Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS ) isn't getting any closer to a storybook ending.
CEO William Lynch is resigning from the struggling book retailer, and more changes may be afoot as the chain continues to review its strategic alternatives.
Lynch was the head of the company's online retailing division when he was promoted in 2010. At the time it seemed to indicate an emphasis on the chain's digital initiatives. Barnes & Noble had decided to compete against Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN ) a year earlier by introducing the Nook, and BN.com was positioning itself to be a bigger force in media retail.
However, it isn't easy running a bookstore where prices need to stay high to cover the overhead of manning a physical store and running a website that's competitive with Amazon's cutthroat pricing. It's hard to fight both battles, because a Barnes & Noble shopper is -- by definition -- well read. Prices need to be consistent across both platforms, or buyers are going to know about it.
Hot Gas Companies To Own For 2015: Gafisa SA (GFA)
Gafisa S.A. (Gafisa), incorporated on November 12, 1996, is a diversified national homebuilder serving all demographic segments of the Brazilian market. The Company�� brands include Tenda, which serves the affordable entry-level housing segments, Gafisa, which offers a variety of residential options to the mid to higher income segments and Alphaville, which focuses on the identification, development and sale of residential communities. In addition, it provides construction services to third parties. Gafisa�� core business is the development of residential units in attractive locations. During the year ended December 31, 2009, approximately 55% of the value of its launches was derived from high and mid high-level residential developments under the Gafisa brand. It is also engaged in the development of land subdivisions, also known as residential communities, representing approximately 18% of the value of its launches under the Alphaville brand, and affordable entry-level housing, which represents approximately 27% of the value of its launches under the Tenda brand. In addition, it provides construction services to third parties. Gafisa operates in more than 120 cities, including Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Fortaleza, Natal, Curitiba, Belo Horizonte, Manaus, Porto Alegre and Belem, across 21 states and the Federal District.
Real Estate Activities
The Company�� real estate business includes developments for sale of residential units; land subdivisions (also known as residential communities); commercial buildings; construction services to third parties, and sale of units through its brokerage subsidiaries, Gafisa Vendas and Gafisa Vendas Rio, jointly referred to as Gafisa Vendas. In the residential buildings product category, Gafisa develops three main types of products: luxury buildings targeted at upper-income customers, buildings targeted at middle-income customers; and affordable entry-level housing targeted at lower-income customers. Quality residential buildi! ngs for middle- and upper-income customers are its core products. Luxury buildings units usually have over 180 square meters of private area, at least four bedrooms and three parking spaces. The development includes swimming pools, gyms, visitor parking, and other amenities.
Buildings targeted at middle-income customers have accounted for the majority of its sales. Units usually have between 90 and 180 square meters of private area, three or four bedrooms and two to three underground parking spaces. Buildings are usually developed in large tracts of land as part of multi-building developments and, to a lesser extent, in smaller lots in attractive neighborhoods. Affordable entry-level housing consists of building and house units. Units usually have between 42 to 60 square meters of indoor private area and two to three bedrooms.
Commercial Buildings
During 2009, the Company launched four commercial buildings. These buildings include Centro Empresarial Madureira, Paulista Corporate, Reserva Eco Office Life and Global Offices.
Construction Service
Gafisa provide construction services to third parties, building residential and commercial projects for developers in Brazil. The Company�� principal construction services clients are large companies, many of them developers that do not build their own projects. As of December 31, 2009, its principal construction services clients were Fibra Empreendimentos Imobiliarios S.A., Sisan-Grupo Silvio Santos, Camargo Correa Desenvolvimento Imobiliario S.A., Helbor Empreendimentos Imobiliarios Ltda., InCons S.A., SDI Desenvolvimento Imobiliario Ltda. and Abyara. It also provides construction services on certain developments where it retains an equity interest.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Eric Volkman]
Brazilian construction firm Gafisa (NYSE: GFA ) is not only selling houses these days. The company has signed an agreement to sell a 70% stake in residential community developer Alphaville Urbanismo to funds managed by Blackstone (NYSE: BX ) and the American company's Brazilian partner firm Patria Investimentos.
