Friday, May 6, 2011

AGL Resouces may get great total return

I was screening on Barchart for companies having new highs and came across AGL Resources (AGL).

Their principal business is the distribution of natural gas to customers in central, northwest, northeast and southeast Georgia and the Chattanooga, Tennessee area through its natural gas distribution subsidiary. AGL's major service area is the ten county metropolitan Atlanta area.

The company is in a fast growing market and recent rate increase make the future look bright.  With a 4.7% dividend rate this company is projected to give a 14.5% total annual return for the next 5 years.

Factors I like:

Technical Factors:
  • 96% Barchart technical buy signal
  • Trend Spotter buy signal
  • Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
  • 8 new highs and up 3.56% in the last month
  • Relative Strength Index 71.25% and rising
  • Trades around 41.96 with a 50 day moving average of 39.58
Fundamental Factors:
  • Recent rate increase give sales better predictability
  • Wall Street brokerage analysts have released 2 strong buy, 1 buy and 5 hold recommendations
  • Revenue is expected to increase by 8.60% this year and another 4.70% next year
  • Earnings are projected to increase by 3.00% this year, 5.10% next year and 5.63% annually for the next 5 years
General Investor Sentiment:
  • CAPS members on Motley Fool vote 194 to 7 that the stock will beat the market
  • The more experienced All Stars vote more confidently with a 74 to 0 vote for the same result
Summary:  AGL already received approval for a rate increase in one of the fastest growing areas in the US. The earnings growth prospects plus a 4.7% dividend while you wait make this a great choice for conservative investors.

Jim Van Meerten is an analyst for  Marketocracy Capital Management.  He shares his knowledge and experience from over 40 years of investing in stocks, mutual funds and ETFs on  Barchart.com  in his daily blog -- Barchart Portfolio Blogs.







Why is Proctor & Gamble so popular?

When I was screening on Barchart for large cap stocks hitting the most frequent new highs it was no surprise to see Proctor & Gamble (PG) near the top of the list.  This is a real "what you see is what you get" stock.  I respect Value Line's analysis of stocks and have read them for years and this is one of the few stocks they rate 100 for both price stability and earnings predictability.  This company is steady as a rock and for income investors it increases its dividend every year without fail.  When I read the list of their stable of brand names it is had for me to imagine a supermarket without their products on the shelves.  The store would look like a Publix in Miami the day before a hurricane hits -- lots of empty shelves.


The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) manufactures and markets a broad range of consumer products in many countries throughout the world. Products fall into five business segments: fabric and home care, paper, beauty care, health care, and food and beverage. Today, P&G markets more than 250 products to more than five billion consumers in 130 countries.

Products include the brand names: Always, Head & Shoulders, Olay, Pantene, Wella, Actonel,
Dawn, Downy, Tide, Bounty, Charmin, Pampers, Iams, Pringles,
Gillette, MACH3, Braun and Duracell.

If there is an area of concern for this stock it is that US sales only accounts for 38% of its revenue -- so currency exchange can be a problem.  The other area of concern is that Wal-Mart accounts for over 16% of their revenue.  If these are problems, then they are problems most companies would be glad to have.

There are other factors that make this proverbial Cash Cow a core holding on many, many portfolios both professional and individual:

Technical Factors:
  • 80% Barchart technical buy signal
  • Trend Spotter buy signal
  • Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
  • 16 new highs and up 7.71% in the last month
  • Relative Strength Index 71.73% and rising
  • Trades around 65.88 with a 50 day moving average of 62.10
Fundamental Factors:
  • Wall Street considers this a core position for both long term growth and income portfolios
  • Never misses a dividend increase and pays a 3.3 % dividend
  • Brokerage analysts currently have 12 strong buy , 7 buy, 6 hold and no under perform reports issued for their brokers to push to clients
  • Sales are expected to increase by 4.30% this year and 5.90% next year.
  • Earnings although expected to be down 4.10% this year are projected to increase by 8.60% next year and 8.94% annually for the next 5 years
  • In December Goldman Sachs put out a recommendation that says this is a stock to own for the next 5 years
General Investor Sentiment:
  • Off the charts with over 9,000 readers of Motley Fool expressing an opinion on this one
  • CAPS members vote 7,010 to 219 that the stock will beat the market
  • The more experienced All Stars agree 1,787 to 21 for the same result
  • Its hard to find a stock that 97% of the individual investors think will beat the market
Summary:  This should be a core holding for both growth and income investors.  Its sales and income streams are rock solid.  It has world wide operations with brand names that are in every ones pantries.  If you think the world wide economy is in recover what better way to participate.  

Buy or add to your watch lists.

Jim Van Meerten is an analyst for  Marketocracy Capital Management.  He shares his knowledge and experience from over 40 years of investing in stocks, mutual funds and ETFs on  Barchart.com  in his daily blog -- Barchart Portfolio Blogs.

