Ireland to exit Europe's emergency room

Ireland is hoping for a brighter future when its painful 3-year bailout by the EU and IMF ends next month.

LONDON (CNNMoney) Three years after turning to the EU and International Monetary Fund for €85 billion in aid, Ireland is poised to become the first bailed-out eurozone country to make a full return to financial markets.

Ireland was brought to the brink of collapse in 2010 by a real estate crash that forced the government to backstop the country's banks, sending its budget deficit soaring and the cost of new borrowing to punitive levels.

The rescue package was made up of €45 billion worth of emergency loans from the EU, €22.5 billion from the IMF and €17.5 billion from Ireland's own reserves and pensions.

In return, the government pledged to introduce a four-year austerity plan, including deep cuts in spending and public sector employment, higher taxes and a lower minimum wage.

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By the end of 2014, the savings will have totaled €16.4 billion, equivalent to about 10% of annual gross domestic product.

The Irish government said Thursday that it would exit the program as planned on December 15, choosing to forego the security of a credit line from the EU's bailout fund.

That will leave it completely exposed to the whim of the market, and unable to access the European Central Bank's untested bond-buying program at a time when the outlook for the broader European economy remains shrouded in uncertainty.

Ireland's economy is growing again, unemployment is falling, and the budget deficit is due to fall to below 3% of GDP in 2015. But the country's debt pile is among the highest in the EU, at about 125% of GDP.

Ireland said it was confident it could go it alone because borrowing costs had fallen dramatically -- currently around 3.5% for its 10-year bond, compared with 9% in 2010 -- and €20 billion of cash reserves would cover its funding needs until early 2015, a view shared by the IMF.

"Although uncertainties remain in Europe and the global economy more broadly, Ireland is in a strong position in terms of its bond yields and has built a sizable cash buffer," said IMF managing director Christine Lagarde.

The conclusion of the rescue package is a rare piece of good news for policymakers in Europe, where the economy is flatlining. Portugal's bailout expires in June 2014 but its bond yields are stil! l at a painful 5.8%, and Greece is struggling to plug a hole in its second bailout program. Cyprus, the fourth eurozone recipient of a sovereign bailout, is contracting rapidly.

"Graduation from the program will send a very clear signal to markets and international lenders that the adjustment effort undertaken in Ireland, with the support of its European and international partners, has paid off," said EU finance chief Olli Rehn.

Internet sector downgraded by Morgan Stanley

Internet stocks have been hot this year, but the sector may be about to cool down, according to one of the leading investment banks covering the sector.

"We see a more balanced risk-reward following strong performance," Morgan Stanley analysts, led by Scott Devitt, wrote in a note to investors Monday.

The Internet stocks they cover, including Amazon, Facebook and Google, are up 57% so far this year on average, while the benchmark Nasdaq Composite Index has gained about 28%.

"Outperformance has been driven by multiple expansion rather than positive estimate revisions," Devitt and his colleagues added. "Consequently, we believe current valuations could be full despite strong secular trends."

The analysts cut their industry view to "in-line" from "attractive." That means they expect Internet stocks to return about the same as the broader market over the next 12 to 18 months, rather than beat it.

They also took Google off Morgan Stanley's Best Idea list, arguing that most of the catalysts for that stock's gains have already played out.

Investors have been betting that companies in the sector will have a much bigger market to tap as tech-savvy, younger generations mature and enter their heavy-spending years when they buy cars, houses and many other expensive items. The hope is that these consumers will do most of their searching and spending over the web, boosting revenue and profits of the leading Internet companies.

Devitt and his fellow analysts call this the "total addressable market," or TAM, investment strategy.

"There may not be enough TAM for all of our companies to achieve long-term estimates," they wrote. "We could see a return to a more valuation-sensitive investment process as the fallacy of a broadening TAM approach to investing becomes more evident to the market" possibly in 2014.

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Morgan St! anley's estimates for 2014 earnings, before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, have increased 1% to 2% so far this year, while the value of Internet companies has jumped 57%, the analysts noted.

Boyd Investors Bet on New Jersey Online Gambling Success

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Boyd Gaming (BYD) rallied sharply, a 4.08% one-day spike, on Tuesday, the same day that online gaming became legal in New Jersey.

Boyd shares are still down over 27% from the Oct. 18 high of $14.35, so my enthusiasm for BYD is muted at best. The company announced earlier Tuesday its Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa has been authorized by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement to offer real-money online gaming to the general public in the state.

Boyd Gaming also announced that following an initial trial period, two Borgata-branded gaming sites were approved by the Division of Gaming Enforcement to accept wagers from the general public in the state of New Jersey. The Garden State joins Nevada and Delaware in allowing online casino games. Mississippi is reportedly examining the same kind of tolerance for online gaming in its jurisdiction.

If you have the taste for this kind of activity you might want to check out an example of what a Borgata gaming site, one dedicated especially for online poker, looks like. It appears the same site also has other games and gambling activities using this Web address.

"The launch of our first real-money online gaming product is an exciting milestone for our company," Keith Smith, president and CEO of Boyd Gaming, said in a statement. "Boyd Gaming views online gaming as a compelling opportunity to further grow and diversify our operations, and the launch of our New Jersey online product is the most significant step yet in that effort."

Will BYD profit from this new online opportunity? Investors are already betting that it will. But before you ante up too much for the shares of the stock, consider the other operations and holdings of this purveyor of casinos.

Headquartered in Las Vegas, Boyd Gaming has a market cap of $1.1 billion and claims that it "...is a leading diversified owner and operator of 22 gaming entertainment properties located in Nevada, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, ! Mississippi and New Jersey."

Before I comment on one person's experience at a BYD's property in Las Vegas, let me remind you that there's already an outcry of opposition against online gambling. Former U.S. senator from Arkansas Blanche Lincoln spoke out on CNBC against online gambling on the same day it became legal in New Jersey.

She stated, "I think it's going to be very difficult to work something out. You know, I know that states are interested in the revenue that it could bring in there. But is it really worth...the kind of damages that it could cause?" Lincoln was speaking out as a part of the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling. You can hear Lincoln's comments by clicking here.

From the perspective of the coalition, allowing Internet gambling in New Jersey was done "in the dark of night. It was done without public input. It was done without congressional input," she said. "I think it's important to put a time-out on this and to stop and think about what it's going to mean to us as a nation in our economy, to our children and to our society."

After all, who needs online gambling when a gambler could have a decent chance of making some money on the stock market and still limit downside risk using trailing stops?

On the other hand, when a person gambles, they can't lose more than they bet, right? Yet, from my training in clinical psychology I can't help but remember the compulsive-addictive qualities of every kind of gambling. To be able to do it privately, in your pajamas, online while sucking on a Tootsie Roll pop and sitting in your living room could be an introverted gambling addict's dream. Can you picture that?

A colleague of mine recently went to a Boyd property in Vegas called the Orleans Hotel. He had stayed there before, and when I asked him what he noticed this time his first words were, "They were busy, much more than in 2009 and 2010. Not far from 2005-06 levels from doing floor counts on machines and tables."

He said the poker room was busy on all days relative to the day of the week and the parking lot was relatively full on each day of the week. Sounds good so far for BYD investors. But he brought up some other points that could make a poker player pucker, such as that the "room rate is still very depressed."

The Orleans isn't Boyd's only casino ho! tel but from what I could ascertain it targets the lower to mid-level economic demographics. In other words they don't attract a lot of "high rollers" and VIPs who are big spenders. My colleague said that when he was there "the VIP lobby/lounge was dead. No lines for any restaurants at any time including the buffet during dinner hours." That could be a red flag unless you're an ardent speculator/trader.

Shares of BYD are trading at close to a forward (one-year) PE ratio of nearly 50. In the quarter ending Sept. 30, the company's trailing 12-month (TTM) revenue increased about 21% to $2.84 billion, yet its TTM diluted earnings-per-share (EPS) equated to a loss of $10.16 per share. It's a wonder the stock trades as high as it did Tuesday at $10.46.

It doesn't pay a dividend either (imagine that, "The House" not paying out), but it reported in the last quarter that it had levered free cash flow (TTM) of over $550 million. CEO Smith is betting his own money on Boyd's future fortunes. As of Nov. 7 he owned 632,473 shares of BYD worth over $6,615,667. That should muster a little extra confidence for other shareholders.

The analysts who follow BYD aren't too ebullient about the current quarter's numbers either. Although their consensus estimate for revenue is that it will be up almost 12%, they anticipate the company will have another losing quarter when it comes to EPS. It'll take a whole cruise-liner filled with online gaming revenue to surprise to the upside in a meaningful way, if you catch my drift.

My conclusion is that, at best, Boyd Gaming is a "wait-and-see" investment, if you don't mind the way the company makes its money.

If you're tempted to do some online gaming in the states where it's legal, you might prefer to take that money and bet it on shares of publicly traded companies that appear to be far behind the eight ball such as  Intel (INTC) and Nuance Communications (NUAN), which plunged over 18% Tuesday to a new 52-week low. NUAN is one of Carl Icahn's investments, and if you want to learn why it crashed read this article. You might find the company a better gamble than BYD.

At the time of publication the author had no position in any of the stocks mentioned.

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This article was written by an independent contributor, separate from TheStreet's regular news coverage.

Marc Courtenay is the founder and owner of Advanced Investor Technologies, LLC, as well as the publisher and editor of www.ChecktheMarkets.com.

