Saturday, February 28, 2015

Top 5 China Stocks To Watch For 2014

Big trouble has taken over the big economies this week. American markets fizzled on the back of fears over the end of quantitative easing, but a far more drastic uncertainty is locking down China's markets. Hong Kong's Hang Seng (HSIINDICES: ^HSI  ) shed 4% this week after downbeat factory data and a serious cash crunch have cast doubts about any economic rebound for China's slowing economy. While some predicted China's recent slowdown of sub-8% annual economic growth would be a passing slump, it's looking more and more likely that the China we used to know is history.

How will this impact investors and stocks? Let's check what's dragging down the world's second-largest economy.

Interest rates on the rise in China's big crunch
The U.S. and Japan have thrown stimulus at their economies to solve problems, but Beijing's not operating under the same plan. China's government has pushed�for reform in its financial sector, a smart long-term move to punish bad lenders and firm up the strongest institutions in the long run. On the other hand, it's crippling in the here and now. Lending rates are skyrocketing, and companies are finding funds harder to come by. That's not going to dig China out of its economic slowdown fast, and the IMF's earlier 7.7% economic growth projection for 2013 may end up being too optimistic.

Top 5 Quality Stocks To Buy For 2015: China Telecom Corp Ltd (CHA)

China Telecom Corporation Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides wireline and mobile telecommunications services in the People's Republic of China. The company?s services include wireline voice, mobile voice, Internet, managed data and leased line, value-added services, integrated information application services, and other related services, as well as prepaid calling cards. Its wireline voice services include local wireline services, domestic long distance wireline services, and international long distance wireline services. The company's mobile voice services comprise local calls, domestic long distance calls, international long distance calls, intra-provincial roaming, inter-provincial roaming, and international roaming. Its Internet access services consist of wireline Internet access services, including dial-up and broadband services, and wireless Internet access services. The company's integrated information application services include Best Tone services, which provide customers with phone number storage, enquiry, and call transfer services; and information technology-based integrated solutions, such as system integration, outsourcing, special advisory, information application, knowledge services, and software development. Its managed data and leased line services consist of services relating to optic fiber and circuits, such as optic fiber and circuit leasing, virtual private network, and bandwidth leasing. The company also offers other services, such as sales, rental, repairs, and maintenance of equipment; and provides consulting services, and e-commerce and booking services, as well as in the sale of telecommunications terminals. It serves government, enterprise, and residential customers. The company was founded in 2002 and is based in Beijing, the People's Republic of China. China Telecom Corporation Limited is a subsidiary of China Telecommunications Corporation.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Dividend]

    China Telecom (CHA) has a market capitalization of $42.51 billion. The company employs 305,676 people, generates revenue of $46.253 billion and has a net income of $2.457 billion. China Telecom�� earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $12.171 billion. The EBITDA margin is 26.32 percent (the operating margin is 7.48 percent and the net profit margin 5.31 percent).

  • [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

    Leading and Lagging Sectors
    Telecommunications services shares gained around 0.83 percent in the US market on Monday. Top gainers in the sector included China Telecom Corp. (NYSE: CHA), Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri AS (NYSE: TKC), and China Unicom (Hong Kong) Limited (NYSE: CHU). In trading on Monday, basic materials shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.75 percent.

  • [By MARKETWATCH]

    LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Stocks in Hong Kong logged gains Tuesday, with the equity benchmark aided by a bump higher in financial shares. The Hang Seng Index (HK:HSI) rose 0.3% to 22,887.80, as China Merchants Bank Co. (HK:3968) (CIHHF) (CN:600036) climbed 2.1% ahead of the company's financial results due later Tuesday. Stock in China Construction Bank Corp. (HK:939) (CICHF) (CN:601939) rose 1.4%, extending Monday's advance of 1.1% despite China's second-largest bank by assets reporting slower-than-expected quarterly profit growth. Meanwhile, shares of China Telecom Corp. (HK:728) (CHA) slipped 0.3% despite the company's report that its third-quarter profit jumped 20% on stronger data sales driven by iPhone users. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index popped higher by 1.4% and on the mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index (CN:SHCOMP) rose 0.6%.

  • [By Garrett Cook]

    Telecommunications services shares rose by 1.42 percent in today’s trading. Top gainers in the sector included China Telecom Corp. Ltd. (NYSE: CHA), up 5.7 percent, and ARC Group Worldwide (NASDAQ: ARCW), up 3.4 percent.

Top 5 China Stocks To Watch For 2014: CNinsure Inc.(CISG)

CNinsure Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance brokerage and agency services, and insurance claims adjusting services in the People?s Republic of China. The company offers property, casualty, and life insurance products underwritten by domestic and foreign insurance companies operating in China. Its property and casualty insurance products include automobile, individual accident, commercial property, homeowner, cargo, hull, liability, and construction insurance; and life insurance products comprise individual whole life insurance, term life insurance, education annuity, and health insurance, as well as universal insurance and group life insurance. The company also offers insurance claims adjusting services, which include pre-underwriting survey, claims adjusting, disposal of residual value, loading and unloading supervision, and consulting services, as well as damage assessment, survey, authentication, and loss estimation to insurance companies and the i nsured; and value-added services to its customers in conjunction with distributing automobile insurance products. As of April 15, 2010, its distribution and service network consisted of 49 insurance agencies, 3 insurance brokerages, and 4 claims adjusting firms, with 571 sales and service outlets. The company was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Guangzhou, the People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Laura Brodbeck]

    Monday

    Earnings Releases Expected:  CNinsure (NASDAQ: CISG), Adept Technology (NASDAQ: ADEP), OSI Systems (NASDAQ: OSIS) Economic Releases Expected: U.S. new home sales, U.S. services PMI, German Ifo business climate index

    Tuesday

Top 5 China Stocks To Watch For 2014: Suntech Power Holdings Co. LTD.(STP)

Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd., a solar energy company, engages in the design, development, manufacture, and marketing of photovoltaic (PV) products. The company also provides engineering, procurement, and construction services to building solar power systems for certain related party and third party customers. Its products include monocrystalline and multicrystalline silicon PV cells; PV modules; and building-integrated photovoltaics products. In addition, the company provides PV system integration services, including designing, installing, and testing PV systems used in lighting for outdoor urban public facilities, as well as in farms, villages, and commercial buildings; and project development services. Its products are used to provide electric power for residential, commercial, industrial, and public utility applications. The company sells its products through value-added resellers, such as distributors and system integrators; and to end users, such as project develo pers primarily in Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Benelux, Greece, the United States, Canada, China, the Middle East, Australia, and Japan. Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. is headquartered in Wuxi, the People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Gary Bourgeault]

    Other companies of note that will be hurt will be LDK Solar (LDK), Suntech Power (STP), JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. (JASO) and Renesola (SOL) among others. Some these are already hanging on by a thread because of taking on too much debt and defaulting on bonds.

Top 5 China Stocks To Watch For 2014: CNOOC Limited(CEO)

CNOOC Limited, through its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, development, production, and sale of crude oil, natural gas, and other petroleum products. The company?s oil and natural gas properties are located in offshore China, which include Bohai Bay, western south China Sea, eastern south China Sea, and east China Sea, as well as in Indonesia, Iraq, and other regions in Asia; and Oceania, Africa, North America, and South America. As of December 31, 2010, the company had net proved reserves of approximately 2.99 billion barrels-of-oil equivalent, including approximately 1.92 billion barrels of crude oil and 6,458.3 billion cubic feet of natural gas. It also provides bond issuance services; and has a joint venture with Bridas Energy Holdings. CNOOC Limited was founded in 1982. The company is headquartered in Central, Hong Kong, and is considered a Red Chip company due to its listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. CNOOC Limited is a subsidiary of China National Of fshore Oil Corporation.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By MONEYMORNING.COM]

    As a result, Russian stocks have generally been getting hammered. To keep the data clean and discrete, I ran the charts over the last three months. In that period, energy giants Gazprom OAO (OTC: OGZPY) and CNOOC Ltd. (ADR) (NYSE: CEO) are both off more than 18%. The steel company Mechel OAO (ADR) (NYSE: MTL) is off 24%.

  • [By Arjun Sreekumar]

    For instance, Chesapeake's 2010 agreement with China's largest energy company, CNOOC (NYSE: CEO  ) , allowed CNOOC to purchase one-third undivided interest in a portion of Chesapeake's Eagle Ford assets in exchange for financing 75% of Chesapeake's drilling and completion expenses.

