Out Fox The $treet

Summary Facebook stock remains disconnected from user trends. ARPU gains making shorting the stock difficult for now. New products and apps remain wild cards. The monetization machine of Facebook (NASDAQ: FB ) continued in full force during Q214. The machine is great at showing better ads to users and collecting higher fees from advertisers. What the social network site hasn't done is indicate to the market that users are locked into the service for eternity. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Summary Xiaomi is increasingly becoming a threat to Apple outside China. Long-term growth potential in Asia appears capped to very high-end users. Regardless, Apple's stock offers the potential for market type gains. The biggest problem facing Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL ) long-term is that it's losing the competitive gap to mid-level smartphone and tablet makers. The company has a very loyal following likely to continue to purchase the high-end devices for the quality of the phone and the brand identification, but the growth potential could be limited without the ability to expand the market in emerging markets. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: Long AAPL. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Summary Baidu easily exceeded Q214 earnings estimates. The stock trades at a favorable valuation with multiple expansion. Chinese search stocks in general remain cheap. When last covering Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU ) , the stock was under pressure due to fears over SEC bans on auditors in China. At the time in January of 2013, the stock slipped below $160 before an eventual bottom near $140 that April. Investors were encouraged to focus on mobile search growth and ignore the over flamed SEC concerns. Fast-forward to today and the stock is surging beyond $225 based on fast mobile growth. The crazy part is that investors might not be too late to invest in this story. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: Long BIDU. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

The recent hiring of a rock star Wall Street banker as the new CFO of  Twitter  ( NYSE: TWTR     )  has investors buzzing about   the company. After a rough spring that saw the stock collapse to lows around $30 following the IPO ramp to $75, Twitter finally stabilized and gained some legs in the market. On top of the big hire, Twitter also continued its spree of buying up mobile advertising firms, including the recent purchase of TapCommerce. Social media companies that started off as free-to-use services without advertising face a major dilemma: how to appropriately monetize user traffic without alienating the user base. Facebook ( NASDAQ: FB     ) dealt with these issues, and as a result the company made a recent move to purchase an advertising technology firm in order to improve ads on the site. But the ultimate question is whether these social media giants are doing enough to attract users with site enhancements focused on advertising efforts. Read the full art

Summary Hawaiian Holdings reported Q2 '14 earnings. Earnings confirm original thesis that cost savings would drive earnings higher. The improved earnings were anticipated to drive the stock to $13.50 and now much higher.          Read the full article at Seeking Alpha.  Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Summary United Airlines reported Q2 '14 earnings. The earnings confirm original thesis that cost savings would drive earnings higher. The improved earnings were anticipated to eventually drive stock gains. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha.  Disclosure: Long AAL. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

The CEO of Halliburton ( NYSE: HAL     ) went on record during the first-quarter earnings call that he saw a turn in the North American energy markets. In fact, the CEO hadn't been that bullish on the area since late in 2011. He recently followed that up with an even more bullish claim that the market has definitely turned to full-growth mode. The question for investors is what to do with this information now that the stock has already soared to all-time highs and is trading up to $74 from only $40 this time last year. Read the full article here . Disclosure: Long HAL. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

In the middle of another strong earnings report highlighted by explosive Marcellus growth, Southwestern Energy ( NYSE: SWN     ) detailed a troubling problem for the company and the industry as a whole. The company is a leading driller for natural gas in both the Fayetteville Shale in Arkansas and the prolific Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania. Read the full article here . Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

The initial success of the Kim Kardashian game has surprised even this owner of Glu Mobile ( NASDAQ: GLUU     ) stock. It's another sign that the small game developer continues to advance its mobile gaming platform mostly focused on action shooter games such as the previous successful Deer Hunter 2014 .   The staying power of Kim Kardashian could propel the game, and the stock, into the upper echelon of gaming stocks that includes King Digital Entertainment plc ( NYSE: KING     ) and Zynga ( NASDAQ: ZNGA     ) that sport much larger stock valuations. Read the full article here . Disclosure: Long GLUU and ZNGA. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

