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Textainer Group Holdings Limited (TGH) saw 52% earnings growth in 2010 as demand for containers outpaced supply. Double digit earnings growth is expected again in 2011. This Zacks #2 Rank (buy) is the largest lessor of intermodal containers in the world based on fleet size. It leases dry freight, refrigerated and specialized containers to more than 400 shipping lines. The company also sells used containers to more than 1,000 customers around the world. Expansion of Its Fleet On May 16, Textainer announced it had purchased about 171,000 TEU of containers and related lease rights that it had already been managing for Buss Global Container Fonds 1 Partnership since 2006. The majority of the containers are dry freight and will increase the dry freight percentage of Textainer's own fleet to 59% from 52% of its total fleet. It closed for a price of $174 million. Revenue Jumped 31% in the First Quarter On May 5, Textainer reported its first quarter results and saw revenue rise to $91.2 million from...

Is there anything hotter than the drilling services companies? Newpark Resources, Inc. (NR) is expected to grow its earnings by 55% in 2011. This Zacks #1 Rank (strong buy) also has attractive valuations, with a forward P/E of 13.5. Founded in 1932, Newpark has been around long enough to survive the ups and downs of the energy cycle. The company provides services to the oil and gas explorers worldwide including drilling fluids products, temporary worksites, pit design, and access roads for oilfields and environmental waste treatment solutions, including managing oilfield wastes. Newpark Surprised by 23% in the First Quarter On Apr 28, Newpark reported its first quarter results and beat the Zacks Consensus by 3 cents per share. Earnings per share were 16 cents compared to the consensus of 13 cents. It was the third beat out of the last four quarters. Revenue jumped 26% to $202.7 million from $160.8 million in the first quarter of 2010. The Fluids Systems and Engineering segment, its biggest division,...

Some of the stocks that may grab investor focus today are: DST Systems Inc (NYSE: DST) acquired the assets of IntelliSource Healthcare Solutions. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. DST shares gained 0.99% to close at $54.15 yesterday. Netflix Inc (NASDAQ: NFLX) announced its plans to expand its streaming video service to Latin America. Netflix shares closed at a 52-week high yesterday. NFLX shares gained 0.41% to $290.82 in after-hours trading. Steinway Musical Instruments Inc (NYSE: LVB) reported that a group of its leaders offered to acquire the company's band instrument and online music divisions. LVB shares dropped 0.27% to close at $25.55 yesterday. Honda Motor Company Ltd (NYSE: HMC) reported a 29.9% y/y drop in its automobile sales in China in June. HMC shares gained 1.21% to close at $39.41 yesterday. Signature Bank (NASDAQ: SBNY) announced its plans to sell 4.1 million shares of common stock in an underwritten public offering.

Saudi Arabian Mining Company, Ma'aden and Alcoa Inc. (AA) have secured $1 billion loan from Public Investment Funds (PIF) for phase II of aluminium project in Saudi Arabia. The loan amount will finance the Ma'aden Bauxite and Alumina Company, which is owned 74.9% by Ma'aden and 25.1% by Alcoa. Ma'aden Bauxite and Alumina Company consist of a bauxite mine and an alumina refinery with an approximate cost of $3.6 billion. This is the second phase of the $10.8 billion Ma'aden-Alcoa joint venture project. The project is a part of the $10 billion Ma’aden-Alcoa joint venture project that includes the construction of an aluminium smelter and rolling mill at Ras Az Zawr. Construction work was scheduled to commence on the plant in July 2010. Ma’aden expects the smelter and rolling mill to be operational in 2013 with the mine and refinery coming on stream in 2014. Bauxite feedstock for the planned alumina refinery will be transported by rail from the new mine at Al...

The struggling mobile phone manufacturer Nokia Corp. (NOK) has decided to close its operations in Japan by August 2011. Nokia will shut down its high-end Vertu handset stores in Shibuya and Ginza districts of Tokyo by the end of 2011. Vertu is one of the premium tier mobile handset in Japan and its price is ranged from $7,450 to $248,354. Vertu handsets started struggling ever since smartphones of Apple Inc. (AAPL) and several Android-based smartphones entered the Japanese market. Nokia’s phone service in Japan currently runs on network infrastructure, which was leased from NTT DoCoMo (DCM), the largest Japanese wireless carrier. This contract will come to an end by end August 2011. Nokia has decided not to renew this deal. The Tokyo office of Nokia will remain close till end 2011 to manage post closure activities. Quitting Japan is a part of Nokia’s strategic decision to restructure its sagging mobile devices segment and regain its lost glory. Once the king of the...

