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

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

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Stock Guru Featured Company: Quasar Aerospace Industries, Inc. (QASP.PK)

QualityStocks — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 16:10:41 +0000

Quasar Aerospace Industries, Inc. is the holding company for a group of aviation related entities that strengthens the company through their union. Quasar is focused on retaining the individual corporate cultures of their wholly owned subsidiaries while reaping the synergistic benefit of their combined union. Quasar Aircraft Company (QAC) is a Nevada corporation owned by the [...]

Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Affiliated Computer Services Inc., Xerox Corp., Expedia Inc., Orbitz Worldwide and Priceline.com – Press Releases

Zacks Market Commentaries — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 13:00:53 +0000

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 25, 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: Affiliated Computer Services Inc. (ACS), Xerox Corp. (XRX), Expedia Inc. (EXPE), Orbitz Worldwide (OWW) and Priceline.com (PCLN).

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 Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:

Settlement in Xerox-ACS Merger

Affiliated Computer Services Inc. (ACS) announced that the complaint filed by ACS shareholders regarding its merger with Xerox Corp. (XRX) has been resolved. The plaintiffs have temporarily withdrawn their motion for an injunction to block the deal.

The lawsuit was filed in October in Dallas County, Texas as Xerox was struggling to convince its shareholders to approve the deal.

The plaintiffs agreed to drop the lawsuit only if ACS’s Board of Directors received a better proposal than Xerox’s current bid and Xerox did not force ACS’s Chairman Darwin Deason to exercise his voting power in favor of the Xerox acquisition. The previous agreement called for Mr. Deason to cast half his votes in favor of the Xerox bid. He controls 44% of the votes at ACS.

Xerox has also decided not to force ACS to hold a shareholder meeting to vote on the Xerox transaction, and if requested by the Xerox’s shareholders ACS will terminate the Merger Agreement. Xerox also said that a pension fund has dropped a lawsuit over the purchase of ACS. However, a separate shareholder class action lawsuit is still pending in Delaware.

In September, Xerox agreed to acquire Affiliated in a cash and stock transaction valued at $6.4 billion ($63.11 per ACS share in cash and Xerox stock). Affiliated shareholders will receive $18.60 in cash and 4.935 shares of Xerox for each ACS share. Xerox will also assume $2 billion of ACS’s debt and issue $300 million of convertible preferred stock to ACS shareholders.

Downgrading Expedia to Neutral

We are downgrading shares of Expedia Inc. (EXPE) from Outperform to Neutral.

The company reported strong results in the last quarter, but continued to benefit from promotional inventories provided by its hotel partners. When results are stripped off the benefits of promotional activities, a softer demand environment could become evident.

We also do not expect the company to report better than seasonal sales growth in the current quarter.

The company has sacrificed booking fees this year, which is telling on the average daily rates (ADRs). Therefore, ADRs could be the metric to watch rather than room nights at this point of time.

We are also concerned about the incidence of transient occupancy taxes. Although municipalities and governments have decided that they will recover occupancy taxes from hotels if they lose out to online travel companies, we note that Expedia has already lost in Georgia and the company is slated to pay out $55 million to the City of San Francisco.

A fresh suit has now been filed by Florida, and for the first time the company has been charged under the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. Five Florida counties have decided to charge Expedia, as well as other online travel companies such as Orbitz Worldwide (OWW), Priceline.com (PCLN) and Travelocity for recovery of transient occupancy taxes. The company made a hefty provision in the June quarter, but we fear that this could be insufficient if the cases continue. Fines of this magnitude have the potential to develop into a constant drain on cash.

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The Next Depression: It’s worse than they think

Bill Bonner — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:14:16 +0000

“Beyond the Crisis... With most of the world’s economies officially out of recession, the FT launches a series examining the legacy of worst global economic crisis since the 1930s,” says the FT. But according to the figures below the headline, the crisis wasn’t so bad. The US economy walked backward only 3.5%. Now, it’s making progress again. The FT editors should keep their eyes on the road. The ‘recession’ did more damage than they think. And it isn’t over... There’s more trouble ahead.

Downgrading Expedia to Neutral – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:18:12 +0000

We are downgrading shares of Expedia Inc. (EXPE) from Outperform to Neutral.

The company reported strong results in the last quarter, but continued to benefit from promotional inventories provided by its hotel partners. When results are stripped off the benefits of promotional activities, a softer demand environment could become evident.

We also do not expect the company to report better than seasonal sales growth in the current quarter.

The company has sacrificed booking fees this year, which is telling on the average daily rates (ADRs). Therefore, ADRs could be the metric to watch rather than room nights at this point of time.

We are also concerned about the incidence of transient occupancy taxes. Although municipalities and governments have decided that they will recover occupancy taxes from hotels if they lose out to online travel companies, we note that Expedia has already lost in Georgia and the company is slated to pay out $55 million to the City of San Francisco.

A fresh suit has now been filed by Florida, and for the first time the company has been charged under the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. Five Florida counties have decided to charge Expedia, as well as other online travel companies such as Orbitz Worldwide (OWW), Priceline.com (PCLN) and Travelocity for recovery of transient occupancy taxes. The company made a hefty provision in the June quarter, but we fear that this could be insufficient if the cases continue. Fines of this magnitude have the potential to develop into a constant drain on cash.

The company also burned through cash in the last quarter due to a sudden drop off in deferred merchant bookings, and the interest coverage ratio was barely above 1.

Although the above negatives paint a bleak picture, there are many positives to the stock as well. Expedia has a strong market position, extensive offerings and an attractive balance sheet. Additionally, international initiatives, cost control measures and a favorable online advertising market are expected to play a key role in the growth of both revenue and earnings.

We expect the stock to continue trading in the current range over the next three to six months.
Read the full analyst report on "EXPE"
Read the full analyst report on "OWW"
Read the full analyst report on "PCLN"
Zacks Investment Research

Home Prices Continue to Rise – Analyst Blog

Dirk Van Dijk — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:44:14 +0000

This morning the S&P Case-Schiller index was released. The Composite 20 index (C-20), which covers 20 of the largest metropolitan areas in the country rose by 0.27% on a seasonally adjusted basis (home prices are seasonal, so the adjusted data is what you should be looking at -- most of the press makes a mistake by focusing on the unadjusted data, thus these figures might vary from what you read elsewhere). That was the fourth straight increase. The Composite 10 (C-10) index, which is a subset of the Composite 20, but which has a longer history, posted a 0.36% increase for the month.

On a year over year basis, the C-20 is down by 9.39% while the C-10 is down 8.53%. While it was an increase, it was a smaller one than was expected. The consensus of economists was looking for a C-20 year-over-year decline of just 9.10%. The data is for September, not October like most of the data that has come out recently.

The country was roughly split between areas where home prices increased during the month and areas where housing values continue to decline. Eleven metropolitan areas posted increases and nine suffered declines. Some of the areas with the biggest increases in home prices were a bit of a surprise.

In California, San Francisco saw the largest monthly increase of any city, enjoying a 1.71% rise. It was one of the areas that was considered "bubble central," but has started to stage a comeback. Over the last year, prices in the City by the Bay are down 7.85%. Similarly, San Diego posted a 1.05% increase for the month, and it is now down just 5.72% year over year. Long-depressed Detroit saw prices increase by 1.25% for the month, although on a year-over-year basis, home prices are still down by 19.26%. The other areas that saw monthly increases of over 1.0% were the Twin Cities, up 1.31%, and Chicago, up 1.11%.

On the negative side, the worst-hit city was Cleveland, which was down 1.20% for the month, although it is actually among the healthiest cities on a year-over-year basis with home prices down just 3.880%. Then again, the housing bubble was not centered on the beaches of Lake Erie, it was centered on the beaches of Southern California and Florida.

Las Vegas, which is the city that has been hit the hardest by falling home prices overall, continued to see prices fall, down another 1.19% for the month, and off 28.63% from a year ago. From the peak, home prices are down 55.4%. The only other city that comes close, to that cumulative decline is Phoenix, down 52.0%.

Also keep in mind that the home price declines had lasted for far more than just a year. The graph below (from http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/) shows the cumulative decline from the peak pricing, which was hit in April of 2006 for both of the composite indexes, but is shown in the graph from each individual city peak. It breaks down the cumulative decline by time period, with the blue bar showing how much home prices fell through the end of 2007, yellow showing where things stood at the end of 2008, and blue indicating how far the city is now off its peak. Thus if the orange bar is shorter than the yellow bar, it means that city has actually seen home prices rise so far this year.

It is encouraging to see home prices rise. If this continues, some of the people in underwater houses (meaning with a mortgage more than the value of the house) might just see the flood recede and regain some positive equity in the house. This would greatly reduce the number of foreclosures in the future. It would make it an economically rational thing for people to pay their mortgages again. As it stands today in big areas of the country, it isn’t.

As a result, mortgage delinquencies have been skyrocketing, and eventually those delinquencies will lead to foreclosures. That could reignite a vicious circle, where the foreclosed houses flood the market, once again depressing prices, which causes more people to think there are better places to put their money than paying their mortgages.

Rising home prices have the potential to turn that into a virtuous cycle. To the extent that happens, it has very positive implications for the entire mortgage complex, from the big banks like Bank of America (BAC) to the mortgage insurance firms like MGIC (MTG) to the wards of the state, Fannie (FNM) and Freddie (FRE).

However, I fear that the increase in home prices is only temporary. That it is the product of extraordinary government efforts to prop up home prices, and that those efforts can not be sustained forever. These include the tax credit (recently expanded to include move up buyers), which is scheduled to end at the end of April, and the Fed’s program of buying up $1.25 Trillion in mortgage-backed paper to manipulate mortgage rates lower. They should finish up their purchases by the end of March.

The FHA has also played a huge role in propping up the market, making far more loans than it ever has before, and only requiring down-payments of 3.5%. People can even use the tax credit for their down-payment. The FHA’s reserves are already dangerously low, and the delinquencies on the loans they insure are skyrocketing, particularly for mortgages it issued in 2007 and 2008. This year’s loans have not really had time to go bad yet. The FHA may end up going the way of Fannie and Freddie and require a massive federal bailout.

All in all, the increase in home prices is good news, but it is coming with a big price from the Federal Treasury and may end up being ephemeral. The risk of a renewed downturn in the second quarter of 2010 is very big. If that were to occur, it would mean more pain for the mortgage complex.

Dirk van Dijk, CFA is the Chief Equity Strategist for Zacks.com. With more than 25 years investment experience he has become a popular commentator appearing in the Wall Street Journal and on CNBC. Dirk is also the Editor in charge of the market-beating Zacks Strategic Investor service.
Read the full analyst report on "BAC"
Read the full analyst report on "MTG"
Read the full analyst report on "FNM"
Read the full analyst report on "FRE"
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

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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

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Factors in local house price declines

James Hamilton — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 14:46:32 +0000

UCSD Ph.D. candidate Sam Dastrup has completed a very interesting study with his advisor Professor Richard Carson of what accounts for differences across U.S. communities in the magnitude of the decline in real estate prices that we've seen over the last several years.

Although many commentators write as if there were a national housing market, there have been huge differences in the experience across communities. Dastrup and Carson examine the OFHEO matched-sale data for house prices as calculated separately for 358 U.S. standard metropolitan statistical areas. As seen in the map below, the magnitude of the price decline has differed greatly across U.S. communities, with the biggest drops in the southwest, Florida, and Michigan.

Magnitude of house price declines for 358 SMSAs. Source: Carson and Dastrup (2009).

Dastrup and Carson look at how the magnitudes of the price declines correlate with a number of other community characteristics such as overbuilding (as measured by growth in building permits relative to the local labor force), extent of subprime lending, owner-occupied units, and fundamentals such as median income. Dastrup and Carson find that all of these measures were statistically significantly related to the magnitude of the housing price decline. But by far the most important variable was the magnitude of the previous price run-up, which all by itself can account for more than half of the observed variance in the size of the price decline across different communities.

Magnitude of house price increase prior to peak (horizontal axis) versus magnitude of house price decline (vertical axis). Source: Carson and Dastrup (2009).

I see this as consistent with earlier research by Marco Del Negro and Christopher Otrok which documented a common national factor driving much of the U.S. housing price boom, which in the Del Negro-Ostrok specification was allowed to affect different communities with different coefficients. My understanding of what happened is that low interest rates and in particular a deterioration of underwriting standards fueled an increase in housing demand everywhere in the earlier part of this decade. The magnitude of the price increase that this produced differed across communities as a function of local conditions. When these aggregate factors reversed, so did the prices.

The more prices were artificially bid up, the more spectacularly they declined.

Postscript to potential employers: Sam's a great teacher, and looking for a job.

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

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Mortgage Delinquencies: Record High – Analyst Blog

Dirk Van Dijk — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:46:41 +0000

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported today that mortgage delinquencies hit a record high in the third quarter:

"The delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties rose to a seasonally adjusted rate of 9.64 percent of all loans outstanding as of the end of the third quarter of 2009, up 40 basis points from the second quarter of 2009, and up 265 basis points from one year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) National Delinquency Survey. The non-seasonally adjusted delinquency rate increased 108 basis points from 8.86 percent in the second quarter of 2009 to 9.94 percent this quarter." (For more, click here.)

Unlike the TransUnion report that came out yesterday, the definition of being delinquent is a bit more expansive in this report, covering all mortgages that are at least one payment behind, while the TransUnion report was for mortgages that were at least 60 days overdue (see "Mortgage Delinquencies Still Rising") but point in the same direction.

The MBA data does not include mortgages that have entered the foreclosure process, and those are rising as well. In the third quarter 4.47% of all mortgages were in some stage of the foreclosure process, up from 4.30% in the second quarter and 2.97% a year ago. The graph below (from http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/) shows the percentage of all prime loans that are in trouble (both fixed and ARMs).

Mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures are no longer just about subprime loans made by shady operators to people living on the wrong side of the tracks. As the late, great Tanta of Calculated Risk put it: "We are all subprime now."

When people are out of work and without a paycheck, it is very tough to pay your mortgage. The big driver of higher foreclosures now are what was supposed to be the safe stuff -- prime fixed-rate mortgages. They represented fully one third of all foreclosures started in the third quarter and 44% of the increase in foreclosures.

Looking a bit further down the troubled mortgage spectrum, they were 54% of the mortgages that were more than 3 months past due, but the banks had not yet started the foreclosure process on them. If one throws in adjustable-rate prime loans (which includes some of the crap like Option ARMs), things look even worse, as their performance is now even worse than that of subprime loans. There was actually a decrease in the rate that subprime loans were going into foreclosure.

The pig is making its way through the python. The FHA has taken over the role that the subprime mortgage brokers used to have, and it is getting much the same results. Eventually, the FHA is going to need a big bailout. While the rate of troubled mortgages is still much higher for subprime than for prime mortgages, there are far more prime mortgages outstanding than there are subprime mortgages. The second graph (also from http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/) shows the sorry state of subprime mortgages.

