Thoughts on Sarepta's Future Following Drisapersen's Failure

Top 5 Tech Companies To Buy Right Now

Updated with more information.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (TheStreet) -- GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Prosensa (RNA) announced Friday the failure of a large phase III study of drisapersen, their experimental exon-skipping therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).

Here are my initial thoughts on the how this negative drisapersen result might affect Sarepta Therapeutics (SRPT), which as you know, is developing eteplirsen, a competing DMD drug.

1. The regulatory risk for Sarepta just went up. Remember, the company intends to seek FDA approval for eteplirsen next year based on positive results from a very small phase II study of just 12 DMD patients. The failure of drisapersen in a large phase III study (186 DMD patients) heightens the risk that FDA will want to see more eteplirsen data before making an approval decision. 2. Sarepta doesn't have any more eteplirsen data to show FDA, so what does this mean? It means Sarepta may be asked by the FDA to conduct another, larger phase III study before eteplirsen is approved. That is not a new risk to the Sarepta story, but the likelihood of that happening just increased with the failed drisapersen study. 3. The drisapersen failure eliminates Sarepta's only competitor for an effective DMD treatment. That's a big positive for Sarepta. It's premature to write off drisapersen completely, but the drug has suffered a major setback, no doubt. That eliminates a lot of competitive pressure from Sarepta, even if a pre-approval phase III study of eteplirsen is required, delaying its approval. 4. Eteplirsen is a more potent, effective drug than drisapersen. I still believe that because eteplirsen can be dosed higher and has demonstrated a more profound effect on dystrophin production than drisapersen in previous studies. The ability to produce functional dystrophin is still key, in my mind. 5. We need to see more details of the failed drisapersen study. Some of the detailed data will be presented Oct. 5 at the World Muscle Society meeting. Other data, including dystrophin production, won't be ready for weeks or months, Prosensa said today. We learned today that the walking ability of DMD buys treated with a placebo in the drisapersen phase III study declined 53 meters, on average. That's good, meaning positive for Sarepta, because it confirms the DMD "natural history" data. Remember, in the Sarepta phase II study, the walking ability of boys on placebo declined rapidly and then stabilized once they switched over to eteplirsen. 6. The European DMD treatment market may have just opened up for Sarepta. Remember, Prosensa controlled drisapersen patents in Europe which blocked Sarepta from accessing patients there with eteplirsen. Sarepta is appealing those patent rulings, but if drisapersen is never approved, the point is moot and eteplirsen could be approved in Europe. 7. What if exon-skipping doesn't work at all in DMD? That is the worst-case scenario and cannot be ignored. Drisapersen and eteplirsen are both designed to skip over faulty/missing exons in order to produce functional dystrophin in DMD kids. Drisapersen looks like it doesn't work, and so it's not completely illogical to worry that eteplirsen, likewise, will not work. I'm not there yet for reasons stated above, but you can't dismiss the possibility altogether. 8. Drisapersen might just be a placebo and we've known this since April. In other words, exon-skipping in DMD works, it's just drisapersen that's a lousy, ineffective exon-skipping drug. Eteplirsen, on the other hand, skips those exons just fine. This is the counterbalancing argument to point number 7 above. I sound conceited, so apologies, but I sorta called this in April when I wrote about the phase II study of drisapersen presented at a meeting at Cold Spring Harbor Labs. This is the key slide on 6 minute walk from the drisapersen phase II study. Now remember, the drisapersen injection hurts -- a lot. As a result, the drisapersen studies aren't really blinded. DMD kids know pretty quickly if they're on drisapersen or placebo. With that in mind, this is what I wrote in April: It's entirely possible patients who knew they were receiving drisapersen were motivated to perform better during the two six-minute walk tests performed at weeks 13 and 25. Likewise, the kids on placebo were unmotivated. It's impossible to quantify with any precision the effect of unblinding might have had on this trial, but the placebo effect needs to be taken into account. At some point during the course of a clinical trial, the positive impact of the placebo effect runs out. Take a look at the slide again. From week 25 through week 48, continuous drisapersen patients (green line) and placebo patients (blue line) behave exactly the same. The two lines mirror each other, which suggests -- but doesn't prove -- drisapersen might be nothing more than a placebo. I can't wait to see the curves for six-minute walk from the drisapersen phase III study. Prosensa, on its conference call, said walking ability in drisapersen patients fell by 42 meters, on average, after 48 weeks, compared to a loss of 53 meters for placebo patients. Clearly, these kids performed worse than in the phase II, but what do the slopes representing the drisapersen and placebo patients look like between the start of the study and the end? Was there an initial separation of the curves, suggesting a benefit for drisapersen, that disappeared over the course of the study? Or, do the two curves mirror each other for most of the 48 weeks? -- Reported by Adam Feuerstein in Boston. Follow @AdamFeuerstein

Will Maleficent Do In Disney?

Not likely, says Wunderlich’s Matthew Harrigan of Walt Disney’s (DIS) Sleeping Beauty reboot starting Angelina Jolie. He explains:

A likely $55-60mm opening for Maleficent should belie what once were expectations that the supposed $170mm production cost project would emerge as Disney’s next major write-off. This is despite the twists in marketing a film that is in somewhat of a no-man’s land between an action film and a fairy tale fantasy. Although we are still modeling a slight decrease in F2015 film profit even with the advent of The Avengers: Age of Ultron we still have the studio earning near $1.2B. We value the studio at a likely Street high $19.1B. Event films from Disney Animation, Disney live action, Pixar, Marvel and LucasFilm support a top position even with fewer releases than other studios. We are therefore slightly increasing our S&P 500 linked price target on Hold-rated Disney to $83 from $77.

Shares of Walt Disney have dipped 0.1% to $83.96 at 1:29 p.m. today.

Top 5 Industrial Disributor Companies To Own In Right Now

Top 5 Industrial Disributor Companies To Own In Right Now: Bunge Limited(BG)

Bunge Limited, through its subsidiaries, engages in the agriculture and food businesses worldwide. Its Agribusiness segment is involved in purchasing, storing, transporting, processing, and selling agricultural commodities and commodity products, such as oilseeds and grains, primarily comprising soybeans, rapeseed or canola, sunflower seed, wheat, and corn. This segment serves animal feed manufacturers, wheat and corn millers, third party edible oil processing companies, and other oilseed processors, as well as livestock, poultry, and aquaculture producers. The company?s Sugar and Bioenergy segment produces and sells sugar and ethanol; generates electricity from burning sugarcane bagasse; and trades and merchandises sugar. As of December 31, 2011, this segment had a total installed capacity of approximately 144 megawatts; and sugarcane plantations of approximately 183,000 hectares under cultivation. Its Edible Oil Products segment offers packaged vegetable, including pack aged and bulk oils, shortenings, margarines, mayonnaise, and other products to baked goods companies, snack food producers, restaurant chains, foodservice distributors, and other food manufacturers. The company?s Milling Products segment produces and sells various wheat flours and bakery mixes; corn-based products; corn milling products primarily comprising dry milled corn meals, flours, and grits, as well as soy-fortified corn meal and corn-soy blend; and packaged milled rice. This segment serves industrial, bakery, and foodservice companies; and companies in food processing sector. Its Fertilizer segment produces, blends, and distributes nitrogen, phosphate, and potash formulations used for the cultivation of soybeans, corn, sugarcane, cotton, wheat, and coffee. This segment also produces single super phosphate; and ammonia, urea, and liquid fertilizers for the agriculture industry. Bunge Limited was founded in 1818 and is headquartered in White! Plains, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Maxx Chatsko]

  That missing production is a slight blow in the short term. SRN was only going to contribute 2,500 MT of oils by the end of 2014 and, if expanded further, only 25,000 MT. By contrast, Solazyme will capture much larger production volumes with its partner Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE: ADM  ) and in its joint venture with Bunge (NYSE: BG  )

• [By Maxx Chatsko]

  Investors will be on the lookout for further, perhaps larger, customer announcements in the coming quarters. Just remember that there is plenty of time between now and mid-2015. Until then, there should be no worries from the guidance and commercialization aid Solazyme will receive from agri-giants Bunge (NYSE: BG  ) and Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE: ADM  ) .

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.seekpennystocks.com/top-5-industrial-disributor-companies-to-own-in-right-now.html

Best European Companies To Own For 2015

Best European Companies To Own For 2015: TotalFinaElf S.A.(TOT)

TOTAL S.A., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated oil and gas company worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Upstream, Downstream, and Chemicals. The Upstream segment engages in the exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas. It also involves in the transportation, trade, and marketing of natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG), as well as in LNG re-gasification and natural gas storage operations. In addition, this segment engages in the shipping and trade of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG); power generation from gas-fired power plants, nuclear, or renewable energies; production, trade, and marketing of coal, as well as in solar power systems and technology operations. As of December 31, 2010, it had combined proved reserves of 10,695 Mboe of oil and gas. The Downstream segment involves in refining, marketing, trading, and shipping crude oil and petroleum products. It also produces a range of specialty products, s uch as lubricants, LPG, jet fuel, special fluids, bitumen, marine fuels, and petrochemical feedstock. This segment holds interests in 24 refineries located in Europe, the United States, the French West Indies, Africa, and China, as well as operates a network of 17,490 service stations. The Chemicals segment produces base chemicals, including petrochemicals and fertilizers, as well as engages in rubber processing, resins, adhesives, and electroplating activities. TOTAL S.A. was founded in 1924 and is based in Paris, France.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Aaron Levitt]

  Yet in this suffering, investors can find some pretty tasty long-term bargains. In this case we're referring to French major Total (TOT).

