Undervalued Stocks To Buy For 2019: May 2015

Sunday, May 31, 2015

Not All Gold Is Created Equal: What to Know Before You Buy

If you own gold, or are thinking of buying some, here's something you need to consider...

It's not all the same.

Some, like fake gold-painted lead ingots, have no value whatsoever.

Some gold said to be in storage or in the ground may not even be there at all.

There are a number of aspects of gold's quality, whether it's real or even exists, that every investor needs to know...

The Best Gold to Buy

When investors evaluate gold mining companies, for example, there are a lot of factors to consider, like politics, infrastructure, deposit size and location, etc.

But one crucial element is the quality of the ore. The more highly concentrated the gold is per ton of rock, the less it will typically cost to produce each ounce.

When looking to buy gold coins, it's usually the gold content that differentiates various types.

gold For North Americans, the four coins at left are among the most popular. Although they all contain 1 full troy ounce of gold, some also contain other metals, like copper, which makes the coin harder and therefore less subject to wear and tear.

Both of the American coins typically command somewhat higher premiums than either their Canadian or South African brethren, thanks to their level of recognition in North America.

Nonetheless, the Maple Leaf and Krugerrand are both among the most popular coins worldwide.

Although these coins are produced by their respective national mints, only the Krugerrand does not carry a face value. Of course, those that do are clearly worth much more than the stated $50, but this does make them legal tender in their issuing countries. The two American and one Canadian coin I've described are guaranteed by their respective governments for both content and purity.

Another popular gold investment option is gold bars.

One very significant characteristic here is to consider whether the bars are "good delivery" or not. Essentially, good delivery bars are sourced from a reputable refiner who is on the "good delivery" list of the industry standard London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) and the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX).

Bars bearing the stamp and fineness of these refiners are typically readily accepted by gold dealers, allowing the seller an easier transaction and higher value.

Of course there's always a risk, however slight, that a gold coin or bar may be counterfeit. But there are a number of ways for you to assess whether or not your gold is real. Back in early 2013, I wrote an article titled Seven Ways to Tell if Your Gold Is Counterfeit to address this very topic.

Does America Really Have Its Gold? Government Steps In...

President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 6102 on April 5, 1933, 'forbidding the hoarding of gold coin, gold bullion, and gold certificates within the continental United States.' In effect, the order meant the possession of monetary gold was made criminal. The rationale for confiscation was that citizens were "hoarding" gold, which was impeding growth in the economy, thereby exacerbating the depression. In effect, since U.S. dollars were exchangeable for gold at a fixed price ($20.67), Treasury was restricted in its money printing by the amount of gold it held. A large infusion through confiscation dramatically increased the government's gold holdings, whose value was further increased when Treasury raised the gold price to $35 per ounce. The rest is history. "

There's also the issue of where individual nations' gold is stored, and whether it's even there at all.

Former Congressman Ron Paul has long questioned whether Fort Knox indeed holds the 5,000 tons of gold we're told it does.

Paul has pressed for an independent audit and even introduced legislation calling for one back in 2011. But this was never passed.

The last time Fort Knox was audited dates back to 1953. No outside experts were allowed to participate, and only a tiny 5% of the gold was even tested. Back then, the U.S. held more than 20,000 tons. That's since been sold down to the current official level of 8,133 metric tons.

It's true that (sadly) gold is not used to back the U.S. dollar. But if ever it were revealed that even some of the nation's gold reserves had been sold without it being reported, it could lead to a massive loss of confidence in government, and by extension the U.S. dollar. This has serious implications, since the greenback has long been the de facto reserve currency for the world.

And without auditing and testing it, there's no assurance of what's really there.

Most of the gold coins confiscated by Roosevelt's Executive Order 6102 in 1933 were melted down. The resulting bars held today could have a high copper content, meaning some of America's gold may not even be good delivery quality.

Know Your Gold

Whether you have a stake in gold through coins, bars, or even gold mining shares, it's imperative that you know whether it's real and understand the quality of what you own.

If ever an audit of Fort Knox takes place, make sure you own some bullion yourself (in advance of the results), in case the outcome disappoints and potentially brings about major dollar weakness.

So what can you do to hedge against a crashing U.S. dollar? One idea is to look toward oil.

Crude oil is not only the most widely traded commodity, it's also crucial for the world to function. But owning oil futures for an extended period can be costly. And investing in oil futures through ETFs comes with decay problems from rolling over contracts.

I like the idea of investing in a group of the largest integrated energy companies, oil and gas explorers/producers, and energy equipment and services. It's like a call option on energy with no expiry date. One of the best alternatives in this sector is the Vanguard Energy ETF (NYSE: VDE).

This ETF provides instant diversification within the energy space, currently trades at a reasonable P/E of 14, and pays a 1.63% dividend, all with an annual expense ratio of just 0.14%

The bottom line is make certain you know what you own. In the end, the biggest counterfeiters of all are central banks and their currency printing sprees. So if it turns out America's gold is gone, holding the real thing could be the best insurance of all.

Thursday, May 28, 2015

John Rogers' Ariel Funds March Commentary

Plenty of people talk about "endpoint sensitivity," but oftentimes they miss half the story. That is, in a data series there are really two endpoints—the last one and the first one. As standardized one-year, three-year, and five-year periods roll along, people focus great attention on the most recent month and tend to forget about the month that "goes away." Making this mistake in 2014 could prove harmful when examining five-year returns.

Below are some recent returns for Ariel Fund. One reason we have selected our flagship mutual fund for this illustration is because its relative performance recently has been quite stable. Over the five years ended February 28th, 2014, it was the top-performing fund in Morningstar's Mid-Cap Blend category. It remained on top for the five-year period as of March 31* . At first glance, however, its absolute returns look like they changed a lot in one month:

Here is how the five-year return as of Fe bruary 28, 2014, can be seen: it started wi th a +13.14% return in March 2009, then ha d 59 months that totaled a +278.06% cumulative return. Together that made for a +327.75% cumulative return due to the wonder of compounding. Four weeks later, you have a +278.06% 59 -month gain and then a -0.83% loss, which comes out to a +274.92% cumulative return. Were this simply a one-month phenomenon, we would not spend so much time on the topic. It is very far indeed from a one- month event. Below are the monthly return s for Ariel from the last nine months of 2009—these are the months that will "go away" from the front-end of the five-yea r return as we progress through 2014.

As you can see, 2009 featured some ginormous monthly gains. On ly May and June of 2009 look like monthly figures; the rest frankly look more like annual gains (or an annual loss as in Octo ber). So you should brace yourself for absolute five-year ret urns that appear volatile going forward. This will be true not just for Ariel Fund or all of our portfolios, but for the investment s you own generally. Unless 2014 features some heroic returns, the absolute gains of the investments in y our portfolio will appear to dr op when viewed through the standardized five-year window. There ar e two key things to remember. First, when a five-year number goes down this year, it probably does not mean poor recent performance—it likely means the "l oss" of good performance from 2009. Second, and even more importantly, that performance from 2009 does not actually go away —the standardized sixty-month window simply does not capture it any more . This is one of the huge reasons we re mind investors to examine since-inception returns: they are the most statistically valid returns because th ey hold the most information, an d, just as importantly, they do not ignore any return data.

The opinions expressed are current as of the date of this comme ntary but are subject to change. The information provided in thi s commentary does not provide information reas onably sufficient upon which to base an investment decision and should not be considered a recommendation to purchase or sell any particular security. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Investing in small and mid-cap stocks is more risky and more vo latile than investing in large cap stocks. The intrinsic value o f the stocks in which the Fund invests may never be recognized by th e broader market. Ariel Fund often invests a significant portion of its assets in companies within the financ ial services and consumer discretionary se ctors and its performance may suffer if thes e sectors underperform the overall stock market . Performance data quoted represents past performance. Past performance does not guarantee future results. All performance assumes the reinvestme nt of dividends and capital gains and represents returns of th e Investor Class shares. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor's shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. For the period ended March 31, 2014, the average annual total returns of Ariel Fund (Investor Class) for the one- , five- and ten-year periods were +23.74%, + 30.25% and +7.37%, respectively. Ariel Fund 's Investor Class shares had an annual expense ratio of 1.03% for the year ended September 30, 2013.

