(SCHW, JEC, CRWE, CACI) Featured Stock by DrStockPick.com

Charles Schwab Corp (NYSE:SCHW) announced the completion of its acquisition of optionsXpress Holdings, Inc. As of June 30th, optionsXpress had 397,400 client accounts, $8.4 billion in client assets and a 12 month average of 44,900 daily average revenue trades. Schwab operates one of the nation’s largest brokerage firms in terms of client assets, which totaled $1.66 trillion as of June 30, 2011 and serves more than 10 million individual, independent advisor client and retirement plan participant accounts with a wide range of financial products and full-service investment help and advice.

The Charles Schwab Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides securities brokerage, banking, and related financial services to individuals and institutional clients.

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (NYSE:JEC) announced that it has been awarded the second phase of the Ras Tanura Refinery Clean Fuels and Aromatics Project. This award is under the Saudi Aramco General Engineering and Project Management Services (GES+) Contract.

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. provides professional, technical, and construction services. Its services include engineering, design, and architectural services; construction and construction management services; operations and maintenance services; and process, scientific, and systems consulting services.

Crown Equity Holdings, Inc. (CRWE)

Crown Equity Holdings, Inc., together with its digital network, currently provides electronic media services specializing in online publishing, which brings together targeted audiences and advertisers. Crown Equity Holdings Inc. offers internet media-driven advertising services, which covers and connects a range of marketing specialties, as well as search engine optimization for clients interested in online media awareness.

Crown Equity Holdings advertises your business adjacent with their digital network content to their targeted audience, which are ! educated high income individuals.

Voice over Internet Protocol, a category of hardware and software that enables people to use the Internet as the transmission medium for telephone calls by sending voice data in packets using IP rather than by traditional circuit transmissions of the PSTN. One advantage of VoIP is that the telephone calls over the Internet do not incur a surcharge beyond what the user is paying for Internet access, much in the same way that the user doesn’t pay for sending individual e-mails over the Internet.

There are many Internet telephony applications available. VoIP also is referred to as Internet telephony, IP telephony, or Voice over the Internet. Voice over IP allows you to make free or very cheap phone calls locally and internationally.

Crown Equity Holdings Inc. (CRWE) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a joint venture to deploy VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) technology delivering voice, video and data services to residential and commercial customers. The joint venture company is Crown Tele Services Inc. which was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Crown Equity Holdings Inc. Crown Equity Holdings Inc. will own fifty percent (50%) interest in the joint venture.

Commenting on the joint venture, Kenneth Bosket, President of Crown Equity Holdings Inc., said: “We are excited to deliver VoIP communications solutions specifically designed to meet the business and residential market needs in this fast-growing global market.”

For more information, visit http://www.crownequityholdings.com

CACI International Inc (NYSE:CACI) announced that it has completed its transaction to acquire Paradigm Holdings, Inc. (OTC:PDHO), the parent of Paradigm Solutions Corporation. Paradigm provides cybersecurity and enterprise IT solutions to clients in federal civilian agencies, the Department of Defense, and the Intelligence Community.

CACI International Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides infor! mation t echnology (IT) and professional services to the U.S. federal government and commercial markets in North America and internationally.

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These 3 Stocks Are Overvalued

The following video is part of our daily MarketFoolery podcast, in which host Chris Hill and analysts Alex Scherer and Jason Moser discuss business and investing news. In this segment, the guys look to recent IPOs and the retail sector to highlight stocks they believe are overvalued.

Looking for stocks that are not overvalued? The Motley Fool's brand new report, "The Motley Fool's Top Stock for 2012," highlights a Costco-like company that is revolutionizing commerce in Latin America. You can get instant access to the name of this company by clicking here -- it's free.

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AMZN too risky a buy at current sky-high valuations

The nattering and chattering over Amazon‘s (NASDAQ:AMZN) foray into the tablet field with the Kindle Fire — a product that costs more to produce than the company is selling it for — is ultimately just a lot of smoke.

Yes, absolutely, Amazon is risking short-term profits and margins. So what? CEO Jeff Bezos always has managed the company beyond the quarterly demands of Wall Street’s expectations. Amazon’s razor-thin margins always have been under close scrutiny, and any time they come up short, investors punish the stock.

That’s fair enough — at least for traders and short-term players. At a scant 2%, Amazon has a lower net profit margin than Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT). When you’re running a retailer that lean, a few hundredths of a percentage point pop in the cost structure can easily flip a net profit into a net loss.

More important is that the company’s strategy is sound. Amazon is an online retailer, and the new frontier in e-commerce is the tablet. If the company needs to start with a loss leader to get customers in the door, so be it. Supermarkets have been doing this for decades. Those overabundant displays of fresh produce that greet you upon entering your local supercenter? Most of it spoils and is thrown out at a loss. The vine-ripe tomatoes are window dressing. The profitable products are the ones in the aisles.

But most important is that all this fretting over the Kindle Fire — and the breathless, incomplete data on how holiday sales might have fared — obscures a far more critical fact about Amazon’s stock: It looks very, very overpriced.

If you have Amazon in your portfolio, what you decide to do with that position depends on your initial cost basis, as well as other considerations, such as your investing horizons and other holdings. Amazon is by no means an automatic sell, if only because it has proven agai! n and ag ain to be a core, long-term holding. InvestorPlace contributor Kevin Kelleher is right when he says Amazon investors should wait out the storm.

However, I sure wouldn’t be comfortable initiating a position at these levels. Here’s why: Based on the stock’s own five-year averages, it currently trades at enormous premiums to its trailing and forward price-to-earnings ratios. That’s to say, through good markets and bad, by both actual and estimated earnings, investors are paying historically out-of-whack sums for each dollar in earnings.

Amazon’s forward P/E currently stands at 87 vs. a five-year average of 56, according to data from Thomson Reuters. By trailing, actual earnings, Amazon’s P/E is a whopping 92 vs. a five-year average of 71. Clearly investors have been willing to pay big premiums for Amazon’s growth, and they’ve been rewarded in kind. The stock is up 340% during these past five years.

But valuations, like so much in investing, have a nasty habit of reverting to the mean — especially when investors get hinky about bold, new (and expensive) initiatives.

Shares in Amazon sold off ahead of the market’s New Year’s break after Goldman Sachs warned that fourth-quarter sales could miss Wall Street forecasts. It sure wouldn’t be the first time that’s happened. Amazon has missed analysts’ average top-line estimate in two of the past four quarters. It also has blown the Street’s bottom-line forecasts in two of the past four quarters, and three of the past eight.

So although Amazon’s strategy is sound, the stock simply appears too pricey at current levels. When it comes to long-term investing, valuation is (almost) everything. With a history of missed expectations, Amazon likely will offer investors a more attractive entry point in the not-to-distant future.

As of this writing, Dan Burrows did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned stocks.

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The Mystery of Closed End-Fund Discounts - SmartMoney.com

Investors are rational agents, economists like to say. In other words, for the most part, we're not nuts. If IBM trades at $190 a share, Uncle Hank isn't going to offer his lot at $150 -- and if he does, it's time to talk to Aunt Lily about handling the stocks.

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That assumption makes it difficult to explain the behavior of closed-end funds. It's not uncommon for one that holds, say, $13 a share worth of stocks or bonds to sell for $12. Discounts like that give investors an opportunity to secure dividend yields that are larger than the yields on the underlying stocks and bonds. And if they choose wisely, they can make money two ways, says Doug Bonds, manager of the Cohen & Steers Closed-End Opportunity fund: (1) when the fund assets earn a return, and (2) if the fund discount shrinks.

