If you're looking for the latest development, or commentary on the latest development, FiveThirtyEight.com won't be your go-to destination.
And that's a good thing.
One of the many attractions of the Internet era is the immediacy it makes possible. When something happens, no matter where, we know about it right away. We're quickly awash in information, in interpretation, in takes. And that can be very satisfying, and exciting.
DATA-DRIVEN STORIES: FiveThirtyEight launches
But speed is the enemy of accuracy. And in the rush to get the news out right away that characterizes the current media ecosystem, it's easy to get things wrong. I'm not just thinking of rumors running rampant on Twitter. With each megastory, it seems we have mainstream news outlets making mega errors. The Newtown school massacre, the Boston marathon bombing, the Washington, D.C., Navy Yard shootings are just a few examples. And the same pitfalls await instant pontification.
10 Best Freight Stocks To Watch Right Now: Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation(CTSH)
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation provides information technology (IT), consulting, and business process outsourcing services in North America, Europe, and Asia. Its IT consulting and technology services include business and knowledge process consulting; IT strategy consulting; program management consulting; technology consulting; application design, development, integration, and re-engineering, such as complex custom systems development, data warehousing/business intelligence, customer relationship management (CRM) system implementation, and enterprise resource planning (ERP) system implementation; and software testing services. The company?s outsourcing services comprise application maintenance, including custom application, CRM, and ERP maintenance; IT infrastructure outsourcing; and business and knowledge process outsourcing. It offers its services to various markets, such as financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, logistics and retail, hospitality, con sumer goods, communications, and high technology, as well as information, media, and entertainment markets. The company markets and sells its services directly through its professional staff, senior management, and direct sales personnel. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Teaneck, New Jersey.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Dan Caplinger]
One big problem that Infosys faces is that its remote location from the North American market creates some competitive disadvantages for the company. Rival consultant Cognizant Technology (NASDAQ: CTSH ) hasn't been immune to the downdraft that has taken IT-services stocks lower, but its New Jersey location has been instrumental in drawing about 80% of its revenue from North America, whose economies have held up far better than those in other regions. By contrast, Infosys gets a greater proportion of its sales from Europe and the rest of the world, which have been challenging lately.
- [By Selena Maranjian]
Eminence Capital reduced its stake in lots of companies, including IT consulting and outsourcing specialist�Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ: CTSH ) , led by a highly rated CEO. Based in New Jersey, but with much of its operations based in India, home to other top outsourcers, Cognizant has been growing briskly, with its most recent quarter featuring double-digit revenue and earnings growth, and projections of continued double-digit growth by management. With a forward P/E of 12.8 well below�its five-year average of 22.6, the stock seems attractively priced. Indeed, a director of the company, John E. Klein, recently bought nearly half a million dollars' worth of shares.
- [By John Divine]
The last of today's underperformers, Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ: CTSH ) , was mainly in the red because of fallout from another information technology mainstay IBM (NYSE: IBM ) . Cognizant doesn't report earnings until May 8, but the fact that IBM slipped more than 8% Friday -- its worst performance in more than eight years -- doesn't bode well for the health of the IT industry. Since Big Blue is still a nearly undisputed leader in IT, its disappointing results alone are enough to precipitate a drop in Cognizant shares.
Top 5 Prefered Stocks To Own Right Now: Zale Corp (ZLC)
Zale Corporation, incorporated on April 26, 1991, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, is a retailer of fine jewelry in North America. The Company operates in three segments: fine jewelry, kiosk jewelry and all other. As of July 31, 2012, the Company operated 1,124 specialty retail jewelry stores and 654 kiosks located mainly in shopping malls throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. The Company�� fine jewelry segment consists of five brands: Zales Jewelers, Peoples Jewellers, Zales Outlet, Mappins Jewellers, and Gordon's Jewelers The Company�� kiosk jewelry operates under the brand names Piercing Pagoda, Plumb Gold, and Silver and Gold Connection (collectively, Piercing Pagoda) through mall-based kiosks. The Company provides insurance and reinsurance services for various types of insurance coverage, which is marketed primarily to its private label credit card guests, through Zale Indemnity Company, Zale Life Insurance Company and Jewel Re-Insurance Ltd.