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Top 5 Internet Companies For 2014

Baron Funds research analyst Ashim Mehra asks, "Can you imagine life without the Internet?" and addresses the rapid evolution in the space. He also discusses specific Internet stocks:

We use the Internet to communicate, shop, play games, interact socially, find restaurant menus, buy theater tickets, book travel reservations, and find information about anything and everything. The Internet has expanded beyond the desktop with smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices. There are more smartphones expected to be sold in 2012 than PCs and notebooks. Moreover, the Internet has become more global, connecting users across borders and boundaries. It is a tool capable of reaching and catalyzing a wide audience. Twitter and Facebook have even been used to spark revolutions. At the same time, the Internet has become increasingly local in providing information about resources and events near you. It has become personal and customizable, providing information that is important to the user while allowing advertisers to target their advertising geographically and demographically.

Top Companies To Buy For 2015: Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA)

Alibaba Group Holding Limited, incorporated on June 28, 1999, is an online and mobile commerce company. The Company operates its ecosystem as a platform for third parties. The Company operates Taobao Marketplace, China�� online shopping destination, Tmall, China�� third-party platform for brands and retailers and Juhuasuan, China�� group buying marketplace. In addition to its three China retail marketplaces, the Company operates Alibaba.com, China�� global online wholesale marketplace, 1688.com, its China wholesale marketplace, and AliExpress, its global consumer marketplace, as well as provides cloud computing services. As a platform, the Company provides the fundamental technology infrastructure and marketing reach to help businesses leverage the power of the Internet to establish an online presence and conduct commerce with consumers and businesses. Effective August 01, 2014, Alibaba Investment Ltd, a unit of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, acquired a 10.193% interest n Singapore Post Ltd.

The buyers and sellers discover, select and transact with each other on the Company�� platform. Third-party service providers add value to its platform through service offerings that make it easier for buyers and sellers to do business. The third-party participants in its ecosystem include a payment services provider, logistics providers, retail operational partners, marketing affiliates, independent software vendors and various professional service providers. The Company has developed policies and procedures that maintain the health and sustainability of its marketplaces, including consumer protection programs, marketplace rules, qualification standards for merchants and buyer and seller rating systems. As its ecosystem expands, new jobs are created.

Taobao Affiliate Network is powered by Alimama, its online marketing technology platform. Through this platform, sellers place marketing displays on its marketing affiliates��websites and mobile apps, and sellers pay a performance-b! ased marketing fee primarily based on cost-per-click (CPC), and cost-per-sale (CPS), models. Through China Smart Logistics, the Company provides real-time information to its logistics partners, including key operating metrics, such as distribution center utilization rates, route planning data and order volume forecasts. Independent software vendors (ISVs) provide software tools, as well as systems integration services to sellers.

Tmall is an online platform featuring brands and retailers with each seller having an identifiable online storefront. Users may access Tmall anytime, anywhere through the Tmall Website and the mobile apps and mobile-optimized websites provided by Taobao Marketplace and Tmall. The physical product categories on Tmall include apparel and accessories, electronics and appliances, home furnishings, home appliances, maternity and baby products. Juhuasuan is an online group buying marketplace in China. Juhuasuan offers quality products at discounted prices by aggregating demand from numerous consumers. Juhuasuan mainly does this through flash sales, which make products available at discounted prices for a limited period of time. Juhuasuan offers group buying channels featuring branded and private label products, products made to custom specifications and local services.

AliExpress is a consumer marketplace enables consumers from around the world to buy directly from wholesalers and manufacturers in China. On AliExpress, consumers have access to a variety of products. In addition to the global English-language site, AliExpress operates two local language sites in Russia and Brazil. The product categories on AliExpress.com include apparel and accessories, phones and communications products, beauty and health, computer networking, jewelry and watches. Alibaba.com is an online commerce platform. Sellers on Alibaba.com may pay for an annual Gold Supplier membership to host a premium storefront with product listings on the marketplace.

The Company��! marketin! g technology platform, Alimama, offers sellers on its marketplaces marketing services for both personal computer and mobile devices, which include P4P marketing service and display marketing. Alimama also offers its sellers these marketing services through third parties through the Taobao Affiliate Network. The Taobao Ad Network and Exchange (TANX) automates the buying and selling of billions of advertising impressions on a daily basis by third parties. The Company also offer a data management platform (DMP), connected to TANX. Its DMP allows participants on TANX to evaluate and select online advertising inventory using both behavioral data they provide, as well as data from browsing behavior and shopping history. Its Cloud Computing supports its commerce ecosystem by providing a distributed computing infrastructure to handle the large volume of traffic and data generated on its online marketplaces. Its cloud computing platform offers service offerings, including elastic computing, database services and storage and large scale computing services.

The company offer search functions on all of its Web pages, mobile apps and many of its marketing affiliates��websites and apps to make it easy for buyers to find products and services within its marketplaces. The Company offers Aliwangwang, a personal computer-based instant messenger that supports text, audio and video communication. The Company developed Aliwangwang to facilitate open communication between buyers and sellers on Taobao Marketplace and Tmall. Buyers and sellers use it as a tool for a range of tasks, including negotiation of prices, customer services and delivery notification, in addition to the basic messaging functions. It offer Qianniu , an integrated platform for communication and productivity tools which allows sellers on Taobao Marketplace and Tmall to manage their operations more efficiently.

Alipay, the Company�� related company, provides payment and escrow services for transactions on Taobao Marketplace, Tm! all, 1688! .com and certain of its other sites, as well as to third parties in China. The Company�� small and medium enterprise (SME) loan business provides micro loans to sellers on its wholesale and retail marketplaces through lending vehicles licensed by the local government.

The company competes with Tencent and Baidu.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By MONEYMORNING.COM]

    Give me Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) stock at $70, Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) stock at $200, and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA) at $80.

  • [By Mike Butler]

    Some new additions to the portfolio were Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NASDAQ: BABA) and eBay Inc (NASDAQ: EBAY), with Sony Corp (NYSE: SNE) being a notable exit.

Top 5 Internet Companies For 2014: Symantec Corporation(SYMC)

Symantec Corporation provides security, storage, and systems management solutions internationally. The company?s Consumer segment delivers Internet security, PC tune-up, and online backup solutions and services to individual users and home offices. Its Security and Compliance segment provides solutions for endpoint security and management, compliance, messaging management, data loss prevention, encryption, and authentication services to large, medium, and small-sized businesses, as well as offers solutions through its software-as-a-service (SaaS) security offerings. This segment?s products enable customers to secure, provision, and remotely manage their laptops, PCs, mobile devices, and servers. The company?s Storage and Server Management segment provides storage and server management, backup, archiving, and data protection solutions across heterogeneous storage and server platforms, as well as solutions delivered through its SaaS offerings to large, medium, and small-s ized businesses. Symantec?s Services segment offers implementation services and solutions, including consulting, business critical services, education, and managed security services. The company also provides various enterprise support offerings, such as annual maintenance support contracts, including content, upgrades, and technical support. It sells its products through its eCommerce platform, as well as through distributors, direct marketers, Internet-based resellers, system builders, ISPs, and retail locations worldwide. Symantec markets and sells its products through distributors, retailers, direct marketers, Internet-based resellers, original equipment manufacturers, system builders, and Internet service providers; and its e-commerce channels, as well as direct sales force, value-added and large account resellers, and system integrators. The company was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Mountain View, California.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Traders Reserve]

    For some reason, certain companies can attract buyers no matter the circumstance. I would put Symantec (SYMC) in that category. Shares have gained nearly 20% this year even as Symantec�� prospects deteriorated.

Top 5 Internet Companies For 2014: Amazon.com Inc.(AMZN)

Amazon.com, Inc. operates as an online retailer in North America and internationally. It operates retail Web sites, including amazon.com and amazon.ca. The company serves consumers through its retail Web sites and focuses on selection, price, and convenience. It also offers programs that enable sellers to sell their products on its Web sites, and their own branded Web sites. In addition, the company serves developer customers through Amazon Web Services, which provides access to technology infrastructure that developers can use to enable virtually various type of business. Further, it manufactures and sells the Kindle e-reader. Additionally, the company provides fulfillment; miscellaneous marketing and promotional agreements, such as online advertising; and co-branded credit cards. Amazon.com, Inc. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By prabhat71]

    Blackberry (BBRY) seems to be returning from the wild blue yonder. The organization's turnaround looked realistic last month and it conveyed handsomely by posting Wall Street-beating numbers. Furnished with a partnership with Amazon.com (AMZN) and raid into new markets, it is likely that Blackberry will have the capacity to sustain its marvelous run. A closer take a gander at the organization's strategies will make it clear why Blackberry can turnaround.

