Saturday, February 28, 2015

Top Insurance Companies To Own In Right Now

In this video, Matt Koppenheffer talks about what he sees as the single biggest risk to AIG (NYSE: AIG  ) , namely its poor quality businesses. Over the past few years, AIG has sold off businesses, rebuilt its balance sheet and streamlined its business. However, its current stable of life and property insurance businesses are less than inspiring. The property insurance business has not been underwriting profitably, and the life insurance businesses have faced pressure on their profits. If you want to invest in an insurance company, you want to see profitable underwriting, and right now, AIG looks a little shaky in that regard.�

At the end of last year, AIG was the favorite stock among hedge fund managers. Have they identified the next big multi-bagger, or are the risks facing the insurance giant still too great? In The Motley Fool's premium report on AIG, Financials Bureau Chief Matt Koppenheffer breaks down the key issues you need to know about if you want to successfully invest in this stock. Simply click here now to claim your copy, and you'll also receive a full year of key updates and expert analysis as news continues to develop.

Hot Oil Companies To Own For 2015: Mapfre SA (MAP)

Mapfre SA is a Spain-based holding company active in the insurance industry. It provides insurance services to businesses, professionals and individuals. The range of the Company�� products and services includes insurance policies of direct life, property and casualty, health, automotive and third party liability, among others. In addition, Mapfre SA is active in the management of pension funds, retirement plans and investment funds, as well as the provision of healthcare services in Spain. The Company is a parent of Grupo Mapfre, which comprises a number of entities active in the insurance, reinsurance, financial and real estate sectors with operations established worldwide. The Company operates such subsidiaries as Mapfre Familiar, Mapfre Vida, Mapfre Emperesas, MSG Portugal, Mapfre America, Mapfre Internatcional, Mapfre Re, Mapfre Global Risks and Mapfre Asistencia, among others. Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Tom Stoukas]

    Mapfre SA (MAP) slid 3.1 percent to 2.67 euros. Bankia SA sold a 12 percent stake, or 369.6 million shares, in Spain�� biggest insurer.

    Centrica Slides

    Centrica Plc (CNA), the largest energy supplier to U.K. homes, lost 2.3 percent to 366.9 pence. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded the shares to neutral from overweight, citing proposals from Britain�� Labour Party to freeze energy bills and break up the country�� six biggest power suppliers.

  • [By Ruth David]

    Bankia, a Valencia-based bank that took state aid, did the third-biggest placing last quarter, when it dumped a 979 million-euro stake in Mapfre (MAP), Spain�� largest insurer. Bankia said the sale was a step in implementing its parent company�� strategy for the three years through 2015.

Top Insurance Companies To Own In Right Now: National Health Partners Inc (NHPR)

National Health Partners, Inc., incorporated on March 10, 1989, is a national healthcare membership organization that was formed to address the need for affordable healthcare nationwide. The Company creates, markets and sells membership programs targeted toward underserved markets in the healthcare industry through a national healthcare savings network called CARExpress. CARExpress is a network of over 1,000,000 participating hospitals, doctors, dentists, pharmacists and other healthcare providers that have agreed to render their services and products to the Company's members at discounted prices. CARExpress enables the Company's members to engage in point-of-service transactions directly with participating healthcare providers and pay discounted prices.

The Company has designed membership programs that range from its traditional health discount programs that provide access to networks of providers that have agreed to provide its members with a reduced rate for services, to membership programs that include limited liability insurance benefits. The Company offers two families of CARExpress membership programs to its members, its CARExpress health discount programs, and its CARExpress Plus membership programs.

The Company's CARExpress health discount programs consists of healthcare, including physicians, hospitals, ancillary services, dentists, prescription drugs, vision care, hearing aids, chiropractic services, alternative care, 24-hour nurseline, medical supplies and equipment, and long-term care facilities, which include skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, respite care and home health care. The Company provides its members with access to over 1,000,000 healthcare providers through its agreements with CareMark, Aetna, Optum, Outlook Vision, Integrated Health, Three Rivers, International Med-Care and HealthFi International.

The Company's CARExpress Plus programs are membership programs consists of the Company's CARExpress health discount progr! ams and limited liability insurance benefits underwritten by United States.The limited liability insurance benefits included in these programs are accidental death and dismemberment coverage (AD&D), accident medical expense coverage (AME), accident disability coverage, a daily hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) benefit, doctor visit benefits, inpatient/outpatient surgical visit benefits, as well as emergency room and ambulance benefits. With CARExpress Plus, the Company's health discount programs provide its members with a point of service discount on their healthcare expenses at the time of service. The Company offers three standard CARExpress Plus programs, which include CARExpress Plus Platinum Program, CARExpress Plus Gold Program and CARExpress Plus Silver Program.

The Company competes with Alliance HealthCard, Inc., AmeriPlan, Best Benefits, Careington International, Family Care, Full Access Medical, International Association of Businesses, New Benefits, Inc. and People's Benefit Services.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Peter Graham]

    Last Friday, small cap stocks National Health Partners, Inc (OTCMKTS: NHPR) surged 816.7% while Timios National Corp (OTCMKTS: HOMS) and Medical Care Technologies Inc (OTCMKTS: MDCE) sank 32.28% and 25%, respectively. So what will these three small caps do for investors and traders this week? Here is a closer look to help you decide on a trading strategy:

    National Health Partners, Inc (OTCMKTS: NHPR) Surged 816.7% On Friday

    Small cap National Health Partners is a national healthcare savings organization that provides discount healthcare membership programs to uninsured and underinsured people through a national healthcare savings network called "CARExpress." On Friday, National Health Partners surged 816.7% to $0.044 for a market cap of $107,933 plus NHPR is down 78% over the past year and up 923.3% since June 2012 according to Google Finance.

Top Insurance Companies To Own In Right Now: The Travelers Companies Inc.(TRV)

The Travelers Companies, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides various commercial and personal property and casualty insurance products and services to businesses, government units, associations, and individuals primarily in the United States. The company operates in three segments: Business Insurance; Financial, Professional, and International Insurance; and Personal Insurance. The Business Insurance segment offers property and casualty products and services, such as commercial multi-peril, property, general liability, commercial auto, and workers? compensation insurance. It operates in six groups: Select Accounts, which serves small businesses; Commercial Accounts that serves mid-sized businesses; National Accounts, which serves large companies; Industry-Focused Underwriting that serves targeted industries; Target Risk Underwriting, which serves commercial businesses requiring specialized product underwriting, claims handling, and risk management services; and Special ized Distribution that offers products to customers through licensed wholesale, general, and program agents. The Financial, Professional, and International Insurance segment provides surety and financial liability coverage, which uses a credit-based underwriting process; and property and casualty products primarily in the United States., the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Canada. The Personal Insurance segment offers property and casualty insurance covering personal risks, primarily automobile and homeowners insurance to individuals. It distributes its products through independent agents, sponsoring organizations, joint marketing arrangements with other insurers, and direct marketing. The company was founded in 1853 and is based in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Alex Planes]

    Travelers (NYSE: TRV  ) has only been on the Dow in its present form since 2009, but it first joined in 1997, only to be replaced by the megabank that acquired it at the turn of the century. Now that it's independent again, the New York City-based insurer has reclaimed a history that stretches further back than JPMorgan's to a $0.02 transaction in Hartford, Conn. Travelers has held up well through the devastation of the financial crisis, but will its pedigree be enough to fend off JPMorgan?

  • [By Chris Hill]

    Shares of The Travelers Companies (NYSE: TRV  ) rose on Tuesday after the insurance giant reported higher-than-expected first-quarter earnings. Travelers also increased its dividend. What's the key to Travelers' success? In this installment of MarketFoolery, our analysts discuss the future of Travelers.

Top Insurance Companies To Own In Right Now: Sun Life Financial Inc.(SLF)

Sun Life Financial Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides various life and health insurance, savings, investment management, retirement, and pension products and services to individuals and corporate customers. It offers individual life insurance policies, including individual term life, universal life, critical illness, disability, accident, and accidental death and dismemberment insurance policies; and group life insurance policies. The company also provides individual health insurance, long-term care insurance, group health benefits, dental benefits, and group insurance; and various individual and group annuity, retirement, and investment income products and services, such as mutual and pooled funds, variable and fixed annuities, savings, retirement and pension plans, and education savings. In addition, it offers asset management services for corporate retirement plans, separate accounts, public or government funds, and insurance company assets to institutional clients; and advisory services to individual investors. Further, the company provides run-off reinsurance services. Sun Life Financial Inc. distributes its products through direct sales agents, independent and managing general agents, financial intermediaries, broker-dealers, banks, pension and benefit consultants, and other third-party marketing organizations. The company operates primarily in Bermuda, Canada, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, the Philippines, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Sun Life Financial Inc. was founded in 1999 and is based in Toronto, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Tim Brugger]

    Initially, the deal Sun Life Financial (NYSE: SLF  ) struck in December to sell its U.S. annuity portfolio and some life insurance products for $1.35 billion to Delaware Life Holdings, a Guggenheim Partners-owned company, was scheduled to be completed by Q2 of 2013.

  • [By Amanda Alix]

    Insurance companies have created an entire industry based upon risk, and except for AIG (NYSE: AIG  ) during the financial crisis, it has worked out pretty well. So, it's not a stretch to imagine a large life insurer like Canada's Sun Life Financial (NYSE: SLF  ) assuming the pension liability for the Canadian Wheat Board's defined benefit plan in a recent $147 million deal, the first such accord in Canada's history.

Friday, February 27, 2015

Top Clean Energy Companies To Buy Right Now

Top Clean Energy Companies To Buy Right Now: Elan Corporation PLC (ELN)

Elan Corporation, plc (Elan), incorporated in December 1969, is a neuroscience-based biotechnology company. The Company is focused on discovering and developing advanced therapies in neurodegenerative and autoimmune diseases. Elans business focuses on neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimers disease and Parkinsons disease; autoimmune diseases, including MS and Crohns disease and neo-epitope based targets for treatments across a range of therapeutic indications. Tysabri is a treatment for MS and Crohns disease that the Company markets and distributes with Biogen Idec. On September 16, 2011, Elan sold its EDT business to Alkermes, Inc. In November 2011, Elan launched a collaboration with the University of Cambridge, England, the Cambridge-Elan Centre for Research Innovation and Drug Discovery (Cambridge-Elan Centre). On December 21, 2012, the Company completed the demerger of Prothena Corporation plc. In April 2013, it closed the TYSABRI (natalizumab) Co llaboration Transaction with Biogen Idec.

Tysabri

Tysabri, which is an alpha-4 integrin inhibitor, is a therapy for MS, a neurological disorder involving central nervous system dysfunction among adults. Tysabri is approved in more than 65 countries. Tysabri is approved in the United States as a monotherapy for relapsing forms of MS, for patients who have had an inadequate response to, or are unable to tolerate, an alternative MS therapy. In the European Union, it is approved for relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) in adult patients who have failed to respond to beta interferon or have rapidly evolving, severe RRMS. As of December 31, 2011, there were approximately 64,400 patients on Tysabri therapy worldwide.