- [By Roberto Pedone]
Gafisa (GFA) is a homebuilder in Brazil. This stock closed up 5% to $3.13 in Tuesday's trading session.
Tuesday's Range: $2.97-$3.15
52-Week Range: $2.22-$5.24
Tuesday's Volume: 1.70 million
Three-Month Average Volume: 1.77 millionFrom a technical perspective, GFA ripped higher here right above some near-term support at $2.80 with decent upside volume. This stock has been uptrending strong for the last month, with shares moving higher from its low of $2.27 to its intraday high of $3.15. During that move, shares of GFA have been consistently making higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move has now pushed shares of GFA within range of triggering a big breakout trade. That trade will hit if GFA manages to take out Tuesday's high of $3.15 to some past resistance at $3.30 with high volume.
Traders should now look for long-biased trades in GFA as long as it's trending above support at $2.80 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 1.77 million shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then GFA will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at its 200-day moving average of $3.68 to more resistance at $4.20 to $4.70.
- [By Jon C. Ogg]
Gafisa S.A. (NYSE: GFA) is a homebuilder in Brazil, supposedly with more than $1 billion in projects for 2014 alone. This ADR trades at $3.05 against a 52-week range of $2.22 to $5.24, and this is down only about 2% so far in 2014.
Best Prefered Companies For 2014: CNH Industrial NV (CNHI)
CNH Industrial NV is a Netherlands-based company primarily engaged in the manufacture of heavy machinery and vehicles equipment. It divides its activities into four main businesses. The Agricultural Equipment offers agricultural equipment under the New Holland Agriculture, Case IH brands and the Steyr brand. The Construction Equipment produces excavators, bulldozers, backhoes, compactors and other construction equipment under the New Holland Construction and Case Construction Equipment brands. The Trucks & Commercial Vehicles manufactures trucks and a commercial vehicles, including buses, coaches and special vehicles under Iveco, Iveco Bus and Heuliez Bus brands, as well as it produces quarry and mining equipment through Iveco Astra, and fire fighting vehicles through the Iveco Magirus brand. The Powertrain offers transmission systems, engines for marine application and power generation through FPT Industrial brand. Advisors' Opinion:- [By Holly LaFon]
The largest detractor for the quarter was CNH Industrial (CNHI), a global agricultural and construction equipment manufacturer, which fell 11%.� CNH released its nine-month results, which showed revenue growth of 0.6%, but the company�� margins were adversely affected by Iveco, its trucks and commercial vehicles segment.� Iveco�� margins fell short of expectations due to tough pricing, high launch costs, negative mix and increases in bad debt provisions.� Management maintains full-year guidance of 3-4% revenue growth.� We believe improvements in the Iveco division will help CNH Industrial achieve its long-term margin targets.�
- [By GuruFocus]
According to GuruFocus list of 52-week lows, these Guru stocks have reached their 52-week lows.Deutsche Bank AG (DB) Reached the 52-Week Low of $36.04The prices of Deutsche Bank AG (DB) shares have declined to close to the 52-week low of $36.04, which is 36.1% off the 52-week high of $54.49. Deutsche Bank AG is owned by 3 Gurus we are tracking. Among them, 2 have added to their positions during the past quarter. 1 reduced their position.Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft is a stock corporation organized under the laws of Germany. Deutsche Bank Ag has a market cap of $36.74 billion; its shares were traded at around $36.04 with a P/E ratio of 413.90 and P/S ratio of 0.90. The dividend yield of Deutsche Bank Ag stocks is 2.10%.David Dreman (Trades, Portfolio) owns 58,725 shares as of 03/31/2014, an increase of 404.64% from the previous quarter. This position accounts for 0.2% of the $1.29 billion portfolio of Dreman Value Management. Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio) owns 6,250 shares as of 03/31/2014, which accounts for 0.0015% of the $18.53 billion portfolio of GAMCO Investors.Ross Stores Inc (ROST) Reached the 52-Week Low of $67.16The prices of Ross Stores Inc (ROST) shares have declined to close to the 52-week low of $67.16, which is 21.2% off the 52-week high of $81.99. Ross Stores Inc is owned by 14 Gurus we are tracking. Among them, 7 have added to their positions during the past quarter. 5 reduced their positions.Ross Stores, Inc., is a Delaware Corporation. It turned public with its IPO in August 1985. Ross Stores Inc has a market cap of $14.21 billion; its shares were traded at around $67.16 with a P/E ratio of 17.00 and P/S ratio of 1.39. The dividend yield of Ross Stores Inc stocks is 1.10%. Ross Stores Inc had an annual average earnings growth of 23.20% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated Ross Stores Inc the business predictability rank of 4.5-star.ROST recently reported earnings per share for the 13 weeks ended May 3, 2014 of $1.15, up from $1.07 fo
- [By Lisa Levin]
CNH Industrial NV (NYSE: CNHI) shares tumbled 2.47% to reach a new 52-week low of $11.44. CNH Industrial reported an 11% drop in its third-quarter profit.