For long-term savers, closed-end funds aren't nearly as attractive as high-quality stocks or low-cost index mutual funds. That's because many closed-end funds charge high fees and some use leverage. For traders with an appetite for risk, however, it's worth considering the basics of how closed-end funds work and whether discounts can be exploited for profit. Most investors are familiar with open-end mutual funds (think Fidelity Magellan). They're priced at the end of each trading day according to the value of underlying investments -- no discounts or premiums. Exchange-traded funds have share prices that can differ from the value of their assets, but in practice, most only differ by a whisker. That's because each ETF has "authorized participants" who are empowe! red to c onvert shares into the underlying securities, and vice versa. They continuously trade away discounts and premiums for their own profit. Closed-end funds trade just like ETFs, only without the authorized participants, so there's no one to keep the prices near the asset values. According to research by Scott Barnhart, a professor at Florida Atlantic University, ETFs have lured investors from closed-end funds. That might have resulted in bigger discounts for the latter.

So neglected have closed-end funds become that one New York University professor, Edwin Elton, last year wrote a paper titled "Why Do Closed-End Funds Exist?" One supposed advantage is that closed-end funds usually issue shares only once, during an initial offering period. After that they close -- hence the name -- and list the portfolio on an exchange. Shareholders who sell don't affect the portfolio assets; they simply sell shares to buyers. That should allow closed-end fund managers to buy less-liquid securities without fear of having to suddenly raise cash. But in practice, most closed-end funds hold the same sorts of things as open-end ones, according to Elton. He reckons the existence of closed-end funds is owed mostly to their effective use of leverage. Open-end funds face strict limits on leverage. Closed-end ones have long borrowed cheaply (with low interest rates) and invested in long-term bonds with higher yields. But cut-rate funding dried up during the 2008 financial crisis, forcing closed-end funds to pay more for fresh cash, so leverage today isn't quite as lucrative, says Elton.

Open to Opportunities?

Buyers want to look for closed-end funds with high yields --but not too high.

Fund (Ticker)	Key Assets	Share Price ($)	Dividend Yield (%)	Discount (%)	Expense Ratio*	3-Year Total Returns, Annualized (%)
BlackRock Strategic Dividend Achievers (BDT)	U.S. dividend stocks	10	6.6	13.3	0.93	15.6
Calamos Global Dynamic Income (CHW)	Global stocks and bonds	8	8	15.6	1.52	28.7
Eaton Vance Tax-Advantaged Global Div. Opp. (ETO)	Global dividend stocks	17	8.1	14.9	1.1	21
First Trust Enhanced Equity Income (FFA)	Stocks and covered calls	11	8.1	13.2	1.25	21.3
John Hancock Bank & Thrift Opportunity (BTO)	Financial stocks	14	6.4	12.3	1.34	3.9
Kayne Anderson Midstream Energy (KMF)	Master limited partnerships	23	5.2	13.3	1.9	NA

Data as of 12/7/11.
* Excludes interest. NA=Not applicable. sources: bloomberg; CEFConnect; company filings

Still, closed-end fund discounts are tempting. They're also one of the unsolved mysteries of finance. There are several theories on why they exist: Some researchers think they're a judgment on fees and performance; some think investors use discounts to anticipate money that will be lost to taxes on embedded gains. One recent study showed a link between discounts and investor expectations about broad market volatility, suggesting discounts grow larger simply because investors are worried.

Whatever the cause, investors might be able to profit from closed-end fund discounts. One reason: They tend to be mean-reverting. Find one that's larger than its historical average and there's a good chance it will shrink, says Cohen & Steers's Bonds. Another reason is the presence of activist shareholders. In the stock world, these investors like to scoop up 5 percent or more of the shares of troubled firms and then use their clout to badger management to sell assets, cut costs and take other steps to lift the stock price. In the closed-end world, activists have increasingly persuaded funds to convert to open-end structures. When that happens, discounts disappear.

Closed-end funds can be volatile because of their leverage, and their discounts work both ways; they sometimes grow larger, too. That makes these funds best for nimble investors. Also, an investor who spots a fund at a 10 percent discount shouldn't assume it's a good deal, says Mike Taggart, a closed-end fund strategist for Morningstar; the fund might historically have traded at an average discount of 12 percent. Morning! star eva luates closed-end funds in part by comparing their current discounts with their past discounts. The six funds listed turned up in a recent screen for discounts that are larger than they typically have been in the past.

Investors should be aware of an accounting quirk that can affect fee comparisons on closed-end funds that use leverage. By law, they must report their interest costs as part of their expense ratios even if they put their leverage to profitable use. That can make these funds appear more expensive than they are. Expense ratios listed exclude borrowing costs.

For diversified exposure, Bonds's fund holds 184 other closed-end funds, which in turn invest in stocks, bonds and other assets. Over the past three years, the fund has returned 10.9 percent a year, compared with 1.2 percent for the S&P 500 and 8.0 percent for the Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Bond index. It recently traded at a 9.6 percent discount to the prices of the funds it holds, with a dividend yield of over 9 percent.

A high yield on a closed-end fund is a key shareholder advantage, says Elton. As long as the discounts don't increase, investors can do better than they would on the underlying stocks and bonds. But be cautious about a yield that looks unrealistically high, says Taggart. It could be a sign that the fund is paying more than it's making on its underlying assets. That's a recipe for a gradually slipping share price.

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Facebook IPO filing: What to look for

An earlier version of this story misspelled Sheryl Sandberg�s first name. The story has been corrected.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) � Facebook is widely believed to be readying its first initial-public-offering papers this week, with its prospective IPO looming as one of the biggest market debuts in history.

The documents to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission will provide investors with their first significant glimpse into the social-networking giant�s business performance, as well as at such other matters as its spending, hiring and executive pay. The Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend that the company was selecting its bankers and could make the filing as early as Wednesday.

Click to Play

Facebook's high valuation

MarketWatch columnist Mark Hulbert discusses the coming Facebook IPO in relation to valuations of other major tech and Internet companies at the time of their own stock market debuts.

Whether the filing occurs this week or later, here are some of the key points to look for in the documents:

� Revenue growth: The size of Facebook�s current business has been the source of great speculation. Documents leaked back in 2009, when the company was putting together an investment deal with Goldman Sachs GS , showed revenue of $1.24 billion for the nine-month period ending in September 2010 � up nearly 180% from the same period of the previous year. Has that growth rate been maintained, or has it slowed or accelerated?

FACEBOOK: AN IPO MILESTONE


� Facebook or face-plant?
� Facebook set to evolve
� Who's friending Facebook?
� Easy money's already made
� Facebook files for $5 bn IPO
� The year of Facebook
� MW Topics: Facebook

/conga/story/2012/01/facebook_ipo.html190772

� Sales mix: FacebookFB � is thought to generate most of its revenue from online advertising, but the company also gets a cut of transactions executed over the site, such as purchases of games. Social-game maker Zynga ZNGA , whose titles include CityVille and FarmVille, reported revenue of $828.9 million for the nine-month period ended Sept. 30, 2011, and the company keeps 70% of the sales its games generate over Facebook, which implies a maximum revenue cut of about $350 million to Facebook for this period from Zynga alone. What percentage of Facebook�s revenue base is composed of ads, compared to transactions, and are there other significant revenue sources?

