Tag - Mntg

Stocks were mixed today as the both the Dow and S&P 500 closed down while the Nasdaq was up. Falling oil prices and continued investor unease over earnings sent stocks mostly lower for the day.

The Dow closed down 36 points to 8,146, the Nasdaq closed up 3 points to 1,756, and the S&P 500 closed down 4 points to end the week at 879.

The Russell 2000, a widely-followed bellwether index for small-cap stocks, closed up almost 2 points to end the week at 481.

Advancers in the small-cap space were lead today by MTR Gaming (Nasdaq:MNTG) up 51% on heavier than average volume. Through its subsidiary organizations, MTR Gaming engages in the racing, gaming, and entertainment businesses. With nearly 3,000 employees, MTR Gaming's properties include Presque Isle Downs & Casino and Mountaineer Casino in West Virginia.

Other small-cap winners include yesterday's leading decliner, American International Group (NYSE:AIG) up 24%; Dana Holding Corp. (NYSE:DAN) up 38% on news of an analyst upgrade based on the firm's improved liquidity situation; and A-Power Energy Generation Systems (Nasdaq:APWR) up 17% on announcing a signed agreement to build an offshore liquefied natural gas facility near Macau, China.

Decliners include Community West Bancshares (Nasdaq:CWBC) down 21%; Cordus Valley Bancorp (Nasdaq:CVLY) down 13%; and Tower Financial Corporation (Nasdaq:TOFC) down 12%.

*****Oil dropped below $60 a barrel as consumer confidence came in below expectations. The belief is that when the American consumer is not confident, he or she does not spend money.  

That's true to an extent. A brief look at airfare and hotel deals will tell you that Americans are not traveling as much as we have in the past. Indeed, just visit Yahoo! News and put in the term "hotel bankruptcy" and you get over 1,100 results with articles highlighting the latest hotel bankruptcies: tough time to be in the hospitality business.  

And retail sales showed clearly that we aren't headed to the mall as much, either. But iPhones seem to be selling pretty well. And foreclosure sales have been going pretty well, too.  

As for oil, the schizophrenic International Energy Agency (IEA) just raised its demand forecast for 2010 by 1.4 million barrels a day. Seems like the IEA was just lowering estimates a couple weeks ago.  

In any event, after taking profits on oil positions in my Top Stock Insights and SmallCapInvestor PRO advisory services, I'll be looking to buy oil stocks again sometime in the next couple of months. That's because demand is only half the story on oil. (Click here to find out more about Top Stock Insights and click here for SmallCapInvestor PRO.) 

Oil companies are not investing as much to bring new supply on line. So when demand does return, companies won't be able to ramp supply quickly enough. This will lead to demand outstripping supply. And prices will rise. In fact, some believe supply and demand will reach parity in 5 years or less. That's a dangerous situation. And as an investor, you are almost obligated to own oil stocks.  

*****"We are at the cusp of stabilization…" So says Stephen Stanley, chief economist at RBS Securities. Economists are raising their growth forecasts for the second half of 2009 from 1.2% to 1.5%.  

Granted, that's not a big move, but we'll take what we can get. And maybe a little bullish talk will help consumer confidence.

Of course, consumers will probably notice when unemployment averages 9.8% in 2010. The U.S. economy has changed in some fundamental ways. The auto and finance industry job cuts may well be permanent. And it could take a few years for new jobs to be created.  

*****Cold War politics are alive and well. At the G-8 meeting in Italy, Russian president Medvedev pulled a coin from his pocket that he said represents the new world currency. Medvedev even has the motto for this global currency worked out - "unity in diversity" is printed on the coin that was minted in Belgium. Quaint, isn't it?  
What does Russia hope to gain with this tactic? Nobody wants to buy their bonds. And a global currency won't give Russia any new influence. Oil is priced in dollars, but even then, a new currency won't affect oil's value, only its relative price. 

So it would seem that Russia is simply messing with the U.S. And that's a strategy that could backfire, mainly because Russia has no leverage. I'd expect to see other countries come out in support of the U.S. dollar just because Russia doesn't like it.  
*****Now, here's TradeMaster Daily Stock Alerts' Jason Cimpl with his weekly video chart analysis. Enjoy! Click here to view the video.

P.S. Next Wednesday I'm releasing an update to my Predictions issue for Top Stock Insights. We did the first issue of it back in January to lay out how investors should invest in 2009. We were spot on and make huge profits for subscribers. This new update comes at a time when the market rally appears to be petering out and investors really need solid data and investment ideas. Click here to sign up for your copy and a 30-day trial to the service.

The broad markets were a mixed bag today with the Dow closing down to 8,299 while the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 Index closed up at 1,792 and 901, respectively.

The Russell 2000, a composite of the largest 2,000 small-cap stocks, closed up almost 1% to 494.58.

Leading small-cap gainers today was American Greetings (NYSE:AM) up 52%. Other gainers in the small-cap space include Stoneridge (NYSE:SRI) up 28%; Atlas Pipeline (NYSE:AHD) up 20%; and Orckit Communications (Nasdaq:ORCT) up 25%.

