Best Dividend Stocks To Buy For 2017: January 2014

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Top 5 Shipping Stocks To Own Right Now

Bloomberg via Getty Images You can never know in advance all the news that will move the market in a given week, but some things you can see coming. From a parade of bankers' earnings to a pizza giant rolling out a new crust, here are some of the things that will help shape the week ahead on Wall Street. Monday -- X Marks the Spot: Data storage is a big part of businesses in the modern age; companies have massive amounts of information to manage and keep secure. Xyratex (XRTX) may not be a household name, but it is well-known to corporate IT departments seeking enterprise data storage solutions. Xyratex reports on Monday afternoon. It's seen better days, and analysts predict it will report a sharp drop in revenue. However, Xyratex has been able to beat Wall Street's profit targets with ease over the past four quarters. Tuesday -- Big Banking's Big Close Up: It's going to be a roll call of the "too big to fail" banking behemoths as they step up for their quarterly results. Wells Fargo (WFC) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM) kick things off on Tuesday. That will be followed by Bank of America (BAC) on Wednesday. Citigroup (C) and Goldman Sachs (GS) step up on Thursday. These are interesting times for the financial services providers. Interest rates are starting to move higher, and that may get in the way of demand for mortgages, but it will also help improve the chances that customers open and fund savings and checking accounts. Wednesday -- Tracking Trains: Railroads may seem like yesterday's mode of transportation, but rail remains a viable way to get goods moving across the country. CSX (CSX) reports on Wednesday. The provider of rail, intermodal, and rail-to-truck transload services and solutions has been shipping goods for 185 years. It offers coverage through every major metropolitan market in the eastern United States. Analysts see revenue inching up by 3 percent, with CSX's profit of $0.42 a share besting the $0.40 a share it posted a year earlier. CSX will naturally fare even better if the economy continues to improve or if rival shipping solutions get more expensive. Thursday -- Crust of Life: Lately, Pizza Hut hasn't been able to get the same kind of respect as the other Yum! Brands (YUM) chains. Yum! has aggressively expanded its KFC chain in China, and Taco Bell experienced a healthy revival two years ago with the introduction of taco shells dusted with Doritos flavors. Now it may be Pizza Hut's turn to make waves. PizzaHut.com is pointing to Thursday as the day that it will introduce a new menu item. "A one-of-a-kind crust will rise," Pizza Hut promises, and it's probably a safe bet that it won't feature Doritos spices. Then again, that doesn't seem like such a bad idea. Friday -- It's a Gas: Schlumberger (SLB) knows the drill. It has a presence in more than 85 countries, providing the oil and gas industry with technology, integrated project management, and information solutions. Schlumberger reports on Friday morning. Wall Street expects to see revenue climbing 8 percent, with profitability growing at an even faster rate. That's the right way to fuel investor interest.

Top 5 Shipping Stocks To Own Right Now: StarTek Inc.(SRT)

StarTek, Inc. provides business process outsourcing services for the communications industries in the United States, Canada, the Philippines, Costa Rica, and Honduras. It offers technical and product support services through telephone, e-mail, chat, facsimile, and Internet; sales support services comprising receiving and closing sales on inbound sales inquiries, and cross-selling and up-selling its clients? products; provisioning and complex order processing services, including order management and technical sales support for wire-line, wireless, data, and customer premise equipment communications, as well as services for its clients direct to consumer order processing and transfer of accounts between client service providers; and receivables management services, such as billing, credit card support, and first party collections. The company also provides industry-specific processes, which include technical support; phone number portability services comprising automated an d live agent interaction, facilitate pre-port validation, data collection, automatic processing of port-out/in requests, direct and automated interface with the service order activation platform, fallout management tool, and port request tracking and archiving; and directory management services. StarTek, Inc. was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Denver, Colorado.

Top 5 Shipping Stocks To Own Right Now: Austin Engineering Ltd (ANG.AX)

Austin Engineering Ltd engages in the manufacture, repair, overhaul, and supply of mining attachment products, general steelwork structures, and other associated products and services for the industrial and resources-related business sectors. Its products include off-highway dump truck bodies; hydraulic excavator and shovel buckets; wheel loaders; water tanks; lubrication service and fuel modules; tire handling equipment; and various materials handling products, such as fork frames, combi-forks, crane jibs, quick couplers, and blades. The company also offers specialized and fabrication products, including mineral processing equipment and heavy structural fabrication, as well as smelter components, such as potshells, busbar, and anodes. In addition, the company is involved in specialized machining and line boring activities consisting of overhaul and associated manufacture of shovel parts, track frames, and other equipment, as well as provides machining and mobile line bori ng services. It serves the mining, oil and gas, aluminum, and industrial sectors in Australia, the Americas, Asia, and the Middle East. The company was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Carole Park, Australia.

