Recent Key Developments
 
Frontier is expanding its broadband network in rural/underprivileged markets in West Virginia. The company has applied for federal funding of $55 million to deploy and connect fiber-optic cable from its central office to key public facilities, which will allow broadband speeds of up to 100 Meg. 
 
Moreover, Frontier is set to lead the pure-play rural telecom market by acquiring the rural fixed-line business of Verizon Communications (VZ) in 14 states for approximately $8.6 billion. The company recently received shareholders approval as well as approvals from the states of California, Nevada and South Carolina for this transaction.
 
The acquisition, which is expected to complete in second-quarter 2010, will offer meaningful cost synergies and opportunities for revenue growth through expanded broadband penetration, attractive bundled service offerings and improved customer retention.

Chicago, IL – November 3, 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: CIT Group Inc. (CIT), Dean Foods (DF), Frontier Communications (FTR), Verizon Communications (VZ) and Time Warner Cable (TWC).

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Here are highlights from Monday’s AnalystBlog:

CIT Group Files Chapter 11

CIT Group Inc. (CIT) has filed for Chapter 11 protection on Sunday. The company struggled for months to avoid collapse since the recession elicited billions of dollars in loan losses, and the financial crisis made it incapable of funding itself from its main financing source.

This widely expected Chapter 11 filing is one of the largest in U.S. history, following Lehman Brothers, Washington Mutual, WorldCom and General Motors. The U.S. government will probably lose most of its $2.3 billion aid given to CIT last December through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). We think the problems at CIT will further weigh on the U.S. economy.

CIT's bankruptcy filing shows $71 billion in finance and leasing assets against total debt of $64.9 billion. The company cited that its bondholders selected a prepackaged reorganization plan which will reduce total debt by $10 billion while allowing the company to run its business.

According to management, the decision to proceed with the company’s plan of reorganization will allow it to continue to provide funding to two sectors -- small business and middle market customers -- which remain vital to the U.S. economy.

Dean Foods Beats, Ups Guidance

Dean Foods (DF) reported relatively strong third-quarter results with earnings of 34 cents per share. Quarterly earnings were up 21% year-over-year.

Quarterly net sales declined 13.2% year over year to $2.7 billion due to the pass-through of lower overall dairy commodity costs, despite positive contributions from acquisitions and lower net sales volumes in the WhiteWave-Morningstar operations, which were partially offset by acquisition-related volume growth in Fresh Dairy Direct and WhiteWave-Morningstar.

Net sales in the Fresh Dairy Direct segment declined 18.3% as the company passed some of the lower dairy costs to customers but were partially offset by continued volume growth. Raw milk prices were 45% lower compared to the prior-year.

Frontier Deal Wins Key Approvals

Frontier Communications (FTR), a leading telecom operator in rural and suburban areas in the US, has reportedly received approvals from the Public Utilities Commissions of the states of California and Neveda and Public Service Commission of South Carolina for its impending acquisition of the rural fixed-line business of Verizon Communications (VZ).

Moreover, the acquisition was recently approved by the shareholders of Frontier. The transaction is now subject to approval by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and other closing conditions and is expected to close during the second quarter of 2010.

Verizon is divesting its rural fixed-line business (involving approximately 4.8 million access lines) in 14 states to Frontier under an agreement valued at approximately $8.6 billion. Under the deal terms, Verizon’s shareholders will receive approximately $5.25 billion in common stock of Frontier, equating to around 68% stake in the company.

Moreover, Verizon will also receive $3.3 billion in cash and debt securities from Frontier. The transaction, if successful, will provide Verizon’s shareholders a controlling interest in Frontier.

This deal represents a major opportunity for Frontier as the company remains significantly challenged by the beleaguered economic conditions in its service territories and contends with loss of legacy landline telephony business to wireless and other competitive offerings by cable TV operators such as Time Warner Cable (TWC). Frontier continues to experience decline in revenues which is, to a great extent, attributable to consistent sequential decline in fixed access lines.

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Achieving and maintaining consistent profitability in trying times has been the underlying theme in the Pervasive story. The company has succeeded in achieving growth in both top and bottom lines by focusing on growth drivers, including accretive M&A opportunities.

Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Pervasive provides data management and integration software products to small- and mid-sized enterprises through a well-developed channel of independent software vendors, value-added resellers and system integrators. Its solutions enable customers to manage, integrate, analyze and secure their data.

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.

The Transco natural gas pipeline is a 10,500-mile pipeline system that carries natural gas to markets all over the northeastern and southeastern U.S. The current expansion is expected to boost the total system capacity to almost 8.5 billion cubic feet per day.

Known as the 85 North expansion project, the new service would be implemented in two phases. The first phase would increase capacity by 90 Mdt/d by summer 2010, while the second phase would raise capacity by 218.5 Mdt/d by summer 2011. Phase I construction is slated to begin this fall, while work on the second phase is scheduled to get underway next summer.

The project, with an estimated cost of $248 million, will require construction of nearly 22 miles of 42-inch pipeline along with a new 20,500hp compressor facility in Anderson County, South Carolina, and modifications to existing compressor facilities.

The FERC approval will allow Williams to move forward with its plan for the 85 North project, which will connect ramped up volumes at Transco's two new pipeline interconnects at Station 85 to growing downstream markets in the southeastern U.S. We currently rate Williams shares as Neutral.

We maintain a Neutral recommendation on the shares of Wells Fargo.

Database products generated two-thirds of total revenue while integration products accounted for the rest. Management stated that the Version 10 of Pervasive PSQLT database continues to be well received by its installed base of customers.

The company provides data management and integration software products to small- and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) through a well-developed channel of independent software vendors (ISVs), value-added resellers (VARs) and system integrators (SI). Its solutions enable customers to manage, integrate, analyze and secure their data.

For fiscal 2009, the company generated revenues of $47.2 million, up 11% from last year. GAAP EPS came in at $0.29 while non - GAAP EPS came in at $0.34.

The company also announced an agreement to acquire assets of Greenville, South Carolina-based ChanneLinx Inc., a privately held business-to-business web-based data interchange (WebDI) technology company. The deal valued at about $2.6 million in cash is expected to close in the September quarter. The ChanneLinx assets which are being acquired generated approximately $2.0 million in revenue over the past twelve months.

Going forward, PVSW expects revenues between $10.5 million and $11.5 million for the September quarter. GAAP EPS is forecasted between $0.03 and $0.06 while non-GAAP is projected between $0.04 and $0.07.

Management stated that this guidance reflects the potential for a sequential decrease as September quarter is typically a challenging quarter due to the seasonality associated with summer months.

Achieving and maintaining consistent profitability in trying times has been the underlying theme in the PVSW story and the company has succeeded in achieving growth in both top and bottom lines. This allows PVSW to focus on growth drivers, including accretive M&A opportunities.

The company has roughly $43 million on cash in its balance sheet and no debt. It has generated $0.6 million in free cash-flow during Q4. We maintain our HOLD on the stock.

STATES WITH PROJECTED FY2010 BUDGET GAPS
State	FY2010 pre-budget	FY2010 mid-year gap	FY2010 Total	FY2010 Total % of Budget
Alabama	$1.2 billion	0	$1.2 billion	16.70%
Alaska	$1.3 billion	0	$1.3 billion	30.00%
Arizona	$4.0 billion	0	$4.0 billion	41.10%
Arkansas	$146 million	0	$146 million	3.20%
California*	$34.2 billion	$19.5 billion	$53.7 billion	58.20%
Colorado	$1.0 billion	$384 million	$1.4 billion	18.60%
Connecticut	$4.1 billion	0	$4.1 billion	23.20%
Delaware	$557 million	0	$557 million	17.60%
District of Columbia	$650 million	$150 million	$800 million	12.70%
Florida	$5.9 billion	0	$5.9 billion	22.80%
Georgia	$3.1 billion	$750 million	$3.9 billion	22.30%
Hawaii	$682 million	$297 million	$978 million	19.10%
Idaho	$411 million	0	$411 million	16.40%
Illinois	$9.2 billion	0	$9.2 billion	33.00%
Indiana	$1.1 billion	0	$1.1 billion	7.50%
Iowa	$779 million	0	$779 million	13.20%
Kansas	$1.4 billion	Yes, DK size	$1.4 billion	22.60%
Kentucky	0	$1.1 billion	$1.1 billion	11.30%
Louisiana	$1.8 billion	0	$1.8 billion	21.60%
Maine	$640 million	0	$640 million	21.40%
Maryland	$1.9 billion	Yes, DK size	$1.9 billion	13.60%
Massachusetts	$5.0 billion	0	$5.0 billion	17.90%
Michigan	$2.4 billion	0	$2.4 billion	12.00%
Minnesota	$3.2 billion	0	$3.2 billion	21.00%
Mississippi	$480 million	0	$480 million	9.60%
Missouri	$923 million	0	$923 million	10.30%
Nebraska	$150 million	0	$150 million	4.30%
Nevada	$1.2 billion	0	$1.2 billion	37.80%
New Hampshire	$250 million	0	$250 million	16.20%
New Jersey	$8.8 billion	0	$8.8 billion	29.90%
New Mexico	$345 million	0	$345 million	6.30%
New York	$17.9 billion	0	$17.9 billion	32.30%
North Carolina	$4.6 billion	0	$4.6 billion	21.90%
Ohio	$3.3 billion	0	$3.3 billion	12.30%
Oklahoma	$600 million	0	$600 million	10.50%
Oregon*	0	0	0	0.00%
Pennsylvania	$4.8 billion	0	$4.8 billion	18.00%
Rhode Island	$590 million	0	$590 million	19.20%
South Carolina	$725 million	0	$725 million	12.50%
South Dakota	$32 million	0	$32 million	2.90%
Tennessee	$1.0 billion	0	$1.0 billion	9.70%
Texas	$3.5 billion	0	$3.5 billion	9.50%
Utah	$721 million	$279 million	$1.0 billion	19.80%
Vermont	$278 million	0	$278 million	24.80%
Virginia	$1.8 billion	Yes, DK size	$1.8 billion	10.90%
Washington	$3.4 billion	$195 million	$3.6 billion	23.30%
West Virginia	$200 million	0	$200 million	5.30%
Wisconsin	$3.2 billion	0	$3.2 billion	23.20%
Wyoming	0	$32 million	$32 million	1.70%
Total	$143.2 billion	$22.7 billion	$165.9 billion	24.40%

This will lead to very drastic cuts in state budgets. Access to medical care by the poor will likely be one of the first things to be cut.

Education budgets will also probably be pared. This could be decreased spending on new textbooks, which would not be good news for publishers like McGraw-Hill (MHP) and Scholastic (SCHL).

Another area that is likely to be hit is new equipment at the municipal level. For example, I would not expect Oshkosh (OSK) to have a very good year selling new fire engines and snow removal equipment to municipalities.

Layoffs of state and municipal workers will simply add to the already high and rising unemployment rate. In short, a big part of the federal stimulus spending is being offset by (legally mandated) anti-stimulus actions at the state level.

As the graph shows, state fiscal problems tend to persist well after the recession is officially over. Indeed the problem is usually worse in the second or third year since by then the "rainy day funds" have already been used up.

Following the last recession, states collectively had their worst year in 2004 with a shortfall of $80 billion (or less than half what they face for fiscal 2010), which was well after the recession officially ended. Thus 2011, and possibly even 2012, will be a very lean year at the state level as well.

GDP (final) contracted by 5.5% in the first quarter to $ 14,097.2 in current dollars, revised downward from the BEA's preliminary Q1 estimate of a 5.7% contraction after falling 6.3% in the 4th quarter of 2008.  The decrease in GDP in the 1st quarter reflected negative contributions from exports (down 30.6%), equipment and software, private inventory investment, nonresidential structures, and residential fixed investment which were partly offset by a positive contribution from personal consumption expenditures which composes nearly 2/3 of the gross domestic product. Imports (down 36.4%), which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, decreased.  Coupling the decrease of the 1st quarter with the 4th quarter, this is the worst contraction of GDP this country has experienced in over 60 years.

