Top Long Term Stocks To Invest In 2015

Top Long Term Stocks To Invest In 2015: Tiffany & Co.(TIF)

Tiffany & Co., through its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and retail of fine jewelry worldwide. Its jewelry products include fine and solitaire jewelry; diamond engagement rings and wedding bands for brides and grooms; and non-gemstone, sterling silver, gold, and platinum jewelry. The company also provides timepieces, sterling silver goods, china, crystal, stationery, fragrances, personal accessories, and leather goods. Tiffany & Co. sells its products through retail sales, Internet and catalog sales, business-to-business sales, and wholesale distribution primarily in the Americas, the Asia-Pacific, and Europe. The company also sells its products through its stores, as well as through department store boutiques in Japan. As of January 31, 2011, it operated 233 TIFFANY & CO. stores and boutiques worldwide. The company was founded in 1837 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Just as someone looking to buy an engagement ring can’t go wrong with Tiffany (TIF), the luxury-retailers stock has been a must-have item for investors. The latter could be about to change, however, not the folks at Credit Suisse. Analyst Christian Buss and team explain:

  Bloomberg

  Given increasing concerns of slowing demand trends out of [Asia Pacific], we believe that opportunities for earnings upside [at Tiffany] are more limited in 2H and 2015. With multiples now above the historical median of 20x forward P/E, we believe share-price appreciation from here will prove more limited as a result.

  …we are downgrading Tiffany to Neutral and maintaining our Target Price of $112.

  But even as Buss downgraded Tiffany, he had kinder words for L Brands (LB), which was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral:

  [We] are upgrading LB to Outperform given! potential for margin-led earnings upside over the next 6-9 months. We also raise our Target Price to $73 from $ 65…

  We are adjusting our FY14 comp, revenue and EPS estimates to 2.8%, $11,306M and $3.26 from 2.9%, $11,367M, and $3.26. Our FY15 comp, revenue and EPS estimates go to 3.9%, $12,120M and $3.71 from 3.7%, $12,411M and $3.71.

  Shares of Tiffany have dropped 0.6% to $100.96, while L Brands has gained 1% to $64.32.

• [By MONEYMORNING.COM]

  Retail Stocks to Watch No. 5: Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL)
  One-year retail sales growth: 11%
  Total 2013 U.S. sales: $26.6 billion
  The rocky ride for Apple stock last year had little connection to its steady U.S. retail sales, which rose 11% last year. Apple's retail stores have proven astonishingly successful, and sell more per square foot - $4,551 - than any other retailer. (Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) is third at $3,043 per square foot.) Apple's iPhone 6, due to be unveiled Sept. 9, will probably push the tech giant's retail sales growth even higher in 2014. AAPL closed at $103.30.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Tiffany (TIF) has risen 2.6% to $103.40 after the luxury retailer easily topped earnings and revenue forecasts and lifted its full year guidance.

  Chico’s FAS (CHS) has fallen 5.7% to $15.10 after the purveyor of women’s clothing missed earnings and revenue forecasts as discounting hit profit margins.

source from Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/top-long-term-stocks-to-invest-in-2015.html

Reflections from 20 Years of Investing (2001-2008) Pt 2

"Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn't really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while" – Steve Jobs

I was brimming with confidence entering 2004; I had just recorded my best year ever in terms of gains versus the S&P. All the market indices had recorded a resounding rally since the early fall of 2002; the rally was fueled by the Federal Reserve's monetary easing policy and a new found optimism about future of corporate profits. It seemed that the tragedy of September 11 was now a distant memory and its effects on the psyche of the US consumer had all but disappeared.

Following precipitous market rallies, value investors must devote increasing research time to uncover bargains. Such was the case in 2004, many of the obvious values had disappeared and simple asset plays, as well as beaten down cyclical stocks were quickly vanishing from the screens of value investors.

During such times, investors either have to become more imaginative in regard to uncovering value propositions, or reduce the number of companies that they hold in their portfolios. At that point in my investing career, I still lacked the confidence to hold just a few large positions; thus I decided to become more creative in my investments. I starting searching for theme investments which I thought would prosper during the cyclical recovery.

The Investing Climate in 2003-2007

Oil, natural gas and other commodities were entering a bull market, driving up the value of the companies who owned or leased the land which held the resources. Oil service and equipment stocks as well as the mining equipment companies would benefit mightily as the demand for their products and services rose dramatically.

Likewise with the housing market, not only were home builders and banks benefiting from the housing boom, so too were the b! uilding material suppliers and virtually any business which was related to the worldwide surge in housing market.

I started to focus upon finding companies that would benefit from the aforementioned investment themes, but only investing in companies which still held reasonable valuation metrics. The idea was to locate companies that remained undiscovered by Wall Street which were likely to increase their forward earnings. Furthermore, such companies would frequently become buyout candidates, as larger companies looked to increase their earnings by acquiring businesses that were not already "sky high" in price.

When I would check the ownership of many of the companies that I found to be worthy of research, I frequently ran across the name of Jeffrey Gendell who titled his hedge fund Tontine Asset Management.

The Rise and Fall of Tontine Asset Management and ENGlobal (ENG)

Gendell rarely conducted interviews, almost never publicizing his stock selections or his theories in regard to investing. The average investor had never heard of him or his hedge fund; however anyone who tracked money managers closely, was well aware the outstanding returns which were flowing into the pockets of the clients at Tontine. In 2003 and 2004, Gendell recorded near miraculous gains, approximately doubling the value of his portfolios, in back to back years.

Gendell first caught the eye of Wall Street when he became extremely bullish on US steel companies in the early 2000s. Similar to today, US steel companies were on the outs with investors and Tontine boldly stepped in, heavily overweighting the sector. Shortly after Gendell entered the sector, steel companies began a protracted bull market; it seems that Wall Street had a brand new emerging superstar that was capable of spotting cyclical bottoms as well as possessing sufficient courageous to act upon his convictions.

The prodigious gains of Gendell caught my eye as well, and I began to track the ! companies! in which he held significant ownership. One of the companies that I ran across was tiny ENGlobal (ENG), a Houston-based provider of engineering services to the energy sector. The stock fit my investing theme perfectly and it did not hurt my confidence to know that Gendell felt the same way. Further, the stock appeared to be reasonably valued in terms of the business the company was writing and I believed that its earnings were about ready to spike upward. As you can see, I was not exactly demanding a large margin of safety in my theme investments at that point in time.

I purchased ENG in the spring of 2005 for $2.20 a share; by the mid to late summer of the same year, the stock had climbed to around 9.00 a share. I now had to make a decision on whether to sell the stock and take my gains or continue to hold the stock. As it turns out my decision was made considerably easier when I turned on Mad Money that night and much to my amazement, Jim Cramer was touting this tiny microcap stock. My decision was now etched in stone; I sold ENG at the open of the market the following day, for exactly 9.00 per share.

It had been my experience that Cramer's late entry into a momentum stocks generally resulted in a market top for the equity. Such was the case with ENG, after the price ascended slightly higher, the stock quickly dropped below 7 dollars a share. In fairness to Cramer, the stock did go much higher several years later but that was a merely temporary spike, the case of a low quality company hitting a temporary sweet spot. A few years later the stock steadily dropped and never recovered; today it trades under a dollar a share.

Now back to the saga of Jeffrey Gendell and Tontine Asset Management. It seemed that Mr. Gendell was not adhering to Ben Graham's prime directive which suggested that investors should minimize their risk by demanding a sufficient margin of safety on their investment selections. Not only was the hedge fund highly leveraged but almost his entire ! portfolio! was concentrated in debt-laden cyclical companies which were currently benefiting from rising real estate and commodity prices. Apparently, Gendell simply did not believe that the bull market which was triggered by the real estate bubble and the boom cycle in commodities was going to end any time soon.

To make a long story short, in early 2009 Tontine was forced into liquidating its positions and shutting down the fund. I noticed one of the stocks that Gendell was forced to sell was ENG—I wonder if Cramer was still holding the stock? The experience served as a lesson for all investors (me included) who might decide to coat-tail a respected investor without regard to performing their own due diligence on the guru's stock purchases. The Gendell saga also exposed the extreme danger of employing excessive margin in the hopes of "juicing" one's investment returns.

The Essential Points Successful Theme Investing

I will close out today's discussion by integrating value theory into successful theme investing. Theme investing can help investors identify cyclical companies which may benefit from a temporary period of enhanced earnings, as a result of favorable macro or micro economic conditions. Further, a well constructed economic thesis might identify a stock with a powerful catalyst in the form of an acceleration of future earnings. That said, merely identifying companies that are likely to temporarily prosper in terms of earnings is not enough; the stocks must also contain favorable valuation metrics or the investor is merely engaging in speculation. In other words, the stock must also be cheap or it should be avoided without regard to a impending earnings explosion.

One of the common banes that plague the average investor is his/her affinity for selecting stocks which are trading at or near their multiyear highs. If one wishes to become a successful value investor, that tendency needs to be eliminated promptly. Nothing is more damaging ! to long t! erm capital appreciation than being chronically late to the party. There is no shame in recognizing a catalyst after the stock has already moved; that is merely a fact of life in investing. The shame lies in committing one's hard earned capital into a stock which has already moved precipitously and is now becoming over priced.

John Maynard Keyes once opined: "Successful Investing is anticipating the anticipation of others." That notion applies in spades when it comes to theme investing. Typically, a stock moves upwards long before its improvement in earnings comes to fruition. Warren Buffett colorfully observed: "If you wait for the robins, spring will be over." Should an investor wait for an earnings confirmation to validate his/her theory, then the time to invest will have already passed. I will end today's discussion by profiling two successful investments I made in high quality cyclical companies during the period of the mid-2000s. The companies are: Maverick Tube (formerly MVK) and Astec (ASTE).

Maverick Tube: A Strong Demand in OCTG Leads to a Buyout

Entering 2005 I was scouring the oil service and equipment sector for undervalued companies. Being somewhat late to the party, it was difficult to uncover many stocks in the sector that offered much value. Most of the companies had experienced earnings explosions in 2004 and were now trading at multiyear highs, in addition to sporting exorbitant trailing PE multiples.

The 2004 hurricane had done extensive damage to offshore rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. The following year, the US would experience one of its worst hurricane seasons on record which would result in record natural gas prices in late 2005 and early 2006.

At that point in time, land drillers did not possess the technology to extract the massive reserves of natural gas which existed deep in shale deposits throughout the United States. Natural gas typically traded between six to ten times the price of crude oil. Gener! ally spea! king, high oil prices begat high natural gas prices. Additionally, the US natural gas market was isolated from world markets since barriers to its worldwide transportation existed. Therefore, severe disruptions in off shore reserves significantly disrupted the supply of natural gas in the US, which in turn increased demand for US land drillers.

The aforementioned demand and subsequent increase in natural gas prices, lead to an unprecedented increase in the need for Oil Country Tubular Goods (OCTG). The record demand for steel pipes which were used in the drilling of natural gas wells was resulting in record profits at Maverick Tube (formerly MVK). Maverick Tube was one largest suppliers of tubular steel products for the energy sector, in the United States and Canada.

