Here is a list of stocks which traded higher Tuesday November 10, 2009 on unusually higher volume. I will keep an eye on these stocks Wednesday to see if there is continued buying pushing the stocks higher. This method is just one of the ways I use to pick stocks to structure particular option trades. This post requires the knowledge of stock options. To learn more about the option strategies outlined in this post, risks, pricing, calculations, other strategies, and options in general, click here.

The table below shows the company, ticker, per share % increase, and volume increase (% increased compared to 50 day average). For your convenience I have ranked the stocks in order from greatest to least volume % change.

• Goldman upgraded Posco (PKX) to buy and added them to their conviction buy list. They also increased their target price to $150.

• Lazard upgraded Dryships (DRYS) from a hold to a buy.

• Meredith Whitney downgrades shares of Goldman Sachs (GS) from buy to neutral with a $186 price target.

• Goldman Sachs downgrades Meredith Whitney after her 15 minutes of fame run out.

• Deutsche Bank initiates coverage on Citibank (C) with a buy and a $5.50 price target.

• Credit Suisse upgrade credit card companies Visa (V) and Mastercard (MA) from neutral to outperform. They clearly feel better about consumer spending.

• Some big money is flowing into call options of Costco (COST):

COST – Costco Wholesale Corp. – Shares of the merchandise warehouse operator rose nearly 1.5% during the trading session to $58.77. A chunk of calls purchased in the front-month today indicates some investors expect continued upward movement in shares by expiration this Friday. Approximately 8,000 calls were purchased at the October 60 strike for 15 cents apiece. Shares of COST must increase at least 2% to $60.15 for investors to amass profits.

During the last few months, investors have been looking for "can't go wrong" stocks, which are stocks trading close to or even less then the cash per share of the stocks. And if the stocks were debt free, it would be hard for the companies to go out of business unless they had an extremely high burn rate.

Those types of stocks were easy to find when the market was lower, but you can still find some of those bargains out there.

Sentiment

The major averages opened steady, slid midday, but trading has turned mixed late Thursday. Investors digested another round of economic numbers early in the day. The data included signs of improvement in housing, jobless claims and manufacturing (Philadelphia Fed) activity.

However, after a 108-point gain Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average struggled to extend the gains despite the better economic news. Instead, perhaps due to the options expiration, volatility picked up a bit in morning action. By midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 42 points and off 106 from its morning highs.

Sentiment

Stocks are trading broadly higher late Wednesday. The stage was set for steady trading in the US after markets across Asia and Europe edged higher. Meanwhile, in the US, the day's economic data didn't hold any unpleasant surprises. A report released pre-market showed consumer prices increasing a bit more than expected last month. The Consumer Price Index [CPI] gained .4 percent in August, a bit more than the .3 percent economists had predicted. Stripping out food and energy, the core CPI rose .1 percent, which was in-line with estimates.

Data released later in the day showed industrial production up .8 percent and capacity utilization at 69.6 percent in August. Economists were looking for .6 percent and 69 percent.

Sentiment

Stocks are higher after the day's economic data didn't disappoint Tuesday. A report released before the opening bell showed retail sales rising 2.7 percent in August, which follows a .2 decline in July and compares to economist estimates of 1.9 percent. Excluding autos, sales rose 1.1 percent, also better than economist expectations of .4 percent.

Meanwhile, manufacturing activity in the Northeast improved. The NY Empire State Index jumped to 18.88 in September, up from 12.08 last month and better than the 15.00 economists had forecast.

With the likelihood of a U.S. public health insurance option becoming a fading reality, the companies in this sector are going against the current bearish sentiment across the markets.

Data Explorers has been tracking the change in short interest (as measured by Percent Shares Outstanding on Loan) in the eighteen largest U.S. health care insurance stocks. Since mid-June the DESLI index for these names has dropped just over 10%. Such a drop in this sector index indicates that the short market does not believe that the government proposal will become a reality.

