoroproducts) into a single powerhouse unit named DuPont Chemicals & Fluoroproducts – accelerating growth by expanding global market access. The merger further streamlines the company from 14 to 13 businesses. Cost cuts have boosted DuPont's third-quarter pretax earnings by about $300 million, bringing cost reductions year-to-date to $900 million. The company's full-year goal is $1 billion. Raw material, energy and freight costs were 12% lower than the previous year levels, and DuPont expects these costs for full year 2009 to be about 5% to 6 % lower than 2008. All major chemical makers, including Dow Chemical Company (DOW), are focusing on cutting expenses. Dow has cut down on more than $375 million of expenses in the first six months of 2009 and expects synergies of $1.3 billion in the year. DuPont is currently the world's second-largest chemical company in terms of market capitalization, and the fourth in terms of revenues. We maintain our Neutral recommendation on DuPont. Read the full analyst report on "DD" Read the full analyst report on "DOW" Zacks Investment Research Titanium Metals Down in the 3Q – Analyst Blog Zacks Market Commentaries — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:00:00 +0000 Revenues and profits for Titanium Metals Corporation (TIE) plunged in the third quarter of 2009 due to lower shipments on the back of weak demand from commercial aircraft builders and lower selling prices. Earnings per share for the country's largest producer of titanium was $1.1 million, or $0.01 per share, compared to last year's $40.2 million, or $0.22 per share. Earnings also missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 3 cents. Revenues of $181.4 million declined 39% year over year. Volumes in the melted product segment were down 39% to 675 million tons while prices weakened 20% to $23.9 per ton from $29.85 per ton last year. Shipments in the mill product business plummeted 31% to 3.8 billion tons and prices dropped 6% to $56 per ton from $59.4 per ton. Lower sales were followed by a significant 93% fall in operating income to $3.5 million. Cost of sales declined about 36% to $163.7 million on lower raw material costs. However, low utilization of production capacity more than offsets the favorable impact of declining raw material costs. Hence, gross margin as a percent of sales went down to 17.7% from 72.9% in the year-ago quarter. Titanium Metals stated that the near-term demand outlook remains unclear. However, the company said that its major customer, the Chicago-based Boeing Company (BA), recently announced an expected first flight for the Boeing 787 prior to the end of 2009 and first commercial delivery during the fourth quarter of 2010. This is likely to drive production throughout the commercial aerospace supply chain and, thereby, create demand for Titanium products. Titanium Metals Corporation is the second-largest producer of titanium worldwide and the largest producer in the US. Products include titanium sponge, melted products, mill products and industrial fabrications that are finding their growing adoption in commercial aerospace, defense, energy and several other industries. We believe commercial and defense aerospace will be the key growth driver for Titanium Metals. The company is also seeing its adoption in geothermal energy extraction and oil & natural gas production. Chemical processing, consumer and sporting goods are some of the other areas of growth. Read the full analyst report on "TIE" Read the full analyst report on "BA" Zacks Investment Research HCEI, DrStockPick.com November’s Stock to Follow! Healthy Coffee International Inc., HCEI.PK Dr. Stock Pick — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:59:36 +0000 Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _________________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _________________________________________ November 8, 2009 DrStockPick.com November’s Stock to Follow! HCEI, Healthy Coffee International Inc., HCEI.PK ************************************************************ I’d like to introduce you to HCEI Healthy Coffee INTL. This is a company uniquely positioned to ride the robust growth of 3 multi billion dollar industries. HCEI intersects with coffee, wellness and energy [...] CVAT, PWRM, PSFT, AQNM, CSRH, DrStockPick.com Weekend Update! 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Currently, the company’s business involves the [...] Zacks Industry Outlook Highlights: CNOOC Ltd., China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, or Sinopec, Cameron International, Nabors and Patterson-UTI – Press Releases Zacks Market Commentaries — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:50:54 +0000 For Immediate Release Chicago, IL – November 6, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the latest Industry Outlook. Today, Zacks Equity Research discusses the Oil & Gas sector, including CNOOC Ltd. (CEO), China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, or Sinopec (SNP), Cameron International (CAM), Nabors (NBR) and Patterson-UTI (PTEN). A synopsis of today’s Industry Outlook is presented below. The full article can be read at http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/26953/Oil+%26amp%3B+Gas+Industry. The strengthening oil price environment should benefit producers, particularly those international players having attractive growth opportunities in their home markets. Two such standout names are China’s CNOOC Ltd. (CEO) and China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, or Sinopec (SNP), both of which remain well-placed to benefit from the country’s growing appetite for energy. CNOOC enjoys a monopoly on exploration activities in China’s very prospective offshore region in addition to having a growing presence in the country’s natural gas and LNG infrastructure. On the other hand, Sinopec is the second largest crude oil and natural gas producer, and the largest refiner and marketer of refined petroleum products in China. Sinopec’s leverage to the lucrative Chinese market and the recent $7.5 billion Addax acquisition is expected to help sustain its growth momentum. Within the oilfield services group, we prefer to own companies such as Cameron International (CAM), that