Checking Up on Your Broker

Responding to horror stories of brokers who run wild with customer assets—by, say, churning accounts or recommending inappropriate investments—Americans have gotten good at doing a little research before hiring. Millions of people turn to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's online BrokerCheck tool each year to get background info on investment professionals.

See Also: No Day in Court for Injured Investors

However, recent research uncovered troubling gaps in the disclosures provided by Finra, the brokerage industry's self-regulatory arm. A Wall Street Journal investigation found that the database failed to include criminal records or personal-bankruptcy filings for 1,600 brokers. The study also confirmed what one might have expected—that brokers who repeatedly failed licensing examinations had worse complaint histories than those who passed their exams on the first try. A separate study by the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association, a group of securities lawyers, found that information reported by state securities regulators—including tax liens, bankruptcies, results of broker licensing exams and the reasons brokers were fired from previous jobs—was often excluded from this public database, too.

Finra says it does disclose termination data when brokers leave in the wake of fraud or misconduct allegations. But it wouldn't necessarily report a case of a supervisor who found a broker incompetent. Some state regulators would.

Finra originally defended its disclosure policies, saying they reflected an appropriate balance between customer and broker rights. But now it says it's launched an internal study to determine whether there's a "meaningful relationship" between currently undisclosed data, such as failed examinations, and broker misconduct.

In addition, the self-regulatory organization is now requiring member firms to do background checks on new hires. It is also launching a nationwide database search to make sure that criminals have not been able to infiltrate the industry by simply failing to disclose past transgressions. Once this initial search is complete, Finra says, it will conduct periodic reviews of public records to ensure that the disclosures in BrokerCheck are kept up-to-date and complete.

Finra says it has long urged investors to take the extra step of supplementing the information they find on BrokerCheck with information filed with their state securities departments. State securities regulators often disclose more information about financial professionals than is available through BrokerCheck. The North American Securities Administrators Association maintains an online listing of state securities offices. But don't expect easy going at the state level. Most state securities offices can be contacted only by phone, and some charge to copy and mail files.

Stocks Fumble for Solid Footing: StockTwits

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- U.S. stocks on Monday fumbled around like a frat boy after last call, seeking a solid foundation to rest and reassess the situation before continuing the walk-of-shame home.

Stocks spent the first half of the day holding tepid gains before testing participants' resolve with a late day test of intraday lows, followed by an impressive snapback closer toward the days' highs. Some might call that whiplash.

With last week's selling pressure as backdrop, some cooler-headed cashtaggers waded into the fray today with some data points to suggest that things might not be as bad as they seem. First, Ryan Detrick shared this little nugget that gives credence to the idea of a highly probable end-of-month rally:

Over the past 40 years, April has bottomed on April 14 -- then rallied the rest of the month. $SPX http://stks.co/i0UsB -- Ryan Detrick (@RyanDetrick) Apr. 14 at 07:13 AM Second, while stocks were in the middle of their late-day test of the lows, J.C. Parets shared this chart that highlights some strong support for those with a time-frame longer than a nanosecond: the stock market has memory here $SPX let's see if it matters http://stks.co/a0RL2 -- J.C. Parets (@allstarcharts) Apr. 14 at 01:36 PM And lastly, our friends at DarvasTrader.com point out a big fat round number that has been a short-term godsend for the beleaguered tech sector: The NASDAQ finds support at 4,000 for the 2nd straight session. Keep an eye on this level. $COMPQ $QQQ -- DarvasTrader.com (@DarvasTrader) Apr. 14 at 02:02 PM With lots of big economic and earnings reports to be compressed into four trading days due to the market being closed for Good Friday, stay on your toes. We could see some heightened volatility in either direction. Follow me on StockTwits: @chicagosean At the time of publication, the author held no positions in any of the stocks mentioned. This article represents the opinion of a contributor and not necessarily that of TheStreet or its editorial staff.

Stock quotes in this article: COMPQ, QQQ, SPX 

1-Up on Wall Street: Androids Everywhere, Titans Falling, and Asgardians to the Rescue

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG  ) wants Android in everything.  Will Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) respond with iOS-powered scarves? Who stands to profit more from the release of the highly anticipated Xbox One game, Titanfall? And does Lady Sif's ratings-boosting appearance on Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. mean we'll see more Asgardians soon? Ellen Bowman, Nathan Alderman, and Tim Beyers have these stories and more in this week's episode of 1-Up on Wall Street!

Three superhero stocks you can profit from right now
You're fans like us, so you probably knew that Disney was getting a steal when it purchased Marvel for $4 billion in 2009. Do you know what you'd be sitting on now if you'd have acted on that knowledge? Triple your money.

The best part about the stock market is that there are always new opportunities to cash in on what you know. Take cable. You know viewers are unplugging in favor of on-demand options. What you might not realize is that the shift has opened up a $2.2 trillion opportunity, and three companies are poised to benefit most. Click here for their names. Hint: They're not Netflix, Google, and Apple. 

Do Olympic Medals Mean A Stronger National Economy?

While the world watches which countries take home medals from the current Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, one group of analysts has been looking at medal counts as an indicator of a nation's economic health.

In a note to investors last week, market strategists at ConvergEx Group, a New York-based global brokerage company, found the Winter Olympics are a useful study guide regarding the relationship between athletic performance and economic progress in emerging markets worldwide.

