Monday, June 30, 2014

Top 5 Stocks To Watch Right Now

Pop culture often reflects the more insidious trends at work beneath the surface of society. Take America�� current fascination with zombie shows like The Walking Dead. I manage a large portfolio of corporate bonds, but when I peer into my Bloomberg Terminal, I am confronted by the walking dead daily. I am referring to zombie credits��eemingly healthy bonds issued by institutions with dubious economic net worth and unsustainable business models.

The animator of these corporate corpses is none other than the Federal Reserve and its quantitative easing program. No industry outside banking has benefited more from the Fed�� largesse, and the yield hunger of investors, than retailers.

Screams and moans. Cries of despair. The smell of burning cash. Voracious appetites for capital that can never be satiated. Those should be the sounds coming from the boardrooms of two legacy retailers, J.C. Penney and Sears Holdings Sears Holdings. Yet these zombies somehow continue to anchor shopping malls.

Best Medical Companies For 2015: Nike Inc.(NKE)

NIKE, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, development, marketing, and sale of footwear, apparel, equipment, and accessory products for men, women, and children worldwide. The company offers products in the categories of running, training, basketball, soccer, sport-inspired casual shoes, and kids? shoes. It also markets footwear designed for baseball, cheerleading, football, golf, lacrosse, outdoor activities, skateboarding, tennis, volleyball, walking, wrestling, and other athletic and recreational uses. In addition, Nike sells sports apparel and accessories, sports-inspired lifestyle apparel, athletic bags, and accessory items; and markets apparel with licensed college, professional team, and league logos. Further, the company sells performance equipment, including bags, socks, sport balls, eyewear, timepieces, electronic devices, bats, gloves, protective equipment, golf clubs, and other equipment designed for sports activities under the brand na me of NIKE; and various plastic products to other manufacturers. It offers products under the trademarks of Cole Haan, Converse, Chuck Taylor, All Star, One Star, Star Chevron, Jack Purcell, Hurley, and Umbro. The company sells its products through retail accounts, its own retail stores and Internet sales, independent distributors, and licensees. NIKE, Inc. was founded in 1964 and is headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Rich Duprey]

    Be a good sport
    There's a difference between the controversy wracking Reebok now and that, say, of Nike (NYSE: NKE  ) , which has gone out of its way to manufacture controversy at times, standing by Tiger Woods during his personal divorce problems.�Sports figures tend to have a more wholesome image, which is why they're among the biggest endorsers of products, but they, too, become embroiled in situations that leave the companies that sign their paychecks running for the exits.

  • [By Reuters]

    Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesThe Dow Jones news ticker in Times Square, New York City. NEW YORK -- Investment bank Goldman Sachs Group (GS), credit-card company Visa (V), and footwear Nike (NKE) will join the blue chip Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI) Dow Jones industrial average, the index managers said Tuesday, in the biggest shake-up for the 30-stock average in nearly a decade. The three companies will replace Bank of America (BAC), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and Alcoa (AA), all lower-priced stocks that exert a lesser pull on the price-weighted index. The changes will be effective on Sept. 23, S&P Dow Jones Indices said in a statement. The average, first established in 1896, includes 30 stocks, but very little money is indexed to its performance, unlike the broader Standard & Poor's 500 (^GSPC) or other indexes. In addition, because it is weighted by price, companies that are smaller in value with higher prices have more influence on the average. "Wow, those are big changes," said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer of Solaris Group in Bedford Hills, N.Y. "The Dow is really an antiquated index. It is price-weighted, which makes no sense. But there are still are some people that pay attention to it, and some technicians, so it has an influence on some people." Google (GOOG) and other names were considered for inclusion but passed over because of high stock prices, David Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the S&P Index Committee, told CNBC. The index manager said the changes were prompted by the low stock price of the three companies slated for removal and a desire to diversify the make-up of the index. Alcoa, in particular, has been seen as a candidate for elimination for some time, as the stock's market value of $8.5 billion is easily the lowest in the average. It is the first three-for-three change to the index since April 8, 2004, when American International Group (AIG), Pfizer (PFE) and Verizon (VZ) replaced AT&

  • [By Paul Ausick]

    Dow 30 component Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) is down 1.49% today and traded at $77.45 in its 52-week range of $53.27 to $80.26 shortly before today�� closing bell. The athletic gear company is probably feeling some impact from an announcement earlier today from competitor Adidas which warned that weakening currencies in emerging markets will hit sales. Trading volume for Nike�� shares was about 65% of the daily average of nearly 4 million shares.

  • [By Eric Volkman]

    Getty Images/Scott Olson The demise of Crocs (CROX), it seems, may have been greatly exaggerated. Remember the company's signature product? Close to a decade ago, those colorful, clunky resin clogs were all the rage. The company that made them couldn't sell the things fast enough, at one point reaching sales of 50 million pairs in 2007. Then fashion moved on, as it always does, and the economic slowdown started to bite into sales. Crocs plunged from a $168 million net profit in 2007 to a $185 million loss in 2008. In 2009, the company nearly ran out of cash and had a hard time making payroll. But Crocs' fortunes have improved. In its most recent quarter, the firm posted a loss, but it was narrower than the market was expecting. And it's found an investor that believes in its future -- private equity giant Blackstone Group (BX), which recently provided a $200 million cash investment in return for a block of preferred shares eventually convertible into a stake of around 13 percent of the company. Perhaps the time has come to take those old clogs out of the closet, dust them off, and slip them on for a stroll. Stepping It Up Fashion is highly susceptible to consumer whim. The hot item is never hot for very long, and once consumers move on, it can be hard for the company to recover. In Crocs' case, this was exacerbated by its limited product line -- almost exclusively the clogs. The company learned from its mistakes. Since consumer tastes moved out of clog-land, Crocs has significantly broadened its product line to 300 styles. It now offers boots, flip-flops, deck shoes and slip-ons akin to the casuals from VF Corp.'s (VFC) Vans subsidiary. In terms of profitability, Crocs recovered quickly from its time in the fashion wilderness. From that 2008 bottom-line deficit of $185 million, the company sliced its loss to $42 million the following year, then stepped back into the black in 2010 (to the tune of $68 million). After two straight years of declines, revenue

Top 5 Stocks To Watch Right Now: U.S. Silica Holdings Inc (SLCA)

US Silica Holdings, Inc. is a silica sand supplier company. The Company is a producer of industrial minerals, including sand proppants, whole grain silica, ground silica, fine ground silica, calcined kaolin clay and aplite clay. The Company operates in two segments: oil and gas, and industrial and specialty products. The Company�� shipping capabilities include five of the class-one railroads, barge, full truckload, partial truckload and intermodal. The Company�� products include proppants, whole grain silica, ground silica, fine ground silica, testing silica, recreational silica, aplite, kaolin, hydrous kaolin and FLORISIL. It also operates as a research and development specialist for customized products and solutions. The Company serves a range of industries and applications, which includes oil and gas, glass, chemicals, foundry, building products, fillers and extenders, recreation, industrial filtration and treatment, and testing and analysis.

Oil & Gas

The Company�� oil and gas segment include OTTAWA WHITE and SHALE FRAC product lines. The Company has a selection of offerings from number of mining and transload locations. Its products consist of unconventional reservoirs, including tight gas, coal bed methane, shale gas, and liquids.

Industrial & Specialty Products

The Company�� industrial and specialty products include glass, chemical, foundry, building products, fillers and extenders, recreation, industry filtration and treatment, and testing and analysis. The Company produces a range of whole grain silica, ground silica and kaolin clays.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Matt DiLallo]

    Because of that payout and the company's solid growth prospects, I'm personally looking to add units to my portfolio. I also like the fact that this company is a pure play in pure frack sand, which is why I prefer it to U.S Silica (NYSE: SLCA  ) . That being said, being a pure play adds to the risks: Lack of diversification is the chief risk. The difference here is that U.S. Silica has over 200 products and 1,400 customers while Hi-Crush has just one product and a handful of customers. Still, those customers are secured by long-term contracts, which is why Hi-Crush is one of the best dividend stocks out there these days.

  • [By Matt Jarzemsky var popups = dojo.query(".socialByline .popC"); popups.forEach]

    The company is among a small handful of frac-sand producers that have gotten a warm reception from investors lately. Peers Hi-Crush Partners LP and U.S. Silica Holdings Inc.(SLCA) have both seen their shares climb more than 120% the past year.

  • [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 U.S. Silica Holdings (NYSE: SLCA  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Top 5 Stocks To Watch Right Now: Acuity Brands Inc (AYI)

Acuity Brands, Inc. (Acuity Brands), incorporated on September 20, 2007, is the parent company of Acuity Brands Lighting, Inc. (ABL), and other subsidiaries. Acuity Brands is a provider of lighting solutions for commercial, institutional, industrial, infrastructure, and residential applications throughout North America and select international markets. The Company's lighting solutions include devices, such as luminaires, lighting controls, power supplies, prismatic skylights, light-emitting diode (LED) lamps, and integrated lighting systems for indoor and outdoor applications utilizing a combination of light sources, including daylight, and other devices controlled by software that monitors and manages light levels while optimizing energy consumption (collectively referred to herein as lighting solutions). Effective March 14, 2013, the Company acquired eldoLED Europe BV.

The Company manufactures lighting devices primarily in North America, Europe and Asia. The Company's lighting solutions are marketed under numerous brand names, including Lithonia Lighting, Holophane, Peerless, Mark Architectural Lighting, Hydrel, American Electric Lighting, Gotham, Carandini, RELOC, Antique Street Lamps, Tersen, Winona Lighting, Synergy Lighting Controls, Sensor Switch, Lighting Control & Design, Dark to Light, ROAM, Sunoptics, acculamp, Pathway Connectivity, and Healthcare Lighting. As of August 31, 2012, the Company manufactures products in 18 facilities in North America and two facilities in Europe.

Principal customers include electrical distributors, retail home improvement centers, electric utilities, municipalities, lighting showrooms, and energy service companies located in North America and select international markets serving new construction, renovation, and facility maintenance applications. In North America, the Company's lighting solutions are sold primarily by independent sales agents, electrical wholesalers, and factory sales representatives who cover specific geographic areas! and market channels. Products are delivered directly or through a network of distribution centers, regional warehouses, and commercial warehouses using both common carriers and a company-owned truck fleet. During the fiscal year ended August 31, 2012 (fiscal 2012), North American sales accounted for approximately 98% of net sales. The Company has one operating segment serving the North American lighting market and select international markets.

