Friday, November 21, 2014

Hot Computer Hardware Companies To Own In Right Now

Plexus (Nasdaq: PLXS  ) reported earnings on July 17. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended June 29 (Q3), Plexus beat slightly on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue shrank. GAAP earnings per share grew.

Gross margins increased, operating margins contracted, net margins grew.

Revenue details
Plexus notched revenue of $571.9 million. The eight analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ foresaw sales of $565.0 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 6.1% lower than the prior-year quarter's $608.8 million.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
EPS came in at $0.68. The nine earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.58 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.68 for Q3 were 3.0% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.66 per share.

Hot Computer Hardware Companies To Own In Right Now: Sensio Technologies Inc (PSN)

SENSIO Technologies Inc. (SENSIO) develops and markets stereoscopic technologies for the electronic consumer, digital broadcasting and digital cinema markets. The Company focuses on three dimensional (3D) video, develops and markets stereoscopic (3D) digital compression, decompression, and display-formatting technologies. Its solutions include content creators, games developers, broadcasters, specialty channels and digital cinemas. Its flagship technology, SENSIO 3D, allows distribution of 3D content through conventional two dimensional (2D) broadcast networks (cable, satellite, Internet Protocol) and playback on any 3D display device, as well as home theatre and digital cinema projectors. The Company operates in North America, Europe, Middle East and Oceania. Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Sofia Horta e Costa]

    Countrywide Plc dropped 4.9 percent as Alchemy Partners LLP sold a 5.9 percent stake in the real estate broker. A gauge of London-listed mining stocks fell 1.7 percent, paring its best quarter since 2010. Persimmon Plc (PSN) led housebuilders lower after the U.K. government said it will carry out annual checks on its home-buying-assistance program amid criticism it may lead to excessive real estate prices.

  • [By Inyoung Hwang]

    Bovis Homes Group Plc (BVS) climbed 4 percent to 790 pence. Liberum Capital Ltd. raised its rating on the housebuilder to buy from hold. Persimmon Plc (PSN), the U.K.�� largest residential property developer, gained 2.5 percent to 1,255 pence.

Hot Computer Hardware Companies To Own In Right Now: Synaptics Inc (SYNA)

Synaptics Incorporated is a developer and supplier of custom-designed human interface solutions that enable people to interact with a range of mobile computing, communications, entertainment, and other electronic devices. The Company focuses on the personal computer ( PC) market, primarily notebook computers, including ultrabooks, the markets for digital lifestyle products, including mobile smartphones and feature phones, the tablet market, and other select electronic device markets with its customized human interface solutions. The Company generally supplies its human interface solutions to its original equipment manufacturer (OEM) customers through their contract manufacturers, which take delivery of its products and pay the Company directly for them.

The Company provides custom human interface solutions for navigation, cursor control, and multimedia controls for many of the world�� premier PC OEMs. In addition to notebook applications, other PC product applications for its technology include peripherals, such as keyboards, mice, and monitors, as well as remote control devices for desktops, PCs, and digital home applications. Its solutions for the PC market include the TouchPad, the ClickPad, the TouchStyk, and dual pointing solutions. The Company�� tablet includes the ClearPad Series 7. In August 2012, it acquired Pacinian and the Video Display Operation of Integrated Device Technology, Inc.

TouchPad

TouchPad provides a method for screen navigation, cursor movement, and gestures and provides a platform for interactive input for both the consumer and corporate markets. TouchPad solutions offer various advanced features, including Scrolling, Customizable tap zones, performance of entertainment, productivity, and media tasks, tapping and dragging of icons, and device Interaction. The Company�� TouchPad solutions are available in a variety of sizes, electrical interfaces, and thicknesses.

ClickPad

The Company�� ClickPad introduces! a clickable mechanical design to the TouchPad application. Its ClickPad is activated by pressing down on the internal tact switch to perform a left- or right-button click and provides feedback similar to pressing a physical button. The latest version of ClickPad features ClickEQ, which is a mechanical solution.

ForcePad

The Company's ForcePad is a thinner version of the Company's ClickPad, which introduces a new dimension in control through the addition of variable force sensitivity. ForcePad is designed to provide consistent performance across OEM models through its design intelligence and self-calibration features.

Dual Pointing Solutions

The dual pointing solutions offer a TouchPad with a pointing stick in a single notebook computer. Its dual pointing solutions also provide the end user the ability to use both interfaces interchangeably. The Company has developed two solutions for use in the dual pointing market. Its first solution integrates all the electronics for controlling a third-party resistive strain gauge pointing stick onto its TouchPad PCB. Its second dual pointing solution uses its TouchStyk and offers the OEM integration. The second solution is a completely modular design, allowing OEMs to offer TouchPad-only, TouchStyk-only, or dual pointing solutions on a build-to-order basis.

TouchStyk

The Company�� TouchStyk is a pointing stick interface solution for PC notebooks. TouchStyk is an integrated module that uses capacitive technology similar to that of its TouchPad. TouchStyk is enabled with press-to-select and tap-to-click capabilities and can be integrated into multiple computing and communications devices.

NavPoint

The Company�� NavPoint solution offers TouchPad functionality for small form factor devices in accessing and managing content in handheld devices through navigation controls. It also includes short- and long-distance scrolling features, tapping, and mouse-like cursor navigation.

ClearPad

The Company�� ClearPad touchscreen solutions consist of a transparent, thin capacitive sensor, which is a discrete sensor, that can be placed over any display, such as an liquid crystal display (LCD) or organic light-emitting diode (OLED). Its ClearPad Series 3 can provide full-time tracking of ten or more fingers simultaneously and features stylus support and support for various sensor configurations, including discrete sensors, sensor-on-lens, which includes sensor electrodes patterned on the bottom of the glass cover lens; on-cell, which includes sensor electrodes patterned on the display glass, and in-cell, which includes sensor electrodes patterned inside the LCD glass.

The Company�� ClearPad Series 4 products combines its capacitive multi-touch technology with a device�� display driver in a single-chip solution delivering advanced display noise management and capacitive sensing performance. Its ClearPad Series 7 products are designed for large touchscreen market for products more closely related to clamshell notebooks, slates, tablets, and similar devices. The Company�� ClearPad Series 7 products include single-chip touchscreen solutions and multi-chip touchscreen solutions designed for devices, such as gaming applications.

FlexPad

This capacitive sensing interface is mounted beneath a mechanical keypad, and allows the keypad surface to be used for advanced scrolling and navigation features, character entry, and advanced gesture input on handheld devices. With navigation functionality similar to a touch pad, FlexPad offers interface and industrial design differentiation.

ClearButtons

The Company�� ClearButtons product is an extension of its core capacitive sensing technology that has been used in TouchPad solutions for notebook PCs, mobile smartphones, and feature phones. ClearButtons is a sensor that can be mounted under plastic, providing OEMs with integration and design options for scrolling and b! uttons.

TouchButtons

The Company�� TouchButtons product provides capacitive button and scrolling controls for an interface solution designed to replace mechanical buttons. Button arrays and ScrollStrips can be programmed to perform various functions, such as controls for multimedia, display and device settings in notebook PCs, multimedia keyboards, MP3 players, digital photo frames, monitors, and other digital lifestyle products. TouchButton interfaces are designed for integration under the plastic face of a device, allowing for a sealed, durable, and thin design, which can be coupled with light emitting diode (LED) animation.

ThinTouchTM

The Company�� ThinTouch, is a design technology that delivers a full keyboard solution that is 40% thinner than traditional keyboard solutions. ThinTouch provides design architecture that facilitates backlighting.

Proximity Sensing

The Company�� proximity sensing technology enables users to interact with consumer electronics without touch. With this technology, sensors in a device, such as a notebook PC, mobile phone, peripheral, or digital photo frame, sense the presence of a user�� hand to activate a function, such as illuminating LEDs for discoverable buttons or waking devices from power-saving mode.

Dual Mode

The Company�� Dual Mode-enabled TouchPad interface allows a user to switch between cursor control and icon-based control on the TouchPad surface. In default mode, a Dual Mode-enabled TouchPad provides the same cursor control for on-screen navigation as a standard TouchPad. When the user taps on a launch icon located on the TouchPad surface, control icons illuminate on the TouchPad surface.

ChiralMotion Gesture

The Company�� ChiralMotion Gesture technology can be applied for continuous circular motion to initiate precise and fine-tuned scrolling on any two-dimensional input surface, such as its TouchPad and ClearPad solutions. ChiralMoti! on Gestur! e technology is suited for small handheld products, such as feature-rich mobile handsets, personal navigation systems, and personal media players that require easy access for entertainment, music, and other digital files.

Synaptics Gesture Suite

The Company�� Synaptics Gesture Suite (SGSTM) provides users with an intuitive way to interact with their notebook computers. SGS was developed by analyzing the most common workflows from entertainment activities, such as viewing photos and listening to music, to productivity activities, such as accessing e-mails and presentations. SGS represents a portfolio of gestures available on its interface solutions. These gestures are compatible with a range of Microsoft Windows and Linux applications. Gestures in the market include Pinch, Rotate, ChiralMotion Scrolling, Two-Finger Scrolling, Three-Finger Flick, Three-Finger Down, and Four-Finger Flick.

Enhanced Gesture Recognition

Synaptics�� Enhanced Gesture Recognition is a suite of ClearPad gestures included in its firmware. Customers can easily enable SingleTouch gestures, such as Tap, Double Tap, Press, and Flick; DualTouch gestures, such as Pinch and Pivot Rotate, and multi-finger gestures for ClearPad directly from its touch module firmware. No additional ssoftware is required on the host processor to implement these gestures.

Dual Mode for TouchPad

The Company's Dual Mode-enabled TouchPad interface allows a user to switch between cursor control and icon-based controls on the TouchPad surface. In default mode, a Dual Mode-enabled TouchPad provides the same cursor control for on-screen navigation as a standard TouchPad.

The Company competes with Alps Electric, Elan Microelectronics, Atmel, Cypress and Melfas.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Evan Niu, CFA]

    What: Shares of Synaptics (NASDAQ: SYNA  ) have popped by as much as 18% today after the company posted solid quarterly earnings and provided upbeat guidance thanks to design wins at Samsung.