� The bottom line: The leaked Goldman documents showed net income of $355 million for the nine-month period ended Sept. 30, 2010, compared with $43.6 million in the previous year. But Facebook has also likely had to spend heavily on network infrastructure, new technology and talent between 2009 and now. Have the company�s costs outpaced its revenue growth rate, and will this moderate over time?

/conga/story/2012/02/facebook_poll.html190349

� Float and market cap: The most oft-cited number thrown around of late has Facebook going public at a $100 billion valuation. But like Groupon�s GRPN �debut last year, Facebook may choose to make a relatively small portion of its shares available in the offering. This allows the company to preserve a larger proportion of ownership for future offerings and to safeguard demand for the stock in the event that would-be investors grow skittish ahead of the offering.

� Risk factors: This section of an SEC filing is often filled with boilerplate language, but it could in this case provide some insights into how Facebook sees its position in the market vis-a-vis the positions of its competitors � most notably Google GOOG , which has launched its own social network and is gunning to become a major force on the same mobile devices that Facebook needs for future growth. Does Facebook see any other companies as significant threats?

� Who gets what: Some early investors take advantage of IPOs to cash out some shares. Early Facebook investors include Peter Thiel and the venture-capital firms Accel Partners, Greylock Partners and Meritech Capital. Software giant Microsoft MSFT �put $240 million into the company back in 2007. Will any executives, such as co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg or Chief Financial Offic! er David Ebersman sell shares in the deal?

� Bankers: The Wall Street Journal report indicated that banking titans Morgan Stanley MS �and Goldman Sachs GS �were vying for the coveted lead spot underwriting the deal. Which wins, and what other firms get a piece of the lucrative deal, will be a focus of great interest on Wall Street. Read related Wall Street Journal report (external link).

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(AUTH, CLNO, MRTN, FORM) Stock to Watch by DrStockPick.com

AuthenTec, Inc. (NASDAQ:AUTH), a leading provider of security and identity management solutions, announced the Company will present at the 2011 Citi Technology Conference to be held at The Hilton Hotel in New York, New York. Management is scheduled to present at 11:20 a.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, September 8, 2011, and will be available to meet with investors throughout the day. Portfolio managers and analysts who wish to request a meeting at the conference should contact their Citi representative.

AuthenTec is the world’s #1 provider of fingerprint sensors, identity management software, and embedded security solutions. AuthenTec solutions address enterprise, consumer and government applications for a growing base of top tier global customers.

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.

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.

Biomass is any form of organic material which can ! be used as a fuel source. In essence, biomass is captured and stored solar energy. Through combustion and other chemical reactions we can use biomass energy on demand to generate liquid fuels, gaseous fuels, and advanced solid fuels such as pellets and briquettes.

It is clear that our energy future is moving away from a dependence on fossil fuel energy such as oil and gas, and more towards more alternative and renewable sources of energy such as biomass. Well known forms of alternative and renewable energy sources include wind and solar. Both of these resources capture energy, however cannot provide energy on demand as they are dependant on weather conditions. Here is where the advantages of biomass become clear.

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

Marten Transport Ltd. (Nasdaq:MRTN) announced that its Board of Directors has declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of two cents ($0.02) per share of common stock. The dividend will be payable on September 6, 2011 to stockholders of record at the close of business on August 26, 2011.

Marten Transport, Ltd. operates as a temperature-sensitive truckload carriers in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

FormFactor Inc. (NASDAQ:FORM) is pleased to announced its participation in the 2011 Citi Technology Conference at the Hilton Hotel in New York on Wednesday, September 7, 2011 at 9:35 AM Eastern Daylight Time. The company’s Chief Financial Officer, Michael Ludwig, will present. The public is invited to listen to a live webcast of FormFactor’s presentation, which can be accessed from the investors’ section of the company’s website at www.formfactor.com. Replays of the webcast will also be available at www.formfactor.com.

FormFactor, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, sells, and supports precision and high performance advanced semiconductor wafer probe cards. Its wafer probe cards are used to perform w! afer sor t and test on the semiconductor dies, chips, or the semiconductor wafers.

 

 

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Gain Market-Beating Trade Timing Through Software

The average home computer today is millions of times more powerful than the room-sized behemoths of the 1950s. Computing power continues to increase – and computers become more and more affordable every year. This has led to computers being nearly omnipresent in homes and businesses; and of course, computers have completely changed the way that many industries conduct business – and others have been decimated by new technology. There is one economic sector which is still evolving as a result of increasing computing power, a change which has been underway for over a decade now.

That industry in the midst of a transformation is the stock trading and commodities trading industry. Stock trading, especially day trading, involves trying to beat the market on trade timing. The person who moves first on a trade tends to make the most money.

Day trading is part and parcel for the stock brokerage career, and day traders at big financial firms do trade swings with leverages of 20:1 or more (leverage is taking out a short term loan to buy shares, hoping that the profit on selling them will pay off the loan and its fees).

Since leverage is one of the causes of the woeful state of the world economy at present, leverage has earned a reputation as being an extremely dangerous thing. Think of leverage as a tool; when used responsibly, it can be very helpful – but used improperly, it can cause serious damage. It all depends how the tool is used. Like a chainsaw, leverage is not inherently dangerous.

However, enough traders have made careless mistakes with leveraged trades to give day trading the same kind of dangerous reputation. While there are other ways to make profitable stock trades like the buy and hold strategy used by Warren Buffett, this is not a style which is well suited to every trader. Making profitable trades on this model means having an in depth knowledge of how the market works and of the long term prospects for the companies whose stock is being traded.

Best Value Stocks To Buy For 2012

In mid-September, stocks broke through the top of a trading range that had stubbornly resisted both buyers and sellers for five months. But instead of the breakout being accompanied by high volume with emphasis on blue-chip stocks, the rally has lacked volume and is currently being led by lower-quality stocks. This conundrum has perplexed even the most experienced technicians and fund managers.

September turned the best performance in 71 years, with the major indices rising over 8%, but stocks now appear to be grossly overbought. Investors should consider locking in their gains by selling or using options strategies to stabilize their holdings. This is no time to be a hero by buying at the top. However, despite the short-term overbought nature of the market, there are always bargains to be found if you look hard enough. The six stocks to buy listed here represent extraordinary value even in the current market condition.

Best Value Stocks To Buy For 2012:Presidential Life Corporation (PLFE)

 Presidential Life Corporation, through its subsidiary, Presidential Life Insurance Company engages in the marketing and sale of various fixed annuity, life insurance, and accident and health insurance products in the United States. The company offers various annuity products, which include single and flexible premium deferred annuities, single premium immediate annuities, and special annuities. It also provides life insurance products, such as graded benefit whole life, simplified issue whole life, and group life policies, as well as other life insurance products, such as universal life, whole life, and term life. In addition, the company offers accident and health insurance policies, including New York statutory disability benefits, which are short-term disability contracts issued to employers of one or more employees in New York State. Further, it provides products, which include medical stop loss, group dental insurance, individual impaired risk disability, hospital indemnity products, and accident products. The company distributes its annuity and life insurance products through 1,273 independent general agents. Presidential Life Corporation was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in Nyack, New York.