Pe rformance data current to the most recent month-end for Ariel Fund may be obtained by visiting our web site, arielinvestments.com. Investors should consider carefully the inve stment objectives, risks, and charges and expenses before investing. For a current prospectus or summary prospectus which contains this and other information about the funds offered by Ariel Investment Trust, c all us at 800-292-7435 or visit our web site, arielin vestments.com. Please read the prospect us or summary prospectus carefully befo re investing. Distributed by Ariel Distributors, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ariel Investments, LLC

Also check out: John Rogers Undervalued Stocks John Rogers Top Growth Companies John Rogers High Yield stocks, and Stocks that John Rogers keeps buying

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Wednesday, May 27, 2015

2 Chinese Stocks Rising on Big Volume

DELAFIELD, Wis. (Stockpickr) -- Professional traders running mutual funds and hedge funds don't just look at a stock's price moves; they also track big changes in volume activity. Often when above-average volume moves into an equity, it precedes a large spike in volatility.

>>5 Stocks Insiders Love Right Now

Major moves in volume can signal unusual activity, such as insider buying or selling -- or buying or selling by "superinvestors."

Unusual volume can also be a major signal that hedge funds and momentum traders are piling into a stock ahead of a catalyst. These types of traders like to get in well before a large spike, so it's always a smart move to monitor unusual volume. That said, remember to combine trend and price action with unusual volume. Put them all together to help you decipher the next big trend for any stock.

>>Hedge Funds Are Selling These 5 Stocks -- Should You?

With that in mind, let's take a look at several stocks rising on unusual volume recently.

21Vianet Group

21Vianet Group (VNET) provides carrier-neutral Internet data center services in the People's Republic of China. This stock closed up 2.5% at $31.55 in Wednesday's trading session.

Wednesday's Volume: 2.41 million

Three-Month Average Volume: 853,687

Volume % Change: 206%

>>5 Stocks Set to Soar on Bullish Earnings

From a technical perspective, VNET jumped higher here and traded into new all-time-high territory with monster upside volume. This stock has been on fire uptrending strong for the last three months and change, with shares moving higher from its low of $16.27 to its intraday high of $32.19. During that uptrend, shares of VENT have been making mostly higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in VNET as long as it's trending above some near-term support at $29 and then once it sustains a move or close above Wednesday's high of $32.19 with volume that hits near or above 853,687 shares. If we get that move soon, then VNET will set up to enter new all-time-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that move are $35 to $40.

Kongzhong

Kongzhong (KONG) provides digital entertainment services in the People's Republic of China. This stock closed up 5.2% to $11.08 in Wednesday's trading session.

Wednesday's Volume: 1.47 million

Three-Month Average Volume: 268,710

Volume % Change: 414%

>>5 Rocket Stocks Worth Buying This Week

From a technical perspective, KONG jumped higher here and broke out above some near-term overhead resistance at $10.60 with heavy upside volume. This stock has been uptrending strong for the last month and change, with shares moving higher from its low of $7.51 to its intraday high of $11.57. During that move, shares of KONG have been consistently making higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in KONG as long as it's trending above Wednesday's low of $10.47 or above more support at $10 and then once it sustains a move or close above Wednesday's high of $11.57 with volume that hits near or above 268,710 shares. If we get that move soon, then KONG will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $13.64 to its 52-week high at $14.92.

To see more stocks rising on unusual volume, check out the Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume portfolio on Stockpickr.

-- Written by Roberto Pedone in Delafield, Wis.

Top Mid Cap Stocks To Watch For 2016

Top Mid Cap Stocks To Watch For 2016: Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. (BIN)

Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. operates as a vertically integrated non-hazardous solid waste management company in North America. It operates through three segments: Canada, the U.S. south, and the U.S. northeast. The company provides waste collection, transfer, recycling, and disposal services to commercial, industrial, municipal, and residential customers in 13 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and 6 Canadian provinces. It also owns and operates a power generating plant fuelled by landfill gas; and generates and sells methane gas. The company was formerly known as IESI-BFC Ltd. and changed its name to Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. in May 2011. Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. was founded in 2001 and is based in Vaughan, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Sean Williams]
Keep in mind, though, this is a sectorwide problem, not just one affecting Waste Management. Canada's Progressive Waste Solutions (NYSE: BIN ) delivered an 11% increase in first-quarter revenue but succumbed to a decrease of 0.5% in recycling revenue because of lower realized metal prices.

source from Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/top-mid-cap-stocks-to-watch-for-2016.html

Monday, May 25, 2015

3 Tech Stocks Under $10 to Watch

DELAFIELD, Wis. (Stockpickr) -- At Stockpickr, we track daily portfolios of stocks that are the biggest percentage gainers and the biggest percentage losers.

>>5 Hated Earnings Stocks You Should Love

Stocks that are making large moves like these are favorites among short-term traders because they can jump into these names and try to capture some of that massive volatility. Stocks that are making big-percentage moves either up or down are usually in play because their sector is becoming attractive or they have a major fundamental catalyst such as a recent earnings release. Sometimes stocks making big moves have been hit with an analyst upgrade or an analyst downgrade.

Regardless of the reason behind it, when a stock makes a large-percentage move, it is often just the start of a new major trend -- a trend that can lead to huge profits. If you time your trade correctly, combining technical indicators with fundamental trends, discipline and sound money management, you will be well on your way to investment success.

>>5 Rocket Stocks for a Volatile Week

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at a several stocks under $10 that are making large moves to the upside.

Parkervision

Parkervision (PRKR) designs, develops and markets proprietary radio frequency technologies and products for use in semiconductor circuits for wireless communication products in the U.S. This stock closed up 2% to $4.91 in Tuesday's trading session.

Tuesday's Range: $4.33-$4.94

52-Week Range: $2.16-$7.78

Tuesday's Volume: 1.23 million

Three-Month Average Volume: 1.19 million

From a technical perspective, PRKR spiked modestly higher here right off its 50-day moving average of $4.48 with above-average volume. This spike is starting to push shares of PRKR within range of triggering a major breakout trade. That trade will hit if PRKR manages to take out Tuesday's high of $4.94 to some more near-term overhead resistance levels at $5.12 to $5.30 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in PRKR as long as it's trending above its 200-day at $4.08 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 1.19 million shares. If that breakout hits soon, then PRKR will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $6 to $7.

Identive Group

Identive Group (INVE) provides secure identification solutions that allow people to gain access to the buildings, networks, information, systems and services in the Americas, Europe and the Asia-Pacific. This stock closed up 7.4% to 99 cents per share in Tuesday's trading session.

Tuesday's Range: $0.90-$1.04

52-Week Range: $0.49-$1.60

Tuesday's Volume: 1.40 million

Three-Month Average Volume: 373,455

From a technical perspective, INVE spiked notably higher here right off some near-term support at 90 cents per share with heavy upside volume. This stock has been uptrending strong for the last two months, with shares ripping higher from its low of 49 cents to its recent high of $1.06. During that move, shares of INVE have been consistently making higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move has now pushed shares of INVE within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade. That trade will hit if INVE manages to take out Tuesday's high of $1.04 to some more near-term overhead resistance at $1.06 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in INVE as long as it's trending above 90 or 85 cents and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 373,455 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then INVE will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels $1.20 to its 52-week high at $1.60.

Camtek

Camtek (CAMT), together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures and markets automatic optical inspection systems and related products. This stock closed up 10.4% to $5.40 in Tuesday's trading session.

Tuesday's Range: $4.94-$5.60

52-Week Range: $1.35-$6.43

Tuesday's Volume: 4.31 million

Three-Month Average Volume: 2.35 million

From a technical perspective, CAMT spiked sharply higher here and broke out above some near-term overhead resistance at $5.29 with heavy upside volume. This stock has been uptrending strong for the last month and change, with shares moving higher from its low of $3.33 to its recent high of $5.68. During that uptrend, shares of CAMT have been consistently making higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move has now pushed shares of CAMT within range of triggering a major breakout trade. That trade will hit if CAMT manages to take out some key overhead resistance levels at $5.68 to $5.75 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in CAMT as long as it's trending above Tuesday's low of $4.95 or above more near-term support at $4.50 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 2.35 million shares. If that breakout hits soon, then CAMT will set up to re-test or possibly take out its 52-week high at $6.43. Any high-volume move above $6.43 will then give CAMT the chance to tag $8 a share.

Best Gas Stocks To Invest In Right Now

To see more stocks that are making notable moves higher, check out the Stocks Under $10 Moving Higher portfolio on Stockpickr.

