According to a recent Deloitte survey focused on U.S. consumers and their pantries, name brand loyalty has declined for the third consecutive year. An astounding nine out of 10 consumers are still trading down to private-label brands, despite improvements in the economy. This survey suggests that consumers have not only grown more mindful of their spending habits, but also learned along the way that in-store alternative brands are often comparable. Motley Fool contributor Steve Heller believes that the trend of continued frugality is likely to persist, putting Whole Foods (NASDAQ: WFM ) and Costco (NASDAQ: COST ) in great position to benefit to boost their margins. Check out the video below to hear his thoughts on the issue.
Costco's low prices haven't just benefited customers -- shareholders have walloped the market, returning 11,000% over the past two decades. However, with prices near all-time highs, is the ride over for Costco investors? To answer that and more, The Motley Fool's compiled a premium research report with in-depth analysis on Costco.�Simply click here now to gain instant access to this valuable investor's resource.
5 Best Construction Stocks To Watch For 2015: Oi SA (OIBR)
Oi S.A., formerly Brasil Telecom S.A., incorporated on November 27, 1963, is a telecommunication service provider in Region II in Brazil. The Company offers a range of integrated telecommunication services that includes fixed-line and mobile telecommunication services, data transmission services (including broadband access services), Internet service provider (ISP) services and other services, for residential customers, small, medium and large companies, and governmental agencies. The Company provides services, which include Fixed-Line Telecommunications Services and Data Transmission Services, Mobile Telecommunications Services and other services.
Local Fixed-Line Services
As of December 31, 2010, the Company had approximately 7.2 million local fixed-line customers in Region II. Local fixed-line services include installation, monthly subscription, metered services, collect calls and supplemental local services. Metered services include local calls that originate and terminate within a single local area. ANATEL has divided Region II into 1,772 local areas. Local fixed-line services also include in-dialing services (direct transmission of external calls to extensions) for corporate clients. For corporate clients in need of lines, the Company offers digital trunk services, which optimize and increase the speed of the customer�� telephone system.
Long-Distance Services
The long distance services include fixed line-to-fixed line and mobile long distance services. It provides domestic long-distance services for calls originating from Region II through interconnection agreements, mainly with Telemar in Region I and Telecomunicavoes de Sao Paulo S.A. (Telesp), in Region III permit the Company to interconnect directly with their local fixed-line networks, and through its network facilities in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte. It provides international long-distance services originating from Region II through agreements to interconnect its netw! ork with those of the main telecommunication service providers worldwide. It provides mobile long-distance services originating from Region II through interconnection agreements, with Telemar in Region I, Telesp in Region III, and each of the principal mobile services providers operating in Brazil that permit it to interconnect directly with their local fixed-line and mobile networks. It provides international long-distance services originating or terminating on its customer�� mobile handsets through agreements to interconnect its network with those of the main telecommunication service providers worldwide.
Mobile Telecommunication Services
As of December 31, 2010, the Company had approximately 7.8 million subscribers located in 1,281 municipalities in Region II. As of December 31, 2010, 87.5% of the Company�� customers subscribed to pre-paid plans and 12.5% subscribed to post-paid plans. The Company markets Oi Ligador subscriptions to its pre-paid customers, which allow these customers to receive bonus minutes with each purchase of additional credits. It charges a nominal subscription fee to enroll a customer in the Oi Ligador program and provide bonus minutes to these customers that may be used for local calls to its fixed-line or mobile subscribers, long-distance calls to its fixed-line subscribers, and sending Short Message Service (SMS, messages to mobile subscribers of any Brazilian mobile service provider.
The Company has roaming agreements with TNL PCS S.A., a wholly owned subsidiary of Telemar which provides mobile services and which it refers to as Oi, Companhia de Telecomunicacoes do Brasil Central (CTBC), and Sercomtel S.A. Telecomunicacoes (Sercomtel), providing its customers with automatic access to roaming services when traveling outside of Region II in areas of Brazil where mobile telecommunication services are available on the GSM standard. As of December 31, 2010, it had launched third generation (3G) services in a total of 84 municipalities, ! including! the nine state capitals in Region II and the Federal District. As of December 31, 2010, it had approximately 175,200 3G mobile broadband customers.
