A. Schulman, Inc. (SHLM, rated BUY)
July 1, 2008
http://www.aschulman.com/_writecontent/annual_reports_pdf/200…
Experience Leads to Innovation-
Innovation Leads To Success.
A. Schulman is a leading international supplier of high-performance plastic compounds and resins, which are used as raw materials in a variety of markets. The Company’s principal product lines consist of proprietary and custom-formulated engineered plastic compounds, color concentrates and additives that improve the appearance and performance of plastics in a number of specialized applications.
Technology centers in North America and Europe are devoted to new product development and color research. The Company’s manufacturing facilities have their own product testing and quality control laboratories to ensure timely delivery of high-quality products to A. Schulman’s global customer base.
Serving virtually every market in every corner of the world, A. Schulman’s products have rapidly become the materials of choice. These markets range from diverse industrial and automotive equip- ment components to construction and home improvement products, film and packaging, medical, telecommunications, garden supplies, toys and more.
Providing superior service and products is A. Schulman’s focus for the injection, extrusion, blown-film extrusion, rotational and blow molding industries, as well as a new emphasis on the thermoforming industry.
A. Schulman’s expertise helps their customers develop some of the most widely used products on earth.
A. Schulman, Inc. (SHLM, rated BUY)
A Month of Seeing Red
July 1, 2008
James Picerno submits:
Blood was definitely running in the streets last month.
As our table below reminds, red is now the dominant color in performance tallies. But black hasn’t been completely banished. For those who owned commodities, inflation-indexed Treasuries or cash, June wasn’t a complete loss.
Plug Power Inc. (PLUG) is a BUY
July 1, 2008
BIG FOR PLUG: Plug Power Inc. has become a part of the Russell 3000 index. Inclusion on the list could raise the visibility of the Albany, N.Y.-based fuel cell developer’s stock. Russell Indexes are widely used by investment managers and institutional investors for index funds and as benchmarks for investment strategies. Russell determines membership for its equity indexes primarily by objective, market-capitalization rankings and style attributes. Plug Power (Nasdaq: PLUG) had a market capitalization of $221.4 million as of June 27. Membership in the Russell 3000, which remains in place for one year, means automatic inclusion in either the large-cap Russell 1000 Index or small-cap Russell 2000 Index, as well as the appropriate growth and value style indexes. Plug Power was added to the Russell 2000. “We believe the inclusion will raise the visibility of our stock specifically, and alternative energy stocks in general, within the investor community,” said Andy Marsh, president and CEO of Plug Power. “Our expectation is that investment managers and institutional investors will hold Plug Power stock as part of their long-term investment strategies.” —-MSN Money
Plug Power Inc. (PLUG) is a BUY
01 Jul 2008 11:40:00 - Top 5 Stocks up on Unusual Volume
July 1, 2008
| Intraday Unusual Volume - Top 5 Up |
| Symbol | Volume % Change |
Price % Change |
News | |
| MYGN | 397% |  49.47% |
news | |
| BCPC | 365% | 25.83% |
news | |
| CELG | 330% | 66.71% |
news | |
| GLNG | 303% | 16.95% |
news | |
| CRMT | 293% | 19.35% |
news | |
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01 Jul 2008 11:40:00 - Top 5 Stocks up on Unusual Volume
International Interdependence in Central Banking
July 1, 2008
Dr. Scott Brown submits:
Excerpt from Raymond James Economist Dr. Scott Brown’s latest economic commentary:
Labor cost pressures are a bigger problem for the European Central Bank than for the Federal Reserve. In early June, ECB President Trichet shocked the markets when he indicated that the ECB could raise short-term interest rates as early as July (ECB policymakers will meet this Thursday) to ground inflation expectations. It may be a closer call than the market expects, but even if the ECB doesn’t hike this week, it almost certainly will in August. That sets up a dilemma for the Fed.
International Interdependence in Central Banking
Bear Market Insanity
July 1, 2008
Paul J. Lamont submits:
As we forecast last month in our Investment Analysis Report, the regional banks have quickly brought about the next round of financial troubles. We expect a large decline in the broader stock market to be the next major issue. The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Morgan Stanley (MS), Barclays (BCS), and even the Bank of International Settlements (the central bank’s central bank) have issued financial storm warnings. We referenced the Bank of International Settlements [BIS] last July in warning of the credit crunch last year. According to the Telegraph, they are now specifically warning of deflation. The BIS states:
Historians would recall the long recession beginning in 1873, the global downturn that began in the late 1920s, and the Japanese and Asian crises of the early and late 1990s respectively. In each episode, a long period of strong credit growth coincided with an increasingly euphoric upturn in both the real economy and financial markets, followed by an unexpected crisis and extended downturn…The eventual global slowdown could prove to be much greater and longer lasting than would be required to keep inflation under control. This could potentially even lead to deflation, which would evidently be less welcome.
Antidote to Dollar Weakness: Swiss Franc, Gold
July 1, 2008
Joe Gelet submits:
US-based investors are faced with a falling dollar. Any US-based investment is decaying due to an inflationary monetary policy and debasing of the currency. That translates into less purchasing power at the store and at the pump.
Many have recently been flocking to the Euro and while this strategy has been successful, Elite E Services feels this will be short lived as Europe has its own problems. It is a difficult environment to make any forecasts in FX or any other market, however we believe there are several safe plays that should be added to any portfolio: Gold and the Swiss Franc.
Antidote to Dollar Weakness: Swiss Franc, Gold
Infectious Inflation
July 1, 2008
Felix Salmon submits:
Barry Eichengreen, via Brad DeLong:
There are now fifty countries in the world with inflation rates over 10%. It’s like the early 1930s, but just reverse the sign: back then everybody with their currency linked to the dollar imported deflation; now everybody is importing inflation.
First Half Sector and Stock Performance
July 1, 2008
Hickey and Walters (Bespoke) submit:
Below we highlight sector performance for the first half of 2008. As shown, Energy and Materials were the two sectors in the S&P 500 that were up in the first half, while the other eight were down. Financials suffered the most with a decline of 30.9%, and they were followed by Telecom, Industrials, Consumer Discretionary, Health Care and Technology.
click to enlarge
First Half Sector and Stock Performance
Market Remains Tough for Longs
July 1, 2008
Market Beating Stocks submits:
Another tough week just ended (June 27, 2008) for stocks as the the S&P and NASDAQ tumbled 3% and 3.8% respectively. Declines were broad-based as nine out of ten sectors fell, this on top of the 3% weekly loss from the prior week. Four out of the five trading days showed losses, but it was the action on Thursday that made up for the lion’s share of the weekly decline.
The main catalysts remain surging oil prices, the struggling financial sector and concern over a weak economy. Overall the market has lost 8% in June, and over 12% YTD, in a period of high volatility. Clearly this is a tough market for long investors trying to make money and most should be happy with just losing less than the market.
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