ConvergeEx analysts believe the Winter Games are an especially good indicator, when you consider the overall costs of competition. "Most sports in the Winter Olympics require a good deal of money to participate," they said, "much more so than the Summer Olympics. Think skis, ice hockey equipment, figure skating outfits, speed skates, access to the right locations to practice, etc."

The strategists looked at medal counts by country since the first Winter Olympics in 1924, and found a nation's athletes rarely make it to the winner's podium "until their respective countries experience economic progress and stability."

Related: Who Are The Economic Winners At The Sochi Winter Games?

The also noted that "consistent podium-worthy performances in subsequent years are typically correlated with GDP growth."

They also looked at some very telling case studies, such as post-World War II Japan. They noted Japan competed in, but didn't win medals, in three pre-war Winter Games. Japan won its first Winter Olympics medal, a silver, in 1956 – and Japanese athletes didn't win any Winter Games medals again until the 1972 Olympics in Sapporo, which they hosted. But they have been top Winter Olympics contenders ever since.

"Japan won its first medal when it was taking off as an emerging economy," ConvergEx notes. "Indusrialism in the country picked up rapidly following the way, and the Olympic medal consistency coincided with the consumption boom in the 1980s."

Two other Asian economies, South Korea and China, have followed similar patterns -- with their Winter Games medal tallies growing as their emerging economies developed and matured.

And this correlation, according to the ConvergEx strategists, can also be applied to the U.S. In the earlier years of the Winter Olympics, during the Great Depression, the analysts note America fell behind Norway in Finland in the medal count – and lagged behind the Soviet Union and Germany in the 1960s and 70s. "And though the United States continued to improve throughout the latter half of the 20th century," they continue, "it actually wasn't until 2010 that American athletes won more medals than any other nationality."

So is there a lesson here for emerging economies? "Root for your athletes," says ConvergEx; "it's tied to a better future."

Posted-In: ConvergEx Olympics Sochi Winter Games winter olympicsAnalyst Color News Emerging Markets Politics Psychology Events Global Economics Markets Analyst Ratings Media General Press Releases Best of Benzinga

(c) 2014 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

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BitTag, Real-Time Bitcoin Price Tag, Looks To Solve Key Bitcoin Problems

Bitcoin remains an extremely volatile form of currency. One of the main issues with it is the fact that the value can change at the blink of an eye. Now, a London-based Bitcoin enthusiast tries to solve the problem with BitTag.

BitTag is a device that pulls information from the internet and informs a user on the value of Bitcoin, updating itself once a minute. Its creator, Samual Cox, hopes that this will allow brick-and-mortar stores to start accepting Bitcoin. Cox told BBC, "Bitcoin is becoming more popular…But there's a lack of infrastructure for people to buy things in the physical world because the value changes all the time."

In theory, Cox's argument makes sense. Bitcoin's volatility has been the crypto-currency's main issue. Stores are worried that, hypothetically, the value of Bitcoin can crash mid-transaction. Now, stores will be able to get a more accurate reading on the current value of a Bitcoin.

Related: What Companies Accept Bitcoin?

The BBC writes that over the past year, the price of a Bitcoin fluctuated tremendously, surpassing $1,000 many times but also going as low as $421. The actual BitTag costs about $60 (£40), so its a little too pricey for the average store. The idea is that the BitTag can be attached to a good and it will show how much that item is worth in Bitcoin. So, the price of the good will change depending on the volatility of Bitcoin.

Here's how it works, according to the BitTag website: "[The] Bitcoin transaction can be activated by a simple 'shake' of the BitTag. Enabling a Bitcoin QR code to be displayed on the display and scanned by the user's smartphone."

BitTag uses Bluetooth Low Energy technology and connects to a tablet so that stores can monitor each digital price tag. BLE is most known for its use in Apple's iBeacon device that allows stores to keep track of customers and send notifications to shoppers that are in stores, while they are shopping. The BitTag also has a microprocessor, OLED display and a rechargeable batter. The device comes with an accompanying iPad app and can be purchased online on bittag.net

Posted-In: BBC Bitcoin BitTag Samuel CoxNews Commodities Global Markets Tech Best of Benzinga

(c) 2014 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

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5 risks that could upend bullish 2014 thesis

Wall Street bulls say the good times can continue in 2014. But despite articulately laying out a bullish case for stocks, they also admit that there are risks to their upbeat forecast.

Here are five things that could go wrong next year, and trigger the first sizable correction since late 2011.

RAGING BULL: Most experts say stocks to climb higher in 2014

RISK NO. 1: A MARKET 'MELT-UP'

A repeat of last year's eye-popping 25% to 40% returns in 2014, market strategists warn, could potentially spawn a 2000-style stock market bubble that could trigger a market decline far worse than a garden-variety 10% correction.

"Melt-ups are fun when they are happening but they tend to end in much bigger corrections," says Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment officer at Charles Schwab.

Wall Street prefers a steady rise in prices from current levels, with gains in the 5% to 10% range, so prices don't get disconnected from earnings, says David Kelly, chief global strategist for JPMorgan Funds.