Barchart Morning Call 5/6

Barchart Morning Call
Overnight Developments
  • Global stocks are mixed with the European Euro Stoxx 50 up +0.23% and June S&Ps up +3.80 points. Treasuries and the dollar are little changed while commodities extended this week's fall with crude oil sliding to a 2-1/4 month low and copper dropping to a 5-month low on concern economic growth is faltering. ECB President Trichet said policy makers remain "extremely alert" on inflation, and indicated they may take further decisions on interest rates when they have new economic projections in June. European stocks received a boost after German industrial production rose for a third month. Mar German industrial production rose +0.7% m/m and +11.2% y/y, stronger than expectations of +0.5% m/m and +10.3% y/y.
  • The Asian stock markets today closed mostly lower with Japan down -1.45%, Hong Kong -0.44%, China -0.15%, Taiwan -0.46%, Australia -0.23%, Singapore -0.33%, South Korea -1.66%, India +1.69%. Asian stock markets fell, with China's Shanghai Stock Index declining to a 2-1/2 month low, after the surge in US jobless fueled concern the world's biggest economy may be weakening. Japanese exporters led declines in Japanese stocks as the yen held just below a 1-1/2 month high and most Asian energy and raw material producers fell as commodities extended their slide. The Australian dollar strengthened after the RBA in its quarterly review today said higher interest rates will likely be needed "at some point" to contain inflation that's predicted to accelerate this year faster than previously forecast. The RBA hiked its forecast for consumer prices this year to increase by +3.25% from an earlier estimate of +3.00% and core inflation to quicken to +3.00% from +2.75%.
Overnight U.S. Stock News
  • June S&Ps this morning are trading up +3.80 points ahead of Apr nonfarm payrolls. The US stock market yesterday settled lower as an unexpected increase in weekly jobless claims offset a plunge in oil prices that fueled gains in consumer and transportation stocks: Dow Jones -0.66%, S&P 500 -0.69%, Nasdaq Composite -0.47%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq both fell to 2-week lows while the Dow slipped to a 1-week low. Bearish factors included (1) the unexpected increase in weekly initial unemployment claims to an 8-1/2 month high (+43,000 to 474,000 versus expectations of -19,000 to 410,000), (2) comments from Atlanta Fed President Lockhart who said "there is virtually no net job creation resulting from new business formation in recent quarters," (3) weakness in energy and raw-material companies after dollar strength prompted a broad-based plunge in commodities, and (4) hawkish comments from Minneapolis Fed President Kocherlakota who said it would be "desirable" to raise interest rates this year and that he would support a 50 bp increase in the Fed funds rate.
  • Bullish factors for stocks included (1) reduced inflation concerns after the larger-than-expected increase in Q1 nonfarm productivity and the upward revision to Q4 (Q1 +1.6% versus expectations of +1.1% and Q4 revised up to +2.9% from the previously reported +2.6%), (2) strength in transportation and consumer companies after crude oil plunged to a 1-1/2 month low, and (3) comments from San Francisco Fed President Williams who said a period of high inflation is "very unlikely" because rising commodity prices spurred by global demand aren?t likely to keep climbing.
Today's Market Focus
  • June 10-year T-notes this morning are up +3 ticks. T-note prices yesterday moved higher as inflation concerns receded after weekly jobless claims unexpectedly increased and commodity prices tumbled: TYM11 +13.5, FVM11 +7.5, EDU11 +0.5. The 10-year T-note yield fell to a 1-1/2 month low of 3.151%. Bullish factors included (1) the unexpected increase in weekly initial unemployment claims to an 8-1/2 month high (+43,000 to 474,000 versus expectations of -19,000 to 410,000), (2) reduced inflation concerns after the larger-than-expected increase in Q1 nonfarm productivity and the upward revision to Q4 (Q1 +1.6% versus expectations of +1.1% and Q4 revised up to +2.9% from the previously reported +2.6%), (3) comments from Atlanta Fed President Lockhart who said "there is virtually no net job creation resulting from new business formation in recent quarters," and (4) comments from San Francisco Fed President Williams who said a period of high inflation is "very unlikely" because rising commodity prices spurred by global demand aren?t likely to keep climbing. A bearish factor was the comments from Minneapolis Fed President Kocherlakota who said it would be "desirable" to raise interest rates this year and that he would support a 50 bp increase in the Fed funds rate.
  • The dollar index this morning is little changed with the dollar/yen +0.17 yen and the euro/dollar -0.18 cents. The dollar index yesterday rebounded to a 1-week high after the euro tumbled when ECB President Trichet signaled the ECB may wait until after June to raise interest rates again: Dollar Index +1.163, USDJPY -0.443, EURUSD -0.03038. Bullish factors included (1) comments from ECB President Trichet, which were less hawkish than the markets were expecting, when he refrained from using the phrase "strong vigilance" against inflation, which signals the ECB may wait until after its June meeting to raise interest rates further, (2) the unexpected drop in Mar German factory orders, which is euro negative, and (3) the drop in the British pound to a 2-week low against the dollar after Apr UK PMI services fell more than expected to a 4-month low. Bearish factors included (1) the unexpected increase in weekly US jobless claims to an 8-1/2 month high, which signals economic weakness and may prompt the Fed to maintain its overly easy monetary policy, and (2) strength in the yen which rallied to a 1-1/2 month high against the dollar after Japanese Finance Minister Noda said the recent rally in the yen is due to dollar weakness, which signals the BOJ may refrain from further currency intervention to weaken the yen.
  • June crude oil prices this morning are trading down -$2.00 a barrel at a 2-1/4 month low and June gasoline is -2.38 cents per gallon. Crude oil and gasoline prices yesterday sold-off sharply as the dollar rebounded and an unexpected increase in weekly jobless claims bolstered demand concerns: CLM11 -$9.44, RBM11 -11.71. Jun crude fell to a 1-1/2 month low and Jun gasoline dropped to a 1-month low. Bearish factors included (1) the rally in the dollar index to 1-week high, which prompted long liquidation of most commodities, (2) the unexpected increase in weekly US jobless claims to an 8-1/2 month high, which fuels concern that economic growth and fuel demand will decline, and (3) the unexpected drop in Mar German factory orders, which indicates weakened energy consumption.
Today's U.S. Earnings Reports Earnings reports (confirmed releases, sorted by mkt cap) BRK-Berkshire Hathaway (BEST earnings consensus $1,713.00), LINTA-Liberty Media Interactive (0.13), XEC-Cimarex Energy (1.57), UPL-Ultra Petroleum (0.58), CEG-Constellation Energy Group (0.97), LCAPA-Liberty Media Capital (-0.19), NU-Northeast Utilities (0.63), CHD-Church & Dwight (1.14), WCRX-Warner Chilcot PLC (0.83), NFG-National Fuel Gas (0.95), WTW-Weight Watchers (0.89), BPL-Buckeye Partners LP (0.81), CCO-Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings (-0.09), POM-Pepco Holdings (0.20), LSTZA-Liberty Media Starz (1.06), USM-United States Cellular (0.50).
Global Financial Calendar
Friday 5/6/11
United States
0730 ET Fed Vice Chairman Janet Yellen speaks on ?Finance and Economic Growth? at the Bank of Finland?s 200th Anniversary Conference in Helsinki.
0830 ET Apr nonfarm payrolls expected +185,000, Mar +216,000. Apr private payrolls (ex government and temporary census workers) expected +200,000, Mar +230,000. Apr unemployment rate expected unchanged at 8.8%, Mar ?0.1 to 8.8%. Apr manufacturing payrolls expected +20,000, Mar +17,000. Apr avg hourly earnings all employees expected +0.2% m/m and +1.8% y/y, Mar unchanged m/m and +1.7% y/y. Apr avg weekly hours all employees expected unchanged at 34.3 hours, Mar unchanged at 34.3 hours.
1000 ET New York Fed President William Dudley speaks at the New York Fed?s quarterly economic press briefing.
1145 ET St. Louis Fed President James Bullard speaks on the U.S. economy to Arkansas bankers at an event in Little Rock, AR.
1500 ET Mar consumer credit expected +$5.000 billion, Feb +$7.617 billion.
United Kingdom
0430 ET Apr UK PPI input prices expected +1.6% m/m and +16.4% y/y, Mar +3.7% m/m and +14.6% y/y.
0430 ET Apr UK PPI output prices expected +0.7% m/m and +5.1% y/y, Mar +0.9% m/m and +5.4% y/y.
0430 ET Apr UK PPI output core prices expected +0.3% m/m and +3.0% y/y, Mar +0.4% m/m and +3.0% y/y.
Germany
0600 ET Mar German industrial production expected +0.5% m/m +10.3% y/y, Feb +1.6% m/m and +14.8% y/y.
Canada
0700 ET Apr Canada net change in employment expected +20,000, Mar -1,500. Apr unemployment rate expected unchanged at 7.7%, Mar -0.1 to 7.7%.

Barchart.com provides Financial Quotes, Charts and Technical Analysis for Stock and Commodity Traders.

