Can Morgan Stanley Move Higher?

With shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) trading around $29, is MS an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE, or STAY AWAY? Let's analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework:

T = Trends for a Stock’s Movement

Morgan Stanley is a global financial services company that, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, provides its products and services to a range of clients and customers, including corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals. The company operates in three segments: institutional securities, global wealth management group, and asset management. Morgan Stanley provides financial advisory and capital-raising services; equity, fixed income, and alternative investments; and merchant banking services. It participates in an industry that powers most other types of businesses around the world.

Morgan Stanley is reportedly in discussions with the Federal Reserve for the bank to buy back more stock in 2014, the Wall Street Journal reports. Morgan Stanley bought back $500 million of its own stock this year for the first time since the financial crisis. Morgan Stanley is looking to raise its return on equity, which is still behind other banks despite strong earnings reports in recent quarters that have raised the stock price 52 percent thus far this year. The Journal noted that it's unclear if the buyback amount will be more or less than this year.

T = Technicals on the Stock Chart Are Strong

Morgan Stanley stock been trending higher in recent months. The stock is moving higher this year and looks ready to continue. Analyzing the price trend and its strength can be done using key simple moving averages. What are the key moving averages? The 50-day (pink), 100-day (blue), and 200-day (yellow) simple moving averages. As seen in the daily price chart below, Morgan Stanley is trading above its rising key averages, which signal neutral to bullish price action in the near-term.

(Source: Thinkorswim)

Taking a look at the implied volatility (red) and implied volatility skew levels of Morgan Stanley options may help determine if investors are bullish, neutral, or bearish.

	Implied Volatility (IV)	30-Day IV Percentile	90-Day IV Percentile
Morgan Stanley Options	23.47%	10%	10%

What does this mean? This means that investors or traders are buying a minimal amount of call and put options contracts as compared to the last 30 and 90 trading days.

	Put IV Skew	Call IV Skew
November Options	Flat	Average
December Options	Flat	Average

As of today, there is an average demand from call buyers or sellers and low demand by put buyers or high demand by put sellers, all neutral to bullish over the next two months. To summarize, investors are buying a minimal amount of call and put option contracts and are leaning neutral to bullish over the next two months.

On the next page, let’s take a look at the earnings and revenue growth rates and the conclusion.

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E = Earnings Are Increasing Quarter-Over-Quarter

Rising stock prices are often strongly correlated with rising earnings and revenue growth rates. Also, the last four quarterly earnings announcement reactions help gauge investor sentiment on Morgan Stanley’s stock. What do the last four quarterly earnings and revenue growth (Y-O-Y) figures for Morgan Stanley look like and more importantly, how did the markets like these numbers?

	2013 Q3	2013 Q2	2013 Q1	2012 Q4
Earnings Growth (Y-O-Y)	78.57%	41.38%	916.67%	294.20%
Revenue Growth (Y-O-Y)	7.44%	22.49%	17.64%	22.85%
Earnings Reaction	2.25%	4.37%	-5.40%	7.85%

Morgan Stanley has seen increasing earnings and revenue figures over the last four quarters. From these numbers, the markets have been pleased with Morgan Stanley’s recent earnings announcements.

P = Average Relative Performance Versus Peers and Sector

How has Morgan Stanley stock done relative to its peers, UBS (NYSE:UBS), TD Ameritrade (NYSE:AMTD), Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW), and sector?

	Morgan Stanley	UBS	TD Ameritrade	Charles Schwab	Sector
Year-to-Date Return	52.14%	25.67%	64.01%	60.31%	51.53%

Morgan Stanley has been an average relative performer, year-to-date.

Conclusion

Morgan Stanley is a financial services company that provides service to consumers and companies across the globe. The company is buying back its own stock this year for the first time since the financial crisis and discusses with the Federal Reserve for the bank to buy back more stock in 2014. The stock has been trending higher in the last year and looks ready to continue. Over the last four quarters, earnings and revenues have been on the rise which has left investors pleased about earnings announcements. Relative to its peers and sector, Morgan Stanley has been an average year-to-date performer. Look for Morgan Stanley to OUTPERFORM.

As Congress Debates, Food Stamp Cuts Kick In

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Dinesh Ramde/AP WASHINGTON -- More than 47 million Americans who receive food stamps will see their benefits go down starting Friday, just as Congress begins negotiations on further cuts to the program. Beginning in November, a temporary benefit from the 2009 economic stimulus that boosts food stamp dollars will no longer be available. According to the Agriculture Department, that means a family of four receiving food stamps will start receiving $36 less a month. The benefits, which go to 1 in 7 Americans, fluctuate based on factors that include food prices, inflation and income. The rolls have swelled as the economy has struggled in recent years, with the stimulus providing higher benefits and many people signing up for the first time. As a result, the program has more than doubled in cost since 2008, now costing almost $80 billion a year. That large increase in spending has turned the program, now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, into a target for House Republicans looking to reduce spending. Negotiations on a wide-ranging farm bill, including cuts to the SNAP program, began Wednesday. Farm bills passed by both the House and the Senate would cut food stamps, reductions that would come on top of those that go into effect Friday. But the two chambers are far apart on the amounts. Legislation passed by the GOP-controlled House would cut food stamps by an additional $4 billion annually and change eligibility and work requirements. The Senate farm bill would cut a tenth of that amount, with Democrats and President Barack Obama opposing major cuts. Farm-state lawmakers have been pushing the farm bill for more than two years, and the conference negotiations represented the opening round in final talks. If the bill isn't passed by the end of the year and current farm law is not extended, certain dairy supports would expire that could raise the price of milk. Farmers would start to feel more effects next spring. "It took us years to get here but we are here," House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., said. "Let's not take years to get it done." The biggest obstacle to a final bill is how far apart the two parties are on food stamps. Lucas said at the conference meeting that he was hoping to find common ground on the issue, but House GOP leaders such Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., have insisted on higher cuts, saying the program should be targeted to the neediest people. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., sent out a statement as the meeting opened that said food stamp recipients "deserve swift action from Congress to pass a bill that provides the much-needed nutritional support for our children, our seniors, our veterans and our communities." As Congress debates the cuts to the program, charities say they are preparing for the farm bill reductions as well as the scheduled cuts taking place Friday. "Charities cannot fill the gap for the cuts being proposed to SNAP," said Maura Daly of Feeding America, a network of the nation's food banks. "We are very concerned about the impact on the charitable system." Daly says food banks may have to as much as double their current levels of distribution if the House cuts were enacted. The Congressional Budget Office says as many as 3.8 million people could lose their benefits in 2014 if the House bill became law.

Rogers Beats BCE In NHL Rights Bidding Battle: Corporate Canada

Nadir Mohamed has been overshadowed for much of his tenure as head of Rogers Communications Inc. (RCI/B) by the dealmaking of his main rival, George Cope at BCE Inc. (BCE)

Just six days before he retires, Mohamed has struck back, outbidding Cope with a C$5.2 billion ($4.9 billion) agreement for broadcast and digital rights to National Hockey League games in Canada over the next 12 years.

Mohamed, 57, told reporters yesterday in Toronto that the deal, the biggest in his five years as chief executive officer of Canada's largest wireless provider, will provide fresh revenue from sports content and be immediately accretive to earnings. It also deprives BCE's TSN network of national rights to Canada's favorite sport.

"It's a spectacular deal for Rogers," said Lee Berke, president of LHB Sports, Entertainment and Media, whose sports consulting firm is based in Scarsdale, New York. "Their competition from a telco standpoint, from a network standpoint - - TSN -- they've eliminated them. It's total control."

Rogers is betting that the broadcast rights, starting in the 2014-2015 hockey season, will provide additional revenue from advertisers and consumers as wireless users increasingly watch sports and follow their favorite teams on smartphones and tablets. In the U.S., sports broadcaster ESPN Inc. said 36 percent of its digital users in October only accessed content from such handheld devices.

Buying Spree

NHL hockey nets about C$100 million in advertising revenue for CBC in a year, a third of its total, Wade Rowland, a professor at York University in Toronto and author of a book on the public broadcaster's budget, said today.

Montreal-based BCE has followed a similar strategy, investing more than C$7 billion to add assets including TSN, which it bought along with the CTV network for C$1.3 billion plus debt in 2011. Cope, who leads Canada's No. 2 wireless operator, also added content by purchasing Astral Media Inc. for C$3.2 billion in July.

