Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Top 10 Long Term Stocks To Own For 2014

The general perception that women are shopaholics who love to spend and very bad investors could very well be a thing of the past with more and more women taking responsibility for their earnings and investment. This is critical nowadays, where single incomes are no match for a bloating inflation!

A well-planned double income often becomes essential to plan investment goals effectively for a secure future and comfortable retirement!  However, when saving women need to keep the bigger picture in mind and save for themselves as well as for their family. It is simply not enough just to save money but they have to invest in order to get more returns.

Think of your long term and short term goals in life. For example retirement planning, your child�� higher studies, a dream home, world tour etc. could be your long term goals and your short term goals can be doing a part time course, closing your educational loan, marriage etc.

Remember, inflation is always going to reduce the value of your money. Let inflation be an important factor in mind before you plan your investments.

Hot Regional Bank Stocks To Own For 2015: Pzena Investment Management Inc (PZN)

Pzena Investment Management, Inc. is a publicly owned investment manager. The firm also provides investment advisory services to funds. It provides its services to individuals, typically high net worth individuals; investment companies; charitable organizations; corporations; state or municipal government entities; pension and profit sharing plans; and pooled investment vehicles. The firm manages separate client-focused equity portfolios. It invests in the public equity markets across the globe. The firm primarily invests in value stocks of large-cap, mid-cap, and small-cap companies. It employs fundamental analysis while making its investments. Pzena Investment Management, Inc. was founded in 1995 and is based in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Bristol Voss]

    Pzena Investment Management (NYSE: PZN) is an investment manager catering to wealthy families and other institutions. It has the largest market cap at $85.4 million, and its share price, although the highest at about $7, buys the most market cap per dollar of the three. It has a forward P/E of 14 and a dividend yield of 1.7%. For the most recent quarter, revenue grew 5.4% and earnings were flat. Although Pzena's gross profit margin was down from the previous year, it remains a very high 45.2%.

  • [By Serena Saitto]

    Officials at another Dell shareholder, Pzena Investment Management Inc. (PZN), which has opposed the buyout, didn�� return calls seeking comment.

Top 10 Long Term Stocks To Own For 2014: Datawatch Corporation(DWCH)

Datawatch Corporation engages in the design, development, manufacture, marketing, and support of business computer software products primarily in the United States and the United Kingdom. The company?s products include Monarch 11, a desktop reporting and data analysis application that allows users to extract and manipulate data from ASCII report files, PDF files, or HTML files; Monarch Data Pump, a data replication and migration tool, which provides information delivery and data extract, and transform and load capabilities in one automated solution; and Monarch Enterprise Server that offers Web-enabled report storage, transformation, and distribution, including data analysis, visualization, and MS Excel integration. It also offers Monarch RMS, a Web-based report analytics solution that integrates with existing enterprise content management system; Monarch Report Manager on Demand, a document archive system that stores text, images, intelligent data streams, and unstructur ed content with file compression and encryption; and Datawatch Dashboards, an interactive dashboard solution that gives various levels of users a visual overview of operational performance, as well as the ability to monitor specific business processes and events. In addition, the company provides iMergence iStore, a report management solution, which manages computer-generated reports, mines the data contained in them, and allows users to interactively merge and transform them into new reports; Visual QSM, a Web-enabled IT service management system that incorporates workflow and network management capabilities, and provides Web access to multiple databases while enabling customers to interact through browser; and Visual Help Desk, which offers Web-based help desk and call center solutions. It sells its products through direct sales force, value added resellers, and distributors. Datawatch Corporation was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Chelmsford, Massachusetts.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Sean Williams]

    A clouded future
    With cost-cutting and operational efficiency being the name of the game for most tech companies in this uncertain growth environment, companies like Datawatch (NASDAQ: DWCH  ) , which provides information optimization for enterprise networks, are thriving.

  • [By James Oberweis]

    Steve Halpern: We're conducting a series of interviews with the top performing advisors from last year's Top Picks Report. This past year, your top stock pick, Datawatch (DWCH) rose more than 150%. Congratulations on that.

Top 10 Long Term Stocks To Own For 2014: Boyd Gaming Corporation(BYD)

Boyd Gaming Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a multi-jurisdictional gaming company in the United States. As of December 31, 2011, the company owned and operated 1,042,787 square feet of casino space, containing approximately 25,973 slot machines, 655 table games, and 11,418 hotel rooms. It also owned and operated 16 gaming entertainment properties located in Nevada, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Indiana, and New Jersey. In addition, the company owns and operates a pari-mutuel jai-alai facility located in Dania Beach, Florida, as well as a travel agency in Hawaii. Further, it holds a 50% controlling interest in the limited liability company that operates Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Boyd Gaming Corporation was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Dan Caplinger]

    The real question is whether Zynga can hold off experienced casino operators if online gambling becomes a reality. Already, alliances are forming, with Boyd Gaming (NYSE: BYD  ) and MGM Resorts (NYSE: MGM  ) having linked up with bwin.party -- the same company Zynga tapped for its real-money Zynga Poker -- to help Boyd take advantage of newly legal online gambling in New Jersey. Zynga has the obvious edge with its social savvy, but established casino companies will have huge incentives to defend their turf if Zynga starts to make a serious dent in the industry.

  • [By Dan Caplinger]

    MGM has built a history of being the odd player out in many of the most lucrative opportunities in the gaming industry. In Macau, the company is stuck in the slower-growth area of the Asian gaming destination. In Las Vegas, the new CityCenter area in the mid-Strip has watered down MGM's opportunities and has created another potential barrier for patrons coming from the northern end of the Strip to its namesake MGM Grand property. And in New Jersey, where online gaming has boosted prospects for Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ: CZR  ) and Boyd Gaming (NYSE: BYD  ) , MGM has no exposure.

  • [By M. Joy, Hayes]

    Industry trends
    Other businesses in the industry also have copious related-party transactions. In particular, founder-led businesses Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ: WYNN  ) and Boyd Gaming (NYSE: BYD  ) �reported a large number of such transactions in their 2013 proxies, including employment of relatives, employee use of company services, and employee use of company-owned property. MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM  ) , on the other hand, didn't have to report any related-party transactions in its 2013 proxy.

Top 10 Long Term Stocks To Own For 2014: Crosstex Energy Inc.(XTXI)

Crosstex Energy, Inc., through its partnership interests in Crosstex Energy, L.P., engages in the gathering, transmission, processing, and marketing of natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and crude oil in the United States. The company connects the wells of natural gas producers in its market areas to its gathering systems; processes natural gas for the removal of NGLs; fractionates NGLs; and markets and transports natural gas and NGLs. It also purchases natural gas from natural gas producers and other supply sources; and sells that natural gas to utilities, industrial consumers, other marketers, and pipelines. In addition, the company operates processing plants that process gas transported to the plants by interstate pipelines or from its own gathering systems. Further, it purchases natural gas from producers not connected to its gathering systems for resale, as well as sells natural gas on behalf of producers; and through its crude oil terminal facilities in south L ouisiana provides access for crude oil producers. As of February 8, 2012, the company operated approximately 3,300 miles of pipeline, 9 processing plants, and 3 fractionators. Crosstex Energy, Inc. was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Paul Ausick]

    Crosstex Energy�� (XTXI) shares are up 59.4% at $32.84 after posting a new 52-week high of $34.21. Crosstex Energy LP�� (XTEX) shares are up 38% at $28.08 after putting up a new high of $29.50 earlier.

  • [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

    Utilities sector was the only decliner in the US market today. Top losers in the sector included UIL Holdings (NYSE: UIL), off 2.1 percent, and Crosstex Energy (NASDAQ: XTXI), down 2.2 percent.

Top 10 Long Term Stocks To Own For 2014: Realty Income Corporation(O)

Realty Income Corporation engages in the acquisition and ownership of commercial retail real estate properties in the United States. The company leases its retail properties primarily to regional and national retail chain store operators. As of December 31, 2006, it owned 1,955 retail properties located in 48 states, covering approximately 16.7 million square feet of leasable space. The company also held a portfolio of 60 properties through its wholly owned subsidiary, Crest Net Lease, Inc. (Crest), as of the above date. Realty Income Corporation has elected to be treated as a real estate investment trust (REIT) under the Internal Revenue Code. As a REIT, it would not be subject to federal income taxes provided it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income to its shareholders. The company was founded in 1969 and is based in Escondido, California.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Brian Louis]

    American Realty�� acquisitions will make it the 14th-largest U.S. REIT by market value, which should boost liquidity and price support for investors and increase research coverage by analysts, according to the company�� investor presentation. Realty Income�� (O) price relative to 2014 estimated funds from operations, a REIT measure of cash flow, is about 16 times, according to the average of 12 analyst FFO projections, while American Realty�� is 13 times, based on four analysts.

  • [By Diane Alter]

    Dividend Stocks That Increased Payout in September

    Accenture plc (NYSE: ACN) announced a 14.8%, or $0.12 per share, increase to its semiannual dividend. The management consulting firm will now pay a semiannual dividend of $0.93. Shares yield 2.53%. Agruim Inc. (NYSE: AGU) boosted its dividend by $1.00 per share to a total dividend of $3.00 on an annualized basis. Shares of the global retailer of agricultural products now sprout a 3.54% yield. Air Industries Group Inc. (NYSE: AIRI) doubled its dividend to $0.125 per share. The maker of airplane and helicopter parts now floats a lofty yield of 6.6%. Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. (NYSE: ARE) upped its dividend 4.6% to $0.68 per quarter for a yield of 4.21%. Banner Corp. (Nasdaq: BANR) boosted its quarterly dividend 25% to $0.15 per share. The parent company of Banner and Islander Bank serves the Pacific Northwest region. Brady Corp. (NYSE: BRC) lifted its quarterly dividend 2.6% to $0.78 per share. It was the 28th straight dividend increase from the identification solutions company. Shares yield 2.57%. Campbell Soup Co. (NSE: CPB) raised its quarterly dividend to $0.31 per share, up from $0.29. The company last raised its dividend in November 2010. Shares yield a hearty 3.06%. CLARCOR Inc. (NYSE: CLC) raised its quarterly dividend 26% to $0.17 per share. It's the largest percentage increase from the Tennessee-based diversified marketer of mobile filtration and packaging products in the last 20 years, and it continues the company's consecutive streak of increasing dividends for the last 30 years. Franklin Resources Inc. (NYSE: BEN) boosted its quarterly dividend 2.6% to $0.10 per share. Frisch's Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: FRS) increased its quarterly dividend 12.5% to $0.18. Shares yield 3.10% The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (NYSE: GT), in a move that suggests good times are ahead, reinstated its dividend at $0.05 per share. Good
  • [By Bob Ciura]

    However, despite headwinds in the past year due to rising rates, high-quality REITs like�HCP� (NYSE: HCP  ) ,�Health Care REIT� (NYSE: HCN  ) , and�Realty Income� (NYSE: O  ) �exhibit long-term visions for their business that should appeal greatly to Foolish investors.

  • [By Charles Sizemore]

    The declines in the broader stock market averages have been pretty mild — the S&P 500 is down about a percent since November 29, and the Dow is down about a percent and a half — but several ��ond-like��stocks are down sharply. Realty Income (O), one of my favorite long-term dividend payers, is down more than 4% over the same period and is now hitting new 52-week lows.

