Monday - December 11, 2006
 Want to view the archive of past issues? Click here. Manage your Profit from the Pros subscription: 1. ZACKS RANK BUY STOCKS Zacks #1 Rank stocks average a 31.8% annual return. Every day on Zacks.com we highlight four new Zacks Rank Buy stocks.
Each individual stock is chosen based on how well they match the criteria for the four main schools of investing:
Aggressive Growth, Momentum, Growth & Income and Value. Aggressive Growth - NICE-Systems, Ltd. (NICE) For the December quarter, earnings estimates at NICE-Systems,
Ltd. (NICE) have increased 16% to 29 cents per share over the
past 60 days. The company has exceeded estimates in nine
straight quarters, and 13 out of the past 14. Year-over-year
growth has been robust over that time period. It is no
surprise the stock has been performing so well. Read the full analysis on NICE now! Growth & Income - Nordstrom, Inc. (JWN) Nordstrom, Inc. (JWN) recently raised its full-year earnings per share outlook after reporting solid results for the third quarter. The bullish guidance caused analysts to up their profit forecasts for both this year and next. Earnings per share are expected to grow 14.6% over the next 3-5 years. This Zacks #1 Rank stock has a current dividend yield of 0.85% and a five-year average dividend yield of 1.4%. Read the full analysis on JWN now! More...
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Momentum - Celanese (CE) On Oct 31, Celanese (CE) reported earnings at 63 cents per
share, up 29% from the same quarter last year and in line with analysts’ expectations. The stock is currently trading about
19% higher than the close on Dec 31, 2005. Read the full analysis on CE now! Value - CIGNA Corporation (CI) CIGNA Corporation (CI), which made its debut as a Value pick
on Aug 8, is still a Zacks #1 Rank stock. Furthermore, it is
up 19%. CI beat analysts’ earnings expectations for 16
consecutive quarters. After posting solid third-quarter
results, the company raised its full-year earnings per share
guidance. Shareholder value has been enhanced through stock
repurchases and dividend payments. CI’s return on equity
crushes that of the industry average—21% compared to 13%. Read the full analysis on CI now! Zacks Rank Resources
2. PROFIT TRACKS 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 highlight... Profit Tracks: Return on Equity (ROE) This Profit Track strategy uses Return on Equity (ROE) to discover solid stocks. ROE is one of the quickest ways to gauge whether a company is creating assets or gobbling up investors' cash. ROE = income / common equity One of the quickest ways to gauge whether a company is creating assets or gobbling up investor's cash is to look at their ROE. This fast moving Profit Track returned an impressive +19.1% in 2005. AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. (AHS), which has a ROE of 15.32 and a price to sales ratio of 0.94, announced third- quarter earnings of 28 cents per share in early November. The result topped the consensus estimate by approximately 27% and outpaced last year's result. The company also increased its earnings per share guidance for the full-year 2006 to a range of 94 cents to 96 cents. Analysts have been raising estimates as well. Current forecasts of 95 cents per share are 9% above two months-ago levels. Continue your research on AHS now! General Cable Corp. (BGC) posted third-quarter earnings of 71 cents per share in late October. The result eclipsed the consensus estimate by 29% and improved on the year-ago total. BGC noted that it expects earnings per share of between 55 cents and 60 cents per share for the fourth quarter. Analysts are in agreement as evidenced by current estimates of 59 cents, an increase of two cents over the past 60 trading days. BGC’s ROE stands at 36.61 and its price to sales ratio is 0.68. Continue your research on BGC now! Commercial Metals Co. (CMC) meets the criteria for this Profit Track with a ROE of 32.11 and a price to sales ratio of 0.46. The company will release financial result for the fiscal first quarter on December 21, 2006. In late October, the company reported fourth-quarter earnings of $1.04 per share, which beat the consensus estimate of 73 cents and surpassed the year-prior 69 cents. Continue your research on CMC now! Global Partners LP (GLP) released third-quarter results in early November. Earnings per share totaled 59 cents, jumping