Data Transmission Services
The Company provides Internet access services using ADSL technology, which it refers as broadband services, to residential customers and businesses in the primary cities in Region II under the brand name Oi Velox. As of December 31, 2010, the Company offered broadband services in 1,810 municipalities in Region II and it had 1.9 million ADSL customers. Its network supports ADSL2+, VDSL2 and FTTx technologies. ADSL2+ is a data communications technology that allows data transmission at speeds of up to 24 megabits per second downstream and 1 megabits per second upstream. ADSL2+ permits offer a range of services than ADSL, including Internet protocol television (IPTV). As of December 31, 2010, approximately 50% of its fixed-line network had been updated to support ADSL2+. Very-high-bitrate digital subscriber line (VDSL2), is a DSL technology providing faster data transmission, up to 100 megabits per second upstream (downstream and upstream). Fiber to the x (FTTx), is a broadband network architecture that uses optical fiber to replace all or part of the usual metal local loop used for last mile telecommunications.
The Company provides a range of data transmission services through various technologies and means of access. Its commercial data transmission services include Industrial Exploitation of Dedicated Lines (Exploracao Industrial de Linha Dedicada (EILD)), under which it leases trunk lines to other telecommunication services providers, primarily mobile services providers, which use these trunk lines to link their radio base stations to their switching centers; Dedicated Line Services (Servicos de Linhas Dedicadas (SLD)), under which it leases dedicated lines to other telecommunication services providers, Internet service providers (ISPs) and corporate customers for use in private networks that! link dif! ferent corporate Websites; Internet Protocol (IP) services, which consist of dedicated private lines and dial-up Internet access, which it provides to the ISPs in Brazil, as well as Virtual Private Network (VPN), services that enable its customers to operate private Intranet and extranet networks, and frame relay services, which the Company provides to its corporate customers to allow them to transmit data using protocols based on direct use of its transmission lines, enabling the creation of VPNs.
The Company provides these data transmission services using its service network platform in Region II and its nationwide fiber optic cable network and microwave links. In addition, it provides services at the six cyber data centers located in Brasilia, Sao Paulo, Curitiba, Porto Alegre and Fortaleza. It provides hosting, collocation and information technology (IT) outsourcing at these centers, permitting its customers to outsource their IT structures to it or to use these centers to provide backup for their IT systems. It also owns and operates a submarine fiber optic network, which connects Brazil with the United States, Bermuda, Venezuela and Colombia. Through this network, it offers international data transportation services, primarily leased lines to other telecommunication services providers.
Network Usage Services (Interconnection Service)
The Company is authorized to charge for the use of its local fixed-line network on a per-minute basis for all calls terminated on its local fixed-line network in Region II that originate on the networks of other local fixed-line, mobile and long-distance service providers, and all long-distance calls originated on its local fixed-line network in Region II that are carried by other long-distance service providers. In addition, the Company charges network usage fees to long-distance service providers and operators of trunking services that connect switching stations to its local fixed-line networks.
Traffic Transporta! tion Serv! ices
The Company offers a long-distance usage service, called national transportation, under which it provides discounts to its long-distance network usage fees based on the volume of traffic and geographic distribution of calls generated by a long-distance or mobile services provider. The Company also offers international telecommunication service providers the option to terminate their Brazilian inbound traffic through its network, as an alternative to Embratel and Intelig Telecomunicacoes Ltda. (Intelig). The Company charges international telecommunication service providers a per-minute rate, based on whether a call terminates on a fixed-line or mobile telephone and the location of the local area in which the call terminates.
Public Telephone Services
The Company owns and operates public telephones throughout Region II. As of December 31, 2010, the Company had approximately 266,100 public telephones in service, which are operated by pre-paid cards.
Value-Added Services
Value-added services include voice, text and data applications, including voicemail, caller identification (ID), and other services, such as personalization (video downloads, games, ring tones and wallpaper), short message service (SMS)subscription services (horoscope, soccer teams and love match), chat, mobile television, location-based services and applications (mobile banking, mobile search, email and instant messaging). The Company also provides advanced voice services to its corporate customers, mainly 0800 (toll free) services, as well as voice portals where customers can participate in real-time chats and other interactive voice services. The Company also operates an Internet portal under the brand name iG.
