Best Dividend Stocks To Buy For 2014: January 2015

Saturday, January 31, 2015

Top New Stocks To Own For 2014

American consumer magazines are showing some signs of life.

Despite a decline in ad pages sold, U.S. magazines' print ad revenues rose 4% during the third quarter to $4.75 billion as rebounding readership allowed publishers to charge more, according to new data from Publishers Information Bureau, a unit of MPA -- The Association of Magazine Media.

Print ad pages in the 200 magazines that are members of the association continued to decline in the third quarter, down 1.8% from a year ago. But digital ads in tablet editions -- up 6.8% among 58 e-magazine titles measured - helped offset the loss. Tablet ad units increased 17.5% during the third quarter, it said.

Magazine readership has been inching up this year -��up 2.6% in the first half of this year in both printed products and tablets �� and publishers have been able to fetch more dollars for print ads.

Top 5 European Companies To Watch In Right Now: SolarCity Corp (SCTY)

SolarCity Corporation (SolarCity), incorporated on June 21, 2006, is engaged in the design, installation and sale or lease of solar energy systems to residential and commercial customers, or sale of electricity generated by solar energy systems to customers. The Company sells renewable energy to its customers. As of December 12, 2012, the Company served customers in 14 states. The Company�� residential customers are individual homeowners and homeowners. The Company�� commercial customers represent several business sectors, including technology, retail, manufacturing, agriculture, nonprofit and houses of worship. The Company has installed solar energy systems for several government entities, including the the United States Air Force, Army, Marines and Navy, and the Department of Homeland Security. The Company purchases major components, such as solar panels and inverters directly from multiple manufacturers. As of September 30, 2012, its primary solar panel suppliers were Trina Solar Limited, Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited and Kyocera Solar, Inc., among others, and its primary inverter suppliers were Power-One, Inc., SMA Solar Technology, AG, Schneider Electric SA, Fronius International GmbH and SolarEdge Technologies, among others.

Solar Energy Products

The Company�� solar energy products include Solar Energy Systems, and SolarLease and power purchase agreement finance products. The major components of its solar energy systems include solar panels that convert sunlight into electrical current. Most of its solar energy customers choose to purchase energy from the Company pursuant to one of two payment structures: a SolarLease or a power purchase agreement. In both structures, the Company charges customers a monthly fee for the power produced by its solar energy systems. In the lease structure, this monthly payment is pre-determined and includes a production guarantee. In the power purchase agreement structure, the Company charges customers a fee per kilowatt! hour based on the amount of electricity actually produced by the solar energy system.

Energy Efficiency Products and Services

The Company�� energy efficiency products and services include home energy evaluation and energy efficiency upgrades. The Company sells home energy efficiency evaluations to new solar energy system customers and existing customers. The Company�� energy efficiency upgrade products and services address heating and cooling, air sealing, duct sealing, water heating, insulation, furnaces, weatherization, pool pumps and lighting. As of December 12, 2012, the Company had completed over 13,000 home energy evaluations and performed more than 2,000 energy efficiency upgrades.

Other Energy Products and Services

The Company�� other energy products and services include electric vehicle charging and energy storage. The Company installs electric vehicle (EV) charging equipment that it sources from third parties. SolarCity markets EV equipment to residential and commercial customers through retail partnerships with companies, such as The Home Depot, and through EV manufacturers and dealerships, such as its partnership with Tesla Motors, Inc. The Company is developing a battery management system built on its solar energy monitoring communications backbone. As of December 12, 2012, the Company had over 100 energy storage pilot projects under contract. As of December 12, 2012, the Company had sold over 750 charging stations.

Enabling Technologies

The Company�� enabling technologies include SolarBid Sales Management Platform, SolarWorks Customer Management Software, Energy Designer, Home Performance Pro and SolarGuard and PowerGuide Proactive Monitoring Solutions. SolarBid is a sales management platform, which incorporates a database of rate information by utility, sun exposure, roof orientation and a range of other factors to enable a detailed analysis and customized graphical presentation of each customer� �s savin! gs.

SolarWorks is the software platform the Company uses to track and manage project. Energy Designer is a software application its field engineering auditors use to collect pertinent site-specific design details on a tablet computer. Home Performance Pro is its energy efficiency evaluation platform that incorporates the United States Department of Energy�� Energy Plus simulation engine. Home Performance Pro collects and stores details of a building�� construction and energy use. SolarGuard and PowerGuide provide its customers a view of their home�� or business�� energy generation and consumption.

The Company competes with American Solar Electric, Inc., Astrum Solar, Inc., Petersen Dean, Inc., Real Goods Solar, Inc., REC Solar, Inc., Sungevity, Inc., Trinity Solar, Inc., Verengo, Inc., SunRun Inc. and Ameresco, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Travis Hoium] SolarCity (NASDAQ: SCTY ) recently increased its installation target for 2013 to 270 MW from 250 MW, and it also announced a�convertible note offering that could generate $200 million in new cash. With the residential solar market growing like a weed, the company is primed to benefit over the long term. Motley Fool contributor Travis Hoium discusses why these moves are important for SolarCity, and one other company growing in residential solar, in the video below.
One solar company missing out on the residential solar craze is First Solar. Does this mean the company is�done for good, or is it ready for a rebound? If you're looking for continuing updates and guidance on the company whenever news breaks, The Motley Fool has created a brand-new report that details every must know side of this stock. To get started, simply click here now.
[By Jason Hall]
SolarCity's (NASDAQ: SCTY ) third quarter earnings are in, and the company continues to grow at an enormous rate. Revenues in the quarter were up "only" 20%, but a couple of other key metrics, megawatts (MW) deployed and MW booked, increased 77% and 154%, respectively. The number of customers the company has booked reached 168,000 in the quarter, double the count from one year ago.

Top New Stocks To Own For 2014: Vestas Wind Systems A/S (VWS)

Vestas Wind Systems A/S is a Denmark-based company active within the wind power industry. The Company operates within four business areas: Finance, Sales, Manufacturing & Global Sourcing, and Technology & Service Solutions. The Finance business area focuses on business support services. The Sales business area is divided into six geographical units: Americas, Asia Pacific & China, Central Europe, Mediterranean, Northern Europe and Offshore. The Manufacturing & Global Sourcing business area is engaged in the manufacturing of assembly, blades, components, controls and generators. The Technology & Service Solutions business area is responsible for the engineering solutions, platform and product management, as well as service engineering, among others. As of December 31, 2012, the Company operated globally through a network of subsidiaries located in Denmark, Germany, Italy, China, the United States, Spain, Estonia, Sweden and Norway. Advisors' Opinion:

[By Pato Kehoe]
Within the power infrastructure segment, GE is especially keen on advancing in clean-energy products, such as gas and wind turbines. Wind turbines have contributed significantly to generating a solid competitive advantage, even allowing the firm to surpass the Danish industry giant Vestas Wind Systems (VWS), thanks to superior customer care and manufacturing expertise. Hence, the road seems paved for continued success in this new industry sector, which is bound to continue growing as clean energy becomes more popular.

Top New Stocks To Own For 2014: Osage Exploration and Development Inc (OEDV)

Osage Exploration and Development, Inc. (Osage) is an oil and natural gas exploration and production company with reserves and production in the country of Colombia and the state of Oklahoma. The Company�� pipeline is located in Colombia. The Companys focuses on developing its 28,000-acre Horizontal Mississippian block along the Nemaha Ridge in Logan County, Oklahoma, with their partners Slawson Exploration, and U.S. Energy Development Corp. The Company generates oil sales from its production operations in Colombia and in the state of Oklahoma and pipeline revenues from its Cimarrona property in Colombia. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company drilled two salt water disposal wells and commenced drilling the Wolfe#1-29H, the Company�� horizontal Mississippian well in Logan County, Oklahoma. In January 2012, the Company began drilling the Krittenbrink 2-36H, the Company�� second well in Logan County.

The Company�� subsidiary, Cimarrona LLC, owns a 9.4% interest in certain oil and gas assets in the Guaduas field, located in the Dindal and Rio Seco Blocks that consist of 21 wells, of which seven are producing, that covers 30,665-acres in the Middle Magdalena Valley in Colombia, as well as a pipeline with a capacity of approximately 30,000 barrels of oil per day. The Cimarrona property, but not the pipeline, is subject to an Ecopetrol Association Contract (the Association Contract) whereby the Company pays Ecopetrol S.A. (Ecopetrol) royalties of 20% of the oil produced.

The Company has acquired oil and gas leases in Logan County, Oklahoma targeting the Mississippian formation. The Mississippian formation is located on the Anadarko Shelf in northern Oklahoma and south-central Kansas. The top of this expansive carbonate hydrocarbon system is encountered between 4,000 and 6,000 feet and lies stratigraphically between the Pennsylvanian-aged Morrow Sand and the Devonian-aged Woodford Shale formations. The Mississippian formation reach 600 feet in gross thickness a! nd the targeted porosity zone is between 50 and 300 feet in thickness. The Company owns 100% of the working interest in certain producing oil and natural gas leases located in Osage County, Oklahoma (Hopper Property). The Property consists of 23 wells, 10 of which are producing wells, on 480 acres.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By CRWE]
Today, OEDV surged (+1.96%) up +0.03 at $1.56 with 178,129 shares in play thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 12:28PM EDT August 30, 2013).

Osage Exploration and Development, Inc. previously reported preliminary production results on the Mallard 1-16H Horizontal Mississippian well in Logan County, Oklahoma. The well, located in Section 16-17N-3W, achieved a 24-hour peak initial production rate of 705 barrels of oil plus associated natural gas on an electric submersible pump and a 48/64��choke.
[By CRWE]
Today, OEDV surged (+6.78%) up +0.08 at $1.26 with 39,220 shares in play thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 11:56AM EDT August 22, 2013).

Osage Exploration and Development, Inc. previously reported financial results for the three months ended June 30, 2013 and provided an update on field operations. For the quarter, the Company reported a 75.8% increase in revenues of $2.4 million compared to the same period in 2012, and operating income of $1.2 million versus a loss of $274,563 for the period ending June 30, 2012.

Osage participated in drilling ten wells during the second quarter, bringing the total number of wells in which Osage has an interest to twenty-nine as of June 30, 2013. Additionally, the Company reported average daily production roughly in-line with first quarter production.

Top New Stocks To Own For 2014: Zinco Do Brasil Inc (ZNBR)

Zinco do Brasil Inc., formerly TurkPower Corporation, incorporated on November 4, 2004, has been a Turkish-American consulting and service operations firm and junior mining company. TurkPower offered its domestic and international clients consulting services and plans to act as a full service operator for wind, hydro, solar, coal and geothermal energy parks in Turkey.

In November 2011, the Company ceased all operations in Turkey. During the fiscal year ended May 31, 2012 (fiscal 2012) the Company impaired its entire mining company investment.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Peter Graham]
Small cap mining stocks Discovery Minerals Ltd (OTCMKTS: DSCR), Zinco Do Brasil Inc (OTCMKTS: ZNBR) and Amalgamated Gold and Silver Inc (OTCMKTS: BCHS) have been getting some extra attention lately as one stock surged last Friday while the other two are or have been in the past, the subject of paid promotions. It goes without saying though that small cap mining stocks tend to be riskier than your average stock. But do these three small cap mining stocks have what it takes to produce a mother lode for investors? Here is a deeper dig into all three:

Top New Stocks To Own For 2014: MagneGas Corp (MNGA)

MagneGas Corporation, incorporated on December 09, 2005, is an alternative energy company that creates and produces hydrogen based alternative fuel through the gasification of liquid waste. The Company has developed a process which transforms various types of liquid waste through a plasma arc machine. The result of the product is to carbonize the waste for normal disposal. A byproduct of this process is to produce an alternative to natural gas sold in the metalworking market. The Company produces gas bottled in cylinders for the purpose of distribution to the metalworking markets as an alternative to acetylene. In addition, the Company markets, for sale or licensure, its plasma arc technology. Through the course of the Company's business development, the Company has established a retail and wholesale platforms to sell its fuel for use in the metalworking and manufacturing industries. In August 2012, the Company purchased a 3.5 acre site in Tarpon Springs, FL.

