Stock Market News & Stocks to Watch from StraightStocks » Washington

Warning! Warning! This is not good news

Andrew Snyder — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:22:27 +0000

pBaltimore #8212; (a href="http://www.todaysfinancialnews.com" target="_blank"TFN/a): Did you feel it? Just a couple of hours ago, you went into debt for another $106. You never signed any paperwork or agreed to it – a handful of unelected officials took care of that for you – but you’re now on the hook for at least another Franklin./p pEarlier today, the Treasury auctioned off yet another chunk of American debt. This time it offered seven-year bonds to the tune of $32 billion. In all, the nation will go in hock for yet another $118 billion this week. /p pIt may sound like a lot, but it’s just another busy week of financing Washington for Geithner and his crew./p pWhile so many of us in the financial punditry business#8230;/p

Cleantech Investing Tools, How to Play it Green

Dawn Van Zant — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 13:00:00 +0000

POINT ROBERTS, Wash., Delta B.C. - November 25, 2009 - www.InvestorIdeas.com, a leading online global investor resource, with a primary focus on environment, water and renewable energy investing, updates its green investor tools.

Energy Investors: Investorideas.com Renewable Energy Stocks, Natural Gas Stocks Directory, Oil and Gas Stock Directory All Available in PDF Format

Dawn Van Zant — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 13:00:00 +0000

POINT ROBERTS, Wash., Delta B.C., November 24, 2009 - www.InvestorIdeas.com, a leading investor research portal specialized in sector investing, covering renewable energy, natural gas stocks and oil and gas stocks has created directories in all three sectors in PDF format for energy investors. The directories were previously only available in full by login access to Investor Ideas Premium Members.

DrStockPick.com Stock Report! 11/24/09, YRCW, CVAT, CTHR, TEN, RADS, SYNO

Dr. Stock Pick — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:02:40 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _______________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _______________________________________ Tuesday Nov 24, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** Cavitation Technologies, Inc. (OTC BB: CVAT.OB) has filed three new PCT patent applications to protect our intellectual property worldwide. The patents are for Flow-Through Cavitation Assisted Rapid Modification of Crude Oil, Modification of Beverage Fluids, [...]

3Q GDP Growth Revised to 2.8% – Analyst Blog

Dirk Van Dijk — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:29:18 +0000

This is a revision to the post I put up when the first cut at the GDP report came out on 10/30. In it the new numbers are in bold and the original estimates are put in parentheses, thus a number in parentheses does not mean that it has a negative value (those will have a minus sign in front of them, numbers relating to the first or second quarters are left unchanged. New text will be in italics. This should give the reader a clear sense of not only how strong GDP and its components, but also how the latest numbers match up.

The recession is over! In the third quarter GDP grew by 2.8% (3.5%), slightly below (comfortably ahead) of expectations for 2.9% (3.0%) growth. This is a huge improvement over the 0.7% decline in the second quarter and the 6.4% plunge in the first quarter.

The internals of the report were strong as well, although it appears that much of the growth came from things like the Cash for Clunkers program and the extraordinary levels of support that are currently being given to the housing sector.

I will first go over the percentage growth rates for the main components of GDP, and then how much each part contributed to, or subtracted from, the 2.8% (3.5%) growth rate. This is probably the more important part since the size of the different parts of GDP are very different, and a small percentage change in a big component can have more impact than a large change in a small component. Just as a reminder: GDP is equal to the sum of Consumer spending, Investment spending, Government spending and net exports, or Y = C + I + G + (X – M) and I will be using that framework for the discussion.

Growth Rates

The overall 2.8% (3.5%) growth of GDP was almost matched by its biggest component, Personal Consumption expenditures, or PCE, which grew 2.9% (3.4%), a big improvement over the 0.9% decline in the second quarter and the 0.6% increase in the first three months of the year.

It is important to note that during the recession, consumer spending declined far less than did overall GDP, especially in the first quarter, so the consumer was becoming a much bigger part of the overall economy. This is not healthy over the long run, but at this point I think people are happy to get some growth where ever we can find it

Consumers spend on both goods and services, and goods are broken down into durable and non durable goods. The big mover in the third quarter were goods, which increased by 7.2% (8.1%) following a decline of 3.1% in the 2Q and an increase of 2.5% in the 1Q. Spending on durable goods was the real driver, growing at an annualized rate of 20.1% (22.3%) in the 3Q, following a 5.6% decline in the 2Q and a 3.9% increase in the 1Q.

Spending on non-durable goods tends to be much more stable than spending on durable goods. Non-durable goods spending rose by 1.7% (2.0%) reversing a 1.9% decline in the 2Q, which was in turn a reversal of a 1.9% increase in the 1Q. Spending on services tends to be even more stable than spending on non-durable goods. Service spending grew at an annualized rate of 1.0% (1.2%) in the 2Q up from a 0.2% increase in the 2Q and a 0.3% decline in the 1Q

Historically, spending on durable goods has been one of the key drivers to getting us out of a recession, and not spending on durable goods one of the key reasons for falling into recessions. It is the volatility in the sector that makes it important more than its absolute size.

Now, you might wonder, what caused the recession to be so nasty last winter when Consumer spending wasn’t really all that bad? The answer is that Investment really fell of a cliff. The good news is that it is starting to come back.

Overall Gross Private Domestic investment grew at an 8.4% (11.5%) annualized rate in the 3Q, but it still has a lot of lost ground to make up from the earlier part of the year. In the second quarter overall investment spending fell at a 23.7% annualized rate

Now here is the kicker -- that was actually a dramatic improvement over the 1Q when investment spending absolutely collapsed, falling 50.5%. Clearly the biggest collapse in investment spending since the Great Depression (and it came on the heels of a 24.2% decline in the 4Q of 2008). To anyone who understood what was going on, those were really terrifying times, and the turnaround from them is absolutely spectacular

There are two basic types of investment: fixed and inventory, and right now we are concerned with fixed investment (I will cover inventory later in the contributions to GDP part).

Fixed investment is broken into two parts, Non-Residential or business investment and Residential investment, which is mostly homebuilding.

Overall Fixed investment rose by 0.3% (2.3%) following declines of 12.5% in the 2Q and 39.0% in the 1Q. Business investment, however, continued to decline, but at a much slower rate, falling 4.1% (2.5%) after 9.6% and 39.2% declines in the 2Q and 1Q, respectively. With massive amounts of unused capacity it is not surprising that businesses are cutting back on their capital spending still.

Business investment comes in two flavors, spending on structures like building new factories, malls and office buildings and spending on equipment and software to go into them. Spending on structures continues to be very weak, falling at a 15.1% (9.0%) annualized rate in the 3Q, but that marks an improvement over the 17.3% decline in the 2Q and the 43.6% collapse in the 1Q. With massive amounts of space sitting idle in offices and empty strip malls littering the landscape, look for new investment in commercial real estate to continue to decline in coming quarters.

Moody’s has estimated that the value of commercial real estate has plunged by 41% since the peak a little over a year ago, and that is hardly an inducement to build more. If a business needs the space, it's far cheaper to just buy some existing space.

Spending on Equipment and Software (E&S) on the other hand is starting to come back, if only feebly, rising 2.3% (1.1%) after a 4.9% decline in the 2Q and a 36.4% plunge in the 1Q. Look for some stability in this line going forward as the new Microsoft operating system will probably generate a new PC cycle, but with capacity utilization still around 70% I would not expect a boom in orders for new factory equipment.

The real star of fixed investment though came on the residential side, which rose 19.5% (23.4%). This is the first increase in almost four years, and follows declines of 23.3% in the 2Q and 38.2% in the 1Q. The long string of declines had brought residential investment to a record low share of GDP. The extraordinary support of the housing sector by the government, including the first time buyer tax credit, the Fed buying up $1.25 Trillion of Fannie (FNM) and Freddie (FRE) backed paper to artificially suppress mortgage rates and the FHA acting like the old New Century Financial or Washington Mutual on their worst days have played a big role in the turnaround. I seriously question the sustainability of it after the support is removed, and I don’t think the support can continue indefinitely.

Government spending grew by 3.1% (2.3%) in the 3Q, a big slowdown from the 6.7% increase in the 2Q, but more than the 2.6% decline in the 1Q. It was all at the Federal level where spending rose at an annual rate of 8.3% (7.9%) down from a 11.4% increase in the 2Q, but up from the 4.3% decline in the 1Q.

Remember this measure of government spending does not include spending on transfer payments like Social Security and Medicare, which are largely captured in the consumption numbers. Defense spending was the big driver -- we are still a nation fighting two wars. It grew at an annual rate of 8.3% (8.4%) down from a 14.0% rate of increase in the 2Q but up from a 5.1% decline in the 1Q.

Non-defense spending rose at a 6.9% (6.8%) annual rate following a 6.1% increase in the 2Q and a 2.5% decline in the 1Q. State and local spending on the other hand is constrained by balanced budget laws and falling tax revenues. It declined 0.1% (1.1%) in the 3Q following a 3.9% increase in the 2Q and a 1.5% decline in the 1Q. They were able to increase spending in the 2Q due to support for the Federal government as part of the stimulus package. Now that support looks like it is being overwhelmed by the plunge in property, income and sales taxes.

International trade has started to rebound, and we saw an increase in both imports and exports. Increasing exports are good for GDP and increases in Imports are bad for GDP, and unfortunately imports rose more than did exports. We were able to improve our overseas sales by 17.0% (14.7%) in the 3Q -- a nice turnaround from the 4.1% decline in the 2Q and the 29.9% plunge in the 1Q. Unfortunately we also increase what we bought from overseas by 20.8% (16.4%), a big turnaround from the 14.7% decline in the 2Q and the 36.4% plunge in the first three months of the year. Keep in mind that we import a lot more than we export, so not only was the percentage increase bigger for imports, it was coming off a higher base.

Contributions to Growth

The biggest part of the economy is the Consumer or PCE, over all it contributed 2.07 (2.36) of the 2.80 (3.50) points of total growth. In the second quarter it caused 0.62 of the 0.70 total decline in the 2Q. In the first quarter it actually offset 0.44 points of the 6.40 total decline. In other words, excluding the consumer the economy would have contracted 6.84% rather than 6.40%.

Within consumer spending, spending on goods added 1.60 (1.79) points after subtracting 0.71 points in the 2Q and adding 0.56 points in the 1Q. Spending on durables was the main driver, adding 1.34 (1.47) points after subtracting 0.41 points in the 2Q and adding 0.28 in the 1Q. Non durable goods added 0.26 (0.31) points after subtracting 0.29 in the 2Q and adding 0.29 in the 1Q.

While spending on services is much more stable than spending on goods, it is also a much larger portion of the consumer wallet. Service spending added 0.47 (0.57) points to the overall GDP growth in the 2Q, up from adding 0.09 points in the 2Q and subtracting 0.13 in the 1Q. It is the volatility that gives durable goods there importance to the economy not the overall size. In the third quarter total spending on durable goods was at a $1.055 Trillion annual rate, just 15.4% of the $6.852 Trillion spent on services, but durables goods had an impact on economic growth that was 158% bigger.

Investment spending was a big swing factor in the 3Q. It added 0.91 (1.22) points to overall growth. That is a HUGE improvement over the 3.10 point subtraction in the 2Q and the 8.98 point implosion in the 1Q. Unfortunately. 0.87 (0.94) points of that contribution came from inventories. Inventory investment is the “worst" type of GDP growth since large increases in one quarter are usually reversed in the next quarter, or in this case, large declines being reversed upwards.

In the 2Q inventory investment subtracted 1.42 points from overall growth and in the 1Q they subtracted 2.36 points. Even in the 4Q they subtracted 0.64 points from growth. Three straight quarters of sharply lower inventories is highly unusual and we were due for a bounce. Perhaps we have one more quarter of a solid contribution from inventory investment, but I would not expect it to last much beyond that.

Overall fixed investment added just 0.04 (0.28) points to growth, but that sure was a nice improvement over the 1.68 point subtraction and the 6.62 point disaster that was the 1Q.

However, it was not coming from the business side. Business investment subtracted 0.40 (0.24) growth points in the 3Q, so it is still very soft, but at least it is not imploding like it was earlier in the year. In the 2Q it subtracted 1.01 points and in the 1Q it took away 5.29 growth points. Within business investment it was spending on structures that caused the problem with a deduction of 0.55 (0.32) growth points while spending on E&S offset 0.15 (0.08) points of that. In the 2Q both sides of business investment were drags on the economy with investment in Commercial real estate subtracting 0.69 growth points and spending on equipment deducting 0.32 points. The 2Q was in turn a major improvement over the 1Q disaster where spending on structures subtracted 2.28 growth points and equipment spending subtracted 3.01 points.

