Why Neutral?
Associated�� focus on its organic growth strategy has resulted in an increase in deposits as well as net interest income (NII) over the past several quarters. Further, the company continues to build capital, leading to a better financial position that will aid in fulfilling higher capital requirements. Moreover, meaningful capital deployment and consistently improving credit quality are the positives for Associated.
Nevertheless, increased non-interest expenses and significant exposure to commercial loans remain major causes of concern for the company. In addition, Associated�� profitability remains subject to stringent regulations. Another issue that plagues the company is its limited exposure to markets.
Top Semiconductor Stocks To Own Right Now: MicroStrategy Incorporated(MSTR)
MicroStrategy Incorporated provides enterprise software platforms for business intelligence (BI), and mobile and social intelligence applications worldwide. The company offers MicroStrategy 9, an integrated BI platform that enables businesses to make business decisions. The MicroStrategy 9 platform?s product components comprise Intelligence Server, a foundation for the BI platform; Report Services, a reporting engine delivering production and operational reports, managed metrics reports, and interactive dashboards; OLAP Services that allows Web and desktop users to manipulate Intelligent Cubes databases; Web, a Web interface providing query, reporting, and analysis; Distribution Services that offers automated report and dashboard distribution; Office, which enables Microsoft Office users to create, run, edit, and format MicroStrategy report; and Desktop that provide users access to data through analytical applications. The MicroStrategy 9 platform?s product components al so include Architect, whose data sources are modeled through an intuitive graphical user interface; SDK to integrate MicroStrategy 9 features and functionality into any application on multiple platforms; Integrity Manager to compare and verify reports? consistency; Command Manager that automates MicroStrategy administrative tasks; Enterprise Manager to provide prebuilt reports and dashboards; Object Manager that allows administrators to manage disparate and distributed environments; MultiSource Option allowing users to report, analyze, and monitor data; Transaction Services that provides write-back capabilities; and Clustering Option, a plug-and-play add-on to Intelligence Server. The company also offers technical support, consulting, education, and cloud-based solutions. It serves retail, communications, financial services, insurance, healthcare, manufacturing, technology, consumer goods, and public services industries. The company was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Tysons Corner, Virginia.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Tim Beyers and Erin Miller]
Importantly, the BI sector as a whole isn't seeing gains. MicroStrategy (NASDAQ: MSTR ) fell as much as Qlik gained on a 6% decline in revenues in the most recent quarter. Qlik, by contrast, reported a 22% rise in revenue and told analysts to expect another 20% or better bump in the quarter.
10 Best Quality Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Market Vectors Russia ETF (RSX)
Market Vectors-Russia ETF (the Fund) seeks to replicate as closely as possible the price and yield performance of the DAXglobal Russia+ Index (the Russia+ Index). The Russia+ Index includes a basket of securities of 30 of the most heavily traded Russian companies that have listings on global exchanges, either through an American depository receipt (ADR), a global depository receipt (GDR) or local Russian shares. The Russia+ Index, which was launched in March 2007, is a modified market capitalization-weighted index designed to track the movements of certain depository receipts (DRs) and stocks of publicly traded companies that are domiciled in Russia, and traded in Russia and on global exchanges. The Russia+ Index consists of companies with market capitalization greater than $150 million that have a daily average traded volume of at least $1 million over the past six months. The Russia+ Index includes energy companies, such as Lukoil, OAO Gazprom and Surgutneftgaz; utility company, Unified Energy Systems; steel manufacturing firms, such as Mechel OAO and Evraz Group SA; mining firm, JSC MMC Norilsk Nickel; communications firms, such as Mobile TeleSystems OJSC and Vimpel-Communications, and Sberbank.
The Fund will normally invest at least 80% of its total assets in stocks and depositary receipts (DRs) of publicly traded companies that are domiciled in Russia. Publicly traded companies that are domiciled in Russia means companies organized in, or for which the principal trading market is in Russia; companies that, alone or on a consolidated basis, have 50% or more of their assets invested in Russia, or companies that alone or on a consolidated basis derive 50% or more of their revenues primarily from either goods produced, sales made or services performed in Russia. The Fund, utilizing a passive or indexing investment approach, attempts to approximate the investment performance of the Russia+ Index by investing in a portfolio of securities that generally replicate the Russia+ Index. The Fund! will hold all of the securities that comprise the Russia+ Index in proportion to their weightings in the Russia+ Index. The Fund will normally invest at least 95% of its total assets in securities that comprise the Russia+ Index. The Russia+ Index is calculated and maintained by the Deutsche Borse (the Index Provider).
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jeff Reeves]
This pick is even riskier than China, so your best bet is the diversified Market Vector Russia ETF (RSX).
