Canyon Gate Medical Group Acquires Sparks Family Medicine, Ltd.
Sparks Family Medicine Marks First Canyon Gate Location in Summerlin
Zoom to Acquire TCB Digital
Definitive Agreement Also Anticipates Spinoff of Zoom's Current Business and Operations
Alternative Energy
In President Obama's Inaugural Address on January 20, 2009, T. Boone Pickens, Texas oilman, Chairman and CEO of BP Capital and Director of Clean Energy Fuels Corp., along with millions of Americans, heard our new President Obama pledge to transform U.S. energy policy. Mr. Pickens is committed to this goal and believes that the president's goals are bold yet achievable.IBM Corporation (IBM)
On January 20, 2008, IBM Corp. (<a href=http://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/ibm>IBM</a>) announced its fiscal 2008 4th quarter results that were mixed, with revenue coming in below expectations but pro forma EPS beating our expectation. Net income from continuing operations were $4.4 billion versus $4.0 billion in the same quarter last year. With aggressive cost-cutting, diluted earnings from continuing operations for the quarter reached $3.28, up 17.1% from $2.80 in the prior-year quarter. <p> Total revenue of $27.0 billion was down 6.4% (down 1.0% when adjusted for currency) from $28.9 billion in the year-ago quarter. Earnings were boosted by a reduction in the tax rate in the 4th quarter. <p> We were ahead of the Street in our expectations for the 4th quarter and for full-year 2009. <p> Given strong performance in the 4th quarter, IBM provided its EPS outlook for fiscal 2009. It expects full-year EPS of at least $9.20, which is a growth rate of 3.0% over 2008 reported EPS. IBM also expects its full-year 2009 tax rate to be sustained at approximately 26.5%.Halliburton Company (HAL)
We are downgrading Halliburton Company (<a href=http://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/hal>HAL</a>) shares to Sell from Buy to reflect our growing concerns about the weakening outlook for the domestic natural gas market, where the company enjoys a strong leverage through its premier position in the pressure pumping business. <p> Demand for pressure pumping closely tracks the overall rig count, which in turn reflects spending plans by E&P players. Pressure pumping is an umbrella term used to describe a number of vital services performed on new and existing (producing) wells. <p> While the current U.S. rig count is already down roughly 24% from its all-time peak in August 2008, we see significant room for further declines in the coming months before the market stabilizes. This expected drop in activity levels will weigh on the outlook for pressure pumping even after the resumption of normal activity levels towards the end of 2009, in our view.ETF Portfolios: Even In This Economy — Everyone Has To Eat!
It’s hard to decide where to place your investments these days with some of the traditional safe bets not feeling so safe. One thing is for certain, people will continue to need staple products, even if they’re finding them more inexpensively or they’re purchasing less of them.
Some staples that will always be in demand, no matter what the economic environment is, are food stock and beverages. If you’d like to find a way to invest in food and beverages, consider making a purchase of and exchange traded fund (ETF). Exchange traded funds are a collection of stocks bundled together so you are not purchasing one single company, but you’re diversifying across a sector, thereby limiting your risk. And they are usually 80% less than a mutual fund that uses active management.
The ETF PowerShares Dynamic Food & Beverage (PBJ) is an excellent way to diversify your investment in the food and beverage industry. PBJ seeks to replicate the performance of an equity index called the Dynamic Food & Beverage Intellidex. PBJ does this by investing in about 30 of the largest U.S. food and beverage companies. Some of their holdings include such noted and popular companies as General Mills Inc. (NYSE: GIS), Kellogg Co. (NYSE: K), McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD), Pepsico, Inc. (NYSE: PEP) among many other well known brands.
If you’re thinking that an investment in the food and beverage industry is right for your portfolio, consider making the investment in PBJ which charges only 0.63% to give you a strong basket of holdings in the food and beverage industry.
FLOWERS FOODS INC 3.54%
GEN MILLS INC 6.11%
HEINZ HJ CO 4.94%
KELLOGG CO 5.11%
KROGER CO 6.41%
MCDONALDS CP 6.07%
MONSANTO COMPANY 4.44%
PEPSICO INC 5.3%
RALCORP HOLDINGS INC 3.56%
SYSCO CP 4.72%
Live Cargo Acquires CMWare; Progress Partners Facilitates Sale Process
BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - January 28, 2009) - Live Cargo Inc., Greensboro, N.C. (www.livecargo.com), a leading provider of mobile streaming, IPTV, web-based social networking and an infrastructure and data center for storage of user generated content, has acquired CMWare Inc., Plainsboro, N.J. (www.cmware.com), a mobile marketing technology company.
The sale was an equity and cash transaction and was facilitated by Progress Partners Inc., who was retained as the investment bank(1), to assist with the asset sale process, which included technology assets and intellectual property.
WGL Entertainment Holdings, Inc. Acquires Heathrow Enterprises, LLC
LAKE MARY, FL--(Marketwire - January 28, 2009) - WGL Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (