Ross Stores’ Disappointing Results: Aberration or a New Trend?

If you don’t have any goals, you can never be disappointed. And if you set your goals too high, you might get crushed. Ross Stores (ROST) might want to consider that in the future.

Bloomberg

Shares of Ross Stores have plunged today, after the retailer beat its third quarter guidance, but issued guidance below analyst forecasts. Reuters has the details on Ross Stores results:

For the quarter ended Nov. 2, Ross Stores reported a profit of $171.6 million, or 80 cents a share, up from $159.5 million, or 72 cents a share, in the prior-year period. The company in August said it expected per-share profit of 75 cents to 78 cents, which was below analyst estimates at the time.

Sales were up 6% to $2.4 billion. Analysts predicted $2.43 billion.

Same-store sales rose 2%, compared with a 6% gain in the prior-year period…

For the current quarter, the discount clothing and home-goods retailer said it expects per-share earnings of 97 cents to $1.01. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters recently expected $1.09 a share. The company also said it expects same-store sales to be up 1% to 2% in the period, compared with 5% growth last year.

Top Information Technology Stocks To Invest In Right Now

For a stock that had returned 49% this year–or more than 20 percentage points more than the S&P 500 and twice the average apparel store–that was hardly good news. Shares of Ross Stores have fallen 5.8% to $75.58 , while TJX Corp. (TJX) has dropped 1.4% to $63.08 and Gap (GPS) has declined 1.3% to $41.31.

Sterne Agee’s Ike Boruchow and Tom Nikic call the drop a buying opportunity. They write:

ROST’s top-line shortfall in Q3 was likely driven by government shutdown effects on its macro-sensitive, lower income demographic as comps decelerated in the back half of the quarter. Margin trends remain rock solid, as inventory is well controlled and full-price selling is up. Management now expects a slower holiday selling season, and given expectations were high heading into the print, shares could be under near-term pressure. We are buyers of this story on weakness.

Maxim Group’s Rick Snyder sees the weakness continuing and downgrades Ross Stores to Sell from Hold:

After an impressive run of mid-single-digit comp gains since 2008, the company failed to beat its Q3 comp guidance of a 2.0%-3.0% comp gain, recording a 2.0% Q3 comp gain. We view this as more than a one-time event and believe that the law of large numbers may be finally catching up to Ross at the same time consumer demand is falling.

So what time is it–to buy or to sell?

Top 10 Value Companies To Buy For 2014

On Monday, storage solution company Western Digital Corp (WDC) announced that it has agreed to acquire Virident Systems, Inc. for $685 million.

The flash storage solutions company will be purchased by HGST, which is a subsidiary of WDC, for a total of $685 million in cash. This amount represents approximately $645 million in enterprise value.

This deal will allow WDC to expand its presence in the solid state drives market. This market is expected to grow from $2.5 billion in revenue in 2012 to $7 billion in revenue by 2017.

Mike Cordano, president of Western Digital unit HGST commented: “Virident’s server-side flash storage helps datacenter customers solve their most significant data infrastructure challenges, including application performance across diverse workloads, power efficiency, and total cost of ownership.”

Top 5 Companies To Invest In 2015: Tupperware Corporation(TUP)

Tupperware Brands Corporation operates as a direct seller of various products across a range of brands and categories through an independent sales force. The company engages in the manufacture and sale of kitchen and home products, and beauty and personal care products. It offers preparation, storage, and serving solutions for the kitchen and home, as well as kitchen cookware and tools, children?s educational toys, microwave products, and gifts under the Tupperware brand name primarily in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Asia Pacific, and North America. The company provides beauty and personal care products, which include skin care products, cosmetics, bath and body care, toiletries, fragrances, nutritional products, apparel, and related products principally in Mexico, South Africa, the Philippines, Australia, and Uruguay. It offers beauty and personal care products under the Armand Dupree, Avroy Shlain, BeautiControl, Fuller, NaturCare, Nutrimetics, Nuvo, and Swissgar de brand names. The company sells its Tupperware products directly to distributors, directors, managers, and dealers; and beauty products primarily through consultants and directors. As of December 26, 2009, the Tupperware distribution system had approximately 1,800 distributors, 61,300 managers, and 1.3 million dealers; and the sales force representing the Beauty businesses approximately 1.1 million. The company was formerly known as Tupperware Corporation and changed its name to Tupperware Brands Corporation in December 2005. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Orlando, Florida.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Arie Goren]

  After running this screen on May 21, 2013, before the markets' open, I discovered the following eight stocks: Sunoco Logistics Partners LP (SXL), Leggett & Platt Inc (LEG), Copa Holdings SA (CPA), RPC Inc. (RES), Tupperware Brands Corp. (TUP), Herbalife Ltd. (HLF), John Wiley & Sons Inc. (JW.A) and C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. (CHRW).

• [By Johanna Bennett]

  Corporate earnings took a back seat today to the Fed�� latest policy decision. Still, quarterly financial results, and other news sent shares of McCormick & Co. (MKC) and Tupperware (TUP), falling during regular market hours�Here�� a rundown of several of today�� moves:

• [By Eric Volkman]

  Tupperware Brands (NYSE: TUP  ) is reaching into its corporate bowl for a fresh payout to shareholders. The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.62 per share. This will be paid on July 8 to stockholders of record as of June 19. That amount matches the firm's previous distribution, which was paid in early April. Prior to that, Tupperware Brands was rather less generous, handing out $0.36 per share.

Top 10 Value Companies To Buy For 2014: Dollar Tree Inc.(DLTR)

Dollar Tree, Inc. operates discount variety stores in the United States and Canada. Its stores offer merchandise primarily at the fixed price of $1.00. The company operates its stores under the names of Dollar Tree, Deal$, Dollar Tree Deal$, Dollar Giant, and Dollar Bills. Its stores offer consumable merchandise, including candy and food, and health and beauty care, as well as household consumables, such as paper, plastics, household chemicals, in select stores, and frozen and refrigerated food; variety merchandise, which includes toys, durable housewares, gifts, party goods, greeting cards, softlines, and other items; and seasonal goods, such as Easter, Halloween, and Christmas merchandise. As of April 30, 2011, it operated 4,089 stores in 48 states and the District of Columbia, as well as 88 stores in Canada. The company was founded in 1986 and is based in Chesapeake, Virginia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Teresa Rivas]

  Dollar General (DG) ended up on news it may bid for Family Dollar (FDO), which also logged gains at the expense of its current suitor, Dollar Tree (DLTR). Walgreen (WAG) gave up earlier gains on its July sales update to end the day in the red

• [By Lawrence Meyers]

  The finance sector, as mentioned, can make money in many ways. The second-highest growth sector is expected to be consumer discretionary, with a 6.2% increase. When you look at earnings from luxury brands like Tiffany & Co. (TIF), and that the hotel sector continues to do very well, it suggests that those people who are in good financial shape are spending their money. Meanwhile, dollar players like Dollar Tree (DLTR) continue to perform very well, suggesting that folks with less money are spending it on cheaper items.

Top 10 Value Companies To Buy For 2014: Schlumberger N.V.(SLB)

Schlumberger Limited, together with its subsidiaries, supplies technology, integrated project management, and information solutions to the oil and gas exploration and production industries worldwide. The company?s Oilfield Services segment provides exploration and production services; wireline technology that offers open-hole and cased-hole services; supplies engineering support, directional-drilling, measurement-while-drilling, and logging-while-drilling services; and testing services. This segment also offers well services; supplies well completion services and equipment; artificial lift; data and consulting services; geo services; and information solutions, such as consulting, software, information management system, and IT infrastructure services that support oil and gas industry. Its WesternGeco segment provides reservoir imaging, monitoring, and development services; and operates data processing centers and multiclient seismic library. This segment also offers variou s services include 3D and time-lapse (4D) seismic surveys to multi-component surveys for delineating prospects and reservoir management. The company?s M-I SWACO segment supplies drilling fluid systems to improve drilling performance; fluid systems and specialty tools to optimize wellbore productivity; production technology solutions to maximize production rates; and environmental solutions that manages waste volumes generated in drilling and production operations. Its Smith Oilfield segment designs, manufactures, and markets drill bits and borehole enlargement tools; and supplies drilling tools and services, tubular, completion services, and other related downhole solutions. The company?s Distribution segment markets pipes, valves, and fittings, as well as mill, safety, and other maintenance products. This segment also provides warehouse management, vendor integration, and inventory management services. Schlumberger Limited was founded in 1927 and is based in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jonas Elmerraji]

  Most of the selling last quarter took place in the energy sector -- and within it, no single stock got sold off as hard by funds as Schlumberger (SLB). All told, funds unloaded more than 4.57 million shares of the oil field servicer, a stake that's worth close to $430 million at current price levels. So, should you sell too? Not so fast.

  Schlumberger is the biggest oil service company on the planet. The firm's revenues come from a menu of specialized field services such as seismic surveys and well drilling and positioning. In a nutshell, SLB's job is to pull oil out of the ground as efficiently as possible -- and with oil prices in freefall, SLB's value proposition matters more now than it did when crude was trading in the triple-digits. Oil firms turn to Schlumberger because the tasks they need to accomplish are too nuanced or proprietary to pull off in-house. And that gives the firm a deep economic moat.

  Another part of SLB's deep moat comes from boots on the ground. Because Schlumberger is on-site at its clients' well locations, the firm is able to sell more complementary services at one time. The energy sector has gotten shellacked in the last few months, and frankly, that downward pressure isn't showing any signs of letting up. That said, SLB's revenues don't ebb and flow exactly in step with crude prices (unlike its clients), and shares look oversold here.

• [By Tony Daltorio]

  The biggest oilfield service companies should get a big lift from the boom, Moors said. That includes Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB), Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL), Weatherford International Ltd. (NYSE: WFT), and Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE: BHI).

Top 10 Value Companies To Buy 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 founded in 1925 and is headquartered in Peoria, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matt Thalman]

  Now that we've gotten through five months of 2013, it's a good time to review which stocks have performed well for the year, which haven't, and whether you should own any of them. With the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) having increased by 15.35% year to date, there have clearly been more big winners than big losers this year. With Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT  ) being the biggest Dow loser and down only 4.25% in 2013, and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ  ) being the biggest winner, up 71.37% in 2013, the difference is dramatic. But, let's look at why these stocks have performed the way they have, and whether you should own either of them. My conclusion may shock you!

Top Net Payout Yield Companies To Own In Right Now

Top Net Payout Yield Companies To Own In Right Now: Ishares Msci Korea (EWY)

iShares MSCI South Korea Index Fund (the Fund) seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of publicly traded securities in the aggregate in the South Korean market. The Fund's performance is measured by the MSCI Korea Index (the Index).

