Macy's reported earnings of 47 cents per share, a 31% jump from a year ago, topping analysts' estimate of 39 cents. It was Macy's 15th straight quarter of improved earnings per share, the company said.
The retailer also beat on the top line, reporting revenue of $6.28 billion, up 3.3% from a year ago and better than the $6.19 billion expected by Wall Street. On a comparable sales basis, Macy's third-quarter sales were up 3.5%.
HOLIDAY SHOPPING: Opening hours at 8 top retailers on Thanksgiving
The retailer's shares skyrocketed $3.26, or 7.1%, to $49.58.
Best European Stocks To Buy Right Now: Diamond Foods Inc.(DMND)
Diamond Foods, Inc., a packaged food company, engages in processing, marketing, and distributing snack products, as well as culinary, in-shell, and ingredient nuts. Its snack products include glazed nuts, roasted and mixed nuts, breakfast trail mix products, microwave popcorn products, and potato and tortilla chips. The company?s culinary nuts comprise shelled nuts, pegboard nuts, and harvest reserve premium nuts. Its in-shell nuts consist of uncracked nuts and mixed nuts; and ingredient/food service products include shelled and processed nuts, and custom-processed nuts. The company offers its products under the Emerald, Pop Secret, Kettle, and Diamond of California brand names. It markets its culinary nuts to individuals, who prepare meals or baked goods at home; and ingredient and food service nuts to food processors, restaurants, bakeries, and food service companies and their suppliers. Diamond Foods, Inc. sells its products directly to retailers, such as national groce ry stores, club stores, mass merchandisers, and drug store chains; and indirectly through wholesale distributors, who serve independent and small regional retail grocery store chains and convenience stores. The company offers its products in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Canada, South Korea, Turkey, and Japan. Diamond Foods, Inc. was founded in 1912 and is based in San Francisco, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Eric Volkman]
A new individual is heading the finance team at Diamond Foods (NASDAQ: DMND ) . The company has appointed Raymond Silcock as its chief financial officer. He replaces interim CFO Michael Murphy, who has been in the position since early February. Silcock will also serve as executive vice president. The appointment is effective as of June 11.
- [By Garrett Cook]
Non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares fell 0.45 percent on Tuesday. Top losers in the sector included Diamond Foods (NASDAQ: DMND), down 3.4 percent, and Xueda Education Group (NYSE: XUE), off 2.6 percent.
- [By Alex Planes]
Investors love stocks that consistently beat the Street without getting ahead of their fundamentals and risking a meltdown. The best stocks offer sustainable market-beating gains, with robust and improving financial metrics that support strong price growth. Does Diamond Foods (NASDAQ: DMND ) fit the bill? Let's take a look at what its recent results tell us about its potential for future gains.
Best Consumer Service Companies To Watch For 2014: ProShares Short FTSE Xinhua China 25 (YXI)
ProShares Short FTSE China 25 (the Fund) is an exchange-traded fund. The Fund seeks daily investment results that correspond to the inverse (opposite) of the daily performance of the FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index (the Index). The Index consists of 25 of the largest and most liquid Chinese stocks listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. This free float adjusted Index caps the weight of any of constituent stock at 10% to ensure broad representation of the Chinese economy. The Fund seeks investment results for a single day only, not for longer periods. The Index is compiled and calculated by FTSE International Limited (FTSE) on behalf of FTSE/Xinhua Index Limited (FXI). The Fund will typically concentrate its investments in issuers of one or more particular industries to the same extent that its underlying Index is so concentrated. The Fund�� investment advisor is ProShare Advisors LLC. Advisors' Opinion:- [By pamatlarge]
Three short ETFs are designed to profit from China�� economic downward slide. The ProShares Short FTSE China 25 (YXI), an unleveraged ETF, holds shares in iShares FTSE China Large-Cap (FXI) swaps. Investors looking to magnify their returns can choose from two leveraged short ETFs: ProShares Ultra Short FTSE China 25 (FXP) and Direxion Daily China Bear 3x Shares (YANG). Both ProShares Ultra Short and Direxion Daily hold shares that increase in value three times faster than an unleveraged ETF. The downside is that the per share price of these leveraged ETFs also drops three times faster.