Best Prefered Companies For 2014: Tianrong Internet Products and Services Inc (TIPS)
Tianrong Internet Products and Services, Inc. (TIPS), incorporated on January 29, 1959, is a holding company. The Company is a development-stage company. The Company is engaged in developing and marketing its Website (Phonecalls.com) for commercial exploitation. TIPS is an e-commerce business which is engaged in reselling mobile and other telephony solutions to customers via its Website. The company markets products on behalf of suppliers through search marketing and other e-marketing initiatives, such as virtual mail shots.
The Company�� Website catalogues new and refurbished mobile handsets and landline phones from a range of suppliers, as well as a variety of accessories. Customers can purchase products by clicking directly through to the supplier�� Website and the Company l receives a commission on sales made. Suppliers can upload their product advertisements remotely and independently without any human interaction with the Company.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Canadian Value]
To quantify the relationship between real gold prices and real yields, we can regress the price of gold from 2006 to 2013 (we used the logarithm of the real price of gold in our model) against the 10-year real yield from the Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) market. (In our view, this regression is appropriate since gold and real yields are co-integrated and there is an economic rationale for believing they should be.) Based on our study, the regression shows that, all else equal, a 100-basis-point (bp) increase in 10-year real yields has historically led to a decline of 26.8% in the inflation-adjusted price of gold. In other words, over the past seven years gold has had a real duration of 26.8 years. (Note that this is solely an empirical duration that describes the way that gold has traded. Since gold has no cash flows, its duration does not need to be constant, and there is nothing magic about the 26.8 number. Just as the correlation between stocks and bonds varies over time depending on changes in macroeconomic variables and investor risk appetite, the real duration of gold may also change in the future.)
Best Prefered Companies For 2014: Destination XL Group Inc (DXLG)
Destination XL Group, Inc., formerly Casual Male Retail Group, Inc., incorporated in 1976, is a specialty retailer of big and tall men�� apparel with retail operations in the United States and London, England and direct businesses throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Its direct business includes several catalogs and e-commerce sites, which supports its brands and product extensions. As of January 28, 2012, it operated 360 Casual MaleXL retail stores, 60 Casual MaleXL outlet stores, 16 DestinationXL stores and 14 Rochester Clothing stores. During the third quarter of fiscal 2011, the Company launched its new DestinationXL e-commerce site which, similar to its DXL store concept, brings all of its existing websites together, making it easier for its customer to shop the full array of product selection that it have to offer from all of its brands with the ease of one shopping cart. Full product assortments from Casual MaleXL, Rochester Clothing, ShoesXL and LivingXL can be found at www.destinationxl.com. In addition to its e-commerce and catalog businesses, it operated 7 international Web stores serving twenty-six European countries during fiscal 2011.
