Could it be? Are the markets actually increasing this morning on solid economic data and not just speculation or political maneuvering? If it’s true, it is certainly a sign of good things to come for the nation’s bulls.

Just after the opening bell, the Institute for Supply Management released its latest measurement of America’s manufacturing sector. With a rating of 52.9 in August, well above the 50.5 analysts were expecting, the vital industry proves to be growing once again.

The growth is already trickling down to the nation’s real estate market. According to the National Association of Realtors, pending home sales managed to rise for the sixth straight month, to a two-year high. The group’s key index was up by 3.2%.

With solid economic data making its rounds, it is no surprise to see a company like YRC Worldwide (NYSE:YRCW) up by double-digit proportions.

If you are a TFN Strategic Trader subscriber, you are familiar with the company. (Congratulations on the gains, by the way.)

Keep on truckin’

But if you have not yet had the privilege of joining the “trading elite,” YRC Worldwide is one of the nation’s largest trucking operators. With a share price ranging from $0.89 to $19.61 over the past twelve months, the company’s investors have been on a wild ride.

But thanks to a press release issued yesterday afternoon, the ride going forward is likely to be much less bumpy.

The liquidity-sensitive company managed to amend a critical $950 million credit facility with JPMorgan Chase Bank. It is just one more critical step achieved in keeping the company out of bankruptcy court.

As the company makes more and more moves in the right direction, the already-slim chance of a filing continues to decrease.

At TFN Strategic Trader, we are using a covered call strategy to maximize our profit potential and lower our risk.

If you can handle the risk, there is a shot at triple-digit gains if all goes well for YRCW.

Little company, big risk, big reward

Finally, if you are a fan of high risk and even higher reward, another stock getting assistance from today’s positive econo-data is Patrick Industries (NASDAQ:PATK), a tiny $27 million building-industry supplier that has rebounded nicely with the housing industry.

Since March, shares have soared from well below $0.50 each to $3.10 today. That’s a 520% surge in less than six months.

So far today, shares are up by nearly 20%. That’s the power of good news.

As we move into the fall and eventually the winter, the markets will rely less and less on the pseudo-news created in Washington. Starting with the upcoming third-quarter results, the Street won’t be buying anything but cold, hard facts.

Find a company with top-line growth and you have found yourself a winner in this market.

Source: Good News Leads to Big Gains

When are the detrimental effects of a nasty recession too much for a company that has done everything right too much to overcome? That is the question YRC Worldwide (NYSE:YRCW) investors are asking these days.

Just a couple of months ago, when the media was abuzz with sightings of economic “green shoots,” the trucking company’s investors were riding a rocket to the top, celebrating as a strong management team helped shares cross the $2 level, then $3, then $5, even $6.

But now that the nation’s trucking demand is far from revved up, investors are realizing YRC’s troubles are not over yet. During the last week, they were forced to endure the pain of seeing their shares drop all the way to a new 52-week low of a paltry $0.89.

The latest pain comes from my arch nemesis… union labor.

In YRC’s case, the Teamsters are maintaining their infamous negotiating might and bargaining themselves right out of a job.

With revenues plunging and fuel costs remaining stubbornly high, the last thing any trucking company needs to do is worry about expensive pension contributions. In YRC’s case, it is forced to pay for employees that never even worked for the company thanks to a regional pooled pension plan. (That’s unions for you).

I will give the Teamsters credit, however. Earlier this year the union agreed to a ten percent pay cut for its employees in exchange for a 15% stake in the company. Unfortunately, that stake is now worth a fifth of what it was in January.

Did they learn?

After getting hit with that punch, it is easy to see why the union showed up at the bargaining table this month with less willingness to compromise.

Earlier this week, the two sides of the contract were so far apart on the company’s plans to defer pension payments that one analyst boldly stated he believes a bankruptcy filing is all but certain.

The less-than-optimistic announcement sent shares plunging by 45% in just two days.

Then came yesterday’s announcement that the Teamsters had reached a tentative agreement (which remains undisclosed). The news sent shares soaring by triple-digit proportions.

Today, the jubilation is dwindling as shares are down by about 10% on the day’s lows.

