Mediaboss Marketing

By Corrie Driebusch and Nathalie Tadena

Among the companies with shares expected to actively trade in Thursdays session are Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ), Pandora Media Inc. (P) and Tiffany & Co. (TIF).

Hewlett-Packard unveiled plans to lay off 27,000 employees and said it was cautiously optimistic about its future despite a 31% slump in its fiscal second-quarter earnings. Shares were up 8.2% to $22.80 premarket as earnings beat the companys expectations and as the company raised its full-year view.

Pandora posted a widened quarterly loss on Wednesday, though the Internet radio firms results included a fast-growing sales figure that topped Wall Street expectations. Shares jumped 15% to $11.93 premarket.

Tiffanys fiscal first-quarter earnings edged up 0.6% and the high-end jewelry retailer reduced its full-year expectations, citing slowing economic growth in many countries and softness in U.S. operations. Shares dropped 7% to $57.50 premarket.

NetApp Inc. (NTAP) joined a growing list of technology companies issuing bleak financial guidance, citing ongoing economic uncertaintyespecially in Europefor a disappointing current-quarter outlook. Shares sank 17% premarket to $27.20 as a weak forecast overshadowed the data-storage makers fiscal fourth-quarter earnings, which grew 13% on stronger revenue in all three major businesses.

Signet Jewelers Ltd.s (SIG, SIG.LN) fiscal first-quarter earnings rose 9.4% despite modest sales growth amid a calendar shift for the Mothers Day selling season. Shares were down nearly 10% in recent premarket trading as revenue missed expectations the Signet estimated fiscal second-quarter earnings below analysts views.

MediciNova Inc. (MNOV) said the preliminary results from a Phase 2b clinical study did not yield statistically significant results for its MN-221 asthma treatment. Shares of the biopharmaceutical company slumped 43% to $1.57 premarket.

PVH Corp.s (PVH) fiscal first-quarter earnings jumped 61% as the apparel company saw continued growth in its two key labels. Shares rose 4% to $80.48 in premarket trading as the company boosted its full-year guidance and beat its guidance.

Monro Muffler Brake Inc.s (MNRO) fiscal fourth-quarter profit rose 27% as the automotive services company saw a boost from acquisitions and higher brake sales. The results fell short of expectations, however, and the company said higher gas prices and economic woes would affect customer purchasing decisions and pressure earnings in the near term. Shares slipped 1.4% to $36.50 premarket.

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Stocks to Watch: Hewlett-Packard, Pandora, Tiffany

LONDON (ShareCast) - -JP Morgan suggests ECB rate cut, LTRO restart -EU leaders make little progress -UK contracts more than expected in Q1 An underwhelming EU summit and a barrage of disappointing economic figures failed to hold back gains on Thursday, as the Footsie (FTSE: ^FTSE - news) rebounded following yesterday's steep sell-off. Comments from JP Morgan boosted buying late on after the US bank said in a research note that the European Central Bank (ECB) is likely to react to the ongoing crisis by cutting interest rates and launching another round of cheap funding operations (otherwise known as LTROs). Given the economic data released today, "the ECB will feel more pressure to deliver a monetary response, even though it feels that it has already done a lot to support the region. This response could, for example, be done through interest rate cuts or through further liquidity measures," analyst Greg Fuzesi said. There was also speculation that the EU could look at increasing the resources of the European Investment Bank to bolster investment in infrastructure. Meanwhile, the outcome of last night's informal meeting of the European Council was as expected, with leaders reiterating their stance that they want to keep Greece in the Eurozone as long as it meets the terms of its bailout. The 'eurobonds' issue was a contentious topic, with French and German leaders clashing over the joint debt sales. Several economic reports from home and abroad disappointed today - though that wasn't seen in equity markets - painting a gloomy picture of the global economy: Chinese manufacturing slipped further into contraction; Germany's IFO business index fell sharply; while purchasing managers' indices across the Eurozone came in weak. In the UK, the Office for National Statistics revealed that first-quarter estimate of gross domestic product was revised lower, from -0.2% to -0.3%. Economists had been expecting the initial reading to be confirmed. Economic data from the US was a little better though, helping Wall Street stocks broadly higher after the opening bell; both durable orders and jobless claims data were in line with consensus expectations. FTSE 100 (Euronext: VFTSE.NX - news) : Resources (Euronext: ERS.NX - news) stocks gain as gold and oil prices advance

