Among recent enforcement actions, the Department of Labor oversaw the restoration of nearly $2 million in 401(k) benefits to the employees of Lange Trucking Inc., a contractor with the U.S. Postal Service.
In addition, the SEC charged Diamond Foods for boosting earnings growth via an accounting scheme to inflate the price of walnuts.
DOL Sees Nearly $2 Million Restored to U.S. Postal Contractors
After an investigation by the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor, Lange Trucking Inc. was on the hook for nearly $2 million in unpaid 401(k) contributions for its employees.
Lange, which had a contract with the U.S. Postal Service that employed 515 drivers, had failed to make the contributions — and had been previously investigated several times by Wage and Hour. It was acquired, subsequent to its violations, by Eagan, Minn.-based Hoovestal Inc., which voluntarily agreed to provide the bulk of the missing benefit contributions — $1.48 million — while Lange itself agreed to provide $500,000.
Top 10 Long Term Companies To Buy Right Now: National-Oilwell Inc.(NOV)
National Oilwell Varco, Inc. designs, constructs, manufactures, and sells systems, components, and products used in oil and gas drilling and production; provides oilfield services and supplies; and distributes products, and provides supply chain integration services to the upstream oil and gas industry worldwide. Its Rig Technology segment offers offshore and onshore drilling rigs; derricks; pipe lifting, racking, rotating, and assembly systems; rig instrumentation systems; coiled tubing equipment and pressure pumping units; well workover rigs; wireline winches; wireline trucks; cranes; and turret mooring systems and other products for floating production, storage and offloading vessels, and other offshore vessels and terminals. The company?s Petroleum Services & Supplies segment provides various consumable goods and services to drill, complete, remediate, and workover oil and gas wells and service pipelines, flowlines, and other oilfield tubular goods. It also manufacture s, rents, and sells products and equipment for drilling operations, including drill pipe, wired drill pipe, transfer pumps, solids control systems, drilling motors, drilling fluids, drill bits, reamers and other downhole tools, and mud pump consumables. In addition, this segment provides oilfield tubular services comprising the provision of inspection and internal coating services; equipment for drill pipe, line pipe, tubing, casing, and pipelines; and coiled tubing pipes and composite pipes. Its Distribution Services segment sells maintenance, repair and operating supplies, and spare parts to drill site and production locations. The company primarily serves drilling contractors, shipyards and other rig fabricators, well servicing companies, pressure pumping companies, oil and gas companies, supply stores, and pipe-running service providers. National Oilwell Varco, Inc. was founded in 1862 and is based in Houston, Texas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By David Smith]
So it appears to be with National Oilwell Varco (NYSE: NOV ) , of late the darling of the oilfield services sector. On Friday, however, it was the purveyor of news that its first-quarter 2013 results had fallen well below the consensus expectations of those who watch it most closely.
- [By Selena Maranjian]
Among holdings in which Fisher Asset Management increased its stake were AbbVie�and PetSmart. Fisher reduced its stake in lots of companies, including Banco Santander (NYSE: SAN ) and National Oilwell Varco (NYSE: NOV ) . Banco Santander yields 9.4%, beaten down by Europe's woes. Unappreciated by many, though, is its heavy involvement in Latin America, where it benefits from faster growth rates. The bank's most recent quarter improved on results from the previous quarter. Its stock valuation could be more compelling, but it does offer a huge yield.
- [By Arjun Sreekumar]
As oil and gas companies continue to venture into these harder-to-reach oil and gas frontiers, the complexity of the drilling process will continue to rise. National Oilwell Varco (NYSE: NOV ) , as the single biggest supplier of rig equipment with a whopping 60% market share, is aptly positioned to capitalize on this trend.