ahead of Wall Street estimates by 11% and outperforming the previous year’s 44 cents per share. The company mentioned that its outstanding global team delivered record earnings. GLP offers a ROE of 42.72 and a low price to sales ratio of 0.03, which makes it an appealing value investment. Continue your research on GLP now! To see the full list of stocks that currently pass this winning screen, click here. All the Profit Track strategies were created and backtested using the Research Wizard software from Zacks Investment Research. If you like this screening strategy, but want to narrow down the list of stocks and even improve the performance, then you should start a free trial to this powerful stock picking tool. Learn more about the Research Wizard free trial offer and our new special report “Top 10 Stock Screening Strategies”. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Great Stocks often have Great Peers Kevin Matras looks at how to find winning stocks in the winningest sectors. Read more... 3. ZACKS EQUITY RESEARCH This week should be the last real busy week of the year for the financial markets. Two major investment banking firms will lead a small contigent of S&P 500 companies with earnings reports. The FOMC will meet on Tuesday and Friday brings inflation, industrial production numbers and the Festival of Lights. We hope that you see lots of gelt. Only 28 companies are confirmed to report earnings this week, but about a quarter of these are within the S&P 500. Goldman Sachs (GS) and Bear Stearns (BSC) will kick off fourth-quarter earnings season for the investment banking sector. Adobe (ADBE), ADC Telecom (ADCT), Best Buy (BBY), Ciena (CIEN), Costco (COST) and Dollar General (DG) will also report quarterly results. These reports come at a time when the number of earnings estimate revisions are dropping sharply. For the entire Zacks Rank universe1, the number of revisions has dropped by nearly 50% over just the past two weeks. For companies within the S&P 500, we’ve seen the number of changed forecasts drop by about a third. A similar lull occurred between the second and third quarters and it is possible that companies are simply becoming more tight-lipped about their outlook between reporting periods. We would expect the number of estimate revisions to continue to drop throughout the remainder of the year. More. . .
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The Federal Open Market Committee will hold its last meeting of the year on Tuesday. This will be a one-day meeting and the expectation is that interest rates will remain unchanged, even with the recent rise in the unemployment rate. Although the Committee’s statement will be closely read for any change in wording, how Jeffrey Lacker votes will also garner attention. Mr. Lacker, who is the president of the Richmond Fed District, has gone against the majority by voting for a rate hike three consecutive times. Obviously, any change in his hawkish stance would spark a reaction in the bond markets, and potentially the equity markets. Also on the economic calendar are the October trade deficit (Monday) and November retail sales (Wednesday). Friday morning brings November CPI, industrial production and industrial capacity utilization as well as the December New York Fed Manufacturing index. Companies That Could Surprise During the Week of Dec 11 - 15 As I stated in Wednesday’s Industry Rank Analysis column, conditions are favorable for investment banking firms. Merger activity is good, multiple debt offerings are being completed and asset management continues to be positive. Therefore is not surprising to see profit forecasts for Goldman Sachs (GS) being revised upwards ahead of the firm’s fourth-quarter report. Analysts expect GS to report fiscal first-quarter profits of $5.72 per share, 80 cents above the forecast of a month ago. The Most Recent Consensus is even more bullish at $6.34 per share. Expectations for fiscal 2006 and fiscal 2007 earnings are also up sharply. Goldman Sachs has topped expectations during 14 out of the past 15 quarters. The firm will report on Tuesday, Dec 12, before the start of trading. The trend in revisions is not quite as strong for Bear Stearns (BSC) as it is for GS, but the numbers are still bullish. Analysts project BSC to earn $3.34 during its fiscal fourth quarter, three cents more than they were forecasting a month ago. The Most Recent