Pennon (LON:PNN) this morning reported that its Viridor Waste Management subsidiary had reached agreement with Devon County Council for the diversion and treatment of 60,000 tonnes of Devon’s residual municipal waste through the financing, construction, and operation of a new ‘Energy from Waste’ (EfW) plant at the Marsh Barton site in Exeter. Pennon’s share price responded with a modest 4.5p rise to 705.5p. Pennon, the FTSE 250 group that also owns South West Water, said that key parts of Viridor’s stated strategy included public-private partnership (PPP) contracts and the construction and operation of EfW plants. These are to treat residual waste, which is being diverted from landfill in line with the European Landfill Directive, and to maximise the associated renewal energy generation. The Exeter EfW plant is being built specifically to handle 60,000 tonnes of Devon’s residual municipal waste under a strategic partnership and existing contract, as steeply rising landfill tax drives residual waste disposal away from landfill towards EfW....

The stock market certainly delivered some pre-Holiday fireworks with the Dow gaining 648 points to log its best week in approximately two years. The move came in response to “relief” over a Greece “solution” which we’ll discuss in more detail in a moment, and on thin Holiday volume which, in my opinion, made the rally less impressive than would otherwise be the case. The coming Holiday shortened week promises to be exciting, as well. On My Wall Street Radar Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com The sharp rally last week took prices back into heavy resistance as witnessed on the S&P 500 (SPY) chart above.  You can see how MACD is in an upward trend and RSI is reaching overbought levels. Also, there were several gap opens during the week which are typically “filled” at some point in the future.  In spite of the fireworks, we’re still very much locked inside the recent sideways pattern. The Economic View From 35,000 Feet The economic view remains troubling as the rally was...

Nasdaq 100: 2361.39 Short-Term Trend: sideways Outlook: A week ago there were three possible structures for wave (X) (the move from the Feb 2011 top): Contracting Triangle, Expanding Triangle and Flat. We wanted to allow for all these three to remain possible, so we expected a move down twd 2100 level. However, we also noted that a move abv the 2255 would carry very bullish implications, so we favored a long position on break abv this level. And as you know the market rallied strongly. Now, if the market stalls for a few weeks, we would favor one final decline in wave E of what appears to be a Contracting Triangle from Feb 2011 top. If however the prices move abv 2417 in the next couple of weeks, then the odds will suggest wave (X) was actually a Flat that terminated at June's bottom. Strategy: The hypothetical long from 2260 was closed at 2360 with 100 pts profit. Stand aside.

Introduction Both Visa, Inc. (V) and MasterCard, Inc. (MA) enjoyed explosive moves in their stock values on Wednesday, June 29, 2011.  Visa was up over 15% and MasterCard over 11% thanks to the Fed’s more liberal-than-expected stance on debit fee regulations.  In our opinion, this perceived regulatory overhang had caused the share prices of these consistent and powerful earnings generators to sit below their intrinsic value.  Therefore, we believed that the Durbin Amendment, although problematic for both Visa and MasterCard, would be less impactful to their long-term business opportunities than their low stock prices indicated. The true value investor understands the importance of fundamentals over short-term market action.  In The Intelligent Investor, Ben Graham taught us why it was important, and also, how to be an intelligent patient investor.  The father of modern security analysis, and the dean of value investing, focused first on analyzing and determining the intrinsic value of a business.  Then, only after completing this vital and most important...

Small business borrowing in the United States jumped considerably in May, suggesting that economic growth may again be on the horizon as businesses invest in capital and employees. The Thomson Reuters/PayNet Small Business Lending Index, an indication of the overall volume of financing to U.S. small businesses, reported a rise of 26% in May from a year earlier. The Index now stands at its highest level since July, 2008. The news is welcomed by many market analysts, as small business borrowing is seen as a significant means of investment in the labor force. Additionally, any capital investments benefit the supply chain that produces a new purchase. PayNet founder Bill Phelan said in an interview with Reuters that he was optimistic. "If small businesses are taking these kind of chances, taking risks, making long term investments, they are seeing some long-term opportunities on the horizon. That's got to be a big positive sign for the economy." The Federal Reserve has kept interest rates at record lows...