Top 10 Long Term Stocks To Own For 2014: Delek US Holdings Inc. (DK)

Delek US Holdings, Inc. operates as an integrated downstream energy company that operates in petroleum refining, logistics, and convenience store retailing businesses. The company operates in three segments: Refining, Logistics, and Retail. The Refining segment owns and operates two refineries in Tyler, Texas, and El Dorado, Arkansas; and produces various petroleum-based products used in transportation and industrial markets. The Logistics segment gathers, transports, and stores crude oil, as well as markets, distributes, transports, and stores refined products. It also offers crude oil transportation services for terminalling and marketing services; and markets light products using third-party terminals. This segment owns approximately 400 miles of crude oil transportation pipelines, 123 miles of refined product pipelines, 600-mile crude oil gathering system, and associated crude oil storage tanks with an aggregate of approximately 2.6 million barrels of active shell capa city. The Logistics segment serves oil companies, independent refiners and marketers, jobbers, distributors, utility and transportation companies, and independent retail fuel operators. The Retail segment markets gasoline, diesel, and other refined petroleum products, as well as convenience merchandise. As of May 8, 2013, this segment operated 373 retail fuel and convenience stores under the MAPCO Express, MAPCO Mart, Discount Food Mart, Fast Food and Fuel, East Coast, Delta Express, and Favorite Markets brands. The company was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee. Delek US Holdings, Inc. is a subsidiary of Delek Petroleum Ltd.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Ben Levisohn]

    Phillips 66 fell 2.6% yesterday, while Holly Frontier dropped 3.1%, Tesoro (TSO) declined 1.4%, Western Refining (WNR) plunged 4.3% and Delek US (DK) finished off 5.2%.

  • [By Ben Levisohn]

    The last three months were good for refiners like Phillips 66 (PSX), Western Refining (WNR) and Delek US (DK), which each gained more than 14% during that period.

  • [By Ben Levisohn]

    As a result, Garcia and Molchanov changed their rating on a number of refining stocks. Valero Energy gets cut to Outperfrom from Strong Buy, while Holly Frontier, Delek US (DK) and PBF Energy (PBF) get downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform. Only “defensive, insulated” Phillips 66 gets an upgraded, to Outperform from Market Perform.

  • [By Ben Levisohn]

    After bouncing back yesterday from their oil-export related losses, refiners like Marathon Petroleum (MPC), HollyFrontier (HFC), Tesoro (TSO) and Delek US (DK) are falling once again.

Top 10 Long Term Stocks To Own For 2014: ASML Holding N.V. (ASML)

ASML Holding N.V., through its subsidiaries, engages in designing, manufacturing, marketing, and servicing semiconductor processing equipment used in the fabrication of integrated circuits. The company offers a portfolio of lithography systems for manufacturing semiconductors, integrated circuits, or chips. It primarily provides PAS 5500 product family that comprises wafer steppers, and step and scan systems suitable for the i-line, krypton fluoride, and argon fluoride processing of wafers; TWINSCAN for manufacturing environments for which design resolutions down to 38 nanometers are required; TWINSCAN NXT system to support extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) imaging in various system critical areas; and NXE (EUV) system that utilizes reflective mirrors with a numerical aperture of 0.25. The company operates principally in Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, rest of Asia, Europe, and the United States. The company was formerly known as ASM Lithography Holding N.V. and chang ed its name to ASML Holding N.V. in 2001. ASML Holding N.V. was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Veldhoven, the Netherlands.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Ben Axler]

    We also note there has been a healthy pace of M&A consolidation in the semiconductor capital equipment industry in the past few years. For example, ASML Holdings (ASML) recently acquired Cymer and Tokyo Electron Ltd. (TYO: 8038) acquired FSI International. Lastly, we noted previously that Applied Materials (AMAT) acquired Varian Semiconductor in 2011, a close competitor to Axcelis. Our analysis suggests that the minimum valuation for a company in the industry is 1.2x, 11.0x and 2.2x revenues, EPS, and tangible book value, respectively. Furthermore, the average premium paid to the stock price has been a minimum of 35%.

  • [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

    Top decliners in the sector included ASML Holding NV (NASDAQ: ASML), off 5 percent, and ADTRAN (NASDAQ: ADTN), down 6.3 percent.

    Top Headline
    Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) reported a net loss in the first quarter. Bank of America posted a quarterly net loss of $276 million, or $0.05 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $1.5 billion, or $0.10 per share. The results include a pretax litigation expense of $6 billion, or around $0.40 per share after tax.

Monday, December 29, 2014

Top 5 Warren Buffett Companies To Buy Right Now

DELAFIELD, Wis. (Stockpickr) -- Short-sellers hate being caught short a stock that reports a blowout quarter. When this happens, we often see a tradable short squeeze develop as the bears rush to cover their positions to avoid big losses. Even the best short-sellers know that it's never a great idea to stay short once a bullish earnings report sparks a big short-covering rally.

Read More: Warren Buffett's Top 10 Dividend Stocks

This is why I scan the market for heavily shorted stocks that are about to report earnings. You only need to find a few of these stocks in a year to help enhance your portfolio returns -- the gains become so outsized in such a short time frame that your profits add up quickly.

That said, let's not forget that stocks are heavily shorted for a reason, so you have to use trading discipline and sound money management when playing earnings short-squeeze candidates. It's important that you don't go betting the farm on these plays and that you manage your risk accordingly. Sometimes the best play is to wait for the stock to break out following the report before you jump in to profit off a short squeeze. This way, you're letting the trend emerge after the market has digested all of the news.

Top High Dividend Companies To Invest In Right Now: HealthSouth Corporation (HLS)

HealthSouth Corporation offers inpatient rehabilitative healthcare services in the United States and Puerto Rico. The company primarily operates inpatient rehabilitation hospitals and long-term acute care hospitals, which provide treatment on both an inpatient and outpatient basis. Its inpatient rehabilitation hospitals offer services to patients who require institutional rehabilitation care, and patient care is provided by nursing and therapy staff as directed by a physician order. As of December 31, 2010, the company operated 97 inpatient rehabilitation hospitals, including 68 owned hospitals and 29 jointly owned hospitals; 6 freestanding long-term acute care hospitals; 32 outpatient rehabilitation satellite clinics; 25 licensed hospital-based home health agencies; and managed 4 inpatient rehabilitation units through management contracts. The company was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Maria Armental var popups = dojo.query(".socialByline .popC"); popups.forEach]

    HealthSouth Corp.(HLS) said it expects to exceed its earnings projections after it increased its ownership interest in Fairlawn Rehabilitation Hospital, in Worcester, Mass.

Top 5 Warren Buffett Companies To Buy Right Now: Verifone Systems Inc.(PAY)

Verifone Systems, Inc. designs, markets, and services electronic payment solutions in North America and internationally. It provides system solutions, including countertop electronic payment systems that accepts magnetic, smart card, contactless/ radio frequency identification(RFID) cards, and near field communication(NFC) enabled mobile phones; secure PIN pads that support credit and debit transactions; and wireless system solutions that support Internet protocol-based code division multiple access, general packet radio service, bluetooth, and wireless fidelity technologies. The company also offers products for consumer-activated functionality at the point of sale; contactless/NFC payment solutions consisting of contactless readers primarily for consumer-activated transactions with contactless cards, tokens, and NFC-enabled mobile phones; and Gemstone family of products comprising integrated electronic payment systems for petroleum companies. In addition, it provides serv er-based payment processing software and middleware; unattended and self-service payments hardware and software integration modules, such as vending machines, ATMs, ticketing kiosks, petroleum dispensers, public transportation turnstiles and buses, self-checkout, bill payment, and photo finishing kiosks; retail bank branch solutions; mass transportation solutions; and network access solutions. Further, the company offers client services, customized application development, advertising publishing, taxi payments and advertising, cardholder data security, annual software maintenance program, and repair services. It serves financial institutions, payment processors, petroleum companies, large retailers, taxi fleets, government organizations, healthcare companies, independent sales organizations, and advertisers. The company was formerly known as VeriFone Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to VeriFone Systems, Inc in May 2010. VeriFone Systems, Inc. is headquartered in San Jose, California.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Wallace Witkowski]

    Shares of VeriFone (PAY) �rose 9.4% to $32 on moderate volume after the point-of-service payment system company reported adjusted fiscal first-quarter earnings of 31 cents a share on revenue of $431.6 million.

  • [By Paul Ausick]

    Big Earnings Movers: Specialty retailer Quiksilver Inc. (NYSE: ZQK) is up 31.7% at $6.85. Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: SWHC) is down 10.2% at $10.31 after issuing weak guidance. Mattress Firm Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: MFRM) is down 14.6% at $35.59. Korn/Ferry International (NYSE: KFY) is up 11.2% at $20.81 after posting a new 52-week high of $20.93 earlier. VeriFone Systems Inc. (NYSE: PAY) is up 10.1% at $22.81. Zumiez Inc. (NASDAQ: ZUMZ) is up 11.2% at $28.11.

  • [By Wallace Witkowski]

    VeriFone Systems Inc. (PAY) �shares fell 4.8% to $23.80 in heavy volume after the card-payment machine company�� forecast profit for the fiscal first quarter dropped short of the analyst consensus.

  • [By Evan Niu, CFA]

    What: Shares of VeriFone Systems (NYSE: PAY  ) have plunged today by as much as 20% today after the company announced earnings with soft guidance.

Top 5 Warren Buffett Companies To Buy Right Now: Canterbury Park Holding Corporation(CPHC)

Canterbury Park Holding Corporation conducts pari-mutuel wagering operations and hosts unbanked card games at its Canterbury Park racetrack and card room facility in Shakopee, Minnesota. The company operates in three segments: Horse Racing, Card Room, and Concessions. The Horse Racing segment operates year-round pari-mutuel wagering on simulcast horse races, and live thoroughbred and quarter horse races held on a seasonal basis. The Card Room segment offers unbanked card games, which include poker and casino games. The Concessions segment provides food and beverage services for simulcast and live racing, and the card room, as well as for the special events. The company also offers facilities for special events, such as snowmobile races, arts and crafts shows, trade shows, concerts, fundraisers, automobile shows and competitions, vehicle and boat storage, and private parties. In addition, it provides advertising signage space; leases excess parking lot space for various aut omotive activities and vehicle storage; and sells various daily pari-mutuel publications. Canterbury Park Holding Corporation was founded in 1994 and is based in Shakopee, Minnesota.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Monica Wolfe]

    Lastly, Gabelli increased his position in Canterbury Park Holding (CPHC). Gabelli upped his stake 3.18% by purchasing a total of 13,824 shares. He bought these shares at an average price of $11.11 per share, and since then the price per share is up about 3%. Gabelli now holds 447,944 shares, representing 10.74% of the company�� shares outstanding.

  • [By Sally Jones]

    Canterbury Park Holding Corporation (CPHC) ��Market Cap $46.35 Million

    Canterbury Park Holding Corporation is up 2% over 12 months. The company has a market cap of $46.35 million; its trades around $11.16 with a P/E ratio of 59.30 and a P/B of 1.70.