Housing finally helped the economy in the 3Q, adding 0.45 (0.53) points to growth, after a string of 15 straight quarters where it was a drag on the economy. In the 2Q it was a 0.67 point drag and in the 1Q it was a 1.33 point drag. The long decline has, however, made housing a much smaller share of the overall economy. In the 3Q residential investment totaled only $360.9 billion, or 2.52% of the overall economy. At the peak of the housing bubble it represented 6.34% of the overall economy. Thus the 19.5 (23.3%) increase in residential investment had far less of an overall impact than it did in the past.

While residential investment is still near a record low share of the overall economy, I have serious questions about the sustainability of the increase. The extension and expansion of the tax credit as is now moving through the Congress might keep things going for the next few quarters, but after that things are likely to fall apart again. Most of the tax credit is going to those who buy existing homes, rather than new homes, and thus it is a very inefficient way of increasing residential investment. It is however, an open question if we really want to be directing resources into housing given the glut of housing units in the country. Just like we saw with the Cash for Clunkers program, it is probably just encouraging those folks who might have bought later to buy now. Cash for clunkers was a much smaller program, totaling only $3.0 billion, yet is had a huge impact on the economy, most of the improvement in consumer durable goods came from autos.

The tax credit is also tricking people into thinking that the house is more affordable that it really is, just the way that teaser rate ARM’s did, and we saw just how well that worked out. The FHA is handing out mortgages with only 3.5% down and people can use the tax credit for that ridiculously small down payment. This has future disaster of biblical proportions written all over it. The next bailouts will not be of the banks like Bank of America (BAC) and Citigroup (C) but of the FDIC and the FHA.

Direct government spending had a small but positive impact on overall growth in the 3Q, adding 0.63 (0.48) points a fairly significant slowdown from the 1.33 contribution in the 2Q, but better than the 0.52 point drag in the 1Q. All the help came from Washington , not city hall or the statehouse.

The Federal government added 0.65 (0.62) growth points, down from 0.85 points in the 2Q but up from a 0.33 point drag in the 1Q. The Pentagon was the main factor in all three quarters, with defense spending adding 0.48 (0.45) points in the 3Q following a 0.70 addition in the 2Q and a 0.27 point drag in the 1Q. Non-defense spending was sort of a non issue, adding just 0.17 (0.17) points in the 3Q, not much difference from the 0.15 point contribution in the 2Q, and up a little bit from the slight 0.06 point drag in the 1Q.

State and Local governments are not allowed to run operating deficits, and so when faced with declining tax revenues they have to cut back, unless Uncle Sam helps them out. Well Washington is helping, but its not enough and S&L spending was a 0.02 (0.14) point drag in the 3Q. The Federal help was enough in the 2Q and so the contribution to growth in the 2Q was a positive 0.48 points. In the 1Q, before the stimulus package could get much traction S&L spending was a 0.19 point drag.

Net exports had been just about the only bright spot in the first half of the year, even though it came the wrong way, from both imports and exports plunging, only with imports falling more than exports did. That reversed in the 3Q as both showed a nice expansion, but our appetite for foreign goods outstripping the desire for U.S. goods and services abroad. The increase in exports added 1.71 (1.49) points to growth, but the increase in imports was a 2.53 (2.01) point drag, for a net negative contribution from net exports of 0.82 (0.52) points. In the 2Q falling exports subtracted 0.45 points but plunging imports added 2.09 points, for a net imports net help to the economy of 1.64 points.

In the first quarter, as world trade came to a near standstill, net exports were just about the only positive you could find for the economy. Yes, plunging exports subtracted an awful 3.95 points of growth, but the fact that we were buying practically nothing from overseas added 6.58 growth points for a net aid to the economy of 2.85 points. In other words, if the U.S. were a closed economy in the first quarter, growth would have fallen not at a 6.4% rate, but at a 9.25% rate.

Overall

Relative to the first cut at the data, the downward revisions were broad based, with smaller contributions from all major areas of the economy, with the exception of the government. Of particular concern is that fixed investments contribution to growth virtually disappeared.

Investment’s share of GDP is near all time low’s and that is not a good thing for the future of the country. Inventory investment really does not count in this regard. The trade deficit (net exports) continues to be a major problem. While consumption spending growth was revised lower, it still grew faster than overall GDP, indicating that it continues to grow as a share of the economy.

This country needs to move its economy towards one that is focused on investment and exports, not one dominated by consumption, and consumption of imported goods in particular. Still, even though it was not as good a report as the original, it sure is an improvement over the second quarter, and especially over the fourth quarter.

Dirk van Dijk, CFA is the Chief Equity Strategist for Zacks.com. With more than 25 years investment experience he has become a popular commentator appearing in the Wall Street Journal and on CNBC. Dirk is also the Editor in charge of the market-beating Zacks Strategic Investor service.

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What’s better than gold? Anything!

Andrew Snyder — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:03:47 +0000

pBaltimore #8212; (a href="http://todaysfinancialnews.com" target="_blank"TFN/a): One good thing about kids is they are predictable. Give them five bucks and say they’ve got just one hour to spend it or it goes into their savings account and can bet another five bucks the cash will be spent by minute 59./p pIt’s the same way for politicians. Give them some cash and they’ll have it spent in no time flat, even if they can’t find anything worth buying./p pTake, for example, the infamous Troubled Asset Relief Program, TARP in informal nomenclature. Passing the $700 billion program was a matter of financial and economic life and death according to Washington./p pThey gave us the same panicky “must-have” arguments as a six-year-old in the toy aisle./p pBut once they got#8230;/p

Prieur’s readings (November 24, 2009)

Prieur du Plessis — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:02:04 +0000

This post provides links to a number of interesting articles I have read over the past few days that you may also enjoy. Please also add the links to any other worthwhile articles you would like to share to the comments section.

What Obama was really doing in China

Andrew Snyder — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:01:50 +0000

pBaltimore #8212; (a href="http://www.todaysfinancialnews.com" target="_blank"TFN/a): It looks like we found out what President Obama was actually doing in China last week. When he wasn’t bowing to foreign leaders or taking tours of historic China, our leader was giving the Chinese some financial advice./p pIsn’t that a scary thought?/p pJust a couple of days after Obama touched down in Washington, China makes a very American decree. It’s telling its banks it had better shore up their capital situations or face strong sanctions from the government./p pThey say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. America did it first, now the communists are following./p pIn case you missed the news over the past year or so, China’s economy is flat-out soaring ahead. While no figure that disseminates from#8230;/p

Watching the dollar: No more Chicken Little

Andrew Snyder — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:08:25 +0000

Is the drop in the dollar worth watching? Just like the sun will eventually shine its last ray of light, the mighty dollar will someday buy its last barrel of oil or its final container of Chinese imports. We all know it is going to happen, so why bother discussing it. Right?

Capitalism is alive and well

Andrew Snyder — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:03:57 +0000

pBaltimore – (a href="http://www.todaysfinancialnews.com" target="_blank"TFN/a): Hallelujah, the markets work! You have no idea how happy I was this morning when I opened the Wall Street Journal and found an article detailing Goldman Sachs shareholder anger at the recent bonus payouts./p pNow, I don’t care who makes what. That’s between bosses and their worker bees. But I do get a little peeved when Uncle Sam tries to tell some worker he can’t get paid per his contract./p pBefore you go shouting about how Washington saved Wall Street and therefore we, as taxpayers, get a say over pay, let me ask you this. Does your mortgage company tell you what color to paint little Johnnie’s room? Does your car loan provider tell you how fast to#8230;/p

Investorideas.com Renewable Energy Stocks Directory Adds New Wind Stocks and Creates Category for Smart Grids Stocks

Dawn Van Zant — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:00:00 +0000

POINT ROBERTS, WA and DELTA, BC - November 20, 2009 - www.RenewableEnergyStocks.com, a leading global investor and industry portal for the renewable energy sector within www.Investorideas.com announces the renewable energy and green energy stocks directory has recently added new wind stocks in addition to creating a new sub- sector for smart grid stocks due to the growing number of entrants to the space.

Unorthodox Exit Plan – what the Fed has up its sleeves

Don Miller — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:20:31 +0000

“In the old days … the Fed controlled the federal funds rate with open market operations,” Antulio Bomfim, a former Fed economist now with Macroeconomic Advisors LLC in Washington told Reuters. “Now, at least in this period when reserves are over-abundant, the way the Fed hopes to raise the federal funds rate will be primarily by raising the interest rate it pays on reserves.”

Concur Matches Estimates – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:20:37 +0000

Concur Technologies Inc (CNQR) reported 2009 fourth quarter earnings per share from continuing operations of 14 cents, matching the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

Concur reported total revenue for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009 of $64.8 million, driven by subscription revenue. Total revenue for the quarter was also up 13% from the year-ago quarter. Total subscription revenue was $62.9 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009, up 13% compared to the year-ago quarter, and up 3% sequentially.

Bookings were exceptionally strong as the company signed more business in the fourth quarter than in any of the quarter in the company's history. Looking ahead, it expects the demand environment to remain solid throughout the fiscal year.

The long-term growth rate for both revenue and earnings is driven by new customer additions and cost selling of new services. The company signs more new business in the most recent quarter, with strong performance across all geographies and all market segments. It signed more than 800 new customer contracts in the quarter and more than 60% of our new customers selected Concur Travel & Expense.

While it is comforting to see negative economic trends start to abate, it’s important to recall that unemployment today is double of what it was 14 months ago and travel spend is still down substantially on a year-over-year basis. Looking at these macro trends in aggregate, the company considers it prudent to remain cautious in its growth expectations as it will still take sometime to work through the lingering impact caused by the meaningful contraction of global economy.

Cash flows from operations were $20.4 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009, down 10% from the year-ago quarter. Cash and equivalents were $262.7 million with negligible long-term debt and shareowner’s equity was $521 million.

Concur expects earnings per share for the first quarter of fiscal 2010 to be 11 cents, assuming an estimated effective tax rate of 36.5%. The current Zacks Consensus Estimate is 15 cents per share.

Concur Technologies, Inc. provides employee spend management solutions. Its software solutions include Concur Travel & Expense, a travel procurement and expense reporting solution; Concur Expense, which provides the process and information for management to reduce manual processing, enhance internal controls, increase business policy compliance, speed up reimbursement, and increase expense report accuracy; Concur Cliqbook Travel, an online travel management solution; and Concur Invoice, which enables companies to streamline payment requests, facilitating approval processes, and automatic updating of accounts payable systems. The company was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Redmond , Washington . Major competitors are Compuware Corporation (CPWR), Oracle Corporation (ORCL) and SAP AG (SAP).

We currently have a Neutral recommendation on CNQR
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Wind News – EDP Renewables Targets to Invest $4 Billion in American Wind Energy Generation Through 2012

Dawn Van Zant — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:00:00 +0000

WASHINGTON - November 18, 2009 - Officials from EDP and EDP Renewables, the world's second largest generator of wind energy in terms of market capitalization

More than 130 banks will have failed by the end of 2009. Is Your Bank Safe?

Jim Musselwhite — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:25:07 +0000

November 18, 2009 By Gary Grimes Please understand that this article is about more than safeguarding your money; it’s about saving you headache and heartache. It’s about giving you peace of mind. Before I explain, please allow me to ask a few questions: Have you given much thought about the money in your banking accounts lately? Do [...]

Sprint Expands 4G, Reduces Debt – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:44:38 +0000

Sprint Nextel (S) has expanded its fourth-generation (4G) wireless broadband network to two more US cities. The third largest US carrier has officially launched commercial services in San Antonio and Austin in Texas. The company’s 4G services now covers about 25 markets in the US, with plans to address more than 120 million people by the end of 2009.

Subscribers across the newly launched markets can now enjoy lightning fast mobile broadband experience by paying just $10 per month over their existing 3G wireless data plans. The 4G WiMax network offers up to 10 times faster network speeds than the existing 3G deployments. The download speeds enabled by the 4G WiMax network average 3−6 megabits per second (Mbps), with peak speeds exceeding 10 Mbps.

Sprint offers its 4G service under the "Sprint 4G" brand and leverages the WiMax (a mobile broadband technology) network operated by Clearwire Corporation (CLWR) in which it holds a 51% stake. Sprint recently announced its plan to invest an additional US$1.2 billion in Clearwire to facilitate the 4G service roll-out.

The 4G WiMax service is expected to play a critical role for Sprint’s survival in the domestic wireless market, given its continued market share losses to larger rivals. The company plans to continue the aggressive network deployments through 2010 with 4G service launches in key US markets such as Boston, Houston, New York , San Francisco and Washington D.C.

