Shares of Baidu – "China's Google" – Surge

If your income is high, your chances of getting a visit from the Tax Man are on the rise -- and there isn't much you can do about it.

Last year, the Internal Revenue Service sharply increased face-to-face audits of upper-income taxpayers, according to data released Thursday. For taxpayers reporting income above $200,000, so-called field audits rose 34% in fiscal 2011 to 78,392, from 58,521 in fiscal 2010. (The IRS fiscal year begins on Oct. 1.)

Also See

• What's New for Tax Form 1040
• Tax Rules for Gamblers
• Watch Out for Age-Sensitive Tax Rules

Field audits, which are conducted by an agent, are often more in-depth than "correspondence" audits, which are conducted by mail and sometimes involve a single issue. Overall, the agency audited 3.9% of taxpayers with income above $200,000, up from 3.1% in 2010.

The increase in field audits for taxpayers reporting income over $1 million, though smaller, was still significant: 24%, for a total of 20,475 in 2011, versus 16,509 in fiscal year 2010.

Overall, the agency audited 12.5% of taxpayers reporting income over $1 million, compared with 8.4% in 2010.

 

Experts Explain: How to Handle an Audit

3:26

What you can expect if the IRS shows up at your door.

"We are looking more at taxpayers at these income levels because we find more issues there," says IRS Deputy Commissioner Steve Miller.

The IRS's new data include the revenue from its programs to combat offshore tax evasion by U.S. taxpayers with undeclared accounts, Mr. Miller says, but the report doesn't specifically break out the revenue raised by them. In 2009 and 2011, the agency held two limited amnesties tailored for those with such accounts.

David Gannaway, a principal with CitrinCooperman CPAs in New York, says most of the audit increase he has seen is related to the IRS's pursuit of revenue from undeclared offshore accounts. The agency is cross-checking data provided by Swiss banks with individual tax returns.

IRS agents then initiate what seems to be a regular audit, Mr. Gannaway says. "They ask only at the end whether there is an offshore account -- without disclosing that the IRS has records in hand," he says. The penalties for not disclosing offshore accounts are severe.

Certified public accountant Jonathan Horn, who practices in New York, has noted a jump in other audits for upper-income taxpayers as well. In one case involving a home-office deduction, he says, an IRS agent made a home visit.

In another case, involving rental real estate, the auditor compared the rents specified in leases with bank deposits to verify that all income was being reported.

Dennis Newman, a CPA with Sharrard, McGee in Greensbo! ro, N.C. , also saw a jump in face-to-face audits in 2011. Two areas of focus: investors' reporting of cost basis -- which is used to determine taxable gain or loss -- and "grouping" rules for determining passive losses for real-estate investments.

What can taxpayers do to avoid such audits? "There's not much," Mr. Horn says, "except not take deductions they're legally entitled to."

Like many tax preparers, he tells clients to keep detailed records. In one case last year, he says, the only tax due involved mileage deductions for which the client didn't have a log.

Audits of subchapter S returns, which are often filed by small businesses, also rose in 2011, up 13% over their 2010 level.

Overall, the IRS collected slightly less revenue from enforcement efforts in 2011, $55.2 billion versus $57.6 billion in 2010. Mr. Miller attributes the drop to anomalies, such as several large cases that were closed in 2010.

In 2011 the IRS recommended 1,622 tax-related criminal prosecutions, up 7% from the 2010 figure. The conviction rate was 93%, and the average sentence was 25 months.

Besides enforcement data, the IRS's release includes information about electronic filing of returns and taxpayer service. The percentage of e-filed returns rose to 77% in 2011, compared with 69% in 2010.

Overall, 94% of taxpayers said they were satisfied with the IRS's answers to toll-free calls, up slightly from the previous year.

But "level of service" ratings dropped to 70% from 74% in 2010, in part because the agency had fewer employees to answer phones. "Most who got through to us were satisfied, but fewer got through," Mr. Miller says.

Best Wall St. Stocks Today: CMCSA,GE,DIS

In a move that should have surprised no one,� Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) said today that it was replacing Jeff Zucker as head of NBC Universal once the business is sold by General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE)� The amazing part is that GE didn’t do it first.

Not only is NBC’s Prime Time schedule a mess, but the media giant’s movie business is not doing so hot either, ranking sixth this year in box office receipts, according to Box Office Mojo.� Its theme park business, like Walt Disney Co.’s (NYSE: DIS), is no doubt suffering because of the economy, while its cable properties such as CNBC continue to lose audience.��� The bright spots such as Bravo, “NBC Nightly News” and the “Today” show are not enough to make up for the shortfall.

Profit during the first six months of the year at NBC Universal fell 13 percent to $806 million.� Revenue jumped 14 percent to $8.07 billion during that same time.� That seems to be the byproduct of cost-cutting, discounting advertising rates and the like. � Stephen Burke, Zucker’s replacement, will demand better.

Zucker always tried to argue that ratings were not everything. So, “3o Rock” will be an interesting challenge for Burke.� The Emmy-award winning sitcom is a critical darling and attracts� a small but devoted following. NBC has always backed the show arguing that its audience was young and well-heeled which interests advertisers.� Unfortunately, the show is expensive to produce with a big-named pricey cast.� Creator Tina Fey has even joked about this and the show even takes jabs at Comcast.

The last laugh will be on Zucker.

–Jonathan Berr

Kaydon Earnings Preview

Kaydon (NYSE: KDN  ) came in under analyst's estimates last quarter, but now have a chance to fix things this quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Friday, Feb. 24. Kaydon is a designer and manufacturer of custom-engineered, performance-critical products, supplying a diverse customer base.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on Kaydon with six of eight analysts rating it hold. Analysts don't like Kaydon as much as competitor RBC Bearings overall. Five out of six analysts rate RBC Bearings a buy compared to two of eight for Kaydon. While analysts still rate the stock a hold, they are a little more optimistic about it compared to three months ago.
• Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $122.1 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 16.4% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.46 per share. Estimates range from $0.40 to $0.51.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly behind the stock, with 100% assigning it an "outperform" rating. The greater community concurs with the All-Stars, as 98.8% give it a rating of "outperform."�Kaydon has a bullish CAPS rating of five out of five stars that is about on par with the Fool community assessment.

Management:
Revenue has fallen in the past two quarters.

Now let's get some insight into how efficient management is at running the business. Margins illustrate how efficiently a company captures portions of sales dollars. For the last two quarters, Kaydon experienced a boost in gross margin year over year. Gross margin reflects the total sales revenue that the company retains after costs. Here are Kaydon's reported margins for the last four quarters: !

Quarter	Q1	Q4	Q3	Q2
Gross Margin	35.8%	36.7%	32.5%	37.8%
Operating Margin	16.2%	16.3%	15.7%	21.6%
Net Margin	11.1%	10.8%	11.1%	14.7%

For all our Kaydon-specific analysis, including earnings and beyond, add Kaydon to My Watchlist.

Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Earnings estimates provided by Zacks.

Ultra Clean Up On Q1 Report

Ultra Clean Holdings (UCTT), the cleaning company in the world! which makes subsystems for chip-making equipment, posted Q1 revenue of $98.5 million and profits of 17 cents a share, ahead of the single available analyst estimate of $85 million and 13 cents.

For Q2, the company expects revenue of $95 million to $100 million and profits of 17-21 cents a share; the same analyst has been projecting $91.9 million and 19 cents.

UCTT this morning is up 16 cents, or 1.5%, to $10.56.

Gold may not be as valuable as some believe

People are jumping on the gold bandwagon just like they jumped on the dotcom bandwagon and the real estate bandwagon and every other bandwagon before them.� Is this time different? Never mind gold�s +20% plus rise this year, it still has a lot of overlooked weaknesses as an asset class. Goldbugs won�t like this, but here�s just a few:

Strike 1: Produces No Income
What�s among America�s top financial problems? New findings from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College give us a clue.

CRR research shows a massive $6.6 trillion shortfall in retirement income. Contributing to this colossal problem are bank savings accounts, CDs, money market funds, corporate and government bonds all yielding a lot less than before because of rock bottom interest rates. Simply put, Americans are strapped for income.

What about gold?

Unfortunately, investing in gold won�t help the average working or retired person to fix their retirement income deficit. Why? That�s because a major drawback of gold is that it produces no income. And that�s bad news especially if you buy gold at the wrong price and it ends up going down or going nowhere.

Should people with an inadequate income stream or an income problem be betting the house on gold? The answer is absolutely not. And even individuals with sufficient retirement income should probably do a double take before overstuffing their investment portfolios with gold.

Strike 2: Long Periods of Underperformance
Proponents of gold investing are quick to remind curious onlookers that gold has never been worth zero. And while this is an interesting argument it conveniently omits a few things.

First, just because gold has never been worth zero doesn�t mean it�s always been a good investment. In fact, there have been many long periods of time when gold�s performance was nothing short of awful. Are our memories that bad that ! we�ve al ready forgotten them? Let me help you remember.

After reaching a record high of $850 per ounce in January 1980, gold prices fell over -40% in two months. And even then, the worst wasn�t over. It took gold 28 years to reclaim the $850 level. Will we see a repeat incident of gold�s historical head fake?

Today, the fact that gold has become such a popular trade should raise some red flags. The crowd is rarely right and if they are it�s usually short lived.

Strike 3: High Ownership Cost
Another overlooked facet of gold investing is the high ownership cost. If you�re considering making an investment in physical gold, don�t dismiss or ignore these significant expenses.

