Initial Jobless Claims Plunge to 381,000

The number of Americans filing for first time unemployment benefits dropped last week according to a Labor Department report.

Initial jobless claims dropped by 23,000 to 381,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis in the week ended Dec. 3 from a revised 404,000 in the previous week. Economists had expected to see claims fall to 395,000 from the originally reported 402,000 the prior week.

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The four-week moving average fell by 3,000 to 393,250 from the previous week's revised average of 396,250.>To contact the writer of this article, click here: Andrea Tse.

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Target, Gap Sink on Disappointing Sales

Retailers came out with April same-store sales results on Thursday, with some major retailers missing analysts’ expectations.

In particular, Target (TGT) said same store sales grew 1.1%, below expectations for 2.8%.

Gap (GPS) saw sales fall 2%, worse than expectations for a 0.8% drop.

Target slid 2.5% and Gap was off 1.6%.

On the other hand, both TJX (TJX) and Ross Stores (ROST) both raised their earnings guidance after posting better than expected sales.

In general, retail sales were subdued in April; of the 20 companies that reported, saw sales rise 0.8% below expectations for 1.5% growth, according to Thomson Reuters. But the shortfall can be explained by shifts in the timing of Easter and Mother’s day. A better ay to determine sales strength is to come up with an average based on Mach and April results, Thomson Reuters noted:

“On that basis, retailers posted a 2.5% gain in same-store sales for that two-month period, a sharp drop from the 5.4% growth seen in the same period for last year. Excluding the Drug Stores group from the mix, however, makes the picture somewhat brighter: the forecast growth in the index rises to 4.5%, a drop from the 6.4% growth recorded a year earlier.”

BoJ Aftermath: The USD/JPY Will Continue to Decline

The Bank of Japan held an unscheduled interest rate meeting during the early hours of the Asian session Monday, but rumors about it surfaced even as of late Friday, taking out some of its surprise element.

The unscheduled meeting comes in a very difficult moment for the Bank of Japan: the Usd/Jpy is trading at the lowest value in 15 years despite numerous verbal interventions in the currency market, while the Japanese CPI is standing at the dangerous level of -0.9%.

The temporary solution proposed by the Bank of Japan was to increase the money available to the Japanese banking system, by extending the 3-month loan supply and adding a new 6-month loan program. To some extent, this is similar to the steps taken by the European Central Bank to fight the credit crisis, but on a smaller scale.

Most parts of the market were disappointed by the decisions taken by the BoJ. Expectations were that the central bank will increase the available funds to buy government bonds, or that the central bank will publicize direct interventions into the currency market. From our point of view the first option, to increase the purchase of government bonds, would have been an optimal decision for the Japanese economy, because it would put downside pressure on the local yields and on the Japanese yen.

Judging from the market’s reaction, we reckon that the Usd/Jpy exchange rate will continue the current downtrend until the Bank of Japan will take some serious steps in fighting the current recession. One should note that this might not come any time soon, since the Bank of Japan/Government appeared unable to take a sound decision even from the beginning of the credit crisis. Ever heard of “The Lost Decade”? Now it has become “The Two Lost Decades”.

In the meantime, the actions taken Monday by the BoJ are just the start of Quantitative Easing Part II, and not just for Japan, but for most major central banks. Mr. Bernanke, you are next on the line.

Disclosure: No position

Target Rises as Sales Improvements Overcome Margin Decline

Target (TGT) boosted its sales in the second quarter, as consumers took advantage of discounts and the company rolled out fresh grocery offerings. Target posted $1.12 of EPS after excluding costs to expand into Canada and tax items, beating expectations for $1.01 (it’s not entirely clear whether the Canada costs were reflected in analysts’ expectations).

Same-store sales rose 3.1% over a year ago, but gross margin slipped to 32.7% from 33.1% as the company offered various discounts, including giving 5% off to consumers who paid with Target credit and debit cards. Those discounts, and the reliance on grocery sales, have not yet fully shown up in margins, argues UBS analyst Robert Carroll.

Target’s credit card division pulled in less revenue than a year ago, but was more profitable as bad debt expenses fell. “Delinquencies declined modestly from first quarter levels, but the charge-off ratio declined sharply (80 bps to 4.9%), which speaks to improved quality of receivables,” noted RW Baird analyst Peter Benedict.

The company also reported “very lean” inventories, down about 3% per square foot, says Benedict.

Target lifted its fiscal 2012 EPS outlook raised by 10 cents to $4.20-$4.40.

“I remain positive on Target’s ability to drive growth with company specific initiatives for the next couple of years at which point Canada starts to be a more meaningful contributor,” Carroll wrote.

Shares are up 2.2%.

Investors Are Sitting on the Fence - AAII

Bullish sentiment slipped 0.8 percentage points to 36.0% in the latest AAII Sentiment Survey. Optimism that stock prices will rise over the next six months is at its lowest level since September 2, 2010. The historical average is 39%.

Neutral sentiment, expectations that stock prices will remain essentially flat over the next six months, rose 1.7 percentage points to 31.7%. This is the first time neutral sentiment has been above its historical average of 31% since August 5, 2010.

Bearish sentiment, expectations that stock prices will fall over the six next months, declined 0.8 percentage points to 32.3%. This is the third consecutive week that pessimism has been above its historical average of 30%.

In a word, individual investors remain split over the short-term direction of stock prices. Though slightly more AAII members are optimistic than pessimistic, bullish sentiment remains below its historical average. This is occurring as the S&P 500 has stayed within an approximate 3% trading range since late February. The numbers reflect both recognition of stronger corporate earnings and unease about the threat of higher inflation and interest rates.

This week's special question asked AAII members what type of stocks they are looking at: value, growth or dividend-paying. Respondents overwhelmingly expressed their preference for dividend-paying stocks.

Here is a sampling of the responses:

• "Dividend-paying. They provide a return even if the market does not go up. They also seem to be a much better value than most bonds and CDs at this time."
• "With interest rates certain to rise over time and bond prices coming down, dividend-paying stocks promise better income return as well as the potential to increase in value."
• "While I am looking for growth at a reasonable price (GARP), as a retiree, I insist upon receiving (preferably growing) dividends."
• "Value and dividend paying stocks. The market is fairly valued."

This week's sentiment survey results:

• Bullish: 36.0%; down 0.8 percentage points
• Neutral: 31.7%; up 1.7 percentage points
• Bearish: 32.3%; down 0.8 percentage points

Historical Averages:

• Bullish: 39%
• Neutral: 31%
• Bearish: 30%

The AAII Sentiment Survey has been conducted weekly since July 1987 and asks AAII members whether they think stock prices will rise, remain essentially flat, or fall over the next six months. The survey period runs from Thursday (12:01 a.m.) to Wednesday (11:59 p.m.). The survey and its results are available online here.

This Is Simply the Greatest Retailer in the World

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This video is part of our "Motley Fool Conversations" series, in which chief technology officer Jeremy Phillips discusses topics across the investing world.

A recent ranking of America's top retail brands had a significant omission. Apple is of course known for its products, but it has put just as much care into designing its retail locations.

Apple is likely the most covered company in the world. Big tech names might gather a lot of investor attention, but the truth is that they're playing second fiddle to an even larger revolution in technology. To better prepare investors for this new revolution, The Motley Fool has released a free report on mobile called "The Next Trillion-Dollar Revolution" that details a hidden component play inside mobile phones that also is a leader in the exploding Chinese market. Inside the report, we not only describe why the mobile revolution will dwarf any other technology revolution seen before it, but we also name the company at the forefront of the trend. Hundreds of thousands have requested access to previous reports, and you can access this new report today by clicking here -- it's free.

Top Stocks For 10/16/2012-2

NEW ORLEANS, 07/07/2010 (CRWE Newswire) — Whitney Holding Corporation (Nasdaq:WTNY - News) today announced the promotions of David P. Frady to Executive Vice President, Commercial Banking Division, and Suzanne C. Thomas to Executive Vice President, Credit Administration.

Frady joined the Whitney as Senior Vice President and Head of the Commercial Line of Business last year, and has focused on developing strategies and identifying opportunities for middle market and commercial client acquisition, expansion and retention. He oversees Treasury Management, International, Debt Capital Markets and other specialty banking functions.

“David is committed to providing a higher standard of service and delivering client-focused solutions that meet the unique needs of our commercial customers,” said Whitney President John M. Turner, Jr. “Commercial Banking is a principal business for the Whitney and with David’s depth of experience, exceptional talents and strategic vision, he is the right person to lead this Line of Business.”

A veteran of over 25 years of banking experience, Frady was most recently an Executive Vice President with Capital One, managing product development, product management, sales and service initiatives for their Treasury Management and Merchant Services segments. Prior to Capital One, he was an Executive Vice President with Hibernia National Bank, working over the past 15 years leading a variety of divisions, including Treasury Management, Merchant Services, Leasing, Debt Capital Markets, SouthCoast Capital, off-premise ATMs, US Corporate, Commercial Loan Processing, International Banking, and Commercial Knowledge Management. He holds a B.A. in Marketing from Southeastern Louisiana University and graduated from Harvard Business School’s General Management Program.

As Executive Vice President of Credit Administration, Suzanne C. Thomas is responsible for ensuring the quality of the Bank’s loan portfolio, as well as establishing and maintaining policies and procedures that support quality loan production. She oversees a variety of credit management functions, including the review/approval of large commercial credits and monitoring of the overall quality of the loan portfolio.