While the foreclosure problem has moved from the wrong side of the tracks to the gated communities, it is still concentrated in the same former bubble states as before -- places like Florida and California. Just four states (also Arizona and Nevada) had 43% of all foreclosures started in the third quarter, roughly the same proportion as in the second quarter and a year ago. In Florida, one out of four mortgages is now either in foreclosure or at least one payment late.

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

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

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

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

Doug Casey on real estate

Prieur du Plessis — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:18:07 +0000

In this post, Doug Casey is interviewd on global real estate markets, making for an interesting read.

PGCX, PanGenex Expands Clinical Trial Sites after Promising Pre-Clinical Data about Lower Coronary Arterial Calcium Scores in Cardiac Patients

Dr. Stock Pick — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:39:40 +0000

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Mortgage Delinquencies Still Rising – Analyst Blog

Dirk Van Dijk — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:20:13 +0000

This morning Trans Union, the big credit bureau, released its quarterly report on mortgage delinquencies, and it was not pretty. Nationwide, 6.25% of all residential mortgages were at least 60 days past due in the third quarter, up from 5.81% in the second quarter and 3.96% a year ago. This was the 11th straight quarter that delinquencies increased.

Mortgage delinquencies are the first step in a house eventually going into foreclosure, so look for those to start heading up again. Foreclosures have been held down by trial modifications under the HEMP program, but very few of those have gotten to the stage of being final modifications. And even when mortgages are modified, there is a strong tendency for those people to again find themselves in financial trouble. Clearly people not paying on their mortgages is not good news for the big banks like Bank of America (BAC) and Wells Fargo (WFC) that lent them the money.

If there is a silver lining in the data, it is that the rate of increase seems to be slowing. The third quarter increase was "only" 7.6%, which is down from an 11.3% increase in the second quarter and a 14.0% increase in the first quarter. Of course, as the base increases, each additional percentage of increase means a bigger absolute number of delinquent mortgages.

There are huge regional disparities in the rate of mortgage delinquencies. The former bubble states continue to suffer mind-bogglingly high rates of delinquencies -- 14.5% of all mortgages in Nevada and 13.3% of all homeowners in Florida are at least two months behind on their mortgages. That is almost one in seven in Nevada and about two in every fifteen in Florida.

In contrast, states where very few people live are experiencing very low rates of delinquencies. North Dakota is holding up best, as it is on a number of economic indicators with a rate of only 1.7%. South Dakota is not faring all that much worse at 2.3% and in Vermont the rate is only 2.6%.

However, the gap is starting to close, and not in a good way. The fastest growth in delinquencies is now coming from areas where there was no real housing bubble. The biggest jump came in Wyoming where delinquencies jumped by 17.9% in the quarter, followed by Kansas at 17.4% and North Dakota at 16.0%. Still, it would take a long time for North Dakota to catch up to Nevada.

There are two key forces that are leading to people not paying their mortgages. One goes to a lack of desire to do so, and the other goes to lack of ability to do so. If your house is substantially underwater, i.e. your mortgage is for a lot more than the house is worth, it is not economically rational to continue to pay your mortgage. After all, most mortgages are non-recourse, which means that the worst thing that happens is that the house gets foreclosed on and you go rent.

At one point, there was a huge social stigma to being foreclosed upon, but as it becomes more common, the stigma diminishes. There are, of course, some non-economic costs associated with not paying and just living rent- or mortgage-payment-free for awhile, and in many areas of the country that can now be well over a year. Your kids might be upset with you since they would have to change schools and leave all their friends if you can’t rent in the same school district. People also develop emotional attachments to their houses. Those factors might be worth a $5,000 or $10,000. However, if the house is underwater by $100,000, most people will just tell little Billy that he will make new friends at his new school.

The second reason for rising delinquencies is unemployment. Quite simply, with no paycheck, it is harder to write the mortgage check. It is not a coincidence that states like Nevada, Florida and California, which have very high delinquency rates, also rank near the top in terms of unemployment -- and the Dakotas and Vermont have unemployment rates that are well below the national average. For the delinquency rate to start to fall significantly, we will need to see progress on both the employment front and on the housing price front.

The government has been doing everything in its power to re-inflate the value of houses. It is throwing money at homebuyers in the form of tax credits. Under the recent extension, you don’t even have to be a first-time home buyer to benefit from Uncle Sam’s generosity. Of course, giving money away to move up buyers does not even reduce the inventory of unsold homes, since for each one bought, another one goes on the market.

The Fed has been artificially depressing mortgage rates by buying up $1.25 trillion of mortgage-backed securities. In the absence of that program, rates on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage would probably be at least a full percentage point higher. The Federal government has also assumed the role of subprime mortgage lender through the FHA, which is offering mortgage loans with only 3.5% down, and the tax credit can be used for the down payment. That is exactly the same sort of behavior that got New Century Financial and Washington Mutual into trouble. It just goes to prove the power of a good lobby over economic rationality.

This gift to the realtors of the country is eventually going to come back and bite the country on the behind, resulting in a massive -- think Fannie Mae (FNM)- and Freddie Mac (FRE)-sized bailout -- of the FHA.

The massive actions have had some effect, and the Case Schiller index has shown some improvement in housing prices over the last few months. Also, housing prices are much closer to normal, relative to incomes and rents, than they were a few years ago at the peak of the bubble.

Notice that I said "closer to normal," not "below normal." In the absence of this extraordinary government support, there is still room for housing prices to fall without them becoming undervalued based on historical relationships. The fact that incomes are not growing much due to high unemployment, and rents are falling due to record high vacancy rates, does not help the situation.

This poses a bit of a dilemma, since new housing starts typically lead changes in unemployment. This can be seen in the first graph below (from http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/). In the graph, the unemployment rate is inverted to better show the relationship between it and the rate of housing starts, as well as the lag involved. The dot.com crash-induced recession of 2001 is the one case where the relationship does not seem to hold.

The good news is that it looks like we have seen the bottom for housing starts this cycle back in January. Based on the historical relationship, that means we might start to see some improvement in the unemployment rate by this coming spring.

The bad news, though, is that new housing right now is a classic case of mal-investment. With lots of vacant housing, the last thing we need as a country is more housing units. The second graph below (also from http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/) shows that the dramatic decline in housing starts has not yet begun to make a dent in the number of houses and apartments that are sitting vacant. Thus it seems unlikely that we will see housing starts return to anything like the 1.1 million a year that has historically been about normal for the country.

More likely the rebound will stall out around the levels that marked the bottom for new housing starts in past cycles of around 600,000 a year. Yes, that is a nice percentage gain from the lows of under a 400,000 rate, but it does not suggest a robust recovery.

Read the full analyst report on "BAC"
Read the full analyst report on "WFC"
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Zacks Investment Research

Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: JPMorgan Chase, Fifth Third Bancorp, Zions Bancorp, SunTrust Banks and PNC Financial – Press Releases

Zacks Market Commentaries — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:45:23 +0000

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 17, 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: JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB), Zions Bancorp (ZION), SunTrust Banks (STI) and PNC Financial (PNC).

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 Monday’s Analyst Blog:

Bank Failures Rise to 123

The failed banks were -- Century Bank, FSB of Sarasota, Florida with $728 million in assets and $631 million in deposits, Orion Bank of Naples, Florida with about $2.7 billion in assets and $2.1 billion in deposits and Pacific Coast National Bank of San Clemente, California with $134.4 million in assets and $130.9 million in deposits.

These bank failures represent another sizable impact on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (FDIC) fund for protecting customer accounts, as it has been appointed receiver for these banks. The failure of Century Bank is expected to cost the deposit insurance fund about $344 million, Orion Bank’s failure will cost about $615 million and the failure of Pacific Coast National Bank is expected to cost about $27.4 million.

The FDIC insures deposits at 8,195 institutions with roughly $13.5 trillion in assets. When a bank fails, it reimburses customers for deposits of up to $250,000 per account. The outbreak of bank failures has significantly stretched the regulator’s deposit insurance fund. At Jun 30, 2009, the fund corpus fell to $10.4 billion, the lowest since 1993, from $13.0 billion in the prior quarter.

IberiaBank, based in Lafayette, Louisiana will assume both Florida-based banks' $2.731 billion in deposits. Iberiabank also entered into a loss-share agreement with the FDIC on $656 million of Century Bank's assets and on $1.9 billion of Orion Bank's assets.

Tustin, California-based Sunwest Bank will assume all of Pacific Coast National Bank's deposits and essentially all of its assets.

In the second quarter of 2009, the number of banks on the FDIC's list of problem institutions grew to 416 from 305 in the first quarter. This is the highest since the savings and loan crisis in 1994.   Increasing loan losses on commercial real estate are expected to cause hundreds more bank failures in the next few years. The FDIC anticipates the bank failures to cost about $100 billion over the next four years.

In order to replenish the declining fund, the FDIC board recently mandated the U.S. banks to pay fees for three years in advance. Also, the regulators are considering requesting the healthy banks to bail out the government soon as it is necessary to replenish the deposit insurance fund, which has slipped to 0.22% of insured deposits, below the mandated minimum of 1.15%. The FDIC also has access to the Treasury Department credit line of up to $500 billion.

The failure of Washington Mutual last year was the largest in U.S. banking history. It was acquired by JPMorgan Chase (JPM). The other major acquirers of failed institutions since 2008 include Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB), Zions Bancorp (ZION), SunTrust Banks (STI) and PNC Financial (PNC).

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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 [...]

DrStockPick.com Stock Report! 11/16/09, HCEI, TDC, YRCW, SALM, ARG, HK

Dr. Stock Pick — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:02:01 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _______________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _______________________________________ Monday November 16, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** Healthy Coffee International, Inc. (Pinksheets:HCEI) has included to Mr. Michael Sharp to its team of sales leaders. A native of Florida, Mr. Sharp has over 20 years of combined experience in the network marketing business, representing [...]

Lowe’s Earnings Tumble – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:46:50 +0000

Amidst a bleak economic outlook, Lowe’s Companies Inc. (LOW) recently reported its third quarter results. Quarterly earnings of 24 cents a share fell 27.3% from 33 cents posted in the prior-year quarter due to sluggish consumer demand for big renovations. However, the earnings remained in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

The world’s second largest home improvement retailer said that it expected fourth-quarter earnings in the range of 9 cents to 13 cents a share. For the fiscal 2009, earnings are expected between $1.16 and $1.20 per share.

On a reported basis, including one-time items, earnings came in at 23 cents a share, down 30.3% year on year.

Lowe’s hinted that the markets of California and Florida, which were battered by the housing downturn, are showing some signs of revival.

Net sales for the quarter tumbled 3% to $11,375 million as cash-strapped consumers continue to prioritize their purchases and hold back on remodeling projects. Management expects sales in the fourth quarter to be flat compared to last year but to fall between 2% and 3% in fiscal 2009.

Comparable store sales for the quarter dipped 7.5%. Lowe’s expects comps to fall between 2% and 6% in the fourth quarter and to slip in the range of 7% to 8% in fiscal year 2009.

During the quarter, Lowe’s opened 12 stores and closed one. The company expects to open 13 new stores in fourth-quarter 2009, besides 64 stores in fiscal year 2009.

Lowe’s ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $1,141 million, total long-term debt of $5,077 million and shareholders’ equity of $19,419 million.
Read the full analyst report on "LOW"
Zacks Investment Research

Company News for November 16, 2009 – Corporate Summary

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Zacks Investment Research

Bank Failures Rise to 123 – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:01:28 +0000

Regulators shut down 2 banks in Florida and 1 in California; U.S. bank failures reach 123 this year.

U.S. regulators on Friday shuttered two more banks in Florida and one in California. Though there are some early signs of economic recovery, bank failures continue unabated. This takes the total number of bank failures to 123, compared to 25 in 2008 and 3 in 2007.

The weak economy continues to weigh heavily on banks with a stream of loan defaults. As the industry has to tolerate bad loans that were made during the credit explosion, the trouble in the banking system goes even deeper, increasing the possibility of more bank failures. However, the regulators are trying to avoid panic by seizing banks slowly. Also, the slow seizing could be a strategy as it is hard to get buyers for so many failed banks.

The failed banks were -- Century Bank, FSB of Sarasota, Florida with $728 million in assets and $631 million in deposits, Orion Bank of Naples, Florida with about $2.7 billion in assets and $2.1 billion in deposits and Pacific Coast National Bank of San Clemente, California with $134.4 million in assets and $130.9 million in deposits.

These bank failures represent another sizable impact on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (FDIC) fund for protecting customer accounts, as it has been appointed receiver for these banks. The failure of Century Bank is expected to cost the deposit insurance fund about $344 million, Orion Bank’s failure will cost about $615 million and the failure of Pacific Coast National Bank is expected to cost about $27.4 million.

The FDIC insures deposits at 8,195 institutions with roughly $13.5 trillion in assets. When a bank fails, it reimburses customers for deposits of up to $250,000 per account. The outbreak of bank failures has significantly stretched the regulator’s deposit insurance fund. At Jun 30, 2009, the fund corpus fell to $10.4 billion, the lowest since 1993, from $13.0 billion in the prior quarter.

IberiaBank, based in Lafayette, Louisiana will assume both Florida-based banks' $2.731 billion in deposits. Iberiabank also entered into a loss-share agreement with the FDIC on $656 million of Century Bank's assets and on $1.9 billion of Orion Bank's assets.

Tustin, California-based Sunwest Bank will assume all of Pacific Coast National Bank's deposits and essentially all of its assets.

In the second quarter of 2009, the number of banks on the FDIC's list of problem institutions grew to 416 from 305 in the first quarter. This is the highest since the savings and loan crisis in 1994.   Increasing loan losses on commercial real estate are expected to cause hundreds more bank failures in the next few years. The FDIC anticipates the bank failures to cost about $100 billion over the next four years.

In order to replenish the declining fund, the FDIC board recently mandated the U.S. banks to pay fees for three years in advance. Also, the regulators are considering requesting the healthy banks to bail out the government soon as it is necessary to replenish the deposit insurance fund, which has slipped to 0.22% of insured deposits, below the mandated minimum of 1.15%. The FDIC also has access to the Treasury Department credit line of up to $500 billion.

The failure of Washington Mutual last year was the largest in U.S. banking history. It was acquired by JPMorgan Chase (JPM). The other major acquirers of failed institutions since 2008 include Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB), U.S. Bancorp, Zions Bancorp (ZION), SunTrust Banks (STI), PNC Financial (PNC), BB&T Corporation (BBT) and Regions Financial (RF).

The failed banks are victims of recession and rising loan losses. As a result of the ongoing market turmoil, these institutions experienced massive capital erosion stemming from losses due to a significant exposure to collateralized mortgage obligations, commercial real estate loans and other commercial and industrial loans. All these factors were responsible for a drag on profitability and write-downs.  

