At the end of the day investors always want a good return for their hard earned money. Investors always look for higher earnings growth, higher shareholder returns, and sustainable strategy for growth in a company. The Kroger Co. (KR) neatly fits into the above criteria with its proven track record of results. It has provided 39 consecutive quarters of positive identical sales growth, which is shown in the chart below.
About this Retailer
Founded in 1883, Kroger, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a retailer in the United States. The company also manufactures and processes food for sale in its supermarkets. With a market cap of 22.72 billion, this Cincinnati, Ohio, based company is the seventh largest grocery retailer in the world and, along with Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT) and Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST), one of only three U.S. companies in the top ten. Extending well beyond its retail grocer core business, Kroger operates under nearly two dozen banners including: Kroger Real Estate, The Little Clinic, I-Wireless, Kroger Convenience Stores, Littman Jewelers, Fred Meyer Jewelers, Kroger Manufacturing, Kroger Pharmacies, and the recently-acquired Harris Teeter Supermarkets, Inc. (HTSI) (merger transaction between the two companies was completed on January 28, 2014). About half of the Kroger's supermarkets include gas stations. Further, partnering with Ecotality, Inc. (ECTYQ), Kroger has introduced electric car charging stations.
Hot Bank Companies To Buy Right Now: Old Dominion Freight Line Inc. (ODFL)
Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. operates as a less-than-truckload (LTL) motor carrier primarily in the United States. The company provides regional, inter-regional, and national LTL services. It also offers a range of logistics services, including ground and air expedited transportation, supply chain consulting, transportation management, truckload brokerage, container delivery, and warehousing services. In addition, the company provides door-to-door international freight services to and from North America, Central America, South America, and the Far East. As of December 31, 2010, it owned a fleet of 5,718 tractors and 20,986 trailers, as well as operated 213 service centers. The company was founded in 1934 and is based in Thomasville, North Carolina.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ben Levisohn]
Shares of Heartland Express have gained 50% this year, trumping the 38% rise in Con-Way (CNW) and the 29% advance in J.B. Hunt Transport Services (JBHT) but lagging Old Dominion Freight Lines (ODFL) and Swift Transportation (SWFT).
- [By Ben Levisohn]
Wunderlich’s Nicholas Bender thinks FedEx’s results bode well for Old Dominion (ODFL), Con-way (CNW) and Saia (SAIA):
We expect all less-than-truckload carriers to benefit in 2Q14 from the same trends that carried FedEx Freight to a banner 4Q14. This includes Hold-rated Old Dominion, which will continue to grow at well above market rates, and Buy-rated Con-way, which we believe can leverage a strong 2Q14 to prime the pump on margin enhancement efforts. Our favorite name in the space remains Saia (SAIA-$42.92, Buy), which will once again see accelerating tonnage growth in 2Q14. Though tonnage growth will moderate in� 2H14 due to steeper comps, there remains considerable potential for the company to boost yield and continue winning incremental business with new accounts.
Top 10 Supermarket Companies To Own For 2014: BG Medicine Inc.(BGMD)
BG Medicine, Inc., a life sciences company, engages in the discovery, development, and commercialization of diagnostic tests based on biomarkers in the United States. Its product pipeline includes BGM Galectin-3, a diagnostic test for heart failure that measures galectin-3 levels in blood plasma or serum; AMIPredict, a multivariate biomarker blood-based test for atherothrombotic cardiovascular disease; and LipidDx, a blood-based protein assay for the management of patients with lipid disorders. The company also offers TNF alpha blockers comprising Enbrel, Remicade and Humira, which are treatments indicated for autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, and Crohn?s disease. It has strategic collaborations and initiatives with pharmaceutical companies and other healthcare organizations, including Abbott Laboratories; ACS Biomarker B.V.; Humana Inc.; Merck & Co., Inc.; and Laboratory Corporation of America. The company was formerly known as Beyond Genomics, Inc. and changed its name to BG Medicine, Inc. in October 2004. BG Medicine, Inc. was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By James E. Brumley]
What do BG Medicine, Inc. (NASDAQ:BGMD) and Pentair, Ltd. (NYSE:PNR) have in common? Most investors would say absolutely nothing. BGMD is a small cap medical diagnostics company, while PNR is a large cap industrial equipment manufacturer. Those are worlds that simply never collide. The directions each stock has been traveling in over the past few months have even been polar opposites.