“Credit quality has always been a core strength for the Whitney, and Suzanne has the knowledge, perspective and background to support the Bank’s credit management functions,” said John C. Hope, III, Whitney Chairman and CEO. “She is an outstanding contributor and leader, and plays a vital role in creating the right credit culture at the Whitney.”

Thomas joined the Whitney in 2000 as Senior Vice President in Credit Administration, and has led the division since last year. Prior to her tenure at Whitney, she was a part of the Corporate Banking team at First National Bank of Commerce in New Orleans where she held a number of management positions, including Senior Vice President. She began her banking career almost 30 years ago at First Virginia Bank and has a B.A. from Dominican College and an M.B.A. from the College of William and Mary.

Whitney Holding Corporation through its banking subsidiary Whitney National Bank serves the five state Gulf Coast region stretching from Houston, Texas across South Louisiana and the coastal region of Mississippi; to central and south Alabama; the panhandle of Florida; and the Tampa Bay metropolitan area of Florida.

The Whitney Holding Corporation logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=5777

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Contact:

Whitney Holding Corporation
Liza Copping

504-599-3082

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RIMM Analyst Round-Up: BB10 Fails To Wow

Research In Motion‘s (RIMM) BlackBerry World conference begantoday in Orlando, including the introduction of a prototype of the BlackBerry 10, widely expected later this year, and plenty of giveaways to developers in hopes that buzz and software will follow.

However, analysts remained skeptical of the stock’s prospectsleading upto the conference, and today aren’t changing their tune much, although there were some saw glimmers of hope. Here are some summaries:

RBC Capital Markets analyst Mark Sue reiterated his Market Perform rating, as he sees RIMM delivering results below the Street’s expectations in the near term.

Prototype BlackBerry 10 Device Unveiled. RIM unveiled its prototype BlackBerry 10 (BB10) device at its annual user conference in Orlando today. The prototype device (with 4.2″ 1280×768 touchscreen, no QWERTY keyboard) resembles a smaller version of the PlayBook and appears similar to many of the Android touchscreen slabs out there. CEO Thorsten Heins appeared confident that RIM is meeting milestones to launch the device in the 2H/CY12. We believe carriers may be targeting an October launch.

BB10 Targets Core Users. RIM received applause from the friendly audience for new BlackBerry 10 features that address its core productivity/message-centric customer base. The BlackBerry 10 UI (based on QNX cascades) appears similar to Microsoft Metro with quick to view notifications (which looked to us like Metro’s Live Tiles) and seamless multi-tasking (e.g. view a PDF attachment, email, and list of messages all at the same time). RIM’s new on-screen keyboard appears innovative offering predictive next word suggestions (as opposed to just word completion), and may offer the productivity that BlackBerry users are looking for in a touchscreen. RIM also appears that it will have BBM available for BB10 smartphones (addressing a prior concern).

Everyone Wants Apps. Several developers including Gameloft, Citrix, and others showed off some competitive apps on BB10. Many indicated BB10 is easy to develop for, a big improvement from legacy BlackBerry. While RIM is addressing prior shortcomings that limited developer momentum, it is still playing catch-up vs. Apple’s 600k apps and Android’s 400k. We believe beyond core BlackBerry fans, RIM’s smaller app/content ecosystem could constrain BlackBerry’s traction among the broader consumer market.

JMP analyst Alex Gauna reiterated a Market Underperform rating and $12 price target on the firm following the BB10�s debut.

There were no real surprises unveiled as what appears to be a reasonably well-attended 2012 Developer Conference got underway. The absence of new devices and only a beta version of its new tool kit for HTML 5 and native software development means earnings power should continue to deteriorate and leave any favorable sentiment hinging on takeout speculation until the new phone arrives in the fall. We are reducing our FY13 and FY14 estimates to reflect the recently reported Apple (MP) and Samsung smartphone upside that we assume is taking a heavy toll on RIM market share and reiterating our $12 price target based on an approximate 1x tangible book.

Pacific Crest Securities analyst James Faucette also saw the events at the first day of the conference as underwhelming.

Modest negative for RIMM. We view today�s sneak peek of BB10 as modestly disappointing, particularly as the company spent more than half of its time on the new BB10 OS featuring the new touchscreen keyboard, which to our view seemed like a Tuner version of every other touch-screen keyboard already on the market. The other features that were previewed of full multitasking and photo editing capabilities were somewhat interesting, but we have questions as to their real world feasibility given potential drain on battery life.

Renewed focus on enterprise evident. The company�s renewed focus on enterprise was evident, with most of the partners that were trotted up being companies talking about their existing use of BB in the enterprise combined with superficial comments on how their respective applications will support BB10.

Further behind than PALM was in 2009. Based on the little that RIMM showed during its keynote at BB World 2012, we believe that RIMM may be further behind iOS and Android in terms of product development to help catalyze ecosystem development than what Palm was when it launched webOS at CES 2009 (for which it won the Best of CES award). We all know the sad outcome of that journey (although we would admit that RIMM has substantially more resources at its disposal than Palm ever did�user base, cash, cash flow, etc).

Think Equity analyst Mark McKechnie raised his target price by $1 to $13, but reiterated his Hold rating has he sees RIMM with a “valley” to look through between the present and the release of the BB10, at which point it will still face fierce competition from Apple (AAPL). His price target reflect his belief that RIMM can “monetize its patents or save its services revenues.”

BlackBerry 10 (“BBX”) developer units handed out. At today’s keynote,RIMM focused the majority of its time on its upcoming BBX platform scheduledfor a “late CY12″ introduction but recent blogs have been speculating October.In conjunction, RIMM is handing out development platforms which to us looklike “shrunken down” PlayBooks – all touch – but running the new BBX software.

BBX looks a lot like a Windows Phone 7 to us. RIMM referred to itsnew “windowed” or “tiled” GUI as “cascades”, which look very similar to theWindows Phone 7 environment. Demos included low-latency performance,linked notifications, and easy navigation between multiple windows in an application.

Adding secure third-party support to its MDM offering. This was the bignews to us as it represents the first real strategic shift we’ve seen by RIMMsince the addition of new CEO Thorsten Hines. Simply put, RIMM plans to openup all the features of its BlackBerry Platform, including secure connections toe-mail and contacts, to its BlackBerry Fusion offering in the next 12 months. Weview this as a step in the right direction to hopefully offset continuing declinesin RIMM’s US subscriber base.

We do believe RIMM will face execution challenges as key employees JimBalsillie (former CEO) and David Jach (the original architect of RIMM’s BESserver/NOC) left the company earlier in the year. We also note RIMM facescompetition in the Mobile Device Management (“MDM”) space from numerousprivate companies as well as SAP/SY.

Related: See commentaryfrom UBS, released this morning.

Netflix: Needham Cuts Ests; Repeats Underperform Rating

Netflix shares, which traded sharply yesterday after the company reported much higher than expected streaming hours in the fourth quarter, is giving back some ground Thursday morning following a grim note on the company�s prospects from Needham analyst Charlie Wolf. The analyst repeated his Underperform rating on the shares and slashed his EPS estimates for both 2011 and 2012, though for the most part his estimate reductions were playing catch up with previous corporate guidance.

�In its effort to drive subscriber growth, Netflix has spent what some would regard as recklessly to acquire streaming content,� he writes in a research note. �However, subscribers growth has not kept pace with the growth in content costs. As a result, the profitability of an average stream subscriber has fallen dramatically. Unless Netflix brings the growth in content costs into line with the growth in streaming subscribers, our analysis indicates the company�s domestic streaming business could soon become unprofitable.�

Wolf notes that the situation could reverse if subscriber growth were to re-accelerate. But he adds that this seems unlikely in the U.S.

�A more likely scenario is that Netflix brings the growth in content costs into alignment with streaming subscriber growth,� he writes. �An acceleration in subscriber growth or a deceleration in the growth in content acquisition costs could trigger an upgrade.�

Wolf cut his 2011 EPS forecast to $3.94, from $4.25; Street consensus is $4.10. For 2012, he now sees a loss of 50 cents a share, down from a profit of $2.50; consensus is for a profit of 14 cents.

Note that Netflix in November had said in an SEC filing that it expects to post a loss in 2012, so Wolf is a little late with his move here.

NFLX is down $1.20, or 1.5%, to $79.25; yesterday the stock jumped $8.21, or 11.4%, to $80.45.

Canadian Netflix Customer Learns the (Very) High Cost of Mobile Data

A Canadian family vacationing in Arizona recently received a shocking bill from SaskTel, their mobile Internet provider. It was for nearly $11,000 worth of streaming movies their kids had watched on a laptop, using a USB stick. For eleven grand, you might expect it was movies 24 hours a day for a few weeks, but the grand total was five films through Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) at roughly 400MB in size each.

This isn’t the first story about massive mobile data bills (there’s one mentioned by PC Mag that tops $200,000) and it won’t be the last, but it serves to illustrate the growing tension between telecom carriers and users of mobile devices. Texting, e-mail and Web browsing can all eat at a monthly data cap, but with more capable smartphones going mainstream and mobile users increasingly using cloud services to access large files on the go or to watch streaming video, the cost of data has become a hot topic.

How much it actually costs wireless carriers to transmit data is virtually impossible to dig up. Estimates range from virtually nothing to a few dollars per gigabyte of data, but besides the fact that the companies involved aren’t anxious to publish this kind of information (presumably because streaming service is quite profitable), there are other variables that need to be accounted for: employee salaries, network infrastructure, maintenance, and other operational costs. And in this case, roaming charges (moving from one carrier’s network to another’s) also come into play.

