Dow Jones industrial average index futures gained 0.5%, Standard & Poor's 500 index futures climbed 0.6% and Nasdaq index futures added about 3%.
In Asia, China's Shanghai composite index was down 1.3%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost 1.4% and Japan's Nikkei 225 was off nearly 2% as the yen gained against the U.S. dollar, which can hurt sales and profits at Japanese exporters.
WALL STREET: Stocks breaking all-time highs
DOW: Not part of stocks' record run
Slower U.S. hiring and reports of tighter money market conditions in China that could check its economic recovery were acting as a weight for the region.
In Europe, stocks mostly fell, breaking a recent winning streak. The United Kingdom's FTSE 100 index dropped 0.4% and the DAX index in Germany was down by a similar amount. Spain's IBEX 35 index retreated over 1% even though there was some positive growth data there. The Bank of Spain estimates that the Iberian nation has now exited recession for the first time in over two years.
Hot Quality Stocks To Invest In Right Now: MarketAxess Holdings Inc (MKTX)
MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (MarketAxess), incorporated on April 11, 2000, operates an electronic trading platform that allows investment industry professionals to trade corporate bonds and other types of fixed-income instruments. The Company�� over 1000 active institutional investor clients (firms that executed at least one trade in the United States or European fixed-income securities through its electronic trading platform, during the year ended December 31, 2012) include investment advisers, mutual funds, insurance companies, public and private pension funds, bank portfolios, broker-dealers and hedge funds. The Company�� 87 broker-dealer, market-maker clients provide liquidity on the platform and include most of the broker-dealers in global fixed-income trading. Through its Corporate BondTicker service, MarketAxess provides fixed-income market data, analytics and compliance tools that help its clients make trading decisions. In addition, it provides Financial Information eXchange (FIX) message management tools, connectivity solutions and ancillary technology services that facilitate the electronic communication of order information between trading counterparties. The Company�� revenues are primarily generated from the trading of the United States high-grade corporate bonds. In March 2013, it announced acquisition of Xtrakter Limited.
The majority of the Company's revenues are derived from monthly distribution fees and commissions for trades executed on its platform that are billed to its broker-dealer clients on a monthly basis. The Company also derives revenues from technology products and services, information and user access fees, investment income and other income. During 2012, the Company�� broker-dealer clients accounted for approximately 95% of the underwriting of newly-issued United States corporate bonds and approximately 72% of the underwriting of newly issued European corporate bonds. MarketAxess�� electronic trading platform provides access to the liquidity provide! d through the participation on its platform of 87 broker-dealer market making clients, including all of the broker-dealers in global fixed-income trading, and over 1000 active institutional investor firms. In addition to services directly related to the execution of trades, the Company offers its clients several other services, including information services, straight-through processing, and technology products and services. MarketAxess offers Application Programming Interface (API) services to its broker-dealer clients for pre-trade, trade negotiation and post-trade services.
The United States High-Grade Corporate Bonds
The United States corporate bond market consists of three categories of securities: investment-grade debt (so-called high-grade); debt rated below investment-grade (so-called high-yield), and debt convertible into equity (so-called convertible debt). The Company�� United States high-grade corporate bond business consists of the United States dollar-denominated, investment-grade debt issued by corporations for distribution in the United States. Both domestic and foreign institutional investors have access to the United States high-grade corporate bond trading on its electronic trading platform. During 2012, its broker-dealer clients accounted for approximately 95% of the underwriting of newly-issued the United States corporate bonds. The Company offers its institutional investor clients access to a range of inventory of the United States high-grade corporate bonds, which is provided and updated daily by its broker-dealer clients.
Eurobonds
The European high-grade corporate bond market consists of a range of products, issuers and currencies. MarketAxess Europe Limited, its wholly owned subsidiary, offers European secondary trading functionality in the United States dollar- and Euro-denominated European corporate bonds to its broker-dealer and institutional investor clients. The Company also offers its clients to trade in other European! high-gra! de corporate bonds, including bonds issued in Pounds Sterling, floating rate notes, European government bonds and bonds denominated in non-core currencies. In the Eurobond credit market, defined as including European high-grade, high yield and government bonds, 23 broker-dealers utilize the Company�� platform.