Fine Jewelry
Each brand specializes in fine jewelry and watches, with merchandise and marketing emphasis focused on diamond products. Zales Jewelers is the Company's national brand in the United States providing moderately priced jewelry to a range of guests. Zales Outlet operates in outlet malls and neighborhood power centers and capitalizes on Zales Jewelers' national advertising and brand recognition. Gordon's Jewelers is a value-oriented regional jeweler. Peoples Jewellers, Canada's fine jewelry retailer, provides guests with shopping experience. Mappins Jewellers offers Canadian guests a selection of merchandise from engagement rings to fashionable and contemporary fine jewelry.
The Company has extended its reach of certain brands through the use of its Webstores, mobile devices and social media to provide its guests access to its brands wherever and whenever they choose. In addition, the Company offers its guests the option to purchase warranty coverage on substantially all of its mercha! ndise in Fine Jewelry. The Company also offers repair services to guests who do not purchase warranty coverage. Zales Jewelers (Zales), the Company's United States based flagship, is a brand name in jewelry retailing in the United States, operating 639 stores in 50 states and Puerto Rico with an average store size of 1,681 square feet. Gordon's Jewelers (Gordon's) operates 147 stores in 27 states and Puerto Rico with an average store size of 1,534 square feet.
The Company�� Zales brand is positioned as the Diamond Store emphasizing on diamond jewelry, especially in the bridal and fashion segments. Zales and Gordon's combined revenues accounted for 60% of the Company's total revenues during the fiscal year ended July 31, 2012 (fiscal 2012). Both brands operate as multi-channel retailers and serve Internet guests through the e-commerce sites www.zales.com and www.gordonsjewelers.com, which accounted for approximately 5% of the Company's total revenues in fiscal 2012.
In Canada, the Company operates 206stores in nine provinces. The Company's Canadian operations consist of two brands, Peoples Jewellers (Peoples) and Mappins Jewellers (Mappins), and accounted for 17% of the Company's total revenues in fiscal 2012. The average store size is 1,605 square feet with an average transaction value of $332 in fiscal year 2012. Peoples serves Internet guests through the e-commerce site, www.peoplesjewellers.com. The Company operates 132 Zales Outlet (Outlet) stores in 35 states and Puerto Rico, sales from which accounted for 10% of its total revenues in fiscal 2012. The average store size is 2,362 square feet in fiscal 2012.
Kiosk Jewelry
The Company�� kiosk jewelry segment is focused on the opening price point jewelry guest. The Company's presence in Kiosk Jewelry has been expanded through the e-commerce site, www.pagoda.com. The Company also offers its guests the option to purchase warranty coverage on certain products. As of July 31, 2012, Piercing Pagoda op! erated 65! 4 locations in 41 states and Puerto Rico, sales from which accounted for 13% of the Company's total revenues in fiscal. Piercing Pagoda offers collection of bracelets, earrings, charms, rings, non-precious metal products and 14 karat and 10 karat gold chains, as well as a selection of silver and diamond jewelry, all in basic styles at moderate prices. Kiosk locations average 188 square feet in size in fiscal 2012.
All Other
The Company insurance companies are the insurers (either through direct written or reinsurance contracts) of the Company's guests' credit insurance coverage. In addition to providing merchandise replacement coverage for certain perils, credit insurance coverage provides protection to the creditor and cardholder for losses associated with the disability, involuntary unemployment, leave of absence or death of the cardholder. Zale Life Insurance Company also provides group life insurance coverage for the Company's eligible employees. In fiscal year 2012, 36% of the Company's private label credit card purchasers purchased some form of credit insurance. In fiscal year 2012, all other accounted for approximately 1% of the Company's total revenues.
