No Fed Fear Here: Dow Industrials Retake 17,000 as Small Caps Jump 3%

The Fed will release the statement from its October policy meeting tomorrow, a fact that investors almost completely ignored today as stocks hit their highest level since the beginning of the month.

Reuters

The S&P 500 rose 1.2% to 1,985.05 today, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 187.81 points, or 1.1% to 17,005.75, its highest close since October 3. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.7% to 4,564.29 and the small-company Russell 2000 finished up 2.9% to 1,149.45.

The folks at Bespoke Investment Group note that the S&P 500 has done well on Fed days since the beginning of the Fed’s Zero Interest Rate Policy, or ZIRP, but are curious to see how the market will perform tomorrow, especially if the Fed completes the taper, as expected. They explain:

[The] S&P 500 has averaged a strong gain of 0.46% on Fed Days since ZIRP, which is 11 basis points more than the average performance of the S&P 500 on all days going back to 1995. Over both time periods, the S&P has done very well on Fed Days compared to the average of around 0.03% seen for all trading days throughout history…

It is noteworthy…that the S&P has been up on each of the last four Fed Days, and on five of the seven Fed Days we've had during the "taper." With the taper now off the table, let's see how the markets react.

Wells Capital Managements’ Jim Paulsen worries that investors might be too complacent–and no he’s not using the VIX to measure it, instead using a five-year measure of stock returns to measure their market consistency. He explains:

Perhaps for the first time in this recovery, "investor complacency" has become a problem. Until the last couple years, the primary legacy of the Great 2008 Recession was an economic recovery and stock market dominated by fears. With investors hoarding cash and high-quality bonds while waiting for another imminent Armageddon, complacency was never a problem. During the last couple years, however, the S&P 500 Index has risen in a very persistent and methodical manner to a significant new all-time high above 2,000. While this market action has not produced wild optimism among investors, it has arguably resulted in the greatest sense of calm and hope about the future than at any other time in this recovery.

In the last five years, up months have outpaced down months by about 2.5 to 3 times. Since 1870, there have only been three other periods (i.e., in the late 1920s, in the late 1950s, and in the late 1990s) when the stock market has proved more consistent. Consistency breeds complacency. Since the S&P 500 first broke to new all-time highs in early 2013, who isn't getting use to record stock market closes? …

With the Dow Industrials just 1.6% away from its all-time high, don’t be surprised if we see one again.

 

 

The Ebola stocks: Effect of an outbreak

  Johnson & Johnson boosts Ebola vaccine efforts NEW YORK (CNNMoney) Ebola anxiety is running high.

Some people have considered canceling visits to big theme parks and have aired worries about whether airports and public areas are safe zones.

It's no wonder that investors are assessing Ebola's impact on the economy. Stocks of companies that make drugs that treat the virus have had a wild ride.

It's no small issue. Ebola has killed nearly 5,000 people, mostly in West Africa. The deadly virus has killed one person in the United States and on Friday, a doctor in New York City became the fourth person to have tested positive for Ebola in the country.

One trader, Dave Lutz of Jones Trading, has compiled a list of stocks that are either directly impacted or could be affected by the spread of Ebola.

Canadian biotech firm Tekmira Pharmaceuticals (TKMR)' stock surged in September after the FDA authorized the company's drug for patients with Ebola in the United States. Shares have since pulled back. The company has started limited production of its drug, TKM-Ebola, which will be available in early December.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (BCRX) is another small biotech company working on a drug that could be used to treat Ebola. Its stock has been on a roller coaster ride lately.

NewLink Genetics (NLNK) is working with the World Health Organization and other agencies on an Ebola vaccine. Its shares have surged 57% in the past month.

Companies that make protective equipment for healthcare workers or provide services to governments have also seen gains. Lakeland Industries (LAKE) said in September that it was boosting production of the protective suits in response to growing demand. It's stock has surged 76% in the last four weeks.

Alpha Pro Tech (APT) also makes protective equipment for healthcare workers. Its stock jumped 5% on Friday alone.

Some investors believe the airline industry is also vulnerable to the outbreak. Concerns about air travel rose this month after a Dallas nurse, who treated an Ebola patient, flew round trip between Dallas and Cleveland before being diagnosed with the virus.

Though airline stocks were hurt earlier in the month, they are now near all-time highs after reporting record setting profits.

Cruise ship operators have also been in focus after a healthcare worker who handled Ebola test samples was quarantined on a cruise ship earlier this month. Shares of both Carnival (CCL) and Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) have been under pressure recently.

Hotel chains could also be at risk if worries about Ebola cause people to curtail their vacation plans.

Hilton Worldwide (HLT) and Starwood Hotels (HOT) are on Lutz's list...

...as are amusement park operator Six Flags (SIX) and movie theater company Regal Entertainment (RGC).

Sirius XM Is Getting Better With Each Passing Quarter

Satellite radio company Sirius XM (SIRI) reported a significant 10% jump in its revenue in the second quarter that ended recently. Its performance during the second-quarter was mainly driven through superior content as it added more channels and shows coupled with major brands and personalities such as Joel Osteen. Also, its short-term pains like expanding the range and depth of its commercial-free music programming with the introduction of three new channels such as women's pop and dance contributed to its top-line growth for the quarter.