Best Consumer Service Companies To Watch For 2014: WGL Holdings Inc (WGL)
WGL Holdings, Inc. (WGL Holdings) is a holding company. The Company own subsidiaries, which sells and delivers natural gas and/or provide a range of energy-related products and services to customers in the District of Columbia and the surrounding metropolitan areas in Maryland and Virginia. The Company operates in three subsidiaries: regulated utility segment, retail energy-marketing segment and design-build energy systems segment. The Company�� wholly owned subsidiaries include Washington Gas Light Company (Washington Gas), Washington Gas Resources Corporation (Washington Gas Resources), Hampshire Gas Company (Hampshire) and Crab Run Gas Company (Crab Run). Washington Gas is a regulated public utility that sells and delivers natural gas to customers in the District of Columbia and adjoining areas in Maryland, Virginia and several cities and towns in the northern Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Washington Gas Resources owns four subsidiaries include Washington Gas Energy Services, Inc. (WGEServices), Washington Gas Energy Systems, Inc. (WGESystems), Capitol Energy Ventures Corp. (CEV) and WGSW, Inc. (WGSW).
Regulated Utility Segment
The Company�� regulated utility segment consists of Washington Gas and Hampshire. Washington Gas delivers natural gas to retail customers. Washington Gas also sells natural gas to customers who have not elected to purchase natural gas from un-regulated third-party marketers. Washington Gas recovers the cost of the natural gas to serve firm customers through gas cost recovery mechanisms. Hampshire operates and owns full and partial interests in underground natural gas storage facilities, including pipeline delivery facilities located in and around Hampshire County, West Virginia. Washington Gas purchases all of the storage services of Hampshire and includes the cost of these services in the bills sent to its customers.
As of September 30, 2011, Washington Gas had 1.083 million active customer meters. During the fiscal year ! ended September 30, 2011 (fiscal 2011), the Company delivered 1,772.5 million therms.
Washington Gas is responsible for acquiring sufficient natural gas supplies, interstate pipeline capacity and storage capacity. Washington Gas obtains natural gas supplies, which originate from multiple regions throughout the United States and Canada. It also obtains natural gas in the form of vaporized liquefied natural gas (LNG) through the Cove Point LNG terminal owned by Dominion Cove Point LNG, LP and Dominion Transmission, Inc. (collectively Dominion). As of September 30, 2011, Washington Gas had service agreements with four pipeline companies, which provided firm transportation and/or storage services directly to Washington Gas�� city gate.
Retail Energy-Marketing Segment
The retail energy-marketing segment consists of the operations of WGEServices, which sells the natural gas and electric commodity directly to residential, commercial and industrial customers. These commodities are delivered to retail customers through the distribution systems owned by regulated utilities, such as Washington Gas or other unaffiliated natural gas or electric utilities. Washington Gas delivers the natural gas sold by WGEServices, and unaffiliated electric utilities deliver all of the electricity sold. In addition, WGEServices bills its customers through the billing services of the regulated utilities, which deliver its commodities, as well as directly through its own billing capabilities. WGEServices owns multiple solar photovoltaic (Solar PV) power generating systems. As of September 30, 2011, WGEServices served approximately 172,000 residential, commercial and industrial natural gas customers accounts and approximately 183,000 residential, commercial and industrial electricity customers located in Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia.
Design-Build Energy Systems Segment
The design-build energy systems segment, which consists ! of the op! erations of WGESystems, provides design-build energy solutions to governmental and commercial clients. WGESystems focuses on upgrading the mechanical, electrical, water and energy-related systems of governmental and commercial facilities by implementing both traditional, as well as alternative energy technologies, in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia.
Other Activities
Other activities consist of the operations of CEV, an unregulated, non-utility subsidiary of Washington Gas Resources, which engages in the acquisition, management and optimization of natural gas storage and transportation assets and WGSW, which was formed to invest in solar power generation and other energy efficiency solutions for customers. In addition other activities include the operation of Crab Run, a small exploration company, and administrative with WGL Holdings and Washington Gas Resources. WGSW, a wholly owned subsidiary of Washington Gas Resources, holds a 99% partnership interest in ASD Solar, LP.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ali Berri]
Utilities shares surged around 0.47 percent in today’s trading. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included WGL Holdings (NYSE: WGL), up 5.8 percent, and American Water Works Company (NYSE: AWK), up 1.6 percent.