Top Trucking Companies To Own For 2014: Xing AG (O1BC)
Xing AG, formerly Open Business Club AG, is a Germany-based company engaged in the provision and maintenance of online business communication services. It offers companies enterprise solutions afforded by Web 2.0 and manages the communities for professional networking. It supplies support in establishing new business contacts, expanding and managing the network of contacts and organizing meetings and events. It enables its customers to identify experts in several fields and receive advice on any topic as well as promote themselves in their business environments. It serves a number of networkers worldwide. The product portfolio consists of four categories: openBC platform; openBC Premium Groups; openBC mobile, with mobile phone access; openBC plugin, supporting Lotus Notes and Microsoft Outlook. The solutions are offered in 16 languages and data as well as privacy protection is provided. It co-operates with epublica, a Web-based corporate solution provider and Sevenval AG. Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jonathan Morgan]
RWE AG (RWE), Germany�� second-largest utility, slipped 2.4 percent after RBC Capital Markets cut its recommendation on the stock. Lufthansa followed its European peers higher, recovering some of its Aug. 2 selloff. Xing AG (O1BC), the business social network, jumped the most since October as Deutsche Bank AG (DBK) upgraded its rating on the shares.
Top Trucking Companies To Own For 2014: Marin Software Inc (MRIN)
Marin Software Incorporated, incorporated on March 16, 2006, provides cloud-based digital advertising management platform to advertisers and agencies. The Company�� Revenue Acquisition Management platform is a software-as-a-service (SaaS), analytics, workflow, and optimization solution for marketing professionals, enabling them to manage their digital advertising spend across search, display, social and mobile advertising channels. Its platform integrates with publishers, such as Baidu, Bing, Facebook, Google, Yahoo! and Yahoo! Japan, as well as Web analytics and ad-serving solutions, and key enterprise applications to enable marketers to measure the return on investment of their marketing programs.
The Company�� software platform serves as a system-of-record for advertising performance, revenue and conversion data and allows advertisers to correlate advertising spend to subsequent revenue outcomes or business events. It enables its customers to simultaneously run large-scale digital advertising campaigns across multiple publishers and channels, making it easy for marketers to create, publish, modify and optimize campaigns in real time.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Evan Niu, CFA]
What: Shares of Marin Software (NYSE: MRIN ) got clobbered today, down by as much as 21% after the company reported earnings.
So what: Revenue in the first quarter totaled $17.2 million, which resulted in a non-GAAP net loss of $9.4 million, or $0.39 per share. The freshly public software maker saw gross margin decline to 57%, and its losses grew from a year ago. Investors obviously wanted more.
Top Trucking Companies To Own For 2014: MBIA Inc (MBI)
MBIA Inc. (MBIA), incorporated on November 12, 1986, together with its consolidated subsidiaries, operates the financial guarantee insurance businesses in the industry and is a provider of asset management advisory services. These activities are managed through three business segments: United States public finance insurance, structured finance and international insurance, and advisory services. The Company�� United States public finance insurance business is operated through National Public Finance Guarantee Corporation and its subsidiaries (National), its structured finance and international insurance business is primarily operated through MBIA Insurance Corporation and its subsidiaries (MBIA Corp.), and its asset management advisory services business is primarily operated through Cutwater Holdings, LLC and its subsidiaries (Cutwater). It also manages certain business activities through its corporate, asset/liability products, and conduit segments. The corporate segment includes revenues and expenses that arise from general corporate activities. Funding programs managed through the asset/liability products and conduit segments are in wind-down.
MBIA Corp. owns MBIA UK Insurance Limited (MBIA UK), a financial guarantee insurance company that is regulated and supervised by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in the United Kingdom and is authorized to carry out insurance business in the United Kingdom and in the European Economic Area on a cross border services basis. Its financial guarantee insurance generally provides investors with an unconditional and irrevocable guarantee of the payment of the principal, interest or other amounts owing on insured obligations when due or, in the event that the Company has the right at its discretion to accelerate insured obligations upon default or otherwise, upon its election to accelerate. The Company conducts its financial guarantee business, as well as related reinsurance, advisory and portfolio services, through its subsidiaries National Publi! c Finance Guarantee Corporation (National), its United States (United States) public finance-only financial guarantee company, and MBIA Insurance Corporation and its subsidiaries (MBIA Corp.), which write global structured finance and non-United States public finance financial guarantee insurance.