-- Written by Roberto Pedone in Delafield, Wis.

Sunday, May 24, 2015

Top International Companies To Invest In 2015

The U.S. Department of Defense awarded 13 new contracts Wednesday, worth more than $730 million in aggregate. The largest of these awards, a $230 million contract to upgrade the U.S. Air Force's Digital Video Laboratory III, went to privately owned SRI International of Menlo Park, Calif. But publicly traded companies weren't entirely left out in the cold.

Johnson Controls' (NYSE: JCI ) Federal Systems unit, along with six private companies, all claimed the right to participate in a firm-fixed-price, option-filled, multiple-award, task-order contract worth up to $95 million. Under this contract, the seven winners will compete to complete task orders for providing "construction and equipment installation services" worldwide for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Verizon (NYSE: VZ ) Business Network Services won an $11.9 million modification of a contract to supply "managed network services" to the U.S. Army. And Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC ) won a $10.4 million contract modification to support unspecified "critical components" for U.S. and Coalition Partners in Afghanistan. The Pentagon noted in its announcement that the cumulative value of this latter contract is now approaching $198 million.

Editor's note: A previous version of this article incorrectly mentioned Smith & Wesson Holding Corp.�(NASDAQ: SWHC) as securing a contract. That is not the case. The Fool regrets the error.

5 Best Penny Stocks To Invest In 2016: Whitecap Resources Inc (SPGYF.PK)

Whitecap Resources Inc., formerly Spitfire Energy Ltd., is engaged in the exploration, development and production of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids in Western Canada. The Company�� activities are concentrated primarily in Northwest Central Alberta and Southwest Saskatchewan. On July 1, 2010, the Company amalgamated with its wholly owned subsidiary Whitecap Resources Inc. During fiscal 2010, the Company produced an average of 355 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed). On July 12, 2010, the Company entered into an agreement to acquire a private company. The primary assets to be acquired are located in the Pembina region of west central Alberta with production and reserves focused in the Cardium formation. In October 2013, the Company announced that it has completed the acquisition of a Cardium light oil property and a working interest consolidation of its Eagle Lake Viking unit. Advisors' Opinion:

[By Caiman Valores]
The recent surge in oil prices has renewed investor interest in the small-cap oil and gas E&P sector. One company that stands out for all the right reasons is Canadian domiciled small-cap, Whitecap Resources (SPGYF.PK). Since 2009 the company has unlocked considerable value for investors through a range of acquisitions as well as development and exploration projects. This has seen its share price surge in value to be up by almost 53% over the last year alone. However, it is clear that the market has yet to fully recognize the true value of Whitecap and there is still considerable upside potential of over 30% for investors. This along with Whitecap's dividend growth strategy makes it a particularly appealing deep-value investment in the oil and gas E&P sector.

Top International Companies To Invest In 2015: Woori Finance Holdings Co Ltd (WF)

Woori Finance Holdings Co., Ltd., incorporated on March 27, 2001, is a financial holding company. The Company serves over 24 million corporate and retail customers with a range of financial services, including commercial banking, credit card, capital market, international banking, wealth management and bancassurance services. The Company�� domestic network consists of more than 1,300 branches and 8,500 cash terminals. Its banking subsidiaries include Woori Bank, Kwangju Bank and Kyongnam Bank. Its non-banking subsidiaries include Woori Investment & Securities, Woori AVIVA Life Insurance, Woori CS Asset Management, Woori Financial, Woori Finance Information System, Woori F&I and Woori Private Equity.The Company established a new wholly owned subsidiary, on March 16, 2011. The new entity is mainly engaged in banking business.

The Company�� products in retail banking include Low-Carbon Green Deposit, Mommy Relief Deposit, Plus Savings Deposit, Plus Revolving Time Deposit, Solid Success Time Installment Deposit and Happy Time Installment Deposit. Mommy Relief Deposit facilitates response to locate missing children; the fingerprints of children under 10 are digitally recorded by the bank and made instantly available nationwide if the child should go missing. Plus Savings Deposit is a fixed-interest installment-based time deposit account that offers preferential rates to customers who also apply for credit card products. It also provides bonus services for special occasions and foreign travel. Plus Revolving Time Deposit is a compound-interest time deposit especially for customers who want to access their funds in under three months. Solid Success Time Installment Deposit is a time installment deposit product for business owners. It offers a sliding scale of interest rates if the customer purchases additional products, such as a retirement annuity. Happy Time Installment Deposit is a fixed-interest time installment deposit account for individuals. It also provides extra services for occasio! ns, such as weddings, overseas trips and the birth of a child.

The Company provides one-stop services to corporate clients through joint account management by Woori Bank, Woori Investment & Securities, Woori CS Asset Management and Woori Private Equity. It also carries out various sales and marketing activities to promote its products and services to domestic companies of all sizes. The Company supports small and medium-sized enterprise (SME). In addition to financial products, it also provides professional consulting services. Woori Bank ahs developed the Woori Robot Era Loan and Woori Green Solar Loan. To help family-owned businesses, Woori Bank operates the Woori Family Business Succession Consulting program.

Woori Bank has an investment banking firm in Hong Kong. Woori Financial Group acts as a developer of client specific derivatives. Woori Bank acts as a dealer in overseas index products, including NIKKEI and HSCEI-indexed derivatives. The Bank also sells comForex, combining F/X and spot transactions. As of December 31, 2009, the Company had 9.3 million cardholders. Woori Financial Group provides its private banking clients with financial solutions. Woori Bank has consulting centers for private banking customers, which offers advice on taxes, real estate, asset management, overseas investments and financing solutions for emigrants and students studying abroad.

The Company provides wealth management solutions for its customers. Octo is the name of Woori Investment & Securities wealth management service for high-networth individuals. Octo customers can use a single platform to buy and sell equity-linked securities, bonds, repurchase agreements, bills and beneficiary certificates, and access their cash management accounts. The Company provides professional advice and a range of consumer insurance products to its clients. It offers a portfolio of 61 insurance products, which includes 35 life insurance, and 26 property and casualty. Woori CS Asset Management has! one exch! ange traded funds and 63 other products, including structured products, overseas asset funds and index funds.

Woori Finance Information System has developed integrated customer relationship management (CRM) and Groupware systems, information technology (IT) systems for Woori Bank�� overseas branches and a credit risk management system for Woori Investment & Securities. The Company also deployed a standardized asset & liability management system and an imaging system for managing utility bill payments. The Company has also integrated the IT infrastructure of Woori CS Asset Management, Woori AVIVA Life Insurance and Woori Financial into its system.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Holly LaFon]
Question: Is Berkshire too big to fail? How about DF and how does it impact insurance and Wells Fargo (WF) and Goldman Sachs (GS).
Warren: It won�� affect it to my knowledge. Capital ratios for long banks at high levels and affects return on equity. Cap ratios increase and return on equity will increase. Banking in the U.S. is stronger than in the past 20 years. Compared to the EU or 20 years ago, it�� dramatically stronger. Don�� worry about banking being the cause of the next bubble. Usually we don�� get to a bubble the same way we got to the last one. I feel good about our investments at MNT and WFC. We won�� earn as much return on equity because the rules change.
[By Holly LaFon]
Question: Is Berkshire too big to fail? How about DF and how does it impact insurance and Wells Fargo (WF) and Goldman Sachs (GS)?
Warren: It won�� affect it to my knowledge. Capital ratios for long banks at high levels and affects return on equity. Cap ratios increase and return on equity will increase. Banking in the U.S. is stronger than in the past 20 years. Compared to the EU or 20 years ago, it�� dramatically stronger. Don�� worry about banking being the cause of the next bubble. Usually we don�� get to a bubble the same way we got to the last one. I feel good about our investments at MNT and WFC. We won�� earn as much return on equity because the rules change.

Top International Companies To Invest In 2015: CST Brands Inc (CST)

CST Brands, Inc., incorporated on November 7, 2012 , is a retailer of transportation fuels and convenience goods in North America. As of April 30, 2013, the Company operated 1,032 Corner Stores throughout the United States, including Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Arizona and California. Its stores also provide prepared foods. In May 2013, the Company announced that the Company which includes Corner Store and Depanneur du Coin, spun off from Valero Energy Corporation.