  • [By Chris Neiger]

    Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN  ) today launched a new online Active and Healthy Living Store aimed at adults over 50 years of age and providing products from categories including nutrition, wellness, exercise and fitness, medical, personal care, beauty, travel and leisure, and entertainment.

  • [By Chris Neiger]

    Unfortunately for many traditional PC makers, they're not the ones benefiting from the popularity of tablets. If we take a look at IDC's data from the end of January, we see that Apple leads, with the most tablet shipments, followed by Samsung, and then Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN  ) with it's Kindle line.�

  • [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]

    3dsystems.com3D Systems made these sugar cubes with a 3-D printer There were plenty of winners and losers this week, with a leading toy maker posting strong growth across its product lines and one of this year's most hyped smartphone rollouts struggling to connect with consumers. Here's a rundown of the week's smartest moves and biggest blunders. Fire Phone -- Loser It has been widely assumed that Amazon.com (AMZN) hasn't gained a lot of traction with its first foray into proprietary smartphones, but now we have confirmation directly from the leading online retailer. Amazon took a $170 million accounting hit on Thursday to write down the value of its Fire Phone inventory and supplier commitment costs. Amazon isn't ready to throw in the towel on the smartphone, but it clearly miscalculated in a big way by not pricing it more aggressively. It may not have much of a choice now. Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) -- Winner The restaurant industry's market darling lived up to the hype with another blowout quarter. Revenue and earnings climbed 31 percent and 56 percent, respectively, over the prior year. The most stunning nugget in Chipotle's report is that comparable-restaurant sales soared 19.8 percent during the quarter. Yes, the average Chipotle rang up 19.8 percent more in sales than it did during last year's third quarter. A springtime menu price increase has helped spice up sales, but Chipotle continues to be a fast-casual rock star. The stock did disappoint the market by initiating a lackluster outlook for 2015. That was enough to find the bears outnumbering the bulls. However, it's hard to generate a nearly 20 percent spike in store-level comps without being called a winner. 3D Systems (DDD) -- Loser 3-D printing may be one of the coolest technologies to arise in years, but consumer adoption has been slow. Printing physical objects sounds cool -- and there are plenty of consumer and industrial applications -- but the high prices of printers have kept 3-D p

Top 5 Internet Companies For 2014: IAC/InterActiveCorp (IACI)

IAC/InterActiveCorp engages in the Internet business in the United States and internationally. The company�s Search segment develops, markets, and distributes various downloadable toolbars; provides search, reference, and content services through its destination search and other Websites, including Ask.com and Dictionary.com; and aggregates and integrates local advertising and content for distribution to publishers on Web and mobile platforms, as well as markets and distributes mobile applications through which it provides search and additional services. Its Match segment offers subscription-based and advertiser-supported online personals services through its Websites comprising Match.com, Chemistry.com, OurTime.com, BlackPeopleMeet.com, and OkCupid.com, as well as through mobile applications and Meetic-branded Websites. The company�s ServiceMagic segment offers Market Match service that matches consumers with service professionals; Exact Match service, which enables con sumers to review service professional profiles and select the service professional that meets their specific needs; and 1800Contractor.com, an online directory of service professionals. This segment also offers Website design and hosting services. Its Media and Other segment operates CollegeHumor.com, an online entertainment Website that targets young males; Vimeo, a Website on which users can upload, share, and view video; and Pronto.com, a comparison search engine. This segment also engages in the creation of video content for various distribution platforms; and operates as an Internet retailer of footwear and related apparel and accessories, as well as focuses on multimedia business. The company was formerly known as InterActiveCorp and changed its name to IAC/InterActiveCorp in July 2004. IAC/InterActiveCorp was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Lawrence Meyers]

    Rather than pick the obvious candidates, I also like to look for great stocks to buy that might not be on most investors��radar. Here are three such stocks to buy:

    InterActiveCorp (IACI)

    InterActiveCorp (IACI) is Barry Diller�� conglomerate of internet companies, not terribly different from John Malone�� Liberty Interactive (LINTA). The strategy for IACI stock has been to wait for a leader in a given sector to emerge and then buy it up, or at least a portion of it. These businesses either have a history of generating lots of cash flow, or have the potential to do so.

  • [By Rex Crum]

    Additionally, Devitt initiated coverage of IAC/InterActive Corp. (IACI) �with an equal weight rating and best-case stock price scenario of $67 a share.

  • [By Brian Stelter]

    I hesitated, but she insisted that I come to the headquarters of Barry Diller's IAC (IACI) for an in-person demonstration of the product, which she called an "online TV platform." Once I was there, I understood. "Surprisingly high-quality signal," I scribbled in my notebook. "Place- and time-shifting!"

  • [By Eric Volkman]

    Rhyu joins the company from IAC's (NASDAQ: IACI  ) Match.com, where he has filled the roles of both CFO and chief administrative officer since 2011. Previous to that, he was a senior vice president at News Corp's (NASDAQ: FOXA  ) Dow Jones & Company. He also served as corporate controller for both Sirius XM Radio and GrafTech International (NYSE: GTI  ) .

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Top Heal Care Stocks To Buy For 2015

Top Heal Care Sto cks To Buy For 2015: 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 Holly LaFon]

    In the fourth quarter, Yacktmans biggest additions to his holdings were Research In Motion (RIMM) and Avon Products (AVP). He also surprised followers by venturing into financials, with new positions in Goldman Sachs (GS), Bank of America (! BAC), State Street Corp. (STT) and Northern Trust Corp. (NTRS).

  • [By E.S. Browning]

    This view is spreading. When Northern Trust(NTRS) surveyed 100 outside investment managers at the end of last year, 34% called themselves more risk averse, up from 20% in the third quarter. Only 36% said U.S. stocks are undervalued.

  • [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, investment and other servicing fees. But results missed the estimates of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

  • [By Selena Maranjian]

    Northern Trust (NASDAQ: NTRS  )

    To earn their high scores, the companies above engaged in a variety of good practices, including applying their human rights policy to their suppliers and vendors, and committing to quantifiable targets and goals.

  • source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.seekpennystocks.com/top-heal-care-stocks-to-buy-for-2015-3.html

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

5 Best Healthcare Equipment Stocks To Buy For 2015

5 Best Healthcare Equipment Stocks To Buy For 2015: Frozen Food Express Industries Inc.(FFEX)

Frozen Food Express Industries, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides temperature-controlled truckload and less-than-truckload services in the United States. It offers truckload linehaul, dedicated fleets, and less-than-truckload linehaul services, as well as brokerage services, including ocean, air, and domestic and international expedited services. The company primarily transports meat, ice, poultry, seafood, processed foods, candy and other confectionaries, dairy products, pharmaceuticals, medical supplies, fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables, cosmetics, films, and Christmas trees. It also leases refrigerated trailers for the storage and transportation of perishable items. As of September 30, 2011, the company operated a fleet of 1,178 tractors and 2,360 trailers. Frozen Food Express Industries, Inc. was founded in 1946 and is based in Dallas, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By John Udovich]

    Despite what can best be described as a soft economy, small cap trucking stocks YRC Worldwide, Inc (NASDAQ: YRCW), Arkansas Best Corporation (NASDAQ: ABFS), Frozen Food Express Industries, Inc (NASDAQ: FFEX), Saia Inc (NASDAQ: SAIA) and USA Truck, Inc (NASDAQ: USAK) have been trucking some pretty impressive returns since the start of the year. In fact, these small cap trucking stocks are up anywhere from 72% to 150% or so since the start of the year despite the slow economy. Certainly trucking stocks provide a good indicator of how the economy is doing, but might investors be jumping the gun by pushing up these trucking stocks?

  • source from Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/5-best-healthcare-equipment-stocks-to-buy-for-2015-2.html

Monday, February 16, 2015

Best Low Price Companies To Buy For 2015

Best Low Price Compan ies To Buy For 2015: ProShares Trust II (YCS)

ProShares Trust II (the Trust) is a statutory trust organized into separate series. The Trust offers seven Funds. The Trust offers beneficial interest in each of its 24 series. The 24 separate series include ProShares Ultra DJ-UBS Commodity, ProShares UltraShort DJ-UBS Commodity, ProShares Ultra DJ-UBS Crude Oil, ProShares UltraShort DJ-UBS Crude Oil, ProShares Ultra DJ-UBS Natural Gas, ProShares Short DJ-UBS Natural Gas, ProShares UltraShort DJ-UBS Natural Gas, ProShares Short Gold, ProShares Ultra Gold, ProShares UltraShort Gold, ProShares Ultra Silver, ProShares UltraShort Silver, ProShares Ultra Euro, ProShares UltraShort Euro, ProShares Ultra Yen ProShares UltraShort Yen, ProShares Ultra VIX Short-Term Futures ETF, ProShares VIX Short-Term Futures ETF, ProShares Short VIX Short-Term Futures ETF, ProShares UltraShort VIX Short-Term Futures ETF, ProShares Ultra VIX Mid-Term Futures ETF, ProShares VIX Mid-Term Futures ETF, ProShares Short VIX Mid-Term Futures ETF and Pro Shares UltraShort VIX Mid-Term Futures ETF.

