Trading Ideas

Earnings Preview: Esterline Technologies to Report Q2 Earnings after the Bell

Alex Shek — Thu, 31 May 2012 13:40:52 +0000

Esterline Technologies (NYSE: ESL), a manufacturer serving aerospace and defense customers, is expected to report second quarter 2012 earnings after market close today.

The consensus analyst expectation for Esterline's second quarter adjusted earnings per share is $1.29 on revenues of around $511 million. The current consensus estimate of $1.29 is $0.03 lower than the estimate 60 days ago.

If Esterline meets the Q2 consensus earnings per share expectation today, it would represent an approximate 12% decrease from results of the same period last year. Esterline beat analyst estimates for each of ...

US Initial Jobless Claims Signal a Struggling Labor Market

Allie Wickman — Thu, 31 May 2012 13:25:52 +0000

Initial Jobless Claims measures the number of individuals filing for jobless benefits for the first time during the past week. A lower-than-expected reading is essentially better for the US job market, as more people remain in the workforce.

Theoretically, less people applying for initial unemployment benefits, the better it is for the US economy. When emerging unemployment is low and less than expected, it indicates a relatively healthy economy, or in this case, a recovering economy.

In its weekly report, the U.S. Department of Labor said in the week ending May 26, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 383,000 worse than the estimate of 370,000, which was an increase of 10,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 373,000. The 4-week moving average was 374,500, an increase of 3,750 from the previous week's revised average of 370,750.

The previous week's figure was revised up to 373,000 from 370,000.

Continuing Jobless Claims measures the number of unemployed individuals who continue to be eligible for ...

Thursday Thrust – Do We Have Enough Fuel To Fight Dollar Gravity?

Phil's Stock World — Thu, 31 May 2012 12:06:01 +0000

5.4%.

That's how much the Dollar has risen in the month of May. Should we be surprised then, that the S&P has fallen 7.2% – from 1,415 to 1,313? The Dow is down 900 points and that's 6.7% etc. Are the chart's, in fact, giving us a misleading view of how well our markets are doing? I said to Members in this morning's chat:

Big Chart still indicating a constructive floor although it doesn't feel like it. Don't forget we're supposed to adjust our lines vs the Dollar and the Dollar is up 5.4% in May. This is a BIG factor because it means ALL stocks should be 5.4% cheaper ...

Financial Breakfast: Morning News Summary for May 31, 2012

Allie Wickman — Thu, 31 May 2012 11:34:45 +0000

Thursday, May 31, 2012

This is your Benzinga news summary and trader's outlook covering headlines from overnight and today's pre-market session.

Benzinga's Top News

Joy Global (NYSE: JOY) Reports Q2 EPS $1.98 vs $1.95 Est; Revenues $1.54B vs $1.43B Est

Joy Global (NYSE: JOY) Cuts FY Guidance, Sees EPS to $7.15-7.45 from $7.40-7.80; Revs to $5.5-5.7B from $5.6-5.8B

Domestic Pre-Market Trading

U.S. Equity Markets trade higher as Dow futures trade up about 48 points.
U.S. Dollar trades about 0.16% lower.

To see more pre-market news, click here.

Overseas Trading

European markets are higher in afternoon trading. Britain's FTSE 100 added 0.84%, Germany's DAX gained 0.35% and France's CAC 40 advanced 0.80% on the session.
Asian stocks ended the session lower. China's Shanghai slid 0.49%, Japan's Nikkei 225 declined 1.05%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.32%.

To see more overseas news, click here.

Upgrades/Downgrades

Morgan Stanley Upgrades Altera (NASDAQ: ALTR) from Equal-weight to Overweight, Announces PT of $40
Canaccord ...

PetSmart, True Religion and Other Top Nasdaq Performers in May

Nelson Hem — Thu, 31 May 2012 11:20:21 +0000

Here's a quick look at some of the top performing Nasdaq stocks in May. These stocks all have a market cap of more than $500 million and they all pay a dividend.

