Monday, March 31, 2014

1 Dividend Giant's Big Day

The following video is from Tuesday's Investor Beat, in which host Chris Hill and analysts Matt Argersinger and Jason Moser dissect the hardest-hitting investing stories of the day.

Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO  ) racked up its biggest gains in more than four years in the wake of strong quarterly earnings and a deal to sell some bottling distribution rights. Revenue for Coca-Cola's first-quarter dropped by 1% but overall sales volume was up 4%. Should investors buy Coca-Cola or is Pepsi (NYSE: PEP  ) the better bet? 

Top Financial Companies To Buy For 2014

The relevant video segment can be found between 0:17 and 2:23.

Coca-Cola's wide moat has helped provide its shareholders with superior gains in the past, but the company faces some new threats to its continued market dominance. The Motley Fool recently compiled a premium research report containing everything you need to know about Coca-Cola. If you own or are considering owning shares in the company, you'll want to click here now and get started.

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Will Samsung's Next Big Thing Be Mega?

Always one to give just about anything a shot, smartphone heavyweight Samsung may be preparing to go even bigger with its "next big thing." The South Korean conglomerate was rumored to be launching a smartphone with a 5.8-inch display, calling it a "Fonblet" instead of the phablet term that's become unavoidable these days.

A recent round of rumors out of SamMobile now suggests that Samsung has realized how terrible a name "Fonblet" is, and instead has decided to rebrand its upcoming jumbo models under the Galaxy Mega moniker. The pair of Google (NASDAQ: GOOG  ) Android devices will carry 5.8-inch and 6.3-inch displays and will be called Galaxy Mega 5.8 and Galaxy Mega 6.3, respectively.

Samsung's current flagship phablet is the Galaxy Note 2, which sports a 5.5-inch display, showing that Samsung is intent to continue experimenting with every imaginable form factor and everything in between. That's the exact opposite strategy that primary rival Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) has employed, as the iPhone maker has historically released only one new model per year and has changed the display size a total of once in its lifetime.

In a recent Bloomberg Businessweek profile describing Samsung's ascent to the top of the smartphone market, analyst Benedict Evans is quoted as saying: "Samsung makes every kind of handset in every market in every size at every price. They're not stopping to think. They're just making more phones." On the other hand, Apple says it thinks long and hard at any changes to the iPhone.

Still, evidence is mounting that the phablet rise is mostly a niche phenomenon. Flurry Analytics found that only 7% of all Android devices fall into the phablet category (5-inch to 6.9-inch), which would include both of these rumored Mega models. The mainstream market still highly prefers smartphones in the medium-size category (3.5-inch to 4.9-inch).

Don't expect Galaxy Mega to dominate the mainstream anytime soon.

It's incredible to think just how much of our digital and technological lives are almost entirely shaped and molded by just a handful of companies. Find out "Who Will Win the War Between the 5 Biggest Tech Stocks" in The Motley Fool's latest free report, which details the knock-down, drag-out battle being waged among the five kings of tech. Click here to keep reading.

Friday, March 28, 2014

Freeport-McMoRan, Newmont Mining: How Do You Solve a Problem Like Indonesia?

Indonesia–and its desire to make more off of its natural resources–has been a thorn in the side of both Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (FCX) and Newmont Mining (NEM) this year. That could be changing.

Reuters

Reuters reports that Indonesia reached a deal with Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold to resume copper shipments. The deal would require Freeport to build a smelter in exchange for losing an export tax.

Citigroup’s Brian Yu and Daniel Knauff explain the significance:

Freeport previously estimated the cost of constructing a smelter and slime processing facility at $2.0 – $2.5 bln. Since mid-January [Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold] has been operating Grasberg at ~50% of normal milling rates, reducing production by 40 mln lbs Cu and 80k ozs Au per month. In the interim, they continue to process ~40% of concentrates or 205kt per year of copper domestically at PT Smelting in Gresik…

The ability to resume exports, even at the cost of a new smelter, should be a marginal positive for [Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold] shares since Grasberg is key to the company's deleveraging plans. However, we will need details behind the smelter financing and any potential impact to the mining plan to properly assess the impact to our model.

Still, Yu and Knauff aren’t feeling much love for Freeport-McMoRan. They maintained their sell rating due to an expected fall in copper prices.

When reports first surfaced yesterday that a deal was close, Cowen’s Anthony Rizzuto and team noted that “other mining companies taking similar actions to [Freeport-McMoRan] are also expected to be granted a reprieve from the export tax.” That could be the reason shares of Newmont have been rallying today. JPMorgan, for one, had previously noted that that a Newmont Mining rally would depend on an Indonesia resolution.

Investors appear to be betting that one is at hand. Shares of Newmont Mining have gained 4.5% to $23.98 at 2:43 p.m. today, while Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold is up 1% at $32.73.

Hot Dividend Stocks To Own Right Now

Hot Dividend Stocks To Own Right Now: MCG Capital Corporation(MCGC)

MCG Capital Corporation is a private equity firm specializing in investments in middle market companies. The firm does not prefer investments in highly cyclical and volatile industry sectors and businesses with significant volatility exposure. It seeks to invest in small to mid sized companies. The firm prefers to invest in acquisitions, growth financings, organic growth, recapitalization, and leveraged buyouts. It invests in companies based in the United States. The firm seeks to invest upto $75 million in debt and equity in companies having revenues between $20 million and $200 million and EBITDA between $3 million and $25 million. It seeks to invest in the form of senior debt, including amortizing, bullet maturity, term loans, and revolving credit facilities; institutional sub debt, including junior capital; second lien debt, that includes term loans on sole source and participant basis; secured and unsecured subordinate loans structured as current interest, deferred in terest, and equity linked components; mezzanine debt and equity that includes minority equity investments. The firm may invest in minority or control equity positions. It was formerly known as MCG Credit Corporation. MCG Capital Corporation was founded in 1990 and is based in Arlington, Virginia.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Equities Lab]

    The stocks that currently pass the stock screen in order of market cap are Frontier Communications Corp , Crown Media Holdings (CRWN), Vonage Holding (VG), MCG Capital Corp (MCGC), 1-800-FLOWERS.COM (FLWS), MTR Gaming Corporation (MNTG), Alaska Communications (ALSK), and Enzon Pharmaceuticals (ENZN).

  • source from Top Stocks Blog:http://www.topstocksblog.com/hot-dividend-stocks-to-own-right-now.html

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Top 5 New Companies To Buy Right Now

The British mobile operator Vodafone (VOD) confirmed the acquisition of Spanish cable operator ONO for ��7.2 billion ($ 10 billion), including around ��3.3 billion in debt. By so doing, Vodafone continues its strategy of expanding operations to fixed-line, pay-tv and broadband services, while saving money through the operations of its own networks.

With the recent acquisition, financed by the $ 130 billion sale of Verizon Wireless (VZ) in the US, Vodafone adds 1.9 million clients to its customer base in Spain totaling 17.2 million, second to Tel茅fonica (TEF), which counts 24.9 million, and ahead of ORANGE (ORAN), that has 14.4 million customers. According to Antonio Coimbra, Vodafone麓s CEO in Spain, there are strong indicators that favor the acquisition:

Clients tend to prefer an operator with a value proposition that includes more than one service. The business complemented each other through technological and commercial convergences. Economies of scale and upside potential in the market.

In addition to that, it is worth mentioning that mobile revenues are declining in Europe due to intense competition, the willingness of customers to pay for voice services is decreasing, and regulatory restrictions on call-termination rates are cutting into sales. All of them are good reasons to look for new, though related, businesses.

Top 5 New Companies To Buy Right Now: Enertopia Corp (ENRT)

Enertopia Corp (Enertopia), incorporated on November 24, 2004, is engaged in medicinal marijuana business. The Company is diverse in its pursuit of business opportunities in several sectors, including: Medicinal Marijuana, Oil and Gas, Solar PV (Photovoltaic), Solar Thermal (Hot Water), Energy Retrofits and Recovery, and Solar powered Filtered Drinking Water.

The Company no longer has any material oil and gas resources. The Company operates in two segments: renewable energy, and mining exploration and developments, which are managed separately based on fundamental differences in their operations nature.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Peter Graham]

    What�� the Catch With Lexaria Corp? According to various disclosures, a transaction or transactions of $1k has or will occur to mention Lexaria Corp in various investment newsletters. Last Friday, Lexaria Corp announced it had closed its Private Placement financing announced on March 5 for gross proceeds of $1,272,000 ��higher than the originally announced $960,000 figure due to ��verwhelming demand.��Lexaria Corp will issue 10,600,000 common shares at US$0.12 and 10,600,000 full warrants that expire on September 21, 2016 with an exercise price of US$0.25. However, the company may also accelerate the expiry date of the warrants if the stock price trades above CAD$0.40 cents for 20 consecutive days at any time after 6 months and one day has elapsed. Otherwise and in early March, Lexaria Corp reported that its board of directors had decided to make a strategic entry into the medical marijuana business by way of an ��mportant Joint Venture��with Enertopia Corp (OTCQB: ENRT). Under the terms of the Agreement, Lexaria Corp had agreed to pay Enertopia 1 million restricted common shares in return for Enertopia's participation plus 500,000 restricted common shares ENRT�� Chairman in return for his participation on the Lexaria Advisory Board. Following the issuance of these shares, Lexaria Corp will have a total of 18,431,452 shares issued and outstanding and 21,256,452 shares fully diluted. A quick look at Lexaria Corp�� financials reveals revenues of $160k (most recent reported quarter), $241k, $251k and $253k for the past four quarters along with net losses of $102k (most recent reported quarter), $126k, $58k and $48k. At the end of last January, Lexaria Corp had $66k in cash to cover $1,415k in current liabilities and $59k in other liabilities. So aside from the income statement, investors might want to look more closely at Lexaria Corp�� financing terms.

Top 5 New Companies To Buy Right Now: Gevo Inc (GEVO)

Gevo, Inc., incorporated in June 2005, is a renewable chemicals and advanced biofuels company. The Company is focused on the development and commercialization of alternatives to petroleum-based products. The Company operates in two segments: Gevo, Inc. Segment and Gevo Development/Agri-Energy Segment. Gevo, Inc. Segment is responsible for all research and development activities related to the future production of isobutanol, maintaining and protecting its intellectual property portfolio, developing future markets for its isobutanol and providing corporate oversight services. Its Gevo Development/Agri-Energy Segment is responsible for the production of ethanol and related products. In September 2010, the Company acquired a 22 MGPY ethanol production facility in Luverne, Minnesota that the Company intends to retrofit to produce isobutanol.

The Company�� isobutanol can also be converted by its customers into a range of hydrocarbons, which form the basis for the production of many products, including plastics, fibers, rubber and other polymers and hydrocarbon fuels, including jet and diesel fuel. Its technology platform consists of biocatalysts and a isobutanol separation unit. Together these technologies form the Gevo Integrated Fermentation Technology (GIFT). GIFT is designed to allow relatively low capital expenditure retrofits of existing ethanol facilities, enabling isobutanol production from a range of renewable feedstocks. The Company�� biocatalysts are microorganisms that have been designed to metabolize sugars to produce isobutanol.

GIFT consists of two components, biocatalysts which convert sugars derived from multiple renewable feedstocks into isobutanol through fermentation, and a separation unit which is designed to continuously separate isobutanol from water during the fermentation process. The Company developed its technology platform to be compatible with the existing approximately 20 BGPY of global operating ethanol production capacity, as estimated by the R! enewable Fuels Association (RFA).

The Company competes with Butamax Advanced Biofuels LLC (Butamax), BP p.l.c. (BP), E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Butalco GmbH, Cathay Industrial Biotech Ltd., METabolic EXplorer S.A., TetraVitae Bioscience, Inc., Cobalt Technologies, Inc., Green Biologics Ltd. Shell Oil Products US (Shell Oil), BP, DuPont-Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol LLC, Abengoa Bioenergy, S.A., POET, LLC, ICM, Mascoma, Range Fuels, Inbicon A/S, INEOS New Planet BioEnergy LLC, Coskata, Archer Daniels Midland Company, BlueFire Ethanol, Inc., KL Energy Corporation, ZeaChem Inc., Iogen Corporation, Qteros, Inc., and AE Biofuels, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Bryan Murphy]

    It was already hanging by a thread, and then only because it bounced back from an early-November plunge. But, with the action we've seen from Gevo, Inc. (NASDAQ:GEVO) since that now-failed recovery effort, it's pretty safe to say GEVO is beyond help/hope, if it falls under one more big line in the sand.... and it's looking like it's only a matter of time before that happens.

