The country of 1.3 billion is Apple's largest market outside the United States, but the iPhone maker has stumbled there, losing ground in the smartphone race to rivals that offer cheaper phones sold through the country's most popular wireless carrier.
Apple's sales in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan fell by 14% in the third quarter, a sharp reversal from 8% growth in the prior quarter, and a gain of 67% before that. The lackluster performance puzzled analysts, and even CEO Tim Cook admitted that "it's not totally clear" why sales were so slow in Hong Kong.
"I continue to believe that in the arc of time here, China is a huge opportunity for Apple," Cook said in July. "I don't get discouraged over a 90-day cycle that can have economic factors and other things in it."
Hot Insurance Companies To Buy Right Now: Emerson Electric Company(EMR)
Emerson Electric Co. operates as a diversified manufacturing and technology company. The company engages in appliance solutions, climate technologies, industrial automation, motor technology, network power, process management, professional tools, and storage solutions businesses. Its appliance solutions business provides appliance controls, appliance motors, heating products, and white-rodgers; climate technology business provides heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVACR) solutions for residential, industrial, and commercial applications; and industrial automation business offers bearings and power transmission products, electrical power generation products, electric motors, variable speed drives and servos, electrical products, material joining solutions, fluid automation products, and wind turbine systems. The company?s motor technology business provides appliance motors, HVACR motors, DC motors, fractional horsepower motors, integral horsepower a nd larger motors, and drives; network power business provides power, precision cooling, connectivity, and embedded solutions; and process management business provides various wireless related products from self-organizing field networks to wireless asset and people tracking. Its professional tools business offers pipe working and threading equipment, pressing technology, utility locating and visual diagnostics systems, drain maintenance tools, power tools, air tools, general purpose hand tools, wet/dry vacs, job site storage equipment, truck tool boxes and equipment, and van storage equipment; and storage solutions business provides shelving and storage products for residential, commercial, and foodservice needs, as well as offers specialized carts, mobile computer workstations, and cabinet fixtures. The company was founded in 1890 and is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Laura Brodbeck]
Tuesday
Earnings Expected: Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS), UBS AG (NYSE: UBS), Emerson Electric Company (NYSE: EMR), DirecTV (NASDAQ: DTV) Economic Releases Expected: Chinese services PMI, US redbook, Canadian trade balance, eurozone retail sales, British services PMI, eurozone services PMI, Reserve Bank of Australia interest rate decisionWednesday
Top 5 Cheap Companies To Watch In Right Now: Rent-A-Center Inc.(RCII)
Rent-A-Center, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, primarily engages in leasing household durable goods to customers on a rent-to-own basis. The company?s stores offer durable products, such as consumer electronics, appliances, computers, and furniture and accessories under flexible rental purchase agreements that allow the customer to obtain ownership of the merchandise at the conclusion of an agreed upon rental period. It also provides merchandise on an installment sales basis in its stores. As of December 31, 2010, the company operated 3,008 company-owned stores in the United States, and in Canada, Puerto Rico, and Mexico, including 42 retail installment sales stores under the names ?Get It Now? and ?Home Choice?; and 18 rent-to-own stores located in Canada under the ?Rent-A-Centre? name. It also operates 209 franchised rent-to-own stores in 32 states under the ColorTyme trade name; and 384 kiosk locations under the ?RAC Acceptance? model. In addition, the company, th rough its ColorTyme?s franchised stores, offers custom rims and tires for sale or rental under the trade names ?RimTyme? or ?ColorTyme Custom Wheels?. Rent-A-Center, Inc. was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Plano, Texas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Grace L. Williams]
Rent-A-Center (RCII) grabbed our attention when the new CFO joined a director for a cluster buy. Most notable were Guy Constant, who bought 10,000 shares for $248,400 and J.V. Lentell, a director, who bought 5,000 shares for $119,000. InsiderScore notes that the buys occurred in the wake of a three-year low at the rent-to-own durable goods retailer.
- [By Garrett Cook]
Rent-A-Center (NASDAQ: RCII) shares tumbled 12.42 percent to $25.45 after the company issued a downbeat guidance for the second quarter. The company expected adjusted earnings of $0.36 to $0.38 per share on revenue of around $773 million.