Consensus is more bullish at $3.45 per share. BSC has topped earnings expectations for four consecutive years. Bear Stearns will report on Thursday, Dec 14, before the start of trading. One company that is not experiencing positive business momentum is Pier 1 Imports (PIR). The company recently reported a 15.3% plunge in November same-store sales. CEO Marvin Girouard described home furnishing categories sales as “weak”. Analysts responded by widening their projections to a loss of 35 cents per share, versus the month-old forecast for a loss of 29 cents per share. The Most Recent Consensus is more bearish at a loss of 47 cents per share. The retailer missed expectations during each of the two previous quarters. PIR will report on Thursday, Dec 14. A specific time has not been confirmed. Read the complete Earnings Preview now! Charles Rotblut, CFA is the Senior Market Analyst for Zacks.com. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Analyst Blog Real-time market insights from Zacks Equity Research Analysts. Stocks featured recently include Retalix (RTLX), Newfield Exploration Co. (NFX), Komag (KOMG) and Nelnet, Inc. (NNI). To see their latest posts, click here. Hurco Companies (HURC) - Innovations Show Promise. For full Zacks research report, click here. DST Systems (DST) - Fundamentals Deteriorating. For full Zacks research report, click here. Semiconductors Reliant on the Consumer Forecasts Still Good, Despite Drop in Estimates Find out which stocks have been recently upgraded by Zacks Equity Research: click here. Read the reports on all of the stocks on the Zacks Equity Research Buy List: click here.
4. RESEARCH DIGEST What is Wall Street saying about your stocks? You’ll find the answer in our exclusive Research Digest reports. Everyday we provide three new free reports on Zacks.com. The rest are made available to our Zacks Premium members. BEA Systems, Inc. (BEAS) Healthways, Inc. (HWAY) Symbol Technologies, Inc. (SBL) Click here to see all Research Digest Reports All Star Analyst Portfolio Broker Rating Upgrades 5. FEATURED EXPERTS Here we cast the spotlight on a timely Featured Expert commentary that recently appeared on Zacks.com. Blessing in Disguise Gregory Spear discusses the global economy and offers an in- depth profile on the world's premier uranium miner. More... Richard Lehman discusses year-end bargains. Benefit from his expertise and discover some corporate bonds. More... Ken Trester is receiving neutral to bearish readings but is bullish longer term. Learn why and check out an option play. More... 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, the Zacks #5 Rank stocks (Strong Sell) List has 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. Or view the full list of Zacks #1 Ranked stocks at. 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 and 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, Charles Rotblut, CFA 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. | |||||||||
- Latest News
- Most Popular
- 3 Top-Ranked Consumer ETFs to Buy Now
- This Week's Top Value Stocks
- RTI: When Will We Finally See a Pullback?
- RTI: When is the Fed's "Taper Telegraph" Coming?
- Insurance Industry Stock Outlook - May 2013
- Top Stocks with Big Potential Catch-Up Moves
- Roundtable Top Picks of the Week
- The Mega-Rally Rolls On
- Biotechnology ETF Investing 101
- PFP 5/22: Singular Stock Focus Continues
- AWS 5/21: The Beginning of the End for QE
Recent Quotes
| No Recent Quote currently available |
My Portfolio
|
My Portfolio Tracker One of the most important steps you can take today is to set up your portfolio tracker on Zacks.com. Once you do, you'll be notified of major events affecting your stocks and/or funds with daily email alerts. Set yours up today. |
Zacks #1 Stocks on the Move 05/21/2013
| Company Name | Symbol | %Change |
|---|---|---|
| SCIENTIFIC L | SCIL | 8.00% |
| NATUS MEDICA | BABY | 6.11% |
| SUMMER INFAN | SUMR | 6.02% |
| RADIANT LOGI | RLGT | 5.32% |
| NEW ORIENTAL | EDU | 4.51% |
Quick Links
Resources
Client Support
Zacks Research is Reported On:
Zacks Investment Research
is an A+ Rated BBB
Accredited Business.
Copyright 2013 Zacks Investment Research
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.
Visit performance for information about the performance numbers displayed above.
NYSE and AMEX data is at least 20 minutes delayed. NASDAQ data is at least 15 minutes delayed.