Mohamed had been less active on the deals front until he teamed up with BCE in 2011 to buy a majority stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. That deal, which closed in August, 2012, gave Rogers joint ownership of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the NHL's most valuable team, as well as the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association.

Bell Outbid

Rogers and BCE each paid C$533 million for a 37.5 percent stake. Rogers then agreed to buy Score Media Inc. that same month for C$167 million.

The MLSE deal has probably already paid off for the two companies, said Richard Peddie, former CEO of Maple Leaf Sports.

"Pro sports broadcast rights continue to escalate," he said in an e-mail. "Proves again why Bell & Rogers got a great deal buying MLSE."

Rogers slipped 1.2 percent to C$46.23 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, the most in more than a month. BCE fell less than 1 percent to C$46.54. Rogers has climbed 2.4 percent this year, compared with BCE's 9.2 percent gain.

Bell, as the main BCE brand name is known, said yesterday it was outbid by Rogers for the NHL rights. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman declined to comment yesterday on the competing bids that came up short.

Appropriate Bid

"We submitted a bid we believed was valuable for the NHL and appropriate for our business," Scott Henderson, a spokesman for Bell Media, said in an e-mail yesterday. "We're committed to TSN remaining Canada's sports leader."

Bettman, speaking alongside Mohamed yesterday, said Rogers's ability to clinch the rights wasn't just about price. "The Rogers people should be commended for their aggressiveness and strategy," he said.

Rogers's first annual payment to the league will be about C$300 million, climbing to the mid-C$500 million range in the final year of the deal. The Toronto-based company said that it reached separate sublicensing agreements with the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. to continue to broadcast its traditional "Hockey Night in Canada" program on Saturdays, and with Quebecor Media Inc.'s TVA for all French-language national broadcasting rights.

Rogers, which already owns Sportsnet cable television, said the cost of the payments to the NHL will be partly defrayed by the CBC and TVA sublicensing deals. Mohamed said that the agreement will be "accretive from the get-go" to Rogers' profitability. Rogers had net income before one time items of C$1.73 billion last year, on revenue of C$12.5 billion.

Earnings Impact

Keith Pelley, the head of Rogers' media unit who joined from CTV in 2010, told reporters that the deal is "self-financing" by creating fresh revenue that will cover the annual payments.

Advertising revenue will probably make up some but not all of those costs, said Peddie, the former head of Maple Leaf Sports. Rogers can make up the difference with higher cable subscriber fees, and by offering new premium hockey packages for hardcore fans, he said.

Still, Rogers is paying more than double what U.S. broadcasters paid the league for local rights. The NHL's games are broadcast in the U.S. under a 10-year contract signed with Comcast Corp.'s NBC and Versus networks in 2011. That agreement was worth $2 billion, people with knowledge of the transaction said at the time.

'Awful Lot'

"Five billion is an awful lot," said Ian Nakamoto, director of research with MacDougall MacDougall & MacTier Inc. in Toronto. "I'm not sure if it adds that much warmth and comfort to me." Nakamoto's firm manages about C$4.7 billion, including Bell and Rogers shares.

"This NHL deal adds content to their assets, but I don't see it as a big deal," he said.

Bell and TSN will still broadcast 10 Maple Leafs games next season and 26 games starting in 2015 and has partnerships with teams in Montreal, Ottawa and Winnipeg, along with Hockey Canada and the World Junior Championships, said Bell's Scott Henderson. In addition to its stake in the Leafs, BCE also has a stake in the Montreal Canadiens that preserve its regional broadcasting rights for those teams.

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Guy Laurence, who used to run Vodafone Group Plc (VOD)'s U.K. business, replaces Mohamed on Dec. 2, capping his tenure as CEO with a flourish.

"It's remarkable and a testament to Rogers how quickly this came together," said Bettman.

Market Wrap For Friday, October 18: Markets Continue to Make New Highs On Upbeat Earnings

Markets continued to leap higher on a weak dollar as the Federal Reserve is expected to continue its 85 billion dollar quantitative easing.

After announcing a small earnings beat last night, shares of Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) are up more than 13 percent, helping push the Nasdaq up more than twice as much as the S&P 500. This is the first time shares of Google have topped $1,000.

Major Indexes

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 28 points, or 0.18 percent to close at 15,399.65.

The S&P 500 added 11.35 points, or 0.65 percent to close at 1,744.50.

The Nasdaq jumped 51.13 points, or 1.32 percent to close at 3,914.28.

The Russell 2000 climbed 12.5 points, or 1.13 percent to close at 1,114.77.

Stock Movers

General Electric Co (NYSE: GE) reported an 8.6% drop in its third-quarter profit, however this beat analyst estimates. Shares rose 3.42 percent to $25.52.

Align Technology (NASDAQ: ALGN) shot up 26.24 percent to $57.98 after the company reported upbeat third-quarter results.

Athenahealth (NASDAQ: ATHN) gained 24.05 percent to $1310.83 following a strong third quarter report and a conference call that impressed traders.

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) was the big gainer, up 13.8 percent to $122.61 after reporting better-than-expected third-quarter results.

Ariad Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ARIA) tumbled 40.67 percent to $2.67 after the company announced discontinuation of the Phase 3 EPIC trial of Iclusig.

Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) shares sold down 13.69 percent to $3.53 after the company reported a six percent fall in its personal computer chip sales.

Acacia Research (NASDAQ: ACTG) was down 21.10 percent to $15.48 after the company reported Q3 results. Stephens downgraded the stock from Overweight to Underweight.

Commodities

Energy futures were largely unmoved Friday. WTI crude held the $100 level, up 0.02 to $100.69. At last check Brent was up 0.8 percent to $109.98. Natural gas moved less than a penny to $3.76.

After jumping higher Thursday, precious metals ended the week down. Gold futures fell 0.6 percent heading into the equity market close to $1,315.10. Silver futures dropped 0.17 percent to $21.91.

Global markets

Markets were up across the world, with Japan being the only major loser. China's Shanghai index rose 0.24 percent with Hong Kong's Hang Seng up 1.06 percent. Japan's dropped 0.17 percent on the day.

The Euro Stoxx index, which tracks 50 blue chips rose 0.76 percent, with London's FTSE adding 0.71 percent. France's CAC index moved up 1.09 percent.

Currencies

After taking a huge hit yesterday, the Dollar was mostly flat to finish out the week. At last check, the Powershares ETF (NYSE: UUP) which tracks the value of the US dollar versus a basket of foreign currencies moved up 0.02 percent to 21.45.

The closely watched EUR/USD pair rose 0.05 percent to $1.3682. Other big movers on the day include the AUD/USD, which rose 0.35 percent.

Volume and Volatility

Volume was as expected Thursday, with 130 million shares of the SPRD S&P 500 ETF (NYSE: SPY) trading hands. This compares to the ten day average of 140 million.

Volatility took a slide down Friday, with the CBOE measure of Volatility (VIX), down 1.34 percent to 13.3.

Posted-In: Market WrapEarnings News Emerging Markets Guidance Eurozone Futures Commodities Forex Econ #s Economics After-Hours Center Markets Best of Benzinga

(c) 2013 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

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Investors thankful for stocks at records

Click the chart for more stock market data.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) Stocks climbed higher for a seventh straight week last week, and the Dow and S&P 500 closed at record highs above key milestones. But will investors stay hungry for stocks during Thanksgiving week?

Trading volume is typically quiet during the holiday-shortened week. The U.S. markets will be closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving and will shut down at 1 p.m. EST on Friday.

Still, stocks have historically moved higher even as investors may be more focused on turkey and football. The S&P 500 has averaged a gain of 0.6% during Thanksgiving week over the past 20 years, according to Schaffer's Investment Research.

And with just a small move up, the Nasdaq could top 4,000, a level it hasn't touched since September 2000 -- just months after the tech market collapsed. The Nasdaq ended last week just shy of 3,992.

Meanwhile, world focus was on the nuclear deal reached between Iran and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany this weekend.

Under the deal, Iran has agreed to significantly reduce its nuclear program. In exchange, the six world powers will temporarily lift several sanctions against Iran, including those on gold and precious metals. Nearly $4.2 billion in Iranian oil reserves that had been frozen will also be unlocked.

Investors continue to wait for more clarity from the Federal Reserve about when it may pull back on some of its stimulus measures.

Minutes from the Fed's October meeting released last week showed that policymakers believe scaling back, or tapering, its bond buying program is warranted "in coming months." But exactly when the Fed will make the tapering announcement remains unclear.

