What do you get when you combine a strong jobs report plus a promising beginning to earnings season, and soothing words from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke? A new record closing high for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI ) , of course.
The blue chips jumped 169 points today, or 1.1%, to close out at 15,460, topping the previous closing high of 15,409 that it hit on May 28 of this year. The S&P 500 also hit a new closing high. The Dow's intraday high from May 22, of 15,542, still stands. Today's surge came as Ben Bernanke said that the Fed's accommodative monetary policy would stay in place in order to lower the unemployment rate, which currently sits at 7.6%. It should come as no surprise to see the markets respond like this, as investors have been obsessed with monetary policy since Bernanke first seriously floated the idea of tapering the central bank's $85 billion a month bond-buying program on May 22. His recent statement seems to indicate that the Fed will not be hasty in reducing the stimulus.
Hot Cheap Companies For 2015: Marathon Investments Ltd (MARA)
Marathon Investments Ltd is an Israel-based company that invests in income-producing industrial companies. The Company's portfolio includes companies in the fields of heat treatment, biotechnology, inspection and advanced electronics. Its portfolio comprises of a number of companies: Protalix Biotherapeutics Inc. which produces plant protein-based medical treatment; Nanomotion Ltd. which develops, manufactures and markets tiny solid-state ceramic servo motors and positioning systems; Margan Business Development Ltd. which engages in early building and facility damage detection; BioView Ltd. which develops and manufactures medical screening and diagnostics systems; Solcon Industries Ltd. is a high technology electronics manufacturer, whose products are intended for installation in low and medium voltage AC Motor switchgear, and Chromat Ltd., which is a commercial steel heat treatment company, among others. Advisors' Opinion:- [By CRWE]
Today, MARA has shed (-3.78%) down -0.23 at $5.85 with�23,913 shares in play thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 11:09AM EDT September 11, 2013).
Marathon Patent Group, Inc. previously reported its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2013 (“Q2 2013″).
For Q2, 2013, the Company reported gross revenue of $1,524,979, as a result of three patent licensing and settlement agreements. Q2 2013 marks the first quarter the Company has reported significant licensing and settlement revenue. Included in the gross revenue amount is the value of certain patents received in settlement from a defendant. - [By John Udovich]
Although some view patent investors or speculators as nothing more than "patent trolls," small cap patent stocks RPX Corporation (NASDAQ: RPXC), Marathon Patent Group Inc (OTCBB: MARA) and Endeavor IP Inc (OTCBB: ENIP) are a couple of interesting options that allow retail investors to invest in patents as they either invest in patents themselves or they provide patent related services. However, there could be risks associated with investing in patent stocks because a bi-partisan bill called the Innovation Act (H.R. 3309) is�working its way through Congress to try and reign in the activities of so-called�patent trolls or companies�who go out and buy or license patents from others and then target alleged infringers with lawsuits.
Hot Promising Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Cirrus Logic Inc.(CRUS)
Cirrus Logic, Inc., a fabless semiconductor company, develops high-precision analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits (ICs) for audio and energy markets worldwide. The company offers analog and mixed-signal audio converter and audio digital signal processor (DSP) products, which include analog-to-digital converters (ADCs); digital-to-analog converters (DACs); chips for integrating ADCs and DACs into an IC; digital interface ICs; volume controls; and digital amplifiers, as well as audio DSPs for consumer electronics applications. Its audio products are used in various consumer applications, including portable media players, smartphones, tablets, AVRs, DVD and Blu-ray disc players, home theater systems, set-top boxes, MP3 players, gaming devices, sound cards, and digital televisions; professional applications comprising digital mixing consoles, multitrack digital recorders, and effects processors; automotive applications consisting of amplifiers, satellite radio systems, telematics, and multi-speaker car-audio systems; and networked digital audio applications. The company also provides high-precision analog and mixed-signal ICs for energy control, energy measurement, and energy exploration applications; and ICs, board-level modules, and hybrids under the Apex Precision Power brand name for high-power pulse width modulation (PWM) and power amplifier applications; and proprietary products, which include ADCs, DACs, linear amplifiers, PWM amplifiers, and amplifier ICs; and system reference designs. Its energy products are used in digital utility meters, power supplies, lighting ballasts, motor control, energy exploration, and high-power systems. The company sells its products primarily to through direct sales force, external sales representatives, and distributors. Cirrus Logic, Inc. was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Evan Niu, CFA]
Throughout this whole time, Cirrus Logic (NASDAQ: CRUS ) has been on my radar as the primary supplier of audio codec chips in iDevices, with Apple comprising 91% of sales in the December quarter. I've never invested in the company, primarily due to a feeling that I'd missed the boat already. Shares topped out over $45 late last year, making me think Cirrus would always be the one that got away.
