Wall Street Addict

Warehouse retailer Costco Wholesale Corp. said Thursday its fiscal first-quarter profit climbed 11 percent partly on solid membership fee growth to meet Wall Street's expectations.
For the period ended Nov. 25, the company reported earnings of $262 million, or 59 cents per share, compared with $236.9 million, or 51 cents per share, in the prior year.
Quarterly revenue rose 12 percent to $15.81 billion from $14.15 billion on increased membership fee revenue and higher sales.
Both net income and revenue results met the expectations of analysts polled by Thomson Financial.

Labels: COST, Costco Wholesale Corp.

Here are 7 stocks for traders for Thursday from TradingMarkets.com:
ADC Telecom (NasdaqGS:ADCT - News) beat earnings on Wednesday, announcing $0.30 EPS over an expected $0.22 EPS. ADCT's PowerRating (for Traders) is 5.
Martek Biosciences (NasdaqGS:MATK - News) also beat earnings with $0.23 EPS over $0.20 EPS. MATK's PowerRating (for Traders) is 5.
Ciena (NasdaqGS:CIEN - News) reports quarterly results on Thursday before the market opens, with analysts looking for $0.42 EPS.
Costco (NasdaqGS:COST - News) announces earnings on Thursday morning; watch for $0.59 EPS. COST's PowerRating (for Traders) is 6.
When Jos. A. Bank (NasdaqGS:JOSB - News) reports earnings tomorrow morning, analysts will be watching for $0.33 EPS. JOSB's PowerRating (for Traders) is 5.
Lehman Brothers (NYSE:LEH - News) is looking to announce $1.44 EPS on Thursday morning before the bell. LEH's PowerRating (for Traders) is 4.
Leap Wireless (NasdaqGS:LEAP - News) announces quarterly results tomorrow after the close, with traders watching for -$0.15 EPS. LEAP's PowerRating (for Traders) is 4.

Labels: ADCT, CIEN, COST, Hot Stocks, JOSB, LEAP, LEH, MATK

Monday: Earnings After: HRB ; Economic News: Pending Home Sales ; Other News: TXN Mid-Q Update

Tuesday: Earnings Before: KR ; Economic News: FED DECISION*** ; Other News: HPQ ANALYST MEETING, AT&T ANALYST MEETING, GENERAL ELECTRIC OUTLOOK

Wednesday: Earnings After: CKE ; Economic News: Budget, Import Prices

Thursday: Earnings Before: COST, LEH, JOSB ; Economic News: Retail Sales, PPI ; Other News: AMD Analyst day, HON Outlook

Friday: Economic News: CPI

Labels: CKE, COST, GE, HON, HPQ, HRB, Import Prices, JOSB, KR, LEH, Pending Home Sales, PPI, T, TXN

