2014 Top Stocks Market, Best Stocks Investment In 2014, Top Stocks For 2014: 12/22/13

How to Profit from a Potential Housing Market Downdraft

The housing market has had a nice run up over the past several years, but the party is beginning to fade.

Home prices continue to edge higher with a 12.8% jump in August, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-City Home Price Index. While this seems positive, you also have to wonder if the housing market is headed for a bubble down the road as mortgage rates rise—and they will.

The chart of the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-City Home Price Index below shows the currency recovery in home prices. The index is still far below the peak in 2006 and 2007, prior to the subprime blow-up. These were unrealistic levels. We saw downward moves in 2009 and 2012, but it has been clear sailing. Yet the problem is that much of the buying in the housing market was driven by institutional buying. Once this begins to fade as home prices rise, we could see a relapse in the housing market.

Stocks End Week Lower As Govt. Shutdown Deadline Approaches

U.S. stock indexes fell on Friday as the September 30 deadline for an emergency budget deal in Washington to avoid a Government shutdown loomed ever closer.

So near, yet so far apart -- can politicians in Washington reach across the aisle and shake hands on budget and debt deals to avoid partial shutdown of the U.S. Government?

While most Wall Street analysts still expect the usual last-minute deal to avoid the shutdown at midnight on Monday, time is running out.

An unusual weekend vote in the House is even possible. A major sticking point is Republican opposition to the funding of the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama's health care reform.

President Obama has urged Congress to meet two deadlines in the coming days and weeks. First it must pass a short-term budget by midnight on Monday (September 30) to keep the government open.

Then, Congress must also agree to raise the United States' $16.7 trillion debt ceiling — by October 17 at the latest — so America can pay its bills and avoid a default.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew has warned the politicians that the United States will exhaust its current borrowing limit no later than October 17, when it would have only $30 billion cash on hand.

Even though investors and traders have been through Washington soap operas before, the uncertainty over funding of the Government is never good for market sentiment.

But it was more company-specific issues that affected many stock prices on the day.

United Continental Holdings fell about 9.3% after reports the airline cut its third-quarter forecast for an important revenue number.

J.C. Penney dropped about 13% as the retailer began selling shares to raise up to $932 million.

Accenture fell about 2.35% after reports the consulting services company forecast revenue below analysts' estimates.

Slot machine company International Game Technology fell about 7% after an analyst's downgrade on the stock.

Nike shares, though, rose about 4.7% a day after it reported strong quarterly earnings.

On Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.46% to 15,258.20. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped about 0.41% to 1,691.75. The Nasdaq edged lower about 0.15% to 3,781.59.

For the week, the S&P 500 fell 1.1%, the Dow was down 1.3%, but the Nasdaq was up 0.2%.

Hot Tech Stocks To Watch For 2014

Ever since humans realized the intrinsic value of gold, we've constantly searched for - and perfected - ways to find more.

From early methods like panning and trenching, to lode prospectors hunting for rock outcrops and veins, to the invention of drill bits...

In modern times, we use increasingly sophisticated tools and techniques, such as seismic sensors, magnetometry, and gravimetrics to help locate potential gold deposits.

But, after thousands of years of digging for gold, the low-hanging fruit's already been picked. Most remaining deposits are becoming increasingly difficult to find, and increasingly low grade.

Now, a surprising, brand-new gold prospecting tool may be in the offing - one that's far less technologically demanding, and much less invasive.

It seems nature itself has found a way to extract gold from the ground.

Take a look at this picture...

Money Does in Fact Grow on Trees

Resource-rich Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, was the site of a major gold rush in the 1890s. And it also happens to be where this recent discovery was made.

Hot Tech Stocks To Watch For 2014: Lafe Corporation Limited (L05.SI)

Lafe Corporation Limited, an investment holding company, primarily engages in property development, property investment, and property related service businesses. The company is involved in the development, investment, sale, and leasing of real estate properties. It also provides property appraisal, property management, architectural consultancy, building consultancy, corporate administration, real estate agency, security guard, and property consultancy services. In addition, the company holds trademarks It has operations in Singapore, Hong Kong, and the People�s Republic of China. The company was incorporated in 1999 and is based in Singapore. Lafe Corporation Limited is a subsidiary of Clarendon Investments Capital Limited.

Hot Tech Stocks To Watch For 2014: Travelzoo Inc(TZOO)

Travelzoo Inc., an Internet media company, together with its subsidiaries, publishes travel and entertainment deals from travel and entertainment companies, and local businesses in North America and Europe. Its publications and products include the Travelzoo Websites, such as travelzoo.com, travelzoo.ca, travelzoo.co.uk, travelzoo.de, www.travelzoo.es, and travelzoo.fr; the Travelzoo Top 20 e-mail newsletter; and the Newsflash e-mail alert service. The company also operates SuperSearch, a pay-per-click travel search tool; Travelzoo Network, a network of third-party Websites that list deals published by Travelzoo; and Fly.com, a travel search engine that allows users to find the best prices on flights from various airlines and online travel agencies. In addition, it provides Local Deals and Getaways services that allow its subscribers to purchase vouchers for deals from local businesses, such as spas, hotels, and restaurants through the Travelzoo Website. As of December 31, 2011, the company?s advertiser base included approximately 2,000 travel companies, entertainment companies, and local businesses, including airlines, hotels, cruise lines, vacations packagers, tour operators, destinations, car rental companies, travel agents, theater and performing arts groups, restaurants, spas, and activity companies. Travelzoo Inc. was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Tom Taulli]
Valuation: Even with after the Expedia stock sell-off, shares of EXPE remain far from cheap. EXPE stock is trading for a trailing P/E of 46 vs. 33 for Priceline and 23 for Travelzoo (TZOO).�And considering the recent volatility, investors are certainly jittery about EXPE stock. As a result, another earnings disappointment could have a severe impact.
[By Rich Smith]
If you are a Travelzoo (NASDAQ: TZOO ) shareholder but own fewer than 25 shares, management would really appreciate it if you would just go away.

Top 10 Energy Companies To Watch In Right Now: Tangoe Inc (TNGO)

Tangoe, Inc. (Tangoe), incorporated on February 9, 2000, is a global provider of communications lifecycle management (CLM), software and services to a range of enterprises, including large and medium-sized businesses and other organizations. CLM encompasses the entire lifecycle of an enterprise's communications assets and services, including planning and sourcing, procurement and provisioning, inventory and usage management, mobile device management (MDM), invoice processing, expense allocation and accounting, and asset decommissioning and disposal. Its on-demand Communications Management Platform is a suite of software designed to manage and optimize the complex processes and expenses associated with this lifecycle for both fixed and mobile communications assets and services. On February 21, 2012, it acquired ttMobiles Limited (ttMobiles), On January 10, 2012, Tangoe acquired Anomalous Networks Inc. On December 19, 2011, it acquired ProfitLine, Inc. (ProfitLine).On March 16, 2011, the Company acquired the telecommunications expense management division of Telwares, Inc. and its subsidiary Vercuity Solutions, Inc. (Telwares). On January 25, 2011, it acquired HCL Expense Management Services Inc. (HCL). On August 8, 2012, the Company acquired the Telecommunications Expense Management Business of Symphony Teleca (TEM Business).

