Stocks Market Today: August 2014

Sunday, August 31, 2014

Top 10 High Tech Companies To Own For 2014

There is only one combination of facts that makes it advisable for a company to repurchase its shares: First, the company has available funds -- cash plus sensible borrowing capacity -- beyond the near-term needs of the business and, second, finds its stock selling in the market below its intrinsic value, conservatively calculated.
-- Warren Buffett, 2000�

Investors love share buybacks. When a company buys shares of its own stock and retires them, it leaves fewer shares outstanding. This boosts earnings per share, because the company's net income is spread over fewer shares. Additionally, the buyback program tilts the supply demand balance for the stock in favor of sellers, which can push the share price higher.

Warren Buffett believes that share buybacks make sense only when two key conditions are fulfilled.

However, buybacks don't always make sense. Investing legend and Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett has said that two conditions must be fulfilled for share buybacks to be a good use of capital. The company must have excess cash and borrowing ability to fund the buyback, and the stock needs to be clearly undervalued.

Top 10 Electric Utility Stocks To Invest In 2015: Derma Sciences Inc.(DSCI)

Derma Sciences, Inc. operates as a medical technology company. The company provides advanced wound care products, including Medihoney dressings that are used for the management of non-chronic and hard-to-heal wounds, such as chronic ulcers, burns, and post-operative wounds; Bioguard dressings that are used for prophylactic use in the prevention of hospital or community acquired infections through wound sites; Algicell Ag, antimicrobial dressings; Xtrasorb dressings that convert fluid within the dressings to a gel and lock the exudates into the dressings; TCC-EZ, a dressing system for the management of diabetic foot ulcers; and occlusive dressings, such as hydrocolloids, foams, hydrogels, alginates, additional silver antimicrobial dressings, cleansers, and Dermagran products. It also offers traditional wound care products, such as of gauze sponges and bandages, non-adherent impregnated dressings, retention devices, paste bandages, and other compression devices, as well as a dhesive bandages and related first aid products. In addition, the company provides pharmaceutical wound care products, including DSC127, an angiotensin analog for use in wound healing and scar reduction. It markets wound closure strips, nasal tube and catheter fasteners, barrier creams and ointments, antibacterial cleansing foams and sprays, shampoos and body washes, hand sanitizers, bath additives, body oils, and moisturizers to doctors, clinics, nursing homes, hospitals, home healthcare agencies, and other institutions. The company sells its products to health care providers, such as wound care centers, extended care facilities, acute care facilities, home health care agencies, and physicians? offices through direct sales representatives in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom; retail channels; manufacturers? representatives and independent distributors in international markets. Derma Sciences, Inc. was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey.

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 Derma Sciences (Nasdaq: DSCI ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.
[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 Derma Sciences (Nasdaq: DSCI ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Top 10 High Tech Companies To Own For 2014: Octagon 88 Resources Inc (OCTX)

Octagon 88 Resources, Inc., incorporated on June 9, 2008, is a development-stage oil and gas company. The Company has acquired light and conventional heavy oil assets in Northern Alberta. On Jan 22, 2013, the Company launched the Conventional Oil Production Division by entering into a purchase agreement to acquire its share in the Red Earth Area, which consists of four contiguous sections of P&NG leases, a ( 40 API) Keg River formation with P3 reserves of 1.2 Mill barrels light sweet crude oil recoverable.

On December 24, 2012, the Company acquired a 22% interest of CEC North Star Energy Ltd. (North Star). On January 23, 2013, the Company acquired a 10% interest in North Star.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Jonathan Yates]
It will also be bullish for publicly traded companies in each sector, ranging from prominent blue chips like Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) and Goldcorp (NYSE: GG) to promising small caps like Octagon 88 (OTC: OCTX) and Wishbone Gold PLC (OTC: WISHY).
[By Jonathan Yates]
There has been a great deal of concern about the United States suffering from a "lost generation" as Japan has now for several. For investors in oil, this has certainly not been the case: A recent article in The Wall Street Journal noted that oil has risen 310% (Brent Crude) over the last decade. The future looks equally promising for investments in the sector such as ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP), Suncor Energy (NYSE: SU), Americas Petrogas (BOE.V), and Octagon 88 (OTCBB: OCTX).
[By Jonathan Yates]
For investors looking for a play, small cap firms operating in the oil and natural gas sector in Canada, such as Octagon 88 (OTC: OCTX), Americas Petrogas (OTC: APEOF), and Connacher Oil and Gas (OTC: CLLZF) could draw attention.
[By Jonathan Yates]
"Octagon 88 has received confirmation of 1.6 billion billion barrels PIIP," was the headline for the press release dated September 11, 2013. Needless to say, Octagon 88 (OTCBB: OCTX), a small cap oil and natural gas exploration based in Switzerland with assets in the oil-rich Alberta province of Canada, has soared on that and other bullish news. From early July, the stock price for Octagon 88 just about doubled.

Top 10 High Tech Companies To Own For 2014: Synutra International Inc.(SYUT)

Synutra International, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the production, marketing, and distribution of dairy based nutritional products primarily in the People?s Republic of China. The company offers powdered infant and adult formula products for adults and children under the Super, U-Smart, My Angel, Mingshan, and Helanruniu brand names; prepared baby food for babies and children under the Huiliduo brand name; and nutritional ingredients and supplements, such as chondroitin sulfate, microencapsulated Docosahexanoic Acid, and Arachidonic Acid. It also sells milk powder, whey protein, and raw milk to industrial customers. The company markets its products under Shengyuan or Synutra brands. It sells its products through sales and distribution network covering 30 provinces and provincial-level municipalities in China. Synutra International, Inc. is headquartered in Rockville, Maryland.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Seth Jayson]
Synutra International (Nasdaq: SYUT ) reported earnings on June 13. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended March 31 (Q4), Synutra International missed estimates on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

Top 10 High Tech Companies To Own For 2014: Ashland Inc. (ASH)

Ashland Inc. operates as a specialty chemicals company in the United States and internationally. Its Ashland Aqualon Functional Ingredients segment produces cellulose ethers; and specialty additives and functional ingredients. Its products offer functionality, such as thickening and rheology control; water retention; adhesive strength; binding power; film formation; protective colloid, suspending, and emulsifying action; foam control; and pH stability. The company?s Ashland Hercules Water Technologies segment manufactures papermaking chemicals and supplies specialty chemicals. It offers sizing agents, wet/dry strength additives, and crepe and release additives for tissue manufacturing; and deposit control agents, defoamers, biocides, and other process additives. This segment also provides specialized chemicals and consulting services for the utility water treatment; and performance-based feed and control systems; and monitoring devices and remote system surveillance. Its A shland Performance Materials segment manufactures and supplies specialty chemicals and customized services to the building and construction, transportation, metal casting, packaging and converting, and marine markets. It also offers unsaturated polyester and vinyl ester resins, and gelcoats; adhesives and specialty resins; and metal casting consumables and design services. The company?s Ashland Consumer Markets segment produces and markets packaged automotive lubricants, chemicals, appearance products, antifreeze, and filters to the private passenger car, light truck, and heavy duty markets. It also operates a quick-lube franchise under the name of Valvoline Instant Oil Change. The company was founded in 1918 and is headquartered in Covington, Kentucky.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Shauna O'Brien]
Jefferies reported on Thursday that it has cut its rating on chemical company Ashland Inc. (ASH).

The firm has downgraded ASH from “Buy” to “Hold,” and has lowered the company’s price target from $104 to $97. This price target suggests a 9% upside from the stock’s current price of $88.47.

Analyst Laurence Alexander commented: “Investor confidence in the asset shuffling thesis may not withstand 2-3 more rounds of downward revisions to EPS and FCF forecasts for 2014E-2016E.”

“Pension headwinds, incentive comp, Valvoline marketing expenses, sluggish end markets: in our view, it all adds up, and makes further multiple expansion more difficult.”

Looking ahead, the firm has reduced estimates for the fourth quarter from $1.70 to $1.59 per share. For FY2013, earnings estimates have been lowered from $6.25 to $6.15 per share. FY2014 estimates have been cut from $7.45 to $6.75 per share.

Ashland shares were mostly flat during pre-market trading Thursday. The stock is up 10% YTD
[By Seth Jayson]
Margins matter. The more Ashland (NYSE: ASH ) 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 Ashland's competitive position could be.

Top 10 High Tech Companies To Own For 2014: RLJ Lodging Trust(RLJ)

RLJ Lodging Trust is an independent equity real estate investment trust. The firm also manages real estate funds. It invests in the real estate markets of the United States. The firm primarily invests in premium-branded, focused service, and compact full-service hotels. RLJ Lodging Trust was launched in 2000 and is domiciled in Bethesda, Maryland.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Markus Aarnio]
American Hotel Income Properties' competitors include Hospitality Properties Trust (HPT), RLJ Lodging Trust (RLJ), and Hersha Hospitality Trust (HT).

Top 10 High Tech Companies To Own For 2014: Vanguard Reit Etf (VNQ)

Vanguard REIT ETF (the Fund), formerly known as Vanguard REIT VIPERs, is an exchange-traded share class of Vanguard REIT Index Fund. The Fund seeks to provide a high level of income and moderate long-term capital appreciation by tracking the performance of an index that measures the performance of publicly traded equity real estate investment trusts (REITs). Vanguard REIT ETF employs a passive management or indexing investment approach designed to track the performance of the MSCI US REIT Index (the Index), an index of United States property trusts that covers about two-thirds of the value of the entire United States REIT market.