Best Value Stocks To Buy For 2012:Chubb Corporation (The) (CB)

 The Chubb Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides property and casualty insurance to businesses and individuals. Its Personal Insurance segment offers insurance products, such as automobile, homeowners, and other personal coverage products, as well as supplemental accident and health insurance. The company?s Commercial Insurance segment provides multiple peril, casualty, workers? compensation, property, and marine insurance products. Its Specialty Insurance segment offers professional liability coverage and surety products for privately and publicly owned companies, financial institutions, professional firms, and healthcare organizations. The company distributes its products through independent insurance agents and brokers in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, Latin America, and Asia. The Chubb Corporation was founded in 1882 and is based in Warren, New Jersey.

Best Value Stocks To Buy For 2012:CMS Energy Corporation (CMS)

 CMS Energy Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates as an energy company primarily in Michigan. It operates in three segments: Electric Utility, Gas Utility, and Enterprises. The Electric Utility segment engages in the generation, purchase, distribution, and sale of electricity. The Gas Utility segment involves in the purchase, transmission, storage, distribution, and sale of natural gas. The Enterprises segment engages in independent power production and marketing. This segment owns power generation facilities fueled mostly by natural gas and biomass. At December 31, 2009, this segment had ownership interests in independent power plants totaling 1,202 gross Megawatt. The company serves individuals and companies operating in the alternative energy, automotive, chemical, metal, food products, and various other industries. As of December 31, 2009, it served 1.8 million electric customers and 1.7 million gas customers. The company was founded in 1987 and is based in Jackson, Michigan.

Best Value Stocks To Buy For 2012:Tupperware Corporation (TUP)

 Tupperware Brands Corporation operates as a direct seller of various products across a range of brands and categories through an independent sales force. The company engages in the manufacture and sale of kitchen and home products, and beauty and personal care products. It offers preparation, storage, and serving solutions for the kitchen and home, as well as kitchen cookware and tools, children?s educational toys, microwave products, and gifts under the Tupperware brand name primarily in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Asia Pacific, and North America. The company provides beauty and personal care products, which include skin care products, cosmetics, bath and body care, toiletries, fragrances, nutritional products, apparel, and related products principally in Mexico, South Africa, the Philippines, Australia, and Uruguay. It offers beauty and personal care products under the Armand Dupree, Avroy Shlain, BeautiControl, Fuller, NaturCare, Nutrimetics, Nuvo, and Swissgarde brand names. The company sells its Tupperware products directly to distributors, directors, managers, and dealers; and beauty products primarily through consultants and directors. As of December 26, 2009, the Tupperware distribution system had approximately 1,800 distributors, 61,300 managers, and 1.3 million dealers; and the sales force representing the Beauty businesses approximately 1.1 million. The company was formerly known as Tupperware Corporation and changed its name to Tupperware Brands Corporation in December 2005. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Orlando, Florida.

Advisors' Opinion:

• By Sam Collins At 2011-9-11

  Household name Tupperware Brands Corp. (NYSE:TUP) is a global direct seller of products with multiple brands through an independent sales force of 2.4 million people. Its product line focuses on kitchen storage and serving solutions, as well as personal-care products. Over 60% of sales in 2011 are expected to come from Europe ! and Asia , and the stock has appeal as an emerging markets story.

  S&P estimates that 2011 earnings will increase to $4.54 versus $3.53 in 2010, and it increased its rating to a “five-star strong buy” with a recently revised 12-month target of $81, up from $73. The 2005 purchase of Sara Lee’s (NYSE:SLE) direct-sales business, which has a high growth rate, should be a long-term benefit. TUP’s annual dividend yield is 1.92%.

  Technically TUP had a pullback following a new high at over $70 and is currently oversold. Buy TUP at the current market price with a trading target of $70, but longer term a much higher target will likely be attained.

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Temple-Inland, Inc. Succeeded New Record Year Price NYSE:TIN

Temple-Inland, Inc. (NYSE:TIN) achieved its new 52 week high price of $31.92 where it was opened at $31.83 down -0.02 points or -0.06% by closing at $31.81. TIN transacted shares during the day were over 1.68 million shares however it has an average volume of 1.63 million shares.

TIN has a market capitalization $3.49 billion and an enterprise value at $4.10 billion. Trailing twelve months price to sales ratio of the stock was 0.89 while price to book ratio in most recent quarter was 3.62. In profitability ratios, net profit margin in past twelve months appeared at 1.73% whereas operating profit margin for the same period at 5.33%.

The company made a return on asset of 2.22% in past twelve months and return on equity of 6.54% for similar period. In the period of trailing 12 months it generated revenue amounted to $3.94 billion gaining $36.26 revenue per share. Its year over year, quarterly growth of revenue was 0.80% holding -95.20% quarterly earnings growth.

According to preceding quarter balance sheet results, the company had $47.00 million cash in hand making cash per share at 0.43. The total of $657.00 million debt was there putting a total debt to equity ratio 62.16. Moreover its current ratio according to same quarter results was 2.20 and book value per share was 8.80.

Looking at the trading information, the stock price history displayed that its S&P500 52 Week Change illustrated -2.32% where the stock current price exhibited up beat from its 50 day moving average price $31.69 and remained above from its 200 Day Moving Average price $28.92.

TIN holds 109.64 million outstanding shares with 108.27 million floating shares where insider possessed 1.50% and institutions kept 85.90%.

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Simon Property Group Increases Sales but Misses Estimates on Earnings

Simon Property Group (NYSE: SPG  ) reported earnings on Feb. 3. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), Simon Property Group beat expectations on revenues and missed expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue expanded and GAAP earnings per share expanded significantly.

Gross margins increased, operating margins dropped, and net margins expanded.

Revenue details
Simon Property Group reported revenue of $1.17 billion. The 11 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ wanted to see revenue of $1.14 billion. Sales were 4.6% higher than the prior-year quarter's $1.12 billion.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions.

EPS details
Non-GAAP EPS came in at $0.81. The five earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.91 per share on the same basis. GAAP EPS of $1.24 for Q4 were 68% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.74 per share.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Figures may be non-GAAP to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 79.7%, 50 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 45.5%, 10 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 31.1%, 1,160 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $1.04 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.67.

Next year's average estimate for revenu! e is $4. 53 billion. The average EPS estimate is $3.32.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a one-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 282 members out of 658 rating the stock outperform, and 376 members rating it underperform. Among 214 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 95 give Simon Property Group a green thumbs-up, and 119 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Simon Property Group is outperform, with an average price target of $132.06.

Can your portfolio provide you with enough income to last through retirement? You'll need more than Simon Property Group. Learn how to maximize your investment income and "Secure Your Future With 11 Rock-Solid Dividend Stocks." Click here for instant access to this free report.

• Add Simon Property Group to My Watchlist.

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Fulsome Volume Stock at NASDAQ - EPAX

Ambassadors Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EPAX) witnessed volume of 1.25 million shares during last trade however it holds an average trading capacity of 137,955.00 shares. EPAX last trade opened at $5.35 reached intraday low of $4.90 and went -6.30% down to close at $5.06.

EPAX has a market capitalization $89.62 million and an enterprise value at $-350.05K. Trailing twelve months price to sales ratio of the stock was 1.32 while price to book ratio in most recent quarter was 1.14. In profitability ratios, net profit margin in past twelve months appeared at 7.07% whereas operating profit margin for the same period at 8.47%.

