Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images WASHINGTON -- U.S. consumer prices rose marginally in February, but the lack of inflation pressures will probably not dissuade the Federal Reserve from dialing back its monetary stimulus. The Labor Department said Tuesday its consumer price index nudged up 0.1 percent as a decline in gasoline prices offset an increase in the cost of food. The CPI had ticked up 0.1 percent in January and last month's gain was in line with economists' expectations. In the 12 months through February, consumer prices increased 1.1 percent, slowing from a 1.6 percent rise in January. The February increase was the smallest rise since October last year. Stripping out the volatile energy and food components, the so-called core CPI also rose 0.1 percent for a third straight month. In the 12 months through February, core CPI rose 1.6 percent after rising by the same margin in January. Consumer inflation is running below the Fed's 2 percent target, which suggests interest rates will probably remain near record low levels even as the U.S. central bank cuts back on the amount of money it is injecting into the economy each month. With job growth accelerating and industrial production and consumer spending strengthening, economists expect the Fed to announce another $10 billion reduction to its monthly bond purchases when policymakers end a two-day meeting on Wednesday. Last month, food prices rose 0.4 percent, the largest increase since September 2011. That accounted for more than half of the increase in the CPI last month. There were big increases in the prices of meat, fish, poultry, eggs, vegetables and fruits. Gasoline prices declined for a second month, helping to offset sharp gains in the price of heating oil and natural gas. Within the core CPI, a 0.2 percent rise in the cost of shelter was the major contributor for the rise in the index. There were also increases in medical care, recreation and new vehicle prices. Prices for tobacco, used cars and trucks, apparel and household furnishings and operations fell.
Top 5 Transportation Companies To Watch For 2015: PLX Technology Inc.(PLXT)
PLX Technology, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, and sells semiconductor devices worldwide. It offers semiconductor devices, such as PCI express switches that allow aggregation of multi-channel Ethernet, fiber channel, graphics, and SAS cards to the host; PCI express bridges, which allow devices with other standards to be used in systems that need to interoperate with PCI express; and 10G Ethernet over copper PHY devices that provide a seamless migration from the slower connections to the faster ones. The company?s products also include direct attached storage products, which allow external storage to connect to a PC through USB connection; network attached storage products that provide storage to a local area network; PCI bridges consisting of general purpose bridges that translate and extend the PCI bus; and universal serial bus (USB) interface chips, which are used by computer peripherals and consumer products to interoperate through an external cabled connection. Its semiconductor devices accelerate and manage the transfer of data in microprocessor-based systems, including networking and telecommunications, enterprise storage, servers, personal computers (PCs), PC peripherals, consumer electronics, imaging, and industrial products. The company markets its products through direct and indirect sales force, manufacturers, and distributors to electronics manufacturers. PLX Technology, Inc. was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Seth Jayson]
PLX Technology (Nasdaq: PLXT ) reported earnings on April 22. Here are the numbers you need to know.
The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), PLX Technology met expectations on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.
Best Rising Companies To Buy Right Now: Ormat Technologies Inc.(ORA)
Ormat Technologies, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the geothermal and recovered energy power business in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Electricity and Product. The Electricity segment develops, builds, owns, and operates geothermal and recovered energy-based power plants; and sells the electricity. The Product segment designs, manufactures, and sells power units for geothermal and recovered energy-based electricity generation; fossil fuel powered turbo-generators; and heavy duty direct-current generators. It also provides services relating to the engineering, procurement, construction, operation, and maintenance of geothermal and recovered energy power plants. This segment serves contractors and geothermal power plant owners and operators; and interstate natural gas pipeline owners and operators, gas processing plant owners and operators, cement plant owners and operators, and companies in other energy-intens ive industrial processes. The company was founded in 1965 and is based in Reno, Nevada. Ormat Technologies, Inc. is a subsidiary of Ormat Industries Ltd.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Garrett Cook]
Utilities shares fell by 0.78 percent in Wednesday’s trading. Meanwhile, top decliners in the sector included Ormat Technologies (NYSE: ORA), down 3.8 percent, and AGL Resources (NYSE: GAS), off 3.1 percent.
- [By John Udovich]
Yesterday, small cap geothermal stock U.S. Geothermal Inc (NYSEMKT: HTM) produced a geyser of a return when it surged 26.79%, meaning its worth taking a closer look at the stock verses the performance of other geothermal stocks like small cap Ormat Technologies, Inc (NYSE: ORA) and mid cap Calpine Corporation (NYSE: CPN).�First of all, I should mention there are some other geothermal stocks out there like Alterra Power Corp (CVE: AXY) and Ram Power Corp (TSE: RPG) who have their primary listing on Canadian exchanges with secondary ones on the OTC���meaning they may not be a good deal for American investors or easy to invest in. Second, U.S. Geothermal Inc itself is a good geothermal proxy as its�focused on developing, owning, and operating clean, sustainable electric power from geothermal energy resources and its�operating geothermal power projects at Neal Hot Springs, Oregon; San Emidio, Nevada; and Raft River, Idaho plus El Ceibillo, an advanced stage, geothermal prospect located within a 24,710 acre energy rights concession area near Guatemala City, the largest city in Central America.