Some experts believe the Fed could begin pulling back on its $85 billion per ! month in bond purchases as early as December.

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But others think the Fed will wait until early 2014 after Ben Bernanke's term as Fed chair is over.

Current Fed vice chair Janet Yellen is awaiting approval from the Senate to be the next head of the Fed.

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Her confirmation is expected to be a formality after the Senate Banking Committee voted last week to send her nomination to the full Senate for a vote that is likely to take place next month.

The Fed's stimulus measures have been a major factor fueling the bull market for the past several years.

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HP earnings and retail sales in the spotlight: Though the week ahead will likely be light on economic news, investors will be keeping an eye on a few earnings reports.

Hewlett-Packard (HPQ, Fortune 500) will be in focus as investors look for an update on Meg Whitman's turnaround plan for the PC and printer maker. Investors have been pleased with Whitman so far, and HP has been beating low expectations. Shares of HP are up almost 80% so far this year.

Tiffany's (TIF) and Barnes & Noble (BKS, Fortune 500) are also on tap to report their latest quarterly results. Retailers will generate a lot of attention on the night of Thanksgiving and Black Friday as the holiday shopping season kicks off.

There are some worries that consumers may be less willing to spend as much on gifts this year. But stores are opening earlier than ever before in hopes to attract more shoppers for Black Friday, one of the busiest days of the year for r! etailers.!

Kmart, a subsidiary of Sears (SHLD, Fortune 500), is leading the pack, opening at 6 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day and staying open for 41 hours straight -- a move that has generated backlash from some customers who feel that store employees should be given a break to spend time with family on the holiday.

Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500)is opening doors at at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, two hours earlier than last year. Macy's (M, Fortune 500), Kohl's (KSS, Fortune 500), J.C. Penney (JCP, Fortune 500) and Sears will let customers in at 8 p.m.

Probe expands into JPMorgan hiring practices in China

JPMorgan has disclosed a wider probe into its Hong Kong hiring practices.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) JPMorgan has disclosed a widening probe into its hiring practices in China.

Three months ago, it said in a quarterly filing that the Securities and Exchange Commission's division of enforcement was seeking information and documents relating to its hiring practices in Hong Kong.

On Friday it disclosed in a filing that the Justice Department and other authorities are also looking into the matter. The bank also provided more details about the hiring practices being examined.

The filing said the probe is looking into "hiring practices relating to candidates referred by clients, potential clients and government officials." It's also investigating consultants hired by the bank.

A bank spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

In August, the New York Times reported that a confidential U.S. government document detailed that the matter involved the son of a former top Chinese banking regulator and the daughter of a Chinese railway official. But the Times reported that the document doesn't accuse the bank of any wrongdoing and does not suggest that the employees weren't qualified to hold the positions.

JPMorgan has been the subject of numerous investigations by U.S. and overseas regulators so far this year, and has paid out billions of dollars in fines.

Most recently it agreed to pay $5.1 billion to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to resolve claims stemming from the housing bubble. It also agreed to about $1 billion in fines to settle charges related to the "London whale" trading debacle. It has agreed to pay $410 million for manipulating electricity markets, nearly $400 million in fines and restitution for credit card practices, and has agreed to billions more in payments to homeowners! to settle complaints about improper foreclosure practices.

Conquer social media – it's like falling off a blog

In my last blog post, we got to the heart of why any adviser should establish a personal online presence, one that goes way beyond a corporate website.

Now, we're going to tackle “the how.”

When financial advisers come to me to talk about Twitter or Facebook, I ask them for their URL. Typically, they will offer up a Twitter handle or a user name. Some will give me the website address of their firm's corporate homepage.

Either way, they're missing something very important: The core of an adviser's social media game plan should be a blog. All other social media sites, from Twitter to Facebook to LinkedIn to StockTwits, should be built around a blog. Think of your social-media strategy as a human body: the blog is the torso and the networks and sites you use are the appendages attached to it.

The blog is where you write long-form on topics and issues that are important to you. It's where you record your day-to-day thoughts, and how you showcase your skill sets and knowledge. Other social sites and services offer you an opportunity to do this, but in a diluted fashion or on a smaller scale.

With a blog, you are in complete control of the look, feel, aesthetics and content. It's a trophy case for who you are, what you've accomplished and how seriously you take your profession. It's a living library for all of the information you find compelling enough to fill it with. It's a chronicle of your professional and maybe even your personal triumphs and tribulations.

While there is nothing innately wrong with posting your writing directly to Facebook or LinkedIn, you should realize that by doing so, you are creating content for Facebook or for LinkedIn and not for yourself. Furthermore, the nature of social networks is that old content tends to get pushed down in favor of new content — there is a short lifespan during which your posting will be seen and read by others. With a blog, you control the speed at which your old content rolls off and new content is published above it. You can also spotlight certain posts you may feel are explanatory or elemental in terms of how you want people to perceive you. On the top of my blog, for example, I keep a “Best Of” tab, where I can throw links to what I consider my best or most essential work.

Besides, there are no rules about taking your blog posts and uploading them to LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+ or wherever else you'd want them to be read. But everythi! ng you do should originate at your home base.

From a compliance standpoint, this is probably a best practice anyway — as it essentially serves as an archive for all your public comments.

One last word of caution: Don't spend any money! Hold off on hiring IT people or consultants until you've set yourself up and have determined whether or not this is something to which you want to commit yourself. I recommend WordPress as your blog platform, as Blogger/Blogspot sites tend not to look at professional and aren't as flexible.

I'd buy a domain for $13 and point it at your blog as opposed to having a WordPress address — it's literally the least you can do to make the site seem like some thought was put into it.

Tumblr is another easy option if you just want to get your bearings and experiment with writing daily for a few weeks. The Tumblr platform has limited functionality from the back end, but you can be up and running in under a minute and can choose a decent amount of its style.

I recommend setting up the blog and playing around with it for a few months before you worry about whether anyone is ever going to find it. As I said in my previous column, make a mess while no one is looking and really focus on finding your voice. Your writing chops will improve as you go and you'll be amazed at the shift in content and subject matter that t

Shoppers already lining up for Black Friday deals

Some shoppers refuse to lose out on a bargain — even if it means camping out 24/7 for more than a week.

Shoppers across the country are setting up camp in front of Best Buy electronics stores to snag the best deals on Black Friday.

Intrepid consumers started lining up Monday at a Best Buy in suburban Akron.

Jonas Allooh was first in line, putting up his 10-person tent to simulate the comforts of home: bed, generator, space heater, TV, game console and microwave oven. Allooh, who graduated in August from Kent State University with a doctorate in audiology, has some time on his hands as he looks for a job.

Camping out for Black Friday deals has become a tradition for him, he says. He's been doing it for four years with his buddies, who've been doing it for about seven years, he says.

"They are seasoned pros," he says about his friends. "We've got a propane heater. And we threw a tarp over the tent to keep out the cold. And we have lots and lots of blankets."

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The hearty shoppers have created a community of people camping out until the post-Thanksgiving sales.

Allooh and his two brothers — they're identical triplets — and their friends were eager to be first in line, so Allooh set up camp on Monday. Since then, shoppers have erected two more tents.

Allooh is eyeing a 27-inch computer monitor and some gifts for "someone who doesn't know what we are getting her." It's his mom, Molly Sebring, who laughed talking about her son's urban camping adventure.

Still, he's not completely sure what, if anything, he wants to buy. "I have plenty of time to look at the flyer," he says.

For him, it's more of a social event than a shopping event. Last year, he left right before the store opened and shopped online.

As for Thanksgiving dinner, his mom isn't so sure she'll spend Thanksgiving with her sons ! if they spend it in the tent.

"It's awful cold in that tent, even with the heater," Sebring says. Allooh says he hopes friends will relieve them so they can have Thanksgiving dinner at home.

Tony Avitar, who was first in line last year, set up the second tent.

Avitar "came earlier than he had planned to because he saw the other tent was here," his parents, Ed and Janet Regec of Akron, told the Akron-Beacon Journal.

The Cuyahoga Falls Best Buy is offering deals on 60-inch flat-screen TVs for $998, iPads for $300 and digital cameras half off at $800. The chain retailer will open at 6 p.m. nationwide on Thanksgiving Day.