The reason: The melt-up scenario, which could be driven by a mountain of cash arriving late to the stock market party or a stimulus-fed bubble, will likely turn a market now considered "fairly valued" into overvalued territory.

"Be careful what you wish for," Kelly says.

BULL VS. BEAR: Will stocks go higher or stall in 2014?

LESSONS LEARNED: Stock winners and losers of 2013 offer lessons

RISK NO. 2: A MESSY FED 'QE' EXIT

Investors have become addicted to stimulus. And even though Wall Street in December took news of the start of the Federal Reserve's exit from its bond-buying program in stride, expect more "taper tantrums" in 2014, says Ann Miletti, senior portfolio manager at Wells Fargo Advantage Funds.

"Maybe the Fed executes perfectly and it doesn't create a lot of waves," Miletti says. "But I would anticipate a withdrawal period. Interest rates won't stay ultra-low forever. In the long run the economy not needing as much stimulus is a good thing. But the! re will be disruptions along the way. But we would be buyers at lower entry points because we believe in the longer-run story."

RISK NO. 3: A RETURN OF IRRATIONAL EXUBERANCE

If first-day IPO price pops or the Dow's stunning rise garner more water-cooler chat time than, say, the first outdoor Super Bowl in wintry New York or Beyonce's latest hit, watch out. It could signal that bullishness has gone mainstream and irrational exuberance is back. Everyone knows what happens when everyone thinks stocks or home prices can't go down.

The market is not at an optimistic sentiment extreme yet, Sonders says. Individual investors are just now starting to funnel money back into the stock market after withdrawing cash for five years. And bullishness on Main Street, while rising, is far from prior peaks. Institutional investors like hedge funds also remain underinvested in stocks.

But investor sentiment bears watching. "If you got to an extreme in bullish sentiment you could point to that solely as a reason for the market to consolidate its gains," Sonders says.

RISK NO. 4: A "DEFENSIVE" CLASS OF CEOs

If CEOs are unwilling to go on the offensive and start deploying more of the $1.2 trillion in cash sitting on their balance sheets it could take away a key plank of the economic growth story. "The key question is what are they going to do with all that cash?" says Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at US Bank Wealth Management.

If CEOs remain tight-fisted, it means less jobs, less spending on tech upgrades, less new plant openings and less M&A activity. In short, less spending means less economic growth.

RISK NO. 5: A "GROWTH SCARE"

Wall Street is betting on faster growth, perhaps a return to 3% GDP.

But faster growth is not assured, given that interest rates are on the rise. And if global growth doesn't materialize, the bull case weakens, says Marty Sass, CEO of money management firm M.D. Sass.

If a market storm does occur in 2014, it will likely ! result fr! om a "growth scare," warns Jeffrey Kleintop, chief market strategist at LPL Financial.

The inside scoop from 7 Santa standouts

We didn't sit on Santa's lap. He sat on ours.

Santa – make that seven shopping mall Santas – told us their inside stories.

Our questions were less about being naughty or nice and more about the behind-the-scenes lives of mall Santas on and off the job. We interviewed Santas stationed this holiday at top shopping centers coast-to-coast to find out what gives them North Pole credentials.

Each had a unique story, sometimes a sad story.

Just about every one of the nation's 1,500 major shopping malls has at least one Santa. The malls aren't rolling out the annual Santa Express just because elves asked them to. Kids may link Santa with gifts and snow, but malls equate him with shoppers and dough.

"The mall Santa has been one of the most tried-and-true ways of driving holiday traffic," says Jesse Tron, spokesman for the International Council of Shopping Centers.That, he says, is why Santas are usually hired by the mall's marketing director. Santa is good PR.

He helps to sell stuff, too. Lots of it. "I'd say 100% of the people buy something while they are here to see Santa," says Maureen Bausch, executive vice president for business development at the sprawling Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn.

But is Santa more than a PR tool – and a selling machine?

Seven Santas told us there's much more. While many kids come asking for stuff, others come asking for hope. Santa's job is to provide a little bit of both.

.

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SANTA TO THE STARS

Patrick Turnbull is Santa to the rich and famous.

That's more by accident than design. When you've been an estate gardener to Hollywood producer Norman Lear for 40 years – as Turnbull has – you're bound to rub elbows with the well-to-do.

That resulted, 14 years ago, in Turnbull showing up at the Playboy Mansion, on a lark, to try out as Santa Claus for the annual Christmas party there. He won. Next thing he knew, there was Playboy founder Hugh Hefner seated on his lap – and then a! photo of that moment in Playboy magazine.

Turnbull, 64, gets $150 for the first hour at a party or shopping mall and $100 for each hour after that. Clients get what they pay for. One of his six handmade Santa outfits cost him a cool $3,500.

But he'll get it back. Over the five weeks before Christmas, he expects to earn up to $9,000 at 22 gigs. One is at a holiday charity event that actor Kevin Costner is hosting at his Carpinteria, Calif., home.

Not all the wealthy people he works with are famous. Years ago, a top executive at a Swiss bank hired Turnbull for a Christmas party at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Turnbull thought he was posing for pictures. Then the exec asked him to address the audience of big shots.

"Suddenly, I was supposed to give words of inspiration – beyond money -- to rich businesspeople," he recalls. Apparently he did well, because he's been invited back year after year to do the same.