In an astute political move, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sibelius on Sunday said that providing citizens with the option of government-run insurance is not essential to the Obama administration's overhaul of U.S. health care. Evidently, the administration has caved on this very important issue, leaving the door open for private health insurance companies to move forward with creative products and profits for shareholders. Of course the devil will be in the details, but at fist glance Team Obama will expand health using cooperatives similar to the public/private scheme in the domestic utility industry.

Here are potential winners for investors to explore. Beware of using the insurance index ETFs as your vehicle, as the health care sub-sector is in play now, not all insurance stocks.

Below are links and descriptions for 23 new stock indexes I have created, revised, and tracked over the past few years which are now featured at a new website called Investars YOU. The new site includes automated index tracking, allows investors to create custom stock portfolios based on their individual preferences, and now features free access to all of the component stocks in each of my indexes. Some of the top performing stocks from my healthcare indexes on a year-to-date basis are highlighted below.

Cosmetic & Restorative Medicine Index: Allergan (NYSE:AGN) (+38%)

After the stock market rise from March, you might thing that any stocks that had been trading below their cash per share would have made their move and would now be trading above cash. Not so. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has just updated their list of over 35 stocks that are trading below their cash per share and have market caps above $100 million.

The cash per share is calculated by taking all the cash in banks of the company and dividing that number by the total shares outstanding. So if the company has $10 million in cash, and has 1 million shares outstanding, the cash per share is $10. If the stock trades for $5, then the Cash per Share Price ratio would be 2. The higher the number, the bigger the discount.

The accompanying table includes 38 companies in the ETF Innovators Health Benefit Providers Index, which was down sharply last week and has lost 14% of its market value to a level of $192,305 since I last wrote about the group five weeks ago.

The uncertain future for health insurers and benefit providers that I wrote about previously came to a head this week with plans by President Obama for healthcare reform aimed at cutting health costs by favoring generic drug makers and smaller Medicare Advantage payments to private insurers, along with smaller increases in Medicare Advantage reimbursement for 2010 than was expected.

We continue our look at various money managers' portfolios with Bruce Berkowitz of the Fairholme Fund. Notable changes include the following:

Fairholme continues its thematic investing, opening or adding to bullish positions in defense and health insurers. New investments include Humana (HUM) and General Dynamics (GD), which complement existing stakes in Boeing (BA), Northrup Grumman (NOC), Spirit Aerosystems (SPR), Wellpoint (WLP) and Wellcare (WCG).

WellCare Health Plans (WCG) doesn’t have a lot to celebrate this year, but that doesn’t mean it can’t still try to see the bright side. Just two weeks ago, the mid-sized health-insurance company put out a glowing press release patting itself on the back for “providing an outstanding customer service experience.” WellCare crowed that it met “rigorous standards” for certification by J.D. Power and Associates, the outfit best known for its automobile-quality ratings.

Which all sounds great, at least until you realize this “certification” only reflects on the supposed quality of WellCare’s call center — the vast assemblage of operators who field more than 10 million calls from WellCare members every year. Apparently WellCare’s representatives rated within the top 20 percent of customer-service scores based on “courtesy, knowledge, concern for the customer,” and similar factors. Oddly enough, the insurer’s benefit packages, payment of claims, selection of doctors and concern for the health of its members didn’t come into play in this particular survey.