Its total paid subscriber base rose 5% during the quarter to $26.3 million as it added 475,472 total net new subscribers. It additionally witnessed a 7% growth in its self-pay subscriber base that reached a record high of 21.6 million during second-quarter 2014.

The New York-based company for the second quarter posted revenue of $1.04 billion as compared with revenue of $940.1 million in the same quarter last year. It also topped analysts' estimates of $1.02 billion for the quarter. However, its net profit for the second quarter fell 4% to $120 million or earnings of $0.02 per cents from $125.5 million or earnings of $0.02 per cents in the same period a year earlier. Nevertheless, its earnings for the quarter came in line with analysts' estimates of $0.02 earnings per share. The drop on revenue was due to higher operating expenses offset a notable gain in revenue and net subscribers.

The outlook continues to be strong

Looking forward, the satellite radio provider raised its full-year revenue forecasts. The company now expects its revenue for the full year to be at $4.1 billion. It previously forecasted revenue of $4.0 billion for the year. Sirius also expects total net subscriber addition of approximately 1.25 million and adjusted EBITDA of around $1.425 billion for the full year. Also, its free cash flow is estimated to come in around $1.1 billion for the year. Its free cash flow had a strong growth of 42% to $335 million as it reduced the share counts through its stock repurchase program.

Sirius XM continues to benefit from the healthy growth rate that rose 7% to 16.5 million during the second quarter. Moreover, auto sales growth is up about 4% so far this year that should drive its sales going forward. According to one of the reports by Reuters, "Worldwide, auto sales in 2014 are seen rising 3.4 percent, according to research firm IHS, while LMC Automotive sees an increase of 5 percent. Talk of sales and the challenges ahead will be a topic of conversation among executives at the Detroit auto show this week."

In addition, Sirius is providing a free access to its radio for new car buyers for a few months and effectively converting them to its paid service subscription that should increase its total net addition. It additionally remains focused to capture growing satellite radio market in automobiles. Sirius is aggressively strengthening its relationship with car makers. Its new car penetration has been remarkable as it captured approximately 70% of the total new car market. Moreover, its conversion rate is pretty strong; that should certainly drive growth for its subscription going forward.

Furthermore, the company continues to benefit from the used car segment that looks strong. It has pretty solid networks of dealers of approximately 13,000 that offer sales information to the company in the second-owner market. Besides, the company has approximately 4,000 dealers who have enrolled with its service lane initiatives and created another distribution channel to capture owners of Sirius XM enabled vehicles.

Also the company is confident about this market that is expected to contribute a net addition of approximately 2 million to its self-pay base this year. It also expects this number to grow at a healthy rate in the long run.

Apart from this, the satellite radio provider is also benefiting from its connected vehicle business. This connected vehicle business is an essential part of its long-term strategy that should enhance its popularity among the OEM and enables the company to offer features related to safety, security and convenience features to auto business. Sirius is also committed to deploy its connected car

Top Performing Industries For October 23, 2014

Related BBW Morning Market Movers Earnings Scheduled For October 23, 2014 Related CLGX Top 4 Stocks In The Processing Systems & Products Industry With The Highest Revenue CoreLogic Reports 946K Residential Properties Regained $1T In Total Equity in Q2 2014

At 10:30 am, the Dow gained 1.41% to 16,692.53, the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index moved up 1.25% to 1,951.11 and the NASDAQ composite index rose 1.45% to 4,446.45.

The industries that are driving the market today are:

Toy & Hobby Stores: The industry gained 19.58% by 10:30 am. The top performer in this industry was Build-A-Bear Workshop (NYSE: BBW), which gained 19%. Build-A-Bear reported upbeat quarterly results.

Processing Systems & Products: This industry moved up 5.91% by 10:30 am. The top performer in this industry was CoreLogic (NYSE: CLGX), which gained 8.7%. CoreLogic reported better-than-expected quarterly results.

Drug Delivery: This industry jumped 5.34% by 10:30 am. The top performer in this industry was IntelliPharmaCeutics International (NASDAQ: IPCI), which rose 2.9%. Intellipharmaceutics reported positive results from a series of Phase I clinical trials of Regabatin.

Auto Parts Stores: This industry rose 4.51% by 10:30 am ET. The top performer in this industry was O'Reilly Automotive (NASDAQ: ORLY), which gained 7.1%. O'Reilly reported stronger-than-expected Q3 earnings.

Posted-In: Top Performing IndustriesNews Intraday Update Markets Movers

© 2014 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

  Related Articles (BBW + CLGX) Top Performing Industries For October 23, 2014 Morning Market Movers Earnings Scheduled For October 23, 2014 Top 4 Stocks In The Processing Systems & Products Industry With The Highest Revenue Worst Performing Industries For October 9, 2014 CoreLogic Reports 946K Residential Properties Regained $1T In Total Equity in Q2 2014

Book Double the Gains With These 5 Shareholder Yield Champs

Book 2x the Gains With These 5 'Shareholder Yield' Stocks

BALTIMORE (Stockpickr) -- The recent correction in the S&P 500 has done a number on investors' gains this year -- since the calendar flipped to January, the big index has pared its upside to just 5%. Put simply, if you want to get back to even, you need to look at factors that can help your portfolio play catch up.