Vanguard REIT ETF normally invests approximately 98% of assets in stocks issued by equity REITs. The Fund invests in the stocks that make up the Index, and the remaining assets are allocated to cash investments.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Dan Caplinger]
3. Real-estate investment trusts
Rate-sensitive REITs took another big hit over the week, with the Vanguard REIT ETF (NYSEMKT: VNQ ) dropping more than 5%. Leveraged mortgage REITs saw even worse losses, with Annaly Capital (NYSE: NLY ) falling more than 7% and American Capital Agency (NASDAQ: AGNC ) seeing 8% declines.
[By Howard Gold]
In May, I said real estate investment trusts (REITs) ��ave outperformed the S&P 500 for 11 of the last 16 quarters��and so ��'d be inclined to take at least some profits.��That column ran pretty close to REITs' all-time high and the Vanguard REIT Index ETF (VNQ) has lost 11% of its value.
[By Bill Stoller]
After a banner 2013, the overall market has had a challenging start to 2014. However, these four companies have been crushing it: Alexander Real Estate (NYSE: ARE ) , BioMed Realty Trust (NYSE: BMR ) , CommonWealth REIT (NYSE: CWH ) , and Sun Communities (NYSE: SUI ) early on in 2014 vs. the S&P 500. Their relative out-performance can also be seen when compared to the Vanguard REIT Index ETF (NYSEMKT: VNQ ) a good yardstick to measure sector performance.

Top 10 High Tech Companies To Own For 2014: Roche Holding AG (RHHBY)

Roche Holding AG is a Switzerland-based pharmaceuticals and diagnostics company. The Company belongs to the Roche Group that operates through numerous subsidiaries and associated companies located around the world. The Company�� products and services cover every stage of the healthcare process, from identifying disease susceptibilities and testing for disease in at-risk populations to prevention, diagnosis, therapy and treatment monitoring. Roche operates through two divisions: Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics. Within the Pharmaceuticals Division there are three sub-divisions: Roche Pharmaceuticals, Genentech and Chugai. The Company�� Diagnostics Division includes five sub-divisions: Applied Science, Diabetes Care, Molecular Diagnostics, Tissue Diagnosis and Professional Diagnostics. Its activities are structured into six geographical segments: North America; Asia-Pacific; Western Europe; Latin America; Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEMAI), and Japan. In March 2009, the Company completed the acquisition of Genentech, Inc. In March 2010, the Company acquired assets from BioMicro Systems for all products associated with the Roche NimbleGen microarray workflow.

During the year ended December 31, 2008, the Company Pharmaceuticals Division marketing gained approvals for its rheumatoid arthritis medicine Actemra/RoActemra in Japan, Switzerland and the European Union. In 2008, the division initiated 12 new phase III projects in, including clinical trials of the compounds pertuzumab, for breast cancer; taspoglutide, for type two diabetes, and dalcetrapib, for cardiovascular risk reduction. As of December 31, 2008, the Pharmaceuticals Division filed 11 major new marketing applications and gained 13 major regulatory approvals. At the beginning of 2009, the division�� research and development pipeline comprised 120 clinical projects, including 62 new molecular entities (NMEs) and 58 additional indications. Forty NMEs are in phase I, 16 in phase II and six in phase III or f! iled for regulatory review.

In 2008, Roche Pharmaceuticals signed a total of 57 new agreements including seven product transactions and 43 research and technology collaborations. In May 2008, Roche acquired Piramed Limited, a UK company with therapeutic research programmes targeting the PI3-kinase pathway in oncology and inflammatory disease. In June 2008, signed licensing agreement with ThromboGenics and BioInvent for their jointly developed anticancer agent TB-403 (R7334). In September, 2008, the Company acquired Mirus Bio Corporation active in the field of ribonucleic acid interference (RNAi) delivery and completed the acquisition of ARIUS Research Inc., which has a antibody platform that identifies and selects antibodies based on their functional ability to affect disease. S Research Inc. In January 2009, Roche acquired Memory Pharmaceuticals, which develops drug candidates for the treatment of debilitating central nervous system disorders such as Alzheimer�� disease and schizophrenia.

Pharmaceuticals

Within Pharmaceuticals division, the Company is engaged in the provision of drugs the areas of oncology, anemia, cardiovascular diseases, central nervous system, infectious diseases, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, metabolic disorders, cancer, transplantation and virology. The products offered by Roche�� Pharmaceuticals division include MabThera/Rituxan, Herceptin, Avastin, Tamiflu, CellCept, NeoRecormon, Epogin, Pegasys, Tarceva, Xeloda, Bonviva, Boniva, Lucentis, Tamiflu, Xolair, Valcyte, Cymevene, Xenical, Pulmozyme, Nutropin, Neutrogin, Rocephin, Activase, TNKase and Madopar. The products offered by the Pharmaceuticals division are sold in seven geographic regions: North America; Asia-Pacific; Western Europe; Latin America; Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEMAI), and Japan.

Diagnostics

Roche�� Diagnostics Division is a supplier of in vitro diagnostics (IVDs). Its products are used to test body fluids a! nd tissue! samples to obtain information for the purpose of preventing, diagnosing, treating and monitoring disease. The Company has business areas five within the diagnostics division: Professional Diagnostics, Diabetes Care, Tissue Diagnostics, Molecular Diagnostics and Applied Science. Roche�� Diagnostics division provides IVD services, including centralized laboratory testing and point-of-care diagnostics to molecular diagnostics and diabetes self management. In addition, it supplies research tools to life scientists.

Roche Professional Diagnostics supplies instrument systems, tests, software and services. It provides point-of-care testing products to support clinical decision-making close to the patient, in doctors��offices, emergency rooms and other primary and specialty care settings. Twelve Serum Work Area assays were rolled out during the year ended December 31, 2008, across Europe and in other markets. New assays included the Elecsys anti-TSH receptor antibody assay for the diagnosis of Graves��disease the Elecsys anti-CCP antibody assay, a test to aid the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis, and the Roche Cystatin C clinical chemistry test for early detection of impaired kidney function, among others. Roche Diabetes Care�� products portfolio covers the entire diabetes self-management spectrum, from glucose monitoring to insulin delivery, as well as monitoring systems with integrated lancets and test strips software for storing and analyzing data. Roche Tissue Diagnostics develops and manufactures medical diagnostic instruments and reagent systems that provide automation technology for use in the diagnosis and prognosis of cancer and infectious disease. In 2008 Roche Tissue Diagnostics launched ofhe Bench- Mark Ultra, a system that performs immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridisation testing simultaneously on a single continuous and random access platform. Roche Molecular Diagnostics develops and commercializes diagnostic and blood screening platforms and tests based on Roche�� ! real-time! polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology. Applied Science business area supplies a specific reagents and test kits for use in life sciences encompassing biology, biotechnology ,medical research, as well as disease areas like cancer and virology. Applied Science�� business area product portfolio includes such sequencing systems as LightCycler 480, LightCycler 480 II, GS FLX Titanium. In addition, Applied Science offers xCELLigence cell analyzer.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Sean Williams]
Dendreon's likely partner
While it's purely speculation on my part, I believe the most likely marketing partner would be one of Europe's premier cancer-fighting companies, Roche (NASDAQOTH: RHHBY ) .
[By Michael Robinson]
In December, Prothena signed a deal with drug giant Roche Holding AG (RHHBY) to develop and commercialize Parkinson's treatments that could be worth up to $600 million.
[By Ben Levisohn]
Shares of Regeneron have jumped 3.5% to $316.39–and the S&P 500′s best performer today. Novartis (NVS), which makes Lucentis, has dipped 0.5% to $76.73, while Roche (RHHBY), which makes Avastin, has gained 0.2% to $67.54. Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX), meanwhile, has gained 0.9% to $76.77, making it the 10th best perform in the S&P 500.

Top Sliver Companies For 2014

NEW YORK (AP) ��Gap said that its first-quarter profit fell 22%, as the clothing chain's results were hampered by foreign currency fluctuations and a slow start to spring selling.

Nevertheless, the San Francisco-based retailer, which operates stores under the Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic names, reiterated its annual profit outlook.

"After a disappointing start, I'm pleased with how the business performed toward the end of the quarter, especially at Old Navy," said Glenn Murphy, chairman and CEO of Gap, in a statement. "We are confident in our strategies to drive long-term value, as evidenced by the reaffirmation of our full-year guidance."

Like many retailers, Gap's business in the first quarter was hurt by a series of winter storms that chilled sales earlier in the year. Still, it's faring better than rivals like American Eagle Outfitters, which saw its quarterly earnings tumble 86% on huge markdowns intended to generate foot traffic. American Eagle said earlier in the week that it would close 150 stores over the next three years.

Hot Recreation Companies To Watch For 2015: Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc.(ISIS)

Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. engages in the discovery and development of antisense drugs using antisense drug discovery platform. The company?s antisense drug development programs focus on treating cardiovascular, metabolic, cancer, and severe neurodegenerative diseases. It has commercialized antisense drugs and has 24 drugs in development. Isis Pharmaceuticals, through Regulus Therapeutics Inc., also focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of microRNA-based therapeutics. The company has strategic alliances and collaboration agreements primarily with GlaxoSmithKline; Genzyme Corporation; Archemix Corp.; Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Bristol-Myers Squibb; Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; and Eli Lilly and Company. Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was founded in 1989 and is based in Carlsbad, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Equities Trading UP
Isis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ISIS) shot up 6.71 percent to $38.48 after the company reported positive Phase 2 data on ISIS-APOCIII Rx in patients with familial chylomicronemia.
[By Rebecca McClay]
Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: ISIS) this weekend announced interim data from an ongoing phase 2 study of ISIS-APOCIIIRx as a monotherapy in patients with very high to severely high triglycerides, or blood fat. Patients treated with ISIS-APOCIIIRx achieved statistically significant mean reductions of up to 79% in apolipoprotein C-III.
[By Sean Williams]
Isis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ISIS ) delivered one of the top performances this past week, with shares rising 22%, after reporting phenomenal mid-stage results for APOCIII Rx, its triglyceride-reducing drug for patients with high triglyceride levels and type 2 diabetes. The patient pool for the study was relatively small, just 11 patients, but it delivered a 72% reduction in triglyceride levels while boosting high-density lipoproteins (the good type of cholesterol) by 40%. Isis also commented that APOCIII Rx improved insulin sensitivity which would aid type 2 diabetes patients in maintaining proper glycemic balance. There's still a long development process left for APOCIII Rx, but you should definitely have Isis added to your Watchlist.

