Top 5 Warren Buffett Stocks To Own Right Now

In late 2011, Whitney Tilson shared a presentation on his website in which he conducts an analysis of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A)(BRK.B) and arrives at an estimate of Berkshire Hathaway�� Intrinsic Value. Basically, Tilson went through several Berkshire Hathaway annual reports and highlighted several of Warren Buffett's comments where Buffett talks about the discrepancy in Berkshire's stock price and its intrinsic value. Tilson then focuses on a quote and chart that could be found by reading the1997 Berkshire Hathaway Chairman's Letter:
In our last two annual reports, we furnished you a table that Charlie and I believe is central to estimating Berkshire's intrinsic value. In the updated version of that table, which follows, we trace our two key components of value. The first column lists our per-share ownership of investments (including cash and equivalents) and the second column shows our per-share earnings from Berkshire's operating businesses before taxes and purchase-accounting adjustments (discussed on pages 69 and 70), but after all interest and corporate expenses. The second column excludes all dividends, interest and capital gains that we realized from the investments presented in the first column. In effect, the columns show what Berkshire would look like were it split into two parts, with one entity holding our investments and the other operating all of our businesses and bearing all corporate costs.
Pre-tax Earnings Per Share
Investments/Share Excluding All Income from investments
1967 $ 41 $ 1.09
1977 372 12.44
1987 3,910 108.14
1997 38,043 717.82What Tilson then does is take Berkshire's Investment's Per Share at book value and applies a multiple to Berkshire's pre-tax earnings per share that excludes all income from investments. Pretty straightforward right? It's definitely an alternative to some of the "sum of the parts" analysis I have seen from other individuals such as Tom Gayner's in the June 30, 2011 ed! ition of Value Investor Insight.While the approach is straightforward and makes sense, Berkshire's new share repurchase plan may have changed things a bit.

Top 5 Warren Buffett Stocks To Own Right Now: Enersis S A(ENI)

Enersis S.A., an electric utility company, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity in Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Peru. It owns and operates hydroelectric, thermal, and wind power plants. As of December 31, 2010, it had 14,833 megawatts of installed capacity with 195 power plants; and 13.3 million distribution customers covering approximately 50 million inhabitants. The company was formerly known as Compania Chilena Metropolitana de Distribucion Electrica S.A and changed its name to Enersis S.A. in August 1988. Enersis S.A. was founded in 1889 and is headquartered in Santiago, Chile. Enersis S.A. is a subsidiary of Endesa Latinoamerica S.A.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sofia Horta e Costa]

  European stocks were little changed at a one-week high as companies from Eni SpA (ENI) to Volkswagen AG posted profit that exceeded estimates, while a gauge of telecommunications companies retreated.

Top 5 Warren Buffett Stocks To Own Right Now: Motricity Inc.(MOTR)

Motricity, Inc. enables mobile operators, brands, and advertising agencies to maximize the reach and economic potential of the mobile ecosystem through the delivery of relevance-driven merchandising, marketing, and advertising solutions. It leverages predictive analytics capabilities to deliver the right content, to the right person at the right time. Motricity, Inc. provides their entire suite of mobile data service solutions through a managed service platform. The company was formerly known as Power By Hand, Inc. and changed its name to Motricity, Inc. in October 2004. Motricity, Inc. was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington.

Hot Oil Stocks To Own Right Now: Amgen Inc.(AMGN)

Amgen Inc., a biotechnology medicines company, discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets human therapeutics based on advances in cellular and molecular biology for grievous illnesses primarily in the United States, Europe, and Canada. The company markets recombinant protein therapeutics in supportive cancer care, nephrology, and inflammation. Its principal products include Aranesp and EPOGEN erythropoietic-stimulating agents that stimulate the production of red blood cells; Neulasta and NEUPOGEN to stimulate the production of neutrophils, which is a type of white blood cell that helps the body to fight infections; and Enbrel, an inhibitor of tumor necrosis factor that plays a role in the body?s response to inflammatory diseases. The company also markets other products comprising Sensipar/Mimpara, a small molecule calcimimetic that lowers serum calcium levels; Vectibix, a monoclonal antibody that binds specifically to the epidermal growth factor receptor; and Nplate, a thrombopoietin (TPO) receptor agonist that mimics endogenous TPO, the primary driver of platelet production. In addition, it provides Denosumab, a human monoclonal antibody that targets RANKL, an essential regulator of osteoclasts. Further, the company offers product candidates in mid-to-late stage development in a variety of therapeutic areas, including oncology, hematology, inflammation, bone, nephrology, cardiovascular, and general medicine consisting of neurology. It markets its products to healthcare providers, including physicians or their clinics, dialysis centers, hospitals, and pharmacies; consumers; and wholesale distributors of pharmaceutical products. The company has various collaborative arrangements with Pfizer Inc.; GlaxoSmithKline plc; Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited; Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited; Array BioPharma Inc.; Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co. Ltd.; and Cytokinetics, Inc. Amgen Inc. was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN) is expected to post its Q3 earnings at $1.77 per share on revenue of $4.60 billion.

  Broadcom (NASDAQ: BRCM) is estimated to post its Q3 earnings at $0.69 per share on revenue of $2.13 billion.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  After weeks of speculation, Amgen’s (AMGN) purchase of Onyx Pharmaceuticals (ONXX) looks like a done deal. The Wall Street Journal has the details:

  Associated Press

  Amgen�Inc. reached a deal Sunday to buy fellow biotech�Onyx Pharmaceuticals�Inc. for roughly $10.4 billion, the latest proposed takeover aimed at tapping into growth expected from the cancer-drug industry.

  The all-cash takeover values Onyx at $125 a share. The price Amgen is paying is below what investors expected in the days after the possible deal surfaced in late June. Amgen had approached Onyx with an offer of $120 a share for the company, whose primary attraction is a blood-cancer drug called Kyprolis…

  The deal is expected to close at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

  RBC’s Michael Yee and team list three reasons for Amgen stockholders to like the deal:

  We reiterate our view AMGN will likely go higher after acquiring ONXX because: 1) adds growth ��changes the growth profile of AMGN and modestly accelerates top/bottom line (we see 5-15% accretion…), 2) diversification: it diversifies AMGN away from current portfolio of supportive care drugs where over 40% is exposed to biosimilars over next few years so it reduces biosimilar risk, 3) adds leverage through OUS infrastructure, reimbursement expertise, and existing cancer salesforce (tougher for small co’s).

  Amgen has gained 8.5% to $114.54 and Onyx has risen 5.7% to $123.64.

  Cantor Fitzgerald’s Mara Goldstein and Adeyemi Ogunkoya consider what the deal says about the current state of the biotech market–and the recent biotech rally (the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI) has gained 38% this year):

  Because of the ebb and flow of pipelines in the drug development industry, valuations for biotech companies may also rise and fall depending on a given cycle. The last few years has been one of large cap industry pipeline ebb, and that suggests to us t

Top 5 Warren Buffett Stocks To Own Right Now: Blonder Tongue Laboratories Inc. (BDR)

Blonder Tongue Laboratories, Inc. operates as a technology-development and manufacturing company primarily in the United States. It delivers television (TV) signal encoding, transcoding, digital transport, and broadband product solutions for a range of applications. The company offers analog video headend products, including integrated receiver/decoders, modulators, demodulators, channel combiners, and processors for use by system operators for signal acquisition, processing, and manipulation to create an analog channel lineup for further transmission. It also provides digital video headend products comprising high definition (HD) and standard definition MPEG-2 encoders and multiplexers, as well as quadrature phase shift key to quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) transcoders, digital QAM up-converters, and multiplexers; and digital 8VSB/QAM HDTV processors for the delivery of HDTV programming; and agile QAM Modulators. The company offers its digital video headend product s for use by system operators for the acquisition, processing, and manipulation of digital video signals. In addition, it provides hybrid fiber-coax (HFC) distribution products comprising broadband amplifiers, directional taps, splitters, and wall outlets for coax distribution and fiber optic transmitters, receivers, and couplers. The company offers its HFC distribution products to transport signals from the headend to homes, apartment units, hotel rooms, offices, or other terminal location along a fiber optic, coax, or HFC distribution network. It serves TV broadcasters, cable system operators, and lodging/hospitality video and high-speed Internet system operators, as well as institutional system operators or contractors that serve schools, universities, hospitals, prisons, corporations, sports stadiums, and airports. The company sells its products through sales force and stocking distributors. Blonder Tongue Laboratories, Inc. was founded in 1950 and is headquartered in Ol d Bridge, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Geoff Gannon]

  Bells should be ringing when you read that. Look at AEY�� business versus that of a competitor like Blonder Tongue (BDR). I�� just going to use GuruFocus data here. You can find the 10-year financial data for BDR here and the 10-year financial data for AEY here.