The company made a return on asset of 2.28% in past twelve months and return on equity of 5.68% for similar period. In the period of trailing 12 months it generated revenue amounted to $72.46 million gaining $3.93 revenue per share. Its year over year, quarterly growth of revenue was -6.70% holding -11.50% quarterly earnings growth.

According to preceding quarter balance sheet results, the company had $89.98 million cash in hand making cash per share at 5.08. Moreover its current ratio according to same quarter results was 1.60 and book value per share was 4.73.

Looking at the trading information, the stock price history displayed that its S&P500 52 Week Change illustrated 8.61% where the stock current price exhibited down beat from its 50 day moving average price of $6.00 and remained below from its 200 Day Moving Average price of $8.06.

EPAX holds 17.71 million outstanding shares with 13.59 million floating shares where insider possessed 11.73% and institutions kept 71.80%.

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Best Wall St. Stocks Today: UNP,APD,QQQQ,BRLC,CMGI,DNA,ION,TFS,EWJ,GLD,SBUX,USO,PLT,LSTR

By William Trent, CFA of Stock Market Beat

It must have been a slow day at the office for this rumor to start up: Oracle to bid for SAP? – Computer Business Review

The oddly specific rumor had it that Oracle was preparing to offer 38.5 euros ($49.78) per SAP share. The speculation sent SAP shares up by 1.7% by midday, to 36.23 euros.
Although Oracle would dearly like to remove its closest competitor from the market, there is unlikely to be any substance to the speculation because the combination of the two enterprise application leaders would create a near-monopoly and would almost certainly be seen as breaching antitrust law in both the US and Europe.

Oracle�s acquisition of PeopleSoft three years ago sparked intense antitrust investigations and the company has since then acquired even more market share through its ongoing series of acquisitions.

Of course, when both sides want a deal to get done they will work through all of the issues that arise. But we think this is a deal that doesn�t want to get done. As BusinessWeek reported, there is a long history of bad blood between the firms and their executives:

[SAP CEO Hasso] Plattner�s passions have a way of getting the best of him. Take the famous mooning incident. In 1996, during a race off Hawaii�s Diamond Head, the mast of Plattner�s boat broke and one of his crewmen was injured. The way Plattner tells it, the shore crew of [Oracle CEO Larry] Ellison�s racing yacht, Sayonara, buzzed by in a dinghy, but, rather than stopping to help, they circled Morning Glory, taking videos. (Ellison denies his crew ignored a call for help.) �It was the most unsportsmanlike thing I�ve ever seen,� says Plattner. �I showed my behind to their video camera.�

Oracle had an intense rivalry with PeopleSoft that caused the deal to take nearly two years to complete. But as far as we know, no mooning was involved. We can only imagine the time it wo! uld take to close an Oracle buy of SAP.

The author may hold a position in the securities discussed. The author’s current holdings are as follows: Long: Union Pacific (UNP) put options; Air Products (APD) put options; Nasdaq 100 (QQQQ) put options; Bookham (BKHM; Ballard Power (BLDP); Syntax Brillian (BRLC); CMGI (CMGI); Genentech (DNA); Ion Media Networks (ION); Three Five Systems (TFS); IShares Japan (EWJ); StreetTracks Gold (GLD); Starbucks (SBUX); U.S. Oil Fund (USO); Plantronics (PLT) call options; Short: Starbucks (SBUX) call options; Landstar (LSTR) put options; Plantronics (PLT) put options

http://stockmarketbeat.com/blog1/

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STRI (New Video), CLNO, FSGI, UTIW, SHFL - Market Watch From DrStockPick.com!

Specialized Technology Resources is a worldwide leader in Solar Panel Encapsulation and Quality Assurance Services. Our Solar business is committed to providing our customers with environmentally-responsible solutions through continual research & development and innovation. Our QA business is a leader in consumer product quality assurance and responsible sourcing services.

STR Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:STRI) announced that it closed on the sale of its Quality Assurance (QA) business to UL (Underwriters Laboratories) for $275 million in cash, plus approximately $8 million of cash assumed. Concurrently, the Company retired its outstanding credit facilities using the proceeds from the transaction. QA�s historical financial results will be presented as a discontinued operation in future consolidated financial reports for STR Holdings, Inc.

�This transaction greatly improves our financial flexibility and our management�s ability to focus on and pursue our growth strategies in Solar,� said Dennis L. Jilot, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. �I am very excited about the opportunities that are ahead of us, and we wish our terrific QA employees best of luck as they continue their journey as the centerpiece of UL�s Verification Services business.�

STR is one of the world’s leading providers of high quality, superior performance encapsulants for the photovoltaic (PV) module industry, serving more than 80 manufacturers worldwide. The Company pioneered the solar encapsulant market more than 30 years ago with the invention of the first EVA encapsulant. Today, it continues to innovate through its extensive R&D program, which has led to the introduction of new technologies.

Further information about STR Holdings, Inc. can be obtained via the Company�s website at www.strholdings.com.

Biomass power, or bio! power, u ses biomass feedstocks instead of conventional fossil fuels (natural gas or coal) to generate electricity. Biomass is one of the oldest fuels known to humanity. Although primitive, the campfire illustrates the nature of using biomass for power. When the biomass is burned, it produces heat. In a power plant, this heat is used to turn water into steam. The steam is then used to turn turbines, which are connected to electric generators. Biomass Gasifiers heat the biomass to convert it into a gas that can be used in power systems such as combustion turbines or fuel cells.

Cleantech Transit Inc. (�Cleantech�) (OTC.BB: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.

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

By owning and maintaining your own on-site power plant that operates parallel to the existing power grid, you safeguard yourself against all power interruptions. When the grid is overwhelmed for any reason, y! ou’ ;ll still have all the power you need.

To discover more about CLNO, Please visit: http://www.cleantechtransitinc.com/

First Security Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSGI) announced that Robert P. �Bob� Keller had been appointed to First Security�s Board of Directors and Joseph E. �Joe� Dell had been appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Lending Officer.

First Security Group, Inc. is a bank holding company headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee with $1.1 billion in assets.

UTi Worldwide Inc. (Nasdaq:UTIW) reported financial results for its fiscal 2012 second quarter ended July 31, 2011. Revenues were $1,297.4 million, an increase of 13 percent from $1,151.1 million. Net revenues (revenues minus purchased transportation costs) were $443.4 million, an increase of 17 percent from $379.1 million. Net income attributable to UTi Worldwide Inc. was $22.9 million, or $0.22 per diluted share, in the second quarter of fiscal 2012.

UTi Worldwide Inc. is an international, non-asset-based supply chain services and solutions company providing air and ocean freight forwarding, contract logistics, customs brokerage, distribution, inbound logistics, truckload brokerage and other supply chain management services.

Shuffle Master Inc. (Nasdaq:SHFL) announced its results for the third quarter ended July 31, 2011, including record net income and Adjusted EBITDA. �We achieved record EBITDA in the quarter through superior execution on three fronts: product innovation, continued commitment to grow recurring revenue, and disciplined expense management,� commented Gavin Isaacs, Chief Executive Officer of Shuffle Master.

Shuffle Master, Inc. is a lead! ing glob al gaming supplier committed to making gaming more fun for players and more profitable for operators through product innovation, and superior quality and service.

