Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded down 0.35 percent to 16,386.70 while the NASDAQ tumbled 0.17 percent to 4,149.01. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.24 percent to 1,833.69.
Top Headline
Alcoa (NYSE: AA) reported a loss in the fourth quarter on Thursday. Alcoa posted a quarterly loss of $2.34 billion, or $2.19 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $242 million, or $0.21 per share. Excluding one-time items, it earned $0.04 per share. Its revenue dropped 5% to $5.59 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.06 per share on revenue of $5.36 billion.
Equities Trading UP
Shares of Intercept Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ICPT) got a boost, shooting up 54.79 percent to $427.02. Citigroup lifted the price target on the stock from $60.00 to $400.00, while Bank of America raised the price target from $81.00 to $872.00.
Abercrombie & Fitch Co (NYSE: ANF) shot up 9.52 percent to $36.37 after the company lifted its adjusted earnings guidance for the year.
Francesca's Holdings (NASDAQ: FRAN) was also up, gaining 21.74 percent to $22.01 after the company narrowed its Q4 revenue forecast to $93 million to $95 million from $90 million to $95 million. It projects earnings of $0.27 to $0.29 per share, versus its earlier forecast of $0.25 to $0.29 per share.
5 Best Healthcare Technology Stocks For 2015: AmeriGas Partners L.P. (APU)
AmeriGas Partners, L.P. operates as a retail and wholesale distributor of propane gas, and related equipment and supplies in the United States. As of November 8, 2012, it served approximately 2 million residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, wholesale, and motor fuel customers in 50 states through approximately 2,000 propane distribution locations. The company also sells, installs, and services propane appliances, including heating systems. It markets propane primarily under the AmeriGas, America's Propane Company, Heritage Propane, Titan Propane, and Relationships Matter trade names and related service marks. Its propane is used for home heating, water heating, and cooking purposes; to fire furnaces, as a cutting gas, and in other process applications; as a supplemental fuel and motor fuel; and for tobacco curing, chicken brooding, and crop drying applications. AmeriGas Propane, Inc. serves as the general partner of the company. AmeriGas Partners, L.P. was foun ded in 1994 and is based in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Robert Rapier]
The four propane-focused MLPs are AmeriGas Partners (NYSE: APU), Suburban Propane Partners (NYSE: SPH), NGL Energy Partners (NYSE: NGL), and Ferrellgas Partners (NYSE: FGP).
- [By The Part-time Investor]
I sold AmeriGas Partners (APU), 339 shares at $43.78, and replaced it with UGI Corp, which is the general partner for APU, 379 shares at $39.29.
I sold ONEOK Partners (OKS), 265 shares at $51.25, and replaced it with ONEOK inc. (OKE), 267 shares at $52.31.
- [By Dan Caplinger]
Ferrellgas Partners (NYSE: FGP ) will release its quarterly report on Friday, and shares of the propane distributor have jumped to two-year highs recently. Yet with a somewhat different exposure to the industry than rivals AmeriGas (NYSE: APU ) and Suburban Propane (NYSE: SPH ) , will Ferrellgas earnings be able to grow enough to make optimistic investors satisfied?
5 Best Healthcare Technology Stocks For 2015: Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (AJG)
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (Gallagher), along with its subsidiaries, provides insurance brokerage and third-party claims settlement, and administration services to entities in the United States and abroad. It operates in three segments: brokerage, risk management and corporate. The Brokerage segment primarily consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations. The Company�� risk management segment provides contract claim settlement and administration services for enterprises that choose to self-insure some or all of their property/casualty coverages and for insurance companies that choose to outsource some or all of their property/casualty claims departments. Majority of its international brokerage operations are in Australia, Bermuda, Canada and the United Kingdom. Its international risk management operations are principally in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The Company operates in Australia and Canada primarily as a retail commercial property and casualty broker. In December 2013, the Company announced that it has completed the acquisition of Barmore Insurance Agency, Inc. In December 2013, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. acquired McIntyre Risk Management, LLC. In December 2013, the Company acquired Cleaveland Insurance Group and Jenkins and Associates. Effective December 26, 2013, Arthur J Gallagher & Co acquired Rock Island-based Cleaveland Insurance Group. In February 2014, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co acquired Benefit Development Group of Selma, Alabama. In February 2014, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co announced the acquisition of Kent, Kent & Tingle in Shreveport, Louisiana.
