European Stocks Advance Before U.S. ADP, Home Sales Data

European stocks declined for a fourth day, their longest losing streak in more than five months, as better-than-expected U.S. jobs data fueled concern the Federal Reserve will pare stimulus measures sooner than forecast.

Elekta AB dropped 4.3 percent after posting quarterly profit that missed forecasts. Standard Chartered (STAN) Plc slid 6.6 percent. PSA Peugeot Citroen advanced 2.4 percent as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. added the shares to its conviction-buy list.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slid 0.7 percent to 316.76 at 1:43 p.m. in London. The benchmark fell 1.5 percent yesterday as investors weighed valuations before U.S. jobs data this week. It has gained 13 percent this year as central banks around the world pledged to keep interest rates low for a prolonged period.

"The market is on alert for any signs of Fed tapering and these ADP numbers will raise those concerns for investors," Stewart Richardson, who helps oversee about $100 million as chief investment officer at RMG Wealth Management LLP in London, said by phone. "When the market starts going a bit down, people worry that they'll lose their year-to-date gains. Investors are booking profits going into the year end."

A private jobs report by ADP Research Institute showed that U.S. companies last month added 215,000 workers in November, the most in a year. The median forecast of economists in a Bloomberg survey was for an increase of 170,000. Labor Department data on Dec. 6 may show the unemployment rate fell to 7.2 percent, matching the lowest level in five years.

The Fed has said it will monitor labor-market gains before deciding when to pare its $85 billion of monthly bond purchases. The central bank will release its Beige Book report on economic conditions in the world's largest economy after European markets close today.

New-Home Sales

A release at 10 a.m. in Washington may show the pace of new-home sales was an annualized 429,000 in October, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The Commerce Department will publish figures for both September and October today, after a 16-day government shutdown delayed earlier data.

Another report at the same time may show the Institute for Supply Management's non-manufacturing index fell to 55 in November from 55.4 a month earlier.

The Federal Open Market Committee meets next on Dec. 17-18. Policy makers will probably pare the monthly pace of bond buying to $70 billion at their March 18-19 meeting, according to the median of 32 estimates in Bloomberg's most recent survey of economists conducted on Nov. 8.

Euro-Area GDP

The euro area's nascent recovery from a record-long recession nearly stalled in the third quarter, according to figures released today by the European Union's statistics office in Luxembourg. Gross domestic product rose 0.1 percent after a 0.3 percent gain in the previous three months. That was in line with Eurostat's initial estimate. From a year earlier, the economy contracted 0.4 percent.

Elekta (EKTAB) dropped 4.3 percent to 92.38 kronor after the maker of radiation-surgery equipment reported second-quarter operating profit of 304 million kronor ($47 million), missing the average analyst estimate for 424 million kronor.

Standard Chartered slid 6.6 percent to 1,337 pence, the lowest price since August 2012. The U.K. bank that generates about three-quarters of its profits from Asia said full-year operating profit at its consumer-banking unit will decline at least 10 percent because of weakness in Korea.

Full-year revenue will probably be "broadly flat" in 2013 from a year earlier, according to a statement. "Difficult market conditions that began in August have continued in the second half and are likely to remain through to the year-end."

Banks Fall

A gauge of banking shares posted the worst performance of the 19 industry groups in the Stoxx 600. Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA tumbled 5.8 percent to 17.3 euro cents after Il Sole reported that Fondazione Monte dei Paschi di Siena, the biggest shareholder, may sell some or all of its stake in the lender before a Dec. 27 investor meeting.

Peugeot climbed 2.4 percent to 11.77 euros after Goldman Sachs added the shares to its conviction-buy list, citing a capital increase, asset disposals and a probable alliance in China. Goldman Sachs said in a note today that European carmakers will post profit growth through 2017 as sales and prices increase.

Sage Group Plc jumped 8.9 percent to 378.3 pence after proposing a final dividend of 7.44 pence a share, exceeding analysts' projections of 7.1 pence. The software publisher posted sales of about 1.38 billion pounds ($2.26 billion) today, in line with analysts' forecasts.

"We remain confident of achieving our target of 6 percent organic revenue growth in 2015, and anticipate further progress during the year ahead," Chief Executive Officer Guy Berruyer said in a statement.

Best Gold Stocks To Buy Right Now

David A. Banister- www.MarketTrendForecast.com

Our Last major Elliott Wave Analysis of Gold came in early September when Gold had touched the 1434 area, and in that analysis we called for a re-test of 1271-1285 levels. This was based on our Elliott Wave Analysis of the patterns involved since the 1923 spot highs in the fall of 2011. Our clients of course were updated on a regular basis since that public analysis and we have been looking for clues to a bottom in this Gold bear cycle from the 2011 highs.

Most recently, we noted that we are seeing patterns commiserate with what Elliott wave theory calls a ��runcated 5th wave��pattern. All Bear cycles have 5 full waves to the downside from the highs, and we have been in wave 5 since the 1434 highs. The key then is determining how low that wave 5 will take you in Gold, and planning your investments and timing around that forecast.

Best Gold Stocks To Buy Right Now: Newmont Mining Corporation(Holding Company)

Newmont Mining Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and production of gold and copper properties. The company?s assets or operations are located in the United States, Australia, Peru, Indonesia, Ghana, Canada, New Zealand, and Mexico. As of December 31, 2009, it had proven and probable gold reserves of approximately 93.5 million equity ounces and an aggregate land position of approximately 27,500 square miles. The company was founded in 1916 and is headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado.

Best Gold Stocks To Buy Right Now: Goldman Sachs Group Inc.(The)

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides investment banking, securities, and investment management services to corporations, financial institutions, governments, and high-net-worth individuals worldwide. Its Investment Banking segment offers financial advisory, including advisory assignments with respect to mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, corporate defense, risk management, restructurings, and spin-offs; and underwriting securities, loans and other financial instruments, and derivative transactions. The company?s Institutional Client Services segment provides client execution activities, such as fixed income, currency, and commodities client execution related to making markets in interest rate products, credit products, mortgages, currencies, and commodities; and equities related to making markets in equity products, as well as commissions and fees from executing and clearing institutional client transactions on stock, options, and fu tures exchanges. This segment also engages in the securities services business providing financing, securities lending, and other prime brokerage services to institutional clients, including hedge funds, mutual funds, pension funds, and foundations. Its Investing and Lending segment invests in debt securities, loans, public and private equity securities, real estate, consolidated investment entities, and power generation facilities. This segment also involves in the origination of loans to provide financing to clients. The company?s Investment Management segment provides investment management services and investment products to institutional and individual clients. This segment also offers wealth advisory services, including portfolio management and financial counseling, and brokerage and other transaction services to high-net-worth individuals and families. In addition, it provides global investment research services. The company was founded in 1869 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Hot Dividend Stocks To Own Right Now: First Majestic Silver Corp.(AG)

First Majestic Silver Corp. engages in the production, development, exploration, and acquisition of mineral properties with a focus on silver in Mexico. The company owns interests in La Encantada Silver Mine comprising 4,076 hectares of mining rights and 1,343 hectares of surface land located in Coahuila; La Parrilla Silver Mine consisting of mining concessions covering an area of 69,867 hectares; and San Martin Silver Mine comprising approximately 7,841 hectares of mineral rights and approximately 1,300 hectares of surface land rights located in Jalisco. It also holds interests in Del Toro Silver Mine consisting of 393 contiguous hectares of mining claims and an additional 129 hectares of surface rights located in Zacatecas; Real de Catorce Silver Project comprising 22 mining concessions covering 6,327 hectares located in San Luis Potosi state; and Jalisco Group of Properties consisting of mining claims totalling 5,240 hectares located in Jalisco. The company was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Doug Ehrman]

  It is no secret that precious metals companies have been taking a pounding for some time now. The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSEMKT: GLD  ) and iShares Silver Trust (NYSEMKT: SLV  ) , the gold and silver ETFs, have been hard hit and operating companies like First Majestic (NYSE: AG  ) and Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX  ) have been hit even harder. Through all of these struggles, and in some cases because of them, one precious metals company continues to look attractive for the long term: Silver Wheaton (NYSE: SLW  ) .

• [By Doug Ehrman]

  While many precious-metals companies have been in a slump of late, there is one that belongs perpetually in your portfolio: Silver Wheaton (NYSE: SLW  ) . The company is not like other miners -- including Pan American Silver (NASDAQ: PAAS  ) and First Majestic (NYSE: AG  ) -- in that it has a unique business plan that insulates it against many of the vagaries of the mining business. Moreover, because silver will always have a significant industrial demand component, even with the heightened volatility you see in the silver market, maintaining exposure to silver is appropriate.

Best Gold Stocks To Buy Right Now: Claude Resources Inc.(CGR)

Claude Resources Inc. engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of precious metal properties, as well as production and marketing of minerals in Canada. It primarily explores for gold in northern Saskatchewan and northwestern Ontario. The company holds interests in the Seabee gold mine located at Laonil Lake, northern Saskatchewan; and the Madsen property that consists of 6 contiguous claim blocks totaling approximately 10,000 acres, located in the Red Lake Mining District of northwestern Ontario. It also holds interest in the Amisk Gold project, which covers an area of 13,800 hectares in the province of Saskatchewan. The company was founded in 1980 and is based in Saskatoon, Canada.

Best Gold Stocks To Buy Right Now: NEW GOLD INC.(NGD)

New Gold Inc. engages in the acquisition, exploration, extraction, processing, and reclamation of mineral properties. The company primarily explore for gold, silver, and copper deposits. Its operating properties include the Mesquite gold mine in the United States; the Cerro San Pedro gold-silver mine in Mexico; and the Peak gold-copper mine in Australia. The company also has development projects, including the New Afton gold, silver, and copper project in Canada; and a 30% interest in the El Morro copper-gold project in Chile. The company was formerly known as DRC Resources Corporation and changed its name to New Gold Inc. in June 2005. New Gold Inc. was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Bridges favorite stocks include Goldcorp, Newmont, Eldorado Gold (EGO) and New Gold (NGD).

  Note, however, that these recommendations are all qualified in one way or another. Investors should keep that in mind before going all in on the gold miners.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  One group of stocks not feeling the optimism today: Gold miners. With fewer concerns that a U.S. attack on Syria will be disruptive and more evidence that tapering will begin this month, the price of the precious metal has dropped 1.6% to $1,388.90 an ounce–and gold stocks are falling with it. New Gold (NGD), for one, has dropped 3% to $6.55, while Barrick Gold (ABX) has fallen 1.3% to $19.25.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Even bad news has failed to dent the rise in gold stocks today. NewGold (NGD), for instance, has gained 1.8% to $7.49 despite the fact that the wall of one of its mines collapsed. The Wall Street Journal has the details:

Best Gold Stocks To Buy Right Now: Golden Star Resources Ltd(GSS)

Golden Star Resources Ltd., a gold mining and exploration company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of gold properties. It owns and operates the Bogoso/Prestea gold mining and processing operation that covers approximately 40 kilometers of strike along the southwest-trending Ashanti gold district in western Ghana; and the Wassa open-pit gold mine located to the east of Bogoso/Prestea in southwest Ghana. The company also has an 81% interest in the Prestea underground gold mine located in Ghana. In addition, it holds interests in various gold exploration projects in Ghana, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Cote d?Ivoire, as well as holds and manages exploration properties in Brazil in South America. The company was founded in 1984 and is based in Littleton, Colorado.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  Golden Star Resources (NYSEMKT: GSS  )
  It's simple physics: The bigger they are, the harder they fall. When gold prices nosedived earlier this week, gold miners with historically higher operating costs took the brunt of the hit. For the most part, that meant that development-stage miners, and those operating in Africa, where labor and political costs make cost-effective mining a challenge, took it on the chin. Possibly no stock was hammered more than Golden Star Resources, a gold miner in Ghana, which lost about one-quarter of its value on Monday alone.