Emerging Markets Bonds
Emerging markets bond market includes the United States dollar, Euro or local currency denominated bonds issued by sovereign entities or corporations domiciled in a developing country. These issuers are located in Latin America, Asia, or Central and Eastern Europe. The agency bond market includes debt issued by a United States government-sponsored enterprise. 59 of the Company�� United States broker-dealer clients use its platform to trade emerging markets bonds. During 2011, 414 institutional investor clients utilized its electronic trading platform to trade emerging markets bonds. These institutional investor clients are located in the United States and Europe. MarketAxess also allows its institutional investor clients to transact Euroclear-eligible local currency denominated bonds issued by sovereign entities or corporations in countries that include Argentina, Brazil and Mexico.
Crossover and High-Yield Bonds
59 of the Company�� United States broker-dealer clients use its platform to trade crossover and high-yield bonds. Trading in crossover and high-yield bonds uses many of the same features available in its United States high-grade corporate bond offering.
Agency Bonds
41 of the Company�� United States broker-dealer clients use its platform to trade agency bonds. Trading in agency bonds uses many of the same features available in the Company�� United States high-grade corporate bond offering.
Credit Default Swaps
MarketAxess offers trading on its platform for CDS indices and single-names in both the United States and Europe through its traditional RFQ proto! col. Nine! of the Company�� broker-dealer clients are providing streaming, executable CDS index prices. In addition, it incorporated the request-for-market protocol and the streaming markets/click-to-trade protocol into an updated single-screen user interface, giving clients their means of execution.
Asset-Backed Securities
12 of its United States broker-dealer clients use its platform to trade asset-backed securities. Trading in asset-backed securities uses many of the same features available in the Company�� United States high-grade corporate bond offering.
Preferred Securities
17 of the Company�� United States broker-dealer clients use its platform to trade preferred securities. Trading in preferred securities uses many of the same features available in its United States high-grade corporate bond offering.
Corporate BondTicker
Corporate BondTicker provides TRACE data and enhances it with MarketAxess trade data and analytical tools to provide professional market participants with a set of corporate bond price information. The data include trade time and sales information, including execution prices, as well as MarketAxess-estimated, spread-to-Treasuries, for trades disseminated by the TRACE system. The data also include actual execution prices and spread-to-Treasury levels for United States high-grade corporate bond trades executed on the MarketAxess platform. Corporate BondTicker is integrated directly into the MarketAxess electronic trading platform and can be accessed, either when viewing securities inventory or when launching an inquiry. Corporate BondTicker is also available through the Internet for non-trading professional market participants, including, among others, research analysts and rating agencies, who can log in and access the information via an easy-to-use browser-based interface.
The Company provides Corporate BondTicker as an ancillary service to its trading clients and also to other industry parti! cipants. ! It derives revenues from its Corporate BondTicker service by charging for seat licenses per user at its broker-dealer and institutional investor clients, through distribution agreements with other information service providers and through bulk data sales to third parties. The Company also offers a set of reports designed to review and monitor credit trading activity for institutional investor clients. Its compliance product provides a printed history of each inquiry submitted through the MarketAxess trading platform.
Technology Services
Through MarketAxess�� Greenline Financial Technologies, Inc. (Greenline) subsidiary, it provides integration, testing and management solutions for FIX-related products and services. The FIX protocol is a messaging standard developed for the electronic exchange of securities transaction information. It also provides technology consulting and customized development services to its clients. In addition, the Company provides gateway adapters to connect order management and trading systems to fixed-income trading venues.
The Company competes with Thomson TradeWeb, Bloomberg and The New York Stock Exchange
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Alex Dumortier, CFA]
MarketAxess (NASDAQ: MKTX ) published its third-quarter results�(link opens a PDF) this morning, and as the following table shows, the numbers were disappointing -- by Wall Street's standards. The fixed-income trading platform missed on both revenues and earnings per share. Those misses have short-term investors spooked today, and shares are down around 5.5%. Long-term investors, on the other hand, ought to be a little more sanguine. I don't see any signs that the business franchise is impaired, and, although investors will need to continue monitoring potential competitors and, particularly, structural developments in the bond markets, the latest set of results are well within the bounds of normal business fluctuations.
