i Stocks Broker For 2013, Best Stocks To Buy For 2013: February 2013

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Dow Recovers Somewhat on Consumer Sentiment Data (Updated)

The University of Michigan/Reuters Consumer Sentiment Survey for May rose from April by slightly less than expected, but enough to curtail the steep drop in the Dow this morning.

Dow Industrials are now down 135 points at 10,648, still bruising from this morning’s worries about the Euro and European sovereign debt risk. The Index pulled back from a low of 10,607.

The Survey’s barometer of consumer sentiment rose to 73.3 from 72.2 in April, which is below the 73.5 reading economists had expected.

On the plus side, consumers’ sense of their own expectations for the economy rose collectively to 68.3 from 66.5 in April.

Update: Looks like I spoke too soon. The Dow is now down over 200 points at 10,580, while the S&P 500 is down 27 points at 1,130

Aegean Marine Petroleum Network Misses on the Top and Bottom Lines

Aegean Marine Petroleum Network (NYSE: ANW ) reported earnings on Feb. 27. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), Aegean Marine Petroleum Network missed slightly on revenues and missed estimates on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue was unchanged. Non-GAAP earnings per share dropped significantly. GAAP earnings per share dropped significantly.

Margins contracted across the board.

Revenue details
Aegean Marine Petroleum Network booked revenue of $1.73 billion. The four analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ wanted to see revenue of $1.76 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were the same as the prior-year quarter's.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
EPS came in at $0.11. The five earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.18 per share. Non-GAAP EPS of $0.11 for Q4 were 21% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.14 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.07 for Q4 were 50% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.14 per share.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 4.1%, 20 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 0.8%, 20 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 0.2%, 20 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $1.86 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.19.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $7.62 billion. The average EPS estimate is $1.01.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a three-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 563 members out of 585 rating the stock outperform, and 22 members rating it underperform. Among 88 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 79 give Aegean Marine Petroleum Network a green thumbs-up, and nine give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Aegean Marine Petroleum Network is buy, with an average price target of $9.70.

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3 Things to Watch for in Coca-Cola’s Earnings

Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO ) is set to report earnings before the market opens on Tuesday. Here's what you need to watch for in the company's results.

Tempered expectations
The first issue that needs to be addressed after earnings are released is whether the cola giant met Wall Street's expectations. Analysts tack profits for Coke at $0.44 per share this quarter�. Coca-Cola booked earnings per share of $0.95 in the same quarter last year�, so the company is expecting a decline in profit growth. The company reported $12.2 billion in sales for last year's Q3, and $46.5 billion for the full year�.

Sales growth
Third-quarter 2012 net revenues grew 1%, with the company enjoying volume growth across every geographic group�. Coca-Cola's Q3 earnings announcement showcased strong unit case volume growth for key emerging markets -- Thailand and India grew at 19% and 15%, respectively�. Even though sales outside the U.S. already stand at roughly 80% of Coke's worldwide volume, the company is aggressively pursuing growth in relatively untapped emerging markets.

For example, Coke possesses only a fraction of the market penetration in India as it has in the U.S.�, yet India contains nearly four times as many people�. With this Asian nation as one of the last frontiers for cola companies, rivals Coke and PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP ) are putting out all the stops to gain market share. Coke has historically eaten PepsiCo's dust in India, but is closing the gap�. In the company's quest to double revenue and volume in a decade�, Coke plans to spend $5 billion in India by 2020�.

Product innovation
Coca-Cola's future success lies in the breadth and depth of its product pipeline. Non-carbonated drinks are growing at a faster rate than carbonated beverages�. As consumers become more health and calorie conscious, this trend is expected to continue. Even though Coca-Cola remains heavily dependent on carbonated soft drinks, it's admirably grown its non-carbonated offerings, most recently by gaining a majority ownership stake in Zico �coconut water. I'll be looking for reported sales growth in Coke's non-carbonated drinks.

Foolish bottom line
Soda sales at U.S. stores declined 0.6% in 2012, and December alone accounted for a 2.8% slump in sales�. Given that, I'll especially be watching to see exactly if and how Coca-Cola achieved its fourth-quarter sales growth. I'll also be looking for Coca-Cola's reported case volume growth in key emerging markets.

There is absolutely no question that Coca-Cola has been great to long-term shareholders, but the company faces some new threats to its continued market dominance.�We've�recently compiled a premium research report containing everything you need to know about Coca-Cola. If you own or are considering owning shares in the company, you'll want to click here now and get started!

Can Marathon Petroleum Meet These Numbers?

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE: MPC ) is expected to report Q4 earnings on Jan. 30. Here's what Wall Street wants to see:

The 10-second takeaway
Comparing the upcoming quarter to the prior-year quarter, average analyst estimates predict Marathon Petroleum's revenues will drop -0.6% and EPS will wither -1061.9%.

The average estimate for revenue is $19.32 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $2.02.

Revenue details
Last quarter, Marathon Petroleum logged revenue of $21.25 billion. GAAP reported sales were 1.6% higher than the prior-year quarter's $19.30 billion.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
Last quarter, non-GAAP EPS came in at $3.31. GAAP EPS of $3.59 for Q3 were 14% higher than the prior-year quarter's $3.16 per share.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Recent performance
For the preceding quarter, gross margin was 11.9%, 20 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 8.7%, 30 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 6.2%, 30 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead

The full year's average estimate for revenue is $81.17 billion. The average EPS estimate is $9.61.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a five-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 147 members out of 150 rating the stock outperform, and three members rating it underperform. Among 46 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 45 give Marathon Petroleum a green thumbs-up, and one give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Marathon Petroleum is outperform, with an average price target of $61.08.

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La-Z-Boy Q3 profit rises 14%

La-Z-Boy Inc.'s LZB fiscal third-quarter earnings rose 14% as the furniture company reported higher revenue and saw its retail segment swing back to profitability.

Shares rose 10% to $17 in recent after-hours trading as results beat analysts' expectations. The stock is up 10% in the past 12 months.

"We continue to experience strong performance and improvement in our retail business, leading to profitability this quarter while further validating our integrated retail strategy," Chairman and Chief Executive Kurt L. Darrow said.

Looking ahead, Mr. Darrow said the company is "quite pleased" with the trends it is seeing in its business, noting the improving housing market, coupled with what is historically La-Z-Boy's strongest volume period, makes the company "cautiously optimistic as we move into the fourth quarter."

La-Z-Boy, known for its namesake recliners, has seen several quarters of sales growth despite a sluggish economy, before revenue turned negative in the fiscal fourth-quarter, owning to an added week of sales in the year-earlier period. The company returned to sales growth in more recent quarters but faced higher expenses tied to incentive compensation and increased marketing.

For the quarter ended Jan. 26, La-Z-Boy reported earnings of $17.1 million, or 32 cents a share, up from $15 million, or 28 cents a share, a year earlier. The latest period included four cents a share relating to gains on the sale of investments and a related tax benefit.

Revenue rose 10%, to $349.1 million.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had recently forecast earnings of 23 cents on revenue of $337.8 million.

Gross margin widened to 32.5% from 31.5%.

The retail segment, which includes La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries stores, swung to an operating profit of $2.67 million from a year-earlier loss of $646,000.

Same-store written sales, which La-Z-Boy tracks as an indicator of retail activity, rose 12%.

Meanwhile, the wholesale upholstery segment, the main contributor to the top line, saw revenue rise 12% to $279.9 million.

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Gold futures slip along with euro

SYDNEY (MarketWatch) � Gold futures slipped on Tuesday, as a ramp-up in pressure on the euro due to renewed concern about Europe outweighed the metal�s safe-haven qualities.

Gold for April delivery GCG3 �lost $1.70 to trade at $1,674.80 an ounce in electronic trading on Tuesday.

