General Electric (GE) Falls after Earnings

General Electric Co (GE) fell on Friday after it released it’s most recent quarterly earnings. The mid-day decline was near 4.25% from the prior days close of $16.79 share. The profit for GE declined 44% from the previous year’s period as GE Capital struggled and revenue also declined 20% as jet engines, MRI machines, and other items saw weak orders.

GE Capital

The company said in their conference call that the revenue fall can be attributed to their downsizing of GE Capital mostly. The action of General Electric in addition to Bank of America caused some caution to arise in investors that had celebrated good earnings news from JP Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs just yesterday.

Earnings Expectations

Revenues are expected to fall another 8.5% in the fourth quarter with earnings dropping 33% compared to the fourth quarter in 2008. Analyst are not anticipating any improvement in the numbers as they have held steady in their assessment for some time. The company had surprised to the upside the past two quarters which makes this quarter even more disheartening.

GE Trade

I would not be a holder of GE at this time as its stock price has increased from 10.78 in July to 16.79 just yesterday. If you currently holding the stock this would be a good time to take some of the profits you have made during this recent run-up.

Why Many Startups Fail

According recent statistics from the Small Business Administration (SBA) 90% of the small businesses fail within two years of starting due to many entrepreneurs lacking basic knowledge in handling company operations. Let’s explore the reasons why businesses fail and how you can avoid such a failure?

Starting a Business for the Wrong Reasons:

Many times Entrepreneurs start a business on the hope that they can quickly make money or have more free time with their families. A startup created for such a reason will have more chances to fail. Companies based on activities the entrepreneur loves to do and is passionate about often are more successful.

A Lack of Planning:

Most new businesses fail because of deficient planning. Careful planning focused on the industry is quite important for any startup to become successful. At times Entrepreneurs do not have a proper vision for their corporation and disregard the need of a healthy developed business plan. Be sure the product or service you are providing fulfills a need for your customers.

Inadequate Funding:

Another common reason for which startups fall short is underestimating the quantity of money they will need for their operation. Due to which, there is always a hazard to company strength and growth. Entrepreneurs should perform meticulous research on how much money they will need, including a range of expenses and the time it will take to create the business. You need to find unfailing investors who are consistent and can invest swiftly.

Good Location:

A high-quality Location plays a vital role in making a business successful and dreadful location can harm your business without difficulty. Factors like where your customers are located, location of your competitors, ease of access, traffic, etc. are required to consider in finding an appropriate location of your company.

Unreliable Employees:

Dependable employees are extremely important for the success of a business. A company should have employees with precise skills for the given field. A large amount of uncreative employees’ increases expenses whereas fewer employees then the workload requires, can be overpowering and tricky to handle. Hence, an entrepreneur should have appropriate facts to direct the work force.

Poor Marketing Strategy:

You cannot produce revenue when your customers are not aware of your products or services. You should have a successful marketing approach which entirely focuses on your target audience and tells them about your organization. Many startups fail because they do not promote themselves or do not promote to their target audience.

Overexpansion:

Most business owners get perplexed when it comes to the extension of their business. They want to expand very swiftly which leads them to situations like deficient capital and insolvency. A business should be extended once your company has a rock-solid client foundation.

Gagandeep Singh is working as an Internet Marketing Executive for Fortepromo, which provides high quality promotional products to help companies in promoting their brand.

Gold, Silver, Coal and Metal Mining Rallies on Weak US Dollar

On Monday energy prices rallied on the weaker US Dollar and some help from lower temperatures in the states, and the gold, silver, coal and metal mining rally continued. The weak dollar has led investors to pour money into commodities that are traded in the US Dollar including oil and natural gas over the past couple of months. 2009 has been a good year for commodities with Continuous Commodity Index (GCC) moving from $21.49 to a recent 3 month high of $24.54.

Gold and Silver

In the gold space the Spiders Gold Shares (GLD) is the safest and least volatile way to speculate in the trend continuing higher in commodity prices and gold in particular. The Exchange Traded Fund reach a new 52-week high of $103.64 just days ago. Some are warning of a bubble in commodities which is true but as long as the dollar continues to weaken, the chance of  a major change in direction is unlikely. The signs of economic improvement in America and in other major economies around the world boast well for commodities as supply will increase as countries begin to build new infrastructure again.

Coal & Metal Mining

Coal and Metal Mining is seeing similar interest from investors but taking a look at individual shares within the industry does not present a decent investment. BHP Billiton Ltd (BHP) is the largest company in the area which has some decent growth 54.5% earnings with –10.6% revenue for the year but is in the midst of a fairly tough quarter so could have topped out at a recent three month high. This is fairly representative of many of the stocks in the industry.