The Fund invests in a representative sample of securities in the Index, which has a similar investment profile as the Index. iShares MSCI South Korea Index Fund's investment advisor is Barclays Global Fund Advisors.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jeff Reeves]

  Of course, Samsungs massive presence has weighed on the region lately. In the last 12 months, the iShares MSCI South Korea Index Fund (EWY) has declined about 4%, pretty much the same performance as Samsungs stock.

• [By Benjamin Shepherd]

  The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index (NYSE: EEM) seems to have halted its slide. The index bottomed out year-to-date on February 3, when it was down 11.2 percent. Since then, it has gained 1.5 percent, but bargains in the emerging markets still abound.
  
  As I discussed in A Plan, Not a Panic two weeks ago, emerging markets are in much better economic shape today than they were even just a few years ago, much less during the currency crisis that peaked in 1998. Foreign exchange reserves are generally much more robust, budget deficits are narrower if they exist at all and, so far at least, the full-blown currency war that many were predicting last year isnt likely to breakout.
  
  With rationality finally setting in, this is a terrific time to do a little bargain hunting in the emerging markets.
  
  The most obvious play here is the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index itself. Covering China (18.8 percent of assets), South Korea (16 percent), Taiwan ( 12 percent) and Brazil (10.2 percent) with smaller positions spanning Asia and Europe, the fund is most exposed to any s! hift in sentiment.
  
  The fund is currently trading at just 10.2 times forward one-year earnings, well below its average of about 18 times over the past two decades. On a price-to-sales basis it is even more attractive valued at just 1.03 times; the last time the index was this cheap on a sales basis was early 2009.
  
  So while there are always dangers in trying to call a bottom to any market move, valuations alone are attractive enough to start pulling bargain hunters back in.
  
  A broadly diversified play on an emerging market turnaround, iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index is a great buy up to 45, which leaves plenty of room to run back to the average.
  
  For those who can tolerate a bit more risk, you can also drill down and make more country-specific bets.
  
  At this point my favorite would be iShares MSCI South Korea Index Fund (NY SE: EWY).
  
  Sout

source from Top Stocks To Buy For 2015:http://www.topstocksforum.com/top-net-payout-yield-companies-to-own-in-right-now.html

Hot Net Payout Yield Companies To Own In Right Now

Hot Net Payout Yield Companies To Own In Right Now: McCormick & Company Inc (MKC)

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (McCormick) manufactures, markets and distributes spices, seasoning mixes, condiments and other flavorful products to the food industry, retail outlets, food manufacturers and foodservice businesses. The Companys sales, distribution and production facilities are located in North America and Europe. Additional facilities are based in China, Australia, Mexico, India, Singapore, Central America, Thailand and South Africa. The Company operates in two business segments: consumer and industrial. During the fiscal year ended November 30, 2011, the Companys consumer business contributed 59% of sales and 79% of operating income and the industrial business contributed 41% of sales and 21% of operating income.

McCormicks products are sold directly to customers and also through brokers, wholesalers, and distributors. In the consumer segment, products are resold to consumers through a range of retail outlets, including grocery, ma ss merchandise, warehouse clubs, discount, and drug stores under a range of brands. In the industrial segment, products are used by food and beverage manufacturers as ingredients for their finished goods and by food service customers as ingredients for menu items to enhance the flavor of their foods. Customers for the industrial segment include food manufacturers and the foodservice industry supplied both directly and indirectly through distributors.

Consumer Business

The Companys brands in the Americas include McCormick, Lawrys and Club House. The Company also markets brands, such as Zatarains, Thai Kitchen and Simply Asia. In Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) its brands include the Ducros, Schwartz and Kamis brands of spices, herbs and seasonings and a line of Vahine brand dessert items. In the Asia/Pacific region its primary brand is McCormick, with the exception of India where its joint venture owns and trades un! der the Kohinoor brand. The Companys customers span a variety of retail outlets that include grocery, mass merchandise, warehouse clubs, discount and drug stores, served directly and indirectly through distributors or wholesalers. In addition to marketing its products to these customers, the Company is also a supplier of private label items, also known as store brands. More than 250 other brands are sold in the United States with additional brands in international markets.

Industrial Business

In its industrial business, the Company provides a range of products to multinational food manufacturers and foodservice customers. The foodservice customers are supplied both directly and indirectly through distributors. Its range of products include seasoning blends, natural spices and herbs, wet flavors, coating systems and compound flavors. In addition to a broad range of flavor solutions, we strive to achieve customer intimacy.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Reuters]

  Toby Talbot/AP NEW YORK -- A voluntary effort by the world's largest food and beverage companies to remove billions of calories from the products they sell in the United States to help combat the nation's obesity epidemic has far exceeded its five-year goal, according to an independent evaluation released Thursday. In May 2010, 16 of the nation's biggest food and beverage companies, from Coca-Cola (KO) to Kraft Foods Group (KRFT), pledged to remove 1 trillion calories from the U.S. marketplace by 2012 and 1.5 trillion by 2015, compared with a 2007 baseline. In fact, as of 2012 they sold 6.4 trillion fewer calories, found an analysis by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "Reports like this, and the fact that they exceeded their commitment by fourfold, really shows that you can make progress in giving American families more healthy options," said Larry Soler, president of the Partnership for a Healthier America, a non-profit chaired by first lady Michelle Obama. The ! group was! formed in 2010 to work with the private sector on anti-obesity strategies. At the time, critics said the Partnership relied too heavily on the good will of the industry and couldn't replace the role of tighter regulation on how food is manufactured and marketed. Such voluntary efforts by industry "are not a magic bullet," said Jeff Levi, executive director of Trust for America's Health, a non-profit policy group. "Particularly with kids, there is a role for regulation" in reducing demand for unhealthy, high-calorie fare. It isn't clear yet how the companies accomplished the dramatic calorie reduction, said UNC public health researcher Barry Popkin, who led the analysis funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the nation's largest public health philanthropy. Some of the decline may have come from the recession, as financially strapped families cut back on junk food. When the pledge was announced, companies said they would substitute lower-calorie pro

• [By Sure Dividend]

  No matter how much information we have, people will always need to eat. One way to look at if an industry has managed to grow over decades is to see how many Dividend Aristocrats the industry claims. Dividend Aristocrats are businesses that have increased their dividend payments for 25 or more consecutive years, and meet certain size and liquidity requirements. These are businesses that have withstood all of the changes of the last 25 or more years, and managed to grow consistently and profitably. There are 54 Dividend Aristocrats. The list below shows the Dividend Aristocrats whose primary business relates to food and/or beverages:

  McDonalds (MCD) Coca-Cola (KO) PepsiCo (PEP) McCormick & Co. (MKC) Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM) Hormel Foods (HRL) Brown-Forman (BF.B) Sysco (SYY)

  Of the 54 Dividend Aristocrats, eight (~15%) make their money from food and/or beverages. Interestingly, six of the seven (ADM and SYY are the exception) make their money from branded consumer food and beverages. If you ar! e looking! for slow-changing businesses that grow year after year, branded food companies are a good place to search.

• [By Jason Moser]

  McCormick (NYSE: MKC  )
  I still gush about my trip to the McCormick spice factory in Hunt Valley, Md. As someone who cooks a decent bit, it was just really cool to see how the operation works. It's more than just "spices"; it's science. They have labs where they perform research and try new things; it was just really cool. But I'm not picking this stock with my heart. Nope, I also love the fact that McCormick has a spot in virtually every pantry in the country. Open yours up, I bet you have a McCormick product in there. And it's this ubiquitous presence that has helped McCormick grow sales at a 7% annualized clip over the past five years.

• [By Chuck Carnevale]

  Other reasons besides irregular earnings growth that caused a Dividend Champion to be rejected include one of my all-time favorites, valuation. Or to be more precise overvaluation. The following example, McCormick & Co. (MKC), represents one of my favorite Dividend Champions based on a very consistent above-average record of earnings growth that produced its impressive dividend streak. The only reason that this Dividend Champion was rejected was because of current overvaluation.

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.seekpennystocks.com/hot-net-payout-yield-companies-to-own-in-right-now.html

Billionaire Backers on a Shifting Sea of 52-Week Lows

In two months, the number of U.S. stocks on a 52-week low has dropped from over a thousand companies to today's 573 stocks. But the virtual sea of 52-week lows is by no means overfished. Check out the GuruFocus 52-week low screener to find not only U.S. stocks with possible deep value but also thousands of others around the world.

Utilities, banking and real estate investment trusts are three industry sectors that have changed dramatically in just 60 days. Here are some sector highlights on a 52-week low, with billionaire backers and in some cases, active insiders and yield.

Utilities – Regulated

Two months ago, this sector had 59 stocks out of 154 on a 52-week low. Today the regulated utilities sector has 24 stocks out of 155 on a 52-week low, and the low ratio is 0.15.

Highlight: Exelon Corp. (EXC)

The EXC share price is currently $28.01 or 25.9% off the 52-week high of $37.80. Its yield is 5.97%.

Down 22% over 12 months, Exelon Corp. has a market cap of $23.99 billion and is traded at a P/E of 20.70.

Incorporated in 1999, Chicago-based Exelon Corporation is a public utility holding company and one of the largest competitive power generators in the US. The company operates through its principal subsidiaries, ComEd, PECO and Generation, to deliver electricity and natural gas to approximately 6.6 million customers in Maryland, Illinois , and Pennsylvania. Exelon has operations and business activities in 47 states, the District of Columbia and Canada.

Guru Action: Twelve gurus hold EXC shares, as of June 30, 2013, and there is recent insider selling.

Hotchkis & Wiley is the top guru stakeholder, holding 14,208,753 shares or 1.66% of shares outstanding. The firm increased its position by 23.43% in the second quarter of 2013, buying 2,696,907 shares at an average price of $34.01, for a loss of 17.6%.

The five-year trading history shows all losing quarters. The firm averaged a loss of 39% on 15,056,534 shares bought at an average price o! f $46.25 per share. The firm also lost 38% selling 4,709,801 shares at an average price of $44.96 per share.

Tracking share price, revenue and net income:

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Banks

Two months ago, this sector had 94 stocks out of 657 on a 52-week low. Today the banking sector has 49 stocks out of 624 on a 52-week low, and the low ratio is 0.08.

Highlight: Berkshire Bancorp (BERK)

The BERK share price is currently $7.83 or 13% off the 52-week high of $9.00. Its yield is 1.00%.

Down 6% over 12 months, Berkshire Bancorp has a market cap of $115.4 million and is traded at a P/E of 12.90.

Berkshire Bancorp Inc. is a bank holding company whose principal activity is the ownership and management of its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary, The Berkshire Bank , a state-chartered commercial bank in New York.

Guru Action: As of June 30, 2013, one guru holds BERK shares and there is recent insider trading.

As of June 30, 2013, Jim Simons reduced his position by 4.67%, selling 500 shares at an average price of $8.22 per share, and taking a loss of 4.7%. Simons has held for two quarters, averaging a loss of 5% on 10,700 shares bought at an average price of $8.28 per share.

Tracking share price, revenue and net income:

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Real Estate Investment Trusts

At the end of August, this sector had 86 stocks out of 176 on a 52-week low. Today the REITs sector has 34 stocks out of 182 on a 52-week low, and the low ratio is 0.19.

Highlight: Gyrodyne Company of America (GYRO)

The GYRO share price is currently $73.85 or 35.7% off the 52-week high of $114.80. The company does not pay a dividend.

Down 31% over 12 months, Gyrodyne Company of America has a market cap of $109.2 million and is traded at a P/B of 1.70.

Organized in 1946, Gyrodyne Company of America Inc. is! a self-m! anaged and self-administered real estate investment trust (REIT). The company's primary business is the investment in and the acquisition, ownership and management of a geographically diverse portfolio of medical office and industrial properties. The company also develops industrial and residential properties.

Top Quality Stocks To Watch Right Now

Guru Action: As of June 30, 2013, two gurus hold GYRO shares. There is no recent insider trading to report.

As of June 30, 2013, Michael Price is the top guru stakeholders, holding 47,210 shares or 3.19% of shares outstanding.

His five-year trading history shows mixed results, making a rare gain of 1.5% holding 47,210 shares at an average price of $72.73 per share. Price averaged a loss of 12% on 45,019 shares bought at an average price of $83.59 per share. He also lost 16% selling 3,200 shares at an average price of $88.08 per share.

Tracking share price, revenue and net income:

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Check out the GuruFocus special feature 52-week low screener to find the stocks hitting new lows but are still held by top investor Gurus and Insiders.

Best Defense Stocks To Own For 2015

Best Defense Stocks To Own For 2015: Wesco Aircraft Holdings Inc (WAIR)

Wesco Aircraft Holdings, Inc., formerly Wesco Holdings, Inc., incorporated on July 21, 2006, a holding company for Wesco Aircraft Hardware Corp. The Company is a distributor and provider of supply chain management services to the global aerospace industry. Its services range from traditional distribution to the management of supplier relationships, quality assurance, kitting, just-in-time (JIT), delivery and point-of-use inventory management. The Company operated principally in three geographic areas, North America, Europe and markets, such as Asia, Pacific Rim and the Middle East. Wesco Aircraft Hardware Corp, its wholly owned, primary domestic operating subsidiary, Wesco Aircraft Europe, Ltd., its primary foreign operating subsidiary, and certain other foreign operating subsidiaries, in connection with the acquisition of 100% of the outstanding stock of Wesco Aircraft Hardware Corp., Wesco Aircraft Israel and the European entities of Flintbrook Ltd., Wesco Aircraft Franc e and Wesco Aircraft Germany by Wesco Aircraft. In July 2012, the Company completed the acquisition of Interfast Inc. In March 2014, Wesco Aircraft Holdings Inc completed the acquisition of Haas Group Inc from certain investment funds affiliated with The Jordan Company, L.P.

Kitting involves the packaging of an entire bill of materials or a complete ship-set of parts, which reduces the amount of time workers spend retrieving parts from storage locations. Kits can be customized in varying configurations and sizes and can contain up to several hundred different parts. JIT supply chain management involves the delivery of parts on an as-needed basis to the point-of-use at a customer's manufacturing line. The Company supplies approximately 450,000 different stock keeping units (SKUs), including hardware, bearings, tools, electronic components and machined parts. During the fiscal year ended September 31, 2010 (fiscal 2010), sales of hardware r! epresented 80% of its ne t sales, with highly engineered fasteners constituting 83% o! f that amount. The Company serves its customers under three types of arrangements: JIT contracts, which govern outsourced supply chain management services; long term agreements (LTAs), which set prices for specific parts; and ad hoc sales. JIT contracts and LTAs, together consists of approximately 63% of its fiscal 2010 net sales. The Company supplies products to approximately every Western aircraft in production, including the B-787, B-737, B-747, A-320, JSF and V-22.

Hardware

Sales of C class aerospace hardware represented approximately 80% of its fiscal 2010 product sales. Fasteners are its product category, consisting of approximately 83% of its hardware sales in fiscal 2010. Fasteners include a range of engineered aerospace parts that are designed to hold together two or more components, such as rivets (both blind and solid), bolts (including blind bolts), screws, nuts and washers. Many of these fasteners are designed for use in specific aircr aft platforms and others can be used across multiple platforms.

Bearings

The Company offers aerospace bearings. Its product offering includes a variety of standard anti-friction products designed to both commercial and military aircraft specifications, such as airframe control bearings, rod ends, spherical bearings, ball bearing rod ends, roller bearings and bushings.

Electronic Components

The Company offers interconnect and electro-mechanical products, including connectors, relays, switches, circuit breakers and lighted products. The Company also offers value-added assembled products, including mil-circular and rack and panel connectors and illuminated push button switches. The Company maintains connector components in inventory, which allows the Company to respond to customer orders. In addition, its lighted switch assembly operation affords customers same day service, including engraving capabili! ties in m! ultiple languages.

Machined Parts and Other

Machined par! ts are de! signed for a specific customer and are assigned original product manufacturers (OEM)-specific SKUs. The machined parts, the Company distributes include laser cut or stamped brackets, milled parts, shims, stampings, turned parts and welded assemblies made of materials ranging from high-grade steel or titanium to nickel based alloys. The Company stock a range of tools needed for the installation of its products, including air and hydraulic tools, as well as drill motors, and the Company also offers factory authorized maintenance and repair services for these tools. In addition to selling these tools, the Company also rents or leases these tools to its customers.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Vera Yuan]

  Dear Fellow Shareholder: The U.S. economy continues to gradually expand, building on the 5+ year recovery from the Great Recession. Employment levels are improving, though progress has been slower than expected. Inflation, for now, remains subdued. As signaled and on cue, the Fed has been weaning the economy (and investors) off of the extraordinary quantitative easing stimulus. Investors have generally shrugged off world events that might otherwise cause high anxiety (ISIS and the Middle East, Russia and Ukraine, etc.). As attention now turns to when the Fed will raise short-term interest rates, it seems plausible that volatility may intensify as the stimulus security blanket is removed. In the meantime, companies are taking advantage of the artificially low interest rate environment and sanguine investor sentiment. Merger activity remains robust, fueled by cheap and readily available credit. The IPO market has been very active, headlined by the successful Alibaba offering in September. Corporate treasurers continue to issue loads of debt on attractive terms, locking in generationally low interest rates for long terms. While these conditions will not last forever, they have helped oppo! rtunistic! managers accelerate equity value growth at many companies.Investment Commentary and Outlook After three years of seemingly non-stop gains, the stock market took a pause in the third quarter. While most large cap indices eked out modest positive returns, the broader investing waters were far less placid. Small cap stocks sold off as the Russell 2000 declined more than 7% during the quarter. Energy stocks, both large and small, fell materially as investors worried about too much oil and gas supply coming online in North America (what a difference a decade makes). High yield bonds wobbled briefly in July, then again in September. Increasingly, investors are not treating all securities the same, and as stock pickers we welcome this development. Our equity funds resu

• [By Holly LaFon]

  We initiated a small position in Wesco Aircraft Holdings (WAIR) during the quarter. Wesco is a distributor and supply chain manager to the commercial and military aerospace markets. The company should benefit from the multi-year commercial aerospace build-out that is underway. We expect this tailwind to provide visible growth through at least 2017. Wesco also has an opportunity to provide more services to large defense contractors as funding pressures force the industry to become more efficient. If the company can improve margins along the way, we think the resulting earnings growth could provide reasonable-to-good return potential for the stock.From Wallace Weitz (Trades, Portfolio)'s first quarter 2014 report.Also check out: Wallace Weitz Undervalued Stocks Wallace Weitz Top Growth Companies Wallace Weitz High Yield stocks, and Stocks that Wallace Weitz keeps buying Currently 0.00/512345

  Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes)

• [By alicet236]

  Wesco Aircraft Holdings Inc. (WAIR): Chairman, President and CEO Randy J. Snyder Sold 70,000 Shares

  Chairman, President and CEO of Wesco Aircraft Holdings Inc. (WAIR) Randy J. Snyder sold 70,000 shares during the past week at an average pric! e of $19.! 77. Wesco Aircraft Holdings Inc. has a market cap of $1.86 billion; its shares were traded at around $19.71 with a P/E ratio of 18.50 and P/S ratio of 2.10.

source from Top Stocks To Buy For 2015:http://www.topstocksforum.com/best-defense-stocks-to-own-for-2015-3.html

Are employers dumping health benefits because of Obamacare?

5 Best Safest Stocks To Own For 2015

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) There are many assumptions about what the effects of Obamacare will be. This series aims to separate myths from realities and answer questions surrounding the Affordable Care Act.

Myth: Employers are dumping health benefits because of Obamacare.

Reality: It's true that Obamacare is raising costs on employers. And some are either passing those increased tabs to workers or are cutting back on benefits to keep costs under control.

Several employers -- including UPS (UPS, Fortune 500), Delta (DAL, Fortune 500) and University of Virginia -- have recently cited Obamacare as a source of increased costs. UPS and University of Virginia will no longer provide benefits for spouses with coverage options elsewhere. Trader Joe's and Home Depot (HD, Fortune 500)are shifting part-time workers to the Obamacare exchanges.

Some companies are making major changes that aren't directly related to Obamacare, but embrace the idea of health insurance exchanges. IBM (IBM, Fortune 500) and Time Warner (TWX, Fortune 500) are moving retirees to private exchanges, while Walgreens (WAG, Fortune 500) is shifting all its employees to a private exchange next year.

But Obamacare is not the only reason behind the benefits adjustments.

"An increase in costs of a few percent isn't enough to cause widespread changes in benefits," said Larry Levitt, senior vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Other factors, such as the improving economy, are contributing to rising costs since people use more medical care when the economy is healthier.

Also, companies have been shifting costs to employees for years. While UPS will limit its spousal coverage, it is not the first company to do so.

  Starbucks CEO on Obamacare plans

"The ACA is definitely escalating the pace of change," said Sandy Ageloff, senior consultant with Towers Watson, a professional services firm.

Not all companies, however, are planning to pull back on benefits. Starbucks' CEO Howard Schultz told CNN earlier this month that Starbucks will not change its coverage even though Obamacare will raise its costs.

"I don't believe that ... the health care law should be a reason or a motivation to cut benefits for either the employee or spouses," Schultz said. "An investment in your people is an investment in shareholder value."

Top 5 New Companies To Buy For 2015

Top 5 New Companies To Buy For 2015: KiOR Inc (KIOR)

KiOR, Inc. (KiOR), incorporated on July 23, 2007, is development- stage company. KiOR is a renewable fuels company engaged in producing cellulosic gasoline and diesel from abundant non-food biomass. Cellulosic fuel is derived from lignocellulose found in wood, grasses and the non-edible portions of plants. The Company generates hydrocarbons from renewable sources . Its end products are fungible hydrocarbon-based gasolines and diesels that can be used as components in formulating finished gasoline and diesel fuels, rather than alcohols or fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) such as ethanol or biodiesel. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company commenced construction of its initial-scale commercial production facility in Columbus, Mississippi, designed to process 500 bone dry ton per day (BDT) of feedstock per day, As of December 31, 2011, the Company had not generated any revenues.

The Company has developed a process that converts non-food lignocellulos e into gasoline and diesel that can be transported using the existing fuels distribution system for use in vehicles on the road. Its biomass-to-cellulosic fuel technology platform combines catalyst systems with fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) processes that have been used in crude oil refineries to produce gasoline. The biomass fluid catalytic cracking (BFCC) process operates at moderate temperatures and pressures to convert biomass in a matter of seconds into the renewable crude oil that can be processed using standard refining equipment into its cellulosic gasoline and diesel. In its demonstration unit the Company varies its volume output of gasoline from 37% to 61%, diesel from 31% to 55% and fuel oil from 8% to 9% from its renewable crude oil. The Company focuses on its commercialization efforts with respect to its gasoline and diesel. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had 76 pending original patent application families containing over 2,300 pending claims.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Robert Rapier]

  Commercialization all the way to gasoline and diesel remains elusive however. One company that has attempted to commercialize a variant of the fast pyrolysis/upgrading pathway is KiOR (Nasdaq: KIOR), a biofuel company that famed venture capitalist Vinod Khosla took public in 2011.

• [By John Udovich]

  As a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report comes out about wasteful spending on biofuels, small cap renewable biofuel stock Gevo, Inc (NASDAQ: GEVO) reported earnings that came in below expectations -meaning its worth taking a closer look at the GAO report, the stock and the performance of KiOR Inc (NASDAQ: KIOR), Solazyme Inc (NASDAQ: SZYM) and Syntroleum Corp (NASDAQ: SYNM).

source from Top Stocks To Buy For 2015:http://www.topstocksforum.com/top-5-new-companies-to-buy-for-2015-2.html

Top Penny Stocks To Own For 2014

This company's announcement earlier this week was leaps and bounds above all the Wall Street expectations, writes MoneyShow's Jim Jubak, also of Jubak's Picks.

The stock market liked what it heard Wednesday, August 7, from Thompson Creek Metals (TC) after the close in New York. Second quarter adjusted net earnings of 8 cents a share crushed the Wall Street consensus of a penny a share. Revenue climbed 3.8% to $117.8 million versus expectations for revenue of just $1.3.8 million. The company also said that its new Mt. Milligan mine is on schedule with a start-up for the concentrator expected this month, with first ore-feed by mid-August. The company said it expects commercial production to begin in the fourth quarter of 2013, with production ramping to full capacity over the next twelve months.

All this is certainly good news for a miner that looked like it might run out of cash before it got the Mt. Milligan mine into production. The shares were up 13.6% yesterday on the news, as of 3:00 pm New York time. Thompson Creek Metals is a member of my long-term Jubak Picks 50 portfolio.

Top Consumer Service Stocks To Watch For 2015: Kohlberg Capital Corporation(KCAP)

Kohlberg Capital Corporation is a private equity and venture capital firm specializing in buyouts and mezzanine investments. It focuses on mature and middle market companies. The firm structures its investments through senior debt, second lien debt, secured and unsecured subordinated debt, mezzanine debt, and equity. It invests in all sectors except cyclical industries. The firm invests equity in both minority and control transactions alongside other equity investors. It invests through its own balance sheet. Kohlberg Capital Corporation is based in the New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Gerson]

  KCAP Financial (NASDAQ: KCAP) is projected to report its Q4 earnings at $0.25 per share on revenue of $13.27 million.

  Home Inns & Hotels Management (NASDAQ: HMIN) is estimated to post its Q4 earnings at $2.18 per share on revenue of $1.54 billion.

Top Penny Stocks To Own For 2014: QC Holdings Inc.(QCCO)

QC Holdings, Inc. provides various retail consumer financial products and services in the United States. The company offers payday loans that provide cash to the customers in exchange for a promissory note with a maturity of two to three weeks. It also provides financial products and services, such as installment loans, credit services, check cashing services, title loans, money transfers, and money orders. In addition, QC Holdings operates as a credit services organization that arranges a third-party lender to make a loan to the consumer and for providing related services to the consumer, including a guarantee of the consumer?s obligation to the third-party lender. Further, the company sells used vehicles and earns finance charges from the related vehicle financing contracts; and provides reconditioning services on its inventory of vehicles, and repair services for its customers. As of As of December 31, 2010, the company operated 523 short-term lending branches in 24 sta tes; and 5 buy here, pay here lots located in Missouri and Kansas. QC Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lisa Levin]

  QC Holdings (NASDAQ: QCCO) shares tumbled 3.68% to reach a new 52-week low of $1.83. QC Holdings shares have dropped 42.60% over the past 52 weeks, while the S&P 500 index has gained 31.67% in the same period.

• [By Monica Gerson]

  QC Holdings (NASDAQ: QCCO) shares tumbled 2.58% to reach a new 52-week low of $2.27. QC Holdings' trailing-twelve-month profit margin is 0.60%.

  NewLead Holdings (NASDAQ: NEWL) shares dipped 6.56% to touch a new 52-week low of $0.08 after the company completed the acquisition of titles in the Viking Mine located in Kentucky, USA.

Top Penny Stocks To Own For 2014: ENSCO plc(ESV)

Ensco plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides offshore contract drilling services to the oil and gas industry. The company engages in the drilling of offshore oil and natural gas wells by providing its drilling rigs and crews under contracts with international, government-owned, and independent oil and gas companies. As of February 15, 2010, it owned and operated 42 jackup rigs, 4 ultra-deepwater semisubmersible rigs, and 1 barge rig. The company also has 4 ultra-deepwater semisubmersible rigs under construction. It operates in Asia, the Middle East, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Africa, and North and South America. The company was formerly known as Ensco International plc and changed its name to Ensco plc in March 2010. Ensco plc was founded in 1975 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Offshore drillers like Ensco (ESV), Seadrill (SDRL) and Rowan (RDC) are sinking today, but shares of Transocean (RIG) have managed to stay afloat.

  AFP

  Transocean has gained 0.9% to $41.85 at 1:22 p.m. today, even as Ensco has fallen 1.3% to $50.89, Seadrill has plunged 3.1% to $34.87 and Rowan has dipped 0.8% to $30.89.

  Transocean’s gain comes a day after the offshore driller fell 4.3% following its better-than-expected earnings release. Howard Weil’s Dave Wilson explains why Transocean fell yesterday:

  As we expected, the quarterly performance was discounted heavily as the outlook really did not change.� Even the achievement on the revenue efficiency front, hitting the highest level since early 2008, which we thought was great, did not carry much weight with investors.� At the end of the day, the Company still has roughly 20 floaters that are set to roll off contract in both 2014 and 2015 (��0 per year), which in this environment will leave investors cautious on the name.

  The focus now is on Transocean’s ability to offload some of its rigs, explains Cowen’s J.B. Lowe:

  Transocean’s next step in the company’s multi-stage process of divesting non-core assets and high-grading the company’s fleet is the creation of Caledonia Offshore. Transocean announced Monday that it will create its new entity with the purpose of divesting its North Sea semisubmersile rigs. The Sedco 704, Sedco 711, Sedco 712, Sedco 714, Transocean John Shaw, Transocean Prospect, GSF Artic III and the J.W. McLean which combined have an average age of over 30 years old (from build not upgrade) will all be part of the new entity. On the company’s 1Q14 earnings conference call, Transocean set the time line for the creation of Caledonia Offshore for 2H14 but said that the company would decide at a later point whether it would look to sell the company to a direct public or private buyer, spin the company or IPO.<

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  The past six months have been unkind to offshore drillers like Noble (NE), Ensco (ESV), Rowan (RDC) and Transocean (RIG). That doesn’t mean it’s time to buy, however.

• [By Tyler Crowe]

  In the rig industry, Ensco (NYSE: ESV  ) has been trying very hard to do its best impersonation of the top ultra-deepwater driller,�Seadrill (NYSE: SDRL  ) . It has a young fleet of vessels that can be used in the most extreme water depths today, and it is garnering top dollar for these assets. Still, there are still a few things setting Seadrill apart from Ensco among our favorite energy stocks in 2013.�

Top Penny Stocks To Own For 2014: Universal Corporation(UVV)

Universal Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a leaf tobacco merchant and processor worldwide. It engages in selecting, procuring, buying, processing, packing, storing, supplying, shipping, and financing leaf tobacco for sale to, or for the account of, manufacturers of consumer tobacco products. The company processes and/or sells flue-cured and burley tobaccos, dark air-cured tobaccos, and oriental tobaccos; and provides value-added services, including blending, chemical and physical testing of tobacco, just-in-time inventory management, and manufacturing reconstituted sheet tobacco. Its flue-cured, burley, and oriental tobaccos are used principally in the manufacture of cigarettes; and dark air-cured tobaccos are used in the manufacture of cigars, pipe tobacco, and smokeless tobacco products. The company was founded in 1888 and is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ali Berri]

  In trading on Friday, non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.09 percent. Meanwhile, top decliners in the sector included Medifast (NYSE: MED), down 9.6 percent, and Universal (NYSE: UVV), off 3.9 percent.

Best Rising Stocks To Invest In 2014

Gasoline prices, on their annual climb ahead of peak driving season, may be hitting a 2014 plateau.

Nationally, regular unleaded gasoline now averages $3.66 a gallon, up from $3.53 a month ago but down from about $3.69 earlier this week, according to price tracker gasbuddy.com. Premium grade gasoline averages $4.03, while diesel fuel is at $3.96. Wholesale gas prices appeared to have topped out since hitting $3.11 last week. June futures contracts settled at $2.95 Friday.

Rising oil production has boosted U.S. crude oil inventories to nearly 398 million barrels, the highest level since 1931. Coupled with slower economic growth in big energy consuming markets such as U.S. and China, there's little pressure to drive prices higher for now.

"Prices could inch higher another week, but we're definitely near the top for the year,'' says energy editor Brian Milne of industry tracker Schneider Electric.

Top Communications Equipment Stocks To Buy For 2015: Calumet Specialty Products Partners L.P.(CLMT)

Calumet Specialty Products Partners, L.P. produces and sells specialty hydrocarbon products in North America. It operates in two segments, Specialty Products and Fuel Products. The Specialty Products segment processes crude oil and other feedstocks into various customized lubricating oils, white mineral oils, solvents, petrolatums, gelled hydrocarbons, cable fillers, natural petroleum sulfonates, waxes, and compressor lubricants. Its products are used in applications in a range of industries, such as industrial goods, including metal working fluids, belts, hoses, sealing systems, batteries, hot melt adhesives, pressure sensitive tapes, electrical transformers, refrigeration compressors, and drilling fluids; consumer goods, including candles, petroleum jelly, creams, tonics, lotions, coating on paper cups, chewing gum base, automotive aftermarket car-care products, lamp oils, charcoal lighter fluids, camping fuel, and various aerosol products; and automotive goods, such as motor oils, greases, transmission fluid, and tires. The Fuel Products segment processes crude oil into various fuel and fuel-related products, such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and heavy fuel oils. This segment also offers fuel-related products, including fluid catalytic cracking feedstock, asphalt vacuum residuals, and mixed butanes. Calumet GP, LLC serves as the general partner for Calumet Specialty Products Partners, L.P. The company was founded in 1916 and is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Robert Rapier]

  Calumet Specialty Products Partners (Nasdaq: CLMT) also reported a net loss for the quarter of $34.8 million, or ($0.54) per diluted unit, compared with net income of $42.4 million, or $0.69 per diluted unit, for the same quarter in 2012. Units traded down nearly 13 percent for the week.

Best Rising Stocks To Invest In 2014: Neustar Inc (NSR)

NeuStar, Inc., incorporated on December 8, 1998, is a provider of real-time information and analysis. The Company operates in three segments: carrier services, enterprise services and information services. The Company combines data sets to develop algorithms, models, point solutions and complete work flow solutions. The Company provides services, such as database services (telephone number databases, domain names, short-codes and fixed Internet protocol (IP) addresses), analytics platforms used for Internet security services, caller identification services, Web performance monitoring services and real-time information and analytics services. In October 2013, Neustar, Inc acquired Aggregate Knowledge, Inc.

Carrier Services

The Company�� carrier services include numbering services, order management services and IP services. Its numbering services enable the dynamic routing of calls and text messages. In particular, the Company provides near real-time updates to the North American telephone numbering system that is essential for the accurate routing of telephone calls and text messages. In addition, it also facilitates order management and work-flow processing among carriers, including telephone number inventory management, and allow carriers to manage and optimize the addressing and routing of IP communications. The numbering services the Company provides to its carrier customers using these databases include number portability administration center services (NPAC Services), in the United States and Canada and local number portability (LNP), services in Taiwan and Brazil, or international LNP solutions, and number inventory and allocation management. The Company�� order management services permit its carrier customers to exchange essential operating information with multiple carriers in order to provision and manage services. The Company provides these services through a single interface or on-premise installations. In addition, it offers inventory management services that! allow its carrier customers to manage their assigned telephone numbers and associated resources. The Company provides scalable IP services to global carriers and service providers that allow them to manage access for the routing of IP communications, such as multimedia messaging service. Its solutions also provide accurate and reliable routing of text messages and voice calls by identifying terminating service provider networks. In addition, it provides a solution for carriers to migrate from the public switched telephone network to IP Interconnect through mapping a phone number to an IP address for accurate and reliable routing to a carrier�� network.

Enterprise Services

The Company�� Enterprise Services include Internet infrastructure services and registry services. It provides Internet infrastructure services that its customers use in order to direct, prioritize and manage Internet traffic. In addition, enterprise customers rely on its services to optimize their Website performance, including protecting against malicious traffic. Enterprises use its infrastructure and its datasets to identify the location of their online customers for a variety of purposes, including fraud prevention and marketing. It also operates the authoritative common short codes registry on behalf of the United States wireless industry. The Company provides a suite of domain name systems (DNS) services to its enterprise customers built on a global directory platform. These services play a key role in directing and managing Internet traffic flow, resolving Internet queries, providing security protection against distributed denial of service attacks, providing geolocation services used to enhance fraud prevention and online marketing, and monitoring, testing and measuring the performance of Websites and networks. The Company operates the authoritative registries of Internet domain names for the .biz, .us, .co, .tel and .travel top-level domains. It also provides international registry gateways for! China�� s .cn and Taiwan�� .tw country-code top-level domains. All Internet communications routed to any of these domains must query a copy of its directory to ensure that the communication is routed to the appropriate destination. The Company also operates the authoritative common short codes registry on behalf of the United States wireless industry. In addition, it operates the user authentication and rights management system, which supports the UltraViolet digital content locker that consumers use to access their entertainment content.

Information Services

The Company�� Information Services include identification services, verification and analytics services, and local search and licensed data services. It utilizes databases and solutions to inform real-time decisions on customer initiated interactions over the telephone, Internet and at points of sale. Its services correlate attributes, such as demographic information, projected buying behaviors and location. Its business listings identity management services manage the placement of its customers��online local business listings on search engines, improving brand awareness and targeted advertising. The Company provides Caller ID services to carriers in the United States and real-time identification and location services to over 1,000 businesses in the United States across multiple industries. Its location service enables clients to match a 10-digit phone number to a latitude and longitude, and is used for a number of applications, including intelligent site planning, market scoring, and Web-based location lookup. In addition, it provides services that enable clients to remarket to non-converting prospects and to help identify whether an inbound inquiry is coming from an existing customer or a prospect. The Company provides lead verification services that allow clients to validate customer data, enhance leads and assign a lead quality rating to each lead to provide a client the ability to contact a customer. The Company provide! s an onli! ne local business listing identity management solution that serves local search platforms, national brands, authorized channel partners and local businesses. This service provides businesses and channel partners the essential tools to verify, enhance and manage the identity of local listings on local search platforms across the Web, and offers local search platforms an accurate, complete and up-to-date database of local business listings for online publishing.

The Company competes with Accenture plc, Computer Sciences Corporation, Hewlett-Packard Company, International Business Machines Corporation, Noblis, Inc., Nortel Networks Corporation, Pearson Education, Inc., Perot Systems Corporation, Telcordia Technologies, Inc., VeriSign, Inc., Afilias Limited, Oracle Corporation, Synchronoss Technologies, Inc., Syniverse Technologies, Inc., Akamai Technologies, Inc., F5 Networks, Inc., Keynote Systems, Inc., Compuware Corporation, TNS, Inc., eBureau, LLC, Acxiom, Nielsen Holdings N.V., DataLogix International Inc. and infoGROUP Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rex Moore]

  You may not have heard of NeuStar (NYSE: NSR  ) , but the services it provides can affect you greatly. This $3 billion company is also handily beating the market as it shifts its focus to move deeper into the information and analytics industry.

Best Rising Stocks To Invest In 2014: LCA-Vision Inc.(LCAV)

LCA-Vision Inc. provides fixed-site laser vision correction services through its LasikPlus vision centers. Its vision centers offer laser vision correction services for correcting nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. As of December 31, 2011, the company operated 53 LasikPlus fixed-site laser vision correction centers located in metropolitan markets in the United States. LCA-Vision Inc. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  LCA-Vision (LCAV) provides fixed-site laser vision correction services through its LasikPlus vision centers. This stock closed up 4.4% to $4 in Tuesday's trading session.

  Tuesday's Range: $3.85-$4.04
  
  52-Week Range: $2.67-$4.60
  
  Tuesday's Volume: 162,000
  
  Three-Month Average Volume: 47,256

  From a technical perspective, LCAV bounced sharply higher here right above some near-term support levels at $3.75 to $372 with above-average volume. This move is quickly pushing shares of LCAV within range of triggering a major breakout trade. That trade will hit if LCAV manages to take out some near-term overhead resistance levels at $4.04 to $4.26 and then once it takes out its 52-week high at $4.60 with high volume.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in LCAV as long as it's trending above some key near-term support levels at $3.75 to $3.72 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 47,256 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then LCAV will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $6.19 to $7.

• [By Lisa Levin]

  Medical Practitioners: This industry jumped 2.82% by 10:15 am. The top performer in this industry was LCA-Vision (NASDAQ: LCAV), which rose 2.9%. LCA-Vision's trailing-twelve-month revenue is $91.12 million.

Best Rising Stocks To Invest In 2014: American International Group Inc.(AIG)

American International Group, Inc. is an international insurance organization. The company operates property and casualty insurance networks worldwide and conducts activities in the U.S. life insurance and retirement services industry. It also involves in commercial aircraft leasing and residential mortgage guaranty insurance businesses. The company, through Chartis Inc., provides various property and casualty insurance products under commercial and consumer categories worldwide. These products include surplus lines, executive liability/directors? and officers? liability, employment practices, excess casualty, and travel/assistance lines. American International Group, through SunAmerica Financial Group, offers a suite of life insurance and retirement products and services, including term life, universal life, accident and health, fixed and variable deferred annuities, fixed payout annuities, mutual funds, and financial planning products and services to individuals and grou ps in the United States. The company, through International Lease Finance Corporation, operates as an aircraft lessor that acquires commercial jet aircraft from various manufacturers and other parties, and leases those aircraft to airlines worldwide. It also sells aircraft from its fleet to other leasing companies, financial services companies, and airlines, as well as provides management services to third-party owners of aircraft portfolios. American International Group, through United Guaranty Corporation, issues residential mortgage guaranty insurance that covers mortgage lenders from the first loss for credit defaults on high loan-to-value conventional first-lien mortgages for the purchase or refinance of one- to four-family residences in the U.S. and internationally. The company was founded in 1967 and is based in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jessica Alling]

  As Travelers looks to expand, some of its competitors have had to find other means to offset the negative impacts of low rates. Allstate (NYSE: ALL  ) began an aggressive shift in its investing focus to adapt to the lower rates, but is sacrificing higher investing income in future periods. American International Group (NYSE: AIG  ) didn't make any such changes to its investing strategy, but has been focusing on cutting costs to offset lower investment income.

• [By Jessica Alling]

  Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) headed into the third day of its hearing over a two-year-old settlement with investors for a batch of mortgage-backed securities that turned sour. The $8.5 billion on the table is being objected to by some large names, including AIG (NYSE: AIG  ) , which objects to the size of the settlement. AIG is basing its argument on another insurer's experience, when MBIA reached a settlement over MBS's for $0.60 on the dollar. If that amount became the basis for B of A's case, the price tag could reach $60 billion. The bank is arguing that it had the right to put its Countrywide segment into bankruptcy instead of offering the current amount to investors, but instead chose to offer a deal.

• [By Alexander MacLennan]

  Even in cases where the company has noted its intention to pay a dividend in the future, dividend-only funds are usually restricted from buying. After noting the probability of a dividend months before each announcement, shares of Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL  ) and American International Group (NYSE: AIG  ) both posted strong gains on the days when the dividends were officially declared.

Why Google Is One of My Favorite Stock Tips

There's so much to love about Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG  ) new voice-activated search, especially on a Mac. The system quite literally scans a worldwide database as you speak, refining results just as fast as when you type. A remarkable achievement, says Tim Beyers of Motley Fool Rule Breakers and Motley Fool Supernova. He ranks Google as one of his favorite stock tips right now.

Why remarkable? Because Google is making voice-activated services as intelligent as they are interactive, an area where Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) has enjoyed limited success. (Siri may be perfectly interactive, but she's comparatively unintelligent.)

