INTL FCStone Inc. Reports Fiscal Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2011 Financial Results

Record annual adjusted operating revenues - up 51% (up 35% for Q4)
Record annual adjusted net income - up 106% (up 27% for Q4)
NEW YORK, Dec. 13, 2011 (CRWENEWSWIRE) — INTL FCStone Inc. (the ‘Company’) (Nasdaq:INTL) today announced its financial results for the fiscal fourth quarter and year ended September 30, 2011. Certain financial metrics discussed in this press release are non-GAAP, reflecting marked-to-market differences in the Company’s Commodity & Risk Management Services segment. A reconciliation of those metrics to GAAP equivalents is provided in the table below, and further discussion of the use of non-GAAP metrics will be provided in the Company’s Form 10-K to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (”SEC”).
Sean O’Connor, CEO of INTL FCStone Inc., stated, “Fiscal 2011 was a record year for the company in both adjusted operating revenues and adjusted net income. This was achieved despite difficult market conditions, and is validation of our unwavering commitment to provide high quality customer facilitation and execution in the commodities and financial markets. In addition, we executed a number of strategic initiatives during the year that have expanded our franchise and will provide growth going forward.”
INTL FCStone Inc. Summary Financials
Consolidated financial statements for the Company will be included in the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K to be filed with the SEC. The Form 10-K will also be made available on the Company’s website at www.intlfcstone.com.
Conference Call & Web Cast
A conference call will be held tomorrow, Wednesday, December 14, 2011 at 9:00 a.m. ET. A live web! cast of the conference call as well as additional information to review during the call will be made available in PDF form on line on the Company’s corporate web site at http://www.intlfcstone.com. Participants can also access the call by dialing 1-888-461-2030 (within the United States), or 1-719-325-2284 (international callers) approximately ten minutes prior to the start time.
A replay of the call will be available at http://www.intlfcstone.com approximately two hours after the call has ended and will be available through December 22, 2011. To access the replay, dial 1-888-203-1112 (within the United States), or 1-719-457-0820 (international callers) and enter the replay passcode 245 2514.
About INTL FCStone Inc.
INTL FCStone Inc. (INTL) provides execution and advisory services in commodities, currencies and international securities. INTL’s businesses, which include the commodities advisory and transaction execution firm FCStone Group, serve more than 10,000 commercial customers in more than 100 countries through a network of offices in twelve countries around the world.
Further information on INTL is available at www.intlfcstone.com.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release includes forward-looking statements including statements regarding the combined company. All statements other than statements of current or historical fact contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. The words “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “should,” “plan,” “will,” “may,” “could,” “intend,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “continue” or the negative of these terms and similar expressions, as they relate to INTL FCStone Inc., are intended to identify forward-looking statements.
These forward-looking statements are lar! gely bas ed on current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that may affect the financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs of the company. They can be affected by inaccurate assumptions, including the risks, uncertainties and assumptions described in the filings made by INTL FCStone Inc. with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking statements in this press release may not occur and actual results could differ materially from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. When you consider these forward-looking statements, you should keep in mind these risk factors and other cautionary statements in this press release.
These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. INTL FCStone Inc. undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.
Source: INTL FCStone Inc.

Contact:
INTL FCStone Inc.
Investor inquiries:
Bill Dunaway, CFO
1-866-522-7188
bill.dunaway@intlfcstone.com

$ 1.968.9

Three Months Ended September 30,			Fiscal Year Ended September 30,
(Unaudited) (in millions, except share and per share amounts)	2011	2010	% Change	2011	2010	% Change
Total operating revenues	$ 108.1	$ 65.9	64 %	$ 423.2	$ 269.0	57 %
Interest expense	2.2	2.4	(8)%	11.3	9.9	14 %
Net revenues	105.9	63.5	67 %	411.9	259.1	59 %
Compensation and benefits	47.0	31.2	51 %	176.6	104.2	69 %
Clearing and related expenses	19.0	16.5	15 %	77.4	68.2	13 %
Introducing broker commissions	6.3	4.8	31 %	24.0	18.9	27 %
Other non-interest expenses	20.6	15.7	31 %	74.4	49.9	49 %
Total non-interest expenses	92.9	68.2	36 %	352 .4	241.2	46 %
Income (loss) from continuing operations, before tax	13.0	(4.7)	(a)	59.5	17.9	232 %
Income tax expense (benefit)	5.4	(1.7)	(a)	22.5	6.4	252 %
Income (loss) from continuing operations	7.6	(3.0)	(a)	37.0	11.5	222 %
Income from discontinued operations, net of tax	–	1.3	(100)%	0.2	0.6	(67)%
Income (loss) before extraordinary loss	7.6	(1.7)	(a)	37.2	12.1	207 %
Extraordinary loss	–	(2.8)	(100)%	–	(7.0)	(100)%
Net income (loss)	7.6	(4.5)	(a)	37.2	5.1	629 %
Add: Net (income) loss attributable to noncontrolling interests	(0.1)	–	(a)	0.1	0.3	(67)%
Net income attributable to INTL FCStone Inc. common stockholders	$ 7.5	$ (4.5)	(a)	$ 37.3	$ 5.4	591 %
Earnings (loss) per share:
Basic
Income (loss) from continuing operations	$ 0.41	$ (0.18)	(a)	$ 2.06	$ 0.68	203 %
Income from discontinued operations	–	0.07	(100)%	0.01	0.03	(67)%
Extraordinary loss	–	(0.15)	(1 00)%	–	(0.40)	(100)%
Net income attributable to INTL FCStone Inc. common stockholders	$ 0.41	$ (0.26)	(a)	$ 2.07	$ 0.31	568 %
Diluted
Income (loss) from continuing operations	$ 0.39	$ (0.18)	(a)	$ 1.95	$ 0.66	195 %
Income from discontinued operations	–	0.07	(100)%	0.01	0.03	(67)%
Extraordinary loss	–	(0.15)	(100)%	–	(0.39)	(100)%
Net income (loss) attributable to INTL FCStone Inc. common stockholders	$ 0.39	$ (0.26)	(a)	$ 0.30	553 %
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding:
Basic	17,789,967	17,358,689	2 %	17,618,085	17,306,019	2 %
Diluted	18,696,536	17,358,689	8 %	18,567,454	17,883,233	4 %
Segmental operating revenues (non-GAAP) reconciliation:
Total operating revenues, as reported (GAAP)	$ 108.1	$ 65.9	64 %	$ 423.2	$ 269.0	57 %
Marked-to-market adjustment	(4.6)	10.8	(a)	(8.4)	6.0	(a)
Adjusted operating revenues (non-GAAP) (b)	$ 103.5	$ 76.7	35 %	$ 414.8	$ 275.0	51 %
Represented by:
Commodity and risk management services	$ 58.9	$ 41.0	44 %	$ 244.2	$ 135.8	80 %
Foreign exchange	17.5	11.7	50 %	59.3	47.5	25 %
Securities	7.3	6.2	18 %	30.5	20.8	47 %
Clearing and execution services	14.8	14.3	3 %	66.1	61.8	7 %
Other	5.1	2.1	143 %	14.3	61 %
Corporate unallocated	(0.1)	1.4	(a)	0.4	0.2	100 %
Adjusted operating revenues (non-GAAP) (b)	$ 103.5	$ 76.7	35 %	$ 414.8	$ 275.0	51 %
Net income attributable to INTL FCStone Inc. common stockholders
(non-GAAP) reconciliation:
Net income (loss) attributable to INTL FCStone Inc. common stockholders, as reported (GAAP)	$ 7.5	$ (4.5)	(a)	$ 37.3	$ 5.4	591 %
Exclude income from discontinued operations	–	(1.3)	100 %	(0.2)	(0.6)	67 %
Exclude extraordinary loss	– ;	2.8	100 %	–	7.0	100 %
Marked-to-market adjustment (non-GAAP)	(4.6)	10.8	(a)	(8.4)	6.0	(a)
Tax effect on marked-to-market adjustment at blended rate of 37.5% (non-GAAP)	1.8	(4.1)	(a)	3.2	(2.3)	(a)
Adjusted net income attributable to INTL FCStone Inc. common stockholders from continuing operations (non-GAAP) (c)	$ 4.7	$ 3.7	27 %	$ 31.9	$ 15.5	106 %