The Company competes with Empresa Brasileira de Telecomunicacoes, GVT S.A., Vivo Participacoes S.A., Telecom Americas Group, TIM Participacoes S.A., Telesp and Intelig.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Roberto Pedone]
Oi (OIBR) provides telecommunication services in Brazil. This stock closed up 1.6% to $1.87 in Tuesday's trading session.
Tuesday's Range: $1.83-$1.89
52-Week Range: $1.42-$4.51
Tuesday's Volume: 2.61 million
Three-Month Average Volume: 4.32 millionFrom a technical perspective, OIBR rose modestly higher here right above its 50-day moving average of $1.72 with lighter-than-average volume. This stock has been uptrending strong for the last few weeks, with shares moving higher from its low of $1.42 to its intraday high of $1.89. During that move, shares of OIBR have been consistently making higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move is quickly pushing shares of OIBR within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade. That trade will hit if OIBR manages to take out some near-term overhead resistance levels at $1.89 to $2.04 with high volume.
Traders should now look for long-biased trades in OIBR as long as it's trending above its 50-day at $1.72 or above more support at $1.60 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that's near or above 4.32 million shares. If that breakout hits soon, then OIBR will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $2.25 to $2.29. Any high-volume move above those levels will then give OIBR a chance to tag $2.50 to $2.75.
- [By Roberto Pedone]
Oi (OIBR), through its subsidiaries, provides integrated telecommunication services for residential customers, companies and governmental agencies in Brazil. This stock closed up 8.6 % to $1.89 in Thursday's trading session.
Thursday's Range: $1.73-$1.91
52-Week Range: $1.44-$4.69
Thursday's Volume: 5.48 million
Three-Month Average Volume: 3.91 millionFrom a technical perspective, OIBR bounced sharply higher here back above its 50-day moving average of $1.83 with heavy upside volume. This move is quickly pushing shares of OIBR within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade. That trade will hit if OIBR manages to take out some near-term overhead resistance levels at $1.94 to $2.29 with high volume.
Traders should now look for long-biased trades in OIBR as long as it's trending above its 50-day at $1.83 or above more key near-term support at $1.72 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 3.91 million shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then OIBR will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $2.44 to its 200-day at $3.06.
Top 10 Low Price Companies To Own For 2014: Werner Enterprises Inc (WERN)
Werner Enterprises, Inc., incorporated on September 14, 1982, is a transportation and logistics company engaged primarily in hauling truckload shipments of general commodities in both interstate and intrastate commerce. The Company also provides logistics services through its value added services (VAS) division. As of the year ended December 31, 2012, the Company had a fleet of 7,150 trucks, of which 6,505 were Company-operated and 645 were owned and operated by independent contractors. The Company operates in two segments: Truckload Transportation Services (Truckload) and VAS.
Truckload segment
The Company's Truckload segment consists of the One-Way Truckload and Specialized Services units. One-Way Truckload includes the operating fleets: the regional short-haul (Regional) fleet transports a variety of consumer nondurable products and other commodities in truckload quantities within geographic regions across the United States using dry van trailers; the medium-to-long-haul van (Van) fleet provides comparable truckload van service over irregular routes, and the expedited (Expedited) fleet provides time-sensitive truckload services utilizing driver teams.
Specialized Services provides truckload services dedicated to a specific customer, generally for a retail distribution center or manufacturing facility, including services for products requiring specialized trailers such as flatbed or temperature-controlled trailers. The Company's Truckload fleets operate throughout the 48 contiguous United States, both common and contract, granted by the United States Department of Transportation (DOT). The Company also has authority to operate in several provinces of Canada and to provide through-trailer service into and out of Mexico. The principal types of freight the Company transports include retail store merchandise, consumer products, grocery products and manufactured products. The Company focuses on transporting consumer nondurable products that generally ship.
!
VAS segment
The Company's VAS segment is a non-asset-based transportation and logistics provider. VAS is consists of four operating units that provide non-trucking services to the Company's customers: truck brokerage (Brokerage) uses contracted carriers to complete customer shipments; freight management (Freight Management) offers a range of single-source logistics management services and solutions; the intermodal (Intermodal) unit offers rail transportation through alliances with rail and drayage providers as an alternative to truck transportation, and Werner Global Logistics international (WGL) provides complete management of global shipments from origin to destination using a combination of air, ocean, truck and rail transportation modes. The Company's Brokerage unit had transportation services contracts with approximately 9,400 carriers as of December 31, 2012.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Monica Gerson]
Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ: WERN) shares dropped 4.83% to $23.23 in pre-market trading after the company issued a weak third-quarter profit forecast.