- [By Roberto Pedone]
Another stock that's starting to move within range of triggering a big breakout trade is BG Medicine (BGMD), which develops and commercializes novel cardiovascular diagnostic tests to address unmet medical needs in the U.S. This stock has been pushed lower by the sellers over the last three months, with shares down sharply by 20%.
If you take a glance at the chart for BG Medicine, you'll notice that this stock has been uptrending a bit for the last month, with shares moving higher from its low of 90 cents per share to its recent high of $1.12 a share. During that uptrend, shares of BGMD have been making mostly higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move has now pushed shares of BGMD within range of triggering a big breakout trade above some key near-term overhead resistance levels.
Traders should now look for long-biased trades in BGMD if it manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance levels at $1.08 to $1.12 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above those levels with volume that hits near or above its three-month average action of 1.56 million shares. If that breakout gets started soon, then BGMD will set up to re-fill some of its previous gap-down-day zone from May that started near $1.30 a share. Any high-volume move above $1.30 will then give BGMD a chance to tag its next major overhead resistance levels at $1.50 to around $1.70 a share.
Traders can look to buy BGMD off weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below some key near-term support levels at 96 cents to 90 cents per share. One can also buy BGMD off strength once it starts to clear those breakout levels with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.
Top 10 Supermarket Companies To Own For 2014: ExactTarget Inc (ET)
ExactTarget, Inc. is a global provider of cross-channel, interactive marketing software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions. The Company�� solutions provide marketers with a suite of integrated applications. The Company�� suite of cross-channel, interactive marketing applications include e-mail, mobile, social media and sites, is built on its flexible multi-tenant SaaS platform. These channel applications are integrated with its campaign management, calendaring, dashboard, integrated reporting, marketing automation and data management tools. The Company also provides open application programming interfaces (APIs) and developer tools that allow third parties to embed its technology into their solutions and build applications on its platform. The Company generates revenue through the sale of subscriptions to its suite of cross-channel, interactive marketing SaaS solutions and the delivery of professional services. It serves a range of clients across many industries and sizes. Professional services revenue consists primarily of fees associated with training, implementation, integration, deliverability, campaign services and strategic consulting. In October 2012, it acquired iGoDigital.
The Company�� direct client base consisted of over 4,700 organizations as of June 30, 2012, ranging from enterprises to small businesses in numerous industries, including retail and e-commerce, media and entertainment, travel and hospitality, financial services and insurance, technology, daily-deal and flash-sale and marketing service providers. Among its direct clients are the United States-based companies, such as Ally Financial, Inc., Angie�� List, Inc., CareerBuilder, LLC, Groupon, Inc., Microsoft Corporation, Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, Oakley, Inc., OneAmerica Financial Partners, Inc., One King�� Lane, Inc., Papa John�� International, Inc., priceline.com Incorporated, The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, Tommy Hilfiger Group, WellPoint, Inc. and Zappos.com, Inc. Companies also include Abril Gro! up (Brazil), Fairfax Media Limited (Australia), Icelandair Group (Iceland) and Telegraph Media Group Limited (United Kingdom).
Interactive Marketing Hub
The Interactive Marketing Hub provides marketers with a solution to engage in cross-channel marketing. The Interactive Marketing Hub integrates its e-mail, mobile, social media and sites Channel Applications with data management and marketing automation Hub Applications. Built on its cloud-based FUEL platform, these applications integrate with Hub Tools, which include a calendar, campaigns, dashboards and integrated reporting. Channel Applications provide interactive marketing engagement solutions to plan, automate, deliver and optimize messages across e-mail, mobile, social media and sites. The Company�� core edition is designed for small and medium-sized organizations, as well as departments within enterprises and provides content management tools, segmentation tools and reporting, such as opens, clicks, bounces and other performance metrics.
The Advanced Edition includes content syndication, dynamic content, relational data, advanced marketing automation, triggered and transactional communications for e-statements, alerts and order confirmations and advanced reporting. The Advanced Edition also provides full access to its FUEL platform�� open integration framework and developer tools that facilitates integration with other business systems and applications. Enterprise Edition is built for large, distributed enterprises that need centralized control and compliance for e-mail marketing communications. The Enterprise Edition includes international sending, advanced role and permission administration, content locking and sharing, and enterprise analytics and reporting. The Enterprise Edition can also include its Xpress Sending interface that enables non-technical users within distributed marketing organizations to create and send e-mails using pre-approved content via defined templates.
