8 “Triple A” Stocks to Buy

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This week, eight stocks get A’s (“strong buy”) in Portfolio Grader‘s three main grading categories, Total Grade, Overall Fundamental Grade, and Quantitative Grade.

These are the best of the best in the entire Portfolio Grader database. This week, there are 4,270 stocks and only these eight get top marks in all categories to make the elite “Triple A” stocks list. Here they are:

AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. () recruits nurses, physicians, and other healthcare professionals for temporary or permanent positions in healthcare facilities in the United States. The price of AHS is up 23% since the first of the year. This is better than the S&P 500, which has seen a 12.1% increase over the same period. .

Alon USA Energy, Inc. () is an independent refiner and marketer of petroleum products operating mainly in the South Central, Southwestern and Western regions of the United States. .

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Geospace Technologies Corporation () designs and manufactures instruments and equipment used in the acquisition and processing of seismic data; and characterization and monitoring of producing oil and gas reservoirs. Shares of the stock have risen 5.3% since January 1. .

Liberty Media Corp. Class A () owns interests in a broad range of media, communications and entertainment businesses. The stock has a trailing PE Ratio of 2.20. .

AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. () focuses on investing, acquiring, and managing a portfolio of residential mortgage assets, and other real estate-related securities and financial assets. The stock has a dividend yield of 2.4%. .

Par Pharmaceutical () develops, manufactures, and distributes generic and branded pharmaceuticals in the United States. .

Winnebago Industries, Inc. () is a manufacturer of motor homes, which are self-contained recreation vehicles used mainly in leisure travel and outdoor recreation activities. WGO is 81.7% higher since the beginning of the year. .

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Louis Navellier’s proprietary Portfolio Grader stock ranking system assesses roughly 5,000 companies every week based on a number of fundamental and quantitative measures. Stocks are given a letter grade based on their results — with A being “strong buy,” and F being “strong sell.” Explore the tool here.

5 Worst Sectors to Avoid This Week

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According to the Portfolio Grader database this week, the metals and mining, energy services, computer and personal electronics, oil and gas, and marine sectors are at the bottom.

With 78% of its stocks (74 out of 95) rated “sell,” the metals and mining sector is struggling this week. Finishing near the bottom this week are Cliffs Natural Resources (), Walter Energy (), and Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc. () among the metals and mining stocks. Cliffs Natural Resources has a score of F while Walter Energy and Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc. rated F and F. Walter Energy is the worst stock in its sector, with the company’s share price falling 74.7% in the last 12 months. This is worse than the S&P 500, which has seen a 16.6% increase over the same period.

The energy services sector is dragging, with 61% of its stocks (34 out of 56) rated a “sell”. Among energy services stocks, GulfMark Offshore, Inc. Class A (), Key Energy Services, Inc. (), and Nabors Industries () finished near the bottom. GulfMark Offshore, Inc. Class A is currently rated F. Key Energy Services, Inc. and Nabors Industries are rated F and F. The worst performer in this sector is Key Energy Services, Inc., which saw its price sink 37.8% in the last 12 months.

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The computer and personal electronics sector looks weak, with 60% of its stocks (12 out of 20) rated a “sell”. Out of the computer and personal electronics stocks, Diebold, Incorporated (), QLogic Corporation (), and Hewlett-Packard Company () finished near the bottom. Diebold, Incorporated has a score of F while QLogic Corporation and Hewlett-Packard Company rated F and F.

The oil and gas sector is lagging this week with 58% of its stocks (123 out of 213) rated a “sell”. Dwelling near the bottom this week are Enerplus Corporation (), Swift Energy Company (), and Newfield Exploration Company () among the oil and gas stocks. Enerplus Corporation has a score of F while Swift Energy Company and Newfield Exploration Company rated F and F. Overall, Swift Energy Company is the poorest performer in this sector. Its share price has dropped 51.2% in the last 12 months.

The marine sector is trailing behind others this week, with 57% of its stocks (4 out of 7) rated a “sell”. Diana Shipping () and Navios Maritime Partners LP () are dragging down the sector overall, each earning a high score of D. DryShips () currently ranks F.

Louis Navellier’s proprietary Portfolio Grader stock ranking system assesses roughly 5,000 companies every week based on a number of fundamental and quantitative measures. Stocks are given a letter grade based on their results — with A being “strong buy,” and F being “strong sell.” Explore the tool here.

UK AIM-Listed Charlemagne Capital Limited (CCAP) – Still No Margin of Safety

Charlemagne Capital Limited (CCAP) is an established asset management group in the UK with an exclusively emerging markets focus and bottom-up stock picking process. The business is cyclical with fortunes linked to emerging market performance. The company's strategy is to grow each category within its broad fund range: mutual funds, hedge funds, specialist funds and institutional products.

The company has been trading near its three-year lows (although current price is near 52-week high), so was worth a bit of further analysis. The current price (Oct. 17, 2013 – 14.10p) equates to about £40 million in market cap, i.e. around $56 million (accounts are all in USD so need to look at market cap in USD).

The company has a cash balance ($22 million – 39% of market cap) and no debt. This is a big plus.

The directors hold 31% of share capital. Founder CEO, Jayne Sutcliffe, holds 11% and non-executive director, James Mellon, holds around 19% (he set up Regent Pacific along with Jayne Sutcliffe – CCAP was formed out of this entity). This is another positive sign.

The company has paid dividends each year since 2004. Its policy is to pay out regular dividend to reflect the earnings and cash flow of the Group. A point to note is that in the last couple of years dividend level as been maintained even though profitability has reduced. Most of the earnings have been paid as dividends over the last five years.

The capital allocation record of management is decent – most of the earnings have been used for dividends and buybacks. Although there has been no buyback in the last three years, there was a big amount of buybacks in the previous years. Overall share numbers have remained stable since 2006 when the company started trading on AIM. Over the last five years shares have increased marginally.

At the end of 2012, outstanding options were around 20 million with average exercise price of GBP 0.007 – so option overhang was around 7% of share capital. That is quite a ! lot. Apart from the CEO, other executive directors can receive share based incentives. During 2012, employees were given 16 million share options at a zero exercise price based on continuing service – thus no performance condition was involved. Granting non-performance related options is not a good sign.

The company gets its revenues from two types of fees: management fees which are linked to the assets under management (AUM) and performance fees which can be quite volatile. Over the last five years AUM have increased by around 4% per annum from the low at the end of 2008. However, revenues have decreased by around 7% per annum. Performance fees have held up okay since 2008, but management fees have taken a big hit. Since revenues are dependent on the average AUM over the whole year, let's look at revenues from 2009 – they have grown by around 6.5% per annum in this case. Institutional clients are more sticky and stable compared to retail, but the company has not managed to increase AUM from this source substantially over the last five years.

In terms of profitability, operating income has reduced by around 3% per annum from 2009 to 2012. Operating margins have decreased from around 24% in 2009 to 16.5% in 2012. The interim results for 2013 highlight further drop in operating margin to 10%.

Personnel expenses make up most of the chunk of the operating expenses as can be expected in this industry. Moreover one would expect variable bonuses linked to performance to be a significant part of remuneration. The Annual Report mentions that bonus pools will be predominantly proportionate to profits. So it is a concern that personnel expenses have increased by around 11.5% per annum even though revenue levels have decreased. This is the primary reason for the drop in operating income.

Operating cash flow has been quite volatile over the last five years. All of this cash flow does not come to the company's shareholders though. The reason is an employee of the Group holds a 49.9% m! inority i! nterest in the shares of a group entity and has an option to acquire a further 12.6% of the shares. Major portion of the profit/operating cash flow seems to go out to minority interest holders. In 2010, 15% of net income went to minority interest – this has increased to more than 60% in 2012. After deducting this, the free cash flow (FCF) coming to company shareholders has reduced to $3.5 million in 2012.

Based on a FCF of $3.5 million, FCF yield to company equity holders is less than 7% per annum. The share option overhang has not been taken into account here. The FCF after minority interest needs to increase by at least 60% to justify the current market capitalization of $56 million to provide a FCF yield of 10%. AUM have further decreased as per the interim results of 2013, so there is no margin of safety.

Disclosure: As of this writing, I do not have any positions in Charlemagne Capital Limited (CCAP).