Small-cap decliners for today include Allied Healthcare Products (Nasdaq:AHPI) down 13% on announcing posting a Q3 loss of over $450,000 versus a profit of $100,000 in the year-ago period, despite cost reduction measures.

Other small-cap decliners include Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) down 11%; grocer and food retailer Supervalu (NYSE:SVU) down 12%; and one of Monday's favored stocks, MTR Gaming Group (Nasdaq:MNTG), was down 12%.

*****The FOMC announced no change to the overnight lending rate later today.

In other words, there's no way this Fed can say anything about supporting a strong U.S. dollar with anything approaching credibility.

Oil, steel, gold and other commodities all rallied as the dollar weakened against the euro and the yen. When the dollar falls in value, you need more of them to purchase things. 

*****Extra dollars also come in handy when they are your protection for loans that you've made that might not get paid back. That's the case for Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), which is about to exchange 200 or so million shares of new stock for preferred shares. This move will effectively take a few billion dollars from shareholders and put it in the banks' coffers.

*****Monday, the World Bank lowered its 2009 growth forecasts for the global economy to 2.9%. This morning, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said it was leaving its 2009 forecast of a 4.1% contraction in place.

But the OECD did raise its forecast for 2010 growth to 0.7%. The OECD had been expecting a further 0.1% contraction next year.

These numbers make the OECD appear more bearish than the World Bank. However, it should be noted that the OECD represents just 30 countries. And it doesn't include the two economies that will likely post the best growth - India and China.

This is why we have been aggressively picking up Chinese stocks at SmallCapInvestor PRO. We're now holding 4 small Chinese stocks that we expect to do very well in the coming months for investors.

*****One of the stocks we recently recommended is a Chinese organic fertilizer company. China has 22% of the world's population, but only 7% of the world's arable land. And over-reliance on nitrogen-based fertilizers has leached the soil of nutrients and led to awful water pollution. 

Organic fertilizers represent a fundamentally different approach to feeding plants. Nitrogen-based fertilizer is dumped on fields and the plants' roots absorb the nutrients.
The nitrogen also runs off during rains and ends up in waterways and bodies of water causing algae blooms and dead zones. Organic fertilizers, on the other hand, make the soil itself healthier and able to provide the nutrients the plants need without the harmful run-off.

So not only can you re-invigorate your soil and your plants, you virtually eliminate run-off pollution and waste. 

The market potential for this organic fertilizer company is awesome. That's why it has projected 35% growth rate for the next 5 years. But with a forward P/E of 8.5, it's unlikely to remain a $7 stock for long. If you're interested, you can find out about this dynamic company HERE.

*****We'll be discussing our bullish outlook for commodity stocks in tonight's Internet Video Conference. It's titled Inflation Busters: Discover the Stocks to Grow and Protect Your Wealth and will air tonight, Wednesday, June 24 at 6:00 P.M. It's free to attend, there's still room and you can sign up HERE.

The broad markets were all down today on the negative outlook from the World Bank. The Dow was down 2.35% to close at 8,339; the Nasdaq posted even bigger losses, down 3.35%, closing at 1,766; and the S&P 500 shaved 3.06% off from its open.

The Russell 2000, the widely followed index of the 2,000 largest small cap stocks, was down 3.68% to close at 494.

Fighting the overall downward trend and leading small-caps was Specialty Underwriters' Alliance, Inc. (Nasdaq:SUAI) posting at 56% gain to close at $6.18 on news that it agreed to be purchased by Tower Group (Nasdaq:TWGP) at year end. Specialty Underwriters' offers commercial property and casualty insurance products in the United States. Tower Group was down 4% to close at $23.04.

Other small-caps bucking the selling include Oncothyreon (Nasdaq:ONTY) up 33% on news of testing start for a late-stage study on the breast cancer treatment Stimuvax; MTR Gaming (Nasdaq:MNTG) up 21%; and Security National Financial Corp. (Nasdaq:SNFCA) up 20%.

Leading small-cap decliners today was LodgeNet Interactive (Nasdaq:LNET) posting a 22% loss for the day to close at $3.54. LodgeNet, a provider of Internet and advertising services, announced on Monday that it plans a profit offering of $50 million worth of convertible preferred shares. One half of the proceeds will be used to pay down the outstanding balance on its loan while the remainder will be used as general working capital.

Other small-cap decliners include Rex Energy (Nasdaq:REXX) down 19.5%; Warren Resources (Nasdaq:WRES) down 20%; and China Medical (Nasdaq:CMED) down 19%.

*****Oil is down again. The World Bank has lowered its growth projections for the global economy. In March, the World Bank was calling for a 1.7% contraction in global GDP. Now, it says the global economy will shrink by 2.7%. That's a pretty big revision.

The forecasts for China and India are about the only bright spots.

Traders are taking profits on oil stocks, which suggests they don't see a lot of upside for oil prices right now. Demand is still down, and we're not seeing a runaway economic recovery.