The Company focuses on producing and selling fuels and equipment for the metalworking fuel market. The Company has distributors in Pennsylvania, Alabama, Michigan and Florida. The Company also has a retail operation in Florida selling fuel directly to end users. The Company has obtained approval from the Department of Transportation to deliver fuel in Florida and has several customers purchasing fuel directly. The Company has two products: the fuel called MagneGas and the machines that produce that gas known as Plasma Arc Flow refineries. The Company produces MagneGas for the metalworking market from a feedstock of virgin ethylene glycol (automotive anti-freeze) which is purchased in bulk from outside suppliers. The fuel is hydrogen based and can be used to replace natural gas. It is sold as a replacement for acetylene in the metalworking market. The Plasma Arc Flow technology can gasify many forms of liquid waste such as ethylene glycol, sewage and sludge. Plasma Arc Flow refineries are configured in various sizes ranging from 50kil! owatts (KW) to 500KW depending on the application.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By James E. Brumley]
If the names Axxess Unlimited Inc. (OTCMKTS:AXXU) and MagneGas Corporation (NASDAQ:MNGA) ring a bell, it might be because yours truly posted some bullish thoughts on both names earlier this week. Although neither small cap stock had done everything they needed to do in order become a fully bullish trade at the time, both MNGA and AXXU have cleared those hurdles in the meantime. So, in case you forgot (or in case you missed the first look), an updated review of Axxess Unlimited and MagneGas is merited.
[By James E. Brumley]
Truth be told, had MagneGas Corporation (NASDAQ:MNGA) shares not surged 400% - and subsequently tumbled - in early January, it might not even be worth looking at now. MNGA did surge then, however, so what we've seen unfurl over the past few days can't be ignored now... as it suggests this small hydrogen supplier stock is about to take flight in a more controlled and longer-lasting way than it did at the beginning of the year.
[By James E. Brumley]
You're welcome. Back on March 12th when yours truly penned some bullish thoughts on MagneGas Corporation (NASDAQ:MNGA), nobody cared, largely because nobody had heard of the company, and there was no particular reason anybody had to find MNGA. Now less than a full week later, this once-obscure name is all the rage; no less than 21 different market-centric websites have made mention of the stock's explosive growth over the past few days. MagneGas has been proverbially put on the map, with shares surging 90% (as of right now) since the first exploration last Wednesday. So, like I said, you're welcome.... if you got in on the 12th, or even more realistically, got in on the 14th when MNGA finally crossed above the ceiling at $0.94 I was talking about a little less than a week ago.

Top New Stocks To Own For 2014: Building Turbines Inc (BLDW)

Building Turbines Inc (BTI), incorporated on November 17, 1997, is engaged in the designing and manufacturing rooftop mounted wind turbines. The patented BTI�� design is ideal for commercial applications and creates reliable, cost-effective, clean and on-site renewable electricity. The Company offers a different, patented wind turbine product that can bring the dream of clean, affordable wind energy to a reality. The turbine is mounted on a steel frame, it has a low profile, low maintenance needs, and creates almost no noise or vibration.

The Company�� design possesses these exemplary and robust structural, mechanical and electrical characteristics that are particularly important when mounting a renewable energy system onto a building's roof. The turbine can help office buildings, schools, warehouses, distribution centers, airports, hotels, and a variety of other buildings offset electricity purchased from the grid by creating it on-site from the wind. The turbine creates reliable, cost-effective and clean renewable electricity with little building modification required.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Peter Graham]
Small cap green stocks Essential Innovations Technology Corp (OTCBB: ESIV), Building Turbines Inc (OTCMKTS: BLDW) and Kleangas Energy Technologies Inc (OTCMKTS: KGET) have all been getting some attention lately in various investment newsletters ��either because they were sinking, because of paid promotions or a combination of both. However, there aren�� many green stocks out there that have actually produced some green for investors in the form of profits. With that in mind, here is a quick reality check about all three green small cap stocks to help you decide whether any have the potential for long-term success:
[By Peter Graham]
Small cap green stocks Building Turbines Inc (OTCMKTS: BLDW), Virtual Sourcing, Inc (OTCMKTS: PGCX) and Unseen Solar, Inc (OTCMKTS: PCWT) have been getting some attention lately in various investment newsletters in part because some ��reen�� is being paid out in the form of paid promotions or investor relation activity. Of course, there is nothing wrong with properly disclosed paid promotions, but you do need to remember that small cap stocks (especially those in new ��reen�� industries) already come with risk. With that in mind, here is a quick reality check about these three green small cap stocks and whether you can expect to see some green in the form of profits:
Building Turbines Inc (OTCMKTS: BLDW) Has Secured a $5 Million Line of Credit
Small cap Building Turbines Inc is focused on the design and manufacture of patented rooftop wind turbines as well as vertically integrating them into other renewable energy solutions to complete a total ��reen Energy Solution��for any urban environment. Building Turbines Inc�� subsidiary, Green City Planet, is also a premier provider of LED lighting and environmentally sound industrial solutions. On Friday, Building Turbines Inc fell 9.76% to $0.0370 for a market cap of $8.71 million plus BLDW is up 51% over the past year and down 87.2% since June 2011 according to Google Finance.

Thursday, January 29, 2015

David Tepper - Highest Paid Hedge Fund Manager of 2013

Best Building Product Stocks To Watch Right Now

From New York Post:

It could be one heckuva New Year's Eve party for hedge fund titan David Tepper — again.

The founder of Appaloosa Management, with more than $20 billion under management, is looking at a possible $3 billion-plus payday in 2013, which could make him the highest paid hedgie.

That's quite a feat, especially after Tepper's 30 percent gain last year earned him $2.2 billion and the top spot on Institutional Investor Alpha's annual "Rich List" of the top 25 hedge fund managers.

Continue reading here.

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

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Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Best Solar Stocks To Own Right Now

www.lcti.org In 2013, 92 percent of the Philadelphia high school seniors in a career or technical program graduated. For those who weren't in such programs, the results were far worse: a 65 percent graduation rate. Meanwhile, manufacturers in the city have long complained that they can't find workers trained in the skills they need. "It's very hard for us to find skilled welders," Brent Ford, human resources manager for PTR Baler & Compactor told Philadelphia City Paper. "We go through hundreds of résumés for every single one we hire." The city expects to help change that in 2015 by opening the Center for Engineering and Advanced Manufacturing at Benjamin Franklin High School. The school will teach in eight areas, all planned at the needs of local industry, such as maintaining electronic equipment and repairing solar gear. All the fields are new, except for welding, which is offered in four other schools. The Lehigh Career & Technical Institute, in Scnecksville, Pennsylvania, inspired Philadelphia, which needs to hire qualified teachers and possibly recent engineering graduates. More from Andrew Ward
•Can Hipsters and the Artisan Economy Save the Middle Class?

Top 5 Gas Utility Companies To Invest In Right Now: JinkoSolar Holding Company Limited(JKS)

JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of solar power products in China and internationally. The company provides solar modules, silicon wafers and ingots, and solar cells, as well as processing services, including silicon wafer tolling services. It sells its products under the JinkoSolar brand name. The company?s customers include distributors, project developers, and system integrators. It trades its products under short-term contracts and by spot market sales. The company also produces accessory materials for solar power products, such as solar aluminum frame, solar junction box, aluminum materials windows, and other metal component parts. JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. was founded in 2006 and is based in Shangrao, the People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Dan Caplinger]
On the other hand, if you were looking to buy stocks, Monday turned out to be a great time to do so. For instance, in the solar arena, JinkoSolar (NYSE: JKS ) and Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL ) plunged Monday on feras of the impact of geopolitical tension on the solar business, even though Jinko had reported reasonably strong results earlier that day. Yet Monday, Trina and Jinko soared, with Trina's positive report confirming the health of the solar industry.
[By Jayson Derrick]
JinkoSolar (NYSE: JKS) received a total of $225 million investment for downstream projects from the China Development Bank International, Macquarie Greater China and New Horizon Capital. Shares lost 1.20 percent, closing at $26.25.
[By Maria Armental var popups = dojo.query(".socialByline .popC"); popups.forEach]
Yingli Green said it will continue to fight a U.S. plan to close a loophole that allowed Chinese solar manufacturers to avoid tariffs by assembling their products outside China. Yingli shares dropped 6.4% to $2.76 premarket. Among the other Chinese solar stocks trading lower Wednesday are JinkoSolar Holding Co.(JKS), Trina Solar Ltd.(TSL) and JA Solar Holdings Co.(JASO)
[By Rick Munarriz]
Friday
The market is typically quiet on Friday, but don't tell that to JinkoSolar (NYSE: JKS ) . The vertically integrated solar-power products maker closes out the trading week with its latest quarterly results.

Best Solar Stocks To Own Right Now: EMCORE Corporation(EMKR)

EMCORE Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides compound semiconductor-based products for the broadband, fiber optics, satellite, and solar power markets. The company operates in two segments, Fiber Optics and Photovoltaics. The Fiber Optics segment offers broadband products, including cable television, fiber-to-the-premises, satellite communication, video transport, and defense and homeland security products; and digital products comprising telecom optical, enterprise, laser/photodetector component, parallel optical transceiver and cable, and fiber channel transceiver products. This segment?s products enable information that is encoded on light signals to be transmitted, routed, and received in communication systems and networks. The Photovoltaics segment provides gallium arsenide (GaAs) multi-junction solar cells, covered interconnected cells, and solar panels for satellite applications; and concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) power systems for commercial and utility scale solar applications, as well as GaAs solar cells and integrated CPV components for use in other solar power concentrator systems. The company markets its products through its direct sales force, external sales representatives and distributors, and application engineers worldwide. EMCORE Corporation was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By CRWE]
EMCORE Corporation (Nasdaq:EMKR), a leading provider of compound semiconductor-based components and subsystems for the fiber optic and solar power markets, reported that it is ramping production and shipping the Opticomm-EMCORE NEXTGEN OTP-1DVI2A1SU insert cards for the Optiva platform.

Best Solar Stocks To Own Right Now: Canadian Solar Inc.(CSIQ)

Canadian Solar Inc. engages in the design, development, manufacture, and sale of solar power products in Canada and internationally. The company offers solar cell and solar module products that convert sunlight into electricity for various uses. Its products include a range of standard solar modules for use in a range of residential, commercial, and industrial solar power generation systems. The company also designs and produces specialty solar modules and products consisting of customized modules that its customers incorporate into their products, such as solar-powered bus stop lighting; and specialty products, such as portable solar home systems and solar-powered car battery chargers. In addition, it sells solar system kits, a package consisting of solar modules produced by it and third party supplied components, such as inverters, racking system, and other accessories, as well as implements solar power development projects. The company sells its products under the Canad ian Solar brand name. Canadian Solar Inc. offers its standard solar modules through a direct sales force and sales agents primarily to distributors, system integrators, and original equipment manufacturer customers, as well as to solar projects; and specialty solar modules and products to the automotive, telecommunications, and light-emitting diode lighting sectors. The company was founded in 2001 and is based in Kitchener, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Justin Loiseau]
Canadian Solar (NASDAQ: CSIQ ) announced today that it has won a contract to supply Asia-based Soleq Solar with modules totaling 91 MW for solar power for projects in Thailand.
[By Paul Ausick]
We have tracked the short interest in the following North American Solar companies as of September 13: Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ), First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR), GT Advanced Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: GTAT), SunEdison Inc. (NYSE: SUNE) and SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR).
[By John Udovich]
Small cap solar stock Canadian Solar Inc (NASDAQ: CSIQ) rose another 13.35% yesterday and is up 841.2% since the start of the year, soundly beating�the performance of�solar ETFs�Guggenheim Solar ETF (NYSEARCA: TAN) and Market Vectors Solar Energy ETF (NYSEARCA: KWT). But why has this solar stock gone parabolic and what are (if any) potential dark clouds that investors need to be aware of?
[By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Leading and Lagging Sectors
In trading on Tuesday, technology shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 0.12 percent. Leading the sector was strength from Aeroflex Holding (NYSE: ARX) and Canadian Solar (NASDAQ: CSIQ). Cyclical consumer goods & services shares declined around 0.71 percent in Tuesday's trading.