#

SPECIAL NEEDS SANTA

Imagine not being able to hear the sounds of Christmas.

No jingle bells. No laughter. No ho-ho-ho.

Val Jenkins can imagine that. Jenkins is not deaf, but the retired school employee from Spring City, Utah, is an unusual Santa Claus who learned sign language and communicates the joy of Christmas with the deaf.

Val Jenkins, resident Santa at Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, Calif., uses sign language to communicate to deaf kids.(Photo: Noerr Programs)

He is hard of hearing and has a brother who is deaf.

"I can understand what these kids are going through," says Jenkins, 63, resident Santa at the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, Calif. "These are kids who are afraid of being singled out by society."

A few! years ag! o, a deaf girl – who was with a caregiver – was too shy to approach him, so he walked up to her. He knelt down, spoke with her briefly in sign language, then asked her something she'd never been asked before: to sing Jingle Bells with him in sign language.

The girl was enthralled. She sadly told Jenkins that her parents did not sign with her. The caregiver explained to Jenkins that they were not interested in learning sign language.

A week later, the girl returned with an uncle and jumped into Jenkins' arms. The uncle saw their special relationship and later passed that on to the parents.

Two weeks before Christmas, she showed up again – with both parents. They told Jenkins something that struck him as the best gift he could imagine: Both were learning sign language, they said, thanks to him.

'CHOCOLATE' SANTA

David Allen grew up in a world where Christmas was supposed to be white – and so was Santa.

David Allen poses with Elena Recinto in Detroit. "They call me the chocolate Santa," he says.(Photo: Marco Floyd, Party Pictures)

That's why the 57-year-old retired security employee from Detroit was taken aback five years ago when he was asked to portray Santa at a local mall. Sure, he had the big belly, but he certainly didn't have the flowing white beard and locks.

Never mind that. He's been playing Santa ever since with a fake white beard and fake white hair.

"They call me the chocolate Santa," he laughs.

He rarely gets comments about his color, he says, except from teen siblings or parents. "Kids don't see color," he says.

This is his third year as Santa at the Northland Center in Southfield, Mich. The shopping center, in an area with a large African-American population, has h! ad black ! Santas for at least seven years, says Pam Lightbody, mall marketing director..

When he first started to play Santa, Allen recalls, "I would turn people's heads." Not anymore.

He's got one big goal: "I want to be the first black Santa in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade."

#

INTENSE SANTA

Long before a kid plops on his lap and hands him a wish list, Santa Neil Beck has his game plan in motion. It begins when the kid is still in line.

Neil Beck has been the Santa at Bellevue Square shopping mall in Washington for 13 years.(Photo: Scott Matsuda via Arthur and Associates)

Beck waves and makes eye contact. "If you start when they're in line, you can win them over before they get here," explains Beck, 68, a retired community college instructor in Bellevue, Wash. For 13 years, he's been Santa at the Bellevue Square shopping mall.

Small things matter. He constantly chews breath mints and wears a perfume that smells like fresh-baked cookies.

Some meetings are particularly tough.

Several years ago, a bald mother, a stage-four cancer patient, came with her four daughters. The girls all sat on his lap, and Beck prodded the mother to join them, which she finally did.

A year later, the girls returned – without their mother. She had died that October. One of the daughters told Beck that her mom so treasured that photo that she kept it on the mantel all year. "They told me that photo will always be there."

#

SANTA BY APPOINTMENT

One of the harshest realities of visiting Santa Claus is those long, long lines.

One of two Santas at the Mall of America has a solution. He's Santa by appointment.

Oh, what fun it is to ride with Santa and his elves at Mall of America. This Santa won't reveal his name because he says he doesn't want to confuse kids.(Photo: Mall of America)

He's fully booked for the season. In fact, he was 90% booked before he even showed up at the mall on Nov. 12. But sometimes folks cancel, so you can always try to get on his lengthy wait list.

This Santa goes by the name Santa Sid (stands for Santa in Disguise). He won't reveal his real name because he says he doesn't want to confuse kids. The 60-year-old Santa is retired from working at an aircraft parts supply maker.

Santa Sid got in the business more than 40 years ago, as a 19-year-old, shortly after his 4-year-old brother died of leukemia. "That really got to me," says Santa Sid. He needed to find a way to make himself – and others – happy.

He takes his Santa gig very, very seriously. His beard and hair are real, and every day when he arrives at the mall, he first stops at a hair salon to get them primped and dyed. "Shoppers line up at the window taking pictures," he says.

#

SUITCASE SANTA

For much of the year, this Santa lives in Santa Claus, Ind., on Rudolph Lane.

Then, come mid-November, he packs his suitcase and drives 400 miles to South Charlotte, S.C., where he's employed for almost six weeks as Santa at the SouthPark Mall.

SouthPark Mall's Santa Gary (whose full name cannot be divulged) settles in for a long winter's nap.(Photo: The Noerr Programs)

Santa Gary puts in roughly 210 days annually in th! e role of! Santa Claus, including a good chunk of it in the summer playing the Santa role for an entertainment company that requires him not to disclose his last name. "There are a lot of others who claim to be full-time Santas," says the 62-year-old. "But I see more children in one year than most Santas see in four."