The yellow metal climbed $5.80, or 0.4%, to $1,676.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange in regular trading Monday as political turmoil in Europe ramped up, even as the euro fell against the dollar.

The euro EURUSD �fell further against the dollar on Tuesday, to reach $1.3485 from $1.3511 in late North American trading on Monday and $1.3661 late Friday. Read: Spain, Italy concerns spur euro profit-taking

Click to Play A Thai billionaire wants Ping An

Well-connected Thai billionaire Dhanin Chearavanont persuaded Chinese regulators to approve his purchase of HSBC's Ping An stake after financing from China Development Bank fell through.

�Gold is historically positively correlated to the euro,� said precious-metals strategists at HSBC. �The bullion market may focus on the upcoming European Central Bank meeting and its corresponding euro reaction, we believe,� the strategists said.

Gold�s rise on Monday came even as the dollar strengthened.

The ICE dollar index DXY , which measures the greenback against a basket of six rivals, reached 79.669 from 79.589 in late North American trading on Monday.

Trading across the wider metals complex proved a mixed bag, as silver for delivery in March SIH3 �ticked up 1 cent at $31.73 an ounce and copper for delivery in March HGH3 �traded flat at $3.77 a pound.

April platinum PLJ3 �declined $5.10 to $1,693 an ounce while March palladium PAH3 �fell $9.10 to $748.70 an ounce.

Is the market right about Amazon?

Amazon misses on revenue, earnings, consensus, does worse than last year, and rockets up almost 9% after hours with a hat trick, a big improvement in operational income and margins.

But wait, I thought revenue growth was the only real metric for evaluating an aggressive growth stock with almost negligible book value relative to price. Oh, well, if they miss on revenue, let's find some metric, any measure that they improved dramatically. Do fundamentals matter when it comes to Amazon?

Let's check in with the sell-side fundamental analysts. According to Nasdaq.com, 23 of 30 analysts have it as a buy. It must have good fundamentals. Finviz.com has the analyst target at 294. Recent analyst upgrdes have raised the target to 290, 300 and 310.

Like all aggressive growth stocks, Facebook and LinkedIn come to mind; price targets are based not on current fundamental metrics but on projected growth way out into the future. Usually the dreams about the future carry price wildly higher. But once that growth stalls, price begins to drop, and Apple comes to mind. But not Amazon. It is in a class all by itself.

Perhaps if we check further, we might find some confidence in the wild expectations folks have for a rather mundane retail company that people like to use because it is so convenient. It's a great company, people love their service, and product lines and maybe some day Amazon will make nice big fat profits.

Meanwhile it's growing like gangbusters, or should we say was growing? Now the operational profits are growing instead of revenue. Does that mean Amazon becomes more like Apple and Google and less like Facebook and LinkedIn? In which case does it ever drop like Apple?

At this writing in the afterhours market on Tuesday, price is at 284, up 24. If the 12-month target is 310, as some recent analyst believes, you are only looking at an implied return of 9%. It is hardly worth buying at these prices even if you believe the analysts� expectations for this stock. The StockpickerUSA.com system, which has a value bias, gives Amazon only one star and rates it a sell.

Let's check the big institutional owners of this stock as of September on nasdaq.com. You will find that plenty of the largest and most respected institutions holding very large positions and increasing their holdings. Obviously, the portfolio managers agree with the sell-side analysts. But things may change if revenue growth falters and Amazon cannot justify the enormous forward PE of 153, which is out there on the moon.

Now we are ready to look at the chart for some answers. The chart is saying that Amazon is overbought in an uptrend and the upper Keltner band is at 282 and the lower band is at 252 on the daily chart, but 225 on the weekly chart.

My guess is that the price move up hits resistance here at 284 as it did last time and by the end of February is testing the lower daily Keltner band. The previous high at 265 will provide the first support when price tests the downside. Prior to earnings, that is what price was doing and what it will do again..

(Nothing in this article recommends Amazon as a buy or sell. Fundamental analysts and technical charts can be wrong. Do your own due diligence and check with a professional financial adviser before acting on the statements in this article.)

Time to Buy This Embattled Pizza Stock?

The following video is from Wednesday's MarketFoolery podcast, in which host Chris Hill, along with analysts Matt Argersinger and Bryan Hinmon, discuss the top business and investing stories of the day.

Papa John's (NASDAQ: PZZA ) reported a 14% increase in fourth-quarter profits, but shares sold off after the company announced that it's restating earnings from 2009-2012. How worried should investors be about the restatement? Is the sell-off an overreaction? In this installment of MarketFoolery, our analysts discuss the future of the pizza company.

More great advice from The Motley Fool
The Motley Fool's chief investment officer has selected his No. 1 stock for the next year. Find out which stock it is in the brand-new free report: "The Motley Fool's Top Stock for 2013." Just click here to access the report and find out the name of this under-the-radar company.

The relevant video segment can be found between 11:42 and 15:51.

For the full video of today's MarketFoolery, click here.

General Dynamics Wins $29 Million in New Pentagon Contracts

On Wednesday, the Department of Defense awarded�two contracts worth a combined $28.9 million to divisions of defense contractor General Dynamics (NYSE: GD ) .

The first and smaller contract, awarded to GD's Information Technology division, is an $8.4 million cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for the provision of "information technology and audio visual services" for the Mark Center in Alexandria, Va. Work on this contract is to be completed by Aug. 26, 2013.

The larger contract, awarded to the company's Ordnance and Tactical Systems division, is worth $20.5 million and modifies an existing contract for the procurement of 120mm tank training ammunition. A similar, smaller award was issued to GD rival Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK ) Wednesday as well. GD will supply the requested rounds sometime between now and March 15, 2015.

Nikkei Up Sharply

Asian markets were higher on the last day of February as global political concerns eased.

Franken’s Ratings Agency Firewall Passes Senate Vote

Freshman Democratic Senator from Minnesota Al Franken today succeeded in passing his amendment to change the arrangement of credit ratings agencies such as McGraw-Hill’s (MHP) Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s Investors Services (MCO), and privately held Fitch Ratings.

The measure, Restore Integrity To Credit Ratings, passed by 64 to 35, and is now included in the Senate financial reform legislation, would to create an regulatory board composed mostly of investors that will pick which credit rating agency gives the first review of a proposed security.

The Wall Street Journal’s Fawn Johnson quotes Sean Egan of ratings service Egan-Jones Ratings say the measure “has the potential for significantly improving the rating industry,” while S&P commented that the measure threatens to make S&P and the rest less competitive.

Frank’s office issued a press release saying the board would eliminate the conflict of interest whereby Moody’s and others attract bank business by dressing up credit ratings on products.

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Opinion: Phil Gramm: Obama and the Sequester Scare501 comments

President Obama's message could not be clearer: Life as we know it in America will change dramatically on March 1, when automatic cuts are imposed to achieve $85 billion in government-spending reductions. Furloughed government employees, flight delays and criminals set free are among the dire consequences the president has predicted. If the Washington Monument weren't already closed for repairs, no doubt it too would be shut down.

Scare tactics such as these are similar to the ones that were made when I co-authored the first sequester legislation in 1985, the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act. The 1986 sequester was triggered anyway, but the predicted disaster never came. The nation survived then. It will now.

Enlarge Image

Close Chad Crowe

The president's response to the sequester demonstrates how out of touch he is with the real world of working families. Even after the sequester, the federal government will spend $15 billion more than it did last year, and 30% more than it spent in 2007. Government spending on nondefense discretionary programs will be 19.2% higher and spending on defense will be 13.8% higher than it was in 2007.

For a typical American family that earns less than it did in the year President Obama was elected, the anguished cries and dark predictions coming out of the White House should elicit not sympathy but revulsion.

