Some LargeCap Stocks to Keep an Eye on Today

Wal-Mart said fourth-quarter income from continuing operations rose about 4.3% to $5.02 billion, or $1.41 a share, from $4.82 billion, or $1.26 a share, a year earlier. On an adjusted-basis, earnings per share were $1.34. Net sales for the quarter increased 2.5% to $115.6 billion from $112.8 billion. Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of $1.31 a share on revenue of $117.68 billion. Shares of Wal-Mart edged 1.5% lower to $54.55 in premarket trading Tuesday.

Chesapeake Energy agreed to sell all of its Fayetteville Shale natural gas assets to BHP Billiton for $4.75 billion in cash. Chesapeake shares spiked 7.6% to $32.75, while BHP rose 0.7% to $93.02 in premarket trading.

Holly Corp. and Frontier Oil agreed to merge in an all-stock deal forming an oil refining company with an enterprise value of $7 billion. Shares of Holly Corp. were falling 2% to $54.98 in premarket trading Tuesday, while Frontier Oil was lower by 0.1% to $28.09.

Home Depot, the No. 1 home-improvement retailer, said it was raising its dividend after fiscal fourth-earnings rose and sales increased 3.8%. Home Depot shares rose 2.7% to $39.50 in premarket trading Tuesday.

Dynegy said late Monday its CEO and chief financial officer plan to resign following a failure by shareholders to approve a takeover offer from Carl Icahn. Premarket quotes weren't reported for Dynegy. Shares fell down 0.7% to $6.01 at the closing bell Friday.

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3 Things To Know Before Trading

Stocks were weak in Asian trade. Shanghai lost 2.6%, the Hang Seng was down more than two percent as well, the Nikkei dropped about 1.8% and Australia was off 0.9%. European indexes are also broadly lower on the day; the Dax is down only a slight fraction, but the Footsie is off by about 0.9%. US stock futures are down one percent, more or less.

*Among the reasons for the broad based stock weakness is the situation in Libya. Protests calling for the ouster of Muammar Gaddafi have been met by violent resistance from the government, leaving hundreds dead. This response has been followed by many resignations of Libyan ambassadors abroad and met with international condemnation. Libya is said to be teetering on the edge of civil war, says the son of Gaddafi. Libya has been ruled by Gaddafi for four decades and he refuses to leave, which he repeated in a late night broadcast that lasted about one minute. Libya is a member of OPEC and as such the situation there has been particularly sensitive to the price of crude oil. As I write the April futures contract is trading more than $6 higher on the session in New York, at about $96. The April Brent crude oil is currently above $107.

*An earthquake, 6.3 magnitude, hit New Zealand overnight. The epicenter is near Christchurch and there is said to be at least 65 casualties.

*Moody’s has changed Japan’s rating outlook to negative.

*The Bundesbank has rejected the EU proposal to allow the European Financial Stability Facility, the EFSF, to buy government bonds in the secondary market, says the central bank’s monthly report.

*The December reading of the Case/Shiller Home Price Index is due out at 8:00am CST, it is expected to show a year on year decline of 2.40%. The February reading of Consumer Confidence is due out at 9:00am CST, it is expected to be down a fraction on the month to 65.0; the January report has been revised sharply higher, from 60.6 to 65.0.

*The February reading of the Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index is due out at 9:00am CST, it is expected to be steady on the month at 18.

*The Fed is scheduled to buy Treasuries today that are due to mature between 8/31/16 and 2/15/18; the results of the operation will be announced just after 10:00am CST.

*The Treasury plans to sell $32 billion 2 Year Notes today; the results of the auction will be announced just after noon CST.

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Greenhouse Holdings (OTCBB:GRHU): Building Tactical Training Center in Mississippi

GreenHouse Holdings (OTCBB:GRHU) has executed a letter of intent with Hinds Community College to construct and manage a $2.9 million Anti-Terrorism Tactical Training Center in Jackson, Mississippi that would provide local law enforcement personnel with a state-of-the-art training and sustainable firing range facility and which would serve as a best practices model for such facilities in small cities and towns across the United States. The project is subject to the execution of a definitive agreement. The pilot program, including both basic and advanced firearms training would commence with Hinds Community College in Jackson, Mississippi, where Mississippi law enforcement agencies, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel and other local, state and federal agencies expected to receive instruction. The cost of building the Anti-Terrorist Tactical Training Center is estimated at $2.9 million per unit.

These Anti-Terrorist Tactical Training Centers are fully sustainable, indoor facilities. As such, they remove the need for outdoor firing ranges that have detrimental environmental impact due to lead seepage into the ground. GreenHouse plans to design and construct the 11,000 square foot training center on land leased from the college at a cost of $1.00 per year for a 15 year term. The training center will feature a GreenHouse delivered Tactical Training System featuring the company's sustainable bullet trapping system capable of containing 7.62 caliber rounds at a maximum distance of 30 meters. The range will also have twelve lanes of fire featuring pneumatic turning target systems including two lanes with wheelchair accessibility.

Users of the sustainable training facility are expected to include the United States Marine Corps, National Park Service, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the Mississippi Highway Patrol, Mississippi Alcohol Law Enforcement, Mississippi Department of Corrections and other fire and rescue departments. The facility will also be used to train U.S. Coast Guard personnel responsible for Maritime Security. "As public safety enforcement work becomes increasingly dangerous, proper firearms training is more critical than ever to the safety of those men and women who serve and protect American citizens," remarked John Galt, Executive Chairman and co-founder for GreenHouse Holdings, Inc. "We provide the most sustainable and innovative environment for highly skilled training in an assortment of tools and disciplines in a wide variety of settings."