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What is a Smart-Grid?

"Smart-grids" deliver electricity from suppliers to consumers using digital technology to save energy, reduce costs and increase reliability. Many global governments are promoting such a modernized electricity network as a means of increasing energy independence and reducing global warming issues.

An electricity grid is not a single entity but an aggregate of multiple networks and multiple power generation companies with multiple operators employing varying levels of communication and coordination, most of which are manually controlled.

Smart grids increase the connectivity, automation and coordination between suppliers, consumers and networks, which perform either long distance transmission or local distribution tasks. Transmission networks move electricity in bulk over medium-to-long distances, are actively managed, and generally operate from 400kV to 800kV over AC and DC lines.

Local networks traditionally moved power in one direction, "distributing" the bulk power to consumers and businesses via lines operating at 132kV and lower. This paradigm is changing as businesses and homes begin generating more wind and solar electricity, enabling them to sell surplus energy back to their utilities.

Efficiency Through Technology

Modernization is necessary for energy consumption efficiency; real-time management of power flows; and to provide the bi-directional metering needed to compensate local producers of power. Although transmission networks are already controlled in real-time, many in the US and European countries are antiquated by world standards, and unable to handle modern challenges such as those posed by the intermittent nature of alternative electricity generation, or continental scale bulk energy transmission.

According to Deloitte, in 2009, smart grid providers may represent one of the largest and fastest growing sectors within the "clean," green energy industry. Deloitte forecasts that electricity, as a percentage of total energy consumption, will increase from 9% in 1973 to 16% through 2009.

Additionally, they estimate that modern smart-grids offer approximately twice the efficiency, at 60%, as the average efficiency of the world's legacy electricity grids at  approximately 33%.

Finally, Deloitte estimates that the annual cost  of power outages and power quality disturbances in the U.S. approximates $180 billion.

Likewise, a recent study by the U.S. Department of Energy study estimates that smart-grid modernization of U.S. electricity grids with would save between $46 to $117 billion over the next 20 years.

Among other conclusions, Deloitte deduces through its smart-grid analysis that "[M]ajor manufacturers and utilities should explore partnerships with, and consider acquisitions of, smart energy companies."  Such is the case we now see with Duke Energy and Cisco.

Both Companies Known as Trail-Blazers

At the risk of over-stating the significance of this relationship, particularly for the traditionally staid, 100+ year old electricity industry, both Duke Energy and Cisco rank as consensus innovative leaders in their respective industries. Under terms of the agreement, Cisco seeks to develop and deliver to Duke Energy a state-of-the-art, industry-leading, end-to-end, power plant-to-customer, smart-grid network communications infrastructure.

Empirically speaking, U.S. support for smart-grid technology became federal policy with passage of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. Subsequently, smart-grids received additional support with the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which appropriated $11 billion for the creation of a smart-grid.

Support from the Federal Government

As recently as January 2009, in his National Address, President Obama requested Congress to pass legislation including the development of new electricity "smart-grids."  On March 19, 2009, The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a proposed policy statement and action plan for standards governing the development of a smart-grid. Successful progress toward national implementation of smart-grids continues.

Upon completion, the new, "internet protocol-based open standards" architecture will replace Duke's existing, antiquated analog electric grid with a long-overdue, secure digital backbone infrastructure.

The resultant smart-grid, widely thought to be replicated by other leading energy utilities, will modernize some the most outdated infrastructure in the U.S. - electricity delivery systems - with secure, reliable and efficient data, networks and communications.

The collaboration project will ultimately update the delivery to, and use of electricity by, Duke's 11 million customers served in five states: Ohio, Indiana, North Carolina, South Carolina and Kentucky. Throughout the term of the project, and in subsequent years, Duke will install large-scale new smart-grid technology, including millions of electric and natural gas "smart meters," in addition to hardware and software for distribution.

"Smart meters" replace analog mechanical meters with digital meters which record energy usage in real-time. Smart meters provide a communications pathway extending from generation plants to electrical outlets and other smart grid-enabled devices.

Manifold benefits await Duke Energy and its customers.

The proposed modernized electric grid will:

• Build an 'Energy Internet', which will enable decentralized power generation, so that customers may be both energy clients and suppliers; allow supplier selection of power consumption to offer flexibility to energy consumers;
• Integrate solar and other renewable energy sources into the electric grid;
• Encourage consumers to actively participate in operations of the grid; improve electricity delivery, improve systems efficiency and reliability, increase energy independence, decrease environmental impact, and help customers reduce their energy consumption, strengthen grid security and resist attack;
• Provide higher quality power that will save money wasted from outages;
• Incorporate two-way digital communication to detect power outages and be readily inter-operable, upgradeable and scalable to new emerging technologies.

Going forward, Cisco plans to continue to deliver products and services to support this initiative serving a growing smart grid communications infrastructure market projected by Cisco to reach $20 billion annually over the next five years.

Duke Energy maintains a Street analyst consensus recommendation with a Buy-rated bias; an average long-term EPS growth rate of 4.2%, within a range of 2.0% to 6.0%, and a target price of $15.48 per share, within a range of $14.00 to $20.00 per share.

Cisco Systems boasts a Street analyst consensus Buy rating with an average estimated long-term EPS growth rate of 10.9, within a range of 2.0% to 20.0% and an average target price of $22.38 per share, within a range of $15.00 to $30.00 per share.

Author: toron
Added: Wed, 18 Mar 2009 21:50:13 -0800
Duration: 238

Toron Managing partner arthur Heinmaa examines the growing concerns of deflation in the Canadian economy and what the risks might be for 2009. 

As fourth-quarter earnings season winds down, traders will be even more focused on the news coming out of Washington.

Congress will debate the president's budget proposal, which includes allocations for absorbing bank losses. There will also be ongoing discussion about the stress tests for banks. Not to mention speculation about whether the government will take a large ownership position in other financial companies, as it is doing with Citigroup (C). Finally, aid for auto parts suppliers and healthcare reform are on the agenda.

Economic data will also grab the attention of traders. The week's schedule includes the ISM manufacturing survey (Monday), the Beige Book (Wednesday at 2pm) and February employment data (Friday).

• Monday: February ISM manufacturing survey, January personal income and spending, January construction spending
• Tuesday: January pending home sales, February auto sales,
• Wednesday: February ISM non-manufacturing survey, ADP employment, Federal Reserve Beige Book, weekly crude inventories
• Thursday: Fourth-quarter productivity (revised), January factory orders, weekly crude inventories
• Friday: February unemployment and nonfarm payrolls, January consumer credit

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will testify before the Senate budget committee on Tuesday morning. He will speak about the impact of the economy on the federal budget. The fed chairman will speak again on Saturday, Mar 7, at a dedication ceremony in South Carolina.

Vice Chairman Donald Kohn will appear before the Senate's Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs on Thursday. He will speak about American International Group (AIG) on Thursday.

As for earnings, we have confirmed reports from 204 companies. Included in this group are 8 S&P 500 members: American Capital Ltd. (ACAS), Autozone, Inc. (AZO), Ciena Corporation (CIEN), Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST), Edison International (EIX), H&R Block, Inc. (HRB), MBIA Inc. (MBI) and Pepco Holdings, Inc. (POM).

Stocks remain oversold, suggesting that a bounce should occur soon. However, both indexes and stocks can stay oversold (or overbought) for an extended period of time.

Companies That Could Issue Positive Earnings Surprises

During the past few weeks, 3 of the 18 covering brokerage analysts raised their fiscal second-quarter profit projections on Autozone, Inc. (AZO). The revisions pushed the consensus earnings estimate back up to $1.84 per share. The most accurate estimate is far more bullish, at $1.93 per share. AZO has beat expectations twice during the past 4 quarters, but also missed once. AutoZone is scheduled to report Tuesday, Mar 3, before the start of trading.

Fuel Systems Solutions, Inc. (FSYS) has topped expectations for 4 consecutive quarters. Ahead of the company's fourth-quarter report, 1 brokerage analyst raised his profit forecast, which helped the consensus earnings estimate rise back to 41 cents per share. The most accurate estimate is slightly more bullish at 50 cents per share. This is a volatile stock with the potential to respond to good earnings. Fuel Systems Solutions is scheduled to report on Thursday, Mar 5, after the close of trading.

Companies That Could Issue Negative Earnings Surprises

Earlier this month, Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) warned that fiscal second-quarter earnings would be "substantially below" the consensus earnings estimate. The company blamed the economy, price-based promotions and lower gasoline profits for the warning. Nearly all of the covering analysts cut their projections in response, sending the average profit forecast 11 cents lower to 60 cents per share. Costco has historically met or topped expectations, so a miss may not occur. However, forecasts for the remainder of fiscal 2009 have been cut and it is probable that guidance for the second-half of the year will be disappointing. Costco is scheduled to report on Wednesday, Mar 4, before the start of trading.

Tech Data Corporation (TECD) has missed profit expectations for 2 consecutive quarters. Though earnings estimates are unchanged ahead of the company's fiscal fourth-quarter report, forecasts for fiscal 2010 are dropping. This suggests a strong possibility of disappointing guidance. Tech Data is scheduled to report on Tuesday, Mar 3, before the start of trading.

Charles Rotblut, CFA is the senior market analyst for Zacks.com. He can be reached at crotblut@zacks.com.

Earnings Calendar

Here is a list of companies that we have confirmed will report during the week of Mar 2 - 6¹. Prices are as of Thursday's, Feb 27, market close.