Top 5 Warren Buffett Companies To Buy Right Now: Advance Auto Parts Inc(AAP)

Advance Auto Parts, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as a retailer of automotive aftermarket parts, accessories, batteries, and maintenance items. It operates in two segments, Advance Auto Parts (AAP) and Autopart International (AI). The AAP segment operates stores, which primarily offer auto parts, including alternators, batteries, chassis parts, clutches, engines and engine parts, radiators, starters, transmissions, and water pumps; accessories comprising floor mats, mirrors, vent shades, MP3 and cell phone accessories, and seat and steering wheel covers; chemicals consisting of antifreeze, freon, fuel additives, and car washes and waxes; and oil and other automotive petroleum products. This segment also provides battery and wiper installation, battery charging, check engine light reading, electrical system testing, video clinics and project brochures, loaner tool programs, and oil and battery recycling services; and sells its products through online. The AI segm ent operates stores that offer replacement parts for domestic and imported cars, and light trucks to customers in northeast and mid-Atlantic regions, as well as to warehouse distributors and jobbers in North America. As of January 1, 2011, the company operated 3,369 AAP stores, including 3,343 stores located in the northeastern, southeastern, and Midwestern regions of the United States under the Advance Auto Parts and Advance Discount Auto Parts trade names; 26 stores situated in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands under the Advance Auto Parts and Western Auto trade names; and 194 stores under the Autopart International trade name in the United States. It serves do-it-yourself, do-it-for-me, or commercial customers. The company was founded in 1929 and is based in Roanoke, Virginia.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Daniel Miller]

    Rather than pull my money out at the wrong time, as so many people did, I invested in specific trend-bucking, low-beta stocks -- O'Reilly (NASDAQ: ORLY  ) , Advance Auto Parts (NYSE: AAP  ) , and AutoZone (NYSE: AZO  ) . I did so while following Lynch's advice to "invest in what you know." To allow me to tell my story, let me briefly explain what the beta number is and how it works. Then I'll tell you why I picked those stocks and explain how you can do it next time.

  • [By Ben Eisen]

    Given that outlook, he sees ten stocks in the consumer discretionary sector that qualify as bargains at the moment, including some of the very stocks that are expecting downbeat holiday results. They include: Advance Auto Parts Inc. (AAP) , AutoNation, Inc. (AN) , Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (BBBY) , Carmax, Inc. (KMX) �, Nordstrom Inc. (JWN) �, PetsMart, Inc. (PETM) �, Ross Stores, Inc. (ROST) , Staples, Inc. (SPLS) �, Target Corp. (TGT) �, and Urban Outfitters, Inc. (URBN) .

Sunday, December 28, 2014

Top 5 Restaurant Stocks To Buy Right Now

On a rainy Friday afternoon in New York City, hotel legend John Willard ��ill��Marriott, Jr. sat down with Steve Forbes to talk about family, business, history and leadership.

Marriott, 81, has transformed the business his parents started from one whose main operation was restaurants into a lodging juggernaut that spans 74 countries managing some 4,000  hotels with nearly 700,000 hotel rooms around the globe.

Most recently, Marriott International, expanded its presence in Africa with its plan to buy Protea Hospitality Holdings of Cape Town, South Africa. Protea operates 116 hotels with 10,184 rooms in South Africa, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

The deal will double Marriott�� presence in Africa to more than 23,000 rooms making it the largest operator in the region.

Sub-Saharan Africa economic growth of around 5.8% is second only to developing Asia, according to the IMF.

Top 5 Retail Stocks To Watch Right Now: Chanticleer Holdings Inc (HOTR)

Chanticleer Holdings, Inc., incorporated in 1999, is a business operator focused on expanding the Hooters casual dining restaurant brand in international markets. Chanticleer has rights to develop and operate Hooters restaurants in South Africa and has joint ventured with the current franchisee in Australia. The company also has franchise rights to develop Hungary and parts of Brazil while evaluating several additional opportunities internationally. During the year ended December 31, 2011, Chanticleer and a group of private equity investors acquired Hooters of America, Inc. (HOA). HOA is the franchisor and operator of over 450 Hooters restaurants in 44 states and 28 foreign countries. In October 2013, Chanticleer Holdings Inc purchased American Roadside Burgers, Inc. In December 12, 2013, Chanticleer Holdings Inc acquired a 51% interest in JF Restaurants LLC, an owner and operator of restaurants. In February 2014, it acquired Hooters' United States Pacific Northwest franchise rights and two existing restaurants in Oregon and Washington.

The Company operates in two business segments: Hooters franchise restaurants, and investment management and consulting services businesses. Hooters has also branched out to other areas, including licensing its name to a golf tour and the sale of packaged food in supermarkets. Its subsidiaries include Chanticleer Advisors, LLC, (Advisors), Avenel Ventures, LLC (Ventures), Avenel Financial Services, LLC (AFS), Chanticleer Holdings Limited (CHL), Chanticleer Holdings Australia Pty, Ltd. (CHA), Chanticleer Investment Partners, LLC (CIP), DineOut SA Ltd. (DineOut), Kiarabrite (Pty) Ltd (KPL), Dimaflo (Pty) Ltd (DFLO), Tundraspex (Pty) Ltd (TPL), Civisign (Pty) Ltd (CPL), Dimalogix (Pty) Ltd (DLOG) and Crown Restaurants Kft. (CRK).

South Africa

As of December 31, 2011, the Company had four Hooters locations in South Africa in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg (two locations), which are owned by four companies, which it control. The Com! pany formed a management company to operate the current South African Hooters locations. It owns 80% of the management company, with two members of local management owning the remaining 20%. The management company charges a management fee of 5% of net revenues to the Hooters locations in South Africa.

Other Countries

The Company has acquired development rights for Hooters in five states of Brazil, which would include Rio de Janeiro. It has applied to HOA for franchise rights in Hungary, where it own 80% of the entity the Company anticipate will hold the franchise rights and its local partner owns the remaining 20%. The Company has partnered with the Hooters franchisee in a joint venture in which it owns 49% and its partner 51%. The first Hooters restaurant under this joint venture (which would be the third Hooters restaurant open in Australia) opened in January 2012 in Campbelltown, a suburb of Sydney. It has a non-binding letter of intent with a franchisee to purchase 100% of an existing Hooters location.

Management and consulting services

The Company provides management and consulting services for small companies, which are seeking to become publicly traded. The Company also provides management and investment services for Investors LLC and Investors II, which are affiliates of the Company.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Chris Isidore]

    Restaurant chains are trying to hold the line on prices. Mark Allison, senior vice president of culinary operations at Chanticleer Holdings (HOTR), which operates the American Roadside Burger chain, said his chain raised prices about 12%, even though their beef costs are up even more than that.

  • [By Konrad Kuhn]

    Chanticleer Holdings (HOTR), a franchisee of international Hooters restaurants, has exploded through its upside target prices; however, in our view, the stock has a long way to go, as it expands its restaurants abroad, and in the US.

Top 5 Restaurant Stocks To Buy Right Now: Brinker International Inc (EAT)

Brinker International, Inc. (Brinker), incorporated on September 30, 1983, owns, develops, operates and franchises the Chili�� Grill & Bar (Chili��) and Maggiano�� Little Italy (Maggiano��) restaurant brands. As of June 27, 2013 (fiscal 2013), the Company's system of Company-owned and franchised restaurants included 1,591 restaurants located in 50 states, and Washington, D.C. It also has restaurants in the Bahrain, Brazil, Canada, Columbia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Syria, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.

Chili�� Grill & Bar

Chili�� operates in the Bar and Grill category of casual dining. The Company has operations worldwide, with locations in 32 foreign countries and two United States territories. Chili�� menu features items, such as Baby Back Ribs smoked in-house, Big Mouth Burgers, Sizzling Fajitas, hand-battered Chicken Crispers and house-made Chips and Salsa. The all-day menu offers a range of appetizers, entrees and desserts. A special lunch section is available on weekdays. In addition to its flavorful food, Chili�� offers a line of alcoholic beverages available from the bar, including Margaritas and draft beer. During fiscal 2013, food and non-alcoholic beverage sales constituted approximately 86.1% of Chili�� total restaurant revenues, with alcoholic beverage sales accounted for the remaining 13.9%.

Maggiano�� Little Italy

Maggiano�� is a full-service, casual dining Italian restaurant brand. Its Maggiano�� restaurants feature individual and family-style menus, and its restaurants also have banquet facilities designed to host party business or social events. It has lunch and dinner menu offering chef-prepared, classic Italian-American fare in the form of appetizers, entrees with portions of pasta, ch! icken, seafood, veal and prime steaks, and desserts. The Company�� Maggiano�� restaurants also offer a range of alcoholic beverages, including wines. In addition, Maggiano�� offers a full carryout menu, as well as local delivery services. During fiscal 2013, food and non-alcoholic beverage sales constituted approximately 83.0% of Maggiano�� total restaurant revenues, with alcoholic beverage sales accounted for the remaining 17.0%.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Shauna O'Brien]

    Shares of restaurant company Brinker International, Inc. (EAT) skyrocketed on Wednesday morning after the company reported higher Q2 earnings that beat analysts’ expectations.�

    EAT’s Earnings in Brief�

    EAT reported Q2 net income of�$39.74 million, or 58 cents per share, up from $37.18 million, or 50 cents per share, a year ago. Excluding special items, earnings were 43 cents per share, up from 37 cents per share last year. Revenue for the quarter was�$704.39 million, up from $689.76 million in the second quarter of last year. On average, analysts expected to see EPS of 58 cents and revenue of�$699.23 million. Earnings were helped by cost cutting measures at�Chili’s Grill & Bar and Maggiano’s Little Italy restaurants.

    CEO Commentary

    CEO and president of EAT, Wyman Roberts, commented:�”We remain encouraged about the trajectory of our business as results from this past quarter demonstrate our steady progress of driving top-line sales, while increasing value for our shareholders.”

    EAT’s Dividend�

    The company is expected to declare its next quarterly dividend of 24 cents in February. EAT paid its last quarterly payment on December 26. In August, EAT raised its dividend by 20% from 20 cents to 24 cent per share.

    Stock Performance

    Brinker International shares were up $4.21, or 9.02%, during pre-market trading Wednesday.