The Company provides a range of lighting solutions, as well as services used in the applications, such as lighting solutions and services. Lighting solutions and services includes commercial and institutional, industrial, infrastructure, residential and services. Commercial and Institutional includes stores, hotels, offices, schools, and hospitals, as well as other government and public buildings. Lighting solutions that serve these applications include recessed, surface, and suspended lighting products, recessed down lighting, track lighting, day lighting, and lighting controls (occupancy sensors, photocontrols, relay panels, architectural dimming panels, and integrated lighting controls systems), as well as special-use lighting products. The outdoor areas associated with these applications are addressed by a range of outdoor lighting products, such as area and flood lighting, decorative site lighting, and landscape lighting. Industrial includes primarily warehouses and manufacturing facilities, which utilize a range of general purpose, day lighting, and special-use lighting solutions. Infrastructure includes highways, tunnels, airports, railway yards, and ports. Products that serve these applications include street, area, high-mast, off-set roadway, sign lighting, poles, and integrated controls systems. Residential includes a combination of decorative, utilitarian, and down lighting products. Services include monitoring and controlling of lighting systems through network technologies.

The Company competes with Cooper Industries plc, Hu! bbell Inc! orporated, Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V., OSRAM AG, Schneider Electric and General Electric Company.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Monica Gerson]

    Acuity Brands (NYSE: AYI) is estimated to report its Q4 earnings at $$1.02 per share on revenue of $569.33 million.

    Walgreen Co (NYSE: WAG) is projected to report its Q4 earnings at $0.72 per share on revenue of $17.95 billion.

Top 5 Stocks To Watch Right Now: Spdr Kbw Regional Banking (KRE)

SPDR KBW Regional Banking ETF (the Fund), formerly KBW Regional Banking ETF, is a non-diversified investment company. The Fund seeks to replicate as closely as possible the performance of the KBW Regional Banking Index (the Index). The Fund has entered into an investment advisory agreement with SSgA Funds Management, Inc.

The Regional Banking Index is an equal weighted index of geographically diverse companies representing regional banking institutions listed on the United States stock markets. It is created and maintained by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By L.A. Little]

    A slightly different kind of set-up is exhibited by the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE) � which has exhibited a strong continuation move of a prior leg up with good volume and the break of multiple swing points on the same time frame.

  • [By Charley Blaine]

    The Financial Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: XLF) exchange-traded fund is up 4.86%, tops among ETFs that mimic the sectors of the S&P 500. The SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (NYSE: KRE) is up 7.1 percent this month.

  • [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.

Stocks To Watch For June 30, 2014

Related MNKD Regarding Afrezza, FDA Statement: MannKind Hits 52-Week High - Analyst Blog MannKind: FDA Delays Afrezza Decision by Three Months (Fox Business) Related NVTL Novatel Wireless Appoints Tom Allen As Interim Chief Financial Officer Novatel Wireless Appoints Mashinsky As Interim CEO - Analyst Blog

Some of the stocks that may grab investor focus today are:

Shares of MannKind (NASDAQ: MNKD) jumped 10% in after-hours trading following the conditional FDA approval for Afrezza. MannKind shares surged 10% to $11.00 in the after-hours trading session.

Rackspace Hosting (NYSE: RAX) shares tumbled more than 7% in Friday's trading on a report that Rackspace is not receiving any interest from potential acquirers. DealReporter reported Friday that International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM) has backed away and Rackspace has seen little interest from other strategic buyers. Rackspace Hosting shares gained 1.81% to $34.24 in after-hours trading.

Novatel Wireless (NASDAQ: NVTL) appointed Tom Allen as its interim Chief Financial Officer. Novatel Wireless shares gained 3.74% to close at $1.94 on Friday.

Organovo (NYSE: ONVO) shares jumped around 5% on Friday following an 11.7% rise on Thursday. Organovo reported positive results from a collaborative study using the company's 3D Human Liver Tissues on Thursday. Organovo shares gained 1.16% to $8.70 in the after-hours trading session.

Amedisys (NASDAQ: AMED) shares jumped more than 29% on Friday after the company issued Q2 outlook. The company projected its Q2 earnings of $0.15 to $0.20 per share on revenue of $300 million to $305 million. Amedisys shares surged 5.33% to $18.39 in after-hours trading.

Posted-In: Stocks To WatchNews FDA Management Pre-Market Outlook Markets Trading Ideas

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Sunday, June 29, 2014

Top 10 Airline Stocks To Buy Right Now

Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, the U.S. airline industry experienced a dramatic shift as smaller planes ��so-called regional jets ��became a prominent part of the domestic fleet. Many of these regional jets had 50 or fewer seats, and allowed the large network carriers to offer relatively frequent flights to small cities throughout the country. In most cases, these regional jets replaced larger "mainline" jets that had previously done that flying.

However, skyrocketing fuel prices and labor costs have significantly changed the calculus for airlines in the past five years or so. Small regional jets have become uneconomical, leading most network carriers to reduce their reliance on them: Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL  ) has been leading the way in that movement. Even small mainline aircraft are becoming less fashionable. Furthermore, airlines are finding ways to add more seats to the ones that do remain in service.

The increasing trend toward "upgauging" is beginning to improve the cost structures of many airlines, improving profitability. Yet the medium-term outlook is not as rosy. Even though most airlines are keeping their fleet sizes flat, the industrywide shift to larger aircraft will add a lot of new seats to particular markets. This is likely to create a long-term drag on unit revenues that could outweigh the cost savings and hurt future profitability.

Top Diversified Bank Companies To Invest In Right Now: Deutsche Lufthansa AG (LHA)

Deutsche Lufthansa AG is a Germany-based aviation company with global operations and a total of more than 400 subsidiaries and associated companies. The Company is engaged in passenger transport, airfreight and airline services. The Lufthansa Group operates in five major business segments: scheduled passenger air traffic (Passenger Airline Group) consists of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Lufthansa CityLine GmbH, Swiss International Air Lines AG, Austrian Airlines AG, Air Dolomiti S.p.A., Eurowings Luftverkehrs AG and Germanwings GmbH; scheduled airfreight services (Logistics) consists of the Lufthansa Cargo group; maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) consists of the Lufthansa Technik group; information technology (IT Services) consists of the Lufthansa Systems group, and catering (Catering) consists of the LSG Lufthansa Sky Chefs group. On April 20, 2012, the Company announced the divestiture of British Midland Ltd. (bmi) to International Consolidated Airlines Group SA. Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Jonathan Morgan]

    Deutsche Lufthansa AG (LHA), Europe�� largest airline by sales, advanced 3.1 percent to 15.52 euros as a gauge of travel and leisure companies posted the biggest gain of the 19 industry groups in the Stoxx Europe 600 Index. EasyJet Plc rallied after saying its fiscal third-quarter revenue climbed.

  • [By Jonathan Morgan]

    German stocks were little changed, as declines in utilities and banks offset gains in Deutsche Lufthansa AG (LHA) and Deutsche Boerse AG.

    RWE AG (RWE), Germany�� second-largest utility, slipped 2.4 percent after RBC Capital Markets cut its recommendation on the stock. Lufthansa followed its European peers higher, recovering some of its Aug. 2 selloff. Xing AG (O1BC), the business social network, jumped the most since October as Deutsche Bank AG (DBK) upgraded its rating on the shares.

  • [By Tom Stoukas]

    Deutsche Lufthansa AG (LHA) and Allianz SE (ALV) led airlines and insurers lower, retreating at least 1.5 percent. Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) slid 1.6 percent. Deutsche Bank AG (DBK) rose after JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its recommendation on the shares. Gildemeister AG (GIL) added 3.4 percent after Deutsche Bank upgraded the maker of cutting tools.

Top 10 Airline Stocks To Buy Right Now: ANA Holdings Inc (ALNPF)

ANA HOLDINGS INC., formerly All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd., is a Japan-based airline holding company. Its Air Transportation segment is engaged in the air transportation business, the provision of various services at airports, the provision of reservation services via telephone, the freight express business, and the maintenance of aircrafts in domestic and overseas markets. The Traveling segment plans and sells tour packages under the brand names ANA Hello Tour and ANA Sky Holiday, it also offers services to travelers at arrival areas and sells travel products and air tickets. The Others segment involves in the information communication, trading and merchandise business, building management, logistics and airplane fixture repair business, and hotel operation. On March 4 and March 5, 2013, it fully acquired all shares of one and two consolidated subsidiaries through stock swap, respectively, made them become wholly-owned subsidiaries. Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Daniel Inman]

    In Tokyo, ANA Holdings (JP:9202) � (ALNPF) �declined 4.7% after the airline lowered its 2013 fiscal-year net profit forecast by 65% on higher fuel costs and slow service expansion because of delays in Boeing (BA) �787 Dreamliner deliveries.

Top 10 Airline Stocks To Buy Right Now: Allegiant Travel Co (ALGT)

Allegiant Travel Company, incorporated on April 4, 2006, is a leisure travel company focused on providing travel services and products to residents of small, underserved cities in the United States. The Company operates a passenger airline marketed primarily to leisure travelers in small cities, allowing it to sell air transportation both on a stand-alone basis and bundled with the sale of air-related and third party services and products. In addition, it provides air transportation under fixed fee flying arrangements. The Company provides scheduled air transportation on limited frequency nonstop flights between small city markets and leisure destinations. As of February 1, 2013, its operating fleet consisted of 58 MD-80 aircraft and six Boeing 757-200 aircraft providing service on 191 routes to 85 cities including 13 leisure destinations and 72 small cities and including cities served seasonally. In January 2012, the Company took ownership of two MD-80 aircraft. In October 2012, the Company announced the formation of Allegiant Systems, a joint venture with AvIntel and Lixar IT.

The Company provides unbundled air-related services and products in conjunction with air transportation for an additional cost to customers. These optional air-related services and products include use of its Website for purchases, use of its call center for purchases, advance seat assignment, baggage fees, priority boarding, its own travel protection product, change fees, food and beverage purchases on board and other air-related services. The Company offers third party travel products, such as hotel rooms, ground transportation (rental cars and hotel shuttle products) and attractions (show tickets) bundled with the purchase of its air transportation.

The Company provides air transportation through fixed fee agreements and charter service on a seasonal and ad-hoc basis for other customers. As of February 1, 2013, its operating aircraft consisted of 58 MD-80 aircraft and six Boeing 757-200 aircraft. D! uring the year ended December 31, 2012, the Company has entered into purchase agreements to acquire seven Airbus A320 aircraft and operating lease agreements for an additional nine Airbus A319 aircraft.

