"Our goal is helping investors grow their capital and income base from which to derive cash for their current and future needs," notes dividend expert Kelley Wright.

The editor of Investment Quality Trends explains, "To that end we believe that high-quality stocks purchased at historically low-price-to-high-yield offers the best potential for downside protection and upside appreciation. Our Timely Ten list represents our current top ideas.

Continue reading The Timely Ten: Blue Chip Dividends

The Timely Ten: Blue Chip Dividends originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Consumer Confidence saw a huge drop for March, but that failed to hurt the markets as it was largely expected. Housing prices continued south according to national housing survey data from Case Shiller. International stock markets saw a mixed bag on Tuesday, but U.S. investors continued to sit there, buying stocks. Maybe the real catalyst is the fact that very few companies have formally lowered guidance despite the turmoil.

Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow Jones: 12,279.01 + 81.13 (0.67%)

Continue reading Closing Bell: Cautious Euphoria Continues (AMZN, APOL, CRY, GFRE, HD, TM)

Closing Bell: Cautious Euphoria Continues (AMZN, APOL, CRY, GFRE, HD, TM) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 29 Mar 2011 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Home Depot Announces $1 Billion Stock Buyback

Home Depot Announces $1 Billion Stock Buyback originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 29 Mar 2011 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Spring has officially begun, and now may be the time to consider some investments that could add a little "spring" to your portfolio.

Topping the list are companies like Lowe's (LOW) and Home Depot (HD). They stand to benefit from the nicer weather as people head outdoors to work on the garden, plant new beds, maintain the lawn, and take care of home improvements.

Continue reading Investments to Put Some 'Spring' into Your Step

Investments to Put Some 'Spring' into Your Step originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 23 Mar 2011 10:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Is Home Depot Headed to $45 and Beyond?

Is Home Depot Headed to $45 and Beyond? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 08 Mar 2011 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

What did you think of Home Depot's (HD) earnings report? I rather enjoyed it. And I think the future may be bright for the retailer and arch enemy of Lowe's (LOW).

According to TheStreet.com, net income calculated out to 36 cents per share for the fourth quarter. This was five pennies better than the overall estimate. Same-store sales experienced an increase of 3.9%. And management's forecast for the full fiscal year was upgraded.

Continue reading Home Depot: Looking Good?

Home Depot: Looking Good? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 23 Feb 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading U.S. Stock Futures Down on Libya Unrest

U.S. Stock Futures Down on Libya Unrest originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 22 Feb 2011 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Barnes & Noble, the Gap, RadioShack, and Sears -- that may sound like the lineup at the local mall, but in fact they are just a few of the retailers scheduled to step into the earnings spotlight this week. Following last week's disappointing January retail sales numbers from the Commerce Department but strong fourth-quarter reports from Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) and Nordstrom (JWN), the coming week will offer plenty more data on the sector for investors to mull over.

Walmart

Bentonville-based Walmart (WMT) offered free holiday shipping, closed its Moscow office and named a chief merchandising officer during its fourth quarter. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters forecast earnings for that period to come to $1.31 per share, up from $1.17 in the same quarter of last year. The world's largest retailer also is expected to post revenues of $117.7 billion for the three months that ended in January. That's 3.5% more than a year earlier.

Continue reading Week in Preview: Walmart, Home Depot and More Retail Earnings

Week in Preview: Walmart, Home Depot and More Retail Earnings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 20 Feb 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Home Depot Hiring 60,000 Employees

Home Depot Hiring 60,000 Employees originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Home Depot (HD) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Delta Air Lines (DAL) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Heico (HEI) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• MB Financial (MBFI) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Quest Diagnostics (DGX) to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• Oshkosh (OSK) to neutral from underweight at JPMorgan.
• Volterra (VLTR) and Silicon Laboratories (SLAB) to buy from neutral at Roth Capital.
• Ascena Retail Group (ASNA) to overweight from neutral at Piper Jaffray.
• Cytec Industries (CYT) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: DAL, CIEN, DGX, HD, IMAX, LOW, OSK, PENN, RDS.A, SWK ...

Analyst Calls: DAL, CIEN, DGX, HD, IMAX, LOW, OSK, PENN, RDS.A, SWK ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 31 Jan 2011 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This is the fifth year that I am posting my stock picks for the year. There is a lot of foolishness in doing so because each year that I have made such suggestions, including 2009 when I owned all of the picks, it is assumed that I would hold all of the positions without responding to market conditions, or changes in the specific company. No adding to, or cutting a position. This is not the real world.

It is not possible for everything to remain static. For example, you might find that you hold a stock that made a great run through three quarters, beyond your wildest expectations, and decide it has passed a point where the metrics cannot support anything close to the price. Under normal circumstances you might sell it, except you cannot. By the end of the year the profit you might have realized fades away and you end up reporting on something that is not a true measure of your objective strategy. Nevertheless, once again I will stick with this approach because this seems to be how its done in every publication's annual picks. This year there are eleven.

Continue reading Chasing Value: 2011 Stock Picks -- 5 of 11

Chasing Value: 2011 Stock Picks -- 5 of 11 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 05 Jan 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

As outlined in September, the better days and quarters have started to arrive for Home Depot (HD), first discussed on May 20, 2009, at a price of $23.83, and I still like the shares here.