Best Solar Stocks To Own Right Now: DAQQ New Energy Corp.(DQ)

Daqo New Energy Corp., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells polysilicon in China. The company sells its polysilicon to photovoltaic product manufacturers for use in the processing of ingots, wafers, cells and modules for solar power solutions. It also produces and sells mono-crystalline and multi-crystalline modules to photovoltaic system integrators and distributors in China and internationally under its Daqo brand. The company was formerly known as Mega Stand International Limited and changed its name to Daqo New Energy Corp. in August 2009. Daqo New Energy Corp. was founded in 2006 and is headquartered Wanzhou, the People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Lisa Levin]
Daqo New Energy (NYSE: DQ) shares gained 12.78% to $33.58 on quarterly results.

SINA (NASDAQ: SINA) rose 7.26% to $51.29 after the company reported upbeat quarterly results.

Best Solar Stocks To Own Right Now: Renesola Ltd.(SOL)

ReneSola Ltd, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of solar wafers and solar power products. It offers virgin polysilicons, monocrystalline and multicrystalline solar wafers, and photovoltaic cells and modules. The company also provides cell and module processing services. Its products are used in a range of residential, commercial, industrial, and other solar power generation systems. The company sells its solar wafers primarily to solar cell and module manufacturers. It principally operates in Mainland China, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, India, Australia, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, France, the Czech Republic, and the United States. The company was founded in 2003 and is based in Jiashan, the People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Paul Ausick]
Provided that the Chinese government either encourages or permits consolidation, any of these three could be an acquirer. The likeliest target, of course, is SunTech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP), which is reorganizing and which the government has already seemed to give up on. Other possible targets include ReneSola Ltd. (NYSE: SOL) and JinkoSolar Holding Co. Ltd. (NYSE: JKS).
[By Dan Caplinger]
On Thursday, ReneSola (NYSE: SOL ) will release its latest quarterly results. The key to making smart investment decisions on stocks reporting earnings is to anticipate how they'll do before they announce results, leaving you fully prepared to respond quickly to whatever inevitable surprises arise. That way, you'll be less likely to make an uninformed knee-jerk reaction to news that turns out to be exactly the wrong move.

Best Solar Stocks To Own Right Now: Peabody Energy Corporation(BTU)

Peabody Energy Corporation engages in the mining of coal. It mines, prepares, and sells thermal coal to electric utilities and metallurgical coal to industrial customers. The company owns interests in 30 coal mining operations located in the United States and Australia, as well as owns joint venture interest in a Venezuela mine. It is also involved in marketing, brokering, and trading coal. In addition, the company develops a mine-mouth coal-fueled generating plant; and Btu Conversion projects that are designed to convert coal to natural gas or transportation fuels; and clean coal technologies. As of December 31, 2011, it had 9 billion tons of proven and probable coal reserves. The company was founded in 1883 and is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Garrett Cook]
Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU) shares tumbled 14.07 percent to $16.80 after Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock from Buy to Hold and lowered the price target from $23.00 to $19.00.
[By Ben Levisohn]
The last six months have been good to coal miners like Alpha Natural Resources (ANR), Walter Energy (WLT), Consol Energy (CNX) and Peabody Energy (BTU), which all gained more than 10%. The last month, not so much, as many have experienced double-digit losses.
[By John Divine]
Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU ) , which both mines and brokers coal, saw shares sink 4.3% Tuesday, as the U.S Interior Department addressed what it believes to be a consistent undervaluation of federally owned coal resources. The claims, that coal miners leasing federal land to mine the resource aren't paying fair prices for the right to do so, have obvious negative implications for companies like Peabody, which could see costs rise.�

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Top 10 Restaurant Companies To Invest In 2015

Top 10 Restaurant Companies To Invest In 2015: Blue Water Global Group Inc (BLUU)

Blue Water Global Group, Inc. (Blue Water), incorporated on March 3, 2011, is a development-stage company. The Company focuses on developing a chain of casual dining restaurants in tourist destinations throughout the Caribbean region. The Company's initial restaurant is going to be called Blue Water Bar & Grill and will be located in St. Maarten, Dutch West Indies.

As of February 7, 2013, the Company did not operate any restaurant properties, and did not have any ownership or leaseholds in any restaurant properties. As of February 7, 2013, the Company did not have any ownership or leaseholds in any restaurant properties.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Peter Graham]
Last Friday, small cap Digital Brand Media & Marketing Group Inc (OTCMKTS: DBMM) surged 22.22% while Blue Water Global Group Inc (OTCBB: BLUU) sank 18.42% and Medina International Holdings, Inc (OTCMKTS: MIHI) sank 50%. However, one of these small caps (Blue Water Global Group) appears to be reversing course in early morning trading today. So with it and the rest of these small cap stocks either sink or swim in trading this week? Here is a closer look to help you decide on an investing or trading strategy:
[By Peter Graham]
Small cap stocks Naturalnano Inc (OTCMKTS: NNAN), Global Payout, Inc (OTCMKTS: GOHE) and Blue Water Global Group Inc (OTCBB: BLUU) were either jumping higher or diving lower yesterday. To complicate matters for investors, two of these small cap stocks have been subjects of disclosures about paid promotion or investor relation campaigns. So what will these three small caps do for the rest of this week? Here is a closer look to help you decide on a trading or investing strategy:
[By Peter Graham]
Small cap stocks Caribbean International Holdings (OTCMKTS: CIHN), Blue Water Global Group Inc (OTCBB: BLUU) and Metrospaces ! Inc (OTCMKTS: MSPC) have been getting some attention lately in various investment newsletters and all three have focused their activities in the Caribbean or South America. However, all three have been the subject of paid promotions which have helped to get them mentions in various investment newsletters. With that in mind, will bets on the Caribbean or South America pay off big for these three small cap stocks and their investors? Here is a quick reality check:

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.seekpennystocks.com/top-10-restaurant-companies-to-invest-in-2015.html

Monday, January 26, 2015

Best Dividend Companies For 2015

Best Dividend Companies For 2015: Medallion Financial Corp.(TAXI)

Medallion Financial Corp., through its subsidiaries, operates as a specialty finance company in the United States. The company engages in originating, acquiring, and servicing loans that finance taxicab medallions and various types of commercial businesses. It offers commercial loans to finance the purchase of the equipment and related assets necessary to open a new business, or the purchase or improvement of an existing business; asset-based loans to small businesses; and secured mezzanine loans to businesses in various industries, including manufacturing and various service providers. The company also raises deposits; originates consumer loans for the purchase of recreational vehicles, boats, motorcycles, trailers, and hearing aids; and conducts other banking activities. In addition, it provides other debt, mezzanine, and equity investment capital to companies in various industries. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Lawrence Meyers]
That's the case with Medallion Financial Corporation (TAXI). This neat little company is primarily focused on the financing of taxi cab licenses in major cities like New York. It does other specialty lending as well — such as asset-backed loans for luxury vehicles like boats and art. But its bread and butter has been the taxi business.

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

Sunday, January 25, 2015

Best Managed Healthcare Stocks To Own For 2014

Bloomberg News A Black Friday scene in London Friday.

Despite a quiet morning for equities, the�market still could hit new highs today before closing at 1 p.m.

Futures were up going into the open. A few items of note:

Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) stock is down 1.2% premarket. The Australian government is blocking its proposed $2.7 billion acquisition of Aussie grain processor Grain Corp (GNC.Australia). More in the Wall Street Journal here.

Among retailers, J.C. Penney (JCP) was up 2.7% and Macy�� (M), up 1%, in premarket trading.�For shoppers, The Atlantic suggests 11 economic lessons for smarter buying today. Chief among them:

“It’s called Black Friday because it’s the beginning of the season when many stores go from being in the red to being in the black.”

Among other retail stocks this morning, shares in the online world are moving at a faster clip than brick-and-mortar stores: �Ebay (EBAY) is up nearly 2% this morning just after the open, while Amazon.com (AMZN) is up about 1.2%. Higher-end retailers�Coach (COH), Tiffany (TIF)�and Nordstrom (JWN) are up less than a point. Shares of�Wal-Mart Stores�(WMT), T.J. Maxx/Marshalls parent TJX Companies (TJX), and�Target (TGT) were each up about half a point.

Top Growth Stocks To Own Right Now: Yongye International Inc.(YONG)

Yongye International, Inc. engages in the research, development, manufacture, and sale of fulvic acid based crop and animal nutrient products for the agriculture and stock farming industry in the People?s Republic of China. It provides liquid crop nutrient products that consist of fulvic acid compound base and nutrients for the health of crops; and powder animal nutrient products, which include fulvic acid compound base and additional nutrients, and Chinese herbs that reduce inflammation for dairy cows The company markets its products under the Shengmingsu trade name through a network of county-level distributors and independently owned branded retailers. Yongye International, Inc. is based in Beijing, the People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By John Kell and Lauren Pollock var popups = dojo.query(".socialByline .popC"); ]
Yongye International Inc.(YONG) said its shareholders rejected a go-private deal with Full Alliance International Ltd. that values the Chinese fertilizer company at $339 million. Shares declined 13% to $5.68 premarket.
[By Lisa Levin]
Yongye International (NASDAQ: YONG) shares touched a new 52-week high of $6.97 after the company accepted a revised go private bid at $7.10 per share.

Best Managed Healthcare Stocks To Own For 2014: PowerShares DB Agriculture Fund (DBA)

PowerShares DB Agriculture Fund (the Fund) is a separate series of PowerShares DB Multi-Sector Commodity Trust (the Trust). The Fund�� subsidiary is DB Agriculture Master Fund (the Master Fund), a separate series of DB Multi-Sector Commodity Master Trust (the Master Trust). The Fund offers common units of beneficial interest (the Shares) only to certain eligible financial institutions (the Authorized Participants) in one or more blocks of 200,000 Shares, called a Basket. The proceeds from the offering of Shares are invested in the Master Fund. The proceeds from the offering of Shares are invested in the Master Fund.

The Master Fund invests with a view to tracking the changes, whether positive or negative, in the level of the Deutsche Bank Liquid Commodity Index Diversified Agriculture Excess Return (DBLCI Diversified Agriculture ER (the Index)) plus the excess, if any, of the Master Fund�� income from its holdings of United States Treasury Obligations and other short-term fixed income securities over the expenses of the Fund and the Master Fund. The Index is calculated to reflect the change in market value of the agricultural sector. The commodities comprising the Index are corn, soybeans, wheat, kansas city wheat, sugar, cocoa, coffee, cotton, live cattle, feeder cattle and lean hogs (the Index Commodities). The Master Fund also holds United States Treasury Obligations and other short-term fixed income securities for deposit with the Master Fund�� commodity broker as margin. The Index is composed of notional amounts of each of the underlying Index Commodities.