• [By Patricio Kehoe] ating price of the commodity, along with the geopolitical risks involved in mining in African nations such as Ghana, are just two of the obstacles the firm is facing. In addition, as one of the smallest gold mining firms in the industry, with a market cap of just $122 million, Golden Star has had a very difficult time financing its latest expansion projects. With share prices tumbling towards all-time lows, gurus such as Steven Cohen, Chuck Royce and Arnold Schneider have already sold out their positions in the troubled firm.

  Why Have Gurus Lost Faith in Golden Star?

  Despite aggressive expansion over the past decade, the Toronto-based gold mining firm has not been able to take advantage of its increased production output. Gold prices might have exploded over a ten-year period, yet the recent six-month decline has put a huge strain on Golden Star. The expedited maturation of its mines is particularly troubling, since the accelerated extraction rates, which allowed for short-term profits, are now falling considerably. The impact of the company�� excessive overproduction on profits and growth is clear: decreasing gold reserves mean less production, and thus reduced revenue for the gold miner. When the decline in metal prices are taken into account, the outlook is even more grim.

  In addition to overexpansion at the wrong time, Golden Star�� position has weakened due to its comparably less efficient operations. Unlike industry peers, such as IamGold Corp. (IAG) or Gold Fields Ltd. (GFI), the majority of the Toronto-based miner�� assets contain refractory ore, which is far more expensive to extract than non refractory ore. And, in an attempt to switch production to the lower cost gold ore, and thus increase margins, Golden Star has depleted its mines��non refractory ore. With low reserves and mounting cash costs, the firm inevitably turned to new acquisitions.

  Overpriced Acquisitions and Geopolitical Risk

  The purchase

Best Gold Stocks To Buy Right Now: Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited(AEM)

Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited, through its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, development, and production of mineral properties in Canada, Finland, and Mexico. The company primarily explores for gold, as well as silver, copper, zinc, and lead. Its flagship property includes the LaRonde mine located in the southern portion of the Abitibi volcanic belt, Canada. The company was founded in 1953 and is based in Toronto, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Holly LaFon]

  He increased his holdings in gold companies in the fourth quarter accordingly. Gold stocks he found attractive in the fourth quarter are: Novagold Resources (NG), Randgold Resources (GOLD), Iamgold Corp. (IAG), Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX), Agnico Eagle (AEM) and International Tower Hill (THM).

• [By Daniel Putnam]

  The second factor working in gold stocks��favor is that analysts are growing optimistic again. Yesterday, HSBC put out a bullish note on gold and upgraded Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM), Yamana Gold (AUY), Barrick Gold, Iamgold (IAG), and Goldcorp. Most gold stocks are ranked ��old��or ��uy��(as opposed to ��trong Buy�� by the majority of analysts, meaning that there�� plenty of room for continued positive news flow on this front.

• [By vaninaegea]

  In august, the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) published the mid-year review for the agricultural sector. Their findings point to a slowdown for the industry, highlighting a 9.5% decline on exports through the first half of 2013. Also, late soybean planting in the USA is expected to compound the industry�� slowdown. So, what are the prospects for AGCO (AGCO), CNH Global (CNH), and Deere & Co. (DE) under such conditions?

Best Gold Stocks To Buy Right Now: Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc.(TC)

Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in mining, milling, processing, and marketing molybdenum products in the United States and Canada. The company?s principal properties include the Thompson Creek Mine and mill in Idaho; a metallurgical roasting facility in Langeloth, Pennsylvania; and a joint venture interest in the Endako Mine, mill, and roasting facility in British Columbia. It also holds interests in development projects comprising the Davidson molybdenum property and the Berg copper-molybdenum-silver property located in northern British Columbia; the Howard?s Pass property, a lead and zinc project situated in the Yukon territory-northwest territories border; and the Maze Lake property, a gold project located in the Kivalliq district of Nunavut. The company produces molybdenum products, primarily molybdic oxide and ferromolybdenum, as well as soluble technical oxide, pure molybdenum tri-oxide, and high purity molybdenum disulfide. As o f December 31, 2010, its consolidated recoverable proven and probable ore reserves totaled 462.2 million pounds of contained molybdenum in the Thompson Creek Mine and the Endako Mine. The company was formerly known as Blue Pearl Mining Ltd. and changed its name to Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc. in May 2007. Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc. is based in Denver, Colorado.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Selena Maranjian]

  The biggest new holdings are Chesapeake Energy�puts, and shares of Discovery Communications. Other new holdings of interest include Halcon Resources (NYSE: HK  ) , and Thompson Creek Metals (NYSE: TC  ) . Oil and gas company Halcon, operating in the promising Bakken region, as well as Texas's productive Eagle Ford shale region, among others, is expected to grow by 30% annually over the coming years. It recently reported 2012 net daily production 128% higher than year-ago levels, and proven reserves up 417%. Halcon was recently one of my colleague Joel South's top two energy holdings, and analysts at Stifel recently upped its rating�from Hold to Buy.

Infosys agrees to record U.S. immigration settlement

Infosys, an Indian company led by S. D. Shibual, has reached a record $34 million settlement with federal prosecutors to settle allegations of visa fraud and abuse of the immigration process.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) The Indian company Infosys has reached a record $34 million settlement with federal prosecutors in Texas, to settle "allegations of systemic visa fraud and abuse of immigration processes."

The U.S. Attorney's Office of the Eastern District in Texas said that this is the largest payment ever levied in an immigration case.

The government accused software developer Infosys (INFY) of using workers with B-1 visas, which only allow temporary entry into the U.S. for business purposes, to perform skilled labor jobs.

The U.S. said these jobs should only be performed by workers with H-1B visas, which allow foreign nationals to enter the U.S. to perform a specialty occupation.

The government accused Infosys (INFY), a software developer, of using B-1 visa holders to perform skilled labor jobs that were supposed to be done by "legitimate" holders of H-1B visas.

The settlement says Infosys submitted letters to U.S. Consular Officials that "contained false statements regarding the true purpose of a B-1 visa holder's travel in order to deceive U.S. Consular Officials and secure entry of the visa holder into the United States."

It also says that Infosys issued a "dos" and "don'ts" memorandum directing B-1 visa holders "to deceive U.S. Consular Officials, including specific instructions to avoid certain terminology, to secure entry of the visa holder in the United States." The memo allegedly included instructions to avoid using words like "work" and "contract" in certain communications with U.S. officials.

Infosys said it agreed to a civil settlement "relating to I-9 paperwork errors and visa matters that were the subject of the investigation. There were no criminal charges or court rulings against the company."

CEO pay skyrockets on soaring stock market

CEOs' wallets are turning into one of the biggest winners from the rising stock market, with the top 10 payouts hitting a record $4.7 billion, and they're likely to get even fatter next year.

By cashing in lucrative stock options they got when stocks were beat up, CEOs saw their total 2012 "realized" pay jump by a median 8.5%, according to a comprehensive look at money paid to 2,259 CEOs who have served at least the last two years to be released by GMI Ratings Tuesday. The number includes base salary paid to CEOs, in addition to the value of options granted in previous years that CEOs sold in 2012.

CEO pay measured this way jumped for the third straight year, following double-digit percentage gains in 2010 and 2011, GMI found.

This massive payback may just be a taste of the payouts coming next year, as options soar even more with the Standard & Poor's 500 up more than 20% this year. CEOs' giant 2012 pay also comes even as regulators look to implement more rules called for by the Dodd-Frank law to attempt to reign in skyrocketing CEO pay.

"The numbers have gone completely over the top," says Eleanor Bloxham of The Value Alliance. "Boards of directors risk political backlash when they can contribute to these levels of inequity."

Top Insurance Companies To Own In Right Now

This in-depth look at CEO pay reveals some interesting insights, including:

•Record-breaking paychecks. The total of the top 10 biggest CEO payouts in the analysis hit $4.7 billion, the largest total ever recorded by GMI. And for the first time, all of the top 10 biggest payouts were valued at $100 million or more. "Now that the stock market is doing well, you're seeing executives cashing in stock options and maximizing those awards," says Greg Ruel, senior research consultant at GMI.

•Massive $1 billion windfalls for individuals. Facebook may still be trying to prove itself as a lasting! company, but CEO Mark Zuckerberg has already pulled in a massive haul. The total compensation to the CEO hit $2.3 billion, nearly entirely due to him selling shares connected with the company's IPO last year, GMI says. Following Zuckerberg is the $1.1 billion total payout to Richard Kinder, CEO of energy firm Kinder Morgan. "This year, the list dwarfs anything we've seen before," Ruel says.

•Biggest gains concentrated with largest companies. CEOs at big companies in the S&P 500 saw their total median realized pay jump nearly 20%. Companies in the S&P Smallcap index, on the other hand, rose 7.8%. Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, the most valuable company, scored another big payday: $143.8 million.

And if the stock market keeps soaring this year, CEO pay might race past even 2012's head-turning levels, Ruel says. "Overall could be another double-digit pay increase as long as stock prices continue to rise," he says.

How to Get Free Financial Advice From Experts

If you need help with your personal finances, you may be able to take advantage of free assistance as part of the Financial Planning Days initiative.

SEE ALSO: Knight Kiplinger's 8 Keys to Financial Security

Experts from the Financial Planning Association and certified financial planners are providing one-on-one counseling and classroom-style presentations in 20 cities across the U.S. this fall. The program -- which was created by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, the Financial Planning Association, the Foundation for Financial Planning and the U.S. Conference of Mayors -- aims solely to help people in need of financial guidance. The volunteer financial planners will not be selling products or services at the free events. (Kiplinger's is the official media sponsor of Financial Planning Days).

For a list of cities and dates where the events will be held, visit the Financial Planning Days Web site. You can register for an event online, or call 877-861-7826 or e-mail info@financialplanningdays.org.

As always, you can find plenty of free financial advice on Kiplinger.com. Start by taking these three quizzes to find out how much you know:

The Personal Finance Quiz
Test your knowledge about taxes, saving, investing, managing credit and other vital areas of your financial life.

Financial Truth or Bunk?
These 12 money rules of thumb are often touted as gospel truth. Do they point you in the right direction -- or lead you astray?

Economics 101
Do you know the difference between GDP and CPI? If not it's time to brush up your understanding of how the economy works.

McDonald’s Testing New Way to Pay (MCD)

Fast food bellwether McDonald’s (MCD) announced on Tuesday that it had rolled out a new payment method that it is testing in select cities across the Southwest.Lisa McComb, spokesperson for McDonald’s, commented in an email to Bloomberg that the company has released an application that allows for customers to pay at the register directly from their smartphone. McComb went on to mention that the payment app is currently being tested in restaurant locations across Salt Lake City, Utah and Austin, Texas. McDonald’s also released global monthly sales data on the day; sales in the U.S. improved by 0.2% for the month while Europe saw a 3.3% jump.