  • [By Lisa Levin]

    Computer Peripherals: The industry gained 1.72% by 10:45 am. The top performer in this industry was Synaptics (NASDAQ: SYNA), which gained 3.7%. Synaptics' PEG ratio is 0.81.

  • [By Brian Pacampara]

    What: Shares of Synaptics (NASDAQ: SYNA  ) climbed 11% today after the touch-screen technologist raised its outlook for the current quarter. �

Top US Companies To Invest In 2015: Emulex Corp (ELX)

Emulex Corporation (Emulex) is a provider of a range of network convergence solutions that connect servers, storage, and networks within the data center. The Company�� product portfolio includes Host Bus Adapters (HBAs), Converged Network Adapters (CNAs), Network Interface Cards (NICs), mezzanine cards for blade servers, Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), embedded storage bridges, routers, and switches, Input/Output Controllers (IOCs), and connectivity management solutions. The Company is a designer, developer and supplier of HBAs, CNAs, NICs, mezzanine cards, Pass-Through Modules (PTM), embedded storage switches, embedded bridges, embedded routers, I/O ASICs, switch-on-a-chip (SOC) ASICs, Internet Baseboard management controllers (iBMC��) and connectivity management solutions. On August 25, 2010, Emulex acquired ServerEngines Corporation. In February 2013, Emulex acquired 89% ownership of Endace Ltd. In April 2013, Emulex Corp announced the completion of acquisition of Endace Limited.

Host Server Products

The Company�� Host Server Products include the development of chip level and board level server-based I/O adapters, including HBAs, Universal Converged Network Adapters (UCNAs), and mezzanine cards that connect servers and storage to networks using a range of products. Its products support Internet protocol (IP) and storage networking, including transmission control protocol (TCP)/IP, Internet small computer system interface (iSCSI), network attached storage (NAS), Fibre Channel, and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE). Host Server Products (HSP) include LightPulse HBAs, OneConnecttm UCNAs, custom form factor solutions for original equipment manufacturer (OEM) blade servers, and ASICs. These products enable servers to connect to local area networks (LANs), storage area networks (SANs), and NAS by offloading data communication processing tasks from the server as information is delivered and sent to the network.

Its Fibre Channel H! BAs connect host computers to a Fibre Channel network. The Company�� adapters support a range of operating systems and host computer system interfaces, including Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) and PCI Express-based platforms. Its Fibre Channel HBA offerings include single, dual, and quad port adapters at throughput speeds of two gigabyte per second, four gigabyte per second, and eight gigabyte per second for use in enterprise, large, medium, and small-sized organizations. The Emulex OneConnect UCNA is a single chip 10 gigabyte per second Ethernet platform designed to address the challenges of data center networks. The Emulex UCNA platform enables data center managers to consolidate multiple one gigabyte per second Ethernet links on to a single 10 gigabyte per second Ethernet link. Emulex HBAs and UCNAs are based upon its internally developed Fibre Channel and Ethernet IOCs. In addition, these IOCs can be used in embedded I/O environments, such as disk and tape storage arrays and storage appliances. Revenues from these applications are included in the Company�� Embedded Storage Products.

Embedded Storage Products

The Company�� Embedded Storage Products include the development of chip level, board level, and box level array based products that are deployed inside storage arrays, tape libraries, and other storage products to provide connectivity and protocol emulation functions. These products include embedded IOCs, I/O Processors (IOPs), SOCs, embedded bridges (FC/SATA/SAS), and embedded routers (FC/SATA/SAS). Emulex offers a range of integrated, embedded storage networking products for enterprise storage systems that deliver improved performance, reliability and storage connectivity. InSpeed is an advanced switching architecture that results in a single chip capable of handling multiple Fibre Channel devices operating at two, four, or eight gigabyte per second speeds. Its embedded router and bridge products consist of chip and firmware solutions.

! The Compa! ny competes with QLogic Corporation, Brocade Communications Systems, Inc., Broadcom Corporation, Intel Corporation, Chelsio Communications, Inc., Mellanox Technologies, Ltd., LSI, Marvell Technology Group Ltd., Maxim Integrated Products, Inc. and PMC-Sierra, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Roberto Pedone]

    Emulex (ELX) is a provider of a range of network convergence solutions that intelligently connect servers, storage and networks within the data center. This stock closed up 1.6% to $8.14 in Thursday's trading session.

    Thursday's Range: $8.05-$8.22

    52-Week Range: $5.72-$8.99

    Thursday's Volume: 727,000

    Three-Month Average Volume: 786,981

    From a technical perspective, ELX bounced modestly higher here right above some near-term support at $7.95 with decent upside volume. This stock has been trending sideways inside of a consolidation chart pattern over the last month, with shares moving between 7.50 on the downside and $8.46 on the upside. This modest spike is now starting to push shares of ELX within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade above the upper-end of its recent sideways trading chart pattern. That trade will hit if ELX manages to take out some near-term overhead resistance levels at $8.34 to $8.46 with high volume.

    Traders should now look for long-biased trades in ELX as long as it's trending above some key near-term support levels at $7.95 or $7.50 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 786,981 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then ELX will set up to re-test or possibly take out its 52-week high at $8.99. Any high-volume move above $8.99 will then give ELX a chance to tag its next major overhead resistance levels at $10 to $11.19.

  • [By Eric Volkman]

    A top-level promotion has taken place at Emulex (NYSE: ELX  ) . The company announced that it has appointed Jeffrey Benck to be its CEO, effective immediately. He replaces James McCluney, who was named executive chairman of the board. In turn, McCluney displaces ex-chairman Paul Folino, who is to continue to serve as a director.

  • [By John Udovich]

    Mid cap networking solutions company Brocade Communications Systems, Inc (NASDAQ: BRCD) has pretty much been a sleeper for investors since the dot.com bust, but that has changed over the past year���meaning its worth revisiting the stock along with potential performance benchmarks�like QLogic Corporation (NASDAQ: QLGC), Emulex Corporation (NYSE: ELX) and iShares North American Tech-Multimedia Networking ETF (NYSEARCA: IGN). I should mention that we have recently Brocade Communications Systems to our SmallCap Network Elite Opportunity (SCN EO) portfolio because the company has successfully transitioned from being a hardware company to supporting virtual networks via software and it continues to offer best-of-breed technology.

Hot Computer Hardware Companies To Own In Right Now: Altec Holdings SA (AXY)

Altec Holdings SA the parent company of Altec Group, is a Greece-based company engaged in the information technology and telecommunications fields. The Company's range of activities includes the manufacture, import, export, trade, distribution, leasing and support of computers and telecommunication materials, as well as the design, production, development, import, export, leasing and trading of software for computers and electronic cash registers. Its hardware products include a range of personal computers, servers and related equipment. Its software products include systems for enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management, accounting, human resource management, payroll and data warehousing, insurance brokerage software and equipment for call centers. It operates a retail network under the brand Microland. The Company has established subsidiaries in Romania, Bulgaria and Cyprus. Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By John Udovich]

    Yesterday, small cap geothermal stock U.S. Geothermal Inc (NYSEMKT: HTM) produced a geyser of a return when it surged 26.79%, meaning its worth taking a closer look at the stock verses the performance of other geothermal stocks like small cap Ormat Technologies, Inc (NYSE: ORA) and mid cap Calpine Corporation (NYSE: CPN).�First of all, I should mention there are some other geothermal stocks out there like Alterra Power Corp (CVE: AXY) and Ram Power Corp (TSE: RPG) who have their primary listing on Canadian exchanges with secondary ones on the OTC���meaning they may not be a good deal for American investors or easy to invest in. Second, U.S. Geothermal Inc itself is a good geothermal proxy as its�focused on developing, owning, and operating clean, sustainable electric power from geothermal energy resources and its�operating geothermal power projects at Neal Hot Springs, Oregon; San Emidio, Nevada; and Raft River, Idaho plus El Ceibillo, an advanced stage, geothermal prospect located within a 24,710 acre energy rights concession area near Guatemala City, the largest city in Central America.

Hot Computer Hardware Companies To Own In Right Now: Nyxio Technologies Corp (NYXO)

Nyxio Technologies Corporation, incorporated on June 08, 2006, through its wholly owned subsidiary Nyxio Technologies Inc. (Nyxio), develop and provide technology for the entertainment and commercial markets within the consumer electronic industry. The Company�� product includes VioSphere Smart television (TV), a flat screen TV with a fully integrated personal computer.

The Realm is an all in one personal computer (PC)/ TV, combining the latest in PC technology with high definition (HD) TV. The Realm Pro, which is all in One PC/TV geared for commercial and digital signage markets. Venture MMV, which is a mobile media viewer is a new class of video eyewear offering designer styling in a sleek ergonomic design with features and performance. The Vuzion is a TV with Android operating system (OS) built in enabling 400,000 Android applications on a TV.

The Company competes with Sony, Samsung, LG, Vizio, Apple, Dell, and HP.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Peter Graham]

    Nyxio Technologies Corp (OTCMKTS: NYXO), COREwafer Industries Inc (OTCMKTS: WAFR) and NanoTech Entertainment, Inc (OTCMKTS: NTEK) are three small cap stocks in some very diverse industries. In fact, one of these stocks just bought a 3D ice sculpture business. So will investors see their investment melt with that small cap stock�along with the other two? Here is a closer look to help you decide for yourself:��

Hot Computer Hardware Companies To Own In Right Now: Imation Corp (IMN)

Imation Corp. (Imation) is a global scalable storage and data security company. The Company�� portfolio includes tiered storage and security offerings for business and products designed to manage audio and video information in the home. The Company�� global brand portfolio includes the Imation brand, the Memorex brand, the XtremeMac and MXI Security brands. Imation is also the exclusive licensee of the TDK Life on Record brand. Its three product categories include traditional storage, secure and scalable storage, and audio and video information. It operates in four geographic segments: Americas, Europe, North Asia and South Asia. On February 28, 2011, it acquired all of the assets of Encryptx Corporation. On June 4, 2011, it acquired the assets of MXI Security, from Memory Experts International Inc. On October 4, 2011 it acquired the secure data storage hardware assets of IronKey Systems Inc. In December 2011, it acquired the data deduplication technology from Nine Technology.