In 2004, Maverick Tube had recorded profits in excess of $4.50 per share. Although, the stock had risen significantly in the last several years, its price still appeared to be reasonable at around 40 dollars a share, in the mid to latter months of 2005. Furthermore, Maverick was not a "one-trick-pony". They were also doing well in their industrial segment which supplied steel conduit to the commercial building market. Additionally, company had an excellent history of profitability.

In mid 2005, the Baker-Hughes rig count which echoed the demand for the company's energy products was continuing to increase. As natural gas prices continued to ascend in 2005, it appeared that Maverick's earnings would continue to increase well into 2006.

Maverick appeared to be one of the few bargains still available in the oils service and equipment sector in 2005. Shareholders were rewarded a year later when the company was acquired by Tenaris (TS) at a price of 65 dollars a share in June of 2006.

Following the acquisition of Maverick, I quickly rolled my profits into Long Star Technologies (formerly LSS) which at the time was Maverick's chief rival. Lone Star was subsequently acquired! by US St! eel (X) approximately one year later. In retrospect, I believe I was extremely fortunate to have the company taken out at that time, since I doubt if I would have sold out of my position in Lone Star any time soon.

Natural gas prices would experience a final large spike in early 2008 but they would soon drop precipitously. In a few months, the credit crisis of 2008 would dramatically suppress the demand for OCTG and other energy related products. I believe that Long Star's price per share would have quickly eroded to a level well below my original purchase price.

One of the major lessons I have learned in the course of my investing career is that cyclical stocks must be sold when they still appear to be cheap in terms of price to earnings. Alternatively, the best time to purchase them is when they are historically cheap in terms of their price to book ratio. At that point the companies are generally losing money or recording little in the way of net income. The counter-intuitive nature of such equities will likely continue to confound investors for the foreseeable future.

Astec Industries (ASTE): A Play on the Highway Bill of 2005

Deep Throat allegedly implored Bernstein and Woodward to "follow the money" in order to solve the mystery of the break in which occurred at the Watergate hotel; the success of the young reporters eventually led to the resignation of Richard Nixon. In mid 2005, I was employing exactly the same strategy in my attempt to uncover undervalued theme stocks which would benefit from the flood of money that would soon be released by the federal government in an attempt to rebuild our infrastructure.

Initially I became excited in August of 2005 when following a series of delays, the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users, (commonly referred to as the Highway Bill) was put into law. I would spend an inordinate amount of time attempting to identify companies which wou! ld tempor! arily benefit financially as a result of its passage. Following an extensive period of internet research, I was unable to uncover any undervalued stocks related to US infrastructure that I felt would benefit from the impending release of federal funds in accordance with the act. In essence, I had stuck out; I decided to give up and spend my time in a more productive manner.

In the summer of 2006, I was combing through the 52-week lows when a very interesting stock presented itself. The company was Astec Industries (ASTE), and they made the majority of their profits from various types of asphalt equipment which was principally used in US road construction. I immediately delved full throttle into the company's filings and started listening to their conference calls.

Astec was one of the first companies that convinced me that about the expediency of listening to conference calls. The former CEO of ASTE was J. Don Brock, and he was a veritable fountain of information relating to the road construction business. Listening to his conference calls was tantamount to enrolling in a road construction school. He would inform the listeners about the difference in prices between concrete and asphalt, the amount of regrind that was permitted in a particular state, the cost to repave a road, as well as many of the microeconomics that supported the various machines that the company manufactured and sold.

It took me very little time to decide that I should not "look this gift horse in the mouth"; rather I decided to start buying ASTE hand over fist. I reread the annuals and quarterly reports and researched the effect of the prior Highway bill (which was passed in 1998) on the company's earnings and stock price; rarely have I ever become so excited in regard to the prospects of a stock.

As a matter of fact, I was so confident that I implored all of my friends to get involved in the stock. I even recommended it to our son and his wife, something which I had never do! ne before! . I wrote the stock up on message boards, complete with charts and an extensive rational for purchasing the stock which included an assessment of when one would need to sell their holdings.

I planned to sell the stock in just over a year (to avoid short term gains) at what I believed would be about the midpoint of their earnings explosion. I believed that the company would continue to prosper for about another year following my sale but I was extremely concerned about savvy investors selling their positions long before the company's earnings began to turn downward. I had learned a considerable amount about buying and selling cyclical stocks and in the case of ASTE, I had noticed that the stock had began to drop long before their earnings began to recede during the preceding Highway Bill boom and bust cycle.

As it turned out my analysis was spot on; I had never previously—and probably never will again— handicap a stock so perfectly. I bought the stock around its 52-week low at an average cost of under 25 dollars a share and sold it slightly over a year later in the Summer of 2007, in the mid to high fifty dollar range, virtually at its all-time high.

We were visiting our kids in Virginia at the time of the second quarter conference call in August of 2007. Astec's earnings were phenomenal and the prospects appeared good for the rest of the year, but I had already made my decision in advance. I borrowed my son's computer and sold every share of ASTE that very morning.

After selling my shares I made it a point to advise my son and his wife to sell immediately, reiterating every detail which I had made when I advised them to buy the stock. I specifically recall admonishing them that "cyclical stocks must be sold when their earnings still improving" and ASTE had just announced record earnings.

Following a precipitous decline in Astec stock a few months later, I called my son and daughter-in-law to reiterate how wise they were to sell ! the stock! and take their profits. Much to my dismay, I found out that they had not divested a single share of Astec stock; I might as well have been lecturing to a wall. Such is the power of a high momentum stock on a novice investor's psyche; apparently my reasoning and prescribed plan of attack, was not sufficient to overcome the lure of continuing to hold a rapidly rising stock.

Reflections from Twenty Years of Investing will return with the final edition for the years from 2001-2008 (it seems that describing this period is taking longer than I had anticipated). The edition will cover Imperial Sugar, a number of Chinese stocks and a profound investing error that severely damaged my long term rate of return.

Best Quality Stocks To Buy Right Now

It�� countdown time for Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) and we wonder: will another retailer bite the dust (bin)?

Bloomberg

It wouldn’t be much of a shock. In an article earlier today, MarketWatch reporter Andria Cheng notes that industry rivals including Pier 1 Imports (PIR), the Container Store (TCS) and Williams-Sonoma (WSM) lowered their profit or sales outlooks. Cheng also notes that Bed Bach & Beyond had cut its outlook in June to $1.08 a share from $1.16. She continues:

Morgan Stanley�� home-furnishings survey conducted in August and released Monday found almost 80% of shoppers at Bed Bath & Beyond in the past three months listed the company�� 20% off an-item coupon as what drove them to the store, much higher than other factors including selection or quality of merchandise

What does that mean for Bed Bath & Beyond, which will release its financial results after the close today? Nomura�� Jessica Schoen Mace doesn’t think Bed Bath & Beyond will beat the Street Consensus–she forecasts earnings-per-share of $1.13, a penny below the average analyst prediction–but she’s not completely down on the company. Schoen Mace writes:

Top 10 Consumer Companies To Own In Right Now: Akbank TAS (AKBNK)

Akbank TAS (Akbank) is a Turkey-based commercial bank. The Bank operates in five segments: the Retail banking segment offers a range of retail services, such as deposit accounts, consumer loans, commercial installment loans, credit cards, insurance products and asset management services; the Corporate and Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SME) banking segment provides financial solutions and banking services to large, medium and small size corporate and commercial customers; the Treasury Activities segment conducts regional and foreign currency spot and forward transactions, treasury bonds, government bonds, Eurobond and private sector bond transactions, as well as derivative trading activities; the Private banking segment offers banking and investment transactions for upper-income groups, and the International banking segment provides services for foreign trade financing, foreign currency and Turkish Lira (TL) clearances, and money transfers through agent financial institutions. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Harry Suhartono]

  The Borsa Istanbul National 100 Index jumped 3.7 percent, the most among major emerging-market gauges, as Akbank TAS (AKBNK) and Turkiye Halk Bankasi AS (HALKB) rallied. Benchmark measures in Poland and the Czech Republic added at least 0.5 percent, while Hungarian shares retreated for a fourth day.

• [By Julia Leite]

  Turkey�� equity benchmark rallied as Turkiye Garanti Bankasi AS and Akbank TAS (AKBNK) advanced at least 5.4 percent. The lira gained for the fourth day.

Best Quality Stocks To Buy Right Now: Analog Devices Inc (ADI)

Analog Devices, Inc. (Analog Devices), incorporated on January 18, 1965, is engaged in the design, manufacture and marketing of a range of analog, mixed-signal and digital signal processing integrated circuits (ICs). The Company produces a range of products, including data converters, amplifiers and linear products, radio frequency (RF) ICs, power management products, sensors based on micro-electro mechanical systems (MEMS) technology and other sensors, and processing products, including DSP and other processors, which are designed to meet the needs of a base of customers. The Company's products are embedded inside many different types of electronic equipment, including industrial process control systems; instrumentation and measurement systems; wireless infrastructure equipment, and aerospace and defense electronics. The Company designs , manufactures and markets a range of ICs, which incorporate analog, mixed-signal and digital signal processing technologies. The Company's product portfolio includes both general-purpose products used by a range of customers and applications, as well as application-specific products. On March 30, 2012, the Company acquired Multigig, Inc.

Analog Products

The Company's product portfolio includes several thousand analog ICs. The Company's analog IC customers include original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and customers who build electronic subsystems for integration into larger systems. The Company is a supplier of data converter products. Data converters translate real-world analog signals into digital data and also translate digital data into analog signals. The Company is also a supplier of amplifiers. Amplifiers are used to condition analog signals. The Company provides precision, instrumentation, intermediate frequency/radio frequency (RF), broadband, and other amplifiers. The Company also offers a range of precision voltage references, which are used in a range of applications. The Company's analog product line also includes a range port! folio of RF ICs covering the RF signal chain, from RF function blocks, such as phase locked loops, frequency synthesizers, mixers, modulators, demodulators, and power detectors, to broadband and short-range single chip transceiver solutions.

The Company's RF ICs support the requirements of cellular infrastructure and a range of applications in the Company's target markets. Also within the Company's analog technology portfolio are products, which are based on MEMS technology. This technology enables the Company to build small sensors, which incorporate an electromechanical structure and the supporting analog circuitry for conditioning signals obtained from the sensing element. The Company's MEMS product portfolio includes accelerometers used to sense acceleration, gyroscopes used to sense rotation, inertial measurement units used to sense multiple degrees of freedom combining multiple sensing types along multiple axis, and MEMS microphones used to sense audio. The Company's current revenue from MEMS products is derived from the automotive end market. In addition to the Company's MEMS products, its other analog product category includes isolators. The Company's isolators have been designed for applications, such as universal serial bus isolation in patient monitors, where it allows hospitals and physicians to adopt the advances in computer technology to supervise patient health and wirelessly transmit medical records. In smart metering applications, the Company's isolators provide electrostatic discharge performance. In satellites, where any malfunction can be catastrophic, the Company's isolators help protect the power system while enabling designers to achieve small form factors. Power management & reference products make up the balance of the Company's analog sales. Those products, which include functions such as power conversion, driver monitoring, sequencing and energy management, are developed to complement analog signal chain components across core market segments from micro power, en! ergy-sens! itive battery applications to power systems in infrastructure and industrial applications.