Best Medical Stocks To Own For 2014: Ameresco Inc (AMRC)

Ameresco, Inc. incorporated in April 2000, is a provider of energy efficiency solutions for facilities throughout North America. The Company�� services include upgrades to a facility's energy infrastructure and the construction and operation of small-scale renewable energy plants. Its principal service is the development, design, engineering and installation of projects that reduce the energy and operations and maintenance (O&M) costs of its customers' facilities. These projects include a variety of measures customized for the facility and designed to improve the efficiency of major building systems, such as heating, ventilation, air conditioning and lighting systems. It also serves certain customers by developing and building small-scale renewable energy plants located at or close to a customer's site. Ameresco, Inc. provides its services primarily to governmental, educational, utility, healthcare and other institutional, commercial and industrial entities. The Company operates in four segments: U.S. federal, central U.S. region, other U.S. regions and Canada. In August 2011, the Company acquired APS Energy Services Company, Inc. from Pinnacle West Capital Corporation. In December 2011, it acquired the xChange Point and energy projects businesses, including automated demand response, of Energy and Power Solutions, Inc. In August 2012, the Company acquired FAME Facility Software Solutions Inc. In February 2013, it purchased all of the assets of Ennovate Corporation. In June 2013, Ameresco Inc acquired ESP, an energy management consulting company consisting of the Energy Services Partnership and ESP Response, located in Castleford, United Kingdom.

Ameresco, Inc. offers a set of services that includes the design and installation of upgrades to a facility�� energy infrastructure, the design and construction of renewable energy plants, the sale of other renewable energy products and the arranging of financing for customer projects. In September 2010, the Company acquired Quantum Engineer! ing and Development, Inc. In July 2011, the Company acquired Applied Energy Group.

Energy Efficiency Services

The Company�� services includes the design, engineering and installation of, and the arranging of financing for, equipment to improve the efficiency, and control the operation, of a building�� heating, ventilation, cooling and lighting systems. In certain projects, it also designs and constructs a central plant or cogeneration system providing power, heat and/or cooling to a building. Its projects generally range in size and scope from a one-month project to design and retrofit a lighting system to a more complex 30-month project to design and install a central plant or cogeneration system.

Renewable Energy Projects and Products

The Company�� services offering includes the development, construction and operation of, and the arrangement of financing for, small-scale renewable energy plants, as well as the sale and integration of solar energy products and systems. It has constructed and is designing and constructing a range of renewable energy plants using landfill gas (LFG), wastewater treatment biogas, solar, wind, biomass, food waste, animal waste and hydro sources of energy. As part of its renewable energy offering, it also distributes and integrates solar energy products manufactured by several vendors. Ameresco, Inc. is a distributor of photovoltaic (PV) panels, solar regulators, solar charge controllers, inverters, solar powered lighting systems, solar powered water pumps, solar panel mounting hardware and other system components. It also integrates its PV products and system components into solar solutions designed specifically for customers. It provides solar energy solutions for both on- grid applications where the solar power is used in a building connected to a utility distribution system, and for off-grid applications where the power is used directly in the device using the electricity, such as traffic signs.

Amere! sco, Inc.! also designs and constructs renewable energy plants based on wind power. In many parts of the country, available wind resources, utility net metering and local incentives can make on-site wind generation a viable solution for meeting a portion of customers' energy needs. As of December 31, 2010, the Company had completed two projects that included a wind turbine. In addition, it has constructed and was constructing, small-scale renewable energy plants based on biomass.

As of December 31, 2010, Ameresco, Inc. had constructed more than 28 renewable energy projects, and owned and operated 22 small-scale renewable energy plants. Of the owned plants, 19 are renewable LFG plants, two are waste water biogas plants and one is a solar PV installation. These 22 small-scale renewable energy plants have the capacity to generate electricity or deliver LFG producing an aggregate of 106 megawatts (MW) or megawatt-equivalents (MWE). As of December 31, 2010, the Company had signed contracts for the construction, operation and ownership of an additional six LFG plants, two biomass power and cogeneration plants and five biomass boiler projects.

The Company competes with Chevron Energy Solutions, Constellation Energy, Honeywell, Johnson Controls, Siemens Building Technologies and TAC Energy Solutions.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Sara Murphy]

    Ameresco (NYSE: AMRC  ) is one of the few large, independent energy efficiency service providers. The company's principal service is the development, design, engineering and installation of projects that reduce the energy and operations and maintenance costs of its customers' facilities. Ameresco has seen declining revenues recently because of unusually long lag times in getting its projects funded, but this seems a temporary setback.

  • [By Brian Pacampara]

    Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, energy efficiency technologist Ameresco (NYSE: AMRC  ) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.

Top 5 New Companies To Buy Right Now: Solar Thin Films Inc (SLTZ)

Solar Thin Films, Inc. is engaged in the business of designing, manufacturing and installation of thin-film amorphous silicon (a-Si) photovoltaic manufacturing equipment. The equipment is used in plants that produce photovoltaic thin-film a-Si solar panels or modules. The Company operates through its wholly owned subsidiary, Kraft Elektronikai Zrt (Kraft). Kraft is engaged in the design, development, manufacture, and installation of a-Si photovoltaic manufacturing equipment. The primary buyers of photovoltaic thin-film manufacturing equipment are businesses, as well as investment partnerships, engaged in the production of photovoltaic thin-film modules. In May 2010, the Company acquired Atlantis Solar LLC. In May 2013, Solar Thin Films Inc acquired Quality Resource Technologies Inc. In October 2013, Solar Thin Films Inc announced the sale of all of its ownership stake of Hungarian subsidiary, Kraft, R.t. (Kraft), to GJR Collectibles LLC.

Kraft has been providing equipment that is incorporated into a single manufacturing line capable of manufacturing a-Si solar modules that produce approximately 5megawatt (MW) of solar power annually. The Company focuses, directly and through joint ventures or alliances with other companies or governmental agencies, to sell equipment for and participate financially in solar power facilities using thin film a-Si solar modules or metallurgical and other crystalline solar modules as the power source to provide electricity to municipalities, businesses and consumers.

The Company competes with Applied Materials and Oerlikon.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Peter Graham]

    Small cap stocks Alliance Creative Group Inc (OTCMKTS: ACGX), Dale Jarrett Racing Adventure Inc (OTCMKTS: DJRT), Inscor Inc (OTCMKTS: IOGA) and Solar Thin Films Inc (OTCMKTS: SLTZ) have all been getting some attention lately in various investment newsletters and it should come as no surprise that two out of four of these stocks have been the subject of paid promotions ��which tend to benefit traders. However, two out of four of these stocks also have pretty good financials for being small cap OTC stocks and that might make them attractive to investors with a long term time horizon. So which of these stocks might make traders some profits in the short term and investors some profits over the longer term? Here is a closer look to help you decide:

Top 5 New Companies To Buy Right Now: OriginOil Inc (OOIL)

OriginOil, Inc., incorporated on June 1, 2007, is a technology company. The Company is primarily involved in research and development activities, and sales of pilot and demonstration equipment. The Company has developed an energy production process for harvesting algae and cleaning up oil and gas water. To develop the energy and ancillary markets, the Company sells smaller-scale equipment, such as the Algae Appliance. The Company�� process, CLEAN-FRAC, represents a generation of water treatment that is chemical free. The Company's water cleanup technology, Electro Water Separation (EWS), is a chemical-free process that extracts organic contaminants from large quantities of water. Its products include EWS Algae, EWS Algae A4, EWS Algae A60, EWS Algae A200, EWS Petro P160, and EWS Aqua Q60.

The Company intends to embed its technology into larger systems through licensing and joint ventures. The Company is in the process of pursuing secondary licensing opportunities outside of energy, including aquaculture. EWS Algae A4 is an entry-level algae harvester designed to make it easier and faster for producers and researchers to try and buy the Company's harvesting technology. EWS Algae A60 is a pilot scale algae harvester providing a low energy, chemical-free, continuous flow wet harvest system to dewater and concentrate the microalgae. EWS Petro Model 160 is designed to remove organics, such as crude oil, and suspended solids and bacteria from process water, such as produced or frac flowback water at a continuous flow rate of one barrel per minute or 160 liters per minute in continuous, chemical free operation. EWS Aqua Q60 is a commercial fish farming pond water treatment system, designed to clean pond water of ammonia, bacteria and aquatic animal pathogens in a continuous loop.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By CRWE]

    Today, OOIL�has shed (-3.12%) down -0.01 at $.31 with 95,929 shares in play thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 2:04PM�EDT October 15, 2013).

    OriginOil, Inc. previously reported it has signed its first pay-per-barrel agreement with Industrial Systems, Inc. (ISI) for a water treatment system integrating OriginOil�� process as the first stage of treatment.

    Delta, Colorado-based ISI has agreed that it will operate the Model P160 as part of its overall frac flowback water cleanup service, and pay OriginOil a fee for each barrel processed.

Monday, March 24, 2014

Green Bonds Now Out for Auto Industry Financing

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) and Toyota Motors Corp. (NYSE: TM) are said to be making history with the first “green bond” of asset-backed securities in the auto industry. Green bonds are securities or contracts where the proceeds are applied exclusively toward projects and activities that promote climate or other environmental sustainability initiatives. Citigroup and 12 other banks introduced new Green Bond Principles earlier in 2014.

Citigroup’s announcement shows that it has now successfully closed Toyota Financial Services’ (TFS) first ever asset-backed green bond issuance — for a sum of $1.75 billion. The deal was also said to be upsized from a prior $1.25 billion benchmark, due to strong investor demand.

This may not be stock-moving news for Citigroup or Toyota, but this could mark the start of a new trend. As newcomers like Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) begin to take increasingly more share from the likes of Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) and General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM), you could start to see more green asset-backed securities issued by the auto finance industry.

Hot Value Stocks To Watch Right Now

Toyota said that it plans to use the net proceeds to acquire retail installment sale contracts and lease contracts to finance new Toyota and Lexus gas-electric hybrid or alternative fuel powertrain vehicles. Citigroup has pioneered green bonds as a new asset class in the asset-backed securities market. The process is said to promote the development of the green bond market and help investors evaluate the environmental impact of bonds.

Again, this will not be immediate market-moving news for the auto companies, nor for the banks that promote the offerings. That being said, this should allow more companies to get better financing mechanisms in place for getting their hybrid, electric and alternative energy cars out to the masses.

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Gold Miners: No Depression

Gold and gold miners are generally thought to do best when the market is worried about inflation. Yet the recent rally in gold miners like Goldcorp (GG), Eldorado Gold (EGO) and Randgold Resources (GOLD) has come despite an increase in worries about deflation.

Goldcorp, for instance has gained 30% this year, while Eldorado Gold has risen 27% and Randgold Resources is up 31%. The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX) has gained 29% this year, more than double the SPDR Gold ETF’s (GLD) 14% rise.

So what’s happening? JPMorgan’s John Bridges thinks he has the answer:

It's difficult and worrisome to consider scenarios for gold equities other than inflationary ones. But the historical record does include success for gold equities in deflationary times too. The fundamentals for this strength are more difficult to reconcile with the risk that gold prices may outperform not by rising but by not falling. Listed gold equities Homestake Mining subsequently purchased by Barrick Gold (ABX) and Dome Mines, now parts of Goldcorp were operating in the 1930s and outperformed. Part of this outperformance probably resulted from the way that the gold price stepped higher as Washington tried to devalue the dollar to kick start growth but part of this probably resulted from the simplicity of gold equities compared to other listed equities that require a strong economy to perform.