The Company competes with AirTran, Frontier, Spirit, Southwest, US Airways, Alaska Airlines, Horizon Air, Delta, Xtra, United and American.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Ben Levisohn]

    He recommends favoring Spirit and Allegiant Travel (ALGT) over Southwest and JetBlue.

    Spirit has gained 15% to $39.15 at 3:12 p.m., while JetBlue has risen 2.5% to $6.96, Southwest has ticked up 0.5% to $15.20 and Allegiant is up 0.7% at $98.83. The day’s biggest loser: AMR Corp. (AAMRQ), which has fallen 2.4% to $4.98 as it continues to be weak following yesterday’s decision by a judge to reject a request for information on past mergers form the DoJ.

  • [By Adam Levine-Weinberg]

    The "reformed" airlines
    However, not every airline follows the failed policies that have justified Buffett's negative opinion of the sector. Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL  ) and Allegiant Travel (NASDAQ: ALGT  ) have both distinguished themselves in recent years through their use of used aircraft to reduce capital expenditures.

  • [By Adam Levine-Weinberg]

    While Frontier's industry-leading load factor is something to be proud of, the company still has work to do in order to approach the profitability of its ultra-low-cost-carrier rivals -- Allegiant Travel (NASDAQ: ALGT  ) and Spirit Airlines (NASDAQ: SAVE  ) . In April, Republic's management forecast that Frontier would achieve an operating margin of 2%-4% in Q2. By contrast, Spirit's Q2 2012 adjusted operating margin was 16.3%, while Allegiant's Q2 2012 operating margin was a whopping 18.1%. This shows how far Frontier is behind the other ULCCs, but it also highlights the promise of the ULCC operating model.

  • [By Brian Stoffel]

    First there was Spirit Air (NASDAQ: SAVE  ) , charging for everything from printing a boarding pass to getting a cup of water. Then there was Allegiant Airlines (NASDAQ: ALGT  ) , forcing customers to pay for carry-on bags, pillows, and blankets.

Top 10 Airline Stocks To Buy Right Now: Latam Airlines Group SA (LFL)

LAN Airlines S.A. (LAN), incorporated in 1983, is the international and domestic passenger airline in Latin America and the cargo operator in the region. As of February 9, 2012, LAN and its affiliates provided domestic and international passenger services in Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Argentina and Colombia and cargo operations through the use of belly space on its passenger flights and cargo freighter aircraft through its cargo airlines in Chile, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico. LAN and its affiliates offered passenger flights to 15 destinations in Chile, 59 destinations in other South American countries, 15 destinations in other Latin American countries and the Caribbean, five destinations in the United States, two destinations in Europe and four destinations in the South Pacific and, through various codeshare agreements, service to 25 additional destinations in North America, 16 additional destinations in Europe, 27 additional destinations in Latin America and the Caribbean (including Mexico), and two destinations in Asia, as of February 9, 2012. LAN and its affiliates provide cargo service to all of their passenger destinations and to 20 additional destinations served only by freighter aircraft. LAN also offers other services, such as ground handling, courier, logistics and maintenance. LAN and its affiliates operated a fleet, with 135 passenger aircraft and 14 cargo aircraft as of December 31, 2011. On February 15, 2011, Lan Pax Group S.A., subsidiary of Lan Airlines S.A. acquired 100% of Colombian society AEROASIS S.A.

LAN is primarily involved in the transportation of passengers and cargo. Its operations are carried out principally by Lan Airlines and also by a number of different subsidiaries. As of February 28, 2011, in the passenger business the Company operated through six main airlines: Lan Airlines, Transporte Aereo S.A. (which does business under the name Lan Express), Lan Peru S.A. (Lan Peru), Aerolane Lineas Aereas Nacionales del Ecuador S.A. (Lan Ecuador), Lan Argentina S.A. (Lan ! Argentina, previously Aero 2000 S.A.) and the Aerovias de Integracion Regional, Aires S.A. (Aires). As of February 28, 2011, the Company held a 99.9% interest in Lan Express through direct and indirect interests, a 70.0% interest in Lan Peru through direct and indirect interests, a 71.9% indirect interest in Lan Ecuador, a 99.0% indirect interest in Lan Argentina and a 94.99% indirect interest in Aires (a Colombian entity which was acquired on November 26, 2010). Its cargo operations are carried out by a number of companies, including Lan Airlines and Lan Cargo. As of February 28, 2011, the Company held a 69.2% interest in Aero Transportes Mas de Carga S.A. de C.V. (MasAir), through direct and indirect participations, a 73.3% interest in ABSA through direct and indirect participations, and a 90.0% interest in LANCO through direct and indirect participations. In the cargo business, the Company markets itself primarily under the Lan Cargo brand. In addition to its air transportation activities, the Company provides a series of ancillary services. It offers handling services, courier services and logistics, small package and express door-to-door services through Lan Airlines and various subsidiaries.

Passenger Operations

As of February 28, 2011, the Company operated passenger airlines in Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Argentina and Colombia. As of February 28, 2011, our passenger operations were performed through airlines in Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Argentina and Colombia where we operate both domestic and international services. As of February 28, 2011, the Company�� network consisted of 15 destinations in Chile, 14 destinations in Peru, four destinations in Ecuador, 14 destinations in Argentina, 24 destinations in Colombia, 14 destinations in other Latin American countries and the Caribbean, five destinations in the United States, one destination in Canada, three destinations in Europe and four destinations in the South Pacific. Within Latin America, it has routes to and from Argentina, B! olivia, B! razil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. The Company also flies to a variety of international destinations outside Latin America, including Auckland, Fort Lauderdale, Frankfurt, Los Angeles, Madrid, Miami, Mount Pleasant (Falkland Islands), New York, Toronto, Papeete (Tahiti), Paris, San Francisco, and Sydney. In addition, as of February 28, 2011, through its various code-share agreements, the Company offered service to 25 additional destinations in North America, 16 additional destinations in Europe, 25 additional destinations in Latin America and the Caribbean (including Mexico), and two destinations in Asia. As of February 28, 2011, the Company operated scheduled international services from Chile, Peru, Ecuador and Argentina through Lan Airlines; Lan Express in Chile; Lan Peru in Peru; Lan Ecuador in Ecuador; Lan Argentina in Argentina and Aires in Colombia. Its international network combines the Company�� Chilean, Peruvian, Ecuadorian, Argentinean and Colombian affiliates. It provides long-haul services out of its four main hubs in Santiago, Lima, Guayaquil and Buenos Aires. It also provides regional services from Chile, Peru, Ecuador and Argentina.

Cargo Operations

The Company�� cargo business operates on the same network used by the passenger airlines business, which is supplemented by freighter-only operations. The Company carries cargo for a variety of customers, including other international air carriers, freight-forwarding companies, export oriented companies and individual consumers. As of February 28, 2011, the Company operated a fleet of 140 aircraft, comprised of 126 passenger aircraft and 14 cargo aircraft.

The Company competes with UPS, FedEx, Centurion, Transportes Aereos Mercantiles Panamericanos S.A., Polar Air, Cargolux, Lufthansa Cargo, Martinair and Air France-KLM.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Monica Gerson]

    LATAM Airlines Group SA (NYSE: LFL) is expected to post its Q1 earnings at $0.20 per share on revenue of $3.42 billion.

    Gladstone Investment (NASDAQ: GAIN) is projected to post its Q4 earnings at $0.17 per share on revenue of $8.90 million.

  • [By Laura Brodbeck]

    Notable earnings releases expected on Monday include:

    LAN Chile S.A. (NYSE: LFL) is expected to report fourth quarter EPS of $0.24 on revenue of $3.50 billion, compared to last year�� EPS of $0.02 on revenue of $3.48 billion. JA Solar Holdings, Co. Ltd (NASDAQ: JASO) is expected to report EPS of $0.03 on revenue of $291.75 million, compared to last year�� loss of $2.65 per share on revenue of $268.09 million. Sterling Construction Company, Inc�(NASDAQ: STRL) is expected to report a fourth quarter loss of $1.47 per share on revenue of $153.07 million, compared to last year�� EPS of $0.18 on revenue of $158.09 million.

    Economics

Top 10 Airline Stocks To Buy Right Now: Alaska Air Group Inc. (ALK)

Alaska Air Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, Alaska Airlines, Inc. and Horizon Air Industries, Inc., operates as an airline company serving destinations in the western United States, Canada, and Mexico. The company provides passenger air services; and freight and mail services primarily to and within the state of Alaska and on the West Coast. As of December 31, 2009, it operated a fleet of 110 jet aircraft; and Horizon Air Industries operated a fleet of 18 jets and 40 turboprop aircraft. The company was founded in 1932 and is based in Seattle, Washington.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Adam Levine-Weinberg]

    Southwest: still America's favorite
    Southwest Airlines once again had the lowest complaint rate in the airline industry last year, at 0.25 complaints per 100,000 passengers. Southwest's complaint rate was more than 80% below the industry average, and 50% below second-place finisher Alaska Airlines (NYSE: ALK  ) . The high level of customer satisfaction highlights the value of Southwest's generally cheerful staff, because Southwest's performance on the more objective criteria in the AQR survey was not particularly impressive.

Top 10 Airline Stocks To Buy Right Now: SkyWest Inc (SKYW)

SkyWest, Inc. (SkyWest), incorporated in 1972, through subsidiaries, SkyWest Airlines, Inc. (SkyWest Airlines) and ExpressJet Airlines, Inc. (ExpressJet) operates the regional airline in the United States. In addition, the Company provides ground handling services for other airlines throughout its system. The Company operates in two segments: SkyWest Airlines and ExpressJet. On December 31, 2011, its subsidiary, ExpressJet Airlines, Inc. (ExpressJet Delaware) was merged into its subsidiary, Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Inc. (Atlantic Southeast), with the surviving company named ExpressJet Airlines, Inc. (the ExpressJet Combination). ExpressJet includes the operations of Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Inc. (Atlantic Southeast) and ExpressJet Airlines, Inc. (ExpressJet Delaware), which is prior to the ExpressJet Combination.

