The overall ratings of four capital markets stocks are down on Portfolio Grader this week. Each of these rates a “D” (“sell”) or “F” overall (“strong sell”).
This week, Investment Technology Group, Inc. () falls to a D (“sell”), worse than last week’s grade of C (“hold”). Investment Technology Group is an agency brokerage and financial technology firm that partners with asset managers globally to provide innovative solutions spanning the investment continuum. In Portfolio Grader’s specific subcategories of Earnings Growth, Cash Flow and Sales Growth, ITG also gets an F. The stock’s trailing PE Ratio is 51.00. .
Top Semiconductor Stocks To Invest In Right Now: H&R Block Inc. (HRB)
H&R Block, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides tax preparation, retail banking, and various business advisory and consulting services. It operates in three segments: Tax Services, Business Services, and Corporate. The Tax Services segment offers H&R Block At Home, an income tax preparation software, as well as a range of online tax services, including tax advice, professional and do-it-yourself tax return preparation, and electronic filing services through its Web site at hrblock.com primarily in the United States, Canada, and Australia. This segment also provides the H&R Block Prepaid Emerald MasterCard and Emerald Advance lines of credit through H&R Block Bank, as well as other retail banking services, including checking and savings accounts, individual retirement accounts, and certificates of deposit; and sells refund anticipation loans and refund anticipation checks offered by third-party lending institutions, as well as offers income tax return preparation course s to the public. The Business Services segment provides tax and consulting services, wealth management, and capital markets services to middle-market companies. The Corporate segment engages in various operations, which include interest income from the United States passive investments, interest expense on borrowings, net interest margin and gains or losses relating to mortgage loans held for investment, real estate owned, residual interests in securitizations and other corporate expenses principally related to finance, legal, and other support departments. The company was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Divine]
Just after the craziness of tax season, you might expect H&R Block (NYSE: HRB ) shares to be doing just fine. Instead, its stock slipped 2.5% after investors showed serious concerns with the number of tax returns the company has prepared this year. Flat year-over-year returns means H&R Block hasn't shown it can take market shares from ambitious and prevalent competition.
- [By Dan Caplinger]
2. Return-preparer fraud.
The majority of taxpayers get help from tax professionals. H&R Block (NYSE: HRB ) has prepared an average of 10 million tax returns annually since its founding in 1955 and claims to prepare one in every seven tax returns, but millions of taxpayers use independent individual preparers for help. - [By Louis Navellier]
Of course, I’d also like to alert you to these big blue chips that have fallen in the eyes of the analyst community before they disappoint with their earnings reports.
Avon Products (AVP): In the past three months, analysts have slashed their estimates by 19%. Avon Products is expected to see sales fall 8.1% and earnings plunge 18.9%. AVP is a sell. Coach (COH): In the past three months, analysts have reduced their estimates by 11%. Coach is now headed towards a 1.1% drop in sales and an 8.9% drop in earnings. COH is a sell. Hess (HES): In the past three months, analysts have slashed their estimates by 19%. Hess is due to post a 75% year-on-year drop in sales and just 7.5% annual earnings growth. HES is a hold. H&R Block (HRB): In the past two months, analysts have slashed their estimates from a profit of 1 cent per share to a loss of 8 cents per share. HRB is a hold. Target (TGT): In the past two months, analysts have cut their estimates by 15%. Target is now expected to see sales retreat 2.8% over last year and earnings fall nearly 16%. TGT is a sell.Now a lot can happen in the weeks between now and these earnings announcements, so there is a chance that some of these will firm up before then. However, in the meantime I see no reason to hold stocks that are underperforming their peers, especially when so many premium stocks are still on sale.
- [By Lauren Pollock]
H&R Block Inc.'s(HRB) fiscal second-quarter loss narrowed, as the tax-services provider recorded a higher income-tax benefit, though revenue slid and overall expenses climbed.