 Since peaking in October,  Chart Industries ( NASDAQ: GTLS     ) has traded in a downward trajectory. The promise of liquefied natural gas, or LNG, demand hasn't paid off as expected, leading to a large sell-off in the stock. At the current price of $80, the stock trades at a similar level to when it first crossed $70 all the way back at the start of 2012. Similar situations in the market offer a level of intrigue considering the market is now less interested in a once-hot stock potentially offering a bargain. The investor has to dig into the story to derive whether the problem is the company or the market.  Chart Industries is mainly seen as a manufacturer of LNG equipment, but the company has recently been hit by declines in the smaller medical division. Mainly though, the company continues to face the struggles of a domestic LNG market that hasn't expanded fast enough and has also hit shares of Clean Energy Fuels  ( NASDAQ: CLNE     ) and Westport Innova

Recently, Weatherford International ( NYSE: WFT     ) sold drilling assets in Russia and Venezuela to further transition away from unprofitable businesses that never achieved the expected margins. Investors can quickly compare the numbers to the solid international margins of Schlumberger Limited ( NYSE: SLB     ) and Halliburton ( NYSE: HAL     ) to quickly grasp how far off course Weatherford had steered in the process of expanding internationally. The oilfield services laggard has turned to improving operations after a few years of working out accounting and tax issues. Weatherford has taken several previous steps to improve operations with the hopes of growing margins. Even after the recent gains in the stock, Weatherford continues to trade at low revenue multiples, showing how much of an impact the low-margin drag has had on the stock. Read the full article here . Disclosure: Long WFT and HAL. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

A couple of notable trends are making investing in the domestic wireless space a concern. The stocks trade at multiyear highs and a pricing war triggered by T-Mobile  ( NYSE: TMUS     ) is causing average revenue per user, or ARPU, to decline -- at least in the case of AT&T ( NYSE: T     ) . The combination usually doesn't go hand in hand , especially considering the domestic market is virtually saturated with users, causing Verizon Communications  ( NYSE: VZ     ) to struggle with customer additions since it hasn't entered the pricing wars. Any pricing war should always alert investors to pending stock losses, but with AT&T trading sideways for nearly two years now do investors really have cause for concern? Read the full article here . Disclosure: Long T. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

The July fleet status report for Transocean, Ltd ( NYSE: RIG     ) again provides an example of why the historical leader in the deepwater drilling sector is no longer the best investment going forward. The deepwater driller famously uses the website deepwater.com for its corporation, but it continues to struggle with old rigs in a market that demands the most modern capabilities. Read the full article here . Disclosure: Long SDRL. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

With once struggling domestic wireless provider T-Mobile US  ( NYSE: TMUS     ) now worth over $26 billion, investors should wonder if the stock has any value left. The company is rumored to be a buyout target of  Sprint  ( NYSE: S     ), yet its quick rise from $7.50 to nearly $33 in a span of two years should raise valuation questions. On the backs of wireless mergers, including its own consolidation with Metro PCS , T-Mobile is now secure in a strong fourth position of the domestic wireless market. The stock now trades at nearly 1 times revenue estimates, suggesting that all of the easy money has already been made. Further, notable investor firm Omega Advisors exited its position during the first quarter further, questioning if the stock has upside value. Read the full article here . Disclosure: Long T. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

For a relatively young company forecasting fast growth, offshore drilling contractor Ocean Rig ( NASDAQ: ORIG     ) trades at a very attractive earnings multiple. The company continues to bump along with start-up issues from new drillships, but it appears poised to produce strong results going forward based on a solid contract book and an improving deepwater drilling market. Read the full article here . Disclosure: Long ATW. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

The amount of long-term growth forecasted by Antero Resources Corporation ( NYSE: AR     ) is almost unheard of outside of social media stocks, especially for a company with a greater than $15 billion market cap. The Marcellus and Utica Shale natural gas exploration and production firm is probably mostly unknown by investors after going public last October. Despite production growth rates of over 100% and heading toward nearly 950 MMcfe/d during 2014, the company continues to forecast growth rates in excess of 50% in both 2015 and 2016. At this point, Antero appears to be overcoming the infrastructure bottlenecks that have disturbed Marcellus production by Cabot Oil & Gas ( NYSE: COG     ) and Utica growth at Gulfport Energy Corp ( NASDAQ: GPOR     ). The biggest question is whether the growth at Antero can be maintained as guided. Read the full article here . Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

