Wednesday - April 20, 2005
 Want to view the archive of past issues? Go here. Get the latest investment alert technology and receive the most up-to-date Profit from the Pros content as it’s published, in Real Time, with no waiting. Learn more about this free tool at: http://at.zacks.com/?id=1509. Manage Profit from the Pros subscription: 1. FEATURED EXPERTS Here we cast the spotlight on a timely Featured Expert commentary that recently appeared on Zacks.com. Following the article you will find previews of other profitable commentaries with insights and recommendations from leading investment experts.
With large stocks under pressure because of concerns regarding slowing profit growth, and small stocks suffering from Wall Street’s flight to safety, mid-cap stocks have performed relatively well. While precise definitions vary, companies with stock-market values of $1.7 billion to $6.7 billion are generally considered mid-caps. Upside focuses on companies with market values below $3 billion, where the Quadrix® stock-rating system performs best. Quadrix works well with mid-caps; the top one-fifth of S&P 400 stocks based on Overall score has outperformed the average S&P 400 stock by an annualized 4.2% since 1990. The top one-fifth based on Quadrix Value scores has outperformed by 6.3%, with considerably more volatility. Momentum, Quality, and Performance scores are also effective, adding 1.5% to 2.6% of return. More. . .
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - In general, mid-caps offer an attractive risk-reward profile. Since 1990, the average S&P 400 stock has outperformed the average S&P 500 stock by more than 1.2% annually. Yet average volatility for S&P 400 and S&P 500 stocks has been roughly equal. S&P 600 stocks perform even better, but their volatility is considerably higher. As always, selectivity is crucial. Pacific Sunwear (NASDAQ: PSUN), a specialty retailer of apparel and accessories for teenagers and young adults, operates three chains of retail stores under the names PacSun, PacSun Outlet, and d.e.m.o. On Jan. 29, the company operated 990 stores in 50 states and Puerto Rico. January-quarter earnings per share rose 26% to $0.54. Total sales rose 16%, keyed by same-store sales growth of 5.1%. For the month of February, total revenue jumped 23% on same-store sales growth of 10.5%. New stores should help sustain sales growth. For fiscal 2006 ending January, Pacific Sunwear plans to open 120 new stores and expand or relocate 35 stores, with total square footage growing roughly 15%. Management expects at least 21% per share profit growth for the April quarter. Swift Transportation (NASDAQ: SWFT), has the largest truckload fleet in the U.S., with more than 18,500 tractors and nearly 52,000 trailers operating in 28 states and Mexico. The company’s fleet travels nearly 40 million miles per week. To minimize competition with long-haul carriers and railroads, Swift provides mostly short and medium-haul deliveries, with an average length of less than 600 miles. Principal types of freight include retail merchandise and manufactured goods. Swift’s largest customer, Wal-Mart, accounted for 15% of total sales in 2004, up from 7% in 2002. A scarcity of qualified drivers and cost increases have limited capacity growth in the trucking industry, while demand from shippers has increased. In recent years, Swift has passed through most of its cost increases through higher rates. To offset increased fuel costs, late last year the company revamped its fuel-surcharge program. Swift scores a 95 for Quadrix Overall, keyed by high scores for Momentum (86), Value (86), and Earnings Estimates (87). Hello, I’m Richard Moroney, Editor of Upside and creator of the Quadrix Stock Rating System. In February 1999, I began using Quadrix to serve as a first screen to identify stocks with winning potential. Over the past few years, this system has proven to work significantly well with smaller stocks and has proceeded to gain 240.1% while the Russell 2000 Index gained only 36.3%. Learn more about this newsletter and free trial offer at: http://at.zacks.com/?id=32. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - b) Watchout - Here Comes the Inflation Train. Jim Oberweis and his team expect general price increases of
3–4% a year for the next several years. Discover their outlook
on the economy and read these experts’ suggestions to investors.
Then take a look at a couple of names from their Current
Portfolio. More... Kelley Wright says investors can make a lot of money by using
trend analysis. Make sure that you are entering and exiting
trades at the right time and then read about a pair of this
expert’s featured stocks. More... d) Game On The market’s on-again/off-again relationship with gaming may
have more staying power this time. Gregory Spear explains how a
globalization process has opened new opportunities for the
space and highlights a pair of his favorite names. More... e) Bank of America has a Solid First Quarter Bill Martin and Matt Ragas offer analysis on Bank of America’s
recent quarter in which earnings improved even after adjusting
for one-time items. Read their commentary and find out why you
should have some financials exposure. More... Earnings can be tricky business at times, but Ian Wyatt and his
team can help you read between the lines. More... Featured Expert articles are courtesy of the 60+ leading investment newsletters that have partnered with us to create the Zacks Expert Advice service. Check out the Experts section of Zacks.com daily to find profitable stock picks and timely market commentary at: http://at.zacks.com/?id=1386.
