Top Stocks For 2012, Best Stock Investments In 2012, Hot Stocks to buy For 2012

3 Things Sears Could Do to Be Great Again

2012-01-31T20:56:00.001-08:00

Tags: 2012 Silver Stocks ,Top Stocks For 2012 ,Top Stocks To Buy For 2012 ,Top Stocks To Buy In 2012 ,Top Stocks In 2012

The following video is part of our "Motley Fool Conversations" series, in which Brian Andrews, Foolish scrum master, and consumer goods editor/analyst Austin Smith discuss topics across the investing world.

In today's edition, Brian and Austin discuss how one once-iconic company has lost focus in the retail space, and they clearly outline three things it could do to be great again.

Retail is in its largest period of transition ever. The companies left behind will bankrupt investors, while the few exceptional leaders benefiting from this change will see astounding growth in the years ahead. The Motley Fool has created a free report: "The Death of Retail," which highlights two companies hand-picked by Fool analysts that are set to dominate the future. To check out these two companies and learn more about the future of retailing, click here now -- it's free!

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New Homes Market Waiting for Foreclosures to Drop

2012-01-31T17:06:00.001-08:00

Tags: Growth Internet Stocks To Invest In ,Growth Stocks 2012 ,Growth Stocks To Invest In ,Growth Stocks To Own 2012 ,Top Stocks In 2012

Builders of new homes have a big problem. The tide of foreclosures since the recession began in 2008, has left a huge supply of relatively inexpensive existing homes (“distressed sales”)?on the market, and home buyers are not in any mood to spend more than necessary, at least right now.

Why should they, when there are bargains to be had? Purchasing a home is the single largest transaction that most persons ever enter into, and the resulting debt can last a lifetime. Minimizing that financial commitment has a strong appeal, especially during a recession, and the ‘distressing gap’ in which existing home sales exceed those of new homes widened dramatically in 2008 and has persisted. The two statistics had been virtually even before that year, even back into the 1960s, but a severe recession can quickly change buyers’ perspectives.

As a result, a new?Commerce?Dept. release?on Thursday confirmed fears that 2011 marked the lowest new homes sales since the Census Bureau began recording the number back in 1963: 302,000 new homes were built, down even from 2009 (375K) and 2010 (323K). Also problematic for builders was the drop in the median sales price in December?for new homes to $210,300. They must recover their costs and allow for profit, but to stay competitive with the distressed market they must now cut new?homes construction?prices far more than before.

December, however, offered some bright spots. Mortgage rates are at a record low, and sales of previously occupied homes increased for t! he third straight month, indicating that more home buyers – of any kind – are in the market. Homes construction picked up somewhat in the 2001 fourth quarter, and builders are getting larger numbers of inquiries from potential customers. While all this is of a hopeful note, builders need easier financing, a sizable slowdown in foreclosures,?and?a public that is?reassurred about their economic futures. In the latter?instance, recent indicators are almost all up. In return, new homes building has a lot of economics goodies to offer, especially in hiring and in tax revenues.

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Rising Wages in China Good for Glocals, But Few Jobs Coming Back

2012-01-31T13:20:00.001-08:00

Tags: Best Stocks To Hold For 2012 ,Best Stocks To Invest In 2012 ,Best UnderValue Stocks ,Best UnderValue Stocks 2012 ,Top Stocks In 2012

Although some economists have predicted that steeply rising wages in China would bring some jobs back to the United States, the biggest winners will be the large multinational companies operating in China.

Last week the Guangdong province, where many of China's factories are concentrated, announced a 20% increase to the minimum wage. Combined with two earlier hikes in April and July, the total increase over the past 10 months is a startling 42%.

And with an eye toward booting domestic consumption, the government plans to keep the raises coming - on average 20% a year through 2015.

That extra money will get spent with domestic Chinese businesses as well as U.S. corporations with a strong presence in China - such as McDonald's Corp. (NYSE: MCD) - but is dramatically raising costs for Chinese manufacturers.

Between the wage increases and slumping global demand, the Federation of Hong Kong Industries warned on Tuesday that as many as one-third of Hong Kong's 50,000 factories could downsize or close by the end of the year.

As China's competitive advantage in wages erodes, some analysts have predicted a wave of jobs returning to the United States from China. A recent study by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) forecast a return of 2 million to 3 million jobs by 2020.

But Money Morning Chief Investment Strategist Keith Fitz-Gerald doubts any repatriation of jobs will be quite so massive! .
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"Wishful Thinking'

"That's wishful thinking on the part of Westerners," said Fitz-Gerald, who operates The New China Trader service for the Money Map Press, who noted that "labor rates are still very, very low" in China.

Although Fitz-Gerald said a few "industries with little value-added" could see the return of some jobs to the United States as a result of China's rising wages, other factors will restrain a mass migration of jobs across the Pacific.

Despite reports of major labor shortages in the eastern coastal parts of China, Fitz-Gerald said there remains "vast undeveloped low-wage areas ripe for industrial expansion" in the western provinces of China.

"They have a 50-year initiative called the "Go-West' program that is designed to push labor from the eastern regions to the western ones," Fitz-Gerald said. "If the jobs are pushed west, there will be no great exodus of jobs from China."

The majority of jobs that do leave China, he said, will probably go to areas with even cheaper labor, such as Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Mexico.

"That should make U.S. manufacturers very nervous," Fitz-Gerald said of Chinese jobs moving to Mexico. "The Chinese would be building stuff on our back doorstep."

With a factory just across the U.S. border, a Chinese manufacturer would save a lot of time and money on shipping.

"They could become even more competitive than they are now," Fitz-Gerald said.

And while some jobs have left China for lower-wage countries in Asia and elsewhere, many Chinese manufacturers have found that other conditions in those areas, such as poor transportation infrastructure and a reluctance to manage workers of different cultures, negate the wage advantage.

Not only that, but the Chinese government also has made a major long-term effort to reduce its e! conomy's reliance on exports in favor of more domestic consumption, which makes moving factories overseas less practical, as it increases shipping costs.

Glocal Growth

With few jobs likely to come back to America, the U.S. companies with the most to gain from rising wages in China are the multinationals, or "glocals" - firms with both a local and global presence.

U.S. companies that have focused on China will end up with a fair portion of those rising Chinese wages, much of which will translate to disposable income.

"The best thing to do is invest in large global companies for which China is a major part of their growth strategy," Fitz-Gerald said, pointing out that domestic consumption now accounts for 40% of the Chinese economy - up from 20% just 20 years ago.

Additionally, China's taste for luxury items - it is the world's second-largest consumer of luxury goods - means more profits ahead for companies like Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH), Christian Dior SAF (PINK: CHDRF) and Burberry Group PLC (PINK: BURBY).

Fitz-Gerald said two "classic examples" of such companies are McDonald's and ABB Ltd. (NYSE ADR: ABB). He also suggested investors look at Chinese companies selectively, particularly big Chinese oil companies such as CNOOC Limited (NYSE ADR: CNOOC) and PetroChina Company Limited (NYSE ADR: PTR).

For those who prefer the less-risky approach of an exchange-traded fund, there's Claymore/Alpha Shares China Small Cap ETF (NYSE: HAO) and the Global X China Consumer ETF(NYSE: CHIQ), both of which concentrate on consumer-focused firms.

Fitz-Gerald also likes a mutual fund, the Morgan Stanley China A Shares Fund (MUTF: CAF).

"I particularly like CAF because small business ventures in China have the most to gain and most of those companies are traded only in China A shares," said Fitz-Gerald. "And CAF is the only fund that gives U.S. investors "direct access' to the A-shares."

For in-depth analysis of the Chinese markets, try Keith Fitz-Gerald's The New China Trader service. For more information, click here.

News and Related Story Links:

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Reuters: Gloomy outlook for China exporters as factory closure wave looms

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Company	TTM Revenue Growth	TTM Inventory Growth
Cascade	36.9%	27.8%
Columbus McKinnon	14.0! %	0.7%
Ampco-Pittsburgh	9.4%	5.2%
Astec Industries	16.5%	20%

India Lets Starbucks, Ikea Open Wholly Owned Stores After Wal-Mart Reverse

2012-01-31T10:02:00.000-08:00

Tags: BHI ,HAL ,Insurance Stocks ,MRO ,NOV ,PBR ,SLB ,STO ,Top Stocks 2012 ,Top Stocks To Invest In ,Top Stocks To Watch ,Top Stocks In 2012
India abandoned a rule againstforeign single-brand retailers operating stores without a localpartner, paving the way for global companies including StarbucksCorp. (SBUX) and Ikea.
The government ratified a Nov. 24 cabinet decision to raisethe ownership limit to 100 percent from 51 percent for single-brand, Trade Minister Anand Sharma said in a statementyesterday. The new rules take effect immediately and require thecompanies to use smaller Indian companies for at least 30percent of procurement, he said.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT), Carrefour SA (CA) and other foreign chainsare still excluded from India��s $400 billion retail market afteran attempt last year to change the law failed. Prime MinisterManmohan Singh��s administration has struggled to advance itsinitiatives amid opposition from its own allies and a corruptionscandal that paralyzed parliament.
��This is a welcome move with a clear potential to lift thegeneral mood in the economy,�� Rajan Bharti Mittal, managingdirector at Bharti Enterprises, Wal-Mart��s Indian partner forwholesale hypermarkets, said in an e-mailed statement. ��We hopethe initiative is a precursor to further liberalization in thesector in the days to come.��
Panta! loon Ret ail India Ltd. (PF), India��s largest retailer,gained in Mumbai trading after the announcement. The stock roseas much as 10 percent, the most since Nov. 25, while ShoppersStop Ltd. (SHOP) surged 20 percent. Trent Ltd. (TRENT), which has a franchiseagreement with Tesco Plc (TSCO), rose as much as 6.9 percent. India��sbenchmark Sensitive Index rose 0.4 percent.
Waiting for Multi-Brand
��People think that this would lead to a positive stance onmulti-brand retail soon,�� Sameer Narang, an Mumbai-basedanalyst with HDFC Securities Ltd. said in a telephone interview.��My opinion is that it��s not coming any time soon, given theway things went the last time the government tried to introduceit, I doubt a lot of traction will be seen on it.��
Starbucks would compete in India with operators includingLavazza SpA (LAVA)��s Barista Coffee Co. and closely held Cafe CoffeeDay. The Seattle-based coffee chain said in November it intendedto open its first store in India this year.
��Ikea welcomes the decision from the Indian government toallow 100 percent FDI in single-brand retail,�� NivedeetaMoirangthem, the furniture and housewares retailer��s Indiaspokeswoman said in an e-mailed statement. India is a veryinteresting potential retail market for the Ikea Group.��
Calls and e-mails to the Starbucks public-relations team inSeattle weren��t immediately answered. Starbucks signed anagreement with India��s Tata Coffee Ltd. (TCO) in January 2011 tosource beans and consider opening stores.
Suspended Opening
Singh��s allies and other parties opposed a decisionallowing retailers selling more than one brand, unveiled in lateNovember, saying it would hurt local mom-and-pop type stores.The government suspended the policy Dec. 7.
��India remains committed to a system of regulation that issupportive of enterprise and we will do everything to encourageforeign investment,�� Singh, 79, said in a Dec. 14 interview,
He said he would renew the multi-brand retail initiative! after re gional elections this year.
Singh, whose championing of free-market policies twodecades ago helped India become the second-fastest growing majoreconomy, faces allegations that the government lost $31 billionby unfairly awarding mobile-phone service permits in 2008 toineligible companies and over contracts for hosting the 2010Commonwealth Games.
The benchmark BSE Sensitive Index (SENSEX) dropped 25 percent lastyear, while the rupee slumped 16 percent versus the dollar.
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Hot Stocks: TECO Energy Inc. (NYSE: TE) Is Turning Investors On to Profit

2012-01-29T16:00:00.001-08:00

Tags: CSCO ,FFIV ,Great Silver Stocks ,Great Silver Stocks To Buy ,Great Stocks To Buy In 2012 ,HPQ ,JNPR ,Top Stocks In 2012
TECO Energy Inc. (NYSE: TE) over the past year has been one of the best performing stocks in my Strategic Advantage StrataGem portfolio.

The stock has jumped 7.75% in just the past month, is up more than 30% in the past year, and it pays a generous 4.7% annual dividend.

So here's what it is all about.

TECO, which is based in Tampa, provides electricity to 667,000 customers and natural gas to 330,000 individuals in west central Florida. It also operates a coal mining operation in Kentucky and a small utility in Guatemala.

Since 2003, TECO - formerly called Tampa Electric - has reshaped itself into a regulated utility from a diversified energy company. It sold $4 billion of assets and reinvested the proceeds in regulated utility projects with attractive returns. The regulated units, Tampa Electric and Peoples Gas, now generate 90% of TECO's profits. TECO's $3.52 billion market cap and $3.40 billion in annual sales make the company one of the smaller utilities in the United States.

Investors have flocked to TECO as a utility in a relatively stable part of the Southeast that provides steady profits at a time of uncertainty. Expect the uptrend to continue as bond yields hit decade lows and income-oriented investors seek out greater returns.
Florida historically has been one of the most stable and business-friendly regulatory environments for utilities. Regulators understand that utilities must deal with a dense population and annual hurricanes. And to compensate for these issues, TECO is granted one of the highest returns on equity of any utility: 12.25%.

To achieve this high return, TECO must persuade regulators that higher rates are necessary to pay for infrastructure investment. This is difficult, because Florida's unemployment rate is one percentage point above the natural average and energy demand in the area remains weak. Chief financial officer John Ramil is optimistic, since TECO has experienced two consecutive quarters of growth after 18 months of stagnation.

One exciting feature about TECO's energy portfolio is the Polk Power Station. It is a next generation power plant that turns coal into a clean-burning gas, reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The plant also is designed to reuse exhaust heat to operate more efficiently.

TECO operates 34 Kentucky coal mines that help stabilize input costs. Nearly half of TECO's electricity is generated by coal, so commodity price swings have limited adverse effects.

TECO also has Latin American exposure, as its Guatemalan subsidiary owns two power plants and a minority interest in an electric distribution system. This division contributes roughly $40 million to earnings annually.

As the market seesaws through earning season, it's nice to recognize that StrataGem is picking out stocks that will rise with the least downside volatility. TECO fits this bill with a very consistent dividend record. Before 2003, the company had raised its dividend for 43 consecutive years and never missed a payment. TECO recently raised its annual dividend by 2.5% for 2010.

Executive compensation is tied to return on equity and cash flow, which helps align chief executive Sherril Hudson's incentives with investors' interests! . Hudson lives in Miami, which is 280 miles from TECO's Tampa headquarters. So when he racked up $50,000 in commuting costs before the corporate jet was sold in 2009, the board of directors made him pay up. The board also did not reward executives when the company and stock underperformed. To the contrary, it froze 2009 salaries at 2008 levels.

In summary, TECO has become an attractive investment, since moving back to its core competencies. The company generates strong cash flow, pays a solid dividend, and has one of the highest returns on equity of any regulated utility.

Analysts expect TECO to earn $1.41 a share in 2011, pricing the stock at 11.7-times forward earnings. Historically, the stock has been valued at 13-times earnings. Using my model's $1.50 earnings estimate, we are looking at a share price target of $19.50.

[Editor's Note: Money Morning Contributing Writer Jon D. Markman has a unique view of both the world economy and the global financial markets. With uncertainty the watchword and volatility the norm in today's markets, low-risk/high-profit investments will be tougher than ever to find.

It will take a seasoned guide to uncover those opportunities.

Markman is that guide.

In the face of what's been the toughest market for investors since the Great Depression, it's time to sweep away the uncertainty and eradicate the worry. That's why investors subscribe to Markman's Strategic Advantage newsletter every week: He can see opportunity when other investors are blinded by worry.

Subscribe to Strategic Advantage and hire Markman to be your guide. For more information, please click here.]

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What Makes a Good Investment in Stamps?

2012-01-29T12:14:00.000-08:00

Tags: 2012 Consumer Stocks ,Top Consumer Stocks ,Top Consumer Stocks For 2012 ,Top Stocks of 2012 ,Top Stocks To Hold In 2012 ,Top Stocks In 2012
If you have collected stamps before you may think, “Well a high priced stamp should show more profit over the long term than a low priced stamp.” This statement is very true in essence, but we have to qualify it by determining what a high priced stamp actually is. For some people a stamp costing ��500 may be highly priced, for others the figure may be nearer ��5000 or more.
So if you have a small budget of around ��500, is it feasible to invest it in stamps? The realistic answer is ‘no’. To understand this lets consider some facts.
Over a short term(5years) stamps in this range tend to fluctuate more than those at ��1000+. They are uncommon stamps, but not truly rare, and so come on the market far more frequently than is ideal for investment. Even in fine condition there may not be enough demand for these stamps as they are relatively easy to obtain in many of the larger auction houses.
Stamps in this range tend to be the used high values in Queen Victoria(QV) – Jubilee issue, King Edward and George V. These issues do rise in value over time, and over a 10 year period will definitely increase in price. The major factor here is that they must be in perfect condition. For example the ��1 green jubilee issue should have a single c.d.s. cancel, not be off center, and have few, if any, short perforations.
The price increase even with a ‘perfect’ stamp can be quite negligible. For example, in m! y own re search I compared two QV ��1 green stamps. One from an Grosvenor auction on December 17th, 2004. The other from an auction, again Grosvenor, on 17th June 2009. The lot numbers were 924 and 890 respectively. Both describe a fine used ��1 Jubilee stamp, s.g. 212. The prices realised were ��280 for the 2004 auction, and ��190 for the 2009 auction(pictures are available for both these stamps on Grosvenor’s site).
Now while this seems contrary to the idea of investing in stamps, it highlights the need to understand what a good investment is.
To see a worthwhile profit in stamps over a short term period the initial investment has to be at a much higher level. For example a single stamp investment at ��4000 will be much more likely to show a reasonable profit over the short term. The important factors here are the condition and the rarity.
Even in fine condition the stamps compared above are too common for investment purposes, unless held for a long time i.e. 20years. It then begs the question would the return be enough to warrant the investment in the first place? Or would an alternative be of more benefit?
With this understanding allow me to show another auction, this time with the exact stamps in question. This item was originally sold as part of the Sir Gawaine Bailey collection by Sotheby’s on 29th September 2004. In this auction it was lot 46, a block of 4 mint penny reds, plate 9.
It realised ��4140 at that time, and came to auction again in Grosvenor’s auction on June 17th 2009, Lot 561.
This time it realised ��5,500, an increase of ��1,360 in just under 5years, or 32.85% return on investment. This equates to 6.57% per annum.
This highlights the fact that stamps can indeed be a good investment, even on a shorter term basis. On a basic level the rarity and condition are the key factors, the above block is a rare item and it is in fine condition, hence, highly desirable. The ��1 green Jubilee issue, while uncommon is not rare enough for a short t! erm inve stment.
Hopefully this article will highlight some dangers of uneducated investing in stamps, while at the same time providing solid evidence that stamps can and do provide a tangible asset which can add considerable value to your investment’s.
David Debalm is a writer on various subjects. His main business website provides information on investment in British stamps. A realistic investment plan can be discussed with interested clients. His writing specialities include Alternative Investments, Gemstones, World of Warcraft and Poker/Gambling. All articles are guaranteed original and accurate, and can be provided as required by any client.
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The yellow metal is off slightly

2012-01-29T08:49:00.001-08:00

Tags: CLWR ,S ,Top Performing Stocks 2012 ,Top Performing Stocks To Buy ,Top Performing Stocks To Invest In 2012 ,Top Stocks In 2012
Gold and silver prices were mixed higher Friday as new economic data on personal income, personal spending, durable goods orders and sales of new single-family homes provided impetus for a move higher across most asset classes.
Spot gold was off just 0.1% to $1,608.50 an ounce, while silver was up 0.9% to $29.25 an ounce.
November disposable personal income increased by a less-than-expected $8.5 billion, or 0.1% in November, as small gains were registered in wages and salaries, and real personal consumption expenditures also rose a less-than-expected 0.1% ($13.1 billion), the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysisreported.
New orders for durable goods increased 3.8%, the fourth increase in the last five months. New orders, excluding transportation, rose 0.3%, while new orders, excluding defense, rose 3.7%. Transportation orders had the largest increase – 14.7% – following decreases in September and October.
Sales of new single-family homes rose 315,000 in November, a 1.6% month-over-month and 9.8% year-over-year gain,. The median sales price was $214,900 and the average sales price was $242,000.
The price of gold bullion was little changed in London morning trading, ending a shortened holiday trading session up 0.6% on the week, according to BullionVault’s London Gold Market Report. “Our Hong Kong office observes that the Gold Price has gone up during the period between C! hristmas and New Year in eight of the last nine years (2004 being the exception),” the Mitsui London wrote in a market note, “[rising] by just over 2% on average.”
Goldman Sachs forecast an average gold price of $1,810 an ounce, Barclays forecast $2,000 and UBS forecast $2,050 for gold for 2012, according to Dublin-based GoldCore.
Turning to the exchanges, gold and silver trusts were trading higher.
The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD) was up 0.2%.
The iShares Gold Trust (NYSE:IAU) was up around 0.3%.
The iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:SLV) was around 0.5% higher.
Gold majors and the iShares Silver Miners ETF were higher, but the Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF was down sharply.
The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX) was 0.7% higher.
The Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDXJ) was down 4.2%.
The Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE:SIL) was 0.7% higher.
Gold mining shares were broadly higher.
Agnico-Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM) had lost 0.2%.
Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) was up 0.8%.
Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) was 0.7% higher.
Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) was up 0.8%.
NovaGold Resources (AMEX:NG) was down 0.7%.
Silver mining shares were mostly higher.
Coeur d’Alene Mines (NYSE:CDE) was moving higher, up around 0.5%.
Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) was down more than 0.3%.
Pan American Silver (NASDAQ:PAAS) was up more than 0.1%.
Silver Wheaton (NYSE:SLW) was showing gains of nearly 1.1%.
Silver Standard Resources (NASDAQ:SSRI) was up 0.2%.
As of this writing, Andrew Burger did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Adrian Ash of BullionVault contributed to this report.
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Why Cascade May Be About to Take Off

2012-01-29T04:39:00.001-08:00

Tags: 2012 Hi-Tech Stocks ,2012 Top Stocks ,NASDAQ:RYAAY ,RYAAY ,Ryanair Holdings ,Top Stocks To Buy For 2012 ,Top Stocks In 2012
Here at The Motley Fool, I've long cautioned investors to keep a close eye on inventory levels. It's a part of my standard diligence when searching for the market's best stocks. I think a quarterly checkup can help you spot potential problems. For many companies, products that sit on the shelves too long can become big trouble. Stale inventory may be sold for lower prices, hurting profitability. In extreme cases, it may be written off completely and sent to the shredder.
Basic guidelines
In this series, I examine inventory using a simple rule of thumb: Inventory increases ought to roughly parallel revenue increases. If inventory bloats more quickly than sales grow, this might be a sign that expected sales haven't materialized.
Is the current inventory situation at Cascade (NYSE: CASC ) out of line? To figure that out, start by comparing the company's figures to those from peers and competitors:

Company

TTM Revenue Growth

TTM Inventory Growth

Cascade 36.9% 27.8%

Columbus McKinnon 14.0! % 0.7%

Ampco-Pittsburgh 9.4% 5.2%

Astec Industries 16.5% 20%
Source: S&P Capital IQ. Data is current as of latest fully reported quarter. TTM = trailing 12 months.
How is Cascade doing by this quick checkup? At first glance, pretty well. Trailing-12-month revenue increased 36.9%, and inventory increased 27.8%. Over the sequential quarterly period, the trend looks OK but not great. Revenue grew 1.8%, and inventory grew 3.6%.
Advanced inventory
I don't stop my checkup there, because the type of inventory can matter even more than the overall quantity. There's even one type of inventory bulge we sometimes like to see. You can check for it by examining the quarterly filings to evaluate the different kinds of inventory: raw materials, work-in-progress inventory, and finished goods. (Some companies report the first two types as a single category.)
A company ramping up for increased demand may increase raw materials and work-in-progress inventory at a faster rate when it expects robust future growth. As such, we might consider oversized growth in those categories to offer a clue to a brighter future, and a clue that most other investors will miss. We call it "positive inventory divergence."
On the other hand, if we see a big increase in finished goods, that often means product isn't moving as well as expected, and it's time to hunker down with the filings and conference calls to find out why.
What's going on with the inventory at Cascade? I chart the details below for both quarterly and 12-month periods. (Cascade reports raw materials and work-in-progress inventory combined.)

Sourc! e: S& ;P Capital IQ. Data is current as of latest fully reported quarter. Dollar amounts in millions. FY = fiscal year. TTM = trailing 12 months.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Data is current as of latest fully reported quarter. Dollar amounts in millions. FQ = fiscal quarter.
Let's dig into the inventory specifics. On a trailing-12-month basis, raw materials inventory was the fastest-growing segment, up 28.9%. On a sequential-quarter basis, finished goods inventory was the fastest-growing segment, up 6.1%. Cascade seems to be handling inventory well enough, but the individual segments don't provide a clear signal. Cascade may display positive inventory divergence, suggesting that management sees increased demand on the horizon.
Foolish bottom line
When you're doing your research, remember that aggregate numbers such as inventory balances often mask situations that are more complex than they appear. Even the detailed numbers don't give us the final word. When in doubt, listen to the conference call, or contact investor relations. What at first looks like a problem may actually signal a stock that will provide the market's best returns. And what might look hunky-dory at first glance could actually be warning you to cut your losses before the rest of the Street wises up.
I run these quick inventory checks every quarter. To stay on top of the inventory story at your favorite companies, just use the handy links below to add companies to your free watchlist, and we'll deliver our latest coverage right to your inbox.

Add Cascade to My Watchlist.

Add Columbus McKinnon to My Watchlist.

Add Ampco-Pittsburgh to My Watchlist.

Add Astec Industries to My Watchlist.
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Consider Sally Beauty Holdings over the popular Ulta

2012-01-28T17:24:00.001-08:00

Tags: 2012 Best Stocks ,2012 Bonus Stocks ,Best Stocks To Watch 2012 ,Best Stocks To Watch In 2012 ,Top Stocks In 2012
Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) currently is ranked No. 2 on Investor’s Business Daily’s list of the 50 best stocks. Ulta’s business is booming. Last quarter, sales and earnings increased 23% and 73% year-over-year, respectively. Fourth-quarter earnings, expected Dec. 1, should be much the same.
Despite all the good news, investors might want to ditch the beauty salon business and focus exclusively on the hair care and beauty products — and more importantly, the stock — offered by Sally Beauty Holdings (NYSE:SBH). The former Alberto Culver subsidiary might have a lot of debt, but it’s a much better buy. I’ll explain why.
Profitability
Normally, I’m not keen on investing in companies whose level of debt is unusually high. However, I’m willing to make an exception for Sally Beauty Holdings because of its profitability. Since Sally was spun out of Alberto Culver in November 2006, its gross margins have increased 300 basis points to 48.8% and its operating margins 610 basis points to 13.7%. These are substantially higher than ULTA’s margins, which are at their highest levels ever.
Sally makes 44% more than Ulta for every dollar of revenue. Therefore, as long as Sally continues to grow revenues 5% to 10% per year, the debt problem will take care of itself.
Growth
I’ve already shown that Sally is more profitable. However, ! margins aren’t everything. Growth also is meaningful, so why don’t we have a look at that side of the coin?
Everything about Ulta suggests it’s a growth company. Revenues have grown an average of 20% annually over the past five years. Sally, on the other hand, has plodded along at 6% annually.
Using their trailing 12-month revenue numbers, let’s figure out how much money each company will be earning five years from now. At 20% revenue growth, Ulta’s revenues in 2016 would be $4 billion. Sally’s revenue in 2016, based on 6% growth, would be $4.4 billion. Assuming the same margins as today, Sally would earn $599 million in 2016 — $161 million more than Ulta.
Fans of Ulta could argue that its operating margin will be higher than 9.5% in five years given its current growth in earnings. That’s true, but the same can be said for Sally, which actually has increased margins since 2006 at a rate equal to or slightly better than Ulta.
Valuation
Ulta currently trades at 47 times earnings. Its forward P/E is 31.7, based on January 2013 EPS of $2.18. Another fast-moving specialty retailer, Lululemon (NASDAQ:LULU), has a similar forward P/E ratio. But here’s the difference: Lululemon has an operating margin of 27.7%, three times Ulta’s. Either the activewear phenom is incredibly undervalued and Ulta is fairly valued, or Lululemon is fairly valued and Ulta is incredibly overvalued. My guess is the truth is somewhere in the middle, and both stocks are a little rich.
Sally, on the other hand, could be considered a GARP stock in that it’s growing at a decent clip and yet has a September 2013 forward P/E of 13.4, only slightly higher than the forward P/E for the S&P 500.
By every valuation metric, Sally is a better deal. One metric that almost every investor will ignore in this instance is the Graham Number, a quick and e! asy way to determine the fair value of a stock. The reason most will ignore this calculation — besides the fact it’s old-school — is that Sally has negative shareholder equity resulting from its $25 special cash dividend in 2006 to Alberto Culver shareholders. As a result of this dividend payment, Sally doesn’t show up on most stock screeners for anything related to book value.
But if you add back the $25, SBH’s current book value per share is $23.81. Multiply that by its trailing 23-month EPS of $1.14 and 22.5 (P/B and P/E guideline) and you get a fair value of $24.72 per share, 28% higher than its Nov. 28 closing price of $19.33. Doing the same thing for Ulta, we come to a fair value of $16.07 per share, 77% lower than its Nov. 28 closing price of $68.45. By Ben Graham’s standards, Ulta clearly is the mispriced stock.
Bottom Line
Ulta promotes itself as a “beauty destination” where women can go to one-stop shop for all their hair care and beauty product needs. By including an actual hair salon in its stores, it might increase the customer experience, but it definitely decreases profitability. For proof of this, look no further than Regis Corp. (NYSE:RGS), whose business model consolidating the salon business isn’t working.
If you must overpay for a stock, buy Lululemon. Otherwise, forget Ulta despite its booming earnings and invest in Sally Beauty Holdings instead. In the long term, Sally has the more sustainable business model.
As of this writing, Will Ashworth did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned stocks.
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Retire Here, Not There: Delaware - SmartMoney.com

2012-01-28T13:32:00.001-08:00

Tags: 1967 ,Best China Stocks ,Best Stocks For 2012 ,Best Stocks To Hold For 2012 ,Best Stocks To Invest In 2012 ,ESL ,Top Stocks In 2012
For the more than 36 million Americans who will turn 65 in the coming decade, the best cities and towns to retire in now have a much higher bar to clear: They can't just be great places -- they have to be affordable. Each week, SmartMoney.com tours a different state to find less-expensive alternatives to the most well-known golden year destinations.

