Now that’s more like it. After yesterday’s aborted attempt at a big rally, U.S. stocks not only traded higher, but finished near the highs of the day, as well.
Getty ImagesThe S&P 500 gained 0.8% to 1,653.08, the Dow Jones Industrials rose 0.7% to 14,930.87 and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1% to 3,649.04. Oil fell 1.2%, while gold dropped 1.6%.
The stock gains today were driven by events that in past weeks would have resulted in selling. President Barack Obama is closer to getting approval for an attack on Syria. Economic data suggests that tapering will begin this month. Really, it’s the same look.
Some suggest that markets have priced in a potential war and accounted for the impact of tapering. But just as notable is the improvement in China and other emerging markets. In fact, emerging markets are becoming “less of a drag,” say Ned Davis Research’s Alejandra Grindal and Joseph Kalish. They write:
Best Companies To Invest In 2014: Boart Longyear Ltd (BLY.AX)
Boart Longyear Limited provides drilling services, drilling equipment, and performance tooling for mining and drilling companies worldwide. The company operates through two divisions, Global Drilling Services and Global Products. The Drilling Services division provides a range of drilling services, including surface and underground coring, multi-purpose, reverse circulation, conventional air/mud rotary, flooded reverse, directional, sonic, and percussive production drilling to mining companies, energy companies, water utilities, environmental and geotechnical engineering firms, government agencies, and other mining services companies. This division provides drilling services for the exploration, development, and production of copper, gold, iron ore, nickel, and other metals and minerals. It conducts drilling services in approximately 40 countries in North America, South America, Asia, the Pacific Rim, Europe, and Africa. The Global Products division designs, manufactures, and sells drilling equipments and tooling. This division offers drilling equipment, drill rods, diamond bits, wireline core extraction systems, reverse circulation pipe and accessories, overburden tooling, pneumatic rock drills, rock drilling rods, and bits for various industries, such as mineral exploration, mining, energy, environmental sampling, and remediation, as well as infrastructure reinforcement and development. It provides mining products in approximately 100 countries. Boart Longyear Limited is headquartered in South Jordan, Utah.
Best Companies To Invest In 2014: Kearny Financial(KRNY)
Kearny Financial Corp. operates as a holding company for Kearny Federal Savings Bank that provides various financial services in New Jersey. The company offers various deposit products, including general deposits, interest-bearing and non-interest bearing checking accounts, money market deposit accounts, savings accounts, and certificates of deposits. It also provides various loans comprising one-to-four family mortgage loans; multi-family and nonresidential real estate mortgage loans; commercial business loans; home equity loans; home equity lines of credit; loans secured by savings accounts and certificates of deposit on deposit with the bank; construction loans to builders/developers and individual homeowners; and overdraft lines of credit, as well as offers vehicle loans and personal loans. In addition, the company sells insurance products, such as annuities to bank customers and the general public through a third party networking arrangement. As of June 30, 2011, it o perated 40 branch offices in Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Union, and Monmouth Counties of New Jersey. The company was founded in 1884 and is headquartered in Fairfield, New Jersey. Kearny Financial Corp. is a subsidiary of Kearny MHC.
Top 10 Tech Companies To Invest In Right Now: Tractor Supply Company(TSCO)
Tractor Supply Company operates retail farm and ranch stores in the United States. Its stores offer a selection of merchandise, including equine, pet, and animal products, such as items required for their health, care, growth, and containment; hardware, truck, towing, and tool products; seasonal products, including lawn and garden items, power equipment, gifts, and toys; maintenance products for agricultural and rural use; and work/recreational clothing and footwear. The company operates its retail stores under the Tractor Supply Company and Del?s Farm Supply names, as well as a Website under the TractorSupply.com name. As of December 31, 2011, it operated 1,085 retail farm and ranch stores in 44 states. The company serves recreational farmers and ranchers, as well as tradesmen and small businesses. Tractor Supply Company was founded in 1938 and is headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Holly LaFon]
Company % of Assets Pepsico (PEP) 3.4 Philip Morris (PM) 2.3 Tesco PLC ADR (TSCO) 2.1 Molson Coors Brewing (TAP) 2.1 Microsoft (MSFT) 1.9 Merck (MRK) 1.9 Procter & Gamble (PG) 1.8 Avon Products (AVN) 1.6 Wal��art (WMT) 1.6 Medtronic 1.6 Hospira (HSP) 1.5 BP (BP) 1.4 Medco Health Solutions (MHS) 1.3 Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) 1.3 Unilever NV (UL) 1.3
Jeff is also optimistic about natural gas and believes the recession in Europe could be setting up "a generational buying opportunity." - [By Namitha Jagadeesh]
Tesco Plc (TSCO) dropped 3.5 percent to 360.9 pence. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut its rating on the shares to underweight from neutral, meaning that investors should hold less of the shares than are represented in benchmark indexes. The brokerage cited weak same-store sales and said that initiatives such as ��ouble Clubcard Points��in 2010 and the ��rice Promise��in 2013 have had limited success.
- [By Jonathan Morgan]
Jeronimo Martins SGPS SA lost 1.9 percent to 14.31 euros after Tesco Plc (TSCO) reported that same-store sales in Poland dropped 6.4 percent in the first half of its financial year. The Portuguese retailer generated 60 percent of its revenue from the east European country in 2012.
