China Scare...Earnings Rule.

2007-04-19T20:29:00.000-04:00

WOW, when i went to bed last night the Chinese markets were heading down big time, it looked like the threat of "too much growth" was going to cream our markets today.

However, lo and behold, we managed to eek out some gains. Amazing all the futures traders and speculators couldn't crush the momentum we have going...God knows they tried early.

Oil was down over a buck today, always big news on CNBC, they forget to mention the April futures expire tomorrow the 20th, they're such pricks. Just once I'd like to see them report the damn news without blowing everything out of proportion. One day the economy is completely stalled, the next day it's high oil prices, followed by, (in no specific order), inflation, interest rates, earnings...blah, blah, blah. Apparently the sky is falling everyday over something, while these jackasses make the non-professional viewing public slip into panic mode almost daily. I wish they had some sort of repercussions for the way they manipulate the market. Pathetic really, but I digress.

Earnings was the word of the day today. All in all a pretty good earnings session, some misses...but for the most part no REAL surprises.

I'll update some specific equities on Friday night, with some picks for next week to chew on through the weekend.

Stock

Tax/Earnings Week.

2007-04-15T22:34:00.000-04:00

As of this writing, 11:05 ish EST, Tokyo stocks are up on a weaker yen. We'll have to wait and see how earnings pare out for the US mkts.
Remember kids, if you have a position in a company that's reporting, PLEASE be careful, if the company misses earnings, you will pay dearly. Lighten your stake in companies you have questions about, if you are hands on or aggressive. This week should be mostly driven by earnings. Many, many companies are reporting, here's a partial calendar for April 16-19;

Monday, April 16

Before The Open		Actual		Reuters	/	Zacks	Yr Ago	Yr/Yr Rev
Amylin Pharms	AMLN			-0.42	/	-0.43	-0.61
Charles Schwab	SCHW			0.22	/	0.21	0.19
Citigroup	C			1.09	/	1.09	1.11
Eaton	ETN			1.41	/	1.41	1.40
Eli Lilly	LLY			0.79	/	0.79	0.77
Mattel	MAT			-0.05	/	-0.05	-0.07
Wachovia	WB			1.16	/	1.16	1.12
WW Grainger	GWW			1.09	/	1.08	0.93
During Trading Hours		Actual		Reuters	/	Zacks	Yr Ago	Yr/Yr Rev
Heartland Express	HTLD		d	0.18	/	0.18	0.18
JB Hunt Trans	JBHT		e	0.31	/	0.31	0.31
After The Close		Actual		Reuters	/	Zacks	Yr Ago	Yr/Yr Rev
Con-way	CNW			0.59	/	0.59	0.83
Equity Lifestyle Porperties	ELS			0.98	/	1.00	0.42
Innovex	INVX			-0.23	/	-0.23	0.04
Source Interlink	SORC			0.20	/	0.20	0.19
Steel Dynamics	STLD			0.97	/	0.94	0.76
Werner Enterprises	WERN			0.23	/	0.23	0.27

(a) Excluding non-recurring items.
(b) Calculated using current exchange rate.
(c) May not be comparable to consensus.
(d) HTLD- date tentative, co reports w/out prior notice
(e) JBHT- date tentative, co reports w/out notice