According to the FDIC, the bank failures have cost the federal deposit insurance fund more than $28 billion so far this year. Though current signals indicate that the economy may stabilize, we expect loan losses on commercial real estate portfolio to remain high for banks that hold large amounts of high-risk loans.
Read the full analyst report on "JPM"
Read the full analyst report on "FITB"
Read the full analyst report on "ZION"
Read the full analyst report on "STI"
Read the full analyst report on "PNC"
Read the full analyst report on "BBT"
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Zacks Investment Research

HCEI, CVAT, CSRH, DrStockPick.com Stock Report!

Dr. Stock Pick — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:53:13 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _______________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _______________________________________ Friday November 13, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** HCEI, Healthy Coffee International Inc., HCEI.PK ** Healthy Coffee INTL is well Positioned in the Market Place at the Intersection of Three Mega-billion Dollar Industries: Coffee, Wellness and Energy Drinks HCEI is focused on bringing health to the world’s largest and [...]

Healthspring Inc. – Value – Zacks Rank Buy

Tracey Ryniec — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:00:00 +0000

Healthspring, Inc. (HS) has surprised on estimates 3 out of the last 4 quarters by an average of 6.45%. The stock is cheap. It trades at just 6.7x forward earnings and has a PEG ratio of 0.67.

Company Description

Healthspring coordinates care plans through the Medicare Advantage market in Alabama, Florida, Illinois, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas. The company also provides a national stand-alone Medicare prescription drug plan.

Healthspring Surprised by 22.22% in the Third Quarter

On Oct 29, Healthspring reported its third quarter results and easily beat the Zacks Consensus by 14 cents per share. Earnings per share were 77 cents compared to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 63 cents. The company reported 53 cents in the year ago period.

Premium revenue rose 26% to $649.8 million compared to the year ago period. Membership in the Medicare Advantage jumped 19.4% compared to the year ago period and was up 15.1% even when compared with the end of 2008. Stand-alone PDP member also grew 11.6% compared to the third quarter of 2008.

As it said in its second quarter results, the company again emphasized that its Florida and Part-D operations have been outperforming.

Raised 2009 Guidance

Given that its Florida business continues to be strong, the company raised full year EPS guidance to the range of $2.30 to $2.40 from its prior guidance of $2.10 to $2.25.

It also is bullish on the number of members it expects under the Medicare Advantage program. The range has been adjusted higher to 188,000-189,000 from 186,000-188,000.

Zacks Consensus Estimates Rise

Given the raised guidance, analysts have moved to raise estimates. For the fourth quarter, the Zacks Consensus is up 3 cents to 62 cents in the last 30 days.

The full-year Zacks Consensus Estimate rose 7.8% to $2.34 from $2.17 per share just a month ago which is in the company's new guidance range. All 9 analysts raised in that time. Analysts expect 2009 earnings growth of 10.43%.

Analysts are optimistic about 2010, despite the ongoing uncertainty about healthcare reform. They boosted estimates for the full year by 16 cents to $2.22 per share.

Value Fundamentals

Healthspring is a Zacks #1 Rank (strong buy) stock. It is trading with a price-to-book of just 1.06. The company has a 5-year average return on equity (ROE) of 14.65%.

Zacks Investment Research

HCEI, Healthy Coffee is well Positioned in the Market Place at the Intersection of Three Mega-billion Dollar Industries: Coffee, Wellness and Energy Drinks

Dr. Stock Pick — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:40:01 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _______________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _______________________________________ Thursday November 12, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** HCEI, Healthy Coffee International Inc., HCEI.PK ** Healthy Coffee INTL is well Positioned in the Market Place at the Intersection of Three Mega-billion Dollar Industries: Coffee, Wellness and Energy Drinks HCEI is focused on bringing health to the world’s largest [...]

DrStockPick.com Stock Report! 11/12/09, HCEI, MIL, MNTA, PSS, PALM, EPAY

Dr. Stock Pick — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:40:33 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _______________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _______________________________________ Thursday November 12, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** Healthy Coffee International, Inc. (Pinksheets:HCEI) announced the addition of Mr. Michael Sharp to its team of sales leaders. A native of Florida, Mr. Sharp has over 20 years of combined experience in the network marketing business, [...]

Initial Jobless Claims Continue Decline, 502K Figure Beats Expectations

QualityStocks — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:36:57 +0000

Labor Department statistics released today showed a marked decline in initial jobless claims, extending a run of such declines. Initial claims are an important barometer for layoffs and hiring. A 12K decline to 502,000 from the previous week, and a drop in the 4-week average to 519,750, is a strong indicator of improvement. The [...]

HCEI, Healthy Coffee Opens New Sales Office in Yorba Linda, CA and Hires Sales Executive in Japan to Prepare for a Major Sales Campaign

Dr. Stock Pick — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:23:01 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _______________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _______________________________________ Wednesday November 11, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! HCEI, Healthy Coffee International Inc., HCEI.PK ************************************************************** HCEI, Healthy Coffee International Inc., HCEI.PK HCEI is focused on bringing health to the world’s largest and most popular drink, coffee. The company’s proprietary formulas combine the health benefits of Ginseng, Reishi Mushroom, and [...]

GE to Sell Security Systems – Analyst Blog

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

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.

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

Home Shopping Latino, Inc. (HSPG.PK): Selecting the Best Launch Time

QualityStocks — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:32:06 +0000

Home Shopping Latino, Inc. has come a long way from CEO Frank Celecia’s original idea two and a half years ago to launch a television shopping channel for the U.S. Hispanic market. In spite of previous ill-fated attempts by others, Celecia felt that the time was now right with a bigger and more prosperous Latino [...]

Harris Corporation – Growth And Income – Zacks Rank Buy

Alex Kolb — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:00:00 +0000

Harris Corporation (HRS) recently posted fiscal first-quarter earnings of 83 cents per share, topping the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 9%. The company also hiked its earnings guidance and analysts followed suit.

Company Description

Harris is an international communications and information technology company serving government, defense and commercial markets in more than 150 countries. Headquartered in Melbourne, Florida, the company has annual revenue of approximately $5 billion and more than 15,000 employees - including nearly 7,000 engineers and scientists.

A Solid First Quarter

The company recently posted fiscal first-quarter earnings of 83 cents per share, topping the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 9%. Revenue climbed from last year's $1.17 billion to $1.20 billion.

Management said new orders, revenue and earnings exceeded expectations in the first quarter as a result of strong performance in both the RF Communications and Government Communications Systems segments.

Higher Forecasts

The company also hiked its fiscal year earnings guidance to a rang of $3.74 to $3.84 per share, versus its previous range of $3.25 to $3.40 per share.

Analysts polled by Zacks followed suit, calling for earnings of $3.85 per share for the year ending June 2010. Last month, the fiscal year Zacks Consensus Estimate stood at $3.31 per share.

Strong Fundamentals and Robust Momentum

Harris offers a return on equity (ROE) of 25%, squashing the industry average of 3%. The company pays a dividend yield of 2%, while most of its industry peers pay no income.

Shares of HRS have been surging lately. Trading near a 52-week high, Harris has outpaced the market by about 40% over the past 3 months. Zacks Investment Research

HCEI, Top Sales Leader With 20 Years of Network Marketing Experience Joins Healthy Coffee Japan

Dr. Stock Pick — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:31:36 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _______________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _______________________________________ Monday November 9, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! HCEI, Healthy Coffee International Inc., HCEI.PK ************************************************************** Top Sales Leader With 20 Years of Network Marketing Experience Joins Healthy Coffee Japan NEWPORT BEACH, CA–(CRWENEWSWIRE - Nov 09, 2009) - Healthy Coffee International, Inc. (Pinksheets:HCEI - News) is pleased to announce the addition [...]

Continucare Corp. (CNU) First Quarter Fiscal Year 2010 Results Show 116% Increase in Operating Profit

QualityStocks — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:04:03 +0000

Continucare Corp. yesterday reported its first quarter fiscal year 2010 financial results. The company reported a 113% increase in net income and continued strength in the business with higher quarter-ending cash and working capital balances. Richard C. Pfenniger, Jr., Continucare’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer commented, “We are extremely pleased with our first quarter results,” “Record [...]

Keep Those Belts Tightened: The Job Market isn’t Getting Better

Dee Power — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:05:52 +0000

While there have been some signs of recovery in real estate and the stock market it seems that the job market is still declining. Online advertised vacancies declined by 83,200 to 3,280,000 in October, ...

An international concept of due process arises out of Florida

Robert Amsterdam — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:02:11 +0000

Opinio Juris, one of the treasure troves of the internet and a blog that I read frequently and have great respect for, acknowledged a very important case the other day in which a federal court in Florida decided to refuse...

Home Shopping Latino, Inc. (HSPG.PK) Taps into Hispanic Market with Shopping Channel

QualityStocks — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:41:32 +0000

Home Shopping Latino Inc., doing business as Viva Telecompras, is an all Spanish language TV channel and online shopping website. The company will broadcast from Miami, Florida and expand its market via airtime and website broadcasts. The network will sell products provided by third-party wholesalers such as beauty care, vitamins, and in particular gemstones and [...]

Everest Re Posts Profit – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:33:27 +0000

Everest Re Group’s (RE) third-quarter earnings of $3.43 per share missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.47. Last year, the company had reported earnings of 20 cents per share. Strong property reinsurance rates coupled with the low catastrophe activity had resulted in favorable earnings.

The net income was $228.6 million, compared to a loss of $233.1 million in the prior year period.

Gross written premiums increased 13% to $1.1 billion for the quarter compared to $999.2 million for the same period in 2008. This growth was driven by a strong U.S. reinsurance property market, particularly for catastrophe exposed regions, the continued expansion of business in various international reinsurance markets and new program development on the insurance book.

Net investment income was $165.4 million, flat compared to the third quarter of 2008. Despite a higher invested asset base, the net investment income remained flat because of lower reinvestment rates.

Reinsurance premiums were up 12% year over year, with the insurance segment premiums up 19% over the same period. Most of the new premium has come from a new unit started during the year in New York to write financial institution, directors’ and officers’ liability, and additional property insurance written in Florida where rates to exposure remain attractive.

The GAAP combined ratio was 88.7%, compared to 115.0% last year. Loss ratio improved to 60.2% from 87.3% last year. The improvement in both the ratios was due to lower catastrophe activity.

The annualized after-tax operating income return on average adjusted shareholders’ equity was 14.9% compared to 0.9% in 2008. Book value per share increased 25% to $100.75 as of Sep 30, 2009, from $80.77 at year-end 2008, benefiting from strong earnings and the financial market recovery to date.

Strong capital position, solid diversification of product lines, geography and distribution and strong financial strength ratings give Everest a distinctive advantage over its peers. Going forward, we expect a hardening within the insurance and reinsurance rates, terms and conditions, though the current economic slowdown will restrict top-line growth of the company to some extent. Thus we recommend a Neutral rating on the shares for now.
Read the full analyst report on "RE"
Zacks Investment Research

FPL Group’s Profits Rise – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:30:28 +0000

Energy company FPL Group Inc. (FPL) today reported adjusted net earnings of $1.38 per share for the third quarter of 2009, in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.39 and above $1.25 reported last year. The improvement from last year’s results was due to positive contributions from FPL’s NextEra Energy Resources subsidiary, offset by a decline in customer base at the Florida Power & Light subsidiary.

Total revenue during the quarter declined to $4,473 million from $5,387 million a year ago. Revenue at Florida Power & Light Company declined 3.6% year-over-year to $3,301 million, primarily due to the economic challenges faced at Florida. NextEra Energy Resources’ revenue in the quarter was down 40.7% from last year at $1,136 million, due to unfavorable market conditions for the company’s fossil power plants in Texas and below normal wind resource across the fleet.

At Florida Power & Light Company, the total number of customers continued to decline in the quarter, although at a slower pace. The company had approximately 9,000 fewer customers during the quarter than a year ago, while the number of inactive accounts rose 4,000 from the last quarter. Retail kilowatt-hour sales increased 0.4% over the last quarter, primarily as a result of warmer weather.

Today, the company announced the commissioning of DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center, the largest solar photovoltaic power plant in the country. The 25 megawatt (MW) plant will produce electricity to serve about 3,000 homes, or 20% of DeSoto County. The company expects to have 110 MW of installed solar capacity by late 2010.

NextEra Energy Resources continued to make progress on its wind development program during the quarter. The company has 985 MW of wind projects either completed or under construction and has agreed to acquire an additional 185 MW of existing wind projects. Including the pending acquisition, the company now expects to add 1,170 MW of wind power in 2009.

FPL Group lowered its adjusted earnings guidance given the challenging market environment for the company's Texas merchant assets and the continued economic uncertainty in Florida. It now expects earnings in the range of $4.10-$4.20 per share for 2009, down from a range of $4.20-$4.40 per share previously. For 2010, the company expects earnings of $4.25-$4.85 per share versus the previous range of $4.65-$5.05 per share.
Read the full analyst report on "FPL"
Zacks Investment Research

Clear-Lite Holdings, Inc. (CLRH.OB) is “One to Watch”

QualityStocks — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:47:10 +0000

Clear-Lite Holdings, Inc. is a leading innovator of eco-friendly Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs), lamps, and commercial lighting products. ClearLite’s newest offering, ArmorLite™ SAFETY ECO CFL™, helps capture broken glass and mercury. The Company has strategic partnerships with major global manufacturers as well as cost-effective sales and logistics channels with offices in Florida, Illinois, California, and [...]

Dolan Media Company – Value – Zacks Rank Buy

Tracey Ryniec — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 05:00:00 +0000

Dolan Media Company (DM) is making big profits from its counter cyclical mortgage default processing services. The company has surprised on estimates the last 3 quarters by an average of 36.30%. Dolan Media trades with a PEG ratio of 0.87.

Company Description

Dolan Media provides professional services and business information to the legal, financial and real estate industries. It has two segments: Professional Services and Business Information Division.

Professional Services consists of two subsidiaries, NDeX and Counsel Press. NDex provides mortgage default processing services in states with large numbers of distressed home owners such as California and Michigan. Counsel Press provides appellate services to the legal community.

The Business Information Division publishes journals and operates media web sites targeted to the business and legal communities in 21 geographic markets.

Dolan Media Expands Into Florida Market

On Oct 5, the company announced its subsidiary NDeX had entered into a long-term agreement to provide mortgage default processing services to James E. Albertelli, P.A., a Florida law firm with a staff of 91. The agreement began as of Oct 1.

The acquisition gives NDeX an entry into the Florida mortgage default market. Florida the number two state in the number of foreclosures.

Zacks Consensus Estimates Rise

In its second quarter results, Dolan Media raised its full year guidance forecast to a range of 83 to 91 cents from its May prior guidance of 70 to 80 cents.