Electronic Arts -- ERTS -- Barchart Chart of the Day

Barchart.coms Chart of the Day - Electronic Arts (ERTS)
Related Stocks
 ERTS - Electronic Arts Inc.
Sym Last Chg Pct
ERTS 21.68 +1.76 +8.84%
The "Chart of the Day" is Electronic Arts (ERTS), which showed up on Thursday's list of stocks that had a new "Buy" signal from the Barchart "TrendSpotter" trading system. Electronic Arts on Thursday rallied by 8.84% to post a new 1-3/4 year high. Electronic Arts on Wednesday reported fiscal Q4 EPS of 25 cents versus the consensus of 22 cents. After that report, Piper Jaffray reiterated its Overweight rating and raised its target to $25 from $19.50. Electronic Arts, with a market cap of $6.7 billion, creates and sells entertainment software.

erts_700
How we found the Chart of the Day:
We found the "Chart of the Day" by scanning the Barchart "Trading Signals" page. That page provides a summary of changes in the Barchart signals. We then clicked on the TrendSpotter "Buy" category to obtain a list of all the stocks for which the Barchart TrendSpotter trading system has just turned to a buy. We then clicked on the "Today's Opinion" column header in order to sort the list with the strongest stocks on top. Further information is available at Barchart Signals Guide help page and at TrendSpotter help page.
Barchart's Opinion trading systems are all a Buy and Barchart's daily TrendSpotter trading system is a "Buy." Please note that the Barchart Opinion indicators are updated live during the session every 10 minutes and can therefore change during the day as the market fluctuates. The indicator numbers shown below therefore may not match what you see live on the Barchart.com web site when you read this report.
  • TrendSpotter: Buy
  • Short-Term Indicators: 100% Buy
  • Medium-Term Indicators: 100% Buy
  • Long-Term Indicators: 100% Buy
  • Overall Average 100% Buy


Barchart links for further information:

Quotes and Charts
Quote
Detailed Quote
Chart

Technical Analysis
Technicals Summary
Trader's Cheat Sheet™

Barchart Opinions
Barchart Opinion
Barchart Snapshot
Trading Strategies

Company Info
Company Profile
Key Statistics
Ratios
Income Statement-Quarterly
Income Statement-Annual
Balance Sheet-Current
Balance Sheet-Annual


Chart of the Day Archive
View Past Chart of the Day Reports

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Intel rebound after rumors

I was screening on Barchart for stocks hitting new highs and was surprised to see Intel (INTC) near the top of the list.  The company has been fighting the rumor mill, combating against rumors of problems with products, supply chain in Japan broken and that its Japanese production facilities were damaged.  All these problems were either over stated, false or fixed and the stock is starting to recover even in a down market environment.


Intel Corporation (INTC) is one of the world's largest semiconductor chip maker. The Company develops advanced integrated digital technology products, primarily integrated circuits, for industries such as computing and communications. It also develops platforms, which it defines as integrated suites of digital computing technologies that are designed and configured to work together to provide an optimized user computing solution compared to components that are used separately. Intel designs and manufactures computing and communications components, such as microprocessors, chipsets, motherboards, and wireless and wired connectivity products, as well as platforms that incorporate these components. The Company sells its products primarily to original equipment manufacturers, original design manufacturers, PC and network communications products users, and other manufacturers of industrial and communications equipment. Intel Corporation is based in Santa Clara, California.

Factors to consider:

Technical Factor:
  • 80% Barchart technical buy signal
  • Trend Spotter buy signal
  • Above it's 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
  • 14 new highs and up 20.43% in the last month
  • Relative Strength Index 79.22% and climbing
  • Trades around 23.48 with a 50 day moving average of 20.76
Fundamental Factors:
  • A Wall Street tech core holding
  • Brokerage analysts have published 15 strong buy, 14 buy, 20 hold and only 3 negative recommendations
  • Sales are expected to increase by 20.10% this year and another 5.60% next year
  • Earnings ore projected to increase by 11.70% this year, 4.80% next year and 11.76% annually for at least the next 5 years
General Investor Sentiment:
  • One of the most widely followed stocks on Motley Fool with 10,568 readers expressing an opinion
  • CAPS members vote 8,078 to 568 that the stock will beat the market
  • The more experienced All Stars agree with a vote of 1,945 to 67
Summary:  In spite of a weak market, Intel keeps climbing based on projections of increase sales and earnings.  It is a darling of both the professional and individual investors.  Either buy or add to your watch lists,

Jim Van Meerten is an analyst for  Marketocracy Capital Management.  He shares his knowledge and experience from over 40 years of investing in stocks, mutual funds and ETFs on  Barchart.com  in his daily blog -- Barchart Portfolio Blogs.

Copart - One man's junk is another man's treasure

While I was screening on Barchart for stocks having great growth potential and also have current price momentum I can across Copart (CPRT) a company that acts as an agent to dispose of cars and other vehicles.  Since they mostly act as an agent they aren't a capital intensive company.  The price momentum is what got my attention.

Copart, Inc. (CPRT) provides vehicle suppliers, primarily insurance companies, with a full range of services to process and sell salvage vehicles through auctions, principally to licensed dismantlers, rebuilders and used vehicle dealers. Salvage vehicles are either damaged vehicles deemed a total loss for insurance or business purposes or are recovered stolen vehicles for which an insurance settlement with the vehicle owner has already been made.

Factors to Consider:

Technical Factors:
  • 96% Barchart technical buy signal
  • Trend Spotter buy signal
  • Trading above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving average
  • 7 new highs and up 3.29% in the last month
  • Relative Strength Index 69.58% and rising
  • Trading around 45.46 with a 50 day moving average of 42.73
Fundamental Factors:
  • Wall Street brokerage analysts have issued 4 strong buy, 3 buy and 3 hold recommendations for their clients
  • Sales are projected to increase by 12.30% this year and another 3.70% next year
  • Earnings are forecasted to increase by 21.10% this year, 18.30% next year and 14.32% annually for the next 5 years
General Investor Sentiment:
  • On Motley Fool over 1,970 readers have an opinion on this stock
  • CAPS members vote 1,382 to 37 that the stock will beat the market
  • The more experienced All Stars agree with a 543 to 8 vote
Summary:  The company is widely and positively followed by both professional and individual investors because of a consensus of growth in both sales and earnings.  Green companies are in so a capital intensive recycler should be on your watch lists.

Jim Van Meerten is an analyst for  Marketocracy Capital Management.  He shares his knowledge and experience from over 40 years of investing in stocks, mutual funds and ETFs on  Barchart.com  in his daily blog -- Barchart Portfolio Blogs.