The Americas segment includes North America, Central America and South America. The Europe segment includes Europe and parts of Africa. North Asia segment includes Japan, China, Hong Kong, Korea and Taiwan. The South Asia segment includes Australia, Singapore, India, the Middle East and parts of Africa.

Imation brand products include magnetic tape media, recordable compact discs (CDs), digital versatile Discs (DVDs) and Blu-ray discs, flash products and hard disk drives. The Imation brand includes the DataGuard Data Protection Appliances, InfiniVault Storage appliances and removable disk technology (RDX) removable hard disk storage systems. Imation Defender products include secure storage flash drives and external hard drives. Imation brand products are sold throughout the worldwide and target the commercial user and individual consumer. Imation Defender products include secure storage flash drives and external hard drives. TDK Life on Record brand products include recordable CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray d! iscs, flash drives, tape cartridges, headphones and computer speakers which are sold to commercial customers and individual consumers. TDK Life on Record brand products is sold throughout the world.

XtremeMac brand products include cases, chargers and audio solutions to protect, power and play Apple iPad, iPod, iPhone and other devices. XtremeMac products are developed for Apple enthusiasts and are available worldwide. Its MXI Security brand includes secure storage flash drives and external hard drives, as well as software solutions to help manage portable security devices on the network.

Traditional Storage

The Company�� optical media products consist of CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray recordable media. It sells Blu-ray discs, which are used primarily for recording high-definition video content. Its recordable optical media products are sold through a variety of retail and commercial distribution channels and sourced from manufacturers primarily in Taiwan and India. Optical storage capacities range from 650 megabyte CD-R (recordable) and CD-RW (rewritable) optical discs to 9.4 gigabyte double-sided DVD optical discs and Blu-ray discs with 25 gigabyte to 100 gigabyte of capacity. Its optical media is sold throughout the world under brands it owns or controls, including Imation, Memorex and TDK Life on Record and under a distribution agreement for the Hewlett Packard brand.

The Company�� magnetic tape media products are used for back-up, business and operational continuity planning, disaster recovery, near-line data storage and retrieval and for mass and archival storage. Other traditional storage products include primarily optical drives and audio and video tape media.

Secure and Scalable Storage

Secure storage products and software include universal serial bus (USB) flash drives and external hard drives designed to meet the security standards to protect data at rest with Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) validation, pa! ssword an! d biometric authentication, including biometric USB drives, encrypted and biometric hard disk drives, secure portable desktop solutions and software solutions. It also sells standard USB flash drives and external hard disk drives throughout the world under its Imation, Memorex and TDK Life on Record brands. It sources these products from manufacturers primarily in Asia and the United States and sell them through a variety of retail and commercial distribution channels around the world. Scalable storage products include data protection appliances, such as DataGuard network attached storage backup appliances and InfiniVault active archive appliances.

Audio and Video Information

The Company�� audio and video information products include Apple iPad, iPod and iPhone accessories, headphones, CD players, alarm clocks, portable boom boxes, moving picture experts group layer-3 audio (MP3) players, and speakers sold under the Memorex, TDK Life on Record and XtremeMac brands. It designs products to meet user needs and source these products from manufacturers throughout Asia.

The Company competes with Maxell, JVC, Sony, Verbatim, Fuji, HP, SanDisk, Lexar, PNY and Kingston.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Geoff Gannon] g>4. Tuesday Morning (TUES)
    5. Pacific Biosciences (PACB)
    6. Maxygen (MAXY)
    7. Westell (WSTL)
    8. Volt Information Sciences (VISI)
    9. Yasheng Group (YHGG)

    I don�� love that list. I like the 14 past picks in the Ben Graham Net-Net Newsletter�� model portfolio much better. The newsletter only owns 1 of those 9 net-nets. Remember, we have 9 net-nets out of the 14 picked for the newsletter that are trading below where we picked them. So, obviously I like those 9 net-nets a lot better than these 9 net-nets.

    Like I said, I wouldn�� encourage you to buy those nine net-nets shown here ��even if you��e looking to put a lot of money into net-nets. Instead you should look at your favorite net-nets ��or the net-nets in the Ben Graham: Net-Net Newsletter ��and use them as a buy list you are constantly placing orders from month after month.

    Building a diversified collection of net-net through many months of purchasing is a better way to invest a lot of money in net-nets than trying to focus on the biggest net-nets.

    Read Geoff�� Other Articles
    Ask Geoff a Question
    Check out the Buffe

  • [By John Udovich]

    As cyber theft and hacking continues to grow, mir or small cap stocks like Splunk Inc (NASDAQ: SPLK), Imation Corp (NYSE: IMN) and Staffing 360 Solutions Inc (OTCBB: STAF)�are some overlooked, indirect or just plain interesting plays on cybersecurity that investors might want to take note of:

Thursday, November 20, 2014

10 Best Asian Stocks For 2015

U.K. stocks fell for the first time in four days, led by a selloff in mining companies, as base metals declined and U.S. economic growth trailed forecasts.

Rio Tinto Group and Anglo American Plc (AAL) retreated more than 2.5 percent as copper and lead declined. Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) sank 6.8 percent as analysts downgraded the shares. Standard Life Plc slipped 1.2 percent as Chief Financial Officer Jackie Hunt resigned to move to a rival insurer. Ocado Group Plc (OCDO) fell for the first day this week as the online grocer ruled out a takeover by William Morrison Supermarkets Plc.

The FTSE 100 (UKX) Index lost 16.17 points, or 0.3 percent, to 6,426.42 at the close in London. The benchmark gauge is still up 2.2 percent this week, the biggest advance since Jan. 4, amid speculation the European Central Bank will cut interest rates next week. The broader FTSE All-Share Index fell 0.3 percent today, and Ireland�� ISEQ Index slid 1 percent.

�� am a little bit cautious in the short term,��said Ian Williams, a market strategist at Peel Hunt LLP in London. �� am not surprised we have see a bit of a flattening out in the market. Next week, the macro calender is packed. There are quite a few banana skins, so I would be pulling back on some of the more bullish positions.��

10 Best Asian Stocks For 2015: Titan Pharmaceuticals Inc (TTNP)

Titan Pharmaceuticals, Inc., incorporated in February 1992, is a biopharmaceutical company developing therapeutics primarily for the treatment of central nervous system (CNS) disorders. The Company is focused primarily on clinical development of products that include Probuphine for the treatment of opioid addiction; Iloperidone: for the treatment of schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders, and Spheramine for the treatment of advanced Parkinson�� disease. Titan Pharmaceuticals is directly developing its product candidates and also utilizing corporate partnerships, including a collaboration with Bayer Schering Pharma AG, Germany (Bayer Schering) for the development of Spheramine to treat Parkinson�� disease, and Vanda Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Vanda) for the development of iloperidone for the treatment of schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders.

Probuphine

Probuphine is the first product to utilize the Company�� ProNeura long-term drug delivery technology. Probuphine is designed to provide continuous, long-term therapeutic levels of the drug buprenorphine, an approved agent for the treatment of opioid addiction. In December 2007, the Company completed enrollment in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-center Phase III clinical study of Probuphine in the treatment of opioid addiction. This 150 patient study, which is being conducted in the United States, will evaluate the safety and effectiveness of treatment with Probuphine versus placebo in reducing opioid addiction over 24 weeks of treatment. This study is part of a registration directed program intended to obtain marketing approval of Probuphine for the treatment of opioid addiction in Europe and the United States.

Iloperidone

Iloperidone was evaluated in a Phase III program comprising over 3,500 patients at more than 200 sites in 24 countries, administered and funded by Novartis Pharma AG (Novartis). In three completed efficacy studies conducted by Novartis, ilop! eridone statistically reduced the symptoms of schizophrenia compared to placebo. Iloperidone has also been investigated in three 12-month safety studies, which confirm safety and tolerability. A dose dependent increase in the Q-T Corrected (QTc) interval was observed and investigated further in a clinical study, and no clinically significant adverse events were observed. In September 2007, Vanda submitted a new drug application (NDA) with the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for iloperidone. The NDA for iloperidone was officially accepted for review by the FDA in November 2007.

Spheramine

Spheramine is a cell-based therapeutic that utilizes the Company�� cell-coated microcarrier (CCM) technology, which enables the development of cell-based therapies for minimally invasive, site-specific delivery to the central nervous system of therapeutic factors precisely where they are needed. Spheramine consists of microcarriers coated with human retinal pigment epithelial cells that are intended to enhance brain levels of dopamine, a neurotransmitter deficient in certain brain regions in Parkinson�� disease, leading to movement disorders. Preclinical studies have demonstrated the preliminary efficacy and safety of Spheramine, including blinded studies in a primate model of Parkinson�� disease. In June 2007, enrollment was completed in a current multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of Spheramine in Parkinson�� disease. This Phase IIb clinical study enrolled 71 patients with advanced Parkinson�� disease (Hoehn and Yahr Stages III and IV) to further evaluate the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of Spheramine.

Bayer Schering, the Company�� corporate partner for worldwide development and commercialization of Spheramine, is funding the clinical development program for Spheramine. Under an agreement, Bayer Schering has received exclusive, worldwide development, manufacturing and commercialization rights, and, in ad! dition to! the clinical and manufacturing development funding and milestone payments, Bayer Schering will pay Titan Pharmaceuticals a royalty on future product sales.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By CRWE]

    Today, TTNP surged (+2.76%) up +0.018 at $.689 with 152,996 shares in play thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 2:02PM EDT October 1, 2013).

    Titan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. previously reported that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted the request for a meeting to discuss Probuphine庐. The meeting is scheduled for November 19, 2013. The FDA has designated this as a Type C meeting and has requested the submission of briefing materials by October 7, 2013.

