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dow2664 Upcoming lecture at the Museum of American Finance: ‘The Government’s Response to the Ongoing Financial Crisis and the Practices that Led to It’ Thursday, November 10, 2011 5:30 – 7:30 pm Museum of American Finance 48 Wall Street New York City
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dow2664 No matter how bad the economic downturn and the recession is, people still need to eat. Which makes food stocks pretty much recession-proof. Now to boost sales, food companies are looking at innovative ways of increasing sales. For example, H. J. Heinz Company (HNZ), known for its famous Heinz Ketchup, has now turned to Facebook to market its special edition ketchup which utilizes balsamic vinegar instead of white vinegar. Heinz is one of the high yielders that appears on the free list of food stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, as it pays a generous 3.6%. The stock trades at 15 times forward earnings. Revenues for the latest quarter ending July 27 were up 14.9%, however, earnings dropped 6%. Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT), the third largest food and beverage company by revenues, is another high yielding food company, which offers its shareholders a decent yield, paying 3.3%. Company brands include Cadbury, Kraft, Maxwell House, Nabisco, Oscar Mayer, Philadelphia, Trident, Tang. The stock has a forward price to earnings ratio of 14. Earnings for the last quarter were up 4.2% on a 13.3% rise in revenues. The company reports latest quater earnings on November 2. To see the entire free list of food stocks , which can be downloaded and sorted, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com. Disclosure: Author didn’t own any of the above at the time the article was written. By Stockerblog.com
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dow2664 Are You Financially Literate? A Checklist for Managers Guest Article By Richard A. Lambert , Author of Wharton Executive Education Finance & Accounting Essentials Managers must constantly evaluate their firms’ strategies to assess how their decisions have been performing, modify these strategies as conditions change, and devise new strategies to boost performance in the future. Which activities should we devote more resources to and which should we cut back on? Which resources are not being used effectively? Should we outsource an activity or continue to perform it ourselves? Business decisions like these need to be based on information, and financial statements are a major source of this information. But many managers don’t have a background in accounting and finance, so they don’t have the tools they need to answer these questions. They don’t understand the reports they are given to help them make these decisions. They either ignore the information completely, they misinterpret what the numbers mean, or they aren’t even aware of what isn’t in the numbers at all. All of these behaviors are dangerous to your firm’s financial health. They are like trying to fly a plane with no instruments and with the windshield fogged up. Does this mean managers should run out and memorize a bunch of rules and regulations or hone the art of compiling financials? No, leave that to the accounting and finance teams. What managers and business owners should be concerned with is how to use the financial statements that are provided to them to better assess company performance and pinpoint opportunities. As a business decision-maker who wants to evaluate investment strategies and make better business decisions for long-term profit, the following areas of knowledge are critical. To get a better sense of your financial literacy, check off the items you know how to do: * Read and interpret balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow statements. * Dissect an income statement and balance sheet to understand the drivers of profitability. * Understand financial reporting concepts, such as revenue recognition, inventory costing, depreciation, and taxes. * Recognize how capital structure — the mix of debt and equity used to finance assets — influences profits and risk. * Identify the relevant costs for decisions and calculate break-even points. * Evaluate investment strategies and conduct discounted cash flow analysis. * Put all of this together to develop a coherent business strategy. If you have some open spots on the checklist, then there is still great untapped potential to put financial statements to work for you. Interpreting data and mastering financial statements can help you make better decisions and increase one’s value to a firm whether you are an experienced manager, executive, or leader at a large or small public or private company. Another important reason for you to learn accounting and finance skills is to help you become a more valuable participant in discussions of corporate strategy and to be more effective in championing your ideas in the boardroom. Gaining a better grasp of financials helps you know what questions to ask and what to focus on, determine what’s most important, and know what to avoid and to what to pay attention. It’s the synergies that arise from merging managerial experience with finance and accounting skills that can generate the most value to you and to your organization. Hence, boosting your financial knowledge makes good business sense. © 2011 Richard A. Lambert, author of Wharton Executive Education Finance & Accounting Essentials Author Bio Richard A. Lambert, author of Wharton Executive Education Finance & Accounting Essentials , is Miller-Sherrerd Professor of Accounting at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he teaches finance and accounting in the MBA and Executive Education programs, as well as seminars in the doctoral program. The recipient of several teaching awards, his articles have appeared in The Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting Research, Journal of Accounting and Economics, Rand Journal of Economics, and Strategic Management Journal .