(a) Comparison not meaningful.

(b) Adjusted operating revenue is a non-GAAP measure that represents operating revenues adjusted by marked-to-market differences in the Company’s Commodity & Risk Management Services segment, as shown in the table. The table above reflects all reconciling items between the GAAP operating revenues and non-GAAP adjusted operating revenues. For a full discussion of management’s reasons for disclosing these adjustments, see ‘Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations’ in the Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010.

(c) Adjusted net income attributable to INTL FCStone Inc. common stockholders from continuing operations is a non-GAAP ! measure that represents net income attributable to INTL FCStone Inc. common stockholders adjusted by the after-tax marked-to-market differences in the Company’s Commodity & Risk Management Services segment, the extraordinary loss related to the decrease in net deferred tax assets related to the FCStone merger and the income from discontinued operations, net of tax. The table above reflects all reconciling items between the GAAP net income attributable to INTL FCStone Inc. common stockholders and non-GAAP adjusted net income attributable to INTL FCStone Inc. common stockholders from continuing operations.

Amgen, Boeing and Pfizer are among the week's payout hikers

Despite the equity market’s omnipresent volatility, the dividend parade keeps rolling down Wall Street. This week brought another bevy of big names boosting their quarterly payouts, and the news gave shareholders a little early holiday cheer.
In a good sign for the market at large, this week��s list of payout performers reads like a Who��s Who of the most prominent firms in their respective sectors. Pharmaceutical, aerospace, financial and industrial giants all stuffed shareholder stockings, making this another stellar week for income investors. Here are 16 companies increasing dividends this week.

Farm products and potash maker Agrium (NYSE:AGU) quadrupled its dividend, fertilizing the payout on common stock to 22.5 cents per share on a semi-annual basis. The new dividend will be paid Jan. 19 to shareholders of record on Jan. 1. The new dividend yield, based on the Dec. 14 closing price of $64.49 (the day the dividend was announced), is 0.70%. Agrium also announced plans to spend about $1.5 billion to increase its potash production capacity by 50%, as it looks to increase profits from the continued strength in crop prices.
Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) is the world��s largest biotech firm, and this week it engineered a 29% rise in its quarterly dividend. The company, which began paying a dividend just last year, announced a payout of 36 cents a share. The new dividend will be paid March 7 to shareholders of record as of Feb. 15. The new dividend yield, based on the Dec. 15 closing price of $58.62, is 2.46%. Amgen recently bought back nearly 10% of its outstanding shares. The company also said long time Chairman and CEO Kevin Sharer will retire on May 23, but stay on as chairman until the end of 2012.

Aerospace giant and defense contractor Boeing (NYSE:BA) sent its dividend into flight, lifting its quarterly payout 5% to 44 cents per share from ! 42 cents . The heightened payout will be made on March 2 to shareholders of record as of Feb. 10. The new dividend yield, based on the Dec. 12 closing price of $70.90, is 2.48%. Boeing continues to receive new orders for its premier 777 wide-body aircraft, and this year it��s extended its annual sales to 200 units.
Real estate investment trust Boston Properties (NYSE:BXP) boosted its quarterly payout by 10% to 55 cents per share. The new payout will be made Jan. 27 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 31. The new dividend yield, based on the Dec. 14 closing price of $93.65, is 2.35%. Boston Properties develops and manages offices, hotel, residential and retail properties in New York, Washington, San Francisco, Princeton, N.J. and its namesake city, Boston.
Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) charged up its quarterly dividend, boosting its payout by 67% to 10 cents per share from 6 cents. The new dividend is payable Jan. 19 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 29. The new dividend yield, based on the Dec. 15 closing price of $23.07, is 1.73%. The credit card issuer said heavy holiday shopping helped its fiscal fourth quarter profit surge 46% year over year.
Money management firm Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) declared a special cash dividend of $2 a share. It also raised its quarterly dividend by 8% to 27 cents per share. Both the special dividend and the boosted payout are payable on Dec. 30 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 19. The new dividend yield, based on the Dec. 12 closing price of $96.91, is 1.11%. The company recently posted a 12% surge in fiscal Q4 profits.
The biggest lodging property REIT in the U.S. is Host Hotels & Resorts (NYSE:HST), and this week it upped the room rate it pays shareholders to 5 cents per share from the previous 1 cent per share payout. The new dividend is payable on Jan. 17 to shareholders of record on Dec. 30. The new dividend yield, based on the Dec. 14 closing price of $13.71, ! is 1.46% .

Industrial products behemoth Ingersoll-Rand (NYSE:IR) said it will raise its quarterly dividend to shareholders by 33% to 16 cents a share. The new dividend is payable March 30 to owners of record as of March 12. The new dividend yield, based on the Dec. 12 closing price of $32.11, is 1.99%.
Moody��s (NYSE:MCO) has raised the rating on its quarterly dividend to 16 cents per share from 14 cents. The parent company of credit rating agency Moody��s Investors Service will pay the new AAA-rated dividend March 10 to shareholders of record as of Feb. 20. The new dividend yield, based on the Dec. 14 closing price of $32.88, is 1.95%.