Top 5 Warren Buffett Stocks To Own Right Now: First Niagara Financial Group Inc.(FNFG)

First Niagara Financial Group, Inc. operates as the holding company for First Niagara Bank, N.A. that provides retail and commercial banking, and other financial services to individuals, families, and businesses. It offers retail deposit accounts, which include savings, negotiable order of withdrawal, checking, money market, and certificate of deposit accounts, as well as provides business savings and checking, money market, cash management accounts, and municipal deposit accounts. The company?s loan portfolio comprises commercial real estate and multi-family loans; commercial business loans; residential real estate loans; home equity loans; and consumer loans consisting of indirect mobile home loans, and personal secured and unsecured loans. It also sells insurance products, including commercial and personal insurance, surety bond, life, disability, and long-term care coverage products. In addition, the company offers risk management consulting services comprising altern ative risk and self-insurance services, claims investigation and adjusting services, and third party administration services for self insured workers? compensation plans. Further, it provides employee benefits plan and compensation consulting services. Additionally, First Niagara Financial Group offers wealth management services that manage client funds utilizing various third party investment vehicles consisting of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and annuities, as well as other investment products, such as individual retirement accounts, education savings plans, and retirement plans. As of December 31, 2010 it operated 257 bank branches, including 115 in Upstate New York and 142 branches in Pennsylvania. The company was founded in 1870 and is based in Buffalo, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rick Munarriz]

  Friday
  Things are usually quiet on Fridays, but that won't stop First Niagara Financial Group (NASDAQ: FNFG  ) from reporting. The parent company of First Niagra Bank -- a community banker with 430 branches and $37 billion in assets -- is expect to post marginal improvement on the top and bottom lines.

• [By John Maxfield]

  Given that you clicked on this article, it seems safe to assume you either own stock in First Niagara Financial (NASDAQ: FNFG  ) or are considering buying shares in the near future. If so, then you've come to the right place. The table below reveals the nine most critical numbers investors need to know about First Niagara Financial stock before deciding whether to buy, sell, or hold it.

• [By Monica Gerson]

  First Niagara Financial Group (NASDAQ: FNFG) is projected to report its Q3 earnings at $0.19 per share on revenue of $365.77 million.

  Posted-In: Earnings scheduleEarnings News Pre-Market Outlook Markets

• [By John Maxfield]

  While it's not obvious from the chart, you can separate these institutions into three different buckets. The first bucket concerns the most widely discussed too-big-to-fail banks: JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo. Then comes the unofficial too-big-to-fail lenders (those with assets in excess of $50 billion and thus subject to the Federal Reserve's more stringent stress test process). This group contains U.S. Bank (NYSE: USB  ) , PNC Financial (NYSE: PNC  ) , and BB&T Bank (NYSE: BBT  ) , among others. And the final group encompasses lesser-known banks like First Niagara Financial (NASDAQ: FNFG  ) and People's United Financial (NASDAQ: PBCT  ) with between $20 billion and $50 billion in assets.

How Will Coca-Cola Stock Act After Latest Earnings?

With shares of Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) trading around $40, is KO an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE, or STAY AWAY? Let's analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework:

T = Trends for a Stock’s Movement

Coca-Cola is a beverage company that engages in the manufacture, marketing, and sale of nonalcoholic beverages worldwide. Its sparkling beverages include carbonated energy drinks, carbonated waters, and flavored waters. The company''s still beverages comprise nonalcoholic beverages, including noncarbonated waters, flavored and enhanced waters, noncarbonated energy drinks, juices and juice drinks, ready-to-drink teas and coffees, and sports drinks. Coca-Cola Company sells its products primarily under the Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Coca-Cola Light, Coca-Cola Zero, Sprite, Fanta, Minute Maid, Powerade, Aquarius, Dasani, Glacéau Vitaminwater, Georgia, Simply, Del Valle, Ayataka, and I Lohas brand names.

Consumers around the world love the products offered by Coca-Cola, and enjoy them almost on a daily basis. Through its brands, Coca-Cola is able to reach a wide consumer base in just about every corner of the world. Those consumers will continue to enjoy its products for many years. On Tuesday morning, Coca-Cola reported disappointing second quarter earnings, blaming the drop on slow sales in Europe. The company has tried raising prices to cope, but economic troubles in Europe and Latin America are having a negative affect on Coca-Cola’s bottom line.

T = Technicals on the Stock Chart are Mixed

Coca-Cola stock has been exploding higher over the last several years. The stock is now trading at price levels not seen since 1998. Analyzing the price trend and its strength can be done using key simple moving averages.

What are the key moving averages? They are the 50-day (pink), 100-day (blue), and 200-day (yellow) simple moving averages. As seen in the daily price chart below, Coca-Cola is trading between its key averages, which signal neutral price action in the near-term.

(Source: Thinkorswim)

Taking a look at the implied volatility (red) and implied volatility skew levels of Coca-Cola options may help determine if investors are bullish, neutral, or bearish.

	Implied Volatility (IV)	30-Day IV Percentile	90-Day IV Percentile
Coca-Cola Options	17.83%	0%	0%

What does this mean? This means that investors or traders are buying a very small amount of call and put options contracts, compared to the last 30 and 90 trading days.

	Put IV Skew	Call IV Skew
August Options	Flat	Average
September Options	Flat	Average

As of today, there is average demand from call buyers or sellers, and low demand by put buyers or high demand by put sellers, all neutral to bullish over the next two months. To summarize, investors are buying a very small amount of call and put option contracts, and are leaning neutral to bullish over the next two months.

On the next page, let’s take a look at the earnings and revenue growth rates, and what that means for Coca-Cola’s stock.

E = Earnings Are Mixed Quarter-Over-Quarter

Rising stock prices are often strongly correlated with rising earnings and revenue growth rates. The last four quarterly earnings announcement reactions can also help gauge investor sentiment on Coca-Cola’s stock. What do the last four quarterly earnings and revenue growth (Y-O-Y) figures for Coca-Cola look like, and more importantly, how did the markets like these numbers?

	2013 Q2	2013 Q1	2012 Q4	2012 Q3
Earnings Growth (Y-O-Y)	3.28%	-12.36%	13.92%	4.17%
Revenue Growth (Y-O-Y)	-2.57%	-0.92%	3.76%	0.75%
Earnings Reaction	-1.41%*	5.68%	-2.71%	-0.60%

Coca-Cola has seen rising earnings and mixed revenue figures over the last four quarters. From these numbers, the markets have not been too happy with Coca-Cola’s recent earnings announcements.

* As of this writing

P = Weak Relative Performance Versus Peers and Sector

How has Coca-Cola stock done relative to its peers, Pepsi (NYSE:PEP), Dr. Pepper Snapple (NYSE:DPS), Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST), and the overall sector?

	Coca-Cola	Pepsi	Dr. Pepper Snapple	Monster Beverage	Sector
Year-to-Date Return	10.70%	22.75%	7.29%	14.97%	12.71%

Coca-Cola has been a poor relative performer, year-to-date.

Conclusion

Coca-Cola is an iconic company that provides beverage products through its recognized brands to consumers and companies in just about every country worldwide. But a recent slowdown in Latin American and European sales has negatively affected the company in the latest quarter.  The stock has been on a bullish run over the last several years, and is now trading at prices not seen since 1998. Over the last four quarters, earnings have been rising, while revenue figures have been mixed, which has resulted in disappointed reactions to the firm’s most recent earnings report. Relative to its peers and sector, Coca-Cola has been a weak year-to-date performer. WAIT AND SEE what Coca-Cola does this coming quarter.

Stock Market Trend – Eye Opening Information

My Stock market trend analysis is likely different from what you think is about to unfold. Keep an open mind as this is just showing you both sides of the coin from a technical stand point. Remember,the market likes to trend in the direction which causes the most investor pain.

Since the stock market bottom in 2009 equities has been rising which is great, but this train could be setting up to do the unthinkable. What do I mean? Well, let's take a look at the two possible outcomes.

The Bear Market Trend & Investor Negative Credit

The S&P500 has been forming a large broadening formation over the last 13 years. The recent run to new highs and record amounts of money being borrowed to buy stocks on margin has me skeptical about prices continuing higher.

Take a look at the chart below which I found on the ZeroHedge website last week. This chart shows the SP500 index relative to positive and negative investor credit balances. As you can see we are starting to reach some extreme leverage again on the stock market. I do feel we are close to a strong correction or possible bear market, but we must remember that a correction may be all we get. It does not take much for this type of borrowed money to be washed clean and removed. A simple 2-6 week correction will do this and then stocks will be free to continue higher.

Monthly Bearish Trend Outlook

Below you can see the simple logical move that should occur next for stocks based on the average bull market lasts four years (it has been four years) and the fact the negative credit is so high again.

Also, poor earnings continue to be released for many individual names across all sectors of the market. While corporate profits may be holding up or growing in some of the big name stocks, revenues are not. This means the big guys are simply laying off workers and cutting costs still.

Overall the stock market is entering its strongest period of the year. So things could get choppy here with strong up and down days until Jan. After that stocks could start to top out and eventually confirm a down trend. Keep in mind, major market tops are a process. They take 6-12 months to form so do not think this is a simple short trade. The market will be choppy until a confirmed down trend is in place.

Monthly BULLISH Trend Outlook

This scenario is the least likely one floating around market participant's minds. It just does not seem possible with the global issues trying to be resolved. With the Federal Reserve continuing to print tens of billions of dollars each month inflating the stocks market this bullish scenario has some legs to stand on and makes for the perfect "Wall of Worry" for stocks to climb.