At first, becoming Santa was not an expression of joy. It was something closer to desperation. About a dozen years ago, within three months he lost his job and was diagnosed with cancer.

With no job and caring little about his appearance, he started to grow a beard. "People began to tell me that I looked like Santa," he recalls. "I sort of fell into it."

It's not just kids who come to see Santa Gary. Not long ago, a 95-year-old great grandmother asked if she could sit on his lap. The moment she did, she started to cry. "What's the matter, Grandma?" he asked, thinking he'd somehow hurt her. The old woman told him she'd lived 95 years without ever sitting in Santa's lap. "But I always wanted to."

#

SANTA KNOWS ME

Some folks think it's the white beard that makes Santa Claus genuine. Others think it's the jelly belly.

But as far as Santa Ken Traveller, 70, is concerned, it's knowing the names of all the kids who come to sit on his lap and inscribing those first names in a big book.

Ken Traveller, a veteran mall Santa at Tysons Galleria in McLean, Va., talks with Lilly Smith, 6, and her brother Nihl Smith, 4, of Falls Church, Va.(Photo: Jack Gruber, USA TODAY)

He's filled 14 books in 14 years as Santa at Tysons Galleria in McLean, Va. Assistants help, quietly asking parents waiting in line, then passing the names to Santa Ken.

He quickly inscribes a name in his book, the! n bellows! the name to call the usually shocked child up. "When they ask how I know their name," he says, "I remind them that I'm keeping a list and checking it twice."

There are emotional moments when even Santa has no words.

One family with six kids visited Traveller each year. One of the daughters, Margaret, was in a wheelchair, and the father always lifted her onto Santa's lap.

One year the family didn't come. The next year they were back – without Margaret. One of the children told him Margaret had died the year before.

That's when Santa began to cry. Traveller and his wife, too, had lost one of their children years ago. "I told them," he recalls tearfully, "maybe they're up in heaven together."

A worker dressed as Santa Claus hugs a Zebra shark at the Sunshine International Aquarium on Dec. 11 in Tokyo.  Shizuo Kambayashi, APFullscreen Miley Cyrus performs with a dancer dressed as Santa Claus during the KIIS-FM Jingle Ball concert at Staples Center on Dec. 6 in Los Angeles.  Chris Pizzello, Invision, via APFullscreen Men dressed as Santa Claus use the restroom at a bar during the SantaCon event on Dec. 14 in Vancouver, British Columbia. SantaCon is held in 300 locations in 44 countries.  Darryl Dyck, The Canadian Press, via APFullscreen Santa Claus dunks a basketball Dec. 16 during a timeout in the fourth quarter of the NBA basketball game between the Boston Celtics and the Minnesota Timberwolves in Boston.  Michael Dwyer, APFullscreen A Palestinian shop owner sets up a Santa Claus figure on the street near Jaffa Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem on Dec. 19.  Abir Sultan EPAFullscreen People photograph a Santa Claus figure in a famous pose from the Marilyn Monroe movie "The Seven Year Itch" outside a department store Dec. 17 in Taiyuan, China.  APFullscreen A penguin wearing a Santa Claus costume parades through the Everland amusement park on Dec. 18 in Yongin, South Korea.  Woohae Chu, AFP/Getty ImagesFullscreen People dressed as Santa Claus run at Tompkins Square Park during the annual SantaCon bar crawl Dec. 14 in New York City.  Kena Betancur, Getty ImagesFullscreen A Boston Bruins fan dressed as Santa Claus cheers in the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Calgary Flames on Dec. 17 in Boston.  Elise Amendola, APFullscreen A man dressed as Santa Claus waits for the beginning of a training session for seasonal workers portraying Santa Claus or angels on Nov. 30 in Berlin, Germany.  Gero Breloer, APFullscreenLike this topic? You may also like these photo galleries:ReplayAu! toplaySho! w ThumbnailsShow CaptionsLast SlideNext Slide

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WHAT KIDS ARE ASKING SANTA FOR THIS YEAR:

Santa to the Stars: iPads, iPhones, Barbie dolls, pets

Special Needs Santa: American Girl dolls, trains

"Chocolate" Santa: electronics

Intense Santa: cellphones, iPads, Xbox, Wii

Santa by Appointment: Skylanders Swap Force toys, Apple products, Nooks, Kindles

Suitcase Santa: Plush toys, trains

Santa Knows Me: Legos, American Girl dolls, iPads, cellphones, pets

#

WHAT SANTA WANTS THIS YEAR:

Santa to the Stars: Funds to pay medical bills

Special Needs Santa: "I want all children to be happy."

"Chocolate" Santa: Money for a wedding ring

Intense Santa: A really good camera

Santa by Appointment: A vacation with his wife

Suitcase Santa: Peace on earth

Santa Knows Me: "I want all sad children to be happy."

Will Recent News Boost Verizon’s Stock?

With shares of Verizon (NYSE:VZ) trading around $48, is VZ an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE, or STAY AWAY? Let's analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework:

T = Trends for a Stock’s Movement

Verizon is a provider of communications, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental agencies. It operates in two primary segments: Verizon Wireless and Wireline. Verizon Wireless' communications products and services include wireless voice, data services, and equipment sales, which are provided to consumer, business, and government customers across the United States. Wireline's communications products and services include voice, Internet access, broadband video and data, Internet protocol network services, network access, long distance, and other services.