Top Sliver Companies For 2014: ITC Holdings Corp. (ITC)

ITC Holdings Corp., through its subsidiaries, engages in the transmission of electricity in the United States. The company operates as conduits, allowing for power from generators to be transmitted to local distribution systems either entirely through its own systems or in conjunction with neighboring transmission systems. Its operations include asset planning; engineering, design, and construction; maintenance; and real time operations. ITC Holdings serves investor-owned utilities, municipalities, cooperatives, power marketers, and alternative energy suppliers. The company was founded in 2001 and is based in Novi, Michigan.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Rich Duprey]
Electricity transmission company�ITC Holdings (NYSE: ITC ) announced today its third-quarter dividend of $0.425 per share, a 13% increase in the payout made to investors last quarter of $0.3775�per share.
[By Richard Stavros]
In fact, investment opportunities in this niche could soon be on the rise. Several utilities have been considering creating standalone transmission companies this year, including Xcel Energy Inc (NYSE: XEL). But whether it’s a standalone company or the sale of transmission assets to a transmission company, regulatory approval will still be key. For instance, regulators declined Entergy Corp’s (NYSE: ETR) sale of its transmission assets to transmission company ITC Holdings Corp (NYSE: ITC) in 2013.
[By Brian Pacampara]
Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, electricity transmission specialist ITC Holdings (NYSE: ITC ) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.
[By Rajhkumar K Shaaw]
India�� S&P BSE Sensex ended three weeks of gains as Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd., the largest maker of power equipment, slumped to a one-month low. ITC Ltd. (ITC), India�� biggest tobacco company, slid after its sales trailed estimates.

Top Sliver Companies For 2014: UPM-Kymmene Corporation (UPM1V)

UPM-Kymmene Corporation is a Finland-based paper and forest products company. The Company operates, along with its subsidiaries, in three segments: the Energy and Pulp segment is divided into three units: Energy, which includes the Company�� hydropower plant and shares in energy companies; Pulp, which includes the Company�� pulp mills, and Foster and Timber, which includes forests, wood procurement, sawmills and further processing; the Paper segment includes the Company�� paper mills, producing magazine paper, newsprint, fine papers, and specialty papers, and the Engineered materials segment is structured into two units: Label, which includes label-stock factories and slitting, and distribution terminals, and Plywood, which includes plywood mills. The Company�� other operations include the wood plastic composite unit, development units and logistic services. On October 2, 2013, it completed the sale of the wood processing mill in Aigrefeuille d'Aunis, to Groupe FP Bois. Advisors' Opinion:

[By Tom Stoukas]
UPM-Kymmene (UPM1V), a rival maker of paper, dropped 1.9 percent to 10.23 euros.

Aryzta surged 4 percent to 60.45 Swiss francs, the biggest gain since March 28. The owner of bakery brands including Delice de France and Otis Spunkmeyer posted full-year revenue of 4.5 billion euros ($6.1 billion), beating analysts��estimates of 4.43 billion euros. The company also forecast a double-digit percentage gain in 2014 earnings.
[By Corinne Gretler]
UPM-Kymmene Oyj (UPM1V) fell 3.9 percent to 12.18 euros. UBS AG lowered Europe�� second-largest papermaker to sell from neutral. The brokerage said that demand for the company�� product will not recover in Europe and that the industry will probably reduce its capacity next year.

Top Sliver Companies For 2014: Hawkins Inc. (HWKN)

Hawkins, Inc. distributes bulk chemicals, as well as blends, manufactures, and distributes specialty chemicals. The company operates through two segments, Industrial and Water Treatment. The Industrial segment provides industrial chemicals, products, and services primarily to the agriculture, energy, electronics, food, chemical processing, pulp and paper, pharmaceutical, medical device, and plating industries. This segment primarily offers acids, alkalis, and industrial and food-grade salts; and receives, stores, and distributes various chemicals, including liquid caustic soda, sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, phosphoric acid, potassium hydroxide, and aqua ammonia. In addition, it manufactures sodium hypochlorite, agricultural products, and certain food-grade products comprising Cheese-Phos liquid phosphate, lactates, and other blended products; repackages water treatment and bulk industrial chemicals; and performs custom blending of certain chemicals, and contract and pr ivate label packaging for household chemicals. This segment primarily conducts its operations through distribution centers and terminal operations. The Water Treatment segment provides chemicals, equipment, and solutions for potable water, municipal and industrial wastewater, industrial process water, and non-residential swimming pool water. Hawkins, Inc. was founded in 1938 and is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Seth Jayson]
Hawkins (Nasdaq: HWKN ) reported earnings on May 29. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended March 31 (Q4), Hawkins met expectations on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

Saturday, August 30, 2014

Top Paper Stocks For 2014

This history of the gold standard explains why there's a growing group of advocates calling for its return...

President Herbert Hoover made a statement in 1933 that rang true for centuries and still rings true today for many: "We have gold because we cannot trust governments."

Hoover was talking about how governments have never been able to resist the temptation to inflate the amount of paper money issued until that paper money becomes nearly worthless. Gold, meanwhile, has been a reliable preserver of wealth for literally centuries.

Some nations have tried to meld the two together - gold and paper money - through the use of what is called the gold standard.

A gold standard is a monetary system where paper money is directly convertible into a fixed amount of gold. In other words, the value of paper money is backed by gold.

England was the first country to adopt such a monetary system in 1822 and its use soon spread around the world, including in the United States.

Top 10 Net Payout Yield Stocks To Own For 2015: UPM-Kymmene Corporation (UPM1V)

[By Tom Stoukas]
UPM-Kymmene (UPM1V), a rival maker of paper, dropped 1.9 percent to 10.23 euros.

Aryzta surged 4 percent to 60.45 Swiss francs, the biggest gain since March 28. The owner of bakery brands including Delice de France and Otis Spunkmeyer posted full-year revenue of 4.5 billion euros ($6.1 billion), beating analysts��estimates of 4.43 billion euros. The company also forecast a double-digit percentage gain in 2014 earnings.
[By Corinne Gretler]
UPM-Kymmene Oyj (UPM1V) fell 3.9 percent to 12.18 euros. UBS AG lowered Europe�� second-largest papermaker to sell from neutral. The brokerage said that demand for the company�� product will not recover in Europe and that the industry will probably reduce its capacity next year.

Top Paper Stocks For 2014: Meadwestvaco Corporation (MWV)

MeadWestvaco Corporation (MWV) provides packaging solutions to the healthcare, personal care and beauty, food, beverage, home and garden, tobacco, and commercial print industries worldwide. The company?s Packaging Resources segment produces bleached paperboard, Coated Natural Kraft paperboard, and linerboard. Its Consumer Solutions segment designs and produces multi-pack cartons and packaging systems primarily for the beverage take-home and tobacco market. In addition, it offers a range of converting and consumer packaging solutions, including printed plastic packaging and injection-molded products used for personal care, beauty, and pharmaceutical products; and dispensing and sprayer systems for personal care, beauty, healthcare, fragrance, and home and garden markets. In addition, this segment has a pharmaceutical packaging contract with a mass-merchant, and manufactures equipment that is leased or sold to its beverage and dairy customers to package their products. The c ompany?s Consumer & Office Products segment manufactures, sources, markets, and distributes school and office products, time-management products, and envelopes in North America and Brazil through both retail and commercial channels. Its Specialty Chemicals segment manufactures, markets, and distributes specialty chemicals derived from sawdust and other byproducts of the papermaking process in North America, South America, and Asia. Its products include activated carbon used in emission control systems for automobiles and trucks, as well as for water and food purification applications, and performance chemicals used in printing inks, asphalt paving, adhesives, and lubricants for the agricultural, paper, and petroleum industries. MWV?s Community Development and Land Management segment involves in real estate development, forestry operations, and leasing activities. MeadWestvaco Corporation was founded in 1888 and is based in Glen Allen, Virginia.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Eric Volkman]
MeadWestvaco (NYSE: MWV ) is continuing to deliver payouts for its shareholders. The company has declared a fresh quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, to be handed out on September 3 to shareholders of record as of August 31.�That amount matches each of the company's regular quarterly payouts stretching back to late 2010. Prior to that, it paid $0.23 per share.
[By Ben Levisohn]
When you’re stock has been lagging the S&P 500, sometimes drastic action must be followed by even more drastic action. Case in point: MeadWestvaco (MWV), which announced a program of cost cutting on the heels of one announced last year.
[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 MeadWestvaco (NYSE: MWV ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.
[By Lauren Pollock]
MeadWestvaco Corp.(MWV) expanded its cost-cutting efforts and said it plans to simplify the structure of its packaging businesses, as it strives to improve its performance.

Top Paper Stocks For 2014: Cornerstone Progressive Return Fund(CFP)

Cornerstone Progressive Return Fund is a closed-ended equity fund of fund launched and managed by Cornerstone Advisors, Inc. The fund invests funds investing in the public equity markets of the United States. It invests in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors. Cornerstone Progressive Return Fund was formed on April 26, 2007 and is domiciled in the United States.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Dan Caplinger]
But you can see in several places the consequences of the stampede toward high yield. Here are just a few:
Closed-end funds Cornerstone Progressive (NYSEMKT: CFP ) and Pimco High Income (NYSE: PHK ) both make fixed payments back to fund shareholders on a monthly basis, and their distribution yields are truly extraordinary, at about 17% and 12%, respectively. Those dividends have enticed shareholders to pay $1.30 to $1.40 or more for each $1 of assets in the funds. Yet during most months, a substantial portion of those distribution payments has simply been a return of investor capital rather than true income from the funds' investments. A recent study discussed in The Wall Street Journal found that returns on a portfolio with a combined value and dividend-income strategy outperformed a strategy focused more exclusively on maximizing dividends by an average of 1.7 percentage points per year, a huge edge in long-run returns. In the dividend ETF arena, most funds tend to focus on maximizing yield. Although the popular Vanguard Dividend Appreciation (NYSEMKT: VIG ) ETF bucks the trend by screening first for consistent dividend growth and only then looking at yield as a factor, many rival ETFs start with high-yielding stocks as their baseline and only then consider other desirable traits. Others focus solely on high-dividend niches of the market, such as iShares FTSE NAREIT Mortgage-Plus (NYSEMKT: REM ) and its concentration on high-yield mortgage REITs.
When dividend stocks get too popular, their prices get out of line with both their dividend income and the fundamentals of the businesses that underlie those stocks. In simpler terms, when dividend stocks become bad values, it's time to consider looking elsewhere for a margin of safety.