Must Read: Warren Buffett's Top 10 Dividend Stocks

So today, we're taking a closer look at five stocks that could outperform the S&P 500 by two times in the year ahead. This handful of names focuses on something that has historically been an excellent predictor of stock outperformance.

What's the secret sauce I'm talking about? It's shareholder yield.

In a nutshell, shareholder yield is made up of anything that directly returns cash or equity to your portfolio. Yes, that includes obvious moves such as dividends, but it also includes share buybacks and paying down debt.

Any of those corporate actions can unlock significant value for shareholders, and the data backs it up. According to research by James O'Shaughnessy, over a 40-year period, large-cap stocks with the highest shareholder yield delivered average gains of 18.05%. That's almost double the returns that investing in the vanilla big index would have earned you.

With low interest rates and record levels of cash sitting on corporate balance sheets, management teams are looking for the most effective ways to return value to shareholders. It's not one size fits all, either -- the best mix varies from company to company. But by looking at the trifecta of dividends, buybacks and debt extinguishment, you can be sure that you won't miss out on any of the proceeds.

With that in mind, here's a look at five stocks that have provided superior shareholder yield in the last year.

Must Read: 5 Rocket Stocks to Buy for Earnings Season Gains

Capital One Financial

The last few years have been transformational for Capital One Financial (COF). Capital One has long been a credit card issuance powerhouse, courting U.S. consumers with its well known "What's in Your Wallet" campaign, but post-2008, COF has evolved more into a traditional regional bank, acquiring banking assets in search of low-cost deposits that it can use to lend money at credit card rates. That strategy has helped Capital One generate net profit margins approaching 20% on a consistent basis.

With record-low interest rates in play right now, Capital One is one financial stock that's less sensitive to those tamped-down spreads than most. Because its credit card lending portfolio is linked to rates, it earns more when it has to pay more. While that's not the case in newer businesses like car loans and mortgages, those secured lending products do help to reduce the overall risk in Capital One's overall loan book.

Capital One has spent considerable resources on advertising, and as a result, it's established its brand as one of the most well-known lenders in the country. The firm's unique card offerings should keep consumers opening new cards, especially as Americans shake off their post-recession aversion to using credit.

Financially speaking, COF is in good shape. Despite a growth-by-acquisition strategy for its deposit base, the firm's debt load is reasonable, and its underwriting standards have meant that charge-offs are below average compared to other card issuers. Capital One has had a major focus on shareholder returns in the last year, handing over more than $10.3 billion -- or 23.3% -- back to shareholders in the form of buybacks, dividends and debt reduction.

Look for outperformance from this banking company, especially as its earnings multiple flirts with the single digits in 2014.

Must Read: Buy These 5 Financial Sector Breakouts in October

Hess

The last quarter hasn't been kind to the energy sector. Case in point: Integrated energy name Hess (HES). This $24 billion oil and gas company has seen its share price drop more than 18% in the trailing three months. But that commodity-fueled drop could just be a blip in Hess' longer-term price chart. Right now, Hess is one of the most attractive energy sector names from a shareholder yield standpoint, returning 12.4% to its investors over the past 12 months.

Hess may not be a supermajor, but this integrated oil and gas firm still has some attractive attributes. Consumers know Hess best for its gas station network (and collectible toy trucks), but the firm actually unloaded that earlier this year. The move to slice off downstream assets has been fairly well-timed, and it should certainly add to Hess' overall profitability in the quarters ahead. Now the firms' bread and butter is exploration and production: It owns commodity-producing wells on four continents.

The fact that nearly 70% of Hess' production is weighted toward oil is a big boost to the firm's financial health. While nat gas has become increasingly important in the last couple of years, it's being pressured in the near-term by the recent crude oil drop. That could come with lower-than-expected returns on investment for firms who have leveraged themselves to nat gas in 2015.

Hess is starting to look cheap at current levels. The firm trades for just 10 times trailing earnings as I write, and shares look primed for a bounce.

Hess returned $3.1 billion directly to investors in the last year.

Must Read: 10 Stocks George Soros Is Buying

Activision Blizzard

Video game giant Activision Blizzard (ATVI) is having a solid year in 2014. Shares have been able to hold onto 8% gains since the calendar flipped to January, outperforming the S&P 500 by a whopping 300 basis points. While ATVI's customers are playing games, the firm's franchises are serious business; Activision Blizzard has a long track record of establishing multi-billion gaming franchises that create organic selling opportunities to a large existing base of gamers. The firm's cash cows include Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Diablo.

And in the last year, those titles have helped ATVI pay out an 11.35% shareholder yield.

The recurring payments model is one area where Activizion Blizzard has found huge success in breaking away from the rest of the gaming industry. With Wold of Warcraft, for instance, some 7.8 million subscribers pay a monthly fee to play the game online with other players in real time. That subscription component provides ATVI with recurring, high margin revenues. And they're sticky too. Because gamers have a massive sunk cost in building characters and attaining status, they're a lot less likely to switch to a competing franchise and restart the process.

The move to adapt that model to more conventional franchises, such as Call of Duty, hasn't come as quickly as many investors had hoped, but it still holds considerable promise. The next-generation consoles produced by Microsoft (MSFT) and Sony (SNE) should provide a pretty predictable revenue boost over the next several years, giving ATVI the opportunity to adapt existing titles to the new consoles at a much lower cost. Likewise, mobile gaming holds considerable growth opportunities, particularly in emerging markets, where high-powered PCs or consoles are less common.

Expect to hear a lot more about ATVI's mobile gaming execution in the next several quarters.

Must Read: 12 Stocks Warren Buffett Loves in 2014

Mondelez International

$5.16 billion -- that's how much Mondelez International (MDLZ) has shelled out for the direct benefit of shareholders in the past year. In all, that adds up to a 9.2% shareholder yield, paid out in the form of dividends, buybacks, and debt reductions. That's a significantly higher shareholder return than the firm's more conventional measures (such as dividend yield) indicate today.

Mondelez started life as Kraft's snack food business, slapping a new logo on a very established set of products. The firm's brands include names such as Oreo, Cadbury, Trident gum and Ritz crackers. The snack food business isn't particularly exciting, but it does make thick margins (more than 7% net profits last quarter, for instance) on a consistent basis. Unlike most food products, private label penetration is much lower in the branded snack food category, with consumers much less likely to buy off-brand Oreos than off-brand canned beans. That, coupled with dropping input costs in the last quarter, has helped to take some pressure off of MDLZ's margins.

International sales are a major upside catalyst at Mondelez. Today, the firm draws more than 40% of total sales from fast-growing emerging markets, and that existing distribution network in markets such as Asia and Latin America should help the firm grab onto growth trends that companies simply can't find here in the U.S.

As MDLZ works to get rid of more of its post-spinoff debt load, I'd expect this firm's shareholder yield to remain high for the next several years.

Must Read: 5 Stocks Set to Soar on Bullish Earnings

Target

Target (TGT) has been a cautionary tale in 2014. The firm's data breach debacle may have caught consumers' attention and forced a shakeup in the executive suite, but it's intense competition and lackluster expansion into Canada that have really been haranguing this stock. That said, Target's showing some glimmers of a turnaround, and this looks like a good opportunity to get in at a lower cost basis.

Target is one of the biggest big-box retailers on the continent, with approximately 1,800 stores. Even though there's no shortage of discount retail competitors, Target's positioning as a "trendy" discount shopping experience has historically given it some attractive advantages over its "lowest cost at any cost" peers. That's particularly true in private label products (approximately 20% of the firm's revenue), where Target was the first big retailer to team up with exclusive designers and pair attractive products with attractive prices.

The introduction of grocery in recent years has hurt margins, but that was by design. Lower margins aren't a negative if they grow traffic and overall profits, and investors just need to adjust to that tradeoff. Margin dilution isn't bad if it's intentional.

Meanwhile, Target has been quietly improving its shareholder yield. The firm paid $3.27 billion to investors last quarter, with a more-than-$800 million debt reduction. That adds up to an 8.37% shareholder yield for the trailing 12 months at Target.

This retail name isn't completely out of the woods yet, but it looks well-positioned to outperform its much larger peers.

Must Read: 7 Stocks Warren Buffett Is Selling in 2014

To see these names in action, check out the Shareholder Yield Stocks portfolio on Stockpickr.

-- Written by Jonas Elmerraji in Baltimore.

RELATED LINKS:

>>5 Dividend Stocks Ready to Give Investors a Raise

>>How to Trade the Market's Most Active Stocks

>>4 Stocks Under $10 for Your Trading Radar

Follow Stockpickr on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

At the time of publication, author had no positions in stocks mentioned.

Jonas Elmerraji, CMT, is a senior market analyst at Agora Financial in Baltimore and a contributor to

TheStreet. Before that, he managed a portfolio of stocks for an investment advisory returned 15% in 2008. He has been featured in Forbes , Investor's Business Daily, and on CNBC.com. Jonas holds a degree in financial economics from UMBC and the Chartered Market Technician designation.

Follow Jonas on Twitter @JonasElmerraji

AIG cyber insurance covers bodily harm

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) Who says the digital world and the physical one are separate?

On Wednesday, AIG announced it's expanding cyber insurance offering to cover property damage and bodily injury. It's a watershed moment. A major insurer is saying the virtual and corporeal are now, in some cases, one and the same.

In a statement, AIG (AIG, Fortune 500) acknowledged the closing gap.

"Cyber risk goes well beyond data privacy concerns covered by stand-alone cyber insurance offerings prevalent in the market," said Tracie Grella, who leads AIG's professional liability division. "The physical risk of a cyber attack or cyber event to property and people is very real."

Related story: Tesla car doors can be hacked

Researchers have accessed control systems for heart rate monitors, traffic lights, home security apps, swimming pool acid tanks and gondola rides -- none of which had security protocols of any kind built in. Imagine the damage that could be done if the wrong people tinkered with those systems.

The nation's critical infrastructure of utilities -- power plants, water treatment centers, dams, etc. -- runs on cyber platforms. Much of it is Internet-accessible.