  • [By Rick Aristotle Munarriz]

    AP/Shiho FukadaActivist investor Carl Icahn loves to give advice to public companies. But this week, his advice for eBay felt a couple of years behind the curve. Companies can make brilliant moves, but there are also times when things don't work out quite as planned. From a classy handbag maker carrying its latest financials to market, to a blowout report by the leading streaming video service, here's a rundown of the week's best and worst in the business world. Netflix (NFLX) -- Winner Netflix was last year's top performer among S&P 500 stocks, and it's off to another strong start in 2014. Shares of the leading video service hit another all-time high this week after it posted blowout quarterly results. Netflix closed out the year on a strong note with more than 44 million streaming subscribers worldwide and expanding profit margins. It expects to top 48 million streaming members by the end of March. Strong financial results naturally make you a winner, but Netflix also got the market excited by announcing that it will soon offer a variety of pricing plans. More importantly, it's suggesting that it may eventually increase the price of its basic $7.99 a month plan. Coach (COH) -- Loser Luxury handbags are still selling, but Coach totes aren't faring as well. The iconic maker of high-end purses and accessories posted disappointing quarterly results on Tuesday. Sales declined by 6 percent during the seasonally potent holiday quarter, and net income took an even bigger hit. Foreign currency translations weighed on the results, but sales still would have been lower if there weren't any currency fluctuations. Coach investors shouldn't be surprised. Sales, net income, and store-level comparable sales also slipped three months earlier. It's not the niche. Michael Kors (KORS) has been able to post healthy double-digit growth through the gradual fade in prominence at Coach. Beats Music -- Winner Music streaming has become popular, and that's big for the musi

Top 5 Restaurant Stocks To Buy Right Now: Sodexo SA (SW)

Sodexo SA, (formerly Sodexho Alliance SA), is a global provider of services in three primary business areas: The On-site Services Solutions offer various services that range from food services to construction management, reception to the maintenance of scanners and laboratory equipment, management of data centers, leisure cruises and provides housekeeping to rehabilitation services at correctional facilities. The Motivation Solutions division provides passes and vouchers, comprising Restaurant Pass, Gift Pass, Sport Pass, Training Voucher, Service Card and Book Card, among others. The Company also provides Personal and Home Services in the form of childcare, tutoring, concierge services and in-home service care facilities. The Company is present in 80 countries in a number of geographic areas, such as North America, South America, Continental Europe and United Kingdom and Ireland. Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Glenwoods]

    Recently giant food conglomerate, Cargill announced it had partnered with the Swiss biosynthetic pharmaceutical company, Evolva (EVE:SW), to develop a more consistent and less expensive stevia sweetener via Evolva�� microbial fermentation-based process.� This is big news for the future of stevia because a microbial fermentation-based process does not have to rely on soil conditions or weather, and stevia can be manufactured anywhere, thus having the potential of guaranteeing an endless supply line of stevia.� Through the microbial fermentation, the manufacturer has the capability to process the key sweet individual components of stevia using low-cost plant sugars, and allows for the individual components of stevia, regardless of how minute, to be developed creating blends in any volume, which then could open the door for these manufacturers to fine-tune its stevia to local tastes.� But what would be most attractive is that, because the fermentation process does not require the entire plant, the method could conceivably shave upwards of 70% off the cost of producing stevia extracts.�

Top 5 Restaurant Stocks To Buy Right Now: Fiesta Restaurant Group Inc (FRGI)

Fiesta Restaurant Group, Inc. (Fiesta Restaurant Group), incorporated on April 27, 2011, owns, operates and franchises two fast-casual restaurant brands, Pollo Tropical and Taco Cabana. The Company's Pollo Tropical restaurants offer a range of tropical and Caribbean inspired food, while the Company's Taco Cabana restaurants offers a range of fresh, authentic Mexican food. As of December 30, 2012 , the Company owned and operated a total of 251 restaurants across four states, which included 91 Pollo Tropical and 160 Taco Cabana restaurants. The Company franchises its Pollo Tropical restaurants internationally. As of December 30, 2012 , the Company had 35 franchised Pollo Tropical restaurants located in Puerto Rico, Ecuador, Honduras, Trinidad, the Bahamas, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Panama and on several college campuses in Florida. As of December 30, 2012 , the Company had eight Taco Cabana franchised restaurants located in Georgia, New Mexico and Texas.

Pollo Tropical

The Company's Pollo Tropical restaurants offer tropical and Caribbean inspired menu items, featuring grilled chicken marinated in the Company's blend of tropical fruit juices and spices. The Company's diverse menu also includes a line of TropiChops (a casserole bowl of grilled chicken, roast pork or grilled vegetables served over white, brown or yellow rice and red or black beans and topped with a range of condiments and sauces), a range of chicken sandwiches, wraps, salads, roast pork, grilled ribs and wings offered with a range of salsas, sauces and Caribbean style made from scratch side dishes, including black beans and rice, Yucatan fries and sweet plantains, as well as menu items, such as french fries, corn and salads. The Company also offers Hispanic desserts, such as flan and tres leches, and at certain locations, the Company offers a range of sangria, wine and beer.

The Company's Pollo Tropical restaurants feature signature dining areas. In additiona, the Company's Pollo Tropical restaurants ! provide its guests the option of take-out, as well as the convenience of drive-thru windows. The Company's Pollo Tropical restaurants are open for lunch, dinner and late night orders seven days per week. As of December 30, 2012, its company-owned Pollo Tropical restaurants were freestanding buildings. The Company's typical free-standing Pollo Tropical restaurant ranges from 2,800 to 3,500 square feet and provide interior seating for approximately 70 guests. As of December 30, 2012 , the Company owned and operated a total of 91 Pollo Tropical restaurants, of which 89 were located in Florida and two were located in Georgia. The Company is franchising its Pollo Tropical restaurants internationally. As of December 30, 2012, the Company had 35 franchised Pollo Tropical restaurants located in Puerto Rico, Ecuador, Honduras, Trinidad, the Bahamas, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Panama and on college campuses in Florida. The Company also has agreements for the future development of franchised Pollo Tropical restaurants in Tobago, Aruba, Curacao, Bonaire, Guatemala and India.

Taco Cabana

The Company's Taco Cabana restaurants serve Mexican food, including flame-grilled beef and chicken fajitas served on sizzling iron skillets, quesadillas, hand-rolled flautas, enchiladas, burritos, tacos, fresh-made flour tortillas, a selection of made from scratch salsas and sauces, customizable salads served in a Cabana bowl, traditional Mexican and American breakfasts and other Mexican dishes. The Company's Taco Cabana restaurants also offer a range of beverage choices, including soft drinks, frozen margaritas and beer.

The Company's Taco Cabana restaurants feature interior dining areas, as well as semi-enclosed and outdoor patio areas. In addition, the Company's Taco Cabana restaurants provide its guests the option of take-out. The Company's freestanding Taco Cabana restaurants average approximately 3,500 square feet (exclusive of the exterior dining area) and provide seating for approximatel! y 80 gues! ts, with additional outside patio seating for approximately 50 guests. As of December 30, 2012, its company-owned Taco Cabana restaurants were freestanding buildings. As of December 30, 2012, the Company owned and operated 160 Taco Cabana restaurants, of which 156 are located in Texas and four in Oklahoma.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By GURUFOCUS]

    Fiesta Restaurant Group (FRGI) was the Fund's best performing position in the fourth quarter and for all of 2013. Over the past year the stock g ained over 240 percent and added 212 basis points of return. The fast-food chain has con tinued to restructure after spinning off Burger King restaurants and is now successfully ach ieving organic growth. We continue to believe the stock is undervalued and expect further growth ahead.

  • [By Seth Jayson]

    Calling all cash flows
    When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Fiesta Restaurant Group (Nasdaq: FRGI  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

  • [By Roberto Pedone]

    Fiesta Restaurant Group (FRGI) owns, operates and franchises fast-casual restaurants under the Pollo Tropical and Taco Cabana brand names. This stock closed up 10.5% to $34.73 in Friday's trading session.

    Friday's Volume: 552,000

    Three-Month Average Volume: 220,525

    Volume % Change: 140%

    From a technical perspective, FRGI ripped sharply higher here right off some near-term support at $30.89 and back above its 50-day moving average of $34.23 with strong upside volume. This move pushed shares of FRGI into breakout territory, since the stock took out some near-term overhead resistance at $33.14. Shares of FRGI are now starting to move within range of triggering another key breakout trade. That trade will hit if FRGI manages to take out some near-term overhead resistance at $35.73 with high volume.

    Traders should now look for long-biased trades in FRGI as long as it's trending above its 50-day at $34.23 or above $33 and then once it sustains a move or close above $35.75 with volume that hits near or above 220,525 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then FRGI will set up to re-test or possibly take out its all-time high at $38.84. Any high-volume move above that level will then give FRGI a chance to trend north of $40.

Saturday, December 27, 2014

Hot Japanese Companies To Buy Right Now

As the auto industry rapidly changes, distinctions that were once clear in terms of which cars or manufacturers are truly "American" have blurred. Domestic brands have been bought and sold by foreign companies, while many Japanese automakers boast significant production from domestically located factories.�

Cars.com has created its own system, the American-Made Index, which considers a variety of factors in determining which vehicles have the most red, white, and blue in their veins.�

While rankings like this may seem irrelevant to investors, big-ticket purchases such as automobiles and homes are often done with the heart and not the head. Many people buy domestically manufactured vehicles on principle, and being "more American" can be as important a car's price and features.

A high ranking in one direction or another can boost loyalty and pricing power as well.

Considering all of these factors, I selected the best automaker for a recovering U.S. auto industry in the following slide show.

Top 5 Penny Companies To Watch For 2015: GFI Group Inc. (GFIG)

GFI Group Inc. provides wholesale brokerage, clearing, electronic execution, and trading support products for financial markets. The company offers brokerage and trade execution services, clearing services, market data and trading platform, and other software products to institutional customers. The company provides brokerage services in fixed income derivatives, bond instruments, and other related products; financial instruments, including foreign exchange options, exotic options, non-U.S. Dollar interest rate swaps and options, repurchase agreements, forward and non-deliverable forward contracts, and government and municipal bond options; cash-based and derivative equity products, such as the U.S. domestic and international equity stocks, global depositary receipts, American depositary receipts, and equity derivatives; and cash-based and derivative commodity, and energy products comprising oil, natural gas, biofuel, electricity, wet and dry freight derivatives, dry physi cal freight, precious metals, coal, property derivatives, emissions, ethanol, and soft commodities. It also offers clearing, brokerage, settlement, and back-office services to proprietary traders, brokers, market makers, and hedge funds; provides capital to start-up trading groups, small hedge funds, market-makers, and individual traders; licenses multi-asset class electronic trading and order management software to brokers, exchanges, and traders in the commodities, fixed income, currencies, and equities markets; and offers FENICS Professional, a suite of price discovery, price distribution, trading, risk management, and straight-through processing components. The company primarily serves investment and commercial banks, large corporations, asset managers, insurance companies, hedge funds, and proprietary trading firms in the Americas; Europe, the Middle East, and Africa; and Asia. GFI Group Inc. was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Jayson Derrick]

    CME Group (NYSE: CME) has agreed to acquire GFI Group (NASDAQ: GFIG) for $4.55 per share and will immediately sell it's wholesale brokerage and clearing business back to a group led by GFI Management. CME will retain GFI Group's Trayport which provides trading software in the European energy markets as well as FENICS, a provider of price discovery, analytics, risk-management and workflow connectivity services for over the counter foreign exchange options markets. Shares of CME Group gained 0.44 percent, closing at $75.83 while shares of GFI Group surged to new 52-week highs of $4.50 before closing the day at $4.47, up 43.73 percent.

