Stocks to Watch

With gambling revenues in Macau on the rise, the consensus among analysts is that Wynn Resorts (WYNN: 87.87 +0.39%) will report quarterly earnings tomorrow of $0.38 a share on sales of $977 million.

Wynn is expected to post quarter 2 financials before the market opens on Thursday July 29.

In the previous period, Wynn reported revenue up 23% to $908.9 million helped largely from strong gains in Macau. Net income for the period reached $27 million. Wynn beat analysts’ estimates of $0.17 a share with income excluding one-time items reaching $0.26 a share.

While Macau casino operations have seen a large increase in gambling revenue this year, the market peaked in May and may not have a significant impact to offset the revenue decline in Las Vegas.

Although shares of WYNN opened the market yesterday up $0.46, during the session dropped $1.11 to close at $87.53. T

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The first page of search engine research tells you that: “Investors use hedging strategies when they are unsure of what the market will do”— isn’t that always the case? Further along you learn that there are many different kinds of strategies, nearly all of which rely upon some sort of derivative betting mechanism.

But what is hedging all about in the first place?

Conspiracy theorists have their hands in the air. What’s that? Portfolio hedging strategies were created to expand the market for the first generation of derivative products— options and futures contracts. Hmmm, not so far fetched an idea, really. Just back up a bit and think about what they are trying to accomplish.

Hedges are designed to massage your market value numbers, a kind of security blanket that softens the highs and lows of the market cycle. But why focus on the fluff of transient market values in the first place? Cycles even

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Janus Capital Group Inc.’s (JNS) second quarter earnings per share came in at 17 cents, outpacing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 15 cents primarily due to higher average assets under management (AUM). This also came in significantly higher than the 10 cents reported in the year-ago quarter but was flat sequentially. Net income was $30.2 million as compared with $31.3 million in the prior quarter and $15.8 million in the year-ago quarter.   Amid a tough environment, Janus Capital progressed through enhanced performance at institutional investments such as INTECH and Perkins, significant growth in its fixed income business, and a successful U.S. retail franchise.   Behind the Headlines   Total revenues increased 1% sequentially and 24.5% year over year to $249.3 million, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $248.0 million. The Full post…

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) just reported its quarterly earnings, posting revenues of $16.04 billion which ahead of Wall Street estimates and up 22% year over year. This still puts it about $300 million ahead of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), so Cupertino’s going to have to wait another quarter to edge Microsoft on the revenue front.

In terms of profit, Microsoft’s $4.52 billion for the quarter far exceeds Apple’s $3.25 billion, so while Apple may be near even in revenue, Redmond’s still making more money. This can be explained by the fact that a large portion of Microsoft’s business is in software, where profit margins are much higher.

So how did the XBOX, Zune and everything else that is Microsoft’s EDD (Entertainment & Devices Division) do?

M

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Penn National Gaming (PENN: 27.22 +3.03%) has agreed to pay the city of Toledo $1 million for abandoning plans the city has invested on the property that will become the home to the Hollywood Casino Toledo, but the City is not ready to except the money.

Penn National plans to break ground on the $250 million casino on August 12 and presented a check as a reimbursement for the road, storm-sewer line, and public bicycle path that will be torn up to make room for the 200,000 square foot casino. However some City Council members held up the ability to accept the money and told Penn officials to come back next month.

“This is a million dollars that is not owed to us,” said Councilman Mike Craig, whose district includes the casino property. “I

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It would appear that the euphoria over gold has quickly diminished and many of gold’s
greatest proponents, who were calling for gold to go over $2,000 an ounce, appear to
be disheartened and shell-shocked by the recent sharp downturn in gold.

http://www.ino.com/info/589/CD3208/&dp=0&l=0&campaignid=3

There’s an old adage in trading and it goes like this, “they slide faster than they glide.”
This is true of all markets and what it means is they go down faster than they go up.

In my new video on gold, I share with you some of the thoughts I have right now on
this market. We coul

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