Disclaimer

This research was produced by M. Joshi (the "Author"). Information and opinions presented in this research have been obtained or derived from sources believed to be reliable, but the Author makes no representation as to their accuracy or completeness. The Author accepts no liability for loss arising from the use of the material presented in this report. The Author may have long or short positions in (please refer to the Disclosure above), or may buy or sell any of the securities, derivative instruments or other investments mentioned or described in this research, either as agent or as principal for their own account. This research is prepared solely for information purposes and it does not constitute an advertisement. This document is not, and must not be construed as, a solicitation or an offer to buy or sell any securities or other financial instruments in any jurisdiction. By writing this research, the Author neither provides personal recommendations to, nor receives and transmits orders from, nor executes orders for, recipients of this research. Th! is resear! ch should neither be passed on, nor reproduced in whole or in part under any circumstances without the Author's express consent. This report is not directed to, or intended for distribution to or use by, any person or entity who is a citizen or resident of or located in any locality, state, country or other jurisdiction where such distribution, publication, availability or use would be contrary to law or regulation which would subject the Author to any registration or licensing requirement within such jurisdiction. The financial instruments described in this research may not be eligible for sale in all jurisdictions or to certain categories of investors.

3 Horrendous Health-Care Stocks This Week

Why wait until the end of October for a few Halloween scares? Some health-care stocks managed to frighten investors in the first few days of the month. Here are the three most horrendous performers for the week.

Hold horrors
Achillion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ACHN  ) takes the worst spot this week. Shares plunged 62% on bad news from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

In June, the FDA placed Achillion's hepatitis C drug sovaprevir on clinical hold because some patients experienced elevated liver enzyme levels in a phase 1 study. The company moved quickly to respond to the FDA's concerns, but that response wasn't enough. The FDA decided to keep the clinical hold in place.

While Achillion has a few other drugs in its pipeline, this amounted to a huge setback for the company. Management stated that it will work with the FDA to try to resolve the agency's concerns, but that could prove to be an uphill battle.

Slashers
Credit Suisse slashed its price target for Arena Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ARNA  ) . Shares dropped 16% in response. 

After reviewing prescription data from the past three months, Credit Suisse analyst Lee Kalowski said that sales of Arena's obesity drug Belviq are likely to fall well short of previous projections. Kalowski downgraded the stock to underperform and cut the price target for Arena from $5 to $4.

That wasn't the only analyst action in the obesity drug market. Cowen initiated coverage on Arena and one rival -- Orexigen Therapeutics (NASDAQ: OREX  ) . The investment firm also upgraded Vivus (NASDAQ: VVUS  ) . 

Unfortunately for Arena, Cowen was much more bullish about Orexigen and Vivus. Analyst Simon Simeonidis said that Vivus appears poised to become the market leader and that Orexigen has a shot at emerging as a significant threat.

Burnt offering
Generic drugmaker Lannett  (NYSEMKT: LCI  ) also fell almost 16% this week. There weren't any outside forces impacting the company's shares, though. Lannett's woes were self-inflicted.

On Friday, Lannett announced the pricing of a secondary share offering. When a company offers shares for 14% below where the stock was trading, it tends to drag shares down. That's what Lannett did, with its stock suffering the consequences.

In the big picture, though, this week's drop is just a blip for Lannett. The stock has more than quadrupled so far this year. Record-high sales and earnings in 2013 have powered its shares steadily.

Best of the worst
Picking the best of our three horrendous health-care performers is an easy task this week. Arena certainly faces difficult challenges from rivals. Achillion's road to recovery must go through the FDA. Lannett's decline, though, should prove temporary.

That doesn't mean that the generic pharmaceutical company will continue to enjoy the kinds of gains that it's had over recent months. It won't. Even with moderating growth, though, Lannett could be one to keep on your watchlist.

Not so scary
Dividend stocks can be boring stacked up against biotech stocks, but they're not nearly as scary. And over the long term, the compounding effect of the quarterly payouts, as well as their growth, adds up faster than most investors imagine. With this in mind, our analysts sat down to identify the absolute best of the best when it comes to rock-solid dividend stocks, drawing up a list in this free report of nine that fit the bill. To discover the identities of these companies before the rest of the market catches on, you can download this valuable free report by simply clicking here now.

4 Biotech Stocks Spiking on Unusual Volume

DELAFIELD, Wis. (Stockpickr) -- Professional traders running mutual funds and hedge funds don't just look at a stock's price moves; they also track big changes in volume activity. Often when above-average volume moves into an equity, it precedes a large spike in volatility.

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Major moves in volume can signal unusual activity, such as insider buying or selling -- or buying or selling by "superinvestors."

Unusual volume can also be a major signal that hedge funds and momentum traders are piling into a stock ahead of a catalyst. These types of traders like to get in well before a large spike, so it's always a smart move to monitor unusual volume. That said, remember to combine trend and price action with unusual volume. Put them all together to help you decipher the next big trend for any stock.

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With that in mind, let's take a look at several stocks rising on unusual volume today.

Onconova Therapeutics

Onconova Therapeutics (ONTX) is engaged in the discovery and development of small molecule product candidates for the treatment of cancer. This stock closed up 16.9% at $15.21 in Wednesday's trading session.

Wednesday's Volume: 694,000

Three-Month Average Volume: 191,298

Volume % Change: 201%

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From a technical perspective, ONTX exploded higher here with strong upside volume. This move for ONTX is coming off oversold territory, since the stock recent saw its relative strength index reading dip below 30 when it hit $11.73 a share. Market players should now look for a continued bounce higher off oversold levels, since this stock has dropped sharply during the last two months from $31.13 to that $11.73 low.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in ONTX as long as it's trending above $14 or above Wednesday's low of $13.15, and then once it sustains a move or close above Wednesday's high of $15.40 with volume that's near or above 191,298 shares. If we get that move soon, then ONTX will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $16.91 to $18.66. Any high-volume move above those levels will then give ONTX a chance to tag its 50-day moving average of $20.53.

Clovis Oncology

Clovis Oncology (CLVS) is engaged in acquiring, developing and commercializing innovative anti-cancer agents in the U.S., Europe and additional international markets. This stock closed up 16.68% at $54.56 in Wednesday's trading session.

Wednesday's Volume: 1.12 million

Three-Month Average Volume: 443,143

Volume % Change: 130%
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From a technical perspective, CLVS skyrocketed higher here back above its 200-day moving average of $50.95 with above-average volume. This move pushed shares of CLVS into breakout territory, since the stock took out some near-term overhead resistance at $53.35. Shares of CLVS are now quickly moving within range of triggering another big breakout trade. That trade will hit if CLVS manages to take out Wednesday's high of $54.97 to its 50-day moving average of $56.82 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in CLVS as long as it's trending above its 200-day at $50.95 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 443,143 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then CLVS will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $64 to $65.

Biomarin Pharmaceutical

Biomarin Pharmaceutical (BMRN) develops and commercializes pharmaceuticals for serious diseases and medical conditions. This stock closed up 3.3% at $69.14 in Wednesday's trading session.

Wednesday's Volume: 4.40 million

Three-Month Average Volume: 1.88 million

Volume % Change: 107%

From a technical perspective, BMRN spiked higher here right off its 50-day moving average of $68.62 with strong upside volume. This stock has been uptrending strong for the last few weeks, with shares moving higher from its low of $58.65 to its intraday high of $71.76. During that move, shares of BMRN have been consistently making higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. Market players should now look for a continuation move higher in the short-term if BMRN can take out Wednesday's high of $71.76 with strong volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in BMRN as long as it's trending above its 50-day at $68.62 or above $67.50 and then once it sustains a move or close above $71.76 with volume that this near or above 1.88 million shares. If we get that move soon, then BMRN will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $76 to its 52-week high at $80.67.

ANI Pharmaceuticals

ANI Pharmaceuticals (ANIP) is a specialty pharmaceutical company engaged in the development of products for female sexual health, menopause, contraception and male hypogonadism. This stock closed up 6.8% at $13.45 in Wednesday's trading session.

Wednesday's Volume: 125,000

Three-Month Average Volume: 64,660

Volume % Change: 106%

From a technical perspective, ANIP spiked sharply higher here into new 52-week high territory with strong upside volume. This stock has been uptrending strong for the last two months and change, with shares moving higher from its low of $6.84 to its intraday high of $13.49. During that uptrend, shares of ANIP have been making mostly higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in ANIP as long as it's trending above its recent breakout level of $12 and then once it sustains a move or close above its new 52-week high at $13.49 with volume that's near or above 64,660 shares. If we get that move soon, then ANIP will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that move are $17 to $20.

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To see more stocks rising on unusual volume, check out the Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume portfolio on Stockpickr.

-- Written by Roberto Pedone in Delafield, Wis.

RELATED LINKS:

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Follow Stockpickr on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

At the time of publication, author had no positions in stocks mentioned.