The US dollar is likely to continue falling in the long run, but I do not think it will collapse. Instead, it will likely grind lower and trade almost in a sideways pattern for years to come.

Major Stock Market Trend Conclusion:

In summary, I remain bullish with the trend, but once price and the technical indicators confirm a down trend I will happily jump ships and take advantage of lower prices.

Remember, this is big picture stuff using Monthly and quarterly charts. So these plays will take some time to unfold and within these larger moves are many shorter term opportunities that we will be trading regardless of which direction the market is trending. As active traders and investors we will profit either way.

Get My Reports Free at: www.GoldAndOilguy.com

Chris Vermeulen

Why CECO Environmental's Earnings Are Outstanding

Although business headlines still tout earnings numbers, many investors have moved past net earnings as a measure of a company's economic output. That's because earnings are very often less trustworthy than cash flow, since earnings are more open to manipulation based on dubious judgment calls.

Earnings' unreliability is one of the reasons Foolish investors often flip straight past the income statement to check the cash flow statement. In general, by taking a close look at the cash moving in and out of the business, you can better understand whether the last batch of earnings brought money into the company, or merely disguised a cash gusher with a pretty headline.

Calling all cash flows
When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on CECO Environmental (Nasdaq: CECE  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Data is current as of last fully reported fiscal quarter. Dollar values in millions. FCF = free cash flow. FY = fiscal year. TTM = trailing 12 months.

Over the past 12 months, CECO Environmental generated $17.0 million cash while it booked net income of $11.0 million. That means it turned 12.5% of its revenue into FCF. That sounds pretty impressive.

All cash is not equal
Unfortunately, the cash flow statement isn't immune from nonsense, either. That's why it pays to take a close look at the components of cash flow from operations, to make sure that the cash flows are of high quality. What does that mean? To me, it means they need to be real and replicable in the upcoming quarters, rather than being offset by continual cash outflows that don't appear on the income statement (such as major capital expenditures).

For instance, cash flow based on cash net income and adjustments for non-cash income-statement expenses (like depreciation) is generally favorable. An increase in cash flow based on stiffing your suppliers (by increasing accounts payable for the short term) or shortchanging Uncle Sam on taxes will come back to bite investors later. The same goes for decreasing accounts receivable; this is good to see, but it's ordinary in recessionary times, and you can only increase collections so much. Finally, adding stock-based compensation expense back to cash flows is questionable when a company hands out a lot of equity to employees and uses cash in later periods to buy back those shares.

So how does the cash flow at CECO Environmental look? Take a peek at the chart below, which flags questionable cash flow sources with a red bar.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Data is current as of last fully reported fiscal quarter. Dollar values in millions. TTM = trailing 12 months.

When I say "questionable cash flow sources," I mean items such as changes in taxes payable, tax benefits from stock options, and asset sales, among others. That's not to say that companies booking these as sources of cash flow are weak, or are engaging in any sort of wrongdoing, or that everything that comes up questionable in my graph is automatically bad news. But whenever a company is getting more than, say, 10% of its cash from operations from these dubious sources, investors ought to make sure to refer to the filings and dig in.

With questionable cash flows amounting to only 7.3% of operating cash flow, CECO Environmental's cash flows look clean. Within the questionable cash flow figure plotted in the TTM period above, stock-based compensation and related tax benefits provided the biggest boost, at 3.9% of cash flow from operations. Overall, the biggest drag on FCF came from changes in accounts receivable, which represented 15.3% of cash from operations.

A Foolish final thought
Most investors don't keep tabs on their companies' cash flow. I think that's a mistake. If you take the time to read past the headlines and crack a filing now and then, you're in a much better position to spot potential trouble early. Better yet, you'll improve your odds of finding the underappreciated home-run stocks that provide the market's best returns.

Looking for alternatives to CECO Environmental? It takes more than great companies to build a fortune for the future. Learn the basic financial habits of millionaires next door and get focused stock ideas in our free report, "3 Stocks That Will Help You Retire Rich." Click here for instant access to this free report.

We can help you keep tabs on your companies with My Watchlist, our free, personalized stock tracking service.

Add CECO Environmental to My Watchlist.

8 Fascinating Reads

Happy Saturday! There are more good news articles, commentaries, and analyst reports on the Web every week than anyone could read in a month. Here are eight fascinating ones I read this week.

How to read smarter
Reading is a skill. The blog Farnam Street shares a tip from the book The Little Book of Talent: 52 Tips for Improving Your Skills on how to become a better reader: 

Research shows that people who follow strategy B [read ten pages at once, then close the book and write a one page summary] remember 50 percent more material over the long term than people who follow strategy A [read ten pages four times in a row and try to memorize them]. This is because of one of deep practice's most fundamental rules: Learning is reaching. Passively reading a book -- a relatively effortless process, letting the words wash over you like a warm bath -- doesn't put you in the sweet spot. Less reaching equals less learning.

One way to get it done 
Charlie Munger grew a publishing company with his investing chops: 

Daily Journal Corp., the California publisher that counts Charles Munger as its chairman, more than tripled in value since 2008 after the company jumped into stocks during the financial crisis.

Best known as Warren Buffett's longtime business partner, Munger began accumulating equities in early 2009 at the Daily Journal. The portfolio was worth $112.3 million as of March 31, or about 65 percent of the Los Angeles-based publisher's current market value ...

Munger's investments were disclosed in a May 2009 filing under the headline, "Liquidity and Capital Resources." The section outlined how the publisher was sitting on about $9 million in gains after spending $15.5 million on common stocks.

The results kept getting better. Three months later, the Daily Journal said the holdings were valued at more than $41 million. By the end of September of that year, they appreciated to almost $48 million.

Had enough 
From CNet, Facebook (NASDAQ: FB  ) is having a harder time holding down talent: 

Facebook executives and senior staffers have been saying goodbye to the social network at a speedy rate ever since its May 2012 initial public offering.

In the past few days alone, head U.S. sales guy Tom Arrix and Gowalla co-founder Josh Williams have said they're headed for the exits. Sure, Facebook, with 4,900 employees, should be forgiven for some expected turnover, but when the top brass bow out in successive fashion, some without rhyme or reason, you can safely bet that it's not all sunshine and rainbows inside the world's largest social network.

Human nature
Yale economist Robert Shiller says bubbles are here to stay: 

Because bubbles are essentially social-psychological phenomena, they are, by their very nature, difficult to control. Regulatory action since the financial crisis might diminish bubbles in the future. But public fear of bubbles may also enhance psychological contagion, fueling even more self-fulfilling prophecies.

One problem with the word bubble is that it creates a mental picture of an expanding soap bubble, which is destined to pop suddenly and irrevocably. But speculative bubbles are not so easily ended; indeed, they may deflate somewhat, as the story changes, and then reflate.

Up-to-the-minute
Mark Schneider in Financial Times has an idea: No more quarterly reports from companies. Instead, financial results should be presented continuously, in real time: 

Increasing the speed of reporting can deliver other benefits to both investors and companies. Businesses would benefit from improved internal financial controls as a result of a streamlined reporting structure. The timeliness of operating decisions would improve with more frequent disclosures. Investors would benefit from tighter financial management.

Gone would be some of the accounting games of the past -- such as the loading of sales into the last business days of a quarter. Yes, commercial practices vary between industries, but still a company with a steeper sales incline at quarter-end than its peers would have some explaining to do. The overall financial industry would also ultimately benefit from a smoother process of sharing information and building expectations.

Overexposed
TD AMERITRADE  (NYSE: AMTD  ) clients had a big exposure to Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) stock on margin: 

One-third of the multi-billion dollar margin balances at TD Ameritrade are in accounts that have more than 25 percent market exposure to Apple.

"Our most widely held stock, our most actively traded stock and our most margined stock is Apple," TD Ameritrade Chief Executive Fred Tomczyk said on a conference call to discuss the firm's quarterly earnings report.

"A very large company that makes up a big part of our margin book has not participated in this rally over the last year."

Bucking the trend
The newspaper industry has tried to stay alive by slashing costs. The Orange County Register did the opposite, and it's thriving:

Conventional media wisdom posits several ways for a newspaper to commit suicide. It can drive up costs by multiplying staff and pagination. It can prioritise print over digital. It can erect a hard paywall to seal itself from the Internet.

Or, if you are the Orange County Register, you can do all three. The California daily did so almost exactly a year ago, prompting astonishment and morbid curiosity. How long would it last? In a crisis-stricken industry more accustomed to death by a thousand cuts, the Register, which dates back a century, at least promised a dramatic and original demise.

But this week, as the paper prepares to celebrate the experiment's first anniversary, it appears to be thriving. "It's working," marvelled the editor, Ken Brusic. "We believe that this will work."

Innovation 
Watch this fascinating video about a new high-speed engine technology:

Enjoy your weekend. 

For more big picture content, check out my report, "Everything You Need to Know About the National Debt." It walks you through step-by-step explanations about how the government spends your money, where it gets tax revenue from, the future of spending, and what a $16 trillion debt means for our future. Click here to read it. 

Why AMD Shares Plunged

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD  ) have plunged today by as much as 17% after the company reported earnings last night.

