NEW YORK (AP) -- Signs that the global economy isn't strong enough to quickly burn through the world's ample supplies of oil and gasoline sank crude oil prices for a second straight day.
Weak U.S. economic reports Friday followed on the heels of reduced forecasts for oil demand. Oil dropped 2 percent.
The falling prices will help extend a long, slow slide in retail gasoline prices, forecasters say. The average price of a gallon of gasoline in the U.S. fell a penny overnight to $3.56 per gallon. That's 23 cents lower than the high for the year, set on Feb. 27. And gas is now 36 cents cheaper than a year ago at this time.
Drivers in some states, such as Wyoming, Montana, Missouri, and South Carolina, may even see a few stations selling gas for under $3.00 per gallon this weekend, says Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at Gasbuddy.com.
"We're looking at (futures and wholesale) prices that will propel this drop into the spring," Kloza said.
Gasoline prices appear to be on a similar curve to last year, but on an earlier timetable. The springtime highs instead came in late winter, and a seasonal low could come in June this year instead of July. "It's the same roller-coaster ride, but the top of the ride came sooner," Kloza said.
Top 5 Heal Care Stocks To Buy Right Now: Alpha and Omega Semiconductor Limited(AOSL)
Alpha and Omega Semiconductor Limited engages in the design, development, and supply of a range of power semiconductors worldwide. The company offers power discrete product line comprising trench MOSFETs, electrostatic discharge, protected MOSFETs, and SRFETs; and power ICs. Its products are used in notebooks, netbooks, flat panel displays, mobile phone battery packs, set-top boxes, portable media players, and power supplies. The company sells its products to distributors. Alpha and Omega Semiconductor Limited is based in Hamilton, Bermuda.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Tim Melvin]
This split among industry segments has created some value opportunities as those companies with high exposure to PCs are very cheap. And while the move towards smart phones and tablets may continue, the PC is not dead — demand will pick up along with the economy.
Alpha and Omega Semiconductor (AOSL)Alpha and Omega Semiconductor (AOSL) is a designer, developer and global supplier of a broad portfolio of power semiconductors. The portfolio of power semiconductors includes more than 1,400 products, and has grown rapidly with 195 new products introduced last year alone. Its semiconductors are used in a wide range of products, including things like personal computers, flat panel TVs, LED lighting, smart phones, and telecommunications equipment.
Top 10 Penny Companies To Own For 2014: Skechers U.S.A. Inc.(SKX)
Skechers U.S.A., Inc. engages in the design, development, marketing, and distribution of footwear for men, women, and children in the United States and internationally. The company offers various products comprising casuals, such as boots, shoes, and sandals for men, as well as slip-ons, lug outsole and fashion boots, and casual sandals for women; dress casuals; relaxed fit for men; sandals; and casual fusion under the Skechers USA brand name. It also provides a line of sport footwear for men and women, including men?s lifestyle athletic footwear, lightweight women?s sneakers, and sport sandals under the Skechers Sport brand name. In addition, the company offers men?s and women?s casuals, field boots, hikers, and athletic shoes under the Skechers Work brand name; and a range of infants, toddlers, boys, and girls? boots, shoes, and sneakers under the Skechers Kids brand name. Further, its product line includes Skechers Active products, such as casual everyday and sport fusi on sneakers for females; Tone-ups and Tone-ups Fitness products comprising casual and athletic-inspired sandals for women, as well as sneakers; Shape-ups toning footwear for men and women; and Skechers Resistance Runner technical shoes for runners. Skechers U.S.A. markets its products through department and specialty stores, athletic and independent retailers, and boutiques, catalog and Internet retailers, as well as through own e-commerce Website and retail stores. As of February 15, 2011, it operated 105 concept stores, 99 factory outlet stores, and 40 warehouse outlet stores in the United States, as well as 28 concept stores and 16 factory outlets internationally. The company was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Manhattan Beach, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Tansy Trading]
Let's move on to our case. We have been closely following Skechers (SKX) for 3 years. We initially got interested in September 2010 as we thought the decline in share price from 40 to 25 on the early demise of the toning shoe craze was overdone. It was actually seriously underdone when we got on board and we took some losses as the stock fell from 25 to 20, and we closed the position. We then dabbled in owning the stock as it bounced around in the mid-teens for nearly 18 months as the company liquidated hundreds of millions of dollars of very low demand toning shoes causing them to report losses in 2011 and 2012. The rapid growth of toning shoes and rapid demise significantly disrupted their business for 2 years.