Tuesday, April 17

Before The Open		Actual		Reuters	/	Zacks	Yr Ago	Yr/Yr Rev
ADTRAN	ADTN			0.20	/	0.20	0.23
American Greetings	AM			0.22	/	0.16	0.70
Ameritrade	AMTD			0.24	/	0.24	0.22
Coca-Cola	KO			0.53	/	0.53	0.49
Comerica	CMA			1.18	/	1.19	1.23
Dow Jones	DJ			0.19	/	0.19	0.14
EMC Corp	EMC			0.14	/	0.13	0.16
Jefferies Group	JEF			0.40	/	0.41	0.40
Johnson & Johnson	JNJ			1.04	/	1.05	0.99
Jos. A. Bank	JOSB			1.25	/	1.22	1.02
KeyCorp	KEY			0.71	/	0.72	0.69
M&T Bank	MTB			1.61	/	1.56	1.84
Marshall & Ilsley	MI			0.83	/	0.83	0.78
McMoRan Expl	MMR			-0.37	/	-0.22	-0.44
Mellon Financial	MEL			0.58	/	0.58	0.52
Northern Trust	NTRS			0.79	/	0.79	0.74
PacificNet	PACT			0.02	/	n/a	0.08
Pathmark Stores	PTMK		d	-0.03	/	-0.03	-0.17
Pinnacle Finl	PNFP			0.34	/	0.34	0.27
Popular Inc	BPOP			0.25	/	0.29	0.42
Regions Fincl	RF			0.67	/	0.67	0.64
State Street	STT			0.91	/	0.92	0.84
SunTrust Banks	STI			1.41	/	1.41	1.46
US Bancorp	USB			0.65	/	0.65	0.63
Wells Fargo	WFC			0.65	/	0.65	0.60
After The Close		Actual		Reuters	/	Zacks	Yr Ago	Yr/Yr Rev
Champion	CHB			0.00	/	-0.01	0.18
Cognex	CGNX			0.15	/	0.15	0.18
Crown Hldgs	CCK			0.16	/	0.16	0.07
CSX Corp	CSX			0.54	/	0.54	0.53
Evergreen Solar	ESLR			-0.11	/	-0.11	-0.13
Hancock Holding	HBHC			0.66	/	0.65	0.67
IBM	IBM			1.20	/	1.20	1.08
Intel	INTC			0.22	/	0.22	0.23
Interwoven	IWOV		e	0.14	/	0.11	0.08
LifeCore Biomed	LCBM			0.18	/	0.19	0.16
Linear Tech	LLTC			0.32	/	0.32	0.38
Packaging Corp	PKG			0.31	/	0.31	0.09
PPD Inc.	PPDI			0.35	/	0.35	0.36
Renaissance Learning	RLRN			0.09	/	0.09	0.16
Rush Enterprises	RUSHA			0.47	/	0.48	0.46
Seagate Tech	STX			0.50	/	0.52	0.53
Trustmark	TRMK			0.47	/	0.48	0.53
USANA	USNA			0.62	/	0.62	0.50
Washington Mutual	WM			0.84	/	0.87	0.98
Yahoo!	YHOO			0.11	/	0.11	0.11

(a) Excluding non-recurring items.
(b) Calculated using current exchange rate.
(c) May not be comparable to consensus.
(d) PTMK- co to be aqd, may report w/out prior notice
(e) IWOV- option investigation, co to report Q1 revs only, est on pg not applicable