Also See

Retire Here, Not There: State-by-State
Forget your parents' retirement destinations. These less-known gems offer lower prices and peppy economies.

Getty Images

Tiny Delaware is often forgotten on lists of places to retire, but residents say many of its cities and towns offer many of the things retirees are looking for in a community, including beautiful beaches and relatively low taxes. Indeed, the state has no sales tax, Social Security benefits are tax-exempt, income tax rates max out at 6.95% and seniors can exempt $12,500 of investment and pension income from state taxes. Plus, it's located just a short drive from Philadelphia, and just a couple of hours from Bal! timore, Washington D.C., and New York. Delaware residents enjoy a high quality of life, especially in the beach towns, says Thomas McGlone, the managing partner at Heirloom Wealth Advisors in Lewes.
That said, retirement pros recommend that seniors looking to relocate to The First State (it was first of the 13 original states to ratify the U.S. Constitution) pick their spots. Residents point out that the medical services in many towns across the state haven't kept up with the growing number of older Americans moving there. Travel can be an issue too: you may have to drive to Philly, D.C. or New York to get a direct, international flight, says McGlone.
On top of that, the state's cost of living is about 14% higher than the U.S. average, according to Sperling's Best Places. Some of the more popular retirement towns like Rehoboth Beach, with its many boutiques, boardwalk and restaurants, are even pricier. The median home costs $650,800 and the cost of living is 81% higher than the national average.
But for retirees, there are cheaper alternatives than Rehoboth. Here are three places advisers say to consider.
New Castle: For the history buff

The Old Library Museum / newcastlecity.delaware.gov

By the numbers

Population: 4,830
Median home cost: $210,300
Cost of living: 11.1% higher than average
Unemployment: 8.1%

This historic town, with its cobblestone streets and historic homes, draws comparisons to Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia. It's home to five museums, including the Old Library Museum, which houses thousands of class! ic books , and the Velocipede Museum, which displays vintage bikes, tricycles and related memorabilia. "A lot of people in the older generation work or volunteer at the museums," says mayor Donald A. Reese. About 15 blocks in New Castle are designated a "National Historic Landmark Area" so all home renovations and restorations must be carefully supervised -- one of the reasons this town has retained its historic charm so well. Plus, "it's a very friendly and warm town where everyone knows each other," says Reese.
Retirees looking for more action may be disappointed: Restaurant and shopping options are pretty limited, though residents point out that it's only a 15-minute drive to nearby Wilmington, the largest city in Delaware.
Bethany Beach: For the beach bum

Fishing for rockfish in Bethany Beach / Photo by Judy G. Rolfe/For The Washington Post via Getty Images

By the numbers

Population: 1,236
Median home cost: $431,900
Cost of living: 46.4% higher than average
Unemployment: 8.7%

This community isn't exactly a bargain, but it's still less expensive than its coastal neighbors Rehoboth Beach and Lewes, according to Sperling's Best Places. Nicknamed one of the "the quiet resorts," (along with Fenwick Island), Bethany Beach prides itself on its ability to take life down a notch or two on the intensity scale -- a quality that certainly appeals to many a retiree, says Carrie Subity, the Executive Director of the Bethany Fenwick Area Chamber of Commerce.
Of course, the clean beaches are a major draw, but so is the "ecofriendly" lifestyl! e. One m ajor downside of a beach town is that some of the local businesses shut down in the winter. That said, "with the miles of bike friendly roads, walking trails, great kayaking and tons of other outdoor activities where one can experience the beautiful scenery and wildlife, it is a great place for anyone to spend their retirement," says Carrie Subity, the Executive Director of the Bethany Fenwick Area Chamber of Commerce. The quaint boardwalk and downtown area, which is lined with restaurants and shops, are another big perk, she adds.
Newark: For the young at heart

Raymond Field at Delaware Stadium Photo by Delaware/Collegiate Images/Getty Images

By the numbers

Population: 29,931
Median home cost: $269,600
Cost of living: 20.5% higher than average
Unemployment: 6.4%

Retirees pick Newark, home to the University of Delaware, for "the college town experience" says Dana Johnston, the community affairs officer for the city. The university helps bring in "good theater, college sports, lots of entertainment programs and adds to an already vibrant downtown," she says. In the downtown alone (which is walkable), residents have their pick of 30 to 40 restaurants, she says, as well as a variety of shops. One warning, say residents: The town can get a little rowdy when school's in session.
The town also has a lot of outdoor activities. There are bike-friendly areas like the James F. Hall trail and the Pomeroy Newark Rail Trail, which is under construction and scheduled to open this year and runs through downtown. In addition to the city's fif! teen mil es of trails and thirty three parks totaling over 650 acres of parkland, there are roughly 12,000 acres of parkland surrounding the city, which offer walking, biking and birdwatching opportunities. Newark is right off Interstate 95, so it's an easy trek to New York City and Washington D.C., and there's a train stop in town that can easily whisk one away to both places in less than two hours. And there are eight 55 and over communities here and two major hospitals within 5 to 10 miles of town, adds Johnston.
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Better Than Brazil: How to Invest in a Colombian Safe Haven

2012-01-27T07:19:00.001-08:00

Tags: BP ,Chevron ,Citgo ,Exxon ,Exxon Mobil ,Gas ,Gas Prices ,Oil ,Royal Dutch Shell ,Valero Energy ,Top Stocks In 2012
What's an investor to do?...

The Eurozone is about to collapse. The United States is struggling out of the deepest recession since World War II. And the IMF forecasts global growth will drop from 5% in 2011 to 2.6% in 2012.

How about investing in a safe haven far away from all of these troubles - one where you can actually watch your money grow?

I have found one in Colombia. Let me tell you why.

It is because Colombia is no longer a place controlled by drug kingpins or ripped apart by civil war. Colombia is a country on the comeback.

This revival began in 2002 when former president Alvaro Uribe decided to take on both the leftist guerillas and the drug barons. Since then, his successor Jose Santos has followed up on those policies, and they have worked.

In 2011, Colombia's homicides dropped by 5% to 14,746 and its murder rate dropped to 33 per 100,000 of population.

Admittedly, that's still five times the U.S. level, but these things are relative - it's half the level it was just four years ago.

Foreign investors have noticed, and last year, foreign investment in Colombia was up 56% to $14.8 billion.

Colombia Beats B! razilIn fact, according to the World Bank's "Doing Business" survey, Colombia ranked 42 out of 183 countries.

That was near the top spot in Latin America and far above Brazil's appalling rank of 126. Only Chile was higher with a rank of 39.

Stock market investors have noticed this, too - in the second half of 2011 Colombia had $4.9 billion of initial public offerings, the most in Latin America - and yes, again ahead of Brazil!

On the macroeconomic side, Colombia is sound, with public debt at just 45% of gross domestic product (GDP), a modest budget deficit, inflation just over 3% and the central bank base rate at 4.75% -- no Ben Bernanke nonsense of zero interest rates!

Colombia has also gotten a boost by a surge in oil production, with exploration now possible in areas that had been "no go" for foreign investors for decades.

In November 2011, oil production was 920,000 barrels/day, up 17.5% from the previous year. Oil and minerals were responsible for 82% of Colombia's 2011 foreign investment, so the potential for investors is immense.

However, the real reason why Colombia is so attractive is the "catch-up" that needs to happen with its neighbors. Fifty years of civil war have left its infrastructure badly in need of an update.

For example, there is no railroad across the Isthmus of Panama - vital for shifting exports to the West coast for on-shipment to California and China. There is not even a decent road along the northern coast - you have to make a huge detour through Medellin.

But with China's thirst for minerals, there is ample opportunity for deals to get the infrastructure built. As that begins to happen, Colombia's per capita income - currently only $9,800 (ranked 110 in the world) compared with Chile's $15,400 - will catch up fast.

How to Invest in the Colombian Comeback
That's the beauty of Colombia's emergi! ng posit ion, and what makes it a special opportunity for investors.

Here's why.

Colombia's people are considerably poorer than they should be, given its decent business climate. So the forces pushing its GDP upwards are strong.

Third-quarter GDP growth in 2011 was 7.7%, and the overall year's growth is expected to be 6%. Of course, another demand crisis for raw materials would hurt Colombia. But even if its worldwide growth is merely sluggish in 2012, it won't be sluggish in Colombia.

Finally, the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement finally comes into force in the first half of this year, which should boost growth even further.

With any kind of decent global economy, Colombia should see several years of growth above 5% with low inflation and no balance of payments crises. There are few places you can say that about.

If you want to invest in Colombia, the best broad fund is the Global X FTSE 20 Colombia ETF (NYSE: GXG). This is a $120 million fund, but its annual expenses are a reasonable 0.83%. However, with a price/earnings (P/E) ratio of 16 times and a yield of only 1.16% GXG isn't especially cheap.

Alternatively, you can go straight to the source of Colombia's current growth and buy Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE: EC).

Colombia operates a much more friendly investment environment than other Latin American oil exporters like Venezuela, Mexico, and even Brazil, so foreign competition in Colombian oil exploration keeps Ecopetrol efficient. That also prevents the government from using Ecopetrol as a piggy bank.

Ecopetrol also offers investors a very nice 4.6% dividend yield. While on a trailing earnings basis that my look expensive at 22 times, you have to remember that the company's output is growing rapidly. And with oil prices around $100 per barrel, its profits are doing even better - so on an estimated prospective P/E ratio of 11.8 Ecopetrol is much more reasonably priced.

Either w! ay, take a serious look at Colombia for its energy and mineral resources. Its emergence from darkness makes it a unique safe haven.

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AmTech’s Stake In the Ground on Intel (INTC, AMD)

2012-01-27T03:33:00.001-08:00

Tags: Bear Stearns ,Don Miller ,Fannie Mae ,Federal Reserve System ,Freddie Mac ,JPMorgan Chase ,Lehman Brothers ,regulation ,shadow banks ,Top Stocks In 2012
Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) is being defended by American Technology Research ("AmTech") on recent weakness today. This isn’t just a "reiterated Buy" rating (even if it is "reiterated Buy") as the direct thesis is "We Are Buyers of INTC, Here and Now."
The call is based on the belief that general CPU/PC demand and sell-thru were strong in Q4, although it notes an expectation that Q1 will deliver "at or below seasonal averages" for the industry but from a higher starting point than most expect. AmTech also expects a beat vs. consensus as it expects about $300 million above consensus on the top-line and $0.01 above on the bottom-line. AmTech is modeling INTC to continue gaining share which would offset a slower Q1.
"We believe the Q/Q industry percentage decline in Q1 is a bit misleading we are working off of difficult compares with a strong Q4. We acknowledge that Y/Y comps will become more difficult as we head into Q208. Lastly, INTC’s gross margin is likely expanding as expected even as memory loss impacts results given the delay of NOR spin-out and NAND IMFT ramps."
Conversely, AmTech is lowering estimates for Adva! nced Mic ro Devices (NYSE: AMD). AmTech expects the red headed step child of the processor industry (247WallSt.com’s opinion, not stated by AmTech) to post wider losses on lower revenues as it cut estimates for 2008 from $7.442B and a loss of $0.02 down to a new target of $7.192 Billion in revenues and a loss of -$0.50 EPS. AmTech believes the fix for the quad core processors will take longer than has been telegraphed and it will take longer to repair botched customer relationships. It does at least note that the ATI graphics unit is the one bright spot that could help deliver upside. However, AmTech is maintaining its Neutral rating.
We won’t rehash over and over on this, but it is still the belief of 247WallSt.com that unless Hector Ruiz has a magic feather in his cap that he’ll be out the door in a very short period of time. We also think the sell-off in Intel shares has been overly punishing compared to reality, but we’d still make a reminder that the damage to the chart has been so severe that it is likely going to be some time before it can rectify the technical damage that has been done.
Jon C. Ogg
January 8, 2008
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IBM (IBM) to acquire AT&T¡¯s Sterling Commerce for $1.4B

2012-01-26T23:45:00.001-08:00

Tags: 2012 Best Stocks ,2012 Dividend Stocks ,Best Dividend Stocks To Hold ,Best Stocks To Hold In 2012 ,EPI ,EWZ ,FXI ,OBV ,RSX ,Top Stocks In 2012
International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM) said Monday it plans to acquire AT&T subsidiary Sterling Commerce for $1.4 billion.
IBM's acquisition of the maker of business-to-business software is part of IBM's strategic plan to create a one-stop information systems integration solution, which the company announced earlier this month has committed $20 billion to buy companies through 2015 to achieve this end.
Big Blue's acquisition of Sterling is the largest since 2007, and is a turnabout from six years of retreat from the B2B market. IBM's software executive Kareem Yusuf explains that "it was a very different marketplace" back then.
Sterling's technology focuses upon supply chain, logistics, and payments information systems, which can be integrated into IBM's WebSphere division "to put together industry solutions that bring all those bits and parts together," said Benoit Lheureux, vice president at research firm Gartner Inc.
IBM's acquisition includes Sterling's three Java-based suits: Sterling Business Integration Suite, the Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Suite, and Sterling Total Payments. IBM expects Sterling's Business Integration Suite to top its impact on an estimated $5 billion per year market, according to a Gartner ! study. Gartner also expects the B2B software integration market to grow 10% per year.
"This is a growth market and it’s growing faster than the industry," Craig Hayman, general manager of the WebSphere unit of IBM Software Group. "This is the right step for both Sterling Commerce and IBM."
"IBM and Sterling Commerce are a great and natural fit," said Bob Irwin, Sterling Commerce president and CEO. The acquisition opens Sterling's capabilities to vertically integrate globally and into other lucrative markets such as health care, he added.
The share of IBM's revenue derived from software sales has climbed to 42% of total revenue from 34% since 2004, which IBM expects software sales to reach half its total revenue by 2015.
The acquisition is anticipated to finalize during the second half of 2010. IBM did not offer an outlook for when Sterling's earnings will become fully accretive.
AT&T said it expects approximately $750 million in pre-tax gains for the quarter in which the deal is closed.
About BeaconEquity.com
BeaconEquity.com is committed to producing the highest-quality insight and analysis of small cap stocks, emerging technology stocks, hot penny stocks and helping investors make informed decisions. Our focus is primarily on the underserved OTC stocks market, or "penny stock" market, which has traditionally been shunned by Wall Street. We have particular expertise with renewable energy stocks, biotech stocks, oil stocks, green energy stocks and internet stocks. There are many hot penny stock opportunities present in the OTC market everyday and we seek to exploit these hot stock gains for our members before the average daytrader is aware of them.
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US Futures Off On JPMorgan Results

2012-01-26T20:07:00.001-08:00

Tags: AAPL ,AMZN ,APOL ,BBY ,DV ,FTR ,JCP ,NFLX ,PCS ,PHM ,TGT ,Top Stocks In 2012
U.S. futures pointed to a weak open on the Wall Street, after JPMorgan Chase dampened the sentiment with weak quarterly numbers.
Mini Dow industrial average futures were trading lower by 17 points to 12,396.00. The Nasdaq Futures edged 0.75 points lower to 2,377.75. Standard and Poor's 500 futures fell 3.30 points to 1,291.80.
On the economic front, trade gap for November widened more than forecast, climbing to a five-month high. The Commerce Department reported that deficit increased to $47.8 billion from a revised $43.3 billion in October, while economists expected the deficit to stand at $45 billion. Total November exports were $177.8 billion and imports were $225.6 billion.?
The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for January is set to be released at 9.55 am ET. The index is expected to have risen to 71.5 from 69.9 last month.
On Thursday, U.S. stocks trimmed early losses to close in green as a decline in borrowing costs at debt auctions in Europe offset tepid American economic data.
Hot Stocks Of The Day: (JPM, JDAS, SFLY, MBLX, DMND)
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) fell 3.3 percent to $35.63 in Friday's pre-market trade after the bank reported a 23 percent fall in quarterly earnings, as investment bank revenue slumped on an increased provision for credit losses. Earni! ngs were 90 cents on lower-than-expected revenue of $22.2 billion. Investment banking revenue tumbled 30 percent to $4.36 billion. Provision for credit losses fell 28 percent to $2.18 billion.
JDA Software Group Inc. (NASDAQ: JDAS) plunged 14.6 percent to $28.00 in pre-market trading after the company reported preliminary fourth quarter revenue of about $173 million, below Wall Street view of $180.8 million. It expects software and subscription sales in the Americas to fall to around $21 million from $31 million.
Shutterfly Inc. (NASDAQ:SFLY) fell 8.7 percent to $21.95 after the Internet-based social expression and personal publishing service announced the departure of its CFO Mark Rubash.
Metabolix Inc. (NASDAQ:MBLX) plunged 54 percent to $2.75 after the biosciences company announced termination of the Telles LLC joint venture with Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM) for polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) bioplastics. The joint venture, established in July 2006, sells PHA-based bioplastics, including Mirel and Mvera. ADM recently undertook a strategic review of its business investments and activities and made the decision to focus resources outside of Telles.
Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS) declined 1.9 percent in pre-market to $55.62 after the pharmaceutical company said it is slashing around 2,000 jobs in the United States. The restructuring will result in a charge of $160 million in the first quarter, and an annual savings of around $450 million by 2013, it said.
Diamond Foods Inc. (NASDAQ: DMND) dropped 8.6 percent in pre-market to $30.25. The Wall Street Journal, citing unidentified sources, reported that Federal prosecutors are investigating the California-based snack maker's payments to its walnut growers.
Eastman Kodak Co (NYSE:EK) is down 22.6 percent to 67 cents in pre-market. Bloomberg reported that the ailing photography pioneer is said to be in discussions with Citigroup to provide bankruptcy financing.
Global Markets:
The European markets traded mixed support! ed by eu ro zone banking stocks following positive bond sales by Spain and Italy. Germany's DAX is up 0.41 percent to trade at 6,204.82. France's CAC40 gained 1.06 percent to 3,234.01. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.07 percent to 5,658.57.??
Market Scan:
Ahead of the opening bell, crude oil was trading higher by 0.32 percent at $99.42 per barrel. Gold lost 0.32 percent to $1,642.4 per ounce.
In the currency market, the euro weakened 0.32 percent against the U.S. dollar, and the British pound edged 0.06 percent lower against the greenback. The dollar edged 0.03 percent higher against the Japanese yen.
{$end}
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So says CEO Andrew Mason, who's fond of bizarre metaphors

2012-01-26T16:38:00.001-08:00

Tags: DNDN ,EK ,REE ,Top Hi-Tech Stocks ,Top Hi-Tech Stocks 2012 ,Top Stocks To Buy In 2012 ,Top Stocks To Invest In 2012 ,Top Stocks In 2012
A key to Groupon��s (NASDAQ:GRPN) success has been the media savvy of its CEO and founder, Andrew Mason. He certainly knows how to spin a quote.
But with last year��s IPO, he had to abide by the ��quiet period.�� ?According to this arcane rule, he couldn’t make any response to his critics regarding the offering (and there were many!).
So with the quiet period over, he has wasted little time in getting high-profile interviews. One was actually with 60 Minutes. In it, he compared the IPO process to a wolverine��s skin being melted away.
And this week, Andrew gave another memorable interview. This one came at the Digital Life Design conference in Munich, Germany. And yes, Andrew had some more colorful metaphors. Perhaps the most interesting was his belief that Groupon is a ��cyborg.�� That is, the company is more than just a set of cool algorithms, a la Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) or?Zynga (NASDAQ:ZNGA).
Instead, Groupon has an important human component. You can actually call the company and talk to somebody!
Indeed, it has over 10,000 employees, with 7,000 in other countries. No doubt, this would be incredibly hard to replicate? — and as a result, it represents a major barrier to entry for the thousands of other daily-deal sites that are trying! to get traction. After all, a variety of big competitors, including Facebook, Yelp and OpenTable (NASDAQ:OPEN),? have scaled back their daily-deal efforts. Perhaps they need to remodel themselves as cyborgs.
Tom Taulli runs the InvestorPlace blog?IPO Playbook, a site dedicated to the hottest news and rumors about initial public offerings. He also is the author of?��All About Short Selling��?and?��All About Commodities.��?Follow him on Twitter at?@ttaulli. As of this writing, he did not own a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
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How Long Does It Take to Make Money As a Mystery Shopper?

2012-01-26T12:37:00.000-08:00

Tags: 2012 Gold Stocks ,AMEX:DGSE ,Best Gold Stocks To Invest In ,Best Stocks To Buy ,Best Stocks To Buy 2012 ,DGSE ,Top Stocks In 2012
Mystery shopping can be a fun way to get free cash for giving your opinion on a product or service. Mystery shopping can be even more fun if you have a good understanding of how and when you will get paid.
I became a mystery shopper and online survey taker because I made a promise to my readers that whatever strategy or product I recommended, I would either do extensive research OR I would personally try that strategy myself to see if it was really possible to make money from it.
I think by writing about strategies I have first hand experiences with, it allows me to give you a better idea of what works and what does not. Actually, I have also been learning about some interesting things in the process.
What I learned
I initially thought that the way to do a shop was that you had to go to a store, purchase something (food, membership, oil change etc) and then write a report about your experience.
I recently found two pretty cool things about being a mystery shopper
1 – You can do phone mystery shops
I completed my first phone assignment in December of 2011 and all I had to do was call two housing communities and ask them about their incentives.
The cool part about this is that the mystery shop service connected the call and recorded everything, so I did not even have to write a report afterwards. Definitely one of the easiest and fastest ways I’ve ever made money.
2 ! – You can do mystery shops without buying anything
I receive e-mails all the time about observation shops. With the observation shop, no purchase is necessary and all that is required is that I go to the store and observe certain things like how clean the place is, how long the wait times are, and if I was comfortable with the experience.
I plan to sign up for some observation shops soon. But, let’s get to the money making part, the real fun part.
How to earn money
You will earn money after you submit your report on the mystery shop and the report is reviewed and approved by the mystery shop company. In the case of my phone shop, as soon as i was finished with the phone call, I answered a few questions about my experience, and then my report was submitted for review.
Note: mystery shop reports are usually due within 24hrs after you complete actual shop. I guess they don’t want you to forget important details.
When you get paid
If your review is accepted, you will get paid per the payment conditions of that particular mystery shop. I use the word “particular” because it seems each mystery shop is different.
I have seen mystery shops promising to pay within 7 days and some as long as 45 days. The phone shop that I did had a payment term of 45 days from the date of approval, but it was very easy so I did it anyway.
Also, I’m just testing out different strategies now before I get a list of what to look for and what not to look for.
So, don’t forget that earning the money and actually getting paid are two different things. also keep in mind that mystery shops with the same company might have different payment terms.
Dale Poyser has been investing for over a decade and has done meticulous research on how to build wealth. His primary focus is on strategies that can create low risk residual streams of income.
Not only does Dale personally practice the methods he writes about, he has also coached many ot! hers in these methods to show how easy it is to make money with passive residual streams of income. You can read more about Dale’s strategies at http://bestresidualincomestrategies.com/
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Global Pensions Awards for Inalytics

2012-01-26T08:43:00.000-08:00

Tags: Andatee ,biomass gasification plant ,biomass generated power plant ,clean energy public transportation ,clean tech jobs ,Cleantech Transit ,CLNO.OB ,convert wood waste ,green projects ,Gulf Resources ,Kenneth Bosket ,Nasdaq:AMCF ,Nasdaq:GURE ,NASDAQ:REED ,OTCBB:CLNO ,Phoenix Energy ,Reed?s ,renewable energy ,San Joaquin Air Pollution Control District ,Top Stocks In 2012

For pension funds and other fiduciaries, assessing an investment manager's "skill" as a part of the process of manager selection and ongoing monitoring is a critically important aspect of the fiduciary duty they perform for their clients. One firm that has developed a technique for helping funds to just that, Inalytics, won "Investment Consultant of the Year" and "Software Provider of the Year," at the Global Pensions Awards 2010 on March 16, in London. Pension funds themselves nominate candidates for this award, according to Inalytics' announcement on March 18.

Inalytics gathers data from managers themselves or their custodian or record keeper, including every position and trade, long and short, and uses proprietary mathematics to quantify managers' skill at getting into and out of securities--and being long or short--at times that benefit portfolio performance. Simply put, are the managers in the stocks at times when they outperform? Are they out of the stocks--or short--when they underperform?

Read more about Inalytics in Wealth Manager's exclusive interview with Inalytics' Founder and Chief Executive, Rick Di Mascio, last fall, in "How do you Predict Future Outperformance." Inalytics has offices in the U.S., UK and Australia.

Comments? Please send them to kmcbride@wealthmanagerweb.com. Kate McBride is editor in chief of Wealth Manager and a member of The Committee for the Fiduciary Standard.

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Fusion-IO Rockets: Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse Pound the Table

2012-01-26T05:05:00.001-08:00

Tags: 2012 Value Stocks ,Great Stocks To Buy 2012 ,Great Value Stocks 2012 ,Great Value Stocks To Invest In ,Top Stocks In 2012
Shares of enterprise storage technology provider Fusion-IO (FIO) are rocketing today, up $2.85, or almost 12%, at $27.05, and at one point as high as $27.94 after the stock got two new thumbs up, from Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley.?
Morgan Stanley’s Katy Huberty raised her rating on the shares to Overweight from Equal Weight, with a $30 price target, writing that a recent slump in the shares, prompted by the lock-up expiration on share sales following the company’s June IPO, presents investors with an opportunity to own the leader in enterprise flash storage technology.
It’s possible that that market may triple this year, writes Huberty, based on a survey of corporate CIO buying intentions. And she thinks there’s a lot of business in the company’s pipeline that’s not yet reflected in Street estimates:
Fusion-io is well positioned to ride the surge in enterprise flash given its leading market share, recent low-cost product introduction (ioDrive2), and growing partnerships / distribution, in our view. Our $30 price target applies an 8x EV/Sales multiple, upper-end of comparable data center peers, to our CY12 revenue estimate of $372M. We believe our estimates are conservative, especially if FIO converts new accounts in its pipeline that have the potential to be multimillion customers. We believe conversion of new revenue in current and pipeline accounts could at least double our CY12 revenue estimate.

Cre dit Suisse’s?Kulbinder Garcha reinstated coverage of the stock today with an Outperform rating and a more aggressive $50 price target. Like Huberty, Garcha thinks estimates are too low.?