Company	Ticker	Zacks Consensus Estimate	Year Ago Actual	Last Qtr Surprise	Report Date	Report Time	Price
ABM Industries	ABM	$0.20	$0.16	(2.7%)	3/2/2009	AMC	$16.50
Allied Cap New	ALD	$0.22	$0.37	(23.5%)	3/2/2009	BTO	$1.91
Alphatec Hldgs	ATEC	($0.06)	($0.05)	(66.7%)	3/2/2009	N/A	$2.41
Amer Cap Ltd	ACAS	$0.65	$0.89	5.7%	3/2/2009	BTO	$4.12
Ares Cap Cp	ARCC	$0.33	$0.37	(5.6%)	3/2/2009	BTO	$5.82
Atlas Pipln Hld	AHD	$0.03	($0.51)	163.0%	3/2/2009	BTO	$3.05
Atlas Pipln Ptr	APL	$0.35	$0.68	(8.8%)	3/2/2009	BTO	$7.45
Breitburn Egy	BBEP	$0.34	$0.31	(23.7%)	3/2/2009	AMC	$9.30
Brookdale Senr	BKD	($0.32)	($0.30)	(100.0%)	3/2/2009	BTO	$7.00
Carrols Restrnt	TAST	$0.21	$0.16	6.3%	3/2/2009	AMC	$3.15
Cellcom Israel	CEL	$0.59	$0.49	0.0%	3/2/2009	BTO	$21.82
Central Eur Dis	CEDC	$1.17	$0.74	(12.5%)	3/2/2009	N/A	$14.27
China Med Tech	CMED	$0.16	$0.48	15.1%	3/2/2009	BTO	$16.15
Clear Chanl Out	CCO	$0.10	$0.29	(53.9%)	3/2/2009	BTO	$5.67
Conseco Inc	CNO	$0.30	$0.11	18.5%	3/2/2009	BTO	$2.85
Crosstex Egy Lp	XTEX	($0.27)	$0.19	(47.1%)	3/2/2009	BTO	$5.01
Crosstex Energy	XTXI	($0.02)	$0.17	(75.0%)	3/2/2009	BTO	$4.00
Dish Network Cp	DISH	$0.49	$0.39	(37.9%)	3/2/2009	BTO	$13.22
Eagle Bulk Shpg	EGLE	$0.37	$0.35	11.4%	3/2/2009	AMC	$6.30
Echostar Corp	SATS	($0.17)	N/A	134.4%	3/2/2009	N/A	$14.80
Edison Intl	EIX	$0.66	$0.65	(4.0%)	3/2/2009	BTO	$33.74
Einstein Noah	BAGL	$0.37	$0.47	35.7%	3/2/2009	AMC	$7.56
First Indl Rlty	FR	($0.17)	$1.22	8.2%	3/2/2009	AMC	$6.50
Franklin Elec	FELE	$0.38	$0.28	8.8%	3/2/2009	AMC	$28.08
Fti Consulting	FCN	$0.55	$0.60	(15.0%)	3/2/2009	BTO	$42.21
Horsehead Hldg	ZINC	$0.20	$0.55	42.9%	3/2/2009	BTO	$4.60
Hospitality Prp	HPT	$0.96	$1.15	0.9%	3/2/2009	AMC	$15.11
Immersion Corp	IMMR	($0.12)	$0.02	(25.0%)	3/2/2009	AMC	$5.08
Ipc The Hospitl	IPCM	$0.24	$0.24	11.1%	3/2/2009	AMC	$18.99
Ipcs Inc	IPCS	($0.26)	($0.24)	(285.7%)	3/2/2009	AMC	$5.36
Kkr Finl Hldgs	KFN	$0.35	$0.55	(19.5%)	3/2/2009	BTO	$1.40
Leapfrog Entrps	LF	($0.11)	($0.51)	5.6%	3/2/2009	AMC	$2.23
Live Nation	LYV	($0.26)	($0.25)	32.8%	3/2/2009	AMC	$6.43
Maguire Pptys	MPG	$0.06	$0.14	0.0%	3/2/2009	AMC	$2.75
Markwest Egy Pt	MWE	$0.04	$0.94	(33.8%)	3/2/2009	AMC	$13.27
Mastec Inc	MTZ	$0.25	$0.15	12.5%	3/2/2009	AMC	$11.18
Mcdermott Intl	MDR	$0.23	$0.70	(47.9%)	3/2/2009	AMC	$11.50
Nelnet Inc Cl-A	NNI	$0.19	$0.34	38.2%	3/2/2009	BTO	$14.44
Osg America Lp	OSP	$0.24	N/A	72.2%	3/2/2009	BTO	$7.84
Overseas Shipho	OSG	$1.58	$0.67	33.0%	3/2/2009	BTO	$38.49
Pdl Biopharma	PDLI	$0.06	($0.01)	(66.7%)	3/2/2009	AMC	$6.54
Pepco Hldgs	POM	$0.31	$0.29	(16.9%)	3/2/2009	AMC	$18.15
Perfect World	PWRD	$0.32	$0.34	8.9%	3/2/2009	BTO	$14.92
Phh Corp	PHH	($4.54)	$0.21	(1081.8%)	3/2/2009	N/A	$11.16
Reliant Egy Inc	RRI	($0.25)	$0.09	60.0%	3/2/2009	N/A	$5.55
Rosetta Resrcs	ROSE	$0.18	$0.34	(15.9%)	3/2/2009	N/A	$6.46
Sun Hlthcr Grp	SUNH	$0.25	$0.20	5.0%	3/2/2009	AMC	$11.41
Supergen Inc	SUPG	($0.14)	$0.09	92.3%	3/2/2009	AMC	$2.25
Sykes Entrp Inc	SYKE	$0.31	$0.26	67.9%	3/2/2009	AMC	$18.00
T-3 Energy Svcs	TTES	$0.79	$0.67	12.1%	3/2/2009	BTO	$14.36
Tivo Inc	TIVO	($0.10)	($0.06)	83.3%	3/2/2009	AMC	$7.57
Tns Inc	TNS	$0.25	$0.18	27.3%	3/2/2009	AMC	$8.71
Tower Group Inc	TWGP	$0.81	$0.78	5.3%	3/2/2009	BTO	$26.14
Travelcenters	TA	($0.28)	($4.16)	1900.0%	3/2/2009	AMC	$2.40
Visionchina Mda	VISN	$0.22	$0.10	8.7%	3/2/2009	AMC	$6.80
Warren Rsrcs	WRES	($0.02)	$0.07	0.0%	3/2/2009	BTO	$2.00
Wendys/Arbys Gp	WEN	$0.05	$0.09	(380.0%)	3/2/2009	BTO	$5.33
51Jobs Inc-Adr	JOBS	$0.06	$0.10	66.7%	3/3/2009	AMC	$6.55
Adc Telecomm	ADCT	($0.13)	$0.20	41.7%	3/3/2009	AMC	$5.30
America Svc Grp	ASGR	$0.14	($0.13)	(54.6%)	3/3/2009	AMC	$10.74
Americas Car-Mt	CRMT	$0.34	$0.28	2.9%	3/3/2009	BTO	$10.34
Arena Resources	ARD	$0.30	$0.26	11.3%	3/3/2009	N/A	$26.73
Autozone Inc	AZO	$1.84	$1.67	1.8%	3/3/2009	BTO	$137.27
Bioscrip Inc	BIOS	$0.05	$0.06	20.0%	3/3/2009	BTO	$1.83
Blount Intl	BLT	$0.19	$0.19	55.0%	3/3/2009	BTO	$9.12
Chicos Fas Fnc	CHS	($0.17)	($0.12)	133.3%	3/3/2009	BTO	$4.33
Delta Pete Corp	DPTR	($0.17)	($0.21)	(1900.0%)	3/3/2009	BTO	$4.83
Energy Recovery	ERII	$0.08	N/A	0.0%	3/3/2009	AMC	$6.87
Ferro Corp	FOE	($0.15)	$0.06	15.6%	3/3/2009	N/A	$5.28
Finl Fed Corp	FIF	$0.45	$0.51	6.8%	3/3/2009	AMC	$22.90
Greatbatch Inc	GB	$0.38	$0.21	34.4%	3/3/2009	AMC	$24.08
Home Diagnostic	HDIX	$0.07	$0.11	26.3%	3/3/2009	BTO	$7.17
Inspire Pharma	ISPH	($0.23)	($0.51)	15.0%	3/3/2009	BTO	$4.05
Jackson Hewitt	JTX	$0.74	$0.61	5.3%	3/3/2009	BTO	$13.87
John Bean Tech	JBT	$0.22	N/A	N/A	3/3/2009	AMC	$9.99
Lemaitre Vasclr	LMAT	$0.00	($0.05)	50.0%	3/3/2009	AMC	$2.15
Masimo Corp	MASI	$0.18	$0.18	37.5%	3/3/2009	AMC	$28.69
Mbia Inc	MBI	($1.03)	($3.30)	(665.5%)	3/3/2009	N/A	$4.49
Monotype Imagng	TYPE	$0.09	$0.11	9.1%	3/3/2009	BTO	$6.22
Move Inc	MOVE	($0.02)	$0.01	0.0%	3/3/2009	AMC	$1.72
Netezza Corp	NZ	$0.05	$0.05	25.0%	3/3/2009	AMC	$6.22
Nmt Medical Inc	NMTI	($0.33)	($0.23)	5.7%	3/3/2009	BTO	$1.05
Plato Learning	TUTR	($0.13)	($0.16)	22.2%	3/3/2009	N/A	$1.36
Resource Capitl	RSO	$0.41	$0.43	N/A	3/3/2009	AMC	$3.38
Sciclone Pharma	SCLN	($0.01)	($0.08)	200.0%	3/3/2009	BTO	$0.83
Seaspan Corp	SSW	$0.29	$0.31	0.0%	3/3/2009	BTO	$13.00
Sonic Automotve	SAH	$0.06	$0.68	(26.5%)	3/3/2009	BTO	$2.23
Tech Data Corp	TECD	$0.73	$0.96	(42.2%)	3/3/2009	BTO	$19.89
Thomas Group	TGIS	($0.17)	$0.13	(66.7%)	3/3/2009	N/A	$0.58
Town Sports Int	CLUB	$0.06	$0.23	(5.6%)	3/3/2009	AMC	$2.27
Trina Solar Ltd	TSL	($0.04)	$0.61	(0.9%)	3/3/2009	BTO	$8.00
Verifone Hldgs	PAY	$0.11	($0.40)	(13.6%)	3/3/2009	AMC	$5.31
Virgin Mobile	VM	($0.09)	($0.30)	100.0%	3/3/2009	AMC	$0.80
Wonder Auto Tec	WATG	$0.12	$0.17	4.3%	3/3/2009	BTO	$2.38
Allion Healthcr	ALLI	$0.12	$0.06	20.0%	3/4/2009	AMC	$4.66
Almost Family	AFAM	$0.55	$0.37	26.7%	3/4/2009	BTO	$32.98
Altra Holdings	AIMC	$0.22	$0.22	6.1%	3/4/2009	AMC	$7.43
Amer Comml Line	ACLI	$0.36	$0.45	5.9%	3/4/2009	AMC	$4.91
Amer Railcar	ARII	$0.28	$0.37	(11.8%)	3/4/2009	AMC	$9.05
Amer Safety Ins	ASI	$0.49	$0.61	0.0%	3/4/2009	N/A	$14.25
Ballard Pwr Sys	BLDP	($0.14)	($0.14)	(18.8%)	3/4/2009	N/A	N/A
Bj'S Wholesale	BJ	$0.86	$0.81	6.5%	3/4/2009	BTO	$30.56
Brown Shoe Co	BWS	($0.37)	$0.39	188.2%	3/4/2009	BTO	$5.53
Casella Waste	CWST	($0.08)	($0.18)	(11.1%)	3/4/2009	AMC	$3.31
Clarient Inc	CLRT	($0.03)	($0.05)	(50.0%)	3/4/2009	AMC	$1.37
Coldwater Creek	CWTR	($0.23)	($0.19)	87.5%	3/4/2009	AMC	$3.05
Costco Whole Cp	COST	$0.60	$0.74	4.8%	3/4/2009	BTO	$47.81
Cox Radio Inc	CXR	$0.18	$0.26	5.6%	3/4/2009	BTO	$5.37
Crm Holdngs Ltd	CRMH	$0.08	$0.30	(222.2%)	3/4/2009	N/A	$1.25
Cross Country	CCRN	$0.16	$0.23	0.0%	3/4/2009	AMC	$8.09
Dynamex Inc	DDMX	$0.22	$0.33	7.1%	3/4/2009	AMC	$11.20
Edgewater Tech	EDGW	$0.07	$0.09	200.0%	3/4/2009	BTO	$2.80
Exelixis Inc	EXEL	($0.35)	($0.30)	4.9%	3/4/2009	AMC	$5.30
Flamel Tech	FLML	($0.02)	($0.23)	41.2%	3/4/2009	AMC	$4.18
Foot Locker Inc	FL	$0.16	$0.23	(28.0%)	3/4/2009	AMC	$8.08
Fpic Insurance	FPIC	$1.16	$1.62	8.1%	3/4/2009	AMC	$40.01
Genesis Lease	GLS	$0.23	$0.35	3.6%	3/4/2009	BTO	$3.79
Giant Interactv	GA	$0.11	$0.18	(52.9%)	3/4/2009	AMC	$6.18
Global Ship Ls	GSL	$0.16	N/A	N/A	3/4/2009	BTO	$3.51
H&E Equip Svcs	HEES	$0.35	$0.45	13.6%	3/4/2009	BTO	$7.13
Joy Global Inc	JOYG	$0.75	$0.64	13.9%	3/4/2009	BTO	$23.09
Kadant Inc	KAI	$0.14	$0.53	38.2%	3/4/2009	AMC	$10.96
Legacy Reserves	LGCY	$0.16	$0.36	(59.6%)	3/4/2009	AMC	$13.94
Ltx-Credence Cp	LTXC	($0.21)	($0.05)	0.0%	3/4/2009	N/A	$0.33
Maidenform Brnd	MFB	$0.11	$0.27	2.9%	3/4/2009	BTO	$9.91
Martek Bioscs	MATK	$0.29	$0.26	0.0%	3/4/2009	AMC	$27.91
Mindray Medical	MR	$0.29	$0.19	0.0%	3/4/2009	AMC	$20.70
Natural Gas Svc	NGS	$0.29	$0.30	37.9%	3/4/2009	BTO	$10.67
Northgate Mnrls	NXG	$0.06	$0.00	(650.0%)	3/4/2009	BTO	$1.13
Penwest Pharm	PPCO	($0.12)	($0.40)	(4.6%)	3/4/2009	N/A	$1.81
Petsmart Inc	PETM	$0.59	$0.60	7.7%	3/4/2009	AMC	$19.68
Power Med Inter	PMII	($0.42)	($1.21)	8.5%	3/4/2009	AMC	$0.25
Rehabcare Group	RHB	$0.26	$0.29	14.3%	3/4/2009	BTO	$14.53
S1 Corporation	SONE	$0.11	$0.11	10.0%	3/4/2009	AMC	$6.75
Semtech Corp	SMTC	$0.10	$0.17	17.6%	3/4/2009	AMC	$12.73
Toll Brothers	TOL	($0.43)	($0.61)	(4.3%)	3/4/2009	BTO	$19.30
Urs Corp	URS	$0.58	$0.56	23.4%	3/4/2009	N/A	$37.58
Us Concrete Inc	RMIX	($0.07)	$0.02	(20.0%)	3/4/2009	BTO	$3.18
Weight Watchers	WTW	$0.52	$0.50	0.0%	3/4/2009	AMC	$24.15
Yamana Gold Inc	AUY	$0.06	$0.06	-58.33%	3/4/2009	AMC	7.65
3D Systems Corp	TDSC	$0.01	$0.06	20.0%	3/5/2009	N/A	$7.46
Alaska Comm Sys	ALSK	$0.02	$0.21	0.0%	3/5/2009	AMC	$8.47
Alon Usa Energy	ALJ	$0.51	($0.89)	766.7%	3/5/2009	AMC	$12.00
Ambev-Pr Adr	ABV	$0.94	$1.03	(1.4%)	3/5/2009	BTO	$41.10
Amer Software A	AMSWA	$0.03	$0.07	(50.0%)	3/5/2009	N/A	$4.19
Analogic Corp	ALOG	$0.14	$0.54	(80.8%)	3/5/2009	BTO	$26.78
Angiotech Pharm	ANPI	($0.04)	($0.09)	37.5%	3/5/2009	BTO	$0.36
Arcsight Inc	ARST	$0.04	$0.09	0.0%	3/5/2009	AMC	$9.88
Arqule Inc	ARQL	($0.27)	($0.33)	38.1%	3/5/2009	BTO	$4.16
B&G Foods Cl-A	BGS	$0.14	$0.15	61.5%	3/5/2009	N/A	$4.77
Babcock&Brn Air	FLY	$0.36	$0.13	2.9%	3/5/2009	BTO	$6.10
Cdn Ntrl Rsrcs	CNQ	$0.61	$1.04	40.2%	3/5/2009	BTO	$37.73
Cedar Shopn Ctr	CDR	$0.32	$0.34	(3.1%)	3/5/2009	AMC	$6.89
Ciena Corp	CIEN	($0.12)	$0.39	(350.0%)	3/5/2009	BTO	$7.50
Clean Egy Fuels	CLNE	($0.37)	($0.07)	4.0%	3/5/2009	AMC	$7.05
Clearwire Corp	CLWR	($0.83)	($2.44)	(1.0%)	3/5/2009	AMC	$4.04
Cooper Cos	COO	$0.39	$0.45	12.1%	3/5/2009	N/A	$19.60
Delek Us Hldgs	DK	($0.04)	($0.23)	23.7%	3/5/2009	BTO	$7.43
Depomed Inc	DEPO	($0.26)	$0.44	20.0%	3/5/2009	AMC	$2.11
Dialysis Corp	DCAI	$0.09	$0.10	12.5%	3/5/2009	AMC	$6.00
Emergent Biosul	EBS	$0.06	$0.93	100.0%	3/5/2009	AMC	$21.19
Eurand Nv-Ord	EURX	($0.01)	($0.17)	40.0%	3/5/2009	N/A	$12.17
Fuel System Sol	FSYS	$0.41	$0.31	217.4%	3/5/2009	AMC	$27.01
Fuel Tech Inc	FTEK	$0.00	$0.21	(10.0%)	3/5/2009	BTO	$9.47
Gasco Egy Inc	GSX	$0.00	($0.03)	200.0%	3/5/2009	N/A	$0.44
Genesco Inc	GCO	$1.09	$1.00	0.0%	3/5/2009	BTO	$16.25
Hiland Holdings	HPGP	($0.16)	$0.07	26.8%	3/5/2009	AMC	$2.82
Hiland Ptnrs Lp	HLND	($0.25)	$0.14	(36.3%)	3/5/2009	AMC	$8.80