New Residential Construction Industries Jump on Mortgages

A number of industries related to residential home construction including New Residential Construction itself, moved higher today as mortgage rates continue to fall. Residential Construction moved higher 5.7% as an industry with Cement jumping 4.34% higher and Lumber/Wood Production also higher 3.66%.

By Steve Patterson

Residential Building

A number of names in New Residential Construction moved higher today including Brookfield Homes (BHS), Standard Pacific (SPF), Hovanian (HOV), Lennar (LEN), and Ryland (RYL). Brookfield Homes has bounced around recently with the economy, moving down to $3.30 a share in July and rebounding to $8.33 a share in September. Recently the stock has traded near $6.00. Sales have continued to fall for Brookfield, down 25% this quarter compared to a year ago along with quarterly losses improving. Many of the companies in the industry are seeing losses improve dramatically compared to a year ago even as sales continue to decline. The home builders are hoping for an additional First Time Home Buyer Credit to be passed by Congress but have not moved dramatically from their recent lows.

Related Industries

Cement names CRH (CRH), James Hardie (JHX), and Cemex (CX) all moved higher today in sync with Residential Construction. Lumber names that jumped upwards of 9.25% include Koppers Holding (KOP), Louisiana Pacific (LPX), and Weyerhauser Co (WY). Weyerhauser declared their dividend today of 5 cents.

Market Reversals Are Hard to Navigate

The market has reversed itself from the high reached after the Federal Reserve Meeting ended in September and is starting to move lower on a consistent basis. It’s a good time to be neutral in your portfolio with a slight negative stance. With earnings season around the corner starting in Mid October and the Holiday season to follow, the markets could reverse themselves once again. So watching the action of the major indexes is important and adjusting weekly is necessary.

Economic Reports This Week

This week also saw some poor economic numbers, below what was expected by the market. Consumer Confidence can in weak at 53.1, ADP Employment was –254,000, Chicago PMI 46.1 vs 52.0, Initial Claims at 551,000, the ISM Index at 52.6 vs 54.0 expected, and Non Farm Payrolls –263,000 vs –175,000 expected. A couple of good numbers included GDP for the 2nd Quarter, Personal Income, and Personal Spending. But the bad outweighed the good and the market traded lower all week.

Economic Reports Next Week

Next is a very little economic calendar week which is a good thing as the bad numbers are making any advance near impossible. Initial Claims are released on October 8th with a couple less important reports coming out at the end of the week including Wholesale Inventories and the Trade Balance. If a couple companies can make positive adjustments to their earnings predictions prior to the start of earnings season, the market could stabilize next week before a new rally at the start of earnings.

Nike (NKE) Beats and Rallies After Hours

Nike reported their most recent close after the close of trading today and beat the street with cost cutting on weaker revenue. A conservative forecast didn’t stop traders from buying shares in after-hours trading.

Quarterly Earnings

Nike Inc (NKE) made $513 million in profit or $1.04 a share compared to estimates of 97 cents a share. This was a slight improvement to what the company earned a year ago during the same quarter, $510 million or $1.03 a share. The revenue during the quarter is a slightly different story as it actually fell 12% down to $4.8 billion.

Future Orders

Nike also isn’t too optimistic about the current quarter which extends into the holiday season. Future orders are anticipated to be down 6% compared to last year’s same winter quarter. The stock has rallied from $53.31 on September 2nd to a three month high of $60.09 at the close today. This run-up doesn’t necessarily correlate well with the overall news tonight.

Analysts see revenue and earnings slightly negative for the next couple of quarters while the current price to earnings ratio is 19.83. This is not a situation that should persist. If future orders do not improve, look for the stock to fall over time.

RIMM Earnings Announcement Thursday After the Close

The big news this coming week is Research in Motion (RIMM) announcing their earnings Thursday after the close. October Options Call activity on Friday was strong at the $85 strike price and the $90 strike price. With little interest on the Put side. Analyst have raised their profit targets from 97 cents to $1 over the past three months. Sales growth remains strong at 40.5% with earnings growing at 16.3% for the current quarter year over year. A current price to earnings ratio of 23 makes the stock a little pricey but traders are looking for a decent pop this coming week.

Economic Calendar

The economic calendar is a little light this week with a Federal Research rate decision coming on Wednesday afternoon. No one is expecting a change in rates from the current historically low .25% rate. Initial Claims will be released Thursday morning with the possibility of a slight uptick in the number of American’s filing for unemployment claims the first time. Continuous Claims will be released at the same time with the expectation of a slight reduction.

Other reports of note at the end of the week include a decrease in Durable Orders compared to last month’s report, an increase in Michigan Sentiment, and a slight dip in New Home Sales. The reports are not great overall at the end of the week but an early week rally and a post RIMM rally in the overall market should offset any late week economic softness.

