Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Fed Stands Pat, Stocks Fall

So the Federal Reserve did what just about everybody thought it would do–and stocks fell anyway.

Bloomberg News

The S&P 500 dropped 0.4% to 1,763.31, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4% to 15,618.76. The Nasdaq Composite finished down 0.6% at 3,930.62.

As my colleague Michael Aneiro writes:

Bond prices are slipping after the Federal Reserve released its latest policy statement, which as expected didn't do anything on the tapering front.

The statement removed a reference from the previous statement to the Fed being worried about the effect of rising mortgage rates, replacing it with "the recovery in the housing sector slowed somewhat in recent months."

Marketfield’s Michael Shaoulwarns investors not to get complacent:

[The Fed kept intact its] promise that bond purchases will remain in place for a while longer and that the gap between tapering and an actual rise in interest rates will be lengthy. We continue to take issue with the latter, since we believe that the FOMC continues to underestimate both the speed with which employment conditions are improving and inflationary pressures are building. We do not doubt the honesty of the committee, merely its ability to accurately gauge the trajectory of an economic cycle which has consistently surprised it.

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Google’s social network has 540 million users

SAN FRANCISCO -- Google said Tuesday that its social network Google+ has seen a big jump in users in recent months.

Vic Gundotra, head of social at Google, said Google+ now has 540 million 30-day monthly active users, up from 390 million in May.

Google+ is also uploading 1.5 billion photos per week and that number is increasing at "an amazing rate," Gundotra also said during an event in San Francisco.

Google+, the company's social network, has struggled to keep up with the growth of Facebook since the Internet search leader launched the service in 2011.

Facebook has more than 1 billion monthly active users, while Twitter has just over 230 million.

Gundotra unveiled several new Google+ features Tuesday that are focused on sharing photos on the social network, searching them and enhancing them.

Google has added about 1,000 more words, including "hug," "kiss" and "waterfall," that its algorithm can use to track down photos that have been uploaded to Google+.

Since Google+ started, the number of videos uploaded to the social network has jumped 20 fold, Gundotra also reported.

The executive unveiled Auto Awesome Movie, a new service that helps Google+ users create a movie from a collection of video clips that have been uploaded to the social network.

Google CEO Larry Page was laser focused on social for one or two years as Facebook went on a hiring spree and prepared for an IPO, which took place in 2012.

Since then, Google has shifted focus to other projects, such as Glass, the company's cutting-edge connected glasses that operate through voice recognition.

Wall Street has embraced Google's shift, pushing the company's shares above $1,000 for the first time in recent weeks.

Monday, October 28, 2013

Should You Invest In Pandora?

With shares of Pandora (NYSE:P) trading around $14, is P an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE or STAY AWAY? Let's analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework:

T = Trends for a Stock’s Movement

Pandora is an Internet radio company that operates in the United States that has over 125 million registered users. Pandora’s Music Genome Project and its playlist generating algorithms predict listener music preferences, play music content suited to the tastes of each individual listener, and introduce listeners to music they will love. The main sources of revenue for the company are advertising as well as subscriptions. As the Internet music boom continues, Pandora is well-positioned to capitalize on potential subscriptions and advertising marketing share.

T = Technicals on the Stock Chart are Strong

Pandora stock saw a bit of selling pressure soon after its initial public offering which took the stock down to near $7 per share. The stock has not began a recovery and has doubled in just over six months. Analyzing the price trend and its strength can be done using key simple moving averages. What are the key moving averages? The 50-day (pink), 100-day (blue), and 200-day (yellow) simple moving averages. As seen in the daily price chart below, Pandora is trading near its rising key averages which signal neutral to bullish price action in the near-term.

P

(Source: Thinkorswim)

NEW! Discover a new stock idea each week for less than the cost of 1 trade. CLICK HERE for your Weekly Stock Cheat Sheets NOW!

Taking a look at the implied volatility (red) and implied volatility skew levels of Pandora options may help determine if investors are bullish, neutral, or bearish.

Implied Volatility (IV)

30-Day IV Percentile

90-Day IV Percentile

Pandora Options

61.43%

23%

Best Energy Companies To Invest In 2014

21%

What does this mean? This means that investors or traders are buying a small amount of call and put options contracts, as compared to the last 30 and 90 trading days.

Put IV Skew

Call IV Skew

July Options

Flat

Average

August Options

Flat

Average

As of today, there is an average demand from call buyers or sellers and low demand by put buyers or high demand by put sellers, all neutral to bullish over the next two months. To summarize, investors are buying a small amount of call and put option contracts and are leaning neutral to bullish over the next two months.

On the next page, let’s take a look at the earnings and revenue growth rates and the conclusion.

E = Earnings Are Increasing Quarter-Over-Quarter

Rising stock prices are often strongly correlated with rising earnings and revenue growth rates. Also, the last four quarterly earnings announcement reactions help gauge investor sentiment on Pandora’s stock. What do the last four quarterly earnings and revenue growth (Y-O-Y) figures for Pandora look like and more importantly, how did the markets like these numbers?

2013 Q1

2012 Q4

2012 Q3

2012 Q2

Earnings Growth (Y-O-Y)

-11.11%

-69.72%

100%

80.33%

Revenue Growth (Y-O-Y)

59.07%

53.81%

59.99%

51.22%

Earnings Reaction

2.56%

8.29%

-17.28%

-5.26%

Pandora has seen mixed earnings and increasing revenue figures over the last four quarters. From these figures, the markets are becoming excited about Pandora’s recent earnings announcements.

P = Excellent Relative Performance Versus Peers and Sector

How has Pandora stock done relative to its peers, Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ:SIRI), CBS (NYSE:CBS), Cumulus Media (NASDAQ:CMLS), and sector?

Pandora

Sirius XM

CBS

Cumulus Media

Sector

Year-to-Date Return

56.54%

14.71%

26.18%

31.84%

28.45%

Pandora has been a relative performance leader, year-to-date.

NEW! Discover a new stock idea each week for less than the cost of 1 trade. CLICK HERE for your Weekly Stock Cheat Sheets NOW!

Conclusion

Pandora is an Internet radio company that attempts to predict listener preferences and find music they love. The stock is now recovering from selling pressure experienced since its initial public offering in 2011. Over the last four quarters, earnings have been mixed while revenue figures have increased, overall making investors in the company happy. Relative to its peers and sector, Pandora has been a year-to-date performance leader. Look for Pandora to OUTPERFORM.

Sunday, October 27, 2013

The Best DC Comics Movie of the Summer Isn't "Man of Steel"

Of all the wonderful things that make San Diego Comic-Con great, nothing thrills so much as the opportunity to be among the first to see a new property come to life on screen. So when I had the chance to see the world premiere of DC Entertainment's latest animated epic, Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, I took it. And boy, am I glad I did.

The film, based on the comic book series "Flashpoint," takes a dark departure from the typical fare in Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX  ) DC Comics universe.

The original "Flashpoint" storyline as published by DC. Source: DC Comics.

DC's scarlet speedster, The Flash, races back in time to prevent the murder of his mother. He succeeds but changes history in the process, creating a fractured timeline where the world is at war, Batman isn't quite Batman, Superman can't be found, and Cyborg is a government official.

There's more, but I won't spoil it for you. Let's just say this isn't a kid's film, and in terms of plot depth, character development, and pacing, Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox is, in my opinion, at least as good as Man of Steel and possibly better.

Sources: YouTube, DC Entertainment.

Surprised? Offended? Both? Look, I recognize that taste is subjective, but DC has a long history of producing excellent adult animation. Marvel hasn't been as fortunate with its tries, an oddity when you consider its relationship to Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS  ) .

Don't take my word for it. Check out the "adult animation" section at Netflix. Look at the ratio of DC films to Marvel films. Then look at the ratings and reviews for 2010's Batman: Under the Red Hood, a critical success that earned more than $7 million in direct-to-DVD sales and which gets four stars from members. More than 1.32 million Netflixers have watched as of this writing.

Flashpoint, I think, is cut from the same mold and could do just as well. All of which has me wondering why DC isn't borrowing more of its animated talent to make live-action films. Two years ago, I argued that former animation chief Bruce Timm would be an excellent choice to assume the same role at DC that Joss Whedon holds at Marvel today. I still believe that.

Whether Timm gets the nod or not -- right now, it seems unlikely -- the important point for us as investors is that DC has significant assets that, if handled as well as Flashpoint was, could become a catalyst for Time Warner stock.

Now it's your turn to weigh in. Will you see Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox? Leave a comment to let us know what you think of DC's efforts and Time Warner stock.

You know superhero stocks aren't easy to come by. Yet The Motley Fool's chief investment officer believes he's found one. Find out more in the special free report: "The Motley Fool's Top Stock for 2013." Just click here to access the report now, and we'll tell you the secret identity of this under-the-radar company.

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Top 10 Stocks To Own Right Now

On this day in economic and business history...

Millions of children in two successive generations -- the Boomers and Generation X -- first experienced "computing" technology through video games. Credit for that cultural legacy is owed largely to Atari, which did more to popularize the first video games in arcades and on consoles than any other company. It all began on June 28, 1972�, when Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney founded the company in California.