DB Commodity Services LLC serves as the managing owner, commodity pool operator and commodity trading advisor of the Fund and the Master Fund. The Bank of New York Mellon serves as the administrator of the Fund and the Master Fund.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Nate Pile]
Steve Halpern: I noticed in your newsletter you are recommending three commodity-based ETFs. The first is Power Shares DB Agriculture (DBA). What's the attraction with that position?

Best Managed Healthcare Stocks To Own For 2014: Fidelity National Information Services Inc (FIS)

Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. (FIS), incorporated on March 2, 2001, is a global provider of banking and payments technologies. The Company operates in four segments: Financial Solutions Group (FSG), Payment Solutions Group (PSG), International Solutions Group (ISG) and Corporate and Other Segment. The Company is engaged in payment processing and banking solutions, providing software, services and outsourcing of the technology. The Company offers financial institution core processing, card issuer and transaction processing services, including the NYCE Network, a national electronic funds transfer (EFT) network. FIS serves more than 14,000 institutions in over 100 countries. In February 2011, FIS acquired GIFTS Software, Inc., a provider of integrated funds transfer, Web-based cash management systems and anti-money laundering (AML) solutions. In April 2012, it acquired ICS Risk Advisors and Memento, Inc. In August 2012, the Company completed the sale of its Healthcare Solutions business to an investment fund affiliated with Lightyear Capital LLC. In March 2013, it announced the acquisition of mFoundry.

Financial Solutions Group

FSG is to provide the software and services for the core processing, customer channel, treasury, cash management, wealth management and capital market operations of its financial institution customers in North America. The Company services the core and related ancillary processing needs of North American banks, credit unions, automotive financial companies, commercial lenders, and independent community and savings institutions. FIS offers a selection of in-house and outsourced solutions to banking customers that span the range of asset sizes. Its solutions in this segment include Core Processing and Ancillary Applications, Channel Solutions, Decision and Risk Management Solutions, Syndicated Loan Applications, Global Commercial Services and Strategic Consulting Services.

The Company�� processing software applications are de! signed to run banking processes for its financial institution clients, including deposit and lending systems, customer management, and other central management systems. The Company also offers a number of services that are ancillary to the primary applications listed above, including branch automation, back office support systems and compliance support. In addition, its wealth management services offer a set of Internet-enabled services to financial services providers that address the specific needs of markets, as well as commercial clients. These solutions address asset and liability aggregation, trust and investment account management, client and regulatory reporting, and employee retirement benefit services. The Company also offers an application suite that assists automotive finance institutions in evaluating loan applications and credit risk, and allows automotive finance institutions to manage their loan and lease portfolios.

The Company�� suite of retail delivery applications enables financial institutions to integrate customer-facing operations and back-office processes, thereby improving customer interaction across all channels (branch offices, Internet, automated teller machine (ATM), call centers). Its Consumer Electronic Banking and Business Internet Banking both provide a set of cash management capabilities, enabling customers to manage banking and payments through the Internet, mobile devices, accounting software and telephone. Corporate Electronic Banking solutions provide commercial treasury capabilities, including cash management services and multi-bank collection and disbursement services that address the specialized needs of corporate customers. FIS systems provide accounting and reconciliation for such transactions, serving as the system of record and providing regulatory compliance, risk assessment and fraud management tools.

The Company�� decision solutions offers a spectrum of options that cover the account lifecycle from helping to identify qualified! account ! applicants to managing mature customer accounts and fraud. Its applications include know-your-customer, new account decisioning, new account opening, account and transaction management, fraud management and collections. Its risk management services utilize its risk management models and data sources to assist in detecting fraud and assessing the risk of opening a new account or accepting a check at either the point-of-sale, a physical branch location, or through the Internet. Its systems utilize a combination of advanced authentication procedures, predictive analytics, artificial intelligence modeling and shared databases to assess and detect fraud risk for deposit transactions for financial institutions.

The Company�� syndicated loan applications are designed to support wholesale and commercial banking requirements necessary for all aspects of syndicated commercial loan origination and management. Its global commercial services include solutions, both onshore and offshore, designed to meet the technology challenges facing principally Unites States based clients, large or small. Its technology solutions range in scope from consulting engagements to application development projects and from operations support for a single application to management of information technology infrastructures. The Company also provides outsourcing teams todeliver customer service. With the The Capital Markets Company NV (Capco) acquisition, it provides integrated consulting, technology and transformation services. Capco specializes in banking; capital markets; wealth and investment management; finance, risk and compliance, and technology. Capco's North American operations are included in FSG.

Payment Solutions Group

PSG provides a set of software and services for the EFT, card processing, item processing, bill payment, and government and healthcare payments processing needs of its customers in North America. PSG is focused on servicing the payment and electronic funds transfer needs o! f North A! merican headquartered banks and credit unions, commercial lenders, independent community and savings institutions and healthcare and government institutions. Its solutions in this segment include Electronic Funds Transfer, Item Processing and Output Services, Credit Card Solutions, Government and Healthcare Payments Solutions, ePayment Solutions and Check Authorization.

The Company�� electronic funds transfer and debit card processing businesses offer settlement and card management solutions for financial institution card issuers. It provides traditional ATM- and personal identification number (PIN)-based debit network access and emerging real-time payment alternatives through NYCE. It is also a provider of prepaid card services, which include gift cards and reloadable cards, with end-to-end solutions for development, processing and administration of stored-value programs.

The Company�� item processing services furnish financial institutions with the equipment needed to capture data from checks, transaction tickets and other items; image and sort items; process exceptions through keying, and perform balancing, archiving and the production of statements. Its item processing services are utilized by more than 1,500 financial institutions. Its solutions include distributed ( non-centralized) data capture, check and remittance processing, fraud detection, and document and report management. Its Endpoint Exchange Network enables United States financial institutions to clear their check-based transactions by allowing for the exchange of check images between member institutions. The Company offers a number of output services that are ancillary to the primary solutions it provide, including print and mail capabilities and card personalization fulfillment services. Its CSF Designer document composition software is used by many clients in various industries to furnish printed or electronically produced invoices and statements for customized customer communication. Its print and mail! services! offers computer output solutions for the creation, management and delivery of print and fulfillment needs. The Company provides its card personalization fulfillment services for branded credit cards and branded and non-branded debit and prepaid cards. More than 5,200 financial institutions utilize a combination of its technology and/or services to issue VISA, MasterCard or American Express branded credit and debit cards or other electronic payment cards for use by both consumer and business accounts. Its services range from card production and activation to a range of fraud management services to value-added loyalty programs designed to increase card usage and fee-based revenues.

FIS healthcare payments solutions facilitate the exchange of information and funds among patients, payers, providers and financial institutions. With Web-enabled tools, a Health Savings Account (HSA) platform, multi-purse benefit debit cards that cover multiple spending accounts with a single card and combined eligibility/payment cards, FIS enables consumers and third-party benefits administrators to have integrated benefit account management of HSAs, Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA), Health Reimbursement Agreements (HRA) and dependent care and transportation accounts. It also provides customized electronic service applications for government agencies, including Internal Revenue Service (IRS) payment services. It also facilitates the collection of state income taxes, real estate taxes, utility bills, vehicle registration fees, driver�� license renewal fees, parking tickets, traffic citations, tuition payments, court fees and fines, hunting and fishing license fees, as well as various business licenses.

The Company provides bill publishing and bill consolidation technology for its customers, generating millions of monthly bills and servicing both billers and financial institution customers. Online bill payment functionality includes credit and debit card-based expedited payments. Its end-to-end prese! ntment an! d payment solution provides an all-in-one solution to meet billers��needs for the distribution and collection of bills and other customer documents. FIS also provides automated clearing house (ACH) processing. Its check authorization business provides check risk management and related services to businesses accepting or cashing checks. Its services assess the likelihood (and often provide a guarantee) that a check will clear.

International Solutions Group

The Company provides core banking applications, channel solutions, card and merchant services, item processing and check risk management solutions to financial institutions, card issuers and retailers. Its international operations leverage existing applications and provide services for the specific business needs of its customers in targeted international markets. Services are delivered from 28 operations centers around the world. Its payment solutions services include outsourced card-issuer services and customer support, payment processing and switching services, prepaid and debit card processing, item processing, software licensing and maintenance, outsourced ATM management and retail point-of-sale check warranty services. Its financial solutions services include fully outsourced core bank processing arrangements, application management, software licensing and maintenance, facilities management and consulting services, including Capco's international operations.

Corporate and Other Segment

The Corporate and Other segment consists of the corporate overhead costs that are not allocated to operating segments. These include costs related to human resources, finance, legal, accounting, domestic sales and marketing, merger and acquisition activity and amortization of acquisition-related intangibles and other costs that are not considered when management evaluates operating segment performance.

The Company competes with Fiserv, Inc., Jack Henry and Associates, Inc., Open Solutions, Inc., In! ternation! al Business Machines Corporation (IBM), Accenture Ltd., Alliance Data Systems Corporation, DST Systems, Harland Financial Solutions, Inc., SEI Investments Company, S1Corporation, SunGard Data Systems, Inc., Alnova Technologies Corporation, Oracle Financial Services Software Limited, Misys plc, Infosys Technologies Limited, Temenos Group AG, MasterCard Incorporated, Visa Inc., First Data Corporation, Total System Services, Inc., HP Enterprise Services, Payment Systems for Credit Unions (PSCU), Heartland Payments Systems, Inc. and Global Payments, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Marc Bastow]
Banking and payments services and support company Fidelity National Information Services (FIS) raised its quarterly dividend 9% to 24 cents per share, payable on Mar. 31 to shareholders of record as of Mar. 17.
FIS Dividend Yield: 1.90%

Best Managed Healthcare Stocks To Own For 2014: Nordion Inc. (NDZ)

Nordion Inc., a health science company, provides various products and services for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Sterilization Technologies and Medical Isotopes. The Sterilization Technologies segment offers Cobalt-60, a radioactive metal that emits radiation and sterilizes items by destroying contaminating micro-organisms; and dosimetry and professional services, as well as designs, constructs, and maintains commercial gamma sterilization systems. The Medical Isotopes segment provides various products that are used in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases, including cardiac and neurological conditions, and various types of cancer. It offers Molybdenum-99, which decays into Technetium-99, a diagnostic that is used in nuclear medical procedures; Xenon-133 used in lung scans; Iodine-131 to treat hyperthyroidism, thyroid cancer, and non-Hodgkin�s lymphoma; Iodine-125 to treat prostate cancer; and Yttri um-90 to treat liver cancer and non-Hodgkin�s lymphoma. This segment also provides cyclotron isotopes, such as Iodine-123 to diagnose thyroid disease; Thallium-201 to diagnose and assess risk of coronary artery heart disease; Palladium-103 for treating prostate cancer; Strontium-82 for cardiac imaging; and Indium-111 and Gallium-67 to diagnose cancer, as well as offers radiopharmaceutical and contract manufacturing services. Nordion Inc. serves radiopharmaceutical and pharmaceutical manufacturers, biotechnology companies, manufacturers of medical supplies and devices, contract sterilizers, hospitals, and academic and government institutions, as well as to food and consumer goods industries. The company was formerly known as MDS Inc. and changed its name to Nordion Inc. in November 2010. Nordion Inc. was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Ottawa, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Monday morning, the healthcare sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from Nordion (NYSE: NDZ) and Pacira Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: PCRX). Utilities sector rose by just 0.19 percent in the US market today.
[By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Monday morning, the healthcare sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from Nordion (NYSE: NDZ) and Insmed (NASDAQ: INSM).
[By Louis Navellier]
The trick to profiting in international markets is the same as it is here at home: Use Portfolio Grader to focus on the international stocks with the very best fundamentals that are attracting buying pressure from institutions.
Great International Stocks: Nordion (NDZ)
Nordion (NDZ) is a Canadian health sciences company whose products are used to diagnose, prevent and treat diseases around the world. The company�� primary products are isotopes used in nuclear medicine such as Molybdenum-99, which decays into Technetium-99, utilized in nuclear medical procedures.