Dennis Gartman, author of The Gartman Letter, joined the show to discuss his take on the dollar, which he predicted last Friday was due for a bounce. The dollar had its biggest one day reversal in a year on Monday. He also noted that in the last 4 days the U.S. dollar had the biggest rally versus the Canadian dollar that he has seen in his life. He also wouldn't be surprised to see gold fall another $40. Also, Gartman is looking for oil to fall $10-$15 before Thanksgiving.
Merrill Lynch economist David Rosenberg said on Monday that the last time he's seen a drop in consumer confidence to this degree during the Holiday season; the economy was in a recession. Macke thinks the Tuesday earnings reports from Home Depot (HD) and Wal-Mart (WMT) will be horrific. The only retailer he expects a good earnings report from is Kohl's (KSS) and his wild card is Macy's (M). He would get long Costco (COST) and Target (TGT). Adami thinks a trade is setting up for Coldwater Creek (CWTR), which he mentions has a very high short interest.
E*Trade (ETFC) lost 60% of its value Monday on concerns over the companies loan portfolio. Finerman thinks the most clear trade is to be long TD Ameritrade Holding (AMTD). Finerman sees opportunity for TD Ameritrade to steal E*Trade clients with all the problems they're having. She also likes Charles Schwab (SCHW).
IBM (IBM) bought Cognos (COGN) for $5 billion and Fortune Brands (FO) sold its wine business to Constellation Brands (STZ) for $885 million. Adami declares United States Steel (X) will be the next company to be taken over.
Word on the Street
Technology stocks continued to slide Monday with leaders like Google (GOOG) dropping 5%, Apple (AAPL) dropping 7% and Research In Motion (RIMM) dropping 9%. Adami likes Hewlett Packard (HPQ) ahead of next Monday's earnings report.
Rio Tinto (RTP) hits a record high after BHP Billiton (BHP) laid out the details for its $140 billion all-share offer.
Adami says the big pharmaceutical story is not fiction and Merck (MRK) is for real. He also loves defense play Johnson & Johnson (JNJ). Macke agrees with Adami and that right now is a good time to be long Merck, Procter & Gamble (PG), Pfizer (PFE) and Church & Dwight (CHD) for a defensive portfolio. Najarian wants to keep an eye on Eli Lilly (LLY).
Pops & Drops
Pops - Cisco Systems (CSCO) traded up 2% on Monday as the market declined.
Mattel (MAT) traded up 4% off a JPMorgan upgrade.
Starwood (HOT) traded up 2%
Washington Mutual (WM) traded up 1% as the financial stocks mounted a rally on Monday.
American Airlines (AMR), US Airways (LCC) and Delta (DAL) all traded up more than 5% as oil prices declined.
Starbucks (SBUX) traded up 3%.
Drops - Freeport McMoRan (FCX) fell 10% as commodity stocks were hit off the dollar rally.
Tyson Foods (TSN) fell 3% after cutting its 2008 forecast.
Sotheby's (BID) fell 2%.
Mosaic (MOS) fell 14% off the dollar rally.
Final Trade
Macke likes defensive play Procter & Gamble (PG).
Adami recommends Cisco Systems (CSCO).
Finerman and Najarian both picked TD Ameritrade Holding (AMTD).

Labels: AAPL, AMTD, CNBC, CNBC's Fast Money, COST, CWTR, dennis gartman, ETFC, fast money, Fast Money Recap, GOOG, HD, HPQ, JNJ, KSS, MRK, PFE, RIMM, TGT, WMT