Barchart Morning Call 5/5

Barchart Morning Call
Overnight Developments
  • Global stocks are mostly lower with the European Euro Stoxx 50 down -0.85% and June S&Ps down -4.50 points. Treasuries are firmer and the dollar is little changed, while commodities are weaker with crude oil sliding to a 2-week low. Mar German factory orders unexpectedly declined -4.0% m/m, the biggest monthly fall in 2 years, which undercut European stocks and sent copper tumbling to a 5-month low. The BOE as expected maintained its benchmark interest rate at 0.50% and kept its asset purchase plan at 200 billion pounds. The market now awaits in earnest the ECB meeting later today and comments from ECB President Trichet into just how fast he's prepared to raise interest rates over the coming months. A sell-off in bank stocks is leading European shares lower with Lloyds Banking Group Plc plunging 8.2% after Britain's largest mortgage lender reported a Q1 loss after setting aside 3.2 billion pounds ($5.3 billion) to compensate clients mis-sold insurance on loans, while Societe Generale lost 3.7% after reporting Q1 net income of 916 million euros, below analysts' estimates of 1.06 billion euros.
  • The Asian stock markets today closed mixed with Japan closed for holiday, Hong Kong -0.23%, China -0.09%, Taiwan +0.80%, Australia +0.29%, Singapore -0.13%, South Korea closed for holiday, India -1.40%. Asian stocks were undercut after lower-than-expected growth in US service industries and jobs sparked concern the US economy is weakening. March Australia retail sales unexpectedly fell -0.5% m/m, its first drop in 5 months, and weaker than expectations for a +0.5% m/m increase. The Japanese yen strengthened to less than 80 yen per dollar for the first time in 1-1/2 months, which increases the chances of further intervention in currency markets by Japanese and or G-7 central banks to stem the yen's strength.
Overnight U.S. Stock News
  • June S&Ps this morning are trading down -4.50 points. The US stock market yesterday settled lower as weaker-than-expected economic data dampened optimism about the health of the economy: Dow Jones -0.66%, S&P 500 -0.69%, Nasdaq Composite -0.47%. The S&P 500 fell to a 1-week low and the Nasdaq posted a 1-1/2 week low. Bearish factors included (1) the smaller-than-expected increase in the Apr ADP employment change (+179,000 versus expectations of +195,000), (2) the unexpected decline in the Apr ISM non-manufacturing index which matched its lowest level in 14 months (-4.5 to 52.8 versus expectations of +0.2 to 57.5), and (3) weakness in energy and raw-material producers after crude and metals prices plunged.
  • Bullish factors for stocks included (1) reduced European sovereign-debt concerns after Portugal's government announced an agreement on a 78 billion-euro ($116 billion) 3-year loan package, (2) increased M&A activity after ConAgra said it offered to buy Ralcorp Holdings and Applied Materials offered to buy Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, and (3) the drop in the 10-year T-note yield to a 1-1/2 month low of 3.206%.
  • Con-Way (CNW) gained 3.2% in European trading after the trucking company reported Q1 net income of 12 cents a share, better than analysts' estimates of 4 cents.
  • Whole Foods (WFMI) rose 4.3% in European trading after the company boosted its full-year earnings projection to $1.90 a share in 2011 from an earlier estimate of $1.80 a share.
  • Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) fell 1.4% in pre-market trading after copper prices tumbled to a 5-month low.
Today's Market Focus
  • June 10-year T-notes this morning are up +4 ticks. T-note prices yesterday rallied to a 1-1/2 month high on weaker-than-expected economic data along with dovish Fed speak: TYM11 +6.5, FVM11 +1.5, EDU11 +1.0. The 10-year T-note yield fell to a 1-1/2 month low of 3.206%. Bullish factors included (1) the smaller-than-expected increase in the Apr ADP employment change (+179,000 versus expectations of +195,000), (2) the unexpected decline in the Apr ISM non-manufacturing index which matched its lowest level in 14 months (-4.5 to 52.8 versus expectations of +0.2 to 57.5), and (3) dovish comments from Boston Fed President Rosengren who said "with significant slack in labor markets, stable inflation expectations, and core inflation well below our longer run target, there is currently no reason to slow the economy down with tighter monetary policy." Bearish factors included (1) supply pressures ahead of the Treasury's auctions of $72 billion in T-notes and T-bonds in next week's quarterly refunding, and (2) the prediction from Principal Global Investors that "the economy is on a sustainable recovery" and the yield on the 10-year T-note will climb to 3.75% by year-end.
  • The dollar index this morning is weaker with the dollar/yen -0.80 yen and the euro/dollar +0.04 cents. The dollar index yesterday sank to a 2-3/4 year low on weak US economic data along with strength in the euro which rallied to a 17-month high against the dollar on speculation ECB President Trichet will signal further rate increases when he speaks on Thursday: Dollar Index -0.109, USDJPY -0.311, EURUSD +0.00017. Bearish factors included (1) weaker-than-expected US economic data on Apr ISM non-manufacturing and Apr ADP employment, which may prompt the Fed to keep interest rates at record lows and further weaken the dollar's interest rate differentials, (2) speculation that ECB President Trichet will signal further interest rate increases when he speaks at Thursday's monthly press conference, and (3) dollar negative comments from Boston Fed President Rosengren who said he sees "no reason" to raise interest rates amid higher oil prices. Bullish factors included (1) increased safe-haven demand for the dollar after the equity market tumbled, and (2) the weaker-than-expected Mar Euro-Zone retail sales, which is euro negative.
  • June crude oil prices this morning are trading down -$2.40 a barrel at a 2-week low and June gasoline is -6.25 cents per gallon. Crude oil and gasoline prices yesterday retreated after US crude inventories climbed to a 6-month high and weaker-than-expected economic data raised demand concerns: CLM11 -$1.81, RBM11 -0.69. Jun crude fell to a 2-week low and Jun gasoline posted a 1-week low. Bearish factors included (1) weaker-than- expected US economic data on Apr ISM non-manufacturing and Apr ADP employment, which raises concern a slowdown in economic growth will also curb energy demand, (2) the larger-than-expected increase in weekly crude inventories which climbed to a 6-month high (+3.42 million bbl to 366.5 million bbl versus expectations of +1.9 million bbl), and (3) weakened fuel demand after US gasoline demand in the week ended Apr 29 fell -2.2% w/w to 8.94 million barrels a day. Bullish factors included (1) the fall in the dollar index to a 2-3/4 year low, which boosts investment demand in commodities, (2) the larger-than-expected decline in weekly gasoline inventories which fell to a 1-3/4 year low (-1.05 million bbl to 204.5 million bbl versus expectations of -500,000 bbl), and (3) the unexpected decline in weekly distillate inventories (-1.40 million bbl versus expectations of a +500,000 bbl increase).
Today's U.S. Earnings Reports Earnings reports (confirmed releases, sorted by mkt cap) KFT-Kraft Foods (BEST earnings consensus $0.47), V-Visa (1.20), AIG-American International Group (0.12), GM-General Motors (0.91), CVS-CVS Caremark (0.55), DTV-DirecTV (0.71), EOG-EOG Resources (0.55), PCLN-Priceline.com (2.46), CTL-CenturyLink (0.70), PSA-Public Storage (0.77), EL-Estee Lauder (0.57), WMB-Williams Companies (0.36), PEG-Public Service Enterprise Group (0.76), PPL-PPL Corp. (0.72), ED-Consolidated Edison (1.01), EP-El Paso (0.28), CI-CIGNA (1.09), FLR-Fluor (0.76).
Global Financial Calendar
Thursday 5/5/11
United States
0830 ET Weekly initial unemployment claims expected -19,000 to 410,000, previous +25,000 to 429,000. Weekly continuing claims expected +9,000 to 3.650 million, previous 68,000 to 3.641 million.
0830 ET Q1 U.S. nonfarm productivity expected +1.1% Q4 +2.6%. Q1 unit labor costs expected +0.8%, Q4 ?0.6%.
0830 ET USDA weekly export sales.
0915 ET Chicago Fed President Charles Evans delivers welcoming remarks at the Chicago Fed?s conference on Bank Structure and Competition.
0930 ET Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke speaks at the Chicago Fed?s conference on Bank Structure and Competition.
1030 ET Apr ICSC chain store sales, Mar +2.0% y/y.
1315 ET Minneapolis Fed President Narayana Kocherlakota delivers a speech on ?Some Contingency Planning for Monetary Policy? to the Santa Barbara Economic Summit.
1630 ET Weekly money supply report and Fed balance sheet.
United Kingdom
0430 ET Apr UK PMI services expected -1.1 to 56,0, Mar +4.5 to 57.1.
0700 ET BOE announces interest rate decision and asset purchase target (expected no change to the 0.50% benchmark rate or to the 200 billion pound asset purchase target).
Germany
0600 ET Mar German factory orders expected +0.4% m/m and +15.4% y/y, Feb +2.4% m/m and +20.1% y/y.
Euro-Zone
0745 ET ECB announces interest rate decision (expected no change to the 1.25% 2-week refinancing rate).
0830 ET ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet speaks at monthly press conference.
Canada
0830 ET Mar Canada building permits expected -2.2% m/m, Feb +9.9% m/m.
1000 ET Apr Ivey purchasing managers index expected -7.2 to 66.0, Mar +3.9 to 73.2.
Japan
n/a Japanese markets closed for Children?s Day.