Best Managed Healthcare Stocks To Own For 2014: Swift Energy Company(SFY)

Swift Energy Company engages in acquiring, exploring, developing, and operating oil and natural gas properties. It focuses on inland waters and onshore oil and natural gas reserves in Louisiana and Texas. As of December 31, 2010, the company had estimated proved reserves of 132.8 million barrels of oil equivalent. Swift Energy Company was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Thursday morning, the energy sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from Swift Energy Co (NYSE: SFY) and Halcon Resources (NYSE: HK). Healthcare sector was the leading decliner in the US market today.

Hot Casino Companies To Invest In 2014

Asian stocks rose for a second day as the Reserve Bank of Australia cut its benchmark interest rate and Japan�� Topix Index erased losses from the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. (7011) jumped 4.9 percent after Japan�� No. 2 maker of electricity generation equipment and partner Areva SA won a deal to build a nuclear-power plant in Turkey. Toyota (7203) Motor Corp. rose 4.9 percent in Tokyo after the Nikkei newspaper said the world�� biggest carmaker will post earnings that beat estimates. SJM Holdings Ltd. gained 3 percent in Hong Kong after Asia�� largest casino company reported higher first-quarter profit.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 1.3 percent to 142.09 as of 6:20 p.m. in Tokyo, with more than two shares rising for each that fell. The gauge climbed 8.5 percent this year through yesterday amid optimism the Bank of Japan will deploy more measures to beat deflation and policy makers in the U.S. and Europe remain on standby to buoy growth.

Top 10 Construction Companies To Own For 2015: Pinnacle Entertainment Inc.(PNK)

Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. owns, develops, and operates casinos, and related hospitality and entertainment facilities in the United States. It operates casinos, such as L'Auberge du Lac in Lake Charles, Louisiana; River City Casino and Lumiere Place in St. Louis, Missouri; Boomtown New Orleans in New Orleans, Louisiana; Belterra Casino Resort in Vevay, Indiana; Boomtown Bossier City in Bossier City, Louisiana; and Boomtown Reno in Reno, Nevada. The company also operates River Downs racetrack in southeast Cincinnati, Ohio. As of May 26, 2011, it operated seven casinos and one racetrack. The company was formerly known as Hollywood Park, Inc. and changed its name to Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. in February 2000. Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. was founded in 1935 and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Grace L. Williams]
First up is Pinnacle Entertainment (PNK). CEO Anthony Michaal Sanfilippo bought 23,000 shares of the Las Vegas-based gaming company for $505,800. InsiderScore notes this is his first purchase in nearly two years and writes, ��fter shares retreated more than 15% from a six-year high and with an activist hedge fund pushing the casino operator to spin off its real estate into a REIT, Sanfilippo stepped up with his first purchase. [He put] a fresh $500,000 into the stock at a price two times his cost basis of previous buys.��/p>
[By Ben Levisohn]
Pinnacle Entertainment (PNK) has gained 56% this year; Las Vegas Sands (LVS) has climbed 38%. And Deutsche Bank has nice things to say about both today.
Bloomberg
First Pinnacle. Deutsche Bank’s Carlo Santarelli ponders the stock’s big move and comes away still seeing value in its shares. He writes:

When we upgraded PNK in April, our thesis centered on the FCF strength of the combined entities [Pinnacle completed its acquisition of Ameristar Casinos on Aug. 14], a handful of favorable catalysts, easing regional gaming comps, & an inexpensive relative valuation. Given the shares’ sizeable move since then, we believe it is worth revisiting the investment case. Post the announcement of several asset sales and the closing of the transaction, we are adjusting our estimates, raising our PT to $30 from $24, and maintaining our bullish view at current levels given what we still believe to be an attractive free cash flow valuation, meaningful potential synergy realization beyond the $40 mm of announced benefits, and a free option on a lagging regional recovery.

Santarelli also revisited Las Vegas Sands and there too, he likes what he sees. He writes:

With…LVS at [a share price level] that have been challenging to break from over the last year plus, we believe this time is different and hence we see continued upward momentum…In the case of LVS, we see; 1) meaningful mass market strength continuing through year end, setting the stage for upward company and market estimate revisions for 2014, 2) continued cash flow appreciation and capital returns serving as downside protection and positive catalysts, and 3) continued shared gains, largely driven by table optimization and mass market strength, driving both estimates and sentiment.

He also likes Wynn Resorts (WYNN), despite its 34% gain.�Santarelli writes:

As for WYNN, we believe near-term estimates continue to take a back seat to capital return
[By Sean Williams]
Time to make the switch
If I could name a sector that I'd certainly tread lightly around considering that consumers are tightening their wallets, it would be the casino sector. Casino companies rely on loose wallets and vacations to drive profits. This is why I feel it could be the time to say goodbye to casino and race track operator Pinnacle Entertainment (NYSE: PNK ) near its 52-week high.
[By Travis Hoium]
What: Shares of Ameristar Casinos (NASDAQ: ASCA ) and Pinnacle Entertainment (NYSE: PNK ) fell as much as 11% today after the government brought into question the merger of the two companies.

Hot Casino Companies To Invest In 2014: Wynn Macau Ltd (WYNMF)

Wynn Macau, Limited is a holding company. The Company, along with its subsidiaries, is a developer, owner and operator of destination casino gaming and entertainment resort facilities in Macau. Its operating subsidiary, Wynn Resorts (Macau) S.A. (WRM), owns and operates destination casino resort Wynn Macau in Macau. As of December 31, 2011, it had 265,000 square feet of casino space, offering 24-hour gaming with a range of games, and two luxury hotel towers with 1,008 spacious rooms and suites. It also offers eight casual and fine dining restaurants, 54200 square feet of stores and boutiques, such as Bvlgari, Chanel, Dior, Gucci, Hermes, Hugo Boss, Louis Vuitton, Miu Miu, Piaget, Prada, Rolex, Tiffany, Vacheron Constantin, Van Cleef & Arpels, Versace, Vertu and others, two health clubs and spas, a salon, a pool, and lounges and meeting facilities. As of December 31, 2011, its subsidiaries included Wynn Resorts International, Ltd., Wynn Resorts (Macau) Holdings, Ltd. and others. Advisors' Opinion:

[By MARKETWATCH]
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Hong Kong stocks sold off early Thursday after the Federal Reserve decided to further taper stimulus, and after a final reading of China's manufacturing PMI contracted. The Hang Seng Index (HK:HSI) sank 1.5% to 21,815.04 in holiday-shortened trading. Tech stocks retreated, as Chinese PC maker Lenovo Group Ltd. (HK:992) (LNVGF) dropped 5.3%, failing to get a lift from news that it plans to acquire the Motorola handset business from Google Inc. (GOOG) for $2.91 billion as Lenovo aims for a bigger presence in the U.S. market. Software developer Kingsoft Corp. (HK:3888) (KSFTF) fell 1.9% and Internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd. (HK:700) (TCTZF) dropped 1.5%. Casino stocks also declined. Sands China Ltds. (HK:1928) (SCHYF) , the Hong Kong-listed unit of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS) , slipped 0.2%, despite financial results that showed Sands China's net income increased 40% year-on-year to $467 million in the fourth quarter. Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. (HK:6883) (MPEL) slumped 3.2%, and both Wynn Macau Ltd. (HK:1128) (WYNMF) and MGM China Holdings Ltd. (HK:2282)

Hot Casino Companies To Invest In 2014: Caribbean International Holdings Inc (CIHN)

Caribbean International Holdings Inc., formerly Caribbean Casino and Gaming Corporation, incorporated on February 12, 2009, is focused in the gaming and entertainment company. The Company has a gaming casino, located in the city of Sousa, in the Dominican Republic. In April 2012, it acquired exclusive rights to distribute Bionic Products' Energy Drinks throughout the Caribbean, South and Central America.

The Sosua Bay Grand Casino provides the gaming and entertainment experience to the Domincan Republic. It is equipped with a state of the art lighting and sound system.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Peter Graham]
Small cap stocks Caribbean International Holdings (OTCMKTS: CIHN), Blue Water Global Group Inc (OTCBB: BLUU) and Metrospaces Inc (OTCMKTS: MSPC) have been getting some attention lately in various investment newsletters and all three have focused their activities in the Caribbean or South America. However, all three have been the subject of paid promotions which have helped to get them mentions in various investment newsletters. With that in mind, will bets on the Caribbean or South America pay off big for these three small cap stocks and their investors? Here is a quick reality check:
Caribbean International Holdings (OTCMKTS: CIHN) is All About Wings, Mechanical Bulls and Stem Cells
Formerly known as Caribbean Casino & Gaming Corp, small cap Caribbean International Holdings operates as a holding company. On Friday, Caribbean International Holdings rose 8.39% to $0.0369 for a market cap of $315,400 plus CIHN is up 985.3% over the past year and up 7,280% over the past five years according to Google Finance.

Hot Casino Companies To Invest In 2014: Wynn Resorts Limited(WYNN)

Wynn Resorts, Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the development, ownership, and operation of destination casino resorts. The company owns and operates Wynn Las Vegas casino resort in Las Vegas, which includes approximately 22 food and beverage outlets comprising 5 dining restaurants; 2 nightclubs; 1 spa and salon; 1 Ferrari and Maserati automobile dealership; wedding chapels; an 18-hole golf course; meeting space; and foot retail promenade featuring boutiques. Wynn Las Vegas casino resort also features approximately 147 table games, 1 baccarat salon, private VIP gaming rooms, 1 poker room, 1,842 slot machines, and 1 race and sports book. It also owns and operates an Encore at Wynn Las Vegas resort, a destination casino resort located adjacent to Wynn Las Vegas that features a 2,034 all-suite hotel, as well as a casino with 95 table games, 1 sky casino, 1 baccarat salon, private VIP gaming rooms, and 778 slot machines. In addition, the company operates Wyn n Macau casino resort located in the Macau Special Administrative Region of the People?s Republic of China. Wynn Macau casino resort features approximately 595 hotel rooms and suites, 410 table games, 935 slot machines, 1 poker room, 1 sky casino, 6 restaurants, 1 spa and salon, lounges, meeting facilities, and retail space featuring boutiques. Further, it operates Encore at Wynn Macau resort located adjacent to Wynn Macau. Encore at Wynn Macau resort features approximately 410 luxury suites and 4 villas, as well as casino gaming space, including a sky casino consisting of 60 table games and 80 slot machines, 2 restaurants, 1 luxury spa, and retail space. The company was founded in 2002 and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By GURUFOCUS]
Shares of casino operator Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) increased as revenue trends in the company's key Macau market were quite positive in the quarter. The company has commenced construction of a large additional casino in Macau, the $4 billon Wynn Palace, which is scheduled to open in 2016. We believe that this casino ev entually will generate a substantial positive return for Wynn. In addition, there is increased speculation that the Japanese government will legalize casino gaming in advance of the 2020 Summer Olympics, and Wynn is seen by many as a strong contender for a possible gaming license.