Atari's first hire, 24-year-old Al Alcorn�, was assigned to work on an arcade knockoff of the Magnavox Odyssey's tennis game, which Bushnell had seen in demonstration a month earlier. The Odyssey, despite becoming the first home game console in history when launched that August, was not a great commercial success. Atari's knockoff, however, became legendary. You might have heard of it; it's called Pong (click the link to read more about Pong and Atari).

Pong established Atari as the preeminent video-gaming company in an industry it more or less created out of nothing. This early success forced Atari to expand rapidly. By mid-1974, it was up to 39 employees, but employee number 40 is the one that went on to the greatest success. Al Alcorn met the kid in Atari's lobby, and he later recounted the incident to video game historian Steven Kent�:

Top 10 Stocks To Own Right Now: OMNOVA Solutions Inc.(OMN)

OMNOVA Solutions Inc. provides emulsion polymers, specialty chemicals, and decorative and functional surfaces for commercial, industrial, and residential end uses primarily in North America, Europe, and Asia. The company operates in two segments, Performance Chemicals and Decorative Products. The Performance Chemicals segment offers a range of emulsion polymers and specialty chemicals based primarily on styrene butadiene, styrene butadiene acrylonitrile, styrene butadiene vinyl pyridine, nitrile butadiene, polyvinyl acetate, acrylic, styrene acrylic, vinyl acrylic, glyoxal, phenolic and diphenylamine antioxidants, hollow plastic pigment, fluorochemicals, and bio-based chemistries. Its custom-formulated products include tailored resins, binders, adhesives, specialty rubbers, antioxidants, and elastomeric modifiers, which are used in paper, specialty coatings, carpets, nonwovens, construction, oil/gas drilling, adhesives, tapes, tire cords, floor care, textiles, graphic arts , polymer stabilization, industrial rubbers and hoses, bio-based polymers, and various other applications. This segment primarily sells its products directly to manufacturers. The Decorative Products segment develops, designs, produces, and markets a line of functional and decorative surfacing products, including coated fabrics, vinyl, paper and specialty laminates, and performance films. Its products are used in various applications, such as commercial building refurbishment, remodeling, and new construction; residential cabinets, flooring, and furnishings; retail display; transportation markets; recreational vehicles; manufactured housing; medical devices and products; and various industrial film applications. This segment distributes its products primarily through a direct sales force; and agents to manufacturers of cabinets, furniture, seating, health care and medical components, and other products. OMNOVA Solutions Inc. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Fairla wn, Ohio.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Sean Williams]

    Chemical reaction
    The disappointments are starting to mount for investors in OMNOVA Solutions (NYSE: OMN  ) , an emulsion polymer and specialty chemicals maker that has missed the Street's estimates in worsening fashion for three straight quarters. Its first-quarter results, released earlier this month, showed a 9% decline in total revenue from the year-ago period because of lower volumes in Europe and India, and business seasonality. However, optimistic contentions could also be made based on this same earnings report.

Top 10 Stocks To Own Right Now: Yuhe International Inc(YUII)

Yuhe International, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in supplying day-old chickens raised for meat production or broilers in the People?s Republic of China. It purchases baby parent breeding stocks from primary breeder farms, raises them for hatching eggs, and sells live day-old broilers. The company also supplies chicken feed stock. The company has 43 breeder farms with 28 in operation and 3 hatcheries with a total annual capacity of 3.15 million sets of breeders and 160 hatchers. It serves integrated chicken companies, broiler raising companies, and individual broiler raisers through third party distributors. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Weifang, the People?s Republic of China.

Best Gold Stocks To Watch Right Now: Eltek Ltd.(ELTK)

Eltek Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells printed circuit boards (PCBs), including high density interconnect multi-layered and flex-rigid boards primarily in Israel, Europe, and North America. The company offers a range of custom designed PCBs, such as complex rigid, double-sided, and multi-layer PCBs, as well as flexible circuitrym made of various types of high-performance base material. It offers its products to manufacturers of medical equipment, defense and aerospace equipment, industrial equipment, and telecom and networking equipment, as well as contract electronic manufacturers. The company markets and sells its products through direct sales personnel, sales representatives, and agreements with PCB trading and manufacturing companies. Eltek Ltd. was founded in 1970 and is based in Petach Tikva, Israel.

Top 10 Stocks To Own Right Now: Orange SA (ORAN)

Orange SA, formerly France Telecom S.A., incorporated on December 31, 1996, is an European mobile operator, an asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) Internet access provider in Europe, and telecommunications services provider for multinational businesses under the Orange Business Services brand. As of December 31, 2010, France Telecom provided services to 209 million customers, of which 150 million were mobile phone customers and 13.7 million were broadband Internet customers, and as of June 30, 2011, provided services to 217.3 million customers. It offers its individual customers, businesses and other telecommunications operators a line of services covering fixed and mobile communications, data transmission, the Internet and multimedia, and other services. The Company�� segments include France, Poland, Spain, Rest of the World, Business Communication Services, International Carriers and Shared Services.

France

The range of services in the Home segment in France is made up of fixed-line telephony services; other consumer services; online, Internet access, and multimedia services; advertising-management and Internet portal business; content-related business, and carrier services. France Telecom�� traditional fixed-line telephony services provide access to the network, local and long-distance telephone communication services throughout France, and international calls. In addition, France Telecom offers its fixed-line telephony subscribers a broad range of value-added services. The France Telecom Group has a number of portals, including Orange.fr, which is either Web- or mobile-accessible. In December 2010, its audience reached 22.5 million, and Voila.fr and Cityvox (entertainment and leisure listing site in France) in its different formats, such as Cityvox.fr, Cinefil.com, Spectacles.fr, Concert.fr and WebCity.fr. The primary revenue source is online advertising sold by the Orange Advertising Network. This advertising management department sells advertising space for ab! out 20 third-party sites, both Web and mobile.

Orange�� offers are built around three product lines: postpaid, prepaid and convergent offers. Orange offers two categories of prepaid offer, to which calls are charged by the second from the first second: The Mobicarte, includes a range of recharges from 5 to 100 euros and Orange Initial, which enables the customer to be billed monthly depending on his or her actual consumption. Orange also has a number of offers that pair mobile use and mobile Internet access with all-in-one offers, including both the hardware and an Internet access plan. The USB 3G+ plans enable connection to the Internet via the mobile broadband network or the Orange public wireless fidelity (WiFi) network from a laptop computer, multimedia mobile phone or a tablet personal computer.

The Company competes with SFR-Neuf Cegetel, Free, Bouygues Telecom, Numericable, Google and Voila.

Poland

Orange (the brand under which the TP Group subsidiary, PTK Centertel trades) had a total of 14.3 million during the year ended December 31, 2010. In April 2010, PTK Centertel introduced segmented postpaid offers for residential customers. Depending on the usage profile, customers can choose from three types of tariff plans: Dolphin tariffs for frequent users of voice services, Pelican for customers focused on text and community Web-services, and Panther for users of mobile data services (Internet, email). The mobile broadband Internet customer base (Edge and 3G data services) reached 547,000 customers during 2010. In 2010, Orange introduced a SIM-only mobile Internet offer and a portfolio of terminals dedicated to the Orange Free offer.

The Company competes with Netia, Multimedia Polska, Aster and Hyperion.

Spain

Orange Espana, operating under Orange, Ya.com and OBS (Enterprise) brands offers fixed and mobile telecommunication services to more than 13 million customers in the residential, professional, business and who! lesale se! gments. Orange Espana�� physical distribution network consists in 2,922 points of presence, including Orange own shops, franchises, specialized shops under the Orange brand, non exclusive specialized shops, and a network of retailers. Orange Espana also distributes its services through distance selling channels, and its own online portal. Orange Espana fixed access infrastructure, based on its own optic fiber network and ADSL roll-out, enables delivery of advanced telecommunication services, including broadband Internet access, voice over Internet protocol (VoIP), internet protocol television (IPTV), television (TV) streaming, video on demand (VOD) and advanced business services.

The Company competes with Telefonica, ONO, Vodafone and Jazztel.

Rest of the world

The France Telecom Group is present in Luxembourg via Orange S.A. (formerly VOXmobile), a wholly owned subsidiary of Mobistar. The Luxembourg subsidiary, VOXmobile, was renamed Orange S.A. in October 2009. During the year ended December 31, 2010, Orange S.A. had 88,900 active mobile telephony customers.

The Company competes with Proximus, Mobistar, Base, ex-Mobifon, Telefonica O2, Deutsche Telekom, Swisscom, Sunrise, Moldtelecom, Starnet, ECMS, Vodafone Egypt and Etisalat U.A.E.

Enterprise Communications Services

The Orange Business Services brand covers both the Enterprise Communication Services (ECS) unit, which supplies communications services to multinational companies and corporate accounts and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in France and Orange subsidiaries Business-to-Business (B2B) activities.

Orange Business Services covers the Company�� business customers in more than 160 countries and regions where it provides local technical and commercial assistance. This business segment includes a number of subsidiaries, including Etrali (trading solutions), Almerys (health), Orange Consulting (project management, telecom consulting), Multimedia Business Se! rvices (m! ultimedia contact centers), Neocles (virtualization solutions), IT&Labs (design and development of embedded Machine-to-Machine applications, vehicle fleet management), Obiane and Telecom System (secure network integration), Alsy (integration services), EGT (equipment and services for video conferences), and GlobeCast (multimedia broadcast systems).