10 Best Asian Stocks For 2015: KBB Resources Bhd (KBB)

KBB Resources Berhad is an investment holding company. The Company is engaged in manufacturing and marketing of all types of rice and sago sticks (vermicelli), sago starch and related products. The Company�� product includes Rice Vermicelli, Instant Noodle, Instant Bihun, Laksa and Sago. The Company�� subsidiaries include Kilang Bihun Bersatu Sdn Bhd, which is engaged in Manufacturing and marketing of all types of rice and sago sticks (vermicelli); Rasayang Food Industries Sdn Bhd, which is engaged in manufacturing and trading of beehoon and beehoon laksa; Bersatu Noodles Industries Sdn Bhd, which is engaged in manufacturing and trading of noodles and related products, and Bersatu Biotechnology (Johore) Sdn Bhd, which is engaged in manufacturing and marketing of all types of sago starch and related products. Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Neha Marwah]

    LMC Automotive expects the annualized rate to be 16.1 million, the best in six years. This is a decent improvement from last year�� November, when the industry reported 15.3 million as the adjusted annualized rate. In comparison, Kelley Blue Book (KBB) expects the November 2013 SAAR to be around 15.6 million, while Edmunds.com estimates it to be 15.7 million.

5 Best Japanese Stocks To Watch Right Now: Yelp Inc (YELP)

Yelp Inc., incorporated on September 03, 2004, connects people with great local businesses. Its users have contributed a total of approximately 36.0 million cumulative reviews of almost every type of local business, from restaurants, boutiques and salons to dentists, mechanics and plumbers. Its platform provides local businesses with a range of free and paid services, which help them to engage with consumers at moment when they are deciding where to spend their money. The Company generates revenue from local advertising, brand advertising and other services. As of December 31, 2012, the Company was active in 53 Yelp markets in the United States and 44 Yelp markets internationally. Effective July 18, 2013, Yelp Inc acquired SeatMe Inc, which is a developer of restaurant and nightlife categories reservation applications.

Local Business

The Company enables businesses to create a free online business account and claim the page for each of their business locations. Business representatives can verify their affiliation with the business through an automated telephone verification process, which requires that they be reachable at the phone number, which is publicly displayed for their business listing on its platform. With their free business accounts, businesses can view business trends, message customers, update information and offer Yelp Deals. Its listing solution eliminates search advertising from the businesses��profile pages and allows them to incorporate a video clip or photo slide show on the pages. It allows local businesses to promote themselves as a sponsored search result on its platform or on related business pages.

The Company�� Yelp Deals product allows local business owners to create promotional discounted deals for their products and services, which are marketed to consumers through its platform. Yelp Deals have a fee structure based solely on transaction volume with no upfront costs, and it earns a fee based on the discounted price of each deal so! ld. It processes all customer payments and remits to the business the revenue share of any Yelp Deal purchased. It offers both e-mail deals, which are focused on demand generation and deals on its platform that are focused on demand fulfillment where businesses can target intent-driven consumers who are specifically searching for a product or service on its platform.

The Company�� Gift Certificates product allows local business owners to sell full price gift certificates directly to customers through their business profile page. The business chooses the price points to offer, and the buyer may purchase a Gift Certificate in one of those amounts. The Company earns a fee based on the amount of the Gift Certificate sold. The Company processes all consumer payments and remit to the business the revenue share of any Gift Certificate purchased.

National/Brand Advertisers

The Company offers its advertising solution for national brands that want to improve their local presence. These solutions consist of search and display ads (both graphic and text) on its Website, which are typically sold to advertisers on a per-impression basis. Its national advertisers include brands in the automobile, financial services, logistics, consumer goods and health and fitness industries.

Transaction Partners

The Company�� partnership, through a written agreement, with OpenTable provides consumers the ability to reserve seats directly on the business listing pages of restaurants, which participate in OpenTable�� network. Its partnership, through a written agreement, with Orbitz allows consumers to book rooms directly on the business listing pages of hotels, which affiliate with Orbitz.

The Company competes with Google, Yahoo! and Bing.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Melvin Backman] NEW YORK (CNNMoney) A Bay Area Italian restaurant wants bad Yelp (YELP) reviews. And until recently, it even paid for them.

    The stunt is the owners' quest to subvert the online review site's ratings system and garner publicity, following a dispute.

10 Best Asian Stocks For 2015: Discovery Minerals Ltd (DSCR)

Discovery Minerals Ltd., formerly Dhanoa Minerals Ltd., incorporated on July 11, 2005, is an exploration-stage company. The Company�� principal business is the acquisition and exploration of menial resources located in the United States, Central and South America. The Company operates in only one business segment, namely natural resource exploration, mining and recovery.

The Company does not own any properties that contain mineral reserves that are economically recoverable. The Company's projects include Turquoise Mountain Project and Yukon Mining Project.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Peter Graham]

    Small cap mining stocks Discovery Minerals Ltd (OTCMKTS: DSCR), Zinco Do Brasil Inc (OTCMKTS: ZNBR) and Amalgamated Gold and Silver Inc (OTCMKTS: BCHS) have been getting some extra attention lately as one stock surged last Friday while the other two are or have been in the past, the subject of paid promotions. It goes without saying though that small cap mining stocks tend to be riskier than your average stock. But do these three small cap mining stocks have what it takes to produce a mother lode for investors? Here is a deeper dig into all three:

    Discovery Minerals Ltd (OTCMKTS: DSCR) Is Branching Out Into Mining Apps

    Small cap Discovery Minerals Ltd is a production stage company formed to acquire and develop natural resource properties. Activities include gold, precious metals and petroleum minerals, including rare earth minerals production and sales. In addition, the company has initiated a new program to evaluate undervalued assets, including clean tech and alternative energy investments, for potential addition to its portfolio. On Friday, Discovery Minerals Ltd surged 25% to $0.001 for a market cap of $1.66 million plus DSCR is down 73% over the past year and down 97.1% over the past five years according to Google Finance.

10 Best Asian Stocks For 2015: Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation(AP)

Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation and its subsidiaries manufacture and sell custom-engineered equipment in the United States and internationally. It operates in two segments, Forged and Cast Rolls, and Air and Liquid Processing. The Forged and Cast Rolls segment produces forged hardened steel rolls used in cold rolling for the producers of steel, aluminum, and other metals; and cast iron and steel rolls for hot and cold strip mills, medium/heavy section mills, and plate mills. The Air and Liquid Processing segment manufactures finned tube and plate finned heat exchange coils for the commercial and industrial construction, as well as for process and utility industries; custom air handling systems used in commercial, institutional, and industrial buildings; and a line of centrifugal pumps for the refrigeration, power generation, and marine defense industries. The company was founded in 1929 and is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Tim Melvin]

    Amco-Pittsburgh (AP) took a 5.5% hit in its stock price last week. The company is in some businesses that are very economically sensitive like cold rolling equipment for steel and aluminum manufacturers, heat-exchange equipment used in power generation and HVAC systems, and custom air handling systems that are used in commercial, institutional and industrial buildings.

  • [By Gary Stoller]

    Taxis wait in lines for customers outside the Pudong International Airport in Shanghai.(Photo: AP)

    Keep valuables next to you or in your lap rather than in a less-accessible area of a taxi. Ask the driver to remove the bags from the trunk before you get out of the taxi and before you pay, so the driver cannot drive away with your luggage.

  • [By AP 6:27 p.m. EDT October 19] LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) ��The oil production technique known as fracking is more widespread and frequently used in the offshore platforms and man-made islands near some of California's most populous and famous coastal communities than state officials believed.

  • [By Elaine Ganley] PARIS (AP) ��As Romeo said: "My bounty is as boundless as the sea ��the more I give to thee, the more I have." His modern-day counterparts ��the kind with deep pockets ��are going all out to offer extravagant, star-studded weddings to their own Juliets.

10 Best Asian Stocks For 2015: Jamba Inc.(JMBA)

Jamba, Inc., through its subsidiary, Jamba Juice Company, owns and franchises Jamba Juice stores. It operates as a restaurant retailer of specialty beverages and food products, which include fruit smoothies, squeezed juices, hot teas, hot oatmeal made with organic steel cut oats, fruit and veggie smoothies, Fit?n Fruitful smoothies with Weight Burner Boost, Whirl?ns frozen yogurt, breakfast wraps, side salads, sandwiches, California Flatbreads, and various baked goods and snacks. The company also licenses its Jamba brand name to sell consumer packaged goods through retail channels, such as grocery, mass, club, and convenience. As of January 3, 2012, it had 769 Jamba Juice stores, including 307 company-owned and operated stores; 443 franchise-operated stores in the United States; and 19 international franchise stores. The company was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Emeryville, California.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Caroline Bennett]

    One of Jamba's (NASDAQ: JMBA  ) shareholders, CanBa Investments LLC, has converted the remainder of its preferred shares into common stock, the company announced Tuesday, which means Jamba no longer has to pay the annual 8% expense for its dividend.

  • [By Ben Levisohn]

    Jamba (JMBA) has tumbled 9% to $11.74 after the juice store missed the Street’s earnings and revenue expectations. Jamba also announced a $25 million share buyback program.

  • [By Paul R. La Monica]

    Davis also owns a couple of Jamba Juice (JMBA) franchises in the Bay area and an art gallery in San Jose. That's pretty cool. It might not be enough to make his stock a screaming buy though.

  • [By Dan Caplinger]

    Another way that Starbucks has encouraged loyalty is with its rewards program. With features like a free birthday drink and various levels for frequent customers, Starbucks has a quarter of its transactions run through the loyalty program. Rivals Panera and smoothie-seller Jamba (NASDAQ: JMBA  ) have also adopted similar programs, and Panera has seen arguably even greater success than Starbucks with its card.

10 Best Asian Stocks For 2015: CVR Energy Inc (CVI)

CVR Energy, Inc. (CVR Energy), incorporated September 2006, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, acts as an independent petroleum refiner and marketer of transportation fuels in the mid-continental United States. In addition, the Company, through its majority-owned subsidiaries, acts as an independent producer and marketer of nitrogen fertilizer products in North America. As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned the general partner and approximately 70% of CVR Partners, LP (the Partnership), a limited partnership which produces nitrogen fertilizers in the form of ammonia and an aqueous solution of urea and ammonium nitrate used as a fertilizer (UAN). The Company operates in two segments: the petroleum segment and the nitrogen fertilizer segment. On December 15, 2011, the Company acquired Gary-Williams Energy Corporation and its subsidiaries (GWEC).

