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The five best performing stocks on the Zacks #1 Rank List last week were: Hanger Orthopedic Group, Inc. (HGR), The9 Limited (NCTY), Big Lots, Inc. (BIG), Knoll, Inc. (KNL) and Urban Outfitters, Inc. (URBN).

Hanger Orthopedic Group, Inc. (HGR) was a Zacks #1 Rank Top Performer for the week ended Sep 5 as shares gained 6.3%. Earnings estimates for this year and next are up 6.5% and 6.8%, respectively, over the past 2 months.

Furthermore, analysts currently expect next year’s earnings to improve approximately 14.6% from this year, which is an encouraging sign for the future.

HGR, which provides orthotic and prosthetic patient care services, has a habit of meeting or beating Wall Street’s quarterly earnings expectations. Over the past 4 quarters, the company has put together an average surprise of 15%.

Most recently, HGR reported an earnings surprise of 25% in its second quarter, as EPS of 25 cents topped the consensus by a nickel. The result also eclipsed the year-ago result of 17 cents. Net sales increased 13% year over year to $181.2 million from $160.4 million.

Shares of The9 Limited (NCTY), an online game operator and developer in China, gained 5.9% last week. Earnings estimates for this top-performing Zacks #1 Rank company have been trending higher for a while, gaining 10.9% in 2 months and 4.3% in 30 days for this year. Next year’s expectations are also on the rise and have increased 2.6% and 7% for this year and next, respectively.

NCTY has now beaten Wall Street’s quarterly earnings estimates for 3 consecutive quarters. In early August, the company announced that it surprised by more than 27% in the second quarter as EPS reached 61 cents. Meanwhile, net revenues soared 69% year over year to US$66.3 million. Its revenues and net income were both records. NCTY attributed its results to the continuing growth of Blizzard Entertainment®’s World of Warcraft® and Soul of The Ultimate Nation.

Big Lots, Inc. (BIG) reported solid fiscal second-quarter numbers in late August. The closeout retailer also raised its EPS guidance for the full year. Earnings per share from continuing operations reached 32 cents, exceeding the consensus by a little more than 18.5%. BIG has now amassed an average surprise of 17.5%. Net sales advanced 1.9% to approximately $1.1 billion.

Thanks to its solid fiscal second-quarter numbers, BIG raised its 2008 earnings guidance to between $1.90 and $2. Over the past month, earnings estimates are up 5.3% for this fiscal year and 6.5% for next fiscal year. Analysts also expect an EPS improvement of about 8.1% next year over this year. Shares improved by 4.5% last week, which was enough to make the Zacks #1 Rank Top Performers List.

Earnings estimates for Knoll, Inc. (KNL) remain above levels from 2 months ago by 10.5% for this year and 5.6% for next year. The furniture maker made the Zacks #1 Rank Top Performers List last week as shares improved 3.7%. The company has a good record of meeting or beating analysts’ earnings expectations, and has marked a surprise of 11.2% over the past 4 quarters.

The company’s second-quarter report from July included adjusted earnings per share of 49 cents on net sales of $292.5 million. The earnings result topped the consensus by 22.5% while easily improving upon the year-earlier result of 37 cents. Net sales moved higher by 7.5%. KNL attributed results to its diversification strategy that focused on high design content businesses and away from dependence on North American systems sales.

Urban Outfitters, Inc. (URBN) is a Zacks #1 Rank Top Performer as shares gained 2.6% last week. Over the past month, earnings estimates for the fiscal years ending January 2009 and January 2010 are up 8% and 5.9%, respectively. In addition, analysts currently expect next fiscal year’s profit to advance by more than 20% over this fiscal year.

URBN is performing better than most retailers, and enjoyed a boost last week after an analyst offered a favorable view of the fiscal third quarter. The company has put together a solid streak of better-than-expected earnings, and enjoys an average surprise of 12.6% over the past 4 quarters. In its second quarter, URBN reported earnings of 33 cents per share, which topped the consensus by almost 14%. It also marked a solid year-over-year advance from 19 cents.

Sales advanced approximately 30% to $454.3 million. Same-store sales were up 13%.