The Company�� solution is implemented worldwide, providing service coverage in over 180 countries and territories in over 125 currencies with support for approximately 1,700 different communications carriers and 1,900 different billing formats. Its user interface is translated into 16 different languages and its solution supports compliance with the requirements of 63 regulatory committees around the world. Its on-demand software organizes disparate billing, ordering, asset and usage data into a format, allowing its customers to access, query and analyze their communications expense and asset profile information. Improved control of the billing process helps enterpri! ses ensure they pay their bills on time, avoiding late payments and associated service interruptions. Its software also provides customers proactive and predictive mobile usage alerts allowing them to avoid mobile bill overages. Its solution allows its customers to manage the financial, legal and reputational risks associated with unauthorized or unintended use of their communications assets and services.

Communications Management Platform

The Company�� customers can engage the Company through its client service group to manage their communications assets and services using a combination of CMP and its client services. The services it offers include help desk, asset procurement and provisioning and carrier dispute resolution. Its Communications Data Management technology processes and normalizes service-provider billing and order-related information for its customers. CMP also integrates with its customers' critical third-party enterprise systems, including enterprise resource planning, accounts payable, general ledger and human resources systems, which enables automated, real-time access to and synchronization with employee, accounting, user access authentication and security policy information.

The Company sells CMP in three standard bundles: Asset Management, Expense Management and Usage Management. The Asset Management bundle of CMP provides asset procurement, provisioning, tracking and disposal capabilities for fixed and mobile communications assets and services. The Asset Management bundle tracks and audits all add, move, change or disconnect service transaction orders and manages all customer assets and services by location, business unit and employee. Its MDM software allows its customers to manage and maintain their mobile inventory with wireless, real-time monitoring and remote update functions. Key capabilities of the Asset Management bundle of CMP include catalog management, procure, provision, track, maintain and dispose.

Catalog Manage! ment incl! ude Customer-configurable catalog of over 51,500 services, devices, features and plans with dynamic access and presentation based on corporate policy and user profile. Procure include capture, validation, approval, submission and tracking of fixed and mobile service and equipment orders. Provision is engaged in establishment of mobile device enterprise connectivity with installation of corporate applications, usage and security policies utilizing wireless provisioning capabilities. Track includes tracking of fixed and mobile assets, including information regarding characteristics, configurations, ownership and operational and connectivity status. Maintain include centralized management of mobile devices enabled through on-device software providing security and usage policy enforcement as well as automated mobile policy and mobile application deployments and updates. Dispose include collection, data cleansing and disposal of mobile devices.

The Expense Management bundle of CMP provides automated processing and services to manage every aspect of the fixed and mobile communications billing function, from receipt to payment. Key capabilities of the Expense Management bundle of CMP include contract management, billing, audit, dispute, allocate, payment and optimize. The Usage Management bundle of CMP provides enterprises with visibility and control over how communications assets and services are being used in fixed and mobile environments through a combination of real-time and historical usage tracking as well as corporate communications and security policy enforcement. The Company�� capabilities of the Usage Management bundle of CMP include secure, policy management, monitor, real-time, compliance, performance and support. The Company offers Real-time Telecommunications Expense Management (rTEM) bundled or as a point solution. Its rTEM solution serves the enterprise, medium and small business and carrier deployment markets.

The Company�� rTEM solution provides businesses and ca! rriers of! all sizes the ability to monitor, report and analyze data, voice, short message service (SMS) and roaming consumption of their mobile devices in real-time. Its rTEM solution utilizes predictive algorithms designed to proactively identify and help prevent costly, unexpected overages from occurring. Its rTEM solution also provides device location monitoring services to help find lost or stolen devices, as well as device geo-fencing features to alert appropriate individuals that an asset is leaving or entering pre-defined geographic tracking areas, providing additional device security tracking. Its rTEM solution supports implementation on smartphones, tablets and machine-to-machine communication devices.

Strategic Consulting and Other Services

The Company offers a set of strategic consulting services that address all areas of CLM for fixed and mobile environments. These services can be contracted separately or in conjunction with CMP. Its strategic consulting services offerings include sourcing, strategic advisory service, bill auditing, inventory optimization, mobile optimization and policy administration. The Company assists its customers with reviewing and negotiating contracts with communications carriers. The Company provides its clients with peer comparison analysis and benchmarking. It works with its customers to identify billing errors and other issues related to usage and contract activity. The Company advises its customers on how to align their current asset and service inventories with their business objectives. The Company aids its customers in aligning their mobile policies, assets, contracts and requirements. It works with its customers to formulate policies concerning the appropriate use of communications assets and services. In addition, the Company helps its customers develop policies regarding risk mitigation, entitlements, cost management, liability models, cost allocation methodologies and positive behavioral management. The Company also offers standard imple! mentation! services, including data conversion, system configuration, process review and corporate system integration, to assist its customers in the setup and deployment of CMP.

The Company competes with Emptoris, Rivermine, MDSL, Symphony SMS, Vodafone, XIGO, AirWatch, BoxTone, Good Technology, MobileIron, Sybase, Zenprise, CSC, Orange, Ariba and PAETEC.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By James E. Brumley]
Call it a hunch (because that's pretty much all it is), but Tangoe Inc. (NASDAQ:TNGO) looks likes it's on the verge of pulling back... and by more than a little. After a 75% runup since late April, TNGO shares are running out of gas, and are due for some profit-taking.
[By Holly LaFon]
Historically, most companies have not tried to manage this process. Tangoe (TNGO) helps companies consolidate and renegotiate contracts by using the buying power that's already there to help companies better manage this end of their business.
[By David Trainer]

For examples of large investment firms propping up stock prices and fueling large moves, see my recent Danger Zone articles on InnerWorkings (NASDAQ: INWK) and Tangoe (NASDAQ: TNGO). Both stocks had heavy institutional ownership and rapid upward price moves driven by Wall Street propaganda and momentum traders. Soon after we revealed how disconnected the price moves were from the companies’ fundamentals the stocks fell 30+%.
[By Lee Jackson]
The Lazard trading desk said that active traders may want to look at software stocks that still had unusually high short interest. Those included Concur Technologies (NASDAQ: CNQR), Tangoe Inc. (NASDAQ: TNGO), Jive Software (NASDAQ: JIVE), Marketo Inc. (NASDAQ: MKTO), VeriSign Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN) and VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW). Stocks with high short interest can explode to the upside if the company gets back on track and short sellers are forced to cover.