The Company competes with IBM, HP, Microsoft and Cisco.

The Company competes with COLT Telecom, Numericable-Completel, BT Global Services, AT&T Business Services, Verizon Business, T-Systems, Reliance Globalcom, Tata Communications, Belgacom Group, NextiraOne, Spie Communication, NTT Group, IBM Global Services, HP Enterprise Services, Atos Origin, Salesforce and Amazon.

International Carriers and Shared Services

Orange�� International Carriers activity is based on long-distance network infrastructure and offers a range of solutions on the international market. The Company is involved in the design, construction and operation of submarine cables. The Company�� wholesale activity includes a worldwide network with over 120 presence points and 130,000 kilometers of fiber optic cable; a worldwide network of Internet protocol (IP) routes with end users in over 220 countries and connections to over 250 Internet service providers and a hit rate of over 85% for all European net surfers. France Telecom�� network has over 330 direct routes and interconnections with over 359 operators, and coverage in over 900 destinations with around-the-clock technical support. Its range of solutions includes interconnection, interoperability and signaling solutions for messaging, voice and video telephony services and the Orange Roaming Hub (Global eXchange) solution for moving from a bilateral model to a multilateral roaming system.

France Telecom has developed activities related to its core business line, such as content broadcasting, audience and advertising, and also healthcare activities. Orange offers free a! nd paying! content on its own channels, paid program packages, Video On Demand, music and game offers. Orange distributes content provided by third parties (television, games, music) on fixed-line and mobile networks both inside and outside France. Orange also produces its own channels: Orange Sport and Orange Cinema�� five different channels. Studio 37, is a subsidiary for investing in cinematographic rights, through both co-production and the acquisition of catalogue rights. During the year ended December 32, 2010, Studio 37 supported the launch of 15 films, including the Gainsbourg and Fatal. The Viaccess group, a France Telecom subsidiary, offers access solutions to television content. Orange is present in the games market through the games it sells on the orange.fr portal (Casual Games dedicated to family type games, such as breakout clones or riddles). Orange Healthcare, is the Company�� healthcare division, focused on developing service packages for the whole sector within a partnership approach.

The Company competes with Telefonica, Deutsche Telekom, Telia Sonera and AT&T.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Anders Bylund]

    France Telcom (NYSE: ORAN  ) is a classic income stock. Its double-digit dividend yield is powered by stable cash flows in a maturing industry.

  • [By Brian Pacampara]

    Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, French telecommunications giant France Telecom (NYSE: ORAN  ) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

  • [By Rich Smith]

    No soup for Yahoo!
    For some time now, Yahoo! has been angling to make a big buy in France. New CEO Marissa Mayer had her eye on online video website and Google rival Dailymotion, which France Telecom (NYSE: ORAN  ) was looking to unload.

  • [By Sean Williams]

    Finally, because three isn't a crowd when it comes to receiving dividends, we received our $0.2637 per share distribution from France Telecom (NYSE: ORAN  ) . France Telecom pays out two semi-annual dividends each year that can vary wildly in size. Like Exelon, France Telecom reduced its dividend by more than 40% recently, but is still pledging to deliver what would equate to at least 0.80 euros ($1.07) this year. �That would equate to a yield of 10.8% based on yesterday's closing price, and the prospect of nearly an $0.80 dividend being announced later this summer. Don't be surprised if you see income seekers jumping into France Telecom in the coming months.

Top 10 Stocks To Own Right Now: Homeloans Ltd (HOM.AX)

Homeloans Limited engages in the mortgage origination and management of home loans in Australia. The company originates residential mortgages through external mortgage brokers, satellite offices, and internal consultants. It is also involved in the securitization of mortgages through the residential mortgage trust, a special purpose vehicle used to issue residential mortgage backed securities. In addition, the company offers various types of home loans, including variable rate, fixed rate, split, lo doc, bridging, interest only, standard, and line of credit home loans. Further, it provides home loans for building and renovating, refinancing and debt consolidating, and investing activities, as well as for first home buyers and self employed borrowers. Additionally, the company offers various insurance policies comprising home and contents, motor vehicle, landlords, and life insurance policies. Homeloans Limited was founded in 1985 and is based in Sydney, Australia.

Top 10 Stocks To Own Right Now: Sandy Spring Bancorp Inc.(SASR)

Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for Sandy Spring Bank, which offers a range of commercial banking, retail banking, and trust services to individuals and businesses in Maryland. It accepts various deposit products consisting of demand, money market savings, regular savings, and time deposits, as well as interest-bearing and non interest-bearing deposits. The company?s loan portfolio includes residential real estate development and construction loans; commercial loans comprising commercial real estate loans, commercial construction loans, equipment leases, and other commercial loans; and consumer loans, including home equity loans and lines, installment loans, personal lines of credit, marine loans, and student loans. It also offers personal trust, and investment and wealth management services. In addition, the company provides equipment leasing services for small to medium sized businesses through vendors, and to end-users located primarily from New Jersey to Florida. Further, it offers annuities as an alternative to traditional deposit accounts; provides general insurance services in the areas of commercial, personal, and medical liability lines; and provides investment management and financial planning to individuals, families, small businesses, and associations, including cash flow analysis, investment review, tax planning, retirement planning, insurance analysis, and estate planning. As of July 13, 2011, Sandy Spring Bancorp operated 44 community offices in Anne Arundel, Carroll, Frederick, Howard, Montgomery, and Prince George's counties in Maryland, as well as Arlington, Fairfax, and Loudoun counties in Virginia. The company was founded in 1868 and is headquartered in Olney, Maryland.

Top 10 Stocks To Own Right Now: Boom Logistics Ltd(BOL.AX)

Boom Logistics Limited provides crane logistics and lifting solutions to resource, energy, utilities, and infrastructure sectors in Australia. The company provides managed lifting solutions, contractual maintenance programs, crane integration for high rise construction, engineering services and maintenance, and equipment hire services. It also involves in the sale of cranes and crane parts; and the provision of repairs and maintenance services. The company offers a range of cranes, lifting equipment, and heavy haulage vehicles, as well as access and ancillary equipment. Its solutions include mobile, project, crawler, and tower cranes; heavy haulage vehicles, such as prime movers and low loaders; low profile prime movers; overhead jacking systems; and travel towers, under-bridge units, trailer lifts, spider lifts, boom lifts, knuckle boom lifts, scissor lifts, one man lifts, material lifts, material handlers, generators, and compressors. Boom Logistics Limited operates in a range of industry sectors, primarily industrial maintenance, commercial construction, resources and petro chemical industry, civil works, and heavy lifting sectors. It offers approximately 530 cranes and 2,500 items of access equipment. The company, formerly known as Australian Crane Company, was incorporated in 2000 and is based in Southbank, Australia.

Top 10 Stocks To Own Right Now: LRAD Corporation(LRAD)

LRAD Corporation engages in the design, development, and commercialization of directed sound technologies and products in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. The company develops and delivers directed acoustic products that beam, focus, and control sound over short and long distances. It offers Long Range Acoustic Device, which creates directed acoustic beam to communicate at operational ranges in high ambient noise environments, primarily for military applications. The company also provides SoundSaber thin film magnetic speaker technology that provides high clarity throughout the audio range for emergency and mass notification, public address, and other sound applications. Its SoundSaber hardened panels are used in acoustic environments, such as hangar bays, industrial buildings, airports, and other facilities. LRAD Corporation sells its products directly to government, military, large end-users, and defense-related companies. The company was formerly known as American Technology Corporation and changed its name to LRAD Corporation in March 2010. LRAD Corporation was founded in 1980 and is based in San Diego, California.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By gurujx]

    LRAD (LRAD): CFO/Secretary Katherine McDermott Sold 38,204 Shares

    CFO/Secretary Katherine McDermott sold 38,204 shares of LRAD stock on Aug. 28 at the average price of $1.57. Katherine H McDermott owns at least 17,800 shares after this. The price of the stock has decreased by 10.19% since.

