The US automobile industry is experiencing the best year post the recession. Automobile sales are expected to rise in the range of 4% to 7% for the month of November compared to last year same period. Several analysts are estimating that the seasonally adjusted annualized rate (SAAR) would cross 16 million, which is the best since August.
LMC Automotive expects the annualized rate to be 16.1 million, the best in six years. This is a decent improvement from last year's November, when the industry reported 15.3 million as the adjusted annualized rate. In comparison, Kelley Blue Book (KBB) expects the November 2013 SAAR to be around 15.6 million, while Edmunds.com estimates it to be 15.7 million.
5 Best Solar Stocks To Invest In 2015
How strong the sales will be a lot depends on the last week of the month which generally witnesses solid boost from the holiday season ahead. In fact as said by a senior market analyst of KBB rightly "these are some of the best sales days of the year".
So how are individual automakers expected to perform?
The top US automaker General Motors (GM) got a good boost this Black Friday as it introduced its promotional offers on its models of Chevrolet, Buick and GMC. KBB said that it expects to see sales gain of 12% in November, the highest among the top auto giants. Edmunds expects the top Detroit maker to post sales rise of 8%, and estimates Chrysler to report 10% sales gain.
However, foreign automakers including Honda (HMC), Hyundai and Volkswagen (VLKAY) are expected to lose market share in November. One of the prime reasons why these foreign automakers aren't benefitting as much as domestic carmakers is because they do not specialize in pickups and trucks. The Detroit Three, General Motors, Ford (F), and Chrysler are known for manufacturing pickups and trucks. With the rebound in the housing and construction sector, businesses are improving and! are therefore demanding more and more of pickups.
This is bolstering the sale of domestic auto giants who are witnessing a superb year. The good news is that the revival of the housing sector is there to stay for at least a couple of years. This would give domestic automakers a real boost, particularly after suffering distressed years post recession. Several industry analysts believe that the industry shall continue to see significant upward trend. The holiday season is ahead and car shoppers have already started taking advantage of the incentives that automakers give during this period.
Solid November
Sales during September and October were disturbed by external factors which suppressed the demand for cars as buyers started losing their confidence in the economy. However, November is expected to end at a solid note. LMC projects that November would post 1.22 million deliveries. If this is the case then the US automobile industry would record the best November since 2003. Automakers are scheduled to post November figures on December 3.
The US automobile industry is estimated to post 15.5 million annual sales, 1 million higher compared to last year. The increase in sales is majorly due to pent-up demand, Toyota's (TM) US Chief Executive Jim Lentz says. Honda's US Chief Executive Tetsuo Iwamura expects that 2014 US sales figure would be in the higher bracket of 15 million. Sales gain is not expected to be as strong as in 2013, though the industry shall continue to be in momentum. 2013 is a dream year for the automakers, it would be interesting to see how 2014 turns out to be.
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Thursday, January 30, 2014Is UBS a Buy After Earnings?With shares of UBS (NYSE:UBS) trading around $19, is UBS an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE, or STAY AWAY? Let's analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework: T = Trends for a Stock’s MovementUBS, a financial services firm, provides wealth management, asset management, and investment banking products and services worldwide. Its Wealth Management division provides financial services to high net worth individuals worldwide. Its Investment Bank division offers products and services in equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, and commodities to corporate and institutional clients, sovereign and government bodies, financial intermediaries, alternative asset managers, and its wealth management clients. UBS Asset Management division offers investment solutions to various asset classes. UBS has reported a 577 million franc ($644.2 million) profit during the quarter, beating analyst estimates, but the Swiss bank also warned that legal costs could increase as UBS said it has received requests from various authorities regarding its foreign exchange businesses. Swiss authorities have demanded that UBS set aside more funds for litigation, and so UBS likely won't reach its 2015 profit goals. The results caused shares to drop in Swiss trading this morning. T = Technicals on the Stock Chart are StrongUBS stock has remained in a range over the last five years. The stock is currently near highs for the year. Analyzing the price trend and its strength can be done using key simple moving averages. What are the key moving averages? The 50-day (pink), 100-day (blue), and 200-day (yellow) simple moving averages. As seen in the daily price chart below, UBS is trading above its rising key averages, which signal neutral to bullish price action in the near-term. (Source: Thinkorswim) Taking a look at the implied volatility (red) and implied volatility skew levels of UBS options may help determine if investors are bullish, neutral, or bearish.
What does this mean? This means that investors or traders are buying a minimal t amount of call and put options contracts as compared to the last 30 and 90 trading days.
As of today, there is an average demand from call buyers or sellers and low demand by put buyers or high demand by put sellers, all neutral to bullish over the next two months. To summarize, investors are buying a minimal amount of call and put option contracts and are leaning neutral to bullish over the next two months. On the next page, let’s take a look at the earnings and revenue growth rates and the conclusion. E = Earnings Are Mixed Quarter-Over-QuarterRising stock prices are often strongly correlated with rising earnings and revenue growth rates. Also, the last four quarterly earnings announcement reactions help gauge investor sentiment on UBS’s stock. What do the last four quarterly earnings and revenue growth (Y-O-Y) figures for UBS look like and more importantly, how did the markets like these numbers?
UBS has seen decreasing earnings and increasing revenue figures over the last four quarters. From these numbers, the markets have had mixed feelings about UBS’s recent earnings announcements. P = Excellent Relative Performance Versus Peers and SectorHow has UBS stock done relative to its peers, JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), and sector?