Roberto Pedone, based out of Delafield, Wis., is an independent trader who focuses on technical analysis for small- and large-cap stocks, options, futures, commodities and currencies. Roberto studied international business at the Milwaukee School of Engineering, and he spent a year overseas studying business in Lubeck, Germany. His work has appeared on financial outlets including

CNBC.com and Forbes.com. You can follow Pedone on Twitter at www.twitter.com/zerosum24 or @zerosum24.

Pentagon Awards $5.3 Billion "SeaPort Enhanced" Defense Contract

The Department of Defense announced $5.71 billion worth of new defense contracts Tuesday in the form of 10 separate contracts, but these contracts were not all created equal.

By far the largest contract of the day was a massive $5.3 billion indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple-award contract issued to a mind-boggling 914 separate recipients simultaneously. Winners included everyone from subsidiaries of brand-name defense contractors such as AAR Corp (NYSE: AIR  ) and SAIC (NYSE: SAI  ) to lesser-known, federally defined small businesses such as "Wakelight Technologies" of Honolulu and "Electromagnetic Compatibility Management Concepts" of Sterling, Va.

The contract permits each of these companies to compete for the right to fulfill task orders for the U.S. Navy's Naval Sea Systems Command, Naval Air Systems Command, Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, Naval Supply Systems Command, Military Sealift Command, Naval Facilities Command, Strategic Systems Programs, Office of Naval Research, and also the U.S. Marine Corps.

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As the Pentagon explained: "The 22 functional service areas within the scope of the contracts include: 1) research and development support, 2) engineering system engineering and process engineering support, 3) modeling, simulation, stimulation and analysis support, 4) prototyping, pre-production, model-making and fabric support, 5) system design documentation and technical data support, 6) software engineering, development, programming and network support, 7) reliability, maintainability and availability support, 8) human factors, performance and usability engineering support, 9) system safety engineering support, 10) configuration management support, 11) quality assurance support, 12) information system development, information assurance and information technology support, 13) ship inactivation and disposal support, 14) interoperability, test and evaluation, trials support, 15) measurement facilities, range and instrumentation support, 16) acquisition logistics support, 17) supply and provisioning support, 18) training support, 19) in-service engineering, fleet introduction, installation and checkout support, 20) program support, 21) functional and administrative support, and 22) public affairs and multimedia support."

All of these services are being awarded under the so-called SeaPort Enhanced (SeaPort-e) acquisition program. 2,838 contracts have already been awarded under this program. The government anticipates spending $5.3 billion -- annually -- on orders under this new contract. Each contract awarded will come with a base five-month period for performance, to be followed by potentially, a single five-year optional period.

EEM December 2014 Options Begin Trading

Investors in iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index Fund (AMEX: EEM) saw new options become available today, for the December 2014 expiration. One of the key inputs that goes into the price an option buyer is willing to pay, is the time value, so with 397 days until expiration the newly available contracts represent a possible opportunity for sellers of puts or calls to achieve a higher premium than would be available for the contracts with a closer expiration. At Stock Options Channel, our YieldBoost formula has looked up and down the EEM options chain for the new December 2014 contracts and identified one put and one call contract of particular interest.

The put contract at the $40.00 strike price has a current bid of $2.90. If an investor was to sell-to-open that put contract, they are committing to purchase the stock at $40.00, but will also collect the premium, putting the cost basis of the shares at $37.10 (before broker commissions). To an investor already interested in purchasing shares of EEM, that could represent an attractive alternative to paying $42.73/share today.

Because the $40.00 strike represents an approximate 6% discount to the current trading price of the stock (in other words it is out-of-the-money by that percentage), there is also the possibility that the put contract would expire worthless. The current analytical data (including greeks and implied greeks) suggest the current odds of that happening are 62%. Stock Options Channel will track those odds over time to see how they change, publishing a chart of those numbers on our website under the contract detail page for this contract. Should the contract expire worthless, the premium would represent a 7.25% return on the cash commitment, or 6.67% annualized — at Stock Options Channel we call this the YieldBoost.

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Click here to find out the Top YieldBoost Puts of the S&P 500 »

Below is a chart showing the trailing twelve month trading history for iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index Fund, and highlighting in green where the $40.00 strike is located relative to that history:

Turning to the calls side of the option chain, the call contract at the $43.00 strike price has a current bid of $3.35. If an investor was to purchase shares of EEM stock at the current price level of $42.73/share, and then sell-to-open that call contract as a "covered call," they are committing to sell the stock at $43.00. Considering the call seller will also collect the premium, that would drive a total return (excluding dividends, if any) of 8.47% if the stock gets called away at the December 2014 expiration (before broker commissions). Of course, a lot of upside could potentially be left on the table if EEM shares really soar, which is why looking at the trailing twelve month trading history for iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index Fund, as well as studying the business fundamentals becomes important. Below is a chart showing EEM's trailing twelve month trading history, with the $43.00 strike highlighted in red:

Considering the fact that the $43.00 strike represents an approximate 1% premium to the current trading price of the stock (in other words it is out-of-the-money by that percentage), there is also the possibility that the covered call contract would expire worthless, in which case the investor would keep both their shares of stock and the premium collected. The current analytical data (including greeks and implied greeks) suggest the current odds of that happening are 50%. On our website under the contract detail page for this contract, Stock Options Channel will track those odds over time to see how they change and publish a chart of those numbers (the trading history of the option contract will also be charted). Should the covered call contract expire worthless, the premium would represent a 7.84% boost of extra return to the investor, or 7.21% annualized, which we refer to as the YieldBoost.

Click here to find out the Top YieldBoost Calls of the S&P 500 »

The implied volatility in the put contract example is 21%, while the implied volatility in the call contract example is 24%. Meanwhile, we calculate the actual trailing twelve month volatility (considering the last 251 trading day closing values as well as today's price of $42.73) to be 18%. For more put and call options contract ideas worth looking at, visit StockOptionsChannel.com.

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Jeff Kowalsky/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesMichigan Gov. Rick Snyder, left, and Kevyn Orr, Detroit's emergency manager. Detroit's bankruptcy filing is making it tougher on other Michigan issuers that want to tap the muni bond market. Saginaw County on Thursday became the third issuer to delay a multimillion dollar negotiated offering since Detroit's bankruptcy filing last month because yields on the deal would have been too high, according to reports. The $61 million taxable bonds were rated Aa3 by Moody's and were to have funded Saginaw's pension system. Saginaw follows Genesee County and Battle Creek, Mich., which each put off deals out of concern that investors would demand higher interest rates. The initial prices on the Saginaw bonds show they would have been high-yielding, Dow Jones reported. It said a 10-year was being offered to yield 1.7 percentage points above the 10-year Treasury, while a generic double-A might be priced to yield just 0.95 percent above Treasurys. Saginaw was planning to offer limited tax GO pension obligation bonds and it would have been the first government to issue a bond to cover its unfunded pension liabilities under a Michigan law adopted last year, according to the Bond Buyer. The Saginaw bonds had the double negative of being a GO associated with pension funding. Genesee pulled a $54 million bond deal last week, and Battle Creek put off a $16 million sale. They were both planning to issue general obligation bonds, a particular concern for the market now because of the way that Detroit's emergency manager, Kevyn Orr, is trying to treat GO bonds as unsecured debt in the bankruptcy. If Orr succeeds, it would be a first occurrence in the $3.7 trillion muni market, and could bring into question the standing and ratings of some other GO bonds, analysts say. About 40 percent of the muni market is GO bonds, which have been viewed as sacrosanct by the market. "There's no doubt there's this residual spillover effect from the concern about what he's trying to do," said John Donovan, senior vice president at Drexel Hamilton. "You extrapolate out from there to GO debt. It doesn't look like it yet because most people don't believe it's going to happen, including myself. But there's always risk of spillover concern with anything." Donovan said the market is stabilizing at wider levels. Lipper reported that combined mutual fund and ETF net outflows from muni funds were just under $1 billion in the past week, less than half the amount of the prior week. It was the eleventh consecutive week of outflows. Triple-A rated Bloomfield, Mich. and Oakland County both still plan to bring deals. Donovan said two very small Michigan municipal deals,under $10 million were also postponed. Oakland County plans to bring a $300 million deal in September, according to Bond Buyer. The ripples from Detroit have gone beyond Michigan. "Detroit fears have added to pressure about Puerto Rico," said Blake Anderson of Mesirow Financial. Puerto Rico's Electric Power Authority Electric Power Authority issued $673 million in debt to yield of 7.12 percent Wednesday. The bonds, maturing 2043, are rated one step above junk by Moody's and saw strong demand. "It offered up some yields that the market hasn't seen for a long time," said Donovan.