Barchart.com provides Financial Quotes, Charts and Technical Analysis for Stock and Commodity Traders.

JC Penny -JCP - Barchart Chart of the Day

Barchart.com's Chart of the Day - JC Penney (JCP)
Related Stocks
 JCP - J.C. Penney Company Inc. Holding Company
Sym Last Chg Pct
JCP 39.42 +0.79 +2.05%
The "Chart of the Day" is JC Penney (JCP), which showed up on Wednesday's Barchart "12-Month High" list. JC Penney on Wednesday rallied by 2.05% and posted a new 2-2/3 year high of $39.73. TrendSpotter has been long JC Penney since Feb 7 at $33.21. In recent news on the stock, JC Penney reported on May 2 that it completed a $1.25 billion credit facility. On April 6, there were reports that the company was trading higher on takeover chatter. JC Penney, with a market cap of $8.8 billion, is one of America's leading retailers, operating department stores throughout the United States and Puerto Rico, as well as one of the largest apparel and home furnishing sites on the Internet, jcp.com, and the nation's largest general merchandise catalog business.

jcp_700_01
How we found the Chart of the Day:
We found the "Chart of the Day" by scanning the Barchart "New Highs/Lows" page. Then we clicked on the entry for NYSE 12-month highs. A new 12-month high is a popular sign of upside momentum. Then we applied a "Custom View" heading with the Barchart Opinion ranking as one of the columns. we then sorted the list by the Barchart Opinion ranking in order to find the stocks with the highest Opinion.
Barchart's Opinion trading systems are all a Buy and Barchart's daily TrendSpotter trading system is a "Buy." Please note that the Barchart Opinion indicators are updated live during the session every 10 minutes and can therefore change during the day as the market fluctuates. The indicator numbers shown below therefore may not match what you see live on the Barchart.com web site when you read this report.
  • TrendSpotter: Buy
  • Short-Term Indicators: 100% Buy
  • Medium-Term Indicators: 100% Buy
  • Long-Term Indicators: 100% Buy
  • Overall Average 100% Buy


Wednesday, May 4, 2011

ABB Ltd helps in energy conservation

The US needs help in the area of energy conservation.  I recently heard a news story that revealed that only 35% of the electrical energy produced in the US actually gets consumed.  The rest is wasted in "leakage".  Germany consumes almost 85% of the energy they produce and Japan's usage is in the 90%+ range.
The Swiss company ABB Ltd (ABB) came up on my screening on Barchart for stocks hitting frequent new highs.


ABB Ltd (ABB), headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, is engaged in providing power and automation technologies for its utility and industrial customers. The Company provides a range of products, systems, solutions and services that are designed to improve power grid reliability, increase industrial productivity and enhance energy efficiency. ABB is focused on power transmission, distribution and power-plant automation and serves electric, gas and water utilities, as well as industrial and commercial customers. Its Power Products division manufactures three categories of products: High-voltage Products, Medium-voltage Products and Transformers. The key technologies include high- and medium-voltage switchgear, circuit breakers for various current and voltage levels, power and distribution transformers, as well as sensors and products to automate and control electrical and other utility networks. ABB Ltd is structured into four regions: Europe, the Americas, Asia and the Middle East and Africa.

Factors to Consider:

Technical Factors:
  • 96% Barchart technical buy signal
  • Trend Spotter buy signal
  • Trading above it's 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
  • 11 new highs and up 10.93% in the last month
  • Relative Strength Index is 71.11% and rising
  • Trades around 26.98 with a 50 day moving average of 23.81
Fundamental Factors:
  • Wall Street brokerage analysts have released 4 strong buy and 2 hold recommendations to their clients
  • Sales are projected to increase by 17.20% this year and another 11.10% next year
  • Earnings are estimated to increase by 22.40% this year, 23.50% next year and 9.60% annually for the next 5 years
General Investor Sentiment:
  • This Swiss based company has a surprising following on Motley Fool with almost 2,200 readers voting opinions
  • CAPS members vote 1,701 to 43 that the stock will beat the market
  • The more experienced All Stars vote 443 to 6 for the same result
If you think that the better plan is to more efficiently utilize the power we produce than to just purchase more of it then this stock should do well.  I guess it would classify as a green company too.

Jim Van Meerten is an analyst for  Marketocracy Capital Management.  He shares his knowledge and experience from over 40 years of investing in stocks, mutual funds and ETFs on  Barchart.com  in his daily blog -- Barchart Portfolio Blogs.



General Electric keeps on marching

I decided to look at some of the most widely held stocks to see how they're doing. General Electric (GE) is always at the top of that list.  The key to success at GE is that it is so big and in so many sectors that it's revenue almost mirrors the whole economy in general.  Where it shines is that most of its divisions seem to me managed better than most of their competitors, which equates to the bottom line.  The price has enjoyed momentum on Barchart as the economy recovers. The leading divisions are expected to be in consumer products, lending and leasing and of course, the aviation division.

General Electric (GE) is one of the largest and most diversified industrial corporations in the world. GE is engaged in developing, manufacturing and marketing a wide variety of products for the generation, transmission, distribution, control and utilization of electricity. Some of GE's products include major appliances; lighting products; industrial automation products; medical diagnostic imaging equipment; motors; electrical distribution and control equipment; locomotives; power generation and delivery products.