The Funds offer investors the opportunity to obtain leveraged, inverse or inverse leveraged exposure to a particular benchmark. The Funds include funds linked to futures-based commodity indexes (the Commodity Index Funds), particular commodities (the Commodity Funds) or particular currencies (the Currency Funds). ProShare Capital Management LLC serves as the Trust's Sponsor, commodity pool operator and commodity trading advisor. Wilmington Trust Company is the sole Trustee of the Trust.

Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Index

ProShares Ultra DJ-UBS Commodity and ProShares UltraShort DJ-UBS Commodity are designed to track a multiple or an inverse multiple of the daily performance of the Dow Jones-UBS Commodity IndexSM. The Dow Jones-UBS Commodity IndexSM (the Dow Jones-UBS) is designed to be a! highly liquid and diversified benchmark for the commodity futures market. It focuses to reflect the overall c ommodity sector by measuring the performance of commodity fu! tures contracts. The Dow Jones-UBS is a rolling index, which means that the Dow Jones-UBS does not take actual physical possession of any commodities; rather, it tracks a rolling futures position. An investor with a rolling futures position is able to avoid delivering (or taking delivery of) underlying physical commodities while maintaining exposure to those commodities. The roll for each Index component occurs over a period of five Dow Jones-UBS business days in certain months according to a pre-determined schedule. The exact roll methodology differs between certain commodities. The Index will reflect the performance of its underlying commodities, including roll costs, without regard to income earned on cash positions. The Dow Jones-UBS is consisted of eight different commodity sectors, such as petroleum, natural gas, livestock, grains, industrial metals, precious metals, softs and vegetable oils. These eight sectors track futures contracts prices of 19 specific commodities , such as natural gas, crude oil, unleaded gasoline, heating oil, live cattle, lean hogs, wheat, corn, soybeans, soybean oil, aluminum, copper, zinc, nickel, gold, silver, sugar, cotton and coffee. The Dow Jones-UBS is consisted of commodities traded on the United States exchanges, with the exception of aluminum, nickel and zinc, which trade on the London Metal Exchange.

Dow Jones-UBS Natural Gas Subindex

ProShares Ultra DJ-UBS Natural Gas and ProShares UltraShort DJ-UBS Natural Gas are designed to track twice (2x) or twice the inverse (-2x) of the daily performance of the Dow Jones-UBS Natural Gas SubindexSM, respectively The Dow Jones-UBS Natural Gas SubindexSM is intended to reflect the performance of a rolling position in natural gas futures contracts traded on the NYMEX without regard to income earned on cash positions. An invest! ment in n! atural gas futures contracts may often perform very differently than the price of physical natural gas.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Ben Levisohn]

    The euro has dropped about 0.8% against the dollar, while the CurrencyShares Euro Trust ETF (FXE) has dropped 0.7% to $136.71 and the Currency Shares Japanese Yen Trust ETF (FXY) has fallen 1%. The ProShares UltrasShort Euro ETF (EUO) has gained 1.3% to $16.77, while the ProShares UltraShort Yen (YCS) has gained 1.9% to $66.58.

  • [By Matthew McCall]

    An ETF that takes advantage of a weak yen is the ProShares UltraShort Yen ETF (NYSE: YCS). The ETF returns two times the daily inverse of the value of the yen. For example, if the yen declines by 0.5 percent, theoretically YCS should be up 1.0 percent and vice versa. The leveraged aspect of the ETF makes it too risky for most investors and it should only be considered a short-term trading vehicle.

  • [By Charles Sizemore]

    As always, use common sense when trading. You can be "right" about a short and still lose a lot of money if you get caught on the wrong side of a short squeeze. An ETF option to consider in lieu of shorting the yen directly would be the ProShares Ultrashort Yen (YCS).

  • source from Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/best-low-price-companies-to-buy-for-2015-2.html

Sunday, February 15, 2015

Best Information Technology Companies To Own In Right Now


General Motors Headquarters. Courtesy of GM media photos.

General Motors (NYSE: GM  ) lags behind its crosstown rival Ford (NYSE: F  ) in one major aspect: profitability. Despite being far ahead in global sales, GM couldn't top Ford's bottom-line income during its first-quarter report. That's mainly because Ford has worked tirelessly on fixing its bottom line by cutting costs in its global operations ��and it's worked extremely well. GM is taking notes on Ford's success and has recently unveiled a state of the art $130 million data center that will be an information technology system to base its global decisions on. GM believes it will give the company what it needs to work faster and smarter to improve vehicle quality and profits. Let's look at why investors are excited and how much this could bring to GM's bottom line.

Better decisions equal better profits
Here's what GM Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson had to say in a press release: "Having a single nerve center for our global operations will get newer vehicle designs and technologies into our customers' hands quicker and improve the bottom line ... IT is back home where it should be, and it further drives unnecessary complexity from our businesses while improving our operational efficiency and better supporting our business strategy."�

Top 10 Mid Cap Companies To Invest In Right Now: Coffee Holding Co. Inc.(JVA)

Coffee Holding Co., Inc. engages in manufacturing, roasting, packaging, marketing, and distributing roasted and blended coffees in the United States and Canada. The company offers three categories of products: wholesale green coffee, private label coffee, and branded coffee. The wholesale green coffee product category consists of unroasted raw beans imported from worldwide that are sold to roasters and coffee shop operators in approximately 90 varieties. The private label coffee product category includes coffee roasted, blended, packaged, and sold under the specifications and names of others. As of October 31, 2010, the company supplied private label coffee under approximately 34 different labels to wholesalers and retailers in cans, brick packages, and instants in various sizes. The branded coffee product category comprises coffee roasted and blended to the company's own specifications and offered under its seven brand names in various segments of the market. The company also offers other products, including trial-sized mini-brick coffee packages; specialty instant coffees; instant cappuccinos and hot chocolates; and tea line products. Its coffee brands include Cafe Caribe, S&W, Cafe Supremo, Don Manuel, Fifth Avenue, Via Roma, IL CLASSICO, and Entenmann. Coffee Holding Co., Inc. markets its private label and wholesale coffee through trade shows, industry publications, face-to-face contacts, internal sales force, and non-exclusive independent food and beverage sales brokers, as well as through its Web site, coffeeholding.com. The company was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in Staten Island, New York.

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

    What do you get when you cross a Coffee Holding Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:JVA) with a Medical Marijuana Inc. (OTCMKTS:MJNA) and a Kraft Foods Group Inc. (NASDAQ:KRFT)? No, it's not a setup for a punch line - there's a legitimate answer. And that answer is, Latteno Food Corp. (OTCMKTS:LATF).

Best Information Technology Companies To Own In Right Now: Spirit Aerosystems Holdings Inc.(SPR)

Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, designs and manufactures commercial aerostructures worldwide. It operates in three segments: Fuselage Systems, Propulsion Systems, and Wing Systems. The Fuselage Systems segment develops, produces, and markets forward, mid, and rear fuselage sections and systems primarily to aircraft original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), as well as offers related spares, and maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services. This segment also offers rotorcraft comprising forward cockpit and cabin for military aircrafts. The Propulsion Systems segment engages in the development, production, and marketing of struts/pylons; nacelles, including thrust reversers; and related engine structural components primarily to aircraft or engine OEMs, as well as provides related spares and MRO services. The Wing Systems segment develops, produces, and markets wings and wing components comprising flight control surfaces and other miscellaneous structural parts primarily to aircraft OEMs, as well as offers related spares and MRO services. This segment is also involved in designing, engineering, and manufacturing structural components for military aircrafts, including low observables that are radar absorbent and translucent materials; and radome new builds and refurbishment. It also provides other military services, such as fabrication, bonding, assembly, testing, tooling, processing, engineering analysis, and training. Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. serves large commercial airplanes, business and regional jets, and military/helicopter sectors of the aerostructures industry. The company was formerly known as Mid-Western Aircraft Systems Holdings, Inc. Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. is headquartered in Wichita, Kansas.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Inyoung Hwang]

    Axel Springer AG (SPR) declined 1.5 percent to 43.43 euros. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. cut its rating on Europe�� biggest newspaper publisher to sell from neutral, saying its valuation is the highest of the publishers it covers. Shares trade at 18.6 times earnings compared with 16.3 times for the DAX.