- [By John Udovich]
If you have found yourself trading more as the markets�become more volatile or struggling to come to terms with low interest rates, small caps like Interactive Brokers Group, Inc (NASDAQ: IBKR), MarketAxess Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: MKTX), Indo Global Exchanges PteLtd (OTCMKTS: IGEX) which are in the electronic brokerage or trading platform business would be well worth taking a closer look at. Here is what you need to know about all three:
- [By Seth Jayson]
MarketAxess Holdings (Nasdaq: MKTX ) is expected to report Q1 earnings on April 24. Here's what Wall Street wants to see:
The 10-second takeaway
Comparing the upcoming quarter to the prior-year quarter, average analyst estimates predict MarketAxess Holdings's revenues will grow 7.7% and EPS will expand 5.7%.
Best Japanese Stocks To Own Right Now: United States Cellular Corporation(USM)
United States Cellular Corporation operates as a wireless telecommunications service provider in the United States. The company offers wireless voice and data services to retail consumer and business customers. It provides wireless services in postpaid service plans with voice, messaging, and data services; and prepaid service plans with minutes, messaging, and data services for a monthly fee. The company also offers various additional features, including caller ID blocking, call forwarding, voicemail, call waiting, and three-way calling; and data usage features consisting of Web browsing, email services, instant messaging, text messaging, and picture and video messaging. As of December 31, 2010, it provided wireless voice and data services to 6.1 million customers in 26 states. In addition, the company operates retail stores that sell a range of wireless devices, including handsets, modems, and tablets, as well as accessories, such as carrying cases, hands-free devices, b atteries, battery chargers, memory cards, and other items to consumers and small businesses. Further, it sells wireless devices to agents and other third-party distributors for resale; operates service facilities that provide servicing and repair for wireless devices; and enables customers to activate service and purchase wireless devices online. The company?s business customers include small-to-mid-size businesses in various industries, including construction, retail, professional services, and real estate. It offers its products and services through retail sales and service centers, direct sales, and independent agents. The company was founded in 1983 and is based in Chicago, Illinois. United States Cellular Corporation is a subsidiary of Telephone and Data Systems, Inc.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Dan Radovsky]
T-Mobile US (NYSE: TMUS ) has agreed to purchase 10 MHz of Advanced Wireless Services spectrum from U.S. Cellular (NYSE: USM ) for $308 million, T-Mobile announced today.
- [By Jim Probasco]
CNET said it expects to see ZTE focus on premium quality smartphones at the Mobile World Congress at the end of February this year.�This would be a departure from the company�� previous concentration on mid-range priced phones offered by smaller carriers like Cricket Wireless, U.S. Cellular, (NYSE: USM) and Aio Wireless.
- [By Reuters]
Michael Sohn/APSprint CEO Dan Hesse Sprint has been ranked last among U.S. cellphone service operators in a customer satisfaction survey by the influential Consumer Reports organization, scoring dismal marks for measures ranging from voice to 4G reliability. No-frills carrier Consumer Cellular received the highest overall score of 88 out of 100, followed by U.S. Cellular (USM) with 75. Sprint received the lowest score of 59, faring the worst in terms of value, voice, text and 4G services. The annual ratings were based on a September survey of 58,399 cellphone service subscribers by the Consumer Reports National Research Center, which publishes widely followed surveys and reviews of everything from cars to refrigerators. In last year's survey, Sprint (S) trailed only Verizon Wireless among the four major carriers. Verizon Wireless (VZ) (VOD) ranked highest again this year with a score of 71. T-Mobile US (TMUS) rated 65 and AT&T (T) 64, according to survey results released Thursday. The rankings are based on ratings for voice, text and 4G, taking into account the occurrence of problems and adjusted for frequency of use. Sprint has been revamping its network after years of customer losses. The company, which is 80 percent owned by SoftBank, warned in October that customer defections would remain high in coming quarters. The company reported a decline in third-quarter revenue as it lost more subscribers than expected following the shutdown of its older network. "Our latest cell service satisfaction survey revealed a somewhat precipitous decline by Sprint that shuffled the rankings of the major standard service providers," Glenn Derene, Electronics Content Development Team Leader for Consumer Reports, said in a statement.