derives about two-thirds of its revenue from outside North America, thereby playing an offsetting role to the relatively soft U.S. drilling scene. Cameron recently posted better-than-expected third quarter results and raised its 2009 forecast, as a revival in energy prices led to improved drilling activities. WEAKNESSES We continue to feel strongly that industry players in the servicing and drilling ends of the business with substantial natural gas-focused and North America-centric operations should be avoided. A major sub-sector that fits that description is the onshore drillers. While we currently don't have any Underperform rated stocks in this group, we remain skeptical of land drillers like Nabors (NBR) and Patterson-UTI (PTEN), given the extent of excess capacity in the sector that is expected to weigh on dayrates and margins well into next year. Want more from Zacks Equity Research? Subscribe to the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5510. About Zacks Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978 by Leonard Zacks. As a PhD in mathematics Len knew he could find patterns in stock market data that would lead to superior investment results. Amongst his many accomplishments was the formation of his proprietary stock picking system; the Zacks Rank, which continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros at http://at.zacks.com/?id=5511. Visit http://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release. Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/zacksresearch Join us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Zacks-Investment-Research/57553657748?ref=ts 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: Mark Vickery Web Content Editor 312-265-9380 Visit: www.zacks.com Zacks Investment Research Oil & Gas Industry – Industry Outlook Zacks Market Commentaries — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:16:48 +0000 OUTLOOK The improving economic scene, both here in the U.S. as well as worldwide, is the main driver of the current oil rally that has seen the commodity settling around the $80 per barrel level. But high levels of product inventories (particularly gasoline), along with still higher supplies, will limit any sustained crude gains, in our view. But way too many factors weigh on oil prices, from OPEC decisions and geostrategic tensions to the value of the U.S. dollar and seasonal variables, to definitively size up each one of them for their respective impact on prices. In its latest release, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a less-than-anticipated increase in crude stockpiles, which rose by 800,000 barrels for the week ending October 23. However, current crude oil stocks, at 339.9 million barrels, still remain 9% above the year-earlier level as well as above the upper limit of the average for this time of the year. As such, crude oil’s near-term fundamentals remain dismal, to say the least. At current projections, world crude demand for 2009 is expected to be below last year’s level, which itself was below the 2007 level -- the first time since the early 1980’s of two back-to-back negative growth years. Last month, the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA) provided some positive news in this otherwise bleak supply-demand picture. The energy-monitoring body of 28 industrialized countries hiked its global oil demand forecast for both this year and 2010 by 200,000 barrels per day and 350,000 barrels per day, respectively, citing higher-than-expected consumption in Asia and the Americas. Our view is that oil should be able to hold onto its recent gains and consolidate around current levels, provided this favorable economic view remains in place. But this does not mean that we will not see any short-term pullbacks. On the whole, we expect oil prices in 2010 to be higher than the 2009 levels, but remain significantly below the 2008 peak levels. Natural Gas The overall picture remains particularly weak for natural gas, whose inventories have recently hit a new record high of 3.76 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) and is threatening to test the maximum capacity of 3.89 Tcf. Continued strong domestic production (from a number of unconventional natural gas fields) and recessionary consumption (due to the economic downturn), particularly in the industrial sector, are at the core of the commodity's current woes. Natural gas prices rallied earlier last year, reaching over $13 per million Btu (MMBtu) in July 2008, before trending down to seven-year low level of sub-$2 per MMBtu (we are referring to Henry Hub spot prices here) in September 2009. This, together with tighter access to credit, has prompted producers to scale back drilling operations over the past few quarters. The supply picture is expected to reverse in the coming months as the lag effect of the sharp drop in domestic drilling activity takes hold. But we do not think this would be enough to offset the record high inventories (storage levels remaining 12% above their five-year average) and steep recession-related cuts in demand. This translates into limited upside for natural gas-weighted companies and related support plays. OPPORTUNITIES The strengthening oil price environment should benefit producers, particularly those international players having attractive growth opportunities in their home markets. Two such standout names are China’s CNOOC Ltd. (CEO) and China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, or Sinopec (SNP), both of which remain well-placed to benefit from the country’s growing appetite for energy. CNOOC enjoys a monopoly on exploration activities in China’s very prospective offshore region in addition to having a growing presence in the country’s natural gas and LNG infrastructure. On the other hand, Sinopec is the second largest crude oil and natural gas producer, and the largest refiner and marketer of refined petroleum products in China. Sinopec’s leverage to the lucrative Chinese market and the recent $7.5 billion Addax acquisition is expected to help sustain its growth momentum. Within the oilfield services group, we prefer to own companies such as Cameron International (CAM) that derives about two-thirds of its revenue from outside