J.C. Penney’s Big Earnings Miss; Stock Falls 11%

Oh dear. J.C. Penney‘s (JCP) fourth-quarter earnings featured a big miss, with the retailer reporting an adjusted per share loss of $1.95 and sales of $3.88 billion — both numbers were well off consensus analyst estimates, which had forecast a loss of 23 cents and sales of $4.09 billion.

Penney reported an adjusted same-stores sales drop of 31.7%, while Internet sales were down 34.4%. The stock was down as much as 11% in postmarket trades.

These numbers cannot be good for CEO Ron Johnson, though he struck a bullish tone in the earnings statement:

Sales and customer traffic were below our expectations in 2012, but as we execute our ambitious transformation plan, we are pleased with the great strides we made to improve jcpenney’s cost structure, technology platforms and the overall customer experience. �We have accomplished so much in the last twelve months. �We believe the bold actions taken in 2012 will materially improve the Company’s long-term growth and profitability.

That’s what you call a positive attitude.

ReneSola Ships 100MW of PV Modules to Australia

Solar photovoltaic module and wafer manufacturer ReneSola (NYSE: SOL ) announced that it has shipped more than 100 megawatts of PV modules to customers in Australia since January 2012, which have been used by leading solar retailers, distributors, and project developers in a wide range of installations, from domestic rooftops to large-scale commercial applications.

"The number of shipments to Australia has increased substantially in the last year,"�ReneSola CEO�Xianshou Li said. "Since last summer, we have more than doubled our shipments there. This reflects both the pace of the Australian market and our burgeoning solar module business."

Founded in 2005, ReneSola is a leading global manufacturer of high-efficiency solar PV modules and wafers, which�uses in-house virgin polysilicon and a vertically integrated business model to provide customers with high-quality, cost-competitive products.

After running 3% higher yesterday, shares of the solar company closed unchanged at $2.33 per share.

A solar peer that happens to be taking a beating in the market today
Investors and bystanders alike have been shocked by First Solar's precipitous drop over the past 12 months, and now the stakes have never been higher for the company. Is it done for good, or ready for a rebound? If you're looking for continuing updates and guidance on the company whenever news breaks, we've created a brand-new report that details every must-know side of this stock. To get started, just click here now.

Has NII Holdings Become the Perfect Stock?

Every investor would love to stumble upon the perfect stock. But will you ever really find a stock that provides everything you could possibly want?

One thing's for sure: You'll never discover truly great investments unless you actively look for them. Let's discuss the ideal qualities of a perfect stock, then decide if NII Holdings (NASDAQ: NIHD ) fits the bill.

The quest for perfection
Stocks that look great based on one factor may prove horrible elsewhere, making due diligence a crucial part of your investing research. The best stocks excel in many different areas, including these important factors:

Growth. Expanding businesses show healthy revenue growth. While past growth is no guarantee that revenue will keep rising, it's certainly a better sign than a stagnant top line.
Margins. Higher sales mean nothing if a company can't produce profits from them. Strong margins ensure that company can turn revenue into profit.
Balance sheet. At debt-laden companies, banks and bondholders compete with shareholders for management's attention. Companies with strong balance sheets don't have to worry about the distraction of debt.
Money-making opportunities. Return on equity helps measure how well a company is finding opportunities to turn its resources into profitable business endeavors.
Valuation. You can't afford to pay too much for even the best companies. By using normalized figures, you can see how a stock's simple earnings multiple fits into a longer-term context.
Dividends. For tangible proof of profits, a check to shareholders every three months can't be beat. Companies with solid dividends and strong commitments to increasing payouts treat shareholders well.

With those factors in mind, let's take a closer look at NII Holdings.

Factor	What We Want to See	Actual	Pass or Fail?
Growth	5-year annual revenue growth > 15%	15.4%	Pass
�	1-year revenue growth > 12%	(6.8%)	Fail
Margins	Gross margin > 35%	58.1%	Pass
�	Net margin > 15%	(3.2%)	Fail
Balance sheet	Debt to equity < 50%	158%	Fail
�	Current ratio > 1.3	2.18	Pass
Opportunities	Return on equity > 15%	(6.4%)	Fail
Valuation	Normalized P/E < 20	NM	NM
Dividends	Current yield > 2%	0%	Fail
�	5-year dividend growth > 10%	0%	Fail
�	�	�	�
�	Total score	�	3 out of 9

Source: S&P Capital IQ. NM = not meaningful due to negative earnings. Total score = number of passes.

Since we looked at NII Holdings last year, the company has dropped two points, going from a profit to a loss and seeing sales plunge. The stock has performed abominably in response, losing almost 75% of its value in the past year.

NII Holdings is a telecom company focused on Brazil and the greater Latin American market. In a licensing deal with what is now Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S ) , NII Holdings paid to use the Nextel brand name on a royalty-free basis.

In its most recent earnings report, NII Holdings disappointed investors by giving weak sales guidance for the 2013 fiscal year. More alarmingly, with subscriber-count growth expected only in mid-single-digits, the report suggests that NII Holdings hasn't been successful in catching up to America Movil (NYSE: AMX ) and Telefonica (NYSE: TEF ) in the highly competitive Latin American market. In addition, with NII Holdings resorting to a private placement of $750 million in debt priced at a whopping 11 3/8%, bond investors aren't too secure about its future prospects.

Unfortunately, a recent move to try to compete more effectively didn't pan out. NII Holdings had hoped to buy Unicel do Brasil, but the acquisition was blocked by the Brazilian Agency of Telecommunications, which instead will auction off Unicel's operating licenses later this year.

For NII Holdings to improve, it needs to find some way to reignite its revenue growth and return to profitability. Without that necessary ingredient, NII Holdings may never get any closer to perfection.

Keep searching
No stock is a sure thing, but some stocks are a lot closer to perfect than others. By looking for the perfect stock, you'll go a long way toward improving your investing prowess and learning how to separate out the best investments from the rest.

Wherever in the world you look, the best investing approach is to choose great companies and stick with them for the long term. The Motley Fool's latest free report, "3 Stocks That Will Help You Retire Rich," names stocks that could help you build long-term wealth and retire well, along with some winning wealth-building strategies that every investor should be aware of.�Click here now�to keep reading.

Click here to add NII Holdings to My Watchlist, which can find all of our Foolish analysis on it and all your other stocks.

FTSE 100 Closes Higher After UK Loses "AAA" Rating

LONDON -- The FTSE 100 (FTSEINDICES: ^FTSE ) index rallied 64 points, or 1%, to 6,355 today despite the U.K. losing its top "AAA" credit rating for the first time in 35 years.

Moody's Corporation announced late on Friday that it had downgraded the country's debts by one notch to "Aa1." The ratings agency said the "key interrelated drivers" of its decision were:

1. The continuing weakness in the U.K.'s medium-term growth outlook, with a period of sluggish growth which Moody's now expects will extend into the second half of the decade;

2. The challenges that subdued medium-term growth prospects pose to the government's fiscal consolidation program, which will now extend well into the next parliament;

3. And, as a consequence of the U.K.'s high and rising debt burden, a deterioration in the shock-absorption capacity of the government's balance sheet, which is unlikely to reverse before 2016.

Moody's had rated U.K. government bonds, or gilts, as "AAA" since March 1978. The agency changed the outlook on the bonds from "stable" to "negative" this time last year, citing "materially weaker growth prospects" and "higher-than-previously expected projections for the deficit."

Major shares did not seem too upset by the "AAA" loss, with BP up 1.6%, GlaxoSmithKline down just 0.24%, Royal Bank of Scotland up 2.8%, and Vodafone up 0.64%.