Hot Casino Companies To Invest In 2014: Boyd Gaming Corporation(BYD)

Boyd Gaming Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a multi-jurisdictional gaming company in the United States. As of December 31, 2011, the company owned and operated 1,042,787 square feet of casino space, containing approximately 25,973 slot machines, 655 table games, and 11,418 hotel rooms. It also owned and operated 16 gaming entertainment properties located in Nevada, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Indiana, and New Jersey. In addition, the company owns and operates a pari-mutuel jai-alai facility located in Dania Beach, Florida, as well as a travel agency in Hawaii. Further, it holds a 50% controlling interest in the limited liability company that operates Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Boyd Gaming Corporation was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By John Kell and Lauren Pollock var popups = dojo.query(".socialByline .popC"); ]
Among the companies with shares expected to actively trade in Tuesday’s session are American Eagle Outfitters Inc.(AEO), Boyd Gaming Corp.(BYD) and Dick's Sporting Goods Inc.(DKS)
[By Roberto Pedone]
One gaming player that's rapidly moving within range of triggering a big breakout trade is Boyd Gaming (BYD), which owns and operates gaming entertainment facilities located in Nevada, Mississippi, Illinois, Louisiana and Indiana. This stock has been blazing a trail to the upside so far in 2013, with shares up sharply by 115%.

If you look at the chart for Boyd Gaming, you'll notice that this stock has been uptrending strong over the last month and change, with shares moving sharply higher from its low of $11.27 to its intraday high of $14.38 a share. During that move, shares of BYD have been consistently making higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move has now pushed shares of BYD into breakout territory above resistance at $13.79 a share, and it's quickly pushing the stock within range of another big breakout trade.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in BYD if it manages to break out above its 52-week high at $14.50 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above that level with volume that hits near or above its three-month average action of 2.34 million shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then BYD will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that move are $18 to $20 a share.

Traders can look to buy BYD off any weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below some near-term support at $13 a share. One can also buy BYD off strength once it takes out $14.50 a share with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.
[By Dan Caplinger]
MGM has built a history of being the odd player out in many of the most lucrative opportunities in the gaming industry. In Macau, the company is stuck in the slower-growth area of the Asian gaming destination. In Las Vegas, the new CityCenter area in the mid-Strip has watered down MGM's opportunities and has created another potential barrier for patrons coming from the northern end of the Strip to its namesake MGM Grand property. And in New Jersey, where online gaming has boosted prospects for Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ: CZR ) and Boyd Gaming (NYSE: BYD ) , MGM has no exposure.

Hot Casino Companies To Invest In 2014: Tropicana Entertainment Inc (TPCA)

Tropicana Entertainment Inc. (TEI) is an owner and operator of regional casino and entertainment properties located in the United States and one casino resort development located on the island of Aruba. TEI�� United States properties include three casinos in Nevada, three casinos in Mississippi, and one casino in each of Indiana, Louisiana and New Jersey. Its properties offer a range of gaming options. TEI�� properties include Tropicana AC in the East; Casino Aztar in Central; Tropicana Laughlin, River Palms and MontBleu in the West; Lighthouse Point, Jubilee, Belle of Baton Rouge, Horizon Vicksburg and Tropicana Aruba in the South and Other.

Tropicana AC

Tropicana Casino and Resort, Atlantic City (Tropicana AC) is situated on a 14-acre site with approximately 660 feet of ocean frontage in Atlantic City, New Jersey. In addition to gaming facilities, the property features The Quarter, a Havana-themed, Las Vegas-style, approximately 200,000 square-foot indoor entertainment and retail center, hosting several restaurants, shops and an IMAX theatre. Other amenities include a 2,000-seat showroom, a full service spa and salon, a health club and indoor pool, a beach and pool bar and approximately 99,000 square feet of meeting and convention space.

Casino Aztar

Casino Aztar Evansville (Casino Aztar) is a casino hotel and entertainment complex in the state of Indiana. Over 60% of Casino Aztar's revenues come from customers within a 50-mile radius. The property's casino operations are located dockside on the three-deck City of Evansville riverboat. Located adjacent to the casino, the Company owns two distinctive hotels: the Casino Aztar Hotel, a 251-room hotel that offers guests a restaurant, conference rooms and banquet facilities; and Le Merigot Hotel, a luxurious 96-room boutique hotel with an upscale martini lounge. A 44,000-square-foot pavilion adjacent to the riverboat features three restaurants, an entertainment lounge, gift shop, coffee shop, pla! yers club and VIP lounge. The District at Casino Aztar includes two restaurants and the Le Merigot Hotel. Casino Aztar also includes a seven-story parking garage, as well as surface parking.

Tropicana Laughlin

Tropicana Laughlin Hotel and Casino (Tropicana Laughlin) is located on an approximately 31-acre site on Casino Drive, Laughlin. The casino at Tropicana Laughlin features a gaming floor. Non-gaming amenities include a heated outdoor swimming pool, seven restaurants, three full service bars, an entertainment lounge with live music, a lounge for high-end players, an 800-seat multi-purpose showroom and concert hall, meeting space, retail stores, an arcade and a covered parking structure. The property features 1,495 hotel rooms.

River Palms

River Palms Hotel and Casino (River Palms) is located on an approximately 35-acre site also on Casino Drive, with approximately 1,300 feet of frontage on the Colorado River. Non-gaming amenities include 1,001 hotel rooms, 10,500 square feet of meeting and convention space, an outdoor pool, fitness center, three restaurants, three full service bars, a showroom, two entertainment lounges with live music and a covered parking structure.

MontBleu

MontBleu Casino Resort & Spa (MontBleu) is situated on approximately 21 acres in South Lake Tahoe, Nevada surrounded by the Sierra Nevada Mountains. In addition to the casino, the property offers guests a choice of three restaurants and various non-gaming amenities, including retail shops, two nightclubs, a 1,500-seat showroom, approximately 14,000 square feet of meeting and convention space, a parking garage, a full service health spa and workout area, an indoor heated lagoon style pool with whirlpool and a 120-seat wedding chapel.

Lighthouse Point

Lighthouse Point Casino (Lighthouse Point) is a 210-foot, three-deck, dockside riverboat located in Greenville, Mississippi. In addition to slot machines, the riverboat inc! ludes a d! eli and bars on each floor while the dockside facility includes a buffet, a bar and 386 onsite surface parking spaces.

Jubilee

Bayou Caddy's Jubilee Casino (Jubilee), a 240-foot dockside riverboat, is located in Greenville. In addition to the casino facilities, the property includes a bar on each floor, a deli and approximately 700 parking spaces. The property also owns and operates the Greenville Inn & Suites, a 41-room suite hotel located less than a mile away, which offers free shuttle service to and from Jubilee and Lighthouse Point.

Belle of Baton Rouge

Belle of Baton Rouge Casino & Hotel (Belle of Baton Rouge) is a dockside riverboat situated on approximately 23 acres on the Mississippi River in the downtown historic district of Baton Rouge, across from the River Center, a 70,000-square-foot convention center. The three-deck, dockside riverboat casino is one of two casino facilities in the Baton Rouge market. Baton Rouge is located 75 miles north of New Orleans. Non-gaming amenities include 300 hotel rooms, 25,000 square feet of meeting and convention space, an outdoor pool, a fitness center, two restaurants, a deli, and an entertainment venue inside a 50,000-square-foot glass atrium that also encloses a tropical lobby.

Horizon Vicksburg

Horizon Vicksburg Casino (Horizon Vicksburg) is a dockside riverboat situated on approximately six acres in downtown Vicksburg, Mississippi. The property features a 297-foot multi-level, antebellum style, dockside riverboat casino housing. Additional amenities include 117 hotel rooms, a restaurant, two covered parking garages as well as additional surface parking. In December 2010, the Company entered into an agreement to sell all of the assets and certain liabilities associated with the operation of Horizon Vicksburg.

Tropicana Aruba

The Company operates timeshare and rental units at Tropicana Aruba Resort & Casino (Tropicana Aruba), a casino resort und! er develo! pment in Noord, Aruba. This resort will have approximately 361 timeshare and rental units, an approximately 16,000 square foot permanent casino, two pools, a swim-up bar & grill, a fitness center and tennis courts, which will be located on approximately 14 acres near Eagle Beach.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Igor Greenwald]
A majority stake in casino operator Tropicana Entertainment (TPCA) also began with a Chapter 11 restructuring.

From January 1, 2000 to June 10, 2013, Icahn Enterprises has averaged a 20% annual return, multiplying investors' money nearly 12-fold. Berkshire-Hathaway (BRK-B) has managed only a triple over the same span.

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Top 10 Financial Stocks To Watch Right Now

According to a Financial Times report on Friday, I.T. giant International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) is considering selling its chip-making division.

Reportedly, the company isn’t dead set on selling the unit, but it is in early exploratory stages. This news comes on the heels of IBM’s decision to sell its low-end server business to Lenovo. The report also indicates IBM has hired Goldman Sachs to advise the firm on a potential deal.

Potential Buyers at Home and Abroad
It’ll be Goldman’s job to come up with a valuation of the semiconductor unit and negotiate with potential suitors. Analysts see a number of possible fits, including Intel Corp (INTC) (USA), Samsung (Korea), Taiwan Semi (Taiwan), and GlobalFoundries (USA). IBM is reportedly also open to a non-sale partnership for the unit, or other ways to extract value from the business. Regardless of the deal structure, it’s likely that IBM would look to retain the rights to access the latest chips.

Best Forestry Companies To Watch In Right Now: ASB Bancorp Inc (ASBB)

ASB Bancorp, Inc. (ASB Bancorp), incorporated in May 2011, focuses to become the holding company for Asheville Savings Bank, S.S.B. (Asheville Savings Bank). ASB Bancorp, Inc.�� business activity will be the ownership of the Asheville Savings Bank. Asheville Savings Bank is a chartered savings bank. It operates as a community-oriented financial institution offering traditional financial services to consumers and businesses in its market area. It attracts deposits from the general public and use those funds to originate one-to four-family residential mortgage loans and commercial real estate loans, and home equity loans and lines of credit, consumer loans, construction and land development loans, and commercial and industrial loans. It conducts its lending and deposit activities with individuals and small businesses in its primary market area. Its market area is Asheville, North Carolina and the rest of Buncombe County where it has eight branch offices, as well as Henderson, Madison, McDowell and Transylvania Counties where it has five branch offices.

Lending Activities

Asheville Savings Bank loan portfolio include real estate mortgage loans, including one- to four-family residential mortgage loans and commercial mortgage loans, and revolving mortgage loans, which consist of home equity loans and lines of credit, consumer loans, construction and land development loans, and commercial and industrial loans. As of March 31, 2011, it had $177.8 million in one- to four-family residential loans, which represented 36.7% of its total loan portfolio. Its origination of residential mortgage loans enables borrowers to purchase or refinance existing homes located in its primary market area. It offers a mix of adjustable rate mortgage loans and fixed-rate mortgage loans with terms of up to 30 years.

Asheville Savings Bank offers fixed- and adjustable-rate mortgage loans secured by non-residential real estate and multi-family properties. As of March 31, 2011, commercial mort! gage loans totaled $162.7 million, or 33.5% of its total loan portfolio. Its commercial mortgage loans are secured by commercial, industrial and manufacturing, small to moderately-sized office and retail properties, hotels, multi-family properties and hospitals and churches located in its primary market area. As of March 31, 2011, $35.6 million or 21.9% of its commercial real estate loans were secured by owner-occupied properties. It originates fixed-rate and adjustable-rate commercial mortgage loans, generally with terms of three to five years and payments based on an amortization schedule of up to 25 years. It has originated construction and land development loans for commercial properties, such as retail shops and office units, and multi-family properties, and construction and land development loans for one-to four-family homes. As of March 31, 2011, commercial construction and land development loans totaled $27.8 million, which represented 5.7% of its total loan portfolio, and residential construction and land development loans totaled $7.9 million, which represented 1.6% of its total loan portfolio. As of March 31, 2011, it had speculative residential construction loans of $3.1 million and speculative commercial construction loans of $9.6 million.

