J. Crew Group: Needham Co. equity analyst Christine Chen reiterated a hold rating on shares of J.Crew Group (JCG) on Aug. 27.

On Aug. 26, shares of the apparel purveyor sank in after-hours trading after the company said profit for the fiscal year ending January 2011 will be $2.25 to $2.35 a share. That compared with a forecast in May of as much as $2.45. The retailer expects third-quarter earnings of as much as 60¢ a share, which falls short of analysts' projections. Sales at stores open at least a year will be flat in the quarter.

Net income in the second quarter ended July 31 rose to $34.9 million, or 53¢ a share, from $18.6 million, or 29¢, a year earlier.

J. Crew is the latest U.S. retailer to say it's unsure about the rest of the year. Last month, store sales missed analysts' estimates as consumers restricted spending ahead of the back-to-school season. Consumer confidence also slumped in July, according to a University of Michigan survey. [Read the full article]

Despite the market recovering some losses with Friday's rally, benchmarks remained in negative territory for the week. However, some sectors resisted the sell off better than others, as several real estate investment trust (REIT) segments traded in positive territory for the week ended Friday. In fact, a look at tickerspy's eight REIT subsector Indexes shows all the REIT segments outperformed for the period, with the highest-yielding subsectors jumping the most.

As of Friday's close, the Office REITs Index spiked 3% for the week, making it the best performing REIT subsector. Strong moves in Parkway Properties (NYSE: PKY - News) and Franklin Street Properties (AMEX: FSP - News) led the Index higher, as the pair of real estate plays jumped 6% and 7% respectively over the past five trading days. The latter name sports a 6% annual yield, based on its latest distribution. Meanwhile, Kilroy Realty (NYSE: KRC - News) and CommonWealth REIT (NYSE: CWH - News) rose 5% for the week. [Read the full article]

Last week we told you about the Pros' favorite Chinese solar stocks, but domestic giant First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR - News) still holds the top-spot in sector-wide popularity among Wall Street's professional money managers. Given the budding alternative energy industry's normal volatility in the equity markets, it's no surprise that relatively few hedge and mutual funds are amassing sizable stakes in solar shares, but the latest data indicates that more Pros are getting on board with the Arizona-based sector giant.

Heading into the second half, 14 13F-filing asset managers counted First Solar shares among their top-15 U.S.-listed equity positions. Among them, ten were opening new positions or adding to existing ones during the second quarter. More recently, UBS upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and boosted its price target to $150 from $136 last week. [Read the full article]

Pure-plays on the Chinese agricultural space are small and volatile, and while a recent surge by China Agritech Inc (NASDAQ: CAGC - News) has lifted the Chinese Agriculture Stocks Index of late, most of the sector is painted in red on a three-month basis. The other exception, which has gained 3% since late-May compared to China Agritech's 30% run, is Pro-favorite Yongye International (NASDAQ: YONG - News), where five 13F-filing asset managers held shares in their top-15 U.S.-listed equity positions heading into the third quarter.

Elsewhere in the sector, Agria (NYSE: GRO - News) was the only other Chinese Agriculture Stocks Index component to earn a place among a Pro's top-15 end-of-Q2 equity holdings. A look at the Pros' favorite stocks from the latest 13F filings shows an obvious large-cap bias, which can be expected given the liquidity requirements and risk profiles of large funds. [Read the full article]