Americans Feeling Grim About Their Financial Future

Don’t tell Americans they’re in the midst of an economic recovery. They’re afraid of more than not being able to retire comfortably. They’re also afraid they won’t be able to afford necessary health care or even making ends meet. And as if that’s not enough, they’re also worried that the kids will be moving back home. 

So says a gloomy new Harris poll, which indicates that 68% of Americans who are working or who have a spouse working are afraid there won’t be enough money for retirement.

Harris surveyed 2,306 adults online between July 16 and 21, 2014.

Among all Americans, working or not, 55% figure they’ll have to work longer than they want to because they won’t be able to afford retirement. Sixty-four percent of millennials and 74% of Gen Xers had this worry. 

Then there’s health care. Among the employed, 63% fear they’ll run into medical bills that they won’t be able to pay. And 40% of the employed worry that either they or their spouse will have to tack on a second job just to meet everyday expenses. 

Those with kids under 18 aren’t optimistic about their children’s college costs, either, with 63% feeling that they won’t be able to pay the tuition bills for one or more of their offspring. No matter the age of the child, parents are thinking ahead — and the picture isn’t pretty: 36% figure that the kids will end up back home, with Mom and Dad, because they won’t be able to make the rent on places of their own. 

Speaking of housing, that’s another stay-up-at-night-and-worry topic. Nearly a quarter of those with mortgages (23%) are afraid they won’t be able to afford those mortgages and will lose their homes.

Millennials who own a home and pay a mortgage are even more worried, at 32%. The numbers nearly double when the respondents don’t yet have a home of their own; 61% feel they’ll never be able to afford to buy a home, while millennials (62%) and GenXers (68%) are pretty well convinced that they’re doomed to rent forever. 

But the real nitty-gritty is this: a little more than half of Americans (51%) worry that they won’t be able to afford anything other than the bare necessities, and 41% are afraid they won’t even be able to handle such basics as food, housing, clothing and transportation.

Not surprisingly, only three in 10 Americans gave President Barack Obama positive ratings for his handling of the economy in the poll. This was down from the previous month, when almost one-third (32%) gave the president positive marks on the economy.

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I Arm-Wrestled an NFL Rookie to Teach Athletes About Money

Courtesy of Robert PagliariniRobert Pagliarini and Dee Ford How did I find myself in the precarious position of arm-wrestling first-round NFL draft pick Dee Ford in Las Vegas -- and what does this have to do with the meaning of money? Stick with me, and I'll explain. Every day, there are epic battles waged over your money. People, situations and events conspire to take your hard-earned cash. And in each interaction, the person who understands why they do what they do, and most clearly understands what money means to them, will win every time. This is what I tell the 50 NFL professional athletes sitting before me. I was invited to keynote the Sports Entertainment Group 2014 retreat by attorney and sports agent Adisa Bakari, partner at Kelley Drye & Warren and chair of the group, because of my expertise in turning sudden wealth into lasting wealth. The theme of the retreat was "Ensuring Today's Athletes Remain Tomorrow's Millionaires." It was a successful event, and the sort of thing that not enough agents do for their players. "Ensuring that our athlete clients remain successful beyond their playing days is essential to our representation of them," Bakari said. "As agents, we work tirelessly to ensure we maximize a player's money. Once that contract is negotiated and signed, we work even harder to ensure our clients keep their money." A Taunt to a Room Full of Athletes I decide to taunt my audience a bit. "Who thinks they can beat me at arm-wrestling?" Hands shoot up. Several players laugh. A few of the larger players -– heck, they are larger players –- don't even bother to raise their hand. They think I'm joking. I'm not. "Who thinks that if we put our elbows on the table right now and clasped hands, that they could beat me?" I continue undaunted, but also hoping nobody takes me up on the challenge. The group is unfazed by my rhetoric or arm-wrestling confidence. "Why do you think you could beat me?" I ask. Few want to state the obvious -- that they are professional athletes who could easily bench press me. I ask again, "Why do you think you could beat me?" They can tell I'm really looking for an answer. Someone yells out, "I just know I can." Dee Ford Takes the Bait "Who said that?" I ask as I look around, searching for my vocal participant. Then I see Dee Ford smiling like only a 23-year-old first-round NFL draft pick can when asked by a 165-pound, 42-year-old guy about arm-wrestling. He's trying to avoid stating the obvious and desperately trying not to hurt my feelings. "I just know I can," he smirks.

"This is the kind of confidence you need when it comes to your money."