Petroleum Business

The Company operates a 115,000 barrels per day complex full coking medium-sour crude oil refinery in Coffeyville, Kansas and, as of December 15, 2011, a 70,000 barrels per day crude oil unit refinery in Wynnewood, Oklahoma. Its combined production capacity represents approximately 15% of its region's output during the year ended December 31, 2011. The Coffeyville facility is situated on approximately 440 acres in southeast Kansas, approximately 100 miles from Cushing, Oklahoma, a crude oil trading and storage hub. The Wynnewood facility is situated on approximately 400 acres located approximately 65 miles south of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and approximately 130 miles from Cushing, Oklahoma. During 2011, its Coffeyville refinery's product yield included gasoline (mainly regular unleaded) (44%), diesel fuel (42%), and pet coke and other refined products, such as natural gas liquids (NGL) (propane and butane), slurry, sulfur and gas oil (14%). Its Wynnewood refinery's product yield included gasoline (54%), diesel fuel (31%), asphalt (6%), jet fuel (3%) and other products (6%) during 2011.

The Company! owns and operates a crude oil gathering system serving Kansas, Oklahoma, western Missouri and southwestern Nebraska. The system has field offices in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, Plainville, Kansas and Winfield, Kansas. The system consists of approximately 350 miles of feeder and trunk pipelines, 100 trucks, and associated storage facilities for gathering sweet crude oils purchased from independent crude oil producers in Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Missouri. It also leases a section of a pipeline from Magellan Midstream Partners, L.P. (Magellan), which is incorporated into its crude oil gathering system. During 2011, the Company�� crude oil gathering system had a gathering capacity of approximately 38,000 barrels per day. During 2011, it gathered an average of approximately 35,000 barrels per day.

CVR Energy owns a pipeline system capable of transporting approximately 145,000 barrels per day of crude oil from Caney, Kansas to its refinery. Crude oils sourced outside of its gathering system are delivered by common carrier pipelines into various terminals in Cushing, Oklahoma, where they are blended and then delivered to Caney, Kansas via a pipeline owned by Plains Pipeline L.P. (Plains). The Company also owns associated crude oil storage tanks with a capacity of approximately 1.2 million barrels located outside its Coffeyville refinery, 0.5 million barrels of crude oil storage at Wynnewood, Oklahoma, and lease an additional 3.3 million barrels of storage capacity located at Cushing, Oklahoma and other locations. In addition to crude oil storage, it owns approximately 4.5 million barrels of combined refinery related storage capacity.

CVR Energy has access to foreign crude oil from Latin America, South America, West Africa, the Middle East, the North Sea and Canada. It purchases domestic crude oil from Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Texas, North Dakota, Missouri, and offshore deepwater Gulf of Mexico production. During 2011, its Coffeyville crude oil supply blend consisted of approx! imately 8! 0% light sweet crude oil, 2% light/medium sour crude oil and 18% heavy sour crude oil. During 2011, Wynnewood's crude oil supply blend consisted of approximately 88% sweet crude oil and 12% light/medium sour crude oil.

During 2011, approximately 35% of the Coffeyville refinery's products were sold through the rack system directly to retail and wholesale customers, while the remaining 65% was sold through pipelines via bulk spot and term contracts. The Company makes bulk sales (sales into third party pipelines) into the mid-continent markets via Magellan and into Colorado and other destinations utilizing the product pipeline networks owned by Magellan, Enterprise Products Operating, L.P. (Enterprise) and NuStar Energy, LP (NuStar). Approximately 60% of the Wynnewood refinery's finished products sold are distributed in Oklahoma. Customers for its petroleum products include other refiners, convenience store companies, railroads and farm cooperatives.

The Company competes with BP, Conoco Phillips, HollyFrontier, NCRA, Valero, Flint Hills Resources, CHS and Shell.

Nitrogen Fertilizer Business

The nitrogen fertilizer business, operated by the Partnership, is the nitrogen fertilizer plant in North America. It utilizes a pet coke gasification process to produce nitrogen fertilizer. The nitrogen fertilizer facility's primary input is pet coke. The nitrogen fertilizer facility includes a 1,225 ton-per-day ammonia unit, a 2,025 ton-per-day UAN unit and a gasifier complex having a capacity of 84 million standard cubic feet per day. Linde LLC (Linde) owns, operates, and maintains the air separation plant that provides contract volumes of oxygen, nitrogen and compressed dry air to the gasifier for a monthly fee.

The primary geographic markets for the nitrogen fertilizer business' fertilizer products are Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Colorado and Texas. The nitrogen fertilizer business markets the ammonia products to industrial and agricu! ltural cu! stomers and the UAN products to agricultural customers. The nitrogen fertilizer business sells ammonia to agricultural and industrial customers. Agricultural customers include distributors such as MFA, United Suppliers, Inc., Brandt Consolidated Inc., Gavilon Fertilizer LLC, Transammonia, Inc., Agri Services of Brunswick, LLC, Interchem and CHS Inc. Industrial customers include Tessenderlo Kerley, Inc., National Cooperative Refinery Association, and Dyno Nobel, Inc. The nitrogen fertilizer business sells UAN products to retailers and distributors.

The Company competes with Agrium, Koch Nitrogen, Potash Corporation and CF Industries.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Brian Pacampara]

    Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, petroleum refiner CVR Energy (NYSE: CVI  ) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

  • [By Eric Volkman]

    CVR Energy (NYSE: CVI  ) is reaching into its coffers to provide additional cash for shareholders. The company has declared a special dividend of $6.50 per share. This will be paid on June 10 to stockholders of record as of June 3. All told, the extraordinary payout will cost CVR Energy roughly $564 million. So far this year, it has dispensed around $1.1 billion in dividends.

  • [By Susan J. Aluise]

    The company, whose earnings have been blistered by low natural gas prices, has reworked its business model to focus more on boosting profitability in its regulated utility operations. That’s a solid strategy for FE, given the state of the energy market. Also, the bad news has been priced in, providing a potentially attractive entry point for investors.

    CVR Energy (CVI)

    CVR Energy (CVI)�stock is down 9% since Jan. 2. CVI stock has a lofty dividend yield of 8%, and its valuation is attractive now with a puny forward P/E of 9.4. CVI shares soared by more than 3% on Thursday after the company reported fourth-quarter and full-year earnings.

10 Best Asian Stocks For 2015: Powershares Qqq Trust Series 1 (QQQ)

PowerShares QQQ Trust, Series 1, formerly The NASDAQ-100 Trust, Series 1, is a unit investment trust that issues securities called Nasdaq-100 Index Tracking Stock. The Trust holds all of the component securities of the Nasdaq-100 Index. The Trust's investment objective is to provide investment results that generally correspond to the price and yield performance of the Nasdaq-100 Index.

The Trust was created to provide investors with the opportunity to purchase units of beneficial interest in the Trust representing proportionate undivided interests in the portfolio of securities held by the Trust, which consists of substantially all of the securities, in substantially the same weighting, as the component securities of the Nasdaq-100 Index. Nasdaq Global Funds, Inc. is the sponsor of the Trust and The Bank of New York is the trustee of the Trust.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Chris Ciovacco]

    In Thursday's ETF analysis, evidence is presented that supports increasing demand for assets that get a tailwind from a weak U.S. dollar, including emerging markets (EEM) and foreign stocks (EFA). Casting a wider economic net, our market model told us to start buying stocks last week even with the threat of a U.S. default. Wednesday, we continued with our incremental allocation shifts by adding some exposure to the energy sector. Thursday, we sat tight holding long positions in small caps (IJR), Europe (FEZ), emerging markets and technology (QQQ). The upper bounds of the bullish S&P 500 trend channel shown below may offer some resistance to the market's near vertical ascent.

  • [By Tom Aspray]

    The Powershares QQQ Trust (QQQ) is clearly the leader, up over 200%, which is over 20% better than the iShares Russell 2000 (IWM), which is up 178%. The small caps have done over 40% better than the large cap Spyder Trust (SPY) but this performance does not include dividends, which would narrow the gap considerably. The SPDR Dow Jones Industrials (DIA) has continued to lag as its price is up just 120% during the bull market.

10 Best Asian Stocks For 2015: Questerre Energy Corp (QEC)

Questerre Energy Corporation (Questerre) is engaged in the exploration for, and the development, production and acquisition of oil and gas projects, particularly shale oil and gas. Questerre holds assets in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Quebec. Questerre has three core areas where it conducts the majority of its activity: Oil Shale Mining, Western Canada and the St. Lawrence Lowlands, Quebec. The Company has a 100% interest in two licenses covering approximately 100,000 acres in the Pasquia Hills area of east central Saskatchewan. The Antler area is approximately 200 kilometers from Regina in southeast Saskatchewan. The Vulcan area in Southern Alberta is prospective for natural gas and oil in multiple horizons. The Lowlands are situated in Quebec south of the St. Lawrence River between Montreal and Quebec City. As at December 31, 2011, the Company had an interest in 98 gross (55.2 net) producing and 40 gross (17.8 net) non-producing oil and natural gas. Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By John Udovich]

    While the Bakken formation is already on most investor radars,�few American investors may realize that the formation stretches North into the oil and gas rich Canadian province of Saskatchewan where�stocks like Surge Energy Inc (TSE: SGY), Questerre Energy Corp (TSE: QEC), Crescent Point Energy Corp (TSE: CPG), Keyera Corp (TSE: KEY) and Centor Energy Inc (OTCBB: CNTO) have been pumping out a good flow of newsworthy news in recent weeks. I should mention that Canada�� oil reserves are ranked #3 after to Venezuela and Saudi Arabia with over 95% of these reserves being the oil sands of Alberta while the neighboring province of Saskatchewan (which the Bakken formation stretches into from South Dakota and Montana) along with offshore areas of Newfoundland also contain substantial production and reserves (Note:�Excluding oil sands, Alberta would have 39% of Canada�� remaining conventional oil reserves,�followed by�offshore Newfoundland with�28% and Saskatchewan with 27%).