Analysts have been raising third quarter and full year estimates slowly over the course of the last 3 months. The third quarter Zacks Consensus Estimate rose 2 cents to 16 cents.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimate jumped 41% to 89 cents from 63 cents. 2 out of 3 covering analysts have raised in just the last month. The estimate is now at the higher end of the company's guidance range.

Dolan Media is scheduled to report third quarter results on Nov 6.

Revenues Soared 61.3% in the Second Quarter

On Aug 4, Dolan Media reported second quarter results that surprised on the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 117.65%. Earnings per share were 37 cents compared to the estimate of 17 cents.

Revenues surged based on the strength of the Professional Services segment which saw a gain of 144.3% year over year. This included a gain due to the acquisition of the Barrett-NDex operations the company acquired in September 2008 which operates in Texas, California and Georgia.

The Business Information Division saw revenues fall 2.9% year over year due to difficult advertising conditions.

Value Fundamentals

Dolan Media is a Zacks #1 Rank (strong buy) stock. It is trading with a forward P/E of 13.6 and a price-to-book of 1.56. The company also has a solid 1-year return on equity (ROE) of 11.8%.

Zacks Investment Research

Fifth Third’s Loss Increases – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 20:34:17 +0000

Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) has reported a third quarter loss of 20 cents per share. Results are worse than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 18 cents. The company incurred a loss of 14 cents a year earlier.

Results reflected higher credit costs driven by the continued stress in the commercial, commercial real estate, residential real estate and consumer loan portfolios.

Quarterly results included a pre-tax net benefit of $288 million from the sale of its Visa Inc. (V) Class B common shares and the release of additional Visa litigation reserves due to Visa's supplemental funding of its litigation escrow account. This reduced non-interest expense by $29 million. Earnings were benefited by $317 million or 26 cents by these items.

Credit metrics continued to deteriorate in the quarter. Net charge-offs were 375 basis points (bps) of average loans outstanding, up 67 bps sequentially and 158 bps year-over-year. Loss experience overall continues to be driven by commercial and residential real estate loans in Michigan and Florida.

Non-performing assets as a percentage of related assets were 4.09%, up 61 bps sequentially and 123 bps year-over-year. Provisions for loan losses were $952 million, compared to $1.0 billion in the prior quarter and $941 million in the year-ago period.

Capital ratios also benefited from the Visa stake sale. Fifth Third Bancorp’s Tier 1 capital ratio was 13.23% compared to 12.90% in the prior quarter and 8.57% in the year-ago period. The Tier 1 common equity ratio was 7.03% at Sept. 30, 2009, compared with 6.94% at June 30, 2009, and 5.18% at Sept. 30, 2008.

Net interest margin improved by 17 basis points from the prior quarter to 3.43%, driven by improved liability pricing and wider loan spreads, which drove a 5% sequential increase in net interest income to $874 million. Net interest income was, however, down 18% year-over-year from $1.1 billion.

Average portfolio loan and lease balances decreased 2% sequentially and declined 5% from the third quarter of 2008. The decline was due to lower demand for consumer and commercial loans and leases as well as higher net charge-offs. However, average core deposits increased 2% sequentially and 11% year-over-year.

Non-interest expense decreased 14% sequentially and 9% year-over-year. Results reflected the benefits of cost curtailment initiatives.

Competitive market conditions, continuing deterioration in credit quality and collateral values within the company’s geographical footprint and management’s decision to increase the loan and lease loss provisions will pull down results for several quarters to come, in our view. However, the cost containment measures will provide some relief.
Read the full analyst report on "FITB"
Read the full analyst report on "V"
Zacks Investment Research

Simulated Environment Concepts Inc. (SMEV.PK) – Personal Care, Personal Pampering

QualityStocks — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:22:17 +0000

There’s a fine line between personal care (your health and well being) and what could be considered personal pampering. That $100 luxury massage could be viewed as a much needed muscle relaxing exercise to help your back. And, if looks are important to your career, you might be able to write off that anti-aging skin [...]

Regions Financial Underperforms – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 20:39:30 +0000

Regions Financial (RF) reported a third quarter loss of $437.0 million or 37 cents per diluted share, worse than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 26 cents per share. Last year, the company reported a net income of $95 million -- a profit of 13 cents per share.

The results suffered mainly due to increased loan loss provisioning, reflective of continued underlying economic weakness and the related loss implications to Regions' loan portfolio.

Regions reported a net interest margin of 2.73%, up 11 basis points sequentially, benefiting from continued low-cost deposit growth, especially in non-interest bearing products and improving loan spreads due to better pricing discipline. As a result, taxable equivalent net interest income increased 1.7% sequentially to $845.0 million.

According to management, dramatically falling interest rates have worked as a primary headwind for net interest income over the past few quarters. It believes that trends in deposit pricing and loan spreads should continue to support a stable net interest margin during this period of historic low interest rates.

Non-interest revenues were essentially unchanged on a linked quarter basis at $772.0 million, after excluding second quarter’s sizable gains related to a trust preferred exchange, Visa shares and other securities sales, and leveraged lease terminations.

Total non-interest expense of $1.2 billion remained flat on a linked quarter basis. It showed the productivity successes that the company has been achieving through streamlining systems and processes and strengthening performance management.

Net loan charge-offs increased to $680 million or an annualized 2.86% of average loans from 1.68% last year. The increase reflects ongoing stress in housing valuations and continuing strains in the economy as a whole. Provision for loan loss increased to $1.0 billion from $417 million in the prior-year quarter. Asset quality deterioration was generally worse than expected, covering solid core operating performance.

More specifically, the non-performing asset ratio increased 261 basis points year over year to 4.40%, while the net charge-off ratio increased 118 basis points year over year to 2.86%. The sizable increase in both ratios reflects significant deterioration in Regions’ most distressed categories (homebuilder/land/condo) and in regions (Florida/Georgia).

Despite the significant credit costs and their bottomline effect, the results indicate solid core business performance as net interest margin steadied, new accounts opened at a record level for the third consecutive quarter and deposit growth remained strong. Management indicated credit costs are likely to remain elevated into 2010.
Read the full analyst report on "RF"
Zacks Investment Research

Florida Nuclear Rates Approved – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 21:04:48 +0000

Recently, the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) has approved new nuclear cost recovery rates for the state's two major electric utilities. It increased the rates for one and reduced them for the other. Both changes are effective Jan. 1, 2010. The commission approved $62.7 million for FPL Group's (FPL) Florida Power & Light Company and $207 million for Progress Energy Florida (PGN).

As per the new rates, Florida Power customers will pay about 67 cents a month on a 1,000 kilowatt-hour bill the next year, down from the $2.27 in the beginning of this year. For Progress Energy customers, the 2010 charge will be $5.86 per month, an increase of about $1.55.

Utilities traditionally do not recover costs from customers for new power plants until facilities begin operating, but due to the regulatory risk and years of lead time to build nuclear plants, utilities across the country have sought permission to charge customers some costs during development to reduce overall financing costs and avoid large rate increases when the plants come online. The cost recovery law was passed in 2006 as an incentive to build more nuclear plants to reduce reliance on imported fuel and cut greenhouse gases that have been linked to climate change.

FPL Group plans to add new reactors to its existing Turkey Point complex in South Florida while Progress wants to build at a new site in North Florida's Levy County. Florida Power plans to spend $12 billion to $18 billion to add 2,614 megawatts (MW) of new nuclear base load generation to its system, enough energy to power 1.4 million homes. Progress Energy plans to spend more than $17 billion to add 2,380 MW of new nuclear base load generation, enough energy to power 1.3 million homes.

FPL Group is the state's largest utility with 4.5 million customers. Progress, the state's second-largest utility, has 1.6 million customers in Florida.
Read the full analyst report on "FPL"
Read the full analyst report on "PGN"
Zacks Investment Research

MGIC’s Earnings Preview – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:30:00 +0000

MGIC Investment Corporation (MTG) is expected to release third quarter results on Oct 15. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company is a loss of $1.64 per share. The company’s financial results have been adversely impacted by increased delinquencies, which are occurring due to a weakened economy, increased unemployment and lower home prices. I

t is also expected that the amount of loans insured by MGIC during the quarter should be lower than the average book written over the past four years. As a result of its underwriting changes, the company will be insuring fewer loans with loan-to-value ratios greater than 95% as well as loans classified as A-minus and reduced documentation loans, which carry higher premium rates.

We expect that it will adversely affect the company’s results in the coming quarter. The level of incurred losses is expected to be higher than prior-year levels as the company continues to experience increases in delinquencies in certain markets such as Florida and California , with higher-than-average loan balances.

Management expects statutory policyholders’ position to decline as losses are recognized, particularly on Wall Street bulk transactions, which have no premium deficiency reserve for statutory purposes. As a result, it is expected that the risk-to-capital ratio that stood at 15.8X at the end of the second quarter will increase in the coming quarter.

MGIC has not made any share repurchases since the fourth quarter of 2007 and we don’t expect it to do so in the coming quarters. Peer PMI Group (PMI) and Radian Guaranty (RDN) are expected to report losses of $1.26 and $1.18 per share, respectively, while Genworth Financial Inc. (GNW) is expected to post a narrow profit of 6 cents according to the Zacks Consensus Estimate.
Read the full analyst report on "MTG"
Read the full analyst report on "RDN"
Read the full analyst report on "GNW"
Read the full analyst report on "PMI"
Zacks Investment Research

Regions Faces Class Action – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:18:24 +0000

Investors have filed a class action lawsuit against Regions Financial Corporation (RF) on charges that the bank had obtained shareholders’ approval for the 2006 acquisition of AmSouth Bancorp by misleading investors about its own financial condition.

In November 2006, when the bank announced to purchase AmSouth Bancorp for $10 billion, it allegedly made false representations about the benefits of combining the two banks into a single operation. AmSouth Bancorp has a significant presence in residential loans in Florida market, which suffered losses when the housing bubble burst. Thus, the investors had been unaware that the purchase would expose the company to potential losses.

In January 2009, Regions announced a $6 billion write-down of goodwill stemming from the AmSouth acquisition. AmSouth was supposed to bring about $6 billion in goodwill to Regions, besides the prospects of doubling its operations in Florida's real estate market. Regions had overstated the goodwill from AmSouth and window-dressed the balance sheets for the combined entity.

The suit was filed through the law firm of Whatley, Drake & Kallas LLC (WDK). Merrill Lynch & Co., Regions' adviser in the transaction, and Ernst & Young LLP, the auditor to both banks, were also named defendants in the suit.

Earlier, during April, a shareholder class action law suit was filed against Regions Financial Corporation by the law firm of Barroway Topaz Kessler Meltzer & Check LLP. The complaint was charged by purchasers of the 8.875% Trust Preferred Securities of Regions Financing Trust III, alleging that the registration statement for the securities was false and gave misleading details.

During the second quarter, the company reported a loss of 28 cents per share. Regions has been badly hit by the subprime mortgage crisis as its loan portfolio is largely composed of real estate including home equity and is largely concentrated in Florida, one of the worst affected areas. Prior to the release of third quarter results, we maintain a Neutral recommendation on the shares.
Read the full analyst report on "RF"
Read the full analyst report on "WDK"
Zacks Investment Research

Southern Plans Texas Biomass Plant – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:45:23 +0000

Last week, Southern Power – a subsidiary of electric utility company Southern Co. (SO) – announced its decision to build one of the country’s largest biomass power plants in eastern Sacul, Texas. Construction of the 100-megawatt plant is slated to commence this fall, with commercial operation projected for the summer of 2012.

As part of the project, Southern Power has agreed to acquire the Nacogdoches Power LLC biomass project from American Renewables LLC, a developer and operator of clean energy facilities utilizing biomass materials as fuels.

The power plant’s output has already been committed through a 20-year power purchase agreement with Austin Energy, the municipal utility owned by and serving Austin, Texas.

The plant, to be built over 165 acres, will use about 1 million tons of biomass materials (including forest residue, wood processing residues and municipal wood waste) annually as fuel, which is planned to be procured within a 75-mile radius of the project site. Southern Power will burn and boil the material to generate steam to turn turbines. Post completion, the $300 million plant will be one of the biggest biomass generators in the U.S., enough to power up to 80,000 homes.

We see the Nacogdoches acquisition and the subsequent construction of the power plant as a good strategic move by Southern Power. Apart from diversifying its fuel mix and ensuring reliable, affordable, and cleaner electricity generation, the deal is consistent with the company’s goal to pursue cost-effective renewable energy options.

Southern Power owns and operates more than 7,500 megawatts-worth of energy plants across Alabama, Florida, George and North Carolina, with an additional 820 megawatts in development in North Carolina and Texas.

Its parent company, Atlanta-based Southern Co., acquires, develops, builds, owns and operates power production and delivery facilities and provides a broad range of energy-related services to utilities and industrial companies in selected countries around the world. The company businesses include independent power projects, integrated utilities, a distribution company, and energy trading and marketing businesses outside the southeastern U.S.
Read the full analyst report on "SO"
Zacks Investment Research

AutoNation to Review Product Mix – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 22:28:09 +0000

AutoNation (AN) has revealed that it would reappraise its mix of domestic and foreign brands in the auto inventory as General Motors (GM) switches from a "push production" to "pull production" business model.

GM’s "push production" model was based on pushing out the maximum number of cars the plants could produce in order to meet the fixed costs. However, AutoNation disliked the business model's inefficiencies. Consequently, the Florida-based automotive retailer -- the largest in the U.S. -- has shown little respect for the quality and designs of many domestic brands, including GM.

After emerging from bankruptcy, GM has abandoned it old model and started focusing on the "pull production" model. This implies that the company will establish its production schedule driven solely by consumer demand.

GM’s new model has convinced AutoNation enough to reverse its inventory strategy. At a town hall meeting with GM’s CEO Fritz Henderson, AutoNation CEO Mike Jackson has commented that he will now look forward to include more domestic inventory from the present inventory mix of only one-third domestic and two-thirds basic import and premium luxury import brands.

Meanwhile, both GM and AutoNation are cautious about the U.S. auto industry outlook. Both companies predicted vehicle sales to decline to 10 million units this year from historic highs of 17 million units. Further, Jackson has projected sales of 11.6 million next year followed by gradual recovery to 15 million units in three years.

We recommend the shares of AutoNation as Neutral.
Read the full analyst report on "AN"
Zacks Investment Research

Life Partners Meets Expectations – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:59:28 +0000

Life Partners Holdings Inc. (LPHI) reported fiscal second-quarter results. The company’s net income posted a growth of 15.5% to $7.6 million, compared to $6.6 million in the year-ago quarter. Earnings per share of 51 cents was well ahead of the year-ago result of 44 cents per share, though it matched the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

Life Partners is a financial services company and the parent company of Life Partners Inc., which is engaged in the secondary market for life insurance known as life settlements. These financial transactions involve the purchase of life insurance policies at a discount to their face value for investment purposes. Life Partners' operating revenues are derived from fees for facilitating life settlement transactions, which involve the sale of an existing life insurance policy to another party. By selling the policy, the policyholder receives an immediate cash payment, while the purchaser takes an ownership interest in the policy and receives the death benefit under the policy when the insured dies.