Fairholme Capital, led by Bruce Berkowitz, runs a pretty focused portfolio and I found their most recent filing very interesting:

• Berkowitz’s two largest new positions were big stakes in Boeing (BA) and Northrop Grumman (NOC), the win-win US tanker contract trade, if you will.  I have both on my watchlist and keep in mind that Berkowitz bought in around $60 on the two stocks; both are trading around $40 now and near 4% yield.  I feel like I need to do more research to get the defense industry into my circle of competence but if I thought there was value in those two stocks before, Berkowitz’s bet piques my interest even more.
• Berkowitz can’t be accused of lacking conviction.  He added heavily to his healthcare positions, increasing his Pfizer (PFE) and UnitedHealth Group (UNH) by over 20% and Forest Labs (FRX) by nearly 50%.  It looks like he’s reversed his selling on Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ), adding back 46% of his position as the stock has dropped.  Berkowitz still believed in Eddie Lampert at Sears (SHLD), at least as of Q3 (remember that SHLD has fallen from $90 to under $40 now). And perhaps most interestingly, he continued the accumulation of Leucadia National (LUK), adding 36% more shares after adding over 10% last quarter.   At the time, LUK was trading in the mid $40 range but now trades under $18.  Might be time to dig into LUK, which is sometimes lumped in with Brookfield Asset Management (BAM) since both have reputations as “mini-Berkshires.”
• Berkowitz didn’t completely divest any substantial positions.  USG was his biggest sold-off position but only at $200M, compared to $1B+ positions in SHLD and PFE.  He also sold half his BRK.A position though probably more to raise cash than any judgment on the stock.

Bob Rodriguez had been warning of funkiness in the credit markets for some time but it didn’t spare his FPA Capital fund from the slumping market.  His filing this quarter suggests FPA had a low-key quarter:

In their 13F-HR filing for Q2 2008, Bruce Berkowitz and his cohorts at the Fairholme Fund continue their shift from energy into healthcare:

• Fairholme opened huge (relative) positions in Pfizer (PFE), Forest Labs (FRX) and UnitedHealth Group (UNH). The UNH position echos Seth Klarman’s endorsement. I don’t follow the pharma industry too closely but it seems as if Berkowitz traded Glaxo (GSK) and Bristol Meyers Squibb (BMY) for PFE. I’ve been seeing more positive financial press coverage on Pfizer so perhaps momentum is building toward looking past Lipitor’s pending patent expiration. Read his thoughts on PFE here. I took a quick Google Finance look at Forest Labs and that stock looks promising. Great cash flows, rock-solid balance sheet with no debt but maybe some patent and pipeline issues — I’ve added this stock to my watchlist.
• Berkowitz also added substantially to their Sears (SHLD) and United Rentals (URI) positions. Berkowitz’s thoughts on Sears and its chairman, Eddie Lampert, are well-known. SHLD seems to be a pseudo-value-investing watermark position — all the cool kids own it. I’ve glanced at it briefly but haven’t put in the time to value its real estate and branding assets.
• Fairholme continues the reduction of their energy exposure as Berkowitz discussed back in March 2008 on Bloomberg. The Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ) position was reduced significantly and if you watch the interview in the link provided, he talks about costs rising as fast if not faster than revenues for producers like CNQ. In fact, I’ve discussed this aspect of energy investing in the past — what I call the “receding horizon” effect, especially in the oil sands area (which is why I have only backdoor oil sands exposure via Devon). Curiously, he also sold off a good chuck of St Joe’s (JOE), which he had been talking up fairly recently. I don’t know whether the thesis on JOE has changed or if he just saw better opportunities.

Robert Rodriguez oversees the First Pacific Advisors family of funds [FPA], of which he handles the main fund with others running the others. Q2 2008 holdings are revealed for all funds in the latest 13F filing:

• Ofheo warns of more GSE writedowns. Fannie (FNM) and Freddie (FRE) regulator Ofheo cautions the GSEs may be hit by more writedowns after they expanded their purchases of subprime and Alt-A mortgages even as other investors fled. The value of their $217B in 'non-agency' debt continues to fall as other firms write down their portfolios. "To the extent that [other] institutions recognize fair value losses on their private-label portfolios under GAAP, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may have to do so as well," it says. Freddie's exposure appears to be about twice that of Fannie.
• Fannie, Freddie books under scrutiny. Officials from the Fed and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency are 'combing' the books of Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE), a source says, to assess the GSEs' financial condition in case the government needs to step in and take them over. Their regulator Ofheo has said their capital remains above regulatory minimums. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Monday he still believes the firms have enough cash, but admitted to some confusion as to whom to believe - the markets or Ofheo.
After you finish reading Wall Street BreakfastSeeking Alpha's Market Currentswill keep you current all day long.
• Apple dives on weak outlook, Jobs's health. Shares of Apple (AAPL) fell more than 10% in extended trading despite EPS and revenue that exceeded analyst consensus after its FQ4 outlook disappointed (see below), and investors continued to fret over CEO Steve Jobs's health. Apple did little to dispel the speculation when the inevitable question came up: "I’m really sorry to ask, because it’s a very private matter, but would you mind addressing" yesterday's NY Post report that called the venerated chief's health into question, Lehman's Ben Reitzes asked during the company's earnings call. "Ben, Steve loves Apple. He serves as the CEO at the pleasure of Apple's board, and has no plans to leave Apple. Steve’s health is a private matter."
• TV's about to get costlier. TiVo (TIVO) is looking to turn the remote control into an electronic credit card. In partnership with Amazon.com (AMZN), viewers will soon be seeing links to buy products like CDs, DVDs and books that appear on, say Oprah, Letterman, The Daily Show - or The Simpsons - during both live programming and commercials.
• GE and Mubadala launch multi-billion dollar global investment fund. GE (GE) is partnering with Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Development Co. in an $8B fund ($4B each) to invest in financial assets hurt by the global credit crunch. The two hope to reach $40B in assets. "We can use our unique financial and industrial capabilities to establish profitable relationships across a number of businesses and we welcome them as a long-term shareholder," GE CEO Jeffery Immelt said.
• Brocade to buy Foundry Networks. Brocade Communications Systems (BRCD) said late Monday it will acquire Foundry Networks (FDRY) for $19.25 in cash and stock. Brocade says the move will help it develop "a networking infrastructure strategy that will serve as the foundation for capitalizing on these dynamic opportunities." Foundry closed at $13.66, and jumped 32% to $18.08 in AH trading. Keep an eye on Foundry's (FDRY) peers: NT, ALU, COMS, JNPR, and FFIV.
• Roche offer attracts analyst scorn. Analysts unanimously decided Roche's (RHHBY.PK) offers to buy the 44% of Genentech (DNA) it doesn't own for $89/share ($43.7B) (a one-day premium of 8.8% and one month premium of 19%) way undervalues the company. Lazard analysts said DNA will likely strive to remain independent, while Bernstein's Geoffrey Porges cautioned a Roche/Genentech link-up would cause "an irrevocable breach in [the pair's] relations," and many DNA top scientists would likely move on if it became a research arm of Roche. Rodman and Renshaw called Roche's $89 opening bid laughable. Shares finished +15% to $93.88, indicating markets tend to agree it's a lowball.
• Vytorin study disappoints. Shares of Schering-Plough (SGP -12%) and Merck (MRK -6%) plunged Monday after their jointly-produced cholesterol drug Vytorin proves ineffective for treatment of aeortic valve disease, and raises cancer red flags. Earnings shortfalls sent the pair further down in extended trading (see below).
• Accounting errors lead to WellCare earnings restatement. WellCare Group (WCG) said after the close Monday it will restate its financial statements from 2004 to Q2 2007 due to accounting errors, which will lead to reduced EPS over some of the periods. Shares gained 6% in AH trading.
• ICSC's weekly retail sales index rose by 0.1%.
• June Leading Indicators: -0.1%, in-line. May -0.2% revised from +0.1%. The decline has moderated, but continues to be widespread.