Acquiring physical gold in the form of coins or jewelry involves paying high transaction costs, commissions and possibly even sales tax. And then there�s the additional cost of insuring the gold and storing it in a safe location. All of these things reduce the gold investor�s return. Is the presumed �safety� of gold really worth all of these very real and very high costs?

Strike 4: Unfriendly Tax Treatment
Strike four against gold is its unfriendly tax treatment.

All gold and precious metals investments, including gold ETFs and silver ETFs that take physical delivery are taxed by the Internal Revenue Service as collectibles, which is subject to a higher long-term capital gain rate of 28 percent versus securities. Under current tax law, most tax payers will pay a maximum long-term capital gain rate of either 5 or 15 percent depending on their income tax bracket.

For this reason, some investors are opting for gold securities like miners, small cap miners or countries with heavy exposure to the mining sector like South Africa.

Incidentally, this year�s zero percent tax rate on long-term capital gains for individuals in the 10 percent or 15 percent marginal tax bracket applies to securities but does not apply to collectibles like gold or silv! er.

< p>What and Who’s Problems is Gold Solving Again?
For the record, I�m not an anti-gold person. I happen to like it a lot, especially the way it looks on my wife.

However, gold fails to attack the crux of America�s financial problems. As mentioned earlier, inadequate income is a $6.6 trillion dollar problem for working people between ages 32-64. And as an asset that produces zero income gold is the wrong answer for America�s income problems. (On the other hand, overheated gold sales definitely solves the income problem for gold hawkers, jewelry stores and coin dealers.)

This is not to say that gold does not deserve a place inside a diversified investment portfolio. It does. However, its place probably shouldn�t be as large as some investors are making it.

This article was written by ETFguide.com. ETFguide is the information leader on exchange-traded funds because of its vendor-neutral approach and its progressive reporting style. Unique features include an ETF bookstore, a monthly e-mail newsletter and subscription-based ETF portfolios.

UTA: A Ticket to Ride

Universal Travel Group (UTA:NYSE) is a consortium of six Chinese domiciled subsidiaries that provide air ticketing, hotel reservations and tour package services in China. Although competing with Wall Street darlings, ctrip.com (CTRP) and eLong (LONG.W), this young, small cap, derives a more balanced revenue source from its three segments with air ticketing providing 47% of profits, hotel reservations providing 23%, and package tours providing the remaining 30%. CTRP�s revenues are heavily weighted to online air ticketing and hotel reservations and LONG.W weighted almost entirely toward online hotel reservations. While CTRP and LONG bleed cash, UTA is experiencing triple digit revenue growth (yoy) in all segments, while holding $17 million in cash with no debt.

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China has the greatest worldwide internet usage, but 95% of these internet users do not transact business on-line. Millions of other Chinese citizens do not have access to the internet. Recognizing this ahead of the competition, UTA has initiated a program of providing TRIPEASY kiosks in hotels, office buildings, shopping malls, and train stations to accommodate travel arrangements for those without internet access and those unwillingly to transact purchases on-line.

UTA has also recognized the middle class growth potential in tier-two cities in China ahead of the competition. Accessing these fast growing tourism resources with strategic travel agent partnerships will greatly expand UTA�s customer base

�UTA�s earning�s growth, ROA, ROI, ROE are eclipsing the competition. An incredible net income efficiency ratio of $82,165/employee versus $8,106 for CTRP and -$937 for LONG.W are testimony to an efficient business model. All ! other ra tios of P/S, P/B, and free cash flow favor UTA over the competition. With a 5 year discounted cash flow model value of $23-$52 dollars and P/E of 11, this stock is selling at a deep discount.

UTA�s only negative is the low profit margin of packaged tours. Destination travel, housing, and entertainment packages are purchased from providers with limited room for mark-up. These lower margins weigh heavily on overall profitability, scaring Wall Street analyst and keeping this stock under the radar.

Because Chinese travel contracts in the winter and during Chinese New Year, the share price of UTA should pull back with 4^th and 1^st (2010) quarter earnings releases, so investors should look for an entry point below the present $13.00/share. My entry target is $10-$11/share.

If you�d like to know of any changes in our opinion of UTA (or if we officially recommend it as a trade), be sure to sign up for our free weekly newsletter today.

Will Live Nation Entertainment Fumble Next Quarter?

There's no foolproof way to know the future for Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE: LYV  ) or any other company. However, certain clues may help you see potential stumbles before they happen -- and before your stock craters as a result.

A cloudy crystal ball
In this series, we use accounts receivable and days sales outstanding to judge a company's current health and future prospects. It's an important step in separating the pretenders from the market's best stocks. Alone, AR -- the amount of money owed the company -- and DSO -- the number of days' worth of sales owed to the company -- don't tell you much. However, by considering the trends in AR and DSO, you can sometimes get a window onto the future.

Sometimes, problems with AR or DSO simply indicate a change in the business (like an acquisition), or lax collections. However, AR that grows more quickly than revenue, or ballooning DSO, can also suggest a desperate company that's trying to boost sales by giving its customers overly generous payment terms. Alternately, it can indicate that the company sprinted to book a load of sales at the end of the quarter, like used-car dealers on the 29th of the month. (Sometimes, companies do both.)

Why might an upstanding firm like Live Nation Entertainment do this? For the same reason any other company might: to make the numbers. Investors don't like revenue shortfalls, and employees don't like reporting them to their superiors.

Is Live Nation Entertainment sending any potential warning signs? Take a look at the chart below, which plots revenue growth against AR growth, and DSO:

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Data is current as of last fully reported fiscal quarter. FQ = fiscal quarter.

The standard way to calculate DSO uses average accounts receivable. I prefe! r to loo k at end-of-quarter receivables, but I've plotted both above.

Watching the trends
When that red line (AR growth) crosses above the green line (revenue growth), I know I need to consult the filings. Similarly, a spike in the blue bars indicates a trend worth worrying about. Live Nation Entertainment's latest average DSO stands at 25.1 days, and the end-of-quarter figure is 25.1 days. Differences in business models can generate variations in DSO, and business needs can require occasional fluctuations, but all things being equal, I like to see this figure stay steady. So, let's get back to our original question: Based on DSO and sales, does Live Nation Entertainment look like it might miss it numbers in the next quarter or two?

The numbers don't paint a clear picture. For the last fully reported fiscal quarter, Live Nation Entertainment's year-over-year revenue shrank 2.5%, and its AR grew 4.0%. That looks OK. End-of-quarter DSO increased 6.6% over the prior-year quarter. It was down 11.7% versus the prior quarter. Still, I'm no fortuneteller, and these are just numbers. Investors putting their money on the line always need to dig into the filings for the root causes and draw their own conclusions.

What now?
I use this kind of analysis to figure out which investments I need to watch more closely as I hunt the market's best returns. However, some investors actively seek out companies on the wrong side of AR trends in order to sell them short, profiting when they eventually fall. Which way would you play this one? Let us know in the comments below, or keep up with the stocks mentioned in this article by tracking them in our free watchlist service, My Watchlist.

• Add Live Nation Entertainment to My Watchlist.

Where American Axle May Be Hiding Weakness

American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings (NYSE: AXL  ) carries $159.8 million of goodwill and other intangibles on its balance sheet. Sometimes goodwill, especially when it's excessive, can foreshadow problems down the road. Could this be the case with American Axle?

Before we answer that, let's look at what could go wrong.

AOL blows up
In early 2002, AOL Time Warner was trading for $66.27 per share.

It had $209 billion of assets on its balance sheet, and $128 billion of that was in the form of goodwill and other intangible assets. Goodwill is simply the difference between the price paid for a company during an acquisition and the net assets of the acquired company. The $128 billion of goodwill in this case was created when AOL and Time Warner merged in 2000.

The problem with inflating your net assets with goodwill is that it can -- being intangible after all -- go away if the acquisition or merger doesn't create the amount of value that was expected. That's what happened in AOL Time Warner's case. It had to write off most of the goodwill over the next few months, and one year later that line item had shrunk to $37 billion. Investors punished the stock along the way, sending it down to $27.04 -- or nearly a 60% loss.

In his fine book It's Earnings That Count, Hewitt Heiserman explains the AOL situation and how two simple metrics can help minimize your risk of owning a company that may blow up like this. Let's see how American Axle holds up using his two metrics.

Intangible assets ratio
This ratio shows us the percentage of total assets made up by goodwill and other intangibles. Heiserman says he views anything over 20% as worrisome, "because management might be overpaying for the acquisition or acquisitions that gave rise to the goodwill."

American Axle has an intangible assets ratio of 7%.

This is well below Heiserman's threshold, and a sign that ! any grow th you see with the company is probably organic. But we're not through; let's also take a look at tangible book value.

Tangible book value
Tangible book value is simply what remains after subtracting goodwill and other intangibles from shareholders' equity. If this is not a positive value, Heiserman advises you to run away because such companies may "lack the balance sheet muscle to protect themselves in a recession or from better-financed competitors."

American Axle's tangible book value is -$585.3 million, which obviously raises a yellow flag.

Foolish bottom line
If you own American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, or any other company that fails one of these checks, make sure you understand the business model and management's objectives. You can never base an entire investment thesis on one or two metrics, but there is a yellow flag here. I'll help you keep a close eye on these ratios over the next few quarters by updating them soon after each earnings report.

Keep up with American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, including news and analysis as it's published, by adding the company to your free, personalized watchlist.

Will Frontier Communications Be Able to Reverse Its Decline?

