Why the Reiteration?
Operating in the consumer-driven retail industry, we believe Citi Trends remains significantly impacted by the macroeconomic issues, wherein its customers continue to feel the pinch of increased payroll tax, higher fuel prices, high unemployment rate and delayed tax refunds.
Moreover, the seasonal nature of the company�� business exposes it to significant risks if the seasons fail to deliver the expected operating performance.
Additionally, the highly fragmented specialty retail sector compels Citi Trends to compete with larger off-price rivals, mass merchants as well as smaller specialty retailers on the basis of fashion, quality and service. To retain its existing market share, the company may have to reduce its sales prices, which could affect its margins.
Top 5 Gas Utility Stocks For 2015: First American Financial Corp (FAF)
First American Financial Corporation, incorporated on January 14, 2008, through its subsidiaries, is engaged in the business of providing financial services through its title insurance and services segment and its specialty insurance segment. The Company operates in two segments: title insurance and services and specialty insurance.
The title insurance and services segment provides title insurance, closing and/or escrow services and similar or related services domestically and internationally in connection with residential and commercial real estate transactions. It also maintains, manages and provides access to title plant records and images and provides banking, trust and investment advisory services. The specialty insurance segment issues property and casualty insurance policies and sells home warranty products. In addition, its corporate function consists of certain financing facilities as well as the corporate services that support its business operations.
Title Insurance and Services Segment
The Company�� title insurance and services segment issues title insurance policies on residential and commercial property in the United States and offers similar or related products and services internationally. This segment also provides closing and/or escrow services; accommodates tax-deferred exchanges of real estate; maintains, manages and provides access to title plant records and images, and provides banking, trust and investment advisory services. The Company conducts its title insurance and closing business through a network of direct operations and agents. Through this network, it issues policies in the 49 states that permit the issuance of title insurance policies and the District of Columbia. The Company also offers title insurance, closing services and similar or related products and services, either directly or through third parties in foreign countries, including Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and various other markets.
The Company! distributes its title insurance policies and related products and services directly as well as through its agents through various channels. Its federal savings bank subsidiary offers trust and investment advisory services, deposit services and asset management services. As of December 31, 2012, the Company provides products and services in numerous countries outside of the United States, and its international operations accounted for approximately 7.9% of its title insurance and services segment revenues.
Specialty Insurance Segment
The Company�� property and casualty insurance business provides insurance coverage to residential homeowners and renters for liability losses and typical hazards, such as fire, theft, vandalism and other types of property damage. The Company is licensed to issue policies in all 50 states and the District of Columbia and actively issue policies in 43 states. In its market, California, it also offers preferred risk auto insurance to better compete with other carriers offering bundled home and auto insurance. Reinsurance is used to limit risk associated with natural disasters, such as windstorms, winter storms, wildfires and earthquakes.
The Company�� home warranty business provides residential service contracts that cover residential systems, such as heating and air conditioning systems, and certain appliances against failures that occur as the result of normal usage during the coverage period. Most of these policies are issued on resale residences, although policies are also available in some instances for new homes. Coverage is typically for one year and is renewable annually at the option of the contract holder and upon its approval. It sells renewals directly to consumers. As of December 31, 2012, home warranty business operates in 39 states and the District of Columbia.
The Company competes with Fidelity National Financial, Inc., Stewart Title Guaranty Company, Old Republic International Corporation and Lender Proc! essing Se! rvices, Inc.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Marc Bastow]
The biggest increase among our dividend stocks this week came from title and specialty insurance management company First American Financial (FAF), which raised its quarterly dividend 100% to 24 cents per share, payable June 16 to shareholders of record as of June 9.
FAF Dividend Yield: 3.47% - [By Jon C. Ogg]
First American Financial Corp. (NYSE: FAF) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette & Woods.
Fidelity National Financial Inc. (NYSE: FNF) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette & Woods.
Hot Quality Companies To Own For 2014: Sterling Bancorp(STL)
Sterling Bancorp operates as a bank holding company for Sterling National Bank that provides a range of banking and financial products and services in the Untied States primarily in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. It accepts various deposit products, including checking accounts, money market accounts, negotiable order of withdrawal accounts, savings accounts, rent security accounts, retirement accounts, and certificates of deposits; and deposit services comprising account management and information, disbursement, reconciliation, collection and concentration, ACH, and others. The company also provides business and consumer lending, asset-based financing, factoring/accounts receivable management services, equipment leasing, commercial and residential mortgage lending and brokerage, and trade financing services for commercial, industrial and financial companies, and government and non-profit entities. In addition, it offers financing and human resource business process outsourcing support services for the temporary staffing industry, which comprise full back-office, computer, tax, and accounting services, as well as financing to independently-owned staffing companies. The company operates 12 offices, including 9 offices in New York City, two branches in Nassau County, and 1 branch in Yonkers, New York. Sterling Bancorp was founded in 1929 and is based in New York, New York.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jon C. Ogg]
The M&T Bank Corp. (NYSE: MTB) and Hudson City Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ: HCBK) transaction is the only pending deal of 2012 vintage due to various regulatory concerns. MTB currently has 9% short interest outstanding and PACW 15%. Another merger covered is the deal between Provident New York Bancorp (NASDAQ: PBNY) and Sterling Bancorp (NYSE: STL), and the balance are simply too small for us to warrant effort.