The company reported a 17.2% year-over-year growth in gross revenues to $29.1 million, driven by a 12.7% expansion in average revenue per settlement to $558,761. Life Partners witnessed a growing demand for its services due to factors such as trends toward diversifying portfolios and avoiding economically sensitive investments. Since life settlement returns are not correlated with traditional equity and debt markets, the company is also benefiting from a shift in investor preference towards non-correlated, asset-based investments.

Brokerage fees, as a percentage of gross revenues, dipped 170 basis points (bps) year over year to 44.2%, which caused net revenues to grow by 20.8% to $16.2 million. Operating expenses grew 30.5% year over year to $5.1 million and as a percentage of net revenues by 230 bps to 31.3%. The increased expenses were caused by higher settlement costs, travel expenses as well as employee and executive bonuses linked to higher profitability. A major chunk of the settlement costs was attributable to a $770,000 legal settlement with the State of Florida.

Life Partners’ recorded a 16.8% year-over-year growth in operating income to $11.1 million, primarily driven by the strong revenue performance, partially offset by higher operating expenses. The company also stated that other income grew 11.1% year over year to nearly $537,000, mainly on account of gains from maturities of owned policies, which further boosted Life Partners' earnings performance.

During the first half of fiscal 2009, the company generated $14.7 million in cash from operations, compared to $3.6 million last year. The higher cash generation was driven by robust net income growth coupled with a modest increase in accounts receivable of $404,544, compared to an increase of $13.8 million in the year-ago period. The company deployed the cash primarily towards purchasing policies for investment purposes ($7.4 million) and towards payment of dividends ($5.8 million).

Moving forward, management expects greater demand for life settlements in the second half of the fiscal year as uncertain financial markets compel investors to look for alternative avenues for deploying investment capital. The Zacks Consensus Estimate on the company’s earnings for the fiscal year ending Feb. 2010 is currently pegged at $2.16 per share, which has remained constant over the past 2 months.
Read the full analyst report on "LPHI"
Zacks Investment Research

JLL to Manage SunTrust Facilities – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:48:59 +0000

Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. (JLL), a leading real estate investment trust (REIT), has been selected by SunTrust Banks Inc. (STI), a premier banking organization in the U.S., to provide integrated facility management services across its entire portfolio spanning 16 million square feet.

With the deal, Jones Lang would be entrusted to effectively manage the day-to-day tasks related to the operations across SunTrust’s facilities. SunTrust operates an extensive branch and ATM network throughout Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and Washington, DC. Jones Lang’s leading position in property and corporate facility management services would enable it to improve the operational efficiency of SunTrust.

On the other hand, the deal strengthens Jones Lang’s position in the market and offers it an expanded role in the operations of one of the largest banking organizations of the country. Jones Lang is a leading full-service real estate firm that provides corporate, financial, and investment management services. The company caters to corporations and other real estate owners, users, and investors worldwide.

Currently, Jones Lang provides property and corporate management services across a worldwide portfolio of 1.4 billion square feet. Its investment management division, LaSalle Investment Management is one of the largest and most diverse companies in the real estate market and has over $46 billion of assets under management.

Read the full analyst report on "JLL"
Read the full analyst report on "STI"
Zacks Investment Research

DrStockPick.com Stock Report! 10/12/09, APD, SNWL, SFLY, NKE, PRVT, NXTH

Dr. Stock Pick — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:34:39 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _______________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _______________________________________ Monday October 12, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** Air Products (NYSE: APD) will feature its broad line of solutions for water and wastewater treatment, now marketed globally under the Halia(TM) brand name, at WEFTEC 2009 in Orlando, Fla., from October 10-14. The company’s offerings [...]

DrStockPick.com Stock Report! 10/12/09, SNPS, KEME, CPHI, RTN, OB, KMT

Dr. Stock Pick — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:09:41 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _______________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _______________________________________ Monday October 12, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNPS), a world leader in software and IP for semiconductor design, verification and manufacturing, today introduced its Synphony HLS (High Level Synthesis) solution that integrates M-language and model-based synthesis to deliver up to [...]

International Speedway Misses – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 20:42:16 +0000

International Speedway Corp. (ISCA) reported fiscal third-quarter results yesterday. The company said GAAP net income plunged to $4.4 million, or 9 cents per share, compared to a GAAP net income of $38.8 million, or 79 cents in the prior year quarter. Excluding certain non-recurring items, earnings per share came in at 33 cents per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 5 cents.

International Speedway is a leading promoter of motorsports activities and currently promotes more than 100 racing events annually as well as numerous other motorsports-related activities. The company operates 13 of the nation’s major motorsports entertainment facilities, including Daytona International Speedway in Florida, Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama and Michigan International Speedway in Michigan among others.

The company stated that revenues slipped 18.9% year over year to $172.9 million primarily due the adverse impact of economic conditions on sponsorship, suite and hospitality revenues, timing of fall events at Auto Club Speedway and lower average ticket prices. In terms of segments, Motorsports related revenue reduced 18.2% to $106 million, Admissions dipped 16.5% to $52.4 million and Food, beverage and merchandise revenue declined 31.4% to $12.6 million.

Operating income plunged 74.5% year over year to $15.6 million, while operating margin declined by 19.6% to 9.0%. The reduction in margin was mainly caused by higher direct expenses, as a percentage of sales, which jumped to 57.4% from 50.0% last year due to higher television rights fees, consolidation of Montreal Nationwide weekend and timing of Chicago IRL weekend. Moreover, the company also recorded an impairment charge of $13.7 million during the quarter related to the adjustment in the value of its Staten Island property in New York.

The company ended the quarter with cash and equivalents of $217.4 million and total debt of $373 million, which included a $150 million in senior notes due in 2014 and $100 million in borrowings on the revolving credit facility. International Speedway said that it repurchased about 112,000 shares during the quarter for $2.8 million and now has $39 million left in its $250 million share repurchase authorization. The company also stated that capital expenditure during the first nine months of the fiscal was $65.5 million, which included construction of new headquarters in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Moving forward, the company now expects full-fiscal 2009 revenues to range between $700 million and $710 million, compared to the prior prediction of $700 million to $720 million. Moreover, earnings per share is now expected between $1.80 and $1.90 per share, compared to between $1.80 and $2.00 per share earlier. The updated guidance remains in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.83 per share, which has edged up a penny over the past week.

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

FPL to Open New PV Plant – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 19:29:53 +0000

Florida Power & Light Co. (FPL) has announced plans to deliver electricity to customers from the DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center in Arcadia – the largest solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant in the country – by October-end. The plant would use 90,000 photovoltaic panels to convert solar energy into electricity lighting up above 3,000 homes. Earlier, Nevada’s Nellis Solar Power Plant was considered the largest PV plant in the country.

Together with the DeSoto Center the company plans to build two other solar energy centers in Florida – at the Martin County and at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, with total capacity of the three plants being 110 megawatts by end of 2010. These plants together would make Florida the second largest solar power-producing state in the country.

Large-scale solar projects such as Florida Power’s DeSoto Center creates additional jobs and also increases the revenues of governments, along with reducing the emission of greenhouse gases, preventing the ill-effects of pollution. The DeSoto project created over 400 jobs in Florida for the last 12-months during construction and is to add $2 million of annual tax revenue for the Florida government by the end of the next year.

Solar photovoltaic power provides significant environmental benefits because the facility consumes no fuel, uses no water and produces no waste. For instance, over its life the DeSoto Center will avert the release of more than 575,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere, which is equivalent to taking more than 4,500 cars off the road every year, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In addition, the electricity generated by this facility will reduce the use of fossil fuels in Florida by more than 277,000 barrels of oil and 7 billion cubic feet of natural gas.

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

Marshall & Ilsley Expects Loss – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:00:26 +0000

Marshall & Ilsley Corp. (MI) said on Tuesday that it anticipates a third-quarter loss due primarily to a higher loan loss provision for bank holding company loans.

The company expects to report a loss of 68 cents to 70 cents per share for the quarter as its allowance for loan and lease losses as a percentage of total loans and leases is expected to rise slightly over 3%.

The firm said that it will make a loan loss provision of $390 million to $400 million for the quarter and would make a special provision of about $185 million for certain bank holding company loans.

As a result of delays in raising capital, deterioration in loan portfolios and regulatory actions against some bank holding companies, total amount of loan and lease losses for the quarter are expected to range between $575 million and $585 million.

The bank said it expects net charge-offs in the quarter to reach as much as $540 million. The early stage loan delinquencies declined by $220 million, or 20%, for the period between June 30 and Sept 30.

The company is scheduled to release its third quarter results on Oct 22.

Marshall & Ilsley is a diversified financial services company, providing its clients with trust and investment management, equipment leasing, mortgage banking, financial planning, insurance, and other bank related services. In addition to its financial services, the company’s wholly owned technology subsidiary, Metavante Corp., provides technology support services to financial services companies.

The bank continues to suffer from its exposure to construction and residential development loans in Arizona, Florida's west coast and certain correspondent channels. The management has taken aggressive steps in identifying credit issues and building capital, which we believe will help the company to take advantage of opportunities going through the cycle than most of its peers. However, worse credit quality, lack of core deposit growth and continuous pricing pressures on both sides of the balance sheet will be a drag on upcoming results.
Read the full analyst report on "MI"
Zacks Investment Research

Zaldiva, Inc. (ZLDV.OB) Identifies Multiple Acquisition Candidates

QualityStocks — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 13:02:41 +0000

Zaldiva, Inc. a leader in Pop Culture collectibles, comic books, memorabilia and auctions, today detailed its acquisition strategy as it continues to focus on rolling-up smaller comic and collectibles retailers under the Zaldiva brand. The company has identified its first 5 targets for acquisition. “We see the comic and collectibles industry being in a very similar [...]

Initial Jobless Claims Decline to January Levels

QualityStocks — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 17:51:48 +0000

A Labor Department report issued Thursday Oct. 8 shows initial claims for unemployment fell 33,000 from the prior week’s revised total to 521,000, the lowest level since the beginning of 2009. This figure was 19k less than the Thomson Reuters survey, giving some cause for hope amid a generally depressed economic outlook. With the four-week [...]

St. Joe Sells Perico Asset – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 17:00:25 +0000

The St. Joe Company (JOE), a publicly held operationally diverse real estate company, has recently sold its property in Perico Island, Florida for about $8 million to Minto Communities LLC, the U.S. subsidiary of the Canadian real estate company Minto Group Inc.

St. Joe had earlier halted work on the 684-unit residential condo project on the island as substantial units were not sold to warrant construction. Furthermore, St. Joe had also completed a corporate reorganization and exited the home building business during the third quarter of 2006. Consequently, the company decided to get rid of its Perico Island property.

Initial infrastructure of the project has already been put in place, including a 32-acre man-made lake. The Minto Group plans to continue the development work on the island in 2010. Minto Communities had built approximately 19,000 homes across Southeast Florida and the recent acquisition is the largest of its kind in the West Coast region.

Based in Jacksonville, St. Joe is one of Florida’s largest real estate developers and owns approximately 49,000 acres of land that allow for the development of 46,500 residential units and over 14 million square feet of commercial uses. In addition, the company is also engaged in timber operations on vast tracts of rural land.
Read the full analyst report on "JOE"
Zacks Investment Research

DrStockPick.com Stock Report! 10/08/09, GTY, CI, LNC, CWLZ, STI, TXI

Dr. Stock Pick — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:12:48 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _______________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _______________________________________ Thursday October 8, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** Please be advised that Getty Realty Corp. (NYSE: GTY) will release its financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2009, after the market closes on Tuesday, November 3, 2009. CIGNA (NYSE:CI) and ProHealth Physicians, Inc., [...]

Opko Health’s New Acquisition (AMEX:OPK)

Jyotsna Ramani — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 12:00:11 +0000

Formerly known as Ophthalmic Technologies Inc. Opko Health has recently agreed to acquire Chilean pharmaceutical company named Pharma Genexx for around US$ 16 million in cash. One of the reasons why this ...

Fifth Third Eyeing Higher Charge-offs – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 21:48:03 +0000

Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) expects its loan charge-offs to increase in the third quarter, primarily due to the increase in charge-offs associated with the Shared National Credit (SNC) examination that has been recently conducted by regulators.

"The company, which intends to release its third-quarter earnings results on Oct 22, also expects its non-performing assets to accelerate, though interest income and margins are expected to improve in the second half of 2009.

Fifth Third expects net charge-offs in the third quarter to be approximately $775 million, up from $626 million in the second quarter. This would include approximately $110 million in net charge-offs related to SNC credits, compared with $17 million in the second quarter. However, management expects SNC charge-offs to fall in the fourth quarter. Non-performing assets are also expected to increase 20%.

The weakness in the overall economy and in the real estate market, including specific weakness within Fifth Third's geographic footprint, has adversely affected the company. A significant portion of its residential mortgage and commercial real estate loan portfolios comprise borrowers in Michigan, Northern Ohio and Florida.

These markets have been particularly hurt by job losses, declines in real estate values, declines in home sale volumes and declines in new home building. As a result, delinquencies and charge-offs are increasing, and the company's earnings are adversely impacted. According to management, while the Michigan market has begun to stabilize, the Florida market remains stressed.

Fifth Third's second-quarter core loss of 27 cents per share was better than the Zacks Consensus Estimate for a loss of 30 cents per share. Competitive market conditions, continuing deterioration in credit quality and collateral values within the company's geographical footprint will weigh upon results for several quarters to come, in our view.

However, despite the dilutive impact, the recent capital bolstering initiatives are viewed positively, given the stressed economic environment. Also, the cost containment measures provide some relief. Hence, we have a Neutral recommendation on the shares.

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

Catalyst shares on rise (NASDAQ:CPRX)

Sandra Kitchen — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:30:50 +0000

October 1st 2009 brought good news to Catalyst Pharmaceutical Partners when they decided to continue with the development of their addiction drug. It was announced that even though they had failed earlier ...

UTX Units Get Orders – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:00:00 +0000

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne has been awarded a 10-month contract by Lockheed Martin for preliminary design of the high speed accelerator for a turbine-based combined-cycle (TBCC) propulsion system, which could support flight up to Mach 6. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is a unit of United Technologies Corporation (UTX).

In Phase I of the TBCC Mode Transition Demonstrator Program, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne will develop preliminary designs for a dual-mode ramjet combustor with related control and fuel system components.