In June 2011, the European Commission (EC) approved the inclusion of the anti-JCV antibody status as an additional factor in stratifying patients at risk for developing PML in the Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC) for Ty! sabri in the European Union. The Company has developed a two-step ! enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), STRATIFY JCV, with Biogen Idec. The assay detects anti-JCV antibodies in the blood of patients, and is commercially available in Europe. In January 2012, the FDA cleared the assay for commercial use in the United States. As of December 31, 2011, over 80,000 tests had been administered using the assay. Tysabri is marketed and distributed by Elan and Biogen Idec. The Companys research group, Neotope, is focused on creating monoclonal antibodies based on neo-epitope targets for the treatment of a range of therapeutic indications.

Beta Amyloid Immunotherapies (AIP)

Beta amyloid immunotherapy includes the treatment of Alzheimers disease by inducing or enhancing the bodys immune response in order to clear toxic species of beta amyloid from the brain. The AIP includes bapineuzumab (intravenous and subcutaneous delivery) and ACC-001, as well as other compounds. Bapineuzumab is an experimental humanized mon oclonal antibody delivered intravenously that is being studied as a treatment for mild to moderate Alzheimers disease. It is designed to provide antibodies to beta amyloid directly to the patient (passive immunotherapy).

ELND005, an A Aggregation Inhibitor

The small molecule ELND005 (Scyllo-inositol) is a beta amyloid anti-aggregation agent. Preclinical data suggest that ELND005 may act through the mechanism of preventing and reversing the fibrilisation of beta amyloid (the aggregation of beta amyloid into clumps of insoluble oligomers). ELND005 may have additional applications in psychiatric indications, such as bipolar disorder. In November 2011, the Company entered into a manufacturing agreement for the supply of the active pharmaceutical ingredient for ELND005 with Lonza Group AG.

Neotope Biosciences Limited

Neotope Biosciences Limited (Neotope) is the Companys wholly owned subsidiary that focuses on the discove ry! and deve! lopment of antibodies to neo-epitope related targ! ets for t! he treatment of a range of indications. It includes amyloidosis, diabetes, cancer and macular degeneration. Neotopes portfolio of targets includes alpha-synuclein for the potential treatment of synucleinopathies, such as Lewy body dementia and Parkinsons disease, tau for Alzheimers disease and other tauopathies. It also has a program for type 2-diabetes.

Onclave Therapeutics Limited

Elans wholly owned subsidiary Onclave Therapeutics Limited (Onclave) was formed to develop assets originating from Elan that have application in oncology related diseases. Onclaves program, NEOD001, which originated from Neotope, is being investigated for the treatment of AL amyloidosis, which is a fatal disease involving abnormal accumulation of amyloid in organs and tissue. During the year ended December 31, 2011, Onclave filed for orphan drug designation of NEOD001. Onclaves pipeline includes additional compounds with relevance in diverse cancer indi cations.

The Company competes with Biogen Idec, Bayer Schering Pharma AG, Bayer Schering Pharma, Merck Serono, Pfizer, Teva Neurosciences, Inc., Sanofi-Aventis and Novartis AG.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Sean Williams]

    Elan (NYSE: ELN  )
    Having a lot of cash in the biotech sector doesn't mean that a company's clinical trials will translate into success. Elan's claim to fame was the development of multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri, which it licensed out to Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: BIIB  ) . Sales of the drug hit $1.6 billion last year.

  • [By Tim Brugger]

    Following the denial of an acquisition offer from Royalty Pharma on April 22 equal to $11.25 a share, or less, for all of Elan's (NYSE: ELN  ) outstanding shares, a revised offer from Royalty of $12.50 a share has also been rejected, Elan announced today.

  • source from Top Penny Stocks For! 2015! :http://www.seekpennystocks.com/top-clean-energy-companies-to-buy-right-now.html

Best Supermarket Companies To Buy For 2014

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) is a synonym for low-price product offerings. And, money savingis an appealing idea for customers. In fact, the business model is so successful, that it has turned WMT into the largest retailer in the world. This giant operates over 11,000 stores worldwide and its international operations in 26 countries have positioned the company among the top 3 retailers globally. Furthermore, it is the largest private employer internationally, providing jobs to over 2,000,000 people around the globe.

Wal-Mart麓s half total sales consists of groceries, the other half being general goods that range from apparel to technology and home goods. The company operates supercenters and wholesale warehouse clubs, also retail stores, restaurants, discount stores, supermarkets, hypermarkets, and apparel stores.

A Huge- Scale Business

The massive scale achieved by its global business allows Wal-Mart high-volume purchases that result in enormous cost advantages. Thus, the company is able to grow its margins providing a wide assortment of products at ��veryday low prices��that competitors can麓t afford to offer. Additionally, suppliers eager to access the largest retail sales channel, readapt their merchandise to suit WMT requirements for better value-for-money products.

10 Best Growth Stocks To Invest In Right Now: S.Y. Bancorp Inc.(SYBT)

S.Y. Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Stock Yards Bank & Trust Company that provides commercial and personal banking services in Louisville, Kentucky; southern Indiana and Indianapolis, Indiana; and Cincinnati, Ohio. Its deposits consist of non-interest and interest bearing demand deposits, savings deposits, certificates of deposit, individual retirement accounts, money market deposits, and time deposits. The company provides various secured loans, including commercial lines of credit, commercial term loans, real estate, construction, home equity, and consumer loans. It also offers wealth management services, including investment management, trust and estate administration, retirement planning, and financial planning services; securities brokerage services; and life insurance products, as well as originates and sells single-family residential mortgages. As of December 31, 2010, the company had 25 full service banking locations in the Louisville MSA, 2 full service banking locations in Indianapolis, and 3 full service banking locations in Cincinnati. S.Y. Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1904 and is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Marc Bastow]

    Louisville-based bank holding company S.Y. Bancorp (SYBT) raised its quarterly dividend 5% to 21 cents per share, payable on Dec. 31 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 9.
    SYBT Dividend Yield: 2.71%

Best Supermarket Companies To Buy For 2014: Horsehead Holding Corp.(ZINC)

Horsehead Holding Corp., together with its subsidiaries, produces and sells specialty zinc and zinc-based products in North America. The company?s products include PW zinc metal, which is used to provide a protective coating to various fabricated products, including pipe and guard rails, heat exchangers, and telecommunications towers, as well as for the production of brass; and SSHG zinc metal that is used as feed for the manufacture of high-purity zinc powder and zinc alloys. It also offers zinc oxide for the production of tire and rubber products, chemicals, ceramics, plastics, paints, lubricating oils, and pharmaceuticals. In addition, the company recycles electric arc furnace dust, a hazardous waste generated by steel mini-mills. Further, it provides special zinc powders, which are used in general chemical and metallurgical applications, as well as in friction applications, such as brake linings for automobiles; battery grade zinc powders that are used in alkaline, me rcuric oxide, silver oxide, and zinc-air batteries; and copper-based powders, including brass, bronze, and nickel-silver powders, which are used in various applications comprising brazing, infiltrating, and powdered metallurgical hardware, such as lock bodies, valves, and gears. Additionally, the company offers short-line railroad service for the movement of materials. It primarily serves galvanizers and brass producers; alkaline battery industries; and manufacturers of tire and rubber products, lubricating oils, chemicals, paints, ceramics, plastics, and pharmaceuticals. The company was incorporated in 2003 and is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

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

    Leading and Lagging Sectors
    Basic materials shares jumped about 1.72 percent in Monday's trading. Leading the sector was strength from Century Aluminum Co (NASDAQ: CENX) and Horsehead Holding (NASDAQ: ZINC). In trading on Monday, utilities shares dropped by 0.13 percent.

Best Supermarket Companies To Buy For 2014: Cytec Industries Inc (CYT)

Cytec Industries Inc/De/, formerly Cytec Industries Inc., incorporated on December 17, 1993, is a specialty chemicals and materials company focused on developing, manufacturing and selling value-added products. Its products serve a diverse range of end markets, including aerospace and industrial materials, mining and plastics. The Company has four business segments: Engineered Materials, Umeco, In-Process Separation and Additive Technologies. Engineered Materials segment principally includes advanced composites, carbon fiber, and structural film adhesives. The Umeco segment includes composite and process materials, primarily for the aerospace and defense, wind energy, automotive, recreation and other industrial segments. The In Process Separation segment includes mining chemicals and phosphines. The Additive Technologies segment includes polymer additives, specialty additives and formulated resins. On July 20, 2012, the Company acquired Umeco plc.

Engineered Materials

The Engineered Materials segment is a global provider of technologically advanced materials for aerospace, high-performance industrial and other extreme-demand markets. Its primary product lines are advanced aerospace composites and structural adhesives, High performance industrial materials and Carbon fibers. Its major products in the advanced aerospace composites include aerospace- qualified prepregs, resin infusion systems and structural/surfacing adhesives. Its principal applications include commercial airliners, regional and business jets, military aircraft, including rotorcraft, satellites and launch vehicles. The products in the high performance industrial materials include Industrial-grade prepregs, resin infusion systems and structural/surfacing adhesives. Its applications include high performance automotive, defense, tooling and alternative energy. The products in carbon fibers include high performance fiber carbon fibers. Its applications include reinforcements for advanced aerospace and industrial c! omposites.

The Company is a supplier to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and F-18 fighter jet programs. It is also a supplier for the business and regional jet market, supporting programs, such as Bombardier�� CSeries and LearJet85. It also manufactures specialty adhesive forms for complex composites assemblies, such as honeycomb and sandwich structures and special surfacing films to provide aircraft lightning strike protection. It manufactures and sells various high-performance grades of both polyacrylonitrile (PAN) type and pitch type carbon fibers used as a reinforcement material for aerospace and other extreme-demand and high-performance composites.

The Company�� High Performance Industrial Materials (HPIM) product line strategy is to leverage its composites, adhesives and resin technologies across multiple industrial markets. The Company supplies composites and adhesives to a spectrum of markets, such as high performance and luxury low-rate serial automotive, defense, and alternative energy.

Umeco

Umeco�� primary product lines are High performance composites structural materials/solutions and Composite process materials/solutions. Its major products in the High performance composites structural materials/solutions include Aerospace-qualified prepregs, Industrial-grade prepreg. Its principal applications include large commercial airliners, military aircraft, high performance automotive, defense, tooling, recreation, industrial and alternative energy. The products in Composite process materials/solutions include Process materials/solutions including vacuum bagging, release films and sealant tapes. Its principal applications include large commercial airliners, military aircraft, high performance automotive, defense, tooling, recreation, industrial and alternative energy and Process materials for the forming, infusion, curing of composite structures.