UBS has been a relative performance leader, year-to-date. ConclusionTop Safest Companies To Watch In Right NowUBS, a financial services firm, provides wealth management, asset management, and investment banking products and services worldwide. The company might not reach its profit goals in 2015 since Swiss authorities demanded that they set aside more funds for litigation. The stock has been in a range over the last five years, however, it’s currently near highs for the year. Over the last four quarters, earnings have been decreasing while revenues have been increasing, which has produced mixed feelings among investors. Relative to its peers and sector, USB has been a relative performance leader year-to-date. Look for UBS to OUTPERFORM. Wednesday, January 29, 2014Microcontroller Stock Atmel Corporation (ATML): A Better Semiconductor Bet? MCHP, STM & CY
If you are looking for a semiconductor stock that's focus on an area that's not so cyclical, mid cap microcontroller (MCU) stock Atmel Corporation (NASDAQ: ATML) could be a good choice – meaning its worth taking a closer look at the stock along with other microcontroller players like Microchip Technology Inc (NASDAQ: MCHP), STMicroelectronics N.V. (NYSE: STM) and Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ: CY). Microcontrollers are programmable and embedded chips that are increasingly hidden inside a all sorts of products these days e.g. if you have an appliance with a LED or LCD screen and a keypad, it contains some kind of microcontroller plus all new automobiles contain at least one and often several. I should mention that we have also recently added Atmel Corporation to our SmallCap Network Elite Opportunity (SCN EO) portfolio and we are down about 5.6% mostly due to the recent market volatility. What is Atmel Corporation?Mid cap Atmel Corporation calls itself a worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of microcontrollers, capacitive touch solutions, advanced logic, mixed-signal, nonvolatile memory and radio frequency (RF) components. Thanks to having one of the industry's broadest intellectual property (IP) technology portfolios, the company is able to provide the electronics industry with a complete system solutions focused on industrial, consumer, security, communications, computing and automotive markets. As for other players or potential peers in the microcontroller space, mid cap Microchip Technology is a leading provider of microcontroller and analog semiconductors; mid cap STMicroelectronics N.V. is among the world's largest semiconductor companies whose key strengths are in Sense and Power, Automotive and Embedded Processing Solutions; and small cap Cypress Semiconductor Corporation offers high-performance, mixed-signal and programmable solutions. What You Need to Know or Be Warned About Atmel CorporationAtmel Corporation made a good splash at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this year, with press releases highlighting the following new or improved products: The Atmel SAM G family of ARM® Cortex-M4-based MCUs that integrate high performance and ultra-low power in a small form factor - ideal for sensor hub and battery-operated consumer applications including sensor hubs for smartphones, tablets and Ultrabooks as well as wearables, healthcare, gateways, bridges and audio devices. Atmel AvantCar™, a next-generation automotive center console concept with curved touch screens, demonstrating the future of human machine interface in upcoming automobiles.The at the end of last October, Atmel Corporation reported a 2% sequential revenue increase and a 1% year-over-year revenue decrease to $356.3 million for the second quarter of 2013 while the microcontroller business generated revenue of $227 million, down 2% sequentially (due to a sharp reduction in sensor hub revenue) and up slightly year over year. GAAP net income totaled $5.4 million verses $13.0 million and non-GAAP net income of $37.7 million verses $25.3 million. In the earnings call (the transcript is available on Seeking Alpha here), the CEO commented: Communications and networking had a double-digit percentage uptick in sales and automotive recorded another quarter of steady growth. As anticipated, revenue from handsets and tablets was down sequentially due to the previously forecasted decline in sensor hub shipments. Sales in computing was soft as anticipated ramp of new PC form factors remains sluggish. The military aerospace market softened and after a strong second quarter. For the fourth quarter (traditionally is a seasonally slow quarter), Atmel Corporation expects revenue to be between $350 million and $364 million plus the company expects further gross margin expansion as it continues to execute on improvement plans. In the earnings call Q&A, one analyst commented that: If you take the midpoint of your guidance, you basically are looking at flat sequential growth, which, in the broader context of the earnings cycle so far, is very good relative to other semiconductor companies who are guiding down for Q4. It should be mentioned that at the end of the third quarter, Atmel Corporation had $270.9 million in cash for an increase of $44.3 million from the immediately preceding quarter and no long term debt. In addition, Atmel Corporation announced an additional $300 million allocation of funds to its existing $700 million common stock repurchase program. Otherwise, it should be mentioned that Atmel Corporation is scheduled to hold its next earnings call on Wednesday, February 5, 2014 at 2 pm to discuss its fourth quarter 2013 financial results. Share Performance: Atmel Corporation vs. MCHP, STM and CYOn Tuesday, mid cap Atmel Corporation rose 1.47% to $8.27 (ATML has a 52 week trading range of $5.89 to $8.91 a share) for a market cap of $3.52 billion plus the stock is up 5.6% since the start of the year, up 20.7% over the past year and up 140.4% over the past five years. Here is a look at the long term performance of Atmel Corporation verses other microcontroller stocks Microchip Technology, STMicroelectronics N.V. and Cypress Semiconductor Corporation: As you can see from the above performance chart, all four stocks spiked in 2011 with all except for STMicroelectronics giving close to the same rate of return to investors over the past five years. Finally, here are the latest technical charts for all four microcontroller stocks: The Bottom Line. If you are looking for a less volatile play in the semiconductor space, a mid cap microcontroller stock like Atmel Corporation along with Microchip Technology, STMicroelectronics N.V. and Cypress Semiconductor Corporation could be worth at least a closer look at. SmallCap Network Elite Opportunity (SCN EO) has an open position in ATML. To find out what other open positions SCN EO currently has, and to learn why so many traders and investors are relying on this premium subscription service, click here to find out more. Tuesday, January 28, 201410 Best Growth Stocks To Invest In Right NowIn this video, Motley Fool�industrials�analyst Blake Bos reviews General Motor's corporate leadership. CEO Ackerson got off to a rough start in 2010, but clearly has the intelligence and drive to make good things happen at GM. He is surrounded by executives who seem to be on board with what he wants to accomplish. However, GM is limited by what it can pay its executives, courtesy of the U.S. government bailout and continued U.S. government stock holding. This is making recruitment difficult and will hamper future efforts until GM can repurchase its stock from Uncle Sam. Worried about GM? 10 Best Growth Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Intuitive Surgical Inc.(ISRG)Intuitive Surgical, Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets da Vinci surgical systems for various surgical procedures, including urologic, gynecologic, cardiothoracic, general, and head and neck surgeries. Its da Vinci surgical system consists of a surgeon?s console or consoles, a patient-side cart, a 3-D vision system, and proprietary ?wristed? instruments. The company?s da Vinci surgical system translates the surgeon?s natural hand movements on instrument controls at the console into corresponding micro-movements of instruments positioned inside the patient through small puncture incisions, or ports. It also manufactures a range of EndoWrist instruments, which incorporate wrist joints for natural dexterity for various surgical procedures. Its EndoWrist instruments consist of forceps, scissors, electrocautery, scalpels, and other surgical tools. In addition, it sells various vision and accessory products for use in conjunction with the da Vinci Surgical System as surgical procedures are performed. The company?s accessory products include sterile drapes used to ensure a sterile field during surgery; vision products, such as replacement 3-D stereo endoscopes, camera heads, light guides, and other items. It markets its products through sales representatives in the United States, and through sales representatives and distributors in international markets. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. Advisors' Opinion:
10 Best Growth Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Crocs Inc.(CROX)Crocs, Inc. and its subsidiaries engage in the design, development, manufacture, marketing, and distribution of footwear, apparel, and accessories for men, women, and children. The company primarily offers casual and athletic shoes, and shoe charms. It also designs and sells a range of footwear and accessories that utilize its proprietary closed cell-resin, called Croslite. The company?s footwear products include boots, sandals, sneakers, mules, and flats. In addition, it provides footwear products for the hospital, restaurant, hotel, and hospitality markets, as well as general foot care and diabetic-needs markets. Further, the company offers leather and ethylene vinyl acetate based footwear, sandals, and printed apparels principally for the beach, adventure, and action sports markets; and accessories comprising snap-on charms. The company sells its products through the United States and international retailers and distributors, as well as directly to end-user consumers th rough its company-operated retail stores, outlets, kiosks, and Web stores primarily under the Crocs Work, Crocs Rx, Jibbitz, Ocean Minded, and YOU by Crocs brand names. As of December 31, 2010, it operated 164 retail kiosks located in malls and other high foot traffic areas; 138 retail stores; 76 outlet stores; and 46 Web stores. Crocs, Inc. operates in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. The company was formerly known as Western Brands, LLC and changed its name to Crocs, Inc. in January 2005. Crocs, Inc. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Niwot, Colorado. Advisors' Opinion:
Hot Insurance Companies To Invest In 2014: Buffalo Wild Wings Inc.(BWLD)Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc. engages in the ownership, operation, and franchise of restaurants in the United States. The company provides quick casual and casual dining services, as well as serves bottled beers, wines, and liquor. As of July 26, 2011, it had 773 Buffalo Wild Wings locations in 45 states in the United States, as well as in Canada. The company was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Advisors' Opinion:
10 Best Growth Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Nordstrom Inc.(JWN)Nordstrom, Inc., a fashion specialty retailer, offers apparel, shoes, cosmetics, and accessories for women, men, and children in the United States. It offers a selection of brand name and private label merchandise. The company sells its products through various channels, including Nordstrom full-line stores, off-price Nordstrom Rack stores, Jeffrey? boutiques, treasure & bond, and Last Chance clearance stores; and its online store, nordstrom.com, as well as through catalog. Nordstrom also provides a private label card, two Nordstrom VISA credit cards, and a debit card for Nordstrom purchases. The company?s credit and debit cards feature a shopping-based loyalty program. As of September 30, 2011, it operated 222 stores, including 117 full-line stores, 101 Nordstrom Racks, 2 Jeffrey boutiques, 1 treasure & bond store, and 1 clearance store in 30 states. The company was founded in 1901 and is based in Seattle, Washington. Advisors' Opinion:
10 Best Growth Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Checkpoint Systms Inc.(CKP)Checkpoint Systems, Inc. manufactures and markets identification, tracking, security, and merchandising solutions for the retail and apparel industry worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Shrink Management Solutions, Apparel Labeling Solutions, and Retail Merchandising Solutions. The Shrink Management Solutions segment provides shrink management and merchandise visibility solutions. It offers electronic article surveillance systems, such as EVOLVE, a suite of RF and RFID-enabled products that act as a deterrent to prevent merchandise theft in retail stores; and electronic article surveillance consumables, including EAS-RF and EAS-EM labels that work in combination with EAS systems to reduce merchandise theft in retail stores. This segment also provides keepers, spider wraps, bottle security, and hard tags, as well as Showsafe, a line alarm system for protecting display merchandise. In addition, it offers physical and electronic store monitoring solutions, incl uding fire alarms, intrusion alarms, and digital video recording systems for retail environments; and RFID tags and labels. The Apparel Labeling Solutions segment provides apparel labeling solutions to apparel retailers, brand owners, and manufacturers. It has Web-enabled apparel labeling solutions platform and network of 28 service bureaus located in 22 countries that supplies customers with customized apparel tags and labels. The Retail Merchandising Solutions segment offers hand-held label applicators and tags, promotional displays, and queuing systems. The company serves retailers in the supermarket, drug store, hypermarket, and mass merchandiser markets through direct distribution and reseller channels. Checkpoint Systems was founded in 1969 and is based in Thorofare, New Jersey. Advisors' Opinion:
10 Best Growth Stocks To Invest In Right Now: TrueBlue Inc.(TBI)TrueBlue, Inc. provides temporary blue-collar staffing services in the United States. It supplies on demand general labor to various industries under the Labor Ready brand; skilled labor to manufacturing and logistics industries under the Spartan Staffing brand; and trades people for commercial, industrial, and residential construction, and building and plant maintenance industries under the CLP Resources brand. The company also provides mechanics and technicians to the aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul, aerospace manufacturing, and assembly industries, as well as to other transportation industries under the Plane Techs brand; and temporary drivers to the transportation and distribution industries under the Centerline brand. It primarily serves small and medium-size businesses. The company was formerly known as Labor Ready, Inc. and changed its name to TrueBlue, Inc. in December 2007. TrueBlue, Inc. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Tacoma, Washington. Advisors' Opinion:
10 Best Growth Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Waste Management Inc.(WM)Waste Management, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides waste management services to residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers in North America. It offers collection, transfer, recycling, and disposal services. The company also owns, develops, and operates waste-to-energy and landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the United States. Its collection services involves in picking up and transporting waste and recyclable materials from where it was generated to a transfer station, material recovery facility, or disposal site; and recycling operations include collection and materials processing, plastics materials recycling, and commodities recycling. In addition, it provides recycling brokerage, which includes managing the marketing of recyclable materials for third parties; and electronic recycling services, such as collection, sorting, and disassembling of discarded computers, communications equipment, and other electronic equipment. Further, the company e ngages in renting and servicing portable restroom facilities to municipalities and commercial customers under the Port-o-Let name; and involves in landfill gas-to-energy operations comprising recovering and processing the methane gas produced naturally by landfills into a renewable energy source, as well as provides street and parking lot sweeping services. Additionally, it offers portable self-storage, fluorescent lamp recycling, and medical waste services for healthcare facilities, pharmacies, and individuals, as well as provides services on behalf of third parties to construct waste facilities. The company was formerly known as USA Waste Services, Inc. and changed its name to Waste Management, Inc. in 1998. Waste Management, Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is based in Houston, Texas. Advisors' Opinion:
10 Best Growth Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Sara Lee Corporation(SLE)Sara Lee Corporation engages in the manufacture and marketing of a range of branded packaged meat, bakery, and beverage products worldwide. Its packaged meat products include hot dogs and corn dogs, breakfast sausages, sandwiches and bowls, smoked and dinner sausages, premium deli and luncheon meats, bacon, beef, turkey, and cooked ham. It also offers frozen baked products, which comprise frozen pies, cakes, cheesecakes, pastries, and other desserts. In addition, Sara Lee provides roast, ground, and liquid coffee; cappuccinos; lattes; and hot and iced teas, as well as refrigerated dough products. The company sells its products under Hillshire Farm, Ball Park, Jimmy Dean, Sara Lee, State Fair, Douwe Egberts, Senseo, Maison du Caf 10 Best Growth Stocks To Invest In Right Now: MEDIFAST INC(MED)Medifast, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the production, distribution, and sale of weight management and disease management products, and other consumable health and diet products in the United States. The company?s product lines include weight and disease management, meal replacement, and vitamins. It also operates weight control centers that offer Medifast programs for weight loss and maintenance, customized patient counseling, and inbody composition analysis. The company markets its products under the Medifast and Essential brand names, including shakes, appetite suppression shakes, women?s health shakes, diabetics shakes, joint health shakes, coronary health shakes, calorie burn drinks, calorie burn flavor infusers, antioxidant shakes, antioxidant flavor infusers, bars, crunch bars, soups, chili, oatmeal, pudding, scrambled eggs, hot cocoa, cappuccino, chai latte, iced teas, fruit drinks, pretzels, puffs, brownie, pancakes, soy crisps, crackers, and omega 3 and digestive health products. Medifast Inc. sells its products through various channels of distribution comprising Web, call center, independent health advisors, medical professionals, weight loss clinics, and direct consumer marketing supported via the phone and the Web; Take Shape for Life, a physician led network of independent health coaches; and weight control centers. The company was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Owings Mills, Maryland. Advisors' Opinion:
10 Best Growth Stocks To Invest In Right Now: CNO Financial Group Inc. (CNO)CNO Financial Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the development, marketing, and administration of health insurance, annuity, individual life insurance, and other insurance products for senior and middle-income markets in the United States. The company markets and distributes Medicare supplement insurance, interest-sensitive and traditional life insurance, fixed annuities, and long-term care insurance products; Medicare advantage plans through a distribution arrangement with Humana Inc.; and Medicare Part D prescription drug plans through a distribution and reinsurance arrangement with Coventry Health Care. It also markets and distributes supplemental health, including specified disease, accident, and hospital indemnity insurance products; and life insurance to middle-income consumers at home and the worksite through independent marketing organizations and insurance agencies. In addition, the company markets primarily graded benefit and simplified issue life insurance products directly to customers through television advertising, direct mail, Internet, and telemarketing. It sells its products through career agents, independent producers, direct marketing, and sales managers. CNO Financial Group, Inc. has strategic alliances with Coventry and Humana. The company was formerly known as Conseco, Inc. and changed its name to CNO Financial Group, Inc. in May 2010. CNO Financial Group, Inc. was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Carmel, Indiana. Advisors' Opinion:
10 Best Growth Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Eastern Insurance Holdings Inc.(EIHI)Eastern Insurance Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides workers compensation insurance and reinsurance products in the United States. The company?s Workers Compensation Insurance segment provides traditional workers compensation insurance coverage products, including guaranteed cost policies, policyholder dividend policies, retrospectively-rated policies, deductible policies, and alternative market products to employers. This segment distributes its workers? compensation products and services through its independent insurance agents primarily in Pennsylvania, Delaware, North Carolina, Maryland, Indiana, and Virginia. Its Segregated Portfolio Cell Reinsurance segment offers alternative market workers compensation solutions comprising program design, fronting, claims administration, risk management, segregated portfolio cell rental, asset management, and segregated portfolio management services to individual companies, groups, and associations. Eastern Insurance Holdings, Inc. is headquartered in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Advisors' Opinion:
10 Best Growth Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Thoratec Corporation(THOR)Thoratec Corporation engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of proprietary medical devices used for circulatory support. The company?s primary product lines include ventricular assist devices, such as HeartMate II, an implantable left ventricular assist device consisting of a rotary blood pump to provide intermediate and long-term mechanical circulatory support (MCS); and HeartMate XVE, an implantable and pulsatile left ventricular assist device for intermediate and longer-term MCS. Its ventricular assist devices also comprise Paracorporeal Ventricular Assist Device, an external pulsatile ventricular assist device, which provides left, right, and biventricular MCS approved for bridge-to-transplantation (BTT), including home discharge, and post-cardiotomy myocardial recovery; and Implantable Ventricular Assist Device, an implantable and pulsatile ventricular assist device designed to provide left, right, and biventricular MCS approved for BTT comprising hom e discharge, and post-cardiotomy myocardial recovery. The company also provides CentriMag, an extracorporeal full-flow acute surgical support platform that offers support up to 30 days for cardiac and respiratory failure. In addition, it offers PediMag and PediVAS extracorporeal full-flow acute surgical support platforms designed to provide acute surgical support to pediatric patients. The company sells its products through direct sales force in the United States, as well as through a network of distributors internationally. Thoratec Corporation was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Pleasanton, California. Advisors' Opinion:
Monday, January 27, 2014Morningstar's Phillips to step down in early 2014 Don Phillips, a 27-year Morningstar Inc. veteran, will be stepping down as head of global research effective Jan. 1. He will be succeeded by Haywood Kelly, the current head of equity, credit and structured-credit research at the Chicago-based investment research firm. Mr. Phillips will remain with the company as a managing director focused on new research initiatives and a member of the board of directors, the company said in a news release. Still wants to contributeBest Stocks To Invest In“I've had a wonderfully rewarding career and believe passionately in Morningstar's mission of helping investors,” Mr. Phillips said in the release. “I've often said that, to me, Morningstar is a cause as well as a company. I told [founder and chief executive] Joe [Mansueto] that I'd like to step back, but I still want to contribute to Morningstar's success.”
Sunday, January 26, 20144 Tech Stocks Under $10 Triggering Breakout TradesDELAFIELD, Wis. (Stockpickr) -- At Stockpickr, we track daily portfolios of stocks that are the biggest percentage gainers and the biggest percentage losers. >>5 Big Trades to Take as the Fed Hits the Gas Stocks that are making large moves like these are favorites among short-term traders because they can jump into these names and try to capture some of that massive volatility. Stocks that are making big-percentage moves either up or down are usually in play because their sector is becoming attractive or they have a major fundamental catalyst such as a recent earnings release. Sometimes stocks making big moves have been hit with an analyst upgrade or an analyst downgrade. Regardless of the reason behind it, when a stock makes a large-percentage move, it is often just the start of a new major trend -- a trend that can lead to huge profits. If you time your trade correctly, combining technical indicators with fundamental trends, discipline and sound money management, you will be well on your way to investment success. >>5 Stocks Insiders Love Right Now With that in mind, let's take a closer look at a several stocks under $10 that are making large moves to the upside today. Global Telecom & Technology Global Telecom & Technology (GTT) is a cloud network provider delivering simplicity, speed and agility to enterprise, government and carrier customers in over 80 countries worldwide. This stock closed up 6.5% to $4.59 in Thursday's trading session. Thursday's Range: $4.39-$4.60 >>5 Tech Stocks in Breakout Territory With Big Volume From a technical perspective, GTT bounced sharply higher here right above its 50-day moving average of $4.28 with above-average volume. This move is quickly pushing shares of GTT within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade. That trade will hit if GTT manages to take out Thursday's high of $4.60 and then once it clears its 52-week high at $4.75 with high volume. Traders should now look for long-biased trades in GTT as long as it's trending above its 50-day at $4.28 or above more near-term support at $4.01 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 12,816 shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then GTT will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that breakout are $6 or $7. FalconStor Software FalconStor Software (FALC) provides disk-based data protection. This stock closed up 11.7% to $1.33 a share in Thursday's trading session. Thursday's Range: $1.14-$1.36 >>5 Stocks Set to Soar on Bullish Earnings From a technical perspective, FALC skyrocketed higher here right above some near-term support at $1.10 with strong upside volume flows. This stock had been downtrending badly for the last three months, with shares falling from its high of $1.90 to its recent low of 88 cents per share. After hitting that low, shares of FALC have reversed its downtrend and entered a new uptrend. That move has now pushed shares of FALC within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade. That trade will hit if FALC manages to take out Thursday's high of $1.36 and then once it clears some past resistance at $1.43 with high volume. Traders should now look for long-biased trades in FALC as long as it's trending above $1.20 or above Thursday's low of $1.14 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 264,280 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then FALC will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $1.90 to $2.20. Rambus Rambus (RMBS) develops world-changing products and services in security, advanced LED lighting and displays, and immersive mobile media. This stock closed up 2.2% to $8.83 in Thursday's trading session. Thursday's Range: $8.64-$8.83 >>5 Rocket Stocks to Buy as Mr. Market Climbs From a technical perspective, RMBS trended modestly higher here right above some near-term support at $8.38 with lighter-than-average volume. This stock recently came out of a sharp downtrend, which took the stock from $10.85 to $7.95. Shares of RMBS now look to have put an end to its downside volatility in the short-term, since the stock has reversed course and entered a moderate uptrend over the last few weeks. That move is now pushing shares of RMBS within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade. That trade will hit if RMBS manages to take out its 50-day at $9.14 and then once it clears more resistance at $9.17 with high volume. Traders should now look for long-biased trades in RMBS as long as it's trending above support at $8.38 or at $7.95 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 964,248 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then RMBS will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $10 to its 52-week high at $10.85. Glu Mobile Glu Mobile (GLUU) designs, markets and sells mobile games. This stock closed up 5.3% to $2.35 in Thursday's trading session. Thursday's Range: $2.23-$2.44 From a technical perspective, GLUU ripped higher here right above some near-term support at $2.10 with monster upside volume. This move is quickly pushing shares of GLUU within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade. That trade will hit if GLUU manages to take out its 50-day moving average at $2.48 and its 200-day moving average at $2.55 and then once it clears more resistance at $2.59 with high volume. Traders should now look for long-biased trades in GLUU as long as it's trending above Thursday's low of $2.23 or above $2.10 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 1.53 million shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then GLUU will set up to re-fill its previous gap down zone from August that started at $2.80. If that gap gets will with strong volume, then GLUU could easily tag $3 or $3.25. To see more stocks that are making notable moves higher today, check out the Stocks Under $10 Moving Higher portfolio on Stockpickr. -- Written by Roberto Pedone in Delafield, Wis.