The Company offers a range of products, such as snack foods, tobacco products, beverages and fresh foods, including its own brands: Fresh Choices sandwiches, salads and packaged goods; U Force energy drinks; Cibolo Mountain coffees (the United States); Transit Cafe coffee and bakery (Canada); FC bottled sodas, and Flavors 2 Go fountain sodas. Its Corner Store locations also provide in-store Subway sandwich shops.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Monica Gerson]
Analysts expect CST Brands (NYSE: CST) to report its Q1 earnings at $0.19 per share on revenue of $3.07 billion. CST Brands shares climbed 0.66% to $33.50 in after-hours trading.
[By Garrett Cook]
Lehigh Gas Partners LP (NYSE: LGP) shares shot up 25.80 percent to $32.69 after CST Brands (NYSE: CST) announced its plans to acquire Lehigh Gas GP LLC, the general partner of Lehigh Gas Partners LP. Lehigh Gas Partners also reported its financial results for the second quarter.
[By Roberto Pedone]
Another potential earnings short-squeeze trade is CST Brands (CST), a retailer of transportation fuels and convenience goods in North America, which is set to release its numbers Tuesday before the market open. Wall Street analysts, on average, expect CST Brands to report revenue of $3.19 billion.

The current short interest as a percentage of the float for CST Brands is very high at 19.4%. That means that out of the 55.66 million shares in the tradable float, 11.75 million shares are sold short by the bears. If the bulls get the earnings news they're looking for, then this stock could easily rip substantially higher post-earnings as the bears rush to cover some of their bets.

From a technical perspective, CST is currently trending above its 50-day moving average, which is bullish. This stock has been trending sideways for the last three months, with shares moving between $30.31 on the downside and $33.96 on the upside. A high-volume move above the upper-end of its recent range could trigger a major breakout trade for shares of CST post-earnings.

If you're in the bull camp on CST, then I would wait until after its report and look for long-biased trades if this stock manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance levels at $32.99 to its all-time high at $33.96 a share with high volume. Look for volume on that move that hits near or above its three-month average action of 1.29 million shares. If that breakout hits, then CST will set up to enter new all-time high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that breakout are $40 to $45 a share.

I would simply avoid CST or look for short-biased trades if after earnings it fails to trigger that breakout and then drops back below its 50-day moving average of $32.12 a share with high volume. If we get that move, then CST will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major support levels at $31.06 to $30.31 a share. Any high-vol
[By WWW.GURUFOCUS.COM]
CST Brands Inc. (0.4%) (CST)(CST - $31.24 - NYSE), headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, is one of the largest independent convenience store operators in North America, with 1,900 stores located in nine U.S. midwest states and Canada. The company was spun-off by Valero on May 1, 2013. CST's store-base is concentrated in markets with above average population growth; 849 of the 1,034 total U.S. stores are located in three states with projected cumulative population growth of over 15% over the next decade: Texas (628), Colorado (158) and Arizona (63). CST owns the majority of its real estate, which mitigates lease risk and should provide downside protection. We estimate the real estate to be worth in the range of $1.5 billion to $2 billion or ~$20 to $26 per CST share. CST has generated $12.8 billion in revenue and $366 million of EBITDA during 2013.From Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio)'s Value 25 Fund first quarter 2014 shareholder commentary. Also check out: Mario Gabelli Undervalued Stocks Mario Gabelli Top Growth Companies Mario Gabelli High Yield stocks, and Stocks that Mario Gabelli keeps buying Currently 0.00/512345
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes)

Top International Companies To Invest In 2015: Infinity Property and Casualty Corporation(IPCC)

Infinity Property and Casualty Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides personal automobile insurance with a concentration on nonstandard auto insurance in the United States. The company offers personal automobile insurance to individuals; mono-line commercial vehicle insurance to businesses; and classic collector insurance, which provides protection for classic collectible automobiles. It products provide coverage to individuals for liability to others for bodily injury and property damage, and for physical damage to an insured?s own vehicle from collision and various other perils. Infinity distributes its products primarily through a network of independent agencies and brokers. The company was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By John Udovich]
Auto sales continue to rise and that is good news for small cap auto insurers Infinity Property and Casualty Corp (NASDAQ: IPCC), First Acceptance Corporation (NYSE: FAC) and Atlas Financial Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: AFH) which are focused on niche auto insurance markets.�A Yahoo! Autos blog post�recently noted that in August, automakers sold 1.5 million new vehicles for the highest rate in years. Moreover,�most industry forecasters expect sales to�return to the level they hit before the 2008 recession of 16 million vehicles a year. The blog post then went on to note the three forces driving auto sales:

Top International Companies To Invest In 2015: Pacific WebWorks Inc (PWEB)

Pacific WebWorks, Inc. (Pacific WebWorks), incorporated on May 18, 1987, is an application service provider and software development firm that develops business software technologies and services for business merchants and organizations using Internet and other technologies. The Company�� product family provides tools for Website creation, management and maintenance, electronic business storefront hosting and Internet payment systems for the small- to medium-sized business and organization. Its four wholly owned subsidiaries include Intellipay, Inc., TradeWorks Marketing, Inc., FundWorks, Inc and Pacific WebWorks International, LTD.

Visual WebTools Version 4.1 (V4.1)

V4.1 is a suite of software programs that fit together to perform the basic business functions that are effective on the Internet. The products in this suite include WebWizard, ClipOn Commerce, WebContacts, WebChannels, Web Profiling tool, WebStats, Auction Connection and Increase My Margin. WebWizard is a Web page design program that possesses a user interface and templates for the novice, has a functionality for Web design professionals. In 2010, the Company released WebWizard 5 and it incorporates site components like tables, frames, flash and other multimedia capabilities in a straightforward, menu driven process.

The Company�� customers can manage their sites' layout, colors, contents, tables and graphics. WebWizard includes a library of hundreds of graphics that are freely accessible by its customers. WebWizard allows its customers to create, update and modify their Websites. ClipOn Commerce is an e-storefront and product management system, coupled with shopping cart technology. ClipOn Commerce allows the Company�� customers to build an Internet storefront. They can create a product catalog, organize and search products by unlimited categories and import/export to and from their database. ClipOn Commerce is designed to function with a third-party merchant account and is integrated with t! he Company�� Intellipay payment system, which allows its clients to accept all major credit cards online. ClipOn Commerce has support for QuickBooks accounting software enabling the Company�� customers to update between their accounting records and Internet storefront. ClipOn Commerce also features uninterrupted power supply (UPS) shipping integration.

WebContacts is a contact management program. Companies that use the Company�� system can utilize WebContacts to organize information about all the entities they do business with, including customers, suppliers and distributors. WebContacts will also enable them to capture information about people who visit their Website, if those visitors elect to supply contact information at the site. WebChannels is an e-mail distribution program that enables Pacific WebWorks��customers to send customized e-mails in either plaintext or hyper text markup language (HTML) format to their WebContacts database of visitors. By using WebChannels, a client can send out a weekly newsletter, coupons or special offers to an entire customer base, certain visitor types or to a segment of their customers.

Web profiling tool is a form and survey creation tool that helps capture feedback and demographic information from customers and Website visitors. The Company�� clients can create customizable forms, surveys and interactive questionnaires. The Web profiling tool includes a catalog of pre-designed questions, such as education level, hobbies and satisfaction level. The profiling forms may also be custom created by the Company�� customers. WebStats enables the Company�� customers to analyze visitor activities on their Websites in order to track pages viewed, hits and time of access. WebStats is a statistics program that provides detailed reports and graphs related to referring pages, geographic location of visitors, browsers and the operating systems Website visitors are using, what Web pages generate hits and what pages are the most popular. Au! ction Con! nection is a module that allows Visual WebTools users to list inventory items with eBay. Increase My Margin is a tool that allows eBay users to analyze information and data related to the sale of thousands of products sold on eBay over a period of time.

Intellipay Payment System

The Intellipay payment system group of products offers payment technologies for business-to-business and business-to-customer uses on the Internet and in physical store locations. These products allow the Company�� customers to accept real time credit card payments from their Website, Internet appliances, kiosks or at remote locations through their Nextel cell phone or at the physical point of sale. Point-of-sale professionals provide technical support and ePayment professionals help the business locate an Internet-approved merchant account if needed. Once customers enter the necessary data in a secure form, Intellipay processes the transaction in real-time (2 to 5 seconds) and returns the customer back to the business site. Intellipay also provides methods for enterprise-level businesses to link Intellipay products, services and features into their e-commerce Websites and transmit transactional data for use in back office systems.

The Company�� ePayment System supports all major card types, including Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, Diners Club and JCB. It also provides support for Visa and MasterCard debit (check) cards and Level Two corporate/commercial cards through various bank networks. Transaction types include normal authorizations, pre-authorizations intended for delayed settlement, force allowing a transaction authorized offline (possibly a voice authorization) to be settled, credits for refunds, and Intellipay's address verification system (AVS) allows merchants to retrieve a score and verify the account validity. This Intellipay product allows the Company�� customers to control transaction level behavior depending on AVS scores and duplicate transaction attemp! t detecti! on. Intellipay also automatically settles merchant batches nightly so its customers are freed from forcing settlement via manual or programmatic methods. The Intellipay system is transportable meaning that a customer can switch Website hosting companies, move between e-commerce software programs or change to or from many merchant account providers.

ExpertLink is Intellipay's connection protocol for high-volume Internet businesses requiring high velocity real-time transaction authorizations linked to their own secure Website and/or back office systems. ExpertLink is a standards-based secure communications method allowing Web developers and application developers to build in the ePayment processing and various features, including batch management commands, duplicate transaction detection and management. The Company�� customers purchase ExpertLink or LinkSmart, and both come with Smart Terminal and the Secure Account Management System (SAMS).

LinkSmart provides the Company�� online customers with ePayment features with minimal technical installation on their side. With LinkSmart, the Company�� customer does not need to pay for installation and maintenance of secure servers since LinkSmart serves the secure, customizable payment pages for them. LinkSmart offloads mission-critical, e-commerce tasks from the merchant.

Smart Terminal allows Pacific WebWorks��customers to securely log into their Intellipay account from any Internet browser and authorize manual transactions and orders they have received through offline methods. Smart Terminal supports transactions, including normal authorizations, authorization-only for delayed settlement, settlement for non-Intellipay authorized transactions, credits and partial credits. Most clients receive Smart Terminal along with LinkSmart or ExpertLink, but Smart Terminal can also be purchased as a standalone product.

Secure Account Management System (SAMS) allows Intellipay customers to securely log into Intellip! ay's SAMS! from any Web browser to configure and control various Intellipay components and behaviors. Customers can also view transaction histories for any day in the past 180 day period. IntelliPay Desktop Terminal (IDT) brings all of the functionality of a virtual terminal application to the customers��desktop, while supporting hardware, such as a card reader and receipt printer. IntelliPay Wireless Terminal allows a merchant to accept either swiped or keyed transactions using a Nextel Cellular/Data phone using a card reader.

The Company competes with AuthorizeNet and VeriSign.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By CRWE]
Today, PWEB remains (0.00%) +0.000 at $.0185 with 2,891 shares in play thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 9:34AM EDT July 19, 2013).

Pacific WebWorks, Inc. previously reported the following business update. For the first six months of 2013 the Company has focused on revitalizing its internet technology business model. As previously reported, Pacific WebWorks has expanded its software suite and established a framework for reaching new markets with its software products. The Company believes there is strong demand for its products and is aggressively pursuing the opportunity to obtain new customers through a variety of marketing methods.

Lance Bell, CEO, stated, ��e are excited to report a number of accomplishments during the first six months of 2013. We have rounded out our management team, finalized our infrastructure and have begun to market our software products. We are encouraged by the initial results of these efforts.��/p>

Top International Companies To Invest In 2015: Adams Resources & Energy Inc. (AE)

Adams Resources & Energy, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in marketing crude oil, natural gas, and petroleum products. It purchases crude oil, and arranges sales and deliveries to refiners and other customers in Texas and Louisiana with additional operations in Michigan and New Mexico; purchases, distributes, and markets natural gas; and offers value added services by providing access to common carrier pipelines and handling daily volume balancing requirements, as well as risk management services. The company also markets branded and unbranded refined petroleum products, such as motor fuels and lubricants. In addition, it transports liquid chemicals on a �for hire� basis in the continental United States and Canada, as well as engages in the exploration and development of domestic oil and natural gas properties primarily in Texas and the south central region of the United States. Adams Resources & Energy, Inc. was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Hous ton, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Jake Mann]
Energy has been the sector most beaten up in 2014. It has yielded up a number of deeply undervalued companies and it's likely that it enjoys some rebound in 2015. My favorite companies are Adams Resources & Energy Inc (NYSE: AE), VAALCO Energy, Inc. (NYSE: EGY), Pacific Ethanol Inc (NASDAQ: PEIX), Statoil ASA (ADR) (NYSE: STO), VOC Energy Trust (NYSE: VOC), Gran Tierra Energy Inc. (NYSE: GTE), Petrobras Argentina SA ADR (NYSE: PZE), and PBF Energy Inc (NYSE: PBF), all of which are cheap on an acquirer's multiple basis.

Saturday, May 23, 2015

Best Consumer Service Companies To Watch For 2016

Best Consumer Service Companies To Watch For 2016: Northern Trust Corporation(NTRS)

Northern Trust Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides asset servicing, fund administration, asset management, and fiduciary and banking solutions for corporations, institutions, families, and individuals worldwide. The company offers corporate and institutional services, including global master trust and custody, trade settlement, and reporting; fund administration; cash management; investment risk and performance analytical services; investment operations outsourcing; and transition management and commission recapture services. It also provides personal financial services, such as personal trust, investment management, custody, and philanthropic services; financial consulting; guardianship and estate administration; brokerage services; and private and business banking services, as well as customized products and services. In addition, the company offers active and passive equity and fixed income portfolio management, as well as alternative asset classes comprisin g private equity and hedge funds of funds, and multi-manager products and advisory services. Further, it engages in fund administration, investment operations outsourcing, and custody business that provides specialized services to a range of funds, which include money-market, multi-manager, exchange-traded funds, and property funds for on-shore and off-shore markets. Additionally, the company provides administrative and middle-office services consisting of trade processing, valuation, real-time reporting, accounting, collateral management, and investor servicing. Northern Trust Corporation was founded in 1889 and is based in Chicago, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By John Kell and Lauren Pollock var popups = dojo.query(".socialByline .popC"); ]
Northern Trust Corp.(NTRS) said its first-quarter earnings rose 11% as the trust bank reported higher net interest income and trust, investm! ent and other servicing fees. But results missed the estimates of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.seekpennystocks.com/best-consumer-service-companies-to-watch-for-2016.html

Thursday, May 21, 2015

Top 5 Managed Healthcare Companies To Invest In Right Now

Top 5 Managed Healthcare Companies To Invest In Right Now: Hasbro Inc.(HAS)

Hasbro, Inc. engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of games and toys. The company principally provides children?s and family leisure time and entertainment products and services. It offers various games, including traditional board, card, hand-held electronic, trading card, roleplaying, and DVD games, as well as electronic learning aids and puzzles. Hasbro?s toy products include boy?s action figures, vehicles and playsets, girl?s toys, electronic toys, plush products, preschool toys and infant products, electronic interactive products, creative play products, and toy related specialty products. The company also licenses certain of its trademarks, characters, and other property rights to third parties for use in connection with consumer promotions and for the sale of noncompeting toys and games, and non-toy products. It offers its products primarily under PLAYSKOOL, TRANSFORMERS, NERF, MY LITTLE PONY, LITTLEST PET SHOP, TONKA, G.I. JOE, SUPER SOAKER, MILTON BRAD LEY, PARKER BROTHERS, CRANIUM, AVALON HILL, TIGER, FURREAL FRIENDS, BABY ALIVE, STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE, and WIZARDS OF THE COAST brand names. The company markets its products to various customers, including wholesalers, distributors, chain stores, discount stores, mail order houses, catalog stores, department stores, and other retailers, as well as Internet-based e-tailers. It has a strategic licensing agreement with Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), which provides EA with the worldwide rights to create digital games for various platforms, including mobile phones, personal computers, and game consoles, as well as; and a strategic relationship with Universal Pictures to produce approximately three motion pictures based on certain of company?s brands. Hasbro sells its products through its own sales force and distributors primarily in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, the Asia Pacific, Latin America, and South America. The company was founded in 1923! and is headquartered in Pa w tucket, Rhode Island.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Jonas Elmerraji]
We're seeing the exact same setup in shares of toymaker Hasbro (HAS) right now. Like CGG, Hasbro has a horizontal resistance level above shares – at $48 in this case – and uptrending support to the downside. The key difference here is that Hasbro's triangle is more conventional than the one in the French oil stock. A breakout above $48 is the signal to become a buyer.

Whenever you're looking at any technical price pattern, it's critical to think in terms of buyers and sellers. Triangles and other price pattern names are a good quick way to explain what's going on in this stock, but they're not the reason it's tradable – instead, it all comes down to supply and demand for shares.

That resistance line at $48 is a price where there's an excess of supply of shares; in other words, it's a place where sellers have been more eager to take recent gains and sell their shares than buyers have been to buy. That's what makes the move above it so significant – a breakout indicates that buyers are finally strong enough to absorb all of the excess supply above that price level. Wait for that signal to happen before you jump into this stock, then it makes sense to put a protective stop in place at the 50-day moving average.
[By Chris Hill]
Hasbro's (NASDAQ: HAS ) first-quarter loss widened because of some restructuring charges. Shares hit a new 52-week high on Monday. Hasbro reported an increase in revenues from its games, girls, and preschool divisions. But revenue was down for Hasbro's boys division. In this installment of MarketFoolery, our analysts discuss the toy retailer and take a Transformers quiz.

source from Top Stocks To Buy For 2015:http://www.topstocksforum.com/top-5-managed-healthcare-companies-to-invest-in-right-now-2.html

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Top High Dividend Stocks To Watch Right Now

Popular Posts: 5 Cheap Dividend Stocks to Buy5 Stocks to Buy in April4 Medical Marijuana Stocks to Dump Now Recent Posts: 5 High-Yield, Large-Cap Dividend Stocks to Buy PHOT Suspended by SEC – Sell Your Marijuana Stocks (While You Still Can) Yes, You SHOULD Kill BlackBerry Phones to Save BBRY View All Posts

It’s hard to beat dividend stocks like real estate investments trusts (REITs) and master limited partnerships (MLPs) for high dividend yields, but since those payouts flow directly from earnings, their income streams can be volatile. (Hey, as with everything else in investing and life, there’s no such thing as a free lunch.)

Hot Electric Utility Companies To Invest In 2016: Alternative Energy Partners Inc (AEGY)

Alternative Energy Partners, Inc. (AEGY), incorporated on April 28, 2008, is engaged in providing support services for medical marijuana. In May, 2013, the Company acquired the PharmaJanes. In May, 2013, it also acquired Simple Prepay merchant payment solution from iEquity Corp.

The Simple Prepay system was developed to offer dispensaries, collectives, and delivery services for medical cannabis. Combined with the PharmaJanes on-line and smart phone ordering platform, medical marijuana patients will be able to order, process and pay for their authorized needs.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Peter Graham]
On Monday, small cap marijuana stocks Alternative Energy Partners Inc (OTCBB: AEGY) and Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions (OTCMKTS: REFG) surged 117.86% and 17.95%, respectively, while tech stock Portlogic Systems Inc (OTCMKTS: PGSY) sank 20%. However, it appears that only one of these small cap stocks has been the subject of disclosed paid promotions or investor relation activities. So what will these three small caps do today and the rest of the week? Here is a quick look to help you decide on a trading or investing strategy:

Top High Dividend Stocks To Watch Right Now: Colony Financial Inc (CLNY)

Colony Financial, Inc. is a real estate investment and finance company. The Company primarily acquires, originates and manages a diversified portfolio of real estate-related debt instruments. The Company focuses on acquiring, originating and managing commercial mortgage loans, which may be performing, sub-performing or non-performing loans (including loan-to-own strategies), and other commercial real estate-related debt investments. The Company is managed by Colony Financial Manager, LLC (the Manager) and an affiliate of the Company.

The Company also may acquire other real estate and real estate-related debt assets. The Company collectively refers to commercial mortgage loans, other commercial real estate-related debt investments, commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), real estate owned (REO), properties and other real estate and real estate-related assets as its target assets.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Amanda Alix]
The investment-to-REIT model is alive and well
Before the very end of last year, those involved in the single-family purchase and rental business were largely private equity groups�like the Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX ) , Colony Financial (NYSE: CLNY ) , and Oaktree Capital (NYSE: OAK ) , which bought up distressed properties by the truckload.

Top High Dividend Stocks To Watch Right Now: Qualys Inc (QLYS)

Qualys, Inc. (Qualys), incorporated on December 30, 1999, is a provider of clouds security and compliance solutions that enable organizations to identify security risks to their information technology (IT) infrastructures, help protect their IT systems and applications from cyber attacks and achieve compliance with internal policies and external regulations. The Company designed its QualysGuard Cloud Platform to transform the way organizations secure and protect their IT infrastructures and applications. The Company's cloud platform offers an integrated suite of solutions that automates the lifecycle of asset discovery, security assessments, and compliance management for an organization's IT infrastructure and assets, whether they reside inside the organization, on their network perimeter or in the cloud.

The Company provides its solutions through a software-as-a-service model, primarily with renewable annual subscriptions. These subscriptions require customers to pay a fee in order to access the Company's cloud solutions. The Company's QualysGuard Cloud Platform consists of a suite of IT security and compliance solutions that leverage the Company's shared and extensible core services and its scalable multi-tenant cloud infrastructure. The Company's suite of solutions provides security intelligence by automating the life cycle of IT asset discovery, security assessment and compliance management. The Company's cloud platform's infrastructure includes integrated services that deliver a automated and scalable scanning infrastructure capable of scanning IT systems and Web applications, inside and outside corporate firewalls. The Company also provides open application program interfaces (APIs), and other developer tools that allow third parties to embed its technology into their solutions and build applications on its cloud platform.

The Company's suite of solutions, which the Company refers to as the QualysGuard Cloud Suite, includes Vulnerability Management, Web Application Sca! nning, Malware Detection Service, Policy Compliance, PCI Compliance and Qualys SECURE Seal. The Company's customers can subscribe to one or more of the Company's security and compliance solutions based on their initial needs and expand their subscriptions over time to new areas within their organization or to additional QualysGuard solutions. The Company offers two editions of its QualysGuard Cloud Suite, the Enterprise edition for large and medium-sized enterprises and the Express edition for small and medium-sized businesses.

QualysGuard Vulnerability Management (QualysGuard VM), is a solution that automates network auditing and vulnerability management across an organization, including network discovery and mapping, asset management, vulnerability reporting, and remediation tracking. QualysGuard Policy Compliance (QualysGuard PC) allows customers to analyze and collect configuration and access control information from their networked devices and Web applications and automatically maps this information to internal policies and external regulations in order to document compliance.

QualysGuard PCI Compliance (QualysGuard PCI) provides organizations that store cardholder data a automated solution to verify and document compliance with PCI DSS. QualysGuard Web Application Scanning (QualysGuard WAS) uses the scalability of its cloud platform to allow customers to discover, catalog and scan a large number of Web applications. QualysGuard Malware Detection Service (QualysGuard MDS) provides organizations with the ability to scan identify and remove malware infections from their Websites. QualysGuard Web Application Firewall (QualysGuard WAF) delivers enterprise-grade Web application security without associated with appliance-based Web application firewall solutions. QualysGuard SECURE Seal helps organizations demonstrate to their online customers that they maintain a proactive security program.

Core Services include asset tagging and management, reporting and dashboards! , questio! nnaires and collaboration, remediation and workflow, big data correlation and analytics engine, and alerts and notifications. The Company�� infrastructure layer, which it refer to as its Infrastructure, includes the data, data processing capabilities, software and hardware infrastructure and infrastructure management capabilities that provide the foundation for its cloud platform and allow the Company to automatically scale its Infrastructure and Core Services to scan millions of Internet protocols (IPs).

The Company competes with Hewlett-Packard Company, Imperva, Inc., International Business Machines Corporation, McAfee, Inc., Symantec Corporation, Barracuda Networks, Inc., BeyondTrust Software, Inc., Lumension Security, Inc., nCircle Network Security, Inc., NetIQ Corporation, Rapid7 LLC, Tenable Network Security, Inc. and Trustwave Holdings, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Equities Trading UP
Qualys (NASDAQ: QLYS) shares shot up 8.24 percent to $20.68 after the company reported upbeat quarterly results.