The pound opened this morning down a fraction at about 1.515 against the U.S. dollar, having already dived from 1.62 since mid-January. Since the financial crisis erupted, sterling had traded mostly around the $1.60 level. The pound also fell slightly against the euro, with this morning's 1.145 euro rate down from a five-year high of 1.28 euros set last summer.

While the loss of the country's "AAA" rating may sound alarm bells for politicians and the economy, it may not be all that bad for the stock market. As a comparison, the S&P 500 index has rallied 25% since the U.S. lost its "AAA" rating during 2011.

Nonetheless, if you wish to take a cautious position with your equities, this free report reveals several blue-chip names that could survive a further downgrade to the country's finances. All the shares identified are familiar companies that offer robust dividend records, defensive business qualities, and solid long-term prospects. Just click here for more details.

Opinion: Phil Gramm: Obama and the Sequester Scare

Enlarge Image

Close Chad Crowe

When the 1985 sequester was created, the formula for cuts was closely examined, debated, amended and agreed to by a Democratic House and a Republican Senate and White House. Today's sequester is denounced because of the allegedly arbitrary nature of its across-the-board cuts. Yet the sequester formula that goes into effect on Friday preserves the spending priorities legislated by the Congress and the president, including exemptions and limitations they favored when the Budget Control Act of 2011 became law. The president himself first proposed the sequester. He may not like the way it works, but he has offered no real alternative.

Congress and the president might have worked together to avoid this outcome. Congress could have passed a budget resolution. The Republican House has repeatedly passed budgets, but the Democratic Senate hasn't passed one in four years. Past sequesters allowed for fast-track consideration of alternatives or modifications to the cuts�but the 2013 version doesn't allow for those.

Even if the sequester goes into effect, the magnitude of the automatic cuts won't be very different from those imposed in 1986. Nor is the job of finding alternative spending reductions any harder than it was when alternative cuts were enacted in 1987.

The first Gramm-Rudman sequester took effect on March 1, 1986. It cut nondefense spending by 4.3% and defense spending by 4.9%.

The most recent estimate by the Congressional Budget Office for this year's sequester is that nondefense spending will be cut by 4.6% and defense spending will be cut by 7.9%. While the sequester will reduce spending authority by $85 billion, the actual cuts that will occur in 2013 will be $44 billion. That is a mere 1.2% of total federal spending this year.

The first round of cuts under Gramm-Rudman weren't so devastating that Congress and the president rushed to repeal them. In July 1986, Congress had the opportunity simply to stop the sequester after the Supreme Court invalidated its triggering mechanism. Instead it voted overwhelmingly to reaffirm the across-the-board cuts. The vote in the Democratic House was 339 to 72, and the Republican Senate approved it by acclamation, not deeming it worthy of a roll-call vote.

In 1987, Congress fixed the triggering mechanism and restored the sequester in Gramm-Rudman II. That deal would have cut nondefense discretionary spending by 8.5% and defense spending by 10.5%, far greater cuts than will be triggered this year. Yet a Democratic Congress and a Republican White House came together to replace that sequester with spending cuts in fiscal years 1988 and 1989 that were larger than those called for by Gramm-Rudman II.

While history shows that a divided government can enact significant spending cuts as an alternative to sequesters, that doesn't appear to be the path Mr. Obama intends to follow. Instead of protecting civilian defense workers, the president will continue to force the Pentagon to buy biofuels at $27 per gallon to promote his green agenda. Instead of protecting children from cuts in nutrition programs, the president will continue to allow $2.7 billion of fraud and mismanagement he has identified in the food-stamp program. Instead of protecting Medicare from a 2% cut, the president will ignore $62 billion in annual waste that his administration has identified in Medicare and Medicaid.

But governing is not about blaming someone else�it is about choosing.

While Mr. Obama may choose to make the cuts ordered by the sequester in the most painful way possible, the best alternative�which is practiced every year to some extent�is allowing federal agencies to transfer funds among individual programs with congressional approval or by rearranging priorities as part of the March 27 resolution to fund the government for the rest of the fiscal year.

That doesn't sound like a herculean task to Americans who make hard choices every day. Their choices have become harder and more frequent because the country's political leaders seem unwilling to do the same in Washington.

— Mr. Gramm, a former Republican senator from Texas, is a senior partner of US Policy Metrics.

Found: An Amazingly Cheap and One-of-a-Kind Oil Company

Denbury Resources (NYSE: DNR ) is taking an approach to the production of oil that differs from most others in a couple of attractive and environmentally beneficial ways. And what's even more compelling, the company's shares are, in my rarely tentative opinion, distinctly undervalued.

Denbury, based in the Dallas suburb of Plano, Texas, produces black gold through a process that involves the capture of carbon dioxide, and its subsequent injection at high pressure into tired old wells that typically would be considered spent. The result is the containment and useful application of an important member of the greenhouse gas family, along with the freeing up of considerable amounts of oil that otherwise wouldn't be producible.

Using gas to increase oil production
The process is called carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery (CO2 EOR). It also operates under the moniker "tertiary recovery." Once hydrocarbon production has occurred through the EOR process, the oil and carbon dioxide are separated at an on-site recycling center, and the CO2 is then available for reuse.

The carbon dioxide used in its operations comes from several locations, including sizable deposits in the Rocky Mountains. In addition to its natural CO2 sources, just last month Denbury began using "anthropogenic" --a fancy term for man-made -- carbon dioxide that's being captured in yet another environmentally beneficial manner by Air Products & Chemicals (NYSE: APD ) at a hydrogen plant in Port Arthur, Texas. Those carbon dioxide deliveries are expected to reach 15 million cubic feet per day, once Air Products adds a second train later this year.

Bigger by the day
Denbury entered 2013 as a rapidly expanding independent oil and gas company that also happens to own the largest reserves of CO2 east of the Mississippi River. In addition, it holds sizable operating acreage positions in the Rocky Mountain and Gulf Coast regions. It also is the largest combined oil and gas operator in both Montana and Mississippi. Management's objective is to increase the value of the company's properties by combining effective exploration and drilling activities, along with the expanded use of effective extraction engineering practices, especially tertiary recovery.

As last week came to an end, Denbury said that it's adjusted fourth-quarter 2012 earnings, sans items, had come to $0.36 per share, easily topping the analysts' consensus forecast of $0.29. On a year-over-year basis, however, with commodity realizations reduced, the company's adjusted EPS figure fell short of the $0.45 per share generated in the fourth quarter of 2011. Amid the same causality, revenues for the quarter, at $609.2 million, were 1.3% below the year-earlier figure.

Doing the beneficial deals
More importantly, the company, which has been steadily buying back its stock, chalked up a number of accomplishments during the past year. For instance, in the second half of 2012 and already in 2013, it's become involved in a pair of sizable buy-sell transactions that have substantially upgraded its developmental prospects and likely cash flows.

First, in late December it completed the second part of a transaction with ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM ) . In the process, Denbury sold Bakken assets in exchange for approximately $1.3 billion of cash, along with Exxon's operating interests in the Webster Field in Texas and the Hartzog Draw Field in Wyoming. In addition, Denbury received a portion of ExxonMobil's CO2 reserves in Wyoming's LaBarge Field.

In the second transaction, announced last month, for $1.05 billion, Denbury applied a portion of the funds received from ExxonMobil to a planned acquisition of Cedar Creek Anticline properties in southwestern North Dakota and eastern Montana from ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP ) . Denbury management intends to reverse production declines in the acquired fields through the application of its EOR techniques. Denbury CEO Phil Rykhoek said in announcing the acquisition, "Strategically, we are now purely focused on what we do best, CO2 enhanced oil recovery, which we believe offers one of the lowest risk, and most compelling rates of return in the oil and gas industry today."