The largest producer of structural steel products in the U.S. is Nucor (NYSE:NUE), and this week it increased the hardness of its dividend to shareholders. The company boosted its payout to 36.5 cents per share from 36.25 cents. The new dividend will be paid Feb. 10 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 30. The new dividend yield, based on the Dec. 14 closing price of $38.72, is 3.77%.
Diversified industrial products maker Pentair (NYSE:PNR) added to its quarterly dividend, boosting its payout by 2 cents to 20 cents per share. The increase will be effective with the quarterly dividend payable in the first quarter of 2012. The new dividend yield, based on the Dec. 14 closing price of $33.92, is 2.59%. The good dividend news came as Pentair cut its fourth-quarter profit guidance. The company cited lower-than-expected sales in Western Europe as the reason for its lowered outlook.
Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) lifted its quarterly dividend by 2 cents to 22 cents per share. The world��s largest drug maker said the new dividend will be payable March 6 to shareholders of record as of Feb. 3. The company also authorized a new share repurchase program for up to $10 billion. Pfizer expects to buy back about $5 billion in comm! on stock next year. The new dividend yield, based on the Dec. 12 closing price of $20.39, is 4.32%.
Commercial property REIT Realty Income (NYSE:O) bumped up its monthly payout to 14.55 cents per share from 14.52 cents. The new dividend is payable on Jan. 17 to shareholders of record as of Jan. 2. The new dividend yield, based on the Dec. 14 closing price of $33.73, is 5.19%. This is the 57th consecutive quarterly increase and the 64th dividend increase since Realty Income went public in 1994.
Investment and fund management firm SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) declared a semi-annual dividend of 15 cents per share, a 25% increase from the previous payout of 12 cents. The dividend is payable Jan. 6 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 28. The new dividend yield, based on the Dec. 13 closing price of $15.77, is 1.90%. SEI also approved an increase in its stock repurchase program by an additional $100 million. Since the beginning of 2011, the company has repurchased approximately 10.5 million shares at a cost of approximately $201 million.
Multifamily REIT operator UDR (NYSE:UDR) added capital to its family of shareholders, increasing its quarterly payout to 21.50 cents per share from 20 cents. The new dividend is payable Jan. 31 to shareholders of record as of Jan. 11. The new dividend yield, based on the Dec. 15 closing price of $24.16, is 3.56%. The dividend represents the 157th consecutive quarterly payout made by UDR.
Asset management firm Waddell & Reed (NYSE:WDR) managed a higher payout to shareholders, increasing its dividend 25% to 25 cents per share. The new payout will be made on Feb. 1 to shareholders of record on Jan. 3. The new dividend yield, based on the Dec. 15 closing price of $24.66, is 4.06%.
Disclosure: At the time of publication, Jim Woods held no positions in any of the stocks mentioned in this article.

Home Inns & Hotels is soaring right now

So far, the summer has treated us pretty well. But, this summer ride isn’t going to be free of a few bumps — such as we felt this week after economic data from the U.S. and China.
On Tuesday, the Federal Reserve tempered its forecast for U.S. economic growth in the second half of the year. The tepid forecast helped send stocks lower on Tuesday, and that selling accelerated today. And in China we saw reports of a slowdown in factory output for July. In fact, it was the fifth month of factory output slowing, with a gain of +13.4% over the previous year. China’s retail sales and investment in factories and other fixed assets also slowed.

The slowdown in the U.S. and Chinese economies did put some selling pressure on stocks — but I think we should see the pressure ease off soon. The fundamentals remain positive, and we are seeing tremendous growth in other Asian emerging markets.
I want to repeat what I’ve been saying for awhile now regarding China’s economic growth. First off, we should expect to see some slowing in metrics like factory output. That slowing is a direct result of the government’s active moves to keep the economy from overheating. Essentially, this is exactly what China wants.
I’m actually encouraged by the factory output numbers, because along with a decline in GDP from +11.9% in the first three months of the year to +10.3% in the second quarter, it translates into much more sustainable economic growth going forward. This stable growth is what we need to keep our select China and Asia companies outpacing the market.
So, we have definite reason to believe that China stocks will continue to outperform the broad U.S. stock market as it stays in a sideways trading range. I expect to see U.S. stocks stuck in a narrow trading range — with the S&P 500 index trading between 1,050 and 1,150 for the rest of the month.
In this scenario, investors shoul! d buy on dips to position themselves for rallies. At current market levels, with the S&P 500 approaching the lower end of my expected trading range, I would start putting more cash to work.
Already, we’ve seen some incredible outperformance from several of my Asia Edge portfolio companies. And here��s one of my favorite right now: Home Inns & Hotels Management (NASDAQ: HMIN). The stock is up 21% so far on the year and is one of my Top Buys.
When it comes to finding a company hitting its earnings stride, Home Inns is a case study. Last week the company reported outstanding financial results for the second quarter, with substantial gains in every metric.
Total revenues in the second quarter increased 25.7% year over year to RMB 806.9 million (US$119.0 million), a number at the higher end of the firm’s previous guidance range of RMB 790 million to RMB 810 million. And the company’s net income for the quarter was RMB 135.8 million (US$20 million). That number far exceeded the RMB 100.4 million (US$14.7 million) in net income the company posted in the second quarter of 2009.
Home Inn’s non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter was RMB 274.2 million (US$40.4 million) compared to RMB 149.0 million (US$21.8 million) in the same quarter last year. That adds up to a year-over-year increase of 84%!
The hotel chain really hit the mark in the second quarter, reporting an incredible occupancy rate that exceeded 96%, and keep in mind that that high occupancy rate took place even with price increases at many of Home Inn’s mature properties. According to CEO David Sun, “The performance of our entire network improved both year over year and sequentially across all key measures, and our Shanghai-based hotels brought in a better-than-expected premium from the Shanghai World Expo.”
Having seen firsthand how many Chinese tourists — as well as world tourists — traveled to attend the World Expo, I suspected ! Home Inn would be a big beneficiary. Well, according to the company’s latest financial results, my suspicion was dead on. As long as China continues to make headway economically, I anticipate more gains for this growing hotel chain. Buy HMIN on dips below $40. Though shares are above that level right now, a volatile market could push share prices down in the next week or two and provide you a great buying opportunity.
As of this writing, Robert Hsu was recommending HMIN to subscribers of his Asia Edge newsletter.
Your Guide to Profiting From Asia’s Explosive Growth. For access to the best-kept secrets about investing in China and the rest of Asia, plus the hottest stocks to buy and sell, sign up now for Robert Hsu’s FREE Investing Newsletter, Asia Insider. It’s sent right to your email inbox every week — absolutely FREE!

India Stock Futures Rise; Sensex May Extend Biggest Advance in Two Weeks

India��s stock futures rose, signalingbenchmark indexes may extend the biggest gains in two weeks, asthe fastest pace of U.S. manufacturing growth in six monthsbolstered confidence in the global economy.
SGX S&P CNX Nifty Index futures (IHA) for January deliveryadvanced 0.1 percent to 4,781.5 at 10:25 a.m. in Singapore. Thefutures are derived from the underlying S&P CNX Nifty (NIFTY) Index,which climbed 2.8 percent to 4,765.30 yesterday. The BSE IndiaSensitive Index (SENSEX), or Sensex, added 2.7 percent to 15,939.36. Bothgauges jumped the most yesterday since Dec. 21.
A U.S. factory index from the Institute for SupplyManagement climbed to 53.9 last month from 52.7 in November,data from the group showed yesterday. The figures added toreports showing stronger manufacturing in India, China, the U.K.and Australia. India��s manufacturing industry grew the most insix months, a Purchasing Managers�� Index from HSBC Holdings Plcand Markit Economics showed on Jan. 2.
��The Indian economy has tremendous resilience,�� Nirmal Jain, chairman of brokerage India Infoline Ltd. (IIFL), said in aBloomberg UTV interview yesterday. ��The stock market runs aheadof the macro fundamentals.��
HSBC and Markit Economics are due to release theirpurchasing managers�� index for the services industries today.Their purchasing managers gauge for manufacturing rose to 54.2from 51 in November, according to a Jan. 2 statement.