- [By Dan Caplinger]
Beyond the Dow, earnings also had a big impact. Cirrus Logic (NASDAQ: CRUS ) has plunged nearly 14% after releasing preliminary figures for its just-ended fiscal fourth quarter. The major supplier for Apple cited "a decreased forecast for a high volume product" as justifying its warning for both the previous and current quarters, and a Wall Street analyst followed suit with a downgrade of Cirrus stock. Apple also dropped further, with its 4.7% decline leading the stock to flirt with the $400 level, which it hasn't breached since late 2011.
- [By Anders Bylund]
That brings us to the fourth and final stop on this whirlwind tour. The week before Apple's next earnings report, audio-chip supplier Cirrus Logic (NASDAQ: CRUS ) scared the pants off many Cupertino investors with an earnings miss and very low top-line sales. Apple is Cirrus' largest customer by far, and it was easy to connect the dots. Management blamed the miss on "a decreased forecast for a high volume product," and Apple shares plunged another 5.5% overnight. When Apple's report confirmed the bearish action again, the bad news had already been priced in. That's why the stock didn't sink even further this week.
- [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Cirrus Logic (NASDAQ: CRUS) was also up, gaining 4.44 percent to $21.55 after the company beat on the bottom line and caught an upgrade from Northland Securities to an Outperform rating and $27 price target.
Hot Promising Stocks To Invest In Right Now: ProAssurance Corporation(PRA)
ProAssurance Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides medical and other professional liability insurance products to health care service, legal service, and other professional service providers in the United States. It primarily offers its products to physicians, dentists, chiropractors, optometrists, and allied health professionals. The company markets its products through an internal sales force, as well as independent agents. ProAssurance Corporation was founded in 1976 and is based in Birmingham, Alabama.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rich Duprey]
Specialty insurance company�ProAssurance� (NYSE: PRA ) �announced yesterday�its second-quarter dividend of $0.25 per share, the same rate it's paid since it initiated a payout in 2011.
- [By Lauren Pollock]
ProAssurance Corp.(PRA) agreed to acquire Eastern Insurance Holdings Inc.(EIHI) for about $205 million, expanding the insurance company’s casualty insurance offerings. Eastern Insurance is a domestic casualty insurance group specializing in workers’ compensation products and services, among other things. ProAssurance plans to pay $24.50 in cash for each outstanding Eastern share, a 16% premium over Monday’s closing price.
Hot Promising Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Vanguard FTSE All World ex US Index Fund Investor Shares (VEU)
Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US ETF (the Fund) is an exchange-traded class of shares of Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US Index Fund. The Fund seeks to track the performance of an index that measures the investment return of stocks of companies located in developed and emerging markets worldwide. The Fund employs a passive management or indexing investment approach designed to track the performance of the FTSE All-World ex US Index (the Index), a free-float-adjusted, market capitalization-weighted index designed to measure equity market performance of international markets.
The Index includes approximately 2,200 stocks of companies located in 47 countries, including both developed and emerging markets. The Fund typically holds 1,200 to 1,300 stocks in the Index (covering nearly 95% of the Index�� total market capitalization) and a representative sample of the remaining stocks. The Fund holds a range of securities that, in the aggregate, approximate the full Index in terms of key characteristics. These key characteristics include industry weightings and market capitalization, as well as certain financial measures, such as price/earnings ratio and dividend yield. The Fund�� investment advisor is The Vanguard Group, Inc.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Philip Springer, President, Retirement Wealth Management, Inc.]
Our favorite is Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US (VEU). This all-in-one ETF combines broad diversification, a high yield (4.7%) and a rock-bottom expense ratio (0.15%).
