Archive for January, 2009
(USO) The Wrong Way to Profit From Oil
by Matt Weinschenk, Senior Analyst, The White Cap Report Tuesday, January 27, 2009: Issue # 923 Editor’s Note: Last Saturday, we sent out a special broadcast on an oil situation called “contango.” We’ve received a lot of response from that broadcast. Many investors have...
29Jan2009 | InvestmentU | 0 comments | Continued(ETF) Proshares UltraShort Financials: Stock of the Day
by David Fessler, Advisory Panelist, Investment U When Bad is Good We’re nearly a month into the New Year, the United States has a new President, and many investors are looking forward with more than a little trepidation. They’re wondering if it’s at all possible to eke...
29Jan2009 | InvestmentU | 0 comments | Continued(GE) GE, More Mutual Fund than Company
General Electric (NYSE: GE) reported a 47% decline in their fourth quarter earnings almost a week ago. But we’re still trying to get a handle on just what GE does. Looking at their website, we’ve discovered they have no less than 14 divisions. Aviation, Electrical Distribution,...
29Jan2009 | InvestmentU | 0 comments | Continued(DHR) Danaher Corporation: Stock of the Day
Matt Weinschenk, Senior Analyst, The White Cap Report The markets have been in uncharted territory for the last eight months or so. Despite everyone’s opinion on “what to do with your money today”, there’s no proven playbook for this specific market. But that shouldn’t...
29Jan2009 | InvestmentU | 0 comments | Continued(CMCSA) Verizon Loves the Senate
Yesterday, the Senate voted to push back the cut-off date for digital television until June. Unfortunately, the delay won’t leave some consumers in the dark. Television stations will have the option to delay the conversion, or proceed as planned on Feb. 17 – meaning they...
29Jan2009 | InvestmentU | 0 comments | Continued(GERN) Geron Corporation: Stock of the Day
by Katharine Schildt, Assistant Editor, The Oxford Club A New Era for Stem Cell Research Stem cell research has been a controversial subject for quite some time. And it’s been no secret that the Bush administration wasn’t a big fan. But just days after President Obama’s...
29Jan2009 | InvestmentU | 0 comments | Continued(GLD) Gold Prices Creep Over $900
It’s been no secret that gold prices have been creeping up lately. At just over $900 per troy ounce, gold has run up over $90 in the past 16 days. And while we haven’t reached last year’s record price of $1002.80, moving over $900 is significant. To put things in perspective,...
29Jan2009 | InvestmentU | 0 comments | Continued(CAT) Caterpillar – Braces for “Nuclear Winter”
The numbers of newly laid-off employees this week are staggering: 19,500 at Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT), 2,000 at General Motors (NYSE: GM), 8,000 at Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), 5,000 at Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), 6,000 at Intel (Nasdaq: INTC), and 8,000 at Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S). With...
29Jan2009 | InvestmentU | 0 comments | ContinuedDefining Investment Jargon: Force Majeure
A force majeure is a term you hear infrequently, but whose meaning is very important to time sensitive transactions. It just showed up in a Reuters article recently: US Henry Hub – Natural gas trading and connection point declared a force majeure to account for a blown...
29Jan2009 | InvestmentU | 0 comments | ContinuedWhat is Toxic Debt and How Much is There?
From the Editors at Investment U The market rallied on hopes that the federal government would step in to do what the original TARP plan was designed to do, purchase toxic debt. But there seems to be a great deal of confusion about what makes debt toxic, and how much of it is...
29Jan2009 | InvestmentU | 0 comments | ContinuedAlbert Edwards: Back in the bear camp
Albert Edwards, London-based strategist of Société Générale, has always been a firm favourite among Investment Postcards’ readers. His latest research report appeared a few days ago and saw him firmly back in the bear camp after turning short-term bullish at the end of...
29Jan2009 | prieur | 0 comments | Continued(LAB) LaBranche & Co – a 141% earnings surprise
LaBranche & Co Inc. (LAB) analysts have substantially raised estimates since the company’s last earnings announcement. Company Description LaBranche & Co Inc. is a holding company that is the sole member of LaBranche Co. LLC and owns all the outstanding stock of...
29Jan2009 | Shawn | 0 comments | Continued(THOR) Thoratec Corporation – Earnings per share came in 86% higher than the forecast
Thoratec Corporation (THOR) is coming off of an excellent quarterly announcement that showed a spike in revenue and another earnings surprise. Shares are also benefiting from a newly formed level of support. Company Description Thoratec Corporation provides cardiac support devices...
29Jan2009 | Shawn | 0 comments | Continued(BRO) Brown & Brown – net profit margin of 14% tops the industry average of 10%
Brown & Brown, Inc. (BRO) has been faring well lately, while other financial companies continue to struggle. The Zacks #1 Rank (“strong buy”) company boasts strong fundamentals as it expands through acquisitions. Company Description Brown & Brown, Inc. and its subsidiaries...
29Jan2009 | Shawn | 0 comments | Continued(ADM) Archer-Daniels-Midland – ROE of 18% fare well against a negative industry average figure
Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (ADM) has seen earnings estimates climb 41% over the past 3 months for the fiscal year ending June 2009. The company recently announced its acquisition of Schokinag-Schokolade-Industrie Herrmann GmbH & Co. KG, one of Europe’s leading producers...