- [By Trista Kelley]
Provexis halved its underlying operating loss for the year ending in March to 1.1 million pounds, helped by an 11 percent sales gain in Science in Sport products to 5.5 million pounds. The products include versions with caffeine, nitrates to increase stamina or choline to help the body derive energy from fat, the company said. SiS gels are sold online, at cycling shops and in grocery chains including Tesco Plc. (TSCO)
Best Companies To Invest In 2014: Primeline Energy Holdings Inc. (PEH.V)
Primeline Energy Holdings Inc. operates as an independent oil and gas exploration and production company in the People�s Republic of China. It holds rights in the LS36-1 gas field in the Block 25/34 under a petroleum contract in the East China Sea with a total contract area of 85 square kilometers; and the Block 33/07 under a petroleum contract with a total contract area of 5,877 square kilometers of offshore area surrounding the Block 25/34. The company was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Best Companies To Invest In 2014: ASF Group Ltd(AFA.AX)
ASF Group Limited, an investment company, operates in the resources, property, travel, commodities, infrastructure, and financial services sectors in Australia and China. The company holds interests in various mineral exploration projects, including the South Ellendale thermal coal and diamonds project covering an area of approximately 2,000 square kilometers in the Canning Basin of Western Australia; and two mineral exploration ventures for base metals and gold in Tasmania. It also involves in the shipping of bulk commodities from Australia to markets in China; development of port and rail facilities; and provision of property services to Chinese investors in Australia, as well as provides funds management and advisory services. ASF Group Limited was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Sydney, Australia.
Best Companies To Invest In 2014: Guanwei Recycling Corp.(GPRC)
Guanwei Recycling Corp. engages in the manufacture and distribution of low density polyethylene (LDPE). It produces LDPE from plastic waste procured in Europe, which it recycles into recyclable LDPE for sales to approximately 200 manufacturers in China. The company also sells scrap materials, including plastic. It primarily serves building and construction industry, where there is an ongoing governmental push to promote the use of plastic in various products, such as water and sewage pipelines. The company sells its products to customers in a range of industries, including shoe manufacturing, architecture and engineering products, industrial equipment and supplies, and chemical and petrochemical manufacturing. Guanwei Recycling Corp. was founded in 2005 and is based in Fuqing City, the People?s Republic of China.
Best Companies To Invest In 2014: Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd (FRFHF.PK)
Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited (Fairfax) is a financial services holding company. The Company, through its subsidiaries, is principally engaged in property and casualty insurance and reinsurance and the associated investment management. The Company�� segments consist of Insurance, Reinsurance, Insurance and Reinsurance Other, Runoff, and Corporate and Other. On December 22, 2011, the Company completed the acquisition of 75% interests in Sporting Life Inc. On August 16, 2011, the Company acquired William Ashley China Corporation. On March 24, 2011, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Fairfax completed the acquisition of The Pacific Insurance Berhad. On February 9, 2011, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Fairfax completed the acquisition of First Mercury Financial Corporation. In October 2012, its RiverStone runoff subsidiary acquired all the outstanding shares of Brit Insurance Limited.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Infinity Group]
With 515 million shares outstanding, this equates to 33% of all shares being shorted. It should also be noted that Prem Watsa's Fairfax Financial Holdings (FRFHF.PK) is holding 51.8 million BlackBerry shares. Prem Watsa stated at the annual FairFax shareholders meeting that Fairfax is holding a long position with BlackBerry and anticipates shareholder value increasing over the next 2-3 years. The cost basis for FairFax financial holdings is approximately $17 per BlackBerry share.
- [By Alex Jordon]
There's talk that Prem Watsa, head of Fairfax Financial Holdings (FRFHF.PK), could possibly be involved in a privatization bid for the company. Consider:
Best Companies To Invest In 2014: Pound/Rand(PX)
Praxair, Inc. engages in the production, distribution, and sale atmospheric and process gases, as well as surface coatings in North America, Europe, South America, and Asia. The company offers atmospheric gases, such as oxygen, nitrogen, argon, and rare gases; and process gases comprising carbon dioxide, helium, hydrogen, electronic gases, specialty gases, and acetylene. It also designs, engineers, and builds equipment that produces industrial gases; and manufactures precious metal and ceramic sputtering targets used primarily in the production of semiconductors. In addition, the company supplies surface coatings consisting of wear-resistant and high-temperature corrosion-resistant metallic and ceramic coatings and powders to the aircraft, energy, printing, textile, plastics, primary metals, petrochemical, and other industries. Further, it provides electric arc, plasma, and oxygen fuel spray equipment, as well as arc and flame wire equipment used for the application of wea r-resistant coatings; and distributes welding equipment purchased from independent manufacturers. The company sells its products primarily through independent distributors. It serves various industries, such as healthcare, petroleum refining, computer-chip manufacturing, beverage carbonation, fiber-optics, steel making, aerospace, chemicals, and water treatment industries. The company was founded in 1907 and is headquartered in Danbury, Connecticut.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rich Duprey]
Industrial gas maker Praxair (NYSE: PX ) announced today it is expanding its presence in southern Russia with the acquisition of Volgograd Oxygen Factory, an�industrial gas producer with�some 2,000 customers across the�steel, aerospace, health care, and food and beverage industries, which it says will offer "immediate synergies" with Praxair's newly built�air separation plant in�Volgograd.
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