The Company�� structural materials product line includes the development, manufa! cturing a! nd supply of advanced composite materials. It specializes in the manufacture of composite materials for a range of industries such as aerospace and defense, marine, motor sport and automotive, construction, wind energy, and recreation.

In-Process Separation

The In-Process Separation segment includes mining chemicals and phosphines. The Company�� mining chemicals product line include flotation promoters, collectors, frothers, dispersants and depressants, solvent extractants, flocculants, filter and dewatering aids, antiscalants, and defoamers . Its principal applications include mineral separation and processing for copper, alumina, cobalt, nickel, and other minerals. Its Phosphines include flame retardants, catalyst ligands, high purity phosphine gas and biocides.

Its phospine based specialty products are used primarily in the pharmaceutical, chemical and electronic manufacturing, and fumigation. Its patented MaxHT antiscalant is sold for suppressing sodalite scale formation. Its phosphine specialties are utilized for a variety of applications. It is a supplier of ultra- high purity phosphine gas, used in semiconductor manufacturing and light emitting diode applications, various phosphine derivative products, including phosphonium salts used in pharmaceutical catalysts and biocides. Included in the phosphine line are organo phosphorus compounds. The compounds are used primarily as intermediates and catalyst ligands for organic and chemical synthesis in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries.

Additive Technologies

The Additive Technologies segment includes polymer additives specialty additives and Formulated resins. Polymer additives include ultraviolet light stabilizers and absorbers, high performance antioxidants and antistatic agents. Its applications include plastics, coatings, and fibers for: agricultural films, automotive parts, architectural lighting, housewares, packaging, outdoor furniture, sporting goods, toys and apparel.! Specialt! y additives include surfactants, specialty monomers, resin amines, and PTZ Phenothiazine. Its Formulated resins are used in for bonding or sealing of electrical and electronic components.

The Company markets its Additive Technologies chemicals through specialized sales and technical service staffs for each of its product lines. Sales are usually made directly to customers and through distributors to smaller customers. The Company is a global supplier to the plastics industry of specialty additives, which protect plastics from the ultraviolet radiation of sunlight and from oxidation. It is a global supplier of sulfosuccinate surfactants, Docusate sodium, and PTZ phenothiazine. Sulfosuccinate surfactants and acrylamide-based specialty monomers products are used in emulsion polymers, paints, paper coatings, printing inks, and other diverse customer applications. Docusate is a pharmaceutical grade product used as both an active ingredient and excipient/formulating aid. PTZ phenothiazine is primarily used as an acrylic acid, acrylic ester and methacrylate monomer stabilizer.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Holly LaFon]

    His largest holdings are Cytec Industries Inc. (CYT), Vivus Inc. (VVUS), Marathon Petrol (MPC), Google Inc. Cl A (GOOG) and Liberty Media A (LINTA).

  • [By alicet236]

    Vice President and CFO of Cytec Industries Inc. (CYT) David Drillock sold 49,038 shares on July 21 at an average price of $107.06. The total transaction amount was $5,250,008.

Best Supermarket Companies To Buy For 2014: PulteGroup Inc.(PHM)

PulteGroup, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in homebuilding and financial services businesses primarily in the United States. The company?s homebuilding business includes the acquisition and development of land primarily for residential purposes within the United States; and the construction of housing on such lands. It offers various home designs, including single-family detached, townhouses, condominiums, and duplexes under the Pulte Homes, Del Webb, and Centex brand names. As of December 31, 2011, its homebuilding operations offered homes for sale in approximately 700 communities. The company?s financial services business consists of mortgage banking and title operations. It arranges financing through the origination of mortgage loans for its homebuyers; sells such loans and related servicing rights; and provides title insurance policies as an agent, and examination and closing services to its home buyers. The company was formerly known as Pulte Homes, Inc. an d changed its name to PulteGroup, Inc. in March 2010. PulteGroup, Inc. was founded in 1956 and is headquartered in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Paul Ausick]

    PulteGroup Inc. (NYSE: PHM) also expects the housing market to improve. When it reported results in July, the company�� CEO said that the U.S. home market is ��olidly on track towards a sustained, long-term recovery��and that the rise in interest rates had ��ittle effect��on buyers. Shares are down about 32.5% since mid-May.

  • [By Dan Caplinger]

    In the following video, Dan Caplinger, The Motley Fool's director of investment planning, looks at recent data from RealtyTrac noting that 9.3 million homeowners remain underwater on their homes by at least 25%. Dan points out how even a big rise in prices and efforts from JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM  ) , Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) , and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC  ) to agree to modify customer mortgages haven't made a huge dent in those numbers. Dan notes that big problems exist in hard-hit states like Nevada and Florida, causing potential problems for Hovnanian (NYSE: HOV  ) , PulteGroup (NYSE: PHM  ) , and other homebuilders seeking to recover from the worst of the crisis.�

  • [By Amanda Alix]

    The housing sector's slow recovery appears to be gaining ground, and homebuilders like PulteGroup (NYSE: PHM  ) Ryland Group (NYSE: RY  ) recently reported gains�in first-quarter revenues and substantial increases in sales prices due to rising demand. The U.S. Census Bureau�reported that housing starts for March were well over one million, nearly 47% over that for the same time last year.

Best Supermarket Companies To Buy For 2014: CBL & Associates Properties Inc. (CBL)

CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. is a public real estate investment trust. It engages in acquisition, development, and management of properties. The fund invests in the real estate markets of United States. Its portfolio consists of enclosed malls and open-air centers. CBL & Associates Properties is based in Oak Brook, Illinois. CBL & Associates Properties was founded in 1978 and is based in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Marc Bastow]

    Regional shopping mall real estate investment trust (REIT) CBL & Associates (CBL) raised its quarterly dividend 6.5% to 24.5 cents per share, payable on Jan. 15 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 30.
    CBL Dividend Yield: 5.44%

Monday, February 16, 2015

Top Recreation Stocks To Own For 2014

On Thursday, small cap fitness club owner Life Time Fitness, Inc (NYSE: LTM) lost some weight for investors as analysts gave the stock a workout after its Analyst Day failed to ease their concerns, meanings its worth taking a closer look at the stock along with the performance of Town Sports International Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: CLUB)�and Steiner Leisure Ltd (NASDAQ: STNR).

What is Life Time Fitness, Inc?

Small cap Life Time Fitness helps organizations, communities and individuals achieve their total health objectives, athletic aspirations and fitness goals both inside and outside the company�� distinctive and large sports, professional fitness, family recreation and spa destinations, most of which operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. As of June 5, 2014, the Company operated 111 centers under the LIFE TIME FITNESS庐 and LIFE TIME ATHLETIC庐 brands in the United States and Canada.

Best Cheapest Stocks To Watch For 2015: Mountain China Resorts Holding Ltd (MCG)

Mountain China Resorts (Holding) Limited (MCR) is a Canada-based investment holding company. The Company is a Mountain resort developer in the People�� Republic of China. The Company�� subsidiaries engaged in the development and operation of mountain resorts and provision of hotel services in the People's Republic of China. The Company holds 100% interest in Mountain China Resorts Investment Limited, which in turn holds 100% interest in Mountain China Resorts Limited. The Company owns and operates the ski resort in the People�� Republic of China, Sun Mountain Yabuli Resort in Heilongjiang Province. The Sun Mountain Yabuli Resort also has two luxury five star hotels, restaurants, spa, retail, and conference facilities. It holds 140 million square meters of land for commercial development purpose around the Sun Mountain Yabuli Resort. As of December 31, 2011, the Company�� resort real estate development project was at the Sun Mountain Yabuli Resort. Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By ICRAOnline]

    Apart from the Data Center Group, Intel expects the Axxia deal to boost the performance of the other two segments ��Internet of Things Group (IoTG) and Mobile and Communications Group (MCG).

Top Recreation Stocks To Own For 2014: Dover Motorsports Inc (DVD)

Dover Motorsports, Inc. is a marketer and promoter of motorsports entertainment in the United States. The Company, through its subsidiaries, owned and operated Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware and Nashville Superspeedway near Nashville, Tennessee. During the year ended 2011, the Company�� facilities promoted 10 events under the auspices of the sanctioning body, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). During 2011, the Company promoted 2 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events, 4 NASCAR Nationwide Series events, 3 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series events, and 1 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East event.. On January 31, 2011, the Company sold its Memphis Motorsports Park facility.

Dover International Speedway

The Company has promoted NASCAR-sanctioned racing events at Dover International Speedway. As of December 31, 2011, it promoted six NASCAR-sanctioned events at the facility annually. Two races are in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series professional stock car racing circuit, two races are in the NASCAR Nationwide Series racing circuit, one race is in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series racing circuit and one race is in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East racing circuit. Each of the NASCAR Nationwide Series events and the Camping World Truck Series event at Dover International Speedway are conducted on the days before a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event. Dover International Speedway is one of only seven speedways in North America that presents two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events and two NASCAR Nationwide Series events each year. Additionally, it is one of only five tracks to host three NASCAR events at one facility on the same weekend.

Dover International Speedway, known as the Monster Mile, is a high-banked, one-mile, concrete superspeedway with permanent seating capacity of approximately 132,000. The superspeedway facility also features the Monster Bridge. The climate controlled bridge spans across the width of the superspeedway at a height of 29 feet ! and houses 50-luxury seats, a refreshment bar and other amenities.

Nashville Superspeedway

Nashville Superspeedway (Nashville) is a motorsports complex approximately 35 miles from downtown Nashville in Wilson County, Tennessee. The 1.33-mile concrete superspeedway has 25,000 permanent grandstand seats with an infrastructure in place to expand to 150,000 seats as demand requires. Additionally, construction included lights at the superspeedway to allow for nighttime racing and the foundation work for a dirt track, short track and drag strip. Nashville Superspeedway promoted two NASCAR Nationwide Series events and two NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event, during 2011. The facility also hosted other regional and national touring events, as well as track rentals.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By CRWE]

    Dover Motorsports, Inc. (NYSE:DVD) Board of Directors today declared an annual cash dividend on both classes of common stock of $.04 per share. The dividend will be payable on December 10, 2012 to shareholders of record at the close of business on November 10, 2012. Due to the seasonal nature of our business, we will evaluate dividends annually.

Top Recreation Stocks To Own For 2014: Nikon Corp (NINOY)

NIKON CORPORATION is a Japan-based company mainly engaged in the manufacture and sale of optical products. The Company is active in four business segments. The Precision Apparatus segment offers semiconductor exposure apparatus and liquid crystal (LC) exposure apparatus. The image segment provides digital cameras, film cameras and interchangeable lens. The Instruments segment offers microscopes, measuring machines and semiconductor inspection equipment. The Others segment provides glass materials, telescopes, glasses and survey airplanes.