10 Best Building Product Stocks To Invest In 2014: LoJack Corporation(LOJN)
LoJack Corporation provides technology products and services for the tracking and recovery of mobile assets, stolen vehicles, motorcycles, construction equipment, cargo, and people at risk. It offers LoJack Unit, a LoJack System component that consists of a high frequency transponder with a hidden antenna, microprocessor, and power supply, as well as a set of codes unique to the unit; and LoJack Early Warning Unit, an optional component that provides notification to vehicle owners in the event of unauthorized user operating the vehicle. The company also licenses LoJack for Laptops, a system to recover the stolen computers; and LoJack InTransit, a cargo and tracking recovery solution. In addition, it provides LoJack SafetyNet system, which comprises a personal locator unit, a search and rescue receiver used by public safety agencies. The company markets its products to owners of commercial equipment and to consumers through its sales force, telemarketing representatives, di rect mail, and automobile dealers. It operates in the United States, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean countries, Canada, and Europe. LoJack Corporation was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Canton, Massachusetts.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Wallace Witkowski]
Shares of LoJack Corp. (LOJN) �surged 20% to $5.30 on moderate volume after the car-security-system company said an arbitration panel dismissed claims by a Brazilian licensee over a contract dispute.
10 Best Building Product Stocks To Invest In 2014: Avago Technologies Limited(AVGO)
Avago Technologies Limited engages in the design, development, and supply of analog semiconductor devices with a focus on III-V based products. Its product portfolio comprises RF amplifiers, RF filters, RF front-end modules, ambient light sensors, light emitting diodes, low noise amplifiers, mm-wave mixers, optical finger navigation products, diodes, fiber optic transceivers, serializer/deserializer ASICs, motion control encoders and subsystems, optocouplers, and optical mouse sensors. The company?s products are used in cellular phones, consumer appliances, data networking and telecommunications equipment, enterprise storage and servers, renewable energy and smart power grid, factory automation, displays, optical mice, printers, voice and data communications, keypad and display backlighting, backlighting control, base stations, storage area networking, in-car infotainment, lighting, motor controls, power supplies, and optical disk drives applications. It markets its produ cts through a network of distributors and its direct sales force worldwide. The company sells approximately 6,500 products to original equipment manufacturers of wireless communications, wired infrastructure, industrial and automotive electronics, and consumer and computing peripherals markets. Avago Technologies Limited was founded in 2005 and is based in Singapore.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jonas Elmerraji]
Avago Technologies (AVGO) is another name that's starting to show signs of a top after rallying hard in the last year. Avago has actually doubled since last May, making the $16 billion name one of the best performers in the semiconductor space over that stretch of time. But a double-top setup in AVGO is drawing the line in the sand for downside risk.
Avago's double-top pattern looks just like it sounds: The bearish reversal pattern is formed by two swing highs that top out around the same price level. The sell signal comes on a breakdown below the intermediate low at $58. Like CMC, this is a conditional sell. Until shares fall through that price floor at $58, there isn't a signal here.
Why the significance at $58? Whenever you're looking at any technical price pattern, it's critical to keep buyers and sellers in mind. Shapes like double tops are a good way to quickly describe what's going on in a stock, but they're not the reason it's tradable. Instead, it all comes down to supply and demand for shares.
That horizontal $58 support level in AVGO is the spot where there's previously been an excess of demand for shares; in other words, it's a price where buyers have been more eager to step in and buy shares at a lower price than sellers were to sell. That's what makes a breakdown below support so significant -- the move means that sellers are finally strong enough to absorb all of the excess demand at the at price level. So, if $58 gets taken out, you'll want to join sellers in unloading (or shorting) shares.
- [By Maria Armental var popups = dojo.query(".socialByline .popC"); popups.forEach]
Avago Technologies Ltd.(AVGO) plans to cut a “substantial number” of jobs across the company following its recently completed acquisition of LSI Corp., according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday.
- [By FinanceGuru]
Compelling product and customer base Finisar appears to have one of the broadest product portfolios in the industry. While the firm does have a number of potent competitors, notably JDS Uniphase (JDSU) in the telecom space and Avago (AVGO) in the datacom space, it appears that no other company matches the breadth of Finisar's product offerings across both of these segments.
10 Best Building Product Stocks To Invest In 2014: Thomas Cook Group plc (TCG)
Thomas Cook Group plc is a United Kingdom-based leisure travel company. The Company operates in 19 source markets and operates under brands, including Thomas Cook, Neckermann, Condor, Jet tours, Ving, Spies and Tja reborg. Thomas Cook directly or indirectly controls a number of subsidiaries. The Company also has investments in other companies. It operates a combined fleet of 87 aircraft. The Company�� operating structure comprises four segments which are principally organized according to the location of the customer�� origin. These are United Kingdom, Continental Europe, Northern Europe and Airlines Germany. Advisors' Opinion:- [By Sarah Jones]
Thomas Cook Group Plc (TCG) dropped 7.7 percent to 116.1 pence. The tour operator admitted new shares to its listing this week. The company last month announced plans to raise 425 million pounds in a rights offer and share placement.
