Trenders

Trending Stocks - Breakout To New Highs: Pier 1 Imports (PIR)

2009-12-22T04:25:00.000-05:00

When shoppers fish for furniture and decorative accessories, Pier 1 wants to be sure they catch something. The company sells about 4,000 items (imported from more than 50 countries) through some 1,090 Pier 1 Imports stores in the US and Canada. Pier 1 stores offer a wide selection of indoor and outdoor furniture, wicker, lamps, vases, baskets, ceramics, dinnerware, candles, and other specialty products. Many of the products are handcrafted; the company favors natural materials, such as rattan and wood. To stay afloat, Pier 1 Imports has been closing stores and has shuttered its Pier 1 Kids chain. Pier 1 also sold its proprietary credit card business to JPMorgan Chase for $155 million.

Trending Stocks - Breakout To New Highs: Rubicon Technology - RBCN

2009-12-18T18:47:00.000-05:00

Rubicon Technology says Alea iacta est (The die is cast) and crosses over into the empire of advanced technology. Using proprietary crystal growth technology, Rubicon makes sapphire materials, wafers, and components for a variety of products. In the the field of optoelectronics, Rubicon makes sapphire components for light-emitting diodes (LEDs) used in cell phones, video screens, and other items. Rubicon's sapphire materials also are used for compound semiconductor manufacturing and laser imaging. In the telecom sector, the company's silicon materials are in demand for the silicon-on-sapphire (SOS) components of cellular and fiber-optics products. Asian customers account for more than half of Rubicon's sales.

Trending Stocks - Breakout To New Highs: MGP Ingredients - MGPI

2009-12-15T04:52:00.001-05:00

MGP Ingredients puts the proof in the bottle and the texture in most everything else. The company processes wheat flour into food ingredients, such as wheat proteins and wheat starches used by other manufacturers. By-products from this process are mixed with corn and made into a variety of alcohol products that are used in distilled beverages, foods, and fuels. MGP also makes plant-based polymers for use in place of petroleum-based plastic items, such as disposable cutlery and CD cases, and a wood-composite resin used to make decking material. MGP is in the process of changing itself from a commodities provider to a maker of value-added food and non-food ingredients. It as operations in Kansas and Illinois.

Trending Stocks - Breakout To New 52 Week Highs: M & F Worldwide - MFW

2009-12-11T18:32:00.000-05:00

Check out M & F Worldwide. Its Harland Clarke business manufactures checks and related products, forms, treasury supplies, and delivery and fraud-prevention services. Harland Financial Solutions provides lending and mortgage origination and servicing applications, business intelligence solutions, and customer management software for commercial banks and credit unions. M & F's Scantron unit offers testing and assessment solutions to schools in North America. Its products and services include scannable forms, scanning equipment, survey services, and testing software. The company's Mafco Worldwide is one of the world's largest makers of licorice extract, used primarily for flavoring candy and tobacco products.

Recent M & F Worldwide (MFW) Stock News:
Friday Earnings Big Gainers: MGA, TC, MFW

Trending Stocks - Breakout To New Highs: Cytori Therapeutics - CYTX

2009-12-10T19:43:00.000-05:00

Attention lovers of liposuction: Cytori Therapeutics needs your fat. The firm (formerly known as MacroPore Biosurgery) is developing therapies using regenerative adult stem cells derived from adipose, otherwise known as fat tissue. Cytori's Celution is an adipose tissue extraction system that is marketed in Europe and Asia for reconstructive surgery purposes. The company is developing therapies based on the Celution system intended to treat cardiovascular disease, spine and orthopedic injuries, pelvic health conditions, and gastrointestinal disorders. Cytori has a joint venture with Olympus Corporation to develop future products based on its Celution system.

Recent Cytori Therapeutics (CYTX) Stock News:
Interim Data Lifts Geron, Stem Cell Rivals Mixed

Trending Stocks - Breakout To New Highs: Nanometrics - NANO

2009-12-09T03:34:00.000-05:00

Makers of precision electronics who need their goods to measure up know that Nanometrics works on a nano scale. The company provides thin-film metrology and inspection systems used by makers of precision electronic gear. These stand-alone, integrated, and tabletop measurement devices gauge the thickness and consistency of film materials used in making semiconductors, magnetic recording heads, and flat-panel displays. Customers include Applied Materials, Hitachi, Hynix Semiconductor, Samsung Electronics (about 16% of sales), SMIC, and Toshiba Semiconductor (11%). Nanometrics gets around two-thirds of its sales outside the US.