  • [By James E. Brumley]

    Well, that answers that question. Questerre Energy Corp. (TSE:QEC) and Crescent Point Energy Corp. (TSE:CPG) likely knew they had some shale-oil mining neighbors in the Bakken Shale neighborhood in Saskatchewan, Canada, but they hadn't seen much of that competition. That's about to change soon. Adequately funded and eager to begin laying its final mining plans, Centor Energy Inc. (OTCBB:CNTO) is going to officially own 55% of a 21,000 acre shale oil property that's anywhere from just a few miles away to just a few meters away from and Crescent Point Energy's and Questerre Energy's operations in one of the oil-richest known areas in the Bakken formation. And to be clear, it's not like Centor Energy is just getting the ball rolling; the planning for this project has been underway for months. Once the property-acquisition deal is inked in mid-February, CNTO will likely finish up its feasibility study and begin the approval process for its facility later in the year. That's pretty quick, but as was noted, a great deal of the legwork has already been done.

  • [By James E. Brumley]

    What do Questerre Energy Corp. (TSE:QEC) and Crescent Point Energy Corp. (TSE:CPG) know about oil in Saskatchewan that Centor Energy Inc. (OTCBB:CNTO) doesn't? Absolutely nothing. All three companies know there's oil in the southern part of the Canadian province, and they know exactly how to go get it. The only difference between QEC, CPG, and CNTO is, Questerre Energy and Crescent Point Energy are further along the development of their operations there than Centor Energy.

10 Best Asian Stocks For 2015: MER Telemanagement Solutions Ltd.(MTSL)

Mer Telemanagement Solutions Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, markets, and supports a line of telecommunication expense management (TEM), and customer care and billing solutions for business organizations and other enterprises worldwide. Its TEM solutions assist enterprises and organizations in the allocation of costs, budget control, fraud detection, processing of payments, and spending forecasting. The company also offers converged billing solutions, including applications for charging and invoicing customers, interconnect billing, and partner revenue management through pre-pay and post-pay schemes for wireless providers, voice over Internet protocol, Internet protocol television, and content service providers. Its products provide telecommunication and information technology managers with tools to reduce communication costs, recover charges payable by third parties, and to detect and prevent abuse and misuse of telephone networks comprising fault telecommunication usage. The company markets its products through its direct sales force, distributors, and business telephone switching systems manufacturers and vendors. Mer Telemanagement Solutions Ltd. was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Raanana, Israel.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Monica Gerson]

    MER Telemanagement Solutions (NASDAQ: MTSL) dropped 14.62% to $2.09 after the company terminated MVNE solution provider agreement with SBC Communications.

  • [By James E. Brumley]

    Trading can be a quirky game sometimes. Most of the time, news - or at least loudly voiced opinions - tend to result from or be the cause of a fast-moving stock. Every now and then though, as in the case with MER Telemanagement Solutions Ltd. (NASDAQ:MTSL), a stock can build up steam with little to no news linked to that move. That doesn't make that stock a poor pick, however. Indeed, MTSL looks like it's turning into a homerun, and that alone is worth a look.... and maybe even worth a shot.

  • [By Bryan Murphy]

    If you're a small cap enthusiast looking for some budding ideas, you may not need to look any further than China GengSheng Minerals, Inc. (NYSEMKT:CHGS), Bio Matrix Scientific Group Inc. (OTCMKTS:BMSN), and MER Telemanagement Solutions Ltd. (NASDAQ:MTSL). All three have either pushed themselves to the brink of a breakout, if they haven't started one already. Here's a closer technical look at MTSL, BMSN, and CHGS, and what it's going to take to get them going if they're not going already.

Monday, November 17, 2014

Hot Life Sciences Companies To Invest In 2014

The biotech sector along with small cap biotech stocks Cardiome Pharma Corp (NASDAQ: CRME), Oncolytics Biotech, Inc (NASDAQ: ONCY), Vital Therapies Inc (NASDAQ: VTL) and TNI BioTech (OTCMKTS: TNIB) have all been producing their share of news this week for investors and traders alike to trade on. Moreover and while some 42 ��ife sciences��companies have gone public raising about $3 billion from investors so far this year, there are a growing number of biotechs pulling the plug on upcoming IPOs who are citing market conditions. With that in mind, here is a look at important news from the biotech sector and small cap biotech stocks this week:

Frothy IPO Market But There is Still ��uality Control.���all Street�� MoneyBeat column quoted Christopher Bartel, head of global equity research at Fidelity, say the following about the IPO market in general:

��t�� frothy, but there�� still a quality-control element. You��e not seeing the deal-chasing.��/p>

Best Penny Stocks To Invest In 2015: Jamba Inc.(JMBA)

Jamba, Inc., through its subsidiary, Jamba Juice Company, owns and franchises Jamba Juice stores. It operates as a restaurant retailer of specialty beverages and food products, which include fruit smoothies, squeezed juices, hot teas, hot oatmeal made with organic steel cut oats, fruit and veggie smoothies, Fit?n Fruitful smoothies with Weight Burner Boost, Whirl?ns frozen yogurt, breakfast wraps, side salads, sandwiches, California Flatbreads, and various baked goods and snacks. The company also licenses its Jamba brand name to sell consumer packaged goods through retail channels, such as grocery, mass, club, and convenience. As of January 3, 2012, it had 769 Jamba Juice stores, including 307 company-owned and operated stores; 443 franchise-operated stores in the United States; and 19 international franchise stores. The company was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Emeryville, California.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Monica Gerson]

    Jamba (NASDAQ: JMBA) cut its FY13 outlook for same-store sales and profit margin. Jamba shares tumbled 8.09% to $12.38 in the after-hours trading session.

Hot Life Sciences Companies To Invest In 2014: Ishares Trust Dow Jones United States (IDU)

iShares Dow Jones U.S. Utilities Sector Index Fund (the Fund) seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Utilities Index (the Index). The Index measures the performance of the utilities sector of the United States equity market. The Index includes companies in industry groups, such as electricity and gas, water and multi-utilities. The Index is a subset of the Dow Jones U.S. Total Market Index and is capitalization weighted. The Index is reconstituted quarterly.

The Fund will concentrate its investments in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent as the Index is so concentrated. The Fund�� investment advisor is Barclays Global Fund Advisors.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Richard Stavros]

    In early August, Vanguard Utilities ETF (NYSE: VPU), iShares US Utilities (NYSE: IDU), and Fidelity MSCI Utilities Index ETF (NYSE: FUTY) added almost $250 million in new assets combined, more than enough to offset outflows from Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (NSDQ: XLU).

  • [By Todd Shriber, ETF Professor]

    Unusual volume (at least 5X ADV): iShares Utilities ETF (NYSE: IDU), First Trust Utilities AlphaDEX Fund (NYSE: FXU), iShares MSCI Germany Small Cap ETF (NYSE: EWGS), iShares MSCI USA ETF (NYSE: EUSA), SPDR S&P Emerging Europe ETF (NYSE: GUR), PowerShares Water Resources (NYSE: PHO) and the Vanguard Industrials ETF (NYSE: VIS).

Hot Life Sciences Companies To Invest In 2014: Pepsico Inc.(PEP)

PepsiCo, Inc. engages in the manufacture, marketing, and sale of foods, snacks, and carbonated and non-carbonated beverages worldwide. The company operates in four divisions: PepsiCo Americas Foods (PAF); PepsiCo Americas Beverages (PAB); PepsiCo Europe; and PepsiCo Asia, Middle East, and Africa (AMEA). The PAF division offers Lay?s and Ruffles potato chips, Doritos and Tostitos tortilla chips and dips, Cheetos cheese flavored snacks, Fritos corn chips, Quaker Chewy granola bars, and SunChips multigrain snacks in North America; Quaker oatmeal, Aunt Jemima mixes and syrups, Cap?n Crunch cereal, Quaker grits, and Life cereal, as well as Rice-A-Roni, Pasta Roni, and Near East side dishes in North America; and various snack foods under Doritos, Marias Gamesa, Cheetos, Ruffles, Emperador, Saladitas, Sabritas, and Lay?s brands in Latin America. The PAB division provides carbonated soft drinks, beverage concentrates, fountain syrups, and finished goods under Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, 7UP, Tropicana Pure Premium, Electropura, Sierra Mist, Epura, and Mirinda brands; ready-to-drink tea, coffee, and water products through joint ventures with Unilever and Starbucks; and sells concentrate to authorized bottlers, and branded finished goods directly to independent distributors and retailers. This division also manufactures third-party brands, such as Dr Pepper, Crush, Rock Star, and Muscle Milk. The PepsiCo Europe division offers Frito Lay Snacks, Pepsi-Cola beverages, Gatorade sports drinks, Tropicana juices, and Quaker foods in Europe. The AMEA division provides snack food under the Lay?s, Kurkure, Chipsy, Doritos, Smith?s, Cheetos, Red Rock Deli, and Ruffles brands; Quaker-brand cereals and snacks; and beverage concentrates, fountain syrups, and finished goods under the Pepsi, Mirinda, 7UP, and Mountain Dew brands. PepsiCo, Inc. was founded in 1898 and is headquartered in Purchase, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Holly LaFon]

    GuruFocus: You��e buying a lot of global brands, and they all had in common emerging market growth, like Proctor and Gamble (PG), Pepsi (PEP), Philip Morris (PM), Johnson and Johnson (JNJ). Is that was a conscious investment theme or is that a coincidence?

  • [By Chris Hill]

    Shares of Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO  ) were up more than 5% on Tuesday in the wake of higher-than-expected earnings. Revenue for Coca-Cola's first-quarter dropped by 1% but overall sales volume was up 4%. Coca-Cola reported strong growth in�India, Russia, Mexico, and Brazil. Coca-Cola stock has been a solid long-term performer but�shares have�lost to Pepsi (NYSE: PEP  ) over the last year. Which stock is the better investment going forward? In this installment of MarketFoolery, our analysts talk about the future of Coca-Cola.

  • [By Anders Bylund]

    Cash flows through Coke's operations like its sugary syrup flows through a soda fountain. And the company is not shy about returning cash to shareholders. Coca-Cola increases its annual payouts like clockwork, and with a far heavier hand than sector rival PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP  ) . That's the secret recipe for market-beating long-term returns.