Home Inns&Hotel	http://www.zacks.com/commentary/10167/Market+Conditions+Remain+Tough+-+Earnings+Preview Autozone, Inc. (AZO) and Fuel Systems Solutions, Inc. (FSYS) could top expectations. Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) and Tech Data Corporation (TECD) could provide disappointing guidance. As fourth-quarter earnings season winds down, traders will be even more focused on the news coming out of Washington. Congress will debate the president's budget proposal, which includes allocations for absorbing bank losses. There will also be ongoing discussion about the stress tests for banks. Not to mention speculation about whether the government will take a large ownership position in other financial companies, as it is doing with Citigroup (C). Finally, aid for auto parts suppliers and healthcare reform are on the agenda. Economic data will also grab the attention of traders. The week's schedule includes the ISM manufacturing survey (Monday), the Beige Book (Wednesday at 2pm) and February employment data (Friday). Monday: February ISM manufacturing survey, January personal income and spending, January construction spending Tuesday: January pending home sales, February auto sales, Wednesday: February ISM non-manufacturing survey, ADP employment, Federal Reserve Beige Book, weekly crude inventories Thursday: Fourth-quarter productivity (revised), January factory orders, weekly crude inventories Friday: February unemployment and nonfarm payrolls, January consumer credit Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will testify before the Senate budget committee on Tuesday morning. He will speak about the impact of the economy on the federal budget. The fed chairman will speak again on Saturday, Mar 7, at a dedication ceremony in South Carolina. Vice Chairman Donald Kohn will appear before the Senate's Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs on Thursday. He will speak about American International Group (AIG) on Thursday. As for earnings, we have confirmed reports from 204 companies. Included in this group are 8 S&P 500 members: American Capital Ltd. (ACAS), Autozone, Inc. (AZO), Ciena Corporation (CIEN), Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST), Edison International (EIX), H&R Block, Inc. (HRB), MBIA Inc. (MBI) and Pepco Holdings, Inc. (POM). Stocks remain oversold, suggesting that a bounce should occur soon. However, both indexes and stocks can stay oversold (or overbought) for an extended period of time. Companies That Could Issue Positive Earnings Surprises During the past few weeks, 3 of the 18 covering brokerage analysts raised their fiscal second-quarter profit projections on Autozone, Inc. (AZO). The revisions pushed the consensus earnings estimate back up to $1.84 per share. The most accurate estimate is far more bullish, at $1.93 per share. AZO has beat expectations twice during the past 4 quarters, but also missed once. AutoZone is scheduled to report Tuesday, Mar 3, before the start of trading. Fuel Systems Solutions, Inc. (FSYS) has topped expectations for 4 consecutive quarters. Ahead of the company's fourth-quarter report, 1 brokerage analyst raised his profit forecast, which helped the consensus earnings estimate rise back to 41 cents per share. The most accurate estimate is slightly more bullish at 50 cents per share. This is a volatile stock with the potential to respond to good earnings. Fuel Systems Solutions is scheduled to report on Thursday, Mar 5, after the close of trading. Companies That Could Issue Negative Earnings Surprises Earlier this month, Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) warned that fiscal second-quarter earnings would be "substantially below" the consensus earnings estimate. The company blamed the economy, price-based promotions and lower gasoline profits for the warning. Nearly all of the covering analysts cut their projections in response, sending the average profit forecast 11 cents lower to 60 cents per share. Costco has historically met or topped expectations, so a miss may not occur. However, forecasts for the remainder of fiscal 2009 have been cut and it is probable that guidance for the second-half of the year will be disappointing. Costco is scheduled to report on Wednesday, Mar 4, before the start of trading. Tech Data Corporation (TECD) has missed profit expectations for 2 consecutive quarters. Though earnings estimates are unchanged ahead of the company's fiscal fourth-quarter report, forecasts for fiscal 2010 are dropping. This suggests a strong possibility of disappointing guidance. Tech Data is scheduled to report on Tuesday, Mar 3, before the start of trading. Charles Rotblut, CFA is the senior market analyst for Zacks.com. He can be reached at crotblut@zacks.com. Surprise Trader can help you turn earnings surprises into quick profits. Learn how. Earnings Calendar Here is a list of companies that we have confirmed will report during the week of Mar 2 - 61. Prices are as of Thursday's, Feb 27, market close. Company Ticker Zacks Consensus Estimate Year Ago Actual Last Qtr Surprise Report Date Report Time Price ABM Industries ABM $0.20 $0.16 (2.7%) 3/2/2009 AMC $16.50 Allied Cap New ALD $0.22 $0.37 (23.5%) 3/2/2009 BTO $1.91 Alphatec Hldgs ATEC ($0.06) ($0.05) (66.7%) 3/2/2009 N/A $2.41 Amer Cap Ltd ACAS $0.65 $0.89 5.7% 3/2/2009 BTO $4.12 Ares Cap Cp ARCC $0.33 $0.37 (5.6%) 3/2/2009 BTO $5.82 Atlas Pipln Hld AHD $0.03 ($0.51) 163.0% 3/2/2009 BTO $3.05 Atlas Pipln Ptr APL $0.35 $0.68 (8.8%) 3/2/2009 BTO $7.45 Breitburn Egy BBEP $0.34 $0.31 (23.7%) 3/2/2009 AMC $9.30 Brookdale Senr BKD ($0.32) ($0.30) (100.0%) 3/2/2009 BTO $7.00 Carrols Restrnt TAST $0.21 $0.16 6.3% 3/2/2009 AMC $3.15 Cellcom Israel CEL $0.59 $0.49 0.0% 3/2/2009 BTO $21.82 Central Eur Dis CEDC $1.17 $0.74 (12.5%) 3/2/2009 N/A $14.27 China Med Tech CMED $0.16 $0.48 15.1% 3/2/2009 BTO $16.15 Clear Chanl Out CCO $0.10 $0.29 (53.9%) 3/2/2009 BTO $5.67 Conseco Inc CNO $0.30 $0.11 18.5% 3/2/2009 BTO $2.85 Crosstex Egy Lp XTEX ($0.27) $0.19 (47.1%) 3/2/2009 BTO $5.01 Crosstex Energy XTXI ($0.02) $0.17 (75.0%) 3/2/2009 BTO $4.00 Dish Network Cp DISH $0.49 $0.39 (37.9%) 3/2/2009 BTO $13.22 Eagle Bulk Shpg EGLE $0.37 $0.35 11.4% 3/2/2009 AMC $6.30 Echostar Corp SATS ($0.17) N/A 134.4% 3/2/2009 N/A $14.80 Edison Intl EIX $0.66 $0.65 (4.0%) 3/2/2009 BTO $33.74 Einstein Noah BAGL $0.37 $0.47 35.7% 3/2/2009 AMC $7.56 First Indl Rlty FR ($0.17) $1.22 8.2% 3/2/2009 AMC $6.50 Franklin Elec FELE $0.38 $0.28 8.8% 3/2/2009 AMC $28.08 Fti Consulting FCN $0.55 $0.60 (15.0%) 3/2/2009 BTO $42.21 Horsehead Hldg ZINC $0.20 $0.55 42.9% 3/2/2009 BTO $4.60 Hospitality Prp HPT $0.96 $1.15 0.9% 3/2/2009 AMC $15.11 Immersion Corp IMMR ($0.12) $0.02 (25.0%) 3/2/2009 AMC $5.08 Ipc The Hospitl IPCM $0.24 $0.24 11.1% 3/2/2009 AMC $18.99 Ipcs Inc IPCS ($0.26) ($0.24) (285.7%) 3/2/2009 AMC $5.36 Kkr Finl Hldgs KFN $0.35 $0.55 (19.5%) 3/2/2009 BTO $1.40 Leapfrog Entrps LF ($0.11) ($0.51) 5.6% 3/2/2009 AMC $2.23 Live Nation LYV ($0.26) ($0.25) 32.8% 3/2/2009 AMC $6.43 Maguire Pptys MPG $0.06 $0.14 0.0% 3/2/2009 AMC $2.75 Markwest Egy Pt MWE $0.04 $0.94 (33.8%) 3/2/2009 AMC $13.27 Mastec Inc MTZ $0.25 $0.15 12.5% 3/2/2009 AMC $11.18 Mcdermott Intl MDR $0.23 $0.70 (47.9%) 3/2/2009 AMC $11.50 Nelnet Inc Cl-A NNI $0.19 $0.34 38.2% 3/2/2009 BTO $14.44 Osg America Lp OSP $0.24 N/A 72.2% 3/2/2009 BTO $7.84 Overseas Shipho OSG $1.58 $0.67 33.0% 3/2/2009 BTO $38.49 Pdl Biopharma PDLI $0.06 ($0.01) (66.7%) 3/2/2009 AMC $6.54 Pepco Hldgs POM $0.31 $0.29 (16.9%) 3/2/2009 AMC $18.15 Perfect World PWRD $0.32 $0.34 8.9% 3/2/2009 BTO $14.92 Phh Corp PHH ($4.54) $0.21 (1081.8%) 3/2/2009 N/A $11.16 Reliant Egy Inc RRI ($0.25) $0.09 60.0% 3/2/2009 N/A $5.55 Rosetta Resrcs ROSE $0.18 $0.34 (15.9%) 3/2/2009 N/A $6.46 Sun Hlthcr Grp SUNH $0.25 $0.20 5.0% 3/2/2009 AMC $11.41 Supergen Inc SUPG ($0.14) $0.09 92.3% 3/2/2009 AMC $2.25 Sykes Entrp Inc SYKE $0.31 $0.26 67.9% 3/2/2009 AMC $18.00 T-3 Energy Svcs TTES $0.79 $0.67 12.1% 3/2/2009 BTO $14.36 Tivo Inc TIVO ($0.10) ($0.06) 83.3% 3/2/2009 AMC $7.57 Tns Inc TNS $0.25 $0.18 27.3% 3/2/2009 AMC $8.71 Tower Group Inc TWGP $0.81 $0.78 5.3% 3/2/2009 BTO $26.14 Travelcenters TA ($0.28) ($4.16) 1900.0% 3/2/2009 AMC $2.40 Visionchina Mda VISN $0.22 $0.10 8.7% 3/2/2009 AMC $6.80 Warren Rsrcs WRES ($0.02) $0.07 0.0% 3/2/2009 BTO $2.00 Wendys/Arbys Gp WEN $0.05 $0.09 (380.0%) 3/2/2009 BTO $5.33 51Jobs Inc-Adr JOBS $0.06 $0.10 66.7% 3/3/2009 AMC $6.55 Adc Telecomm ADCT ($0.13) $0.20 41.7% 3/3/2009 AMC $5.30 America Svc Grp ASGR $0.14 ($0.13) (54.6%) 3/3/2009 AMC $10.74 Americas Car-Mt CRMT $0.34 $0.28 2.9% 3/3/2009 BTO $10.34 Arena Resources ARD $0.30 $0.26 11.3% 3/3/2009 N/A $26.73 Autozone Inc AZO $1.84 $1.67 1.8% 3/3/2009 BTO $137.27 Bioscrip Inc BIOS $0.05 $0.06 20.0% 3/3/2009 BTO $1.83 Blount Intl BLT $0.19 $0.19 55.0% 3/3/2009 BTO $9.12 Chicos Fas Fnc CHS ($0.17) ($0.12) 133.3% 3/3/2009 BTO $4.33 Delta Pete Corp DPTR ($0.17) ($0.21) (1900.0%) 3/3/2009 BTO $4.83 Energy Recovery ERII $0.08 N/A 0.0% 3/3/2009 AMC $6.87 Ferro Corp FOE ($0.15) $0.06 15.6% 3/3/2009 N/A $5.28 Finl Fed Corp FIF $0.45 $0.51 6.8% 3/3/2009 AMC $22.90 Greatbatch Inc GB $0.38 $0.21 34.4% 3/3/2009 AMC $24.08 Home Diagnostic HDIX $0.07 $0.11 26.3% 3/3/2009 BTO $7.17 Inspire Pharma ISPH ($0.23) ($0.51) 15.0% 3/3/2009 BTO $4.05 Jackson Hewitt JTX $0.74 $0.61 5.3% 3/3/2009 BTO $13.87 John Bean Tech JBT $0.22 N/A N/A 3/3/2009 AMC $9.99 Lemaitre Vasclr LMAT $0.00 ($0.05) 50.0% 3/3/2009 AMC $2.15 Masimo Corp MASI $0.18 $0.18 37.5% 3/3/2009 AMC $28.69 Mbia Inc MBI ($1.03) ($3.30) (665.5%) 3/3/2009 N/A $4.49 Monotype Imagng TYPE $0.09 $0.11 9.1% 3/3/2009 BTO $6.22 Move Inc MOVE ($0.02) $0.01 0.0% 3/3/2009 AMC $1.72 Netezza Corp NZ $0.05 $0.05 25.0% 3/3/2009 AMC $6.22 Nmt Medical Inc NMTI ($0.33) ($0.23) 5.7% 3/3/2009 BTO $1.05 Plato Learning TUTR ($0.13) ($0.16) 22.2% 3/3/2009 N/A $1.36 Resource Capitl RSO $0.41 $0.43 N/A 3/3/2009 AMC $3.38 Sciclone Pharma SCLN ($0.01) ($0.08) 200.0% 3/3/2009 BTO $0.83 Seaspan Corp SSW $0.29 $0.31 0.0% 3/3/2009 BTO $13.00 Sonic Automotve SAH $0.06 $0.68 (26.5%) 3/3/2009 BTO $2.23 Tech Data Corp TECD $0.73 $0.96 (42.2%) 3/3/2009 BTO $19.89 Thomas Group TGIS ($0.17) $0.13 (66.7%) 3/3/2009 N/A $0.58 Town Sports Int CLUB $0.06 $0.23 (5.6%) 3/3/2009 AMC $2.27 Trina Solar Ltd TSL ($0.04) $0.61 (0.9%) 3/3/2009 BTO $8.00 Verifone Hldgs PAY $0.11 ($0.40) (13.6%) 3/3/2009 AMC $5.31 Virgin Mobile VM ($0.09) ($0.30) 100.0% 3/3/2009 AMC $0.80 Wonder Auto Tec WATG $0.12 $0.17 4.3% 3/3/2009 BTO $2.38 Allion Healthcr ALLI $0.12 $0.06 20.0% 3/4/2009 AMC $4.66 Almost Family AFAM $0.55 $0.37 26.7% 3/4/2009 BTO $32.98 Altra Holdings AIMC $0.22 $0.22 6.1% 3/4/2009 AMC $7.43 Amer Comml Line ACLI $0.36 $0.45 5.9% 3/4/2009 AMC $4.91 Amer Railcar ARII $0.28 $0.37 (11.8%) 3/4/2009 