- [By Inyoung Hwang]
Thomas Cook Group Plc (TCG) tumbled 9.9 percent for the biggest drop in five months. UBS AG removed the 172-year-old U.K. tour operator from its list of preferred stocks, citing the ��igh-profile media coverage��of the violence in Egypt.
10 Best Building Product Stocks To Invest In 2014: Ocera Therapeutics Inc (OCRX)
Ocera Therapeutics, Inc., formerly Tranzyme, Inc., incorporated on January 12, 1998, is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing mechanism-based therapeutics for the treatment of upper gastrointestinal (GI) motility disorders. The Company is developing TZP-102, an oral ghrelin agonist for treating the symptoms associated with chronic upper GI motility disorders. Enrollment is complete in a multinational Phase-IIb trial evaluating TZP-102 given once daily in diabetic patients with gastroparesis. The Company has initiated a second Phase-IIb trial (DIGEST) evaluating TZP-102 given prior to meals in diabetic patients with gastroparesis. On July 15, 2013, Ocera Therapeutics, Inc. merged with the Company.
Ulimorelin (Intravenous Ghrelin Agonist)
Ulimorelin is an intravenous ghrelin agonist in Phase III clinical development for the acceleration of postoperative GI recovery. Ulimorelin is designed to accelerate the return of normal GI function in patients suffering from acute GI disorders. In addition to the ongoing trials, the Company has completed multiple trials of ulimorelin.
TZP-102 (Oral Ghrelin Agonist)
TZP-102 is an orally-administered ghrelin agonist, which it is developing for diabetic gastroparesis, an upper GI motility disorder. Gastroparesis is a debilitating, chronic condition characterized by slow or delayed gastric emptying and gastric retention that can be caused by any disease that induces neuromuscular dysfunction of the GI tract, notably diabetes.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jon C. Ogg]
Ocera Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: OCRX) was started as Buy with a $19.00 price target at Stifel Nicolaus. This represents 62% upside to the $11.70 closing price. This positive call is based on a best-in-class mechanism action of its lead product candidate against hepatic encephalopathy in patients with acute and chronic liver disease.
10 Best Building Product Stocks To Invest In 2014: Mondelez International Inc (MDLZ)
Mondelez International, Inc. (Mondelez International), formerly Kraft Foods Inc., incorporated on December 7, 2000, is a maker of chocolate, biscuits, gum, candy, coffee and powdered beverages. The Company consists of the global snacking and food brands. Mondelez International's portfolio includes several brands, such as Cadbury and Milka chocolate, Jacobs coffee, LU, Nabisco and Oreo biscuits, Tang powdered beverages and Trident gums. The Company�� products include chocolates, cookies, gums, beverages and crackers. Alpen Gold is a chocolate brand in Russia. Alpen Gold is available in chocolate bars, boxed chocolates and creamy, mouth-watering pralines. Its markets include Poland, Russia and Ukraine. Bubbaloo is a gum brand sold in more than 25 countries and three different continents, including India, Mexico, Portugal and Spain. Belvita are breakfast biscuits made with wholegrain, cereals and fiber. It is sold in Belgium, France, Netherlands, United Kingdom and the United States.
The Cadbury Creme Egg brand is available annually from New Year�� Day to Easter Day. It is sold in Australia, Canada, New Zealand the United Kingdom and the United States. Carte Noire is the coffee brand in France. It is sold in France, Ireland, Russia, Ukraine and the United Kingdom. Chips Ahoy! cookies are chocolate chip cookies packed with chocolate chips. It is sold in Brazil, Canada, China, Ecuador, Mexico, Philippines, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Spain, the United States and Venezuela. Club Social is a cracker in Brazil and Latin America. The newest addition to the Club Social family is Club Social chips in Argentina, available in original, parmesano, and cream and onion flavors. Cote d'Or is a chocolate brand sold in Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Middle East, Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Cadbury Dairy Milk is a milk chocolate bar sold in 33 countries, including Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, and available in more than! 23 varieties, like fruit and nut, WholeNut, Snack, Caramello and Breakaway. Dentyne is a gum to aid in oral hygiene sold in Canada and the United States.