Hot High Tech Stocks To Watch Right Now: Amcom Telecommunications Ltd (AMM.AX)

Amcom Telecommunications Limited operates as an information technology (IT) and telecommunications company in Australia. The company offers data and network solutions, including Internet and Ethernet services, fiber-optic point-to-point connectivity solutions, managed router services, and VPN link services; voice and video, conferencing and collaboration, and call and contact centre solutions, as well as hardware comprising handsets, conferencing and collaboration equipment, and accessories; and cloud solutions, such as infrastructure as a service, software as a service, storage as a service, security as a service, and cloud data protection solutions. It also provides managed services, including network, infrastructure, desktop, and IT service management services; licensing and maintaining solutions, such as Amcom Active, which consolidates, controls, and maintains the licensing and maintenance requirements of organization�s IT; and data centre management services. In add ition, the company offers IT services, such as systems; communications; information, communication, and technology consulting; and security, governance, risk, and compliance services. Further, it provides solutions for IT technical and end-user training, and certification and professional development services; and consumer DSL services. Amcom Telecommunications Limited is headquartered in Perth, Australia.

Hot High Tech Stocks To Watch Right Now: Layne Christensen Company(LAYN)

Layne Christensen Company provides drilling, water treatment, and construction services, and related products to water infrastructure and mineral exploration markets. The company?s Water Infrastructure division offers a range of water-related products and services, including soil stabilization, hydrological studies, well design, drilling and development, pump installation, sewer rehabilitation, pipeline construction, and well rehabilitation services; and environmental drilling services to assist in assessing, investigating, monitoring, and characterizing water quality and aquifer parameters. This division also provides water treatment equipment engineering services; systems for the treatment of regulated and nuisance contaminants, such as iron, manganese, hydrogen sulfide, arsenic, radium, nitrate, perchlorate, and volatile organic compounds; wastewater pipeline and structure rehabilitation services; and geotechnical construction services to the heavy civil, industrial, a nd commercial construction markets, as well as designs and constructs water and wastewater treatment plants, and pipeline installations. Its Mineral Exploration division offers exploratory and definitional drilling services for the global mineral exploration industry. The company?s Energy division involves in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas primarily in the Midwestern United States. As of January 31, 2011, Layne Christensen Company had approximately 244,000 gross acres under lease and 643 gross producing wells. It also provides energy services. The company offers its services to municipalities, investor-owned water utilities, industrial and mining companies, consulting engineering firms, heavy civil construction contractors, oil and gas companies, and agribusiness. It has operations in North America, Africa, Australia, Europe, and Brazil. Layne Christensen Company was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Mission Woods, Kan sas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Calling all cash flows
  When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Layne Christensen (Nasdaq: LAYN  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

• [By Rich Smith]

  Mission Woods, Kansas-based Layne Christensen (NASDAQ: LAYN  ) has a new Chief Financial Officer.

  On Friday, the heavy construction company announced it has hired former SEH Offshore Ventures CFO, and Seahawk Drilling CEO, James R. Easter to become its own new CFO. A graduate of University of Texas, Austin, with an M.B.A. from the Thunderbird American Graduate School of International Management, Easter will replace outgoing CFO Jerry Fanska, who announced his retirement in December.

• [By Rebecca McClay]

  In energy stock news today, Layne Christensen Co. (Nasdaq: LAYN), a water management, construction, and drilling company, is down 6% today after it swung to a loss of $1.17 per diluted share in fiscal Q2 from a profit of $0.24 a year earlier. Q2 revenue declined to $232 million from $288 million. Analysts had expected an adjusted loss of $0.39 on revenue of $261 million.

Top 5 Energy Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Fluidigm Corporation(FLDM)

Fluidigm Corporation engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of microfluidic systems for growth markets in the life science and agricultural biotechnology (Ag-Bio) industries. The company?s proprietary microfluidic systems consist of instruments and consumables, including chips (integrated fluidic circuits) and reagents. Its technology enables customers to perform and measure various biochemical reactions on samples smaller than the content of a single cell by utilizing minute volumes of reagents and samples; and rapid preparation of multiple samples in parallel for next generation DNA sequencing. The company?s products include the BioMark HD system, which performs high-throughput gene expression analysis using real-time and end point PCR, SNP genotyping, single-cell analysis, and digital PCR using TaqMan, EvaGreen dye, and other chemistries; The EP1 System that performs end point PCR and is commonly used in production settings for Ag-Bio, digital PCR, and copy number variation experiments using TaqMan, EvaGreen dye, and other chemistries; and the Access Array system that enables automated sample preparation and tagging for next generation DNA sequencers. The company serves pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, academic institutions, diagnostic laboratories, and Ag-Bio companies. Fluidigm Corporation distributes its instruments and supplies through direct field sales and support organizations in North America, Europe, and Japan; and through distributors or sales agents in parts of Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific region. The company was formerly known as Mycometrix Corporation and changed its name to Fluidigm Corporation in April 2001. Fluidigm Corporation was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in South San Francisco, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Basic guidelines
  In this series, I examine inventory using a simple rule of thumb: Inventory increases ought to roughly parallel revenue increases. If inventory bloats more quickly than sales grow, this might be a sign that expected sales haven't materialized. Is the current inventory situation at Fluidigm (Nasdaq: FLDM  ) out of line? To figure that out, start by comparing the company's inventory growth to sales growth. How is Fluidigm doing by this quick checkup? At first glance, pretty well. Trailing-12-month revenue increased 24.0%, and inventory increased 14.4%. Comparing the latest quarter to the prior-year quarter, the story looks decent. Revenue expanded 32.8%, and inventory increased 14.4%. Over the sequential quarterly period, the trend looks worrisome. Revenue dropped 7.2%, and inventory grew 2.8%.

• [By Sean Williams]

  What: Shares of Fluidigm (NASDAQ: FLDM  ) , a manufacturer of microfluidic systems for the biotech, pharmaceutical, and academic research sectors, shot higher by as much as 14% after reporting its first-quarter-earnings results.

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  Fluidigm (FLDM) develops, manufactures and markets microfluidic systems for growth markets, such as single-cell genomics, applied genotyping and sample preparation for targeted sequencing and agricultural biotechnology industries. This stock closed up 9.8% at $19.55 in Friday's trading session.

  Friday's Volume: 430,000
  
  Three-Month Average Volume: 96,902
  
  Volume % Change: 375%

  From a technical perspective, FLDM gapped up sharply here and broke out above some near-term overhead resistance at $18.54 with heavy upside volume. This move also pushed shares of FLDM into new 52-week-high territory, since the stock took out $19.96 before closing at $19.55. Shares of FLDM are now trending within range of triggering a major breakout trade. That trade will hit if FLDM manages to take out Friday's high of $20.04 and then once it clears its all-time high of $20.20 with high volume.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in FLDM as long as it's trending above Friday's low of $18.52 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that's near or above 96,902 shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then FLDM will set up to enter new 52-week- and all-time-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that breakout are $25 to $30.

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Fluidigm (Nasdaq: FLDM  ) reported earnings on May 1. Here are the numbers you need to know.

  The 10-second takeaway
  For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), Fluidigm beat slightly on revenues and exceeded expectations on earnings per share.

Hot High Tech Stocks To Watch Right Now: Appliance Recycling Centers of America Inc.(ARCI)

Appliance Recycling Centers of America, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, sells new household appliances through a chain of its factory outlet stores under the name ApplianceSmart. Its stores offer new special-buy appliances, including prior-year models, close-outs, factory overruns, and scratch-and-dent units, as well as byproduct materials, such as metals of recycled appliances. As of April 2, 2011, the company operated 19 factory outlet stores in Georgia, Minnesota, Ohio, and Texas. The company also provides turnkey appliance recycling and replacement services for electric utilities and other sponsors of energy efficiency programs. It operated 10 processing and recycling centers in California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington; and Ontario, Canada. In addition, the company has a joint venture agreement with ARCA Advanced Processing, LLC, which recycles appliances in the northeastern United States for General Ele ctric Company. The company was founded in 1976 and is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Hot High Tech Stocks To Watch Right Now: National Health Investors Inc. (NHI)

National Health Investors, Inc., a real estate investment trust (REIT), invests in health care properties, primarily in the long-term care industry in the United States. As of December 31, 2008, it had investments in real estate assets and mortgage notes receivable investments in 123 health care facilities consisting of 83 long-term care facilities, 1 acute care hospital, 4 medical office buildings, 14 assisted living facilities, 4 retirement centers, and 17 residential projects for the developmentally disabled in 17 states. The company has elected to be treated as a REIT for federal income tax purposes and would not be subject to federal income tax, if it distributes at least 90% of its REIT taxable income to its shareholders. National Health Investors, Inc. was founded in 1991 and is based in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Gold and the Federal Reserve's Quantitative-Easing Program

Gold is the most well-known commodity, and it unfortunately hinges on the Federal Reserve's controversial quantitative-easing program, which could be tapered in the near future. In her confirmation before the Senate banking committee, Janet Yellen, nominee for the Federal Reserve chair, voiced strong support and defense for the continuation of massive bond-buying stimulus.