10 Best Dividend Stocks For 2015: Mellanox Technologies Ltd.(MLNX)

Mellanox Technologies, Ltd., a fabless semiconductor company, engages in the design, development, marketing, and sale of interconnect products primarily in North America, Israel, Europe, and Asia. It offers semiconductor interconnect products that facilitate data transmission between servers, communications infrastructure equipment, and storage systems in enterprise data centers, high-performance computing, and embedded systems. The company provides solutions based on InfiniBand, including host channel adapter, switch and gateway ICs, adapter cards, switch and gateway systems, cables, and software. Its products also support the Ethernet standard. The company provides adapters to server, storage, communications infrastructure, and embedded systems OEMs as ICs or standard card form factors with PCI-X or PCI express interfaces; support server operating systems, including Linux, Windows, AIX, HPUX, Solaris, and VxWorks; and InfiniBand switch ICs to server, storage, communicati ons infrastructure, and embedded systems OEMs to create switching equipment. The company offers its products under the Mellanox, BridgeX, ConnectX, InfiniBlast, InfiniBridge, InfiniHost, InfiniPCI, InfiniRISC, PhyX, InfiniScale, and Virtual Protocol Interconnect trademarks in the United States. It primarily serves enterprise data center, high-performance computing, and embedded end-user markets, as well as embedded systems OEMs. The company sells its products directly, as well as through a network of domestic and international sales representatives, and independent distributors. Mellanox Technologies, Ltd. was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Yokneam, Israel.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Selena Maranjian]
Finally, Tiger Global's biggest closed positions included Starz�and Yandex N.V. Other closed positions of interest include Mellanox (NASDAQ: MLNX ) . Mellanox, based in Israel, is a semiconductor company. Its last few years were quite strong, as it invested heavily in cloud computing and beat Wall Street estimates, though its latest earnings report was mixed. Mellanox is buying Kotura, a high-speed networking technology company. Some wonder whether Mellanox's best years are behind it, as it faces significant competition. �
[By Alex Planes]
What: Shares of Mellanox Technologies (NASDAQ: MLNX ) lost nearly 13% of their value today despite beating expectations last night. Analysts at two investment firms are not at all convinced that last night's good news will translate into long-term strength.

Top 5 Shipping Stocks To Own Right Now: RXi Pharmaceuticals Corp (RXII)

RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation (RXi), incorporated on September 8, 2011, is a development-stage company. The Company is a biotechnology company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing therapies addressing medical needs using RNA interference (RNAi)-targeted technologies. As of July 12, 2012, RXi was focusing on its internal therapeutic development efforts in fibrosis. RXI-109 is its RNAi product candidate, which is a dermal anti-scarring therapy that targets connective tissue growth factor (CTGF). The Company�� therapeutic platform consists of two main components: RNAi Compounds (rxRNA) and Advanced Delivery Technologies. RNAi compounds include rxRNAori, rxRNAsolo and sd-rxRNA, or self-delivering RNA. On April 26, 2012, it completed the spin-off transaction from Galena Biopharma, Inc. (Galena).

In January 2011, the Company announced research results in collaboration with Generex Biotechnology Corporation, and RXi�� wholly owned subsidiary Antigen Express, Inc., in developing vaccine formulations for immunotherapy. In January 2011, it announced initial results as part of its collaboration with miRagen Therapeutics, Inc. in creating microRNA mimics, or artificial copies of microRNAs, using the Company�� sd-rxRNA technology. In February 2011, it announced the initiation of RXi�� development program for RXI-109.

Top 5 Shipping Stocks To Own Right Now: Dairy Crest Grp(DCG.L)

Dairy Crest Group plc, a dairy foods company, processes and sells fresh milk and branded dairy products in the United Kingdom and rest of Europe. The company offers various cheese products, including cheddar cheese under Cathedral City and Davidstow brands; butters and spreads under the Country Life, Clover, and St Hubert brands; conventional, organic, and flavored milk in retailer own brand bottles or Country Life brand; milk in bags; potted creams; and retail products and ingredients, such as milk powders, butter, and stabilized cream for the food industry. Its brands also include FRijj, Chedds, Utterly Butterly, Vitalite, and Willow. Dairy Crest Group also provides a range of catering and retail convenience essentials, and dairy products to catering, hotel, restaurant, cafe and coffee shop, school and university, hospital and care-home, and retail convenience store customers. The company was founded in 1933 and is headquartered in Esher, the United Kingdom.