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Kraft Looking Tasty Again After Three-Day Tumble

Shares of Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT) ended last week pulling back for a third day in a row on Friday. The sell-off in Kraft drags the stock back into oversold territory for the first time since the beginning of the month.

Perhaps ironically, KFT’s last stint in oversold territory also came as a result of a three-day pullback – one that was met by strong, short-term buying.

How strong? After closing lower for three days in a row at the end of October and into November, Kraft� rallied by more than 2% over the next two days en route to new 52-week highs.

Previous short term, multi-day sell-offs in early October and early September were also excellent opportunities for traders to make quick work of short term oversold extremes.

Three down days in October that took KFT into bear market territory briefly were followed by a rally during which shares of KFT closed higher for eight days in a row, gaining more than 7%. A four-day drop in mid-September was met by a three-day buying spree that sent KFT up by over 4%.

Traders looking for other stocks from the consumer staples sector that have begun to pullback include H.J. Heinz (HNZ), which plunged by more than 3% to finish both oversold and just inside bear market territory. Also beginning to see some profit-taking are shares of CVS Caremark Corp. (CVS). CVS pulled back by less than 1% on Friday, but is already at technically oversold levels.

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Does Anavex Life Sciences (AVXL) Have the Next Big Thing Big Pharma Wants?

If there's one thing big pharma has telegraphed in the last few weeks, it's a renewed willingness to spend big bucks to refill dying pipelines. As an example, Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) bought out Pharmasset, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRUS) in November for Pharmasset's hepatitis C treatment, followed by Bristol Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE:BMY) purchasing Inhibitex, Inc. (NASDAQ:INHX), also for its hepatitis C research. While the back-to-back buyouts put other hepatitis therapy companies in the spotlight as potential acquisition targets, that ship may have already sailed. The next big thing in biotech buyouts is more likely to be something from the Alzheimer's Disease realm, and that may well put a name like Anavex Life Sciences Corp. (OTC:AVXL) smack dab in the middle of a suitor's sites.

Anavex Life Sciences Corp. is a development-stage company, predominantly focused on the treatment of Alzheimer's Disease with its ANAVEX 2-73 drug, currently in Phase I trials as a treatment not just for Alzheimer's, but as a therapy for epilepsy and stroke as well. Like several other major pharmaceutical companies, AVXL is targeting the sticky clumps of amyloid beta protein that form in the brain and are generally linked with AD. Anavex Life Sciences is doing something different than many of its competitors, in that it's not looking for a way to remove the beta plaques once formed - an almost Herculean task whether or not the blood/brain barrier is a problem. Rather, AVXL is aiming to prevent their creation in the first place.

It's the kind of novel approach that Gilead Sciences and Bristol Myers Squibb probably wish they would have been taking all along with any of their in-house attempts at a hepatitis C treatment.

GILD was working on GS 9190, an increasingly popular (with the Hep-C treatment world) polymerase inhibitor that was being dosed with four other antiviral drugs. The co! mbo crea ted some adverse reactions, and though Gilead downplayed the problems that popped up in September, the fact that it and the FDA redesigned the trials is something of a red flag. Two months later, Gilead Sciences owned Pharmasset, Inc., making no bones about the fact that it wanted Pharmasset's drug... a drug that VRUS has said worked with 100% response rate. If Gilead had a winner, why pay a 30% premium for another company just for one drug?

Bristol Myers Squibb's is a similar story. Its BMS-790052 is a polymerase inhibitor plus a protease inhibitor (dosed with and without ribavirin and peginterferon), in Phase II trials. It also had three other HCV treatments in the works. Yet, it still felt the need to acquire Inhibitex, Inc. in January to get its hand on INX-189, which has showed promising results as a phase II hepatitis C drug.

Just to reiterate, both Bristol Myers Squibb and Gilead Sciences has their own Hep-C drugs in the worked, but the decided they liked someone else's better. Clearly size, experience, and resources didn't help either to the front of the R&D line.

Great, but what's this got to do with Anavex Life Sciences Corp. and Alzheimer's? Quite a bit, actually.

See, hepatitis was just one of many arenas where big pharma was barking up the wrong tree. They've been equally off the mark with cancer treatments (and cancer immunotherapy in particular), several auto-immune ailments, and yes, Alzheimer's Disease.

Eli Lilly (LLY) was steering one of the biggest AD letdowns to date. Its gamma secretase inhibitor semagacestat actually made patients Alzheimer's symptoms worse. Pfizer (PFE) and Elan (ELN) are following in the same gamma secretase footsteps, yet the same concerns that the Lilly trial raised have been raised for the Pfizer/Elan duo. And yes, Bristol Myers Squibb Co. is even forging ahead with a now-questionable gamma secretase inhibitor therapy. Even Wyeth's and Elan's phase III Bapineuzumab - which uses a different beta plaque ! removal mechanism to treat AD symptoms - is coming under fire as its actually efficacy is being requestioned; some expect it not to win approval.

So, with a couple of recent failures of Alzheimer's drugs that may be attacking a problem too late, one has to wonder if the same pattern is going to play out again - without an effective AD drug in their own pipelines, are some of the major pharmaceutical names going to go out and buy smaller companies to refill their pipelines?

If that's the case, than Anavex Life Sciences may look attractive simply because it's not wasted time pointlessly attacking the problem of amyloid beta plaque. Rather, it's developing an idea will head off the development of amyloid beta proteins at the pass. At least a few big pharma layers have to be saying to themselves "Why didn't we think of that?" ... kind of like Gilead and Bristol Myers Squibb did with hepatic C.

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Unemployment Rate Hits 25-Year High, But Losses Narrow

Eastman Kodak (EKDKQ.PK), in bankruptcy with its shares destined to be worthless, is finally starting to make the moves that might have helped it avert this fate had failed CEO Antonio Perez undertaken them sooner. The company announced Thursday that “it plans to phase out its dedicated capture devices business." Perhaps part of its failure lies in its insistence on using obtuse language to describe its actions and products. Dedicated capture devices business? Does McDonald’s (MCD) speak of its “animal derived protein-based human consumables business?" Even the Postal Service doesn’t talk about cutting “physical object routing and transmittal personnel."

With bankruptcy rumors swirling late last year, Kodak’s defenders were talking about imagined strength in Kodak’s digital camera business. With the company killing this business and saving $100 million per year by doing so, we now see that many of the rosy claims made about Kodak were not grounded in reality. One wonders why the company is continuing its struggling consumer printer business.

Long ago, the company split into a chemicals business and an imaging business. Its brand was once synonymous with photographs, though the cameras were often made by others. The company needs to return to these roots and pursue an asset-lite “Kodak-inside” business model, licensing its brand, intellectual property, and components for inclusion in others' products.

Disclosure: The author holds no position in any stock mentioned

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This Just In: More Upgrades and Downgrades

At The Motley Fool, we poke plenty of fun at Wall Street analysts and their endless cycle of upgrades, downgrades, and "initiating coverage at neutral." While the pinstripe-and-wingtip crowd is entitled to its opinions, we've got some pretty sharp stock pickers down here on Main Street, too. (And we're not always impressed with how Wall Street does its job.)

Given this, perhaps we shouldn't be giving virtual ink to "news" of analyst upgrades and downgrades. And we wouldn't -- if that were all we were doing. Fortunately, in "This Just In," we don't simply tell you what the analysts said. We also show you whether they know what they're talking about.