Digital Signal Processing Products

Digital Signal Processing products (DSPs) complete the Company's product portfolio. DSPs are optimized for numeric calculations, which are essential for instantaneous, or real-time, processing of digital data generated, from analog to digital signal conversion. The Company's DSPs are designed to be fully programmable and to execute specialized software programs, or algorithms, associated with processing digitized real-time, real-world data. Programmable DSPs are designed to provide the flexibility to modify the device's function using software. The Company's DSP IC customers write their own algorithms using software development tools provided by the Company and third-party suppliers. The Company's DSPs are designed in families of products, which share common architectures and therefore can execute the same software across a range of products. The Company's customers use the Company's products to solve a range of signal processing challenges across its core market and segment focus areas within the industrial, automotive, consumer and communications end markets. As an integrated part of the Company's customers' signal chain, there are other Analog Devices products connected to its processors, including converters, audio and video codecs and power management solutions.

The Company competes with Broadcom Corporation, Maxim Integrated Products, Inc., Cirrus Logic, Inc., Microchip Technology, Inc., Freescale Semiconductor, Inc., NXP Semiconductors, Infineon Technologies, ST Microelectronics, Intersil Corporation, Silicon Laboratories, Inc., Knowles Electronics, Texas Instruments, Inc. and Linear Technology Corporation.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Harsh Chauhan]

  It is not just auto companies that are benefiting from this growth. Even chipmakers have cashed in on this trend as vehicles get more advanced and are equipped with more technology. Analog Devices (NASDAQ: ADI  ) is one such semiconductor company which has trained its sights on the resurgent auto market. It recently announced the acquisition of Hittite Microwave (NASDAQ: HITT  ) to bolster its position in automotive, along with other verticals.�

Best Quality Stocks To Buy Right Now: Powerdyne International Inc (PWDY)

Powerdyne International, Inc., formerly Greenmark Acquisition Corporation, incorporated on September 13, 2006, is a development-stage company. The Company focuses on manufacturing, installing, maintaining, owning and operating portable electrical power generation equipment (gensets).

The Company's initial product is the PDIGenset, which is a self contained generator that is powered by a modified radial air cooled engine to drive a minimum of a 1-megawatt generator. The entire unit, which runs on natural gas or propane, is compact, lightweight and clean burning. The Company also focuses on the process of building its first prototype of the PDIGenset. As of December 31, 2010, the Company had not generated any revenues.

The Company competes with Caterpillar Corporation, Cummings, Morse Diesel, Kohler, Volvo and Detroit Diesel.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Peter Graham]

  On Friday, small cap stocks EHouse Global (OTCBB: EHOS), Sanwire Corporation (OTCMKTS: SNWR) and Powerdyne International Inc (OTCBB: PWDY) sank 37.38%, 29.47% and 23.23%, respectively, despite some evidence of paid stock promotions or investor relation campaigns. Of course, volatility is a given for small cap OTC stocks, but paid stock promotions or investor relations campaigns tend to add to that volatility. With that in mind, what will these three small cap stocks do for investors this holiday trading week? Here is a closer look to help you decide on a trading or investment strategy:

Best Quality Stocks To Buy Right Now: SunPower Corp (SPWR)

SunPower Corporation, incorporated in April 1985, is a vertically integrated solar products and services company that designs, manufactures and delivers solar electric systems worldwide for residential, commercial, and utility-scale power plant customers. The Company operates in two business segments: the Utility and Power Plants (UPP) Segment and the Residential and Commercial (R&C) Segment. The UPP Segment refers to its solar products and systems business, which includes power plant project development and project sales, turn-key engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services for power plant construction, and power plant operations and maintenance (O&M) services. UPP Segment also sells components, including huge volume of sales of solar panels and mounting systems to third parties, sometimes on a multi-year, firm commitment basis. The R&C Segment focuses on solar equipment sales into the residential and small commercial market through its third-party global dealer network, as well as direct sales and EPC and O&M services in the United States and Europe for rooftop and ground-mounted solar power systems for the new homes, commercial and public sectors. In May 2012, K Road Power Holdings, LLC (K Road) and SunPower Corp announced that K Road acquired the 25-megawatt (AC) McHenry Solar Project, which the Company designed. In January 2013, the Company MidAmerican Solar acquired the 579-megawatt Antelope Valley Solar Projects (AVSP), two co-located projects in Kern and Los Angeles Counties in Calif from SunPower.

In January 2012, the Company completed its acquisition of the wholly owned Total SA subsidiary Tenesol SA, a global solar provider. In September 2011, NRG Energy Inc. acquired 250 megawatt California Valley Solar Ranch (CVSR) project from SunPower. In June 2011, the Company introduced SunPower E20 Series Solar Panel (E20) series. The Company�� customers in its UPP Segment include investors, financial institutions, project developers, electric utilities, and independent po! wer producers in the United States, Europe, and Asia. In its R&C Segment, the Company primarily sells its products to commercial and governmental entities, production home builders, and its third-party global dealer network serving residential owners and small commercial building owners.

Solar Cells

The A-300 solar cell is a silicon solar cell with a specified power value of 3.1 watts and a conversion efficiency averaging between 20.0% and 21.5%. The Company�� A-330 solar cell delivers 3.3 watts with a conversion efficiency of up to 22.7%.

Solar Panels

The Company�� SunPower solar panel series include solutions, such as SunPower E18 Series Solar Panel (E18), SunPower E19 Series Solar Panel (E19), and SunPower E20 Series Solar Panel (E20). Available in a 72-cell configuration, the E18 series panel uses its A300 all back-contact solar cells and delivers a total panel conversion of 18.1% to 18.5%. Available in a 72, 96, and 128-cell configuration, the E19 series panel uses its A300 all back-contact solar cells and delivers total panel conversion of 19.3% to 19.7%. Available in a 96-cell configuration, the E20 series panel uses its A-330 all back-contact solar cells and delivers total panel conversion of up to 20.1%.

Inverters

The Company sells a line of SunPower branded inverters. The inverters are manufactured by third parties.

Roof Mounted Products

The roof mounted products include SunPower T-5 Solar Roof Tile System (T-5), SunPower T-10 Commercial Solar Roof Tiles (T-10), PowerGuard Roof System (PowerGuard) and SunTile Roof Integrated System (SunTile). Tilted at a 5-degree angle, the T-5 roof tile is a non-penetrating photovoltaic rooftop product that combines solar panel, frame, and mounting system. The T-5 solar roof tile systems are primarily sold through its R&C Segment.

Tilted at a 10-degree angle, the T-10 commercial solar roof tiles is a non-penetrating panel interlock system! . Dependi! ng on geographical location and local climate conditions, this can allow for the generation of up to 10% more annual energy output than traditional flat roof-mounted systems. The T-10 commercial solar roof tile is primarily sold through its R&C Segment.

PowerGuard is a non-penetrating roof-mounted solar panel that delivers electricity while insulating and protecting the roof membrane from ultraviolet rays and thermal degradation. The PowerGuard roof system is primarily sold through its R&C Segment. SunTile solar shingles are designed to replace multiple types of roof panels, including the common concrete flat, low and high profile S tile and composition shingles. The SunTile roof system is also sold through its R&C Segment.

Ground Mounted Products

The ground mounted products include SunPower T-0 Tracker (T-0) & SunPower T-20 Tracker (T-20), SunPower Oasis Power Plant (SunPower Oasis), SunPower C-7 Tracker (C-7), and Fixed Tilt and SunPower Tracker Systems for Parking Structures. The T-0 and T-20 trackers are single-axis tracking systems that automatically pivot solar panels to track the sun's movement throughout the day. This tracking feature increases the amount of sunlight that is captured and converted into energy by up to 30% over flat or fixed-tilt systems, depending on geographic location and local climate conditions. A single motor and drive mechanism can control 10 to 20 rows, or more than 200 kilo watts of solar panels. The T-0 and T-20 trackers have been installed in a range of geographical markets principally in the United States, Germany, Italy, Portugal, South Korea, and Spain. The T-0 and T-20 trackers are sold through both its UPP and R&C Segments.

The Oasis is a solar power block that scales from 1 mega watts distributed installations to central station power plants. Oasis provides a way to deploy utility-scale solar power systems, streaming the development and construction process while optimizing the use of available land. The SunPow! er Oasis ! is sold through its UPP Segment. The C-7 combines a horizontal single-axis tracker with rows of parabolic mirrors, reflecting light onto linear arrays of its solar cells. The C-7 tracker is sold through its UPP Segment. SunPower has developed designs for solar power systems for parking structures in multiple configurations. These dual-use systems typically incorporate solar panels into the roof of a carport or similar structure to deliver onsite solar power while providing shade and protection. They are suited for parking lots adjacent to facilities. Fixed Tilt and SunPower Tracker Systems for parking structures are sold through both its UPP and R&C Segments.

Other System Offerings

SunPower�� metal roof system is designed for sloped-metal roof buildings, which are used in some winery and warehouse applications. This solar power system is designed for rapid installation. It also offers other architectural products, such as day lighting with translucent solar panels.

Balance of System Components

Balance of system components are components of a solar power system other than the solar panels. It includes SunPower branded inverters, mounting structures, charge controllers, grid interconnection equipment, and other devices depending on the specific requirements of a particular system and project.

The Company competes with Canadian Solar Inc., JA Solar Holdings Co., Kyocera Corporation, Mitsubishi Corporation, Q-Cells AG, Sanyo Corporation, Sharp Corporation, SolarCity Corporation, SolarWorld AG, Sungevity, Inc., SunRun, Inc., Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd., Trina Solar Ltd., Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd., Abengoa Solar S.A., Acconia Energia S.A., AES Solar Energy Ltd., Chevron Energy Solutions, EDF Energy plc, First Solar Inc., NextEra Energy, Inc., OPDE Group, NRG Energy, Inc., Recurrent Energy, Sempra Energy, Skyline Solar, Inc., Solargen Energy, Inc., Solaria Corporation, SolFocus, Inc., SunEdison and Tenaska, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Travis Hoium]

  I recently had the opportunity to interview Tom Werner, CEO of solar leader SunPower (NASDAQ: SPWR  ) . The company has had improving fundamentals this year but the industry is still highly competitive, so I was interested to find out how SunPower plans to hold off the competition in the future. Below are the highlights from the interview.

• [By Travis Hoium]

  Solar power accounted for 100% of the power added to the grid in March and has accounted for as much as 50% of the additions in the first quarter. Giant projects from solar heavies First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR  ) and SunPower (NASDAQ: SPWR  ) are driving the utility industry, and SolarCity (NASDAQ: SCTY  ) is building residential solar at a fevered pace. Erin Miller sat down with Motley Fool contributor Travis Hoium to see what this trend means for our energy future.