Shares of Office Depot (NYSE: ODP) got a boost, shooting up 15.95 percent to $4.84 after the company reported upbeat quarterly earnings and announced its plans to close at least 400 stores in the US.
[By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Equities Trading UP
Qualys (NASDAQ: QLYS) shares shot up 10.23 percent to $21.07 after the company reported upbeat quarterly results.

Shares of Office Depot (NYSE: ODP) got a boost, shooting up 15.95 percent to $4.84 after the company reported upbeat quarterly earnings and announced its plans to close at least 400 stores in the US.

Top High Dividend Stocks To Watch Right Now: Nuance Communications Inc.(NUAN)

Nuance Communications, Inc. provides voice and language solutions for businesses and consumers worldwide. It offers dictation and transcription solutions and services, which automate the input and management of medical information; and speech recognition solutions for radiology, cardiology, pathology, and related specialties that help healthcare providers dictate, edit, and sign reports without manual transcription. The company also offers mobile and consumer solutions and services comprising an integrated suite of voice control and text-to-speech solutions, desktop and portable computer dictation applications, predictive text technologies, mobile messaging services, and emerging services, such as dictation, Web search, and voicemail-to-text for manufacturers and suppliers of mobile phones, automotive products, personal navigation devices, computers, and other consumer electronics. In addition, it provides customer service business intelligence and authentication solutions for enterprises in the telecommunications, financial services, travel, entertainment, and government sectors to support, understand, and communicate with their customers. Further, the company offers document imaging, print management, and PDF solutions to multifunction printer manufacturers, home offices, small businesses, and enterprise customers; software development toolkits for independent software vendors; and licenses its software to multifunction printer manufacturers. Nuance Communications, Inc. markets and sells its products through direct sales force; its e-commerce Web site; and a network of resellers, including system integrators, independent software vendors, value-added resellers, hardware vendors, telecommunications carriers, and distributors. The company was formerly known as ScanSoft, Inc. and changed its name to Nuance Communications, Inc. in November 2005. Nuance Communications, Inc. was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts. Advisors' Opinion:

[By Damian Illia]
On Aug. 29, Carl Icahn incremented his stake in Nuance Communications (NUAN) by 3%. The investment guru started buying the company's stock by the end of March 2013. Since then, he increased his participation in the company in four occasions, turning into the largest institutional stockholder by a large margin. So, one question arises: What does Icahn see in Nuance? And, is there a better option in the software industry?
[By Tim Beyers]
Nuance Communications (NASDAQ: NUAN ) , long rumored to be a Siri partner, is already working on this sort of advanced interface as a sort of personal assistant that travels from your computer to your phone and car. Why not add TV?
[By Anna Prior]
Activist investor Carl C. Icahn on Wednesday disclosed he increased his stake in Nuance Communications Inc.(NUAN) by 6.5 million shares. Mr. Icahn now owns a total of 58.9 million shares in the company, or a stake of nearly 19%, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
[By Rich Duprey]
Bridging the gap between�voice, on-board applications, and connected third-party applications and content, voice recognition expert Nuance Communications (NASDAQ: NUAN ) announced today it is acquiring the�Tweddle Connect business from privately held Tweddle Group for $80 million in cash.

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Hot Growth Companies To Own For 2015

Americans have witnessed firsthand the slow U.S. economic recovery over the past several years. Since peaking at 10% in late 2009, the unemployment rate has gradually fallen to 7.6% as of last month. While GDP growth has been uneven, the U.S. economy has been expanding since the third quarter of 2009 after sharply contracting in the previous year.

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce.

However, the economic recovery has not benefited all states equally. As of March, seven states still had unemployment rates of 9% to 10%: Nevada, Illinois, Mississippi, California, North Carolina, Rhode Island, and New Jersey. However, two stand out as being in particularly bad shape: Illinois and Mississippi, both of which saw unemployment grow year over year. By contrast, some states are already back to boom-time levels. Most notable among them is North Dakota, where unemployment is just 3.3%.

Top Semiconductor Stocks To Watch For 2016: Buffalo Wild Wings Inc.(BWLD)

Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc. engages in the ownership, operation, and franchise of restaurants in the United States. The company provides quick casual and casual dining services, as well as serves bottled beers, wines, and liquor. As of July 26, 2011, it had 773 Buffalo Wild Wings locations in 45 states in the United States, as well as in Canada. The company was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Demitrios Kalogeropoulos]
Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD ) has a serious weight problem.

Sure, the restaurant chain reported strong sales growth again this week. Revenue was up by better than 21%, marking the eighth consecutive quarter where sales rose by 20% or more.
[By Dan Caplinger]
Next Monday, Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD ) will release its latest quarterly results. The key to making smart investment decisions on stocks reporting earnings is to anticipate how they'll do before they announce results, leaving you fully prepared to respond quickly to whatever inevitable surprises arise. That way, you'll be less likely to make an uninformed, knee-jerk reaction to news that turns out to be exactly the wrong move.
[By Motley Fool Staff]
Steve Symington: I think now's a great time to buy�Buffalo Wild Wings� (NASDAQ: BWLD ) . The beer, wings, and sports chain regularly outperforms its casual-dining peers, and last quarter grew�revenue�by 20% on impressive same-store sales growth of 7.7% and 6.5% at company-owned and franchised restaurants, respectively. That led to a 43.8% jump in net earnings, but the stock plunged after its�raised full-year earnings guidance�just wasn't spicy enough to appease Wall Street's lofty appetite for growth.
[By Rustic Nomad]
Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD), a Minneapolis-based restaurant chain, recently declared its fourth-quarter financial results and they were not impressive. Amid tough competition from its rivals such as Dine Equity (DIN) and McDonald�� (MCD), analysts were expecting better financial results, which the company failed to provide.

Hot Growth Companies To Own For 2015: Eastern Insurance Holdings Inc.(EIHI)

Eastern Insurance Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides workers compensation insurance and reinsurance products in the United States. The company?s Workers Compensation Insurance segment provides traditional workers compensation insurance coverage products, including guaranteed cost policies, policyholder dividend policies, retrospectively-rated policies, deductible policies, and alternative market products to employers. This segment distributes its workers? compensation products and services through its independent insurance agents primarily in Pennsylvania, Delaware, North Carolina, Maryland, Indiana, and Virginia. Its Segregated Portfolio Cell Reinsurance segment offers alternative market workers compensation solutions comprising program design, fronting, claims administration, risk management, segregated portfolio cell rental, asset management, and segregated portfolio management services to individual companies, groups, and associations. Eastern Insurance Holdings, Inc. is headquartered in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Lauren Pollock]
ProAssurance Corp.(PRA) agreed to acquire Eastern Insurance Holdings Inc.(EIHI) for about $205 million, expanding the insurance company’s casualty insurance offerings. Eastern Insurance is a domestic casualty insurance group specializing in workers’ compensation products and services, among other things. ProAssurance plans to pay $24.50 in cash for each outstanding Eastern share, a 16% premium over Monday’s closing price.

Hot Growth Companies To Own For 2015: Thoratec Corporation(THOR)

Thoratec Corporation engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of proprietary medical devices used for circulatory support. The company?s primary product lines include ventricular assist devices, such as HeartMate II, an implantable left ventricular assist device consisting of a rotary blood pump to provide intermediate and long-term mechanical circulatory support (MCS); and HeartMate XVE, an implantable and pulsatile left ventricular assist device for intermediate and longer-term MCS. Its ventricular assist devices also comprise Paracorporeal Ventricular Assist Device, an external pulsatile ventricular assist device, which provides left, right, and biventricular MCS approved for bridge-to-transplantation (BTT), including home discharge, and post-cardiotomy myocardial recovery; and Implantable Ventricular Assist Device, an implantable and pulsatile ventricular assist device designed to provide left, right, and biventricular MCS approved for BTT comprising hom e discharge, and post-cardiotomy myocardial recovery. The company also provides CentriMag, an extracorporeal full-flow acute surgical support platform that offers support up to 30 days for cardiac and respiratory failure. In addition, it offers PediMag and PediVAS extracorporeal full-flow acute surgical support platforms designed to provide acute surgical support to pediatric patients. The company sells its products through direct sales force in the United States, as well as through a network of distributors internationally. Thoratec Corporation was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Pleasanton, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Anna Prior]
Medical device company Thoratec Corp.(THOR) has purchased Apica Cardiovascular Ltd., in a deal that includes $35 million in cash upfront and potential milestone payments of up to $40 million.
[By Todd Campbell]
Competing for heart pump market share
Abiomed's products provide circulatory support for up to six hours and are designed for use in cardiac cath labs or during heart surgery, but competitors Thoratec (NASDAQ: THOR ) and Heartware (NASDAQ: HTWR ) target the intermediate- and long-term-use market instead.