Top 5 Cheap Companies To Watch In Right Now: LifePoint Hospitals Inc.(LPNT)
LifePoint Hospitals Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates general acute care hospitals in non-urban communities in the United States. The company?s hospitals provide a range of medical and surgical services comprising general surgery, internal medicine, obstetrics, emergency room care, radiology, oncology, diagnostic care, coronary care, rehabilitation services, and pediatric services, as well as specialized services, such as open-heart surgery, skilled nursing, psychiatric care, and neuro-surgery. Its hospitals also offer outpatient services, including one-day surgery, laboratory, x-ray, respiratory therapy, imaging, sports medicine, and lithotripsy. As of December 31, 2009, LifePoint Hospitals owned or leased 47 hospitals with a total of 5,552 licensed beds in 17 states. The company was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee. Lifepoint Hospitals Inc. (NasdaqNM:LPNT) operates independently of HCA Inc. as of May 11, 1999.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ben Levisohn]
Yesterday afternoon, Pennsylvania announced that it would use federal dollars to pay private insurers to cover eligible Pennsylvanians. UBS analysts A.J. Rice and Jailendra Singh think Community Health Systems (CYH), Tenet Healthcare (THC) and LifePoint Hospitals (LPNT) stand to benefit the most from the deal:
- [By Keith Speights]
The fun wasn't just limited to the big three hospital operators. Lifepoint Hospitals (NASDAQ: LPNT ) stock jumped 5% on the CMS news, reflecting a $109 million market cap expansion. Likewise, Vanguard Health Systems (NYSE: VHS ) shares climbed 5%, bumping its market cap up by�$55 million.
Top 5 Cheap Companies To Watch In Right Now: The Travelers Companies Inc.(TRV)
The Travelers Companies, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides various commercial and personal property and casualty insurance products and services to businesses, government units, associations, and individuals primarily in the United States. The company operates in three segments: Business Insurance; Financial, Professional, and International Insurance; and Personal Insurance. The Business Insurance segment offers property and casualty products and services, such as commercial multi-peril, property, general liability, commercial auto, and workers? compensation insurance. It operates in six groups: Select Accounts, which serves small businesses; Commercial Accounts that serves mid-sized businesses; National Accounts, which serves large companies; Industry-Focused Underwriting that serves targeted industries; Target Risk Underwriting, which serves commercial businesses requiring specialized product underwriting, claims handling, and risk management services; and Special ized Distribution that offers products to customers through licensed wholesale, general, and program agents. The Financial, Professional, and International Insurance segment provides surety and financial liability coverage, which uses a credit-based underwriting process; and property and casualty products primarily in the United States., the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Canada. The Personal Insurance segment offers property and casualty insurance covering personal risks, primarily automobile and homeowners insurance to individuals. It distributes its products through independent agents, sponsoring organizations, joint marketing arrangements with other insurers, and direct marketing. The company was founded in 1853 and is based in New York, New York.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jessica Alling]
Reason to Love No. 3: Improved combined ratio
In the insurance world, a combined ratio is the tally of losses and costs per $100 of written premiums. Allstate reported an 0.4 improvement in its underlying combined ratio, dropping it from 88.1 to 87.7. So for every $100 in premiums that Allstate brings in, it keeps $12.30. Competitor Traveler's Companies (NYSE: TRV ) reported improvement with its combined ratio, though its 3.7 point drop keeps it behind Allstate, netting it $11.50 per $100 in premiums. - [By Dan Caplinger]
On Tuesday, Travelers (NYSE: TRV ) will release its latest quarterly results. The key to making smart investment decisions on stocks reporting earnings is to anticipate how they'll do before they announce results, leaving you fully prepared to respond quickly to whatever surprises inevitably arise. That way, you'll be less likely to have an uninformed, knee-jerk reaction that turns out to be exactly the wrong move.
- [By Holly LaFon]
Question: What is your view on Travelers (TRV)�� competitive advantage? How troubling is the huge fixed-income portion of their investment portfolio (in relation to future inflation)? How much do you like Jay Fishman? I really like the fact they are aggressively repurchasing shares and the fact that it is trading at book value, which I estimate to earn around 13% (ROE).
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