And yet Google still has plenty of upgrade work to do. The killer app for voice is dictation, and you can't dictate text into a Google document on a Mac in the same way you can on an iPad, iPhone, or Android device. Fix that problem, Tim says, and the search king could disrupt both Microsoft and Nuance while further legitimizing the market for cloud-based productivity software.

Do you agree? Please watch the video to get Tim's full take, and then let us know what your favorite stock tips are right now.

Top Financial Companies To Buy For 2015

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Google may be on the rise right now but Apple has a history of cranking out revolutionary products... and then creatively destroying them with something better. Read about the future of Apple in the free report, "Apple Will Destroy Its Greatest Product." Can Apple really disrupt its own iPhones and iPads? Find out by clicking here.

Best Rising Stocks To Own Right Now

It's been an exciting year so far for biotech acquisitions:�Perrigo�made a surprising move for Elan, AstraZeneca has been boosting its pipeline with a series of purchases, and Amgen's recent buyout of oncology specialist�Onyx�revived investor enthusiasm in the second biggest biotech company in the world. And it doesn't look like this trend is going to stop any time soon.

At the end of last week, a Bloomberg article revealed that Shire (NASDAQ: SHPG  ) and pharmaceutical giant Sanofi� (NYSE: SNY  ) may be circling ViroPharma� (NASDAQ: VPHM  ) . The the following video, from The Motley Fool's health care show Market Checkup, analysts David Williamson and Max Macaluso take a close look at ViroPharma and discuss the recent interest in this small biotech company.

Stocks for a Longer Time Horizon
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Hot Healthcare Technology Companies For 2015: Intevac Inc.(IVAC)

Intevac, Inc. provides process manufacturing equipment solutions to the hard disk drive industry, and process manufacturing equipment and inspection solutions to the photovoltaic industry. The company operates in two segments, Equipment and Intevac Photonics. The Equipment segment designs, develops, and markets magnetic disks; hard disk drive equipment products, including disk sputtering and disk lubrication systems; technology upgrades; and spare parts and consumables, as well as installation, maintenance, and repair services. This segment also offers capital equipment for the photovoltaic solar manufacturing industry. The Intevac Photonics segment develops, manufactures, and sells digital-optical products for the capture and display of low-light images and materials identification used in military aircraft, ground vehicles, ground soldier head-mounted, and weapon-mounted applications. This segment also provides sensors, cameras, and systems for military applications; Ram an spectrometer table-top and handheld systems for use in forensics, homeland security, geology, gemology, medical, pharmaceutical, and industrial quality assurance applications; and low-light cameras for industrial inspection, bio-medical, and scientific applications. The company sells its products through direct sales force, system integrators, distributors, and value added resellers in the United States, Asia, Europe, and rest of world. Intevac, Inc. was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  Intevac (IVAC) provides process manufacturing equipment solutions to the hard disk drive industry and high-productivity process manufacturing equipment and inspection solutions to the photovoltaic industry. This stock closed up 8.5% to $6.74 in Tuesday's trading session.

  Tuesday's Range: $6.23-$6.75
  
  52-Week Range: $4.06-$6.80
  
  Tuesday's Volume: 263,000
  
  Three-Month Average Volume: 140,032

  From a technical perspective, IVAC soared higher here right off some near-term support at $6.25 with above-average volume. This stock has been uptrending strong for the last three months, with shares moving higher from its low of $4.31 to its recent high of $6.80. During that move, shares of IVAC have been consistently making higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move has now pushed shares of IVAC within range of triggering a major breakout trade. That trade will hit if IVAC manages to take out its 52-week high at $6.80 with high volume.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in IVAC as long as it's trending above some near-term support levels at $6.25 or at $5.92 and then once it sustains a move or close above its 52-week high at $6.80 with volume that hits near or above 140,032 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then IVAC will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that breakout are its next major overhead resistance levels at $8 to $8.37. Any high-volume move above those levels will then put $9 to $9.36 within range for shares of IVAC.

Best Rising Stocks To Own Right Now: Compagnie Generale des Etablissements Michelin SCA (ML)

Compagnie Generale des Etablissements Michelin SCA (Michelin SCA) is a France-based company, which is mainly engaged in the manufacture and distribution of tires for a variety of vehicles. In addition, it publishes maps and guides, and offers digital products and services. The Company�� main activity is the production of tires for passenger cars, two-wheeled vehicles, trucks, agricultural equipment and aircraft, among others, which are sold through such distribution divisions as Euromaster in Europe and TCI in the United States. Michelin SCA also offers travel assistance services, including maps and guides, and digital navigation products and services, via ViaMichelin. In addition, the Company produces a number of lifestyle products, such as car and bike accessories, work, sport and leisure gear, and collectibles. The Company is active domestically and abroad. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Corinne Gretler]

  Michelin & Cie. (ML) increased 2 percent to 70.55 euros after UBS raised Europe�� largest tiremaker to buy from neutral, citing improved cost positions that enable more competitive pricing and higher profits.

Best Rising Stocks To Own Right Now: Fortegra Financial Corporation (FRF)

Fortegra Financial Corporation, an insurance services company, provides distribution and administration services primarily in the United States. The company�s Payment Protection segment delivers credit insurance, debt protection, warranty and service contracts, and motor club solutions under the Life of the South, Continental Car Club, United Motor Club, and Auto Knight Motor Club brand names to consumer finance companies, regional banks, community banks, retailers, small loan companies, warranty administrators, automobile dealers, vacation ownership developers, and credit unions. This segment specializes in providing products that protect consumer lenders and their borrowers from death, disability, or other events that could impair their borrowers' ability to repay a debt. Fortegra Financial Corporation�s Business Process Outsourcing segment offers various administrative services under the Consecta and Pacific Benefits Group Northwest, LLC brand names to insurance and o ther financial services companies. This segment�s services include sales and marketing, electronic underwriting, premium billing and collections, policy administration, claims adjudication, and call center management services. The company�s Brokerage segment sells specialty property and casualty, and surplus lines insurance to retail insurance brokers and agents, and insurance companies under the Bliss & Glennon, eReinsure.com, Inc., and South Bay Acceptance Corporation brand names. This segment also provides its clients the ability to obtain various types of commercial insurance coverage outside of their core areas of focus. In addition, it offers insurance underwriting services as a managing general agent for specialized insurance carriers. The company was formerly known as Life of the South Corporation and changed its name to Fortegra Financial Corporation in 2008. The company was incorporated in 1981 and is based in Jacksonville, Florida.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Hilary Kramer]

  I am a big fan of financials, which is why I named Fortegra Financial (FRF) as the best stock of 2014. Fortegra isn�� your traditional bank or financial company, but it has great potential.

Best Rising Stocks To Own Right Now: Optimer Pharmaceuticals Inc.(OPTR)

Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on discovering, developing, and commercializing hospital specialty products worldwide. It develops products that treat gastrointestinal infections and related diseases. The company provides two late-stage anti-infective product candidates, including Fidaxomicin, a narrow spectrum antibiotic for the treatment of Clostridium difficile-infection, which completed two Phase 3 trials; and Pruvel, a prodrug in the fluoroquinolone class of antibiotics, has completed two Phase 3 trials for the treatment of infectious diarrhea, including traveler?s diarrhea. It also develops product candidates using its proprietary technology Optimer One-Pot Synthesis, a computer-aided technology that enables the rapid synthesis of various proprietary molecules. In addition, the company?s other pipeline product candidates consist of CEM-101 (OP-1068), a macrolide and ketolide antibiotic, which is in Phase 2 trials for the treatment of upper and lower respiratory tract infections; and OPT-822/821, a novel carbohydrate-based cancer immunotherapy, is in Phase 2/3 trials for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer. It has collaborative agreements with Astellas Pharma Europe Ltd.; Par Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Nippon Shinyaku, Co., Ltd.; Cempra Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; and The Scripps Research Institute. Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was founded in 1998 and is based in San Diego, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Keith Speights]

  "Bidness" is good (part 2)
  Obagi isn't the only company for which "bidness" is good. Antibiotic maker�Optimer Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: OPTR  ) shares soared 22% this week on talk of interest by multiple potential buyers.

Best Rising Stocks To Own Right Now: YOU On Demand Holdings Inc (YOD)

YOU On Demand Holdings, Inc., incorporated on October 19, 2004, operates in the Chinese media segment through the Company�� Chinese subsidiaries and variable interest entities (VIEs) an integrated service solutions business for the delivery of video on demand (VOD) and enhanced premium content for digital cable providers, IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) providers, Over-the-Top (OTT) providers and mobile manufacturers. The Company is a multi-platform entertainment company delivering premium content, including Hollywood and China-produced movie titles, to customers across China via Subscription Video On Demand (SVOD) and Transactional Video On Demand (TVOD). The Company�� distribution partners include digital cable operators, IPTV operators, OTT operators and mobile smartphone manufacturers.

The Company provides customers the ability to view the Hollywood titles, as well as indigenous Chinese titles. The Company�� multiple platforms distribution capabilities provide viewers with access to the top selection of quality content during the earliest possible VOD windows for the viewing experience with full DVD-like control. The Company also offers free content including trailers, behind-the-scenes footage, celebrity interviews and more. The Company operates under a national government license obtained by CHC to serve as their exclusive agent in the People�� Republic of China (PRC), for operating and marketing TVOD, SVOD, Near Video on Demand (NVOD), and related Value-Added Services (VAS). Its platform and services include content and distribution agreements, governmental partnerships and approvals, infrastructure, encoding and transcoding, metadata management, marketing services and data reporting, collection and remittance.

The Company has content agreements with Warner Bros. Entertainment, Disney Media Distribution, Paramount Pictures, NBCUniversal, Miramax, Lionsgate, Magnolia Pictures, Screen Media Ventures, Gravitas Ventures, 3Net, K2 Communications and Film Buff. ! As of December 31, 2013, it had distribution agreements with several Chinese Cable television (TV) broadcast companies and IPTV providers which in total can potentially reach approximately 20 million households. In addition, the Company has distribution agreements with FutureTV (an OTT operator which is a subsidiary of China Network Television [CNTV], the official online division of Chinese national public broadcaster China Central Television [CCTV]) and Huawei (global information and communications technology solutions provider and the third largest global smartphone manufacture).

The Company competes with Youku, Tencent and Sohu.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Bryan Murphy]

  It's not the kind of stock you'd want to get married to here, but you might want to date You On Demand Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:YOD) for the next few days. Shares of YOD broke above a major resistance line on Friday, and put some distance between themselves and that line today. It's a clue that the bulls have overpowered the bears, and now that the ball is rolling, it should keep rolling for a while.