Top Paper Stocks For 2014: Bemis Company Inc (BMS)

Bemis Company, Inc., incorporated on May 18, 1885, is a manufacturer of packaging products and pressure sensitive materials. The Company's business activities are organized around its three reportable business segments, U.S. Packaging , Global Packaging and Pressure Sensitive Materials. The majority of the Company�� products are sold to customers in the food industry. Other customers include companies businesses, such as chemical, agribusiness, medical, pharmaceutical, personal care, electronics, automotive, construction, graphic industries and other consumer goods. In July 2013, Bemis Company Inc acquired all of the common stock of Foshan New Changsheng Plastics Films Co., LTD.

The Company�� flexible packaging businesses has a technical base in polymer chemistry, film extrusion, coating, laminating, printing, and converting. The Company�� pressure sensitive materials business specializes in adhesive technologies. On August 22, 2012, the Company acquired two flexible packaging businesses in Australia and New Zealand.

U.S. Packaging segment

The U.S. Packaging segment represents all food, consumer, and industrial products packaging-related manufacturing operations located in the United States. This segment manufactures multilayer polymer, blown and cast film structures to produce packaging sold for food and personal care product applications as well as non-food applications. Additional products include custom thermoformed packaging, and multiwall paper bags. Markets for these products include processed and fresh meat, liquids, frozen foods, cereals, snacks, cheese, coffee, condiments, candy, pet food, bakery, seed, lawn and garden, tissue, fresh produce, personal care and hygiene, disposable diapers, agribusiness, and minerals. This segment has 35 manufacturing plants located in 16 states, of which 32 are owned directly by the Company or its subsidiaries and three are leased from outside parties.

Global Packaging segment

The ! Global Packaging segment includes all packaging-related manufacturing operations located outside of the United States as well as global medical device and pharmaceutical packaging manufacturing operations. This segment manufactures multilayer polymer, blown and cast film structures to produce packaging sold for a variety of food, medical, pharmaceutical, personal care, and industrial applications. Additional products include injection molded plastic and folding carton packaging. Markets for these products include processed and fresh meat, liquids, snacks, cheese, coffee, condiments, candy, bakery, tissue, fresh produce, personal care and hygiene, disposable diapers, agribusiness, pharmaceutical, and medical devices. This segment has 32 manufacturing plants located in three United States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and ten non-United States countries, of which 26 are owned directly by the Company or its subsidiaries and six are leased from outside parties.

Pressure Sensitive Materials segment

The Pressure Sensitive Materials segment is a global manufacturer of pressure sensitive adhesive coated paper and film substrates sold into label, graphic, and technical product markets. Products for label markets include narrow-Web rolls of pressure sensitive paper, film, and metalized film printing stocks used in high-speed printing and die-cutting. Products for graphic markets include pressure sensitive films used for decorative signage through computer-aided plotters, digital and screen printers, and photographic overlaminate and mounting materials including optically clear films with built-in ultraviolet (UV) inhibitors. Products for technical markets include micro-thin film adhesives used in delicate electronic parts assembly and pressure sensitive applications utilizing foam and tape based stocks to perform fastening and mounting functions. This segment has seven manufacturing plants located in three states and two non-United States countries, all of which are owned directly b! y the Com! pany or its subsidiaries.

The Company competes with Amcor Limited, Berry Plastics Corporation, Bryce Corporation, Exopack Company, Hood Packaging Corporation, Printpack, Inc., Sealed Air Corporation, Sonoco Products Company, Wihuri OY, Winpak ltd, 3M, Acucote, Inc., Avery Dennison Corporation, FLEXcon Corporation, Green Bay Packaging Inc., Ricoh Company, Ltd., Ritrama Inc., Spinnaker Industries, Inc., Technicote Inc., UPM-Kymmene Corporation, and Wausau Coated Products Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Jessica Alling]
Leaders and laggards
Merck (NYSE: MRK ) is at the top of the class this morning with a 5.19% gain following some extremely encouraging news about its latest experimental drug,�lambrolizumab. Aimed at unleashing the powers of a patient's own immune system, the drug disables the immune system cells' prevention method that curbs its attack on cancer cells -- a protein called the programmed death 1 receptor, or PD-1. Merck's drug has shown a 38% rate in tumor reduction in patients with advanced melanoma, and up to 52% in patients who received the highest dosage of the drug. Though the patients have not undergone the trial for a long enough period yet, the results are attracting attention for matching the current treatments from two Bristol-Meyers Squibb (NYSE: BMS ) drugs, Yervoy and nivolumab, with potentially milder side effects. The news is great for Merck investors, as the company has only played a small part in oncology treatments to date.
[By The Part-time Investor]
The following stocks met the criteria in January of 2008 and were put into the initial portfolio:
Abbot Labs (ABT)Advanced data processing (ADP)Associated Banc-Corp (ASBC)Bank of America (BAC)BB&T Corp. (BBT)Bemis Company (BMS)Anheuser Busch (BUD)The Chubb Corporation (CB)Clorox (CLX)Comerica Inc. (CMA)Diebold Inc. (DBD)Emerson Electronics (EMR)First Dollar Corp. (FDO)First Third BanCorp. (FITB)Gannett Co, Inc. (GCI)General Electric (GE)Hershey (HSY)Illinois Tools Works (ITW)Johnson and Johnson (JNJ)Leggett and Platt (LEG)Eli Lilly (LLY)La-Z-Boy (LZB)McDonald's (MCD)Marsh and Ilsley (MI)M&T Bancorp (MTB)PepsiCo (PEP)Pfizer (PFE)Procter & Gamble (PG)Pentair Ltd. (PNR)Regions Financial Corp. (RF)Rohm and Haas (ROH)RPM International (RPM)Sherwin Williams (SHW)Sysco Corp. (SYY)UDR Inc. (UDR)
Historical quotes were taken from Yahoo Finance. $10,000 was put into each position, to the nearest whole share, so a total of $349,262.89 was invested. From 1/15/08 through 5/16/13 all dividends were reinvested back into the stock that paid them. If a dividend cut was announced, that stock was sold on the ex-div date of the new, lower dividend.
[By Rich Duprey]
Looking to increase its presence and market share in Asia, specialty packaging maker Bemis (NYSE: BMS ) announced today it was acquiring a Chinese manufacturer of specialty films, Foshan New Changsheng Plastics Films.�

Top Paper Stocks For 2014: CenturyLink Inc.(CTL)

CenturyLink, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated communications company. The company provides a range of communications services, including voice, Internet, data, and video services in the continental United States. Its services include local exchange and long distance voice telephone services, as well as enhanced voice services, such as call forwarding, caller identification, conference calling, voicemail, selective call ringing, and call waiting; wholesale local network access services; and data services, including high-speed Internet access services, data transmission services over special circuits and private lines, and switched digital television services, as well as special access and private line services. The company also offers fiber transport, competitive local exchange carrier, security monitoring, and other communications, as well as professional and business information services. In addition, it provides other related services, such as leasing, selling, installing, and maintaining customer premise telecommunications equipment and wiring; payphone services; and network database services, as well as participates in the publication of local telephone directories. Further, the company offers printing, direct mail services, and cable television services; and wireless broadband Internet access services and satellite television services. As of December 31, 2010, it operated approximately 6.5 million telephone access lines. CenturyLink, Inc was founded in 1968 and is based in Monroe, Louisiana.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Rick Munarriz]
Finally, we have CenturyLink� (NYSE: CTL ) coming through with encouraging bottom-line results. Its adjusted profit of $0.76 a share was ahead of the $0.68 a share it posted a year earlier. The pros were targeting flat earnings growth.
[By Lisa Levin]
CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL) shares touched a new 52-week low of $29.37. CenturyLink shares have dropped 26.43% over the past 52 weeks, while the S&P 500 index has gained 23.42% in the same period.
[By Jim Fink]
Year-to-Date Performance
Industry Diamond Offshore (NYSE: DO) $55.39 $7.7 billion 3.3 -14.2% Oil Drilling HCP Inc. (NYSE: HCP) $36.22 $16.5 billion 3.5 -16.0% Healthcare REIT American Realty Capital Properties (Nasdaq: ARCP) $12.64 $2.4 billion 8.6 1.9% Retail and Office REIT Southern Co. (NYSE: SO) $40.88 $36.1 billion 9.8 -0.1% Electric Utility Cooper Tire & Rubber (NYSE: CTB) $22.01 $1.4 billion 10.3 -11.8% Automobile Tires CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL) $31.36 $18.5 billion 11.8 -14.5% Telecommunications Quest Diagnostic (NYSE: DGX) $54.05 $7.8 billion 13.4 -5.4% Medical Diagnostic Tests Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (NYSE: KMP) $79.57 $34.9 billion 15.4 6.0% Energy pipeline MLP Altera (Nasdaq: ALTR) $31.98 $10.3 billion 15.9 -5.6% Semiconductors ADT Corp. (NYSE: ADT) $40.01 $8.0 billion 16.8 -12.9% Home Security
Source: Bloomberg

Top Paper Stocks For 2014: Rock-Tenn Co (RKT)

Rock-Tenn Company (RockTenn), incorporated on September 20, 1985, is a North America's integrated manufacturer of corrugated and consumer packaging. The Company operates locations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Puerto Rico and China. The Company operates in three segments: Corrugated Packaging, consisting of its containerboard mills and its corrugated converting operations; Consumer Packaging, consisting of its coated and uncoated paperboard mills, consumer packaging converting operations and merchandising display facilities, and Recycling, which consists of its recycled fiber brokerage and collection operations. On June 22, 2012, the Company acquired Mid South Packaging LLC. On October 28, 2011, the Company acquired four entities doing business as GMI Group.