Verizon is nearing an agreement to purchase Intel Corp.'s (NASDAQ:INTC) Internet-based TV Service, sources familiar with the matter tell Bloomberg. According to the same sources, a deal could be announced as early as next week following the finalization of details.

T = Technicals on the Stock Chart Are Mixed

Verizon stock has been pulling back in recent quarters. The stock is currently surging higher, but may need time to consolidate. Analyzing the price trend and its strength can be done using key simple moving averages. What are the key moving averages? The 50-day (pink), 100-day (blue), and 200-day (yellow) simple moving averages. As seen in the daily price chart below, Verizon is trading below its rising key averages, which signal neutral to bearish price action in the near-term.

(Source: Thinkorswim)

Taking a look at the implied volatility (red) and implied volatility skew levels of Verizon options may help determine if investors are bullish, neutral, or bearish.

	Implied Volatility (IV)	30-Day IV Percentile	90-Day IV Percentile
Verizon options	22.51%	96%	93%

What does this mean? This means that investors or traders are buying a very significant amount of call and put options contracts as compared to the last 30 and 90 trading days.

	Put IV Skew	Call IV Skew
January Options	Steep	Average
February Options	Steep	Average

As of today, there is an average demand from call buyers or sellers and high demand by put buyers or low demand by put sellers, all neutral to bearish over the next two months. To summarize, investors are buying a very significant amount of call and put option contracts and are leaning neutral to bearish over the next two months.

On the next page, let’s take a look at the earnings and revenue growth rates and the conclusion.

E = Earnings Are Increasing Quarter-Over-Quarter

Rising stock prices are often strongly correlated with rising earnings and revenue growth rates. Also, the last four quarterly earnings announcement reactions help gauge investor sentiment on Verizon’s stock. What do the last four quarterly earnings and revenue growth (Y-O-Y) figures for Verizon look like and more importantly, how did the markets like these numbers?

	2013 Q3	2013 Q2	2013 Q1	2012 Q4
Earnings Growth (Y-O-Y)	39.29%	14.06%	15.25%	-107.21%
Revenue Growth (Y-O-Y)	4.39%	4.32%	4.17%	5.66%
Earnings Reaction	3.49%	-1.51%	2.76%	0.58%

Verizon has seen increasing earnings and revenue figures over the last four quarters. From these numbers, the markets have been pleased with Verizon’s recent earnings announcements.

P = Average Relative Performance Versus Peers and Sector

How has Verizon stock done relative to its peers, AT&T (NYSE:T), T-Mobile (NASDAQ:TMUS), Sprint (NYSE:S), and sector?

	Verizon	AT&T	T-Mobile	Sprint	Sector
Year-to-Date Return	-7.13%	-8.02%	49.60%	52.34%	22.69%

Verizon has been an average relative performer, year-to-date.

Conclusion

Verizon provides communications products and services through a variety of mediums to consumers and companies around the world. The company is nearing an agreement to purchase Intel Corp.'s Internet-based TV Service. The stock has been pulling back in recent quarters, but is currently surging higher. Over the last four quarters, earnings and revenues have been increasing so investors have been pleased with recent earnings announcements. Relative to its peers and sector, Verizon has been an average year-to-date performer. Look for Verizon to OUTPERFORM.

Shutdown, Schmutdown: Midwest Business Activity Surges

Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images WASHINGTON -- Business activity in the U.S. Midwest surged past expectations in October as new orders hit their highest level since 2004, countering recent evidence of soft economic growth. Weekly unemployment claims also fell, in welcome news for the nation's battered labor market after the impact of a government shutdown on furloughed federal workers diminished. The Institute for Supply Management-Chicago business barometer jumped to 65.9 from 55.7, the strongest reading since March 2011 and well above the most optimistic forecast in a Reuters poll. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped by 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 340,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday. The U.S. job market has apparently slackened in recent months, with private-sector employers hiring fewer workers in October after uncertainty caused by budget brinkmanship in Washington dented confidence among both consumers and businesses. Given that backdrop, analysts treated the ISM-Chicago numbers with some skepticism. "The report may be exaggerating the extent of economic growth momentum," said Millan Mulraine, director of research at TD Securities (TD). Financial markets showed little reaction to the figures, with stocks lower on investor caution following recent record highs. Treasury bonds were also down modestly. Other recent data on hiring, factory output and home sales in September have suggested the economy lost a step even before the government shut down. Readings on consumer confidence this month have shown the fiscal standoff rattled households. Anxious to maintain policy support while the economy works through this soft spot, the U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday extended its asset purchase campaign at a policy meeting that opted to keep buying bonds at a $85 billion monthly pace. A 16-day partial shutdown of the federal government had pushed up claims in recent weeks as furloughed workers applied for benefits, but this factor appeared to be diminishing. Claims filed by federal employees dropped 29,713 in the week ended Oct. 19 to 14,423. The shutdown ended Oct. 17. In addition, a Labor Department analyst said California, which had been dealing with a backlog, reported no carryover in claims last week from previous weeks. Technical problems as California converted to a new computer system have distorted the claims data since September, which had made it hard to get a clear read of labor market conditions. The four-week moving average for new claims, considered a better measure of labor market trends, increased 8,000 to 356,250. Federal Reserve officials are closely focused on improvements in the labor market, which they have made a condition for tapering their massive bond buying program, while stressing they will wait a considerable period before beginning to raise interest rates after asset purchases have halted. Markets have pushed out their expectations for a rate hike to June 2015, when the chance of a move was priced at 60 percent. Earlier this week, the Fed funds futures contract had signaled a 52 percent chance of a hike in April 2015. The government will publish October's employment report on Nov. 8. Payrolls gained 148,000 in September, with the unemployment rate hitting a near five-year low of 7.2 percent. But if average monthly jobs growth continues at less than 150,000, where it has been over the last three months, that would make it difficult for the jobless rate to fall further.