So what: Revenue in the second quarter totaled $1.16 billion, which translated into an adjusted loss of $0.09 per share. Both figures were ahead of Street forecasts, which called for $1.11 billion in sales, and a loss of $0.13 per share. The real cause for concern was within guidance.

Now what: The third quarter should see revenue increase sequentially by approximately 22%, which is a healthy figure. Despite the expected top line gains, investors are concerned about profitability. AMD said gross margin next quarter should be around 36%, a significant sequential drop from the 40% gross margin just posted. Shares have already soared in recent months on optimism around next-generation game consoles, but the custom chip business is proving to be less profitable than investors were hoping for.

Interested in more info on Advanced Micro Devices? Add it to your watchlist by clicking here.

It's incredible to think just how much of our digital and technological lives are almost entirely shaped and molded by just a handful of companies. Find out "Who Will Win the War Between the 5 Biggest Tech Stocks?" in The Motley Fool's latest free report, which details the knock-down, drag-out battle being waged by the five kings of tech. Click here to keep reading.

5 Biotech Stocks Under $10 for Your Watch List

DELAFIELD, Wis. (Stockpickr) -- At Stockpickr, we track daily portfolios of stocks that are the biggest percentage gainers and the biggest percentage losers.

>>5 Big Stocks to Trade for Big Gains

Stocks that are making large moves like these are favorites among short-term traders because they can jump into these names and try to capture some of that massive volatility. Stocks that are making big-percentage moves either up or down are usually in play because their sector is becoming attractive or they have a major fundamental catalyst such as a recent earnings release. Sometimes stocks making big moves have been hit with an analyst upgrade or an analyst downgrade.

Regardless of the reason behind it, when a stock makes a large-percentage move, it is often just the start of a new major trend -- a trend that can lead to huge profits. If you time your trade correctly, combining technical indicators with fundamental trends, discipline and sound money management, you will be well on your way to investment success.

>>5 Sin Stocks to Protect Your Portfolio

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at a several stocks under $10 that are making large moves to the upside today.

Chelsea Therapeutics

Chelsea Therapeutics (CHTP) is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on acquisition, development and commercialization of pharmaceutical products for the treatment of a variety of human diseases. This stock closed up 1.7% to $2.96 in Thursday's trading session.

Thursday's Range: $2.92-$3.01

52-Week Range: $0.73-$3.30

Thursday's Volume: 982,000

Three-Month Average Volume: 943,154

>>5 Hated Earnings Stocks You Should Hate

From a technical perspective, CHTP spiked modestly higher here right off some near-term support at $2.90 with above-average volume. This move briefly pushed shares of CHTP above its 50-day moving average of $2.97, before the stock closed just below that level at $2.96. This move is now starting to push shares of CHTP within range of triggering a major breakout trade. That trade will hit if CHTP manages to take out some near-term overhead resistance levels at $3.07 to $3.18 and then once it takes out its 52-week high at $3.30 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in CHTP as long as it's trending above some near-term support at $2.80 or at $2.70 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 943,154 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then CHTP will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory above $3.30, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that breakout are its next major overhead resistance levels at $4.20 to $4.40, or even $5.

Synta Pharmaceuticals

Synta Pharmaceuticals (SNTA) is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in discovering, developing an commercializing small-molecule drugs to extend and enhance the lives of patients with severe medical conditions such as cancer and chronic inflammatory diseases. This stock closed up 2.7% to $6.84 in Thursday's trading session.

Thursday's Range: $6.63-$6.90

52-Week Range: $3.76-$11.88

Thursday's Volume: 1.18 million

Three-Month Average Volume: 1.58 million

>>3 Hot Stocks on Traders' Radars

From a technical perspective, SNTA rose modestly higher here right above its 50-day moving average of $6.39 with decent upside volume. This stock has been trending sideways and consolidating for the last three months, with shares moving between $5.55 on the downside and $7.85 on the upside. Shares of SNTA are now starting to trend within range of triggering a breakout trade above the upper-end of its recent sideways trading chart pattern. That breakout will hit if SNTA manages to clear some near-term overhead resistance levels at $7.10 to $7.30, and then once it clears its 200-day moving average of $7.54 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in SNTA as long as it's trending above its 50-day at $6.39 or above $6 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 1.58 million shares. If that breakout hits soon, then SNTA will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $7.85 to $8.25. Any high-volume move above those levels will then put $9 into range for shares of SNTA.

Xoma

Xoma (XOMA) is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development and manufacture of therapeutic antibodies and other agents designed to treat inflammatory, autoimmune, infectious and oncological diseases. This stock closed up 3.4% to $4.84 in Thursday's trading session.

Thursday's Range: $4.66-$4.86

52-Week Range: $2.37-$5.54

Thursday's Volume: 1.13 million

Three-Month Average Volume: 1.20 million

>> 4 Big Stocks to Trade (or Not)

From a technical perspective, XOMA spiked higher here right off its 50-day moving average of $4.61 with decent upside volume. This move is quickly pushing shares of XOMA within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade. That trade will hit if XOMA manages to take out some near-term overhead resistance at $4.91 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in XOMA as long as it's trending above its 50-day at $4.61 or above more key near-term support at $4.30 and then once it sustains a move or close above $4.91 with volume that hits near or above 1.20 million shares. If that breakout hits soon, then XOMA will set up to re-test or possibly take out its 52-week high at $5.54. Any high-volume move above that level will then give XOMA a chance to tag $6 to $6.50.

Dyax

Dyax (DYAX) is a biotechnology company engaged in the discovery, development and commercialization of biopharmaceuticals for unmet medical needs. This stock closed up 4.2% to $6.80 in Thursday's trading session.

Thursday's Range: $6.45-$6.82

52-Week Range: $2.26-$7.28

Thursday's Volume: 1.09 million

Three-Month Average Volume: 915,237

>>5 Stocks Insiders Love Right Now

From a technical perspective, DYAX ripped higher here right above some near-term support at $6.22 with above-average volume. This stock has been trending sideways and consolidating for the last month, with shares moving between $6.13 on the downside and $7.28 on the upside. This move on Thursday is quickly pushing shares of DYAX within range of triggering a major breakout trade above the upper-end of its recent range. That breakout will hit if DYAX manages to take out some near-term overhead resistance levels at $7.07 to its 52-week high at $7.28 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in DYAX as long as it's trending above some near-term support at $6.22 or above its 50-day at $5.68 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 915,237 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then DYAX will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that breakout are $10 to $12.

Aveo Pharmaceuticals

Aveo Pharmaceuticals (AVEO) is a biopharmaceutical company involved in discovering, developing and commercializing novel cancer therapeutics. This stock closed up 5% to $2.29 in Thursday's trading session.

Thursday's Range: $2.12-$2.35

52-Week Range: $2.01-$8.94

Thursday's Volume: 1.41 million

Three-Month Average Volume: 516,802

>>5 Rocket Stocks to Buy Now

From a technical perspective, AVEO jumped higher here right off its 50-day moving average of $2.14 with heavy upside volume. This move pushed shares of AVEO into breakout territory, since the stock took out some near-term overhead resistance at $2.23. Shares of AVEO are now quickly moving within range of triggering an even bigger breakout trade. That trade will hit if AVEO manages to clear some more near-term overhead resistance levels at $2.36 to $2.37 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in AVEO as long as it's trending above its 50-day at $2.14 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 516,802 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then AVEO will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $2.83 to $3.08. Any high-volume move above those levels will then give AVEO a chance to re-fill some of its previous gap down zone from May that started just above $5.50.

To see more stocks that are making notable moves higher today, check out the Stocks Under $10 Moving Higher portfolio on Stockpickr.

-- Written by Roberto Pedone in Delafield, Wis.

RELATED LINKS:

>>4 Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume

>>5 Stocks Under $10 Set to Soar

>>Do You Own These Blue-Chips? Sell Them!

Follow Stockpickr on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

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

Roberto Pedone, based out of Delafield, Wis., is an independent trader who focuses on technical analysis for small- and large-cap stocks, options, futures, commodities and currencies. Roberto studied international business at the Milwaukee School of Engineering, and he spent a year overseas studying business in Lubeck, Germany. His work has appeared on financial outlets including

CNBC.com and Forbes.com. You can follow Pedone on Twitter at www.twitter.com/zerosum24 or @zerosum24.

Fries King? Burger King touts faux name change

A Burger King PR stunt is doing the trick Wednesday -- there's a lot of social media buzz about the fast food giant's supposed name change to "Fries King."

Burger King's website shows a redone company logo. An abstract, upright pouch of french fries replaces the familiar, stylized hamburger, and the words "Fries King" appear over the logo in place of "Burger King." It's all rendered in the same style, colors and roughly same dimensions as the "old" logo.

Below the logo comes this attention-getter: "Formerly Burger King."

BURGER KING: Concocts lower-cal 'Satisfries'

Incredible coincidence alert: The move comes at the same time the company is rolling out revamped French fries that it says are healthier than ordinary ones.

Dubbed "Satisfries," they have 30% less fat and 20% fewer calories than Burger King's regular fries -- and 40% less fat and 30% fewer calories than McDonald's fries, USA TODAY reported last week.

But perhaps not all the PR in this case is positive, AdWeek's Tim Nudd writes.