To date, the Fed's QE program has pumped more than $3.6 trillion into the financial market. Since the bank's QE kicked off in 2008, gold prices have benefited greatly, increasing more than 60% from the 2008 price point of $840 an ounce. QE1 and August 2010's second round of QE set off waves of buying that turned gold into a one-way for the next three years, culminating in September of 2011 with an all-time high of $1,921 per ounce. At the end of November 2011, the Fed once again stepped in with a bond buying program, driving the gold price back above $1,800 per ounce from $1,600 per ounce in September. In February 2012, gold plunged $75 per ounce within an hour following comments from the U.S. Federal Reserve indicating that a third round of QE3 was off the table. This was a prime example of the positive correlation between gold prices and the Fed's balance sheet.

This trend seemed to come to an abrupt halt in December of 2012, when a $45 billion increase in Fed bond buying to $85 billion per month could not move the gold market. Gold prices became more sensitive to the Fed's statements, rather than its actions. At the end of June 2013, gold hit a three-year low of $1,200 per ounce following statements and speculation that a tapering of asset purchases could come as early as September. Though the Fed's latest meeting did not support tapering the current stimulus program, gold prices are still plunging due to the optimistic view of the U.S. economy and the speculation that QE3 will be cut soon.

Although the Fed doubled its bond buying last September, the top gold exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, including SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEMKT: GLD  ) , iShares Gold Trust (NYSEMKT: IAU  ) , and ETFS Physical Swiss Gold Shares (NYSEMKT: SGOL  ) , have dropped around 25% each over the last 12 months, which speaks to gold's extreme vulnerability to QE tapering. Even the mere mention of tapering seems to send gold into a tailspin, as seen with SPDR Gold Shares, which has plunged 24% year to date and also suffered massive losses with its physical holdings. Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSEMKT: GDX  ) has suffered a massive drop of 48% so far in 2013, making it one of the worst-performing ETFs this year.

Could QE3 be tapered soon?
The Fed's upcoming decision on whether and when to taper its bond buying program is a highly concerning issue for investors. Even though there is speculation that the bond buying program may be abridged this year if the U.S. economy recovers sufficiently, I believe the Fed will not reduce its asset purchases until at least 2014 or may even inject more money into the market. The final meeting of 2013 is in December, and doubts are rising about whether the economy is doing well enough to persuade the Fed to pare back QE3.

Janet Yellen's recent comments show strong support for the program to be continued until we can confidently say that the economy has recovered enough to sustain job development. There is no guarantee that QE3 will continue into the new year, but if we look at the history of QE, it would stand to reason that QE3 still has a significant amount of time left.

This is the third round of money being injected into the financial marketplace. The Fed came back with QE2 after stopping QE1, and the same happened when QE3 was established to rescue another round of financial issues. Each time the Fed has attempted to cut the program, it has had to evaluate a new set of financial results. The most the Fed has ever said in regard to the proposed tapering plan is that it will reduce the asset purchases when the U.S. economy has a better outlook. Given the current state of the U.S. economy, the unemployment rate of 7.3%, and underwhelming GDP growth, it seems the outlook is still fairly grim at this point. It has been more than four years since QE1 started, and there is still not enough evidence to confirm a significant enough recovery in the economy.

Where does gold go from here?
Gold prices have fallen about 20% this year in expectation of QE tapering. Whether it is reaching the bottom is still in question. Gold prices and the U.S. dollar usually move in opposite directions, but if the Fed doesn't begin to draw down QE, a rise in inflation could drive gold prices up on a technical basis. In this case, you likely will not want to hold U.S. dollars when the U.S. central bank is on its way to money inflation to manage its substantial debt burden, making gold a viable investment to consider.

Whether the Federal Reserve is going to extend its quantitative-easing plan to resolve its debt crises or taper it in the near term, I am of the opinion that gold still has some major supporters, as there does not seem to be a strong enough commitment from the Fed to curb QE3 in the near future. If the Fed does not have the evidence that the economy is doing well enough to cut monetary-easing programs, then QE could continue indefinitely.

Although gold prices seem to rise and fall with the mere mention of tapering, I believe that gold can still be a solid investment during these uncertain times. Once the meeting in December determines the fate of QE3, and a tapering plan is either confirmed or put to bed, gold prices should stabilize and start to climb back to the previous figures seen in the beginning of the QE program.

It's Never Too Late to Pick a Winner
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Sonders: ‘Animal Spirits’ May Get Banks to Start Lending Again

In her preconference session Sunday night at the Schwab Impact conference in Washington, Liz Ann Sonders displayed a telling slide showing the widening gap among U.S. banks between their high levels of deposits, which have been “soaring, thanks to the Fed,” and their stubbornly low levels of actually making loans.

So what will lead banks to start lending?

In an interview the following day, Schwab's chief investment strategist suggested that it may turn out that “animal spirits will shake the banks loose.” She argued that banks are already in “pretty loose territory,” and that “if your competitors are lending you’ll start lending.” She said that overall, the banks were “in great shape,” there there was “plenty of pent-up demand,” and that the rules were “not yet written” on Dodd-Frank implementation of stricter bank regulation.

She also indicated that home prices would “probably boom” in the fourth quarter of 2013, though she didn’t specifically tie that rise to any forecast of increased bank lending. However, if the banks do start lending, that could be the “next positive surprise” for the markets and economy. She tempered that optimism with a caveat, saying it “could be problematic” if velocity picks up, which could then “run the risk of inflation.”

Best Cheap Companies To Buy Right Now

Responding to another question (sent to this writer from a social media follower) on whether corporate profits could continue to rise, she said that the third quarter of 2012 was the trough in earnings growth. She expects corporate earnings growth of 6% this year, and an increase to 10% next year. “Profit margins will peak higher than many think,” she said, adding that the S&P 500 overwhelmingly tends to do well on those margin peaks.

So why are some people starting to worry about another market bubble? Sonders believes fears of a bubble are backed much more by behavior than by the fundamental numbers on the economy and markets. She reiterated her belief that a market correction in the mid-single digits would be good for the markets, since it would “help keep euphoria in check” and allow the more steady, if less than spectacular, markets and economy to “grind forward.”

---

Check out Schwab’s Sonders: Market Remains ‘Quite Cheap’ on ThinkAdvisor.

Wednesday Worries – Fed Speak Not Helping?

Good golly, what a mess!

As you can see from Dave Fry's S&P chart, even yesterday's PATHETIC volume was too much for the bulls to maintain the illusion of strength.  What little volume there was had 50% more decliners than advancers on the NYSE, led lower by energy stocks (as we expected) as oil collapses below that $95 line (as we expected). 

It can also be seen in the bond market as TLT, for example, tumbles back to weakening support at $103.50.  we used to like cgoing long on this line as recently as August but now we're done as the macro environment is getting less note-friendly as inflation rears it's ugly head everywhere but US Government data.  As Dave notes:

Long-term Treasury Bonds (TLT) for example have been teetering on serious support. This is the result of the Fed potentially losing control over the market as investors fret over tapering. Without the Fed's buying there is little in the way of a safety net to offer support. Sure, they won't begin tapering in big chunks, but markets are forward looking and many will just get out of the way. 

Small Caps (IWM) have been the most sensitive to Fed monetary policies, responding positively to dynamic QE but are more fearful of tapering than perhaps other sectors. This is demonstrated by the chart below courtesy of ZeroHedge showing the severe drop in shares outstanding recently. Obviously, there's a dangerous and serious divergence between price and shares outstanding.

Wow, that's crazy-looking, right?  No wonder we added SQQQ shorts yesterday, as well as VXX longs (the Dec $19/21 bull call spread at $1, offset by the sale of the $20 puts for 0.95 for net .05 on the $2 spread) in our Member Chat Room yesterday morning.  That was our first trade idea for the morning yesterday – not bad considering I was in a Las Vegas hotel room scrambling to get the wifi working!  

This morning, we re-upped (or downed) our /NKD Futures shorts at 14,600 

 

IN PROGRESS

 

 

 

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The following article is from one of our external contributors. It does not represent the opinion of Benzinga and has not been edited.