Gas Discoveries

Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) may be active today after peoplewith knowledge of the matter said the company and partner BP Plcwon government approval to spend $1.5 billion to develop gasdiscoveries. Shares of Bharat Petroleum Corp., India��s second-biggest state refiner, may move as the company is offering tosell 11,000 metric tons of naphtha for loading in January,according to a document obtained by Bloomberg News.
The Sensex slumped 25 percent in 2011, the most since 2008,on concern a slumping rupee and record interest-rate increaseswi! ll worse n the effects of Europe��s debt crisis on earnings. Thegauge trades at 13.9 times estimated earnings, down from 19.4times at the end of 2010. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index isvalued at 9.6 times.
India��s stock market had joined the ��cheapest 4 club��based on price-to-book and return-on-equity after China, Korea,Hong Kong, Credit Suisse Group AG analysts led by Sakthi Sivawrote in a report from the brokerage today. The analysts werereviewing their ��underweight�� rating on Indian equities, theysaid in the report.
Overseas investors sold $512 million from equities in 2011,on concern a slowdown in the U.S. and Europe��s debt crisis mayerode company profits, data from the Securities & Exchange Boardof India show. That compares with a record inflow of $29.4billion in 2010. Foreign funds sold a net 391 million rupees (FIINNET$)($7.4 million) of Indian stocks on Jan. 2.

Brazil orange growers: 'We can adapt'

TAQUARITINGA, Brazil (CNN) -- Brazil's orange harvest is nearing its end as workers in the state of Sao Paulo pluck late-blooming fruit from the trees.
The yellow-green oranges will be shipped off to nearby juice factories and then shipped around the globe. Those exports rake in $2 billion for Brazil, the biggest orange juice exporter in the world, accounting for 85% of global exports.
But now, it is not clear if Brazilian orange juice will be allowed into one of its key markets: the United States.
Last week, the Food and Drug Administration temporarily halted all orange juice imports after low levels of the unapproved fungicide carbendazim were found in some juice shipments from Brazil.
More recently, the FDA said the juice is safe for consumption.

Why your orange juice is still safe

Growers in Sao Paulo say they have been using carbendazim for some 20 years and point out that it is allowed -- in low levels -- across Europe and Latin America. It is also allowed in trace amounts in other food products, like nuts, in the United States.
"We didn't even know that it had been banned in orange juice in the United States in 2009," Marco Antonio dos Santos, a third generation orange grower, told CNN.
Dos Santos, also the president of the Citrus Department at the Agriculture Ministry, says there are alternatives, however.
In fact, he and other growers already rotate the use of carbendazim with other fungicides and techniques for preventing diseases like black spot, which make the oranges fall from the trees before they are ripe.
He says Brazilian growers don't want to lose the American market, which is their second biggest after Europe. The United States currently buys 15 percent of Brazil's orange juice exports.
"If we have to, we'll eliminate this product completely," he said as he walked, showing off his 60-acre grove. "We want to supply the American market, we don't in any way want to lose it. We can ada! pt to th e American system with other products."
Growers here would take a hit if this latest crop were barred from America. Global orange juice prices would rise, too.
But Dos Santos says producers can adapt quickly and could produce the next crop carbendazim-free if it were necessary.
While Brazilian farmers and industry leaders don't see a threat to consumers' health, they say the most important thing is that people aren't afraid to drink orange juice.

Injunction against Life Technologies Upheld By Court

Celsis In Vitro Inc today revealed that the Court of Appeals of the United States acting in behalf of the Federal Circuit in Washington DC has upheld a preliminary injunction against Life Technologies Corporation (LIFE) on its violation of a US Patent. Life Technologies is the mother company of co-defendants Invitrogen Corporation and CellzDirect LLC, and the patent from Liverpool deals with methods pertaining to the production of multi-cryopreserved hepatocytes.
Chief Judge Randall Rader, in a precedential opinion, said that the Federal Court found no reversible error in the preliminary injunction penned by Judge Milton Shadur, who presided the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago. The court concluded that Celsis IVT has sufficiently met each of the four factors in determining the preliminary injunction.
The Federal Circuit agreed that Celsis IVT has manifested a responsible level of success of infringement by LTC in its confidential standard process and that the former has successfully thumbed down LTC��s challenge on invalidity with obvious intention. The court also confirmed that Celsis IVT would suffer irreparable damage in the absence of a preliminary injunction.
According to Jay LeCoque, Celsis International CEO, management is pleased with the decision of the Federal Court in its reaffirmation of the company��s Liverpool patent rights and privileges.
LIFE has been a part of NASDAQ since late 2008, rising from the initial $26.10 to the all-time high of $55.71, recorded in May 2011.? Next, the stock dropped to $35.84, but it seems to be back on track, gaining more than since the beginning of 212.

More Plans From Starbucks (SBUX) To Fix It Broken Business

Starbucks (SBUX) seems hell bent on cutting its way to profitability. It may work, but it is also possible that the economy has gone through such an upheaval that the coffee chain no longer has much of a place in the fast food restaurant business.
According to The Wall Street Journal, ?”After years of broadening its customer base and making forays into entertainment, Starbucks has made its top priority retaining its existing patrons.” But, what if those “existing patrons” have left the building?
Most of the moves that Starbucks has made involved firing people and closing stores. The firm does offer cheaper coffee and has a breakfast menu that is less expensive than it used to be, but the chain may not be able to escape the image that it spent years building. Starbucks is perceived as a place which serves the best $4 cup of coffee in the world and charges $3 for donuts. Customers who have turned away from that kind of spending may not have been into a Starbucks for a year. Convincing them that Starbucks coffee?is cheaper than the local deli may be tough.
Starbucks has certainly become more focused on its original business of selling coffee. It does not push?marketing CDs as hard as it used to. The $500 latte and espresso machines that the stores used to try to sell customers have been moved into the back room or are used as paper weights for the copies of The New York Times that the chain still?offers in most stores, but those changes are not likely to bring back enough consumers during a recession to get Starbucks revenue growing as fast as it did for the last decade.
Starbucks may put on a good show about how much it has changed its plans to increase store traffic. But, the recession is deepening and coffee that costs more than $1 a cup is a luxury. The near-term future for the company is about cost cutting and nothing more.
Douglas A. McIntyre

Intuitive Surgical Beats Up on Analysts Yet Again

Intuitive Surgical (Nasdaq: ISRG  ) reported earnings on Jan. 19. Here are the numbers you need to know.
The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), Intuitive Surgical beat expectations on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.
Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue increased significantly, and earnings per share increased significantly.
Gross margins improved, operating margins grew, net margins shrank.
Revenue details
Intuitive Surgical logged revenue of $497 million. The 13 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ looked for sales of $484 million. Sales were 28% higher than the prior-year quarter's $389 million.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions.

