The advisor explains, "Cepheid does genetic testing of the things that can make us sick or kill us. The company is at the forefront of the next generation of diagnostics testing, and has real products already on the market." Here is his review.
"Cepheid has had outrageous sales success in the past few quarters and, therefore, has excellent profits looming. However, the true value for the company is its long-term potential.
"CPHD broke out about a year ago with a new test for the killer staph infection, MRSA, and the test is an order-of-magnitude better than any the competition has.
"A combination of tremendous public pressure and a CDC report that said MRSA kills at least 17,000 people per annum (and consumes billions of dollars, already), have hospitals everywhere putting in MRSA screening and prevention programs. And nine out of 10 of those hospitals are buying CPHD's equipment and tests.
Apollo Group (NASDAQ: APOL) is a for-profit educational institution, offering programs for working adults. The firm operates more than 160 learning centers and 100 campuses, granting degrees through its University of Phoenix, Western International University, Meritus University and College for Financial Planning subsidiaries. High school credits are provided through the firm's Insight Schools unit. Facilities are located in 40 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Chile and the Netherlands. A variety of programs are available on-line, as well. Apollo's Institute for Professional Development generates working student curricula for other colleges. Apollo Global is a joint venture with The Carlyle Group for investing in the international education services sector. On Monday evening, the company announced that it had selected Credit Suisse managing director Charles Edelstein to be its new CEO.
Apollo pleased investors last week, when it reported better-than-expected profit and revenue on higher enrollment. Fiscal Q3 EPS and revenues came in at 85 cents and $835.2 million, respectively. Analysts had been looking for 78 cents and $806.9 million. Management also said the board had authorized an increase in the share repurchase program to an aggregate of $500 million. Lehman Brothers subsequently reiterated its "overweight" rating on the issue (target = $64) and Stifel Nicolaus reiterated its "buy" (target = $70).
AZZ incorporated (NYSE: AZZ) makes electrical products that distribute power to and from generators, transformers, switching devices, and other electrical configurations. It also offers lighting products for the petroleum, food processing, and power generation industries. Its Galvanizing Services segment provides hot dip galvanizing to the steel fabrication industry. Competitors include General Electric (NYSE: GE) and Eaton Corporation (NYSE: ETN).
The company pleased investors late last month, when it reported fiscal Q1 EPS of 82 cents and revenues of $100.0 million. Analysts had been expecting 54 cents and $90.1 million. Incoming first quarter orders set a company record of $106.9 million. The book to ship ratio came in at 107%. Management also guided FY09 EPS to $2.95-$3.05 ($2.43 consensus) and FY09 revenues to $410-$425 million ($400.04M consensus).
"Companies dependent on consumer spending have been under a cloud on Wall Street," cautions Chuck Carlson, the industry's leading expert on dividend reinvestment plans.
"However, Disney (NYSE: DIS) is one of those consumer-dependent stocks where conventional wisdom may not be correct," he adds in his The DRIP Investor.
"With $4-per-gallon gasoline, one would think that the high cost of travel would take some steam out of the firm's theme park attendance. However, recent results on this front were decent, and the firm's other businesses have held up, too.
"To be sure, a prolonged recession would impact business. Still, Disney has done a nice job of positioning its theme parks as an affordable vacation for families, and that should help it continue to weather economic weakness.
"Disney surprised Wall Street with the resiliency of its theme-park and resort business in the fiscal second quarter. Revenue for the unit jumped 11% in the quarter. Results were aided by a boost in international visitors taking advantage of the weak dollar.
"They don't get much more blue-chip than General Electric (NYSE: GE)," says Nilus Mattive. I his top-notch Dividend Superstars, he takes a look at the industrial gain which offers an indicated yield of 4.4%.
"GE is the only company that has remained in the Dow Jones Industrial Average from day one, the company was founded in 1890 by none other than Thomas Alva Edison to market his various inventions.
"GE's broad diversification is both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, it affords the firm plenty of protection from a major decline in any one business.
"On the other, it has led to a very complicated enterprise with inherently limited growth prospects. Yet despite the company's size, it has still managed to increase its revenues internally by about 9% a year.
CNNMoney over the weekend reviewed the first half of the year for the markets. Among its lists of winners and losers, one stock got my attention.
Believe it or not, Hasbro (NYSE: HAS), a competitor of Mattel (NYSE: MAT) and JAKKS Pacific (NASDAQ: JAKK), was up quite nicely through the end of June. How nice? The stock increased in value by almost 40%. That's impressive, but is it persuasive? What I mean is, should one believe that the company's first-half strength is an undeniable indication that the trend will continue for the rest of the year?