But if you want to roll the dice on a risky but high-reward play, consider telecom giant Yandex (YNDX). This company is actually based in the Netherlands, but operates the leading Russian web portal, with search and email services. It�� essentially the Google (GOOG) of Russia.
- [By Vladimir Kuznetsov]
The Bloomberg Russia-US gauge dropped to 103.69. The Market Vectors Russia ETF (RSX), the biggest U.S.-traded exchange-traded fund that holds Russian shares, slipped 0.7 percent to $29.34. The RTS Volatility Index, which measures expected swings in the index futures, dropped 2.3 percent to 22.78, while RTS stock-index futures decreased 0.5 percent to 147,960 in U.S. hours.
- [By Matthew McCall]
Market Vectors Russia ETF (NYSE: RSX)
The Ukraine/Russia conflict heightened this weekend and some experts are predicting an all-out war over Crimea. On Monday morning the MICEX Index was lower by eight percent and the Russian Ruble was tumbling. The largest Russian ETF in the U.S. is RSX, which was already down 2.4 percent last Friday. Investors can expect massive selling for the ETF today on the open.
- [By Dan Caplinger]
The Dow Jones Industrials (DJINDICES: ^DJI ) celebrated the apparent lessening of tension along the Ukraine-Russia border Tuesday, climbing almost 228 points and more than regaining all of the ground the average lost Monday. Whipsaws in the Russian market were even more dramatic, as the Market Vectors Russia ETF (NYSEMKT: RSX ) gained 4% today after falling almost 7% Monday. As confusing as wildly thrashing markets can be for investors, the Dow's moves over the past two days serve as valuable experience that every investor can learn from. Let's take a look at three lessons from the Dow so far this week.
10 Best Quality Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Photronics Inc.(PLAB)
Photronics, Inc. engages in the manufacture and sale of photomasks primarily in the United States, Europe, and Asia. Photomasks are high precision photographic quartz plates containing microscopic images of electronic circuits, which are used in the manufacture of semiconductors and flat panel displays; and used as masters to transfer circuit patterns onto semiconductor wafers and flat panel substrates during the fabrication of integrated circuits, various flat panel displays, and other types of electrical and optical components. The company sells its photomasks to semiconductor designers, manufacturers, foundries, and other high performance electronics manufacturers through its sales personnel and customer service representatives. Photronics, Inc. was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Brookfield, Connecticut.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Roberto Pedone]
My first earnings short-squeeze trade idea is photomasks maker Photronics (PLAB), which is set to release numbers on Tuesday after the market close. Wall Street analysts, on average, expect Photronics to report revenue of $106.05 million on earnings of 8 cents per share.
About a month ago, Needham downgraded shares of Photronics to hold from buy following the company's negative preannouncement. Needham anticipates that Photronics will face some near-term challenges and may not generate EPS over 80 cents per share until fiscal year 2015.
The current short interest as a percentage of the float Photronics is pretty high at 11.9%. That means that out of the 59.69 million shares in the tradable float, 7.38 million shares are sold short by the bears. This is a high short interest on a stock with a relatively low float. Any bullish earnings news could easily spark a large short-squeeze for shares of PLAB post-earnings.
From a technical perspective, PLAB is currently trending above both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, which is bullish. This stock has been uptrending over the last three months and change, with shares moving higher from its low of $7.03 to its recent high of $8.89 a share. During that uptrend, shares of PLAB have been making mostly higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move has now pushed shares of PLAB within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade post-earnings.
If you're bullish on PLAB, then I would wait until after its report and look for long-biased trades if this stock manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance levels at $8.74 to its 52-week high at $8.89 a share with high volume. Look for volume on that move that hits near or above its three-month average action of 212,683 shares. If that breakout hits, then PLAB will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that move a
- [By Evan Niu, CFA]
What: Shares of Photronics (NASDAQ: PLAB ) have gotten crushed today, down by as much as 11% after the company reported earnings.
So what: Revenue in the fiscal second quarter totaled $106.7 million, down 9% from a year ago and below the $108.5 million consensus estimate. That also led to a bottom-line miss, with Photronics posting earnings per share of $0.08, near the lower end of guidance and also shy of the $0.09-per-share profit that investors were expecting.