Hot Promising Stocks To Invest In Right Now: First Financial Northwest Inc.(FFNW)
First Financial Northwest, Inc. operates as the holding company for First Savings Bank Northwest that provides community-based savings bank services in Washington. Its deposit products include noninterest bearing accounts, NOW accounts, money market deposit accounts, statement savings accounts, and certificates of deposit. The company?s loan products portfolio comprises one-to-four family residential loans, multifamily loans, commercial real estate loans, construction/land development loans, and business loans, as well as consumer loans, including home equity loans, personal lines of credit, second mortgage loans, and savings account loans. First Financial Northwest, Inc., through another subsidiary, First Financial Diversified, Inc., offers escrow services. The company primarily serves customers in the King, Pierce, Snohomish, and Kitsap counties of Washington through a full-service banking office in Renton, Washington. First Financial Northwest, Inc. was founded in 1923 and is based in Renton, Washington.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jim Royal]
The special situation
For those of you following my Special Situations portfolio, Investors Bancorp is in a spot similar to First Financial Northwest (NASDAQ: FFNW ) and TFS Financial (NASDAQ: TFSL ) , both of which are featured substantially in the portfolio. While Investors Bancorp is still only a partially demutualized thrift (like TFS Financial today), it will soon become a fully public institution, like First Financial.
Hot Promising Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Sapient Corporation(SAPE)
Sapient Corporation helps clients to leverage marketing and technology to transform their businesses in the United States and internationally. It operates in three segments: SapientNitro, Sapient Global Markets, and Sapient Government Services. The SapientNitro segment offers Web and interactive development, traditional advertising, media planning and buying, strategic planning and marketing analytics, and multi-channel commerce strategy and solutions, including a focus on mobile, and content and asset management strategies and solutions. This segment also provides integrated marketing and creative services, such as visual concept, design, and implementation through multiple media; brand building and direct response programs, audience segmentation, and profiling strategies; customer loyalty strategies; customer relationship strategy and implementation; customer lead generation and management; and integrated advertising campaigns. The Sapient Global Markets segment offers i ntegrated advisory, program management, analytics, technology, and operations services to capital and commodity markets. This segment also provides business and information technology strategy, process and system design, program management, custom development and package implementation, systems integration, and outsourced services to financial services and energy services markets. The Sapient Government Services segment offers digital marketing strategy and execution, program management, solution delivery, strategy, and communications and outreach services, as well as provides consulting, technology, and marketing services to the United States governmental agencies and non-governmental organizations. The company serves financial services, technology and communications, consumer, travel, automotive, energy services, government, health, and education sectors. Sapient Corporation was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.
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 Sapient (Nasdaq: SAPE ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below. - [By CRWE]
Sapient (NASDAQ:SAPE) reportedthat Alan J. Herrick, president and chief executive officer, and Joseph S. Tibbetts, Jr., senior vice president and chief financial officer, will present at the Sanford C. Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference at The Waldorf Astoria in New York on Thursday, May 31, 2012 from 4:00 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. ET.
Hot Promising Stocks To Invest In Right Now: ExactTarget Inc (ET)
ExactTarget, Inc. is a global provider of cross-channel, interactive marketing software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions. The Company�� solutions provide marketers with a suite of integrated applications. The Company�� suite of cross-channel, interactive marketing applications include e-mail, mobile, social media and sites, is built on its flexible multi-tenant SaaS platform. These channel applications are integrated with its campaign management, calendaring, dashboard, integrated reporting, marketing automation and data management tools. The Company also provides open application programming interfaces (APIs) and developer tools that allow third parties to embed its technology into their solutions and build applications on its platform. The Company generates revenue through the sale of subscriptions to its suite of cross-channel, interactive marketing SaaS solutions and the delivery of professional services. It serves a range of clients across many industries and sizes. Professional services revenue consists primarily of fees associated with training, implementation, integration, deliverability, campaign services and strategic consulting. In October 2012, it acquired iGoDigital.