  Like rivals BP and E, Total didn't have a great 2013. However, there are plenty of catalysts that should help propel TOT stock into t! he future. For investors looking for beat-up bargain, TOT stock could be the key to a great total return in the energy sector.

• [By Jayson Derrick]

  Total (NYSE: TOT) announced that its European refining margin fell to $6.60 per metric ton in the first quarter from $26.90 per metric ton in the same quarter last year. Shares gained 0.09 percent, closing at $67.79.

• [By Dan Burrows]

  At the same time, RAI is forecast to have strong earnings growth this year and beyond. Wall Street expects earnings per share (EPS) to expand 6% in the current fiscal year, and by more than 8% in 2015. That should be more than enough growth and income to drive more total return outperformance this year and beyond.

  Total (TOT)

  Dividend Yield: 5.1%
  1-Year Total Return: 41%

• [By Charles Sizemore]

  Next Page

  European Dividend Stocks to Buy: Total SA (TOT)

  Dividend Yield: 5.1%

  Next on the list is French oil major Total SA (TOT). Total raised some eyebrows last month as discussions progressed to develop Russia's massive shale fields in partnership with Lukoil (LUKOY). It appears that, despite the ongoing threat of sanctions from the United States, business is going on as usual in the real world.

source from Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/best-european-companies-to-own-for-2015.html

10 Best “Strong Buy” Stocks — EQM DAL BITA and more

Popular Posts: 15 Oil and Gas Stocks to Sell Now7 Biotechnology Stocks to Buy NowHottest Services Stocks Now – SHLD LTM TRIP SIRI Recent Posts: Hottest Technology Stocks Now – OPEN CODE CSIQ GRUB Hottest Financial Stocks Now – OCN NBG OZM NTG Hottest Healthcare Stocks Now – HZNP MNKD BSX ISIS View All Posts

This week, these ten stocks, all currently earning A’s (“strong buy”) on Portfolio Grader, have the best year-to-date performance.

Since January 1, EQT Midstream Partners LP () has climbed 41.4%. EQT Midstream Partners provides natural gas transmission, storage, and gathering services in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Trade volume rose notably over the past week, up 203%. .

The price of Delta Air Lines, Inc. () is up 42% since the first of the year. Delta Air Lines operates as an airline for passengers and cargo traveling throughout the United States and around the world. The stock has a trailing PE Ratio of 3.20. .

Bitauto Holdings Ltd. Sponsored ADR () has risen 43.1% since the first of the year. Bitauto provides Internet content and marketing services for the automotive industry, primarily in the People'’s Republic of China. .

Since the first of the year, shares of Green Plains Inc. () have soared 49.5%. Green Plains Renewable Energy constructs and operates dry mill, fuel-grade ethanol production facilities. .

Since January 1, Repligen Corporation () has jumped 50.4%. Repligen is a biopharmaceutical company that develops therapeutics for radiology and neuropsychiatry. The volume of trades has grown significantly in the past week, up 159.3%. .

The price of Illumina, Inc. () has seen a 51.8% boost since the first of the year. Illumina develops, manufactures and markets integrated systems for the large-scale analysis of genetic variation and biological function. .

Since January 1, the price of Shanda Games Ltd. Sponsored ADR Class A () has grown 52.3%. Shanda Games develops, sources and operates Internet games in China. The stock currently has a trailing PE Ratio of 7.60. .

Shares of Texas Pacific Land () have leaped 58% since January 1. Texas Pacific Land Trust derives revenue from all avenues of managing land, such as royalties from oil and gas and land sales. Trade volume has increased significantly over the past week, up 244.4%. .

Since January 1, Forest Laboratories, Inc. () has shot up 66.8%. Forest Laboratories develops, manufactures, and sells both branded and generic forms of ethical products which require a physician’s prescription. .

Since the first of the year, the price of Questcor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. () has swelled 71.1%. Questcor Pharmaceuticals develops and commercializes novel central nervous system-focused therapeutics that address significant unmet medical needs. .

Louis Navellier’s proprietary Portfolio Grader stock ranking system assesses roughly 5,000 companies every week based on a number of fundamental and quantitative measures. Stocks are given a letter grade based on their results — with A being “strong buy,” and F being “strong sell.” Explore the tool here.

Michael Kors, Toll Brothers are stocks to watch

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Among the shares expected to see active trade in Wednesday's session are those of Michael Kors Holdings Ltd., Toll Brothers Inc. and Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc.

Michael Kors (KORS)  is projected to report fiscal-fourth-quarter earnings of 68 cents a share, according to a consensus survey by FactSet. Analysts at Wedbush reiterated the stock's outperform rating and raised its 12-month price target to $108 from $100.

Getty Images Enlarge Image

Toll Brothers (TOL)  is forecast to post fiscal-second-quarter earnings of 27 cents a share. The stock is rated underperform with a price target of $28 at Sterne Agee.

Cracker Barrel (CBRL)  is expected to report earnings of $1.22 a share in the fiscal third quarter.

DSW Inc. (DSW)  is seen posting first-quarter earnings of 48 cents a share.

Palo Alto Networks Inc. (PANW)  is forecast to report earnings of 10 cents a share in the fiscal third quarter.

Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen Inc. (PLKI)  is expected to report first-quarter earnings of 45 cents a share.

Top 5 Integrated Utility Companies For 2015

After Tuesday's closing bell, Workday Inc. (WDAY)  reported an adjusted first-quarter loss of 13 cents a share, narrower than the loss of 15 cents a share projected by analysts. Shares of the enterprise cloud-application company rose 6.2% in after-hours trading.

3D Systems Corp. (DDD)  said late Tuesday that is will be offering about 6 million shares in a secondary offering. 3D Systems dropped 4.6% in extended trading.

More MarketWatch news:

Van Doorn: Dividend stocks that offset inflation in retirement

Apple's best close in almost 2 years

Penny-stock email pitches surge in 2013

Apple Continues to Lead U.S. Smartphone Market

For the three months ending in July 2013, Samsung Electronics closed the market share gap slightly between itself and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) in the U.S. smartphone market. Compared with market share totals at the end of April, Apple's share rose from 39.2% to 40.2%, while Samsung's share rose from 22% to 24.1%.

The data was reported by comScore Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR).

The other OEMs in the top five were HTC, with a July share of 8%, down from 8.9% in April; Motorola from Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) with a 6.9% share, down from 8.3% in April; and LG Electronics with a 6.8% share, up 0.1% from April.

In the U.S. market, the Android operating system from Google enjoys 51.8% of the market, compared with 40.4% for iOS. The BlackBerry platform from BlackBerry Ltd. (NASDAQ: BBRY) fell from 5.1% to 4.3%, while Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) remained flat at 3%. Symbian has managed to hold on to 0.3% of the market, but that will dwindle to zero over time.

5 Best Quality Stocks To Own Right Now

The top smartphone properties measured by reach belong to Google (92.6% reach), Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) with an 86.3% reach, Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) with 81.7% reach, Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) with 66.8%, and Apple with 50.2%. The top smartphone apps belong to Facebook with 76.1% of U.S. users and four Google apps — YouTube, Google Play, Google Search, and Google Maps — rounding out the top five.

Cash allowances for CEOs? They're not kids

Do CEOs need an allowance?

Scores of corporate boards believe they do, and provide executives extra pocket money that might make your kids' allowances look like chump change.

As corporate proxy season comes to an end, it's clear that many CEOs have scored big on the compensation front. They've also parlayed huge gains from company stocks and stock options, whose values have soared with the economy's rebound and Wall Street's five-year-old bull market.

Given increasing shareholder unrest and the widening compensation divide between the top rung of Corporate America and the rest of the country's labor force, many corporate boards are reining in executive perquisites ranging from personal use of corporate jets to company cars.

Yet the executive cash allowance still lines plenty of pockets. About 7% of Fortune 500 companies provide CEOs an allowance, unchanged from 2008, says compensation tracker Towers Watson. Median annual allowance: $32,000.

A USA TODAY analysis of 2013 proxy filings found large-scale allowances at a broad array of companies of up to $500,000 a year, including payouts to CEOs that seemingly need them the least.

Governance experts say allowances, some in lieu of other perks, some on top of other corporate freebies, are unwarranted. "There's little economic logic for public companies to reward top executives with perks,'' says Lucian Bebchuk, director of Harvard Law School's Program on Corporate Governance.

United Technologies — where allowances equal 5% of executive salaries — is ending them this year, joining St. Jude Medical and Charles River Laboratories, which gave CEO James Foster allowances of $90,000 in 2013 and $180,000 in 2012. Components maker TE Connectivity is also weaning execs from allowances, but offset their demise by boosting salaries 10%.