Follow Stockpickr on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook. At the time of publication, author had no positions in stocks mentioned. Roberto Pedone, based out of Delafield, Wis., is an independent trader who focuses on technical analysis for small- and large-cap stocks, options, futures, commodities and currencies. Roberto studied international business at the Milwaukee School of Engineering, and he spent a year overseas studying business in Lubeck, Germany. His work has appeared on financial outlets including CNBC.com and Forbes.com. You can follow Pedone on Twitter at www.twitter.com/zerosum24 or @zerosum24.Saturday, January 25, 2014Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Markets Get Hammered on China Fears as Microsoft Provides on of the Few Havens of StrengthToward the end of trading Friday, the Dow traded down 1.64 percent to 15,930.23 while the NASDAQ tumbled 1.91 percent to 4,138.91. The S&P also fell, dropping 1.77 percent to 1,795.51. Top Headline 10 Best Penny Stocks To Buy Right NowEquities Trading DOWN Commodities Euro zone Economics On the economics calendar Friday, there is no important data due out. Posted-In: Earnings News Guidance Eurozone Futures Commodities Forex Global Econ #s Economics Markets Movers Tech (c) 2014 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. Most Popular What Spooked The Market? Apple's New Hires Would Make the iWatch Revolutionary H&R Block or TurboTax (Intuit): Which is the Better Bet? Market Wrap For January 24: Fear Is Back In The Markets Top Gainers After Hours Is It Time To Worry Again? Related Articles (ARIA + BZSUM) Market Wrap For January 24: Fear Is Back In The Markets Ariad Shares Continue to Surge Amidst Buyout Rumors Ariad Pharnaceuticals Continues To Rally Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Markets Get Hammered on China Fears as Microsoft Provides on of the Few Havens of Strength Mid-Day Market Update: Microsoft Rises On Upbeat Results; Kansas City Southern Shares Decline Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; Procter & Gamble Profit Beats Estimates Around the Web, We're Loving... Lightspeed Trading Presents: Thunder and Tubleweeds: Trading Techniques for the New Market Enviroment Pope Francis Rips 'Trickle-Down' Economics Come See How the Pro's Trade in this Exclusive Webinar Wynn, MGM, Other Casino Giants Vying For U.S. TurfFriday, January 24, 2014Tokyo's Winning Olympic Bid Will Add to Japan's Debt Headache
Thursday, January 23, 2014U.S. mayors: Economy's gains will spread widely
The U.S. economic expansion will be much more broadly shared among the nation's cities and metro areas this year than it was in 2013, the U.S. Conference of Mayors says in a new report.
All but seven of the nation's 363 metropolitan areas will see their economies grow this year, compared with 97 areas whose economies contracted in 2013, according to the report, which was done by IHS Global Insight. It was released Wednesday at the mayors' semi-annual conference in Washington. IHS forecasts 340 metropolitan areas will see their economies grow at least 1% -- up from 183 last year. Of those, 69 metro areas will grow 3% or faster. ``We're finally on an upward trajectory with good job growth,'' said Jim Diffley, a senior director at IHS and lead author of the report. ``The recovery has started to affect substantially everywhere.'' Naples, Fla, will be the fastest-growing metro area in the country, with an economy expanding by 6.3%, the report says. Naples will also add jobs faster than any other metro, the report predicts. Among larger cities, top performers include Raleigh, N.C., expected to grow by 4.2%; Atlanta, 3.7% and Austin, at 3.6%. The forecast calls for turnarounds in cities hit hard by the decline of manufacturing or the housing bust. Youngstown, Ohio and Buffalo, N.Y. will return to growth this year. and boost their economies by 1.5% in Buffalo and 1.6% in Youngstown, IHS predicted. "The key thing in the northeast was the stabilization of housing," Diffley said. ``When prices normalized and people weren't underwater any more, small but positive job growth has been able to stimulate spending.'' College towns will thrive and mega-cities not so much, the report predicts. New York, Chicago and Los Angeles will all grow more slowly than the national average. But Austin, Charlottesville, Va; Lawrence, Kan., and other college towns will outpace the nation. The slow growth in megacities this year reflects the fact that many of them recovered all the l! ocal jobs lost in the recession before 2013, Diffley said. The report says the U.S. economy will grow about 2.7% for the year. The biggest turnaround will come in Shreveport, Louisiana, which the mayors' report says will grow by 1.6% after shrinking by 5.2% last year. Last summer, the mayors' economic report said more than half of U.S. metros wouldn't regain all the jobs lost in the 2008 recession until 2015 or later. The difference this time is that IHS and the mayors now have more confidence because of the calming of economic tensions in Europe and budget compromise in Washington, Diffley said. "Two thirds of metros have still not gotten back to 2007 or 2008 peak levels of employment, and half of those won't get there for another three years,'' he said. "Financial crises do not produce normal recessions in the U.S." Tuesday, January 21, 20147 Ways Americans Are Getting Out of Debt
Sunday, January 19, 2014German Stocks Advance as Euro-Area Confidence ImprovesGerman stocks advanced as a report showed euro-area consumer confidence increased more in August than estimated, outweighing worse-than-forecast U.S. home sales. Commerzbank AG gained for a third day on speculation the German government may sell its 17 percent stake in the lender. GSW Immobilien AG (GIB) slipped 0.9 percent after HSBC Holdings Plc downgraded its rating on Berlin's largest residential landlord. The DAX Index (DAX) added 0.2 percent to 8,416.99 at the close of trading in Frankfurt, for a weekly gain of 0.3 percent. The benchmark index has traded within a 2.3 percent range since July 17 as volumes fell and investors awaited more economic reports to assess the strength of the economy. The broader HDAX Index rose 0.3 percent today. "We are buyers of European equities because they were oversold," said London-based Nick Lyster, who helps oversee $292 billion as chief executive officer in Europe for Principal Global Investors. "While we are not expecting any fireworks, the economy in Europe is a lot better than it was." The DAX has rallied 9.4 percent from its low on June 24 as the European Central Bank said that interest rates will remain low for an extended period and manufacturing and gross domestic product data in the country beat estimates. The volume of shares changing hands in DAX-listed companies was 24 percent lower than the average of the past 30 days, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Euro-area consumer confidence increased more in August than economists estimated. An index of household confidence improved for a ninth month to minus 15.6, the highest level since July 2011, from minus 17.4 in the previous month, the European Commission said in a preliminary report. Economists had forecast an increase to minus 16.5, according to the median of 26 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. U.S. HomesPurchases of new U.S. homes plunged in July by the most in more than three years and previous months were revised down. Sales of newly built homes declined 13.4 percent to a 394,000 annualized pace, the weakest since October, following a 455,000 rate in the prior period that was lower than previously estimated, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. The median estimate of 74 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a decrease to 487,000. German gross domestic product climbed 0.7 percent in the second quarter, the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden said today, confirming an Aug. 14 estimate. The economy grew 0.5 percent from a year earlier when adjusted for working days. Commerzbank GainsHot Low Price Companies To Watch For 2014Commerzbank advanced 2.6 percent to 8.83 euros as analysts said the German government may be preparing to dispose of its stake in the country's second-largest lender. "We think that it is true that the German government is considering various options to sell its Commerzbank stake," Equinet AG wrote in a report today. "In our view, CBK's core bank would be clearly interesting for foreign banks that are interested in entering the German market." Lanxess AG rose 1.1 percent to 48.94 euros and BASF AG added 1.1 percent to 69.03 euros. A gauge of chemical-related companies advanced on the Stoxx Europe 600 Index. GSW slipped 0.9 percent to 33.13 euros. HSBC cut the shares to underweight, similar to a sell rating, from neutral, saying they are worth 31.8 euros apiece. GSW surged to the highest price since its 2011 initial public offering on Aug. 20 after Deutsche Wohnen AG made an all-share bid for the company that would create the second-largest owner of German homes. Saturday, January 18, 2014SEC Nominees Support Changing ‘Neither Admit Nor Deny’ PolicyPresident Obama’s picks to be the two new Commissioners at the Securities and Exchange Commission voiced their support during their confirmation hearing Thursday for SEC Chairwoman Mary Jo White’s recent announcement that she’d be changing the agency’s “neither admit nor deny” settlement policy by seeking admissions of guilt in some of the more egregious cases. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said at the Senate Banking Committee hearing—which also considered the nomination of Rep. Mel Watt, D-N.C., to be the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and two other nominees—that requiring admission of guilt in some cases “is an important step” for the agency and “shows that SEC will show some backbone in certain cases.” Warren then asked Kara Stein, an aide to Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., who was nominated to replace SEC Commissioner Elisse Walter, and Michael Piwowar, an economist on the Senate Banking Committee’s staff who was nominated to replace Troy Paredes, whether they supported White’s decision. Piwowar replied that he agreed, as the SEC’s policy has been on “autopilot” for too long. “Enforcement should be on a case-by-case basis,” he said. Stein said she also agreed, echoing Piwowar’s sentiment that “nothing should be on autopilot.” Both Piwowar and Stein's nominations are expected to be approved. As reported by Reuters, White said at the annual CFO Network event hosted in Washington on Tuesday by The Wall Street Journal that the SEC is “going to in certain cases be seeking admissions going forward. I think ... public accountability in particular kinds of cases can be quite important, and if we don't get them, then we litigate them.” In a June 17 email to the SEC’s enforcement staff, the enforcement division’s co-directors, George Canellos and Andrew Ceresney, said that the agency had begun to review its settlement approach “to ensure we make full and appropriate use of our leverage in the settlement process, including a discussion of the neither admit nor deny approach. While the no admit/deny language is a powerful tool, there may be situations where we determine that a different approach is appropriate.” From discussions with White and the commissioners, Canellos and Ceresney said that the types of cases where admissions of guilt could be in the public interest include “misconduct that harmed large numbers of investors or placed investors or the market at risk of potentially serious harm; where admissions might safeguard against risks posed by the defendant to the investing public, particularly when the defendant engaged in egregious intentional misconduct; or when the defendant engaged in unlawful obstruction of the commission’s investigative processes.” In such cases, “should we determine that admissions or other acknowledgement of misconduct are critical, we would require such admissions or acknowledgement, or, if the defendants refuse, litigate the case,” the two enforcement directors said. Both Canellos and Ceresney said, however, that they “recognize that insisting upon admissions in certain cases could delay the resolution of cases, and that many cases will not fit the criteria for admissions.” For these reasons, they added, “no-admit-no-deny settlements will continue to serve an important role in our mission and most cases will continue to be resolved on that basis. We will also continue to strongly defend our discretion to reach such settlements in response to inquiries from courts.” --- Check out SEC Changes Policy on Admission of Guilt in Fraud Cases on AdvisorOne. Thursday, January 16, 2014Gold gains as equity push slowsLOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — After investors got their fill on stocks, they turned back to gold on Friday, pushing prices up for the second consecutive day in an otherwise sluggish week.  AFP/Getty Images Gold for February delivery (GCG4) rose $2.70, or 0.2%, to $1,242.90 an ounce in electronic trade. March silver (SIH4) rose 9 cents, or 0.5%, to $20.15 an ounce. But any move to the upside will likely be short-lived until more of the shine comes off frothy equities, according to Kitco News contributor Jim Wyckoff. "The bullish ways of the U.S. and other world stock markets are working against many other competing asset classes, including precious metals and other raw commodities," he said. "Until the air starts to come out of the in-my-opinion presently overly inflated stock-market balloon, raw commodities will continue to languish at best." Click to Play Stock Bulls: You want the 49ers in the Super Bowl Top 5 Small Cap Stocks To Own Right NowInvestors should hope the San Francisco 49ers make it to the Super Bowl. MarketWatch's Tom Bemis says this is not because he is based in the SF Bay, but because data show the market tends to do well when the Niners win the NFC. (Photo: Getty Images) On the economic front, the Commerce Department is due to release new-homes construction data at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time. Industrial production, slated for 9:15 a.m, is forecast to slow to 0.3% growth from 1.1% in November. There's also job openings data for November at 10 a.m. and a speech from Richmond Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Lacker at 12:30 p.m. A day earlier, gold futures put an end to their mild losing streak, thanks to a decline in U.S. stocks and weakness in the dollar (DXY) that helped prices score for their first gain in three sessions. Elsewhere in metals trading Friday, platinum for April delivery (PLJ4) improved by $6.10, or 0.4%, to $1,437.60 an ounce, while March palladium (PAH4) tacked on a dime to $743.90 an ounce. High-grade copper for March delivery (HGH4) lost a penny, or 0.1%, to $3.34 a pound. Other must-read MarketWatch stories include: Citi goes bullish on miners for first time in three years Movie mogul says he and Streep will take down NRA — and reverse gun-stock rally Tuesday, January 14, 2014Stocks rebound as investors cheer banks Click the chart for more markets data. NEW YORK (CNNMoney) Stocks rebounded a bit Tuesday as investors cheered results from some of the nation's largest financial institutions.The Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq all moved slightly higher in morning trading. So was CNNMoney's Tech 30, led by a more than 3% gain in Intel (INTC, Fortune 500) following positive analyst reports about the chip giant. After a sharp sell-off Monday, investors turned to bank earnings to get a sense of the economy's health. JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500) posted a fourth-quarter profit of $5.3 billion, including a $1.1 billion write-off for legal expenses. But earnings topped expectations. Shares of JPMorgan rose on the news. The bank has settled numerous lawsuits in the past year, including over its behavior in the run-up to the mortgage crisis and for turning a blind eye to Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff. Wells Fargo (WFC, Fortune 500) also released earnings that slightly beat estimates, though it reported a big drop in mortgage activity. Shares were down early in the trading session. This is just the beginning. Investors are readying themselves for a slew of quarterly earnings announcements over the coming weeks. Four other big banks are due to report their results later this week: Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500), Citigroup (C, Fortune 500), Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500) and Morgan Stanley (MS, Fortune 500). Best Casino Companies To Own In Right Now
Investors have been nervous that earnings may not be strong enough to justify higher stock prices. Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets noted that a new report from Goldman Sachs said valuations for the stocks in the S&P 500 were lofty by almost any measure and that further gains may be difficult to achieve. And after a tepid December jobs report, investors are looking for further signs of strength in the economy. Retail sales for December came in slightly better than expected, as retailers offered big promotions due to a shortened holiday season.