Randgold Resources (Xetra: A0B5ZS - news) surged today, tracking gold prices higher. Data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF (Berlin: MXG1.BE - news) ) showed today that central banks in Turkey, Ukraine, Mexico and Kazakhstan were building their positions in the precious metal in April on the back of its safe-haven appeal. Stocks in the oil sector were also making gains today as crude prices picked up after the P5+1 group of world powers - China, France, Germany, Russia, UK and US - continued to argue with Iran over its nuclear programme. Oil and gas E&P peers BP and BG Group (Hamburg: BGO.HM - news) were among the best performers, both gaining around 3%; oil services firm Amec (LSE: AMEC.L - news) was also wanted. Shell (LSE: RDSB.L - news) was on the up after extending the offer deadline for AIM-listed Cove Energy (Berlin: LPC.BE - news) after its previously recommended offer was trumped by Thai firm PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) on Wednesday. "With the Euro crisis set to continue, at least until June 17th when the second round of Greek elections will be held, we can expect to see Oil and Gold fall further as the dollar is expected to continue to appreciate making all dollar priced commodities effectively more expensive," said analyst Craig Erlam from Alpari. United Utilities was higher after saying that it has seen a marked improvement in customer satisfaction in the last year or so, and it is on track to meet regulatory out-performance targets. Financial stocks, having borne the brunt of risk aversion in yesterday's session, were performing well today. Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) , Admiral (LSE: ADM.L - news) , Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS.L - news) and HSBC (LSE: HSBA.L - news) were making gains, while Standard Chartered (Xetra: 859123 - news) was lifted higher after JP Morgan reiterated its overweight rating on the stock. FTSE 250 (FTSE: ^FTMC - news) : C&W Comms surges after full-year results

International mobile operator Cable & Wireless Communications rocketed after underlying earnings came in at $901m in the year to the end of March, better than the $887m estimate. Investors didn't seem too phased that the group expects to halve its dividend in the current year. Food wholesaler Booker was also in demand after saying that increased customer numbers and higher internet sales helped revenue increase by 7.3% in the 52 weeks to March 23rd. FTSE 100 - Risers Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,170.00p +8.00% Vedanta Resources (EUREX: VR9F.EX - news) (VED) 999.50p +5.04% Prudential (LSE: PRU.L - news) (PRU) 686.00p +3.39% BP (BP.) 407.00p +3.33% BG Group (BG.) 1,269.00p +3.21% Wolseley (Berlin: WLY1.BE - news) (WOS) 2,272.00p +2.95% United Utilities Group (UU.) 637.00p +2.74% Fresnillo (Frankfurt: A0MVZE - news) (FRES) 1,347.00p +2.67% Barclays (BARC) 185.30p +2.66% ARM Holdings (LSE: ARM.L - news) (ARM) 495.20p +2.65% FTSE 100 - Fallers Rexam (Xetra: 860000 - news) (REX) 393.90p -1.33% Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 238.40p -1.20% IMI (Xetra: 389425.DE - news) (IMI (EUREX: IMIF.EX - news) ) 894.00p -1.16% Hargreaves Lansdown (HL (Shenzhen: 002105.SZ - news) .) 466.10p -0.68% Evraz (EVR) 308.70p -0.61% Man Group (LSE: EMG.L - news) (EMG) 72.70p -0.55% GKN (Xetra: 694194 - news) (GKN (LSE: GKN.L - news) ) 183.20p -0.49% Antofagasta (Xetra: 867578 - news) (ANTO) 1,027.00p -0.48% Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,380.00p -0.32% Burberry Group (LSE: BRBY.L - news) (BRBY) 1,365.00p -0.29% FTSE 250 - Risers Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) 33.01p +17.64% Booker Group (BOK) 78.45p +7.47% Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 135.10p +4.89% Hunting (LSE: HTG.L - news) (HTG) 785.00p +4.67% QinetiQ Group (Other OTC: QNTQF.PK - news) (QQ.) 152.00p +4.61% Domino's Pizza UK & IRL (DOM) 475.30p +4.21% Dunelm Group (Berlin: DFQ.BE - news) (DNLM) 505.00p +4.12% TR Property Inv Trust (TRY) 146.20p +3.91% Investec (Frankfurt: A0J32R - news) (INVP) 325.90p +3.62% RPS Group (Frankfurt: 874849 - news) (RPS) 206.30p +3.36% FTSE 250 - Fallers Homeserve (Dusseldorf: XHSA.DU - news) (HSV) 144.00p -4.70% Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 72.20p -3.48% Spirit Pub Company (SPRT) 50.25p -3.37% COLT Group SA (COLT) 114.90p -3.20% Home Retail Group (EUREX: HOMF.EX - news) (HOME) 75.40p -3.08% Ocado Group (Xetra: A1C2GZ - news) (OCDO) 104.70p -2.88% Bumi (BUMI) 398.90p -2.45% PZ Cussons (LSE: PZC.L - news) (PZC) 316.80p -2.34% Kesa Electricals (Other OTC: KESAF.PK - news) (KESA) 49.03p -2.33% Redrow (Xetra: 906188 - news) (RDW) 112.20p -2.18% BC

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London close: Stocks surge as JPMorgan hints at ECB stimulus

Forget bonds, smart investors today want dividends.