Hot Tech Stocks To Watch For 2014: VocalTec Communications Ltd.(CALL)

magicJack VocalTec Ltd. provides voice over Internet protocol services over various platforms. It also offers magicJack, a competitive local exchange carrier. The company was formerly known as VocalTec Communications Ltd. and changed its name to magicJack VocalTec Ltd. on May 20, 2011. magicJack VocalTec Ltd. is based in Netanya, Israel.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Lauren Pollock]
MagicJack VocalTec Ltd.(CALL) has repurchased $13 million in shares held by founder Daniel Borislow, who in turn agreed to end any further involvement with the beleaguered Internet-phone company’s operations. Investors cheered the news, sending shares up.
[By Alex Planes]
The market for Vonage's services, particularly VoIP, is highly competitive, with MagicJack VocalTec (NASDAQ: CALL ) also working to drive prices down in the consumer market. Vonage has a few tricks up its sleeve, such as free video calls to in-network subscribers,�but given the rather small Vonage user base, this may not be enough to encourage growth. However, Vonage may not need gimmicks to drive growth when its restructuring has already produced real cost savings. Fellow Fool Michael Lewis points out that the company now anticipates another $100 million in annual revenue by 2014 -- not quite enough to push it over 30% cumulative revenue growth for another passing grade, but good enough to get back into positive territory.

Hot Tech Stocks To Watch For 2014: Micrel Incorporated(MCRL)

Micrel Incorporated, doing business as Micrel Semiconductor, designs, develops, manufactures, and markets high-performance analog power, mixed-signal, and digital integrated circuits (ICs) primarily in North America, Europe, and Asia. It offers power management products, including cloud, single-board, and enterprise servers; network switches and routers; storage area networks; and wireless base stations for the networking and communications infrastructure markets. The company also provides power management standard products for industrial, consumer, defense, and automotive electronics markets. In addition, it manufactures custom analog and mixed-signal circuits; and provides wafer foundry services for the customers who produce electronic systems for communications, consumer, and military applications. Further, the company offers general linear parts; power analog circuits; high speed physical media devices and interface ICs; and Ethernet products, which comprise physical l ayer transceivers, media access controllers, switches, and system-on-chip devices. Additionally, it provides radio frequency (RF) data communications products, including QwikRadio family of RF receivers and transmitters, which include garage door openers, lighting and fan controls, automotive keyless entry, and remote controls; and RadioWire transceivers for applications, such as remote metering, security systems, and factory automation. The company?s products address a range of end markets, including cellular handsets, portable computing, enterprise and home networking, wide area and metropolitan area networks, digital televisions, and industrial equipment. Micrel Incorporated sells its products through a network of independent sales representatives, independent distributors, and stocking representative firms, as well as through a direct sales staff. The company was founded in 1978 and is based in San Jose, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Evan Niu, CFA]
What: Shares of Micrel (NASDAQ: MCRL ) jumped temporarily this morning, up by as much as 10% before giving back nearly all of those gains, following first-quarter earnings.
[By gurujx]
Micrel (MCRL): CFO/VP Finance/HR Ray Wallin Sold 59,701 Shares
CFO/VP Finance/HR of Micrel, Inc. (MCRL) Ray Wallin sold 59,701 shares during the past week at an average price of $9.56.

Hot Tech Stocks To Watch For 2014: Nortech Systems Incorporated(NSYS)

Nortech Systems Incorporated operates as a contract manufacturing company. It manufactures wire harness cable and printed circuit board assemblies, electronic sub-assemblies, higher level assemblies, and complete devices. The company also provides value added services and technical support, including design, testing, prototyping, and supply chain management; and repair services on circuit boards used in machines in the medical industry. In addition, it engages in the design, manufacture, and post-production service of electronic and electromechanical medical devices for diagnostic, analytical, and other life-science applications. Nortech Systems Incorporated serves various industries that include aerospace and defense; medical; and the industrial markets, which include industrial equipment, transportation, vision, agriculture, and oil and gas. The company markets its products through sales force and independent manufacturers? representatives. Nortech Systems Incorporated was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Wayzata, Minnesota.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By James E. Brumley]
In a perfect world stocks would move in predictable, manageable ways. We don't live - nor do we trade in - a perfect world. In the real world we have to adapt to and deal with the curve balls the market throws us, and there are no two stocks that illustrate that point better than Document Security Systems, Inc. (NYSEMKT:DSS) and Nortech Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ:NSYS) to today. While both NSYS and DSS are up today, one's overbought and ripe for a pullback, while the other is likely at the beginning of a trade-worthy rally.

Hot Tech Stocks To Watch For 2014: Keppel Tele & Tran (K11.SI)

Keppel Telecommunications & Transportation Ltd, an investment holding company, provides integrated services and solutions for logistics and data centre businesses. The company�s Logistics segment provides port operations, integrated logistics services, supply chain solutions, warehousing, distribution, container storage and repairs, and freight forwarding services in Singapore, Malaysia, China, and Vietnam. It provides temperature-controlled storage, automobile management, international freight management, warehousing and distribution, conventional trucking, nationwide long-haul trucking, ocean/air-freight, warehouse/inventory management, custom brokerage, local and long-haul trucking, last mile delivery, multi-modal, and cross-docking distribution transfer services, as well as air, sea, and rail freight forwarding services. This segment also offers non vessel-operating common carrier, feeder services, trucking services, third party logistics, procurement, and other value -added services. Its Data Centre segment owns and operates data centre facilities; provides co-location services, including business continuity and disaster recovery services in Singapore, Ireland, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Malaysia. This segment also offers co-location suites and technical support to its customers. Keppel Telecommunications & Transportation Ltd is also involved in the installation and maintenance of communications systems; provision of telecommunications services; and trading and provision of communications systems and accessories. The company was founded in 1890 and is headquartered in Singapore. Keppel Telecommunications & Transportation Ltd is a subsidiary of Keppel Corporation Limited.

Hot Tech Stocks To Watch For 2014: Osiris Therapeutics Inc.(OSIR)

Osiris Therapeutics, Inc., a stem cell company, focuses on the development and marketing of therapeutic products to treat various medical conditions in the inflammatory, autoimmune, orthopedic, and cardiovascular areas. It operates in two business segments, Therapeutics and Biosurgery. The Therapeutics segment focuses on developing biologic stem cell drug candidates from a readily available and non-controversial source, adult bone marrow. The Biosurgery segment works to harness the ability of cells and novel constructs to promote the body's natural healing. This segment focuses on developing biologic products for use in surgical procedures. The company?s lead biologic drug candidate is Prochymal, which is in phase 2 and 3 clinical trails for various indications, including acute graft versus host disease (GvHD), Crohn's disease, acute myocardial infarction, type 1 diabetes, pulmonary disease, and gastrointestinal injury resulting from radiation exposure. Its biologic drug candidates also include Chondrogen, a preparation of adult mesenchymal stem cells that is in phase 2 clinical trials for osteoarthritis and cartilage protection. The company has collaboration agreements with Genzyme Corporation for the development and commercialization of Prochymal and Chondrogen in various countries except in the United States and Canada. It also has a partnership with Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation for the development of Prochymal as a treatment for the preservation of insulin production in patients with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes mellitus. Osiris Therapeutics, Inc. was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Columbia, Maryland.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Maxx Chatsko]
Additionally, stem cell therapies have remained elusive as the industry's ultimate Holy Grail. Osiris (NASDAQ: OSIR ) received Canadian approval for the world's first stem cell drug, Prochymal, for children battling acute graft-versus-host disease, or GvHD, last year. The approval meant more symbolically than to the bottom line, but it definitely put the potential of stem cells front and center for investors.
[By Lauren Pollock]
Osiris Therapeutics Inc.(OSIR) said Friday a proposed ruling from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services won’t immediately affect reimbursements for its Grafix stem-cell product. The regenerative medicine company said Grafix will maintain its current reimbursement status — also called transitional pass-through status — potentially through late 2015.
[By Alexander Maxwell]
One of the companies attempting to develop a better treatment for chronic diabetic foot ulcers is Osiris Therapeutics� (NASDAQ: OSIR ) . Earlier this month, Osiris shares more than doubled as the company announced positive data for its CDFU drug Grafix. The study results were very impressive to say the least; the study was stopped early due to the overwhelming efficacy exhibited by the treatment. A main highlight is the fact that 62% of Grafix patients had their wound closed at 12 weeks, compared to only 21% of patients using conventional methods. Clearly, the efficacy in this endpoint was overwhelming. Grafix also achieved all of the secondary endpoints for the trial, and more importantly demonstrated a relatively benign safety record.�

Investors wait for taper news from Fed

Click chart for more markets data.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) The Federal Reserve is not going to slow down the pace of its bond purchases yet. And that was just what investors wanted to hear.

The S&P 500 immediately jumped to a new record high, and the Dow quickly followed. The Nasdaq also moved up after the Fed's surprise announcement. All three indexes closed up more than 1%.

Fed chair Ben Bernanke added fuel to Wednesday's stock rally during his press conference.

Bernanke laid out plans to maintain the central bank's "highly accommodative monetary policy" for the foreseeable future, even if the Fed eventually chooses to taper.

Bond yields, which have been rising lately, slid back as well as investors bought more bonds. The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 2.71% from 2.87% earlier in the day.

The Fed's moves also pushed down the dollar and drove up commodities. Gold prices spiked more than 4% following the announcement. Oil prices rose more than 2%.

Fed surprises: Many investors had expected the Fed to announce Wednesday that it was finally ready to begin cutting back -- or taper -- its stimulus measures.

The improving economy and falling unemployment rate was expected to be enough of a catalyst for the Fed to ease its so-called quantitative easing. The Fed has been buying $85 billion in Treasury bonds and other securities a month.

Click here for more on stocks, bonds, commodities and currencies

World reaction? European markets and Asian markets ended the day mixed, but investors around the world could rally on Thursday thanks to the Fed news.

Stocks and currencies in emerging markets such as India and Brazil have taken a big hit over the past few months on fears over potential cutbacks to the Fed's bond buying.

D.A. Davidson chief investment strategist Fred Dickson expects that emerging market currencies could rebound in the next few weeks now that the Fed has put the tapering on hold.

What housing starts? Investors received one disappointing reading on the health of the economy before the Fed meeting though. The Census Bureau's monthly reports on housing starts and building permits came in below expectations.

Trulia CEO: We're not Zillow

But corporate news was better. FedEx (FDX, Fortune 500) reported an increase in quarterly sales and net income, compared to a year-ago. Earnings topped forecasts and shares rose on the news.

FedEx gives a blah reading on the economy: Despite a relatively rosy quarter, FedEx, which is often viewed as an economic bellwether because of its global footprint, gave investors an iffy assessment on the economy.

While the stock popped on earnings, some traders were wary of FedEx's longer-term trajectory.

dachria: $FDX Cost cutting as usual helps the bottom line but for how long

retail_guru: For 'tepid' economic growth as Fedex puts it, $FDX US daily volume (inc Express + Ground) +10%. That's pretty good in any book or any macro

Soccer club Manchester United (MANU) reported a jump in quarterly revenue, compared to the prior year, and a surge in net profit, compared to a loss last year. Its stock closed up more than 2%.

Adobe Systems (ADBE) shares hit all-time highs after the software maker reported strong subscription growth for its "Creative Cloud" service on Tuesday.

flounder: $ADBE New pricing model is absolutely amazing. Never could justify high price of Photoshop to buy but can certainly run with monthly subsc Bullish

AnalystWire: Adobe ($ADBE) Target Raised to $58 at Deutsche Bank http://stks.co/bj54

Priceline hits 4 digits: The online travel company's stock surged after the Fed announcement and briefly topped $1000. Priceline (PCLN) closed at $995.09. It's only a psychological milestone. But some investors thought that Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) (before it began its big pullback late last year) or Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) would win the race to $1,000 a share. Priceline is the first stock in the S&P 500 to ever top $1,000.

Is It Time to Take Advantage of This Stock's Decline?

It's been a pretty dismal summer for investors in ConAgra Foods (NYSE: CAG ) , with the stock currently down 18% from its high at the start of August. Essentially, the market got a little bit too excited by the company's purchase of private-label food manufacturer Ralcorp.

Furthermore, the stock price reflected a significant amount of optimism over the company's prospects within a difficult economy for food retailers. Unfortunately, ConAgra managed to miss estimates for the first quarter in FY ending 05/2014, and the market punished the stock accordingly. Is now the time to take advantage of this?

ConAgra disappoints
First, in order to put the following discussion into context, here's a look at each segment's operating income for the quarter.

source: company accounts

In a previous article, I discussed the three big risks with the stock, and it's time to assess them again. In its recently reported first quarter, ConAgra disappointed with the first risk factor by failing to generate organic volume growth in its consumer-foods division.

The second risk was also somewhat disappointing. The Ralcorp integration is proceeding as planned, but Ralcorp sales have been below management's expectations for the second quarter in a row. Last time around, ConAgra argued that the problem was short term and fixable, but this time around it blamed the soft retail market.

The third issue is that ConAgra still hasn't replaced the revenues given up when it lost a key customer for its Lamb Weston (potato operations) brand earlier in the year.. Aside from declaring that it was "very confident" in making up these sales going forward, there wasn't any significant announcement on the issue. Accordingly, the commercial-food segment saw sales flat, and operating income decline 7%.

Tough markets, tough decisions
Focusing on the issue of organic growth in consumer foods, you shouldn't be surprised to see ConAgra's weak results. The consumer market remains challenged, and particularly so in the food category. Consequently, the leading players have been forced into an ongoing cycle of raising prices only to lose market share, then discounting/marketing/promoting in order to take back share, and then the tough cycling begins all over again.

The fact is hard-pressed consumers have become highly sensitive to price. Even a company that has been doing relatively well, like General Mills (NYSE: GIS ) , is having to invest in order to generate growth. In it's latest quarterly results General Mills outlined how its' advertising spending grew at a higher rate of 7% compared to its operating profit growth of 6%, and its organic sales growth of 3%. Sales growth doesn't come easy in this environment.

Unfortunately, it isn't getting any better. In fact, in August -- and one month into the previous quarter -- ConAgra reported that conditions were favorable, but conditions must have significantly deteriorated through the quarter. The company finished the quarter with a 3% organic-volume decline in consumer foods. Having declared that it felt a turning point had been reached thanks to the 3% organic-sales increase in the previous quarter, this result must have been disappointing.