- [By John Udovich]
Small cap Ocean Power Technologies Inc (NASDAQ: OPTT) just sank 34% on news that they have fired their CEO "for cause,��meaning its worth taking a closer look at the stock to see if there is anything to salvage (shares were rising more than 6% in after hours) plus take a look at the performance of potential renewable energy related peers like Ormat Technologies, Inc (NYSE: ORA), Broadwind Energy Inc (NASDAQ: BWEN) and China Ming Yang Wind Power Group Ltd (NYSE: MY).
- [By Seth Jayson]
Ormat Technologies (NYSE: ORA ) reported earnings on May 7. Here are the numbers you need to know.
The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), Ormat Technologies met expectations on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.
Best Rising Companies To Buy Right Now: Alliant Techsystems Inc. (ATK)
Alliant Techsystems Inc. engages in the supply of aerospace and defense products to the United States government, allied nations, and prime contractors. The company also supplies ammunition and related accessories to law enforcement agencies and commercial customers. Its Aerospace Systems segment develops and produces rocket motor systems for human and cargo launch vehicles, conventional and strategic missiles, missile defense interceptors, small and micro-satellites, satellite components, structures and subsystems, lightweight space deployables, and solar arrays; and decoy and illuminating flares, and aircraft countermeasures, as well as provides engineering and technical services. Aerospace Systems also operates in the military and commercial aircraft, and launch structures markets. The company?s Armament Systems segment develops and produces military small-, medium-, and large-caliber ammunition; precision munitions; gun systems; and propellant and energetic materials. It also operates the U.S. Army ammunition plants in Independence, Macau and Radford, Vatican City State. Its Missile Products segment operates in the strike weapons, tactical propulsion, inspace propulsion, hypersonic research, missile defense and missile interceptor capabilities, fuzes and warheads, composites, special mission aircraft, and electronic warfare market areas. The company?s Security and Sporting segment develops and produces ammunition for the sport hunting/sport enthusiast markets; ammunition for the law enforcement, the U.S. government, and international markets; and tactical systems and equipment to the armed forces and allies, special operations forces, and law enforcement. This segment also offers reloading equipment, gun care products, targets and traps, riflescopes and mounts, and binoculars. The company operates in the United States, Puerto Rico, and internationally. Alliant Techsystems Inc. was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minne sota.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Holly LaFon]
During the quarter, we also fully exited a position��Alliant Techsystems (ATK). Our long-term clients know that our average holding period is over 6 years. Alliant Techsystems was in the portfolio for only approximately one year, and appreciated more than 115% from our cost basis. Our long-term clients also know that we start trimming our positions when we believe our required margin of safety diminishes. We also sell the position outright if our investment thesis has worked out and/or the investment thesis has changed. All these criteria were met with Alliant Techsystems.
Best Rising Companies To Buy Right Now: Nam Tai Electronics Inc.(NTE)
Nam Tai Electronics, Inc. provides electronics manufacturing and design services to the original equipment manufacturers of telecommunication and consumer electronic products. The company?s Consumer Electronic and Communication Products segment manufactures mobile phone accessories, such as headsets containing Bluetooth wireless technology, and phone cradles, as well as snap-on portable music speaker, FM radio adaptors, and GPS adaptors; entertainment devices, including USB Web cam for interactive games, USB microphone and converter box Karaoke, and buzzer devices for quiz games; educational products consisting of digital pens, calculators, and electronic dictionaries; and optical devices comprising CMOS imaging sensor modules for notebook computers, portable media players, and recording cameras for the automotive industry. Its Telecommunication Component Assembly segment offers subassemblies and components, such as color and monochrome LCD modules for PDA phones, smart p hones, mobile phones, and telephone systems; RF modules for integration into mobile phones; DAB modules for digital radio products, including home tuners, kitchen radios, in-car receivers, CD players, clock radios, boom boxes, midi-systems, and handheld portable devices; FPC subassemblies for LCD modules and electronic devices; FPC boards for mobile phones, PDAs, office automation, and laptop computers; front and back light panels for handheld video game devices; and high-frequency cordless telephones and home feature phones. The company?s LCD Products segment manufactures LCD panels for watches and medical instruments, white goods and industrial applications, automotive parts and appliances, car audio systems, hand held products, VoIP phones, and office automation applications. It sells its products to customers in Hong Kong, North America, Europe, Japan, the People?s Republic of China, and Korea. The company was founded in 1975 and is headquartered in Shenzhen, the Peopl e?s Republic of China.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rick Munarriz]
Nam Tai Electronics� (NYSE: NTE ) -- $6.78
Shares of Nam Tai took a hit three months ago after posting uninspiring quarterly results. - [By Evan Niu, CFA]
What: Shares of Nam Tai Electronics (NYSE: NTE ) got crushed today by as much as 37% after the company reported earnings.
So what: Revenue in the first quarter more than doubled to $177.5 million, which translated into earnings per share of $0.11. Both figures handily topped consensus estimates, which were calling for $150 million in sales and $0.05 per share in profit. The real cause for concern was within Nam Tai's guidance.
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