A Foolish takeaway
There's lots more to be said about this environmentally friendly, one-of-a-kind oil company. But hopefully you've become intrigued by this quick glance at the company. Suffice it to say, however, that, as an aficionado of unusual and financially compelling opportunities in the oil patch, I'm watching Denbury Resources like a proverbial hawk. I urge energy investing Fools to do the same.

Guidewire Software Beats on Both Top and Bottom Lines

Guidewire Software (NYSE: GWRE ) reported earnings on Feb. 26. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Jan. 31 (Q2), Guidewire Software beat expectations on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue grew significantly. Non-GAAP earnings per share grew significantly. GAAP earnings per share grew.

Gross margins dropped, operating margins shrank, net margins increased.

Revenue details
Guidewire Software chalked up revenue of $72.2 million. The five analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ wanted to see a top line of $64.3 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 31% higher than the prior-year quarter's $55.1 million.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
EPS came in at $0.21. The six earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ averaged $0.02 per share. Non-GAAP EPS of $0.21 for Q2 were 31% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.16 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.09 for Q2 were 29% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.07 per share.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 56.5%, 590 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 7.0%, 270 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 7.6%, 90 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $69.5 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.03.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $284.7 million. The average EPS estimate is $0.29.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a one-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 15 members out of 29 rating the stock outperform, and 14 members rating it underperform. Among 13 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), three give Guidewire Software a green thumbs-up, and 10 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Guidewire Software is outperform, with an average price target of $35.50.

Software and computerized services are being consumed in radically different ways, on new and increasingly mobile devices. Many old leaders will be left behind. Whether or not Guidewire Software makes the coming cut, you should check out the company that Motley Fool analysts expect to lead the pack in "The Next Trillion-dollar Revolution." Click here for instant access to this free report.

Add Guidewire Software to My Watchlist.

1 Reason DexCom May Be Headed for a Slowdown

Here at The Motley Fool, I've long cautioned investors to keep a close eye on inventory levels. It's a part of my standard diligence when searching for the market's best stocks. I think a quarterly checkup can help you spot potential problems. For many companies, products that sit on the shelves too long can become big trouble. Stale inventory may be sold for lower prices, hurting profitability. In extreme cases, it may be written off completely and sent to the shredder.

Basic guidelines
In this series, I examine inventory using a simple rule of thumb: Inventory increases ought to roughly parallel revenue increases. If inventory bloats more quickly than sales grow, this might be a sign that expected sales haven't materialized. Is the current inventory situation at DexCom (Nasdaq: DXCM ) out of line? To figure that out, start by comparing the company's inventory growth to sales growth. How is DexCom doing by this quick checkup? At first glance, pretty well. Trailing-12-month revenue increased 30.9%, and inventory decreased 9.8%. Comparing the latest quarter to the prior-year quarter, the story looks decent. Revenue increased 48.1%, and inventory contracted 9.8%. Over the sequential quarterly period, the trend looks healthy. Revenue grew 44.1%, and inventory grew 3.6%.

Advanced inventory
I don't stop my checkup there, because the type of inventory can matter even more than the overall quantity. There's even one type of inventory bulge we sometimes like to see. You can check for it by examining the quarterly filings to evaluate the different kinds of inventory: raw materials, work-in-progress inventory, and finished goods. (Some companies report the first two types as a single category.)

A company ramping up for increased demand may increase raw materials and work-in-progress inventory at a faster rate when it expects robust future growth. As such, we might consider oversized growth in those categories to offer a clue to a brighter future, and a clue that most other investors will miss. We call it "positive inventory divergence."

On the other hand, if we see a big increase in finished goods, that often means product isn't moving as well as expected, and it's time to hunker down with the filings and conference calls to find out why.

What's going on with the inventory at DexCom? I chart the details below for both quarterly and 12-month periods.

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

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Data is current as of latest fully reported quarter. Dollar amounts in millions. FQ = fiscal quarter.

Let's dig into the inventory specifics. On a trailing-12-month basis, finished goods inventory was the fastest-growing segment, up 50.0%. That can be a warning sign, so investors should check in with DexCom's filings to make sure there's a good reason for packing the storeroom for this period. On a sequential-quarter basis, finished goods inventory was also the fastest-growing segment, up 88.5%. That's another warning sign. DexCom seems to be handling inventory well enough, but the individual segments don't provide a clear signal.

Foolish bottom line
When you're doing your research, remember that aggregate numbers such as inventory balances often mask situations that are more complex than they appear. Even the detailed numbers don't give us the final word. When in doubt, listen to the conference call, or contact investor relations. What at first looks like a problem may actually signal a stock that will provide great returns. And what might look hunky-dory at first glance could actually be warning you to cut your losses before the rest of the Street wises up.

Is DexCom the best health care stock for you? Learn how to maximize your investment income and "Secure Your Future With 9 Rock-Solid Dividend Stocks," including one above-average health care logistics company. Click here for instant access to this free report.

Add DexCom �to My Watchlist.

United States Cellular Goes Negative

United States Cellular (NYSE: USM ) reported earnings on Feb. 26. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), United States Cellular met expectations on revenues and missed expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue grew slightly. Non-GAAP earnings per share dropped to a loss. GAAP earnings per share shrank to a loss.

Margins dropped across the board.

Revenue details
United States Cellular notched revenue of $1.12 billion. The five analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated a top line of $1.13 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were the same as the prior-year quarter's.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
EPS came in at -$0.27. The eight earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ forecast $0.00 per share. Non-GAAP EPS were -$0.27 for Q4 against $0.04 per share for the prior-year quarter. GAAP EPS were -$0.47 for Q4 against $0.03 per share for the prior-year quarter.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 52.4%, 500 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was -3.0%, 480 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was -3.6%, 390 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $1.11 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.46.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $4.11 billion. The average EPS estimate is $1.73.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a three-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 37 members out of 59 rating the stock outperform, and 22 members rating it underperform. Among 15 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 10 give United States Cellular a green thumbs-up, and five give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on United States Cellular is hold, with an average price target of $38.43.

Is United States Cellular the best telecom bet for you? Learn how to maximize your investment income and "Secure Your Future With 9 Rock-Solid Dividend Stocks," including one above-average telecom company. Click here for instant access to this free report.

Add United States Cellular to My Watchlist.

Is Now the Time to Buy Reckitt Benckiser Group?

LONDON -- I'm always searching for shares that can help ordinary investors like you make money from the stock market.

So right now I am trawling through the FTSE 100 and giving my verdict on every member of the blue-chip index. Simply put, I'm hoping to pinpoint the very best buying opportunities in today's uncertain market.

Today, I am looking at�Reckitt Benckiser� (LSE: RB ) (NASDAQOTH: RBGLY ) to determine whether you should consider buying the shares at 4,342 pence.

I am assessing each company on several ratios:

Price/earnings (P/E) ratio:�Does the share look good value when compared against its competitors?
Price/earnings-to-growth (PEG) ratio:�Does the share look good value factoring in predicted growth?
Yield:�Does the share provide a solid income for investors?
Dividend cover:�Is the dividend sustainable?

So let's look at the numbers:

Stock	Price	3-Yr. EPS Growth	Projected P/E	PEG	Yield	3-Yr. Dividend Growth	Dividend Cover
Reckitt Benckiser	4,342 pence	17%	16.8	N/A	3%	17%	2

The consensus analyst estimate for next year's earnings per share is 258 pence (down 2%) and dividend per share is 135 pence (up 1%).

Trading on a projected P/E of 16.8, Reckitt appears to be slightly cheaper than its peers in the household goods sector, which are currently trading on an average P/E of around 17.7.

Unfortunately, Reckitt's P/E and falling near-term earnings give a negative PEG ratio, which cannot be of any help with my analysis.