The appeal of the company’s technology thanks to its ability to cut costs is greater than people may realize:

For traditional enterprise, Fusion-io SSDs, when coupled with IO Turbine, reduce cost per virtual machine to one-third to one-sixth current systems. Given the impressive ROI, Fusion-io sales is already seeing traction with the solution. On the Web 2.0 side, the company benefits by helping clients accelerate content distribution. Within this, management feels confident in organic customer growth, the potential for refresh cycles, brand and solid relationships within accounts. Indeed, the F3Q12 lower margin guidance (50% vs. 56-58% long term) is likely a result of rapid adoption of the next generation ioMemory solution at a large customer. Based on our account by account analysis, we believe the revenue potential over the next 12 months could be meaningfully higher than our and Street estimates.

Garcha is estimating $321 million in revenue in the fiscal year ending this June, and 19 cents EPS. That compares to an average Street estimate of $316 million and 26 cents EPS.?

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Keystone oil sands pipeline rejected, for now

2012-01-25T13:48:00.001-08:00

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The Obama administration rejected a bid to expand the controversial Keystone oil sands pipeline Wednesday, saying the deadline imposed by Congress did not leave sufficient time to conduct the necessary review.

"The rushed and arbitrary deadline insisted on by Congressional Republicans prevented a full assessment of the pipeline's impact, especially the health and safety of the American people, as well as our environment," Obama said in a statement.

The pipeline may not be dead though. The State Department, which was tasked with issuing the permit, said the denial does not "preclude any subsequent applications."

Shortly after the decision was rendered TransCanada (TRP), the company that wants to build the pipeline, said it would do just that.

"TransCanada remains fully committed to the construction of Keystone XL," Russ Girling, TransCanada's chief executive officer, said in a statement. "Plans are already underway on a number of fronts to largely maintain the construction schedule of the project."

The 1700-mile long pipeline expansion, intended to carry crude oil from Canada's oil sands to the U.S. Gulf Coast, has become a lightning rod in American politics.

Supporters, including the oil industry, some unions and many in the Republican party, say it's a vital job creator that will lessen the country's dependence on oil imported from volatile regions.

Opponents fear th! e pipeli ne may leak, and that it will lock the United States into a particularly dirty form of crude that might ultimately end up being exported anyway.

The two sides have been squaring off since this summer, with the project highlighting how both sides view larger issues of jobs, the economy, the environment and energy.

Keystone pipeline: How many jobs it would really create

Keystone's opponents hailed Wednesday's decision as a victory.

"President Obama put the health and safety of the American people and our air, lands and water -- our national interest -- above the interests of the oil industry," Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a statement. "His decision represents a triumph of truth over Big Oil's bullying tactics and its disinformation campaign with wildly exaggerated jobs claims."

Pipeline supporters were unhappy with the announcement.

"This political decision offers hard evidence that creating jobs is not a high priority for this administration," U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Thomas Donohue said in a statement. "The President's decision sends a strong message to the business community and to investors: keep your money on the sidelines, America is not open for business."

Why deny Keystone now? The reason a decision is being made today is that under the payroll tax deal reached last month, House Republicans gave President Obama 60 days to either approve or deny the pipeline.

Republicans have made the pipeline a central issue in their attacks against the president, and were quick to respond Wednesday.

"President Obama's decision to reject the Keystone XL crude oil pipeline is as shocking as it is revealing," Republican presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney said in a statement. "He seems to have confused the national interest with his own interest in pleasing the environmentalists in his political base."

The administration had! repeate dly said 60 days is not enough time to conduct the necessary reviews.

In November the administration, which had been studying the application since it took office, delayed a decision on the pipeline until 2013 after vocal protests from environmentalists and opposition from many people in the State of Nebraska, who feared the pipeline's proposed route over a sensitive aquifer.

Questions were also raised about the State Department's objectivity in the case when it emerged that a TransCanada lobbyist had close ties to the administration and the company conducting the environmental review for the State Department also had ties to TransCanada.

But the State Department's reference to "subsequent applications" and TransCanada's insistence that the project will go forward means this issue is unlikely to go away.

That will be unwelcome for environmentalists, who have hated the pipeline since day one.

They fear it could leak, and say the crude transported to the Gulf Coast may ultimately be exported to Europe or Asia. They also doubt it will really create the jobs supporters promise, saying it could even cost jobs if it helps derail the green economy.

But mostly they are concerned over the environmental effects of developing the oil sands themselves.

Much of the oil sands are currently mined like coal in giant open pits that result in water pollution and deforestation. Companies that operate in the oil sands, including ExxonMobil (XOM, Fortune 500), BP (BP) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA), have gotten better at mitigating these impacts, but problems remain.

And because oil sands are just that -- sand mixed with oil -- the oil needs to be separated out, requiring massive amounts of energy and leaving an overall greenhouse gas footprint 5% to 30% greater than conventional oil.

Pipeline supporters say crude from the oil sands isn't any dirtier the heavy oil imports it would replace from Mexico or Venezuela.

They say the $7 billion pipeline will! create over 10,000 construction jobs in each of the two years it takes to build, generate $5 billion in property tax revenue and pump a total of $20 billion into the U.S. economy over the project's 100 year lifetime.

Crucially, they say that while the 700,000 barrels of oil a day the pipeline would carry is still imported oil, at least it's from politically stable Canada.

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Is the German IFO Confidence Index a Guide to Buy or Sell Shares?

2012-01-24T18:52:00.001-08:00

Tags: FIO ,HDD ,HIT ,INTC ,OCZ ,SSD ,STEC ,STX ,Top Oil Stocks ,Top Stocks To Invest In ,Top Stocks To Invest In 2012 ,WDC ,Top Stocks In 2012

On Tuesday, December 20, the German IFO confidence index had risen in December to 107.2 from 106.6 months before; analysts had expected a level of 106.0.

This sent stock indexes up 1.4 to 3.0 percent.

How much weight should investors put in that kind of outlook?

Looking back at the previous crisis, when stock markets plunged worldwide, might provide perspective. On Feb. 26, 2008, when the financial crisis was about to gear up, the IFO confidence index for February rose to 104.1 from 103.4 in January 2008; analysts had expected a level of 102.9.

Was this great confidence in the future, that German business community joined in February 2008, justified? No. The DAX index fell from 7026.23 to a bottom in March 2009 at a price of 3642.54 �� a decrease of 48.15 percent.

On May 21, 2008, the IFO confidence index was 103.5, up from 102.4 in April, and again higher than analysts' expected average of 102.1. Again, this showed a very great complacency about the future by the approximately 7,000 German business leaders. The reality of the stock market was another: The DAX index began shortly after at its most precipitous decline! from 69 70.73 to 3642.54 on March 9, 2009, a decrease of 47.74 percent.

Overall, the DAX index fell a staggering 55.13 percent from Dec. 12 2007 to March 9, 2009.

Only when we are in the midst of a crisis like 2008-2009 do the German business leaders wake and see the grim reality, and the IFO index points to a bleak economic future.

At the bottom of the stock market on March 9, 2009, the IFO index was not used as an indicator of whether investors should buy or sell shares. The German IFO Index fell from 82.6 on March 25, 2009, to 82.1 in February.

Was the German IFO Confidence Index different during the crisis year 2000?

No. Unfortunately, the IFO index from February to June 2000 increased month by month, where stock market fell. Only since July 2000 did the IFO index begin to fall.

So the conclusion must be that the IFO index cannot be used as an indicator of the stock market being up or down. From this may seem surprising that the stock market still reacts, sometimes vigorously, to this index.

What now?

The big question now is can we trust that the approximately 7,000 German business leaders have come up with a realistic view of the future?

Have they take account of the following?

The retail sales in Germany might not appear good. German retail giant Metro reported on December 7 a downward adjustment for both sales and earnings for this year. They expect both sales and earnings will decline compared to 2010.

The German chip giant Infineon (IFX), Europe's second-largest producer of microchips, has warned of a larger-than-expected dive in sales next year. Infineon makes chips, including those used in cars. In the last quarter profits fell by 68 percent. The message came after rival STMicroelectronics in October also warned of a dip in sales. Chip consumption has a reputation for being a good indicator of the economic future.

Virtually all EU coun! tries, w ith few exceptions, must save enormous sums of public spending, which will lead to savings in the private sector, which in turn will lead to further savings in the public sector if countries are to meet the new December 9, 2011, EU agreement not to have greater deficits in public budgets than 3 percent of their GDP and a debt that does not exceed 60 percent of GDP. From a forecast from November 2011, there are 15 EU countries with a deficit greater than 60 percent. (There is, however, a small "zipfastener" built into the agreement that the debt may well be greater if it is decreasing.)

That about 50 percent of German exports go to the EU, and since almost all the countries here are or will come into recession in 2012, will lead to less consumption from both the public and the private sector. There has already been a negative sign for exports in October, when they fell by 3.6 percent, which is the largest decline since April. It was especially exports to other EU countries that declined . But EU countries are only in the very infancy of their savings, so what will happen when it finally kicks in unclear.

China has introduced import duties of up to 21.5 percent on imported cars with engines of 2.5 liters and above, which will hit German automakers.

China and other countries in Asia have recently shown signs of decline in their economies.

The industrial production in China is in decline for the first time in three years.

Brazil, which otherwise is among the world's leading emerging economies, has also been affected by the escalating crisis, with GDP for the third quarter coming in negative 0.04 percent �� the lowest growth since 2009.

The growth in private consumption in the U.S. is largely at the expense of savings. In September, private consumption grew 0.6 percent., while disposable income rose by only 0.1 percent.

Not all indicators from the U.S. are as good as they would indicate. When looking at housing sales in November, a f! ull 46 p ercent of sales were at a price that was about 23 percent below the average price for an ordinary sale. In addition, there are approximately 6 million borrowers who are more than 30 days behind on their futures.

The big European banks are very reluctant to lend money, as most intend to slim their balance sheets significantly to meet the new EU agreement, which comes into force June 2012. The actual core capital as a minimum must be nine percent. This can lead to a credit squeeze, if this is not already the case.

Then there are the hypothetical danger signals:

Analysts forecast that growth in China in 2012 will fall below nine percent for the first time since 2001. This will mean lower consumer spending in China, and there will be created the same number of jobs as before.

China could brood on a potential housing bubble.

If more countries in the EU in the first half of 2012 are to repay/refinance a debt of more than 1.1 trillion euro, it could be not feasible or interest could be so high that countries cannot service the debt.

One or more countries in Europe could go bankrupt.

The U.S. as the EU, not to mention Japan, could at one time or another be forced to reduce their large debt to GDP ratio. This can only happen when taxation, tax increases and public savings go up, which will result in less consumption and higher unemployment.

There could be other events than the multiple above-mentioned ills of the world economy, but if you just include the above, I find it hard to see that Germany will be deleted and go into recession, as virtually all other EU countries have done. The U.S. will also be able to fall into recession, as three major factors �� unemployment, real residential sales and rising house prices �� are crucial for a sustainable recovery. The jobs created can barely keep unemployment stable, and unemployment "improved" to 8.6 percent last month largely because 315,000 unemployed people left! the lab or market.

The world is not out of economic crisis yet, and there will be no upturn in the global economy earlier than 2013-2014, provided that all countries with large imbalances on their debt relative to GDP have been implementing the reforms, etc., necessary for the debt to be reduced. The world, unfortunately for many years lived in a state of massive overspending.

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What Happens When Kodak Surrenders

2012-01-24T15:10:00.001-08:00

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When Eastman Kodak (NYSE: EK) goes into Chapter 11, which is all but certain, its patent portfolio will not be?the only part of its business that will be affected. An auction of?the patents may bring in billions of dollars, but that number has to be questioned. Why can a bankruptcy judge get more for the assets than Kodak can? The greatest change in Kodak's structure, though, will be that some large parts of the company disappear entirely. What they produce has almost nothing to do with Kodak's intellectual property.

Kodak's Consumer Digital Imaging Group probably will be closed. Or its assets may be sold to another camera company,?likely without most of the employees who work in the division. The operation makes video and still cameras. It also manufactures and markets ink jet printers. None of these businesses has much of a future as the hardware of each becomes little better than a commodity. Revenue for the group fell from $644 million in the third quarter of the previous year to $408 million in the same period of 2011. It lost $90 million in Q3 2011.

Kodak's Film, Photofinishing?and Entertainment Group makes disposable cameras, entertainment and imaging products and consumer film. Most of these products are no longer profitable, or they are made?and sold for less by Kodak's competitors in the sector. And there are many such competitors. Revenue?for the group dropped from $433 million in the third quarter of the previous year to $389 mill! ion in t he same period last year. The group made $15 million, but that number continues to decline.

The focus of the news about Kodak is that it has a number of patents, the value of which is supposed?to save the company. Less is said about businesses owned by the Kodak that probably will disappear.

Kodak still has nearly 19,000 workers. When the company buckles under the weight of its debt and losses, the dismantling of Kodak may be shuffled out of the headlines. But for the people who work for the dying firm, the future of their division will matter. The fate of the patents will not.

Douglas A. McIntyre

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Protected Equity Products – Can You Have Your Cake and Eat It?

2012-01-24T11:24:00.001-08:00

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They are promoted as an opportunity to benefit from share market growth, without the risk of losing capital. They involve borrowing up to 100% of the purchase price of a basket of shares for a minimum period (generally 3 – 5 years). You keep the dividends and any gains and are protected against investment loss.

The loan interest is also usually prepaid to bring forward a tax deduction and reduce a current year “tax problem”. What a deal – no downside and tax benefits!

However, even with this basic explanation, the alarm bells should ring for smart investors. PEPs play to at least one psychological bias (i.e. “loss aversion”) that investors should be wary of and contradict at least one of our wealth management decision making principles (i.e. “It’s about ends, not means”).

What’s the catch?

The downside is the borrowing cost. It includes a premium to pay for capital protection. This premium varies according to the term and volatility of the shares purchased.

It can add between 7-15% p.a. on a 3 year product and is not a tax deductible expense. So, if the typical loan rate was 7% p.a., the interest rate on the PEP would be around 14-22% p.a.

When you finance shares with a normal loan (i.e. excluding in built protection costs), you can make money, after-tax, even if the pre-tax return on the shares is the same or a little less than the pre-tax interest cost on the loan. Franked dividends and a favourable tax treatment of capital gains allow for this situation.

While PEPs also benefit from th! ese tax effects, the additional costs of protection mean you need a very high return on your share portfolio to generate an after tax gain. If this was your expectation, you’re far better off holding an unprotected position.

Do PEPs make sense?

PEPs play to investors’ desire to make “risk-free” gains and obtain a tax benefit. But they are not a serious way to invest in shares. Simultaneously eliminating the downside risk and expecting to get share market type returns doesn’t make sense. It’s the finance equivalent of alchemy.

At best, all you can realistically expect is cash type returns. To give yourself a chance of earning the higher expected returns of share markets, you need time, patience and a willingness to accept the accompanying risk.

But if your investment time horizon is short and/or your risk appetite is low, a PEP is an inappropriate investment solution. Borrowing to purchase shares is always a high risk strategy, and especially over the short term.

Offsetting this risk by adding a costly protection mechanism is extremely inefficient. It’s like driving your car with one foot on the accelerator and the other on the brake.

Summary:

1. Avoid focusing on minimising tax. You should aim to maximise your (risk-adjusted) after tax return. Tax can’t magically overcome inherent pre-tax disadvantages;

2. Don’t get seduced by complexity. It’s costly and there are usually simpler, more effective ways to achieve your objectives; and

3. Recognise that there are more efficient ways to reduce (long term) tax. Most of these, however, require some pre-planning to allow you to confidently take a longer term approach. An investment in good planning will help to avoid the costs of reactive decision making.

Wealth Foundations is an independently owned personal financial advisory firm that offers wealth management and strategic financial planning services. For more information, visit Wealth Managemen! t.< /p>

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Deadlines You Must Meet If You Inherit A Retirement Account

2012-01-24T07:35:00.001-08:00

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see photosAriel Skelley/Getty Images

Click for full photo gallery: Nine Things Women Should Know About Estate Planning

by?Rob Gordon

Did you inherit an?individual retirement account (IRA) or any other retirement account? There are a number of requirements and deadlines that you MUST be aware of. Failure to meet these deadlines could throw a wrench into your family’s financial planning for the future.

TUTORIAL: Common IRA Rollover MistakesYou have until September 30 to review and remove?beneficiaries, and you have until December 31 to divide the IRA to take full advantage of things like large age differences.?

Distribution Rules for Multiple Beneficiaries
Generally, individuals who are one of multiple beneficiaries of a retirement account are required to distribute the account over the life expectancy of the oldest beneficiary. If the account owner died before the?required beginning date and one of the beneficiaries is a nonperson, such as a charity or estate, the?assets must be distributed by the end of the fifth year following the year in which the account owner died. This shortened distribution period can put younger beneficiaries at a disadvantage. Consider the following examples:

Exampl e 1 �C Beneficiaries with Significant Age Gaps
Mario (65 years old) and Ana (35 years old) are the adult children of a deceased IRA owner who was married twice (the IRA owner outlived both spouses). They inherited an IRA valued at $1 million from their parents in 2010, to be shared equally. Assuming a 4%?rate of return and distributions of no more or less than the?required minimum distribution amounts, the distributions to each would be as follows if they did not segregate the IRA before the September 30 deadline:

Distributions for Mario & Ana (each)
Elapsed Years	Calendar Year	Beneficiary Age	MD Factor	Interest Earned	Annual Distribution	Year-End Balance
1	2011	66	20.2	$20,000	$24,752	$495,248
5	2015	70	16.2	$18,928	$29,210	$462,927
10	2020	75	11.2!	$16,158	$36,066	$384,029
15	2025	80	6.2	$11,148	$44,951	$244,894
20	2030	85	1.2	$2,836	$59,086	$14,653
21	2031	86	0.2	$586	$14,653	$586
Total Distributions over life of IRA					$783,920

If they segregate the IRA by the deadline then make the distributions, Mario will receive the amounts indicated in the table above. However,?Ana would receive a significantly greater amount as shown below:

2011

Distributions for Ana
Elapsed Years	Calendar Year	Beneficiary Age	MD Factor	Interest Earned	Annual Distribution	Year-End Balance
1	36	47.5	$20,000	$10,526	$509,474
10	2020	45	38.5	$23,262	$15,105	$589,705
20	2030	55	28.5	$25,791	$22,623	$647,932
30	2040	65	18.5	$25,205	$34,061	$621,279
40	2050	75	8.5	$17,684	$52,013	$407,780
48	2058	83	0.5	$1,658	$41,439	$1,658
Total Distributions over life of IRA					$1,517,911

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How Rich are the GOP Presidental Candidates?

2012-01-24T03:50:00.001-08:00

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Forget the big corporate donations and Super PACs for presidential candidates' campaigns, which we have seen plenty of coverage on. We all know that those are just an alternative way for big money to come into presidential campaigns.
But about the candidates' personal wealth? The potential next man in the White House could be walking into Washington with a healthy pocket full of money. Which candidates stack up the stacks?
6. Rick Perry
Total Net Worth: $1 to $2.5 million

The man who struggles with counting in threes sure knows how to count his money because he's swimming in it. The Texas governor, who is still on the job during all this campaigning, receives both a salary and pension from the state of Texas. The salary is $132,995 a year, and his monthly annuity is $7,698.
Aside from his income as governor, Perry has a solid portfolio. He released his stock holdings by revoking his blind trust in September for the first time in 15 years, and it has been picking up steam ever since then.
! His port folio is well-diversified, with holdings in major corporations from the U.S. and Europe as well as investing in PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Chevron Cisco and Microsoft. He also attributes much of his wealth to a series of private land deals (one particularly famous plot of land as well).
But with all of his wealth, he still lands at the bottom of the list of wealthiest presidential candidates.

5. Rick Santorum
Total Net Worth: $1 to $3 million

Although one of the “poorest” candidates in the race, Rick Santorum is still a millionaire no matter how you slice it.
Most of Santorum's money stems from rental real estate properties and lucrative compensation in the private sector serving as a consultant (or lobbyist as some say).
While he tries to prove he is the “common man” to voters, his finances don't seem far too common for most Americans, as he has some some acrrued to his name from two mortgages for rental properties which total up to $750,000. According to the FEC filing, those properties, located in State College, Pa. are worth between $500,000 and $1.25 million.
As Bloomberg's executive editor said of the former Pennsylvanian senator and congressman, “He's certainly a piker compared to Mitt Romney. He doesn't have those kind of riches. But we don't have to worry about food stamps for Rick Santorum.”

4. Ron Paul
Total Net Worth: $2.4 to $5.4 million

Dr. Ron Paul has had some interesting donor lists revealed in comparison to his political opponents and he is not ashamed to speak honestly about his finances. The Texas congressman has a personal loan from the First National Bank of Lake Jackson and it totals $250,000 to $500,000 with a 5-year term.
The sound-money advocate is invested in more than 20 separate companies that have something afliated with “gold”, “silver”, “mining”, and “mines” in the company name.
Paul is known for, especially around the Wealth Wire faithfuls, his mining stocks. He holds large amounts in two publicly traded mining companies; $100,000 to $250,000 in Barrick Gold Corporation and $500,000 to $1,000,000 in Goldcorp Inc.

3. Newt Gingrich
Total Net Worth: $7 to $31 million

The former house speaker is almost more so a business man than anything else, it is a surprise he can wrap his head around politics anymore with the incredible amounts of money he is making away from Washington.
The majority of his assets come from a promissory note from the Gingrich Group, LLC to Gingrich Productions, Inc., which all are all pieces of the much larger, more intertwined web of businesses he maintains.
Gingrich Productions is his bread and butter though, as the Washington-based multimedia company paid out $2.4 million in disbursem! ents to Gingrich. In the 1990s as speaker, he was earning hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in book royalties alone, on top of his Congressional salary but also having the financial burden of a $300,000 penalty assessed against him by the House Ethics Committee for an improper book deal and a second divorce on the way.
The Washington Post reported in November that Gingrich's web of enterprises – from the documentary production company already mentioned to a health care development company-- generated close to $100 million in revenue over the last decade.

2. Jon Huntsman
Total Net Worth: $16 to $72 million

It's all in the family when it comes to riches for the former governor of Utah... a family of corporate wealth. The Huntsman Corporation is a global chemical company with over 12,000 employees and over $9 billion in revenue, which the presidential candidate's father, Jon Huntsman Sr. founded and is the Executive Chairman of the Board. Huntsman Sr. is one of the wealthiest self-made men in the world while his son's assets are tied in some way to the family.
Huntsman Jr. lists a family holding company worth between $5 million and $25 million as an asset. Much of his income is from his rental real estate properties in California and $1 million to $5 million in dividends from Huntsman Corp. according to his September government filing.
When it comes to wealth in competition to GOP candidate Mitt Romney, Huntsman is the only one of the bunch to even hold a candle to the former Massachusetts governor...

1. Mitt Romney
Total Net Worth: up to $264 million

When it comes down to it, Romney has a lot of money all in part due to dividends and interest from his investments. On top of those, he enjoys charging an arm and a leg, including up to $68,000, for one speaking event. Being one of the most sought-after political and financial speakers in the country, he makes a very large sum on the speaking circuit. In total Romney is earning between $9 million and $43 million in income, without actually have a regular day job.
As for other portions of his wealth, much of it is tied up in a blind trust that ironically include many health-care-industry stocks, as he looks to distance himself away from his health-care reform bill he signed as governor.
Before campaigning and serving as Massachusetts governor, Romney had very successful careers at Bain & Company, a consulting shop, as well as private equity firm Bain Capital. He later went on to gain more fame and add to his speaking circuit business by joining the Salt Lake City Olympics committee in 1999.
He has large investments in commodities, including $250,000 to $500,000 in gold alone. Interestingly enough, Romney's FEC filing also lists between $250,000 and $500,00 in horses, which are said to belong to his wife.

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The American Jobs Picture: The Overweight And Smokers Need Not Apply

2012-01-23T20:33:00.001-08:00

Tags: AMEX:MDW ,AMEX:ONP ,AMEX:PZG ,GBLHF.PK ,Global Hunter ,Majestic Gold ,Midway ,MJGCF.PK ,Orient Paper ,Paramount ,Top Stocks In 2012
Under federal law, potential workers cannot be discriminated against for almost any reason including race, religion, or ethnicity.
It turns out that what the federal government says businesses are required to do and what they actually do are two different things. A new Gallup poll?shows that for people who smoke or are overweight and are looking for a job, getting hired may present a unique problem.
The poll says that about one in four Americans say they would be “less likely” to hire a person if they found out that he or she smoked. Nearly one in five say the same about hiring an overweight person.
Almost all companies will say that the perceptions have nothing to do with their process of screening and hiring new workers. There is no way to find out whether these claims are true. What goes on in the offices of executives and HR managers is almost always confidential.
But some bias does affect the public’s perception. Walmart (NYSE: WMT) is faced with a class actions suit that claims that female employees were systematically paid less than men.? Walmart? could be faced with hundreds of millions of dollars in damages if it loses the case, according to some legal experts.
Smoking has become a smaller and smaller issu! e not on ly among workers but in the population in general as the places that people can smoke have dropped sharply due to public laws. Obesity is another matter as many government studies say that more than one-third of the adult population is significantly overweight.
Bias of one sort or another in everything from housing to hiring may never go away. It just becomes more well hidden.
Douglas A. McIntyre
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Minn Fed Chief: Unemployment Will Stay Very High

2012-01-23T16:30:00.001-08:00

Tags: 2012 Small Cap Stocks ,2012 Top Performing Stocks ,Top Performing Stocks For 2012 ,Top Performing Stocks To Own For 2012 ,Top Stocks In 2012
The heads of the regional Federal Reserve banks are thinkers, but they may not be doers. Narayana Kocherlakota, the President Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, said today that “unemployment will remain above 8 percent into 2012.” Put another way, the economy will have difficulty recovering because so many people are out of work–and, the Fed can do nothing about it other than make modest adjustments to monetary policy. And those may not bear fruits
His views on unemployment seem to be at odds with his forecast for GDP which is relatively positive.
Real GDP growth has been positive in each of the past four quarters, and the government's initial estimate is that GDP grew at an annualized rate of 2.4 percent in the second quarter of this year. Based on estimates from our Minneapolis forecasting model, I expect GDP growth to be around 2.5 percent in the second half of 2010 and close to 3.0 percent in 2011. There is a recovery under way in the United States, and I expect it to continue.
The Fed governors and regional chiefs continue to whistle past the graveyard. Kocherlakota ignores the fact, perhaps to bolster public confidence, that high unemployment and GDP growth cannot be reconciled. The is particulary true because if joblessness is over 9% for most of the period that began two years ago and will a year or more from now, the size of the population that has been out of work for more than half a year will swell into the millions. These people cannot be! consume rs and their skills deteriorate each day that they are out of work as do their spirits.
He adds one more comment that shows that he is less hopeful than he would like to appear, and it is about how to assist the long-term unemployed
Recent economic research, including some done at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, shows that such a program will not feature the termination of benefits after 26, 52, or 99 weeks. Instead, a good insurance program should offer constant benefits over the entire duration of an unemployment spell, however long.
That is a suggestion from someone who is worried that the Fed is nearly powerless.
Douglas A. McIntyre
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Fulsome Volume Stock at NASDAQ - SPRD

2012-01-23T12:41:00.001-08:00

Tags: 2012 Best Stocks ,2012 Japan Stocks ,Best Japan Stocks To Invest In ,Best Stocks For 2012 ,Best Stocks To Buy 2012 ,TXN ,Top Stocks In 2012
Spreadtrum Communications, Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:SPRD) witnessed volume of 6.93 million shares during last trade however it holds an average trading capacity of 1.80 million shares. SPRD last trade opened at $12.74 reached intraday low of $11.99 and went +4.45% up to close at $12.90.
SPRD has a market capitalization $625.26 million and an enterprise value at $520.18 million. Trailing twelve months price to sales ratio of the stock was 1.45 while price to book ratio in most recent quarter was 2.71. In profitability ratios, net profit margin in past twelve months appeared at 20.44% whereas operating profit margin for the same period at 21.99%.
The company made a return on asset of 14.17% in past twelve months and return on equity of 49.49% for similar period. In the period of trailing 12 months it generated revenue amounted to $431.30 million gaining $9.04 revenue per share. Its year over year, quarterly growth of revenue was 163.00% holding 318.10% quarterly earnings growth.
According to preceding quarter balance sheet results, the company had $204.39 million cash in hand making cash per share at 4.22. The total of $45.76 million debt was there putting a total debt to equity ratio 19.80. Moreover its current ratio according to same quarter results was 1.51 and book value per share was 4.77.
Looking at the trading information, the stock price history displaye! d that i ts S&P500 52 Week Change illustrated 18.28% where the stock price exhibited down beat from its 50 day moving average with $17.98 and remained below from its 200 Day Moving Average with $19.47.
SPRD holds 48.47 million outstanding shares with 34.45 floating shares where insider possessed 5.40% and institutions kept 34.60%.
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Making the most of breaks at work

2012-01-23T09:02:00.001-08:00

Tags: 2012 Retail Stocks ,Best Performing Stocks of 2012 ,Best Performing Stocks To Hold For 2012 ,Top Stocks In 2012
People who work hard need to make sure they take breaks from time to time. A well timed break can revitalise you and keep you working at a more productive level. Payroll jobs and similar office roles need a break that gets you away from the desk. Read this simple article to find out about short breaks that can put your day back on track.
Some very lucky office workers work for companies that provide a recreation or break room for their employees. Whether in a room or another space, some great activities to have at the disposal of employees include foosball, table tennis and darts. The best part is that you can socialise with your colleagues during breaks. This is good for building team spirit in the office. There can also be a competitive element in these games, which makes it more exciting. This can help further to boost morale.
Another way to spend a ten minute break is to go for a quick walk outside. Of course this is better in sunny weather. Sometimes a bit of a change of scenery is all it takes to refresh you.
These breaks are good for helping you structure your day. You can manage your work and tasks and make it a goal to complete tasks by a certain time, so that you can take a break. This is particularly useful to keep you motivated if you fin yourself losing focus.
If it makes you a more productive worker, your employer should be more than happy for you to take these breaks. If you work straight through the day you may find that your concentration levels slip and you work slower or make mistakes.
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This China Province Will Become a Global Oil-and-Gas Market Powerhouse

2012-01-23T01:30:00.001-08:00

Tags: Growth Health Stocks ,Growth Health Stocks To Buy ,Growth Stocks To Buy In 2012 ,Growth Stocks To Invest In 2012 ,KOSPI ,Top Stocks In 2012
Like everything else, the balance of power in the global energy market is shifting toward China, where a little-known province is perfectly situated to become a global oil-and-gas market powerhouse.

