Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day Highlights: Invesco, Philips Electronics N.V., Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Apple


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CHICAGO, April 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ – Zacks Equity Research highlights: Invesco, Ltd. (NYSE: IVZ) as the Bull of the Day and Philips Electronics N.V. (NYSE: PHG) as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), Dell Inc (Nasdaq: DELL) and Apple Inc (Nasdaq: AAPL).

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20101027/ZIRLOGO)

Full analysis of all these stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2678.

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day:

We are upgrading our recommendation on Invesco, Ltd. (NYSE: IVZ) to Outperform based on its sustained earnings and healthy asset under management. The company’s fourth quarter 2011 earnings inched past the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Results were aided by enhanced interest and dividend income as well as lower interest expense.

An uptrend in the global equity markets helped in improving the long-term investment performance of the company, which is further expected to uplift the company’s operating results. Moreover, the operating leverage is expected to improve significantly over the long term due to its cost-control initiatives.

Invesco is well-positioned to benefit from improved global investment flows, resulting from its broad diversification. Our six-month target price of $28.00 per share equates to about 14.5x our earnings estimate for 2012. Combined with the annual dividend of $0.49 per share, this target price implies an expected total return of 13.8% over that period.

Bear of the Day:

We are downgrading our Neutral recommendation on Philips Electronics N.V. (NYSE: PHG) to Underperform with a $16 target price. The company had a very modest fourth quarter with revenues marginally up by 3.3%, primarily driven by moderate growth across its segments. The company posted a net loss of $160 million due to a higher loss from the company s discontinued television business.

The net cash flow also declined compared to the prior year, attributable to higher working capital outflow related to higher vendor payments. The stock is currently trading at

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Labor market shows more signs of life


NEW YORK |
Wed Mar 7, 2012 10:24am EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The pace of job creation by private employers picked up in February, reinforcing hopes that Friday’s broader payrolls report would confirm the labor market recovery has moved into a higher gear.

The private sector added 216,000 jobs last month, the ADP National Employment Report showed on Wednesday, topping economists’ expectations for a gain of 208,000.

The ADP figures come ahead of the government’s more comprehensive labor market report on Friday, which includes both public and private sector employment.

“This does suggest we are moving in the right direction,” said Beth Ann Bovino, senior U.S. economist at Standard Poor’s Ratings Services in New York.

“It supports the expectations of another 200,000-plus in Friday’s payroll report. The jobs numbers are looking healthier.”

Economists polled by Reuters are expecting Friday’s report to show a gain of 210,000 in nonfarm payrolls, with the private sector adding 225,000 jobs and government payrolls declining modestly.

Economists often refer to the ADP report to fine-tune their expectations for the payrolls numbers, though it is not always accurate in predicting the outcome.

“Historically, the first prints of the ADP report have not been very reliable indicators of the first prints of the BLS (government) data and the average magnitude of the difference between these figures has been about 60,000 over the past 12 months,” Daniel Silver, an economist at JPMorgan, wrote in a note.

“That said, the February ADP data have come pretty close to the BLS data during the past few years, missing by only 2,000 in 2010 and 5,000 in 2011.”

ADP’s January figures were revised up to an increase of 173,000 from 170,000. The report is jointly developed with Macroeconomic Advisers LLC.

U.S. Treasuries prices eased on the data, while stocks opened slightly higher a day after Wall Street suffered its worst selloff in three months.

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Graphic on ADP vs. the U.S. Labor Department: link.reuters.com/jef96s

Graphic on U.S. mortgages: link.reuters.com/wah44s

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WAGES REVISED HIGHER

Another report on Wednesday also spelled better news for U.S. workers. Wages rose much faster than first reported in the fourth-quarter, according to Labor Department data.

Unit labor costs rose at an annual rate of 2.8 percent, revised up from the 1.2 percent pace the government reported last month. Economists had expected unit labor costs, which are closely watched by the Federal Reserve for signs of inflation, would be unrevised.

Separate reports on the housing market suggested the sector is continuing to scrape along the bottom. Along with the

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Riot police guard Greek assembly as protesters gather


ATHENS |
Sun Feb 19, 2012 9:32am EST

ATHENS (Reuters) – Riot police shielded Greece’s national parliament Sunday as demonstrators gathered to protest against austerity measures on the eve of talks in Brussels on a 130-billion-euro ($171 billion) bailout needed to avert bankruptcy.

Hopes for a deal at the meeting of euro zone finance ministers have risen after Athens last week detailed new budget cuts. But skeptics, led by Germany, are wary about Greece’s determination to shrink its debt mountain.

Only a few hundred protesters had assembled outside the national parliament by early afternoon but authorities are on guard after demonstrations last Sunday degenerated into looting and torching of buildings in central Athens.

“Maybe some people are scared after last week’s rioting,” said retired state electricity worker Costas Xenakis.

“The austerity measures are really hurting pensioners – we can’t just sit and take it,” said Costas, 70, whose monthly pension will be hit again by new cuts approved by caretaker Prime Minister Lucas Papademos’ cabinet late Saturday.

Banners such as one reading “Down with the memorandum of hunger” bore testimony to the anger many Greeks feel toward a political elite that allowed the country over the years to rack up a national debt worth 160 percent of national output while the super-rich took advantage of lax tax collection.