In Jacksonville, N.C., Robert Prine told WITN that he set up his tent Wednesday afternoon. He's in line for a coveted Xbox One gaming system, which goes on sale early Friday at midnight. He also wants to snag a Black Friday deal on a 65-inch Samsung TV that he says will save him $1,000.

He told the station that he has camped out before for Black Friday, but never longer than 48 hours.

In Beaumont, Calif., Victoria Torres is the veteran Black Friday shopper/camper of a small troop of about 10 people. She's been camping outside the Best Buy for Black Friday sales for five years.

"When we need something and we can't afford it, we come out here on Black Friday, because they've got the good deals," she told the station.

She was in line Monday. She said she looks forward to it every year.

"It gets a little cold," Torres said, "but it's worth it."

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It is well-past time to expand access to hedge funds

Now that the Securities and Exchange Commission has made public its plans to re-evaluate the current rules establishing investor access to private investments such as hedge funds, we should expect the familiar battle lines to start re-emerging.

As my colleague Mark Schoeff Jr. reported on Tuesday, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Jo White is considering changes to the criteria that must be met to be considered an accredited investor, which likely would expand the market of potential participants in the market.

Currently, only investors who have a net worth of $1 million, excluding the value of their homes, or an income greater than $200,000 can buy unregistered securities or invest in private-equity and hedge funds.

Ms. White, along with other advocates of revising the accredited investor definition, support some revisions that might include qualifications related to financial literacy, industry knowledge and actual experience with complex investment strategies.

Perhaps ironically, that basically describes most financial advisers, which means an expanded definition of an accredited investor could represent a new value-added benefit of working with a financial professional (if regulators decide a trusted adviser can act on behalf of investors as a kind of financial intermediary).

Opposition to any expanded access to an asset class often described as dark, dangerous and overly expensive typically begins by putting forth hypothetical victims that could lose it all to some dubious hedge fund manager who might bet too heavily on an obscure currency trade or go short the S&P 500 over the past five years.

That could conceivably happen, but we all know you don't need a hedge fund to lose money.

Just ask anyone invested in the U.S. Global Investors World Precious Minerals Fund (UNWPX), which is down 48.7% this year. Or the Fidelity Select Gold Fund (FSAGX), down 46.7% this year.

We saw similar arguments against changing the access requirements a few years ago, the last time anyone seriously talked about revising the accredited investor definition. One difference is that at that time, the talk was all about raising the investor net-worth requirement because some special interests were worried too many regular folks are now making enough money to meet the income requirement to invest in hedge funds.

A couple of points that much of the opposition seem to be missing include the fact that, regardless of how regulators want to define accredited, the private investment universe is still controlling and restricting access primarily by setting investment minimums well beyond most investors' reach.

Restrictions related to the number of investors, or limited partners, allowed to participate in most p! rivate investment structures also exist, which gives hedge funds another incentive to keep minimums as high as possible.

I'm not suggesting that hedge funds are beyond reproach or immune to scandal, or that investors don't need regulatory protections.

But arguing for the status quo, or even a more restrictive version of the status quo, is not really helping anyone — with the exception of any industry that competes with hedge funds for investor money.

One might need to be a millionaire to invest in most hedge funds, but no such restrictions prevent anyone from buying into something like the disastrous Facebook IPO, investing in an inverse or leveraged exchange-traded fund, or even putting 5% down on a mortgage that effectively represents 95% leverage on an extremely illiquid and long-term financial commitment.

The bottom line is, the current accreditation rules are antiquated and potentially obstructive because they could be preventing investor access to products they might actually need.

If there must be qualifications and restrictions on investor access to private investment vehicles, one's income or bank account should be a minor consideration.

As much as I tried to resist the Paris Hilton example, you only need to ask yourself if the overcelebrated socialite and heiress to the Hilton Hotels fortune is more qualified to invest in a hedge fund than your average financial adviser.

The current SEC rules say she is.

Advisers honored for giving back to their communities

The extraordinary commitment of 15 financial advisers to their local and global communities shined Thursday night at the seventh annual Community Leadership Awards in New York, an event designed to highlight the charitable work of the advice industry.

Five advisers were singled out for awards by the Invest in Others Charitable Foundation and InvestmentNews. A total of $150,000 will be donated to the charities that the 15 advisers support.

“The award and recognition of philanthropic work that financial advisers are involved in does indeed help those involved — it raises more for important causes and encourages others to get involved,” said Bill Dwyer, chairman of Invest in Others.

Bruce E. Fyfe of ProVise Management Group LLC in Clearwater, Fla., received the Community Service Award for the Homeless Emergency Project Inc., which provides emergency housing and permanent supportive housing and food for those in need in Clearwater. HEP serves 400 clients a day.

Mr. Fyfe and his wife personally raised $3.4 million to create a 32-unit complex that opened last year for homeless veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It's dedicated to their son who died in 2009 from the effects of severe post-traumatic stress disorder after serving in Iraq.

“The [Department of Veterans Affairs] does wonderful things, but they are a hospital system; they can't provide long-term transitional care for young men and women struggling with the ravages of mental illness caused by war. We are the only ones who can do it,” said Mr. Fyfe in an emotional speech accepting the award.

He said the $20,000 that HEP will receive from Invest in Others will support the expensive recovery for two men or women.

The other finalists in the category were Craig W. Henderson of C.W. Henderson & Associates Inc. in Chicago, for the Chicago International Charter School, and Brian Keith Moon of West Texas Investment Advisors/SCF Securities in Plainview, Texas, for Hale Center Emergency Medical Service.

Suzanne Siracuse, publisher of InvestmentNews, said the industry is filled with individuals and firms willing to give back.

“I am never prouder of what we do than this time of year, when we can honor and bring to light the good that exists in our business,” she said.

During the event, Michael J. Swallow of CBIZ Financial Services in Cleveland was named Volunteer of the Year for helping to create the Northeast Ohio Foundation for Patriotism, which helps support military families. Neopat has donated $250,000 to help 3,000 families since it was created in 2011.

The finalists for this award included Hatim Smouni of Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Little Rock, Ark., for the Winthrop P.! Rockefeller Cancer Institute and Debra Brennan Tagg of Brennan Financial Services in Addison, Texas, for United Way of Metropolitan Dallas.

Chris Kittrell of Rather & Kittrell Inc. in Knoxville, Tenn., won the Volunteer Team Award for providing impoverished families in Huntsville, Tenn., with food, clothing and other supplies. The Rather & Kittrell team raises funds from clients and others throughout the year.

The finalists were John L. McKeever III of Financial Advisors of Delaware Valley in Conshohocken, Pa., for the Committee to Benefit the Children, and Amy Treat and Van Mason of StoneRidge Wealth Management in Portland, Ore., for The StoneRidge Foundation.

The Global Community Impact award was given to Jessica Jones of Edward Jones in The Woodlands, Texas, for Build Your House on the Rock Ministries. She and her husband have funded college for 250 students in Guatemala and created a charitable trust that will continue supporting the cause after her death.

The finalists were Larry Agee of True North Asset Management in Lake Charles, La., for Disaster Aid USA, and Bob Condon of The Foundation Investment Group in Berkeley, Calif., for Community Partners International.

Brett W. Hoge of BB&T Scott & Stringfellow in Winston-Salem, N.C., won the Mentoring Excellence Award for his work with Big Brothers Big Sisters (Winston-Salem). In addition to serving as a board member and fundraiser, he and his wife have mentored three Littles over the past 11 years.

The finalists included David L. Grey of Grey Investments LLC in Beverly, Mass., for Children's Friend & Family Services, and Jeffrey L. Rotsky of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management in Cleveland for the Rotsky Foundation for Mentors.

A special report on the CLA honorees, who were selected from among 220 nominees, will appear in the Oct. 14 issue of InvestmentNews.

Top 5 Blue Chip Companies For 2014

BALTIMORE (Stockpickr) -- No doubt about it: Traders love low-priced stocks.

I'll let you in on a little secret: Share price doesn't really have an impact on your potential investment gains. At least not directly.

But indirectly, it's true that lower-priced stocks also tend to have lower market capitalizations, a fact that makes them statistically more volatile -- and more apt to make noticeable price moves. That, coupled with the psychological effects of buying sub-$10 stocks makes them worth taking a closer look at.

That's especially true after the 24% rally that we've seen in the S&P 500. Since smaller, more speculative names tend to see their most impressive gains after the more staid blue chips have already made their moves, now is a very good time to take a closer look at stocks that trade for $10 or less.