Nestled in the far northwest of China, Xinjiang is the country's largest province and the primary domestic source for oil and gas. It is sparsely populated and as big as Western Europe. The name, Xinjiang, literally means "New Frontier." And recent decisions in Beijing are going to give that translation even more meaning - transforming this province into a "new frontier" for the global energy sector.

Location, Location, Location
Production of oil and gas has gone on there for some time, a key reason why it accounts for more than 60% of the regional economy. Xinjiang is China's dominant domestic source of natural gas, and the now-completed West-East Gas Pipeline brings fuel directly into Shanghai and China's energy-hungry Pacific coast.

However, as important as the production is to the Chinese economy, there is another aspect to the province that is even more significant - its location.

Xinjiang borders eight countries - including Russia, Kazakhstan, India and Pakistan. It has an operational oil pipeline coming from Kazakhstan and another now bringing gas from Turkmenistan. These two Central Asian former Soviet republics are! current ly targets of much international interest. Kazakhstan is one of the world's new major oil producers, while Turkmenistan has enormous gas reserves.

Both countries would prefer to be moving volume to the European market, but trade in that direction is determined by throughput across Russia. So moving volume east - to China - also serves a political purpose.

But Beijing is also playing Moscow, because Russia figures prominently in developments. Xinjiang has under construction a new pipeline carrying Russian oil, and a Russian gas line is likely to follow shortly.

All of this, of course, is required by internal needs. That Chinese industrial development requires increasing consignments of oil and gas is hardly news. During the worldwide financial crisis, it was the demand spike from that country that largely sustained global oil demand base levels.

Now the Chinese Northwest is about to become an oil, gas, and petrochemical giant.

A 10-Year Energy Development Program
China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC, available only through thinly traded CNPC Hong Kong Ltd.; PINK: CNPXF) plans to embark on a 10-year development program to elevate Xinjiang into the world's leading energy center.

Xinjiang is in line to become China's most significant base in oil-and-gas production, refining, petrochemical and other chemical manufacturing, oil storage, and engineering and technology services.

By combining its leading position in domestic oil-and-gas production with its newly acquired strategic role in deliveries from Central Asia and Russia, the province will have an impact on pricing for both raw materials and finished products throughout Asia and internationally, via Singapore trading (where the Chinese have a rising influence).

CNPC estimates that Xinjiang oil-and-gas production will reach 370 million barrels of oil equivalent annually by 2015, with an increase to 440 mill! ion by 2 020 - a level it expects will be maintained for 20 years. Refining, oil storage, and petrochemical production are expected to increase at similar same rates.

The local drilling alone will allow China to develop a national oil reserve and additional strategic stockpiles. But the foreign oil and gas flowing into the province by pipeline will expand all of these categories.

CNPC and its bosses in Beijing are serious about all of this.

The company has spent more than $45 billion - though that's considered little more than a down-payment on what is to come - and has established 11 subsidiaries in the province, covering everything from upstream drilling and through transport, to downstream refining and processing. The expanding petrochemical production will augment a wide range of other industries, producing everything from automobiles and electronics to heavy machinery. That translates into the energy center fueling wider industrial expansion.

There also is a spillover effect under way in other forms of energy that U.S. investors should watch for.

New Players to Watch
A number of domestic state-run behemoths, such as China HuaNeng Group and China Guodian Group (two of the top electricity generators in the country), are rapidly expanding in the province. And new-technology and alternative-energy providers are following suit. That includes providers with technologies that are likely to be trendsetters, such as China Xinjiang SunOasis Co. (solar energy applications and research) and wind energy leaders China Longyuan Power Group Corp. and Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology Co. These companies are listed on the Hang Seng Exchange in Hong Kong, though they are not currently available abroad. But this will soon change.

As expansion becomes necessary, American depositary receipts (NYSE: ADRs) to become available for these companies, with possible initial public offerings (IPOs) following close behind.!
< br> Yet the Xinjiang revolution is not limited to spin-off companies or niche plays.

Developing such an oil-and-gas center will provide a broad-based range of investment opportunities. As it determines the pricing of oil and gas flows, it also will drive developments elsewhere in the global energy market.

Action to Take: Little-known (to Westerners) China province Xinjiang is poised to become a global powerhouse in the worldwide oil-and-gas market. The name, Xinjiang, literally means "New Frontier." And recent decisions in Beijing are going to give that translation even more meaning.

China National Petroleum Corp.(CNPC, available only through thinly traded CNPC Hong Kong Ltd.; PINK: CNPXF) plans to embark on a 10-year development program to elevate Xinjiang into the world's leading energy center.

This development will have a major spillover benefit, nurturing fledgling alternative energy companies and spawning new ones.

A number of domestic state-run behemoths, such as China HuaNeng Group and China Guodian Group (two of the top electricity generators in the country), are rapidly expanding in the province. Following suit are such new-technology and alternative-energy providers as:

China Xinjiang SunOasis Co.: Solar energy applications and research.

China Longyuan Power Group Corp. and Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology Co.: Leaders in wind energy.

These companies are listed on the Hang Seng Exchange in Hong Kong, though they are not currently available abroad. Many promising companies that are publicly listed in Asia are not easily accessed by U.S. retai! l invest ors. But that will change.

As expansion becomes necessary, American depositary receipts (NYSE: ADRs) to become available for these companies, with possible initial public offerings (IPOs) following close behind.

U.S. investors need to be vigilant, and be ready to move when they do become available.
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(ISSC, R, CLNO, MWV, JPM) Stock to Watch by DrStockPick.com

2012-01-22T21:33:00.001-08:00

Tags: 2012 Gas Stocks ,REIT ,Top Performing Gas Stocks ,Top Performing Stocks 2012 ,Top Performing Stocks To Buy In 2012 ,Top Stocks In 2012
Innovative Solutions & Support, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISSC) announced that the Company has entered into an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) agreement with Eclipse Aerospace to provide the Vantage Premier avionics suite for the EA500. Under this agreement, the Company will be the supplier of Primary Flight and Multi-Function Displays as well as the Integrated Flight Management and Electronic Flight Bag System on the Eclipse 500.
Innovative Solutions and Support��s President Roman Ptakowski stated, ��We are pleased to have been chosen to partner with Eclipse Aerospace for the supply of the cockpit avionics for the EA500. The Vantage Premier avionics suite is one of the most advanced cockpits available on any aircraft. The thirteen microprocessors in the IS&S displays control all major aircraft systems including Electronic Circuit Breakers, Radios, Transponders and Radars. FMS precision navigation, coupled auto-throttle, full VNAV, and Synthetic Vision give the Eclipse Twin-Engine Jet unrivaled performance. The aircraft specific synoptic pages provide for a graphical presentation and control of all major subsystems including calculations for Take-Off / Landing performance as well as weight and balance.��
The IS&S developed independent Integrated Standby System is also featured in the Eclipse aircraft with an unmatched performance in stability and accuracy of a! ttitude, heading and airdata parameters.
Mr. Ptakowski continued, ��This OEM agreement illustrates the value of Innovative Solutions & Support��s products. We design all of our products to meet the most stringent industry requirements as well as to easily accommodate foreseeable future needs. They are equally suitable for owners of both newly manufactured aircraft and aircraft in need of an upgrade. The Vantage Premier enhanced avionics suite is available for integration into other aircraft.��
Headquartered in Exton, Pa., Innovative Solutions & Support, Inc. (www.innovative-ss.com), designs, manufactures, and markets flight information computers, electronic displays, and advanced monitoring systems that measure and display critical flight information. These systems include RVSM and airspeed, as well as engine and fuel data measurements.
Ryder System, Inc (NYSE:R) announced that it has donated $45,000 to the Neva King Cooper Educational Center, a special needs education center for children and young adults with significant intellectual disabilities located in Homestead, Fla. The donation will be used to purchase SMART Boards to be installed in every classroom.
Ryder System, Inc. provides transportation and supply chain management solutions. It operates in three segments: Fleet Management Solutions (FMS), Supply Chain Solutions (SCS), and Dedicated Contract Carriage (DCC).
Cleantech Transit, Inc. (CLNO)
Cleantech Transit Inc. was founded to capitalize on technology advances and manufacturing opportunities in the growing clean energy public transportation sector. The Company has expanded its focus to invest directly in specific green projects. Recognizing the many economic and operational advances of converting wood waste into renewable sources of energy, Cleantech has selected to invest in Phoenix E! nergy (w ww.phoenixenergy.net). This project could benefit the Company’s manufacturing clients worldwide.
Biomass is a renewable energy source which is derived from woody plants such as trees; sawmill co-products; wood waste and other plant material (grasses and straw). Generally regarded as an environmentally sustainable fuel source when it is derived from sustainably managed forests. Regarded as “carbon-neutral” because the burning of biomass releases about the same amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere as it had absorbed while it was growing. Renewable because trees and crops can be replanted to replace what has been used. Biomass energy systems can generally provide low carbon footprint compared to other fossil fuels.
Cleantech Transit, Inc. (CLNO) is pleased to announce it has met its funding requirement to secure the Company’s ability to earn in 25% of the 500KW Merced Project.
The Company is in the final stages of closing its initial interest in the Merced Project and is currently working on completing the necessary documentation and expects closing the transaction soon. As previously announced Cleantech has the option to earn up to 40% of the Merced Project and the Company plans to continue to work towards increasing its interest in the Merced Project as they move ahead.
For more information about Cleantech Transit, Inc. visit its website www.cleantechtransitinc.com
MeadWestvaco Corporation (NYSE:MWV) announced it is listed on the 2011 Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World) for the eighth consecutive year. The DJSI World recognizes the world’s leading companies in the areas of economic, environmental and social performance, and evaluates organizations based on their commitment to and success in integrating sustainability into core business objectives and performance.
MeadWestvaco Corporation provides packaging solutions to the healthcare, beauty and personal care, food, beverage, tobacco, ! and home and garden industries worldwide.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) announced that it has been appointed by Vanguard, one of the world’s largest investment management companies, to offer four of its U.S.-registered Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) on the international segment of the Mexican Stock Exchange, Bolsa Mexicana de Valores (BMV).
JPMorgan Chase & Co., a financial holding company, provides various financial services worldwide. Its Investment Bank segment provides various investment banking products and services, including advising on corporate strategy and structure, capital-raising in equity and debt markets, risk management, market-making in cash securities and derivative instruments, prime brokerage, and research services serving corporations, financial institutions, governments, and institutional investors.
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The Reflation Trade Emerges, Again (USO, OIL, GLD, GDX, DBA)

2012-01-22T17:46:00.001-08:00

Tags: credit ,Top Performing India Stocks ,Top Performing Stocks For 2012 ,Top Performing Stocks To Buy In 2012 ,Top Stocks In 2012
Some good news in the markets today and the massive influx of future money from the Fed and Treasury has led to a substantial increase in both crude oil and gold prices. NYMEX crude futures are up more than $3/barrel, and London gold is above $950/ounce after falling below $890/ounce yesterday.? Yesterday, it was the exit of fear driving the markets, now the notion of “inflation coming around the corner” is back.

The likeliest reason for these moves is the Federal Reserve’s decision to spend another $300 billion to buy long-term Treasury bills over the next six months. Investors see this as a sign that the economy will strengthen, and taken together with the recent rise in financial stocks, equities once again become a good value. The Fed also agreed to buy more mortgage-backed securities and agency debt yesterday, bringing the number to $1 trillion or more.
As equities rise, the expectation is that energy consumption will rise, and that inflation will follow. Thus, both oil and gold prices go up.
Oil ETF United States Oil Fund (NYSE: USO) and ETN iPath S&P GSCI Crude oil Total Return Index (NYSE: OIL) are both up about 3% this morning.
SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD) is up a fraction and Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDX) is up nearly 4%.
Powershares DB Agriculture ETF (NYSE:DBA) is up about 3.5% in early trading as well, indicating that ag futures are also contributing to today’s uptick.
Ben Bernanke and everyone in the government keep tal! king abo ut how inflation is expected to be low for the near-term.? But the printing presses are just about to go into overdrive to print paper with many Ben Franklin pictures on them.
Paul Ausick
March 19, 2009
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German Stocks Rise to Five-Month High; Henkel, Infineon Technologies Gain

2012-01-22T14:06:00.001-08:00

Tags: 2012 Growth Stocks ,ARCP ,BFLY ,CKH ,Growth Stocks To Invest In 2012 ,Growth Stocks To Own For 2012 ,HES ,MLI ,OI ,SWS ,Top Stocks In 2012
German stocks advanced to a five-month high as the International Monetary Fund proposed to extendits lending resources to safeguard the global economy from anyworsening of the euro area��s debt crisis.
Henkel AG (HEN3), the maker of industrial adhesives and Soft Scrubcleaners, and Infineon Technologies AG (IFX), Europe��s second-biggestchipmaker, led rising shares. Commerzbank AG (CBK), Germany��s second-largest lender, retreated 1.7 percent after Moody��s InvestorsService cut its financial strength rating.
The DAX Index (DAX) climbed 21.64, or 0.3 percent, to 6,354.57 atthe close in Frankfurt, its highest since Aug. 4. The gaugetumbled 15 percent last year as euro-area leaders struggled tocontain the region��s sovereign-debt crisis. The broader HDAXIndex added 0.4 percent today.
��It��s difficult these days to forecast economicdevelopments in Europe,�� said Andreas Lipkow, an equity traderat MWB Fairtrade Wertpapierhandelsbank AG in Frankfurt.��Investors are focused on economic data in the U.S.��
The IMF will push China, Brazil, Russia, India, Japan andoil-exporting nations to contribute the most, according to anofficial from a Group of 20 nation, who spoke on condition ofanonymity because the talks are private. The fund wa! nts tost rike the agreement at the Feb. 25-26 meeting of G-20 financeministers and central bankers in Mexico City, the official said.
A gauge of confidence among U.S. homebuilders rose inJanuary to the highest level in more than four years as salesand buyer traffic improved. U.S. industrial production reboundedin December, reflecting gains in demand for business equipment,automobiles and construction materials.
World Bank Forecast
The World Bank cut its global growth forecast. The worldeconomy will grow 2.5 percent in 2012, down from a June estimateof 3.6 percent, as a recession in the euro area threatens toexacerbate a slowdown in emerging markets, the Washington-basedinstitution said.
The German government also cut its forecast for economicexpansion this year, saying Europe��s biggest economy will grow0.7 percent in 2012. That��s less than the 1 percent that itestimated in October.
Greece will agree a deal with private creditors that wouldgive them cash and securities with a market value of about 32cents per euro of government debt, according to Bruce Richards,the chief executive officer for Marathon Asset Management LP.Richards sits on the committee of 32 private creditors thatformed in November to negotiate with Greece, the InternationalMonetary Fund and the European Union.
Germany got bids for 7.6 billion euros ($9.8 billion) oftwo-year notes at an auction today, compared with a sales targetof 4 billion euros, the Bundesbank said.
Henkel, Commerzbank
Henkel (HEN3) rose 2.4 percent to 46.31 euros as Chief ExecutiveOfficer Kasper Rorsted said in an interview with DAF TV that thecompany��s 2012 targets remain valid, adding that he doesn��texpect a big recession.
Infineon (IFX) gained 2.9 percent to 6.97 euros as ASML HoldingNV, Europe��s biggest semiconductor-equipment maker, said ordersfrom abroad will sustain growth and make up for any slowdown inits home region amid the sovereign-debt crisis.
Commerzbank slid 1.7 percent to 1.41 euros, s! napping sixdays of gains. Moody��s cut Commerzbank��s financial-strengthrating to D+ from C-. The rating represents Moody��s opinion of alender��s intrinsic safety and soundness and doesn��t address theprobability of timely repayment of debt, according to thecompany��s definitions.
Kloeckner & Co SE slid 1.2 percent to 11.76 euros, endingthe stock��s longest winning streak in more than six months, asthe German steel trader was cut to ��neutral�� from ��buy�� atCitigroup Inc.
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Some Oregon sites won't have to worry about hanging chads

2012-01-22T10:19:00.001-08:00

Tags: 2012 Value Stocks ,Best Stocks To Hold ,Best Stocks To Hold For 2012 ,Best Stocks To Invest In 2012 ,Best Value Stocks ,Top Stocks In 2012
Here are your Apple rumors and AAPL stock news items for Tuesday:
iPad Goes to the Polls: An AP report (via All Things Digital) said on Tuesday that the state of Oregon has some fancy new voting machines. The state currently is testing Apple’s iPad as a voting machine for disabled citizens. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) donated five tablets to the state after Orgeon decided its aging technology needed to be replaced. The iPad also represents a relatively low-cost alternative to building specialized electronic voting booths. The tablet doesn’t actually record the votes, but prints out a voter’s selections and includes them with the rest of the state’s predominantly paper ballots.
Zuckerberg Talks Steve Jobs and Apple Acquisition: Facebook’s famous CEO Mark Zuckerberg appeared on the Charlie Rose talk show and discussed a number of topics, including his conversations with Apple’s late CEO and the relationship between their companies. According to a Venture Beat transcript of the interview, Zuckerberg said Steve Jobs discussed how to build a focused organization rather than be one of the large companies who “fray and go into all these different areas.” Zuckerberg also almost confirmed that Apple almost acquired Facebook. When asked if Apple tried to buy the social network, Zuckerberg sa! id, R 20;No. I don’t think it ever really got there. I mean, nor would I have wanted to sell it.” Later in the interview, however, he reportedly hinted that acquisition talks happened — but Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, who also was present for the interview, interjected.
Consumer Reports Gives iPhone 4S a Pass: Consumer Reports had a contentious relationship with the iPhone 4 when it released in 2010. The magazine published two articles about the smartphone in quick succession. The first, published just eight days after the phone first released, was a glowing review. The second, published a few days later, said consumers shouldn’t buy the phone because of its notorious faulty antenna. All’s well that ends well, though, as Consumer Reports gave the new iPhone 4S a glowing recommendation on Tuesday, saying the device addresses the antenna issue from the previous model and doesn’t suffer from battery life problems as many customers have reported.
As of this writing, Anthony John Agnello did not own a position in any of the stocks named here. Follow him on Twitter at?@ajohnagnello?and?become a fan of?InvestorPlace on Facebook.
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Schwab's ETF Assets Grew 34% in Q4 2010

2012-01-22T06:27:00.001-08:00

Tags: 2012 Internet Stocks ,401k ,Growth Stocks of 2012 ,Growth Stocks To Own 2012 ,Mutual Funds ,Vanguard ,Top Stocks In 2012

As of the fourth quarter 2010, retail traders, retail investors and RIA clients working with Charles Schwab had over $110 billion in ETF assets.

That represents a year-over-year increase of 34% vs. 28% growth in the ETF industry, according to Schwab.

As of Dec. 31, 2010, Schwab had total assets of $1.57 trillion, which grew at a compound rate of 8% over the past decade. Thus, ETF assets represent about 7% of total assets custodied at the San Francisco-based discount broker.

But retail-investor ETF assets have grown 61% over the past year and now account for 37% of total ETF assets at Schwab, or $41 billion.

RIA-based ETF assets grew 20% between the fourth quarter of 2009 and 2010, while ETF assets in retail-trader accounts expanded 29%. About 51% of total ETF assets custodied at Schwab, or $56 billion, are in RIA-client accounts and 12%, or $14 billion, in retail-trader accounts.

Q4 2010 ETF flows were driven by RIAs and retail investors, particularly into equity and sector ETFs, the company says.

The largest ETF asset class exposure by RIAs is U.S. equity ETFs, with 40% of assets allocated there; the second-largest class is international equity with 22% of RIA assets.

The percent of assets held by RIA clients in ETFs varies from a low of 7% for RIAs with $1 billion or more of assets custodied at Schwab to 11% for clients of RIA with less than $25 million in assets at Schwab.

At the end of the third quarter 2010, some $100 billion in ETF assets were held by Schwab clients. This figure was up 30% year over year and 14% over the second quarter.

Of the $100 billion in ETF assets held by Schwab clients, about 51% were in RIA-client accounts, 37% in retail-investor accounts and 12% in retail-trader accounts.

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10 Credit Score Commandments

2012-01-22T02:44:00.001-08:00

Tags: 2012 Retail Stocks ,Best Retail Stocks To Buy ,Best Retail Stocks To Invest In ,Best Stocks To Buy In 2012 ,TM ,Top Stocks In 2012
Photo: wallyg
Painting: The Story of the Recorded Word, Edward Laning
Forget making changes to your credit card usage �C it��s what you don��t do that can increase your credit score (or at least keep it from going south).
Just as you can��t buy happiness, you can��t buy a high credit score �C the only way to get one is to demonstrate financial responsibility. ��Creditors don��t care about how many millions you may have in your investment account, it��s how you use your credit,�� says Maxine Sweet, vice president, public education for Experian.
Steer clear of these 10 things experts say can mangle your score.
1.Thou Shalt Not Avoid Using Credit. If you don��t use credit, you won��t have much of a credit score. ��A credit score is an important tool companies use to protect themselves,�� Sweet says. The lower the score, the higher the risk, and this can affect whether or not a loan is approved.
2.Thou Shalt Not Miss Payments. Paying a bill late will hurt your credit, but missing a payment will damage it even more. ��If you do so, you can��t make it up,�� Sweet says. In other words, making two payments in the next billing cycle will not remove the blemish from your credit history. Whether or not you pay your bills on time determines 33% of your score.
3.Thou Shalt Not Limit Loan Types. Despite what your bank account may think, a car payment and a mortgage may not be enough. Also man! aging an installment debt, such as a credit card, is a good indicator of credit savviness. There are five elements to the credit score model and revolving credit, which allows consumers to charge and owe different amounts each month, is one of them. ��It��s 10% of the score,�� says Gail Cunningham, vice president of public relations for National Foundation for Credit Counseling.
4.Thou Shalt Not Close Unused Credit Card Accounts. Actually, just use caution, says Sweet. A factor in credit score models is your utilization, which is your debt vs. how much is available. For instance, if you owe $4,800 on a card with a $5,000 limit, you��re using most of your available credit and this ��utilization�� will have a negative impact on your score. Counting toward 30 percent, your utilization is the second highest factor in your credit score. You should charge no more than 30% of your available credit, recommends Cunningham.
5.Thou Shalt Not Be A Credit Tease. Don��t run up charges all over town or apply for several cards at once while looking for the best rewards program. Recent inquiries means that you have accessed your credit and this can affect your score negatively. ��This signals that you��re desperate for credit and don��t have enough cash available for your purchases,�� says Cunningham. She adds that if you are shopping for a major purchase, such as a mortgage or car loan, the inquiries will usually roll together into one.
6.Thou Shalt Not Rob Peter To Pay Paul. Don��t charge anything unless you know how and when you are going to pay it back. One of the benefits of credit is the ability to spread out payments on a big purchase, not to delay paying with hopes that the money will come in �C from somewhere. If you need to use a credit card for convenience, use a prepaid card or a secured card that enables you to make payments to your own line of credit.
7.Thou Shalt Not Get On The Call List. When a debt turns into a colle! ction ac count, it��s an indication that you got yourself in hot water. Once a collection agency jumps into the arena, it becomes the owner of the debt, which will show on your credit history. Trying to make payments to the original debtor will not make the collection agency or the negative mark on your credit go away.
8.Thou Shalt Not Forget The Little Things. That library fine you didn��t pay or the health club contract you signed but didn��t honor can show up on your credit report. Any debtor has the right to report unpaid bills to the credit bureaus, and many of them exercise that right.
9.Thou Shalt Not Negotiate. On paying less than what you owe, that is. If you cannot repay a debt in full and a creditor agrees to settle for less than you owe, you haven��t won the battle. The transaction will be reported as a settled account and this will hurt your credit score. Instead of negotiating to lower the overall amount of the debt, ask to have your interest rate or monthly payment lowered so that you can continue to pay the debt off in full.
10.Thou Shalt Not Give Up. If you have late payments, missed payments, defaulted loans, and similar credit mess-ups in-between, don��t give up and think that your credit history is ruined. Although offenses like these generally stay on your credit history for seven years, the recovery clock doesn��t start ticking until you have one full month of paying all of your debts on time, says Sweet.
Provided by FreeCreditReport.com, a part of Experian. -
See your credit report and score today
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BMW Recalls Nearly 90,000 Minis

2012-01-21T23:26:00.001-08:00

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BMW AG is recalling certain high-performance versions of the Mini Cooper, Cooper Clubman, Cooper convertible and Cooper Countryman with model years from 2007 through 2011.

According to a post on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Web site, the recalled cars' electric auxiliary water pumps have circuit boards that can malfunction and overheat. If the circuit boards smolder, they can result in vehicle fires.
The recall, which is expected to begin next month, affects 88,911 vehicles. Mini dealers will replace the water pumps free of charge. The recall covers Mini/Cooper S cars with 2007 through 2011 model years; Mini/Cooper S Clubmans with 2008 through 2011 model years; Mini/Cooper S convertibles with 2009 through 2011 model years; Mini/Cooper S Countrymans with 2011 model years; Mini/John Cooper Works cars with 2009 through 2011 model years; Mini/JCW Clubmans with 2009 model years; and Mini/JCW convertibles with 2010 and 2011 model years.
Non-turbocharged Mini vehicles are not affected by the recall.
Owners may contact BMW at 1-866-275-6464, according to the NHTSA post.
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Is Pandora the Future of Radio?