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Bazi (OTCBB:BAZI): Makes Deal with 7- Eleven

BAZI International (OTCBB:BAZI) announced today that its product, BAZI Natural Energy Shot, will be sold in participating U.S. 7-Eleven® stores starting this March. "7-Eleven is our first retailer in the convenience store channel," said Debbie Wildrick, BAZI's Sales and Marketing Executive Vice President. "Because BAZI's product offers energy plus nutrition in a powerful blend of eight superfruit extracts, we expect to attract new customers to the energy category. Consumers are accustomed to buying shots in convenience stores and know they can find new and unique products at 7-Eleven locations."

Based in Dallas, Texas, 7-Eleven, Inc. operates, franchises and licenses more than 7,100 stores in the U.S. and Canada. Of the nearly 6,100 stores the company operates and franchises in the United States, more than 4,800 are franchised. BAZI® will be sold in participating stores as a part of 7-Eleven's spring and summer program.
Kevin Sherman, CEO of BAZI, added, "This partnership is very important to BAZI and the growth of our brand in 2011."

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5 Things to Keep in Mind While Trading Today

THE DAY AHEAD

February 18

*Stocks were mixed in Asian trade. Shanghai was down more than 0.9%, but the Hang Seng rose one and a quarter percent and the Nikkei and Australia were essentially unchanged. Mixed results so far in Europe as well; currently the Footsie is down more than 0.4%, but the Dax is up about 0.2%. US stock futures are unchanged as I write.

*The January reading of Japan’s Nationwide Department Store Sales was down 1.1% on a year over year basis.

*The January reading of Germany’s Producer Price Index were up 1.2% on a month on month basis, double the forecast.

*The January reading of UK Retail Sales was +1.9% on a month on month basis, almost four times the expected gain. However the previous month was revised down to -1.4% from -0.8% on a monthly basis.

*ECB council member Bini Smaghi says ECB may raise rates as price pressures mount., saying that the ECB has “repeatedly communicated its alertness.”

*Fed boss Bernanke is scheduled to speak in Paris at 7:00am CST about global imbalances and financial stability; there will be Q and A following his prepared remarks.

*The Fed is scheduled to buy Treasuries today that are due to mature between 8/31/13 and 2/15/15; the results of the operation will be announced just after 10:00am CST.

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Some LargeCap Stocks to Keep an Eye on Today

Camden, N.J.-based Campbell Soup said second-quarter net earnings fell 8% to $239 million, or 71 cents a share, from $259 million, or 74 cents a share, a year earlier. Sales fell about 1% to $2.13 billion from $2.15 billion the year before. Analysts, on average, expected earnings of 71 cents a share on revenue of $2.15 billion. Shares of the company fell 3.3% to $33.80 in premarket trading Friday.

Apple was in the headlines with The Wall Street Journal reporting that U.S. antitrust authorities are taking a look at the legality of the terms the company has set publishers to sell content on the iPad and other devices. More than 100 hedge fund managers sold some or all of their Apple shares after the maker of the iPad and iPhone surged 30% to a record in the last half of 2010. Apple shares fell 0.2% to $357.75 in premarket trading Friday.

Automaker Ford plans to launch a joint venture to make and sell Ford vehicles in Russia. Ford shares were rising 0.2% to $16 in premarket trading Friday.

Networking equipment maker Brocade Communications beat Wall Street's expectations for its fiscal first quarter amid strong sequential revenue growth. Shares of the company surged 8.8% to $6.55 in premarket trading.

Seattle-based fashion specialty retailer Nordstrom reported decent fourth-quarter earnings and announced an agreement to acquire HauteLook, a privately held online fashion retailer known for holding limited-time sales events for high-end fashion brands. There were no premarket quotes for Nordstrom. Shares of the company fell 0.5% Thursday to $46.48.

Jack Griffin, CEO of publisher Time Inc., has been fired after less than six months in the post, according to reports. Time Inc. is a unit of Time Warner. There were no premarket quotes for Time Warner. The stock rose 1% to $37.68 on Thursday.

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DecisionPoint Systems (OTC:DNPI) Renews Credit Facility

DecisionPoint Systems (OTC:DNPI), a provider of Enterprise Mobility, Professional Services and RFID solutions, today announced that the Silicon Valley Bank has renewed the company's credit line for two years. The Company's credit facility now totals $13.0 million consisting of a $10.0 million line of credit and a $3.0 million term loan. The company's original 2010 credit facility of $8.5 million was increased to a total facility of $10.0 million in December, in order to provide funding for the acquisition of CMAC, Inc., which was completed on December 30, 2010. As I write, shares of DecisionPoint are flat at $0.42 per share and average about 53,000 shares traded per day. The Company has a market cap of $11 million and a 52-week range between $0.03 and $0.45 per share.

"The two year renewal and increase of our credit line is evidence of both the strength of our business model and expanding opportunities for growth. The imperative for a mobile solution continues to grow and DecisionPoint's proven enterprise solutions are in high demand. We thank Silicon Valley Bank for the support it is giving us to execute our growth plans," said Nicholas Toms, CEO of DecisionPoint.

DecisionPoint Systems delivers improved productivity and operational advantages to its clients by helping them move their business decision points closer to their customers. They do this by making enterprise software applications accessible to the front-line worker anytime, anywhere. DecisionPoint utilizes all the latest wireless, mobility, and RFID technologies.

For more information visit: http://www.decisionpt.com/news.php.

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