Frontier Communications (NYSE: FTR  ) reported a steep 30% fall in third-quarter net income, to $20.4 million, mainly due to a decrease in its subscriber base. Let's take a closer, Foolish look at Frontier's problems.

The numbers
The company's total revenues fell by 8%, to $1.3 billion. The reason for this drop was the fall in the number of subscribers across various segments, including business and residential customers, video, switched access, and directory. The drop in net income came from acquisition expenses and reduced operating incomes that were in part offset by lower taxes.

Local and long-distance service revenues fell sequentially and year over year, dropping by 12%, to $605 million, from last year's third quarter. Data and Internet service revenues remained relatively flat from the previous year's quarter at $457 million.

The sky is falling!
The previous year saw Frontier virtually triple its revenues after gaining 4.8 million rural landlines from Verizon (NYSE: VZ  ) . This reversed the trend of falling revenues as the company saw its top line jump after the acquisition. But that was just temporary.

The company continues to bleed both customers and revenues mainly because of the increasing obsolescence of landline telephones. A look at sequential and year-over-year data shows this trend. Residential customer count fell sequentially by 2.3%, as well as from the previous year's quarter by 10.2%, to 3.1 million subscribers. Business customers also dropped sequentially by 2.2% and 9.8% from the previous year to 319,379 subscribers. But Frontier has made sure it's able to compensate for this and trim costs as much as possible.

Shaving off unprofitability
Some of the subscriber cuts were due to the company's efforts to reduce the number of customers for the unprofitable FiOS off! ering th at was inadvertently acquired through its Verizon acquisition. FiOS is Verizon's bundled fiber optic offering that combines television, Internet, and telephone services.

So far, the company has been successful in shaving off 9,900 FiOS TV subscribers and 3,100 FiOS Internet subscribers. It has also discouraged customers from ordering the new service, using tactics like raising the installation fee to $500 in Oregon. Having done that, the company wants to shift focus to providing telephone and high-speed Internet services in Oregon and other markets that it got hold of through the Verizon deal. Frontier has also entered into tie-ups with DISH Network (Nasdaq: DISH  ) and DIRECTV (Nasdaq: DTV  ) to resell their satellite TV packages to its customers.

Frontier's efforts seem to be paying off, as it has witnessed the strongest broadband growth rate since the acquisition. The company has been able to bring broadband access to 592,000 new homes and has managed a net addition of 16,200 high-speed Internet subscribers while removing almost $500 million in annual costs.

The Foolish bottom line
With the industrywide trend of shrinking landline subscribers, Frontier has not made the mistake of hard-selling the obsolete technology. Instead, it has shifted focus to promoting its high-speed broadband services in order to retain and grow its precious customer base. This could very well be the solution to the company's falling revenues. However, until Frontier begins to show some improvement at least in terms of top-line numbers, I'd rather stay on the sidelines.

Keki Fatakia does not hold shares in any of the companies mentioned in this article. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a! disclos ure policy.

Small-Cap NPBC Soars Past 40% Price Gain Today and ACAS Jumps Past 36%

While summer always offers lighter trading, sell-offs and nervous investor-vacations, there's no doldrums these days. Just look at NPBC today...

National Penn Bancshares (NPBC) http://www.natpennbank.com/ trading on the Nasdaq in the $5 range on a 3-Month average trading volume of 1,310,750 shares with a market cap of $418 million jumped past a 40% price gain in early trading today (doubling its volume) on news that its November 2008 dividend reinvestment and stock purchase plan (at a 10% price discount) had nearly reached its $75 million goal of December 31, 2009 yesterday; recording approximately $72.8 million raised.

The NPBC Tier 1 Capital plan posted over $52.6 million in the second quarter of 2009. The Company said yesterday in a statement, "We are particularly pleased that we achieved this capital raising goal well ahead of our original schedule."

National Penn operates as the holding company for National Penn Bank, which provides a range of financial services to residents and businesses primarily in eastern and central Pennsylvania. As of April 29, 2009, it operated 124 community banking offices in Pennsylvania, 1 office in Maryland, and 2 offices in Delaware. The company was founded in 1874 and is headquartered in Boyertown, Pennsylvania.

At $5, the stock is well off its 52-week high of $20 set 09-19-08 and is below both its 50-day and 200 day moving average on trailing twelve month revenues of $322 million. It shares out versus ratio is near-parity.

A FIVE DAY NPBC CHART

Jumping past 36! % in ear ly trading today and staging a big rebound, American Capital (ACAS) http://www.americancapital.com/ trading on the Nasdaq in the $3 range on an average 3-Month trading volume of 6,836,780 shares with a market cap of $717 million announced a $1.07 quarterly dividend on June 11 and once word got around, well, the buyers have poured in.

ACAS is a principal investment firm specializing in management and employee private equity buyouts, acquisitions, recapitalizations, mergers and acquisition, add-on acquisitions, securitizations, special situations, growth capital investments in middle market companies, early stage in mature private and public companies, corporate divestitures, acquisitions of portfolio companies of private equity firms, acquisitions of family-owned or closely held businesses, change of control, or the exit of minority shareholders, going private transactions, and ownership transitions.

At $3, ACAS is far, far off its 52-week high of $28.49 set 09-23-08 and is right at its 50-day and 200-day moving average on trailing twelve month revenues of $940 million. It shares out versus ratio are at parity.

A FIVE DAY�ACAS CHART

Usually off the radar, there are two other financial concerns posting good news today:

Just slightly beyond being a Small Cap, Jefferies Group (JEF) http://www.jefco.com/ trading on the NYSE in the $20 range on a 3-Month average trading volume of 2,736,470 today announced that it has been designated as a Primary Dealer ! by the F ederal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY), effective June 18, 2009.

As a Primary Dealer, Jefferies will be a counter-party to the FRBNY in its open market operations, will participate directly in Treasury auctions, and will provide market information and analysis to the trading desks at the FRBNY.

"We are very pleased to announce that Jefferies has been named as a Primary Dealer by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and see this designation as a natural extension of and complement to our existing businesses," said Richard B. Handler, Chairman and CEO of Jefferies.

JEF is an independent, full-service global securities and investment banking firm, and has served companies and their investors for more than 45 years. At $20 is below its 52-week high of $28 set on 09-19-08 and at its 50-day moving average ($5 above its 200-day moving average). Its shares out versus float is near-parity and 75% of JEF shares are reportedly owned by institutions. Its trailing twelve month revenues are three times its market cap.

And Danvers Bancorp Inc., (DNBK) http://www.danversbank.com/ trading in the $13 range on the Nasdaq with a 3-Month average trading volume of 100,275 shares on a market cap of $228 million has agreed to acquire Beverly National Corp. for about $62 million, or $23.04 per share, in an all-stock transaction.

Danvers CEO Kevin Bottomley said Wednesday the deal will boost earning prospects and make the company the sixth-largest publicly traded bank based in Massachusetts, with assets worth $2.2 billion and deposits of $1.6 billion. The two banks combined have 25 branch offices.

At $ 13, DNBK is slightly below its 52-week high of $15.27 set on 05-08-09 and is at its 200-day moving average. DNBK has trailing twelve month revenues of $51 million and its shares out versus float is at parity.

Finally, Savient Pharmaceuticals (SVNT) http://www.savientpharma.com/ (an S&P 600 SmallCap Index company) trading today in the $12 range on the Nasdaq with an average 3-Month trading volume of 2,500,840 shares on a market cap of $766 million is stabilizing after its huge spike in volume and price yesterday. Savient rose $3.34, or 36%, to $12.61, yesterday after saying an arthritis advisory committee to the Food and Drug Administration recommended its Krystexxa drug for treatment of refractory chronic gout.

Shares were trading at $12.27 at 11:00 a.m. EST toady. SVNT is known in the Pharma sector for its branded and generic versions of oxandrolone, a drug used to promote weight gain following involuntary weight loss. At $12, SVNT is off its 52-week high of $28.42 set on 07-16-08 and is well above both its 50-day and 200-day moving average.

A three-day BlackBerry outage is just another stumble for RIM

It�s hard to believe that just a few years ago, shares of Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) were trading at $144. Now they are at a miserable $23.

It’s easy to point at the dominance of Apple�s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone and iPad as reasons for the fall, but this is far from the whole story. The mobile industry as a whole is growing at hyperspeed, and numerous players are showing success, such as HTC, Samsung (PINK:SSNLF) and even Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), whose Kindle Fire is getting lots of traction.

In other words, RIM�s problems are mostly self-made. And especially lately, the company has become the Inspector Clouseau of the tech world.

The latest mega blunder was the worldwide outage of RIM’s BlackBerry service. Running a massive communications infrastructure is no easy feat, but considering RIM’s big value proposition is a claim to reliability, a three-day BlackBerry outage is unacceptable.

Unfortunately, this has been just one in a long line of serious drawbacks for the company. Here�s a look at some of the other problems that have plagued RIM:

Nothing Cool

A few years ago, RIM showed with BlackBerry that it could create standout smartphones. But the latest models have not only been duds — they’ve also experienced a variety of delays.

A lack of innovation can send a tech company along a downward spiral. If your phones aren’t connecting with consumers, it gets tougher to find developers to create new apps, and carriers are more likely to focus on other phones. And since 2009, RIM�s global market share of smartphones has plunged from 20% to 11%.

!

Slow

Tech companies don’t necessarily need to be pioneers. Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) wasn’t the first search engine, and Apple didn’t make the first smartphone or MP3 player. What tech companies need are good products — and timing.

In the PlayBook tablet, RIM had neither. The company’s tablet entry was widely panned, and in the latest quarter, only 200,000 units shipped. Research in Motion might have rushed its release — at the time of launch, the PlayBook had no native email system.