So, today, we're taking a closer technical look at five of them.

If you're new to technical analysis, here's the executive summary.

Top 5 Blue Chip Companies For 2014: McDonald's Corporation(MCD)

McDonald?s Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a worldwide foodservice retailer. It franchises and operates McDonald?s restaurants that offer various food items, soft drinks, coffee, and other beverages. As of December 31, 2009, the company operated 32,478 restaurants in 117 countries, of which 26,216 were operated by franchisees; and 6,262 were operated by the company. McDonald?s Corporation was founded in 1948 and is based in Oak Brook, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lu Wang]

  McDonald�� (MCD) declined 2.6 percent to $100.20 for the worst retreat in the Dow. The world�� biggest restaurant chain said sales at stores open at least 13 months fell 0.6 percent in April as growth slowed in its Asia-Pacific region. Analysts estimated a 0.5 percent drop, the average of estimates from Consensus Metrix.

Top 5 Blue Chip Companies For 2014: Visa Inc.(V)

Visa Inc., a payments technology company, engages in the operation of retail electronic payments network worldwide. It facilitates commerce through the transfer of value and information among financial institutions, merchants, consumers, businesses, and government entities. The company owns and operates VisaNet, a global processing platform that provides transaction processing services. It also offers a range of payments platforms, which enable credit, charge, deferred debit, debit, and prepaid payments, as well as cash access for consumers, businesses, and government entities. The company provides its payment platforms under the Visa, Visa Electron, PLUS, and Interlink brand names. In addition, it offers value-added services, including risk management, issuer processing, loyalty, dispute management, value-added information, and CyberSource-branded services. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Don Miller]

  By way of example, let's take a look at three solid companies with some of the best profit margins in their sectors:

  By the very nature of their business, financials tend to have wide profit margins, and Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) is no exception. The fourth-largest bank in the country in terms of assets, with outstanding customer service and a strong brand, WFC has a current profit margin of 25.5%. WFC offers a broad range of banking services, including retail banking, asset management, and retirement planning. WFC carries a market cap of $219 billion and a price/earnings (P/E) ratio of 11.3; the overall return for the past 52 weeks is 20.5%. Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC) holds an 80% share of the world's microprocessor market, giving them a moat as wide as any brand on the planet. Intel invested $12 billion in research and development last year, far more than any of its competitors. Even though it briefly lost its technology edge in the smartphone and tablet market, its Atom processors are becoming much more competitive. This should achieve more design wins and give Intel pricing power. Even though the stock is off 11% in the last year, its sheer scale and profit margins of 18.1% make Intel a sleeping giant that's about to wake up. Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) has a coveted gatekeeper's role in the financial services marketplace, with the bulk of its revenue coming from transaction fees. As e-commerce and mobile payments continue to grow, Visa and counterpart MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA) are in the catbird seat. Visa sports a fat profit margin of 47.2%, and the stock has more than doubled over the past five years.� Earnings are projected to increase by 19.6% per year over the next five years. With a presence in virtually every country on the planet and the explosion of e-commerce payments, Visa is a great way to tap into a business with unlimited growth opportunities.

  Now that you know where to invest, find out how to prot

• [By Nick Taborek]

  Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Visa (V) Inc. and Nike Inc. (NKE) will be added to the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU), replacing Bank of America Corp. (BAC), Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) and Alcoa Inc. (AA) in the biggest reshuffling since April 2004.

• [By Chris Hill]

  Shares of Visa (NYSE: V  ) rose to an all-time high on Thursday after the company reported stronger-than-expected second-quarter earnings. Should investors buy Visa, or is MasterCard (NYSE: MA  ) the better bet? In this installment of MarketFoolery, our analysts discuss Visa, MasterCard, PayPal, and the future of the payments industry.

10 Best Biotech Stocks To Watch Right Now: International Business Machines Corporation(IBM)

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) provides information technology (IT) products and services worldwide. Its Global Technology Services segment provides IT infrastructure and business process services, including strategic outsourcing, process, integrated technology, and maintenance services, as well as technology-based support services. The company?s Global Business Services segment offers consulting and systems integration, and application management services. Its Software segment offers middleware and operating systems software, such as WebSphere software to integrate and manage business processes; information management software for database and enterprise content management, information integration, data warehousing, business analytics and intelligence, performance management, and predictive analytics; Tivoli software for identity management, data security, storage management, and datacenter automation; Lotus software for collaboration, messaging, and so cial networking; rational software to support software development for IT and embedded systems; business intelligence software, which provides querying and forecasting tools; SPSS predictive analytics software to predict outcomes and act on that insight; and operating systems software. Its Systems and Technology segment provides computing and storage solutions, including servers, disk and tape storage systems and software, point-of-sale retail systems, and microelectronics. The company?s Global Financing segment provides lease and loan financing to end users and internal clients; commercial financing to dealers and remarketers of IT products; and remanufacturing and remarketing services. It serves financial services, public, industrial, distribution, communications, and general business sectors. The company was formerly known as Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co. and changed its name to International Business Machines Corporation in 1924. IBM was founded in 1910 and is based in Armonk, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Alex Planes]

  On April 29, 1952, IBM (NYSE: IBM  ) IBM president (and soon-to-be CEO) Thomas J. Watson, Jr. announced to the public that IBM would soon introduce "the most advanced, most flexible high-speed computer in the world." It was called the Defense Calculator while in development, but IBM later rechristened it the 701 Electronic Data Processing Machine -- the company's first commercially available scientific computer. It would be the symbolic bridge between two eras of IBM -- from punched-card tabulators to digital computers and from the leadership of the first Thomas J. Watson to the second.

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  Had the politicians in Washington D.C. not come together,�this article could have been talking about the amazing repeats in history of October stock market crashes. Here are some post-1987 crash levels of existing DJIA components then versus now on a split-adjusted and dividend-adjusted trading basis.

  American Express Co.�(NYSE: AXP) was $3.48 then versus $80.52 now. The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) was $1.12 versus $38.78 now. DuPont (NYSE: DD) was $5.50 then versus $59.62 now. General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) $1.69 then versus $25.55 now. International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) $15.67 then versus $173.78 now. 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) was $6.63 then versus $122.84 now. McDonald’s Corp.�(NYSE: MCD) was $3.00 then versus $95.20 now.

  Again, future bear markets and market crashes will come. They always do. Until then, enjoy this raging bull market we have in stocks.

Top 5 Blue Chip Companies For 2014: Apple Inc.(AAPL)

Apple Inc., together with subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and markets personal computers, mobile communication and media devices, and portable digital music players, as well as sells related software, services, peripherals, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications worldwide. The company sells its products worldwide through its online stores, retail stores, direct sales force, third-party wholesalers, resellers, and value-added resellers. In addition, it sells third-party Mac, iPhone, iPad, and iPod compatible products, including application software, printers, storage devices, speakers, headphones, and other accessories and peripherals through its online and retail stores; and digital content and applications through the iTunes Store. The company sells its products to consumer, small and mid-sized business, education, enterprise, government, and creative markets. As of September 25, 2010, it had 317 retail stores, including 233 stores in the United States and 84 stores internationally. The company, formerly known as Apple Computer, Inc., was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Cupertino, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Evan Niu, CFA]

  This year's iPhone 5S is widely expected to include some type of fingerprint sensor, leveraging Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) acquisition of AuthenTec last year for $356 million.

• [By Evan Niu, CFA]

  While Japan has never been among Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) most important geographical segments, especially compared with other Asian countries like China. The "Greater China" segment has become so important to the Mac maker's results that it just recently broke it out into a separate reportable segment. Japan was just 7% of revenue last quarter, far below Greater China's 19% contribution.

Top 5 Blue Chip Companies For 2014: Colgate-Palmolive Company(CL)

Colgate-Palmolive Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets consumer products worldwide. It offers oral care products, including toothpaste, toothbrushes, and mouth rinses, as well as dental floss and pharmaceutical products for dentists and other oral health professionals; personal care products, such as liquid hand soap, shower gels, bar soaps, deodorants, antiperspirants, shampoos, and conditioners; and home care products comprising laundry and dishwashing detergents, fabric conditioners, household cleaners, bleaches, dishwashing liquids, and oil soaps. The company offers its oral, personal, and home care products under the Colgate Total, Colgate Max Fresh, Colgate 360 Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  One concern, though, is how the company handled news of Venezuela's currency devaluation. Clorox (NYSE: CLX  ) and Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL  ) also felt the pinch, with Clorox taking about a $0.05 to $0.10 per-share earnings hit and Colgate losing about $0.50 per share. But they also addressed the potential devaluation more proactively than P&G did. Clorox actually�anticipated�the devaluation in its February earnings report, projecting the potential hit if a devaluation took place. Colgate didn't provide specific guidance in advance but clearly saw it as an issue, delivering on a promise to give prompt guidance revisions after the devaluation occurred.