McDonald’s shares traded higher on Tuesday, gaining 0.46% on the day. The stock is up nearly 10% YTD.

Calculating The Present And Future Value Of Annuities

At some point in your life, you may have had to make a series of fixed payments over a period of time - such as rent or car payments - or have received a series of payments over a period of time, such as bond coupons. These are called annuities. If you understand the time value of money, you're ready to learn about annuities and how their present and future values are calculated.

What Are Annuities?
Annuities are essentially a series of fixed payments required from you or paid to you at a specified frequency over the course of a fixed time period. The most common payment frequencies are yearly, semi-annually (twice a year), quarterly and monthly. There are two basic types of annuities: ordinary annuities and annuities due.
Ordinary Annuity: Payments are required at the end of each period. For example, straight bonds usually pay coupon payments at the end of every six months until the bond's maturity date.

Annuity Due: Payments are required at the beginning of each period. Rent is an example of annuity due. You are usually required to pay rent when you first move in at the beginning of the month, and then on the first of each month thereafter. Since the present and future value calculations for ordinary annuities and annuities due are slightly different, we will first discuss the present and future value calculation for ordinary annuities.

Calculating the Future Value of an Ordinary Annuity
If you know how much you can invest per period for a certain time period, the future value of an ordinary annuity formula is useful for finding out how much you would have in the future by investing at your given interest rate. If you are making payments on a loan, the future value is useful in determining the total cost of the loan.

Let's now run through Example 1. Consider the following annuity cash flow schedule:




To calculate the future value of the annuity, we have to calculate the future value of each cash flow. Let's assume that you are receiving $1,000 every year for the next five years, and you invested each payment at 5%. The following diagram shows how much you would have at the end of the five-year period:


Since we have to add the future value of each payment, you may have noticed that if you have an ordinary annuity with many cash flows, it would take a long time to calculate all the future values and then add them together. Fortunately, mathematics provides a formula that serves as a shortcut for finding the accumulated value of all cash flows received from an ordinary annuity:

C = Cash flow per period i = interest rate n = number of payments

Using the above formula for Example 1 above, this is the result:

= $1000*[5.53] = $5525.63

Note that the 1 cent difference between $5,525.64 and $5,525.63 is due to a rounding error in the first calculation. Each value of the first calculation must be rounded to the nearest penny - the more you have to round numbers in a calculation, the more likely rounding errors will occur. So, the above formula not only provides a shortcut to finding FV of an ordinary annuity but also gives a more accurate result.

Calculating the Present Value of an Ordinary Annuity
If you would like to determine today's value of a future payment series, you need to use the formula that calculates the present value of an ordinary annuity. This is the formula you would use as part of a bond pricing calculation. The PV of an ordinary annuity calculates the present value of the coupon payments that you will receive in the future.

For Example 2, we'll use the same annuity cash flow schedule as we did in Example 1. To obtain the total discounted value, we need to take the present value of each future payment and, as we did in Example 1, add the cash flows together.


Again, calculating and adding all these values will take a considerable amount of time, especially if we expect many future payments. As such, we can use a mathematical shortcut for PV of an ordinary annuity.

C = Cash flow per period i = interest rate n = number of payments

The formula provides us with the PV in a few easy steps. Here is the calculation of the annuity represented in the diagram for Example 2:

= $1000*[4.33] = $4329.48

Calculating the Future Value of an Annuity Due
When you are receiving or paying cash flows for an annuity due, your cash flow schedule would appear as follows:




Since each payment in the series is made one period sooner, we need to discount the formula one period back. A slight modification to the FV-of-an-ordinary-annuity formula accounts for payments occurring at the beginning of each period. In Example 3, let's illustrate why this modification is needed when each $1,000 payment is made at the beginning of the period rather than at the end (interest rate is still 5%):


Notice that when payments are made at the beginning of the period, each amount is held longer at the end of the period. For example, if the $1,000 was invested on January 1 rather than December 31 each year, the last payment before we value our investment at the end of five years (on December 31) would have been made a year prior (January 1) rather than the same day on which it is valued. The future value of annuity formula would then read:


Therefore,

= $1000*5.53*1.05 = $5801.91

Calculating the Present Value of an Annuity Due
For the present value of an annuity due formula, we need to discount the formula one period forward as the payments are held for a lesser amount of time. When calculating the present value, we assume that the first payment was made today.

We could use this formula for calculating the present value of your future rent payments as specified in a lease you sign with your landlord. Let's say for Example 4 that you make your first rent payment at the beginning of the month and are evaluating the present value of your five-month lease on that same day. Your present value calculation would work as follows:



Of course, we can use a formula shortcut to calculate the present value of an annuity due:


Therefore,

= $1000*4.33*1.05 = $4545.95

Recall that the present value of an ordinary annuity returned a value of $4,329.48. The present value of an ordinary annuity is less than that of an annuity due because the further back we discount a future payment, the lower its present value: each payment or cash flow in an ordinary annuity occurs one period further into the future.

Conclusion
Now you can see how annuity affects how you calculate the present and future value of any amount of money. Remember that the payment frequencies, or number of payments, and the time at which these payments are made (whether at the beginning or end of each payment period) are all variables you need to account for in your calculations.

Where Will Facebook Stock Go Now?

With shares of Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) trading around $34, is FB 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

Facebook is engaged in building social products in order to create utility for users, developers, and advertisers. People use Facebook to stay connected with their friends and family, to discover what is going on in the world around them, and to share and express what matters to them to the people they care about. Developers can use the Facebook platform to build applications and websites that integrate with Facebook to reach its global network of users, and to build personalized and social products. Advertisers can engage with more than 900 million monthly active users on Facebook, or subsets of its users, based on information they have chosen to share.

Social networking has been a powerful movement and tool in recent years, and has had a major influence in the way many companies and consumers operate daily. The company's mobile app has reached 100 million users, and the simple app is most heavily used in emerging markets, where data speeds are usually slower. Facebook reported earnings on Wednesday afternoon that proved analysts wrong, with strong profits from mobile ads. Facebook's ad revenue from mobile was close to nothing a year ago, but in the second quarter, mobile ads made up 41 percent of the site's total ad revenue of $1.6 billion. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg predicted, "Soon we'll have more revenue on mobile than desktop."

T = Technicals on the Stock Chart are Strong

Facebook stock has struggled to find a consensus valuation over the last several years. The stock broke out in a big way today, and is now trading at highs for the year. Analyzing the price trend and its strength can be done using key simple moving averages.

What are the key moving averages? They are the 50-day (pink), 100-day (blue), and 200-day (yellow) simple moving averages. As seen in the daily price chart below, Facebook is trading well above its rising key averages, which signal neutral to bullish price action in the near-term.

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(Source: Thinkorswim)

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

	Implied Volatility (IV)	30-Day IV Percentile	90-Day IV Percentile
Facebook Options	33.76%	3%	0%

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

	Put IV Skew	Call IV Skew
August Options	Flat	Average
September 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 very minimal 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 what that means for Facebook’s stock.

E = Earnings Are Increasing Quarter-Over-Quarter

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

	2013 Q2	2013 Q1	2012 Q4	2012 Q3
Earnings Growth (Y-O-Y)	58.33%	0.00%	-89.46%	-120.00%
Revenue Growth (Y-O-Y)	53.13%	37.81%	40.14%	32.29%
Earnings Reaction	28.74%*	5.61%	-0.83%	19.12%

Facebook has seen improving earnings and rising revenue figures over the last four quarters. From these numbers, the markets have been excited about Facebook’s recent earnings announcements.

* As of this writing

P = Excellent Relative Performance Versus Peers and Sector

How has Facebook stock done relative to its peers, Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), LinkedIn (NASDAQ:LNKD), and the overall sector?

	Facebook	Google	Microsoft	LinkedIn	Sector
Year-to-Date Return	26.52%	26.10%	17.56%	77.77%	20.31%

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

Conclusion

Facebook is a leader in the social networking arena, and strives to provide an unforgettable experience for its users, developers, and advertisers. A recent positive earnings has investors euphoric, and the stock is now trading at highs for the year. Over the last four quarters, investors in the company have been excited, as earnings have been improving and revenue figures have been rising. Relative to its peers and sector, Facebook has been a year-to-date performance leader. Look for Facebook to OUTPERFORM.

Chipotle Does the Right Thing

Chipotle Mexican Grill's (NYSE: CMG  ) burritos won't be getting more expensive this year, after all. The Tex-Mex chain had hinted at "potential menu price increases" last quarter, but shelved the idea yesterday, saying that it has no plans to jack up prices for the rest of 2013. So investors will have to wait at least six months for the profit and sales jump that would come with any price hike.

You could argue that Chipotle has even more reason to raise prices now. Food costs ticked up again this past quarter, to 33.1% of sales. Those rising costs bit into restaurant margins, cleaving almost two percentage points from profits. Chipotle's expenses are well above fast-casual rivals like Panera Bread (NASDAQ: PNRA  ) , which books a steady 29% food charge. For its part, Panera hasn't shied away from pricing boosts. A 2.3% price rise helped the baker log a 3.3% jump in sales for the first quarter.

Slowing sales growth isn't an excuse for Chipotle to punt on pricing changes any longer, either. Customer traffic levels are on the upswing, as comparable sales bounced in the second quarter to over 5% versus the 1% growth it clocked to start the year. That's much better than Yum! Brands' Taco Bell chain could manage. After beating Chipotle by logging 8% growth in 2012, its fast food rival couldn't engineer a repeat, growing by just 2% in the U.S. last quarter.

Still, despite the stronger sales position Chipotle isn't budging on prices. Management says that a stable outlook for food costs should keep a cap on expenses going forward. The bad news for investors is that profitability will look weaker this year as a result. Chipotle's restaurant margin is 27.0% through the first six months of 2013, as compared to 28.3% through the same period last year.

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The good news is that Chipotle's focus on attracting customers over hoarding profits should pay off over the longer term. In fact, the company boosted its sales growth outlook for the year, and it now expects "mid to low single digit" comparable sales growth, as opposed to the "flat to low" growth it forecast just last quarter. Sure, it could juice growth even more just by boosting prices a tad. But focusing on customer traffic levels is a better way to go. And Chipotle could always raise prices next year.

Right on

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Will A Merge With Vodafone Send AT&T Higher?

With shares of AT&T (NYSE:T) trading around $36, is T 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

AT&T is a provider of telecommunications services in the United States and worldwide. Services offered include wireless communications, local exchange services, and long-distance services. AT&T operates in four segments: Wireless, Wireline, Advertising Solutions, and Other. The communications products offered through AT&T's segments reach audiences using just about every widely adopted medium: Internet, voice, television, and mobile. As consumers continue to adopt this technology, providers like AT&T stand to see rising profits.

AT&T is reportedly preparing to get serious about buying what's left of Vodafone (NASDAQ:VOD) after the British wireless carrier sells its 45 percent stake in Verizon Wireless to Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ). People familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that AT&T is working to determine which of Vodafone's many global assets it wants to keep and which would be spun off. A merger between AT&T and Vodafone would create the world's largest telecom operator by sales, Bloomberg said. AT&T has been looking to expand into Europe, which has less advanced network technology in place than in the U.S.