Earnings: Tuesday Before Open

• Assured Guaranty (AGO): Sees Q2 EPS of $0.42 vs. $0.57. AGO says it's disturbed by Moody's 'possible downgrade' Monday, which it sees as unjustified. [PR]
• Autoliv (ALV): EPS of $1.24 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $1.91B (+10.4%) in-line. [PR]
• Baker Hughes (BHI): Q2 EPS of $1.36 beats by $0.12. Revenue of $3B (+18.1%) vs. $2.76B. [PR]
• BJ Services (BJS): EPS of $.048 beats by $0.08. Revenue of $1.33B (+15.2%) vs. $1.24B. Sees FQ4 EPS of $0.54-0.57 vs. $0.50. [PR]
• Canadian Pacific Railway (CP): EPS of C$1.00 misses by $0.02. Revenue of C$1.22B (+0.4%) in-line. [PR]
• Caterpillar (CAT): EPS of $1.74 beats by $0.20. Revenue of $13.62B (+20%) vs. $12.69B. Shares +2.5%. "Never in my 35 plus years with the company have I seen Caterpillar do so well in the face of such a difficult economic climate in the U.S." [PR]
• Check Point Software (CHKP): Q2 EPS of $0.43 in-line. Revenue of $200M (+13.3%) vs. $195M. [PR]
• CME Group (CME): EPS of $3.93 beats by $0.08. Revenue of $563M (+71.1%) in-line. [PR]
• Corn Products International (CPO): EPS of $0.90 beats by $0.07. Revenue of $1.03B (+20%) in-line. Sees full-year EPS of $3.15-3.35 vs. $3.11. [PR]
• Domino's Pizza (DPZ): EPS of $0.22 misses by $0.01. Revenue of $334 (-1.8%) vs. $332. "Returning to positive sales comps in the U.S. has proven difficult." [PR]
• DuPont (DD): EPS of $1.11 beats by $0.04. Revenue of $8.84B (+12.2%) vs. $8.47B. [PR]
• Ericsson (ERIC): Q2 EPS of 0.60 kroner misses by 0.37. Revenue of 48.53B kroner vs. 48.08B. Operating profit fell to 2.89B from 9.26B a year ago. Margin fell to 10% from 19%. [DJ]
• Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB): EPS of $0.05 beats by $0.05. [PR]
• Forest Laboratories (FRX): EPS of $0.87 beats by $0.07. Revenue of $967M (+4.2%) in-line. Shares -0.4%. [PR]
• Freeport-McMoRan (FCX): EPS of $2.25 misses by $0.19. Revenue of $5.44B (unchanged). Shares -3.2%. [PR]
• Gentex (GNTX): EPS of $0.19 misses by $0.01. Revenue of $170M (+4.3%) in-line. [PR]
• Halliburton (HAL): EPS of $0.68 in-line. Revenue of $4.49B (+20.1%) vs. $4.25B. [PR]
• JetBlue Airways (JBLU): EPS of -$0.03 beats by $0.04. Revenue of $859M (+17.7%) in-line. [PR]
• KeyCorp (KEY): EPS of -$2.70 misses by $0.12, including a previously disclosed $1B tax charge. Will reduce dividend in Q3. [PR]
• Lexmark (LXK): EPS of $0.96 beats by $0.18. Revenue of $1.14B (-5.7%) in-line. [PR]
• Lockheed Martin (LMT): EPS of $2.01 beats by $0.13. Revenue of $11.04B (+3.6%) vs. $10.86B. [PR]
• PACCAR (PCAR): EPS of $0.86 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $3.78B (+10.3%) in-line. Shares -4%. [PR]
• Regions Financial (RF): EPS of $0.39 misses by $0.03. Reduces dividend to $0.10 from $0.38. Shares -4%. [PR]
• SunTrust Banks (STI): EPS of $0.78 beats by $0.14. Revenue of $2.6B (+9.4%) vs. $2.13B. [PR]
• SuperValu (SVU): EPS of $0.79 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $13.35B (+0.4%) vs. $13.19B. [PR]
• UnitedHealth (UNH): EPS of $0.67 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $20.27B (+6.7%) vs. $20.04B. Sees full-year EPS of $2.95-3.05 vs. $2.95. [PR]
• UPS (UPS): EPS of $0.85 in-line. Revenue of $13B (+6.7%) vs. $12.81B. Sees full-year EPS of $3.50-3.70 vs. $3.64. It sees slightly stronger results in the second half. Shares -2.5%. [PR]
• Vodafone (VOD): FQ1 sales of £9.82B (+19.1%) in-line. Sees full-year sales at the bottom of its £39.88-40.7B range; profit outlook unchanged at £11-11.5B. [DJ]
• Wachovia (WB): EPS of $-1.27 misses by $0.49. The loss includes a $6.1B goodwill impairment charge reflecting declining market valuations and asset values. Adds $5.6B to its loan-loss reserve to increase it by $4.2B and cover charge-offs. Cuts dividend to $0.05 from $0.375. Shares -10%. [PR]
• Webster Financial (WBS): Q2 EPS of $0.42 beats by $0.02. [PR]
• Western Union (WU): EPS of $0.33 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $1.35B (+12%) in-line. Sees full-year EPS of $1.29-1.33 vs. $1.28. [PR]
• XM Satellite Radio (XMSR): EPS of -$0.38 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $318M (+14.8%) vs. $323M. [PR]