"Yes! Of course you can beat me. You'd destroy me, just like everyone else in the room would destroy me," I continue. "This is the kind of confidence you need when it comes to your money. You must know without a shadow of a doubt what this thing called money means to you. You have to be just as mentally strong and self-assured in your beliefs about money as you are that you can beat me at arm wrestling. Is it just good for buying things? Providing temporary happiness? Or does it mean more? Can it do more? "I don't know what money means to you, but here's what money means to me. Money is freedom. Look back at any point in history, and the people with money were the people who were free. Money provides opportunity. Money can provide experiences and options. Money can give you the opportunity to live in a better neighborhood and provide better education for your children. Money can provide better health care for you and your family. Money can quite literally mean the difference between life and death. Money is power.

Emerging markets at 17-month high: 5 things to know

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Emerging-markets stocks have jumped to their highest level in nearly 17 months.

The closely watched iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (EEM)   finished Wednesday at $44.76, its best close since January 2013.

What's driving the rally? What's next? Here are five things to know.

1. Upbeat Chinese reports help: Better economic reports from the biggest emerging market, China, deserve a lot of credit, according to Russ Koesterich, BlackRock's global chief investment strategist.

"The recent improvement in Chinese economic data has provoked the beginning of a rotation back into emerging markets (EMs)," Koesterich wrote in his latest weekly investment commentary. "Last week was the sixth consecutive week of inflows into EMs, which suggests sentiment toward the asset class is starting to turn." Read more: China Q2 GDP beats, 'hard landing' seen as distant risk

Koesterich has said his team prefers Asian equities in particular, and they're neutral on the broad category of EM stocks.

2. Watch for more talk about looking outside the U.S.: Keep an eye out for chatter about how stock investors have begun to venture abroad — and how emerging-market equities are relatively cheap.

That's the prediction offered by Michael Batnick at his Irrelevant Investor blog. He notes the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF, after underperforming the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY)  for years, has advanced 20% from its February low.

Given that "stories tend to follow price, I am 100% certain that if this action continues, we are going to hear some very interesting theories," writes Batnick , who is Ritholtz Wealth Management's research director.

"I imagine it will go something like this: 'Attractive valuations coupled with severe under performance and fears over the end of the Taper, it's no wonder investors have started to look outside the United States.'"

Some market watchers already have been talking up the attractive valuations, from Aberdeen Asset Management in April to Jeff Reeves in June.

3. You might not want to buy EEM: The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF — shown in the adjacent chart — gets lots of attention, but EEM isn't for everyone.

/quotes/zigman/322623/delayed/quotes/nls/eem EEM 44.76, +0.04, +0.09%

This ETF is "the choice for institutional investors and active traders thanks to its robust liquidity and deep options market," write analysts at ETF.com. The analysts' top pick for the EM segment, especially for long-term investors? It's the iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG) , which has an expense ratio of just 0.18% versus EEM's 0.67%.

ETF.com also describes the Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (VWO)  as a "very strong choice," noting that it excludes South Korea while EEM and IEMG include that nation. Keep in mind that there are also more-targeted EM ETFs , like one that promises exposure to the developing world via blue-chip companies based in the developed world.

4. Russia's retreat hasn't stopped the EM rally: Russia is a huge emerging market, but so far the slide by Russian equities on Ukraine-related worries hasn't been enough to hold back the broad EM ETFs.

It's worth noting that Russia accounts for only about 5% of EEM. Latin America and China each account for 18%, and the Middle East and Africa together make up 9%. Read more about Mideast investing: 5 things to know about Saudi Arabia's market.

While Vladimir Putin might sneer at weakness, EEM's exposure to the so-called "Fragile Five" actually has helped offset its exposure to Russia. That's the label given to the five emerging-market nations of Turkey, India, Indonesia, Brazil and South Africa. This year, the Fragile Five have become the Fantastic Five, as a DealBook post put it.

5. Chart watchers wary of the $45 level: The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF peaked around the $45 mark in January 2013, and it also turned tail around that level in 2012.

The ETF is "hitting key resistance," said Dave Lutz of Jones Trading in his "What Traders Are Watching" note on Wednesday.

"Keep an eye on the EEM (Emerging Markets) here," he added. It's "gapped toward 45" after having "failed there in 2012 and 2013."

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Best ETFs For Traders: Currency And Commodity

Our Best ETFs for Traders scorecard ranks the most cost-efficient exchange-traded funds for investors holding a position for three months. This portion of it displays the winners among funds holding foreign currencies and commodities.

It's a short list. There aren't many commodity funds that come in under the 0.4% expense ratio ceiling in our Best ETF survey.

The rules and methods for the Best ETFs for Traders rankings are set forth in this summary. That file also has links to all the tables.

The cost figure measures how much you lose to fund fees and the bid/ask spread if you invest $10,000 for three months. Tradability is a statistic from ETF.com that captures how easy it is  to get in and out of a position. The "commission-free" column reflects deals available at Fidelity, Schwab, TD Ameritrade and Vanguard.