Top 10 Stocks To Own Right Now: Bioanalytical Systems Inc.(BASI)

Bioanalytical Systems, Inc. provides drug discovery and development services for pharmaceutical, biotechnology, academic, and government organizations primarily in North America, the Pacific Rim, and Europe. The company operates in two segments, Contract Research Services and Research Products. The Contract Research Services segment offers various services, including product characterization, method development, and validation; bioanalytical testing to measure drug and metabolite concentrations in complex biological matrices; stability testing to establish and confirm product purity, potency, and shelf life; in vivo sampling services for the continuous monitoring of chemical changes in life; and pharmacokinetic and safety testing services, as well as provides screening and pharmacological testing, preclinical safety testing, formulation development, regulatory compliance, and quality control testing services. The Research Products segment offers analytical products compris ing liquid chromatographic and electrochemical instruments with associated accessories; in vivo sampling products, such as Culex family of automated in vivo sampling and dosing instruments; and Vetronics? products consisting of instruments and related software to monitor and diagnose cardiac function, and measure other vital physiological parameters in cats and dogs. The company was founded in 1974 and is headquartered in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Top 10 Stocks To Own Right Now: Sears Canada Inc Com Npv(SCC.TO)

Sears Canada Inc. operates as a multi-channel retailer in Canada. The company operates department stores that offer appliances, home furnishings and mattresses, home decor, lawn and garden, hardware, electronics and leisure, seasonal products, nursery products, cosmetics, jewelry, footwear, and accessories, as well as women?s, men?s, and children?s apparel; home stores, which provide home improvement products; and home dealer stores that offer furniture, home electronics, outdoor power equipment, and merchandise. It also operates outlet stores, which provide clearance merchandise; appliances and mattresses stores that offer appliances, mattresses and box-springs, and products of private label and various national brands; operates and franchises appliance specialty stores under the Corbeil name; and floor covering centers that offer an assortment of broadloom and hard floor coverings. In addition, the company provides a range of home services, including the sale, install ation, maintenance, and repair of heating and cooling equipment, roofing, doors and windows, flooring, window coverings, energy audits, kitchen and bathroom renovations, carpet and upholstery cleaning, and duct cleaning; and travel and logistics services. Further, it offers products directly through telephone, mail, fax, and online at sears.ca, as well as in person through its stores and catalogue agents. As of May 24, 2012, the company operated 196 corporate stores, 278 hometown dealer stores, 29 home services showrooms, 1,500 catalogue and online merchandise pick-up locations, and 105 Sears Travel offices, as well as a home maintenance, repair, and installation network. Additionally, it has joint venture interests in 12 shopping centers in Canada. The company was formerly known as Simpsons-Sears Limited and changed its name to Sears Canada Inc. in May 1984. The company was founded in 1952 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Sears Canada Inc. is a subsidiary of Sears H oldings Corporation.

Friday, October 25, 2013

Best High Tech Stocks To Invest In Right Now

When President Obama's budget proposal came out earlier this week, it included provisions to replace existing cost-of-living adjustments for Social Security with an alternative method using what's called the chained consumer price index. Immediately, politicians came out with wildly disparate characterizations of what impact switching to a chained CPI would have, most of which happened to coincide with their particular political views.

But rather than relying on biased opinions, you owe it to yourself to learn the facts. With that goal, here's a brief explanation of what chained CPI is and why it has led to such strong debate in Washington and across the nation.

The basics of chained CPI
To understand the chained CPI, you have to go to the group that calculates it: the Bureau of Labor Statistics. More than a decade ago, the BLS started calculating what it called the C-CPI-U, or Chained Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers. In 2003, a paper from three BLS economists�(link opens PDF file) explained the new inflation benchmark in great detail.

Best High Tech Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Waste Management Inc.(WM)

Waste Management, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides waste management services to residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers in North America. It offers collection, transfer, recycling, and disposal services. The company also owns, develops, and operates waste-to-energy and landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the United States. Its collection services involves in picking up and transporting waste and recyclable materials from where it was generated to a transfer station, material recovery facility, or disposal site; and recycling operations include collection and materials processing, plastics materials recycling, and commodities recycling. In addition, it provides recycling brokerage, which includes managing the marketing of recyclable materials for third parties; and electronic recycling services, such as collection, sorting, and disassembling of discarded computers, communications equipment, and other electronic equipment. Further, the company e ngages in renting and servicing portable restroom facilities to municipalities and commercial customers under the Port-o-Let name; and involves in landfill gas-to-energy operations comprising recovering and processing the methane gas produced naturally by landfills into a renewable energy source, as well as provides street and parking lot sweeping services. Additionally, it offers portable self-storage, fluorescent lamp recycling, and medical waste services for healthcare facilities, pharmacies, and individuals, as well as provides services on behalf of third parties to construct waste facilities. The company was formerly known as USA Waste Services, Inc. and changed its name to Waste Management, Inc. in 1998. Waste Management, Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is based in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Maxx Chatsko]

    Consider that municipalities and industrial giants such as�Waste Management� (NYSE: WM  ) �are converting their fleets -- in this case garbage trucks -- to�run on natural gas fuels�(link opens a video). It's a little easier for Waste Management, since it uses biogas generated from its managed landfills to fuel its own vehicles. Clean Energy Fuels also sources biomethane from one of its landfills in Dallas. In fact, the facility can produce up to 36,000 gasoline-equivalent gallons�each day. It's like the old saying goes: One man's trash is another man's fuel.��

  • [By Daniel Sparks]

    The payout ratio is an excellent tool for dividend investors. Without it, it's tough to judge how sustainable a company's dividend is. Though a lower payout ratio is always better than a high payout ratio, some companies can easily cope with higher ratios than others. In the video below, Fool contributor Daniel Sparks looks at�Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) , Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT  ) , and Waste Management (NYSE: WM  ) , illustrating how the ratio deserves careful attention during analysis.

  • [By Helix Investment Research]

    We note that Keating Capital's co-investors in many of its portfolio companies are not simply other venture capital or existing investors, but strategic investors as well. Examples include Agilyx, where Waste Management (WM) is a co-investor, BrightSource, where Chevron (CVX) and BP (BP) are co-investors, Kabam, where Google (GOOG) and Intel (INTC) are co-investors, or Tremor Video (TRMR), where Time Warner (TWX) is a co-investor. As of the end of Q2 2013, 9 (excluding Jumptap) of Keating Capital's portfolio companies had unrealized gains, with an average gain of 25.6% (again excluding Jumptap, which had unrealized gains of 8% as of the end of Q2 2013). The remaining 6 companies had an average loss of 44.46%. However, on an overall basis, Keating Capital's portfolio currently has an average unrealized gain of 2.15%. While this is not a large gain, we note that the bulk of Keating Capital's profits are realized upon exiting an investment in conjunction with the portfolio company's IPO or sale. Furthermore, portions of Keating Capital's portfolio are defended by structurally protected appreciation clauses that the company has struck with its portfolio companies, clauses that are not reflected on its balance sheet. These clauses, which are negotiated between Keating Capital and its portfolio companies, allow the company to receive shares in the portfolio company's IPO at a discount, or grant it warrants to purchase additional shares in an IPO for a nominal price. Since inception, Keating Capital has negotiated structurally protected appreciation clauses in 11 of the 20 companies it has invested in. As of the end of Q2 2013, 6 of Keating Capital's 15 portfolio companies were protected by structurally protected appreciation clauses, representing $22 million in total capital (almost 43% of the company's invested capital), thereby entitling Keating Capital to a weighted-average aggregate value of 1.9x its investment at the time of an IPO.

Best High Tech Stocks To Invest In Right Now: CRH PLC(CRH)

CRH public limited company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and distribution of a range of building materials in the Republic of Ireland, Benelux counties, and the Americas. It offers a range of materials, including cement, aggregates, ready mixed concrete, asphalt/bitumen, and agricultural and/or chemical lime products. The company also involves in the production and sale of architectural and structural concrete products, clay products, fabricated and tempered glass products, and construction accessories, as well as the provision of inter-related products and services to the construction sector. In addition, it engages in the merchanting activities; and operation of Do-It-Yourself stores engaged in the marketing and sale of supplies to the construction sector and to the general public. Further, the company manufactures and installs pre-stressed concrete flooring planks, modular precast structures, and other products used in structures, such as hotels, apartments, dormitories, and prisons. Additionally, it offers concrete pipes used for storm and sanitary sewer applications. The company operates approximately 501 Builders Merchants stores in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, and Switzerland; and 243 Do-It-Yourself stores in Benelux, Germany, Portugal, and Spain. CRH public limited company was founded in 1949 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.

5 Best Warren Buffett Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Qiagen N.V.(QGEN)

QIAGEN N.V., through its subsidiaries, provides sample and assay technologies worldwide. It offers approximately 500 core consumable products, such as sample and assay kits, and automated instrumentation systems that empower customers to transform raw biological samples into molecular information. The company?s consumable products are used for plasmid deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) purification, and ribonucleic acid purification and stabilization; genomic and viral nucleic acid purification; nucleic acid transfection; polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification; reverse transcription; DNA cleanup after PCR and sequencing; and DNA cloning and protein purification. The company sells the digene HC2 HPV Test, a signal-amplified test for high-risk strains of the human papillomavirus. It also offers co-development services for companion diagnostics, technology licensing and patent sales services, and custom services, including whole genome amplification, DNA sequencing, and non- cGMP DNA production on a contract basis. The company?s instrumentation systems automate the use of sample and assay technologies into solutions for a range of laboratory needs enabling customers to perform nucleic acid sample preparation, assay setup, target detection, and other laboratory tasks. Its automated systems include QIAsymphony, a modular system; Rotor-Gene Q, a rotary real-time PCR cycler system; PyroMark, a high-resolution detection platform based upon the Pyrosequencing technology; QIAcube, a sample processing instrument; QIAxcel for nucleic acid separation in low- to high-throughput laboratories; and ESE-Quant Tube Scanners, an optical measurement device. The company serves customer classes, including molecular diagnostics laboratories; applied testing customers in fields, such as forensics, veterinary diagnostics, and food safety; pharmaceutical research and development groups, and academic researchers. QIAGEN N.V. was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Venlo, the Netherlands.