Brokerage Segment
The Company�� retail brokerage operations negotiate and place property/casualty, employer-provided health and welfare insurance and retirement solutions principally for middle-market commercial, industrial, public entity, religious and not-for-profit entities. Many of the Company�� retail brokerage customers choose to place their insurance with insurance ! underwriters, while others choose to use alternative vehicles, such as self-insurance pools, risk retention groups or captive insurance companies. Its wholesale brokerage operations assist its brokers and other unaffiliated brokers and agents in the placement of specialized, and hard-to-place insurance programs.
The Company�� primary sources of compensation for its retail brokerage services are commissions paid by insurance carriers. It operates its brokerage operations through a network of more than 300 sales and service offices located throughout the United States and in 16 other countries. In addition, the Company offers client-service capabilities in more than 110 countries worldwide through a network of correspondent brokers and consultants. The Company�� retail brokerage operations place all lines of commercial property/casualty and health and welfare insurance coverage. Its retail brokerage operations are organized in more than 190 geographical centers located in the United States, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom and operate within certain key niche/practice groups, which account for approximately 67% of its retail brokerage revenues.
During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company�� wholesale insurance brokerage operations accounted for 22% of its brokerage segment revenues. Its wholesale brokers assist its retail brokers and other non-affiliated brokers in the placement of specialized and hard-to-place insurance. These brokers operate through over 65 geographical centers located across the United States, Bermuda and through its approved Lloyd�� of London brokerage operation. In certain cases, it acts as a brokerage wholesaler, and in other cases, it acts as a managing general agent or managing general underwriter distributing specialized insurance coverages for insurance carriers. Over 75% of the Company�� wholesale brokerage revenues come from non-affiliated brokerage customers.
Risk Management Segment
The Company�� ! risk mana! gement segment provides contract claim settlement and administration services for enterprises that choose to self-insure some or all of their property/casualty coverages and for insurance companies that choose to outsource some or all of their property/casualty claims departments. During 2011, approximately 67% of its risk management segment�� revenues were from workers compensation related claims, 26% were from general and commercial auto liability related claims and 7% were from property related claims. In addition, it generate revenues from integrated disability management (employee absence management) programs, information services, risk control consulting (loss control) services and appraisal services, either individually or in combination with arising claims. The Company manages its third-party claims adjusting operations through a network of approximately 110 offices located throughout the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
The Company competes with Aon Corporation, Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc., Willis Group Holdings, Ltd., Wells Fargo Insurance Services, Inc., Brown & Brown Inc., Hub International Ltd., Lockton Companies, Inc., USI Holdings Corporation, Aon Hewitt, Towers Watson & Co., Crump Group, Inc., CRC Insurance Services, Inc., RT Specialty, AmWINS Group, Inc., Swett & Crawford Group, Inc., Sedgwick Claims Management Services, Inc., Crawford & Company, ACE Limited, AIG Insurance and Zurich Insurance.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jonas Elmerraji]
We're seeing the same exact price setup in shares of mid-cap insurance broker Arthur J. Gallagher (AJG) -- just in the shorter-term. AJG has been forming an ascending triangle setup of its own since the beginning of May, hitting its head on resistance at $45.50. That's the breakout level to watch in shares this week.
Whenever you're looking at any technical price pattern, it's critical to think in terms of buyers and sellers. Ascending triangles and other price pattern names are a good quick way to explain what's going on in this stock, but they're not the reason it's tradable. Instead, it all comes down to supply and demand for shares.