I have been bullish on Hasbro and I think it's a great company that should benefit from the upcoming holiday season, but should doesn't necessarily imply would. We are in what I would call an all-bets-are-off market. The bears, and their claws, are slashing their way through the hallowed halls of Wall Street, and if the negative-wealth effect really gets going, thus further damaging consumer confidence, then one would have to wonder how Hasbro will fare in the second half of the year.
Without a doubt, though, put Hasbro on your watch list and perform some due diligence on the company. It's got some great brands in its portfolio like Monopoly and Transformers, and keep in mind that its Star Wars line is due to receive a nice catalytic jolt from the upcoming Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated project. Hasbro's stock dropped almost 7% in the last month. This followed a lot of up months. If the stock experiences a further pullback, and the dividend yield rises, it may become attractive.
Disclosure: I don't own any company mentioned; positions can change at any time.
Family Dollar Stores (NYSE: FDO) operates a chain of more the 6,500 U.S. retail discount stores, offering consumables, home products, apparel, electronic items and seasonal goods. The firm specializes in neighborhood outlets, located near its low- and middle-income customers in rural and urban areas. Most items are priced under $10. Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT) and Dollar Tree (NASDAQ: DLTR) are major competitors.
The company pleased investors last week, when it reported fiscal Q3 EPS of 46 cents and revenues of $1.7 billion. Analysts had been looking for 40 cents and $1.7 billion. The CEO attributed success to the company's "intense focus on controlling expenses and mitigating inventory risk." Management also guided Q4 EPS to 30-35 cents (29 cent consensus).
"The agriculture, mining and oil and gas businesses are booming globally, and mining firms have been plagued by a lack of available earth-moving and subsurface mining equipment," notes Paul Tracy.
"The prices of wheat, soybeans, corn and other basic food commodities are surging to new multi-year highs. There are two main drivers of this trend: rising consumption of agricultural commodities in emerging markets and increased consumption of crops for biofuels production.
"The developing world is also driving demand for petroleum products and other raw materials. A building boom in China, for example, is driving demand for steel, copper and aluminum used in building construction.
"One problem holding back these industries in recent years is a shortage of equipment. Mining firms have been plagued by a lack of available earth-moving and subsurface mining equipment. And agricultural products producers need tractors, combines and other equipment that are in short supply globally to efficiently run their farms.
CenturyTel (NYSE: CTL) is an integrated communications company, providing carrier and enterprise level network access, local and long distance voice service, Internet access and broadband services. Its rural local-exchange carrier subsidiaries operate in the smaller communities of 25 states. Its core service areas are in Alabama, Arkansas, Missouri, Washington, and Wisconsin. AT&T (NYSE: T) is a major competitor.
The company pleased investors late last month, when it increased its annual cash dividend from 27 cents to $2.80, declared a one-time dividend of 63.25 cents per share, and accelerated the current share repurchase program to complete the remaining balance of about $385 million by early 2009. Management also said it expected to meet, or exceed, previously announced Q2 guidance for EPS of 78-82 cents (80 cent consensus) and revenues of $647-$657 million ($652.7M consensus). Soleil and Stanford Research subsequently upgraded CTL shares to "buy" status.
"The pipelines of most Big Pharmas are bone dry; last year, the FDA approved the lowest number of new drugs (19) since 1983," notes Louis Basenese, editor of The Oxford Club.
"But opportunity always lurks in the wreckage, and one Big Pharma, in particular, is being unfairly punished." Here's his bullish outlook on Novartis (NYSE: NVS).
"Unlike others in the sector, Novartis doesn't suffer from an empty pipeline. It's launched more drugs globally than any other firm in the past seven years. It has more than 100 projects in phase II (or later) trials. And it expects to file at least six new drug applications this year alone.
"Plus, its products cover all bases, from vaccines to specialized drugs to generics to eye-care products, even animal health items. And most are enjoying rapidly expanding sales.
"Moreover, the company maintains a fortress-like financial position that includes a $10.8 billion cash horde. Management keeps raising the dividend, for 11 years and counting. And it recently announced a massive $9 billion stock-repurchase plan, too. Hardly the hallmarks of a sickly stock.
I'll admit the headline is a bit deceptive. On one hand McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) has seen a resurgence in its business and frankly, the shares have done very well. In fact since McDonald's went through its own set of problems five years ago, the stock has since tripled in value.
The parallels between Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) and McDonald's are very eerie. Starbucks has hit the proverbial wall after a successful ride from 1992 to 2007 as one of the premier GameChanger stocks around. Starbucks, like McDonald's over-expanded its store base in the United States and began to cannibalize its own revenues. Starbucks, like McDonald's, lost its principle focus and did not tend to 'what got them there".
In late 2002 McDonald's stock had just finished a 4 year run of losing 70% of its value. The company was becoming a hodgepodge of different menu items, culminating with the disastrous release of the McLean Deluxe, which was not even all beef! Advertising and marketing programs were a mish-mash of geographical themes yielding no consistency whatsoever. McDonald's even posted, for the first time in its illustrious history, an operating loss in 2002, and experienced negative same store sales for the first time, as well.
