Dear Subscriber,

The focus of second-quarter earnings season has been positive surprises. But, a surprise is only really positive if it translates into higher earnings estimates for the next several quarters.

One of the best ways to tell if this has occurred is to use the Zacks Rank. A true surprise will result in a better Zacks Rank.

Kevin Matras shows you how to find stocks with big improvements in the Zacks Rank, and names a couple now strong buy stocks.

Read: 5 or 4 to new Zacks #1 Rank


Yesterday, we received some mixed data on the housing front. Multi-family unit starts (e.g. apartments) declined, but single-family unit starts improved slightly. Furthermore, Home Depot (HD) raised its full-year guidance.

As I explain in our Analyst Blog, we are currently seeing cross-currents that often occur as a sector is bouncing off of a bottom.

Read: Housing Bouncing Along Bottom

Wishing you prosperity,
Charles Rotblut, CFA
Senior Market Analyst & Editor,
Profit From the Pros

Today's Top Stories: Wednesday- August 19, 2009

ZACKS RANK BUY STOCKS

• Aggressive Growth - Priceline.com Inc. (PCLN) booked yet another double-digit earnings surprise. Earnings per share came in at $1.81, 19 cents or 12% higher than the Zacks Consensus Estimate. This was the fourth consecutive surprise by at least 10%. Read More...
   
• Growth & Income - Corning Inc. (GLW) recently reported second-quarter earnings of 39 cents per share, eclipsing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 30%. Sales of $1.4 billion topped the previous quarter's total by 41% and came in 18% below the year-prior result. Read More...
   
• Momentum - Canadian Solar, Inc. (CSIQ) earnings came in at 49 cents per share, blowing past the Zacks Consensus Estimate calling for a loss of 11 cents. Analysts have pushed estimates higher for the current year from a loss of 9 cents up to $1.03 per share. Read More...
   
• Value - Maidenform Brands, Inc. (MFB) recently announced second-quarter results, which included a sales jump of 5.6% year-over-year thanks to strong demand for the company's bras and shapewear products. Earnings per share of 31 cents topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 24%. Read More...
   

Learn how to profit from our exclusive Zacks Rank stock-ranking system with free resources. Read More...

• Best of Funds: Top Growth/Income Equity Funds
  Want to see growth along with a steady flow of income? Checkout AIM Diversified Dividend A (LCEAX), JP Morgan Investor Growth & Income A (ONGIX) and New Century Alternative Strategies (NCHPX). Read More...
  
• Best Of Fund Family
  Rydex offers a wide variety of funds, including Zacks Mutual Fund #1 Rank (Strong Buy) picks like the Rydex Inverse S&P 500 Strategy Inv (RYURX), Rydex Transportation Inv (RYPIX) and Rydex Electronics Inv (RYSIX). Read More...
  

See all the great mutual fund resources.

• Bull Of The Day: Medtronic, Inc. (MDT)
  Full Zacks research report: Read More...
  
  
• Bear Of The Day: Tesoro Corp. (TSO)
  Full Zacks research report: Read More...
  
  
• ZACKS INDUSTRY OUTLOOK: Retail Industry
  The strong relative performance of retailing stocks thus far has been due to low expectations, "less bad" sales declines and cost cutting efforts. We discuss Whole Foods (WFMI), Winn-Dixie (WINN) and Safeway (SWY). Read More...
  
  

• Kids, College and Insurance
• How Credit Score Affects Insurance Premiums

EDUCATION: Aggressive Growth

“Short-Selling” Stocks Read More...

PeopleAndPicks.com:

VIP "OWLTRADES" is nesting in profit with BUY calls in (BT), (GLBC), (SD) and (TXT). Read More...

• 5 or 4 to new Zacks #1 Rank
• Value Stock Picks- August 17, 2009
• Consumers Weighing Down the Market

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Regards and Happy Investing,

Charles Rotblut, CFA
Senior Market Analyst
Zacks.com

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