One writer�s estimate

However, I ran a rough calculation using published data plan pricing through T-Mobile of 10GB of mobile data for $60 per month. Presumably the company is making a profit based on that rate or it wouldn’t be offering it. I’m assuming the equation is in the ballpark for other carriers, so it’s not completely a case of comparing apples to oranges.

10 GB for $60 = $6/GB.

SaskTel (the Canadian carrier) charges $6 per MB for data and the bill came to $10,668.38, so that means 1,778MB (or 1.78GB) of data was downloaded.

$10,668.38 / 1.78 GB = $5,993.47/GB

Even allowing for roaming, different data costs for different carriers and virtually any other variables you care to raise, does charging nearly $6,000 per GB for mobile data seem excessive? SaskTel offered to reduce the bill to $1,000 �a decent enough gesture, but one that immediately raises suspicions that the carrier did so because it had nothing to lose.

There are three things to take away from this incident and others like it.

1.�When travelling outside the country, turn off data roaming on all of your mobile devices, or buy a data plan through a carrier based in the country you�re visiting.

2. If telcos like Verizon (NYSE:VZ) or Sprint (NYSE:S) ever face regulatory pressure to significantly reduce mobile data rates, it’s going to hit their profits hard. On the other hand, with more smartphones and tablets using wireless connections to access ever increasing amounts of data, until that day comes they have a virtual license to print money.

3. With demand from consumers to stream video through Netflix or other services to their mobile devices, a company like EyeIO, which develops high quality, lower bandwidth video streaming technology, could quickly become a power player in the industry.

 

Japan is Buying Up the World

The just-announced deal for a 70% stake of Sprint Nextel Corp. is huge, but it is only part of the story.

Softbank, Japan's third biggest phone operator is now in talks to buy about $12 billion in existing Sprint shares at a premium and another $8 billion in newly issued shares.

The deal would transform Softbank into one of the world's largest telecommunications groups with about 90 million subscribers. It expects to complete the deal by mid-2013.

At $20 billion, the deal will be the biggest publicly announced foreign acquisition by a Japanese company.

Meanwhile, there have been plenty of foreign deals in recent years that have not drawn such widespread attention. With the Japanese economy in dismal shape and low sales, companies are reaching out for any chance of growth.

For example, Softbank has seen handset shipments have sunk 27% in Japan over the past five years. Mobile-handset sales in the U.S. increased to 191 million units last year from 182 million units in 2007

The Sprint deal will push 2012 foreign corporate acquisitions by Japanese companies to near-record levels from last year.

Fueled by a strong yen and cheap borrowing costs, Japanese companies have been buying overseas assets at a frenzied pace, already spending more than $65 billion so far this year.

Considering Japan's GDP growth is stagnant and trending downward towards recession, Japanese companies have a strong incentive to make risky deals for any growth potential.

However, they will have a hard time finding a safe harbor in today's economic climate.

Softbank shares have fallen more than 20% in Tokyo trading since news broke late Thursday. Traders are clearly very worried about the additional debt and the aggressive move into a brand new market.

With the threat of recession growing by the day in the USA and Europe, time will only tell if any of these deals will -- or even can -- pay off.

 

Sirius And Spotify Should Push Pandora Stock Down To $9.50

Pandora Media reported its Q3 fiscal 2011 earnings recently, and based on continued fast growth and slight cost improvements, we have revised our price estimate to $9.48.  Shares closed Friday at $10.78.

Although the company�s results have been on track, the stock is still an expensive proposition, especially in the face of emerging competition.

Pandora�s competition comes from radio services such as Sirius XM as well as emerging Internet-based music services such as Spotify, which is expanding via Facebook.

See our full analysis for Pandora

Inflated expectations overshadow solid earnings

The company continued its fast paced growth but overall, it stayed in line with our expectations except for a minor revenue increase. The company�s total listener hours and revenue doubled from the same quarter last year, but this was not something unexpected.

Nevertheless, we did notice some improvements among cost items compared to our previous expectations. This was most prominent for sales and marketing expenses.

New Efforts Continue

The company signed a deal with DMX recently, which is a provider of background music at businesses. With this new partnership, Pandora will be able to penetrate into business customer segment and add a new dimension to its customized service.

Furthermore, Amazon�s new Kindle Fire launch with several apps including one for Pandora that will help the media company expand its distribution channel.

Competitive Threat Rising

Shell Strengthens Its Iraq Presence

After the deal with Turkey to explore and develop natural gas off the shore of Antalya in the Mediterranean, Shell (NYSE: RDS-A  ) (NYSE: RDS-B  ) has clinched another big deal with OPEC member Iraq to capture, process, and market flared gas from the country's southern oilfields.

What's the deal?
Shell has entered into a deal worth $17 billion with Iraq to tap the flared gas market from the oil-rich region of Basra. The deal will lead to the creation of a joint venture with Iraq's government and Mitsubishi, with Shell having a 44% stake.

The goal is to capture more than 700 million cubic feet per day of natural gas from three oil fields in the Basra province. The oil field in Rumaila is operated by BP (NYSE: BP  ) and CNPC group, while the Zubair oil field is being developed by Eni (NYSE: E  ) and Occidental (NYSE: OXY  ) and KOGAS group, and the deal to explore West Qurna Stage 1 is with ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM  ) and Shell group. Combining these three oil fields, the oil majors burn around 50% of the total 1.5 billion cubic feet per day of gas that they produce.�

What to expect in the goody bag?
Tapping this huge quantity of flared gas will not only decrease waste of valuable energy sources and curb greenhouse gas emissions, it will also help Iraq meet its domestic demand. Iraq is rich in oil and natural gas reserves, with almost 143 billion barrels of crude oil and 127 trillion cubic feet of gas, but it burns around 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year.

The country, by tapping this huge amount of gas, can meet the shortage in its electric demands. Moreover, the deal with Shell includes the provision to build an LNG export terminal for $4.4 billion. Shell, together with Iraq, wants to utilize the gas left after meeting the country's domestic demand and supply it to the emerging Asian economies, which are currently facing huge demand for natural gas.

Foolish bottom line
Shell has increased its presence substantially in Iraq, which contains the world's fifth-largest reserves of crude. The only thing missing was the infrastructure to tap these resources, and this deal is a step toward achieving the goal. The stock is worth watching.

To stay updated on Shell and its future performance, click here to add the stock to your watchlist. It's free, and it helps you stay updated on news and analysis on your favorite companies.

Top Stocks For 4/3/2012-11

zipRealty Inc. (Nasdaq:ZIPR) announced that management will conduct a conference call to discuss first quarter financial results for 2011 on Monday, May 2, 2011 at 5:00 pm ET. Investors seeking access to the call are asked to dial: 800.265.0241, passcode: 95899780. A press release with first quarter financial results for 2011 will be issued at approximately 4:00 pm ET that same day. The conference call will be simultaneously webcast on the Investor Relations portion of the Company`s website, www.ziprealty.com. A replay of the call will also be available through May 9, 2011, at 888.286.8010, passcode: 73025568.

ZipRealty, Inc., a real estate brokerage firm, provides brokerage services to buyers and sellers in the United States. ZipRealty, Inc. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Emeryville, California.

National Health Partners, Inc. (NHPR)

Rising health care costs, increasing utilization, rising premiums, escalating enrollee contributions, introduction of high deductible plans, health spending accounts, the emerging role of the health care consumer and consumer driven health care benefits all contribute to an increasingly complex and dysfunctional health care system.

National Health Partners, Inc. is a national healthcare savings organization that provides discount healthcare membership programs to uninsured and underinsured people through a national healthcare savings network called “CARExpress.” CARExpress is one of the largest networks of hospitals, doctors, dentists, pharmacists and other healthcare providers in the country and is comprised of over 1,000,000 medical professionals that belong to such PPOs as CareMark and Aetna.

Rising health care costs affect every American. A responsible approach to addressing medical costs and quality care is to develop quality standards that result in appropriate use of services that cut down on inappropriate procedure and redundancy of service. Incorporating quality standards into radiology, cardiology and oncology will achieve cost-effectiveness and provide patient access to quality care.

The company’s primary target customer group is the 47 million Americans who have no health insurance of any kind. The company’s secondary target customer group includes the millions of Americans who lack complete health insurance coverage. The company is headquartered in Horsham, Pennsylvania.

National Health Partners, Inc. recently announced that it has signed a new agreement with a major marketing company that will significantly enhance the growth of its CARExpress membership base.

According to the Company, this deal, in combination with the previous partnership with Xpress Healthcare, will enable the company to build its membership base exponentially, initially generating in excess of an additional 2,000 new members per month. The new campaign is set to launch within the next few weeks and will provide a material positive impact on the company’s 2nd quarter sales.

National Health Partners anticipate that this new marketing agreement will provide a major impact on their overall sales not only for the 2nd quarter, but more importantly for the year. They look forward to building on the profits that they anticipate generating in 2011 that will be driven by substantial growth in sales of their CARExpress health discount programs. The combination of their substantial growth with their low price-to-equity ratio should reflect itself in the price of their stock over the coming months.

For more information about National Health Partners, Inc visit its website www.nationalhealthpartners.com

Orofino Gold Corp. (ORFG)

Orofino Gold Corp. is a Colombia based gold producer founded as a private company in 2009 by former executives with over 50 cumulative years in mining exploration, finance, and development expertise.

Orofino Gold Corp. has several Gold development properties in Colombia, a current hot spot of gold production in the world markets.

One of the earliest found elements on this planet is gold, and it has been used for several purposes, and fields due to its unusual characteristics. With an atomic symbol of “Au”, gold has been discovered as a useful element for several things. All this is because it comprises of features, which can help in various ways, and because it is quite convenient and easy to use.