The Company�� direct client base consisted of over 4,700 organizations as of June 30, 2012, ranging from enterprises to small businesses in numerous industries, including retail and e-commerce, media and entertainment, travel and hospitality, financial services and insurance, technology, daily-deal and flash-sale and marketing service providers. Among its direct clients are the United States-based companies, such as Ally Financial, Inc., Angie�� List, Inc., CareerBuilder, LLC, Groupon, Inc., Microsoft Corporation, Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, Oakley, Inc., OneAmerica Financial Partners, Inc., One King�� Lane, Inc., Papa John�� International, Inc., priceline.com Incorporated, The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, Tommy Hilfiger Group, WellPoint, Inc. and Zappos.com, Inc. Companies also include Abril Gro! up (Brazil), Fairfax Media Limited (Australia), Icelandair Group (Iceland) and Telegraph Media Group Limited (United Kingdom).
Interactive Marketing Hub
The Interactive Marketing Hub provides marketers with a solution to engage in cross-channel marketing. The Interactive Marketing Hub integrates its e-mail, mobile, social media and sites Channel Applications with data management and marketing automation Hub Applications. Built on its cloud-based FUEL platform, these applications integrate with Hub Tools, which include a calendar, campaigns, dashboards and integrated reporting. Channel Applications provide interactive marketing engagement solutions to plan, automate, deliver and optimize messages across e-mail, mobile, social media and sites. The Company�� core edition is designed for small and medium-sized organizations, as well as departments within enterprises and provides content management tools, segmentation tools and reporting, such as opens, clicks, bounces and other performance metrics.
The Advanced Edition includes content syndication, dynamic content, relational data, advanced marketing automation, triggered and transactional communications for e-statements, alerts and order confirmations and advanced reporting. The Advanced Edition also provides full access to its FUEL platform�� open integration framework and developer tools that facilitates integration with other business systems and applications. Enterprise Edition is built for large, distributed enterprises that need centralized control and compliance for e-mail marketing communications. The Enterprise Edition includes international sending, advanced role and permission administration, content locking and sharing, and enterprise analytics and reporting. The Enterprise Edition can also include its Xpress Sending interface that enables non-technical users within distributed marketing organizations to create and send e-mails using pre-approved content via defined templates.
The Company� �s mobil! e applications enable marketers to create, automate, deliver personalized inbound and outbound short message service (SMS) mobile messages and support messaging in more than 80 countries worldwide. Through these applications, clients can easily create polls, quizzes, surveys, contests, mobile tickets, coupon redemption, SMS alerts and mobile opt-in for e-mail campaigns. Its social media applications provide solutions to manage engagement on social networks, such as Twitter and Facebook and integrate social data and interactions into cross-channel campaigns. SocialEngage (powered by CoTweet) provides a social media management application that enables teams to manage multiple social media accounts with administrator-defined user permissions and roles.
SocialPages provides a drag and drop interface that allows marketers to create, publish and manage branded Facebook pages and tabs that display content and incorporate engaging features, such as forms, YouTube videos, Flickr galleries and the Facebook Like button. The Company�� sites application provides a solution to drag and drop interface microsites into cross-channel marketing campaigns. Hub Applications provide capabilities for advanced cross-channel marketing automation, data management, customer data segmentation and analysis. Audience Builder provides a drag-and-drop interface that enables marketers to explore multiple data scenarios through filtering and segmentation to create target audiences in for any campaign or automated messaging series.
Automation Studio provides a drag and drop interface to plan, create and execute complex, multi-stage, recurring cross-channel campaigns based on consumer behavior, time or custom attributes. Automated communications can be triggered by events, such as product purchases, online registrations or Website browsing behavior. The Company�� Hub Tools enable integrated planning, cross-channel campaign management and reporting. Calendar provides a single view of planned and completed camp! aigns, ev! ents and interactions across e-mail, mobile, Facebook, Twitter and Websites. Campaigns enables marketers to define interactive marketing campaigns and associated content and interactions across e-mail, mobile, Facebook, Twitter and Websites.
Pulse provides dashboards that display information, such as the number of Facebook fans, Twitter followers, e-mail subscribers and current status of automated programs and engagement metrics, such as opens, clicks and conversions. Integrated Reporting provides contextual and reporting throughout its Interactive Marketing Hub. The Company�� applications are built and delivered on its cloud-based FUEL platform. FUEL provides an open integration framework, enabling clients and third-party application providers to integrate data from systems, such as customer relationship management (CRM), Web analytics, and e-commerce through its partner ecosystem of productized integrations with providers, such as Microsoft Dynamics CRM, salesforce.com, inc., SAP, and Adobe Omniture.