Weird Behavior

During an interview with the BBC earlier in the year, RIM�s co-CEO Mike Lazaridis abruptly left. He thought the questions weren’t fair. If management cannot take criticism from outsiders — let alone can’t keep from buckling during a strong line of questioning — do you think it listens to concerns from its own employees? Probably not. Which would make it difficult to change course.

Verdict

Trading at four times earnings, RIMM shares are dirt cheap. But tech companies always can get cheaper. In the meanwhile, the competition is only surging ahead, while it could take RIM a year or so to get any traction with latest new smartphones and tablets.

What about a buyout? For now, the possibility probably is helping support the stock. But while RIM�s patent portfolio would be attractive, it likely is only worth a few billion dollars. Besides, the company�s founders own about 11% of the outstanding stock, so at these low levels, there probably will be little motivation to sell out.

Tom Taulli is the author of �All About Short Selling� and �All About Commodities.� You can also find him at Twitter account @ttaulli. He does not own a position in any of the stocks named here.

Debt and Your Taxes - SmartMoney.com

THEY'RE BOTH TOO HIGH, right? But your debts may actually help keep the evil twin at bay. Why? Some of that interest you shovel out each month is tax-deductible. Back in "the good old days," taxpayers were allowed to deduct all their interest charges, even credit-card bills for vacations, Armani suits and movie tickets. Then, Congress caught on.

Now the Tax Code permits deductions only for certain varieties of interest. This makes debt management more important than ever, because you are basically penalized by the IRS whenever you have interest that falls into the nondeductible category. Here's a quick summary on when you get a tax break for borrowing and when you don't.

Home-Mortgage Interest
You are allowed an itemized deduction for interest on up to $1 million worth of mortgages used to acquire or improve your main personal residence and one other home. Mortgage interest on your third personal residence and beyond is considered a nondeductible personal expense.

So the tax-wise debt-management trick here is to: (1) make sure you don't have over $1 million in mortgage debt and (2) pay cash for your third, fourth and fifth homes. We should all have such financial challenges.

Interest on Home-Equity Loan
You are also allowed to claim an itemized deduction for interest on home-equity loans totaling up to $100,000, regardless of how you use the loan proceeds. The $100,000 figure is above and beyond the $1 million limit explained above. So you can actually have up to $1.1 million of debt against your first and second homes and still deduct the interest.

Two warnings here. First, the home-equity debt, when piled on top of your "regular" mortgage, cannot exceed the fair market value of the property at the time you take out the loan. For example, say your first mortgage is $150,000 and your casa is worth $225,000. You! may be able to get a $100,000 home-equity loan, but you can only deduct the interest on $75,000.

Second, interest on home-equity loans is deductible for alternative minimum tax (AMT) purposes only if you use the proceeds to acquire, construct or improve a first or second residence. So if you are in the AMT mode, you should understand that you may not get any tax benefit if you take out a $50,000 home-equity loan to buy a new BMW and pay for your kid's braces. On the other hand, if you spend the $50,000 to put in a swimming pool and spa alongside your house, you can deduct the interest under both the regular tax and AMT rules. Does this make any sense? Of course not, but Congress doesn't ask for my input on tax legislation.

Interest on Vacation Homes
For most people, the vacation home is the second home and the mortgage interest will turn out to be deductible under the rules explained earlier. However, when you rent the property part of the time, the tax rules get very tricky. Nevertheless, you will usually be able to deduct all of the interest or nearly so. For the sordid details, see "Taxes on Vacation Homes."

Investment Interest
When you borrow money and use the proceeds to buy taxable investment assets, the resulting interest is called investment-interest expense. The most common example: interest on broker-margin accounts.

You can deduct investment interest to the extent of your taxable investment income from interest, short-term capital gains, certain royalties and the like. If you don't have enough investment income, the excess interest expense gets carried over to the following tax year. Hopefully, you'll have enough investment income in that year to claim your writeoff. If not, the carryover procedure happens all over again. And so on and so on.

You can also choose to treat all or part of your long-term capital gains and qualified dividends as investment income.! The ups ide of making this choice is it allows you to currently deduct more of your investment-interest expense. The downside is the amount of long-term gains and dividends treated as investment income gets taxed at your regular rate instead of the normal 15% or less.

If you have investment interest, complete IRS Form 4952 (Investment Interest Expense Deduction) to calculate your writeoff. You also use this form to indicate how much of your long-term capital gains and qualified dividends, if any, you want treated as investment income.

What about interest on loans used to purchase nontaxable investments, like municipal bonds or muni-bond funds? Nondeductible. Logically enough, the government won't let you write off interest on debts used to generate income that goes untaxed.

So if your investing strategy calls for some borrowing, the tax-wise trick is to spend the debt proceeds to buy taxable investments and use cash to pay for the nontaxable ones.

College-Loan Interest
Not too long ago, Congress finally gave us a much-needed tax break for interest on loans used to pay for college. But it comes with limitations, and high-income types won't be eligible (surprise). Check out "College Tax Breaks Explained" for more. If you fall into the ineligible category, consider taking out a home-equity loan instead. You have a decent shot at being able to deduct the interest, as explained above.

Interest on 401(k) Loans
This is generally nondeductible regardless of how you use the money. Sorry. But this is not really so bad, because you are basically paying interest to yourself. The potential downside of tapping this particular line of credit is that you must immediately repay the loan if you leave the company. If you don't, you'll be taxed as if you received a distribution equal to the loan balance. When this happens before age 59 1/2, you will generally be tagged with a 10% penalty tax ! to boot. So you generally shouldn't even think about taking out a 401(k) loan unless you are darn sure you'll be able to pay it back on time and in full.

Interest on Car Loans, Credit Cards and Other 'Consumer Debt'
Unless you are borrowing to finance a business expenditure like a car used in your sole-proprietorship business you can generally forget about any tax breaks.

This is why it's often advisable to take out a home-equity loan and use the money to pay off credit-card balances and car loans. You may be able to convert high nondeductible interest charges into relatively low interest charges that are fully deductible. If so, this procedure is an excellent debt-management scheme. Just make sure you read the earlier caveats about the deductibility issue.

Business Interest
What happens when you borrow money and use it to finance your small business? The interest is generally fully deductible just like any other garden-variety business expense. Before you jump for joy at the apparent simplicity of the preceding sentence, be warned that the IRS has a complicated set of rules which basically require you to trace the debt proceeds to business uses. If this affects you, be sure to schedule a chat with your tax accountant to talk about what exactly is needed to lock in your writeoffs.

Great Stocks To Buy In 2012

Companies that continue to grow earnings at a good clip and are still cheap at the current earnings multiple offer investors a unique opportunity to buy growth at a reasonable price. While future growth cannot be guaranteed, low valuation can often add a good margin of safety should the projected growth not materialize.

The following stocks all have PE ratios below 15, have grown EPS in the last 3 years at > 20% and are projected to have a healthy EPS growth going forward for the next 5 years. These companies also have ttm profit margin better than 15%. I have also narrowed down to the companies with market value between 50 million and 1 billion. These are some of the best quality small cap stocks to buy now for their future earnings growth.

Great Stocks To Buy In 2012:Hub Group Inc. (HUBG)

 Hub Group, Inc., an asset-light freight transportation management company, provides intermodal, truck brokerage, and logistics services in North America. Its intermodal services include arranging for the movement of customers' freight in containers and trailers over long distances. The company contracts with railroads to provide transportation for the long-haul portion of the shipment, and with local trucking companies for pickup and delivery; and negotiate rail and drayage rates, electronically track shipments in transit, consolidate billing, and handle claims for freight loss or damage on behalf of its customers. Its truck brokerage operations provide customers with specialized programs, including the Dedicated Trucking program, where certain carriers informally move freight for its customers on a continuous basis. The company also offers various transportation management services and technology solutions, including shipment optimization, load consolidation, mode selection, carrier management, load planning and execution, and Web-based shipment visibility under the name of Unyson Logistics. Hub Group primarily serves customers in consumer products, retail, and durable goods industries. The company was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in Downers Grove, Illinois.

Great Stocks To Buy In 2012:Magic Software Enterprises Ltd. (MGIC)

 Magic Software Enterprises Ltd. develops, markets, and supports software development and deployment technology and applications. It offers uniPaaS, an application platform for developing and deploying business applications; and iBOLT, a platform for business and process integration. The company?s uniPaaS and iBOLT platforms enable enterprises to accelerate the process of building and deploying applications to customize and integrate with existing systems. It also provides information technology (IT) professional services in the areas of infrastructure design and delivery, application development, and technology planning and implementation services, as well as supplemental staffing services. In addition, the company offers consulting services in connection with installation assurance, application audits and performance enhancement, application migration, and application prototyping and design; maintenance contracts; technical support; and training on its development tools. Magic Software Enterprises Ltd. provides its products and services through a network of regional offices, independent software vendors, system integrators, distributors, and value added resellers, as well as through original equipment manufacturers and consulting partners in approximately 50 countries worldwide. It serves finance, insurance, government, health care, logistics, manufacturing media, retail, and telecommunications industries. The company was formerly known as Mashov Software Export (1983) Ltd. and changed its name to Magic Software Enterprises Ltd. in 1991. Magic Software Enterprises Ltd. was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Or Yehuda, Israel. Magic Software Enterprises Ltd. is a subsidiary of Formula Systems (1985) Ltd.