Orofino’s corporate objective is to continue to build shareholder value through the exploration and development of Senderos de Oro and additional accretive acquisitions, capitalizing on the extensive experience and relationships that management has developed over the past 25 years.

For a wide range of things, this metal is applicable, due to its exceptional features. Amongst the many purposes is its usage in food and drink, manufacturing, drugs, jewellery, devices, aerospace, and also electronics. The reason for using gold in the development of electricity is its property of being a good conductor of heat and not wearing off easily.

Orofino Gold Corp. (ORFG) is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Hans Bocker as the new Chairman of the Board.

The Company held a Board meeting dated April 5, 2011, to initiate certain corporate changes to the existing members of the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors unanimously appointed Dr. Hans Bocker as the new Chairman of the Board, and the former Chairman, Mr. Ning Shi Long, resigned as Chairman due to personal obligations, but will remain as a member of the Board of Directors.

Dr. Hans J. Bocker is an internationally recognized academic advisor. His expertise encompasses fundamental organizational and operational logistics including production and operations management, purchasing and procurement, safety, loss control, quality management, international management, cross-cultural management, transportation and traffic logistics, and leadership training for executives.

In addition to his logistical expertise, Dr. Bocker is also an internationally recognized gold expert. He recently published a book on gold titled Freedom Through Gold which has sold out in several languages. He is also a published journalist with over 2000 publications.

On behalf of the Board of Directors, the Company wishes to extend their gratitude to Mr. Ning Shi Long for his commitment and efforts as past Chairman of the Board.

For more information about Orofino Gold Corp. visit its website www.orofinogoldcorp.com

ID Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:IDSY) a leading provider of wireless solutions for tracking, securing and managing high-value enterprise assets, will hold a conference call on Monday, May 9, 2011 at 4:45 p.m. Eastern time to discuss results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2011. Financial results will be issued in a press release after the close of the market on the same day. Interested parties can listen to a live webcast via a link available in the investor section at www.id-systems.com.

.D. Systems, Inc. develops, markets, and sells wireless solutions for managing and securing enterprise assets, including industrial vehicles, such as forklifts and airport ground support equipment, and rental vehicles in North America.

inContact, Inc. (Nasdaq:SAAS) the leading provider of on-demand contact center software and contact center agent optimization tools, will hold a conference call on Thursday, May 5, 2011, at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time to discuss results for first quarter 2011. Financial results will be issued in a press release after the close of the market the same day.

inContact, Inc. provides cloud computing contact center services and network connectivity in the United States. inContact, Inc. was founded in 1994 and is based in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Voxer turns your smartphone into a walkie-talkie

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Tech entrepreneur Tom Katis isn't exactly Mr. Silicon Valley. Before creating Voxer, an app that turns your smartphone into a multimedia walkie talkie, Katis served in the U.S. Army Special Forces.

His 2002 to 2003 stint in Afghanistan planted the seed that grew into Voxer.

"We were using classic push-to-talk radios. That's what you get trained in, so that's what everybody's been using for a long, long time," he says. "It turns out when there's a lot going on, and you need to coordinate with a lot of different units, it's really difficult. If I want to talk to you, I have to interrupt you."

Katis wanted a technology that would allow for multiple conversations: something that would integrate voice, images, text messages and other elements. Smartphones were the key. When he returned to the U.S., Katis started building his app, which was released in May 2011 on Apple's (AAPL, Fortune 500) iPhone and November 2011 on Google's (GOOG, Fortune 500) Android platform.

With the tap of a button you can launch a Voxer conversation, sending a message to a friend or a group. Recipients can either listen live or ignore the dispatch and save it for later. It's part phone, part text and part multimedia IM.

"I don't really call these things phone anymore," Katis says, holding up his smartphone. "They're really mobile computers. Your telephone app on there is just like any other app. I see these people using our app more than they use the telephone app. I see it replacing a lot of email."

Your mobile phone is becoming your wallet

Voxer started gaining traction this fall after the Android version launched, allowing iPhone and Android users to connect with one another. The application took off in the Midwest and the Middle East, and spread quickly through Brazil before many early tech adapters caught on.

Katis won't comment on the number of users Voxer has, but he says it's now adding more than 1 million every week. The company, which has 30 employees, is in the process of closing its first round of funding.

While Katis envisions the app helping out in the public safety and first-responder field, he also sees it as a basic communication app for all types of users, including business owners.

San Francisco based Liquor.com CEO Kit Codik says his team uses the service for meetings.

"We'll occasionally do group threads where we are using both the text and voice features to talk about specific topics, which I find extraordinarily helpful," says Codik says.

He also likes the ability to organize conversation topics by threads: "You can create a group and have a specific chat on something, which is nice." 

3 IPOs Planned for the Week of June 27

AG Mortgage Investment Trust (MITT), an Angelo, Gordon-managed REIT planning to invest in residential mortgage assets, aims to raise $75 million by offering 3.8 million shares at a price of $20. At the proposed price, AG Mortgage Investment Trust will command a market value of $150 million. The New York, NY-based company plans to list on the NYSE under the symbol MITT. Deutsche Bank Securities (DB), Stifel Nicolaus Weisel (SF), and RBC Capital Markets are the lead underwriters on the deal.

Envivio (ENVI), which enables network providers to deliver high-quality video across multiple devices, plans to raise $66 million by offering 6 million shares at a price range of $10 to $12. At the mid-point of the proposed range, Envivio will command a market value of $289 million. Envivio, which was founded in 2000, booked $35 million in sales over the last 12 months. The South San Francisco, CA-based company plans to list on the NASDAQ under the symbol ENVI. Stifel Nicolaus Weisel and Piper Jaffray (PJC) are the lead underwriters on the deal.

HomeAway, Inc. (AWAY), which operates the world's largest online marketplace for vacation rentals, plans to raise $204 million by offering 8 million shares at a price range of $24 to $27. At the mid-point of the proposed range, HomeAway, Inc. will command a market value of $2.2 billion. HomeAway, Inc., which was founded in 2004, booked $184 million in sales over the last 12 months. The Austin, TX-based company plans to list on the NASDAQ under the symbol AWAY. Morgan Stanley (MS), Deutsche Bank Securities, and Goldman, Sachs & Co. (GS) are the lead underwriters on the deal.

Last week, there were 3 IPO pricings. None of last week's IPOs ended in positive territory. KiOR (KIOR), which is developing a platform to convert non-food biomass into fuel blendstocks, was the best of the group, ending the week trading at its IPO price.

Small biz bill goes to Obama after House OK

WASHINGTON (CNNMoney) -- The House on Tuesday passed a bill making it easier for more companies to become publicly traded by bypassing audits and disclosures now required for investors.

The House voted 380-to-41 to pass the bill, which the Senate passed last week. The passage sends the bill to President Obama, who has indicated support.

The measure rolls back some rules the Securities and Exchange Commission enforces on small and medium companies attempting to make an initial public offering or IPOs.

"It is a victory for small companies and entrepreneurs who want Washington to reduce the red tape that stifles innovation, economic growth and job creation," said Rep. Spencer Bachus, an Alabama Republican who heads the House Financial Services Committee.

The bill has sparked concern from the retirement group AARP, investor groups, unions, consumer groups and even the head of the SEC. All of them said the bill could open the door for more failed IPOs and investor fraud.

The bill would relax SEC rules for small and medium-sized companies with less than $1 billion in gross revenue seeking to go public. The measure gives them up to five years, or until revenue tops $1 billion, to supply an independent audit and certain investor disclosures.

U.S. corporate tax rate: No. 1 in the world

Critics said $1 billion is too high a threshold -- some 80% of firms going public would be able to bypass disclosures.

It would also make it easier for companies with as many as 2,000 shareholders to avoid registering with regulators.

The bill would also exempt firms from nonbinding shareholder votes on executive pay and benefits packages, which just came as part of the Wall Street reform law. In the aftermath of the financial crisis, the law made it tougher for CEOs to reap bonuses tied to soaring stock prices -- particularly when the company is over-leveraged and making risky bets.

Critics, including the Council of Institutional Investors, said that easing the rules applied to far too many companies and could make investors wary of investing in them.

"A company (with $1 billion in revenues) has the resources to comply with disclosures," said Jeff Mahoney, general counsel to the Council of Institutional Investors.

The bill would also allow companies to solicit investors -- including the use of advertisements -- when going public, which is currently prohibited. And it would allow them to raise money from larger numbers of small, less sophisticated investors.

Barbara Roper of the Consumer Federation of America warned the provision would make it easier for companies to take advantage of seniors, luring them to sink their retirement savings into an IPO.

"A retiree who has that nest egg isn't necessarily a sophisticated investor and shouldn't be speculating on private offerings," Roper said.

The bill would also allow what's called "crowd funding," allowing firms to bypass regulations to raise money from large pools of small investors by directly soliciting them over the Internet. Critics are concerned about the potential for fraud.

The only change that the Senate made last week was to require that those working as an intermediary to such crowd funding register with regulators.

"The bill is far from perfect, but it's a good bill," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid last week. "It'll help capital formation." 

Investing in Stocks: The Next Sure Thing

As a Rational Investor, I am always on the lookout for the sure thing. That is, I want to find inefficiencies in the market so great that I can exploit the correction. In that way, I can generate huge profits for my portfolio, and in my opinion, doing so with low risk. Do not misunderstand, there is risk, but I’ve found my approach to be the closest thing to a sure thing as you can find.