Hot Japanese Companies To Buy Right Now: Dyax Corp.(DYAX)

Dyax Corp., a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the discovery, development, and commercialization of novel biotherapeutics for unmet medical needs in the United States. The company utilizes its proprietary drug discovery technology, known as phage display, to identify antibody, small protein, and peptide compounds. It markets KALBITOR (ecallantide) for the treatment of acute attacks of hereditary angioedema (HAE) in patients 16 years of age and older. Dyax Corp. also provides KALBITOR Access program, which offers treatment support service for patients with HAE and their healthcare providers. In addition, the company is developing a pipeline of 17 product candidates, including 4 product candidates in Phase III clinical trial, 4 product candidates in Phase II clinical trial, and 9 product candidates in Phase 1 clinical trial for the treatment of atherosclerosis, multiple sclerosis, and oncology diseases. Further, it provides library licenses to use its phage display libr aries in connection with their internal therapeutic development programs; performs funded research for various collaborators; and offers patent licenses to other biopharmaceutical and pharmaceutical companies to use its phage display patents to discover and develop biologic compounds for use in specified fields. The company has strategic partnership agreement with Defiante Farmaceutica S.A. to develop and commercialize subcutaneous ecallantide for the treatment of HAE and other therapeutic indications in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and Russia; an agreement with CMIC Co., Ltd to develop and commercialize subcutaneous ecallantide for the treatment of HAE and other angioedema indications in Japan; and an license and collaboration agreement with Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to develop and commercialize the formulation of ecallantide for the reduction of blood loss during surgery in North America and Europe. Dyax Corp. was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Cambri dge, Massachusetts.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

    Leading and Lagging Sectors
    In trading on Tuesday, healthcare shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 1.35 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Allergan (NYSE: AGN), up 15.7 percent, and Dyax (NASDAQ: DYAX), up 12.5 percent. Energy shares dropped around 0.06 percent in today's trading.

  • [By Travis Hoium]

    What: Shares of Dyax (NASDAQ: DYAX  ) lost 34% of their value today, falling off a cliff after first-quarter earnings came out.

    So what: First-quarter net sales increased slightly from a year ago, to $12.0 million, but analysts expected $16.0 million in revenue, so this is a huge miss. It's no wonder that net loss of $11.2 million equates to $0.11 per share, more than double the $0.05 per share loss analysts expected.�

  • [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

    Dyax (NASDAQ: DYAX) shares tumbled 10.39 percent to $9.10 after the company priced 8 million shares at $9.25 per share.

    Raptor Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: RPTP) was down, falling 10.04 percent to $13.31 after the company reported Q4 results. Raptor Pharmaceutical posted a Q4 loss of $0.20 per share, versus the projected loss of $0.16 per share.

  • [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

    Dyax (NASDAQ: DYAX) shares tumbled 9.85 percent to $9.15 after the company priced 8 million shares at $9.25 per share.

    Raptor Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: RPTP) was down, falling 20.45 percent to $11.77 after the company reported Q4 results. Raptor Pharmaceutical posted a Q4 loss of $0.20 per share, versus the projected loss of $0.16 per share.

Hot Japanese Companies To Buy Right Now: Digirad Corp (DRAD)

Digirad Corporation, incorporated in 1997, is the developer and manufacturer of medical diagnostic imaging systems, including solid-state gamma cameras for nuclear cardiology and general nuclear medicine applications. The Company operates in two segments: DIS (its diagnostic imaging service business) and its product segment. Through DIS, the Company provides in-office imaging services to physicians, offering certified personnel, required licensure, an imaging system and other support and supplies for the performance of nuclear and ultrasound imaging procedures under the supervision of its physician customers. The Companies imaging systems are sold in both portable and fixed configurations. DIS physician customers enter into annual lease contracts for imaging services generally delivered on a per-day basis. The Company�� product segment sells solid-state gamma cameras and provides camera service and maintenance.

Imaging Services

DIS offers portable nuclear and ultrasound imaging services. Its nuclear modality services include an imaging system, a certified nuclear medicine technologist and a cardiac stress technician, often certified or a trained nurse or paramedic, the supply of radiopharmaceuticals, and required licensing services for the performance of nuclear imaging procedures under the supervision of physicians. The ultrasound imaging service is similar, in that the Company provides the ultrasound equipment and one ultrasound technologist. Its portable nuclear imaging operations use a hub and spoke model, in which centrally located regional hubs anchor multiple van routes in the surrounding metropolitan areas. At its DIS hubs, clinical personnel load the equipment, radiopharmaceuticals, and other supplies onto specially equipped vans for transport to the physician�� office or other customer locations, where they set up the equipment for the day. The Company provides nuclear and ultrasound services primarily under annual contracts for services delivered on a per-day ! basis.

Products

Digirad markets and manufactures a line of nuclear medicine cameras for nuclear cardiology and general nuclear medicine applications. Its cameras are used in hospitals, imaging centers, physician offices and by mobile service providers. Its nuclear cameras feature detectors based on solid-state technology developed by the Company. The solid-state technology provides the Company with the capability to market and manufacture a diverse family of cardiac and general-purpose cameras.

The Cardius family of cardiac SPECT (single-photon emission computerized tomography) solid-state imagers makes it possible to image patients up to 500 pounds in a sitting position. Upright imaging makes it possible to image bariatric, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) or claustrophobic patients that typically could not be imaged lying down on. The Company offers fixed dual-head and triple-head cardiac camera models for use within a facility and a portable dual-head configuration that makes it possible to move the system to provide service to multiple rooms or sites. Its flagship in cardiology is the Cardius XACT SPECT/CT system. It features a triple-head design and a low dose volume computed tomography (CT) attenuation correction methodology.

The Company�� ergo is a large-field-of-view planar portable imaging camera. The ergo imaging system is targeted to hospitals with multi-camera general nuclear medicine departments, academic centers, pediatric hospitals, regional trauma centers, women�� health centers and cancer centers. The Company also provides triple-head Cardius 3 XPO system, which provides shorter image acquisition time. Its Cardius X-ACT camera is a rapid cardiac SPECT/VCT imager. The Cardius X-ACT camera is positioned more toward the hospital and larger cardiology practices.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Lisa Levin]

    Digirad (NASDAQ: DRAD) shares created a new 52-week high of $3.989 on Q3 results.

    Posted-In: 52-Week HighsNews Intraday Update Markets Movers

  • [By John Kell and Tess Stynes var popups = dojo.query(".socialByline .popC"); p]

    Digirad Corp.(DRAD) agreed to pay at least $3.5 million in cash to acquire medical-outsourcing provider Telerhythmics, a deal that will add to the larger company’s sales and bottom line.

Hot Japanese Companies To Buy Right Now: Heidrick & Struggles International Inc (HSII)

Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc. (Heidrick & Struggles) is an advisory firm providing executive search and leadership consulting services. As of December 31, 2011, the Company provided its services to a range of clients through the expertise of 347 consultants located in various cities around the world. The Company�� service offerings include executive search, leadership consulting and client base. The Company helps its clients build leadership teams by facilitating the recruitment, management and deployment of senior executives. In addition to executive search, it provides a range of leadership consulting services to clients. These services include succession planning, executive assessment, talent retention management, executive development, transition consulting for newly appointed executives, and mergers and acquisitions human capital integration consulting. In November 2013, Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc announced the acquisition of Scambler MacGregor.

The Company�� clients includes clients include Fortune 1000 companies, non-United States companies, middle market and emerging growth companies, governmental, higher education and not-for-profit organizations and other private and public entities. Heidrick & Struggles provides senior-level executive search and leadership consulting services to its clients worldwide through a network of more than 69 offices in 40 countries. The locations are staffed with consultants, research associates, administrative assistants and other support staff. Administrative functions are centralized where possible, although certain support and research functions are situated regionally because of variations in local requirements.

The Company�� worldwide network includes affiliate relationships in Finland, South Africa, Turkey and Portugal. It has no financial investment in these affiliates but receive licensing fees from them for the use of its name and its databases. Licensing fees are less than 1% of its net revenue. As ! of December 31, 2011, the Company had 160 consultants in its Americas segment, which included New York, Chicago and Atlanta. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had 104 consultants in its European segment, which included the United Kingdom, Germany and France. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had 83 consultants in itsAsia Pacific segment, which included China (including Hong Kong), Australia and Singapore. The Company�� executive search business operates in six broad industry groups: Financial Services, Industrial, Consumer Markets, Global Technology and Services, Life Sciences, and Education and Social Enterprise.

Its executive search consultants also specialize in searches for specific C-level functional positions, which are roles that generally report directly to the chief executive officer. These include chief financial officers, chief information officers, chief legal officers, chief marketing officers and chief human resources officers. The Company�� Global Functional Practices include Chief Executive Officer and Board of Directors; Chief Human Resources Officers; Financial Officers; Information Officers; Interim Executives; Legal, Risk, Compliance & Government Affairs; Marketing, Sales & Strategy Officers; Multicultural & Digital Marketing; Sales Officers; Research & Development; and Supply Chain & Transportation.

The Company competes with Egon Zehnder International, Korn/Ferry International, Russell Reynolds Associates, Inc. and Spencer Stuart & Associates.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By GuruFocus]

    Heidrick & Struggles International Inc. (HSII): Interim CEO Jory J. Marino Bought 9,917 Shares

    Interim CEO of Heidrick & Struggles International Inc. (HSII) Jory J. Marino bought 9,917 shares on 08/23/2013 at an average price of $15.03. Heidrick & Struggles International Inc. was formed as a Delaware corporation in 1999. Heidrick & Struggles International Inc. has a market cap of $272.497 million; its shares were traded at around $15.03 with a P/E ratio of 61.73 and P/S ratio of 0.58. The dividend yield of Heidrick & Struggles International Inc. stocks is 3.46%.

Hot Japanese Companies To Buy Right Now: Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc.(IDIX)

Idenix Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the discovery and development of drugs for the treatment of human viral diseases in the United States and Europe. Its primary research and development focus is on the treatment of patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV). The company?s HCV discovery program focuses on various classes of drugs, including nucleoside/nucleotide polymerase inhibitors, protease inhibitors, non-nucleoside polymerase inhibitors, and NS5A inhibitors. It develops products and drug candidates for the treatment of patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type-1, and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). The company principally has a collaboration agreement with Novartis Pharma AG for the development and commercialization of telbivudine, a drug for the treatment of HBV under the Tyzeka/Sebivo names. Idenix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Brian Orelli]

    Idenix Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: IDIX  ) just can't catch a break. The company is down nearly 30% today after announcing that the Food and Drug Administration won't let Idenix start a clinical trial for its hepatitis C drug IDX20963 until the company turns in additional preclinical safety data.

  • [By John Udovich]

    While Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: ICPT) surged earlier this year and Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc (NASDAQ: ACHN) has surged this week after Merck & Co. Inc (NYSE: MRK) agreed to purchase hepatitis stock�Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: IDIX) at a 239% premium, it seems the herd has realized that small cap Conatus Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: CNAT) is also a liver disease stock as shares suddenly surged 56.69% on no apparent company news. But just what is�Conatus Pharmaceuticals and is it worth taking a chance on?

Hot Japanese Companies To Buy Right Now: Senesco Technologies Inc (SNTI)

Senesco Technologies, Inc., incorporated on September 30. 1999, is engaged in utilize its eukaryotic translation initiation Factor 5A, or Factor 5A, and deoxyhypusine synthase (DHS), and related technologies for human therapeutic applications to develop approaches to treat cancer and inflammatory diseases. In agricultural applications, the Company has licensed applications of the Factor 5A, DHS and Lipase platforms to develop the productivity of fruits, flowers, vegetables, agronomic and biofuel feedstock crops through the control of cell death and growth in plants.