Courtenay holds a Master's of Science degree in Psychology from California Polytechnic State University, and is a former senior vice-president of Investments for two major brokerage firms. He's been a fiercely independent investment "investigator" and a consulting contributor to the investment publishing world for over 30 years. In addition to his role as an investment publisher and analyst, he serves as a marketing consultant to the investment media industries.

In his role as a financial editor, he specializes in unique investment strategies, overlooked stock investments, energy and resource companies, precious metals, emerging growth companies, the prudent use of option strategies,real estate related opportunities,wealth preservation, money-saving offers, risk management, tax issues, as well as "the psychology of investing". Because of his training and background in Clinical Counseling and Psychology, he enjoys writing about investor behavior, the ¿herd mentality, how to turn investment mistakes into investment breakthroughs and the stock market's behavioral trends and patterns.  

Obama officials meet with insurance CEOs

Obama's health and human services chief Kathleen Sebelius will meet with health insurance CEOs at the White House on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (CNNMoney) As technical issues continue to plague the sign-up for Obamacare, several major health insurer CEOs are headed to Washington to talk to White House officials Wednesday.

Aetna (AET, Fortune 500) CEO Mark Bertolini, Wellpoint (WLP, Fortune 500) CEO Joseph R. Swedish and Humana Inc. (HUM, Fortune 500) CEO Bruce Broussard will attend the meeting, representatives of those companies confirmed.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will meet with the CEOs, CNN confirmed Wednesday.

On Oct. 1, the Affordable Care Act started allowing consumers to shop and sign up for subsidized health insurance coverage. But the President's signature healthcare sign-up Web page has not been able to keep up with the traffic volume and been plagued by glitches, making it tough for Americans to sign up for insurance coverage.

Wellpoint is one of the larger participants in Obamacare, with health exchanges in 14 states where it operates on Blue Cross Blue Shield licenses.

Aetna offers coverage in 10 states, through Aetna or Coventry Health Care, which was acquired this spring, spokeswoman Cynthia Michener confirmed. The firm is also offering coverage in seven other states, but just in "limited geographic areas," she said.

Aetna has received much criticism for withdrawing from a number of states where it had originally applied to offer health insurance, including California, New York and New Jersey.

Humana is another larger participant offering insurance on state health exchanges in Illinois, Mississippi, Kentucky and Colorado, among others.

Cigna (CI, Fortune 500) CEO David Cordani was invited but was unable to attend, according to a spokesman.

In an interview with CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Sebelius said Tuesday she and her department are concerned about the technical problems surrounding the Obamacare website's rollout.

The site was supposed to make it simple for people to search and sign up for new health care policies starting on Oct. 1. But instead, it has been clunky and, at times, inoperable.

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"We're not at all satisfied with the workings of the website," Sebelius said. "We want it to be smooth and easy, and let consumers compare plans."

The Secretary attributed some of the problems to "extremely high" volume, saying nearly 20 million people have come to the Obamacare website in the first three weeks after it launched.

Yet only a fraction of those visitors have signed up for new health-care policies.

In the meantime, a team of high-tech experts from within the government and from Silicon Valley is going to tackle the issues, Sebelius said. Jeff Zients, acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, will lead the team.

Besides Sebelius, the insurance chiefs will meet with White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough and Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to President Obama, according to Politico, which first reported the meeting.

-- CNN's Laura Koran, Kevin Liptak, Greg Botelho and Holly Yan contributed to this report.

Memory loss can put retirement savings at risk

Paul Geisert was always tech savvy and good at managing his finances until one day seven years ago when he couldn't complete his tax return. The TurboTax software that he normally used seemed complicated. And when he went out to eat, he found it hard to estimate the tip.

Geisert, then 73, quickly realized that he couldn't ignore the problem. He went to a doctor for mental tests. They confirmed that his slippage in finances was a sign of mild cognitive impairment, or MCI.

Fortunately, Geisert could turn to his wife, Mynga Futrell, for support. The couple also hired a CPA to handle their taxes, and Geisert decided to stop driving. "I really don't work now," he says. "But I have things to do. I take care of the dog. I still do the yard work, and I repair some things in the house."

Geisert's story should be a wakeup call to Baby Boomers. They not only have to make sure their nest eggs can last all their retirement years, but they also need to start planning for financial care before they experience memory loss and can't make smart financial decisions.

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Already, older Americans are losing $2.9 billion a year to financial abuse, according to a 2011 study by MetLife Mature Market Institute.

And financial exploitation is considered much worse because many older Americans, especially those who have MCI are unlikely to report fraud. That's because they may not recognize a scam or they may be too embarrassed to tell anyone.

MCI is considered much less serious than dementia, but is "much more scary in terms of the likelihood that you'll still be behind the wheel of your financial life," says David Laibson, professor of economics at Harvard University.

MCI is more common among older Americans than Boomers may realize. It affects about 20% of Americans over age 70, according to the American College of Physicians.

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"We don't l! ike to look ahead to things like that," says Futrell, Geisert's wife. "But it's necessary to invest some resources into planning and try to cover your bases. And then if those things don't happen, lucky you."

How to prepare for memory loss

• Develop a support team. It should include those who are willing to take care of you on a daily basis and those you can trust to take care of your finances, says Louise Schroeder, a financial planner in Stillwater, Okla., who specializes in planning for aging successfully. Make sure that they are willing to handle these responsibilities and understand your wishes and how you want your finances handled, she says.

Unfortunately, it's not always easy to find younger family members to rely on. The Baby Boomer generation is the largest in U.S. history. As they are growing older and living longer, their family members are fewer and living much further apart.

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Some people may prefer to rely on a lawyer or a financial adviser they know and trust. But if your adviser is older than you are, be sure the firm also has younger employees you can rely on. Some financial planners, such as Locker Financial Services in Little Falls, N.J., are adding elder-life advisers to provide more support for aging clients.

• Prepare documents. After you decide on whom you will rely, you need to put it in writing. By creating a power of attorney document (POA), you will give a person authority to act on your behalf if you are incapacitated.

Be sure you also have medical directives, which include a living will and health care proxy. And keep copies of your documents in a place at home where they are easily accessible.

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You also should consider writing down a list of your desires and goals in case you have cognitive impairment and end up living in a nursing home. "Think about these things as a way to maintain control over your future! ," says J! anet. L. Lowder, elder law attorney at Hickman & Lowder in Cleveland. Because if you have not done this and suddenly have cognitive impairment, others can make decisions for you that you don't want.

• Simplify your investments. "A very complicated portfolio, with all sorts of individual stocks, non-publicly traded investments, related partnerships, is not good for an 85-year-old person to be running," Laibson says.

Before you reach that age, either delegate control to a very trustworthy adviser or change your portfolio to less-complex financial investments. Some people prefer to buy an annuity because, even if costly, it provides a steady stream of income.

Many people in their 60s start planning to move to a warm climate and live in a one-story home so they don't have to climb upstairs. But just as their knees will get creakier as they get older, their brains will react differently. A recent study of brain scans found that older Americans often have misplaced trust in others, says the University of California-Los Angeles research.

Their skills for making good financial decisions can start deteriorating as early as early to mid-50s, according to Shelley Taylor, lead UCLA researcher. That's why it's important to plan ahead and rely on close friends and family members as you grow older.

But not all older Americans are willing to listen to family members. Jody Thomas, vice president for the Better Business Bureau of Greater Maryland, became worried about her 81-year-old stepmother when her father, who is 86, mentioned that the couple often went to many free financial investment lunches. And he told Thomas that her stepmother had invested most of her money in real estate investment trusts.

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"I went to FINRA's (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) website and started finding out about investment fraud and senior abuse," Thomas says. "! And REITs! are given as one example of unsuitable investments for senior citizens."

When Thomas tried to bring up the issue with her father and stepmother, they became upset and refused to talk about it. "I know this is a really difficult subject," she says. "It has a lot to do with fear of losing independence."

Pitfall of working for Amazon: Mental illness?

It's just about that most wonderful time of the year: for holiday shoppers, and for Amazon, which CNN last month reported would be hiring 70,000 seasonal workers to beef up the staffing at its more than 40 U.S. fulfillment centers.

Last year, thousands of these workers were converted to full-time employees, making it a good gig if you can get it, right?

Not according to a BBC investigation, which had an undercover reporter work the night shift in a U.K. Amazon warehouse. He showed what he filmed to Michael Marmot, a leading job stress expert.

Marmot's conclusion: The working conditions were "all the bad stuff at once." He continued: "The characteristics of this type of job, the evidence shows increased risk of mental illness and physical illness."

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The 23-year-old reporter worked as a "picker"; a handset would flag an item for him to retrieve and place on a trolley in the 800,000-square-foot space. He was given 33 seconds per product, with his handset counting down the clock each time; it beeped if he made an error, and also sent data to his managers.

The reporter said that in one 10.5-hour night shift, he walked "or hobbled" almost 11 miles, noting afterward, "I'm absolutely shattered."

Amazon described the picking job as "similar to jobs in many other industries and does not increase the risk of mental and physical illness," and noted that new hires are told some positions can be physically demanding.

Meanwhile, Reuters reports that German workers at two Amazon centers are today striking for better pay. (Who isn't likely to complain about Amazon? Its top reviewers, who get major freebies.)

Newser is a USA TODAY content partner providing general news, commentary and coverage from around the Web. Its content is produced independently of USA TODAY.

GM aims to grab attention with revamped Chevrol…

At age 50, the Chevrolet Malibu is having a midlife crisis.

But General Motors hopes to provide direction with a quick redesign and an emotional new marketing campaign, all aimed at giving the Malibu a fighting chance in the cutthroat midsize sedan segment.