Top 5 Shipping Stocks To Own Right Now: Pacific Star Network Ltd(PNW.AX)

Pacific Star Network Limited operates as a radio broadcasting company in Australia. It holds two Melbourne AM commercial broadcasting licenses and broadcasts 24/7 on MTR 1377, a talk radio station that broadcasts across the Melbourne metropolitan area, and the Mornington and Bellarine Peninsulas; and 1116 SEN Sports Entertainment Network, which broadcasts sports radio in the Melbourne metropolitan area. The company was formerly known as Data & Commerce Ltd and changed its name to Pacific Star Network Limited in August 2004. Pacific Star Network Limited is based in Richmond, Australia.

Top 5 Shipping Stocks To Own Right Now: Wolverine World Wide Inc.(WWW)

Wolverine World Wide, Inc. designs, manufactures, sources, markets, licenses, and distributes branded footwear, apparel, and accessories. It offers industrial work shoes, boots, uniform shoes, outdoor sports footwear, rugged casual footwear, lifestyle footwear, sandals, and closed-toe products. It also provides outdoor apparel, and work and rugged casual apparel; and accessories, such as packs, bags, and luggage, as well as eyewear, gloves, handbags, socks, watches, and plush toys. The company offers its products under various brand names, including Bates, Cat Footwear, Chaco, Cushe, Harley-Davidson Footwear, Hush Puppies, HyTest, Merrell, Patagonia Footwear, Sebago, Soft Style, and Wolverine. It sells its products to a range of retail customers, which comprise department stores, national chains, catalogs, specialty retailers, mass merchants, Internet retailers, governments, and municipalities in the United States, Canada, and Europe. The company also markets its products in approximately 190 countries and territories through company-owned wholesale operations, licensees, and distributors. It also licenses its brands for use on non-footwear products. As of December 31, 2011, the company operated 101 retail stores in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom; and operated 42 consumer-direct Websites. Further, it markets pigskin leather, and purchases raw pigskins from other source. Wolverine World Wide, Inc. was founded in 1883 and is based in Rockford, Michigan.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Michael Lewis]
Two of the biggest shoe companies available to investors, Deckers Outdoor (NASDAQ: DECK ) and Wolverine Worldwide (NYSE: WWW ) , have experienced great growth in recent periods, with the former posting a 20% stock gain on the day it released earnings last week. Both companies have made fantastic accretive brand purchases and renovations over the past year, and both should continue to grow at appealing rates. Unfortunately for investors, both also appear to be fully valued stocks. The question for investors going forward regards whether the companies' phenomenal successes can sustain the lofty valuations imparted by an ever-myopic market.
[By Ben Levisohn]
Wolverine World Wide (WWW) has gained 1.1% to $58.41 after it reported a profit of $1.16 a share, above forecasts for $1.02.

Tower Group International (TWGP) has plunged 28% to $5.35 after the insurance company increased the amount of cash it needed to set aside well above expectations and Fitch downgraded its credit rating.

Top 5 Shipping Stocks To Own Right Now: Genetic Technologies Ltd (GENE)

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

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Holly LaFon]
Eugene (Gene) Abegg is arguably the greatest banker nobody has ever heard of. In fact, Abegg could have been cast as a crusty version of George Bailey of the Bailey Building and Loan Association in Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life.
[By John Udovich]
The National Cancer Institute estimates that about ten million Americans have or have had some form of cancer with the overall costs of the disease topping $126 billion annually ��meaning there is a big market for small cap cancer diagnostic stocks like Rosetta Genomics Ltd. (NASDAQ: ROSG), Genetic Technologies Limited (NASDAQ: GENE) and MetaStat Inc (OTCBB: MTST) just in the US alone without considering global cancer figures. After all, catching and doing something about cancer early on is critical to increase survival rates and bring down the cost of treatment. With that in mind, here are three small cap cancer diagnostic stocks helping to lead the fight to diagnose and stop cancer:

Top 5 Shipping Stocks To Own Right Now: Watsco Inc.(WSO)

Watsco, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the distribution of air conditioning, heating, and refrigeration equipment in the United States. It distributes residential central air conditioners; gas, electric, and oil furnaces; commercial air conditioning and heating equipment and systems; and other specialized equipments. The company also distributes various parts, including replacement compressors, evaporator coils, motors, and other component parts; and supplies comprising thermostats, insulation material, refrigerants, ductwork, grills, registers, sheet metal, tools, copper tubing, concrete pads, tape, adhesives, and other ancillary supplies. It serves approximately 50,000 contractors and dealers that service the replacement and new construction markets. The company also exports its products to Latin America and the Caribbean. Watsco, Inc. was founded in 1945 and is headquartered in Miami, Florida.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Greg Williamson]
A successful HVAC distribution company with great growth potential
An excellent way to profit from these tailwinds is by investing in Watsco (NYSE: WSO ) (NYSE: WSO ) (NYSE: WSO ) . Watsco is a leading distributor of HVAC equipment, with more than 570 locations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Watsco also exports products to Latin America and the Caribbean.