North America, thereby playing an offsetting role to the relatively soft U.S. drilling scene. Cameron recently posted better-than-expected third quarter results and raised its 2009 forecast, as a revival in energy prices led to improved drilling activities. WEAKNESSES We continue to feel strongly that industry players in the servicing and drilling ends of the business with substantial natural gas-focused and North America-centric operations should be avoided. A major sub-sector that fits that description is the onshore drillers. While we currently don't have any Underperform rated stocks in this group, we remain skeptical of land drillers like Nabors (NBR) and Patterson-UTI (PTEN), given the extent of excess capacity in the sector that is expected to weigh on dayrates and margins well into next year. As expected, natural-gas woes in North America have pulled down the oilfield services companies' third-quarter results. In particular, we remain wary of service providers like Smith International Inc. (SII), given its high North American exposure (from the W-H Energy acquisition) in the face of a collapse in the region’s drilling activities. We have Neutral recommendation on the company, whose third quarter results came in significantly below expectations. Within the E&P group, we see little reason for investors to own shares of Stone Energy Corp. (SGY). We believe that Stone’s asset portfolio, centered on the Gulf Coast/Gulf of Mexico regions and lacking meaningful exposure to the emerging shale plays, is not suited for the current environment of low commodity prices and restricted access to capital. We also maintain our cautious view on oil refiners, given the higher-than-average gasoline and distillate stocks -- a combination that will continue to hurt their profitability going into 2010. Additionally, the sharply lower refinery utilization (at around 82% of capacity) provides enough evidence that refineries are cutting back on production because the economy is still struggling on the demand side. Being the largest independent refiner, Valero Energy Corp. (VLO) remains particularly exposed to this unfavorable macro backdrop. We have an Underperform recommendation on the company. Zacks Investment Research Panasonic Starts Tender for Sanyo – Analyst Blog Zacks Market Commentaries — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:48:41 +0000 Panasonic Corp. (PC) provided another update on the acquisition of SANYO Electric Co Ltd. (SANYY) at its Board Meeting held on Nov 4, 2009. The company announced the start of its tender offer to acquire 3.1 billion shares of SANYO (or more than 50% of the company’s total shares) for approximately $4.4 billion (403 billion yen). Earlier, Panasonic had planned to take over all of Sanyo's shares. Panasonic had entered into a capital and business alliance agreement with SANYO in Dec 2008. The latter is a leading company in the rechargeable battery business focused on lithium-ion rechargeable batteries. Panasonic is one of the leading manufacturers of electronic and electrical products, systems and components. The tender offer is planned for Nov 5 through Dec 7 at a price of $1.4 or 131 yen per share. Goldman Sachs, Daiwa Securities SMBC and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. (Sanyo's three major shareholders) holding approximately 70% of total shares have agreed to sell at least a combined 3.07 billion shares to Panasonic. The Panasonic deal with SANYO is pending regulatory approval but the company said earlier that most of the regulatory hurdles have been taken care of in some countries. Panasonic has so far received the approval of seven regulatory bodies for its proposed acquisition of Sanyo Electric but is still waiting for regulatory approval from the United States Federal Trade Commission, the Ministry of Commerce and the European Commission. The regulatory bodies were concerned on the growing combined market share of Panasonic and SANYO (approximately 90%) in nickel-metal hydride batteries and cylindrical primary lithium batteries, which will pose a threat to other manufacturers. To deal with this, Panasonic said that it will transfer to FDK Corporation all the shares of SANYO Energy Twicell Co. Ltd., which conducts the business of rechargeable portable nickel metal-hydride batteries. The share transfer is expected to take place on Dec 21, 2009. The energy business of SANYO will be added as Energy Solutions to Panasonic’s business, which will further expand its HIT (crystalline silicon) solar photovoltaic cells and modules (batteries) business and accelerate the development and commercialization of next-generation solar cells. By taking over SANYO, Panasonic plans to double production capacity of lithium ion batteries to around 1 million units a year by the middle of 2010. Panasonic expects the alliance to result in a net profit growth of 80 billion yen in fiscal 2013. Panasonic and SANYO will also set up a ‘Collaboration Committee’, in which Panasonic will invest around 100 billion yen in order to achieve the synergy of both companies.  Management said that Sanyo is expected to become Panasonic's subsidiary by mid-December, bringing greater expertise in two areas – batteries and solar panels. This acquisition will enable Panasonic to more aggressively compete with market leaders such as Sony (SNE) and Hitachi (HIT) amid growing demand for the rechargeable power source commonly used in mobile phones, laptop PCs and digital cameras. Moreover, it will help Panasonic become Japan’s largest electronics maker. Read the full analyst report on "PC" Read the full analyst report on "SANYY" Read the full analyst report on "SNE" Read the full analyst report on "HIT" Zacks Investment Research Zacks Industry Outlook Highlights: Evergreen Solar Inc., JA Solar Holdings Co Ltd., A-Power Energy Generation System, LDK Solar Company Ltd. and First Solar Inc. – Press Releases Zacks Market Commentaries — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:45:01 +0000 For Immediate Release Chicago, IL – November 5, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the latest Industry Outlook. Today, Zacks Equity Research discusses the Alternative Energy sector, including Evergreen Solar Inc. (ESLR), JA Solar Holdings