Compare this list of ETFs suitable for impatient investors with the one for ten-year holdings. The two biggest bullion funds, SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) and iShares Gold Trust (IAU) swap places.

State Street's State Street's GLD is good for short-term speculation because it's so liquid. On a busy day it sees $1 billion of trading volume, and the spread is often just a penny on the $127 bullion share. But annual expenses are on the high side at 0.4%.

Long-term holders do well with BlackRock's BlackRock's IAU because its expense ratio is only 0.25%. But IAU is more expensive to trade than GLD. Inexplicably BlackRock chose to start its shares with a value of a hundredth of an ounce of gold rather than a tenth. A penny spread on a $13 stock makes up a larger percentage of your invested capital.

If you are a shareholder in either State Street (STT) or BlackRock (BLK) you are doing just fine. Gold fever is helping to pay for your dividends.

 

Monday’s Analyst Moves: Apple Inc., Reynolds American, Inc., Johnson & Johnson, More (AAPL, RAI, JNJ, More)

Before Monday’s opening bell, a number of big name dividend stocks were the subject of analyst moves. Below, we highlight the important analyst commentary for investors.

Apple Upgraded to “Overweight”

Apple Inc. (AAPL) has been upgraded from “Equal Weight” to “Overweight” at Barclays. Analysts upgraded the stock since it has exceeded expectations since March due to Samsung’s weakness and increased brand appeal. The firm has a $110 price target on AAPL, suggesting a 15% upside from Friday’s closing price of $95.22. AAPL has a dividend yield of 1.97%.

Reynolds American Upgraded To “Outperform”

Reynolds American, Inc. (RAI) has been upgraded from “Sector Perform” to “Outperform” at RBC Capital Markets as the deal with LO is expected to add to earnings. RAI has a dividend yield of 4.34%.

Barclays Raises PT on Ford

Barclays has raised its price target on Ford Motor Company (F) from $19 to $20 on a valuation call and higher EPS estimates. This new price target suggests a 14% upside from Friday’s closing price of $17.47. F has a dividend yield of 2.86%

Jefferies Raises PT on Johnson & Johnson

Jefferies has raised its price target on Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) to $114, suggesting an 8% increase from Friday’s closing price of $105.10. Analysts have also boosted estimates on JNJ due to strong performance from Olysio. JNJ has a dividend yield of 2.66%.

Jefferies Starts Coverage on Ameritrade

Jefferies has initiated coverage on TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. (AMTD) with a “Hold” rating and a $34 price target. This price target suggests a 10% upside from Friday’s closing price of $31.10. Analysts view AMTD’s core earnings power as understated due to lower interest rates. AMTD has a dividend yield of 1.54%.

Goldman Sachs Downgrades Dana Holding

Goldman Sachs has cut its rating on Dana Holding Corporation (DAN) to “Neutral” on a valuation call due to the company’s exposure to Latin America. DAN has a dividend yield of 0.84%.

JPM Upgrades Brinker

Brinker International, Inc. (EAT) has been upgraded at JP Morgan to “Overweight” as the company has potential for upside. EAT has a dividend yi

Monks start brewing beer to keep abbey open

  Monks start brewing beer in America NEW YORK (CNNMoney) Diversification is common advice for investors, but guess what? Monks have to do it too.

For more than 60 years, the Trappist monks at St. Joseph's Abbey had relied on jams and jellies to support their monastery and community work in Spencer, Mass. But a few years ago, they realized the "expense line was rising at a faster rate than our income," said Friar Issac.

So in the spirit of their heritage (Trappist monks have been brewing beer in Europe for centuries), the monks at St. Joseph decided to start a brewery. Spencer Brewery opened its doors earlier this year as the first Trappist brewery outside of Europe.

There's a big focus on sustainability and green practices: Local farmers use the spent grain as animal feed and compost, and the brewery plans to install solar panels on the roof soon. The entire process is actually very in sync with the monks' "quiet, meditative way," according to Friar Isaac.

"We really brew on the practical level to sustain a way of life," he said. "Plus it brightens up Sunday suppers."

Tenaris SA (TS): Neutral on Sales, Buy on Earnings

Tenaris SA (TS) shares are outperforming the market today. The extra oomph comes via an upgrade from Goldman Sachs. Analyst, Henry Tarr lifted his recommendation to "Neutral" from "Sell."

Taking TS out of the penalty-box has the metal fabricator in the green by 1.53% as we type.

Based in Luxembourg with 26,825 employees, Tenaris is engaged in the steel pipe manufacturing and distribution activities. The company produces and sells seamless and welded steel tubular products, as well as provides related services for the oil and gas industry primarily oil country tubular goods used in drilling operations, and for other industrial applications.