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James Giaquinto is an Editor at Zacks Investment Research for more information please visit http://www.zacks.com

The forex market these days finds itself at a pivotal stage. With the move online the competition between online forex brokers and service providers has become fiercer and more visible as brokers outdo each other by providing platforms loaded with more and more complex and sometimes useless features. In this flood of charts graphs and trading orders, eToro USA stand out mostly due to the simplicity and user-friendliness of their platform.

eToroUSA is the introducing broker for Stocks online IFX Markets , a respectable US based broker, that provides traders from the US with the innovative eToro platform. The eToro platform is a real breakthrough in forex trading technology. If you’ve ever traded forex online, you have most likely run into bulky software where most of your time is spent on figuring out what each of the myriads of buttons does, rather than focusing on trading. eToro USA have set themselves a goal to put an end to endless over complexity and confusion. Any trader with any amount of experience will be able to set up a trade within seconds of downloading the eToro platform due to its user friendly interface.

eToro USA utilizes revolutionary software technology that allows novice traders to gain a better understanding of the forex market using exciting and engaging visualizations of their trades. For instance: it may be difficult for a novice to understand what exactly happens when the rate of the EUR/USD goes up by 5 pips, but it doesn’t take a financial analyst to understand what happens when the euro races ahead of the dollar in a forex marathon, or when the pound beats the yen in a tug of war.

For the more seasoned traders eToro USA have developed an interface that places all the necessary trading tools at the trader’s fingertips. This interface also includes a “one click trading” feature that literally allows the trader to open a trade with only one click of the button. Using this interface the trader can comfortably trade while viewing various forex charts, modifying his trading orders and keeping up with the latest forex updates and events, all at the same time and with maximum convenience. The flow of the interface in setting up a trade is very natural and straight forward, allowing traders to concentrate on their trading instead of racking their brains over the software. Apart from that eToro USA also happen to offer low competitive spreads and leverages ranging from 1:10 to 1:400.

In addition eToro USA have developed several community based features that really helps take forex in the new web 2.0 online environment. The latest of these features is the Top Traders’ Insight tool which allows users to view what currency pairs are currently traded among eToro USA’s top 100 traders. The feature can be very useful to novice traders since they don’t actually have to analyze the market for their trading decisions, they can simply copy from the pros. The Top Traders’ Insight joins eToro USA’s established community tools such a public and private chat rooms, lively forums and free to enter trading challenges in which traders can win significant prizes simply by trading.

With all these advantages, eToro USA have secured their place at the forefront of the forex revolution. Download the platform for free now and see for yourself!

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James Norman is a freelance content writer, specialising in business and online trading related matters. He has published many articles on stocks online and forex trading, and is partial to the world of trading.

This week I want to focus on Sales Growth and Profit Margins.

Everybody understands sales, but margins might bring up a few question marks.
So let’s start at the beginning: First and foremost, sales are THE most important thing to a company. Everything else stems from that. Without sales, there really wouldn’t be anything else to analyze. Sales Growth numbers show you how the company is growing.

However, just because sales are increasing, doesn’t always mean that profits are increasing too. Sales at the expense of profits does not work. So paying attention to Profit Margins is the next thing we’re going to look at.

Margin is simply a ratio, and the calculation is Net Income divided by Sales.
So, if a company’s margin is 15%, for instance, that means the company’s net income is 15 cents for every $1 of sales it makes.

But if a company’s expenses are growing faster than their sales, this will reduce their margins.
In general, a company with increasing margins is becoming more profitable and is better managed; i.e., their costs are under control.

(Take Dell (DELL) for example. Last week, Dell announced their second-quarter earnings. They put up an impressive increase in sales; up 11%. But they posted a negative EPS Surprise of -8.3%. So their sales increased pretty significantly, but it came at the expense of profits as their margins fell yet again. The stock on Friday dropped nearly 14% on the news. Further proof that sales at the expense of profits doesn’t work.)