Corrugated Packaging Segment

The Company is a producer of linerboard and corrugated medium (containerboard) measured by tons produced and a producer of graphics pre-printed linerboard in North America. It operates an integrated system, which manufactures containerboard, corrugated sheets, corrugated packaging and preprinted linerboard for sale to industrial and consumer products manufacturers and corrugated box manufacturers. It produces a range of corrugated containers designed to protect, ship, store and display products made to its customers' merchandising and distribution specifications. It also converts corrugated sheets into corrugated products ranging from one-color protective cartons to point-of-purchase packaging. Corrugated packaging is used to provide protective packaging for shipment and distribution of food, paper, health and beauty and other household, consumer, commercial and industrial products and in the case of graphically enhanced corrugated packaging for retail sale, particularly in club store locations and retail sale. It also provides structural and graphic design, engineering services, and custom and standard automated packaging machines, offering customers turn-key instal! lation, automation, line integration and packaging solutions. It feeds linerboard and corrugated medium into corrugators, which flutes the medium to specified sizes, glues the linerboard and fluted medium together and slits and cuts the resulting corrugated paperboard into sheets to customer specifications. Its container board mills and corrugated container operations are integrated with its containerboard production used internally by its corrugated container operations. During the fiscal year ended September 30, 2012 (fiscal 2012), sales of corrugated packaging products to external customers accounted for 65.7% of its net sales.

Consumer Packaging Segment

The Company operates an integrated system of coated recycled mills and a bleached paperboard mill, which produces paperboard for its folding carton operations and third parties. The Company is a manufacturer of folding cartons in North America measured by net sales. Its folding cartons are used to package food, paper, health and beauty and other household consumer, commercial and industrial products for retail sale. It also manufactures express mail envelopes for the overnight courier industry. Folding cartons protect customers��products during shipment and distribution and employ graphics to promote them at retail. It manufactures folding cartons from recycled and virgin paperboard, laminated paperboard and substrates with specialty characteristics, such as grease masking and microwaveability. It prints, coats, die-cuts and glues the cartons to customer specifications. It ships finished cartons to customers for assembling, filling and sealing. It employs a range of offset, flexographic, gravure, backside printing, and coating and finishing technologies. It supports its customers with package development, innovation and design services and package testing services.

The Company manufactures temporary and permanent point-of-purchase displays. The Company designs, manufactures and packs temporary displays for sal! e to cons! umer products companies. These displays are used as marketing tools to support new product introductions and specific product promotions in mass merchandising stores, supermarkets, convenience stores, home improvement stores and other retail locations. It also designs, manufactures and pre-assemble permanent displays for the same categories of customers. It makes temporary displays from corrugated paperboard. It provides contract packing services, such as multi-product promotional packing and product manipulation, such as multipacks and onpacks. The Company manufactures lithographic laminated packaging for sale to its customers, which require packaging with graphics and strength characteristics.

The Company operates an integrated system of specialty recycled paperboard mills, which includes its Seven Hills Paperboard LLC (Seven Hills) joint venture. Its specialty recycled paperboard mills, excluding Seven Hills, produce paperboard for its solid fiber interior packaging converting operations and third parties, and its Seven Hills joint venture manufactures gypsum paperboard liner for sale to its joint venture partner. It sells its specialty recycled paperboard to manufacturers of solid fiber interior packaging, tubes and cores, and other paperboard products. It also converts specialty paperboard into book covers and other products. Its 65% owned subsidiary, RTS, designs and manufactures solid fiber and corrugated partitions and die-cut paperboard components. It manufactures and sells its solid fiber and corrugated partitions principally to glass container manufacturers and producers of beer, food, wine, spirits, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals and to the automotive industry. During fiscal 2012, sales of consumer packaging products to external customers accounted for 27.5% of its net sales.

Recycling Segment

The Company�� recycled fiber brokerage and collection operations provide a strategic advantage to its mills. Its recycling operations procure recovered paper (or! recycled! fiber) for its paper mills, as well as for third parties from factories, warehouses, commercial printers, office complexes, grocery and retail stores, document storage facilities, paper converters and other wastepaper collectors. It handles a range of grades of recovered paper, including old corrugated containers, office paper, box clippings, newspaper and print shop scraps. It operates recycling facilities, which collects, sorts, grades and bales recovered paper and after sorting and baling, it transfer recovered paper to its paperboard mills for processing, or sell it to the United States manufacturers of paperboard, as well as manufacturers of tissue, newsprint, roofing products and insulation and to export markets. It also collects aluminum and plastics for resale to manufacturers of these products. Its waste reduction services extract additional recyclables from the waste stream by working with customers. In addition, it operates a nationwide fiber marketing and brokerage system, which serves regional and national accounts, as well as its recycled paperboard and containerboard mills and sells scrap materials from its converting businesses and mills. Brokerage contracts provide bulk purchasing. Its recycling facilities are located close to its recycled paperboard and containerboard mills, ensuring availability of supply with reduced shipping costs. During fiscal 2012, sales to external customers accounted for 6.8% of its net sales.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Eric Volkman]
After rocking EPS expectations for its Q2 earlier this week, RockTenn (NYSE: RKT ) is celebrating with a higher dividend. The company has declared a payout of $0.30 per share of its class A common stock, to be distributed on May 20 to shareholders of record as of May 7.
[By Sean Williams]
Boring doesn't always mean "buy"
You may have heard me mention recently that boring industries can often make the most profitable industries. That is generally true, but it's not a rule! This is why packaging products maker Rock-Tenn (NYSE: RKT ) has found its way onto my "sell-now" radar.
[By Ray Merola]
International Paper Co Share Price versus Competitors RockTenn (RKT), MeadWestvaco Corp (MWV), Packaging Corporation of America (PKG), and S&P 500 (March 2009-to-date)
[By Saibus Research]
Consolidation has been incremental in the paper and forest products industry. In May 2012, Resolute Forest Products (RFP) (formerly AbitibiBowater) announced that it had acquired 50.1% of Fibrek and acquired the remaining 49.9% in August. 2011 saw International Paper (IP) announce a hostile takeover of Temple-Inland and after offering $32/share in cash as well as the assumption of $600M of TIN's debt, IP was able to close the deal in February 2012. 2011 also saw Rock-Tenn (RKT) acquire Smurfit-Stone to create the number two player in the linerboard segment with 20% market share, trailing only International Paper's 40%. We see these moves as a prudent step to consolidation in the industry as certain types of paper such as newsprint and uncoated free sheet (office paper) are seeing falling demand due to increased use of digital resources.

Top Paper Stocks For 2014: Crown Holdings Inc (CCK)

Crown Holdings, Inc., incorporated on February 7, 2003, is engaged in designing, manufacturing and sale of packaging products for consumer goods. Its business is organized within three divisions: Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific. Its segments within the Americas Division are Americas Beverage and North America Food. Its segments within the European Division are European Beverage and European Food. Americas Beverage includes beverage can operations in the United States, Brazil, Canada, Colombia and Mexico. North America Food includes food can and metal vacuum closure operations in the United States and Canada. European Beverage includes beverage can operations in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. European Food includes food can and metal vacuum closure operations in Europe and Africa. Its Asia Pacific Division consists of beverage and non-beverage can operations, primarily food cans and specialty packaging. As of December 31, 2012, it acquired Superior Multi-Packaging Ltd.

The Company supplies beverage cans and ends and other packaging products to a range of beverage and beer companies, including Anheuser-Busch InBev, Carlsberg, Coca-Cola, Cott Beverages, Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Heineken, National Beverage and Pepsi-Cola, among others. The Company manufactures a range of food cans and ends, including two-and three-piece cans in numerous shapes and sizes, and sells food cans to food marketers, such as Bonduelle, Cecab, ConAgra, Continentale, Mars, Simmons Foods, Nestle, Princes Group and Stockmeyer, among others.

The Company offers a range of metal vacuum closures and sealing equipment. The Company�� customers for aerosol cans and ends include manufacturers of personal care, food, household and industrial products, including Colgate Palmolive, Procter & Gamble, SC Johnson and Unilever, among others. The Company�� customers for aerosol cans and ends include manufacturers of personal care, food, household and industrial products, including Colgate Palmolive, Procte! r & Gamble, SC Johnson and Unilever, among others.

Americas Division

The Americas Division includes operations in the United States, Brazil, Canada, the Caribbean, Colombia and Mexico. These operations manufacture beverage, food and aerosol cans and ends, specialty packaging and metal vacuum closures and caps. The Americas Beverage segment manufactures aluminum beverage cans and ends and steel crowns, referred to as bottle caps. The North America Food segment manufactures steel and aluminum food cans and ends and metal vacuum closures.

European Division

The European Division includes operations in Eastern and Western Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. These operations manufacture beverage, food and aerosol cans and ends, specialty packaging and metal vacuum closures and caps. The European Beverage segment manufactures steel and aluminum beverage cans and ends. The European Food segment manufactures steel and aluminum food cans and ends, and metal vacuum closures.

Asia Pacific division

The Company's Asia Pacific Division consists of beverage can operations in Cambodia, China, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam and non-beverage can operations, primarily including food cans and specialty packaging in China, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. As of December 31, 2012, the division operated 32 plants in six countries.

The Company competes with Ardagh Group, Ball Corporation, BWAY Corporation, Can-Pack S.A., Metal Container Corporation, Mivisa Envases S.A.U., Rexam PLC and Silgan Holdings Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Lauren Pollock]
Crown Holdings Inc.(CCK) cut its third-quarter earnings guidance on lower end-user demand in some of the food-and-beverage packaging company’s markets, including European food cans and North American beverage cans.

Friday, August 29, 2014

Hot Defensive Companies To Own In Right Now

Popular Posts: 3 Defense Stocks to Protect Your PortfolioAvoid the Usual Suspects, Buy These 2 True Defensive StocksAvoid the Big Banks, Buy These 3 Small Bank Stocks Recent Posts: MRK: Merck Stock a Strong Performer In the Pharma Space 3 Defense Stocks to Protect Your Portfolio NFLX: Netflix Stock Is Still In-Demand View All Posts

Welcome to the Stock of the Day.