[Related -Options Intelligence Report: Strangle Strategist Sees Sharp Shifts In Johnson Controls Shares]

It's sort of funny that Tarr would move off a rare "sell" recommendation with TS approaching its 52-week high of $49.87. This call at the end of March would have been spectacular, but it is easy to look backwards and criticize. The whole 20/20 vision thingy.

Looking forward, Tarr tells interested investors, "We remove Tenaris from the Sell List and upgrade to Neutral as we now take a more positive view on the outlook and growth prospects relative to the rest of our coverage."

The analyst carried on, "We continue to believe that consensus earnings expectations for FY2014 are too high, driven by lower volumes in Brazil and the Middle East combined with a lack of ongoing pricing power in the US. However, on a medium term view, we see interesting opportunities opening up in shales in Mexico and Argentina, strong volume growth in the US with a potential near-term catalyst around the final outcome of the trade case, and the potential for a return to gas drilling."

[Related -Retail In The Spotlight]

Although Tarr thinks earnings estimates for 2014 are "too high," two of the nine analysts covering the pipeline maker raised their outlooks in the last 30 days with one in the last week.  In fact, EPS estimates for the year are on the rise as started the quarter at $2.76 and now stands at $2.79.

Optimism is building for 2015 as well. Three analysts upped their bottom line views for next year within the last 30 days and the estimate has gone from $3.08 to $3.14 in the last 30 days.  Research shows that rising earnings estimates tends to predict a rising stock price.

Let's see where TS might be headed based on the company's recent price-to-sales (P/S) and price-to-earnings (P/E) history using 2015 earnings and sales estimates.

As we mentioned two paragraphs back, Wall Street forecasts earnings of $3.14 (and rising) for next year. During the last half-decade, investors paid an average of 18.3 times EPS for Tenaris. Do the math, and a potential price-target of $57.46 emerges – 20% upside not including 2.6% annual dividend.

Moving up the income statement, analysts put the revenue consensus of '15 at $11.52 billion, projected year-over-year growth of 9.2% - attractive.

Since 2009, the typical P/S ratio for TS was 2.58. Once again, do the math with excel and $50.35 is where the Industrial Goods company would trade using next year's sales consensus – 5.16% upside without the dividend.

Overall: On a P/S basis, Tenaris SA (TS) is probably a market performer (Neutral) using 2015's revenue consensus. However, earnings estimates with the five-year average P/E plus the dividend could push TS into the outperform category. 

European stocks weak after German data spur concerns

LONDON (MarketWatch) — European stock markets retreated on Monday after German industrial production data missed expectations and spurred worries that Europe's economic engine is losing steam.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index (XX:SXXP)  dropped 0.1% to 347.66, after closing out last week with the biggest weekly advance since March.

Click to Play Europe's week ahead: Will the BOE stay the course?

The Bank of England unanimously decided to keep rates on hold at its last meeting. But as the unemployment rate continues to edge lower, could a rate increase come sooner than the market expects? Associated British Foods—owner of Primark—also issues a trading update.

Germany's DAX 30 index (DX:DAX)  fell 0.1% to 10,005.31, while France's CAC 40 index (FR:PX1)  gave up 0.3% to 4,457.75. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index (UK:UKX)  slipped 0.1% to 6,856.88.

The losses came after data showed industrial production in Germany dropped 1.8% in May, marking the biggest monthly slide since April 2012. That is well below expectations of a flat rate for May in a survey of economists by The Wall Street Journal.

The numbers follow a report from Friday that showed German manufacturing orders fell 1.7% in May, also weaker than expected.

Among notable movers in Europe, shares of Sky Deutschland AG (DE:SKYD)  dropped 2.6% after Nomura cut the cable-TV company to neutral from buy, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

PostNL NV (NL:PNL)  surged 16% after the Dutch postal company raised its full-year guidance following a strong mail performance in the Netherlands.

Shares of Banco Espirito Santo SA (PT:BES)  climbed 6.9% after the bank said on Saturday that shareholders had chosen the current head of Portugal's debt agency to become its chief financial officer.

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FBI Sting Busts Group of 5 for Microcap Fraud

The Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced charges against five individuals Friday whose attempt to manipulate shares of Boston-based Amogear Inc. was caught by an FBI undercover operation.

According to the SEC and criminal cases filed in federal court in Boston, the defendants knew that Amogear was a shell company without any real operations, but schemed to boost its price and profit by selling their own shares.

“What the parties didn’t know was that the FBI controlled Amogear and used it to obtain evidence of attempted stock manipulation," the SEC said in a statement. "To protect investors, the SEC suspended trading in Amogear’s securities on Feb. 10, as the attempted stock manipulation was underway.”