Best Rising Stocks To Own Right Now: Vail Resorts Inc. (MTN)

Vail Resorts, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates resorts in the United States. The company operates in three segments: Mountain, Lodging, and Real Estate. The Mountain segment operates eight ski resort properties, including the Vail Mountain, Breckenridge Ski, Keystone, Beaver Creek, Heavenly Mountain, Northstar, Kirkwood Mountain, and Canyons resorts; and two urban ski areas, such as Afton Alps and Mount Brighton Ski areas, as well as provides ancillary services, primarily ski school, dining, and retail/rental operations. Its resorts offer various recreational activities comprising skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, snowtubing, sightseeing, mountain biking, guided hiking, children's activities, and other recreational activities, as well as ski and snowboard lessons, equipment rental and retail merchandise services, dining venues, and private club services. This segment also leases its owned and leased commercial space; and provides real estate brokerage services. Th e Lodging segment owns and/or manages a collection of luxury hotels under the RockResorts brand, and other lodging properties; various condominiums located in and around the company�s ski resorts; destination resorts; and golf courses, as well as offers resort ground transportation services. This segment operates approximately 5,100 owned and managed hotel and condominium rooms. The Real Estate segment owns, develops, markets, and sells real estate properties in and around the company�s resort communities. Vail Resorts, Inc. was founded in 1997 and is based in Broomfield, Colorado.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]
  Slow but steady -- that seems to be the new mantra here on Wall Street. The Dow Industrials and the S&P 500 plowed further into record territory on Friday. The catalyst for today's advance was the monthly jobs report, which showed the total number of people employed finally topped the 2008 peak it hit just before the Great Recession took hold. The Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI) gained 88 points, the Standard & Poor's 500 index (^GPSC) rose 9, and the Nasdaq composite (^IXIC) gained 25 points. Financial stocks helped lead the advance. Goldman Sachs (GS) and American Express (AXP) both gained more than 2 percent. Bank of America (BAC) rose 1 percent on reports that it's in talks with the Justice Department to settle another set of probes into the bank's handling of mortgages leading up to and during the financial crisis. News reports say the company could pay more than $12 billion, which is more than it earned in all of 2013. But this could allow Bank of America to finally put this long-running problem behind it. Its stock has been virtually flat over the past 6 months. Amazon (AMZN) posted a strong gain for second straight day, rising 2 percent, on indications that it's about to enter the smartphone business. And Sears (SHLD) gained nearly 2 percent on a Reuters report that the company's chairman has held talks with outgoing Ford (F) CEO Alan Mulally, sparking rumors that he might head the retailer's turnaround effort. Elsewhere, Hertz (HRZ) drove into a ditch, sliding 9 percent after saying it will restate earnings from 2011 through 2013 because of accounting issues. Diamond Foods (DMND) fell 11 percent. Its quarterly loss widened, due to higher wholesale prices for nuts. But Vail Resorts (MTN), Men's Wearhouse (MW), and VeriFone (PAY) all gained after beating expectations. Vail was up 6 percent; Men's Wearhouse rose 5½ percent; and VeriFone jumped 9 percent. Demand for its merchant payment systems has been helped by growing con
• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Winter has been kind to Arctic Cat and a number of other companies that rely on snow for their business. Ski-resort operator Vail Resorts (NYSE: MTN  ) got out to a slow start this season, leading to an earnings shortfall for its January quarter, but better snow totals later in the season have sent its stock rising sharply. Arctic Cat hopes to benefit from the same conditions.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Vail Resorts (NYSE: MTN  ) will release its quarterly report on Monday, and already, investors are celebrating an early cold snap in the American West by sending the resort company's stock toward yearly highs. To an even greater extent than winter-equipment makers Polaris Industries (NYSE: PII  ) and Arctic Cat (NASDAQ: ACAT  ) , Vail Resorts relies on a solid snow season in order to get visitors to come to its ski properties and stay at its resorts.

• [By GURUFOCUS]

  Shares of Vail Resorts, Inc. (MTN), an operator of ski resorts, increased 12.8% in the third quarter as investors became excited about the installation of the company's summer activities. Summer activities, including the zip line installed in August, could cut the company's seasonal losses in half. We continue to believe the acquisition of the Canyons ski resort in Utah should further help increase season pass sales and earnings. (David Baron)

Best Rising Stocks To Own Right Now: CSS Industries Inc (CSS)

CSS Industries, Inc. (CSS), incorporated on November 5, 1923, is a company primarily engaged in the design, manufacture, procurement, distribution and sale of seasonal and all occasion social expression products, principally to mass market retailers. These seasonal and all occasion products include gift wrap, gift bags, gift boxes, gift card holders, boxed greeting cards, gift tags, decorative tissue paper, decorations, classroom exchange Valentines, decorative ribbons and bows, floral accessories, Halloween masks, costumes, make-up and novelties, Easter egg dyes and novelties, craft and educational products, stickers, memory books, stationery, journals, notecards, infant and wedding photo albums, scrapbooks, and other gift items that commemorate life�� celebrations. In September 5, 2012, it sold the Halloween portion of its Paper Magic business to Gemmy Industries (HK) Limited.

CSS��product provides its retail customers the opportunity to use a single vendor for much of their seasonal product requirements. A substantial portion of CSS��products are manufactured, packaged and/or warehoused in 10 facilities located in the United States, with the remainder purchased primarily from manufacturers in Asia and Mexico. The Company�� products are sold to its customers by national and regional account sales managers, sales representatives, product specialists and by a network of independent manufacturers��representatives. The Company�� principal operating subsidiaries include Paper Magic Group, Inc. (Paper Magic), Berwick Offray LLC (Berwick Offray) and C.R. Gibson, LLC (C.R. Gibson). CSS designs, manufactures, procures, distributes and sells a range of seasonal consumer products primarily through the mass market distribution channel. Christmas products include gift wrap, gift bags, gift boxes, gift card holders, boxed greeting cards, gift tags, decorative tissue paper and decorations. CSS��Valentine product offerings include classroom exchange Valentine cards and other related Valen! tine products, while its Easter product offerings include Dudley�� brand of Easter egg dyes and related Easter seasonal products. CSS also designs and markets decorative ribbons and bows, all occasion boxed greeting cards, gift wrap, gift bags, gift boxes, gift card holders, decorative and waxed tissue, decorative films and foils, stickers, memory books, stationery, journals, notecards, infant and wedding photo albums, scrapbooks, floral accessories and other gift and craft items to its mass market, craft, specialty and floral retail and wholesale distribution customers, and teachers' aids and other learning oriented products to the education market through mass market retailers, school supply distributors and teachers' stores. Key brands include Paper Magic, Berwick, Offray, C.R. Gibson, Markings, Creative Papers, Tapestry, Dudley��, Don Post Studios, Eureka, Learning Playground, Stickerfitti and iota. Key brands include Paper Magic, Berwick, Offray, C.R. Gibson, Markings, Creative Papers, Tapestry, Seastone, Dudley��, Eureka, Learning Playground and Stickerfitti.

CSS operates 10 manufacturing and/or distribution facilities located in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Alabama and Texas. Its boxed greeting cards are produced by Asian manufacturers to the Company�� specifications. Halloween make-up and Easter egg dye products are manufactured in Asia to specific formulae by contract manufacturers who meet regulatory requirements for the formularization and packaging of such products. Ribbons and bows are primarily manufactured and warehoused in seven facilities located in Pennsylvania, Maryland, South Carolina and Texas. Memory books, stationery, journals and notecards, infant and wedding photo albums, scrapbooks, and other gift items are imported from Asian manufacturers and warehoused and distributed from a distribution facility in Florence, Alabama. Floral accessories, including pot covers, foil, waxed tissue, shred, aisle runners, corsage bags and other paper! and film! products, are manufactured in a facility located in Milford, New Hampshire and Juarez, Mexico. Manufacturing includes gravure and flexo printing, waxing and converting. Products are warehoused and distributed from a distribution facility in Berwick, Pennsylvania. Other products including, but not limited to, decorative tissue paper, all occasion gift wrap, gift tags, gift bags, gift boxes, gift card holders, classroom exchange Valentine products, Halloween masks, costumes and novelties, Easter products, decorations and school products are designed to the specifications of CSS and are imported primarily from Asian manufacturers.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Gifts maker�CSS Industries� (NYSE: CSS  ) �announced yesterday its second-quarter dividend of $0.15 per share, the same rate it's paid since 2008.

Top Warren Buffett Companies For 2014

Warren Buffett's Chinese automaker, BYD (BYDDY.PK) has been the subject of much criticism over the past couple of years as profits have dropped about as much as possible, only a short time after Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A, NYSE: BRK-B) announced its 10% stake in the company. Many investors have gone as far as to say this was outside of Buffett's wheelhouse and that the investment may be one of his worst. Though I am inclined to disagree, it is difficult to argue with the tremendous loss in value for the beleaguered auto company. This week, however, brought new and interesting news to light. The company is in talks with the U.S. government to provide electric buses to cities, subsidized by Uncle Sam. Could this be a catalyst to set the company back on track toward growth?

Yeesh!
When I first caught wind of Buffett's investment in BYD, I was eager to drink the Kool-Aid. Charlie Munger described the company's founder, once the richest man in China, as a cross between Henry Ford and Thomas Edison. That's a strong endorsement, coming from one of the drier, harsher personalities in the investing world (which is itself also a rare accomplishment). The company was gaining a reputation for its batteries and low-cost autos while investors rushed in on the news of the world's greatest investor taking a 10% stake.

Top Information Technology Stocks To Invest In 2015: United States Cellular Corporation(USM)

United States Cellular Corporation operates as a wireless telecommunications service provider in the United States. The company offers wireless voice and data services to retail consumer and business customers. It provides wireless services in postpaid service plans with voice, messaging, and data services; and prepaid service plans with minutes, messaging, and data services for a monthly fee. The company also offers various additional features, including caller ID blocking, call forwarding, voicemail, call waiting, and three-way calling; and data usage features consisting of Web browsing, email services, instant messaging, text messaging, and picture and video messaging. As of December 31, 2010, it provided wireless voice and data services to 6.1 million customers in 26 states. In addition, the company operates retail stores that sell a range of wireless devices, including handsets, modems, and tablets, as well as accessories, such as carrying cases, hands-free devices, b atteries, battery chargers, memory cards, and other items to consumers and small businesses. Further, it sells wireless devices to agents and other third-party distributors for resale; operates service facilities that provide servicing and repair for wireless devices; and enables customers to activate service and purchase wireless devices online. The company?s business customers include small-to-mid-size businesses in various industries, including construction, retail, professional services, and real estate. It offers its products and services through retail sales and service centers, direct sales, and independent agents. The company was founded in 1983 and is based in Chicago, Illinois. United States Cellular Corporation is a subsidiary of Telephone and Data Systems, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tim Beyers]

  Low price-to-book stocks suffer from a similar problem. Who cares if the stock sells for a discount to its assets if the company can't earn a good return on said assets? United States Cellular (NYSE: USM  ) has seen its returns on assets and equity decline steadily since 2011. Thus, despite a history of trading near or below book value, the stock is down 22% since the beginning of last year.
  