EPS details
EPS came in at $3.75. The 14 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ averaged $3.35 per share. GAAP EPS of $3.75 for Q4 were 24% higher than the prior-year quarter's $3.02 per share.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Figures may be non-GAAP to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 73.0%, 50 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 40.2%, 70 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 30.4%, 70 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.
Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $461 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $3.16.
Next year's average estimate for revenue is $2 billion. The average EPS estimate is ! $14.18.< /p>
Investor sentiment
The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 3,939 members out of 4,144 rating the stock outperform, and 205 members rating it underperform. Among 1,281 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 1,238 give Intuitive Surgical a green thumbs-up, and 43 give it a red thumbs-down.
Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Intuitive Surgical is hold, with an average price target of $433.09.
The healthcare investing landscape is littered with also-rans and a few major winners. Is Intuitive Surgical the right stock for you? Read "Discover the Next Rule-Breaking Multibagger" to learn about a company David Gardner believes will be a phenomenal success over the next few years. Click here for instant access to this free report.

• Add Intuitive Surgical to My Watchlist.

MF Global 'Starting to Smell Like' Fraud: Ex-SEC Accounting Chief

NEW YORK (TheStreet)--MF Global(MFGLQ.PK) is still missing an estimated $600 million more than a week after it filed for bankruptcy, and at least one high-profile accounting expert said Wednesday he is beginning to sense fraud may be the explanation.

"My concern is that at the very end as things got very dire, as liquidity dried up, that you had some people in collusion go in and commit fraud here and I don't know that that did occur, but that's what it's starting to smell like," Lynn Turner, former chief accountant at the Securities and Exchange Commission told Bloomberg Television Wednesday.
A spokesman for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, one of MF Global's regulators, declined to comment, as did an MF Global spokesman. A call to MF Global's bankruptcy trustee was not returned.
"It's amazing that we're sitting here today trying to find out today what happened with $600 million," Turner said. "It's like it just vanished into thin air and the fact that people today can't tell us where the $600 million went is not a good sign. The fact that they were held in custodial accounts that someone should have been on top of only further complicates the issue and makes it even more concerning."
MF Global's bankruptcy filing on Oct. 31 came after the securities dealer disclosed more than $6 billion in bets on European sovereign debt, prompting a ratings downgrade and a stock plunge of 66% in just four days. The failure has raised investor anxiety about the stability of larger securities dealers including Jefferies(JEF), Morgan Stanley(MS) and Goldman Sachs(GS). Jon Corzine, who resigned as MF Global CEO Nov. 4 and Chris Flowers, a major MF Global investor and close friend of Corzine, previously held top posts at Goldman Sachs.
-- .
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Seaspan: Dividend Dynamo or Blowup?

Dividend investing is a tried-and-true strategy for generating strong, steady returns in economies both good and bad. But as corporate America's slew of dividend cuts and suspensions over the past few years has demonstrated, it's not enough simply to buy a high yield. You also need to make sure those payouts are sustainable.
Let's examine how Seaspan (NYSE: SSW  ) stacks up. In this series, we consider four critical factors investors should examine in every dividend stock. We'll then tie it all together to look at whether Seaspan is a dividend dynamo or a disaster in the making.
1. Yield
First and foremost, dividend investors like a large forward yield. But if a yield gets too high, it may reflect investors' doubts about the payout's sustainability. If investors had confidence in the stock, they'd be buying it, driving up the share price and shrinking the yield.
Seaspan yields 5.3%, considerably higher than the S&P 500's 2.1%.
2. Payout ratio
The payout ratio might be the most important metric for judging dividend sustainability. It compares the amount of money a company paid out in dividends last year to the earnings it generated. A ratio that's too high -- say, greater than 80% of earnings -- indicates that the company may be stretching to make payouts it can't afford, even when its dividend yield doesn't seem particularly high.
Seaspan doesn't have a payout ratio because it didn't generate earnings to common shareholders last year.
3. Balance sheet
The best dividend payers have the financial fortitude to fund growth and respond to whatever the economy and competitors throw at them. The interest coverage ratio indicates whether a company is having trouble meeting its interest payments -- any ratio less than five is a warning sign. Meanwhile, the debt-to-equity ratio is a good measure of a company's total debt burden.
Seaspan has a debt-to-! equity r atio of 283% and an interest coverage rate of 5.2 times.
4. Growth
A large dividend is nice; a large growing dividend is even better. To support a growing dividend, we also want to see earnings growth.
Over the past five years, Seaspan's quarterly dividend has fallen from $0.42 to $0.18. After paying preferred dividends, Seaspan's earnings last year were negative.
The Foolish bottom line
Despite its high yield and manageable debt, Seaspan doesn't exactly qualify as a "dividend dynamo" right now due to its earnings losses. Dividend investors will want to keep an eye on the health of the containership business and Seaspan's earnings to see when it'll be able to support -- and hopefully grow -- its dividend. If you're looking for some great dividend stocks, check out "Secure Your Future With 11 Rock-Solid Dividend Stocks," a special report from the Motley Fool about some serious dividend dynamos. I invite you to grab a free copy to discover everything you need to know about the 11 generous dividend payers -- simply click here.

Wall Street Stages Intraday Reversal, S&P Bats At A Thousand

After starting on the defensive once again on further fallout from weakness in global equities markets, Wall Street reversed course near the mid-point of Wednesday’s trading session, as major market averages shot to their highs on the session.
The S&P 500 Index (GSPC), which dipped about 1% lower at its quickly realized lows early in the trading session,wiped out the early deficit.Worries about the persistent weakness inAsian markets influenced the early trading, as stocks followed the lead ofChina, where the Shanghai Composite lost more than 4% Wednesday.
However, after the quick slump, somemeasure of bargain-hunting returned to the market. Bullish investors increasingly have become conditioned to step in whenever the market pulls back, regardless of the modesty of the relative attractiveness of the new entry point. But everytime the bulls step up, the bears are forced to cover short positions, adding to the volatility of the underlying market.
Some mediaaccounts also suggested that talk of a second roundof of stimulus spending has helped mobilize some of the animal spirits on Wall Street. Though, given that the majority of the stimulus capital in the first spending initiative hasn’t been put to work yet, there’s little reason to put much stake in talk of another bill.
Nevertheless, the S&P 500 has improved by about 8 points intraday, and while it hasn’t quite gotten back to the 1000-point mark, it has flirted with short-term technical resistance at about 998.

Whole Foods And Supervalu

Investor sentiment varies considerably between Whole Foods (WFM) and SuperValu (SVU), despite the fact that these two companies operate in the same (or similar) industry. This difference in sentiment is exemplified by the opinion of a one Jim Cramer, who notes that even though SuperValu has a substantially lower P/E, Whole Foods is actually the cheaper stock because of its lower PEG ratio. What's wrong with this surface analysis?

First, a PEG ratio is only as good as its underlying assumptions. In this case, Cramer is assuming Whole Foods will grow at an 18% annual rate. But Whole Foods has only grown its revenue at an 8% annual clip over the last three years, and at 6% year-over-year in its most recent quarter. As such, either revenue has to pick up in a big way, or Cramer is assuming Whole Foods will be able to grow its margins rather significantly every year.

This growth rate assumption is just that - an assumption. And history suggests we humans tend to err in our growth assumptions while at the same time remaining very confident in them - a bad combination. Research by David Dreman illustrates this problem, and helps explain why stocks with low P/E's dramatically outperform those with high P/E's, even with the same industry: because we are pretty poor at predicting the future growth rates of individual companies.