The Company� �s mobil! e applications enable marketers to create, automate, deliver personalized inbound and outbound short message service (SMS) mobile messages and support messaging in more than 80 countries worldwide. Through these applications, clients can easily create polls, quizzes, surveys, contests, mobile tickets, coupon redemption, SMS alerts and mobile opt-in for e-mail campaigns. Its social media applications provide solutions to manage engagement on social networks, such as Twitter and Facebook and integrate social data and interactions into cross-channel campaigns. SocialEngage (powered by CoTweet) provides a social media management application that enables teams to manage multiple social media accounts with administrator-defined user permissions and roles.
SocialPages provides a drag and drop interface that allows marketers to create, publish and manage branded Facebook pages and tabs that display content and incorporate engaging features, such as forms, YouTube videos, Flickr galleries and the Facebook Like button. The Company�� sites application provides a solution to drag and drop interface microsites into cross-channel marketing campaigns. Hub Applications provide capabilities for advanced cross-channel marketing automation, data management, customer data segmentation and analysis. Audience Builder provides a drag-and-drop interface that enables marketers to explore multiple data scenarios through filtering and segmentation to create target audiences in for any campaign or automated messaging series.
Automation Studio provides a drag and drop interface to plan, create and execute complex, multi-stage, recurring cross-channel campaigns based on consumer behavior, time or custom attributes. Automated communications can be triggered by events, such as product purchases, online registrations or Website browsing behavior. The Company�� Hub Tools enable integrated planning, cross-channel campaign management and reporting. Calendar provides a single view of planned and completed camp! aigns, ev! ents and interactions across e-mail, mobile, Facebook, Twitter and Websites. Campaigns enables marketers to define interactive marketing campaigns and associated content and interactions across e-mail, mobile, Facebook, Twitter and Websites.
Pulse provides dashboards that display information, such as the number of Facebook fans, Twitter followers, e-mail subscribers and current status of automated programs and engagement metrics, such as opens, clicks and conversions. Integrated Reporting provides contextual and reporting throughout its Interactive Marketing Hub. The Company�� applications are built and delivered on its cloud-based FUEL platform. FUEL provides an open integration framework, enabling clients and third-party application providers to integrate data from systems, such as customer relationship management (CRM), Web analytics, and e-commerce through its partner ecosystem of productized integrations with providers, such as Microsoft Dynamics CRM, salesforce.com, inc., SAP, and Adobe Omniture.
Common Data Model creates a cross-channel view of each consumer by aggregating online behavioral data, channel engagement history, communication preferences and other online or offline data. Security provides a single sign-on environment for all Interactive Marketing Hub applications secured by multiple technologies, including but not limited to two-factor authentication, Internet protocol (IP) whitelisting and IP blocking, and enables monitoring and alerting of system activity.
Developer Tools provide a library of user interface controls and APIs that enable developers to build applications with a common look and feel on its cloud-based platform. Integration Framework provides a suite of integration capabilities that include its open APIs, CRM and Web analytics integrations, Embedded/Xpress Marketing and HubExchange. Its Embedded/Xpress Marketing solution enables independent software vendors and developers to embed the functionality of its e-mail and mobile applic! ations di! rectly into their technology offerings. The Company�� HubExchange enables marketing technology providers to develop and sell applications built on its platform.
Services
The Company complements its suite of cross-channel, interactive marketing SaaS solutions with a range of professional services. Its collaborative and full-service offerings include Training, Implementation, Integration, Deliverability, Campaign Services and Strategic Consulting. The Company offers a variety of methods of introduction to its products, including self-help resources, Web-based and on-site training, enterprise workshops and train the trainer programs. Clients who purchase implementation services are assigned an implementation consultant who works with them to adopt and deployment its solutions. Through its platform�� integration framework, the Company�� applications can be integrated with CRM, Web analytics, e-commerce and other business systems. It provides consulting and program management to help clients define, develop and implement interactive communication strategies.
The Company competes with Aprimo, Inc., CheetahMail Inc., e-Dialog Inc., Eloqua Limited, Epsilon Data Management, LLC, Marketo, Inc., Responsys, Inc., Silverpop Systems Inc., StrongMail Systems, Inc., Unica Corporation, Yesmail, Buddy Media, Inc. and Radian6 Technologies, Inc.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By The GeoTeam]
Our recent 2013 articles on SaaS companies Selectica (SLTC), E2open (EOPN), Responsys (MKTG), Vocus (VOCS), and ExactTarget (ET) highlighted such opportunities. The average return since the inception of our coverage currently stands at around 34% (55% at their highs).