Casual MaleXL Outlet
The Company�� 60 Casual MaleXL outlet stores, with their supporting direct business, B&T Factory Direct, generates approximately 12% of the Company's business. It offers a private-label program, specifically for its Casual MaleXL outlet stores and its B&T Factory Direct businesses, which is similar to its lifestyle private label lines found in its full-price retail stores but made at lower costs and sold at lower price points for its value-oriented customers. It carries Canyon Ridge, which is similar in style to its Harbor Bay product line, 555 Turnpike, which is targeted towards its younger customers, and Fuse, a contemporary line similar in style to its Synrgy product line Traveler Technology is a traditional line similar to its Gold Series.
Casual MaleXL Retail
Th! e Casual Male business offers a selection of sportswear, dress clothing, footwear and accessories for the big and tall customer at moderate prices. Its full-price Casual Male merchandise is sold through its 360 Casual MaleXL retail stores, Casual MaleXL catalogs and e-commerce site. The majority of the Casual Male merchandise is basic or fashion-neutral items, such as jeans, casual slacks, tee-shirts, polo shirts, dress shirts and suit separates. Casual Male�� clothing has features specifically designed for its customer, such as waist-relaxer pants, stretch belts, zipper ties, wide band socks, neck-relaxer shirts and clothing with comfort-stretch technology and reinforced stress points. In addition to its many private label lines, it carry several well-known brands of merchandise including: Polo Ralph Lauren, Nautica, Geoffrey Beene, Nautica Jeans Co., Levi��, Dockers, Calvin Klein, Reebok and
Rochester Clothing
At January 28, 2012, it operated 14 Rochester Clothing stores, located in major cities throughout the United States and one store in London, EnglandAn important element to the Company's business is its high-end, luxury fashion apparel offered by Rochester Clothing. Its Rochester Clothing stores carry a selection of apparel, at higher price points, from branded manufacturers, such as Polo Ralph Lauren, Robert Graham, Lacoste, Facconable, DKNY, Calvin Klein, Michael Kors, Brioni, Cutter and Buck, Tommy Bahama, Tommy Hilfilger, Thomas Dean, Paul & Shark and others. The Rochester customer is able to find a range of apparel from traditional and modern sportswear to suits and accessories.
B&T Factory Direct
The Company�� B&T Factory Direct Web store enhances its existing Casual MaleXL outlet stores. The merchandise offered in its B&T Factory Direct catalogs and on its Website is a selection but similar to the merchandise that can be found in its Casual MaleXL outlet stores. In addition, B&T Factory Direct often features a special clearance o! pportunit! ies of product and provides opportunities of product obtained from Casual MaleXL and Rochester Clothing, offering the B&T Factory Direct customer the ability to purchase branded product.
LivingXL
The LivingXL business, which includes its LivingXL Web store and catalogs, specializes in the selling of selected products. The types of products sold on its Website and in its catalogs for both men and women and include chairs, outdoor accessories, travel accessories, bed and bath and fitness equipment.
ShoesXL
Its ShoesXL Web store carries a line of men�� footwear in extended sizes, offering customers a range of footwear. The assortment on ShoesXL is a reflection of its apparel, with an assortment from moderate to luxury and from casual to formal. ShoesXL has a more than 500 styles of shoes, ranging in sizes from 10M to 18M and widths up to 5E. It carries a number of designer brands including Cole Haan, Allen Edmonds, Timberland, Calvin Klein, Lacoste and Bruno Magli. In addition, it has added the expanded shoe assortments within its existing Casual MaleXL and Rochester Clothing catalogs.
Destination
From the DestinationXL homepage, the customers can also search across all of its brands without having to specifically shop Casual Male versus Rochester. By searching for a shirt in their size, DestinationXL provides them product selection from all three of its concepts.
The Company offers selected Casual Male merchandise on their websites at www.Sears.com and www.Sears.ca. It operates 7 online stores for both its Casual MaleXL and Rochester Clothing brands that penetrate 26 European countries, including the U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands. It engages GSI Commerce, Inc. (GSI) for the design, development and operations of the seven online stores. Subsequent to year end, it decided to discontinue its international Web stores including terminating its contract with GSI.
