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Sparton Corporation (NYSE: SPA) is a $179MM revenue contract manufacturer serving three business segments: Defense & Security Systems, Medical Devices, and Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS). Sparton is moving from a successful turnaround into a growth story by transitioning from a traditionally defined ‘contract manufacturer’ to a higher margin full service developer, designer, and manufacturer of complex & sophisticated electromechanical devices. This growth is being spurred by a proven management team seeking to repeat (in assets Sparton recently purchased from Delphi Medical Systems) the successful restructuring they implemented at Sparton over the past year and a half. While Sparton reports its Q4 FYE June 2010 results this week, the low cost and terms of the Delphi purchase set the stage for a highly accretive impact on Sparton’s cash flow and bottom line in the coming fiscal year ended June 2011.Complete Story »

Bud Labitan submitsAlcoa Inc. (Alcoa) is engaged in the production and management of primary aluminum, fabricated aluminum, and alumina combined. The Company’s products are used worldwide in aircraft, automobiles, commercial transportation, packaging, building and construction, oil and gas, defense, and industrial applications.Alcoa is a global company operating in 31 countries. It has investments and operating activities in Australia, Brazil, China, Iceland, Guinea, Russia, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Alcoa’s operations consist of four worldwide segments: Alumina, Primary Metals, Flat-Rolled Products, and Engineered Products and Solutions. In June 2009, Alcoa completed the divestiture of the wire harness and electrical portion of the EES business to Platinum Equity effective June 1, 2009. In December 2009, the company completed the divestiture of the electronics portion of the EES business to Flextronics Inc. (FLEX).Complete Story »

Stephen Castellano submits: Continuing a "tradition" of anticipating (or simply taking credit for) a number of sell side upgrades of stocks in our model portfolio, we point to DeVry, Inc. (DV) today (Tuesday), which was upgraded today by Credit Suisse. The upgrade helped the stock lead our "high-quality" portfolio today with a 10.25% return.According to Barron's, the DV upgrade was based on a "favorable decision by the Department of Education... which may fuel more investor optimism." More specifically, according to BusinessWeek, "...the U.S. government may loosen proposed rules that would restrict companies’ eligibility for federal student aid." While we try to figure out how to take credit for the government's decision, we would just note that when good things happen to good companies that we hold in a model portfolio, it is just icing on the cake.Complete Story »

Stephen Castellano submits: Weekly Long/Short Focus List as of March 26, 2010 Our highlighted stocks continue to anticipate major ratings and estimate changes by a number of sell side shops, as illustrated in our March 17 report, "Goldman Sachs and Nostradamus versus Simple Quantitative Models and Common Sense." Four Weeks Early on Scotts Miracle-Gro For example, on March 23, 2010, Scotts Miracle-Gro (SMG), which has been a top performer in our monthly model portfolio and our monthly focus portfolio, was SMG)+Higher+On+BofAMerrill+Lynch+Upgrade/5463172.html" rel="nofollow">recently upgraded by Bank of America/Merrill Lynch with a target price moving to $53 from $45. Complete Story »

Flextronics International (FLEX)
F2Q10 Earnings Call
October 26, 2009 5:00 pm ETComplete Story »

Trade Radar Operator submits: Intel's (INTC) good earnings report and positive forecast for the second half of the year lit a fire under many tech stocks Thursday.It's a not a stretch to conclude that, if Intel is doing well, so will other companies in the semiconductor sector. But the benefits aren't limited to the semiconductor sector. There is another sector that might not immediately come to mind that I think will also see improved results.Complete Story »

Hickey and Walters (Bespoke) submit:
Is it 2003 all over again? Don't look now, but the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index is up 25.53% year to date. And both Google (GOOG) and IBM reported stronger than expected earnings after the close tonight, although GOOG is currently trading down while IBM is up. As shown in the chart below, the index just took out its early June highs today after trading up sharply all week long. Looking at individual stocks in the index, Seagate Technology (STX) is up the most in 2009 with a gain of 147.18%, and it's followed closely by Baidu (BIDU) at 146.96%. Sun Micro (JAVA) is up 140%, followed by EXPE (102.91%), MRVL (96.85%), and LINTA (88.46%). The blue-chip tech names have seen huge gains this year as well. Research in Motion (RIMM) is up 78%, Apple (AAPL) is up 73%, Amazon.com (AMZN) is up 67%, and Google is up 43.7%.Complete Story »