JPMorgan’s favorite gold stocks include Eldorado Gold, Goldcorp and Randgold Resources, Bridges says.

Eldorado Gold has gained 0.6% to $7.20 at 11:09 a.m., while Goldcorp has risen 1% to $28.09, Randgold Resources has dropped 0.2% to $82.29 and Barrick Gold has advanced 1.4% to $20.62. The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF has gained 1.2% to $27.24, despite the SPDR Gold ETF rising just 0.1% to $131.89.

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Top Tech Companies To Own In Right Now

Top Tech Companies To Own In Right Now: Robert Half International Inc.(RHI)

Robert Half International Inc. provides staffing and risk consulting services in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Its Accountemps division offers temporary staffing in the fields of accounting, tax, and finance. The company?s OfficeTeam division places temporary and full-time office and administrative personnel, ranging from word processors to office managers. Its Robert Half Finance & Accounting division specializes in the placement of full-time accounting, financial, tax, and banking personnel. The company?s Robert Half Technology division specializes in providing information technology contract consultants; and placing full-time employees in the areas, ranging from multiple platform systems integration to end-user support, including specialists in programming, networking, systems integration, database design, and help desk support. Its Robert Half Legal division places temporary and full-time employees in attorney, paralegal, legal administrati ve, and legal secretarial positions. The company?s Robert Half Management Resources division offers senior level project professionals in the accounting and finance fields comprising chief financial officers, controllers, and senior financial analysts for various tasks, such as financial systems conversions, expansion into new markets, business process reengineering, and post-merger financial consolidation. Its Creative Group division serves clients in the areas of advertising, marketing, and Web design; and places project consultants in various positions consisting of creative directors, graphics designers, Web content developers, Web designers, media buyers, and public relations specialists. The company?s Protiviti division provides experts specializing in risk, advisory, and transactional services. Robert Half International was founded in 1948 and is based in! Menlo Park, California.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Marc Bastow]

    Employment staffing and risk management services provider Robert Half (RHI) raised its quarterly dividend 12.5% to 18 cents per share, payable March 14 to shareholders of record as of Feb. 25.
    RHI Dividend Yield: 1.78%

  • [By Dan Burrows]

    Staffing stocks like Manpower Group (MAN), Robert Half International (RHI) and Kelly Services (KELYA) have put up market-beating to market-crushing gains over the last year, boosted by accelerating strength in the job market.

  • source from Top Stocks Blog:http://www.topstocksblog.com/top-tech-companies-to-own-in-right-now.html

Friday, March 21, 2014

Under Armour shares jump on stock split

Under Armour continues to be a stock market over-achiever.

Its stock jumped 2.3% on Monday in early morning trading, up more than $2.80 to $120.15, after the trendy athletic gear maker announced that its board had approved a 2-for-1 stock split. This mark's the Baltimore-based company's second stock split since going public in November 2005. Its last stock split was in July 2012.

CEO Kevin Plank said in a statement that Baltimore-based company believes the stock split may broaden its investor base and improve the stock's trading liquidity.

The move comes at a time of a still-expanding stock market, even as other high-profile stock splits have recently been announced. Last week, tech mega-giant Google announced plans for its first-ever stock split during the company's fourth quarter earnings call.

Top Dow Dividend Stocks For 2014

Under Armour has been on a tear since the winter Olympics, when the company's high-tech outfits were initially the unwarranted scapegoat for the poor performance of the U.S. speedskating team in Sochi. Company executives, however, never wavered and not only stood by their techy suits, but doubled down, and committed to sponsoring the team through 2022.

Last week, Under Armour announced that it had launched in Brazil. The brand will be available in over 70 of the country's premium points of sale and e-commerce hubs, such as Centauro, Netshoes and Paquetá.

Under Armour Inc. said Monday that the additional shares issued due to the stock split will be distributed on April 14 to shareholders of record on March 28.

Contributing: Associated Press

Thursday, March 20, 2014

MagneGas Has Run Its Course (MNGA)

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.

I don't come here to gloat though.... well, not gloat too much. I'm mostly looking at MagneGas Corporation again today to suggest you lock in your gains and get out.

Say what? This thing is just starting to take flight! Why bail out now when things are just getting good? Because things have gotten as good as they're going to get for MNGA, at least for a while.

Top 10 Tech Stocks For 2014

That's not going to be a popular stance. I'm ok with that. All I ask is that you hear me out.

The first big red flag suggesting that MagneGas Corporation shares has done all it can do for the time being is yesterday's enormously high volume. Yes, you want strong volume behind new trends. You don't want to waste all your volume capacity in one shot though, and with 18 million shares of MNGA trading hands on Monday versus the average of less than 700,000 per day prior to the breakout, it's reasonably safe to say that anybody who was willing to get into the stock at a price of more than $0.94 is already in. There can't be many buyers left.

Yes, the stock's up a little bit more today on pretty good volume, and may even top yesterday's volume levels. Take a closer look at today's action for red flag #2 though... MNGA left behind a bullish gap at the open, and has spent the bulk of the session selling off, as would-be profit-takers bail out, thinking we've already seen the highest prices we're going to see in a while. Take that hint.

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Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Judge: Google Won't Face Group Email Privacy Lawsuit

Google Celebrates 15th Anniversary As Company Reaches $290 Billion Market Value David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images Google (GOOG) won a major victory in its fight against claims it illegally scanned private email messages to and from Gmail accounts, defeating a bid to unify lawsuits in a single group case on behalf of hundreds of millions of Internet users. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday refused to let the case proceed as a class action, which would have allowed plaintiffs to pool resources and put greater pressure on Google to settle. If individuals pursue their claims against the owner of world's largest search engine, they'll need to use their own financial resources to litigate. Email users claimed Google intercepted, read and mined the content of email messages for targeted advertising and to build user profiles. Legal experts including Stanford Law School Professor Deborah Hensler said before Wednesday's ruling that while the plaintiffs faced difficulty joining forces, the case stood to potentially become the largest group lawsuit ever. The amount at stake could have reached into the trillions of dollars if, as the plaintiffs argued, each person was eligible for damages of $100 a day for violations of federal wiretap law. Koh's ruling has implications for email privacy cases assigned to her that were filed last year against Yahoo (YHOO) and LinkedIn (LNKD), which also have hundreds of millions of users. Similarly giant cases have been brought against Facebook (FB) and Hulu as Web users challenge how companies monetize their data for the online advertising market that generated more than $40 billion in the U.S. last year. Koh found that the proposed classes of people in the Google case aren't "sufficiently cohesive," according to Wednesday's ruling. Members' Consent The judge wrote in her order that the question of whether the proposed class members consented to the alleged interceptions has been "central to this case since it was filed." Based on the evidence presented so far, to prove the arguments on each side, "consent must be litigated on an individual, rather than class-wide basis," Koh said. Sean Rommel, a lawyer representing plaintiffs in the case, didn't respond after regular business hours Wednesday to phone and email messages seeking comment on the ruling. Google representatives didn't respond to an email seeking comment. At a Feb. 27 hearing on whether the case would proceed as a group lawsuit, Michael Rhodes, a lawyer representing Google, argued the plaintiffs never presented a "model that they have demonstrated will actually work" to include so many plaintiffs. "And worse, they've never shown some statistical sampling of the data set to give you more comfort that we can test to say it will not produce enough false positives," Rhodes said. Texas, Pennsylvania The case started with separate lawsuits by users of Gmail and other email services from states including Texas, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Florida. Those complaints were consolidated before Koh last year. Rommel contended in a filing that the the case is "perfectly suited for class treatment" because everyone affected by the email scanning has so much in common, from the "uniform nature" of Google's extraction of data in emails to the company's "uniform disclosures" about its privacy practices. "This is no different than, I would assert, a shareholder case where somebody is saying yes, I bought shares within the class period and here's my share," he argued to Koh at the hearing. "You have to compare it to the company records to see the date when they bought it, to see that they are actually a shareholder." 'Very Steep' Hensler said in an interview last month that the plaintiffs' lawyers faced "a very steep hurdle," to proceed with a group case, adding that only 10 percent to 20 percent of all cases filed as class-actions are allowed to go forward. Koh in September rejected Mountain View, Calif.-based Google's bid to dismiss the case. In a rare early victory for plaintiffs in an online privacy lawsuit, the judge rejected Google's argument that Gmail users agreed when they accepted subscription service terms and privacy policies to let their messages be scanned.

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

CombiMatrix Poised to Double -- or More

DELAFIELD, Wis. (Stockpickr) -- When I scan the small-cap biotech and health care sectors, I am always looking for a stock that has two major things going for it: a strong fundamental story and a bullish technical chart setup. Those two elements can be a powerful combination, since they can quickly bring together fundamental investors and technical traders who can push a stock substantially higher when they work in concert.

>>5 Rocket Stocks Worth Buying This Week

I believe I have discovered the next small-cap health care stock that has a perfect storm of those two key elements. This potentially perfect storm is still in the early stages, so this stock could very well be offering market players a very attractive entry point.

The company I see big opportunity in here is CombiMatrix (CMBX), which is a molecular diagnostics player that operates primarily in the field of genetic analysts and molecular diagnostics. This company specializes in cytogenetic testing for prenatal diagnosis, miscarriage analysis and pediatric development disorders. The company's microarray testing addresses various common hematological malignancies, primarily chronic lymphocytic leukemia. CombiMatrix's customers are commercial insurance companies, health care institutions, government payers and individuals.

During the firm's latest earnings report, CombiMatrix said revenue for the fourth quarter and full year increased to $1.76 million and $6.37 million, respectively, or 18% and 19% growth from the comparable periods in 2012. Revenue for its core prenatal microarray testing markets grew by 22% from the third quarter of 2013 and 112% year over year. Sales volumes for prenatal microarray testing increased 74% and 126% for the fourth quarter and for the comparable period in 2012.

>>5 Stocks Under $10 Set to Soar

CombiMatrix CEO Mark McDonough said on its most recent conference call that he believes there is no reason why the company can't keep this kind of growth going in 2014 and beyond. McDonough pointed out that the company has been expanding its sales force and plans to hire as many as 15 new members in the near future. You can really understand why he's excited since the estimated market for their products is in excess of $350 million annually.

I believe that CombiMatrix could double or much more from its current price level of around $3.25 per share for a variety of reasons. First, CBMX is an attractive takeover target, since it has accelerated growth and a market cap of just $15 million. That market cap does not reflect the opportunity for CBMX to growth substantially as it takes share and attacks the $350 million market for its products. Second, this stock has favorable technical setup that is rapidly developing as I write this. I will touch more on that shortly. Third, this company has all the reason in the world to announce more new partnerships that will expand its markets and increase cash flow. And finally, CBMX, for whatever crazy reason, has a ton of short-sellers that are currently betting against this company. Those shorts, if wrong, have the potential to be the fuel to this rocket ship if the stock can finally sustain some gains and break out above some key overhead resistance levels.

>>5 Stocks Poised for Breakouts

The current short interest as a percentage of the float for CombiMatrix is ridiculously large at 24.6%. That means that out of the 4.56 million shares in the tradable float, 1.12 million shares are currently sold short by the bears. The shorts have also been increasing their bets from the last reporting period by 14.5%, or by about 140,000 shares. This is a low-float stock with a monster short interest, and it's a company with an intriguing fundamental story -- a powerful combination that can easily send shares of CBMX exploding higher on any good news or large new partnership announcements.


If you take a look at the chart for shares of CombiMatrix, you'll see that this stock has been consolidating and trending range bound for the last two months and change, with shares moving between $2.40 on the downside and $3.43 on the upside. Despite this sideways trading chart pattern for shares of CBMX, this stock has been making higher lows each time it has pulled back over that timeframe. That demonstrates that buyers are eager to snap up CBMX on the dips. This stock has a trading history of being faded whenever it spikes, so it's key for traders to watch for a change in that trading characteristic. I think that change could be happening right now.

Shares of CBMX are spiking sharply higher today by just over 5% with heavy upside volume. Volume so far today has already surpassed 1.6 million shares, which is well above its three-month average action of 888,225 shares. This spike is quickly pushing shares of CBMX within range of triggering a major breakout trade above some key overhead resistance levels.