Best Consumer Service Companies To Watch For 2014: Kosmos Energy Ltd. (KOS)
Kosmos Energy Ltd. explores and produces oil and gas in Africa, Europe, and South America. Its asset portfolio includes production and other projects offshore Ghana, as well as exploration licenses with hydrocarbon potential offshore Ireland, Mauritania, Morocco, and Suriname. The company was founded in 2003 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Bryan Murphy]
It may seem trite (and a little dated) on the surface, but Warren Buffett's sage advice stands as tall today as it did the first time her ever said it.... "Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful." And, to say investors have been fearful of oil names like Kosmos Energy Ltd (NYSE:KOS), Africa Oil Corp. (CVE:AOI), and Hydrocarb Energy Corp. (OTCBB:HECC) of late would be an understatement. Not only have all three been pressured against a backdrop of plunging oil prices, HECC, KOS, and AOI have been doubly pressured because a big piece of what they do within their oil exploration exploits is done in Africa, where oil's recent volatility has been particularly disruptive. As Buffett� has accurately explained so many times in the past though, trends have a funny way of ending right around the time most investors are certain they'll never end.
Best Consumer Service Companies To Watch For 2014: Maxwell Technologies Inc.(MXWL)
Maxwell Technologies, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and markets energy storage and power delivery products, and microelectronic products worldwide. The company offers Ultracapacitors that are energy storage devices to provide energy storage and power delivery solutions for applications in transportation, automotive, information technology, renewable energy, and industrial electronics industries; and CONDIS high-voltage capacitors comprising grading and coupling capacitors, and capacitive voltage dividers used to ensure the safety and reliability of electric utility infrastructure and other applications involving transport, distribution, and measurement of high-voltage electrical energy. It also provides radiation-hardened microelectronic products, including single board computers and components, such as high-density memory and power modules for satellites and spacecraft applications. The company markets and sells its products through direct and indirect sales for integration by original equipment manufacturers into a range of end products. The company was formerly known as Maxwell Laboratories, Inc. and changed its name to Maxwell Technologies, Inc. in 1996. Maxwell Technologies was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Leading and Lagging Sectors
In trading on Friday, industrials shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 0.71 percent. Leading the sector was strength from Maxwell Technologies (NASDAQ: MXWL) and The Standard Register Company (NYSE: SR). - [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Leading and Lagging Sectors
In trading on Tuesday, industrials shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 1.61 percent. Top gainers in the sector included Plug Power (NASDAQ: PLUG) and Maxwell Technologies (NASDAQ: MXWL).
Best Consumer Service Companies To Watch For 2014: eHealth Inc.(EHTH)
eHealth, Inc. offers Internet-based insurance agency services for individuals, families, and small businesses in the United States. The company also offers technology licensing and Internet advertising services. Its ecommerce platforms organize and present health insurance information in various formats, as well as enables individuals, families, and small businesses to research, analyze, compare, and purchase various health insurance plans. The company offers various medical health insurance coverage plans, such as preferred provider organization, health maintenance organization and indemnity plans, Medicare plans, short-term medical insurance, student health insurance, and health savings account eligible health insurance plans, as well as ancillary plans, such as dental, vision, and life insurance. Its customers access its ecommerce platforms through its Websites, including eHealth.com, eHealthInsurance.com, eHealthMedicare.com, and PlanPrescriber.com, as well as through a network of marketing partners. The company was incorporated in 1997 and is headquartered in Mountain View, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By David Williamson]
Obamacare is racking up expenses, in particular, with the creation of insurance exchanges. In this video, David Williamson looks at this feature of Obamacare, and a possible free market solution. The problem is that these exchanges are proving more expensive than originally thought, up to an estimated $5.7 billion for 2014. No wonder less than half of the states in the country have come on board. One solution is an online insurance exchange. A form of such an exchange already exists. Will it work for a nationwide insurance market?�Hard to say. On the one hand, it could offer small businesses unprecedented access to insurance plans. On the other hand, an online market may simply offer those plans with the best commissions and not the best deals.� (NASDAQ: EHTH )
- [By Ben Levisohn]
Stocks finished mix today, though it’s probably more fair to say they hardly moved at all.�Intel�(INTC), Facebook (FB) and�Achillion Pharmaceuticals (ACHN) gained, while�CR Bard�(BCR) and eHealth (EHTH) fell.
- [By Sean Williams]
The other option here is eHealth (NASDAQ: EHTH ) �a private health insurance platform for individuals, families, and small businesses that's been around for years. In its third-quarter results released last week, eHealth noted that membership had risen by 24% to 1.147 million from the year-ago period, clearly showing skepticism in the Obamacare health reform law suggesting the success and options its private platform offers. If there's any company that can use Healthcare.gov's nightmarish start to its advantage, it's eHealth!
- [By Sean Williams]
What: Shares of eHealth (NASDAQ: EHTH ) �-- a provider of private market online health insurance services for individuals, families, and small businesses -- jumped as much as 17% after the company reported third-quarter earnings results.