Hot Regional Bank Stocks To Own For 2015: Realty Income Corp (O&P)

Realty Income Corporation (Realty Income) is an equity real estate investment trust (REIT). The Company is engaged in acquiring and owning freestanding retail and other properties that generate rental revenue under long-term lease agreements (primarily 10 to 20 years). The Company has in-house acquisition, leasing, legal, credit research, real estate research, portfolio management and capital markets. At December 31, 2011, it owned a diversified portfolio of 2,634 properties with an occupancy rate of 96.7%, or 2,547 properties leased and only 87 properties available for lease. It leased properties to 136 different retail and other commercial enterprises doing business in 38 separate industries. It properties are located in 49 states, with over 27.3 million square feet of leasable space, and with an average leasable space per property of approximately 10,400 square feet. Crest Net Lease, Inc., (Crest) is its wholly owned taxable REIT subsidiary. In January 2013, it acquired American Realty Capital Trust.

During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company invested in 164 new properties, and properties under development, with an initial weighted average contractual lease rate of 7.8%. These 164 new properties, and properties under development, are located in 26 states, contain over 6.2 million leasable square feet, and are 100% leased with an average lease term of 13.4 years. During 2011, 89 properties with expiring leases were leased to either existing or new tenants. Of the 2,634 properties in the portfolio, 2,619, or 99.4%, are single-tenant properties, and the remaining 15 are multi-tenant properties. At December 31, 2011, of the 2,619 single-tenant properties, 2,533 were leased with a weighted average remaining lease term (excluding rights to extend a lease at the option of the tenant) of approximately 11.3 years. The Company typically acquire properties under long-term leases with regional and national retailers and other commercial enterprises. Its net-lease agreements are for initi! al terms of 10 to 20 years.

In January 2012, Friendly Ice Cream Corporation (Friendly��), one of its tenants, announced that it was emerging from voluntary reorganization under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (which they had filed for in October 2011). Pursuant to the bankruptcy proceedings, Friendly�� accepted 102 of their 121 leases with the Company. Friendly�� rejected 19 leases with the Company. Additionally, in January 2012, Buffets Holding, Inc., or Buffets, another one of its tenants, filed for voluntary reorganization under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. As of December 31, 2011, Buffets leased 86 properties from the Company. Buffets rejected the leases on seven of its 86 properties.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By apolloportfolio]
Hanger, Inc. provides orthotic and prosthetic (O&P) patient care services, distributes O&P devices and components, manages O&P networks and offers therapeutic solutions in the United States. It operates in two segments:�Patient Care (83% of sales) and Products & Services (17% of sales). HGR has a history dating back to 150 years ago. A history timeline from the company website can give more details about how HGR evolves over time.

Hot Defensive Companies To Own In Right Now: Glacier Media Inc (GLMFF.PK)

Glacier Media Inc. (Glacier) is an information communications company focused on the provision of information and related services through print and digital media. Glacier has two segments: the newspaper and trade information markets and the business and professional information markets. The operations in the newspaper and trade information group include the Western Producer Publications and Farm Business Communications agricultural information group, Business In Vancouver Media Group, the JuneWarren-Nickle�� Energy Group, the Business Information Group, and the Glacier Newspaper Group. Its operations in the business and professional information group include Specialty Technical Publishers, CD-Pharma, Eco Log and a joint venture interest in Fundata. In November 2011, the Company acquired a 50% interest in InfoMine Inc. In November 2011, the Company acquired Canada�� Outdoor Shows Limited. In December 2011, it acquired Postmedia Network Inc.'s community newspapers in British Columbia. Advisors' Opinion:

[By Mike Arnold]
Shares of Glacier Media (GLMFF.PK)(GVC.TO) ("Glacier" or "the company") are cold product in this market of stocks, trading at decade lows after a summer sell-off. Famed value investor Walter Schloss preferred buying stocks not at 52-week lows, but at multi-year lows. If Mr. Schloss were here with us today, I suspect he'd be taking a look at Glacier shares.

Hot Defensive Companies To Own In Right Now: Oceaneering International Inc.(OII)

Oceaneering International, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides engineered products and services primarily to the offshore oil and gas industry with a focus on deepwater applications. The company?s Remotely Operated Vehicles segment provides submersible vehicles operated from the surface to support offshore oil and gas exploration, production, and construction activities. Its Subsea Products segment supplies various built-to-order specialty subsea hardware products. The company?s Subsea Projects segment provides multiservice vessels, oilfield diving, and support vessel operations, which are used primarily in inspection, repair, and maintenance and installation activities; and mobile offshore production systems. Its Inspection segment offers customers with a range of third-party inspection services to satisfy contractual structural specifications, internal safety standards, and regulatory requirements. The company?s Advanced Technologies segment offers project management, and engineering services and equipment for applications in non-oilfield markets. Oceaneering International, Inc. also serves defense and aerospace industries. It operates primarily in west Africa, Norway, the United Kingdom, Asia, Australia, Brazil, and the United States. The company was founded in 1965 and is based in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Chris Hill]
Gold continues its decline. Citigroup (NYSE: C ) gets a boost from its investment banking business. Netflix� (NASDAQ: NFLX ) gets a boost from analyst upgrades. And Oceaneering International (NYSE: OII ) slips on falling oil prices. In this installment of Investor Beat, our analysts discuss four stocks making moves.
[By Taylor Muckerman and Joel South]
Oceaneering International (NYSE: OII ) is a pure play on the deepwater space with its remotely operated vehicles and other subsea equipment. Both it and its similarly priced peer, FMC Technologies (NYSE: FTI ) , compete for headlines tomorrow during earnings season. While guidance hasn't changed since last week, the market will almost certainly be looking for results on the high side or even expectation-beating numbers. What do Motley Fool analysts Joel South and Taylor Muckerman expect from these companies tomorrow?
[By Dimitra DeFotis]
The market seems to be showing fatigue particularly with positive onshore oil service data points that may no�longer seem incremental. Investors have become especially focused on potential issues and macro concerns. We believe this phase�of enhanced risk perceptions will pass and still recommend owning selective stocks based on attractive valuations and healthy�fundamentals. Of the 16 oilfield services companies having reported their quarters to date, the share price changes have at times�been difficult to tie to specific results. �… Five of the 12 companies who have beaten earnings expectations have seen their share prices drop on the day, including Basic Energy Services (BAS) (-9.0%), Baker Hughes (BHI) (-2.5%), National Oilwell Varco (NOV) (-1.5%), Oceaneering (OII) (-4.2%), and Schlumberger (SLB) (-2.0%). Other stocks beating expectations have traded higher as expected, including Cameron International (CAM) (+4.1%), FMC Technologies (FTI) (+3.1%), Mitcham Industries (MIND) (+3.8%), Nabors Industries (NBR) (+1.2%), Patterson-UTI Energy (PTEN) (+1.8%), RPC (RES) (+8.4%), and Weatherford International (WFT) (+2.3%). Companies which have missed have universally seen their share prices decline, including Diamond Offshore Drilling (DO) (-4.3%), Gulfmark Offshore (GLF) (-0.1%), and Hercules Offshore (HERO) (-6.9%). Halliburton (HAL) was in line and flat on the day.
[By David Smith]
Oceaneering International� (NYSE: OII )
Once a diving company,�Oceaneering now operates�through four separate segments: subsea projects, subsea products, asset integrity, and remotely operated vehicles. The company remains the only manufacturer of a full range of subsea umbilical systems. But it's the ROV unit that garners much of the attention for Oceaneering today.

Hot Defensive Companies To Own In Right Now: Pruksa Real Estate PCL (PS)

Pruksa Real Estate PCL is a Thailand-based company engaged in the development of commercial buildings and residential housing. It serves both local and overseas markets. The Company offers single-detached houses, townhouses and condominiums under the names of Baan Pruksa, Pruksa Ville, The Connect, The Plant Citi, Passorn, Pruksa Village, The Seed, IVY, The Plant City, Urbano, Tree condo, ChapterOne and Be You, among others. The Company develops residential housing projects mainly in Bangkok and the surrounding areas. It also has projects in Nakhorn Pathom, Chonburi and Phuket, as well as overseas projects in India, Vietnam, and Maldives. As of December 31, 2012, it operated 141 projects and had five direct subsidiaries, including Kaysorn Construction Company Limited, Putthachart Estate Company Limited, Phanalee Estate Company Limited, Pruksa Overseas Company Limited and Pruksa International Company Limited. Advisors' Opinion:

[By amigobulls@twitter]
Twitter currently trades at a Last Twelve Months (LTM) Price to Sales (PS) ratio of 27, which translates to astronomical valuations. Consider a comparison with Facebook which generates about 10 times the revenue and still grows at a healthy 60 odd percent. Facebook trades at an LTM PS multiple of 19. Here one should note that Facebook also delivered a net profit margin of 27% in Q2 vs Twitter's loss margin of 46% and has nearly 5 times Twitter's active users.

Hot Defensive Companies To Own In Right Now: IB Securities Joint Stock Co (VIX)

IB Securities Joint Stock Company, formerly XuanThanh Securities Joint Stock Company is a Vietnam-based company engaged in the provision of investment services. It provides securities brokerage services through multiple forms, such as VOpen, VSHM, VTrade, VPhone, VMobile and VSMS. The Company is also involved in securities trading, as well as the provision of investment advice, custody services and underwriting services. In addition, it provides financial services for corporate events, such as corporate restructurings, equitizations, stock listings, share auctions, mergers and acquisitions, equity offerings and bond offerings. Advisors' Opinion:

[By Nikolaj Gammeltoft]
The Standard & Poor�� 500 Index (VIX) snapped a four-week advance as investors weighed corporate earnings amid speculation that the Federal Reserve may reduce its asset purchases this year.
[By With assistance from Sofia Horta e Costa]
The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index (VIX), the gauge known as VIX that measures options traders��estimate of future price swings in S&P 500 (SPX), slid 3.4 percent, halting a four-day rally. The gauge dropped 17 percent in October.

