Bulls vs. Bears

We frequently end the week with our Bull and Bear picks, and today will be no different;

Bearish:
1. Research in Motion (RIMM) the staple was down today, as it had been most of the week. Strong competition in the smart phone market along with “push” technology being unveiled with the new Microsoft Mobile platform, RIM simply can no longer strong-arm its customers into buying new Blackberry’s. Additionally, they simply don’t keep up with demand. When the BB is hot its hot, and RIM hasn’t managed to find a happy medium where they can release new products at a steady pace on multiple service providers. The Pearl was a big hit, but it is just now making its way to Sprint. The Curve was a big seller as well, but its on available on AT&T.

2. H&R Block (HRB). This is simple; HRB does 75% of their business between January and April. However, companies like Jackson Hewett, Turbo Tax and Liberty Tax Service are beginning to cut into profit margins.

On August 30, H&R Block reported 1Q 2008 net loss of $110 million or a loss of $0.34 per share. This figure does not include huge losses, with perhaps more to come, as H&R Block tries to exit the subprime mortgage writing business. Thus far, losses including discontinued mortgage operations and write down in value of mortgages were over $300 million, or a loss of $0.93 per share. Forget gracefully, H&R Block is trying to offload its Option One Mortgage unit any which way it can, including easing the conditions of sale to Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. Losses from discontinued operations, to the tune of $150-200 million, will continue to plague earnings for several more quarters. As a result, the company has no money available for share repurchases until FY 2009.



Bullish:
1. Qwest, the Baby Bell is on the decline right now, but they have too much market share to stay there for long.

2. Ralcorp Holdings, Inc. engages in the manufacture, distribution, and marketing of store brand food products in the United States and Canada. Its products include ready-to-eat and hot cereal products; snack mixes and corn-based snacks; crackers and cookies; frozen griddle products, such as pancakes, waffles, French toast, custom griddle products, and biscuits; breads, rolls, and muffins; wet-filled products, including salad dressings, mayonnaise, peanut butter, syrups, jams and jellies, and specialty sauces; and snack nuts and chocolate candy. The company sells its products to retail chains, mass merchandisers, grocery wholesalers, warehouse club stores, drug stores, restaurant chains, and food service distributors. In addition, Ralcorp Holdings holds approximately 19% interest in Vail Resorts, Inc., a mountain resort operator in the United States. The company was founded in 1995 and is based in St. Louis, Missouri.

3. Home Solutions of America (HSOA). This is the Landes small cap of the week. Home Solutions to delay Q3 Form 10-Q and conference call Co announced that it will delay the filing of its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2007 and associated conference call. The delay is necessary due to the previously announced voluntary review of related party transactions and other matters being conducted by the Audit Committee of the Co's Board of Directors.