2012-01-21T19:05:00.001-08:00

Tags: Amazon Kindle ,Amazon.com ,Barnes & Noble Inc. ,Blockbuster ,Consumer Confidence ,Consumer Spending ,Netflix ,Retail Sales ,Top Stocks In 2012
Vehicles are no longer merely modes of transportation. These days, we want the technology in our cars to be on pace with other mobile devices we own. Considering nearly 50% of all radio listening happens on the road, it's a natural fit for music streaming services such as Pandora (NYSE: P  ) to be available in our cars.
The tide of broadcast radio has turned. Pandora's locked down more than a dozen deals with automakers in a shift that will undoubtedly disrupt the traditional radio business. Competing for listeners, you've got the outdated AM/FM stations, subscription music, and Internet radio. Let's see how Pandora's services stack up to the competition, and what the auto deals mean for the future of radio.
Internet killed the radio station
Pandora's free service is a notable alternative to the AM/FM radios in most cars today. Pandora lets users create custom radio stations featuring their favorite artists or genres of music. Partnerships with the automakers could help Pandora make further inroads over Sirius XM's (Nasdaq: SIRI  ) subscription-based model.
With more than 125 million registered users, Pandora far outpaces the 20 million drivers paying for Sirius. Satellite radio los! es in an other big way: limited selection. Listeners pay for a collection of channels from the Sirius XM lineup, and not for a second does that include any on-demand services, such as Pandora's stations customized to the user or Spotify's ability to create user-generated playlists.
Face the music
Until recently, Pandora didn't have much traction in the vehicle business, where traditional radio and Sirius rule. Flashback to last year, when Pandora only had five auto deals -- today, the music company has nearly two dozen agreements with automakers, and that number continues to grow.
Positioning itself with connected devices and strategic partnerships won't have an immediate payoff for the company, but it should lead to profits down the road. Pandora's now available on more than 450 electronic devices and is well on its way to replacing car radios.
Sing and drive
Last year, GM (NYSE: GM  ) outfitted Chevy models with its MyLink system, which lets drivers access and control their Pandora accounts from the vehicles dashboard. While GM continues to improve the integration of online services, the carmaker currently offers Pandora in its Buick, Chevrolet, and GMC vehicles.
New relationships with Ford (NYSE: F  ) , Acura, and Kia show Pandora gaining major speed in the auto sector. Ford's recent announcement that it will be adding the Internet radio company to its truck lineup for 2012 is further proof that Pandora's on track to reach more drivers in the year ahead.
Final thought
Pandora should see growth opportunities continue to play out in 2012 as its service integrates with more platforms. Data connections remain an obstacle for more widespread acceptance in the auto space; available systems that support full integration with car stereo controls still require a smartphone to handle the actual ! music st reaming.
However, the upward trajectory of Pandora in automobiles is well in place. For that reason, I'm pressing play on Pandora and giving the stock thumbs up in my CAPS call. Radio's gone through quite a transformation lately, and while it's still early in the game, Pandora is well positioned to become a leader in the space.?
Find out what other American companies are set to dominate the world -- click here for the free report from The Motley Fool.
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Expected Retirement Age Increases, but Percentage of ¡®Never Retirees¡¯ Falling: EBRI

2012-01-21T15:22:00.001-08:00

Tags: Top Small Stocks ,Top Stocks 2012 ,Top Stocks To Buy ,Top Stocks To Buy For 2012 ,Top Stocks To Invest In 2012 ,Top Stocks In 2012

While the majority of older Americans say they will retire at a later age than they previously thought, the percentage of people near retirement who say they will probably never retire is going down, a report released in December by the Employee Benefit Research Institute found.

The report is based on data from the University of Michigan’s Health and Retirement Study, sponsored by the National Institute on Aging, and examined employed Americans 50 and older between 2006 and 2010.

The report found that the percentage of workers 50 or older who planned to retire early at age 62 fell from 7% in 2006 to just under 5% in 2010. Over 16% planned to retire at 65 in 2006, but by 2010, that percentage fell to 14%.

In 2006, less than 2% of workers near retirement believed they would be working until age 80. In 2010, that number jumped to 5.2%. “There might be some individuals who prefer working longer, but such sharp increases in the size of the group that plans to work longer (within the short period of 2006–2010) suggests that people close to retirement are not confident about a financially secure retirement, and therefore plan to work longer,” according to the report.

While workers recognize that they will likely be in the work force longer than they might have expected, they at least see a light at the end of the tunnel. In 2006, 21% of workers said they would probably never stop working. In 2008, during the recession, that number increased to 22%, but by 2010 it had fallen to 16%. Additionally, the percentage of workers 50 or older who don’t know when they will retire fell from almost 19% in 2006 to 14% in 2010.

What may be most troubling, especially for those “never retirees,” many workers may be unable to work as long as they planned. EBRI’s 2011 Retirement Confidence Survey found 45% of retirees in 2011 left the work force earlier than they thought they would. Of those, 63% left for their own health; 23% left due to downsize or closure (20% left for “other work-related reasons”); and 18% left to care for a family member. Just 6% of retirees in the 2011 survey offered “positive reasons” for leaving the work force.

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Is Obama the 'food stamp president?'

2012-01-21T11:35:00.001-08:00

Tags: 2012 Gold Stocks ,Best Gold Stocks To Invest In ,Best Stocks of 2012 ,Best Stocks To Buy For 2012 ,HBI ,Top Stocks In 2012
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- A record 44.7 million people -- or 1 in 7 Americans -- were on food stamps last year. But does that make Barack Obama the "food stamp president?"
Newt Gingrich once again slapped that label on Obama during a South Carolina debate Monday night, saying: "The fact is that more people have been put on food stamps by Barack Obama than any president in American history."
It's true that the food stamp rolls have swelled more under Obama's tenure than under his recent predecessors. Also, his 2009 Recovery Act allowed even more people to sign up.
The number of people in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has soared to an average 44.7 million in fiscal 2011, up 33% from fiscal 2009. Obama's stimulus act made it easier for childless, jobless adults to qualify for the program and increased the monthly benefit by about 15% through 2013.
In fiscal 2011, the federal government spent more than $75 billion on food stamps, which provided an average monthly benefit of $133.85 a month, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That's up from $34.6 billion at the end of fiscal 2008, when recipients collected an average benefit of $102.19.
Faces of poverty
But these numbers alone do not tell the whole story.
Food stamp enrollment has been rising for more than a decade. President Bush launched a recruitment campaign, which pushed average participation up by 63% during his eight years in office.
Nearly the same number! of peop le -- 11 million -- joined the program during the Bush and Obama administrations, according to Department of Agriculture records. Of course, the jump during Obama's tenure has come in only three years.
Also, food stamps are available to anyone who meets the criteria, generally having a monthly net income below the poverty line -- about $18,500 a year for a family of three -- and assets of $2,000 or less. Even with the ramp-up, an estimated one in four eligible Americans do not participate, according to the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
Much of what's driving the steep climb in enrollment is the nation's worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, when the food stamp program was created.
Food stamps have become a lifeline for the millions of long-term unemployed. More than 20% of those unemployed for more than six months received benefits, according to Congress' Joint Economic Committee.
"The program is designed to be responsive to economic downturns and it's met the need that's out there," said Dorothy Rosenbaum, the center's senior policy analyst. "These increases are temporary."
However, Gingrich may have a point in painting Obama as an entitlement president, said Robert Rector, senior research fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation. Spending on income-based programs, such as food stamps, has increased by one-third to $900 billion under Obama. There are 70 such programs.
"He is massively expanding spending on welfare-related programs," Rector said. "Food stamps is a symbol of that growth."
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The Real Risks to Gold Prices

2012-01-21T07:46:00.001-08:00

Tags: acquisition ,agricultural and construction equipment stores ,Case IH agriculture equipment dealership ,Centeral Iowa ,CNH Brands ,David Meyer ,Definitive Agreement ,fertile farmland ,Fiat Industrial ,Jewell Implement Company ,Milan:FI.MI ,NASDAQ:TITN ,NYSE:CNH ,Titan Machinery ,TITN ,Vulgamott family ,Top Stocks In 2012

If you've been paying attention, then you'll remember how gold can make financial crises fun. Gold bulls were so short of things to keep them awake at night, in fact, many will no doubt be grateful for the 20% plunge of late 2011. Y'know, just to keep their hand in.
"We think the peak would be towards the end of this year or maybe some time in the first half of next year," says Neil Meader, research director for Thomson-Reuters' 2011 acquisition, the GFMS precious metals consultancy.
The trigger for gold's final top and decline? "Anything that really signals to the ma! rket tha t the structural imbalances and the various problems affecting the strength of various currencies are moving behind us, that we are moving beyond this current financial crisis situation," says Neil Meader, research director at Thomson Reuters GFMS, speaking to TheStreet after launching GFMS's latest Gold Survey Update in New York on Tuesday.
Now, whatever you make of that risk, gold investors should perhaps be pleased to see the world's leading data and analysis provider flagging such an event. Like pullbacks in a bull market, it can only be healthy to consider the inevitable end.
In particular, says Neil Meader, "One overt trigger that is worth looking for is the start of a serious ratcheting up of interest rates. Because, for gold investment to be popular, you do need really low interest rates."
Of course, the risk of higher interest rates look about as high right now as interest rates themselves – i.e., zero. Even where the cost of borrowing or the return on cash is better than nothing, it isn't after you account for inflation. And as BullionVault never tires of reminding people, it's that rate – the real rate of interest – which really matters to the ebb and flow of gold demand in the end.

Ave. annual yield on 10-year T-bonds after inflation (%)
Real change in Dollar gold price (after inflation)
1970-1980
0.41
plus 806%
1980-1990
5.03
minus 61%
1990-2000
3.57
minus 47%
2000-date
1.66
plus 303%
Hence the rise in global gold prices, rather than just in Dollars, over the last decade. It shows clearly in our Global Gold Index, mapped above. The GGI prices gold against a weighted basket of the world's top 10 currencies, as measured by the size of their issuing economy. It's risen 5-fold over the last decade, just like the S&P index of the 500 largest US corporations did in the 1990s. Unlike the S&P, however, gold hadn't already risen 5-fold in the 15 years previous.
Still, this run cannot continue indefinitely. And pending the big downturn in gold prices apparently nailed on for end-2012 – or early 2013, or maybe a bit after, if not whenever this financial crisis is finished and things get back to what we used to call normal – here's 3 things likely to make gold owners reach for the Valium at some point or other:
#1. Europe
Oh sure; gold offers unique insurance against default or devaluation, because it can't be created or destroyed, and it is no one else's liability to renege on (so long as you own it outright). Short term, however, a credit squeeze is likely to force up the Dollar and drain liquidity from derivative markets, including gold futures. Repeating the impact of Lehman's 2008 collapse, Europe's credit crunch in the second-half of 2011 forced the collapse of broker MF Global, further helping the speculative position in US gold futures fall in half. That's certain to dent prices short term, even if gold investment demand for physical bar and coin is surging for fear of the political and monetary reaction.

#2. China
The middle kingdom is su! pposed t o be an unalloyed good for gold prices. Disappointing both GFMS and ourselves by failing to take out India's top spot in 2009, it's likely to stand closer still as world #2 in 2012. But unlike investors here in the developed West, Chinese gold demand clearly shows a significant and positive link with economic growth – and no one yet knows how a credit squeeze or "hard landing" might affect the globe's fastest-growing demand for physical bullion. Our guess is that tight credit and stalling income growth wouldn't be good for gold. Beijing's response might be, however, if 2008-2009 is a guide.

#3. Volatility
Guaranteed in 2011, volatility in gold prices still lagged US equities, but that's small comfort if you imagined owning gold really would let you sleep through the night. Owning physical property, in law, means you escape credit, not price risk. Scarier still for retained wealth trying to hide from the storm in gold, volatility is known to dent India's household buying, the world's largest single source of demand. Imports fell 8% by weight in 2011, thanks to a near-collapse in the final 3 months. There's also a plain risk that – after rising each year since 2001 – the recent whip-sawing of the gold price might dissuade Western investors, too. After all, if gold is supposed to be a "safe haven" amid any event, it failed in the second-half of 2011, even though it's tripled during this 5-year crisis so far.
There, all that noise should help keep you awake tonight. As for tomorrow, there are plenty of other nightmares threatening your wealth elsewhere. Surging real interest rates paid to your cash savings shouldn't be one of them.
*Post courtesy of Adrian Ash, head of research at BullionVault

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Tech Stocks: 2012¡äs Top Consumer Tech Gadgets

2012-01-21T04:17:00.001-08:00

Tags: 2012 Hot Stocks ,2012 Retail Stocks ,BGFV ,CVX ,DKS ,Hot Stocks To Buy In 2012 ,Hot Stocks To Invest In 2012 ,TGT ,WSM ,Top Stocks In 2012
It's too early to tell what will be the blockbuster tech product of 2012, but a few theories prevail.
According to CNBC's Chris Morris, ultrabooks are primed to be the must-have tech toy of 2012. They are super slim and super fast computers aimed at rivaling Apple's MacBook Air. The system is led by Intel.
But the interesting thing is that utlrabooks and game platforms aren't necessarily "new." Yes, 2012 models have fancy new improvements on the older models, but the simple existence of an older model implies that the market is already saturated with one version or another of the gadget.
And now that every tech object does everything, can there ever really be a "next best thing," or will it always be enhancements of the old?
"The move to a more multifunctional mobile world is consolidating electronics -- and that erects more hurdles for technologies hoping to open up new spaces," writes Morris.
A few exceptions
"Apple's Siri and Microsoft's Kinect peripheral for the Xbox 360 are opening up new avenues to search for content and control devices, and could be installed in more electronics."
This relatively new and extremely popular technology has yet to be integrated in the most common tech pro! ducts li ke computers and televisions, but it's likely it will be.
"What needs to happen is these products need to find a niche or differentiate themselves," says Arnold, director of industry analysis for consumer tech at NPD. "It's hard to put out a product that's kind of like the Apple ecosystem, but lacks the apps and costs the same amount."
Business section: Investing ideas
Curious which tech stocks will outperform in 2012?
For ideas, we screened a universe of technology stocks with a positive yearly performance greater than 20%. We further screened for companies that have received net positive investments from institutional investors, like hedge funds, in the current quarter.
These tech stocks did well in 2011, and "big money" thinks 2012 will start kick off much the same way -- do you agree with this optimism? (Click here to access free, interactive tools to analyze these ideas.)
1. Silicon Motion Technology (Nasdaq: SIMO  ) : Operates as a fabless semiconductor company. Market cap of $694.38M. Net institutional shares purchased over the current quarter at 1.6M, which is 5.88% of the company's 27.22M share float. Over the past year the stock value has increased by 371.64%.
2. FARO Technologies (Nasdaq: FARO  ) : Designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and supports portable, software driven, 3-D measurement systems used in a range of manufacturing, industrial, building construction, and forensic applications. Market cap of $913.32M. Net institutional shares purchased over the current quarter at 496.5K, which is 3.08% of the company's 16.10M share float. Over the past year the stock value has increased by 81.61%.
3. Rightnow Technologies: Provides cloud-based customer experience software products and services. Market cap of $1.41B. Net institutional shares purchased over the current quarter at 1.4M, which is 5.03% of th! e compan y's 27.86M share float. Over the past year the stock value has increased by 57.73%.
4. Globecomm Systems: Provides satellite-based communications infrastructure solutions and services. Market cap of $321.64M. Net institutional shares purchased over the current quarter at 622.0K, which is 3.04% of the company's 20.48M share float. Over the past year the stock value has increased by 48.11%.
5. InfoSpace (Nasdaq: INSP  ) : Develops search tools and technologies that assist consumers with finding content and information on the Internet. Market cap of $479.86M. Net institutional shares purchased over the current quarter at 1.7M, which is 5.29% of the company's 32.13M share float. Over the past year the stock value has increased by 48.05%.
6. Cognex (Nasdaq: CGNX  ) : Provides machine vision products that capture and analyze visual information to automate tasks, primarily in manufacturing processes. Market cap of $1.73B. Net institutional shares purchased over the current quarter at 2.2M, which is 5.85% of the company's 37.63M share float. Over the past year the stock value has increased by 43.78%.
7. The Ultimate Software Group: Designs, markets, implements, and supports unified human capital management (HCM) software-as-service (SaaS) solutions to businesses, providing a single source for comprehensive human resources, payroll, and talent management technology. Market cap of $1.79B. Net institutional shares purchased over the current quarter at 2.4M, which is 9.49% of the company's 25.29M share float. Over the past year the stock value has increased by 39.99%.
8. Cepheid (Nasdaq: CPHD  ) : Develops, manufactures, and markets integrated systems for testing in the clinical market, as well as for application in legacy biothreat, industrial, and partner markets. Market cap of $2.16B. ! Net inst itutional shares purchased over the current quarter at 3.4M, which is 5.42% of the company's 62.68M share float. Over the past year the stock value has increased by 39.21%.
9. Sourcefire: Provides intelligent Cybersecurity solutions for information technology (IT); environments of commercial enterprises, such as health care, financial services, manufacturing, energy, education, retail, and telecommunications; and federal, state, and international government organizations worldwide. Market cap of $923.39M. Net institutional shares purchased over the current quarter at 3.3M, which is 11.99% of the company's 27.52M share float. Over the past year the stock value has increased by 33.22%.
10. OPNET Technologies: Provides software products and related services for managing applications and networks in the United States and internationally. Market cap of $786.27M. Net institutional shares purchased over the current quarter at 896.3K, which is 6.03% of the company's 14.87M share float. Over the past year the stock value has increased by 32.61%.
Interactive Chart: Press Play to compare changes in analyst ratings over the last two years for the stocks mentioned above. Analyst ratings sourced from Zacks Investment Research.

Your browser does not support iframes.

Kapitall's Rebecca Lipman does not own any of the shares mentioned above. Data sourced from Finviz.
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The Next Eastman Kodak Co. (NYSE: EK): Companies Headed for Bankruptcy in 2012

2012-01-21T00:19:00.001-08:00

Tags: Cleantech Transit ,CLNO ,Dynavax ,NASDAQ:DVAX ,Nasdaq:OVRL ,Nasdaq:SONS ,Overland ,Sonus ,Top Stocks In 2012
Eastman Kodak Co. (NYSE: EK) filed Chapter 11 early this morning (Thursday), becoming one of the first to file among the staggering number of U.S. companies headed for bankruptcy this year.

The Rochester, NY-based company, started in 1880, has been bleeding money since consumers ditched film for digital photography. Eastman Kodak listed assets of $5.1 billion and debt reaching $6.8 billion in its U.S. Bankruptcy Court filing.

"They were a company stuck in time," Robert Burley, an associate professor at Toronto's Ryerson University, told Bloomberg News. "Their history was so important to them, this rich century-old history when they made a lot of amazing things and a lot of money along the way. Now their history has become a liability."

Kodak stock had fallen more than 35% by 2:00 p.m. today, bringing its total slip for the past year to more than 93%.

Tech Developments Killed Eastman Kodak Co. (NYSE: EK)
As film cameras headed toward extinction, Eastman Kodak's revenue plunged without a substantial product line that could compete with the growing trend toward digital photography.

Kodak was actually the first to create the digital camera in 1975, but shelved the model fearing it would derail its profitable film business.
Whi le Kodak was successful at securing patents and developing new technology, it was unable monetize it. Kodak tried to sell more than 1,100 digital-imaging patents to make enough money to shift to a digital-product focus, but failed to reach its goal.

"Basically, a new technology came along and it eliminated the need for their core product; people don't sell film for digital photography," Business Insider Editor Henry Blodget told American Public Media's "Marketplace" program. "People like to say it's that the companies were stupid or they missed something. I think the truth is, that the market changed and they just didn't change quickly enough."

Besides failing to advance, businesses also have to contend with this year's limited growth economic environment and mild consumer spending. These factors make it nearly impossible to pay down debt - meaning a growing number of companies headed for bankruptcy this year.

Companies Headed for Bankruptcy in 2012
While 2011 was a busy year for Chapter 11 filings, 2012 corporate bankruptcies will be double in number and size, according to Fitch Ratings Inc.

Fitch says companies posing the most risk are those with a lot of high-yield and low-grade CCC bonds, as well as middle-market companies valued between $200 million and $1 billion.

"Nobody is going to want to put more money into these companies," Harvey Miller, a bankruptcy partner at the law firm Weil Gotshal & Manges, told CNNMoney. "Hedge funds didn't have a good year so that will play into it too."

Besides mid-cap companies, some big names that have posted losses for several quarters could finally reach their financial breaking point this year. The retail, restaurant, and consumer-products industries will be hit the hardest.

Investors should beware the following companies topping the bankruptcy watchlist for 2012:
Barnes & Noble Inc. (NYSE: BKS): With the fall of rival Borders last year and the company's successful Nook e-reader, you'd think Barnes & Noble would be doing well. The trouble is, it still has to compete with Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN), which recently introduced a fresh line of Kindle e-readers aimed directly at the Nook. The company's net profit margin in 2011 was -1.06%. Its market cap is down to $695 million, and stock is down 32% in the past year.

"While Barnes & Noble has benefited from deep-pocket investors who have built a major stake in the company, the fundamentals aren't there to support this investment," said Global Macro Trends Specialist Jack Barnes." It is extremely overleveraged, and the company has reached the stage where it's borrowing money to pay high dividends."

Sears Holdings Corp. (Nasdaq: SHLD): Sears announced last month it was closing 100 stores. Its stock lost about 25% in one day after the news broke, and is down 41% over the past year. Its income has slipped for several quarters while its debt pile grows. Sears' third-quarter earnings per share (EPS) were a loss of $3.95. In addition to poor retail performance, Sears also lost money in real estate.

"The bet about Sears has never been about retailing," Money Morning Chief Investment Strategist Keith Fitz-Gerald said earlier this month. "The play here for years has been Sears as a land bank. But real estate is in the toilet and no amount of new merchandising can help offset this."

DineEquity Inc. (NYSE: DIN): While not as synonymous with American business as Kodak or Sears, DineEquity does represent the struggling U.S. food industry. It operates Applebee's Neighborhood Grill and Bar and International House of Pancakes (IHOP). Venerable restaurant chains haven't done well lately, with several going bankrupt during the current economic downturn, incl! uding Fr iendly's, Fuddrucker's and Sbarro. The company has $1.5 billion in debt on its balance sheet, which it refinanced in 2010 hoping to buy time. But its declining revenue is a sign the move didn't work. Its stock has fallen more than 17% in the past six months.

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More low-tech companies filing Chapter 11

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Nokia Still A $7 Stock Even Though Lumia Falls Flat In Europe

2012-01-20T20:29:00.001-08:00

Tags: 2012 Value Stocks ,Top Stocks 2012 ,Top Stocks For 2012 ,Top Stocks To Buy 2012 ,Top Value Stocks 2012 ,Top Stocks In 2012

Last month when Nokia launched its Lumia smartphones in Europe, some optimism returned for Nokia investors on the hopes of a turnaround in the Finnish phone maker’s fortunes.
A recent survey by BNP Paribas, however, indicated that only 2% of Europeans are interested in buying Nokia��s first Microsoft’s Windows Phone model Lumia 800.^[1]
Our $7 price estimate for Nokia stock is about 40% above market price.
See our complete analysis for Nokia stock here
Nokia-Microsoft partnership not working
The whole purpose of Nokia partnering with Microsoft was to increase its presence in the smartphone market, but it doesn��t seem to be working. Not only is Nokia losing its presence in the smartphone operating system market through its declining Symbian brand, but also Microsoft��s Windows Phone 7 is also losing market share.
Nokia��s Symbian market share declined from 36% in Q3 2010 to 17% in Q3 2011 in the smartphone operating system market while Microsoft��s Windows Phone 7 market share declined from 2.7% to 1.5% during the same period.^[2] Meanwhile, Google’s Android OS has gained a huge presence ! while Ap ple iOS lost market share only slightly.
There is still some hope left though
Although Nokia��s partnership with Microsoft has started on a slower note, all is not lost for Nokia. Nokia plans to enter into the U.S. markets early next year. At the launch event co-hosted by T-Mobile earlier this month, Nokia marked January 11th as the official date on which it re-enters U.S. smartphone market.^[3]
Nokia announced that it will debut Lumia 710 smartphone in the U.S. on T-Mobile’s network for $49.99. It will be interesting to see the kind of traction that Nokia manages in the U.S. this time, considering that it failed to capture any meaningful presence in the U.S. smartphone market in the past.
Understand How a Company��s Products Impact its Stock Price at Trefis

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Culp Announces Results for Second Quarter Fiscal 2012

2012-01-20T16:52:00.001-08:00

Tags: 2012 Growth Stocks ,Growth Stocks For 2012 ,Growth Stocks To Buy ,Growth Stocks To Buy For 2012 ,Top Stocks In 2012