Best High Tech Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Antofagasta Hdg Ord(ANTO.L)

Antofagasta plc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, development, and mining of copper; transportation of freight by rail and road; and distribution of water. Its Mining division owns and operates copper mines, including Los Pelambres, El Tesoro, Michilla, and Esperanza projects in the Sierra Gorda District, Chile. This division produces copper concentrates, molybdenum concentrates, and copper cathodes. The company?s Transport division engages in the transportation of copper cathodes from and sulphuric acid to mines in the Antofagasta region; and quicklime from cement plants to various mines. This division operates a rail network of approximately 900 kilometers and has in service approximately 60 diesel-electric locomotives and 1500 freight wagons, as well as specialized cathode and tank cars; and a fleet of approximately 110 trucks and trailers. Its Water division operates a concession for the distribution of water in the Antofagasta region; and provide s sewage and treatment services. This division supplies water to approximately 144,000 domestic customers, as well as serves mines and other industrial users. The company was incorporated in 1888 and is based in London, the United Kingdom. Antofagasta plc is a subsidiary of Metalinvest Establishment.

Best High Tech Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Dollar Financial Corp.(DLLR)

DFC Global Corp. provides retail financial services to unbanked and under-banked consumers, and small businesses. Its primary products and services include short-term consumer loans, single-payment consumer loans, check cashing services, secured pawn loans, and gold buying services. The company also provides other retail services and products comprising money order and money transfer products, foreign currency exchange, VISA and MasterCard branded reloadable debit cards, electronic tax filing, bill payment, and prepaid local and long-distance phone services. In addition, it offers military installment loan and education services, such as fee based services to enlisted military personnel applying for loans to purchase new and used vehicles. The company provides its products and services through storefront locations, as well as via the Internet. As of August 25, 2011, it operated through a network of approximately 1,300 retail storefront locations. It operates its locations principally under the Money Mart, The Money Shop, mce, Insta-Cheques, Suttons and Robertson, The Check Cashing Store, Sefina, Helsingin Panttism, Optima, and Money Now in Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, Poland, the Republic of Ireland, Sweden, and Finland. The company was formerly known as Dollar Financial Corp. and changed its name to DFC Global Corp. in August 2011. DFC Global Corp. was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Berwyn, Pennsylvania.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By John Udovich]

    Despite�a slow global economy and continued high unemployment in many countries, small cap payday or pawn stocks Cash Store Financial Services Inc (NYSE: CSFS), DFC Global Corp (NASDAQ: DLLR) and Cash America International, Inc (NYSE: CSH) have not exactly been performing well since the start of the year. In fact, these three stocks are the worst performers in the payday or pawn loan sector, down 38.5%, down 14.4% and up 4.6%, respectively, since the start of the year.

Best High Tech Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Norton Gold Fields Ltd (NGF)

Norton Gold Fields Limited is engaged in production of gold. The Company has a mining and processing complex in Western Australia�� Kalgoorlie gold region, including a prospective tenement package of 678 square kilometers surrounding the 3.7 metric tons per annum Paddington Mill. The Company operates in two segments: Paddington operations and Mount Morgan project. Paddington operations segment involves the Paddington and Bellamel tenements in Western Australia engaged in exploration, gold mining, processing of ore, and selling of gold bullion. Mount Morgan project is engaged in the evaluation, development, construction and eventual operation of a gold tailings recovery and processing operation in Queensland. The Norton Gold Mine is located in the Boyne Valley, 100 kilometers south west of Gladstone, Central Queensland. The Many Peaks Copper Project is located 25 kilometers south of the Norton Gold Mine is a joint venture in which Norton holds a 70% interest.

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Why You Should Redeem Cash-Back Rewards Often

A cash-back credit card can be a good way to put money in your pocket while spending on things you normally would buy, such as groceries or gas. They allow cardholders to earn a certain percentage on purchases and redeem those earnings, usually as cash, gift cards or statement credits.

SEE ALSO: Best Cash-Back Rewards Cards

Unfortunately, many cardholders don't take full advantage of this perk, says Alex Matjanec, co-founder of MyBankTracker.com, a banking-information Web site. A 2011 study by marketing research firm Colloquy found that one-third of all rewards--everything from airline miles to cash-back rewards--worth $16 billion go unredeemed each year.

With cash-back rewards specifically, rather than cash out earnings, Matjanec says many cardholders let them accumulate and use cash-back programs as a piggy bank. Although some credit card companies offer customers incentives for waiting to redeem earnings until they accumulate a certain amount, Matjanec says cardholders can be better off cashing in every month or at least every quarter. Here's why:

Hot Value Stocks To Invest In 2014

You risk losing your rewards or having them decline in value. Matjanec says that banks can change the terms of their programs at any time. As a result, the value of your rewards can drop. If you're delinquent on your account and it is closed as a result, you'll lose your rewards. And companies often have expiration dates on redeeming rewards. Or you could lose all of your rewards if a company ceases operations. Customers of PerkStreet Financial lost their unclaimed balances when the rewards-based online bank closed in September.

You could be using your rewards to pay off your card balance. You could be banking rewards to pay for a big purchase. But you're really not saving any money if your card balance (and the interest you're paying on it) is growing each month. Matjanec recommends using your rewards to pay down your balance. Some card companies allow you to redeem your rewards for statement credits, which you can use to reduce your balance. If your program doesn't offer statement credits, simply have the cash deposited in your checking account, then use it to help pay your credit card bill, he says.

You could be using rewards to make purchases. Again, maybe you're saving up your rewards to get something big. But what difference does it make to your bottom line if you save $500 on, say, a computer or $500 over several months on regular trips to the supermarket. You could be redeeming cash-back earnings regularly to purchase things you need.



Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Today’s After-Hours Earnings: AvalonBay Communities Inc, CMS Energy Corporation, More (AVB, CMS, EVR, More)

After the closing bell on Wednesday, a number of big-name dividend-paying companies announced their quarterly earnings. Below, look at each earnings report and break down the important information for dividend investors.

AvalonBay Announces Quarterly Net Loss, Higher Revenues

The Arlington, VA-based REIT, AvalonBay Communities (AVB), reported a quarterly net loss attributable to common shareholders of $10.715 million, or 8 cents per share. This marks a 109% decrease from last year’s Q3 EPS of 89 cents. The company chalked up the quarterly loss to “non-recurring charges, including amounts related to the Archstone acquisition.”

Diluted funds from operations (FFO) for the quarter came in at $1.18, an 18.1% decrease from the $1.44 reported in last year’s comparable period. The company reported revenue for the quarter of $4 billion, a $128.4 million rise from last year’s Q3 figure. AVB missed analysts’ estimates of $1.20 FFO, but beat revenue estimates of $396.7 million. Looking forward, AVB projects the Q4 EPS will be in the range of $1.96-$2.02 and FY2013 EPS to be in the range of $2.79-$2.85.

Best Value Stocks To Watch For 2014

CMS Energy Posts Lower Revenue and Earnings; Misses Analyst Views

CMS Energy (

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

The Rest of the Netflix Story Isn't as Rosy (NFLX)

Investors have to give credit where it's due - Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) has continued to add streaming subscribers at a steady pace. The online-video company ended last quarter with 38.0 million paying members, up 2.4 million from 35.6 million subs NFLX had just a quarter earlier; the growth of streaming-only subscribers more than offset the loss in the DVD-rental ranks. NFLX also cranked up its bottom line, from $0.13 per share ($7.67 million) in the third quarter a year earlier to $0.52 per share ($31.82 million) in Q3 of this year. Almost needless to say, the market loved the news, even though CEO Reed Hastings successfully convinced the market that Netflix shares were overpriced, sending the stock lower. As has been the case for several quarters now, however, NFLX owners and observers are missing a much bigger problem buried elsewhere in the books.

This isn't going to be the first time "off balance sheet liabilities", "cash flow statement", and "Netflix" have been used  together to paint a less-than-enthusiastic picture of the digital entertainment company. But, when the problem is getting bigger at a faster pace than the company's revenue is growing, the point has to be made again.

First and foremost (and mostly for perspective), the Netflix top line for Q3 grew from $905.1 million a year ago to $1.106 billion last quarter. That's a 22.1% increase, driving more than a 300% increase in the company's bottom line. Granted, the year-ago comparison was a woefully-low bar to hurdle, but even compared to Q2-2013's top line of $1.069 billion and bottom line of $29.471 million, it's clear progress.

There's more to life than the income statement, however. Indeed, the income statement (aside from the revenue line) may be the easiest place to lose or bury key details. The cash flow statement is increasingly troubling for Netflix.

As of last quarter, NFLX amortized $553.4 million worth of content, up from the $510.2 million in the quarter before last (which was up from $485.7 million in Q1). Point being, the proverbial "hit" being taken for all the new content contracts Netflix Inc. has been taking on lately. Though the amortized amount doesn't show up on a GAAP operating income statement, neither does the purchase cost of all the shows and movies Netflix buys the streaming rights to. And make no mistake - the company is spending more and more money on the content front. Last quarter (on the same cash flow statement) Netflix reported $878.3 million worth of new content-library additions, up from only $594.45 million in Q2. Eventually that big spend on new content will have to be amortized, which will take a tool on the company's free cash flow... sort of a non-GAAP bottom line. Thing is, GAAP rules can be so squirrelly now, the free cash flow figure means much, much more for a business like Netflix's than the income statement does.

So what? The so what is, last quarter, Netflix only booked $7.0 million worth of free cash flow, versus $12.9 million in Q2.