However, as noted at the time, ConAgra had increased advertising and marketing spend by 15% in the previous quarter in order to get this growth. See what I mean by a tough cycle?

Indeed, it isn't just ConAgra. Kellogg (NYSE: K ) gave results at the start of August, and promptly stated that "sales growth was lower than expected." A dosage of -- you guessed it -- increased advertising spending was immediately proscribed. Moreover, the only real growth is coming via acquisitions. Kellogg acquired Pringles, General Mills invested in Yoplait, and ConAgra bought Ralcorp.

Ultimately, it proved to be a quarter categorized by intensive pricing competition. Going forward, ConAgra's plan is to increase merchandising efforts, with the aim of taking back market share

What's Next for ConAgra?
Despite the gloom, there are reasons to be optimistic!

First, if the consumer market really is categorized by heightened consumer-price sensitivity, then ConAgra's merchandising efforts should lead to a pick up in volumes again. Second, the Ralcorp acquisition is going largely as planned, and management confirmed that it still expects $300 million in cost savings by 2017. Third, any announcement of a contract win for Lamb Weston's frozen-potato operations will provide some upside to the stock.

However, while ConAgra's operational performance can get better, its valuation still looks stretched. The mid-point of its 2014 earnings-per-share guidance ($2.36) puts it on a forward P/E ratio of around 13 times. This looks good, but its implied free-cash-flow guidance is for around $1 billion this year. In other words, it's around 4.4% of its current enterprise value.

Recall that ConAgra has around $8.6 billion in senior long-term debt, and few people are expecting rates to fall. Moreover, with debt repayment a priority, it's hard to imagine the dividend can increase for a while yet. All told, the recent pullback still hasn't made ConAgra's shares attractive enough on a risk/reward basis.

The Motley Fool's Top Stock for 2013
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FSIâ€™s First FA Conference Attracting Attendees, High-Profile Speakers

When Chris Paulitz started planning the Financial Services Institute's inaugural conference he wanted to set it apart from others.

"We decided that this conference has to be unique compared to all the other conferences out there,” said Paulitz of the conference for financial advisors scheduled for September. “One of the ways we did that,” said Paulitz, senior vice president for membership and marketing for the independent broker-dealer group, “is that only financial advisors would create the conference” agenda. Ten members of FSI’s advisor council were chosen to program the conference, he says, ensuring that “the majority of what they get at this conference they can’t get elsewhere.”

So far, reports Paulitz, “well more than 200” advisors have registered and paid for their attendance, a number that he expects to increase as the conference draws nearer, citing the intent of a number of independent broker-dealers to pay for some of their representatives to attend the conference, which runs from the evening of Sept. 9 to midday Sept. 11 in Washington, D.C., at the Washington Hilton. “Some are paying part of the registration fee; some are paying the whole fee, some are even paying” for their advisors’ airfare and hotel accommodations.”

Moreover, he expects that some IBD reps will decide to join FSI prior to the FSI Financial Advisor Summit to get the discounted member rate.

A highlight of the conference will be the appearance of Phyllis Borzi (left), the assistant secretary of the Department of Labor’s EBSA, who will be interviewed on stage by Dale Brown, CEO of the FSI, and who will also take questions from attendees at a Sept. 10 session.

Borzi is leading DOL’s fiduciary reproposal for retirement plan advice, which is expected to be issued in October. The issue is of particular concern to FSI and its independent broker-dealer and 35,000 advisor members, though Paulitz worried that “most people don’t get” the impact of the DOL’s upcoming ruling “that they won’t be able to charge commissions” on retirement plans. “To her credit,” Paulitz says, “she wants to be sure that our members can interact with her.”

Other general session speakers include retired Marine General Peter Pace, NEFE President Ted Beck, and ChangeLabs' CEO Peter Sheahan.

There are three tracks in the conference program, Paulitz reports, “yourself, your business, and your community.” Stressing that “we’re not competing with other broker-dealer conferences,” the conference’s Business track will include succession planning and practice management sessions, but also “how to read body language, looking at advisors’ websites–what you’re doing right and wrong” and even an advisor’s clothing choices: “What are you wearing? What does that convey?” asks Paulitz, to clients and prospects.

The Yourself track will include advice on how advisors can stay healthy, how to care for their own aging parents, and how to achieve a “better work-life balance–all which will better your business” as well, he says.

The Community track will focus on how advisors can get more involved in their communities, including looks at how regulation “changes your community," how to run for public office, and a panel of advisors who’ve won philanthropic awards. There’s an “altruistic side and a business side for being involved in your community,” Paulitz points out.

In addition to the standard education and networking, attendees will be able to get free professional headshots from a photographer and “free website strategy” advice, along with “collateral to help FAs sell the value of independence to existing and prospective clients that has been “FINRA reviewed.”

A panel of trade press editors and a public relations professional will discuss the best ways get press coverage (this writer will participate in that panel,) and attendees will receive discounted “one-on-one image consultations” by consultant Jane Seaman during the conference.

“The real purpose of this summit is to grow the engagement” of FSI’s members, says Paulitz, which he characterizes as the “voice of one through the strength of many,” which he said will come in handy “when this rule from DOL comes out.”

Should you liquidate fixed income investment post RBI move?

Below is the verbatim transcript of Roongta's interview with CNBC-TV18.

Q: How Reserve Bank of India's move will impact the small investors; a lot of them would have moved into debt mutual funds, fixed income funds in the past six months when the feeling was that it will give returns. What happens to them, should they move out, should they stay put?

A: We have seen some more measures being implemented last evening wherein the sole objective is to suck out the liquidity, which is there in the system. Once this liquidity is going to be out of the system the rates are going to move up.

We have already seen in the last few weeks that the 10-year benchmark yields have gone up by about 70-80 bps and it is at about 8.3 currently. The hike in the rate is having a negative impact on the debt funds. So, all those people who have currently been invested into debt funds are already experiencing negative return even from liquid fund and the situation doesn't seem to get better in the coming days. We had a view some time back that we take a wait and watch situation and will take a call if there is any development in the next couple of weeks.

However, currently there are two options; one, liquidate from all the debt funds because it is still going to see some pressure, if not weeks, its going to take some time before it stabilises. The other option available today is that since the rates are in upward movement, it is probably a good time that a retail investor locks in his investments at fixed coupon rate instruments. If you look at the non-convertible debentures which are listed on exchanges, one will get good return and the coupon rate is fixed. When one invests today, he knows exactly what he is going to get till maturity.

So, the idea is that at this moment retail investor should definitely look at either non-convertible debenture listed on the exchange or lock in debt assets into fixed deposits. These would be a good thing to do at this moment and not expose oneself to the volatility which has been experienced by the debt funds.

Is Hewlett-Packardâ€™s Stock Price Heading Higher?