Best Consumer Service Companies To Watch For 2014: Kadant Inc (KAI)
Kadant Inc., incorporated in November 1991, is a supplier of equipment used in the global papermaking and paper recycling industries and a manufacturer of granules made from papermaking byproducts. Through its Papermaking Systems segment, the Company develops, manufactures and markets a range of equipment and products for the global papermaking, paper recycling, and process industries. Through its Fiber-based Products business, the Company manufacture and sell granules derived from pulp fiber for use as carriers for agricultural, home lawn and garden, and professional lawn, turf and ornamental applications, as well as for oil and grease absorption. Its Papermaking Systems segment consists of product lines, such as stock-preparation, fluid-handling, doctoring and water-management. On May 27, 2011, its subsidiary, Kadant Johnson Europe B.V., acquired all the interests in m-clean papertech holding AB. In April 2013, it completed the acquisition of Companhia Brasileira de Tecnologia Industrial (CBTI).
The Company�� customer base includes major global paper manufacturers and with its equipment found in most of pulp and paper mills. The Company manufactures its products in nine countries in Europe, North and South America and Asia. It develop, manufacture and market complete custom-engineered systems and equipment, as well as standard individual components, for pulping, de-inking, screening, cleaning, and refining recycled and virgin fibers for preparation for entry into the paper machine. Its principal stock-preparation products include recycling and approach flow systems and Virgin pulping process equipment.
The Company develop, manufacture and market rotary joints, precision unions, steam and condensate systems, components, and controls used primarily in the dryer section of the papermaking process and during the production of corrugated boxboard, metals, plastics, rubber, textiles, chemicals and food. Its principal fluid-handling systems include rotary joints, siphons, turbul! ator bars, and engineered steam and condensate systems. Its mechanical devices, used with rotating shafts, allow the transfer of pressurized fluid from a stationary source into and out of rotating machinery for heating, cooling, or the transfer of fluid power. Its devices, installed primarily inside the rotating cylinders of paper machines, are used to remove condensate from the drying cylinders through rotary joints located on either end of the cylinder. Its steel or stainless steel axial bars, installed on the inside of cylinders, are used to induce turbulence in the condensate layer to improve the uniformity and rate of heat transfer through the cylinders. Its steam systems control the flow of steam from the boiler to the paper drying cylinders, collect condensed steam, and return it to the boiler to improve energy efficiency during the paper drying process.
The Company develop, manufacture and market a range of doctoring systems and related consumables that continuously clean rolls to keep paper machines running efficiently; doctor blades made of a variety of materials to perform functions, including cleaning, creping, web removal, flaking, and the application of coatings, and profiling systems that control moisture, Web curl, and gloss during paper converting. Its principal doctoring products include doctor systems and holders, profiling systems and doctor blades. Its doctor systems clean papermaking rolls to maintain the operation of paper machines and other equipment by placing a blade against the roll at a constant and uniform pressure. A doctor system consists of the structure supporting the blade and the blade holder. It offers profiling systems that control moisture, Web curl, and gloss during paper converting. It manufacture doctor and scraper blades made of a variety of materials, including metal, bi-metal, or synthetic materials that perform a variety of functions, including cleaning, creping, Web removal, flaking and the application of coatings.
The Company devel! ops, manu! facture and markets water-management systems and equipment used to continuously clean paper machine fabrics and rolls, drain water from pulp mixtures, form the sheet or Web, and filter the process water for reuse. Its principal water-management systems include shower and fabric-conditioning systems, formation systems, and water-filtration systems. Its shower and fabric-conditioning systems assist in the removal of contaminants that collect on paper machine fabrics used to convey the paper Web through the forming, pressing and drying sections of the paper machine. A typical paper machine has between 3 and 12 fabrics. It supplies structures that drain, purify, and recycle process water from the pulp mixture during paper sheet and Web formation. It offer a variety of filtration systems and strainers that remove contaminants from process water before reuse and recover reusable fiber for recycling back into the pulp mixture.
The Company competes with Voith Paper GmbH, Metso Corporation, Maschinenfabrik Andritz AG, Deublin Company, Barco Company, Christian Maier GmbH & Co. KG, Duff-Norton Company, Joh. Clouth GmbH & Co. KG, Bonetti, S.p.A., Metso Corporation and IBS-Paper Performance Group.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Seth Jayson]
Calling all cash flows
When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Kadant (NYSE: KAI ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.
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