The reason is simple -- with the Federal Reserve continuing to stomp on interest rates, the yields that investors can get from dividend-paying stocks are better than the yields they can get from even longer-duration Treasury notes.

This week, Bespoke Investment Group noted:

With the 10-Year US Treasury now yielding 1.74%, it is now paying a coupon that is less than the dividend yield of more than half of the stocks in the S&P 500. As of today's close, there are now 271 stocks in the S&P 500 that have a greater yield than the 10-Year US Treasury.

While that may sound notable on its own, consider this: When looking at the S&P 500's overall yield, prior to the 2008/2009 crash, we have to go all the way back to 1958 to find the last time that the S&P yield was greater than long-term Treasury yields. This isn't an opportunity that comes around very often.

And remember that while the dividend payouts for many S&P 500 companies will continue to grow as the companies' profits grow, the payout that you'll get from a Treasury note stays fixed.

Big, giant yields! The first place that many investors head when they are thinking dividends is the biggest, fattest dividends out there. And, let me tell you, there are some seriously plump payouts in the S&P 500 right now.

Telecom companies in particular light up the radar for investors looking for huge payouts as Frontier Communications (Nasdaq: FTR) , Windstream (Nasdaq: WIN) , and CenturyLink sport respective yields of 11.9%, 10.5%, and 7.5%.

While these aren't on the top of my buy list, there are solid arguments to be made in their favor. For instance, while land-line telephone service may not be nearly the business it once was, the broadband Internet services that these companies also provide are indispensable for most consumers and businesses these days. And even a quick glance at my favorite financial statement -- the cash flow statement -- shows that these companies absolutely gush cash.

That said, these aren't growth businesses. The major avenue for growth in the industry is via acquisition. And even so, there may be a greater possibility of dividends decreasing than increasing. Frontier's annual payout was $1 per share in 2009, but today it's $0.40. And according to data from S&P Capital IQ, Windstream hasn't increased its dividend since 2007.

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3 Dividend Stocks That Make Bonds Look Silly

Chicago, IL (PRWEB) May 24, 2012

The RE/MAX Northern Illinois real estate network recently honored its associates whose 2011 residential sales achievements earned them coveted spots in the year-end Residential Top 20.

Each year, the network gives special recognition to its Top 20 residential agents and Top 20 residential teams, as well as its Top Three commercial agents and teams.

Robert Padron of RE/MAX Cityview, 6430 N. Central Ave., Chicago, made his debut as the No. 1 residential agent. Jane Lee of RE/MAX Top Performers, 210 N. Waukegan Road, Lake Bluff, Ill., won top-residential-team honors for the eighth consecutive year. A team involves the combined efforts of two or more licensed agents.

Here are the Top 20 residential teams and agents for 2011:

TOP 20 TEAMS 1.Jane Lee, RE/MAX Top Performers, Lake Bluff; 2.Matthew Kombrink, RE/MAX Great American North, St. Charles, Ill.; 3.Leslie McDonnell, RE/MAX Suburban, Libertyville, Ill.; 4.Marco Amidei, RE/MAX Suburban, Libertyville; 5.Alex Rullo, RE/MAX Great American North, St. Charles; 6.Cindy Banks, RE/MAX Cornerstone, West Chicago, Ill.; 7.Andee Hausman, RE/MAX Experts, Buffalo Grove, Ill.; 8.Steve Malik, RE/MAX Professionals Select, Naperville, Ill.; 9.Denise DAmico, RE/MAX Central, Roselle, Ill.; 10.Linda ODonnell, RE/MAX Signature, Chicago; 11.Charles Ivas, RE/MAX Elite, Hinsdale, Ill.; 12.Lance Kammes, RE/MAX Suburban, Wheaton, Ill.; 13.Bernie Cobb, Jr., RE/MAX of Naperville, Naperville; 14.Wayne Reuter, RE/MAX Excels, Geneva, Ill.; 15.Paul Wells, RE/MAX of Barrington, Barrington, Ill.; 16.Rosemary West, RE/MAX Professionals Select, Naperville; 17.Bruce Hackel, RE/MAX Synergy, Flossmoor, Ill; 18.Alexander Pagonis, RE/MAX Professionals Select, Naperville; 19.Robert Wisdom; RE/MAX Horizon, Elgin, Ill.; 20.Susan Coveny, RE/MAX Prestige, Long Grove, Ill.