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tdp2664 China Analyst Baidu.com, Inc. ( NASDAQ :BIDU) launches iPhone app, ramps up mobile search efforts, Sohu IT reports. The new app features eight categories of search functions: webpage, images, news, maps, Baidu Answers, Baidu Encyclopedia, MP3, videos. According to the report, the Baidu Search app is now ranking No.1 in the Utilities category in Apple's China App Store. The Android and Windows Phone 7 versions of the app is also being developed. Industry expert points out that launching the app means Baidu is once again making a push into mobile Internet. E Commerce China Dangdang Inc (NYSE:DANG) explains why it blocked Etao search engine's spider, TechWeb reports. The company said it blocked Etao spider because the book reviews on Dangdang.com represent real user experience accumulated in the past 12 years. It did not want these valuable contents to be crawled and indexed. In addition, the company has recently formed children, maternity, media, general merchandise, apparel, digital and electronic, e-book business units, and a newly formed business line marketplace. The clear business line differentiation and direct reporting lines help the company capture the growing market opportunities and drive its operational efficiency. SINA Corporation's ( NASDAQ :SINA) launches “Micro Videos” sub-channel in its video channel. This new channel sources content from Sina Weibo, whose users can choose to submit their uploaded videos to Sina's video channel. The submitted content is then reviewed and selectively published on Sina Video. In addition, Sina Weibo is becoming an important channel for driving traffic to other websites. The clickback rate on Sina Weibo is much higher than that of other SNSs in China based on third party reports. Renren Inc (NYSE:RENN) ranks first in a brand image survey by CBNweekly, a highly respected Chinese business magazine. This survey shows Renren.com became the No.1 company among social networking websites for the year of 2011. In addition, Renren is increasingly a leading provider of location-based services in China. About 60% of status updates on Renren sent through smartphones contain location-based information, and 20% of photos uploaded through smartphones also comewith location information attached. In addition, LBS is increasingly being integrated with other services on the Renren platform. Changyou.com Limited ( NASDAQ :CYOU) provides hints about new content of Tian Long Ba Bu 3. Some original design pictures for future versions have been posted online. The pictures show that the theme for the next upgrade will very likely represent a return to the peaceful “farms and gardens” from the previous theme of continuous battles. In addition, Changyou has completed the acquisition of 7Road, a leading web-based game company in China. Through the acquisition, the company quickly established a leading position in the fast-growing web-based game segment, which is an important part of its strategy to diversify beyond MMORPGs.
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DG365FD46564GFH654FU898 Gold and silver prices recorded a huge comeback during last week after they had slipped a week earlier. The EU debt crisis was the center of attention during last week as there were two EU summits and in the second one the EU countries reached and agreement. This agreement among EU leaders to deal with the debt crisis eased the concerns of many traders and helped push forex, commodities and stocks markets up. The news of the U.S. GDP grew by 2.5% during the third quarter of 2011 may have also helped push commodities prices up including gold and silver prices.
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tdp2664 China Analyst Below are the top 10 best-performing Chinese ADRs for the past week. China Mass Media Intl Adv Corp. (ADR) (NYSE:CMM) was the 1st best-performing stock last week in this segment of the market. Its weekly performance was 134.00% for the week. Its price percentage change was -27.55% year-to-date. Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (ADR) (NYSE:STP) was the 2nd best-performing stock last week in this segment of the market. Its weekly performance was 48.79% for the week. Its price percentage change was -61.55% year-to-date. LDK Solar Co., Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:LDK) was the 3rd best-performing stock last week in this segment of the market. Its weekly performance was 44.33% for the week. Its price percentage change was -57.21% year-to-date. E Commerce China Dangdang Inc (ADR) (NYSE:DANG) was the 4th best-performing stock last week in this segment of the market. Its weekly performance was 40.00% for the week. Its price percentage change was -72.07% year-to-date. E-House (China) Holdings Limited (ADR) (NYSE:EJ) was the 5th best-performing stock last week in this segment of the market. Its weekly performance was 39.91% for the week. Its price percentage change was -40.24% year-to-date. Sky mobi Ltd (ADR) (NASDAQ:MOBI) was the 6th best-performing stock last week in this segment of the market. Its weekly performance was 36.22% for the week. Its price percentage change was -0.06% year-to-date. China Yida Holding, Co. (NASDAQ:CNYD) was the 7th best-performing stock last week in this segment of the market. Its weekly performance was 35.68% for the week. Its price percentage change was -67.81% year-to-date. American Oriental Bioengineering, Inc. (NYSE:AOB) was the 8th best-performing stock last week in this segment of the market. Its weekly performance was 35.11% for the week. Its price percentage change was -67.91% year-to-date. SinoCoking Coal and Coke Chem Ind, Inc. (NASDAQ:SCOK) was the 9th best-performing stock last week in this segment of the market. Its weekly performance was 34.91% for the week. Its price percentage change was -69.01% year-to-date. Hollysys Automation Technologies Ltd (NASDAQ:HOLI) was the 10th best-performing stock last week in this segment of the market. Its weekly performance was 33.88% for the week. Its price percentage change was -41.09% year-to-date.
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tdp2664 E money daily The resurgence of the stock market in October has led Groupon’s management team to consider increasing its IPO (Initial Public Offering) price. IPO Watch: Groupon Could Raise Price Groupon’s potential float has been seen by many as a bellwether for the short term future of tech IPOs, and what looked like it would be a homerun has been slowly scaled back amid concerns about risk among institutional investors. The original prospectus filed with regulators outlined a sale of 30 million shares at between $16 and $18, but a trailblazing East Coast trip, aimed at encouraging investment in the company, has been met with an excellent response. Groupon will face an uphill battle, not only in convincing investors to part with their cash, but also in the Daily Deals business itself. Google, a company which has long-coveted a position in the sector, recently added a wide range of partnerships to its own ‘Offers’ portfolio, and they are not alone. November 4 will see all of the questions about the IPO answered, of course, with Groupon trading under the ticker NASDAQ :GRPN.