Today, we're going to take a look at three high-profile ratings moves on Wall Street: A suggestion to sell Sirius XM Radio (Nasdaq: SIRI  ) , balanced by a massive rise in price target on solar operator First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR  ) , and a bona fide upgrade for Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD  ) . Let's dive right in.

Barclays bashes Sirius
We'll get the bad news out of the way first. This morning, Barclays Capital took (ahem) serious issue with my suggestion last week that Sirius XM was undervalued. Initiating coverage with an underweight rating (for stock novices, that's Wall Street-speak for "sell"), Barclays warned that after running up 21% over the past year -- and 1,650% from its 2008 lows (!) -- Sirius' share price now prices in all of the company's "healthy ... material�growth in EBITDA," and more.

The analyst warns investors not to discount the danger from upstart rivals such as Pandora (NYSE: P  ) , which Barclays calls a "real" threat in, among other things, the market for car audio entertainment. Barclays' biggest concern about Sirius, though, seems to be that investors are counti! ng on mo re growth than the company can deliver. Rather than the 30% long-term growth projection that I cited last week, Barclays thinks 19% annualized is a more realistic target. And given that Sirius costs 21 times free cash flow today, this makes the stock look a bit pricey.

Barclays still likes the company, mind you. The banker simply suggests that if you want to own Sirius stock, you should take a more roundabout route, and instead buy major shareholder Liberty Media (Nasdaq: LMCA  ) , which Barclays asserts gives investors exposure to Sirius at roughly a 25% discount to shares of Sirius proper, even if you discount Liberty's other assets by 20%.

Can't argue with that. I like Sirius myself, and have publicly recommended it in my CAPS account. But if you can get the same shares at a discount, and are willing to wait for a liquidity event to unlock the value of Liberty's holdings, then more power to you.

Reaching for the stars at First Solar
Next up, First Solar got a big thumbs-up from Auriga U.S.A. this morning, when the analyst crunched some numbers on the stock and came to an astounding conclusion: First Solar isn't worth the $41 Auriga used to think it should cost, or even the $47 that investors are paying for it now. In fact, First Solar is worth an astounding $53 a share (!), or nearly 30% more than previously estimated. Gee, who'dathunkit?

There are a couple interesting things about this ratings move. First, there's almost nothing behind it. Auriga itself admits that "our revenue and EPS estimates have not changed." Only "our stance on First Solar's valuation has." According to the folks at streetinsider.com, Auriga has decided that "solar PV valuations are for now anchored to tangible book value." But in fact, First Solar's TBV was most recently pegged at... $41.30 per share. (You read that right. The same price Auriga had First Solar pegged at before the price target hike.)

The ! second i nteresting thing here is Auriga itself. In stark contrast to Barclays, which ranks in the top 10% of investors we track here at CAPS, Auriga ranks in the bottom 20% of investors, "boasting" a record of underperforming the market by more than 6 percentage points per pick. If that's the kind of advice you want to listen to when choosing to invest in a stock, well, good luck. Personally, when I see that First Solar has burned through $520 million in negative free cash flow over the past 12 months, let's just say that "buy" is not exactly the first reaction that comes to mind.

Advanced Micro Devices inside?
Last but not least: AMD. Citing predictions of 50% growth in production capacity in 2012, and "improved execution at the Intel-alternative," ace tech investor Longbow Research upped its rating on AMD to "buy," and slapped a $10 price target on this $7 stock.

Longbow's projecting $7 billion in sales at AMD this year, and $0.82 per share in pro forma earnings (followed by $7.7 billion revs for 2013, and $0.89 per share). The multiples implied by these estimates -- nine times current year earnings and eight times forward -- don't look out of line for the 10% long-term growth Wall Street expects to see at AMD or even the 8.5% near-term growth Longbow foresees.

And what can I say? Longbow may be right about this one. Several months ago, I highlighted AMD's progress in transitioning from burning cash to churning it out. Last year, the company proved me right by ending 2011 with $132 million in free cash flow to its credit. That's still not enough to get me enthused about the stock, but it's enough that I'll say this: AMD is no longer an obvious short. In fact, it just might be as big of a bargain as Longbow suggests.

Whose advice should you take -- mine, or that of "professional" analysts like Barclays, Auriga, and Longbow? Check out my track record on Motley Fool CAPS, and compare it to theirs. Decide for yourself whom to believe.

And if you're looking for ! more pro fitable investing ideas in the world of tech, read the Fool's new -- and free -- report on the industry: "The Next Trillion Dollar Revolution."

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10 Hot Penny Stocks To Hold For 2013

Let's start by talking briefly about what penny stocks are and how they work. Penny, or Micro cap stocks as they are sometimes called are stocks that generally trade at $5.00 or under per share and are available outside the major stock exchanges. Usually, penny stocks can be purchased 'over the counter' through quotation services such as the OTC Bulletin Board or the Pink Sheets.

Penny stocks, although cheap in price, carry the same amount of risk that regular stocks do because of their volatile nature. While there is risk involved, the rewards can be great for those who find hot penny stocks. Learning the proper way to capitalize on these trends and learning how to correctly choose penny stock picks is the #1 way to succeed with this type of investment.

10 Hot Penny Stocks To Hold For 2013:JMP Group Inc (JMP)

 JMP Group Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as an investment banking, asset management, and corporate credit management company in the United States. The company provides various investment banking products and services, such as capital raising, mergers and acquisitions transaction, and other strategic advisory services to corporate clients. It also offers sales and trading services, which include distributing equity research products, communicating proprietary investment recommendations, executing equity trades on behalf of institutional clients, and marketing the securities of companies, as well as related brokerage services to institutional investors. In addition, the company provides proprietary equity research in five industries, including consumer, financial services, healthcare, real estate, and technology industries. Further, it provides asset management products and services to institutional investors, and high net-worth individuals; and involves in the management of collateralized loan obligations. JMP Group Inc. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California with additional offices in New York, New York; Boston, Massachusetts; Chicago, Illinois; and Alpharetta, Georgia.

10 Hot Penny Stocks To Hold For 2013:Taylor Devices Inc. (TAYD)

 Taylor Devices, Inc. engages in the design, development, manufacture, and marketing of shock absorption, rate control, and energy storage devices for use in various types of machinery, equipment, and structures. The company provides seismic dampers that ameliorate the effects of earthquake tremors on structures; Fluidicshoks, which are small and compact shock absorbers for primary use in the defense, aerospace, and commercial industry; and crane and industrial buffers for industrial application on cranes, ships, container ships, railroad cars, truck docks, ladle and ingot cars, ore trolleys, and car stops. It also offers self-adjusting shock absorbers that automatically adjust to different impact conditions for high cycle applications primarily in heavy industries; liquid die springs, which are used as component parts of machinery and equipment used to manufacture tools and dies; and vibration dampers that are primarily used by the aerospace and defense industries to control the response of electronics and optical systems subjected to air, ship, or spacecraft vibration. Taylor Devices, Inc. primarily sells its products through sales representatives and distributors in the United States, Asia, North America, Europe, South America, and Australia. The company was founded in 1955 and is based in North Tonawanda, New York.

