Weekly Investor – January 21, 2014
Earnings Season!
Market Summary:
U.S. equity markets ended last week mixed as the headline news of the day mostly drove market performance. On Monday, markets fell the most in two months due to mixed corporate earnings reports. However, markets were back up on Tuesday and Wednesday as the World Bank raised its global growth forecasts, helping the S&P 500® Index reach an all-time high. Markets pulled back on Thursday and Friday as corporate earnings reports were mixed. Current Argent holding, Google Inc. (GOOG) announced that will acquire Nest Labs for $3 billion and shares of GOOG rose 2.4%. Looking ahead to this week, investors prepare to digest more earnings reports and hope for good news from Corporate America.
The S&P 500® was down 0.2% for the week. The top-performing sectors in the S&P 500® Index included Technology (1.4%) and Telecommunications (0.6%), while bottom-performing sectors included Energy (-1.1%) and Consumer Discretionary (-1.9%). In the fixed-income market, the 10-year Treasury yield was down during the week, ending at 2.9%.
We continue to seek those companies possessing identifiable catalysts, and focusing on those stocks with favorable odds.
Growth Opportunity
Citrix Systems, Inc. (CTXS) develops, sells and supports application delivery products such as GoToMyPc, GoToMeeting, GoToAssist, GoToWebinar and other systems within its online services division. One such way these products work is by transmitting screen pixels, keystrokes and mouse movements by encrypted channel. CTXS’s main application is compatible with any platform, thus allowing for widespread use. Product training is also offered as a service so customers can optimize use of its various solutions.
With its existing remote access business, the company continues to gain momentum. Having completed the acquisition of XenSource, Inc., CTXS is positioned to experience growth in the server and desktop virtualization markets. CTXS is the only company to offer an end-to-end application delivery infrastructure for the delivery of applications to any user. With positive feedback from our Main Street contacts, we believe CTXS will see significant growth from the fast and broad adoption of virtualization. We believe shares of CTXS can outperform the market and its peers.
Top 10 Equity Holdings
| . | |
|---|---|
| Google, Inc. | 6.2% |
| Forest Laboratories | 5.1% |
| CBS Corp. | 4.7% |
| Lowes Cos. | 4.4% |
| MasterCard, Inc. | 4.1% |
| Endo Health Solutions | 4.1% |
| Danaher Corp. | 4.1% |
| SunTrust Banks | 4.1% |
| Amgen Inc. | 3.6% |
| Qualcomm Inc. | 3.5% |
U.S. Equity Indices
| Index | 01/17/14 | Week % Chg | YTD % Chg |
|---|---|---|---|
| DJIA | 16,458.6 | 0.1% | -0.7% |
| NASDAQ | 4,197.6 | 0.5% | 0.5% |
| S&P 500 | 1,838.7 | -0.2% | -0.5% |
| Russell 1000 G | 861.6 | 0.0% | -0.3% |
U.S. Credit Rates
| Index | 01/17/14 | 01/10/14 | 12/31/13 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 Month T-Bill | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| 5 Year T-Note | 1.6% | 1.6% | 1.8% |
| 10 Year T-Note | 2.8% | 2.9% | 3.0% |
| 30 Year T-Bond | 3.8% | 3.8% | 4.0% |
| Prime Rate | 3.3% | 3.3% | 3.3% |
This newsletter presents selected recommendations from portfolio managers of Argent Capital Management LLC, a registered investment advisor. Opinions reflect the portfolio manager’s judgment on the date above and are subject to change. A list of stocks recommended by Argent is available upon request. You should not assume that these recommendations are or will be profitable. In the course of it’s business, Argent’s client accounts may be buying and selling these stocks.