The best proof that cyber hacks lead to physical damage actually comes from a U.S. offensive. The United States famously dealt a serious setback to Iran's nuclear ambitions with a cyberattack called Stuxnet that made many of the nation's centrifuges spin out of control.

In another case, Iran is believed to have attacked Saudi Oil company Aramco in 2012, ruining 30,000 computers. The company had to trash three-quarters of their PCs.

The repercussions of a cyber-to-physical hack could be fatal. A dam told to ignore pressure readings could burst. A power plant taken offline could pull the plug on hospitals.

  Hackers control car's steering and brakes

And on a personal level, consider how our cars are essentially computers at this point. The average car has 50 or more microprocessors inside of it. And recent research has shown they're just as hackable as our PCs. If something goes wrong on the highway, it's not like a malfunctioning app you just close. Your life is at risk.

Cybersecurity insurance is a relatively new phenomenon. It's a hedge against getting hacked, which is now seen as an inevitability.

Companies are starting to add cybersecurity insurance to their policies. Most have already bought it or will soon, according to a Ponemon Institute report last year. A survey discovered 31% of companies have a policy, and another 39% are planning to get one. The practice is getting so much attention even the Department of Homeland Security is weighing in.

Related story: Canadians arrest a Heartbleed hacker

It makes sense to insure against data breaches, because the cost of those incidents is increasing. Between 2011 and 2012, Ponemon saw the average cost of a data breach in the United States rise from $188 per-person to $194. If a massive database with thousands of names gets lost, that quickly gets multiplied.

The Target hack affected as many as 110 million shoppers -- a third of the United States. The Neiman Marcus hack hit 1.1 million customers. The most recent Michaels hack hit 3 million.

The damage in all those cases is monetary: thieves make fraudulent purchases, customer financial data is exposed and credit cards must be reissued. Target told senators it's investing $100 million to upgrade to a more advanced credit card system to avoid a repeat of last year's debacle.

But physical damage is seen as the next big liability. AIG didn't come up with th! is idea o! n its own. The company said it's responding to concerns from power plants, oil companies and hospitals.

Cal-Maine Foods Is a Good Buy

One of the most popular breakfast items in the U.S. is eggs. A large number of people in the U.S. prefer eggs as an important dietary supplement. This has led to an increase in the per capita consumption of eggs from 247.7 in 2011 to 248.7 in 2012. Additionally, it is expected to rise to 250.7 for 2013 . Therefore, producers and marketers of eggs have been enjoying this trend.

Cal-Maine Foods (CALM) is the largest producer of shell eggs in the United States. It has been largely benefiting from the increase in egg demand, as reflected by its second-quarter results. Its recently-reported quarter was better than analysts' expectations, making investors optimistic about its future.

Reasons to smile

Driven by higher product prices and increased volumes, revenue surged 8% to $354.3 million over last year's quarter. Specialty eggs have been much in vogue since they cater to health-conscious consumers and are priced at a premium. As a result, the demand for specialty eggs has been one of the key drivers behind top line growth. Moreover, the price of specialty eggs has jumped 4.1% over last year.

One of the most important contributors of growth is the acquisition of egg producer Maxim Production last year, which has largely helped Cal-Maine in revenue growth. However, this is not the first time that the egg producer has tried to expand through the acquisition of other businesses. It has also acquired commercial egg assets of Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (NASDAQ: PPC ) , which specializes in chicken production; this expanded Cal-Maine's footprint in Texas .

Pilgrim's Pride sold off its egg assets since it wanted to focus more on chicken products. Both the seller and the buyer benefited with the transaction. Pilgrim's stock price has increased 126.5% over the last year and has been performing well. In fact, the chicken provider's last quarter was a blockbuster one wherein its bottom line surged 265%. The company's cost-cutting measures paid off as it doubled its margin to 11% over last year .

Moving to the bottom line, the shell egg producer's earnings jumped a whopping 80% over last year to $1.08 per share. Earnings were mainly driven by higher sales as well as lower feed costs, which are expected to remain at the same level in the coming months. The increase in sales of specialty eggs also helped as they make up 23.7% of the total revenue.

Reasons to believe

Cal-Maine has been an excellent performer and is getting better with each passing quarter. Its strategy of expanding through acquisitions and focusing on specialty eggs has been quite fruitful, delivering reasons to believe in its growth prospects. The egg producer has also been able to reduce its debt in the last few years, reflecting the company's growth potential.

Its recent acquisitions should continue to expand its presence in the commercial eggs space, enhancing its capabilities as well as its total sales.

Even meat protein company Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN ) has followed a similar strategy and has benefited much from it. It acquired two new businesses in February and June 2013, the advantages of which were reflected in its fourth-quarter results that were reported last month.

Tyson Foods' acquisition of Don Julio Foods and Circle Foods, along with higher chicken prices, helped revenue jump by 7% to $8.89 billion and earnings surge by 27% over last year. The buyouts basically strengthened the meat company's prepared foods segment and caused it to grow 5%. Even Cal-Maine is expected to reap the fruits of the acquisitions.