As of August 19, 2009, the Company held a 92.17% stake in Metis NV. The Company has 65 subsidiaries and 10 associated companies in the country and overseas markets.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Dan Carroll]

    Unfortunately, the yen's impact on stocks has blurred the lines on investments. Look no further than down-on-its-luck camera maker Nikon (NASDAQOTH: NINOY  ) . Nikon's shares gained more than 8% over the past week due to the yen's weakness, as the company rakes in more than a quarter of its sales in Europe. Still, the stock's lost more than 43% year to date.

Top Recreation Stocks To Own For 2014: Bowl America Inc (BWL.A)

Bowl America Incorporated, incorporated in July 22, 1958, is engaged in the entertainment business. The Company operates in one segment. Its principal source of revenue consists of fees charged for the use of bowling lanes and other facilities and from the sale of food and beverages for consumption on the premises. Merchandise sales, including food and beverages, were approximately 30% of operating revenues. The balance of operating revenues (approximately 70%) represents fees for bowling and related services. During the fiscal year ended July, 1 2012 (fiscal 2012), the Company and its wholly owned subsidiaries operated 19 bowling centers. These 19 bowling centers contain a total of 756 lanes. As of September 1, 2012 the Company and its subsidiaries operated 10 bowling centers in the greater metropolitan area of Washington, D.C., one bowling center in the metropolitan area of Baltimore, Maryland, one bowling center in Orlando, Florida, three bowling centers in the metropolitan area of Jacksonville, Florida, and four bowling centers in the metropolitan area of Richmond, Virginia.

These establishments are air-conditioned with facilities for service of food and beverages, game rooms, rental lockers, and meeting room facilities. All centers provide shoes for rental, and bowling balls are provided free. In addition, each center retails bowling accessories. Most locations are equipped for glow-in-the-dark bowling, popular for parties and non-league bowling. The bowling equipment essential for the Company's operation is readily available. Two of the Company's bowling centers are located in leased premises, and the remaining seventeen centers are owned by the Company.

The Company competes with Brunswick Corporation and AMF Bowling Worldwide, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Fredrik Arnold]

    The balance of the top ten included one technology firm, AT&T Inc. (T) in fourth place; one consumer goods, Altria Group Inc. (MO), placed fifth; Bowl America Class A (BWL.A) in seventh place was the lone service dog. Two utilities, Northwest Natural Gas (NWN), and Consolidated Edison (ED), in ninth and tenth places completed the representation of market sectors in the champions index.

Sunday, February 15, 2015

Top 5 Bank Stocks To Invest In 2015

Top 5 Bank Stocks To Invest In 2015: Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ANEWF)

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) provides a range of banking and financial products and services to retail, small business, corporate and institutional clients. The Company conducts its operations in Australia, New Zealand and the Asia Pacific region. It also operates in a range of other countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States. The Company operates on a divisional structure with Australia, International and Institutional Banking (IIB), New Zealand, and Global Wealth and Private Banking. As of September 30, 2012, the Company had 1,337 branches and other points of representation worldwide, excluding automatic teller machines (ATMs). In September 2012, it sold its remaining shareholding in Visa Inc. In May 2013, the Company ceased to be substantial holder in respect of ING Private Equity Access Limited. Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By WWW.MARKETWATCH.COM]

    LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Australia shares nudged lower early Friday, with the S&P/ASX 200 (AU:XJO) down 0.2% to erase the previous session's 0.2% gain, dragged by losses for European and U.S. equities on the back of a Portuguese financial crisis. Financials fell (Australia & New Zealand Banking Group (AU:ANZ) (ANEWF) and National Australia Bank Ltd. (AU:NAB) (NAUBF) each down 0.3%, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (AU:CBA) (CBAUF) down 0.4%, and Macquarie Group Ltd. (AU:MQG) ! (MCQEF) down 0.7%), and the top miners fared especially poorly (Rio Tinto Ltd. (AU:RIO) (RIO) down 1.2%, Oz Minerals Ltd. (AU:OZL) (OZMLF) down 1.1%, though BHP Billiton Ltd. (AU:BHP) (BHP) off just 0.1%). And while Atlas Iron Ltd. (AU:AGO) beat its production guidance, and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. (AU:FMG) (FSUMF) missed its production guidance, both saw losses, with Atlas stock off 2.9% and Fortescue trading 1.6% lower. Among the gainers, Scentre Group

  • [By MARKETWATCH]

    LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Australia stocks enjoyed early Monday gains after an advance for commodities and U.S. stocks since the last session, with a relatively good reception for earnings. The S&P/ASX 200 (AU:XJO) improved by 0.4% to 5,376.30, with miners tracking gains in gold and copper. Rio Tinto Ltd. (AU:RIO) (RIO) added 1.3%, and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. (AU:FMG) (FSUMF) traded 1.1% higher, while gold miners Newcrest Mining Ltd. (AU:NCM) (NCMGF) and Kingsgate Consolidated Ltd. (AU:KCN) (KSKGF) ! ! rallied 2.2% and 4.7%, respectively. Banks rose after Wall Street shares climbed on Friday, with National Australia Bank Ltd. (AU:NAB) (NAUBF) up 1% and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group (AU:ANZ) (ANEWF) adding 0.9%, though Commonwealth Bank of Australia (AU:CBA) (CBAUF) dropped 2.4% as it traded without rights to its latest dividend. Coal transport firm Aurizon Holdings Ltd. (AU:AZJ) (QRNNF) tacked on 2.1% as its fiscal first-half underlying profit increased 18%, though net profit f

  • [By MARKETWATCH]

    LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Australian stocks shimmied lower in early Tuesday trade, with earnings news moving the share prices of some major names. The S&P/ASX 200 (AU:XJO) moved off a flat open to trade down 0.1% at 5,218.50 after rising 1.1% the previous day. Financial blue chip Macquarie Group Ltd. (AU:MQG) (MCQEF) lost 2.7% following the release of its operational update, with broker BBY telling Dow Jones Newswires that the quarterly statement was very similar to its previous update, signaling no change to earnings expectations. Shares of Cochlear Ltd. (AU:COH) (CHEOF) , the world's top hearing-implant maker, snapped 9.1% lower after the firm posted a larger-than-expected 73% drop in profit from a year earlier. However, Australia & New Zealand Banking Group ! (AU:A! NZ) (ANEWF) managed to rise 0.5% after reporting a quarterly profit gain of more than 20% with fewer non-performing loans. Meanwhile, further gains for gold overnight lifted Newcrest Mining Ltd. (AU:NCM) (NCMGF) by 1.3%, Evolution Mining Ltd. (AU:EVN) (CAHPF) by 2.5% and St. Barbara Ltd. (AU:SBM) by 3%. On the downside for miners, Paladin Energy Ltd. (AU:PDN) (PALAF) lost 2.5% as selling surfac

  • [By MARKETWATCH]

    LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Australia stocks rose early Thursday, with miners leading the way higher after a positive production report from Rio Tinto Ltd. (AU:RIO) (RIO) , while overall sentiment got a lift from U.S. gains overnight. The S&P/ASX 200 (AU:XJO) improved by 0.6% to 5,274.30, with shares of Rio Tinto rising 2.2% after reporting record high iron-ore shipments for 2013 and a sold gain for copper output. Rio's peers also advanced, with BHP Billiton Ltd. (AU:BHP) (BHP) up 1.7%, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. (AU:FMG) (FSUMF) ahead by 3.2%, and Oz Minerals Ltd. (AU:OZL) (OZMLF) adding 2.4%. Among the gold producers,! Newcrest! Mining Ltd. (AU:NCM) (NCMGF) surged 7.2% as J.P. Morgan raised its rating on the shares to overweight from neutral. Banks weren't as lucky, however, with Australia & New Zealand Banking Group (AU:ANZ) (ANEWF) down 0.3%, while Westpac Banking Corp. (AU:WBC) (WEBNF) and Commonwealth Bank of Australia (AU:CBA) (CBAUF) lost 0.7% each as Citibank downgraded the trio t

  • source from Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/top-5-bank-stocks-to-invest-in-2015.html

Friday, February 13, 2015

5 Best Managed Healthcare Stocks To Invest In Right Now

BALTIMORE (Stockpickr) --�Put down the 10-K filings and the stock screeners. It's time to take a break from the traditional methods of generating investment ideas. Instead, let the crowd do it for you.

>>5 Stocks Insiders Love Right Now

From hedge funds to individual investors, scores of market participants are turning to social media to figure out which stocks are worth watching. It's a concept that's known as "crowdsourcing," and it uses the masses to identify emerging trends in the market.

Crowdsourcing has long been a popular tool for the advertising industry, but it also makes a lot of sense as an investment tool. After all, the market is completely driven by the supply and demand, so it can be valuable to see what names are trending among the crowd.

While some fund managers are already trying to leverage social media resources like Twitter to find algorithmic trading opportunities, for most investors, crowdsourcing works best as a starting point for investors who want a starting point in their analysis. Today, we'll leverage the power of the crowd to take a look at some of the most active stocks on the market today.

Best Warren Buffett Stocks To Watch Right Now: Nanosphere Inc.(NSPH)

Nanosphere, Inc. develops, manufactures, and markets molecular diagnostics platform, the Verigene System that enables genomic and protein testing on a single platform. Its Verigene System includes a bench-top molecular diagnostics workstation with nanoparticle technology that provides the ability to run multiple tests simultaneously on the same sample. The Verigene System is used for testing infectious disease assays, human and pharmacogenetic assays, and ultra-sensitive protein assays. The company serves hospital-based laboratories and academic research institutions in the United States. Nanosphere, Inc. was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Roberto Pedone]


    One under-$10 medical equipment player that's quickly moving within range of triggering a major breakout trade is Nanosphere (NSPH), which develops, manufactures and markets an advanced molecular diagnostics platform, the Verigene System, which enables simple, low-cost and highly sensitive genomic and protein testing on a single platform. This stock has been hit hard by the bears so far in 2013, with shares off by 27%.

    If you take a look at the chart for Nanosphere, you'll notice that this stock is just starting to spike sharply higher today back above its 50-day moving average of $2 a share. This spike is quickly pushing shares of NSPH within range of triggering a major breakout trade. That breakout will trigger once NSPH manages to take out the upper-end of its recent sideways trading chart pattern.

    Traders should now look for long-biased trades in NSPH if it manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance levels at $2.17 to $2.20 a share and then once it takes out its gap down day high from August at $2.29 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above those levels with volume that hits near or above its three-month average action of 652,718 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then NSPH will set up to re-fill some of its previous gap down zone from August that stated just above $3 a share. If that gap gets filled with volume, then NSPH could easily tag $3.50 to $4 a share.

    Traders can look to buy NSPH off any weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below some key near-term support levels at $1.81 to $1.77 a share. One can also buy NSPH off strength once it clears those resistance levels with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.