• [By Travis Hoium]

  Another record in solar
  We've been hearing about solar efficiency records for years. Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE  ) said that its Panda cells reached 19.89% efficiency way back in 2011. Trina Solar's Honey technology can reach 19.6% efficiency. Then there's the efficiency leader, SunPower (NASDAQ: SPWR  ) , whose Maxeon cells can be 24% efficient, creating a 21.5% efficient production module.

• [By Matt DiLallo]

  Solar stocks have mounted quite the comeback over the past year as both First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR  ) and SunPower (NASDAQ: SPWR  ) are up well over triple digits. As an investor who is interested in making green as so many are going green, it's easy to wonder if there is still time to buy stock in First Solar, or fear that the future is too cloudy. Let's take a look at a couple of reasons why investors would want to buy the stock, as well as a big reason to beware.

Top 5 Quality Stocks To Buy Right Now

Top 5 Quality Stocks To Buy Right Now: Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS)

The Bank of Nova Scotia (the Bank) is a diversified financial institution. As of October 31, 2011, the Bank offered a range of products and services, including retail, commercial, corporate and investment banking to more than 18.6 million customers in more than 50 countries around the world. The Bank has four business lines: Canadian Banking, International Banking, Scotia Capital and Global Wealth Management. In January 2012, the Company closed its acquisition of 51% of Banco Colpatria. In April 2012, the Company through Scotia Capital Inc. acquired Howard Weil Incorporated. In April 2013, Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a 50% interest in Administradora de Fondos de Pensiones Horizonte SA. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Will Ashworth]

  TD Rating: 7.5

  Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS)

  Dividend Yield: 3.9%

  The last of the major Canadian banks is Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS). Not known for its Canadian retail banking, its biggest calling cards are its businesses outside of Canada in Latin America and Asia. Analysts expect it to deliver a 9.1% increase in adjusted net income in the fourth quarter to C$1.6 billion, 47% of which will come from outside of Canada.

• [By MONEYMORNING.COM]

  The London Silver Market Fixing Ltd. currently operates with just three members: Deutsche Bank AG (USA) (NYSE: DB), HSBC Holdings Plc. (NYSE ADR: HSBC), and Bank of Nova Scotia (USA) (NYSE: BNS).

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.seekpennystocks.com/top-5-quality-stocks-to-buy-right-now.html

How Long Will Exelon Earnings Keep Falling?

Exelon (NYSE: EXC  ) will release its quarterly report on Wednesday, and investors are bracing themselves for what could be another disappointing report for the utility. Despite its promise as a major producer of nuclear power, Exelon earnings are likely to decline from their year-ago levels, continuing a troubling trend that has led to past dividend cuts and uncertainty about the company's future.

Historically, Exelon has benefited greatly from its diversified portfolio of electrical generation capacity, with its nuclear power plants helping to give it a major competitive advantage when fossil-fuel prices were high. Lately, though, low natural gas prices have taken away that advantage, creating problems for the utility's business model and depressing the price of the power it generates, hitting profits. Let's take an early look at what's been happening with Exelon over the past quarter and what we're likely to see in its quarterly report.

Stats on Exelon

Analyst EPS Estimate	$0.54
Change From Year-Ago EPS	(11.5%)
Revenue Estimate	$6.15 billion
Change From Year-Ago Revenue	(3.3%)
Earnings Beats in Past Four Quarters	2

10 Best New Stocks To Watch For 2015

Source: Yahoo! Finance.

When will Exelon earnings bottom out?
Analysts have largely kept their views on Exelon earnings stable in recent months, leaving June-quarter estimates unchanged though reining in their full-year 2013 views by $0.02 per share. The stock, though, has continued to pose problems for investors, having fallen 14% since late April.

A large part of that drop came in late May, following very poor results from power-grid operator PJM's auction of electrical capacity governing the 2016-2017 delivery year. With the grid operator managing to secure nearly 170 gigawatts of capacity at a price more than 55% below the previous year's auction, analysts downgraded Exelon and rival FirstEnergy (NYSE: FE  ) because of the adverse long-term implications on electricity demand. New natural-gas-fueled power plants were a major part of the capacity jump, and as gas prices continue to remain relatively low, producers like FirstEnergy and Exelon are facing profit squeezes well into the future.

But Exelon isn't giving up on the future prospects of nuclear energy. It filed renewal applications for two of its nuclear plants in May, seeking to get the multi-year process under way well before the 2024 to 2027 expiration dates of its current approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Industry rivals aren't committed to nuclear power given the current price environment, as Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK  ) decided to suspend its plans to build new nuclear plants in North Carolina, citing slowing growth in power demand as making the plants unnecessary as Duke turns its attention to modernizing its fossil-fuel plants.

Moreover, Exelon is looking at sources other than nuclear power for electricity generation. In its corporate sustainability report, the company not only touted safety and reliability but also more than 400 megawatts of wind power and 31 megawatts of solar generation it added in the past year.

In the Exelon earnings report, watch for signs of how the utility is handling the prospect of higher interest rates. The full brunt of higher financing costs won't hit the company immediately, but over time, rising interest expense could produce a further headwind to Exelon's profitability going forward.

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Top 5 Quality Companies To Invest In Right Now

Top 5 Quality Companies To Invest In Right Now: Ballard Power Systems Inc.(BLDP)

Ballard Power Systems Inc. engages in the design, development, manufacture, sale, and service of fuel cell products for motive and stationary power applications worldwide. It offers clean energy PEM (proton exchange membrane) fuel cell stacks, modules, and complete systems. The company provides fuel cell products and services for material handling and bus, back-up power, and distributed generation applications; and fuel cell engineering solutions for various fuel cell applications. It also offers carbon-based engineered material products in the form of roll goods as woven carbon fiber textile fabrics or carbon fiber papers primarily for automotive transmissions and gas diffusion layers. Ballard Power Systems Inc., through its interests in Dantherm Power A/S develops clean energy backup power through utilization of hydrogen fuel cell technology; and Automotive Fuel Cell Cooperation Corp. develops fuel cell products for the automotive fuel cell market. The company was founde d in 1979 and is headquartered in Burnaby, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Cowen’s Jeffrey Osborne and Thomas Boyes are impressed with Plug Power’s (PLUG) financial results, which are helping to boost Ballard Power Systems (BLDP) and FuelCell Energy (FCEL), as well:

• [By James E. Brumley]

  ZBB Energy is a power storage and a power management name that's found a market by serving the renewable energy and small-scale energy niche. It's been lumped in with similar plays like Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ:PLUG) and Ballard Power Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:BLDP), and it's not an inappropriate comparison. Though much smaller than BLDP and PLUG, ZBB lives and dies by the same sword that Plug Power and Ballard Power Systems live and die by. There's one difference between ZBB Energy and its peers right now, however - ZBB is knocking on the door of a breakout.

• [By! Paul Ausick]

  Canada-based fuel cell developer Ballard Power Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: BLDP) is getting a jolt on Friday after yesterdays announcement that it had signed a non-bind agreement to develop zero-emissions, fuel cell vehicles with Netherlands-based Van Hool NV, Europes fourth-largest bus maker. According to the announcement there will be 27 Van Hool fuel cell buses operating in Europe next year, all powered by Ballard fuel cell systems.

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.seekpennystocks.com/top-5-quality-companies-to-invest-in-right-now-4.html

Top 10 Internet Stocks For 2015

Top 10 Internet Stocks For 2015: Amazon.com Inc.(AMZN)

Amazon.com, Inc. operates as an online retailer in North America and internationally. It operates retail Web sites, including amazon.com and amazon.ca. The company serves consumers through its retail Web sites and focuses on selection, price, and convenience. It also offers programs that enable sellers to sell their products on its Web sites, and their own branded Web sites. In addition, the company serves developer customers through Amazon Web Services, which provides access to technology infrastructure that developers can use to enable virtually various type of business. Further, it manufactures and sells the Kindle e-reader. Additionally, the company provides fulfillment; miscellaneous marketing and promotional agreements, such as online advertising; and co-branded credit cards. Amazon.com, Inc. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Meanwhile, competition in the shipping industry is likely to increase as a number of retailers likeAmazon.comInc. (AMZN) andWal-Mart StoresInc. (WMT) test their own delivery networks.FedExCorp. (FDX) likely added fuel to that fire when it unveiled plans last month to change the way it charges to ship bulky packages, effectively increasing prices on more than a third of its U.S. ground shipments.

• [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]

  Nathaniel E. Bell/APA scene from Netflix's "House of Cards," starring Kevin Spacey and Jackie Sharp. NEW YORK -- Americans are turning away from live TV on the tube and tuning in to streaming services, a Nielsen report says. That's bad news for cable and satellite TV providers. Americans are increasingly watching TV shows and movies on Netflix (NFLX), Hulu, Amazon.com (AMZN) streaming and other services. CBS (CBS) and HBO (TWX) have announced standalone streaming services as well. About 45 percent of Americans stream television shows at least once a month, accordi! ng to research firm eMarketer. That number is expected to increase to 53 percent or 175 million people by 2018, it says. According to the Nielsen report, which came out Wednesday, the average daily time spent watching live TV fell 12 minutes in the third quarter to four hours and 32 minutes. That means it dropped nearly 4 percent to 141 hours a month. Meanwhile, time spent watching streaming services jumped 60 percent to nearly 11 hours each month. That's still a small amount compared with live TV, but it is growing quickly. "Content is still king, but consumers are shaping their own content-discovery experience, and the evolving media landscape has not lessened consumer demand for quality, professionally produced content," Dounia Turrill, senior vice president of insights at Nielsen, said in a statement. "What has changed is the number and reliability of new media available to viewers." Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. More from The Associated Press
  •Takata: Evidence Doesn't Support National Air Bag Recall •Market Wrap: Energy Stocks Lead an Advance on Wall Street •Hershey Explores Removing High-Fructose Corn Syrup

source from Top Stocks To Buy For 2015:http://www.topstocksforum.com/top-10-internet-stocks-for-2015-2.html

Hot European Companies For 2014

LONDON -- Stock index futures at 7 a.m. EDT indicate that the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) may open up by 0.94% this morning, while the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC  ) may open 1.09% higher. CNN's Fear & Greed Index has now returned to neutral territory and is set to open today at 52, up from last night's close of 44.

Yesterday's Federal Open Market Committee minutes may have left investors unsure of the Fed's intentions, but Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke delivered the goods in a speech last night, saying that "highly accommodative monetary policy" would be needed for the foreseeable future. Asian and European markets responded enthusiastically, surging higher when they opened after Bernanke's speech. In China, the Shanghai Composite Index closed up 3.2%, its biggest one-day gain of the year. And in Europe, the FTSE 100 is up 0.69%, the DAX is up 1.25% and France's CAC 40 is 1% higher as of 7:50 a.m. EDT. Mining shares are among the biggest risers -- gold miner Randgold Resources is up by 5.5%.