Cadbury Flake is chocolate bars sold in Australia, Egypt, Ireland, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Gevalia brand offers more than 50 varieties of coffee and 20 choices of tea, and sold in the United States, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and the United States. Grand Mere coffee brand is sold at France. Green & Black�� is a chocolate brand and also includes gift chocolates, ice cream, biscuits and hot beverages. Halls is sold as a cold relief product. Halls is used as a refreshing candy. Halls products are available in more than 26 flavors.
Hollywood gum is a chewing gum in France. Jacobs coffee is sold throughout Europe and the Middle East, and in Austria, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Ukraine. Jacobs is available in roast and ground, whole beans, soluble crystals, coffee pods and flavored mixes. Kenco coffee is a coffee brand sold in Ireland and the United Kingdom. Lacta is a chocolate in Brazil. It also includes Bis chocolate wafers, Sonho de Valsa pralines and Lacta white chocolate.
LU biscuits are available in 100 countries. Other international brands under the LU name include Petit Dejuener, Mikado, Pepito (Mini Stars), Cracotte, Ourson and Tuc. Milka is a European chocolate. Marabou is a chocolate brand in Sweden. Nabisco�� brands include cookies and crackers. Nabisco 100 Calorie Packs includes 12 varieties, such as Chips Ahoy! Thin Crisps, Oreo Thin Crisps, Lorna Doone Shortbread Cookie Crisps, Ritz Snack Mix, Planters Peanut Butter Cookie Crisps, Kraft Cheese Nips Thin Crisps, Wheat Thins Multigrain Chips, Ritz Chips, Honey Maid Cinnamon Thin Crisps, Mini Teddy Grahams Cinnamon Cubs, Alpha-Bits Mini Cookies and Barnum�� Animals Choco Crackers.
Nutter Butter are sandwich cookies sold in the United States. Nilla wafers include original, reduced-fat and mini wafers. Newtons! are whol! esome snack made with real fruit. It also offers Newtons Fruit Thins and Fruit Crisps. The Natural Confectionery Company is a candy product. Onko offers coffee mixes in cappuccino flavors.
Oreo is a milk favorite cookie. Oreo is available in many flavors and varieties, such as chocolate covered, wafers, pie crusts and soft snack cakes. Premium saltine crackers come in six varieties, including unsalted tops, original, fat-free, low-sodium, soup and oyster and multi-grain. Prince biscuits are available in more than eight countries, including Algeria, Austria, Belgium, China, France, Germany, Netherlands and Spain. Prince biscuits come in creme-filled sandwiches, rolls and chocolate-covered varieties.
Stimorol is a chewing gum brand in Northern Europe, as well as 40 other markets from Greenland to Fiji. Simmenthal is a canned meat in jelly. Simmenthal�� products include beef in jelly with chili and chicken in jelly with curry. Tang is available in more than 30 countries and is a powdered beverage. Tassimo is a hot beverage system, which helps in making coffee, tea, hot chocolate, cappuccino, espresso and lattes. Toblerone is a Swiss chocolate bar made with honey and almond nougat. Trakinas is a creme-filled sandwich cookie.
Trident is a chewing gum brand in the world. Triscuit varieties include original, reduced fat, cheddar, cracked pepper and olive oil, fire roasted tomato and olive oil, garden herb, deli-style rye, roasted garlic, thin crisps, and rosemary and olive oil. Wheat Thins are wheat crackers in a variety of flavors, including sundried tomato and basil, multigrain and parmesan basil.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Eric Volkman]
Getty Images/Joe Raedle Nelson Peltz doesn't want to wash down his Fritos with a Pepsi -- at least, not if they're both sold by the same company. His investment firm, Trian Fund Management, is a major shareholder in PepsiCo (PEP), which owns both of those brands, and he's pushing for it to separate its beverage business from its snack foods. The proposal cuts at the foundation of PepsiCo's business strategy, which revolves around the perceived synergies between its liquid offerings and its foodstuffs. Not surprisingly, the company has been swift to reject Peltz's idea in the strongest possible terms. But before we toss it out with the recycling, let's take a look to see if the proposal could be beneficial, or if it's really just so much flat soda. On its website, PepsiCo's lineup of products appears under the category "Brands You Love." Indeed, you'd be hard-pressed to fine someone who isn't a fan of at least one -- Pepsi, Tropicana, Lipton, Quaker Oats, Doritos, Fritos, Lay's and Ruffles, among many others. Synergy Among a Portfolio of Lovable Brands But Peltz argues the familiarity and renown of those products has not translated into meaningful returns lately. In a letter Trian sent PepsiCo, it said that under the reign of current CEO Indra Nooyi, the firm's growth in earnings per share "has significantly trailed that of peers." Trian argues that separating the two businesses would eliminate the overhead that comes from a sprawling corporate structure, and make each of the resultant companies leaner and more "entrepreneurial." A glance at recent history seems to indicate otherwise. Look at the arc of a recent snack food divorcee, Mondelez International (MDLZ). The company, which divested itself of what is now Kraft Foods Group (KRFT) in October 2012, saw fourth-quarter 2013 revenues of just under $9.5 billion. This was slightly lower than the result in the same quarter last year, its first as a stand-alone entity. Attributable net ballooned more than th
