Group 1 Automotive (GPI) revealed a profit of $16.8 million or 71 cents per share in the third quarter, an improvement from $8.2 million or 37 cents per share in the same quarter of the previous year. With this, the company marginally exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 70 cents per share. However, weakness in the auto industry reduced Group 1’s revenue by 13% to $1.25 billion. The U.S. Government’s “Cash for Clunkers" cash incentive program for fuel-efficient vehicles helped the auto retailer gain in the same-store gross margin. In the quarter, same-store gross margin improved to 17% from 16% in the prior-year quarter. Group 1 retailed 25,057 new vehicles during the quarter, of which 4,874 vehicles were channeled through the Clunkers program. Group 1’s margin improvement in used vehicle as well as in parts and service business also helped gain the overall margin. Same-store used ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - June 16, 2009 - Zacks Equity Research highlights Maxim Integrated Products (MXIM) as the Bull of the Day and Sonic Innovations (SNCI) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Valero (VLO), Tesoro (TSO) and ConocoPhillips (COP).

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

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day:

Maxim Integrated Products (MXIM) is an OEM of semiconductor analog and mixed signal ICs. March quarter results were short of consensus estimates, although they were in-line with management's own expectations.

Forward guidance is for a revenue increase of 3-12% in the June quarter. Order rates started picking up in three of the four end markets, and the fourth market is expected to

...

Sonic Innovations (SNCI) announced that its shareholders at the annual shareholder meeting approved a name change of the company to Otix Global, Inc, where Otix Global is to become the parent company of Sonic Innovations. SNCI filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission its Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended March 31, 2009.

Revenue from SNCI's German subsidiary is at risk of declining from unsuccessful attempts at renegotiating insurance contracts that is required as a result of new legislation passed by the Federal Council of Germany in Nov. 2008 that became effective April 1, 2009.

Our price target of $0.80 per share is based on a price-to-sales multiple of roughly 0.3x our FY09 sales estimate.Zacks Investment Research

It’s become clear throughout the past five years that GAAP and financial reporting in the United States is on a clear path toward change in the form of a convergence with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).  World events, most notably the London G-20 Summit, have been calling for a single, high quality set of accounting standards that all companies will use to file.  The SEC has recently made definitive steps toward this change, enough to make me believe that IFRS will be here before we know it, so it’s time to get ready.

Background

Since 2005, the convergence to IFRS was apparent with the European Union requiring companies listed on the EU regulated stock exchanges to file consolidated statements using IFRS.  The SEC responded to this in 2007, agreeing to accept these IFRS statements from the foreign issuers without forcing reconciliation to GAAP.  This proved the SEC’s acceptance and belief

...

We may be in the middle of a pre-Christmas rally, but Andrew Gordon says next year’s economic outlook is dire. Job losses are soaring and consumer spending is drying up. And the great unwinding of the credit cycle is not done yet. Andrew says the Dow is due another swoon, perhaps all the way down to 6,000.

This from Investor’s Daily Edge:

It’s a bullish sign when the market turns its back on horrible economic news. How the market could ignore an historical loss of jobs and go up 259 points like it did last Friday is beyond me … unless the market has bottomed.

Maybe it has. Maybe my colleague Mr. Rick Pendergraft is right. He usually is.

But every fiber of my being is telling me, “Don’t believe it.”

When the dotcom fantasy caused the market to crash, Greenspan quickly lowered rates and gave the mortgage industry the green

...

The government is banking on the American consumer to rescue the economy. But debt-ridden households have had enough, says Andrew Gordon. He says the government’s massive bailout are benefiting very few in the short-term. But the long-term consequences will be felt by all.

This from Investor’s Daily Edge:

The government’s latest bailout moves have me scratching my head. It’s throwing $200 billion worth of guarantees at recent and current loans tied to consumer and small-business spending.

Hank and Ben want the consumer to bail out the economy. And they want to do it by putting consumers deeper into debt.

They don’t get it.

They don’t get that consumers are tapped out.

What do they think when they see numbers that show that American households are in deeper debt than ever before? Or when they see that consumer spending in October fell the most in

...

Private Placement InsurancePrivate Placement Life InsuranceBelow is a short article on private placement life insurance. I do not personally recommend any tax or investment strategies or provide financial advice of any type but this topic is highly relevant to both hedge fund investors and professionals so I thought I would include it here:

A small but growing number of wealthy investors have discovered a legal way to invest in hedge funds without paying income taxes on the gains.

It's called "private placement" life insurance. These special insurance contracts allow policyholders to invest in a wide range of products, including hedge funds. The main attraction: Because the investments are held within an insurance wrapper, gains inside the policy are shielded from income taxes -- as is the payout upon death. What's more, policyholders may be able

...