Top Semiconductor Stocks To Buy Right Now: Flamel Technologies S.A.(FLML)

Flamel Technologies S.A., a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development and commercialization of controlled-release therapeutic products based on its proprietary polymer based technology in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the United States, France, and Europe. The company develops nanogel Medusa technology, which is intended to provide controlled release following injection of therapeutic proteins, peptides, and other molecules; a microparticle adaptation of the Medusa platform that is intended for use in the delivery of smaller proteins and peptides; and Micropump technology, a microparticle technology for oral administration of small molecule drugs with applications in controlled-release, taste-masking, and bioavailability enhancement; and Trigger-Lock technology, an adaptation based on Micropump technology, which is intended to minimize the misuse and abuse of medications subject to abuse. Its principal product based on Micropump technology is Coreg CR, which is intended for the treatment of moderate to severe heart failure and left ventricular dysfunction following myocardial infarction. The company?s products under development based upon Medusa technology include Interferon-alpha, a naturally occurring protein that the body uses for the treatment of Hepatitis C virus and as a immune response; and FT-105, an injectable insulin formulation for diabetic patients. Its products based on its Micropump technology comprise LiquiTime for the elderly and pediatric patient patients, or others who have difficulty swallowing. The company has strategic alliance with Baxter International, Inc.; GlaxoSmithKline; Merck Serono; and Pfizer Inc, as well as has a joint development agreement with Digna Biotech, S.L. Flamel Technologies S.A. was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Venissieux, France.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Garrett Cook]

  Healthcare shares gained 0.81 percent in the US market on Friday. Top gainers in the sector included Shire plc (NASDAQ: SHPG), StemCells (NASDAQ: STEM), and Flamel Technologies SA (NASDAQ: FLML).

• [By Garrett Cook]

  Healthcare shares gained 0.81 percent in the US market on Friday. Top gainers in the sector included Shire plc (NASDAQ: SHPG), StemCells (NASDAQ: STEM), and Flamel Technologies SA (NASDAQ: FLML).

Hot European Companies For 2014: Aegon NV(AEG)

AEGON N.V. provides life insurance, pensions, and asset management products and services worldwide. The company?s life insurance products include traditional, term, universal, whole, and other life insurance products sold as part of defined benefit pension plans, endowment policies, post-retirement annuity products, and group risk products; supplemental health insurance products comprise accidental death, other injury, critical illness, hospital indemnity, medicare supplement, and student health; specialty lines consists of travel, membership, and creditor products; and long term care insurance products for policyholders who require care due to a chronic illness or cognitive impairment. It also offers a range of savings and retirement products and services, including mutual funds, and fixed and variable annuities, savings accounts and investment contracts, segregated funds, guaranteed investment accounts, and single premium immediate annuities, as well as investment advice to individuals. In addition, the company offers employer solutions and pensions, such as retirement plans, pension plans, and pension-related products and services; investment products, including onshore and offshore bonds, and trusts; reinsurance products and solutions to life insurance and financial services companies; general insurance products comprising house, car, and fire insurance; and asset management products and services, including general account assets, unit-linked funds, and third party activities. AEGON N.V. markets its products through independent and career agents, financial planners, registered representatives, independent marketing organizations, banks, broker-dealers, benefit consulting firms, wirehouses, affinity groups, institutional partners, independent managing general agencies, and specialized financial advisors, as well as through online, direct, and worksite marketing. The company was founded in 1900 and is headquartered in The Hague, the Netherl ands.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Will Ashworth]

  Assuming it delivers on its outlook for 2014, its current free cash flow yield is a very enticing 20%. This isn�� a growth stock, but its brands still possess hidden value. As cheap stocks go, it�� very attractive.

  Cheap Stocks to Buy: Aegon (AEG)

  It�� not often that you can buy a $19 billion market cap for under 10 bucks. Aegon�� a Dutch insurance company that�� had a rough ride over the past few years, and its stock�� suffered as a result. In the late ’90s AEG stock traded around $60 — it hasn�� been anywhere close since. However, it�� got some good assets that should bear fruit in the years to come. Aegon has 12,000 employees in the Americas doing business primarily under the Transamerica brand, which has been a part of AEG since 1999.

Hot European Companies For 2014: BP p.l.c.(BP)

BP p.l.c. provides fuel for transportation, energy for heat and light, retail services, and petrochemicals products. Its Exploration and Production segment engages in the oil and natural gas exploration, field development, and production; midstream transportation, and storage and processing; and marketing and trading of natural gas, including liquefied natural gas (LNG), and power and natural gas liquids (NGL). This segment has exploration and production activities in Angola, Azerbaijan, Canada, Egypt, Norway, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as in Asia, Australasia, South America, North Africa, and the Middle East. This segment also owns and manages crude oil and natural gas pipelines; processing facilities and export terminals; and LNG processing and transportation, as well as NGL extraction facilities. BP p.l.c. has interests in the Trans-Alaska pipeline system, the Forties pipeline system, the Central Area transmission sys tem pipeline, the South Caucasus Pipeline, and Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, as well as in LNG plants located in Trinidad, Indonesia, and Australia. The company?s Refining and Marketing segment involves in the supply and trading, refining, manufacturing, marketing, and transportation of crude oil, petroleum, and petrochemicals products and related services to wholesale and retail customers primarily under the BP, Castrol, ARCO, and Aral brands. Its Other Businesses and Corporate segment produces and markets rolled aluminum products, as well as generates energy through wind, solar, biofuels, hydrogen, and carbon capture and storage sources; and engages in shipping activities. The company was founded in 1889 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Arjun Sreekumar]

  Since 2008, BP (NYSE: BP  ) has been working on a multi-billion-dollar modernization project at its Whiting refinery in Indiana, the company's largest U.S. refinery. As the British oil giant moves closer to completing the last remaining upgrades at Whiting, let's take a closer look at what effect its start-up may have on North American benchmark crude oil prices.

• [By Joshua Bondy]

  BP's (NYSE: BP  ) Statistical Review of World Energy shows the limited options that face the global energy system.�With 2013's primary energy growth rate of 2.3% falling below its 10-year average, there are signs that the search for economical, emission-light energy is taking its toll. A diversified portfolio is the only way to help adjust the energy system we have inherited.�

• [By Federico Zaldua]

  I believe in the upside potential of British Petroleum (BP), which is one of the big positions owned by Seth Klarman, the legendary value investor who founded Baupost and author of the value investing bible, "Margin of Safety."
  

• [By Aaron Levitt]

  BP (BP) CEO Bob Dudley must not sleep very well at night.

  Shares of BP stock still haven�� recovered to their pre-Deepwater Horizon disaster levels. One of the worst oil spills in history, the explosion and resulting catastrophe caused more than 4.9 million barrels of crude oil to spill into the Gulf of Mexico back in 2010. Not to mention, eleven workers died on board the rig.

Hot European Companies For 2014: Telefonica SA(TEF)

Telefonica, S.A. provides fixed and mobile telephony services primarily in Spain, rest of Europe, and Latin America. Its fixed telecommunication services include PSTN lines; ISDN accesses; public telephone; local, domestic, and international long distance and fixed-to-mobile communications; corporate communications; video telephony; supplementary and business-oriented value-added services; network services; leasing and sale of handset equipment; and telephony information services. The company?s Internet and broadband multimedia services comprise Internet service provider service; portal and network services; retail and wholesale broadband access; narrowband switched access to Internet; naked ADSL, a broadband connection; residential-oriented value-added services; companies-oriented value-added services; television services, such as IPTV, cable television, and satellite television; and Fiber to the Home, a service for high speed Internet access and digital video recording. Its data and business-solutions services principally include leased lines; virtual private network services; fiber optics services; the provision of hosting and application; outsourcing and consultancy services; desktop services; and system integration and professional services. The company?s wholesale services for telecommunication operators primarily comprise domestic interconnection services; international wholesale services; leased lines for other operators? network deployment; local loop leasing under the unbundled local loop regulation framework; and bit stream services. It also offers various mobile and related services and products that include mobile voice services, value added services, mobile data and Internet services, wholesale services, corporate services, roaming, fixed wireless, and trunking and paging services. The company has a strategic alliance with China Unicom (Hong Kong) Limited. Telefonica, S.A. was founded in 1924 and is headquartered in Madrid, Spai n.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By LarryZ6]

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

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  With dividend stocks, however, you have no guarantee that there's no assurance that you'll receive a dividend. For instance, Spanish telecom company Telefonica (NYSE: TEF  ) chose last year not to pay its planned dividend for 2012, saying it would restore half the payout later this year. Even stalwart blue-chips General Electric (NYSE: GE  ) and Pfizer (NYSE: PFE  ) had to reduce their dividends dramatically during the financial crisis, and even now, they haven't risen back to their pre-crisis levels.

• [By Eric Volkman]

  In the latest move in a broad deleveraging effort, Spanish telecom incumbent Telefonica (NYSE: TEF  ) has divested one of its European subsidiaries. The company announced that it has reached agreement to sell Telefonica Ireland to Hong Kong-based conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa Group. The potential total price is 850 million euros ($1.1 billion), 780 million euros ($1.0 billion) of which will be handed over at the closing of the transaction while 70 million euros�($92 million) will take the form of a deferred payment to be transferred when certain financial objectives are met.

Hot European Companies For 2014: TotalFinaElf S.A.(TOT)

TOTAL S.A., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated oil and gas company worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Upstream, Downstream, and Chemicals. The Upstream segment engages in the exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas. It also involves in the transportation, trade, and marketing of natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG), as well as in LNG re-gasification and natural gas storage operations. In addition, this segment engages in the shipping and trade of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG); power generation from gas-fired power plants, nuclear, or renewable energies; production, trade, and marketing of coal, as well as in solar power systems and technology operations. As of December 31, 2010, it had combined proved reserves of 10,695 Mboe of oil and gas. The Downstream segment involves in refining, marketing, trading, and shipping crude oil and petroleum products. It also produces a range of specialty products, s uch as lubricants, LPG, jet fuel, special fluids, bitumen, marine fuels, and petrochemical feedstock. This segment holds interests in 24 refineries located in Europe, the United States, the French West Indies, Africa, and China, as well as operates a network of 17,490 service stations. The Chemicals segment produces base chemicals, including petrochemicals and fertilizers, as well as engages in rubber processing, resins, adhesives, and electroplating activities. TOTAL S.A. was founded in 1924 and is based in Paris, France.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Some good news. Seadrill�� UDW rigs West Jupiter and West Saturn which were ordered in February and April 2012, respectively, were delivered in August 2014 at a cost of $1.1 billion. The West Jupiter is expected to start its contract with Total S.A. (TOT) during late Q414 at a day rate of $567k for 5-years, for a backlog of $1.0 billion. The West Saturn is expected to start its contract with ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM) early Q115 at a day rate of $633.8k for 2-years, for a backlog of $463.3 million. Both rigs are slated to work in West Africa.

• [By Arjun Sreekumar]

  The Saudi national oil company is also working on three new refining facilities in Saudi Arabia, partnering separately with Chinese oil giant Sinopec and French oil major Total (NYSE: TOT  ) for two of them. It also has major interests in refining ventures in the U.S., China, and Japan, including the Port Arthur refinery in Texas, which it operates with joint venture partner Royal Dutch Shell.