Hot Defensive Companies To Own In Right Now: Ishares Trust S & P Euro (IEV)

iShares S&P Europe 350 Index Fund (the Fund) seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Standard & Poor�� Europe 350 Index (the Index). The Index measures the performance of the stocks of companies in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

The Fund invests in a representative sample of securities included in the Index that collectively has an investment profile similar to the Index. The Fund�� investment advisor is Barclays Global Fund Advisors.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By MBM Research]
Stock markets have shown a late-summer pullback off of their long-term (and even record) highs, as bullish investors sell late and capture some of their profits. Adding to the downside pressure is the market uncertainty that is created by geopolitical concerns in areas like the Ukraine, Gaza, and Iraq. These tensions affect all areas of the world, so it is not surprising to see declines in developed markets -- ie. the SPDR S&P 500 Trust ETF (SPY) and the iShares S&P Europe 350 Index (IEV) -- but also in emerging markets as well. This means the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Asia ETF (EEM) has also been unable to escape the selling pressure. Here, we look at the latest technical developments in the broad regional stock measures: SPY, IEV, EEM.

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Best Chemical Companies To Watch For 2015

Best Chemical Companies To Watch For 2015: Cytec Industries Inc (CYT)

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

Engineered Materials

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

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

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

Umeco

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

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

In-Process Separation

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

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

Additive Technologies

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

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

Advisors' Opinion:

[By alicet236]
Vice President and CFO of Cytec Industries Inc. (CYT) David Drillock sold 49,038 shares on July 21 at an average price of $107.06. The total transaction amount was $5,250,008.
[By Stoyan Bojinov]
The New Jersey-based specialty chemicals maker, Cytec Industries (CYT), announced third quarter operating results after the closing bell on Thursday that topped analysts’ estimates.

Cytec Industries managed to rake in revenues of $464 million last quarter, falling short of the projected $482.61 million figure. The company did manage to beat the mark, however, in terms of earnings per share; in the third quarter Cytec generated EPS of $1! .32, beat! ing the expected EPS of $1.34 by two pennies.

Looking back, the most recent quarterly results are well above the 91 cents EPS seen in Q3 exactly one year ago. Looking ahead, the company expects FY2013 EPS of $4.70-$4.80 compared to the consensus of $4.82.

Cytec Industries shares rallied higher on Thursday, gaining 0.58% on the day. The stock is up 25% YTD.

source from Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/best-chemical-companies-to-watch-for-2015.html

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Top Industrial Disributor Stocks To Invest In 2014

A short while ago I wrote about the nationalized Austrian bank Hypo Alpe Adria and the Austrian government�� attempts to bail in its creditors. HAA is in the process of being wound up and its assets transferred to a government-owned ��ad bank�� Bailing in creditors limits the cost to the state of disposing of a bankrupt lender. The problem is that in this case, some creditors have a guarantee ��a guarantee that, if overturned as the Austrian authorities would like, could destabilize the entire Austrian and German banking systems.

But not all HAA�� assets are to be consigned to the ��ad bank�� HAA owns a network of banks and leasing operators in Slovenia, Serbia & Montenegro, Croatia, and Bosnia & Hercegovina. And the Austrian authorities are seeking a buyer for them.

Novinite this week reported that one of the prospective buyers for HAA�� Balkan network was none other than the Bulgarian bank Corporate Commercial Bank (CCB, or KTB in Bulgarian). KTB has been in central bank ��onservatorship��with its assets and liabilities frozen since it was brought down by a bank run in June. Yet according to Novinite, KTB has only just dropped out of the running. So apparently a failed Bulgarian bank was bidding for ownership of the Balkan assets of a failed Austrian bank. I guess it�� a rescue plan, of a sort ��but what on earth were the regulatory authorities in both countries thinking of, allowing KTB to remain in the bidding for a whole month after its failure?

Top Wireless Telecom Companies For 2015: Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri AS(TKC)

Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S. engages in establishing and operating a global system for mobile communications network in Turkey. It provides mobile voice, and Internet services over its mobile communications network; voice services, which include wireless telephone services on a prepaid and postpaid basis; mobile Internet and 3G services; consumer services; Telco services; TV and video services; music services; infotainment services; social community and other services; and mobile financial services The company also offers Turkcell enablers and platforms; corporate (B2B); corporate telco; authentication; location based; mobile marketing; machine-to-machine communications; and international roaming services. In addition, it provides Mobile Signature, a GSM service that enables customers to sign electronic documents and transactions with a legally-accepted digital signature using GSM SIM cards; and Mobile Billboard, which enables brands to reach their targeted customers . As of December 31, 2010, the company had approximately 23.3 million prepaid subscribers and 10.1 million postpaid subscribers. It sells its products and services through its distribution network consists of distributors, Turkcell distribution centers, corporate solution centers, non exclusive dealers, Turkcell communication centers, Turkcell stores, and consumer electronic Chains, as well as points of sale for prepaid airtime, including ATMs, POS, Web, call centers, supermarkets, and kiosks. The company was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Istanbul, Turkey. Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri AS is a subsidiary of Turkcell Holding A.S.

Advisors' Opinion:

[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.

Top Industrial Disributor Stocks To Invest In 2014: iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF (IWO)

iShares Russell 2000 Growth Index Fund (the Fund) seeks investment returns that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Russell 2000 Growth Index (the Index). The Index is a subset of the Russell 2000 Index, and measures the performance of the small-capitalization growth sector of the United States equity market. The Index is a capitalization-weighted index and consists of those companies or portion of a company, with higher price-to-book ratios and higher forecasted growth within the Russell 2000 Index.

The Index represents approximately 50% of the total market capitalization of the Russell 2000 Index. The Fund invests in a representative sample of securities included in the Index that collectively has an investment profile similar to the Index. iShares Russell 2000 Growth Index Fund's investment advisor is Barclays Global Fund Advisors.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Gary Gordon]
The hottest ETFs have taken the biggest hit over the past five trading days. Global X Social Media (SOCL), Market Vectors Biotech (BBH) and iShares Russell 2000 Small Cap Growth (IWO) have shed 7.0%, 6.5% and 4.0% respectively. Most attribute the over-sized losses to generalized anxiety over the debt ceiling showdown between Congress and the White House. On the other hand, the highest percentage gainers of 2013 may be dropping more precipitously for a different reason.
[By John Udovich]
Yesterday, Luna Innovations Incorporated (NASDAQ: LUNA), a rather unusual and innovative small cap stock,�soared some 23.26%��meaning its worth taking a closer look at the stock along with its performance verses the performance of small cap benchmarks like the iShares Russell 2000 Index ETF (NYSEARCA: IWM), the�iShares Russell 2000 Value Index ETF (NYSEARCA: IWN) or the iShares Russell 2000 Growth Index ETF (NYSEARCA: IWO).

Top Industrial Disributor Stocks To Invest In 2014: Powershares Dynamic Food & Beverage Portfolio (PBJ)

PowerShares Dynamic Food & Beverage Portfolio (the Fund) seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield of an equity index called the Dynamic Food & Beverage Intellidex Index (the Food & Beverage Intellidex). The Food & Beverage Intellidex consists of stocks of 30 United States food and beverage companies. These are companies that are principally engaged in the manufacture, sale or distribution of food and beverage products, agricultural products and products related to the development of new food technologies. These companies may include companies that sell products and services, such as meat and poultry processing, and wholesale and retail distribution and warehousing of food and food-related products, including restaurants, grocery stores, brewers, distillers and vintners, as well as companies that manufacture and distribute products, including soft drinks, packaged food products (such as cereals, pet foods and frozen foods), health food and dietary products. Stocks are selected principally on the basis of their capital appreciation potential as identified by the AMEX (the Intellidex Provider) pursuant to its Intellidex methodology. The Fund�� investment advisor is PowerShares Capital Management LLC.

The Food & Beverage Intellidex is adjusted quarterly, and the Fund, using an indexing investment approach, attempts to replicate the performance of the Food & Beverage Intellidex. The Fund generally will invest in all of the stocks comprising the Food & Beverage Intellidex in proportion to their weightings in the Food & Beverage Intellidex. The Fund will normally invest at least 80% of its total assets in common stocks of food and beverage companies. The Fund will normally invest at least 90% of its total assets in common stocks that comprise the Food & Beverage Intellidex.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By John Udovich]
Small cap ingredients stock Balchem Corporation (NASDAQ: BCPC) jumped 22.76% yesterday on news about an acquisition, meaning its worth taking a closer look at the stock along with potential peers like small cap MGP Ingredients Inc (NASDAQ: MGPI) and the PowerShares Dynamic Food & Beverage ETF (NYSEARCA: PBJ).

Top Industrial Disributor Stocks To Invest In 2014: PowerShares International Dividend Achievers Portfolio (PID)

PowerShares International Dividend Achievers Portfolio (the Fund) seeks to replicate, before fees and expenses, the International Dividend Achievers Index (the Index). The Fund invests in sectors, including financials, utilities, consumer staples, commercial banks, insurance, utilities and information technology. PowerShares Capital Management LLC is the adviser of the Fund.

The Index seeks to identify an international group of American Depository Receipts that have qualified as International Dividend Achievers. The Index is designed to track the performance of dividend paying American Depository Receipts and non-United States common or ordinary stocks trading on the NYSE, NADDAQ or AMEX.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Carlton Delfeld]
Second, add to the mix, one of my long-time favorite ETFs, the PowerShares International Dividend Achievers (PID).

To get into this exclusive basket, companies have to have a record of increasing dividends for five consecutive years. The United Kingdom and Canada make up 50% of its holdings with the US at only 6%.
[By Editor , DividendChannel.com]
According to the ETF Finder at ETF Channel, Enbridge stock is an underlying holding representing 1.97% of the Powershares International Dividend Achievers ETF (PID), which holds $20,709,837 worth of ENB shares.

