The St. Joe Company (JOE), a publicly held operationally diversified real estate company, recently sold St. Johns Golf & Country Club, an 18-hole daily fee course, clubhouse and maintenance facility, for $2.4 million. The asset was sold to Billy Casper Golf Management, a Northern Virginia golf management company that manages over 100 golf courses across the U.S., including the Bent Creek Golf Course in Jacksonville.  In accordance with the disposal of the non-strategic asset, St. Joe will record a pre-tax, non-cash impairment charge of approximately $3.6 million in its fourth quarter results. During the quarter, St. Joe also sold its remaining assets in Victoria Park, a residential community in Deland, Florida, for about $11 million in cash. The company will record a pre-tax, non-cash impairment charge of approximately $68 million related to this sale in its fourth quarter results.  Based in Jacksonville, St. Joe is one ...

The St. Joe Company (JOE), a publicly held operationally diversified real estate company, has recently increased its credit facility from $100 million to $125 million. The credit facility is scheduled to mature in Sep 2012.  The increase in the credit facility was made possible by a $25 million loan commitment by Deutsche Bank Ag (DB), which joined Branch Banking and Trust Company as an additional lender. BB &T Corp. (BBT) operates as the holding company for Branch Banking and Trust Company that provides banking and financial services to small and mid-sized businesses, public agencies, local governments, and individuals across the U.S.  St. Joe has full availability under its credit facility, which provides it with additional financial flexibility to capitalize on potential acquisition opportunities. The company is currently in a defensive mode and continues to reduce capital expenditures to conserve cash. Capital expenditures for the ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – December 21, 2009 – Zacks Equity Research highlights Statoil ASA (STO) as the Bull of the Day and The St. Joe Company (JOE) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Research In Motion Limited (RIMM), Apple (AAPL) and Motorola (MOT).

Full analysis of all these stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=5506

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day:

Statoil ASA (STO) is gaining momentum with the start-up of operations on several new oil and gas fields. The growing share of natural gas in the company's NCS (Norwegian Continental Shelf) volume mix enables it to play a leading role in the European natural gas market.

A sharp rise in production is offsetting the fall in oil and gas prices, which helped the company to experience smaller

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Clear Skies Solar Inc. was incorporated in 2003 and launched operations in 2005. During that time period, Clear Skies Solar developed its proprietary systems, obtained licenses and certifications, and acquired technologies that would maximize the impact of its construction expertise on the renewable energy sector.

The company delivers turnkey solar electricity installations and renewable energy technology solutions to commercial customers across the country. Clear Skies Solar is a designer and integrator of solar power systems, sourcing components from only the highest-quality manufacturers. The company’s expertise in construction provides them with real world experience in delivering results quickly and cost-effectively for their customers.

Clear Skies Solar also develops new technologies and products that include proprietary photovoltaic (PV) panel mounting systems and in-house expertise that reduce the system installation time. Another technology the company has developed is called XTRAX, which is a proprietary remote monitoring solution for measuring the production of renewable energy

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – December 14, 2009 – Zacks Equity Research highlights Tech Data (TECD) as the Bull of the Day and The St. Joe Company (JOE) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on AutoNation (AN), Best Buy (BBY) and Home Depot (HD).

Full analysis of all these stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=5506

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day:

Tech Data (TECD) reported better-than-expected results for the third quarter, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimates. Moreover, the company gave encouraging revenue guidance for the upcoming quarter. We expect revenue to rebound modestly in fiscal 2011.

The company's balance sheet remains strong. With healthy earnings momentum, continued cost-cutting initiatives, diversified customer base, significant operating leverage, gross margin improvement, strong fundamentals and an improving IT spending environment, we remain positive

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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 ...

Overvalued Timber REITs: Why Timber Investing Isn’t What It Used To Be

by David Fessler, Advisory Panelist

Ten years ago, it would be hard to imagine a more stable investment than timber, or those Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) that bought millions of acres of harvestable trees.

The 1990s were an ideal period to have timber as an investment:

Housing was doing well, and growth was beginning to take off in major cities. The world was still pre-digital, and business still relied heavily on shuffling paper. Electronic news was still a novelty; magazines and newspapers were still going strong.

What a difference a decade makes…

Housing is in the dumper, with no clear sign of a resurgence on the horizon. Business has embraced the smartphone and has gone digital, shunning paper. The world is increasingly getting its news in electronic form, as evidenced by the number of newspapers that are no more.

This shift

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Hot New Spanish Model… for Banking

Tony Daltorio, The Investment U Research Team

There’s a hot new Spanish model that has everyone in Europe going ga-ga.

No, it’s not a runway or swimsuit model. It’s Spain’s banking model.

The Bank of Spain forced Spanish banks to follow a very conservative banking model using what they call “dynamic provisioning” requirements. These requirements forced Spanish banks to build reserves during the good times. This left the banks with capital to draw upon which is helping them survive the downturn.

The Bank of Spain also restricted local banks from piling into mortgage securities. And Spain has a small credit-card and commercial property market which limited risk exposure for the banks. But the banks did their part too. They focused on the retail market rather than risky investment banking, as did their American counterparts.

This new ‘hot’ model

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The St. Joe Company (JOE), a publicly held, operationally diverse real estate company, is based in Jacksonville, Florida. It is one of Florida's largest real estate developers.Operations are getting worse at JOE. The company reported a net loss of $27.9 million or ($0.31) per share in 4Q08. 4Q earnings included impairments and write downs of $0.34 per share. While operations continue to deteriorate, the company is currently focused on maintaining liquidity and cutting expenses.In addition, JOE has repaid most of its long-term debt and the company has sufficient cash reserves to get through the residential real estate slump. Although, there are no signs that the housing situation will get better in the next six months, and the worst could be yet to come.Near term, we would stay away from companies with exposure to the residential building business. While we think the company ...

Omega Commercial Finance Corporation, through its subsidiary, Omega Capital Funding LLC, focuses on offering financing services to real estate markets in the United States. The company provides short and medium term loans to borrowers primarily consisting of commercial real estate developers and speculators, business owners, landlords, and owners of core and non-core assets.

The company targets various alternative commercial real estate financings with an emphasis on loans secured by commercial real estate as well as on financing non-core assets, including ground up developments and un-entitled land developments, in addition to core assets, including office buildings, multi-family residences, shopping centers, and luxury residential estates. The loans are composed of senior debt loans, mezzanine or subordinated loans, preferred equity, and other equity participation financing structures.

Omega has strategically positioned itself to capitalize on the increasing demand for commercial real estate financing in the United States and Canada due to general banking reconsolidations and

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