Hot European Companies For 2014: STMicroelectronics N.V.(STM)

STMicroelectronics N.V., an independent semiconductor company, engages in the design, development, manufacture, and marketing of a range of semiconductor integrated circuits and discrete devices. Its products include discrete and standard commodity components, application-specific integrated circuits, custom devices and semi-custom devices, and application-specific standard products for analog, digital, and mixed-signal applications. The company also offers subsystems and modules for the telecommunications, automotive, and industrial markets comprising mobile phone accessories, battery chargers, ISDN power supplies, and in-vehicle equipment for electronic toll payment, as well as provides Smartcard products. Its products are used in various microelectronic applications consisting of automotive products, computer peripherals, telecommunications systems, consumer products, industrial automation, and control systems. The company sells its products through distributors and ret ailers. STMicroelectronics N.V. was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lee Jackson]

  STMicroelectronics NV (NYSE: STM) supplies most set-top box chips for Scientific�Atlanta, and also sells chips for disk drives that end up in DVRs; but still has less than a 10% exposure. The consensus target for the stock is $11. Investors do receive an outstanding 4.0% dividend from the company.

• [By Vanina Egea]

  Reed Elsevier NV (ENL) is a diversified publisher and information provider. It works on a wide range of market segments that include scientific, technical and medical (STM); legal; risks solutions and business information and exhibitions. The key of the company�� growth, however, lies almost exclusively in two brands: Elsevier and LexisNexis.

• [By Seth Jayson]

  STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM  ) reported earnings on July 22. Here are the numbers you need to know.

  The 10-second takeaway
  For the quarter ended June 29 (Q2), STMicroelectronics met expectations on revenues and missed expectations on earnings per share.

• [By Dan Burrows]

  Additionally, Wendy’s can use some of the cash freed up by the franchise model to invest in advertising and marketing, and that should boost customer traffic.

  Cheap Dividend Stocks #2: STMicroelectronics (STM)

  Share Price as of 4/4: $9.14
  YTD Stock Performance: 14%
  Dividend Yield: 4.4%

Top Gas Utility Stocks To Invest In 2015

Top Gas Utility Stocks To Invest In 2015: TherapeuticsMD Inc (TXMD)

TherapeuticsMD, Inc., incorporated in 1907, promotes, distributes and sells certain products developed and sold by Spectrum Health Network, Inc. (Spectrum) relative to its digital media network. Through the license agreement, the Company focuses on multispecialty group practices and independent physician associations (IPAs) to sell them subscriptions for software, hardware and content developed for and distributed by Spectrum. Spectrum sells its network to IPAs for equipment and installation. On October 4, 2011, the Company acquired VitaMedMD, LLC (VitaMedMD). As a result of the acquisition, VitaMedMD became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company.

VitaMedMD is a specialty pharmaceutical company, VitaMed is focused on providing products to the women's health market. The Company focuses on market both over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription nutritional supplements, drugs, medical foods and other medical products through pharmacies and its Web-site. Its brand includes a range of products for women's health and associated with pregnancy, child birth, nursing, post birth and menopause. Its OTC product line available through its Website includes prenatal vitamins, DHA, iron supplements, calcium supplements, Vitamin D supplements, women's multivitamins, natural (non-hormonal) menopause relief, and scar reduction creams. In March 2012, the Company launched its first prescription-only prenatal vitamin, vitaMedMD Plus Rx.

vitaMedMD Plus Prenatal Multi-Vitamin + DHA is a two pill combo pack that contains 18 essential vitamins and minerals and 300 milligrams (mg) of life's DHA. vitaMedMD is a single dose daily multivitamin that provides 14 vitamins, minerals and 200 mg of vegetarian, plant-pure life's DHA. vitaMedMD Plus Rx is a product with a single-dose combo-pack containing one prenatal vitamin tablet with ! Quatrefolic Acid. vitaMedMD Plus Rx is a product with a single-dose daily multivitamin containing Quatrefolic Acid. vitaMedMD Iron-150 is a iron replacement supplement. ! vitaMedMD Menopause Relief with Lifenol Plus Bone Support offers a natural solution for hot flashes, night sweats and mood disturbances. vitaMedMD Calcium + Vitamin D is a dietary supplements that help replenish and maintain beneficial levels of Vitamin D. vitaMedMD Stretch Mark Body Cream contains naturally-derived ingredients, including Peptides, Shea Butter, Sweet Almond Oil and Fruit Extracts, that hydrate, soothe and pamper skin to make it softer, smoother and younger-looking.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  One under-$10 specialty pharmaceutical player that's starting to trend within range of triggering a big breakout trade is TherapeuticsMD (TXMD), which is focused on the sales, marketing and development of branded and generic pharmaceutical and OTC products primarily for the women's health care market. This stock has been in play with the bulls so far in 2013, with shares up 56%.

  If you take a look at the chart for TherapeuticsMD, you'll notice that this stock has been uptrending strong over the last three months, with shares soaring higher from its low of $2.03 to its recent high of $5.27 a share. During that uptrend, shares of TXMD have been making mostly higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move has now pushed shares of TXMD within range of triggering a big breakout trade.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in TXMD if it manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance levels at $4.93 a share to its 52-week high at $5.27 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above those levels with volume that hits near or above its three-month average volume of 450,661 shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then TXMD will set up to enter new 52-week high territory, which is bullish technical price! action. ! Some possible upside targets off that breakout are $6 to $7 a share.

  Traders can look to buy TXMD off weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below some key near-term support levels at 4.30 a share, or near its 50-day moving average of $4.15 a share. One can also buy TXMD off strength once it starts to clear those breakout levels with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.

• [By John Udovich]

  Yesterday, mid cap women's health stock Hologic, Inc (NASDAQ: HOLX) fell more than 10% after disappointing Wall Street on earnings, meaning it might be time to take a look at it and small cap women's health stocks The Female Health Company (NASDAQ: FHCO) and TherapeuticsMD Inc (NYSEMKT: TXMD) because after all, women account for half the population and these three small caps are all focused on the women's health:

source from Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/top-gas-utility-stocks-to-invest-in-2015.html

Top 10 Logistics Stocks To Own For 2015

Top 10 Logistics Stocks To Own For 2015: Manulife Financial Corp (MFC)

Manulife Financial Corporation (MFC) is a Canada-based financial services group with principal operations in Asia, Canada and the United States. The Companys segments are Asia, Canadian and U.S. Divisions and the Corporate and Other segment. The Companys international network agents and distribution partners offers financial protection and wealth management products and services to clients. It also provides asset management services to institutional customers. In January 2013, the Company acquired Benesure Canada Inc. In August 2013, John Hancock, the United States division of the Company, announced that it has acquired Landmark Square in Long Beach, California. In December 2013, MFC announced its subsidiary, Manulife (International) Limited, had completed the transaction to sell its life insurance business in Taiwan to CTBC Life Insurance Co., Ltd. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Eric Lam]

  Air Canada, the nations largest airline, surged 7.2 percent after reducing costs. Manulife Financial Corp. (MFC), Canadas largest insurer, increased 2.6 percent for a fourth day of gains. Trilogy Energy Corp. plunged 9.8 percent after reporting a loss as sales declined. Detour Gold Corp. plunged 18 percent after saying it will not meet its 2013 production targets. Centerra Gold Inc. and HudBay Minerals Inc. sank at least 3.7 percent as gold dropped to a three-week low in New York.

• [By Patricio Kehoe] est Canadian life insurer by market capitalization, offering asset management, wealth management and financial services to customers in Asia, Canada and the U.S. However, the companys annuity and segregated fund business has suffered over the past two years, due to the low interest rate environment, leading to a decline in earnings and operating results. Nonetheless, the firm has been undergoing some changes throughout 2013 and management expects profitability to increase for fiscal 2014, despite its u! nderperformance during fourth quarter fiscal 2013. Thus, many investment gurus like George Soros (Trades, Portfolio) and Jim Simons' (Trades, Portfolio) hedge fund remain bullish about Manulifes future outlook, evidenced by their shares purchased in the past quarter.

  Of Hedging and Repricing

  Manulifes capital sensitivity and volatile earnings have made it difficult for the company to maintain steady growth prospects in the past, but quarter four's earnings report showed improvements in some aspects, especially regarding EPS growth, which jumped 73% year over year, closing at $1.62 per share. This is largely due to the companys recent strategy of hedging two-thirds of its variable annuity business, and looking forward all newly written businesses in this segment will be hedged. Furthermore, the firm has been gradually trading most of its short-term bonds for long-term bonds, which will improve the bond duration of its investment portfolio, thereby reducing earning sensitivity. While insurance sales were weak for 2013, declining 13% from 2012 and 32% year over year for the quarter, Manulifes shift towards expanding its wealth management business (wealth sales increased 37% over the past fiscal year) and mutual fund sales should help offset declines in t he future.

  In fact, today the company announced that it will be launching a new universal life product for the Canadian market called Manulife UL by May 26 of this year. The new

• [By Jonas Elmerraji]

  Manulife Financial (MFC) is another stock that's forming an ascending triangle pattern right now. In the case of this $33 billion Canadian financial services firm, resistance comes into play at $18, a price level that's acted as a ceiling for shares since all the way back in July. The buy signal comes on a move through that $18 barrier.

  Whenever you're looking at any technical price pattern, it's critical to think in terms of those buyers and sellers. Triangles, and other pattern names are a good quic! k way to ! explain what's going on in a stock, but they're not the reason it's tradable. Instead, it all comes down to supply and demand for shares.

  That $18 resistance level is a price where there has been an excess of supply of shares; in other words, it's a place where sellers have been more eager to step in and take gains than buyers have been to buy. That's what makes a breakout above it so significant -- the move means that buyers are finally strong enough to absorb all of the excess supply above that price level.

  After it happens, I'd recommend keeping a protective stop at $16.50.

source from Top Stocks To Buy For 2015:http://www.topstocksforum.com/top-10-logistics-stocks-to-own-for-2015-2.html

Top US Stocks To Own For 2015

Top US Stocks To Own For 2015: Xylem Inc (XYL)

Xylem Inc. (Xylem), formerly ITT WCO, Inc., incorporated on May 4, 2011, is a provider of equipment and service for water and wastewater applications with a portfolio of products and services addressing the full cycle of water, from collection, distribution and use to the return of water to the environment. It operates in two segments: Water Infrastructure and Applied Water. The Water Infrastructure segment focuses on the transportation, treatment and testing of water, offering a range of products, including water and wastewater pumps, treatment and testing equipment, and controls and systems. Key brands in this segment include Flygt, Wedeco, Godwin Pumps, WTW, Sanitaire, AADI and Leopold. The Applied Water segment encompasses the uses of water and focuses on the residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural markets. The segment's products include pumps, valves, heat exchangers, controls and dispensing equipment. Key brands in this segment include Goulds Water Tec hnology (Goulds), Bell & Gossett, AC Fire, Standard, Flojet, Lowara, Jabsco and Flowtronex. The Company sells its products in more than 150 countries through a distribution network consisting of its direct sales force and independent channel partners. On October 31, 2011, ITT Corporation completed Spin-off of Xylem, formerly ITT's water equipment and services businesses. The Spin-off was completed pursuant to the Distribution Agreement, dated as of October 25, 2011, among ITT, Exelis Inc. (Exelis) and Xylem. In July 2012, it acquired MJK Automation A/S. In March 2013, it acquired MultiTrode Pty Ltd.