As of December 31, 2011, SkyWest and ExpressJet offered scheduled passenger and air freight service with approximately 4,000 total daily departures to different destinations in the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. All of its flights are operated as Delta Connection, United Express, Continental Express, US Airways Express or Alaska under code-share arrangements with Delta, United Air Lines, Inc. (United), Continental Airlines, Inc. (Continental), US Airways Group, Inc. (US Airways) and Alaska Airlines (Alaska). As of December 31, 2011, its consolidated fleet consisted of a total of 732 aircraft, of which 443 were assigned to United and Continental, 268 were assigned to Delta, eight were in preparation for new code-share assignments, five were assigned to Alaska, four were subleased to affiliated entities, two were assigned to US Airways and two were subleased to unaffiliated entities. In addition, it provides electronic or paper copies of its filings free of charge upon request.

As of December 31, 2011, it operated two types of regional jet aircraft: the Bombardier Aerospace (Bombardier) regional jet, which include the 50-seat Bombardier CRJ20! 0 Regional Jet (the CRJ200), the 70-seat Bombardier CRJ700 Regional Jet (the CRJ700) and the 70-90-seat Bombardier CRJ900 Regional Jet (the CRJ900), and the 50-seat Embraer ERJ-145 regional jet (ERJ145). As of December 31, 2011, it also operated the 30-seat Embraer Brasilia EMB-120 turboprop (the Brasilia turboprop). During the year ended December 31, 2011, approximately 65.2% of the Company's aggregate capacity was operated under the United Express Agreements and Continental Express Agreement, approximately 33.6% was operated under the Delta Connection Agreements, approximately 0.9% was operated under the Alaska Capacity Purchase Agreement, approximately 0.1% was operated under the US Airways Express Agreement and approximately 0.2% was operated under a code-share agreement with AirTran Airways, Inc.

On November 17, 2011, SkyWest Airlines and US Airways entered into the SkyWest Airlines US Airways Express Agreement. As of December 31, 2011, SkyWest Airlines operated two CRJ200s under the SkyWest Airlines US Airways Express Agreement, flying a total of approximately ten US Airways Express flights per day between Phoenix and designated outlying destinations. On April 13, 2011, SkyWest Airlines and Alaska entered into the SkyWest Airlines Alaska Capacity Purchase Agreement. As of December 31, 2011, SkyWest Airlines operated five CRJ700s under the SkyWest Airlines Alaska Capacity Purchase Agreement, flying a total of approximately 30 Alaska flights per day between Seattle, Portland and designated outlying destinations.

As of December 31, 2011, SkyWest Airlines and ExpressJet scheduled the daily flights as Delta Connection carriers: 530 flights to or from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, 316 flights to or from Salt Lake City International Airport, 132 flights to or from Minneapolis International Airport, 94 flights to or from Memphis International Airport, 94 flights to or from Detroit International Airport and 8 flights to or from Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Inte! rnational! Airport.. As of December 31, 2011, SkyWest Airlines scheduled 15 daily flights as an Alaska carrier to or from Portland International Airport and 15 daily flights as an Alaska carrier to or from Seattle International Airport. As of December 31, 2011, SkyWest Airlines scheduled ten daily flights as an US Airways Express carrier to or from Phoenix International Airport.

As of December 31, 2011, SkyWest Airlines and ExpressJet scheduled the daily flights as a United or Continental Express carrier: 572 flights to or from Houston International Airport, 486 flights to or from Chicago O'Hare International Airport, 412 flights to or from Denver International Airport, 306 flights to or from San Francisco International Airport, 284 flights to or from Los Angeles International Airport, 214 flights to or from Newark International Airport, 148 flights to or from Washington Dulles International Airport, 128 flights to or from Cleveland International Airport and 64 flights to or from other airports. As of December 31, 2011, it operated 17 CRJ200s for United under a pro-rate agreement. The Company also operated one CRJ200 under a pro-rate agreement with Delta, as of December 31, 2011.

SkyWest Airlines

SkyWest Airlines provides regional jet and turboprop service primarily located in the midwestern and western United States. SkyWest Airlines offered approximately 1,650 daily scheduled departures as of December 31, 2011, of which approximately 1,110 were United Express flights, 500 were Delta Connection flights, 30 were Alaksa-coded flights and 10 were US Airways Express flights. SkyWest Airlines' operations are conducted from hubs located in Chicago (O'Hare), Denver, Los Angeles, Houston, Portland, Seattle, Phoenix, San Francisco and Salt Lake City. SkyWest Airlines' fleet as of December 31, 2011 consisted of 21 CRJ900s, all of which were flown for Delta; 96 CRJ700s, of which 70 were flown for United, 21 were flown for Delta and five were flown for Alaska; 153 CRJ200s, of which 82 ! were flown! for United, 61 were flown for Delta, eight were in preparation for service under a code-share agreement with US Airways and two were flown for US Airways; and 45 Brasilia turboprops, of which 35 were flown for United and 10 were flown for Delta.

As of December 31, 2011, SkyWest Airlines was conducting its Delta Connection operations pursuant to the terms of an Amended and Restated Delta Connection Agreement, which obligates Delta to compensate SkyWest Airlines for its direct costs associated with operating Delta Connection flights, plus a payment based on block hours flown (the SkyWest Airlines Delta Connection Agreement). SkyWest Airlines' United code-share operations are conducted under a United Express Agreement, pursuant to which SkyWest Airlines is paid primarily on a fee-per-completed block hour and departure basis, plus a margin based on performance incentives (the SkyWest Airlines United Express Agreement). During December 31, 2011, SkyWest Airlines entered into code-share agreements with Alaska and US Airways, pursuant to which SkyWest Airlines is paid primarily on a fee-per-completed block hour and departure basis, plus a fixed margin per aircraft each month.

ExpressJet

ExpressJet provides regional jet service principally in the United States, primarily from hubs located in Atlanta, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago (O'Hare), Denver, Houston, Newark and Washington Dulles. ExpressJet offered more than 2,100 daily scheduled departures as of December 31, 2011, of which approximately 650 were Delta Connection flights and 1,450 were Continental Express or United Express flights. As of December 31, 2011, the combined fleet of ExpressJet consisted of 10 CRJ900s, which were flown for Delta, 46 CRJ700s,which were flown for Delta, 113 CRJ200s, 99 of, which were flown for Delta and 14 of, which were flown for United and 242 ERJ145s, which were flown for United or Continental.

Under the terms of a Second Amended and Restated Delta Connection Agreement exec! uted betw! een Delta and Atlantic Southeast and to, which ExpressJet is a party (the ExpressJet Delta Connection Agreement), Delta has agreed to compensate ExpressJet for its direct costs associated with operating Delta Connection flights, plus, if ExpressJet completes a certain minimum percentage of its Delta Connection flights, a specified margin on such costs. Under the ExpressJet Delta Connection Agreement, excess margins over certain percentages must be returned to or shared with Delta, depending on various conditions. ExpressJet's Continental and United code-share operations are conducted under a Capacity Purchase Agreement between ExpressJet and Continental (the Continental CPA) and two United Express Agreements between ExpressJet and United (collectively, the ExpressJet United Express Agreements), pursuant to, which ExpressJet is paid by Continental or United, as applicable, primarily on a fee-per-completed block hour and departure basis, plus a margin based on performance incentives.

The Company competes with Air Wisconsin Airlines Corporation, American Airlines, Inc. Delta Air Lines, Inc. Compass Airlines, Alaska Air Group, Inc. Mesa Air Group, Inc., Pinnacle Airlines Corp., Republic Airways Holdings Inc. and Trans State Airlines, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Adam Levine-Weinberg]

    The Frontier sale has been delayed several times, although management has suggested that it may be resolved within a few weeks. The contest for new fixed-fee contracts has been a mixed bag: without signed labor agreements, Republic has trouble making competitive bids. Republic did win a big contract from AMR (NASDAQOTH: AAMRQ  ) recently, but other major contracts have gone to top competitor SkyWest (NASDAQ: SKYW  ) .

Top 10 Airline Stocks To Buy Right Now: United Continental Holdings Inc.(UAL)

United Continental Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of passenger and cargo air transportation services. As of February 24, 2011, it operated a total of approximately 5,675 flights a day to 372 airports on 6 continents from their hubs in Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Guam, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Tokyo, as well as in Washington, D.C. The company was formerly known as UAL Corporation and changed its name to United Continental Holdings, Inc. on October 1, 2010. United Continental Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1934 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Gary Jakacky]

    I ran a subjective screen of the companies in IYT, using the following criteria:

    First, I eliminated the airline stocks. I would never own an airline stock individually: they have a long tradition of providing poor returns for their shareholders. A glimpse at a few ten year charts for component airlines like Delta (DAL), Jetblue (JBLU), Southwest (LUV) and United Continental Holdings (UAL) shows a lot of volatility and pitiful gains. The exact opposite of what investors should be looking for. Furthermore they are oil price sensitive: a more efficient way to trade this is an oil ETF. And yes, they are becoming more efficient with newer engines, but Boeing (BA) is a more efficient way to trade that issue. Second, I looked for companies that have shown (nearly) uninterrupted earnings growth since the recession ended in 2009. Sure maybe a soft quarter here and there; but solid growth. If the issue was a bit in doubt I turned to the company's ten year record, and insisted if growth was negative during the recession, it recover swiftly afterward and share net go on to new highs. finally, I wanted the company's trailing PE ratio to be near the bottom of its ten year range.

    Yes, these screen criteria are more subjective than a pure computer screen would be, but this leaves room for investor analysis and judgment, which never should be off the table when making an investment.

10 Best Communications Equipment Stocks To Invest In Right Now

French-American communications equipment giant Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU  ) reported its Q1 2013 financial results Friday.

Characterizing the results as showing "continued progress with The Performance Program," the company announced that revenues increased 0.6% in Q1 2013 over Q1 2012 levels, rising to 3,226 million euros ($4.2 billion).

Net losses for the quarter came to 353 million euros ($460 million), of which approximately one-third, 122 million euros, came from restructuring charges. On a per-share basis, this worked out to 16 euro cents lost per share, vs. last year's 10 cent euro profit. The company continued to burn cash as well, with operating cash flow running negative to the tune of 144 million euros before deducting capital expenditures.

Commenting on the last figure, Alcatel CEO Michel Combes observed: "Free cash-flow remains a challenge."

Alcatel shares are trading down on the NYSE today, off 3.2% at $1.36 per share in response to the news.