On Friday the Fast Money crew speculated on the news about Citigroup (C). Macke thinks the banks are still a sell here unless you're the fastest of traders. Finerman went long Citigroup through options on Friday and she sees a bounce if CEO Chuck Prince leaves. Macke agrees that it does look like a near term reversal to the upside could be in store for Citigroup. Tim Seymour thinks the downside for the financials might be a bit over done and he bought Merrill Lynch (MER) on Friday.
Famous Legg Mason money manager, Bill Miller, likes financials and consumer names, proposing that the global plays might be over. He predicts that new leadership in the markets will come from US, large-cap, dollar-based stocks. Seymour disagrees and thinks that consumer names will do nothing over the next year. Macke thinks Miller's statement is reckless.
Cisco Systems (CSCO) is set to report earnings on Wednesday. Oppenheimer Chief Market technician Carter Worth joined the show to discuss Cisco Systems. In Worth's opinion, CSCO has relative strength and during market sell-offs investors haven't been selling the shares. Adami notes that fundamentally CSCO is doing well. Seymour contends CSCO is a bell-weather for technology and the company is finding ways to grow outside of the U.S. Macke thinks CSCO is just getting started and any pullback in the name is a chance to buy it. In the technology sector Macke wants a dip on Microsoft (MSFT) so he can get in. Adami favors Western Digital.
Retail Shopping
Most major retailers are set to report same-store sales for October on Wednesday Nov. 7th and Thursday Nov. 8th. Costco (COST) and Macy's (M) are Macke's favorite plays here. Finerman is positive on the retailers, but she is nervous about the consumer and she sold her Target (TGT).
Insurance: A shareholder group including Maurice Greenberg is requesting that American International Group (AIG) look at strategic alternatives. The stock is trading up 3% after hours on the news. Greenberg, who use to run AIG, is currently the largest shareholder and controls $3 billion in the stock. Charlie Gasparino's sources say that Greenberg wants to get rid of the current mangers and board of directors. Macke would be a buyer of AIG off this news.
OIL: Oil hits another record high to close at $95.93. Finerman favors Flowserve (FLS) for a global play. She also mentioned that FLS is her biggest position, although she did trim some on Friday. Adami tells investors Exxon Mobil (XOM) still has a rich valuation and if you want to play the oil space look at Chevron (CVX).
Seymour recommends investors look at emerging markets like Brazil, Russia and China. Brazilian banks Banco Itau Holding Financeira S.A. (ITU) and Banco Bradesco S.A. (BBD) are his plays. In Eastern Europe, he likes cellular plays Mobile TeleSystems (MBT) and Vimpel-Communications (VIP).
Pops & Drops
Pops - IAC Interactive Corp (IACI) traded up 9% after beating earnings.
USEC (USU) traded up 12% on a strong profits report.
Potash (POT) traded up 4% after Russian competitor Silvinit had a major flood causing tight world supplies to tighten further.
Baidu.com (BIDU) popped 16% after profits doubled. Macke declares BIDU is the Google of China.
Drops - Washington Mutual (WM) fell 17% after New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo sued WM alleging it colluded with a real estate appraisal firm to inflate the value of homes to help ensure that loans went through.
Yahoo! (YHOO) fell 8% for the week.
Target (TGT) fell 6% following the downward trend in the market.
Titanium Metals (TIE) fell 11% after missing profit forecasts.
Quicker than the Ticker
Back on October 8th, Seymour suggested buying CTC Media (CTCM) and Central European Media Entertainment (CETV). Seymour got it right and shares of CTC Media went up 7% and CETV surged 20% since his recommendation.
On October 17th Adami told investors to buy MasterCard (MA). The stock has advanced 17% since he recommended it.
October 29th Finerman advised shorting GPS play Garmin (GRMN). GRMN declined 20% since her call.
It was October 31st when Macke recommended investors to short Citigroup (C). Macke was right and two days later Citigroup fell 9%.
Misfires
Earlier this week on Tuesday, Adami recommended buying Las Vegas Sands (LVS). He missed the trade and LVS plunged 19% since his call. For now he favors Boyd Gaming (BYD).
Last Friday Finerman recommended shorting oil. Since her call oil has climbed 6% higher. Finerman would get out of the short oil trade because it didn't work.
A week ago Macke told investors to buy Procter and Gamble (PG). Procter has fallen 3% since he picked it, but Macke says the earnings report wasn't that bad and maintains its going to work in the long-term.
On October 4th Seymour favored investment bank Merrill Lynch (MER) on valuation. Seymour was way off and Merrill fell 19%.
Final Trade
After a rollercoaster week, the team gives their best picks. Although, not necessarily for stocks.
Macke picks the Indianapolis Colts over the New England Patriots. Finerman went with the New England Patriots.
Adami places his bet on Intel (INTC).
Seymour chooses Immersion (IMMR).

Labels: AIG, BIDU, CNBC, COST, CSCO, CVX, fast money, Fast Money Recap, IACI, MER, MSFT, TGT, XOM