5 Best Managed Healthcare Stocks To Invest In Right Now: SLM Corporation(SLM)

SLM Corporation, through its subsidiaries, originates, acquires, finances, and services private education loans in the United States. It offers processing capabilities to educational institutions, 529 college-savings plan program management services, and a consumer savings network. The company also provides servicing, loan default aversion, and defaulted loan collection services for loans owned by the Department of Education (ED), Guarantors of FFELP Loans, and other institutions. In addition, SLM Corporation offers campus solutions, which comprise electronic billing, collection, payment and refund, and tuition payment plan administration services. The company promotes its products through the financial aid offices on campuses, as well as through direct marketing to students and their families. SLM Corporation was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Newark, Delaware.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Sean Williams]

    What: Shares of SLM Corp (NASDAQ: SLM  ) , better known as Sallie Mae, jumped as much as 14% after announcing a new CEO and unveiling strategic plans to split into two separate companies. Shares have since given back much of their gains and are now up just 4% as of this writing.

  • [By Jim Jubak]

    Yesterday's villain was a big miss by Citigroup (C) before the open. Today doesn't look a whole lot better for the sector because, after the close on January 16, American Express (AXP), Capital One (COF), and Sallie Mae (SLM) all reported significant earnings misses. American Express came in with fourth quarter earnings of $1.21 a share versus a consensus projection of $1.25. Capital One reported $1.45 a share instead of $1.57. And student loan company Sallie Mae announced 61 cents a share versus the analyst consensus of 73 cents a share.

  • [By Dan Caplinger]

    It's important to understand that for the most part, the impact on banks from the bill would be minimal. Under the Federal Direct Loan Program, the Department of Education is the lender on Stafford loans extended through the program rather than a private lender. Admittedly, rising rates on Stafford loans might make private student loans from lenders Sallie Mae (NASDAQ: SLM  ) and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC  ) look somewhat less unattractive. But increased regulation led Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) , US Bancorp (NYSE: USB  ) , and several other institutions to reduce or eliminate their student lending programs, making it clear that student loans aren't enough of a money-making cash-cow to give banks an incentive to keep lending.

  • [By Sue Chang]

    SLM Corp. (SLM) �is expected to post first-quarter earnings of 55 cents a share.

5 Best Managed Healthcare Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Iridium Communications Inc(IRDM)

Iridium Communications Inc. provides mobile voice and data communications services through satellites to businesses, the U.S. and foreign governments, non-governmental organizations, and consumers worldwide. It offers post-paid mobile voice and data satellite communications services; prepaid mobile voice satellite communications services; high-speed data services; machine-to-machine services for sending and receiving data from one location to other; and ancillary services, including inbound connections from the public switched telephone networks, SMS, SIM, activation, customer reactivation, and other peripheral services to commercial customers. The company also offers traditional voice, netted voice, data, messaging, and paging services, as well as maintenance services for the DoD?s dedicated gateway; and offers voice and data solutions, including personnel tracking devices; over-the-horizon aircraft communications applications; submarine communications applications; spec ialized communications solutions for high-value individuals; asset tracking devices for equipment, vehicles, and aircraft; and secure mobile communications and data devices for the military and intelligence community, such as secure satellite handsets to U.S. government customers. In addition, it manufactures and sells satellite handsets, voice and data modems, high-speed data devices, and machine-to-machine data devices. Further, the company offers accessories for its devices, including holsters, earbuds, portable auxiliary antennas, antenna adaptors, USB data cables, and charging units. Additionally, it provides engineering and support services to commercial and government customers. The company sells products and services to commercial end-users through service providers, value-added resellers, and value-added manufacturers. As of March 31, 2011, it had approximately 447,000 billable subscribers. The company was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in McLean, Virginia.

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

    Iridium Communications (NASDAQ: IRDM) was also up, gaining 10.72 percent to $7.54 after the company caught an upgrade to Outperform from Neutral at Macquarie Monday morning.

  • [By John Udovich]

    Jim Cramer, the host of CNBC�� Mad Money, recently touted ViaSat, Inc (NASDAQ: VSAT) as an in-flight WiFi or satellite communications related play, meaning its worth taking a closer look at the stock along with the performance of small cap in-flight WiFi provider Gogo Inc (NASDAQ: GOGO) and small cap satellite communications firm Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ: IRDM). I should mention that I have written about Gogo Inc in the past (Small Cap Gogo Inc (GOGO): Is There Turbulence Ahead? IRDM�and Is In-flight WiFi Stock Gogo, Inc. (GOGO) the Next Iridium?) and Cramer also touched on some of the differences between the in-flight wifi service offerings of both. Cramer also interviewed ViaSat, Inc�� CEO who said they had been waiting for a new satellite to ��isrupt��the market.

  • [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

    Telecommunications services sector gained 0.12 percent in the US market today. Among the sector stocks,Iridium Communications (NASDAQ: IRDM) was down more than 4.5 percent, while America Movil S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE: AMX) tumbled around 2.3 percent.

  • [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

    Telecommunications services sector gained 0.12 percent in the US market today. Among the sector stocks, Iridium Communications (NASDAQ: IRDM) was down more than 4.5 percent, while America Movil S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE: AMX) tumbled around 2.3 percent.

5 Best Managed Healthcare Stocks To Invest In Right Now: GigaMedia Limited (GIGM)

Gigamedia Limited, through its subsidiaries, primarily engages in the operation of online games for online game players in Asia. The company provides a portfolio of online games, including MahJong, a traditional Chinese tile game; MMORPG, an Internet-based computer game; advanced casual games; and card, chance-based, and simple casual games. It also develops and licenses online poker, casino, and sports betting gaming software solutions, as well as offers application services for the online poker and casino markets primarily in the continental European markets. The company has strategic alliances with SoftStar Entertainment Inc., Neostorm Holdings Limited, XLGames Inc., Access China Holding Limited, Gorilla Banana Entertainment Corp., JC Entertainment Corporation, Possibility Space Incorporated, East Gate Media Contents & Technology Fund, and BetClic. GigaMedia Limited was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Eric Volkman]

    GigaMedia (NASDAQ: GIGM  ) results for the company's fiscal Q4 and 2012 have been released. For the quarter, revenue was $4.8 million, down by 34% from the $7.4 million in the same period the previous year. Attributable net loss, however, narrowed considerably to $15.4 million ($0.30 per diluted share) from Q4 2011's shortfall of $51.3 million ($1.01).

American Workers More Productive in Second Quarter

Top Penny Companies To Own For 2015

worker productivity economy laborGetty Images WASHINGTON -- U.S. workers were more productive from April through June than previously estimated while labor costs were unchanged. Productivity grew at an annual rate of 2.3 percent in the April-June quarter, up from an initial estimate of 0.9 percent growth, the Labor Department said Thursday. Unit labor costs were flat in the second quarter, less than the 1.4 percent rise the government had initially estimated. The combination of stronger productivity and less of an increase in wages should provide assurances to the Federal Reserve that inflation isn't a threat. The revised productivity number reflected the fact that economic output had been revised higher for the second quarter to a growth rate of 2.5 percent. Productivity is the amount of output per hour work. The 2.5 percent economic growth rate was much stronger than the 1.7 percent annual rate estimated a month earlier for the gross domestic product, the economy's total output of goods and services. Still, even with the increase, productivity growth has been weaker than during the recession and early stages of the recovery. It rose just 1.5 percent in 2012 and 0.5 percent in 2011. In 2010 and 2011, productivity increased at annual rates above 3 percent. That reflected the fact that millions of Americans were laid off as companies struggled to cope with a deep downturn. While output was down as well, the number of workers fell more, thus productivity increased. In records dating back to 1947, productivity has been growing by about 2 percent per year. Since the recovery ended, the economy hasn't been growing fast enough to fuel stronger hiring. Economists expect growth in the second half of the year will average between 2 percent and 2.5 percent. The economy has added an average of 192,000 jobs per month so far this year, a modest improvement on last year's average of 183,000 jobs a month. For now, the modest rise in labor costs means wages aren't growing fast enough to raise worries about inflation. The Fed monitors productivity and labor costs for any signs that inflation could pick up. Mild inflation has allowed the Fed to keep short-term interest rates at record lows and to buy bonds to try to keep long-term interest rates down. Some economists say the economy is strong enough for the Fed to begin slowing its bond purchases at its September meeting. Others say the Fed may hold off at that meeting because they want to see more data. The $85 billion a month in purchases of Treasury and mortgage bonds have kept long-term interest rates low.

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Top 10 Sliver Companies To Watch In Right Now

Top 10 Sliver Companies To Watch In Right Now: Gentex Corp (GNTX)

Gentex Corporation is a supplier of automatic-dimming (auto-dimming) rear-view mirrors and camera-based lighting-assist features to the global automotive industry. The Company also provides commercial smoke alarms and signaling devices to the North American fire protection market, as well as dimmable aircraft windows for the commercial, business and general aviation markets. The Company is involved in designing, developing, manufacturing and marketing interior and exterior auto-dimming automotive rear-view mirrors that utilize electrochromic technology to dim in proportion to the amount of headlight glare from trailing vehicle headlamps. The Company also manufactures non-automatic-dimming rear-view automotive mirrors with electronic features. On September 27, 2013, the Company acquired Johnson Controls' HomeLink business.

Automotive Mirrors

The interior auto-dimming mirror offers reflectance levels between its approximate 85% full-reflectance sta te and its 5% least-reflectance state, taking just a few seconds to span the entire range. Special electro-optic sensors in the mirror detect glare and electronic circuitry supplies electricity to darken the mirror to level required to eliminate glare, allowing the driver to maintain maximum vision. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company began making shipments of its auto-dimming mirrors for over 25 additional small/mid-sized vehicles manufactured by Hyundai/Kia, Nissan, Opel/Vauxhall, Peugeot/Citroen, Toyota/Lexus, VW/Audi and Geely/Volvo. As of December 31, 2011, the Company was supplying mirrors for, Chrysler, Ford, GM, Honda, Hyundai, Infiniti, Kia Motors, Lexus, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, SAIC, Suzuki, Samsung, Toyota and Volkswagen/Audi in Asia.

The Company offers its exterior auto-dimming mirrors with turn-signal indicators and sid! e blind zone features. The Company sells its exterior auto-dimming mirror sub-assemblies to exterior mirror supp liers of the automakers who assemble the exterior auto-dimmi! ng mirror sub-assemblies into full mirror units for subsequent resale to the automakers. During 2011, the Company shipped approximately 5,288,000 exterior auto-dimming mirror sub-assemblies. As of December 31, 2011, the Company was shipping interior auto-dimming mirrors, which was standard equipment or factory-installed options on certain trim levels to the manufacturers. The Company's exterior auto-dimming mirrors are controlled by the sensors and electronic circuitry in the interior auto-dimming mirror, and both the interior and exterior mirrors dim simultaneously.

