Asian stocks dropped, with the regional benchmark index retreating from the highest level in 20 months, after Chinese economic growth and industrial production expanded less than economists��estimated.
Jiangxi Copper Co., China�� largest copper producer, slid 4.9 percent in Hong Kong. Nissan Motor Co. (7201), a Japanese carmaker that gets 32 percent of sales from North America, slid 3.9 percent, pacing declines among exporters after U.S. retail sales unexpectedly fell. Mando Corp. tumbled 15 percent in Seoul as Midas International Asset Management Ltd. said it will sell its holdings after the auto-parts maker said it will bail out an unprofitable construction affiliate.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.7 percent to 137.22 as of 8:25 p.m. in Tokyo, with about three shares sliding for each that rose. Chinese gross domestic product expanded 7.7 percent in the first quarter, missing economists estimates, data released today showed.
��hile the medium-term outlook is OK, people are having to digest the fact that some of this short-term news flow isn�� quite as good,��Angus Gluskie, managing director at Sydney- based White Funds Management, which oversees more than $350 million, said before the release of the Chinese data. ��here�� no doubt China�� growth over the next five or six years is going to be at a more mature pace than it was over the last decade. We should be expecting lesser rates of growth.��
5 Best Paper Stocks To Own For 2015: Christopher & Banks Corporation (CBK)
Christopher & Banks Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates retail stores that provide women�s apparel and accessories in the United States. The company designs, sources, and sells apparel catering to customers generally ranging in age from 45 to 60. Its stores offer knit tops, woven tops, jackets, sweaters, skirts, denim bottoms, bottoms made of other fabrications, and dresses in various sizes, as well as jewelry and accessories. As of March 13, 2013, the company operated 605 stores in 44 states, including 381 Christopher & Banks stores, 158 C.J. Banks stores, 41 dual stores, and 25 outlet stores. It also operates e-Commerce Web sites christopherandbanks.com and cjbanks.com. The company was formerly known as Braun�s Fashions Corporation and changed its name to Christopher & Banks Corporation in July 2000. Christopher & Banks Corporation was founded in 1956 and is headquartered in Plymouth, Minnesota.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jonathan Morgan]
Deutsche Bank, Germany�� biggest lender, slipped 0.8 percent to 34.24 euros, and Commerzbank AG (CBK), the second-largest, retreated 1.6 percent to 6.66 euros. A gauge of European banking stocks fell the most of the 19 industry groups the Stoxx Europe 600 Index.
- [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 Christopher & Banks (NYSE: CBK ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.
Top 5 Japanese Companies To Own In Right Now: Synergy Resources Corp (SYRG)
Synergy Resources Corporation, incorporated on May 11, 2005, is an oil and gas operator in Colorado. The Company is focused on the acquisition, development, exploitation, exploration and production of oil and natural gas properties primarily located in the Denver-Julesburg Basin (D-J Basin) in northeast Colorado. Effective November 13, 2013, Synergy Resources Corp acquired 21 undisclosed oil and gas producing wells, located in Wattenberg Field, Colorado.
As of October 31, 2013, the Company has 374,000 gross and 245,000 net acres under lease, substantially all of which are located in the D-J Basin. Of this acreage, 12,550 gross acres are held by production. In addition to the approximately 22,000 net developed and undeveloped acres that the Company hold in the Wattenberg Field, it hold undeveloped acreage positions in the northern extension area of the D-J Basin, in an area around Yuma County that produces dry gas, and in western Nebraska.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Value Digger]
As peers, I selected Artek Exploration (ARKXF.PK), RMP Energy (OEXFF.PK), Synergy Resources (SYRG) and Magnum Hunter Resources (MHR). The first two firms trade also on the main Toronto board under the tickers RTK.TO and RMP.TO respectively. These peers comply with the following criteria:
Top 5 Japanese Companies To Own In Right Now: H&R Block Inc. (HRB)
H&R Block, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides tax preparation, retail banking, and various business advisory and consulting services. It operates in three segments: Tax Services, Business Services, and Corporate. The Tax Services segment offers H&R Block At Home, an income tax preparation software, as well as a range of online tax services, including tax advice, professional and do-it-yourself tax return preparation, and electronic filing services through its Web site at hrblock.com primarily in the United States, Canada, and Australia. This segment also provides the H&R Block Prepaid Emerald MasterCard and Emerald Advance lines of credit through H&R Block Bank, as well as other retail banking services, including checking and savings accounts, individual retirement accounts, and certificates of deposit; and sells refund anticipation loans and refund anticipation checks offered by third-party lending institutions, as well as offers income tax return preparation course s to the public. The Business Services segment provides tax and consulting services, wealth management, and capital markets services to middle-market companies. The Corporate segment engages in various operations, which include interest income from the United States passive investments, interest expense on borrowings, net interest margin and gains or losses relating to mortgage loans held for investment, real estate owned, residual interests in securitizations and other corporate expenses principally related to finance, legal, and other support departments. The company was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Mike Deane]
Before the opening bell on Wednesday�morning, H&R Block (HRB)�reported its fourth�quarter earnings, posting higher revenues and adjusted earnings than for last year’s Q4.