U.S. Stocks Break Losing Streak

U.S. stocks held onto earlier gains through the closing bell and snapped a string of recent losses as positive job market data helped offset worries about a budget standoff in Washington.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.4% to 15,3218.2. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 0.35% to 1,698.7, breaking its longest losing streak this year.

And the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.7% to 3,787.4.

Uncertainty over the Fed’s policy intentions and rising worries about the budget and debt-ceiling talks have some investors climbing a wall of worry. Lawmakers are fighting over a short-term spending bill to keep the government running when the next fiscal year starts Oct. 1. But Democrats have been unwilling to give into GOP demands, namely the defunding of President Barack Obama's health care reform law.

It was a busy day on the economic data front. The number of Americans seeking new unemployment benefits remained near six-year lows in the latest week. The number of initial jobless claims fell by 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 305,000.

Economic growth during the second-quarter was left unrevised at 2.5%.

And sales of previously-owned homes fell in August for the third month in a row, as an index for pending sales of existing homes declined 1.6%, slightly more than expected.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note ticked up to 2.648%. Bond yields move inversely to bond prices.

November crude-oil futures edged higher, while September gold futures slipped a bit. And the U.S. dollar gained ground against both the yen and the euro.

In corporate news, J.C. Penney (JCP) rose almost 3% to close at $10.42. The company issued a news release Thursday saying that it anticipates positive same-store sales for the rest of the year, and CNBC reported that the company’s CEO doesn’t see conditions this year where the company would raise liquidity.

Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) rose 4.5% to $77.54 after the retailer reported late Wednesday fiscal second-quarter earnings and revenue that topped estimates, and provided an upbeat earnings outlook.

Meanwhile, Hertz (HTZ) plunged 16% to close at $21.63 after it lowered full-year 2013 financial forecasts.

SEC Votes To Disclose The Wage Gap

A new rule many CEOs are likely dreading is one step closer to being finalized at the SEC.

The Securities and Exchange Commission today unveiled a new controversial rule that would disclose the wage gap between CEOs of public companies and that of its workers.

The SEC was split on the proposal voting 3-2 on the rule that would allow anyone to see the pay gap between employees and the CEO.

CEO and named executive officers are already required to make public their compensation in annual SEC filings, but this rule would also require companies to calculate and make public the median pay of its workers.

That new disclosure isn't sitting well with many who say the new pay disclosure is burdensome.

Critics of the rule say collecting such data about employee compensation each year is overwhelming. For instance, they argue, global companies may have compensation administration in each country it operates in making it difficult and costly to gather the necessary information.

But the SEC's proposed rule today is somewhat less burdensome than originally planned.

"The rules proposed would not require a specific methodology, but instead would provide a company with the flexibility to determine the median and calculate the annual total compensation for that employee in a way that best suits its particular circumstances," said SEC chair Mary Jo White in a prepared remarks.

That means companies could come up with their own methodology to come up with the median pay. A company could use a sampling of employees rather than collect the information for its entire workforce.

Here's the pay ratio requirement from the SEC:

The median of the annual total compensation of all its employees except the CEO. The annual total compensation of its CEO. The ratio of the two amounts.

But that's still too much information say critics.

SEC Commissioner Daniel M. Gallagher voted against the rule today saying the rule has "nothing to do with the SEC's mission and everything to do with the politics of not letting a serious crisis go to waste."

He added in remarks, "Gimmicks like these don't belong in corporate filings.  The agency would sanction issuers who acted so "creatively" in other areas of their 10K or proxy disclosure."

However, proponents of the rule say the more information a company discloses the better. That's particularly true for investors who would now have yet another way to measure how a company spends its money.

SEC commissioner Luis A. Aguilar notes that large public company CEOs were paid an average of 204 times the compensation of rank-and-file workers in their industries. "By comparison, [the study] estimated that the average CEO was paid about 20 times the typical worker's pay in the 1950s, with that multiple rising to 42-to-1 in 1980, and to 120-to-1 in 2000," he says in his remarks.

CEO pay has been a hot issue since the financial crisis which drew greater attention to outsized compensation packages.

Since the crisis more shareholders, particularly those invested in big Wall Street banks, are paying closer attention to executive pay.

Rules like "Say On Pay" which allow shareholders to vote against pay packages of CEOs have received more attention.

Home Run: Hovnanian’s Earnings Lift Homebuilders

Hovnanian Enterprises’ (HOV) earnings report was ho-hum–but more than enough to lift the stock and other homebuilders.