• [By Dividend Growth Investor]

  In a previous article, I outlined that it is getting more difficult to find quality dividend paying stocks to buy. Most of the usual suspects like Kimberly-Clark (KMB) or Colgate-Palmolive (CL) are very overvalued today, which prevents me from adding to my positions there. Other companies like Chevron (CVX) are attractively valued today, but unfortunately my portfolio is overweight in them. Currently I find the oil sector to be cheap and have some of the lowest P/E ratios in the market. However, I would hate to be concentrated in one sector which is exposed to the fluctuating prices in its commodity products.

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Colgate-Palmolive Co (NYSE: CL) is expected to report its Q3 earnings at $0.73 per share on revenue of $4.46 billion.

  Precision Castparts (NYSE: PCP) is projected to report its Q2 earnings at $2.83 per share on revenue of $2.36 billion.

Our Autumn of Discontent

By Salil Mehta, statistician and blogger at (Statistical Ideas)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The fall months may be some of the riskiest months in the market. After all, most of the infamous 10, worst one�-day market panics on the Dow, have occurred near October. But a ranked listing of only 10 is a freakishly small sample of extreme events from which to draw any statistical significance.

The history of the Dow goes back to the late 19th century. And with enough data, we can better understand the frequency of when severe market drops occur. We know that Mark Twain once said at about the same time the Dow started, "It is not worth while to try to keep history from repeating itself, for man's character will always make the preventing of the repetitions impossible."

There is a statistically strong historical repetition of market crashes, occurring in the months near October. But so too do crashes more often occur on Mondays, for any month of the year. Of the 29,400 trading days in the history of the Dow, we looked at the worst 294 (or 1%) of them. In order to qualify for this club of the worst 1% days, a daily price drop of at least 3.2% was needed. And while we expect five of these worst 1% days biennially, the most recent one we have had was November 2011. Here is the distribution of those 294 days by month, in red on the chart. As a statistical alternate, we also show, in light green, the distribution of 294 days evenly spread across 12 months.

Next we show the distribution of these worst 1% trading days, by the weekday when they occurred. The statistical strength of Mondays is very powerful, and it does not transfer over to either the trading day before or after (e.g., Fridays or Tuesdays). We can see this with a simple kernalized smoothing technique, with a width of plus or minus one day. We see the kernalized distribution essentially matches the uniform distribution in light green, so we fail to appreciate that the Monday result is a product of luck during the five-weekday cycle.

On the contrary, a similar smoothing exercise in the monthly distribution data above wouldn't have changed the monthly seasonal pattern we see. Additionally, we know that there are two weekend, non-trading days, breaking the psychological rhythm between Friday and Monday. There is no similar large break, of any non-trading months, in the monthly distribution.

Top 5 Low Price Companies For 2014

It is worth noting that the combinations of the weekday and monthly data are also statistically significant. Again, here we use a Chi-square non-parametric test, to measure possible differences from expectations. With the 294 worst trading days, spread over 60 weekday and month combinations, we have designed a statistically large enough sample to see significance within the weekday and month combination. We see this 60-weekday and month combination distribution above. October is represented in yellow; Monday is represented by blue. We see that the riskiest time for the markets, shown in green, have been near October, and particularly on Mondays. None of the above analysis is statistically significant for the average severity of market drops, beyond the 3.2% threshold, just to be in this worst 1% club. But as we have shown in this note, it is important to also pay attention to the frequency of highly risky market times when planning any investment strategy for the uncertain autumnal season ahead. Written by Salil Mehta, creator of the Statistical Ideas blog. At the time of publication, the author held no positions in any of the stocks mentioned, although positions may change at any time. This article is commentary by an independent contributor, separate from TheStreet's regular news coverage.

Your Money: Retailers use deals to get you conn…

Head into the mall this holiday season, and you won't just be bombarded by 50% off signs or two-for-one deals. Once you hit the cash register, someone is bound to tempt you with more deals if you sign up for text messages, credit cards and other goodies.

The other day a clerk seemed ready to snatch the cellphone out of my purse just so I wouldn't miss out on all those supposedly secret sales. She reluctantly rang up my $15 purchase, disheartened that I did not sign up for text messages. I declined, as my budget could not survive a ping from a clothing store every day or week. My husband gets more than his fair share of texts from Culver's for frozen custard and burgers — and sometimes that doesn't work out all that well, either.

The pitch this holiday season is to get you hyper-connected to a store, restaurant or credit card. It's a two-way street. Some discounts may be worth a little extra annoyance.

"I'm prepared to sacrifice my privacy for a good bargain, if it's relevant," said Nick Holland, senior payments analyst at Javelin Strategy & Research, which offers insights into consumer behavior for merchants, banks and others.

And what if you open a credit card at the store for extra "savings" on the spot? As we try to watch our wallets this holiday season, it's key to question whether an extra 10% off just encourages us to spend even more.

Major credit cards offer some extra deals, too.

Discover, for example, is offering a 5% Cashback Bonus on up to $1,500 on various online purchases — or as much as $75 — through the end of the year.

Through Dec. 31, Chase Freedom card holders receive 5% cash back on up to $1,500 spent at Amazon.com and select department stores, such as Macy's.

The Citi Dividend card has a 5% cashback deal up to $1,500 in purchases for items bought at Best Buy, department stores and toy stores through year's end.

Other deals exist, too. Every Tuesday from now through Dec. 17, if someone shops with any Citi card and spends a! t least $100 in purchases on Walmart.com, they'll receive a $10 eGift card from Walmart.com.

"They're going after people buying gifts," said Tyler Felous, head of product at Wisely, an Ann-Arbor based personal finance and shopping start-up.

Retailers get a handle on how to sell you more gifts and stuff, too, either online or at physical stores.

"They want to be able to throw you the right promotions," said Holland. "It's about closing the loop."

For consumers, one risk is that the deals could get you to spend more than you realize.

You might plan to pay off a large purchase before the limited 0% offer expires on the new credit card opened to buy the item, said Gerri Detweiler, director of consumer education at Credit.com.

But what if you do not get that big tax refund as soon as you expect and the money doesn't arrive in time to pay off that TV in full? Then, you could be paying a very high interest rate that may be charged from the date of purchase. Some cards could have regular rates of 25% or so.

Some consumers swear that the best way to track their spending is to use cash.

Others only put their purchases on one credit card or one debit card, just to carefully watch on the total amount they're spending each month.

Best Cheap Companies To Watch In Right Now

But make no mistake, plenty of consumers are being tempted by store discounts for signing up for yet another credit card.

"Some retailers are stepping up with some strong offers," said Bill Hardekopf, CEO of LowCards.com in Birmingham, Ala., a website that provides credit card information for consumers.

Amazon, for example, is offering a $30 Amazon.com gift card for new card holders who sign up for the Amazon.com Rewards Visa Card from Chase. The Amazon card holder would receive 3 points for every $1 spent on Amazon, 2 points for every $1 spent at drugstores, gas stations and restaura! nts, and ! 1 point for every $1 spent everywhere else. The points are year-round, not limited to the holiday.

Trey Loughran, president of Equifax Personal Solutions, said new data show that consumers are charging more items on credit cards issued by retailers.

Related: Top metropolitan areas for bank, retail credit card debt

Across all but six of the top 25 metro areas, bankcard balances were flat or declining during that time, while retail card balances went up in all 25 markets, according to Equifax.

Some consumers with less than perfect credit records may find it easier to open a credit card at a store than say putting more debt on a bankcard.

Others could be opening up retail cards to receive a 0% deal for the next six or nine months, if they open a credit card when they buy a big-ticket item.

"Consumers are being a lot more deliberate and careful about thinking about how they take on that debt," Loughran said.

Given all the holiday deals out there, consumers need to get the message about how much it can really cost to sign up for texts or credit cards, too.

Contact Susan Tompor: 313-222-8876 or stompor@freepress.com

The ‘new’ American will trade on Nasdaq under ‘…

The "new" American will make its Wall Street home on Nadaq.