Top 10 Integrated Utility Stocks To Buy Right Now: Belden Inc (BDC)

Belden Inc. (Belden), incorporated on May 18, 1988, designs, manufactures and markets cable, connectivity, and networking products in markets including industrial, enterprise, and broadcast. The Company operates in three segments: the Americas segment, the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) segment and the Asia Pacific segment. The Company�� offers cable, connectivity and networking products, including power generation and distribution, data centers, oil and gas, broadcast, transportation, healthcare and industrial automation. In December 2012, Carlisle Companies Inc acquired Thermax-Raydex business from the Company. In December 2012, the Company sold Consumer Electronics Assets in China to Shenzhen Woer Heat-Shrinkable Material Co Ltd. During the year ended December 31, 2012, the Company acquired Miranda Technologies Inc. (Miranda).

The categories of cable products are copper cables, including shielded and unshielded twisted pair cables, coaxial cables, and stranded cables, fiber optic cables, which transmit light signals through glass or plastic fibers and composite cables, which are combinations of multiconductor, coaxial, and fiber optic cables jacketed together or otherwise joined together to serve complex applications and provide ease of installation. Connectivity products include fiber and copper connectors for the enterprise, broadcast, broadband, and industrial markets. Networking products include Industrial Ethernet switches and related equipment and security features, fiber optic interfaces and media converters used to bridge fieldbus networks over long distances, networking infrastructure for the television broadcast, cable, satellite and IPTV industry, and load-moment indicators for mobile cranes and other load-bearing equipment.

For industrial end markets, the Company supplies cable, connectivity, and networking products for applications ranging from advanced industrial networking and robotics to traditional instrumentation and control systems. The Compa! ny�� cable products are used in discrete manufacturing and process operations involving the connection of computers, programmable controllers, robots, operator interfaces, motor drives, sensors, printers and other devices. The Company sells its industrial products primarily through value-added resellers, industrial distributors, and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). It designs, manufactures and markets Industrial Ethernet switches and related equipment, both rail-mounted and rack-mounted, for factory automation, power generation and distribution, process automation, and infrastructure projects, such as bridges, wind farms and airport runways. It also designs, manufactures and markets fiber optic interfaces and media converters. In addition, it designs, manufactures, and markets a range of industrial connectors for sensors and actuators, cord-sets, distribution boxes, and fieldbus communications. These products are used both as components of manufacturing equipment and in the installation and networking of such equipment. The Company also designs, manufactures and markets load-moment indicators. Its switches, communications equipment, connectors, and load-moment indicators are sold directly to industrial equipment OEMs and through a network of distributors and system integrators.

For enterprise end markets, the Company supplies structured cabling solutions, connectors, and networking products for the electronic and optical transmission of data, sound, and video over local- and wide- area networks. Products for this market include copper cables including 10-gigabit Ethernet technologies, fiber optic cables, connectors, wiring racks, panels, interconnecting hardware, intelligent patching devices, and cable management solutions for complete end-to-end network structured wiring systems. End-use customers include hospitals, financial institutions, governments, service providers, and data centers. Its systems are installed through a network of trained system integrators and are supplied t! hrough au! thorized distributors.

For broadcast end markets, the Company is a provider of hardware and software solutions for the television broadcast, cable, satellite and IPTV industry. Its solutions also span the full breadth of television operations, including production, playout and delivery. The Company also manufactures a variety of multiconductor and coaxial cable and connector products, which distributes audio and video signals for use in broadcast television including digital television and high definition television, broadcast radio, pre- and post-production facilities, recording studios, and public facilities such as casinos, arenas, and stadiums. Its audio/video cables are also used in connection with microphones, musical instruments, audio mixing consoles, effects equipment, speakers, paging systems, and consumer audio products.

The Company manufactures networking infrastructure products for the television broadcast, cable, satellite and IPTV industry. Its primary market channels for this broadcast, music, and entertainment products are broadcast specialty distributors and audio systems installers. It also sells directly to music OEMs and the television networks including ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC. The Company also provides specialized cables for security applications such as video surveillance systems, airport baggage screening, building access control, motion detection, public address systems, and advanced fire alarm systems. It manufactures flexible, copper-clad coaxial cable and associated connector products for the high-speed transmission of data, sound, and video (broadband) that are used for the drop section of cable television (CATV) systems and satellite direct broadcast systems.

For the broadband end market, Belden manufactures and develops connectivity solutions in several product categories: coax connector products that allow for connections from the provider network to the subscribers��devices, hardline connectors that allow service providers to dist! ribute th! eir services within a city, a town or a neighborhood and entry devices that serves to manage and remove network signal noise that could impair performance for the subscriber, and traps and filtering devices that allow service providers to control the signals that are transmitted to the subscriber.

During 2012, the Americas segment contributed approximately 64% of its consolidated revenues. This segment sells the full array of its products for the industrial, enterprise,and broadcast markets. The EMEA segment contributed approximately 19% of its consolidated revenues. This segment sells the full array of its products for the industrial, enterprise,and broadcast markets. The Asia Pacific segment contributed approximately 17% its consolidated revenues. This segment sells the full array of its products for the industrial, enterprise,and broadcast markets.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Seth Jayson]

    Belden (NYSE: BDC  ) reported earnings on May 2. Here are the numbers you need to know.

    The 10-second takeaway
    For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), Belden met expectations on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

  • [By John Seward]

    Belden Inc. (NYSE: BDC) will replace Fidelity National Inc. (NYSE: FNF) in the S&P MidCap 400 June 30, when Synergy Resources (AMEX: SYRG) will replace Belden in the S&P SmallCap 600. Fidelity is reclassifying its shares into two tracking stocks which are ineligible for S&P indexes.

  • [By Rich Duprey]

    Signal transmission specialist�Belden� (NYSE: BDC  ) �announced yesterday�its second-quarter dividend of $0.05 per share, the same rate it has paid since 2004 when it first began making a payout.

10 Best Communications Equipment Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Fabrinet (FN)

Fabrinet, incorporated on August 12, 1999, provides optical packaging and precision optical, electro-mechanical and electronic manufacturing services to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of complex products, such as optical communication components, modules and sub-systems, industrial lasers and sensors. The Company offers a range of optical and electro-mechanical capabilities across the entire manufacturing processes, including process design and engineering, supply chain management, manufacturing, advanced packaging, final assembly and test.

The products that the Company manufactures for its OEM customers includes optical communications devices, such as selective switching products, such as reconfigurable optical add-drop modules (ROADMs), optical amplifiers, modulators and other optical components and modules that collectively enable network managers to route signals through fiber traffic at various wavelengths and over various distances; tunable transponders and transceivers that eliminate the need to stock individual fixed wavelength transponders and transceivers used in voice and data communications networks; and active optical cables providing high-speed interconnect capabilities for data centers and computing clusters, as well as Infiniband, Ethernet, fiber channel and optical backplane connectivity.

Solid state, diode-pumped, gas and fiber lasers (industrial lasers) used across a array of industries, including semiconductor processing (wafer inspection, wafer dicing, wafer scribing), biotechnology (DNA sequencing, flow cytometry, hematology, antibody detection), metrology (instrumentation, calibration, inspection), and material processing (photo processing, textile cutting, annealing, marking, engraving); and sensors, including differential pressure, micro-gyro, fuel and other sensors that are used in automobiles, and non-contact temperature measurement sensors for the medical industry. The Company also designs and fabricates application-specific crystals, pri! sms, mirrors, laser components and substrates (customized optics) and other custom and standard borosilicate, clear fused quartz, and synthetic fused silica glass products (customized glass).

The Company competes with Sanmina-SCI Corporation, Celestica Inc., Venture Corporation Limited, Benchmark Electronics, Inc, Browave Corporation, Fujian Castech Crystals, Inc., Research Electro-Optic, Inc. and Photop Technologies, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Seth Jayson]

    Fabrinet (NYSE: FN  ) reported earnings on April 29. Here are the numbers you need to know.

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

10 Best Communications Equipment Stocks To Invest In Right Now: TomTom NV (OEM)

TomTom NV is a Netherlands-based supplier of location and navigation products and services. The Company�� structure consists of four customer facing business units, namely Consumer, Automotive, Business Solutions and Licensing. The first three business units provide targeted solutions for the Company�� customers, including private consumers, car manufacturers and fleet owners. Licensing sells its content and services to multiple customer groups including portable navigation devices (PNDs) and wireless companies, governments and enterprises. The Company�� business units embed 11 product units, such as digital maps, traffic intelligence, navigation software, PNDs, automotive systems, fleet management services (FMS), smart phone applications, sports watches, points of interest, location based services (LBS) and speedcam intelligence. As of December 31, 2011, the Company was active in 35 countries. In July 2013, it acquired Coordina (Gestion Electronica Logistica, S.L.). Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By victorselva]

    In a macro view, revenues in the electronic equipment and instrument sub-industry will remain strong due to the rise in equipment and instrument manufacturers. Distributors, electronic manufacturing service (EMS) companies and original equipment manufacturers (OEM) are going to increase orders as the economy improves in the future. With this promising outlook, let's take a look at Gabelli麓s last trade and try to explain to investors the reasons of this appealing investment opportunity.

10 Best Communications Equipment Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO)

Cisco Systems, Inc., incorporated on December 10, 1984, designs, manufactures, and sells Internet protocol (IP)-based networking and other products related to the communications and information technology (IT) industry and provide services associated with these products and their use. The Company provides a line of products for transporting data, voice, and video within buildings, across campuses, and around the world. Its products are designed to transform how people connect, communicate, and collaborate. Its products are installed at enterprise businesses, public institutions, telecommunications companies, commercial businesses, and personal residences. The Company has five segments: United States and Canada, European Markets, Emerging Markets, Asia Pacific, and Japan. The Emerging Markets theater consists of Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, and Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. In July 30, 2012, it acquired NDS Group Ltd. In October 2012, it acquired virtual networking company, vCider. In August 2011, the Company acquired Versly. In November 2011, it acquired BNI Video. In March 2012, the Company acquired Lightwire, Inc. In May 2012, the Company acquired ClearAccess. In December 2012, the Company acquired Cloupia. In December 2012, the Company acquired Cariden Technologies Inc. In December 2012, the Company acquired Meraki, Inc.

The Company�� product offerings fall into three categories: its core technologies, routing and switching; advanced technologies, and other products. In addition to its product offerings, the Company provides a range of service offerings, technical support services and advanced services. The advanced services program supports networking devices, applications, solutions, and complete infrastructures.

Routing

The Company offers a range of routers, from core network infrastructure for service providers and enterprises to access routers for branch offices and for telecommuters and consumers at ho! me. Key products within its routing category are the Cisco ASR 901/903, Cisco 1000, 5000, and 9000 Cisco Aggregation Services Routers (ASR), as well as the Cisco ASR 800, 1900, 2900 and 3900 Cisco Integrated Services Routers (ISR):; Cisco CRS-1, 7600 and Cisco CRS-3 Cisco Carrier Routing Systems (CRS). During the fiscal year ended July 31, 2010 (fiscal 2010), Cisco introduced the Cisco CRS-3 Carrier Routing System (CRS-3) and Cisco 7600 Series Routers.

Service Provider Video

The Company�� end-to-end, digital video distribution systems and digital interactive set-top boxes enable service providers and content originators to deliver entertainment, information, and communication services to consumers and businesses around the world. Key product areas within its Service Provider Video category are: Set-Top Boxes, IP set-top boxes (both High-Definition (HD) and Standard Definition (SD)); Digital cable set-top boxes (both HD and SD); Cable Modem CPE (Data, EMTA, and Gateways); Videoscape Software Products and Headend Equipment (Encoders, Decoders, and Transcoders).

Switching

The Company�� switching products offer many forms of connectivity to end users, workstations, IP phones, access points, and servers, and also function as aggregators on local-area networks (LANs), metropolitan-area networks (MANs), and wide-area networks (WANs). Its switching systems employ several widely used technologies, including Ethernet, Power over Ethernet, Fibre Channel over Ethernet, Packet over Synchronous Optical Network, and Multiprotocol Label Switching. Many of its switches are designed to support an integrated set of advanced services, allowing organizations to be more efficient by using one switch for multiple networking functions rather than multiple switches to accomplish the same functions.

Cisco offers a family of Ethernet switching solutions from fixed-configuration switches for small and medium-sized businesses to modular switches for enterprise! s and ser! vice providers. Its fixed-configuration switches are designed to provide a foundation for converged data, voice, and video services. Key products within its switching category are the Cisco Catalyst 2960, 3560, 3750, 4500 and 6500 Series; the Cisco Nexus 2000, 3000, 5000 and 7000 Series switches; and MDS Series: MDS 9000.

Fixed-configuration switches are designed to cover a range of deployments in small and medium-sized businesses. It fixed-configuration switches are designed to provide a foundation for converged data, voice, and video services. They range from small, standalone switches to stackable models that function as a single, scalable switching unit. Modular switches are typically utilized by enterprise and service provider customers. Fixed-configuration and modular switches also include products such as optics modules which are shared across multiple product platforms.

NGN Routing

Routing technology is fundamental to the Internet, and this technology interconnects public and private IP networks for mobile, data, voice, and video applications. The Company's NGN Routing products are designed to enhance the intelligence, security, reliability, scalability, and level of performance in the transmission of information and media-rich applications. It offers a broad range of routers, from core network infrastructure and mobile Internet network for service providers and enterprises to access routers for branch offices and for telecommuters and consumers at home. Key product areas within its NGN Routing category are, Cisco Aggregation Services Routers: Cisco ASR 901/903, Cisco ASR 1000, Cisco ASR 5000 and Cisco ASR 9000. Cisco Integrated Services Routers: Cisco ISR 800, Cisco ISR 1900, Cisco ISR 2900 and Cisco ISR 3900. Cisco Carrier Routing Systems: Cisco CRS-1, Cisco CRS-3 and Cisco 7600 Series Routers.

Security

Cisco security solutions deliver identity, network and content security solutions designed to enable customers to reduce the ! impact of! threats and realize the benefits of a mobile, collaborative, and cloud-enabled business. The products in this category span firewall, intrusion prevention, remote access, virtual private networks (VPNs), unified clients, network admission control, Web gateways, and email gateways. Its AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client solution enables users to access networks with their mobile device of choice, including laptops and smartphone-based mobile devices, while allowing organizations to manage the security risks of networks. Its cloud-based Web security service is designed to provide real-time threat protection and to prevent malware from reaching corporate networks, including roaming or mobile users. It focuses on a proactive, layered approach to counter both existing and emerging security threats. During the fiscal year ended July 28, 2012, it introduced the Cisco ASA 5500-X Series Midrange Security Appliance, Cisco Security Manager 4.3, the IPS 4500 Series, and Prime Security Manager.

Wireless

The Cisco Unified Wireless Network aims to harness the network to solve business problems, uniting high-performance wireless access across campus, branch, remote and outdoor environments. Its offerings include wireless access points (including the Cisco Aironet product family), controllers, antennas, and integrated management. The Company�� offerings provide users with simplified management and mobile device troubleshooting features which are designed to reduce operational cost and maximize flexibility and reliability. It is also investing in custom chipsets to deliver functions such as CleanAir proactive spectrum intelligence, ClientLink acceleration for mobile devices and VideoStream multicast optimization technology.

Data Center

The Company�� data center product category has been its major product category for the past two fiscal years. Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) and Server Access Virtualization form the core of the Data Center product category.! Key prod! uct areas within its Data Center product category are: Cisco UCS B-Series Blade Servers, Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers and Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects.

Other Products

The Company�� other products category primarily consists of Linksys home networking products, certain emerging technologies, and other networking products. In addition to its product offerings, it provide a range of service offerings, including technical support services and advanced services.

The Company competes with Alcatel-Lucent; ARRIS Group, Inc.; Aruba Networks, Inc.; Avaya Inc.; Belden Inc.; Brocade Communications Systems, Inc.; Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.; Citrix Systems, Inc.; D-Link Corporation; LM Ericsson Telephone Company; Extreme Networks, Inc.; F5 Networks, Inc.; Force10 Networks, Inc.; Fortinet, Inc.; Hewlett-Packard Company; Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.; International Business Machines Corporation; Juniper Networks, Inc.; LogMeIn, Inc.; Meru Networks, Inc.; Microsoft Corporation; Motorola, Inc.; NETGEAR, Inc.; Polycom, Inc.; Riverbed Technology, Inc.; and Symantec Corporation.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Steven Russolillo]

    Currently, 51 of the top 100 Nasdaq stocks ��including Apple Inc.(AAPL), Microsoft Corp.(MSFT) and Cisco Systems Inc.(CSCO) ��pay dividends. In December 1999, when the Nasdaq initially jumped above 4000, only nine companies paid dividends, according to stock-market research firm Birinyi Associates.

  • [By Hilary Kramer]

    You may have seen the oft-repeated statement by tech behemoth Cisco (CSCO) that Internet traffic is growing by as much as 40% annually. That means that there is a strong and growing need for these ADCs, making FFIV a great way to play the expansion in data management since the company has the strongest market share for the controllers at about 50%.

10 Best Communications Equipment Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Juniper Networks Inc (JNPR)

Juniper Networks, Inc. (Juniper Networks), incorporated on September 10, 1996, designs, develops, and sells products and services that together provide its customers with network infrastructure. It operates in two segments: Infrastructure and Service Layer Technologies (SLT). The Company�� Infrastructure segment primarily offers routing and switching products that are used to control and direct network traffic from the core, through the edge, aggregation, and the customer premise equipment level. Infrastructure products include its Internet protocol (IP) routing, carrier Ethernet routing portfolio, and Ethernet switching portfolio. In addition, the Infrastructure segment offers a complete wireless local area network (WLAN) solution. Its SLT segment offers solutions that meet a range of its customers' priorities, from protecting the users, applications and data on the network itself to providing network services across a distributed infrastructure. Effective September 13, 2013, Juniper Networks, Inc. acquired Contrail Networks Inc.

Brilliant is a supplier of packet-based, network synchronization equipment and monitoring solutions. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company introduced its network architecture and fabric technology for the data center, QFabric. It serves the high-performance networking requirements of global service providers, enterprises, and public sector organizations. The Company�� open cross-network software platform includes the Junos operating system (Junos OS), Junos Space network application platform, and Junos Pulse integrated network client. The Company offers a product portfolio that spans routing, switching, security, application access, and mobility device security.

Infrastructure Products

The Company�� T Series core routers are primarily designed for core IP infrastructures and are also being sold into the multi-service environment. Its PTX Series is a large capacity (8 and 16 tera-bits per second) MPLS-optimized packe! t transport switch for the core networks, of content service providers and Tier 1 service providers, with high throughout of packet traffic. The Company�� E Series products are a full featured platform designed for the network edge with support for carrier-class routing, broadband subscriber management services, and a set of IP services. The MX Series is a product family developed to address emerging Ethernet network architectures and services in service provider and enterprise networks. The Company�� EX Series family extends its product portfolio running its Junos OS to address the Ethernet switch market. Ethernet is a used technology, which is used to transport information in enterprise networks. Infrastructure Products also includes QFabric Products and WLAN product.

SLT Products

SLT Products include Services Gateway, Integrated Firewall, and VPN Solutions, Secure Access Appliances, Secure Access Appliances, IDP Series Appliances and Identity and Policy Control Solutions. The Company�� SRX Series of dynamic services gateways, running its Junos software, provides firewall/VPN and combines routing, switching, and security functionality. The series is designed to meet network and security requirements for data center consolidation, rapid managed services deployments, and aggregation of security services. Its firewall and VPN systems and appliances are designed to provide integrated firewall, VPN, and denial of service protection capabilities for both enterprise environments and service provider network infrastructures. These products range from its SSG product series, which combines LAN/WAN routing capabilities with threat management features, such as antivirus, anti-spam, and Web filtering technologies, to its ISG and NetScreen Series firewall and VPN systems, which are designed to deliver security in medium/large enterprises, carrier networks, and data centers.

The Company�� Junos Pulse, Junos Pulse Mobile Security Suite, and SA Series SSL VPN appliances,! designed! for use in companies of all sizes, are used to provide secure access to corporate resources for remote and mobile users from any Web-enabled device, regardless of location. Its portfolio of identity and policy control solutions integrates subscriber privileges, application requirements, and business policies with the IP network infrastructure.

The Company competes with Cisco Systems, Inc. (Cisco), Alcatel-Lucent, Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. (Brocade), Extreme Networks, Inc., Hewlett Packard Company (HP), Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei), Check Point Software Technologies, F5 Networks, Inc., Palo Alto Networks, Inc., and Riverbed Technology, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Jayson Derrick]

    A mistrial has been declared in Juniper Networks' (NASDAQ: JNPR) infringement suit against Palo Alto Networks (NADAQ: PANW) Shares of Juniper lost 0.64 percent, closing at $26.27 while Palo Alto surged 10.90 percent, closing at $77.02.