- [By Tim Brugger]
Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM ) has made an offer to acquire cloud marketing firm ExactTarget (NYSE: ET ) in a deal valued at approximately $2.5 billion, salesforce.com announced today.
Top 10 Supermarket Companies To Own For 2014: HyperSolar Inc (HYSR)
Hypersolar, Inc., incorporated on February 18, 2009, is developing renewable hydrogen using sunlight and any source of water, including seawater and wastewater. Unlike hydrocarbon fuels, such as oil, coal and natural gas, where carbon dioxide and other contaminants are released into the atmosphere when used, hydrogen fuel usage produces pure water as the only byproduct. The Company�� technology includes HyperSolar H2Generator. Its nano-size particle is designed to mimic photosynthesis and contains a solar absorber that generates electrons from sunlight, as well as integrated cathode and anode areas to readily split water and transfer those electrons to the molecular bonds of hydrogen.
The HyperSolar H2Generator consists of the following primary stages: Reactor Vessels, Hydrogen Compressor and Hydrogen Storage. The reactor vessels resemble transparent rectangular boxes containing water and billions of nanoparticles suspended in solution. When exposed to sunlight, hydrogen gas will bubble up into an air gap on top for separation and collection. Produced hydrogen gas will be compressed for space efficient storage. Hydrogen can be stored in compressed gas tanks or chemical canisters depending on the application. The HyperSolar H2Generator will be a self-contained renewable hydrogen production system that requires only sunlight and any source of water.
The Company competes with Air Products and Chemicals Inc. and Air Liquide.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Udovich]
Small cap hydrogen fuel stocks Hydrogenics Corporation (NASDAQ: HYGS), FuelCell Energy Inc (NASDAQ: FCEL), HyperSolar Inc (OTCMKTS: HYSR) and HydroPhi Technologies Group, Inc (OTCMKTS: HPTG) are some of the lesser known small caps that are�working with hydrogen fuel or hydrogen fuel cell related technology. I should say that small cap hydrogen stocks are not for risk adverse investors as there are considerable unanswered questions about hydrogen fuel related technology and whether it can be a viable green technology given the fueling infrastructure needed along with the�energy and expense involved in creating hydrogen�(Note: None of these small cap�stocks are profitable at ). But any new technology will pose the same types of risks for early stage investors���especially if its so-called green technology.�
Top 10 Supermarket Companies To Own For 2014: Midstates Petroleum Company Inc (MPO)
Midstates Petroleum Company, Inc. is an independent exploration and production company. The Company�� areas of operation include Pine Prairie, South Bearhead Creek/Oretta, West Gordon and North Cowards Gully. Its Upper Gulf Coast Tertiary trend extends from south Texas to Mississippi across its operating areas in central Louisiana. As of December 31, 2011, it had accumulated approximately 77,100 net acres in the trend. As of December 31, 2011, its development operations are focused in the Wilcox interval of the trend. The Company�� business is conducted through Midstates Petroleum Company LLC, as a direct, wholly owned subsidiary. In September 2012, the Company and its subsidiary acquired all of Eagle Energy Production, LLC�� producing properties as well as their developed and undeveloped acreage primarily in the Mississippian Lime oil play in Oklahoma and Kansas.
As of December 31, 2011, it drilled 57 gross wells in the trend, approximately 93% of. During the year ended December 31, 2011, its average daily production were 7,499 barrels of oil equivalent per day. As of December 31, 2011, it had a total of 974 gross vertical drilling locations, including 115 related to acreage under option, in the trend. As of December 31, 2011, the Company�� properties included approximately 92 gross active producing wells, 95% of, which it operate, and in which it held an average working interest of approximately 99% across its 77,100 net acre leasehold. During March 31, 2012, the Company continued its drilling program, spudding 14 wells, of which nine are producing, three are being drilled and two are waiting to be completed. As of December 331, 2011, it averaged daily production is approximately 9,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Pine Prairie
The Company�� properties in the Pine Prairie area represented 46% of its total proved reserves as of December 31, 2011. During 2011, the Company�� average production from these properties was 3,793 net barrels of oil equ! ivalent per day, consisting of 2,143 barrels of oil, 565 barrels of natural gas liquidations (NGLs) and 6,508 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. As of December 31, 2011, it held an average working interest and average net revenue interest of 92.2% and 68.9%, respectively, on its acreage in Pine Prairie area. The Company has an additional 194 identified drilling locations in this area based primarily on 10-acre spacing.