Top 5 Shipping Stocks To Own Right Now: Credit Acceptance Corporation(CACC)

Credit Acceptance Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides auto loans, and related products and services to consumers in the United States. Its loan programs include portfolio program, which advances money to dealer-partners in exchange for the right to service the underlying consumer loans; and purchase program that buys the consumer loans from the dealer-partners and keeps amounts collected from the consumers. The company markets its products through a network of approximately 55,000 independent and franchised automobile dealers. Credit Acceptance Corporation was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Southfield, Michigan.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Richard Moroney]
Credit Acceptance (CACC) provides financing for auto purchases through a national network of nearly 4,500 car dealers. Its programs help dealers sell cars by attracting credit-challenged consumers unable to get conventional loans.
[By Eric Volkman]
Credit Acceptance (NASDAQ: CACC ) will see big blocks of its shares change hands over the next few days. The company has specified the pricing of a previously announced underwritten public secondary stock common offering of $105.00 per share. Trusts associated with the firm's founder Donald Foss, in combination with Karol Foss and people and entities connected with Prescott General Partners, aim to sell a combined 1.5 million of their shares. Additionally, the underwriters will have a 30-day option to buy up to an extra 225,000 shares.

Top 5 Shipping Stocks To Own Right Now: SRI/Surgical Express Inc.(STRC)

SRI/Surgical Express, Inc. provides central processing and supply chain management services to hospitals and surgery centers in the United States. The company processes, assembles, and delivers reusable surgical products and instruments, including gowns, towels, and drapes, as well as stainless steel cups, carafes, trays, basins, and surgical instruments; and disposable accessory packs containing single-use disposable products, such as gauze, needles, syringes, and tubing. Its line of GreenGown gowns helps to prevent liquid and viral strike-through in critical areas during surgical procedures. The company also offers AccuSet, an instrument-processing program that provides general, laparoscopic, orthopedic, arthroscopic, ophthalmic, neurological, ear, nose, throat, and labor and delivery instrument processing services; and ReadyCase, a surgical supply and instrument delivery system, which combines reusable products, disposable packs, surgical instruments, and physician pref erence items to provide products required for a surgical procedure. In addition, it provides an outsource solution for the management of hospital and surgery center instrumentation supply chain and central sterilization facilities. The company was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida.

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Medivation: First Look At Xtandi Pre-Chemo Prostate Cancer Survival Curves

Hot Undervalued Companies To Invest In Right Now

You're getting the first look at the Kaplan-Meier overall survival curves from the phase III "PREVAIL" study of Medivation (MDVN) and Astellas' Xtandi (enzalutamide) in pre-chemo prostate cancer patients. An update from the PREVAIL study was released tonight in advance of a formal presentation on Thursday at a medical conference.

Investors have been eager to see the Xtandi overall survival curves ever since Medivation and Astellas announced positive results and an early stop to the phase III study last November. As you can clearly see, a survival benefit favoring Xtandi (the green line) over placebo (blue line) starts early in the study at about four months and continues until the very end when the curves finally cross with only four patients remaining alive.

As previously disclosed, the overall survival hazard ratio is 0.706, translating into a 29% reduction in the risk of death favoring Xtandi over placebo. Highly statistically significant. At the median, the overall survival benefit favoring Xtandi is 2.2 months over placebo.

Xtandi is competing against Johnson & Johnson's (JNJ) Zytiga in the pre-chemo prostate cancer treatment market. The two drugs have not been studied directly against each other but J&J did conduct its own phase III study of Zytiga plus prednisone versus prednisone alone. Data from this study have been presented at various medical meetings already.

For comparison purposes, here's what the Zytiga overall survival curves look like from its respective phase III study:

Notice: The Zytiga survival curve doesn't start to separate from the control arm until 18 months into the study. The hazard ratio for overall survival from the Zytiga study is 0.79, or a 21% reduction in the risk of death, favoring Zytiga over control. This survival result was not statistically significant because the study was stopped too early.

The full presentation of the Xtandi PREVAIL data on Thursday will be made by Dr. Tomasz Beer of the Knight Cancer Institute at Oregon Health and Science University. Beer previewed his Xtandi presentation with the media earlier today, which is where these slides come from (with the exception of the abiraterone slide, which was shared with me by an investor who keeps better notes than I do.)

Medivation and Astellas did not comment on the new Xtandi data ahead of Thursday's presentation.

The co-primary endpoint of the Xtandi PREVAIL study was radiographic progression-free survival (rPFS.) Here's what those data look like:

This is the first look at the rPFS curves although the rPFS hazard ratio of 0.186 favoring Xtandi was previously disclosed. Obviously, the separation here is early, wide and very statistically significant.

For the first time, Xtandi tumor response rate data are being shown.