Reckitt supports a 3% yield, which is above the sector average of 2.3%. Furthermore, Reckitt has a three-year compounded dividend growth rate of 17%, implying that the yield will continue to stay above that of its peers.

In addition, the dividend is just under two times covered by earnings, giving Reckitt plenty of room for further payout growth.

Should you buy Reckitt Benckiser for its defensive nature?
Reckitt is a global manufacturer of cleaning products and over-the-counter health treatments, which gives the company a defensive nature. That said, Reckitt's growth has slowed during the past year as falling consumer incomes and increasing competition has hit demand for its products.

Nonetheless, Reckitt's management is taking action and is focusing on six global "power brands" to drive the company forward. The company is also targeting expansion in emerging markets and the management reckons such countries will account for up to 50% of group sales by 2015.

Indeed, the emerging-market strategy already appears to be working. Within Reckitt's full-year results released two weeks ago, the company reported group sales for the year had expanded 11% within Latin America and Asian markets and 8% in the Middle East and African markets.

Furthermore, Reckitt is looking for bolt-on acquisitions to boost organic growth and recently acquired Schiff Nutrition -- a North American vitamins company. In addition, Reckitt has acquired the licensing rights from�Bristol-Myers Squibb�for several Latin American health brands, including the popular painkiller�Tempra.

However, despite this growth and the company's defensive nature I believe Reckitt's shares currently look overpriced. You see, Reckitt's share price has risen 20% during the last three months alone, outperforming the rest of the FTSE 100 by 12% -- and I believe this rapid rise could soon be coming to an end given the near-term earnings outlook and present P/E rating.

So, after taking all that into account, I feel now does not look to be a good time to buy Reckitt Benckiser at 4,342 pence.

More FTSE opportunities
Although I feel now may not be the time to buy Reckitt Benckiser, I am more positive on the FTSE 100 share highlighted within this�exclusive free report.

You see, the blue chip in question offers a 5.7% income, its shares�might be worth 850p�compared to about 700 pence now, and it has just been declared "The Motley Fool's Top Income Stock for 2013."�Just�click here�to read the report -- it's free.

In the meantime, please stay tuned for my next verdict on a FTSE 100 share.

link

Oil futures steady after sharp recent losses

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) � U.S. crude-oil futures stabilized during Asian trading hours Wednesday as a weakened dollar lent some support to the commodity after a string of recent losses.

The front-month contract for delivery in April CLJ3 �inched up 4 cents to $92.67 a barrel after moving about in a range between $92.58 and $92.90 in electronic trading.

Click to Play Bernanke: Monetary policy cannot carry recovery

In his testimony about the Federal Reserve's Semi-Annual Monetary Policy Report, Chairman Ben Bernanke says monetary policy alone cannot drive the economic recovery. Photo: Getty Images.

The April futures had dropped 48 cents overnight on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest finish for a front-month contract since late December.

Despite Wednesday�s marginal gain, oil futures are still down about 5% in February, weighed by worries over the Italian political situation, a well-supplied market and a firm dollar.

Data released by the American Petroleum Institute at the end of the regular Nymex session on Tuesday showed an increase of 904,000 barrels in crude-oil supplies in the U.S.

�We still expect U.S. crude oil stocks to trend higher seasonally until April or May, providing there is still room in the storage tanks,� said Timothy Evans, an energy analyst at Citi Futures.

The more closely-watched inventories data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration is expected later Wednesday.

April futures for Brent UK:LCOJ3 �rose 9 cents to $112.80.

The ICE dollar index DXY , which measures the greenback�s moves against a basket of six major global currencies, slipped to 81.848 by mid-afternoon in Tokyo, compared with 81.852 in North America late on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in the energy complex, Nymex April gasoline futures RBJ3 �slipped 0.1% to $3.20 a gallon and heating-oil futures HOJ3 �for delivery in the same month were little changed at $3.03 a gallon.

April natural-gas futures NGH13 �climbed 0.1% to $3.46 per million British thermal units.

New Home Sales up 15.6%

New single-family home sales jumped 15.6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 437,000 in January, according to a Department of Housing and Urban Development report [link opens in PDF] released today. After dropping off a revised 3.8% in December, this newest report reversed the sales slump and beat the consensus analyst estimates by nearly 15%.�

Source: census.gov.�

On a regional basis, the West led the nation with new-home sales increasing 45.3% from December to January. The South's 3.2% gain kept the region positive, but lagged behind improvements in the Midwest (11.1%) and the Northeast (27.6%).�

At the current rate of new home sales, there is an estimated 4.1 months of supply. This shrinking number is further evidence of a supply side growth issue. David Crowe, Chief Economist for the National Association of Home Builders, noted in a statement today that, "the razor-thin supply of new homes for sale is very concerning at a time when we are only about half-way back to what could be considered a 'normal' level of activity. Builders need to be able to refresh their inventories to keep the momentum going."

January's sales are 28.9% higher than a year ago, with the median sales price up just over 2% to $226,400.

link

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Stick Three Forks in This Oil and Gas Producer

Cost savings and efficiency highlighted Oasis Petroleum's (NYSE: OAS ) fourth-quarter and full-year release for 2012. Operating strictly in the Bakken and Three Forks plays of the Williston Basin has allowed the company to increase its ability to extract oil and gas more profitably. With dynamic infrastructure capabilities, it has the ability to capitalize on changes in regional pricing. Motley Fool analyst Taylor Muckerman believes that this company is likely to continue on its path and could possibly rival Bakken acreage leader Continental Resources (NYSE: CLR ) one day as one of the top producers in the region.

The Bakken formation has allowed several companies to grow at dizzying speeds:
Kodiak Oil & Gas is a dynamic growth story, but before you hitch your horse to this carriage let us help you with your due diligence. To see if Kodiak is currently a buy or sell, check out our new premium report, which comes with a year of timely updates and analysis.

Apple Passes the Crown Back To Android

Market researcher Kantar Worldpanel ComTech has released its latest figures on the domestic smartphone market, and the data show that Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL ) has passed the U.S. crown back to Google (NASDAQ: GOOG ) Android for the three months ending in January.

The shift comes shortly after Apple grabbed the top domestic spot heading during the tail end of 2012 thanks to strength from the iPhone 5 launch. It's a close race, but Android has now pulled ahead by a few percentage points. The figures also show that for the time being, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT ) is making progress in grabbing the No. 3 spot from BlackBerry (NASDAQ: BBRY ) .

U.S. Smartphone Platform	12 Weeks Ended Dec. 23, 2012	3 Months Ending January 2013
iOS	51.2%	45.9%
Android	44.2%	49.4%
BlackBerry (formerly Research In Motion)	1.1%	0.9%
Windows	2.6%	3.2%

Source: Kantar Worldpanel Comtech.

During the holiday quarter, Apple was able to enjoy strong smartphone share at both Verizon�and AT&T, but the iPhone gave up some ground at Ma Bell, which has long been predominantly an iPhone carrier. Android gained at Apple's expense on the second largest-domestic wireless carrier.

BlackBerry's launch of its new operating system platform occurred at the end of January and was initially rolled out to only the U.K. and Canada, so the company's modest market share decline in the U.S. is entirely expected since the Z10 cannot be had stateside quite yet. In the meantime, Microsoft is beginning to see some success, thanks in large part to Nokia's�Lumia lineup that's starting to shine. The software giant is also expanding its smartphone hardware partnerships by tapping HTC and Samsung for new Windows Phone 8 devices.

What hasn't changed much is that combined, iOS and Android still own the market. Their combined share hardly flinched, declining from 95.4% to 95.3%. That domination corresponds with the broader picture worldwide, where IDC separately estimates that iOS and Android now power 91.1% of all devices sold globally. That's one thing that's not changing anytime soon.