Earnings: Monday After Close

• American Express (AXP): Q2 EPS of $0.56 misses by $0.27. Revenue of $7.48B (+7.9%) vs. $7.6B. Loss provisions of $1.5B, vs. $640B last year. "In light of the weakening economy, we are no longer tracking to our prior forecast of 4-6% EPS growth." "Consumer spending slowed during the latter part of the quarter and credit indicators deteriorated beyond our expectations." Shares -11%. [PR]
• America Movil (AMX): Q2 profits rise 25% after adding 6.1M new mobile customers. Shares +0.1%. [Reuters]
• Amylin Pharmaceuticals (AMLN): Q2 EPS of -$0.47 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $222M (+12.7%) in-line. Shares -1%. [PR]
• Apple (AAPL): FQ3 EPS of $1.19 beats by $0.11. Revenue of $7.46B (+38%) vs. $7.37B. Sees Q4 EPS of $1 vs. $1.24, and revenue of $7.8B vs. $8.32B. Sold 11.01M iPods in Q3 (+12%); 717,000 iPhones (doesn't include iPhone 3G); 2.5M Macs. Shares -10%. [PR]
• Boston Scientific (BSX): Q2 EPS of $0.20 beats by $0.09. Revenue of $2.02B (-2.3%) in-line. Sees Q3 EPS of $0.14-0.19 vs. $0.13. Shares -5%. [PR]
• Canadian National Railway (CNI): Q2 EPS of C$0.90 beats by $0.04. Revenue of C$2.1B in-line. Shares +2%. [PR]
• Celanese (CE): Q2 EPS of $1.20 beats by $0.06. Revenue of $1.87B (+20.1%) in-line. Sees full-year EPS of $3.60-3.85 vs. $3.98. [PR]
• Equifax (EFX): Q2 EPS of $0.64 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $502M (+10.4%) vs. $508M. Remains confident in full-year performance. [PR]
• Everest Re Group (RE): Q2 EPS of $2.90 misses by $0.37. Revenue of $1.08B (-15%) in-line. [PR]
• F.N.B. (FNB): Q2 EPS of $0.17 misses by $0.10. Shares -8%. [PR]
• Foundry Networks (FDRY): Q2 EPS of $0.17 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $161M (+12.2%) vs. $153.5M. Shares +32% on Brocade (BRCD) buyout. [PR]
• Hercules (HPC): Q2 EPS of $0.54 beats by $0.11. Revenue of $613M +11.6%) vs. $601M. Shares +0.2%. [PR]
• Hexcel (HXL): Q2 EPS of $0.21 misses by $0.03. Revenue of $359M (+24.1%) vs. $337M. Sees full-year EPS of $0.90-0.95 vs. $0.96. Shares -2%. [PR]
• Jacobs Engineering (JEC): EPS of $0.87 beats by $0.05. Revenue of $2.92B (+40.1%) vs. $2.75B. [PR]
• Lincare (LNCR): Q2 EPS of $0.82 beats by $0.10. Revenue of $428M (+7.9%) in-line. Shares +1.5%. [PR]
• Logitech (LOGI): EPS of $0.16 misses by $0.03. Revenue of $509M (+18.4%) in-line. Shares +3.5%. [PR]
• Merck (MRK): Q2 EPS of $0.86 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $6.05B (-1%) in-line. No guidance as it is still assessing the impact of today's Vytorin test results. Shares -7%. [PR]
