Best Financial Stocks To Own Right Now

The most public face of Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT  ) is through its Windows, Office, and Xbox brands, but the company's enterprise presence is not only substantial, it is critical to its financial success. Microsoft recently added three significant corporate clients to its cloud and server services division, flexing its enterprise might.�

In the below video, Fool.com contributor Doug Ehrman discusses the addition of these new customers and some of the impacts that are already being seen. With Microsoft reporting earnings soon, enterprise results will play a critical role.

It's been a frustrating path for Microsoft investors, who've watched the company fail to capitalize on the incredible growth in mobile over the past decade. However, with the release of its own tablet, along with the widely anticipated Windows 8 operating system, the company is looking to make a splash in this booming market. In this brand-new premium report on Microsoft, our analyst explains that while the opportunity is huge, the challenges are many. He's also providing regular updates as key events occur, so make sure to claim a copy of this report now by clicking here.

Best Prefered Stocks To Watch For 2015: Aspen Insurance Holdings Ltd (AHL)

Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited (Aspen Holdings), incorporated on May 23, 2002, is a holding company. The Company conducts insurance and reinsurance business through its subsidiaries in three jurisdictions: Aspen Insurance UK Limited (Aspen U.K.) and Aspen Underwriting Limited (AUL), corporate member of Syndicate 4711 at Lloyd�� of London (United Kingdom), Aspen Bermuda Limited (Aspen Bermuda) and Aspen Specialty Insurance Company (Aspen Specialty) and Aspen American Insurance Company (AAIC). Aspen U.K. also has branches in Paris (France), Zurich (Switzerland), Dublin (Ireland), Cologne (Germany), Singapore, Australia and Canada. It operates in the global markets for property and casualty insurance and reinsurance. It manages its insurance and reinsurance businesses as two distinct underwriting segments, Aspen Insurance and Aspen Reinsurance (Aspen Re), to serve its global customer base. Its insurance segment is consisted of property, casualty, marine, energy and transportation insurance and financial and professional lines insurance. Its reinsurance segment is consisted of property reinsurance (catastrophe and other), casualty reinsurance and specialty reinsurance. In April 2013, the reinsurance segment of the Company announced the formation of a new division, Aspen Capital Markets.

In the Company�� insurance segment, property, casualty and financial and professional lines insurance business is written in the London Market through Aspen U.K. and in the United States through Aspen Specialty and AAIC. Its marine, energy and transportation insurance business is written through Aspen U.K. and AUL, which is the corporate member of Syndicate 4711 at Lloyd�� of London (Lloyd��), managed by Aspen Managing Agency Limited (AMAL). It also writes casualty business through AUL. In reinsurance, property reinsurance business is assumed by Aspen Bermuda and Aspen U.K. The property reinsurance business written in the United States is written by Aspen Re America and ARA-CA as reinsurance intermed! iaries with offices in Connecticut, Illinois, Florida, New York, Georgia and California. The business written in the United States is produced by Aspen Re America.

Reinsurance

The Company�� reinsurance segment consists of property catastrophe reinsurance, other property reinsurance (risk excess, pro rata, risk solutions and facultative), casualty reinsurance (the United States treaty, international treaty and global facultative) and specialty reinsurance (credit and surety, structured, agriculture and specialty). Property catastrophe reinsurance is written on a treaty excess of loss basis where it provides protection to an insurer for an agreed portion of the total losses from a single event in excess of a specified loss amount. In the event of a loss, contracts provide for coverage of a second occurrence following the payment of a premium to reinstate the coverage under the contract, which is referred to as a reinstatement premium. The coverage provided under excess of loss reinsurance contracts may be on a global basis or limited in scope to selected regions or geographical areas.

Other property reinsurance includes risk excess of loss and proportional treaty reinsurance, facultative or single risk reinsurance and its risk solutions business. Risk excess of loss reinsurance provides coverage to a reinsured where it experiences a loss in excess of its retention level on a single risk basis. Proportional contracts involve close client relationships, including regular audits of the cedants��data. Its risk solutions business writes property insurance risks for a select group of the United States program managers. Casualty reinsurance is written on an excess of loss, proportional and facultative basis and consists of the United States treaty, international treaty and casualty facultative. Its United States treaty business consists of exposures to workers��compensation (including catastrophe), medical malpractice, general liability, auto liability, professional l! iability ! and excess liability, including umbrella liability. Its international treaty business reinsures exposures respect to general liability, auto liability, professional liability, workers��compensation and excess liability.

Specialty reinsurance is written on an excess of loss and proportional basis and consists of credit and surety reinsurance, structured risks, agriculture reinsurance and other specialty lines. Its credit and surety reinsurance business consists of trade credit reinsurance, international surety reinsurance (mainly European, Japanese and Latin American risks and excluding the United States) and a political risks portfolio. Its agricultural reinsurance business is written on a treaty basis covering crop and multi-peril business. Other specialty lines include reinsurance treaties and some insurance policies covering policyholders��interests in marine, energy, liability aviation, space, contingency, terrorism, nuclear, personal accident and crop reinsurance. A percentage of the property reinsurance contracts it writes exclude coverage for losses arising from the peril of terrorism. These contracts exclude coverage protecting against nuclear, biological or chemical attack.

The Company competes Arch Capital Group Ltd., Axis Capital Holdings Limited (Axis), Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd. (Endurance), Everest Re Group Limited, Lancashire Holdings Limited, Montpelier Re Holdings Limited, PartnerRe Ltd., Platinum Underwriters Holdings Ltd., Renaissance Re Holdings Ltd., Validus Holdings Ltd., XL Capital Ltd. (XL) and various Lloyd�� syndicates.

Insurance

The Company�� insurance segment consists of property insurance, casualty insurance, marine, energy and transportation insurance and financial and professional lines insurance. Its property insurance line comprises the United Kingdom commercial property and construction business and the United States property business. Property insurance provides physical damage and business interruption! coverage! for losses arising from weather, fire, theft and other causes. The United States commercial property team covers mercantile, manufacturing, municipal and commercial real estate business. The United States property also includes its program business, which writes property insurance risks for a select group of the United States program managers. The United Kingdom commercial team�� client base is predominantly the United Kingdom institutional property owners, middle market corporates and public sector clients.

The Company�� casualty insurance line comprises commercial liability, global excess casualty, the United States casualty insurance and environmental liability, written on a primary, quota share and facultative basis. Commercial liability is written in the United Kingdom and provides employers��liability coverage and public liability coverage for insureds domiciled in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The global excess casualty line comprises risk-managed insureds globally and covers risks at points, including general liability, commercial and residential construction liability, life science, railroads, trucking, product and public liability and associated types of cover found in general liability policies in the global insurance market. The United States casualty account consists of lines written within the general liability and umbrella liability insurance sectors. Coverage on its general liability line is offered on those risks that are miscellaneous, products liability, contractors (general contractors and artisans), real estate and retail risks and other general liability business. The United States environmental account provides contractors��pollution liability and pollution legal liability across industry segments that have environmental regulatory drivers and contractual requirements for coverage, including real estate and public entities, contractors and engineers, energy contractors and environmental contractors and consultants. The business is written in both the primar! y and exc! ess insurance markets.

The Company�� marine, energy and transportation insurance line comprises marine, energy and construction (M.E.C.) liability, energy physical damage, marine hull, specie, inland marine and ocean risks and aviation, written on a primary, quota share and facultative basis. The M.E.C. liability business includes marine liability cover related to the liabilities of ship-owners and port operators, including reinsurance of Protection and Indemnity Clubs (P&I Clubs). It also provides liability cover for companies in the oil and gas sector, both onshore and offshore and in the power generation and the United States commercial construction sectors. Energy physical damage provides insurance cover against physical damage losses in addition to Operators Extra Expenses (OEE) for companies operating in the oil and gas exploration and production sector. The marine hull team insures physical damage for ships (including war and associated perils) and related marine assets. The specie business line focuses on the insurance of property items on an all risks basis, including fine art, general and bank related specie, jewelers��block and armored car. The inland marine and ocean cargo team writes business covering builders��construction risk, contractors��equipment, transportation and ocean cargo risks in addition to exhibition, fine arts and museums insurance.

The aviation team writes physical damage insurance on hulls and spares (including war and associated perils) and comprehensive legal liability for airlines, smaller operators of airline equipment, airports and associated business and non-critical component part manufacturers. It also provides aviation hull deductible cover. Its financial and professional lines comprise financial institutions, professional liability (including management and technology liability), financial and political risks and the United States surety risks, written on a primary, quota share and facultative basis. Its financial institutions ! business ! is written on both a primary and excess of loss basis and consists of professional liability, crime insurance and directors��and officers��(D&O) cover. It covers financial institutions, including commercial and investment banks, asset managers, insurance companies, stockbrokers and insureds with hybrid business models. Its professional liability business is written out of the United States (including Errors and Omissions (E&O)), the United Kingdom and Switzerland and is written on both a primary and excess of loss basis.

The Company insures a range of professions, including lawyers, accountants, architects and engineers. Its management and technology liability teams write on both a primary and excess basis D&O insurance, technology-related policies in the areas of network privacy, misuse of data and cyber liability and warranty and indemnity insurance in connection with, or to facilitate, corporate transactions. The financial and political risks team writes business covering the credit/default risk on a range of project and trade transactions, as well as political risks, terrorism (including multi-year war on land cover), piracy and kidnap and ransom (K&R). It writes financial and political risks globally but with concentrations in a range of countries, such as Russia, China, Brazil, the Netherlands and United States. Its surety team writes commercial surety risks, admiralty bonds and similar maritime undertakings, including federal and public official bonds, license and permits and fiduciary and miscellaneous bonds and privately owned companies in the United States.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Equities Trading UP
  Aspen Insurance Holdings (NYSE: AHL) shares shot up 11.05 percent to $43.72 after Endurance Specialty Holdings (NYSE: ENH) offered to buy Aspen Insurance for $47.50 per share in a cash and stock deal.

Best Financial Stocks To Own Right Now: Hatteras Financial Corp (HTS)

Hatteras Financial Corp., incorporated on September 19, 2007, is an externally managed mortgage real estate investment trust (REIT) that invests primarily in single-family residential mortgage pass-through securities guaranteed or issued by the United States Government agency (such as the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae)), or by the United States Government-sponsored entity (such as the Federal National Mortgage Association, (Fannie Mae)), and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, (Freddie Mac)). The Company is externally managed and advised by its manager, Atlantic Capital Advisors LLC.

The Company focuses on agency securities consisting of mortgage loans with short durations. The agency securities consist of mortgages that have principal and interest payments guaranteed by Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. It invests in both fixed-rate and adjustable-rate agency securities. Adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) are mortgages that have floating interest rates that reset on a specific time schedule, such as monthly, quarterly or annually, based on a specified index, such as the 12-month moving average of the one-year constant maturity United States Treasury rate (CMT) or the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR). The ARMs it generally invests in, sometimes referred to as hybrid ARMS, have interest rates that are fixed for an initial period (typically three, five, seven or 10 years) and then reset annually thereafter to an increment over a pre-determined interest rate index.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Amanda Alix]

  A great year for mortgage REITs
  American Capital Agency went public in 2008, a year that saw other mREITs such as Hatteras Financial� (NYSE: HTS  ) , and Armour Residential� (NYSE: ARR  ) enter the territory as well. Groundbreaker Annaly had shown that the carry trade could be lucrative, and the ultra-low short-term interest rate environment created a perfect climate for new companies to enter the playing field.

• [By Zain Zafar]

  Hatteras Financial (NYSE: HTS  ) �was one of the worst performers during the period despite following a relatively conservative strategy of investing mostly in adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) mortgage-backed securities, as opposed to fixed-rate 30-year MBSes that can often carry a larger interest rate risk.�

Best Financial Stocks To Own Right Now: 1st Constitution Bancorp(NJ)

1st Constitution Bancorp operates as a bank holding company for 1st Constitution Bank that provides community banking services to corporations, individuals, partnerships, and other community organizations in the central and northeastern New Jersey area. It offers various deposit products, including noninterest bearing demand deposits, interest bearing demand deposits, savings deposits, and time deposits, as well as certificates of deposit, and money market and NOW accounts. The company also provides a range of loan products comprising commercial loans for working capital, business expansion, and the purchase of equipment and machinery; construction loans to real estate developers for the acquisition, development and construction of residential subdivisions; residential consumer loans; term loans; lines of credit; loans secured by equipment and receivables; second mortgage home improvement loans; home equity lines of credit; and non-residential consumer loans for automobile s, recreation vehicles, and boats, as well as secured and unsecured personal loans, and deposit account secured loans. It provides its services through a network of 14 branches. The company was founded in 1989 and is based in Cranbury, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Nidec (NYSE: NJ) shares climbed 2.75% to $20.17. The volume of Nidec shares traded was 506% higher than normal. Nidec's trailing-twelve-month revenue is $9.42 billion.

• [By Mark Skousen]

  And that brings me to Nidec (NJ). Based in Kyoto, Japan, Nidec manufactures small- to mid-size motors, fan motors, and pivot assemblies used in dozens of IT products, as well as home appliances, automobiles, office equipment, and industrial machinery.

Best Financial Stocks To Own Right Now: Lazard LTD. (LAZ)

Lazard Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a financial advisory and asset management firm. The company�s Financial Advisory segment offers various advisory services on mergers and acquisitions, and other strategic matters, as well as on restructurings, capital structure, capital raising, and other financial matters. Its Asset Management segment provides investment solutions and investment management services in equity and fixed income strategies; and alternative investments and private equity funds. The company serves corporations, governments, institutions, partnerships, and individual clients. It operates from 42 cities across 27 countries in Europe, North America, Asia, Australia, the Middle East, and Central and South Americas. Lazard Ltd. was founded in 1848 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Marc Bastow]

  Financial advisory and asset manager Lazard (LAZ) raised its quarterly dividend 20% to 30 cents per share, payable on Feb. 21 to shareholders of record as of Feb. 10.
  LAZ Dividend Yield: 2.79%

• [By MONEYMORNING]

  Through his Trian Partners fund, Nelson Peltz also owns large stakes in Pepsico Inc. (NYSE: PEP), Family Dollar Stores Inc. (NYSE: FDO), Du Pont E I De Nemours & Co. (NYSE: DD), and Lazard Ltd. (NYSE: LAZ).

• [By EXPstocktrader]

  1) Lazard (LAZ): Management meetings highlight under-appreciated earnings drivers; raising PT to $85; BUY

  2) Bank of America/Merrill Lynch (BAC): Questcor Pharmaceuticals is upgraded from "neutral" to "buy." The target price has been raised from $58 to $80.

Best Financial Stocks To Own Right Now: Fifth Street Senior Floating Rate Corp (FSFR)

Fifth Street Senior Floating Rate Corp., incorporated on May 22, 2013, is a closed-end, non-diversified management investment company. The Company investment objective is to maximize the Company�� portfolio�� total return by generating income from its debt investments while seeking to preserve its capital. The Company intends to achieve its investment objective by investing primarily in senior secured loans, including first lien, unitranche and second lien debt instruments, that pay interest at rates, which are determined periodically on the basis of a floating base lending rate, made to private middle market companies whose debt is rated below investment grade, which the Company refer to collectively as senior loans. The Company�� investment adviser is Fifth Street Management.

The Company may also invest in senior unsecured loans issued by private middle market companies and, to a lesser extent, subordinated loans issued by private middle market companies and senior and subordinated loans issued by public companies. Under normal market conditions, at least 80% of the value of its net assets plus borrowings for investment purposes will be invested in floating rate senior loans. Senior loans pay interest at rates, which are determined periodically on the basis of the London-Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) plus a premium. Senior loans in which the Company expects to invest are made to United States and, to a limited extent, non- United States corporations, partnerships and other business entities which operate in various industries and geographical regions.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Marc Bastow]

  Management investment company Fifth Street Senior Floating Rate Corp. (FSFR) raised its quarterly dividend 15% to 23 cents per share, payable April 15 to shareholders of record as of March 31.
  FSFR Stock�Dividend Yield: 6.88%

Best Financial Stocks To Own Right Now: Western Asset Inflation Management Fund Inc (IMF)

Western Asset Inflation Management Fund Inc. (the Fund), incorporated on March 16, 2004, is a non-diversified, closed-end management investment company. The Fund�� primary investment objective is total return.

Current income is a secondary investment objective. Legg Mason Partners Fund Advisor, LLC (LMPFA) is the Fund�� investment manager and Western Asset Management Company (Western Asset) is the Fund�� sub adviser.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jim Jubak]

  Good news on consumer spending in November, Apple's (AAPL) iPhone deal with China Mobile (CHL), and an upgrade on US economic prospects in 2014, from International Monetary Fund's (IMF) managing director Christine Lagarde, pretty much guarantees that Santa will visit Wall Street this year. And just about on schedule. The Santa Claus rally is short and, in most years, sweet. It takes in the last five trading sessions of the old year and the first two trading sessions of the new. The average annual gain for that period, since 1972, for the Standard & Poor's 500 (SPX) is about 1.5%, according to the Stock Trader's Almanac.

• [By Canadian Value]

  From a macroeconomic viewpoint, our optimism for Asian markets��strong long-term potential is based on three main factors. First, when compared with developed markets generally, Asia�� emerging markets have had higher rates of historic economic growth, and growth expectations for the year ahead are generally higher as well. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects growth in developing Asia of 6.5% in 2014, compared with 2% in developed markets generally.1Since 1999, the region has seen strong growth even in 2009 when developed markets fell into recession, as you can see in the chart below.

• [By Canadian Value]

  Economically��/p> The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has lowered its estimate of world Gross Domestic Product�(GDP) growth going forward. Germany (the strongest economy in Europe) has reported disappointing numbers, particularly in capital goods. It looks like Europe is back in recession. The U.S. Federal Reserve Bank (Fed) lowered its estimates of U.S. GDP growth for the next four years. Crude oil, which was trading in a range of $100-$110/barrel, fell to $82/barrel The surprise was an announcement by Saudi Arabia that they would not try to keep the price above $100/barrel. This is a change from their prior policy.

  Markets��/p>