Archive for August, 2009
(PJC) Piper Jaffray Companies – 46X current-year earnings, a steep premium to the overall market
Piper Jaffray Companies (PJC) has rebounded nicely from its recent low as the company’s major business segments post strong revenue growth from year-over-year. Company Description Piper Jaffrey Companies provides investment banking, sales and research services in the financial...
11Aug2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(MEND) Micrus Endovascular – Forecasts are averaging 27 cents, a 421% year-over-year earnings increase
Micrus Endovascular Corp (MEND) posted an unexpected profit last week on increased revenue. Company Description Micrus develops, manufactures, and markets implantable and disposable devices for that treat cerebral vascular diseases. The company’s footprint extends across...
11Aug2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(C) Norway Sues Citigroup
Terra Securities, a Norwegian firm, and seven Norwegian municipalities have filed a lawsuit against Citigroup Inc. (C) claiming more than $200 million in damages after they lost millions of dollars on investments sold by the company two years ago. The complaint alleges that Citigroup...
11Aug2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(AXP) A.M. Best Affirms AMEX Ratings
Based on AMEX Assurance Co.’s strong capital position and upward earnings trend, A.M. Best Company affirmed the financial strength rating and issuer credit rating of the company on Aug 10. AMEX is a wholly owned subsidiary of American Express Co. (AXP). The company recently...
11Aug2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued($MCD) McDonald’s Sales Grow – Analyst Blog
Despite a sinking global economy, McDonald’s Corporation (MCD) continues to grow same-store sales while maintaining healthy margins and outperforming competitors. In the current economic environment where GDP is falling and unemployment is on the rise, McDonald’s was able...
11Aug2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued($JPM) Toxic Assets Still There
The Congressional oversight panel (COP) of the TARP program is just out with its August report (http://cop.senate.gov/documents/cop-081109-report.pdf). In it, it warns: “Treasury‘s choice to pursue direct capital purchases resulted in a notable stabilization of the financial...
11Aug2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(JPM) Chase Expands In Florida
Yesterday, JP Morgan (JPM) announced that it will overtake all 233 bank branches and 450 ATMs in Florida that were formerly owned by Washington Mutual. The company invested $92 million in refurbishing and rebranding these ex-WaMu properties. Chase, the US consumer and commercial...
11Aug2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(MSFT) Yahoo Seeks New Avenues
With the search business sorted out through the Microsoft (MSFT) deal, Yahoo Inc. (YHOO) is beginning to focus on other areas. The company announced two new initiatives to boost revenue. The first is the expansion of its sales force in Southeast Asia. Internet usage in the region...
11Aug2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BHP) Adding Iron for a Healthy Portfolio
Tony Daltorio, The Investment U Research Team Hiking along back-trails has a calming effect, is good for your cardiovascular system, and is good for your health in general. It’s serene, with few people around. Hiking along investment back-trails where few Wall Street sales...
11Aug2009 | InvestmentU | 0 comments | Continued(FRED) Fred’s, Inc.: Stock of the Day
by David Fessler, Advisory Panelist Sometimes, all the reasons others are shunning a company are the same reasons to initiate a position in it. Take Fred’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRED), for instance, a deep-discount retailer with 600 stores in 15 southeastern states. Investors have...
11Aug2009 | InvestmentU | 0 comments | Continued(EBAY) Productivity Soars
by The Investment U Research Team In a bit of really good news, productivity jumped in the second quarter to 6.4% annually. This marks the highest productivity gain in nearly six years. The reasons why are simple, after you let half your employees go, the ones left have to...
11Aug2009 | InvestmentU | 0 comments | Continued(V) Visa Inc. – number of cards carrying the Visa brand increased 6% to 1.7 billion
Visa Inc. (V) reported solid second-quarter results on July 29 that better than expectations, pushing the company’s share price back to its 6-month high. Second-Quarter Results Sales were up 2.5% from last year to $1.65 billion. Earnings came in at 67 cents per share, 3...
10Aug2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(LL) Lumber Liquidators, Inc. – Full Year Guidance Raised
Lumber Liquidators, Inc. (LL) has been on a tear since reporting second-quarter earnings on Aug 5 that surprised on the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 8.7%. The company, a hardwood flooring retailer with 170 stores, continues to grow. Sales increased in the second quarter by 11.8%...
10Aug2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(CPO) Corn Products International, Inc. – 2009 consensus rose to $1.88 from $1.80 in the last 30 days
Corn Products International, Inc. (CPO) has had a few tough quarters since I last wrote about it in December 2008. The company, the largest producer of dextrose in the world and manufactures starches, high fructose corn syrups and glucose, reported second quarter results on July...
10Aug2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(NSM) National Semiconductor Corporation – ROE of 30%
National Semiconductor Corporation (NSM) has been outperforming the market, climbing about 7% from the time it was last featured as a Growth and Income pick just a few weeks ago. Bullish Projections The company continues to see higher earnings revisions. For the year ending May...
