Quarterly Earnings Drives Market Higher

The market resumed its advance last week increasing 2.1%. Small stocks as measured by the Russell 2000 enjoyed an even greater bump rising 3.8%. Quarterly earnings were the big driver as many companies reported results that exceeded estimates. In fact, the vast majority of companies not only beat on earnings, but exceeded top line estimates as well. Those are strong signs that economic conditions are improving and trending in the right direction. That economic strength will provide the sustenance the market needs to keep growing. Earnings reports will continue for the next few weeks as the 1st quarter reporting season winds down. We expect these reports to remain positive and provide more support for upward market growth. However, the market trend is never straight up and at any time bad news could cause a market jolt. Although, all in all, we remain optimistic on the market direction and have been aggressively moving towards full investment across all portfolios.

Momentum And Value (MAV Screen): Breakout Stocks To Buy!

What Stock Tips do we have? Universal American (UAM, Insurance), SYMS Corp (SYMS, Apparel), Rosetta Stone (RST, Software & Programming), and Renhuang Pharmaceuticals (RHGP, Biotechnology & Drugs) remain buys from our Breakout list published last week. We have added two new stocks to our buy list this week including OneBeacon Insurance Group (OB, Insurance, Prop. & Casualty) and Amerigroup (AGP, Healthcare Facilities). OneBeacon is a property and casualty insurance writer with excellent fundamentals and a stock price that has been gaining momentum over the past three months. The company is due to report earnings on April 29, so cautious investors may want to wait for positive news before plunging in. Amerigroup is a managed healthcare company with a focus on people who receive publicly sponsored healthcare benefits. AGP valuation appears a little on the high side as expectations have risen sharply since the company blew the lid off their latest quarterly earnings report. The next quarterly earnings report is due this week, April 30 and the risk is higher now that expectations are greater. We plan to wait and evaluate the next report before investing. Frankly, this may be an opportunity to pick up a quality company if the share price dips following the announcement. We also went on a buying spree last week and purchased CPI Aerostructures, NYMAGIC, and American Equity Life from our Buy List. All of these stocks were on our buy list but were removed following our purchase. These stocks represent excellent buys and their prices remain reasonable for purchase. When investors look for stocks to buy, we suggest reviewing our buy list as well as the stocks we currently hold in our portfolios. When evaluating stocks that Market Beating Stocks already owns, review the stocks purchased within the last four weeks whose current price is still within 5% of our purchase price. Longer term, we remain optimistic that the bullish trend will continue and are moving aggressively to become fully invested in all portfolios.