According to the SEC, the charges follow a series of cases since December 2011 in which the SEC suspended trading in seven companies and criminal authorities charged 22 individuals with using kickbacks and other schemes to trigger investments in microcap stocks, convicting 18 to date.

Small “microcap” companies often trade for pennies per share, and many do not file financial reports with the SEC. "The fact that investors often cannot find accurate information about microcap companies can make the microcap stock market a fertile ground for fraud and abuse," the SEC said.

“This case is an outstanding example of law enforcement creativity and cooperation trumping microcap fraudsters,” Andrew Ceresney, director of the SEC’s Enforcement Division, said in a statement. “By obtaining control of a shell company, using it to collect evidence of a manipulation scheme, and suspending trading before the scheme succeeded, we have protected investors from harm.”

“These defendants brazenly attempted to manipulate Amogear’s stock,” added Paul Levenson, director of the SEC’s Boston Regional Office, in the statement. “It didn’t occur to them that the FBI and SEC were a step ahead of them.”

Vince Lisi, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston Division, added that “fund representatives, CEOs, traders, fund managers, equities analysts, lawyers and publicists should take note that Boston FBI agents purposefully designed multiple undercover operations aimed directly at rooting out market manipulation and insider trading. As the scope and design of our undercover operations become well-known, no one should think that future undercover operations will be the same as prior ones because in this instance the FBI took control of a publicly traded company making it nearly impossible to discover.”

The SEC announced that the following individuals were charged today by the SEC with securities fraud and were recently charged by the U.S. Attorney on the following criminal charges:

The SEC is seeking permanent injunctions against further violations of the securities laws, return of allegedly ill-gotten gains with interest, civil monetary penalties, and to bar the defendants from being involved in penny-stock offerings.

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Check out SEC Enforcement: Missouri Firm Slapped for Fiduciary Duty Breach on ThinkAdvisor.

VOXX International Corp (VOXX) Earnings Report: Can It Be Any Worst Than the Last One? HAR, SKUL & HEAR

The Q1 2015 earnings report for automotive, audio and consumer accessory distributor VOXX International Corp (NASDAQ: VOXX), a potential peer or performance benchmark of Harman International Industries Inc (NYSE: HAR), Skullcandy Inc (NASDAQ: SKUL) and Turtle Beach Corp (NASDAQ: HEAR), is due out after the market closes on Thursday. Aside from the VOXX International Corp earnings report, it should be said that Harman International Industries Inc reported Q3 2014 earnings on May 1st (they beat expectations and raised their forecast on strong European automotive demand) and will report Q4 2014 earnings on August 7th; Skullcandy Inc reported Q1 2014 earnings on May 1st and will report Q2 2014 near the end of this month; and Turtle Beach Corp reported Q1 2014 earnings on May 12th. However, VOXX International Corp's last earnings report was a train wreck that led to several analyst downgrades.

What Should You Watch Out for With the VOXX International Corp Earnings Report?

First, here is a quick recap of VOXX International Corp's recent earnings history from Yahoo! Finance:

Earnings HistoryMay 13Aug 13Nov 13Feb 14

EPS Est	0.04	0.09	0.50	0.24
EPS Actual	0.09	0.20	0.63	0.35
Difference	0.05	0.11	0.13	0.11
Surprise %	125.00%	122.20%	26.00%	45.80%

 

Back in mid-May, VOXX International Corp reported that net sales for the Fiscal 2014 year ended February 28, 2014 fell 3.1% to $809.7 million as automotive sales fell 1% to $412.5 million, premium audio sales fell 2.0% to $189.2 million and consumer accessories sales fell 8.2% to $206.3 million. Gross margin increased 10 basis points to 28.4% and a a net loss of $26.6 million (including impairment charges) or net income of $31.0 million excluding impairment charges verses net income of $22.5 million for the comparable period last year. An impairment charge of $32.2 million was recorded for goodwill on the most recent acquisitions of Hirschmann, Invision and Klipsch plus an impairment charge of $22.8 million was taken on indefinite lived trademarks of various brands and units plus an impairment charge of $2.6 million was recorded on the Technuity business which was restructured. The CEO commented:

"Through the first nine months of the year, we were tracking in line with our plan and had very strong load-in's for the holiday season.  While we lowered our top-line guidance based on softness in December, severe weather conditions throughout the country impacted the entire retail industry and had a big effect on our fourth quarter performance.  Retail was the primary reason for our miss and our story has not changed.  New products coming to market, our growing OEM platform, sales from new and exciting biometrics, imagery and action cameras, and our expanding retail distribution are the drivers for our optimism.  I believe we are well positioned to drive meaningful growth over the next few years and deliver long-term sustainable value for our shareholders."

