J.P. Morgan Chase and Co. - JPM  (FusionIQ Rank 90 out of 100)

We have liked the banking sector now for several months as their FusionIQ ranks have improved markedly.  Today we see early improvement detected by FusionIQ coming to fruition as J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.'s (JPM) fourth-quarter profit jumped 47%.   The banking behemoth said asset quality improved and it said consumers and businesses were looking for more loans. However executives were quick to cite that improvements were only "modest" and that borrowers who are actually tapping their lines of credit remains low.

"What we see is fairly broad based strength across corporate, middle market, even small business," Chief Executive James Dimon said on a conference call with reporters. "We see the consumer is getting stronger."

Looking at the different business units, the retail financial services business segment turned a profit from a year earlier as revenue rose 11%, while investment banking income from the prior year was down; due to soaring costs. Still, revenue climbed 26% in the segment as advisory fees and underwriting fees rose. It was again the most profitable part of J.P. Morgan.  Compared to the third-quarter, both revenue and income were up on Wall Street, while income was down in the retail side.  The company also continued to benefit from sharply reduced loan-loss reserves. Credit-loss provisions were $3.04 billion, down from $8.9 billion a year earlier and $3.22 billion in the prior quarter. In its card services unit, the improvement in credit quality led to a surging profit, the most improved business for the bank. The unit, where the credit loss provision was slashed 84%, swung to a $1.3 billion profit, second only to the investment bank, from a loss of $306 million.

As a whole, J.P. Morgan reported a fourth-quarter profit of $4.83 billion, or $1.12 a share, up from $3.28 billion, or 74 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue on a managed basis, which excludes the impact of credit-card securitizations and is on a tax-equivalent basis, increased 5.9% to $26.72 billion.

Intel Corp. (INTC) - 88 out 100 FusionIQ score) scored a 48 percent boost in net income in the fourth quarter.  This comes at a time when overall spending on PC’s is weak due to the weaker economic picture than in years past as well as from competition from tablets and smart phones, which remains a real threat to the pc.  PC’s still dominate market  share with more than 1 million PC’s being sold every day.   However the industry remains shaky as smart phones and tablets such as the iPad compete for market share.

Intel’s fourth quarter, was driven by sales of server chips which helped to offset weakness in sales of chips for consumer PCs.  That trend was in line with what the company was predicting, as demand started to falter this summer amid the European debt crisis and other economic woes such as prolonged unemployment in the U.S., Intel's chief financial officer, Stacy Smith, said in an interview.

For the quarter Intel reported net income of $3.39 billion, or 59 cents per share this was greater than the 53 cents per share analysts had expected.  This compares to $2.28 billion, or 40 cents per share in the same period in 2009.  Revenue rose 8 percent to $11.5 billion, up from $10.6 billion. Analysts predicted $11.4 billion.

Intel CEO Paul Otellini called 2010 " the best year in Intel's history" and predicted that 2011 would be "even better."  The company raised first-quarter revenue guidance to $11.1 billion to $11.9 billion, ahead analysts' expectation for $10.8 billion.

In after hours trading Intel shares increased 58 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $21.87. 

To see a detailed ranking of Intel Corp. visit us at www.fusioniqrank.com

The other day we posted some of our top finance reads.  Today we offer a few more suggested reads from one of the Partners in our Dallas office, Russell Brewer.  Enjoy !!

DRIVE

THE BLACK SWAN

THE BIG SHORT

TIPPING POINT

SHOCK OF GRAY

Petrobras SA-ADR (PBR) shares looked to have recently completed a major and complex bottoming process technically and now look like they are poised to move significantly higher.   With factors such as; the best margins in the industry, a global economic recovery driving demand, an expanding middle class at home driving demand and the findings in its Tupi field - Petorbras has many catalysts for a higher share price.

To view the full report:  Please visit us at www.fusioniqrank.com  and take a 30 day test drive !

As seen in the chart above Petrobras (PBR) shares are finally starting to turn the corner after forming a solid support area in the $ 31.00 region.  Share have subsequently broken out and look to move higher.

Great article from mashable.com on what the web will become in the future.  The article interviews web heavyweights such as former AOL founder Steve Case, Matt Mullenweg, founder of Word Press, Jeremy Stoppleman, CEO of Yelp and Barry Glick founder of MapQuest to name a few …

To see the whole article click the link below:

http://mashable.com/2011/01/12/future-of-the-internet/

People always ask what is the greatest value of FusionIQ.  Our reply is simply its ability to provide investors with an unbiased 2^nd opinion as to whether they should buy a stock or not.  For instance was Apple Computer (AAPL) a buy this summer/fall after the market experienced a large correction ?  Many people grappled with that exact same question.  According to FusionIQ is was as Apple shares registered a new BUY signal (denoted by the green circle with the letter B) in early September near $ 260 then rapidly rose to$ 324 before slipping to Neutral.   Note Recently AAPL shares registered another NEW Buy signal near $ 324 and have risen nearly $ 20.00 in a few trading sessions.  

Buying and iPad smart ….  Buying APPL stock at $ 260 even smarter …  Having an unbiased second opinion PRICELESS !!!

To test drive FusionIQ visit us today @ www.fusioniqrank.com

Tonight Fusion’s own Josh Brown will be a guest on CNBC’s Fast Money starting at 5pm EST. He will have a segment on the wall about regional banks and        falling initial jobless claims, also showing them our long-term chart on SBNY.

http://www.thedailycrux.com/content/6604/Warren_Buffett

I’m not inclined to bet against Warren Buffett either.