2. WEEKLY COMMENTARY: Screen of the Week Zacks.com offers three unique weekly commentaries that all
further our mission to help you Profit from the Pros. Today is
the latest installment of Screen of the Week from Kevin Matras.
Each week, Kevin shares with you another winning screen he has
discovered using the Research Wizard software from Zacks
Investment Research. Learn more about the Research Wizard at: http://at.zacks.com/?id=1388. “Don’t Trade the Headlines” This weekend’s headlines were reporting Friday’s close as the worst week in 2005, and the worst day in 2-1/2 years. It reminded me of that Saturday morning cartoon when I was a kid and one of the characters (named Glum) would blurt out “we’re doomed”. (Of course, they never were and neither is the market.) But also, wasn’t it just a month ago when everybody was jumping for joy over the market’s “best close in 3-1/2 years”. It seems as if the headlines are often times more volatile than the market itself. Don’t get me wrong, the headlines sure do grab your attention and the stories are usually good reads, but don’t trade off of them. You’ll find yourself constantly buying the highs and selling the lows. Eventually of course, the headlines will coincidentally be in synch with the market, but don’t mistake it for anything more. If you want to increase your probabilities for making money in stocks, you need to know what works in both up markets and down markets. And the way to do all that is to see what has historically worked in the past. So many people who got killed in the market in 2001 and 2002 thought they had finally mastered the market after 2003’s cake- walk. But then 2004 (in spite of a decent finish) gave many people a rude awakening or at the very least, a bit of disappointment. But what if you had a strategy that had proven to work in both up markets and down markets? It wouldn’t really matter so much what the market was doing then, would it? That’s something everyone could use. And backtesting is how to get it. Backtesting is simply a way of determining whether a particular stock picking strategy generally picks stocks that go up once they’ve been identified as opposed to picking stocks that get buried once they’ve been identified. Granted, backtesting isn’t a ‘box of magic’. And it won’t preclude you from ever having another losing trade. But it’s a great way to see what works and what doesn’t BEFORE you put your money at risk! And don’t think you need to wait for another bull market again to make money in stocks either. Just take a look at the some of the worst years in the recent past and you’ll find hundreds and hundreds of stocks that were in solid uptrends making new highs. All you have to do is get into those. Sure, it sounds easier said than done, but you don’t need to get into all of them, just some of them. And if your strategy has proven to be able to pick winning stocks in the past, you’ve got a great probability that it’ll keep on doing it now. Take our ROE strategy for example. We’ve talked about it in this article before. Over the last 4 years, it has shown an average annualized gross return of 76% a year. And in spite of the market being down this year, this strategy is showing an average cumulative gross return of over 5%. Of course, even our best strategies will hit a rough patch now and then. Take the Upgrades and Revisions2 strategy. This is one of our best screens, showing an average annualized gross return of over 63% a year. And even though it’s currently showing an average gross loss of 3.6% this year, its winning past makes it a better bet than guessing and hoping for the best. In fact, with an average annualized gross return of over 41% last year, it’s a great confidence builder. Here’s a few new picks from some of our winningest backtested strategies (for Mon. 4/18/05); CELL Brightpoint, Inc. CQB Chiquita Brands International, Inc. BHI Baker Hughes, Inc. Sign up for a free trial to the Research Wizard and get all of the stocks on all of screens or create and backtest your own ideas and strategies. http://at.zacks.com/?id=1388. All the Screen of the Week strategies are created and back-tested using the Research Wizard software from Zacks Investment Research. Learn more about the Research Wizard and Free Trial offer at: http://at.zacks.com/?id=1388. Discover all the Free Screening Tools on Zacks.com at: http://at.zacks.com/?id=1389. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ALL STAR TOP PICKS Tapping the Oil Industry's Well-ness Concerns have crept into the oil industry lately, but the All
Stars continue to expect solid returns for certain companies.
Read about this industry and three picks from the experts. More... EARNINGS & SECTOR UPDATE Earnings Season Kicks into High Gear Based on 63 early reporters in the S&P, Nick Raich anticipates first quarter earnings to be strong. Find out what to expect this earnings season and the importance of looking forward. More...
3. BEST OF ZACKS INDEPENDENT RESEARCH The analysts from Zacks Independent Research create a mountain of insightful equity research everyday of the week. Here you will find the best of that information recently published on Zacks.com. BULL OF THE DAY MRO Software (MROI) - Software Growth Expected. Sunoco Logistic Partners (SXL) - Unjustified Valuation. Overcapacity Plagues Airlines Retail/Wholesale Tied to Consumer Comfort Level
4. TRADING STRATEGIES: Model Portfolios Zacks.com is proud to share with you some of the best trading strategies that truly allow you to Profit from the Pros. Today we feature our 2 exclusive model portfolios on Zacks.com (All Star Analyst and Brokerage Buy List). See below for highlighted stocks currently in these profitable portfolios.
