Wednesday - January 31, 2007
 Want to view the archive of past issues? Click here. Manage Profit from the Pros subscription: 1. ZACKS RANK BUY STOCKS Zacks #1 Ranked 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 - SINA Corporation (SINA) SINA Corporation (SINA) has exceeded earnings estimates in
each of the past three quarters by an average margin of 31%.
Seven analysts have raised their forecasts for 2006, while six
have done so for 2007. Over the past three months, both this
year and next year's estimates have jumped by about 10%. Read the analysis of SINA now! Growth & Income - Cohen & Steers, Inc. (CNS) Cohen & Steers, Inc. (CNS), first presented as a Growth and Income pick on Sep 21, is up nearly 56%. CNS exceeded analysts’ earnings expectations in four out of the past five quarters by an average margin of 13.8%. Analysts have been upping their earnings estimates for both this quarter and for the full year. Earnings per share are expected to grow 14% over the next 3-5 years. This Zacks #1 Rank stock has a current dividend yield of 1.1%. Read the full analysis on CNS now! More...
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Momentum - C-COR Incorporated (CCBL) On Jan 25, C-COR Incorporated (CCBL) delivered a 200% positive
earnings surprise when it reported second-quarter EPS of 12
cents. Sales grew 20% to $80.13 million, while income grew to
$5.9 million, compared to a loss of $15.7 million in the same
quarter a year earlier. The release of the Dec 2006 earnings
report was CCBL’s fifth straight positive earnings surprise
and the company’s third straight triple-digit surprise. Read the analysis of CCBL now! Value - Endurance Specialty Holdings, Ltd. (ENH) Endurance Specialty Holdings, Ltd. (ENH), a Zacks #1 Rank stock, exceeded analysts’ earnings expectations in two out of the past three quarters by an average margin of 23.4%. Consensus estimates for this quarter and for the full year have risen over the past month. On Nov 1, the Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of 25 cents per share. The company has a price-to-book ratio of only 1.1. Read the full analysis on ENH now!
2. 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. Click here to learn more about the Research Wizard. New Analyst Coverage If you’re a regular reader of this article, you know that I’m not a big fan of Broker Recommendations. And as you read on, you’ll see that I’m still not. This is largely because of their overwhelmingly bullish bias. But they do have their place. From small individual investors to large institutional portfolio mangers, many people do look at Broker Recommendations when researching investment possibilities. (In general though, I should note that changes in the average broker recommendation are better indicators than the actual recommendation itself.) Today, I want to talk about companies that receive new analyst coverage. One of the things that generate analyst coverage is investor interest. How else can you explain the increased analyst coverage for Google, which has been public for barely two-and- a-half years? Especially compared to a company like GE, which has been public for nearly 40 years. And as new coverage is initiated, it becomes more visible, which in turn means potentially more demand (read higher prices). This is often the case because analysts almost always initiate coverage with a positive recommendation. (Why write a research report on a company not widely followed only to say it stinks?) And when it comes to companies with little to no analyst coverage, one new recommendation can sometimes give portfolio managers the validation they need to build a position. (And the more money they can invest, the more they can potentially influence prices.) The best way to use this information is to look for companies whose analyst coverage has increased over the last four weeks. Simply look at the number of analyst recommendations now in comparison to the number of analyst recommendations four weeks ago. An increase in coverage is bullish whereas a decrease in coverage is bearish. It's typically more bullish if the increase went from none to one or if the coverage was minimal at the start. (Moving from 25 to 26 isn't going to have the same impact because that 26th analyst isn't discovering something `new'.) But increased coverage is better than decreased coverage -- assuming the coverage is positive of course. Here’s a screen to try: Number of Broker Ratings four weeks ago <= 5 (No more than five analysts were covering the stock four weeks ago.) Number of Broker Ratings now >= 6 (There are at least six analysts covering the stock now.) Average Broker Rating < Average Broker Rating four weeks ago (By ‘ < ’ (less than), I mean ‘better than’ four weeks ago.) Average Broker Rating <=3 (I’m not that concerned about the rating itself. But since analysts’ recommendations tend to be bullishly biased, I’d prefer to not have them be ‘bearish’.) And for good measure ... % Change in Q(1) Estimates >= 0 and ... % Change in F(1) Estimates >= 0 (Companies that receive upward estimate revisions have a tendency of receiving even more upward estimate revisions. This, in combination with the stock’s increased visibility due to ‘new’ coverage, can be quite powerful.) And I’m applying all of the above parameters to stocks with Prices >= 5 (most money managers won’t even look at a stock under $5) and Average Daily Volume >= 50,000 shares (if there’s not enough volume, even individual investors won’t want it). There are nine stocks that made it through this week’s screen (1/29/06). Here are three of them:
Get the rest of the stocks on this list and see what new stocks the analysts are talking about. And don’t stop there. Try finding companies with no coverage four weeks ago that are finally being looked at today. Most screeners won’t let you search for the number of analysts covering a stock, let alone comparing the amount of coverage they had weeks or even months ago. But the Research Wizard does. The same goes for changes in the Average Broker Rating and Estimate Revisions. And you can backtest it all. Find out how to pick the right stocks right now by learning more about our free trial to the Research Wizard stock picking and backtesting program. Discover all the Free Screening Tools on Zacks.com now! Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. 3. ZACKS EQUITY RESEARCH As earnings reports continue to flow in this week from just about every sector and industry, we wanted to get a snapshot of how the numbers are looking so far with Zacks’ Director of Equity Research, Dirk van Dijk, CFA. How are Q4 numbers looking in general, at this point? In general, things are coming in quite nicely. The most recent numbers I’ve run show a median year-over-year growth rate of those companies that have reported just south of 13%, which is quite solid, and coming in much better than expected. The median percentage positive surprise so far is 2.6%, and positive surprises are outweighing disappointments by 3.3 to 1. More. . .
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - As more recent reports have come through, have you seen more positive surprises? Well, we definitely got off to a slow start. A week ago, when we had fewer than 20% of reports in, we were only running a little bit over a 2 to 1 ratio, 2.2 to 1. But since then, positive surprises have really started to overtake the disappointments. So it’s starting to look much more like the previous quarters of 2006, which started out on a very strong foot, then faded a little bit, though still remained overwhelmingly positive. The fourth quarter started out with more positives than negatives, but not by the overwhelming nature that we had seen in the first three quarters of 2006. Were the positive surprises in Q4 expected to be quite as high as they are? That’s hard to say. Given the experience of previous quarters, I had been expecting more positives than negatives, and was a little caught off guard when Q4 got off to a relatively weak start. At this point, however, it’s looking very much in-line with what we’ve seen. Which industries are you paying close attention to going forward? Surprisingly, the areas with the strongest year-over-year growth so far have been the Materials and Energy sectors. With Materials, we’re more than half way done with reporting season, so this might hold up. They’ve got a 23.1% year-over- year growth rate. With Energy, we’re less than a quarter of the way done, and I would expect the year-over-year growth numbers to come down as more and more firms report, but we’re still seeing better-than-expected earnings in both these sectors. On the other end of the spectrum, Technology has shown a median growth rate of zero. However, coming into the quarter, not much was expected for Tech, so even though the sector has shown no growth with half the tech companies reporting, this is actually a positive surprise. Read the complete ANALYST INTERVIEW article. Dirk van Dijk, CFA is the Director of Zacks Equity Research. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Analyst Blog Real-time market insights from Zacks Equity Research Analysts. Stocks featured recently include Sanmina (SANM), Schering-Plough (SGP), Qualcomm (QCOM) and Buckeye Partners (BPL). To see their latest posts, click here. SINA Corp. (SINA) - Strong Brand Name. For full Zacks research report, click here. Whole Foods (WFMI) - Slowing Growth. For full Zacks research report, click here. The Week of Jan 29 - Feb 2 Positive Surprises Picking Up 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. ZACKS WEALTH MANAGEMENT Every week, Zacks Wealth Management provides informative articles on how to build and protect wealth. Today’s topic is:
There’s great news for those with high incomes who wanted to put money away in a Roth IRA but couldn’t. Last May, The Tax Increase Prevention Reconciliation Act of 2005 was passed and, if it isn’t repealed, those of you with a higher income can convert your traditional IRA to a Roth in 2010. Today, anyone with an income under $100,000 can convert a traditional IRA to Roth IRA but high income taxpayers who make this conversion in 2010 will have the ability to spread the tax bill out over the years 2011 and 2012. Keep in mind that in a traditional IRA where you deduct your contributions, withdrawals are taxed as ordinary income. In a non-deductible IRA, earnings above your contributions are taxed. The Roth IRA, as most of you know, has several distinct advantages. When you are above 59 ½ and your money has been in there for over five years, your withdrawals are tax free. You also don’t have required minimum distributions at 70 ½ so you can save money for your heirs tax deferred and pass the on assets tax free. Things to consider You must always consider time to retirement. Usually, if you have five years or more to retirement, the conversion may be a great idea. It’ll give you a better chance to make up for the taxes you paid on the conversion. If you can grow the money for a long period of time tax deferred, you get more bang for your buck when you draw the money out tax free! Will you face a higher tax rate at retirement? This may be true if you are a business owner and pay taxes at a low rate today. If you expect higher tax rates, converting to a Roth is the way to go and will make tax free withdrawals all the more valuable. Remember that a conversion to a Roth must be planned out because you could potentially be taking a big tax hit. You will be paying taxes on contributions you previously deducted as well as on the earnings. If you qualify to do this today and carry a huge balance in your traditional IRA, do it little by little every year. Also, make sure you pay your taxes from a separate account. The reason is that if you are under 59 ½, you will have to pay an additional 10% penalty tax if you draw funds from your IRA to pay the tax bill. Set aside money to pay tax on future conversions. If you are a high income earner and won’t be making the conversion until 2010, it is imperative that you start saving for your tax bill that will occur in 2011 and 2012. This is true especially if you have a huge amount of investment built up in your IRA. As for strategy, if you are a high income earner and not eligible to fund a Roth account, consider saving money in a non deductible IRA. You may then make the conversion and pay taxes in 2010. There you have it. The Roth IRA has many advantages if you expect higher tax rates in the future. And for those of you high income earners, 2010 will present a great opportunity to capitalize on the Roth’s tax advantages. Do some careful planning, put away money for the tax bill and the value of tax free withdrawals could be incredibly significant down the road. Jonas Zamora is a Certified Financial Planner™ professional This article is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or tax advice. Zacks Investment Management, Inc. is not engaged in rendering legal, tax, accounting or other professional services. Publication and distribution of this article is not intended to create, and the information contained herein does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. Do not act or rely upon the information and advice given in this publication without seeking the services of competent and professional legal, tax, or accounting counsel. CFP Board, a nonprofit regulatory organization, fosters professional standards in personal financial planning so that the public values, has access to and benefits from competent and ethical financial planning. CFP Board owns the certification marks CFP®, Certified Financial Planner™ and federally registered CFP (with flame logo), which it awards to individuals who successfully complete initial and ongoing certification requirements. CFP Board currently authorizes more than 50,000 individuals to use these marks in the United States. For more about CFP Board, visit www.CFP.net. Learn more about Zacks Wealth Management now! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - MITCH ZACKS ON THE MARKETS The stock market should begin to benefit from flows of assets out of other investment classes. More... 5. FEATURED EXPERTS Here we cast the spotlight on a timely Featured Expert commentaries that recently appeared on Zacks.com. Donald Rowe says the stock market is still undervalued by 28%. Benefit from his insight and discover his recommendations. More... Jack Adamo ponders a few different market scenarios. Discover the possibilities and check out a few stock updates.More... Don Dion says stock markets are still finding their footing. Check out his latest outlook and read about the featured fund. 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 (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. 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, 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 Zacks Performance Rank performance is the total return of equal weighted simulated portfolios consisting of those stocks with the indicated Zacks Rank net of fees. Results reflect the reinvestment of dividends and other earnings. Simulated results do not represent actual trading and may not reflect the impact that economic and market factors might have had on decision-making if an adviser were actually managing a client's money. 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 05/22/2013
| Company Name | Symbol | %Change |
|---|---|---|
| ALLIANCE FIB | AFOP | 12.64% |
| SONIC FOUNDR | SOFO | 8.50% |
| A M R CP | AAMRQ | 7.38% |
| TRI TECH HOL | TRIT | 7.35% |
| NOAH HOLDING | NOAH | 7.08% |
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