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dow2664 Gold and silver price trend-lines were moving positively during the majority of this past trading week. Both precious metal gold and silver rallied to bring trend-lines above break-even for the month of October. The momentum gained through the majority of this past trading week was not sustained during the last trading session however. Precious metal gold per ounce rates were dropping lower throughout the day. The dollar ended the day stronger versus the euro and stock indices ended their respective session in the U.S. generally flat-lined. Ultimately, gold rates closed below break-even for the day but silver rates stayed green. Contract gold for December delivery finished the day in the red by .03 percent at 1747.20 per troy ounce. Silver contract for December delivery pushed higher by .50 percent at 35.29 per troy ounce. Similar trend-line movement is observed via spot gold and spot silver data analysis. After last session close, spot gold price per gram continued to trend red by .15 at 56.04. Spot silver price per ounce moved above break-even by .18 at 35.29. Overall for the week, both precious metal gold and silver posted gains. Gold futures notched higher by about 7 percent overall and silver climbed higher by about 13 percent. Camillo Zucari
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tdp2664 InvestorPlace If at first you don't succeed … well, try doing what made you a success in the first place. “Bringin’ it Back” appears be the motto of an increasing number of companies — given the state of the economy, that's not a surprise. But going back to one's roots is not easy and is no guarantee of success. Walt Disney 's (NYSE: DIS ) ABC network just canceled "Charlie's Angels,” which was one of the most iconic TV series of the 1970s — and should have been left there. And Sears Holdings ‘ ( NASDAQ : SHLD ) Kmart brought back “blue-light specials” in 2009 after an 18-year absence, and that hasn’t done much to turn things around — while same-store sales rose 0.7% in 2010, Kmart's same-store sales fell 1.7% in the first quarter and were flat in Q2. Still, it’s difficult to ignore the temptation to retry something that worked before. MySpace’s new owners are trying to rekindle the once-explosive social network’s success , and heck, someone is even trying to bring back the DeLorean — a success as a pop culture icon thanks to “Back to the Future” but a business failure. These five companies couldn’t resist and have either succeeded or are waiting for the payoff as they try to “bring it back”: Wendy’s The Wendy's (NYSE: WEN ) hamburger chain has struggled in the years since the 2002 death of founder Dave Thomas, who became a celebrity from his time as the company's TV pitchman. When billionaire Nelson Peltz acquired the chain in 2008 , Wendy’s stock had shed almost three-fourths of its 2012 value, and it dropped another 25% from that point through this year. To help revitalize the company, Wendy’s is invoking the name of its late founder. Last month, Wendy’s rolled out its new burger , dubbed “Dave’s Hot and Juicy.” And while the burger’s moniker is a throwback to a much better time, the sandwich is a complete revamping of a decades-old recipe. Wendy's sweated every detail of the burger, which features a bigger patty, buttered bun and extra cheese. USA TODAY even pointed out that the company consulted a "pickle chemist." Whether the new burger will help boost Wendy's bottom line is not clear.
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dow2664 This past trading week was mostly positive. Stocks rallied during the majority of the trading week on hopes of a debt resolution plan. European leaders came to an agreement after marathon discussions Wednesday into Thursday and stock indices surged. Mixed results were observable however during the last trading session of the week. Primary global indicators went red and the primary index composites in the U.S. posted trend-line movement on the negative side of break-even for the majority of the session. The momentum from the initial stock rally appeared to trail during the final hours of Thursday’s trading session. This negative action continued during the initial half of Friday’s session. European leaders have collaborated and come to an agreement which will help the eurozone avert debt default and help the region step towards financial stabilization. Now, questions are beginning to surface relative to plan details, and the world wants to know more. In the meantime, doubt is surfacing once again. This doubt began to negatively pressure the primary index composites. Officially, the primary index composites in the U.S. ended the last trading session mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the day off in the green by .18 percent to close out at 12,231.11. The Nasdaq finished red by .05 percent at 2,737.15 and the S&P 500 closed out green by .04 percent at 1,285.09. Oil per barrel dropped to 93.32 and gold fell back .50 as well on the day. The dollar gained strength versus the euro. Frank Matto
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dow2664 Reason.tv taped this interview of investment guru and radio show host, Peter Schiff while he spent 3 hours at the Occupy Wall Street protest in Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park in the Wall Street area. The video is 18 minutes but very interesting.
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DG365FD46564GFH654FU898 After the sharp gains recorded on Thursday to major commodities, Friday ended with a slower trading day as major commodities prices slightly changed: crude oil prices slipped; gold price slightly declined while silver price rose again. On the other hand natural gas prices recorded very sharp rises especially to natural gas price (future price). Here is a summary of the price movements of precious metals and energy commodities for October 28th: Precious Metals prices: Gold price nearly didn’t change yesterday and slipped by 0.03% and reached $1,747.2; Silver price on the other hand slightly rose by 0.50% to reach $35.29. During October, gold price rose by 7.7% and silver price increased by 17.3%.