With any luck, YRC shareholders will become re-familiarized with the bulls next week when union members learn the details of the agreement and prepare to take a vote.

If the deal is signed, YRC will get a major reprieve. It will likely be able to push back major pension obligations for over a year, saving the company half a billion dollars of desperately needed cash.

Investors should look at the company as a high-risk, speculative play, but the rewards could be phenomenal for folks willing to hold onto shares for six months to a year.

The threat of bankruptcy is still out there, but appears far smaller today than it did just 72 hours ago. As the situation improves, so will share price.

Source: YRC Worldwide: Jimmy Hoffa Would Be Proud

Thanks to diverging economic data, the equities market is treading water today.

While Washington slowly methodically leaks its thoughts on yet another stimulus package and tests the political waters, a dip in unemployment claims and Alcoa’s (NYSE:AA) better-than-expected results are fighting against news that retail sales were worse than expected last month.

Although, the major indices are unmoved so far today, there are plenty of companies making their investors piles of money.

Here are four small caps on the move:

YRC Worldwide (NYSE:YRCW) is up by double-digit proportions thanks to word the company has made a deal with the Teamsters.

This time yesterday, the Street was preparing for a potential bankruptcy filing, slashing share price down to less than a buck a share. But now that word has spread of a tentative deal, bankruptcy looks much less likely, allowing buyers to bid share price up to an intraday high of $1.97.

This is fantastic news for TFN Strategic Trader subscribers, as YRC is currently in our portfolio as a covered call position. It looks like we will be taking another round of profits on this one.

DRI Corporation (NASDAQ:TBUS) is up by more than 15% on news that the transportation information-technology provider scored a $6 million contract with several bus manufacturers in India.

For a company with a market value of just $17 million and total sales in 2008 of just $70.5 million, word of the contract is eagerly welcomed by the Street.

Potentially even more important was the news that the company is expecting its Q2 2009 results to be higher than the same period last year. That means investors can expect revenues of over $17 million.

With huge amounts of money spent on “green” initiatives across the globe, DRI’s products will remain in high demand.

Sino-Global Shipping America (NASDAQ:SINO) is showing its investors gains of close to 20% today as Wall Street learns China’s growth is expected to be stronger than expected over the next twelve months.

The New York-based company specializes in port services for the tankers and freighters entering China’s dozens of ports. As the country’s economy gets back on track and demand for Sino’s services improve, the company’s shareholders will continue to benefit.

Even as shares of the tiny $8 million company climb towards the $3 level, there is room left to climb. This time last year, investors were willing to pay $10 per share of the company.

VirtualScopics (NASDAQ:VSCP) rounds out our list. After all, what list of small-cap winners would be complete without at least one tiny biotech making the team?

Shares of the company were up by as much as 17% during the session thanks to yesterday’s news the company recorded record revenues of $2.5 million.

Even though the figure would be considered merely a day’s worth of interest payments for the big boys of Wall Street, the number represented a surge of more than 45% over the same period last year for the $27 million company.

As the maker of biomarker solutions for the nation’s healthcare industry, VirtualScopics is in the midst of a risky, but ever-changing industry. What could be a record-breaking report could be a paltry sum this time next year.

While the markets continue to await more telling economic data and earnings reports, the small-cap sector refuses to sit around and wait.

Like usual, some of the biggest profit opportunities are erupting from the nation’s smallest publicly traded companies.

Source: Four Small Caps on the Move

The equities market has had a less-than-stellar week. With the Dow currently down by triple-digit proportions, the major index has dropped firmly below it final 2008 level. Hopefully that is a comment we cannot make in 51 weeks.

Even with the rather bleak economic news released this week, there is some good news. But let’s get the bad stuff out of the way first.

As you probably heard, the Labor Department announced private firms from across the country shed some 524,000 jobs in December. The losses boost the official unemployment figure to its highest level in 16 years.

While this morning’s number beat most best guesses – even clobbering some of the doomsday estimates – what is most important today is the revised figures released by Washington. It now tells us employers cut 584,000 positions in November and 423,000 in October. Originally, the organization estimated job losses of 533,000 and 320,000, respectively.