AMC $9.05 Amer Safety Ins ASI $0.49 $0.61 0.0% 3/4/2009 N/A $14.25 Ballard Pwr Sys BLDP ($0.14) ($0.14) (18.8%) 3/4/2009 N/A N/A Bj'S Wholesale BJ $0.86 $0.81 6.5% 3/4/2009 BTO $30.56 Brown Shoe Co BWS ($0.37) $0.39 188.2% 3/4/2009 BTO $5.53 Casella Waste CWST ($0.08) ($0.18) (11.1%) 3/4/2009 AMC $3.31 Clarient Inc CLRT ($0.03) ($0.05) (50.0%) 3/4/2009 AMC $1.37 Coldwater Creek CWTR ($0.23) ($0.19) 87.5% 3/4/2009 AMC $3.05 Costco Whole Cp COST $0.60 $0.74 4.8% 3/4/2009 BTO $47.81 Cox Radio Inc CXR $0.18 $0.26 5.6% 3/4/2009 BTO $5.37 Crm Holdngs Ltd CRMH $0.08 $0.30 (222.2%) 3/4/2009 N/A $1.25 Cross Country CCRN $0.16 $0.23 0.0% 3/4/2009 AMC $8.09 Dynamex Inc DDMX $0.22 $0.33 7.1% 3/4/2009 AMC $11.20 Edgewater Tech EDGW $0.07 $0.09 200.0% 3/4/2009 BTO $2.80 Exelixis Inc EXEL ($0.35) ($0.30) 4.9% 3/4/2009 AMC $5.30 Flamel Tech FLML ($0.02) ($0.23) 41.2% 3/4/2009 AMC $4.18 Foot Locker Inc FL $0.16 $0.23 (28.0%) 3/4/2009 AMC $8.08 Fpic Insurance FPIC $1.16 $1.62 8.1% 3/4/2009 AMC $40.01 Genesis Lease GLS $0.23 $0.35 3.6% 3/4/2009 BTO $3.79 Giant Interactv GA $0.11 $0.18 (52.9%) 3/4/2009 AMC $6.18 Global Ship Ls GSL $0.16 N/A N/A 3/4/2009 BTO $3.51 H&E Equip Svcs HEES $0.35 $0.45 13.6% 3/4/2009 BTO $7.13 Joy Global Inc JOYG $0.75 $0.64 13.9% 3/4/2009 BTO $23.09 Kadant Inc KAI $0.14 $0.53 38.2% 3/4/2009 AMC $10.96 Legacy Reserves LGCY $0.16 $0.36 (59.6%) 3/4/2009 AMC $13.94 Ltx-Credence Cp LTXC ($0.21) ($0.05) 0.0% 3/4/2009 N/A $0.33 Maidenform Brnd MFB $0.11 $0.27 2.9% 3/4/2009 BTO $9.91 Martek Bioscs MATK $0.29 $0.26 0.0% 3/4/2009 AMC $27.91 Mindray Medical MR $0.29 $0.19 0.0% 3/4/2009 AMC $20.70 Natural Gas Svc NGS $0.29 $0.30 37.9% 3/4/2009 BTO $10.67 Northgate Mnrls NXG $0.06 $0.00 (650.0%) 3/4/2009 BTO $1.13 Penwest Pharm PPCO ($0.12) ($0.40) (4.6%) 3/4/2009 N/A $1.81 Petsmart Inc PETM $0.59 $0.60 7.7% 3/4/2009 AMC $19.68 Power Med Inter PMII ($0.42) ($1.21) 8.5% 3/4/2009 AMC $0.25 Rehabcare Group RHB $0.26 $0.29 14.3% 3/4/2009 BTO $14.53 S1 Corporation SONE $0.11 $0.11 10.0% 3/4/2009 AMC $6.75 Semtech Corp SMTC $0.10 $0.17 17.6% 3/4/2009 AMC $12.73 Toll Brothers TOL ($0.43) ($0.61) (4.3%) 3/4/2009 BTO $19.30 Urs Corp URS $0.58 $0.56 23.4% 3/4/2009 N/A $37.58 Us Concrete Inc RMIX ($0.07) $0.02 (20.0%) 3/4/2009 BTO $3.18 Weight Watchers WTW $0.52 $0.50 0.0% 3/4/2009 AMC $24.15 Yamana Gold Inc AUY $0.06 $0.06 -58.33% 3/4/2009 AMC 7.65 3D Systems Corp TDSC $0.01 $0.06 20.0% 3/5/2009 N/A $7.46 Alaska Comm Sys ALSK $0.02 $0.21 0.0% 3/5/2009 AMC $8.47 Alon Usa Energy ALJ $0.51 ($0.89) 766.7% 3/5/2009 AMC $12.00 Ambev-Pr Adr ABV $0.94 $1.03 (1.4%) 3/5/2009 BTO $41.10 Amer Software A AMSWA $0.03 $0.07 (50.0%) 3/5/2009 N/A $4.19 Analogic Corp ALOG $0.14 $0.54 (80.8%) 3/5/2009 BTO $26.78 Angiotech Pharm ANPI ($0.04) ($0.09) 37.5% 3/5/2009 BTO $0.36 Arcsight Inc ARST $0.04 $0.09 0.0% 3/5/2009 AMC $9.88 Arqule Inc ARQL ($0.27) ($0.33) 38.1% 3/5/2009 BTO $4.16 B&G Foods Cl-A BGS $0.14 $0.15 61.5% 3/5/2009 N/A $4.77 Babcock&Brn Air FLY $0.36 $0.13 2.9% 3/5/2009 BTO $6.10 Cdn Ntrl Rsrcs CNQ $0.61 $1.04 40.2% 3/5/2009 BTO $37.73 Cedar Shopn Ctr CDR $0.32 $0.34 (3.1%) 3/5/2009 AMC $6.89 Ciena Corp CIEN ($0.12) $0.39 (350.0%) 3/5/2009 BTO $7.50 Clean Egy Fuels CLNE ($0.37) ($0.07) 4.0% 3/5/2009 AMC $7.05 Clearwire Corp CLWR ($0.83) ($2.44) (1.0%) 3/5/2009 AMC $4.04 Cooper Cos COO $0.39 $0.45 12.1% 3/5/2009 N/A $19.60 Delek Us Hldgs DK ($0.04) ($0.23) 23.7% 3/5/2009 BTO $7.43 Depomed Inc DEPO ($0.26) $0.44 20.0% 3/5/2009 AMC $2.11 Dialysis Corp DCAI $0.09 $0.10 12.5% 3/5/2009 AMC $6.00 Emergent Biosul EBS $0.06 $0.93 100.0% 3/5/2009 AMC $21.19 Eurand Nv-Ord EURX ($0.01) ($0.17) 40.0% 3/5/2009 N/A $12.17 Fuel System Sol FSYS $0.41 $0.31 217.4% 3/5/2009 AMC $27.01 Fuel Tech Inc FTEK $0.00 $0.21 (10.0%) 3/5/2009 BTO $9.47 Gasco Egy Inc GSX $0.00 ($0.03) 200.0% 3/5/2009 N/A $0.44 Genesco Inc GCO $1.09 $1.00 0.0% 3/5/2009 BTO $16.25 Hiland Holdings HPGP ($0.16) $0.07 26.8% 3/5/2009 AMC $2.82 Hiland Ptnrs Lp HLND ($0.25) $0.14 (36.3%) 3/5/2009 AMC $8.80 Home Inns&Hotel http://www.rapidtrends.com/blog/2009/02/17/catastrophic-fall-in-2009-global-food-production/ http://www.straightstocks.com/gold-markets/catastrophic-fall-in-2009-global-food-production/feed/ 0 http://www.straightstocks.com/gold-markets/more-tinkering-in-the-markets-do-you-trust-your-government/ http://www.straightstocks.com/gold-markets/more-tinkering-in-the-markets-do-you-trust-your-government/#comments Thu, 12 Feb 2009 15:19:25 +0000 Alex Stanczyk http://www.rapidtrends.com/blog/2009/02/12/more-tinkering-in-the-markets-do-you-trust-your-government/ http://www.straightstocks.com/gold-markets/more-tinkering-in-the-markets-do-you-trust-your-government/feed/ 0 http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/the-human-face-behind-this-economic-crisis/ http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/the-human-face-behind-this-economic-crisis/#comments Sun, 08 Feb 2009 14:37:05 +0000 Martin D. Weiss, Ph.D. tag:www.moneyandmarkets.com://6c4f3624269843820ed04f5a2575ac04 http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/the-human-face-behind-this-economic-crisis/feed/ 0 http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/black-monday-brings-massive-layoffs-%e2%80%93-economists-say-some-jobs-could-be-gone-for-good/ http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/black-monday-brings-massive-layoffs-%e2%80%93-economists-say-some-jobs-could-be-gone-for-good/#comments Tue, 27 Jan 2009 21:30:06 +0000 Money Morning http://www.moneymorning.com/?p=4568 http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/black-monday-brings-massive-layoffs-%e2%80%93-economists-say-some-jobs-could-be-gone-for-good/feed/ 1 http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/jan-15-initial-claims-jump-by-52000/ http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/jan-15-initial-claims-jump-by-52000/#comments Thu, 15 Jan 2009 09:04:26 +0000 Zacks Market Commentaries http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/16816/Jan+15%3A+Initial+Claims+Jump+by+52%2C000   Initial Claims for the week ending Jan. 10rd rose by 54,000 to 524,000, from 470,000 last week (revised upwards by 3,000).  This decrease came slightly above analyst expectations of 520,000.  Initial claims filings have fallen the previous two weeks, a consequence of the holidays, following a 26 year high the week before (586,000 for the week ending 12/20/08).  The report shows those continuing to receive unemployment benefits fell by 115,000 to 4,497,000, from 4,612,000 the week ending Dec 27th, which is the highest since November of 1982 (when size of labor force was smaller), and was only 2,743,000 in the prior year.  In the past week, ending January 3rd, initial claims decreased as a result of significantly reduced filings in California, Kansas, Michigan, , and Illinois (upwards of 9,500 in each state) cited from fewer layoffs in construction, services, manufacturing, and trade  industries.  Filings in South Carolina increased significantly, +14,905, from increased layoffs in industrial machinery and manufacturing industries.  The 4-week moving average was 518,500, a decrease of 8,000 from the previous week's average of 526,500.  Upcoming Releases Consumer Price Index (01/16 at 8:30 AM EST) Capacity Utilization (01/16 at 9:15 AM EST) Industrial Production (01/16 at 9:15 AM EST) Zacks Investment Research ]]> http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/jan-15-initial-claims-jump-by-52000/feed/ 0 http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/amerigroup-corporation-value-zacks-rank-buy/ http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/amerigroup-corporation-value-zacks-rank-buy/#comments Wed, 14 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0000 Tracey Ryniec http://www.zacks.com/commentary/9744/Amerigroup+Corporation+-+Value+-+Zacks+Rank+Buy Amerigroup Corporation (AGP) saw revenue grow 8.8% in the third quarter 2008 as the managed healthcare sector remains solid. The company has been consistently surprising Wall Street analysts, beating on estimates 3 out of the last 4 quarters by an average of 34.28%. AGP is trading at only 9.3x forward earnings. Company Description Amerigroup provides healthcare access to the financially vulnerable, seniors and people with disabilities by developing multi-state managed health services for the public sector. The company services 1.7 million people in Florida, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. On Dec 31, the company announced that it was terminating its agreement to purchase certain assets of Centene Corporation's (CNC) New Jersey Medicaid business due to certain events that occurred after it entered into the agreement. In response, Centene has sued Amerigroup to complete the New Jersey transaction. The agreement to sell its South Carolina health plan to Centene was not affected and is still moving forward subject to regulatory approval. Revenues jump 8.8% in the Third Quarter 2008 On Oct 22, the company announced third-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street estimates by 48%. Net income rose 26.2% to $39.4 million, or 74 cents per share, compared to $31.2 million, or 58 cents in the year ago period. Analysts expected only 50 cents. Revenues rose 8.8% to $1.1 billion compared to the year ago quarter. Total premium revenues gained 9.1% to $1.1 billion versus $1 billion in the third quarter of 2007. The company saw improved results in Tennessee along with activation of the new managed long-term care services program in New Mexico. 2008 Guidance Raised Amerigroup is bullish about the rest of 2008. It raised full-year guidance to the range of $2.58 to $2.63 from its previous guidance of $2.30 to $2.40. The company also issued its first guidance for fiscal 2009 and expects earnings per share in the range of $2.50 to $2.65. Consensus Estimates Rise In response to the earnings report and guidance, covering analysts have raised 2008 full-year estimates in the last 30 days to $2.60 from $2.34 which is in line with the company's forecast. 