This exclusive portfolio contains only those stocks recommended by five or more of the best stock pickers on Wall Street based upon performance (aka All Star Analysts). Here are two stocks currently appearing in the All Star Analyst Portfolio. Activision, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) reported net revenues of $680.1 million for its fiscal third quarter in February, which was +34% better than the year-ago result of $508.5 million. In fact, for the nine months ended December 31, 2004, net revenues advanced +53% to $1.2 billion, already surpassing net revenues for fiscal 2004. Results were driven by the release of over 10 one million-unit selling games. The company’s chairman and CEO stated that the combination of its product slate, the emerging opportunities created by new hardware technologies, and the ever increasing installed base of current console hardware should enable Activision to continue expanding its net revenues, earnings and operating margin. Furthermore, earlier this week, Activision, along with id Software™ released DOOM 3® for the Xbox® video game system and DOOM 3: Resurrection of Evil ™, the official expansion pack to DOOM 3. To continue your research on ATVI, click here. McAfee, Inc. (NYSE: MFE): According to a report from Infonetics Research, McAfee® IntruShield® led the global intrusion prevention solutions (IPS) market in revenue market share for the calendar year 2004. The company said that the announcement marks another achievement for the McAfee IntruShield network IPS product family. Accolades aside, McAfee also put together a solid fourth quarter performance, which was announced in late February. Non-GAAP earnings per share of 23 cents topped both the year-ago result and the consensus. McAfee called 2004 a year of transformation and innovation, as its strong financial results demonstrated that it has taken the proper steps to streamline its business. Several All Stars feel secure with McAfee and continue to recommend the company. To continue your research on MFE, click here. Which brokerage analysts are the best stock pickers in their field and what stocks do they recommend today? Find out here with the Zacks All Star Analyst Survey, the best way to find those rare few analysts whose recommendations are worth following. http://at.zacks.com/?id=1419
Long-term investors take note. The stocks in the portfolio must be on the core recommended list of at least three of the top 14 brokerage firms. These stocks tend to be large-cap, "blue chip" companies and is for conservative, long-term investors. Abbott (NYSE: ABT): According to a Phase II study released last month, psoriasis patients receiving Abbott’s HUMIRA® achieved significant improvement in disease activity and quality of life through 60 weeks of treatment. Psoriasis is a chronic, non- contagious autoimmune skin disease. In addition, Abbott’s board of directors recently increased the company’s quarterly dividend to 27.5 cents per share. Innovative products and a long history of paying dividends are two of the reasons Abbott is being recommended by six of the top brokerage firms. To continue your research on ABT, click here. PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP): Earlier this week, PepsiCo announced that it completed the redemption and acquisition of General Mills’ 40.5% ownership interest in Snack Ventures Europe. Its operations are now fully owned by PepsiCo. Snack Ventures Europe is continental Europe’s largest snack food company, with annual sales of more than $1 billion. Produces marketed by the venture include Doritos, Lay’s, Ruffles, and Cheetos. In early February, Pepsico reported a strong fourth quarter performance as each of its operating divisions posted solid top-line growth. The company said it delivered performance that surpassed its long-term growth targets throughout the year. Five of the leading brokerage firms continue to recommend PepsiCo. To continue your research on PEP, click here. 5. ZACKS TOOLBOX Zacks.com is first and foremost a free resource to help you make more profitable stock picks. In this space each week, we will provide insights into various tools and data points provided on Zacks.com, and how to use them to improve your portfolio's performance. Shortly after the dawn of the stock market, the investment newsletter industry was born. Today industry sources believe there are over 2000 investment newsletters (including online versions) with total annual revenues in the billions. Below we will discuss the benefits of investment newsletters and how to find one that best meets your needs. At the end of the day, the reason to subscribe to investment newsletters comes down to performance. Studies show that investors who subscribe to newsletters outperform the average investor. Unfortunately most investors left to their own devices follow a scattered approach that leads to sub-par returns. Whereas investors that subscribe to newsletters are in affect subscribing to a time-tested investment philosophy. The philosophy is usually based upon sound investing principles and gives clear buy and sell signals. Most important are the sell signals since most investors have difficulty selling stocks at the right time. If their stock picks are down, then investors will hold on until the price returns to breakeven (which almost never happens). Or investors try to ride winners too long and do not lock in profits. Investment newsletters provide the holistic approach needed to help investors succeed. Another benefit of newsletters is value. Consider that investors keep vast amounts of their wealth in mutual funds. Unfortunately, as most of you already know, 85% of the funds underperform the market. And for this sub-par performance, investors pay mutual funds 1.5% of assets. Even a modest sized portfolio of $50,000 pays $750 in mutual fund management fees to underperform the market. Note the average newsletter costs only $250 per year and provides superior results. With over 2000 newsletters to choose from it can become overwhelming to find a newsletter that suits your needs. For starters, Zacks.com has formed partnerships with over 60 leading investment newsletter publications. We believe that these newsletters are best in class and most investors will find what they are looking for from this selection. 