Co Ltd. (JASO), A-Power Energy Generation System (APWR), LDK Solar Company Ltd. (LDK) and First Solar Inc. (FSLR). A synopsis of today’s Industry Outlook is presented below. The full article can be read at http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/26898/Alternative+Energy. Alternative energy stock prices generally rise and fall in direct proportion to the price of crude oil. While in times of high oil prices this may present an opportunity, it also increases volatility in the sector. Industry-wide excess solar cell and module capacity have led to stockpiling across the board. As a result, we think the performance of companies such as Evergreen Solar Inc. (ESLR), JA Solar Holdings Co Ltd. (JASO), A-Power Energy Generation System (APWR) and LDK Solar Company Ltd. (LDK) -- burdened as they are with high inventory levels -- will remain under pressure in the near term. Germany, one of the prime solar markets with a lucrative subsidy program, is considering a roll-back of its grants. This will affect companies such as First Solar Inc. (FSLR), who generate a substantial portion of their sales from Germany. Want more from Zacks Equity Research? Subscribe to the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5510. About Zacks Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978 by Leonard Zacks. As a PhD in mathematics Len knew he could find patterns in stock market data that would lead to superior investment results. Amongst his many accomplishments was the formation of his proprietary stock picking system; the Zacks Rank, which continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros at http://at.zacks.com/?id=5511. Visit http://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release. Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/zacksresearch Join us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Zacks-Investment-Research/57553657748?ref=ts 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: Mark Vickery Web Content Editor 312-265-9380 Visit: www.zacks.com Zacks Investment Research A New Audio Interview with Fred Barker, Vice President of PowerVerde, Inc., is now at SmallCapVoice.com Stuart T. Smith — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:31:16 +0000 Nov. 4, 2009 (Business Wire) — SmallCapVoice.com, Inc. announced today that a new audio interview with PowerVerde, Inc. (OTCBB: PWVI) is now available. The interview can be heard at http://smallcapvoice.com/blog/11-2-09-audio-interview-with-powerverde-inc-otcbb-pwvi/. SmallCapVoice.com is a recognized corporate investor relations firm, with clients nationwide, known for its ability to help emerging growth companies build a following among retail and [...] Alternative Energy – Industry Outlook Zacks Market Commentaries — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:00:18 +0000 OUTLOOK The Alternative Energy industry is going through a recovery after absorbing the global recession and the cascading fall in global crude oil prices. Earlier this year, quite a few alternative energy companies were in the trough. Though these companies have recovered from their lows, their valuations are still significantly lower than their 52-week highs. The growth of alternative energy companies is closely tied to the fortunes of the economy. In its latest release, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) predicted that total U.S. electricity consumption will decline by 3.3% in 2009 before growing by 1.3% in 2010 as the improving economy coaxes a gradual recovery in electricity sales. In fiscal 2008, annual U.S. photovoltaic (PV) installed capacity grew by 63% year-over-year, bringing the cumulative installed capacity to 792MW. According to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) -- the U.S. trade association representing close to 500 companies in the solar energy industry -- Germany ranked first followed by Spain, Japan and U.S. in terms of cumulative installed solar electric power as of year-end fiscal 2008. However in fiscal 2008, Spain (2.46GW in 2008) beat Germany (1.86GW) in terms of new installations. World solar PV installations reached a record high of 5.95GW in 2008, representing growth of 110% over 2007. According to the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) -- the world industry association for solar photovoltaic electricity market -- the cumulative global installed PV capacity stood at almost 15GW, compared to only 9GW in 2007. OPPORTUNITIES Environmental Advantage: Solar power is one of the most benign electric generation resources. Solar cells generate electricity without air or water emissions, noise, vibration, habitat impact or waste generation. Fuel Risk Advantage: Unlike fossil and nuclear fuels, solar energy has no risk of fuel price volatility or delivery risk. Although there is variability in the amount and timing of sunlight in the day, season and year, a properly sized and configured system can be designed to be highly reliable while providing a long-term, fixed-price electric supply. Locational Advantage: Unlike other renewable resources such as hydroelectric and wind power, solar power is generally located at a customer’s site due to the universal availability of sunlight. As a result, solar power limits the expense and energy losses associated with the transmission and distribution from large-scale electric plants to the end users. For most residential consumers seeking an environment-friendly power alternative, solar power is currently the only viable choice as it can be sourced in urban and rural environments. Subsidy Programs: Governments, most notably that of China, have increased their financial support for solar projects. China is aiming at increasing its installed solar power capacity to 2GW by 2011 from 140MW capacity at the end of fiscal 2008. To fulfill this objective, the Chinese government offers 50% of the cost of investment of solar power projects. For solar projects in remote areas, the government subsidizes 70% of the project cost. A company under our coverage benefiting from this move includes Solarfun Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (SOLF). Through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) passed in February 2009, the U.S. Treasury Department has