- [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]
Dan Goodman/AP NEW YORK -- Jell-O has lost its jiggle and nobody knows how to fix it. The dessert was invented more than a century ago and helped popularize a delicacy reserved for the rich into a quick, affordable treat. Americans of all ages are familiar with the famous "J-E-L-L-O" jingle and TV ads featuring comedian Bill Cosby. Knocking back Jell-O shots made with alcohol is a college memory for many. Yet despite its enduring place in pop culture, sales have tumbled 19 percent in the past four years, with alternatives such as Greek yogurt surging in popularity. Executives at Kraft Foods (KRFT), which owns Jell-O, say they're confident they can revitalize the brand. But their efforts so far have been a disappointment. After years of marketing sugar-free Jell-O to dieters, for instance, Kraft last year launched an ad campaign that switched back to playing up the family angle. In one TV spot called "Comb Over," a man with the title hairdo tells his son how Jell-O makes up for life's troubles, such as being stuck in traffic. The visual gag is when the child imagines himself going through life with a comb over. "Kids thought it was hilarious," said Dan O'Leary, senior director of marketing for Kraft desserts. Declining Sales Unfortunately, it didn't get people in the mood to eat Jell-O. After showing signs of improvement for a couple years, Jell-O sales in the U.S. hit $932.5 million in 2009, reflecting box mixes and ready-to-eat cups of gelatins and puddings, according to market researcher Euromonitor International. But they've been declining ever since, and by last year, sales had seen a double-digit percentage drop to $753.8 million. Part of the problem is that people have become more finicky about what they eat. They're increasingly seeking out foods they think are natural or wholesome, and Jell-O's bright reds, greens and blues may inadvertently serve as warning signals to moms about the artificial dyes they contain. The second ingredient listed fo
10 Best Building Product Stocks To Invest In 2014: Deutsche Bank AG(DB)
Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft provides investment, financial, and related products and services. The company?s Corporate and Investment Bank division engages in the origination, sale, structuring, and trading of bonds, equities and equity-linked products, exchange-traded and over-the-counter derivatives, foreign exchange, money market instruments, securitized instruments, and commodities to sovereign countries and multinational organizations; and medium-sized companies and multinational corporations. It also offers mergers and acquisitions advisory, corporate finance, and transaction banking, as well as trade finance, cash management, and trust and securities services for financial institutions and other companies. The company?s Private Clients and Asset Management division provides mutual funds and alternative investment products; manages real estate and infrastructure investments and private equity funds; offers advisory and portfolio management services to insurance companies; and provides investment solutions to institutional customers, high net worth individuals, and families. This division also offers a range of banking products and services, including current accounts, deposits and loans, and investment management and pension products to private and self-employed individuals, and small to medium-sized businesses. Its Corporate Investments division?s principal investment activities comprise private equity and venture capital investments, corporate real estate investments, a minority stake in Deutsche Postbank AG, credit exposures, and other non-strategic investments. As of December 31, 2010, the company operated 3,083 branches in approximately 74 countries worldwide, including 2,087 in Germany. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft was founded in 1870 and is headquartered in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Virginia Harrison]
The global foreign exchange market has grown steadily over the last three years and is worth $5.3 trillion a day. Deutsche Bank (DB), Citigroup (C, Fortune 500), Barclays (BCLYF) and UBS (UBS) are among the biggest players in the market. Spokespeople for the banks declined to comment on the investigations.
- [By Eric Volkman]
The joint book-running managers of the offering are Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS ) , Barclays' (NYSE: BCS ) Capital unit, Leucadia's Jefferies, and the Securities arms of Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS ) and Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB ) .
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