Still, there's plenty of rationale among some corporate boards not only to keep the executive allowances, but to sweeten them. Donut chain Krispy Kreme has upped CEO James Morgan's ! allowance 25% to $30,000 a year. Tobacco marketer Lorillard upped CEO Murray Kessler's annual allowance for personal use of corporate aircraft to $375,000, up 50% from 2013.

Advertising and marketing firm MDC Partners says CEO Miles Nadal's $500,000 annual allowance is in lieu of health benefits, pension or 401(k) plan. Nadal, 56, is MDC's founder. As founder and CEO since 1986, Nadal appears to have ample funds for his golden years. His MDC shares are currently worth $197 million. He received $20.2 million in 2013 compensation and he gained $95 million from vested shares and exercising stock options. MDC also hiked his 2014 salary 6% to $1.85 million.

Some companies, such as private label food marketer Treehouse Foods, truck parts maker Meritor and building materials supplier Louisiana-Pacific, provide allowances because cash payouts are easier to dole out than other perks.

Dana Corp, which provides a $50,000 allowance to CEO Roger Wood, says cash allowances are less "administratively burdensome" and are part of a competitive pay package "which assists in recruiting and retaining talented executives from other companies that offer similar benefits."

Allowances are part of more elaborate perk plans at other companies.

Ameriprise Financial CEO James Cracchiolo, for example, gets a $35,000 annual allowance on top of about $300,000 in other freebies, including personal use of corporate aircraft, home security, a chauffeured car and income tax reimbursements. Cracchiolo's 2013 pay was valued at about $19 million, and he gained another $79.5 million from vested shares and exercised stock options.

American Express CEO Ken Chenault — another $35,000 allowance CEO — gained $39.7 million from vested shares and stock options, on top of $21.3 million in compensation. The company also picked up $19,850 in travel benefits, $32,600 for home security, $18,840 in personal travel security, $193,675 for use of corporate aircraft and nearly $14,000 in other benefits. Perks "suppo! rt our ob! jective to attract and retain talent for key positions," says American Express. Chenault, 62, has been with the company since 1981 and CEO since 2001.

Mastercard says CEO Ajay Banga's $45,000 annual year allowance is in lieu of perks, but the credit card giant paid out $63,000 last year for a car lease, on top of compensation valued at about $12 million. Banga gained another $16.4 million from vested shares and stock options. Harley-Davidson says CEO Keith Wandell's $29,000 allowance also comes in lieu of other benefits. But the motorcycle king revved up Wandell's $11 million 2013 compensation package with $15,000 for financial services and $11,000 in tax reimbursements.

Like Dana Corp., many companies insist that executive allowances, among other perks, are essential components of executive compensation. Lorillard, which boosted Kessler's compensation by about 20% to $10.5 million in 2013, says the 50% enhancement to Kessler's aircraft allowance provides "a valuable retention benefit."

Gap CEO Glenn Murphy, who received 2013 compensation worth $18.7 million and gained another $62.7 million from vested shares and exercising stock options, gets an annual allowance of up to $75,000 for financial planning services "given the unique complexity of his financial arrangements,'' Gap says.

The executive allowance comes under many names. Medtronic's executive "business allowance" ranges up to $40,000 a year, while Navistar's "flexible perquisite allowance" tops out at $42,250. At medical products supplier C.R. Bard, the "executive choice plan'' provides CEO Tim Ring $65,000 a year. Verint System's "professional advice allowance" provides CEO Dan Bodner $40,000 a year. That's on top of a $13,500 car and gas allowance, $7,500 in supplemental life insurance and 2014 fiscal year compensation valued at about $8.7 million. Bodner gained another $4.8 million from vested shares and stock options.

Dr Pepper Snapple Group's "executive service allowance" provides CEO Larry Young $24,000 a y! ear. The ! beverage marketer valued Young's 2013 compensation at about $9 million and said he gained $6.2 million from vested shares and stock options gains.

Other company allowances are designed to cover products and apparel. PVH provides Paul Murry, who received $6.3 million in 2013 as head of the company's Calvin Klein apparel division, a clothing allowance of over $20,000 a year. Recreational products maker Brunswick provides execs up to $30,000 annually to "encourage the use of Brunswick products to enhance understanding and appreciation of Brunswick's business and identify product and business development opportunities."

Brunswick CEO Dustan McCoy received about $8.5 million in compensation last year and gained $56 million from vested shares and exercising stock options. Brunswick directors, who receive $180,000 annual retainers, get the same $30,000 annual allowance. Among directors taking advantage: Nolan Archibald, who received about $84 million in 2013 in his final year as chairman of tool and hardware maker Stanley Black & Decker.

Vail Resorts provides allowances to senior execs and directors. Directors get $40,000 annually for discretionary use at company resorts and ski schools — on top of annual retainers and stock worth $171,000. CEO Rob Katz, who received 2013 compensation worth almost $4.9 million, gets a $70,000 annual allowance. The allowances "incentivize executives to use the company services in order to help them in their performance by allowing them to evaluate our resorts and services based on first-hand knowledge," the company says in its proxy.

Some governance experts say however they're characterized, allowances should be eliminated.

"A cash allowance is the kind of thing a 7-year-old gets for doing his chores,'' say John Shea, head of governance firm Proxy Mosaic. "These are adults. There's no good reason for allowances to be part of their compensation."

Was The Fresh Market (TFM) Earnings Report All That Fresh? SVU & WFM

Yesterday after the market closed, small cap supermarket stock The Fresh Market Inc (NASDAQ: TFM) reported earnings and began rising more than 10% in after hours trading, meaning its worth taking a closer look at the stock along with the performance of other supermarket stocks like SUPERVALU Inc (NYSE: SVU) and Whole Foods Market, Inc (NASDAQ: WFM) that have had or are having their share of troubles.

What is The Fresh Market Inc?

Founded in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1982, small cap The Fresh Market is a specialty grocery retailer focused on perishable product categories, which include meat, seafood, produce, deli, bakery, floral, sushi and prepared foods. The company operates 157 stores in 26 states across the United States, primarily in the Southeast, Midwest and Mid-Atlantic United States.    

As for potential peers when it comes to troubles in the supermarket space, small cap SUPERVALU Inc's roots are in supply chain and wholesale distribution plus the company offers a network of approximately 3,420 stores composed of 1,900 stores serviced primarily by the company's food distribution business, 191 traditional retail stores and 1,334 hard-discount stores (of which 957 are operated by licensee owners while large cap Whole Foods Market, Inc is now a leading retailer of natural and organic foods with 374 stores in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

What You Need to Know or Be Warned About The Fresh Market Inc

The Fresh Market reported that fiscal Q1 net sales increased 17.6% to $431.0 million, comparable store sales increased 2.5% and GAAP net income of $16.6 million verses $22.1 million (First quarter fiscal 2014 GAAP net income includes pre-tax store closure and exit costs of $7.0 million related to previously store closings in California and Texas). The company also affirmed its fiscal 2014 guidance of comparable store sales growth of 1.5% to 3.5% and adjusted earnings of $1.56 to $1.66 per diluted share.

In the earnings call (the transcript is available on Seeking Alpha here), the President/CEO commented:

With the exception of the first few weeks, growth in customer traffic remained steady throughout the quarter but growth in basket size was more modest. We continued to invest in thoughtful promotions and new customer offerings as we work to broaden our appeal to new and existing customers.

He also talked about how The Fresh Market opened seven stores (three in Florida, two in North Carolina, one in Illinois and one in Virginia) with six of these seven new stores having had first day sales that rank in the top one-third of all new store openings for the company. Since the end of the quarter, they have opened three more new stores (one in Florida, one in New York and one in Texas) and all three had solid day one sales and opened in line with expectations with the Houston location looking like it will be a particular winner. There are also fiscal 2014 plans to open 23 to 24 new stores

In addition, the President/CEO noted:

We have observed and recent extensive third-party customer research has confirmed that consumers come to us because of our unique combination of outstanding food quality, engaging customer service and an inviting store environment…. We have found and research confirms that consumers are increasingly shopping at more than one food store, which supports our belief that our success is not contingent on providing one-stop shopping for consumers.

In the Q&A when asked about the competitive landscape and what Whole Foods Market, Inc is doing, his reply was:

We are going to watch this very carefully. We are going to be exceptionally mindful of what our competitors are doing. But I would tell you that our research, our view is that people are coming to us for the quality of the service, the quality of the food and a different shopping experience. They don't see us as an organic all natural retailer. There's a couple others out there that are organic all natural retailers. People are coming to us for something different. So we think that gives us a little bit of different platform on which to compete and may make our customers less prone to price sensitivity of what our competitors do.

Top 5 Specialty Retail Companies To Invest In Right Now

When asked about what categories are doing well or not, the President/CEO said:

People continue to turn to us and enjoy perishable offerings. Sea food has been a struggle; the price increases and cost increases that we've all been through have affected us in sea food.

Latter, the EVP/CFO commented about food inflation:

And where we've seen the increases have really been -- the biggest driver was sea food and then kind of meat and produce and a little bit of dairy as we mentioned.