With shares of Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) trading around $19, is HPQ an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE or STAY AWAY? Let's analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework:

T = Trends for a Stock’s Movement

Hewlett-Packard is a provider of products, technologies, software, solutions and services to individual consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including customers in the Government, health and education sectors. Its operations are organized into seven segments: the Personal Systems Group , Services, the Imaging and Printing Group, Enterprise Servers, Storage and Networking, HP Software, HP Financial Services and Corporate Investments. Hewlett-Packard’s offerings include personal computing and other access devices; multi-vendor customer services, including infrastructure technology and business process outsourcing, application development and support services, and imaging and printing-related products and services. Hewlett-Packard is an established technology name worldwide and when consumer and companies large and small demand technology products, solutions, or software, it is just about the first in line to provide them. As economies around the world continue to develop, Hewlett-Packard is providing the products that fuel and sustain their growth. Through its segments, Hewlett-Packard has the resources and innovation to continue to providing products and technologies to growing businesses across various sectors.

T = Technicals on the Stock Chart are Mixed

Hewlett-Packard stock has been in a long-term decline since early 2010. The stock has recently rebounded off of lows and may be attempting to change the direction of price momentum. Analyzing the price trend and its strength can be done using key simple moving averages. What are the key moving averages? The 50-day (pink), 100-day (blue), and 200-day (yellow) simple moving averages. As seen in the daily price chart below, Hewlett-Packard is trading around its rising key averages which signal neutral to bullish price action in the near-term.

HPQ

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(Source: Thinkorswim)

Taking a look at the implied volatility (red) and implied volatility skew levels of Hewlett-Packard options may help determine if investors are bullish, neutral, or bearish.

	Implied Volatility (IV)	30-Day IV Percentile	90-Day IV Percentile
Hewlett-Packard Options	38%	80%	78%

What does this mean? This means that investors or traders are buying a very significant amount of call and put options contracts, as compared to the last 30 and 90 trading days.

	Put IV Skew	Call IV Skew
May Options	Average	Average
June Options	Average	Average

As of today, there is an average demand from call and put buyers or sellers, neutral over the next two months. To summarize, investors are buying a very significant amount of call and put option contracts and are leaning neutral over the next two months.

On the next page, let’s take a look at the earnings and revenue growth rates and the conclusion…

E = Earnings Are Decreasing Quarter-Over-Quarter

Rising stock prices are often strongly correlated with rising earnings and revenue growth rates. Also, the last four quarterly earnings announcement reactions help gauge investor sentiment on Hewlett-Packard’s stock. What do the last four quarterly earnings and revenue growth (Y-O-Y) figures for Hewlett-Packard look like and more importantly, how did the markets like these numbers?

	2012 Q4	2012 Q3	2012 Q2	2012 Q1
Earnings Growth (Y-O-Y)	-13.70%	-3060.95%	-582.80%	-23.81%
Revenue Growth (Y-O-Y)	-5.59%	-6.72%	-4.87%	-2.97%
Earnings Reaction	12.28%	-11.95%	-8.12%	3.27%

Hewlett-Packard has seen decreasing earnings and revenue figures over the last four quarters. From these figures, the markets have been confused about Hewlett-Packard’s recent earnings announcements.

P = Excellent Relative Performance Versus Peers and Sector

How has Hewlett-Packard stock done relative to its peers, Accenture (NYSE:ACN), Dell (NASDAQ:DELL), International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM), and sector?

	Hewlett-Packard	Accenture	Dell	IBM	Sector
Year-to-Date Return	39.30%	19.68%	31.85%	1.49%	5.58%

Hewlett-Packard has been a relative performance leader, year-to-date.

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Conclusion

Hewlett-Packard provides technology products and services to growing businesses in new and old industries worldwide. The stock has suffered in recent years but is now seeing a strong bounce off of lows. Earnings and revenue figures have been shrinking which has sent mixed vibes among investors. Relative to its peers and sector, Hewlett-Packard has led in year-to-date performance. WAIT AND SEE what Hewlett-Packard does this coming quarter.

Is Viacom a Worthwhile Investment?

Viacom

With shares of Viacom (NASDAQ:VIAB) trading around $79, is VIAB an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE, or STAY AWAY? Let's analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework:

T = Trends for a Stock’s Movement

Viacom is an entertainment content company that connects with audiences through compelling content across television, motion picture, online, and mobile platforms around the world. The company operates in two segments: Media Networks and Filmed Entertainment. Viacom’s Media Networks segment provides entertainment content and related branded products for consumers in targeted demographics attractive to advertisers, content distributors, and retailers. The company’s Filmed Entertainment segment produces finances and distributes motion pictures and other entertainment content under the Paramount Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, Insurge Pictures, MTV Films, and Nickelodeon Movies brands.

Viacom delivered a profit for the latest quarter but it missed Wall Street's expectations. However, the company did beat the revenue expectations. A revenue beat is almost always a positive sign to investors in the company since it reflects high growth out of the business.

T = Technicals on the Stock Chart are Strong

Viacom stock has been on an explosive run over the last couple of years. The stock is now trading at all-time high prices and does not seem ready to slow down. Analyzing the price trend and its strength can be done using key moving averages. What are the key moving averages? The 50-day (pink), 100-day (blue), and 200-day (yellow) simple moving averages. As seen in the daily price chart below, Viacom is trading above its rising key averages, which signal neutral to bullish price action in the near-term.

VIAB

(Source: Thinkorswim)

Taking a look at the implied volatility (red) and implied volatility skew levels of Viacom options may help determine if investors are bullish, neutral, or bearish.

	Implied Volatility (IV)	30-Day IV Percentile	90-Day IV Percentile
Viacom Options	21.34%	0%	0%

What does this mean? This means that investors or traders are buying a very small amount of call and put options contracts as compared to the last 30 and 90 trading days.

	Put IV Skew	Call IV Skew
August Options	Flat	Average
September Options	Flat	Average

As of today, there is an average demand from call buyers or sellers and low demand by put buyers or high demand by put sellers, all neutral to bullish over the next two months. To summarize, investors are buying a very small amount of call and put option contracts and are leaning neutral to bullish over the next two months.

On the next page, let’s take a look at the earnings, revenue growth rates, and the conclusion.

E = Earnings Are Increasing Quarter-Over-Quarter

Rising stock prices are often strongly correlated with rising earnings and revenue growth rates. Also, the last four quarterly earnings announcement reactions help gauge investor sentiment on Viacom’s stock. What do the last four quarterly earnings and revenue growth (Y-O-Y) figures for Viacom look like and more importantly, how did the markets like these numbers?

	2013 Q2	2013 Q1	2012 Q4	2012 Q3
Earnings Growth (Y-O-Y)	32.99%	-10.28%	142.10%	25.69%
Revenue Growth (Y-O-Y)	13.95%	-5.88%	-16.14%	-17.02%
Earnings Reaction	6.47%*	2.98%	1.71%	2.58%

Viacom has seen increasing earnings and improving revenue figures over the last four quarters. From these numbers, the markets have been excited about Viacom’s recent earnings announcements.

* As of this writing

P = Excellent Relative Performance Versus Peers and Sector

How has Viacom stock done relative to its peers, Twenty-First Century Fox (NASDAQ:FOXA), Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA), CBS (NYSE:CBS), and sector?