Sprint’s peers AT&T (T) and Verizon (VZ) are preparing to deploy their own 4G networks in the 2010−2011 timeframe based on the Long-Term Evaluation (“LTE"), an emerging 4G wireless standard. LTE has demonstrated higher throughput levels than WiMax in technical trials.

Sprint has reportedly repaid US$1 billion debt using its existing cash resources. This has effectively erased all outstanding balance on the company’s US$4.5 billion revolving credit facility.

This significant debt reduction initiative follows the warning issued by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services for a possible credit rating downgrade due to the company’s lackluster operating results through third-quarter 2009. The company reported a bigger net loss and lower revenue in the last quarter due to the weak performance of its postpaid wireless business.

Sprint is increasingly focused on cost reduction as a declining subscriber base continued to weigh on its top-line. The company recently revealed a workforce reduction plan as it targets to downsize up to 2,500 jobs by the end of the current year. This is expected to help the company to reduce costs by at least $350 million.

While Sprint’s 4G expansion and cost-cutting measures appear encouraging, the company is expected to remain challenged by the sustained erosion in its wireless contract customer base through 2009. However, the healthy growth at Boost Monthly prepaid mobile business may offset most of these losses.
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Should “Big Tobacco” run the government?

Andrew Snyder — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:55:49 +0000

pBaltimore #8212; (a href="http://www.todaysfinancialnews.com" target="_blank"TFN/a): If politicians would get their heads out of their re-election campaigns, they would not have to make hasty, thoughtless decisions that cost you and I money./p pIn the days following Obama’s inauguration, Washington quickly passed a wide set of tax reforms. Part of the legislation included a $400 tax break for the country’s working class and increased healthcare funding for the country’s poor, unhealthy children thanks to increased taxes on the tobacco industry./p pIt is no surprise neither measure has worked out as planned./p pAccording to reports today, more than 15 million of us will have to pay back the $400 we saved in taxes over the last few months due to an error on Washington’s end./p pI hope Uncle Sam#8230;/p

New Investing in Water Investor Tools; Water Stocks News RSS Feed and Water Stocks Directory in PDF

Dawn Van Zant — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:00:00 +0000

POINT ROBERTS, WA and DELTA, BC - November 17, 2009 - www.Water-Stocks.com , an investor and industry portal for the water sector within www.Investorideas.com, features investing in water tools for investors following the sector.

Prieur’s readings (November 17, 2009)

Prieur du Plessis — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:50:30 +0000

DrStockPick.com Stock Report! 11/16/09, PSFT, CI, NVDA, CHFN, NPD, LLL

Dr. Stock Pick — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:52:08 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _______________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _______________________________________ Monday November 16, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** PowerSafe Technology Corporation (PSFT.PK) subsidiary Amplification Technologies Inc. (www.amplificationtechnologies.com) (ATI), is offering higher performance thermoelectrically cooled discrete amplification single photon counting solid state photodetectors. These photodetectors are mounted on a two stage thermoelectric cooler inside [...]

Renewableenergystocks.com Solar Stocks Sector Close-Up; Solar Stocks Shine Once Again

Dawn Van Zant — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:00:00 +0000

POINT ROBERTS, WA and DELTA, BC - November 16, 2009 - www.RenewableEnergyStocks.com, a leading global investor and industry portal for the renewable energy sector within www.Investorideas.com, features a sector close-up on solar stocks trading for November 16th.

DOE and USDA Select Projects for more than $24 Million in Biomass Research and Development Grants

Dawn Van Zant — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:00:00 +0000

Washington, DC - November 16, 2009 - The U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Energy, on Nov 12th, announced projects selected for more than $24 million in grants to research and develop technologies to produce biofuels, bioenergy and high-value biobased products.

What could be worse than a housing bust?

Contrarian Profits — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:18:09 +0000

pIf You Thought the Housing Meltdown Was Bad…br / Doug Hornig, Senior Editor, (a href="http://www.caseyresearch.com/crpmkt/crpSolo.php?id=168#038;ppref=CTP168ED1109A"Casey Research/a):/p p…wait until you see what’s in the cards for commercial real estate./p pThat’s right, the next train wreck will be in commercial real estate. Couldn’t be worse than last year’s residential market crash? That remains to be seen. But it’s coming soon, probably as early as the second quarter of next year, and there’s nothing that can prevent it. The government will intervene, trying desperately to delay the day of reckoning, and may even succeed. For a while. But make no mistake about it, that train is going off the tracks no matter what./p pEvery part of the sector – from multifamily apartment buildings to retail shopping centers, suburban office#8230;/p

Prieur’s readings (November 13, 2009)

Prieur du Plessis — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 07:33:38 +0000

How to play the dangerous dollar

Andrew Snyder — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:15:38 +0000

pBaltimore – (a href="http://www.todaysfinancial.com" target="_blank"TFN/a): The dollar is a dangerous entity these days. Never has there been such a globally important currency with as much political and financial manipulation./p pThe distortions from reality are mind-boggling, yet all of us depend on the status of the simple fiat for our financial wellbeing. /p pThe person with the most skin in the dollar game is, no doubt, President Obama. The nation’s economy hinges on the fate of the greenback and the White House knows it. That is why it is doing anything it can to slow the slide./p pEven if it is entirely psychological./p pToday, reports are flowing from Washington that show Obama may have plans to use up to $210 billion in TARP money to lower the#8230;/p

A Warning Shot for Washington

Frank Holmes — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 06:00:00 +0000

I often say that money goes to where itrsquo;s treated best, and a Bloomberg News story this week shows that Irsquo;m not the only one who believes that. The CEO of Emerson Electric, which makes a wide range of industrial and technology products, says the U.S. governmentrsquo;s plans for greater regulation and higher taxation are pushing his company to move more of its business operations overseas. David Farr, who heads the $21 billion company, didnrsquo;t pull any punches: ldquo;Washington is doing everything in their manpower, capability, to destroy U.S. manufacturing.rdquo; And Farr predicts he will have plenty of company in the exodus to China, India and other places ldquo;where people want the products and where the governments welcome you to actually do somethinghellip; Im not going to hire anybody in the United States. Im moving.rdquo; Government policies for peace and prosperity are a key component in determining a countryrsquo;s growth prospects and attractiveness for investors. Worries about the unintended consequences of Washingtonrsquo;s policies have been growing ndash; David Farrrsquo;s blunt assessment speaks for those concerned about the risks of governmental overreaching. Read the Bloomberg Story Here By clicking the link, you will be directed to Bloomberg.com. U.S. Global Investors does not endorse all information supplied by this website and is not responsible for its content. All opinions expressed and data provided are subject to change without notice. Some of these opinions may not be appropriate to every investor. None of U.S. Global Investors family of funds held any of the securities mentioned in this article as of 9-30-09. #09-798

Corrections Beats by a Penny – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:44:57 +0000

Corrections Corporation of America (CXW) reported a third quarter profit of 33 cents per share. Results beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 32 cents. The company had earned a profit of 33 cents in the year-ago quarter.

However, including an unusual income tax benefit of $7.0 million, the company made a profit of $45.3 million or 39 cents a share, compared with $37.9 million 30 cents per share in the year-ago quarter.

Corrections Corporation’s revenue increased 5.5% from the prior-year period to $426.0 million. Results were driven primarily by a 4.5% increase in its average daily inmate population and a 1.3% increase in revenue per compensated man-day.

Management revenue from state customers increased 6.6% from the prior-year period to $224.9 million. The state revenue increase stemmed from a growth in inmate population from California and Arizona but was partly offset by a fall in inmate count mainly from the states of Minnesota and Washington.

Management revenue from federal customers increased 4.9% year-over-year to $166.4 million. This was due to the company’s new management contract with the Federal Bureau of Prisons at its newly constructed Adams County Correctional Center during the quarter.

Operating income increased 6.6% from a year ago to $79.3 million while EBITDA increased 7.0% year-over-year to $104.8 million. Adjusted free cash flow increased 9.9% from the prior-year period to $68.1 million.

Total operating expenses per compensated man-day increased 0.8% year-over-year. This was primarily due to the ongoing ramp-up expenses incurred at Adams County facility and increase in staffing expenses.

Outlook

Corrections Corporation expects a profit of 33 cents to 35 cents a share for the fourth quarter and a profit of $1.24 to $1.26 per share for the full fiscal year. The company’s projections include the potential for additional pricing pressure and the risk of population declines from some customers. As a result of economic uncertainties, state government agencies are experiencing revenue shortfalls in their budgets.

Corrections Corporation of America is the nation's largest owner and operator of privatized correctional and detention facilities and is one of the largest prison operators in the United States, following only the federal government and three states. Currently, the company operates 65 facilities, including 44 company-owned facilities, with a total design capacity of approximately 87,000 beds in 19 states and the District of Columbia.
Read the full analyst report on "CXW"
Zacks Investment Research

The best sector for your money right now

Andrew Snyder — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:54:04 +0000

pBaltimore (a href="http://www.todaysfinancialnews.com" target="_blank"TFN/a): I cannot say with total certainty that duct tape has ever saved my life. But I can say it has saved the day on more than one occasion, like the time I fell feet first into a frigid river, roaring with the power of Alaska’s springtime snowmelt./p pIn the woods, you have to dry off fast or risk any number of calamities. Living in temperate rainforest, an emergency fire was a challenge. But thanks to duct tape’s inherent desire to burn, I was re-warmed in no time. /p pBut my mundane story has got nothing on the bush pilot that returned to his Piper Cub (the plane, not one of Palin’s kids) to find a pissed off grizzly had utterly#8230;/p

BlueFire Ethanol Fuels, Inc. (BFRE.OB) CEO to Address Cellulosic Biofuels Summit, Emphasizing Sector-Wide Financing Initiatives

QualityStocks — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:35:08 +0000

BlueFire Ethanol Fuels, Inc., a pioneer in cellulosic ethanol production via its proprietary conversion process utilizing concentrated acid hydrolysis, disclosed today that their CEO, Arnold Klann, will attend the 4th Annual Cellulosic Biofuels Summit (CBS) next week on Nov. 17. The event will be held in Washington, D.C. Standing alongside executives from across the cellulosic [...]

The end of efficient markets

Andrew Snyder — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:13:39 +0000

pBaltimore #8212; (a href="http://todaysfinancialnews.com" target="_blank"TFN/a): How efficient are the markets? It is like asking how smart is the human race We all know the answer, but few of us are willing to suck in our pride and admit there are a few dim bulbs among us./p pJudging by the sudden rise in fame of Levi Johnson or Balloon Boy’s antics, the human brain is far feebler than we give credit./p pAnd so are the markets./p pIf you have taken a basic finance class anytime between 1965 and the present, you have likely studied Eugene Fama and his efficient market hypothesis./p pEssentially, the University of Chicago professor created a cult-like following of investors and academicians that believe markets entirely reflect all known information and instantly react to#8230;/p

Heavy-Duty Recycling

Robert Amsterdam — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:46:19 +0000

War as a means of securing energy resources is a familiar narrative. Peace as a means of securing energy resources is rather less typical . . . The New York Times today has a wonderfully ironic story on how decommissioned...

TapImmune Inc. (TPIV.OB) is “One to Watch”

QualityStocks — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:53:56 +0000

TapImmune Inc. is a biotechnology company headquartered in Bellevue, Washington. They specialize in the development of immunotherapeutic vaccines for cancer and infectious diseases. Their core business focus is on emerging technologies based on cellular immunology and genetic understanding of the cause and potential novel treatments of disease. TapImmune Inc.’s lead product is the TAP vaccine. [...]

Tesoro Beats, Cuts Dividend in Half – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:55:52 +0000

Tesoro Corporation’s (TSO) third-quarter 2009 results came in significantly better than expected, helped by better demand balance in the company’s key West Coast region. Earnings per share came in at 24 cents, against Zacks Consensus Estimate of a penny loss.

Tesoro’s outperformance is in contrast to the steep losses posted by the other major refiners that have already reported -- Valero Energy Corp. (VLO) and Sunoco Inc. (SUN).

However, compared to the year-ago period, Tesoro’s earnings per share plunged 87.1%, while sales declined 45.4% to $4.7 billion -- severely hampered by depressed refining margins and lower throughput on the back of weak fuel demand and high inventories.

Refining Segment Results

Tesoro’s refining segment experienced a significant decline in operating income (operating income of $84 million vs. $476 million in the year-earlier quarter) due to struggling profit margins for the production of distillate fuels (like heating oil and diesel), as well as a narrowing of the sweet/sour crude spread.