implemented a program to issue cash grants in lieu of the investment tax credit for renewable energy projects. Recent focus on renewable sources will greatly benefit green crusader companies like Rentech Inc. (RTK). Also, the Department of Energy (DOE) in the U.S. has implemented a loan guarantee program to help developers obtain financing for solar power projects. WEAKNESSES Recent Start-ups: A large number of alternative energy companies are recent start-ups with limited resources. As such, quite a few depend on their customers’ ability to finance solar projects. Global Recession: The global economic crisis has affected alternative energy sales and earnings growth. Weakness in the debt and equity markets, for as long as it lasts, will raise costs of capital for firms in this emerging sector and may hinder project financing, working capital requirements and new research and development. Fortune Tied to Crude: Alternative energy stock prices generally rise and fall in direct proportion to the price of crude oil. While in times of high oil prices this may present an opportunity, it also increases volatility in the sector. Excess Capacity: Industry-wide excess solar cell and module capacity have led to stockpiling across the board. As a result, we think the performance of companies such as Evergreen Solar Inc. (ESLR), JA Solar Holdings Co Ltd. (JASO), A-Power Energy Generation System (APWR) and LDK Solar Company Ltd. (LDK) -- burdened as they are with high inventory levels -- will remain under pressure in the near term. German Roll-back: Germany, one of the prime solar markets with a lucrative subsidy program, is considering a roll-back of its grants. This will affect companies such as First Solar Inc. (FSLR) and SunPower Corporation (SPWRA), who generate a substantial portion of their sales from Germany.Zacks Investment Research Think Equity’s Woodburn Maintains Westport (Nasdaq:WPRT) at BUY – Loweres Revenue Forecast Small Cap Pulse — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:28:00 +0000 November 4, 2009 -nbsp; Analyst Comments -nbsp; Think Equityrsquo;s David Woodburn weighed in on Westport Innovations (Nasdaq:WPRT) this morning stating that he is lowering his revenue forecast based on a reduction of estimates for heavy-duty engine volume based on near-term economic pressures on fleet purchases. He continues to rate the stock at a BUY Key Takeaways middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Decreasing overall engine forecasts for F2010 and F2011; shifting some volume from higher-profit heavy-duty line to Cummins-Westport medium-duty line middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; FQ2 should be a non-event ndash; expects revenue and EPS of C$27.7 million and (C$0.30) middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; ldquo;Skepticalrdquo; on odds of incentive-heavy NAT GAS legislation being passed (as written) by itself, though the odds have increased lately middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Federal incentives to look for which could drive uptake of CNG and LNG vehicles include the DOE/Clean Cities alt fuel grants, and the NATGAS bill. middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Nov. 6 could bring the approval of SCAQMD/CARB/Port Funding middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Valuation - ldquo;From a comparable company perspective, we track Westport's valuation relative to similar clean energy growth companies. As many of these companies have yet to turn profitable (like Westport), we find the most-useful basis of comparison to be an Economic Value to Revenue (EV/Revenue) ratio. To be fair, with Westport, we use what we call "owned revenue," or Westport's share of revenue net of its joint venture with Cummins. We assign a multiple of 1.3x to our F2012 "owned" revenue estimate of C$266 million, with the result being a fair value of US$12/share. The 1.3x multiple matches the 1.3x average of a group of alternative energy technology companies, with the range being 0.8x to 3.5x, and is the same as the 1.2x average of engine/truck manufacturers.rdquo; ICE Beats on Record Futures Trading – Analyst Blog Zacks Market Commentaries — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:30:39 +0000 IntercontinentalExchange, Inc. (ICE) reported its third quarter results yesterday. The company swung to a GAAP net income of $86.9 million or $1.18 per share from a net income of $75 million or $1.04 in the year-ago period. Results came in 3 cents ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.15. The quarterly results benefited from position limitations on speculators, sweeping regulatory reforms, lower expenses and record futures trading. The upside was also attributable to growth in the company’s core businesses, significant progress from new initiatives and stronger margins. The company could benefit as more over-the-counter contracts are exchange-traded and cleared, but could suffer if U.S. regulators impose new commodity-market position limits. Net revenues increased 27.2% year over year to $256.3 million. The growth was primarily attributable to 34% increase in consolidated transaction and clearing fee revenues in the quarter driven primarily by new products, strong trading volumes in ICE's futures and OTC energy segments, continued growth since the launch of ICE Clear Europe in November 2008 and the addition of OTC credit derivatives execution, processing and clearing services. Average daily futures volume increased 24% whereas, average daily commissions in ICE's OTC energy business jumped 12% in the quarter boosting total transaction and clearing fees by 34%. Total operating expenses increased 41.3% year over year to $116.3 million mainly due to a $27 million rise in expenses relating to ICE's credit derivatives execution, processing and clearing initiatives, including compensation expenses and amortization of intangibles. Expenses included amortization expense for Russell license agreement totaling $6.5 million, compared to $0.7 million in the prior-year quarter. At the end of Sept 30, 2009, ICE had 821 employees and expects to increase its headcount by 1% to 2%. The transatlantic exchange, which operates across over 50 countries, is headquartered in