Here are 7 stocks for traders for Wednesday from TradingMarkets.com:
China Sunergy (NasdaqGM:CSUN - News) rose 18% after announcing a 2-year contract to produce solar-power cells. CSUN does not have a PowerRating (for Traders) due to its short trading history.
Microchip Technology (NasdaqGS:MCHP - News) fell 11% on Tuesday, after missing analyst earnings estimates. MCHP's PowerRating (for Traders) is 5.
Costco (NasdaqGS:COST - News) reports earnings on Wednesday before the bell, with analysts looking for $0.83 EPS. COST's PowerRating (for Traders) is 5.
When Helen of Troy (NasdaqGS:HELE - News) reports earnings on Wednesday morning, watch for $0.41 EPS. HELE's PowerRating (for Traders) is 4.
Infosys (NasdaqGS:INFY - News) should announce $0.46 EPS on Wednesday before the market opens. INFY's PowerRating (for Traders) is 4.
Monsanto (NYSE:MON - News) is looking to report -$0.17 EPS tomorrow morning. MON's PowerRating (for Traders) is 3.
Analysts are watching for Progressive (NYSE:PGR - News) report $0.38 EPS tomorrow before the market opens. PGR's PowerRating (for Traders) is 3.
Published by TradingMarkets.com

Labels: COST, CSUN, HELE, Hot Stocks, INFY, MCHP, MON, PGR

Here are 7 trading ideas for today. These lists come directly from the TradingMarkets Stock Indicators page and are based upon our latest quantitative research.
Bullish
Gaps Down 5% or More: These are stocks that gap down by 5% or more and are trading above their 200-day moving average. Our research shows that stocks trading above their 200-day moving average that gap down by more than 5% have shown positive returns, on average, 1-day, 2-days and 1-week later. Historically, these stocks have provided traders with a significant edge.
Chicago Bridge & Iron (NYSE:CBI - News). CBI's PowerRating is 7.
Laps Down 5% or More: These are stocks that lap down by 5% or more and are trading above their 200-day moving average. Our research shows that stocks trading above their 200-day moving average that lap down by more than 5% have shown positive returns, on average, 1-day, 2-days and 1-week later. Historically, these stocks have provided traders with a significant edge.
Navios Maritime (NYSE:NM - News). NM's PowerRating is 7.
5+ Consecutive Down Days: These are stocks that have closed down for five or more consecutive days and are trading above their 200-day moving average. Our research shows that stocks trading above their 200-day moving average that close down for five or more days have shown positive returns, on average, 1-day, 2-days and 1-week later. Historically, these stocks have provided traders with a significant edge. Historically, these stocks have provided traders with a significant edge.
AFLAC (NYSE:AFL - News). AFL's PowerRating is 6.
5+ Consecutive Lower Lows: These are stocks that have made a lower low for five or more consecutive days and are trading above their 200-day moving average. Our research shows that stocks trading above their 200-day moving average that make lower lows for five or more days have shown positive returns, on average, 1-day, 2-days and 1-week later. Historically, these stocks have provided traders with a significant edge.
Costco (NasdaqGS:COST - News). COST's PowerRating is 6.
2-Period RSI Below 2: These are stocks that have a 2-period RSI reading below 2 and are trading above their 200-day moving average. Our research shows that stocks trading above their 200-day moving with a 2-period RSI reading below 2 have shown positive returns, on average, 1-day, 2-days and 1-week later. Historically, these stocks have provided traders with a significant edge.
Applied Materials (NasdaqGS:AMAT - News). AMAT's PowerRating is 7.
Bearish
5+ Consecutive Up Days: These are stocks that have made a higher high for five or more consecutive days and are trading below their 200-day moving average. Our research shows that stocks trading below their 200-day moving average that make higher highs for five or more days have shown negative returns, on average, 1-day, 2-days and 1-week later. Historically, these stocks have provided traders with a significant edge.
NovaStar Financial (NYSE:NFI - News). NFI's PowerRating is 1.
Stocks Up 10% or More: These are stocks that have gained 10% or more over the past five days and are trading below their 200-day moving average. Our research shows that stocks trading below their 200-day moving average that have gained 10% or more over the past five days have shown negative returns, on average, 1-week later. Historically, these stocks have provided traders with a significant edge.
Blyth Incorporated (NYSE:BTH - News). BTH's PowerRating is 2.
PowerRatings (for Traders) are courtesy of TradingMarkets.com