Recent Nanometrics (NANO) Stock News:
Nanometrics Announces Follow-On Order for Atlas XP Metrology Systems from Leading Memory Customer

Trending Stocks - Breakout To New Highs: Sonic Solutions - SNIC

2009-12-07T19:40:00.001-05:00

Sonic Solutions provides tools to capture the digital revolution. The company's products include applications for creating digital audio and video titles, recording data files, and backing up information stored on hard drives. Though its offerings are used primarily to create traditional CDs and DVDs, Sonic has expanded the capability of its products to include high-definition DVD formats. Sonic Solutions markets to consumers, as well as professional organizations such as movie studios. It also licenses its technology to third parties who incorporate it into their own products, and it has product-bundling partnerships with such companies as Adaptec, Dell, Pioneer, and Sony.

Recent Sonic Solutions(SNIC) Stock News:
Iomega Partners with Sonic Solutions To Deliver Exciting New High Definition Media Player Products

Trending Stocks - Breakout To New Highs: Medifast - MED

2009-12-03T00:39:00.001-05:00

Medifast is helping people slim down and shape up. The company develops, manufactures, and markets health and diet products under its Medifast brand name. The products, which are manufactured by Medifast subsidiary Jason Pharmaceuticals, include food and beverages (meal replacement shakes, bars), as well as disease management products for diabetics. Medifast sells its wares direct to consumers online and through doctor's offices. Its Take Shape for Life subsidiary distributes the products through a direct marketing and sales network of independent distributors (often people who have had success with Medifast) whom the company calls Health Coaches.

Recent Medifast (MED) Stock News:
Medifast Keeps Gaining: Under the Radar

Trending Breakout Stocks: Revlon - REV

2009-12-02T02:54:00.001-05:00

Revlon has the look of a leader in the US mass-market cosmetics business, alongside L'Oréal's Maybelline and Procter & Gamble's Cover Girl. In addition to Revlon's makeup and skin care products (Revlon, Almay, and Ultima II), the firm makes fragrances (Charlie, Jean Naté) and other personal care products (Revlon ColorSilk, Mitchum). New York socialite Ron Perelman owns about 60% of Revlon -- and controls about 75% of its voting power -- through holding companies, including MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings. FMR owns about 15% of Revlon. While Perelman's involvement with Revlon has fueled his celebrity, the cosmetics maker has seen stalled revenue in recent years. Regardless, Perelman continues to fund the firm.

Recent Revlon (REV) Stock News:
Revlon (REV): A Beautiful Buy

Trending Breakout Stocks: Amazon - AMZN

2009-12-01T02:34:00.001-05:00

What started as Earth's biggest bookstore has rapidly become Earth's biggest anything store. Expansion has propelled Amazon.com in innumerable directions. Its main Web site offers millions of books, music, and movies (which still account for most of its sales), not to mention auto parts, toys, electronics, home furnishings, apparel, health and beauty aids, prescription drugs, and groceries. Also, shoppers can download books, games, MP3s, and films to their computers or handheld devices, including Amazon's own portable reader, the Kindle. Amazon also offers services and products, such as self-publishing, online advertising, a Web store platform, and a co-branded credit card. The company is buying Zappos.com.

Recent Stock News:
AMZN Leads Unique Visitor Traffic Growth

Trending Breakout Stocks: DSW

2009-11-25T19:14:00.002-05:00

While you don't have to watch out for trees in this jungle, you may want to watch your back. DSW sells discounted brand-name footwear for style-conscious men and women through some 300 stores in about three dozen states, as well as online. In addition to more than 2,000 styles of dress, casual, and athletic shoes, stores offer a complementary array of handbags, hosiery, and accessories. It also operates about 375 leased departments inside stores operated by other retailers. Prior to its 2005 IPO, DSW was a wholly-owned subsidiary of holding company Retail Ventures, which still owns more than 60% of its stock.

Recent Stock News:
SmartMoney Stock Picks: DSW

Trending Breakout Stocks: Cracker Barrel Old Country Store - CBRL

2009-11-24T19:25:00.003-05:00

This company has gotten ahead in the restaurant business by holding on to a bit of the past. Formerly CBRL Group, Cracker Barrel Old Country Store operates more than 580 of its flagship restaurants known for their country kitsch, rustic decor, and down-home cooking. The eateries, located in more than 40 states, offer mostly standard American fare, such as chicken, ham, and roast beef dishes, but they are most popular as breakfast spots. Each Cracker Barrel location features a retail area where patrons can buy hand-blown glassware, cast iron cookware, and woodcrafts, as well as jellies and old-fashioned candies. Most of the restaurants are found along interstate highways and target hungry travelers.