	Viacom	Twenty-First Century Fox	Comcast	CBS	Sector
Year-to-Date Return	50.51%	42.04%	22.22%	43.19%	39.71%

Viacom has been a relative performance leader, year-to-date.

Conclusion

Viacom is a provider of entertainment services through its television, film, online, and mobile platforms. A recent earnings release has investors optimistic about the company. The stock has been on a euphoric move higher in the last few years and does not seem ready to slow down. Over the last four quarters, investors have been excited about the company as earnings have been increasing and revenue figures have been improving. Relative to its peers and sector, Viacom has been a year-to-date performance leader. Look for Viacom to continue to OUTPERFORM.

Why Intuitive Surgical Sank Again

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of robotic surgery system specialist Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG ) plunged yet again on Friday after it issued guidance that disappointed Wall Street, and said that the FDA had issued a warning letter over one of its facilities.

So what: The stock already plunged last week after management issued a second-quarter sales warning, so today's downbeat full-year guidance, coupled with the FDA's letter to resolve some of its concerns, only reinforce the worry that analysts have been having. While safety concerns have weighed on the stock for several months now, fellow Fool Dan Carroll noted earlier that the seemingly drastic slump in da Vinci sales suggests that all of those issues are finally hitting Intuitive where it hurts most -- on the bottom line.

Now what: Management now expects full-year sales growth between zero and 7% over 2012, well below Wall Street's view of a 15% increase. "Though some da Vinci procedures mature in the United States, we are increasingly exposed to volatility in patient admissions for our core procedures and the consequent lumpiness in capital sales," said CEO Gary Guthart in a conference call with analysts. Of course, with the stock now off a whopping 40% from its 52-week highs, and trading at a 10-year low P/E, much of the uncertainty surrounding Intuitive might already be discounted into the price.

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Hot Penny Stocks To Invest In 2014

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of Ultratech (NASDAQ: UTEK ) got ultra crushed today, down by 18% at the low, following a first-quarter earnings release that didn't meet expectations.

So what: Revenue in the first quarter totaled $60.6 million, which didn't stack up favorably to the $65.3 million in sales that investors were hoping for. Ultratech posted net income of $13.7 million, or $0.48 per share, which was just a penny shy of the $0.49 per share profit the Street was modeling for. CEO Arthur W. Zafiropoulo's comments may have also rattled investors.

Now what: Zafiropoulo said that results were in line with expectations, but reiterated that the near-term outlook is uncertain and "will be challenging." However, the executive believes that conditions will improve during the second half of the year from anticipated increases in semiconductor capital equipment spending. For now, investors seem to be moving to the sidelines until things get better.

Hot Penny Stocks To Invest In 2014: Pizza Inn Inc.(PZZI)

Pizza Inn, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates and franchises pizza buffet, delivery/carry-out, and express restaurants in the United States and internationally. Its buffet restaurants offer dine-in, carryout, and catering services, as well as delivery services. The company?s delivery/carryout restaurants provide delivery and carryout services and are located in shopping centers or other in-line retail developments. Its express restaurants serve its customers through various non-traditional points of sale and are located in convenience stores, food courts, college campuses, airport terminals, athletic facilities, or other commercial facilities. The company operates restaurants under Pizza Inn trademark. As of July 1, 2011, it owned and operated 5 restaurants; and franchised approximately 300 restaurants. Pizza Inn, Inc. was founded in 1958 and is based in The Colony, Texas.

Hot Penny Stocks To Invest In 2014: Tutor Perini Corporation(TPC)

Tutor Perini Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides diversified general contracting, construction management, and design-build services to private clients and public agencies worldwide. It operates in three segments: Civil, Building, and Management Services. The Civil segment involves in public works construction, and the repair, replacement, and reconstruction of infrastructure. This segment?s civil contracting services include construction and rehabilitation of highways, bridges, mass transit systems, and wastewater treatment facilities. The Building segment provides services to various specialized building markets for private and public works clients, such as the hospitality and gaming, transportation, healthcare, municipal offices, sports and entertainment, education, correctional facilities, biotech, pharmaceutical, industrial and high-tech markets, electrical and mechanical, plumbing, and HVAC services. The Management Services Segment offers diversifie d construction and design-build services to the United States military and government agencies, surety companies, and multi-national corporations in the United States and internationally. This segment also provides rapid response and contract completion services; and management or general contracting services to fulfill the contractual and financial obligations of the surety on notification from the surety of a contractor bond default. The company was founded in 1894 and is headquartered in Sylmar, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Rich Smith]
On Wednesday, civil engineering firm Tutor Perini Corp. (NYSE: TPC ) said the California High-Speed Rail Authority has identified its $985 million bid to design the initial Madera-to-Fresno segment�of California's high-speed railway as the "apparent best value" of all bids received.
[By Travis Hoium]
What: Shares of construction company Tutor Perini (NYSE: TPC ) jumped 12% today after the company released earnings.

So what: First quarter revenue was up 9%, to $992.9 million, and earnings nearly quadrupled, to $0.31 per share. Wall Street expected revenue to be $983.2 million and earnings of just $0.24, so investors were pleasantly surprised by the results.�
[By Ben Levisohn]
Shares of Harsco have gained 4.7% to $26.43 today at 1:16 p.m., outpacing other construction & engineering companies. Dycom (DY) has advanced 0.5% to $30, KBR Inc. (KBR) has ticked up 0.1% to $33.03, Worthington Industries�(WOR) has risen 2.8% to $38.85�and Tutor Perini (TPC) has rallied 3.6% to $22.46.
[By Rich Smith]
Following up on the news that it's the likely winner of a $985 million contract to design the Madera-to-Fresno segment�of California's new high-speed railway, civil engineering firm Tutor Perini� (NYSE: TPC ) announced Tuesday that it's scored a second major contract win.

Top Biotech Companies To Buy For 2014: Ellsworth Convertible Growth and Income Fund Inc.(ECF)

Ellsworth Fund Ltd. is a close ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by Davis-Dinsmore Management Company. It invests in equity markets of the United States. The fund primarily in convertible securities. It benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against the Merrill Lynch All Convertibles Index, the S&P 500 Index and the Lehman Aggregate Bond Total Return Index. The was formerly known as Ellsworth Convertible Growth and Income Fund, Inc. Ellsworth Fund Ltd. was formed on April 30, 1986 and is domiciled in the United States.

Hot Penny Stocks To Invest In 2014: Pinnacle Airlines Corp.(PNCL)

Pinnacle Airlines Corp., through its subsidiaries, operates as an independent regional airline company in the United States. It operates an all-regional jet fleet under two capacity purchase agreements (CPA) with Delta Air Lines, Inc. (Delta), providing regional airline capacity to Delta from Delta?s hub airports in Atlanta, Detroit, Memphis, New York City, and Minneapolis/St. Paul. The company also operates an all-turboprop fleet under a regional airline CPA with United Continental Holdings, Inc., Continental Airlines, Inc., and United Airlines, Inc. (United); and under revenue pro-rate agreements with United and US Airways Group, Inc. primarily in the northeastern United States and in Texas. As of December 31, 2010, Pinnacle Airlines Corp. offered scheduled passenger service with approximately 1,400 total daily departures to a 317 destinations with an aircraft fleet of 202 regional jet aircrafts and 81 turboprop aircrafts. The company was founded in 1985 and is headquart ered in Memphis, Tennessee.