So while Whole Foods is clearly the better performing business as of late, having posted far superior margins and same-store sales increases, it's important not to be over-reliant on a large growth assumption. Comparing the price of the businesses as they stand today (i.e.
removing growth from the equation), SuperValu has ttm operating earnings of $850 million while Whole Foods has ttm operating earnings of $550 million. And yet SuperValu can be purchased for an enterprise value of about $8 billion (for an EV/EBIT ratio of less than 10) while Whole Foods comes at a cost of $11 billion (for an EV/EBIT of 20).

As such, you're paying more! than tw ice as much for Whole Foods as you are for SuperValu. In so doing, you are making an assumption that there will be a consistently large growth rate differential between the two companies. Considering what we know about how good we are at making assumptions about growth rates, you might not want to make that bet.

The second problem is that even if Whole Foods were to achieve such growth rates, that growth is not free. It takes capital to grow, particularly in a business such as this one. Companies in the grocery business need to buy or lease land, pay for construction, finance inventory growth, add or enlarge distribution centres and add staff if they are going to grow. That capital could come from debt, which would increase Whole Foods' enterprise value (thereby giving shareholders a smaller stake in the company's operating earnings), or it could come from retained earnings, which would otherwise accrue to shareholders.

In the last few years, Whole Foods has grown through a combination of both, as it has used non-cancelable leases (a form of debt) and cash from operations (that could otherwise have been paid out to shareholders) to finance its growth.

One manner in which the contrast between the capital requirements of these two companies can be seen is in their respective dividend yields. Whole Foods pays a dividend of less than 1% while SuperValu pays almost 5%. At the same time, a low-growth SuperValu will have (and has had) much more capacity to deploy the cash flow it doesn't pay out to shareholders towards paying down its debt, reducing its enterprise value in the process (thus making it cheaper).

This isn't to say that Whole Foods should stop growing and should instead pay out its earnings. Such a statement is beyond the scope of this article, and would involve a discussion of a number of issues including business risk and returns on equity and capital. It is to say, however, that there is a cost to growth, though the simplistic PEG ratio ignores this im! portant element.

SuperValu is clearly cheaper than Whole Foods, until you start making assumptions about growth. It's important to recognize the drawbacks of this "assumption" approach, however, and realize that growth must be financed with additional capital.

MSFT: Nomura Skeptical Of YHOO, RIMM Talk

Nomura Equity Research’s Rick Sherlund, who maintains a Buy rating on shares of Microsoft (MSFT)?, this afternoon issued a note to clients to refute rumors floating around saying the company will acquire Yahoo! (YHOO) or possibly Research in Motion (RIMM).
Sherlund maintains a Buy rating on Microsoft shares and a $32 price target. As far as vague rumors that have floated around today, Sherlund states simply, “we do not see a compelling strategic fit and think this is unlikely.”
On the intense speculation regarding Yahoo!, he has a little more to offer on why an outright buyout makes no sense, writing?

We believe Microsoft has the benefit of scale in search through their current relationship with Yahoo and see no need to acquire the company. ?It is possible that Microsoft may be part of a larger group to invest in a minority position in Yahoo for some strategic business relationship, but this is very different than Microsoft buying Yahoo, that ship sailed by a few years ago and is unlikely, in our view, to be revisited given that Microsoft now has the scale they desired in search through their existing relationship with Yahoo. There are other parts of Yahoo that are likely of strategic interest to Microsoft, but there are likely smarter ways to work together than buying the company.

A New Royalty Trust From SandRidge Energy

After the successful 2011 debuts of SandRidge Energy's (NYSE: SD  ) two oil and gas royalty trusts, SandRidge Mississippian Trust I (NYSE: SDT  ) and SandRidge Permian Trust (NYSE: PER  ) , the Oklahoma-based company is at it again.
If it ain't broke
Moving to exploit the same region that made the Mississippian Trust I a success, the parent company has filed the initial IPO paperwork with the SEC to give birth to SandRidge Mississippian Trust II, with the proposed ticker symbol "SDR."
I'm a big fan of SDT and the Mississippi Lime region. The play has a significant upside to many of the unconventional plays being developed right now. For example, the region is believed to contain 52%-55% oil, versus other plays that contain a higher percentage of not-so-lucrative dry gas. From a production standpoint, the play has great economics: Limestone's porosity and natural fractures can reduce drilling expenses by half.
The stats
Now that we have three SandRidge trusts to think about, let's run a side-by-side comparison of the whole family.

?	Mississippian Trust I	Mississippian Trust II	Permian
Royalty % -- Initial Wells	90%	80%	80%
Royalty % -- Development Wells	50%	70%	70%
No. of Initial Wells	37	67	509
No. of Expected Development Wells	123	206	888
Rese! rves Att ributable to Trust	19.3 MMBoe	26.1 MMBoe	21.8 MMBoe

Source: Company filings.

The new trust has both a higher royalty stake in developing wells and a larger estimated reserve base compared to its Mississippian sister. In the end, though, the only thing that matters is the trusts' production numbers.
Show me the money
SandRidge expects target distributions for the Trust to increase through the second quarter of 2016; the Trust itself is set to expire at the end of 2031. Let's take a look at the more immediate distribution schedule.

2012	Target Distribution
Q1	$0.40
Q2	$0.58
Q3	$0.59
Q4	$0.61
Total	$2.18

Source: Company filings.

It should be noted that the first-quarter payment is lower because of administrative costs associated with the formation of the trust. The expected total payout for 2013 is $2.74.
Foolish takeaway
It will likely be a few months before SandRidge Mississippian Trust II is officially on the books, as paperwork takes time. Interested investors can monitor the Trust's progress by adding SandRidge Energy to My Watchlist.
Looking for dividend stocks you can invest in now? Check out a brand-new free report from Motley Fool's expert analysts called "11 Rock-Solid Dividend Stocks." To get instant access to the names of these 11 dividend stocks, click here -- it's free.

The oil exporter is moving quickly to ramp up sales to Asia

TransCanada s (NYSE:TRP) stalled Keystone XL pipeline took another interesting twist this weekend when Speaker John Boehner said Republican lawmakers will include an approval of the pipeline in a new highway bill. The Obama Administration denied the pipeline builder a permit due to various environmental concerns and put off making a decision on the project until 2013.

A provision in the payroll-tax bill forced President Obama to make an early verdict on the project, which led to its cancellation. While the pipeline may ultimately be built, investors shouldn t focus on the politics. The real winner in this drama is the nation that is exporting the oil: Canada.

While the U.S. bickers about the fate of Keystone, Canada has made the smart decision to move forward. Canada, which accounts for over 90% of all proven energy reserves outside of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, has put out an  open for business  sign.

Canadian Prime Minister Steven Harper is working hard to reduce his nation s dependency on the U.S. Currently, around 99% of Canada s crude oil exports go south, and U.S. and many Canadian officials want to shrink that share. Harper has stressed that his country’s capacity to export energy is a national priority, and he has pledged to speed regulatory approval of energy projects. In a phone call to President Obama, the Prime Minster said that  Canada will continue to work to diversify its energy exports.

In order to diversify those exports, Canada has begun to look toward Asia as major buyer. According to a University of Calgary study, accessing emerging markets in Asia would help Canadian E&P companies realize a $13.60 a-barrel price gain by 2030. Harper will meet next month with Chinese President Hu Jintao to discuss energy export options.