Recent Stock News:

Cracker Barrel fiscal 1Q profit climbs 40 percent

Trending Stocks: Landry's Restaurants, LNY - Breakout Stock

2009-11-24T00:59:00.001-05:00

This company's empire stretches from surf to turf to Fremont Street. Landry's Restaurants is a leading operator of casual-dining places with more than 170 locations in Texas and about 30 other states. The company's portfolio of eateries is anchored by its flagship Landry's Seafood House chain; other concepts include Rainforest Cafe, Saltgrass Steak House, and the upscale Chart House. In addition to casual dining, Landry's owns and operates the iconic Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, along with a number of other entertainment properties, including aquariums, hotels, and other tourist attractions. CEO Tilman Fertitta has more than a 55% stake in the company.

Breakout - QTM

2009-11-17T17:16:00.004-05:00

001100110100111 (Translation: Quantum is a leading data storage company). The company provides hardware and software used for data archiving, backup, and recovery. Its products include tape- and disk-based storage devices, automated tape library (ATL) systems, and related media. It also provides data management software and offers services in configuration, installation, support, and training. Quantum sells its products through resellers and distributors, and to OEMs such as Hewlett-Packard, Dell, EMC, IBM, and Sun Microsystems. The company makes two-thirds of its sales in the Americas.

Trading Wisdom - Larry Hite

2006-07-05T11:44:00.002-04:00

Larry Hite - Turned a $2 million managed account into $800 million in 8 years.

Throughout my financial career, I have continually witnessed examples of other people that I have known being ruined by a failure to respect risk. If you don't take a hard look at risk, it will take you. If you argue with the market, you will lose. It is incredible how rich you can get by not being perfect. Never risk more than 1% of your total equity in any one trade. By risking 1%, I am indifferent to any individual trade. Keeping your risk small and constant is absolutely critical. I have two basic rules about winning in trading as well as in life:

If you don't bet, you can't win.
If you lose all your chips, you can't bet. Frankly, I don't see markets. I see risks, rewards, and money.

Life Wisdom - Jim Rohn

2006-07-05T11:35:00.000-04:00

Success is both a journey and a destination.

It's the steady, measured progress toward a goal and the achievement of a goal.

Success is both an accomplishment and a wisdom that comes to those who understand the potential power of life.

It's an awarenesss of value and the cultivation of worthwhile values through discipline.

It's both material and spiritual, practical and mystical.

Success is a process of turning away from something in order to turn toward something better - from lethargy to exercise, from candy to fruit, from spending to investing.

Success is responding to an invitation to change, to grow, to develop, and to become - an invitation to move up to a better place in oder to gain a better vantage point.

But most of all, success is making your life what you want it to be. Considering all the possibilities, considering all the examples of others whose lives you admire, what do want from your life? That is the big question!

Remember, success is not a set of standards from our culture but rather a collection of personal values clearly defined and ultimately achieved.

Trading Wisdom - Gary Bielfeldt

2006-06-30T11:01:00.000-04:00

The most important thing is to have a method for staying with your winners and getting rid of your losers. By having thought out your objective and having a strategy for getting out in case the market trend changes, you greatly increase the potential for staying in your winning positions. The traits of a successful trader: The most important is discipline - I am sure everyone says that. Second, you have to have patience; if you have a good trade on, you have to be able to stay with it. Third, you need courage to go into the market, and courage comes from adequate capitalization. Fourth, you must have a willingness to lose; that is also related to adequate capitalization. Fifth, you need a strong desire to win. You have to have the attitude that if a trade loses, you can handle it without any problem and come back to do the next trade. You can't let a losing trade get to you emotionally. If a trade doesn't look right, I get out and take a small loss.

Trading Wisdom - Bernard Baruch

2006-06-29T11:51:00.000-04:00

Show me the charts, and I'll tell you the news. Have an opinion on what the market should do but don't decide what the market will do. Be happy with a percentage of the move.

Trading Wisdom - Paul Tudor Jones

2006-06-14T14:17:00.000-04:00

Paul Tudor Jones
Turned $1.5 million into $300 million in five years

"That cotton trade was almost the deal breaker for me. It was at that point that I said, "Mr. Stupid, why risk everything on one trade? Why not make your life a pursuit of happiness rather than pain?"

I had to learn discipline and money management. I decided that I was going to become very disciplined and businesslike about my trading. I spend my day trying to make myself as happy and relaxed as I can be.