El Al , Israel 's national airline, signed a five-year, $70 million extension agreement with jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney for engine maintenance and overhaul. The service is for PW4060 engines on El Al's Boeing 767s and 747-400s. The agreement includes management and overhaul of the engines with an option to extend the contract for up to five more years.

United Technologies Corp.'s Sikorsky Aircraft received a $133.5 million contract boost from the Navy to provide maintenance and logistics services for three kinds of aircraft. The services cover military trainer aircraft: T-34, T-44 and T-6. Work will be performed in several locations including Naval Air Stations in Corpus Christi, Texas, Whiting Field, Fla., Pensacola, Fla., and more, and is expected to be completed by September 2010.

United Technologies Corporation 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 competitors include General Electric Company (GE) and Boeing Company (BA).

We currently have a Neutral recommendation on UTX.
Read the full analyst report on "UTX"
Read the full analyst report on "GE"
Read the full analyst report on "BA"
Zacks Investment Research

DrStockPick.com Stock Report! 9/28/09, TRS, BLVT, MNTA, AET, PKBK, SCVL

Dr. Stock Pick — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:49:44 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _______________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _______________________________________ Monday September 28, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** TriMas Corporation (Nasdaq: TRS) - a diversified manufacturer of engineered and applied products - today announced that Cequent Performance Products, Inc. reached an agreement with Ford Motor Company to supply a patented cross bed towing system [...]

DrStockPick.com Stock Report! 9/25/09, DGI, UTX, HIBB, AA, AWH, RGEN

Dr. Stock Pick — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 17:17:35 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _______________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _______________________________________ Friday September 25, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** DigitalGlobe (NYSE: DGI), a leading global provider of commercial high-resolution, world-imagery products and services for defense and intelligence, civil government, and commercial clients, today announced that it has received October 8, 2009, as the new [...]

Public Service Goes Big Solar – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:19:52 +0000

Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. (PEG) through its subsidiary PSEG Solar Source will develop three large-scale solar power projects with a cumulative total capacity of approximately 29.2MW. The three solar projects entailing an investment of approximately $100 million from Public Service will be located in Florida, Ohio and New Jersey.

The three projects will utilize 380,000 solar thin-film panels sourced from First Solar Inc. (FSLR). The company expects the projects to be operational by the end of fiscal 2010.

The projects will be developed in close collaboration with Juwi solar Inc. Based in Boulder, CO – Juwi solar is a privately-held solar energy generation company which will provide the engineering, procurement, construction and initial operation and maintenance services for the projects. However, ownership of the projects will lie with PSEG Solar Source.

Public Service in recent times is focusing on the solar space in a big way. The company is also developing a 350MW wind farm off the coast of New Jersey. Apart from that, its regulated gas and electric utility subsidiary in New Jersey -- PSE&G -- has launched two solar initiatives, a $105 million solar loan program and an 80 MW program that involves attaching solar panels to 200,000 utility poles.

Public Service Enterprise Group's operations are mostly located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic parts of the U.S. The company principally operates through three key subsidiaries: Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G), PSEG Power LLC (PSEG Power) and PSEG Energy Holdings LLC (PSEG Energy). We maintain our market Neutral recommendation on the shares.
Read the full analyst report on "PEG"
Read the full analyst report on "FSLR"
Zacks Investment Research

Regions to Pay Penalty – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 20:46:24 +0000

Regions Financial Corp. (RF) will have to shell out $1 million as penalty to settle Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charges. The SEC had filed a civil action against Regions Bank for its role in connection with a Florida-based offering scam by unregistered broker-dealers U.S. Pension Trust Corp. and U.S. College Trust Corp. (collectively, USPT).

Regions Bank, and its predecessor Union Planters Bank, acted as trustees for a pair of unregistered investment brokers, the USTP. The trust arrangement was begun in 2001 by Union Planters, which merged with Regions in 2004. Regions allowed its name to be used in marketing materials, helped prepare a promotional video and met with prospective investors and some of the schemes' 2,000 unregistered sales agents.

Without telling investors, the two investment plans deducted 18-85% of contributions to pay large sales commissions and enhance the plans' own profits. Approximately $255 million was raised illicitly from about 14,000 investors. The $1 million penalty will be put into a fund to compensate investors in the fraud.

Regions ceased accepting new clients from the investment plans in January 2008 and closed processing contributions and renewals for existing plans last month. The accounts currently hold about $95 million in mutual fund assets for 11,000 investors, according to the SEC. Recent news coverage has not been pleasant for Regions Financial.

In its second quarter, the company posted $244 million in net losses versus $206 million in profits during the same period in 2008. Adding to the bank’s woes is news from the SEC that the regulator issued a Well notice to Regions subsidiary Morgan Keegan in July as well as three employees, informing them to get ready for future enforcement action over violations of federal securities laws.
Read the full analyst report on "RF"
Zacks Investment Research

How the Government is Setting Us Up for a Second Subprime Crisis

Shah Gilani — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:43:27 +0000

pIs the government creating another subprime-mortgage bubble?/p pThe first time around, the three-headed federal serpent – the Bush administration, the Treasury Department and the U.S. Federal Reserve – used Fannie Mae (NYSE: a href="http://www.google.com/finance?q=fnm"FNM/a) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: a href="http://www.google.com/finance?q=fre"FRE/a) to “legitimize” trillions of dollars worth of toxic financial waste known as subprime mortgages./p pThe result was the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression – a mess that was global in nature./p pAnd we’re now headed for a repeat performance./p pSome of the players may have changed since the first a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subprime_mortgage_crisis"subprime-mortgage crisis/a, but the game apparently remains the same. With banks currently unwilling to lend, the new federal triumvirate of the Obama administration, the Treasury and the Fed are trying to inflate the moribund U.S.#8230;/p

Waste Services, Inc. (WSII) Raises $50 Million in Senior Notes

QualityStocks — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 01:26:42 +0000

Waste Services, Inc. (WSII) recently announced it would commence a note offering raising a total of $50 million in new capital. The company is offering 9.5% senior subordinated notes due 2014 in a private placement to qualified institutional investors. The sale is permitted under Rule 144A of the Securities Act of 1933. Waste Services, [...]

Pity the Investors Counting on a Bull Market

Bill Bonner — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 18:36:11 +0000

pLet’s get this straight./p pHousehold credit is shrinking#8230;br / Profits are shrinking#8230;br / Employment is shrinking#8230;br / Housing values are shrinking#8230;br / The wage base is shrinking#8230;/p pBut the recession is over!/p pWhoa#8230; how is that possible? /p pThis weekend’s news brought no surprises. For example, the housing picture is still depressing – unless you’re a buyer./p pThere’s “no bottom in sight” to Florida condo prices, says Barron’s. And Reuters warns that option ARM mortgages “are about to explode.” At least, that’s what the attorney general of the sovereign state of Iowa says. The option gives the homeowner the right to pay only the interest (or in some cases less than the interest) for the first few years. They’re sometimes called I.O. mortgages (interest only). And now these mortgages, written at the height#8230;/p

BIIB, PWRM, CHIP, CVAT, CSRH, HON, DrStockPick.com Stock Report!

Dr. Stock Pick — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:17:32 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _________________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _________________________________________ Monday September 21, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! BIIB, PWRM, CHIP, CVAT, CSRH, HON ************************************************************** PWRM, Power 3 Medical Products Inc, PWRM.OB Power3 Medical Products, Inc. is a leading bio-medical company engaged in the commercialization of neurodegenerative disease and cancer biomarkers, pathways, and mechanisms of diseases through the development of [...]

UFI, SPNG, ROSV, DrStockPick.com Watch List! for Friday September 18, 2009, Unifi Inc., SpongeTech Delivery Systems Inc, SPNG.OB and Rostock Ventures Corp, ROSV.OB

Dr. Stock Pick — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 03:08:38 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _______________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _______________________________________ DrStockPick.com Watch List! My Picks for Friday September 18, 2009, are: ************************************************************** UFI, Unifi Inc. UFI is a diversified producer and processor of multi-filament polyester and nylon textured yarns and related raw materials. UFI adds value to the supply chain and enhances consumer demand for its products through [...]

DrStockPick.com Stock Report! 9/16/09, PRPL, MITI, NCR, GTXO, MDT, FTCH

Dr. Stock Pick — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 17:18:56 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _______________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _______________________________________ Wednesday September 16, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** Celebrating the stories, culture and heritage of America’s Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Community, Purple Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: PRPL) will honor National Champion Motocross Rider and Floridian, Ashley Fiolek for being a role model to deaf youth [...]

Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Genzyme Corp., Salix Pharmaceuticals, Walt Disney Co., Sunoco Logistics Partners LP and Theravance – Press Releases

Zacks Market Commentaries — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 14:15:10 +0000

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – September 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: Genzyme Corp. (GENZ), Salix Pharmaceuticals (SLXP), Walt Disney Co. (DIS), Sunoco Logistics Partners LP (SXL) and Theravance (THRX).

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 Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:

Genzyme's MS Drug Shows Promise

On Friday, Genzyme Corp. (GENZ) presented encouraging four-year follow-up phase II data on alemtuzumab, which is being developed for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS). Results showed durable reductions in relapse rate and sustained accumulation of disability even three years after patients received their last course of alemtuzumab.

Salix Scores on Rifaximin Data

Shares of Salix Pharmaceuticals (SLXP) jumped 51% after the company announced positive results from two pivotal phase III trials of rifaximin for the treatment of non-constipation irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

Walt Disney Expands Fantasyland

The Walt Disney Co. (DIS) plans the biggest ever expansion of its Fantasyland at Florida in 2010. The planned expansion of the two franchises will be carried out in two phases, one to be completed in 2012 and the other in 2013.

Although, the exact amount to be spent on the expansion was not disclosed, Walt Disney announced plans to fund these expansions and upgrades through the Disney theme park's annual capital expenditures.

Sunoco Logistics Acquires Pipeline

Late last week, Sunoco Logistics Partners LP (SXL) reported that it has closed the acquisition of Excel Pipeline LLC, which owns the 52-mile Excel crude oil pipeline running from Duncan to a refinery in Wynnewood, both in Oklahoma. Sunoco Logistics purchased Excel from affiliates of Gary-Williams Energy Corp., which runs the Wynnewood refinery.

Theravance on a High

In a quantum achievement, Theravance (THRX) received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market its Vibativ (telavancin) for complicated skin and skin structure infections (cSSSI) caused by Gram-positive bacteria.

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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.

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Zacks Investment Research

Taking Cancer Treatment to a New Level (OTC:PVCT)

Michael Vlaicu — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 04:11:03 +0000

Provectus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Public, OTC:PVCT) StocksHaven Investments profiles one of the most exciting up-and-coming anti-cancer companies in the industry, Provectus Pharmaceuticals (OTC:PVCT). They have one of the deepest pipelines of any small cap biotech, focusing on treatments for: Melanoma, Psoriasis, Atopic Dermatitis, Breast Cancer, and Liver Metastasis. With three drugs nearly ready to enter Phase III, including [...]

Harry Dent: India A Better Long-Term Bet Than China

IndexUniverse Staff — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 04:00:00 +0000

The author says forget about most of Europe and Japan. He also talks about his new ETF and the role of demographics in investing.

Harry Dent is founder and chief executive of Tampa, Fla.-based HS Dent Investment Management LLC. He is a best-selling author and money manager who has developed quantitative investment models based on demographic research.

He took time on Tuesday to discuss his latest views on the market with IndexUniverse.com Editor Murray Coleman. They also discussed Dent's new exchange-traded fund, the AdvisorShares Dent Tactical ETF (NYSEArca: DENT). It's scheduled to begin trading on Wednesday. Below are excerpts of that conversation.

IU.com: You’re fairly pessimistic about the market now, aren’t you?

Dent: We do think we’re at the end of this rally. This isn’t like past recessions. Consumer spending by baby boomers is peaking. It’s the end of a long surge that began in the 1980s. Clearly, baby boomers are going to start saving more and spending less over the next decade. That’s going to deflate the whole economy. The next generation should start to pick up consumer spending levels again -- roughly around 2020. That’s when we’re expecting the start of another long-term boom.

IU.com: In the meantime, do you see many short-term opportunities for investors?

Dent: Right now, we’re still seeing a lot of hope priced into stocks for a prolonged recovery. But in 2010, we think markets are going to start falling again and people will become very disappointed. Our expectation is that stocks are heading towards an extended period, which will be marked largely by downturns and sideways movements. From late 2010 through around 2020, we’re expecting stock markets around the world to remain in a trading range with a lot of volatility. We’re expecting the S&P 500 to show a lot of ups and downs over the next decade, moving anywhere from around 300 to 1,100 as markets remain in flux throughout the period.

IU.com: That’s quite a range, isn’t it?

Dent: Yes, that is. The point is that we’re going to see a lot of volatility in the next 10 years. Under these conditions, we think you’ve got to play momentum – there’s not going to be another prolonged boom for awhile. But we do expect some markets to do better than others. When times are better, we expect places like India to roar a little more than most developed markets. Emerging markets, though, will remain extremely volatile. Eventually, somewhere around 2020, I can see us coming out with another ETF that plays strictly in emerging markets. But in the shorter-term, emerging markets are still very dependent on developed markets. And Europe, as well as Japan, are practically dead at this point for investors looking for the best relative growth opportunities.

You’ve also got to remember that emerging markets have just been through one of the biggest bubbles in the past several years. So, there’s going to be a shakeout in the shorter-term in Asia and Latin America. The positive is that even in a sideways-moving global market, emerging markets will see bigger bounces than developed markets. Our model for the new ETF will likely lean towards countries like China and India and other emerging markets when momentum is moving up. We feel like that’s how you’ve got to play global markets in the next decade – with a lot of flexibility to take advantage of movements up while remaining cautious on the downside.

IU.com: In your latest book, you show different demographic trends favoring emerging markets over the next several years, don’t you?

Dent: The strongest demographic trends – countries with growing workforces and growing consumer patterns – are going to be in the emerging markets. Latin America and much of Asia is largely urbanized: India is a little over 30 percent; China is just under 50 percent but Brazil is over 80 percent. So, emerging markets' growth is very tied to this move towards greater urbanization.

IU.com: What regions or countries are behind the curve in terms of urbanization?

Dent: If you take away oil, the Middle East is largely a third-world region. And most of Africa is still struggling to become more urban. So, they’re more frontier markets now. But our new ETF is only interested in investing in countries clearly on the way up.

IU.com: What is your favorite country on a longer-term basis at this point?

Dent: If I had to pick one country for the next 30 to 40 years, it’d be India. It wouldn’t be China. Their demographics are going to work against them. After 2020, urbanization will come at a slower rate since younger people generally are the ones to move the fastest out of rural areas. China’s policy of one child per family, which started in the early 1970s, will begin to catch up with them between 2015-2020. Someone said China is going to get old before they get rich, and we agree with that. By contrast, India’s demographics won’t peak until about 50 years after those of China.