Let me give you an example. In 1999, value stocks were so out of style the mere mention of them resulted in cold stares reserved for those in need of a straight jacket.

At the peak of the dot com technology boom, I recognized how the market was inefficiently pricing value stocks. My response was to not buy value stocks themselves, but I bought a private company that specialized in managing money using, you guessed it, value stocks.

In 2002, the market was acting irrational once again. This time the fear was on the downside with speculators believing that the United States was heading into a Japan style deflationary period. Are you kidding? Interest rates down near zero and inflation seeds planted by the Federal Reserve made any stock buying like being a kid in the candy store. It was quite easy to go long late in that year as the market was inefficiently priced.

The Next Great Market Inefficiency

Today, in surveying the current macro landscape I wonder where I will find the next great market inefficiency. Will it be the credit space? Possibly, banks and financial companies are trading at record lows, but does that mean the market is acting inefficiently?

No, instead in this case the market is acting fairly Rationally as sub-prime derivative securities losses continue to mount. We really don’t know what shoe will drop next here. While it is tempting to dip the toes into the financial stock waters, I’ll take a pass for now.

How about homebuilding? Well, the damage has been done here and stocks are still well off their lows. That being said, shares in the space have rallied hard since bottoming. From a fundamental standpoint, shares of homebuilders trade for low multiples of book value. The problem there is can we trust book value? Will there be more asset write downs is the main question and on that front the jury is still out.

I would stay away from homebuilding in the short term.

No, what I need to find inefficiency is massive speculation. Is there a market today experiencing massive speculation?

How about oil?

Big Oil’s Time Has Come

There we go! Here we have an asset class where those on the long side, I merely chasing an investment that for the last five years or more has risen steadily. This year, we very well may be seeing a blow-off rally that could trigger a massive correction. It is simply too easy to be long oil. I get the arguments, but investors need to dig a bit deeper into the numbers. With oil it is all about… … supply and demand.

The bulls state that there is simply not enough oil to meet growing demandespecially in fast growing nations like China and India. I am skeptical of such a broad brush claim and was surprised to learn that up until recently the growth in China and India was met by increases in production from Russia.

Unfortunately, a corrupt government hell bent on exploitation for the benefit of the few has taxed oil development to the point of destroying growth in production. In the short term this has led to fear in the market that oil is indeed dwindling in supply. Frankly that is just not true. Russia alone could improve the short term situation by encouraging development in areas with proven reserves.

The other problem I have with oil is that the bulls will eventually reach the point whereby behavior will change. What happens if those speculators hit a brick wall in demand?

Boom down goes the price and hard. To me this is the most likely outcome and we are already seeing that here in the United States. In fact, the AAA forecast a 1% decline in usage over this past Memorial weekend. I can attest to this as the roads were certainly less cluttered and hotels far from full over the weekend!

Think about it for a minute. Oil is one of the most efficient markets in the world and yet current pricing is far from efficient. There is a very real relationship by supply and demand.

If price increases by 20% one can easily assume that demand has risen or supply has fallen by some usually equal amount. That is not happening in the market today. Ask yourself what has changed to cause such a spike?

Point the blame to the oil speculators. It is frankly out of control and reminiscent of the dot com boom.

What to do as an investor? I would be taking some money off the table with any oil investments here. You have had a nice run if you are long. Don’t stay at the party too long.

Richard Band, editor of Profitable Investing, agrees with me. If you do raise some cash he has some fine recommendations as to how to redeploy. At a minimum, I feel quite confident that lower oil prices is the next sure thing.

Jamie Dlugosch

Executive Editor, InvestorPlace

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Hot Stock Alert – News Corp. in the News for Acquisition Approval

News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWSA) announced that the UK government approved its proposed GBP7.8 billion takeover of British Sky Broadcasting Group after the media giant agreed to spin off the 24-hour news channel, Sky News, into a separate company to avoid a prolonged investigation by the nation’s competition regulator. The deal is expected to add BSkyB’s extensive pay-television operations to the company�s extensive stable of media operations.

The company also recently acquired 100% of Shine Group for an enterprise value of �415 million. The parties have signed a non-binding letter of intent and will now proceed with the regulatory filings required for the transaction. The company proposed that the purchase is part of the expansion strategy for its television operations.

The company reported a significant rise in profit for the second quarter due primarily to higher advertising revenues from Cable Network Programming and Television segments, as well as lower expenses.

The company’s net income for the second quarter increased to $642 million or $0.24 per share from $254 million or $0.10 per share in the previous year. The results for the quarter include impairment and restructuring charges related to the Digital Media Group and Myspace of $0.09 per share and other items of $0.05 per share. The prior-year results include litigation settlement charge at the company’s integrated marketing services business of $0.12 per share and other items of $0.03 per share. Excluding one-time items, net income for the quarter was $756 million or $0.29 per share, compared to $644 million or $0.25 per share in the prior-year quarter. The revenues for the quarter increased to $8.76 billion from $8.68 billion last year. The earnings from affiliates were $67 million, compared to $58 million in the same period a year ago.

The company also declared a dividend of $0.075 per Class A share and Class B share, payable on April 20, 2011, with a record date for determining dividend entitlements of March 16, 2011.

News Corporation stock is currently trading at $17.66. The stock is up 1.70% from its previous close. News Corporation shares stock touched the high of $18.11 and lowest price in today�s session is $17.43. The company stock�s beta is 1.52.

The company stock has traded in the range of $11.61 and $18.11 during the past 52 weeks. The company�s market cap is $46.51 billion.

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Buffett’s Golden Rule: 10 Stocks Trading for Less Than 10% Above Book Value

Are you an investor looking for the Holy Grail? Today is your lucky day. The guru of all gurus, Warren Buffett, just divulged the single most important secret for buying stock: Don�t pay more than 10% above book value for any stock.

Millions follow Buffett looking for clues as to his investment strategy. They come from miles around to hear him speak at the Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A, BRK.B) annual meeting. They hang on his every word perusing SEC filings for any insights on what it is that Buffett is buying.

Monday morning�s announcement that Berkshire Hathaway would buy back its stock is the last piece of information you will ever need to see from Buffett. In the statement is this quote: �no higher than a 10% premium over the then-current book value of the shares.�

And there it is in all its simplicity. The one simple thing investors need to do for investment success is to buy stock at a price no greater than 10% above book value. Follow that simple plan, and you too can be on your way to Buffett-like investing success. Forget about all of the daily worries and gyrations of the stock market. Stay disciplined with your buying, and over time you will make money. It is what Buffett has been doing since he started buying stock and continues to this day with his company’s own repurchase of shares.

With that in mind, here are 10 stocks trading for less than 10% above book value:

Hartford

It is no secret that Buffett likes insurance businesses. Indeed, they are wonderful companies to own from an investing standpoint. Take in more premiums than you pay out to policyholders, and you win. The best part is you get to reinvest those premiums in other investments. Be smart and disciplined like Buffett and take a look at Hartford (NYSE:HIG). The large property and casualty stock trades for 0.34 times book value — way below the 10% threshold. Hartford also pays a dividend of 2.5%. Shares are down nearly 50% since the spring, yet operating performance is strong. The company has beaten Wall Street estimates in three of the past four quarters, missing last quarter — but by only a penny per share.

KKR Financial

KKR Financial (NYSE:KFN) is in the business of making corporate loans to private equity borrowers. Formed in 2004, the company was severely hurt by the near-collapse of the financial markets in 2008. Shares bottomed in 2009 near $1 per share but have since recovered nicely. The company has had no trouble raising capital for its primary business, announcing recently that it had raised $1 billion to provide mezzanine financing to fund buyouts. The recent selloff in shares increased KKR�s dividend yield to more than 9%. Shares trade for 0.76 times book value.

    

KB Home

Talk about a distressed industry. Homebuilders have yet to recover from the housing market collapse. Excess supply and lack of demand has greatly damaged the industry. That said, homebuilders have shed unwanted land from balance sheets and are poised to rally once demand recovers. KB Home (NYSE:KBH) recently reported earnings that, while still a loss, were better than expected. And shares still are cheap. The company trades for just more than one times book value. Many have tried calling the bottom, but if you’re using book value as your guide, you don�t need to time the market. Historically, owning homebuilders at book value or less has yielded superior returns over the long haul.

Brasil Telecom

Telecom companies are great businesses to own, as they tend to deliver strong cash flow regardless of economic conditions. Brazilian telecom company Brasil Telecom (NYSE:BTM) is an emerging-market company that yields high dividends. Its shares trade for 0.64 times book value. At current prices, the dividend yield is 3%. Shares are down more than 40% since the beginning of June. Now would seem to be a good time to buy.

NRG Energy

NRG (NYSE:NRG) is a major player in the power generation business. Although the company does not pay a dividend, shares trade for just 0.64 times book value. Since mid-July, shares of NRG have lost about 13% of their value. The discount in share price is directly related to recent operating performance. Quarterly profits have been mixed during the past four quarters, with the company missing estimates in two of those periods. However, in the last quarter ending June 30, the company greatly exceeded expectations. Take advantage of the low price and the variability in earnings. As the economy settles down, power generation is likely to return to a less volatile state.

Walter Investment Management

Walter Investment Management (AMEX:WAC) is a real estate investment trust that buys and sells mortgage securities. It is no secret the troubles the mortgage industry has faced since the housing market collapsed. Walter fell off the cliff in 2008 and bottomed in 2009. Shares have recovered nicely, but the mortgage business still struggles from the weight of non-performing assets. Today, Walter trades for 1.1 times book value — right at the Buffett threshold. The company pays a monster dividend of 8.8%, deflecting questions regarding Walter�s balance sheet. Assuming assets are appropriately valued, Walter is an extremely cheap stock.