If I have positions going against me, I get right out; if they are going for me, I keep them. I am always thinking about losing money as opposed to making money. Risk control is the most important thing in trading. I keep cutting my position size down as I have losing trades.

When I am trading poorly, I keep reducing my position size. That way, I will be trading my smallest position size when my trading is worst. If I have positions going against me, I get right out; if they are going for me, I keep them.

Risk control is the most important thing in trading. If you have a losing position that is making you uncomfortable, the solution is very simple: Get out, because you can always get back in. There is nothing better than a fresh start.

The most important rule of trading is to play great defense, not great offense.

Every day I assume every position I have is wrong. I know where my stop risk points are going to be. I do that so I can define my maximum possible draw down. Hopefully, I spend the rest of the day enjoying positions that are going in my direction. If they are going against me, then I have a game plan for getting out. Don't be a hero. Don't have an ego. Always question yourself and your ability. Don't ever feel that you are very good. The second you do, you are dead. I know that to be successful, I have to be frightened. Don't focus on making money; focus on protecting what you have."

Trading Wisdom - Richard Dennis

2006-06-13T10:56:00.000-04:00

When things go bad, traders shouldn't stick their head in the sand and just hope it gets better. You should always have a worst-case point. The only choice should be to get out quicker. The worst mistake a trader can make is to miss a major profit opportunity. 95 percent of profits come from only 5 percent of the trades.

Trading Wisdom - Jack D Schwager

2006-06-12T13:34:00.000-04:00

Trading provides one of the last great frontiers of opportunity in our economy. It is one of the very few ways in which an individual can start with a relatively small bankroll and actually become a multimillionaire. Of course, only a handful of individuals succeed in turning this feat, but at least the opportunity exists. A rigid stop-loss rule is an essential ingredient to the trading approach of many successful traders. Winning streaks lead to complacency, and complacency leads to sloppy trading.

Trading Wisdom - Victor Sperandeo

2006-06-09T11:38:00.000-04:00

Here's a great quote by Victor Sperandeo about what it takes to be a great trader: The key to trading success is emotional discipline. If intelligence were the key, there would be a lot more people making money trading.

Trending Stocks: GPI - Group 1 Automotive

2006-05-15T21:04:00.000-04:00

Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE: GPI)

In a down day like this, the only stock that caught my eye was GPI. They're showing a lot of strength and it's definitely worth taking a second look. Here's what the company does: Group 1 Automotive is only one in a group of companies (AutoNation and United Auto Group are the largest) striving to consolidate US auto sales. Group 1 owns more than 140 franchises and around 30 collision service centers in California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, and Texas. These dealerships offer new and used cars and light trucks under about 30 different brands. Group 1 also offers financing, provides maintenance and repair services, and sells replacement parts. It has acquired the Miller Auto Group in the Los Angeles area.

Trending Stocks: WIRE - Encore Wire

2006-04-27T13:59:00.000-04:00

Encore Wire Corporation (NASDAQ: WIRE)

Fundamentals don't really matter to me. People can manipulate numbers in many different ways. That's why I only trust what the charts tell me. As long as it's trending nicely then I'll consider trading it. Sometimes it's nice to read what the company is involved in. But this is mainly to satisfy my curiosity. Here's whate WIRE does: Encore Wire likes to leave its customers applauding, and calling for more -- wire, that is. A manufacturer of copper electrical building wire and cable, Encore produces THWN-2 cable (feeder, circuit, and branch wiring for commercial and industrial buildings) and NM cable (sheathed cable used to wire homes, apartments, and manufactured housing). It also produces UF cable, an underground feeder cable for outside lighting and other remote uses for residential buildings. The company sells primarily to wholesale electrical distributors across the US and to some retail home-improvement centers.

Trending Stocks: GLG - Glamis Gold

2006-04-27T13:54:00.000-04:00

Glamis Gold Ltd. (NYSE: GLG)

Gold stocks are hot these days. Take a look at this sector and pick the strongest one to ride the trend. Here's the profile for Glamis Gold: Most of what glitters for Glamis Gold can be found in Honduras, Mexico, and the US. The company gets more than 80% of its revenue from two properties: the 67%-owned Marigold Mine, a joint venture with Barrick Gold's Homestake Mining unit, in Nevada, and the San Martin Mine, in Honduras. Glamis also owns a producing property in Mexico, El Sauzal Mine, which yields silver as well as gold. The company's Rand Mine, in California, has been shut down. Glamis is developing the Marlin project in Guatemala, another gold and silver property. Overall, Glamis has reserves of some 6.3 million ounces of gold. The company moved to expand in 2006 when it agreed to buy Canada-based Western Silver.