Wednesday, April 18

Before The Open		Actual	Reuters	/	Zacks	Yr Ago	Yr/Yr Rev
A.O. Smith	AOS		0.61	/	0.62	0.60
Abbott Labs	ABT		0.52	/	0.53	0.57
AMCORE Fncl	AMFI		0.45	/	0.45	0.42
Amphenol	APH		0.41	/	0.41	0.31
AMR Corp	AMR		0.37	/	0.38	-0.49
Applied Industrial	AIT		0.45	/	0.45	0.43
ASML Holding	ASML		0.45	/	0.46	0.20
Bank of NY	BK		0.57	/	0.57	0.55
CIT Group	CIT		1.27	/	1.26	1.16
Commerce Bancorp	CBH		0.39	/	0.39	0.41
Downey Fincl	DSL		1.76	/	1.82	1.61
First Cash	FCFS		0.30	/	0.31	0.23
Genlyte	GLYT		1.09	/	1.08	0.84
Illinois Tool	ITW		0.71	/	0.72	0.64
JP Morgan Chase	JPM		1.02	/	1.00	0.88
Knight Trading	NITE		0.32	/	0.32	0.52
LeCroy	LCRY		0.09	/	0.04	0.24
Lufkin Industries	LUFK		1.05	/	1.05	1.01
Motorola	MOT		0.01	/	0.01	0.28
Piper Jaffray	PJC		0.77	/	0.78	0.90
PNC Bank	PNC		1.32	/	1.32	1.19
RLI Corp	RLI		0.99	/	0.97	0.86
Syntel	SYNT		0.32	/	0.33	0.29
The Medicines Co	MDCO		0.08	/	0.08	-0.24
Tribune	TRB		0.31	/	0.31	0.38
United Tech	UTX		0.81	/	0.81	0.76
Wolverine	WWW		0.37	/	0.37	0.34
After The Close		Actual	Reuters	/	Zacks	Yr Ago	Yr/Yr Rev
Alliance Data	ADS		0.91	/	0.83	0.69
Allstate	ALL		1.87	/	1.89	2.12
AMB Property	AMB		0.54	/	0.53	0.17
AptarGroup	ATR		0.72	/	0.73	0.57
Arena Pharm	ARNA		-0.66	/	-0.66	-0.30
Avici Systems	AVCI		0.13	/	0.14	0.15
Citrix Systems	CTXS		0.35	/	0.29	0.33
Cubist Pharma	CBST		0.10	/	0.09	-0.11
E*TRADE	ETFC		0.39	/	0.38	0.36
eBay	EBAY		0.30	/	0.25	0.24
First Horizon	FHN		0.58	/	0.58	0.76
Gilead Sciences	GILD		0.78	/	0.75	0.59
IMS Health	RX		0.34	/	0.34	0.31
Intersil	ISIL		0.28	/	0.23	0.23
Kinder Morgan Prtnrs	KMP		0.42	/	0.43	0.53
Knight Transportation	KNX		0.19	/	0.19	0.18
Kraft Foods	KFT		0.42	/	0.41	0.45
Labor Ready	LRW		0.16	/	0.17	0.21
Logitech Intl SA	LOGI		0.31	/	0.29	0.26
MGI Pharma	MOGN		-0.06	/	-0.05	-0.04
MoneyGram	MGI		0.35	/	0.35	0.36
Novellus	NVLS		0.44	/	0.44	0.25
Owens & Minor	OMI		0.30	/	0.31	0.41
Sovereign Banc	SOV		0.32	/	0.32	0.41
Spansion	SPSN		-0.22	/	-0.24	-0.40
Stanley Furniture	STLY		0.15	/	0.15	0.43
Stryker	SYK		0.58	/	0.58	0.49
SurModics	SRDX		0.34	/	0.34	0.33
Teradyne	TER		0.02	/	0.03	0.25
Torchmark Corp	TMK		1.29	/		1.20

(a) Excluding non-recurring items.
(b) Calculated using current exchange rate.
(c) May not be comparable to consensus.