10 Best Quality Stocks To Invest In Right Now: U.S. Geothermal Inc. (HTM)
U.S. Geothermal, Inc. engages in the acquisition, development, and utilization of geothermal resources in the western region of the United States. It constructs and manages power plants that utilize geothermal resources to produce energy. The company operates two power plants, including the Raft River geothermal power project located in the Raft River area of southern Idaho; and a 3.6 MW operating geothermal power plant and approximately 30,734.21 acres of geothermal energy leases and certain ground water rights located north of Reno, Nevada. It also holds interests in the Neal Hot Springs project located in eastern Oregon, which is under construction; Raft River project with 10 parcels comprising 783.93 acres of fee land and 4,736.79 acres of contiguous leased geothermal rights located on private property in Cassia County, Idaho; and lease contracts for approximately 21,905 acres of land and geothermal rights located in the San Emidio Desert, Nevada. In addition, the comp any has a geothermal lease contract for Granite Creek assets comprising approximately 2,443 acres of land and geothermal water rights located in the northwestern Nevada; and owns a geothermal concession consisting of 24,710 acres located southwest of Guatemala City, the Republic of Guatemala. Further, it has a joint venture agreement for geothermal rights for 3,615 acres located in northwestern Nevada. U.S. Geothermal, Inc. was founded in 2002 and is based in Boise, Idaho.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Udovich]
In addition, there are some other good articles (U.S. Geothermal: When Opportunity Knocks.... (HTM)�and U.S. Geothermal is a "Buy"... For the Right Kind of Investor (HTM)) about U.S. Geothermal Inc that were just published on our site. So I won�� recover the same territory and there appears to be no news to explain yesterday�� jump.
- [By Bryan Murphy]
By most accounts, it's an all-American dream come true. U.S. Geothermal Inc. (NYSEMKT:HTM), working hard - for years - to make something out of nothing can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. HTM has swung to a profit, and is strong enough now that it's probably going to remain in the black in perpetuity. Shareholders who got into U.S. Geothermal anytime during or after 2012 have finally been handsomely rewarded, with most of that reward materializing in just the past three weeks. Regardless of when an investor got into a position in HTM though, there's just one thing left to do at this point.... get out. Lock in your gain and walk away, at least for a little while.
10 Best Quality Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Healthcare Services Group Inc. (HCSG)
Healthcare Services Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides housekeeping, laundry, linen, facility maintenance, and food services to nursing homes, retirement complexes, rehabilitation centers, and hospitals in the United States. It operates in two segments, Housekeeping, Laundry, Linen, and Other services (Housekeeping); and Dietary Department Services (Dietary). The Housekeeping segment offers cleaning, disinfecting, and sanitizing of patient rooms, and areas of client?s facility, as well as laundering and processing of the personal clothing belonging to the facility?s patients. It also engages in laundering and processing bed linens, uniforms, and other assorted linen items utilized by client?s facility, as well as distributes laundry installations. In addition, this segment provides maintenance services that consist of repair and maintenance of laundry equipment, plumbing, and electrical systems, as well as carpentry and painting services. The Dietary segment i nvolves in providing dietician consulting professional services, developing a menu that meets the patient?s dietary needs, and purchasing and preparing the food for delivery to the patients, as well as participates in monitoring the residents? on-going nutritional status through providing dietician consulting professional services. As of December 31, 2009, the company provided services to approximately 2,300 facilities in 47 states. Healthcare Services Group was founded in 1976 and is based in Bensalem, Pennsylvania.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Seth Jayson]
There's no foolproof way to know the future for Healthcare Services Group (Nasdaq: HCSG ) or any other company. However, certain clues may help you see potential stumbles before they happen -- and before your stock craters as a result.
10 Best Quality Stocks To Invest In Right Now: CYS Investments Inc (CYS)
CYS Investments, Inc. is a specialty finance company created with the objective of achieving consistent risk-adjusted investment income. The Company invests in Agency residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) collateralized by fixed rate single-family residential mortgage loans (typically 15, 20 or 30 years), adjustable-rate mortgage loans (ARMs), which typically have coupon rates that reset monthly, or hybrid ARMs, which typically have a coupon rate that is fixed for an initial period (typically three, five, seven or 10 years) and thereafter resets at regular intervals. In addition, its investment guidelines permit investments in collateralized mortgage obligations issued by a government agency or government-sponsored entity that are collateralized by Agency RMBS (CMOs), although the Company had not invested in any CMOs as of December 31, 2011.
The Company finances its Agency RMBS investments using a diversified approach involving repurchase agreements with multiple commercial and investment banks. Agency RMBS are residential mortgage pass-through securities, the principal and interest of which are guaranteed by the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) or the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae). Its portfolio of Agency RMBS is backed by fixed rate mortgages and hybrid ARMs that typically have a fixed coupon for three, five or seven years, and then pay an adjustable coupon that generally resets annually over a predetermined interest rate index. As of December 31, 2011, its Agency RMBS portfolio consisted of 10 Year Fixed Rate, 15 Year Fixed Rate, 20 Year Fixed Rate, 30 Year Fixed Rate and Hybrid ARMs. On September 1, 2011, the Company acquired certain assets and entered into agreements to internalize its management (the Internalization).