- [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Outerwall (NASDAQ: OUTR) were down 16.03 percent to $47.00 after the company lowered its forecast for the third quarter and full year. Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ: WERN) shares tumbled 4.71 percent to $23.26 after the company issued a weak third-quarter profit forecast. Bank of America downgraded the stock from Buy to Neutral. Pandora Media (NYSE: P) down, falling 1.71 percent to $23.58 as the company announced its plans to sell 14 million shares of common stock, including 4 million shares from current stockholders. - [By Michael Flannelly]
Following Werner Enterprises, Inc.’s (WERN) third quarter earnings warning, analysts at KeyBanc downgraded the transportation and logistics company on Tuesday.
The analysts downgraded WERN from “Buy” to “Hold.”
KeyBanc analyst Todd Fowler said, “We downgrade WERN from Buy to HOLD following its negative 3Q pre-ann’ct, which reflected a number of company-specific issues that we expect to limit upside going forward; we would focus investors on other, stronger-performing names within the truckload space, specifically, BUY-rated Swift Transportation Company (SWFT), Marten Transport Ltd. (MRTN), and Knight Transportation Inc. (KNX).”
Werner Enterprises shares were down $1.66, or 6.80%, during pre-market trading on Tuesday. The stock is up 12.64% year-to-date.
- [By Monica Gerson]
Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ: WERN) is expected to post its Q3 earnings at $0.29 per share on revenue of $503.82 million.
Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) is estimated to post its Q3 earnings at $2.78 per share on revenue of $820.28 million.
Top 10 Low Price Companies To Own For 2014: Wells Fargo Advantage Income Opportunities Fund (EAD)
Evergreen Income Advantage Fund (the Fund) is a diversified closed-end management investment company. The primary investment objective of the Fund is to seek a high level of current income.
During the fiscal year ended April 30, 2005, the Fund's investment portfolio included Marquee Holdings, Inc., Mediacom LLC, American Achievement Corp., CSK Auto, Inc., Oxford Industries, Inc., B&G Foods Holdings Corp. and Chiquita Brands International, Inc.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Sarah Jones]
Daimler AG jumped 6.2 percent to 52.35 euros. The world�� third-largest maker of luxury cars posted second-quarter profit that beat analyst predictions following the sale of its final holding in the parent company of planemaker Airbus SAS. (EAD)
- [By Namitha Jagadeesh]
European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co. (EAD) rose 1.8 percent to 47.28 euros, the highest price since it sold shares to the public in 2000. Deutsche Lufthansa AG split an order for 59 wide-body aircraft valued at $19 billion between EADS unit Airbus SAS and Boeing Co.
- [By Jim Jubak]
Precision Castparts' impressive growth in the June quarter was largely a result of acquisitions. Organic sales growth year over year came to just 2%. Most of the time I don't like growth stocks that are fueled by acquisition since these deals can hide the true (frequently negative) trend in core sales and earnings growth. But in the case of Precision Castparts, an acquisition strategy makes sense to me, because it is a reflection of what's going on in the aerospace sector. Companies like Boeing (BA) and Airbus (EAD) are looking to simplify their supply chain and to deal with fewer suppliers. Rolling up part of the supply chain under one roof, which is what Precision Castparts is doing right now, is a way to gain a bigger share of the business of these big end customers.