The 2014 Malibu is now reaching dealerships. Production started a few weeks ago at plants in Fairfax, Kan., and Detroit-Hamtramck.

The upgrades, which include Chevy's first use of stop-start engine technology, come about a year after Malibu's total redesign that quickly sputtered against segment leader Toyota Camry and lagged well behind the Honda Accord, Nissan Altima and Ford Fusion. Sales of the Malibu fell 14% for the first nine months of 2013, despite heavy incentives.

In that period, Malibu sales totaled 154,950, fewer than half Camry's sales (318,990) and more than 70,000 lower than Fusion sales.

"We recognize that we need to be our best to grow our brand, to grow our share. That's the point of the new Malibu. We had a great product, but we needed to make it better," said Chris Perry, Chevrolet's head of U.S. marketing.

Industry observers blamed Malibu's slow start on a lengthy, phased rollout of the redesigned 2013 Malibu models, which started in February 2012, and a tepid marketing campaign.

GM is introducing two new options — a 2.5-liter, standard four-cylinder and a 2-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder engine — at the same time. The standard 2014 Malibu starts at $22,965.

Perry said GM is willing to shift gears quickly when a new product needs a mid-cycle boost.

"That's something you wouldn't have expected from General Motors, quite honestly: that 18 months into it, we recognized that we needed to up our game, and that's what we did," he said.

The automaker also showed off two new TV ads for the Malibu, featuring sentimental family scenes and a new tagline — "The car for the richest guys on Earth." They will start appearing this week, with Chevrolet buying significant time dur! ing the Major League Baseball playoffs.

To get consumers' attention, Perry said the automaker is promoting the upgraded Malibu the way it would treat an all-new redesign. He said the Malibu media buy is bigger than Chevrolet's campaign for the Sonic, but smaller than what it is spending on the 2014 Chevrolet Silverado.

Among the changes for 2014:

• Voice texting. The new Malibu uses Apple's Siri voice-recognition technology that enables drivers to send text messages by speaking rather than typing on their iPhones. The system was introduced in Chevy's Spark minicar.

• A stop-start system. The system turns the engine off when the vehicle comes to long stops and instantly turns it on when the driver releases the brake. Chevy says it is good for a 14% increase in city gas mileage.

Malibu chief engineer Todd Pawlik said his team worked to make the stop-start experience unnoticeable for drivers: "If it's seamless, it's not even stop-start to them. It's just a good fuel economy vehicle."

• Better gas mileage. The standard 2.5-liter, four-cylinder engine gets 36 miles per gallon on the highway and 25 mpg. in the city, up 2 mpg. and 3 mpg, respectively, thanks to a new variable valve intake system and changes to the six-speed automatic.

With the better mileage, Chevrolet eliminated the premium, extra-cost Malibu Eco package, with GM's mild-hybrid eAssist technology.

• Styling updates. The 2014 gets a new grille and front fascia. And the interior got updates for a simpler, but more upscale look.

• Chassis changes. The suspension has been tweaked for better ride and handling.

Houston Astros owner sues Comcast, NBC, ex-owner

HOUSTON (AP) — Houston Astros owner Jim Crane has sued the team's former owner and a pair of media companies, alleging he's lost possibly hundreds of millions of dollars because they misrepresented the value of a regional television network that broadcasts Astros games.

The lawsuit, filed in state court in Houston on Thursday, accuses former Astros owner Drayton McLane Jr., as well as Comcast and NBC Universal Media of fraud, misrepresentation and conspiracy. The suit also accuses McLane of breach of contract.

Astros games are broadcast in the Houston area on Comcast SportsNet Houston. When Crane bought the Astros in 2011 for $615 million, part of that included a more than 40% stake in the regional television network.

But only 40% of the city's television households could view games this year; most cable providers in the area did not have carriage agreements.

In his lawsuit, Crane alleges that McLane fraudulently boosted the value of the network by false representing the subscription fees that providers would pay. The lawsuit says McLane knew these rates were "too high and that other distributors would not agree to pay the rate."

At a news conference Friday, Crane said the network's failings have cost the team "tens, probably hundreds" of millions of dollars in revenue and if the network deal stays in place, losses would continue for years.

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"We now face a situation where either we accept millions of dollars in loss each year, with the damage to this franchise and this city for next 20 years, or we fight back," Crane said. "I did not buy this team to have a low payroll and be mediocre. We bought this team to win championships and we bought part of this network so our fans can watch the games."

In September, affiliates of Comcast filed an involuntary bankruptcy petition on behalf of Comcast SportsNet Houston. The petition was m! ade after the Astros had indicated the team likely would end its agreement with the network. The Astros are asking that the petition be dismissed.

Comcast, which owns NBC Universal, said it rejected any claims of wrongdoing.

"It appears that Mr. Crane is suffering from an extreme case of buyer's remorse, and aiming to blame the network's challenges on anything but his own actions," Comcast said in a statement. "Comcast/NBCUniversal looks forward to vindicating itself in this litigation and also remains committed to a reorganization of the network in bankruptcy court."

McLane said in a statement the sale of the Astros was "absolutely transparent" and his side had provided thousands of pages of documents and answers to all questions that Crane and his representatives had.

"This was one of the most complex and scrutinized transactions of my business career," McLane said. "The accusations that have been reported are hollow and appear to be an attempt to recreate the facts."

The other partner in the network, the Houston Rockets, is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit, even though the suit says that Rockets owner Leslie Alexander also was aware the subscription fees the network was proposing were too high.

The Astros had the lowest payroll in the majors this year at about $29.3 million as they finished a major league-worst 51-111, their third straight 100-loss season.

Crane said the network's ongoing problems won't change plans he had to increase the payroll sign free agents.

"We won't let this alter the on field success," he said.

Bharara Takes Bank of America to Court Over 'The Hustle'

Tuesday, The Hustle goes on trial.

The Department of Justice and Bank of America(BAC) will go head-to-head Tuesday morning as the government attempts to hold the bank liable for allegedly misrepresenting the quality of loans sold to mortgage-finance firms Fannie Mae(FNMA) and Freddie Mac(FMCC).

The case revolves around government allegations that, starting in 2007, Countrywide created a program it called “the hustle” to increase the speed of loans it originated and then sold to Fannie and Mac.

The complaint alleges that “Countrywide eliminated every significant checkpoint on loan quality and compensated employees based solely on the volume of loans it originated, leading to rampant instances of fraud.”

“Countrywide implemented the ‘Hustle’ … which reduced the amount of time spent processing and underwriting conventional loans, thereby boosting loan volume and revenue,” the DOJ complain reads. “[T]he aim of the Hustle … was to have loans ‘move forward, never backward.’”

The government has also brought a civil suit against the program’s director, former Countrywide executive Rebecca Mairone. Ms. Mairone couldn’t be reached for comment.

The DOJ case against the bank has made a swift journey to federal court in Manhattan after it was filed last October. Tuesday, a jury trial will begin on the case that is expected to last about four weeks.

But the case, filed by the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan, Preet Bharara, has taken some hits over the last year. Potential damages have gone from billions of dollars to hundreds of millions.

In May, Judge Jed Rakoff threw out the government’s claim that mortgage-lender Countrywide, which was purchased by Bank of America in 2008, violated the federal False Claims Act. The act has become a popular tool for prosecutors seeking to hold banks accountable for alleged mortgage misdeed. It calls for triple damages when the government can show taxpayers were ripped off.

In February 2012, for example, Bank of America agreed to a $1 billion settlement under the act for allegations tied to Federal Housing Administration-backed loans. The bank settled without admitting wrongdoing. Three other large banks have agreed to pay a total of more than $490 million in similar cases, each accepting responsibility for “certain conduct.”

In the current BofA case, the government has been more successful in moving ahead with the civil charge that the bank violated another federal law, known as the Financial Institutions Reform Recovery Enforcement Act, or FIRREA, a 1989 law passed following the savings-and-loan crisis that imposes a relatively low burden of proof.

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Under FIRREA, the government needs to prove that false statements were made to a federally insured financial institution.

To prove that the bank violated the federal False Claims Act, the government needed to argue that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac qualified as government agencies that received false claims. The judge ultimately ruled against the government on that assertion.

Larry Platt, a partner at the law firm K&L Gates LLP, said that two issues arose from the False Claims Act allegation. One is that the government needed to prove that when mortgage-finance firms purchased mortgages for securitization, they were making a claim on the government, and not just making a normal commercial transaction. He also said that historically, the Department of Justice has taken the position that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are not government agencies.

Why You Should Buy Hedge Funds' 5 Favorite Stocks

BALTIMORE (Stockpickr) – Tick. Tick. Tick. Hear that? It's time slipping away between now and the end of 2013.

If you're a hedge fund manager, that's a very worrying sound. After all, with the S&P 500 up 25% since the start of the year after yesterday's record high close, performance expectations are high this year. And for the funds that were underexposed to stocks to start the year, that presents a real gap that needs to be filled before the calendar flips over to January again.

That's not just the case for a few select fund managers; as a group, hedge funds were underweight stocks coming into the year, and many bet on a down move in the S&P back in June. That means that there's lots of money in search of returns for the final months of the year.

And some stocks are attracting more hedge fund dollars than others this quarter...

So today, we'll take a look at the five stocks that hedge funds love the most right now. To do that, we're focusing on 13F filings.

Institutional investors with more than $100 million in assets are required to file a 13F -- a form that breaks down their stock positions for public consumption. From hedge funds to mutual funds to insurance companies, any professional investors who manage more than that $100 million watermark are required to file a 13F.