"There are a few downsides to this. First, it implies the burgers are probably not very good. And second, it confuses people," he says in an article on Burger King's supposed name change.

But "it does appear to be making people hungry," he says.

Why You Should Redeem Cash-Back Rewards Often

A cash-back credit card can be a good way to put money in your pocket while spending on things you normally would buy, such as groceries or gas. They allow cardholders to earn a certain percentage on purchases and redeem those earnings, usually as cash, gift cards or statement credits.

SEE ALSO: Best Cash-Back Rewards Cards

Unfortunately, many cardholders don't take full advantage of this perk, says Alex Matjanec, co-founder of MyBankTracker.com, a banking-information Web site. A 2011 study by marketing research firm Colloquy found that one-third of all rewards--everything from airline miles to cash-back rewards--worth $16 billion go unredeemed each year.

With cash-back rewards specifically, rather than cash out earnings, Matjanec says many cardholders let them accumulate and use cash-back programs as a piggy bank. Although some credit card companies offer customers incentives for waiting to redeem earnings until they accumulate a certain amount, Matjanec says cardholders can be better off cashing in every month or at least every quarter. Here's why:

You risk losing your rewards or having them decline in value. Matjanec says that banks can change the terms of their programs at any time. As a result, the value of your rewards can drop. If you're delinquent on your account and it is closed as a result, you'll lose your rewards. And companies often have expiration dates on redeeming rewards. Or you could lose all of your rewards if a company ceases operations. Customers of PerkStreet Financial lost their unclaimed balances when the rewards-based online bank closed in September.

You could be using your rewards to pay off your card balance. You could be banking rewards to pay for a big purchase. But you're really not saving any money if your card balance (and the interest you're paying on it) is growing each month. Matjanec recommends using your rewards to pay down your balance. Some card companies allow you to redeem your rewards for statement credits, which you can use to reduce your balance. If your program doesn't offer statement credits, simply have the cash deposited in your checking account, then use it to help pay your credit card bill, he says.

You could be using rewards to make purchases. Again, maybe you're saving up your rewards to get something big. But what difference does it make to your bottom line if you save $500 on, say, a computer or $500 over several months on regular trips to the supermarket. You could be redeeming cash-back earnings regularly to purchase things you need.

The Second Wind for MeetMe Seals the Deal (LNKD, FB, MEET)

Last Friday when yours truly suggested MeetMe Inc. (NYSEMKT:MEET) shares were taking flight and were a "buy", I didn't aim to imply it was going to be the next Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) or LinkedIn Corp. (NYSE:LNKD). It was just a short-term idea assuming the near-term technical clues would get traction. Today's action from MEET seals that deal.

Just for anyone not familiar with the company, comparing LNKD or FB to MeetMe may be comparing, well, not apples to oranges, but red apples to green apples. MEET is a social networking side that groups potential and current friends according to their current geographical location rather than a circle of friends, family, or coworkers. It's specifically designed to facilitate meeting new friends for strictly-social purposes, as opposed to LinkedIn, which is aimed at professional introductions, and Facebook, which caters to connect users with people they already know.

The revenues model is similar to that of LinkedIn, and identical to that of Facebook - page views = revenue, and virtual money within the MeetMe world can be garnered by spending real money, allowing users to participate in that virtual world in a deeper way.

The concept is working relatively well too. Though still erratic, revenue is on the rise for MEET, and the loss is shrinking. Deloitte says it's the 32nd (out of 500) fastest-growing company in North America.

None of those details are important right now, however. What's most important right now is the same thing that was most important late last week - shares have crossed above the 200-day moving average line today, for the second time in four days. This second effort, however, clinches the technical bullish cue from Friday. Just as telling is the fact that today's bullish volume is also going to be strong; the masses are starting to pile in. Time to follow that lead, especially considering it's supported by tangible progress from the company itself.

If you'd like to get more trading ideas and insights like this one, sign up for the free SmallCap Network daily e-newsletter. It's full of stock picks, market calls, and more.

BlackBerry: So You Think This Is Bad?

Many people have weighed in on BlackBerry (BBRY) this past week. Some investors have been right, others have been wrong, and a few are still in a daze. Emotions are running high over last Friday's earnings call, but this is a time when emotions have no place in prudent investing, or trading. I have written numerous articles on BlackBerry, and feel this is the time to focus on the issues at hand and how investors can move forward from here.

Firstly, the comments on the BlackBerry articles over the past two months have been getting increasingly personal. As an investor there is value in all comments, even when the comment doesn't agree with your position. No one has a crystal ball, and that includes CEOs of publicly traded companies. The value that Seeking Alpha readers provide is a collaborative community that debates issues towards a common goal, shining light on different viewpoints for truly out of the box thinking. This out-of-the-box thinking is how one truly benefits in the market of today, in which I thank all SA readers for their input. In this article, I will endeavor to apply logic with the facts at hand to foreshadow what lies ahead for BlackBerry, good or bad.

I have always been a BlackBerry bull, and continue to be a BlackBerry bull. Now I am acutely aware that I am a bull in a Spanish bull fight; against a prized matador. I just hope that the matador doesn't get to feed on me tonight.

Thorsten Heins

While never a fan of BlackBerry's CEO Thorsten Heins' presentation style, I did take him at face value until now. Previously, I never had a reason to mistrust his statements even though I have taken them with a grain of salt. Since last Friday's earnings report, the CEO's previous statement of Q10 sales in the "tens of millions" seems to be in question. This statement may be true but the timeframe may be over a couple of years. In fairness, I have gone over Thorsten Heins' previous quotes, and while optimistic, I could not find a direct falsehood. The demeanor! during the conference call was anything but confident, and spoke of problems at the helm.

It would be complete conjecture to assume the reason for the subdued performance on the earnings call, but the earnings loss and less than stellar sales volume didn't help. As the Annual General Meeting is next week, and Thorsten Heins will be bombarded with questions from investors; it would be prudent to reserve definitive judgment until this time.

Numbers

I have collected all the sales figures from previous financial statements over the past few years, and have calculated various metrics that are not readily available. I believe the data to be accurate, but I make no warranties to the accuracy of the data. The data was calculated from certain assumptions and data from previous months.

ASP Numbers

ASP Z10 $420

ASP Q10 $462

In a previous article, I calculated the ASP (average selling price) for the Z10 to be $420. The ASP for the Q10 is approximately $462. The values were calculated from the following spreadsheet, and are included below for information purposes.

(click to enlarge)

The increase in average selling price has contributed to larger gross margins and a decrease in the quarterly earnings per share loss. While BlackBerry is still reporting a loss, it is very close to the breakeven point. This quarter the EPS (earnings per share) was reported to be a loss of 3 cents per share, excluding the Venezuela deferred revenue. With Venezuela, the EPS was a 13 cent loss per share. BlackBerry would probably have reported a profit if the quantities shipped were slightly larger. Another 300,000 devices would have returned a minimum of $126 Million more to add to the top line revenue.

From the chart below, there clearly is a shift upwards regarding revenue. It was, however, small in comparison to previous quarters a couple of years ago.

(click to enlarge)!

Quantities

Q10 devices sold 1.9 Million

Z10 devices sold 0.8 Million

BB7 devices sold 4.1 Million

The quantities of BlackBerry devices sold this quarter were lower than expected. By utilizing various data sets, the above metrics were calculated. Not surprisingly, the Z10 device numbers were lower, with Q10 sales more than double.

Inventory Build up?

There has been much debate over the potential of an inventory buildup that is worrisome. The additional costs needed to be broken down to understand where the issues exist. From the previous fiscal year all the line items are roughly the same. The difference exists with the work in progress. This is very understandable as production has been increased in an effort to deliver to market. Due to the cancellation of the PlayBook tablet, some of the $80 Million in finished goods would be the Z10 and Q10 devices. Altogether, I do not see any issues from this area of the financial documents.

	FY14Q1 (in millions)	FY13Q1 (in millions)
Raw Materials	641	588
Work in Progress	629	371
Finished Goods	80	78
Excess or obsolete	(463)	(434)

Notable

From the last quarter: The intangible assets (patents etc.) have a net book value of $3.4 billion, and this includes the 6,000 Nortel patents that were purchased by the technology consortium. This number is $3.5 billion this quarter. With the market cap at approximately $5 Billion, the patents constitute 70%. If there was a liquidation, and the patents were discounted to $2.5 Billion, there would be a significant return to shareholders based on today's share price around $10 per sh! are.

Last quarter there were discussions regarding a large 1 million device order possibly from BrightStar. This was noted indirectly in the annual financial statements for FY2013. This has been a significant increase from the previous year.

There was one customer that comprised 12.7% of accounts receivable as at June 1, 2013 (March 2, 2013 - one customer comprised 8.2%). Additionally, there were two customers that together comprised 23% of the Company's first quarter of fiscal 2014 revenue (first quarter of fiscal 2013 revenue - one customer comprised 14%).

Also from the annual financial statements were some notable acquisitions in technology. The information is presented here to show the direction that BlackBerry has taken and will take in the near future. It is clear that the acquisition of the playbook technology did not directly come to fruition.