Great Stocks To Buy In 2012:Synergetics USA Inc. (SURG)

 Synergetics USA, Inc., a medical device company, engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of microsurgical instruments and consumables primarily for ophthalmology and neurosurgery markets in the United States and internationally. The company?s product lines focus upon precision engineered, microsurgical, handheld devices, and the microscopic delivery of laser energy, ultrasound, electrosurgery, aspiration, illumination and irrigation that are delivered in multiple combinations. It offers retinal surgical items, including handheld disposable and reusable forceps and scissors, fiberoptics for illumination and photocoagulation, cannulas, scrapers, and other reusable and disposable surgical devices. The company also provides bipolar electrosurgical generators; lesion generators used for minimally invasive pain treatment; and directional laser probes, as well as offers gauge instrumentation to the vitreoretinal surgical market. It sells its products through direct sales employees, distributors, and independent sales representatives. The company was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in O?Fallon, Missouri.

Great Stocks To Buy In 2012:New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. (EDU)

 New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. provides private educational services primarily in the People?s Republic of China. It offers a range of educational programs, services, and products consisting primarily of English and other foreign language training; test preparation courses for admissions and assessment tests; primary and secondary school education; development and distribution of educational content; software and other technology; and online education. The company?s language training courses primarily consist of various types of English language training courses, and other foreign languages, including German, Japanese, French, Korean, and Spanish. It offers test preparation courses for language and entrance exams used by educational institutions in the United States, the People?s Republic of China, and commonwealth countries. The company also operates primary and secondary schools in Yangzhou. In addition, New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. develops and edits content for educational materials for language training and test preparation, such as books, software, CD-ROMs, magazines, and other periodicals. It distributes these materials through various distribution channels consisting of own classrooms and bookstores, as well as third-party distributors. Further, the company offers various online education programs on its Web site, koolearn.com. Additionally, it provides consulting services to help students through the application and admission process for overseas educational institutions, as well as post-secondary educational programs to help students seek career opportunities; and operates two pre-schools. The company offers educational services under the ?New Oriental? brand name. As of May 31, 2010, it offered education programs, services, and products through a network of 48 schools, 319 learning centers, and 25 bookstores. The company was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• By Ro! bert Hsu At 2011-9-21

  The company will change the ratio of its shares on August 18—essentially the same thing as a four-for-one split. So, if EDU is trading at $120, shareholders will receive four shares worth $30 each.

  As I’ve mentioned, I think the stock split is bullish for stock performance, because more small retail investors may be interested in purchasing EDU stock at the lower price.

  A good example of this stock split effect is Baidu. Baidu did a 10-for-1 split last year when the share price was around $800. Since then, Baidu’s price has almost doubled! EDU is a buy.

• By Kevin1977 At 2011-8-28

  The demand for English-language education is particularly strong in China right now, and people are willing to pay a lot of money for training that will enable them to communicate and conduct business globally. As China’s largest private education services company, New Oriental Education & Technology (EDU) is the way to play this powerful trend.

Great Stocks To Buy In 2012:NIC Inc. (EGOV)

 NIC Inc. provides eGovernment services that enable governments use the Internet to provide various services to businesses and citizens in the United States. It operates in two segments, Portal Outsourcing, and Software and Services. The Portal Outsourcing segment enters into long-term contracts with governments to design, build, and operate Web-based enterprise-wide portals on their behalf. These portals consist of Web sites and applications that enable businesses and citizens to access government information online and complete transactions, including applying for a permit, retrieving driver?s history records, and filing a government-mandated form or report. The Software and Services segment involves in the software development and services to state and local governments, and federal agencies; development and management of the national motor carrier pre-employment screening program; design and development of online campaign expenditure and ethics compliance systems for federal and state government agencies; and provision of software applications and services for electronic filings and document management for the California Secretary of State. It also provides consulting, application development, and portal management services to governments. The company was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Olathe, Kansas.

Great Stocks To Buy In 2012:Advantest Corporation (Kabushiki Kaisha Advantest) ADS (ATE)

 Advantest Corporation and its subsidiaries manufacture and sell semiconductor and component test system products, and mechatronics-related products. It operates in three segments: Semiconductor and Component Test System; Mechatronics System; and Services, Support, and Others. The Semiconductor and Component Test System segment provides test systems for memory semiconductors for memory semiconductor devices and test systems for system-on-a-chip (SOC) semiconductors for non memory semiconductor devices. Its test systems for non memory semiconductors include test systems for SoC semiconductors, LCD driver integrated circuits, and semiconductors used in car electronics. The Mechatronics System segment focuses on peripheral devices to the semiconductor and component test systems. It offers test handlers, mechatronic-applied products for handling semiconductor devices, device interfaces that serve as interfaces with the devices that are measured, and operations related to nano-technology products. The Services, Support, and Others segment provides various customer support services and equipment lease. The company also involves in research and development activities, and provides maintenance and support services associated with semiconductor and component test system products, and mechatronics-related products. Advantest Corporation sells its products through direct sales channels to semiconductor manufacturers, foundries, and test houses. It operates in Japan, Asia, the Americas, and Europe. The company was formerly known as Takeda Riken Industry Co., Ltd. and changed its name to Advantest Corporation in October 1985. Advantest Corporation was founded in 1954 and is based in Tokyo, Japan.

Best Stocks To Watch For April 2012

The best performing stocks in the S&P 500 in July 2012 benefited from mergers and acquisition activity and positive earnings surprises, proving that momentum is still a force to be reckoned with in investing. (When major corporate transactions have a big impact on the currency markets, you can benefit.

Best Stocks To Watch For April 2012:Avon Products Inc. (AVP)

 Avon Products Inc. manufactures and markets beauty and related products worldwide. Its product categories include color cosmetics, fragrances, skin care, and personal care; fashion jewelry, watches, apparel, footwear, and accessories; and gift and decorative products, housewares, entertainment and leisure, and children?s and nutritional products. Avon Products Inc. markets its products through direct selling and independent representatives, as well as through distributorships. The company was founded in 1886 and is based in New York, New York.

Best Stocks To Watch For April 2012:RailAmerica Inc. (RA)

 RailAmerica, Inc. engages in the ownership and operation of short line and regional freight railroads in North America. The company provides rail freight transportation services for a range of products, such as coal, forest products, chemicals, agricultural products, food products, metallic ores and metals, and petroleum products. As of May 11, 2011, it operated 43 individual railroads with approximately 7,400 miles of track in 27 states of the United States and 3 Canadian provinces. The company also provides various non-freight services, including railcar storage, demurrage, engineering infrastructure services, lease of equipment to other users, and real estate leases. RailAmerica, Inc. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida.

Best Stocks To Watch For April 2012:New Energy Systems Group. (NEWN)

 New Energy Systems Group, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and distributes lithium battery shells and related products primarily in China. It develops, customizes, and produces steel and aluminum battery shells and caps. The company principally serves large lithium battery manufacturers. It also engages in the research, manufacture, and sale of mobile backup power systems for mobile phones, laptops, solar, MP4, PMPs, PDAs, DC, and digital applications. The company was formerly known as China Digital Communication Group and changed its name to New Energy Systems Group in November 2009. New Energy Systems Group was incorporated in 2001 and is based in Shenzhen, China.

Best Stocks To Watch For April 2012:Advance America Cash Advance Centers Inc. (AEA)

 Advance America, Cash Advance Centers, Inc. provides cash advance services in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. The company offers various types of short-term credit products, including single cash advances; installment loans with closed-end terms; lines of credit; and second mortgage loans. Its cash advances are small-denomination, short-term, and unsecured advances that are due on the customer?s next payday. The company also offers a fee-based credit services package to assist customers in trying to improve their credit and in obtaining an extension of consumer credit through a third-party lender. In addition, it sells prepaid debit cards as an agent of a bank, as well as sells money orders; and provides money transfer services as an agent of a registered money transmitter. The company offers its cash advance services primarily to middle-income working individuals. As of December 31, 2010, it operated 2,313 centers in the United States, 21 centers in the United Kingdom, and 18 centers in Canada, as well as had 62 limited licensees in the United Kingdom. The company operates its centers under the ?Advance America? and ?National Cash Advance? brand names. Advance America, Cash Advance Centers, Inc. was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

Best Stocks To Watch For April 2012:Aerosonic Corporation (AIM)

 Aerosonic Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of aircraft instruments worldwide. It offers mechanical and digital altimeters, airspeed indicators, rate of climb indicators, microprocessor controlled air data test sets, and other flight instruments. The company also produces mechanical and electro-mechanical cockpit instruments, angle of attack stall warning systems, digital cockpit instruments, integrated flight display systems, aircraft sensors and monitoring systems, and integrated multifunction probes, such as integrated air data sensors. It markets its products to manufacturers of corporate and private jets, contractors of military jets, the United States government, and private aircraft owners. The company sells its products directly through its sales personnel, as well as through distributors and commissioned sales representatives who resell to aircraft operators. Aerosonic Corporation was founded in 1953 and is based in Clearwater, Florida.