The American Airlines Group – the company that will be formed once American parent AMR and US Airways close on their merger – will trade under the "AAL" symbol on the Nasdaq market, the airlines revealed in a joint statement today (Nov. 15).

RELATED: Merger: What's next for AA, US Airways customers?
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PHOTOS: The new look of American Airlines

"Today we moved another step closer in our preparations to launch the new American Airlines," American CEO Tom Horton says in the statement. "Nasdaq offers a most advanced trading platform driven by innovation and efficiency – qualities that complement the new American."

"We are very excited about the listing of our shares on the Nasdaq Global Select Market," Doug Parker, the CEO of US Airways who will head the new carrier, adds in the statement. "The combined airline will have a strong financial foundation and is poised to deliver significant value to shareholders as a result of its robust global network. We are excited about what's ahead for the new American and what we will be able to deliver for our investors, customers, employees and other stakeholders."

5 Best Medical Stocks To Invest In Right Now

American's AMR parent had traded on the the New York Stock Exchange under the "AMR" symbol until its 2011 bankruptcy filing. US Airways currently trades on the NYSE under the "LCC" symbol, which it chose for "low-cost carrier" following its merger with America West.

TWITTER: You can follow me at twitter.com/TodayInTheSky

The Best Mid or Small Cap Real Estate or Construction Software Stock? TXTR, ADSK & RP

Small cap construction software stock Textura Corp (NYSE: TXTR) has been all over the place lately, meaning it might be time to take a look at it along with other small cap or mid cap construction, design or real estate software stocks like RealPage, Inc (NASDAQ: RP) and more well known Autodesk, Inc (NASDAQ: ADSK). After all, enterprise software stocks like these would offer a more indirect way to bet on a housing or construction "recovery," just like building materials stocks; plus earlier this summer, a benchmark global study (sponsored by Textura Corp) called Global Construction 2025 predicted that the global construction market will grow by more than 70% to reach $15 trillion by 2025. 

With that in mind, here is a look at three important software players in the construction or real estate market:  

Textura Corp. A leading provider of collaboration and productivity tools for the construction industry, Textura Corp's solutions serve all construction industry professionals across the project lifecycle – from takeoff, estimating, design and pre-qualification to bid management, submittals, LEED management and payment. The strange thing about Textura Corp's latest jump yesterday (by 14.86%) is that there is no new news out and that fiscal fourth quarter earnings are not scheduled to be released until after the market closes on Thursday, November 21. Of course, some volatility is expected as Textura Corp had an IPO back in June with 5,750,000 shares being issued at $15.00 per share to raise about $75 million and shares rose 39.4% to $20.91 per share on the first day of trading. Textura Corp has since been helped by bullish analysts coverage but investors should be aware that while Textura Corp has reported rising revenues of $9.36M (3 months ending 2013-06-30), $8.55M, $6.77M, $12.01M and $5.69M for the past five quarters, it has also reported net losses of $19.48M (3 months ending 2013-06-30), $4.18M, $5.00M, $7.52M and $3.92M. Nevertheless and in the last earnings report, the CFO stated: "Our pipeline remains robust and we are forecasting a continuation of our recent revenue growth trajectory during the remainder of fiscal year 2013." On Wednesday, small cap Textura Corp surged 14.86% to $34 (TXTR has a 52 week trading range of $19.68 to $47.25 a share) for a market cap of $837.40 million plus the stock is up 62.6% since last June for retail investors who got in late.

RealPage, Inc. A leading provider of on demand or so-called "Software-as-a-Service" or "SaaS" products and services for the rental housing industry, RealPage, Inc's broad range of property management solutions enable property owners and managers to increase revenues and reduce operating costs through higher occupancy, improved pricing methodologies, new sources of revenue from ancillary services, improved collections and more integrated and centralized processes. It should be mentioned that Tim Barker, the CFO and Treasurer, was scheduled to present at the RBC Technology, Internet, Media and Telecommunications Conference in New York yesterday at 4:00 PM EST and it will be interesting to see if his presentation (the webcast is available here) will move the stock this morning. Last Thursday, RealPage, Inc reported a 17.8% revenue increase to $98.1 million while GAAP net income came in at $12.9 million verses $2.1 million – giving the company a trailing P/E of 176.58 and a forward P/E of 34.37. Finally, it should be mentioned that in late October, RealPage, Inc announced the acquisition of ActiveBuilding, which offers a platform for improving the online living experience of apartment residents; plus announced the acquisition of Windsor Compliance, a leading provider of compliance monitoring services for the affordable housing industry. On Wednesday, small cap RealPage, Inc rose 0.31% to $25.78 (RP has a 52 week trading range of $16.88 to $26.34 a share) for a market cap of $2 billion plus the stock is up 19.5% since the start of the year and up 71.9% over the past five years.

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Autodesk, Inc. A leader in 3D design, engineering and entertainment software, Autodesk, Inc has customers across the manufacturing, architecture, building, construction, and media and entertainment industries and has the broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art 3D design software for global markets. Last Thursday, Autodesk, Inc announced it would acquire Britain's Delcam Plc for 172.5 million pounds ($277 million) in order to expand its software offerings in the manufacturing sector. In early October, Autodesk, Inc had an "investor day" (the transcript is available here on Seeking Alpha) with Andrew Anagnost, the senior vice president of industry strategy and marketing, telling Bloomberg before hand that the company has 1.9 million subscribers and expects a 50% increase in that number through fiscal 2018. The company recently introduced subscription versions of some of its most expensive software to reflect broader trends in the software industry to shift toward subscription models plus to head off declining sales and profit this year. However, selling more Internet-based services could increase costs because they are generally more expensive to deliver plus the company has announced a restructuring plan that will involve layoffs and some consolidation of its leased real estate (meaning there will be some charges in coming earnings reports). Otherwise, it should be mentioned that Autodesk, Inc has a trailing P/E of 45.40 and a forward P/E of 26.71 plus the company will report earnings next Thursday after the market closes. On Wednesday, mid cap Autodesk, Inc fell 0.16% to $43.54 (ADSK has a 52 week trading range of $30.22 to $43.74 a share) for a market cap of $9.69 billion plus the stock is up 23.2% since the start of the year and up 109.7% over the past five years.

Finally, here is a look at the performance of all three mid or small cap real estate or construction software stocks:

As you can see from the above chart, all three stocks over the long term have rewarded investors albeit small caps RealPage and Textura Corp have been trending downward while Autodesk's performance has bounced around the past few years to be pretty flat for investors.

Can News Corp. Perform Well the Rest Of the Year?

With shares of News Corp. (NYSE:NWSA) trading around $17, is NWSA an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE, or STAY AWAY? Let's analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework:

T = Trends for a Stock’s Movement

News Corp. is a diversified media and information services company. The company now operates in five segments: News and Information Services, Cable Network Programming, Digital Real Estate Services, Book Publishing, and Other. News Corp.'s business consists of news and information services, sports programming in Australia, digital real estate services, book publishing, and pay-TV distribution in Australia. Its products and services are distributed under the following brands: The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones, Herald Sun, The Sun, The Times, HarperCollins Publishers, Fox Sports Australia, and realestate.com.au. Lastly, News Corp. is a developing provider of digital education content, assessment, and delivery services.

News Corp. reported its first quarterly financial results after splitting from 21st Century Fox (NASDAQ:FOX). News Corp's revenue fell 3 percent, more than analysts had been expecting, to $2.26 billion. Earnings per share of 3 cents also came in below estimates, but the company posted a profit of $27 million versus a loss of $92 million last year. News Corp. was most hurt by a large drop in sales of its Australian newspapers, and many have questioned whether Rupert Murdoch's beloved print titles will be able to adapt to changes in the newspaper industry.

T = Technicals on the Stock Chart Are Mixed

News Corp. stock has been seeing positive progress after announcing a spin-off of its entertainment segment. The stock is currently pulling back so it may need time to consolidate. Analyzing the price trend and its strength can be done using key simple moving averages. What are the key moving averages? The 50-day (pink), 100-day (blue), and 200-day (yellow) simple moving averages. As seen in the daily price chart below, News Corp. is trading between its rising key averages, which signal neutral price action in the near-term.

(Source: Thinkorswim)

Taking a look at the implied volatility (red) and implied volatility skew levels of News Corp. options may help determine if investors are bullish, neutral, or bearish.