Atlanta, with offices in New York, London, Chicago, Winnipeg, Calgary, Houston and Singapore. The company operates leading regulated exchanges, trading platforms and clearing houses serving the global markets for agricultural, credit, currency, emissions, energy and equity index markets. ICE’s rival CME Group Inc. (CME) reported third-quarter earnings of $3.35 per share earlier last week, beating the consensus forecast by 5 cents. Read the full analyst report on "ICE" Zacks Investment Research PWRM, INTC, PSFT, JPM, AQNM, MSFT, CVAT, STEC, CSRH, DrStockPick.com Stock Report! Dr. Stock Pick — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:20:12 +0000 Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _________________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _________________________________________ Wednesday November 4, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! PWRM, INTC, PSFT, JPM, AQNM, MSFT, CVAT, STEC, CSRH ********************************************************** PSFT, Powersafe Technology Corp., PSFT.PK PSFT subsidiary Amplification Technologies Inc. (www.amplificationtechnologies.com) (ATI), is offering higher performance thermoelectrically cooled discrete amplification single photon counting solid state photodetectors. These photodetectors are mounted on a [...] Two Investments to Add to Your “Green” Portfolio Investment U — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:19:59 +0000 Two Investments to Add to Your “Green” Portfolio by Louise Harris, Investment U Research Green investing can be tricky. That was evidenced after oil prices dropped last year and alternative energy companies saw their profits fall just as quickly. Naturally, investor enthusiasm followed, as green ETFs like Claymore/Mac Global Solar Energy Index (NYSE: TAN) [...] Muscle Flex, Inc. (MFLI.PK) Announces Launch of New Corporate Website QualityStocks — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:42:10 +0000 Muscle Flex Inc. announced this afternoon that it has launched its new corporate website at www.MuscleFlexInc.com. Muscle Flex is currently in the process of re-designing all of its online sites and properties to reflect a consolidated and focused marketing and image brand. “We are re-designing all of our media heading into the national release of the [...] Solar Energy Initiatives, Inc. (SNRY.OB) is “One to Watch” QualityStocks — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:31:05 +0000 Solar Energy Initiatives, Inc. was founded to execute a grass roots campaign, “RENEW THE NATION”, to help redeploy a portion of the U.S. work force while reducing the world’s dependence on fossil fuels. The company’s business is focused on integrating and selling solar thermal and photovoltaic technologies, while building a profitable company. Solar Energy Initiatives is [...] 11-4-09 Daily Small Cap Market News and Stock Highlights from SmallCapVoice.com Stuart T. Smith — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:10:19 +0000 Stocks are higher on positive employment data Encouraging news on the labor market buoyed stocks in early trading Wednesday as investors waited for the Federal Reserve to weigh in on the economy. The ADP National Employment Report said 203,000 private sector jobs were lost in October, down from the 227,000 jobs lost in September. It was the [...] VIASPACE, Inc. (VSPC.OB) – The Fuel Cell Comes Down To Earth QualityStocks — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:36:53 +0000 There was a time when the term “fuel cell” was linked almost exclusively with America’s space program. The fuel cells in space used hydrogen and oxygen to generate electricity for manned spacecraft, with the side benefit of producing drinking water. Few people will forget the near loss of Apollo 13 when a short circuit ignited [...] Fitch: Greenhouse Gas Legislation Puts Heat on Some U.S. Energy Sectors Dawn Van Zant — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:00:00 +0000 NEW YORK - November 4, 2009 - Credit implications of pending greenhouse gas (GHG) legislation will be a mixed bag for U.S. energy and related sectors from a potential positive for natural gas producers to a serious challenge for domestic refiners, according to a new Fitch Ratings report. PWRM, PSFT, AQNM, CVAT, CSRH, DrStockPick.com Stock Report! Dr. Stock Pick — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:46:06 +0000 Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _________________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _________________________________________ Tuesday November 3, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ********************************************************** PSFT, Powersafe Technology Corp., PSFT.PK PSFT subsidiary Amplification Technologies Inc. (www.amplificationtechnologies.com) (ATI), is offering higher performance thermoelectrically cooled discrete amplification single photon counting solid state photodetectors. These photodetectors are mounted on a two stage thermoelectric cooler inside a hermetically sealed [...] Pacific Asia Petroleum, Inc. (PFAP.OB) Approved for NYSE Amex Listing QualityStocks — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:40:19 +0000 Pacific Asia Petroleum, Inc., a company engaged in the business of oil and gas development, production and distribution in Asia and the Pacific Rim countries, announced this morning that its common stock has been approved for listing on the NYSE Amex. Trading is anticipated to begin Thursday of this week under the new ticker symbol [...] A New Audio Interview with William A. Sawyer, President and CEO of Lucas Energy, is Now at SmallCapVoice.com Stuart T. Smith — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:32:32 +0000 AUSTIN, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)–SmallCapVoice.com, Inc. announced today that a new audio interview with Lucas Energy, Inc. (NYSE Amex:LEI), an independent oil and gas company based in Houston, Texas, is now available. The interview can be heard at http://smallcapvoice.com/blog/11-2-09-audio-interview-with-lucas-energy-inc-nyse-amex-lei/. SmallCapVoice.com is a recognized corporate investor relations firm, with clients nationwide, known for its ability to help emerging growth [...] A New Audio Interview with Wayne Anderson, President of Adventure Energy, Inc., is now at SmallCapVoice.com Stuart T. Smith — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:03:53 +0000 Nov. 2, 2009 (Business Wire) — SmallCapVoice.com, Inc. announced today that a new audio interview with Adventure Energy, Inc. (OTCBB:ADVE), an energy exploration company with operations in the Appalachian Basin is now available. The interview can be heard at http://smallcapvoice.com/blog/10-30-09-audio-interview-with-adventure-energy-inc-otcbb-adve/. SmallCapVoice.com is a recognized corporate investor relations firm, with clients nationwide, known for its ability to [...] DrStockPick.com Stock Report! 