hedgefundfocus: Hedge-funds - How big is big? http://bit.ly/9MNRKV

More from MoneyScience.

hedgefundfocus: RT @MoneyScience - Marco Avellaneda - Risk Magazine's Quant of the Year 2010 - http://bit.ly/d759lg

More from MoneyScience.

hedgefundfocus: RT @MoneyScience - What do Quants have to do with Benard Madoff? (pdf) http://bit.ly/bUGlHK

More from MoneyScience.

Since NYU Courant's Marco Avellaneda was recently awarded the 2010 Quant of the Year distinction by readers of Risk Magazine, I thought it was worthwhile pointing up this unpublished working paper he wrote in collaboration with Paul Besson. It offers an interesting overview of capacity and manager skills in the hedge fund space, drawing attention to critical issues impacting performance. Abstract...

More from MoneyScience.

hedgefundfocus: RT @MoneyScience Larry Tabb of the TABB Group: In Praise of Shorts and Financial Speculation - http://bit.ly/9iHMv9

More from MoneyScience.

hedgefundfocus: Talk by Marc Potters (co-CEO of Capital Fund Management): Physics, Finance and Some Useful Mathematics - http://bit.ly/dq8REg

More from MoneyScience.

Hot Topic Inc (NASDAQ: HOTT) reported 4th quarter and year end 2009 earnings this afternoon. The company experienced a decrease in sales, as both net income and revenue dropped from comparable periods.

Financial Highlights:

1. Net income fell to $8 million, or $0.18/share, from $14.2 million, or $0.32/share, including expenses of $0.02/share related to ShockHound.
2. Revenue fell to $214.2 million from $238 million.
3. The retailer saw its same-store sales fall 13.5% in the latest quarter compared with a rise of 6.5% a year earlier.
4. Hot Topic projected a 1st quarter loss of $0.02-$0.05/share, based on expectations that comparable store sales will decline by a high single digit percentage.

From the numbers it seems Hot Topic got hammered in the 4th quarter and the year in general; however, the numbers can be slightly deceiving.

The company had a bit of an exaggerated 2008 with the licensing of the all powerful “Twilight.” This year the company spent a lot of time, energy and money trying to license the sequel “New Moon” but did not get it.

Not to say HOTT would have had blowout numbers had it gotten the New Moon license, however it is obvious they need to work on a strategy to stabilize their different core sections, making sure to balance out all endeavors. The company will work on gaining a broad variety of licenses in 2010, but don’t expect to go after anything quite as big as Twilight.

At the end of 2009 Shockhound was created as a new source of revenue in the form of an online music store. It is hard to say how this will impact future earnings, but it’s good to see a retailer diversifying.

During questions management projected that the music section would turn around first in 2010 with fashion accessories continuing to be the laggard.

Hot Topic continues to remodel stores and expects to remodel 25-30 stores in 2010. They will continue to host live bands as a way to drive volume and variety into stores.

The stock began to move upward after guidance was given. The company is in an extremely cyclical industry and it’s of utmost importance it can generate revenue from all 4 of its core sections. Let’s see if they can be more efficient in their licensing efforts and avoid another New Moon episode.

World Market Media

Bidz.com Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDZ) a leading online auction retailer of jewelry, announced financial results for the 4th quarter and full year 2009 yesterday afternoon.

The company’s revenues were down for both the quarter and the year, once again this is due to the tough economic year known as 2009. Furthermore, it doesn’t help that Bidz deals exclusively with jewelry, a sector which fares worse than most in such an economic environment.

Although the company faced declining revenues it was able to maintain, be it by a small margin, profitability. Once again this is in accordance with the theme of earnings reports this year.

Besides the usual numbers and comments a few stuck out that will be worth monitoring. The company plans to continue the repurchase of shares, something positive for investors to sink their teeth into. The company also launched a deal with Aramex to offer effective shipping services to customers in 15 Middle East countries. They also have zero balance on a $25M line of credit. Lastly the company is focusing on bringing in more branded products.

The Company also announced last month the successful launch of Modnique, its exclusive private sale shopping site for members-only, offering authentic premium brand name merchandise. Modnique offers its members exclusive access to 24-72 hour sales events on designer apparel, accessories, shoes, houseware and much more at price points up to 85% off of retail.

Management offered some guidance for 2010 in the form of revenues being at about $26-$28 million, around the same as they were for the 4th quarter.

Bidz was hit hard by the economic recession of 2009 and they will need a strong recovery in order to return to top-line growth. The company will rely on its interactive, and for some, entertaining format in which sales are completed paired with its compelling value.

World Market Media

U.S. Concrete Inc. (NASDAQ: RMIX) today announced 4th quarter and year end 2009 financial results. The company was able to shrink their net losses; however, RMIX is still in serious financial trouble.

Financial Highlights:

1. Revenues in both the 4th quarter and year end were down from 2008; 30.9% and 29.1% respectively
2. Net debt of $292.3M
3. Cash and cash equivalents of $4.2M

RMIX faced shrinking sales in 2009 due to the tough economic environment, intense pricing pressure and lack of demand. Nonetheless, this company was still does over $535M in revenue for the year, seems a little high for a company trading at $0.43 a share.

The company’s real problem is not the economy or constriction that the industry faced in 2009, but it’s extremely high levels of debt. When your own CFO is making comments like, "Absent a successful restructuring, there is substantial doubt about our ability to continue to operate as a going concern," investors should be scared.

It seems almost sad to think a once prominent, American business which still generates over half a billion in revenue a year has fallen into such severe debt.

U.S. Concrete decided they were not going to answer any questions during the conference call, perhaps they are considering moving back into the private sector. One thing is certain; the outlook for these guys isn’t so concrete.

World Market Media

hedgefundfocus: Hedge Fund Focus 10-03-10 - Hedge Fund Focus has a new look! http://bit.ly/auZUDq

More from MoneyScience.