The recent collaboration deal with Cisco Systems ( NASDAQ: CSCO     ) sparks an interest in investing in Jive Software ( NASDAQ: JIVE     ) again. The social business software provider offered an interesting investment concept when it came public back at the end of 2011, yet the company hasn't been able to match the success of the consumer social media stocks. The software provider is focused on the social business platforms of portals, social intranets, and external communities that allow employees and customers to better collaborate and engage. Unfortunately, Jive Software has yet to hit the tipping point, with revenue growth only clocking in at 21% in the first quarter. Read the full article here . Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

With the spin-off from Chesapeake Energy ( NYSE: CHK     ) finally here, investors can start watching Seventy Seven Energy ( NYSE: SSE     ). The oilfield services firm has had limited publicity typical of spin-offs, providing the opportunity for an attractive valuation. One important thing investors need to understand about spin-offs is that the new companies typically come out in disarray. The parent company wouldn't typically perform the split up if it weren't for a desire to unload an underperforming unit, or at least one viewed as undervalued. In the case of Chesapeake Energy, the natural gas exploration and production firm was originally hoping to sell the company for several billion to help reduce debt at the corporate level. The spin-off was the last option. Read the full article here . Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

 For investors that thought the 20% sequential increase in production during the fourth quarter was substantial, Rice Energy ( NYSE: RICE     ) easily surpassed that number during the first quarter of 2014. Possibly more shocking is the possibility that the company could lapse the 36% sequential growth for the first quarter during the current quarter.  Rice Energy is turning into a prolific grower in the Marcellus Shale, and the first-quarter earnings provided some interesting insights for both the company and the region. In total, the company saw production surge to 209 MMcf/d to reach growth of 135% relative to the first quarter of 2013 with well results continuing to improve.  Read the full article here .   Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please read the disclaimer page for more details.

 Back in April I argued that   Comstock Resources ( NYSE: CRK     ) was a hidden play on LNG exports from the Gulf Coast due to sizable reserves in the Haynesville shale with close proximity to the coast. The company, though, appears to have much more than natural gas resources based on the recent results of its first well in the East Eagle Ford shale.  Comstock Resources continues shifting toward oily production with added positions in the Eagle Ford and Tuscaloosa Marine Shale, or TMS. While total production isn't increasing that much due to a 30% year-over-year drop in natural gas produced during the first quarter, the higher realized prices along with more oil production dramatically improved results.  Read the full article here .  Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please read the disclaimer page for more details.

 The revelation that Whiting Petroleum Corp ( NYSE: WLL     ) only paid a 5% premium to average prices over the last 60 days to purchase the stock of fast-growing Bakken producer Kodiak Oil and Gas Corp ( NYSE: KOG     ) was clearly unusual. Typically, a growing company doesn't accept a buyout without a substantial premium. In this case, the deal creates a formidable producer in the Bakken to rival Continental Resources ( NYSE: CLR     ) .  Is it possible that Kodiak shareholders benefited more from accepting a meager premium? The deal  Whiting Petroleum agreed to buy Kodiak Oil and Gas for .177 shares of WLL per KOG share, or the equivalent of $13.90 per share based on the July 11 closing price of Whiting. Though the deal offers a 5% premium above the average of price of Kodiak over the last 60 days, any investor in the stock might be disappointed that it accepted an offer below the prior closing price. The stock, though, is rebounding 5% as of this writing,

The continuing growth of app stores is making it more and more difficult for a game developer to get noticed. In the console world, the big name developers automatically got shelf space at the major retailers, locking out a lot small developers. The mobile world leveled the playing field by making it cheaper and easier to have a game released to the user base of Apple ( NASDAQ: AAPL     ) and Google , yet the field is now so saturated that most games go unnoticed. In steps the advantages of developing recognizable franchises similar to the paths of Glu Mobile ( NASDAQ: GLUU     ) and Zynga ( NASDAQ: ZNGA     ). In both cases, the game developers are expanding on existing franchises with refreshed games plus purchasing concepts developed by others possibly needing the distribution skills of these two firms. The key is to develop brand recognition that helps drive consistent game players while reducing the at-risk costs of developing brand new game concepts. Read t