- [By Pratik Thacker]
Footwear retailer�Skechers (NYSE: SKX ) �recently reported a blockbuster quarter. Results far surpassed the Street's expectations, pushing the stock price north.
Top 10 Penny Companies To Own For 2014: Investors Real Estate Trust(IRET)
Investors Real Estate Trust, a real estate investment trust (REIT), engages in the ownership and operation of income-producing real estate properties in the United States. It owns multi-family residential properties and commercial office, medical, industrial, and retail properties located primarily in the upper midwest states of Minnesota and North Dakota. As of April 30, 2008, the company operated a real estate portfolio of 72 multi-family residential; 65 office; 48 medical; 17 industrial; and 33 retail properties. Investors Real Estate Trust has elected to be taxed as a REIT under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. As a REIT, the trust is not subject to federal corporate income taxes, if it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income to its shareholders. The company was founded in 1970 and is headquartered in Minot, North Dakota with additional offices in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Omaha, Nebraska; and Kansas City, Kansas, and St. Louis, Missouri.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Aaron Levitt]
Here are five of the best.
Investors Real Estate Trust (IRET)Real estate investment trusts (REITs) have garnered much attention from investors seeking income in our low interest rate environment. Energy investors may want to hone in on them as well. Specifically, Investors Real Estate Trust (IRET).
- [By Aaron Levitt]
Why? The boom in Bakken shale drilling. For various REITs it�� a gold mine — and one company that’s definitely taking advantage of this trend is Investors Real Estate Trust (IRET).
- [By Monica Gerson]
Investors Real Estate Trust (NYSE: IRET) is estimated to post its Q4 earnings at $0.17 per share on revenue of $67.73 million.
Posted-In: Earnings scheduleEarnings News Pre-Market Outlook Markets
Top 10 Penny Companies To Own For 2014: LifePoint Hospitals Inc.(LPNT)
LifePoint Hospitals Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates general acute care hospitals in non-urban communities in the United States. The company?s hospitals provide a range of medical and surgical services comprising general surgery, internal medicine, obstetrics, emergency room care, radiology, oncology, diagnostic care, coronary care, rehabilitation services, and pediatric services, as well as specialized services, such as open-heart surgery, skilled nursing, psychiatric care, and neuro-surgery. Its hospitals also offer outpatient services, including one-day surgery, laboratory, x-ray, respiratory therapy, imaging, sports medicine, and lithotripsy. As of December 31, 2009, LifePoint Hospitals owned or leased 47 hospitals with a total of 5,552 licensed beds in 17 states. The company was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee. Lifepoint Hospitals Inc. (NasdaqNM:LPNT) operates independently of HCA Inc. as of May 11, 1999.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ben Levisohn]
Yesterday afternoon, Pennsylvania announced that it would use federal dollars to pay private insurers to cover eligible Pennsylvanians. UBS analysts A.J. Rice and Jailendra Singh think Community Health Systems (CYH), Tenet Healthcare (THC) and LifePoint Hospitals (LPNT) stand to benefit the most from the deal:
Top 10 Penny Companies To Own For 2014: Orion Marine Group Inc(ORN)
Orion Marine Group, Inc. operates as a marine specialty contractor serving the heavy civil marine infrastructure market. The company provides a range of marine construction and specialty services on, over, and under the water along the Gulf Coast, the Atlantic Seaboard, the West Coast, Canada, the Caribbean Basin, and the Pacific Northwest. The company?s marine construction services include construction of marine transportation facilities, marine pipelines, bridges and causeways, and marine environmental structures. Its marine transportation facility construction projects comprise public port facilities for container ship loading and unloading; cruise ship port facilities; private terminals; recreational use marinas and docks; and other marine-based facilities. Orion Marine Group?s marine pipeline service projects consist of the installation and removal of underwater buried pipeline transmission lines; installation of pipeline intakes and outfalls for industrial facilities ; construction of pipeline outfalls for wastewater and industrial discharges; river crossing and directional drilling; and creation of hot taps and tie-ins. Its bridge and causeway projects include the construction, repair, and maintenance of bridges and causeways, as well as the development of fendering systems in marine environments; and marine environmental structure projects primarily comprise the installation of concrete mattresses to ensure erosion protection, and the installation of geotubes for wetlands and island creation. In addition, the company offers dredging services; specialty services, including salvage, demolition, surveying, towing, diving and underwater inspection, excavation, and repair; and survey services comprising surveying pipelines and performing hydrographic surveys. Its customers include federal, state, and municipal governments, as well as private commercial and industrial enterprises. The company was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Houst on, Texas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Seth Jayson]
When judging a company's prospects, how quickly it turns cash outflows into cash inflows can be just as important as how much profit it's booking in the accounting fantasy world we call "earnings." This is one of the first metrics I check when I'm hunting for the market's best stocks. Today, we'll see how it applies to Orion Marine Group (NYSE: ORN ) .