In total, approximately 3,400 firms file 13F forms each quarter, and by comparing one quarter's filing to another, we can see how any single fund manager is moving their portfolio around. While the data is generally delayed by about a quarter, that's not necessarily a bad thing – research shows that applying a lag to institutional holdings can generate positive alpha in some cases. That's all the more reason to crack open the moves being made with hedge funds $300 billion under management.

Today, we'll focus on hedge funds' 5 favorite stocks from the last quarter...

Facebook

I've made no secret that I'm not a fan of Facebook's (FB) stock. Hedge fund managers don't have the same concerns right now – they picked up 5.35 million shares in the last quarter, boosting their positions in the social network by 50%. That means that hedge funds are making a $790 million bet on Facebook right now.

I'll concede that some things have changed. The technicals have made a complete about-face since I last talked about FB, and the fundamentals are... well, not horrific. But FB still has to do a lot in order to grow into its valuation. Until that happens, the firm has size on its side -- Facebook is the incumbent social networking site, drawing more time from users than any other destination on the web. The personal information on Facebook's servers is extremely valuable, and FB is using it to drive targeted ads. But Facebook needs to generate more revenues by adding value to the user experience, not detracting it with advertising that's only marginally relevant to what they're doing on the site.

Online gaming has been a perfect example of the direction that Facebook should be moving in, even if it makes some analysts nervous. Marketing intelligence is another. An abundance of net cash on its balance sheet gives FB the dry powder to invest in taking its business a step further. Even though hedge funds bought more shares of Facebook than any other name this past quarter, I'm still skeptical.

 

Apple

On the other hand, I am a fan of Apple (AAPL). I own it too. And so do hedge funds apparently -- funds picked up 119,000 shares of the tech giant in the latest quarter, raising their total bet on Apple to $2.39 billion.

Apple has spent most of 2013 as a hated stock. While the S&P 500 has absolutely rocketed this year, its biggest component has managed to slip around 2% year-to-date. Yes, ouch.

But the hate is very overblown -- despite all of the competition and risk, Apple remains a cash cow. Apple's margins are, by far, the biggest in the industry, and while the firm has ceded market share in order to keep margins, that decision has helped the firm hang onto the most lucrative segment of customers. iOS users spend more time on their devices than owners of other devices, and they spend more on apps too. With numbers in for the iPhone 5s and 5c, it's clear that the naysayers were wrong – and early on, the newest iterations of the iPad are moving fast for the holiday season.

Considering the dominance of the iOS products, the Macintosh has been on most analysts' back burners for years now. But that could change thanks to a new Mac Pro offering set to launch next month and refreshed MacBook Pros. The halo effect is still keeping consumers in the Apple ecosystem, and Apple's recently announced policy of free software updates should help spur more Mac-buying in the year ahead. With a mountain of cash on the books, Apple looks cheap right now.

General Motors

It's been a great year for carmakers, and that's shining through in shares of General Motors (GM) -- since the first trading session of the year, GM's shares have climbed more than 33%. Hedge fund managers must think that it'll keep on driving higher; that's why funds picked up 7.69 million shares of the Detroit automaker, ratcheting their position to $1.21 billion.

General Motors has had a tumultuous five years. The firm emerged from bankruptcy in 2009, after shedding a handful of unfruitful brands, unloading debt, and renegotiating union contracts. Worldwide, GM now operates 11 brands -- Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC, and Buick are the survivors here in the U.S. Along with cost cutting, GM has found big success in ramping up build quality, churning out cars that consumers actually want to own again.

Top 10 Medical Companies To Invest In 2014

The end result has been profitability – record profitability, in fact. The firm's breakeven points are drastically lower after slashing hourly labor costs by more than two-thirds, and that means that GM can realistically compete with imports (including those assembled here in the U.S.) again. Even though GM is certainly an American icon, some of its biggest growth opportunities are coming from abroad right now. In fact, nearly 70% of GM vehicles are sold outside of North America today, with a huge share coming from emerging-market countries such as China and Brazil.

Now, with a combination of bullish technical and fundamental factors in play, General Motors' upside trajectory should carry on into the new year.

Williams Partners

You'd be forgiven for thinking that natural gas pipeline owner Williams Partners (WPZ) is a commodity-driven stock. It certainly seems like one at first glance. But while this master limited partnership owns one of the largest midstream natural gas operations in the country, it's not a commodity-driven play. It's an income play.

Williams owns one of the largest pipeline networks in the country, transporting natgas in huge volumes. It also operates a huge midstream operation that gathers and processes natgas with a focus on the lucrative Marcellus shale. But more than three-quarters of WPZ's cash comes from fee-based sources that aren't subject to swings in commodity prices (the firm makes most of its money by charging customers to transport their gas). That, and the tax advantages of a MLP, mean that this stock was basically purpose-built for building income. And a huge 7.05% dividend yield proves it.

After spending several years in acquisition mode, Williams owns a mature portfolio of assets that should continue to pay off in the years to come. Hedge funds made a big bet on WPZ, buying up 6.22 million shares in the most recent quarter. Collectively, that entitles funds to a $62 million dividend payout in the year ahead.

Starwood Property Trust

Clearly, hedge fund managers have income generation on their minds right now. That's the only explanation for their stakes in another super-high yield name this quarter: Starwood Property Trust (STWD). Funds picked up 13.5 million shares of the commercial mortgage REIT, mounting up a $504 million stake. Currently, STWD pays out a 7.07% yield.

Starwood invests in mortgage debt, earning the spread between their cost of capital (through either debt or equity offerings) and what they're able to collect from borrowers. The real secret to the mortgage REIT model is leverage; by taking on relatively low-risk assets (like agency backed securities), STWD can lever up its balance sheet dramatically without ramping up risk nearly as much. That's how the firm can pay out such a large yield to its investors.

As a real estate investment trust, STWD pays out around 90% of its income directly to shareholders without being subjected to corporate income taxes -- that makes it a purpose-built income-generation machine. A recently announced plan to spin off its residential landlord unit into a new publicly traded REIT called Starwood Waypoint Residential Trust. The move should unlock some extra value for shareholders, especially in the accommodative REIT IPO market we're seeing this year.

If you're looking for income exposure right now, you could do a lot worse than to follow hedge funds into STWD.

To see these stocks in action, check out the Winter 2013 Institutional Buys portfolio on Stockpickr.



-- Written by Jonas Elmerraji in Baltimore.

RELATED LINKS:

 

>>4 Stocks Under $10 Moving Higher

 

>>5 Tech Stocks to Trade in November

 

>>2 Biotech Stocks Under $10 Triggering Breakouts

 

Follow Stockpickr on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

At the time of publication, author was long AAPL.

 

U.S. Stocks Rise as Dow Extends Record on Stimulus Bets

U.S. stocks rose, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average extending a record, as investors awaited retailer earnings reports to gauge the strength of consumer demand and the likelihood of cuts to monetary stimulus.

Transocean Ltd. added 3.6 percent after the offshore rig contractor agreed with investor Carl Icahn to propose a $3 per share dividend. ViroPharma Inc. jumped 26 percent as Shire Plc. bought the company for about $4.2 billion. Best Buy Co. rose 4.5 percent after a UBS AG analyst upgraded the stock. KKR & Co. fell 1.5 percent after it bought Brickman Group Ltd. for $1.6 billion.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index climbed 0.1 percent to 1,771.89 at 4 p.m. in New York to close within a point of its record. The Dow rose 21.32 points, or 0.1 percent, to 15,783.1. About 4.8 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges today, 21 percent below the three-month average. Bond markets were closed because of the Veterans Day holiday.

"Sometimes a boring day is nice,"John Carey, a portfolio manager at Pioneer Investment Management who oversees $200 billion in assets globally, said by phone from Boston. "People will be watching over the next few weeks to see if the Fed does decide to begin tapering this year. If earnings continue trending higher the support will be there for better share prices."

The S&P 500 added 0.5 percent last week for a fifth week of gains, the longest streak since February. Better-than-forecast data on jobs and growth indicated the economy is strong enough to withstand a reduction in Federal Reserve stimulus, even as consumer spending climbed last quarter at the slowest pace since 2011. There were no economic reports today.

Earnings Scorecard

Corporate earnings that surpassed estimates and unprecedented monetary support from the Federal Reserve have propelled the S&P 500 higher by more than 160 percent from a March 2009 low.

Of the 449 S&P 500 companies that have released third-quarter profits so far, 75 percent have beaten analysts' forecasts, data compiled by Bloomberg showed. Earnings per share for the companies on the gauge probably increased 4.7 percent in the third quarter, and will rise 6.2 percent in the fourth, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

"We can put in the books that the third quarter earnings season was another positive surprise," Phil Orlando, New York-based chief equity market strategist at Federated Investors, said by phone. His firm oversees about $380 billion in assets. "The market was way too pessimistic going in."

News Corp. was the only S&P 500 member to post results today, releasing its report after the market closed. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Macy's Inc. and Nordstrom Inc. are among retail companies reporting earnings later this week. Home Depot Inc. posts results on Nov. 19.

'Fairly Restrained'

"Investors want to know the strength of the U.S. consumer going into what might be a tepid holiday season," said Alison Porter, who helps oversee $108 billion as U.S. equities fund manager at Ignis Asset Management. "Consumer spending has been fairly restrained. With big retailers like Wal-Mart and Home Depot yet to report, we'll want to see whether that has picked up."