T = Technicals on the Stock Chart are Mixed

AT&T stock has been range-bound over the past couple of years. The stock is currently trading sideways and looks set to continue. 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, AT&T is trading above its rising key averages which signal neutral to bullish price action in the near-term.

(Source: Thinkorswim)

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

	Implied Volatility (IV)	30-Day IV Percentile	90-Day IV Percentile
AT&T Options	17.22%	20%	18%

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

	Put IV Skew	Call IV Skew
November Options	Flat	Average
December 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 very minimal 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 AT&T’s stock. What do the last four quarterly earnings and revenue growth (Y-O-Y) figures for AT&T look like and more importantly, how did the markets like these numbers?

	2013 Q3	2013 Q2	2013 Q1	2012 Q4
Earnings Growth (Y-O-Y)	N/A	7.58%	11.67%	-39.59%
Revenue Growth (Y-O-Y)	N/A	1.58%	-1.46%	0.23%
Earnings Reaction	-1.84%	-1.14%	-5.02%	0.80%

AT&T has seen increasing earnings and revenue figures over the last four quarters. From these numbers, the markets have been pleased with AT&T’s recent earnings announcements.

P = Weak Relative Performance Versus Peers and Sector

How has AT&T stock done relative to its peers, Verizon (NYSE:VZ), Sprint (NYSE:S), T-Mobile US (NASDAQ:TMUS), and sector?

	AT&T	Verizon	Sprint	T-Mobile US	Sector
Year-to-Date Return	-1.60%	-2.19%	23.15%	58.62%	20.49%

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AT&T has been a poor relative performer, year-to-date.

Conclusion

AT&T is a communications and entertainment company that operates around the world. The company is preparing to get serious about merging with Vodafone, which would create the world’s largest telecom operator by sales. The stock has been consolidating in recent years and is now trading sideways. Over the last four quarters, earnings and revenues have been increasing, which has left investors pleased with the company. Relative to its peers and sector, AT&T has been a weak year-to-date performer. WAIT AND SEE what AT&T does next.

Friday Links

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -

A weekly collection of design, data and interactive links. Design/Data viz Dieter Rams | Dieter Rams' influence on UI Design Codebases | Comparing millions of lines of code The Difference Between UX and UI | UX and UI explained with cereal Snazzy Maps | A repository of different styles for Google Maps How the world's populations are changing | Map showing population change Early computer graphics | HP 9845C demo images Photo/Video NYC subway construction | Underground photos of the NYC subway/LIRR construction project Eclipse from space | Photographs of the eclipse from space Super Tropic Tramp | Animation by Koji Aramaki and Hiroki Kato Code Calculating volume of a mesh | Helpful for 3D printing GPS tracks in 3D | Showing GPS tracks in 3D with three.js and d3.js Page Layers | Convert webpages into PSD layers Illustration Thomas Danthony | London based illustrator Buildings of New York | Posters painted by hand See last week's links Have a nice weekend! @dubly and @talyellin

R.I.P.: Vehicles automakers killed this year

The customer is frequently right. It's hard to argue with that conclusion when you look at the cars and trucks automakers pulled the plug on this year.

Some were misbegotten projects that should never have been built. Others had their moment, but outlived their usefulness. A few, I'll miss.

This is not a complete list because I'd probably forget some if I tried to name them all.

Tell the truth; you forgot about most of these years ago, didn't you?

• Acura ZDX: I love designs that stretch the envelope. I love hatchbacks. Not even I could love the outlandish and impractical Acura ZDX luxury hatchback. I'm still baffled that Honda managed to get so little usable passenger and cargo space out of a car that was longer and heavier than a BMW 535i.

The strongest — perhaps only — praise I ever heard for the ZDX was from an authority on automotive design who said, "It takes a lot of nerve to build a car that looks that much like a concept vehicle."

Amazingly, the ZDX's homelier Honda-brand cousin, the Crosstour hatchback, has yet to bite the dust. Stay tuned.

• Cadillac Escalade EXT/Chevrolet Avalanche: It turns out that America's voracious appetite for pickups didn't extend to a luxury crew cab with a $63,060 base price. I guess Oscar Wilde was right: You can't know what's enough until you know what's too much.

GM expected the cabin's rear wall, which opened to expand cargo space — would revolutionize pickups. It turned out nobody much cared.

Buyers loved the EXT and its Chevrolet Avalanche sibling's four-door layout, though. Crew cabs were a minor player before EXT/Avalanche arrived. Today, they're the best-selling pickup style.

The Escalade EXT is gone, but count on GM to explore the heights of pickup pricing again when the GMC Sierra Denali goes on sale next year.

• Nissan Altima coupe: Really, why bother? The coupe looked a little better than the Altima sedan, but failed to offer any concrete benefit to offset its less-practical bo! dy style.

Two-door models once dominated American car sales. They're a blip on the radar screen today, because sedans got better and coupes stagnated. This is how a market segment dies.

• Toyota Matrix: I still can't believe Toyota abandoned this gem. The Matrix compact wagon helped create the super-hot segment of crossovers that combine SUV looks with passenger-car fuel economy. The Matrix — and its clone, the Pontiac Vibe — gave owners a practical, affordable, easy to park alternative to big, thirsty SUVs.

GM filled the void left by the Vibe with the Buick Encore this year. Don't be surprised if Toyota introduces a successor to the Matrix in the near future.

• Volkswagen Routan: A vehicle launched because Volkswagen execs thought they needed a minivan, but not badly enough to do it right. This rebadged version of the Chrysler Town & Country should have come with vanity plates that read "Obligatory."

Given minivans' undeserved reputation as bland vehicles driven by boring people, the Routan probably deserves some credit for a series of Brooke Shields-starring commercials that managed to make minivan owners seem pretentious and self-important.

• Volvo C30 and C70: The C30 hatchback was a spacey-looking little performance compact. It aimed to make Swedish design and engineering appealing to a hip new generation of buyers. Sadly, the C30's target audience ignored it like vegetarians walking away from the meatball stand at Ikea.

The C70 hardtop convertible had less going for it. Heavy, underpowered and overpriced, it was the antithesis of the mischievous C30. Who would've guessed a pitch that amounted to "I may be boring, but I also have a barely useable rear seat," wouldn't sway drivers intoxicated by the sun on their face and the wind in their hair?

The C70's shortcomings notwithstanding, we can hope these aren't the last compact Volvos we'll see. The automaker is developing a new generation of vehicles, including compacts it may sell in the U! .S.

5 Best Blue Chip Stocks To Watch For 2014

The Dow Jones Industrial Average has had quite a year, with the blue-chip index adding about 14%.

That�� not quite as much as the S&P 500, of course, but keep in mind that the Dow also just gave itself a facelift by booting also-ran aluminum stock Alcoa (AA), fallen tech giant Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and troubled financial stock Bank of America (BAC) and replacing them with some fresh faces.

Those watching the Dow might think that those laggards kicked out of the index are the worst blue chips Wall Street has to offer right now. However, a closer look at the Dow reveals five rather ugly components that still are holding back the index — and that investors should avoid if they want to profit in 2014.

The dogs of the Dow you should sell right now include Caterpillar (CAT), Walmart (WMT), IBM (IBM), Coca-Cola (KO) and Exxon Mobil (XOM).

5 Best Blue Chip Stocks To Watch For 2014: Visa Inc.(V)

Visa Inc., a payments technology company, engages in the operation of retail electronic payments network worldwide. It facilitates commerce through the transfer of value and information among financial institutions, merchants, consumers, businesses, and government entities. The company owns and operates VisaNet, a global processing platform that provides transaction processing services. It also offers a range of payments platforms, which enable credit, charge, deferred debit, debit, and prepaid payments, as well as cash access for consumers, businesses, and government entities. The company provides its payment platforms under the Visa, Visa Electron, PLUS, and Interlink brand names. In addition, it offers value-added services, including risk management, issuer processing, loyalty, dispute management, value-added information, and CyberSource-branded services. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jason Moser]

  MasterCard's share of electronic payments
  This represents the share of the 15% of transactions that are already in electronic form. On the one hand, according to the Nilson Report competitor Visa (NYSE: V  ) holds about 63% share versus MasterCard's 31%. But when we consider that MasterCard's network has the capacity to handle more than 160 million transactions per hour, and only runs at about 80% capacity per day, there is obviously room to grow, and that is what management is doing. CFO Martina Hund-Mejean put it bluntly: "Look, we are looking at ourselves as a growth company, and obviously all of our investments that we are doing are really pointed to make sure that the top line continues to grow."�

• [By Jonas Elmerraji]

  You don't have to be an expert technical analyst to figure out what's going on in shares of Visa (V) right now. The preeminent payment network is currently bouncing higher in a well-defined uptrend that's propelled shares since the start of 2013. This week, with shares testing that trendline support level for an eighth time, we're coming up on an ideal time to be a buyer.

  But don't buy shares of Visa anticipating a move higher. Instead, wait for the bounce. Buying off a support bounce makes sense for two big reasons: it's the spot where shares have the furthest to move up before they hit resistance, and it's the spot where the risk is the least (because shares have the least room to move lower before you know you're wrong). And by actually waiting for the bounce to happen first, you're ensuring the Visa can actually still catch a bid along that line.

  Remember, trendlines do eventually fail, and when this one does, you don't want to be holding the bag. We could very well get our bounce today in Visa. If you decide to buy, keep a tight stop in place.

• [By Diane Alter]

  Athletic gear maker Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) steps into the place of Alcoa, a Dow component for 54 years. Payments company Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) will unseat HP, which joined the blue-chip benchmark in 1997. And Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) replaces BofA, which joined the index five years ago.

• [By Tim Beyers]

  Getty Images There are some people who spend $5,000 each year going out to lunch. And then there are some who spend nothing. But according to a new Visa (V) survey, on average, Americans spend $936 a year -- or $10 per outing -- on restaurant-made lunches. That kind of money could easily help fund a winter trip to the beach, but it's going to stale chips, soda, and six-inch subs instead. Or, if you're among the 1 percent who spend more than $50 a lunch -- nearly $5,000 a year -- you'd have that beach trip completely covered. Here's a closer look at how the rest of us spend our lunch breaks: Men spend more. They spend 44 percent more, specifically: $21 weekly compared to $15 on average for women. So do the poor. Those who makes $25,000 or less spent more per meal, $11.70, than any other income bracket. Chitown = cheaptown. Midwesterners spent the least on eating out, just $8.90 per meal. Northeasterners ate out the least often -- just 1.5 times per week -- while Southerners spent an average of $10 each time on two weekly visits to the lunch counter. Resisting the temptation to get takeout for lunch can really pay off. "Simple choices have a large impact on your wallet," says Nat Sillin, Visa's head of U.S. Financial Education."Clipping a coupon, choosing a less expensive item, or brown-bagging it can save you hundreds over the course of a year." But Sillin isn't condemning eating lunch out. Rather, it's about being aware of how much you're spending and whether you can afford to spend that amount. "Going into debt for a tuna sandwich isn't worth it." Fair point. But what if you don't know where to start? Here are four tips for reducing your lunch tab without going hungry: 1. Bring leftovers. This should be obvious, but for many it isn't. Cook enough over the weekend for multiple weekday meals and then store the remainder in portable containers you can bring to work. Reheat, serve, and bask in the savings as you watch YouTube at your desk. 2. Buy frozen.