29Jan2009 | Shawn | 0 comments | Continued(WNR) Western Refining – higher refined product margins, a result of lower crude costs
Western Refining Inc. (WNR) has been on a roll for the last month, with its share price almost doubling in value. The current-year estimate has been on the move as well, climbing higher as crude prices have continued to drop. Company Description Western Refining, Inc., through...
29Jan2009 | Shawn | 0 comments | Continued(NITE) Knight Capital Group – global markets business drove its revenue growth, up 43%
Knight Capital Group, Inc. (NITE) is fresh off the heels of impressive fourth-quarter results in which revenue was up 28% from last year. The company also recently announced it is selling its unprofitable hedge fund division in order to focus on its core business of electronic...
29Jan2009 | Shawn | 0 comments | Continued(RAH) Ralcorp Holdings – Consensus Estimates Rise
Ralcorp Holdings, Inc. (RAH), which recently acquired Post Cereals, is raising prices to counter commodity inflation and finding profits along the way. The company has surprised on estimates 2 out of the last 4 quarters. RAH is trading with a forward P/E of 14.95. Company Description Ralcorp...
29Jan2009 | Shawn | 0 comments | Continued(KFT) Kraft Foods – substantial dividend, with a current yield of 4.02%
Kraft Foods, Inc. (KFT) is winning customers with its popular food brands. The company has surprised on estimates 2 out of 4 quarters by an average of 7.03%. KFT is trading at 12.8x forward earnings. Company Description Kraft Foods is one of the world’s largest food companies...
29Jan2009 | Shawn | 0 comments | Continued(NGA) 10 Thoughts On GeoEye
As a GeoEye (NASDAQ: GEOY) shareholder and investor, I am disappointed but not surprised by the delay of GeoEye-1’s latest imagery and certification via the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). One thing is certain, if these images aren’t approved, and approved...
29Jan2009 | PeakStocks.com | 0 comments | ContinuedWords from the (investment) wise for the week that was (January 19 – 25, 2009)
Fears about the intensity of the global recession and renewed skepticism regarding the beleaguered financial sector fueled a flight to safety during the past holiday-shortened trading week. President Obama’s inauguration offered only a brief respite from the dreadful economic...
27Jan2009 | prieur | 0 comments | ContinuedObama’s honeymoon faces daunting tasks
The following paragraphs from Nouriel Roubini’s RGE Monitor provide an insightful look at the daunting economic and geo-political challenges facing President Obama. Now that Barack Obama has taken the oath and become the 44th President of the United States, he faces great expectations...
27Jan2009 | prieur | 0 comments | Continued(POWL) Powell Industries – fourth consecutive earnings surprise with an average of 34%
Powell Industries, Inc. (POWL) recently reported its fourth consecutive surprise on record earnings and revenues. Shares have responded and are trading at good valuations. Company Description Powell Industries, Inc. sells, designs, develops, manufactures, packages and services...
27Jan2009 | Shawn | 0 comments | Continued(YUM) Yum! Brands – worldwide system-sales growth of 10%
Yum! Brands (YUM) continues to outperform the Dow ($DJI), S&P 500 (SPX) and Nasdaq (COMP). The company boasts an excellent history of positive surprises on earnings estimates. For 2009, analysts are calling for annual earnings per share growth of about 10%. Company Description Yum!...
27Jan2009 | Shawn | 0 comments | Continued(ATHN) Athenahealth – projecting 79% earnings growth
Athenahealth, Inc. (ATHN) is operating in an industry that is not just holding up in this tough environment, but actually doing well. The company’s third-quarter results were ahead of estimates, and the analyst community is bullish on the next-year period, projecting 79%...
27Jan2009 | Shawn | 0 comments | Continued(AMED) Amedisys – PEG is only 0.48
Amedisys Inc. (AMED) is finding big profits in the home health care arena as the company recently provided a bullish 2009 earnings outlook. In Oct 2008, the company surprised on third quarter estimates by 8.54%. AMED is cheap but also has a solid growth story. Its PEG is only...
27Jan2009 | Shawn | 0 comments | Continued(C) Open letter to incoming Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner
This post is a guest contribution by Minyan Peter (via the Minyanville site). Dear Mr. Secretary, Congratulations on your appointment and confirmation. As your administration has said that it welcomes any and all suggestions, and that you are thinking “boldly”, I...
27Jan2009 | prieur | 0 comments | Continued(BAC) Words from the (investment) wise for the week that was (January 12 – 18, 2009)
Investor sentiment around the globe was negatively impacted during 2009’s second full week of trading as a barrage of bleak economic and corporate news offered more confirmation of a deepening recession, bringing risk aversion to center stage. The US dollar and government...
27Jan2009 | prieur | 0 comments | ContinuedThe True Risk of Treasuries
Every now and then I like to give guest authors a chance to share their views either on the stocks that I already cover, or names that I don’t, but that I feel would benefit my readers. Some of these author’s viewpoints agree with mine, and some don’t. I feel that the more...
26Jan2009 | PeakStocks.com | 0 comments | ContinuedJeremy Grantham: Obama and the Teflon Men, and other short stories
In October last year perennial bear Jeremy Grantham, chairman of Boston-based GMO, said: “We are reconciled to buying too soon, but we recognize that our fair value estimate of 975 on the S&P 500 is, from historical precedent, likely to overrun on the downside by 20% to...
26Jan2009 | prieur | 0 comments | Continued