One quarter does not make or break a trend, but this has been and is the issue that could make or break NFLX in the foreseeable future. And, we know with a huge addition (much more so than usual) to the content library last quarter, Netflix Inc. is going to be amortizing a lot more in the near future than it has been lately. Cash flow margins are already paper thin, and if the sales tip any further in the wrong direction - which is likely - the company could slip back into negative free cash flow land again... which in this case could be much more destructive to the stock than any red flags on the income statement.

The really scary part is that we may not even know the full extent of future liabilities that don't even show up on the balance sheet or cash flow statement (but will soon). The off balance sheet liability total has been inching up for several quarters now. We won't have that data until we can see the fine print of the SEC filings, but as of the end of Q2, the company had $6.4 billion in obligations that don't appear on the balance sheet, up from $5.6 billion at the end of last year. A hefty $5.3 billion comes due within the next three years, and that's going to impact the cash flow statement even more adversely than the hit taken last quarter.

It's buried in the details ... on the accounting statements most investors rarely look at, and rarely need to. But, when it's a quirky, difficult-to-define business like Netflix, the market needs to redefine things that matter.

If you'd like to get more trading ideas and insights like this one, sign up for the free SmallCap Network daily e-newsletter. It's full of stock picks, market calls, and more.

Monday, October 21, 2013

Jim Cramer's 6 Stocks in 60 Seconds: GT FHN XEC DF SLB AGN (Update1)

Top 5 Warren Buffett Companies To Watch In Right Now

Check out Jim Cramer's latest trading recommendations on "Action Alerts Plus". (Updates from 10:36 a.m. ET with closing information.)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Here's what Jim Cramer had to say on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" Monday.

Although Deutsche Bank downgraded Goodyear Tire & Rubber (GT) to hold from buy, Cramer wasn't so sure about it. He said the stock has been red-hot this year. GT plummeted 6.7% to $21.12.

First Horizon National (FHN) missed on earnings estimates. Cramer said he can't figure out what's wrong with the company but he does like the stock. FHN fell 1.2% to $10.88. Cramer said he's surprised by Cimarex Energy's (XEC) current stock price, saying the company is "worth a lot more than it's selling for." XEC dropped 1.3% to $108.99. Cramer suggested commodity food companies are doing better now in the market, and reminded investors Dean Foods (DF) is big in milk. DF rose 1% to $18.42. Schlumberger's (SLB) orders in the Middle East and Pacific continue to drive the stock higher, Cramer said. SLB was 1% lower to $93.48. Investors are still worried about Allergan (AGN) and its patents, but Cramer said he likes the stock and CEO Dave Pyott is "money in the bank." AGN was flat at $90.47. To sign up for Jim Cramer's free Booyah! newsletter, with all of his latest articles and videos, please click here. -- Written by Bret Kenwell in Petoskey, Mich. Follow @BretKenwell

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Show Me the Money, Knoll

Although business headlines still tout earnings numbers, many investors have moved past net earnings as a measure of a company's economic output. That's because earnings are very often less trustworthy than cash flow, since earnings are more open to manipulation based on dubious judgment calls.

Earnings' unreliability is one of the reasons Foolish investors often flip straight past the income statement to check the cash flow statement. In general, by taking a close look at the cash moving in and out of the business, you can better understand whether the last batch of earnings brought money into the company, or merely disguised a cash gusher with a pretty headline.

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 Knoll (NYSE: KNL  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Data is current as of last fully reported fiscal quarter. Dollar values in millions. FCF = free cash flow. FY = fiscal year. TTM = trailing 12 months.

Over the past 12 months, Knoll generated $60.6 million cash while it booked net income of $48.8 million. That means it turned 6.8% of its revenue into FCF. That sounds OK.

All cash is not equal
Unfortunately, the cash flow statement isn't immune from nonsense, either. That's why it pays to take a close look at the components of cash flow from operations, to make sure that the cash flows are of high quality. What does that mean? To me, it means they need to be real and replicable in the upcoming quarters, rather than being offset by continual cash outflows that don't appear on the income statement (such as major capital expenditures).

For instance, cash flow based on cash net income and adjustments for non-cash income-statement expenses (like depreciation) is generally favorable. An increase in cash flow based on stiffing your suppliers (by increasing accounts payable for the short term) or shortchanging Uncle Sam on taxes will come back to bite investors later. The same goes for decreasing accounts receivable; this is good to see, but it's ordinary in recessionary times, and you can only increase collections so much. Finally, adding stock-based compensation expense back to cash flows is questionable when a company hands out a lot of equity to employees and uses cash in later periods to buy back those shares.

So how does the cash flow at Knoll look? Take a peek at the chart below, which flags questionable cash flow sources with a red bar.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Data is current as of last fully reported fiscal quarter. Dollar values in millions. TTM = trailing 12 months.

When I say "questionable cash flow sources," I mean items such as changes in taxes payable, tax benefits from stock options, and asset sales, among others. That's not to say that companies booking these as sources of cash flow are weak, or are engaging in any sort of wrongdoing, or that everything that comes up questionable in my graph is automatically bad news. But whenever a company is getting more than, say, 10% of its cash from operations from these dubious sources, investors ought to make sure to refer to the filings and dig in.

With 16.6% of operating cash flow coming from questionable sources, Knoll investors should take a closer look at the underlying numbers. Within the questionable cash flow figure plotted in the TTM period above, stock-based compensation and related tax benefits provided the biggest boost, at 13.1% of cash flow from operations. Overall, the biggest drag on FCF came from capital expenditures, which consumed 25.0% of cash from operations. Knoll investors may also want to keep an eye on accounts receivable, because the TTM change is 2.1 times greater than the average swing over the past 5 fiscal years.

A Foolish final thought
Most investors don't keep tabs on their companies' cash flow. I think that's a mistake. If you take the time to read past the headlines and crack a filing now and then, you're in a much better position to spot potential trouble early. Better yet, you'll improve your odds of finding the underappreciated home-run stocks that provide the market's best returns.

Can your retirement portfolio provide you with enough income to last? You'll need more than Knoll. Learn about crafting a smarter retirement plan in "The Shocking Can't-Miss Truth About Your Retirement." Click here for instant access to this free report.

We can help you keep tabs on your companies with My Watchlist, our free, personalized stock tracking service.

Add Knoll to My Watchlist.

Do You Trust the Earnings at Owens & Minor?

Top 10 Tech Stocks To Watch For 2014

Although business headlines still tout earnings numbers, many investors have moved past net earnings as a measure of a company's economic output. That's because earnings are very often less trustworthy than cash flow, since earnings are more open to manipulation based on dubious judgment calls.

Earnings' unreliability is one of the reasons Foolish investors often flip straight past the income statement to check the cash flow statement. In general, by taking a close look at the cash moving in and out of the business, you can better understand whether the last batch of earnings brought money into the company, or merely disguised a cash gusher with a pretty headline.

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 Owens & Minor (NYSE: OMI  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Data is current as of last fully reported fiscal quarter. Dollar values in millions. FCF = free cash flow. FY = fiscal year. TTM = trailing 12 months.

Over the past 12 months, Owens & Minor generated $258.4 million cash while it booked net income of $105.7 million. That means it turned 2.9% of its revenue into FCF. That doesn't sound so great.

All cash is not equal
Unfortunately, the cash flow statement isn't immune from nonsense, either. That's why it pays to take a close look at the components of cash flow from operations, to make sure that the cash flows are of high quality. What does that mean? To me, it means they need to be real and replicable in the upcoming quarters, rather than being offset by continual cash outflows that don't appear on the income statement (such as major capital expenditures).

For instance, cash flow based on cash net income and adjustments for non-cash income-statement expenses (like depreciation) is generally favorable. An increase in cash flow based on stiffing your suppliers (by increasing accounts payable for the short term) or shortchanging Uncle Sam on taxes will come back to bite investors later. The same goes for decreasing accounts receivable; this is good to see, but it's ordinary in recessionary times, and you can only increase collections so much. Finally, adding stock-based compensation expense back to cash flows is questionable when a company hands out a lot of equity to employees and uses cash in later periods to buy back those shares.

So how does the cash flow at Owens & Minor look? Take a peek at the chart below, which flags questionable cash flow sources with a red bar.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Data is current as of last fully reported fiscal quarter. Dollar values in millions. TTM = trailing 12 months.

When I say "questionable cash flow sources," I mean items such as changes in taxes payable, tax benefits from stock options, and asset sales, among others. That's not to say that companies booking these as sources of cash flow are weak, or are engaging in any sort of wrongdoing, or that everything that comes up questionable in my graph is automatically bad news. But whenever a company is getting more than, say, 10% of its cash from operations from these dubious sources, investors ought to make sure to refer to the filings and dig in.

With questionable cash flows amounting to only 4.4% of operating cash flow, Owens & Minor's cash flows look clean. Within the questionable cash flow figure plotted in the TTM period above, other operating activities (which can include deferred income taxes, pension charges, and other one-off items) provided the biggest boost, at 2.1% of cash flow from operations. Overall, the biggest drag on FCF came from changes in accounts receivable, which represented 5.5% of cash from operations.

A Foolish final thought
Most investors don't keep tabs on their companies' cash flow. I think that's a mistake. If you take the time to read past the headlines and crack a filing now and then, you're in a much better position to spot potential trouble early. Better yet, you'll improve your odds of finding the underappreciated home-run stocks that provide the market's best returns.