5 Best Blue Chip Stocks To Watch For 2014: Chevron Corporation(CVX)

Chevron Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in petroleum, chemicals, mining, power generation, and energy operations worldwide. It operates in two segments, Upstream and Downstream. The Upstream segment involves in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas; processing, liquefaction, transportation, and regasification associated with liquefied natural gas; transportation of crude oil through pipelines; and transportation, storage, and marketing of natural gas, as well as holds interest in a gas-to-liquids project. The Downstream segment engages in the refining of crude oil into petroleum products; marketing of crude oil and refined products primarily under the Chevron, Texaco, and Caltex brand names; transportation of crude oil and refined products by pipeline, marine vessel, motor equipment, and rail car; and manufacture and marketing of commodity petrochemicals, plastics for industrial uses, and fuel and lubricant additives. It a lso produces and markets coal and molybdenum; and holds interests in 13 power assets with a total operating capacity of approximately 3,100 megawatts, as well as involves in cash management and debt financing activities, insurance operations, real estate activities, energy services, and alternative fuels and technology business. Chevron Corporation has a joint venture agreement with China National Petroleum Corporation. The company was formerly known as ChevronTexaco Corp. and changed its name to Chevron Corporation in May 2005. Chevron Corporation was founded in 1879 and is based in San Ramon, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Given its size, Exxon has to work hard just to stand still on the production front. Because existing wells naturally see declines in output over their productive lifetimes, Exxon has to look for new sources constantly in order to replace aging wells. The company is even less nimble than fellow Big Oil players Chevron (NYSE: CVX  ) and ConocoPhillips, both of which expect much greater production growth than Exxon's targeted 2% to 3% growth. Chevron now expects 6% growth per year through 2017, while Conoco is seeking 3% to 5% annual growth over that period.

• [By John Divine]

  Yes, oil prices fell 7.5% across the globe, and yes, Chevron's (NYSE: CVX  ) earnings dropped 4.5% in the first quarter, yet shares still added 1.3% today after the energy giant reported. While oil production slipped, increased traction in the natural gas business showed some promise, as natural gas sales rose 3.2%.�

• [By Matt Thalman]

  A few stocks are being hurt by lower commodity prices. Both of the major oil and gas components of the Dow are also falling today. Chevron (NYSE: CVX  ) is down 2.4%, while ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM  ) has lost 2.2%. The price of a barrel of light crude oil has fallen 3.6% today, and unleaded gasoline per gallon is down 1.67%. The feared slowdown in China is likely the reason the price of oil is dropping. However, as we have seen in the past, the price of oil falls only briefly before moving higher again. Investors in Chevron or Exxon should ride out this temporary downturn and wait for higher prices at the pump.

• [By Matt Thalman]

  As a whole, the energy sector slid lower today, while Chevron (NYSE: CVX  ) dropped 1.09% and ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM  ) declined 0.8%. The decline came as crude prices hardly fell, but natural gas moved lower by 2.55%. Last week's U.S. crude oil inventory report has caused traders some concern as inventories fell; the price of oil also moved lower, which doesn't follow standard supply and demand theories. Furthermore, both Chevron and Exxon are scheduled to report earnings later in the week, so that could be playing on investors' minds as the price of oil highly affects the company's earnings per share. As earnings are released, investors should be watching each company's inventories and what each expects on the production side in the coming months as that will likely also affect the price of oil and earnings down the road. �

Top 10 Value Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Apple Inc.(AAPL)

Apple Inc., together with subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and markets personal computers, mobile communication and media devices, and portable digital music players, as well as sells related software, services, peripherals, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications worldwide. The company sells its products worldwide through its online stores, retail stores, direct sales force, third-party wholesalers, resellers, and value-added resellers. In addition, it sells third-party Mac, iPhone, iPad, and iPod compatible products, including application software, printers, storage devices, speakers, headphones, and other accessories and peripherals through its online and retail stores; and digital content and applications through the iTunes Store. The company sells its products to consumer, small and mid-sized business, education, enterprise, government, and creative markets. As of September 25, 2010, it had 317 retail stores, including 233 stores in the United States and 84 stores internationally. The company, formerly known as Apple Computer, Inc., was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Cupertino, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tim Melvin]

  I will leave it to everyone else to follow the big hedge fund stars to see who bought or sold the most shares of Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOG) in the third quarter. I prefer to follow the value types who are not in the day-to-day headlines but have done an outstanding job of making money over long periods of time.

• [By Evan Niu, CFA]

  Everyone knows Steve Jobs. The Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) co-founder easily reached celebrity status by the time he died in 2011, uncommon for the CEO of a major tech company, particularly to the degree that the public exalted him. Jobs undeniably cemented his visionary status with a series of breakthrough products.

• [By Wallace Witkowski]

  Plus, more than 120 companies on the S&P 500 report next week with notable releases from Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Biogen Idec Inc. (BIIB) �on Monday; Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) �and Allergan Inc. (AGN) �on Tuesday; Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) �, General Motors Co. (GM) , and Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) �on Wednesday; along with MasterCard Inc. (MA) �and ConocoPhillips (COP) �on Thursday.

• [By Chris Neiger]

  Don't worry, The Motley Fool hasn't been tracking your downloads -- but the research firm App Annie has. Their latest report�shines a light on consumers' mobile app preferences and how those apps translate into revenue for companies like Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) .�

5 Best Blue Chip Stocks To Watch For 2014: McDonald's Corporation(MCD)

McDonald?s Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a worldwide foodservice retailer. It franchises and operates McDonald?s restaurants that offer various food items, soft drinks, coffee, and other beverages. As of December 31, 2009, the company operated 32,478 restaurants in 117 countries, of which 26,216 were operated by franchisees; and 6,262 were operated by the company. McDonald?s Corporation was founded in 1948 and is based in Oak Brook, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jim Royal]

  Let's take McDonald's (NYSE: MCD  ) as an example. In the four quarters ending in December, the restaurateur generated $6.97 billion in operating cash flow. It invested about $3.05 billion in property, plant, and equipment. To calculate free cash flow, subtract McDonald's investment from its operating cash flow. That leaves us with $3.92 billion in free cash flow, which the company can save for future expenditures or distribute to shareholders.

• [By Geoff Gannon]

  1. World Acceptance (WRLD)
  2. Express Scripts (ESRX)
  3. Walgreen (WAG)
  4. Humana (HUM)
  5. McDonald's (MCD)

  Those are the kinds of companies a younger ��and poorer ��Warren Buffett might buy. Actually, a few of those companies are big enough for Warren Buffett to buy today.

• [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]

  Paul Sakuma/AP NEW YORK -- What has two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles and onions on a sesame bun? Burger King's latest sandwich. The Miami-based chain says it's bringing back its "Big King" sandwich, which looks a lot like the popular Big Mac made by its bigger rival McDonald's. Burger King says it's an addition to the permanent menu rolling out this week. Burger King says it previously offered the Big King as a limited-time offer. But back then, it didn't have the middle bun -- a Big Mac hallmark -- like it does now. It's just the latest move by Burger King that seems to pay more than a little homage to the Golden Arches. Last spring, Burger King also unveiled a revamped menu that looked a lot like the food McDonald's (MCD) had added in recent years, such as fruit shakes, chicken snack wraps and specialty coffee drinks. Since then, Burger King has also rolled out a rib sandwich to compete with the popular McRib, as well as chicken nuggets (Burger King is better known for its chicken tenders). As the New York Post wrote at the time, "They look like McNuggets. They're as nutritious as McNuggets. Just don't call them McNuggets." What does McDonald's think of all this? "We're focused on our business and our customers," spokeswoman Lisa McComb said in an email. Scott Hume, editor of BurgerBusiness.com, notes that imitation is common in the fast-food industry. "McDonald's clones make sense if they're popular in the marketplace," Hume said. He noted that Burger King has also rolled out more differentiated products, such as a pulled pork sandwich. AP

• [By Jeremy Bowman]

  McDonald's (NYSE: MCD  ) was another strong gainer, moving up 1.6% after bringing back Steve Easterbrook as Chief Global Brand Officer. Easterbrook had formerly overseen McDonald's Europe, the Golden Arches' biggest region, with 7,000 restaurants in 39 countries. The fast-food chain also tripled the pay for its former and current CEO, and was also receiving some negative publicity after an ad in Massachusetts came out that seemed to associate eating Big Macs with mental illness and depression. McDonald's immediately pulled the ad. �

5 Best Blue Chip Stocks To Watch For 2014: Colgate-Palmolive Company(CL)

Colgate-Palmolive Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets consumer products worldwide. It offers oral care products, including toothpaste, toothbrushes, and mouth rinses, as well as dental floss and pharmaceutical products for dentists and other oral health professionals; personal care products, such as liquid hand soap, shower gels, bar soaps, deodorants, antiperspirants, shampoos, and conditioners; and home care products comprising laundry and dishwashing detergents, fabric conditioners, household cleaners, bleaches, dishwashing liquids, and oil soaps. The company offers its oral, personal, and home care products under the Colgate Total, Colgate Max Fresh, Colgate 360 Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Moreover, it's starting to appear that Clorox has weathered a tough part of its business cycle. Throughout the industry, Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG  ) , Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL  ) , and Clorox all had to deal with rising costs for the inputs they needed to make their respective products. The companies responded by implementing price-cutting measures and passing on part of their higher costs to their customers. For its part, Clorox was able to expand its gross margins by a full percentage point, with a worse-than-normal flu season contributing to sales. Now that input-cost inflation is easing, P&G and Clorox expect to see better profitability, with growth starting to approach the faster rates that Colgate has enjoyed.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Lately, Johnson & Johnson has presented two different faces to investors. On one hand, the company has faced the challenge of dealing with a weak consumer-products business, as multiple recalls and close regulatory oversight of its production facilities have exacerbated J&J's problems. With its more focused consumer-goods business, Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL  ) has worked harder at taking advantage of international growth opportunities than many of its rivals, and Colgate's strong overseas sales, in comparison to J&J's international weakness, show the effectiveness of that strategy. In particular, Asia has been a focus point for Colgate, with revenue from the region having risen 9% year over year compared with less than 3% growth overall. Moreover, Latin America represents Colgate's biggest region for sales, with more than half again the revenue its U.S. segment produces.

• [By Eric Volkman]

  It's one of the steadiest dividend payers on the market, and it's continuing to fly level. Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL  ) has declared a fresh quarterly common stock dividend, which is to be $0.34 per share, paid on August 15 to shareholders of record as of July 23. That amount matches the firm's previous distribution; this was paid in May. Prior to that, Colgate-Palmolive handed out $0.31 per share.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  One concern, though, is how the company handled news of Venezuela's currency devaluation. Clorox (NYSE: CLX  ) and Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL  ) also felt the pinch, with Clorox taking about a $0.05 to $0.10 per-share earnings hit and Colgate losing about $0.50 per share. But they also addressed the potential devaluation more proactively than P&G did. Clorox actually�anticipated�the devaluation in its February earnings report, projecting the potential hit if a devaluation took place. Colgate didn't provide specific guidance in advance but clearly saw it as an issue, delivering on a promise to give prompt guidance revisions after the devaluation occurred.