10 Hot Penny Stocks To Hold For 2013:Simulations Plus Inc. (SLP)

 Simulations Plus, Inc. develops and produces software for use in pharmaceutical research and education, as well as provides contract research services to the pharmaceutical industry. Its software products include ADMET Predictor that offers numerical models for predicting absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity properties of chemical compounds from their molecular structures; MedChem Studio, a tool for medicinal and computational chemists for data mining and designing new drug-like molecules; DDDPlus, a software program that is used by formulation scientists to reduce the number of cut-and-try attempts to design new drug formulations, as well as to design in vitro experiments to mimic in vivo conditions; and GastroPlus that simulates the absorption, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of drugs administered to humans and animals. The company also provides contract research and consulting services in the areas oral absorption and pharmacokinetics. In addition, it develops and sells interactive, educational software programs that simulate science experiments conducted in middle school, high school, and junior college science classes, as well as provides Abbreviate, a productivity software program. Further, the company designs and develops computer software and manufactures augmentative communication devices and computer access products for physically disabled persons. It markets augmentative and alternative communication products to speech pathologists, occupational therapists, rehabilitation engineers, special education teachers, disabled persons, and relatives of disabled persons, through a network of employee representatives, independent dealers, and resellers. The company operates in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania. Simulations Plus, Inc. was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Lancaster, California.

10 Hot Penny Stocks To Hold For 2013:Kingstone Companies Inc (KINS)

 Kingstone Companies, Inc., through its subsidiary, Kingstone Insurance Company, offers property and casualty insurance products to small businesses and individuals in New York. The company was formerly known as DCAP Group, Inc. and changed its name to Kingstone Companies, Inc. in July 2009. Kingstone Companies was founded in 1961 and is based in Hewlett, New York.

10 Hot Penny Stocks To Hold For 2013:Hyperion Strategic Mortgage Income Fund (The) (HSM)

 The Hyperion Brookfield Strategic Mortgage Income Fund, Inc. is a fund launched and managed by Brookfield Investment Management Inc. The fund invests primarily in investment-grade mortgage backed securities, including agency, nonagency residential, and commercial mortgage backed securities. It invests in U.S. government securities, cash, or other short-term instruments. The fund was formerly known as Hyperion Strategic Mortgage Income Fund Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:

• By Ken Sweet At 2011-9-1

  National Semiconductor (NSM) shareholders got an unexpected gift from Texas Instruments (TXN) in April, when TI offered $6.5 billion in cash for its competitor.

  Texas Instruments' $25-a-share offer marked a 78% premium over National Semi's stock before the deal was announced.

  The deal, expected to close this year, came at an opportune time for National Semi's shareholders. The chipmaker's stock plunged 60% in 2008, at the height of the financial crisis, and stubbornly remained in a $10-$14 range for the next two years. Meanwhile the S&P 500 (SPX) more than doubled from its March 2009 lows during that same time period.

10 Hot Penny Stocks To Hold For 2013:Educational Development Corporation (EDUC)

 Educational Development Corporation operates as a trade publisher of a line of children?s books in the United States. It distributes children?s books published by Usborne Publishing Limited in the United Kingdom. The company offers various books, including Touchy-Feely board books, jigsaw puzzle books, activity and flashcards, adventure and search books, art books, sticker books, and foreign language books, as well as science and math titles, and chapter books and novels. It sells books through two divisions, Usborne Books and More, and Publishing. The Usborne Books and More division distributes books through independent consultants, who hold book showings in individual homes; and through book fairs, direct sales, and Internet sales. It also distributes these titles to school and public libraries. The Publishing division markets books to bookstores, toy stores, specialty stores, museums, and other retail outlets. It distributes books through commissioned trade representatives who call on book, toy, specialty stores, and other retail outlets; and through in-house marketing by telephone to the trade. The company was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

10 Hot Penny Stocks To Hold For 2013:UMH Properties Inc. (UMH)

 UMH Properties, Inc. (UMH) is a real estate investment trust. The firm engages in the ownership and operation of manufactured home communities. It leases manufactured home spaces to private manufactured home owners, as well as leases homes to residents. The firm invests in the real estate markets of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Tennessee. In addition, it invests in debt and equity securities of REITs. United Mobile Homes was incorporated in 1968. The company was formerly known as United Mobile Homes, Inc. UMH Properties is based in Freehold, New Jersey.

10 Hot Penny Stocks To Hold For 2013:Credit Suisse Asset Management Income Fund Inc. (CIK)

 Credit Suisse Asset Management Income Fund Inc. is a closed-ended fund launched by Credit Suisse Asset Management, LLC. It is managed by Credit Suisse Asset Management, LLC and Credit Suisse Asset Management Limited. The fund invests in the fixed income markets of the United States. It invests in companies operating across diversified industries. The fund primarily invests in United States high-yield corporate debt. The fund benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against the Merrill Lynch US High Yield Master II Constrained Index and Citigroup High-Yield Market Index. Credit Suisse Asset Management Income Fund Inc was formed on February 11, 1987 and is domiciled in the United States.

10 Hot Penny Stocks To Hold For 2013:NRG Energy Inc. (NRG)

 NRG Energy, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a wholesale power generation company. The company engages in the ownership, development, construction, and operation of power generation facilities. It also involves in the transacting in and trading of fuel and transportation services; the trading of energy, capacity, and related products in the United States and internationally; and the supply of electricity, energy services, and cleaner energy and carbon offset products to retail electricity customers in deregulated markets. The company operates natural gas- fired, coal- fired, oil-fired, nuclear, solar, and wind power plants. As of December 31, 2010, it had power generation portfolio of 193 operating fossil fuel and nuclear generation units with an aggregate generation capacity of approximately 24,570 megawatt (MW), as well as ownership interests in renewable facilities with an aggregate generation capacity of 470 MW. The company portfolio also includes approximately 24,035 MW generation capacity in the United States, and 1,005 MW generation capacity in Australia and Germany. In addition, it has a district energy business with steam and chilled water capacity of approximately 1,140 megawatts thermal equivalent. NRG Energy, Inc. was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• By Keith At 2012-1-7

  Buffett sold all of his stake in this company by selling 6 million shares at an average price of $21.84 in Q3 2010.

  In 2010, revenues shrunk by 1.15% to $8.84 billion, and GAAP EPS collapsed by 46.51% to $1.84. The profit margin also worsened to 31.37% from 40.54%. The next earnings release is on May 5. For the first quarter 2011, analysts estimate NRG will earn $0.15 per share, a decrease of 31.84% over the prior year first quarter results. For the first quarter 2011, analysts estimate NRG will generate revenues of $2.1 billion, a decrease of 6.84% over the prior year first quarter results. The company also has a debt to equity ratio of 1.25.

  We estimate a low single digit decline in revenues for 2011 due to continued pressure on power prices. Also, the continued development of the Marcellus shale will keep downward pressure on natural gas prices, which in turn hurts peak power prices. For good reason, NRG shares trade well above our fair value estimates. This is a loser, folks. Buy solar or oil company stocks, instead.

  NRG Energy is Fortune 500 and S&P 500 Index company that owns and operates one of the country’s largest and most diverse power generation portfolios. Headquartered in Princeton, NJ, the company’s power plants provide 25,000 MW of generation capacity, which is enough to supply nearly 20 million homes. NRG’s retail businesses, Reliant Energy and Green Mountain Energy Company, combined serve more than 1.8 million residential, business, commercial and industrial customers. With investments in solar, wind and nuclear power, as well as electric vehicle infrastructure, NRG is working to help America transition to a clean energy economy.

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