Research and Outreach Associate Tomorrow morning,March 19th, we expect to start our day with the release the National Academy of Science report on Delta Fisheries Protection. As we've blogged before  the nation's highly reputable scientific panel …

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Tomorrow: National Academy of Sciences Releases Report on the Delta Fisheries Protection

Click here to see the video. This morning, President Obama signed into effect the HIRE Act, a jobs bill that provides small businesses with incentives to spur hiring and help put Americans back …

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Putting Americans Back to Work: Another Step Forward

Auto insurer Progressive Corporation’s ( PGR ) earnings for February fell to 15 cents per share from 19 cents in the year-ago period. The decline reflects a decrease in realized gains on securities in the reported month compared with the prior-year period. The company, which reports earnings on a monthly basis, disclosed an income of $98.1 million, down 22% from $125.7 million in the prior-year period. However, net premiums written were up 11% to $1.2 billion while net premiums earned increased 3% year-over-year to $1.1 billion. Realized gains on securities were $11.9 million, down from $43.2 million in the prior-year period. The premium growth reflects the variability in disclosing monthly results. For example, February 28, which includes six-month renewals from policies written during the last several days of August, falls in fiscal February 2010 versus fiscal March 2009. This has resulted in a favorable impact on the reported written premium growth rates in February 2010 and a negative effect on growth rates for fiscal March 2010. However, the combined ratio, which reflects the percentage of premiums paid out as claims and expenses, deteriorated slightly to 90.4% from 89.2% recorded in the year-ago period. Policies-in-force (PIF) was good in Personal Auto and Special Lines, which were up 7% and 2% year-over-year, respectively. In Personal Auto, Direct Auto reported a 15% growth in PIF while Agency Auto was up 1% year-over-year. However, Progressive’s Commercial Auto business still remains a drag on earnings, reporting a 5% year-over-year decrease in PIF. Results reflected the economic slowdown. Progressive’s recurring pre-tax investment yield was 3.5% in February 2010. Reported book value per share was $9.01, up from $8.77 as of Jan 31, 2010 and $8.55 as of Dec 31, 2009. Return on equity on a trailing 12-month basis was 19.2%. During February, Progressive repurchased 0.6 million shares at an average price of $17.18. Though monthly results show more variability, going forward we expect Progressive to benefit

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Progressive’s Income Falls – Analyst Blog

$DPTR (gap + 200-day MA + extended), $FDX (stop: $84.83), $FNSR (big volume), $FFCH (200-day MA), $NWY (base), $OESX (stop: $5.09), $MDTH; 20 breakouts in all. img src=”http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Delicious/zignalscharts/~4/8PbxSjbsjnc” height=”1″ width=”1″/

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Stock Breakout: Mar 18th

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _________________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _________________________________________ Thursday March 18, 2010 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** Legend Studios, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Cephas Holding Corp. (Pinksheets:CEHC) reportedthat it has acquired an interest in a new modeling agency. The entity is currently in stealth mode with a major public reveal scheduled in early May.

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DrStockPick.com Stock Report! 03/18/10, CEHC, SHLM, NOC, TLVT, ROMA, STBK, MSG

Following the release of Ciena Corporation’s (CIEN) first quarter fiscal 2010 results on March 4, 2010, analysts have made both positive and negative revisions to their estimates. Linthicum, Maryland-based CIENA is an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) …

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(CIEN) Ciena Analysts Maintain Neutral Ratings After Revisions

There has been much speculation recently about an ongoing price bubble occurring in the Hong Kong residential property market. In fact, the concern has been so great that Hong Kong Financial Secretary John …

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Hong Kong Bubble?: Hong Kong Residential Property Prices January 2009

On Monday, Chris Dodd introduced financial reform legislation. In this video clip Jon Stewart brings his brand of humor to this otherwise very serious matter. The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c In …

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In Dodd we trust

TriQuint Semiconductor Inc. ( TQNT ) recently reported fourth quarter 2009 net income per share of 14 cents, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 11 cents and management’s revised expectation of 12 – 13 cents. TriQuint is an original equipment manufacturer of semiconductor communication integrated circuits. The company specifically targets the wireless handset segment, infrastructure networks and defense markets. The company reported revenues of $193.3 million in the fourth quarter, up 12% sequentially and up 30% year-over-year driven by solid growth from all end-markets. Revenue for 2009 came in at $654.3 million, up 14% from the prior year. We have discussed the quarterly results at length: http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/30996/TriQuint+Tops+Expectations AGREEMENT IN REVISIONS Following better-than-expected results for the fourth quarter, four of the five analysts following the stock have raised their earnings estimates for 2010 over the past 30 days, with no revision in the opposite direction. For the first quarter, four of the five analysts following the stock have raised their earnings estimates with no revision in the opposite direction. There have been no revisions in estimates for 2011. MAGNITUDE – ESTIMATES UPPED MODESTLY The current Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2010 is 46 cents, up five cents in the last 30 days. For fiscal 2011, TriQuint is expected to deliver 28.79% bottom line growth resulting in a Zacks Consensus Estimate of 60 cents. TriQuint has consistently met or exceeded its guidance. In terms of earnings surprises, earnings exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the last quarter by 9.09% while the third quarter met expectations. Earnings estimates for the first quarter are up by two cents with the current Zacks Consensus Estimate at 7 cents. Management had guided EPS to come between 8 cents and 10 cents. OUR RECOMMENDATION TriQuint foresees a sustained demand for handset and defense products. Management projects revenues between $170 million and $175 million in the first quarter of 2010. First quarter is a seasonally weak quarter for the company. For full fiscal 2010, management expects revenue to grow by 20%. Management continues to see solid adoption of its 3G products in multi-band smart phones. We remain cautiously optimistic of the company’s projected path of growth. Our long-term recommendation for TriQuint is Neutral (Zacks #3 Rank), which means that