Insurance operations
The Company�� United States public finance insurance business is conducted through National, and its structured finance and international insurance operations are conducted through MBIA Corp. and its subsidiaries. It also issue insurance policies to guarantee the payment of principal and interest on municipal obligations being traded in the secondary market upon the request of a broker or an existing holder of uninsured bonds, where premium is generally paid by the owner of the obligation. In addition, the Company has provided financial guarantees to debt service reserve funds. The primary risk in its insurance operations is that of adverse credit performance in the insured portfolio. It seeks to maintain a diversified insured portfolio and have designed each insured portfolio with the aim of managing and diversifying risk based on a range of criteria, including revenue source, issue size, type of asset, industry concentrations, type of bond and geographic area.
Through the Company�� reinsurance of United States public finance financial guarantees from MBIA Corp. and Financial Guaranty Insurance Company (FGIC), National�� insurance portfolio consists of municipal bonds, including tax-exempt and taxable indebtedness of United States political subdivisions, as well as utility districts, airports, health care institutions, higher educational facilities, student loan issuers, housing authorities and other similar agencies and obligations issued by private entities that finance projects that serve a substantial public purpose. Municipal bonds and privately issued bonds used for the financing of public purpose projects are generally supported by ! taxes, as! sessments, user fees or tariffs related to the use of these projects, lease payments or other similar types of revenue streams. As of December 31, 2012, MBIA Corp. had 899 policies outstanding in its insured portfolio. In addition, MBIA Corp. had 199 insurance policies outstanding relating to asset/liability products liabilities issued by MBIA Inc. and its subsidiaries.
Advisory Services
In the Company�� asset management advisory services business its registered investment advisors provide fixed-income asset management services for third parties and the investment portfolios of the Company and its affiliates (including the wind-down businesses) on a fee-for-service basis. Its advisory services are offered in two product lines, traditional and structured. Within the traditional product line, Cutwater offers cash management, customized asset management, discretionary asset management and fund accounting services to governments, insurance companies (including the Company�� insurance subsidiaries), corporations, pension funds, unions, endowments, foundations and investment companies in both pooled and separate account formats. These services are offered through registered investment advisers, and Cutwater receives asset management and administrative fees as compensation. Within the structured product line, Cutwater manages asset/liability programs and conduits (the wind-down businesses), Collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) and other funding vehicles for banks, insurance companies, program trustees and investment companies, and it earns base and performance fees for its services. Cutwater�� advisory services are offered through two principal operating subsidiaries: Cutwater Asset Management Corp. (Cutwater-AMC), an SEC-registered investment adviser and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) member firm, and Cutwater Investor Services Corp. (Cutwater-ISC), an SEC-registered investment adviser.
Wind-down Business
The asset/liability produc! ts busine! ss historically raised funds for investment through two sources, such as issuance of customized investment agreements by the Company and one of its subsidiaries for bond proceeds and other funds, and issuance of medium-term notes (MTNs) with varying maturities issued by its subsidiary MBIA Global Funding, LLC (GFL). Each of these products is guaranteed by MBIA Corp. In addition, GFL would lend the proceeds of its GFL MTN issuances to MBIA Inc. (GFL Loans). The Company primarily purchased domestic securities and lent a portion of the proceeds from investment agreements and GFL MTNs to its subsidiary Euro Asset Acquisition Limited, which primarily purchased foreign assets as permitted under the Company�� investment guidelines. The Company�� conduit segment is principally operated through Meridian Funding Company, LLC (Meridian) and, formerly, Triple-A One Funding Corporation (Triple-A One). The conduits were used by banks and other financial institutions to raise funds for their customers in the capital markets. During 2012, Triple-A One was liquated. The conduits provided funding for multiple customers through special purpose vehicles that issued commercial paper and MTNs.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ben Levisohn]
Its big day has also boosted other insurers. Radian Group (RDN) has risen 7.2% to $14.39, while Old Republic International (ORI) has advanced 2.1% to $15.24, Genworth Financial (GNW) is up 3.6% at $13.41 and MBIA Inc. (MBI) has jumped 4.3% to $10.76.