HRB’s�Earnings in Brief
H&R Block�reported fourth�quarter revenues of $2.56 billion, up from last year’s Q4 revenues of $2.2 billion. Net income�for the quarter came in at $910 million, or $3.29 per share, which is a significant improvement over last year’s Q4 figures of $664.3 million, or $2.42 per share. The company�� Q4 results beat analysts’ expectations of $3.23 EPS on revenues of $2.49 billion. For the full year, HRB reported revenue of $3.024 billion and adjusted EPS of $1.67.CEO Commentary
HRB president and CEO�Bill Cobb had the following comments: “We delivered a strong year of both revenue and earnings growth and lived up to our long-standing tradition of being the world’s leading tax services provider. Though we anticipated an overall decline in return counts, our Tax Plus strategy is working, and we will continue to focus on enhancing the client experience and delivering best-in-class products and services to drive profitable growth. Our improving client satisfaction scores are a testament to the value we bring to our clients, positioning us well for 2015 and beyond.”
HRB’s�Dividend
H&R Block most recently declared a 20 cent quarterly dividend on May 8, with a payout date of July 1. The stock goes ex-dividend on June 12.
Stock Performance
HRB stock was up $1.17, or 3.81%, in pre-market trading this morning. YTD, the company’s stock is up 4.59%
HRB�Dividend SnapshotAs of Market Close on June 10, 2014
Click here to see the complete history of HRB dividends.
- [By Dan Caplinger]
On Wednesday, H&R Block (NYSE: HRB ) will release its latest quarterly results. With the tax-preparation giant doing most of its business between early February and mid-April, this quarter is always the most important one for the company, and investors already have high expectations for the company.
Top 5 Japanese Companies To Own In Right Now: iShares S&P GSCI Commodity-Indexed Trust (GSG)
iShares S&P GSCI Commodity-Indexed Trust (the Trust), formerly iShares GSCI Commodity-Indexed Trust, issues units of beneficial interest, called Shares, representing fractional undivided beneficial interests in its net assets. Substantially all of the assets of the Trust consist of interests in the iShares S&P GSCI Commodity-Indexed Investing Pool LLC (the Investing Pool). The investment objective of the Trust is to seek investment results, through its investment in the Investing Pool, which correspond generally to the performance of the S&P GSCI Total Return Index (the Index). The Investing Pool is a limited liability company. The Investing Pool holds long positions in CERFs, which are futures contracts listed on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, which have a term of approximately five years after listing and whose settlement at expiration is based on the value of the S&P GSCI Excess Return Index, or S&P GSCI-ER, at that time.
The Index is intended to reflect the performance of a diversified group of commodities. The Index reflects the value of an investment in the S&P GSCI-ER together with a Treasury bill return. The S&P GSCI-ER reflects the returns that are potentially available through a rolling uncollateralized investment in the contracts comprising the S&P GSCI. Barclays Global Investors International, Inc. is the sponsor of the Trust and the manager of the Investing Pool. Barclays Global Investors, N.A. is the trustee of the Trust.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Adam J. Wiederman]
Getty Images Bitcoin made headlines last year when the value of all outstanding pieces of the electronic currency reached nearly $10 billion. It's not just speculators drawn to the new currency. Many businesses are also attempting to cash in on this growth: Several public companies, including Zynga (ZNGA) and Overstock.com (OSTK), accept Bitcoins as a form of payment. Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen's firm has invested nearly $50 million in Bitcoin-related ventures, and it is looking to invest even more. And the Winklevoss twins -- who notoriously accused Facebook's (FB) Mark Zuckerberg of stealing their idea -- have been "in dialogue" with the SEC about opening the first Bitcoin exchange-traded fund, according to Bloomberg. Yet a new survey from TheStreet.com (TST) reveals that 76 percent of consumers are not familiar with Bitcoin -- and 79 percent would never consider owning a currency like it. Does this signal opportunity for savvy investors? Or is this a fad you'd be wise to avoid? The Basics of Bitcoin Bitcoin is a completely unregulated form of currency developed by an anonymous Japanese programmer (according to some apocryphal claims) as a completely digital, peer-to-peer payment system that is independent of national currencies (which, Bitcoin users argue, are all subject to the riskiness of the underlying country). Bitcoins are rewarded throughout the day to a "Bitcoin miner" whose computer solves a series of algorithms quicker than other miners. The puzzles become more difficult over time, so the calculations take longer and the computations require more computing power. There will eventually be a total of 21 million Bitcoins (12.4 million are in circulation today) and we won't reach the point that they are effectively "mined out" until 2040. The value of a Bitcoin is supposed to be market-driven, meaning they're worth whatever the two parties in a transaction value them as. For example, in one of the original Bitcoin transactions, a "mi
- [By Charles Sizemore]
But things have changed over the past decade; correlations between commodities have increased. As commodity mutual funds and ETFs such as the PIMCO Commodity Real Return Fund (PCRDX) and iShares S&P GSCI Commodity-Indexed Trust (GSG) have become popular, commodities that once traded largely independently of each other now get lumped together and bought and sold as a group. Also, the financialization of commodities has caused their correlation to stocks to rise as well.
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