Top 5 Financial Stocks To Watch Right Now

After the financial crisis of 2008, regulation has made the use of behavioral finance mandatory for large banks like Switzerland’s Credit Suisse and UBS. These and other institutions in Europe, together with many independent financial advisors, are employing the practical tools created by Zurich, Switzerland-based Behavioral Finance Solutions (BhFS).

Founded by three behavioral finance experts and professors at various universities in Switzerland -- Thorsten Hens, Enrico De Giorgi and Dieter Niggeler – BhFS operates on the principle that the science of behavioral finance and its practical application in financial planning are inextricably linked in a continuing cycle.

“We use the income raised from the sale of our tools to feed our next lab experiments, which will in turn result in a new set of tools,” said Hens, who is the director of the Institute for Banking and Finance at the University of Zurich.

The result of that approach is a series of highly sophisticated tools based on in-depth and nuanced research in behavioral finance, which allows banks and financial advisors to understand their clients’ financial decisions in terms of a broad range of factors including gender and culture (Hens and his team studied the behavioral patterns and financial behavior of individuals in 52 different countries).

Top 10 High Tech Companies To Buy For 2015: First Trust Ise Global Engineering And Construction Index Fund (FLM)

First Trust ISE Global Engineering and Construction Index Fund (the Fund) seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield of an equity index called the ISE Global Engineering and Construction Index (the Index). The Fund is a series of the First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund II, an investment company and an exchange-traded index fund. The Index is developed and owned by the International Securities Exchange, LLC (ISE or Index Provider), in consultation with Standard & Poor's, a Division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., which calculates and maintains the Index. The Index specifically targets companies that are engaged in civil and capital projects, such as infrastructure, utilities, transportation, telecommunications, commercial, residential and commerce facilities, and whose roles are within the engineering, designing, planning, consulting, project managing and/or constructing of these projects. First Trust Advisors L.P. is the investment adviser for the Fund. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  Small cap building materials stock NCI Building Systems Inc (NYSE: NCS) fell yesterday after announcing a share offering plus its investors have (so-far) missed out on any ��ecovery��in construction���meaning it might be time to take a closer look at the stock along with potential performance benchmarks like the PowerShares Dynamic Building & Construction ETF (NYSEARCA: PKB) and the First Trust ISE Global Engineering and Construction Index Fund ETF (NYSEARCA: FLM)���both of which have had decent returns in recent years.

• [By John Udovich]

  Mid cap infrastructure construction stock Chicago Bridge & Iron Company N.V. (NYSE: CBI) fell 7.23% after being trashed in an article by an apparent�short seller posted on Seeking Alpha, meaning its worth taking a closer look at the stock along with the performance of potential benchmarks like Jacobs Engineering Group Inc (NYSE: JEC), KBR, Inc (NYSE: KBR) and First Trust ISE Global Engineering and Construction Index Fund ETF (NYSEARCA: FLM).

Top 5 Financial Stocks To Watch Right Now: National Health Investors Inc. (NHI)

National Health Investors, Inc., a real estate investment trust (REIT), invests in health care properties, primarily in the long-term care industry in the United States. As of December 31, 2008, it had investments in real estate assets and mortgage notes receivable investments in 123 health care facilities consisting of 83 long-term care facilities, 1 acute care hospital, 4 medical office buildings, 14 assisted living facilities, 4 retirement centers, and 17 residential projects for the developmentally disabled in 17 states. The company has elected to be treated as a REIT for federal income tax purposes and would not be subject to federal income tax, if it distributes at least 90% of its REIT taxable income to its shareholders. National Health Investors, Inc. was founded in 1991 and is based in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jonas Elmerraji]

   

   

  After performing pretty poorly in the last year, $2 billion healthcare property owner National Health Investors (NHI) has gone from laggard to leader in 2014. Since the start of the year, NHI has moved more than 11% higher, stomping the S&P 500's performance by comparison. And now, NHI looks well positioned for another leg up...

   

  NHI is forming a "rounding bottom" pattern, a basic classic setup that looks exactly like it sounds: it's identified by a curved support level below shares and a horizontal resistance level to the top side. That rounded support line indicates a gradual shift in control from sellers to buyers -- and resistance at $63 is the price level to watch from here.