Also for the first time, data showing treatment with Xtandi led to a significant delay in the median time to chemotherapy:

Here's a slide on Xtandi safety from the PREVAIL study:

Not noted on this slide is disclosure of two patients experiencing a seizure during the trial. According to Dr. Beer, one patient in each arm of the study reported a seizure (1 in the Xtandi arm, 1 in the placebo arm) and both patients entered the study with a history of seizures not known to investigators at that time.

Beer characterized the seizure rate seen in the PREVAIL study as "extremely low" and "very reassuring."

Lastly, here is the conclusion slide from Beer's presentation of the Xtandi data earlier today:

The Xtandi data are being presented Thursday at the 2014 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, sponsored by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American Society for Radiation Oncology and the Society of Urologic Oncology.

Based on the data from the PREVAIL study, Medivation and Astellas will be seeking regulatory approval to expand the Xtandi label to include treatment of prostate cancer patients who have not been treated with chemotherapy. [The drug is already approved in the post-chemo prostate cancer setting.]

Astellas reports results from its most recent quarter on Feb. 2. The current consensus for U.S. Xtandi sales in the fourth quarter is $111 million. Astellas and/or Medivation are also expected to provide Xtandi sales guidance for 2014. Current consensus stands at $636 million, according to J.P. Morgan.

-- Reported by Adam Feuerstein in Boston. Follow Adam Feuerstein on Twitter.

Stock quotes in this article: MDVN, JNJ

Friday, January 24, 2014

5 Best Internet Stocks To Invest In Right Now

With shares of BlackBerry (NASDAQ:BBRY) trading around $8, is BBRY an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE, or STAY AWAY? Let�� analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework:

T = Trends for a Stock�� Movement

BlackBerry is a designer, manufacturer, and marketer of wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market. Through the development of integrated hardware, software, and services, it provides platforms and solutions for seamless access to information such as email, voice, instant messaging, SMS, Internet, intranet-based applications, and browsing. Its products and services feature the BlackBerry wireless solution, the Research In Motion Wireless Handheld product line, the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, software development tools, and other software and hardware.

BlackBerry�� takeover bid from Fairfax Financial Holdings is looking even less certain, as Reuters reports that BlackBerry is in talks with Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO), Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), and SAP (NYSE:SAP) about selling itself as a whole or in parts. Of particular interest to buyers is BlackBerry�� patent portfolio and server network. Expressions of interest from potential buyers are due by early next week. Fairfax�� $4.7 billion bid for BlackBerry has come under question due to financing concerns.

5 Best Internet Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Symantec Corporation(SYMC)

Symantec Corporation provides security, storage, and systems management solutions internationally. The company?s Consumer segment delivers Internet security, PC tune-up, and online backup solutions and services to individual users and home offices. Its Security and Compliance segment provides solutions for endpoint security and management, compliance, messaging management, data loss prevention, encryption, and authentication services to large, medium, and small-sized businesses, as well as offers solutions through its software-as-a-service (SaaS) security offerings. This segment?s products enable customers to secure, provision, and remotely manage their laptops, PCs, mobile devices, and servers. The company?s Storage and Server Management segment provides storage and server management, backup, archiving, and data protection solutions across heterogeneous storage and server platforms, as well as solutions delivered through its SaaS offerings to large, medium, and small-s ized businesses. Symantec?s Services segment offers implementation services and solutions, including consulting, business critical services, education, and managed security services. The company also provides various enterprise support offerings, such as annual maintenance support contracts, including content, upgrades, and technical support. It sells its products through its eCommerce platform, as well as through distributors, direct marketers, Internet-based resellers, system builders, ISPs, and retail locations worldwide. Symantec markets and sells its products through distributors, retailers, direct marketers, Internet-based resellers, original equipment manufacturers, system builders, and Internet service providers; and its e-commerce channels, as well as direct sales force, value-added and large account resellers, and system integrators. The company was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Mountain View, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Michael Flannelly]
Nomura Securities analysts initiated coverage on Symantec Corporation (SYMC) early on Wednesday, giving the stock a “Neutral” rating because its upside is already priced into its current valuation.

The analysts see shares of SYMC reaching $29, which suggests a 14.6% upside to the stock’s Tuesday closing price of $25.30.

Nomura Securities analyst Frederick Grieb commented, “In the early innings of a classic turnaround story, but upside largely priced In. We initiate coverage of Symantec (SYMC) with a Neutral rating and a 12-month target price of $29. Symantec is a leading vender in the security and storage markets, but has struggled to grow market share post its 2005 acquisition of VERITAS. The company has faced competitive pressures in its core markets, with ‘freemium’ antivirus software pressuring the consumer business, while the storage business has been challenged by enterprise migration to Windows and Linux from Solaris and UNIX. Despite these headwinds, we are launching coverage of Symantec with a Neutral rating, as we believe management will be able to improve the business by increasing margins (perhaps to +33%) and longer-term organic growth through a combination of simplifying management structures and a better strategy to incentivize the sales force. However, given the stock�� 33% increase YTD, due in part to multiple expansion (P/E up 18% YTD), we believe much of the upside from this turnaround is already baked in. FY14E EPS starts at $1.2; FY15E EPS starts at $2.18.”