Posted-In: Futures Forex Economics Federal Reserve Pre-Market Outlook Markets

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Hot China Companies To Invest In Right Now

Toyota is pinning its China hopes on several new models, including the all-new Yaris unveiled in Shanghai last weekend. Photo credit: Toyota

Last fall, a dispute between the governments of China and Japan over ownership of some islands touched off a wave of anti-Japanese feelings in China. Many Japanese brands that had seen huge growth in sales in recent years suddenly saw their sales numbers fall off a cliff.

The Japanese automakers weren't spared. Toyota (NYSE: TM  ) , Honda (NYSE: HMC  ) , and Nissan (NASDAQOTH: NSANY  ) all saw sales numbers fall sharply in September 2012 ��and they've stayed down since.

For Toyota in particular, this has been a challenge. The company had been striving to catch up to the China market leaders, General Motors (NYSE: GM  ) and Volkswagen (NASDAQOTH: VLKAY  ) , but now finds itself well behind ��in fact, it was just passed by up-and-coming Ford (NYSE: F  ) .

Hot China Companies To Invest In Right Now: LDK Solar Co. Ltd.(LDK)

LDK Solar Co., Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, development, manufacture, and marketing of photovoltaic (PV) products; and development of power plant projects. It offers solar-grade and semiconductor-grade polysilicon; and multicrystalline and monocrystalline solar wafers to the manufacturers of solar cells and solar modules. The company also provides wafer processing services to monocrystalline and multicrystalline solar cell and module manufacturers; and sells silicon materials, such as ingots and polysilicon scraps. In addition, it engages in the production and sale of solar cells and modules to developers, distributors, and system integrators; and design and development of solar power projects in Europe, the United States, and China, as well as provides engineering, procurement, and construction services. LDK Solar Co., Ltd. operates in Europe, the Asia Pacific, and North America. The company was founded in 2005 and is based in Xinyu City, t he People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Travis Hoium]

  Solar tariffs in Europe started at a low 11% rate last week, but if a deal between Europe, China, and even the U.S. isn't reached by Aug. 6 then they could go up to as much as 68%. This is clearly a negative development for Chinese manufacturers like Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE  ) , LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK  ) , and Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL  ) , but it's not necessarily good for U.S. companies either. First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR  ) has little presence in Europe right now and SunPower (NASDAQ: SPWR  ) won't see much benefit from tariffs either. In the end, tariffs are bad for nearly everyone, a sentiment Travis Hoium covers in the video below.�

• [By Travis Hoium]

  What: After a two-day run-up in solar stocks, the party ended quickly, and every stock in the industry is dropping like a rock. Suntech Power (NYSE: STP  ) led the declines by falling 23%, and LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK  ) , Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE  ) , and JA Solar (NASDAQ: JASO  ) all dropped at least 15%.

• [By Travis Hoium]

  There doesn't seem to be a shortage of bad news for LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK  ) lately. The company defaulted on loans earlier this week, bringing on concerns of a pending insolvency or bankruptcy, and today released some dismal earnings numbers.�

Hot China Companies To Invest In Right Now: General Steel Holdings Inc. (GSI)

General Steel Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of steel products in the People's Republic of China. It offers hot-rolled carbon and silicon steel sheets primarily for use in the production of small agricultural vehicles and other specialty markets; spiral-weld pipes for the energy sector primarily to transport oil and steam; and high-speed wire and reinforced bar products for the construction industry. The company sells its products primarily to distributors. General Steel Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People?s Republic of China.

Top 10 Low Price Stocks To Watch Right Now: Sina Corporation(SINA)

SINA Corporation provides online media and mobile value-added services (MVAS) in the People?s Republic of China. It provides advertising, non-advertising, and free services through SINA.com, Weibo.com, and SINA Mobile. SINA.com offers free interest-based channels that provide region-focused format and content, including news, sports, automobile-related news, finance, entertainment, luxury, technology, digital, tools, collectibles, video, music, and wireless application protocol, as well as interactive platform for fashion-conscious users to share comments and ideas on a range of topics, such as health, cosmetics, and beauty. The company's microblogging platform, Weibo.com, enables its users to follow the hottest topics being discussed online, as well as discussions related to people they know. Weibo accounts consist of celebrities, commercial enterprises, government entities, and grass root Internet users. Its SINA Mobile service allows users to receive news and informatio n, download ring tones, mobile games and pictures, and participate in dating and friendship communities. The company also offers SINA Game, which serves as an interactive platform that provides users with downloads and gateway access to popular online games; SINA eReading, a shop for book reviews; SINA.net, an enterprise solutions platform to assist businesses and government bodies; and SINA Mall, an online shopping Website. In addition, it provides a platform for Chinese bloggers; photo-sharing platform; free email, VIP mail, and corporate email for enterprise users; audio and video-based instant messaging tools; proprietary search technology; and classified advertising services, as well as hosts topic-specific discussion forums in Chinese language; and creates user-maintained and supported online communities. The company has strategic cooperation agreement with China Unicom (Hong Kong) Limited. SINA Corporation was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Shanghai, the Peop le?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rick Munarriz]

  A month ago he was concerned about SINA (NASDAQ: SINA  ) , fearing that Alibaba purchasing an 18% stake in SINA Weibo might lead to problems for Baidu. SINA could potentially limit access to its real-time searches of Weibo content, just as domestic search giants had to shell out for access to Twitter. It would be a pretty big gamble for the popular micro-blogging platform since Baidu still commands the lion's share of China's search requests.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  On Thursday, SINA (NASDAQ: SINA  ) will release its latest quarterly results. The key to making smart investment decisions on stocks reporting earnings is to anticipate how they'll do before they announce results, leaving you fully prepared to respond quickly to whatever inevitable surprises arise.

• [By Kevin Chen]

  For some time, China's largest search engine could always count on its partnership with SINA� (NASDAQ: SINA  ) Weibo, a Twitter-like service, to infuse Baidu products with social information. But now that China's biggest e-commerce retailer Alibaba has bought shares in Weibo, Baidu investors should be scared. Not only may Baidu lose its social edge, but the Alibaba-SINA deal could also spell trouble for Baidu's future.�

• [By Kevin Chen]

  While the media continues to call SINA� (NASDAQ: SINA  ) Weibo China's main Twitter-like service, saying it doesn't make it so. Digging deeper into the numbers and looking at the broader social networking market, it seems like SINA stock will continue its two-year-and-counting decline.

Hot China Companies To Invest In Right Now: Euro/Yen(EJ)

E-House (China) Holdings Limited, through its subsidiaries, operates as a real estate services company in China. It provides primary real estate agency services, secondary real estate brokerage services, real estate information and consulting services, real estate advertising services, real estate promotional event services, real estate online services, and real estate investment fund management services. The company offers primary real estate agency services to real estate developers. Its secondary real estate brokerage services include offering advisory services on choices of properties; accompanying potential buyers on house viewing trips; drafting purchase contracts; negotiating price and other terms; and providing preliminary proof of title, as well as coordinating with the notary, the bank, and the title transfer agency. The company also provides real estate information services comprising data subscription services and data integration services; and real estate cons ulting services, including land acquisition consulting, development consulting, marketing consulting, and comprehensive solution consulting. In addition, it offers real estate advertising services consisting of advertising design and sales in print and other media; and real estate promotional event services, including securing venues, hiring caters and other various service providers, formulating event themes, and inviting speakers and guests for real estate promotional events. Further, the company provides real estate online services, including real estate news, information, property data, and access to online communities to real estate consumers and participants through local Web sites; and involves in real estate investment fund management activities that consist of investments in China?s real estate sector. E-House (China) Holdings Limited was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Shanghai, the People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Seth Jayson]

  E-House (China) Holdings (NYSE: EJ  ) reported earnings on May 16. Here are the numbers you need to know.

  The 10-second takeaway
  For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), E-House (China) Holdings crushed expectations on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

• [By Belinda Cao]

  E-House China Holdings Ltd. (EJ), a real estate brokerage, gained 9.2 percent to $9.70, extending it advance to a third week. Its American depositary receipts retreated 3.1 percent Sept. 20 from the highest level since May 2011.

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  One under-$10 name that's quickly pushing within range of triggering a big breakout trade is E-House China (EJ), which is engaged in providing real estate agency and brokerage services in the primary and secondary markets and real estate consulting and information services in the People's Republic of China. This stock is off to a monster start in 2013, with shares up sharply by 131%.

  If you take a look at the chart for E-House China, you'll notice that this stock has been trending sideways and consolidating for the last month and change, with shares moving between $8.35 on the downside and $10.24 on the upside. Shares of EJ are starting to spike sharply higher today right above that $8.35 low, and this stock is now quickly moving within range of triggering a big breakout trade above the upper-end of its recent range.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in EJ if it manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance levels at $9.74 to $10.19 a share, and then once it clears its 52-week high at $10.24 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above those levels with volume that hits near or above its three-month average action of 1.11 million shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then EJ will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory above $10.24, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that breakout are $13 to $15 a share.