11/02/09, LAVA, PSFT, NLC, SONE, BVSN, MIPS Dr. Stock Pick — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:10:52 +0000 Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _______________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _______________________________________ Monday November 2, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ********************************************************** PowerSafe Technology Corporation (PSFT.PK) subsidiary Amplification Technologies Inc. (www.amplificationtechnologies.com) (ATI), is offering higher performance thermoelectrically cooled discrete amplification single photon counting solid state photodetectors. These photodetectors are mounted on a two stage thermoelectric cooler inside [...] Muscle Flex, Inc. (MFLI.PK) Announces Prerelease of Impending Release of The Beagle StepFit Two-Minute Commercial and One-Page Landing Web-Page QualityStocks — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:07:31 +0000 Muscle Flex Inc. announced this morning that it will be releasing the final edited 2-minute commercial and one-page landing web-page for the Muscle Flex Beagle StepFit(TM) Pedometer on Wednesday, November 4, 2009 at 8:00 AM Eastern. The company’s strategy in pre-releasing the Beagle (www.BeagleStepFit.com) television commercial and landing page is for the development of advantageous [...] AQNM, Aquentium Air Purification Systems Designed to Be Used as a Prevention Against Influenza Dr. Stock Pick — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:01:03 +0000 Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _______________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _______________________________________ Monday November 2, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ********************************************************** Aquentium Air Purification Systems Designed to Be Used as a Prevention Against Influenza North Palm Springs, CA - (WORLD STOCK WIRE) - November 2, 2009 — Aquentium, Inc. (OTCBB:AQNM) announced today that their ozone air purification equipment is as an [...] PWRM, PSFT, AQNM, CVAT, CSRH, DrStockPick.com Weekend Update! Dr. Stock Pick — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:04:40 +0000 Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _________________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _________________________________________ Saturday October 31, 2009 DrStockPick.com Weekend Update! PWRM, PSFT, AQNM, CVAT, CSRH ********************************************************** PSFT, Powersafe Technology Corp., PSFT.PK PSFT subsidiary Amplification Technologies Inc. (www.amplificationtechnologies.com) (ATI), is offering higher performance thermoelectrically cooled discrete amplification single photon counting solid state photodetectors. These photodetectors are mounted on a two stage thermoelectric cooler [...] Black Hawk Exploration Inc. (BHWX.OB) is “One to Watch” QualityStocks — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:51:04 +0000 Black Hawk Exploration Inc. is a diversified metals and energy exploration company. Their current focus is on lithium exploration through their wholly owned subsidiary Blue Lithium. Black Hawk holds mineral rights to 1,120 acres in the lithium-rich Clayton Valley in Nevada. Clayton Valley is the home of the largest lithium brine production facility in [...] Reflect Scientific, Inc. (RSCF.OB) Receives Most Innovative Product Award QualityStocks — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:11:22 +0000 Reflect Scientific, Inc., a provider of energy efficient, zero emission cooling products, excitedly announced that it received the award for Most Innovative Products at Utah’s Green Business Awards in Salt Lake City, Utah. The award recognizes companies, communities and individuals in Utah who are making strides in environmental sustainability. Reflect Scientific received recognition for its refrigeration [...] Energy Blast – Oct 30, 2009 Robert Amsterdam — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:28:07 +0000 Iran is 'unwilling to accept' a deal that would see most of its enriched uranium shipped abroad. 'Tehran is obviously probing to see whether President Obama can play hardball or whether he can be played.' Russia will share the 'prize'... L L International Holdings Inc. (LLFH.OB) Completes $8.18M Coal Washing, Coking Facility Acquisition QualityStocks — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:15:12 +0000 L & L International Holdings Inc. is a U.S.-based company operating coal businesses in China. The company today announced an agreement with Hon Shen Coal Company in China, in which L&L will acquire a 93 percent stake in Hon Shen’s coking facilities, as well as a 28 percent interest in Hon Shen’s coal washing facilities. [...] DrStockPick.com Stock Report! 10/29/09, ADES, PSFT, IBM, S, GPX, BSQR Dr. Stock Pick — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:42:07 +0000 Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _______________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _______________________________________ Thursday October 29, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************ PowerSafe Technology Corporation (PSFT.PK) subsidiary Amplification Technologies Inc. (www.amplificationtechnologies.com) (ATI), is offering higher performance thermoelectrically cooled discrete amplification single photon counting solid state photodetectors. These photodetectors are mounted on a two stage thermoelectric cooler inside [...]