Technical Factors:
  • 56% Barchart technical buy signals
  • Trend Spotter buy signal
  • Trading above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
  • Relative Strength Index is 52.86%
  • Trades around 20.29 which is above its 50 day moving average of 20.15
Fundamental Factors:
  • This is a Wall Street sweetheart and a core holding at most firms
  • Brokerage analysts have published 3 strong buy, 9 buy and 6 hold recommendations
  • Sales project are slightly under being flat with sales projections for this year to be down 4.50% and still down by another .20% next year
  • Earnings are where great management shows its head
  • Earnings are estimated to increase by 16.50% this year, another 23.10% next year and continue increasing by 16.64% annually for the next 5 years
  • I love 5 year double digit increased earnings projections.
General Investor Sentiment:
  • To say it is a widely followed stock is an understatement with over 19,238 investors voting opinions on Motley Fool
  • CAPS members vote 14,911 to 1,032 that the stock will beat the market
  • The All Stars are more experienced but agree 3,171 to 124
Summary:  It's hard for any company this large to have growth in sales that beat the growth in the GDP but they should be able to attract a management staff that is at least slightly above average.  As the economy recovers a good management team should how to milk the assets for earnings.

Jim Van Meerten is an analyst for  Marketocracy Capital Management.  He shares his knowledge and experience from over 40 years of investing in stocks, mutual funds and ETFs on  Barchart.com  in his daily blog -- Barchart Portfolio Blogs.

General Mills is catching up

A stock that has been lagging the market but seems to finally be catching up is General Mills (GIS).  It came to my notice while screening on Barchart for stocks hitting the most frequent new highs in the last month.  All though cereal sales have been down recently a new pricing scheme by all the cereal makers is expected to fall to the bottom line.  GIS has been having difficulty with a distribution agreement for Yoplait but it look like the dispute is about to be settled with a purchase of the company.


General Mills, Inc. (GIS) is one of the leading producers of packaged consumer foods and markets its products primarily through its own sales organizations, supported by advertising and other promotional activities. Such products are primarily distributed directly to retail food chains, cooperatives, membership stores and wholesalers.

Technical Factors:
  • 96% Barchart technical buy signal
  • Trend Spotter buy signal
  • 17 new highs and up 8.79% in the last month
  • Relative Strength Index 79.30% and rising
  • Trades around 39.28 with a 50 day moving average of 36.89
Fundamental Factors:
  • A widely followed stock on Wall Street with over 20 report issued
  • Brokerage analysts have released 5 strong buy, 11 buy, 5 hold and no negative recommendations on this stock
  • Sales consensus is an increase of .9% this year and 3.80% next year
  • Earnings are projected to increase by 7.80% this year, 8.10% next year and continue increasing by 7.57 annually for the next 5 years
General Investor Sentiment:
  • Very popular stock as measured on Motley Fool with over 1,358 readers expressing opinions
  • CAPS members vote 985 to 59 that the stock will beat the market
  • The more experienced All Stars agree with a vote of 300 to 14
Summary:  General Mills (GIS) is a household name with competitively priced products, proven business skills and has price momentum.  Popular with both Wall Street and the investing public it deserves a place on your watch lists

Jim Van Meerten is an analyst for  Marketocracy Capital Management.  He shares his knowledge and experience from over 40 years of investing in stocks, mutual funds and ETFs on  Barchart.com  in his daily blog -- Barchart Portfolio Blogs.