Top 10 Low Price Companies To Own For 2014: El Paso Pipeline Partners LP (EPB)
El Paso Pipeline Partners, L.P. engages in the ownership and operation of natural gas transportation pipelines and storage assets in the United States. The company holds a 100% interest in Wyoming Interstate Company, Ltd. (WIC), an interstate pipeline transportation company located in Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado. It operates approximately 800-mile WIC interstate natural gas pipeline system with a design capacity of approximately 3.5 billion cubic feet per day. The company also owns a 58% general partner interest in Colorado Interstate Gas Company, which operates an interstate natural gas pipeline system with approximately 4,300 miles of pipeline with a design capacity of approximately 4.6 billion cubic feet per day; and associated storage facilities with 37 billion cubic feet of underground working natural gas storage capacity. In addition, it owns a 60% general partner interest in Southern Natural Gas Company that operates an interstate natural gas pipeline system with ap proximately 7,600 miles of pipeline with a design capacity of approximately 3.7 billion cubic feet per day; and associated storage facilities with a total of approximately 60 billion cubic feet of underground working natural gas storage capacity. Further, the company owns interests in Elba Express Company, L.L.C., which operates an approximately 200-mile pipeline with a design capacity of 945 million cubic feet per day; and Southern LNG Company, L.L.C. that owns a liquefied natural gas receiving terminal with a storage capacity of 11.5 equivalent billion cubic feet. It serves natural gas distribution and industrial companies, electric generation companies, natural gas producers, other natural gas pipeline companies, and natural gas marketing and trading companies. El Paso Pipeline GP Company, L.L.C. serves as the general partner of the company. The company was founded in 2007 and is based in Houston, Texas. El Paso Pipeline Partners, L.P. is a subsidiary of El Paso Pipeline LP Holdings, L.L.C.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Aaron Levitt]
So aside from its wholly owned energy logistics assets, KMI receives plenty of direct dividends and IDRs from El Paso Pipeline Partners (EPB) and Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (KMP). So if something goes wrong at one of these firms, it can affect KMI�� bottom line as well.
- [By Aaron Levitt]
Pipelines and midstream energy firms are supposed to be boring investments. And historically, energy logistics giant Kinder Morgan (KMI) has fit into that camp. That is, until analysts at Hedgeye Risk Management began to question the company�� — and its subsidiaries Kinder Morgan Energy Partners’ (KMP) and El Paso Pipeline Partners’ (EPB) — cash flows, CAPEX spending and incentive distribution rights (IDRs).
- [By Robert Rapier]
To review, Kinder Morgan is the general partner of Kinder Morgan Energy Partners and El Paso Pipeline Partners (NYSE: EPB). Shares/units of KMI, KMP, and EPB have all performed poorly this year relative to competitors, but mostly this is a result of a recent sell-off. The sell-off was prompted by a growth slowdown at KMP and halt of distribution increases at EPB, which was blamed on two adverse rate rulings for different segments of El Paso’s system. This has been extrapolated to a permanent slowdown at KMI, which we believe to be unwarranted.
- [By David Dittman]
Question: If an investor has a long term outlook, would you consider El Paso Pipeline Partners LP (NYSE: EPB) at current prices to be a good value or does the risk of trying to catch a falling knife outweigh the benefits? At what price would you consider it to be an excellent value play given its projected flat distribution through 2016? How likely is a distribution cut prior to re-establishing distribution growth in 2017?
Top 10 Low Price Companies To Own For 2014: Richoux Group PLC (RIC)
Richoux Group plc is a United Kingdom-based company engaged in the operation of restaurants. The Company has three segments: Richoux, Villagio Zippers and Dean�� Diner. Richoux restaurants operate in the areas of central London. The restaurants are open all day for breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner. The restaurants also offers patisserie. Zippers is a spacious, stylish and contemporary restaurant with a relaxed ambience. Dean's Diner offers a range of freshly prepared dishes. Villagio is a modern local Italian restaurant with a menu suitable for the whole family. The Company�� subsidiaries include Newultra Limited and Richoux Limited. Advisors' Opinion:- [By Roberto Pedone]
Richmont Mines (RIC) engages in the mining, exploration and development of mining properties, principally gold in Canada. This stock closed up 2.4% to $1.68 in Tuesday's trading session.
Tuesday's Range: $1.61-$1.68
52-Week Range: $1.31-$5.50
Tuesday's Volume: 76,000
Three-Month Average Volume: 101,786From a technical perspective, RIC bounced higher here right off its 50-day moving average of $1.59 with decent upside volume. This stock has been uptrending strong for the last month and change, with shares moving higher from its low of $1.31 to its recent high of $1.71. During that move, shares of RIC have been making mostly higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move has now pushed shares of RIC within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade. That trade will hit if RIC manages to take out some near-term overhead resistance at $1.71 to $1.80 with high volume.