*****Here's your look ahead at the economic data for the week. Tomorrow, June 24, we get existing home sales.

We get new home sales on Wednesday as well as durable goods orders, oil inventories and the Fed will tell us that they aren't changing the overnight lending rate.

Durable goods orders will be a market mover. Last month, you'll recall, the number came in above expectations. Another strong reading would be great, but I have my doubts that it will happen. We should be expecting month to month swings in data like durable goods orders. It seems too early to establish a trend higher.

Thursday, we get initial jobless claims and the final First Quarter GDP number. The initial report is that the economy contracted at a 5.7% annualized rate. There may be an upward revision but I doubt that would be significant. Investors want to believe that the economy bottomed in the First Quarter, so this number gets a pass.

Finally on Friday, we get personal income and spending, the Michigan sentiment review.

*****Jason Cimpl, technical analyst at TradeMaster Daily Stock Alerts, gave us his weekly forecast for the major indices on Friday. If you missed it, here's the LINK. Jason's forecast was near perfect last week. We'll see how he does this week. 

*****We'll be discussing our bullish outlook for commodity stocks in next Wednesday's Video Conference. It's titled Inflation Busters: Discover the Stocks to Grow and Protect Your Wealth and will air on Wednesday, June 24 at 6 pm. It's free to attend, you can sign up HERE.

The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) is posting gains following upbeat news from the technology sector.

At 10:11 a.m. ET, the small-cap index had advanced 5.02 points, or 0.71%, to 715.04. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) was up 22.14 points, or 0.18%, to 12,449.40.

Small-cap stocks got off to a bullish start on news that networking products maker and tech sector heavyweight Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO) was upgraded to “buy” from “hold” by Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C).

In economic news, the U.S. Labor Department reported that jobless claims for the week ended Feb. 16 fell 9,000 to 349,000 from the preceding week’s upwardly revised total of 358,000.

Economists were expecting a rise to 349,000 from an originally reported 348,000.

However, the more stable four-week measure increased 10,750 to 360,500, the highest average in more than two years.

Shares of casino and gaming companies are the top gainers this morning. Among them are small-caps Dover Downs Gaming & Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: DDE) and Chester, W.Va.-based MTR Gaming Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: MNTG).

Elsewhere, wireless broadband access solutions provider Novatel Wireless, Inc. (Nasdaq: NVTL) is seeing its stock drop more than 20% on news that its fourth-quarter profit soared to $0.34 per share, compared with $0.09 per share a year earlier.

On the flip side, Valassis Communications, Inc. (NYSE: VCI), which offers marketing services to consumer packaged goods manufacturers, is higher on news of a rise in fourth-quarter profit.

The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) has rebounded from earlier losses and is posting a solid gain. At 1:30 p.m. ET, the small-cap index had added 3.25 points, or 0.47%, to 700.68. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) was down 18.61 points, or 0.15%, to 12,482.50.

Small-cap stocks have recovered after hitting their lowest point during the first half of trading at about 11 a.m. ET, when the index fell to a level just above 690 points.

The bounce has no apparent explanation, but it’s likely that investors took a second look at JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM).

The New York-based banking heavyweight reported that fourth-quarter net income declined 21% to $3 billion, or $0.86 per share, compared with $3.9 billion, or $1.09 per share a year earlier. The result is below analysts’ expectations and largely attributed to about $1.3 billion in writedowns due to bets made on securities backed by subprime mortgage loans.

But the third largest U.S. bank also reported that it added $2.3 billion to its credit reserves for the 2007 year and saw its fourth-quarter revenue rise above Wall Street’s projections.

In economic news, the U.S. Labor Department reported before the start of trading that consumer prices rose 0.3% in December. That’s above economists’ projected increase of 0.2%, but below November’s 0.8% jump.

If the names Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon ring a bell, then so should the name Dover Downs, the site of Dover International Raceway (or the “Monster Mile”) a long-time fixture on the NASCAR circuit. To race fans, Dover is synonymous with racing. 

But Dover is more than a racing – much more. In fact, two companies stand where there was once one: Dover Motorsports (NYSE: DVD) and Dover Downs Gaming & Entertainment (NYSE: DDE). For investing fans, the latter holds the greater intrigue. 

Dover Downs Gaming ($247 million in annual revenue) consists of Dover Downs Slots – a 97,000 square-foot video lottery (slots) casino complex; the Dover Downs Hotel – an admixture of luxury accommodations,  conference hall, banquet, fine dining, ballrooms and concert hall facilities; and Dover Downs Raceway – a harness racing track with parimutuel wagering on live and simulcast horse races.  

An appropriate description of Dover Downs is that it's not too hot (Las Vegas) and it's not too cold (Deadwood, South Dakota).  It splits the market, though tacking more toward a luxurious Vegas flare. Most of its customers are drawn from the densely populated Mid-Atlantic states.  Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. are all located within a two-hour drive. 

Besides benefiting from a favorable geographic, Dover Downs also benefits from favorable legislative diktats. Only three existing horse racing facilities in Delaware are permitted a gaming license, while slot-machine operations are verboten in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.