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.

Top Stocks of 2012 Aflac (AFL)

Top Stocks of 2012
“Aflac (NYSE: AFL) is best known in the U.S. for its ‘duck ads,’ but actually earns over 75% of its money from Japan,” says Dirk Van Dijk.

In selecting the stock as his top pick for 2012, the strategist for Zacks.com, recalls “Aflac happens to be an old favorite of mine, a stock that I first recommended back in 1991.” Here’s his current update.

“In the U.S., its policies are sold through employers on a payroll deduction, as part of companies ‘cafeteria plans’. They are pretty straight forward. If you get sick and can’t work, or are in the hospital, it pays out a set mount directly to the insured.

“It is thus not at risk for rising health care costs (but is if more people get sick). The U.S. unit was under some pressure as payrolls shrank, but with some positive news on the employment front, that should turn around.

“In Japan, once people get AFL insurance they don’t drop it (which is very important in the life and health insurance industry) with a persistency rate of 95%.

“The firm has a superb track record, but came under big pressure during the crash last year due to fears about its investment portfolio. I think those fears are being assuaged over time.

“It has already realized $1.7 billion (pre-tax) in investment losses. Some of those are not going to come back, like its holdings in Lehman Brothers and WAMU, but other parts of the holdings that were written down just might come back.

“Aflac did however write down $380 million as other than temporary losses in holdings of some Ford debt, and Ford has been doing much better of late, certainly much better that it looked back at the end of the first quarter when GM and Chrysler were going down for the count.

“The company has generated an ROE of 33.4% over the last 12 months, and its five year average ROE is 20.84% (it has leveraged up a bit, from having no debt to a still very manageable and conservative 22% debt to capital. As that happens AFL should return to its historic valuations.

“How much upside potential is that? A Lot. Over the last five years (which of course included the big sell o? last year) AFL’s P/E has averaged 15.4x.

“Based on 2010 earnings estimates it is going for 9.5x now, and 8.7X 2012 consensus estimates, and those estimates have been rising.

“AFL also has a habit of beating the estimates. It has done so the last three times out, and in 17 of the last 28 quarters, with only five disappointments.

“AFL currently yields 2.4%, which is nice. It has however, increased that dividend in each of the last 27 years, and over the last 15 years it has done so at a compound annual rate of 20.7%.

“AFL happens to be an old favorite of mine, a stock that I first recommended back in 1991, and was a core holding for most of my tenure at C.H. Dean. I know the management team well from those days, and they are amongst the best I know in the industry.”

3 Undervalued Tech Stocks to Buy Now

When investors see the words “undervalued tech stocks,” the first companies that jump to mind are probably the mega-cap giants like Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT). The large-cap space certainly has more than its share of cheap tech stocks, but a look into mid- and small-cap territory reveals other, less talked-about opportunities. Computer Sciences (NYSE:CSC), Lexmark International (NYSE:LXK), and China Digital TV (NYSE:STV), are three such stocks that deserve more attention than they receive.

Computer Sciences

Shares of CSC, an IT-outsourcing company, have been pummeled from a February high above $56 to $37.20 on Wednesday. The stock has been hit by less-than-stellar earnings results and concerns that the U.S. government’s perilous fiscal situation will weigh on the 39% of CSC’s business that comes from federal contracts. That’s undoubtedly a legitimate worry, but also one that is well-known at this point. At 7.3 times 2012 estimates (and a price-to-earnings-to-growth ratio of 0.9) and a share price sitting at 0.8 times book value, it appears that the bad news is fully discounted in the stock. Two other key points regarding CSC: first, the stock yields 2.2% – much better than you’ll find with the average large-cap tech stock. Second, the company is cash-rich and is frequently mentioned as a target of a buyout. Betting on a takeover is always a dicey proposition, but CSC offers investors a solid risk-reward tradeoff even without the benefit of a buyout.

Keep in mind: The last time CSC’s P/E was at this level, the stock traded up 25% in less than two months.

Lexmark International

A maker of printers, ink, and imaging products, Lexmark has seen its shares come under heavy selling pressure since late 2010 – a trend that wasn’t helped by its May earnings miss. While the printing business is indeed in gradual decline, it may finally be time to say “enough is enough” regarding the downturn in Lexmark’s share price. After hitting a high above $47 in mid-October, the stock now stands at $28.62. At this level, the stock trades at forward P/E of less than 7x, and removing the net cash of $7 a share (about a quarter of its market cap) on its balance sheet brings the P/E below 5.5x. A low P/E can be a trap when growth is slowing, of course, but the company’s core ink business continues to generate substantial free cash flow. And like CSC, Lexmark has the added benefit of being a strong candidate for an eventual takeover.

Keep in mind: The recent selloff has driven LXK’s valuation to its lowest level in history.

China Digital TV

The smallest of the three companies discussed here, China Digital could offer big potential to patient investors. The company makes smart cards that allow the conversion of an analog signal to digital. A boring business perhaps, but consider that China is the world’s largest TV market with 377 million viewing households. Of these, 187 million have cable and only 90 million currently have a digital signal. This adds up to a stellar growth opportunity for a company with no debt and over 70% of its market cap accounted for by the $214 million of cash on its balance sheet. The stock trades for less than 7x 2012 earnings estimates and a PEG of just over 0.4. Chinese stocks are not without risk, as 2011 has taught us, but patient investors who tune into STV may be in for quite a show.