Can your retirement portfolio provide you with enough income to last? You'll need more than Owens & Minor. Learn about crafting a smarter retirement plan in "The Shocking Can't-Miss Truth About Your Retirement." Click here for instant access to this free report.

We can help you keep tabs on your companies with My Watchlist, our free, personalized stock tracking service.

Add Owens & Minor to My Watchlist.

Friday, October 18, 2013

Robots Will Deliver Your Pizza -- and Everything Else

What do Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN  ) and Domino's Pizza (NYSE: DPZ  ) have in common? Both companies will now deliver food to your door in Seattle and Los Angeles, after the former company expanded its AmazonFresh grocery deliveries to only its second metropolitan area. Beyond that, there isn't much similarity between the two companies -- yet. However, in a few years, the men and women who schlep the hot pizza or cold produce to your door in hopes of a decent tip might just be replaced by unmanned drone helicopters.


Source: Domino's UK and T + Biscuits via Youtube.

Surprisingly, Domino's jumped on this delivery trend first, but you can be sure that an online sales powerhouse like Amazon will be all over drone shipments as soon as possible.

Pie in the sky
Domino's UK arm teamed up with the very obviously British creative agency T + Biscuits to develop a fascinating demo video of a "DomiCopter" taking to the sky with a piping-hot pie:

There are some caveats, of course -- for one thing, the eagle-eyed viewer will notice that one pizza goes in but two come out -- but the promise of unmanned delivery has been one of the most interesting possibilities of civilian UAVs ever since the machines began moving beyond the battlefield. I've been discussing this possibility for over a year -- one of my top tech trends for the next five years (starting from 2012) was the proliferation of autonomous systems, including automated delivery bots, and this is certain to happen quickly once UAVs gain commercial operating clearance in the U.S. around 2015 or so.

There's a reason Amazon delivers groceries in only two metro areas after more than 15 years in operation, and those reasons are more or less the same that keep the radius of pizza deliveries so narrow. Deliveries cost money -- even if a pizza franchisee offloads the responsibility of vehicle upkeep to its drivers, there's still the matter of salaries and any potential liability issues, and the wider the range, the less efficient the driver. The costs of shipping can be even higher for Amazon, which charges up to $10 for grocery deliveries in Seattle -- and that doesn't even touch on Amazon's margin-slaughtering Prime subscription service.

Unmanned advantages
If you don't think that Amazon, Domino's, and virtually every other company that makes money from shipping something to your door will eagerly switch over to UAV delivery at some point in the not-too-distant future, let's do a little bit of hypothetical calculation.

Best Medical Stocks For 2014

Let's say that all a delivery-based company pays for at present is the cost of a driver's salary. Amazon's total costs for FedEx (NYSE: FDX  ) or UPS to get a package from Point A to Point B can add up on a Prime subscription, but for simplicity's sake let's focus on its grocery business right now. (FedEx founder Fred Smith has been talking about using unmanned cargo freighters for the air-bound leg of a package's journey for at least four years now -- former Wired editor and current robotic start-up honcho Chris Anderson reported as much on his blog in 2009 -- so he clearly sees value in delivery automation as well.) I'll return to package delivery a little further on, but the pizza comparison will be fairly easy to make, because the economics are fairly straightforward, and you've already got the picture of a little robot-transported pie in the sky stuck in your head anyway.

Let's say that the driver's salary is about $8 an hour, but the costs of maintaining a UAV are half that on an hourly basis. Even if a company buys its UAV outright, tacking on (and this is a very rough estimate) $25,000 in purchase costs instead of contracting with a UAV specialist, the long-term cost advantage of UAV delivery becomes very compelling very quickly, especially if a UAV provides just one delivery per hour as an advantage over its human peer.

Here are the basic assumptions:

Human upfront cost: $0 (I'm sure it's not, but let's give them a big advantage). UAV upfront cost: $25,000. Human upkeep (salary) per hour: $8. UAV upkeep per hour: $4 or $2 (technology gets better, right?). Human deliveries per hour: four. UAV deliveries per hour: five.  Profit per delivery: $2.50 (not including upkeep costs).

So how long would it take those UAVs to become better delivery-service values than their fleshy, earthbound counterparts?


Author's calculations are assumptions only.

A company making deliveries eight hours a day, seven days a week would see an advantage in the cheaper UAV after just one year. The costlier UAV would become profitable in the spring of its second year in operation, assuming we start tracking from the beginning of January.

Admittedly, these are all very rough assumptions, and UAVs may wind up being initially more expensive on an hourly basis than their human counterparts. There are also a lot of extraneous factors, like unlimited free deliveries from Amazon Prime, which would throw a monkey wrench into these assumptions. Replacing ground transportation with aerial point-to-point delivery would, at the very least, broaden the cost-effective range of a pizzeria. Smaller drones won't be able to replace UPS drivers and their multi-ton trucks right away, but a concerted development push from drone-friendly executives like Fred Smith and Chris Anderson would certainly be able to devise an unmanned delivery vehicle with superior economics to the big brown trucks over time.

But here's what I'm getting at -- over the long run, automated delivery will wind up being cheaper than human delivery. It won't matter if these deliveries are ultimately undertaken by UPS and FedEx as a service to Amazon or by Amazon directly to cut out the middleman, or if new UAV contractors will spring up to help local restaurants deliver piping hot food rather than those restaurants operating the UAVs themselves. Technology gets cheaper rather quickly. The cost of an employee does not.

Dangerous times
"But wait!" you might say, "what will happen to all these delivery folks after the robots make them as obsolete as 18th-century loom weavers?" I'll be honest: I don't know. There are a lot of delivery folks at work in the United States. Even if we assume that larger objects will still require some ground-based delivery method, it doesn't protect the vast majority of people from other innovations like the Google (NASDAQ: GOOG  ) self-driving car, which is already street-legal in California  and Nevada. An automated delivery vehicle might eventually have an automated delivery robot on the back that can pick up a 500-pound box with ease. There's no reason why automation need be limited to taking things from Point A to Point B.

There are a lot of delivery folks -- and delivery-infrastructure folks -- at work in the United States. Some of them might become drone maintenance techs, or drone programmers, but many will not, because the tech industry isn't really as big a part of the American employment picture as most people think:


Source: St. Louis Federal Reserve.

When part of the economic infrastructure becomes more efficient, a number of workers become redundant. They'll have to go somewhere and find other work. In the short run, it'll be great for Amazon, Domino's, and all the other companies that rely on deliveries for their revenue to have fewer people to pay and more efficient delivery methods to use. In the long run, many of the roughly 4.5 million Americans at work in transportation will be out of work -- and that means fewer orders for Amazon products, fewer purchases of delivery pizzas, and fewer incomes feeding into the American economy.

The problem with automating everything isn't the technical challenge involved. It's the challenge of finding people made redundant a new job that can still support the economy. Everyone can't be a drone mechanic or a drone programmer. So what will they be, when they can't make deliveries anymore?

With the U.S. relying on the rest of the world for such a large percentage of our goods, many investors are ready for the end of the "made in China" era. Well, it may be here. Read all about the biggest industry disrupters since the personal computer in 3 Stocks to Own for the New Industrial Revolution. Just click here to learn more.

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Best Stocks To Invest In 2014

The S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC  ) is the benchmark by which thousands of money managers overseeing trillions of dollars in assets are judged. For passive index investors who believe that active management doesn't add value over the long run, choosing index-tracking exchange-traded funds tied to the S&P 500 helps them meet their goal of matching the market's overall return.

But many different ETFs track the S&P 500. Which one makes the most sense for you? Let's look at some of the more popular S&P 500-tracking ETFs to pinpoint their differences.

A look at three top S&P ETFs
The biggest S&P-tracking ETF is the SPDR S&P 500 (NYSEMKT: SPY  ) , affectionately known as the Spiders. It was the first exchange-traded fund product to gain widespread use, and it's now a giant in the industry, with $140 billion under management. Its expense ratio is 0.09%, and with average volume of about 133 million shares daily, the Spiders trade $22 billion worth of shares each day -- meaning it takes less than seven days for the entire outstanding share-count to turn over.

Best Stocks To Invest In 2014: Vecima Networks In Com Npv (VCM.TO)

Vecima Networks Inc. engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of products that enable broadband access to cable, wireless, and telephony networks in the United States, Canada, Thailand, and internationally. The company�s hardware products incorporate embedded software to meet the requirements of next generation high-speed digital networks. The company offers its products for converged wired solutions and broadband wireless markets. Its products for converged wired solutions market includes a family of upconverters and modulators that process data from routers and convert it to higher frequencies for transmission over cable to subscribers; and gigabit network edge devices, EdgeQAM modulators, and transmodulators, which accepts high bit rate video streams from central servers and transmit them to subscribers. The company�s products for converged wired solutions market also comprise return path demodulators for processing communications between subscribers and the digit al cable infrastructure; and the Terrace family of last-mile gateway products to deliver premium and tailored content, as well as to preserve traditional analog services. Its products for Broadband Wireless market include transmitters and transceivers that process data from routers, switches, and modems for communicating to subscribers over a wireless environment. The company sells its products directly and through distributors to original equipment manufacturers, system integrators, multiple systems operators, cable operators, and other service providers. Vecima Networks Inc. was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Victoria, Canada.