The shares have vectored north nicely in the past three months, from about $26 to current levels near $35.

Look for HD to post a 3.0% to 3.3% revenue increase in FY2012, after a 3.5% to 4.0% rise in FY2011, on better international store performance, and about 10 net new stores opened. U.S. store traffic will continue to gradually improve, but big-ticket remodeling revenue should remain sluggish through at least mid-2011 in today's "frugal consumer" U.S. market.

Continue reading Is Home Depot Still Undervalued at $35?

Is Home Depot Still Undervalued at $35? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 27 Dec 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Walgreen (WAG) and Triumph Group (TGI) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Focus Media (FMCN) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Home Depot (HD) to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.
• Arbitron (ARB) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Waddell & Reed (WDR) and Legg Mason (LM) to overweight from equal weight, and Janus Capital (JNS) to overweight from underweight, at Barclays.
• Central Euro Media (CETV) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• GenOn Energy (GEN) and Ntelos (NTLS) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• Cooper Tire (CTB) to buy from neutral and Goodyear Tire (GT) to buy from underperform at BofA/Merrill.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: AOL, FMCN, GT, HD, JNJ, JNS, LOW, QCOM, RY, UA, WAG ...

Analyst Calls: AOL, FMCN, GT, HD, JNJ, JNS, LOW, QCOM, RY, UA, WAG ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 09 Dec 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Another Day Down to the Wire (AIG, YOKU, DANG, GERN, OREX, HD, SOLR)

Another Day Down to the Wire (AIG, YOKU, DANG, GERN, OREX, HD, SOLR) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 08 Dec 2010 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Closing Bell: Major Win in Deficit Cuts (SBUX, AXP, SPWRA, TBT, F, HD)

Closing Bell: Major Win in Deficit Cuts (SBUX, AXP, SPWRA, TBT, F, HD) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 01 Dec 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's been a strange marriage right from the start. Kmart, the discounter, joined with Sears, the department store retailer in 2005.
Both lines are in stiff competition with other brands, the USA Today reports. Kmart's competing with Walmart (WMT) and Target (TGT), while Sears's competitors include Home Depot (HD) and Lowe's (LOW).

The Kmart-Sears combo has been lagging in the retail sector. On Thursday, Sears Holdings (SHLD) posted a loss of $218 million or $1.98 per share, compared with a loss of $127 million or $1.09 per share in the period last year. Revenue fell 5% to $9.68 billion. Analysts had expected $9.89 billion.

Continue reading Sears: A Retail Sector Laggard

Sears: A Retail Sector Laggard originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 19 Nov 2010 10:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Closing Bell: Big Blame Mucks Sentiment (AAPL, MELA, WMT, HD, PAA, AIB, HGSI)

Closing Bell: Big Blame Mucks Sentiment (AAPL, MELA, WMT, HD, PAA, AIB, HGSI) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"Home Prices Are About to Bottom" was the headline for the Barron's cover story the week of July 14, 2008. The story explained that the housing market should level off in many areas of the country by the end of the year.

I have made some equally unfortunate prognostications in my tenure at BloggingStocks, so my purpose is not to poke fun at Barron's but to point out that here we are, over two years later, and it is still debatable whether the housing market has bottomed out.

Continue reading Chasing Value: "Home Prices Are About to Bottom"

Chasing Value: "Home Prices Are About to Bottom" originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 15 Nov 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Last week, Macy's (M) and JCPenney (JCP) kicked off the retail earnings season by posting better-than-expected earnings for the most recent quarter. Many more quarterly reports from retailers are due this week, and by and large expectations of analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are high.

Walmart (WMT), the king of retailers, is expected to buck the trend, though. Analysts anticipate that the Bentonville-based company will report that its third-quarter earnings grew only 6.7% year-over-year to 90 cents per share. During the three months that ended in October, Walmart announced an acquisition in South Africa and kicked-off the holiday shopping season, and revenue for that period is predicted to have risen 3.0% to $102.4 billion. Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, analysts so far expect sequential and year-over-year growth of both earnings and revenue. Walmart results have not fallen short of consensus estimates in the past five quarters.

Continue reading Week in Preview: Retailers Offer Up Earnings (WMT, ANF, LOW, TGT)

Week in Preview: Retailers Offer Up Earnings (WMT, ANF, LOW, TGT) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 14 Nov 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Goldman upgraded Citigroup (C) to conviction buy from buy, Principal Financial (PFG) to buy from neutral, and Stancorp Financial (SFG) and Hartford Financial (HIG) to neutral from sell.
• JetBlue (JBLU) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Barclays upgraded Royal Caribbean (RCL) and Carnival (CCL) upgraded to overweight from equal weight.
• Hollysys Automation (HOLI) was upgraded to buy from hold at Roth Capital.
• RBC Capital upgraded Alliance Data Systems (ADS) to outperform from sector perform.
• RRI Energy (RRI) was upgraded to buy from hold at Citigroup.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: ALTR, ATHN, C, CCL, HD, JBLU, LUV, MSFT, RCL ...

Analyst Calls: ALTR, ATHN, C, CCL, HD, JBLU, LUV, MSFT, RCL ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 25 Oct 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.