HIGH POINT, NC- 11/29/2011 (CRWENEWSWIRE) - Culp, Inc. (NYSE:CFI) today reported financial and operating results for the second quarter of fiscal 2012 ended October 30, 2011.
Highlights for the second quarter of fiscal 2012 include the following:
Net sales were $58.0 million, a 19 percent increase compared with the second quarter of fiscal 2011, with mattress fabrics segment sales up 24 percent and upholstery fabric segment sales up 11 percent over the same period a year ago.
Pre-tax income was $2.9 million, or 4.9 percent of sales, compared with $3.2 million, or 6.5 percent of sales, in the prior year period.
Net income was $6.3 million, or $0.49 per diluted share, compared with net income of $4.0 million, or $0.30 per diluted share, for the second quarter of fiscal 2011. Net income for the second quarter of 2012 included an income tax benefit of $3.4 million, while net income for the previous year period included an $801,000 income tax benefit.
As of November 25, 2011, the company has repurchased 585,000 shares of Culp common stock for approximately $5.1 million, or 4.4 percent of shares outstanding at the beginning of its share repurchase program announced in June.
The company��s financial position remained strong, with cash and cash equivalents and short term investments of $24.3 million and total debt of $9.2 million as of October 30, 2011, even with stock repurchases of $4.8 million, capital expenditures of $2.6 million and debt repayments of $2.3 milli! on.
< p>Fiscal 2011 Year to Date Highlights
Year to date sales were $118.3 million, up 13 percent from the same period a year ago, with mattress fabrics segment sales up 14 percent and upholstery fabrics segment sales up 12 percent over the same period a year ago.
Year to date pre-tax income was $5.8 million, or 4.9 percent of sales, compared with $7.5 million, or 7.1 percent of sales for the same period last year.
Year to date net income was $8.1 million, or $0.62 per diluted share, compared with net income of $7.7 million, or $0.59 per diluted share, for the same period a year ago. Year to date net income included a $2.2 million income tax benefit, while net income for the previous year period included an income tax benefit of $270,000.
The projection for third quarter fiscal 2012 is for overall sales to increase approximately two to six percent. Pre-tax income for the third quarter of fiscal 2012 is expected to be in the range of $1.9 to $2.8 million.
Commenting on the results, Saxon said, ��We are pleased with the positive sales trend for the second quarter and through the first half of fiscal 2012. Both of our businesses had impressive sales gains in spite of an uncertain global economic environment, and we are well positioned to build further on this sales momentum. These trends reflect the success of our various sales and marketing initiatives along with the benefits of our excellent design capabilities and efficient manufacturing platform. Overall, our profitability is down somewhat compared with a year ago, primarily due to higher raw material costs in both businesses and the currency impact in the upholstery fabrics business. We have established a strong competitive position in both mattress fabrics and upholstery fabrics as we have continued to deliver innovative products that meet the changing demands of our customers. As always, our primary focus is on outstanding service for our customers as a financially stable and trusted supplier. Looking ahead, we have a solid f! inancial position and the ability to support our growth strategy in fiscal 2012, while creating value for our shareholders through our share repurchase program.��
Overview
For the quarter ended October 30, 2011, net sales were $58.0 million, a 19 percent increase compared with $48.9 million a year ago. The company reported net income of $6.3 million, or $0.49 per diluted share, for the second quarter of fiscal 2012, compared with net income of $4.0 million, or $0.30 per diluted share, for the second quarter of fiscal 2011. Net income for the second quarter of 2012 included an income tax benefit of $3.4 million, while net income for the previous year period included an $801,000 income tax benefit. The income tax benefit for the second quarter of fiscal 2012 includes a $4.4 million non-cash reversal of a portion of a valuation allowance against net deferred tax assets in the United States. The company��s overall adjusted effective income tax rate as of the second quarter of fiscal 2012 was 18.0 percent compared with 15.4 percent for the second quarter of fiscal 2011. On a pre-tax basis, the company reported income of $2.9 million compared with pre-tax income of $3.2 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2011.
Mattress Fabrics Segment
Mattress fabric sales for the second quarter were $35.2 million, a 24 percent increase compared with $28.3 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2011.
��Our mattress fabrics business delivered a strong sales performance in the second quarter, reflecting improved industry demand and our sales and marketing initiatives,�� said Iv Culp, president of Culp��s mattress fabrics division. ��Our ability to leverage recent investments in our production facilities along with the expanded capacity has enhanced our ability to serve our customers. Additionally, our outstanding design capabilities and product innovation have created additional sales opportunities with customers who are leading suppliers in the bedding industry. We are well positio! ned with a diverse product line that meets the current market demand in all product categories.
��We have worked diligently to manage our production costs in light of recent sustained increases in raw material prices. We have also continued to look for alternative sources of yarns and raw materials without compromising quality or production efficiency. While the higher costs and pricing pressures affected our operating margins for the second quarter, we are encouraged that raw material prices have at least stabilized following several quarters of upward volatility.
��We are pleased with the trends in our mattress fabrics business and we expect to build on this momentum,�� added Culp. ��We have a strong operating structure with an efficient and scalable manufacturing platform supported by outstanding product design, superior customer service, reliable delivery performance and consistent quality and value.��
Upholstery Fabrics Segment
Sales for this segment were $22.8 million, an 11 percent increase compared with $20.5 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2011. Sales of China produced fabrics, which includes sales of Culp Europe, were $19.9 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2012, up 16 percent over the prior year period, while sales of U.S. produced fabrics were $2.9 million, down 15 percent from the second quarter of fiscal 2011.
��We are encouraged by the favorable sales trends in our upholstery fabrics business and the sales momentum we are building in spite of the continued weakness in the U.S. housing market and the uncertain global economic situation,�� noted Saxon. ��These results were primarily driven by sales of our China produced fabrics, which includes Culp Europe. Customer response to these products has continued to be favorable as we have focused on offering innovative designs and high quality at a competitive price. We have been pleased with our recent sales and marketing initiatives that have resulted in increased placements wi! th key U .S. customers, local China market customers and a growing list of international customers. We will continue to focus on leveraging our China platform to drive our growth in fiscal 2012.
��While we are pleased with the sales gain, our upholstery fabrics results for the second quarter continued to be affected by higher raw material costs, currency impact and low profitability in our velvet product line, which is manufactured in our U.S. operation. To help address these issues, we implemented price increases for the velvet product line that went into effect midway through the second quarter, and are implementing a price increase for the China sourced fabrics during the third quarter. In addition, we have taken more steps to align our velvet capacity with expected demand. Further, we are encouraged about the opportunity to increase our sales of woven texture products, which we began manufacturing at this U.S. facility just over two years ago. Notably, our costs to produce this particular category of fabrics in the U.S. are now comparable to our production costs in China. We are expecting improved profitability from this operation in the second half of our fiscal year.��
Saxon continued, ��We continue to make progress with respect to our Culp Europe operation, located in Poland, and have now completed our second full quarter of sales from this location. While this operation is still in the early stages of development, we are encouraged by the initial sales trends and the interest level from several of the largest furniture manufacturers and retailers in Europe. We expect to gradually grow this business, with sales contributing about three to four percent of our total upholstery fabrics sales this fiscal year and then increasing further over the next fiscal year. During this first full year of operation, and considering the higher level of SG&A expenses necessary for our initial start-up, we expect to reach the break-even level for fiscal 2012, and then begin to make a more mea! ningful contribution to profits in the next fiscal year. This strategic Poland location offers the highest concentration of furniture and bedding suppliers to the European market, low operating costs and close proximity for shipping to customers in most European countries. Europe as a whole represents the second largest furniture market in the world behind North America. We are making excellent progress building a solid foundation for the long term and look forward to additional growth opportunities with Culp Europe.
��As we move forward in fiscal 2012, our objectives are to improve the results of our U.S. operation, make continued progress in Culp Europe, and leverage the performance of our China produced fabrics business,�� added Saxon.
Balance Sheet
��We have remained focused on maintaining a strong balance sheet in this uncertain economic environment,�� said Saxon. ��As of October 30, 2011, our balance sheet reflected $24.3 million in cash and cash equivalents and short term investments. Total debt at the end of the second quarter of fiscal 2012 was $9.2 million. We made a $2.2 million scheduled principal payment on this debt during the second quarter. Our next major scheduled principal payment of $2.2 million is not due until August 2012.
��As previously announced on June 16, 2011, our Board of Directors authorized the expenditure of up to $5.0 million for the repurchase of shares of the company’s common stock. Subsequently, on August 29, 2011, the Board authorized the addition of $2.0 million to this program, for a total of $7.0 million. As of November 25, 2011, approximately $5.1 million had been spent for 585,000 shares, representing approximately 4.4 percent of shares outstanding at the beginning of the share repurchase program.
��Our strong financial position provides us the opportunity to continue to execute our global growth strategy, while also creating value for our shareholders through share repurchases,�� added Saxon.
Outlook
Commen! ting on the outlook for the third quarter of fiscal 2012, Saxon remarked, ��We expect our sales for the third quarter of fiscal 2012 to be up approximately two to six percent from the third quarter of last year, even though we expect the overall economic uncertainties and issues surrounding the housing market along with high unemployment to continue to influence consumer demand for furniture and bedding.
��We expect sales in our mattress fabrics segment to be approximately three to eight percent higher compared with the same period a year ago. Operating income in this segment is expected to be somewhat higher than operating income for the same period a year ago.
��In our upholstery fabrics segment, we expect sales for the third quarter to be flat to three percent higher compared with the same period last year. We believe the upholstery fabric segment��s operating income will be break-even to up slightly for the quarter, primarily due to higher raw material costs and currency impact.
��Considering these factors, the company expects to report pre-tax income for the third fiscal quarter of 2012 in the range of $1.9 million to $2.8 million. This is management��s best estimate at present, recognizing that future financial results are difficult to predict because of overall economic uncertainties.
��Also, given the volatility in the income tax area during fiscal 2011 and the first half of fiscal 2012, the income tax expense or benefit and related tax rate for the third quarter of fiscal 2012 remain very difficult to project,�� said Saxon.
In closing, Saxon remarked, ��Our success to date in fiscal 2012 confirms our ability to execute against our global strategic initiatives in a dynamic and challenging marketplace. We have pursued a strategy focused on exceptional design and innovation at a good value with products that meet the demands of our customers around the world. We have a lean and flexible manufacturing platform that supports this strategy both now and as market conditions improv! e. In ad dition, we have the financial strength to aggressively pursue our growth initiatives, an important advantage in today��s economic environment. Culp has a leading competitive position in both businesses and we look forward to the opportunities ahead to expand our market reach.��
About the Company
Culp, Inc. is one of the world��s largest marketers of mattress fabrics for bedding and upholstery fabrics for furniture. The company��s fabrics are used principally in the production of bedding products and residential and commercial upholstered furniture.
This release contains ��forward-looking statements�� within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 27A of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934). Such statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties. Further, forward-looking statements are intended to speak only as of the date on which they are made. Forward-looking statements are statements that include projections, expectations or beliefs about future events or results or otherwise are not statements of historical fact. Such statements are often but not always characterized by qualifying words such as ��expect,�� believe,�� estimate,�� plan�� and ��project�� and their derivatives, and include but are not limited to statements about the company��s future operations, production levels, sales, SG&A or other expenses, margins, gross profit, operating income, earnings or other performance measures. Factors that could influence the matters discussed in such statements include the level of housing starts and sales of existing homes, consumer confidence, trends in disposable income, and general economic conditions. Decreases in these economic indicators could have a negative effect on the company��s business and prospects. Likewise, increases in interest rates, particularly home mortgage rates, and increases in consumer! debt or the general rate of inflation, could affect the company adversely. Changes in consumer tastes or preferences toward products not produced by the company could erode demand for the company��s products. Strengthening of the U.S. dollar against other currencies could make the company��s products less competitive on the basis of price in markets outside the United States, and strengthening of currencies in Canada and China can have a negative impact on the company��s sales in the U.S. of products produced in those countries. Also, economic and political instability in international areas could affect the company��s operations or sources of goods in those areas, as well as demand for the company��s products in international markets. Other factors that could affect the matters discussed in forward-looking statements are included in the company��s periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the ��Risk Factors�� section in the company��s most recent annual report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 15, 2011, for fiscal year ended May 1, 2011.
Source: Culp, Inc.
Contact:
Culp, Inc.
Investor Contact:
Kenneth R. Bowling, 336-881-5630
Chief Financial Officer
or
Media Contact:
Teresa A. Huffman, 336-889-5161
Vice President of Human Resources

CULP, INC.
Condensed Financial Highlights
(Unaudited)
T hree Months Ended
Six Months Ended
October 30,
October 31,
October 30,
October 31,
2011
2010
2011
2010
Net sales $ 58,013,000 $ 48,879,000 $ 118,283,000 $ 104,791,000
Income before income taxes $ 2,863,000 $ 3,201,000 $ 5,827,000 $ 7,479,000
Net income $ 6,252,000 $ 4,002,000 $ 8,071,000 $ 7,749,000
Net income per share:
Basic $ 0.49 $ 0.31 $ 0.63 $ 0.60
Diluted $ 0.49 $ 0.30 $ 0.62 $ 0.59
Average shares outstanding:
Basic 12,733,000 12,932,000 12,898,000 12,901,000
Diluted 12,871,000 ! 13,167,000 13,025,000 13,186,000

THIS IS NOT A RECOMMENDATION TO BUY OR SELL ANY SECURITY!
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The Global Economy's "Fantastic Four"

2012-01-20T13:08:00.001-08:00

Tags: Top European Stocks ,Top European Stocks For 2012 ,Top Stocks For 2012 ,Top Stocks To Watch For 2012 ,Top Stocks In 2012

Without these four countries, global growth would be below 4%.
Without Brazil, Russia, India, China and much of Asia growing their economies by at least 3% over the last two years, global economic growth would have been zero.
Ten years ago, Goldman Sachs economist Jim O’Neill used the acronym BRIC to describe the big emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, India and China in a report called “Building Better Economic BRICs”. A decade later and it has become clearer that the BRIC nations are the healthiest of the world’s super economies. And if not for them, global growth wouldn’t be what it is today.
Each one of the BRIC countries has their own set of unique problems, from China’s fixed income investment strategy wearing thin, to Indian political corruption and poverty. But one thing they don’t have is mounting debt rising above national GDP. While the political leadership in Russia and China may be more cohesive, if not autocratic, than that in the world’s largest democracy — India — and even Brazil, political leaders in these countries have one thing in common at least. They have acted faster on monetary and fiscal policies than in the U.S. and Europe. The biggest political battles is the BRICs are over corruption charges, and where to invest oil wealth. Meanwhile, in the U.S. and Europe, the biggest political battle is how to bailout so! uthern E urope, or about cutting government programs for ideological rather than economic principles. The BRICs are moving forward as the U.S. and Europe are in limbo.
Last week, O’Neill told “Modern Russia”, a blog run by multinational communications firm Ketchum, that the big four have done better than he expected when he first wrote about them as a unit back in November 2001.
“The aggregate growth of the BRIC economies has been so much faster than I envisaged,” he said. “In the most optimistic scenario, I imagined they could rise from around the 8% of global GDP they were to about 14% today. In fact, they are closer to 20%.”
O’Neill also said that economists, like Paul Krugman, who think Russia should not be included in the BRICs are misunderstanding his original concept. Krugman saidthat Russia does not compare with the more diversified economies of Brazil, India and China due to its overdependence on energy resources to balance the federal budget and grow the economy. Krugman was not mentioned in the published interview.
However, “Russia scores more highly than India in terms of the growth environment score,” said O’Neill. “I think many people who suggest that I drop the R in BRIC don��t really understand the concept and look at these issues with a very narrow Western-centric mentality. Russia has 140 million people, more than any European nation, and if it continues to avoid a major crisis, and grow 3-4 percent for the next 20 years, its economy will be probably as big, if not bigger than Germany and the other European countries. So while Russia is never going to get to the size of China, and soon India will start to become much bigger, it can hold its own against many of the G7 countries.”

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The Write-Down Guessing Game

2012-01-20T09:08:00.001-08:00

Tags: Great Stocks For 2012 ,Great Stocks of 2012 ,Great Stocks To Buy For 2012 ,Great Value Stocks ,Value Stocks ,Top Stocks In 2012
CNBC reported that Citigroup (C) could have a $24 billion write-off. The source for that report is not clear.
Last week, Goldman Sachs said Citi might have to take a charge of $15 billion. That estimate came from three bank analysts. The last number that the bank gave out was $8 billion to $11 billion.
There have been similar dislocations in write-down estimates for Merrill Lynch (MER), Bear Stearns (BSC), Morgan Stanly (MS), and JP Morgan (JPM).
Keeping the press and analysts from guessing the size of write-offs is not possible. It brings analysts a day in the sun and it helps the press get eye-balls. But, it does not do investors any good as they are thrown from one set of numbers to another.
It is still no unusual for Citi’s shares to move 5% up or down in a day. It is too bad that analysts won’t wait for information from the company. The market could be efficient, but not when it is bounced around by rumors and speculation.
Douglas A. McIntyre
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Now the world will get to see Groupon's eccentric CEO

2012-01-20T05:19:00.001-08:00

Tags: 2012 Best Stocks ,Best Stocks 2012 ,Best Stocks To Invest In ,Best Stocks To Watch For 2012 ,DPS ,GTE ,RATE ,SPLS ,UNM ,Top Stocks In 2012
In 2006, Andrew Mason got frustrated with the cancellation of his cell phone contract. He thought, “Perhaps I can create a website that allows for groups of people to protest things.” It was an enlightening idea, but Mason soon found out it was a money loser.
So, he came up with a twist: Why not use the platform to allow people to get huge discounts on deals from local merchants? The result, of course, was the birth of Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN).
While it was a brilliant idea, it was easy to replicate, which meant Mason has had to find creative ways to set Groupon apart. A big key was his wackiness, and he made “daily deals” fun — and big. Groupon now has a market value of $12 billion, greater than names like Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG), Mattel (NYSE:MAT) and Dollar Tree (NASDAQ:DLTR).
The most recent sign of Mason’s success: He was interviewed by 60 Minutes‘ Lesley Stahl. The interview will air during this week’s episode at 7 p.m. Sunday on CBS (NYSE:CBS). It should be interesting. And if you want a peek, here��s a preview:
Tom Taulli runs the InvestorPlace blog IPOPlaybook, a site dedicated to the hottest news and rumors about initial public offerings. He also is the author of ��All About Short Selling�� and ��All About Commodities.�� Follow him on Twitter at @ttaulli. As of this writing, he did not own a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
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$800 Billion to Move, According to Cerulli

2012-01-19T18:01:00.001-08:00

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Wirehouses are set to lose the most clients, while RIAs and dually registered advisors will be the greatest recipients, according to the research firm's latest report.

In 2009, $800 billion is expected to be transferred as advisors change firms. Wirehouses will lose the most, while RIAs and hybrid advisors should be the greatest recipients of this money in motion, Cerulli says.

Cerulli estimates that wirehouses' share of assets under management could fall from 47.7 percent at year-end 2008 to 40.7 percent at year-end 2012.

Meanwhile, the independent channels (independent broker/dealers, RIAs and dually registered) are projected to account for 39.3 percent of assets under management by 2012, nearly equaling the assets at wirehouses.

"While wirehouses are -- and will continue to be -- the distribution powerhouses for asset managers, the independent channels should garner more attention as they continue to gain ground with more advisors migrating towards independence," explains Scott Smith, the report's lead analyst.

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Hedge Fund’s $8.3 Billion Consumer Goods Stock Positions in Latest Quarter

2012-01-19T14:17:00.001-08:00

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Wall St. Watchdog reveals information regarding Geode Capital Management��s top holdings in the Consumer Goods sector for the quarter ending September 30th, 2011. The firm held 291 stocks in the Consumer Goods sector at the end of the quarter with an aggregate market value of $8.306 billion.
Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE:PG): On 06/30/2011, Geode Capital Management reported holding 17,721,720 shares with a market value of $1,126,569,735. This comprised 1.38% of the total portfolio. On 09/30/2011, Geode Capital Management reported holding 18,570,095 shares with a market value of $1,173,258,608. This comprised 1.59% of the total portfolio. The net change in shares for this position over the two quarters is 848,375. About Company: The Procter & Gamble Company manufactures and markets consumer products in countries throughout the world. The Company provides products in the laundry and cleaning, paper, beauty care, food and beverage, and health care segments. Proctor & Gamble��s products are sold primarily through mass merchandisers, grocery stores, membership club stores, drug stores, and neighborhood stores.
The Coca-cola Company (NYSE:KO): On 06/30/2011, Geode Capital Management reported holding 14,329,662 shares with a market value of $964,242,969. This comprised 1.18% of the total portfolio. On 09/30/2011, Geode Capital Management reported holding 15,320,169 shares with a market value of $1,035,030,580. This comprised 1.4% of t! he total portfolio. The net change in shares for this position over the two quarters is 990,507. About Company: The Coca-Cola Company manufactures, markets, and distributes soft drink concentrates and syrups. The Company also distributes and markets juice and juice-drink products. Coca-Cola distributes its products to retailers and wholesalers in the United States and internationally.
Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM): On 06/30/2011, Geode Capital Management reported holding 11,289,940 shares with a market value of $753,829,256. This comprised 0.92% of the total portfolio. On 09/30/2011, Geode Capital Management reported holding 11,917,790 shares with a market value of $743,431,753. This comprised 1% of the total portfolio. The net change in shares for this position over the two quarters is 627,850. About Company: Philip Morris International Inc., through its subsidiaries, affiliates and their licensees, produces, sells, distributes, and markets a wide range of branded cigarettes and tobacco products in markets outside of the United States of America. The Company��s portfolio comprises both international and local brands.
Pepsico Inc. (NYSE:PEP): On 06/30/2011, Geode Capital Management reported holding 10,018,198 shares with a market value of $705,581,688. This comprised 0.86% of the total portfolio. On 09/30/2011, Geode Capital Management reported holding 10,697,531 shares with a market value of $662,177,185. This comprised 0.89% of the total portfolio. The net change in shares for this position over the two quarters is 679,333. About Company: PepsiCo, Inc. operates worldwide beverage, snack and food businesses. The Company manufacture or uses contract manufacturers, market and sell a variety of grain-based snacks, carbonated and non-carbonated beverages and foods in countries throughout the world.
Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE:KFT): On 06/30/2011, Geode Capital Management reported holding 11,005,965 shares with a market value of $387,! 740,142. This comprised 0.48% of the total portfolio. On 09/30/2011, Geode Capital Management reported holding 11,814,499 shares with a market value of $396,730,898. This comprised 0.54% of the total portfolio. The net change in shares for this position over the two quarters is 808,534. About Company: Kraft Foods Inc. is a food and beverage company. The Company manufactures and markets packaged food products, including snacks, beverages, cheese, convenient meals and various packaged grocery products. Kraft sells its products throughout the world.
Altria Group Inc. (NYSE:MO): On 06/30/2011, Geode Capital Management reported holding 13,246,809 shares with a market value of $349,848,224. This comprised 0.43% of the total portfolio. On 09/30/2011, Geode Capital Management reported holding 13,947,551 shares with a market value of $373,933,835. This comprised 0.51% of the total portfolio. The net change in shares for this position over the two quarters is 700,742. About Company: Altria Group, Inc. is a holding company. The Company, through subsidiaries, manufactures and sells cigarettes and other tobacco products, including cigars and pipe tobacco. Altria holds an interest in a brewery company.
Colgate-palmolive Co. (NYSE:CL): On 06/30/2011, Geode Capital Management reported holding 3,101,303 shares with a market value of $271,084,907. This comprised 0.33% of the total portfolio. On 09/30/2011, Geode Capital Management reported holding 3,291,998 shares with a market value of $291,934,384. This comprised 0.39% of the total portfolio. The net change in shares for this position over the two quarters is 190,695. About Company: Colgate-Palmolive Company is a consumer products company that markets its products throughout the world. The Company��s products include toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoos, deodorants, bar and liquid soaps, dishwashing liquid, and laundry products, as well as pet nutrition products for cats and dogs.
Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F): ! On 06/30 /2011, Geode Capital Management reported holding 24,115,308 shares with a market value of $332,550,096. This comprised 0.41% of the total portfolio. On 09/30/2011, Geode Capital Management reported holding 25,682,773 shares with a market value of $248,352,417. This comprised 0.34% of the total portfolio. The net change in shares for this position over the two quarters is 1,567,465. About Company: Ford Motor Company designs, manufactures, and services cars and trucks. The Company also provides vehicle-related financing, leasing, and insurance through its subsidiary.
Nike Inc. (NYSE:NKE): On 06/30/2011, Geode Capital Management reported holding 2,332,897 shares with a market value of $209,914,080. This comprised 0.26% of the total portfolio. On 09/30/2011, Geode Capital Management reported holding 2,582,049 shares with a market value of $220,791,016. This comprised 0.3% of the total portfolio. The net change in shares for this position over the two quarters is 249,152. About Company: NIKE, Inc. designs, develops, and markets athletic footwear, apparel, equipment, and accessory products for men, women, and children. The Company sells its products worldwide to retail stores, through its own stores, subsidiaries, and distributors.
Kimberly-clark Corporation (NYSE:KMB): On 06/30/2011, Geode Capital Management reported holding 2,152,828 shares with a market value of $143,292,226. This comprised 0.18% of the total portfolio. On 09/30/2011, Geode Capital Management reported holding 2,294,388 shares with a market value of $162,924,497. This comprised 0.22% of the total portfolio. The net change in shares for this position over the two quarters is 141,560. About Company: Kimberly-Clark Corporation is a global health and hygiene company that manufactures and provides consumer products. The Company��s products include diapers, tissues, paper towels, incontinence care products, surgical gowns, and disposable face masks. Kimberly-Clark��s products are sold in countries ! around t he world.
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This Homebuilder Has a Long Way to Go

2012-01-19T10:25:00.001-08:00

Tags: 2012 Top Stocks ,Penny Stocks For 2012 ,Top Penny Stocks To Own ,Top Stocks For 2012 ,Top Stocks To Own For 2012 ,Top Stocks In 2012
Most homebuilders have reported higher orders and healthier backlogs lately, signaling that a housing recovery might be on its way. The latest homebuilder to jump on the bandwagon is KB Home (NYSE: KBH  ) , which reported a marked improvement in these metrics in its fourth quarter.
Nevertheless, things might not be so bright for KB yet.
So far, so good
KB delighted many by reporting an improvement in two critical metrics -- deliveries and orders -- in its fourth quarter.
The company's homebuilding revenue rose 6% from the year-ago quarter to $451 million, as home deliveries climbed 4% to 1,995 units. This comes as a breather after the 31% and 27% slumps in its third-quarter deliveries and revenues, respectively.
The big surprise was the fantastic 38% jump in KB's net orders to 1,494 units. This factor particularly stands out in KB's case as first-time buyers (whom KB targets heavily) retreated from the market after the expiry of the big-booster federal tax credit last year. The return of these buyers is further evident from Beazer Homes' (NYSE: BZH  ) numbers. Beazer, too, caters largely to first-time buyers, and its last-quarter orders surged 33% to 1,006 homes, taking its backlogs (an important indicator of future revenue) up by an astounding 81% from last year.
Likewise, KB's backlogs surged a staggering 74% to $459 milli! on. What 's good is that this is in line with what most peers are reporting. Not just Beazer, but Standard Pacific's (NYSE: SPF  ) third-quarter backlog revenue also climbed 42%, and Hovnanian Enterprises' (NYSE: HOV  ) fourth-quarter backlogs were up by 26% in spite of a fall in its total revenue.
Here's the sad part
Not all's good with KB's numbers, though. Its cancellation rate remains high at 34%. Though this is an improvement from 37% last year, the rate nevertheless is on the higher side when compared to those of its peers. As an example, Standard Pacific's cancellation rate stood at 16% in its last quarter, while upscale builder Toll Brothers' last-quarter cancellation rate was just 7.9%. Even Hovnanian's rate improved to 21% from 24% in its fourth quarter.
But the biggest dampener came in the form of a slip in KB's bottom line to $13.9 million from $17.4 million a year ago. Pressure on margins because of lower deliveries in the higher-margin communities, and higher selling and administrative expenses were the culprits. It is particularly discouraging that even a $19.8 million joint-venture gain in the quarter could not lift the bottom line.
Desperate to woo
At a time when homebuilders are going out of their way to attract buyers, KB is trying out some "green" tricks too.
The company is banking heavily on its Built to Order model, which is based on the concept of customized homes. To make these homes even more attractive, KB is now offering solar-power systems in them across its South California communities. This move also highlights how serious KB is about its plans to launch more solar-powered homes, as announced earlier.
KB has good company in the industry when it comes to trying out new stuff to woo buyers. Hovnanian is trying its luck by grabbing land at low prices, while Standard is dressing up its home! s with i nnovative architectural designs and concepts.
KB's strong focus on green efforts also became evident when it agreed to implement the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's new guidelines that require new homes to be more energy-efficient.
Moreover, KB is also trying to boost revenue by opening new communities in higher-income markets. KB might well keep its hopes of attracting customers alive, given how the recent housing data is signaling a slow yet gradual return of home buyers.
The silver lining
Why have the housing sector stocks rallied in the past few months while the sector is still shedding blood? It's the flurry of recent positive housing data that seems to be slowly replacing the housing doldrums with more glee.
The latest shot of joy homebuilders received is from the National Association of Realtors report of pending home sales in November having touched their highest level in almost 19 months. Looks like home-buyers are finally digging out their long-lost shopping bags again!
Not just that, the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (these names might sound heavy, but it's important for a prudent investor like you to know them) reported that the November index touched its highest level since May 2010. In October, too, the index had posted its highest one-month gain in more than a year, sending the homebuilder stocks into a tizzy. New home sales also rose sequentially by 1.6%, 1.3%, and 5.7% in November, October, and September, respectively. Clear indicators of improving consumer confidence, indeed.
The Foolish bottom line
The housing sector might be picking up, but KB may still have a long way to go before instilling confidence in investors' minds. Improving metrics might not mean much unless the homebuilder starts bucking up its net profits. Moreover, KB's financials aren't the kind we can swoon over (it has an unimaginably high total debt-to-equity ratio of 358%). While KB makes this u! p, take a look at other homebuilders that seem better positioned. But if you're looking for well-positioned financial stocks to buy, check out "The Stocks Only the Smartest Investors Are Buying."
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Are LED Lightbulbs Worth The High Cost?

2012-01-19T06:38:00.001-08:00

Tags: 2012 Casino Stocks ,2012 Good Stocks ,Good Stocks To Invest In ,Good Stocks To Invest In 2012 ,Top Stocks In 2012

see photosU.S. Energy Information Administration
Click for full photo gallery: Why Support Energy Efficiency in 10 Slides
by?Tim Parker
In order to get the government spending bill passed, on Dec. 16, Republicans agreed to put on hold the implementation of a bill that would require more efficient light bulbs which, in the minds of many, meant the end of the much loved (and cheap) incandescent bulb. Proponents of the bill were quick to say that the incandescent bulb would still be available but in a more efficient form, and opponents argued that consumers should decide what kind of bulbs they buy instead of Congress.?(For other savings ideas, read?Shopping Online: Convenience, Bargains And A Few Scams.)

TUTORIAL: Five?Steps To A Retirement Plan

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, consumers did decide. Energy and Commerce Secretary Fred Upton said, “We heard the message loud and clear from Americans who don’t want government standards determining how they light their homes.”
Americans are clearly opposed to the bill, but is it time we unshackle ourselves from the old incandescent bulbs and embrace new technology, and will our wallets thank us?
Is the Light Still Weird?
If you remember when compact florescent light bulbs first hit the market, the light! they em itted was, for a lack of a more elegant term, weird. It was kind of green but also kind of white. It wasn’t pleasing to the eye and as it warmed up, the light changed. This caused many to abandon the technology and go back to the incandescent bulb.
The new compact fluorescent bulbs are nearly indistinguishable from the old incandescent bulbs but once again, they’re being abandoned for the new LED light bulb. LEDs power the new traffic lights, flashlights and TVs but now they can power your home and the light is described as a soft white light similar to incandescent bulbs. (For other ideas on how you can refresh the feel of your home, see?Quick And Easy Home Decorating On A Budget.)