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The Best Energy Investments in the World

Big Things: Website Redesign, Trader Talk Live, and Live Portfolio.

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

Exponential Growth, Finite World – Analyst Blog

This Small Oil Producer is Ripe for a Takeover… Here’s How to Profit

Small Cap Voice Featured Company: Rival Technologies Inc. (RVTI.OB)

11-20-09 Daily Small Cap Market News and Stock Highlights from SmallCapVoice.com

The Iron (Pipeline) Curtain

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Etrion Corp. (TSX: ETX) and SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ:SPWRA) Team Up to Deliver Four Italy-based Solar Plants

Beacon Power Corp. (BCON) Breaks Ground on 20-Megawatt Flywheel Energy Storage Plant

Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: PG&E Corporation, Edison International, Autodesk Inc., Adobe Systems Inc. and Apple Inc. – Press Releases

Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Ford, CarMax, AutoNation, Apartment Investors and Equity Residential – Press Releases

JLL is P&G’s Supplier of the Year – Analyst Blog

California May Ban High-Watt TVs – Analyst Blog

CPI Up on Cars, Energy – Analyst Blog

Williams Files for Expansion – Analyst Blog

Solar Energy Initiatives, Inc. (SNRY.OB) Announces Signing of Financing Agreement for Municipal Solar Projects

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The Gas Comics: EU Sells Out Human Rights to Turkmenistan

China Technology Development Group Corp. (CTDC) Teams Up With ISEC-UNIDO to Develop Chinese Solar Research Lab

Producer Price Index Tame – Analyst Blog

VIASPACE, Inc. (VSPC.OB) Announces Q3 2009 Financial Results

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

Waste Mgmt Raises Capital – Analyst Blog

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November 16th CEOcast Weekly Newsletter

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

The Strongest BRIC Country

Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: JC Penney Company Inc., Toyota, Honda, EnCana and Chesapeake – Press Releases

Ways to Invest in Oil and Gas

District Energy Magazine publishes carbon recycling article featuring Mantra’s ERC technology

Tata and Sikorsky Ink JV – Analyst Blog

Imports Surge in September – Analyst Blog

Stock Market News for November 13, 2009 – Market News

Steel Industry – Industry Outlook

PASKO: I can’t take any more of the powers’ optimism

Syneron Skin Products to Hit Asia – Analyst Blog

SmallCapSentinel.com: Solar Solutions in Arizona

ICE Launches New Energy Contracts – Analyst Blog

Investment Basics: Ten Rules for Success

Green Investor News – SmallCapSentinel.com: Solar Solutions in Arizona

Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Macy’s Inc., Nissan, Priceline.com, General Electric Co. and United Technologies Corp. – Press Releases

4 Brazilian Stocks to Spice Up Your Portfolio – Investment Ideas

GE to Sell Security Systems – Analyst Blog

Small Cap Voice Featured Company: U.S. Geothermal Inc. (HTM)

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

A Green Energy Investing Guideline

A New Audio Interview with Mark Alsentzer, CEO of Pure Earth, Inc., Is Now at SmallCapVoice.com

Dollar Decline in Perspective – Analyst Blog

Green Investor News – GWS Technologies Announces Development of a 7 Megawatt Solar Farm in Arizona

Earnings Season in Home Stretch – Earnings Trends

Wind Works Power Corp. (WWPW.OB) is “One to Watch”

Xplosive – Monday Morning Edition GSAE, MBST, HCEI, HZHI (Brought to you by DrStockPick.com)

Air Products Focuses on China – Analyst Blog

Solar Energy Initiatives, Inc. (SNRY.OB) Announces QualityStocks Coverage

DuPont Reaffirms Outlook – Analyst Blog

Titanium Metals Down in the 3Q – Analyst Blog

HCEI, DrStockPick.com November’s Stock to Follow! Healthy Coffee International Inc., HCEI.PK

CVAT, PWRM, PSFT, AQNM, CSRH, DrStockPick.com Weekend Update!

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Solar Energy Initiatives (SNRY.OB) – Harnessing the Power of the Sun

StockGuru Featured Company: Green Star Alternative Energy, Inc. (GSAE.PK)

Zacks Industry Outlook Highlights: CNOOC Ltd., China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, or Sinopec, Cameron International, Nabors and Patterson-UTI – Press Releases

Oil & Gas Industry – Industry Outlook

Panasonic Starts Tender for Sanyo – Analyst Blog

Zacks Industry Outlook Highlights: Evergreen Solar Inc., JA Solar Holdings Co Ltd., A-Power Energy Generation System, LDK Solar Company Ltd. and First Solar Inc. – Press Releases

A New Audio Interview with Fred Barker, Vice President of PowerVerde, Inc., is now at SmallCapVoice.com

Alternative Energy – Industry Outlook

Think Equity’s Woodburn Maintains Westport (Nasdaq:WPRT) at BUY – Loweres Revenue Forecast

ICE Beats on Record Futures Trading – Analyst Blog

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