OPNET Technologies (NASDAQ: OPNT) is almost 30% lower year to date, but up more than 10% in the past month. The Bethesda, Md.-based software company beat fiscal fourth-quarter EPS expectations in mid May, sending shares higher. It has a $578.4 million market cap and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The long-term EPS growth forecast is 16.7%. But the stock has underperformed the likes of CA Technologies (NASDAQ: CA) and Compuware (NASDAQ: CPWR) over the past six months.

PetSmart (NASDAQ: PETM) shares are trading more than 26% higher year to date, including up more than 10% in the past month. It reached a multiyear high following the recent first-quarter report. The $7.0 billion specialty retailer has a dividend yield is 0.9%. Its long-term EPS growth forecast is 16.1% and its return on equity is 27.9%. The stock has outperformed Walmart (NYSE: PCLN) and the broader markets since the beginning of the year.

Raven Industries (NASDAQ: RAVN) is up more than 9% in the past month and more than 21% in the past six months. The industrial products maker said in May it beat top line and bottom line estimates and its board approved a stock split. The company is based in Sioux Falls, S.D., and has a market ...

5 Industrial Goods Stocks With The Highest EPS

Lisa Levin — Thu, 31 May 2012 11:10:36 +0000

Below are the top stocks in the industrial goods sector in terms of earnings per share.

The trailing-twelve-month earnings per share at NVR Inc (NYSE: NVR) is $24.84. NVR's ROE for the same period is 8.30%.

The trailing-twelve-month earnings per share ...

Carl Icahn and The Chesapeake Conundrum

Gordon Wilcox — Thu, 31 May 2012 06:58:07 +0000

Those not living in a cave by now know that legendary corporate raider Carl Icahn has shelled out about $785 million to buy 50.1 million shares, or 7.6% of downtrodden Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK), the second-largest U.S. natural gas producer.

This is Icahn's second tryst with Chesapeake. The first one was quite profitable. Taking a stake of almost 6% in December 2010 when the stock was in low to mid-$20s, Icahn was out by February after the stock peaked at over $35.

Back then, Icahn was looking to force now embattled Chesapeake CEO Aubrey McClendon to sell assets to reduce the company's debt load. McClendon obliged, selling $4.75 billion in Fayetteville Shale assets to BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP), the world's largest mining company as one example. In other words, Icahn did he what does best and that is take an activist approach, forcing management to acquiesce to his demands.

The sequel to the Icahn/Chesapeake dalliance could be different. Arguably, it has to be. Even though it really wasn't that long ago the Icahn was last involved with the Oklahoma-based energy company, things have changed and changed for the worse since Icahn last took this car for a spin. Ensconced in controversy following the revelation that McClendon borrowed as much as $1.1 billion over the last three years against his holdings in thousands of Chesapeake wells and didn't tell analysts and investors about it, Chesapeake desperately needs change.

As we previously noted, it would appear the loans are legal, but the ethics of a company executive borrowing funds to take stakes in company projects and then use the stakes as collateral walks a fine line of what shareholders would be willing to tolerate. And Chesapeake investors have had to tolerate a lot with McClendon, namely epic destruction of shareholder value. This was a $70 stock before the commodities bubble burst in 2008. It closed at $16.44 Wednesday, but hey, Icahn's probably already in the green.

Needing More Beleaguered Chesapeake shareholders need more than near-term pops on the back of noteworthy investors taking stakes. Icahn's latest stake makes him Chesapeake's second-largest shareholder and while there is certainly room for him to acquire more shares, there's no guarantee he will.

For all anyone knows, this could be another hookup of less than 90 days, not a marriage, between Icahn and Chesapeake. If his profit resembles anything close to what it did the last time he was involved with the stock, why would Icahn hang around for more than 60, 70 or 80 days?

This time around, Icahn doesn't need to excoriate ...