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Making Money from High Gas Price: Delta Petroleum

2012-01-19T02:54:00.001-08:00

Tags: Great Gas Stocks ,Great Stocks of 2012 ,Great Stocks To Hold In 2012 ,Great Stocks To Invest In 2012 ,Top Stocks In 2012
In the last couple weeks, oil prices have spiraled out of control; some places in the United States saw more than $4 per gallon gasoline before the Libyan tensions eased.? The Middle East is a powder keg of political strife ready to explode at any moment.? Given that this region is the main supplier of oil, it's just a matter of time before supply fear disruptions hit the newswires again sending oil on another surge higher.? Wouldn't it be great if we could produce enough oil domestically as not to worry about what happens in the Middle East?? Better still would be to find a way to profit from domestic oil exploration, production and sales.
Well, our focus company today, Delta Petroleum Corp. (Nasdaq: DPTR) fills this critical need and is on the move higher.? Let's take a closer look.
Founded in 1984, Delta Petroleum and its subsidiaries engage in the exploration, acquisition, development, production and sale of natural gas and crude oil primarily in the Rocky Mountain and onshore Gulf Coast regions. The company owns interests in developed and undeveloped oil and gas properties in federal units offshore California, near Santa Barbara, as well as owns developed and undeveloped oil and gas properties in the continental United States. It also engages in contract drilling operations, as well as providing moving services for third-party drilling rigs in the Casper, Wyoming, area. As of December 31, 2009, the company's proved reserves were comprised of approximately 126.7 billion cubic feet of natural gas, and 4.5 Mmbbls of crude oil.
Delta! Petrole um just reported third-quarter net income of $13.9 million; this is an incredible improvement over the $96.8 million loss same time last year.? These results have attracted investor interest in a big way.? Shares are trading at record volume in a sharp up trend.? Price is well above both the 50 and 200 day moving averages.?? Savvy traders will watch this one very closely!
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Today's Dow -- Good for What Ails Ya

2012-01-18T23:05:00.001-08:00

Tags: Best Consumer Stocks ,Best Stocks To Buy For 2012 ,Best Stocks To Buy In 2012 ,FIG ,Fortress Investment ,NYSE:FIG ,Top Stocks In 2012
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEX: ^DJI  ) started out the first day back after a long weekend by climbing like a hiker in bear country, only to decide things weren't all that bad a little further down the trunk, where it closed out the day up a respectable 0.48%. Good news out of China started the rally, but acceleration was slowed by continuing harsh news out of Europe. Merck soared into our top spot, while no one in the index was even close to matching JPMorgan Chase's tumble down the slide. The company can blame Citigroup's middling earnings for stunting the banking rally that has ruled 2012 up to this point.
Source: Yahoo! Finance.
Is this the beginning of a bull market? Perhaps, but we're technically not there yet. While performance has been strong during the day, it's really the numbers at the end of it that matter, and we simply haven't crossed that 20% threshold yet.
Dow stocks are a great way to get long-term growth for your portfolio, but they're not the only smart picks. Read The Motley Fool's latest special report to discover the names of three more smart stocks for the long run. It's absolutely free, but it won't be around forever, so?read it today.
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Best Buy (BBY) To The Rescue?

2012-01-18T00:39:00.001-08:00

Tags: Good Small Cap Stocks ,Good Stocks To Invest In 2012 ,Good Stocks To Own In 2012 ,Small Cap Stocks ,Top Stocks In 2012
With the announcement of the U.S. government seizing control of mortgage giants Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE) the housing crisis that has gripped the nation for the past two years appears to be nearing its zenith. While the full impact of the move is hard to immediately gauge, the injection of $100 billion into each of the companies could help lower mortgage rates and help give banks more confidence in refinancing existing mortgages at lower rates to help some troubled homeowners.
What it all means is more money in consumer’s wallets, and that means more spending and more money in store cash-registers. Think of the rescue as a massive economic stimulus package for consumers.
Enter the Best Buy Co., Inc. (BBY) which I figure will be one of the first recipients of the extra cash in people’s wallets. Best Buy stores are quite simply the “go to” place to spend our extra money on the gadgets we all want, can’t do without, and try to impress our friends with (see also, “Nokia’s (NOK) Price War“).
In addition, the company also sells appliances through its Pacific Sales Kitchen and Bath Centers, Jiangsu Five Star Appliance Co.; as well as provide technical services for home and office computer users through it’s Geek Squad.
Best Buy is also rolling out kiosks which can be found in major airports to serve travelers looking to find a lost, broken or forgotten product. Despite the economic slowdown, BBY is ! position ing for future growth.
Best Buy Stores: Big Plans to Double
Earlier this summer, Best Buy announced plans to double its sales, to $80 billion over the next five years. Though it was short on specifics BBY did say that the California-based Pacific Sales Kitchen and Bath Centers chain may be rolled out on a national level.
Other sales gains will come in the form of… international expansion, planned new product categories and grabbing market share from competitors. To that end, BBY now sells Apple’s iPhone – the only other non-Apple and AT&T retailer to do so (see also, “Apple Ups the Ante With 3G iPhone“).
Best Buy is doing the right thing by expanding and creating alliances during this economic downturn. For example the company’s venture with The Carphone Warehouse, Europe’s largest independent retailer of mobile phones and related services with 2,400 stores across nine countries, is paying big dividends.
Consumer electronics has been the fastest growing category of retail over the past five years in Europe, and the two companies see the trend continuing, particularly in computing, entertainment and communications.
Monday’s Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac inspired rally produced healthy gains across the retail and other consumer discretionary sectors (see “Fannie-Freddie Bailout: What It Means to You“). While consumers are not out of the woods just yet, I believe the bottom was put in earlier this summer.
BBY, the 800 pound gorilla of its sector, stands to prosper once the economy enters rebound mode. Shares trade hands at just 13 times forward earnings estimates and 45 percent of sales.
With such a low valuation I’d say take advantage of this opportunity before it is too late!
Is it too late for BBY? Louis Navellier doesn’t think so. BBY rates as a strong “B” for "Buy" in PortfolioGrader Pro, his very own online stock rating syste! m. This amazing tool provides easy-to-interpret letter grade ratings for nearly 5,000 Wall Street stocks. Simply log on online and within seconds you’ll instantly find Navellier’s specific buy/sell/hold advicefor nearly any stock! And best of all? It’s yours free when you accept a risk-free trial to Blue Chip Growth! Click here to learn more!
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Aeropostale, Finisar: After-Hours Trading

2012-01-17T21:00:00.001-08:00

Tags: 2012 Casino Stocks ,Best Performing Casino Stocks ,Best Performing Stocks To Invest In ,DMAN ,IBM ,ORCL ,RNOW ,SAP ,SFSF ,T ,Top Stocks In 2012
Shares of Aeropostale(ARO) were weak in late trades on Wednesday after the casual apparel retailer gave a disappointing forecast for its fiscal fourth quarter.

New York-based Aeropostale said it expects to earn 35 to 38 cents a share in the three months ending in January, below the current average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters for a profit of 43 cents a share. The company said market conditions remain "incredibly promotional" with many of its competitors in the teen retailer space "increasing both the depth and breadth of their promotions."

The stock was last quoted at $15.05, down 3%, on volume of nearly 140,000, according to Nasdaq.com. The shares gained more than 5% to close Wednesday's regular session at $15.51, but are down more than 40% year-to-date.
"We are making incremental progress on our strategic initiatives by bringing more color and fashion to our mercha! ndise as sortment, managing our inventories appropriately and controlling our expenses carefully," said Thomas Johnson, the company's CEO, in a statement. "However, we are not satisfied with our overall performance, and we remain cautious in our outlook."
The outlook overshadowed a slightly better than expected profit performance for Aeropostale in its fiscal third quarter ended in October as the company posted earnings of 30 cents a share, topping the consensus view by 2 cents, although overall sales dipped 1% year-over-year to $596.5 million and same-store sales declined 9%.
Finisar

Shares of Finisar(FNSR) slumped after the optical networking equipment maker posted mixed quarterly results and gave a below-consensus outlook.
The company's fiscal second-quarter revenue fell short of Wall Street's consensus view, and also forecast non-GAAP earnings of 20 to 24 cents a share on revenue of $235 million to $250 million for its fiscal third quarter. Wall Street's current consensus estimate is for a profit of 26 cents a share in the January-ending quarter on revenue of $250 million. The stock fell 3.4% to $17.83 on volume of around 200,000 in late trades.
Other stocks garnering interest after the close included Express Inc.(EXPR), whose shares edged up after the fashion retailer lifted its 2011 profit outlook; and Guess?(GES), whose stock rose 1% to $28.40 on volume of more than 120,000 despite reporting a below-consensus quarterly report; and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts(KKD), which slipped 2% to $7.36 on volume of more than 90,000 after saying it sees earnings of 35 to 41 cents a share in its next fiscal year.

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Oil and Gas Companies' Shares Popped: What You Need to Know

2012-01-17T16:56:00.001-08:00

Tags: 2012 Best Stocks ,AFAM ,AMED ,Best Stocks 2012 ,Best Stocks For 2012 ,Best Stocks To Invest In ,EPS ,GTIV ,LHCG ,Top Stocks In 2012
Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.
What: Shares of companies in the oil and gas industry shot higher today as the stock market and oil prices all rose sharply. Pioneer Drilling (AMEX: PDC  ) , Tesco (Nasdaq: TESO  ) , Gulf Island Fabrication (Nasdaq: GIFI  ) , and Northern Oil & Gas (AMEX: NOG  ) all rose more than 10%, leading the way for the energy industry.
So what: Oil has spiked 3.6% today, rebounding after a week of worry over Europe's debt problems kept the fuel source near recent lows. The price of oil has a strong impact on service providers because producers will stop drilling if prices get too low, and there was fear that the downturn in prices would be long-lasting given Europe's extensive problems. For today, that fear has subsided, and the energy industry is hot again.
Now what: Everyone from driller Precision Drilling ( NYSE: PDS  ) to do-everything service company Halliburton (NYSE: HAL  ) and explorers such as Kodiak Oil & Gas (NYSE: KOG  ) traded sharply higher today given oil's movement. Just as with oil, many of these stocks have been down in the dumps recently, so the move today is a welcome sight.
The news out of Europe and the U.S. was positive today, but I would be cautious placing a big bet on a recovery and, therefore, oil at this point. Europe has a long way to go before its debt problems are over, and with growth still anemic in the U.S., I don't anticipate a sharp rise in oil prices in the near future. It might be prudent to sell the highs and buy the lows right now, because oil is probably in a bit of a holding pattern until we get an indication one way or the other of where the economy is headed.

Interested in more info on oil and gas stocks? Add them to your watchlist.

Add?Tesco?to My Watchlist.

Add?Precision?Drilling?to My Watchlist.

Add?Pioneer?Drilling?to My Watchlist.

Add?Northern?Oil?&?Gas?to My Watchlist.

Add?Kodiak?Oil?&?Gas?to My Watchlist.

Add?Halliburton?to My Watchlist.

Add?Gulf?Island?Fabrication?to My Watchlist.
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Intel Take AMD Server Share

2012-01-17T13:13:00.001-08:00

Tags: 2012 Best Performing Stocks ,Best Performing Casino Stocks ,Best Performing Stocks To Own ,Best Performing Stocks To Own 2012 ,Top Stocks In 2012
For the first time in a long time Intel (INTC) picked up a lot of share in the server market, at the expense of AMD. Mercury Research issued its report on Q4 activity of chips in the PC and server markets.
The report shows Intel gaining 12.4% in sequential revenue share in servers in Q4. This was based on "a 30% rise in ASPs sequentially" according to Briefing.com.
AMD did not need any more headaches.It stock has already fallen from $42.70 to $15.95.
And, if this keeps up, the share price could get worse.
Douglas A. McIntyre can be reached at douglasamcintyre@247wallst.com. He does not own securtities in companies that he writes about.
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Increasing Retirement Ages Would Reduce Spending, Limit Benefits: CBO

2012-01-17T09:21:00.001-08:00

Tags: 2012 Top Performing Stocks ,CBOU ,DNKN ,GMCR ,JVA ,KFT ,MCD ,SBUX ,Top Performing Stocks To Own For 2012 ,Top Stocks In 2012

The Congressional Budget Office released on Jan. 11 an issue brief describing the effect of increases in the eligibility ages for Social Security and Medicare. The CBO found that raising the Medicare eligibility age or the early or full eligibility age for Social Security would reduce federal spending and limit the number of people with access to health insurance.

While the retirement age under Social Security’s Old-Age and Survivors Insurance program has been increasing slowly since 2000, the Medicare eligibility age has remained the same since the program began in 1966. Raising the Medicare eligibility age, which is currently 65, would reduce the number of people eligible for benefits, although CBO expects “most people affected by the change would obtain health insurance from other sources,” such as employers or other government programs. Federal spending on those other programs would offset the savings incurred by raising the Medicare age.

Furthermore, many of the people who would have enrolled in Medicare at 65 would face higher premiums, higher out-of-pocket costs, or both, the CBO predicts.

CBO estimates the effect of a gradual increase in the Medicare eligibility age on health insurance coverage:

If the eligibility age is increased by two months every year beginning in 2014 for people who were born in 1949 until the age reaches 67 in 2027 for people born in 1960, of the 5.4 million people who would be affected in 2021, about 5% would become uninsured, the CBO predicts. About half of those would obtain insurance through their employer or their spouse’s employer. The remaining 2.3 million people would receive coverage “in equal parts” through Medicaid, through Medicare disability benefits, or through the health care exchanges that will become available in 2014 through the Affordable Care Act.

While some people may be compelled to work longer until they become eligible for Medicare, CBO predicts that the health care exchanges available in 2014 will keep that number low.

The effect of the above example on the budget would reduce spending by $148 billion from 2012 through 2021, the CBO found. By 2035, net spending would be about 4.7% of GDP, rather than 5%.

Another effect of increasing the eligibility age for Medicare is the increase in spending on Medicaid, CBO notes. As fewer people would able to take advantage of Medicare, they will turn to Medicaid for primary coverage until they reach the Medicare eligibility age. The effect of increases in Medicaid spending, as well as the cost of health care exchanges and Social Security retirement, would offset savings incurred by raising the Medicare age by about one-quarter, reducing savings to $113 billion over the next 10 years.

According to the CBO, more than half of Social Security beneficiaries claim benefits early at age 62, and almost 60% claim benefits before 64. Raising the early eligibility age for Social Security from 62 to 64 would therefore force many people to claim benefits later than they otherwise would. Those people would receive larger benefits for a shorter period than if they claimed at 62, thus balancing the effects of raising the eligibility age on a person with an average life expectancy, CBO estimates.

CBO estimates the effects of raising the EEA from 62 to 64 by two months per year while leaving the full retirement age unchanged. Spending would be reduced by almost $144 billion through 2021, according to CBO, just over 1% of projected Social Security spending. Outlays would be lower than under current law until 2035 after which they would be slightly higher.

CBO estimates that if the early retirement age is increased, people with lower earnings would see a larger reduction in living standards. CBO notes that between 5% and 20% of people who currently claim Social Security benefits at age 62 or 63 would become poor if the early retirement age increased. Furthermore, as people with lower earnings tend to have shorter lifespans, raising the retirement age would lower lifetime benefits.

The CBO also estimated the effect of increasing the full retirement age, currently 66 but scheduled to increase to 67 for people who were born after 1959. By gradually increasing the age to 70 by two months per year for workers born in 1973 or later, spending would fall by $120 billion through 2021. By 2035, spending would fall 4% from what would be spent under current law to 5.9% of GDP. By 2060, spending would fall by 13%.

An increase in the full retirement age would reduce benefits for those who claim at any age, CBO found. Retirees could delay claiming for the same amount of time as the increase and receive the same benefits that they are entitled to under current law. By claiming a few months ahead of the increase, they would receive a slightly lower benefit than they would under current law.

If the full retirement age is increased without an increase in the early retirement age, beneficiaries could suffer a significant increase in poverty. The CBO estimates that if the full retirement age is increased to 70 while the early retirement age remains 62, people who claimed at 62 would be entitle to just 55% of their primary insurance amount, compared with 70% they would receive under current law.

CBO notes that it’s difficult to predict how people will behave if the eligibility ages are increased simultaneously. “Raising all ages at the same time would clearly encourage later retirement and result in a greater increase in the size of the labor force and total output than would raising a single age,” the issue brief states. “However, CBO does not have a basis for predicting the sign or magnitude of the interaction effects if the ages were increased simultaneously.”

The CBO imagines one scenario where raising the ages together results in increased public awareness, resulting in a sharp shift in behavior and societal norms. Another scenario, however, could see the responses in changes to eligibility ages as “largely overlapping,” with a limited effect on behavior.

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Transatlantic Holdings, Inc at its Peak Price of the Year - NYSE:TRH

2012-01-17T05:32:00.001-08:00

Tags: 2012 European Stocks ,Great Stocks of 2012 ,Great Stocks To Buy 2012 ,Great Stocks To Buy In 2012 ,Top Stocks In 2012
Transatlantic Holdings, Inc (NYSE:TRH) achieved its new 52 week high price of $55.07 where it was opened at $53.86 UP 0.64 points or +1.19% by closing at $54.43. TRH transacted shares during the day were over 335,404 shares however it has an average volume of 669,161 shares.
TRH has a market capitalization $3.36 billion and an enterprise value at $3.84 billion. Trailing twelve months price to sales ratio of the stock was 0.76 while price to book ratio in most recent quarter was 0.77. In profitability ratios, net profit margin in past twelve months appeared at 2.31% whereas operating profit margin for the same period at 3.54%.
The company made a return on asset of 0.59% in past twelve months and return on equity of 2.31% for similar period. In the period of trailing 12 months it generated revenue amounted to $4.34 billion gaining $69.37 revenue per share. Its year over year, quarterly growth of revenue was -1.40% holding -49.60% quarterly earnings growth.
According to preceding quarter balance sheet results, the company had $522.62 million cash in hand making cash per share at 8.48. The total of $1.01 billion debt was there putting a total debt to equity ratio 23.42. Moreover its current ratio according to same quarter results was 1.71 and book value per share was 69.67.
Looking at the trading information, the stock price history displayed that its S&P500 52 Week Change illustrated 1.49% where the stock current price exhibited up beat from its 50 day moving average price $52.1! 2 and re mained above from its 200 Day Moving Average price $49.57.
TRH holds 61.64 million outstanding shares with 52.16 million floating shares where insider possessed 0.41% and institutions kept 97.60%.
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Western Digital Corp. Non Normal Trade in last session - NYSE:WDC

2012-01-17T01:57:00.001-08:00

Tags: 2012 Good Stocks ,Good Stocks 2012 ,Good Stocks To Invest In 2012 ,Good Stocks To Watch For 2012 ,Top Stocks In 2012
Western Digital Corp. (NYSE:WDC) witnessed volume of 10.24 million shares during last trade however it holds an average trading capacity of 3.46 million shares. WDC last trade opened at $35.51 reached intraday low of $35.40 and went +8.28% up to close at $38.04.
WDC has a market capitalization $8.84 billion and an enterprise value at $5.26 billion. Trailing twelve months price to sales ratio of the stock was 0.86 while price to book ratio in most recent quarter was 1.53. In profitability ratios, net profit margin in past twelve months appeared at 8.75% whereas operating profit margin for the same period at 9.87%.
The company made a return on asset of 7.90% in past twelve months and return on equity of 17.07% for similar period. In the period of trailing 12 months it generated revenue amounted to $9.50 billion gaining $41.15 revenue per share. Its year over year, quarterly growth of revenue was -14.70% holding -63.50% quarterly earnings growth.
According to preceding quarter balance sheet results, the company had $3.23 billion cash in hand making cash per share at 13.90. The total of $325.00 million debt was there putting a total debt to equity ratio 6.11. Moreover its current ratio according to same quarter results was 2.58 and book value per share was 22.91.
Looking at the trading information, the stock price history displayed that its S&P500 52 Week Change illustrated 21.98% where the stock current price exhibited up beat from its 50 day moving average price of $35.78 and re! mained a bove from its 200 Day Moving Average price of $35.57.
WDC holds 232.40 million outstanding shares with 230.82 million floating shares where insider possessed 0.30% and institutions kept 87.00%.
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Inflation seen easing, housing improving

2012-01-16T18:19:00.001-08:00

Tags: Best Performing Stocks of 2012 ,Best Performing Stocks To Own For 2012 ,Best Performing UnderValue Stocks ,WMT ,Top Stocks In 2012
MARKETWATCH FRONT PAGE

In a rear-view look at the economy, reports this week on inflation, housing and manufacturing are likely to show the U.S. remained on a modest upward track at the end of 2011. See full story.

Carnival shares tumble after cruise ship tragedy

After its cruise liner Costa Concordia ran aground and capsized off the Italian coast, killing at least six, shares in Carnival PLC tumble on Monday and the company says it expects a hit of up to $95 million to 2012 earnings. See full story.

Huntsman quits race, endorses Romney

Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman Jr. withdraws from the race and backs front-runner Mitt Romney, according to published media reports. See full story.

Romney opens up 21-point lead in South Carolina

Republican rivals ramp up attacks as victory in Jan. 21 primary could pave way for former Massachusetts governor��s presidential nomination. See full story.

U.S. stocks face lowered earnings bar

The U.S. stock market faces the heart of the fourth-quarter earnings season in the days ahead, with the bar substantially lower and Europe��s troubles ! in play See full story.

MARKETWATCH COMMENTARY

Instead of acknowledging that banks have become a part of government, we keep pretending they are private institutions, writes David Weidner. See full story.

MARKETWATCH PERSONAL FINANCE

Banks are stepping up the relationship business and if you spurn the advance you��ll probably be slapped with more fees. See full story.
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Why Yahoo! Investors Need to Know Sky Cat

2012-01-16T14:25:00.001-08:00

Tags: 2012 Top Performing Stocks ,Agriculture Stocks ,POMO ,Top Performing Agriculture Stocks ,Top Performing Stocks To Buy For 2012 ,Top Stocks In 2012
Everyone knows Yahoo!(YHOO) has a big stake in Alibaba Group, and everyone knows Alibaba CEO Jack Ma wants it back. What you might not know is that the most valuable aspect of Alibaba's entire empire is a business called Tmall.
At least, it used to be called Tmall. Overnight, the Chinese company announced it was taking on a new corporate identity with the name Sky Cat. And this simple name change could have big implications for Yahoo! and its investors.
Alibaba Group has three key businesses: Taobao, Tmall, and Alipay. Alipay came to most Americans' attention last spring when Jack Ma decided to separate it from the group, supposedly in order to meet some Chinese government licensing requirement that restricted foreigners from owning a payment-oriented company.
Alipay is a great property. It's the leading online payments company in China and facilitates transactions on both Taobao and Tmall.
Taobao is usually what most Americans think of as the crown jewel of the Alibaba Group empire. They think of it as the eBay(EBAY) of China. However, this isn't exactly true.
>>Click here to learn more about Real Money.
eBay makes most of its money off of transactions. Taobao makes most of its money off of ads. Very early on, several years ago, Taobao was in a dogfight with eBay over who would own the Chinese market. eBay bought a local Chinese company and tried to apply the same! U.S. mo del to China. Ma decided that he would keep his transaction costs very low in order to win market share.
It worked. Chinese consumers flocked to Taobao -- and they haven't stopped. When eBay withdrew from the Chinese market a few years ago, some wondered if Ma would raise his prices. He didn't, choosing to keep Taobao's market share above 70%.
Instead of making money off these transactions, Ma makes a lot of money from advertising. Taobao is the biggest ad-revenue-generating company in China after Baidu(BIDU).
But there's another purpose of all that Taobao traffic. Ma has recently built up a new property over the last few years called Tmall. Think of it like a Chinese Amazon(AMZN). It is a large virtual mall where you can browse through thousands of vendors' storefronts. Ma helped transfer a lot of the Taobao traffic over to Tmall, and consumers have been pleased with the prices and selection -- they keep coming back. Tmall has been growing its traffic and merchants over the past three years, and it takes a very healthy bite out of each transaction.
Furthermore, as Tmall's traffic has surpassed that of other e-commerce merchants, an interesting dynamic has developed. All these smaller merchants need more revenue, as they struggle to keep their costs under control as they grow out their businesses. Therefore, they have become more and more dependent on Tmall for helping to bring that traffic. If you want to get your brands and store in front of Ma's traffic, you will have to pay up for prime positioning. Tmall should continue to grow and will eventually surpass Taobao in size.

The decision to change the name to Sky Cat may be a signal that Alibaba Group plans for a separate listing for this entity in the near future.
For Yahoo!, this could mean that Alibaba is set on either proceeding with the cash-rich split to acquire back m! ost of Y ahoo!'s stake in Alibaba Group, or -- if it gets frustrated with the process -- it could seek to buy all of Yahoo! in order to get that stake back.
Ma, however, is unlikely to just walk away from the table. Every day that goes by is another day that Yahoo!'s stake in his business increases in value ...
At the time of publication, Jackson was long YHOO
>To order reprints of this article, click here: Reprints
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Tax gap: IRS comes up $385 billion short

2012-01-16T10:50:00.001-08:00

Tags: 2012 Insurance Stocks ,Growth Stocks For 2012 ,Growth Stocks To Buy 2012 ,Mutual Funds Spotlight ,T. Rowe Price ,Top Stocks In 2012
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Close to 15% of federal taxes -- or $385 billion -- went unpaid in 2006, according to new estimates by the IRS.
That's the net tax gap number -- meaning what didn't get paid even after the $65 billion the IRS managed to collect through audits.
And it's the closest proxy policymakers have to the country's annual revenue shortfall, said Mark Luscomb, the principal federal tax analyst at CCH, a tax information publisher.
What's driving the shortfall? A whopping 84% of the total tax gap is due to underreporting of income by corporations, small businesses and individuals.
But underreporting by small businesses and others who report business income on the individual tax return is the biggest single culprit, accounting for more than a quarter of the gap.
The distant second and third reasons for the gap are taxpayers who do not file a tax return at all or underpay what they owe.
Whether mistakenly or intentionally, some taxpayers underreport their income by not including all their receipts, overstating their expenses or claiming incorrect amounts of credits, deductions and exemptions.
IRS audited 1 in 8 millionaires
The IRS has noted that compliance among taxpayers is highest when there is third-party reporting of income. So, the basic W2 working Joe who has money withheld automatically from his paycheck typically has a very high compliance rate.
"A net of only 1 percent of wage and salary income was misreported! . But am ounts subject to little or no information reporting had a 56 percent net misreporting rate," the IRS said in a statement Friday.
Given the more than 140 million returns filed a year, the 22,184 employees working in IRS enforcement can't hope to close the tax gap on their own, especially given the frequently changing tax laws.
Last year, for instance, the agency audited more than 62,000 corporate returns and roughly 1.6 million individual returns, including one in 8 millionaires, the highest enforcement rate for that income group since 2004.
The tax gap, especially in a time of $1 trillion annual deficits, is one reason many on Capitol Hill are calling for tax reform.
"An improved tax code that's simple and fair to all Americans will help close the tax gap, boost our economy and create jobs," Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus said in a statement. "In an era when we're squeezing the federal budget for every dollar of savings, we have to make every effort to recover these lost funds."
While it's easy to be disconcerted over the size of the tax gap, two things are of note: The voluntary compliance rate among U.S. taxpayers has been fairly steady over the years, and Americans are among the best in the world at paying what they owe the tax man.
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Top Day Trader Alerts (ALY, ADSK, LLY, JWN, NVDA, PDLI, PRXI, SPRD, TSTC, TRBN, UNCA)

2012-01-16T07:01:00.001-08:00

Tags: 2012 India Stocks ,FAST ,Top Performing Stocks To Own 2012 ,Top Performing Stocks To Own In 2012 ,Top Stocks In 2012
Friday the 13th is not making the day trader and active trader alerts go away.? There are many stocks on the move this morning, some on earnings and some on other news.? We are seeing the top alerts in shares of Allis-Chalmers Energy, Inc. (NYSE: ALY), Autodesk Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK), Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE: LLY), Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE: JWN), NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA), PDL BioPharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: PDLI), Premier Exhibitions Inc. (NASDAQ: PRXI), Spreadtrum Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: SPRD), Telestone Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ: TSTC), Trubion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRBN), and Unica Corporation (NASDAQ: UNCA).? We have news and the moves, along with additional trading color where applicable.
Allis-Chalmers Energy, Inc. (NYSE: ALY) is soaring on news that Seawell is offering to buy the company for $890 million or $4.25 per share in cash, a 85% premium to yesterday’s $2.30 close.? Shares are up 61% at $3.71 on almost 500,000 shares.
Autodesk Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) is trading higher after $0.36 EPS vs. $0.27 expected; Revenue grew by 14% to $472.8 million vs. $459 million expected.? Shares are trading up 3.5% at $28.41 on over 50,000 shares.
Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE: LLY) is trading down after a patent case ruling against Lilly for Strattera, and that patent was out to 2017.? Lilly also announced job cuts and lower 2010 guidance.? Shares are down 4.2% at $35.05 on over 30,000 shares.
Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE: JWN) posted 39% income gains but its outlook was unchanged.? Shares are trading down 5% at $31.76 on thin volume.
NVID IA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) missed earnings estimates as many feared but the stock had already traded off so much that investors are buying the stock this morning.? Shares are up 4.25% at $9.34 against a 52-week trading range of $8.65 to $18.96.
PDL BioPharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: PDLI) is getting hit after it received a letter from Genentech relating to European patents.? Shares are now down 10% at $5.57 on more than 125,000 shares.
Premier Exhibitions Inc. (NASDAQ: PRXI) is soaring in reaction to its press release saying that the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Norfolk Division, has issued an opinion granting a salvage award to RMS Titanic Inc.? The Company has been awarded 100% of the fair market value of the artifacts, which the Court set at approximately one hundred ten million dollars.? Shares are trading up 98% at $2.30 on about 9,000 shares in the pre-market.? Average volume is roughly 72,000 shares, the 52-week range was $0.68 to $1.65, and the pre-news market cap was listed as $54.3 million.
Spreadtrum Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: SPRD) is trading higher after the Chinese maker of baseband chips for wireless devices significantly beat earnings expectations and raised guidance b a similar amount for the quarter ahead.? Shares are up 8.7% at $10.72, but volume is thin.? The 52-week range is $2.67 to $11.15 and the average volume is about 850,000 shares.
Telestone Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ: TSTC) is getting whacked this morning after earnings on thin trading volume.? Shares were down 18% last night and the drop right now is 16% at $11.42.? Its 52-week range is $4.24 to $24.94 and average volume is 324,000 shares.
Trubion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRBN) is soaring after signing a definitive merger agreement with Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE: EBS); holders will receive an upfront payment of $1.365 per share in cash and 0.1641 shares of Emergent BioSolutions common stock, representing $4.55 per share before dilution.? Trubion share! s are up 49% at $4.49, but trading volume is very thin as it is a micro-cap stock with low volume.? The 52-week range is $2.29 to $6.75.
Unica Corporation (NASDAQ: UNCA) is the daily double after IBM agreed to pay $21.00 per share in cash versus a $9.55 close.? Shares are up 117.8% at $20.80 on nearly 1 million shares.? This is an all-time high for Unica.
You can join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about dividend trends, analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.
JON C. OGG
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Buy, Sell or Hold: A Rebound is Sprouting for Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON)

2012-01-16T03:07:00.001-08:00

Tags: Best Performing Small Stocks ,Best Performing Stocks To Hold In 2012 ,Best Performing Stocks To Invest In 2012 ,F ,Top Stocks In 2012
The explosive move up in prices among most crops futures over the past several months has been nothing short of spectacular. The market today is reminiscent of the 1970s with a weak U.S. dollar is playing havoc with world exports.