And:

"We took steps in Fiscal '14 to protect margins in certain categories and believe we're well positioned to post modest growth in Fiscal '15, with upside should some of the bigger projects we're pursuing materialize and if the retail environment improves in the next holiday season.  We have accounted for softness in our guidance based on sell-through over the past few years and are managing our overhead accordingly.  We will continue to invest in new growth categories and pursue sponsorships and promotions we believe will increase brand awareness and drive sales.  We have also increased our engineering staff by approximately 10 percent to support new OEM and various programs that will be beginning towards the end of FY15 and run for several years.  We are investing not for the quarter or year, but for our long-term future."

Nevertheless, the above results led to several analyst downgrades which hit shares along with some lawsuits filed by so-called shareholder rights law firms.

This time around and according to the Yahoo! Finance analyst estimates page, the consensus expects revenue of $190.27 million and EPS of $0.06 - down from EPS of $0.11 expected sixty days.

On the news front and just after earnings, VOXX International Corp announced a $3 million strategic investment in EyeLock, a market leader in iris-based identity authentication solutions. VOXX International Corp already has a strategic partnership with EyeLock to distribute myris, its newest solution that's the world's first USB-enabled iris identity authenticator offering a convenient and secure way to authenticate an individual's identity.

What do the VOXX International Corp Charts Say?

The latest technical chart for VOXX International Corp shows shares have been heading downward since the beginning of December:

A performance chart shows that VOXX International Corp has exactly been giving investors amplified returns like Harman International Industries Inc and Turtle Beach Corp while Skullcandy Inc has investors singing the blues:

A technical chart for Harman International Industries Inc shows a flat performance since March while Skullcandy Inc has been trending downward since then and Turtle Beach Corp has been bouncing further downward since late last year:

What Should Be Your Next Move?

Given the last earnings report, VOXX International Corp needs to do something to show that things are turning around as blaming the weather will probably not work a second time around. Otherwise, its hard to get excited about the stock unless you buy into the CEO's long term view.  

Five Has-Beens Headed for Penny Stock Territory

In December of 1999, RadioShack Corp. (NYSE: RSH) stock was worth more than $76 per share. Today, RSH is worth less than $1.

It has joined a group of once-profitable industry leaders that can now be classified as penny stocks.

Some companies, like General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM), are able to rebound from penny stock levels.

As the U.S. car market continued to falter, GM eventually entered bankruptcy in June 2009. Existing shareholders were given shares of Motors Liquidation Co., which traded for pennies (much to their dismay). Thanks to a government bailout, GM stock reemerged in November 2010, near $34 per share. Today, shares trade near $37 and the stock has gained 17% in the last year.

But not all stocks follow GM's path. Others are never able to build themselves back up and eventually go private or bankrupt...

Eastman Kodak Co. is a prime example. Founded in 1888, Kodak dominated the photographic film market for much of the 20th century. In 1976 the company had a 90% market share, and in 1987 the stock was worth more than $100 per share. But the company could not keep up with the advances to digital photography, which made classic film nearly obsolete. In 1997, Kodak started its slow decline. By 2011, shares were worth just $0.54.

And while RadioShack is the most recent example of a high-flying stock that dropped to penny stock levels, there are plenty of other major companies that are prime candidates to make the same move.

Here are five companies that are in danger of trading for less than $1 if they don't turn their operations around soon...

Companies That Could Reach "Penny Stock" Territory

Penny Stock Territory: J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) is already dangerously close to penny stock territory as it currently trades at $8.72. In fact, JCP actually fell below the $5 threshold in February before regaining some slight momentum.

Even though JCP stock is up 3% in the last three months, its financials are still worrying. In its last earnings report, JCP reported a loss of $0.68 per share. At the time, that was viewed as a major boost for the company since consensus estimates placed JCP earnings at an $0.85 loss. Recently, the fact that JCP hasn't been doing as terribly as thought has boosted the stock.

But that shouldn't bring investor confidence. In 2007, JCP stock was worth more than $85 per share. Today, JCP is teetering on the brink of being a penny stock.

"This is an iconic brand, but I think it's dead on arrival" Money Morning's Chief Investment Strategist Keith Fitz-Gerald said in early 2014. "I don't think this stock is trading in five years."

Penny Stock Territory: BlackBerry Ltd. (Nasdaq: BBRY), formerly known as Research in Motion, is the company behind the once-popular BlackBerry smartphone. During its heyday of 2007, BBRY stock was worth more than $230 per share. Now, BBRY trades just above $10 per share.

BlackBerry has been muscled out of the smartphone market by competitors Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) and Samsung, whose iPhones and Galaxy S smartphones have become the toast of the smartphone market. The only hope for BBRY stock seems to be the numerous patents the company holds, which could make it a buyout target at some point down the road.