Human Therapeutic Applications

The Company has developed a therapeutic candidate, SNS01-T, an improved formulation of SNS01, for the potential treatment of multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin B-cell lymplomas. SNS01-T utilizes the Company's Factor 5A technology and consists of two components, which include a DNA plasmid (pDNA), expressing human eIF5A containing a lysine to arginine substitution at amino acid position 50, (eIF5AK50R), and a small inhibitory RNA (siRNA). These two components are combined in a fixed ratio with a polymer, polyethyleneimine (PEI), which enables self-assembly of the DNA and RNA into nanoparticles with demonstrated enhanced delivery to tissues and protection from degradation in the blood stream. The Company has also demonstrated that the combination of lenalidomide and SNS 01-T performs better than either treatment alone in mouses xenograft models of human mantle cell lymphoma. The Company's human therapeutic research program, which consists of pre-clinical in-vitro and in-vivo experiments designed to assess the role and mode of action of Factor 5A in human diseases and a phase 1a/2b clinical trial.

The Company competes with Celgene, Inc., Takeda/Millennium, ONYX Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Amgen Inc., Janssen Biotech, Inc., Novartis AG, and Pharmacyclics, Inc.

Agricultural Applications

The Company's agricultural research focuses on the discovery and develo! pment of certain gene technologies, which are designed to confer positive traits on fruits, flowers, vegetables, forestry species and agronomic crops. The Company's research and development initiatives for agriculture include develop and implement the DHS and Factor 5A gene technology in banana, canola, cotton, turfgrass, rice, alfalfa, corn, soybean and trees; and test the resultant crops for new beneficial traits such as increased yield, increased tolerance to environmental stress, disease resistance and more efficient use of fertilizer.

The Company competes with Mendel Biotechnology, Renessen LLC, Exelixis Plant Sciences, Inc., and Syngenta International AG.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Peter Graham]

    At the end of last week, small cap stocks Senesco Technologies, Inc (OTCBB: SNTI), VolitionRX Ltd (OTCMKTS: VNRX) and Micromem Technologies Inc (OTCBB: MMTIF) were all trending upwards ��ending up 13.65%, 8.73% and 7.61%, respectively, on Friday. However, it�� a new trading week with the last two trading days for the year. So what direction will these three small caps head in for the end of this year and into next year? Here is a quick look to help you decide on a trading or investment strategy:

  • [By CRWE]

    Today, SNTI has shed (-2.44%) down -0.0010 at $.0400 with�723,673 shares in play thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 2:58PM EDT October 7, 2013).

    Senesco Technologies, Inc. previously reported it has entered into a securities purchase agreement with certain investors to raise $1.725 million in gross proceeds through the sale of 69,000,000 shares of its common stock. The common stock was priced at $0.025 per share.

    The offering is expected to close on or about October 2, 2013, subject to customary closing conditions. The net proceeds of the financing will be used primarily for working capital, research and development and general corporate purposes.

Hot Japanese Companies To Buy Right Now: Methanex Corporation (MEOH)

Methanex Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production, marketing, and sale of methanol. The company also purchases and re-sells methanol produced by others. Its methanol is a clear liquid commodity chemical that is used to produce traditional chemical derivatives, including formaldehyde, acetic acid, and various other chemicals. The company�s methanol is also used in energy-related applications; for blending into gasoline, as a feedstock in the production of dimethyl ether, which can be blended with liquefied petroleum gas for use in household cooking and heating, and in the production of biodiesel; and used to produce methyl tertiary-butyl ether, a gasoline component, as well as used into olefins applications. The company supplies its methanol to petrochemical producers and distributors in North America, the Asia Pacific, Europe, and Latin America. Methanex Corporation was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Holly LaFon]

    His largest new buys in the first quarter are: Penn Virginia Group Holdings LP (PVG), Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN), Methanex Corp. (MEOH), Solutia Inc. (SOA) and Georgia Gulf (GGC). Of his top eight stocks, five are from the chemicals industry.

Thursday, December 25, 2014

Best Income Companies To Buy Right Now

Although business headlines still tout earnings numbers, many investors have moved past net earnings as a measure of a company's economic output. That's because earnings are very often less trustworthy than cash flow, since earnings are more open to manipulation based on dubious judgment calls.

Earnings' unreliability is one of the reasons Foolish investors often flip straight past the income statement to check the cash flow statement. In general, by taking a close look at the cash moving in and out of the business, you can better understand whether the last batch of earnings brought money into the company, or merely disguised a cash gusher with a pretty headline.

Calling all cash flows
When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Viasystems Group (Nasdaq: VIAS  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Best Logistics Stocks For 2015: Diamond Foods Inc.(DMND)

Diamond Foods, Inc., a packaged food company, engages in processing, marketing, and distributing snack products, as well as culinary, in-shell, and ingredient nuts. Its snack products include glazed nuts, roasted and mixed nuts, breakfast trail mix products, microwave popcorn products, and potato and tortilla chips. The company?s culinary nuts comprise shelled nuts, pegboard nuts, and harvest reserve premium nuts. Its in-shell nuts consist of uncracked nuts and mixed nuts; and ingredient/food service products include shelled and processed nuts, and custom-processed nuts. The company offers its products under the Emerald, Pop Secret, Kettle, and Diamond of California brand names. It markets its culinary nuts to individuals, who prepare meals or baked goods at home; and ingredient and food service nuts to food processors, restaurants, bakeries, and food service companies and their suppliers. Diamond Foods, Inc. sells its products directly to retailers, such as national groce ry stores, club stores, mass merchandisers, and drug store chains; and indirectly through wholesale distributors, who serve independent and small regional retail grocery store chains and convenience stores. The company offers its products in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Canada, South Korea, Turkey, and Japan. Diamond Foods, Inc. was founded in 1912 and is based in San Francisco, California.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Jacob Meredith]

    Diamond Foods (NASDAQ: DMND  ) has an�extremely high debt load and has recently�been�accused of accounting fraud. This may not be an investment for the faint of heart, but if you believe in second chances then�this company could reward you handsomely.

  • [By Suravi Thacker]

    On one hand, ConAgra ramped up its advertising and on the other its peer Diamond Foods (DMND) has cut down on its promotional spend. The unfavorable impact of cutting down on marketing spend showed up on Diamond Foods��recent quarter as well as on its stock price. The stock price performance of the three industry players in the last five years shows that ConAgra is doing well.

  • [By Jeremy Bowman]

    After hours,�Diamond Foods� (NASDAQ: DMND  ) was getting crunched, falling 9% on a disappointing earnings report. The maker of nuts and branded snack food products, including Kettle Chips, said revenue increased 3.2%, to $190.9 million, short of estimates at $191.7 million, while its adjusted per-share profit of $0.11 missed expectations of $0.17. Performance in its Snacks segment was strong, climbing 9.6%, though sales of Nuts continued to fall, declining by 5%. CEO Brian Driscoll said he was "very pleased" with year-over-year improvements in sales and gross margin. In its guidance, management only said it projects an increase in adjusted EBITDA despite increased tree nut commodity costs. Investors still seem to be waiting for Diamond's profits to come following an accounting scandal two years ago that forced the CEO and CFO to resign. Still, sales turning positive, and an improving gross margin, are certainly positive signs.

  • [By Lauren Pollock]

    Among the companies with shares expected to actively trade in Tuesday’s session are Diamond Foods Inc.(DMND), Edgen Group Inc.(EDG) and Lexicon Pharmaceuticals Inc.(LXRX)

Best Income Companies To Buy Right Now: SK3 Group Inc (SKTO)

SK3 Group, Inc. (SK3), formerly CTT International Distributors Inc., is a development-stage company. The Company was formed by the merger of Slabsdirect.com, Inc. and CTT International Distributors Inc. SK3 has one subsidiary, CTT Distributors Ltd., which is the operating company. SK3 is in the e-commerce business and provides non-branded computer and electronic merchandise at discount prices to the Internet consumer through its Website www.cheaperthanthem.com. The Website is hosted by Ezyra E-Business Services, an unrelated party, which charges SK3 an annual fee to host the Website. In December 2009, Healthcare of Today, Inc. acquired controlling interest in the Company. In December 2009, the Company acquired NuvoDigital Technology, Inc., a data security technology firm based in Salt Lake City. In addition, in December 2009, the Company's parent company Healthcare of Today, Inc. acquired Xenotis Pty Ltd. In February 2011, the Company acquired PRN Registry. In March 2011, the Company completed the acquisition of HealthStaff Training Institute. In March 2011, the Company acquired W&M Medical Management, Inc. Effective March 14, 2013, the Company acquired Medical Greens, a provider of medical logistics services.

SK3 has a direct business, in which it buys and takes possession of excess electronic and computer inventory for resale (Direct Business). In addition, SK3 has a fulfillment partner business, in which SK3 facilitates the sale of merchandise of other retailers, cataloguers or manufacturers (Fulfillment Associates) through the Website (Fulfillment Business). For both the direct business and fulfillment business, SK3 has developed a consumer and a wholesaler sales channel.

SK3�� Direct Business involves buying and taking possession of inventory for resale. The Company offers moving picture experts group layer-3 audio (MP3) players and a frequency modulation (FM) transmitter accessory for MP3 players on the Website. SK3 seeks to become an online retailer offering non-b! randed electronic and computer merchandise for sale over the Internet. SK3�� Fulfillment Business sells merchandise of Fulfillment Associates through the Website. SK3 manages the orders collected for the Fulfillment Associates through the Website and forwards the orders on to the Fulfillment Associate, who then fills the order. The Fulfillment Associates perform essentially the same operations as a warehouse: order picking and shipping.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By James E. Brumley]

    Truth be told, it's not clear if SK3 Group Inc. (OTCMKTS:SKTO) is best described when compared to a name like Cerner Corporation (NASDAQ:CERN), or to a Gentiva Health Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:GTIV). The company's got elements of both major industries being represented by CERN and GTIV (home health care, and information technology), with the addition of another budding industry thrown into the mix. One thing IS clear though... SKTO shares have decidedly reversed a nasty downtrend, and may now be one of the market's best small cap healthcare speculative trades.

Best Income Companies To Buy Right Now: Poseidon Nickel Ltd (POS)

Poseidon Nickel Limited is an Australia-based company engaged in exploration, mining and production of Nickel and other minerals. The Company�� Windarra nickel project, includes an implied ore reserve (mineable resource) of 3,446,000 ore tons at an average grade of 1.79% nickel for 61,500 nickel metal tons and has a mine life of six years. Cerberus is closely located to Poseidon�� existing operations approximately 10.5 kilometers south of the Mt Windarra nickel mine. In September 2011, Poseidon entered into an earn-in agreement with Magma Metals Limited (Magma) for nickel, copper and PGE rights to a tenement package adjoining its Windarra Nickel Project (WNP). The new tenements cover 203 square kilometers. The Company�� subsidiaries include Poseidon Nickel Atlantis Operations Pty Ltd, Poseidon Nickel Olympia Operations Pty Ltd and Wells Gold Corporation (International) Pty Ltd. Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By jaggom]

    NetSuite acquired Retail Anywhere recently that sells point of sale (POS) retail software and software solutions to multi-channel retail stores. The acquisition allowed NetSuite to grow its presence in stores. Retail Anywhere�� cloud capabilities will compile transactions from across stores, and integrate them with back-end support systems of businesses and offer customers a complete solution.