Mint made the Mac App Store's Best of 2012 list for a reason. This simple, clean app shows how much you are spending in each category of your budget by monitoring all of your transactions. We love signing in and getting a quick,
- [By Rich Duprey]
Chicago-based wireless carrier U.S. Cellular (NYSE: USM ) said that since its sale of spectrum to Verizon last month had been so successful, it decided to sell additional spectrum and arranged with T-Mobile (NYSE: TMUS ) to purchase its�Mississippi Valley 10MHz�REA AWS�spectrum license for $308 million.
Best Japanese Stocks To Own Right Now: Redwood Trust Inc.(RWT)
Redwood Trust, Inc., a real estate investment trust, together with its subsidiaries, engages in investing, financing, and managing real estate assets. The company?s investments include residential and commercial real estate loans; and securities backed by residential and commercial loans, including senior and subordinate securities. The senior securities are those interests in a securitization that have the first right to cash flows and are last to absorb losses; and subordinate securities are those interests in a securitization that have the last right to cash flows and are first in line to absorb losses. As of March 31, 2011, it had 77 real estate owned properties primarily in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, and Georgia. It would elect to be taxed as a real estate investment trust (REIT) for federal income tax purposes. As a REIT, the company would not be subject to federal income tax, if it distributes at least 90% of net taxable income to its stockholders. Red wood Trust, Inc. was founded in 1994 and is based in Mill Valley, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rich Duprey]
Real estate investment trust��Redwood Trust� (NYSE: RWT ) announced today its third-quarter dividend of $0.28 per share, the same rate it's paid for the past two quarters after raising the payout 12% from $0.25 per share.
- [By Amanda Alix]
Luxury market is doing just fine
Jumbo loans are back, and these mortgages -- which start at $625,000 in some affluent areas -- are being given out like candy�to those with the wealth to back them up. Once considered risky because they are not backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, lenders are falling over themselves to make these loans, driven by a securitization market dominated by entities like Redwood Trust (NYSE: RWT ) and JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM ) . Earlier this month, Redwood offered its seventh securitization backed by jumbos, and JPMorgan just recently announced�its second offering of the year, as well. - [By Vera Yuan]
The Partners Value Fund�� Investor Class returned -1.4% in the third calendar quarter, compared to a +1.1% return for the S&P 500 and flat results for the Russell 3000. The largest companies were generally the strongest performers in the third quarter, most notably Microsoft (MSFT) (+12%), Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) (+9%) and Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX) (+4%) for our Fund. Conversely, small cap stocks fell sharply in July and again in September, with the Russell 2000 index finishing down 7.4% for the quarter. While smaller companies account for approximately 10% of our net assets, these stocks drove most of the Fund�� quarterly decline. Iconix Brand Group (ICON) (-14%), Redwood Trust (RWT) (-14%) and Interval Leisure Group (IILG) (-13%) were the primary small cap detractors. Energy holdings Range Resources (RRC) (-22%) and Apache (APA) (-6%) also impacted results as natural gas and oil prices dropped. We remain optimistic on the long-term outlooks for all five of these stocks, which trade at moderate to large discounts to our business value estimates.
- [By Amanda Alix]
On the mortgage front, Two Harbors notes that it has acquired a passel of prime jumbo home loans, which it likely plans to securitize. The company's CEO, Tom Siering, also addresses this issue on the earnings call, where he states that the trust was involved in a $400 million securitization of prime jumbo loans. This puts Two Harbors in the company of mREIT Redwood Trust (NYSE: RWT ) , which has nearly single-handedly brought back the jumbo-loan securitization market over the past two years. If Redwood's success is any indication -- it recently reported first-quarter net income�of $61 million, compared to the year-ago figure of $30 million -- Two Harbors is on the right track.
Best Japanese Stocks To Own Right Now: E2open Inc (EOPN)
E2open, Inc., incorporated in September 2003, is a provider of cloud-based, on-demand software solutions. The Company�� software applications allow network participants to input, access and share data and execute business processes across internal operating units and external entities. Its E2open Business Network supports operational business processes of its customers and their trading partners, including supply chain management, procurement, sales and finance functions. The E2open Business Network enables integrated planning and execution across trading partner networks. The Company offers on-demand software solutions, which enable its customers to have constant access to its solutions.