Non-Automatic-Dimming Rearview Mirrors

As of December 31, 2011, auto-dimming mirrors offered by the Company include headlamp control, lighted light emitting diode (LED) map lamps, compass, remote keyless entry, compass/temperature mirror, compass/temperature dual display, telematics, HomeLink, tire pressure display, hands free communication, trip functions display, indicator LED's f or alarm system, exterior turn signal and side blind zone mirrors. As of December 31, 2011, the Company was shipping auto-dimming mirrors with SmartBeam for 66 vehicle models with 12 automakers. Its SmartBeam product includes variable forward lighting (VFL) and dynamic forward lighting (DFL). VFL automates high-beam and low-beam switching.

As of December 31, 2011, the Company shipped approximately 1,045,000 SmartBeam units and shipping auto-dimming mirrors with SmartBeam for 66 vehicle models with 12 automakers. As of December 31, 2011, the Company is shipping auto-dimming mirrors with its RCD Mirror for 57 vehicle models with nine automakers. The Company is also shipping auto-dimming mirrors with its RCD Mirror for over 20 aftermarket or dealer-installed programs. The Company's compass technology can be sold as a system with the compass head! ing displ! ayed in the interior auto-dimming mirror. The Gentex compass technology is called Z-Nav, as it features a digi tal, tri-axis sensor (transducer) and software. The tri-axis! design i! s similar to compasses used in scientific apparatus, such as aerospace applications, and can be mounted on any fixed or pivotal location in the vehicle, including inside the mirror housing.

In North America, the Company markets its products primarily through a direct sales force. The Company supplies auto-dimming mirrors and mirrors to its customers worldwide under annual blanket purchase orders. The Company supplies auto-dimming mirrors to General Motors Corporation and Chrysler LLC under long-term agreements. As of December 31, 2011, the Company was supplying mirrors for, Chrysler, Ford, GM, Honda, Hyundai, Infiniti, Kia Motors, Lexus, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, SAIC, Suzuki, Samsung, Toyota and Volkswagen/Audi in Asia. During 2011, the Company marketed and sold auto-dimming mirrors into the domestic the People's Republic of China automotive market, by shipping product directly through the global automakers' joint venture relationships and indirectly into the People's Republic of China through global automakers export divisions.

Fire Protection Products

The Company manufactures approximately 55 different models of smoke alarms and smoke detectors, combined with over 100 different models of signaling appliances. All the smoke detectors/alarms operate on a photoelectric principle to detect smoke. Photoelectric detectors/alarms feature low light-level detection, while ionization detectors utilize an ionized atmosphere, the electrical conductivity, of which varies with changes in the composition of the atmosphere. The Company's fire protection products provide the flexibility to be wired as part of multiple-function systems and consequently are generally used in fire detection systems common to office buildings, hotels, motels, military bases, college dormitories and other ! commercia! l establishments. The Company also offers single-station alarms for both commercial and residential applications.

The Company's fire protection products are sold di! rectly to! fire protection and security product distributors under the Company's brand name, to electrical wholesale houses, and to original equipment manufacturers of fire protection systems under both the Company's brand name and private labels. The Company markets its fire protection products globally through regional sales managers and manufacturer representative organizations.

Dimmable Aircraft Windows

The Company provides variably dimmable windows for the passenger compartment on the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner series of aircraft. PPG Aerospace works together to provide variably dimmable windows for the passenger compartment on the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner series of aircraft. The Company jointly markets and sells its variable dimmable windows to aircraft manufacturers with PPG Aerospace.

The Company competes with Magna International.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Paul Ausick]

    One company getting a bit of a boost from the announcement is Gentex Corp. (NASDAQ: GNTX). The firm makes the automatic dimming rear-view mirrors and other automobile electronics. The company’s shares are up about 2.4% at $31.56 in a 52-week range of $19.01 to $34.41.

  • [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 Gentex (Nasdaq: GNTX  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

  • source from Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/top-10-sliver-companies-to-watch-in-right-now-3.html

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Dow's Tech Stocks Move Lower

Today is the official start of earnings season, as Alcoa is set to report second-quarter earnings after the closing bell today, and investors seem confident that they'll receive strong numbers as two of the three major indexes are move higher this afternoon. As of 12:45 p.m. EDT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) is up 82 points, or 0.54%, to 15,218. The S&P 500 is higher by 0.51%, and the Nasdaq is the lone loser, down a negligible 0.07%.

Only a handful of the Dow's 30 components are down for the session, and three of the Dow's big losers today can blame one Citi Group analyst for their woes. Glen Yeung changed his earnings forecast for Intel (NASDAQ: INTC  ) from $0.39 per share to $0.38. This change has caused shares of the chip maker to fall 3.8% today. Based on his figures and PC data checks, personal-computer sales are tracking worse than previously expected.

That little piece of news has sent shares of Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ  ) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT  ) down by 1.2% and 0.5%, respectively. As good a job as Meg Whitman has done more than 18 months into HP's turnaround, the company still relies on PC sales and will likely depend on a strong PC business for at least another year or two. So today's report from Yeung has naturally caused some downward pressure on HP's stock. As for Microsoft, the story's much the same. The company still needs its Windows software to bring home the bacon, and weak PC sales indicate that Windows may not perform as well as some have predicted.

Top Supermarket Companies To Invest In 2015

But it's also important to note that all three of these companies have made major strides toward becoming more diverse companies with a wider range of offerings. Most importantly, they're making inroads in the mobile industry. Intel now has chips in tablets, while HP has teamed up with others to make tablets. Microsoft, of course, has the Surface tablet and the Windows 8 operating platform, which was designed to be used on mobile devices.

Solid companies selling at depressed prices have consistently helped generations of the world's most successful investors preserve capital, minimize risk, and achieve market-trampling long-term returns. For one such company, read our free report: "The One REMARKABLE Stock to Own Now." Just click here to get started.


Monday, February 9, 2015

Take steps to avoid losing credit card rewards

When it comes to credit cards, it should not be a surprise that there are black holes that could drain out all those precious reward points.

Ever think you could lose rewards if you miss a credit card payment? What about if you haven't traveled much in the past two years and didn't earn points by staying at the right hotel?

Many consumers pick their plastic based on the kind of rewards they can receive on a credit card.

"Rewards programs, however, can be highly complex, with detailed, confusing rules about how consumers can actually use their rewards," according to the federal consumer financial watchdog agency.

MONEY QUICK TIPS: Avoid credit card 'gray' charges

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau pointed out on Wednesday that some disclosure issues, including rewards programs, continue to be problematic, even after the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009.

The bureau plans to review disclosures for credit card rewards. The bureau's public complaint database has received 626 credit card complaints from consumers who reported that they had issues with "rewards" offered.

On the positive side, the consumer bureau noted that the CARD Act has reduced penalty fees and made the cost of credit cards clearer in many ways to consumers.

But the bureau does see room for improved disclosures. Other areas of concern: Consumers who pay online may not see the disclosures that are required to appear on monthly statements. And many consumers may not yet realize that once they carry a credit card balance into a new month, they no longer enjoy a grace period on new purchases. Interest is charged on new purchases, if the balance is not paid in full each month.

As for those rewards, well, you might not understand the rules unless you go back to the full terms and conditions in the credit card agreement that's sent when you first become a cardholder.

MONEY QUICK TIPS: Improving your credit score

Anisha Sekar, vice president! for credit and debit products at NerdWallet.com, said consumers can become particularly confused when cards are tied to hotel or airline points. They might not realize, she said, that they can lose rewards if they go even a year without earning more points, depending on the rewards program.

"Consumers are pretty much at the mercy of the credit card companies," Sekar said.

It may not help matters that our wallets are filled with travel-related rewards and loyalty cards, loyalty cards from restaurants and stores, and credit card and debit card rewards programs. Who can keep track?

Most consumers just prefer cash back as a reward, according to a 2012 study by Javelin Strategy & Research. But consumers use all sorts of rewards, including points redeemable in a specific catalog or online shopping mall, coupons or vouchers that can be used at a specific merchant, airline miles, credits to statements and hotel, vacation or other travel-related points, according to Javelin's survey.

Some rewards earned via credit cards have limited windows. Rewards on the Toys R Us MasterCard credit card issued by GE Capital Retail Bank, for example, have expiration dates for spending at the toy store.

When it comes to cash-back credit cards, though, about 65% have no expiration, according to a Bankrate.com survey. The cards that do have an expiration date typically give a three-year to five-year window before the points expire, according to Greg McBride, senior financial analyst for Bankrate.com.

Experts warn that rewards can be lost or taken away for reasons, such as:

• Missing a payment. Say you charged a large amount for holiday shopping one month but then failed to make the monthly payment or didn't make that payment on time. You could lose the rewards that you had built up for that month. Some card issuers have a way to reinstate those rewards but there may be a costly fee, according to Bill Hardekopf, CEO of LowCards.com in Birmingham, Ala., a website that provides credit ! card info! rmation for consumers.

The reinstatement fee for American Express is $35 for each billing period and each card account for which you reinstate points. American Express also requires that you reinstate points within 24 months of forfeiting them to get the points back.

• Closing your account. Rewards won't transfer with you. So make sure to use the rewards before closing an account. Some card issuers, such as American Express, offer a 30-day window for using credit card rewards after you've closed the account.

Chase, for example, noted that if a credit card account is closed following delinquency, the customer may forfeit his or her reward balance.

• Taking an item back. Do not think of rewards as refundable. I used a rewards certificate that I received via a retail card to buy a dress and then I changed my mind. Whoops, the $25 reward disappeared when I returned that dress.

Gerri Detweiler, director of consumer education at Credit.com, said one of the biggest risks, of course, is that people simply forget about any rewards that they built up on the card. Or they just don't have time to spend those rewards.

"I once accumulated enough points for a trip to Alaska on Alaska Airlines but for a variety of reasons, never ended up using them," Detweiler said.

"Eventually, I canceled the card and my points went with it," she said.

Sunday, February 8, 2015

10 Best Cheapest Stocks To Buy For 2014

Popular Posts: 3 Bank Stocks to Buy at Unbeatable ValuesBest Stocks to Buy Now for June 20142 Under-the-Radar Energy Stocks to Buy Recent Posts: Best Stocks to Buy Now for June 2014 3 Bank Stocks to Buy at Unbeatable Values Stock Liquidity – Friend or Foe? View All Posts Best Stocks to Buy Now for June 2014

Discovering the best stocks to buy right now is always a difficult endeavor.

But it’s not impossible.

In my mind, the best stocks to buy tend to be those that are the cheapest at any given moment in time. However, as a longtime value investor, I am all too aware that many cheap stocks go lower before eventually turning around and proceeding to march toward fair and full value.

10 Best Low Price Stocks To Own For 2015: Virtual Piggy Inc (VPIG)

Virtual Piggy Inc., formerly Moggle, Inc., incorporated on February 11, 2008, is a development-stage company. The Company is a technology development company that delivers an online security platform, which consists of three separate products: Virtual Piggy, ParentMatch and ParentPlayback, and Age Verification Service. Its Virtual Piggy product enables online businesses to interact and transact with the Under 18 market in a manner consistent with the Children�� Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The Company�� Platform is designed to solve the friendly fraud problem for Website operators, providers, and online retailers, and permitting Website operators and online retailers to transact online business with children between the ages of 8 and 13 in compliance with COPPA.