Best Income Companies To Buy Right Now: Genius Brands International Inc (GNUS)

Genius Brands International, Inc., formerly Pacific Entertainment Corporation, provides music-based products, which entertains and educates infants and young children under its brands, including Baby Genius. It creates, markets and sells children�� digital versatile discs (DVDs), compact disc (CD) music and book products in the United States by distribution at wholesale to retail stores and outlets and direct to consumers through various deal for a day sites. It also licenses the use of its brands, both domestically and internationally, to others to manufacture, market and sell products based on its characters and brand, whereby the Company receives advances and royalties. In addition to the distribution of its CD and DVD products, the Company has developed and will continue to develop multiple revenue streams, which include worldwide licensing and merchandising opportunities for toys, books, and other customer products. During the year ended December 31, 2011, Pacific Entertainment Corporation, which is a California corporation, merged into the Company. On July 25, 2012, it sold approximately 500,000 Baby Genius DVDs and CDs and over 50,000 Little Genius CDs through its campaigns on Groupon.

Distribution

In 2008, the Company began self-distributing its DVD and CD products through direct relationships with customers. It also has third party licensing agreements under which it has developed musical products under other brands and receives revenue and pay a royalty for distributing those products through its distribution channels. The Company has licensed its brands for production of additional product lines, such as toys, books and other products, the products are primarily distributed by the licensee through the licensee�� marketing channels. As of December 31, 2011, it had one exclusive license agreement, which is with Jakks Pacific�� Tollytots (Tollytots) division.

Products

The Company�� products consist primarily of family and children��! DVD and CD music products. These products are manufactured and sold under brand names, such as Baby Genius, Kid Genius, Wee Worship, 123 Favorite Music and Pacific Entertainment Presents. The Company�� music products also include 50 Classic Lullabies & Soothing Songs and Favorite Guitar and Piano Melodies. During 2011, it released three new music titles, Best of Baby Genius, Sleighbells and Snowflakes and Favorite Country Christmas Music. The entire library of Baby Genius DVD and CD music products includes both English and Spanish versions. It also licenses its Baby Genius brand for various product lines, including toys, books, games and puzzles, sippy cups, and early learning aids, as well as others, and receives royalties based on sales of these products.

The Company has third party licensing agreements under which it has developed musical products under other brands, such as Guess How Much I Love You, The Snowman and Precious Moments. It also licensed the rights to eight DVDs previously created by Precious Moments in exchange for royalty payments on net sales of the DVD products. Through an exclusive licensing agreement with the San Diego Zoological Society, the Company created a series of Baby Genius DVD�� featuring footage from the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Wild Animal Park.

The Company competes with Baby Einstein, Brainy Baby, So Smart, The Wiggles, Sesame Baby, Disney, Universal Studios, Playskool, Fisher Price, Little Tykes and Leapfrog.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Lisa Levin]

    Music & Video Stores: This industry jumped 1.68% by 10:25 am. The top performer in this industry was Genius Brands International (OTC: GNUS), which rose 8.7%. Genius Brands' trailing-twelve-month revenue is $2.00 million.

Best Income Companies To Buy Right Now: Kulicke and Soffa Industries Inc.(KLIC)

Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells capital equipment and expendable tools used to assemble semiconductor devices, including integrated circuits, high and low powered discrete devices, light-emitting diodes, and power modules. It also services, maintains, repairs, and upgrades its equipment. The company operates in two segments, Equipment and Expendable Tools. The Equipment segment manufactures and sells a line of ball bonders, heavy wire wedge bonders, stud bumpers, and die bonders. Its Ball bonders are used to connect very fine wires, primarily made of gold or copper, between the bond pads of the semiconductor device or die, and the leads on its package; Heavy wire wedge bonders are used in the power semiconductor and automotive power module markets; and Die bonders are used to attach a die to the substrate or lead frame, which will house the semiconductor device. This segment?s Stud bumpers mechanically apply bumps to die, while still in the wafer format, for some variants of the flip chip assembly process. The Expendable Tools segment manufactures and sells various expendable tools for a range of semiconductor packaging applications. Its products include capillaries, bonding wedges, and saw blades. The company?s customers primarily comprise semiconductor device manufacturers, outsourced semiconductor assembly and test providers, other electronics manufacturers, and automotive electronics suppliers in the United States and the Asia/Pacific region. Kulicke and Soffa Industries sells its products through manufacturers? representatives and distributors. The company was founded in 1951 and is headquartered in Singapore.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Brian Pacampara]

    Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, chip equipment maker Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ: KLIC  ) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.

  • [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

    Equities Trading UP
    Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ: KLIC) shares shot up 8.95 percent to $13.76 after the company reported upbeat Q2 earnings and issued a strong Q3 revenue forecast.

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

5 Best High Dividend Stocks For 2014

Seadrill Partners (SDLP), which is 53.2% owned by Seadrill (SDRL) is a good stock to own for the medium to long-term. This article discusses the investment positives for this high dividend yielder.

Traditionally, Seadrill and associated companies have been great dividend stocks. Seadrill Partners is no exception. For the first quarter of 2014, Seadrill Partners announced a cash distribution of $0.5075 per share, which represents an increase of 14% in dividends as compared to the fourth quarter of 2013.

On an annual basis, the dividend comes to $2.03 per share, which is in line with the company�� guidance of $2.00 to $2.05 per share. Further, at a current market price of $32.65, the dividend yield translates into a healthy 6.2%.

Another key point to note here is the fact that Seadrill Partners recently completed the acquisition of the West Auriga for US$1.24 billion on a 100% basis, financed with debt and a US$355 million from the recent common unit offering. Post this acquisition, the management has recommended a quarterly dividend increase to $0.54 to $0.545 per share. If the dividend increases to these levels, the annual dividend yield will jump to 6.5%.

5 Best Food Stocks To Own For 2015: Itau Unibanco Holding SA (ITUB)

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A., incorporated on September 9, 1943, is a bank in Brazil. The Company has four operational segments: Commercial Banking, Itau BBA, Consumer Credit and Corporate and Treasury. Commercial banking, including insurance, pension plan and capitalization products, credit cards, asset management and a variety of credit products and services for individuals, small and middle-market companies). Itau BBA includes corporate and investment banking. Consumer credit includes financial products and services to its non-accountholders. Corporate and treasury includes the results related to the trading activities in its portfolio, trading related to managing currency, interest rate and other market risk factors, gap management and arbitrage opportunities in domestic and foreign markets. It also includes the results associated with financial income from the investment of its excess capital.

On October 24, 2010, Itau Unibanco completed the integration of customer service locations throughout Brazil. In total, 998 branches and 245 customer site branches (CSB) of Unibanco were redesigned and integrated as Itau Unibanco customer service locations, thus creating a network of approximately 4,700 units in the country under the Itau brand. The Company is a financial holding company controlled by Itau Unibanco Participacoes S.A. (IUPAR). As of December 31, 2010, it had a network of 3,747 service branches throughout Brazil. As of December 31, 2010, it operated 913 CSBs throughout Brazil. As of December 31, 2010, it operated 28,844 automated teller machines (ATMs) throughout Brazil.

Commercial banking

The commercial banking segment offers a range of banking services to a diversified base of individuals and companies. Services offered by the commercial banking segment include insurance, pension plan and capitalization products, credit cards, asset management, credit products and customized products and solutions. The commercial banking segment comprises the specialized! areas and products, such as retail banking (individuals); public sector banking; personnalite (banking for high-income individuals); private banking (banking and financial consulting for wealthy individuals); very small business banking; small business banking; middle-market banking; credit cards; real estate financing; asset management; corporate social responsibility fund; securities services for third parties; brokerage, and insurance, private retirement and capitalization products.

The Company�� credit products include personal loans, overdraft protection, payroll loans, vehicles, credit cards, mortgage and agricultural loans, working capital, trade note discount and export. Its investments products include pension plans, mutual funds, time deposits, demand deposit accounts, savings accounts and capitalization plans. Its services include insurance (life, home, credit/cash cards, vehicles, loan protection, among others), exchange, brokerage and others. Its core business is retail banking, which serves individuals with a monthly income below R$7,000. In October 2010, it completed the conversion of branches under the Unibanco brand to the Itau brand and as of December 31, 2010, it had over 15.2 million customers and 4,660 branches and CSBs. Its public sector business operates in all areas of the public sector, including the federal, state and municipal governments (in the executive, legislative and judicial branches). As of December 31, 2010, it had approximately 2,300 public sector customers. Itau Personnalite�� focus is delivering financial advisory services by its managers, who understand the specific needs of its higher-income customers; a portfolio of exclusive products and services; special benefits based on the type and length of relationship with the customer, including discounts on various products and services. Itau Personnalite�� customer base reached more than 600,000 individuals as of December 31, 2010. Itau Personnalite customers also have access to Itau Unibanco netwo! rk of bra! nches and ATMs throughout the country, as well as Internet banking and phone.

Itau Private Bank is a Brazilian bank in the global private banking industry, providing wealth management services to approximately 17,951 Latin American clients as of December 31, 2010. The Company serves its customers��needs for offshore wealth management solutions in major jurisdictions through independent institutions in the United States through Banco Itau Europa International and Itau Europa Securities , in Luxembourg through Banco Itau Europa Luxembourg S.A. , in Switzerland through Banco Itau Suisse , in the Bahamas through BIE Bank & Trust Bahamas and in Cayman through Unicorp Bank & Trust Cayman. As of December 31, 2010, it had over 565 very small business banking offices located throughout Brazil and approximately 2,500 managers working for over 1,235,000 small business customers. Loans to very small businesses totaled R$5,981 million as of December 31, 2010. As of December 31, 2010, it had 374 small business banking offices located nationwide in Brazil and nearly 2,500 managers who worked for over 525,000 companies. Loans to small businesses totaled R$28,744 million as of December 31, 2010.

As of December 31, 2010, it had approximately 115,000 middle-market corporate customers that represented a range of Brazilian companies located in over 83 cities in Brazil. The Company offers a range of financial products and services to middle-market customers, including deposit accounts, investment options, insurance, private retirement plans and credit products. Credit products include investment capital loans, working capital loans, inventory financing, trade financing, foreign currency services, equipment leasing services, letters of credit and guarantees. The Company also carries out financial transactions on behalf of middle-market customers, including interbank transactions, open market transactions and futures, swaps, hedging and arbitrage transactions. It also offers its middle-market custom! ers colle! ction services and electronic payment services. The Company is able to provide these services for virtually any kind of payment, including Internet office banking. It charges collection fees and fees for making payments, such as payroll, on behalf of its customers.