IU.com: Does the new ETF follow your basic investment process?

Dent: It is simply a momentum model we’ve tracked for years. But it’s different than what we’ve done in the 1980s and 1990s – the methodology we tried to use in the past with some of our separate accounts and the old AIM mutual fund. We were subadviser to that fund and AIM just didn’t listen to us. The fund was supposed to be a blend of our models and those developed by AIM. But when markets crashed in 2000-2002 and our models were very cautious, the AIM models were favored and the fund remained quite more aggressive in stocks than our models preferred. That fund ended up getting merged into another one and we learned a valuable lesson: Joint ventures aren’t the best way to go with fund portfolios. We’ve got well-tested, momentum-based models and it’s either got to be our way or the highway in terms of working with fund portfolios.

IU.com: Is that why you decided to go with an ETF structure?

Dent: The ETF structure is very low-cost compared to similar hedge fund and mutual fund strategies. And they’re more widely available compared to hedge funds and mutual funds. Anybody can add our ETF to their portfolio. And we’ve got control over it and nobody else can tell us how to manage our investment model.

IU.com: Can you explain the process that this model follows?

Dent: This is a quantitative-based model. It looks at the universe of developed and emerging markets. It also includes commodities. So it has latitude to go anywhere. The key is how it decides to pull out of sectors and countries. The advantage of any momentum model is that when things are going well, the model does, too. But, of course, the difficulty is moving out of an area of the market, or back in, when things aren’t going so well. There’s always going to be a lag – you’d have to be a genius to time markets perfectly.

But this ETF’s model isn’t going to act like an actively managed hedge fund or mutual fund. This ETF will be on a monthly rebalancing schedule, so there’s going to be a lag time between shifts. So the key is going to be to get the general trends right. We’re not trying to time exact tops and exact bottoms. The model has some technical factors built into its methodology. But technical analysis isn’t always right. So, it also includes elements of fundamental analysis. We believe this is the best model for a market that’s heading towards an extended winter.

Walt Disney Expands Fantasyland – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 17:25:15 +0000

The Walt Disney Co. (DIS), one of the largest entertainment companies in the world, plans the biggest ever expansion of its Fantasyland at Florida in 2010. The expansion is based on the popularity of the Disney Princess and Fairies franchises that have generated $4 billion in global retail sales. The planned expansion of the two franchises will be carried out in two phases, one to be completed in 2012 and the other in 2013.

The expansion plan mainly involves inclusion of four Disney characters namely Cindrella, Sleeping Beauty, Belle from 'Beauty and Beast' and Ariel from "The Little Mermaid". Management believes that these characters would be ideal for a place where visitors usually engage in dancing, story telling, or organize a birthday party with costumed characters of favorite cartoons.

In addition, Walt Disney also plans to set up two new dining places - Gascon's Tavern and The Beast's Castle. The company also intends to construct a new underwater ride, based on the "The Little Mermaid", both in Florida Fantasyland and at the ongoing expansion site of California Adventure.

Moreover, the company plans for a second phase of expansion at the Fantasyland, which will include a world based on the fairy world of Pixie Hollow from "Peter Pan". However, details of the expansion were not disclosed.

Apart from this, Walt Disney as part of the Fantasyland expansion intends to double the size of the popular Dumbo ride. The idea is to add a covered "three-ring circus" waiting area with interactive games and a play area.

Furthermore, the Toon Town attraction with its popular Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse houses will be dismantled and relocated to another section of Walt Disney World. The company also announced an upgrade to the Star Tours rides at Disneyland in Anaheim and Disney's Hollywood Studio in Florida which are expected to become operational by 2011.

Star Tours is a replication of a ride through space aboard spacecraft like those in the original "Star Wars" film. Management also stated that the updated version includes new digital 3D effects and projectors that let ride operators vary "destinations," and upgrades the Star Speeder cabins.

Although, the exact amount to be spent on the expansion was not disclosed, Walt Disney announced plans to fund these expansions and upgrades through the Disney theme park's annual capital expenditures.
Read the full analyst report on "DIS"
Zacks Investment Research

AMNE and Ecosafe Insulation of FL to Form Joint Venture

Stuart T. Smith — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:29:32 +0000

NEW HAVEN, CT — (Marketwire) — 09/15/09 — American Green Group, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: AMNE) (www.americangreengroup.com) is pleased to announce the Company is entering into a joint venture with Ecosafe Insulation of Florida, LLC (ECOFL), the Company that controls 5 territories in FL. The agreement would allow ECOFL to market Ecosafe Foam and Infinite R in 14 [...]

AutoNation Boosts Vehicle Orders – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 22:08:22 +0000

AutoNation (AN) has increased vehicle orders in the fourth quarter of the year in an effort to restock showrooms that had been emptied out during the "Cash for Clunkers" program. The Florida-based largest automotive retailer in the U.S. has revealed that it has hiked orders by 50% in the fourth quarter compared to the previous quarter. The company has already ordered more cars than expected in the third quarter.

AutoNation greatly benefited from the “Cash for Clunkers" program, a.k.a. Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) – introduced by the U.S. Government in late July. The $3 billion cash incentive program, ended August 24, allowed consumers to trade in their old gas-guzzling cars and trucks with a mileage of 18 miles per gallon or less for a value of up to $3,500–$4,500.

A few days before the program ended, AutoNation withdrew to make sure it could submit the paperwork on the thousands of sales to the Government before the deadline. The dealer has alone sold 13,000 vehicles under the program and has estimated that the Government owes it more than $54 million from Clunker sales. The Government has vouched for payment within 30–60 days.

The retailer now waits for the payment to support the appraisal of its orders. As such, we have upgraded the stock to an Outperform recommendation with a target price of $22.00.
Read the full analyst report on "AN"
Zacks Investment Research

Spartech Posts Lackluster Q3 – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 19:15:56 +0000

Spartech Corp. (SEH) recently posted lackluster third-quarter results as recessionary conditions affected demand for its products. The company stated that GAAP net income plunged 66% year over year to $1.5 million. Excluding restructuring charges, earnings per share came in at 18 cents, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny.

Spartech is an intermediary processor of engineered thermoplastics. It converts base polymers or resins into extruded plastic sheet and rollstock, thermoformed packaging, specialty film laminates, acrylic products, specialty plastic alloys, color concentrates and blended resin compounds, injection molded and profile extruded products.

The Clayton, Missouri-based company said revenue fell 30% year over year to $241.7 million. Volumes shrank 25% due to sluggish demand in its end markets - automotive, building and construction and recreation and leisure. Moreover, sales were also hurt by a 5% drop in selling price as Spartech passed on lower resin prices to customers.

The company said it plans to sell its Canadian profiles extrusion business, which generates annual sales of $9 million, to Acrylon Plastics Inc. Spartech said it will consolidate its Lockport, New York-based compounding operation into existing facilities by the end of the current year. During the quarter, the company closed its toll compounding business in Arlington, Texas and Engineered Products business, which manufactured products for the marine industry in Rockledge, Florida.

Meanwhile, its flagship segment Custom Sheet & Rollstock recorded a 24% year-over-year decline in sales to $122.3 million due to a 12% fall in volumes along with a 12% drop in prices. Revenue in the Packaging Technologies unit fell 25% to $52.7 million amid a 15% dip in volume and 10% decrease in price. Sales in the Color & Specialty Compound segment dropped 46% to $54.4 million as volume and price fell by 41% and 5%, respectively, compared to the year-ago period.

Gross margin grew by 450 basis points (bps) year over year to 14.4% primarily due to the company’s cost-control efforts and a favorable shift in the mix towards higher-margin products. Operating profit grew 23% year over year to $13 million, while operating margin rose 230 bps to 5.4% due to improved gross margin, partially offset by higher selling, general and administrative and restructuring expenses as a percentage of sales.

During the quarter, Spartech generated $26.9 million of cash from operations and utilized $1.6 million towards capital expenditure, which resulted in free cash flow of $25.3 million. The company also made debt repayments of $26.5 million and its total debt stood at $239.2 million at the end of the fiscal third quarter.

Looking ahead, the company sees volumes stabilizing in its end markets. However, weak demand will continue to affect its performance through the rest of the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate on the company’s earnings for the fiscal year ending October 2009 is currently pegged at 43 cents per share. The 4 covering analysts have reduced their forecasts by 2 cents over the past month. The most accurate estimate is even bearish at 36 cents per share.

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

Simulated Environment Concepts, Inc. (SMEV.PK) Sells Quality Of Life

QualityStocks — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:15:54 +0000

Simulated Environment Concepts, Inc. is a Florida based company that has found success in the skyrocketing growth of massage therapy. Not the massage provided by a massage therapist, but rather the kind provided by those increasingly popular high-tech water-based massage capsules you see popping up everywhere. But Simulated Environment has gone further with the introduction [...]

Atheros Ups Guidance, Buys ITLN – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:43:45 +0000

Atheros Communications Inc. (ATHR) recently updated its guidance for the third quarter. The company now expects revenues between $145 million and $150 million, up 29%–30% sequentially and up from the earlier projection of revenues between $129.0 million and $134.6 million.

EPS (excluding one-time charges) is projected between 35 cents and 39 cents compared to the previous guidance between 29 cents and 31 cents.

California-based Atheros Communications is a leader in the designing of chipsets used in WLAN devices.

Atheros also announced that it will acquire Intellon Corporation (ITLN) in a stock and cash transaction valued at approximately $244 million or $181 million net of cash and equivalents. Atheros expects to close this transaction by the fourth quarter of 2009.

Headquartered in Orlando, FL, Intellon Corporation designs, develops and markets integrated circuits (ICs) on a global basis for powerline communications or high-speed communications over the existing electrical wiring.

Atheros stated that it will pay for approximately 45% to 55% of the acquisition in stock and the rest in cash. The transaction values Intellon shares at $7.30 each. The shareholders of Intellon have three options: 1) to receive approximately 0.135 shares of Atheros common stock and approximately $3.60 in cash, 2) $7.30 in cash, or 3) approximately 0.267 shares of Atheros common stock for each share of Intellon common stock.

Atheros plans to issue approximately 4.2–5.1 million shares in connection with the acquisition and pay approximately $115–$141 million in cash, depending on what the shareholders of Intellon agree upon.

Management expects that by combining Atheros’ wireless LAN and Ethernet products with Intellon’s market-leading powerline communications products, the company will become a leader in providing networking solutions throughout the digital home.

Atheros is among the smaller U.S. publicly traded companies in the WLAN space and expects to diversify its product portfolio through this acquisition. The transaction is estimated to be accretive to EPS in the first half of 2010.
Read the full analyst report on "ATHR"
Read the full analyst report on "ITLN"
Zacks Investment Research

New Pain Treatment Triumphs Morphine (OTC:NPHC)

Michael Vlaicu — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 05:52:41 +0000

Nutra Pharma Corp. (Public, OTC:NPHC) Step aside Morphine, the new king of chronic pain treatment has entered the building. With Nutra Pharma#8217;s stock rising nearly 2300% year-to-date, its time we see what all the commotion is about. StocksHaven Investments takes a closer look at Nutra Pharma Corp., which believes will begin generating significant revenues within the next [...]

Southern Telecom Inks Agreement – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:55:44 +0000

Southern Telecom, the telecommunications subsidiary of Southern Company (SO), has recently signed an agreement with the Florida-based 421 West Church Street to connect its Atlanta, Macon and Jacksonville metro dark fiber networks to the latter’s carrier neutral telecommunication facility. This will help Southern Telecom to expand its presence in the Southeast region as well as to offer better service to its existing customers.

Southern Telecom provides long-haul and metro dark fiber connecting Atlanta with other smaller cities throughout the Southeast region. The company also offers HVAC, power and other custom energy solutions for optronics at its operation hubs and in-line amplification sites on the long-haul routes and points of presence in the metro areas supporting the metro fiber rings.

Shares of Southern Company closed at $31.44 on Tuesday, trading at 13.7X trailing 12-month earnings per share versus 11.8X of the peer group. We maintain our Neutral recommendation for the company.
Read the full analyst report on "SO"
Zacks Investment Research

Stock-PR NYSE Stock Headlines September 9, 2009

Stock-PR — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:51:24 +0000

After years of quietly building what has become the largest renewable energy business in the nation, FPL Group, Inc. (NYSE:FPL) has established itself as one of the nation’s cleanest electric power providers. More than anything else, this defines the company’s commitment to sustainable business practices. FPL Group, Inc. (NYSE: FPL) is a leading clean energy company [...]

PennyOmega.com Stock Report! 9/09/09, CNAM, WFC, HGG, QASP, NICK, MPS

PennyOmega.com — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:35:45 +0000

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AMNE Delivers Truck to FL Group and Certifies Installer

Stuart T. Smith — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 14:03:00 +0000

NEW HAVEN, CT — (Marketwire) — 09/08/09 — American Green Group, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: AMNE) (www.americangreengroup.com) is pleased to announce they have delivered the outfitted Sprinter truck ordered by Ecosafe Insulation of Florida, LLC (ECOFL) and have certified the first installer. The Truck was delivered to Hernando County located on the West Coast of Florida. The certification [...]

Mexican Airlines Fight Turbulence – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 21:28:58 +0000

Mexican airport operator Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S.A.B. de C.V., aka ASUR (ASR) announced the total passenger traffic for the month of August 2009.

During the month, total passenger traffic decreased 12.8% year over year. Total passenger traffic fell to 1.3 million from 1.5 million in August 2008.

Domestic passenger traffic was down 5.6% from August 2008. It fell from 694,360 passengers in August 2008 to 655,242 passengers in August 2009. International passengers reached 664,445 from 818,491 in August 2008. The decline in international passenger traffic resulted mainly from a decline of 20.2% in international traffic at the Cancun airport, a main tourist attraction.

ASR’s business is highly dependent on international tourists; the Cancun airport generates 70% of the company’s revenues. Thus, we believe that the company’s principal competition comes from the other tourist destinations of Acapulco, Puerto Vallarta and Los Cabos in Mexico, and destinations such as Puerto Rico, Florida, Cuba, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and other Caribbean islands and Central American resorts.

Despite the hurricanes, Mexican tourist destinations like Cancun and Cozumel continue to be highly attractive. However, the outbreak of swine flu in Mexico in the beginning of 2009 was challenging. Apart from the global economic crisis, this is one more reason for the decrease in passenger traffic during August.

Thus, other Mexican airline operator like Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico (PAC) and Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte S.A. de C.V. (OMAB) will also face the consequences.