Water Infrastructure

Water Infrastructure involves the process that collects water from a source and distributes it to users, and then returns the wastewater to the environment. Water Infrastructure serves three applications: transport, treatment and test of water and wastewa! ter for two types of customers: public utilities and industrial facilities. T he Transport application includes all of the equipment and s! ervices involved in the movement of water from sources, such as oceans, lakes, rivers and ground water, to treatment facilities, and then to users. It also includes the movement of wastewater from the point of use to a treatment facility and then back into the environment. The Company serves the equipment markets, such as water and wastewater submersible pumps, monitoring controls, and application solutions. With operations on six continents, it also has dewatering rental fleet, serviced with the Company's Flygt and Godwin brands. In its Water Infrastructure Segment, Transport accounted for approximately 73% of its consolidated revenue during the year ended December 31, 2011. Flygt is the manufacturer of submersible pumps, mixers, and aeration equipment for use in environments, such as water and wastewater treatment, raw water supply, abrasive or contaminated industrial processes, mining and crop irrigation. Flygt products have applications in various markets, including wa stewater lift stations, water and wastewater treatment facilities, pressurized sewage systems, oil and gas, steel, mining and leisure markets. Customers include public utility wastewater and clean water treatment facilities, oil and gas platforms, and steel manufacturing companies.

Godwin Pumps is engaged in pump manufacturing. It manufactures, sells, rents and services products that are customized to the specific needs of its clients. Godwin Pumps' products include the fully automatic self-priming Dri-Prime pump, a range of Sub-Prime electric and Heidra hydraulic submersible pumps, Wet-Prime gasoline-powered contractor pumps and a line of generators and portable light towers. Godwin products are primarily used in construction, disaster recovery, flooding, heavy industry, marine use, mining, oil, gas and chemical extraction, refineries, temporary fire protection and water and ! wastewate! r transport. Customers include industrial plants, construction contractors, public utility wastewaters and clean water treatment and tr! ansportat! ion facilities, oil, gas and chemical drilling outfits, and refineries. Godwin's fleet of equipment is rented through 33 United States branches and a global network of distributors. The Treatment application includes equipment and services that treat both water for consumption and wastewater to be returned to the environment. Leopold is the Company's filtration brand. Disinfection systems, both ultraviolet (UV) and ozone oxidation, treat both public utility drinking water and wastewater, as well as industrial process water, and are provided through its WEDECO brand. Biological treatment systems are key to the treatment of solids in wastewater plants, which is provided through its Sanitaire brand. In its Water Infrastructure Segment, Treatment accounted for approximately 18% of its consolidated net sales in 2011.

The Company's Sanitaire brand provides biological wastewater treatment solutions for public utility and industrial applications. Sanitaire's of fering includes diffused aeration, sequencing batch reactors, drum filters and state-of-the-art controls. Sanitaire is a brand in diffused aeration, which is a process that introduces air into a liquid, providing an aerobic environment for degradation of organic matter. Principal Sanitaire customers are public utility and industrial wastewater treatment facilities. WEDECO develops chemical-free and environmentally friendly water treatment technologies, including ultraviolet light and ozone systems. There are over 250,000 installed WEDECO systems for UV disinfection and ozone oxidation globally in private, public utility and industrial locations. Customers include public utility wastewater and clean water treatment facilities, power plants, pulp and paper mills, food products manufacturers and aquaculture facilities. Leopold is a gravity media filtration and clarification solutions f! or the wa! ter and wastewater industry. Nova Analytics, its served market is focused on water an d the environment for quality levels throughout the water in! frastruct! ure loop.. Analytical systems are applied in three primary ways: in the field, in a facility laboratory, or real time, online monitoring in a treatment facility process. In its Water Infrastructure Segment, Test accounted for approximately 9% of its consolidated net sales in 2011.

In wastewater treatment facilities, WTW-branded systems monitor parameters, such as dissolved oxygen, pH, and turbidity throughout the water process. WTW's product offering includes meters, sensors, data-loggers, photometers and software. Aanderaa Data Instruments AS (AADI) offers sensors, instruments and systems for measuring and monitoring in environments, such as rivers, oceans and the polar regions through networked systems using wireless technology that monitors temperature, salinity, oxygen, turbidity, current and waves for ecosystem health. The main market areas are marine transportation, environmental and ocean research, oil and gas, aquaculture, road and traffic, and constr uction. Oceanography International Corporation (OI Analytical) provides products used for chemical analysis. The Company develops, manufactures, sells, and services analytical instruments that detect, measure, analyze, and monitor chemicals in liquids, solids, and gases. Yellow Springs Instrument Company (YSI) develops and manufactures sensors, instruments, software and data collection platforms for environmental and coastal water quality monitoring and testing. YSI also offers life sciences products, including biochemical analyzers for bioprocess monitoring, food and beverage processing, and sports physiology. The main market areas are marine transportation, environmental and ocean research, oil and gas, aquaculture, road and traffic, and construction.

Applied Water

Applied Water encompasses all the uses of water. Its served market consists of ! the main ! uses of global water: Building Services, Industrial Water and Irrigation. The Building Services is defined by four main uses of water in building services ! applicatio! ns, such as in residential homes and commercial buildings, including offices, hotels, restaurants and malls. The first is the supply of potable water for consumption, such as for drinking and hygiene. The Goulds brand offers pumps and boosting systems utilized within buildings, sourcing water from distribution networks or from wells. The second application is wastewater removal with sump and sewage pumps. The third application is in heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), where Bell & Gossett specializes in pumps and valves that are used in water-based heating and cooling systems. The fourth water-related building service area is fire protection, where its AC Fire brand supplies full pump systems for emergency fire suppression. In Europe, Lowara is a brand in the commercial and residential water market with applications in the four main uses of water. In its Applied Water Segment, Building Services accounted for approximately 51% of its consolidated net sales in 20 11.

The Company's Goulds brand supplies vertical multistage pumps to boost pressure for purposes , such as circulating water through a manufacturing facility to cool machine tools. Its Lowara brand focuses on water treatment, industrial washing equipment and machine tool cooling. The Standard brand delivers heat exchangers for combined heat and power (CHP) applications within power generation plants. It also provides applications, such as flexible impeller pumps for wine processing facilities served by its Jabsco brand, and water-based detergent dispensing and water circulation within car washes served by Flojet and Goulds air-operated diaphragm and end suction pumps. In its Applied Water Segment, Industrial Water accounted for approximately 42% of its consolidated net sales in 2011. The irrigation business consists of irrigation-related equipmen! t and ser! vices associated with bringing water from a source to the plant or livestock need, including hoses, sprink lers, center pivot and drip irrigation. The Company focuses ! on the pu! mps and boosting systems that supply this ancillary equipment with water. Its Goulds brand brings mixed flow pumps, and its Flowtronex group specializes in equipment solutions, such as the Hydrovar boosting system, which incorporates monitoring and controls. Its Lowara brand also produces pumps for agriculture applications and irrigation of gardens and parks. In its Applied Water Segment, Irrigation accounted for approximately 7% of the Company's consolidated net sales in 2011.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Holly LaFon]

  Xylem Inc. (0.7%) (XYL)(XYL - $36.42 - NYSE) is a global leader in the design, manufacturing, and application of highly engineered technologies for the transportation, treatment, and testing of water. The company is expected to benefit from favorable long term fundamentals in the water industry, driven by scarcity, population growth, aging of the infrastructure, and the need to improve water quality. Further, with a large installed base of pumps and systems, the company is well positioned to increase aftermarket revenue, which currently represents roughly 40% of total revenues. Xylem's attractive business mix also generates strong cash flow, which is expected to support acquisitions, debt service, and dividend growth. Concerns regarding weakness in Europe and municipal spending levels in the U.S. remain, although we believe the long term fundamentals outweigh these concerns. From Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio)'s Gabelli Asset Fund's first quarter 2014 shareholder comme ntary.Also check out: Mario Gabelli Undervalued Stocks Mario Gabelli Top Growth Companies Mario Gabelli High Yield stocks, and Stocks that Mario Gabelli keeps buying Currently 0.00/512345

  Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes)

• [By Aaron Levitt]

  Spun-off from industrial giant ITT (ITT) a few ye! ars ago, ! Xylem (XYL) could be a great starting point for investors looking at water stocks. Aside from its cool and appropriate name, XYL provides host of equipment — pumps, controllers and filtration devices — for wastewater treatment plants across the globe.

• [By Marc Bastow]

  Water and waste-water systems provider Xylem (XYL) raised its quarterly dividend 10% to 12.8 cents per share, payable on Mar. 19 to shareholders of record as of Feb. 19.
  XYL Dividend Yield: 1.39%

source from Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/top-us-stocks-to-own-for-2015.html

5 Best Wireless Telecom Stocks To Watch For 2014

The last time I looked at Star Scientific, Inc. (NASDAQ:STSI) was in mid-August, when I pointed out how the stock looked like it was finally beginning a breakout via a move above that nagging ceiling at $2.11. I didn't revisit it in the meantime because STSI peeled back under that key resistance level, and even back under its short-term moving lines. It wasn't a dramatic or painful pullback, but it was more than enough to put the breakout idea on the shelf until further notice.

Consider this that notice.

Though not yet back above the key horizontal ceiling at $2.11, STSI has wiggled its way back above the 20-day (blue) and 50-day (purple) moving average lines today after finding resistance at both of them for the better part of September and early October. That's a huge first step. We've also seen Star Scientific shares leave behind a shallow trail of higher lows since late September, hinting that this isn't just a little volatility.

Top 5 Rising Companies To Own For 2015: TechnoConcepts Inc (TCPS)

TechnoConcepts, Inc. (TCI), incorporated in May 2003, is in the business of designing, developing, manufacturing and marketing wireless communications semiconductors. The Company has begun manufacturing wireless transmitter and receiver microchips, based on its technology, and produced its engineering run in August 2006. The technology, which TCI calls True Software Radio, is designed to improve the way that wireless signals are received and transmitted, by making possible device-to-device communication across otherwise incompatible networks and wireless standards. On October 17, 2005, the Company, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Asante Acquisition Corp. completed reorganization with RegalTech Inc. RegalTech's name was changed to Asante Networks Inc. (Asante).

In December 2005, the Company formed Jinshilin Techno Ltd. (Jinshilin Techno) as its wholly owned subsidiary based in Shanghai, China. The Company organized Jinshilin Techno to provide marketing, sales and technical support for True Software Radio technology in China. On April 21, 2006, Jinshilin Techno acquired Internet television (IPTV) set-top box (STB) technology through license agreements with Jinshilin Technologies Development Company Ltd. (Jinshilin). Jinshilin Techno offers an IPTV set-top box that features voice over Internet protocol (VOIP), capability and can receive Internet protocol (IP) data transmissions through the household electrical power grid.