The Company competes with Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., .C. Penney Company, Inc., Signet Jewelers Limited, and QVC, Inc.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Top Headline
Signet Jewelers (NYSE: SIG) announced its plans to buy Zale (NYSE: ZLC) for around $690 million. Signet will pay $21 per share to acquire Zale, representing a 41% premium to Zale's closing price of $14.91 on Tuesday. - [By Dan Moskowitz]
Zale (NYSE: ZLC ) is a specialty retailer of fine jewelry that has 1064 stores and 630 kiosks across North America. If you have ever walked through a mall, then you're familiar with the name Zale. With strong brand name recognition and the company swinging to a profit in fiscal-year 2013, you would think Zale should present a quality investment opportunity. While this is a possibility, there are several reasons why one much larger jewelry company should present a better long-term investment opportunity.
- [By Roberto Pedone]
Zale (ZLC) is a specialty retailer of fine jewelry in North America. This stock closed up 2.5% to $9.52 in Thursday's trading session.
Thursday's Range: $9.29-$9.56
52-Week Range: $2.94-$9.85
Thursday's Volume: 567,000
Three-Month Average Volume: 951,295From a technical perspective, ZLC bounced modestly higher here right above its 50-day moving average of $8.70 with lighter-than-average volume. This stock has been consolidating and trending sideways over the last month, with shares moving between $8.44 on the downside and $9.70 on the upside. This spike today is now starting to push ZLC within range of triggering a major breakout trade above the upper-end of its recent sideways trading chart pattern. That trade will hit if ZLC manages to take out some near-term overhead resistance levels at $9.70 to its 52-week high at $9.85 with high volume.
Traders should now look for long-biased trades in ZLC as long as it's trending above its 50-day at $8.70 or above more support at $8.44 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 951,295 shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then ZLC will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that breakout are $12 to $14.
- [By Rick Aristotle Munarriz]
Steve Mack/FilmMagic There was no shortage of wonders of blunders even in this holiday-shortened market week. From a retailer's gadget going cold to some jewelers just starting to heat up, here's a rundown of the week's smartest moves and biggest errors in the business world. Men's Wearhouse (MW) -- Loser Jos. A. Bank (JOSB) tried to acquire the larger Men's Wearhouse a few weeks ago. It didn't pan out, and now Men's Wearhouse has made an offer to buy Jos. A. Bank. This is technically a smart move, especially since the two companies should be able to realize some serious cost savings as a combined entity. However, this still is being scored as a blunder because Men's Wearhouse originally balked at Jos. A. Bank's buyout at least partially on the grounds that antitrust regulators would not allow it to take place. Now it has to eat its words. Yahoo! (YHOO) -- Winner Yahoo! announced on Monday that Katie Couric will be joining the meandering dot-com giant as its global anchor next year. She will help develop the coverage at Yahoo News, giving the Web giant some welcome street cred in reporting circles. Couric won't be leaving TV. She plans to continue hosing her syndicated daytime take show -- Katie -- that runs through ABC News. Yahoo! has struggled with online advertising growth lately, and Couric's presence should help increase what it can milk out of advertisers. The Nook -- Loser Barnes & Noble (BKS) posted disappointing quarterly results, but the real culprit here was a sharp drop in sales for the struggling bookseller's Nook e-reader and tablet lines. Shares of Barnes & Noble slipped after reporting a 32 percent plunge in Nook sales. The slide over the past year consists of a 41 percent decline in device and accessories and an even more problematic 21 percent drop in digital content. After all, it's one thing if no one's buying new Nooks, but it's even more troublesome if the wider usage base is buying less digital content. Jewelry -- Winne
Top 5 Prefered Stocks To Own Right Now: Maui Land & Pineapple Company Inc. (MLP)
Maui Land & Pineapple Company, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the development, sale, and leasing of real estate properties. It owns approximately 23,300 acres of land on Maui. The company also offers water and waste transmission services. In addition, it manages certain resort amenities at the Kapalua Resort. The company was founded in 1909 and is based in Lahaina, Hawaii.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Matthew Skelly]
The technology of fracturing (and the horizontal style of drilling), is changing America's needs on the energy front. At the epicenter of this infrastructure build-out is Atlas Pipeline Partners (NYSE:APL), a midstream gathering and processing company that trades as a Master Limited Partnership, (MLP). Atlas Pipeline is essentially a middle man between the drillers and long-haul transportation pipelines. It gathers mixed volumes of natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs) such as ethane, propane, and butanes, etc. from the thousands of wells drilled by its drilling customers, back through pipelines to its processing plants, which will separate the gas from the NGLs. Both are then sold to long-haul transportation pipelines, which take the two products downstream to the next part of the energy supply chain.
- [By Dividends4Life]
Sunoco Logistics Partners (SXL) is a master limited partnership (MLP) that was formed by Sunoco Inc. to acquire, own and operate a group of refined product and crude oil pipelines and terminal facilities.
Yield: 3.6% | Years of Dividend Growth: 11
Top 5 Prefered Stocks To Own Right Now: MedeFile International Inc (MDFI)
Medefile International, Inc.(Medefile), incorporated on July 16, 1997, through its MedeFile, Inc. subsidiary, has developed a patient-centric, Internet-enabled Personal Health Record (iPHR) system for gathering, digitizing, maintaining, accessing and sharing an individual's actual medical records. MedeFile's products and services are designed to provide healthcare providers with the ability to reference their patient's actual past medical records.
MedeFile iPHR
MedeFile is a Business-to-Business and a Business-to-Consumer subscription service. MedeFile is designed to create a cradle to grave longitudinal record for each of its members by retrieving and consolidating copies of their medical records. When the records are received, the MedeFile system consolidates them into a single medically correct format. The records are then stored in Medefile's MedeVault, a secure repository that can be accessed by MedeFile members 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
MedeFile's Emergency Medical Information (EMI) Card
Upon becoming a MedeFile member, each individual will receive a Membership / Emergency Medical Information (EMI) Card. It contains instructions on how to contact MedeFile in order to retrieve the member's medical records.
The Digital Health Profile (DHP)
A part of a member's MedeFile is their Digital Health Profile (DHP). This form is completed by the patient in order to provide a summary of the patient's healthcare history which assists healthcare providers in understanding the patient's course of medical treatment.
MedeDrive
The MedeDrive is an external universal serial bus (USB) drive, which stores all of a patient's Emergency Medical Information and their MedeFile which can be viewed on a personal computer. MedeDrive self loads its own viewer, so no special program or software is required.
MedeVault
The MedeVault is designed to serve as an electronic data and document repo! sitory that incorporates state-of-the-art security features in order to prevent unauthorized access to a patient's records. Access to the MedeVault is provided through an encrypted connection to a Web service run by MedeFile. This connection is provided by Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology.
MedeMinder
MedeMinder is MedeFile's reminder service. The member tells the Company when and where to call, and the Company automatically contacts the member day or night with an appropriate reminder, spoken by real people.
MedePro
During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company introduced MedePro. MedePro is a medical record retrieval and document management solution created specifically by MedeFile for legal and insurance professionals.
SecurMed
SecurMed is designed to serve as an authentication process. SecurMed protects against any information being viewed by unauthorized persons.
The Company competes with GE Healthcare, Bio-Imaging Technologies, and Cyber Records.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Peter Graham]
Small cap healthcare and lifestyle stocks Axxess Pharma Inc (OTCMKTS: AXXE), Medefile International Inc (OTCMKTS: MDFI) and Intelligent Living Inc (OTCMKTS: ILIV) have all been getting some extra attention lately thanks in part to a few disclosed paid promotions or investor relations type of activities. But just how healthy are these small cap stocks for investors and traders alike? Here is a quick reality check:
No comments:
Post a Comment