Parameters for this week’s screen:
* 12 Month Trailing Sales Growth (Current / 1 Quarter Ago) >= their relevant Industry average. (Looking for the top companies in their industries.)
* Current Net Margin >= 5 Yr. Avg. Net Margin. (Steady to increasing Net Profits is what we’re after.)
* Current Net Margin >= Net Margin from 1 Quarter Ago. (If a company’s profit margin fell last quarter, there’s a chance it might fall yet again. So we’re excluding those companies whose margins fell in the previous quarter.)
* Zacks Rank = 1. (The Zacks Rank is one of the best, if not the best rating system out there. One of the main components to the Zacks Rank is Earnings Estimate Revisions. The whole idea being, companies that receive upward estimate revisions have a tendency of receiving even more upward estimate revisions. And this helps paint a solid picture moving forward.)

Here are 5 stocks that pass this screen this week:
FSYS Fuel Systems Solutions, Inc.
GGB Gerdau S.A.y
GIII G-III Apparel Group, Ltd.
LPHI Life Partners Holdings, Inc.
LVB Steinway Musical Instruments, Inc.

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Kevin Matras is the Research Wizard Product Manager and weekly contributing Editor at Zacks Investment Research who creates and writes the Zacks Commentary Screen of the Week. For more information, visit http://www.zacks.com.

Wondering whether your families used to hold a forgotten bank account some where in the past? Trace it now, to claim your family money back and to put all your doubts to rest.

A forgotten bank account is one of the ways in which people loose their money. In the olden days, all the family treasures are usually hidden in a bank in their village. When there is a calamity or war and the families have fled from the village abruptly and many such bank accounts were abandoned.

This is the right time for you to claim your ancestor’s money from that forgotten bank account. For this you should know details like full name of your ancestor, their residential address etc. Only then, you can easily trace the existence of that forgotten bank account.

People who often keep moving from place to place are not usually reminded about their forgotten bank accounts; they usually forget to notify the bank about the change of address and thus losing touch with the bank and all its correspondence. Besides, when a person has too many bank accounts also there is a likely chance that he forgets about one of his accounts. Whatever might be the reason, it is a fact that thousands of dollars are lying unclaimed in a forgotten bank account and people should make efforts to claim them back.

When an account holder does not carry any financial transactions on his bank account for long, then that particular account will be kept in a dormant state. After a couple of years the money in that forgotten bank account will usually be transferred to a special reserve; where the account holder might not get good interest rate for his money.

Now a days, in some countries financial companies are using special software to trace the owner of a forgotten bank account. Several steps are being taken by the governments of various countries to find the rightful owners of the forgotten bank accounts and to make that money available to them.

You can even find several websites online offering advice about how to claim money from a forgotten bank account.

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Nicole Anderson offers more information about unclaimed money at http://www.cashunclaimed.com/. Cashunclaimed.com offers a Free Unclaimed Money Search and information to assist owners in claiming their missing money!

Buying a home can be done under two types of residential sales contracts. Each has some similarities, but it is the differences that need to be understood when deciding which way to go.

Most married couples opt for joint tenancy (although either option is available to them) yet they may not realize that they automatically ‘fit’ the rules that must apply to joint tenancy. These conditions may affect your choice of contract as they involve extensive ‘togetherness’!

For instance, the four main points are: you automatically will have an equal interest; you both gain simultaneous possession; the home ownership is granted in the same document and from the same person (seller); title is assumed at the same time.

If you can meet all those requirements and are still wondering which one, here is a biggie: you cannot bequeath your share in the property to anyone - it automatically goes to the other owner.

Choosing to buy a house with a partner usually results from financial need or the hope to make financial profit. Benefits of sharing such as companionship, shared repairs, shared running costs and security often take second place.

In some cases the property is a resort property and can easily be ’shared’. This often happens with ’snowbird’ homes; it is bought jointly and one couple use it for October, November, December while the other couple use it for January, February and March.

A partnership to buy a home can be far easier to get into than to get out of. The three main problems that can turn the dream into a nightmare are: incompatibility, changes in one partner’s personal finances or changes by one partner to the original arrangement (e.g. moving in a friend etc.).

Hopefully you will talk about how things may unfold before you enter into anything. For instance, you will ensure that you have the same short term and long term goals as your partner, and that your objectives and methods will be compatible. How compatible are both lifestyles? Study a sample contract for joint ownership and see which clauses, if any, seem disagreeable to either of you and why.