10Aug2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(AUY) Options Investing: Readers’ Questions Answered
by Karim Rahemtulla, Advisory Panelist The message boards from Investment U have been lighting up with comments and questions on options investing. And while we can’t give specific advice, I can answer some of the general questions that have popped up. For example, one reader...
10Aug2009 | InvestmentU | 0 comments | Continued(CNO) Class Action Suits Against Conseco
Class Action Suits Against Conseco A number of law firms have filed a class action lawsuit against Conseco Inc. (CNO) on behalf of purchasers of its common stock between August 4, 2005 and March 17, 2008. Shalov Stone Bonner & Rocco LLP, Izard Nobel LLP and Coughlin Stoia...
10Aug2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(MSFT) Microsoft Sells Razorfish
Yesterday, Microsoft (MSFT) announced the sale of Razorfish, the digital advertising firm it received as part of the aQuantive acquisition in 2007. The consideration to be paid by Publicis Group, the acquirer, is around $530 million, partly in the form of cash and partly in 6.5...
10Aug2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(JPM) Bank Shutdowns Continue
Three more banks were shuttered by U.S. regulators on Friday. This brings the total number of failed federally insured banks during this year to 72, compared to 25 in 2008 and 3 in 2007. In the first quarter of 2009, the number of banks on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s...
10Aug2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(IBM) IBM Leads IT Space
According to the latest data from IDC, IBM Corp. (IBM) is ranked number one in IT consulting. This is the second consecutive year that IBM has been ranked number one, which indicates market share gains. IBM’s IT outsourcing services help clients improve IT efficiency and facilitate...
10Aug2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued($T) AT&T Expands U-verse Footprint – subscriber base reached 1.6 million
AT&T Inc. (T) has announced the expansion of its U-verse offering with the launch of services in Greenville and Asheville, South Carolina. Residents of these locations will have an alternative option for cable TV starting from August 10, 2009, and will have access to the...
10Aug2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(CVX) Chevron’s New Discovery – Cabinda coastline in Angola
Chevron’s (CVX) affiliate Cabinda Gulf Oil Company Limited (CABGOC) and the latter’s partners have made a successful discovery in Block 0. The 79-3XST1 discovery well is located in the Cabinda coastline in Angola. Through CABGOC, Chevron has a 39.2% interest in the find....
10Aug2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(CMCSA) Comcast Aggressively Positioning Docsis
Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) is aggressively deploying Docsis 3.0 technology to upgrade its existing customers to high-speed network. Docsis 3.0 (also called Wideband network) is a digital channel-bonding technique that creates one larger and faster logical pipe to support throughput...
10Aug2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(F) China’s Auto Market Still No.1 – Ford set a monthly record
China’s auto sales increased 63.6% year over year in July to 1.09 million vehicles amid global slump. According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, auto sales in the country went up 23.4% to 7.2 million vehicles in the first seven months of 2009. Government...
10Aug2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(GSK) Glaxo Expands Vaccine Portfolio – will buy Nabi’s PentaStaph vaccine
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) recently entered an agreement with Nabi Biopharmaceuticals (NABI) to bring a new pipeline candidate into its vaccine portfolio. Glaxo will buy Nabi’s PentaStaph vaccine, which is being developed to fight hospital-acquired staph infection. Staph infections...
10Aug2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued($HPQ) HP Sued By Employees
Three former employees sued Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) for default in paying millions of dollars of commission to its sales force. It is believed that this is the result of faulty software Incorporatedapable of keeping an accurate record of commissions earned by respective employees. We...
10Aug2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(IYE) Taxes Are Going Up… Here’s Three Ways to Play the Coming Tax Increase
by David Fessler, Advisory Panelist Taxes are going to go up. I’m not happy about it, and I’m sure most Americans are as steamed as I am. But here’s the stark reality: The money Uncle Sam gets from personal taxes, payroll deductions, corporate taxes and various other duties...
10Aug2009 | InvestmentU | 0 comments | Continued($BAC) More on Unemployment – number of long term unemployed continued to soar
The picture on the duration of unemployment showed a few hopeful signs in the July report, after a long series of unrelentingly dismal reports. We actually had a very significant drop in the number of mid duration unemployed this month, while the number of long term unemployed...
9Aug2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued($PSA) Public Storage Posts Modest Q2 – we maintain our Neutral recommendation
Public Storage, Inc. (PSA), a leading real estate investment trust (REIT), has reported relatively modest second quarter results with FFO (funds from operations) of $1.40 per share compared to $1.10 in the year-earlier quarter. Same-store revenue decreased 3.5% or $12.6 million...
9Aug2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | ContinuedWeekly Review – Risky assets last week again marched higher
Risky assets last week again marched higher to the tune of economic data supporting the argument of a global economic recovery. A realization among investors that the economic transition from recession to recovery was gaining momentum resulted in many global stock markets and...
9Aug2009 | prieur | 0 comments | Continued