Recently, ASR paid an ordinary dividend of MXN3.24 and an extraordinary dividend of MXN3.04 on May 13, 2009. We believe the company will pay dividends in 2009 of at least US$1.65 per ADR, representing a dividend yield of at least 4.6% for 2009. ASUR has a solid monopolistic nature, a strong balance sheet and an interesting dividend yield, which makes it attractive.
Read the full analyst report on "ASR"
Read the full analyst report on "PAC"
Read the full analyst report on "OMAB"
Zacks Investment Research

The One Investment That Pays Dividends Every Day

Investment U — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 20:17:00 +0000

The One Investment That Pays Dividends Every Day by Alexander Green, Advisory Panelist I recently received a prospectus for a new closed-end fund, the Artemundi Global Fund. This fund does not invest in stocks, bonds, commodities, or currencies. Rather, it invests solely in art, from Old Masters to Post-war and Contemporary Art. Artemundi [...]

China’s New Investment, Student Debt, The Faux Recovery and More!

Contrarian Profits — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 17:15:38 +0000

pChina walks the walk… red nation agrees to major shift away from dollar reserves#8230; Gold soars… Frank Holmes with a historic reason gold should keep rising#8230; You know Peak Oil, but Peak Stimulus? a href="http://www.contrarianprofits.com/articles/author/chris-mayer/" class="alinks_links"Chris Mayer/a offers a compelling chart on government intervention#8230; Dark data: Service sector, retail, jobs all disappoint, plus a shocking stat on student debt#8230;/p p Walking the long, windy road toward the demise of the dollar, we spy another mile marker today: China is officially putting their money where their mouth is./p pAfter clamoring for a reserve alternative all year, strongthe Chinese government agreed to a $50 billion currency-diverse deal with the IMF today. /strongBack in a href="http://www.agorafinancial.com/5min/the-bond-bubble-paygo-again-demise-of-the-euro-ceo-pay-and-more/"June/a, the deal seemed imminent. This morning, it finally came to fruition./p pIn their deal with the IMF #8212; the first#8230;/p

PennyOmega.com Stocks Upgraded, Downgraded and Short Highlights Before the Bell Friday September 4, 2009

PennyOmega.com — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 13:01:48 +0000

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PennyOmega.com Stock Report! 9/03/09, ACC, HRZ, SUN, PNBC, PDOS, HTDS

PennyOmega.com — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 18:36:50 +0000

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Trouble in the Sand States

Bill Bonner — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 11:54:12 +0000

pSummer is over…and the rally may be over, too./p pstrongIt’s back to business./strong No more long lunches. No more afternoons painting windows. No more soirees in the evening./p pWe return to our lonely métier – chronicling the decline and fall of the US economy…and the Anglo-American empire too…./p pTwo bits of news signal the scale of this trend. But first, here’s one two-bit piece of news: the Dow lost 185 points yesterday. Could this mark the beginning of the end for the rally? Yes, it could. Should you be out of US stocks? Yes, you should./p pBut let’s turn back to our ‘decline and fall’ chronicles…/p pstrongFrom Florida, comes news of the first drop in population in 60 years./strong “Unemployment is soaring,” reports emUSA Today/em. “Florida is#8230;/p

Tampa Electric Submits Fuel Report – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 19:35:43 +0000

Tampa Electric, the principal subsidiary of TECO Energy (TE), recently submitted its annual fuel report to the Florida Public Service Commission (FPSC). Lower fuel and purchased power costs during the first half of 2009 and reduced estimates for the remaining half of 2009 and 2010 will bring down the fuel portion of electricity bills of all consumers from January. Tampa estimates the fuel charge for a residential consumer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per month to decline by $6.32.

This reduction in electricity bills will more than offset the rise to the base rate part of the bill, which was approved by the FPSC this March and will come in effect from January. Consequently, the monthly bill for a residential consumer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours will be $113.21, resulting in an overall reduction of $1.46. This, however, is subject to requisite approvals by the FPSC.

TECO is a holding company, conducting regulated utility operations in Florida, through Tampa Electric, which supplies electricity to over 667 thousand consumers and Peoples Gas System, which supplies natural gas to over 335 thousand consumers. TECO’s other subsidiaries include TECO Coal, which owns and operates coal production facilities in Kentucky and Virginia, and TECO Guatemala, which deals in electricity generation and distribution and energy-related businesses in Guatemala.

Shares of TECO Energy closed at $13.17 on Tuesday, trading at 14.0X trailing 12-month EPS versus 11.8X of the peer group. We maintain our Neutral recommendation for the company.
Read the full analyst report on "TE"
Zacks Investment Research

Online Presentation: Breakthrough Treatment Of Pain (OTC:NPHC)

Michael Vlaicu — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 05:32:34 +0000

Nutra Pharma Corp. (Public, OTC:NPHC) StocksHaven Investments has confirmed they are set to profile Nutra Pharma Corp. in the coming days, and states that they have also touched base with with Investor Relations in regards to scheduling a tentative conference call with the Chairman and CEO, Rik J Deitsch. Nutra Pharma has recently made waves within the [...]

Best Buy to Open 22 Stores – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 15:45:38 +0000

Best Buy Co. Inc. (BBY) recently announced its plan to open 22 new U.S. stores in its fiscal third quarter. The stores will be opened in Virginia, Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, New York, Ohio, California, Wisconsin, Puerto Rico, Arkansas, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Louisiana.

Currently, Best Buy operates 1,044 U.S. stores in 50 states and Puerto Rico. The company added 21 stores in the first six months of the fiscal year 2010. It opened 9 stores in the first quarter and another 12 stores in the second quarter.

Best Buy’s pace of opening new stores in the current fiscal year is substantially low compared to prior year quarters. Amid the challenging global economy and tough retail environment, we believe that the company has taken prudent steps to move steadily, rather than aggressively.

In fiscal year 2009, Best Buy opened 26 stores in the first quarter, 24 in the second quarter, and 37 stores in the third quarter.

The company will report its fiscal second quarter results on Sept 15.

During the first quarter, the company’s revenues jumped 12% year over year to $10,095 million primarily due to the addition of Best Buy Europe’s revenues and net addition of 185 new stores in the past 12 months, partially offset by a 6.2% decline in comparable store sales. Earnings per share fell 2.3% to 42 cents per share.

Best Buy is a global retailer of technology and entertainment products with operations in the United States, Canada, Europe, China and Mexico.
Read the full analyst report on "BBY"
Zacks Investment Research

PennyOmega.com Stock Report! 8/31/09, LMT, GUID, ARB, IMSU, WFSC, SMG

PennyOmega.com — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 15:01:52 +0000

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Deutsche Bank Files vs. Taylor Bean – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 22:20:47 +0000

Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., the New York unit of Germany's Deutsche Bank AG (DB), has a $42 million unsecured claim against mortgage lender Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp. Taylor Bean filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on August 24 as it was forced to shut its mortgage lending operations on August 5.

The filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court listed the claim as disputed and ranked it as the largest unsecured claim against Taylor Bean. Taylor Bean said the claim was related to Ocala Funding, an entity set up by Taylor Bean to borrow money for short periods to fund home loans.

The filing also listed a $9 million claim from James G. Hicks of Lawrenceville related to money owed for the acquisition of a mortgage company made by Taylor Bean.

The company said approximately 100 Taylor Bean bank accounts were frozen by Colonial Bank at the beginning of August. This action created myriad problems in processing borrower payments and making payments on their behalf -- such as home owner’s insurance premiums and real estate taxes.

Following its bankruptcy, Taylor Bean owes in excess of $64.9 million to its unsecured creditors, many of whom are its employees who were suddenly terminated earlier this month. Individual consumers as well as some very large banks are also caught in the collapse.

Colonial Bank, now owned by BB&T Corp. (BBT); Henley Holdings LLC, Natixis Real Estate, Plainfield Specialty Holdings, RBC Bank and Sovereign Bancorp Inc. (SOV) are few of the other large listed creditors.

Florida's Office of Financial Regulation has ordered Taylor Bean to stop foreclosure proceedings, cease assessing late charges, and quit reporting late payments to any credit bureau.
Read the full analyst report on "DB"
Read the full analyst report on "BBT"
Read the full analyst report on "SOV"
Zacks Investment Research

Weikang Bio-Technology Group Co., Inc. (WKBT.OB) is “One to Watch”

QualityStocks — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 18:25:59 +0000

Weikang Bio-Technology Group Co., Inc. is a Chinese producer of Over-the-Counter (OTC) pharmaceuticals and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) products. Trading on NASDAQ’s OTCBB, the Company currently has 420 employees. Their headquarters is in Harbin, China. In addition, they have two production facilities, in Harbin and Guiyang. Weikang Bio-Technology Company, Inc. received incorporation in Florida on May [...]

Dreams, Inc. (DRJ) Reports Loss for Quarter

QualityStocks — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 20:26:41 +0000

Dreams, Inc. (DRJ) reported a net loss of $1.1 million, or ($0.03) per share, for its second quarter ending 6/30/2009. The company reported a similar loss in the same quarter of 2008. Revenues in the quarter were $12.2 million, down 10% year over year. Ross Tannenbaum, the CEO of Dreams, Inc. said, “We navigated [...]

PennyOmega.com Stock Report! 8/27/09, EFIR, PLUG, SPIR, SKT, CMCSA, SCOR

PennyOmega.com — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 18:18:39 +0000

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Stock Market News & Stocks to Watch from StraightStocks » Florida

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

Stock Guru Featured Company: Quasar Aerospace Industries, Inc. (QASP.PK)

Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Affiliated Computer Services Inc., Xerox Corp., Expedia Inc., Orbitz Worldwide and Priceline.com – Press Releases

The Next Depression: It’s worse than they think

Downgrading Expedia to Neutral – Analyst Blog

Home Prices Continue to Rise – Analyst Blog

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

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

Factors in local house price declines

Magnitude of house price declines for 358 SMSAs. Source: Carson and Dastrup (2009).

Magnitude of house price increase prior to peak (horizontal axis) versus magnitude of house price decline (vertical axis). Source: Carson and Dastrup (2009).

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

Mortgage Delinquencies: Record High – Analyst Blog

Doug Casey on real estate

PGCX, PanGenex Expands Clinical Trial Sites after Promising Pre-Clinical Data about Lower Coronary Arterial Calcium Scores in Cardiac Patients

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

Mortgage Delinquencies Still Rising – Analyst Blog

Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: JPMorgan Chase, Fifth Third Bancorp, Zions Bancorp, SunTrust Banks and PNC Financial – Press Releases

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

DrStockPick.com Stock Report! 11/16/09, HCEI, TDC, YRCW, SALM, ARG, HK

Lowe’s Earnings Tumble – Analyst Blog

Company News for November 16, 2009 – Corporate Summary

Bank Failures Rise to 123 – Analyst Blog

HCEI, CVAT, CSRH, DrStockPick.com Stock Report!

Healthspring Inc. – Value – Zacks Rank Buy

HCEI, Healthy Coffee is well Positioned in the Market Place at the Intersection of Three Mega-billion Dollar Industries: Coffee, Wellness and Energy Drinks

DrStockPick.com Stock Report! 11/12/09, HCEI, MIL, MNTA, PSS, PALM, EPAY

Initial Jobless Claims Continue Decline, 502K Figure Beats Expectations

HCEI, Healthy Coffee Opens New Sales Office in Yorba Linda, CA and Hires Sales Executive in Japan to Prepare for a Major Sales Campaign

GE to Sell Security Systems – Analyst Blog

Home Shopping Latino, Inc. (HSPG.PK): Selecting the Best Launch Time

Harris Corporation – Growth And Income – Zacks Rank Buy

HCEI, Top Sales Leader With 20 Years of Network Marketing Experience Joins Healthy Coffee Japan

Continucare Corp. (CNU) First Quarter Fiscal Year 2010 Results Show 116% Increase in Operating Profit

Keep Those Belts Tightened: The Job Market isn’t Getting Better

An international concept of due process arises out of Florida

Home Shopping Latino, Inc. (HSPG.PK) Taps into Hispanic Market with Shopping Channel

Everest Re Posts Profit – Analyst Blog

FPL Group’s Profits Rise – Analyst Blog

Clear-Lite Holdings, Inc. (CLRH.OB) is “One to Watch”

Dolan Media Company – Value – Zacks Rank Buy

Fifth Third’s Loss Increases – Analyst Blog

Simulated Environment Concepts Inc. (SMEV.PK) – Personal Care, Personal Pampering

Regions Financial Underperforms – Analyst Blog

Florida Nuclear Rates Approved – Analyst Blog

MGIC’s Earnings Preview – Analyst Blog

Regions Faces Class Action – Analyst Blog

Southern Plans Texas Biomass Plant – Analyst Blog

AutoNation to Review Product Mix – Analyst Blog

Life Partners Meets Expectations – Analyst Blog

JLL to Manage SunTrust Facilities – Analyst Blog

DrStockPick.com Stock Report! 10/12/09, APD, SNWL, SFLY, NKE, PRVT, NXTH

DrStockPick.com Stock Report! 10/12/09, SNPS, KEME, CPHI, RTN, OB, KMT

International Speedway Misses – Analyst Blog

FPL to Open New PV Plant – Analyst Blog

Marshall & Ilsley Expects Loss – Analyst Blog

Zaldiva, Inc. (ZLDV.OB) Identifies Multiple Acquisition Candidates

Initial Jobless Claims Decline to January Levels

St. Joe Sells Perico Asset – Analyst Blog

DrStockPick.com Stock Report! 10/08/09, GTY, CI, LNC, CWLZ, STI, TXI

Opko Health’s New Acquisition (AMEX:OPK)

Fifth Third Eyeing Higher Charge-offs – Analyst Blog

Catalyst shares on rise (NASDAQ:CPRX)

UTX Units Get Orders – Analyst Blog

DrStockPick.com Stock Report! 9/28/09, TRS, BLVT, MNTA, AET, PKBK, SCVL

DrStockPick.com Stock Report! 9/25/09, DGI, UTX, HIBB, AA, AWH, RGEN

Public Service Goes Big Solar – Analyst Blog

Regions to Pay Penalty – Analyst Blog

How the Government is Setting Us Up for a Second Subprime Crisis

Waste Services, Inc. (WSII) Raises $50 Million in Senior Notes

Pity the Investors Counting on a Bull Market

BIIB, PWRM, CHIP, CVAT, CSRH, HON, DrStockPick.com Stock Report!

UFI, SPNG, ROSV, DrStockPick.com Watch List! for Friday September 18, 2009, Unifi Inc., SpongeTech Delivery Systems Inc, SPNG.OB and Rostock Ventures Corp, ROSV.OB

DrStockPick.com Stock Report! 9/16/09, PRPL, MITI, NCR, GTXO, MDT, FTCH

Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Genzyme Corp., Salix Pharmaceuticals, Walt Disney Co., Sunoco Logistics Partners LP and Theravance – Press Releases

Taking Cancer Treatment to a New Level (OTC:PVCT)

Harry Dent: India A Better Long-Term Bet Than China

Walt Disney Expands Fantasyland – Analyst Blog

AMNE and Ecosafe Insulation of FL to Form Joint Venture