| Is Hercules Offshore the Perfect Stock? and EnerCom, Inc. to Host The Oil & Gas Conference® 16 August 14-18, 2011 |
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By Dan Caplinger | More Articles July 21, 2011 | Comments (1) Every investor would love to stumble upon the perfect stock. But will you ever really find a stock that provides everything you could possibly want? One thing's for sure: You'll never discover truly great investments unless you actively look for them. Let's discuss the ideal qualities of a perfect stock, then decide if Hercules Offshore (Nasdaq: HERO ) fits the bill. The quest for perfectionStocks that look great based on one factor may prove horrible elsewhere, making due diligence a crucial part of your investing research. The best stocks excel in many different areas, including these important factors: Source: Capital IQ, a division of Standard and Poor's. NM = not meaningful due to negative earnings. Total score = number of passes. Hercules Offshore only manages to dig up a score of three points. [Read the full article] Contract drilling company, Noble Corporation (NYSE: NE - News) has reported second quarter 2011 earnings of 11 cents per share (excluding one-time items), failing to meet the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 27 cents and falling steeply from the adjusted year-earlier profit of 93 cents. Disruption of services at five rigs during the quarter was the chief reason for this underperformance.Total revenue in the quarter plunged more than 11% to $628 million from $709.9 million in the comparable quarter last year. Contract Drilling Services revenue was $589.6 million, down approximately 14% on an annualized basis.Total operating income in the quarter plummeted more than 70% year over year to $79.0 million. Operating income from the Contract Drilling segment also plunged 71.3%.Total rig utilization was 70% compared with 80% in the year-ago quarter. Overall average dayrate was $140,296 versus $156,683 in the year-ago quarter. [Read the full article] By Dan Dzombak | More Articles July 21, 2011 | Comments (0) Keep track of the stocks that matter to you. Help yourself with the Fool's FREE and easy new watchlist service today. Warren Buffett's partner, Charlie Munger, once said, "I think I've been in the top 5% of my age cohort all my life in understanding the power of incentives, and all my life I've underestimated it. And never a year passes but I get some surprise that pushes my limit a little farther." When corporate boards use bad incentives for management's pay, disaster often ensues. (Think Lehman Brothers.) Incentives based on singular metrics such as revenue growth, EBITDA, ROE, or earning per share are easily manipulated and gamed. Fortunately, there is a better way: EVA momentum. Creator Bennett Stewart of EVA Dimensions, who also co-created EVA (economic value added), calls EVA momentum "the only percent metric where more is always better than less. [Read the full article] 
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