Barchart MOrning Call 5/4

Barchart Morning Call
Overnight Developments
  • Global stocks are mostly lower with the European Euro Stoxx 50 down -0.54% and June S&Ps down -1.70 points. Treasuries are mixed while the dollar and commodities are weaker, as copper fell to a 3-week low on concerns China may further tighten its monetary policy. The euro rose against the dollar when Portugal's government announced an agreement on a 78 billion-euro ($116 billion) 3-year loan package. The yield on the 10-year Portuguese bond fell 18 bp and the difference in yield versus bunds narrowed to 610 bp, the least since April 21. Portugal last month became the third Euro-Zone country to request EU aid after Greece and Ireland. European stocks were undercut after Mar Euro-Zone retail sales fell -1.0% m/m, more than expectations of a -0.1% m/m fall and the biggest drop in 11 months.
  • The Asian stock markets today closed mostly lower with Japan closed for holiday, Hong Kong down -1.35%, China -2.56%, Taiwan +0.01%, Australia -0.93%, Singapore -1.26%, South Korea -1.09%, India -0.35%. China's Shanghai Stock Index tumbled to a 1-1/2 month low on concern that further interest rate hikes may cut profits and growth when the PBOC said in its Q1 monetary policy report that stabilizing prices and managing inflation expectations are "critical," and that the economy faces "increasing pressure from imported inflation." The China Securities Journal said the PBOC may boost banks' reserve requirements this month, while the Shanghai Securities News said that government officials may expand controls on the property market to more cities. Most Asia-Pacific stock markets closed lower, led by declines in raw-material and energy producers, as metals and crude oil fell.
Overnight U.S. Stock News
  • June S&Ps this morning are trading down -1.70 points. The US stock market yesterday settled lower on profit taking along with weakness in retailers and energy and raw-material producers: Dow Jones 0.00%, S&P 500 -0.34%, Nasdaq Composite -0.78%. Bearish factors included (1) profit-taking after the S&P 500 had climbed to a 2-3/4 year high and was up over 8% this year through Monday, (2) weakness in retailers after Sears Holdings slumped when it reported declines in sales of apparel, appliances and consumer electronics, and (3) the drop in energy and raw-material producers after crude oil and gold retreated.
  • Bullish factors for stocks included (1) the larger-than-expected increase in Mar factory orders along with the unexpected upward revision to Feb (Mar +3.0% versus expectations of +2.0% and Feb revised up to +0.7% from the originally reported -0.1%), and (2) reduced interest rate concerns as the yield on the 10-year T-note fell to a 1-1/2 month low of 3.246%.
  • Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR) surged 17% in European trading after the company raised its full-year profit forecast to as much as $1.50 a share, exceeding analysts' estimates of $1.23.
  • Las Vegas Sands (LVS) tumbled 8.9% in pre-market trading after the company late yesterday reported Q1 adjusted profit of 37 cents a share, below analysts' estimates of 44 cents a share.
Today's Market Focus
  • June 10-year T-notes this morning are down -2.5 ticks. T-note prices yesterday finished higher after the stock market fell and after the Fed bought Treasuries for its asset-purchase program: TYM11 +6.5, FVM11 +3.2, EDU11 +0.5. The 10-year T-note yield fell to a 1-1/2 month low of 3.246%. Bullish factors included (1) increased safe-haven demand for Treasuries as the stock market weakened, and (2) the Fed's action to purchase $7.678 billion of Treasuries as part of its QE2 asset-purchase program. Bearish factors included (1) the larger-than-expected increase in Mar factory orders along with the unexpected upward revision to Feb (Mar +3.0% versus expectations of +2.0% and Feb revised up to +0.7% from the originally reported -0.1%), and (2) hawkish comments from Kansas City Fed President Hoenig who said there is a "pretty high" likelihood that the US economy will keep expanding after growth in Q1 was weaker than expected and that the Fed should begin withdrawing its monetary stimulus as part of efforts to "calm" concerns about inflation in the US.
  • The dollar index this morning is lower with the dollar/yen +0.22 yen and the euro/dollar +0.32 cents. The dollar index yesterday settled slightly higher after Mar US factory orders rose more than expected: Dollar Index +0.189, USDJPY -0.296, EURUSD -0.00044. Bullish factors included (1) the larger-than-expected increase in Mar US factory orders and the unexpected upward revision to Feb factory orders, which signals economic strength and is dollar supportive, and (2) comments from Kansas City Fed President Hoenig who said there is a "pretty high" likelihood that the US economy will keep expanding after growth in Q1 was weaker than expected and that the Fed should begin withdrawing its monetary stimulus as part of efforts to "calm" concerns about inflation in the US. Bearish factors included (1) strength in the euro after Mar Euro-Zone producer prices accelerated more than expected to their fastest pace in 2-1/2 years, which bolsters the outlook for further ECB interest rate hikes, and (2) the prediction from Credit Suisse Group AG that the dollar will weaken to $1.50 per euro in the next 12 months on interest rate differentials and low volatility.
  • June crude oil prices this morning are trading down -36 cents a barrel and June gasoline is -1.20 cents per gallon. Crude oil and gasoline prices yesterday closed lower on long liquidation due to equity market weakness and expectations of increased supply when the weekly DOE inventory figures are released on Wed: CLM11 -$2.47, RBM11 -1.85. Bearish factors included (1) long liquidation prompted by weakness in the stock market which reduces confidence in the economic outlook and energy demand, (2) the slump in UK manufacturing activity in Apr to its lowest level in 7 months, which indicates reduced energy demand and consumption, and (3) the outlook for increased crude supplies when the DOE releases its weekly inventory numbers on Wed. Bullish factors included (1) hedge fund buying of crude after the NYMEX reported that open interest in crude oil futures traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose to a record 1.63 million contracts on Monday, and (2) the stronger than expected Mar US factory orders and the upward revision to Feb factory orders, which signals strength in fuel consumption. Expectations for Wednesday's weekly inventories from the DOE are for crude supplies to rise +1.9 million bbl, gasoline stockpiles to remain unchanged, distillate inventories to gain +500,000 bbl and the refinery utilization rate to rise +0.5 to 83.2%.
Today's U.S. Earnings Reports Earnings reports (confirmed releases, sorted by mkt cap) MET-MetLife (BEST earnings consensus $1.26), NWSA-News Corp. (0.27), TWX-Time Warner (0.56), DVN-Devon Energy (1.31), PRU-Prudential Financial (1.47), AGN-Allergan (0.74), RIG-Transocean Ltd. (0.78), ACE-ACE Ltd. (0.63), K-Kellogg (1.04), HCA-HCA Holdings (0.75), MMC-Marsh & McLennan (0.56), WPZ-Williams Partners LP (0.89), MUR-Murphy Oil (0.98), KKR-KKR & Co. LP (0.56), CLR-Continental Resources (0.54), ETP-Energy Transfer Partners LP (1.06), EXPD-Expeditors International (0.37).
Global Financial Calendar
Wednesday 5/4/11
United States
0700 ET Weekly MBA mortgage applications, last market index -5.6% with purchase mortgage sub-index -13.6% and refinancing sub-index -0.6%..
0730 ET Apr Challenger job cuts, Mar -38.6% y/y.
0800 ET Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren speaks at a real estate conference in Boston.
0815 ET Apr ADP employment change expected +195,000, Mar +201,000.
0900 ET Treasury announces amounts of 3-year T-notes (previous $32 billion), 10-year T-notes (previous $21 billion) and 30-year T-bonds (previous $13 billion to be auctioned at the May quarterly refunding May 10-12.
1000 ET Apr ISM non-manufacturing index expected +0.2 to 57.5, Mar ?2.4 to 57.3.
1530 ET San Francisco Fed President Jon Williams delivers his first policy speech as Fed President when he speaks on the topic ?Maintaining Price Stability in a Global Economy? to a Town Hall meeting in Los Angeles.
1600 ET Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher speaks on the economy at New Mexico State University.
1900 ET Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart speaks at the National Funding Association?s annual conference in Atlanta, GA.
United Kingdom
0200 ET Apr UK nationwide house prices expected +0.1% m/m and -0.7% y/y, Mar +0.5% m/m and +0.1% y/y.
0430 ET Apr UK PMI construction expected -0.5 to 55.9, Mar -0.1 to 56.4.
0430 ET Mar UK net consumer credit expected +0.6 billion pounds, Feb +0.8 billion pounds.
0430 ET Mar UK mortgage approvals expected +48,000, Feb +47,000.
0430 ET Mar UK M4 money supply, Feb -0.3% m/m and -1.5% y/y.
France
0245 ET
0315 ET Revised Apr French PMI services expected no change at 63.4.
Germany
0355 ET Revised Apr PMI services expected no change at 57.7.
Euro-Zone
0400 ET Revised Apr Euro-Zone PMI composite expected no change at 57.8.
0500 ET Mar Euro-Zone retail sales expected -0.1% m/m and unchanged y/y, Feb -0.1% m/m and +0.3% y/y.
Japan
n/a Japanese markets closed for Greenery Day.

Barchart.com provides Financial Quotes, Charts and Technical Analysis for Stock and Commodity Traders.

Dominion Resources -D- Barchart Chart of the Day

Barchart.coms Chart of the Day - Dominion Resources (D)
Related Stocks
 D - Dominion Resources
Sym Last Chg Pct
D 46.73 +0.19 +0.41%
The "Chart of the Day" is Dominion Resources (D), which showed up on Tuesday's Barchart "All Time High" list. Dominion Resources on Tuesday rallied by 0.41% and posted a new all-time high of $47.43. TrendSpotter has been long on DTE since April 27 at $46.06. In recent news on the stock, Dominion last Thursday reported Q1 adjusted EPS of 93 cents, better than the consensus of 91 cents. Dominion Resources, with a market cap of $27 billion, is an integrated utility operating in the northeast U.S. and is also one of the largest independent oil and natural gas exploration and production companies in North America.

d_700
How we found the Chart of the Day:
We found the "Chart of the Day" by scanning the Barchart "All Time High" list. In order to get to that list, we first clicked on the Stocks menu item on the Barchart home page, then on the "All Time Highs" menu item on the left menu bar. We then sorted the list by percentage gainers by clicking on the "Percent" column title. A stock that has posted a new All-Time high is typically showing strong upside momentum.
Barchart's Opinion trading systems are mostly a Buy and Barchart's daily TrendSpotter trading system is a "Buy." Please note that the Barchart Opinion indicators are updated live during the session every 10 minutes and can therefore change during the day as the market fluctuates. The indicator numbers shown below therefore may not match what you see live on the Barchart.com web site when you read this report.
  • TrendSpotter: Buy
  • Short-Term Indicators: 80% Buy
  • Medium-Term Indicators: 100% Buy
  • Long-Term Indicators: 100% Buy
  • Overall Average 96% Buy


Barchart links for further information:

Quotes and Charts
Quote
Detailed Quote
Chart

Technical Analysis
Technicals Summary
Trader's Cheat Sheet™

Barchart Opinions
Barchart Opinion
Barchart Snapshot
Trading Strategies

Company Info
Company Profile
Key Statistics
Ratios
Income Statement-Quarterly
Income Statement-Annual
Balance Sheet-Current
Balance Sheet-Annual


Chart of the Day Archive
View Past Chart of the Day Reports

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

PC Mall - MALL -deleted

This afternoon on Barchart I detected sell signals on P C Mall (MALL) and deleted it from the Barchart Van Meerten Speculative portfolio.