Traders should look for long-biased trades in CBMX as long as it's trending above some near-term support levels at $2.80 to $2.60 a share and then once it breaks out above those key overhead resistance levels at $3.43 to $3.70 a share with high volume. Look for volume on that move that hits near or above its three-month average action of 888,225 shares. If that breakout begins soon, then shares of CBMX should easily soar back to its next major overhead resistance levels at $4.44 to its 52-week high of $4.62 a share. If those levels get taken out with volume, then all the fun should begin for CMBX since it has little resistance until $7.64 a share.

The bottom line: CBMX has a great fundamental story with high growth rates and a strong technical chart setup. The icing on the cake is the large amount of bears that are involved in this stock. If those bears are wrong, and I think they are, then this stock is going to explode and double easily from current levels.

-- Written by Roberto Pedone in Delafield, Wis.


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Follow Stockpickr on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

At the time of publication, author had no positions in stocks mentioned.

Roberto Pedone, based out of Delafield, Wis., is an independent trader who focuses on technical analysis for small- and large-cap stocks, options, futures, commodities and currencies. Roberto studied international business at the Milwaukee School of Engineering, and he spent a year overseas studying business in Lubeck, Germany. His work has appeared on financial outlets including

CNBC.com and Forbes.com. You can follow Pedone on Twitter at www.twitter.com/zerosum24 or @zerosum24.


Monday, March 17, 2014

Top Casino Stocks To Watch For 2014

Top Casino Stocks To Watch For 2014: PhilWeb Corp (WEB)

PhilWeb Corporation is a Philippines-based Internet gaming company. The Company focused its activities on building its Internet-based products and services. The Company is engaged in providing products and services within a particular economic environment. It operates in two geographical segments: domestic operations and foreign operations. Its subsidiaries include BigGame, Inc., operates Internet casino station operations; Premayo sa Resibo, Inc., develops and markets computer systems, applications, programs and operates gaming platforms; PhilWeb Casino Corporation, develops, engages and maintains gaming systems and applications for all types of casino operations; e-Magine Gaming Corporation, develops technology, and PhilWeb Leisure & Tourism Corporation, establishes, operates and maintains leisure and tourism-oriented activities. Effective December 13, 2013, ePLDT Inc, a wholly owned unit of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co acquired a 27.283% interest in Philweb Corp. Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Geoff Gannon]

    Always touchable money is cash. For individuals, there's little reason for it not to be a simple bank account, money market fund, etc. For most investors, you can just let this stock sit in your brokerage account. Many brokers will sweep unused cash into a money market account — or other form of savings — where it can earn a tiny amount of interest for you while staying totally liquid. One advantage of keeping cash in this form is that you can look at your cash and stock positions on the same (web)page any time you want. So, for example, if you know you want to keep 10% of your portfolio in cash — you can see that you have $12,000 in cash as part of your $120,000 brokerage account and that means you are right on target with your liquidity goal.

  • source from Top St! ocks Blog:http://www.topstocksblog.com/top-casino-stocks-to-watch-for-2014.html

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Hot Value Stocks For 2014

Hot Value Stocks For 2014: Caterpillar Inc.(CAT)

Caterpillar Inc. manufactures and sells construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives worldwide. It operates through three lines of businesses: Machinery, Engines, and Financial Products. The Machinery business offers construction, mining, and forestry machinery, including track and wheel tractors, track and wheel loaders, pipelayers, motor graders, wheel tractor-scrapers, track and wheel excavators, backhoe loaders, log skidders, log loaders, off-highway trucks, articulated trucks, paving products, skid steer loaders, underground mining equipment, tunnel boring equipment, and related parts. It also manufactures diesel-electric locomotives; and manufactures and services rail-related products and logistics services for other companies. The Engines business provides diesel, heavy fuel, and natural gas reciprocating engines for Caterpillar machinery, electric power generation systems, marine, petrol eum, construction, industrial, agricultural, and other applications. It offers industrial turbines and turbine-related services for oil and gas, and power generation applications. This business also remanufactures Caterpillar engines, machines, and engine components; and offers remanufacturing services for other companies. The Financial Products business provides retail and wholesale financing alternatives for Caterpillar machinery and engines, solar gas turbines, and other equipment and marine vessels, as well as offers loans and various forms of insurance to customers and dealers. It also offers financing for vehicles, power generation facilities, and marine vessels. The company markets its products directly, as well as through its distribution centers, dealers, and distributors. It was formerly known as Caterpillar Tractor Co. and changed its name to Caterpillar Inc. in 1986. Caterpillar Inc. was f! ounded in 1925 and is headquartered in Peoria, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Ben Levisohn]

    With little in the way of local news to move the market today, US stocks are taking their cues from overseas — and they don’t like what they see, leaving Boeing (BA), Nike (NKE), Caterpillar (CAT), United States Steel (X) and Peabody Energy (BTU) in the red.

  • [By Patricio Kehoe]

    The concept of diversity, when talking about a company's activities, is a sword with two edges. When performance hits the fan, diversity can turn into an advantage as only one segment can be affected. However, diversification can curtail winnings during a moment of bonanza. In other words, a company with five segments will see a relative smaller impact in overall performance than a company with activities in a single segment, when that segment experiences an abnormal growth. Hence, with a recovering construction market in the US and declining prices for mined commodities, a comparison between Caterpillar (CAT) and Terex (TER) is all the more relevant.

  • [By Paul Ausick]

    Today's big gainer among the Dow stocks was Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT). Competitor Joy Global Inc. (NYSE: JOY) reported rotten results this morning, largely due to anemic sales to coal miners. Caterpillar doesn't do a lot of business with coal companies, so that's a plus the firm. Cat's shares traded up 1.4% at $97.71 in a 52-week range of $84.79 to $98.24 just ahead of the closing bell. Volume is on track to be about 25% below the daily average of around 6 million shares traded.

  • source from Top Stocks Blog:http://www.topstocksblog.com/hot-value-stocks-for-2014.html

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Top 10 Low Price Stocks To Buy For 2014

Top 10 Low Price Stocks To Buy For 2014: ConAgra Foods Inc.(CAG)

ConAgra Foods, Inc. operates as a food company primarily in North America. It operates in two segments, Consumer Foods and Commercial Foods. The Consumer Foods segment provides branded, private label, and customized food products, which are sold in various retail and foodservice channels. It offers products in various categories, such as meals, entrees, condiments, sides, snacks, and desserts in frozen, refrigerated, and shelf-stable temperature classes. This segment?s principal brands include Alexia, ACT II, Banquet, Blue Bonnet, Chef Boyardee, DAVID, Egg Beaters, Healthy Choice, Hebrew National, Hunt?s, Marie Callender?s, Orville Redenbacher?s, PAM, Peter Pan, Reddi-wip, Slim Jim, Snack Pack, Swiss Miss, Van Camp?s, and Wesson. The Commercial Foods segment provides commercially branded foods and ingredients that are sold to foodservice, food manufacturing, and industrial customers. Its primary products consist of specialty potato products, milled grain ingredients, a ran ge of vegetable products, seasonings, blends, and flavors. This segment sells products under brands, such as ConAgra Mills, Lamb Weston, and Spicetec Flavors & Seasonings. The company was founded in 1919 and is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Ben Levisohn]

    Get ready for rotten food stocks today. Dean Foods (DF) has fallen 11% to $13.50 after it met earnings expectations but said the first quarter of 2014 would be “difficult.” Annie’s (BNNY), meanwhile, has dropped 8.7% to $38.19 after it missed earnings forecasts and offered a disappointing 2014 outlook. ConAgra Foods (CAG) has declined 5.5% to $29.35, after it too cut its full year guidance.

  • [By Dividends4Life]

    Fair Value: In calculating fair value, I consider the NPV MMA Differential Fair Value along with these four c! alculations of fair value, see page 2 of the linked PDF for a detailed description:

    1. Avg. High Yield Price
    2. 20-Year DCF Price
    3. Avg. P/E Price
    4. Graham Number

    HRL is trading at a premium to all four valuations above. The stock is trading at a 27.6% premium to its calculated fair value of $35.92. HRL did not earn any Stars in this section.

    Dividend Analytical Data: In this section there are three possible Stars and three key metrics, see page 2 of the linked PDF for a detailed description:

    1. Free Cash Flow Payout
    2. Debt To Total Capital
    3. Key Metrics
    4. Dividend Growth Rate
    5. Years of Div. Growth
    6. Rolling 4-yr Div. > 15%

    HRL earned one Star in this section for 2.) above. The stock earned a Star as a result of its most recent Debt to Total Capital being less than 45%. The company has paid a cash dividend to shareholders every year since 1928 and has increased its dividend payments for 48 consecutive years.

    Dividend Income vs. MMA: Why would you assume the equity risk and invest in a dividend stock if you could earn a better return in a much less risky money market account (MMA) or Treasury bond? This section compares the earning ability of this stock with a high yield MMA. Two items are considered in this section, see page 2 of the linked PDF for a detailed description:

    1. NPV MMA Diff.
    2. Years to > MMA

    HRL earned a Star in this section for its NPV MMA Diff. of the $984. This amount is in excess of the $500 target I look for in a stock that has increased dividends as long as HRL has. If HRL grows its dividend at 13.2% per year, it will take 7 years to equal a MMA yielding an estimated 20-year average rate of 3.68%.

    Memberships and Peers: HRL is a member of the S&P 500, a Dividend Aristocrat, a member of the Broad Dividend Achiever

  • source from Top Stocks Blog:http://www.topstocksblog.com/top-10-low-price-stocks-to-buy-fo! r-2014.ht! ml

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Best Stocks To Invest In 2014

Best Stocks To Invest In 2014: Maxygen Inc.(MAXY)

Maxygen, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing improved versions of protein drugs in North America and Europe. The company utilizes its MolecularBreeding directed evolution technology platform, along with ancillary technologies, and protein modification expertise to pursue the creation of biosuperior proteins. It engages in the discovery, research, and development of MAXY-G34 product candidates for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Redwood, California.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Geoff Gannon]

    1. Steel Excel (SXCL)
    2. FormFactor (FORM)
    3. Imation (IMN)
    4. Tuesday Morning (TUES)
    5. Pacific Biosciences (PACB)
    6. Maxygen (MAXY)
    7. Westell (WSTL)
    8. Volt Information Sciences (VISI)
    9. Yasheng Group (YHGG)

  • source from Top Stocks Blog:http://www.topstocksblog.com/best-stocks-to-invest-in-2014-2.html

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Euro Holds On To Strength

Related EWI Euro Improves On ECB's Positive Outlook ECB Meeting Anticipation Impacts Euro

The euro maintained its strength on Monday even as tension in Ukraine continued. The common currency traded at $1.3882 at 5:43 GMT, while Western officials condemned Russia's decision to take over the Crimean peninsula.

Reuters reported that German Chancellor Angela Merkel criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin's actions so far, and called Russia's influence over Crimea's referendum an illegal violation to Ukraine's constitution. Although Russian leaders claimed their presence in Crimea was intended to be peaceful, the region's citizens are becoming more and more restless.

Russian forces seized another port as well as a military airfield in Crimea over the weekend, causing thousands of Ukrainians to step up their protests in Crimea. Violence broke out in Sevastopol as Russian supporters attacked a group of Ukrainians.

The incident pushed China's president to step in, urging the region's protesters to remain calm while the world works to find a diplomatic solution to the region's troubles.

Meanwhile, the euro continued to trade near $1.39 despite the crisis. Many are worried that the common currency's strength will have a negative impact on eurozone companies' competitiveness. However, over the weekend French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said that is not the only factor weighing down businesses.

He said that although the euro's strength is hurting French companies, reform remains as the block's most powerful tool. Calls for the European Central Bank to bring down the euro's value have overshadowed some of the region's main concerns like debt restructuring and an overhaul of the bloc's financial system.