Throughput

Total refining throughput averaged 564 thousand barrels per day (MBbl/d), compared to 622 MBbl/d in the year-ago quarter. Overall throughput volumes in the California region (consisting of the Golden Eagle and Los Angeles refineries) decreased 13.9% year-over-year to 235 MBbl/d. Throughput in the company’s Pacific Northwest refineries (Alaska and Washington) fell 4.3% year-over-year to 155 MBbl/d, while for the Mid-Pacific (Hawaii) refineries, it was down approximately 8.3% to 66 MBbl/d. In the Mid-Continent region, Tesoro’s refining throughput averaged 108 MBbl/d, 6.1% lower than the previous-year period.

Refining Margins

Gross refining margin decreased 42.5% year-over-year to $9.59 per barrel. In terms of different regions, refining margin was down approximately 36.7% in California to $11.54 per barrel, 34.0% in the Pacific Northwest to $9.08 per barrel, 91.4% in the Mid-Pacific to $1.05 per barrel, and roughly 42.8% in the Mid-Continent to $11.50 per barrel.

Realized Costs & Prices

Manufacturing costs before DD&A decreased 8.6% from the year-earlier level to $4.79 per barrel, primarily due to lower energy costs. Total refined product sales during the quarter averaged 611 MBbl/d, down 10.4% year-over-year. Average price realized on product sales decreased 36.2% year-over-year to $83.71 per barrel. Average cost per barrel was also down 35.1% from the third quarter of 2008 to $76.47 per barrel.

Capital Expenditure & Balance Sheet

Tesoro’s total capital spending (including turnaround expenditure) during the third quarter of 2009 was $109.0 million. As of September 30, 2009, Tesoro had cash on hand of $534 million and long-term debt of approximately $1.8 billion, representing a debt-to-capitalization ratio of 36.2%.

Dividend Cut

Tesoro announced a 50% reduction in its quarterly dividend to 5 cents per share (20 cents per share annualized). The new dividend is payable on December 15, to shareholders of record on December 1, 2009.

Guidance

The company informed that it expects capital spending for 2009 to be less than its stated budget of $600 million. For 2010, the company plans to spend $675 million.

Outlook

We believe that the overall environment for refining margins is likely to remain poor going into 2010. The sharply lower refinery utilization (just over 80% of capacity) provides enough evidence that refineries are cutting back on production because the economy is still struggling on the demand side.

The recent rally in crude prices have added to refiners’ miseries by increasing the cost of oil they buy to make gas, jet fuel and other refined products. Being one of the major U.S. independent oil refiners, Tesoro remains particularly exposed to this unfavorable macro backdrop.

We currently rate Tesoro shares as Neutral. Unless the outlook for refiners improves, we expect the stock to perform in line with the market.
Read the full analyst report on "TSO"
Read the full analyst report on "VLO"
Read the full analyst report on "SUN"
Zacks Investment Research

Going Long on the Dollar? Go Longer on Gold!

Justice Litle — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:12:51 +0000

pa href="http://www.taipanpublishing.com" class="alinks_links"Taipan/a Daily#8217;s Justice Litle review the current trends of gold, the U.S. Dollar and small caps.br / Finding suprising strength in the dollar in the short term, he finds greater strength in gold and gold stocks for the long term./p pemJustice Litle, Editorial Director, Taipan Publishing Group /embr / Gold, small caps and the U.S. dollar have had a stable three-way relationship for the better part of the 2009 rally. Now the three could be parting ways./p pDr. Marc Faber is one of the few market wise men whose thoughts are worth pondering. His monthly “Gloom, Boom #038; Doom Report” is always a good read. He is an active, Asia-based investor with decades of experience, hundreds of millions under management, and many prescient calls under his belt./p pFaber#8230;/p

Is it time to panic?

Andrew Snyder — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:08:12 +0000

pBaltimore-(a href="http://todaysfinancialnews.com" target="_blank"TFN/a):Time to panic? If you are part of the Obama administration the answer is yes. If you are an American investor, hold off on the freaking out for at least another month or so./p pWith the nation’s unemployment rate officially in double-digit territory and the under-employed rate ready to the 20% mark, the politicians that promised bliss in the days ahead are eating their words today./p pAnd that means Wall Street is eating its recent gains./p pFor nearly a month, the Dow has hovered around the 10,000 mark. After hundreds of billions of dollars were withdrawn earlier this year, it was relatively easy to put that money back to work and send the equities market higher./p pBut now that the economic data is showing#8230;/p

Doctor Up Your Portfolio With This Medical Communications Company

Investment U — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:06:28 +0000

Doctor Up Your Portfolio With This Medical Communications Company by Louise Harris, Investment U Research The healthcare reform debate continues to swirl in Washington. And Marc Lichtenfeld and Louis Basenese have discussed this crucial topic recently, offering their thoughts on the companies best positioned to profit. That’s because regardless of the back-and-forth and political [...]

Prieur’s readings (November 6, 2009)

Prieur du Plessis — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:57:14 +0000

DrStockPick.com Stock Report! 11/05/09, DAKT, PSFT, COKE, CPWM, FCNCA, SCOR

Dr. Stock Pick — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:21:43 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _______________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _______________________________________ Thursday November 5, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** PowerSafe Technology Corporation (PSFT.PK) subsidiary Amplification Technologies Inc. (www.amplificationtechnologies.com) (ATI), is offering higher performance thermoelectrically cooled discrete amplification single photon counting solid state photodetectors. These photodetectors are mounted on a two stage thermoelectric cooler inside [...]

An Overly Full Measure of Faith and Credit

Adam Lass — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:00:00 +0000

Impending national bankruptcy is no reason to expect Washington to stop spending at full tilt. As I sit to write to you today, the market is up for the third day in a row. This brings a bit of...div class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.taipanpublishinggroup.com/~ff/taipan?a=KG_-BV2_VE8:e_xAVUy9h1Y:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/taipan?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.taipanpublishinggroup.com/~ff/taipan?a=KG_-BV2_VE8:e_xAVUy9h1Y:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/taipan?i=KG_-BV2_VE8:e_xAVUy9h1Y:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.taipanpublishinggroup.com/~ff/taipan?a=KG_-BV2_VE8:e_xAVUy9h1Y:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/taipan?i=KG_-BV2_VE8:e_xAVUy9h1Y:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.taipanpublishinggroup.com/~ff/taipan?a=KG_-BV2_VE8:e_xAVUy9h1Y:wd9GD17jvC4"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/taipan?d=wd9GD17jvC4" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.taipanpublishinggroup.com/~ff/taipan?a=KG_-BV2_VE8:e_xAVUy9h1Y:l6gmwiTKsz0"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/taipan?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/taipan/~4/KG_-BV2_VE8" height="1" width="1"/

BRE Properties’ FFO Declines – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:30:02 +0000

BRE Properties Inc. (BRE), a real estate investment trust (REIT) that operates apartment communities, has reported a decline in third quarter 2009 FFO (fund from operations) to $32.5 million or 59 cents per share compared to $36.3 million or 69 cents per share in the year-earlier quarter. Fund from operations, a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs, is obtained after adding depreciation and amortization and other non-cash expenses to net income.

Total revenues from continuing operations during the quarter were $86.5 million versus $87.9 million in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) were $55.7 million for the quarter, compared to $61.8 million in the prior year quarter.

Overall same-store net operating income decreased 7.9% during the quarter, primarily due to a 6.9% year-over-year decline in average same-store market rent from $1,540 per unit to $1,434. Average physical occupancy in the same-store portfolio during the quarter was 94.7% versus 94.9% in the year-earlier quarter.

The dismal same-store performance was largely due to the continued job losses in most of the BRE’s markets. About 74,200 jobs were lost in the core markets of BRE during the quarter. Stagnant job growth has negatively affected the demand for aparments, and high-end apartment homes could get hit the hardest as renters move down to less expensive ‘B’ class properties.

During the quarter, BRE completed three development communities totaling 801 apartment units in California and Washington. Currently, the company has two communities under construction (566 units) at an estimated total cost of $176.1 million. Also during the quarter, BRE sold a stabilized community in Sacramento for $15.4 million, realizing a gain of $7.3 million.

During the quarter, BRE repurchased $5.0 million of its 4.125% convertible notes at 90.3% of par, realizing a net gain of approximately $0.4 million. In addition, the company sold 1.5 million common shares at $28.00 each, raising total proceeds of $42.0 million. During the quarter, BRE also received the remaining $310 million of the $620 million secured credit facility obtained from Fannie Mae in Apr 2009. Bulk of the proceeds from the loan was utilized to repay debt.

The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.375 per share, equivalent to an annualized basis of $1.50 per share. Since its inception in 1970, BRE has paid quarterly dividends uninterruptedly. For full year 2009, BRE has adjusted its earlier FFO guidance from $2.42 - $2.52 per share to $2.44 - $2.50.
Read the full analyst report on "BRE"
Zacks Investment Research

DrStockPick.com Stock Report! 11/04/09, CSRH, KYN, AET, CA, BK, EGN

Dr. Stock Pick — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:00:47 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _______________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _______________________________________ Wednesday November 4, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** Consorteum Holdings Inc. (OTCBB: CSRH) announced that it has proceeded to launch its consumer stored value rebate card. The consumer rebate card program will offer manufacturers and retailers a new way to process mail-in rebates that ensures increased customer [...]

Vornado Reports Strong Quarter – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:07:24 +0000

Vornado Realty Trust (VNO) reported strong third quarter 2009 results with FFO (funds from operations) of $234.2 million or $1.25 per share, compared to $159.8 million or 97 cents per share in the year-earlier quarter.

Funds from operations, a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs, is obtained after adding depreciation and amortization and other non-cash expenses to net income. After adjusting items for comparability, FFO during the quarter was $1.18 per share, compared to $1.17 in the prior year quarter.

Vornado is the largest publicly traded office REIT in the New York region. The core properties of the company are still performing at a high level and it is maintaining strong occupancies in its NYC office and retail portfolios.

The company is also increasing rents in most property formats. We believe this puts the company well ahead of many competitors who have assets in less desirable markets -- still struggling with high vacancies and little pricing power.

Same-store occupancy in the company’s New York City (NYC) and Washington, DC office portfolio were 96.0% and 94.8%, respectively, during the quarter. Same-store EBITDA (GAAP basis) increased 1.5% and 10.0% during the quarter in the NYC and DC office portfolios, respectively, compared to the year-earlier quarter.

The company’s retail portfolio is also doing well; same-store occupancy was 91.6% at quarter end, while same-store EBITDA increased 2.0% vs. the year-ago quarter. In the Merchandise Mart segment, same-store occupancy was 87.1% (office) and 88.9% (showroom), while same-store EBITDA decreased 5.7% year over year.

The company is still signing leases at significantly higher rental rates than expiring leases. During the quarter, rents increased 0.9% (cash basis) and 8.3% (GAAP basis) compared to the previous rents in NYC. In Washington DC, rents increased 13.7% (cash) and 14.9% (GAAP) versus expiring rents. Retail rents increased 11.0% (cash) and 17.7% (GAAP) over in-place rents.

Vornado has a healthy balance sheet with very manageable near-term debt maturities and plenty of cash. During the quarter, the company sold a newly developed 250,000 square feet office building in DC for a net gain of $41.2 million. At quarter end, the company had $2.6 billion of cash and cash equivalents.

Vornado has the resources to capitalize on potential opportunities developing in commercial real estate. Smaller private developers and owners are running into problems refinancing loans due to problems in the credit markets; as such, it is possible that the company could take advantage of distressed selling as asset values of office and retail properties continue to drop. We expect Vornado’s favorable position in NYC to enable it to maintain rents at current levels, although occupancy could suffer in the near-term.
Read the full analyst report on "VNO"
Zacks Investment Research

Fake GDP May Have Been One Ruse Too Far

Taipan Publishing Group — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:00:00 +0000

For months, Washington and Wall Street have been slathering lipstick on a giant pig. Thanks to the latest GDP report, investors are beginning to see past the lipstick. Per the usual, this piece is...div class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.taipanpublishinggroup.com/~ff/taipan?a=aEh4zkXCKIU:vA76sNZHGZo:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/taipan?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.taipanpublishinggroup.com/~ff/taipan?a=aEh4zkXCKIU:vA76sNZHGZo:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/taipan?i=aEh4zkXCKIU:vA76sNZHGZo:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.taipanpublishinggroup.com/~ff/taipan?a=aEh4zkXCKIU:vA76sNZHGZo:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/taipan?i=aEh4zkXCKIU:vA76sNZHGZo:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.taipanpublishinggroup.com/~ff/taipan?a=aEh4zkXCKIU:vA76sNZHGZo:wd9GD17jvC4"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/taipan?d=wd9GD17jvC4" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.taipanpublishinggroup.com/~ff/taipan?a=aEh4zkXCKIU:vA76sNZHGZo:l6gmwiTKsz0"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/taipan?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/taipan/~4/aEh4zkXCKIU" height="1" width="1"/

Gas Prices/Climate Bill – Expert: Major Savings at Gas Pump Expected Under 2 Federal Policies

Dawn Van Zant — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:00:00 +0000

WASHINGTON, D.C. - November 3, 2009 - Good news for American motorists: Despite doomsday prediction from energy-industry-funded interest groups, U.S. consumers actually will see a net reduction of $13 billion in 2020 and $46 billion in 2030 in their gasoline expenditures ($100 and $326 in average net savings per household, respectively) if Congress moves ahead to impose a cap-and-trade system, according to a new report from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE).