Molson Coors Brewing

I don�t know why, but I picture Buffett as a beer drinker. I can see him hoisting a few brews, playing an accordion and dancing the polka. Imagery aside, if he is a beer drinker, perhaps we might see Berkshire Hathaway getting involved in a stock like Molson Coors Brewing (NYSE:TAP). Shares trade for 0.9 times book value, and the company pays a 3.3% dividend. Since peaking above $50 per share at the end of last year, the company has been drifting lower in 2011. With the stock down some 22% in 2011, now would seem to be a good time to acquire shares.

Boston Scientific

Buffett must be having a hard time deciding what to do with his money, considering there are so many great companies trading for less than 10% above book value. Another such stock is Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX). The medical device maker trades for 0.76 times book value. No doubt the company has been struggling. The company has been on a downward trajectory during the past five years, but it has a long history of developing medical devices that sell. The idea of buying below book value is that you are own a stock for the long term with minimal downside risk. With shares trading near historical lows, it would seem like a no-brainer to own Boston Scientific.

The Washington Post

Another business utterly decimated in recent years is The Washington Post Co. (NYSE:WPO). The media company has struggled with the decline of print and readers’ flight to the Internet. Subscription and advertising revenues are way down, and shares trade for about a third of where they were before the recession began in 2008. At current prices, The Washington Post trades for 0.95 times book value and pays a dividend of 3%. Media might not be attractive today, but the company still delivers reliable cash flow. This is exactly the kind of company Buffett would buy today.

BlackRock

The asset management business is a wonderful cash flow generator. Unfortunately, bear markets can be outright destructive; fortunately, bear markets do not last forever. The natural path for stocks is higher. As such, owning a money management business like BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) at prices below 10% above book value can be profitable. BlackRock is a $27 billion market-cap company. It will survive whatever economic calamity comes its way, and when times improve, Blackrock is poised to make a bundle. While investors wait, the company pays a solid dividend of 3.8%.

3 Things to Watch With Applied Materials

Applied Materials (Nasdaq: AMAT  ) is the world's largest semiconductor equipment manufacturer. If the global economy is strong and the demand for high-tech gadgets is robust, Applied Materials' business will likely be booming. If China's slowdown or European worries weigh on growth, then it may not perform as well.

Today, let's look at three things investors should be watching regarding Applied Materials, as they will provide us better insight into the company.

1. Fabless semiconductor demand
Contracted fabless semiconductor makers Taiwan Semiconductor (NYSE: TSM  ) and United Microelectronics (NYSE: UMC  ) rely on strong smartphone and tablet demand to stay profitable. As long as consumers continue to want these gadgets, Applied Materials' equipment business should benefit.

The good news is this trend is in Applied Materials' favor. According to website GigaOM, smartphone prices dipped to an average selling price of only $135 by late 2011 and had dipped in four consecutive quarters. As smartphones become cheaper, it makes them affordable for a wider swath of consumers. More units being sold presumably equates to higher production capacity and more business for Applied Materials.

2. Solar industry pricing
In 2011, Applied Materials purchased Variant Semiconductor and its solar equipment operations for $4.9 billion. Until now, that purchase hasn't exactly panned out as the company had planned. Polysilicon prices and global demand for solar have plummeted as governments have reined in spending and subsidies on the efficient, clean-energy fuel source.

Despite this, Applied Materials still produced a $0.01 non-GAAP profit from its solar equipment segment in the second quarter. Rather than sitting back and allowing itself to be undercut in pricing by Chinese competitors, the company outlined a plan in the first quarter to move its solar equipment operations from Switzerland to China. The move will mean a short-term black-and-blue mark on earnings, but may give the company a competitive labor-margin edge over U.S.-based solar firms like First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR  ) and SunPower (Nasdaq: SPWR  ) , who don't have the luxury of relying on cheap labor forces to produce their solar products and continue to be undercut on price in many cases by China-based solar firms.

3. Dividend growth
Applied Materials hasn't exactly lit the world on fire with its dividend growth, but it nonetheless has tripled its quarterly payout to $0.09 from $0.03 in just seven years with five dividend hikes along the way.

Source: Dividata. * Estimated annual payout assuming $0.09/quarter.

The company's current payout ratio of just 31% gives its current yield of 3.3% considerable room to head higher. Its most recent quarter featured one of those aforementioned five dividend boosts, and an increase in operating cash flow to 24% of net sales. With nearly $2.2 billion in cash and $220 million in net cash, Applied Materials' strong cash flow should dictate the likelihood of future dividend hikes.

Dig deeper
Now that you know what to watch for, it should be easier to analyze Applied Materials' successes and pitfalls in the future and hopefully give you a competitive investing edge.

If you're still craving even more info on Applied Materials, I would recommend adding the stock to your free and personalized watchlist so you can keep up on all of the latest news with the company.

Applied Materials may be on the front lines of the smartphone revolution -- but that isn't the only game-changing technology emerging in this sector. See what three stocks our analysts at Stock Advisor feel are must-owns for the "New Industrial Revolution" by clicking here to get your free copy of our latest report.

Berkshire Adds National Oilwell, Phillips 66; Sells Most of J&J Stake

Berkshire Hathaway (BRKB) added two new positions in the second quarter, according to an SEC filing detailing the company’s holdings.

Berkshire added about 27 million shares of refiner Phillips 66 (PSX) and 2.8 million shares of drilling equipment company National Oilwell Varco (NOV) by the end of the quarter, according to the filing. Berkshire received Phillips shares as part of its spinoff from ConocoPhillips (COP), which Berkshire has held for years.

Berkshire also liquidated its entire position in Intel (INTC) and sold 64% of its Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) stake, according to InsiderScore.com. We detailed Berkshire’s tech holdings here.

Top Stocks For 2011-12-24-9

Anaren Inc. (Nasdaq:ANEN) announced that the Company will present to the investment community during the “Singular Research Conference” in Los Angeles at the Luxe Hotel on Wednesday, October 26th.

Anaren, Inc. engages in the design, development, and manufacture of components, assemblies, and subsystems primarily for the wireless communications, satellite communications, and space and defense electronics markets worldwide.

Volterra Semiconductor Corporation (Nasdaq:VLTR) will issue its financial results for the third quarter ending September 30, 2011, on Monday, October 24, 2011 after the market close. Jeff Staszak, President and CEO, and Mike Burns, Vice President of Finance and CFO, will host a conference call, which is open to all investors, following the issuance of its earnings release.

Volterra Semiconductor Corporation, headquartered in Fremont, CA, designs, develops, and markets leading edge silicon solutions for low-voltage power delivery.

Cleantech Transit, Inc. (CLNO)

Cleantech Transit Inc. was founded to capitalize on technology advances and manufacturing opportunities in the growing clean energy public transportation sector. The Company has expanded its focus to invest directly in specific green projects. Recognizing the many economic and operational advances of converting wood waste into renewable sources of energy, Cleantech has selected to invest in Phoenix Energy (www.phoenixenergy.net). This project could benefit the Company’s manufacturing clients worldwide.

Bioenergy is an important form of renewable energy that is stored in biological material like wood, wood waste, manure, straw, and other by-products of agricultural processes. Bioenergy in these sources can be converted and used to generate heat or electricity, or to produce transport fuel

Cleantech Transit, Inc. (CLNO) is pleased to announce it has met its funding requirement to secure the Company’s ability to earn in 25% of the 500KW Merced Project.

The Company is in the final stages of closing its initial interest in the Merced Project and is currently working on completing the necessary documentation and expects closing the transaction soon. As previously announced Cleantech has the option to earn up to 40% of the Merced Project and the Company plans to continue to work towards increasing its interest in the Merced Project as they move ahead.

For more information about Cleantech Transit, Inc. visit its website www.cleantechtransitinc.com

Theravance Inc. (Nasdaq:THRX) announced that it will release financial results for the period ended September 30, 2011 after market close on Thursday, October 27, 2011.

Theravance, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the discovery, development, and commercialization of small molecule medicines for various therapeutic areas, including respiratory disease, bacterial infections, and central nervous system (CNS)/pain.

Apple looking to build $1B Nevada data center by year’s end - 03:58 PM

(gigaom.com) -- Apple’s taking a billion dollars and heading to Reno, but it’s going to avoid the slots: it plans to invest the money in a data center and a separate shipping and receiving office.

The proposed data center will actually be located east of Sparks, Nev., a little outside Reno. The business office is intended to be located in downtown Reno.

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The Reno Gazette-Journal reported Tuesday from the Washoe County Board of Commissioners meeting where Apple presented its case for the Sparks data center. The paper quotes Mike Folks, an Apple spokesman, saying that the data center should be up and running before the end of 2012, and that Apple is looking for a “30-year relationship” with the area.

Apple will go before the Reno City Council to make its case for the business center on Wednesday.

According to the Reno Gazette-Journal, ”the data center east of town (called Project Jonathan) is estimated to generate up to 41 jobs as well as 200 long-term contractors. The project would generate about 580 direct construction jobs.”

As part of the agreement, Apple will be getting both sales and property tax breaks from the city and county. Apple, of course, is not a newcomer to Nevada or Reno — or its favorable tax policies. The New York Times recently focused on Apple’s small Reno office, run as a subsidiary called Braeburn Capital. The Times highlighted the small office as an example of how places like Nevada, which does not collect corporate taxes, can act as a tax haven for businesses like Apple.