Is it possible that after a volatile move higher in shares of Goodrich Petroleum Corp ( NYSE: GDP     ) since February that it could head even higher and potentially significantly so? The oil exploration and production company has recently announced drilling results in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale, or TMS, that had gotten progressively better until the last well after some initially disappointing outcomes. In reality, the recent decline from $30 only has the stock back to levels barely above the highs of 2013 while the production results suggest the company could sit on some very oily acres. Comparing the recent valuation to some other players in liquids-rich areas such as  Gulfport Energy Corp ( NASDAQ: GPOR     ) and  Halcon Resources ( NYSE: HK     ) makes the stock worth a longer look. Read the full article here . Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Summary Marin forecasts exceeding Q2 guidance, and the sales chief departs. Revenue growth confirms original investment thesis. Marin should continue growing at a solid clip due to the increasing complexity of managing digital ad spend. After the close, Marin Software ( MRIN ) announced that Q2 '14 revenue would reach $23.6 million. In addition, the company reported that the Chief Revenue Officer or more specifically the leader of the sales organization was departing the company. The news appears somewhat mixed for the SaaS company that provides a revenue acquisition platform for advertisers and agencies. The stock continues to trade virtually flat since my initial recommendation last October. Read the full update at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: Long MRIN. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

 Even prior to the news last week that the government would allow exports of very ultralight oil or condensates, investors in the refiners had to consider the potential for future exports of oil as a major risk. Based on the news, Marathon Petroleum ( NYSE: MPC     ) , HollyFrontier Corp ( NYSE: HFC     ) , and Phillips 66 ( NYSE: PSX     ) dropped for several days. The stocks had already traded relatively flat for a long time after peaking back in early 2013.  One has to wonder if the threat of exporting oil and the lowering of beneficial pricing differentials was already priced into the stocks. The Brookings Institution estimated that up to 700,000 barrels of ultralight oil could be exported starting next year. Does the drop in the above refining stocks provide a buying opportunity for these stocks, especially if the impact of relaxing the export restrictions isn't as severe as feared?  Read the full article here .  Disclosure: No positions mentione. Please

Summary Growth at Stratasys comes at a cost. 3D printing stocks have rebounded sharply from the Spring swoon. 3D Systems buyout rumors suggest a very aggressive price. After warning investors that the 3D printing stocks were too expensive back in early January and hoping for a selloff, investors now face a sector that has rebounded too far. Stratasys ( SSYS ) plunged below $90 back in May providing an interesting entry point, but do investors really want to own the stock at the current levels back above $115? Investors are now bullish on the sector especially after news that fellow 3D printing stock 3D Systems ( DDD ) had canceled attendance at a conference fueling buyout speculation last week. Read the full article  at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

 After one of the best quarters in corporate history, the announced buyout of TW Telecom  ( NASDAQ: TWTC     ) by Level 3 Communications  ( NYSE: LVLT     ) is mildly surprising. Considering the deal is mostly in stock, it might also signal that Level 3 stock has appreciated too much, with the company choosing to use it as the major currency in this deal.  In general, the deal is portrayed as an ability to gain scale and reduce costs via synergies. Remember, the companies compete against the likes of AT&T ( NYSE: T     ) for access to the global data communications needs of enterprise customers. Read the full article here .   Disclosure: Long AT&T. Please read the disclaimer page for more details.

With Amazon.com ( NASDAQ: AMZN     ) expected to enter the local services space this year, it suggests taking the time to recheck the prospects of Angie's List ( NASDAQ: ANGI     ) if Amazon.com sees the space as valuable. Angie's List went public back around the same time as Yelp ( NYSE: YELP ) , but the results have been dramatically different for the related local service stocks. From the beginning, the free-to-join platform of Yelp scaled quicker and attracted more users, but in the end, Angie's List had the higher-quality paid and verified members. In that way, it's the ultimate tortoise versus the hare scenario. Yelp has quickly amassed 132 million monthly users, and Angie's List is stuck with only 2.6 million paid members. Will the paid members eventually have more value? Read the full article here . Disclosure: Long AAPL and YELP. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