Cal-Maine Foods also provides organic and healthy eggs which carry a premium and is in high demand. Specialty eggs have high growth potential as its contribution to the total sales has been increasing. Moreover, it will help in expanding the margins. Therefore, concentrating on specialty eggs should prove to be advantageous.

Final words

Cal-Maine Foods has been performing well and its prospects look bright. It is the largest producer of eggs and is the leading industry player. As a result, it directly enjoys the benefits of an increase in egg demand and a decrease in feed costs. Eggs are also an important part of breakfast, so players in this industry should continue to shine.

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Wolff: No business like show business for tech

Netflix has said that its decision to make House of Cards was based on an intimate reading of the patterns of its users' habits and desires — a sort of zeitgeist by data. In another, perhaps slightly more likely, version of the story, Netflix was casting about for an original show, and Kevin Spacey, House of Cards' producer and star, who had been shopping the project for some time, fortuitously knocked on Netflix's door.

Both versions of the story of the making of the first Internet-exclusive hit television series — purported unique market insights of technology companies, and the evident availability of good ideas and creative power — are now inspiring other technology companies to move headlong into show business.

Amazon is already in the game, and Yahoo and Microsoft announced last week that they, too, are going into big-time series production.

This is a development that reflects the new sense of video as the most basic digital currency and, as well, has tears written all over it.

Now, the premise of most ad-supported technology companies has been that they have a key advantage over traditional media outlets: They don't have to make content. Their content consists of user interactions or the aggregation of other people's content or content created, at no cost, by their own users. The few incursions by big technology platforms into the content creation business have generally ended badly and forced a quick retreat back to the fundamental we-don't-create-content principle.

Except, then, Netflix did create content — handily and glamorously.

At the same time, Yahoo ever more vividly illustrates the fallacy of being a media company without content. It has lots of traffic but no real reason for being. It represents nothing so much as the hollowness of the Internet (something most other Internet companies are intermittently afraid they represent, too, inspiring cockamamie and short-lived content strategies).

Microsoft, for its part, is selling a video and ent! ertainment device into a world crowded with such devices. As TV, in its early days, had to make programming to get people to buy a television, set-top makers such as Microsoft (with Xbox) and Amazon (with its new Fire TV), are thinking they should make programs to sell their machines and distinguish themselves from their competition.

All of this is now possible, or at least seems like a reasonable scenario, because of House of Cards — because House of Cards makes it look easy. Because House of Cards makes it look as though technology companies have some innate abilities to make good television. And because Netflix has shown that it is possible to turn an Internet audience into a pretty good replica of a television audience, and a website into something very much like an actual television network.

House of Cards represents everything that is attractive about content — about the sublime and ineffable. People talk about it. Your own family talks about it. You can actually feel the presence of an audience. It gives you, as the producer, class and status. It dwarfs lesser efforts. It makes you feel that everything would be better if you, too, could have a hit.

That is the essence and the motivation of the media business: Overnight, you can be saved.

Yahoo's rotten business would instantly be redeemed with a hit. Microsoft, more and more destined to be an unsexy office back-end business company, would be a consumer darling.

It's retro in other ways. The Yahoo hope and intention seems to be to make television programs supported by interstitial ads just at the moment when video viewers are seizing the power and wherewithal to avoid ads — television is increasingly watched ad-free. Microsoft seems to have it in mind to implement an exclusive programming strategy, while the trends seem decidedly against platform hegemony.

And it's retro in the largest sense of all, that Yahoo and even Microsoft's outlier divisions would rather be in the television business than ! in their ! own businesses. For all the dreams of and investment in the transformational power of interactive media, television is still a better deal. Indeed, everywhere in digital land, the highest calling is video — which everyone is now able to produce cheaply. The only problem being, nobody watches cheaply produced video (except for random, unpredictable YouTube hits, which nobody can seem to professionally mimic). But, voilà, people did watch the expensively produced ($100 million by some estimates) House of Cards.

"Why can't we do that?" are some of the most dangerous words in the media business. It's down the rabbit hole.

Hence, however unlikely it is that Yahoo and Microsoft might become successful tastemakers, they are plunging ahead into the media, entertainment and programming business. (Of note, Yahoo hired Marissa Mayer as chief executive because of her tech bona fides and rejected acting CEO Ross Levinsohn because he was a media guy.)

There is the mass of no-account digital content on the one hand, produced in ever greater volume and to less and less effect, and there is House of Cards on the other. You probably can't fight that.

This is the long predicted move toward that mythical convergence of entertainment and technology companies, which, because of House of Cards, looks easy and inevitable but is a development that will sorely tax the talents of many Internet executives and cause many heads to roll.

Yesterday's Fed News Will Trigger Great Stock Buys… Just Not How It Intended

I have long said that the Fed has never met a printing press it didn't like nor a dove that it didn't want to set free in the name of higher stock prices. And, yesterday, yet again, Yellen proved it.

Within minutes of releasing its latest set of notes hinting that the Fed will keep rates near zero, the S&P 500 took off on a 34-point gain that is the biggest so far this year. Moving first 45 points from its low of 1,925 to its peak of 1,970 in less than five hours (it later settled slightly lower), the index shrugged off the prior day's losses amidst global growth concerns and weaker European economic data.