While the President/CEO said:

But I think our point in saying that our margins were compressed this quarter is to say that this is -- food retail prices are high for some people and it's tough to pass all of the cost on. So that's certainly the general point.

Otherwise and heading into earnings, it should be mentioned that The Fresh Market had a trailing P/E of 27.33 and a forward P/E of 15.51 – meaning its not exactly undervalued nor hugely overvalued.

Share Performance: The Fresh Market Inc vs SVU & WFM

On Thursday, small cap The Fresh Market fell 2.35% to $28.70 (TFM has a 52 week trading range of $28.60 to $57.17 a share) for a market cap of $1.39 billion plus the stock is down 29.9% since the start of the year, down 37% over the past year and down 10.6% since November 2010. Here is a look at the long term performance of The Fresh Market, SUPERVALU Inc and Whole Foods Market, Inc:

As you can see from the above performance chart, large cap Whole Foods Market, Inc has been a clear winner – up until recently while SUPERVALU Inc seems to have turned things around and The Fresh Market has more recently been trending downward.

Finally, here is a look at the latest technical charts for The Fresh Market, SUPERVALU Inc and Whole Foods Market, Inc – note the trend lines:

The Bottom Line. Small cap The Fresh Market's earnings report looks pretty good, but I don't know if it justifies a double digit rise when the market opens latter this morning. With that said, it does appear the company is in a much better position than some of its competitors like Whole Foods Market, Inc.

Next Round: More hoppy trails to explore

The road to Hoptopia has so many stopping places that after last week's trio of hop-heavy suggestions, it was impossible to exit without tossing out -- and tossing back -- a few more.

So here's another threesome of beers in which hops reign supreme:

Evil Twin Beer Table Table Beer (in 22 oz. bottle and on tap, eviltwin.dk). You know about table wine. Now there's table beer. But this is anything but a boring IPA, even though it clocks in at only 4.5% alcohol.

Evil Twin is the brainchild of Danish brewer Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø, who moved to New York two years ago and collaborates with 10 brewers around the world for the brand's lineup. This one, made with Westbrook Brewing Co. in Mt. Pleasant, S.C., and inspired by the Beer Table Pantry in New York, is a session beer with a twist: It's also a wild ale, in that it's fermented with the wild yeast brettanomyces.

As a result, Table Beer has a slightly sour twang that you don't get in other session IPA. There's also a welcoming citrusy dankness from the Simcoe hops, the only type used in the brewing.

Another reason beer connoisseurs may want to seek it out: A staffer at my local beer retailer said some folks say this tastes like Heady Topper, a highly praised double IPA made by The Alchemist in Vermont.

On the beer's label, Beer Table Pantry's Justin Philips says he asked Jamit-Bjergso to create a beer he could drink the rest of his life. I'm not sure I'd discard my desert-island favorites just yet -- among them Boulevard Pale Ale, Free State Copperhead Ale, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA -- but I will consider this a gateway to trying Evil Twin's other beers.

Interested in how the brewery got its name? The New York Times recently had an informative feature on Jamit-Bjergso and his twin brother, Mikkel Borg Bjergso, another nomadic brewer whose Mikkeller beer company makes world-renowned beer, just like Evil Twin.

Sierra Nevada Southern Hemisphere Harvest Fresh Hop IPA (22 oz. bottles, a! nd on tap, sierranevada.com). This seasonal beer is enhanced with freshly harvested hops from New Zealand (Motueka, Pacifica and Southern Cross varieties). These fresh dried hops are used to finish the fermented beer with the goal of bringing out natural, earthy scents.

The resulting brew has a flowery essence and a crisp smack to it. Fresh Hop IPA comes in at 6.7% alcohol and 67 IBUs (International bitterness units), solidly in the middle to upper range for IPAs.

If you find this one intriguing, mark your calendar for September, when you should be able to find Sierra Nevada's Northern Hemisphere Harvest Wet Hop IPA, which uses fresh, undried floral Cascade hops and citrusy Centennial hops.

Oskar Blues Gubna (4-pack cans, oskarblues.com). Packing the biggest hop assault of the threesome is this annual release, available through August from the Longmont, Colo.-headquartered brewery.

This beer, which boasts a hefty 10% alcohol level, is truly bitter and sweet. A trifecta of Chinook, Mosaic and Sorachi Ace hops delivers a powerful aromatic punch that's at once piney and peppery, with a smidgen of honey. The zest gains added dimension as you taste, thanks to the rye used in the brewing.

Smooth from the start, Gubna has a butterscotch flavor that emerges as it warms; also emerging is a grassy followthrough. This beer's 100 IBUs are more upfront than Terrapin Brewing Co.'s Hopzilla, featured last week. I wouldn't want to have to choose between the two; each has its pleasures.

Next Round takes a regular look at new and recently released craft beers. If there's one on your radar, or if you have suggestions or questions, contact Mike Snider via e-mail. And follow Snider on Twitter: @MikeSnider.

Trade These 5 Airline Stocks for Flyaway Gains in 2014

BALTIMORE (Stockpickr) -- "The best way to become a millionaire is to start as a billionaire and buy an airline." That old joke has been the common wisdom in recent years when it's come to airline investing. Airlines have huge cost burdens, they face major regulatory pressures, and they go bankrupt left and right.

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That's why this year's airline rally has caught so many people by surprise. In a year when few stocks are performing well, the airline industry has been a high flyer, climbing around 15% since the calendar flipped to January. Zoom out to last May, and those gains climb to more than 30%.

Airline industry gains aren't some fluke. Instead, the airline business is the poster child for a cyclical business; after the painful restructurings of 2008, it's no surprise that airlines are faring well coming out of a major cyclical low, even in the face of triple-digit oil prices.

That's why we're taking a closer look at the technical trading setups in five big airline stock charts today.

>>Sell These 5 Toxic Stocks Before It's Too Late

For the unfamiliar, technical analysis is a way for investors to quantify qualitative factors, such as investor psychology, based on a stock's price action and trends. Once the domain of cloistered trading teams on Wall Street, technicals can help top traders make consistently profitable trades and can aid fundamental investors in better planning their stock execution.

Without further ado, let's take a look at five technical setups worth trading now.

United Continental Holdings

First up is United Continental Holdings (UAL), an airline name that's been one of the least inspiring performers year-to-date. After rallying hard to start January, UAL has spent the months since consolidating sideways, down around 15% from the high water mark shares set at the beginning of the year. But UAL could be getting ready to make up for that lost ground. In the short-term, shares are looking bullish again.

>>3 Stocks Breaking Out on Big Volume

That's thanks to an ascending triangle setup that's been shaping up in shares of UAL since the last week of April. The pattern is formed by horizontal resistance above shares at $42 and uptrending support to the downside. Basically, as UAL bounces in between those two technically important levels, it's getting squeezed closer and closer to a breakout above that $42 price ceiling. When that happens, we've got a buy signal.

The short-term size of the price pattern in UAL comes with equally short-term trading implications. But the bullish move could be just enough to break shares of United Continental above the dashed trend line at the top of the chart. If that happens, we've got a secondary buying opportunity in this $15.5 billion airline.

UAL hasn't been the most attractive airline name in 2014, but that could be about to change.

Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines (DAL), on the other hand, has been one of the most attractive airline trades this year. Since the calendar flipped to January, Delta has rallied 40% -- and that's on top of the gains that this airline returned to investors last year. Now this stock is positioned for even higher ground; and you don't have to be an expert technical trader to see why.

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For the last year, Delta has been bouncing higher in an uptrending channel, a pair of parallel trend lines that have given traders a very high probability range for shares to remain with. Put another way, an ideal buying opportunity has come up for DAL bulls every time this stock has bounced off of trend line support along the bottom of the channel. Trend channels are about as simple as trading patterns get: Up is good and down is bad. So, with DAL's chart pointing up and to the right, this is very much a "buy the dips stock."

Relative strength adds some important backup for a buy signal in Delta. That performance indicator has been in an uptrend since back in August, a signal that DAL is continually outperforming the S&P in good times and in bad ones.

Alaska Air Group

We're seeing the exact same setup in shares of Alaska Air Group (ALK), the $7 billion holding company that owns Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air. Like Delta, Alaska Air has been bouncing its way higher in a textbook trend channel. Now it makes sense to buy this stock's next bounce off of support.

>>5 Stocks Ready to Break Out

Waiting for a meaningful bounce off of support is crucial for two big reasons: It's the spot where shares have the furthest to move up before they hit resistance, and it's also the spot where the risk is the least (because shares have the least room to move lower before you know you're wrong). Remember, all trend lines do eventually break, but by actually waiting for the bounce to happen first, you're ensuring ALK can actually still catch a bid along that line before you put your money on shares.

The 50-day moving average has been a good proxy for support on the way up. That makes it a logical place to keep a protective stop if you decide to buy here.

American Airlines Group

Since going public at the end of last year following its exit from bankruptcy protection, American Airlines Group (AAL) has been a spectacular performer. With its burdensome cost structure shed, shares have been free to rally 57% over that stretch of time. And they could be headed even higher this summer thanks to an inverse head and shoulders setup in shares.