The Company is engaged in the Brazilian credit card market. Its subsidiaries, Banco Itaucard S.A. (Banco Itaucard) and Hipercard Banco Multiplo S.A. (Hipercard), offers a range of products to 26 million customers as of December 31, 2010, including both accountholders and non-accountholders. As of December 31, 2010, it had approximately R$16,271 million in outstanding real estate loans. As of December 31, 2010, it had total net assets under management of R$291,748 million on behalf of approximately 2.1 million customers. The Company also provides portfolio management services for pension funds, corporations, private bank customers and foreign investors. As of December 31, 2010, it had R$184,496 million of assets under management for pension funds, corporations and private bank customers. As of December 31, 2010, the Company offered and managed about 1,791 mutual funds, which are mostly fixed-income and money market funds. For individual customers, it offered 154 funds to its retail customers and approximately 287 funds to its Itau Personnalite customers. Private banking customers may invest in over 600 funds, including those offered by other institutions. Itau BBA�� capital markets group also provides tailor-made mutual funds to institutional, corporate and private banking customers.

The Company provides securities services in the Brazilian capital markets. Its services also include acting as transfer agent, providing services relating to debentures and promissory notes, custody and control services for mutual funds, pension funds and portfolios, providing trustee services and non-resident investor services, and acting as custodian for depositary receipt programs. The Company also provides brokerage services to inte! rnational! customers through its broker-dealer operations in New York, through its London branch, and through its broker-dealers in Hong Kong and Dubai. Its main lines of insurance are life and casualty (excluding Vida Gerador de Benefucio Livre), extended warranties and property. Its policies are sold through its banking operations, independent local brokers, multinational brokers and other channels. As of December 31, 2010, it had 9.9 million in capitalization products outstanding, representing R$2,620 million in liabilities with assets that function as guarantees of R$2,646 million. The Company distributes these products through its retail network, Itau Personnalite and Itau Uniclass branches, electronic channels and ATMs. These products are sold by its subsidiary, Cia. Itau de Capitalizacao S.A.

Itau BBA

Itau BBA is responsible for its corporate and investment banking activities. As of December 31, 2010, Itau BBA offered a portfolio of products and services to approximately 2,400 companies and conglomerates in Brazil. Itau BBA�� activities range from typical operations of a commercial bank to capital markets operations and advisory services for mergers and acquisitions. As of December 31, 2010, its corporate loan portfolio was R$ 76,584 million. In investment banking, the fixed income department was responsible for the issuance of debentures and promissory notes that totaled R$18,888 million and securitization transactions that amounted to R$4,677 million in Brazil in 2010. In addition, Itau BBA advised 35 merger and acquisition transactions with an aggregate deal volume of R$16,973 million in 2010.

Itau BBA is also active in Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Economico e Social (BNDES) on-lending to finance large-scale projects, aiming at strengthening domestic infrastructure. In consolidated terms, total loans granted by Itau BBA under BNDES on-lending represented more than R$9,010 million in 2010. Itau BBA focuses on the products and initiatives in the international ! business ! unit, such as structuring long-term, bilateral and syndicated financing, and spot foreign exchange. In addition, in 2010 Itau BBA continued to offer a large number of lines of credit for foreign trade.

Consumer Credit

As of December 31, 2010, its portfolio of vehicle financing, leasing and consortium lending consisted of approximately 3.8 million contracts, of which approximately 71.1% were non-accountholder customers. The personal loan portfolio relating to vehicle financing and leasing reached R$60,254 million in 2010. The Company leased and financed vehicles through 13,706 dealers as of December 31, 2010. Sales are made through computer terminals installed in the dealerships that are connected to its computer network. Redecard S.A. (Redecard) is a multibrand credit card provider in Brazil, also responsible for the capturing, transmission, processing and settlement of credit, debit and benefit card transactions. As of December 31, 2010, the Company held approximately 50% interest in Redecard�� capital stock.

The Company competes with Bradesco, Banco do Brasil S.A. (Banco do Brasil), Banco Santander, Caixa Economica Federal (CEF), BNDES, HSBC, Banco Citibank S.A, Banco de Investimentos Credit Suisse (Brasil) S.A., Banco JP Morgan S.A., Banco Morgan Stanley S.A., Banco Merrill Lynch de Investimentos S.A., Banco BTG Pactual S.A., Banco Panamericano S.A, Citibank S.A., Banco GE Capital S.A. and Banco Ibi S.A.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Charles Sizemore]

    And speaking of top dividend stocks with high capital gains potential, next on the list of are Brazilian banking groups Banco Bradesco (BBD) and Banco Itau (ITUB) — two monthly dividend stocks you must consider.

  • [By Will Ashworth]

    Cencosud is one of the largest retailers in Latin America. It operates grocery stores, home improvement stores and department stores in five countries including Chile, its home base. Its stock is down 51% over the past year for several reasons, including a deal falling through that would have seen it sell 51% of its credit card operations in Chile and Argentina to Itau Unibanco (ITUB) and using the proceeds to reduce its heavy debt load. Add to that a major devaluation of the peso in Argentina, where it generates a quarter of its overall revenue, and you have investors in a full-on panic.

  • [By Hilary Kramer]

    Itau Unibanco (ITUB): A lot of investors have never heard of Itau because it’s headquartered in Brazil, but it’s one of the world’s largest financial institutions. With 5,000 branches, 100,000 employees and nearly $500 billion in assets (yes, half a trillion!), ITUB is not just the largest Latin American bank, it is one of the biggest in the world. With proven dominance in Brazil (and Latin America), Itau Unibanco is a go-to financial pick, and it currently yields an attractive 3.5%. I recently recommended that my Inner Circle readers sell ITUB on a nice bounce due to the risk of near-term weakness on economic data out of China, but I�� already looking for an opportunity to get back in.

5 Best High Dividend Stocks For 2014: Want Want China Holdings Ltd (WWNTF)

Want Want China Holdings Limited is an investment holding company. The principal activities of the Company and its subsidiaries are the manufacturing, distribution and sale of rice crackers, dairy products and beverages, snack foods and other products. The Company segments include manufacturing and sale of Rice crackers, including sugar coated crackers, savoury crackers and fried crackers; dairy products and beverages, including flavored milk, yogurt drinks, ready-to-drink coffee, juice drinks, carbonated drinks, herbal tea and milk powder; snack foods, including candies, popsicles and jellies, ball cakes and beans and nuts, and other products, mainly including wine and other food products. Its operations are located in the People�� Republic of China, with the rest located in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan. As of December 31, 2011, its subsidiaries included Want Want Holdings Ltd., Long Wave Foods Limited, Want-Want Foods Limited and others. Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By WWW.MARKETWATCH.COM]

    HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Hong Kong stocks swung between small gains and losses early Thursday after hitting a seven-month high in the previous session, with the Hang Seng Index (HK:HSI) down less than 0.1%. Most mainland Chinese property developers outperformed the markets, with Guangzhou R&F Properties Co. (HK:2777) (GZUHF) rallying 3.4%, after the company reported a 44% month-on-month jump in sales for June. Shimao Property Holdings Ltd. (HK:0813) (SIOPF) climbed 2.6%, and China Resources Land Ltd. (HK:1109) (CRBJF) rose 1.7%. However, several retailers were weak, as Want Want China Holdings Ltd. (HK:0151) (WWNTF) , the country's top food and beverage maker, declined 2%. Hong Kong-based cosmetics brand Sa Sa International Holdings (HK:0178) (SAXJF) fell 1.6%, with a decline in Chinese June non-manufacturing data helping weigh on some retailers. Over on the Chinese mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index (CN:SHCOMP) retreated 0.4%, pulling back from its highest close in two weeks.

5 Best High Dividend Stocks For 2014: Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc.(OMEX)

Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. provides shipwreck exploration services for use in insurance investigations, and search and recovery operations to governments and deep-ocean mineral exploration companies. The company?s shipwreck projects consist of various activities, including research and development, and search operations; archaeological excavation and recovery operations; and conservation, recording, and documentation. It also sells shipwreck findings, including coins and other mass-produced cargo, cultural collections, and replicas to collectors, museums, and other institutions. Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Rich Duprey]

    Despite silver falling to around $23 an ounce, and gold going below $1,400, now might be the time to invest in Odyssey Marine Exploration (NASDAQ: OMEX  ) , the treasure-hunting shipwreck finder whose own stock is down by a third from its 52-week high.

  • [By Jonathan Yates]

    That is certainly a better way to profit from gold, SPFR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD), and silver, iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: SLV). Both the GLD and the SLV have plunged, but sea treasure recovery is very profitable. The find today demonstrates that fact of investing! Odyssey Marine Exploration (NASDAQ: OMEX) had a huge haul off the coast of Ireland earlier this summer, which is more proof of the profit potential for this industry!!.

  • [By Sean Williams]

    Odyssey Marine Exploration (NASDAQ: OMEX  )
    I love a good metals play as much as any Fool around here, but Odyssey Marine is certainly not on the buy list. Odyssey Marine is a salvage company that searches for, recovers, and monetizes metals and minerals found on the ocean floor. Make no mistake about it, the job is as cool as it sounds; unfortunately, "cool" doesn't always translate into solid profits.

5 Best High Dividend Stocks For 2014: Graham Corp (GHM)

Graham Corporation (Graham), incorporated on March 7, 1983, designs, manufactures and sells critical equipment for the energy industry which includes the oil refining, petrochemical, as well as cogeneration, nuclear and alternative power markets. It design and manufacture custom-engineered ejectors, pumps, surface condensers and vacuum systems as well as supplies and components for inside the reactor vessel and outside the containment vessel of nuclear power facilities. Its equipment is also used in nuclear propulsion power systems for the defense industry and can be found in other diverse applications such as metal refining, pulp and paper processing, water heating, refrigeration, desalination, food processing, pharmaceutical, heating, ventilating and air conditioning. The Company�� two wholly owned subsidiaries include Graham Vacuum and Heat transfers Technology (Suzhou) Co., Ltd.

The Company's products are used in a range of industrial process applications, including Chemical and Petrochemical Processing, such as ethylene, methanol and nitrogen producing plants, plastics, resins and fibers plants and petrochemical intermediate plants, and Power Generation /Alternative Energy, such as propulsion systems for nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and other nuclear- powered vessels, air conditioning and water heating systems and liquefied natural gas production facilities. The Company's principal customers are in the chemical, petrochemical, petroleum refining and power generating industries, and are users of the Company's products in their manufacturing, refining and power generation processes, large engineering companies that build installations for companies in such industries, and/or the original equipment manufacturers, who combine its products with their equipment prior to its sale to end users.

The Company competes with Gardner Denver, Inc., GEA Wiegand GmbH, Edwards, Ltd, Korting Hannover AG, Croll Reynolds Company, Inc, Schutte Koerting, Gardner Denver, Inc, DongHwa En! tec Co., Ltd, Hangzhou Turbine Equipment Co., Chem Process Systems, Mazda (India), Oeltechnik GmbH, KEMCO, Holtec, Thermal Engineering International, SPX Heat Transfer, Chem Process Systems, Mazda (India)., Ambassador, Alfa Laval AB, APV, Xylem, Dubose, Consolidated, Tioga, Nova, Joseph Oats and Energy & Process.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Rick Munarriz]

    Friday
    The market is typically quiet on Friday, but don't tell that to Graham (NYSEMKT: GHM  ) . The maker of custom-engineered ejectors, pumps, condensers, vacuum systems, and heat exchangers reports on Friday morning. Analysts see profitability almost quadrupling to $0.31 a share, and revenue soaring 48%.