What's moving: Shares of CNNMoney Tech 30 component Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500)were up modestly despite a downgrade from Citigroup. Wall Street has become increasingly anxious over the tech giant's search for! a successor. Google (GOOG, Fortune 500), another member of the Tech 30, moved higher after the search engine announced Monday afternoon that it was buying connected device maker Nest Labs for $3.2 billion. Also on Monday, Charter Communications (CHTR, Fortune 500) said it had formally proposed acquiring Time Warner Cable (TWC, Fortune 500). Time Warner Cable flatly rejected the offer. Shares of both companies were up in early trading. Shares of GameStop (GME, Fortune 500)tanked 19% after the video game retailer reported weak holiday season sales. European markets were mostly lower in morning trading, while Asian markets ended mixed. Monday, January 13, 2014Bear of the Day: Taseko (TGB) - Bear of the DayTop 5 Low Price Stocks To Own For 2014This year has been quite challenging for copper miners with declining demand for the metal and rising inventories. Disappointing results have in turn led to sharp downward estimates revisions, sending Taseko Mines to a Zacks Rank # 5 (Strong Sell).About the Company Headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, Taseko Mines Limited (TGB) owns and operates mining properties in Canada. The company currently produces copper and molybdenum. Disappointing Results and Guidance On May 2, 2013, Taseko reported it first quarter 2013 results. The quarter resulted in an adjusted loss of $2.9 million, down from net earnings of $3.1 million for the first quarter of 2013. On a per-share basis, the loss was $0.01 per share, below consensus. Downwards Revisions Due to disappointing results, quarterly and annual estimates have been revised sharply downwards in the past few weeks by analysts. Zacks consensus estimate for the current quarter now stands at a negative $0.01 per share versus $0.04 per share, 60 days ago, while the full-year consensus estimate is $0.11 per share now, down from $0.21 per share. The Bottom Line While the company is trying to grow production and lower costs, lower copper prices resulting from high inventories and global slow-down continue to act as headwinds. TGB is currently Zacks Rank # 5 (Strong Sell) stock and it has a longer-term recommendation of "Underperform". Further the Zacks Industry rank of 231 out of 265 also indicates weakness in the near- to mid- term. Thus we think investors should avoid this stock for the time being. Better Play? Investors looking for exposure to the mining industry could look at Avalon Rare Metals (AVL) or Stillwater Mining (SWC)--both Zacks rank#1 (Strong Buy) stocks with "Outperform' recommendation. Want the latest recom! mendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.Click to get this free report >> Sunday, January 12, 20145 Tech Stocks Rising on Big VolumeDELAFIELD, Wis. (Stockpickr) -- Professional traders running mutual funds and hedge funds don't just look at a stock's price moves; they also track big changes in volume activity. Often when above-average volume moves into an equity, it precedes a large spike in volatility. Major moves in volume can signal unusual activity, such as insider buying or selling -- or buying or selling by "superinvestors." Unusual volume can also be a major signal that hedge funds and momentum traders are piling into a stock ahead of a catalyst. These types of traders like to get in well before a large spike, so it's always a smart move to monitor unusual volume. That said, remember to combine trend and price action with unusual volume. Put them all together to help you decipher the next big trend for any stock. With that in mind, let's take a look at several stocks rising on unusual volume today. Chipmos Technologies Chipmos Technologies (IMOS) is a provider of semiconductor testing and assembly services. This stock closed up 6% at $16.23 in Friday's trading session. Friday's Volume: 405,000 From a technical perspective, IMOS ripped higher here right off some near-term support at $14.93 with decent upside volume. This stock had has been downtrending badly for the last month, with shares plunging from its high of $20.69 to its recent low of $14.93. During that move, shares of IMOS have been consistently making lower highs and lower lows, which is bearish technical price action. That said, the downside volatility for IMOS looks to have stopped and the stock could be ready to reverse its downtrend and begin a new uptrend. Traders should now look for long-biased trades in IMOS as long as it's trending above its recent low of $14.93 and then once it sustains a move or close above Friday's high of $16.30 with volume that hits near or above 375,400 shares. If we get that move soon, then IMOS will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at its 50-day moving average of $18.14 to $19.28. Fluidigm Fluidigm (FLDM) develops, manufactures and markets microfluidic systems for growth markets, such as single-cell genomics, applied genotyping and sample preparation for targeted sequencing and agricultural biotechnology industries. This stock closed up 9.8% at $19.55 in Friday's trading session. Friday's Volume: 430,000 From a technical perspective, FLDM gapped up sharply here and broke out above some near-term overhead resistance at $18.54 with heavy upside volume. This move also pushed shares of FLDM into new 52-week-high territory, since the stock took out $19.96 before closing at $19.55. Shares of FLDM are now trending within range of triggering a major breakout trade. That trade will hit if FLDM manages to take out Friday's high of $20.04 and then once it clears its all-time high of $20.20 with high volume. Traders should now look for long-biased trades in FLDM as long as it's trending above Friday's low of $18.52 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that's near or above 96,902 shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then FLDM will set up to enter new 52-week- and all-time-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that breakout are $25 to $30. PDF Solutions PDF Solutions (PDFS) provides infrastructure technologies and services to improve yield and optimize performance of integrated circuits. This stock closed up 2.6% at $21.51 in Friday's trading session. Friday's Volume: 543,000 From a technical perspective, PDFS trended up here right above some near-term support at $20.50 and into new 52-week-high territory with above-average volume. This stock has been uptrending strong for the last three months, with shares moving higher from its low of $14.95 to its intraday high on Friday of $21.64. During that move, shares of PDFS have been consistently making mostly higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move has also been accompanies by heavy upside volume flows since mid-July. Traders should now look for long-biased trades in PDFS as long as it's trending above some near-term support at $20.50 or above its 50-day at $19.06 and then once it sustains a move or close above Friday's high of $21.64 with volume that's near or above 112,159 shares. If we get that move soon, then PDFS will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that breakout are $25 to $28. Ellie Mae Ellie Mae (ELLI), an electronic mortgage origination network in the U.S, closed up 16% at $28 in Friday's trading session. Friday's Volume: 2.17 million Shares of ELLI skyrocketed higher on Friday after the company reported a profit and met Wall Street's expectations and beat the revenue expectation. From a technical perspective, ELLI soared higher here right above both its 50-day moving average of $23.64 and its 200-day moving average of $23.71 with heavy upside volume. This move sent shares of ELLI into breakout territory, since the stock took out some key overhead resistance levels at $25.39 to $25.75 and then above more resistance at $26.34. This move also pushed shares of ELLI into new 52-week high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Shares of ELLI are now