1) Identify Your Investment Style: Are you interested in just stocks or advice for the full range of investment choices including mutual funds, bonds, options, etc? Are you aggressive or conservative? Are you value or growth oriented? Or both? Start your search by answering these questions. Once you have determined the style of newsletter then you can proceed by searching newsletters by category. Go to our Experts home page, which is the home for investment newsletters on Zacks.com. http://at.zacks.com/?id=1691 Once there find the "Additional Search Options" section and select the newsletter category you are interested in. 2) Newsletter Philosophy: Within each investment category there are a number of newsletters to consider. Read the teaser description for each to get an understanding of their investment philosophy. To dig deeper click the free trial link to get a complete profile of the newsletter. Does their investment strategy make sense to you? Could you follow it in the future? If no, then move on. If yes, then start a free trial. 3) Free Trial:During the 30 day free trial process you need to "kick the tires" on the newsletter to make sure it works for you. Read all past and present newsletter issues available in the archive. Evaluate the clarity and quality of advice. Perhaps paper trade some of the investments and compare them over that period to the performance of the stocks you already own and the market overall. Once again, assess if this is an investment philosophy that suits you. If no, then cancel your free trial and try another publication. If the newsletter is on the mark, then do nothing and your subscription will continue until you cancel. At the end of the day, most investors would benefit from the sound advice of investment newsletters. But not all newsletters are suited for every investor. So, before you invest your hard earned money in someone's recommendations you should be fully bought into their strategy. Luckily we offer a 30-day free trial process to each newsletter that gives you the time and access to make the proper determination. To access our newsletter catalog at any time, then go to: http://at.zacks.com/?id=1691. OTHER TOOLS FROM ZACKS At the heart of Zacks Investment Research is the Zacks Rank investment philosophy that continues to vastly outperform the market. Our Zacks #1 Ranked (Strong Buys) have produced the following results for investors:
And just as importantly, our #5 Ranked stocks (Strong Sells) have alerted investors as to which stocks to dump from their portfolios to avoid unnecessary losses. To truly take advantage of the Zacks Rank, you need to first understand how it works. That`s why we created the free special report; Zacks Rank Guide: Harnessing the Power of Earnings Estimate Revisions. Download a free copy now to prosper in the years to come at: http://at.zacks.com/?id=75. Or view the full list of Zacks #1 Ranked stocks at: http://at.zacks.com/?id=72. FREE PORTFOLIO TRACKER Do you believe that these events affect stock prices?
If you answered yes, then how are you staying on top of these changes for your stocks? If you are one of the 45,000 investors who wake up every morning to the Daily Portfolio Updates emails from Zacks.com, then you are all set. If not, then sign up now to get this vital information sent to you daily to help take definitive action to improve your portfolio's performance. Did we mention it's free? Get started now! We hope you enjoyed this issue of "Profit from the Pros", And we look forward to visiting with you again next week. REFER-A-FRIEND If you enjoy this e-mail newsletter, then please pass it along to a friend. Simply forward them the link below to sign up for their own free subscription. If you're reading a forwarded copy, sign up for your own, so you get this wealth of information every week. Just click here. THANKS! Regards and Happy Investing, Stephen Reitmeister p.s. What is the mission for Zacks Profit from the Pros? Click here to find out how we will help you become a more successful investor. *The S&P 500 Index is a well-known, unmanaged index of the prices of 500 large-company common stocks, mainly blue-chip stocks, selected by Standard & Poor's. The S&P 500 Index assumes reinvestment of dividends but does not reflect advisory fees. An investor cannot invest directly in an index. Disclaimer: Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investors should always research companies and securities before making any investments. Nothing herein should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security. To contact us by mail: Zacks Investment Research To unsubscribe from receiving "Profit from the Pros" e-mail newsletter, click here. | ||||||||||
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Zacks #1 Stocks on the Move 06/18/2013
| Company Name | Symbol | %Change |
|---|---|---|
| STAAR SURGIC | STAA | 10.98% |
| LUMOS NETWOR | LMOS | 5.70% |
| INSTEEL IND | IIIN | 5.28% |
| ERICKSON AIR | EAC | 5.10% |
| ASSURED GUAR | AGO | 4.98% |
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At the center of everything we do is a strong commitment to independent research and sharing its profitable discoveries with investors. This dedication to giving investors a trading advantage led to the creation of our proven Zacks Rank stock-rating system. Since 1986 it has nearly tripled the S&P 500 with an average gain of +26% per year. These returns cover a period from 1986-2011 and were examined and attested by Baker Tilly, an independent accounting firm.
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