Two key indexes of leading economic indicators show the possibility of a stronger Australian economy in the months ahead, though current conditions down under remain challenging.
The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Leading Index, which is used as an indicator of economic growth over the next three to nine months, rose to a 4.1 percent annualized rate in July, up seven-tenths of a percentage point from June. That’s well above the long-term trend of 2.9 percent, though below February’s strong reading of 5.5 percent. Regardless, the index suggests a resurgent economy in the months ahead.
The eight components of the index include the following: the All Ordinaries Index, overtime worked, manufacturing materials prices, US industrial production, productivity, real corporate gross operating surplus, real money supply, and dwelling approvals.
Six of these eight components factored into the index’s deceleration since February, while real money supply and dwelling approvals were both higher since then. Of the components for which monthly data is available, three out of four rose in July: the All Ordinaries Index, which was up 5.2 percent, dwelling approvals, which jumped 10.8 percent, and the real money supply, which increased 0.4 percent.
Top 10 Building Product Stocks To Invest In 2015: Checkpoint Systms Inc.(CKP)
Checkpoint Systems, Inc. manufactures and markets identification, tracking, security, and merchandising solutions for the retail and apparel industry worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Shrink Management Solutions, Apparel Labeling Solutions, and Retail Merchandising Solutions. The Shrink Management Solutions segment provides shrink management and merchandise visibility solutions. It offers electronic article surveillance systems, such as EVOLVE, a suite of RF and RFID-enabled products that act as a deterrent to prevent merchandise theft in retail stores; and electronic article surveillance consumables, including EAS-RF and EAS-EM labels that work in combination with EAS systems to reduce merchandise theft in retail stores. This segment also provides keepers, spider wraps, bottle security, and hard tags, as well as Showsafe, a line alarm system for protecting display merchandise. In addition, it offers physical and electronic store monitoring solutions, incl uding fire alarms, intrusion alarms, and digital video recording systems for retail environments; and RFID tags and labels. The Apparel Labeling Solutions segment provides apparel labeling solutions to apparel retailers, brand owners, and manufacturers. It has Web-enabled apparel labeling solutions platform and network of 28 service bureaus located in 22 countries that supplies customers with customized apparel tags and labels. The Retail Merchandising Solutions segment offers hand-held label applicators and tags, promotional displays, and queuing systems. The company serves retailers in the supermarket, drug store, hypermarket, and mass merchandiser markets through direct distribution and reseller channels. Checkpoint Systems was founded in 1969 and is based in Thorofare, New Jersey.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By ovenerio]
But the firm must continue working hard because growth remains below management's expectations from a few years ago. Competition includes Checkpoint Systems, Inc. (CKP), R-pac International Corporation, and SML Group Limited.
Top Growth Companies To Invest In Right Now: MEDIFAST INC(MED)
Medifast, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the production, distribution, and sale of weight management and disease management products, and other consumable health and diet products in the United States. The company?s product lines include weight and disease management, meal replacement, and vitamins. It also operates weight control centers that offer Medifast programs for weight loss and maintenance, customized patient counseling, and inbody composition analysis. The company markets its products under the Medifast and Essential brand names, including shakes, appetite suppression shakes, women?s health shakes, diabetics shakes, joint health shakes, coronary health shakes, calorie burn drinks, calorie burn flavor infusers, antioxidant shakes, antioxidant flavor infusers, bars, crunch bars, soups, chili, oatmeal, pudding, scrambled eggs, hot cocoa, cappuccino, chai latte, iced teas, fruit drinks, pretzels, puffs, brownie, pancakes, soy crisps, crackers, and omega 3 and digestive health products. Medifast Inc. sells its products through various channels of distribution comprising Web, call center, independent health advisors, medical professionals, weight loss clinics, and direct consumer marketing supported via the phone and the Web; Take Shape for Life, a physician led network of independent health coaches; and weight control centers. The company was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Owings Mills, Maryland.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jon C. Ogg]
Medifast Inc. (NYSE: MED) saw its stock down 5% in evening trading on Tuesday after the weight loss player had soft sales and guided expectations lower. Shares were still indicated down about 5%, but volume has not yet started.