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The inverse head and shoulders is a classic technical setup that indicates exhaustion among sellers. The pattern is formed by two swing lows that bottom out around the same level (the shoulders), separated by a bigger trough called the head; the buy signal comes on the breakout above the pattern's "neckline" level, currently right at $40.

Why all the significance at $40? It all comes down to buyers and sellers. Price patterns are a good quick way to identify what's going on in the price action, but they're not the reason a stock is tradable. Instead, the "why" comes down to basic supply and demand for American Airlines' stock.

The $40 neckline level is a price where there has been an excess of supply of shares; in other words, it's a spot where sellers have previously been more eager to step in and take gains than buyers have been to buy. That's what makes a breakout above $40 so significant -- the move means that buyers are finally strong enough to absorb all of the excess supply above that price level.

Momentum has been overbought for much of AAL's rally. That's because, contrary to popular belief, momentum extremes are better signals that a stock is trending than they are contrarian indicators. Expect AAL to go overbought again before the breakout.

Hawaiian Holdings

Last up is Hawaiian Holdings (HA), the holding company that owns Hawaiian Airlines. Like American, Hawaiian is currently forming an inverse head and shoulders pattern at the top of shares' recent price range. While the inverse head and shoulders is typically spotted at the end of a downtrend rather than near highs, the trading implications are exactly the same on a push through this stock's neckline.

The neckline level to watch in HA right now is $15.50.

Relative strength has maintained its uptrend in Hawaiian even while this name consolidated in the inverse head and shoulders pattern, a good indication that this small-cap stock is extremely well positioned heading into the summer. HA's ability to outperform the S&P 500 is a valuable commodity to have in your portfolio; it'll become even more valuable when shares breakout above $15.50.

Lest you think that the head and shoulders is too well known to be worth trading, the research suggests otherwise: a recent academic study conducted by the Federal Reserve Board of New York found that the results of 10,000 computer-simulated head-and-shoulders trades resulted in "profits [that] would have been both statistically and economically significant."

That's good reason to keep an eye on both HA and AAL this week.

To see this week's trades in action, check out the Technical Setups for the Week portfolio on Stockpickr.

-- Written by Jonas Elmerraji in Baltimore.

RELATED LINKS:

>>5 Stocks Insiders Love Right Now

>>5 Stocks Set to Soar on Bullish Earnings

>>5 Big Stocks to Trade for Gains This Summer

Follow Stockpickr on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

At the time of publication, author had no positions in stocks mentioned.

Jonas Elmerraji, CMT, is a senior market analyst at Agora Financial in Baltimore and a contributor to

TheStreet. Before that, he managed a portfolio of stocks for an investment advisory returned 15% in 2008. He has been featured in Forbes , Investor's Business Daily, and on CNBC.com. Jonas holds a degree in financial economics from UMBC and the Chartered Market Technician designation.

Follow Jonas on Twitter @JonasElmerraji

CollabRx Solves a Problem Created by the Genome Sequencing Explosion (CLRX, AFFX, DGX)

Every year, more than 100,000 white papers on the topic of cancer and cancer treatments are published. Right now, there are over 500 new cancer drugs in development, and those therapies are part of more than 10,000 different clinical trials currently underway. That's all in addition to the already-approved cancer drugs, and the volumes of information we already know about oncology. What's it mean? It means the cancer-treating energy often suffers from information overload, which in turn means patients aren't getting the best care they could get. The solution is a tool built by a little company called CollabRx Inc. (NASDAQ:CLRX). The validation for that solution comes from much bigger companies Quest Diagnostics Inc. (NYSE:DGX) and Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX).

The amount of data and information an oncologist could sift through is enormous... more than even the best and brightest among them could actually work through, especially considering how much new data - and new drug trials - are created every year, particularly now that genome sequencing has made it possible to pinpoint the strain of cancer being treated, and how that particular patient's "chemistry" might respond to a certain drug. Enter CollabRx. CollabRx has developed an online tool that can guide a caregiver to the best treatment options for a particular cancer, as indicated by DNA sequencing tests. The online portal even points out relevant drug trials that may be worthy options, if approved treatment regimens aren't apt to be effective.

And just how marketable is the idea? More so than one might believe at first. As proof of that marketability, one only has to know that diagnostic laboratory companies Affymetrix and Quest Diagnostics - no slouches in the diagnostic arena - have already leased access to the CollabRx tool, AFFX and DGX both attach the suggested treatment options provided by CLRX to each test it performs, as a "value add" for the physicians requesting diagnostic work be done. Both companies realize that by helping doctors take better care of patients, everyone wins.

As for the future, young CollabRx Inc. is already driving revenue, but it's only scratched the surface. This year, the company is on pace to generate about $600,000 in revenue (though that was before Affymetrix came on board). By 2017, however, the top line is expected by some to reach $2.6 million. By 2020, Taglich Brothers expects CLRX to generate $16.5 million in annual revenue. That's not bad for a $6.4 million company.

But how is CollabRx going to grow that fast between now and then. It's got a lot to do with the business model. Unlike most companies that must constantly sell products to drive revenue, CLRX sells a subscription-based product that, once is purchases, tends to be repurchased with little to no ongoing effort. That recurring revenue model allows the company's sales team to focus on bringing new customers to the fold, without being forced to spend a lot of time keeping existing customers on board.

Better still, there's no real direct competition for CLRX out there right now, and none on the horizon.

It may not be a household name yet, but with a clear path to profits and a marketable product, CollabRx could make for an interesting addition to most portfolios. 

For more on CollabRx, visit its corporate website here. Or, you can read the SCN research report here, or the SCN recommendation here.

6 Capital Markets Stocks to Buy Now

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This week, six capital markets stocks are improving their overall rating on Portfolio Grader. Each of these rates an “A” (“strong buy”) or “B” overall (“buy”).

TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation () is making headway this week, with the company’s rating improving to an A (“strong buy”) from a B (“buy”) last week. TD Ameritrade provides securities brokerage services and technology-based financial services to retail investors, traders, financial planners, institutions and business partners. In Portfolio Grader’s specific subcategory of Earnings Revisions, AMTD also gets an A. Shares of the stock have been trading at an exceptionally rapid pace, up twofold from the week prior. .

THL Credit () gets a higher grade this week, advancing from a B last week to an A. THL Credit is a management investment company that invests mainly in private subordinated debt, also known as mezzanine debt. .

This is a strong week for LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (). The company’s rating climbs to A from the previous week’s B. LPL Financial Holdings offers technology, brokerage and investment advisory services through business relationships with all types of financial advisors. .

Ares Capital Corporation’s () ratings are looking better this week, moving up to an A from last week’s B. Ares Capital is a specialty finance company that invests mainly in first- and second-lien senior loans and mezzanine debt, which in some cases includes equity components like warrants. .

Cowen Group, Inc. Class A’s () grade is moving up to a B (“buy”) this week from last week’s C (“hold”). Cowen Group is a publicly owned asset management holding company. Shares of the stock have been trading at an exceptionally rapid pace, up fourfold from the week prior. .

BGC Partners, Inc. Class A () is seeing ratings go up from a B last week to an A this week. BGC Partners is a global inter-dealer broker that specializes in the brokering of OTC financial instruments and related derivative products. .

Louis Navellier’s proprietary Portfolio Grader stock ranking system assesses roughly 5,000 companies every week based on a number of fundamental and quantitative measures. Stocks are given a letter grade based on their results — with A being “strong buy,” and F being “strong sell.” Explore the tool here.

Best Things to Buy at Whole Foods

Whole Foods Market is often jokingly referred to as "Whole Paycheck" because this natural-foods chain sells higher-priced organic fare and specialty items. Check out with a cart of grass-fed, hormone-free ground beef, organic heirloom tomatoes and artisan-crafted cheese, and you could easily pay twice as much as you would spend for similar conventional items at a grocery store. But is the ritzy reputation always warranted?

SEE ALSO: 11 Things Not to Buy at Warehouse Clubs

Surprisingly, there are deals to be had at Whole Foods. You heard right: Even bargain-conscious shoppers can find well-priced goods at this high-end grocer. That's great news for those of us who are in the habit of making one trip to Whole Foods for splurge items and a second trip to the grocery store for staples such as milk and pasta.

We visited Whole Foods, Harris Teeter, Kroger, Trader Joe's and even Walmart to compare prices on a number of popular products. We also consulted a recent comparison of Whole Foods and Safeway conducted by Cheapism.com. Prices may vary across the nation, but the list below shows that some items are cheaper or the same price at Whole Foods than similar items sold in the grocery stores we surveyed. All are original full prices -- not sale prices. Of course, you may be able to find better deals when items go on sale or when discounts are offered. Download a coupon app to your smart phone, or try one of these strategies to save on groceries without coupons.

Organic Items

Frozen organic yellow corn. A 16-ounce package of store-brand yellow corn was the same price at Whole Foods, Trader Joe's and Kroger -- $1.99 -- and a buck less than at Safeway.

Organic brown sugar. The price of a 24-ounce bag is the same at Whole Foods as at Trader Joe's and Walmart and about $1 less than at Safeway.