Posted-In: Angela Merkel Pierre Moscovici Vladimir PutinNews Eurozone Commodities Forex Global Federal Reserve Pre-Market Outlook Markets Best of Benzinga

© 2014 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

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Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Rules of the road for the Internet

The Internet has always thrived on the idea that its highways and byways are wide open roads with little outside interference.

So, you can understand the howls emanating from open Internet proponents, who feel besieged by a series of recent events that may have turned their cause on its head. 2014 has not been kind to them.

On Jan. 15, a federal appeals court threw out the Federal Communications Commission's open Internet rules — also called net neutrality — removing any legal barriers that would stop Internet service providers from interfering with or discriminating against any data sent through their pipes. The FCC lacked the proper oversight authority to enforce the rules, the court said.

A month later, Comcast agreed to buy Time Warner Cable for $45.2 billion, a deal that would merge the nation's No. 1 and No. 2 cable TV providers and create the largest Internet service provider in the U.S.

The tempest of reaction from merger opponents had hardly subsided when Comcast announced another stunning deal, this one with Netflix, just 10 days later. Buffeted by customer complaints about slow streaming, the most popular video service chose to speed up transmission by paying Comcast an undisclosed sum to have the cable powerhouse retrieve content directly from Netflix's servers rather than going through third-party distributors as it had before.

The emerging landscape these events suggest — a weakening regulatory environment at a time when media companies are consolidating to assert greater control over content providers — frightens those who prefer that the Internet pipes remain free and open for all.

Here are some questions to consider as the fate of the open Internet plays out:

Q: What is the open Internet?

The open Internet, or net neutrality, is a principle that says all legal content on the Internet is equal. The idea is that innovators and creative types would be encouraged to enliven the Internet if they're freed from the fear that their work co! uld be discriminated against by Internet Service Providers via subpar Internet delivery.

For example, according to this approach, Comcast should not be allowed to stream TV shows from its subsidiary NBCUniversal — or any video company that pays Comcast — more quickly than other material.

Q: What is the status of the FCC's open Internet rules?

As a result of the January ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, the FCC's rules are largely no longer in effect.

Q: So what's the FCC doing about that?

The FCC will not appeal the appeals court's ruling. Instead, the court allowed the agency to recast the rules, which it is doing.

Basically, the court said the FCC can regulate ISPs if it reclassifies them as "common carriers" — private companies that sell their commodity services to all consumers without discrimination, like utilities, rather than tailoring their rates for different types of consumers. The FCC chose to refrain from classifying ISPs as common carriers in 2010 because it wanted to refrain from overly regulating the Internet.

Top 5 Undervalued Stocks For 2015

The agency says the Telecommunications Act of 1996 allows it to regulate net neutrality violations on a case-by-case basis, and it'll continue to press this point.

Q: Why does Comcast's merger with Time Warner Cable worry open Internet proponents when Comcast doesn't directly compete with TWC?

Comcast and TWC currently offer Internet service to about 32 million customers in the U.S. The companies argue that their proposed marriage won't hurt competition because their service markets don't overlap and consumers have other options, such as Dish or DirecTV, that use satellites. But for most people in city centers and suburbs, Internet access beamed from satellites is thought to be slower and more cumbersome to install.And consumer advocates say that the lack of choice has! led to h! igher bills,and this trend will only accelerate.

While market size is a concern, merger opponents also are worried about the combined company's influence on content providers and other suppliers. Comcast owns NBCUniversal, 30 cable networks, 26 local TV stations and a stake in streaming service Hulu.

"There's a lot of content out there, but your Internet and cable company is the gateway to all that content," writes Craig Aaron, CEO of media watchdog Free Press, on SaveTheInternet.com. "It would have both the incentive and the power to limit access to competing content on the distribution platforms it owns."

Q: Why is Netflix's deal with Comcast such a shocker to net neutrality advocates?

Open Internet proponents see it as the first overt example of the pay-for-play practice that could invite abuse from ISPs.

Netflix is, by far, the largest Internet bandwidth hog, occupying nearly one-third of North American data traffic, according to technology firm Sandvine.

Netflix, like other content providers, uses third-party companies to store and move its content to ISPs. Once ISPs receive the content at their front door — think of the ISP as a large castle receiving delivery carts at the drawbridge on its moat — they then transmit data to consumers.

Netflix has sought Comcast to connect directly to its own servers to speed streaming, eliminating the middlemen. Comcast had refused the overtures until the new agreement emerged, forcing Netflix to pay for the privilege.

Because Netflix is in such heavy demand, the pipes that connect its third-party distributors and Comcast are clogged. That Netflix is now going to pay to relieve the bottleneck is hardly a net neutrality violation, says Dan Rayburn, an analyst at Frost & Sullivan. "Netflix should figure out the best economic way to get that traffic into the ISP's network," he says. Others believe Comcast deliberately slows the delivery of Netflix's content as it enters Comcast's network.

Q: How is! the Netf! lix-Comcast deal a game changer for the net neutrality debate?

Net neutrality regulators and proponents had operated with the assumption that the rules applied mostly only to the question of whether ISPs treat content fairly.

But the Netflix deal has them thinking more broadly. It's an example of why new net neutrality rules should be expanded to include these back-end "transit" deals, says Michael Weinberg, vice president of Public Knowledge.

That video could occupy 70% of all Internet traffic in the next three years — as predicted by Verizon Communications CEO Lowell McAdam last month — means that ISPs could start to squeeze content makers to pay to improve streaming, he says. "We're going to see a lot more of these problems in the next year or two," Weinberg says.

Monday, March 10, 2014

Beyond Boundaries: The Case for Global Equity - Causeway Capital Commentary

Top Gold Stocks To Buy Right Now

" When a man has put a limit on what he will do, he has put a limit on what he can do."

– Charles M. Schwab

From Causeway's inception in 2001, we embraced global equity as an alternative to the constrained international equity mandates requested by the vast majority of our clients. We recognized the benefits of screening globally for undervaluation among the world's best-run companies. The developed global investable universe is comprised of over twice the number of companies in the developed international universe. As a result, global has the potential to deliver significant performance advantages versus international. However, when we first launched global value equity over 12 years ago, we did not fully anticipate the potential of investing in global versus international developed markets. Although more efficient, on average, than its foreign peers, the US equity market invariably offers opportunities to exploit mispricing. The breadth and depth of the US equity market lends itself well to a developed markets portfolio without geographic limits. Unlike a dedicated US equity portfolio, a global portfolio may hold varying amounts of US-listed stocks. From a bottom-up perspective, we compare the risk-adjusted total return potential of the US-listed stocks to non-US alternatives. If given the choice, we prefer global equity mandates over international for their flexibility and their greater number of potential investment candidates.

The arguments for separating US and non-US equities typically revolve around a misguided notion of diversification. Today, many US-domiciled investors still think of their US equities as "core," and international equities as something different, unrelated to the US market. We argue just the opposite. High (and increasing) correlations of US and non-US equity returns imply that global factors eclipse local factors in driving developed market returns. Over the past 20 years, we have observed that industry-specific valuation differences in the developed markets have narrowed – and often vanished – across borders. Multi-national and/or exporting companies in the same industry, regardless of geographic domicile, share similar opportunities for growth. Efforts by investors to partition US from non-US developed markets also stemmed from a notion of specialization. How could an expert in non-US developed markets also succeed in the US market – and vice versa? Yet, we note, if research analysts do not span the globe, how can they ever understand fully their industries and the competitive environment? We believe that our analysis must compare political, regulatory and social changes impacting companies in one country/ region, and weigh the possible contagions to other regions.

To explore this comparison of global versus international, we spoke to Causeway fundamental and quantitative portfolio managers, Jamie Doyle and Joe Gubler Jamie and Joe, what evidence do you have in favor of giving an asset manager geographic discretion?

JD: I always start with Causeway's own track record. Our global value equity strategy has delivered an annualized 12%, net of fees, and returned 4.5% in excess of the MSCI World Index (to 12/31/13). This compares favorably with Causeway's international value equity strategy, which does not invest in the US, with an average annual return since inception of 9.4% and alpha of 3.1% versus the MSCI EAFE Index. For a bigger picture, we compared a universe of global portfolios to their international and US peers. The comparison corroborated our own positive experience with global equity.

Continue reading here.


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Sunday, March 9, 2014

Hot Net Payout Yield Companies To Own In Right Now

The first things to look for in the non-commercials net change indicator are group themes. Are there similar movements in the COT data in several markets within a group? This week the answer would be no. Against the background of geopolitical concerns and a US holiday last Monday, movements in COT data have been mostly muted. Still, there was some movement again in soybeans, as well as meal and oil. And copper continues to coil but non-commercials backed off their threat to cross to the net long side of the market.

This RadarScreen capture shows the net change in the net non-commercial position, expressed as a percent of the total non-commercial open interest, in the Commitments of Traders (COT) data released Friday, September 6.

Hot Net Payout Yield Companies To Own In Right Now: iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF (SHV)

iShares Lehman Short Treasury Bond Fund (the Fund) seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the short-term sector of the United States Treasury market as defined by the Lehman Brothers Short U.S. Treasury Index (the Index). The Index includes all publicly issued United States Treasury securities that have a remaining maturity of between 1 and 12 months, and have more than $250 million or more of outstanding face value. In addition, the securities must be denominated in United States dollars, and must be fixed-rate and non-convertible securities. Excluded from the Index are certain special issues, such as flower bonds, targeted investor notes, and state and local government series bonds (SLG5), and coupon issues that have been stripped from assets that are already included in the Index.

The Index is a market capitalization-weighted index. The Fund generally will invest at least 95% of its assets in the United States Government bonds. The Fund invests in a representative sample of the securities in the Index, which has a similar investment profile as the Index. The Fund�� investment advisor is Barclays Global Fund Advisor.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Donald van Deventer]

    Shorter-duration Treasury Exchange-Traded Funds: (SHY), (SHV), (IEI), (BIL), (TUZ), (FIVZ), (DTUL), (VGSH), (DTUS), (DFVS), (DFVL), (SST), (ISTB), (TBZ).

Hot Net Payout Yield Companies To Own In Right Now: Trex Company Inc.(TREX)

Trex Company, Inc. manufactures and distributes wood/plastic composite products, and related accessories primarily for the residential and commercial decking and railing applications in the United States. The company offers decking products, including Trex Transcend and Trex Enhance protective shells for protection against fading, staining, and scratching; Trex Accents that provides a smooth surface on one side and subtle wood grain on the other; Trex Escapes, a cellular PVC deck board; and Trex Hideaway, a hidden fastening system for specially grooved boards. It also provides railing products comprising Trex Designer Series Railing, which consists of a decorative top and bottom rail, refined balusters, and post caps and skirts; and Trex Transcend Railing for use with Trex decking products, as well as other decking materials. In addition, the company offers Trex Transcend Porch Flooring and Railing System, an integrated system of porch components and accessories; and fenci ng products, such as Trex Seclusions fencing product that uses interlocking pickets for privacy, and Trex Surroundings fencing that uses traditional pickets. Further, it provides TrexTrim product, a cellular PVC residential exterior trim product; steel deck framing systems under Trex Elevations name; and Trex DeckLighting, a line of energy-efficient LED dimmable deck lighting, which is designed for use on posts, floors, and steps. Additionally, the company acts as a licensor in various licensing agreements with third parties to manufacture and sell various products, including Trex Outdoor Furniture; Trex RainEscape, an above joist deck drainage system; Trex CustomCurve, an on-site system that allows contractors to heat and bend Trex products; and Trex Pergolas, a cellular PVC trim product. The company sells its products through wholesale distributors, retail lumber dealers, and Home Depot and Lowe?s stores. Trex Company, Inc. was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Winc hester, Virginia.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Rick Munarriz]

    Then we have Trex (NYSE: TREX  ) and Lumber Liquidators (NYSE: LL  ) , the wood-alternative decking and hardwood-flooring retailers that posted double-digit revenue growth in their most recent quarters. Yes, those stocks trade at slightly higher multiples, but in this video longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz explains why they are worth it and why it might be time to trade in the orange aprons for a better alternative to both Lowe's and Home Depot stock.