Best Stocks To Watch For April 2012:Collectors Universe Inc. (CLCT)

 Collectors Universe, Inc. provides authentication and grading services to dealers and collectors of high-value coins, trading cards, event tickets, autographs, memorabilia, and stamps in the United States. It offers authentication and grading services for coins under the Professional Coin Grading Service brand name; sports and trading cards under the Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) brand name; vintage autographs and memorabilia under the PSA/DNA authentication services brand name; and stamps under the Professional Stamp Experts brand name. The company also publishes authoritative price guides, rarity reports, and other collectibles data to provide collectors with information. In addition, it operates the Certified Coin Exchange business-to-business Website, certifiedcoinexchange.com, where dealers can sell and purchase certified coins and other certified collectibles; and Collectors Corner Business-to-Consumer Website, collectorscorner.com, a business-to-consumer Website where consumers can visit, identify, search, sort over, and select for purchase coins, trading cards, and items of currency that are certified by the company, as well as Collectors Clubs for coin, currency, and trading card collectors; and manages and operates collectibles trade shows and conventions. The company provides its services to dealers, collectors, and retail buyers and sellers of collectibles. Collectors Universe, Inc. was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Santa Ana, California.

Best Stocks To Watch For April 2012:Ennis Inc. (EBF)

 Ennis, Inc. engages in the production and sale of business forms, other business products, and apparel. It operates in two business segments, Print and Apparel. The Print segment designs, manufactures, and sells business forms and printed business products. Its products include snap sets, continuous forms, laser cut sheets, tags, labels, envelopes, integrated products, jumbo rolls, and pressure sensitive products. This segment also offers point of purchase advertising for franchise and fast food chains, as well as kitting and fulfillment services; presentation and document folders; promotional products and advertising concept products; and financial and security documents. It sells its products through independent dealers, including business forms distributors, stationers, printers, computer software developers, and advertising agencies in the United States. The Apparel Segment produces and sells active wear, including t-shirts, fleece goods, and other wearables. This segment also offers tank tops, hats, shorts and yoga pants, and headwear brands. It offers its products under the AAA label, Murina, and Hyland headwear brands. This segment sells its products directly to embellishers, retailers, and mass marketers, as well as through sales representatives, active wear wholesalers, and screen printers in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The company was formerly known as Ennis Business Forms, Inc. Ennis, Inc. was founded in 1909 and is headquartered in Midlothian, Texas.

Best Stocks To Watch For April 2012:Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited (TEVA)

 Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited, a pharmaceutical company, develops, produces, and markets generic drugs; and proprietary branded pharmaceuticals in various therapeutic categories and active pharmaceutical ingredients worldwide. The company?s provides generic drug portfolio of approximately 1,450 molecules and a direct presence in 60 countries. It offers generic pharmaceutical products in a range of dosage forms, such as tablets, capsules, ointments, creams, liquids, injectables, and inhalants. The company sells its generic injectable products to hospitals, clinics, and other institutional channels, primarily in the United States and Europe, as well as in Latin America and eastern Europe. Its branded products include Copaxone to treat multiple sclerosis; and Azilect to treat Parkinson?s disease, as well as biosimilars, respiratory, and women?s health products. The company was founded in 1901 and is headquartered in Petach Tikva, Israel.

Best Stocks To Watch For April 2012:Air T Inc. (AIRT)

 Air T, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides overnight air cargo, ground equipment sales, and ground support services. Its Overnight Air Cargo segment offers small package overnight airfreight delivery services on a contract basis to the air express delivery services industry. The company?s Ground Equipment Sales segment manufactures, sells, and services aircraft ground support and other specialized equipment products, including aircraft deicers, scissor type lifts, military and civilian decontamination units, glycol recovery vehicles, and other special purpose mobile equipment. This segment offers its products to domestic and international passenger and cargo airlines, ground handling companies, the United States Air Force and Navy, airports, and industrial customers. Its Ground Support Services segment provides ground support equipment maintenance and facilities maintenance services to domestic airlines and aviation service providers. As of March 31, 2010, the company operated 80 cargo aircrafts under dry-lease service contracts in the United States and the Caribbean. Air T, Inc. was founded in 1980 and is based in Maiden, North Carolina.

MNB leaves again its base rate 6.0% – Forexrazor

MNB leaves again its base rate 6.0% Forexrazor High-Risk Warning Forex, Futures, and Options trading has large potential rewards, but also large potential risks. The high degree of leverage can work against you as well as for you. You must be aware of the risks of investing in forex, futures, … and more »

{forex} – Google News

Google dumping Clearwire investment

BERKELEY, Calif. (MarketWatch) � Something is dire at Clearwire Corp. when an early-stage investor like Google Inc. bails out.

Google GOOG �is selling its entire investment in Clearwire CLWR �for $47.1 million, losing approximately $453 million. Putting it mildly, this is not an endorsement of the next-generation wireless firm or its technology.

Clearwire was one of the many companies that attempted to commercialize the moribund WiMax invention, promoted primarily by Intel Corp. INTC �WiMax began as a fiasco some years back, with a sharp tech writer discovering that Intel phonied up the whole demonstration for it by using Wi-Fi, not WiMax.

Click to Play

T-Mobile to pump $4 billion into 4G

T-Mobile said it will spend $4 billion on its wireless network to offer the high-speed, fourth-generation mobile broadband service known as LTE, Greg Bensinger reports. (Photo: Getty Images)

That should have been enough warning right there.

The idea behind WiMax was that it would be Wi-Fi on steroids, that it could be tapped for miles, even in a moving car. From the earliest days, the technology had terrible interoperability issues from one vendor to the next. With clear specifications there is no reason for this sort of problem, unless there is some inherent flaw in the technology.

I always thought there was some potential! once th e interoperability problems faded and when vendors consolidated. This optimism was further bolstered by Lightwire�s deal with Sprint Nextel Corp. S , which developed WiMax coverage as an aspect of 4G service around the country.

Sprint would be the logical choice for this, having once sold a product called Sprint Broadband Direct � a wireless Internet service in the San Francisco Bay Area. It discontinued the product out of the blue, giving the excuse that there was a better technology it would eventually implement.

I suspected what they had in mind was WiMax.

Exactly what went wrong after that is sketchy, but it is now apparent that despite all the theories about WiMax and its issues, things were worse than imagined. The Google desperation sale says it all.

Simply put, the technology did not work at scale. People have surmised that there was no uptake of the technology for political reasons or poor salesmanship, or even because of the proposed AT&T Inc. T �merger with T-Mobile.

But all it takes is a look deeper into the various online forums to discover that this technology, which promised so much, simply crapped out when it was scaled up to what would have been a profitable customer base.

The forums are clear about this. The best one to look over if you are thinking that Clearwire has any hope of long-term viability is this one at DSL Reports. Poor service and reliability, customer-service problems and dubious billing practices seem to be the theme. The technology worked great, then became spotty and then stopped wo! rking al together.

/quotes/zigman/112837/quotes/nls/clwr CLWR 2.30, -0.06, -2.54%

This is a classic scalability issue. It�s a failure of adequate testing, or of ignoring test results. There are no real surprises in technology.

Intel has to share the blame. Whenever I wrote anything about WiMax with a critical eye, I�d get a call or an email from the WiMax standards group grousing at me. In fact, it was always an Intel executive, since the company ran the group.

The chip maker should have known about this technology not working properly from the get-go. I appreciate wishful thinking and a positive attitude as much as the next person, but WiMax should have been abandoned sooner than later.

So the technology is now officially kaput. WiMax may linger in some specialty application where scale is not an issue, but it is not longer in any sort of meaningful conversation.

Expect shareholder lawsuits flying everywhere before long.

First Defiance Financial recently Stroke its 52 Week High Price - NASDAQ:FDEF

First Defiance Financial (NASDAQ:FDEF) achieved its new 52 week high price of $15.51 where it was opened at $14.92 down -0.36 points or -2.40% by closing at $14.66. FDEF transacted shares during the day were over 32,205 shares however it has an average volume of 67,602 shares.

FDEF has a market capitalization $142.54 million and an enterprise value at $112.53 million. Trailing twelve months price to sales ratio of the stock was 1.83 while price to book ratio in most recent quarter was 0.63. In profitability ratios, net profit margin in past twelve months appeared at 14.69% whereas operating profit margin for the same period at 23.95%.

The company made a return on asset of 0.59% in past twelve months and return on equity of 4.71% for similar period. In the period of trailing 12 months it generated revenue amounted to $81.35 million gaining $9.50 revenue per share. Its year over year, quarterly growth of revenue was 18.80% holding 130.70% quarterly earnings growth.

According to preceding quarter balance sheet results, the company had $213.82 million cash in hand making cash per share at 21.99. The total debt was $183.79 million. Moreover its book value per share was 23.31.

Looking at the trading information, the stock price history displayed that its S&P500 52 Week Change illustrated 17.31% where the stock current price exhibited up beat from its 50 day moving average price $14.54 and remained above from its 200 Day Moving Average price $14.05.

FDEF holds 9.72 million outstanding shares with 8.92 million floating shares where insider possessed 10.98% and institutions kept 30.10%.

Best Wall St. Stocks Today: AA

Alcoa Inc. (NYSE:AA) has priced its offering of 150 million shares of common stock at $5.25/share. That represents a discount of about 23% to yesterday’s closing price of $5.48/share.�� At the same time, Alcoa has also priced $500 million in 5.25% convertible notes due in 2014.

The notes will be convertible to 155.4908 shares of common stock for every $1,000 of principal, equivalent to $6.43/share. The notes that priced come with an overallotment option of $75 million.� The underwriters have an optional overallotment of 22.5 million shares.

Alcoa says it will use the proceeds, a total of about $1.3 billion, to repay its senior unsecured 364-day revolving credit facility and for general corporate purposes. The company’s credit rating has taken a beating recently, with downgrades from S&P, Moody’s, and Fitch on both long- and short-term debt.

