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সোমবার, ২২ জুলাই, ২০১৩

Will Valero Energy (VLO) Beat Earnings Estimates This Quarter?

One of the largest North American independent refiner and marketer of petroleum products, Valero Energy Corporation (VLO) is set to report its second-quarter 2013 results on Jul 23. Let?s see how things are shaping up prior to the announcement.

In the last quarter, the company?s earnings of $1.18 per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.01 by 16.8%. The quarterly results were aided by higher refining throughput margins in each of the company?s regions, except the U.S. West Coast, along with lower refining operating expenses.

Growth Factors this Past Quarter

In the first quarter, Valero witnessed refining throughput volumes of approximately 2.57 million barrels per day, marginally up from the year-earlier level of 2.56 million barrels a day. This was primarily backed by major turnaround, maintenance and repair activity at refineries in Valero?s U.S. Gulf Coast region, including the Texas City, Corpus Christi and Port Arthur refineries; and at its Benicia and Wilmington refineries in the U.S. West Coast region.

By feedstock composition, sweet crude, medium/light sour crude and heavy sour crude accounted for 42%, 16% and 19%, respectively. The remaining volumes came from residuals, other feedstock as well as blendstocks and others. The Gulf Coast accounted for approximately 55% of the total volume. The Mid-Continent, North Atlantic and West Coast regions accounted for 17%, 19% and 9%, respectively.

Valero?s stable performance in the first quarter can be traced back to favorable refining margins and lower operating expenses.

More importantly, Valero is best positioned to profit from increased refining margins mainly on account of its strategic refinery structure that enables it to use cheaper oil for over one-half of its needs.

Valero recently spun off 80% stake of its retail arm ? CST Brands Inc. (CST) ? through a tax-advantaged distribution to shareholders, to unlock value on May 1, 2013. The spin-off of the company's retail arm generated an immediate net cash benefit of $500 million, after shelling out $220 million in taxes. We feel that the move would help the company to concentrate on its industry-specific strategies.

However, being the largest independent refiner in the country, Valero remains exposed to the ongoing tepid macro backdrop. Refiners in the U.S. generally face uncertainty regarding future regulations pertaining to greenhouse gas emissions and the potential for higher requirement of biofuels. Other threats include government regulations, weather conditions, crude oil and natural gas prices as well as renewable fuel prices. These can result in increased costs, reduced growth and fines or other sanctions.

Earnings Whispers?

Our proven model does not conclusively show that Valero is likely to beat earnings estimates this quarter. This is because a stock needs to have both a positive earnings Expected Surprise Prediction or ESP (Read: Zacks Earnings ESP: A Better Method) and a Zacks Rank #1, 2 or 3 for this to happen. This is not the case here as you will see below.

Zacks ESP:? The earnings ESP for the stock is 0.00%.

Zacks Rank #3 (Hold): Valero?s Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) when combined with a 0.00% ESP makes surprise prediction difficult.

We caution against stocks with Zacks Ranks #4 and 5 (Sell rated stocks) going into the earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions.

Other Stocks to Consider

Here are some other companies you may want to consider as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this quarter: ?

Ferrellgas Partners LP (FGP) with earnings ESP of +6.90% and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

W&T Offshore Inc. (WTI) with earnings ESP of +9.09% and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
?

Read the Full Research Report on VLO

Read the Full Research Report on FGP

Read the Full Research Report on WTI

Read the Full Research Report on CST

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/valero-energy-vlo-beat-earnings-185002795.html

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রবিবার, ২১ জুলাই, ২০১৩

Cyclist pedalling support for Trans Canada Trail

One year after his wife was killed on a cycling trip, an Alberta man has again taken to the road to carry out her wish to see completion of the Trans Canada Trail.

The Trans Canada Trail was conceived in 1992 as a 25-year plan to build a non-motorized link, using a mix of new and existing trails, right across the country.

With just five years to go, B.C. alone still has 721 kilometres left to do, according to Edmund Aunger, 64, who visited Penticton on Friday to rally support for his cause.

?Some people think it?s a federal government project,? said Aunger, ?but roads and highways and trails are provincial matter, so nothing is going to happen without provincial leadership.?

In most provinces, however, ?including B.C., there?s a real lack of provincial leadership, and they leave it to the municipalities and the regional districts to do something.?

Aunger, a retired University of Alberta political science professor, has planned a five-year series of summer rides across Canada that will end on the same day and spot his wife, Elizabeth Sovis, was killed.

The two discovered cycling later in life and decided to attempt the Prince Edward Island portion of the Trans Canada Trail, because it was the first stretch completed. Neither felt comfortable cycling on roads, so they were also glad to see the P.E.I. route billed as among the safest anywhere.

On July 14, 2012, however, the two had no choice but to venture four kilometres off the trail on a two-lane highway to reach a bed-and-breakfast where they planned to spend the night. Halfway to their destination, Sovis was struck and killed by a drunk driver.

She had intended to spend her retirement, due to begin July 1, 2013, riding the trail and pushing governments to complete the 17,000-kilometre route.

Sovis envisioned the trail as ?someplace you can go where you (can feel) safe and not have to be an Olympic athlete to cycle on it,? Aunger said, adding he?s committed now to making that a reality.