Traders should now look for long-biased trades in RIC as long as it's trending above its 50-day at $1.59 or above more near-term support levels at $1.50 to $1.44 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 101,786 shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then RIC will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $2.10 to $2.20. Any high-volume move above those levels will then give RIC a chance to tag its 200-day moving average at $2.48.
Top 10 Low Price Companies To Own For 2014: North American Palladium Ltd (PAL)
North American Palladium Ltd. (NAP) is a precious metals producer that has been operating its flagship Lac des Iles mine (LDI) located in Ontario, Canada. The Company is in the business of exploring and mining palladium, platinum, gold and certain base metals. The Company�� 100%-owned subsidiary is the Lac des Iles Mines Ltd. (LDI).
The Company�� Lac des Iles (LDI) palladium mine is a palladium producer. The mine is located approximately 85 kilometers northwest of the city of Thunder Bay in Ontario, Canada, and consists of open pit and underground mining operations and a 15,000 ton per day mill.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By James E. Brumley]
Are you a gambling man (or gambling woman, as the case may be)? Then now may be the right time to place a bet on North American Palladium Ltd (NYSEMKT:PAL) ... the micro cap precious metals miner that has watched its stock fall from just under $2.00 in early February to a low of 44 cents yesterday. That's a 78% drubbing, for those of you who are counting, with a big chunk of that loss coming yesterday when PAL shares lost 28% of their value on the heels of two... shall we say "less than flattering" articles about the company were posted? Yet, sometimes the very best trades are ideas that never looked good on paper.
- [By Dan Caplinger]
4. Platinum-group metals
Platinum and palladium both fell sharply, losing 5% and 6% of their value, respectively. Those losses weren't as extreme as gold's, but they nevertheless represented a drop to levels not seen since late last year. The two major miners producing the white metals, Stillwater Mining (NYSE: SWC ) and North American Palladium (NYSEMKT: PAL ) , both lost more than 10% on the day.
Top 10 Low Price Companies To Own For 2014: Zions Bancorporation(ZION)
Zions Bancorporation, a multi bank holding company, provides various banking and related products and services in the United States. The company offers community banking services, including small and medium-sized business and corporate banking; commercial and residential development, construction, and term lending; retail banking; treasury cash management and related products and services; residential mortgage; trust and wealth management; and investment activities. It also provides personal banking services to individuals, including home mortgages, bankcard, installment loans, home equity lines of credit, checking accounts, savings accounts, time certificates, safe deposit facilities, direct deposits, and automated teller machine access. In addition, the company offers small business administration lending services; secondary market agricultural real estate mortgage loans; municipal finance advisory and underwriting services; and wealth management and online brokerage ser vices. As of December 31, 2010, Zions Bancorporation offered its banking services through 495 branches in Utah, California, Texas, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and New Mexico. The company was founded in 1873 and is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Eric Volkman]
Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ: ZION ) is moving along with some of its peers in the banking industry by raising its shareholder payout. The company will distribute $0.04 per share of its common stock on May 30 to holders of record as of May 23. This amount is four times the company's previous distribution, which had been handed out in every quarter stretching back to August 2009.
- [By Sean Williams]
Finally, Zions Bancorp (NASDAQ: ZION ) , which primarily provides banking and lending services to communities and businesses west of the Rocky Mountains, gained 2%, while the remainder of its peers sank like a stone. It's a bit difficult to decipher why Zions jumped, given that there's no company-specific news out today, but it very well could have to do with the fact that it ignores high-risk, high-reward derivatives and sticks to the "boring" aspects of deposit and loan growth. Although its loan growth could suffer if lending rates rise, it'll receive higher yields on its deposited money, and could see a rapid uptick in deposits.
- [By Sue Chang]
Other companies scheduled to release quarterly results on Monday include Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) , Seagate Technology Inc. (STX) , United States Steel Corp. (X) , and Zions Bancorp (ZION) .
- [By Robert Eberhard]
Zions Bancorp's (NASDAQ: ZION) first quarter earnings of $0.48 per share�were good enough to push the stock up just over 2% in early trading this morning, but that earnings tally is in the past. What's really important about Zions' release was what it says about the future, and I think that investors have three reasons it is now an even better buy than it was before.
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