Hot Life Sciences Companies To Invest In 2014: Hemp Inc (HEMP)

Hemp, Inc. is a United States-based company that focuses primarily on the industrial hemp (over 25,000 products made from hemp that the hemp plant offers). Hemp, Inc.'s primary focus is on industrial hemp and the myriad of uses (over 25,000 products made from hemp that the hemp plant offers) in creating a new, clean green American agricultural and industrial revolution.

The Industrial Hemp and Medical Marijuana Consulting Company (IHMMCC) is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company that pulls industry information from a vast network of specialists. On September 25, 2014, its wholly owned subsidiary, Industrial Hemp Manufacturing, LLC (IHM), purchased and secured its permanent facility for the Temafa decortication line of equipment located in Spring Hope, NC, the facility encompasses two buildings totaling nearly 70,000 square feet that spans almost seven acres.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By James E. Brumley]

    A week and a half ago when I suggested Latteno Food Corp. (OTCMKTS:LATF) was an effective way of getting into the medical marijuana craze for anyone who missed the big runups (the first or the second time) from names like Medical Marijuana Inc. (OTCMKTS:MJNA) or Hemp, Inc. (OTCMKTS:HEMP), not many people agreed with my assessment. That's the nice way of saying I received some "colorful counter-opinions" to my bullishness on LATF. Indeed, some readers were downright enraged I would dare compare the company to stocks like MJNA or HEMP, citing reasons ranging from the possibility that it's a complete scam to the possibility that the capital structure as amazingly unfair to current shareholders.

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Hot Freight Companies For 2014

On this day in economic and business history...

FedEx (NYSE: FDX  ) took off into business legend on April 17, 1973, when 14 Dassault Falcon 20s took off from Memphis International Airport. The successful delivery of 186 packages to 25 different cities was the first step toward realizing FedEx founder Fred W. Smith's ambition to reshape the global air-freight distribution system. However, it was only a first step. The rest of the road would take FedEx to places no delivery company had been before. Before we dive into the FedEx story, let's note that Smith's ambition makes a worthy counterpoint to would-be entrepreneurs who dismiss the value of college: He first developed the idea for FedEx at Yale in the 1960s, compiling his thoughts into a term paper on the inefficiencies of the "modern" air transport system of that day.

Within two months of this first delivery, FedEx (then known as Federal Express) was already growing rapidly. Coverage of the company from June 1973 noted:

Top 5 Tech Stocks To Own For 2015: Canadian National Railway Co (CNR.TO)

Canadian National Railway Company (CN), incorporated on August 24, 1995, is engaged in the rail and related transportation business. CN�� network of approximately 20,100 route miles spans Canada and mid-America, connecting three coasts: the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico, serving the ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert (British Columbia), Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile (Alabama) and metropolitan areas of Toronto, Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Duluth (Minnesota)/Superior (Wisconsin), Green Bay (Wisconsin), Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis and Jackson (Mississippi), with connections to all points in North America. CN�� network, and its co-production agreements, routing protocols, marketing alliances and interline agreements, provide CN customers access to all three North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) nations. In March 2012, the Company acquired a locomotive program.

Petroleum and chemicals

The petroleum and chemicals commodity group consists of a range of commodities, including chemicals, sulfur, plastics, petroleum products and liquefied petroleum gas products. The Company�� petroleum and chemicals shipments originate in the Louisiana petrochemical corridor between New Orleans and Baton Rouge; in northern Alberta, and in eastern Canadian regional plants.

Metals and minerals

The metals and minerals commodity group consists primarily of non-ferrous base metals and ores, concentrates, iron ore, steel, construction materials, machinery and dimensional loads. The Company provides rail access to aluminum, mining, steel and iron ore producing regions.

Forest products

The forest products commodity group includes range of lumber, panels, paper, wood pulp and other fibers such as logs, recycled paper, wood chips, and wood pellets. The Company has rail access to the western and eastern Canadian fiber-producing regions. In United States, the Company is located to serve both the Midwest and southern United! States corridors with interline connections to other Class I railroads.

Coal

The coal commodity group consists of thermal grades of bituminous coal, metallurgical coal and petroleum coke. Canadian thermal and metallurgical coal is exported through terminals on the west coast of Canada to offshore markets. In United States, thermal coal is transported from mines served in southern Illinois, or from western United States mines through interchange with other railroads, to utilities in the Midwest and southeast United States, as well as offshore markets through terminals in the Gulf and the Port of Prince Rupert.

Grain and fertilizers

The grain and fertilizers commodity group depends primarily on crops grown and fertilizers processed in western Canada and the United States Midwest. The grain segment consists of three primary segments: food grains (mainly wheat, oats and malting barley), feed grains and feed grain products (including feed barley, feed wheat, peas, corn, ethanol and dried distillers grains), and oilseeds and oilseed nproducts (primarily canola seed, oil and meal, and soybeans).

Intermodal

The intermodal commodity group is consists of two segments: domestic and international. The domestic segment transports consumer products and manufactured goods, operating through both retail and wholesale channels, within domestic Canada, domestic United States., Mexico and transborder, while the international segment handles import and export container traffic, directly serving the ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, Montreal, Halifax and New Orleans.

Automotive

The automotive commodity group moves both finished vehicles and parts throughout North America, providing rail access to certain vehicle assembly plants in Canada, and Michigan and Mississippi in the United States. The Company also serves vehicle distribution facilities in Canada and the United States, as well as parts production facilities in Mi! chigan an! d Ontario. The Company serves shippers of import vehicles via the ports of Halifax and Vancouver, and through interchange with other railroads.

The Company competes with Canadian Pacific Railway Company.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Roadmap2Retire]

    I am also considering various stocks that are not currently in my portfolio, but the current high valuations do not provide many options.

    Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) engages in transportation of goods including petroleum and chemicals, grain and fertilizers, coal, metals and minerals, forest products, intermodal, and automotive products. The company operates 20,100 route miles of track that spans Canada adn mid-America connecting the three coasts of Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf of Mexico. CNR is a dividend contender that has been raising its dividends for 17 consecutive years and has a 5-yr DGR of 13.9% and a 10-yr DGR of 17.4%. Norfolk Southern (NSC) engages in rail transportation of raw materials, intermediate and finished goods operating approximately 20,000 router miles across the southern and eastern US. NSC and other railroads stand to benefit from the oil boom in continental US, and before permanent pipelines are put in place, railroads are the only option available to transport the huge supplies. NSC is a dividend contender raising its dividends for 12 consecutive years and has a 5-yr DGR of 10.8% and 10-yr DGR of 21.1%. Procter & Gamble (PG) and Unilever plc (UL) are giants in the consumer packaged goods field. PG has five segments - beauty, grooming, healthcare, fabric care and home care. UL has four segments - personal care, foods, refreshment and home care. PG has been raising dividends for 57 years; has a 5-yr DGR of 10.2% and a 10-yr DGR of 10.8%. UL has been raising dividends for 25 years; has a 5-yr 7.07%. Aerospace & Defense Sector: With the global turmoils continuing and the rise of new conflicts across Eastern Europe and Middle East, I am considering adding some exposure to the Aerospace & Defense Sector. I recently posted an article regarding the current valuation of the stocks in the sector here. Index Funds - China ETF, Emerging Markets - I am considering adding a new index fund to my portfolio to track the Chinese marke

Hot Freight Companies For 2014: TNT Express NV (TNTE)

TNT Express NV is the Netherlands-based express delivery company. It collects, transports and delivers documents, parcels and freight on a time-certain or day-definite basis. The Company operates worldwide with domestic, regional and intercontinental delivery. It has own operations in more than 60 countries and can deliver to more than 200 countries through own operations, subcontractors and agents. Its customers are international companies, as well as small and medium enterprises. The Company serves industries such as technology, automotive, industrial, healthcare and lifestyle, as well as financial institutions and governments. The Company operates interconnected international air and road networks. The air network consists of a central air hub in Liege, Belgium, and a fleet of more than 50 aircrafts. The road networks are operated in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia and South America. Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Inyoung Hwang]

    TNT Express NV (TNTE) lost 4.3 percent to 6.33 euros, its lowest price in four months. PostNL NV, the Dutch mail service with operations in the U.K. and Germany, said it will sell about half of its 29.8 percent stake in the Dutch package-delivery company to reduce debt. The 15 percent stake up for sale is valued at about 540 million euros ($738 million), according to data compiled by Bloomberg. PostNL gained 1.8 percent to 4.17 euros.

Hot Freight Companies For 2014: Universal Truckload Services Inc (UACL)

Universal Truckload Services, Inc., incorporated on December 11, 2001, is engaged in providing transportation services to shippers throughout the United States and in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The Company�� over-the-road trucking services include both flatbed and dry van operations and it provides rail-truck and steamship-truck intermodal support services. It also offers truck brokerage services, as well as full service international freight forwarding and customs house brokerage services. The Company provides truckload transportation and related services for a range of general commodities over irregular routes using dry and specialty vans and un-sided trailers, including flatbed, drop deck, and specialty. In December 2013, the Company announced that it has completed acquisition of Westport Axle Corporation.

The Company primarily operates through a contractor network of agents and owner-operators who provide the Company with approximately 3,100 tractors and approximately 3,000 trailers. At December 31, 2011, the Company had approximately 565 agents. The Company conducts its operations through its wholly owned operating subsidiaries under the brand names, such as Universal Am-Can, Ltd., Mason & Dixon Lines, Inc., Louisiana Transportation Inc., Mason Dixon Intermodal, Inc., Economy Transport, Inc., Great American Lines, Inc., Universal Logistics Solutions, Inc., Universal Logistics Solutions International, Inc. and Cavalry Transportation, LLC.

The Company provides services in three categories, such as truckload services, brokerage services and intermodal support services. The Company transports a range of general commodities, including machinery, building materials, paper, food, consumer goods, automotive parts, furniture, steel and other metals. During the year ended December 31, 2011, its truckload operations represented 60.5%, of its operating revenues.