Public support for Enbridge s (NYSE:ENB) Northern Gateway pipeline has surged since the Keystone denia! l. The 6 50-mile pipeline would move oil from Alberta s rich oil sands to British Columbia s coast, where it would be exported to Asian markets via a new port. Overall, Canadian commodity exports to Asian-Pacific nations rose nearly 60% during 2011 and should continue to rise as the nation makes emerging Asia a priority.
Focusing On the Energy Superpower

With Prime Minister Harper and host of other officials focused on moving crude oil and natural gas to Asia, the time could be right to add some Canadian energy companies to your portfolio. Most U.S. investors are heavily underweighted in Canada despite its proximity and global standing. Both Enbridge and the broad-based Guggenheim Canadian Energy Income ETF (NYSE:ENY) could be good bets. Odds are that the Northern Gateway pipeline will be built and start exporting to Asia. The Guggenheim fund tracks 34 different firms, including Penn West Petroleum (NYSE:PWE), and it provides a great overall play in Canadian oil-sands E&P producers. The ETF yields roughly 2.8% and charges 0.65% in expenses.

Another value in the Canadian energy sector might be giant EnCana (NYSE:ECA). After spinning off its oil assets as Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE), the now pure natural gas player has seen its share price dwindle in the face of record low natural gas prices. However, the company has already begun construction near Kitimat, British Columbia, of an?LNG export facility.

Given Canada s new fondness for Asia and Asia s growing appetite for LNG, EnCana could be in a great future position to provide those exports. Shares currently yield over 4%. Similarly, oil-sands-focused producer Suncor (NYSE:SU) could be a great buy. Shares of Suncor have been punished due to a writedown in the value of some of its Libyan assets and the abandonment of a $1.2 billion gas project in Syria. However, no matter which pipeline is built (Keystone or Northern Gateway), Suncor should see increased demand for it! s bitume n crude.

Teledyne Awarded $595 Million Missile Defense Agency Objective Simulation Framework Contract

 THOUSAND OAKS, Calif.–(CRWENEWSWIRE)– Teledyne Technologies Incorporated (NYSE:TDY) announced today that its subsidiary, Teledyne Brown Engineering, Inc., in Huntsville, Ala., was awarded by the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) its Objective Simulation Framework (OSF), an IDIQ contract with a potential value of $595 million over five years beginning September 1, 2011.

Under the contract, Teledyne will design, develop, test, implement and maintain the OSF. It will be the centerpiece test and simulation framework for all elements of the missile defense system. The OSF will be capable of supporting full scale simulations, ground tests and live fire events. For the first time, it will tie together the Digital Simulation Architecture with the Single Stimulation Framework.

 Winning this significant contract reflects well on our capabilities for designing and developing test systems for complex applications such as missile defense,  said Robert Mehrabian, chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Teledyne Technologies.  We expect similar test technologies will have use in other markets we serve including energy, marine, aviation, space and environmental applications.

Teledyne Brown developed the first digital and Hardware-in-the-Loop (HWIL) test and assessment capabilities for missile defense. Through the years, Teledyne Brown developed and supported advancements in test frameworks that established ground test standards for missile defense systems. The company also developed an OSF prototype that incorporates legacy digital and HWIL capabilities to support Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) test and assessment activities. Teledyne Brown has executed BMDS tests and assessments at its headquarters in Huntsville, Ala. and at other locations.

About Teledyne Technologies Incorporated

Teled yne Technologies is a leading provider of sophisticated instrumentation, digital imaging products and software, aerospace and defense electronics, and engineered systems. Teledyne Technologies  operations are primarily located in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Mexico. For more information, visit Teledyne Technologies  website at www.teledyne.com

Forward-Looking Statements Cautionary Notice

This press release contains forward-looking statements, as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, relating to a contract award. Actual results could differ materially from these forward-looking statements. Many factors, including funding, continuation and award of government programs, and cuts to defense spending resulting from future deficit reduction measures, including potential automatic cuts to defense spending that may be triggered by the Budget Control Act of 2011, could change the anticipated results. Various risks, including risks associated with government contracts, are identified in Teledyne s 2010 Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Introducing the 24/7 Wall St. Wire

from BioHealth Investor

The upcoming week will be a big one for Hollis Eden Pharmaceuticals (HEPH), a company I've written about previously. The company was founded in 1992 and they've not advanced a single drug to a Phase 3 clinical trial.

Their lead compound, called Neumune, prevents loss of white blood cells (neutropenia), loss of platelets (thrombocytopenia), and loss of red blood cells (anemia). This drug has been demonstrated safe in several Phase 1 clinical trials. The biggest indication for Neumune is protection against acute radiation syndrome (ARS).

Project Bioshield, a response to potential terrorist attacks, was signed into law in July 2004. One of the purviews of Project Bioshield is to develop and stockpile drugs to protect Americans from biological, chemical, and nuclear attacks. The anthrax scares in Washington DC are a chilling reminder of why this may be important: I'll leave comments about feasibility aside.

Sensing opportunity, Hollis Eden has been seeking to provide the Government (specifically the Department of Health and Human Services, HHS) with Neumune to protect against a radiation attack. At first glance, this was a smart strategy. Implementation, however, has not been so easy.

HEPH has been trading wildly (according to Yahoo Finance beta = 5.42) over the past few years, due in large part to their attempts to secure a contract for Project Bioshield. In my opinion Hollis Eden has an extremely weak pipeline, and this procurement is their last hope. Trouble is, much like Lucy pulling the football away before Charlie Brown can ever kick it, HHS keeps moving the deadline back. Initially a target date of September 30th 2006 was set, which was pushed back to November 30th, which was pushed back to January 31st next Wednesday.

So, while I would never recommend HEPH as an investment, I think it will be a fun stock next week for day traders (take a look at Friday afternoon's minute-by-minute chart) and those looking to speculate next week. If HHS! awards a contract to Hollis Eden the stock will take a nice spike. If they don't deliver on a contract, or delay it a third time, I think the stock will take a substantial dive.

There are a couple of ways to play this. A good volatility play is a straddle with March $5 options: open interest on February options is very low, and March options, while still illiquid have a higher open interest.

Now, Project Bioshield has hit some hiccups. A debacle in which a $1B contract was cancelled sent Vaxgen's stock (VXGN.PK) to the Pink Sheets. There have also been calls, by Senators Collins and Lieberman, for a congressional investigation into Project Bioshield.

But here's another twist. A week after announcing the November delay in the HHS procurement, Hollis Eden announced it was selling $26M worth of shares at $6.50, a substantial discount then. The company had $48M in cash at the end of Q3, and were burning on average $6M per quarter: there certainly was danger of running out before the January 31st tentative date set by HHS. Waiting until after a contract award would have meant a higher share price, and a bigger infusion of cash.

One can speculate endlessly about what the secondary offering of stock means about management's confidence in obtaining the contract. To be clear, according to a November press release, Hollis Eden is "not aware of any other company that remains in the competitive range for this contract award".