Virtual Piggy

Virtual Piggy was developed in response to the growing need for parents/guardians to allow their children to transact online in a controlled manner in light of an increasing number of online services and products targeted towards children. Virtual Piggy provides an online payment profile that allows parents to set up, monitor and control their children�� online spending. Parents can establish how much a child can spend in a single transaction, or over time, and also control the merchants with which the child can transact business. Parents also have the ability to set up approval rules and notification methods. The Virtual Piggy product tracks all spending and parents can receive alerts and reports on spending patterns. Virtual Piggy has been certified by the Chase Paymentech system and can process transactions from all major credit and debit card systems, including MasterCard, Visa, and American Express.

ParentMatch and ParentPlayback

The ParentMatch and ParentPlayback Web services are designed to provide the parent/guardian with a higher level of control than is provided by nanny type services. In addition, the Web service ID will follow the child whenever he or! she is on a computer, as opposed to traditional controls that are resident on a personal computer (PC) by PC basis. ParentMatch will provide filtering for the parent or guardian to be able to control, such areas as the Web sites a child may access; the types of content they may view, and who they can interact with online. ParentPlayback will provide the parent or guardian with a video transcript of their child�� online session.

Age Check

Age Check will be a persistent software system and service designed to provide a verification mechanism for the age of a person online. The system and service will provide a secure checking mechanism to determine a person�� age. The main purpose of this system and service is to determine whether setup information supplied by a person to gain access to a social network or other online site is correct. The invention will provide an Application Programming Interface (API) that exposes software functions that Websites, Web services and Internet enabled desktop applications can utilize to enforce age checks when a person attempts to create an online account and/or gain access to a Website.

The Company competes PayPal and Teen Visa.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By CRWE]

    Today, VPIG has shed (-4.37%) down -0.10 at $2.19 with 144,475 shares in play thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 1:26PM EDT June 26, 2013), but don�� let this get you down.

    Virtual Piggy, Inc. previously reported it has reached a membership of over 250,000 users.

    Virtual Piggy promotes financial management while empowering youth under 18 to make purchasing, saving and other money management decisions for themselves, within the boundaries setup by parents. The technology serves as a family wallet that is available online or via mobile, and is always 100% free to use.

10 Best Cheapest Stocks To Buy For 2014: FormFactor Inc.(FORM)

FormFactor, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, sells, and supports semiconductor wafer probe card products and solutions worldwide. Its wafer probe card is used as an interface to connect electrically with and test individual chips on a wafer. The company?s wafer probe cards are also used to test dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips, including double data rate (DDR), DDR2, DDR3, SDRAM, PSRAM, mobile DRAM, graphic DRAM, NOR and NAND flash memory chips, serial data devices, chipsets, microprocessors, microcontrollers, and analog devices. It serves manufacturers in the DRAM, flash, and system on chip markets through direct sales force, independent sales representatives, and value added resellers. FormFactor, Inc. was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Livermore, California.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Alex Planes]

    What: Shares of FormFactor (NASDAQ: FORM  ) have lost 15% of their value today after the company issued a disappointing earnings report before the opening bell.

  • [By Geoff Gannon]

    1. Steel Excel (SXCL)
    2. FormFactor (FORM)
    3. Imation (IMN)
    4. Tuesday Morning (TUES)
    5. Pacific Biosciences (PACB)
    6. Maxygen (MAXY)
    7. Westell (WSTL)
    8. Volt Information Sciences (VISI)
    9. Yasheng Group (YHGG)

  • [By Ben Axler]

    In the table below, we've listed a sample of small-cap semiconductor capital equipment stocks such as Entegris (ENTG), Advanced Energy Industries (AEIS), ATMI Inc. (ATMI), MKS Instruments (MKSI), Photronics Inc. (PLAB), Rudolph Technologies (RTEC),FormFactor (FORM) and Mattson Technology (MTSN). The peers trade at approximately 1.0x and 15.5x 2014E revenues and EPS, respectively. Furthermore, the average peer trades at 2.1x tangible book value. However, these multiples are based on average 2014E industry revenue and earnings growth of 18% and 119%, respectively. Axcelis is poised to grow at a rate substantially above the industry average.

10 Best Cheapest Stocks To Buy For 2014: Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. (BBVA)

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (BBVA) is a diversified international financial group, with strengths in the traditional banking businesses of retail banking, asset management, private banking and wholesale banking. The Company also has investments in some of Spain�� companies. During the year ended December 31, 2009, BBVA focused its operations on six major business areas: Spain and Portugal, Wholesale Banking and Asset Management, Mexico, The United States, South America and Corporate Activities. On August 21, 2009, through its subsidiary BBVA Compass, BBVA acquired certain assets of Guaranty from the United States Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the FDIC).

Spain and Portugal

The Spain and Portugal business area focuses on providing banking services and consumer finance to private individuals, enterprises and institutions in Spain and Portugal. The main business units included in the Spain and Portugal area Spanish Retail Network, which manages individual customers, high net-worth individuals (private banking) and small companies and retailers in the Spanish market; Corporate and Business Banking, which manages business with small and medium enterprises (SMEs), large companies, institutions and developers in the Spanish market, and Other units, which includes consumer finance, that manages renting and leasing business, credit to individual and to enterprises for consumer products and Internet banking; European Insurance that manages the insurance business in Spain and Portugal, and BBVA Portugal, that manages the banking business in Portugal. The Spanish Retail Network unit services the financial and non-financial needs of households, professional practices, retailers and small businesses. The Corporate and Business Banking unit offers a range of services and products to SMEs, large companies, institutions and developers with specialized branch networks for each segment.

The Company�� European Insurance unit�� activities are conducted through! various insurance companies that provide direct insurance, reinsurance and insurance brokering services in Spain and Portugal and market products for different types of customers (private individuals, SMEs, retailers, professional service firms and providers and self-employed individuals) through this unit�� branch offices. BBVA Portugal manages its banking business in Portugal.

Wholesale Banking and Asset Management

The Wholesale Banking and Asset Management area focuses on providing services to large international companies and investment banking, capital markets and treasury management services to clients. The business units included in the Wholesale Banking and Asset Management area are Corporate and Investment Banking, which coordinates origination, distribution and management of a complete catalogue of corporate and investment banking products (corporate finance, structured finance, syndicated loans and debt capital markets) and provides global trade finance and global transaction services with coverage of large corporate customers specialized by sector (industry bankers); Global Markets, which handles the origination, structuring, distribution and risk management of market products, which are placed through its trading rooms in Europe, Asia and the Americas; Asset Management, which designs and manages the products that are marketed through its different branch networks including traditional asset management, alternative asset management and Valanza (its private equity unit); Industrial and Other Holdings, which helps to diversify the area�� businesses with the aim of creating medium and long-term value through active management of a portfolio of industrial holdings and other Spanish and international projects, and Asia.

During the year ended December 31, 2009, it launched two products: BBVA Bonos Cash (BBVA Cash Bonds), a money market fund for retail customers, and BBVA Bonos Largo Plazo Gobiernos II (BBVA Long-Term Government Bonds), a public-debt fu! nd. In ad! dition it launched through this unit additional fixed-income long-term funds, including BBVA Bonos Corporativos 2011 and BBVA Bonos 2014, which were sold to HNWI customers.

Mexico

The business units included in the Mexico area are Retail and Corporate banking and Pensions and Insurance. BBVA Bancomer launched six new mortgage products for lending to home buyers in 2009. These products included: loans for home improvements, remodeling or additions to homes and financial discount which provides liquidity to construction companies. In Mexico, it operates its pensions business through Afore Bancomer, its insurance business through Seguros Bancomer, its annuities business through Pensiones Bancomer and its health insurance business through Preventis.

The United States

The business units included in the United States area are BBVA Compass and Other units: BBVA Puerto Rico and Bancomer Transfers Services (BTS). During 2009 this unit marketed and sold several new products, The ClearPoints credit card, Business Build-to-order Checking, Compass for your Cause and Money Market Sweep.

South America

The South America business area includes its banking, insurance and pension businesses in South America. The business units included in the South America business area are Retail and Corporate Banking, which includes banks in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela; Pension businesses, which includes pensions businesses in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru and Dominican Republic, and Insurance businesses, which includes insurance businesses in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic and Venezuela.

Corporate Activities

The Corporate Activities area handles its general management functions. These mainly consist of structural positions for interest rates associated with the euro balance sheet and exchange rates, together with liquidity management and shareholde! rs��fun! ds.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Jim Woods]

    If you’re looking for an income-producing dividend stock to fill the void, consider the classic pure plays AT&T (T) and Verizon (VZ).

    Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA)

    When it comes to suspending dividends, the Europeans don�� want to be left out. In October, Spain�� biggest financial institution, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), cut its annual dividend by putting a cap on payouts for 2014 (and going forward) to 40% of profits.

10 Best Cheapest Stocks To Buy For 2014: DUSA Pharmaceuticals Inc.(DUSA)

DUSA Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a vertically integrated dermatology company, develops and markets Levulan photodynamic therapy (PDT) and other products for common skin conditions primarily in the United States, Canada, and Korea. Its products include Levulan Kerastick 20% Topical Solution with PDT and the BLU-U brand light source for the treatment of non-hyperkeratotic actinic keratoses of the face or scalp. The company also markets the BLU-U without Levulan for the treatment of moderate inflammatory acne vulgaris and general dermatological conditions; and non-PDT drug products, such as ClindaReach and AVAR products. DUSA Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was founded in 1991 and is based in Wilmington, Massachusetts.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By CRWE]

    DUSA Pharmaceuticals, Inc.(r) (Nasdaq:DUSA), a dermatology company that is developing and marketing Levulan(r) Photodynamic Therapy (PDT), reported that Bob Doman, President and Chief Executive Officer, will present a corporate overview at the Rodman & Renshaw 14th Annual Healthcare Conference on Monday, September 10, 2012 at 11:15 a.m. ET at The Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.

10 Best Cheapest Stocks To Buy For 2014: CC Media Holdings Inc (CCMO)

CC Media Holdings, Inc., incorporated May 2007, is a diversified media and entertainment company. The Company provides radio, digital, out-of-home, mobile and on-demand entertainment, and information services for audiences and local communities, and providing opportunities for advertisers. The Company operates in three segments: Media and Entertainment (CCME, formerly Radio), Americas outdoor advertising (Americas outdoor) and International outdoor advertising (International outdoor). On April 29, 2011, the Company acquired the traffic business of Westwood One, Inc. (the Traffic acquisition). The Company, during 2011, also purchased a cloud-based music technology business. During 2011, the Company also acquired Brouwer & Partners, a street furniture business. During 2011, the Company divested and exchanged its 27 radio stations.