The Company provides primarily broker freight to third-party transportation providers th! rough its agent network at times when the Company generates more freight business than it can service with its available owner-operators. The Company offers full service international freight forwarding and customs house brokerage services, as well as third-party logistic services. During 2011, its brokerage services represented 24.8%, of its operating revenues. Its intermodal support services are primarily short-to-medium distance delivery of rail and steamship containers between the railhead or port and the customer and drayage services. During 2011, its intermodal support services represented 14.7% of its operating revenues.

The Company�� agents provide the primary interaction with its shippers. They generate freight shipments and also provide terminal and dispatch services for the owner-operators and are an essential source for recruitment of new owner-operators. The agents use a company-provided software program to list available freight procured by the agent, dispatch owner-operators to haul the freight and provide all administrative information necessary for it to establish the credit arrangements for each shipper. The owner-operators are individuals who own, operate and maintain one or more tractors that they either provide drivers, or drive themselves. The Company�� owner-operators provide it with approximately 3,100 tractors. Owner-operators also may own trailers that they provide the Company in addition to their tractor and driving services. As of December 31, 2011, its owner-operators provided approximately 3,000 trailers, which represent over 50% of the trailers the Company use in its business.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Seth Jayson]

    Calling all cash flows
    When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Universal Truckload Services (Nasdaq: UACL  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

  • [By Sean Williams]

    What: Shares of Universal Truckload Services (NASDAQ: UACL  ) , a North American provider of trucking and logistics solutions, jumped as much as 12% after receiving an upgrade from BB&T�Capital Markets.

Hot Freight Companies For 2014: Agility Public Warehousing Co KSC (AGLTY)

Agility Public Warehousing Company KSC is a Kuwait-based company engaged, along with its subsidiaries, in the provision of global integrated logistics solutions. The Company is organized into two business segments: the Logistic and Related services segment provides logistics offering to its clients, including freight forwarding, transportation, contract logistics, project logistics and fairs and events logistics, and the Infrastructure segment provides other services, which include industrial real estate airport and airplane ground handling and cleaning services, customs consulting, private equity and waste recycling. The Company operates under the brand name of Agility. The Company�� subsidiaries include Global Express Transport Co. WLL, PWC Transport Company WLL, Agility DGS Logistics Services KSCC and Gulf Catering Company for General, among others. Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Fiona MacDonald]

    The Kuwait SE Price Index rose for a sixth day, climbing 0.5 percent to 6,851.17 at the close. Kuwait Real Estate Co. (KRE) climbed to the highest level in a month. Agility (AGLTY) advanced 1.7 percent after winning a $190 million UN contract in Sudan�� Darfur region. The Bloomberg GCC 200 Index, which tracks the biggest 200 companies in the Gulf Cooperation Council, fell 0.1 percent.

Hot Freight Companies For 2014: Vitran Corporation Inc (VTNC)

Vitran Corporation Inc. (Vitran), incorporated on April 29, 1981, is a provider of freight surface transportation and related supply chain services throughout Canada 34 states in the eastern, southeastern, central, southwestern, and western United States. The Company�� business consists of Less-than-truckload services (LTL). These services are provided by stand-alone business units within their respective regions. Vitran�� business is carried on through its subsidiaries, which hold the licenses and permits required to carry on business. As of December 31, 2012, Vitran�� principal wholly owned operating subsidiaries included Vitran Express Canada Inc. (Ontario), Can-Am Logistics Inc. (Ontario), Vitran Logistics Ltd. (Ontario), Expediteur T.W. Ltee (Canada), Vitran Corporation (Nevada), Vitran Express Inc. (Pennsylvania), Vitran Logistics Corp. (Delaware), Vitran Logistics Inc. (Indiana), and Las Vegas/L.A. Express, Inc. (California). In March 2013, Vitran Corp Inc completed divestiture of its Supply Chain Operation division to Legacy Supply Chain. In October 2013, Vitran Corporation Inc. completed the sale of its United States LTL business.

LTL Services

Within Canada, the Company provides next-day service within Ontario, Quebec and parts of western Canada, and generates its revenue from the movement of LTL freight within the three- to five-day east-west service lanes. The majority of its trans-Canada freight is shipped intermodally, whereby the Company�� containers are loaded onto rail cars and trans-loaded to Vitran facilities where Vitran�� network of owner operators pick up and deliver the freight to various destinations. During 2012, Vitran�� Canadian LTL business represented approximately 27.6% of total LTL revenues. Vitran�� Transborder Service Solution (inter-regional) provides over-the-road service between its Canadian LTL and United States LTL business units.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Monica Gerson]

    Breaking news

    Vitran Corporation (NASDAQ: VTNC) announced today that it has entered into a definitive arrangement agreement with TransForce pursuant to which TransForce has agreed to acquire all of the outstanding common shares of Vitran not already owned by TransForce for US$6.50 in cash per share, in accordance with TransForce's prior proposal. To read the full news, click here. ReneSola (NYSE: SOL) today announced it signed a Memorandum of Intent (MOI) to sell three utility-scale projects in Western China, with a total capacity of 60MW, to Jiangsu Akcome Solar Science & Technology Co on December 30, 2013. To read the full news, click here. Cooper Tire & Rubber Company (NYSE: CTB) today announced it has terminated the merger agreement with Apollo Tyres (NSE:ApolloTYRE). To read the full news, click here. RedHill Biopharma (NASDAQ: RDHL) today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with leading healthcare investor OrbiMed Israel Partners Limited Partnership, an affiliate of OrbiMed Advisors LLC, for the sale of RedHill's American Depository Shares and warrants in a private placement transactionor a total sum of $6.0 million. To read the full news, click here.

    Posted-In: Guggenheim US Stock FuturesNews Eurozone Futures Global Pre-Market Outlook Markets

Hot Freight Companies For 2014: PostNL NV (PNL)

PostNL NV is a Netherlands-based Company active in delivery sector. The Company is engaged in the delivery of documents, small packages and standard parcels. The Company�� business is organized into three segments: Mail in the Netherlands, responsible for mail services in the Netherland, documents management, direct marketing and fulfillment services, and operating over 2,600 shop-in-shop post offices; Parcels, providing parcel services in the Netherlands and Belgium for both domestic and cross-border parcel distribution, and International, operating in the postal markets of the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy, and focusing on domestic addressed mail services. The Company also provides marketing and communication services, fulfillment solutions and e-commerce related solutions. Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Inyoung Hwang]

    PostNL (PNL) sank 11 percent to 2.48 euros, the biggest decline since Jan. 14. The Amsterdam-based company said sales in the second-quarter were 1.03 billion euros ($1.37 billion), falling short of the 1.04 billion euros predicted by analysts on average. PostNL forecast addressed mail volume in 2013 will drop as much as 11 percent, greater than its previous forecast of no more than 10 percent.

Hot Freight Companies For 2014: Werner Enterprises Inc (WERN)

Werner Enterprises, Inc., incorporated on September 14, 1982, is a transportation and logistics company engaged primarily in hauling truckload shipments of general commodities in both interstate and intrastate commerce. The Company also provides logistics services through its value added services (VAS) division. As of the year ended December 31, 2012, the Company had a fleet of 7,150 trucks, of which 6,505 were Company-operated and 645 were owned and operated by independent contractors. The Company operates in two segments: Truckload Transportation Services (Truckload) and VAS.

Truckload segment

The Company's Truckload segment consists of the One-Way Truckload and Specialized Services units. One-Way Truckload includes the operating fleets: the regional short-haul (Regional) fleet transports a variety of consumer nondurable products and other commodities in truckload quantities within geographic regions across the United States using dry van trailers; the medium-to-long-haul van (Van) fleet provides comparable truckload van service over irregular routes, and the expedited (Expedited) fleet provides time-sensitive truckload services utilizing driver teams.

Specialized Services provides truckload services dedicated to a specific customer, generally for a retail distribution center or manufacturing facility, including services for products requiring specialized trailers such as flatbed or temperature-controlled trailers. The Company's Truckload fleets operate throughout the 48 contiguous United States, both common and contract, granted by the United States Department of Transportation (DOT). The Company also has authority to operate in several provinces of Canada and to provide through-trailer service into and out of Mexico. The principal types of freight the Company transports include retail store merchandise, consumer products, grocery products and manufactured products. The Company focuses on transporting consumer nondurable products that generally ship.

!

VAS segment

The Company's VAS segment is a non-asset-based transportation and logistics provider. VAS is consists of four operating units that provide non-trucking services to the Company's customers: truck brokerage (Brokerage) uses contracted carriers to complete customer shipments; freight management (Freight Management) offers a range of single-source logistics management services and solutions; the intermodal (Intermodal) unit offers rail transportation through alliances with rail and drayage providers as an alternative to truck transportation, and Werner Global Logistics international (WGL) provides complete management of global shipments from origin to destination using a combination of air, ocean, truck and rail transportation modes. The Company's Brokerage unit had transportation services contracts with approximately 9,400 carriers as of December 31, 2012.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Mike Deane]

    Werner Enterprises (WERN) announced its third quarter earnings after the bell on Thursday, posting a 1% change in revenues from last year’s Q3, but a 15% drop in net income.

    The Omaha, NE-based logistics and transportation company announced Q3 revenue of $511.73 million, which was up slightly from last year’s $506.50 million revenue figure. WERN reported net income for the quarter of $21.53 million, or 29 cents per diluted share, which was down from last year’s Q3 earnings of $25.13 million, or 34 cents per diluted share.

    The company was able to meet analyst views of 29 cents EPS, and slightly surpass the revenue estimate of $503.82 million.

    WERN shares were up 21 cents, or 0.90%, at Thursday’s market close, but were edging lower in after-hours trading. YTD, the company’s stock is up just over 4%.

  • [By Seth Jayson]

    Werner Enterprises (Nasdaq: WERN  ) reported earnings on April 18. Here are the numbers you need to know.

    The 10-second takeaway
    For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), Werner Enterprises missed estimates on revenues and missed estimates on earnings per share.

  • [By Monica Gerson]

    Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ: WERN) shares dropped 4.83% to $23.23 in pre-market trading after the company issued a weak third-quarter profit forecast.

  • [By Monica Gerson]

    Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ: WERN) issued a weak third-quarter profit forecast. Werner shares dropped 2.09% to $23.90 in the after-hours trading session.