Economists still forecast the Fed will delay tapering asset purchases until March even after the payrolls data beat forecasts. Policy makers will probably pare the monthly pace of bond buying, known as quantitative easing, to $70 billion at their March 18-19 meeting from the current pace of $85 billion, according to the median of 32 estimates in a Bloomberg survey Nov. 8. The median forecast in an Oct. 17-18 survey of 40 economists also called for a cut to $70 billion in March.

"There's been a correlation between rising share prices and low interest rates and the QE program," Carey said. "People legitimately are wondering if and when the Fed begins the tapering."

Equity Valuations

The S&P 500 has rallied 24 percent in 2013, heading for the best annual gain in a decade. The gauge is trading at 16 times projected earnings, more than the five-year average of 14 times earnings, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Investors have poured money into exchange-traded funds tracking U.S. stocks, pushing assets in the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF above the Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets (VWO) ETF for the first time since 2010. The iShares S&P 500 fund manages $50.5 billion, compared with $48.3 billion for the ETF linked to shares of developing nations, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust is the world's largest ETF with about $156 billion.

'Look Deeper'

"Valuations are not as attractive and people need to look deeper into the market to find better value," Ignis' Porter said by phone from Glasgow.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index (VIX), which measures future volatility signaled by S&P 500 options, fell 2.9 percent to 12.53 today, a three-month low.

Six of 10 main S&P 500 groups advanced, with health-care stocks rising 0.2 percent to pace the gains. Phone shares fell 0.3 percent for the worst performance in the broader index.

Transocean rose 3.6 percent to $55.37. The company agreed with Icahn to pay about $1.1 billion in dividend and to increase margins by $800 million through cost cutting. Transocean will also back two of Icahn's nominees to the board, whose size will be cut to 11 directors from 14, according to a joint statement.

Deal Activity

ViroPharma rallied 26 percent to $49.42, it's highest since April 2000. Dublin-based Shire will pay $50 a share in cash for the maker of drugs that treat some rare diseases, according to a statement today.

Gogo Inc. (GOGO), a provider of in-flight Internet services, jumped 29 percent to a record $24.15 after the company raised its year-end revenue estimate. Itasca, Illinois-based Gogo reported a smaller third-quarter loss than analysts had expected.

Amazon.com Inc. rose 1.2 percent to $354.38. The world's biggest online retailer said it is teaming up with the U.S. Postal Service to offer Sunday delivery.

Best Buy added 4.5 percent to $44.33, the highest in almost three years. UBS analyst Michael Lasser upgraded the stock to buy from neutral. Lasser said he sees Best Buy estimates being pushed higher when the company reports third quarter earnings on Nov. 19.

FirstEnergy Corp. plunged 5.7 percent to $36.62, its biggest drop since May. The public utility holding company said yesterday it plans to spend $2.8 billion on transmissions through 2017.

Homebuilder Slump

An S&P index of homebuilders dropped 0.7 percent for a third day of declines. D.R. Horton Inc. (DHI), which reports earnings tomorrow, slid 0.4 percent to $18.06, the lowest in almost four weeks.

Denbury Resources Inc. plunged 5.9 percent to $18.20 for its biggest drop since June 2012 and the steepest slide in the S&P 500. The petroleum producer yesterday said it would initiate a regular quarterly dividend and not create a master limited partnership, something the company in May said it was considering.

KKR declined 1.5 percent to $23. The private-equity firm led by Henry Kravis and George Roberts agreed to buy landscape-maintenance company Brickman from Leonard Green & Partners LP for $1.6 billion.

Obama Stocks Among Best After Re-Election as Bull Market Tested

Even with the flawed roll out of health-care reform and uproar over spying, Barack Obama is enjoying one of the best stock markets for a re-elected president. Signs are building that it might not last.

This year's 24 percent jump in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index is the third-biggest annual rally after a president was returned to office since the 1930s, trailing Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The index has climbed 108 percent since Obama became president, adding more than $10 trillion in equity market value.

Record Federal Reserve stimulus, interest rates around zero percent and a doubling of corporate profits since they fell to a five-year low in 2008 helped sustain stock increases under Obama. The rally that began just after he took office now exceeds the average length of bull markets by almost a year and valuations are up 18 percent in 2013. Add to that prospects for the Fed to curtail stimulus, threatening higher borrowing costs, and the outlook for further gains under Obama is grimmer.

"The president came in at a highly unusual time with markets in complete disarray," Chad Morganlander, a Florham Park, New Jersey-based portfolio manager at Stifel Nicolaus & Co., which oversees about $130 billion, said by phone Nov. 6. "After the rally this year, we're fairly valued at best. The next stage of this will have to be an improving economic outlook and earnings outlook well above where we stand."

Republican Returns

While history shows re-elected Republicans have had better stock-market performance, with an average 5 percent gain in the first year of their second terms compared with a 1.2 percent loss for Democrats, 2013 is on track for the best return in a decade. This year's rally in the S&P 500 is the broadest on record, with shares of Assurant Inc., Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) and 442 more companies rising, data since 1990 compiled by Bloomberg show.

The Obama administration is fighting a global backlash over revelations that the National Security Agency spied on foreign leaders, hacked into fiber-optic cables to get data from Google Inc. and Yahoo! Inc. and intercepted communications of Americans without warrants. The president also has been defending his Affordable Care Act this month after website glitches delayed thousands of people from signing up for the health-insurance exchanges.

The S&P 500 rose 0.5 percent to 1,770.61 last week after gross domestic product and jobs reports were better than projected and Twitter Inc. (TWTR) almost doubled in its trading debut. The benchmark U.S. equity gauge capped its fifth straight weekly advance and hasn't fallen more than 10 percent since October 2011, the longest stretch without such a drop since 2007, according to S&P.

Rally Uninterrupted

"It's unusual that we've gone so long without at least a correction," Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott LLC, said from Philadelphia in a Nov. 6 phone interview. His firm oversees $58 billion. "If you just look at this from a valuation perspective, the market is rich. That doesn't mean we have to crash, but it does suggest that going forward, your return assumptions for U.S. equities should be much more muted than they have been."

Nine of the last 12 bull markets have ended in five years or less, data compiled by Bloomberg and Birinyi Associates Inc. show. The last cycle lasted exactly five years, with stocks climbing 102 percent from October 2002 through October 2007. The rally following World War II started in May 1947 and ended about a year later in June 1948.

Surprise Rise

At the start of 2013, Wall Street strategists forecast the S&P 500 would rally 7.6 percent to 1,534 by year's end. The index surpassed that level on March 5, then climbed another 15 percent. Stock gains have come as the Fed held its benchmark lending rate near zero percent since December 2008. The central bank also purchased more than $2.3 trillion of bonds in a quantitative easing program meant to stimulate the economy.

"What you often find in the first year after elections is not very good because you get into periods where the policies are tightening back up," James Paulsen, the Minneapolis-based chief investment strategist at Wells Capital Management, which oversees about $340 billion, said in a Nov. 5 phone interview. "But this period has been so mightily different because the Fed is doing a totally unconventional thing here."

The biggest equity-market advance to follow a president's re-election was in 1997 when Clinton started his second term. The S&P 500 gained 31 percent that year, extending a rally that began in 1990. That bull market lasted through 1998, with the S&P 500 up 302 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg and Birinyi.

Advance Prospects

More gains are possible in this bull market with interest rates likely to remain low for the next year and profits forecast to keep climbing, according to Lawrence Creatura, a Rochester, New York-based fund manager at Federated Investors Inc., which oversees about $367 billion.

"This can continue for a long time," Creatura said in a Nov. 6 phone interview. "This isn't physics, there's no Newton's Laws that state how long a bull market has to last," he said. "If you're going to forecast a market retracement you'll have to come up with a reason why earnings will falter."

S&P 500 profits beat analyst estimates by 4.1 percent last quarter and have avoided a contraction every quarter since 2009, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Analysts project they'll climb 10 percent in 2014 and 2015. Corporate earnings reached a record $2.1 trillion for the quarter ending June 30, more than twice the $1 trillion at the end of 2008, according to data since 1947 from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Lowered Expectations

Analysts forecast more earnings growth next year even as economists predict the Fed will begin tapering its stimulus. The central bank will curb the monthly purchases to $70 billion from $85 billion in March, according to the median of 32 estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Projections for fourth-quarter expansion in gross domestic product fell to about 2 percent compared with an earlier prediction for 2.5 percent, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Wall Street strategists say the S&P 500 will fall in the next two months, slipping 2.4 percent to 1,728 this year, according to the average of 19 estimates compiled by Bloomberg. This year's rally has made stocks more expensive, with the index trading at 16.8 times reported earnings, compared with about 14.2 in January.

Growth Slows

Assurant (AIZ), the insurer of foreclosed homes, has climbed 72 percent in 2013, extending the rally since the bull market started to 245 percent. Per-share profit the last two quarters exceeded analyst projections. Earnings growth at the New York-based company will slow to 1 percent next year and 5 percent in 2015, when sales contract, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Delta Air Lines Inc. has surged 127 percent in 2013 as the carrier probably boosted profit 70 percent, analyst estimates show. The Atlanta-based company's growth rate will slow to 1 percent next year, according to projections. The stock's 2013 gain is the fourth-best of S&P 500 companies.