Still Sitting On My Hands…

Zentrader — Thu, 31 May 2012 06:04:37 +0000

…holding the same large DIA position I've been in for awhile now. Nothing to do but wait for some sort of capitulation as the selling we've seen up to this point has been severe enough that there needs to be some sense of panic before we can gain any traction to the upside.

Today was ...

Stocks To Watch For May 31

Monica Gerson — Thu, 31 May 2012 04:14:23 +0000

Some of the stocks that may grab investor focus today are:

Wall Street expects CIENA Corp (NASDAQ: CIEN) to post a Q2 loss at $0.03 per share on revenue of $447.37 million. CIEN shares gained 0.42% to $11.93 in after-hours trading.

Coldwater Creek Inc (NASDAQ: CWTR) reported a FQ1 loss of $23.8 million, or $0.20 per share, versus a year-ago loss of $30 million, or $0.32 per share. Its revenue declined to $169.9 million from $179.8 million. However, analysts were expecting ...

Top 4 Stocks In The Water Utilities Industry With The Highest Cash

Monica Gerson — Thu, 31 May 2012 04:12:54 +0000

Below are the top water utilities stocks on the NYSE and the NASDAQ in terms of cash.

Consolidated Water Co Ltd (NASDAQ: CWCO) had $33.53 million in total cash and $15.51 million in total debt ...

Top 4 Small-Cap Stocks In The Publishing-Newspapers Industry With The Highest EPS Estimates

Monica Gerson — Thu, 31 May 2012 04:11:36 +0000

Below are the top small-cap publishing-newspapers stocks on the NYSE and the NASDAQ in terms of earnings estimate for the next year.

The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT) is projected to earn $0.65 per share for the next year ...

Top 4 Large-Cap Stocks In The Telecom Services-Foreign Industry With The Highest Revenue

Monica Gerson — Thu, 31 May 2012 04:10:03 +0000

Below are the top large-cap telecom services-foreign stocks on the NYSE and the NASDAQ in terms of revenue.

The trailing-twelve-month revenue at Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp (NYSE: NTT) is $131.87 billion. NTT ...

Top 4 Mid-Cap Stocks In The Semiconductor-Specialized Industry With The Highest Profit Margin

Monica Gerson — Thu, 31 May 2012 04:03:41 +0000

Below are the top mid-cap semiconductor-specialized stocks on the NYSE and the NASDAQ in terms of profit margin.

The trailing-twelve-month profit margin at Linear Technology Corp (NASDAQ: LLTC) is 34.98%. LLTC's ROE ...

Freeport Feeling the Pain of Declining Copper Prices

Traders Huddle — Thu, 31 May 2012 03:12:07 +0000

With global growth concerns continuing to capture the sentiment of the investor community, Freeport McMoran (NYSE: FCX) has felt the pain of declining copper prices. With more than 70% of its revenue coming from copper, it does not look like Freeport will recover any of its value in the near future. Copper has been hammered. With prospects for the consumption of copper in China dimming, the fundamental do not pain a pretty picture.

The stock price has been consolidating in a tight ...

Benzinga's Microcap Movers for Wednesday May 30, 2012

Charles Gross — Thu, 31 May 2012 01:28:02 +0000

Below are highlights from Benzinga's daily coverage of microcap securities making big moves:

Elevate

Shares of Elevate (ELEV), the San Clemente, CA provider of data, voice, video, mobile and security solutions, rose 121% Wednesday on 42 times the average daily volume.

Elevate reported Wednesday a 42% growth in daily sales volume for the two weeks following the May 15th launch of its 2012 door program. The company also posted a record sales week, beating the previous week (in November of 2011) by 23%.

Elevate closed at $0.42 on Wednesday.

NCI

Shares of NCI (NASDAQ: NCIT), the Reston, VA provider of information technology and professional services and solutions to U.S. Federal Government agencies, rose 28.24% Wednesday on 38 times the average daily volume.

NCI announced Wednesday that it was an awardee on the $20B ceiling Chief Information Officers-Solutions and Partners Government Wide Acquisition Contract. ...