Asheville Savings Bank offers revolving mortgage loans, which consist of home equity loans and lines of credit, and various consumer loans, including automobile loans and loans secured by deposits. As of March 31, 2011, revolving mortgage loans totaled $52 million, or 10.7% of its total loan portfolio, and consumer loans totaled $41.1 million, or 8.5% of its total loan portfolio. Its revolving mortgage loans consist of both home equity loans with fixed-rate amortizing term loans with terms of up to 15 years and adjustable rate lines of credit with interest rates indexed to the prime rate.

Asheville Savings Bank offers commercial and industrial loans to small businesses located in its primary market area. As of March 31, 2011, co! mmercial ! and industrial loans totaled $15.8 million, which represented 3.2% of its total loan portfolio. Its commercial and industrial loan portfolio consists of loans, which are secured by equipment, accounts receivable and inventory, but also includes a smaller amount of unsecured loans for purposes of financing expansion or providing working capital for general business purposes.

Investment Activities

As of March 31, 2011, Asheville Savings Bank�� investment portfolio consisted of the United States government and agency securities, mortgage-backed securities and securities issued by government sponsored enterprises, and municipal securities. As of March 31, 2011, its securities portfolio represented 27.2% of total assets. As of March 31, 2011, $198.6 million of its securities portfolio was classified as available for sale and $5.7 million of its securities portfolio was classified as held to maturity. Securities classified as held to maturity are United States government sponsored securities, mortgage-backed securities and state and local government securities. As of March 31, 2011, it had four million dollars of other investments, at cost, which consisted of Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta.

Sources of Funds

Deposits, borrowings and loan repayments are the sources of Asheville Savings Bank funds for lending and other investment purposes. It uses advances from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta to supplement its investable funds. The Federal Home Loan Bank functions as a central reserve bank providing credit for member financial institutions. Advances are made under several different programs, each having its own interest rate and range of maturities. It also utilizes securities sold under agreements to repurchase and overnight repurchase agreements to supplement its supply of investable funds and to meet deposit withdrawal requirements.

Subsidiaries

Asheville Savings Bank has two subsidiaries, Appalachian Financial Services,! Inc., wh! ich was formed to engage in investment activities, and Wenoca, Inc., which serves as Asheville Savings Bank�� trustee regarding deeds of trust. Both subsidiaries are organized as North Carolina corporations.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Tim Melvin]
ASB Bancorp (ASBB) is the holding company for Ashville in western North Carolina. The bank has 13 branches and total assets of around $733 million. Nonperforming assets are just 2.1% of total assets and the bank is massively over-reserved for future losses, with loan reserves at 6 times nonperforming loans. The bank bought back 544,494 shares of common stock at an average price of $16.79 per share in 2013. The board just authorized a new 5% buyback in January 2014. The stock is trading around 80% of book value, so management is buying the shares on the cheap — and that should bode well for shareholders in the future.

Top 10 Financial Stocks To Watch Right Now: Allied World Assurance Company Holdings AG (AWH)

Allied World Assurance Company Holdings, AG operates as a specialty insurance and reinsurance company in Bermuda, Hong Kong, Ireland, Singapore, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It offers casualty insurance products that provide coverage for specialty type risks, such as professional liability, environmental liability, product liability, inland marine liability, healthcare liability risks, and commercial general liability products, as well as professional liability products, including policies covering directors and officers, employment practices, and fiduciary liability insurance. The company also provides a mix of errors and omissions liability coverages for various service providers comprising law firms, technology companies, insurance companies, insurance agents and brokers, and municipalities; primary and excess liability, and other casualty coverages to the healthcare industry, including hospitals and hospital systems, managed care organization s, and medical facilities, such as home care providers, specialized surgery and rehabilitation centers, and outpatient clinics; and general casualty products for a range of industries consisting of construction, real estate, public entities, retailers, manufacturing, transportation, and finance and insurance services, as well as workers compensation insurance products. In addition, it offers property insurance products covering physical property and business interruption for commercial property risks; and general property products covering risks for retail chains, real estate, manufacturers, hotels and casinos, and municipalities. Further, the company provides the reinsurance of property, general casualty, professional liability, specialty lines, property catastrophe, accident and health, and marine and aviation coverages. Allied World Assurance Company Holdings, AG was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Baar, Switzerland.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By , Zacks Investment Research]
Here are five�stocks that made it through this week’s screen:
AmTrust Financial (AFSI) Allied World Assurance (AWH) Chatham Lodging Trust (CLDT) Federated National Holding Co. (FNHC) Whitewave Foods (WWAV)
Get the rest of the stocks on this list and start screening for these companies on your own.
[By Rich Duprey]
Specialty insurance provider�Allied World Assurance (NYSE: AWH ) announced yesterday its second-quarter dividend of $0.50 per share, a 33% increase from the payout it made last quarter of $0.375 per share, as approved by shareholders at the annual meeting last month.

Top 10 Financial Stocks To Watch Right Now: WisdomTree Investments Inc (WETF)

WisdomTree Investments, Inc. is an asset management company that focuses on exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The Company�� family of ETF includes both fundamentally weighted funds that track its own indexes, and actively managed funds. It distributes its ETFs through all channels within the asset management industry, including brokerage firms, registered investment advisors, institutional investors, private wealth managers and discount brokers. As of December 31, 2011, the Company offered a family of 48 ETFs, which included 34 international and domestic equity ETFs, seven currency ETFs, five international fixed income ETFs and two alternative strategy ETFs.

Equity ETFs

The Company offers equity ETFs covering the United States, international developed and emerging markets. These ETFs offer access to the securities of large, mid and small-cap companies, companies located in the United States, developed markets and emerging markets, as well as companies in particular market sectors, including basic materials, energy, utilities and real estate. Its equity ETFs track its own fundamentally weighted indexes.

Currency ETFs

The Company offers currency ETFs that provide investors with exposure to developed and emerging market currencies, including the Chinese Yuan, the Brazilian Real and the Japanese Yen. Currency ETFs invest in the United States money market securities, forward currency contracts and swaps and seek to achieve the total returns reflective of both money market rates in selected countries available to foreign investors and changes to the value of these currencies relative to the United States dollar.

International Fixed Income ETFs

In August 2010, the Company launched an ETF that invests in a range of local debt denominated in the currencies of emerging market countries and in March 2011, it launched an ETF that invests in local debt denominated in the currencies of Asia Pacific ex-Japan countries. In March 2012, the! Company launched an emerging markets corporate bond ETF.

Alternative Strategy ETFs

In January 2011, the Company launched the managed futures strategy ETF. This fund seeks to achieve positive returns in rising or falling markets that are not directly correlated to broad market equity or fixed income returns. In July 2011, it launched a global real return ETF. This fund seeks total returns (capital appreciation plus income) that exceed the rate of inflation over long-term investment horizons. This fund combines domestic and global inflation-linked bonds with commodity strategies and gold exposure.

Index Based ETFs

Its equity ETFs seek to track the Company�� own fundamentally weighted indexes. Most of today�� ETFs track market capitalization weighted indexes and most of these indexes are licensed from third parties by ETF sponsors. The Company has developed fundamentally weighted indexes that weight companies by a measure of fundamental value. The Company benchmarks its fundamentally weighted indexes against traditional market capitalization-weighted indexes designed to track similar companies, sectors, regions or exposure.

Actively Managed ETFs

The Company�� actively managed ETFs include its currency, international fixed income and alternative strategy ETFs. The securities purchased and sold by its ETFs include the United States and foreign equities, forward currency contracts and the United States and foreign debt instruments. In addition, the Company enters into derivative transactions, in particular the United States-listed futures contracts, non-deliverable currency forward contracts, and total return swap agreements in order to gain exposure to commodities, foreign currencies, and interest rates. The exchanges these securities trade on include all the exchanges worldwide.

The Company competes with Vanguard, Charles Schwab, iShares and FocusShares (through Scottrade Inc.).

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Jonas Elmerraji]

2013 has been a stellar year for asset manager WisdomTree Investments (WETF); shares have nearly doubled since the calendar flipped over to January. That's not a huge surprise considering the fact that investment firms are effectively leveraged plays on this equity rally. But now, the technical setup forming in shares of WisdomTree points to even higher ground for the rest of the year.

Right now, WETF is forming an ascending triangle pattern, a bullish setup that's formed by a horizontal resistance level above shares at $14 and uptrending support to the downside. Basically, as WETF bounces in between those two technical levels, it's getting squeezed closer and closer to a breakout above that $14 level. When that happens, investors have a buy signal.

WisdomTree isn't exactly cheap right now. From a fundamental standpoint, this stock looks downright pricey -- but that has little to do with shares' price action right now. Until the technicals change, the high probability returns remain on the long-side of WETF.
[By Bryan Murphy]
It may not be as big as Invesco Ltd. (NYSE:IVZ) or as high-profile as BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK), but WisdomTree Investments, Inc. (NASDAQ:WETF) offers something to investors right now that IVZ and BLK don't ... a lot of near-term upside potential after a big tumble between January and May.
[By Dan Newman]
WisdomTree� (NASDAQ: WETF ) , the fifth-largest ETF provider, has grown its average assets under management from less than $1 billion in 2006 to more than $23 billion this year, with an average ETF fee of 0.53%. The low-cost leader, Vanguard, keeps putting the pressure on competitors with extremely low expense ratios. For the�Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF� (NYSEMKT: VTI ) , the annual fee amounts to a paltry 0.05%.

Top 10 Financial Stocks To Watch Right Now: Powershares Dynamic Media Portfolio (PBS)

PowerShares Dynamic Media Portfolio (the Fund) seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield of an equity index called the Dynamic Media Intellidex Index (the Media Intellidex). The Media Intellidex consists of stocks of 30 United States media companies. These are companies that are principally engaged in the development, production, sale and distribution of goods or services used in the media industry. These companies may include advertising, marketing and public relations companies; companies that own, operate or broadcast free or pay television, radio or cable stations; theaters; film studios; publishers or sellers of newspapers, magazines, books or video products; printing, cable television and video companies and equipment providers; pay-per-view television companies; companies involved in emerging technologies for the broadcast and media industries; cellular communications companies; companies involved in the development, syndication and transmission of television, movie programming, advertising and cellular communications; companies that distribute data-based information, and other companies involved in the ownership, operation or development of media products or services. 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 will normally invest at least 80% of its total assets in common stocks of media companies. The Fund will normally invest at least 90% of its total assets in common stocks that comprise the Media Intellidex. The Media Intellidex is adjusted quarterly, and the Fund, using an indexing investment approach, attempts to replicate the performance of the Media Intellidex. The Fund�� investment advisor is PowerShares Capital Management LLC.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By John Udovich]
On Monday, shares of small cap�Rocket Fuel Inc (NASDAQ: FUEL) took off like a rocket by surging 18.96% after plunging about 20% on Friday after earnings��meaning it might be time to take a closer look at the stock as well as benchmark it with the performance of�the Global X Social Media Index ETF (NASDAQ: SOCL) and the PowerShares Dynamic Media Portfolio ETF (NYSEARCA: PBS).

Top 10 Financial Stocks To Watch Right Now: iShares MSCI France ETF (EWQ)

iShares MSCI France Index Fund (the Fund) seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of publicly traded securities in the aggregate in the French market, as measured by the MSCI France Index (the Index). The Index seeks to measure the performance of the French equity market. The Index is a capitalization-weighted index that aims to capture 85% of the (publicly available) total market capitalization. Component companies are adjusted for available float and must meet objective criteria for inclusion in the Index. The Index is reviewed quarterly.

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 Jeff Reeves]
So how can you play this trend? The iShares MSCI France ETF (EWQ) is one way, via a diversified fund that owns some of the biggest names in France. There�� also oil giant Total (TOT), which is headquartered in France but has a global flavor, as well as French healthcare giant Sanofi (SNY)
[By Tom Aspray]
A few weeks ago, I focused on some of the euro countries' debt levels, as well as the improvement in some of their manufacturing data. Their stock markets have continued to rally sharply as the iShares MSCI France (EWQ) is up over 13% since early July and is doing just slightly better than Germany (EWG).