Best Information Technology Companies To Own In Right Now: Skilled Healthcare Group Inc.(SKH)

Skilled Healthcare Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, hospices, home health providers, and a rehabilitation therapy business. Its skilled nursing facilities provide specialty care, such as chemotherapy, enteral/parenteral nutrition, tracheotomy care, and ventilator care, as well as offers various services, including room and board, special nutritional programs, social services, recreational activities, and related healthcare and other services. These skilled nursing facilities include Express Recovery, a unit that provides skilled nursing care and rehabilitation therapy for patients recovering from conditions, such as joint replacement surgery, and cardiac and respiratory ailments. The company?s assisted living facilities provide residential accommodations, activities, meals, security, housekeeping, and assistance in the activities of daily living to seniors who are independent or who require some support , but not the level of nursing care provided in a skilled nursing facility. Skilled Healthcare Group also offers ancillary services, such as physical, occupational, and speech therapy, as well as rehabilitation therapy service to third-party skilled nursing operators. In addition, the company offers hospice services comprising palliative and clinical care, education, and counseling with a focus on the physical, spiritual, and psychosocial needs of terminally ill individuals and their families. As of December 31, 2010, it owned or leased 78 skilled nursing facilities and 22 assisted living facilities, together comprising 10,830 licensed beds in California, Texas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nevada, and New Mexico. The company has a joint venture with APS?Summit Care Pharmacy, LLC that operates a pharmacy in Austin, Texas. Skilled Healthcare Group, Inc. is based in Foothill Ranch, California.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Rich Smith]

    Foothill Ranch, Calif.-based Skilled Healthcare (NYSE: SKH  ) needs a new CEO.

    On Monday, the assisted living facilities operator announced that Chief Executive Officer Boyd Hendrickson plans to retire from the company at the end of this year. A search for a replacement is now under way.

Best Information Technology Companies To Own In Right Now: Libbey Inc (LBY)

Libbey Inc. (Libbey), incorporated in 1987, is a producer of glass tableware products in the Western Hemisphere, in addition to supplying to key markets throughout the world. The Company produces glass tableware in five countries and sells to over 100 countries. It operates in two segments: Glass Operations and Other Operations. Glass Operations includes worldwide sales of manufactured and sourced glass tableware and other glass products from domestic and international subsidiaries. Other Operations includes worldwide sales of sourced ceramic dinnerware, metal tableware, hollowware and serveware and plastic items. It design and market, under its Libbey, Crisa, Royal Leerdam, World Tableware, Syracuse China and Crisal Glass brand names. The Company�� import and market ceramic dinnerware under the Syracuse China brand name through its subsidiary Syracuse China Company (Syracuse China).

Through its subsidiary B.V. Koninklijke Nederlandsche Glasfabriek Leerdam (Royal Leerdam), the Company manufactures glass stemware under the Royal Leerdam brand name. Through its subsidiary Crisal-Cristalaria Automatica S.A. (Crisal), the Company manufactures glass tableware in Portugal for its worldwide customer base. Through its World Tableware Inc. (World Tableware) subsidiary, the Company imports metal flatware, hollowware, serveware and ceramic dinnerware for resale.

The Company�� glass tableware includes tumblers, stemware, including wine glasses, mugs, bowls, ashtrays, bud vases, salt and pepper shakers, shot glasses, canisters, candleholders and various other items. Libbey Holland produces stemware. Libbey Portugal produces glass tableware, mainly tumblers, stemware and glassware accessories. Libbey Mexico's glass tableware product assortment also includes glass bakeware and handmade glass tableware. In addition, Libbey Mexico's products include blender jars, washing machine windows and other glass products sold principally to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Through its Syrac! use China and World Tableware subsidiaries, the Company offers a range of ceramic dinnerware products. These include plates, bowls, platters, cups, saucers and other tableware accessories. Its World Tableware subsidiary provides an selection of metal flatware, including knives, forks, spoons and serving utensils. In addition, World Tableware sells metal hollowware, including serving trays, pitchers and other metal tableware accessories, as well as a line of dinnerware.

The customers for Libbey�� tableware products include approximately 500 foodservice distributors in the United States and Canada. In the retail channel, the Company sells to mass merchants, department stores, retail distributors, national retail chains and specialty housewares stores. In addition, the Company�� business-to-business channel primarily includes customers that use glass containers for candle and floral applications, gourmet food packaging companies, and various OEM applications. In Mexico, it sells to retail mass merchants and wholesale distributors, as well as candle and food packers, and various OEM users of custom molded glass. In Europe, it market glassware to retailers, distributors and decorators that service the retail, foodservice and developed business-to-business channel, which includes breweries and distilleries. In China, Libbey sells to distributors and wholesalers.

The Company competes with Arc International, Pasabahce, Anchor Hocking Company, Bormioli Rocco Group, Homer Laughlin, Oneida Ltd., Steelite and Walco, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By John Udovich]

    Everyone is familiar with�the Tupperware brand from�consumer products stock Tupperware Brands Corporation (NYSE: TUP) and you are probably familiar with the brands�of mid cap stock Jarden Corp (NYSE: JAH) along with small cap stocks Libbey Inc (NYSEMKT: LBY) and Lifetime Brands Inc (NASDAQ: LCUT); but what about the stocks themselves? Chances are, their brands or products are right under your nose at home and you probably don�� know anything about the mid cap or small cap stock behind them.

  • [By John Udovich]

    On Wednesday, small cap kitchen stock Everyware Global Inc (NASDAQ: EVRY) surged 52.94% after announcing an amendment to extend its forbearance agreement with lenders until July 15 that could give the company�time to find a long-term financing solution���meanings its worth taking as closer look at the stock along with potential peers Libbey Inc (NYSEMKT: LBY) and Lifetime Brands Inc (NASDAQ: LCUT).

Best Information Technology Companies To Own In Right Now: Renewable Energy Group Inc (REGI)

Renewable Energy Group, Inc., incorporated in August 2006, is a producer of biodiesel in the United States. The Company is engaged in each aspect of biodiesel production, from acquiring feedstock, managing construction and operating biodiesel production facilities to marketing, selling and distributing biodiesel and its co-products. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company sold approximately 150 million gallons of biodiesel. As of December 31, 2011, the Company operated a network of six biodiesel plants, with an aggregate production capacity of 212 million gallons per year. On July 12, 2011, the Company acquired SoyMor Biodiesel, LLC (SoyMor), which has 30 million gallons per year biodiesel production facility in Albert Lea, Minnesota. In January 2012, it exercised its option to purchase the 60 million gallons per year facility in Seneca, Illinois, which it operated under a lease. In August 2013, the Company acquired biodiesel plant in Mason City, Iowa. In January 2014, Renewable Energy Group Inc acquired renewable chemical technology developer LS9, Inc.

The Company produces its biodiesel from a range of feedstocks, including inedible animal fat, used cooking oil and inedible corn oil. It also produces a smaller portion of its biodiesel from virgin vegetable oils. It owns biodiesel production facilities with capacities consisting of 12 million gallons per year facility in Ralston, Iowa; 35 million gallons per year facility near Houston, Texas, or the Houston facility; 45 million gallons per year facility in Danville, Illinois, and 30 million gallons per year facility in Newton, Iowa.

The Company competes with Archer Daniels Midland Company, Cargill, Incorporated, Louis Dreyfus Commodities Group, Ag Processing Inc., Mansfield, Astra, Gavilon, Tenaska, ED&F Man, Dynamic Fuels, LLC, Syntroleum Corporation, Tyson Foods, Inc., Diamond Green Diesel, LLC and Darling International.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Maxx Chatsko]

    RINs are created with each lot of biofuels produced and act as a way for the industry to track production. They are normally sold with the corresponding amount of biofuels, but can be sold on secondary markets without a physical volume to back it up. Speculation by third parties and fear of running into the 10% ethanol blend wall in 2013 and 2014 caused prices to spike. The volatility may continue for the medium term, but investors may be able to find solace in the country's leading biodiesel producer Renewable Energy Group (NASDAQ: REGI  ) . Fool contributor Maxx Chatsko explains why in the following video.

  • [By Maxx Chatsko]

    I told you not to worry. Although, with such weak guidance to start the year one could argue that Renewable Energy Group (NASDAQ: REGI  ) set itself up for a positive earnings surprise yesterday. The nation's largest biodiesel producer recorded it best first quarter ever for production and volume of fuel sold. Since biodiesel use slows in colder winter months the solid quarter is a testament to its growing use in the nation's fuel supply and the company's ability to develop alternative products such as heating oil. Here's a quick breakdown from REG's first quarter.