Hess Corp. (HES)'s 52 percent rally left the shares trading at almost 27 times reported earnings, compared to 9.9 in January. Earnings for the New York-based company are forecast to contract 29 percent in the first three months of 2014 after a 17 percent expansion this quarter, according to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

"Clearly earnings growth has been slowing," Walter Todd, chief investment officer at Greenwood Capital Associates LLC in Greenwood, South Carolina, said in a Nov. 7 phone interview. He helps manage $950 million. "We're going to have to navigate that slowdown in earnings and monetary policy things like tapering. By definition it's going to be harder to keep going higher like this."

Chanos Indirectly Dings Brazil ETF...Again

The iShares MSCI Brazil Capped ETF (NYSE: EWZ) traded slightly higher in late trading Tuesday even after noted short-seller Jim Chanos, founder of Kynikos Associates, indirectly reiterated his bearish view on EWZ's two largest holdings.

Top Casino Companies For 2014

Speaking at the Bloomberg Markets 50 Conference, Chanos responded to a question from Bloomberg's Tom Keene about how to play the recent bounce in emerging markets by saying "I'm looking at Petrobras."

Related: As Dalio Dances Dangerously With Brazil, Chanos Smiles.

That may not be a direct bearish call on Petrobras (NYSE: PBR), Brazil's state-owned oil giant, but it was less than a year ago at the Ira Sohn Conference that Chanos called Petrobras and Vale (NYSE: VALE), the world's largest iron ore producer two of his favorite shorts.

Chanos told attendees at Ira Sohn that every dollar Petrobras brings in is flowing back out, but that production is declining. A recent auction for licenses to explore Brazil's Libra field was disappointing as some of the largest U.S. and European oil companies opted not to participate due to high production costs and difficulties in working with the Brazilian government.

Chanos added that the Bloomberg conference that countries with exposure to iron ore are in trouble over the next 12 months. Two Petrobras and two Vale securities combine for nearly 22 percent of EWZ's weight.

On Monday, in what was generally a bullish assessment of emerging markets, JPMorgan told investors to stay away from sectors that are value traps, a group that includes Brazilian banks, according to Bloomberg. Financial services is EWZ's largest sector weight at 27.6 percent.

EWZ, the largest Brazil ETF with nearly $6.2 billion in assets under management, is up almost 12 percent in the past month.

For more on ETFs, click here.

Top 10 Casino Companies For 2014

Wynn Resorts (WYNN) announced on Tuesday that it plans to run its online gaming business in Caesars Entertainment Corp’s hotel in New Jersey.

Wynn, which does not have any casinos in New Jersey, will run its online gaming business through computers at Caesars hotel in Atlantic city. Both Caesars and Wynn will be working with 888 Holdings Plc, one of Europe’s largest online gambling operators.

Currently, Wynn owns two destination casinos:�Wynn Las Vegas and Wynn Macau. The two casinos feature roughly 186,000 and 275,000 square feet of casino gaming space, respectively.

Top 10 Casino Companies For 2014: (XTRN)

Las Vegas Railway Express Inc. focuses to re-establish a conventional passenger train service between the Las Vegas and Los Angeles metropolitan areas. It plans to establish a ?Vegas-style? passenger train service. The company is based in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Top 10 Casino Companies For 2014: Umax Group Corp (UMAX)

Umax Group Corp., incorporated on March 21, 2011, is a development-stage company. The Company focuses to develop and distribute its product to the arcade and entertainment industry. The Company�� products include Rocket Launch, is Strength testing game which allows players to test their pushing/ throwing strength; Space Hockey, is a two player hockey game - each player must score as many as possible goals and Boxer, is a Simple punch testing game: insert coin/token/bill, press start button, hit the punch bag, wait for result, and try to beat opponent�� score or high score.

As of April 30, 2013, the Company had no revenues. The Company has developed its business plan, and executed exclusive distribution contract GEO a private enterprise, where it engages GEO as an independent contractor for the specific purpose of developing, manufacturing and supplying games for the Company.

10 Best Growth Stocks To Own Right Now: Boyd Gaming Corporation(BYD)

Boyd Gaming Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a multi-jurisdictional gaming company in the United States. As of December 31, 2011, the company owned and operated 1,042,787 square feet of casino space, containing approximately 25,973 slot machines, 655 table games, and 11,418 hotel rooms. It also owned and operated 16 gaming entertainment properties located in Nevada, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Indiana, and New Jersey. In addition, the company owns and operates a pari-mutuel jai-alai facility located in Dania Beach, Florida, as well as a travel agency in Hawaii. Further, it holds a 50% controlling interest in the limited liability company that operates Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Boyd Gaming Corporation was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  MGM has built a history of being the odd player out in many of the most lucrative opportunities in the gaming industry. In Macau, the company is stuck in the slower-growth area of the Asian gaming destination. In Las Vegas, the new CityCenter area in the mid-Strip has watered down MGM's opportunities and has created another potential barrier for patrons coming from the northern end of the Strip to its namesake MGM Grand property. And in New Jersey, where online gaming has boosted prospects for Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ: CZR  ) and Boyd Gaming (NYSE: BYD  ) , MGM has no exposure.

• [By Travis Hoium]

  Earnings from Boyd Gaming (NYSE: BYD  ) surprised investors last week, but there's still a lot of fundamental weakness for the company. Revenue is declining across the country as more supply is added to the market, and the only way to grow is through acquisitions. The Fool's Erin Miller sat down with Travis Hoium to see how to play the gaming market now.�

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Boyd Gaming (NYSE: BYD  ) reported earnings on April 24. Here are the numbers you need to know.

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

Top 10 Casino Companies For 2014: Penn National Gaming Inc.(PENN)

Penn National Gaming, Inc. and its subsidiaries own and manage gaming and pari-mutuel properties in the United States. It operates approximately 27,000 gaming machines; 500 table games; and 2,000 hotel rooms in 23 facilities in 16 jurisdictions, including Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ontario. The company was formerly known as PNRC Corp. and changed its name to Penn National Gaming, Inc. in 1994. Penn National Gaming, Inc. was founded in 1982 and is based in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Stocks on the Move: BlackBerry Ltd. (NASDAQ: BBRY) is down 16.4% at $6.50 after announcing that no buyout bid will be forthcoming. Penn National Gaming Inc. (NASDAQ: PENN) is down 76.7% at $13.75 after spinning-off its real-estate holdings into a REIT. Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP) is up 15.5% at $1.53 following the acquisition of its major operations in Wuxi.

• [By Roberto Pedone]

   

  Penn National Gaming (PENN) is a diversified, multi-jurisdictional owner and manager of gaming and pari-mutuel properties. This stock closed up 1.4% at $56.13 in Monday's trading session.

   

  Monday's Volume: 1.11 million
  
  Three-Month Average Volume: 824,334
  
  Volume % Change: 73%

   

   

  From a technical perspective, PENN jumped modestly higher here right above some near-term support at $54.71 with above-average volume. This move is quickly pushing shares of PENN within range of triggering a breakout trade. That trade will hit if PENN manages to take out some near-term overhead resistance at $57.44 to some past resistance at $58 with high volume.

   

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in PENN as long as it's trending above Monday's low $55.65 or above more support at $54.71 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that this near or above 824,334 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then PENN will set up to re-test or possibly take out its 52-week high at $59.93. Any high-volume move above $59.93 will then give PENN a chance to hit $65.

   

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Penn National Gaming Inc. (NASDAQ: PENN) completed on Monday the spin-off of its real-estate holdings into a new REIT, Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc. (G&LP) (NASDAQ: GLPI). The spin-off was first announced a year ago. Shares in GLPI are trading at around $46.51 after opening at $45.76 this morning.

Top 10 Casino Companies For 2014: MGM Resorts International(MGM)

MGM Resorts International, through its subsidiaries, primarily owns and operates casino resorts in the United States. The company?s resorts offer gaming, hotel, dining, entertainment, retail, and other resort amenities. It also owns and operates golf courses and a golf club. As of December 31, 2010, the company owned and operated 15 properties located in Nevada, Mississippi, and Michigan; and has 50% investments in 4 other casino resorts in Nevada, Illinois, and Macau. In addition, MGM Resorts International has an agreement with the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, which owns and operates a casino resort in Connecticut, to carry the ?MGM Grand? brand name. The company was formerly known as MGM MIRAGE and changed its name to MGM Resorts International in June 2010. MGM Resorts International was founded in 1986 and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Paul Ausick]

  U.S.-based casino operators Las Vegas Sands Inc. (NYSE: LVS), Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN), and MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) already operate resorts and casinos in Macau and these companies would be much smaller without them.

Top 10 Casino Companies For 2014: Pinnacle Entertainment Inc.(PNK)

Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. owns, develops, and operates casinos, and related hospitality and entertainment facilities in the United States. It operates casinos, such as L'Auberge du Lac in Lake Charles, Louisiana; River City Casino and Lumiere Place in St. Louis, Missouri; Boomtown New Orleans in New Orleans, Louisiana; Belterra Casino Resort in Vevay, Indiana; Boomtown Bossier City in Bossier City, Louisiana; and Boomtown Reno in Reno, Nevada. The company also operates River Downs racetrack in southeast Cincinnati, Ohio. As of May 26, 2011, it operated seven casinos and one racetrack. The company was formerly known as Hollywood Park, Inc. and changed its name to Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. in February 2000. Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. was founded in 1935 and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  Time to make the switch
  If I could name a sector that I'd certainly tread lightly around considering that consumers are tightening their wallets, it would be the casino sector. Casino companies rely on loose wallets and vacations to drive profits. This is why I feel it could be the time to say goodbye to casino and race track operator Pinnacle Entertainment (NYSE: PNK  ) near its 52-week high.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Pinnacle Entertainment (PNK) has gained 56% this year; Las Vegas Sands (LVS) has climbed 38%. And Deutsche Bank has nice things to say about both today.