Keep in Mind: Like LXK, CSC trades at an all-time low P/E.

Technology investing has been no picnic for investors thus far in 2011, but these stocks provide a compelling margin of safety in the event of further volatility in the months ahead.

After the Cloud: Top Tech Trends for 2012

Last year belonged to Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL). The company’s share price rose to almost $350 over the course of 2010, making the company the most valuable tech entity on the planet.

Even more significantly, Apple’s touchscreen portable devices defined the industry. Even as the iPhone continued to grow and the iPad’s popularity spurred competitors to build their own tablet PCs, Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) was able to surpass Apple in at least one regard: More people bought Android phones than other kind. That wealth was spread across multiple manufacturers like HTC and Motorola (NYSE:MMI), but it showed that smartphone technology was now a mass-market force.

If 2010 was the year of smartphones and tablets, 2011 is proving itself to be the year of so-called cloud-based services (accessing applications via the Internet) for those devices. Google Music, Amazon’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) CloudPlayer, and Apple’s iCloud are just three of the new cloud businesses that will open before the year is out, each one of them allowing access to whatever entertainment or stored information, like documents and pictures, without the need of a hard drive.

The question now: What technology trends will define 2012? Here are three contenders:

The smaller, cheaper smartphone

AT&T (NYSE:T) and Verizon (NYSE:VZ) may be talking about how faster data transfer speeds will keep the smartphone market humming over the next 18 months, but the real hot commodity will be feature-light, cheap smartphones that can compete with the best iPhone and Android devices available now. AT&T and retailers like Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) have had tremendous success selling older model iPhones for $50 with new contracts. A smaller iPhone intended for teenagers that sells for $99 and runs as smoothly as the current iPhone model will be even more popular. Unsurprisingly, Apple is said to be working on just such a device.

Internet Television

Google bet big on its Google TV service being one of its biggest hits in 2010, but poor reviews of the service itself and complete consumer disinterest in the two major devices it came packed in, Sony’s (NYSE:SNE) Internet HD TV and the Logitech (NASDAQ:LOGI) Revue, put the kibosh on the company’s ambitions. Google plans to take another shot, though, and cable providers like Time Warner (NYSE:TWX) and Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) are exploring multiple ways to allow access to the same content over mobile devices that people can get in the living room. Whether it’s as a service or a new type of living room TV set-top box like the kind made by Google and Roku, Internet TV will come into its own in 2012.

Hybrid PCs

The PC market has had a rough 2011 so far, with PC sales dropping more than 1% over the first quarter. That doesn’t mean the industry is done for, however — it’s merely in a state of transition. Next year will bring the introduction of more low-cost PCs like Google’s Chromebook as well as PCs that offer more functionality in line with those in the iPad. Hewlett-Packard (NASDAQ:HPQ) has had modest success with its all-in-one touch screen Omni PCs. Apple will likely introduce its own version of the Omni next year. The industry-changer will be the company that introduces an affordable hybrid that can act as both a portable tablet and a feature-rich PC.

Where To Buy Penny Stocks

Tips On Where To Buy Penny Stocks
For those not acquainted with what penny stocks are, these would be stocks offered at under $5 a share. The goal here is to procure the stocks at reasonable prices and sell them for over what they cost to buy. Some will purchase these stocks for long-term investments but most of the people wondering where to buy penny stocks will look towards trading.

Daytrading is the method of selling and purchasing stocks in the exact same day. It’s no secret that such an enterprise includes great jeopardy. Nevertheless many have conclusively proved that huge profits can be generated thru such stocks which are why they’re perennially commended to those hunting for something more dynamic in their trading ventures.

Again, this all does raise issues concerning where to buy penny stocks. The fast answer will be to get them from a trusty service that trades in penny stocks. The majority already know this. What they want is a suggestion for a service that trades in such stocks. These are 3 of the most well-known brokers that handle this type of :

E*Trade : Is there a rather more well-liked online trading site than E*Trade? The solution to that question can be discussed for hours. There are scores of glorious trading firms out there. Having said that, few have the ability to deliver the top quality service this company is understood to supply.

Again, there are lots of corporations on the market that confess the facility to offer low cost, high volume trades but few deliver at the same quality level as E*Trade.

Scottrade : you might say that Scottrade gives E*Trade a run for its cash so far as renown goes. Scottrade has definitely merited its reputation as a quality trading service. This is a trading service that takes many further steps to be certain that clients have accessibility to the trades they want to make at costs which will prove reasonable to them. Such a combo is surely a noble one and Scottrade definitely is merited of its positive reputation.

Zecco : Zecco won’t be as well called the other 2 trading services it is unquestionably a top resource for those wondering where to buy penny stocks. What drives folks to get penny stocks from this actual broker? Low transaction costs and prime quality shopper service would be among the 2 most cited reasons.

Naturally, there are much more than 3 brokerages which handle penny stocks. The key is to get a service that charges a fair rate mixed with top quality shopper service. Such a twin approach will definitely evoke and excite folks into making the required trades that may yield major returns on their investments.