2009 consensus estimates have also risen, gaining 3 cents to $2.60 in the last month, which is on the higher end of the company's guidance range. The company is scheduled to report fourth-quarter and 2008 full-year earnings on Feb 11. Value Fundamentals Amerigroup is a Zacks #1 Rank (strong buy) stock. It is trading at 9.3x forward earnings. AGP's price-to-book is 1.77. The company has a solid 5-year average return on equity (ROE) of 12.83%. "AGP" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold? Zacks Investment Research ]]> http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/amerigroup-corporation-value-zacks-rank-buy/feed/ 0 http://www.straightstocks.com/commodities/cautiously-steelmakers-raise-prices-reopen-mills/ http://www.straightstocks.com/commodities/cautiously-steelmakers-raise-prices-reopen-mills/#comments Wed, 07 Jan 2009 17:14:45 +0000 Larry Edelson http://blogs.moneyandmarkets.com/blog/real-wealth/0/0/cautiously-steelmakers-raise-prices-reopen-mills http://www.straightstocks.com/commodities/cautiously-steelmakers-raise-prices-reopen-mills/feed/ 0 http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/and-then-there%e2%80%99s-this%e2%80%a6-tuesday-december-30th-2008/ http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/and-then-there%e2%80%99s-this%e2%80%a6-tuesday-december-30th-2008/#comments Tue, 30 Dec 2008 18:18:45 +0000 Contrarian Profits http://www.contrarianprofits.com/?p=10680 http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/and-then-there%e2%80%99s-this%e2%80%a6-tuesday-december-30th-2008/feed/ 0 http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/latest-delays-with-boeing%e2%80%99s-dreamliner-puts-program-two-years-behind-schedule-2/ http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/latest-delays-with-boeing%e2%80%99s-dreamliner-puts-program-two-years-behind-schedule-2/#comments Mon, 15 Dec 2008 15:43:21 +0000 Contrarian Profits http://www.contrarianprofits.com/?p=10089 http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/latest-delays-with-boeing%e2%80%99s-dreamliner-puts-program-two-years-behind-schedule-2/feed/ 0 http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/boeing-will-be-forced-to-announce-yet-another-dreamliner-delay-2/ http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/boeing-will-be-forced-to-announce-yet-another-dreamliner-delay-2/#comments Mon, 08 Dec 2008 13:12:25 +0000 Contrarian Profits http://www.contrarianprofits.com/?p=9696 http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/boeing-will-be-forced-to-announce-yet-another-dreamliner-delay-2/feed/ 0 http://www.straightstocks.com/current-market-news/south-carolina-stocks/ http://www.straightstocks.com/current-market-news/south-carolina-stocks/#comments Sat, 22 Nov 2008 09:09:00 +0000 Fred Fuld tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23020893.post-119695420337853240 http://www.straightstocks.com/current-market-news/south-carolina-stocks/feed/ 0 http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/nov-20-initial-claims-at-16-year-high/ http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/nov-20-initial-claims-at-16-year-high/#comments Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:35:34 +0000 Zacks Market Commentaries http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/16011/Nov+20%3A+Initial+Claims+at+16+Year+High The Department of Labor reported Initial Claims for the week ending Nov. 15th were 542,000, an increase of 27,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 515,000 (originally reported at 516,000). This is the highest level since July of 1992.  The consensus was 517,000, which brought today's report at a 4.85% surprise.  California had an increase of 15,532 but declined to provide comment.  North Carolina, Tennessee, New Jersey, New York, and South Carolina all reported a significant increase in filings, a combined 23,443, cited from layoffs in primary metals, furniture, transportation equipment, industrial machinery, construction, service, and manufacturing industries.  The 4-week moving average was 506,500, the highest in 25 years, an increase of 15,750 from the previous week's revised average of 490,750 (which was a 17 year high).  Less than half of unemployed workers do file for unemployment benefits, while there has been much contraction in economic activity recently (not yet declared a recession by the NBER) more unemployed persons may be filing for state unemployment benefits, however coupled with the statistic that those continuing to receive unemployment benefits is 4,0122,000 this week, up 109,000 from last week, and was only 2,580,000 in the prior year, the unemployment rate for November, to be released on December 5th at 8:30 AM EST, is expected to show another big jump (Oct rate = 6.5%, +0.2% from September) as labor markets have undoubtedly weakened. The Conference Board's Leading Indicators Index decreased -0.8% in October to 99.6, following a 0.1% increase in September, downwardly revised from 0.3%.  Stock prices, building permits, index of consumer expectations, index of supplier deliveries, average weekly initial claims for unemployment insurance, and manufacturer's new orders for nondefense capital goods made negative contributions to the index.  Average weekly manufacturing hours remained flat, and slightly offsetting to the index were positive contributions from the money supply (the highest in 7 years), interest rate spread, and manufacturer's new orders for consumer goods.  The Coincident Indicators increased 0.2% to 105.6 following a 0.7% decrease in September.  Positive contributions were industrial production, personal income less transfer payments and manufacturing and trade sales.  The negative contributor was employees on nonagricultural payrolls. The Lagging Indicators increased 0.1% to 113.3 following a 0.3% in September.  Negative contributions were average duration of unemployment, average prime rate charged by banks, change in CPI for services, and the change in index of labor cost per unit of output, manufacturing. The ratio of manufacturing and trade inventories to sales remained flat in October.  Largely offsetting were commercial and industrial loans outstanding and ratio of consumer installment credit to personal income. Upcoming Releases Existing Home Sales (11/24 at 10:00 AM EST) GDP-Preliminary (11/25 at 8:30 AM EST) Zacks Investment Research ]]> http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/nov-20-initial-claims-at-16-year-high/feed/ 0 http://www.straightstocks.com/small-cap-and-micro-cap-stocks/simtrol-inc-smrlob-builds-success-with-an-established-board-of-directors/ http://www.straightstocks.com/small-cap-and-micro-cap-stocks/simtrol-inc-smrlob-builds-success-with-an-established-board-of-directors/#comments Fri, 14 Nov 2008 16:11:57 +0000 QualityStocks http://Blog.QualityStocks.net/?p=13848 http://www.straightstocks.com/small-cap-and-micro-cap-stocks/simtrol-inc-smrlob-builds-success-with-an-established-board-of-directors/feed/ 0 http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/american-optimism-russia%e2%80%99s-in-trouble-but-good-news-for-oil-breakthrough-med-tech-and-more/ http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/american-optimism-russia%e2%80%99s-in-trouble-but-good-news-for-oil-breakthrough-med-tech-and-more/#comments Wed, 12 Nov 2008 21:43:33 +0000 Contrarian Profits http://www.contrarianprofits.com/?p=8362 American optimism at all-time low, 2009 recession imminent… Fannie and Freddie to the rescue? Chris Mayer with good news for oil investors. Another day, another double-digit decline… Russian market, currency plummeting. Pat Cox with a “huge” breakthrough medical tech about to become reality. Have we hit a nerve? The automaker debate rages on in The 5’s inbox Oy. “The $700 billion financial bailout program,” the New York Times sums up Treasury Secretary Paulson’s speech this morning, “will not be used to buy troubled mortgage-backed assets, as originally intended. Instead, capital would be provided directly to nonbank companies, as well as banks and financial institutions, and that more would be done to prevent home foreclosures.” Is it any wonder 83% of Americans think the U.S.… ]]> http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/american-optimism-russia%e2%80%99s-in-trouble-but-good-news-for-oil-breakthrough-med-tech-and-more/feed/ 0 http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/american-optimism-russia%e2%80%99s-in-trouble-but-good-news-for-oil-breakthrough-med-tech-and-more/ http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/american-optimism-russia%e2%80%99s-in-trouble-but-good-news-for-oil-breakthrough-med-tech-and-more/#comments Wed, 12 Nov 2008 21:43:33 +0000 Contrarian Profits http://www.contrarianprofits.com/?p=8362 American optimism at all-time low, 2009 recession imminent… Fannie and Freddie to the rescue? Chris Mayer with good news for oil investors. Another day, another double-digit decline… Russian market, currency plummeting. Pat Cox with a “huge” breakthrough medical tech about to become reality. Have we hit a nerve? The automaker debate rages on in The 5’s inbox Oy. “The $700 billion financial bailout program,” the New York Times sums up Treasury Secretary Paulson’s speech this morning, “will not be used to buy troubled mortgage-backed assets, as originally intended. Instead, capital would be provided directly to nonbank companies, as well as banks and financial institutions, and that more would be done to prevent home foreclosures.” Is it any wonder 83% of Americans think the U.S.