Hot Quality Companies To Own For 2014: Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals Inc (TTPH)
Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals, Inc., incorporated on July 7, 2006, is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company. The Company�� product candidate, eravacycline, is a fully synthetic tetracycline derivative that the Company are developing as a broad-spectrum intravenous and oral antibiotic for use as a first-line empiric monotherapy for the treatment of multi-drug resistant infections, including multi-drug resistant Gram-negative infections. The Company�� frequently used products, such as Zyvox and Cubicin, are limited to Gram-positive bacteria and thus are rarely used as a first-line empiric monotherapy if broad bacterial coverage is required. During the year ended December 31, 2012, completed a Phase 2 clinical trial of eravacycline with intravenous administration for the treatment of patients with complicated intra-abdominal infections, or cIAI, and are finalizing its pivotal Phase 3 program for eravacycline. In 2012, in vitro experiments, eravacycline has demonstrated the ability to cover a variety of multi-drug resistant Gram-negative, Gram-positive, anaerobic and atypical bacteria, including multi-drug resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae, the species of Gram-negative bacteria that killed seven patients at the Clinical Center of the National Institutes of Health.
Gram-positive bacteria that have developed resistance to existing drugs include: Streptococcus pneumoniae that cause pneumonia, ear infections, bloodstream infections and meningitis; Staphylococcus aureus that cause skin, bone, lung and bloodstream infections, and Enterococci that are responsible for infections transmitted in healthcare settings. Gram-negative bacteria that have developed resistance to existing drugs include: Escherichia coli that cause urinary tract, skin and bloodstream infections; Salmonella and Escherichia coli that cause foodborne infections, and Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella spp.
In addition, other antibiotics that have been used as first-line empiric monothe! rapies, such as Levaquin, piperacillin/tazobactam, which is marketed by Pfizer as Zosyn, carbapenems, such as Merrem, and imipenem/cilastatin, which is marketed by Merck as Primaxin, have seen their utility as first-line empiric monotherapies diminished as the number of bacterial strains resistant to these therapies has increased. In addition to developing an intravenous formulation of eravacycline, the Company is also developing an oral formulation. A number of previous tetracyclines have been available in both intravenous and oral dosage forms. Infections that are resistant to existing oral drugs are increasingly common, and the Company believe that an intravenous-to-oral step-down therapy in which patients are started on the intravenous formulation of eravacycline and then stepped down to an oral formulation of eravacycline could reduce the length of a patient�� hospital stay or help avoid hospital admission altogether, lowering the overall cost of care for these patients.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Roberto Pedone]
Another under-$10 biopharmaceutical player that's starting to trend within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade is Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals (TTPH), which using its proprietary chemistry technology creates novel antibiotics for serious and life-threatening multi-drug resistant infections. This stock is off to a strong start in 2013, with shares up 19.4%.
If you take a look at the chart for Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals, you'll notice that this stock has just started to trend back above its 50-day moving average of $7.76 a share with decent upside volume flows. That move is quickly pushing shares of TTPH within range of breaking out above some key near-term overhead resistance levels that have acted as a ceiling for the stock for the last three months.
Market players should now look for long-biased trades in TTPH if it manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance levels at $8.30 to $8.40 a share and then once it takes out more resistance at $8.50 to $9 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above those levels with volume that registers near or above its three-month average volume of 62,234 shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then TTPH will set up to re-test or possibly take out its all-time high at $9.66 a share. Any high-volume move above that level will then push TTPH into new all-time high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that move are $12 to $13 a share.
Traders can look to buy TTPH off any weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below its 50-day at $7.76 a share, or below more key near-term support levels at $7.37 to $7.02 a share. One can also buy TTPH off strength once it clears those breakout levels with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.
Hot Quality Companies To Own For 2014: Market Vectors Steel ETF (SLX)
Market Vectors Steel ETF (the Fund) seeks to replicate as closely as possible the price and yield performance of the NYSE Arca Steel Index (STEEL or the Index) by investing in a portfolio of securities that generally replicates STEEL. STEEL, calculated by the NYSE Alternext, is a modified market capitalization-weighted index consisting of publicly traded companies predominantly involved in the production of steel products or mining and processing of iron ore. The Index includes companies primarily involved in a variety of activities related to steel production, including the operation of manufacturing mills and fabrication of steel products. Companies eligible for inclusion in Index should be engaged in solar power and related products and services, deriving at least 66% of revenues from it with market cap exceeding $100 million, and should have three-month trading volume equal to or greater than $1 million per day. Its investment advisor is Van Eck Associates Corporation. Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Udovich]
On Monday, Goldman Sachs upgraded the whole steel sector from Cautious to Neutral and specifically upgraded small cap and mid cap steel stocks AK Steel Holding Corporation (NYSE: AKS), United States Steel Corporation (NYSE: X) and Steel Dynamics Inc. (NASDAQ: STLD) to Buy with price targets of $6, $30 and $22, respectively, but should you go for one of these individual steel stocks or for the Market Vectors Steel ETF (NYSEARCA: SLX)? To begin with, Goldman Sachs says that the�supply-demand fundamentals for steel are starting to look more appealing as some supply has been taken out plus they have a very bearish view on input costs (as in iron ore)���which bodes well for steel producers in the long run. Moreover, recently filed trade cases could provide some tailwind���if they are successful.�Of course a rising tide can lift all ships, but Goldman Sachs suggests that you go for the following�small cap or mid cap steel stocks:�
- [By Ben Levisohn]
In our late October report on X, we noted the Company was “scratching the surface” on operational improvement, and we expected shares to edge higher over the near term. While X shares have appreciated by 16% since that report vs. the S&P 500 of +4% and the [Market Vectors Steel ETF (SLX)] of +3%, we believe shares have more room to run based on our positive carbon hot-rolled steel pricing revisions for 2014: meaningful raw material cost tailwinds (coal, scrap, iron ore); low Street EPS and EBITDA expectations for 2014-2015; an ever-increasing interest rate environment (benefits for pension exposure); more evidence of European macro stability; and above-average likelihood of incremental operational efficiency announcements such as a joint venture or tolling agreement with Allegheny Technologies Incorporated (ATI).
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