- [By MarketWatch]
MBIA Inc. (MBI) �is expected to post a loss of 3 cents a share in the fourth quarter.
- [By John Maxfield]
In a decision issued yesterday, a judge in New York denied a motion by bond insurer MBIA (NYSE: MBI ) which would have held Bank of America wholly liable for all of Countrywide Financial's pre-crisis misdeeds. While the bank has verbally committed to assuming Countrywide's liabilities -- its CEO Brian Moynihan said in 2010 that, "At the end of the day, we'll pay for the things Countrywide did" -- that's a far cry from being legally obligated to.
- [By Sean Williams]
Large money center bank, and personal portfolio holding, Bank of America (NYSE: BAC ) tacked on 5.2% after it and mortgage insurer MBIA (NYSE: MBI ) agreed to a $1.7 billion settlement stemming from supposedly misleading loans issued by Bank of America subsidiary Countrywide Financial and insured by MBIA during the financial crisis. Under the terms of the agreement, Bank of America will fork over $1.6 billion in cash to MBIA and about $100 million in MBIA bonds the bank currently owns. This settlement will keep MBIA solvent and removes more uncertainty from Bank of America's long list of potential settlements.
Top Trucking Companies To Own For 2014: Oriental Financial Group Inc.(OFG)
Oriental Financial Group Inc., a financial holding company, provides various banking and financial services to mid and high net worth individuals, and families, including professionals and owners of small and mid-sized businesses primarily in Puerto Rico. It operates in three segments: Banking, Wealth Management, and Treasury. The Banking segment offers commercial and consumer lending, saving and time deposit products, financial planning, and corporate and individual trust services. It also provides mortgage lending products that include the origination and purchase of residential mortgage loans. As of October 25, 2011, this segment operated 30 branches in Puerto Rico. The Wealth Management segment offers securities brokerage, trust services, retirement planning, insurance, pension administration, and other wealth management services. Its securities brokerage services include various investment alternatives, such as tax-advantaged fixed income securities, mutual funds, sto cks, and bonds to retail and institutional clients. This segment also provides public offerings and private placements of debt and equity securities, underwriting, and merger and acquisition and financial restructuring advisory services. In addition, it engages in insurance agency services and administration of retirement plans in the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Caribbean. The Treasury segment is involved in various treasury related functions with an investment portfolio consisting of mortgage-backed securities, obligations of U.S. government sponsored agencies, Puerto Rico government and agency obligations, structured credit investments, and money market instruments. The company was founded in 1964 and is based in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Paul Ausick]
The third recommended multinational is another Puerto Rican bank, OFG Bancorp (NYSE: OFG). A recent dividend increase could indicate a share buyback for next year. The bank raised its EPS guidance in every quarter of 2013. This small cap bank closed at $16.82 on Friday in a 52-week range of $12.86 to $19.33. The Sterne Agee price target on the stock is $23.00, yielding a potential upside of almost 79%. The EPS estimate for 2014 is $2.05 and the stock�� forward multiple for 2014 is a low 8.3 from the firm while the consensus multiple is 9.45.
Top Trucking Companies To Own For 2014: Domino's Pizza Inc(DPZ)
Domino?s Pizza, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as a pizza delivery company in the United States and internationally. The company sells and delivers pizzas under the Domino?s Pizza brand name. As of January 1, 2012, it operated through a network of 9,742 stores, including 394 company-owned stores and 9,348 franchise stores located in the 50 states and approximately 70 international markets. Domino?s Pizza, Inc. was founded in 1960 and is headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jesse Solomon]
Domino's (DPZ) stock delivered for Wall Street after the pizza delivery service said that earnings grew 17.5%, driven by strong same store sales domestically and internationally.
