Companies featured in this edition of the newsletter: ACTC, CHIP, CVM, DKAM, ENZ, IWEB, MBCI, MFGD, PHC

Markets rebounded last week, on the strength of upbeat productivity and manufacturing reports that led to solid gains in all of the major indices. Despite news that the unemployment rate had hit its highest levels in 25 years, the Dow managed to end the week up 310 points, gaining 3.2% on the week to close at 10,023, up 14.2% on the year. The Nasdaq posted a gain of 3.3%, closing at 2112 and extending its yearly gains to 34%, while the S&P 500 and Russell 2000 advanced 3.2% and 3.1% respectively on the week to bring their YTD performance to 18.4% and 16.2%.

Several better than expected economic reports provided buying incentive throughout much of the week, as investors managed to shake off the previous week’s negative bias to send indices into positive territory

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Macy’s Inc. (M), the operator of department stores, recently reported a 2.4% decline in total sales for the month of September. Total sales for the month were $2,043 million versus $2,093 million posted in the same month last year.   Year-to-date total sales were down 8.5% to $13,948 million from $15,244 million reported in the same period last year.   Online sales, which include macys.com and bloomingdales.com, jumped 14.8% for the month under review, and were up 13.3% year-to-date.   The company’s comparable-store sales for the month of September 2009, dipped 2.3%, whereas year-to-date comps slid 8.2%.   Macy’s department stores sell a wide range of merchandise. Macy’s products include men’s, women’s, and children’s apparel and accessories; cosmetics; home furnishings and other consumer goods.   However, sales at these departmental stores have been falling, as consumers, hit by recession and with less disposable income, focus more on basic ...

Stock-PR Nasdaq Stock Report August 18, 2009

Concur (Nasdaq: CNQR), the world’s leading provider of on-demand Employee Spend Management services, will unveil Concur(R) Mobile for the iPhone next week at the NBTA Convention in San Diego. This powerful extension to Concur(R) Travel & Expense - Concur’s innovative end-to-end travel and expense management service - now enables iPhone users to manage their itinerary, conduct in-policy business travel transactions, capture T&E expense data and approve expense reports - all while on the road.

NGAS Resources, Inc. (Nasdaq:NGAS) August 18, 2009 August 18, 2009 announced that it has closed the sale of its remaining 50% interest in 485 miles of Appalachian gas gathering facilities to Seminole Energy Services (SES) for $22 million. The purchase price was paid $7.5 million at closing, with the balance of $14.5 million payable by SES in monthly installments through December 2011.

Stein Mart, Inc. (Nasdaq: SMRT) August 18, 2009 August

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Gloomy economic picture fuels risk aversion… Financials, energy, retailers among top drags… Dow off 4.3 pct, S&P 500 off 5 pct, Nasdaq off 5.3 pct

U.S. stocks tumbled on Monday as signs of further deterioration in the economy around the world punctured last week’s market enthusiasm, with financial services companies and retailers among Wall Street’s biggest drags.

Major industrial companies also contributed to losses on signs global demand is faltering, leading investors to pare back risk in favor of safe-haven government debt.

With the holiday shopping season under way, investors feared that retailers may turn in their bleakest sales in many years. The S&P retail index declined 4.4 percent.

Department store Macy’s Inc tumbled 9.6 percent.

Consumers made repeat trips to stores and spent more on bargains this weekend, but analysts said the rush is unlikely to translate into a much-needed boost in profit.

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