10 Best Oil Stocks To Watch Right Now

The following video is from Tuesday's�Digging for Value, in which host Alison Southwick, and Motley Fool energy analysts Taylor Muckerman and Joel South, get to the heart of the biggest stories in energy investing today.

In today's segment, Joel South talks about an intriguing development from EQT Corp. (NYSE: EQT  ) and Green Field Services, where the companies drilled a multistage fracked natural gas well in the Marcellus shale using 100% field natural gas. Using natural gas from close wells instead of�diesel�to power rigs could be another game changer as oil and gas companies continue to increase drilling efficiencies and thereby significantly lower costs.���

More solid energy buys
Record oil and natural gas production is revolutionizing the United States' energy position. Finding the right plays while historic amounts of capital expenditures are flooding the industry will�pad your investment nest egg. For this reason, the Motley Fool is offering a comprehensive look at three energy companies set to soar during this transformation in the energy industry. To find out which three companies are spreading their wings, check out the special free report, "3 Stocks for the American Energy Bonanza." Don't miss out on this timely opportunity; click here to access your report -- it's absolutely free.�

10 Best Oil Stocks To Watch Right Now: Caiterra International Energy Corp (CTI)

CaiTerra International Energy Corporation (Caiterra), formerly Cyterra Capital Corp., is a Canada-based company is engaged in the exploration and development of oil and gas properties. The Company�� project includes Faust, Amadou and Lac La Biche. On March 9, 2012, the Company completed its qualifying transaction with West Pacific Petroleum Inc. (WPP), pursuant to which the Company acquired all of WPP�� working interests in certain petroleum and natural gas leases and an oil sand lease in the Lac La Biche and Amadou Projects located in Alberta, Canada and certain other assets (the QT Oil and Gas Properties) from West Pacific Petroleum Inc. (WPP). On December 17, 2012 the Company acquired the Faust Property located just north of the Swan Hills oil field and south of the Town of Slave Lake.

10 Best Oil Stocks To Watch Right Now: Whiting Petroleum Corporation(WLL)

Whiting Petroleum Corporation engages in the acquisition, development, exploitation, exploration, and production of oil and gas primarily in the Permian Basin, Rocky Mountains, Mid-Continent, Gulf Coast, and Michigan regions of the United States. As of December 31, 2010, its estimated proved reserves were 304.9 million barrels equivalent of oil; and had interests in 9,698 gross productive wells covering approximately 1,115,000 gross developed acres. The company sells its oil and gas to end users, marketers, and other purchasers. Whiting Petroleum Corporation was founded in 1983 and is Denver, Colorado.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Arjun Sreekumar]

  Pad drilling methods have also allowed operators to use fewer rigs to drill the same number of wells. For instance, Whiting Petroleum (NYSE: WLL  ) , another major Bakken operator, reported a substantial decline in drilling expenses over the past year because of a successful transition toward multi-pad drilling, allowing the company to drill the same number of wells with fewer rigs.

• [By Caiman Valores]

  But its reserves are lower than U.S. domiciled small-cap Stone Energy (SGY) and mid-cap Whiting Petroleum (WLL). However, in the case of Stone Energy a larger portion of its proved and probable reserves are lower margin and less profitable natural gas, with natural gas making up 51% of its reserves and oil and NGLs the remaining 49%.

Top Bank Companies To Buy For 2014: Enhanced Oil Resources Inc (EOR)

Enhanced Oil Resources Inc. is a natural resource company. The Company is engaged in the acquisition, exploration, exploitation, and development of natural resource properties in the Southwestern United States. The Company produces oil and gas from three Permian Basin crude oilfields located in eastern New Mexico and certain oilfield properties (Winters Fields) located near Abilene, Texas. The Company, through its wholly owned subsidiary EOR Operating Inc., owns a 98% interest in the 800 acre Crossroads Siluro-Devonian Unit and a 100% interest in an adjacent 160 acre lease. The Company, through its wholly owned subsidiary EOR Operating Inc., owns a 99% interest in the 4,880 acre Milnesand San Andres Unit and a 100% interest in the adjacent 1,800 acre Horton Federal lease.

10 Best Oil Stocks To Watch Right Now: Frank s International NV (FI)

NA

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Frank's International NV (NYSE: FI) shares tumbled 12.40 percent to $25.86 on Q3 results.

  Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes (NYSE: GOL) was down, falling 6.31 percent to $4.0850 after the company posted a loss in the third quarter.

10 Best Oil Stocks To Watch Right Now: Gran Tierra Energy Inc (GTE)

Gran Tierra Energy Inc. (Gran Tierra) is an independent international energy company engaged in oil and gas acquisition, exploration, development and production. Gran Tierra owns oil and gas properties in Colombia, Argentina, Peru and Brazil. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company focused on development of producing fields and generation of exploration prospects in Colombia, including the acquisition of three blocks in the Petrolifera acquisition and the acquisition of a working interest in the Llanos 22 Block. It delivers its oil to Ecopetrol S.A. (Ecopetrol) through its transportation facilities, which include pipelines, gathering systems and trucking. On March 18, 2011, the Company acquired of all the issued and outstanding common shares and warrants of Petrolifera Petroleum Limited (Petrolifera). Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Richard Moroney]

  Based in Canada, Gran Tierra Energy (GTE) explores for oil and gas in Colombia, Argentina, Peru, and Brazil. In August, management raised its full-year production guidance, with the midpoint implying 27% growth.

10 Best Oil Stocks To Watch Right Now: BMB Munai Inc (BMBM)

BMB Munai, Inc., incorporated in July 1981, focuses on oil and natural gas exploration and production in the Republic of Kazakhstan (Kazakhstan) through a wholly owned operating subsidiary, Emir Oil LLP, (Emir Oil). Emir Oil holds an exploration contract that allowed exploration drilling and oil production in the Mangistau Province in the southwestern region of Kazakhstan. On February 14, 2011 the Company entered into a Participation Interest Purchase Agreement (the Purchase Agreement) with MIE Holdings Corporation (MIE), and its subsidiary, Palaeontol B.V (Palaeontol), pursuant to which the Company agreed to sell all of its interest in Emir Oil to Palaeontol (the Sale). On September 19, 2011, the Company completed the sale of all of its interests in Emir Oil LLP to a subsidiary of MIE Holdings Corporation. The operations of Emir Oil LLP is classified as discontinued.

The initial distribution amount was determined after giving effect to the estimated closing adjustments, Escrow amount, repayment of the Convertible Senior Notes, and after providing for the payment of or reserve for other anticipated liabilities and transaction costs. In February 2012 the Company entered into a Management Services Agreement (Services Agreement) with Lakeview International, LLC (Lakeview). Pursuant to the Services Agreement, Lakeview is providing management, administrative and support personnel and services to the Company.

10 Best Oil Stocks To Watch Right Now: Nuverra Environmental Solutions Inc (NES)

Nuverra Environmental Solutions, Inc., formerly Heckmann Corporation, incorporated on May 29, 2007, provides environmental solutions to protect, enhance and advance environmental sustainability. Nuverra provides full-cycle environmental solutions to a national customer base consisting of two distinct end markets: Shale Solutions and Industrial Solutions.

The Company is focused on the removal, treatment, recycling, transportation and disposal of restricted solids, fluids and hydrocarbons for E&P customers. It also provides a one-stop-shop for energy recovery, re-refining and recycling of used motor oil and oily wastewater; plus a closed loop spent antifreeze program for retail, automotive and manufacturing customers. Nuverra specializes in providing environmentally compliant and sustainable solutions to a national footprint of customers.

Shale Solutions

Shale Solutions provides environmental solutions for unconventional oil and gas exploration and production, including the delivery, collection, treatment, recycle, and disposal of restricted environmental products used in the development of unconventional oil and natural gas fields. The Company operates in select shale areas in the United States, including the Marcellus/Utica, Eagle Ford, Bakken, Haynesville, Barnett, Permian, Mississippian Lime and Tuscaloosa Marine Shale areas. It serves customers seeking fresh water acquisition, temporary water transmission and storage, transportation, treatment or disposal of fresh water and complex water flows, such as flowback and produced brine water, in connection with shale oil and gas hydraulic fracturing drilling or hydrofracturing operations. The Company also transports fresh water for production and provides services for site preparation, water pit excavations and remediation.

Industrial Solutions

Industrial Solutions provides environmental and waste recycling solutions to its customers through collection and recycling services for waste prod! ucts, including UMO, which the Company processes and sells as RFO, oily water, spent antifreeze, used oil filters and parts washers, and provision of complementary environmental services for a diverse commercial and industrial customer base. Industrial Solutions operates a scalable network infrastructure of 34 processing facilities, approximately 385 tanker trucks, vacuum trucks and trailers and over 200 railcars. With a geographic presence in 19 states in the Western United States stretching from Washington to Texas, Industrial Solutions provides its services to a diverse range of more than 20,000 commercial and industrial customer locations.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matt DiLallo]

  Pure play on pure water
  Environmental services and frack water treatment company,�Heckmann (NYSE: NES  ) trades at less than $4 a share. There's a reason for that low share price ��the company's business model clouds the market's perception of its future value. Until the company can clear that up, the shares likely will stay in penny stock territory.

• [By Matt DiLallo]

  Environmental solutions provider Heckmann (NYSE: NES  ) is set to report earnings on May 8. This could very well be the company's last report under the Heckmann name, as the company is planning to transform its brand into Nuverra Environmental Solutions pending a shareholder vote. While the name might be changing, the business of providing a full-cycle water solution to oil and gas producers is still in its early stages of growth. With that as a context, let's take a look at what to expect from the company this quarter.

10 Best Oil Stocks To Watch Right Now: Enterprise Products Partners LP (EPD)

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (Enterprise), incorporated on April 9, 1998, owns and operates natural gas liquids (NGLs) related businesses of Enterprise Products Company (EPCO). The Company is a North American provider of midstream energy services to producers and consumers of natural gas, NGLs, crude oil, refined products and certain petrochemicals. Its midstream energy asset network links producers of natural gas, NGLs and crude oil from supply basins in the United States, Canada and the Gulf of Mexico with domestic consumers and international markets. Its midstream energy operations include natural gas gathering, treating, processing, transportation and storage; NGL transportation, fractionation, storage, and import and export terminals; crude oil gathering and transportation, storage and terminals; offshore production platforms; petrochemical and refined products transportation and services; and a marine transportation business that operates on the United States inland and Intracoastal Waterway systems and in the Gulf of Mexico. Its assets include approximately 50,000 miles of onshore and offshore pipelines; 200 million barrels of storage capacity for NGLs, petrochemicals, refined products and crude oil; and 14 billion cubic feet of natural gas storage capacity. In addition, its asset portfolio includes 24 natural gas processing plants, 21 NGL and propylene fractionators, six offshore hub platforms located in the Gulf of Mexico, a butane isomerization complex, NGL import and export terminals, and octane isobutylene production facilities. The Company operates in five business segments: NGL Pipelines & Services; Onshore Natural Gas Pipelines & Services; Onshore Crude Oil Pipelines & Services; Offshore Pipelines & Services, and Petrochemical & Refined Products Services.