  • [By Eshna Basu]

    Juniper�(JNPR), the�California-based networking giant is preparing to�release its fourth-quarter earnings next week. The company is quite positive about its upcoming earnings release given the amount of effort it is putting in the budding data center space. Now let�� take a look at factors that can help Juniper to meet its expectations and keep investors happy.

10 Best Communications Equipment Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Zoom Technologies Inc (ZOOM)

Zoom Technologies, Inc. (Zoom), incorporated on February 29, 2002, is engaged in design, production, marketing, sales, and support of broadband and dial-up modems, voice over Internet Protocol or (VoIP) products and services, Bluetooth wireless products, and other communication-related products. The Company through its wholly owned holding-company subsidiary, Gold Lion Holding Limited (Gold Lion) is the owner of 100% of Profit Harvest Corporation Ltd. (Profit Harvest) and through Gold Lion's wholly owned subsidiary, Jiangsu Leimone Electronics Co., Ltd. (Jiangsu Leimone) is the owner of 80% of Tianjin Tong Guang Group Digital Communication Co., Ltd. (TCB Digital). The Company through its subsidiaries is engaged in manufacturing, research and development, and sales of electronic and telecommunication products for the latest generation mobile phones, wireless communication circuitry, and related software products. On January 4, 2011, the Company acquired 100% ownership of Celestial Digital Entertainment, Ltd., (CDE). During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company acquired 55% of Portables.

TCB Digital is engaged in electronic and telecommunication product design, development, and manufacturing for original equipment manufacturers (OEM) customers and for its own products under the brand name of Leimone. The Company offers electronic manufacturing service (EMS) to both domestic and global customers including Samsung, Beijing Tianyu Langtong, CECT, Danahar and Spreadtrum. Its primary products include mobile phones, wireless telecommunication modules, digital cameras, cable television (TV) set-top boxes and global positioning system ( GPS) equipment.

The Company has developed mobile phones and Smartphones based on both of the main network technologies: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), and beginning in 2010 also 3G CDMA2000 capable products. As of December 31, 2011, the Company markets its mobile phone products through di! stributors in China and also supplies GSM, CDMA and 3G CDMA2000 mobile phones to customers, including one of China's main mobile operators, China Telecom. The Company through its Portables subsidiary operates a wholesale distributor business for T-Mobile products and services in the United States. The Company also has the right to sell branded mobile handsets including those carrying the Zoom brand name and related peripherals in the retail stores managed by Portables under the agreement with T-Mobile.

The Company competes with Bird Ningbo Co., Ltd, Haier Telecom Co. Ltd., Konka Group Co., Ltd, Lenovo Group Limited, TCL Communication Technology Holdings Limited, LG Electronics Ltd., Motorola Inc., Nokia Corporation, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., and Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications (China) Co., Ltd.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Lauren Pollock]

    Shares of Zoom Technologies Inc.(ZOOM) soared� 37% to $5.90 after the Chinese mobile and telecommunications investor inked an all-stock deal to acquire an online business travel provider.

10 Best Communications Equipment Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Audience Inc (ADNC)

Audience, Inc., incorporated on May 24, 2011, is a provider of voice and audio solutions that improve voice quality and the user experience in mobile devices. The Company�� solutions include hardware-accelerated digital signal processors (DSPs), and audio codecs and associated algorithms for noise suppression in mobile devices. Its computational auditory scene analysis (CASA) maps the sound separation functions in human hearing, into a computational framework. The Company�� platform consists of its DSPs and audio codec, analog and mixed signal circuits and algorithms for voice isolation and noise suppression.

The Company also provides its AuViD graphical design tools to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The Company had sold over 250 million processors to its OEM customers as of December 31, 2012. In addition to the mobile device market, the Company�� voice and audio technology is also applicable to a range of other market segments, including automobile infotainment systems, digital cameras, digital televisions, headsets and set top boxes.

The Company�� product portfolio supports both analog and digital interfaces. As of December 31, 2012, the Company offered eS515, eS325, eS305, eS310, eS110, A1028 and A1026 custom voice and audio processors for device platforms, including smartphones, feature phones and media tablets. eS515 is a third generation voice and audio processor with an integrated audio codec, featuring support of three-microphones; eS325is a third generation voice and audio processor that features simultaneous three microphone processing; eS305 is a second generation voice and audio processor utilizing new hardware acceleration architecture and algorithms for far-field, wideband communications and capable of advanced speech recognition assist, and uses an all digital interface; eS310, provides similar capabilities to the eS305; eS110 is a first generation narrowband voice processor designed for real-time communications and far-field as well as near-field u! se with features such as acoustic echo cancelation, voice equalization and automatic gain control; A1026, is a first generation narrowband voice processor designed for real-time communications and typical near-field use, and A1028, which is a first generation narrowband voice processor designed for real-time communications and far-field, as well as near-field use.

The Company derives its revenue primarily from the sale of voice and audio processors to OEMs, which incorporate them into mobile devices. As of December 31, 2012, OEMs, CMs and distributors worldwide had purchased more than 250 million of its processors and incorporated them in over 140 mobile device models.

The Company competes with Maxim, ON Semiconductor, Qualcomm, Texas Instruments Incorporated, Wolfson Microelectronics plc, DSP Group, Inc. and Yamaha Corporation.

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 Audience (Nasdaq: ADNC  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Saturday, June 28, 2014

5 Best Electric Utility Stocks To Buy For 2014

Shares of Tesla Motors (TSLA) are up $24.46, or 13%, at $218.10, after the company this afternoon reported Q4 revenue and earnings per shares that trounced analysts’ expectations, and said it expects to make delivery of 35,000 “Model S” sedans this year, which is higher than the Briefing.com consensus for 29,000.

Revenue in the three months ended in December rose almost 150%, year over year, to $761 million, yielding EPS of 33 cents.

Analysts had been modeling $673 million and 21 cents.

CEO Elon Musk said the company plans to increase production rate this quarter, even though actual quarterly shipments of the Model S will decline slightly from last quarter:

We expect to deliver over 35,000 Model S vehicles in 2014, representing a 55+% increase over 2013. Production is expected to increase from 600 cars/week presently to about 1,000 cars/week by end of the year as we expand our factory capacity and address supplier bottlenecks. Battery cell supply will continue to constrain our production in the first half of the year, but will improve significantly in the second half of 2014. First quarter production is expected to be about 7,400 vehicles, which is significantly higher than the prior quarter production of 6,587 cars. However, as the number of cars in transit to Europe and Asia must grow substantially to support those markets, we plan to deliver approximately 6,400 vehicles in Q1. Deliveries will grow dramatically in future quarters as the logistics pipeline fills.�This year, we expect automotive gross margin to increase to about 28% (non-GAAP and GAAP) in Q4 through a series of small design improvements, better supplier prices and economies of scale. Q1 gross margin should increase very slightly from Q4. For the remainder of the year, gross margin should improve at a faster pace.

Hot Dividend Stocks For 2015: Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. (CWCO)

Consolidated Water Co. Ltd., through its subsidiaries, develops and operates seawater desalination plants and water distribution systems. It operates through three segments: Retail, Bulk, and Services. The Retail segment produces and supplies water to end-users, including residential, commercial, and government customers, as well as tourist properties. The Bulk segment supplies potable water to government utilities and private customers. The Services segment designs, constructs, and sells desalination plants to third parties, as well as provides desalination plant management and operating services to plants owned by others. The company uses reverse osmosis technology to produce fresh water from seawater. It operates approximately 14 reverse osmosis desalination plants in the Cayman Islands, The Bahamas, Belize, the British Virgin Islands, and the United States. Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. was founded in 1973 and is based in Grand Cayman, the Cayman Islands.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By David Dittman]

    Answer: I like Consolidated Water Co Ltd (NSDQ: CWCO), which specializes in large-scale desalination systems.

    Question: Why has the Australian currency shown such weakness recently compared to the US dollar and the euro?

  • [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

    Leading and Lagging Sectors
    Utilities sector surged 0.26%, saw CPFL Energia SA (NYSE: CPL) as the top gainer. Among leading sector stocks, gains came from Consolidated Water Co (NASDAQ: CWCO), Companhia Paranaense de Energia (NYSE: ELP) and Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE: PEG).

  • [By Garrett Cook]

    Utilities shares gained around 0.83 percent in today’s trading. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Consolidated Water Co (NASDAQ: CWCO), up 4.3 percent, CenterPoint Energy (NYSE: CNP), up 2.1 percent.

  • [By Eric Volkman]

    Consolidated Water (NASDAQ: CWCO  ) is keeping its shareholder payout taps open. The company has declared a dividend of $0.075 per share for its Q3. This will be paid on July 31 to shareholders of record as of July 1. That amount matches each of the firm's previous quarterly distributions stretching back to late 2009. Prior to that, Consolidated Water handed out $0.065 per share.

5 Best Electric Utility Stocks To Buy For 2014: Texas Rare Earth Resources Corp (TRER.PK)

Texas Rare Earth Resources Corp., formerly Standard Silver Corporation, incorporated on July 29, 1970. a mining company engaged in the business of the acquisition and development of mineral properties. As of August 31, 2012, it held a nineteen year lease to explore and develop a 950 acre rare earth uranium-beryllium prospect located in Hudspeth County, Texas known as Round Top and prospecting permits covering an adjacent 9,345 acres.

The Company�� principal focus will be on developing a metallurgical process to concentrate or otherwise extract the metals from the Round Top rhyolite. In addition to the Round Top Project, the Company also own title to 12 unpatented mining claims, the Macho group, comprising 240 acres covering the Old Dude Mine, located in Sierra County, New Mexico. Another 18 unpatented mining claims and fractional claims, the HA group, consisting 274 acres cover an andesite hosted vein system similar to and some 10 miles to the southwest of the Macho District.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Jake Mitchell]

    As a speculative play on the industry, I came across Texas Rare Earth Resources (TRER.PK), which is principally focused on its 950 acre Round Top project. A Preliminary Economic Assessment by an independent third party found that there are an estimated over 1 billion metric tonnes of resources containing over 1 billion pounds of rare earth elements. A revised PEA, which was originally projected to have a capital cost of $2.1 billion is now estimated to be between $150 million to $350 million. A key concern in the exploration of these mines is how expensive it is to ultimately extract the rare earths from the ground. If Texas Rare Earth is able to show evidence that cost has been significantly reduced it will be the target of interested parties globally.