Symantec Corp shares were inactive during pre-market trading on Wednesday. The stock is up 34.43% year-to-date.
[By Amanda Alix]
Of course, banks can't know when an attack is merely disruptive, and when it may be covering for criminal activity. Security company Symantec (NASDAQ: SYMC ) has commented that these assaults have become a way for hackers to distract banks while funds are illegally withdrawn. Though most of the thefts have occurred in Europe, where attacks have progressed from website outages to actual bank heists, at least one U.S. bank, Citigroup, disclosed some losses due to cyber thievery earlier this year.
[By Tim Melvin]
The first "insider" stock to buy is Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq: SYMC), one of the leading internet security providers in the world.

Symantec makes a wide range of products that help individuals and businesses keep their computers and mobile devices safe from viruses and malware. The stock recently dropped sharply after the company fell short of analysts' quarterly earnings expectations, but CEO Stephen Bennett clearly disagrees with the market's opinion of the company's prospects. He got out his checkbook and added 1,000,000 shares of stock for a total cost of more than $2.2 million. He now owns 488,000 shares of Symantec stock and clearly has high expectations for the future of Symantec's stock price.

5 Best Internet Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Google Inc.(GOOG)

Google Inc. maintains an index of Web sites and other online content for users, advertisers, and Google network members and other content providers. It offers AdWords, an auction-based advertising program; AdSense program, which enables Web sites that are part of the Google Network to deliver ads from its AdWords advertisers; Google Display, a display advertising network that comprises the videos, text, images, and other interactive ads; DoubleClick Ad Exchange, a real-time auction marketplace for the trading of display ad space; and YouTube that provides video, interactive, and other ad formats for advertisers. The company also provides Google Mobile that optimizes Google?s applications for mobile devices in browser and downloadable form; and enables advertisers to run search ad campaigns on mobile devices, as well as Google Local that provides local information on the Web; and Google Boost for small businesses to participate in the ads auction. In addition, it offers And roid, an open source mobile software platform; Google Chrome OS, an open source operating system; Google Chrome, a Web browser; Google TV, a platform for the consumers to use the television and the Internet on a single screen; and Google Books platform to discover, search, and consume content from printed books online. Further, the company provides Google Apps, a cloud computing suite of message and collaboration tools, which includes Gmail, Google Docs, Google Calendar, and Google Sites; Google Search Appliance that offers real-time search of business and intranet applications, and public Web sites; Google Site Search, a custom search engine; Google Commerce Search for online retail enterprises; Google Checkout to make online shopping and payments streamlined and secure; Google Maps Application Programming Interface; and Google Earth Enterprise, a firewall software solution for imagery and data visualization. Google Inc. was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Mountain View, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Doug Ehrman]
While Samsung has been the only company to successfully challenge Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL ) in the smartphone arena, it has had far less success in tablets. The iPad still owns the market, but Samsung is taking a shot squarely at Cupertino with a new hybrid that holds great promise. Capable of running multiple operating systems -- meaning it can offer Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT ) productivity with Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG ) breadth of apps -- the ATIVQ has the potential to be a game changer.
[By Hal Lindon]
After a brief morning decline, S&P 500 futures are approaching the all time high of 1809.25. The index, lead by technology stocks Apple (NASDAQ: APPL), which has broken out of 18 day trading range and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), which has exceeded its former all time high (1053.19) by 8.31 points in Tuesday's trading.
[By Evan Niu, CFA]
Search giant Google (NASDAQ: GOOG ) has settled a class action lawsuit related to its issuance last year of Class C common stock, a move that was widely considered unfriendly to existing shareholders. Google filed notice of the settlement with the SEC today.

Hot Value Stocks To Buy For 2015: Internap Network Services Corporation(INAP)

Internap Network Services Corporation provides information technology (IT) infrastructure services. The company operates through two segments, Data Center Services and IP Services. The Data Center Services segment provides colocation services, which include physical space for hosting customers? IT infrastructure network and other equipment, as well as offers associated services, such as redundant power and network connectivity, environmental controls, and security. This segment also offers managed hosting services that enable its customers to own and manage the software applications and content, as well as provides and maintains the hardware, operating system, collocation, and bandwidth. The IP services segment provides patented performance Internet protocol (IP) service; XIP acceleration-as-a-service solution; and flow control platform, a premise-based intelligent routing hardware product for customers, who run their own multiple network architectures, known as multi-homi ng. In addition, this segment offers content delivery network services that enable its customers to stream and distribute media and content, such as video, audio software, and applications to audiences through points of presence, as well as offers capacity-on-demand services to handle events and unanticipated traffic spikes. Internap Network Services Corporation provides its services and products through 76 IP service points, which include 20 CDN POPs and 1 standalone CDN POP, as well as through 37 data centers across North America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region. It serves the entertainment and media, financial services, business services, software, hosting and information technology infrastructure, and telecommunications industries. The company was founded in 1996 and is based in Atlanta, Georgia.