Asante Networks Inc. provides Ethernet networking solutions for Apple Computer and the small-to-medium business retail markets, offering the IntraCore and FriendlyNET product families, integrating voice, data, and video over wireless and wired networks with unified management and authentication. In April 2006, Asante announced the release of 2-chip switch solution, the IntraCore 38480. The IntraCore 38480 provides no frame loss and full-wire speed with minimized latency. With 96-gigabit switching fabric, the IntraCore 38480 supports full-wire speed on all ! ports. It has advanced traffic control based on L2-L7 data of incoming frames.

The Company's True Software Radio technology makes possible for wireless transmitters and receivers, as well as the radio signal processing, to be fully controlled and reconfigured by software commands across a range of frequencies and frequency bands. Its True Software Radio technology is a delta-sigma microchip architecture that converts radio frequency signals directly into digital data for the wireless receiver and directly from digital data into radio signals for the wireless transmitter. True Software Radio microchips replace the analog front end, intermediate frequency (I/F) processing, analog-to-digital conversion (ADC), and digital filtering sections of conventional wireless transmitters and receivers.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Peter Graham]

  Small cap tech stocks TechnoConcepts, Inc (OTCMKTS: TCPS), Unisource Corporation (OTCMKTS: USRC) and Strategic Global Investments, Inc (OTCMKTS: STBV) have been getting some attention lately in various investment newsletters thanks to promotions. Of course, there is nothing wrong with properly disclosed promotions, but they can backfire on the unwary as its really up to investors or traders alike to do their own due diligence before investing or trading. With that in mind, here is a quick reality check about three small cap tech stocks getting a bit of attention lately:

  TechnoConcepts, Inc (OTCMKTS: TCPS) Has the Yield Sign Replaced on Its OTC Page

  Small cap TechnoConcepts is a wireless technology company currently holding patents and other intellectual property. On Friday, TechnoConcepts fell 0.45% to $15.58 for a market cap of $415.28 million plus TCPC is up 1.1% over the past year and up 6% since April 2012 according to Google Finance.

5 Best Wireless Telecom Stocks To Watch For 2014: CalAmp Corp (CAMP)

CalAmp Corp. (CalAmp) develops and markets wireless technology solutions that deliver data, voice and video for critical networked communications and other applications. The Company has two business segments: Wireless DataCom, which serves commercial, industrial and government customers, and Satellite, which focuses on the North American Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) market. In May 2012, CalAmp Corp announced that it has entered into a five-year supply agreement to provide fleet tracking products to Navman Wireless. As part of the transaction, CalAmp has acquired certain products and technologies from Navman Wireless and established a research and development center in Auckland, New Zealand. The assets acquired by CalAmp include technology for Mobile Display Terminals (MDT) and an MDT product line marketed to telematics original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) globally. In March 2013, it completed the acquisition of the operations of Wireless Matrix Corporation.

Wireless DataCom

The Wireless DataCom segment provides wireless technology, products and services for industrial Machine-to-Machine (M2M) and Mobile Resource Management (MRM) market segments for a range of applications, including optimizing and automating electricity distribution and ancillary utility functions; facilitating communication and coordination among emergency first-responders; increasing productivity and optimizing activities of mobile workforces; improving management control over valuable remote and mobile assets, and enabling emerging applications in a wirelessly connected world.

The Company's Wireless DataCom segment is comprised of a Wireless Networks business and an MRM business. CalAmp's Wireless Networks business provides products, systems and services to industrial, utility, energy and transportation enterprises and state and local governmental entities for deployment where the ability to communicate with mobile personnel or to command and control remote assets is crucial. Utilities! , oil and gas, mining, railroad and security companies rely on CalAmp products for wireless data communications to and from outlying locations, permitting real-time monitoring, activation and control of remote equipment. Applications include remotely measuring freshwater and wastewater flows, pipeline flow monitoring for oil and gas transport, automated utility meter reading, remote Internet access and perimeter monitoring. CalAmp is among the leaders in the application of wireless communications technology to Smart Grid power distribution automation for electric utilities.

MRM wireless solutions include global positioning system (GPS) location, cellular data modems and programmable events-based notification firmware as key components, allowing customers to know where and how their assets are performing, no matter where those mobile assets are located. Commercial organizations, vehicle finance providers, city and county governments, and a range of other enterprises rely on CalAmp products and systems to optimize delivery of services and protect valuable assets. Applications include fleet management, asset tracking, student and school bus tracking and route optimization, stolen vehicle recovery, remote asset security, remote vehicle start, and machine-to-machine communications. In addition to functioning as an OEM supplier of location and communications hardware for MRM applications, CalAmp is a total solutions provider of turn-key systems incorporating location and communications hardware, cellular airtime and Web-based remote asset management tools and interfaces.

The Company competes with Motorola Solutions, GE-MDS, Freewave, Sierra Wireless, GenX, Spireon, Novatel Wireless-Enfora and Xirgo.

Satellite

The Satellite segment develops, manufactures and sells DBS outdoor customer premise equipment and whole home video networking devices for digital and high definition satellite television (TV) reception. CalAmp's satellite products are sold primarily to ! EchoStar,! an affiliate of Dish Network.

The Company's DBS reception products are installed at subscriber premises to receive television programming signals transmitted from orbiting satellites. These DBS reception products consist principally of outdoor electronics that receive, process, amplify and switch satellite television signals for distribution over coaxial cable to multiple set-top boxes inside the home that can acquire, recognize and process the signal to create a picture.

The Company competes with Sharp, Wistron NeWeb Corporation, Microelectronics Technology, Pro Brand and Global Invacom.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Gerson]

  CalAmp (NASDAQ: CAMP) issued a downbeat outlook for the fourth quarter. CalAmp shares dipped 8.35% to $25.26 in the after-hours trading session.

  Anworth Mortgage Asset (NYSE: ANH) announced an additional 5 million share repurchase program. Anworth Mortgage shares rose 0.97% to $4.18 in after-hours trading.

5 Best Wireless Telecom Stocks To Watch For 2014: KongZhong Corp (HOA)

KongZhong Corporation, incorporated on May 6, 2002, is a provider of digital entertainment services for consumers in the People�� Republic of China. The Company operates in three main business units: Wireless Value-Added Services (WVAS), mobile games and Internet games. In addition to developing and operating its self-developed Internet games, such as Loong, Demon Code and Kung Fu Hero, it is an operator of the World of Tanks game for the People�� Republic of China Internet games market. In addition, it is also the licensee in the People�� Republic of China for the Guild Wars 2 game developed by ArenaNet, Offensive Combat game developed by U4iA Games and Hawken game developed by Meteor Entertainment.

The Company conducts substantially all of its business in the People�� Republic of China through its wholly owned subsidiaries KongZhong Beijing, KongZhong China and Simlife Beijing. It operates WVAS, mobile games and Internet games through Beijing AirInbox, Beijing WINT, Beijing Chengxitong, BJXR, Mailifang, Xinreli and Dacheng, all of which are based in the People�� Republic of China.

Wireless Value-Added Services (WVAS) Business

The Company provides interactive entertainment, media and other interactive services to mobile phone users in China through various second generation (2G) standard, technology platforms, including short message services (SMS), Interactive Voice Response services (IVR) and color ring back tone (CRBT), and through various second and a half generation standard (2.5G), technology and operating platforms, including wireless application protocol (WAP) and multimedia messaging services (MMS), which offer graphics, richer content and more interactivity than 2G wireless services. Its WVAS are tailored to the technical or other requirements of its telecommunications operator partners, through whom it deliver most of its WVAS, and to various billing systems for WVAS. Its WVAS are also delivered and marketed through various media partners, i! ncluding handset manufacturers, television stations, radio stations, print media and Internet sites. Its WVAS revenues accounted for 41.7% of its total revenues during the year ended December 31, 2012.

The Company offers a variety of WVAS, such as mobile games, pictures, karaoke, electronic books, mobile phone personalization features, entertainment news, chat and message boards. It provides its services mainly pursuant to its cooperation arrangements with the telecommunications operators and their provincial subsidiaries, the terms of which are generally for one year or less.

Mobile Games Business

The Company is a developer and publisher of mobile games for mobile phone users in the People�� Republic of China (PRC). The mobile games it develops include action, role-playing and leisure games. During 2012, it acquired Noumena, a developer of cross-platform smartphone mobile game engines.

Internet Games Business

The Company develops Internet games internally based mainly on its technologies, which include its game engine (Dazzler three dimension (3D)), game development platforms and online game billing system, all developed by its internal team. In particular, its Dazzler 3D game engine enables the Company to create 3D graphics and visual effects, and provides the technical foundation for creating features in its games. Its game development platforms give the Company the capacity to develop Internet games within approximately six to 24 months and to update Its Internet games frequently in response to players��preferences.

The Company uses an item-based revenue model for its games, whether internally developed or licensed, under which players can play its games on the Internet free of charge, but have to pay for purchases of in-game virtual items, such as in-game currencies, performance-enhancing clothing, weapons, accessories and pets. It distributes its electronic prepaid game cards and game points, which can be used to pur! chase in-! game virtual items, to players through multiple payment channels.

The Company competes with Sina Corporation, Sohu.com Inc., TOM Online Inc., Phoenix New Media Limited, Wireless Arts, Perfect World Co. Ltd, Shanda Interactive Entertainment Limited, Netease.com, Inc., Changyou.com Limited, Giant Interactive Group Inc. and Tencent Holdings Limited.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Konrad Kuhn]

  The company also has a minority interest in the privately-held Hooters of America (HOA), the operator and franchisor of over 430 Hooters restaurants; HOTR's CEO Mike Pruitt is a member of the HOA Board of Directors.

5 Best Wireless Telecom Stocks To Watch For 2014: Sprint Corp (S&LS)

Sprint Corporation, incorporated on May 10, 2012, offers a range of wireless and wireline communications services to consumers, businesses and government users. On July 10, 2013, the Company, SoftBank Corp. and Sprint Nextel Corporation (Sprint Nextel) completed the merger. In the Merger, Sprint Corporation was merged into Sprint Nextel, New Sprint became the parent company of Sprint Nextel, with Sprint Nextel becoming its direct wholly owned subsidiary, and Sprint Nextel changed its name to Sprint Communications, Inc.

The Company develops, engineers and deploys technologies, including the first wireless fourth generation (4G) service from a national carrier in the United States; offering mobile data services, prepaid brands, including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities, and a global Tier 1 Internet Service. The Company also offers unlimited data services.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Holly LaFon]

  Since Wilmers & Co. took over M&T Bank in 1983 the bank has acquired 23 banks and Savings and Loans (S&Ls) ��expanding from a single state to seven ��and assets have grown from $2 billion to $110 billion. M&T's branch count has grown from 60 to over 870. The bank currently boasts a customer base of over 2 million retail household customers and nearly 220,000 commercial customers.