NGL Pipelines & Services

The Company�� NGL Pipelines & Services business segment includes its natural gas processing plants and related NGL marketing activities; approximately 16,700 miles of NGL pipel! ines; NGL and related product storage facilities; and 14 NGL fractionators. This segment also includes its import and export terminal operations. At the core of its natural gas processing business are 24 processing plants located across Colorado, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Texas and Wyoming. Natural gas produced at the wellhead (especially in association with crude oil) contains varying amounts of NGLs. Once the mixed component NGLs are extracted by a natural gas processing plant, they are transported to a centralized fractionation facility for separation into purity NGL products. Once processed, this natural gas is available for sale through its natural gas marketing activities. Its NGL marketing activities generate revenues from the sale and delivery of NGLs it takes title to through its natural gas processing activities and open market and contract purchases from third parties. Its NGL marketing activities utilize a fleet of approximately 670 railcars, the majority of which are leased from third parties.

The Company�� NGL pipelines transport mixed NGLs and other hydrocarbons from natural gas processing facilities, refineries and import terminals to fractionation plants and storage facilities; distribute and collect NGL products to and from fractionation plants, storage and terminal facilities, petrochemical plants, export facilities and refineries, and deliver propane to customers along the Dixie Pipeline and certain sections of the Mid-America Pipeline System. Revenues from its NGL pipeline transportation agreements are based upon a fixed fee per gallon of liquids transported multiplied by the volume delivered. Certain of its NGL pipelines offer firm capacity reservation services. It collects storage revenues under its NGL and related product storage contracts based on the number of days a customer has volumes in storage multiplied by a storage fee. In addition, it charges customers throughput fees based on volumes delivered into and subsequently withdrawn from storage. Its ! principal! NGL pipelines include Mid-America Pipeline System, South Texas NGL Pipeline System, Seminole Pipeline, Dixie Pipeline, Chaparral NGL System, Louisiana Pipeline System, Skelly-Belvieu Pipeline, Promix NGL Gathering System, Houston Ship Channel pipeline, Rio Grande Pipeline, Panola Pipeline and Lou-Tex NGL Pipeline. It operates its NGL pipelines with the exception of the Tri-States pipeline.

The Company�� NGL operations include import and export facilities located on the Houston Ship Channel in southeast Texas. It owns an import and export facility located on land it leases from Oiltanking Houston LP. Its import facility can offload NGLs from tanker vessels at rates up to 14,000 barrels per hour depending on the product. During the year ended December 31, 2012, its average combined NGL import and export volumes were 132 thousand barrels per day. In addition to its Houston Ship Channel import/export terminal, it owns a barge dock also located on the Houston Ship Channel, which can load or offload two barges of NGLs or other products simultaneously at rates up to 5,000 barrels per hour.

The Company owns or have interests in 14 NGL fractionators located in Texas and Louisiana. NGL fractionators separate mixed NGL streams into purity NGL products. The primary sources of mixed NGLs fractionated in the United States are domestic natural gas processing plants, crude oil refineries and imports of butane and propane mixtures. Mixed NGLs sourced from domestic natural gas processing plants and crude oil refineries are transported by NGL pipelines and by railcar and truck to NGL fractionation facilities.

The Company�� NGL fractionation facilities process mixed NGL streams for third party customers and support its NGL marketing activities. It earns revenues from NGL fractionation under fee-based arrangements, including a level of demand-based fees. At its Norco facility in Louisiana, it performs fractionation services for certain customers under percent-of-liquids co! ntracts. ! Its fee-based fractionation customers retain title to the NGLs, which it processes for them. Its NGL fractionators include Mont Belvieu fractionator, Shoup and Armstrong fractionator, Hobbs NGL fractionator, Norco NGL fractionator, Promix NGL fractionators and BRF fractionators.

Onshore Natural Gas Pipelines & Services

The Company�� Onshore Natural Gas Pipelines & Services business segment includes approximately 19,900 miles of onshore natural gas pipeline systems, which provide for the gathering and transportation of natural gas in Colorado, Louisiana, New Mexico, Texas and Wyoming. It leases salt dome natural gas storage facilities located in Texas and Louisiana and own a salt dome storage cavern in Texas, which are integral to its pipeline operations. This segment also includes its related natural gas marketing activities.

The Company�� onshore natural gas pipeline systems and storage facilities provide for the gathering and transportation of natural gas from producing regions, such as the San Juan, Barnett Shale, Permian, Piceance, Greater Green River, Haynesville Shale and Eagle Ford Shale supply basins in the western United States. In addition, these systems receive natural gas production from the Gulf of Mexico through coastal pipeline interconnects with offshore pipelines. Its onshore natural gas pipelines receive natural gas from producers, other pipelines or shippers at the wellhead or through system interconnects and redeliver the natural gas to processing facilities, local gas distribution companies, industrial or municipal customers, storage facilities or to other onshore pipelines.

Its onshore natural gas pipelines generates revenues from transportation agreements under which shippers are billed a fee per unit of volume transported multiplied by the volume gathered or delivered. Its onshore natural gas pipelines offer firm capacity reservation services whereby the shipper pays a contractually stated fee based on the level of through! put capac! ity reserved in its pipelines whether or not the shipper actually utilizes such capacity. Under its natural gas storage contracts, there are typically two components of revenues monthly demand payments, which are associated with a customer�� storage capacity reservation and paid regardless of actual usage, and storage fees per unit of volume stored at its facilities. The Company�� natural gas marketing activities generate revenues from the sale and delivery of natural gas obtained from third party well-head purchases, regional natural gas processing plants and the open market.

Onshore Crude Oil Pipelines & Services

The Company�� Onshore Crude Oil Pipelines & Services business segment includes approximately 5,100 miles of onshore crude oil pipelines, crude oil storage terminals located in Oklahoma and Texas, and its crude oil marketing activities. Its onshore crude oil pipeline systems gather and transport crude oil in New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas to refineries, centralized storage terminals and connecting pipelines. Revenue from crude oil transportation is based upon a fixed fee per barrel transported multiplied by the volume delivered.

The Company owns crude oil terminal facilities in Cushing, Oklahoma and Midland, Texas, which are used to store crude oil volumes for it and its customers. Under its crude oil terminaling agreements, it charges customers for crude oil storage based on the number of days a customer has volumes in storage multiplied by a contractual storage fee. With respect to storage capacity reservation agreements, it collects a fee for reserving storage capacity for customers at its terminals. In addition, it charges its customers throughput (or pumpover) fees based on volumes withdrawn from its terminals. It provides fee-based trade documentation services whereby it documents the transfer of title for crude oil volumes transacted between buyers and sellers at its terminals. The Company�� crude oil marketing activities generate revenues! from the! sale and delivery of crude oil obtained from producers or on the open market.

Offshore Pipelines & Services

The Company�� Offshore Pipelines & Services business segment serves active drilling and development regions, including deepwater production fields, in the northern Gulf of Mexico offshore Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. This segment includes approximately 2,300 miles of offshore natural gas and crude oil pipelines and six offshore hub platforms. Its offshore Gulf of Mexico pipelines provide for the gathering and transportation of natural gas or crude oil. Revenue from its offshore pipelines is derived from fee-based agreements whereby the customer is charged a fee per unit of volume gathered or transported multiplied by the volume delivered. Poseidon Oil Pipeline Company, L.L.C. (Poseidon), in which it has a 36% equity method investment, purchases crude oil from producers and shippers at a receipt point (at a fixed or index-based price less a location differential) and then sells quantities of crude oil at onshore Louisiana locations (at the same fixed or index-based price, as applicable).

The Company�� offshore platforms are components of its pipeline operations. Platforms are used to interconnect the offshore pipeline network; provide means to perform pipeline maintenance; locate compression, separation and production handling equipment and similar assets, and conduct drilling operations during the initial development phase of an oil and natural gas property. Revenues from offshore platform services consist of demand fees and commodity charges. Revenue from commodity charges is based on a fixed-fee per unit of volume delivered to the platform multiplied by the total volume of each product delivered.

Petrochemical & Refined Products Services

The Company�� Petrochemical & Refined Products Services business segment consists of propylene fractionation plants, pipelines and related marketing activities; a butane isom! erization! facility and related pipeline system; octane enhancement and isobutylene production facilities; refined products pipelines, including its Products Pipeline System, and related marketing activities, and marine transportation and other services.

The Company�� propylene fractionation and related activities consist of seven propylene fractionation plants (six located in Mont Belvieu, Texas and a seventh in Baton Rouge, Louisiana), propylene pipeline systems aggregating approximately 680 miles in length and related petrochemical marketing activities. This business includes an export facility and associated above-ground polymer grade propylene storage spheres located in Seabrook, Texas. Results of operations for its polymer grade propylene plants are dependent upon toll processing arrangements and petrochemical marketing activities. The toll processing arrangements include a base-processing fee per gallon (or other unit of measurement). Its petrochemical marketing activities include the purchase and fractionation of refinery grade propylene obtained in the open market and generate revenues from the sale and delivery of products obtained through propylene fractionation. The revenues from its propylene pipelines are based upon a transportation fee per unit of volume multiplied by the volume delivered to the customer. As part of its petrochemical marketing activities, it has refinery grade propylene purchase and polymer grade propylene sales agreements. Its butane isomerization business includes three butamer reactor units and eight associated deisobutanizer units located in Mont Belvieu, Texas, which comprise the commercial isomerization facility in the United States.

The Company�� commercial isomerization units convert normal butane into mixed butane, which is fractionated into isobutane, isobutane and residual normal butane. The uses of isobutane are for the production of propylene oxide, isooctane, isobutylene and alkylate for motor gasoline. These processing arrangements inclu! de a base! -processing fee per gallon (or other unit of measurement). Its isomerization business also generates revenues from the sale of natural gasoline created as a by-product of the isomerization process. The Company owns and operates an octane enhancement production facility located in Mont Belvieu, Texas, which produces isooctane, isobutylene and methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE). The products produced by this facility are used in reformulated motor gasoline blends. The isobutane feedstocks consumed in the production of these products are supplied by its isomerization units. The Company owns a facility located on the Houston Ship Channel, which produces high purity isobutylene (HPIB). The feedstock for this plant is produced by its octane enhancement facility located at its Mont Belvieu complex. HPIB is used in the production of alkylated phenols used as antioxidants, lube oil additives, butyl rubber and resins.

Refined products pipelines and related activities consist of its Products Pipeline System, equity method investment in Centennial Pipeline LLC (Centennial) and refined products marketing activities. The Products Pipeline System transports refined products, and petrochemicals, such as ethylene and propylene and NGLs, such as propane and normal butane. These refined products are produced by refineries and include gasoline, diesel fuel, aviation fuel, kerosene, distillates and heating oil. Refined products also include blend stocks, such as raffinate and naphtha. Blend stocks are used to produce gasoline or as a feedstock for certain petrochemicals. The Centennial Pipeline intersects its Products Pipeline System near Creal Springs, Illinois, and loops the Products Pipeline System between Beaumont, Texas and south Illinois. In addition, it has refined products terminals located at Aberdeen, Mississippi and Boligee, Alabama adjacent to the Tombigbee River and on the Houston Ship Channel in Pasadena, Texas. Its related marketing activities generate revenues from the sale and delivery of refin! ed produc! ts obtained from third parties on the open market.