Organic chicken broth. A 32-ounce carton of Whole Foods 365 Everyday Value organic chicken broth was at least 40 cents less than at the supermarkets we checked.

Organic coconut oil. This oil, which can be used for cooking and for skin and hair care, is about $2 less for a 14-ounce jar of the 365 Everyday Value brand at Whole Foods than same-size jars at Kroger and Safeway.

Organic maple syrup. On first glance, the prices of organic maple syrup appeared to be cheaper at some of the supermarkets we checked -- but their bottles were smaller. Per ounce, the Whole Foods brand was the cheapest we found (along with the Trader Joe's brand).

Organic milk. Whole Foods had the lowest price on a gallon of organic milk by far. Its 365 Everyday Value brand was at least $1 less than a gallon of organic milk at several of the other stores we checked. It was priced at an incredibly low $3.69 at the Whole Foods in Nashville, Tenn., that we checked and $4.99 in a Seattle Whole Foods that Cheapism.com checked. (Walmart actually had the highest price, at $6.48.)

Organic peanut butter. At $4.99 for an 18-ounce jar, Whole Foods had the best price for its 365 Everyday Value organic peanut butter. Trader Joe's had the same price for a 16-ounce jar.

Organic peeled carrots. A 1-pound bag of small, peeled carrots sold for 20 cents to 30 cents less at Whole Foods than at the other stores we checked. The exception was Trader Joe's, which had the same price of $1.69 for a 1-pound bag.

Organic popcorn. A 6-ounce bag of organic popcorn was $1 less at Whole Foods than at Kroger and about 70 cents less than a 5-ounce bag at Safeway.

Non-Organic Items

Baguettes. At $1.29 per baguette, Whole Foods beat the price of baguettes at the other stores we checked -- even Trader Joe's -- by 70 cents.

Cereal bars. We found the same price -- $1.99 -- for a box of six cereal bars at Whole Foods and Trader Joe's. The Whole Foods' price beat Walmart's by a penny. And a box of eight cereal bars at Safeway was $2.99, according to the Cheapism study.

Extra virgin olive oil, cold processed. At $6.49, a 33.8-ounce bottle of Whole Foods 365 brand olive oil was several dollars less than the same-size bottles of olive oil at all of the other stores we checked except Trader Joe's, which had the same price.

Grains. The prices on some grains -- not all -- sold at Whole Foods were cheaper. For example, the per-pound price of jasmine rice sold in the bulk ("scoop your own") section of Whole Foods was nearly half as much of the price of bagged jasmine rice at Walmart. Whole Foods also had the lowest per-pound price that we found of quinoa and buckwheat.

Greek yogurt. A 32-ounce container of Greek Gods brand yogurt was almost 70 cents less at Whole Foods than the same brand of yogurt sold at Walmart and the Trader Joe's brand.

Pasta. At 99 cents per 16-ounce package, the price for Whole Foods 365 Everyday Value brand pasta matches the price of pasta at Trader Joe's, and undercuts the prices at Kroger and Walmart by a penny.

Salsa. Some varieties of the 365 Everyday Value 16-ounce jars of salsa were priced at $1.99 -- 50 cents less than Trader Joe's 12-ounce jars of salsa and 40 cents less than Kroger's Private Selection salsa.

Shredded mozzarella. Prices on imported and specialty cheeses at Whole Foods can be high. But for $3.99, you can't beat the price on a 16-ounce bag of 365 Everyday Value shredded mozzarella -- even at Trader Joe's and Walmart. An 8-ounce package of cream cheese also costs slightly less at Whole Foods than at the other stores we checked.

Whole almonds. At $5.99 per pound, whole almonds were at least $2 less than at all of the supermarkets we checked except Trader Joe's, which had the same price.

Top 5 States With Greatest New 401(k) Growth

The top five states with the strongest relative growth in new 401(k) plans – a good indicator of economic growth – are mostly found in the West, according to research by Judy Diamond Associates.

The national retirement plan data publisher, a unit of ThinkAdvisor’s parent company, Summit Professional Networks, found that the top state had more than 7% growth in the total number of its 401(k) plans.

“New 401(k) plans are strong indicators of the creation of entirely new businesses or businesses that have reached a level of success where they can begin to offer their employees more and better benefits,” said Eric Ryles, managing director of Judy Diamond.

Ryles added that states with the greatest ratio of new 401(k) plans also are likely those with favorable small business environments.

Judy Diamond looked at the number of newly initiated 401(k) plans in 2012, the most recent year for which a complete set of data was available. The 24,127 new plans included in the study covered 443,969 participants.

“The median participation rate for these new plans was 89 percent, which suggests that a lot of these new plans are taking advantage of automatic enrollment features, which have been available to plan sponsors for almost a decade as a result of the Pension Protection Act,” Ryles said.

"Since our previous research has shown that participation rate is the single most important factor in achieving a positive retirement outcome, this figure is tremendously encouraging. It was also nice to see that nearly two-thirds of these employers contributed some amount to the plan on behalf of the employees.”

The analysis found that participants in the new plans contributed an average of $1,769 each to their accounts, while employers added an average contribution of $1,091 per participant.

Judy Diamond is a provider of sales prospecting and plan analysis tools for benefits brokers, financial advisors, plan providers, and carriers serving the employee benefits and retirement markets. 

The top five states with growth in new 401(k) plans are:

No. 5: Florida

Total 401(k) plans: 21,584

New 401(k) plans: 1,420

% of new plans: 6.58  

No. 4: California

Total 401(k) plans: 61,047

New 401(k) plans: 4,036

% of new plans: 6.61 

No. 3: Wyoming

Total 401(k) plans: 722

New 401(k) plans: 50 

% of new plans: 6.93

No. 2: Colorado 

Total 401(k) plans: 8,427 

New 401(k) plans: 600

% of new plans: 7.12

No. 1: Arizona

Total 401(k) plans: 6,800

New 401(k) plans: 491

% of new plans:  7.22

-- Related ThinkAdvisor stories:

Deflating the Chinese Property Bubble

While Chinese property sales have been somewhat sluggish for nearly a year now compared to their historical average, they took a definite turn for the worse in April according to recently released data.

Government figures show that real estate sales fell by 7.8 percent in the first four months of this year while new construction starts were off by 22.1 percent. That's is potentially very bad news in a country where nearly 23 percent of gross domestic product is somehow tied to the real estate market, whether it's the construction, sale or furnishing of new buildings. Most significantly though, the slowdown seems to be spreading from third- or fourth-tier cities – the largest non-capital cities in a given province – to second- and even first-tier cities such as provincial capitals and Shanghai, Guangzhou, and even Beijing.

There are two primary factors driving the sales slowdown; over-construction and over-investment, which are two distinctly different issues.

Largely thanks to overzealous real estate developers, as recently as September, construction demand was slated to grow by about 8.5 percent annually through 2017. That demand was expected to be fairly evenly split between state-led programs to expand and modernize infrastructure such as roads and railways and residential buildings such as single-family homes and apartment buildings.

Much of that residential real estate boom has been justified by new household formation; a couple marrying, purchasing a home and striking out on their own. But for much of the past decade annual births in China have been holding steady at around 12 million, largely thanks to the country's one-child policy. As a result new household formation in the country has actually fallen by around 7 percent per year over the past two years as Chinese wait to get married (current average age at marriage is 25) thanks to both economic and social constraints.

At! the same time, the argument that ongoing urbanization will drive property demand is falling short. While it is true that rural migration has helped boost property demand in lower-tier cities, in tier-one and tier-two cities rural migrants are essentially priced out of the market.

But while real demand has been slackening, investment demand has continued to run apace. It is estimated that about 15 percent of total commercial home transactions in China are driven purely by investment demand. Those investors have essentially been refusing to move their real estate at a loss, as demonstrated by the fact that while prices in select cities have been falling – down as much as 15 percent in Beijing – nationwide home prices are holding relatively steady. Sellers are unwilling to lower their asking prices to move the property and buyers are unwilling to pay the current asking price.

On top of that, it is widely expected that a new property tax will be rolled out sometime in the next 18 months even as the government continues cracking down on the shadow banking sector, a key source of funding for property purchases. That is putting further pressure on the estimated inventory of 10 million empty residential units in the country.

That combination of demographic factors, new taxes and lending pressures led many analysts to estimate that the number of unoccupied units could reach 18 million within the next two or three years, creating a significant drag on the Chinese economy and setting up a situation eerily reminiscent of our own property bust here in the US.

The real question, though, is whether or not this will finally result in a hard Chinese economic landing. I tend to think it won't.

For one thing, the property slowdown is largely being driven by government policy. Despite encouraging lenders to increase their activity in the real estate market, the government has begun requiring down payments of as much as 60 percent in top-tier cities in order to cool what had become clear! ly overhe! ated prices.

It is also cracking down on the shadow lenders in an attempt to reduce the systemic risk they pose to the country's financial system as the government focuses on its transition from an export- and investment-led to a consumption-driven economy. As that transition occurs, by necessity the country will have to absorb slower economic growth as the face of industry changes and excess housing inventory is absorbed.