The Comp! any compe! tes with Wal-Mart, J.C. Penney Company Inc, Kohl�� and Pinault-Printemps-Redoute, SA.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Peter Graham]
The Q1 2014 earnings report for The Men's Wearhouse, Inc (NYSE: MW), a potential peer of men�� apparel retailers like Destination XL Group Inc (NASDAQ: DXLG) and�Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc (NASDAQ: JOSB), is scheduled for before the market opens on Friday.�Aside from the Men's Wearhouse earnings report, it should be said that Destination XL Group Inc reported Q1 2014 earnings on May 29th (Sales rebounded in April to offset weather impacted business) while�Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc reported Q4 2013 earnings on April 2nd�with Q1 2014 earnings expected on Friday. I should mention though that The Men's Wearhouse is acquiring Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc���a deal recently approved of by the FTC. The merger creates the fourth-largest retailer of menswear, which will have $3.5 billion in�pro forma sales,�1,700 stores and about 23,000 employees.
- [By Seth Jayson]
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 Destination XL Group (Nasdaq: DXLG ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.
Best Prefered Companies For 2014: Hannover House Inc (HHSE)
Hannover House, Inc., formerly Target Development Group, Inc., is the parent company of Hannover House. Hannover House is a full service media company, specializing in the production and distribution of feature films onto the digital versatile disc (DVD) format for the North American retail marketplace. As of December 31, 2010, the Company had over 70 DVD titles in active distribution. In June 2012, the Company acquired nine feature films for video release in North America.
Retailers carrying Hannover House products include independently owned and operated retail video stores and book stores, including Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, Blockbuster Video, Borders Group, Fred Meyer Group, Hastings, SAM�� Club, Transworld Group and Wal-Mart. It also includes Internet retailers.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Peter Graham]
Small cap tech or media stocks Thinspace Technology Inc (OTCMKTS: THNS), Beamz Interactive Inc (OTCBB: BZIC) and Hannover House Inc (OTCMKTS: HHSE) have been getting some extra attention lately, but it appears that only one of these stocks has been the subject of a paid promotion. Nevertheless, all three stocks have been busy with press releases trying to get the attention of investors or traders. So are these three small cap tech or media stocks worth your attention? Here is a closer look along with a reality check:
Best Prefered Companies For 2014: Micromem Technologies Inc (MMTIF)
Micromem Technologies Inc. (Micromem), incorporated on October 21, 1985, is a development-stage company. The Company is engaged in the development of memory technology that has the characteristics of non-volatility, which is the ability to retain information after power has been shut off. The Company is focused on magnetic sensor applications. The Company is focused on research and development of nano-magnetic random access memory (MRAM). Micromem operates in a single segment as a developer of non-volatile magnetic memory and sensor technology. The Company partners with industry to manufacture.
The Company�� technology is based on the ability to use magnetic materials in combination with a sensor to record the state of magnetization. Each magnetic element stores one bit of data based on its ability to alternate between states of magnetic polarization, which states are determined by a sensor.
The Company competes with IBM.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Peter Graham]
At the end of last week, small cap stocks Senesco Technologies, Inc (OTCBB: SNTI), VolitionRX Ltd (OTCMKTS: VNRX) and Micromem Technologies Inc (OTCBB: MMTIF) were all trending upwards ��ending up 13.65%, 8.73% and 7.61%, respectively, on Friday. However, it�� a new trading week with the last two trading days for the year. So what direction will these three small caps head in for the end of this year and into next year? Here is a quick look to help you decide on a trading or investment strategy:
Best Prefered Companies For 2014: (FSM)
Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. engages in the mining and production silver and base metal in Latin America. Its primary assets consist of the Caylloma zinc/lead/silver mine, which is located to the northwest of Arequipa, Peru; and the San Jose silver/gold project that is located south of the city of Oaxaca, Mexico. The company was formerly known as Fortuna Ventures Inc. and changed its name to Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. in June 2005. Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. The company was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in Lima, Peru.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Zacks]
Some better-ranked stocks in the Basic materials sector include Endeavour Silver Corp. (NYSE: EXK), Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. (NYSE: FSM) and MAG Silver Corp. (AMEX:MVG). All these stocks carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).���
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