If you are unsure about off-loading all your hard-earned cash into a joint venture, there is another alternative. You could try renting part of your home to a tenant; tenants can be given notice, co-owners can’t!

Banks will often ‘allow’ rental income to be included into your overall annual salary. It is not allowed at full rate; sometimes 40% of the rent is added to your total for a loan. This means that you could see how you enjoy having to share with someone else before you bite the bullet!

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Learn more about mobile homes and Arizona retirement community living at PalmGardensOnline.com. The site has extensive information for buyers thinking of relocating to an Arizona Retirement Community, and details on a variety of great mobile home and RV living options.

Where do you want to be when you retire? Will you be on an island in the Bahamas? Working in a different field? Or simply enjoying your spouse? Ninety-five percent of Americans have fears about retirement and 42% feel they will run out of money entirely, according to a 2005 study by NAVA. Just as you wouldn’t go on vacation without an itinerary or a budget, you shouldn’t run toward your retirement blind. With the right plan, 401k planning can be a breeze.

When you’re first getting started, you’ll want to envision how you want your retirement to be. While you’ll be saving money on gas and eating on-the-run, remember that there will be additional expenses — notably healthcare — as you age. Check with the Social Security Administration to find out what your benefits will be. Go over your employer’s retirement and 401k plan. After realistic considerations, you may want to consult a retirement planning calculator.

Some feel most comfortable using retirement planning software. Forbes Magazine recommends Quicken Retirement Planner ($59), Morningstar ($125) and ESPlanner Plus ($199). This option allows you the time and a no-pressure approach to examining your options independently. If you like having things explained in person, you can ask your banker, life insurance agent, investment broker, accountant or attorney for advice. To avoid the hassle, 401k planning services are another avenue, although most places charge around $200 per consultation.

Don’t rely on social security! Social security only provides for approximately one-third of the average American’s retirement plan. Instead, focus on your 401k as the bulk of your retirement savings and invest as much as possible. Consider annuities as a great supplemental retirement plan. Remember, tax-efficient options are increasingly crucial in saving up that nest egg.

Contribute the maximum on your 401k! Putnam Funds did a study in 2005 that found if you earned $40,000 in 1990 saving 2% of your salary, you’d have $40,000 by 2005. However, if had you saved 6% of your salary, your return would have tripled!

Beware of inflation! Ronald Reagan once warned, “Inflation is as violent as a mugger, as frightening as an armed robber and as deadly as a hit man.” Many people forget to factor inflation into their 401k planning. Consider that a $60,000/year lifestyle will cost you $80,635 in ten years and double that in thirty years! Your investment returns should be high enough to cover this pitfall. Most pensions and social security account for inflation and adjust accordingly; however, if you plan to dip into savings accounts or investments, your money will decrease in value over time.

While it may seem overwhelming at first, all the tools are available to make your retirement planning less tedious. Whether it’s a retirement planning service and personal consultant or retirement planning software, you’ll find answers. You can leave the investments up to a trustee who will take the guesswork out or you may choose to take a more active role in your investments. Your best bet is to start now and make a variety of investments to ensure your golden years are truly the best.

Has the current real estate market turned you off to the idea of investing in real estate? If so, you should give it a second thought. When it comes to long term investments, there has never been a better time than now to invest in real estate.

Over the past few years, we have seen many real estate successes and blunders. The most popular type of real estate investing was called flipping. This was where an investor purchased a property and held onto it for a short period of time. During this time, the property was revamped and sold for profit.
Many people had great success with flipping homes; others lost a great deal of money. In fact, many of the foreclosures that we see on the market today were flips gone badly. The real estate investing frenzy created by the flipping buzz created a false economy that eventually imploded.

We are in a full blown real estate recession, but that does not mean that you cannot still make money in real estate. The best way to do so is the old fashioned way. Purchase a property and hold onto it. Use it as a long term investment. One reason why this is such a good idea is that homes always rise in value over the long term. This is due to inflation and the rising cost of living.

Real estate investments can also be useful for the short term. You can live in the home yourself or rent it out to others. If you are currently renting yourself, you are throwing your money away. You are paying for someone else to have a long term investment. You need a roof over your head. You might as well take advantage of all of the benefits that come along with owning real estate.