RA’s Daily Russian News Blast – Nov 3, 2009

Robert Amsterdam — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:08:54 +0000

TODAY: Opposition activist torture claims; Miliband leaves with no breakthrough regarding diplomatic concerns; meets with rights activists; Putin and Medvedev popularity waning?; President in need of own power structure to realize reforms; Stalin resurrection an identity issue; Gorbachev on...

Miliband in Moscow and the need to link Russia-UK relations with human rights

Robert Amsterdam — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:53:34 +0000

Bob has an opinion article in today's edition of the Guardian stressing the importance of linking human rights with foreign relations during David Miliband's visit to Russia this week, and elsewhere in the same paper, Mikhail Khodorkovsky's mother has issued...

Investorideas.com Green Funding Directory Updated; Now Lists over 540 Global Green Funding Sources

Dawn Van Zant — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:00:00 +0000

POINT ROBERTS, Wash., Delta B.C., November 2 2009 - www.InvestorIdeas.com, a leading online global investor resource, with a primary focus on green investing, has updated the recently available Global Green Fund and Venture Capital Directory for green businesses and entrepreneurs seeking potential funding sources. The directory now lists over 540 global funding sources in the cleantech sector.

Water Stocks Sector Close-Up, Finding the Green in Water Stocks

Dawn Van Zant — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:00:00 +0000

POINT ROBERTS, WA and DELTA, BC - November 2, 2009 - www.Water-Stocks.com, an investor and industry portal for the water sector within Investorideas.com, presents a sector close-up on publicly traded water stocks.

The week ahead

Prieur du Plessis — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 07:50:35 +0000

The video clips in this post provide a handy summary of the reports expected on the economic, financial and corporate front around the globe during the week ahead.

Geithner: Recovery could be ‘a little choppy’

Trading School — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 12:41:09 +0000

(AP:WASHINGTON) Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says the economic recovery “could be a little choppy” and it’s going to take a while. Geithner told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that bringing back jobs and the confidence of investors will be the real test of recovery. He declined to say whether the recession is over, saying economists will figure [...]

Black Hawk Exploration Inc. (BHWX.OB) is “One to Watch”

QualityStocks — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:51:04 +0000

Black Hawk Exploration Inc. is a diversified metals and energy exploration company. Their current focus is on lithium exploration through their wholly owned subsidiary Blue Lithium. Black Hawk holds mineral rights to 1,120 acres in the lithium-rich Clayton Valley in Nevada. Clayton Valley is the home of the largest lithium brine production facility in [...]

Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Bank of America, Citigroup, Motorola Inc., China Mobile Ltd. and Mylan, Inc. – Press Releases

Zacks Market Commentaries — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:45:37 +0000

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – October 30, 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: Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (C), Motorola Inc. (MOT), China Mobile Ltd. (CHL) and Mylan, Inc. (MYL).

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Here are highlights from Thursday’s AnalystBlog:

Contributions to GDP Growth

It is also tricking people into thinking that a house is more affordable that it really is -- just the way that teaser-rate ARM’s did, and we saw just how well that worked out. The FHA is handing out mortgages with only 3.5% down, and people can use the tax credit for that ridiculously small down payment. This has future disaster of biblical proportions written all over it. The next bailouts will not be of the banks like Bank of America (BAC) and Citigroup (C) but of the FDIC and the FHA.

Direct Government spending had a small but positive impact on overall growth in the 3Q, adding 0.48 points -- a fairly significant slowdown from the 1.33 contribution in the 2Q, but better than the 0.52 point drag in the 1Q. All the help came from Washington, not City Hall or the Statehouse.

Motorola Shows Signs of Revival

Motorola Inc. (MOT) today declared financial results for the third quarter 2009. Quarterly net income from continuing operations was $12 million or 1 cent per share, compared to a net loss of $397 million or 18 cents per share in the prior quarter. Third quarter adjusted (excluding special items) EPS was 2 cents, easily beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a break-even quarter.

Improvement in net income was primarily due to the huge reduction in operating expenditure. Quarterly total revenue was $5,453 million, down 27.1% year-over-year and also below the Zacks Consensus Estimates of $5,564 million.

Gross margin in the third quarter was 33.2% compared to 24.1% in the prior-year quarter and 31.1% in the previous quarter. Quarterly operating expenditure was $1.68 billion compared to a massive $2.26 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Quarterly revenue was $2 billion, down 15% year-over-year. Operating income was $199 million compared to an operating income of $263 million in the year-ago quarter. During the third quarter, Motorola conducted the world's first live 2.6GHz TD-LTE mobile demonstration for China Mobile Ltd. (CHL) and shipped 3.3 million digital entertainment devices.

Mylan Beats, Raises Outlook

Mylan, Inc. (MYL) reported third quarter earnings per share of 32 cents, above both the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 27 cents and 23 cents in the prior-year period. The company reported revenues of $1.26 billion, a 24% decline from the year-ago period.

However, the year-ago period included $455 million of revenue related to the sale of the product rights of Bystolic. Excluding this, total revenues increased 5.2% over the third quarter 2008. Revenues would have increased 9%, but for the unfavorable movement of foreign currency.

From this quarter onwards, Mylan has decided to report its results in two segments -- Generics and Specialty -- following the acquisition of approximately 24% of the remaining interest in Matrix and the related de-listing. The former Matrix segment has been included in the Generics segment. The Generics Segment, accounting for about 88% of total revenues during the quarter, increased marginally (3.7%) to $1.12 billion. Revenues from Specialty recorded a huge increase of 20.3% to $150.9 million.

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Contributions to GDP Growth – Analyst Blog

Dirk Van Dijk — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:02:59 +0000

Not all components of GDP are created equal. Some are very big, and others relatively small. Some tend to be very stable over time, and some tend to swing violently from quarter to quarter. The bigger and more volatile they are, the more they will impact the overall growth rate of GDP.

Thus looking at just the percentage changes in the components does not tell the full story. Of the 3.5% total growth, how many points were added or subtracted by each part of the economy?

The biggest part of the economy is the Consumer, or PCE -- overall it contributed 2.36 of the 3.50 points of total growth. In the second quarter it caused 0.62 of the 0.70 total decline in the 2Q. In the first quarter it actually offset 0.44 points of the 6.40 total decline. In other words, excluding the Consumer the economy would have contracted 6.84% rather than 6.40%.

Within Consumer spending, spending on Goods added 1.79 points after subtracting 0.71 points in the 2Q and adding 0.56 points in the 1Q. Spending on Durables was the main driver, adding 1.47 points after subtracting 0.41 points in the 2Q and adding 0.28 in the 1Q. Non-Durable goods added 0.31 points after subtracting 0.29 in the 2Q and adding 0.29 in the 1Q.

While spending on Services is much more stable than spending on Goods, it is also a much larger portion of the Consumer wallet. Service spending added 0.57 points to the overall GDP growth in the 2Q -- up from adding 0.09 points in the 2Q and subtracting 0.13 in the 1Q.

It is the volatility that gives Durable goods their importance to the economy, not the overall size. In the third quarter, total spending on Durable goods was at a $1.055 Trillion annual rate, just 15.4% of the $6.852 Trillion spent on Services, but Durable goods had an impact on economic growth that was 158% bigger.

Investment spending was a big swing factor in the 3Q. It added 1.22 points to overall growth. That is a HUGE improvement over the 3.10 point subtraction in the 2Q and the 8.98 point implosion in the 1Q. Unfortunately, 0.94 points of that contribution came from Inventories.

Inventory investment is the "worst" type of GDP growth, since large increases in one quarter are usually reversed in the next quarter -- or in this case, large declines being reversed upwards. In the 2Q, Inventory investment subtracted 1.42 points from overall growth and in the 1Q it subtracted 2.36 points. Even in the 4Q, it subtracted 0.64 points from growth. Three straight quarters of sharply lower inventories is highly unusual, and we were due for a bounce. Perhaps we have one more quarter of a solid contribution from Inventory investment, but I would not expect it to last much beyond that.

Overall Fixed investment added just 0.28 points to growth, but that sure was a nice improvement over the 1.68 point subtraction and the 6.62 point disaster that was the 1Q. However, it was not coming from the business side. Business investment subtracted 0.24 growth points in the 3Q, so it is still very soft, but at least it is not imploding like it was earlier in the year. In the 2Q it subtracted 1.01 points and in the 1Q it took away 5.29 growth points.

Within business investment it was spending on structures that caused the problem, with a deduction of 0.32 growth points while spending on E&S offset 0.08 points of that. In the 2Q, both sides of business investment were drags on the economy with investment in Commercial real estate subtracting 0.69 growth points, and spending on equipment deducting 0.32 points. The 2Q was in turn a major improvement over the 1Q disaster, where spending on structures subtracted 2.28 growth points and equipment spending subtracted 3.01 points.

Housing finally helped the economy in the 3Q, adding 0.53 points to growth -- after a string of 15 straight quarters where it was a drag on the economy. In the 2Q it was a 0.67-point drag and in the 1Q it was a 1.33-point drag.

The long decline has, however, made housing a much smaller share of the overall economy. In the 3Q, residential investment totaled only $360.9 billion, or 2.52% of the overall economy. At the peak of the housing bubble, it represented 6.34% of the overall economy. Thus the 23.4% increase in residential investment had far less of an overall impact than it did in the past.

While residential investment is still near a record low share of the overall economy, I have serious questions about the sustainability of the increase. The extension and expansion of the the tax credit by Congress might keep things going for the next few quarters, but after that things are likely to fall apart again. Just like we saw with the "Cash for Clunkers" (C4C) program, it is probably just encouraging those folks who might have bought later to buy now.

It is also tricking people into thinking that a house is more affordable that it really is -- just the way that teaser-rate ARM’s did, and we saw just how well that worked out. The FHA is handing out mortgages with only 3.5% down, and people can use the tax credit for that ridiculously small down payment. This has future disaster of biblical proportions written all over it. The next bailouts will not be of the banks like Bank of America (BAC) and Citigroup (C) but of the FDIC and the FHA.

Direct Government spending had a small but positive impact on overall growth in the 3Q, adding 0.48 points -- a fairly significant slowdown from the 1.33 contribution in the 2Q, but better than the 0.52 point drag in the 1Q. All the help came from Washington, not City Hall or the Statehouse.

The Federal government added 0.62 growth points, down from 0.85 points in the 2Q but up from a 0.33 point drag in the 1Q. The Pentagon was the main factor in all three quarters, with Defense spending adding 0.45 points in the 3Q following a 0.70 addition in the 2Q and a 0.27 point drag in the 1Q. Non-Defense spending was sort of a non-issue, adding just 0.17 points in the 3Q, not much difference from the 0.15-point contribution in the 2Q, and up a little bit from the slight 0.06 point drag in the 1Q.

State and Local governments are not allowed to run operating deficits, and so when faced with declining tax revenues they have to cut back, unless Uncle Sam helps them out. Well, Washington is helping, but it's not enough, and S&L spending was a 0.14 point drag in the 3Q. The Federal help was enough in the 2Q and so the contribution to growth in the 2Q was a positive 0.48 points. In the 1Q, before the stimulus package could get much traction, S&L spending was a 0.19 point drag.

Net exports had been just about the only bright spot in the first half of the year -- even though it came the wrong way, from both imports and exports plunging, only with imports falling more than exports did. That reversed in the 3Q, as both showed a nice expansion, but our appetite for foreign goods is outstripping the desire for U.S. goods and services abroad.

The increase in exports added 1.49 points to growth, but the increase in imports was a 2.01 point drag, for a net negative contribution from net exports of 0.52 points. In the 2Q, falling exports subtracted 0.45 points, but plunging imports added 2.09 points, for a net imports net help to the economy of 1.64 points.