Thursday, April 19

Before The Open		Actual		Reuters	/	Zacks	Yr Ago	Yr/Yr Rev
Altria	MO			1.04	/	1.04	1.26
American Standard	ASD			0.49	/	0.49	0.43
Ametek	AME			0.46	/	0.46	0.38
Arbitron	ARB			0.50	/	0.51	0.58
Avocent	AVCT			0.27	/	0.19	0.35
Bank of America	BAC			1.15	/	1.16	1.08
Baxter	BAX			0.54	/	0.55	0.43
BB&T Corp	BBT			0.77	/	0.77	0.75
BlackRock	BLK			1.64	/	1.64	1.23
Briggs & Stratton	BGG			1.00	/	0.97	1.16
CBOT Holdings	BOT			1.15	/	1.15	0.66
Chittenden	CHZ			0.45	/	0.45	0.43
Continental Air	CAL			0.09	/	0.08	-0.53
Cooper Industries	CBE			0.66	/	0.66	0.57
Corus Bankshares	CORS		d	0.72	/	0.71	0.75
Danaher	DHR			0.77	/	0.77	0.66
DR Horton	DHI			0.34	/	0.28	1.11
Endo Pharm	ENDP			0.35	/	0.35	0.41
Fairchild Semi	FCS			0.16	/	0.15	0.16
Fifth Third	FITB			0.65	/	0.65	0.65
Gannett	GCI			0.89	/	0.89	0.99
Genuine Parts	GPC			0.72	/	0.71	0.66
Harley-Davidson	HOG			0.74	/	0.73	0.86
Hershey Foods	HSY			0.51	/	0.51	0.50
HNI Corp.	HNI			0.46	/	0.45	0.55
Huntington Banc	HBAN			0.43	/	0.43	0.45
IDEX Corp	IEX			0.67	/	0.66	0.56
Intl Game Tech	IGT			0.36	/	0.36	0.35
Journal Register	JRC			0.09	/	0.08	0.13
KVH Industries	KVHI			0.02	/	0.02	0.08
Landstar System	LSTR			0.40	/	0.39	0.41
Marriott	MAR			0.38	/	0.38	0.38
Media General	MEG			-0.26	/	-0.26	0.28
Merck	MRK			0.64	/	0.65	0.78
Meridian Bioscience	VIVO			0.22	/	0.22	0.18
Merrill Lynch	MER			1.96	/	1.96	0.44
NASDAQ	NDAQ			0.25	/	0.25	0.16
New York Times	NYT			0.18	/	0.18	0.28
Noble Corp	NE			1.82	/	1.81	1.05
Nokia	NOK			0.32	/	0.32	0.30
Nucor	NUE			1.24	/	1.22	1.21
OptionsXpress	OXPS			0.36	/	0.37	0.29
Orbital Sciences	ORB			0.19	/	0.19	0.14
Peabody Energy	BTU			0.40	/	0.40	0.48
PPG Industries	PPG			1.14	/	1.06	1.24
Quest Diagnostics	DGX			0.69	/	0.71	0.75
Reliance Steel	RS			1.33	/	1.32	1.07
Schering-Plough	SGP			0.29	/	0.29	0.22
SCP Pool	POOL			0.07	/	0.09	0.12
Sherwin-Williams	SHW			0.83	/	0.83	0.82
Sify Limited	SIFY			0.03	/	n/a	0.01
Sky Fincl Group	SKYF			0.48	/	0.48	0.46
Southwest Air	LUV			0.05	/	0.05	0.07
Spectranetics	SPNC			0.00	/	-0.02	-0.02
St. Jude Medical	STJ			0.40	/	0.40	0.36
Supervalu	SVU			0.63	/	0.63	0.55
TASER	TASR			0.02	/	0.04	0.01
Textron	TXT			1.25	/	1.25	1.19
Total System	TSS			0.28	/	0.28	0.27
Ultratech	UTEK			-0.18	/	-0.17	0.06
Union Pacific	UNP			1.29	/	1.29	1.15
UnitedHealth	UNH			0.71	/	0.71	0.68
USA Truck	USAK			0.00	/	0.01	0.30
Watsco	WSO			0.42	/	0.42	0.47
Wesco	WCC			1.09	/	1.09	0.86
Wyeth	WYE			0.87	/	0.86	0.83
During Trading Hours		Actual		Reuters	/	Zacks	Yr Ago	Yr/Yr Rev
American Express	AXP			0.80	/	0.80	0.70
After The Close		Actual		Reuters	/	Zacks	Yr Ago	Yr/Yr Rev
AC Moore	ACMR			-0.04	/	-0.04	0.01
Advanced Micro	AMD			-0.49	/	-0.44	0.41
Armor Holdings	AH			1.11	/	1.11	1.10
C.R. Bard	BCR			0.91	/	0.90	0.82
Capital One	COF			1.99	/	1.98	2.86
Cerner	CERN			0.31	/	0.31	0.28
Cree	CREE			0.05	/	0.04	0.29
CyberSource	CYBS			0.05	/	0.03	0.02
Cytec	CYT			0.83	/	0.84	0.82
F.N.B. Corp	FNB			0.28	/	0.28	0.27
First Data	FDC			0.23	/	0.23	0.49
Gol Intelligent Airlines	GOL			0.25	/	0.24	0.43
Google	GOOG			3.28	/	2.92	2.01
hi/fn	HIFN			-0.02	/	-0.13	-0.18
Hub Group	HUBG			0.25	/	0.25	0.20
Hyperion Solutions	HYSL			0.43	/	0.35	0.29
Informatica	INFA			0.12	/	0.08	0.12
InfoUSA	IUSA			0.15	/	n/a	0.15
Intuitive Surgical	ISRG			0.53	/	0.54	0.38
Ixia	XXIA			0.07	/	0.01	0.07
Knoll	KNL			0.28	/	0.28	0.20
Leggett & Platt	LEG			0.34	/	0.34	0.37
LodgeNet	LNET			0.05	/	0.02	-0.04
Mohawk	MHK			1.06	/	1.08	1.04
Molex	MOLX			0.34	/	0.33	0.35
Packeteer	PKTR			-0.01	/	-0.02	0.14
Premiere Glbl Svcs	PGI			0.17	/	0.14	0.12
Robt Half	RHI			0.46	/	0.46	0.38
SiRF Technology	SIRF			0.21	/	0.12	0.17
Stamps.com	STMP			0.12	/	0.12	0.14
Taubman Centers	TCO			0.63	/	0.63	0.10
Tempur-Pedic	TPX			0.34	/	0.34	0.29
U.S. Xpress	XPRSA			0.04	/	0.05	0.05
UnionBanCal	UB			1.04	/	1.04	1.24
Zhone Technologies	ZHNE			-0.03	/	-0.02	-0.02
Zions Bancorp	ZION			1.43	/	1.42	1.31

