#$tree

EARNING UPDATE $TREE LendingTree, Inc. for quarter ending q_Jun18 – Revenue grew, Margins expanded

[s2If !current_user_can(access_s2member_level0)]Please login to read the earning update on TREE [lwa][/s2If][s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level0)]LendingTree, Inc. reported earnings (EPS) of 3.01 per share for the quarter ending q_Jun18. This is vis-vis 2.12 per share for the previous quarter ending q_Mar18, a growth of 42 %. Compared to last year same quarter (q_Jun17), earnings grew…

EARNING UPDATE $TREE LendingTree, Inc. for quarter ending q_Sep17 – Revenue grew, Margins expanded

[s2If !current_user_can(access_s2member_level0)]Please login to read the earning update on TREE [lwa][/s2If][s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level0)]LendingTree, Inc. reported earnings (EPS) of 0.66 per share for the quarter ending q_Sep17. This is vis-vis 0.54 per share for the previous quarter ending q_Jun17, a growth of 22.2 %. Compared to last year same quarter (q_Sep16), earnings grew…

5 Trade ideas excerpted from the detailed analysis and plan for premium subscribers.

American Eagle Outfitters, Ticker: $AEO

American Eagle Outfitters, $AEO, had a long pullback through 2013 and the first half of 2014. That reversed and it has been trending higher, nearly revealing 18 in April. The shallow pullback touched the 100 day SMA and moved back up to the prior high. Some short consolidation and a third touch and peek above resistance makes it interesting.

Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Ticker: $ALXN

Alexion Pharmaceuticals, $ALXN, pulled back from a high in December over 200. It started as a broad consolidation but then lost support and dropped to a new low in May. Since then it has bounced and is now testing resistance of that broad consolidation range again. The RSI is bullish and rising while the MACD avoided a cross down and is rising as well.

Atmel, Ticker: $ATML

Atmel, $ATML, broke above resistance June (was a winning Top 10 Pick then) and rose to 10.50. Since then it has pulled back, retracing most of the break out before a reversal Friday. The RSI has also turned up and the MACD is falling, but may be starting to flatten.

Federated Investments, Ticker: $FII

Federated Investments, $FII, has had a long trend higher. It is one of those stocks where you have been looking for an entry for a while to follow this trend but the stock has not given one since March. That looks to have change last week with the reversal higher off of the 200 day SMA. The RSI is turning up as well with the MACD left to reverse.

Lending Tree, Ticker: $TREE

Lending Tree, $TREE, moved out of a consolidating range in June and started higher. The price is now consolidating again at 80 as the RSI moves sideways in the bullish zone and the MACD works lower. The very large volume Wednesday and Thursday suggest a move may be coming.

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After reviewing over 1,000 charts, I have found some good setups for the week. These were selected and should be viewed in the context of the broad Market Macro picture reviewed Friday which, heading into July Options Expiration week sees the equity markets still looking vulnerable short term in their longer term uptrends.

Elsewhere look for Gold continue to test the downside while Crude Oil also turns lower. The US Dollar Index seems ready to move higher in its consolidation while US Treasuries are biased lower in their consolidation. The Shanghai Composite and Emerging Markets are both bouncing and need to be watched carefully to see if the moves are real.

Volatility looks to remain in the elevated range of this low level, continuing to lessen the tail wind for the equity index ETF's SPY, IWM and QQQ. Their charts show the IWM looking the best short term as they all try to hold and reverse higher, while the QQQ and IWM look good longer term as the SPY is weakest. Use this information as you prepare for the coming week and trad'em well.

Shares of Tree.com are up 192 percent since mid-2012 after years of dormancy.

Additional upside could come as the company leverages technology to increase non-mortgage spending, the personal loan industry evolves and Tree.com continues to be a top performer in the mortgage origination market.

My Lending Tree

(image from investor presentation)

Mortgage origination is Tree.com’s core business, but some are concerned the market may be weakening. To combat this, the company is positioning itself to capitalize on revenue from other lending activities.

This week, Tree reported a 105 percent increase in non-mortgage revenue, which now makes up 18 percent of total revenue. Although this growth is impressive, just two weeks ago Tree.com launched the My Lending Tree platform, which may accelerate non-mortgage growth even further

CEO Doug Lepta describes My Lending Tree as a loan marketplace with the personalization of Amazon and comparison shopping of Kayak. User information is stored in a profile, significantly increasing ease of application for multiple loan types. The technology even makes recommendations to its users.

Mortgage shopping is a very infrequent event, but a family will likely need auto, personal, or small business loans more often. The hope with My Lending Tree is that users will be continually drawn to Tree.com for all their financing needs.

Personal Loan Market

Much of Tree.com’s growth in the non-mortgage segment has been in personal loans and the industry may have massive growth ahead. Personal loans can be used on anything from paying down credit card debt to financing a vacation.

A key catalyst is that the number of personal loan providers is quickly increasing and personal loans are becoming easier to get. The more people interested in personal loans, the better for Tree.com.

Credit Karma, a competitor in the personal loan space, was recently assigned a $1 billion valuation in a fundraising round led by Google’s venture capital arm.

Still Potential in the Mortgage Market

(image from investor presentation)

Despite Tree.com’s efforts to boost non-mortgage revenue, mortgages still make up a majority of the firm’s sales.

The company only controls 1.5 percent of the market and has been increasing its share as competitors weaken. Last quarter, Tree.com’s mortgage originations grew five percent year over year while all originations fell 45 percent.