TOP 20 AGENTS 1.Robert Padron, RE/MAX Cityview, Chicago; 2.Edward Lukasik, Jr., RE/MAX Professionals, Bolingbrook, Ill.; 3.Larry Leibovitz, RE/MAX Experts, Buffalo Grove; 4.Sharon Gidley, RE/MAX Unlimited Northwest, Algonquin, Ill.; 5.John Morrison, RE/MAX of Barrington, Barrington; 6.Sharon Falco, RE/MAX Central, Roselle; 7.Kristi Gunther, RE/MAX Exclusive Properties, Chicago; 8.Jill Clark, RE/MAX Professionals Select, Naperville; 9.Rita Neri, RE/MAX Vision 212, Chicago; 10.Marlene Granacki, RE/MAX Exclusive Properties, Chicago; 11.David Cobb, RE/MAX All Properties, New Lenox, Ill.; 12.Marsha Ulbrich, RE/MAX Unlimited Northwest, Lake Zurich, Ill.; 13.Larry Fales, RE/MAX Advantage Realty, Antioch, Ill.; 14.Daniel McGovern, RE/MAX Properties Northwest, Park Ridge, Ill.; 15.Susan Ligmanowski, RE/MAX Unlimited Northwest, Algonquin; 16.Mimi Burke, RE/MAX of Barrington, Barrington; 17.Anna Klarck, RE/MAX Showcase, Long Grove; 18.Cindy Purdom, RE/MAX Suburban, Glen Ellyn, Ill.; 19.Jim Starwalt, RE/MAX Center, Grayslake, Ill.; 20.Linda Price, RE/MAX of Naperville, Naperville.

RE/MAX has been the leader in the northern Illinois real estate market since 1989. The RE/MAX Northern Illinois network, with headquarters in Elgin, Ill., consists of 2,100 sales associates and 110 individually owned and operated RE/MAX offices that provide a full range of brokerage services throughout the northern one-third of Illinois. Its http://www.illinoisproperty.com and http://www.remax.com websites are leaders in consumer visits among real estate franchise brands. Its mobile search, m.illinoisproperty.com, allows users to conduct real estate searches on any mobile device with Internet access. The northern Illinois network is part of RE/MAX LLC, a global real estate organization with 88,000 sales associates in 89 nations.

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RE/MAX Names Northern Illinois Residential Top 20 for 2011: Chicago Real Estate Agent, Lake Bluff Team Capture Top Spots

Small Business: Treasurer Grossman and Rep. Forry toured the Slate Bar & Grill this week, highlighting a small business in the Financial District funded through a Dorchester bank and owned by neighborhood contractors.State officials kicked off National Small Business Week on Monday morning by putting a spotlight on a former ice cream parlor in the Financial District that has been turned into a bar and grill by the same Dorchester contractors who established Ledge Kitchen & Drinks in Lower Mills.

State Treasurer Steven Grossman and state Rep. Linda Dorcena Forry toured the restaurant, called Slate, which received funds through a small business banking partnership that Grossmans office is pushing.

Meetinghouse Bank, which is located in the Lower Mills neighborhood, gave the owners of Slate an extended $500,000 line of credit for the opening and operation of the new business, which opened earlier this year.

The owners are Brendan and Greg Feeney, brothers who are natives of County Sligo in Ireland and who operate Feeney Brothers Contracting.

The Treasurers office initiative behind the $500,000 line of credit provides state cash deposits to community banks that in turn provide loans to small businesses. Since its inception last year, $231 million has been deposited in 44 Bay State banks, according to Grossmans office, with a resulting leverage of 892 small business loans. The Slate loan helped create 32 jobs, Grossmans office noted.

I looked at these two brothers, and I said these are two guys who I have no doubt any small bank would want to partner with, the treasurer told the Reporter after the tour. Noting the wood paneling and high top tables, Grossman gave the restaurant, which serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, a good review. The next few times Im going to have breakfast downtown, Im going to say meet me at Slate, he said.

Brendan and I are continuously encouraged by the level of support we have received as small business owners in Boston, Greg Feeney said in a statement. The hands-on and open-door policy approach by our local political and community leaders has created an environment where opportunities for entrepreneurship and small business ownership are flourishing.

In her own statement, Forry, chair of the House side of the Small Business and Community Development Committee, said she hopes the celebration of small businesses will become an annual tradition and is a wonderful opportunity to highlight and reflect on the many important economic contributions of our states nearly 582,600 entrepreneurs and small businesses.

Grossman, who went on a tour of ice cream parlors during his run for treasurer in 2010, pointed out that the Slate building used to house a Brighams. I cant get away from ice cream, he said.

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State/Bank loan helps Dot merchants open Hub eatery