Reuters

The Wall Street Journal reports:

For the period ended July 31, Hovnanian reported a profit of $8.5 million, or six cents a share, down from $34.7 million, or 25 cents a share, a year earlier. The year-earlier period included a $36.5 million income tax benefit and $6.2 million in debt-extinguishment gains.

Revenue jumped 24% to $478.4 million.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters recently expected per-share earnings of seven cents and revenue of $505 million.

Adjusted home-building gross margin rose to 20.3% from 18.2%.

The initial reaction to those numbers was ho-hum as well, as Hovnanian’s shares opened down 0.2%. Still, it didn’t take long for investors to realize there were more to them a simple earnings miss. Hovnanian predicted a profitable year for the first time since 2006, for instance, and it also helped that CEO Ara Hovnanian was feeling pretty good during the company’s conference call. Comments like these (courtesy of FactSet):

…we’re confident that the any hesitancy our consumers have seen or felt or acted with the higher rates will be a temporary bump in the road to housing recovery.

Our confidence is bolstered by analysis of long-term home ownership affordability…Even though there’s some sticker shock for consumers with the recent increase in mortgage rates and the increase in home prices, we’re still very comfortable at the affordability levels compared to historic standards.

Even if the 30-year mortgage rates were to increase 100 basis points to 5.4%, and if home prices on top of that went up another 6% from the June 13 levels…affordability would still be better than at any point in the period [from] 1975 through 2007, notwithstanding the current two-month record high affordability  levels.

Combine that with an ever-so-slightly lower 10-year yield and you have a recipe for a housing rally. Hovnanian has gained 2.8% to $5.18, but that was nothing compared to other gainers today. PulteGroup (PHM) has jumped 8.1% to $16.73, MDC Holdings (MDC) has risen 7% to $29.59, D.R. Horton (DHI) has climbed 6.6% to $19.30 and the Ryland Group (RYL) is up 5.9% at $37.98.

The question now: Can the sector build on those gains?

(Sorry. I couldn’t help myself.)

IRS Agent Faked Pastor's Letter To Claim Charity Deduction

Here's one for the "What was that Internal Revenue Service agent thinking?" book.

At the explicit direction of Congress, since 2007 the rules for deducting cash contributions to charity have been extra strict—you even need a receipt to deduct that $20 bill put in your church's Sunday offering plate.  Giving fake documents and fibbing to the IRS to support a deduction has, of course, been a no-no for a lot longer.  Yet when IRS Revenue Agent Margaret Payne had her own 2008 and 2009 tax returns examined, she faked receipts to back up her claimed cash donations, U.S. Tax Court Chief Special Trial Judge Peter J. Panuthos concluded in a decision he issued this week.

Reached this morning at her desk at the IRS in Manhattan, Payne called the decision "completely unfair and biased,'' but declined further comment. The IRS declined any comment on the case on privacy grounds. The decision can't be appealed under a special Tax Court procedure for small cases in which taxpayers are allowed to represent themselves, as Payne did.

Here, as told in Judge Panuthos' 12-page-decision, is the sorry story: During the audit, Payne, then a 28 year IRS veteran, gave an IRS examiner copies of two year-end letters, purportedly signed by Pastor Lemuel M. Mobley of the Living Stone Baptist Church in Brooklyn, stating she had donated $6,047 to LSBC in 2008 and $14,000 in 2009.  But when the examiner met with Mobley, he said he didn't even know Payne (his congregation had only 50 to 75 members) and that the letters were a "cut and paste job" on church letterhead, with his name forged and even misspelled.

Later, after talking to a long-time congregation member who was an IRS secretary and Payne friend, as well as to Payne herself, Mobley changed part of his story.  In a letter to the IRS, he claimed that he knew Payne by a different name and that she had given the money to the church. Yet in that same letter he repeated his assertion that the letters Payne had originally given the examiner were forged, writing:   "She pieced together a financial statement and stated to me that she had one of her children to sign my name…..She stated that she was sorry for what she had done. She asked for forgiveness and I forgave her for what she had done to me as well as to the church. I did not give her or anyone else permission to sign my name on any document.''

Judge Panuthos wasn't nearly so forgiving of a woman he pointed out had graduated from college with majors in accounting and finance, completed some graduate work in forensic accounting and had been a Revenue Agent (in other words, an IRS examiner or auditor) for 20 years. In a scathing opinion upholding $6,500 in back taxes and $1300 in penalties against Payne, he described the case as full of "inconsistencies, contradicting testimony, fabricated documents, and simple untruths," and observed that the three witnesses (Payne, Mobley and  the IRS secretary) had each "not only contradicted the testimony of the others but also contradicted his or her own testimony and documents. ''

Panuthos concluded Payne had engaged in a "misguided and inept attempt to support claimed charitable contribution deductions through a fictional account of the past," and that the IRS secretary was probably in on the scheme too. He wrote: "It appears highly probable that petitioner (Payne), in concert with her longtime friend and fellow IRS employee, cut and pasted stationery from LSBC and provided the same to the IRS agent examining the returns in an attempt to support the claimed deductions."

The Judge also made fast work of any suggestion Payne had probable cause for avoiding the 20% penalty for negligence or disregard of rules, saying he was satisfied her underpayment resulted from a "very deliberate and knowing attempt to reduce her tax liabilities."