South Bearhead Creek/Oretta
The Company�� properties in the South Bearhead Creek/Oretta area represented 20.3% of its total proved reserves as of December 31, 2011. During 2011, the Company�� average production from these properties was 4,367 net barrels of oil equivalent per day, consisting of 2,196 barrels of oil, 438 barrels of NGLs and 10,396 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. During 2011, these wells produced at an average daily rate of 2,413 net barrels of oil equivalent per day. As of December 31, 2011, it held an average working interest and average net revenue interest of 100% and 78.5%, respectively, on its acreage in South Bearhead Creek/Oretta area. The Company has an additional 43 identified drilling locations in this area based primarily on 40-acre spacing.
West Gordon
The Company�� properties in the West Gordon area represented 21% of its total proved reserves as of December 31, 2011. During 2011, the Company�� average production from these properties was 1,002 net barrels of oil equivalent per day, consisting of 617 barrels of oil, 68 barrels of NGLs and 1,901 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. As of December 31, 2011, it held an average working interest and average net revenue interest of 95.9% and 71.2%, respectively, on its acreage in West Gordon area. The Company has an additional 74 identified drilling locations in this area based primarily on 40-acre spacing.
North Cowards Gully
The Company�� properties in the North Cowards Gully area represented 11.5% of ! its total! proved reserves as of December 31, 2011. During 2011, the Company�� average production from these properties was 149 net barrels of oil equivalent per day consisting of 103 barrels of oil, 11 barrels of NGLs, and 211 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. As of December 31, 2011, it held an average working interest and average net revenue interest of 94.3% and 71.2%, respectively, on its acreage in North Cowards Gully area. The Company has an additional 95 identified drilling locations in this area based primarily on 40-acre spacing.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ben Levisohn]
Midstates Petroleum (MPO) has surged 21% to $3.46 after the independent E&P company easily topped analyst earnings forecasts.
Jamba (JMBA) has tumbled 9% to $11.74 after the juice store missed the Street’s earnings and revenue expectations. Jamba also announced a $25 million share buyback program.
- [By Roberto Pedone]
One energy player that's starting to move within range of triggering a major breakout trade is Midstates Petroleum (MPO), an independent exploration and production company focused on the application of modern drilling and completion techniques to oil-prone resources. This stock is off to a rough start in 2013, with shares off by 30%.
If you look at the chart for Midstates Petroleum, you'll notice that this stock has recently come out of a nasty downtrend that took shares from over $8 to its low of $4.26 a share. Shares of MPO have started to find some buying interest over the last month at $4.44, 4.26 and $4.48 a share, as the stock has held those levels on recent pullbacks. This could be signaling that a bottom is forming for MPO, since the downside volatility looks over. Shares of MPO are now rebounding strong off those support levels and are quickly moving within range of triggering a major breakout trade.
Traders should now look for long-biased trades in MPO if it manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance levels at $4.82 a share and then once it takes out its 50-day moving average at $5.30 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above those levels with volume that hits near or above its three-month average action of 542,939 shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then MPO will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $6 to its 200-day moving average of $6.54 a share.
Traders can look to buy MPO off any weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below some key near-term support levels at $4.48 or $4.26 a share. One can also buy MPO off strength once it takes out those breakout levels with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.
Top 10 Supermarket Companies To Own For 2014: Teradyne Inc.(TER)
Teradyne, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides automatic test equipment products and services worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Semiconductor Test, Systems Test Group, and Wireless Test. The Semiconductor Test segment designs, manufactures, and sells semiconductor test products and services. Its test systems are used for wafer level and device package testing. These chips are used in automotive, communications, consumer, computer, and electronic game applications. This segment provides its products to integrated device manufacturers (IDMs) that integrate the fabrication of silicon wafers into their business; fabless companies, which outsource the manufacturing of silicon wafers; foundries that cater to the processing and manufacturing of silicon wafers; and outsourced sub-assembly and test providers, which offer test and assembly services for the final packaged devices to fabless companies and IDMs. It also provides Magnum test platform that test s memory devices, such as flash memory and dynamic random access memory, as well as offers ETS platform for use by semiconductor manufacturers, and assembly and test subcontractors in the low pin count analog/mixed signal discrete markets. The Systems Test Group segment offers military/aerospace test instrumentation and systems; storage test systems for HDD manufacturers; and circuit-board test and inspection systems for electronics manufacturers of cell phones, servers, computers, Internet switches, automobiles, and military avionics systems. The Wireless Test segment designs, develops, and supports wireless test solutions for developing and manufacturing wireless devices, such as smart phones, tablets, notebooks/laptops, and personal computer peripherals. This segment offers cellular communication solution for verification and calibration of mobile devices; and products for connectivity testing. The company was founded in 1960 and is headquartered in North Reading, Massach usetts.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rich Bieglmeier]
Teradyne, Inc. (NYSE:TER) is on the move today, up more than 3% on Goldman Sachs upgrade and the general sentiment of a bounce back day. Analyst, James Covello added the semiconductor equipment company to the firm's "Conviction Buy" list with a fresh, shiny, new price-target of $23 ��potential upside of 22.86% to target.