In the first quarter, as world trade came to a near-standstill, net exports were just about the only positive you could find for the economy. Yes, plunging exports subtracted an awful 3.95 points of growth, but the fact that we were buying practically nothing from overseas added 6.58 growth points, for a net aid to the economy of 2.85 points. In other words, if the U.S. were a closed economy in the first quarter, growth would have fallen not at a 6.4% rate, but at a 9.25% rate.

Overall

Overall this is a very welcome report. It confirms that the recession is over and that we are on the right track. However, I am not thrilled about the overall composition of the growth. Over time we need to see the consumer become a much smaller part of the overall economy, and real business investment become a much bigger share.

Unfortunately, we seem to be headed in the wrong direction, with the growth in consumer spending nearly keeping up with the overall growth of the economy. This is especially true if you consider Residential Investment as primarily part of Consumption. We need net exports to play a bigger and more positive role in the economy, and ideally have that happen through exports growing faster than imports, not from a plunge in imports like we saw in the first half of the year.

Seeing net exports turn into a drag again is disappointing. A big part of that, however, is due to oil imports, and the increase in the price of oil. That is a long-term structural problem that needs to be addressed. Fortunately, the opening-up of the shale gas plays gives us a chance to finally do something about it, but I’m not sure how fast that will occur. That, along with more efficiency and alternative energy sources, can make a dent over time, but not overnight.

But it is a fertile place to see an increase in Investment spending, so it could have a double-barreled effect -- on both the investment line and on the net exports line. The contribution from inventories is not sustainable long-term, but given how much they fell prior to this rebound, we might see a bit more of it in the 4Q, though not much beyond that.

The increase in Consumption spending was largely due to the C4C program, which is now over, so don’t look for a big contribution from Durable goods spending in the fourth quarter.

All in all, a better-than-expected report, but don’t be deluded into thinking that we are out of the woods and the coast is clear. We still face major challenges, and getting complacent here would be a big mistake.
Read the full analyst report on "BAC"
Read the full analyst report on "C"
Zacks Investment Research

Investorideas.com Renewable Energy Stocks Directory of 900 Green Stocks Now Available in PDF

Dawn Van Zant — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:00:00 +0000

POINT ROBERTS, WA and DELTA, BC -October 29, 2009 - www.RenewableEnergyStocks.com, a leading global investor and industry portal for the renewable energy sector within www.Investorideas.com announces its renewable energy and green energy stocks directory is now available in PDF format for investors.

U.S. Renewable Energy Group, China’s Shenyang Power Group, and Cielo Wind Power to Develop a 600MW Wind Farm in Texas

Dawn Van Zant — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:00:00 +0000

WASHINGTON - October 29, 2009 - The U.S. Renewable Energy Group (US-REG) and Cielo Wind Power LP today announced they have entered into a joint venture framework agreement (the "JV Agreement") with China's Shenyang Power Group ("SPG")

An Unlikely PR Tool

Robert Amsterdam — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:33:18 +0000

There's a very interesting article on euobserver.com about Russia's attempts to re-brand itself as a benign global power in the eyes of Brussels. The piece reports that news agency Ria-Novosti has apparently engaged the services of low-profile PR consultancy RJI...

Investorideas.com add New Budget Conscious Cleantech Showcase IR Services for Publicly Traded Green Stocks

Dawn Van Zant — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:00:00 +0000

POINT ROBERTS, WA and DELTA, BC - October 28, 2009 - Investorideas.com, a leader in cleantech investor research and investor tools offers new budget conscious IR tools and services for publicly traded cleantech companies. Services include news release publication, company profile publishing and showcase services starting at $1000 month.

Prieur’s readings (October 28, 2009)

Prieur du Plessis — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 07:39:49 +0000

With Friends Like These…

Robert Amsterdam — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:29:00 +0000

I just published a quick rant on Huffington Post after watching Joe Scarborough complain and moan about how the U.S. is going it alone on Afghanistan during his morning MSNBC show. It's no wonder so many countries are getting into...

West Coast Bancorp (WCBO) Raises Capital through Preferred Stock Offering

QualityStocks — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:54:30 +0000

West Coast Bancorp raised capital of $155 million in an offering of two separate issues of Convertible Preferred Stock to institutional investors, including MFP Partners, L.P., Castle Creek Capital, and GF Financial, LLC. West Coast Bancorp issued 1.43 million shares of Series A Mandatorily Convertible Participating Preferred Stock and 0.12 million shares of Series B Convertible [...]

Euro bests dollar by 79% in this millennium

Prieur du Plessis — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 08:35:30 +0000

"... the dollar will continue to weaken as interest rates in many countries and the eurozone are higher than the current rock-bottom US rates, providing currency traders carry-trade opportunities. This will encourage more selling of the dollar and buying up stocks, commodities and other currencies, which has been the general trend since spring," said Dian Chu in this guest contribution.

The Warning

Prieur du Plessis — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 07:29:57 +0000

In the midst of the 1990s bull market, one lone regulator warned about the dangers of derivatives - and overnight became the enemy of some of the most powerful people in Washington ... In "The Warning", veteran Frontline producer Michael Kirk unearths the hidden history of the nation's worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. This is a must-view production.

DrStockPick.com Stock Report! 10/23/09, BLDR, CSRH, AVVH, NPD, RPM, CBRX

Dr. Stock Pick — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:56:20 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _______________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _______________________________________ Friday October 23, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** Consorteum Holdings Inc. (OTCBB: CSRH) announced that it has signed a Letter of Intent with Tactical Connections Inc. to provide various financial services to major tier one US, Canadian and European manufacturing and retail industries. Builders FirstSource, [...]

Boeing Investors Climb the Wrong Wall

Adam Lass — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:00:00 +0000

BA does almost nothing right. So why is the stock up 52%? We have all heard the old saw as to how “the market climbs a wall of worry.” There is, of course, an inherent truth in this. Investors...div class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.taipanpublishinggroup.com/~ff/taipan?a=6aB9ZrT9ZhA:IxGPN_pz9Hw:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/taipan?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.taipanpublishinggroup.com/~ff/taipan?a=6aB9ZrT9ZhA:IxGPN_pz9Hw:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/taipan?i=6aB9ZrT9ZhA:IxGPN_pz9Hw:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.taipanpublishinggroup.com/~ff/taipan?a=6aB9ZrT9ZhA:IxGPN_pz9Hw:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/taipan?i=6aB9ZrT9ZhA:IxGPN_pz9Hw:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.taipanpublishinggroup.com/~ff/taipan?a=6aB9ZrT9ZhA:IxGPN_pz9Hw:wd9GD17jvC4"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/taipan?d=wd9GD17jvC4" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.taipanpublishinggroup.com/~ff/taipan?a=6aB9ZrT9ZhA:IxGPN_pz9Hw:l6gmwiTKsz0"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/taipan?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/taipan/~4/6aB9ZrT9ZhA" height="1" width="1"/

Healthcare Reform Becoming Less Likely

Jeffrey Miller — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:39:59 +0000

A bill to freeze cuts to doctors#8217; Medicare payments #8211; one that should have been heavily bipartisan #8211; is now in serious danger of passing. The American Medical Association (AMA) promised Majority Leader Harry Reid (D) 27 Republican votes, but now it appears there are as few as two. Undoubtedly, 27 is an ambitious number for [...]img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/ElectionStocks/~4/hXoAMsH2cN8" height="1" width="1"/

Investorideas.com Green Investor News – Looking for the Green “Google”

Dawn Van Zant — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:00:00 +0000

POINT ROBERTS, WA and DELTA, BC - October 20, 2009 - www.RenewableEnergyStocks.com, a leading global investor and industry portal for the renewable energy sector within www.Investorideas.com features new green investor content and commentary - 'Looking for the green Google'

Restaurant Industry – Industry Outlook

Zacks Market Commentaries — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:13:29 +0000

The Restaurant Industry has been facing extremely tough challenges due to the ongoing economic turmoil. With rising unemployment and lower discretionary spending, we believe it will be too early to predict improvement in the industry, which is grappling with sluggish consumer demand.

Although the current economic indicators show some signs of improvement, we believe that job losses will continue to adversely impact the restaurant industry even several months after the recovery is on track.

The U.S. restaurant industry, which constitutes fast food, casual dining and upscale chains, is facing its toughest times in three decades. A report by market research firm, NPD Group asserted that U.S. restaurant guest traffic plunged 2.6% for the quarter ended May 31, the steepest fall in 28 years. However, the quick-service restaurants (traffic down 2%), which are generally less susceptible to an economic downturn, are faring better than casual dining restaurant chains (down 4%) and mid-scale segment (down 6%).

A recent survey by the National Restaurant Association revealed that the Restaurant Performance Index that measures the health and outlook for the U.S. Restaurant Industry softened in August (down 0.2% to 97.9 from July), after posting a marginal improvement in the month of July (up 0.3% to 98.1 from June), sending mixed signals in the industry. The index has remained below 100 for 22 consecutive months indicating that the industry is scaling back its development plans and is in contraction.

The Current Situation Index, which measures comparable store sales, traffic counts, labor costs and capital expenditures fell 0.9% to 96.0 due to sharp declines in sales and traffic in August. Approximately 68% of restaurant operators reported same-store sales decline in August, up from 58% reported in July. Moreover, 65% of operators reported a traffic decline in August compared to 59% reported in July.

The Expectations Index, which measures restaurant operators’ outlook on comparable sales, employees, capital expenditures and business environment, rose 0.5% to 99.9. Approximately 32% of restaurant operators (up from 31% in July) now expect to have higher sales in 6 months compared to the same period in the last year. Thirty percent of restaurant operators (down from 33% in July) now expect their sales volume to be lower in 6 months compared to the same period in the last year.

In the midst of what is expected to be a tepid recovery, there are three potential drivers of net income growth: Unit Expansion, Improved Same-Store Sales and Cost Cuts.

There seems little chance that upside will come from more aggressive unit expansion, as most of the companies have either scaled back or postponed further unit development. BJ’s Restaurants Inc. (BJRI) plans to grow the unit base by 12% in fiscal year 2009, much lower than 21% achieved in fiscal year 2008. Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI) expects to open 50 to 55 net new restaurants in fiscal year 2010, drastically down from 71 restaurants opened in the last fiscal year.

The second driver, same-store sales, consists of menu price increases and traffic counts. Any price increases other than minimal ones would drive away value-conscious customers in this fiercely competitive environment. Moreover, to enhance the perception of value and to drive traffic, companies are remodeling restaurants, with an up-market feel, and are rolling out new, smaller prototype restaurants that reduce construction and occupancy costs, and in turn boost returns on capital.

Finally, some of the cost cuts have been achieved through integrated information systems including point-of-sale, automated kitchen display, labor-scheduling and theoretical food cost systems. Restaurant companies try to optimize their restaurant operations and achieve decent restaurant operating cash flow margins.

OPPORTUNITIES

Despite the restaurant industry facing the brunt of the economic downturn, there are defensive stocks in the industry promising long-term growth opportunities. Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. (BWLD) offers investors one of the strongest growth stories in this space with growth target of 15% in units, 25% in revenue, and 20% to 25% in net earnings. The company has also been able to deliver positive comps consistently, when other restaurant operators are grappling with deteriorating same-store sales.

McDonald’s Corporation (MCD) with consistent earnings and healthy balance sheet provides relative safety and moderate growth in a turbulent environment and exposure to faster-growing international markets. Another stock, Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (CMG), which remains largely unruffled by the slowdown, plans to open 120-130 restaurants in fiscal year 2009 -- a growth of 14.3%-15.5%.

WEAKNESSES

Offsetting these opportunities are the sagging same-stores sales and waning traffic counts. The shares of Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc. (RRGB) are vulnerable to economic headwinds, and we believe that the stock will continue to underperform the restaurant industry. The chain expects guest counts to remain negative, and expects restaurant-level operating margins to decline by 50 to 80 basis points in fiscal year 2009. The company’s second-quarter 2009 same-store sales fell 11.5%.

Another stock obstructing the recovery is BJ’s Restaurants Inc. (BJRI), which has also been experiencing declining comps and guest traffic. In addition, more than two-thirds of BJ’s Restaurants are located in areas that have been hit hard by the housing downturn and economic slowdown. These include California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Oregon and Washington. This may dampen the company’s growth potential.

Zacks Investment Research

Zacks Earnings Preview: Eastman Chemical, E.I. DuPont, T. Rowe Price, Western Digital and SuperValu – Press Releases

Charles Rotblut — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:00:49 +0000

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – October 19, 2009 – Zacks.com releases the list of companies likely to issue earnings surprises. This week’s list includes Eastman Chemical (EMN), E.I. DuPont (DD), T. Rowe Price (TROW), Western Digital (WDC) and SuperValu (SVU). To see more earnings analysis, visit http://at.zacks.com/?id=3207.