  Traders can look to buy EJ off any weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below some key near-term support at $8.35 a share, or around its 50-day moving average at $7.96 a share. One can also buy EJ off strength once it clears those breakout levels with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.

Hot China Companies To Invest In Right Now: 3SBio Inc.(SSRX)

3SBio Inc., a biotechnology company, engages in the research, development, manufacture, and distribution of pharmaceutical products in the People?s Republic of China. Its products include EPIAO, an injectable recombinant human erythropoietin to stimulate the production of red blood cells in patients with anemia and to reduce the need for blood transfusions; and TPIAO, a recombinant human thrombopoietin to treat chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia. The company also offers Intefen, a recombinant interferon alpha-2a product for the treatment of carcinoma of the lymphatic or hematopoietic system and viral infectious diseases; Inleusin, a recombinant human IL-2 product to treat renal cell carcinoma, metastatic melanoma, and thoratic fluid build-up caused by cancer and tuberculosis; and Iron Sucrose Supplement for treating anemia associated with iron deficiency, as well as for patients with end-stage renal disease requiring iron replacement therapy. In addition, its product pi peline comprises a high dosage EPIAO; NuPIAO, a second-generation EPIAO; TPIAO to treat idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura; NuLeusin for metastatic melanoma and metastatic renal cell carcinoma; human papilloma virus vaccine for the prevention of cervical cancer; and an anti-TNF monoclonal antibody product candidate for treating rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and other inflammatory diseases. Further, the company?s product pipeline includes Feraheme, an in-licensed intravenous iron replacement therapeutic agent used to treat iron deficiency anemia in chronic kidney disease patients and in patients requiring hemodialysis; and Nephoxil, an iron-based phosphate binder for the treatment of hyperphosphatemia in patients with ESRD. It sells its products directly, as well as through its network of distributors to various healthcare providers, including hospitals, clinics, and dialysis centers. The company was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Shenyang, the People?s Republic of China.

Top 20 International Stock Funds in DC Space

What to do, where to go?

If you’re looking internationally in a bid to diversify your clients’ retirement plan, BrightScope offers some help.

The research firm recently announced the top 20 international stock funds in the defined contribution industry. The list is part of a series of rankings BrightScope regularly publishes to provide “investment managers, mutual fund companies, investors, and others with more insight into the top funds and managers in the retirement marketplace.”

"Maintaining diversification is essential to the health of any portfolio," Brooks Herman, head of data and research at BrightScope, said in a statement. "Traditionally, international equities offer returns that are less correlated with domestic equities, which improve the risk/return profile of a portfolio."

Since its infancy, the 401(k) marketplace has suffered from a lack of quality data that is comprehensive enough to be useful for most strategic functions, the firm argues. Historically, it claims has been “virtually impossible” to determine a specific mutual fund's total distribution in 401(k) plans. Noteworthy findings since BrightScope's last release of this list, in September 2011, include the following:

Click through to find the top 20 international funds in the defined contribution space (by total distribution) in reverse order:

20. Morgan Stanley Institutional International Equity

19. Vanguard International Value

18. Wells Fargo International Equity Index

17. Principal Diversified International

16. Artisan International

15. Aberdeen Select International Equity

14. Janus Overseas

13. Templeton Foreign

12. Vanguard Developed Markets Index

11. Fidelity Spartan International Index

10. Fidelity International Discovery

9. Northern Trust EAFE Index

8. BlackRock EAFE Equity Index Fund

7. Thornburg International Value

6. Harbor International

5. Vanguard Total International Stock Index

4. Vanguard International Growth

3. Dodge & Cox International Stock

2. Fidelity Diversified International

1. American Funds EuroPacific Growth

--- Check out these related stories on ThinkAdvisor:

Twitter Declines as Market-Debut Euphoria Wears Off

Twitter Inc. fell 7.2 percent, erasing some of the euphoria that caused shares of the short-messaging site to almost double at their market debut.

Twitter, which raised $2.09 billion in its initial public offering this week, declined to $41.65 at the close in New York from yesterday's $44.90. Today marked the company's second day of trading after setting an IPO price of $26.

The San Francisco-based company spent the last two weeks pitching investors on the stock's potential for growth, as it seeks ways to generating more advertising to its 230 million users. Yesterday's closing price valued Twitter at 22 times estimated 2014 sales, more expensive than Facebook Inc., which traded at 11.2 times sales. It was the largest technology IPO since Facebook debuted last year.

More on Twitter:

Twitter Resists Investor Frenzy to Avert Facebook Flop Why Twitter Is a Better Bet Than Facebook Twitter's Debut Mints Fresh Crop of Millionaires

"The market still has to settle in," said Brian Wieser, an analyst at Pivotal Research Group LLC in New York who has a sell rating on Twitter. "It was obviously a very successful IPO, but over time people are going to be looking at valuations, and those assessments will increasingly weigh on minds."

The IPO, led by Goldman Sachs Group Inc., valued Twitter at $14.2 billion. After retreating from the 73 percent rally on the first partial trading day, the company now has a market capitalization of $23.6 billion. Twitter, while unprofitable, is benefiting from investors' thirst for companies that will grow quickly in expanding markets like mobile advertising. Twitter draws 70 percent of revenue from mobile advertising, compared with about half for Facebook.

Share Value

Twitter raised more than the $1.9 billion Google Inc. did in its 2004 debut. Twitter's debut rally was the biggest one-day pop for an IPO that raised more than $1 billion since Alibaba.com Ltd. debuted in 2007, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

5 Best China Stocks For 2014

The microblogging service will have to maintain the level of its stock to erase the aftertaste of the Facebook, Zynga Inc. and Groupon Inc. IPOs, each of which lost half their value within six months of their debuts, sending a chill over consumer-technology IPOs and some Silicon Valley startup valuations.

Twitter has yet to prove its business model. While revenue more than doubled annually, to $534.4 million in the 12 months through Sept. 30, user growth is slowing and becoming more costly, filings show. Most of the opportunity may be outside the U.S., where Twitter had 77 percent of its users but only 26 percent of its revenue in the third quarter.

BlackBerry Pins Big Hopes on New CEO for Stark Turnaround

Joe Raedle/Getty Images TORONTO -- BlackBerry Ltd. will pay its new interim CEO a base salary of $1 million, a bonus of up to twice that amount as well as stock awards potentially worth some $85 million, in the hopes of turning around Canada's most prominent technology company. John Chen, the second consecutive chief executive officer at BlackBerry (BBRY) to receive a bumper package, will have to help the embattled smartphone maker regain its footing and win back market share ceded to the likes of Apple's (AAPL) iPhone and a range of devices that run on Google's (GOOG) Android operating system. Chen was credited with turning around Sybase in the late 1990s. Sybase, an enterprise software company, was eventually acquired by SAP (SAP) in 2010. Chen's share awards only begin to vest after he completes three years with BlackBerry, and the majority of the options will vest only after he completes his fifth year, according to a regulatory filing late Thursday. Should Chen be fired without cause, he will be paid up to $6 million, according to the filing. Chen's appointment came after BlackBerry stunned many Monday when it abandoned plans to sell itself and instead opted to raise funds via a $1 billion notes offering led by Fairfax Holdings, its largest shareholder. Fairfax, led by investment guru Prem Watsa, had said it was investing $250 million in the offering. In its filing Thursday, BlackBerry said Canso Investment Counsel is investing $300 million in the offering, while Mackenzie Financial, Markel, Qatar Holding, and Brookfield Asset Management are buying the remainder. As part of the financing deal, BlackBerry has agreed to pay a fee to the investors if it does reach an alternate deal that results in the sale of the company, either before, or within 30 days of the close of this deal. Depending on the circumstances, the fee could range between $135 million and $250 million. The investors have also pledged to a standstill agreement, for a period of one year, that restricts them from owning more than 19.9 percent of the company's outstanding shares, a move likely aimed at preventing any creeping takeover of BlackBerry. Thorsten Heins, who is forced to step down as BlackBerry's CEO as one of the terms attached to the financing deal, could also be set to receive millions in severance after two years in the job. The exact amount will depend on the terms settled with the company.

Mint made the Mac App Store's Best of 2012 list for a reason. This simple, clean app shows how much you are spending in each category of your budget by monitoring all of your transactions. We love signing in and getting a quick, dirty rundown of where our money has gone over the last week, and using their personalized budget tools to stay on track. We highly recommend adjusting your budgets for summer months. You might spend less on transportation when the weather is nice, and chances are you could use that extra cash to flesh out that restaurant tab, right?

