I was checking out an article over at GuruFocus on companies that have recently raised their dividend payments to shareholders. The Gap, Inc. (GPS) was on the list. I decided to take a brief look at the stock's current status.

At the time of this writing, shares of the retailer were off fractionally, priced at a quote of $21.44. The 52-week low for the shares is $16.62 while the 52-week high is $26.34. Don't you hate that? The stock is basically stuck in the middle of the range. So which way is it going to go?

Continue reading Gap -- Buy or Sell?

Gap -- Buy or Sell? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 10 Mar 2011 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Do you use a GPS System in your car? If not, here are some points to consider. GPS systems give you the shortest distance to your destination. With gas nearing $4.00 per gallon, a GPS could save you priceless gas and save you money.

Yet, using a GPS does not always ensure a gas savings. Take for example a traffic jam. While your GPS is giving you the shortest route, you could waste a lot of gas sitting for hours in tied up traffic.

Continue reading Ford's New GPS System Is a Super Gas Saver

Ford's New GPS System Is a Super Gas Saver originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 04 Mar 2011 11:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Wells Fargo (WFC) to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Adobe (ADBE) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.
• Vail Resorts (MTN) and Goldcorp (GG) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• OmniVision (OVTI) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Penn Virginia (PVA) to hold from sell at Canaccord.
• Hub Group (HUBG) to outperform from market perform at Morgan Keegan.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: ADBE, AOL, CAT, CSTR, FITB, GG, GPS, MDAS, RIG, WFC ...

Analyst Calls: ADBE, AOL, CAT, CSTR, FITB, GG, GPS, MDAS, RIG, WFC ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 11:30:00 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.

Analyst Upgrades

• Research In Motion (RIMM) to buy from sell and Gap (GPS) to hold from sell at Citigroup.
• Archer Daniels (ADM) and Airgas (ARG) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• NCR Corp. (NCR) to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Valero Energy (VLO) to top pick from sector perform and Western Refining (WNR) to outperform from underperform at RBC Capital.
• Fred's (FRED) to overweight from neutral at JP Morgan.
• Marsh & McLennan (MMC), Willis Group (WSH) and Brown & Brown (BRO) to equal weight from underweight at Barclays.
• Host Hotels (HST) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• La-Z-Boy (LZB) to strong buy from market perform at Raymond James.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: ADM, BBY, ETN, FDO, HNZ, GPS, MAR, NCR, RIMM, VLO ...

Analyst Calls: ADM, BBY, ETN, FDO, HNZ, GPS, MAR, NCR, RIMM, VLO ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 16 Feb 2011 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Diamond Offshore (DO) to conviction buy from sell and Baker Hughes (BHI) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Frontier Communications (FTR) to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
• Syntel (SYNT) to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo, to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank and to buy from neutral at Janney Capital.
• Kulicke & Soffa (KLIC) and Fiserv (FISV) to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• 3M (MMM) to neutral from underweight and Tyco (TYC) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Collective Brands (PSS) and Nordstrom (JWN) to overweight from equal weight, as well as Foot Locker (FL) to equal weight from underweight, at Morgan Stanley.
• Amazon.com (AMZN) to buy from hold at Lazard Capital.
• Yamana Gold (AUY) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: APC, AMZN, CME, DO, GPS, H, JCP, JWN, KSS, PM SYNT ...

Analyst Calls: APC, AMZN, CME, DO, GPS, H, JCP, JWN, KSS, PM SYNT ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 11:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

A parade of retailers have stepped up Thursday morning to unveil their December sales results, including The Gap Inc. (GPS). The jeans giant confessed to an unexpected 3% decline in same-store sales for the month, falling well short of analysts' expectations for an increase of 2.6%.

Gap North America was hit hardest, with same-store sales tumbling 8% for the month. The only business segment to record a gain for December was Banana Republic North America, as same-store sales improved 1%.

Continue reading The Gap Plunges on Lackluster December Sales

The Gap Plunges on Lackluster December Sales originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 06 Jan 2011 12:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Options players rushed to place their bets on The Gap (GPS) Tuesday, with volume rising to five times the norm within the first hour of trading. Taking a closer look at the major block trades, it looks as though one speculator is anticipating a major price swing from GPS during the next year.

Specifically, the trader opened a long strangle on GPS by purchasing 2,619 January 2012 20-strike calls, and simultaneously buying 2,619 January 2012 17.50 puts. This two-legged option strategy allows the trader to benefit from a drastic move in the underlying equity, regardless of whether the shares move higher or lower.

Continue reading The Gap Singled Out for a Long-Term Strangle

The Gap Singled Out for a Long-Term Strangle originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 28 Dec 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Call options were in heavy rotation Monday on The Gap (GPS). Within the first hour of trading, 3,350 of these bullishly oriented options crossed the tape -- about four times the expected number of call contracts. The bulk of this activity took place at The Gap's January 2011 22.50 call, where 3,031 contracts were traded. Approximately 77% of these calls changed hands at the ask price, indicating they were purchased.

However, this skew toward calls simply continues a recent trend for GPS. During the past 10 days, speculators on the International Securities Exchange (ISE) have bought to open 5.99 calls for every put on the retailer. This ratio ranks above 75% of other such readings taken during the previous year, indicating that traders on the ISE have purchased calls over puts at a faster pace just 25% of the time.

Continue reading Call Players Place Their Bets on The Gap

Call Players Place Their Bets on The Gap originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 20 Dec 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Thursday afternoon, Gap (GPS) reported that its third-quarter earnings increased 9% compared to a year ago.