Top 10 Financial Stocks To Watch Right Now: Potlatch Corporation(PCH)

Potlatch Corporation operates as a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns and manages timberlands located in Arkansas, Idaho, Minnesota and Wisconsin in the United States. The Resource Management Division manages its timberlands, harvests timber, procures other wood fiber, sells logs and leases land for hunting and other recreational activity. The Real Estate Division develops and sells land parcels, as well as invests in timberlands. The Wood Products Division manufactures lumber, plywood, and particleboard in Arkansas, Idaho, Michigan, and Minnesota. This segment's products are sold to wholesalers primarily for use in home building and other construction activities. Potlatch was founded in 1903 and is headquartered in Spokane, Washington.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Saibus Research]
WY and the majority of the timber, forest and paper products companies have a track record of unimpressive returns on capital, cyclical revenue and profit trends, heavy use of capital expenditures, and significant environmental regulation. We also think that WY's conversion to a REIT was a mistake. Morningstar Investment Research's Timber, Forest and Paper Products analyst Dan Rohr said it best when he rated WY and its Timber REIT peers Rayonier (RYN), Potlatch (PCH) and Plum Creek (PCL) as not possessing any economic moat. That probably explains why we only have an ancillary exposure to this industry for our proprietary portfolio based on our holdings in Brookfield Infrastructure (BIP) and Cintas (CTAS). Brookfield's Timber segment only accounts for 5% of its Fund Flows from operations and Cintas's document management business is suffering from reduced prices on recycled paper. At least Cintas Document Management only accounts for 8% of Cintas's revenue.

Top 10 Financial Stocks To Watch Right Now: ING Groep NV (ING)

ING Groep N.V. (ING), incorporated in 1991, is a global financial institution offering banking, investments, life insurance and retirement services to meet the needs of the customers. The Company�� segments include banking and insurance. Banking segment includes retail Netherlands, retail Belgium, ING direct, retail central Europe (CE), retail Asia, commercial banking (excluding real estate), ING real estate and corporate line banking. Insurance segment includes insurance Benelux, insurance central and rest of Europe (CRE), insurance United States (US), Insurance US closed block VA, insurance Asia/Pacific, ING investment management (IM) and corporate line insurance. In February 2011, the Company divested its real estate investment operation ING Real Estate Investment Management (ING REIM) to CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. In June 2011, the Company sold Clarion Partners. In July 2011, ING announced the completion of the sale of Clarion Real Estate Securities. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company divested its interests in ING Car Lease and ING IM Philippines. In February 2012, Capital One Financial Corp. acquired ING Direct business in the United States from the Company.

In June 2011, ING had completed the sale of its interest in China�� Pacific Antai Life Insurance Company Ltd. In June 2011, ING announced the completion of the sale of real estate investment manager of its United States operations, Clarion Partners, to Clarion Partners management in partnership with Lightyear Capital LLC. In October 2011, ING announced that it had completed the sale of REIM�� Asian and European operations to CBRE Group Inc. In December 2011 ING completed the sale of its Latin American pensions, life insurance and investment management operations.

Retail Netherlands

Retail Banking reaches its individual customers through Internet banking, telephone, call centers, mailings and branches. Using direct marketing methods, it is a provider of current account services an! d payments systems to provide other financial services, such as savings accounts, mortgage loans, consumer loans, credit card services, investment and insurance products. Mortgages are offered through a tied agents sale force and direct and intermediary channels. ING Bank Netherlands operates through a branch network of approximately 280 branches. It offers a range of commercial banking activities and also life and non-life insurance products. It also sells mortgages through the intermediary channel.

Retail Belgium

ING Belgium provides banking, insurance (life, non-life) and asset management products and services to meet the needs of individuals, families, companies and institutions through a network of local head offices, 773 branches and direct banking channels (automated branches, home banking services and call centers). ING Belgium also operates a second network, Record Bank, which provides a range of banking products through independent banking agents and credit products through a multitude of channels (agents, brokers, vendors).

ING Direct

ING Direct offers a range of financial products, such as savings, mortgages, retail investment products, payment accounts and consumer lending products. It operates in Canada, Spain, Australia, France, Italy, Germany, Austria and the United Kingdom. In June 2011, ING Group announced the sale of ING Direct USA to Capital One Financial Corporation.

Retail Central Europe

Retail Central Europe has a presence in Poland, and Romania and Turkey. ING in Poland is an Internet bank. During 2011, ING Bank Turkey launched the Orange account, the variable savings product. ING in Turkey also launched a mobile phone banking application. ING Bank Romania carried out its Internet banking site, Home��ank. In September 2011, a mobile version of the Home��ank Website was introduced.

Retail Asia

Retail Banking has a presence in Asian markets of India, China and Thailand. As o! f Decembe! r 31, 2011, the Company had 44% interest in ING Vysya and 30% interest in TMB Bank in Thailand. Bank of Beijing (BoB), in which ING has the largest single interest (16.07%) is a commercial bank in China. ING provides principally risk management and retail banking to BoB.

Commercial Banking

ING Commercial Banking supports the banking needs of its corporate and institutional clients to invest both retail and commercial bank customer deposits. It is a commercial bank in its home markets in the Benelux, as well as in Germany, Central and Eastern Europe. In addition to the banking services of lending, payments and cash management and treasury, it also provides solutions in other areas, including specialized and trade finance, derivatives, corporate finance, debt and equity capital markets, leasing, factoring and supply chain finance. Payments and Cash Management (PCM) and General Lending are its some of the product lines. Structured Finance (SF) is a specialist commercial lending business, providing loans to support capital intensive investments and working capital. It is managed in three groups: the Energy, Transport and Infrastructure Group; the Specialized Financing Group; and International Trade and Export Finance. Leasing and Factoring (L&F) provides financial and operating leasing services for a range of equipment, as well as receivables financing and other factoring solutions for commercial banking clients. The Financial Markets (FM) is the global business unit that manages ING�� financial markets trading and non-trading activities. FM is managed along three business lines: ALCO manages the interest rates exposures arising from the traditional banking activities, Strategic Trading Platform incorporates the primary proprietary risk taking units, and Clients and Products is the primary customer trading facilitation business line.

Real Estate

During 2011, Real Estate Finance (REF) maintained its credit portfolio. Real Estate Development (ING RED) and! Real Est! ate Investment Management (ING REIM) has a controlled wind down of activities.

Insurance Benelux

Duirng 2011, Nationale-Nederlanden introduced bank pension savings products and annuities. ING Life Belgium introduced a new Universal Life product. Nationale-Nederlanden also received a license from the Dutch Central Bank to launch a defined contribution DC company pension product PPI in Europe. NN Services introduced a processing and information technology system (business process management layer) for several legacy lines of retail Life businesses. NN Services IT manages all the closed book business of Nationale-Nederlanden. ING�� life insurance products in the Benelux consist of a range of traditional, unit-linked and variable annuity policies written for both individual and group customers. ING is also a provider of (re-insured) company pension plans in the Netherlands.

NG Benelux��non-life products, mainly in the Netherlands, include coverage for both individual and commercial/group clients for fire, motor, disability, transport and third party liability. Nationale-Nederlanden has also a central product manufacturing service for property and casualty insurance, which has developed products for ING Bank in Belgium and ING Bank in the Netherlands. ING offers a range of disability insurance products and complementary services for employers and self-employed professionals (such as dentists and general practitioners).

Insurance Central and Rest of Europe

Insurance Central and Rest of Europe has life insurance companies in Hungary, Poland, the Czech and Slovak Republics, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Spain and Turkey. It has pension funds in Poland, Hungary, the Czech and Slovak Republics, Bulgaria, Romania and in Turkey. ING offers a range of individual endowment, unit linked, term and whole life insurance policies designed to meet specific customer needs. It also has employee benefits products, as well as pension funds, that manage individu! al retire! ment accounts for individuals. The latter comprise both mandatory and voluntary retirement savings.

Insurance United States (Excluding US Closed Block Va)

ING Insurance US offers retirement services (primarily defined contribution plans), life insurance, fixed annuities, employee benefits, mutual funds, and broker-dealer services in the United States. ING Insurance US operates four businesses: Retirement Plans, Individual Retirement, Individual Life and Employee Benefits. ING Insurance US�� Retirement Plans business is a contribution providers, which offers a range of retirement solutions to all sizes and types of employers, including businesses for-profit ranging from start-ups to large corporations, public and private school systems, higher education institutions, state and local governments, hospitals and healthcare facilities, and not-for-profit organizations. ING Insurance US�� Retirement Plans business is a provider of defined contribution (DC) retirement plans in the United States based on assets under management and administration.

Insurance US Closed Block Va

ING US Closed Block VA consists of variable annuities issued in the United States that are primarily owned by individuals and were designed to address the demand for tax-advantaged savings, retirement planning, and wealth-protection. These annuity contracts were sold in the United States, primarily through independent third party distributors, including wirehouses and securities firms, independent planners and agents and banks.

Insurance Asia/Pacific

ING Insurance Asia/Pacific (IAP) is a provider of life insurance products and services. It is a life insurer in the region, with nine life operations in eight markets. IAP has ip operations in Japan and South Korea, operates a nt business in Malaysia, and is well in China, Hong Kong, Macau, India and Thailand. In April 2011, IAP, together with Public Bank Berhad and Public Islamic Bank Berhad, launched a joint ! venture i! n Malaysia, ING PUBLIC Takaful Ehsan Berhad, which will develop Takaful insurance products. In June 2011, IAP completed the sale of its 50% interest in Pacific-Antai Life Insurance Company Limited (PALIC).

The business units of IAP offer select types of life insurance, wealth management, and retail products and services. These include annuities, endowment, disability/morbidity insurance, unit linked/universal life, whole e, participating life, group life, accident and health, term life and employee benefits. In Hong Kong non-life insurance products (including medical, motor, fire, marine, personal accident and general liability) are also offered.

Insurance Latin America

ING completed the sale of its pensions, life insurance and investment management operations on December 29, 2011. These operations were in Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay.

ING Investment Management

ING IM is an investment manager of ING Group with activities in Europe, the Americas, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. In October 2011, ING IM sold ING IM Australia. ING IM provides a range of actively-managed strategies, investment vehicles and advisory services in all major asset classes and investment styles. It delivers a range of investment strategies and services to ING�� global network of businesses and third-party clients.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By WALLSTCHEATSHEET]
ING is a financial services company providing service to consumers and companies around the world. The company is being forced to sell its South Korean life insurance unit by European regulators. The stock is now trading near highs for the year and looks poised to continue. Over the last four quarters, earnings have been mixed while revenues have been decreasing, however, investors in the company have been pleased with the company’s recent announcement. Relative to its peers and sector, ING has been an average year-to-date performer. Look for ING to OUTPERFORM.
[By Selena Maranjian]
More than a handful of foreign companies had solid performances over the past year. Netherlands-based financial giant ING Groep (NYSE: ING ) surged 50%, as it sold off various assets as part of a multibillion-dollar government bailout agreement. It spun off a stake in its U.S. operations via an IPO earlier this year, with ING U.S.�expected to be rebranded as Voya Financial.
[By Jake L'Ecuyer]
ING Groep NV (NYSE: ING) was also up, gaining 4.11 percent to $14.28 after the company announced its plans to resume paying dividends in 2015.�

Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of GenCorp (NYSE: GY) were down 5.16 percent to $17.64 after the company reported Q1 results. GenCorp reported a Q1 loss of $0.03 per share.