- [By John Udovich]
Last Friday, small cap dieting stock Weight Watchers International, Inc (NYSE: WTW) lost weight for investors when shares tumbled�27.73% to $22.10, meaning its probabaly a good idea to take a closer look�at the stock along with�other small cap weight loss or dieting stocks like NutriSystem Inc (NASDAQ: NTRI), Medifast Inc (NYSE: MED) and Reliv International, Inc (NASDAQ: RELV). Why did Weight Watchers International loose weight last Friday? The company reported its fourth straight quarterly sales decline as fewer people attended meetings and bought its products and also projected earnings that trailed analysts' estimates with the blame being placed on new mobile applications and bracelets that track calories���thus�hurting traditional diet companies.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
Shares of Weight Watchers have gained 23% to $24.36 at 11:27 a.m., while NutriSystem (NTRI) has gained 2.4% to $15.36 and Medifast (MED) has dropped 1.6% to $31.15.
Top Growth Companies To Invest In Right Now: Eastern Insurance Holdings Inc.(EIHI)
Eastern Insurance Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides workers compensation insurance and reinsurance products in the United States. The company?s Workers Compensation Insurance segment provides traditional workers compensation insurance coverage products, including guaranteed cost policies, policyholder dividend policies, retrospectively-rated policies, deductible policies, and alternative market products to employers. This segment distributes its workers? compensation products and services through its independent insurance agents primarily in Pennsylvania, Delaware, North Carolina, Maryland, Indiana, and Virginia. Its Segregated Portfolio Cell Reinsurance segment offers alternative market workers compensation solutions comprising program design, fronting, claims administration, risk management, segregated portfolio cell rental, asset management, and segregated portfolio management services to individual companies, groups, and associations. Eastern Insurance Holdings, Inc. is headquartered in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Lauren Pollock]
ProAssurance Corp.(PRA) agreed to acquire Eastern Insurance Holdings Inc.(EIHI) for about $205 million, expanding the insurance company’s casualty insurance offerings. Eastern Insurance is a domestic casualty insurance group specializing in workers’ compensation products and services, among other things. ProAssurance plans to pay $24.50 in cash for each outstanding Eastern share, a 16% premium over Monday’s closing price.
Top Growth Companies To Invest In Right Now: Nordstrom Inc.(JWN)
Nordstrom, Inc., a fashion specialty retailer, offers apparel, shoes, cosmetics, and accessories for women, men, and children in the United States. It offers a selection of brand name and private label merchandise. The company sells its products through various channels, including Nordstrom full-line stores, off-price Nordstrom Rack stores, Jeffrey? boutiques, treasure & bond, and Last Chance clearance stores; and its online store, nordstrom.com, as well as through catalog. Nordstrom also provides a private label card, two Nordstrom VISA credit cards, and a debit card for Nordstrom purchases. The company?s credit and debit cards feature a shopping-based loyalty program. As of September 30, 2011, it operated 222 stores, including 117 full-line stores, 101 Nordstrom Racks, 2 Jeffrey boutiques, 1 treasure & bond store, and 1 clearance store in 30 states. The company was founded in 1901 and is based in Seattle, Washington.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Doug Ehrman]
As brick-and-mortar retailers continue to look for ways to level the playing field in terms of customers' data�relative to their online brethren like Amazon.com, they're experimenting with an increasing number of technologies. A recent New York Times article detailed how Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN ) recently ended such a test with Euclid Analytics that used customers' smartphones to track their movements within stores; in-store signs detailing the practice drew negative customer feedback, leading to the end of the experiment.
- [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]
[W]e expect this slowdown to be short-lived and we look for consumer spending to rebound strongly in the coming months.