  Bloomberg

  First Pinnacle. Deutsche Bank’s Carlo Santarelli ponders the stock’s big move and comes away still seeing value in its shares. He writes:

  When we upgraded PNK in April, our thesis centered on the FCF strength of the combined entities [Pinnacle completed its acquisition of Ameristar Casinos on Aug. 14], a handful of favorable catalysts, easing regional gaming comps, & an inexpensive relative valuation. Given the shares’ sizeable move since then, we believe it is worth revisiting the investment case. Post the announcement of several asset sales and the closing of the transaction, we are adjusting our estimates, raising our PT to $30 from $24, and maintaining our bullish view at current levels given what we still believe to be an attractive free cash flow valuation, meaningful potential synergy realization beyond the $40 mm of announced benefits, and a free option on a lagging regional recovery.

  Santarelli also revisited Las Vegas Sands and there too, he likes what he sees. He writes:

  With…LVS at [a share price level] that have been challenging to break from over the last year plus, we believe this time is different and hence we see continued upward momentum…In the case of LVS, we see; 1) meaningful mass market strength continuing through year end, setting the stage for upward company and market estimate revisions for 2014, 2) continued cash flow appreciation and capital returns serving as downside protection and positive catalysts, and 3) continued shared gains, largely driven by table optimization and mass market strength, driving both estimates and sentiment.

  He also likes Wynn Resorts (WYNN), despite its 34% gain.�Santarelli writes:

  As for WYNN, we believe near-term estimates continue to take a back seat to capital return

• [By Travis Hoium]

  What: Shares of Ameristar Casinos (NASDAQ: ASCA  ) and Pinnacle Entertainment (NYSE: PNK  ) fell as much as 11% today after the government brought into question the merger of the two companies.

• [By Dan Radovsky]

  Pinnacle Entertainment (NYSE: PNK  ) has reached an agreement in principle with the Bureau of Competition of the Federal Trade Commission that would allow the company to complete its proposed acquisition of Ameristar Casinos (NASDAQ: ASCA  ) , Pinnacle announced today.

Top 10 Casino Companies For 2014: Wynn Resorts Limited(WYNN)

Wynn Resorts, Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the development, ownership, and operation of destination casino resorts. The company owns and operates Wynn Las Vegas casino resort in Las Vegas, which includes approximately 22 food and beverage outlets comprising 5 dining restaurants; 2 nightclubs; 1 spa and salon; 1 Ferrari and Maserati automobile dealership; wedding chapels; an 18-hole golf course; meeting space; and foot retail promenade featuring boutiques. Wynn Las Vegas casino resort also features approximately 147 table games, 1 baccarat salon, private VIP gaming rooms, 1 poker room, 1,842 slot machines, and 1 race and sports book. It also owns and operates an Encore at Wynn Las Vegas resort, a destination casino resort located adjacent to Wynn Las Vegas that features a 2,034 all-suite hotel, as well as a casino with 95 table games, 1 sky casino, 1 baccarat salon, private VIP gaming rooms, and 778 slot machines. In addition, the company operates Wyn n Macau casino resort located in the Macau Special Administrative Region of the People?s Republic of China. Wynn Macau casino resort features approximately 595 hotel rooms and suites, 410 table games, 935 slot machines, 1 poker room, 1 sky casino, 6 restaurants, 1 spa and salon, lounges, meeting facilities, and retail space featuring boutiques. Further, it operates Encore at Wynn Macau resort located adjacent to Wynn Macau. Encore at Wynn Macau resort features approximately 410 luxury suites and 4 villas, as well as casino gaming space, including a sky casino consisting of 60 table games and 80 slot machines, 2 restaurants, 1 luxury spa, and retail space. The company was founded in 2002 and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ: WYNN) is estimated to post its Q3 earnings at $1.65 per share on revenue of $1.36 billion.

  VeriSign (NASDAQ: VRSN) is expected to post its Q3 earnings at $0.57 per share on revenue of $240.61 million.

• [By Garrett Baldwin]

  Sin Stocks to Buy: Wynn Resorts (Nasdaq: WYNN)

  Wynn Resorts Ltd (Nasdaq: WYNN) currently pays out a $1 per share dividend each quarter, which provides a 2.4% dividend yield at its current stock price. And it's thriving because of the international markets.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  4. Nevada
  The $8.25 minimum wage that Nevada pays comes with an interesting twist: Companies that offer health insurance benefits to their employees are allowed to pay $1 less in hourly wages. Although a referendum in 2006 required the state to index its base wage to inflation, the wage has stayed the same since 2010. Another perk: Tipped employees have to receive the same minimum wage as other workers. That's a big cost for Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS  ) , Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ: WYNN  ) , and other companies with casinos in the state that might otherwise be able to pay many of their tip-earning workers less.

Should I Buy PZZA Stock? 3 Pros, 3 Cons

Papa John's International (PZZA) reported third-quarter earnings this morning that grew 18% year-over-year. And while Papa John’s stock hasn’t moved much today, shares of PZZA are sitting around all-time highs.

Specifically, Papa John's earnings were 65 cents per share — in line with analyst estimates for PZZA. Also, the Papa John’s earnings report showed that same-store sales were up 1.8% for North America and exploded 8.1% internationally.

Is strong international growth a great sign for Papa John’s stock, or is it too risky to take a bite of PZZA stock at these levels? To see, let’s take a look at the pros and cons of owning PZZA.

PZZA Pros 

Strong same-store sales. The most promising sign from the Papa John’s earnings report was strong comps from PZZA, which drove strong revenue growth. Sale grew around 8% for the first nine months of the year, thanks in part to increased awareness via marketing and increased traffic. This is particularly true on the international side, where PZZA revenue increased 21% for the first nine months. Comps internationally were even stronger, with an 8% improvement during the same period. That kind of growth is crucial for PZZA stock continues its run.

Strong franchise base. PZZA has 654 domestic company-owned stores and 2,588 franchise stores in North America.  Franchises are great for Papa John’s earnings, because PZZA just sits back and collects its royalties while dictating terms to keep the brand intact. The business model is a solid foundation for Papa John’s stock investors.

International is exploding. The international segment was strong in recent Papa John's earnings, and should continue leading the way in years to come thanks to aggressive international expansion. Pizza travels well; it's popular all over the world. Clearly, PZZA management sees great potential overseas as a result. PZZA has a development pipeline of 1,300 stores, and 1,050 of those are going to opened internationally. That in turn should also drive PZZA stock higher.

PZZA Cons 

Stock buybacks mask weak earnings growth. One thing to notice in the Papa John’s earnings report is that the share count for PZZA stock has decreased substantially. PZZA stock had 22.1 million and 22.4 million shares outstanding for the three and nine months ending this past quarter — a 6.9% and 7.2% decrease over the prior year periods. That means Papa John’s earnings from operations only increased 11% when you include buybacks of PZZA stock — not as impressive as the headline number.

Free cash flow declining. One of the most important measures of a company's ongoing success is its generation of free cash flow. That’s bad new for Papa John’s stock investors. Operating cash flow at PZZA dropped almost 20% to $74.8 million in the quarter. The Papa John’s earnings report also showed that capital expenditures increased almost 50%, creating a net 47% decline in free cash flow for PZZA.

Needless stock split. Last but not least, PZZA management announced a 2-for-1 stock split. To be frank, there's no reason to split PZZA stock, other than to distract from the weak Papa John’s earnings growth.

Verdict

International expansion is a promising trend for PZZA, but it might not be enough to make Papa John’s stock a buy at this time. After its sizzling year-to-date run, PZZA stock is trading for a frothy 25 estimated 2013 Papa John’s earnings and 22 times estimated 2014 earnings.

That hardly justifies long-term growth of 15% for Papa John’s earnings. With that in mind, I would wait to see how the international expansion unfolds and see its effect on Papa John's earnings and PZZA stock before buying any shares.

As of this writing, Lawrence Meyers did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.

Twitter Prices IPO at $26 a Share in $1.82B Offering

Top 10 Biotech Stocks To Watch For 2014

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Twitter is pricing its initial public offering at $26 a share. The San Francisco-based company sold $1.82 billion in shares, or just over 12% of its outstanding stock, in an offering that gives the micro-blogging site a valuation of roughly $14.2 billion.

As with its initial IPO announcement, Twitter took to its own network to make the final pricing of its offering public.

Previously, the company had planned to list its shares at between $23 and $25 a share, valuing the company at up to $13.6 billion. Twitter's listing contrasts with Facebook's (FB) blockbuster $16 billion May 2012 offering, which valued the social network at nearly $100 billion.

On a fully diluted basis to include stock option grants, Twitter will be valued at over $18 billion. Media reports indicated Twitter's IPO was oversubscribed and closed as early as Wednesday. 

The Chicago Board of Options Exchange said on Twitter that option contracts for the company's stock will be available Nov. 15, contingent on a completed share listing Thursday.

In a Wednesday initiation of their coverage of Twitter's stock, RBC Capital Markets analyst Mark Mahaney gave the burgeoning internet powerhouse a 12-month price target of $33 a share.

Jim Cramer, founder of Thestreet, has set some hard and fast rules for investors given his expectation that this will, indeed, be a hot IPO. Cramer believes Twitter has a path toward revenue growth and profitability that investors can trust, however, at some point investors may need to draw a line on valuation.