5 Best Warren Buffett Stocks To Invest In 2015: Dominion Diamond Corp (DDC)

Dominion Diamond Corporation, formerly Harry Winston Diamond Corporation, incorporated on March 26, 2013, is focused on the mining and marketing of rough diamonds to the global market. The Company supplies rough diamonds to the global market from production received from its 40% ownership interest in the Diavik Diamond Mine (the Diavik Diamond Mine) and its 80% interest in the Ekati Diamond Mine (the Ekati Diamond Mine). Both mineral properties are located at Lac de Gras in Canada�� Northwest Territories. On March 26, 2013, the Company completed the sale of its Harry Winston luxury brand business to the Swatch Group Ltd.

The Diavik Joint Venture (the Joint Venture) is an unincorporated joint arrangement between Diavik Diamond Mines Inc. (DDMI - 60%) and Dominion Diamond Diavik Limited Partnership (DDDLP - 40%), where DDDLP owns an undivided 40% interest in the assets, liabilities and expenses. DDMI is the operator (the Operator) of the Diavik Diamond Mine. During 2012, production at the Diavik Diamond Mine was approximately 7.2 million carats, consisting of approximately 4.3 million carats produced from 1.2 million tons of ore from the A-418 kimberlite pipe, 1.9 million carats produced from 0.4 million tons of ore from the A-154 South kimberlite pipe, and 0.9 million carats produced from 0.5 million tons of ore from the A-154 North kimberlite pipe. The Diavik Diamond Mine has three ore bodies: A-154 South, A-154 North, and A-418. An additional body of mineralization, A-21, is classified as resource.

The Ekati Diamond Mine consists of the Core Zone, which includes the operating mine and other permitted kimberlite pipes, as well as the Buffer Zone, an adjacent area hosting kimberlite pipes having both development and exploration potential. It encompasses 176 mining leases, totaling 173,024 hectares, and hosts 111 kimberlite occurrences including the Koala, Koala North, Fox, Misery, Pigeon, and Sable kimberlite pipes. The Buffer Zone is held 58.8% by the Company. It contains! 106 mining leases covering 89,151.6 hectares, and hosts 39 known kimberlite occurrences including the Jay and Lynx kimberlite pipes. As of December 31, 2012, production from the Diavik Diamond Mine has totaled 76.6 million carats of diamonds. As of December 31, 2012, production from the Ekati Diamond Mine has totaled approximately 53.54 million carats of diamonds.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Rich Smith]

    Toronto-based diamond miner Dominion Diamond (NYSE: DDC  ) -- the company formerly known as Harry Winston Diamond -- has completed its purchase of BHP Billiton's (NYSE: BHP  ) stake in the Ekati Diamond Mine, "as well as the associated diamond sorting and sales facilities in Yellowknife, Canada, and Antwerp, Belgium," Dominion Diamond announced Wednesday.

Hot Net Payout Yield Companies To Own In Right Now: Cenovus Energy Inc (CVE)

Cenovus Energy, Inc. (Cenovus), incorporated on January 1, 2011, is a Canadian integrated oil company. The Company�� operations include oil sands projects in northern Alberta, which use specialized methods to drill and pump the oil to the surface. It also has natural gas and oil production in Alberta and Saskatchewan. It operates in four segments: oil sands, conventional, refining and marketing, and corporate and eliminations. The Company has 50% ownership with Phillips 66 in two United States refineries, which includes Wood River (Illinois) and Borger (Texas) refineries. It has two producing steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) projects in the oil sands-Foster Creek and Christina Lake, as well as several emerging projects which are in various stages of development. Foster Creek and Christina Lake are 50%-owned by ConocoPhillips. It also produces heavy oil from the mobile Wabiskaw formation at its 100%-owned Pelican Lake operation in the Greater Pelican Region, about 300 kilometers north of Edmonton.

Its reserves and production are located in Canada, primarily within the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. As of December 31, 2012, it had a land base of approximately seven million net acres and Company Interest Before Royalties proved reserves of approximately 1,717 million barrels of bitumen, 184 million barrels of heavy crude oil, 115 million barrels of light and medium crude oil and NGLs and 955 billion cubic feet of natural gas. It also had Company Interest Before Royalties probable reserves of approximately 676 million barrels of bitumen, 105 million barrels of heavy crude oil, 56 million barrels of light and medium crude oil and natural gas liquefied (NGLs) and 338 billion cubic feet of natural gas as of December 31, 2012.

Oil Sands

The Oil sands segment includes the development and production of Cenovus�� bitumen assets at Foster Creek, Christina Lake and Narrows Lake, as well as heavy oil assets at Pelican Lake. This segment also includes the Atha! basca natural gas assets and projects in the early stages of development, such as Grand Rapids and Telephone Lake. Certain of the Company�� operated oil sands properties, notably Foster Creek, Christina Lake and Narrows Lake, are jointly owned with ConocoPhillips. As of December 31, 2012, it had bitumen rights of approximately 1,469,000 gross acres (1,097,000 net acres) within the Athabasca and Cold Lake areas, as well as the exclusive rights to lease an additional 478,000 net acres areas on the Cold Lake Air Weapons Range on its behalf and/or its assignee�� behalf.

As of December 31, 2012, there were 56 wells producing. It operates an 80 megawatt natural gas-fired cogeneration facility in conjunction with the SAGD operation at Foster Creek. The steam and power generated by the facility is presently being used within the SAGD operation and the excess power generated is being sold into the Alberta Power Pool. It has 50% interest in Christina Lake, an oil sands property in northeast Alberta that uses SAGD technology and produces from the McMurray formation. During 2011, the Company drilled three wells at Christina Lake using its Wedge WellTM technology. As of December 31, 2012, there were six producing wells.

The Company holds 50% interest in Narrows Lake, an oil sands property within the Christina Lake Region in northeast Alberta. The project includes gross production capacity of 130,000 barrels per day (bbls/d) of bitumen to be developed in up to three phases, with the first phase expected to have production capacity of approximately 45,000 barrels per day of bitumen. Using a pattern, horizontal well polymer flood, it produces heavy crude oil from the Cretaceous Wabiskaw formation at its Pelican Lake property, which is located within the Greater Pelican Region in northeast Alberta. During 2012, it drilled 76 heavy oil wells. The Company holds a 38% non-operated interest in 110 kilometers, 20-inch diameter crude oil pipeline, which connects the Pelican Lake area to a pipelin! e that tr! ansports crude oil from northern Alberta to crude oil markets.

The Company�� new resource play assets include oil sands properties. Its Grand Rapids property is located in the Greater Pelican Region in northeast Alberta, where deposits of bitumen have been identified in the Cretaceous Grand Rapids formation. Its Telephone Lake property is located in the Borealis Region in northeast Alberta. The Steepbank and East McMurray properties are also located in the Borealis Region, southwest of Telephone Lake. It produces natural gas from the Cold Lake Air Weapons Range and several surrounding landholdings located in northeast Alberta and hold surface access and natural gas rights for exploration, development and transportation from areas. The majority of its natural gas production in the area is processed through wholly owned and operated compression facilities.

Conventional

Conventional segment includes the development and production of conventional crude oil, NGLs and natural gas in Alberta and Saskatchewan. It includes the carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery project at Weyburn and emerging tight oil opportunities. As of December 31, 2012, it had an established land position of approximately 4.9 million gross acres, of which approximately 3.2 million gross acres are developed. The mineral rights on approximately 59% of its net landholdings are owned in fee title by Cenovus. It leases Crown lands in some areas in Alberta, mainly in the Early Cretaceous geological formations, primarily in the Suffield and Wainwright areas.

The Company holds interests in multiple zones in the Suffield, Brooks North, Langevin, Drumheller, and Wainwright areas in southern Alberta with a mix of medium and heavy crude oil production. Development in these areas focuses on infill drilling, optimization of existing wells and other specialized oil recovery methods. It operates water handling facilities to manage oil production. In the unitized portion of the Weyburn crude oil field ! in southe! ast Saskatchewan, it has 62% working interest. The Weyburn unit produces light and medium sour crude oil from the Mississippian Midale formation and covers 78 sections of land. As of December 31, 2012, approximately 90% of the approved CO2 flood pattern development at the Weyburn unit was completed. It holds interests in multiple zones in the Suffield, Brooks North, Langevin and Drumheller areas in southern Alberta.

Refining and Marketing

Refining and marketing segment is focused on the refining of crude oil products into petroleum and chemical products at two refineries located in the United States. The refineries are jointly owned with and operated by Phillips 66. This segment also markets Cenovus�� crude oil and natural gas, as well as third-party purchases and sales of product that provide operational flexibility for transportation commitments, product type, delivery points and customer diversification.

Through WRB Refining LP (WRB), the Company has 50% ownership interest in both the Wood River and Borger Refineries located in Roxana, Illinois and Borger, Texas respectively. ConocoPhillips is the operator and manager of WRB. As of December 31, 2012, the Wood River refinery had a processing capacity of approximately 306,000 barrels per day of crude oil, including approximately 110,000 barrels per day of heavy crude oil. It processes light low-sulphur and heavy high-sulphur crude oil that it receives from North American crude oil pipelines to produce gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, petrochemical feedstocks and asphalt. As December 31, 2012, the Borger Refinery had a processing capacity of approximately 146,000 barrels per day of crude oil, including approximately 35,000 barrels per day of heavy crude oil, and approximately 45,000 barrels per day of NGLs. It processes crude oil and NGLs that it receives from North American pipeline systems to produce gasoline, diesel and jet fuel along with NGLs and solvents.

The Company's Marketing group is focused ! on enhanc! ing the netback price of its production. It manages the transportation and marketing of crude oil for its upstream operations. It also manages the marketing of its natural gas, which is primarily sold to industrials, other producers and energy marketing companies.

Corporate and Eliminations

The segment includes inter-segment eliminations that relate to transactions that have been recorded at transfer prices based on current market prices, as well as unrealized intersegment profits in inventory. The Corporate and Eliminations segment also includes Cenovus costs for general and administrative and financing activities.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By gurujx]

    Cenovus Energy, Inc. (CVE) Reached the 3-year Low of $28.17

    The prices of Cenovus Energy, Inc. (CVE) shares have declined to close to the 3-year low of $28.17, which is 33.3% off the 3-year high of $40.73.

  • [By Stephan Dube]

    Athabasca's most notable producers:

    Suncor Energy (SU) (Part 1), see article here.Suncor Energy (Part 2), see article here.Athabasca Oil (ATHOF.PK), see article here.Canadian Natural Resources, see article here.Imperial Oil, see article here.Cenovus Energy (CVE), see article here.MEG Energy (MEGEF.PK), see article here.Devon Energy, see article here.Royal Dutch Shell, see article here.Ivanhoe Energy (IVAN), see article here.Nexen (CNOOC) (CEO), see article here.

    An analysis of the current operations of the company will be examined with the objective to provide the most complete information available to potential investors before deciding to seize the opportunity that the 54,132 square miles of the Carbonate Triangle has to offer. Let's start by introducing Athabasca, a famous and most prolific region in the Canadian oil sands as well as one of the largest reserve in the world.

  • [By Aaron Levitt]

    Realizing the error of its ways — i.e. spinning off its oil division as Cenovus (CVE) in 2009 — EnCana (ECA) has been spending much of the past year reinventing itself as a more balanced energy play rather than a strictly natural gas one. That has meant adding more liquids and shale oil back into its production mix.

Hot Net Payout Yield Companies To Own In Right Now: Stemline Therapeutics Inc (STML)

Stemline Therapeutics, Inc. (Stemline), incorporated on August 8, 2003, is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, acquiring, developing and commercializing therapeutics that target both cancer stem cells (CSCs) and tumor bulk. The Company is developing two clinical-stage product candidates, SL-401 and SL-701, for which it holds global marketing rights. The indication for SL-401, a biologic-drug conjugate, is acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The indications for SL-701, a synthetic peptide vaccine, are pediatric and adult brain cancer. It has a platform, StemScreen, for the discovery of CSC-targeted compounds, from which it has discovered or validated several of its clinical and preclinical product candidates. Stemline�� StemScreen consists of StemScreen-1 and StemScreen-2 for the identification of CSC-directed compounds.