Top Trucking Companies To Own For 2014: DC Brands International Inc (HRDN)
DC Brands International, Inc. (DC Brands), incorporated on April 29, 1998, is engaged in the manufacture, marketing and distribution of health-related products that utilize natural botanicals, vitamins, minerals and supplements. As of December 31, 2009, the Company focused on the sale of products under its H.A.R.D. Nutrition label. As of December 31, 2009, the Company had two distinct types of products sold under its H.A.R.D. Nutrition logo, such as Functional Water Systems and nutritional supplements. Its H.A.R.D. Nutrition Functional Water System provides consumers with the combination of nutraceutical supplements with a functional beverage. All of the products sold under its H.A.R.D. Nutrition Functional Water System are sold in a bottle, which combines in one container water, which is lightly flavored, with vitamins stored in its licensed flip top compartment on the top of the bottle. DC Brands also sells other products included in its H.A.R.D. Nutrition label, such as herbal supplements, which are made from a mixture of herbs. The Company�� products are sold to consumers, primarily through retail outlet distribution. The Company�� wholly owned subsidiaries are DC Nutrition, Inc. and DC Brands, LLC. As of December 31, 2009, DC Brands, LLC was inactive. In June 2013, DC Brands International Inc acquired an undisclosed minority stake in Village Tea Co Distribution Inc.
Functional Water Systems
DC Brands��Functional Water Systems are a combination of a functional beverage and a nutraceutical. The Company provides consumers with a combination of a beverage and a nutraceutical supplement all in one convenient bottle. As of December 31, 2009, the Company manufactured nine water systems. Each system includes supplements, vitamins and minerals that are enclosed in its licensed cap, which is attached to its bottle filled with a lightly flavored water specially formulated to act as a catalyst for the enclosed supplements. The Functional Water Systems have a shelf life of one! year. The Company conducts periodic tests of the color, flavor and desired results of its products in house. Each product contains a label with a date stamp that specifies the shelf life.
The Company�� nine different systems are The Daily Basics, The Fat Fighter, The Get Over It-Feel Better Now, Whacked Energy, Wide Awake, Win, Fix It, Cleanse +, and Rebuild and Recover. The Daily Basics is a wellness product that includes vitamins and supplements. The Fat Fighter falls under the diet and weight loss category. The Get Over It-Feel Better Now is a wellness product that is a blend of vitamins, herbs and minerals. As of December 31, 2009, The Get Over It-Feel Better Now water system was sold in certain hotels in Las Vegas on a trial basis and was stocked in the guest rooms in the hotels and was marketed to combat hangovers. Whacked Energy and Wide Awake are part of its energy line. Win is geared towards athletes for use when conducting fitness training. Fix It is a combination of herbs and supplements. Cleanse+ is a 12 days total body cleansing system intended to be taken once every 90 days and Rebuild and Recover is a combination of products focused towards the serious athlete. All of its products contain ingredients that are focused to provide health-related benefits. The H.A.R.D. Nutrition Functional Water Systems are primarily sold in retail establishments.
Nutritional Supplements
The Company�� H.A.R.D. Nutrition Supplements are sold primarily though its wholly owned subsidiary DC Nutrition, Inc. and are focused at athletes and improving performance. As of December 31, 2009, the Company had approximately 300 products in this product line, which it divided into the four categories: performance and strength supplements, wellness products, energy supplements, and the weight loss and diet products.
The Company competes with Coca-Cola and Pepsi.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Peter Graham]
Small cap stocks COREwafer Industries Inc (OTCMKTS: WAFR), DC Brands International, Inc (OTCMKTS: HRDN) and PV Enterprises International (OTCMKTS: PVEC) surged 82.86%, 33.33% and 25%, respectively, last Friday ��meaning investors or traders got a nice Christmas present. Moreover, these small cap stocks have been the subject of minimal paid stock promotions. But will these three small cap stocks continue to deliver a good performance into and after the holidays? Here is a quick reality check before you get overly excited:
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