… ]]> http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/american-optimism-russia%e2%80%99s-in-trouble-but-good-news-for-oil-breakthrough-med-tech-and-more/feed/ 0 http://www.straightstocks.com/global-economics/main-street-recession-watch-adp-report-on-employment/ http://www.straightstocks.com/global-economics/main-street-recession-watch-adp-report-on-employment/#comments Thu, 06 Nov 2008 05:40:01 +0000 Menzie Chinn http://www.econbrowser.com/archives/2008/11/main_street_rec.html Further evidence that the small business segment of the economy is undergoing stress. From the ADP National Employment Report: [Joel] Prakken added, "This month's employment loss was driven by the goods-producing sector which declined 126,000 during October, its twenty-third consecutive monthly decline. The manufacturing sector marked its twenty-sixth consecutive monthly decline, losing 85,000 jobs. These losses were compounded by an employment decline in the service-providing sector of the economy which fell by 31,000, the first loss in the serviceproviding sector recorded by the ADP Report since November of 2002." "Large businesses, defined as those with 500 or more workers, saw employment decline 41,000, while medium-size companies with between 50 and 499 workers declined 91,000. Employment among small-size businesses, defined as those with fewer than 50 workers, declined 25,000. This is the first outright decline in small business employment reported by the ADP Report since November of 2002, and the largest percentage decline since the economy was emerging from recession in early 2002," said Prakken. Here is a graph breaking down the employment declines. And here is a figure depicting the implications for the nonfarm payroll employment figures, keeping in mind the loose correlation between the ADP numbers and NFP numbers. I think Prakken's last point regarding the downturn in small business employment is of substantial interest as policymakers consider options going forward -- and not only because it puts to rest the dichotomy between Wall Street and Main Street. The appropriate policies depend, in part, upon the reasons for why employment is declining -- credit crunch vs. recession. Obviously both are probably at work, but the proportions are of importance. To the extent the credit crunch is the main issue, the Fed and Treasury need to continue their effort to loosen up lending, and at the minimum reduce the likelihood of financial institution bankruptcies. The last National Federation of Independent Business report did not indicate credit concerns were high; from the October report (pertaining to September): Regular small business borrowers report that credit is increasingly more difficult to obtain. This has risen to 11 percent in September (12 percent said “harder”, 1 percent "easier") as the creditworthiness of potential borrowers does decline as the economy weakens and customers disappear. Because a slowdown in the economy changes the credit worthiness of potential borrowers as sales and profits decline, more "rejections" will occur even with no change in credit standards by lenders. And, many credit worthy borrowers don’t need credit in a period when business expansion makes no sense and inventories are being reduced, not increased. Thus, the aggregate amount of business loans will fall with no change in credit standards. Regular borrowing activity was reported by 32 percent of the owners (down 2 points), reflecting a reduced need for funds to support inventory accumulation or discretionary capital spending. Both inventory and capital investment plans have been declining as the economy has weakened. So, credit demand is down and fewer loans are being made, but not directly due to a lack of credit availability. Loan demand is lower for many firms. Thirty-three (33) percent reported all their borrowing needs met compared to 6 percent who reported problems obtaining desired financing. The net percent responding favorable was 2 points lower than August and 2 points better than July. Interestingly, 36 percent reported all credit needs met in the tumultuous second half of September, compared to 31 percent in the first few weeks of the month. Since some of the survey results pertain to the period before the financial crisis, beginning in mid-September, it's of use to see assessments that are more recent. Here is one in contained in Congressional testimony from about a week ago; this statement is from the Chair of the Small Enterprise Committee of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers: While Wall Street is on a financial roller coaster, I am here to tell you that many small businesses in America are in an economic freefall. AEM members, like the rest of the country, are experiencing challenges due to the credit and liquidity crisis. .... I have heard from several colleagues on how they are experiencing problems with obtaining lines of credit. One of them, a small manufacturer in rural South Carolina, had an operating line of credit with Wachovia that was secured by a stock portfolio, but with the unraveling of the market their line was frozen. Attempts to restructure their line with Wachovia stopped before they started and inquiries into other banks were met with a "we are only engaging in lending with existing bank customers" type responses. Now my colleague is spending most of his time trying to resolve the issue when he should be working to secure orders in this down market. Still other colleagues of mine have capital to operate but find their orders disappearing, in part because their consumers cannot get credit to make the purchase. I found this testimony of interest, even taking into account the fact that the representative has an interest in conveying the situation in the starkest terms, because it lays out the web of interconnections to areas which I would not have expected an impact. The testimony continues: We are now seeing farmers delay the purchase of these inputs [fertilizer, seed, chemicals and fuel] from their "normal" pre-season purchasing patterns as they are having trouble accessing credit and are hesitant to pay such steep prices... What the foregoing highlights is that for sure credit concerns are important, although the relative importance of decreasing demand is probably rising over time. So, the predictions I made in a post a month and half ago -- about how small businesses will likely be very impacted by this financial crisis -- have to some extent come to pass. By the way, for those who doubted the reality of the financial crisis, see the Boston Fed's rejoinder (coauthored by Wisconsin PhD Ethan Cohen-Cole) to that Minneapolis Fed "myths" paper (h/t Mark Thoma). Technorati Tags: small business, credit crunch, employment, Wall Street, and Main Street. ]]> http://www.straightstocks.com/global-economics/main-street-recession-watch-adp-report-on-employment/feed/ 0 http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/resource-stock-roundup%e2%80%a6wednesday-november-05th-2008/ http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/resource-stock-roundup%e2%80%a6wednesday-november-05th-2008/#comments Wed, 05 Nov 2008 18:05:51 +0000 Doug Casey http://www.contrarianprofits.com/?p=7918 It was green lights across the board during Tuesday trading on the Canadian markets as investors placed bets that the conclusion of the United States presidential election would prompt a stock rally. For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange surged 4.07%, while the TSX Gold Index added 11.5% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, climbed 4.24% with the advancing issuers swamping the decliners by a 560 to 306 margin on volume of 176 million shares traded. Hathor Exploration (CVE:HAT) came out with ore stellar numbers from its Roughrider zone on the Midwest NorthEast property in northern Saskatchewan. The latest included 23 metres running 11.23% U308. Hathor ended the day up C$0.05 at C$2.29, while 10%… ]]> http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/resource-stock-roundup%e2%80%a6wednesday-november-05th-2008/feed/ 0 http://www.straightstocks.com/small-cap-and-micro-cap-stocks/performance-health-technologies-inc-pfmhob-continues-to-show-solid-results-with-patients/ http://www.straightstocks.com/small-cap-and-micro-cap-stocks/performance-health-technologies-inc-pfmhob-continues-to-show-solid-results-with-patients/#comments Wed, 29 Oct 2008 17:36:17 +0000 QualityStocks http://Blog.QualityStocks.net/?p=13170 http://www.straightstocks.com/small-cap-and-micro-cap-stocks/performance-health-technologies-inc-pfmhob-continues-to-show-solid-results-with-patients/feed/ 0 http://www.straightstocks.com/current-market-news/top-yielding-electric-utilities-over-6/ http://www.straightstocks.com/current-market-news/top-yielding-electric-utilities-over-6/#comments Mon, 27 Oct 2008 04:13:00 +0000 Fred Fuld tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23020893.post-5620874077461077334 When the stock market is volatile and in recessionary times, investors often turn to electric utilities as investments. The advantages are the high income, less volatility than other stocks, they are monopolies, they provide a product that everyone requires, and during a recession when people are cutting back, one of the last things they cut back on are their electric bills. The following electric utility stocks all have yields over 6%, PE ratios below 18, and PEG ratios below 3. Great Plains Energy Incorporated ( GXP ) is a Kansas City based generator of electricity from coal, nuclear, natural gas, oil, and wind. It pays a yield of 8.70% , and has a PE of 10 and a PEG of 1.42 . Ameren Corporation ( AEE ) is a utility that serves Missouri and Illinois. It pays a yield of 8.10% , and has a PE of 9 and a PEG of 2.54 . Constellation Energy Group, Inc. ( CEG ) is a Baltimore based utility which operates fossil fuel, nuclear, and renewable energy generating facilities It pays a yield of 7.70% , and has a PE of 5 and a PEG of 0.26 . The Empire District Electric Company ( EDE ) provides electricity to Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. It pays a yield of 6.80% , and has a PE of 17 and a PEG of 2.18 . Pinnacle West Capital Corporation ( PNW ) is a Phoenix, Arizona based utility. It pays a yield of 6.60% , and has a PE of 9 and a PEG of 2.84 . CenterPoint Energy, Inc. ( CNP ) is a Houston, Texas based utility. It pays a yield of 6.60% , and has a PE of 9 and a PEG of 0.51 . Progress Energy, Inc. ( PGN ) provides electricity in North Carolina, South Carolina, and west central Florida. It pays a yield of 6.50% , and has a PE of 11 and a PEG of 2.01 . Westar Energy, Inc. ( WR ) is a Topeka, Kansas based utility. It pays a yield of 6.30% , and has a PE of 10 and a PEG of 2.97 . DTE Energy Company ( DTE ) is a Detroit, Michigan based utility. It pays a yield of 6.10% , and has a PE of 8 and a PEG of 1.89 . Integrys Energy Group, Inc. ( TEG ) is a Chicago, Illinois based utility which uses coal, natural gas, fuel oil, hydroelectric, nuclear, and wind sources to generate electricity. It pays a yield of 6.00% , and has a PE of 12 and a PEG of 1.36 . If you want to download an Excel spreadsheet database which lists