"With state governments going bankrupt, the last thing bureaucrats want to do is spend precious resources on managing their prison systems," explains growth stock expert Marc Lichtenfeld.

The senior analyst for Xcelerated Profits Report suggests, "For-profit institutions are usually able to provide prison services more efficiently than the government can. And there's one company that stands out -- The GEO Group (NYSE: GEO)."

"Nearly two-and-a-half million people are behind bars in American prisons. The U.S. incarceration rate is five times higher than the world average and the U.S. prison population is still rising.

Continue reading GEO Group (GEO): A 'steal' in for-profit prisons

GEO Group (GEO): A 'steal' in for-profit prisons originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 05 Aug 2009 10:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS) -- volatility up; Global Equity Opportunities (GEO) fund leverage reduced on $3 billion infusion. GS is recently trading up $4.40 to $184.97. GS says, "given the market dislocation, the performance of GEO has suffered significantly. Our response has been to reduce risk and leverage." GS, along with C.V. Starr, Perry Capital LLC and Eli Broad, are making a $3 billion equity investment in GEO. GS said on its conference call it has de-leveraged its GEO fund from six times leveraged to three and a half after the capital infusion. GS September option implied volatility of 51 is above its 26-week average of 30 according to Track Data, suggesting larger risk.

Amex Financial Select Sector SPDR (AMEX: XLF) -- September volatility at 37. XLF seeks to replicate the total return of the Financial Select sector of the S&P 500 Index. XLF is recently up $0.63 to $33.98. Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C), Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC), American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG), JP Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC), Wachovia Corp. (NYSE: WB) and GS are components of the XLF. XLF September at the money option implied volatility of 37 is above its 26-week average of 20 according to Track Data, suggesting larger risk.

Volatility Index S&P 500 Options (VIX) down 1.50 to 26.80.

Daily options Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Option update: Goldman Sachs (GS) volatility decreases on equity investment originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 13 Aug 2007 10:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Stock screeners are tools that let investors filter through a large number of stocks according to chosen criteria. It is important to remember that a stock screener is just a tool and every investment should be analyzed on its own merits to make sure it fits with your personal portfolio and risk characteristics. My weekly column finds interesting investment opportunities with the help of our Stock Screener.

Continue reading Stock Screener one month later: TSL up 24%, LIZ down 20%

Stock Screener one month later: TSL up 24%, LIZ down 20% originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 03 May 2007 21:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Stock screeners are tools that let investors filter through a large number of stocks according to chosen criteria. It is important to remember that a stock screener is just a tool and every investment should be analyzed on its own merits to make sure it fits with your personal portfolio and risk characteristics. My weekly column finds interesting investment opportunities with the help of our Stock Screener.

Continue reading Stock Screener: Corrections (not the market kind) facilities

Stock Screener: Corrections (not the market kind) facilities originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 24 Apr 2007 15:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.