There are many other reasons why buying a home in the current market is attractive. Interest rates are very low right now. Lenders are also being more lenient. You may be able to qualify for a mortgage even if your credit is less than perfect.

How many empty and neglected homes do you pass everyday? How many are in your neighborhood? Any one of them could be a great bargain. Who knows, you could make a fortune off of one of them. You only need to see the possibilities.

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Sal Vannutini is the author of ” The 8 Power Profit Secrets To Making More Money With Less Risk In Real Estate, ” a free strategy report for investors. Get your complimentary
copy at www.myrealestateinvesting411.com/Realestate/ today.

It is no secret we are in a down real estate market. Almost every day the newspaper and television news broadcast tells us about the foreclosure crisis. This site is devoted to exactly that but there are other arenas you can find deals. Hopefully this article will spark your creative juices and get you to looking under every rock.

This may sound macabre but death is an opportunity for the savvy investor. The surviving spouse may just wish to “dump” the property as he/she can’t bear to live in the house as an empty nester with all those memories. Sometimes the heirs to the property live out of state and only want the cash. Don’t overlook this arena.

Divorce seems to be more common than marriage these days. I personally found a house owned by the husband and all he wanted was to get rid of it and fast. He didn’t want the soon to be ex get any part of it. I’ll admit that was a strange situation but I guess the emotions present in a divorce can make people do funny things.

America is facing not only a foreclosure crisis but a job crisis as well. Outsourcing and layoffs seem to be the norm. However, not everyone is losing their job. In fact, some people are still being promoted and as a result are forced to relocate. My wife’s cousin is such a person. Unfortunately for us he lives on the East Coast.

Don’t overlook apartment houses. You may be able to pick up a nice apartment house because the present owner is having management or rental staff problems. You have to do some super sniffing to learn what is going on inside the management office but if you know people who are tenants ask them what they know about their complex.

Two areas we all have the potential to face one day in our lives are tax problems and/or medical bills. One or the other can be devastating. I had open heart surgery in July 2006 and if it wasn’t for a super medical insurance program, I might have had to sell our house. The bills were enormous.

Everybody knows about absentee owners so I left it for last. I’d personally use a title company to do my absentee owner research. Once you have a list, drive by the properties. Stop at the ones you like and try to talk with the tenant. Ask about recent repairs and problems. In other words, get a feel for the property and the ones living there. After all, if you end up owning it, they are the ones who will be making your mortgage payment.

Consider this article as a starting point to pursue a great opportunity that will bring in that extra money that we can all use in this current economy. But before you jump into something, make sure you do your research and have an exact plan to follow that will bring you to success. You can find more top quality information to create such a plan at our site, so make sure you click on the link below to get the information that will push you over the top and into success.

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Jonathan is the developer of home foreclosure profits. With his expert foreclosure partner, he has created a world class resource for buying foreclosures and investing in real estate in order to get ahead. Make sure you go and bookmark it now, as it is constantly being updated: Home Foreclosure Profits

As I write this on Friday afternoon, Gustav is a Category 1 hurricane. Should the storm continue to strengthen and head towards Louisiana and Texas, oil futures will rise sharply. Let’s hope that any damage from Gustav is minimal.

Regardless of what Mother Nature brings, I do expect trading volume to increase as traders and fund managers return from the holiday. U.S. stocks have stayed in a trading range, however, and barring a disruption to oil supplies, it is very possible that the higher volume won’t result in either an upward or a downward breakout.

The earnings calendar is extremely light with just 43 companies confirmed to report. S&P 500 members H&R Block (HRB) and Staples (SPLS) are the most notable names within this group.

Wednesday’s release of the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book and Friday’s issuance of the August employment numbers highlight the economic calendar.

• Tuesday: August ISM manufacturing index, July construction spending
• Wednesday: Beige Book, July factory orders, weekly crude inventories
• Thursday: Weekly initial jobless claims
• Friday: August unemployment and nonfarm payrolls

Federal Reserve Governor Randall Kroszner will speak in Argentina about U.S. and international financial systems on Monday, Sep 1.