Concerned about Apple's plunge? We have expert advice for you.
Emotions aside, Apple's growth story is far from over, and the company still has massive opportunities ahead. We've outlined them right here in The Motley Fool's premium Apple research service, and it may�give you the courage�to be greedy when others are fearful. If you're looking for some guidance on Apple's prospects, get started by�clicking here.

New Home Sales up 15.6%

Source: census.gov.�

January's sales are 28.9% higher than a year ago, with the median sales price up just over 2% to $226,400.

link

Top Stocks To Buy For 2/24/2013-1

DuPont Fabros Technology, Inc. (NYSE:DFT) witnessed volume of 4.21 million shares during last trade however it holds an average trading capacity of 817,377.00 shares. DFT last trade opened at $24.41 reached intraday low of $22.45 and went -7.44% down to close at $23.14.

DFT has a market capitalization $1.40 billion and an enterprise value at $1.87 billion. Trailing twelve months price to sales ratio of the stock was 6.14 while price to book ratio in most recent quarter was 1.77. In profitability ratios, net profit margin in past twelve months appeared at 16.33% whereas operating profit margin for the same period at 37.07%.

The company made a return on asset of 2.51% in past twelve months and return on equity of 4.15% for similar period. In the period of trailing 12 months it generated revenue amounted to $246.13 million gaining $4.29 revenue per share. Its year over year, quarterly growth of revenue was 24.70% holding 296.10% quarterly earnings growth.

According to preceding quarter balance sheet results, the company had $226.72 million cash in hand making cash per share at 3.75. The total of $698.70 million debt was there putting a total debt to equity ratio 42.40. Moreover its current ratio according to same quarter results was 2.86 and book value per share was 14.13.

Looking at the trading information, the stock price history displayed that its S&P500 52 Week Change illustrated 11.81% where the stock current price exhibited down beat from its 50 day moving average price of $25.47 and remained below from its 200 Day Moving Average price of $24.13.

DFT holds 60.42 million outstanding shares with 59.48 million floating shares where insider possessed 24.15% and institutions kept 104.60%.

Top Stocks For 2/26/2013-15

Reported by: Eric CRWE Newswire Middle East correspondent

The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 2.5 percent or 254.75 points to close at 10,269.47, Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 30.96 points to 1,080.29 while NASDAQ composite index rose 62.81 points to close at 2,176.84 for the day.

The total consolidated volume was 4.5 billion shares whereas gainers to losers stood in a ratio of 6 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange.

General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) remained one of the major gainers of Dow Jones with as its advanced 3.36% to close at $15.01 with volume of 78.04 million for the day. GE moved on the news of its newly assigned budget of $30billion which the company intends to use for mergers and acquisitions in next two to three years.

Bullish sentiments were also maintained for Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) as its CEO Doug Oberhelman told investors and analysts that the company will acquire considerable market share in China to hope to make Caterpillar the top brand in the industry by 2015. CAT’s share price advanced 4.60% to close at $68.16 with volume of 9.07 million shares in today’s trading session.

In other mergers and acquisitions news of possible acquisition of Burger King Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BKC) resulted in surge of 14.7% in its share price to close at $18.86 with traded volume of 26.65 million shares.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) advanced 3 percent to $250.33 with traded volume of 24.89 million shares on the launch of their new line of iPods.

The Views and Opinions Expressed by the author are his or her opinions only and do not necessarily reflect those of this Web-Site or its agents, affiliates, officers, directors, staff, or contractors. The author at the time of this article did not own any shares or receive any consideration financial or otherwise from any company or person mentioned or referred to in the article.

THIS IS NOT A RECOMMENDATION TO BUY OR SELL ANY SECURITY!

India Shares Slip Early

MUMBAI--Indian shares were lower early Tuesday, tracking weakness in other Asian markets, with ICICI Bank and mortgage lender Housing Development Finance Corp. weighing on the market.

Market participants said investors have grown cautious ahead of the release of the federal budget Thursday. Of particular interest will be details about what steps the government will take to arrest the country's economic slowdown and efforts to control a widening fiscal deficit.

At 0446 GMT, the Bombay Stock Exchange's benchmark S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.6% at 19219.99 points, while the National Stock Exchange's 50-stock Nifty index was 0.6% lower at 5818.80 points.

The Nifty index could find strong support at 5800, a trader said.

"The markets could rebound later in the day helped by short-covering," he added.

ICICI was down 1.9% at 1073 rupees and Housing Development was 1.5% lower at 790.40 rupees.

Profit-taking weighed down other blue chips: energy-focused Reliance Industries was down 1.1% at 844.95 rupees and construction company Larsen & Toubro was 1.7% lower at 1378.10 rupees.

Maruti Suzuki was down 2.2% at 1411.05 after the central bank said foreign institutional investors can't buy any more shares of the car maker as they have already reached the permissible limit under the portfolio-investment program.

Chevron to Buy Stakes in Australian Shale Assets

The Australian subsidiary of Chevron (NYSE: CVX ) is to purchase stakes in shale gas assets in the country from local concern Beach Energy. The stakes are in two blocks in the Cooper Basin, and they cover a total area of around 810,000 acres. The first, PEL 218, is located in South Australia and the second, ATP 855, is in Queensland.

Upon completion of the transaction, Chevron will hold initial working interests of 30% in the former, and 18% in the latter. Under the terms of the deal, the company could boost those interests to 60% and 36%, respectively.

The investment deepens the company's involvement in Australian energy assets. It is already developing the Gorgon and Wheatstone liquefied natural gas projects in Western Australia.

Depending on how the deal evolves, it could be worth up to $349 million over the course of several years. It is contingent on approval from the relevant regulatory authorities.

Is This Tablet a Game-Changer?

The following video is from Monday's Investor Beat, in which host Chris Hill and analysts Tim Hanson and Jason Moser dissect the hardest-hitting investing stories of the day.

Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ ) has announced that it's returning to the tablet market with the Slate7, a 7-inch Google Android tablet. Will the Slate7 take a bite out of Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL ) iPad? What will the move mean for Google (NASDAQ: GOOG ) ? In this installment of Investor Beat, our analysts discuss Hewlett-Packard's new tablet.

The massive wave of mobile computing has done much to unseat the major players in the PC market, including venerable technology names like Hewlett-Packard. However, HP's rapidly shifting its strategy under the new leadership of CEO Meg Whitman. But does this make HP one of the least-appreciated turnaround stories on the market, or is this a minor blip on its road to irrelevance? The Motley Fool's technology analyst details exactly what investors need to know about HP in our new premium research report. Just click here now to get your copy today.

The relevant video segment can be found between 0:18 and 2:27.

SciClone to Restate Financial Statements

SciClone�Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SCLN ) is to restate a set of its financial statements from 2011 and 2012 due to what it says are accounting errors within its subsidiary NovaMed regarding certain line items and timing. The company expects the restatement to lift the revenue and earnings of 2012, and decrease both for 2011.

The affected periods are each of the first three quarters of last year, as well as Q2, Q3, and full-year 2011.

SciClone quoted CEO Friedhelm Blobel as saying that the decision to restate "was made after careful review of all the available facts, the applicable technical accounting rules regarding revenue recognition, and with the full cooperation and input of our independent registered public accounting firm."

The company said it aims to correct the irregularities "as soon as reasonably practicable."

link

Is This Tablet a Game-Changer?

The following video is from Monday's Investor Beat, in which host Chris Hill and analysts Tim Hanson and Jason Moser dissect the hardest-hitting investing stories of the day.

The relevant video segment can be found between 0:18 and 2:27.