Technical signals:
  • 100% Barchart short term technical sell signals
  • Trend Spotter sell signals
  • Trading below its 20 and 50 day moving averages
  • 16.12% off its recent high
  • Relative Strength Index 38.75% and falling
Jim Van Meerten is an analyst for  Marketocracy Capital Management.  He shares his knowledge and experience from over 40 years of investing in stocks, mutual funds and ETFs on  Barchart.com  in his daily blog -- Barchart Portfolio Blogs.

Brigham Exploration -- BEXP -- sell signals

This afternoon I detected the following signals on Barchart for Brigham Exploration (BEXP) and deleted it from the Barchart Van Meerten New High portfolio.

  • 100% Barchart short term technical sell signals
  • Trend Spotter sell signals
  • Trading below its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
  • 18.43% off its recent high
  • Relative Strength Index 35.50% and falling
Jim Van Meerten is an analyst for  Marketocracy Capital Management.  He shares his knowledge and experience from over 40 years of investing in stocks, mutual funds and ETFs on  Barchart.com  in his daily blog -- Barchart Portfolio Blogs.

Oracle make money the old fashion way

When I look for investments in the tech sector my Barchart screener often turns up Oracle (ORCL).  Oracle seems to make money not by being an innovator but by implementing sound business practices and smart acquisitions that round out their offerings to customers.  Money the old fashion way, they earn it.  The stock's recent price momentum is what got my attention.


Oracle Corporation (ORCL) is one of the world's leading suppliers of software for information management. The company develops, manufactures, markets and distributes computer software that helps corporations manage and grow their businesses. The company's software products can be categorized intotwo broad areas: Systems software and Internet business applications software.

Technical Factors:
  • 100% Barchart technical buy signals
  • Trend Spotter buy signal
  • 9 new highs and up 6.80% in the last month
  • Relative Strength Index 74.37% and climbing
  • Trades around 36.24 with a 50 day moving average of 33.08
Fundamental Factors:
  • As I mentioned before they don't seem to dazzle us with innovation but Wall Street analysts like their numbers
  • Brokerages have released 15 strong buy, 19 buy, 8 hold and only 1 negative recommendation to their clients
  • Projections for an increase in sales of 32.20% this year and another 8.70% next year fuel their reports
  • Earnings consensuses are terrific with an increase of 29.90% expected this year followed by another 10.10% next year.  They show confidence in management with a 5 year earnings growth projection of 15.18% annually
  • BMO Capital initiated their coverage of this issue with an over perform recommendation on 3/11/2011
General Investor Sentiment:
  • Widely followed on Motley Fool with over 4,173 readers giving an opinion
  • CAPS members vote 3,143 to 200 that the stock will out perform the market
  • The experienced All Stars agree with both the CAPS members and BMO with a vote of 804 to 26
If you need a tech stock that makes its numbers then Oracle should be on your watch lists.

Jim Van Meerten is an analyst for  Marketocracy Capital Management.  He shares his knowledge and experience from over 40 years of investing in stocks, mutual funds and ETFs on  Barchart.com  in his daily blog -- Barchart Portfolio Blogs.

Gold is still rising

Lately, when I screen on Barchart for ETF's hitting new highs the Comex Gold Trust (IAU) always seems to be on the list.  It's gains recently have been impressive.


The iShares COMEX Gold Trust (IAU) seeks to correspond generally, to the day-to-day movement of the price of gold bullion. The objective of the trust is for the value of the iShares to reflect, at any given time, the price of gold owned by the trust at that time, less the trust's expenses and liabilities. The trust is not actively managed. It does not engage in any activities designed to obtain a profit from, or to ameliorate losses caused by, changes in the price of gold. The trust receives gold deposited with it in exchange for the creation of Baskets of iShares, sells gold as necessary to cover the trust expenses and other liabilities and delivers gold in exchange for Baskets of iShares surrendered to it for redemption.

Technical Factors:
  • 96% Barchart technical buy signal
  • Trend Spotter buy signal
  • 16 new highs and up 7.90% in the last month
  • Relative Strength Index 70.85% and rising
  • Trades around 15.06% with a 50 day moving average of 14.14
General Investor Sentiment:
  • Investing in commodities through ETFs is a popular way for the individual investor to participate
  • 776 readers on Motley Fool give opinions on this ETF
  • CAPS members vote 520 to 56 that the gold ETF will out perform the market
  • The experienced All Stars think the same with a vote of 184 to 16
Summary:  Normally I like to just look at stocks of operating companies that are having increases in sales and earnings.  Occasionally, an opportunity comes along when a commodity is having a price movement that exceeds the return I can get from stocks.  When I see that opportunity I use an absolute return strategy. Buy the ETF and place a stop loss at the 20 day moving average.  Don't be a day trader but play the trend for as long as it lasts.

Jim Van Meerten is an analyst for  Marketocracy Capital Management.  He shares his knowledge and experience from over 40 years of investing in stocks, mutual funds and ETFs on  Barchart.com  in his daily blog -- Barchart Portfolio Blogs.

Is Yahoo are turn-around stock?

I noticed Yahoo (YHOO) when I was screening on Barchart for S&P 500 stocks having positive price momentum.  It looks like this might be a turnaround candidate in every way. Competition is high in this sector and Yahoo has to go up against Google, AOL and MSN.  Hopefully there is enough of the pie to go around.


Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) is a global Internet communications, commerce and media company that offers a comprehensive branded network of services. As one of the first online navigational guides to the World Wide Web, Yahoo! is one of the leading guides in terms of traffic, advertising, and household and business user reach. The company also provides online business and enterprise services designed to enhance the productivity and Web presence of Yahoo!'s clients.

Technical Factors:
  • 100% Barchart technical buy signals
  • Trend Spotter buy signal
  • 8 new highs and up 7.72% in the last month
  • Relative Strength Index 69.53% and rising
  • Trades around 18.14 with a 50 day moving average of 16.94
Fundamental Factors:
  • Widely followed on Wall Street
  • Brokerage analysts have released 6 strong buy, 8 buy, 18 hold and 2 negative recommendations
  • Sales are expected to decrease by .9% this year but rebound by 6.20% next year
  • Earnings are projected to also decrease by 14.00% this year but rebound by increasing 18.20% next year and continue by increasing 13.12% annually for the next 5 years
General Investor Sentiment:
  • Interest in this stock is high as measured on Motley Fool with 5,901 readers expressing an opinion
  • CAPS members vote 3,928 to 994 that the stock will beat the market
  • The more experienced All Stars vote for the same result with a vote of 811 to 168
Summary:  The stock does have very stiff competition but analysts look for profits in the future.  Investor Sentiment is high and positive and the price current momentum shows investors are interested.

Jim Van Meerten is an analyst for  Marketocracy Capital Management.  He shares his knowledge and experience from over 40 years of investing in stocks, mutual funds and ETFs on  Barchart.com  in his daily blog -- Barchart Portfolio Blogs.