Facebook TESTING New Mobile Ads and 4 Heavily Traded Shares Attracting Attention

Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. (NYSE:ANR): The company stated, “The domestic market for thermal coal has been extraordinarily weak in the first half of 2012, as the combination of low-priced natural gas and mild winter weather led to a sharp reduction in coal burn and a rapid increase in utility stockpiles…Thermal coal consumption in 2012 is expected to decrease by more than 120 million tons compared with last year, and spot prices for thermal coal in Central Appalachia and the Powder River Basin have languished at levels below each basin’s typical cash production costs. However, the domestic thermal coal market is showing signs of gradual improvement…In light of the burgeoning utility inventories in the U.S., producers, traders and some utilities have attempted to move thermal coal onto the seaborne market. As a result, U.S. exports are on pace for a record year, with thermal coal exports in the first five months of 2012 up approximately 77 percent to 25 million tons. Given this significant increase in supply, primarily into the Atlantic basin, seaborne prices for thermal coal have fallen, and opportunities for additional near-term export business have diminished…While export volumes have held up reasonably well, the global market for metallurgical coal has been softening across the board recently. Spot pricing for benchmark quality coals in Asia has disconnected from the third quarter benchmark of $225 per ton and is reportedly under the $200 per metric ton mark due to slowing steel production in China and the expected recovery of Australian export volumes following the reported resolution of recent labor disputes. In the face of European economic weakness, year-to-date European steel production is down approximately 4 percent compared with 2011. Given the challenging conditions in Europe, metallurgical coals are being contracted at a discount to similar qualities sold into Asia, and the market is awash with lower-quality metallurgical coals, placing significant downward pressure on pricing. In the near-term, Alpha has pared back production of its lower quality metallurgical coals, but the company believes it is well-positioned to capitalize on improving global market fundamentals for metallurgical coal with up to 30 million tons of export terminal capacity and the ability to rapidly increase metallurgical coal shipments in the future.”

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Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) is expected to reveal its first Windows Phone 8-based smartphones during early September at the Nokia World event. The move will allow the company to reveal its next-gen cell phones before  Apple’s introduction of new iPhone, which is rumoured to be planned for mid-September, and this is important because the Windows Phone 8 operating system is comparable to the iOS 6 in many ways.

Dean Foods Company (NYSE:DF) predicts that its momentum will continue through back half of 2012 for WhiteWave-Alpro. The company expects mid to high-teens for the full year of 2012′s operating income growth in Fresh Dairy Direct, on going solid profit growth for 2012 although milk costs are increasing, and mid-teens for the full year of 2012′s operating income growth for Morningstar.

Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) is now testing a new ad system for mobile apps which is meant to boost downloads from stores such as Google Play and Apple’s App Store. In a blog post, Facebook engineer Vijaye Raji asked developers to sign up to participate in a beta test of the new system. With the new mobile ad campaign, a Facebook user who clicks on an ad for an app which is not already installed will be sent immediately to the Apple App Store or Google Play store to find it. Last month alone, the social network sent users to both stores 146 million times via clicks from the news feed, Timeline, bookmarks, and Facebook’s App Center, according to Raji.

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU): The mobile DRAM market continues to grow as smartphones and tablets take a larger role, states DigiTimes, citing IHS iSuppli. Mobile DRAM is predicted to reach $6.56 billion in revenue this year, which is a 10 percent rise.

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