Every day, Zacks.com makes 4 stock picks available, free of charge. To see them, go to http://at.zacks.com/?id=5612.

This Week's Events

Third-quarter earnings season hits full stride this week with 439 companies confirmed to report. More than of a quarter of these are from the S&P 500 (135 companies).

Housing data will be the highlight on the economic calendar. The existing home sales data will be influenced by the first-time home buyers' credit. The starts and permits data could be more interesting, especially if they show fear on the part of builders about the subsidy potentially not being renewed.

Monday: October NAHB housing index
Tuesday: September housing starts and building permits, September Producer Price Index (PPI)
Wednesday: Fed Beige Book, weekly crude inventories, weekly mortgage applications
Thursday: September Leading Indicators, August FHFA housing price index, Fed balance sheet, weekly initial jobless claims, weekly natural gas inventories
Friday: September existing home sales

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has 2 speeches scheduled for this week. On Monday, he will talk about Asia and the financial crisis at a conference in Santa Barbara. On Friday, he will talk about the changes to the financial regulations and monetary policy at a Boston Fed conference.

Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Eric Rosengren will give opening remarks to conference attendees on Wednesday. He will speak again on Thursday to discuss whether the Fed should make fiscal stability one of its objectives. New York Federal Reserve Bank President William Dudley will moderate a panel about monetary policy on Thursday. Vice Chairman Donald L. Kohn will be at the conference on Friday, participating in a panel discussion about the international response to the financial crisis.

Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Plosser will discuss monetary policy at the Standford Institute for Economic Policy Research on Tuesday. Governor Daniel Tarullo is scheduled to speak on Wednesday at the Exchequer Club of Washington, D.C.

Attitudes towards earnings news appear to have shifted from celebrating positive surprises to almost demanding perfection. This week should be more telling, given the large number of companies reporting. Keep an eye on revenues, since that appears to be a stumbling block for many. Through Thursday (Oct 15) evening, the ratio of positive-to-negative revenue surprises is just 1.5:1. Conversely, the ratio of positive-to-negative earnings surprises is 6.1:1.

Companies That Could Issue Positive Earnings Surprises

Recent revisions by 3 analysts have pushed the third-quarter Zacks Consensus Estimate higher for Eastman Chemical (EMN). Analysts now expect the company to report profits of $1.13 per share, a 4-cent increase over the average forecast of a month ago. The most accurate estimate is more bullish at $1.15 per share. EMN has topped expectations for 2 consecutive quarters. Eastman Chemical is scheduled to report on Friday, October 23, before the start of trading.

Five analysts have raised their full-year forecasts on E.I. DuPont (DD) in recent weeks, including 3 during the past 7 days. The revisions have pushed the Zacks Consensus Estimate 2 cents higher to 33 cents per share. Though DD has topped expectations twice in the past 4 quarters, this call is not without risk since the chemical company's Q408 results were 4 cents below projections. DuPont is scheduled to report on Tuesday, Oct 20, after the close of trading.

A continued rise in assets under management (AUM) has analysts optimistic about T. Rowe Price (TROW). The Zacks Consensus Estimate has risen by 2 cents over the past 30 days, reaching 46 cents per share. More than half of the 19 covering analysts have increased their projections. TROW has topped expectations for 2 consecutive quarters, reversing a previous trend of disappointments. T. Rowe Price is scheduled to report on Friday, Oct 23, before the start of trading.

Western Digital (WDC) has topped earnings expectations for 7 consecutive quarters. Ahead of the hard drive maker's fiscal first-quarter report, about one-third of the covering analysts have raised their profit projections. The revisions have pushed the Zacks Consensus Estimate 6 cents higher to 89 cents per share. The most accurate is far more bullish at 94 cents per share. Western Digital is scheduled to report on Thursday, Oct 22, after the close of trading.

Companies That Could Issue Negative Earnings Surprises

SuperValu (SVU) has missed expectations twice during the last 4 quarters. This past week, 2 analysts lowered their fiscal second-quarter forecasts, causing the Zacks Consensus Estimate to fall by a penny to 36 cents per share. The most accurate estimate is even more bearish at 33 cents per share. SuperValu is scheduled to report on Tuesday, Oct 20, before the start of trading.

Charles Rotblut, CFA, is the senior market analyst for Zacks.com.

About the Zacks Rank

Since 1988, the Zacks Rank has proven that "Earnings estimate revisions are the most powerful force impacting stock prices." Since inception in 1988, #1 Rank Stocks have generated an average annual return of +26%. During the 2000-2002 bear market, Zacks #1 Rank stocks gained +43.8%, while the S&P 500 tumbled -37.6%. Also note that the Zacks Rank system has just as many Strong Sell recommendations (Rank #5) as Strong Buy recommendations (Rank #1). Since 1988, Zacks Rank #5 stocks have underperformed the S&P 500 by 111% annually (-0.8% versus +8%). Thus, the Zacks Rank system allows investors to truly manage portfolio trading effectively.

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Zacks Investment Research

25.9% of the Country NOT in Recession – The Rest of Us? Not So Much

Adam Lass — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:00:00 +0000

Washington’s cheery propaganda is not fooling the rest of the country one bit. “Recession Ends.” That was the bold-print headline I came across Friday morning as I opened up my news feeds. “What...div class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.taipanpublishinggroup.com/~ff/taipan?a=DxRlLiGm5dM:FJL66flZqyE:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/taipan?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.taipanpublishinggroup.com/~ff/taipan?a=DxRlLiGm5dM:FJL66flZqyE:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/taipan?i=DxRlLiGm5dM:FJL66flZqyE:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.taipanpublishinggroup.com/~ff/taipan?a=DxRlLiGm5dM:FJL66flZqyE:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/taipan?i=DxRlLiGm5dM:FJL66flZqyE:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.taipanpublishinggroup.com/~ff/taipan?a=DxRlLiGm5dM:FJL66flZqyE:wd9GD17jvC4"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/taipan?d=wd9GD17jvC4" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.taipanpublishinggroup.com/~ff/taipan?a=DxRlLiGm5dM:FJL66flZqyE:l6gmwiTKsz0"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/taipan?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/taipan/~4/DxRlLiGm5dM" height="1" width="1"/

Feedback from Buttonwood Gathering

Prieur du Plessis — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 08:12:12 +0000

The Buttonwood Gathering, a conference bringing together global regulators and bankers to discuss and debate new ideas and develop a new set of guidelines moving forward, has just taken place. Michael Panzer, writer of the Financial Armageddon blog, was in attendance and has kindly shared some of the more interesting quotes on his blog, as reported in this post.

Wound Management Technologies Inc. (WNDM.OB) to Present Wound Care Product at Annual Clinical Symposium

QualityStocks — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 20:22:37 +0000

Wound Management Technologies Inc. operates through its subsidiary Wound Care Technologies to market and distribute wound care products to the healthcare market. The company today announced that Wound Care Innovations will present at the 24th Annual Clinical Symposium on Advances in Skin & Wound Care: The Conference for Prevention and Healing beginning October 22 in [...]

DrStockPick.com Stock Report! 10/16/09, CVAT, APSG, OWVI, GNBT, CHGI, ZOOMD

Dr. Stock Pick — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:41:42 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _______________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _______________________________________ Friday October 16, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** Cavitation Technologies, Inc. (CTI) (OTC Bulletin Board: CVAT) has signed Miura Engineering Co., Ltd. Tokyo, Japan (www.miura21.co.jp) as its new agent to serve markets in Japan for CTI’s Nano-Cavitation Process Systems. Miura is a leading [...]

Unrequited Overtures

Robert Amsterdam — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:32:01 +0000

A very caustic article by Con Coughlin in the Telegraph argues that Russia cannot be trusted as an ally, i.e. - Washington is wasting its time believing that cooperation on Iran is coming. Not that he has any strong feelings...

Prieur’s readings (October 16, 2009)

Prieur du Plessis — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 08:18:37 +0000

This post provides links to a number of thought-provoking articles I have read over the past few days that you may also find of interest. Please also add the links to any other worthwhile articles you would like to share to the comments section.

STZ Consolidates Distribution – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:55:28 +0000

Constellation Brands Inc. (STZ), the world’s leading wine company, has signed a multiyear distribution agreement with Young’s Market Co. and its affiliates (Young’s) as the company’s exclusive distributor in Alaska, Washington and Oregon. Young’s, a recognized market leader in the Pacific Northwest, already has a longstanding business relationship with Constellation. With more than 1 million cases sold annually, Constellation is currently Young’s largest supplier in volume in the Pacific Northwest.

The company has recently signed a multi-year agreement with distributors to consolidate its network in the U.S. for better sales efforts. The main objectives of this realignment are improving organic growth, creating distributor teams focused exclusively on Constellation’s portfolio, and improving the coordination of marketing and promotional programs to support the brands. Constellation is also in the process of rolling out an enhanced incentive structure for the distributors to drive organic growth.

This agreement is therefore, a part of the company’s ongoing realignment of its distributor network and benefits almost 22 states, with 8 potential markets remaining.

In addition, the company has also recently divested its low margin value spirits business and entered into a joint venture for marketing imported beer in the U.S. Constellation is also undertaking various restructuring initiatives to streamline operations in an effort to save costs.

Constellation Brands’ largest operating company, Constellation Wines U.S., has a solid portfolio of wine and spirits, including iconic brands such as Robert Mondavi Winery, Clos du Bois, Blackstone, Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi, Arbor Mist, Estancia, Ravenswood, Kim Crawford, Toasted Head, Black Box, Black Velvet Canadian Whisky and SVEDKA Vodka.

Read the full analyst report on "STZ"
Zacks Investment Research

DrStockPick.com Stock Report! 10/15/09, CBEH, HEP, CACH, EPAY, FPL, TSYS

Dr. Stock Pick — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:20:05 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _______________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _______________________________________ Thursday October 15, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** China Integrated Energy, Inc. (Nasdaq: CBEH), a leading non-state-owned integrated energy company in China, today announced its selected unaudited preliminary financial results for the third quarter of 2009. China Integrated intends to offer, subject to [...]

Russia Is Tacking Like a Sailboat

Robert Amsterdam — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:06:01 +0000

Good analysis from Douglas Birch of the Associated Press:So Moscow has walked a tightrope: joining Iran in scolding the West for its alleged imperial ambitions and blocking sanctions on the one hand, while warning Tehran it will not tolerate a...

Michael McFaul’s Change of Heart

Robert Amsterdam — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:10:08 +0000

Yesterday I blogged that neither Vladislav Surkov nor Michael McFaul are reading from the same script as they were a few years ago. Here's a good example how, buried in an FT story on the Iran sanctions doublespeak:This fear seemed...

Prieur’s readings (October 14, 2009)

Prieur du Plessis — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 08:00:38 +0000

“Green Gap Redux: Green Words Gone Wrong” EcoPinion Survey Points to Consumer Confusion and Value Gaps Connected to Conservation, Renewable Energy and Smart Grid

Dawn Van Zant — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:00:00 +0000

October 13, 2009 - Washington, DC... EcoAlign, a strategic marketing agency focused on energy and the environment, today released the results of the sixth EcoPinion Survey to test consumer awareness and acceptance of terms used by the media and energy industry for messaging and communications around energy conservation, clean energy and smart grid.

How Russia Learned to Love the (Iranian) Bomb

Robert Amsterdam — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:28:17 +0000

Out of the many, many interesting quotes we got from Vice President Joe Biden during his famously candid Wall Street Journal interview (which sounded like it was done in a cocktail lounge), was the following appraisal of the United States...

JLL to Manage SunTrust Facilities – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:48:59 +0000

Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. (JLL), a leading real estate investment trust (REIT), has been selected by SunTrust Banks Inc. (STI), a premier banking organization in the U.S., to provide integrated facility management services across its entire portfolio spanning 16 million square feet.

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.

Read the full analyst report on "JLL"
Read the full analyst report on "STI"
Zacks Investment Research

Bill Moyers sits down with Simon Johnson and Marcy Kaptur

Prieur du Plessis — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 06:10:58 +0000

Former International Monetary Fund chief economist Simon Johnson and US Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) join Bill Moyers for a report card on the bailouts, an update on the state of the US economy, and to find out whether efforts of reform have been derailed.

Washington’s Ukrainian Missile Improvisation

Robert Amsterdam — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 19:55:15 +0000

Just when you thought the latest Nobel peace prize winner had sold the farm and caved into Russia, we get this little ditty from the former ambassador to Russia, Alexander Vershbow, who talks about the possibility of stationing the new...