SL-301 is a small molecule gamma-secretase inhibitor that inhibits Notch, a pathway expressed by CSCs and tumor bulk of multiple cancer types. SL-101 is a monoclonal antibody-based (mAb -based) compound that targets CD123 and has shown in vitro activity against certain hematologic cancers. SL-201 is a small molecule active against certain hematologic and solid tumor types. SL-601 is a mAb-based compound that targets a cell surface marker on bladder CSCs, which is also expressed on a variety of other solid tumor types. It has also in-licensed certain intellectual property directed to mAb-based therapeutics to validated oncology targets, including Glypican-3, Tie-1, CD133, Frizzled, Smoothened and Patched.

SL-401 - An IL-3R-Directed Compound Targeting Cancer Stem Cells and Tumor Bulk

SL-401 is a clinically active biologic-drug conjugate consisting of human interleukin-3 (IL-3) genetically linked to a truncated version of diphtheria toxin. SL-401 targets the IL-3 receptor (IL-3R), which is overexpressed on both the CSCs and tumor bulk of multiple hematologic cancers, including AML. SL-401 has demonstrated preclinical in vit! ro and in vivo activity against both leukemia blasts (which includes tumor bulk) and CSCs of a range of human leukemia cell lines and primary leukemia cells from patients.

SL-701

SL-701 is a clinically active synthetic peptide vaccine that targets several epitopes on CSCs and tumor bulk of brain cancer. In two completed Phase 1/2 clinical trials, SL-701 demonstrated single agent anti-tumor activity in pediatric patients with newly diagnosed brainstem glioma (BSG) and other high-grade gliomas (HGGs) and in adult patients with refractory or recurrent GBM, and other HGGs.

StemScreen-1

StemScreen-1 is a drug discovery platform designed to identify CSC-targeted compounds based on the isolation of CSCs and evaluation of CSC gene expression profiles. CSCs are isolated from primary tumor tissue or cell lines, and then subjected to gene expression analysis using a variety of technologies, including microarray. A control tissue, such as normal bone marrow is analyzed as a comparator against the gene expression profile of the isolated CSCs. These data are then interfaced with an information base of compounds and their mechanisms of action (that is which gene products and pathways they impact). It has utilized StemScreen-1 to discover a number of its preclinical drug candidates. These include SL-201, SL-301, and SL-601. In addition, SL-401 demonstrated activity against CSCs as determined by both an in vitro colony formation and in vivo animal implantation assay, thereby validating certain StemScreen-1 anti-CSC assays.

StemScreen-2

StemScreen-2 is a high throughput drug discovery platform it is developing to discover anti-CSC compounds. StemScreen-2 utilizes a cell-based assay that can track and follow CSCs in their natural state during high throughput screening. In particular, StemScreen-2 utilizes a CSC-specific promoter linked to a reporter as a method for identifying and following CSCs in their native environment of surrounding tumor b! ulk. In t! his way, StemScreen-2 enables the identification of compound hits, in a high throughput manner, with anti-CSC activity.

The Company competes with Boston Biomedical, Inc., Eclipse Therapeutics, Inc., OncoMed Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Verastem, Inc., Astellas Pharma US, Inc., Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma Co. Ltd., Geron Corp., GlaxoSmithKline plc, ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, Ltd, Macrogenics Inc., Amgen, Inc., Pfizer Inc., Roche Holding AG, Sanofi U.S. LLC., Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Sunesis Pharmaceuticals Inc., Clavis Pharma ASA, Ambit Biosciences Corporation, Celgene Corporation, Eisai Co. Ltd., Celator Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Merck & Co., Inc., Eisai Co., Inc., Roche Holding AG, Novartis AG and Celldex Therapeutics, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Keith Speights]

    Best-performing biotech IPO
    Stemline Therapeutics� (NASDAQ: STML  ) has only traded publicly this year, but what a year it's been. The stock's performance ranks Stemline as the best-performing biotech IPO so far in 2013. This week has been pretty good also, with shares moving up by 28%.

Hot Net Payout Yield Companies To Own In Right Now: Scholastic Corporation(SCHL)

Scholastic Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a children?s publishing, education, and media company primarily in the United States. The company?s Children?s Book Publishing and Distribution segment publishes and distributes children?s books through school-based book clubs and book fairs, ecommerce, and the trade channel in the United States. Its Educational Publishing segment publishes and distributes educational technology products and services, curriculum materials, children?s books and collections, classroom magazines, and print and online reference and non-fiction products for grades pre-K to 12 to schools and libraries in the United States. The company?s Media, Licensing, and Advertising segment creates and produces programming and digital content for various platforms, including television, DVDs, audio, movies, interactive games, applications, and Websites. This segment produces and sells a television library consisting of approximately 50 0 half-hour productions; produces television programming, including the animated series; creates audiovisual adaptations of classic children?s picture books; produces young adult and children?s audio recordings; and creates original and licensed consumer software, including handheld and console products with accessories and mobile applications for grades pre-K to 8. This segment also develops sponsored educational materials and supplementary classroom programs in partnership with government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and business organizations; and operates a direct-to-home catalog business specializing in children?s toys. Its International segment publishes and distributes products and services in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, India, China, Singapore, and other parts of Asia, as well as includes its export and foreign rights businesses. Scholastic Corporation was founded in 1920 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Jon C. Ogg]

    Teradyne will replace Scholastic Corp. (NASDAQ: SCHL) in the S&P MidCap 400, and Scholastic will replace Lincoln Education Services Corp. (NASDAQ: LINC) in the S&P SmallCap 600. Lincoln Education Services currently ranks 600th in the S&P SmallCap 600 and is no longer representative of the small cap market space.

  • [By Jeremy Bowman]

    What: Shares of Scholastic (NASDAQ: SCHL  ) were sliding again today, falling as much as 10% after the company posted another disappointing earnings report.

Hot Net Payout Yield Companies To Own In Right Now: Santa Fe Gold Corp (SFEG)

Santa Fe Gold Corporation (Santa Fe), incorporated in August 1991, is a mining company. As of June 30, 2012, the Company had four projects: its Summit silver-gold and Ortiz gold projects located in New Mexico, and its Black Canyon mica and Planet micaceous iron oxide projects located in Arizona. The Company has constructed a mill and are developing an underground mine at its Summit silver-gold project. Santa Fe�� Summit operations in southwestern New Mexico are conducted through its wholly owned subsidiary, The Lordsburg Mining Company. Its mica operations in Arizona are conducted through its wholly owned subsidiary, Azco Mica Inc. Santa Fe�� activity in Mexico is conducted through its wholly owned subsidiary, Minera Sandia, S.A. de C.V.

Summit Silver-Gold Project

The Summit silver-gold project includes the underground Summit silver-gold mine and related property consisting of 117 acres of patented mining claims and 740 acres of unpatented mining claims in Grant County, southwestern New Mexico, and the Banner mill, including mineral processing equipment consisting of a crushing and screening plant, a ball mill and a 400 ton-per-day flotation plant, and related property consisting of approximately 1,500 acres of wholly owned and leased patented and unpatented mining claims, located approximately 57 miles south of the Summit mine near Lordsburg, Hidalgo County, New Mexico. It owns and operates the Summit project under the Lordsburg Mining Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary. The Summit silver-gold property is located in Grant County, southwestern New Mexico, near the Arizona state line. The Banner mill site lies 57 miles to the south of the Summit property near the town of Lordsburg, Hidalgo County, New Mexico.

Santa Fe�� holdings at the Summit silver-gold property in Grant County, New Mexico consist of 10 patented federal mining claims totaling approximately 117 acres and 62 unpatented federal mining claims totaling approximately 740 acres. Its holdings at an! d adjacent to the Banner mill site in Hidalgo County, New Mexico consists of 86 wholly owned patented federal mining claims, 16 wholly owned unpatented mining claims, 17 leased patented mining claims and 6 leased unpatented mining claims, aggregating approximately 1,500 acres. All wholly owned claims are held in the name of Lordsburg Mining.

Ortiz Gold Project

The Ortiz Mine Grant, over which the Company holds a lease on the mineral estate underlying 42,297 acres (66 square miles) of segregated surface estate, is located 30 miles by road northeast of Albuquerque, Santa Fe County, New Mexico.

The Ortiz Mine Grant is underlain by mid-Tertiary monzonite and latite porphyry stocks, plugs, dikes and sills that have intruded Paleozoic to early-Tertiary sedimentary rocks. The intrusive rocks are part of the Ortiz Porphyry Belt, which comprises from north to south, the Cerrillos Hills, the Ortiz Mountains, the San Pedro Mountains, and South Mountain.

Black Canyon Mica Project

The Black Canyon mine is located 30 miles north of Phoenix, Arizona, and 3.5 miles west-southwest of Black Canyon City. The Glendale processing plant was located in an industrial area on the west side of Phoenix, Arizona, 47 miles to the south of the mine site. Its property holdings at and around the Black Canyon mine consists of 67 federal unpatented mining claims in Yavapai County, Arizona and nine federal unpatented mill site claims in Maricopa County, Arizona, which in total cover approximately 1,385 acres.

Planet Micaceous Iron Oxide (MIO) Project

The Planet property consists of thirty-one patented mining claims totaling 523 acres located in western Arizona. The Planet property is located in the northwest corner of La Paz County, west central Arizona. The property consists of thirty-one patented mining claims totaling 523 acres, consisting of an area of 3,600 feet wide by 8,000 feet long.

Lordsburg Exploration Project

T! he Compan! y in the the Lordsburg (Virginia) Mining District controls approximately 1,500 acres of prospective ground, the majority of which is comprised of patented mining claims that it owns, and the remainder patented and unpatented mining claims that it leases. As of June 30, 2012, the Company had completed an aerial mapping survey covering 30 square miles, carried out data compilation, conducted detailed geologic mapping and sampling, and conducted a geophysical survey.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By CRWE]

    Today, SFEG has shed (-0.32%) down -0.001 at $.154 with�50,738 shares in play thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 11:43AM EDT July 12, 2013), but don�� let this get you down.

    Santa Fe Gold Corporation previously reported it has amended the Mogollon option agreement with Columbus Exploration Corporation (CLX-TSX-V) (formerly Columbus Silver Corporation) under which Santa Fe may earn 100% interest in the Mogollon Project, Catron County, New Mexico. The Mogollon Project encompasses most of the Mogollon district in southwest New Mexico, which has substantial recorded historical production of silver and gold. The project fits Santa Fe�� strategic objective of developing new ore sources to augment ore currently processed though its Lordsburg flotation mill.

  • [By CRWE]

    Today, SFEG surged (+8.33%) up +0.010 at $.130 with 166,303 shares in play thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 11:59AM EDT July 8, 2013).

    Santa Fe Gold Corporation previously reported its Annual Stockholder Meeting is scheduled to be held at 10:00 a.m. Mountain Time on Tuesday, August 6, 2013, at the Albuquerque Marriott Hotel located at 2101 Louisiana Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87110. Santa Fe Gold Corporation is a gold and silver producer with operations in New Mexico. Its Summit mine achieved commercial production in 2012. Summit produces high value gold-silver concentrates and silica flux products that are sold under contract to domestic and overseas smelters.

  • [By CRWE]

    Today, SFEG has shed (-11.76%) down -0.016 at $.123 with 30,280 shares in play thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 10:48AM EDT July 16, 2013), but don�� let this get you down.

    Santa Fe Gold Corporation previously reported it has amended the Mogollon option agreement with Columbus Exploration Corporation (CLX-TSX-V) (formerly Columbus Silver Corporation) under which Santa Fe may earn 100% interest in the Mogollon Project, Catron County, New Mexico. The Mogollon Project encompasses most of the Mogollon district in southwest New Mexico, which has substantial recorded historical production of silver and gold. The project fits Santa Fe�� strategic objective of developing new ore sources to augment ore currently processed though its Lordsburg flotation mill.

  • [By CRWE]

    Today, SFEG remains (0.00%) +0.000 at $.139 with�31,100 shares in play thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 11:35AM EDT July 10, 2013).