This is manipulation of the highest order. It's also proof positive we NEED a correction. Now more than ever.

A lot of investors will take issue with me on this and I don't blame them one bit - corrections are scary. But, they are also essential when it comes to big returns.

1. Down Markets Aren't a Big Deal

People forget that nothing goes up forever. The reason why recent market conditions felt so strange leading into the Fed's announcement is that the current bull market has been on a five-year run since March 2009, thanks almost entirely to the Fed's meddling. The irony is itself ironic.

Less than a decade ago, we used to see 200-point days in both directions regularly. If anything, the fact that we've gone more than 1,042 calendar days without a 10% correction at this point is what's abnormal.

As bad as it felt coming into Wednesday's trading, the downdraft was child's play. The S&P 500 dropped 16% in 2010 and nearly 20% in 2011, both far more in the red than what we've seen in 2014.

2. Investors Are Beginning to Understand Risk Again

That's important because risk weeds out the weak money. What I mean by that is that there are lots of people who think they are investing in the markets and they talk a good game. But, in reality, they're speculating.

So when the going gets tough, they get going. They're the ones who have their fingers on the "sell" button and for whom a 1% drop is enough to give them heart palpitations. I've seen thousands of 'em over the years and they have no business whatsoever being in the markets. Sorry to be so blunt but the markets are about profits and success, not roulette wheels and games of chance.

Savvy investors, on the other hand - i.e. the strong money - wade in knowing that great companies are being put "on sale." They are fully prepared to reconcile short-term gyrations with the long-term perspective needed to bag profits consistently. They're net buyers every time there's a downdraft.

3. Capital Is a Creative Force

That means downdrafts are really nothing more than a glaring signal that there will be more buyers ahead in the next bull market rally. People always ask "When?" but that's largely irrelevant if you're lined up with globally unstoppable trends backed by trillions of dollars. But you've got to have them periodically. All gain and no pain is a political tune, not an economic reality.

Think about it for a moment - everything that's driven this market for the past several years is in place today to drive the markets higher after it blows off some steam.

Fundamentally, the U.S. economy has cracks so large in its foundation that you can drive a garbage truck through them. The World Bank's recent pronouncement about slowing growth is three years too late. That's not news. That's a bunch of analysts looking in the rear view mirror. The best CEOs are looking forward and they're investing in the future, not pulling in their horns. Earnings will follow and so will stock prices ultimately.

Inflation is under control officially. Unofficially, of course, we know that's not true. My breakfast costs 60% more now than it did a few years ago. Medicine, education, insurance... they've all skyrocketed. More importantly, though, all that money is flowing to somebody's bottom line. It may as well be yours...

Profits in large caps remain solid. Sure they're slowing, but business, like the markets, is a process of cycles. Companies come and go all the time. Winners make it big for a while then retrench as upstarts enter the markets and displace them. Remember Kodak? Eastern Airlines? Myspace?

The Fed is nervous and, as I have said repeatedly since the Financial Crisis began, highly politicized despite Washington's insistence that it's independent. Frankly, I'd hate to see their definition of "dependent" under the circumstances but that's a story for another time.

What matters is that the Fed will implement another round of QE at the slightest provocation - reality be damned. Ebola, ISIS, and Europe will see to that. So will Washington's glad-handing politicos, especially those up for re-election. Yesterday's Fed minutes are de facto proof that the much ballyhooed Bernanke "put" is stronger than ever on Yellen's watch.

4. The Stock Market Darlings Are Getting Clobbered

I've made a huge stink for years about the importance of buying companies that offer goods and services people "need" as opposed to those that are merely convenient or "nice to have." That's because the nice-to-haves will get creamed when the markets pitch a fit.

And the market has made my case for me in recent days by punishing fad-oriented companies like Soda Stream International Ltd. (Nasdaq: SODA) and GoPro Inc. (Nasdaq: GPRO), for example. Big brands like Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON) and Becton, Dickinson and Co. (NYSE: BDX), on the other hand, are doing just fine even though they came under pressure with the broader markets, too.

If you're tempted to bail out or put your head in the sand with a sign on your rear that says "kick me when it's over" I get that. I'm human, too, and I feel the angst you do. That's natural.

What's different for my Money Morning readers is that we know this too shall pass and, when it does, there's going to be a lot of money created.

So, get the Fed out of the way and bring on a correction!

Give me Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) stock at $70, Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) stock at $200, and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA) at $80.

Buy low and sell high - that's how markets work and how profits have always been made.

Up Next...

Keith has just launched Total Wealth Research. It's a free service that tracks six emerging high-profit trends and shows you the best trading tactics to play them. Click here to subscribe and you'll get Keith's latest report, How to Tap Into a $17 Billion Trend for Just $1 a Share, along with weekly follow-ups at no charge.

Is GoPro the Future of Sports Broadcasting?

Source: Flickr/IQRemix.

This NHL season, you'll be able to experience hockey from a whole new perspective -- the players'. The NHL is teaming up with GoPro (NASDAQ: GPRO  ) to provide footage of certain plays from the perspective of goalies and stick handlers. The one caveat is the footage won't come from in-game situations. The footage will be shot during practice, used for promotions, and interspersed with live broadcasts so color commentators can explain plays better.