The first leg in his five-year series began in Victoria on July 1 and is expected to end in Edmonton on August 25. He maintains a five-days-on, two-days-off schedule and spent his most recent break in Penticton.

Throughout the ride, he?s planned rallies at which he?ll share his message and encourage people to visit his website to sign an online petition. Doing so will also trigger emails to Premier Christy Clark and two ministers.

Aunger wants Clark to publish an action plan to outline how her government will complete the B.C. portion of the trail by 2017. He also wants to province to give priority to rerouting the trail in areas where it joins highways, like between Penticton and Summerland.

Penticton MLA Dan Ashton noted the South Okanagan has benefitted from recent improvements to the KVR Trail, which forms part of the Trans Canada Trail, and is confident the Liberal government will find a way to get all of the B.C. portion done.

?I know that there are opportunities that will come forward in the future,? Ashton said. ?The Trans Canada Trail is a wonderful entity for the whole country.?

Source: http://www.bclocalnews.com/news/216284531.html

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Ralph Beckett confident of Talent's success in Irish Oaks ... - Bettor

Ralph Beckett confident of Talent?s success in Irish Oaks ? Horseracing news

Ralph Beckett is confident that his trainee Talent will be the one to watch out for in the Darley Irish Oaks at Curragh in Ireland.

According to the veteran trainer, ?She is the one to beat. The Oaks form hasn't been franked so far but it's still early days and the first two haven't run. I am happy with her. She looks terrific and is not ground dependent. I think the race will be more evenly run and that will suit her.?

He went onto say that Talent was victorious in three different races, where the track characteristics were entire different from one another. Therefore, he believes that the conditions will not make any difference to her and she will definitely cause a lot of problems for her rivals in the upcoming event.

The three-year-old filly debuted in 2012 and her performance was not bad back then. However, she did not look like a winning filly and had to settle for third place in her first ever outing. She was sent into another race before the end of the season, which she managed to win by only a neck distance after a thrilling battle with some of the other challengers.

Although the first two races were not really tough for Talent, her real test came in the next couple of events during this year, where she had to handle the pressure from some better runners. Despite that, she did not panic at all and made her team proud. Her most recent win at Epsom was the biggest one of her career until now and it will be interesting to see how well can she do in the future.

She will definitely face a tough time from Aidan O?Brien?s challengers. He is mainly pinning hopes on Venus de Milo and said about her, ?This will be a big step up for Venus de Milo but she seems to be progressive and we thought after her Naas win that she deserved to take her chance. That's why she was supplemented.?

The young challenger is quite talented and has got the ability to deliver strong results at the highest level.

Source: http://blogs.bettor.com/Ralph-Beckett-confident-of-Talents-success-in-Irish-Oaks-Horseracing-news-a217727

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Source: http://pr-gb.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=559643&Itemid=36

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শনিবার, ২০ জুলাই, ২০১৩

Seen and heard at Comic-Con

Associated Press journalists open their notebooks at this year's Comic-Con in San Diego:

___

STAN LEE REMAINS 'THE MAN'

Where Stan Lee goes, a crowd follows.

Saturday at Comic-Con International was no exception as the co-creator of Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and other legendary heroes, took time to sign autographs on titles from his comic imprint Stan Lee's Kids Universe, which touts family-friendly fare aimed at first-time and young readers, along with his 1821 Comics.

"There's no better way to tell a story to children than through words and pictures, and as they get familiar with putting the words and pictures together, it makes readers out of them," he said.

As he spoke, passersby stopped, gawked and whipped out cameras to get pictures of Lee, one of comics' best-known figures.

? Matt Moore (http://www.twitter.com/mattmooreap )

___

SUPERMAN'S 75th TOUTS THE OLD AND NEW

It was a gathering of the old and new for DC Entertainment and Warner Bros.

At a party atop the Hard Rock Hotel, Henry Cavill, the star of "Man of Steel," marked the ongoing 75th anniversary of Superman by sharing a red carpet with an actual copy of Action Comics No. 1, the 1938 comic featuring the first appearance of the Kryptonian do-gooder.

Cavill was joined Friday night by DC Entertainment co-publishers Jim Lee and Dan DiDio, chief creative officer Geoff Johns and President Diane Nelson, among others.

The publisher, and parent Warner, are celebrating the anniversary of the character all year.

The comic arrived under heavy guard and was lent out by musician Jack White. It's a rare edition and other copies have sold for more than a million dollars.

? Matt Moore (http://www.twitter.com/mattmooreap )

___

LISTEN UP

Dane DeHaan is about to move front and center for Metallica fans when "Metallica Through The Never" opens in September, but he only recently became familiar with the heavy metal band's music.

Turns out his parents wouldn't let him listen to Metallica's ultra-aggressive albums when he was a kid.

"My parents did this really weird thing when I was younger," DeHaan said during the Metallica panel Friday night. "Whenever I wanted to listen to a CD or whatever, they would buy it first and listen to it and let me know whether I could listen to it."