  • [By Maxx Chatsko]

    When it comes to the highly charged biodiesel industry, one company stands above the rest. Way above. Renewable Energy Group (NASDAQ: REGI  ) is not only the leader in terms of pure production capacity, but it also displays plenty of desirables that should be on every investor's radar. What makes the company so great? It is no secret. In particular, REG has focused on three areas to become the top biodiesel stock.

Best Information Technology Companies To Own In Right Now: 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.

  • [By Anna Prior]

    Aspen Insurance Holdings Ltd.(AHL) said it expects second-quarter operating earnings above Wall Street projections, citing “the continued excellent performance across our businesses.”

  • [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

    Equities Trading UP
    Aspen Insurance Holdings (NYSE: AHL) shares shot up 11.33 percent to $43.83 after Endurance Specialty Holdings (NYSE: ENH) offered to buy Aspen Insurance for $47.50 per share in a cash and stock deal.

  • [By Sally Jones] % over 12 months, Aspen Insurance Holdings Ltd. has a market cap of $2.63 billion; its shares were traded at around $40.06 with a P/E ratio of 13.50. The dividend yield is 1.80%.

    The GuruFocus analysis for AHL shows six warning signs.

    Track historical share pricing, revenue and net income:

    [ Enlarge Image ]

    Guru Action: As of Sept. 30, 2013, Arnold Schneider reduced his position by 89.42%, selling 109,081 shares at an average price of $36.77, for a gain of 8.9%.

    Over five quarters, Schneider has averaged a 28% gain on 166,209 shares bought at an average price of $31.34 per share. He gained 8% selling 153,305 shares at an average price of $37.03 per share.

    Guru Action: As of Sept. 30, 2013, Jim Simons increased his position by 387.47%, buying 501,000 shares at an average price of $36.77, for a gain of 8.9%. His current shares are 630,300.

    Over five years, Simons has sold out three times. He has averaged a 15% gain on 876,900 shares bought at an average price of $34.82 per share. He gained 13% on 246,600 shares sold at an average price of $35.35 per share.

    Guru Action: As of Sept. 30, 2013, Steven Cohen increased his position by 190.15%, buying 15,037 shares at an average price of $36.77, for a gain of 8.9%. His current shares are 22,945.

    Cohen has averaged an 18% gain on 36,658 shares bought at an average price of $33.98 per share. He gained 22% on 13,713 shares sold at an average price of $32.85 per share.

    Guru Action: As of Sept. 30, 2013, top guru stakeholder David Einhorn reduced his position by 36.93%, selling 1,451,581 shares at an average price of $36.77, for a gain of 8.6%. This trade impacts his portfolio by -1%. His current shares are 2,478,935 or 3.67% of shares outstanding.

    Over five years, Einhorn has averaged a 67% gain on 5,700,182 shares bought at an average price of $23.88 per share. He gained 15% on 3,221,247 shares sold at an average price of $34.57 per share.

    Here�

Friday, February 13, 2015

Reliable Dividend Stocks You Can Count On to Combat Plunging Bond Prices

By John Whitefoot

The markets are taking a predictable breather ahead of the Federal Reserve’s meeting later this week. Analysts from every corner of the globe are weighing in on whether or not the Federal Reserve is going to begin tapering its stock market-fueling $85.0-billion-per-month bond-buying program.

Stock markets have been on a tear ever since the Federal Reserve initiated its first round of quantitative easing in late 2008. Since early 2009, the S&P 500 has climbed more than 150% and is up roughly 17.5% year-to-date.

But the Federal Reserve can’t print money and keep interest rates artificially low forever. Once the Federal Reserve sees enough data pointing to a sustained economic recovery (unemployment, housing prices, inflation, etc.), it’ll begin to taper off.

Based on so-called encouraging economic jobs data, many think the U.S. economy is strengthening. For investors, this is bad news, because it means the Federal Reserve will start tapering sooner rather than later, and a decrease in the demand for bonds will, of course, lift bond yields. This could throw income investors a serious curve-ball.

Over the last five years, quantitative easing has kept the 10-year Treasury yield near its record lows, hovering around two percent for the last two years. The record-low numbers sent income investors scurrying into dividend stocks in an effort to make up for lost ground. Over the last number of years, income investors were able to realize both significant capital gains and dividend growth.

But that could change, as investors who have been seeking financial solace in dividend stocks with yields of four percent or more are now seeing 10-year Treasury yields above three percent—the first time since July 2011. So the question is: are dividend stocks, which according to some analysts are overpriced, worth the risk? And if bond prices continue to fall, will high-dividend-yielding stocks be able to make up for any potential losses in capital?

The biggest question for those pondering dividend stocks is: are they overpriced? Over the past year, dividend-paying stocks on the S&P 500 were trading for 14.7 times their adjusted operating earnings.

Yet over the last 10 years, the average price-to-earnings ratio for dividend-yielding stocks on the S&P 500 was 14.9. This suggests that S&P 500 dividend stocks may not be as overvalued as some analysts think; in fact, they could have plenty of room to run, especially if their earnings continue to grow.

Regardless of what the Federal Reserve decides to do this week, there remain a large number of reasonably priced stocks with attractive yields worth considering.

Frontier Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: FTR) provides phone, Internet, and satellite TV (through a partnership with DISH Network) services to more than 25 states. The company provides an annual dividend of 9.3% and reaffirmed its full-year guidance.

Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI) is the top newspaper publisher in the U.S.; its flagship paper is USA TODAY. The company also owns 23 television stations and more than 200 papers in the U.K. Gannett Co. provides an annual dividend of 3.3%. During the second quarter, it reported solid broadcasting and digital revenue growth and its fourth consecutive quarter of year-over-year circulation revenue growth.

Investors looking for dividend stocks that outpace bond yields need to look beyond the short term. Instead of just looking at dividend yields, look for reasonably priced stocks with great upside potential and strong liquidity, ensuring both long-term capital gains and dividend growth.

This article Reliable Dividend Stocks You Can Count On to Combat Plunging Bond Prices was originally published at Daily Gains Letter

The following article is from one of our external contributors. It does not represent the opinion of Benzinga and has not been edited.

5 Best Asian Stocks For 2014

European stocks advanced, rebounding from two days of losses, after Janet Yellen, nominated to be the next chairman of the Federal Reserve, said the U.S. economy must improve before monetary stimulus is pared. U.S. index futures and Asian shares also climbed.

Burberry Group Plc added 1.8 percent after saying first-half sales exceeded 1 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) for the first time as online revenue advanced. K+S AG rose 3.4 percent after reporting third-quarter earnings that beat estimates. RWE AG slid 5.7 percent after forecasting profit next year will almost halve because of weak power prices.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 0.8 percent to 322.48 at 8:05 a.m. in London. The gauge rallied for the past five weeks as the Federal Reserve maintained bond purchases and the European Central Bank lowered its key interest rate. Standard & Poor�� 500 Index futures rose 0.3 percent, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.9 percent.

Yellen said the economy and labor market are performing ��ar short of their potential��and must improve before the central bank can begin reducing monetary stimulus.

Top 5 Forestry Companies To Invest In 2015: Vitacost.com Inc (VITC)

Vitacost.com, Inc. (Vitacost), incorporated in May 20, 1994, is an online retailer of health and wellness products, including dietary supplements such as vitamins, minerals, herbs and other botanicals, amino acids and metabolites, as well as cosmetics, natural personal care products, pet products, sports nutrition and health foods. The Company sells these products directly to consumers primarily through its Website, www.vitacost.com. It offers its customers the selection of healthy living products. It offers its customers a selection of approximately 40,000 Stock Keeping Units (SKUs), from over 2,000 third-party brands, such as New Chapter, Nature�� Way, Twinlab, Source Naturals, Jarrow Formulas, Jason, Desert Essence, Atkins, Bob�� Red Mill, BSN, Optimum Nutrition, USP Labs and MuscleTech in addition to its own brands: Vitacost, Cosmeceutical Sciences Institute (CSI), Best of All, and Smart Basics. As of December 31, 2012, the Company had approximately 2.1 million customers.

The Company offers products in a range of potency levels and dosage forms, such as tablets, capsules, vegi-capsules, softgels, gelcaps, liquids and powders. It offers products that encompass four main categories: Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs and Supplements; Sports Nutrition; Beauty; and Natural and Organic Food.

Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs and Supplements (VMHS)

VMHS products are taken to maintain or improve health and address specific health conditions. In its dietary supplements category, the Company offers its offer its Vitacost branded products as well as third-party brands such as Nature�� Way, Twinlab, Jarrow, Carlson and Rainbow Light. Vitamin and mineral products include multi-vitamins, lettered vitamins, such as Vitamin A, C, D, E and B-complex, along with minerals such as calcium, magnesium, chromium and zinc.

Herbal products include whole herbs, standardized extracts, herb combination formulas and teas. Supplements include essential fatty acids, probiotics, anti-o! xidants, phytonutrients and condition-specific formulas.

Sports Nutrition

Sports nutrition products are used in conjunction with cardiovascular conditioning, weight training and sports activities. Major categories in sports nutrition include protein and weight gain powders, meal replacements, nutrition bars, sport drinks and pre and post-workout supplements. The Company offers bodybuilding and sports products from third parties, such as Optimum Nutrition, CytoSport and BSN as well as our Vitacost branded sports nutrition products.

Beauty

Natural care products consist of a variety of natural products for skin, body, hair and oral health. The Company offers hundreds of natural personal-care products from companies, such as JASON, and Kiss My Face, as well as its CSI-branded products. These products appeal to allergen-conscious and environmentally-conscious consumers seeking products that are made without harsh chemicals and additives.

Natural and Organic Food

Natural and organic food products consist of organic and specialty products such as organic peanut butter, gluten free foods and low mercury tuna and salmon. The Company offers third-party brands, such as Kashi, Eden Foods and Amy�� Organic, as well as its Best of All natural food products.

Under its Vitacost brand, the Company offers over 900 products including multivitamins, minerals, herbs, amino acids, anti-oxidants and others. Under its CSI brand, it markets and sells health and beauty products such as facial cleanser, facial and body moisturizing creams and lotions, and other beauty and skincare products. Under its Best of All brand, it markets and sells organic food products such as banana chips, trail mix, almonds, cashews and more. Under its Smart Basics brand, it markets and sells organic fruit juices and extracts and related dietary supplements. Under its Walker Diet brand, it markets and sells low carb powders used to assist in weight loss and ! managemen! t.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Seth Jayson]

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

  • [By Seth Jayson]

    Margins matter. The more Vitacost.com (Nasdaq: VITC  ) keeps of each buck it earns in revenue, the more money it has to invest in growth, fund new strategic plans, or (gasp!) distribute to shareholders. Healthy margins often separate pretenders from the best stocks in the market. That's why we check up on margins at least once a quarter in this series. I'm looking for the absolute numbers, so I can compare them to current and potential competitors, and any trend that may tell me how strong Vitacost.com's competitive position could be.

5 Best Asian Stocks For 2014: West Corp (WSTC)

West Corporation, incorporated on February 22, 1994, is a provider of technology-driven, communication services. The Company offers a broad portfolio of services, including conferencing and collaboration, unified communications, alerts and notifications, emergency communications, business process outsourcing and telephony / interconnect services. The scale and processing capacity of its technology platforms, combined with its managing voice and data transactions, enables them to provide reliable, mission-critical communications designed to maximize return on investment for its clients.

Its clients include Fortune 1000 companies, along with small and medium enterprises in a variety of industries, including telecommunications, retail, financial services, public safety, technology and healthcare. It focuses on addressable markets with attractive growth characteristics have allowed them to deliver steady and profitable growth.

Unified Communications

The Company provides its clients with an integrated global suite of meeting services. Conferencing and Collaboration Services include On-Demand Audio Conferencing, which is an automated conferencing service that allows clients to initiate an audio conference at any time, without the need to make a reservation or rely on an operator; Web Conferencing and Collaboration Tools allow clients to connect remote employees and bolster collaboration among groups. These tools provide clients with the capability to make presentations and share applications and documents over the Internet, these services are offered through product, InterCall Unified Meeting, as well as through the resale of Cisco, Microsoft and Adobe products, Web conferencing services can be customized to each client�� individual needs; Video Managed Services and Video Bridging allows clients to experience real-time face-to-face conferences. These services are offered through its products, InterCall Video Conferencing and InterCall Video Managed Services in conj! unction with third-party equipment, and can be used for a wide variety of events, including training seminars, sales presentations, product launches and financial reporting calls.

InterCall offers multimedia platforms designed to give its clients the ability to create, manage, distribute and reuse content internally and externally. Through a combination of products and strategic partnerships, its clients have the tools to support diverse internal and external multimedia requirements. Event Services solutions include Audio and Video Webcasting Services, which allows users to broadcast small or multimedia presentations over the Internet. It offers its clients the flexibility of broadcasting any combination of audio, video (desktop or high-end) or PowerPoint slides using any operating system; Virtual Event Design and Hosting offers clients consulting, project management and implementation of hosted and managed virtual event and virtual environment solutions. Clients are able to provide audiences easy and instant access to content, experts and peers. Examples of virtual events include trade shows, user groups, job fairs, virtual learning environments and town hall meetings, and Operator-Assisted Audio Conferencing Services are pre-scheduled conferences for complex or important events. Operator-assisted services are customized to a client�� needs and provide a wide range of scalable features and enhancements, including the ability to record, broadcast, schedule and administer meetings.

The Company provides its clients with enterprise class IP-based communications solutions including Hosted IP-PBX and Enterprise Call Management, which allows an enterprise to upgrade its use of communications technology with a suite of cloud-based, on-demand services including full private branch exchange (PBX) functionality, advanced enterprise and personal call management tools and edge unified communications features. These services can be fully integrated with a client�� existing IP o! r legacy ! time-division multiplexing (TDM) infrastructure where required, leveraging investments already made in telephony infrastructure and providing a seamless enterprise-wide solution; Hosted and Managed Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) Network, which is a suite of IP trunking solutions designed to provide enterprise clients with carrier-grade service, along with the benefits of IP-based service that allows their business to run more efficiently. These solutions deliver a consistent set of voice services across an enterprise�� infrastructure, with flexible IP and TDM trunking options for clients��on-site PBX; Unified Communications Partner Solution Portfolio, which enables them to engineer flexible and scalable solutions suitable to an enterprise�� needs, leveraging a portfolio of Microsoft and Cisco offerings integrated with its products, applications and services; Cloud-Based Security Services aggregate a set of technologies into one simple and scalable cloud-based solution that provides clients with network protection. This service can help protect the client�� network from spam and viruses, unauthorized intrusions and inappropriate Web content, while providing simplicity and consistency of security policy management and eliminating single points of failure and bottlenecks that can occur with premise-based security solutions, and Professional Services and System Integration provides its clients with advice and solutions to integrate their unified communication systems. It offers consulting, design, integration, and implementation of voice, video, messaging, and collaboration systems and services.

The Company�� technology platforms allow clients to manage and deliver automated, proactive and personalized communications. It uses multiple delivery channels (voice, text messaging, email, social media and fax), based on the preference of the recipient. For example, it delivers patient notifications, confirm appointments and send prescription reminders on behalf of its healthca! re client! s; send and receive automated outage notifications on behalf of its utility clients and transmit emergency evacuation notices on behalf of municipalities. It offers Automated Voice Notifications are customized voice messages sent on behalf of its clients that are delivered with personalized information. Its systems provide accurate detection of voice mail versus live answer, customized caller ID and retry logic; Short Message Service (SMS)/Email Alerts and Notifications are customized electronic notifications sent on behalf of its clients directly to their customers��handheld devices, wireless phones, two-way pagers or email inboxes; Social Media Messaging enables clients to deliver targeted, personalized messaging to social media sites; Multichannel Preference Management and Campaign Management Solutions allow its clients to create and manage customer information in a real-time environment. Its Web-based user interface tool allows clients to upload customer contact information, create reusable notification templates and customize campaigns, and Website and Customer Portal Management , which is a Web design service whereby it creates custom-built, interactive websites for clients. It also provides a variety of additional features and services, including hosting, search engine optimization and maintenance.