Ahead of an election due in April, a survey released on Sunday showed the two parties that have dominated politics since the 1974 end of junta rule – the Socialist PASOK and conservative New Democracy – would muster little more than a quarter of the votes between them, with parties to the left gaining ground.

One survey by pollster MRB showed that while 73 percent of Greeks want the country to stay in the single currency, just 49 percent believe it will manage to do so in the next two years.

After months of often acrimonious negotiations, Greek hopes are nonetheless rising that Monday’s meeting in Brussels will endorse the rescue which Athens needs to avoid bankruptcy on March 20 when major debt repayments fall due.

“The Greek people have done everything they can and we are determined to make good on our commitments,” Public Order Minister Christos Papoutsis said before an emergency cabinet meeting to outline final measures in a 3.3-billion-euro package which includes defense, health and labor ministry cuts.

Friday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti and Papademos voiced optimism about a Greek accord during a conference call, Monti’s office said.

Austrian Finance Minister Maria Fekter said

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TigerLogic Corporation Announces Results for the Third Quarter Ended December 31, 2011


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IRVINE, Calif., Feb. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — TigerLogic Corporation (Nasdaq: TIGR) today announced financial results for the third quarter ended December 31, 2011.  Net revenue was $3.4 million for the third quarter ended December 31, 2011, as compared to $3.7 million for the third quarter ended December 31, 2010.  Net loss for the third quarter ended December 31, 2011 was $0.8 million as compared to a net loss of $0.5 million for the same period in the prior fiscal year.  Net loss per share was $0.03 and $0.02 for the quarters ended December 31, 2011 and December 31, 2010, respectively.  Cash balance was $9.0 million at December 31, 2011 as compared to $11.4 million at December 31, 2010.  The Company continues to invest in the development and marketing of its Postano social media and yolink search solutions, while also upgrading its core Pick and Omnis product lines.

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, other income (expense)-net, and non-cash stock-based compensation expense (“Adjusted EBITDA”) for the quarter ended December 31, 2011 was negative $0.3 million or negative 10% of net revenue, as compared to negative $0.1 million or negative 2% of net revenue for the same period in the prior fiscal year.  The decrease in the Adjusted EBITDA for the three months ended December 31, 2011 as compared to the same period in the prior year was primarily due to lower license revenue.  The Company computes Adjusted EBITDA, as reflected in the table appearing at the end of this press release, by adding depreciation, amortization, non-cash stock-based compensation expense, interest (income) expense, other (income) expense, and income tax provision (benefit) to its GAAP reported net loss.

About TigerLogic Corporation

TigerLogic Corporation (Nasdaq: TIGR) is a global provider of data management and application development solutions for enterprises that need to launch easy and cost-effective e-business initiatives.  Built on proven technology, TigerLogic helps control data and transform it into business intelligence and engagement.  TigerLogic’s product offerings include: 1) TigerLogic Postano™, a real-time social media content aggregation platform; 2) TigerLogic® yolink, a next-generation search enhancement technology; 3) Pick® Universal Data Model (Pick UDM) based database

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Innotrac Announces Results of Q4 eCommerce Operations Benchmarking


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ATLANTA, Jan. 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Innotrac Corporation (NASDAQ: INOC), a best-of-breed commerce provider integrating digital technology, fulfillment, and contact center solutions to support global brands, today announced summary results of its Q4 SmartHub™ benchmark analysis, focused around eCommerce operations.

SmartHub™ is Innotrac’s new proprietary benchmarking tool, providing clients and strategic partners with end-to-end intelligence and analysis of the online retail purchase cycle.  From the pre-order site experience all the way through the final steps of the returns process, Innotrac’s 44-point methodology analyzes each important customer touch point, charting retailers on everything from the expedience of confirmation emails, to evaluation of the packaging material used in shipment.

“With our focus on direct-to-consumer commerce, we’re able to provide detailed intelligence surrounding not just the online customer experience, but critical operational touch points like transit time and returns processing,” said Jon Eggleton, Innotrac’s Vice President of Marketing eCommerce.  “We developed SmartHub™ to bring additional value and actionable insights to our clients.” 

 SmartHub™ looked at operational trends in e-commerce during the fourth quarter of 2011.  Among the findings:

  • 59% of retailers were able to ship packages to customers in three days or less; in general, actual shipping times were within the most popular expected delivery window of 2-7 days.
  • Prior to the Thanksgiving holiday, SmartHub™ findings indicated that 55% of retailers made some sort of free shipping offer available.  During the holiday season, free shipping was reportedly utilized by as many as 75% of retailers.  SmartHub™ findings also indicated that pre-holiday, the largest majority of retailers offering free shipping did so at a minimum price point between $49 and $85.
  • Only 29% of retailers utilized any branded packaging, either inside or outside the box; this reflects a tremendous opportunity for retailers to differentiate the post-sale experience. 

While areas like branded packaging indicate further room for improvement, retailers have clearly made great strides in improving eCommerce operations. 

“We are seeing that operational efficiencies gained in fulfillment not only improve our clients’ bottom lines, but also improve customer satisfaction for the consumer,” said Eggleton.

SmartHub™ analyzes and evaluates multiple eCommerce operational categories and includes a sample size of 128 retail companies.

About Innotrac

Innotrac (NASDAQ: INOC) was founded in 1984, with the goal of providing

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