Companies That Could Issue Positive Earnings Surprises
One of the 4 brokerage analysts who cover Casey’s General Stores (CASY) recently raised his fiscal first-quarter profit forecast. The revision pushed the consensus earnings estimate 3 cents higher to 51 cents per share. The most accurate estimate is more bullish at 59 cents per share. CASY has topped expectations during 4 out of the past 5 quarters. Casey General Stores is scheduled to report on Wednesday, Sep 3, after the close of trading.

Companies That Could Issue Negative Earnings Surprises
Staples (SPLS) warned that second-quarter earnings per share declined approximately 15% compared to a year prior. Contributing to the decline was a 7% drop in North American same-store sales. One-third of the covering brokerage analysts responded by trimming their forecasts. The revisions caused the consensus earnings estimate to decline by a penny to 24 cents per share. The most accurate estimate is more bearish at 22 cents per share. The office supply retailer met expectations last quarter, but its fourth-quarter results were a penny below expectations. Staples is scheduled to report on Wednesday, Sep 3, before the start of trading.

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Charles Rotblut is the Vice President of Web Content for Zacks Investment Research and the Senior Market Analyst for Zacks.com. He oversees the editorial staff, manages the market-beating Focus List, Timely Buys and Top 10 portfolios, and plays an instrumental role in the development of new products. For more information, visit http://www.zacks.com

Elasticity of demand is a concept that resides at the core of economic fundamentals. Simply stated, elasticity demand measures customer sensitivity to fluctuations in price. If price adjustments lead to a change in purchasing behavior, demand is considered to be elastic.

Demand sensitivity is a critical factor when evaluating a companies ability to navigate economic volatility, a dynamic that has become particularly relevant within the last year as our economy has muddled through a number of challenging circumstances.

Automobile makers are a good example of an industry that has been stung by demand issues. General Motors has been suffering huge losses due to higher energy prices, as its customers have shifted away from expensive, gas-guzzling SUV’s. Many retailers have also been suffering as cash and credit strapped consumers look for methods to cut costs and save money.

Elasticity and Healthcare

But in spite of the challenging environment, certain segments of the market have held up quite well and continue to grow profits. One of the best has been the healthcare sector, which has a number of factors working in its favor.

There is very little elasticity in this market. Wether oil prices are high and food costs are up, human beings will always need healthcare services. Demographics are also working in this industries favor, with a large portion of the domestic population, baby boomers, heading into retirement and stimulating demand for healthcare services.

So on that note, lets shift gears and look at some healthcare companies that have been scoring big gains and posting impressive results in this tough market.

Excellent Healthcare Stocks

ICON Plc (ICLR) operates as a contract research organization to pharmaceutical companies in the United States and Europe. The company’s July 22 second-quarter results were awesome, including 49% growth in revenue and earnings of 62 cents per share, ahead of analyst estimates of 59 cents per share. The next-year estimate is pegged at $1.61 per share, a 27% earnings growth projection.

Healthspring Inc. (HS) operates as a managed care organization in the United States. The company’s share price has had a great run in 2008, climbing from a low just over $13 to a recent high over $20. Analyst estimates have risen with the stock, with the current-year estimate advancing to $2.12 per share from $1.90 per share 60 days ago.

Almost Family, Inc. (AFAM) has also had a great year, posting impressive gains and driving its share price higher. The home healthcare services company reported awesome second-quarter results on Aug 6 that included a 95% jump in income, to $3.9 million from $2 million in the same period last year. The current-year estimate is up to $1.89 per share from $1.51 30 days ago.

Kendle International, Inc. (KNDL) is a clinical research company providing services to pharmaceutical companies worldwide. This is another company that has done well in 2008, as its stock price has advanced in tandem with higher earnings estimates. The current-year estimate stands to $2.04 per share, up from $1.89 per share 30 days ago. The next-year estimate is pegged at $2.51 per share, a 23% earnings growth projection.

Conclusion

Different industries will fall in and out of favor as economies rotate through their normal cycles. That is what it pays to be sector-centric and focus your attention on the segments of the market that have the ability to stay healthy and grow profits when other companies will struggle.

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Michael Vodicka is an Editor at Zacks Investment Research for more information please visit http://www.zacks.com