Common Data Model creates a cross-channel view of each consumer by aggregating online behavioral data, channel engagement history, communication preferences and other online or offline data. Security provides a single sign-on environment for all Interactive Marketing Hub applications secured by multiple technologies, including but not limited to two-factor authentication, Internet protocol (IP) whitelisting and IP blocking, and enables monitoring and alerting of system activity.
Developer Tools provide a library of user interface controls and APIs that enable developers to build applications with a common look and feel on its cloud-based platform. Integration Framework provides a suite of integration capabilities that include its open APIs, CRM and Web analytics integrations, Embedded/Xpress Marketing and HubExchange. Its Embedded/Xpress Marketing solution enables independent software vendors and developers to embed the functionality of its e-mail and mobile applic! ations di! rectly into their technology offerings. The Company�� HubExchange enables marketing technology providers to develop and sell applications built on its platform.
Services
The Company complements its suite of cross-channel, interactive marketing SaaS solutions with a range of professional services. Its collaborative and full-service offerings include Training, Implementation, Integration, Deliverability, Campaign Services and Strategic Consulting. The Company offers a variety of methods of introduction to its products, including self-help resources, Web-based and on-site training, enterprise workshops and train the trainer programs. Clients who purchase implementation services are assigned an implementation consultant who works with them to adopt and deployment its solutions. Through its platform�� integration framework, the Company�� applications can be integrated with CRM, Web analytics, e-commerce and other business systems. It provides consulting and program management to help clients define, develop and implement interactive communication strategies.
The Company competes with Aprimo, Inc., CheetahMail Inc., e-Dialog Inc., Eloqua Limited, Epsilon Data Management, LLC, Marketo, Inc., Responsys, Inc., Silverpop Systems Inc., StrongMail Systems, Inc., Unica Corporation, Yesmail, Buddy Media, Inc. and Radian6 Technologies, Inc.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By GURUFOCUS]
ExactTarget Inc. (ET) is a provider of cross channel interactive marketing solutions based in Indianapolis, IN. The company went public in November of 2012 at $19 and on June 4, 2013 received a $33.75 cash tender offer from Salesforce.com, a global leader in cloud computing based CRM software. The two companies had partnership agreements in the past, and this combination represents Saleforce.com's largest acquisition to date. The $2.5 billion offer, which came at a premium of over 50% to the previous close of ExactTarget shares, closed on July 12, 2013 for an annualized return of 1.74%.�
From Mario Gabelli's third quarter 2013 commentary.
Also check out: Mario Gabelli Undervalued Stocks Mario Gabelli Top Growth Companies Mario Gabelli High Yield stocks, and Stocks that Mario Gabelli keeps buying
Currently 0.00/512345Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes)
- [By Tim Brugger]
At a premium of slightly more than 50%, it's not surprising that salesforce.com's (NYSE: CRM ) decision to acquire cloud marketing specialist ExactTarget (NYSE: ET ) wasn't greeted with cheers from investors. The aggressive move by Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff to drop $2.5 billion on a company that has issued revenue guidance of just $376 million to $379 million for the year seems a bit much, and based on Salesforce's share price drop at the open, the market agrees. But don't be too hasty to abandon Salesforce shares -- there may be a method to Benioff's madness.
- [By Evan Niu, CFA]
What: Shares of ExactTarget (NYSE: ET ) missed the mark today, down by as much as 16% after the company reported earnings with weak guidance.
- [By Chris Hill]
Dollar General's (NYSE: DG ) first-quarter profits rose rose 3%, but the retailer cut guidance for the full year. Business market software maker ExactTarget (NYSE: ET ) rose more than 50% after Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM ) agreed to buy the company for more than $2.3 billion. Zynga (NASDAQ: ZNGA ) held firm after shares tanked on Monday in the wake of the company announcing it's cutting 18% of its staff. And IBM (NYSE: IBM ) buys a company to better compete in the cloud computing space. In this installment of Investor Beat, our analysts discuss four stocks making big moves.
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