Labels: AFL, AMAT, BTH, CBI, COST, Hot Stocks, NFI, NM

The nation's consumers, uninspired by this season's fashions and rattled by high gas prices and the weak housing market, shopped gingerly last month, extending the misery of retailers who have struggled with a spending slowdown since February.
As merchants reported their June sales results Thursday, the disappointments cut across many segments of the industry including Macy's Inc., AnnTaylor Stores Corp. and trendy apparel chain Bebe Stores Inc. One notable exception was Wal-Mart Stores Inc., whose renewed emphasis on low prices helped drive sales gains above analysts' expectations. Meanwhile, Costco Wholesale Corp. reported a 6 percent gain in same-store sales, in line with the 6.1 percent estimate.
Macy's suffered a 2.7 percent drop in same-stores sales, worse than the 0.8 percent decline expected.
J.C. Penney Co. Inc. had a 1.5 percent decline in same-store sales in its department store business, less than the 3.6 percent analysts expected. The retailer said sales picked up toward the end of the month, reflecting a strong initial response to back-to-school merchandise.
Limited Brands had a 3.0 percent gain, slightly better than the 2.9 percent forecast.
AnnTaylor suffered an 8.4 percent drop in same-store sales, dragged down by its lower-priced Loft division. Analysts expected a 4.7 percent decline.
Among teen retailers, Bebe posted a 5.4 percent drop in same-store sales, worse than the 2.2 percent projected decline. But Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. posted a 4.5 percent same-store sales increase, better than the 3.2 percent estimate.
Source: Anne D'Innocenzio, AP Business Writer

Labels: ANN, BEBE, COST, JCP, M, PSUN, WMT

Stock prices are higher in early trading today with the Dow Jones industrials up 22.43 to 13,655.51, the Nasdaq Composite higher by 11.11 at 2,603.70 and the Standard & Poor's 500 up 3.59 at 1,533.82. Wall Street received another batch of acquisitions but mixed news on the economy. Later Thursday morning, the Commerce Department will report on construction spending, which is expected to have slipped 0.1 percent in April after rising 0.2 percent in March. The Chicago Purchasing Managers will release its manufacturing index. Economists predict the Chicago PMI to have risen to 54.0 in May from 52.9 in April.
Investors hope the economy will keep expanding, but not so fast that it prevents the Federal Reserve from lowering interest rates later this year. Stocks soared Wednesday when minutes from the Fed's latest meeting indicated the central bank is not inclined to make a rate hike.
While Wall Street is unsure about the economic outlook, it remains buoyed by the unrelenting surge of takeover activity. On Thursday, banking company Wachovia Corp. said it would acquire A.G. Edwards Inc. for $6.8 billion in cash and stock to form one of the largest retail stock brokerages in the country. And payroll processor Ceridian Corp. said late Wednesday it will be bought out by investment firm Thomas H. Lee Partners LP and insurance provider Fidelity National Financial Inc. for about $5.3 billion.
Meanwhile Thursday, discount retailer Costco Wholesale Corp. and jewelry seller Tiffany & Co. released their financial results. Costco posted a fiscal third-quarter profit decline of 4.9 percent, while Tiffany reported a 15 percent rise in fiscal first-quarter profit -- indicating that consumer demand for big-ticket items remains robust.
Retailer Sears Holdings Corp. reported a solid 20 percent gain in earnings from the recent quarter, but said its U.S store sales dropped.
The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.
Crude oil futures fell 39 cents to $63.18 a barrel in preopening electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, ahead of data on U.S. petroleum inventories.
Chinese stocks rebounded a bit Thursday after a sharp drop a day earlier. The Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.4 percent.
Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 1.63 percent. In afternoon trading, Britain's FTSE 100 was up 0.51 percent, Germany's DAX index was up 1.47 percent, and France's CAC-40 was up 1.07 percent.
Source: AP

Labels: AGE, CEN, COST, FNF, TIF, WB