During fiscal 2012, the Company purchased for cash consideration 100% of the shares of a company whose technology will be incorporated into the Company's proprietary technology.

During fiscal 2012, the Company purchased for cash consideration 100% of the shares of a company whose technology is being incorporated into an application on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet.

During fiscal 2012, the Company purchased for cash consideration 100% of the shares of a company whose technology offers a customizable and cross-platform social mobile gaming developer tool kit.

During fiscal 2012, the Company purchased for cash consideration 100% of the shares of a company whose technology will provide a multi-platform BlackBerry Enterprise Solution for managing and securing mobile devices for enterprises and government organizations.

During fiscal 2012, the Company purchased for cash consideration certain assets of a company whose acquired technology will be incorporated into the Company's products to enhance calendar scheduling capabilities.

During fiscal 2012, the Company purchased for cash consideration 100% of the shares of a ! company w! hose technology is being incorporated into the Company's developer tools.

Too Conservative

I have been struggling this week to make sense of all the data within the context of Thorsten Heins' earnings call performance. I believe that the game plan has been too conservative by design. Last year, there was a real concern that BlackBerry would not survive the two years required to fully launch BB10. The CORE program was introduced that drastically reduced costs. Part of the strategy was to reduce production for the new devices and gradually roll out the new devices globally. This is why there has been such a staggered rollout across multiple countries.

Also two months ago, Thorsten Heins stated he would be increasing production to 2 Million devices per month. This shows that the initial production plans were on the low end of the scale. The production was smaller as part of the reduced overhead because the availability of staff and resources would be stretched. The ecosystem would have to be fully supported, and presently there have even been calls for more support.

BB10 is still being fully developed with the recent release of BB10.1 and BB10.2 being in development. It would make sense to this author that the recent delays in US carrier deployment were due to BlackBerry resources being readily available for full carrier testing.

Marketing has been heavily criticized as being inadequate. While at the beginning of the BB10 launch I would agree with this statement, hindsight would indicate this was the right marketing approach. The production was not there to fully support an increased marketing initiative. I anticipate there would be other marketing campaigns at more appropriate times.

One of the strengths that BlackBerry possesses is the corporate product lines. Presently, BlackBerry enterprise server cannot fully support all the new devices, including the BYOD (bring your own device) movement. This is being rectified and was part of the staged rollout. Many corporations! for obvi! ous reasons have been delaying new BB10 devices until BES10 has been fully released and tested.

Corporate

If you are a believer that BlackBerry is more a B2B (business to business) product than a B2C (business to consumer) product, then patience is required. Most corporations are still evaluating the product, with the full release of BES10 yet to be delivered. Some corporations and countries have already committed in principle, and without a delivered product BES10 would not be presently billable.

Cheat Sheet

Device	Number shipped	ASP
Q10	1.9M	$462
Z10	0.8M	$420
BB7	4.1M	$228

3,071

Millions of BlackBerry handheld devices shipped	6.8
Millions of BlackBerry PlayBook tablets shipped	0.1
Blackberry devices shipped - Canada	0.6
Blackberry devices shipped - US	1.1
Blackberry devices shipped - UK	0.0
Blackberry devices shipped - Other	5.2
Revenue % of total Canada	9%
Revenue % of total US	16%
Revenue % of total UK	0%
Revenue % of Total Other	75%
Revenue Canada	263
Revenue US	498
Revenue UK	0
Revenue Other	2,310
Revenue Total
Revenue Hardware	2,181
Hardware % of Total Revenue	71%
Blackberry users	72M

Gross Margin 34%

Net Loss $ 84 Million

EPS -13 cents

Shareholders' equity $9.4 Million

Conclusion

This has been trying times for many investors and the BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins. I would agree that on the surface it does not appear that Thorsten Heins is a great CEO. I do think that he was the best choice at the time, and has made the tough choices required. He appears to have accomplished his biggest priority of reducing costs for long-term viability. Taking a step back to move forward is sometimes required, and now appears to be the time to move forward. Only time will tell if the corporate plan was successful, and it is even possible that a new CEO will be brought in shortly. The BlackBerry board of directors may have considered Thorsten Heins as only an interim CEO from the very beginning.

I do not know what direction BlackBerry will inevitably go, nor does anyone else. I have always stated that it will take "two years for BB10 to be fully adopted," in keeping with other investors such as Prem Watsa. Although, I will admit the progress has been slower than initially believed, and is showing a few cracks.

In terms of share price, I do see the floor to be around $8 a share for the reasons stated above. The release of the short interest at the end of the month will indicate the extent of the possible recent short covering. Until the next quarter results, the share price is not anticipated to rise significantly. Closer to the next quarter results in September, BES10 will be in the spotlight and could provide as a catalyst for the share price.

Source: BlackBerry: So You Think This Is Bad?

Disclosure: I am long BBRY. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. (More...)

Check out investment schemes for young investors

A: I think that was the whole objective of introducing the scheme and it is a good beginning for people because the kind of tax benefit that one is getting itself adds to your return on day one as such. The scheme's benefit will start showing up over a longer period of time as you see more and more people entering into the surplus wealth category that is where you will start seeing people experimenting with equity and so on.

Unfortunately, it's been introduced in a time when the market has been going through a downturn and jobs have been lost and people salaries under pressure, inflation has been high.

So, real interest rates kept people away from financial savings but it is a good scheme, it has got good potential but if you ask me I would say that you should encourage people in that bracket which is Rs 10 lakh and below it is only available for your first investment. I think you need to do it for at least three-four years to bring that equity culture into most people.

Onion’s digital strategy no laughing matter

The Onion was going to ignore the twerking exploits of one Miley Cyrus. Making fun of that over-the-top episode was just too easy.

Gallery: 25 years of The Onion in pictures

But the morning after the singer's hugely discussed Video Music Awards performance, head

Onion

writer Seth Reiss stumbled onto a CNN.com account of the incident. The site's prominent display of the piece, complete with video, triggered the outrage that is so often the inspiration for killer

Onion

headlines and articles.

"I tried to watch, but I felt so embarrassed," Reiss says. "Anyone who treats it like it's something serious fills me with disgust. So this was my way of channeling that feeling."

Reiss' story published that day – a dead-on faux CNN explainer purportedly written by the site's managing editor on how the cable news network had hyped the story as it brazenly trolled for clicks – instantly went viral. It was vintage Onion: very funny, but cutting very close to the bone.

Headlines: Need a laugh? A collection of classic headlines

The Cyrus/CNN story – a real-time take on the news of the moment that rapidly became an Internet meme – encapsulates

The Onion

's aggressive shift from weekly humor newspaper to 24/7 digital satirist, all the while clinging tightly to its image as the righteous spitball thrower of the American media.

The irreverent upstart, which has 80 employees, has long had an outsize influence on the American zeitgeist. But its dead-serious business strategy might provide some insights into how the media can adapt to a rapidly evolving landscape.

The Chicago-based humor icon, which celebrated its 25th birthday in late August, has largely phased out its weekly paper over the past 16 months and dramatically picked up its pace.

As print advertising dwindles quickly, The Onion has morphed into a digital newsroom with a special emphasis on original video production.

"We're almost entirely digital today," Onion! CEO Steve Hannah says. "We saw that print was going to be a disappearing part of our business some years ago. So we started investing in digital. And our revenue and audience have grown."

Readers seeking The Onion's spin on the day's top news – the government shutdown, a new iPhone release, the Breaking Bad finale — can turn to a daily barrage of punchy 200-word bursts that are ideal for sharing on social media.

The shift to play off the news of the moment covered by other media outlets was driven largely by reader demand. The Onion's parodies have been heavy on exaggerated realities, man-on-the-street interviews and ruminations on the quotidian life. A story about Syria probably wouldn't have been in the lineup a few years ago, Hannah says.

"We had a hunch that the more we cover the news of the day, the bigger the audience," he says. "People were constantly looking for The Onion's take on a story. More often than not, we'd have nothing to say because we were doing our brand of comedy."

The Onion's unabashed embrace of video is reaping early returns, Hannah says. Driven by video ads, its revenue in the first half of the year rose 30% from a year ago, he says, although he wouldn't provide the actual figure. According to comScore, the number of unique visitors using desktop or laptop computers to visit TheOnion.com totaled 4.4 million in August 2013, up 18% from a year ago. Hannah says overall page views are up 200% from a year ago,

The Onion's digital transformation comes in the context of the massive transformation of the media business in the Internet era. Even with its distinctive approach, The Onion was hardly immune to the collapse of print advertising that has plagued so many newspapers.

At its peak, The Onion published and distributed its free paper in 18 markets around the country, using a mix of its own printing operations and partnering with local printers. Facing heavy competition for local ads and dwindling circulation, The Onion cut most of its locall! y printed! papers and distributes them in only three markets – Chicago, Providence, R.I., and Milwaukee. In late 2012, the company shuttered its national print edition, a subscription product that had about 10,000 customers at its peak but was rapidly losing readers.

Like other news outlets chasing digital ad dollars, The Onion is also steering more resources to video. The Onion News Network, created in 2007, pumps out newscast segments, often tied to print stories.

The Onion was one of the original partners in YouTube's premium content program, in which the Google subsidiary finances several Onion video shows, including Onion Talks (its version of TED talks), Horrifying Planet and Sex House (its parody of The Real World). Its YouTube channel has about half a million followers.