Hot Penny Stocks To Invest In 2014: Telecom Corporation of New Zealand Limited(NZT)

Telecom Corporation of New Zealand Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides telecommunications services, as well as information, communication, and technology services in New Zealand and Australia. Its products and services include local, national, international, and value-added telephone services; mobile services; data, broadband, and Internet services; IT consulting, implementation, and procurement services; and equipment sales and installation services. The company also involves in the retail of telecommunications products and services. It serves residential, business, and government customers. Telecom Corporation of New Zealand Limited was founded in 1987 and is based in Auckland, New Zealand.

Tesla stock burned by car fire video

Investors in electric car company and Wall Street darling Tesla were burned today to the tune of a 6.24% share price drop after a YouTube video showed a Model S sedan blazing after an accident near Seattle.

Shares in Tesla Motors shed $12.05 to close at $180.95 for the stock's biggest one-day decline since July 16.

The video posted on YouTube shows the front of the Tesla Model S in flames. It was first posted on car fan site Jalopnik which wrote that it came from a reader. Tesla shares have risen more than 400% since the start of the year so the damage to the stock, unlike to the car in the video, was minor.

The incident happened Tuesday after 8 a.m. as the driver was traveling southbound on state Route 167, said Trooper Chris Webb of the Washington State Patrol. He said the driver stated that he believed he had struck some debris on the highway, triggering the fire, but a trooper who responded to the scene was unable to locate any objects on the roadway.

There were no injuries, and the vehicle was towed away, Webb said.

In a statement issued Wednesday, Tesla said the fire was caused by "substantial damage" to the car when the driver hit a large metal object in the road. The flames, the company said, were contained to the front of the $70,000 vehicle due to its design and construction.

"All indications are that the fire never entered the interior cabin of the car. It was extinguished on-site by the Fire Department," the statement said.

Adding fuel to the stock drop today was a rare downgrade on the stock by an analyst who wrote that that there's limited short-term upside for the company.

R.W. Baird analyst Ben Kallo downgraded the stock from "Outperform" to "Neutral," telling investors that while he's still bullish on Tesla's long-term prospects, the company has "significant milestones" during the next 18 months that come with risk.

He wrote that those milestones include the need to increase production of the Model S and to roll out the promised Model! X SUV.

"We believe solid execution on both of these fronts is already priced into the stock, and any hiccups in execution present stock price risk in the near to immediate term," Kallo wrote.

Also, he has found that investor sentiment toward the company has shifted to neutral or slightly negative as investors believe the stock is now valued fairly. The change in investor opinion, he wrote, shows itself in a rise in the number of investors who are short-selling Tesla's stock. That's risen from 15.7% of the outstanding shares on May 31 to 17.8% as of Aug. 30.

Kallo set a set a $187 one-year price target, and also told investors that completion of the company's nationwide fast-charger network, successful international expansion, and its battery technology could be opportunities for further growth. But Kallo said he believes many of the factors also are already reflected in the stock price.

A Tesla spokeswoman told the Associated Press that the company doesn't comment on analyst research.

Tesla says the regular Model S can sprint from zero to 60 miles per hour in 5.4 seconds and has a top speed of 125 mph. TeslaFullscreen

Tesla Model S electric car, which has a range of 208 miles to 265 miles depending on the size of battery and price. TeslaFullscreen

The Tesla Model S electric car dashboard is devoid of the usual switches and knobs -- most car functions are handled via the 17-inch touchscreen in the center. TeslaFullscreen

The Model S has active air suspension and using the touchscreen in the dash, the drive can raise and lower the ride height for road and weather conditions. TeslaFullscreen

Tesla Model S. TeslaFullscreenLike this topic? You may also like these photo galleries:Replay

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Can Starbucks Get Away With a Price Hike?

A small, yet symbolic, pricing increase is taking place at Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX ) today.

The premium coffeehouse is rolling out small hikes in select markets. The uptick in java doesn't amount to much. The average increase is a mere 1%, and outside of a $0.10 bump in prices for tall coffees, it's not as if most people will notice that they are paying slightly more for their caffeinated fixes. Our cable bills creep up every year, so why should a cup of Joe be any different?

The rub is that coffee commodity prices have actually gone the other way. Starbucks even pushed through a 10% decrease on its packaged retail coffee products last month! A Starbucks spokeswoman is confirming to Nation's Restaurant News that the small increase is being pushed through today.

Lower coffee costs? Higher consumer-facing prices at Starbucks stores? Shareholders will love this if it's successful. Margins will spike nicely.

Starbucks may be hoping that an influx of new products -- including a new Valencia Orange Refresher, a Shaken Iced Peach Green Tea Lemonade, and Kati Kati blend of East African coffees -- that are being added this morning will blur the increase. Folks will be too dazzled by the new items -- that also includes an orange spiced coffee drink -- to realize that they may be paying slightly more than they used to at some stores for some drinks.

If Starbucks is able to get away with this feat -- rolling out higher prices at a time when its costs are on the decline -- it will be the biggest feat since Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI ) pulled off a similar stunt last year.

The satellite radio provider's move was admittedly far more brazen. It pushed through a 12% increase to its subscription rates in January of last year, even though its programming and content costs actually fell in the previous year. However, Sirius XM felt the move was long overdue, as it had agreed to hold off on boosting the price of its monthly plans for more than three years in order to receive regulatory clearance for the merger between Sirius and XM.

In the end, it paid off. Sirius XM continued to post higher subscriber tallies with every passing quarter, and margins shot through the roof.

Starbucks is hoping for a similar scenario -- without the satellites, of course.

Take a sip of more retail
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Boeing Wins Contracts for F-18 Parts, Satellite Surveillance

As the week wound down, Boeing (NYSE: BA ) claimed a pair of contract wins from the Pentagon on Thursday, worth nearly $20 million combined.

The larger award, for $10.9 million, was an option exercise on a cost-plus-award-fee contract to provide logistical support, analysis, and Type III anomaly support for the Space Based Space Surveillance Block 10 System. SBSS is a satellite-based system for tracking debris, spacecraft, and other space objects beyond Earth's atmosphere and free from interference from weather, atmosphere or time of day. Ball (NYSE: BLL ) Aerospace built the satellite itself and its sensors, while Boeing has overall responsibility for the system. The current contract option runs through Dec. 20.

Boeing's smaller contract win was a $9 million firm-fixed-price delivery order against a previously issued Basic Ordering Agreement, whereby Boeing will supply 30 retrofit kits, including radomes for the AN/APG-79 active electronically scanned array radar, for installation aboard Navy F/A-18 E/F aircraft. Work on this contract should be complete by January 2016.