There aren’t a lot of details about why Apple chose the unincorporated area of northern Nevada for the data center, which would be its fourth announced in the U.S., after Maiden, N.C., Prineville, Ore. and Newark, Calif. Apple has pledged to power its existing data centers with significant amounts of local, renewable energy sources, so the location could be tied to nearby solar farms.

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• Controversy, courtrooms and the cloud in Q1
• New challenges for the IT organization
• CES 2012: a recap and analysis

• Print

Limelight: Jefferies Upgrades To Buy; Sets $6 Target Price

Jefferies & Co. analyst Katherine Egbert this morning raised her rating on content delivery network provider Limelight Networks (LLNW) to Buy from Hold, asserting that the company’s recent acquisition of EyeWonder, a provider of digital advertising software, “should provide enough high-margin software and services to drive higher revenue growth and first-time profitability” for the company.

She adds that “price stabilization and increasing online rich media traffic…could combine with growing value-added services to produce further upside.”

For 2010, she now sees pro forma EPS of 11 cents a share, up from a previous estimate of a loss of 4 cents. For 2011, she goes to 14 cents, from a loss of 2 cents.

Egbert bumps up her target on the stock to $6, from $4.

LLNW closed Friday at $4.19.

RIMM Off 2.6%: FYQ4 Misses; Balsillie Exits; Exploring Partnerships; Discontinues Forecasts

Shares of BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIMM) have been halted this afternoon ahead of the company’s impending fiscal Q4 report.

The latest quote for the stock appears to have been $14.11, a 3% gain, at approximately 4:15 pm, Eastern. There is no indication yet from Nasdaq of the resumption trade time.

Update: A report by Iain Marlow of Canada’s The Globe and Mail this afternoon states that CEO Thorsten Heins is “getting rid of high-level staff,” citing an anonymous source “close to the company.”

Update 2: RIM reported Q4 revenue and profit below analysts’ expectations.

Revenue in the three months ended in February fell 19%, year over year, to $4.2 billion, yielding EPS of 80 cents.

On a GAAP basis, the company reported a net loss of $125 million, or 24 cents a share.

The company shipped 11.1 million BlackBerry units, toward the low end of its forecast for 11 to 12 million units.

The company sold over 500,000 PlayBook tablet computers, ahead of Street estimates for about half that many.

The Street had been modeling $4.54 billion in revenue and 81 cents EPS.

Jim Balsillie, former Co-CEO of RIM, has resigned as a director, RIM said.

Along with Balsillie, RIM announced CTO David Yach is stepping down after 13 years at the company, as is 4-year veteran Jim Rowan, COO. RIM is currently seeking candidates for COO, it said.

CEO Heins said the company had many opportunities, but also “significant challenges” in coming quarters, and said the company would explore a variety of possibilities, including partnerships and joint ventures:

I have confirmed that the Company has substantial strengths that can be further leveraged to improve our financial performance, including RIM’s global network infrastructure, a strong enterprise offering and a large and growing base of more than 77 million subscribers. I’m very excited about the prospects for the BlackBerry 10 platform, which is on track for the latter part of calendar 2012. Notwithstanding these strengths and opportunities, the business challenges we face over the next several quarters are significant and I am taking the necessary steps to address them. In addition to delivering the BlackBerry 10 platform and refocusing resources on RIM’s key opportunities, such as BlackBerry Mobile Fusion and new integrated service offerings, we will also drive greater operational performance through a variety of initiatives including increased management accountability and process discipline. In parallel, we are undertaking a comprehensive review of strategic opportunities including partnerships and joint ventures, licensing, and other ways to leverage RIM’s assets and maximize value for our stakeholders.

Predicting further pressure on revenue and profit this fiscal year ending next February, RIM said it would discontinue “quantitative guidance“:

The company expects continued pressure on revenue and earnings throughout fiscal 2013. Due to a desire to focus on long term value creation and the current business environment, RIM will no longer provide specific quantitative guidance. Some of the factors contributing to this include, ongoing weakness in the Company’s U.S. smartphone business, an increased focus on selling BlackBerry 7 smartphones to grow the subscriber base in advance of the BlackBerry 10 launch, increasing competitive pressure in the Company’s international markets and the introduction of certain new lower tier service pricing initiatives and a higher mix of sales coming from entry level products.

RIM will host a conference call with management at 5 pm, Eastern time, and you can catch the webcast of it here.

Update 3: RIM stock is indicated to resume trading in the aftermarket at 5:10 pm, Eastern.

Update 4: RIM stock has resumed trading and is now down $1.08, or 8%, at $12.65 58 cents, or 4%, at $13.15.

Update 5: The stock has recovered substantially from the initial drop, now down just 35 cents, or 2.6%, at $13.38.

Fin

Apple: Is The Antenna Debate Really Worth Worrying About?

The Web yesterday was buzzing about reports that the Apple (AAPL) iPhone 4 has antenna issues – in particular, that signal degrades if you hold the phone in your hand the wrong way. While reception issues have been a long-standing issue with the iPhone, the new version boasts a new antenna technology in which the metal band that wraps around the phone is part of the antenna system, and is supposed to result in better reception.

The New York Times reporter Miguel Helft today wrote a comprehensive report on the saga; he notes that Apple concedes that the issue is real, but asserts that the same issue exists for any wireless phone. One easy fix, apparently, is to simply use a case so that you don’t directly touch the metal band. Indeed, on the day the phone was launched, the company launched a line of $29 plastic bumpers that wrap around the phone – which makes you wonder if maybe they really knew this was going to be an issue.

In any case, I will make the bold prediction that this won’t affect iPhone sales a whit.

Comtech Telecommunications Earnings Preview

Watch Comtech Telecommunications' (Nasdaq: CMTL  ) earnings report to see if it can beat analyst expectations for the third consecutive quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday, Dec. 8. Comtech Telecommunications designs, develops, produces, and markets innovative products, systems, and services for advanced communications solutions.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on Comtech Telecommunications, with five out of seven analysts rating it hold. Analysts don't like Comtech Telecommunications as much as competitor Globecomm Systems overall. Four out of four analysts rate Globecomm Systems a buy compared to two out of seven for Comtech Telecommunications.
• Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $93.5 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a decline of 47.5% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.30 per share. Estimates range from $0.28 to $0.33.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly behind the stock, with 97.6% granting it an outperform rating. The community at large concurs with the All-Stars, with 96.6% assigning it a rating of outperform. Fools are bullish on Comtech Telecommunications, though the message boards have been quiet lately, with only 81 posts in the past 30 days. Even with a robust four out of five stars, Comtech Telecommunications' CAPS rating falls a little short of the community's upbeat outlook.

Management:
Comtech Telecommunications' profit has risen year over year by an average of 34.1% over the past five quarters. Revenue has fallen for the past three quarters.

Now let's look at how efficient management is at running the business. Traditionally, margins represent the efficiency with which companies capture portions of sales dollars. The following table shows gross, operating, and net margins over the past four quarters.

Quarter	Q4	Q3	Q2	Q1
Gross Margin	42%	43.5%	37.4%	36.1%
Operating Margin	14.6%	16.7%	15.5%	22.5%
Net Margin	8.5%	10.9%	9.9%	14.4%

One final thing: If you want to keep tabs on Comtech Telecommunications' movements, and for more analysis on the company, make sure you add it to your Watchlist.

Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Earnings estimates provided by Zacks.

4-Star Stocks Poised to Pop: Boston Beer

Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, craft brewer Boston Beer (NYSE: SAM  ) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Boston Beer's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

Boston Beer facts

Headquarters (founded)	Boston (1984)
Market Cap	$1.4 billion
Industry	Brewers
Trailing-12-Month Revenue	$487 million
Management	Founder/Chairman James Koch President/CEO Martin Roper
Return on Equity (average, past 3 years)	27%
Cash/Debt	$48.1 million / $0
Competitors	Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE: BUD  ) Molson Coors (NYSE: TAP  )

Source: S&P Capital IQ and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 96% of the 1,447 members who have rated Boston Beer believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include fellow Fool Andy Cross (TMFOpie), who is ranked in the top 5% of our community, and snommis69.

A few months ago , Andy listed several of Boston Beer's positives: "Solid brands, founder-led, national growth and distribution opportunities too. ... I'll be interested to see what Jim Koch does with the SAM brand over the next few years."

Boston Beer even sports a robust three-year average return on capital of 26%. That's much higher than that of beer giants Anheuser-Busch (9%) and Molson (3%), as well as other alcohol plays such as Diageo (NYSE: DEO  ) (12%)

CAPS member snommis60 elaborates on the bull case:

I'm a beer geek. I've been into the craft beer movement since I reached legal drinking age (and could afford beer better than swill). SAM does things right -- they have grown their flagship Lager to a national level, yet kept their craft beer cred by producing quality seasonal beers and assisting other craft breweries.

They produce beers that are "gateway" beers to the craft side of the house while keeping those already in the fold happy with their diverse (yet high quality) offerings. Add to this a pretty strong balance sheet and it's one of the picks I simply can't bet against!

What do you think about Boston Beer, or any other stock for that matter? If you want to retire rich, you need to put together the best portfolio you can. Owning exceptional stocks is a surefire way to secure your financial future, and on Motley Fool CAPS, thousands of investors are working every day to find them. CAPS is 100% free, so get started!

Want to see how well (or not so well) the stocks in this series are performing? Follow the new TrackPoisedTo CAPS account.

Massey Slumps Third Time in a Row

Coal miner Massey Energy Company (MEE) has reported an adjusted loss for the third consecutive quarter. The company’s fourth quarter witnessed a loss of 69 cents per share, significantly higher than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 34 cents. The disappointing quarter results stemmed mainly from the continued production disruptions and shortfalls.