5 Best Internet Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Amazon.com Inc.(AMZN)

Amazon.com, Inc. operates as an online retailer in North America and internationally. It operates retail Web sites, including amazon.com and amazon.ca. The company serves consumers through its retail Web sites and focuses on selection, price, and convenience. It also offers programs that enable sellers to sell their products on its Web sites, and their own branded Web sites. In addition, the company serves developer customers through Amazon Web Services, which provides access to technology infrastructure that developers can use to enable virtually various type of business. Further, it manufactures and sells the Kindle e-reader. Additionally, the company provides fulfillment; miscellaneous marketing and promotional agreements, such as online advertising; and co-branded credit cards. Amazon.com, Inc. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Rick Munarriz]
Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX ) used to be able to brag about how so much of the content available on rival streaming smorgasbords was redundant to its wider catalog, but Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN ) is doing a pretty good job of lining up content that video fans can't find on Netflix.

5 Best Internet Stocks To Invest In Right Now: IAC/InterActiveCorp (IACI)

IAC/InterActiveCorp engages in the Internet business in the United States and internationally. The company�s Search segment develops, markets, and distributes various downloadable toolbars; provides search, reference, and content services through its destination search and other Websites, including Ask.com and Dictionary.com; and aggregates and integrates local advertising and content for distribution to publishers on Web and mobile platforms, as well as markets and distributes mobile applications through which it provides search and additional services. Its Match segment offers subscription-based and advertiser-supported online personals services through its Websites comprising Match.com, Chemistry.com, OurTime.com, BlackPeopleMeet.com, and OkCupid.com, as well as through mobile applications and Meetic-branded Websites. The company�s ServiceMagic segment offers Market Match service that matches consumers with service professionals; Exact Match service, which enables con sumers to review service professional profiles and select the service professional that meets their specific needs; and 1800Contractor.com, an online directory of service professionals. This segment also offers Website design and hosting services. Its Media and Other segment operates CollegeHumor.com, an online entertainment Website that targets young males; Vimeo, a Website on which users can upload, share, and view video; and Pronto.com, a comparison search engine. This segment also engages in the creation of video content for various distribution platforms; and operates as an Internet retailer of footwear and related apparel and accessories, as well as focuses on multimedia business. The company was formerly known as InterActiveCorp and changed its name to IAC/InterActiveCorp in July 2004. IAC/InterActiveCorp was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Jayson Derrick]
InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI) announced that its CEO is stepping down from his current position to become chairman of a new operating unit. Investors cheered the management shakeup which is potentially hinting at a spinoff. Shares hit new 52 week highs of $70.44 before closing at $68.49, up 13.98 percent.