Hot Growth Companies To Own For 2015: TrueBlue Inc.(TBI)

TrueBlue, Inc. provides temporary blue-collar staffing services in the United States. It supplies on demand general labor to various industries under the Labor Ready brand; skilled labor to manufacturing and logistics industries under the Spartan Staffing brand; and trades people for commercial, industrial, and residential construction, and building and plant maintenance industries under the CLP Resources brand. The company also provides mechanics and technicians to the aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul, aerospace manufacturing, and assembly industries, as well as to other transportation industries under the Plane Techs brand; and temporary drivers to the transportation and distribution industries under the Centerline brand. It primarily serves small and medium-size businesses. The company was formerly known as Labor Ready, Inc. and changed its name to TrueBlue, Inc. in December 2007. TrueBlue, Inc. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Tacoma, Washington.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Jonathan Yates]
For those looking to invest in real estate stocks, highly recommended is the Dr. Housing Bubble blog. In a recent posting, the "Dr." pointed out that there was a "Lost Generation" when it came to household income. That has not happened for those investing in staffing industry stocks such as Paychex (NASDAQ: PAYX), Robert Half International (NYSE: RHI), TrueBlue, Inc. (NYSE: TBI), and Labor SMART (OTCBB: LTNC).
[By Jonathan Yates]
Even though the stock market rallied on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's remarks with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA) and Standard & Poor's 500 Index (NYSE: SPY) surging, the long term winners will be stocks in the staffing industry such as Paychex(NASDAQ: PAYX), TrueBlue (NYSE: TBI), Robert Half (NYSE: RHI), and Labor SMART (OTCBB: LTNC).

Hot Growth Companies To Own For 2015: Nordstrom Inc.(JWN)

Nordstrom, Inc., a fashion specialty retailer, offers apparel, shoes, cosmetics, and accessories for women, men, and children in the United States. It offers a selection of brand name and private label merchandise. The company sells its products through various channels, including Nordstrom full-line stores, off-price Nordstrom Rack stores, Jeffrey? boutiques, treasure & bond, and Last Chance clearance stores; and its online store, nordstrom.com, as well as through catalog. Nordstrom also provides a private label card, two Nordstrom VISA credit cards, and a debit card for Nordstrom purchases. The company?s credit and debit cards feature a shopping-based loyalty program. As of September 30, 2011, it operated 222 stores, including 117 full-line stores, 101 Nordstrom Racks, 2 Jeffrey boutiques, 1 treasure & bond store, and 1 clearance store in 30 states. The company was founded in 1901 and is based in Seattle, Washington.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Andrew Marder]
The 1% has seen phenomenal income growth recently, and that's spurred growth at companies like Saks (NYSE: SKS ) and Nordstom (NYSE: JWN ) , both of which managed 5% increases in revenue in the last quarter.

Hot Growth Companies To Own For 2015: CNO Financial Group Inc. (CNO)

CNO Financial Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the development, marketing, and administration of health insurance, annuity, individual life insurance, and other insurance products for senior and middle-income markets in the United States. The company markets and distributes Medicare supplement insurance, interest-sensitive and traditional life insurance, fixed annuities, and long-term care insurance products; Medicare advantage plans through a distribution arrangement with Humana Inc.; and Medicare Part D prescription drug plans through a distribution and reinsurance arrangement with Coventry Health Care. It also markets and distributes supplemental health, including specified disease, accident, and hospital indemnity insurance products; and life insurance to middle-income consumers at home and the worksite through independent marketing organizations and insurance agencies. In addition, the company markets primarily graded benefit and simplified issue life insurance products directly to customers through television advertising, direct mail, Internet, and telemarketing. It sells its products through career agents, independent producers, direct marketing, and sales managers. CNO Financial Group, Inc. has strategic alliances with Coventry and Humana. The company was formerly known as Conseco, Inc. and changed its name to CNO Financial Group, Inc. in May 2010. CNO Financial Group, Inc. was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Carmel, Indiana.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By David Fried, Editor, The Buyback Letter]
Insurance holding company CNO Financial Group (CNO) and its insurance subsidiaries��rincipally Bankers Life and Casualty Company, Washington National, and Colonial Penn Life Insurance Company��erve pre-retiree and retired Americans.
[By Jonas Elmerraji]
Up first is CNO Financial Group (CNO), a mid-cap financial stock that's rocketed close to 60% higher since the calendar flipped over to January. Yup, it's been a great year for the market, but it's been a far better one for investors who own CNO. But that strong performance isn't showing any signs of slowing yet. In fact, CNO looks primed for even more upside in the fourth quarter.

That's because CNO is currently forming a bullish pattern called an ascending triangle. The ascending triangle pattern is formed by a horizontal resistance level above shares -- in this case at $14.75 -- and uptrending support to the downside. Basically, as CNO bounces in between those two technical price levels, it's getting squeezed closer and closer to a breakout above that $14.75 resistance level. When that breakout happens, it's time to become a buyer.

ACCO's price action isn't exactly textbook. After all, the pattern is coming in at the bottom of a downtrend, not after an uptrend. But ultimately, that doesn't change the trading implications of a move through that $7.50 level.

Whenever you're looking at any technical price pattern, it's critical to think in terms of those buyers and sellers. Ascending triangles and other pattern names are a good quick way to explain what's going on in a stock, but they're not the reason it's tradable. Instead, it all comes down to supply and demand for shares.

That $7.50 resistance level is a price where there has been an excess of supply of shares; in other words, it's a place where sellers have been more eager to step in and take gains than buyers have been to buy. That's what makes a breakout above it so significant. The move means that buyers are finally strong enough to absorb all of the excess supply above that price level.

Don't be early on this trade.

Monday, May 18, 2015

Markets build defenses against U.S. default

LONDON (CNNMoney) Investors may still believe a U.S. default is unthinkable but the people who run financial markets appear much less comfortable in taking that risk.

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), which operates the world's biggest derivatives market, is asking investors to stump up more cash to trade in financial products that provide protection against rising interest rates.

Trade in these "interest rate swaps" is one of the most liquid markets around, with outstanding notional volumes of about $490 trillion at the end of 2012, according to the Bank for International Settlements.

The contracts are often cleared through exchanges such as CME and Eurex, operated by Deutsche Boerse (DBOEF).

CME said it would gradually apply an additional "event risk" margin of 12% to all over-the-counter interest rate swaps due to the "additional uncertainty brought by the debt ceiling debate."

The margin will rise by 3% on Wednesday and by the same amount each day for the next three days.

Disarray in Washington has sent interest rates on short-term Treasuries higher, and big money market funds run by Fidelity, JPMorgan (JPM, Fortune 500) and Charles Schwab (SCHW, Fortune 500) have reduced their exposure to U.S. debt maturing in late October and November.

CME said the move was temporary and subject to review.

"It will be rolled back upon resolution of market uncertainty stemming from this specific event risk," it said in a statement.

Chicago is not the only exchange getting worried about its possible exposure to the shock waves that a U.S. default would unleash on world markets.

Earlier this week, Hong Kong cut the value of short-term Treasury bills held as collateral.

The local exchange said that Treasury bills maturing within a year would be discounted by 3%, rather than 1%.

Many financial institutions have also admitted that they're still engaged in debt disaster planning.

Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) CFO John Gerspach said Tuesday that the bank "remains hopeful" a deal can be worked out to avoid a default. But he added that "hope is not a plan" and that the bank has prepared for different contingencies over the past few weeks.

China: Solve debt ceiling ASAP

Apart from warning of the risks to the world economy, central banks have largely been silent on what measures they would take in the event the U.S. is unable to pay all its bills.

But Jon Cunliffe, who takes charge of financial stability at the Bank of England next month, said Monday that lessons had been learned from the crisis of 2007-08, particularly with regard to the speed with which a U.S. shock would ripple through the financial system.

"I would expect the Bank of England to be planning for it, and I would expect private sector actors to be doing that," he told U.K. lawmakers. "There is some anecdotal evidence that banks and others are thinking about how they would manage this."