Perhaps the most dramatic departure from its editorial past is the creation last year of The Onion Labs. The "creative services agency" caters to advertisers who want "branded content" by creating original comedy video skits that weave in their products. Working with advertiser clients, the labs write, design and shoot video or produce other social media products that can be used as a standalone or integrated into a broader campaign.

The Labs are the fastest growing part of The Onion's business, and its revenue supports the company's other video ventures, Hannah says. In August, the Labs released Tough Season,a series of four-minute skits sponsored by Chinese computer maker Lenovo, featuring an NFL fantasy football geek preparing for the draft.

"It was a calculated risk," says Tony Weisman, CEO of Digitas, the ad agency that represented Lenovo. "But The Onion had done enough to show they understood how to do video. It's snackable content, and they're good at that."

Bending to the content wishes of corporate clients was not an easy sell for a newsroom that relishes its class-clown self-image. "It's very difficult to accommodate the needs of advertisers and be funny," says Scott Dikkers, The Onion's f! irst-ever! editor and now head of creative development. "But my theory is that you can find funny anywhere."

That The Onion brand still resonates with young, social media-savvy fans enhances its chances of succeeding in the digital world, says Joe Cutbirth, a communication professor at Manhattan College who has studied humor in journalism. "The Onion knows who they are. Their brand has really gotten out there. You see people on Facebook writing, 'Is this an Onion story?' That speaks volumes to how well they do their job."

NEWSPAPERS RIPE TARGET

The Onion was founded in 1988 by Tim Keck, then a 22-year-old student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Two years later, he sold it to colleagues for about $20,000. Keck marvels at the way his baby has evolved. "The Onion got so much better after I got rid of it," says Keck, who owns The Stranger, a Seattle-based alternative weekly newspaper.

Long intrigued by publishing and parody, Keck recruited his friend Chris Johnson to start up a campus humor newspaper. The paper was badly in need of editing, so he hired Dikkers, who was then a contributing comic artist. The publication's name, Keck says, was suggested by an uncle when he saw Keck eating a sandwich with onion on it.

Keck, Dikkers and Johnson"just riffed off possible Onion headlines at our tiny office," Keck recalls. "It was one of the most enjoyable work experiences of my life. We'd have these brutal headline meetings. Someone would come up with an idea and we'd shoot it down."

At the beginning, Keck and Johnson handled all operational chores – ad sales, page layout, delivery.

The Onion's editorial hallmark — deadpan parody of newspaper conventions — can be traced back to Keck's early family life. His parents – both newspaper journalists — inspired an early interest in newspapers and the written word. "My house was filled with newspapers," he says. "That was my life, and it still is."

After his father passed away, Keck's mother moved the family from C! hicago to! Wisconsin for a job. The serious tone and "unwittingly funny" headlines of the local paper, the Oshkosh Northwestern, became the butt of family jokes. "Victory-in-Europe headlines over the smallest things, like public school lunches," he says.

The family began subscribing to USA TODAY for broader national coverage, but its colorful graphics and charts were also ripe targets for the satirist in training. "When USA TODAY came to our house, it was heaven," Keck says. "These were the two reference papers when I was thinking about doing a parody paper."

(Gannett owns the Oshkosh Northwestern and USA TODAY.)

'THAT NEWS VOICE'

At its heart, The Onion is a comedy organization. Writers and editors are trained in getting laughs, not upside-down pyramids and 5-W leads. The faux-journalistic approach, though integral to its editorial ethos, can be challenging for new writers to pick up, according to Editor Will Tracy. "Getting that news voice down is the No. 1 obstacle that impedes someone from writing here," he says.

Inherently ludicrous news events – Anthony Weiner's addiction to tweets, Dick Cheney shooting a friend in the face, the inevitable Miley twerking – aren't as welcome in The Onion newsroom as outsiders may assume. "We'd rather make up a ridiculous thing about a serious real event," Tracy says. "But Jay Leno's going to make a joke. And people expect us to make a joke."

The absolute commitment to mimicking the real can throw off more gullible readers. When The Onion named North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un the sexiest man alive late last year. China's People's Daily posted an earnest tribute to the pudgy strongman, complete with story and slide show.

Others who have gone for the fake include the Iranian news media, sports commentator Stephen A. Smith and Rep. John Fleming, R-La.

Not everyone appreciates being on the receiving end of The Onion's humor. Donald Trump once threatened to sue over an op-ed piece written under his byline, titled, "When you'r! e feeling! low, just remember I'll be dead in about 15 or 20 years."

When word got back to Onion staffers that movie director Michael Bay was offended by one of their stories, running a piece about Bay's penchant for movie violence became an annual tradition. "If we make a joke about you, laugh in good grace, because the alternative is not pretty," Tracy says.

Pushing the comedic envelope also means running the risk of missing the target. That has happened more than once.

A 2008 story about child abduction — "Kidnapped boy found safe, imagines kidnapped boy" – drew numerous complaints. A video segment — "Missing girl probably raped" – may have been intended as a no-holds-barred commentary on the news media's predilection for over-covering missing girls, but that doesn't make it easier to watch.

This year, Hannah issued a rare apology after an Onion tweet referred to 9-year-old Best Actress Oscar nominee Quvenzhané Wallis with an ugly slur and triggered an onslaught of criticism on social media. "It was crude and offensive — not to mention inconsistent with The Onion's commitment to parody and satire, however biting," he wrote. Tracy says the reference was "exactly the opposite" of what The Onion thought of her – "a deeply ironic joke" that just didn't work.

Lesson learned? "Stay away from kids," Tracy says.

Despite the business overhaul, The Onion promises its humorous heart and sharp tongue will remain unaffected. "We're not pro-this or anti-that," Hannah says. "Tu Stultus Es. You are dumb. That's our motto in Latin. We've been aggressively anti-dumb. When you do something dumb, you're going feel the wrath of The Onion."

U.S. Stocks Keep Gains; S&P 500 Closes At New High

U.S. stocks held gains into Tuesday's closing bell as renewed hopes that the Federal Reserve will maintain its current easy-money policies helped lift the S&P 500 index to another record high close.

Hitting a monthly high, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 76.48 points, or 0.5% to close at 15,468.68. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 9.5 points or 0.2% to close at 3,929.57.

And the S&P 500 index climbed 10.07 points, or 0.58% to close at 1,754.73, with materials and consumer staples leading the gains.

The market owes today's euphoria to the government’s September nonfarm payroll report. Delayed by more than two weeks because of the government shutdown, it showed 148,000 jobs were added in September, below forecasts for a gain of 180,000.

In the wake of the disappointing jobs data, expectations for when the Fed will taper its bond-buying efforts shifted into 2014. Fed stimulus has helped the market rally this year because low interest rates help hold down corporate costs and fuels investment in the stock market.

"It essentially takes tapering off the table for October and likely December as well," wrote Sterne Agee chief economist Lindsey Piegza in a note published Tuesday. "As we have noted before Bernanke opened the door for tapering to be a 2014 event in the press conference following the September FOMC statement release when he said even if we begin to taper this year, each subsequent move will be data dependent. The Fed is still waiting to see noticeable improvement in hiring and it appears they are going to be waiting even longer."

U.S. Treasury yields suffered a sharp drop with the rate on the 10-year note falling to 2.51%.

The price of gold rose 1.85% to $1340.20 per ounce, while crude oil dropped 1.5% to $98.22 a barrel.

In corporate news:

Netflix (NFLX) CEO Reed Hasting warned that momentum investors were responsible for a portion of the stock's huge gains this year. At $322.44, the shares  fell 9.2% despite posting better than expected financial results and a bullish fourth-quarter forecast.

Apple (AAPL) shares fell after the company at an event unveiled a new, lighter iPad, new software to operate its computers and new laptop and desktop computers.

Whirlpool (WHR) surged 11.6% to $146.19 after the appliance maker reported profits more than doubled in the third quarter and increased its forecast for the year.

Coach (COH) fell 7.5% to $50.10 afterreporting a drop in revenue during the previous quarter.

Netflix CEO on Stock Rally: 'Euphoria Today Feels Like 2003′

Netflix Inc.(NFLX) is the king of the S&P 500 this year, a feat that hasn’t gone unnoticed by CEO Reed Hastings.

“In calendar year 2003 we were the highest performing stock on Nasdaq,” Mr. Reed wrote in a quarterly letter to investors. “We had solid results compounded by momentum-investor-fueled euphoria.”

“Some of the euphoria today feels like 2003.”

Netflix shares surged 10% to $391.55 in after-hours trading following the Internet-streaming company’s upbeat quarterly figures and strong subscriber growth. The stock is up 283% this year through Monday’s close, the top performer in the S&P 500.

Netflix has been one of the market’s biggest momentum plays of the year. This group of go-go stocks, which includes Google Inc. shares surging above $1,000 and Facebook Inc.(FB) rallying more than 100% this year, has fueled comparisons to the dot-com bubble when tech stocks soared to historically high levels.