Goldman Sachs (GS) Continues to Climb

I sold my Goldman Sachs (GS) shares about two weeks ago after a decent gain and moved the funds into the more diverse SSO ETF. But I am now kicking myself as Goldman continues to rally to new highs and analysts upgrade their expectations for the dominant investment bank.

Past Quarter Performance

Goldman Sachs has rallied over the past six months from near $90 a share to now over $175 a share with a recent burst from the $160 range. This rally has occurred as profits have improved steadily and analysts have upgraded the company’s expectations for future quarters. The company has beat expectations the past two quarters after having a terrible November 2008 report. But the turnaround has been quick and explosive. They fell to a $5 loss per share in November of 2008 to only turnaround and report a $3.39 profit in March and then an even better $4.93 profit in June. And now analysts are steadily increasing their expectations for September, December, and the current year.

Profit Estimates

Estimates for the current quarter have rise over the past 3 months from $2.59 a share in profit to a recently adjusted $3.62 profit. Likewise the following quarter has improved expectations from $3.25 a share to $4.43 a share. Plus the stock is trading around a price to earnings (P/E) ratio of 39 with these two quarters growing at 100% and 189% respectively. No wonder the stock continues to move higher.

Goldman Sachs Trade

I think you can be long Goldman up until the next earnings release and even hold the position through the release with some put protection in place. The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that Goldman led all stocks in selling into strength so you should wait for a pull back and begin to build a position as the stocks sells off slightly.

You don’t hear too often about small cap funds or socks from Wall Street pundits, the media, or economic analysts on television at night. Small cap stocks involve investing in small market capitalization, lesser-known organizations which are up-and-coming; not typically the type of investments that veteran large investment firms seek out. However, though they obtain less notice than their “wealthier siblings”, small cap investments can be a huge opportunity for an individual shareholder to get in on the ground-floor of a fledgling corporation like Microsoft back in the 1980s. After all, that’s how many of the large cap players on the Street began!

The advantage of investing in small cap stocks is that there is a change of much superior growth, dollar for dollar over a year’s period. Your buck can grow exponentially as the business begins to increase momentum in revenue and earnings, thus allowing your asset to double, triple, or multiply by tenfold. This is not to say that merely focusing on small caps is the correct way to develop your investments either, however, giving them a section of your portfolio makes good logic.

Small caps, also called small cap stocks, are a condensed description of the name “small capitalization stocks” because they entail smaller companies with an undersized market capitalization. This normally refers to companies with market capitalizations below 2 million and above 300 million dollars. This expression, market capitalization, essentially refers to the price of the stock multiplied by the amount of outstanding shares. This equates to the company’s value, as determined by the market itself at any given time.

Large caps on the other hand ought to have a position in your investment portfolio too. Though some investors will direct putting your cash into strictly larger cap investments, the truth is that they aren’t always the steady, consistent, and secure places to be invested. Sure, blue chip stocks are a great investment if you are guarded and conventional in your risks. With the collapse of Enron and the recent banking industry (Bear Stearns) and insurance company woes (AIG), these bigger stock failures surely convey the real risks involved in any large cap funds as well.

Yet overall large cap stocks are not as risky of an investment as buying small cap stocks. However, with the safer route (the larger cap), you can expect to see safer, more old school gains. This is why small caps are such a great investment for the individual investor. By choosing a precise sum of money to risk, investing in a small cap stock or fund can set you up for better growth as the company’s return grows and as their status in the market gains traction. Increased risk can surely bring increased returns on investment as we saw during the early 90s. But buyers beware; diminish the total sum in each small cap stock you invest in so your portfolio is more diversified. In other terms, don’t put all o your eggs in one “small cap” basket!

Always confer with your investment professional before making a decision about which small or large cap investments to build. The bottom line is that, through cautious planning and examination, your investment portfolio can give you superior returns when you add small cap investments in the midst of your large cap stock purchases. Successful investing!

For more information about Small Cap Stocks check out: http://www.tradestockamerica.com

Over the Counter Derivatives Finally Market Traded

For over a year commentators and bloggers have been writing that Over the Counter (OTC) Derivatives need to be traded in an open market to avoid situations that occurred during the credit crisis which brought major financial institutions to the brink of bankruptcy. Now 15 major banks including JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs have agreed to begin moving the credit default swaps and interest rate swaps through open markets. This comes no the heels of regulators looking to restrict both kinds of swaps if kept private.

The credit default swap (CDS) market is believed to be $25 trillion in value and was blamed for the demise of AIG, the insurance giant saved by the federal government. 80% of all CDS transactions will go through an open market beginning in October. With 70% of interest rate swaps going through an open market beginning in December. The only current provider of such open markets is The Intercontinental Exchange (ICE). The NYSE Euro next (NYX), another open market operator, has been vocal about the banks reluctance to make all OTC transactions public.

© 2009 Fastswings.com