Over the long-term, the property slowdown as a result of those reform measures is actually bullish. Even if GDP growth slows down to around 5 percent over the next few years, a sustainable 5 percent is much more attractive than a doctored 7 percent.

In the meantime though, I would avoid betting on a hard Chinese landing, a bet that has cost many investors dearly over the past few years. I would, however, avoid most of the leading Chinese real estate developers such as China Vanke (OTC: CVKEF) and Xinyuan Real Estate (NYSE: XIN) which are almost entirely dependent on the domestic markets.

Otherwise, companies focused on Chinese consumers and infrastructure-focused plays should continue to do well despite the deflating property bubble in the country. By and large, in a country of more than 1 billion people, the average middle-class Chinese isn't heavily involved in the real estate market and should not not (?)be greatly impacted by declining real estate prices, particularly as the government is likely to intervene again to prevent a hard landing.

At the same time, infrastructure development is a key element of the most recent 5-year plan, particularly railroad construction. Spending on those programs will remain largely sacrosanct, if for no other reason than to continue shoring up growth.

A Tale of Two Markets: New Highs for Dow, S&P 500; Small-Caps Stumble

Yesterday looks to have been an exception, not the rule as Keurig Green Mountain (GMCR) and McKesson (MCK) helped the S&P 500 hit a new high, Microsoft (MSFT) helped boost the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Elizabeth Arden (RDEN) helped lead the Russell 2000 lower.

REUTERS

The S&P 500 inched up 0.04% to 1,897.45 today, a new high, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1% to 16,715.4, also a record high. The Nasdaq Composite, however, fell 0.3% to 4,130.17 and the Russell 2000 tumbled 1,1% to 1,121.16.

Keurig Green Mountain jumped 7.6% to $119.07 after Coca-Cola (KO) upped its stake in the company from 10% to 16%.Coca-Cola has gained 0.9% to $41.19.

McKesson has advanced 3% to $179.43 after the pharmaceutical distributor beat earnings forecasts and projected solid full-year profits. “We believe McKesson is one of the most attractive EPS growth stories in the healthcare services arena,” Sterne Agee’s Greg Bolan says.

Microsoft rose 1.8% to $40.42, making it the biggest gainer in the Dow. Microsoft announced that it would lower the price of its Xbox today.

Elizabeth Arden fell 23% to $27.50 after the beauty-product company said it lost 84 cents a share, missing forecasts for breakeven.

Instinet’s Frank Cappelleri worries about the market’s lack of volume yesterday and explain what he’d like to see:

Does this matter? It certainly could, as the lack of participation could denote non-belief. After all, the last two months of violent choppy action have done a number on bearish and bullish traders alike.

Therefore, with the SPX up just shy of 1% but the R2k nearly 2.5% yesterday, many market observers are labeling it short covering and nothing more. Seeing the most beaten stocks pop so fervently, one can't argue that much of it was indeed covering to lock in profits.

However, as noted yesterday here, a shift out of safety actually started on Thursday with the Utilities Sector getting uncharacteristically hammered. It continued on Friday, and yesterday, as the XLU was again the worst performer amongst the S&P Sector ETFs (Consumer Staples – defensive, as well – was second worst.)

The SPX didn't need the high growth, speculative names to keep it afloat the last few months, but for this breakout to hold, the market will need demand for this space to persist. It doesn't have to be today, but we do need see the R2k do something different – in other words, higher highs and higher lows would at least begin the repair process of some still nasty looking stocks.

RBC Capital Market’s Robert Sluymer expects the second and third quarters to remain tricky:

We continue to expect Q2 and Q3 to remain volatile, characterized by rapid trading short-term trading rotations. Despite meager volumes, a rebound in beta/momentum themes continues to show evidence of gaining traction since the option expiry lows in April.

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ConvergEx’s Nicholas Colas thinks the fact that no one is making much of the new highs in the Dow and S&P 500 could be good news for the market:

If there is an actual positive about the new highs on the Dow and S&P 500, it is that no one is "Yellin". In reality, no one seems to care. It doesn't make the evening general interest news, get retweeted 10,000 times, or dominate cocktail parties. The bearish case continues to get serious attention. Yes, the VIX is 2 standard deviations away from its long run average on the downside.  But that's not really yelling. That's more like a bear yawning.

The upshot of all this is clear, if unexpected: U.S. equity markets are going higher in the near term. If they aren't, they still are not going to have a "Road to Damascus" experience and change course. That's how a trader would see this market, based solely on the price action. Yes, you can parse the data a 1,000 different ways, but in the end the only thing that matters is where things close.

And one again, big is beautiful.

Zillow Inc (Z) Q1 Earnings Preview: Investing For Tomorrow, but Beat Up Today?

Zillow Inc (NASDAQ:Z) will release first quarter 2014 earnings after the market closes on Wednesday, May 7, 2014. One the same day, management will discuss financial results via a live audio Webcast beginning at 5:00 p.m. EDT / 2:00 p.m. PDT.

Wall Street anticipates that internet information provider will lose $0.08 per share for the quarter, which is $0.09 less than last year's profit of $0.01 per share. iStock expects Zillow to top Wall Street's consensus number. The iEstimate is -$0.06, two cents more than expected.

Sales, unlike earnings, are expected to increase, skyrocketing 62.2% year-over-year (YoY). Z's consensus revenue estimate for Q1 is $63.2 million, more than last year's $38.9 million.

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Zillow provides real estate and home-related information. Zillow provides products and services to help consumers through every stage of homeownership, such as buying, selling, renting, borrowing and remodeling. The Company makes home-related decisions and enables homeowners, buyers, sellers and renters to find and connect with local professionals. Individuals and businesses that use Zillow have updated information on more than 37 million homes and have added nearly 100 million home photos.

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In its limited public life, Zillow has made mincemeat out of Wall Street's consensus estimate. The online real-estate showcase has exceeded the street's view eight of the last nine quarters by an average of 270% more than forecasted. Typically, Z made $0.05 more than predicted for all nine.

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One would suspect that such solid results would lead to a strong reaction from investors. That was the case for six of the last nine quarterly checkups as the stock climbed from 0.6% to 25.10% while averaging a gain of 11.15% in the three days surrounding the earnings announcements. However, the stock backpedaled two of the last three profit outings and three of the last five, falling -3% last quarter, 10% three quarters back, and -31.30% five quarters ago.

Fortunately, Zillow is an online-based business, which allows us to check a few resources to see how online traffic did during Q1. From the looks of things, traffic for Zillow.com was strong for the first three months of 2014.

Google Trends for the keyword "Zillow" are at an all-time high, Quantcast.com shows a sharp rebound in visitors compared to Q4 2013, and Alex.com's web traffic graph shows the site moving from the 475th ranked website in Q1 2013 to number 202 today. That's a huge shift.

At this point, you might be wondering, sales are expected to jump aggressively, and traffic trend are through the roof, so what gives with earnings?

Simple answer, Z's costs and expenses are rising faster than sales in real terms and as a percent of revenue. In 2013, costs were up 93.15% while the top-line grew at 69.06%. However, cost and expenses were 108.58% of revenue in 2013 i.e. a loss, versus 95.04% in 2012.

But it is not all bad news, the vast majority of the money is being spent on sales and marketing, and Technology and development; both of which iStock sees more as investments than costs. At the same time, cost of revenue only increased 33.95%, which is much slower than sales.

Overall: There is a considerable chance that Zillow Inc (NASDAQ:Z) surpasses Wall Street's top and bottom line expectations based on our traffic checks and Zillow's history. However, if costs continue to increase, the street may not like management's investments today but could pay up for them down the line. 

TJX Corp a Winner as Consumers Shop Less, Lazard Capital Says

If anything became apparent during the recent stretch of disappointing same-store sales reports and earnings announcements from retailers, its that something consumers are clearly spending less.

Getty Images

It’s gotten bad enough that Lazard Capital Market’s Jennifer Davis posed the question “What’s happened to the consumer?” in a report released today, as she considers next week’s announcements from American Eagle Outfitters (AEO), Aeropostale (ARO), the Gap (GPS), L Brands (LTD) and TJX (TJX). She writes:

The consumer has clearly cut back spending at department stores and specialty apparel retailers (as we have been saying throughout the quarter). The question is why. We have several theories: (1) a shift in wallet share toward automobiles and houses (see Exhibits 2-4), (2) a lack of meaningful new fashion trends (on top of LY's strong color cycle), and (3) a compressed spring/summer season resulting in less of a need for summer apparel. If theory 3 is the case, then consumers should come out and spend for fall/winter. We will be spending a lot of time in the malls over the next several weeks to try to get a better understanding of the mindset of the consumer.

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Thank fully, disappointing announcements from other retailers–as well as earlier guidance lower at American Eagle Outfitters and Aeropostale–have set the bar low for earnings. Guidance, however, will matter. Davis sees in line numbers from Aero Postale and L Brands, a big miss at Aeropostale and higher guidance for the full year from the Gap.