Massey’s full-year 2010 results were also hurt by its struggles to recover from the deadly mine incident that occurred in April 2010. The company posted a net loss of 53 cents per share for the year (excluding the Upper Big Branch related charges), which was also above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 40 cents.

Revenue

Net revenues in the fourth quarter jumped 25% year over year to $730.0 million, mainly due to higher average prices realized on produced coal volumes. However, the company’s revenue in the quarter came in below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $781 million.

For the full-year, the company’s revenue was $3.04 billion, marginally below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.09 billion and up 13% year-over-year.

Operating Results

Massey Energy said that the produced volumes sold in the fourth quarter totaled 8.9 million tons compared with 7.8 million in the year-ago quarter. This brings the full year 2010 coal shipments to 37.1 million tons, which shows a decline of nearly 1.4 million tons from the company’s guidance of 38.5 million tons. Total tons sold for the year was, however, higher than the 36.7 million tons sold in 2009.

Coal production in the fourth quarter was hampered by a significant reduction in the number of shifts operated, lower productivity at deep mines and higher ratios on surface mines. Coal shipments in 2010 were adversely affected by the lower production, inconsistent rail service and delays in export shipments at the ports during the fourth quarter.

Average produced coal revenue was $71.76 per ton (or $641.1 million) in the reported quarter, an increase of nearly 12% from $64.13 per ton (or $498.7 million) reported last year. The improvement was mainly driven by a 16% rise in realized utility coal prices and a 23% increase in realized metallurgical coal prices during the quarter. Massey's average produced coal revenue per ton increased 11% for full-year 2010 as compared to full-year 2009.

Average cash cost per ton for the reported quarter was $62.67, increasing 25.7% from the year-ago quarter, mainly on account of lower productivity in underground mines and higher ratios and supplies costs at surface mines. Massey's average cash cost per ton (excluding Upper Big Branch related charges) for 2010 increased 19% year-over year to $60.05.

Liquidity

Massey Energy ended 2010 with $327.2 million in cash and equivalents compared with $665.8 million at year-end 2009. The company had $122.8 million available under its asset-based revolving credit facility for a total liquidity of $450 million as of December 31, 2010.

Debt and Capital Resources

Massey Energy had a total debt of $1.316 billion as of December 31, 2010, with a total debt-to-book capitalization ratio of 42.5%.

Total capital expenditures in the fourth quarter were $156.3 million. Massey’s significant capital projects for the quarter included continued development at the Marianna property where it is constructing a new preparation plant and a new low-volatile metallurgical coal mine, and the completion of the Zigmond processing plant and load-out at the Logan County resource group.

Guidance

Massey Energy expects produced coal shipments for 2011 in the range of 43 to 47 million tons with an average realized price range of $81.00-86.00 per ton.

For fiscal 2011, Massey has commitments for sale of 41.4 million tons of coal, including 37.3 million tons that are sold and priced at roughly $78.00 per ton. The sold and priced tons include 6.2 million tons of metallurgical coal. Massey now expects metallurgical coal shipments for 2011 in the range of 10 to 14 million tons.

Average cash cost per ton for 2011 is expected to be in the $59.00-62.00 range. Other income is guided at $20-100 million for 2011.

Capital expenditure for 2011 is expected in the $400-550 million range. DD&A is expected to be nearly $390 million for 2011 with about $60 million from the amortization of acquired sales contracts and other intangibles.

For fiscal 2012, Massey has commitments for coal shipments of 28.3 million tons. Of these, 18.1 million tons are sold and priced at roughly $70 per ton, including about 850,000 tons of metallurgical coal.

Our Take

Last week, Massey Energy announced that it has agreed to merge its resources with Alpha Natural Resources Inc. (ANR). On its year-end release, the company said that it strives to bring production back on track as it prepares to merge with Alpha.

We believe the Massey-Alpha merger is going to prove beneficial for both companies, as the merged entity will become America’s largest supplier of metallurgical coal for the world’s steel industry and a highly diversified supplier of thermal coal to electric utilities in the U.S. and overseas. The combined company will have at its disposal about 5 billion tons of coal reserves with diversified operations in Central and Northern Appalachia, the Illinois Basin and the Powder River Basin in Wyoming.

Additionally, the merged company will also have a robust balance sheet and a significantly enhanced scale with a combined enterprise value of approximately $15 billion.

Massey Energy currently holds a Zacks #3 Rank (short term Hold). We retain our long term ‘Neutral’ rating on the stock.

WORLD FOREX: Euro Tops $1.40 On ECB Rate Hike Expectations – Wall Street Journal

IBTimes

WORLD FOREX: Euro Tops .40 On ECB Rate Hike Expectations Wall Street Journal NEW YORK (Dow Jones)–The euro surged above .40 for the first time since November on Friday as investors reacted to a mildly disappointing US non-farm payrolls report and continued to bet on expectations of … FOREX-Dollar slips after jobs data; more euro gains seenReuters Daily Forex Summary on USD, Euro, GBP, JPY, AUD, CAD and NZDInternational Business Times Forex Daily Outlook � March 4th, 2011Benzinga Trading Point -Forex Hound -CountingPips all 169 news articles »

{forex} – Google News

SEC Tells Congress It Will Proceed With Uniform Fiduciary Standard for Brokers, Advisors

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) told Congress that it would move forward in creating a new uniform fiduciary standard of care for broker-dealers and investment advisors when providing advice to retail customers.

The SEC released its study mandated under Section 913 of the Dodd-Frank Act Friday night.

The SEC said in its report that it recommends “the consideration of rulemakings that would apply expressly and uniformly to both broker-dealers and investment advisers, when providing personalized investment advice about securities to retail customers, a fiduciary standard no less stringent than currently applied to investment advisers” under the Investment Adviser Act of 1940.

The two Republican SEC Commissioners, Kathleen Casey and Troy Paredes, issued a joint dissent to the report’s findings, stating that the study “fails to adequately justify its recommendation that the Commission embark on fundamentally changing the regulatory regime for broker-dealers and investment advisers providing personalized investment advice to retail investors.”

Casey and Paredes said they opposed the study’s release to Congress as drafted, and that the study fails to fulfill the statutory mandate of Section 913 of Dodd-Frank to evaluate the “effectiveness of existing legal or regulatory standards of care” applicable to broker-dealers and investment advisors.

While industry executives say the SEC’s report is a definite step in the right direction in leveling the playing field for brokers and advisors, the devil will be in the details as the securities regulator launches into the rulemaking process.

Barbara Roper, Director of Investor Protection at the Consumer Federation of America (CFA), says that with the report, the “SEC has taken the first, tentative step toward reversing that anti-investor policy by issuing a report calling for brokers to be subject to the same high standards all other advisers must meet when they recommend securities to investors.” For years, Roper continued, the SEC “has stood by and allowed broker-dealers to market themselves to investors as trusted advisers without requiring them to meet the most basic standard appropriate to that role—a fiduciary duty to act in their customers’ best interests.”

Don Trone (left), CEO of Strategic Ethos, says he believes the SEC “got it right,” and “captured the requisite subtleties associated with a fiduciary standard, while providing an appropriate and measured response to the concerns raised by broker-dealers.”

As the SEC takes the next step and adopts rules implementing the uniform fiduciary standard, two divisions at the SEC—Investment Management and Trading & Markets—will have the ultimate authority in drafting and implementing those rules. The agency must implement the standard in “a way that maximizes investor protections while preserving investor choice,” says Roper. “Because fiduciary duty is a flexible standard that can accommodate a variety of business models, we are fully confident that this is an achievable goal, and we look forward to working with the Commission to achieve it.”

David Tittsworth, executive director of the Investment Adviser Association (IAA) in Washington, agrees that while the report provides a “basis” for future rulemaking, “it is not going to be a smooth and easy road. The devilish details regarding standard of care and other harmonization issues will be critical in understanding the effect of any proposed rules.”

Regarding standard of care, Tittsworth (left) added, IAA has “two major concerns.” First, “we will work to oppose efforts to weaken or water down the well-established fiduciary duty under the Advisers Act. Second, we think it would be a mistake to establish different standards of care for different types of clients.”

Another worry, says Trone with Strategic Ethos: that the SEC will appoint the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) as “the fiduciary guardian” for advisors. “That concerns me. FINRA has a rules-based orientation and culture; fiduciary standards are based on principles, not rules. The ideal would be for the SEC to retain the role of fiduciary guardian, and delegate only the examination and auditing activities, as defined by the SEC, to FINRA."

Ira Hammerman, general counsel for the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), said after the report's release that SIFMA supports a uniform fiduciary standard of care for brokers and advisors, and that the SEC's report articulates a "workable comprehensive approach for personalized investment advice for retail customers." However, he said, SIFMA remains concerned about a uniform fiduciary standard's "possible effects on broker-dealers' ability to serve customers as this approach is developed" and that SIFMA will "continue to work with the SEC to ensure that the broker-dealer role is not hindered."

The SEC report also states that Section 913 of Dodd-Frank, “explicitly provides that the receipt of commission-based compensation, or other standard compensation, for the sale of securities does not, in and of itself, violate the uniform fiduciary standard of conduct applied to a broker-dealer. Section 913 also provides that the uniform fiduciary standard does not necessarily require broker-dealers to have a continuing duty of care or loyalty to a retail customer after providing personalized investment advice.”

Read why the fiduciary standard became a hot topic for regulators at the SEC at AdvisorOne.