That resistance line at $45.50 is a price where there's an excess of supply of shares; in other words, it's a place where sellers have been more eager to take recent gains and sell their shares than buyers have been to buy. That's what makes the move above it so significant -- a breakout indicates that buyers are finally strong enough to absorb all of the excess supply above that price level. Wait for that signal to happen before you jump into this stock.
- [By Rich Duprey]
Expanding its presence in the United Kingdom, insurance provider Arthur J. Gallagher (NYSE: AJG ) will acquire the U.K.-based Property & Commercial Limited from�Barbon Insurance Group, the country's�largest provider of tenant references, the largest provider of rent guarantee, and one of the largest brokers to the social housing sector.
- [By Marc Bastow]
Insurance brokerage and third-party claims settlement claims company Arthur J. Gallagher (AJG) raised its quarterly dividend 3% to 36 cents per share, payable on Mar. 20 to shareholders of record as of Mar. 4.
AJG Dividend Yield: 3.00%
5 Best High Tech Stocks To Own For 2015: Violin Memory Inc (VMEM)
Violin Memory, Inc., incorporated on March 9, 2005, is pioneering a new class of flash-based storage systems that are designed to bring storage performance in-line with high-speed applications, servers and networks. The Company�� Flash Memory Arrays are specifically designed at each level of the system architecture starting with memory and optimized through the array to leverage the inherent capabilities of flash memory and meet the sustained requirements of business-critical applications, virtualized environments and Big Data solutions in enterprise data centers. The Company�� Velocity Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe), Flash Memory Cards leverage its persistent memory-based architecture in servers and are optimized for applications that require continuous access to quantities of low latency persistent memory located directly in servers.
The Company�� storage systems are based on a four-layer hardware architecture, which is integrated with its Violin Memory Operating System (vMOS), software stack to optimize the management of flash memory at each level of its system architecture. The Company�� Velocity PCIe Flash Memory Cards leverage its expertise in persistent memory-based storage and controller design, as well as its vMOS software stack, to offer a differentiated architecture in a deployable PCIe form factor.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Mani]
Violin Memory, Inc. (NYSE: VMEM) is well positioned to take advantage of the strong secular growth of flash in the enterprise. The combination of its proprietary hardware, a growing software portfolio and resulting industry-leading price/performance should translate into robust growth over a multi-year time frame.
- [By Paul Ausick]
Stocks on the Move: J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) is down 13.9% at $8.97 after a secondary stock offering�that might have been designed to drive out short sellers. Violin Memory Inc. (NASDAQ: VMEM) is down 21% at $7.11 on a lousy IPO�day. RingCentral Inc. (NYSE: RNG) is up 39.5% at $18.14 on a good IPO day.
- [By Eric Volkman]
Getty Images/Cultura As more than a few finance industry professionals will happily brag, 2013 was a banner year for initial public offerings with 156 new stocks coming to market -- the most since 2007 -- collectively reaping the issuers aggregate proceeds of more than $38 billion. We went over the most recognizable members of this year's rookie class in "The 5 Most Unfortgettable IPOs of 2013." But in a big pool of 156 companies, there are bound to be at least a few struggling fish. Here, then, is a selection of five from the class of 2013 that are getting seriously lapped by their peers. 1. Prosensa (RNA) This Dutch clinical-stage biopharmaceutical firm had a strong debut when it listed on the Nasdaq in late June. The stock's offer price of $13 zoomed to close at over $19 on the first day of trading. But bad news was waiting around the corner; less than three months later, the shares tanked by more than 70 percent after the company announced that the muscular dystrophy treatment (drisapersen) it was developing in partnership with GlaxoSmithKline (GLAXF), did not hit its primary endpoint in late-stage trials. That one-day free fall saw the stock swoon from $24 per share to barely over $7. Since then, shares have slipped even further, and can currently be had for less than $5. 2. Violin Memory (VMEM) As a provider of high-speed data storage solutions, this company should be well in tune with current IT needs. But it fell flat from the beginning -- on its first day of trading the stock closed slightly over $7 a share, after pricing at $9. Worse was to come when the firm reported its first quarterly results as a publicly traded entity. While revenue advanced nearly 40 percent on a year-over-year basis, that couldn't cover the gaping hole of a bottom line loss totaling $34 million (a figure, by the way, significantly higher than the top line number of $28 million). The already-sinking shares continued to dive, bottoming at just over $2.50 per share. The re