While that sliver of hope remains, BBRY's financials are a disaster. It has reported losses in seven of the last nine quarters. Its profit margin was -122% last quarter, and its operating margin was -73%. Quarterly revenue growth was -68% last quarter.

BBRY is up from a 52-week low of $5.44, but it may be only a matter of time before this once-giant tech company is a penny stock.

But those are just two examples. These other three stocks are in serious danger as well...

Penny Stock Territory: Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) is another stock that's had some high-profile issues. BBY was trading just below $60 per share in 2006 before falling below $14 per share in 2012. While the company rebounded in 2013 and actually reached $44.66 toward the end of the year, the stock could not maintain momentum. BBY is down 33% since November.

Like RadioShack, BBY is another tech retailer that has failed to keep up with online retailers like Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN). Best Buy took a major hit during the 2013 holiday season when the company reported that sales fell 2.6% for the nine weeks ending Jan. 4, 2014, while comparable store results were down 0.9%.

"[Best Buy's] initiatives are not driving traffic," Michael Pachter, a Wedbush Securities analyst who has an "Underperform" on shares, told Bloomberg in January. "They are positioning as if competition will go away, and it won't. The Internet never sleeps."

BBY still has a ways to drop before it's a penny stock, and it trades above $28.50 currently. But as consumer electronic prices continue to drop, BBY seems to be having trouble finding additional revenue streams.

Penny Stock Territory: Barnes & Noble Inc. (NYSE: BKS) traded above $46 per share in 2006, but is now worth just over $20 per share.

Like other brick-and-mortar retailers, Barnes & Noble has had trouble keeping up with online retailers. But it's not just online retail that has damaged BKS stock - the e-reader market has also cut into Barnes & Noble's business model. The company did create its own e-reader, the Nook, but that hasn't been enough to keep the stock afloat.

In April, BKS Chairman Leonard Riggio told The Wall Street Journal that he had sold a quarter of his stake in the company.

"This is not a growth company" Riggio said. He also told The Journal that this year's holiday season is "really, really critical in terms of casting a die for the future."

BKS has reported a quarterly earnings loss in three of the last four quarters and posted quarterly earnings growth of -10% last quarter. BKS stock is down 11% in the last 12 months and is a prime candidate to reach penny stock status.

Penny Stock Territory: Weight Watchers International Inc. (NYSE: WTW) rounds out the list, having traded over $85 per share as recently as 2011. Today, WTW stock is worth just over $21 per share.

Weight Watchers provides eight management services through a network of company-owned and franchise operations. In its last earnings report, WTW reported quarterly earnings growth of -56% and quarterly revenue growth of -17% year over year. According to Yahoo! Finance, almost 49% of WTW shares are held short as of May 30.

WTW Chief Executive Officer Jim Chambers' statements in February shed some light on the company's struggles.

"First, our offerings have become less appealing in this changing market largely because our innovation approach and our approach to the consumer in general have not been sufficiently market driven," he said. "In addition, we have a big task at hand to modernize our technology architecture and create a more efficient product development engine."

In the last 12 months, WTW stock has continued its spiral and is down 50%.

What once high-flying stocks do you think could reach penny stock territory? Join the conversation on Twitter @moneymorning using #PennyStocks.

Now: After 117 years, this old institution is finally dying. And that means a new bull market is coming...

Related Articles:

Bloomberg: Best Buy's Sales Decline Raises Doubts About Turnaround The Wall Street Journal: What's Barnes & Noble's Survival Plan? Yahoo! Finance: Weight Watchers Stock Continues to Shed Points

Stocks Hitting 52-Week Lows

Related NQ Dow Trades Above 17,000 While S&P 500 Inches Closer To 2,000 Dow Hits 17,000 On Jobs Report; Walgreen Same-Store-Sales Surge 7.5%

NQ Mobile (NYSE: NQ) shares reached a new 52-week low of $4.45 after the company announced certain changes to its Board of Directors and provided a status update on its 2013 annual audit.

Regado Biosciences (NASDAQ: RGDO) shares touched a new 52-week low of $2.90 following the announcement of halt of patient enrollment in
REGULATE-PCI trial. Wedbush downgraded Regado Biosciences from Outperform to Underperform.

MELA Sciences (NASDAQ: MELA) shares reached a new 52-week low of $0.303 after the company approved a one-for-ten reverse stock split of the common stock.

Globeimmune (NASDAQ: GBIM) shares tumbled 4.71% to touch a new 52-week low of $10.53. Globeimmune has a 52-week high of $12.14.

