If you're feeling good about the market, you're not alone. Take my hand as we go over some of this week's more uplifting headlines.
1. The iPhone 5 may be closer than you think
The latest chatter has Apple
Apple watcher iMore.com is hearing that the world's most valuable tech company will host a press event to introduce the new smartphone on Sept. 12, making it available to consumers on Sept. 21.
If the report holds up, it would be a smart move for Apple. The iPhone 4S broke from Apple's tradition of summertime releases with an October debut. Some analysts assumed Apple would now stick to October updates for its iconic smartphone, but this pushes the trend a month earlier.
The news would also be good for Apple's fiscal 2012 fiscal year. Analysts overestimated the number of iPhones Apple would sell during the company's fiscal third quarter ending in June. If consumer interest was slowing then, imagine how the final three months of the fiscal year ending in September would be. Getting the phone out during the current quarter -- even if it's nearly at the end -- would help prop up unit sales ahead of the holiday quarter.
2. Fiber lasers set to "stun analysts"
Shares of IPG Photonics
Booming demand for the company's fiber lasers treated investors to double-digit percentage gains in net sales and profitability.
IPG Photonics' net profit of $0.72 a share blew past the $0.66 a share analysts were forecasting. Things get even better when you check out its guidance. The company is eyeing a profit for the current quarter between $0.74 a share and $0.84 a share on revenue of $145 million to $155 million. The pros were perched below even the low end of those ranges.
3. Green Mountain's surprise surge
When a stock comes up short in revenue for its latest quarter, posts a problematic 60% spike in inventory levels, and hoses down its near-term growth outlook, the market usually hammers it.
But then we have Green Mountain Coffee Roasters
Yes, the company's report was bad, but incredulous investors also have to realize that sometimes the bearishness on a company is overdone. Even after yesterday's pop, the company behind the Keurig platform and K-Cup java refills is trading more than 80% off of last year's high.
A heavily shorted stock and a company announcing a massive share buyback also make a perfect recipe for a short squeeze.
Finally, Green Mountain's lower guidance is now calling for revenue to grow at a 15% to 20% clip, with earnings climbing in the mid-teens. Even after yesterday's pop, we're talking about a stock trading at a forward earnings multiple in the single digits. The spike in trading yesterday isn't the surprise. The real shocker is how far the sell-off had gone before the news.
4. Baidu takes Qunar on an expenses-paid trip
When it comes to travel websites, realizing growth may be challenging unless they find a sugar daddy that can take them to a higher level.
China's Qunar is telling Bloomberg this week that revenue has doubled during the first half of the year. Qunar's CEO claims that collaborating with Baidu
Qunar wasn't specific on the actual metrics, but it will only help Baidu make more strategic investments -- if not outright acquisitions -- if smaller dot-coms see China's Internet darling as an effective way to broaden their reach in the world's most populous nation.
5. You can still make money on social-networking websites
Facebook, the world's largest social-networking website, may have fallen to fresh lows this week, but it's a different story at LinkedIn
The corporate-minded social-networking website operator posted another blowout quarter, with revenue soaring a head-turning 89%. LinkedIn is also beefing up its outlook for all of 2012. I guess you could say that LinkedIn just padded its resume.
Keep it coming
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