- [By Patricio Kehoe]
The concept of diversity, when talking about a company�� activities, is a sword with two edges. When performance hits the fan, diversity can turn into an advantage as only one segment can be affected. However, diversification can curtail winnings during a moment of bonanza. In other words, a company with five segments will see a relative smaller impact in overall performance than a company with activities in a single segment, when that segment experiences an abnormal growth. Hence, with a recovering construction market in the US and declining prices for mined commodities, a comparison between Caterpillar (CAT) and Terex (TER) is all the more relevant.
Top 10 Supermarket Companies To Own For 2014: Endologix Inc(ELGX)
Endologix, Inc. develops, manufactures, markets, and sells medical devices for the treatment of aortic disorders. It offers the ELG System, a stent graft and delivery system for the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms through minimally-invasive endovascular repair. The company also provides aortic extensions and limb extensions, which attach to the main body of ELG Device, enabling physicians to customize it to fit the patient?s anatomy. In addition, it offers accessories, such as guidewires, snares, and catheter introducer sheaths that facilitate the optimal delivery of its ELG Device. Endologix, Inc. sells its products through direct sales force and independent distributors in the United States, Europe, Asia, South America, and Mexico. The company was formerly known as Radiance Medical Systems, Inc. and changed its name to Endologix, Inc. in May 2002. Endologix, Inc. was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Irvine, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By DailyFinance Staff]
Concerns about the political uncertainty in Ukraine caused some volatility in the markets Friday afternoon, with the major indexes making several U-turns ahead of the weekend. The Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI), which had been up by as much as 125 points, briefly dropped into loss territory before rebounding to end 49 points higher. The Standard & Poor's 500 index (^GPSC) edged up 5 points, adding to Thursday's record high, but the Nasdaq composite (^IXIC) lost 10 points. AP/Darko VojinovicPro-Russian militias have seized local government buildings in Crimea, Ukraine; the unrest there is making investors around the world nervous. February was a great month for investors. All three major averages jumped by about 4 percent. UnitedHealth Group (UNH) led the blue chips, gaining 1½ percent. Other health providers – Aetna (AET), Wellpoint (WLP), Cigna (CI) and Humana (HUM) -- all gained between 1½ and 2 percent. And retail stocks remained active. Target (TGT) added another 3 percent. Best Buy rose 4 percent, and Fred's (FRED), a regional department store chain, jumped 10 percent. But Pier 1 (PIR) fell 5½ percent after lowering its earnings outlook for a second time. That led to a series of brokerage downgrades. Decker Outdoor (DECK) tumbled 12 percent. The maker of footwear brands such as Ugg and Teva issued a weak outlook. And apparel maker Lululemon (LULU) fell 5-percent on negative comments from Credit Suisse. It seems as though there are always some big movers in the drug and biotech sectors – and that was certainly the case today. GW Pharmaceuticals (GWPH) rose 2 percent after the FDA granted orphan status to its drug to treat a rare form of childhood epilepsy. But most of the action was on the downside. Endologix (ELGX) slid 24 percent after forecasting lower revenue growth. Questcor (QCOR) fell 10 percent. It's lost big for three straight days amid allegations of questionable business practices. Jazz Pharma
- [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Endologix (NASDAQ: ELGX) were down 23.48 percent to $13.68 on lowered guidance, analyst downgrades. Oppenheimer downgraded the stock from Outperform to Market Perform and cut the price target from $20.00 to $16.00. - [By Seth Jayson]
Calling all cash flows
When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Endologix (Nasdaq: ELGX ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below. - [By John Kell]
Medical device maker Endologix Inc.(ELGX) issued targets for the new year that fell short of Wall Street’s expectations, pushing shares down 23% to $13.75 premarket.
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