Then CEO Jim Cantalupo said enough was enough. McDonald's closed 700 unproductive stores (sound familiar?) and re-focused its menu and advertising campaign.
"Renewable fuels and clean energy, a sector beaten down hard since last fall, are now primed for a major comeback," says Eric Roseman, editor of The Commodity Trend Alert. Here's his ETF play on the sector.
"With every passing day the price of crude oil rises, the secular trend to alternative energy becomes even more powerful. Consumers, companies and governments are now sick and tired of soaring energy prices.
"The long-term solution is to obviously reduce our dependence on oil and increase our consumption of renewable fuels like wind, solar, and nuclear energy.
"The bull market in alternative energy began in 2005 when a host of companies in this thriving sector went public, supported by government subsidies, especially in Germany and Spain. Interestingly, Germany and Spain have just reduced solar energy subsidies this spring.
"In my view, those subsidy cuts don't matter at this stage. When companies in the solar sector are making money, why should governments continue subsidizing them?
I finally got around to investing a portion of my stimulus check. I had a few stocks in mind for the money, but at the end of the day, I decided that I should buy shares of a high-yielding blue chip for the very long term. It really wasn't a difficult decision. The winner of my stimulus-check buy was none other than General Electric (NYSE: GE).
I've been talking about GE a lot lately, but if you're an investor, you know there's a lot to talk about this conglomerate. No, I don't mean fundamentally, necessarily, I mean that its current yield is simply amazing. GE has dropped a lot this year, and it's gotten the attention of many value investors. In fact, I purchased some GE shares not too long ago when they were trading about six bucks higher than the current price for what I hoped would be a short-term trade. I admit it, I was wrong.
I still think my reasoning at the time was correct, and I continue to hold those shares, but I also hold a long-term position of GE that I add to several times a year with the intent of holding for the next couple decades, maybe even beyond that. It is this position that received the shares acquired through the beneficence of the government. Although some might argue that I should have improved the cost basis of my trade, I decided against such action, since I think GE might be down for a while. If I wanted to use the money for a trade, there are probably better ideas out there for it than GE. But long-term, GE's current 4.7% yield will probably turn into an effective yield of better than 20%, assuming the dividend continues to rise in the future as it has in the past (I believe it will).
The only other stock that provided real competition for my stimulus windfall is Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO). However, the GE yield was just too beautiful. Granted, Coke is obviously the more focused business, and its brand equity is impeccable. But a near 3% yield is no match for a 4.7% yield. I think I made the right decision, but time will tell. No matter what, though, anyone who buys GE now better be patient. Short-term traders might not be rewarded.
Disclosure: I own Coke and GE; positions can change at any time.
Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ) produces and markets more than 250 brands of wine, spirits and beer, in about 150 countries. The Wines division, the largest maker of wine by volume in the world, is responsible for such brands as Robert Mondavi, Inniskillin, Simi, Arbor Mist and Blackthorn (cider). The Spirits division distills such brands as Black Velvet, Chi-Chi's, Fleischmann's, Canadian LTD and Mr. Boston. The Imports division has the right to import, market, and sell Corona Extra, Corona Light, Tsingtao, Modelo Especial, Pacifico and St. Pauli Girl. The firm distributes its products through wholesalers, government beverage control agencies and various retailers. Diageo (NYSE: DEO) and Fortune Brands (NYSE: FO) are major competitors.
The company pleased investors earlier in the week, when it reported fiscal Q1 EPS of 34 cents and revenues of $931.8 million. Analysts had been looking for 31 cents and $906.1 million. The highlight of the quarter was a 24% year over year rise in branded wine net sales. Management also guided FY09 EPS to $1.68-$1.76, versus consensus of $1.70.
Robbins & Myers (NYSE: RBN) provides equipment used for the industrial processing and management of fluids. Its Fluid Management segment offers hydraulic drilling equipment, slurry grinders and wellhead systems used by oil and gas, specialty chemical and wastewater treatment firms. The Process Solutions unit makes glass-lined reactors, storage vessels and mixing/agitation devices for the pharmaceutical and fine chemical markets. The Romaco segment provides equipment for the dosing, filling and sealing of vials, capsules, tubes and bottles.
Investors were pleased earlier in the week, when the firm reported fiscal Q3 EPS of 62 cents and revenues of $200.9 million. The Street had been looking for 58 cents and $190.2 million. Management also guided Q4 EPS to 62-67 cents (60 cent consensus) and FY08 EPS to $2.10-$2.15 ($2.05 consensus).
"They don't get much more blue-chip than 
I'll admit the headline is a bit deceptive. On one hand
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