5 Best Electric Utility Stocks To Buy For 2014: Washington Banking Company(WBCO)

Washington Banking Company operates as the bank holding company for Whidbey Island Bank that provides community commercial banking services in northwestern Washington. Its deposit products include interest-bearing demand and money market accounts, saving deposits, time deposits, NOW accounts, and noninterest-bearing demand deposits. The company?s portfolio of loans comprises secured and unsecured commercial loans for working capital and expansion; real estate mortgage loans, including one-to-four family residential and commercial real estate loans; and real estate construction loans, such as commercial real estate, one-to-four family residential construction, and speculative construction loans. Its consumer loan portfolio include automobile loans, boat and recreational vehicle financing, home equity and home improvement loans, and other secured and unsecured personal loans, as well as SBA guaranteed loans for small and medium sized businesses. In addition, the company pro vides non-deposit managed investment products and services, and sweep investment options. As of December 31, 2010, it operated 30 branches in 6 counties located in northwestern Washington. The company was founded in 1996 and is based in Oak Harbor, Washington.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Eric Volkman]

    Washington Banking (NASDAQ: WBCO  ) is diverting some of its capital to repurchase its own stock. The company announced that its board has authorized a buyback program for up to 775,000 shares. The program is expected to continue through the end of 2014, although the firm stressed that it "is under no obligation to repurchase a specific number or dollar amount of shares and the repurchase program may be discontinued at any time."

5 Best Electric Utility Stocks To Buy For 2014: Constant Contact Inc.(CTCT)

Constant Contact, Inc. provides on-demand email marketing, social media marketing, event marketing, and online survey products primarily in the United States. It offers email marketing products, which allow customers to create, send, and track professional and affordable permission-based email marketing campaigns; and social media marketing products that allow customers to manage and optimize their presence across multiple social media networks. The company also provides event marketing products, which enable its customers to promote and manage events, communicate with invitees and registrants, capture and track registrations, and collect online payments; and online survey products that enable its customers to create and send surveys, and analyze the responses. In addition, it offers customer support services to customers and trailers through phone, chat, email, and social media. Further, the company provides ancillary services, such as custom services to customers who lik e its email campaigns, event promotions, or surveys prepared for them; and online training programs to educate participants on email marketing and social media marketing best practices, as well as a workshop programs. It markets its products directly for small organizations, including retailers, restaurants, law and accounting firms, consultants, non-profits, religious organizations, and alumni associations. The company was formerly known as Roving Software Incorporated and changed its name to Constant Contact, Inc. in 2006. Constant Contact, Inc. was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

    Technology sector was the leading decliner in the US market today. Top losers in the sector included Constant Contact (NASDAQ: CTCT), off 8.1 percent, and Ku6 Media Co (NASDAQ: KUTV), down 9.1 percent.

  • [By Evan Niu, CFA]

    What: Shares of Constant Contact (NASDAQ: CTCT  ) have popped today by upwards of 19% after the company reported first-quarter earnings.

5 Dividend Stocks That Want to Pay You More in 2014

BALTIMORE (Stockpickr) -- The stock market has done an about-face in the last couple of months, shifting from a sideways slump to a rally that's currently on track for double-digit gains by the end of the year. Since the start of January, the S&P 500, for instance, has rallied 5.89%. If the big index can keep it up, that's good for a 12.52% gain by the end of December.

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But capital gains are only part of the equation. If you're ignoring dividend payouts, you're doing yourself a huge disservice. In the last year, dividend payouts in among S&P 500 stocks have risen by 15.6%. That means that companies in the big index currently pay out more cash on a nominal basis than ever before.

Factoring in dividends to this year's return numbers, the S&P's gains sit at 6.96% so far, a 20% boost vs. the plain price gains alone. So, yes, dividends clearly matter for your total returns this year. But to find the biggest gains, it's not enough to simply buy names with big payouts today. You have to think about what they'll be paying tomorrow too.

So instead of chasing yield, we'll try to step in front of the next round of stock payout hikes.

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For our purposes, that "crystal ball" is composed of a few factors: namely a solid balance sheet, low payout ratio and a history of dividend hikes. While those items don't guarantee dividend announcements in the next month or three, they do dramatically increase the odds that management will hike their cash payouts to shareholders.

Without further ado, here's a look at five stocks that could be about to increase their dividend payments in the next quarter.

Microsoft

The term "dividend stock" doesn't typically come to mind when most people think about software giant Microsoft (MSFT), but with a 2.7% dividend yield today, the Windows developer is in the top tier of large-cap dividend payers. And Microsoft's dividend check looks likely to increase in 2014. Right now, the firm pays out a 28-cent quarterly dividend, but after four straight quarters of flat payouts, Microsoft looks likely to deploy more cash for dividends this fall.

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Microsoft doesn't need much of an introduction. The firm is one of the largest software makers in the world, thanks to the dominance of its Windows operating system and Office suite of productivity applications. It's also a major consumer electronics name today, thanks to the acquisition of Nokia's (NOK) handset business, an active tablet unit and a thriving gaming console franchise in the Xbox. But while the consumer devices may get a disproportionate share of ad spending, make no mistake -- Windows, Office and enterprise solutions are Microsoft's real cash cows.

From a financial standpoint, Microsoft is in stellar shape. The firm currently carries $80 billion in net cash and investments, enough to cover approximately 23% of the firm's current market capitalization. Ex-cash, Microsoft's P/E ratio drops to a thrifty 11.9. This tech titan isn't dirt cheap, but it's pretty close.

Wal-Mart

Retail giant Wal-Mart (WMT) has been a pretty poor performer in 2014. Since the calendar flipped to January, shares of Wal-Mart are down close to 5%, dragged lower by the occasional fundamental misstep. But that stalled share price doesn't reflect the progress WMT has made at its growth strategy this year. As Wal-Mart moves forward with its multi-format store plan, the firm should be able to capture enough sales growth to move the needle; for a firm with Wal-Mart's scale, that's a big deal.

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Wal-Mart is the undisputed king of retail. The firm boasts approximately 11,000 stores worldwide, primarily its namesake supercenters and Sam's Club wholesale clubs. Not only does the firm tip the scales with $476 billion in annual sales, it also manages to move those mountains of merchandise at net profit margins that consistently approach 3.5%. That's a big profit margin for a retail business, and combined with WMT's scale, it means that this firm throws off substantial cash for internal growth and investor consumption.

For years, the international segment has been Wal-Mart's weak spot. Despite the fact that Wal-Mart isn't exactly a newcomer to most of the markets that it operates in, overseas performance numbers still fall much lower than the returns WMT earns on its U.S. stores. Right now, Wal-Mart's 48-cent quarterly dividend payout adds up to a 2.6% yield.

Philip Morris International

Philip Morris International (PM) is your prototypical "sin stock." The tobacco giant operates in a recession-resistant business with sticky customers and deep net profit margins (above 28% last year). It's also a major income play, thanks to a 4.35% dividend payout at currently price levels. As I write, PM pays out a 94-cent quarterly dividend check to investors, but after four straight quarters of a flat rate, I'd expect this name to break the $1 barrier on its payout in 2014.

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Philip Morris International is the second-largest tobacco firm in the world, with approximately 28% of the ex-U.S. global market. The firm's brands include flagship Marlboro as well as second-tier names such as L&M, Parliament and Chesterfield. Philip Morris International stepped out on its own after a 2008 spin-off from Altria (MO) separated the firm's domestic and international tobacco businesses. There's no question that PM is the more attractive of the two businesses, thanks to attractive emerging market demographics and lower regulations than found here at home.

Looking at the financials, one of the biggest challenges for this stock in recent years has been the fact that, since sales are made in foreign currencies and then converted into dollars, PM's overseas earnings take a conversion hit when the dollar is strong. But even those headwinds haven't been enough to derail PM's growth trajectory. And with PM's dividend averaging 13% growth over the last three years, investors should get ready for another hike.

Duke Energy

Nothing goes together quite like dividends and utility stocks. So while I'm the first to admit that adding Duke Energy (DUK) to our list of potential dividend hikers is a bit of a layup, it doesn't change the fact that income investors should be paying attention to this name. Duke Energy is the largest utility in the U.S. -- the firm owns regulated businesses that deliver electricity and gas to approximately 7.1 million customers in the Carolinas, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Florida.

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And right now, the firm's 78-cent dividend payout adds up to a 4.3% yield.

Like a handful of its peers, Duke has been selling off some of its non-regulated assets (like 7.5 gigawatts of generation capacity at its Midwestern power plants), forgoing exposure to energy commodities in favor of the steady, predictable regulated earnings. Duke's exposure to states with accommodative regulators is a big part of why it's been so eager to shed those assets. As of this writing, around 90% of Duke Energy's earnings come from regulated distribution.

Duke's dividend payouts have remained consistent, and should continue to grow, especially as DUK finds cost savings from its $29 billion acquisition of Progress Energy two years ago. The firm announces earnings on Aug. 4, which could be a dividend boost date.

Hershey

As the largest candy maker in the U.S., Hershey (HSY) commands a whopping 43% share of the domestic chocolate business. That positioning translates into some pretty sweet profits for the $21 billion food maker: Last year, HSY 11 cents out of every sales dollar into net income, $3.61 per share in total. Of that, it's paid out $1.94 per share directly to shareholders in the form of dividends over the last 12 months, adding up to a 2% yield today.

But Hershey looks primed to boost that payout amount in 2014.

Hershey's brands include names like Reese's, Kit Kat and Twizzlers in addition to its popular namesake products. In total, the firm boasts more than 80 brands sold in 70 countries. But that vast majority of sales are still generated here at home; only 15% of revenue is generated overseas. If Hershey can boost its exposure to foreign candy sales, it has the potential to log some material growth in the years ahead.

In the past several years, dividends have failed to keep pace with a double-digit sales and profit growth rate. That leaves some cushion for HSY to hike its payout without getting overextended. For now, HSY pays just under half of its quarterly net income in the form of dividends.

To see these dividend plays in action, check out the at Dividend Stocks for the Week portfolio on Stockpickr. 



-- Written by Jonas Elmerraji in Baltimore.


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Follow Stockpickr on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

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

Jonas Elmerraji, CMT, is a senior market analyst at Agora Financial in Baltimore and a contributor to

TheStreet. Before that, he managed a portfolio of stocks for an investment advisory returned 15% in 2008. He has been featured in Forbes , Investor's Business Daily, and on CNBC.com. Jonas holds a degree in financial economics from UMBC and the Chartered Market Technician designation.

Follow Jonas on Twitter @JonasElmerraji