Monday, February 25, 2013

Pinnacle West Capital Beats Analyst Estimates on EPS

Pinnacle West Capital (NYSE: PNW ) reported earnings on Feb. 22. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), Pinnacle West Capital met expectations on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue grew. Non-GAAP earnings per share expanded significantly. GAAP earnings per share expanded significantly.

Margins grew across the board.

Revenue details
Pinnacle West Capital booked revenue of $693.1 million. The three analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ predicted sales of $701.0 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were the same as the prior-year quarter's.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
EPS came in at $0.24. The 13 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.17 per share. Non-GAAP EPS of $0.24 for Q4 were 118% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.11 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.20 for Q4 were 67% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.12 per share.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 35.4%, 190 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 14.6%, 280 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 3.3%, 140 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $665.8 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is -$0.02.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $3.42 billion. The average EPS estimate is $3.55.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a three-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 115 members out of 137 rating the stock outperform, and 22 members rating it underperform. Among 42 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 37 give Pinnacle West Capital a green thumbs-up, and five give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Pinnacle West Capital is hold, with an average price target of $54.62.

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Will Universal Health Services Beat These Analyst Estimates?

Universal Health Services (NYSE: UHS ) is expected to report Q4 earnings on Feb. 28. Here's what Wall Street wants to see:

The 10-second takeaway
Comparing the upcoming quarter to the prior-year quarter, average analyst estimates predict Universal Health Services's revenues will increase 2.1% and EPS will expand 2.2%.

The average estimate for revenue is $1.88 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.93.

Revenue details
Last quarter, Universal Health Services logged revenue of $1.87 billion. GAAP reported sales were 3.0% higher than the prior-year quarter's $1.81 billion.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
Last quarter, non-GAAP EPS came in at $0.91. GAAP EPS of $0.73 for Q3 were 15% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.86 per share.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Recent performance
For the preceding quarter, gross margin was 44.9%, 150 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 10.6%, 20 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 3.8%, 90 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead

The full year's average estimate for revenue is $7.51 billion. The average EPS estimate is $4.10.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 119 members out of 127 rating the stock outperform, and eight members rating it underperform. Among 42 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 40 give Universal Health Services a green thumbs-up, and two give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Universal Health Services is outperform, with an average price target of $50.86.

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Italy Vote Stirs Market Turmoil

Antonio Calanni/Associated Press

A strong showing by former Premier Silvio Berlusconi's party leftItaly facing a divided government, rattling investors.

ROME�In a national election meant to push Italy further down a path of economic reform, voters delivered political gridlock that could once again rattle Europe's financial stability.

Markets in Europe and the U.S. gyrated even in response to early returns. The Dow Jones Industrial Average swung nearly 300 points, ending with its worst day in almost four months, as the prospects of a stable government appeared to drop.

India Midcap Stocks Fall Sharply

MUMBAI--India's main stock indexes ended flat Monday, but the shares of several mid-sized companies fell sharply due to what dealers said a selloff by some market participants ahead of this week's federal budget.

The Bombay Stock Exchange's S&P BSE Sensex ended higher by 14.68 points, or 0.1%, at 19331.69 points, while the National Stock Exchange's 50-share Nifty index gained 4.45 points, or 0.1%, to 5854.75 points.

Shares of Indian Non-Banking Finance Firms Gain

But the selloff in midcap stocks dominated the day's business on the exchanges. The sharp fall in these stocks also briefly hurt overall investor sentiment and pulled the main indexes temporarily down.

CORE Education & Technologies, the worst hit, lost more than 62% of its market value and closed at 110.95 rupees.

Another company hit severely was Welspun Corp., a maker of pipes used by oil companies. It fell as much as 33% before recovering part of the losses to end 20% down at 67.20 rupees.

Trading volumes for both CORE Education and Welspun shares were multiple times their daily average for the past 30 days. FactSet data showed more than 20 bulk deals in each counters.

CORE Education, a provider of educational infrastructure and consulting services, said its businesses were running normally.

Its founders have raised some funds by pledging their shares, but the lenders haven't sold any of those shares, Chief Financial Officer Nikhil Morsawala told television channel CNBC-TV18.

The company is worried about the sudden drop in its share price and will take up the issue with regulators as well as stock exchanges, Mr. Morsawala said.

Akhil Jindal, a director at the Welspun group, told TV channel ET NOW that there was no fundamental reason for the sudden drop in the group company's share price.

ABG Shipyard, Opto Circuits, Orbit Corp. and Aanjaneya Lifecare were also hit by the selloff. Shares of these companies ended down between 12% and 20%.

Their executives couldn't be reached for comments.

"We don't know the exact reason for the selling," said Shashi Sharma, an assistant manager at Triveni Management Consultancy Services, a Mumbai-based brokerage firm. He however said there could be redemption pressures on some funds which invest in midcap stocks.

Finance Minister P. Chidambaram will on Thursday present the federal budget detailing the government's revenue and spending plans as well as economic policies for the fiscal year starting April 1.

Volume in the BSE's cash market rose to 18.82 billion rupees ($348.6 million) Monday from Friday's 16.91 billion rupees.

Software exporter Infosys, up 2.9% at 2917.20 rupees, was the top Sensex gainer. Bigger rival Tata Consultancy rose 1.2% to close at 1471.30 rupees.

Engineering company Larsen & Toubro fell 2.3% to 1401.50 rupees. Petrochemicals major Reliance Industries ended down 1.0% at 853.95 rupees.

Is Bank of America Out of the Woods?

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Can Steiner Leisure Beat These Numbers?

Steiner Leisure (Nasdaq: STNR ) is expected to report Q4 earnings on Feb. 27. Here's what Wall Street wants to see:

The 10-second takeaway
Comparing the upcoming quarter to the prior-year quarter, average analyst estimates predict Steiner Leisure's revenues will grow 7.0% and EPS will wither -10.8%.

The average estimate for revenue is $199.0 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.74.

Revenue details
Last quarter, Steiner Leisure tallied revenue of $204.4 million. GAAP reported sales were 14% higher than the prior-year quarter's $179.4 million.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
Last quarter, EPS came in at $0.85. GAAP EPS of $0.85 for Q3 were 10% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.77 per share.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Recent performance
For the preceding quarter, gross margin was 20.2%, 210 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 7.7%, 10 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 6.2%, 40 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead

The full year's average estimate for revenue is $800.5 million. The average EPS estimate is $3.48.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a five-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 102 members out of 108 rating the stock outperform, and six members rating it underperform. Among 32 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 31 give Steiner Leisure a green thumbs-up, and one give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Steiner Leisure is buy, with an average price target of $58.50.

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Are You Expecting This from Aixtron SE?

Aixtron SE (Nasdaq: AIXG ) is expected to report Q4 earnings on Feb. 28. Here's what Wall Street wants to see:

The 10-second takeaway
Comparing the upcoming quarter to the prior-year quarter, average analyst estimates predict Aixtron SE's revenues will shrink -48.1% and EPS will remain in the red.

The average estimate for revenue is $94.4 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is -$0.08.

Revenue details
Last quarter, Aixtron SE reported revenue of $79.8 million. GAAP reported sales were 34% lower than the prior-year quarter's $120.8 million.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
Last quarter, non-GAAP EPS came in at -$0.33. GAAP EPS were -$0.99 for Q3 against $0.00 per share for the prior-year quarter.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Recent performance
For the preceding quarter, gross margin was 14.8%, 2,820 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was -38.1%, 3,880 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was -126.0%, 12,600 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead

The full year's average estimate for revenue is $293.9 million. The average EPS estimate is -$1.07.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a three-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 205 members out of 237 rating the stock outperform, and 32 members rating it underperform. Among 56 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 47 give Aixtron SE a green thumbs-up, and nine give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Aixtron SE is underperform, with an average price target of $14.28.

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