Indeed, the drop in the dollar's value has investors and speculators seeking physical commodities to park their funds in. This has caused the prices to expand in the grains sector, and when next year rolls around, you can expect that seed manufacturers will have priced next year's crop accordingly. So while the trading pits and the farmers are all banking money now, the next round of inflation is already being calculated into next year's margins.

And we can use those inflationary expectations to grow some profits of our own by investing in Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON) - one of the world's largest seed producers.

Think of it as a "picks-and-shovels" play to capitalize on all of the farmers rushing to cash in on surging commodities prices.

Monsanto provides the biologically enhanced seeds and pesticides that help farmers grow their crops - a niche market that has allowed them to grow into an S&P 100 company. It has a market capitalization of $27 billion and more than 22,000 employees worldwide.

Monsanto has earned $1.85 per share in the trailing 12-month period. It paid out $1.22 per share in dividends during that time. The company is exposed to the current soft commodity bull! market, via clients flush with cash from historically large crop yields and high demand. These could be some of the best days a corn farmer has ever experienced.

So, why is the provider of the bulk seeds that have been planted been hurting? Its not the short side of the equation. I checked, and the company has almost no shares short. So, its not the black hat funds doing the damage to the stock price.

This caused me to dig even deeper, as I couldn't put a finger on why the stock was under performing its own index by a country mile.

The explosion in crop prices has been in the core area of Monsanto's business model, yet so far the market has ignored the stock price of the company. In fact, it's better to say that currently the market is discounting any positive effect high crop prices could have for Monsanto.

The stock is down 34% year to date, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index (of which Monsanto is a member) is up more than 11%. The stock currently offers a forward-looking yield of 2.2%, or about what you'd get for holding 10-year U.S. Treasury. As a result, Monsanto has seen its price/earnings (P/E) ratio compress during the last year.

This has happened while the company is still growing some of its internal margins, even as others have suffered. These are signs of a company out of market favor, yet still highly profitable and undamaged by the sector in which it's operating.

So let's take a quick view of the lay of the land for Monsanto. The company is:

Growing margins in a high-demand commodity.

Paying a stable cash dividend of more than 2% per year to investors.

Out of favor with Wall Street, with its stock currently down 34% so far this year.

Poised for growing demand in the corn sector.

Has a stock that's tr! ading at a "compressed" P/E ratio, as compared to its last five years.
I love to find investments that are profitable, with a huge niche market, and Wall Street hating them in the middle of a bull market in their sector. These types of situations either turn around to the benefit of savvy investors, or news comes out about an unseen weakness. In this case, I believe that the underlying company is strong. It is profitable, and pays a real dividend while giving us exposure to a commodity bull market.

This makes Monsanto a long-term "Buy" in our book.

Action to Take: Buy Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON) (**). Let's buy half our desired position at the market. For the remainder of that desired position, let's then put in a low-ball bid of roughly $50 a share in case of a near-term market pullback.

If you're interested in a leveraged investment in Monsanto, you should look at the Jan 2012 LEAP calls with a strike price of about $60.

(**) Special Note of Disclosure: Jack Barnes holds no interest in Monsanto.

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Digital music sales top physical sales

2012-01-15T23:19:00.001-08:00

Tags: Best Performing Stocks To Watch For 2012 ,Best Performing Value Stocks ,BKS ,RIMM ,SNE ,TWX ,YHOO ,Top Stocks In 2012
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The times they are a-changin'. For the first time in history, digital music sales topped the physical sale of music.
According to a Nielsen and Billboard report, digital music purchases accounted for 50.3% of music sales in 2011. Digital sales were up 8.4% from the previous year, while physical album sales declined 5%.
Lady Gaga took the top spot as 2011's most streamed artist, according to the report. The most streamed song of 2011? Nicki Minaj's "Super Bass," with 84.9 million audio streams and 71 million video streams.
Adele's album 21 was the top selling album both online and physically, and her popular song, "Rolling in the Deep," was the bestselling digital song, with 5.8 million downloads.
Digital album sales ended the year on a high note, with a record 3.5 million sales in the last week of 2011.
The record industry can thank Adele for reviving the idea of buying entire albums. For the first time since 2004, total album sales -- counting both physical and digital -- rose compared to the prior year. They increased 1.3% in 2011 to 331 million units. Adele's 21 sold 5.8 million units, enough to lift the entire album catagory into postive territory for the year.
While services like Napster blazed the trail for online music consumption, offerings like Apple's 99-cents-a-song iTunes catalog as well as those from a host of star! tups hav e broken down traditional music-purchasing barriers. Most customers now prefer shopping online to buying in a store.
"Clearly the plastic format was not an optimal format for selling music," says Brian Zisk, executive producer of the SF MusicTech Summit. "It's a much healthier ecosystem for folks to be selling digital formats instead of physical formats. That's the future, and the way it's going."
Zisk also cites the rise in mobile and smartphones as a catalyst behind the digital-music surge.
"The ability for folks to purchase music everywhere has really expanded the digital marketplace," he says. "They don't need to go to physical store -- anywhere the phone is people are able to purchase music."
Traditional music magazines like Rolling Stone and Spin Magazine have now created apps that allow users to purchase music while browsing, and services like Spotify have partnered with Facebook to boost music discovery and sharing.
Mike More, CEO of Headliner.fm, says the future may not be digital sales. More cites Spotify's model as the music consumption of the future, where he says more consumers will pay for access to music streaming services rather than purchasing songs.
"I think you have a whole generation who doesn't care if they own anything," he says. "Accessibility has become paramount. This is what consumers want -- they want it everywhere and on all their devices."
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Should Our Wedding Rings Match?

2012-01-15T19:47:00.001-08:00

Tags: Best Chinese Stocks ,Best Stocks To Hold For 2012 ,Best Stocks To Invest In 2012 ,Keith Fitz-Gerald ,Top Stocks In 2012
Do wedding bands have to match? Only if you and your intended want them to! If this is indeed the case, you have many options even within that construct; there are a number of sets comprised of completely identical rings, matching styles in scaled widths for each partner, or rings with key differences as preferred by the individual but one or two common elements that unite and match the rings.
Of these options, the most straightforward way of achieving a matching wedding set is to simply choose two identical wedding bands either sold separately or in pairs. This is easy and the most effective way of displaying matching rings. However, if the couple’s hands or ring sizes are drastically different, the same ring can look perfect on one but strange and disproportionate on the other.
What’s more often seen these days is the wedding set comprised of identical ring styles in scaled widths; for example, a 4mm and 8mm pair. This allows the rings to match and fit the proportions of each wearer’s hand if they are quite different.
One major benefit of buying wedding bands in pairs is saving money, and tungsten rings are an exceptionally great choice for couples interested in purchasing a good quality cheap wedding set. What could possibly be better than a shiny, sturdy, tungsten carbide wedding band? Two tungsten matching wedding rings, of course! Couples in search of modern affordable wedding ring sets suitable for the very traditional practice of matching wedding bands need look no further than tungsten carbide bands.
Som! e other wedding band traditions you may or may not wish to observe include the practice of each member of the couple paying for the other’s ring, and for the respective rings to be given to the best man and maid of honor for safe keeping until the rings are exchanged during the ceremony.
Making decisions together is something the two of you will be doing a lot of from now on and coming to an agreement on wedding rings is a romantic, meaningful, and fun way to get started.
These tungsten carbide ring designs are totally advanced! Check out the tungsten ring styles at deBebians.. Free reprint available from: Should Our Wedding Rings Match?.
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China Hoarding of Gold Turns More Traders Bullish

2012-01-15T15:47:00.001-08:00

Tags: ACC ,ALXN ,EOG ,Growth Food Stocks ,Growth Stocks To Buy In 2012 ,Growth Stocks To Invest In ,HAL ,INTC ,QCOM ,ROST ,T ,VZ ,Top Stocks In 2012
Gold traders are the most bullish intwo months after mainland China imported the most metal everfrom Hong Kong and investors bought U.S. bullion coins at thefastest pace in more than two years.
Eighteen of 23 surveyed by Bloomberg expect the metal togain next week, the highest proportion since Nov. 11. MainlandChina imported almost 102.8 metric tons in November, valued atabout $5.4 billion, trade data on Jan. 11 showed. The U.S. Mintsaid it sold 85,500 ounces of American Eagle gold coins in thefirst 12 days of January. Full-month sales would reach 213,750ounces at that pace, the most since December 2009.
Bullion rallied 6.2 percent since plunging to within 1percentage point of a bear market on Dec. 29, on mountingconcern that economic growth is slowing and European leaders arefailing to contain the region��s debt crisis. Holdings (.GLDTONS) inexchange-traded products backed by the metal are heading for thebiggest weekly expansion since mid-November and are within 2percent of an all-time high, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
��The thing that��s caught people��s minds is the massiveincrease in Chinese buying,�� said Ross Norman, chief e! xecutive officer of Sharps Pixley Ltd., a brokerage handling physicalbullion in London. ��Gold has demonstrated time and time againits ability to hold purchasing power. It looks expensive andpeople talk about bubbles, but it��s not.��
World Index
Bullion rose 10 percent last year on the Comex in New York,beating the 1.2 percent drop in the Standard & Poor��s GSCI TotalReturn Index of 24 commodities and the 9.4 percent decline inthe MSCI All-Country World Index of equities. Treasuriesreturned 9.8 percent, a Bank of America Corp. index shows.
The metal fell almost 19 percent from its record closingprice of $1,891.90 an ounce on Aug. 22 through Dec. 29, takingit below its 200-day moving average for the first time sinceJanuary 2009. Prices closed above the moving average on Jan. 10and settled at $1,630.80 in New York today.
Holdings in bullion-backed ETPs reached 2,357.3 tonsyesterday, valued at $124.1 billion and exceeding the reservesof all but four central banks.
China overtook India in the third quarter as the largestgold-jewelry market, according to the World Gold Council. Thegain in imports from Hong Kong may be a sign the central bank isadding to reserves, according to Sharps Pixley��s Norman. ThePeople��s Bank of China last made known its gold reserves of1,054 tons more than two years ago.
Call Options
There were 8,002 call options traded on Jan. 11 givingholders the right to buy the metal at $2,200 by July, and thesix most widely held holdings are for calls at 22 percent aboveprices today, Comex data show. Options traders are making fewerbearish bets against the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest gold-backed ETP, than at any time in the past 20 months.
Gold is also benefiting from concern the euro zone willtumble back into recession. Germany, the region��s biggesteconomy, shrank ��roughly�� 0.25 percent in the fourth quarterfrom the third, the Federal Statistics Office said Jan. 11. Theeuro region will contract 0.2 percent this year, compared withgrowth! of 1.6 percent in 2011, the median of 21 economistestimates compiled by Bloomberg show.
The rebound in gold is being threatened by a strengtheningdollar, which rose to a 15-month high against six majorcurrencies this week. The 30-week correlation coefficientbetween the greenback and bullion is now at -0.43, data compiledby Bloomberg show, with a figure of -1 meaning the two alwaysmove in opposite directions.
Housing Stagnant
Global equities climbed today to the highest level sincemid-November, and the U.S. Federal Reserve said Jan. 11 that theeconomy improved last month across most of the country even ashiring was limited and housing remained stagnant.
��Gold was held back toward the end of last year because ofdollar strength and people having more confidence in the U.S.economy,�� said Carole Ferguson, an analyst at Fairfax IS inLondon. ��If people feel the U.S. economy will pull the wholeworld up a little bit, then you could see gold being very flatto trading down.��
Hedge funds and other money managers have become lessbullish, cutting bets on higher prices by 56 percent since thebeginning of August. They reduced their net-long position to110,594 futures and options in the week ended Jan. 3, the lowestsince January 2009, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commissiondata show. The last time the position was that low, pricesclimbed about 17 percent in the next four weeks.
Benchmark Contract
Ten of 22 traders and analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expectcopper to fall next week and three were neutral. The metal fordelivery in three months, the London Metal Exchange��s benchmarkcontract, declined 21 percent last year and gained 5.3 percentthis month to $8,000 a ton.
Raw sugar retreated 27 percent last year and settled at23.84 cents a pound today on ICE Futures U.S. in New York, and a2.3 percent gain this month. Six of 11 people surveyed expectprices to gain next week.
Fourteen of 22 anticipate higher corn prices, while 15 of24 said soybeans will advance. C! orn fell 7.3 percent this monthto $5.995 a bushel after increasing 2.8 percent in 2011.Soybeans are down 4.1 percent this month at $11.5825 a bushelafter sliding 14 percent last year.
��You have a potential disturbance factor which is the eurocrisis,�� said Bayram Dincer, an analyst at LGT CapitalManagement in Pfaeffikon, Switzerland. ��Investors areoptimistic that the global growth rates are still high enough tosupport demand and commodity prices.��
Gold survey results: Bullish: 18 Bearish: 3 Hold: 2Copper survey results: Bullish: 9 Bearish: 10 Hold: 3Corn survey results: Bullish: 14 Bearish: 5 Hold: 3Soybean survey results: Bullish: 15 Bearish: 5 Hold: 4Raw sugar survey results: Bullish: 6 Bearish: 3 Hold: 2White sugar survey results: Bullish: 5 Bearish: 3 Hold: 3White sugar premium results: Widen: 4 Narrow: 5 Neutral: 2
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Aon Corporation has Week, Month, Quarter, Year and Year to Date Performance Up - AON

2012-01-15T11:58:00.001-08:00

Tags: Best Gold Stocks ,Best Gold Stocks To Invest In ,Best Stocks To Buy In 2012 ,Best Stocks To Invest In 2012 ,Gold Stocks ,Top Stocks In 2012
Aon Corporation (NYSE:AON) recently hit 52 week peak price $49.78, opened at $48.98 scored +0.77% closed $49.60. AON traded on over 2.38 million shares in comparison to average volume of 2.27 million shares.
AON has earnings of $643.00 million and made $7.68 billion sales for the last 12 months. Its quarter to quarter sales remained 0.39%. The company has 270.87 million of outstanding shares and 252.89 million shares were floated in the market.
AON has an insider ownership at 0.12% and institutional ownership remained 80.60%. Its return on investment (ROI) for the last 12 month was 6.24% as compare to its return on equity (ROE) of 10.91% for the last 12 months.
The price moved ahead 8.06% from the mean of 20 days, +10.45% from 50 and went up 23.24% from 200 days average price. Company��s performance for the week was 7.45%, +13.22% for month and yearly performance remained 27.70%.
Its price volatility for a month remained 1.48% whereas volatility for a week noted as 1.70% having beta of 0.56. Company��s price to sales ratio for last 12 months was 1.75 while its price to book ratio for the most recent quarter was 2.32 and its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) remained 1.31 billion for the past twelve months.
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Forming a New Analyst Consensus in Groupon (GRPN)

2012-01-15T08:14:00.001-08:00

Tags: 2012 Oil Stocks ,AAPL ,AMZN ,Best Performing Stocks To Watch ,Best Performing Stocks To Watch In 2012 ,GOOG ,HPQ ,MSFT ,Oil Stocks ,RIMM ,Top Stocks In 2012
Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) is now finally off of its post-IPO quiet period and the analyst community, whether a part of the underwriting syndicate or not, is now free to cover the social coupon website service however they see fit.? We have seen some very positive analyst calls and we have seen more ‘down to earth’ analyst calls.? The online social couponing site was initiated in coverage as follows by some of the syndicate firms:
Overweight and $27.00 price target at Barclays;
Buy with $28.00 price target by Bank of America/Merrill Lynch;
Neutral and $24.00 price target at Citigroup;
Neutral with a $25.00 price target at Credit Suisse;
Hold with a $21.00 price target by Deutsche Bank;
Buy with a $29.00 price target by Goldman Sachs;
Neutral at Janney Capital Markets;
Neutral and $24.00 price target at JPMorgan;
Sector Perform with $25.00 price target at RBC Capital Markets;
Outperform with a $29.00 price target by Wells Fargo Securities;
Outperform at William Blair.
What is interesting is that the form Benchmark issued a “Buy” rating and a $32.00 price target objective back on November 7 as it was not a part of the unde! rwriting syndicate.
As far as how this compares with the total universe of coverage, we still do not have all of the research calls with price targets.? The preliminary “consensus price target” would be somewhere between $26.00 and $27.00 depending upon which of the “non-target” firms are or are not counted.
The stock is down over 7% this morning at $21.65 and the post-IPO trading range is $14.85 to $31.14.
JON C. OGG
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Avoid These Three Costly, But Common, Diversification Mistakes

2012-01-15T00:39:00.001-08:00

Tags: 2012 Transportation Stocks ,Best Stocks To Buy 2012 ,Best Stocks To Invest In 2012 ,Transportation Stocks ,Top Stocks In 2012
When Enron's accounting fraud came to light and the company went bankrupt, Enron employees not only lost their jobs, they lost an estimated $850 million on the Enron stock held in their retirement accounts.
Bear Sterns and Lehman Brothers also encouraged their employees to hold stock in their companies. That turned out to be patently bad advice, and not just because the companies crumbled during the credit crisis.
It's generally bad diversification advice. It would have been just as bad for employees of Berkshire Hathaway or Apple.

Diversifying your portfolio can both boost your gains and minimize your risk. But taking too narrow a view of your investments can lead to three common and costly mistakes.
Sometimes even the pros get it wrong. But these mistakes are easy to avoid, once you understand the true nature of your portfolio.
All Your Eggs in the Company Basket
Fidelity Investment maven Peter Lynch coined the adage, "Invest in what you know." Although people know and understand the companies they work for, they need to draw the line when it comes to investing where they work. After all, they already have a significant investment in the company.
When you look at your portfolio, you need to look at all your assets, not just the stocks and bonds in your brokerage account. You are an asset, too. In economic parlance, you are "human capital." When you work for a company, you are, in effect, in! vesting your capital with them. Once you count your salary and benefits in you portfolio holdings, you'll likely discover you are already "overweight" in your company.
Don't You Already Own Real Estate?
The Dow Jones Composite REIT Index is down -51.5% since January 2007. Not surprisingly, home values have also dropped since 2007. The median price of a home is now $174,100, down -36.0% from its 2007 level of $271,900. Were you one of the many investors that took a double-hit on real estate?
There are a number of studies that illustrate the diversifying powers of real estate. Ibbotson Associates has shown that when real estate investment trusts or "REITs" for short were added to a portfolio of stocks, bonds and Treasury bills, overall portfolio returns increased while risk decreased.
But if you own a home, as 67.4% of Americans do, you already have a boatload of exposure to the real estate market. A home represents about a third of a typical individual's net worth. What's more, about two-thirds of homeowners have a mortgage, which means the investment in their home, and therefore real estate, is leveraged. While residential real estate doesn't correlate one-for-one with commercial real estate, it would be hard to build a case for homeowners adding exposure to the sector.
Rebalance When it Counts
By design, a well-diversified portfolio doesn't stay that way. Some assets will outperform and do your portfolio's heavy lifting while others rest. In time, you'll be overweight in those assets that have had a nice run. And unfortunately when it's their turn to rest, these positions will create a big drag on your results.
Rebalancing a portfolio isn't as exciting as researching a new opportunity. Most investors treat rebalancing like a painful chore, relegated to a New Year's resolution list. While an annual rebalancing is good, rebalancing after a rally or a correction is far better.
Th at's because these are precisely the times when your imbalances are the most pronounced and pose the most risk. But the added advantage of rebalancing during peaks and troughs is that it will actually force you to "buy low and sell high."
Since March, the S&P 500 has had a nice rally -- up more than +40%. And in that time, there have been some noteworthy outperformers and surprising underperformers. Commodities have a well-deserved place in a diversified portfolio. But if you were invested in copper, commodities may now be taking up more space in your portfolio than you realize. For instance, Southern Copper (NYSE: PCU) is up nearly +120% since March.
You may discover that after this rally, you are now underweight in some traditionally stable performers. Recession-resistant sectors like grocery stores, utilities, and telecoms lagged the overall market this year. Many telecom companies, especially wireless providers, have been adding subscribers and maintaining a steady stream of revenues and cash flow throughout the recession. Consumer staples and essential services may not be the sexiest investments in the market. But they can reduce the overall risk in your portfolio and even become the heavy lifters in an environment where consumers are still cautious.
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Oracle’s Ellison Calls HP Board Idiots: The Stanley McChrystal Issue

2012-01-14T21:10:00.001-08:00

Tags: AAPL ,Best Performing Hi-Tech Stocks ,Best Performing Stocks To Buy ,GLW ,INCY ,PANL ,RIMM ,S ,YMI ,Top Stocks In 2012
Larry Ellison, the CEO of Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL), and a founding father of Silicon Valley, took issue with the decision of the Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) board to fire chief Mark Hurd. In an e-mail to The New York Times he wrote, "The H.P. board just made the worst personnel decision since the idiots on the Apple board fired Steve Jobs? many years ago. That decision nearly destroyed Apple and would have if Steve hadn't come back and saved them."
Ellison is friends with Hurd. The Oracle chief claims that the HP board was originally split 6 to 4 in favor of disclosing the sexual harassment problem and later made the decision unanimous. Oddly enough,? the sexual harassment claims turned up nothing. The board may simply have been concerned with the public relations issue HP would have faced if it had kept Hurd as CEO.
The HP board faced a decision not unlike the one that the Obama administration did when General Stanley McChrystal and some of his officers when they made insulting comments about some diplomats and Vice President Biden. Most of the harshest comments were not made by McChrystal himself, but by subordinates.
McChrystal was called to Washington and was fired. The action took place during an extremely tempestuous time in the war in Afghanistan and the decision to force out the gene! ral had and still has the chance of disrupting a situation in which a new commander will take months to fully understand and manage the battle in the region. The risk of the replacement was almost certain worse than a modest public relations issue of a senior general speaking indiscreetly.
Hurd has been pushed out at a key time in the history of HP, just as a number of his M&A and cost cutting initiatives are about to bear fruit, or not, depending to a large extent on management skill . The HP board has put a great deal of? the success of those efforts at risk over what may be little more than a perception of misdeeds. Hurd “cheated” on his expense accounts, apparently in an amount of a few thousand of dollars. He paid back the sum. The board, in the judgment of a number of experts, made a mountain out of a mole hill, and it is likely to cost investors substantially.
Douglas A. McIntyre
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SEC tweaks enforcement rules

2012-01-14T17:06:00.001-08:00

Tags: BAH ,Best Penny Stocks ,Best Stocks 2012 ,Best Stocks To Buy In 2012 ,Booz Allen Hamilton ,NYSE:BAH ,Top Stocks In 2012
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The SEC is about to get tougher on Wall Street crime. A little bit.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said Friday that in certain cases, it will no longer allow defendants to settle complaints without admitting or denying the allegations against them.

The catch is that the change to this controversial policy applies only to cases in which defendants have been convicted of the same conduct in criminal proceedings, or in which they've admitted to the conduct as part of an agreement with law enforcement officials to avoid or delay criminal prosecution.

The SEC does not have the power to bring criminal complaints.

Defendants will still be able to reach SEC settlements without admitting or denying the allegations against them when there are no concurrent criminal convictions or admissions of criminal violations for the same conduct.
The change will prevent a repeat of the awkward scenario last month when Wachovia Bank, now part of Wells Fargo (WFC, Fortune 500), admitted to allegations of bid-rigging in the municipal bond market in a settlement with the Justice Department while simultaneously neither admitting nor denying them in a settlement with the SEC.

Only a "minority" of the agency's cases will be affected by the policy change, Robert Khuzami, director of the SEC's enforcement division, said in a statement. Cases like the SEC's much-maligned settlement with Citigroup las! t year w ill not be affected.
"The news is not so much that they're getting rid of this policy -- the news is that they had such a policy to begin with," said Neil Barofsky, a senior fellow at the New York University School of Law and former Special Inspector General of the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program.
In a case against Citigroup (C, Fortune 500), the SEC fined the bank $285 million for mortgage security-related fraud, allegations Citi neither admitted nor denied under the terms of the settlement. In November, however, U.S. district judge Jed Rakoff threw out the settlement in part because he said the "neither admit nor deny" portion deprived the public "of ever knowing the truth in a matter of obvious public importance."
Citi and SEC: Peas in the same pod?
The SEC has appealed Rakoff's ruling, charging that it "ignores decades of established practice throughout federal agencies."
Banks and other defendants in SEC cases press for settlements in which they don't have to admit the allegations against them so that such admissions can't be used as evidence in later lawsuits over the same conduct, for example by investors who claim to have been defrauded.
The SEC, meanwhile, says the policy allows it to save time and resources by reaching settlements more quickly.

"Now, I don't have any particular sympathy for a company facing increased legal risks based on admissions. But there are real costs to refusing to settle cases where we can obtain most or all of the sanctions and other remedies to benefit investors in a case," Khuzami said in a speech last month.
"A settlement removes the uncertainty and puts money in the pockets of investors relatively quickly."
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Run Your Stock Market Trading Strategy Through This 3 Question Filter for Greater Success

	Ave. annual yield on 10-year T-bonds after inflation (%)	Real change in Dollar gold price (after inflation)
1970-1980	0.41	plus 806%
1980-1990	5.03	minus 61%
1990-2000	3.57	minus 47%
2000-date	1.66	plus 303%

CULP, INC.
Condensed Financial Highlights
(Unaudited)

	T hree Months Ended					Six Months Ended
	October 30,			October 31,		October 30,		October 31,
	2011			2010		2011		2010

Net sales	$	58,013,000		$	48,879,000	$	118,283,000	$	104,791,000
Income before income taxes	$	2,863,000		$	3,201,000	$	5,827,000	$	7,479,000
Net income	$	6,252,000		$	4,002,000	$	8,071,000	$	7,749,000
Net income per share:
Basic	$	0.49		$	0.31	$	0.63	$	0.60
Diluted	$	0.49		$	0.30	$	0.62	$	0.59
Average shares outstanding:
Basic		12,733,000			12,932,000		12,898,000		12,901,000
Diluted		12,871,000	!		13,167,000		13,025,000		13,186,000