DrStockPick.com Stock Report! 10/09/09, AUSI, HDVY, HOGS, STXS, CELL, BKSC

Dr. Stock Pick — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:09:40 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _______________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _______________________________________ Friday October 9, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** Aura Systems, Inc. (OTCBB:AUSI) announced today that it received orders for approximately $700,000.00 in transport refrigeration applications of the AuraGen. The ordered are to be completed no later than the middle of November. In addition the [...]

Sprint Expands 4G WiMax Footprint – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 19:35:09 +0000

Sprint Nextel (S) has further expanded its fourth-generation (4G) wireless broadband network coverage to ten more U.S. markets. The third largest US carrier has officially launched commercial services in Salem (Oregon), Milledgeville (Georgia) and Texas cities of Amarillo , Killeen-Temple, Corpus Christi , Lubbock , Waco , Wichita Falls , Abilene and Midland-Odessa. This follows Sprint’s 4G service launches in Atlanta, Portland and Las Vegas in August 2009.

Sprint offers its 4G service under the "Sprint 4G" brand and leverages the WiMax (a mobile broadband technology) network operated by Clearwire Corp. (CLWR) in which it holds 51% stake. The 4G WiMax network offers up to 10 times faster network speeds than the existing 3G deployments. The download speeds enabled by the 4G WiMax network averages 3-6 megabits per second (Mbps) with peak speed exceeding 10 Mbps.

Subscribers across the newly launched markets can now enjoy lightning fast mobile broadband experience by paying just $10 per month over their existing 3G wireless data plans. This is enabled by the nation’s first dual-mode (operates on 3G and 4G networks) mobile broadband modem, which was launched by Sprint in December 2008.

Sprint made history by becoming the first U.S. carrier to deploy 4G WiMax mobile broadband services in the U.S with a commercial launch in Baltimore in October 2008. This was followed by subsequent launches in five more cities of Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, Seattle and Honolulu.

The company plans to continue the aggressive network deployments through 2010 with 4G service launches in key US markets such as Boston, Houston, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

Sprint’s 4G WiMax initiative is a response to its major competitors Verizon (VZ) and AT&T (T), who are preparing to deploy their own advanced wireless broadband networks in the 2010-2011 timeframe based on the emerging 4G wireless standard known as Long-Term Evaluation (“LTE").

The 4G WiMax service is expected to play a critical role for Sprint’s survival in the wireless market as the company continues to lose market share to its larger rivals. Additionally, WiMax is expected facilitate the deployment of broadband in rural areas where the expansion of traditional fiber-based networks may not be feasible.
Read the full analyst report on "S"
Read the full analyst report on "CLWR"
Read the full analyst report on "VZ"
Read the full analyst report on "T"
Zacks Investment Research

DrStockPick.com Stock Report! 10/08/09, GTY, CI, LNC, CWLZ, STI, TXI

Dr. Stock Pick — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:12:48 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _______________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _______________________________________ Thursday October 8, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** Please be advised that Getty Realty Corp. (NYSE: GTY) will release its financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2009, after the market closes on Tuesday, November 3, 2009. CIGNA (NYSE:CI) and ProHealth Physicians, Inc., [...]

DrStockPick.com Stock Report! 10/08/09, SIRI, TMEN, TRGT, AA, TEX, GRMC

Dr. Stock Pick — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:33:21 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _______________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _______________________________________ Thursday October 8, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** SIRIUS XM Radio (Nasdaq: SIRI) today announced that OutQ, the nation’s first and only 24/7 radio channel dedicated to the LGBT community, will broadcast extensive coverage of the National Equality March in Washington, DC this weekend including [...]

Strayer Education – Growth And Income – Zacks Rank Buy

Alex Kolb — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 05:00:00 +0000

Strayer Education Inc. (STRA) surged a few weeks ago in response to a government report. The company has done well maintaining the higher share price and is seeing bullish Zacks Consensus Estimates ahead of reporting later this month.

Company Description

Strayer Education provides higher education for working adults, offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs in business administration, accounting, information technology, education, health care and public administration to approximately 46,000 working adult students at 71 campuses in 15 states and Washington, D.C. and worldwide via the Internet.

Bullish Projections and a Share Price Surge

The company continues to see higher earnings forecasts. The current full-year Zacks Consensus Estimate of $7.50 per share was increased from the 3 months-ago level of $7.27.

For 2010, the Zacks Consensus Estimate stands at $9.25 per share, up from the $8.88 over the past 3 months.

In the second-quarter report, Strayer noted that solid summer enrollment figures led to a third-quarter earnings guidance that ranged between $1.14 to $1.16 per share.

In response, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the third quarter shot up to $1.16 per share from the 3 months-ago forecast of $1.05.

Third-quarter results are scheduled for release on Oct 29.

Shares of STRA surged recently on a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on proprietary schools. The report offered mild criticism on the for-profit college-level schools sector, while investors had feared more severe criticism.

A Solid Second Quarter

For the second-quarter, STRA saw earnings of $2.00 per share, topping the previous year's $1.50 and exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2%. Revenues jumped 29% year-over-year to $125.9 million thanks to a boost in enrollment and a 5% rise in tuition.

Stellar Fundamentals

Strayer continues to boast a solid balance sheet, showing no debt. The company's return on equity (ROE) of 56% squashes the industry average of 16%. Strayer's net profit margin of 21%, more than doubles the industry average of 9%. STRA also pays an industry-leading dividend yield of 1%. Zacks Investment Research

Prieur’s readings (October 7, 2009)

Prieur du Plessis — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 09:33:55 +0000

Why All the Fuss Over Rare Earths?

Contrarian Profits — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 20:09:36 +0000

pRare earth elements (REEs) have been the mystery metals of the mining world for years. Now, suddenly, everyone’s heard about them./p pBefore we delve into the reasons behind all the publicity, here’s the basic skinny on REEs: One, they are rare, at least sort of. Two, they are indispensable to modern technology. Three, the number of active, dedicated producers is tiny, with more than 90% of the world’s supply coming from China./p pIf you took high school chemistry, you probably remember the periodic table of the elements. But if you’re like most of us, even if you pulled a 95 on the chem final, you may not recall many of the details today. And there’s a better than even chance you never#8230;/p

Energy Stocks Directories Update for Oil and Gas Stocks, Natural Gas Stocks and Green Energy Stocks

Dawn Van Zant — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 13:00:00 +0000

POINT ROBERTS, Wash., DELTA, B.C. - October 6, 2009 - www.Investorideas.com issues a preview of the energy stock directories for investors following the oil and gas sector, natural gas and green energy stocks .Investors can preview a directory in each sector and access the full directories online as an Investor Ideas member.

The Book That Tells the Truth (About Inflation and the Fed)

Taipan Publishing Group — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:00:00 +0000

There is a book that lays bare the rottenness of the system – exposing the unholy nexus of power between Washington, Wall Street and corrupt corporate interests. But not everyone will want to read...div class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.taipanpublishinggroup.com/~ff/taipan?a=HeOpIz_o-xc:XU4493f0hvY:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/taipan?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.taipanpublishinggroup.com/~ff/taipan?a=HeOpIz_o-xc:XU4493f0hvY:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/taipan?i=HeOpIz_o-xc:XU4493f0hvY:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.taipanpublishinggroup.com/~ff/taipan?a=HeOpIz_o-xc:XU4493f0hvY:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/taipan?i=HeOpIz_o-xc:XU4493f0hvY:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.taipanpublishinggroup.com/~ff/taipan?a=HeOpIz_o-xc:XU4493f0hvY:wd9GD17jvC4"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/taipan?d=wd9GD17jvC4" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.taipanpublishinggroup.com/~ff/taipan?a=HeOpIz_o-xc:XU4493f0hvY:l6gmwiTKsz0"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/taipan?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/taipan/~4/HeOpIz_o-xc" height="1" width="1"/

What Will Happen to Wall Street When Washington’s Fix Wears Off

Adam Lass — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 12:00:00 +0000

On Friday, Justice asked us all two salient questions. The first was: “Haven’t Washington and Wall Street learned anything from this debacle?” Sadly, I am convinced that the answer is no, for two...div class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.taipanpublishinggroup.com/~ff/taipan?a=AzT1fuuDp4M:nHGY-1NgOvY:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/taipan?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.taipanpublishinggroup.com/~ff/taipan?a=AzT1fuuDp4M:nHGY-1NgOvY:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/taipan?i=AzT1fuuDp4M:nHGY-1NgOvY:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.taipanpublishinggroup.com/~ff/taipan?a=AzT1fuuDp4M:nHGY-1NgOvY:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/taipan?i=AzT1fuuDp4M:nHGY-1NgOvY:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.taipanpublishinggroup.com/~ff/taipan?a=AzT1fuuDp4M:nHGY-1NgOvY:wd9GD17jvC4"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/taipan?d=wd9GD17jvC4" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.taipanpublishinggroup.com/~ff/taipan?a=AzT1fuuDp4M:nHGY-1NgOvY:l6gmwiTKsz0"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/taipan?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/taipan/~4/AzT1fuuDp4M" height="1" width="1"/

Iranian Pinocchio …

Prieur du Plessis — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 05:00:45 +0000

Full markets to cartoonnist Nate Beeler for this brilliant depiction of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

IMCI, GRMN, AQNM, CVS, CSRH, LVLT, CVAT, LMT, DrStockPick.com Stock Report!

Dr. Stock Pick — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 18:39:49 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _________________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _________________________________________ Friday October 2, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! IMCI, GRMN, AQNM, CVS, CSRH, LVLT, CVAT, LMT ************************************************************** IMCI, Infinite Group Inc., IMCI.OB IMCI is a world-class IT services and solutions provider serving a range of government and commercial organizations. Headquartered in Pittsford, New York, with offices in the Washington, D.C., [...]

Skymark Research Initiates Independent Research Coverage On Infinite Group, Inc.

Dr. Stock Pick — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:40:19 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _______________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _______________________________________ Friday October 2, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! IMCI, Infinite Group Inc., IMCI.OB ************************************************************** Skymark Research Initiates Independent Research Coverage On Infinite Group, Inc. CALGARY, Alberta, Oct. 2, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Skymark Research, a leading provider of small- and micro-cap independent investment research, today initiated coverage on Infinite Group, [...]

Donald W. Upson Joins Infinite Group’s Board of Directors

Dr. Stock Pick — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:01:44 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _______________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _______________________________________ Friday October 2, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! IMCI, Infinite Group Inc., IMCI.OB ************************************************************** Donald W. Upson Joins Infinite Group’s Board of Directors PITTSFORD, N.Y.–(CRWENEWSWIRE)–Infinite Group, Inc. (OTCBB:IMCI) today announced that Donald W. Upson has joined the company’s Board of Directors. Currently the principal partner at ICG Government, a management [...]

Washington and Wall Street Are Destroying the Republic

Justice Litle Editorial Director Taipan Publishing Group — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 12:00:00 +0000

It’s official: Washington and Wall Street are run (and overrun) by evil clowns. Revelations in and around the markets this past week give testimony to that fact... And I sincerely believe, with you,...div class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.taipanpublishinggroup.com/~ff/taipan?a=H7QcEoOYv34:WLLHtoEP6zQ:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/taipan?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.taipanpublishinggroup.com/~ff/taipan?a=H7QcEoOYv34:WLLHtoEP6zQ:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/taipan?i=H7QcEoOYv34:WLLHtoEP6zQ:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.taipanpublishinggroup.com/~ff/taipan?a=H7QcEoOYv34:WLLHtoEP6zQ:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/taipan?i=H7QcEoOYv34:WLLHtoEP6zQ:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.taipanpublishinggroup.com/~ff/taipan?a=H7QcEoOYv34:WLLHtoEP6zQ:wd9GD17jvC4"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/taipan?d=wd9GD17jvC4" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.taipanpublishinggroup.com/~ff/taipan?a=H7QcEoOYv34:WLLHtoEP6zQ:l6gmwiTKsz0"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/taipan?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/taipan/~4/H7QcEoOYv34" height="1" width="1"/

IMCI, IBM, PWRM, ADSK, CSRH, CVAT, ADBE, HON, DrStockPick.com Stock Report!

Dr. Stock Pick — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 18:45:26 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _________________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _________________________________________ Thursday October 1st, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! IMCI, IBM, PWRM, ADSK, CSRH, CVAT, ADBE, HON ************************************************************** IMCI, Infinite Group Inc., IMCI.OB IMCI is a world-class IT services and solutions provider serving a range of government and commercial organizations. Headquartered in Pittsford, New York, with offices in the Washington, [...]