   

  Why all the significance at $63? It all comes down to buyers and sellers. Price patterns are a good quick way to identify what's going on in the price action, but they're not the reason a stock is tradable. Instead, the "why" comes down to basic supply and demand for NHI's stock.

   

  The $63 resistance level is a price where there has been an excess of supply of shares; in other words, it's a spot where sellers have previously been more eager to step in and take gains than buyers have been to buy. That's what makes a breakout above $63 so significant -- the move means that buyers are finally strong enough to absorb all of the excess supply above that price level.

   

• [By Marc Bastow]

  Long-term care and senior housing real estate investment trust National Health Investors (NHI) raised its quarterly dividend 6.2% to 77 cents per share, payable on May 9 to shareholders of record as of Mar. 31. NHI stock has the second-highest yield on this week’s list of dividend stocks increasing payouts.
  NHI Dividend Yield: 4.88%

• [By Lauren Pollock]

  National Health Investors Inc.(NHI) signed an agreement to acquire 25 independent-living facilities from Holiday Retirement Corp. affiliates for $491 million. The health-care focused real-estate investment trust also unveiled plans to offer 4.5 million shares of its stock to help fund the pending deal.

Top 5 Financial Stocks To Watch Right Now: Guggenheim Shipping ETF (SEA)

Guggenheim Shipping ETF (the Fund) seeks investment results that correspond generally to the performance of Delta Global Shipping Index (the Index). The Index is designed to measure the performance of companies listed on global developed market exchanges and consists of companies within the maritime shipping industry. The index provider, Delta Global Indices, LLC, defines the shipping industry to include companies within the business segments of the maritime shipping industry, such as companies deriving revenue from the seaborne transport of dry bulk goods and the leasing and/or operating of tanker ships, container ships, specialty chemical ships and ships that transport liquid natural gas (LNG) or dry bulk goods. The Fund will invest at least 90% of its total assets in common stock, American depositary receipts (ADRs), global depositary receipts (GDRs) and master limited partnerships (MLPs). The Fund's investment adviser is Guggenheim Funds Investment Advisors, LLC. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By MONEYMORNING.COM]

  And to be sure, many ETFs have clever names, such as the Pimco ETF Trust (NYSE Arca: BOND), the Market Vectors Agribusiness ETF (NYSE Arca: MOO), the Guggenheim Shipping ETF (NYSE Arca: SEA), the ProShares Ultra Australian Dollar ETF (NYSE Arca: GDAY), and the Teucrium Corn Fund (NYSE Arca: CORN).

Top 5 Financial Stocks To Watch Right Now: Capstead Mortgage Corporation (CMO)

Capstead Mortgage Corporation operates as a self-managed real estate investment trust. It invests in leveraged portfolio of residential mortgage pass-through securities consisting of adjustable-rate mortgage securities issued and guaranteed by government-sponsored enterprises or by an agency of the federal government. The company qualifies as a real estate investment trust for federal income tax purposes. It generally would not be subject to federal corporate income taxes if it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income to its stockholders. The company was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Bryan Perry]

  Yes and no. I don’t like the risk/reward for fixed-rate mREITs. I’m concerned we could see a spike in the 10-year Treasury note to 3.5% if the economy picks up speed, which will put fixed-rate mREITs under pressure. That said, I think there are select adjustable-rate mREITs that are worthy of a spot in your portfolio. One I do recommend in my Cash Machine Aggressive High-Yield portfolio is Capstead Mortgage (CMO).

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Agency mortgage real estate investment trust�Capstead Mortgage (NYSE: CMO  ) announced this morning�its second-quarter dividend of $0.31�per share, the same rate it paid last quarter.

• [By Alyssa Oursler]

  Of course, we have to start with a real estate investment trust (REIT). One of the best REITs right now looks to be�Capstead Mortgage Corp.�(CMO); it’s gained 9% so far this year as its similarly sized peers all sit in the red.

• [By Amanda Alix]

  Everyone got stung
  The huge drop in share price, along with the unusually heavy trading volume, smacked of investor panic. Adjustable-rate mortgage investors like Capstead (NYSE: CMO  ) , which reported earnings on Thursday, also took a dive. Even players in the 30-year mortgage market, such as American Capital Agency (NASDAQ: AGNC  ) and Annaly (NYSE: NLY  ) got dinged, right along with the ARM crowd.