	Implied Volatility (IV)	30-Day IV Percentile	90-Day IV Percentile
News Corp. Options	24.10%	0%	0%

What does this mean? This means that investors or traders are buying a small amount of call and put options contracts as compared to the last 30 and 90 trading days.

	Put IV Skew	Call IV Skew
December Options	Average	Average
January Options	Average	Average

As of today, there is an average demand from call and put buyers or sellers, all neutral to bullish over the next two months. To summarize, investors are buying a small amount of call and put option contracts and are leaning neutral over the next two months.

On the next page, let’s take a look at the earnings and revenue growth rates and the conclusion.

E = Earnings Are Increasing Quarter-Over-Quarter

Rising stock prices are often strongly correlated with rising earnings and revenue growth rates. Also, the last four quarterly earnings announcement reactions help gauge investor sentiment on News Corp.’s stock. What do the last four quarterly earnings and revenue growth (Y-O-Y) figures for News Corp. look like and more importantly, how did the markets like these numbers?

	2013 Q3	2013 Q2	2013 Q1	2012 Q4
Earnings Growth (Y-O-Y)	N/A	221.05%	140.48%	235.71%
Revenue Growth (Y-O-Y)	-3.00%	13.54%	5.01%	2.22%
Earnings Reaction	-0.95%*	4.48%	-2.33%	1.60%

News Corp. has seen increasing earnings and revenue figures over the last four quarters. From these numbers, the markets have been optimistic about News Corp.’s recent earnings announcements.

* As of this writing

P = Weak Relative Performance Versus Peers and Sector

How has News Corp. stock done relative to its peers, Gannett (NYSE:GCI), The New York Times Co. (NYSE:NYT), Pearson (NYSE:PSO), and sector?

	News Corp.	Gannett	The New York Times Co.	Pearson	Sector
Year-to-Date Return	9.30%	12.03%	26.58%	12.85%	16.19%

News Corp. has been a poor relative performer, year-to-date.

Conclusion

News Corp. is a media and information services company that has recently spun-off of its very profitable entertainment segment. The company reported its first quarterly financial results after splitting from 21st Century Fox. The stock has seen progress but is now pulling back as investors book gains. Over the last four quarters, earnings and revenues have been on the rise, which has left investors optimistic about the company. Relative to its peers and sector, News Corp. has been a weak year-to-date performer. WAIT AND SEE what News Corp. does this quarter.

Case-Shiller: Home Price Recovery Already in Jeopardy

The S&P/Case-Shiller home price index for June posted another month of solid gains, but not on the same pace as the record-setting rise in May. The 20-city composite rose 12.1% year-over-year, just a tick below the consensus estimate for a gain of 12.2%, which also happened to be the record May rate. The 10-city index rose 11.9% year-over-year in June.

The index tracks prices on a three-month rolling average. The June figures represent the three-month average of April, May and June prices.

On a month-over-month basis, June prices were up 2.2% on the 10-city composite index and 2.2% on the 20-city composite. House prices in Dallas and Denver set new record highs in again in June. All 20 cities in the index posted gains on a monthly and annual basis.

The chairman of the S&P index committee said:

Overall, the report shows that housing prices are rising but the pace may be slowing. Thirteen out of twenty cities saw their returns weaken from May to June. As we are in the middle of a seasonal buying period, we should expect to see the most gains. With interest rates rising to almost 4.6%, home buyers may be discouraged and sharp increases may be dampened.

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Among equities tied to home building, none is reacting particularly well to today's report. The uncertainty about a U.S. response to Syria is the likely reason, because this report is pretty strong.

Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) shares are down 0.0% in premarket trading Tuesday to $74.75, even after a big quarter and company management's boost to guidance. The stock's 52-week range is $56.20 to $891.56.

Lowe's Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW) posted even better results than Home Depot last quarter, but shares are down 1.2% this morning, at $46.41 in a 52-week range of $27.66 to $47.51. The home improvement business should be able to fight off the effects of rising interest rates better than the new home builders.

Shares of Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL) are down nearly 2% shortly after the open, and KB Home (NYSE: KBH) is down about 1.6%. Rising interest rates are not helping the home builders, but rate increases are slowing.

Toll Brothers' CEO said in last week's earnings release:

Sales volumes and pricing power both increased this quarter from one year ago, a pattern consistent with recent quarters. We believe the recovery is real and we are in the early stages of the rebound.

The recovery may be real, but it is stalling a bit today. The iShares Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction (NYSEMKT: ITB) is down 1.3%, at $20.92 in a 52-week range of $17.67 to $26.21.

The housing market is really in better shape than the share prices look today. But threats of military action trump a lot of things.

Will the New Arthritis Drug Help Celgene Surge Higher?

With shares of Celgene (NASDAQ:CELG) trading around $148, is CELG an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE or STAY AWAY? Let's analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework:

T = Trends for a Stock’s Movement

Celgene is a global bio-pharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development, and commercialization of therapies designed to treat cancer and immune-inflammatory related diseases. Its primary commercial stage products include Revlimid, Vidaza, Thalomid, Abraxane, and Istodax. Celgene has made excellent advances and produces the products demanded by a large audience. These trends are poised to continue, so look for Celgene to see profits rise into the future.

Celgene's new arthritis drug has proven to be safe and highly effective during a trial of 527 patients who hadn't been treated for arthritis before. The pill Apremilast, when taken twice a day, was found to notably reduce the signs and symptoms of psoriatic arthritis, and symptoms further improved after a year of taking the drug. Celegene's drug is the first pill option for treating the disease, and will compete with injectable treatments currently available that have more serious side effects, according to Reuters. Celgene is expecting high sales from the treatment.

T = Technicals on the Stock Chart are Strong

Celgene stock has been surging higher over the last couple of years. The stock is currently trading near highs. Analyzing the price trend and its strength can be done using key simple moving averages. What are the key moving averages? The 50-day (pink), 100-day (blue), and 200-day (yellow) simple moving averages. As seen in the daily price chart below, Celgene is trading between its rising key averages, which signal neutral price action in the near-term.

(Source: Thinkorswim)

Taking a look at the implied volatility (red) and implied volatility skew levels of Celgene options may help determine if investors are bullish, neutral, or bearish.

	Implied Volatility (IV)	30-Day IV Percentile	90-Day IV Percentile
Celgene Options	32.01%	0%	0%

What does this mean? This means that investors or traders are buying a small amount of call and put options contracts, as compared to the last 30 and 90 trading days.

	Put IV Skew	Call IV Skew
December Options	Average	Average
January Options	Average	Average

As of today, there is an average demand from call or put buyers or sellers, all neutral over the next two months. To summarize, investors are buying a small amount of call and put option contracts and are leaning neutral over the next two months.

On the next page, let’s take a look at the earnings and revenue growth rates and the conclusion.

E = Earnings Are Mixed Quarter-Over-Quarter

Rising stock prices are often strongly correlated with rising earnings and revenue growth rates. Also, the last four quarterly earnings announcement reactions help gauge investor sentiment on Celgene’s stock. What do the last four quarterly earnings and revenue growth (Y-O-Y) figures for Celgene look like and more importantly, how did the markets like these numbers?

	2013 Q3	2013 Q2	2013 Q1	2012 Q4
Earnings Growth (Y-O-Y)	-10.31%	35.37%	-1.11%	-32.97%
Revenue Growth (Y-O-Y)	17.98%	16.97%	15.08%	12.69%
Earnings Reaction	-1.27%	-1.27%	3.42%	-0.74%

Celgene has seen decreasing earnings and rising revenue figures over the last four quarters. From these numbers, the markets have had conflicting feelings about Celgene’s recent earnings announcements.

P = Excellent Relative Performance Versus Peers and Sector

How has Celgene stock done relative to its peers, Novartis (NYSE:NVS), Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CTIC), Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN), and sector?

	Celgene	Novartis	Therapeutics	Amgen	Sector
Year-to-Date Return	89.78%	22.04%	33.85%	31.39%	45.26%

Celgene has been a relative performance leader, year-to-date.

Conclusion

Celgene provides products that are seeing increased demand from a growing customer base around that world. The company released a new arthritis drug and is expecting high sales from the treatment. The stock has been surging higher over the last couple of years and is currently trading near highs. Over the last four quarters, earnings have been decreasing while revenues have been rising, leaving investors with conflicting feelings. Relative to its peers and sector, Celgene has led its peers and sector in year-to-date performance by a wide margin. Look for Celgene to continue to OUTPERFORM.