Best Stocks To Invest In 2014: Robert Walters Plc(RWA.L)

Robert Walters plc provides professional recruitment services on a permanent, contract and interim basis primarily in the United Kingdom, Europe, the Asia Pacific, the Americas, and South Africa. It offers its recruitment services in the areas of accountancy and finance, banking, engineering, operations, legal, information technology, sales and marketing, supply chain, procurement and logistics, human resources, secretarial, and support and administration. The company also provides recruitment process outsourcing services, consultancy, and payroll services. It serves the clients in the financial, commercial, and industrial sectors. The company was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

Top 10 Growth Companies To Watch In Right Now: ShoreTel Inc.(SHOR)

Shoretel, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the development and sale of Internet protocol (IP) communications systems for enterprises in the United States and internationally. The company?s systems are based on its distributed software architecture and switch-based hardware platform that enable a single system to serve multi-site enterprises. Its solutions include ShoreTel IP Phones; ShoreTel Voice Switches; ShoreTel Director, which enables IT administrators to view and manage the entire system of the enterprise from any location using a single application; Unified Messaging solution that integrates its voicemail application with Microsoft Outlook; Automated Attendant that enables the enterprise to direct callers to appropriate individuals, workgroups, or messages; and Small Business Edition solution is for smaller enterprises. The company also provides ShoreTel Communicator, a unified communication application for users in an organization; ShoreTel Confere ncing Bridge that enables enterprises to conduct audio conferences; and Microsoft Integration. In addition, it offers post-contractual support, training, system design and installation, and professional services. The company sells its products to small, medium, and large companies, as well as public institutions in various markets, including the professional services, financial services, government, education, healthcare, manufacturing, non-profit organization, and technology through a network of distributors. Shoretel, Inc. was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.

Best Stocks To Invest In 2014: Silver Wheaton Corp(SLW)

Silver Wheaton Corp., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a silver streaming company worldwide. The company has 14 long-term silver purchase agreements and 2 long-term precious metal purchase agreements whereby it acquires silver and gold production from the counterparties located in Mexico, the United States, Canada, Greece, Sweden, Peru, Chile, Argentina, and Portugal. Silver Wheaton Corp. is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Travis Hoium]

    What: Gold and silver miners are taking it on the chin today. Royal Gold (NASDAQ: RGLD  ) fell as much as 10.4%, Allied Nevada Gold (NYSEMKT: ANV  ) fell up to 11.5%, and Silver Wheaton (NYSE: SLW  ) dropped as much as 11.2%.

  • [By The Investment Doctor]

    Another, less likely possibility to raise equity is through selling a part of the precious metals in a streaming deal. I can imagine Sandstorm Gold (SAND) and Silver Wheaton (SLW) would be very interested in a substantial precious metals streaming agreement. At the current gold and silver prices NGEX wouldn't even have to sell its entire precious metals production under a streaming arrangement.

  • [By Itinerant]

    Barrick Gold also has obligations to pay Royal Gold (RGLD) a royalty on some of the precious metal output from the mine once operational; and more importantly, the company has given a completion guarantee to Silver Wheaton (SLW) as part of a deal that saw Silver Wheaton contribute $625M towards capex in 2009 in exchange to buy 25% of the produced silver for a discounted price of $3.90. If the mine is not completed by December 31, 2015, then Silver Wheaton has the right to ask for its money back. Silver Wheaton will be thinking of ways to manage its share of the disaster as confirmation has now been given that Pascua-Lama will not be completed by that dead line. For the moment, Silver Wheaton has extended the deadline by one year to December 31, 2016, and has reduced the guidance for 2017.

Best Stocks To Invest In 2014: Genetic Technologies Ltd (GENE)

Genetic Technologies Limited provides genetic testing services. It offers a range of DNA based genetic tests for cancer predisposition, including breast cancer, ovarian cancer, bowel cancer, and uterine cancer; neurogenetic diagnostic assays; and gene testing for gene related disorders. The company also provides forensics tests, such as presumptive and confirmatory testing, individual DNA profiling, species identification, and animal forensic testing; paternity tests, which include antenatal, deceased estate, grandparent, immigration, legal paternity, non-legal paternity, sibling, twins, and Y-Chromosome DNA testing, as well as DNA profiling; and personal DNA testing comprising sports performance and ancestry gene testing. In addition, it offers animals� tests consisting of disease testing, breed identification, coat color, and forensic DNA testing, as well as DNA clinical services; and plant tests, including genomic and Xpress sequencing services. Further, the company is involved in the out-licensing of its intellectual property relating to non-coding DNA; and research and development activities in the areas of genetics and related fields. It operates in Australia, the United States, China, Canada, and Switzerland. The company was formerly known as Duketon Goldfields N.L. and changed it name to Genetic Technologies Limited in August 2000 as a result of the change in business from mining to biotechnology. Genetic Technologies Limited is headquartered in Fitzroy, Australia

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By John Udovich]

    The National Cancer Institute estimates that about ten million Americans have or have had some form of cancer with the overall costs of the disease topping $126 billion annually ��meaning there is a big market for small cap cancer diagnostic stocks like Rosetta Genomics Ltd. (NASDAQ: ROSG), Genetic Technologies Limited (NASDAQ: GENE) and MetaStat Inc (OTCBB: MTST) just in the US alone without considering global cancer figures. After all, catching and doing something about cancer early on is critical to increase survival rates and bring down the cost of treatment. With that in mind, here are three small cap cancer diagnostic stocks helping to lead the fight to diagnose and stop cancer:

Best Stocks To Invest In 2014: Cardiocomm Solutions Inc. (EKG.V)

CardioComm Solutions, Inc. develops software for the cardiology field worldwide. The company�s technology is used in various products for recording, viewing, analyzing, and storing electrocardiograms (ECGs) for the diagnosis and management of cardiac patients. Its software products include Global ECG Management System (GEMS), a software solution for cardiac event monitoring; GlobalCardio 3 Lead; GlobalCardio 12 Lead, a Web enabled portable ECG device that is electronic medical records (EMR) compatible; and ECG Viewer SDK. In addition, the company offers software modules, such as GEMS Air, a live wireless ECG monitoring solution; AutoAttendant, which allows healthcare providers to focus on providing patient care; GEMS HL7 and EMR Interface that allows patient and follow-up information to be sent in an HL7 message format to other EMR systems that are HL7 compliant; GlobalCardio that integrate with EMR and enables bidirectional movement of data; and GEMS Lite, an electronic ECG receiving system. Further, it provides hardware products comprising HeartCheck, a handheld ECG monitor; HeartCheck pen; QRS 12 Lead; Cardiac Science Atria ECG Recorder; DR200/HE, a holter and event recorder; Burdick Atria 3100 ECG, an electrocardiogram system for private practices; Burdick Atria 6100 ECG, a portable ECG/EKG system for hospitals and cardiology clinics; and GEMSTrak AF, a cardiac event recorder with atrial fibrillation auto-capture. Additionally, the company offers ASP services, including C4 coordinating centre for cardiac event loop monitoring services; and enterprise solutions. It serves hospitals, call centers, and physician�s offices through a combination of the company�s external distribution network and sales team. The company has strategic partnership with Monebo Technologies, Inc. for software development and distribution of interpretive electrocardiogram analysis technology. CardioComm Solutions, Inc. was incorporated in 1989 and is headquartere d in Toronto, Canada.

Best Stocks To Invest In 2014: Omnicom Group Inc.(OMC)

Omnicom Group Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides advertising, marketing, and corporate communications services. It offers services in traditional media advertising, customer relationship management, public relations, and specialty communications groups. The company?s services include advertising, brand consultancy, corporate social responsibility consulting, crisis communications, custom publishing, database management, digital and interactive marketing, direct marketing, directory advertising, entertainment marketing, environmental design, experiential marketing, field marketing, financial/corporate business-to-business advertising, graphic arts, healthcare communications, and instore design. Omnicom Group also offers investor relations, marketing research, media planning and buying, mobile marketing services, multi-cultural marketing, non-profit marketing, organizational communications, package design, product placement, promotional marketing, public affairs, public relations, recruitment communications, reputation consulting, retail marketing, search engine marketing, and sports and event marketing services. It offers its services in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Australia. The company was founded in 1944 and is based in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Chris Hill]

    Hertz (NYSE: HTZ  ) dips on good-not-great earnings. Candian retailer Hudson's Bay buys Saks (NYSE: SKS  ) for $2.4 billion. Wynn Resorts' (NASDAQ: WYNN  ) second-quarter profit gets hit with one-time charges. Omnicom Group (NYSE: OMC  ) merges with Publicis Group to form the world's largest advertising and marketing firm. In this segment from Investor Beat, Motley Fool analysts Bill Barker and Andy Cross discuss four stocks making moves on Tuesday.

Best Stocks To Invest In 2014: Troy Resources Nl (TRY.TO)

Troy Resources Limited engages in the exploration and production of gold and silver properties. It holds 100% interests in the Andorinhas project located in the Para State of north central Brazil; and the Casposo project situated in the San Juan province, Argentina. The company was founded in 1984 and is based in West Perth, Australia.