Netflix trades at 226 times projected earnings over the next 12 months, FactSet data show. By comparison, Apple and Microsoft each trade at about 13 times forward earnings. Yahoo(YHOO) has a price-to-earnings multiple of 22 and Facebook trades at 74 times projected earnings.

The S&P 500 is trading at about 14.5 times the next 12 months' worth of earnings.

“Just because we are not at bubble valuations, it does not mean this is not a bubble-like environment,” Michael O'Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading Institutional Services, wrote to clients over the weekend.

The difference now, analysts say, is many of the companies that have rallied recently are profitable and have more sound business models compared to the companies of the late 1990s.

Mr. Hastings pointed to Netflix’s progress in the section of his quarterly letter headlined “stock volatility.”

“Despite the huge swings in our stock price since our 2002 IPO ($8 to $3 to $39 to $8 to $300 to $55 to $330), we've continued to grow our membership every year fairly steadily,” he says. “We do our best to ignore the volatility in our stock.

“The progress we've made over the last 10 years is stunning,” Mr. Hastings added. “We want to make the next 10 years even more remarkable.”

Mr. Hastings calls Netflix’s progress “stunning.” Does that justify a 283% rally this year in the stock price? You tell us. Drop your thoughts and views in the comments’ section below. We’d love to hear the sentiment surrounding this stock. 

5 Best Safest Stocks To Own Right Now

Conservative investors prefer debt instruments not only because they safeguard the capital invested but also for the regular income flows they provide. Bonds bring a great deal of stability to an equity-heavy portfolio while providing dividends more frequently than individual bonds. U.S government bonds funds usually invest in Treasury bills, notes and securities issued by government agencies. They are considered to be the safest in the bond fund category and are ideal options for the risk-averse investor.

Below we will share with you 5 top rated government bond mutual funds. Each has earned a Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) as we expect these mutual funds to outperform their peers in the future. To view the Zacks Rank and past performance of all government bond funds, investors can click here to see the complete list of funds.

ProFunds Rising Rates Opportunity (RRPSX) seeks returns on a daily basis which is 1.25 times the inverse of that of the daily returns of the 30-Year U.S. Treasury Bond. The fund invests in derivatives which taken together provide such returns. The government bond mutual returned 6.38% over the last one year period.

5 Best Safest Stocks To Own Right Now: Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras(PBR)

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. primarily engages in oil and natural gas exploration and production, refining, trade, and transportation businesses. The company?s Exploration and Production segment involves in the exploration, production, development, and production of oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and natural gas in Brazil. This segment supplies its products to the refineries in Brazil, as well as sells surplus petroleum and byproducts in domestic and foreign markets. Its Supply segment engages in the refining, logistics, transportation, and trade of oil and oil products; export of ethanol; and extraction and processing of schist, as well as holds interests in companies of the petrochemical sector in Brazil. The Gas and Energy segment involves in the transportation and trade of natural gas produced in or imported into Brazil; transportation and trade of LNG; and generation and trade of electric power. In addition, the segment has interests in natural gas transportation and d istribution companies; and thermoelectric power stations in Brazil, as well engages in fertilizer business. The Distribution segment distributes oil products, ethanol, and compressed natural gas in Brazil. The International segment involves in the exploration and production of oil and gas, as well as in supplying, gas and energy, and distribution operations in the Americas, Africa, Europe, and Asia. Further, the company involves in biofuel production business. Petroleo Brasileiro was founded in 1953 and is based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Aimee Duffy]

  Transocean is as good a bellwether as any, given it's the world's largest offshore driller. The company's most recent fleet status report shows that a number of rigs that were idle are now booked for work. Seadrill (NYSE: SDRL  ) is no slouch either, with its fleet of 61 drillships and rigs. It just inked a massive $2.7 billion contract with Brazil's state-owned oil company, Petrobras (NYSE: PBR  ) .

• [By Taylor Muckerman]

  All 1.4 million cars that were sold between January and May have to fuel up somehow, and that is where Brazilian powerhouse Petrobras (NYSE: PBR  ) comes in to the picture. As the largest energy company in the country, Petrobras' gasoline sales would�presumably�follow a similar growth trajectory as auto sales once the retirement of old vehicles is taken into consideration. If the gap between international fuel prices is allowed to be closed ��the recent diesel price hike in March assisted with this ��then revenue from the company's downstream could really take off.

5 Best Safest Stocks To Own Right Now: Goldman Sachs Group Inc.(The)

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides investment banking, securities, and investment management services to corporations, financial institutions, governments, and high-net-worth individuals worldwide. Its Investment Banking segment offers financial advisory, including advisory assignments with respect to mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, corporate defense, risk management, restructurings, and spin-offs; and underwriting securities, loans and other financial instruments, and derivative transactions. The company?s Institutional Client Services segment provides client execution activities, such as fixed income, currency, and commodities client execution related to making markets in interest rate products, credit products, mortgages, currencies, and commodities; and equities related to making markets in equity products, as well as commissions and fees from executing and clearing institutional client transactions on stock, options, and fu tures exchanges. This segment also engages in the securities services business providing financing, securities lending, and other prime brokerage services to institutional clients, including hedge funds, mutual funds, pension funds, and foundations. Its Investing and Lending segment invests in debt securities, loans, public and private equity securities, real estate, consolidated investment entities, and power generation facilities. This segment also involves in the origination of loans to provide financing to clients. The company?s Investment Management segment provides investment management services and investment products to institutional and individual clients. This segment also offers wealth advisory services, including portfolio management and financial counseling, and brokerage and other transaction services to high-net-worth individuals and families. In addition, it provides global investment research services. The company was founded in 1869 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Hot Gold Companies To Invest In 2014: Under Armour Inc.(UA)

Under Armour, Inc. develops, markets, and distributes performance apparel, footwear, and accessories for men, women, and youth primarily in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It offers products made from moisture-wicking synthetic fabrics designed to regulate body temperature and enhance performance regardless of weather conditions. The company provides its products in three fit types: compression (tight fitting), fitted (athletic cut), and loose (relaxed) extending across the sporting goods, outdoor, and active lifestyle markets. Its footwear offerings comprise football, baseball, lacrosse, softball, and soccer cleats; slides; performance training footwear; and running footwear. The company also provides baseball batting, football, golf, and running gloves, as well as licenses bags, socks, headwear, custom-molded mouth guards, and eyewear that are designed to be used and worn before, during, and after competition. Under Armour sells its products through retai l stores, as well as directly to consumers through its own retail outlets and specialty stores, Website, and catalogs. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Teresa Rivas]

  Safeway (SWY) was up nearly 4% after an upgrade to Outperform at Credit Suisse, which also upgraded lululemon (LULU), sending shares up 1%, and downgraded Under Armour (UA)��hares were down 1.6%.

5 Best Safest Stocks To Own Right Now: Fluor Corporation(FLR)

Fluor Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides engineering, procurement, construction, maintenance, and project management services worldwide. Its Oil & Gas segment offers design, engineering, procurement, construction, and project management services to upstream oil and gas production, downstream refining, chemicals, and petrochemicals industries. This segment also provides consulting services comprising feasibility studies, process assessment, and project finance structuring and studies. The company?s Industrial & Infrastructure segment offers design, engineering, procurement, and construction services to the transportation, wind power, mining and metals, life sciences, manufacturing, commercial and institutional, telecommunications, microelectronics, and healthcare sectors. Its Government segment provides engineering, construction, logistics support, contingency response, management, and operations services to the United States government focusing on the Departme nt of Energy, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Defense. The company?s Global Services segment offers operations and maintenance, small capital project engineering and execution, site equipment and tool services, industrial fleet services, plant turnaround services, temporary staffing services, and supply chain solutions. Its Power segment provides engineering, procurement, construction, program management, start-up and commissioning, and operations and maintenance services to the gas fueled, solid fueled, plant betterment, renewables, nuclear, and power services markets. The company also offers unionized management and construction services in the United States and Canada. Fluor Corporation was founded in 1912 and is headquartered in Irving, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By The Energy Report]

  JH: One of the areas where the U.S. for decades has been the leading technological power is in small nuclear reactors. We've used them on our aircraft carriers and on our nuclear submarines safely and efficiently. The U.S. has an advantage in understanding small modular nuclear reactors. One of the companies that we have followed for a long time that's working on that is Babcock & Wilcox Co. (BWC). There's also Fluor Corp. (FLR), which is working on small modular nuclear reactors. President Obama and the Department of Energy are funding research on the implementation of small modular nuclear reactors.

Sales of New Homes Up 2.1% for May

New single-family home sales were up 2.1% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 476,000 for May, according to a Commerce Department report (link opens as PDF) released today.

After increasing a revised 3.3% for April, May's report points to a third month of improvements in sales of new single-family homes.. Analysts had expected a slight rise off of April's unrevised numbers, but their 460,000 estimate proved too pessimistic. The latest number is 29% above the May 2012 estimate.

Source: Commerce Department.

On a regional basis, sales in the Midwest shot up 40.7% month-to-month, while the Northeast recorded 20.7% gains. At -9%, the South was the only region to register a sales slump.

As demand heads increasingly higher, builders are keeping pace with supply. Just as in April, there is an estimated 4.1 months of supply at the current rate of sales. The median home price clocked in at $263,900, down from April's $272,600 median price tag.

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