GoPro benefits from the partnership, as well. It gets to keep the rights to the footage for its growing YouTube channel, and each time the NHL uses its footage, it's a televised advertisement for its products. If GoPro can continue to make partnerships with sports leagues, it could build up a very valuable library of content from professional athletes at relatively little cost.

Shot on goal
The deal between the NHL and GoPro isn't groundbreaking. It's a nice win for GoPro, but ultimately, it's not a game changer. It's a good demonstration of the potential for GoPro, though.

Mainstream sports have been experimenting with camera placements for years. In the late '90s, Fox introduced us to the Catcher-Cam, giving us an inside look at an inside fastball. We've also seen in-car cams in NASCAR. These are features that GoPro cameras are particularly suited for, and there's clearly a desire for them from broadcasters.

The NHL is only America's fifth most popular sports league after the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NASCAR. With cameras designed to take a beating, GoPro is well-suited for the NFL, NASCAR, and NHL. It's not unrealistic, though, to think that GoPro could make a deal with every major sports league to use its cameras in at least a similar manner to the NHL.

That would give GoPro a lot of high-quality content. GoPro is largely a media company that monetizes its content through camera sales. As GoPro grows its video catalog, it plans to find new ways of monetizing its content.

Finding the back of the net
Making the jump to in-game footage presents a more difficult task. Players aren't going to wear a camera if it detracts from performance. Working with the leagues is key to getting footage from games.

The cameras don't have to be on players to provide interesting footage, though. For example, Major League Baseball umpires could wear cameras on their masks or their chests to get their perspective and truly capture the difficulty of calling balls and strikes. Pit crews could wear cameras to capture pit stops better.

If GoPro can continue to shrink its cameras and make them lighter weight, or design cameras in conjunction with equipment makers -- like a hockey stick cam -- it could get some interesting footage.

In a world with dozens of cameras in players' equipment, or key parts of the field, sports leagues and GoPro could offer fans a much more personalized viewing experience. Say you only want to follow your favorite player, you could elect to watch a stream of the game from his perspective. This could be one way for GoPro to monetize its content.

The future of sports broadcasts
The NHL is a good start for GoPro. For the cost of a few cameras, GoPro picks up some excellent content. But GoPro should be able to push deeper into mainstream sports.

Even if it does nothing more than get the rights to a few practice sessions of all the major sports, that's some of the best content it could wish for. For one, it's exclusive to GoPro and the sports league. None of GoPro's competitors has access to professional athletes like that. Second, it's tremendously popular; if people are clicking on YouTube videos of amateurs, think how many more will watch pros.

Developing relationships with sports leagues now sets GoPro up for more deals with them in the future. If GoPro is able to develop unobtrusive wearable or equipment-embedded cameras, it may find more success getting them in players' hands if it's had support from the leagues in the past. Then it can work with the leagues to monetize the footage, as well.

The deal with the NHL may be just the start.

Apple Watch revealed: The real winner is inside
Apple recently revealed the product of its secret-development "dream team" -- Apple Watch. The secret is out, and some early viewers are claiming its everyday impact could trump the iPod, iPhone, and the iPad. In fact, ABI Research predicts 485 million of this type of device will be sold per year. But one small company makes Apple's gadget possible. And its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors. To be one of them, and see where the real money is to be made, just click here!

Cintas Corporation Beats Q1 EPS Estimates; Gives FY2015 Guidance (CTAS)

After the closing bell on Monday, business services company Cintas Corporation (CTAS) released its fiscal 2015 first quarter results, with revenues coming in basically flat compared to last year’s Q1, while adjusted EPS came in higher.

CTAS’s Earnings in Brief

Cintas reported second quarter revenues of $1.102 billion, up 0.2% over last year’s Q1 revenues of $1.100 billion. Adjusted earnings for the quarter came in at $92.4 million, or 78 cents per share, a significant gain over last year’s Q1 figures of $76.5 million, or 62 cents per share. The company's results met analysts’ revenue expectations of $1.1 billion and EPS beat the 75 cent estimate. Looking ahead, Cintas sees FY2015 earnings in the range of $3.20-$3.29 on revenue in the range of $4.4 billion to $4.75 billion. Analysts are expecting EPS of $3.09 on revenue of $4.50 billion.

CEO Commentary

Cintas CEO Scott D. Farmer released the following comments: “Our first quarter results reflect the continued good execution by our employees, who we call partners. We have focused on selling good, profitable business over the past few years, as well as managing our cost structure and continuously improving the efficiency of our processes. This focus has resulted in improved margins and better customer retention."

CTAS’s Dividend

Cintas made no mention of its annual dividend, which was to be expected as the company normally declares a dividend raise in mid-to-late October. CTAS paid its most recent annual dividend of 77 cents on December 11, 2013. We expect the company to announce a higher dividend within the coming weeks.

Stock Performance

CTAS stock was up 55 cents, or 0.83%, in after hours trading. YTD, the stock is up 12.21%.

CTAS Dividend Snapshot

As of Market Close on September 29, 2014

Click here to see the complete history of CTAS dividends.