After more than doubling in value in the last couple of years, EOG Resources Inc ( NYSE: EOG     ) is now large enough to be counted as an oil major. The valuation has surged to over $60 billion, yet the company continues to produce substantial growth rates from oil production. EOG Resources is now slightly larger than  Anadarko Petroleum Corporation ( NYSE: APC     ) and has long passed Apache Corp ( NYSE: APA     ) due to industry-leading growth for its size from identifying and developing new shale plays, especially in oil-rich areas. Read the full article here . Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

 Chesapeake Energy ( NYSE: CHK     ) is a prime example of a company that overspent in the past and is now forced to cut back spending during the market rebound. The worst part of it all is that the energy company is forced to unload assets that apparently aren't wanted by the market at favorable valuations.  In not much of a big surprise, Chesapeake Energy finished spinning off the oilfield services division to existing investors due to a lack of market appetite for the service firm faced with the reduced drilling spending of the parent. In addition, the company announced several other transactions to reduce leverage.  Read the full article here .   Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please read the disclaimer page for more details.

After a couple of years testing wells and developing infrastructure in the Permian Basin, Laredo Petroleum ( NYSE: LPI     ) now appears set up for fast growth driven by a couple of prime catalysts. The Permian Basin is quickly becoming a favorite investment area with Concho Resources ( NYSE: CXO     ) and Pioneer Natural Resources  ( NYSE: PXD     ) grabbing investor attention. The basin is located in west Texas and southeastern New Mexico and provides some infrastructure benefits over other new shale plays. Investors are starting to realize the massive resource potential with the realization of the stacked zones in the play after years of successfully drilling vertical wells. Read the full article here . Disclosure: Long LPI. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

 After more than doubling in value in the last couple of years, EOG Resources Inc ( NYSE: EOG     ) is now large enough to be counted as an oil major. The valuation has surged to over $60 billion, yet the company continues to produce substantial growth rates from oil production.  EOG Resources is now slightly larger than  Anadarko Petroleum Corporation ( NYSE: APC     ) and has long passed Apache Corp ( NYSE: APA     ) due to industry-leading growth for its size from identifying and developing new shale plays, especially in oil-rich areas.  Read the full article here .  Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please read the disclaimer page for ore details.

Summary Buying Silevo makes SolarCity into a vertical integrator in the solar space. Higher efficiency modules promised aren't as industry leading as promised. The stock valuations of vertical integrators in the solar industry leave a lot to be desired. With the announcement a couple of weeks ago that SolarCity ( SCTY ) was buying a manufacturer of solar modules, the market sent the stock soaring for questionable reasons. The biggest issue with any vertical integration is that the company is now somewhat trapped into a technology instead of pursuing the most economical solution available on the market. Secondarily, the solar module market has never lacked from investments, nor is the manufacturers historically overly profitable. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: No position mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

  The surprising decision by Rio Tinto ( NYSE: RIO     ) to move forward with a new potash mine has negative implications for the sector. The commodity already faces an oversupply issue, and BHP Billiton ( NYSE: BHP     ) desperately wants to move forward with a massive mine in Canada that would further pressure the commodity.  The news continues a bearish trend for PotashCorp ( NYSE: POT     ) , which continues to face increasing threats from competition that wants a share of the high margins for the commodity. The stock has seen a sharp rebound to the levels it traded at prior to the collapse of the Belarusian marketing arrangement about a year ago. Does the recent news from Rio Tinto portend a trend of supplies ready to pounce on any increase in potash demand that will halt the rise of potash stocks?  Read the full article here .  Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please read the disclaimer page for more details.

Summary Potash stocks have rebounded too much in the last year. Demand regularly fails to meet growth forecasts. Mining giants continue to explore entering the potash market. Following a year rebounding from the collapse of the Belarusian marketing arrangement, the potash stocks of Potash Corp. ( POT ) and Mosaic ( MOS ) sit in a precarious position. Investors are now bullish on the stocks, yet several market situations suggest the market doesn't have the long-term potential most continue to project. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: No positions mentioend. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

 Despite the ongoing supply limiting issues in Indonesia, Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold ( NYSE: FCX     ) offers a plethora of growth for the long term.  Freeport-McMoRan remains known as the proxy for copper and a large global miner, but the company offers several growth projects, including the ability to substantially grow oil and gas production.  Read the full article here  Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please read the disclaimer page for more details.