starting to move within range of triggering another major breakout trade. That trade will hit if ELLI manages to take out Friday's high of $28.100 and then once it clears its three-year high at $30.59 with high volume. Traders should now look for long-biased trades in ELLI as long as it's trending above those breakout levels of $26.34 to $25.75 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that's near or above 468,756 shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then ELLI will set up to enter new 52-week- and three-year-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that breakout are $35 to $40. Web.com Group Web.com Group (WWWW) is a provider of a full line of Internet services for small- to medium-sized businesses and is a domain name registrar. This stock closed up 2.8% at $28.19 in Friday's trading session. Friday's Volume: 1.70 million Shares of WWWW spiked higher on Friday after the company said it earned 51 cents per share in the second quarter, up 34% from the year-earlier quarter, and beat analyst estimates by 2 cents. Non-GAAP revenue rose 8% to $131.4 million vs. analysts' estimates of $130.6 million. The company also raised its full-year revenue guidance by about $3 million to a range of $531 million to $534 million, vs. $408 million last year. From a technical perspective, WWWW trended up here above some near-term support levels at $26 to $25.22 and into new 52-week-high territory above $28.25 with above-average volume. This stock has been uptrending strong for the last three months, with shares soaring higher from its low of $15.87 to its intraday high of $29.48. During that move, shares of WWWW have been consistently making higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. Traders should now look for long-biased trades in WWWW as long as it's trending above Friday's low of $26.78 or above $26 and then once it sustains a move or close above Friday's high of $29.48 with volume that's near or above 518,784 shares. If we get that move soon, then WWWW will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that move are $35 to $37. To see more stocks rising on unusual volume, check out the Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume portfolio on Stockpickr. -- Written by Roberto Pedone in Delafield, Wis.
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Don Phillips: Calls time at Morningstar "wonderfully rewarding." 
AP By Gwynn Guilford Get ready for Tokyo 2020. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) evidently thought it better to go with safe instead of exotic but risky (Istanbul) or bargain-basement (Madrid, which pitched a "low financial investment" Olympics). It announced Tokyo's selection Saturday. Tokyo may be a safe option -- putting aside the risk of natural disaster and further issues with the Fukushima nuclear power plant, whose operators fear may be leaking contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean. But there's a real safety concern for Japan's fiscal stability. And though the economic stimulus that comes with hosting an Olympic Games could be positive, game preparations are also highly likely to exacerbate Japan's already massive debt problems. The cost of Tokyo's bid fell between $5 billion and $6 billion. That includes the construction of 11 new sporting venues and 10 temporary ones, at a cost of $3 billion. The Olympic village will cost another $1 billion, according to the IOC. The Tokyo government projects that the Games will generate $30 billion in economic benefits for Japan -- and that, it said, is a conservative estimate since it calculates only direct spending on the Olympics. One of the notions is that it will boost domestic consumption, helping wrest the country from a couple decades of debilitating deflation. So Tokyo's victory basically is license for the Japanese government to spend like crazy on infrastructure. You can see why Shinzo Abe, Japan's prime minister, put himself on the line to win the bid. An Olympics building bonanza is basically the second pillar of Abenomics -- fiscal stimulus (the first is monetary policy; the third is structural reform) -- on steroids. Japan doesn't need to dope its infrastructure investment when it already has $10.5 trillion in public debt. Equal to about 230% of its GDP these days, its debt-to-GDP ratio is the highest of all the developed countries in the world. And much of that debt was amassed from spending on wasteful infrastructure projects in the 1980s and 1990s.
Getty Images You may be determined to get out of credit card debt, but how do you actually do it? If you're like most people, cutting out that cup of joe you grab at your local coffee shop in the morning isn't going to cut it. You're going to have to use a combination of several strategies to help you reach your goal. Motivation doesn't seem to be the issue. According to a recent Credit.com survey, Americans and Credit Card Debt, 72 percent of people with credit card debt say it is "extremely important" or "somewhat important" to have a plan to pay off their credit card debt in 2014. And in fact, 85 percent of those surveyed who say they have credit card debt also report they have been successful paying down this kind of debt in the past. What techniques have people used to pay down debt in the past? We asked survey respondents to select all the strategies they employed to help pay down their balances and here's what they told us they did: Took in a roommate -- 3 percent Cut back on buying coffee from a cafe -- 13 percent Got a second job -- 14 percent Consolidated credit card debt -- 20 percent Cut regular expenses (cable, phone, insurance) -- 31 percent Stopped eating out as much -- 37 percent The No. 1 strategy listed by most respondents who said they paid down credit card debt in the past? "Started budgeting" was chosen by 60 percent of respondents. As dreaded as the task of creating a budget may be, consumers seem to be aware that if they want to pay off debt, they had better start paying attention to where their money is going. There can be a big payoff to creating a budget: Just tracking spending has been shown to have positive benefits, extending even beyond the money saved. Some research suggests that people who write down everything they spend may see improvement in other areas of their lives, such as eating less junk food and becoming more productive. Unfortunately, though, most consumers don't budget. Only 32 percent of households prepare a detailed household budget, according to a Gallup poll conducted in April 2013. Consolidation, Counseling and Bankruptcy As for other solutions those in debt are considering, the survey also asked respondents which of the following they have seriously considered, and received the following responses (from those with credit card debt): Credit card debt consolidation (15 percent) Credit counseling (8 percent) Bankruptcy (8 percent) While debt consolidation was the most popular option, getting a consolidation loan can be tricky, especially for those whose credit scores have been hurt by the debt they carry. In those cases, credit counseling may be a more realistic option. It usually has the effect of a consolidation loan -- lower interest rates and a lower monthly payment -- but it doesn't require good credit to qualify. Whatever method consumers use to get out of debt, it's going to take some willpower, creativity and hard work. And time. While 41 percent of those surveyed said it was extremely likely they would pay off all their credit card debt in 2014, it often takes people much longer than that, especially if their balances are large. But other consumers have succeeded in paying off massive amounts of debt, demonstrating that with the right strategies and in the right situation, anything is possible. As you pay down your debt, it's a good idea to track your progress on how it's affecting your credit. For one, it can be encouraging to see the positive effect that paying down your debts can have on your credit scores; but it's also good to just ensure that your payments are being reported accurately.