The Company�� marine transportation business consists of tow boats and tank barges, which are used to transport refined products, crude oil, asphalt, condensate, heavy fuel oil, liquefied petroleum gas and other petroleum products along inland and intracoastal the United States waterways. Its marine transportation assets service refinery and storage terminal customers along the Mississippi River, the intracoastal waterway between Texas and Florida and the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway system. It owns a shipyard and repair facility located in Houma, Louisiana and marine fleeting facilities in Bourg, Louisiana and Channelview, Texas. Other services consist of the distribution of lubrication oils and specialty chemicals and the bulk transportation of fuels by truck, in Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Kansas and the Rocky Mountain region of the United States.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Nathan Slaughter]

  Investors must typically make the same choice, which is why High-Yield Investing is dedicated to stocks like Enterprise Product Partners (NYSE: EPD) -- which trades with a current 4.6% yield but has raised its dividend 37 times in a row and 48 times since first paying a dividend in 1998.

• [By Robert Rapier]

  The index includes everything from behemoths like Enterprise Product Partners (NYSE: EPD) and Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (NYSE: KMP) down to a pair with market capitalizations under $1 billion in Martin Midstream Partners (NASDAQ: MMLP) and Navios Maritime Partners (NYSE: NMM). The total market cap of the index is $328 billion, and its one-, three- and five-year total returns are 20 percent, 48 percent and 194 percent. The index yield is 6 percent.

• [By Matt DiLallo]

  That's one reason why I always make an effort to listen in to Enterprise Products Partners' (NYSE: EPD  ) annual investor day. The company's strategically positioned assets flow through all of our major resources' basins, which has enabled the company to see what others might miss. Among many other things, this has given the company a window into the future of natural gas demand.

10 Best Oil Stocks To Watch Right Now: Fleetcor Technologies Inc (FLT)

FleetCor Technologies, Inc. (FleetCor) is an independent global provider of specialized payment products and services to businesses, commercial fleets, oil companies, petroleum marketers and government entities in countries throughout North America, Latin America and Europe. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company processed more than 215 million transactions on its networks and third-party networks. The Company operates in two segments: North American and International segments. The Company provides its payment products and services in a variety of combinations to create payment solutions for its customers and partners. In August 2011, the Company acquired Mexican prepaid fuel card and food voucher business based in Mexico City, Mexico. On December 13, 2011, the Company acquired Allstar Business Solutions Limited, a fleet card company based in the United Kingdom. In July 2012, the Company acquired a Russian fuel card company. In July 2012, the Company acquired CTF Technologies, Inc.

The Company uses third-party networks to deliver its payment programs and services. In order to deliver its payment programs and services and process transactions, it owns and operates closed-loop networks through which it electronically connects to merchants and captures, analyzes and reports information. The Company also provides a range of services, such as issuing and processing. The Company markets its payment products directly to a range of commercial fleet customers, including vehicle fleets of all sizes and government fleets. Among these customers, it provides its products and services to small and medium commercial fleets. The Company also manages commercial fleet card programs for oil companies, such as British Petroleum (BP) (including its subsidiary Arco), Chevron and Citgo, and over 800 petroleum marketers.

The Company sells a range of fleet and lodging payment programs directly and indirectly through partners, such as oil companies and petroleum marketers. It provides it! s customers with various card products that function like a charge card to purchase fuel, lodging and related products and services at participating locations. The Company supports these cards with issuing, processing and information services that enable it to manage card accounts, facilitate the routing, authorization, clearing and settlement of transactions. The Company provides these services in a variety of outsourced solutions ranging from an end-to-end solution (consisting issuing, processing and network services) to limited back office processing services.

In addition, the Company offers a telematics solution in Europe that combines global positioning, satellite tracking and other wireless technology to allow fleet operators to monitor the capacity utilization and movement of their vehicles and drivers. The Company offers prepaid fuel and food vouchers and cards in Mexico that may be used as a form of payment in restaurants, grocery stores and gas stations. Approximately 10.4% of its revenue during the year ended December 31, 2011 came from its lodging and telematics products.

During 2011, the Company owns and operates eight closed-loop networks in North America and internationally. Fuelman network is the Company�� primary fleet card network in the United States. Corporate Lodging Consultants network (CLC) is the Company�� lodging network in the United States and Canada. The CLC Lodging network covers more than 17,700 hotels across the United States and Canada. Commercial Fueling Network (CFN) is the Company�� members only unattended fueling location network in the United States and Canada. Keyfuels network is the Company�� primary fleet card network in the United Kingdom.

CCS network is the Company�� primary fleet card network in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Petrol Plus Region (PPR) network is the Company�� primary fleet card network in Russia, Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia. Mexican network is the Company�� fuel! and food! card and voucher network in Mexico. Allstar network is the Company�� fleet card network in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the Company issues corporate cards that utilize the MasterCard payment network, which includes 176,000 fuel sites and 398,000 maintenance locations across the country. The networks of locations owned by the Company�� oil and petroleum marketer partners in both North America and internationally are utilized to support the card programs of these partners.

UNION TANK Eckstein GmbH & Co. KG (UTA) operates a network of over 46,000 fleet card-accepting locations across 38 countries throughout Europe, including more than 31,000 fueling sites. DKV operates a network of over 45,000 fleet card-accepting locations across 36 countries throughout Europe, including more than 30,500 fueling sites. In Mexico, the Company issues fuel cards and food cards that utilize the Carnet payment network, which includes approximately 8,700 fueling sites and 78,890 food locations across the country.

The Company competes with Wright Express Corporation, Comdata Corporation, U.S. Bank Voyager Fleet Systems Inc., Edenred and Sodexo, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Smith]

  Moving quickly to establish synergies on its Australian purchase of Fleet Card from General Electric (NYSE: GE  ) last month, Norcross, Ga.-based FleetCor (NYSE: FLT  ) is buying another fuel card-issuing and payment-processing business right next door.

• [By Steve Sears]

  New stocks in what Goldman calls the “Hedge Fund VIP list,”�include Actavis (ACT), Baidu (BIDU), Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B), Crown Castle International (CCI), Entergy Louisiana (ELB), �Equinix (EQIX), Facebook (FB), Fleetcor Technologies (FLT), W.R. Grace (GRA), MetLife (MET), Macquarie Infrastructure (MIC), Micron (MU), Time Warner Cable (TWC), and Time Warner (TWX).

10 Best Oil Stocks To Watch Right Now: EV Energy Partners LP (EVEP)

EV Energy Partners, L.P. (the Partnership) is engaged in the acquisition, development and production of oil and natural gas properties. As of December 31, 2011, the Company's properties were located in the Barnett Shale, the Appalachian Basin (which includes the Utica Shale), the Mid Continent areas in Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Kansas and Louisiana, the San Juan Basin, the Monroe Field in Northern Louisiana, the Permian Basin, Central and East Texas (which includes the Austin Chalk area), and Michigan. On November 1, 2011, the Company acquired oil and natural gas properties in the Mid Continent area. On December 1, 2011, the Company along with certain institutional partnerships managed by EnerVest, acquired oil and natural gas properties in the Barnett Shale. It acquired a 31.02% proportional interest in these properties. On December 20, 2011, the Company, along with certain institutional partnerships managed by EnerVest, acquired additional oil and natural gas properties in the Barnett Shale. It acquired a 31.63% proportional interest in these properties. On February 7, 2012, the Company along with certain institutional partnerships managed by EnerVest, had a second closing on the oil and natural gas properties, and acquired a 31.63% proportional interest in these properties.

Barnett Shale

The Barnett Shale properties are located in Denton, Parker, Tarrant and Wise counties in Northern Texas. Its portion of the estimated net proved reserves as of December 31, 2011, was 647.4 one billion cubic feet equivalent (Bcfe), 72% of which is natural gas. During 2011, the Company drilled 35 wells. EnerVest operates wells representing 100% of its estimated net proved reserves in this area, and the Company owns an average 29% working interest in 976 gross productive wells.

Appalachian Basin

The Company�� activities are concentrated in the Ohio and West Virginia areas of the Appalachian Basin. Its Ohio area properties are producing from the Knox and Clinton f! ormations and other Devonian age sands in 41 counties in Eastern Ohio and 11 counties in Western Pennsylvania. Its West Virginia area properties are producing from the Balltown, Benson and Big Injun formations in 23 counties in North Central West Virginia. Its estimated net proved reserves as of December 31, 2011, were 126.4 Bcfe, 76% of which is natural gas. During 2011, it drilled 33 grosswells, 26 of which were completed. EnerVest operates wells representing 92% of its estimated net proved reserves in this area, and it owns an average 41% working interest in 8,670 gross productive wells.

Mid-Continent Area

The properties are located in 47 counties in Oklahoma, 17 counties in Texas, four parishes in North Louisiana, one county in Kansas and six counties in Arkansas. The Company�� estimated net proved reserves as of December 31, 2011, were 81.2 Bcfe, 63% of which is natural gas. During 2011, it drilled 82 wells, all of which were completed. EnerVest operates wells representing 33% of its estimated net proved reserves in this area, and it owns an average 12% working interest in 1,864 gross productive wells.

San Juan Basin

The properties are located in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico and La Plata County in Colorado. The Company�� estimated net proved reserves as of December 31, 2011, 68.6 Bcfe, 59% of which is natural gas. During 2011, it drilled two wells, one of which were completed. EnerVest operates wells representing 94% of its estimated net proved reserves in this area, and it owns an average 71% working interest in 227 gross productive wells.

Monroe Field

The properties are located in two parishes in Northeast Louisiana. The Company�� estimated net proved reserves as of December 31, 2011, were 60.9 Bcfe, 100% of which is natural gas. During 2011, it drilled one well, which was completed. EnerVest operates wells representing 100% of its estimated net proved reserves in this area, and it owns an average 100% working i! nterest i! n 3,930 gross productive wells.

Permian Basin

The properties are located in the Yates, Seven Rivers, Queen, Morrow, Clear Fork and Wichita Albany formations in four counties in New Mexico and Texas. The Company�� estimated net proved reserves as of December 31, 2011, were 54.1Bcfe, 37% of which is natural gas. During 2011, it did not drill any wells. EnerVest operates wells representing 99% of its estimated net proved reserves in this area, and it owns an average 93% working interest in 160 gross productive wells.

Central and East Texas

The properties produce primarily from the Austin Chalk formation and are located in 30 counties in Central and East Texas. Its portion of the estimated net proved reserves as of December 31, 2011 was 60.9 Bcfe, 46% of which is natural gas. During 2011, the Company drilled 16 gross wells, 15 of which were completed. EnerVest operates wells representing 93% of its estimated net proved reserves in this area, and it owns an average 12% working interest in 1,829 gross productive wells.

Michigan

The properties are located in the Antrim Shale reservoir in Otsego and Montmorency counties in northern Michigan. The Company�� estimated net proved reserves as of December 31, 2011, were 44.9 Bcfe, 100% of which is natural gas. During 2011, it did not drill any wells. EnerVest operates wells representing 99% of its estimated net proved reserves in this area, and it has an average 84% working interest in 370 gross productive wells.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matt DiLallo]

  One area investors really need to drill deeper into is the company's reserve base, which will give you a better idea of how it's producing the income needed to support the large distribution. Today, we're going to drill down into the reserves of EV Energy Partners (NASDAQ: EVEP  ) to get a better idea of what an investor is actually buying when adding units to their portfolio.