The Company competes with AT&T, Verizon, PGi, BT Conferencing, NTT, Cisco Systems, Microsoft, IBM, ON24, Thomson Reuters, Sonic Foundry, TalkPoint, Adobe, BT Conferencing, PGi, Arkadin , INXPO, 6Connex, WebEx, Verizon, BT, ShoreTel, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, XO Communications, 8x8, M5, Varolii, SoundBite Communications, PhoneTree , Silverlink Communications, Patient Prompt, Sesame Communications and Google

Communication Services

The Company is one of the providers of emergency communications services, based on the number of 9-1-1 calls that the Company and other participants in the industry facilitate. Its services are critical in facilitating public safety! agencies! ��ability to receive emergency calls from citizens. Its clients generally enter into long-term contracts and fund their obligations through monthly charges on users��telephone bills. It offers 9-1-1 Network Services are the systems that control the routing of emergency calls to the appropriate 9-1-1 centers. Its next generation 9-1-1 call handling solution is an IP-based system designed to significantly improve the information available to responders by integrating capabilities such as the ability to text, send photos or video to 9-1-1 centers as well as providing stored data such as building blueprints or personal medical data to responders. Its carrier-grade Location Based Services process over 125,000 daily requests in support of its clients��Enhanced 9-1-1 (E9-1-1) and commercial applications and 9-1-1 Telephony Systems and Services include its fully-integrated desktop communications technology solutions which public safety agencies use to enable E9-1-1 call handling. Its next generation 9-1-1 solution can be deployed in a variety of local, hosted and remote configurations, allowing public safety agencies to grow with minimal incremental investment. It operates in approximately 5,000 call-taking positions in more than 1,000 Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) in North America.

The Company�� services allow its clients to effectively communicate with their customers through inbound and outbound IVR applications using natural language speech recognition, automated voice prompts and network-based call routing services. In addition to these front-end customer service applications, it also provide analyses that helps its clients improve their automated communications strategy. Its open standards-based platform allows the flexibility to integrate new capabilities, such as mobility, social media and cloud-based services. Its Automated Call Processing includes Automated Customer Service Solutions range from speech/IVR applications and mobile solutions to SMS, chat and email. It helps ! its clien! ts engage their customers through the channels they prefer. Examples of self-service applications used by its clients are: access account balances, activation of credit cards, placing orders, FAQ�� and stop/start utility service and Voice and Data Network Management Services assist its clients as they manage or update their own contact center communications networks. It offers hosted or managed services for the operation, administration and management of voice and data networks such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) network management, network automated call distribution (ACD)/multi-channel contact routing, workforce management, monitoring and predictive dialing.

The Company's telephony / interconnect Services support the merging of traditional telecom, mobile and IP technologies to service providers and enterprises. It is a provider of local and national tandem switching services to carriers throughout the United States. It leverages its customer traffic information system, sophisticated call routing and control facility to provide tandem interconnection services to the competitive marketplace, including wireless, wire-line, cable telephony and VoIP companies. Toll-Free Origination transports and switches toll free traffic originated by traditional wireline, VoIP, cable, and wireless carriers to all inter-exchange carriers (IXC) in the United States. This service provides a scalable and efficient means to pass toll free traffic to IXCs. Termination Services using its soft switch platform, national optical backbone and direct network interconnections allow for the termination of outbound toll traffic. Termination Services using its soft switch platform, national optical backbone and direct network interconnections allow for the termination of outbound toll traffic.

The Company provide its clients with agent-based services. It target opportunities that allow its agent-based services to be a part of larger strategic client engagements and with clients for whom these serv! ices can ! add value. It believes that it is known in the industry as a provider of these services. It offers a flexible model that includes on-shore, off-shore and virtual home-based agent capabilities to fit its clients needs. Agent-Based Services include Customer Care and Acquisition Services support its clients with their consumer-based communications needs. It provides customer acquisition and retention, customer care, technical support and sales services. Its customized process strategically matches its client�� goals to the appropriate solutions to maximize results; Business-to-Business and Account Management Services combines its experience, sales methodologies and technology to deliver an integrated suite of solutions that allow its clients to overcome a variety of common sales challenges across a multitude of business segments. Examples of these services include lead management, team sell, account management and sole territory coverage; Receivables Management Services support many of businesses and institutions with a fully licensed collection agency that has integrated partnerships across the telecommunications, financial services, government, healthcare and utilities industries, and Overpayment Identification and Recovery Services provides cost containment programs to organizations including: health insurance payers, third party administrators, managed care organizations, hospitals/physicians and self-insured companies. It analyzes data from multiple healthcare sources, identify incorrectly paid claims, provide targeted communications and collect funds on behalf of its clients.

The Company competes with Cassidian Communications, EmergiTech, 911-Inc, Inteliquent (formerly Neutral Tandem), Peerless Network, Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLEC), Convergys, TeleTech, Sykes, NCO, GC Services, Infosys Limited and Aegis Global.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Travis Hoium]

    What: Shares of communication service provider West Corporation (NASDAQ: WSTC  ) jumped as much as 10% today after the company got positive ratings from analysts.

  • [By Garrett Cook]

    West Corp (NASDAQ: WSTC) shares tumbled 3.66 percent to $26.65 after the company announced an offering of $1 billion senior notes. Analysts at Morgan Stanley downgraded West Corp from Overweight to Equal-Weight.

  • [By Ben Levisohn]

    Abbvie (ABBV)
    Ameren Corp. (AEE)
    Arthur J. Gallagher (AJG)
    E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. (DD)
    ENSCO (ESV)
    Enterprise Products Partners LP (EPD)
    General Mills (GIS)
    H&R Block (HRB)
    Hancock Holding (HBHC)
    Kraft Foods Group (KRFT)
    Lorillard (LO)
    Magellan Midstream Partners LP (MMP)
    MarkWest Energy Partners L P (MWE)
    McDonald’s (MCD)
    Microchip Technology (MCHP)
    NextEra Energy (NEE)
    Regency Centers (REG)
    TELUS Corp. (TU)
    West Corp. (WSTC)
    Williams Companies (WMB)

5 Best Asian Stocks For 2014: Industrias Bachoco S.A. de C.V. (IBA)

Industrias Bachoco, S.A.B. de C.V., through its subsidiaries, operates as a poultry producer in Mexico. It engages in breeding, processing, and marketing of poultry products, such as chicken and table eggs; and balanced animal feed comprising swine and other products. The company also offers turkey and value-added beef and pork products. It sells its products to wholesalers, retailers, supermarkets, rosticer Advisors' Opinion:

  • [By Seth Jayson]

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

5 Best Asian Stocks For 2014: Yandex N.V.(YNDX)

Yandex N.V., an Internet and technology company, operates an Internet search engine in Russia and internationally. It offers access to a range of information available online; localized homepages for specific geographic markets; and personalized and email services. The company also provides specialized search services comprising news aggregation and information services; and price comparison services, such as product information, price comparisons, and consumer-generated reviews of products and online retailers, as well as other specialized search services, including search services for images, videos, music, theatres, televisions, weather, jobs, transportation, cars, and real estate. In addition, it offers desktop applications consisting of specialized toolbar for Web browsers, Russian-to-English and English-to-Russian keyboard layout switcher, and customized browser versions; and server applications for indexing and searching files in various formats. Further, the compan y provides text-based advertising and display advertising services for advertisers on its Websites and Yandex ad network member Websites; and Yandex.Market, a price comparison service, which offers a platform for retailers to reach consumers in a targeted manner. Additionally, it provides services and tools for businesses comprising Yandex.Webmaster that allows Webmasters to control how their Website is seen by its search engine; Yandex.Metrica, a Web statistics analysis tool; Yandex Site Search, a search tool for Webmasters and Website owners; Yandex.Mail for Domain Owners that allows users to create email accounts with their own domain names; Yandex APIs and Widgets that enable developers to use its technologies in their own businesses; and Yandex.Money, an online payment system. Yandex N.V. was incorporated in 2004 and is based in The Hague, the Netherlands.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By James Brumley]

    While GOOG may be the top dog in North America and most of Europe, names like Yandex (YNDX) and Baidu (BIDU) are the proverbial kings of the hill in Russia and China, respectively.

  • [By Mark Hulbert]

    Also receiving at least two buy recommendations from these market-beating advisers are two non-U.S. companies: Yandex (YNDX) �, the Russian search engine, and Qihoo 360 Technology (QIHU) �, the Chinese Internet company. Both also sport P/Es that are well above the market: Yandex�� is 28 and Qihoo�� is 51. Yet their PSRs are also lower than Twitter��, at 12 and 15.9, respectively.

  • [By Global Investing Editor]

    Our new stock idea is a speculation name, Yandex N.V., (YNDX), which is a Dutch company but really a Russian Internet search engine firm. Yandex trades on the Nasdaq exchange when it hasn't crashed, at around $33. Bank of America Merrill Lynch has a target price of $45. It is rated 'buy by 8 analysts, "strong buy" by 2, and "hold" by 2.

  • [By Rich Smith]

    Rumors of the death of Yandex (NASDAQ: YNDX  ) co-founder and chief technology officer have, sadly, not been exaggerated.

    Last week, media reports alternately described the Russian Internet search engine giant's Ilya Segalovich as being in a coma on life support, or dead. Over the weekend, the company finally confirmed that it is the latter.