5 Best Healthcare Technology Stocks For 2015: OMNOVA Solutions Inc.(OMN)
OMNOVA Solutions Inc. provides emulsion polymers, specialty chemicals, and decorative and functional surfaces for commercial, industrial, and residential end uses primarily in North America, Europe, and Asia. The company operates in two segments, Performance Chemicals and Decorative Products. The Performance Chemicals segment offers a range of emulsion polymers and specialty chemicals based primarily on styrene butadiene, styrene butadiene acrylonitrile, styrene butadiene vinyl pyridine, nitrile butadiene, polyvinyl acetate, acrylic, styrene acrylic, vinyl acrylic, glyoxal, phenolic and diphenylamine antioxidants, hollow plastic pigment, fluorochemicals, and bio-based chemistries. Its custom-formulated products include tailored resins, binders, adhesives, specialty rubbers, antioxidants, and elastomeric modifiers, which are used in paper, specialty coatings, carpets, nonwovens, construction, oil/gas drilling, adhesives, tapes, tire cords, floor care, textiles, graphic arts , polymer stabilization, industrial rubbers and hoses, bio-based polymers, and various other applications. This segment primarily sells its products directly to manufacturers. The Decorative Products segment develops, designs, produces, and markets a line of functional and decorative surfacing products, including coated fabrics, vinyl, paper and specialty laminates, and performance films. Its products are used in various applications, such as commercial building refurbishment, remodeling, and new construction; residential cabinets, flooring, and furnishings; retail display; transportation markets; recreational vehicles; manufactured housing; medical devices and products; and various industrial film applications. This segment distributes its products primarily through a direct sales force; and agents to manufacturers of cabinets, furniture, seating, health care and medical components, and other products. OMNOVA Solutions Inc. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Fairla wn, Ohio.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Monica Gerson]
OMNOVA Solutions (NYSE: OMN) is estimated to report its Q4 earnings at $0.12 per share on revenue of $226.00 million.
CA Technologies (NASDAQ: CA) is expected to post its Q3 earnings at $0.71 per share on revenue of $1.13 billion.
5 Best Healthcare Technology Stocks For 2015: Alvarion Ltd.(ALVR)
Alvarion Ltd. supplies top-tier carriers, Internet service providers (ISPs), and private network operators with solutions based on the worldwide interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) standard, as well as other wireless broadband solutions. The company provides WiMAX and non-WiMAX wireless broadband systems, and launched 250 commercial WiMAX deployments worldwide. Its solutions are designed to cover a range of frequency bands with fixed, portable, and mobile applications to enable the delivery of personal broadband services, business and residential broadband access, corporate virtual private network (VPN), toll quality telephony, mobile base station feeding, hotspot coverage extension, and services for various vertical markets, such as municipalities, public safety, mining, utilities, video surveillance, and border control. The company?s business mainly focuses on solutions, based on the WiMAX standard, that are used for primary wireless broadband access. In addit ion, Alvarion sells its non-WiMAX products, which address point-to-point and point-to-multipoint architectures for various end-user profiles, including residential, small office/home office, small/medium enterprises, multi-tenant/multi-dwelling units, and large enterprises, as well as provides network management solutions for its wireless solutions. Its solutions provide high-speed wireless ?last mile? connection to the Internet for homes and businesses in both developed and emerging markets. The company was formerly known as BreezeCOM Ltd. and changed its name to Alvarion Ltd. as result of merger with Floware Wireless Systems Ltd. in August 2001. Alvarion Ltd. was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Eric Volkman]
Alvarion (NASDAQ: ALVR ) is now on the hunt for a new chief executive. Hezi Lapid has resigned as CEO, although he will stay in the position until "such time that a smooth transition is completed," the company said in a press release announcing the move.
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