In the most recent quarter, the retailer earned 48 cents per diluted share compared to 44 cents per diluted share a year ago. The company's net earnings dropped 1% to $303 million from $307 million a year ago. The company's net sales increased 2% to $3.65 billion, up from $3.59 billion a year ago. Furthermore, the company's operating income increased a percentage point to $504 million from $500 million a year ago.

Continue reading Gap's Q3 Earnings Increase Slightly

Gap's Q3 Earnings Increase Slightly originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 19 Nov 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Futures Lower on Cisco, China Inflation

Futures Lower on Cisco, China Inflation originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 11 Nov 2010 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• BB&T (BBT) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Janney Montgomery.
• Amylin (AMLN) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Leerink.
• Wells Fargo upgraded Morton's Restaurant (MRT) to outperform from market perform.
• Check Point (CHKP) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at HSBC.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Excel Maritime (EXM) to buy from hold.
• JinkoSolar (JKS) was upgraded to buy from hold at Auriga.
• Piper Jaffray upgraded Compellent (CML) to overweight from neutral.
• BofA/Merrill upgraded Crane (CR) to buy from neutral.
• Goldman upgraded Wisconsin Energy (WEC) to conviction buy from buy and American Electric (AEP) to buy from neutral.
• Motorola (MOT) was upgraded due to increasing carrier support by MKM Partners.
• Under Armour (UA) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Sterne Agee.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: ANF, BBT, COH, GPS, JCG, KKR, MOT, OSG, UA, UBS, WEC ...

Analyst Calls: ANF, BBT, COH, GPS, JCG, KKR, MOT, OSG, UA, UBS, WEC ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 27 Oct 2010 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Closing Bell: A Loss That Could Have Been Worse (APOL, EMC, FSLR, YHOO, AOL, LSTR, GPS)

Closing Bell: A Loss That Could Have Been Worse (APOL, EMC, FSLR, YHOO, AOL, LSTR, GPS) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 14 Oct 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Closing Bell: Taking Back DJIA 11,000 (GPS, GERN, AVP, DYN, OIH, AAPL)

Closing Bell: Taking Back DJIA 11,000 (GPS, GERN, AVP, DYN, OIH, AAPL) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 12 Oct 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Aeropostale (ARO), a mall chain with colleagues like American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) and Gap (GPS), reported same-store sales for the month of September this week. They seemed relatively decent to me, even though they didn't measure up to the previous year's performance.

Last month, the company saw a 3% expansion in the metric, according to the press release. By comparison, same-store sales rose 19% in September 2009. Hey, don't fret about it. You're not going to generate growth like that all the time; it just doesn't happen. A 3% increase is fine considering the economy. On a year-to-date basis, comps are higher by 4% versus a gain of 12% in last year's similar frame.

Continue reading Is Aeropostale a Buy After the Latest Comps Report?

Is Aeropostale a Buy After the Latest Comps Report? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 09 Oct 2010 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Fashion firm Gap (GPS) has had its fair share of struggles recently -- what with the economic crisis and all, not many people want to dish out a lot of money for khakis and tight sweaters. In recent months, Gap has seen sales cool and reported that same-store sales dropped 4% during the second quarter.

So, what do you do with the holiday shopping season approaching and sales slumping? Do you drop prices across the board to try and attract more shoppers? Do you advertise these new prices so cash-strapped college kids know they can now get their khakis and button-ups cheaper? No. The brand geniuses over at the Gap decide this is time to replace the companies iconic blue box logo with something a bit more modern.

Continue reading Gap's New Logo Is a Failure, Kind of Like the Stock

Gap's New Logo Is a Failure, Kind of Like the Stock originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 08 Oct 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Wells Fargo upgraded Gap (GPS) to outperform from market perform, citing valuation and expectations for EPS to grow in FY11. The firm thinks consensus estimates are achievable and has a $20 to $22 target valuation range for shares.
• BMO Capital upgraded Abercrombie (ANF) to outperform from market perform and has a $43 target on the stock. The firm believes Abercrombie's domestic business is turning and that the company is beginning to take share from competitors.
• Piper Jaffray upgraded Codexis (CDXS) to overweight from neutral as it believes Shell's (RDS.A) biofuel commercialization plans and a potential carbon capture partnership present near-term catalysts for the stock. The firm upped its target for shares to $12 from $11.
• Tortoise Energy Capital (TYY) and Tortoise Energy (TYG) were upgraded to buy from hold at Wunderlich.
• Comerica (CMA) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Baird.
• Methanex (MEOH) was upgraded to strong buy from outperform at Raymond James.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: AMRC, ANF, CDXS, CIS, DGIT, GPS, MEOH, POT, RAX, ROST ...

Analyst Calls: AMRC, ANF, CDXS, CIS, DGIT, GPS, MEOH, POT, RAX, ROST ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 31 Aug 2010 11:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Aeropostale, Inc. (ARO), a mall retailer whose related companies include American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) and The Gap Inc. (GPS), was down this afternoon as the market digested the Q2 numbers that were released yesterday after the bell. With a little over two hours to go before the end of the session, shares of the business were off by 2.5% to $22.64. Volume, so far, was below average.

Perhaps the fact that the volume was relatively slow in coming is a good sign. Maybe the net-income stat is an even better sign. As the press release glowingly reports, earnings per share jumped 21% to 46 cents per share.

Continue reading Aeropostale Down After Q2 News

Aeropostale Down After Q2 News originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 20 Aug 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading United Airlines Achieves Significant Cost Savings in Transatlantic Flight

United Airlines Achieves Significant Cost Savings in Transatlantic Flight originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 28 Jun 2010 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading American Eagle Outfitters Hits 52-Week Low

American Eagle Outfitters Hits 52-Week Low originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 04 Jun 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.