(a) Excluding non-recurring items.
(b) Calculated using current exchange rate.
(c) May not be comparable to consensus.
(d) CORS- date tentative, co reports w/out prior notice

Friday, April 20

Before The Open		Actual		Reuters	/	Zacks	Yr Ago	Yr/Yr Rev
Amcol	ACO			0.40	/	0.42	0.31
Caterpillar	CAT			1.08	/	1.09	1.20
Honeywell	HON			0.62	/	0.62	0.51
Imation	IMN			0.57	/	0.57	0.61
Johnson Controls	JCI			1.05	/	1.05	0.83
Manpower	MAN			0.61	/	0.61	0.48
McDonald's	MCD			0.57	/	0.56	0.49
Pfizer	PFE			0.57	/	0.57	0.61
Saia	SAIA			0.24	/	0.25	0.28
SAP AG	SAP			0.35	/	0.34	0.27
				0.90	/	0.89	0.59
Sonoco Products	SON			0.49	/	0.49	0.46
Wilmington Trust	WL			0.68	/	0.68	0.64
Wipro	WIT			0.12	/	0.12	0.09
Xerox	XRX			0.21	/	0.21	0.20
After The Close		Actual		Reuters	/	Zacks	Yr Ago	Yr/Yr Rev
Corel	CREL		d	0.03	/	-0.01	n/a

(a) Excluding non-recurring items.
(b) Calculated using current exchange rate.
(c) May not be comparable to consensus.
(d) CORL - Delayed earnings on 4/12, says no later than April 20th.

Stock

The First

2007-04-15T22:00:00.000-04:00

Greetings and hello,

This is my first attempt at blogging, and will probably be rather pathetic. Hopefully in time I can share some of what happens in the world of financial management in an insightful and humorous way. I have my doubts.

Fun and (very) little profit, will be primarily focused on individual equities and debt securities. Although most of my contemporaries (at least the one's I know), would much rather create and manage mutual fund based portfolio's for their clients, I tend to buck that trend and go almost exclusively with individual stocks and bonds.

This method of investing is rather hands on and is much more all consuming than picking a few mutual funds and walking with a 5.75% commish. Which is better? I think both have their place, more on that at a later date.

Who can benefit from this blog? Almost anyone once we get going, I'll be posting on equity picks with follow up comments, what the state of the economy means to you, the investor and who knows what else. This should be insightful at times, generally only when I have a guest blogger though. Hopefully you'll give me a chance to figure this out before crushing me, probably not. That's ok too.

I hope you enjoy the upcoming blogs.

Stock

P.S. Tax day

Fun and (very little) Profit, Tales From The Pit.