• Mohawk Industries (MHK): Q2 EPS of $1.29 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $1.84B (-6.9%) in-line. Sees Q3 EPS of $1.06-1.15 vs. $1.40. Shares -4%. [PR]
• QLogic (QLGC): FQ1 EPS of $0.31 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $168M (+30.6%) vs. $162M. [PR]
• Royal Caribbean (RCL): Q2 EPS of $0.40 in-line. Revenue of $1.86B (+6.9%) in-line. Sees FQ3 EPS of $1.65-1.70 vs. $1.64. Plans to reduce spending by $125M/year. [PR]
• SanDisk (SNDK): Q2 EPS of -$0.10 misses by $0.23. Revenue of $816M (-1.3%) vs. $906M. Sees Q3 revenue of $750-850M vs. $1.09B. Shares -14%. [PR]
• Schering-Plough (SGP): Q2 EPS of $0.45 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $4.9B vs. $4.77B. Shares -3.2%. [PR]
• Steel Dynamics (STLD): EPS of $1.05 beats by $0.12. Revenue of $2.4B (163.8%) vs. $2.35B. Sees Q3 EPS of $1.05-1.15 vs. $0.97, and full-year EPS of $3.80-3.90 vs. $3.46. Shares +2%. [PR]
• Texas Instruments (TXN): Q2 EPS of $0.44 misses by $0.02. Revenue of $3.4B (-2.2%) in-line. Sees Q3 EPS of $0.41-0.47 vs. $0.51 and revenue of $3.26-3.54B vs. $3.56B. Demand slowed unexpectedly in June as distributors did not restock. Shares -11.5%. [PR]
• Volterra Semiconductor (VLTR): Q2 EPS of $0.25 beats by $0.07. Revenue of $28.7M (+55.3%) vs. $27.5M. Shares +1%. [PR]
• Woodward Governor (WGOV): FQ3 EPS of $0.47 beats by $0.04. Revenue of $330M vs. $309M. Sees full-year EPS of $1.75 vs. $1.67. Shares +5%. [PR]

Today's Markets

• Asia closed mixed Tuesday, with Tokyo up sharply after a day off on Monday. Nikkei +3% to 13,185. Hang Seng flat at 22,527. Shanghai -0.5% to 2,846. BSE +1.8% to 14,105.
• Europe markets are sharply lower at midday. London -1.75%. Paris -1.2%. Frankfurt -1%.
• Futures have not recovered from the post-close drop on weak earnings. Dow -1%. S&P -0.9%. Nasdaq -1.9%. Crude -0.1% to $130.86. Gold +1% to $973.

From recent 2008 Q1 13F-HR filings by Fairholme, Monish Pabrai, and Robert Rodriguez

Bruce Berkowitz and his team at Fairholme have been keeping busy with several new additions. Quick thoughts:

While some of the recommendations in this commentary may seem like no-brainers, its real purpose is to illustrate how investment themes relate to the bigger picture.

U.S. Auto Industry: AVOID

These are notes from the Day 2 sessions at the 3rd Annual Value Investing Congress West, held May 6-7, written by Jonathan M. Heller.

Mohnish Pabrai- Pabrai Funds