The big winner in all this, however, should be TJX–regardless of what happens with earnings. Davis writes:

We have gotten mixed reads on TJX, but whether it beats, misses or hits cons 2Q estimates, we believe it is one of the best positioned retailers in the current environment. The general slowdown in specialty and department store sales has resulted in abundant buying opportunities in the marketplace, and we believe off-pricers like TJX are well positioned to capitalize on those opportunities.

TJX has gained 0.7% to %51.12 today at 12:42 p.m., Aeropostale has gained 0.2% to 12.53 unchanged at $12.50, the Gap has dropped 0.1% to $43.49 and American Eagle Outfitters is unchanged at$16.54. L Brands has dropped 0.8% to $59.62.

Checking Up on Your Broker

Responding to horror stories of brokers who run wild with customer assets—by, say, churning accounts or recommending inappropriate investments—Americans have gotten good at doing a little research before hiring. Millions of people turn to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's online BrokerCheck tool each year to get background info on investment professionals.

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However, recent research uncovered troubling gaps in the disclosures provided by Finra, the brokerage industry's self-regulatory arm. A Wall Street Journal investigation found that the database failed to include criminal records or personal-bankruptcy filings for 1,600 brokers. The study also confirmed what one might have expected—that brokers who repeatedly failed licensing examinations had worse complaint histories than those who passed their exams on the first try. A separate study by the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association, a group of securities lawyers, found that information reported by state securities regulators—including tax liens, bankruptcies, results of broker licensing exams and the reasons brokers were fired from previous jobs—was often excluded from this public database, too.

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Finra says it does disclose termination data when brokers leave in the wake of fraud or misconduct allegations. But it wouldn't necessarily report a case of a supervisor who found a broker incompetent. Some state regulators would.

Finra originally defended its disclosure policies, saying they reflected an appropriate balance between customer and broker rights. But now it says it's launched an internal study to determine whether there's a "meaningful relationship" between currently undisclosed data, such as failed examinations, and broker misconduct.

In addition, the self-regulatory organization is now requiring member firms to do background checks on new hires. It is also launching a nationwide database search to make sure that criminals have not been able to infiltrate the industry by simply failing to disclose past transgressions. Once this initial search is complete, Finra says, it will conduct periodic reviews of public records to ensure that the disclosures in BrokerCheck are kept up-to-date and complete.

Finra says it has long urged investors to take the extra step of supplementing the information they find on BrokerCheck with information filed with their state securities departments. State securities regulators often disclose more information about financial professionals than is available through BrokerCheck. The North American Securities Administrators Association maintains an online listing of state securities offices. But don't expect easy going at the state level. Most state securities offices can be contacted only by phone, and some charge to copy and mail files.

Top seven most common investing mistakes

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But, alas, life is not an Ekta Kapoor soap where you can make umpteen blunders and get away with it.

For your investments, you might have to pay a heavy price for even small mistakes that you do. Here are the seven most common blunders that investors make.

1. Believing that trading is the same as investing
When you buy and sell stocks and mutual funds at the drop of a hat (read � without any research or planning), you are essentially �trading�. This will not help you to build long-term wealth. Yes, this is a fantastic way to make money, but for your broker, not you!

2. Being too conservative with your money
�Real returns� is the keyword here. These are returns post inflation. Putting away money in safe options such as bank deposits, Public Provident Fund (PPF) and so on might give you a negative real return. This is true especially in times of high inflation, such as now.

3. Being too aggressive with your money
This is just another way to lose money. Pumping money into high risk avenues, such as equities, without understanding can prove dangerous. A Warren Buffet saying sums it all up -- To finish first, you have to first finish!

4. Keeping the �duds�
I know of a person who had invested in unheard companies such as Patheja Forging, Shaan interval and Silverline. He refused to sell on the belief that he would earn good returns over the long term. Now, all the promoters of these companies are absconding!

It is important to invest in good quality stocks, choose a good fund manager, invest small amounts at regular intervals through Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs) and hold for a long term. That will make money for you.

5. Incorrect asset allocation
Too much of debt for the long term or too much of equity for the next quarter, is a sure fire way to leave you with little returns. It is wise to build a portfolio based on your risk capacity and financial goals.

6. Timing the market
Even experts cannot time the markets, leave alone investors. No one knows where the markets are headed in the short to medium term. Hence, it is foolhardy to time the markets. Instead, a disciplined investing, irrespective of market levels, pays off in the long run.

7. Overconfidence
If you hit a couple of �home runs� (as the Americans say), you start to believe that you will continue to hit home runs regularly. This is true for most of us -- we attribute our recent success as our creation and therefore we think we can repeat it. This overconfidence can lead to a big portfolio disaster.

So, the next time you see the vamp taking over the good guy in the serial, think of your investments and promise yourself not to fall prey to these mistakes.

Happy investing!

Tesla reports net loss of $50 million in Q1

Tesla Motors said on Wednesday after the market close that it lost $50 million, or 40 cents a share, in the first quarter on a non-adjusted basis.

Tesla also said that using non-GAAP information that excludes some items, such as stock-based compensation and non-cash interest expense, it earned $17 million, or 12 cents a share on an adjusted basis, beating analysts' estimates of 6 cents a share.

Tesla shares closed down $5.93, or 2.9%, at $201.35 in regular trading before the report and were down $14.84, or 7.4%, at $186.51 in after-hours trading following the report.

Adjusted revenue was $713 million for the quarter, up 27% from $621 million a year ago. The company says it generated $61 million in cash flow during the quarter.

Tesla said it made 7,535 of its Model S sedans during the quarter, beating its own projection of 7,400. And it estimated it would build "8,500 to 9,000" in the second quarter and deliver 7,500. It has estimated that Model S deliveries will total 35,000 this year.

The added production was important because Tesla has indicated it has had trouble filling orders for its cars in Europe, and it just began sales last month in China.

"We plan to expand in China as fast as possible because we believe the country could be one of our largest markets," said Tesla CEO Elon Musk in a note to investors announcing the earnings. He said Shanghai shortly will get its first "supercharger station" — the free high-speed recharging stations that Tesla is placing on key highway corridors in the U.S.

3 Stocks With Low P/E Ratios That Insiders Are Buying

One of the most common tools used to asses if a stock is trading at a high or low valuation is it price-to-earnings ratio (P/E).

Source: FreeFoto.com

However, ratios vary enormously among different sectors of the economy. That is why, to know if a stock is overvalued or undervalued, one must compare its valuation ratios with those of its industry peers.

A low P/E ratio can imply that the market expects the company in question to underperform the wider market. However, it can also mean that the stock market has not yet caught up with the real value of the company, and the price is due for a correction, sooner or later.

So, let's take a look at three stocks that insiders have been buying (which can be interpreted as a bullish signal), which also trade at low P/E levels in order to elucidate if they stand as good investment options.

ADT Corp (ADT)

First off is ADT Corp (ADT), a $5.4 billion market cap provider of electronic security, interactive home and business automation and related monitoring services.

The company has already seen nine of its insiders buy its stock this year. Most recently, CEO Naren Gursahaney acquired 10,000 shares of Common Stock. On May 2, Mr. Gursahaney purchased 6,176 shares for $30.35 each, and another 3,824 shares for $30.296 each. He now owns 263,281 shares of the company, worth about $8.1 million.

Another notable purchase this year was that of ADT's CFO, Michael Geltzeiler, who acquired at the begging of March, 10,000 shares for prices ranging from $29.56 per share, to $29.60 per share. He now holds 31,900 shares of the company.

Fundamentally, ADT looks appealing. Its stock trades at 16.5 times the company's earnings, versus an industry average of 29.4x, while it boasts industry leading margins and above average returns on equity and assets. However, above-average debt levels are concerning, so its financial standing must be further analyzed.

MedAssets (MDAS)

The second company in this list is MedAssets (MDAS), a $1.37 billion market cap provider of technology-enabled products and services.

Although insider purchases hadn't taken place for a few years now, this changed on May 2, when board director Halsey R Wise started a position in the stock with 8,950 shares of common stock, for which he paid prices ranging from $22.17 per share to $22.40 per share, inclusive.

Once again, MedAssets trades below its industry average valuation of 62.1 x P/E, at 49.3x. Its valuation becomes even more attractive when one looks at the company´s P/B ratio (2.8x vs. an industry average of 15.6x) and P/S ratio (2.0x vs. 4.7x). However, below average margins, returns and growth projections are three major sources of concern.

Unifi (UFI)

Finally, there’s Unifi (UFI), a $421 million market cap diversified producer and processor of multi-filament polyester and nylon yarns.

Fundamentally, the company looks attractive; above average returns and net margin, low debt levels and an industry leading growth history (over the past three years), make of this stock a good pick. In addition, the company trades at 16.3x P/E, compared to an industry mean of 27.9x, and is also sold at a discount valuation (compared to its peers) in relation to its sales and book-values.

Over the past few days, two board directors have been purchasing the company’s stock. Kenneth Langone procured 1,700 shares on May 2, and 1,700 shares on April 30. He now holds more than 1 million shares, through direct (986,629 shares) and indirect holdings.

In addition, George R. Perkins Jr. bought, on May 1, 9,000 shares of common stock, for which he paid an average price of $21.756 per share. He now holds 354,380 Unifi shares.

Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no position in any stocks mentioned

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