CCME

The CCME segments operations include radio broadcasting, online and mobile services and products, program syndication, entertainment, traffic data distribution and music research services. The Company�� radio stations and content can be heard on amplitude modulation (AM) / frequency modulation (FM) stations, high definition (HD) radio stations, satellite radio, the Internet at iHeartRadio.com, and the Company�� radio stations Websites, through the Company�� iHeartRadio mobile application on iPads and smart phones, and via navigation systems. As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned 866 radio stations, including 249 AM and 617 FM servicing approximately 150 the United States markets.

The Company operates premiere networks (Premiere), a national radio network that produces, distributes or represents approximately 90 syndicated radio programs, and serves approximately 5,800 radio station affiliates. The Company�� syndicated radio programs include Rush Limbaugh, Jim Rome, Steve Harvey, Ryan Seacrest, Elvis Duran and Delilah. It also delivers real-time traffic information via navigation systems, radio and television broadcast m! edia and wireless and Internet-based services through the Company�� traffic business, total traffic network. During 2011, the CCME segment generated 48% of the Company�� revenues. The primary source of revenue in the CCME segment is the sale of commercials on the Company�� radio stations for local, regional and national advertising. The Company�� advertisers include consumer services, retailers, entertainment, health and beauty products, telecommunications, automotive and media.

Americas Outdoor Advertising

The Americas outdoor advertising segment operates in the markets of the United States, Canada and Latin America. It consists of billboards, street furniture and transit displays, airport displays, mall displays, and wall scapes, and other spectaculars, which the Company owns or operates under lease management agreements. As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned and operated approximately 125,000 display structures in its Americas outdoor advertising segment with operations in the United States. The Americas outdoor advertising segment generated 21% of the Company�� revenues during 2011. Americas outdoor revenue is derived from the sale of advertising copy placed on the Company�� digital displays and traditional displays. The Company�� display inventory consists primarily of billboards, street furniture displays and transit displays.

The street furniture displays of the Company include advertising surfaces on bus shelters, information kiosks, freestanding units and other public structures. The transit displays advertise on various types of vehicles or within transit systems, including on the interior and exterior sides of buses, trains, trams, and in the common areas of rail stations and airports. The other display inventories consist of spectaculars, wall scapes and mall displays.

International Outdoor Advertising

The International outdoor business segment includes the Company�� operations in Asia, Australia and E! urope, wi! th approximately 34% of its revenue in this segment derived from France and the United Kingdom during 2011. As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned or operated approximately 630,000 displays across 30 countries. The International outdoor segment generated 27% of the Company�� revenues during 2011. International outdoor advertising revenue is derived from the sale of traditional advertising copy placed on the Company�� display inventory and electronic displays, which are part of the Company�� network of digital displays. The International outdoor display inventory consists primarily of street furniture displays, billboards, transit displays and other out-of-home advertising displays, such as neon displays.

The Company competes with JCDecaux, CBS and Lamar Advertising Company.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By CRWE]

    Today, CCMO has shed (-5.17%) down -0.30 at $5.50 with�100 shares in movement thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 11:54AM EDT June 21, 2013), but don�� let this get you down.

    Clear Channel Media & Entertainment and Fleetwood Mac previously reported a landmark agreement ��the first direct performing rights partnership between a radio company and an artist ��that will enable the group to receive revenue from airplay on Clear Channel�� digital and broadcast radio platforms. The group�� new EP, Extended Play, features the first recording of new Fleetwood Mac music since the release of ��ay You Will��over a decade ago.

    ��leetwood Mac has consistently pushed the envelope ��creating new sounds, making music that seems designed for radio and looking at the industry in new ways,��said Irving Azoff of Azoff Music Management, a representative of the band. ��t�� fitting that a group that�� played such an integral role in radio and music history would be the first band to take such a major step — helping the music industry create a sustainable digital marketplace so it can thrive for decades to come. We��e delighted to join Clear Channel in creating a new model for the music industry, one that will be good for performing artists, good for music fans, and good for the people who have invested their talent, time and money.��/p>

  • [By CRWE]

    Today, CCMO surged (+0.82%) up +0.05 at $6.15 with 8,240 shares in movement thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 10:27AM EDT June 19, 2013).

    Clear Channel Media & Entertainment and Fleetwood Mac previously reported a landmark agreement ��the first direct performing rights partnership between a radio company and an artist ��that will enable the group to receive revenue from airplay on Clear Channel�� digital and broadcast radio platforms. The group�� new EP, Extended Play, features the first recording of new Fleetwood Mac music since the release of ��ay You Will��over a decade ago.

    ��leetwood Mac has consistently pushed the envelope ��creating new sounds, making music that seems designed for radio and looking at the industry in new ways,��said Irving Azoff of Azoff Music Management, a representative of the band. ��t�� fitting that a group that�� played such an integral role in radio and music history would be the first band to take such a major step — helping the music industry create a sustainable digital marketplace so it can thrive for decades to come. We��e delighted to join Clear Channel in creating a new model for the music industry, one that will be good for performing artists, good for music fans, and good for the people who have invested their talent, time and money.��/p>

  • [By CRWE]

    Last Friday, CCMO remained (0.00%) +0.000 at $4.90 at the close (ref. google finance August 9, 2013 ��Close).

    CC Media Holdings, Inc. previously reported financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2013.

    Revenue grew 1% to $1.6 billion, excluding foreign exchange and divestitures
    OIBDAN1 declined 5% year over year to $505 million, excluding foreign exchange and divestitures; OIBDAN margin of 31%
    Extended $5.0 billion of term loans to 2019 from 2016, and exchanged senior notes due 2016 for senior notes due 2021

  • [By CRWE]

    Today, CCMO� remains (0.00%) +0.000 at $4.71 thus far (ref. google finance Delayed:�� 3:18PM EDT August 5, 2013).

    CC Media Holdings, Inc. previously reported financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2013.

    Revenue grew 1% to $1.6 billion, excluding foreign exchange and divestitures
    OIBDAN1 declined 5% year over year to $505 million, excluding foreign exchange and divestitures; OIBDAN margin of 31%
    Extended $5.0 billion of term loans to 2019 from 2016, and exchanged senior notes due 2016 for senior notes due 2021

10 Best Cheapest Stocks To Buy For 2014: Extreme Biodiesel Inc (XTRM)

Extreme Biodiesel Inc., formerly Book Merge Technology, Inc., incorporated on February 28, 2008, is engaged in manufacturing of home biodiesel processors. The Company focuses to produce alternative fuel. The Company has a bio diesel refinery and factory for refining diesel oil and manufacturing bio diesel processors. On October 11, 2010, the Company acquired a 51% interest in EGT. on October 11, 2010, the reverse acquisition was effected. On March 31, 2011, the Company completed the acquisition of EGT.

The Company�� products include standard extractor, extreme extractor, extreme mini-refinery, extreme purification system, titration kit, dispensing pump with meter and oil collection pump. The standard extractor is a biodiesel processor, which requires a water-wash process to purify the biodiesel. Extreme extractor is a waterless purification system. The Mini Refinery is the waterless system, which can make 600 gallons of quality biodiesel per day.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Peter Graham]

    Small cap resource or green stocks Paradigm Resource Management Corp (OTCMKTS: PRDC), Extreme Biodiesel Inc (OTCMKTS: XTRM) and Pan Global Corp (OTCMKTS: PGLO) have all been getting some attention lately thanks in part to a few paid stock promotions. However, two of these small cap appear to be the subject of minimal paid promotion activity, but even a small paid promotion or investor relations campaign can increase a stock�� volatility. So do these three small cap resource or green stocks have what it takes to deliver some Christmas cheer for investors and traders alike? Here is a quick reality check:

10 Best Cheapest Stocks To Buy For 2014: Allergan Inc. (AGN)

Allergan, Inc., a multi-specialty healthcare company, discovers, develops, and commercializes specialty pharmaceutical, medical device, and over-the-counter products for the ophthalmic, neurological, medical aesthetics, medical dermatological, breast aesthetics, obesity intervention, urological, and other specialty markets worldwide. It operates in two segments, Specialty Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices. The Specialty Pharmaceuticals segment offers a range of pharmaceutical products, including ophthalmic products for chronic dry eye, glaucoma therapy, ocular inflammation, infection, allergy, and retinal diseases; Botox for the therapeutic and aesthetic indications; skin care products for acne, psoriasis, and other skin care products; eyelash growth products; and urologics products. The Medical Devices segment offers a range of medical devices, such as breast implants for augmentation, revision, and reconstructive surgery; obesity intervention products, including the La p-Band System and the Orbera Intragastric Balloon System; and facial aesthetics products. The company also offers Contigen for the treatment of urinary incontinence due to intrinsic sphincter deficiency. It sells its products to drug wholesalers, independent and chain drug stores, pharmacies, commercial optical chains, opticians, mass merchandisers, food stores, hospitals, group purchasing organizations, integrated direct hospital networks, and ambulatory surgery centers, as well as to medical practitioners, including ophthalmologists, neurologists, dermatologists, plastic and reconstructive surgeons, aesthetic specialty physicians, bariatric surgeons, pediatricians, urologists, and general practitioners. Allergan, Inc. has strategic research collaboration agreements with ExonHit Therapeutics S.A.; Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; and Pieris AG. The company was founded in 1948 and is headquartered in Irvine, California.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Sean Williams]

    No headaches for Allergan shareholders
    Up first is the PDUFA decision on Allergan's (NYSE: AGN  ) inhaled migraine medication Levadex on Monday. MAP Pharmaceuticals received a complete response letter for Levadex in March 2012 because of manufacturing deficiencies and its delivery device. Levadex wasn't denied, though, based on safety or efficacy. This was a clean cue to investors that Levadex's approval seemed like a sure thing barring it worked hand-in-hand with the FDA to meet its demands. With Allergan taking that cue as a reason to buy MAP earlier this year for $958 million, Monday represents decision day as to whether the company has made adequate fixes to its delivery device and manufacturing process to satisfy the FDA.

  • [By ovenerio]

    In this article, let麓s see one of the most important financial ratios applying to stockholders, the best measure of performance for a firm's management: the Return on Equity (ROE), and we are going to analyze it in the case of Allergan Inc. (AGN)

  • [By Jayson Derrick]

    Allergan's (NYSE: AGN) request to speed up its lawsuit against Valeant Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: VRX) and Bill Ackman's Pershing Square was denied by a California federal judge. Separately, Reuters reported that Valeant and Pershing Square will submit a request to Allergan for a special shareholder meeting, as they have support from more than 30 percent of shareholders. Shares of Allergan gained 0.72 percent, closing at $165.56, while shares of Valeant gained 3.03 percent, closing at $117.26.

  • [By Garrett Cook]

    Salix Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SLXP) shares shot up 5.52 percent to $168.66 on report of takeover talks with Allergan. Allergan (NYSE: AGN) is set to acquire Salix Pharmaceuticals in a deal probably worth more than $10 billion, according to Dow Jones Newswires.