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Dan Caplinger]
The big question for American Capital Agency will be whether its hedging program helps it avoid big losses. CYS Investments (NYSE: CYS ) reported a big loss last week, with its book value taking a large hit because of hedging practices that didn't work as well as CEO Kevin Grant would have liked. If its hedges work, then American Capital Agency earnings could give investors a nice surprise next week, forestalling any need for further dividend cuts -- at least for now.
10 Best Quality Stocks To Invest In Right Now: ConAgra Foods Inc.(CAG)
ConAgra Foods, Inc. operates as a food company primarily in North America. It operates in two segments, Consumer Foods and Commercial Foods. The Consumer Foods segment provides branded, private label, and customized food products, which are sold in various retail and foodservice channels. It offers products in various categories, such as meals, entrees, condiments, sides, snacks, and desserts in frozen, refrigerated, and shelf-stable temperature classes. This segment?s principal brands include Alexia, ACT II, Banquet, Blue Bonnet, Chef Boyardee, DAVID, Egg Beaters, Healthy Choice, Hebrew National, Hunt?s, Marie Callender?s, Orville Redenbacher?s, PAM, Peter Pan, Reddi-wip, Slim Jim, Snack Pack, Swiss Miss, Van Camp?s, and Wesson. The Commercial Foods segment provides commercially branded foods and ingredients that are sold to foodservice, food manufacturing, and industrial customers. Its primary products consist of specialty potato products, milled grain ingredients, a ran ge of vegetable products, seasonings, blends, and flavors. This segment sells products under brands, such as ConAgra Mills, Lamb Weston, and Spicetec Flavors & Seasonings. The company was founded in 1919 and is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Dan Caplinger]
ConAgra (NYSE: CAG ) will release its quarterly report on Thursday, and investors have increasingly doubted whether the food giant can hold its own in an increasingly competitive environment in the industry. With Nestle (NASDAQOTH: NSRGY ) and Kraft Foods (NASDAQ: KRFT ) both having held up much better since August than ConAgra has, skeptics are pointing at ConAgra's lack of earnings growth as a reason to doubt its capacity for future success.
- [By Reuters]
Toby Talbot/AP NEW YORK -- A voluntary effort by the world's largest food and beverage companies to remove billions of calories from the products they sell in the United States to help combat the nation's obesity epidemic has far exceeded its five-year goal, according to an independent evaluation released Thursday. In May 2010, 16 of the nation's biggest food and beverage companies, from Coca-Cola (KO) to Kraft Foods Group (KRFT), pledged to remove 1 trillion calories from the U.S. marketplace by 2012 and 1.5 trillion by 2015, compared with a 2007 baseline. In fact, as of 2012 they sold 6.4 trillion fewer calories, found an analysis by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "Reports like this, and the fact that they exceeded their commitment by fourfold, really shows that you can make progress in giving American families more healthy options," said Larry Soler, president of the Partnership for a Healthier America, a non-profit chaired by first lady Michelle Obama. The group was formed in 2010 to work with the private sector on anti-obesity strategies. At the time, critics said the Partnership relied too heavily on the good will of the industry and couldn't replace the role of tighter regulation on how food is manufactured and marketed. Such voluntary efforts by industry "are not a magic bullet," said Jeff Levi, executive director of Trust for America's Health, a non-profit policy group. "Particularly with kids, there is a role for regulation" in reducing demand for unhealthy, high-calorie fare. It isn't clear yet how the companies accomplished the dramatic calorie reduction, said UNC public health researcher Barry Popkin, who led the analysis funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the nation's largest public health philanthropy. Some of the decline may have come from the recession, as financially strapped families cut back on junk food. When the pledge was announced, companies said they would substitute lower-calorie pro
- [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Top Headline
ConAgra Foods (NYSE: CAG) reported a 42% drop in its fiscal first-quarter earnings.ConAgra's quarterly profit fell to $144.3 million, or $0.34 per share, from $250.1 million, or $0.61 per share, in the year-ago period. Its earnings from continuing operations came in at $0.33 per share. Excluding one-time items, its earnings declined to $0.37 from $0.44 per share.
- [By Suravi Thacker]
This is what is understood and followed continuously by the packaged food retailer ConAgra Foods (CAG). The company has been performing well, owing to its expansion in the low priced private label products which are faring well since it is lighter on consumers��pockets. However, unfavorable weather conditions forced the food company to register a dull quarter. Let us understand the company better.
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