    Santa Fe Gold Corporation previously reported it will receive an additional A$2.0 million from International Goldfields Limited (ASX: IGS), by way of a secured convertible note, increasing IGS��investment in Santa Fe to A$6.0 million. The funds will be used for working capital in support of improvement to mining operations.

    In conjunction with the IGS financing, Santa Fe is exploring a listing on the Singapore Catalist Stock Exchange (SGX-ST). Pierce Carson, CEO of Santa Fe said, ��ith the assistance of IGS and our Singapore-based financial advisor, we have formulated a clear strategy to improve our balance sheet, bring the Summit gold-silver mine into full project performance, refinance our senior secured debt and enhance Santa Fe�� trading market for our stockholders.��/p>

Hot Net Payout Yield Companies To Own In Right Now: Oceaneering International Inc.(OII)

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

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Jeremy Bowman]

    What: Shares of Oceaneering International (NYSE: OII  ) were rising with the tide today, gaining as much as 10% after delivering a strong quarter and a healthy dividend hike.

  • [By David Smith]

    I recently described to Fools why I believe National Oilwell Varco (NYSE: NOV  ) , Cameron International (NYSE: CAM  ) , and Oceaneering International (NYSE: OII  ) all stand to benefit from the steady march of the global oil industry into progressively deeper waters.

Hot Net Payout Yield Companies To Own In Right Now: W.R. Berkley Corporation(WRB)

W. R. Berkley Corporation, an insurance holding company, operates as commercial lines writers in the property casualty insurance business primarily in the United States. The company operates in five segments: Specialty, Regional, Alternative Markets, Reinsurance, and International. The Specialty segment underwrites third-party liability risks, primarily excess, and surplus lines, including premises operations, professional liability, commercial automobile, products liability, and property lines. The Regional segments provide commercial insurance products to small-to-mid-sized businesses, and state and local governmental entities primarily in the 45 states of the United States. The Alternative Markets segment develops, insures, reinsures, and administers self-insurance programs and other alternative risk transfer mechanisms. This segment offers its services to employers, employer groups, insurers, and alternative market funds, as well as provides a range of fee-based servic es, including consulting and administrative services. The Reinsurance segment engages in the underwriting property casualty reinsurance on a treaty and a facultative basis, including individual certificates and program facultative business; and specialty and standard reinsurance lines, and property and casualty reinsurance. The International segment offers personal and commercial property casualty insurance in South America; commercial property casualty insurance in the United Kingdom and continental Europe; and reinsurance in Australia, Southeast Asia, and Canada. The company was founded in 1967 and is based in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Laura Brodbeck]

    Earnings reports expected on Monday include:

    Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) is expected to report third quarter EPS of $0.48 on revenue of $1.10 billion, compared to last year�� EPS of $0.13 on revenue of $905.09 million. Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) is expected to report third quarter EPS of $1.19 on revenue of $2.07 billion, compared to last year�� EPS of $1.21. W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE: WRB) is expected to report third quarter EPS of $0.71 on revenue of $1.57 billion, compared to last year�� EPS of $0.61 on revenue of $1.42 billion. Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI) is expected to report third quarter EPS of $0.44 on revenue of $1.27 billion, compared to last year�� EPS of $0.56 on revenue of $1.31 billion.

    Economics

Hot Net Payout Yield Companies To Own In Right Now: Oramed Pharmaceuticals Inc (ORMP)

Oramed Pharmaceuticals Inc., incorporated on March 10, 2011, is a development-stage pharmaceutical company. The Company is engaged in the research and development of pharmaceutical solutions, including an orally ingestible insulin capsule or tablet to be used for the treatment of individuals with diabetes, use of orally ingestible capsules, tablets or pills for delivery of other polypeptides. The Company owns oral dosage form drug portfolio, it is, on an on-going basis, considering in-licensing and other means of obtaining additional technologies to complement and/or expand the product portfolio. The Company�� products include ORMD-0801 - Oral Insulin Capsule and ORMD-0901 - Oral Exenatide.

The Company focuses to conduct research and development on the technology covered by the patent application Methods and Composition for Oral Administration of Proteins. Through its research and development efforts, it focuses to develop an oral dosage form that will withstand the chemical environment of the stomach and intestines and will be effective in delivering active insulin for the treatment of diabetes. It intends to conduct the clinical trials to file an Investigational New Drug (IND), application with the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It also focuses to conduct research and development by deploying its drug delivery technology for the delivery of other polypeptides in addition to insulin, and to develop other pharmaceutical products.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Lisa Levin]

    Oramed Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ORMP) shares moved up 15.68% to $17.85. The volume of Oramed Pharmaceuticals shares traded was 971% higher than normal. Oramed received patent allowance in Israel, Australia for platform technology in oral delivery of proteins.

Hot Net Payout Yield Companies To Own In Right Now: Synutra International Inc.(SYUT)

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

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Seth Jayson]

    Synutra International (Nasdaq: SYUT  ) is expected to report Q4 earnings on June 13. Here's what Wall Street wants to see:

    The 10-second takeaway
    Comparing the upcoming quarter to the prior-year quarter, average analyst estimates predict Synutra International's revenues will contract -9.1% and EPS will decrease -84.6%.

  • [By Seth Jayson]

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

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

Hot Net Payout Yield Companies To Own In Right Now: Tesco PLC (TSCDY)

Tesco PLC, incorporated on November 27, 1947, is engaged in retailing and associated activities in the United Kingdom, China, the Czech Republic, Hungary, the Republic of Ireland, India, Malaysia, Poland, Slovakia, South Korea, Thailand and Turkey. The Company also provides retail banking and insurance services through its subsidiary, Tesco Bank. The Company�� operations in the United Kingdom is the within the Company, with over 3,000 stores. The Company�� in-store picking model is complemented by a small number of specialized dotcom-only stores, which allow the Company to respond to customer demand. The Company�� Click & Collect service is a part of its multichannel offering and enables customers to pick up their shopping when and where it suits them. It has over 1,500 Click & Collect collection points for general merchandise and over 150 Grocery Drive-thrus in the United Kingdom.

The Company�� operations in India include sourcing and its service centre, as well as a franchise arrangement with Tata Group. The Company�� Hindustan Service Centre (HSC) is the global services arm for Tesco worldwide, providing business services for Tesco operations globally. Tesco HSC is engaged in creating and executing strategic initiatives covering information technology (IT), Financial, Commercial and Property, among others. The Company also provides 80% of the stock sold by Star Bazaar, both food and non-food, sourced through its distribution centre in Mumbai. This distribution centre also provides wholesale products to traditional Indian retailers, kirana stores, restaurants and other businesses, providing small farmers and other suppliers with a way to sell their wares to the local market.

The Company has an online business and 22 of virtual stores in South Korean subways and bus stops, which help time-pressed customers, shop on-the-go using their smartphones. Tesco Lotus is its international business, serving over 11 million customers every week in over 1,400 stores. Tesco Bank! offer a range of simple personal banking products, principally-mortgages, credit cards, personal loans, and savings.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Kevin Godbold]

    So, this series aims to identify appealing FTSE 100 investment opportunities, and today ,I'm looking at Tesco (LSE: TSCO  ) (NASDAQOTH: TSCDY  ) , the well-known supermarket chain.

Hot Net Payout Yield Companies To Own In Right Now: Coronado Biosciences Inc (CNDO)

Coronado Biosciences, Inc., incorporated on June 28, 2006, is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel immunotherapy biologic agents for the treatment of autoimmune diseases and cancer. The Company�� two principal pharmaceutical product candidates in clinical development include Trichuris suis ova or CNDO-201 (TSO) a biologic comprising of the microscopic eggs of the porcine whipworm, for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, such as Crohn�� disease (Crohn��), ulcerative colitis (UC) and multiple sclerosis (MS), and CNDO-109, a compound that activates natural killer (NK) cells of the immune system to seek and destroy cancer cells, for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). In January 2011, the Company acquired the OvaMed GmbH License.

TSO

TSO is the microscopic eggs of a parasitic helminth, or worm, that is found in pigs. In September 2011, the Company filed an Investigational New Drug Application (IND) with the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and it initiated a single dose, dose escalation study in patients with Crohn�� in February 2012. The Phase 1 clinical trial was a multi-center, sequential dose-escalation, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, the primary objective of which was to evaluate the safety and tolerability of TSO. The trial enrolled 36 patients with Crohn�� ranging in age from 20 to 54 with an equal distribution of male and female patients in three single dose cohorts of orally administered 500, 2500 and 7500 ova. Each cohort had 12 patients, with nine patients receiving TSO and three receiving placebo.

CNDO-109

CNDO-109 is a lysate (disrupted CTV-1 cells, cell membrane fragments, cell proteins and other cellular components) that activates donor NK cells. CTV-1 is a leukemic cell line recently re-classified as a T-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL). The Company has worldwide rights to develop and commercialize CNDO-109 activated NK cells for the treatment of cancer fro! m UCLB. In February 2012, the Company submitted an IND for the CNDO-109 activated NK cell product in the United States. The treatment of patients with CNDO-109 activated NK cells involves several steps. The activated NK cells are infused into the patient after resting NK cells are incubated with CNDO-109 for at least eight hours. Preparation of CNDO-109 activated NK cells takes about 24 hours from start to finish.

The Company competes with Centocor Ortho Biotech Inc.�� Remicade , UCB S.A.�� Cimzia, Abbott Laboratories��Humira, Biogen Idec�� Avonex, Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals��Betaseron, Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries, Ltd.�� Copaxone and Novartis AG�� Gilenya.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By CRWE]

    Coronado Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq:CNDO), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel immunotherapy biologic agents for the treatment of autoimmune diseases and cancer, reported that it has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed public offering of 2,000,000 shares of its common stock. All shares proposed to be included in the offering will be sold by the company.

  • [By Roberto Pedone]

    One under-$10 biopharmaceutical player that's quickly moving within range of triggering a major breakout trade is Coronado Biosciences (CNDO), which is focused on novel immunotherapy biologic agents for autoimmune diseases and cancer. This stock has been hit hard by the bears in 2013, with shares off by 43%.

    If you take a look at the chart for Coronado Biosciences, you'll notice that this stock has been uptrending strong since it double bottomed in November, with shares moving higher from its low of $1.25 to its intraday high of $2.58 a share. During that uptrend, shares of CNDO have been consistently making higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move has now pushed shares of CNDO within range of triggering a major breakout trade.

    Traders should now look for long-biased trades in CNDO if it manages to break out above some key overhead resistance at $2.70 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 1.97 million shares. If that breakout hits soon, then CNDO will set up to re-fill some of its previous gap down zone from October that started near $7 a share. Some possible upside targets if CNDO gets into that gap with volume are $4 to $5 a share.

    Traders can look to buy CNDO off any weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right around some key near-term support at $2 a share. One can also buy CNDO off strength once it takes out $2.70 a share with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.

  • [By Roberto Pedone]

    Coronado Biosciences (CNDO) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on novel immunotherapy biologic agents for autoimmune diseases and cancer. This stock closed up 4.9% to $8.22 in Thursday's trading session.

    Thursday's Range: $7.84-$8.29

    52-Week Range: $4.00-$12.70

    Thursday's Volume: 323,000

    Three-Month Average Volume: 390,192

    From a technical perspective, CNDO spiked higher here right above its 200-day moving average of $7.63 with decent upside volume. This stock has been downtrending badly for the last three months, with shares falling from its high of $12.70 to its recent low of $7.32. During that move, shares of CNDO have been consistently making lower highs and lower lows, which is bearish technical price action. Shares of CNDO now look ready to reverse that trend and potentially trigger a near-term breakout trade. That trade will hit if CNDO manages to take out some near-term overhead resistance levels at $8.56 to $8.94 with high volume.

    Traders should now look for long-biased trades in CNDO as long as it's trending above its 200-day at $7.63 or above more support at $7.32 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 390,192 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then CNDO will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $9.50 to $10.35. Any high-volume move above those levels will then put its next major resistance level at $11 into range for shares of CNDO.