Whether or not HEPH gets a contract next week is pure speculation. The stock is trading near $6, so shorting it can be risky shorts I recommended on Avanir Pharmaceuticals (AVNR) and Encysive Pharmaceuticals (ENCY) were both in this range, and both paid off very well! This is a situation where I like to buy puts, and I have purchased some. To be clear, this is highly speculative, but I like the odds of betting on government inaction. Should be a fun week!

Top Basic Materials Sector Stock Holdings of Canyon Capital

Following is information on Canyon Capital Advisors  top holdings in the Basic Materials sector:

    * Chemtura Corp. (NYSE:CHMT): On 3/31/11 Canyon Capital Advisors reported holding 4,905,317 shares with a market value of $84,371,456. This comprised 5.09% of the total portfolio. On 6/30/11, Canyon Capital Advisors held 5,679,181 shares with a market value of $103,361,099. This comprised 7.85% of the total portfolio. The net change in shares for this position over the two quarters is 773,864. About the company: Chemtura Corporation manufactures plastics and other chemicals. The Company produces urethane polymers; plastic additives, including flame retardants; pool and spa products; seed treatment and miticides; and petroleum additives. Chemtura operates worldwide.
    * Packaging Corp. of America (NYSE:PKG): On 3/31/11 Canyon Capital Advisors reported holding 1,717,529 shares with a market value of $49,619,412. This comprised 2.99% of the total portfolio. On 6/30/11, Canyon Capital Advisors held 1,717,529 shares with a market value of $48,073,636. This comprised 3.65% of the total portfolio. The net change in shares for this position over the two quarters is 0,000. About the company: Packaging Corp of America manufactures containerboard and corrugated packaging products for use in protecting goods during shipment. The Company also produces multi-color boxes and displays, as well as meat boxes and wax-coated boxes for the agricultural industry.
    * LyondellBasell Industries NV (NYSE:LYB): On 3/31/11 Canyon Capital Advisors reported holding 263,398 shares with a market value of $10,417,391. This comprised 0.63% of the total portfolio. On 6/30/11, Canyon Capital Advisors held 263,398 shares with a market value of $10,146,091. This comprised 0.77% of the total portfolio. The net change in shares for this position over the two quarters is 0,000. About the company: LyondellBasell Industries NV is a manufacturing company. The Company produces che! micals, fuels, and polymers used for packaging, clean fuels, durable textiles, medical applications, construction materials, and automotive parts. LyondellBasell Industries operates globally and is headquartered in the Netherlands.
    * Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK): On 3/31/11 Canyon Capital Advisors reported holding 0,000 shares with a market value of $0. This comprised 0.00% of the total portfolio. On 6/30/11, Canyon Capital Advisors held 1,500,000 shares with a market value of $8,160,000. This comprised 0.62% of the total portfolio. The net change in shares for this position over the two quarters is 1,500,000. About the company: Graphic Packaging Holding Company is an integrated provider of paperboard and integrated paperboard packaging solutions to multinational beverage and consumer products companies. The Company manufactures folding cartons for frozen and non-frozen food and beverage products.

Work-Life Balance: Can You Have It All?

Excerpted from OFF BALANCE: Getting Beyond the Work-Life Balance Myth to Personal and Professional Satisfaction by Matthew Kelly. Published by arrangement with Hudson Street Press, a member of PenguinGroup (USA), Inc. Copyright (c) Beacon Publishing, 2011.

By Matthew Kelly
It is a common and childish mistake to believe that satisfaction is allabout getting what we want. In truth, we have all gotten what we want onmany occasions and not been satisfied. The very basis of satisfaction isa value structure, or a set of priorities, around which to live yourlife.
Can you have it all? Any reasonable person knows the answer tothis question is no. It is one of the earliest lessons we learn inchildhood, and yet, most of us as adults can be quite childish at times.
The reason you cannot have it all is not because you are ill equippedfor life, or lack talent, or because you don't have enough money. It issimply because one of the governing principles of the universe dictatesthat there are an infinite number of possibilities for any day, year, orlife -- and every day, year, or life is finite. And so, part of growingto maturity, part of growing up, requires that we recognize and acceptthat we cannot have it all.
Most of us recognize that we cannot have it all, but often wesubconsciously fall back into moments of non-acceptance. We know wecan't have it all but we refuse to accept that. You can see how thiskind of pattern could lead to a great deal of frustration at the veryleast and real insanity if taken to the extreme.
The work-life balance discussion has failed to adequately make clearthat you cannot have it all. Just because we started talking aboutwork-life balance and encouraging it, does not mean that people can allof a sudden have everything. I cannot play tennis and golf at the sametime. The finite nature of a certain period of time requires that Ichoose to play tennis or golf! this af ternoon. I cannot do both at once.We have to choose between many options in deciding what to do on anygiven day or in any given hour.
The other way this idea plays out is that excellence in any fieldrequires that we miss out on other things. If you want to be the besttennis player in the world you are going to have to sacrifice a greatmany other things in order to achieve that. Hopefully you have to decidewith a clear head that the things you are giving up are less importantthan becoming the best tennis player in the world.
Success always hasand always will require sacrifice. If success were easy it would becommon. It is difficult and that is why it is rare. More people have thetalent than you would think. Few are willing to make the sacrificesnecessary. This is an easy example because it is far from us. But let usbring it closer. Make it real and personal.

To be the best marketingexecutive in the world requires sacrifice, to be the best HR contact,the best salesperson, the best manager, the best employee, the bestaccount manager... All require sacrifice, and I am not sure that thework-life balance discussion of the last 20 years has adequately pointedout that excellence in any field requires sacrifice.
And perhaps you have no desire to be the best at what you do. Perhapswork is just work, something you have to do. In that state of mind youwill find it very difficult to experience professional satisfaction, andthat will be sure to have an impact on your personal satisfaction as thetwo are intimately linked. Nonetheless, lets bring the example one stepcloser. Perhaps uncomfortably close.
A mother who works cannot expect to be able to do everything for herchildren that a mother who stays at home does. That does not necessarilymean she is a bad mother or that her children are worse off. But thesimple fact remains that her work will require a certain amount of time,energy, and attention -- all of which canno! t be giv en to both work andher children. She may have plenty of time, energy, and attention for herchildren outside of work. Only she can decide that. But the mother whodoes not work will by simple math have more time, energy, and attentionto give her children. The reality is that a working mother cannot expectto do everything a stay at home mother does. There are trade offs thatneed to be made.
In a way the work-life balance discussion has made us feel that we couldhave it all, and we cannot. Most people don't want to hear this andcertainly our culture tell us incessantly that we can have it all, butthe truth is you can't. You cannot be in two places at one time, youcannot have it all, and so we must choose.
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Cramer Positive on VF Corp (VFC)

Tonight on CNBC’s MAD MONEY, Cramer said that VF Corp (VFC-NYSE) is one of his fallen angels because last week lost 7% on the guidance coming in light after it sold off a low-margin unit is too much.  He did talk to the CEO last week, so this is not exactly a huge mover on his part today.  He said it will grow 8% annually and 5% internationally.  Cramer said it can go back up to where it was easy and the way the company is followed on the street you may see many upgrades on it.  He would be a buyer ahead of the February 6 earnings report.  The stock did trade up 1% to $74.78 after Cramer noted this tonight.