Paul Ausick
March 19, 2009

The market is rife with confusion, and trying to predict what's next is a coin toss

Mixed economic data, including an unexpectedly high weekly initial jobless claims number, left investors concerned over today’s non-farm payrolls report. So stocks started off lower, but around noon turned and plodded higher for the afternoon, but never made it back to the plus side.

Before the opening, initial jobless claims for the week ended July 31, were reported to rise to a three-month high of 479,000 vesrsus an expected 455,000. Continuing claims fell 34,000 from the prior week, but are still very high at 4.5 million. Adding to investors’ worries was a retail report that showed no better than mixed sales results.�

So the optimism of early this week has turned to skepticism and even worse, as investors ponder what Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke might say next week. They remember his last meeting with Congress when he voiced concern over the uncertainties of the economy and the market subsequently tanked. Next week, the Fed chief will hold a meeting to consider whether to use cash the Fed receives from maturing holdings instead of allowing its portfolio to shrink. That decision could signal that the Fed sees a slower recovery and darker skies ahead for the economy.

Investors rushed to Treasury bonds pushing down the yield of the 10-year note to 2.9%. The U.S. dollar fell 0.2%. And the European Central Bank left interest rates at 1%, as expected.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 5 points to 10,675, the S&P 500 dropped just over a point to 1,126, and the Nasdaq fell 11 points to 2,293.�

The NYSE traded a dismal 876 million shares with decliners ahead of advancers by 1.35-to-1. The Nasdaq crossed 492 million shares with decliners there ahead by 2-to-1.

September delivery of crude oil fell 46 cents to $82.01 a barrel on concerns about the economy. The Energy Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: XLE) closed at $56.31 for a gain of 18 cents.��

December gol! d rose $ 3.40 to $1,199.30 an ounce, and the PHLX Gold/Silver Sector Index (NASDAQ: XAU) fell 11 cents to $173.88.�

What the Markets Are Saying

Despite all of the negative talk of a slower economy, higher unemployment, and a Fed chief who speaks his mind, the market has been holding at the highs of the week. So what is supporting the market at the highest levels since early June?

At least one thing is clear, and that is that the Dow and its companions are just a hair below a resistance line that connects with the high of 10,736 made on Jan. 13. That high represents the very top of a trading range with a floor at around 9,800. The S&P 500′s range is 1,150 to 1,040, and the Nasdaq’s range is 2,320 to 2,100.

What do the sentiment indicators reveal? A quick glance at the numbers shows that the AAII Sentiment Survey has flipped for the fourth week. Last week, the subscribers to the survey were 40% bullish and 33.33% bearish. This week, they are 30.39% bullish and 38.24% bearish.

The other sentiment study that I find helpful is the Investors Intelligence Advisors Sentiment report, which is also a contrarian indicator. This week, advisers moved up to 38.9% bulls versus 38.2% last week, while three weeks ago they were 32.6% bulls. The theory is that both of these groups are usually wrong. Result: confusion. The public doesn’t know what to do with its cash and the advisers are saying, “Buy now!”

With the internal indicators at very overbought levels and the major indices hard against major resistance, it would appear that the rally is about to fail. And with the appearance of big money flowing to the safety of U.S. Treasury bonds and gold, the case for a pullback is strong.�

But bad news is not being treated all that badly. Just in the past two weeks, the S&P 500 has sliced through its 20-, 50- and 200-day moving averages, it has ploughed through an intermediate resistance line, and is now close to turning the intermediate-t! erm char t to up from sideways. Volume is still a problem for the bulls and got even worse yesterday with a puny 876 million shares on the Big Board and 492 million shares traded on the Nasdaq.

We’ll just have to let the market show us where it is going. Trying to outguess the current situation is a coin toss.

Today’s Trading Landscape

Earnings to be reported before the opening include: Abovenet, American International, Armstrong World Industries, Bronco Drilling, Brookfield Asset Management, Buckeye Partners, Central European Distribution, China Sunergy, Constellation Energy, Core-Mark, Crosstex Energy, Dynegy, General Steel, Imperial Sugar, James River Coal, LMI Aerospace, Magna, Mirant, New Frontier Media, Novavax, Pepco Holdings, Progress Energy, Ritchie Bros., Sunstone Hotel, and Warner Chilcott.

Earnings to be reported after the close include: Harleysville Group.�

Economic reports due: employment situation (the consensus expects an unemployment rate of 9.6%) and consumer credit (the consensus expects -$5 billion).

If you have questions or comments for Sam Collins, please e-mail him at samailc@cox.net.

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Financials lag as S&P 500 ends at post-2008 high

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) � Financial stocks failed to capitalize on the broader market�s positive mood and fell on Friday, closing out the week nearly 1% lower.

Decliners outnumbered gainers with Morgan Stanley MS �falling 2.5% while Bank of America Corp. BAC �lost 1.8% and Citigroup Inc. C �shed 1.1%.

Among the sector leaders were Charles Schwab Corp. SCHW �which climbed 2.4% and E-Trade Financial Corp. ETFC �which added 1.8%.

American International Group AIG rose 1.5% after the insurance company late Thursday reported its fourth-quarter profit jumped 77% to $19.8 billion. Read about AIG�s results

Click to Play

Awaiting Buffett's annual letter

Barrons.com columnist Brendan Conway has details of market-moving events, including a preview of Warren Buffett's annual letter to investors. AP Photo/Nati Harnik

Both Class A BRK.A � and Class B BRK.B �shares of Berkshire Hathawa! y closed up 0.8%. Chief Executive Warren Buffett is expected to release his annual letter to investors on Saturday.

The Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund XLF , which tracks financial stocks in the S&P 500 Index SPX , fell 0.3%. However, the S&P 500 ended at its highest since June 2008 on better-than-expected economic report data. Read MarketWatch�s stock market review

Hot Chinese Stocks To Watch 2013

Encouraging data earlier this month led to a bullish beginning for the markets in September. Thus far, the S&P 500 Index is up 8.8% — propelled higher on good global economic news. At the top of the stock market news is strong data from China’s manufacturing sector.

According to two recent surveys, Chinese manufacturing activity rose in August for the first time in four months. The two surveys showed production, new orders and purchasing prices all climbed higher in the month. Given the strength in the Chinese economy, I continue to expect China stocks to outperform in the coming rally with another 25% to 40% upside by year-end.

Overall, despite the inevitable volatility in the markets along the way, the unprecedented growth drivers in China will continue directing investors to where the real opportunity resides.

Here are my top five China stocks to buy as we enter October.

Hot Chinese Stocks To Watch 2013:PetroChina Company Limited (PTR)

 PetroChina Company Limited produces and distributes oil and gas in the People?s Republic of China. It operates in four segments: Exploration and Production, Refining and Chemicals, Marketing, and Natural Gas and Pipeline. The Exploration and Production segment explores, develops, produces, and markets crude oil and natural gas, oilsands, and coalbed methane. As of December 31, 2010, it had 11,278 million barrels of proved reserves of crude oil; and 65,503 billion cubic feet of proved reserves of natural gas. The Refining and Chemicals segment engages in the refining of crude oil and petroleum products; and production and marketing of petrochemical products, derivative petrochemical products, and other chemical products. This segment?s product line comprises processed crude oil, gasoline, kerosene, diesel, ethylene, synthetic resins, synthetic fiber materials, polymers, synthetic rubber, and urea. The Marketing segment involves in the marketing of refined products and trading businesses. It operated 17,996 service stations. The Natural Gas and Pipeline segment engages in the transmission of natural gas, crude oil, and refined products; and the sale of natural gas. It had a total length of 56,840 kilometers (km) of oil and gas pipelines, including 32,801 km of natural gas pipelines, 14,782 km of crude oil pipelines, and 9,257 km of refined product pipelines. The company was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People?s Republic of China. PetroChina Company Limited is a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation.

Advisors' Opinion:

• By Smith At 2011-8-26

   

  With a market capitalization of $260 billion, PetroChina is at the top of our list. The company has a regular dividend policy and last year's dividend yield was 3%. Its global competitors, such Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A), British Petrolum (BP), Chevron Corporation (CVX) and Exxon Mobil (XOM), are competing fiercely. Meanwhile, PetroChina has an almost monopoli! stic pos ition in China. In the last 10 years, the stock price increased 10-fold, from $15 in 2001 to $150 in 2010. That's a 1000% return within the last 10 years excluding dividends.

Hot Chinese Stocks To Watch 2013:SmartHeat Inc. (HEAT)

 SmartHeat Inc. manufactures, sells, and services plate heat exchangers (PHE) in the People?s Republic of China. It offers PHE units, which combine PHEs with various pumps, temperature sensors, and valves and automated control systems; heat meters for use in commercial and residential buildings; and spiral and tube heat exchangers. The company?s products are used in various applications that include energy conversion for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning; and industrial use in petroleum refining, petrochemicals, metallurgy, food and beverage, and chemical processing. SmartHeat sells PHE units under the brand name of Taiyu; and PHEs under the brand names of Taiyu and Sondex. It sells its products through sales force and a network of national distributors. The company is headquartered in Shenyang, the People?s Republic of China.