While December’s figures took some of the sting off, the revised figures prove the economy was worse off than many folks believed. The equities market is making up the difference today. Increased unemployment will trickle through the economy, creating a strong headwind as we move forward.

But you already know that.

The end of union stupidity?

Let’s move on to some good news… if you consider a 10% wage cut good news.

Even though stocks declining in value outweigh advancers by more than three to one so far today, there is one group of shareholders sitting on some big gains. If you followed my advice, you are one of them.

Last week, I told you about YRC Worldwide (NYSE:YRCW), a national leader in the trucking industry. Shares of the company were creamed over the past year as fuel-price hikes and a slowing economy nearly eliminated the firm’s ability to pay its debt.

The YRC’s management needed all the help it could get to pull itself out of the dire situation. That is why it turned to the Teamsters and asked for wage concessions. It was a controversial and risky move, but as promised, it paid off.

The votes were tallied last night and the union approved a wage cut in exchange for an ownership position. As I write, the folks that followed my advice are sitting on gains of about 130%. Shares are trading for just under our call option strike price of $5, the optimum spot for our covered call strategy.

That trade was just the first in a series of “beta” tests designed to prove the superiority of our “belts and suspenders” strategy. I just told HotStockConfidential subscribers of their second money-making beta play yesterday.

And guess what.

It is already up by double-digit proportions. The play is unfolding just as I envisioned. Even more profit potential is on the way.

This is the perfect time for our “belts and suspenders” strategy. It allows us to take advantage of the market’s volatility while providing us the insurance we need to avoid the kind of losses driving so many investors out of the market.

Over the next few weeks, expect more dreary news from Washington. Be especially careful as Wall Street begins to realize Obama’s stimulus package will do nothing but create false hope.

False hope is still hope, right?

It will be a tough earnings season.

Source: Horrid unemployment and sweet, sweet gains

But contrarian investors should be wary of such ‘expert’ opinion. Floyd Brown in Investment U says: “Trucking is an integral part of our national goods transportation network. And because it’s tied so closely to our economy, it will also be one of the first sectors to see a turnaround.“

Floyd says savvy investors should follow Warren Buffett into undervalued transport stocks now…

Even Warren Buffett – the closest person America has to a modern day industrialist – has used the last few years to build an increasing stake in transportation stocks like Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP), Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) and his biggest purchase by far, Burlington Northern Railroad (NYSE:BNI).

• BNI transports goods eastward from Pacific shipping ports, and commodities such as coal and corn around the Midwest over 32,000 miles of track in 28 states and Canada. It is currently trading at a forward PE of 14.
• Railroads are coming back into vogue as their economy and their cost effectiveness make them popular again. That’s why Warren Buffett took a $5 billion stake in the railroads.
• Trucking also deserves a look. YRC Worldwide (Nasdaq:YRCW) and Knight Transportation (NYSE:KNX) were hurt along with the rest of the sector with the spike in diesel costs this spring. With energy prices starting to settle down, the larger concern for trucking companies is the overall economy, as a continued slowdown will be just as costly.

Transportation Stocks – Calling All Contrarian Investors

For contrarian investors like myself, buying when the rest of the crowd isn’t in love with a particular sector or company is par for course, as is the case with transportation stocks. The secret is to find value that everyone else is missing…

For example, YRC Worldwide is trading in deep value territory at only 62% of book value. With revenue over $165 per share, this firm is selling at approximately 10% of its sales. The forward PE is only 11.

Commodity, oil and agricultural products all had a significant price increase this spring and summer as energy prices impacted profitability across the board. Many have already seen their prices crash downwards along with crude oil, and it remains to be seen whether this will continue.

While slowing with the U.S. economy, international development around the world will continue to be an engine of growth to drive production in multiple industries and there will always be a need to transport these products.

As the great leaders and businessmen of the 19th Century knew, markets can retreat, but after every retreat comes a new day of increased growth and higher market returns.

By investing like the great industrialists, we can follow their examples to great wealth. Build your fortune the same way as Vanderbilt and Buffett by investing in unloved and undervalued sectors like transportation…

Source: Follow the Great Industrialists to Incredible Wealth