Investors should balk at Twitter shares at a market capitalization of over $20 billion, Cramer said on Wednesday. He cautioned investors from buying Twitter shares in the after-market or at a price higher than $28. That valuation balances the company's expected potential and accounts for Twitter's still uncertain share count. Twitter's IPO includes a 30-day option for underwriters to purchase 10.5 million additional shares in the company. Santosh Rao, an analyst at Greencrest Capital, said in a Tuesday telephone interview that Twitter's current IPO pricing is "fair" and "makes sense" given a limited float when compared to Facebook.

The analyst expects the company's stock to pop in day-one trading to above $30 a share. At $35 a share, Rao says investors should wait for a pullback and the analyst generally believes investors can wait out the share listing entirely and hold out for further information in Twitter's fourth-quarter earnings, if they so choose. Rao, however, cautions interested investors from waiting for Twitter to definitively prove itself. Investors that believe Twitter's platform is strong should invest early and monitor trends such as user growth and monetization of international users. Goldman Sachs  (GS) will lead the offering. 

Morgan Stanley  (MS), JPMorgan  (JPM), Bank of America  (BAC), Deutsche Bank will act as co-book runners, while Code Advisors and Allen & Co. will co-underwrite the offering. Twitter will trade under ticker symbol 'TWTR' and is expected to list on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday. -- Written by Antoine Gara in New York Follow @antoinegara

5 Stocks Ready to Break Out This Month

BALTIMORE (Stockpickr) -- It's only Tuesday, but it's already been an eventful week on Wall Street.

Mobile phone maker BlackBerry (BBRY) announced that the takeover plan being pursued by its biggest shareholder fell through, tanking shares in yesterday's session. Twitter revealed that it would likely price its oversubscribed IPO higher than initially planned. And news hit that legendary hedge fund SAC Capital was shutting its doors and paying a record $1.8 billion fine to the government after drawn-out insider trading allegations.

Sure, those are some big headlines, but ignore them. They might make for some interesting reading, but they're not going to make you any money. Instead, there are plenty of names that look a whole lot more promising right now.

That's why we're taking a closer technical look at five individual names with breakout potential this week.

For the unfamiliar, technical analysis is a way for investors to quantify qualitative factors, such as investor psychology, based on a stock's price action and trends. Once the domain of cloistered trading teams on Wall Street, technicals can help top traders make consistently profitable trades and can aid fundamental investors in better planning their stock execution.

Without further ado, let's take a look at five technical setups worth trading now.

Costco Wholesale

2013 has been a pretty good year for Costco Wholesale (COST); the king of the club stores has rallied more than 20% since the first trading day of the year. But that winning streak may not be over for shareholders who've kept holding on. Here's how to trade it.

Costco is currently forming a bullish price pattern called an ascending triangle. The pattern is formed by a horizontal resistance level above shares at $120 and uptrending support to the downside. Basically, as COST has bounced in between those two technical level since this past summer, all the while getting squeezed closer and closer to a breakout above that $120 resistance level. The breakout is the buy signal in this stock -- and we're getting a meaningful test of it this week.

It's still a little early to call Costco's breakout confirmed. Shares closed above that $120 level in yesterday's session but only by a measly 37 cents. If shares can hold above $120 today, consider the breakout confirmed. If you decide to jump in here, I'd recommend keeping a protective stop at $112.

Rockwood Holdings

We're seeing the exact same trading setup in shares of Rockwood Holdings (ROC) right now, only stretched out much longer term. ROC has actually spent most of 2013 stuck consolidating in an ascending triangle pattern of its own, with resistance in place at $68. Despite some attempts at pushing through that price level back in late September, ROC is still in the pattern.

That makes $68 the price level to watch in November.

The resistance level to watch now is at $36. A move through that price ceiling is the signal that buyers are in control of shares, and upside is a high-probability trade. Typically, rounding bottoms come into play at the bottom of a stock's recent price action, not the top (as in MSFT's case). But while this setup isn't textbook, the trading implications are every bit as bullish here.

A move through $37.50 is a signal that it's time to be a buyer in Lions Gate, while a breakdown through $34 means that it's time to sell.

Whenever you're looking at any technical price pattern, it's critical to think in terms of those buyers and sellers. Rectangles, triangles, and other pattern names are a good quick way to explain what's going on in a stock, but they're not the reason it's tradable – instead, it all comes down to supply and demand for shares.

That $37.50 resistance level is a price where there has been an excess of supply of shares; in other words, it's a place where sellers have been more eager to step in and take gains than buyers have been to buy. That's what makes a breakout above it so significant -- the move means that buyers are finally strong enough to absorb all of the excess supply above that price level. Don't be early on this trade.

Hercules Technology Growth Capital

And now for something completely different: Hercules Technology Growth Capital (HTGC) is a closed-end fund, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't trade it like any other listed stock. Best of all, you don't have to be an expert technical analyst to figure out what's going on in HTGC right now. This setup is about as simple as it gets.

HTGC has been bouncing its way higher in an uptrend for months now. In fact, this fund's uptrend actually extends another six months beyond what the chart shows -- the trend it just that strong right now. Since the bear trap in April and May, though, shares have caught a bid off of support five times, and they're testing a sixth attempt. It makes sense to buy HTGC on the bounce off of support.

Buying off a support bounce makes sense for two big reasons: It's the spot where shares have the furthest to move up before they hit resistance, and it's the spot where the risk is the least (because shares have the least room to move lower before you know you're wrong). Remember, all trend lines do eventually break, but by actually waiting for the bounce to happen first, you're ensuring the Hercules can actually still catch a bid along that line.

To see this week's trades in action, check out the Technical Setups for the Week portfolio on Stockpickr.

-- Written by Jonas Elmerraji in Baltimore.

Security California Bancorp Reports Net Income of $1.542 Million for the 1st 6 Mths of 2013 (OTCMKTS:SCAF, OTCMKTS:CLNOD)

Security California Bancorp (SCAF)

Last Friday, SCAF previously surged (+2.56%) up +0.25 at $10.00 with 1,200 shares in play at the close (ref. google finance August 2, 2013 – Close).

Security California Bancorp previously reported earnings for the first six months of 2013 of $1.542 million, up $1.134 million from the $408 thousand reported for the same period in 2012. Highlights compared to same period ended June 30, 2012 include:

Total Assets were at $498 million, up $38 million or 8%
Total Loans grew $16 million or 5% to $323 million
Total Deposits increased $18 million or 4% to $413 million

Security California Bancorp (SCAF) 5 day chart:

EQCO2, Inc. (CLNOD)

EQCO2, Inc. (OTCMKTS:CLNOD) (www.eqco2.com) through its Discovery Carbon subsidiary, develops emissions offset strategies for companies, municipalities, and countries. Last Friday, CLNOD previously surged (+8.18%) up +0.009 at $.119 with 15,100 shares in play at the close (ref. google finance August 2, 2013 – Close).

CLNOD daily range was at ($.119 – $.11) thus far and currently at $.119 would be considered a (+59399.99%) gain above the 52 wk low of $0.0002 and rightly so. The stock is up +0.12 ( +4600%) since the concerning dates of February 4, 2013 – August 2, 2013. +4600% is the 6 month high.

EQCO2, Inc. (CLNOD) 5 day chart:

Home loans: Should you choose fixed or floating rate?

"Go for a fixed rate home loan when you find that interest rates are likely to go up and you want to cap your home loan interest rate at the current rate. In case you feel that interest rates are on the downward spiral then it is a good idea for you to go for a floating rate loan," Rego advises.

In the current environment, since interest rates are already at a peak and fixed rates are higher, it doesn't make sense to go in for a fixed rate, he added.

Below is the verbatim transcript of the interview

Q: When would you advise people to go through a floating rate home loan and when should they prefer a fixed rate home loan?

A: Go for a fixed rate home loan when you find that interest rates are likely to go up and you want to cap your home loan interest rate at the current rate.

In case you feel that interest rates are on the downward spiral then it is a good idea for you to go for a floating rate loan. In the current environment, there is a lot of talk about easing of interest rates, various government actions and RBI actions. Interest rates are on the higher side right now so it makes sense to go in for a floating rate loan. Till such time one sees that interest rates going up, it is good to just lock it into a fixed rate.

Q: Given that the term for most home loans is 20 years, there will be several cycles of up and down. Also, when you want to prefer the fixed rate, it always comes 2 per cent points higher than the floating rate. Do you have any advantage in going to the fixed rate?

A: Interest rates move a reasonable bit. Personally, I have a fixed rate loan at 7 per cent. If you get it right then it is really good. Typically, a fixed rate loan is costlier by about a per cent or so. So you need to just watch out and fix it at a rate, which you are comfortable with. Otherwise in the current environment, since interest rates are already at a peak and fixed rates are higher, it doesn't make sense to go in for a fixed rate at this point of time.

Q: An investor took a home loan in 2007 at roughly 10 per cent fixed interest rate. With the rates likely to come down, should he switch to floating rates and what are the costs involved?

A: He is lucky to at least have a 10 per cent rate, and when interest rates went up, he did not participate in the higher interest rates. Now he is at a beneficial point where he can see if interest rates go down further. From here, if it goes down by about 0.5 per cent, considering that he has a fixed rate loan, he will have processing charges for a new loan as well as he will have some bit of a pre-closure charge. He has to work out the math, and if it is more than 0.5 per cent then it would actually make sense for him.

He can also go back to his same bank and ask them at what cost he can move over to a floating rate loan. Sometimes they end up charging a bit of a processing fee and allow the switch and you maybe able to get something, which is a win-win situation. If interest rates go down much further then he always has the option of again fixing it at a fixed rate loan.