The Company houses the hardware and software in third-party facilities, and provides its customers with access to the software applications, along with data security and storage, backup, and recovery services. It invoices its customers for subscription and support in advance for annual use of its software solutions. The Company�� professional services revenue is primarily derived from fees for enabling services, such as solution consulting, solution deployment, B2B on-boarding and solution support that help its customers deploy, manage and support our solutions. These services are sold in conjunction with the sale of its on-demand software solutions or on a standalone basis. It provides professional services both on a fixed fee and a time and materials basis, and invoices its customers in advance, monthly, or upon reaching project milestones.
The Company competes with Infor, Oracle, SAP, GXS Corporation, IBM/Sterling Commerce, SPS Commerce and JDA Software Group, Inc.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Evan Niu, CFA]
What: Shares of E2open (NASDAQ: EOPN ) have plunged today by as much as 28% after the company reported fourth-quarter results.
So what: Non-GAAP revenue in the fourth quarter totaled $18.1 million, shy of the $19.7 million in adjusted sales that investors were expecting. The bottom line also registered a miss, with the adjusted loss of $0.06 coming in below the consensus estimate of a $0.05 per share non-GAAP net loss. CEO Mark Woodward's comments about the company adding a record number of new customers in the quarter didn't make investors feel any better.
Best Japanese Stocks To Own Right Now: IN Media Corp (IMDC)
IN Media Corporation, formerly Tres Estrellas Enterprises, Inc., incorporated on March 5, 2007, is a development-stage company. The Company focuses on providing integrated Internet protocol television (IPTV) services for platform providers for any device from large screen televisions to handheld mobile phones. It provides a combination of hardware, software, manufacturing and content services for platform providers to either complete their offerings or provide an all-in-one solution. On October 16, 2009, the Company executed an agreement between In-Media Corporation (In-Media) and the Company, subsequent to which In-Media was merged into the Company.
The Company�� partnerships with platform providers, such as Comcast, AT&T, DirecTV, provide an installed base of customers, as well as allowing platform providers to be the billing and service interface to customers. The Company is focusing on its first implementation in China through its Chinese distributor, which will include provision of set top boxes (STB)-related system support, reference platforms and technology, and access to over 4,000 titles of Hollywood and Bollywood movies.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Peter Graham]
Small cap stocks IN Media Corp (OTCMKTS: IMDC), Epazz Inc (OTCMKTS: EPAZ) and Polaris International Holdings (OTCMKTS: PIHN) have been busy developing new devices/products or making acquisitions. Moreover, at least two of these small cap stocks have been the subject of paid promotions or investor relations types of activities. Keeping that in mind, will new devices/products or acquisitions help these small caps along with their investors or traders? Here is a closer look:
Best Japanese Stocks To Own Right Now: Research Frontiers Incorporated(REFR)
Research Frontiers Incorporated engages in the development, licensing, and marketing of technology and devices to control the flow of light. The company licenses its suspended particle device (SPD-Smart) light-control technology to companies that manufacture and market the SPD-smart chemical emulsion, light-control film made from chemical emulsion, lamination services, and electronics to power end-products incorporating the film; and end-products, such as windows, skylights, and sunroofs. The SPD-Smart light-control technology is used for various applications, such as windows, skylights, partitions, doors, and sunshades for the architectural, aircraft, marine, automotive, and appliance industries; variable light transmission sunglasses, goggles, visors, and other eyewear; variable light transmission automotive sunroofs, sunvisors, and rear-view mirrors; and flat panel information displays for use in billboards, scoreboards, point-of-purchase advertising displays, traffic s igns, computers, telephones, PDAs, and other electronic instruments. The company was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in Woodbury, New York.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Garrett Cook]
In trading on Friday, cyclical consumer goods & services shares gained 0.61 percent. Top gainers in the sector included Nike (NYSE: NKE), up 10 percent, and Research Frontiers (NASDAQ: REFR), up 5.6 percent.
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