Best Bank Stocks For 2017

Related EWP Maybe Some Relief For The Spain ETF Politics Prove Problematic For The Spain ETF

Relatively speaking, the iShares MSCI Spain Capped ETF (NYSE: EWP) has not been that bad compared to other single-country exchange-traded funds tracking PIIGS economies. Year-to-date, EWP is down 3.8 percent, a loss that is only half as bad as the equivalent Ireland ETF and far superior to the average loss of 14.5 percent for the comparable Greece and Italy ETFs.

As is the case with other members of the PIIGS group, there have been lingering concerns about the health of Spanish banks. However, there are signs banks in the eurozone's fourth largest economy are regaining some health. The health of Spanish banks is of particular importance to EWP because the Spain ETF, as is the case with so many single-country funds, devotes a significant percentage of its weight to financial services names.

Best Bank Stocks For 2017: Lannett Co Inc(LCI)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lisa Levin]

  
  Breaking news

  Edwards Lifesciences Corp (NYSE: EW) announced plans to buy Valtech Cardio for $340 million in cash and stock. The company also announced a $1 billion buyback plan. Epizyme Inc (NASDAQ: EPZM) disclosed that it has received Fast Track designation for tazemetostat. Athene Holding Ltd. (NYSE: ATH) reported that it has priced its 23.8 million share IPO between $38 per share and $42 per share. Lannett Company, Inc. (NYSE: LCI) reported the approval for its Metaxalone Tablets USP, 800 mg.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  But it hasn’t been all bad news. Lannett (LCI) has gained 1.9% to $16.00 after it reported a profit of 12 cents, above the 7 cents forecast by analysts. And shares of Krispy Kreme (KKD) are unchanged after the company said it would earn 59 cents to 63 cents in the slides for a presentation tomorrow. Considering what happened the last time Krispy Kreme opened its mouth, that has to be considered good news.

Best Bank Stocks For 2017: Graham Corporation(GHM)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Graham Corporation (NYSE: GHM) is expected to report its quarterly earnings at $0.12 per share on revenue of $23.54 million.

  Heico Corp (NYSE: HEI) is estimated to post its quarterly earnings at $0.54 per share.

Best Bank Stocks For 2017: Coach, Inc.(COH)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Now that the Olympics are underway, we’ll have a chance to see athletes try to leap ever higher bars. Today, we got to watch Coach (COH), which reported better than forecast earnings, fail to make the jump. RBC’s�Brian Tunick and Bilun Boyner explain:

• [By Chris Lange]

  When Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH) released its fiscal first-quarter earnings report before the markets opened on Tuesday, it posted $0.45 in earnings per share (EPS) and $1.04 billion in revenue. Thomson Reuters consensus estimates had called for $0.45 in EPS and revenue of $1.07 billion. The same period of last year reportedly had EPS of $0.41 and $1.03 billion in revenue.

• [By Trey Thoelcke]

  In its 75th anniversary year, Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH) has just announced the opening of its newest flagship store, Coach House, on Fifth Avenue in New York City, one of the world��s most prestigious shopping districts.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Shares of Michael Kors gained 3.7% to $49.62 today, and the funny part is that there was no new news on the apparel & accessories retailer today. Nothing at all. I checked Dow Jones Newswires. I checked Google News. I checked Briefing.com. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Bloomberg says Jefferies had a positive note, but the analyst tells me he didn’t write one. FactSet says Piper Jaffray wrote a note on Kors, which seems plausible since Piper’s�Erinn Murphy wrote a positive one on�Coach (COH), another maker of handbags and other accessories, today, but I’ve yet to receive confirmation.

Best Bank Stocks For 2017: Southwestern Energy Company(SWN)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lisa Levin]

  Southwestern Energy Company (NYSE: SWN) shares were also up, gaining 13 percent to $12.03 as the company reported strong Q1 results.

  Equities Trading DOWN

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Energy stocks continued their strong performance following Opec’s potential agreement to limit oil production–and no energy stock in the S&P 500 was stronger today than Southwestern Energy (SWN).

• [By Wayne Duggan]

  Bernstein maintains Outperform ratings on the following oil stocks:

  Apache Corporation (NYSE: APA) Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: APC) Cobalt International Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CIE) Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation (NYSE: COG) ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) Devon Energy Corp (NYSE: DVN) EOG Resources Inc (NYSE: EOG) Range Resources Corp. (NYSE: RRC) Southwestern Energy Company (NYSE: SWN)

  GMP analyst Bob Bakanauskas went long E&Ps back on February 3. He predicts that the oil market will transition from oversupply to undersupply in 2017. From that point forward, the world will once again require shale production growth.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Southwestern Energy (SWN) soared to the top of the S&P 500 today as concerns about a cold spell and a report that showed lower natural gas supply sent natural gas prices higher

  Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

  Shares of Southwestern Energy climbed 6.9% to $12.13 today, while the S&P 500 fell 0.4% to 2,191.08.

  Desjardins Capital Markets’ Kristopher Zack and team explain that the “cold weather forecast [is] lighting a fire under NYMEX.” They explain:

  Although oil prices have dominated the headlines following yesterday��s OPEC cut, it has also been a fairly supportive week for natural gas producers, with winter NYMEX strip now approaching the US$3.50/mmbtu level, a far cry from last winter��s experience. La Ni帽a conditions have also been supportive, and we note that next Thursday morning the US Climate Prediction Center will provide its monthly update on the progress of conditions in the El Ni帽o region, which could be a good leading indicator of future weather patterns entering the heart of the winter season from mid-December through early March…

  Temperatures expected to track near normalized levels over next two weeks, which is significantly colder than last winter’s levels. The weather forecast remains fairly constructive for December heating demand, with Heating Degree Days (HDDs) tracking very close to normalized levels through mid-month and particularly cold temperatures expected in the western US.

  Southwestern Energy’s market capitalization rose to $6 billion from $5.6 billion yesterday. It reported a net loss of $4.6 billion on sales of $2.9 billion in 2015.

• [By SEEKINGALPHA.COM]

  To give you an idea of how bad the early part of 2016 was for producers, we think the following chart from Southwestern Energy (SWN) provides some excellent color.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  The large cap E&Ps we cover raised ~ $6.5 billion of equity in 2015 and are likely to consider additional issuance in 2016. Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD) raised $1.3 billion on January 5th and Hess Corp. (HES) raised $1.5 billion of equity/equity-linked earlier this month. We think highly leveraged companies such as Devon Energy,�Encana and�Range Resources (RRC) and companies with a large deficit (before asset sales), such as�Anadarko Petroleum and Devon Energy, are most likely to consider raising equity. Additionally, we believe companies such as WPX Energy (WPX), Southwestern Energy (SWN), Marathon Oil, Continental Resources (CLR),�Noble Energy and Newfield Exploration (NFX) could issue equity while several levered companies may be unwilling or unable to access equity markets. We do not think Apache, Canadian Natural Resource, EOG Resources (EOG), Occidental Petroleum or�Pioneer Natural Resources are likely to issue equity this year.

Best Bank Stocks For 2017: Inogen, Inc(INGN)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Michael A. Robinson]

  I put these rules in action for you in March 2015 when I recommended�Inogen Inc.�(Nasdaq: INGN)�here in these pages.

  Inogen is pioneering the use of portable oxygen concentrators (POCs). And the�Goleta, Calif.-based firm boasts breakthrough technology that has disrupted its entire sector.