Investors 411 Blog

Those of you who love the shoe group, take a look at CROX.

TSCO reported after the close today. Came in at 0.96 vs est of 0.91. Revenues reported lower than expected.Trading down about -1.5% after hours.

 Tractor Supply Co.'s  (TSCO) fourth-quarter earnings rose 40% as animal- and pet-related merchandise helped boost same-store sales.
However, shares slipped 1.9% to  $80.20  in recent after-hours trading as the company issued a downbeat forecast for the new year.
The company sees full-year earnings per share of  $3.38 to $3.46  on  $4.56 billion to $4.66 billion  in sales. Analysts polled by  Thomson Reuters  expected  $ 3.48  and  $4.62 billion , respectively.
The largest U.S. chain of farm and ranch stores has witnessed double-digit sales and earnings growth for more than a year despite a cautious environment. It counts household users among buyers of its tractor parts and home-and-garden gear, animal feed and farm equipment.  Tractor Supply  has said its improved results reflect steps it has taken in recent years, including improved inventory management and merchandise allocation and regionalization, which have reduced the company's dependence on weather trends.
 Tractor Supply  posted a profit of  $70.5 million , or  96 cents  a share, up from  $50.2 million , or  67 cents  a share, a year earlier. Analysts polled by  Thomson Reuters  had forecast earnings of  92 cents  a share.
Net sales increased 20% to  $1.24 billion , meeting the company's earlier estimate. Same-store sales were up 7.6%, building off a 13% increase in the year-earlier period.

Cramer suggests we are at the bottom of the market. Very interesting logic.

http://www.thestreet.com/video...

Top? Last few days we sold off from the open and the bulls came charging back to close up. Today the opposite, up until about 1:30 with a high of 2866 on the Nasdaq and a sell off going towards the close. We need to watch this!

 Looking at the close most all the averages closes Ok.

Romneys secret service name?

http://t.co/vKeqjLHy

AKRX hit a 52 week high today OF 11.97. Reports Feb 27 with an est of 0.09.

Searching my computer this AM I found a power point that Ian Woodward (HGSI) created for me back in August 2011 discussing AKRX and price targets. His high based on earnings at the time was 11.76, which is where AKRX sits as I write! Amazing!

I don't understand how anyone can declare as a fact what a corp would do with the money if they didn't have to pay taxes.
If GREED is in fact a part of the equasion, then doesn't conventional logic go out the window?
Many people that bet on horses prefer to bet on races where there are no jockeys because the human (greed) element is limited.

George,

Where do horses race without jockeys? I'm interested because I go to horse races often.

You're right: no one can state as a fact what a corp would do with their profits, especially since there are so many different corps. The reverse is also true; no one can state as fact what a corp won't do with their profits. They are all not the same, and they are not all crooks.

There are crooks out there in every business. We have Rabbi's scamming nursing homes, Priests raping kids, Doctors selling pres. for illegal drugs, police on the take, many others too many to list. There are also good corps and bad corps. Do you think we can take the "human element" from these things? Not at all. In the most sacred positions, the human faults take place. Buyer beware is the key to all, from your investment adviser, accountant, lawyer, banker, etc.

 I also asked a question that no one answered so far. It was: do any of you not take a deduction you can take by law to pay more taxes? Actually the silence is deafening. That's the hypocrisy many take on this blog talking about Romney taking all deductions he was entitled to as greedy, even as Warren Buffett did, as most of posters on this blog do.

JS

Wow - Futures way up.

INTC and NVLS have been emailed to me as suggestions for the Semi conductor stocks.

Option Combination Trades.

Any trade has risks. Paul & I talked about Radio Shack. An event like earnings can be pre announce during the middle of the trading day or after hours. Bada Bing it next trades 25% lower or higher.

When you do a Put/Call Option trade (Buy to open) you are covered both ways.

Perhaps even more important the specific amount you pay for the put and call is all the money you risk. Each Put and Call you own lets you control 100 shares of a stock for a set period of time.

The downside is if you are making this option combination trade based on an event like earnings, after the event you have to watch what happens. This is especially true if the option expires soon.

Barr

 Barr if you have limited funds and can only buy one or two stocks option protection might make sense. IMO a varied portfolio offers better protection.

Any other Semi Conductor suggestions for Your Stock List? Post them here of email to Barr!

Any thoughts on adding CROX the old shoe stock?

JS - Your reply to Paul makes Mitt Romney look like Michael Moore. Opening sentence. "I think corporations shouldn't pay taxes."
GE didn't pay taxes in 2010 and has amassed $3.2000,000 in tax credits for future years, They are experts at tax avoidance. So where's the new GE plants in the USA? Where's the announcement of 10,000  new American jobs created by GE? No taxes doesn't create jobs.

At least Romney thinks "corporations are people."  JS - You think corporations are superior to people - They should pay no taxes. 

Popeye

Popeye your right. Yesterday at 12:57 JS replies "corporations (corps) shouldn't pay taxes."  Small business pay the full amount of their real estate taxes and when a major corporation comes to town they blackmail Sate and local officials for tax breaks. But I suppose when JS says NO Taxes he means even the meager amount of real estate taxes giant corporations like GE pay too.

Since corporate taxes make up 2% of GDP is being cut out of the budget by JS's proposal, who makes up the difference. Small business people like your fellow artists. If I were a struggling artist I sure would like to see my fellow artists wanting to protect me instead of GE.

Jim J

Popeye,
 Profits go to shareholders. Note: CEO pay is a cost, before profits. Shareholders pay taxes on the cap gains they make, the div's they get. Stock prices are affected by profits: lower profits = lower share price; effectively lowering value of company = higher interest rates on loans and lower values for employee, management shareholders. The treasury missed out on GE corp taxes but makes it up on shareholder taxes, employee taxes, even CEO's pay taxes. One dollar in wages increases exponentally in activity, increasing income, thus = more taxes, both for Fed gov't plus local gov't. I think the "fairness" lens distorts what really happens.

JS