all the high yielding electric utilities that you can add to and sort, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com. Author owns PGN. By Stockerblog.com ]]> http://www.straightstocks.com/current-market-news/top-yielding-electric-utilities-over-6/feed/ 0 http://www.straightstocks.com/small-cap-and-micro-cap-stocks/dutton-associates-featured-company-21st-century-holding-company-tchc/ http://www.straightstocks.com/small-cap-and-micro-cap-stocks/dutton-associates-featured-company-21st-century-holding-company-tchc/#comments Mon, 20 Oct 2008 18:25:14 +0000 QualityStocks http://Blog.QualityStocks.net/?p=13007 http://www.straightstocks.com/small-cap-and-micro-cap-stocks/dutton-associates-featured-company-21st-century-holding-company-tchc/feed/ 0 http://www.straightstocks.com/small-cap-and-micro-cap-stocks/scbt-financial-corp-scbt-escaping-the-financial-fallout-delivering-for-investors/ http://www.straightstocks.com/small-cap-and-micro-cap-stocks/scbt-financial-corp-scbt-escaping-the-financial-fallout-delivering-for-investors/#comments Wed, 08 Oct 2008 11:57:09 +0000 QualityStocks http://Blog.QualityStocks.net/?p=12802 http://www.straightstocks.com/small-cap-and-micro-cap-stocks/scbt-financial-corp-scbt-escaping-the-financial-fallout-delivering-for-investors/feed/ 0 http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/buy-into-engineering-construction-zacks-analyst-interviews/ http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/buy-into-engineering-construction-zacks-analyst-interviews/#comments Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +0000 Zacks Market Commentaries http://www.zacks.com/commentary/8746/Buy+Into+Engineering+%26+Construction++-+Zacks+Analyst+Interviews John Nelson Simon for a discussion on a sector thatÂ’s easier to sink oneÂ’s teeth into: engineering & construction. What is your current outlook for Engineering & Construction (E&C) stocks these days? Conditions are such that the E&C companies, collectively, are doing quite well. The demand for energy, the need for support in war zones, the crumbling infrastructure, the emerging countries -- all are requiring their help. In fact, it's come to a point where the demand is so strong that customers in some cases are willing to go to cost-plus contracting rather than fixed-price. That doesn't happen very often. In light of what weÂ’ve seen in the financial sector recently, is it better to invest in an industry that manufactures goods? I don't feel qualified to pick between a financial company and a capital goods company. They each have their ups and downs. What I do know about the financial companies is that I saw them make the exact same mistakes back in the 1980s when I lived in Southern California and the Savings & Loans and Orange County went bankrupt. I also have seen Boeing (BA) and Fluor (FLR) go through hard times -- repeatedly. I think this is a great time to own E&C stocks. And, when Boeing starts delivering the 787, it will be a great time to own Aerospace stocks. The big question I have is: What will happen to defense spending? That question affects both of those sectors. Is there much reliance on U.S. government contracts for companies in your coverage? If so, does the Treasury bailout look as if it will negatively affect construction of bridges, roads, etc.? Some of the companies have fairly large exposure to defense contracting, particulalry KBR, Inc. (KBR) and URS Corp. (URS). However, as we wind down our military activity, there is a good possibility that reconstruction efforts will accelerate. I don't think the bailout will be much of a factor on local E&C activities, as most states are now moving to using bonds to support their infrastructure projects, and people are eager to loan money to their states as opposed to whoever will be the next big investment broker (probably somebody in Florida or South Carolina...but not New York). Which companies do you consider your top Buy recommendations? We have Buy recommendations on Chicago Bridge & Iron (CBI) and URS as well as a related stock, AAON, Inc. (AAON). Any Sells worth noting? The Zacks computer wanted me to put out a Sell on CBI...but I fought it. The company had just written off a contract that had been big money loser, so, of course, the estimates for this year went down big time -- but the estimates for next year went up big time. For every over-reaction, there's an equal and opposite over-reaction (Fig Newton's Law). Look for companies with a well-rounded palate of offerings, with rising backlogs in the areas mentioned above. However, I don't follow all the E&C companies for Zacks; somebody else follows FLR, Jacobs Engineering (JEC), KBR, et. al. They have been doing well also. John Nelson Simon is a senior analyst covering the aerospace/defense and engineering & construction industries for Zacks Equity Research. "BA" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold? Zacks Investment Research ]]> http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/buy-into-engineering-construction-zacks-analyst-interviews/feed/ 0 http://www.straightstocks.com/current-market-news/seven-stocks-selling-for-over-2000-a-share/ http://www.straightstocks.com/current-market-news/seven-stocks-selling-for-over-2000-a-share/#comments Wed, 24 Sep 2008 07:15:00 +0000 Fred Fuld tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23020893.post-1639586999401853555 Warren Buffett's company is the only high priced share, you would be mistaken. Here are seven that sell for over $2,000 per share. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK-A) sells for $131,000.00 per share. This is the famous company run by Warren Buffett. The stock has a PE of 18 . Bactolac Pharmaceutical Inc. (BTCA.PK) sells for $30,000.00 per share. They are a a private-label contract manufacturer of vitamins and nutritional supplements. The stock has a PE of 8 . Sterling Sugars, Inc. (STSU.PK) sells for $19,300.00 per share. The company is a Louisiana based processor of sugarcane, and producer of raw sugar and blackstrap molasses. American Bank Holdings, Inc. (ABKH.OB) sells for $10,500.00 per share. They are a bank holding company based in Silver Spring, Maryland. The stock has a PE of 4 . The Seibels Bruce Group (SBBG.PK) sells for $6,400.00 per share. The company is a South Carolina based property and casualty insurance company. The stock has a PE of 49 and pays a yield of 3.85% . LICT Corporation (LICT.PK) sells for $4,365.00 per share. The company is a rural telecommunications company based in Rye, New York. The stock has a PE of 8 . Eupa International Corporation (EUPI.PK) sells for $2,800.00 per share. The company provides support, product design, R&D and patent services to Tsann Kuen Enterprise Co., Ltd. a Chinese company. For more high priced stocks, check out stocks that were selling between $100 and $200 per share. Author does not own any of the above. By Fred Fuld at Stockerblog.com ]]> http://www.straightstocks.com/current-market-news/seven-stocks-selling-for-over-2000-a-share/feed/ 0 http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/business-week%e2%80%99s-gene-marcial-recommends-regional-banks/ http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/business-week%e2%80%99s-gene-marcial-recommends-regional-banks/#comments Tue, 23 Sep 2008 17:05:51 +0000 CEO Blogger http://ceoblogger.wordpress.com/?p=1415 http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/business-week%e2%80%99s-gene-marcial-recommends-regional-banks/feed/ 0 http://www.straightstocks.com/small-cap-and-micro-cap-stocks/element-21-golf-co-etgfob-putting-for-profits/ http://www.straightstocks.com/small-cap-and-micro-cap-stocks/element-21-golf-co-etgfob-putting-for-profits/#comments Thu, 04 Sep 2008 01:37:37 +0000 QualityStocks http://Blog.QualityStocks.net/?p=12130 http://www.straightstocks.com/small-cap-and-micro-cap-stocks/element-21-golf-co-etgfob-putting-for-profits/feed/ 0 http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/gentiva-healths-neutral-outlook-analyst-blog/ http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/gentiva-healths-neutral-outlook-analyst-blog/#comments Tue, 02 Sep 2008 15:22:14 +0000 Zacks Market Commentaries http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/14509/Gentiva+Health%27s+Neutral+Outlook+-+Analyst+Blog Gentiva Health Services, Inc. (GTIV) recently reported better-than-expected 2Q08 net income of $12 million (up 34% y/y), or EPS of $0.41, reflecting solid increases in Medicare related revenues in Home Health buoyed by higher episodic patient admissions (up 10% y/y), increases in revenue per episode. We believe the $147 million sale of CareCentrix is positive in terms of both lowering long-term debt and supporting the managementÂ’s stated growth via acquisition strategy of its core home care business. We retain a Hold rating at current levels. The aging of the population and an increasing focus on healthcare cost containment underpins a shift towards lower-cost (and more convenient) solutions, such as home healthcare. Gentiva is well positioned to benefit from growth of the home healthcare industry through both its geographic reach and multiple service offering. GentivaÂ’s strong balance sheet provides financial flexibility to pursue acquisitions and expansion into new markets or fund share repurchase activity. The company has recently initiated a number of productivity initiatives designed to contain administrative costs and foster internal growth, which if successful will cushion operating margins to any sudden changes to government-sourced revenues. The companyÂ’s purchase of Healthfield enhances operations and potentially improves efficiencies in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee, while establishing a presence in the South Carolina market. We have valued shares of GTIV on a forward price/earnings (P/E) basis, as well as a comparison to similar firms in the healthcare sector. Our revised price target of $29 is derived using a multiple of 20.4x FY08 EPS forecast of $1.42 (previously $1.38). Read the full analyst report on GTIV "GTIV" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold? Zacks Investment Research ]]> http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/gentiva-healths-neutral-outlook-analyst-blog/feed/ 0