Price: Free

Disney Earnings Buoyed by “Monsters University;” Weighed by TV

The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) reported fourth fiscal quarter and full-year 2013 earnings after markets closed Thursday. For the quarter, the entertainment giant posted diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.77 on revenues of $11.57 billion. In the same period a year ago, the company reported EPS of $0.68 on revenues of $10.78 billion.Fourth-quarter results compare to the Thomson Reuters consensus estimates for EPS of $0.76 and $11.4 billion in revenues.

For the full year, adjusted EPS totaled $3.39 on revenues of $45.04. The consensus estimate had called for EPS of $3.38 on revenues of $44.87 billion.

For the quarter, revenues rose in each of the company's five operating segments, with a jump of 14% in the consumer products segment and a doubling of revenues in the interactive segment.

The story was not as positive in operating income, where the media networks segment showed a decline of 8% year-over-year. Cable networks were down 7% and broadcasting was down 18%. Broadcasting income was hit by an unfavorable comparison on syndication sales and higher marketing costs for the company's fall season. ABC, the broadcast network, also spent more on primetime programming, replacing inexpensive reality shows with more costly original programming.

Even including the turkey known as "The Lone Ranger," the studio entertainment segment posted a 35% boost in operating income.

The company's CEO said:

We're extremely pleased with our results for Fiscal 2013, delivering record revenue, net income and earnings per share for the third year in a row. It was another great year for the Company, both creatively and financially, and we remain confident that we are well positioned to continue our strong performance and drive long-term shareholder value.

For the first quarter of the company's 2014 fiscal year the consensus estimates call for EPS
of $0.89 on revenues of $12.18 billion. For the fiscal year ahead the estimates are $3.93 in EPS and revenues of $47.84 billion.

The company's shares are down about 1.3% in after-hours trading today, at $66.00 in a 52-week range of $46.53 to $69.87. The consensus target price for the shares was around $74.00 before today's report.

Deadline.com and founder Finke part ways after …

Nikki Finke, founder of Deadline.com, severed ties with the entertainment industry news site after repeated clashes with its current owner.

"Despite attempts by all to have it go otherwise, Nikki Finke will no longer be leading Deadline Hollywood, and she will not be writing weekend box office or filing stories going forward. This is an emotional and painful parting of the ways for us," according to a story posted on Deadline.com, which has become a must-read site for entertainment industry executives since it was founded in 2006. "Businesses evolve and change, and we've learned that no one is indispensable."

The story, co-written by senior editors Mike Fleming Jr. and Nellie Andreeva, said the site will "imminently" hire staffers. "Though we will never completely replace Nikki's unique voice, we will continue ahead, charging hard, breaking every story possible," they wrote.

Top 10 Bank Companies To Own In Right Now

Finke's dispute with Jay Penske, who bought Deadline in 2009, has been brewing for several months. Last year, Penske's company, Penske Media Corp., bought entertainment industry trade publication Variety and poured more resources to the newly acquired operation. Finke wanted a role in running Variety, but Penske reportedly denied her overture.

She subsequently sought to buy back Deadline and be let out of her contract that ran through 2016, according to The Wall Street Journal in September.

The dispute escalated in recent weeks as Finke openly wrote about her displeasure with her employer through her Twitter account and the stories she posted on Deadline. She complained of being locked out of the site, which prompted a denial story from Fleming in October. "For the past few months, she has unfortunately turned an internal matter, her dissatisfaction, into a public spectacle," Fleming wrote.

Finke, who's built a reputation in Hollywood for her tough-as-nails ! dealings with sources and studio executives, told the Los Angeles Times Tuesday that she was "happy" with the outcome. In walking away from the contract, she left "money on the table," she told the paper.

She plans to start a new website that will compete with Deadline, Variety and other entertainment industry publications, the report said.

Detroit asks judge to approve $350M debt deal

DETROIT — The city of Detroit officially asked a federal judge Tuesday to approve a deal to borrow up to $350 million to pay off a disastrous interest-rate transaction from 2005 and improve city services.

Last month, Michigan's largest city secured a loan of up to $350 million from London-based Barclays, showing that investors still are willing to consider investing in Detroit despite the city's Chapter 9 bankruptcy. In a filing Tuesday, the city said the deal reflects "sound business judgment and should be approved."

STORY: How the Motor City went bust
STORY: Myths, truths about Detroit's bankruptcy

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes must first determine that Detroit is eligible for bankruptcy and then must sign off on the financing transaction. Rhodes set a hearing for 10 a.m. Nov. 14 to consider the city's request to file a letter on the deal's fees under seal.

Creditors — including the city's largest employee union, Michigan Council 25 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees — are expected to object to the deal.

Detroit City Council voted unanimously last month to recommend the state's Emergency Loan Board deny the financing deal but failed to offer an alternative.

To get the loan, which will carry a minimum interest rate of 3.5%, the city had to agree to terms favorable to Barclays, which would get priority over unsecured creditors such as general obligation bonds and pensioners if the city became unable to make payments.

The loan also must be paid off when the city exits bankruptcy, which emergency manager Kevyn Orr hopes to do by September. That raises the possibility that the city expects to free up enough cash flow during the bankruptcy to pay off the loan or expects to complete a separate round of financing to pay off Barclays.

Several events could lead the city to default on the loans, including if the "city ceases to be under the control of an emergency manager for a period of thirty (30) days unless a Trans! ition Advisory Board or consent agreement reasonably determined by (Barclays) to ensure continued financial responsibility shall have been established," according to the agreement.

In Tuesday's filing, the city said it expects to save about $50 million by using the Barclays cash to pay off a pension debt interest-rate transaction called swaps, which UBS and Bank of America Merrill Lynch now hold.

The Kwame Kilpatrick administration committed to pay steady interest rates of about 6% on a $1.4 billion pension borrowing deal, but the deal backfired when interest rates plummeted and the city's credit rating collapsed.

The city pledged its casino taxes as collateral for the swaps in 2009 to avoid an immediate payment of up to $300 million to $400 million, putting the city's most reliable revenue stream at risk.

Miller Buckfire investment banker Ken Buckfire negotiated a deal with the banks to get rid of the swaps for as low 75 cents on the dollar, which would free up the casino revenue to be pledged again.

To get the new money, the city is pledging a combination of income and casino tax revenues and the "net cash proceeds" from any money from the sale of city assets that fetch more than $10 million. Assets would be pledged only if they are sold for cash. The city is weighing the sale of assets such as Detroit Institute of Arts property and parking garages.

The city said it would use some of the money to invest in "blight removal, public safety and technology infrastructure" as part of emergency manager Kevyn Orr's plan to invest $1.25 billion over 10 years in improved services.

Fort Ross ale lives up to Anchor’s tradition

Beer Man is a weekly profile of beers from across the country and around the world.

This week: Fort Ross Farmhouse Ale

Anchor Brewing Co., San Francisco

www.anchorbrewing.com

Anchor Brewing Co. existed before there was anything called a craft brewery. At one time, way back in the early 1970s, its Anchor Steam, Porter, Old Foghorn barleywine and Liberty Ale were among the few craft beers available in stores besides imports.

All of those beers still stand the test of time, along with the brewery's annual Christmas beer, which features a different recipe each season. It was a nice surprise recently to see a new release from them, the Fort Ross Farmhouse Ale, which is part of its Zymaster Series specialty line.

The 7.2% ABV ale contains yerba santa, an herbal plant that has leaves used in Mexican recipes, such as tamales and mole verde, and has traditional medicinal values. The main flavors attributed to the herb are anise or root beer.

First, Fort Ross is a very good farmhouse or saison ale. It had a nice apricot and grain aroma to start things off and poured a nice orange-amber color. The apricot was present in the flavor, along with subtle hints of licorice in the background from the yerba santa. The use of the herb was just right, not taking away from the main flavors of the ale, yet providing a unique profile.

A slight pine flavor from the hops also hovered in the background and added a touch more bitterness than might be typical for a farmhouse ale, but again, didn't take away from the main flavors. The ale was clean and crisp on the tongue and had a slightly dry finish.

All in all, a good farmhouse ale that strays from its European counterparts with some slight American modifications from the hops. I look forward to trying its next Zymaster beer, the Harvest One American Pale Ale. It is said to use a new experimental hop that gives off flavors and aromas of peach and melon.

Fort Ross Farmhouse Ale is available in 26 states; its Beer Finder l! ink is here.

Many beers are available only regionally. Check the brewer's website, which often contains information on product availability. Contact Todd Haefer at beerman@postcrescent.com. To read previous Beer Man columns Click here.