DeHaan, who pulled double duty at Comic-Con on Friday when he also appeared on "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" panel, plays a roadie in "Never" sent on a mission by the band during one of its concerts. He didn't come into the role unprepared, though. He began listening to the band while prepping for his role in "The Place Beyond the Pines," released earlier this year. The 27-year-old actor said he thought his character would be a fan.

"Then it was like a year later that I got the call that Metallica wants you to be in their movie," he said.

? Chris Talbott (http://twitter.com/Chris_Talbott )

___

AND THE WINNER IS ...

The Eisner awards were handed out at Comic-Con International, with Image Comics "Saga" and Chris Ware's "Building Stories" among the winners.

Image's science fiction/space opera/adventure/romance story "Saga" took home best new series and best continuing stories while its writer, Brian Vaughn, won best writer. The book's artist, Fiona Staples, was not nominated, a move some questioned.

Chris Ware's book took the awards for best new graphic novel, best writer/artist, best lettering and best publication design.

The awards, named for Will Eisner ? a comics pioneer ? are voted on by the comic book industry.

? Matt Moore (http://www.twitter.com/mattmooreap )

___

BE CAREFUL, EVEN HEROES GET VIRUSES

Even heroes, with all their goodness, can attract a bad element, at least online.

That's what a study by anti-virus software maker McAfee found. The company compiled its first "Most Toxic Superheroes" list that looked at which heroes' were akin to radioactive waste online when the subject of online searches.

The worst? Aquaman! McAfee said that among searches for the fabled water-breather he had the most bad links to viruses, malware and other online woes.

Who else made the list? Mr. Fantastic, the Hulk, Wonder Woman, Daredevil, Iron Man, Superman, Thor and Green Lantern.

? Matt Moore (http://www.twitter.com/mattmooreap )

___

BEWARE GIANT MONSTERS

While a panel on comic book entrepreneurship explained how to run a comic publishing business for print and digital dispensed solid advice and details, the topics outlined were reinforced by a floor-shaking and thunderous noise.

Turns out that one floor below, some 6,000 Comic-Con attendees were getting sneak peeks at the new "Godzilla" film due next year.

? Matt Moore (http://www.twitter.com/mattmooreap )

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/seen-heard-comic-con-175617080.html

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Jaws Ranks Joe Flacco As Fourth-Best NFL Quarterback

Joe Flacco is a better quarterback than the Saints? Drew Brees and Falcons? Matt Ryan, according to ESPN analyst Ron Jaworski.

In Jaworski?s highly-cited yearly ranking of all 32 projected starting quarterbacks, the former NFL gunslinger ranks Flacco No. 4 overall.

Flacco trails only Green Bay?s Aaron Rodgers, New England?s Tom Brady and Denver?s Peyton Manning (in no particular order). Flacco is ranked ahead of Ryan, Brees, Pittsburgh?s Ben Roethlisberger, New York?s Eli Manning and more.

Jaworski?s top four quarterbacks all have Super Bowl rings, and Flacco has the newest. The reigning Super Bowl MVP moved up from No. 9 in Jaworski?s rankings last year.

?A year ago I had Flacco at No. 9. Many disagreed,? Jaworski said on SportsCenter. ?All I heard last summer was that Flacco needed to take the next step. So what did Flacco do in 2012? He won four consecutive playoff games, threw 11 touchdown passes without an interception.?

Flacco averaged 239 passing yards per game in the regular season and tossed 22 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, giving him a quarterback rating of 87.7 (12^th in the NFL).

He took off in the playoffs, where he averaged 285 passing yards per game, tied Joe Montana?s touchdown to interception ratio and finished with a collective quarterback rating of 117.2.

?For the second consecutive season, [Flacco] outplayed Tom Brady in the AFC championship game in Foxborough,? Jaworski said.

Jaworski, who has touted Flacco as having the strongest arm in the NFL, didn?t bring up Flacco?s cannon this time around. Instead, he focused on his mobility in Super Bowl XLVII.

Flacco completed a 30-yard bomb to Anquan Boldin when he was scrambling away from a sack. Flacco stepped up and flung a 56-yard touchdown pass to Jacoby Jones.

?Flacco was outstanding in the Super Bowl. His ability to make downfield throws on movement was a deciding factor in the game,? Jaworski said. ?Few think of Flacco as a mobile quarterback, but his functional mobility created explosive game-changing plays.?

In the end, it?s the ring on Flacco?s hand that made Jaworski rank him so high, including above Ryan, who has yet to reach the Super Bowl.

?Joe Flacco is now a Super Bowl champion,? Jaworski said. ?That counts an awful lot in my evaluation of quarterbacks.?

Source: http://www.baltimoreravens.com/news/article-1/Jaws-Ranks-Joe-Flacco-As-Fourth-Best-NFL-Quarterback/be63b3d1-027a-4f32-96a7-57e1e4719dc3

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Netflix's Crazily Crappy Cropping, Hands On with Neverwet, And More

Welcome to the weekend! We brought snacks! OK, not snacks, but we do have a selection of postical delicacies for you to sample. Try some reasons we're not ready for smartwatches yet, or get a taste of Netflix's crazy cropping. Wash it down with a shot of Neverwet and a Liquidmetal iPhone chaser. Chow time!