  Investment strategies are just that: strategies. Recognize that every company is different. Analyze the underlying strengths and weaknesses before you buy. Because the more you understand about what drives a business to grow, the more likely it is you'll pay a fair price to own a piece of it, Tim says.
  
  Do you agree? Please watch the video to get Tim's full take, and then leave a comment to let us know which investment strategies have worked best for you.

• [By Reuters]

  Michael Sohn/APSprint CEO Dan Hesse Sprint has been ranked last among U.S. cellphone service operators in a customer satisfaction survey by the influential Consumer Reports organization, scoring dismal marks for measures ranging from voice to 4G reliability. No-frills carrier Consumer Cellular received the highest overall score of 88 out of 100, followed by U.S. Cellular (USM) with 75. Sprint received the lowest score of 59, faring the worst in terms of value, voice, text and 4G services. The annual ratings were based on a September survey of 58,399 cellphone service subscribers by the Consumer Reports National Research Center, which publishes widely followed surveys and reviews of everything from cars to refrigerators. In last year's survey, Sprint (S) trailed only Verizon Wireless among the four major carriers. Verizon Wireless (VZ) (VOD) ranked highest again this year with a score of 71. T-Mobile US (TMUS) rated 65 and AT&T (T) 64, according to survey results released Thursday. The rankings are based on ratings for voice, text and 4G, taking into account the occurrence of problems and adjusted for frequency of use. Sprint has been revamping its network after years of customer losses. The company, which is 80 percent owned by SoftBank, warned in October that customer defections would remain high in coming quarters. The company reported a decline in third-quarter revenue as it lost more subscribers than expected following the shutdown of its older network. "Our latest cell service satisfaction survey revealed a somewhat precipitous decline by Sprint that shuffled the rankings of the major standard service providers," Glenn Derene, Electronics Content Development Team Leader for Consumer Reports, said in a statement.

  Mint made the Mac App Store's Best of 2012 list for a reason. This simple, clean app shows how much you are spending in each category of your budget by monitoring all of your transactions. We love signing in and getting a quick,

• [By Jim Probasco]

  CNET said it expects to see ZTE focus on premium quality smartphones at the Mobile World Congress at the end of February this year.�This would be a departure from the company�� previous concentration on mid-range priced phones offered by smaller carriers like Cricket Wireless, U.S. Cellular, (NYSE: USM) and Aio Wireless.

• [By Dan Radovsky]

  T-Mobile US (NYSE: TMUS  ) has agreed to purchase 10 MHz of Advanced Wireless Services spectrum from U.S. Cellular (NYSE: USM  ) for $308 million, T-Mobile announced today.

Top Warren Buffett Companies For 2014: Himax Technologies Inc.(HIMX)

Himax Technologies, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, and markets semiconductors for flat panel displays. Its products include display drivers and timing controllers for various thin film transistor liquid crystal displays (TFT-LCD) panels, which are used in desktop monitors, notebook computers, televisions, and mobile handsets, as well as consumer electronics products comprising netbook computers, digital cameras, mobile gaming devices, portable DVD players, digital photo frame, and car navigation displays; and TFT-LCD television and monitor semiconductor solutions. The company also provides liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) products for palm-size mobile projectors; power management integrated circuits, which include drivers, amplifiers, DC to DC converters and other semiconductors; complementary metal oxide semiconductor image sensors for camera-equipped mobile devices, such as mobile phones and notebook computers with a focus on lowlight image and video quality; and wafer level optics products. It serves TFT-LCD panel manufacturers, mobile device module manufacturers, and television makers. Himax Technologies, Inc. was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Tainan, Taiwan.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ant贸nio Costa]

  Himax Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: HIMX) seems to be forming here a possible cup and handle formation ( The bigger white arc is the cup and the smaller white arc indicates the possible handle ). This is a typical bullish pattern and the stock price potential is on the upside. The stock must close above the neckline at 11.5 (White horizontal line ) on heavy volume in order to confirm the pattern.

Top Warren Buffett Companies For 2014: Tsakos Energy Navigation Ltd(TNP)

Tsakos Energy Navigation Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides seaborne crude oil and petroleum product transportation services worldwide. The company offers marine transportation services for national and independent oil companies and refiners under long, medium, and short-term charters. As of August 16, 2011, its fleet consisted of 50 vessels comprising 59 tankers, including 2 dynamic positioning 2 (DP2) shuttle tankers under construction, and 1 liquefied natural gas carrier. The company was formerly known as MIF Limited and changed its name to Tsakos Energy Navigation Limited in July 2001. Tsakos Energy Navigation Limited was founded in 1993 and is based in Athens, Greece.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Laura Brodbeck]

  Friday

  Earnings Expected From: Tsakos Energy Navigation (NYSE: TNP) Economic Releases Expected: Japanese industrial production, French GDP, Italian trade balance, Hong Kong GDP, US building permits, US housing starts

  Posted-In: Federal Reserve UkraineEarnings News Guidance Previews Pre-Market Outlook Markets Trading Ideas Best of Benzinga

Top Warren Buffett Companies For 2014: Vermillion Inc.(VRML)

Vermillion, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the discovery, development, and commercialization of diagnostics tests that help physicians to diagnose, treat, and improve outcomes for patients. It develops diagnostic tests in the fields of oncology, hematology, cardiology, and women?s health with the initial focus on ovarian cancer. The company?s lead product includes OVA1, an ovarian tumor triage test that enables pre-surgical identification of women who are at high risk of having a malignant ovarian tumor. It is also developing various programs in other clinical aspects of ovarian cancer, as well as in peripheral arterial disease. The company has strategic alliance agreement with Quest Diagnostics Incorporated; and collaborations with various academic and research institutions to develop and commercialize diagnostic tests. It serves clinical reference laboratories, hospital laboratories, and physician offices. The company was formerly known as Ciphergen B iosystems, Inc. and changed its name to Vermillion, Inc. in August 2007. Vermillion, Inc. was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Bryan Murphy]

  It's not an uncommon situation. While investors are scouring the news (or lack thereof) from a company, they're not paying much attention to the stock itself. Big mistake, as stocks can and do have a life of their own, sometimes independently of the company. Vermillion, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRML) is the most recent example of this alarming disconnect. While news from the company of late has been fairly benign and a little non-existent, shares of VRML has been inching towards a key technical line in the sand that if crossed under could spark a fairly rapid selloff.

• [By Lisa Levin]

  Diagnostic Substances: The industry gained 2.79% by 10:30 am. The top performer in this industry was Vermillion (NASDAQ: VRML), which gained 4%. Vermillion shares have dropped 44.04% over the past 52 weeks, while the S&P 500 index has gained 10.86% in the same period.

Top Warren Buffett Companies For 2014: Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (GNK)

Genco Shipping & Trading Limited engages in the ocean transportation of drybulk cargoes through the ownership and operation of drybulk carrier vessels worldwide. It transports iron ore, coal, grain, steel products, and other drybulk cargoes. The company charters its vessels primarily to trading houses, which include commodities traders; producers; and government-owned entities. Its fleet consists of 53 drybulk carriers, including 9 Capesize, 8 Panamax, 17 Supramax, 6 Handymax, and 13 Handysize drybulk carriers with an aggregate carrying capacity of approximately 3,810,000 dwt. The company, through its subsidiary, Baltic Trading Limited, operates a fleet of two Capesize, four Supramax, and three Handysize drybulk carriers with an aggregate carrying capacity of approximately 672,000 dwt. Genco Shipping & Trading Limited was incorporated in 2004 and is based in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By FinanceGuru]

  The second contrarian indicator is that the short interest in DryShips has increased significantly. They're topped only now by Genco Shipping (GNK), which is currently poised to be heading into bankruptcy.

• [By silvmich]

  This is Part Three of a series of articles published on GuruFocus outlining a short thesis against Genco Shipping and Trading (GNK). Part One was published on October 31, 2013 and Part Two was published on November 14, 2013. This Part Three provides certain updates on the situation, including recent news items, as well as a look into a number of counterarguments made against the short position.

Top Warren Buffett Companies For 2014: CSP Inc.(CSPI)

CSP Inc. engages in the development and marketing of information technology (IT) integration solutions and high-performance cluster computer systems to industrial, commercial, and defense customers worldwide. The company operates in two segments: Systems, and Service and System Integration. The Systems segment designs and manufactures specialty, high-performance computer signal processing systems for the aerospace and defense markets. These systems are used on land, and in airborne and shipboard platforms for high-speed digital signal processing in radar, sonar, and surveillance applications. The Service and System Integration segment consists of the computer maintenance and integration services, and third-party computer hardware and software value added reseller businesses. It also provides professional IT consulting services, including maintenance and technical support; implementation, integration, configuration, and installation services; enterprise security intrusion p revention, network access control, and unified threat management services; IT security compliance services; custom software applications and solutions development and support; and monitoring, reporting, and management of alerts for the resolution and preventive general IT and IT security support tasks. This segment offers its solutions and services for IT environments, including storage and servers, unified communications solutions, IT security solutions, and consulting services. The company markets its products and services through direct sales force, distributors, and resellers. CSP Inc. was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Billerica, Massachusetts.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Laura Brodbeck]

  Tuesday

  Earnings Expected From: Jabil Circuit, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSPI), Verifone Systems, Inc. (NYSE: PAY) Economic Releases Expected: Japanese trade balance, New Zealand current account, US current account, US CPI

  Wednesday

Top Warren Buffett Companies For 2014: Investors Real Estate Trust(IRET)

Investors Real Estate Trust, a real estate investment trust (REIT), engages in the ownership and operation of income-producing real estate properties in the United States. It owns multi-family residential properties and commercial office, medical, industrial, and retail properties located primarily in the upper midwest states of Minnesota and North Dakota. As of April 30, 2008, the company operated a real estate portfolio of 72 multi-family residential; 65 office; 48 medical; 17 industrial; and 33 retail properties. Investors Real Estate Trust has elected to be taxed as a REIT under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. As a REIT, the trust is not subject to federal corporate income taxes, if it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income to its shareholders. The company was founded in 1970 and is headquartered in Minot, North Dakota with additional offices in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Omaha, Nebraska; and Kansas City, Kansas, and St. Louis, Missouri.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Aaron Levitt]

  Why? The boom in Bakken shale drilling. For various REITs it�� a gold mine — and one company that’s definitely taking advantage of this trend is Investors Real Estate Trust (IRET).

• [By Aaron Levitt]

  Here are five of the best.

  Investors Real Estate Trust (IRET)

  Real estate investment trusts (REITs) have garnered much attention from investors seeking income in our low interest rate environment. Energy investors may want to hone in on them as well. Specifically, Investors Real Estate Trust (IRET).

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Investors Real Estate Trust (NYSE: IRET) is estimated to post its Q4 earnings at $0.17 per share on revenue of $67.73 million.

  Posted-In: Earnings scheduleEarnings News Pre-Market Outlook Markets