Top Industrial Disributor Stocks To Invest In 2014: MYR Group Inc.(MYRG)

MYR Group Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides electrical construction service in the continental United States. The company operates in two segments, Transmission and Distribution, and Commercial and Industrial. The Transmission and Distribution segment provides design, engineering, procurement, construction, upgrade, maintenance, and repair services. Its services include the construction and maintenance of high voltage transmission lines, substations, and lower voltage underground and overhead distribution systems; and emergency restoration services in response to hurricane, ice, or other storm related damages. This segment?s customers include investor-owned utilities, municipal utilities, cooperatives, federally-owned utilities, independent power producers, independent transmission companies, industrial facility owners, and other contractors. The Commercial and Industrial segment provides electrical contracting services for commercial and industrial construction in the western United States. It offers electrical contracting services for airports, hospitals, data centers, hotels, casinos, arenas, convention centers, manufacturing plants, processing facilities, and transportation control and management systems. This segment?s customers include general contractors, commercial and industrial facility owners, local governments, and developers. MYR Group Inc. was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By CRWE]
MYR Group Inc. (Nasdaq:MYRG), a leading specialty contractor serving the electrical infrastructure market in the United States, reported that the Company will be attending the 2012 Wedbush Securities Clean Technology & Industrial Growth Management Access Conference. The conference will take place in San Francisco, California, at The Westin Hotel, September 12, 2012.

Top Industrial Disributor Stocks To Invest In 2014: Ametek Inc (AME)

AMETEK, Inc. (AMETEK), incorporated in 1930, is a global manufacturer of electronic instruments and electromechanical devices with operations in North America, Europe, Asia and South America. The Company markets its products worldwide through two groups: the Electronic Instruments Group (EIG) and the Electromechanical Group (EMG). EIG builds monitoring, testing, calibration and display devices for the process, aerospace, industrial, power and medical markets. EMG produces engineered electromechanical connectors for hermetic (moisture-proof) applications, specialty metals for niche markets and brushless air-moving motors, blowers and heat exchangers. End markets include aerospace, defense, mass transit, medical, office products and other industrial markets. In December 2013, the Company announced that it has acquired Powervar, a provider of power management systems and uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems. In January 2014, the Company acquired Teseq Group. In February 2014, the Company acquired VTI Instruments.

The Electronic Instruments Group

EIG consists of a group of differentiated businesses. EIG manufactures instruments used for testing, monitoring, calibration and display for the process, aerospace, industrial and power markets. EIG is specialized in the markets it serves, including aerospace engine sensors, heavy-vehicle instrument panels, analytical instrumentation, level measurement products, power instruments and pressure gauges. It has joint venture operations in China, Taiwan and Japan. EIG had 56 operating facilities: 35 in the United States, seven in the United Kingdom, five in Germany, three in France, two in Switzerland and one each in Argentina, Austria, Canada and Denmark, as of December 31, 2011. EIG also shares operating facilities with EMG in China and Mexico.

Process and analytical measurement and analysis instruments include oxygen, moisture, combustion and liquid analyzers; emission monitors; spectrometers; mechanical and electronic ! pressure sensors and transmitters; radiation measurement devices; level measurement devices; precision pumping systems, and force-measurement and materials testing instrumentation. EIG�� focus is on the process industries, including oil, gas and petrochemical refining, power generation, specialty gas production, water and waste treatment, natural gas distribution and semiconductor manufacturing. AMETEK�� analytical instruments are also used for precision measurement in a number of other applications including radiation detection for the United States Department of Homeland Security, materials analysis, nanotechnology research and other test and measurement applications.

TMC serves the manufacturers of life sciences, photonics and semiconductor equipment with a range of custom active piezoelectric vibration cancellation systems, based on their patented active piezo technology. TMC also supplies passive vibration cancellation systems, optical test tables, acoustic isolation hoods and magnetic isolation hoods. Reichert Technologies provides high-technology instruments used by ophthalmologists, optometrists, and opticians for vision correction and the screening and diagnosis of eye diseases, such as glaucoma and macular degeneration.

Atlas Material Testing Technology LLC (Atlas) has products, which include weather exposure test systems, corrosion-testing instruments, specialty lighting systems, and large-scale weathering test chambers. In addition, Atlas offers indoor laboratory and outdoor testing services, photovoltaic and solar testing and consulting. AMETEK�� power businesses provide analytical instruments, uninterruptible power supply systems and programmable power supplies used in a range of industrial settings. EIG designs and manufactures power measurement and recording instrumentation used by the electric power and manufacturing industries. Those products include power transducers and meters, event and transient recorders, annunciators and alarm monitoring systems us! ed to mea! sure, monitor and record variables in the transmission and distribution of electric power.

EIG�� Solidstate Controls business designs and manufactures uninterruptible power supply systems for the process and power generation industries. EIG also manufactures sensor systems for land-based gas turbines and for boilers and burners used by the utility, petrochemical, process and marine industries worldwide. EIG�� programmable power business provides programmable alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC) power sources. EM Test provides equipment used to perform electrical immunity and electromagnetic compatibility testing. EM Test manufactures a full line of conducted electromagnetic compatibility test equipment, including electrical fast transient generators, electrostatic discharge simulators, surge generators, waveform simulators and multifunctional generators.

Aerospace products include airborne data systems; turbine engine temperature measurement products; vibration-monitoring systems; indicators; displays; fuel and fluid measurement products; sensors; switches; cable harnesses, and transducers. EIG serves all segments of commercial aerospace, including helicopters, business jets, commuter aircraft and commercial airliners, as well as the military market. Its customers are the producers of airframes and jet engines and other aerospace system integrators. The Company also serves the commercial aerospace aftermarket with spare part sales and repair and overhaul services.

Electromechanical Group

EMG provides engineered motors, blowers, fans, heat exchangers, connectors, and other electromechanical products or systems for commercial and military aerospace applications, defense, medical equipment, business machines, computers and other power or industrial applications. EMG had 58 operating facilities: 34 in the United States, nine in the United Kingdom, three in France, two each in China, Czech Republic, Italy and Mexico and one each in Brazil, M! alaysia, ! Morocco and Taiwan, as of December 31, 2011. Differentiated businesses consists of the technical motors and systems businesses and the engineered materials, interconnects and packaging businesses. Technical motors and systems consist of brushless motors, blowers and pumps, as well as other electromechanical systems. These products are used in aerospace and defense, business machines, computer equipment, mass transit vehicles, medical equipment, power, and industrial applications.

EMG produces electronically commutated (brushless) motors, blowers and pumps. These motor-blower systems and heat exchangers are used for thermal management and other applications on a range of military and commercial aircraft and military ground vehicles, and are used in medical and other applications. These motors provide cooling and ventilation for business machines, computers and mass transit vehicles. EMG also serves the commercial and military aerospace third-party maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) market. These services are provided on a global basis with facilities in the United States, Europe and Singapore.

During the year ended December 31, 2011, engineered materials, interconnects and packaging products represented 37% of EMG�� net sales. AMETEK provides specialized metal powder, strip, wire and bonded products. It produces stainless steel and nickel clad alloys; stainless steel, cobalt and nickel alloy powders; metal strip; specialty shaped and electronic wire, and advanced metal matrix composites used in electronic thermal management. Its products are used in automotive, appliance, medical and surgical, aerospace, telecommunications, marine and general industrial applications.

Coining provides custom-shaped preforms, microstampings and wire used for joining electronic circuitry, packaging microelectronics and providing thermal protection and electric conductivity for a range of electronic devices. Coining�� products are used in engineered applications for the radio f! requency ! (RF)/microwave, photonics, medical, aerospace and defense, and general electronics industries. Avicenna produces fine-featured catheter and other medical components for leads, guide wires and custom medical assemblies. Avicenna complements the Company�� medical device market businesses fits with its Technical Services for Electronics (TSE) business. TSE fits with the HCC Industries division, which manufactures engineered electronic interconnects and microelectronics packaging for sophisticated electronic applications.

AMETEK is a medical interconnects provider with integrated capabilities for the catheter, cardiac and neurostimulation markets. During 2011, floorcare and specialty motor markets represented 18% of EMG�� net sales, where it sells air-moving electric motors to the floorcare other equipment manufacturers (OEMs), including vertically integrated OEMs that produce some of their own motors. EMG produces motor-blowers for a range of floorcare products, ranging from hand-held, canister and upright vacuums to central vacuums for residential use. High-performance vacuum motors also are marketed for commercial and industrial applications.

The Company also manufactures a variety of specialty motors used in a range of products, such as household and personal care appliances; fitness equipment; electric materials handling vehicles, and sewing machines. In addition, its products are used in outdoor power equipment, such as electric chain saws, leaf blowers, string trimmers and power washers.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Gregory Vousvounis]
Ametek (AME) is a global manufacturer of electronic instruments and electromechanical devices. Ametek is a strong leader in most of its niche markets having either a low-cost advantage over competitors or higher-quality products that address critical customer needs.
[By Rich Smith]
The U.S. Department of Defense announced a half dozen new contracts benefiting the U.S. Navy Wednesday. Of these, five went to publicly traded companies, namely:

Top Industrial Disributor Stocks To Invest In 2014: Tennant Company(TNC)

Tennant Company engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing cleaning solutions worldwide. The company offers floor maintenance and outdoor cleaning equipment; chemical-free cleaning technologies; and specialty surface coatings and related products for protecting, repairing, and upgrading floors. Its products are used to clean and coat surfaces in factories, office buildings, parking lots and streets, airports, hospitals, schools, warehouses, shopping centers, and other retail environments. The company also provides parts, consumables, and service maintenance and repair; business solutions, such as pay-for-use offerings, and rental and leasing programs; and cleaning technologies that enhance the performance of its cleaning equipment. In addition, it offers Green Machine 500ze, an electric vacuum street sweeper to clean crowded urban areas. The company serves building service contract cleaners, end-user businesses, healthcare facilities, and schools, as well as local, state, and federal governments through its direct sales and service organization, and authorized distributors. Tennant Company was founded in 1870 and is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Seth Jayson]
Tennant (NYSE: TNC ) reported earnings on April 22. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), Tennant missed estimates on revenues and missed estimates on earnings per share.