Top 10 Penny Companies To Own For 2014: Westell Technologies Inc.(WSTL)
Westell Technologies, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the design, distribution, marketing, and servicing a range of broadband, digital transmission, remote monitoring, power distribution, and demarcation products used by telephone companies and other telecommunications service providers. It operates in three segments: Customer Networking Systems (CNS) equipment, Outside Plant Systems (OSP) equipment, and ConferencePlus services. The CNS equipment segment provides networking and high-speed transmissions products, such as modems, routers, versatile gateway devices, and wireless broadband home routers that allow service providers to deliver broadband services over existing copper, fiber, coax, or wireless infrastructures. The OSP segment offers next generation outdoor cabinets; enclosures; power distribution; fiber, Ethernet, and coax edge connectors; remote monitoring equipment; and DS1 and DS3 transmission plugs. This segment also markets and sells power distribu tion and remote monitoring solutions. The ConferencePlus services segment provides audio, Web, and video conferencing services to businesses and individuals. This segment sells its services directly to Fortune 1000 companies, and indirectly through its private reseller programs. The company offers its products through field sales organizations and selected distributors in the United States, as well as in Canada and Europe. Westell Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Aurora, Illinois.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rich Smith]
Late last month, the networking equipment maker had to scramble when its acting chief financial officer, Tom Minichiello, announced plans to retire on July 12 to become the new CFO at Westell Technologies (NASDAQ: WSTL ) . On Friday, though, just as the deadline was happening, Tellabs announced that it has found a replacement.
- [By Rich Smith]
On Friday, the diversified manufacturer named Brian S. Cooper�to replace interim CFO Braden Waverley on May 28. Waverly will remain acting CFO until Cooper joins the company next month. Cooper comes to Federal Signal by way of smaller telecommunications equipment maker Westell Technologies (NASDAQ: WSTL ) , where he has served as CFO since 2009.
- [By Geoff Gannon]
1. Steel Excel (SXCL)
2. FormFactor (FORM)
3. Imation (IMN)
4. Tuesday Morning (TUES)
5. Pacific Biosciences (PACB)
6. Maxygen (MAXY)
7. Westell (WSTL)
8. Volt Information Sciences (VISI)
9. Yasheng Group (YHGG)
Top 10 Penny Companies To Own For 2014: Diana Shipping inc. (DSX)
Diana Shipping Inc. provides shipping transportation services. It transports dry bulk cargoes that include commodities, such as iron ore, coal, grain, and other materials along worldwide shipping routes. As of December 31, 2010, the company?s fleet consisted of 23 dry bulk carriers, including 14 Panamax, 1 Post-Panamax, and 8 Capesize dry bulk carriers with a combined carrying capacity of approximately 2.5 million deadweight tonnage. Its customers include national, regional, and international companies. The company was formerly known as Diana Shipping Investments Corp. and changed its name to Diana Shipping Inc. in February 2005. Diana Shipping Inc. was founded in 1999 and is based in Athens, Greece.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Nickey Friedman]
Diana Shipping (NYSE: DSX ) is pure investment in dry shipping. The company transports dry bulk cargoes worldwide, including commodities such as iron ore, coal, grain, and other materials. Analysts have yet to respond to the rate increases, but no doubt more of them will be raising their 2014 EPS estimates shortly. Diana Shipping trades around 20% below book value now; back in its heyday, it traded north of $40 per share.
- [By Rich Bieglmeier]
Diana Shipping Inc. (NYSE:DSX) announced that its financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2013 are scheduled to be released before the opening of the U.S. financial markets on Tuesday, February 18, 2014. The Company's management will conduct a conference call and simultaneous Internet webcast to review these results at 9:00 A.M. (Eastern Time).
- [By Terri Stridsberg]
Not to be outdone, Diana Shipping (DSX) has trekked 67.5% higher so far this year, and sports a 52-week gain of more than 72% to wink at the $12.20 level. Even so, the equity saw a 28.2% rise in short interest during the second half of September, and a 35.1% surge during the past two reporting periods.
- [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Equities Trading UP
Diana Shipping (NYSE: DSX) was up on Friday's session, gaining 9.71 percent to $12.22 after Morgan Stanley upgraded the whole dry bulk sector.
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