"Given the strong gains in labor market activity, along with other indications of strengthening domestic growth momentum, we expect this slowdown to be short-lived and we look for consumer spending to rebound strongly in the coming months," said Millan Mulraine, deputy chief economist at TD Securities in New York. Economists had forecast sales, which account for a third of consumer spending, increasing 0.2 percent last month. The economy has experienced six consecutive months of job growth above 200,000. Layoffs and job openings are back to their pre-recession levels. Data on manufacturing and services sectors have suggested the economy was growing solidly. Still, the pause in retail sales could give the Federal Reserve ammunition to maintain its very easy monetary policy stance for a while. The U.S. central bank has kept its benchmark overnight interest rate near zero since December 2008. "It will provide Fed Chair Janet Yellen with some of the rationale she needs to justify why the Fed should move gradually and keep interest rates low for longer than hawks within the Fed would like," said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Mesirow Financial in Chicago. Separately, retailer Macy's (M) cut its full-year same-stores sales forecast after second-quarter sales fell short of expectations, another cloud over the retail sector. Macy's shares fell more than 5 percent, while shares of retailers Tiffany (TIF), Kohl's (KSS) and Nordstrom (JWN) also were down sharply. The S&P retail index was up at midday, but lagged the broader stock index, which was trading higher as tensions in Ukraine and Iraq eased. The dollar was little changed against a basket of currencies, while prices for U.S. government debt rose. Core Sales Barely Rise So-called core retail sales, which strip out automobiles, gasoline, building materials and food services edged up
Top Growth Companies To Invest In Right Now: Intuitive Surgical Inc.(ISRG)
Intuitive Surgical, Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets da Vinci surgical systems for various surgical procedures, including urologic, gynecologic, cardiothoracic, general, and head and neck surgeries. Its da Vinci surgical system consists of a surgeon?s console or consoles, a patient-side cart, a 3-D vision system, and proprietary ?wristed? instruments. The company?s da Vinci surgical system translates the surgeon?s natural hand movements on instrument controls at the console into corresponding micro-movements of instruments positioned inside the patient through small puncture incisions, or ports. It also manufactures a range of EndoWrist instruments, which incorporate wrist joints for natural dexterity for various surgical procedures. Its EndoWrist instruments consist of forceps, scissors, electrocautery, scalpels, and other surgical tools. In addition, it sells various vision and accessory products for use in conjunction with the da Vinci Surgical System as surgical procedures are performed. The company?s accessory products include sterile drapes used to ensure a sterile field during surgery; vision products, such as replacement 3-D stereo endoscopes, camera heads, light guides, and other items. It markets its products through sales representatives in the United States, and through sales representatives and distributors in international markets. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Brian Pacampara]
Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, surgical-robot specialist Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG ) has earned a respected four-star ranking.
- [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Shares of Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG) got a boost, shooting up 14.16 percent to $500.02 after the company announced the FDA clearance and U.S. introduction of the new da Vinci Xi Surgical System.
- [By Selena Maranjian]
Among holdings in which Lone Pine Capital increased its stake are Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG ) and Ulta Salon (NASDAQ: ULTA ) . Intuitive Surgical, specializing in robotic surgical equipment, has had a bumpy year, thanks to bearish comments from a research company and questions about the efficacy of its systems. Some legal worries were eased recently, with a victory in court. While some wonder whether the company's growth prospects are slowing down, others love the company's competitive advantages and dominance in its promising market.
- [By Katie Spence]
In fact, the study found that where jobs are too dangerous, where labor costs are too high, and where there is a need for extreme precision, robots directly lead to job preservation and creation because they allow a company to stay in business where it otherwise wouldn't. Further, robots increase the need for support staff and operators. One example is medical-assisting robots such as those made by Hansen Medical and Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG ) . Without the use of these extreme precision robots, the surgeries they assist in may not be able to be performed because of the high risk of failure, and death.
Top Growth Companies To Invest In Right Now: Thoratec Corporation(THOR)
Thoratec Corporation engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of proprietary medical devices used for circulatory support. The company?s primary product lines include ventricular assist devices, such as HeartMate II, an implantable left ventricular assist device consisting of a rotary blood pump to provide intermediate and long-term mechanical circulatory support (MCS); and HeartMate XVE, an implantable and pulsatile left ventricular assist device for intermediate and longer-term MCS. Its ventricular assist devices also comprise Paracorporeal Ventricular Assist Device, an external pulsatile ventricular assist device, which provides left, right, and biventricular MCS approved for bridge-to-transplantation (BTT), including home discharge, and post-cardiotomy myocardial recovery; and Implantable Ventricular Assist Device, an implantable and pulsatile ventricular assist device designed to provide left, right, and biventricular MCS approved for BTT comprising hom e discharge, and post-cardiotomy myocardial recovery. The company also provides CentriMag, an extracorporeal full-flow acute surgical support platform that offers support up to 30 days for cardiac and respiratory failure. In addition, it offers PediMag and PediVAS extracorporeal full-flow acute surgical support platforms designed to provide acute surgical support to pediatric patients. The company sells its products through direct sales force in the United States, as well as through a network of distributors internationally. Thoratec Corporation was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Pleasanton, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Anna Prior]
Medical device company Thoratec Corp.(THOR) has purchased Apica Cardiovascular Ltd., in a deal that includes $35 million in cash upfront and potential milestone payments of up to $40 million.
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