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Earnings Scorecard: TriQuint – Analyst Blog

DPL Inc. ’s ( DPL ) unregulated subsidiary, DPL Energy Resources, will build a 60 kilowatt (kW) solar array at the Mound Advanced Technology Center in Miamisburg, a former Department of Energy Weapons site. Along with the company’s other solar installation on Yankee road, this project will help DPL meet the goals of Ohio’s energy legislation, which includes targets for generating electricity with renewable sources such as solar, wind and biofuels.  After completion, the facility will generate enough power to provide electricity for five homes and will cost approximately $400,000. Melink Corporation of Cincinnati is the general contractor of the project, and the solar installation, which will be situated on a hillside at Mound, is expected to be completed by this summer.   Dayton, Ohio-based DPL Inc. sells electricity through its principal subsidiary Dayton Power and Light Company. DPL owns approximately 900MW of natural gas and diesel peaking generation capacity, and 2,800MW of coal-fired generation capacity. DP&L is an electric utility with more than 500,000 residential, commercial, industrial, and governmental customers in its 6,000 square-mile service area in west-central Ohio.   The other subsidiaries of DPL Inc. are DPL Energy, LLC (DPLE) and DPL Energy Resources, Inc. (DPLER). DPLE operates merchant peaking generation facilities and DPLER markets wholesale power generated by DPL’s power plants. In fiscal 2009, the company was nominated by Forbes as one of the 100 most trustworthy companies based on accounting and governance practices.   DPL’s consistent performance across its solid base of stable utility operations, higher rates, regulatory approval for recovery of fuel cost, strong balance sheet, an above industry average dividend yield and a relatively cheap earnings-based valuation support our bullish outlook for DPL. 

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DPL Building Solar Facility – Analyst Blog

Shares of FUQI International, Inc. ( FUQI ), the Chinese jewelry manufacturer and retailer, got hammered today on news that the company will be restating earnings for the first three quarters of 2009 due to accounting errors. Based on an initial investigation, the company said it overstated EPS by about 15 to 19 cents per share through Sep 30, 2009. While accounting deficiencies, on their own, are enough to give investors the heebie-jeebies, FUQI pulled a double whammy when it also released preliminary earnings per share results for its fourth quarter which were nearly 50% under its prior guidance range. The company now expects fourth quarter EPS between 24 to 28 cents when its prior guidance was 55 to 60 cents. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is currently at 58 cents. Revenue is also forecast to be lighter than the guidance. Revenue is projected in the range of $175 to $180 million, down from the prior guidance of $182 to $191 million. Final fourth quarter and full year results will be delayed while it investigates and updates the accounting errors. The Big Warning on EPS Outside of the accounting error issue, which already has lawyers jumping into the fray and filing shareholder class action lawsuits, how could FUQI get the quarter so wrong in its initial EPS guidance last November? In its press release, the company reported that sales were slightly lower in the fourth quarter as customers delayed orders to coincide with the Chinese New Year holiday which occurred in mid-February. It also saw a higher product mix of lower margin wholesale products which resulted in lower gross margins than expected. The company did sound upbeat about its retail segment, however. “As we evaluate the 2009 fourth quarter performance of our retail business, we continue to be pleased with its expansion,” said Mr. Yu Kwai Chong, Chairman and CEO of FUQI International. “Our retail segment for fourth quarter 2009 is expected to be in the range of $15.5-16.5 million compared to $6.0 million in the prior year period. Fourth quarter 2009 retail gross margin is expected to be in the range of 27%-28%,” he added.  As for 2010, FUQI said that general order demand in both of its segments, retail and wholesale, remains solid. FUQI International is currently a Zacks #3 Rank (hold) stock. Analysts revisions to estimates are sure to come in the next few days, however. [The author of this article owns shares of FUQI International, Inc.] Tracey Ryniec is the Value Stock Strategist for Zacks.com. She is also the Editor in charge of the market-beating Zacks Value Trader service .   Read the full analyst report on “FUQI” Zacks Investment Research

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FUQI Restatement Sends Shares Plunging – Analyst Blog

On Tuesday, CIT Group Inc. ( CIT ) reported a net income of $3.2 billion, including the reorganization benefit under the post-bankruptcy accounting known as Fresh Start Accounting (FSA). Excluding special accounting procedures and other items related to its reorganization, its quarterly pre-tax loss was $1 billion. Results reflected low finance revenue as well as high borrowing and credit costs, primarily in Corporate Finance segment of the company.  CIT’s commercial net charge-offs, which reflects loans that the company no longer expects to be repaid, totaled $385 million or 4.77% of average finance receivables. Before FSA, allowance for loan losses totaled $1.8 billion at Dec 31, 2009, up significantly from $1.1 billion at Dec 31, 2008. Overall credit metrics weakened considerably. Net charge-offs increased largely reflecting the deterioration from the slow economy, high unemployment and constrained market liquidity. This impact was most notable in specific industries within Corporate Finance segment of the company.  Besides, under its reorganization plan, CIT canceled its common stock and issued new shares. Using previous shares outstanding, the company reported loss of $3.8 million or a penny per share in 2009, compared to $2.9 billion or $11.06 per share in 2008. Excluding reorganization and FSA adjustments, net loss was $4.1 billion in 2009.  At Dec 31, 2009, CIT had total cash of $9.8 billion, while consolidated Tier 1 and Total capital ratios were 14.2 %.  Business

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CIT Posts Loss on Higher Costs – Analyst Blog