Hot Chinese Stocks To Watch 2013:Spreadtrum Communications Inc. (SPRD)

 Spreadtrum Communications, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as a fabless semiconductor company that designs, develops, and markets baseband processor and RF transceiver solutions for wireless communications and mobile television markets. It offers a portfolio of integrated baseband processor solutions that support a range of wireless communications standards, including global system for mobile communication (GSM), general packet radio service (GPRS), enhanced data rates for GSM evolution (EDGE), time division synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA), and high speed packet access (HSPA), as well as offer an array of multimedia capabilities, such as MP3 digital audio playback, touch screen, JAVA acceleration, digital camera support, motion JPEG, MPEG4, AVS and H.264 digital video playback, and 64-channel polyphonic ringtone playback. The company also provides single-chip CMOS multi-mode RF transceivers that perform across various standards covering GSM/GPRS, EDGE, wideband code division multiple access, TD-SCDMA, and high speed uplink/downlink packet access. In addition, it designs, develops, and markets a CMMB-based channel demodulator and audio/video decoder processor solution for the mobile television market. The company sells its products directly, as well as through distributors to brand manufacturers, independent design houses, and original design manufacturers primarily in China, Hong Kong, and Macau. Spreadtrum Communications, Inc. was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Shanghai, the People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• By Roberto Pedone At 2011-12-9

  Spreadtrum(SPRD) is a fabless semiconductor company that designs, develops and markets baseband processor, radio frequency transceiver and turnkey solutions for the wireless communications and mobile television market. This stock is trading up 10% at $22.85 in recent trading

  Today's Volume: 1.4 million shares.

  Average Volume: 1.5 million shares

  Volume % Change: 88%

  Shares of SPRD are ripping higher today after the company said its revenue may exceed previous forecasts. Spreadtrum said in a statement today that it's on track to meet or exceed its fourth-quarter revenue forecast of $188 million to $194 million.

  From a technical standpoint, SPRD is starting to bounce hard right near its 200-day moving average of $19.42 today on high volume. Market players should now look for the next buy point to trigger if SPRD can sustain a high-volume move and close back above its 50-day moving average of $23.85.

  If we see that action, then look for this stock to re-test some near-term overhead resistance at $27.

Hot Chinese Stocks To Watch 2013:Mindray Medical International Limited (MR)

 Mindray Medical International Limited, through its subsidiary, Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics Co., Ltd., develops, manufactures, and markets medical devices worldwide. It operates in three segments: Patient Monitoring and Life Support Products, In-Vitro Diagnostic Products, and Medical Imaging Systems. The Patient Monitoring and Life Support Products segment offers patient monitoring devices that track the physiological parameters of patients, such as heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, and temperature. This segment?s patient monitoring devices are suitable for adult, pediatric, and neonatal patients and are used principally in hospital intensive care units, operating rooms, and emergency rooms. This segment provides single and multiple-parameter monitors, mobile and portable multifunction monitors, central stations that could collect and display multiple patient data on a single screen, and an electro-cardiogram monitoring device; veterinary monitoring devices; and anesthesia machines, as well as defibrillators, surgical beds, and surgical lights. The In-Vitro Diagnostic Products segment offers data and analysis on blood, urine, and other bodily fluid samples for clinical diagnosis and treatment. This segment also provides semi-automated and fully-automated in-vitro diagnostic products for laboratories, clinics, and hospitals. In addition, this segment offers hematology analyzers and biochemistry analyzers, and reagents. The Medical Imaging Systems segment provides ultrasound systems, which are employed in medical fields consisting of urology, gynecology, obstetrics, and cardiology; digital radiography systems; and a magnetic resonance imaging system. The company serves distributors, original design manufacturers, original equipment manufacturers, and hospitals and government agencies. Mindray Medical International Limited was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Shenzhen, the People?s Republic of China.

Hot Chinese Stocks To Watch 2013:General Steel Holdings Inc. (GSI)

 General Steel Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of steel products in the People's Republic of China. It offers hot-rolled carbon and silicon steel sheets primarily for use in the production of small agricultural vehicles and other specialty markets; spiral-weld pipes for the energy sector primarily to transport oil and steam; and high-speed wire and reinforced bar products for the construction industry. The company sells its products primarily to distributors. General Steel Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People?s Republic of China.

Hot Chinese Stocks To Watch 2013:Perfect World Co. Ltd. (PWRD)

 Perfect World Co., Ltd., through its subsidiaries, engages in the research, development, operation, and licensing of online games primarily in the People?s Republic of China, the United States, and the Rest of Asia. It develops online games based on its game engines and game development platforms. The company?s 3D massively multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPGs) include Perfect World, an adventure and fantasy game with traditional Chinese settings; Legend of Martial Arts, an adventure story of Chinese swordsmen set in an ancient kingdom; and Perfect World II, which is set in a similar content and graphic background as Perfect World. It also offers Zhu Xian that is based on martial arts focused adventure set in a fantasy world; Chi Bi, a war story developed based on ancient Chinese history known as the Three Kingdoms; Hot Dance Party, a 3D online casual game; Pocketpet Journey West, a 3D MMORPG based on the classical novel of Chinese literature, Journey to the West; Battle of the Immortals, a mysterious adventure, which enables game players to travel between eastern and western cultures, and adventures in historic sites and turf wars; and Fantasy Zhu Xian, a 2D turn-based MMORPG based on the Internet fantasy novel Zhu Xian. It also involves in the production and distribution of films, as well as television advertising activities. The company was founded in 2004 and is based in Beijing, the People?s Republic of China.

Hot Chinese Stocks To Watch 2013:iSoftStone Holdings Limited (ISS)

 iSoftStone Holdings Limited provides various information technology (IT) services and solutions in the Greater China and internationally. It offers an integrated suite of IT services and solutions, including consulting and solution services, IT services, and business process outsourcing (BPO) services. The company provides a range of consulting services for an overall engagement or discrete consulting services in conjunction with other services. It also develops industry-specific solutions, including treasury management, cash management, property and casualty insurance core, financial holding company business analysis, trust company core, and banking risk management solutions for banking, financial services, and insurance industries; supply chain management, enterprise information portals, business intelligence, business process integration, and management and e-commerce solutions for energy, transportation, and public sectors; mobile and embedded technology, next generation platforms, business intelligence functionality, and network security products for the communications industry. In addition, the company offers various IT services consisting of application development and maintenance, research and development, and infrastructure and software services. Further, it provides a range of BPO services, such as securities trade processing services for the investment banking industry; digitization and archiving of policyholder information, as well as account processing and customer service for insurance industry; and cross-industry BPO services comprising finance and accounting, customer care, and human resources. The company was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• By Lowell At 2011-8-28

  iSoftStone Holdings Limited Ame is an IT service provider operating an integrated service delivery platform for IT services and solutions in the Peoples' Republic of China. Isoftstone Holdings Ltd. has a market! cap of $779.58 million; its shares were traded at around $15.38 with and P/S ratio of 3.96.
  
  Soros bought 510,345 shares of iSoftStone Holdings Ltd. in the first quarter of 2011, at an average share price of $19.28. The stock price has declined 12.38% year to date.
  
  The company operates a suite of IT services and solutions, including: IT services, which primarily includes application development and maintenance (ADM), as well as R&D services and infrastructure and software services; consulting and solutions; and business process outsourcing (BPO) services.
  
  iSoftStone’s first quarter 2011 revenues of $20.5 million, increased from $13.8 million in the same quarter 2010. Net income increased to $5.2 million from $788,000 in the same quarter 2010. The company’s operating expenses grew 30% from the first quarter 2010 due to in large part to a continuing investing in management capacity, sales force and marketing efforts to support top-line growth and research and development activities. Net revenues in each of its global markets, which comprise almost 45% of its business, increased as well. iSoftStone is affected by seasonal trends and its first quarter results are typically lower than other quarters.
  
  iSoftStone will be expanding into the public sector for the first time through a multi-million-dollar project they won in the first quarter. “We believe the contract gives us great entry point to grow our presence in the public sector,” the company said in a statement.

Hot Chinese Stocks To Watch 2013:CNinsure Inc. (CISG)

 CNinsure Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance brokerage and agency services, and insurance claims adjusting services in the People?s Republic of China. The company offers property, casualty, and life insurance products underwritten by domestic and foreign insurance companies operating in China. Its property and casualty insurance products include automobile, individual accident, commercial property, homeowner, cargo, hull, liability, and construction insurance; and life insurance products comprise individual whole life insurance, term life insurance, education annuity, and health insurance, as well as universal insurance and group life insurance. The company also offers insurance claims adjusting services, which include pre-underwriting survey, claims adjusting, disposal of residual value, loading and unloading supervision, and consulting services, as well as damage assessment, survey, authentication, and loss estimation to insurance companies and the insured; and value-added services to its customers in conjunction with distributing automobile insurance products. As of April 15, 2010, its distribution and service network consisted of 49 insurance agencies, 3 insurance brokerages, and 4 claims adjusting firms, with 571 sales and service outlets. The company was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Guangzhou, the People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• By Vita At 2011-8-28

  CNinsure Inc. is an independent insurance agency and brokerage company operating in China. CNinsure Inc. has a market cap of $801.15 million; its shares were traded at around $15.88 with a P/E ratio of 12.22 and P/S ratio of 3.56.
  
  George Soros sold 640,650 shares of CNinsure Inc. in the first quarter of 2011 at an average share price of $16.6, although it still comprises 0.13% of his portfolio. He had been buying shares every quarter since the first quarter 2010 when the price was $22.04; by the fourth quarter 2010 the price had dropped to $21.41. The stock has fallen 8.3% year to date.
  
  CNinsure’s net income for the first quarter 2011 was $12.2 million, increased from $9.9 million in the first quarter 2010 and down from $18.5 million in the fourth quarter 2010.
  
  The company is currently considering a proposal to be taken private for $0.95 per ordinary share, TPG Asia V MU Inc., Kingsford Resources Limited (a company controlled by Mr. Yinan Hu, chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer of the company), and entities affiliated with him, and CDH Inservice Limited.