Rail operator CSX, will report its second quarter financial results on Tuesday 07/15/08 after the close of the stock market. Art Hatfield, an analyst with Morgan Keegan is forecasting that CSX will meet Wall Street’s estimates. He thinks the impact of high fuel costs will be offset by continuing improvements in the company’s operational efficiencies. CSX has had quite a quarter. Despite a 37+% rise in the shares year to date, 12% this quarter in which the stock market in general has been decimated, and the stock trading near this year’s highs, the company has attracted the ire of a shareholder group comprised of The Children’s Investment Fund (TCI) and 3G Capital Partners. The shareholder group is claiming that CSX is underperforming and could achieve $2.2 billion in annual productivity gains within five years. The group also says profits at CSX could quadruple in five years compared with company forecasts ...

COSCO Shipping reported its quarterly results and they were spectacular. Revenues increased by 41% but profits jumped by 140%. COSCO has a fleet of 90 ships and they are pretty darn busy.

It is always useful to repeat the stock market mantra; investing is about future business performance. Past achievements matter only if they increase forward strategic options, but in the end, no one knows for sure what tomorrow holds.

Here is a small-capital corporation from Chatsworth, CA with a mega-future. The stock is innocuously listed in the Miscellaneous Capital Goods Industry. It would be more appropriate in reality to put it in an energy transformation basket. This kind of business is our best collective hope for the future. What does this corporation do?

This company is a master of micro-turbines. You need at least one of this corporation’s products and services, whether you run a rig in the middle of an ocean, own a hybrid automobile, or live in an energy-efficient home. Micro-turbines are integral to decentralized power generation, and to use of alternative fuels as well. It is not unrealistic to

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Editor’s Note: This is the final installment of a two-part series on "below-the-radar-screen" stocks. Last covered: The "pink sheets." By Mike Caggeso Associate Editor Penny-stock traders are like the Rodney Dangerfields of the investment world - they get no respect from their bigger brethren. If a penny-stock trader made a killing on a few penny-stock trades, there’s a good chance he or she orchestrated a "pump-and-dump" scam - where a holder of a big block of penny-stock shares orchestrates a big whisper campaign to pump up the price of his shares. Traders rush in, driving the price skyward, enabling the perpetrator to "dump" his shares at a big profit. The big sales, combined with the end of the hype, usually cause the penny stock to nosedive, inflicting the greatest damage on those who bought in last. Thus, if ...

Seven Arts Pictures (SAPXF.OB), an independent producer and distributor of feature-length, high-quality, low-cost films, recently announced revenues of more than $10 million in 2007 and profits of $2.2 million. The company anticipates revenues to exceed $15 million in 2008 and expects profits for drama, adventure and horror-comedy entertainment to post a significant increase in the months ahead.

The company’s core business strategy is to finance, produce and distribute four to seven films per year with budgets of less than $10 million each and with built-in margins based on pre-sales of 30 to 50 percent. When combined with careful construction of the film’s director, actors, producer and writer, the company creates a valuable long-term asset as a library title. Seven Arts Pictures business model is not based on blockbuster receipts from first-run theatrical release, but instead on pre-sales of DVD and pay-per-view, along with pay and free television rights worldwide.

Seven Arts

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By Keith Fitz-Gerald Investment Director Money Morning/The Money Map Report Japanese companies and local governments must now measure the waistlines of all employees and family members over the age of 40. According to this new health-care initiative - which started this week - men whose girth exceeds 33.5 inches and women whose waistlines exceed 35.5 inches are considered overweight. The new guidelines affect nearly 56 million people, or roughly 44% of Japan’s total population. They’re based on studies done by the International Diabetes Foundation in 2005, which looked at size and weight thresholds and used them to identify health risks. Individuals who fail to meet these standards won’t be penalized or have to pay up personally. But their employers will - in the form of penalty payments and higher health-care premiums for every additional inch - thanks to this new waistline law that’s ...

By Keith Fitz-Gerald Investment Director Money Morning/The Money Map Report Congress is talking about going after oil speculators in an effort to lower prices by limiting the amount of money flowing into oil contracts. We realize that they’re upset, but they’re going about this the wrong way. What’s more, they’re demonstrating a near complete ignorance as to how financial markets actually work. It doesn’t help that they’ve got energy analysts from some of the top firms telling them the price of oil could drop as low as $65 to $75 per barrel, bringing gas down to around $2 per gallon within 30 days of legislation that puts limits on speculation. While we normally wouldn’t give a darn about the ignorance of elected officials, the bad news is that, judging from the solutions on the table, Congress is just crazy enough, and the vast majority of ...

Reaching for cost advantages in one industry can often lead to advantages in another. In many instances, when these advantages are found, an entirely new paradigm is formed for new products and potential industry bases. Finding these new product and industry bases is the way to be in on the proverbial “ground floor” of extreme profits.

BioSolar Inc., a solar-cell module component material manufacturer, is currently introducing plant-based bio “plastic” materials to solar module manufacturers for assessment. The company’s products are said to meet all durability requirements and offer significantly lower costs then current petroleum-based components.

The company’s product line is not limited to solar applications, although it has chosen the solar module application as its market of choice. Bio-based “plastic” materials are a large breakthrough for many applications that use plastic parts, as they apparently offer cost benefits while maintaining required tolerances. As petroleum prices continue to flirt with record levels,

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Andrew Bary, analyst/reporter at Barron’s, highlighted Ethanol companies in this week’s Barron’s.  He basically said that although it is a competitive industry (companies have a lot of debt and potential liquidity issues) and profits are volatile, the industry has government subsidiaries (until 2010) and is saving consumers money on gasoline.  And, ethanol reduced gasoline demand by 9 billion barrels annually.

Ultimately, he believes several stocks are trading at a discount to their book value. And, he says Ethanol producers VeraSun Energy (VSE), Aventine Renewable Energy (AVR) and Pacific Ethanol (PEIX) are trading below book value. All could rally in the coming year.

Check out Bary’s stock picks at:

http://www.trackthepros.com/categories.php?category_id=322

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Big Cap stocks along with financials are weighing on the S&P 500, Industrials, and NYSE composite index. On the other side, the NASDAQ enjoyed gains throughout much of the day despite stumbling into the close. Crude oil closed slightly above $122 a barrel helping out stocks. However, the nasty action being seen on the large cap indexes is quite troubling. Can a rally be sustained without them? Yes, but its the power behind that move would be in question. Just an overall mixed day with more distribution seen on the NYSE indexes. This market is sure in no man’s land. We have the NASDAQ that is looking to move higher while the S&P 500 continues to look real weak. There are some strong stocks that are oil and natural gas related pulling back quite nicely. Its exactly what you want to see ...