Posted-In: 52-Week LowsNews Movers & Shakers Intraday Update Markets

© 2014 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

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3 ETDs Great for Fixed-Income Portfolios

Popular Posts: 3 Covered Calls for Forever Hold Stocks (DIS, CVX, T)5 Best Funds for Your Retirement Portfolio3 ETDs Great for Fixed-Income Portfolios Recent Posts: 3 ETDs Great for Fixed-Income Portfolios 3 Covered Calls for Forever Hold Stocks (DIS, CVX, T) Value Stock Guide – How to Invest Like a Pawn Star View All Posts 3 ETDs Great for Fixed-Income Portfolios

A few weeks ago, I told you about exchange-traded debt. These securities are very interesting because they provide the safety of bonds, but the yields of preferred stock and liquidity of equities.

Companies issue debt to finance operations, and that debt is usually in the form of bonds. There is a market for bonds, but they can be difficult to trade, they trade without much liquidity and often in $10,000 bunches. The advantage of debt is the regular interest payments the company must make to holders, and that debt holders have top position in the event of bankruptcy. They are first in line to receive back principal.

Preferred stock is a stock-bond hybrid that often pay dividends instead of interest, in the 5% to 9% range. It has an advantage in being behind debt for principal recovery but ahead of common stock. It tends to trade in a limited range, but often lacks liquidity as well. Preferred stock dividends also only get cut after common dividends, so that's another advantage.

Exchange-traded debt fits right between bonds and preferred stock in the capital stack. ETD is next in line to bonds, and if it happens to be senior secured ETD, then its actually in first position. Exchange-traded debt pays interest, so it does get taxes as ordinary income, rather than at the 20% qualified dividend rate. However, ETD tends to be much more liquid.

Here are three ETDs that I think are good additions to a fixed-income portfolio:

Entergy Louisiana 6% First Mortgage Bonds

Entergy Louisiana 6% First Mortgage Bonds (ELB) are secured by a first mortgage lien on all of the company's property, so its strongly backed by real estate. Entergy is a $14 billion electric public utility in Louisiana.

The common stock has strong free cash flow, pays a 4.1% dividend, and the company carries $6 billion in cash and long-term investments. It's $12 billion in debt is easily serviced by cash flow. The 6% yield is perfect for income investors, especially considering the solidity of its real estate holdings.

Note the current price is $25.31 and the company can redeem the Notes at $25 beginning next March. It doesn't mean they will, just be aware of it. Best of all, S&P rates this debt at “A-” — meaning it has "Strong capacity to meet financial commitments, but somewhat susceptible to adverse economic conditions and changes in circumstances."

Stanley Black & Decker 5.75% Jr. Subordinated Debentures

Then we have Stanley Black & Decker 5.75% Jr. Subordinated Debentures (SWJ), which I love because it is tied to one of America's greatest companies. S&P rates these as “BBB+” — meaning they have more than adequate capacity to meet their obligations, although they are somewhat subject to economic conditions. I'm not terribly worried considering the company has been around this long, through all kinds of economic turmoil. The effective yield is 5.93% as the ETD trades at $24.24, about 3% below par.

When you look at the underlying stock itself, Stanley Black & Decker (SWK), you understand why an ETD offering feels like a safe bet with a high yield. SWK stock has $433 million in cash, and $3.8 billion in debt, costing less than 5% annually. Even after all these years, the venerable brand still grew Q1 revenues almost 7% YOY, in a Q1 where retail generally got hammered. It also boosted its operating margins from 9% to 11%. That kind of increase is outstanding.

Verizon Communications 5.9% Notes

I also like Verizon Communications 5.9% Notes (VZA). Like its telecom counterparts, Verizon (VZ) generates a lot of free cash flow from its existing business — from $13 billion to $22 billion each year. That's ample enough to pay the common stock yield of 4.3%, as well as the interest on this debt. The yield is 5.71%, reflecting the above-par trading price of $25.85. It is also rated BBB+ by S&P.

But the yield isn’t the only difference between VZ and VZA. The fact that ETDs tend to trade in tighter ranges is why they are better for income investors, who may not want to risk their capital to volatility.

A Verizon ETD sits well with me, beyond all the FCF, because it sits snugly into the Peter Lynch stalwart category. It continues to grow in the 6% to 10% EPS range. It isn't resting on its laurels. It continues to expand its operations modestly. That common stock yield is also ample enough to continue to attract retirement and income investors. That's why the stock isn’t likely to crater.

As of this writing, Lawrence Meyers did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. He is president of Asymmetrical Media Strategies, a crisis PR firm, and PDL Broker, Inc., which brokers financing, strategic investments and distressed asset purchases between private equity firms and businesses. He also has written two books and blogs about public policy, journalistic integrity, popular culture, and world affairs. Contact him at pdlcapital66@gmail.com and follow his tweets at @ichabodscranium.