5 Best Internet Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Yahoo! Inc.(YHOO)

Yahoo! Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a digital media company that delivers personalized digital content and experiences through various devices worldwide. It offers online properties and services to users; and a range of marketing services to businesses. The company?s communications and communities offerings include Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! Messenger, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, Flickr, and Connected TV, which provide a range of communication and social services to users and small businesses enabling users to organize into groups and share knowledge, common interests, and photos. Its search products comprise Yahoo! Search and Yahoo! Local, available free to users to navigate the Internet and discover content. The company?s marketplaces offerings and services include Yahoo! Shopping, Yahoo! Travel, Yahoo! Real Estate, Yahoo! Autos, and Yahoo! Small Business, which allow users to research specific topics, products, services, or areas of interest by review ing and exchanging information, obtaining contact details, or considering offers from providers of goods, services, or parties with similar interests. Its media offerings comprise Yahoo! Homepage, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Sports, Yahoo! Finance, My Yahoo!, Yahoo! Toolbar, Yahoo! Entertainment & Lifestyles, Yahoo! Contributor Network, and Yahoo! Pulse, which are designed to engage users with online content and services on the Web. The company also offers marketing services, such as display and search advertising, listing-based services, and commerce-based transactions to advertisers. In addition, it provides software and platform offerings for third-party developers, advertisers, and publishers, such as Yahoo! Developer Network, Yahoo! Open Strategy, Yahoo! Application Platform, Yahoo! Updates, Yahoo! Query Language, and Yahoo! Search BOSS. The company has strategic alliances with Nokia and ABC News, Inc. Yahoo! Inc. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Californi a.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Markos Kaminis]
Since the news about the metadata sharing was made public, rumors rose about another secret government program said to be named PRISM, which many major media providers are saying today is more than rumor. Under such a supposed program, the NSA is alleged to have access to emails and other Internet data. However, major service providers in the field have denied any knowledge of any such program and any participation in such a program. Apple (AAPL) says it does not provide any government agency with direct access to its servers. Google (GOOG) says it does not have a back door for the government to access data. Microsoft (MSFT), Facebook (FB) and Yahoo (YHOO) have also all denied being a party to any such effort. Still, at least one name remains tied to what many Americans seem to be feeling is an infringement on their privacy, and that is Verizon.
[By Tim Beyers]
Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO ) stock has been rallying ever since rumors of a closer relationship with Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL ) first surfaced last Tuesday in a report by The Wall Street Journal.
[By Travis Hoium, Sean Williams, and Alex Planes]
In that spirit, we three Fools have banded together to find the market's best and worst stocks, which we'll rate on The Motley Fool's CAPS system as outperformers or underperformers. We'll be accountable for every pick based on the sum of our knowledge and the balance of our decisions. Today, we'll be discussing web pioneer�Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO ) .
[By Paul Ausick]
After five years at the top of the heap, Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG)�has relinquished its top spot in comScore Inc.�� (NASDAQ: SCOR) ranking of the top 50 U.S. Web properties. The new leader is Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) in what can only be called a stunning upset.

5 Best Internet Stocks To Invest In Right Now: eBay Inc.(EBAY)

eBay Inc. provides online platforms, services, and tools to help individuals and merchants in online and mobile commerce and payments in the United States and internationally. Its Marketplaces segment operates ecommerce platform eBay.com; vertical shopping sites, such as StubHub, Fashion, Motors, and Half.com; and classifieds Websites, including Den Bl�Avis, BilBasen, Gumtree, Kijiji, LoQUo, Marktplaats.nl, mobile.de, Alamaula, Rent.com, eBay Anuncios, eBay Kleinanzeigen, and eBay Annunci, as well as provides advertising services. The company?s Payments segment offers payment and settlement services for consumers and merchants on and off eBay Websites and other merchant Websites. This segment operates PayPal, which enables individuals and businesses to send and receive payments online and through mobile devices; Bill Me Later that enables the United States merchants to offer, the United States consumers to obtain, credit at the point of sale for ecommerce and mobile tra nsactions; Zong, which allows users with mobile phones to purchase digital goods and have the transactions charged to their phone bill; and BillSAFE that enables customers pay for purchases upon receipt of an invoice. Its GSI segment offers an ecommerce services suite for enterprise clients that operate in general merchandise categories, including apparel, sporting goods, toys and baby, health and beauty, and home; and marketing services comprising full-service digital agency, enterprise email marketing, mobile advertising, affiliate marketing, advertisement retargeting, and in-depth analytics services. The company also offers X.commerce platform that provides software developers access to the company?s applications programming interfaces to develop functionality for various merchants; and Magento Connect, which allows developers to market and sell add-on functionality and solutions to merchants that use a Magento storefront. eBay Inc. was founded in 1995 and is headquarter ed in San Jose, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Tim Beyers]
Suddenly, Google (NASDAQ: GOOG ) is getting grabby. According to a report from the Google Operating System, a new service called Google Mine is in the works that would allow Google+ users to document and share what they own.

All Google will say is that it is always working on new things. No news there. But imagine if Google Mine does come to be. Not only could you share notes about your collections, or document valuables for insurance purposes, but you could also Imagine a barter system whereby you sell or trade via Google+, with any money exchanged via Google Wallet. A tailored credit or debit card might not be far behind, says Fool contributor Tim Beyers in the following video.

At the very least, the idea threatens eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY ) . The company depends on an ever-increasing volume of transactions to fund growth. In Q1, the auctioneer was responsible for $49 billion worth of commerce. By 2015, eBay wants to enable $300 billion in commerce annually, up from $175 billion last year. Google Mine, like Craigslist before it, could stand in the way of that.

Do you agree? Please watch the video to get Tim's full take, and then let us know if having Google Mine would make you more or less bullish on the search king's long-term prospects.

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: 3D, Hasbro, Dollar Tree, Tyson and More

This will be an interesting week for Wall Street analyst coverage as many traders, investors and analysts are out ahead of Labor Day. Still, we are seeing a surprising number of research calls from analysts now that stocks have pulled back from their recent all-time highs. Some investors want to know if they should sell or avoid certain stocks, while others are looking for stocks to buy.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of Wall Street analyst research reports each day to find new ideas for investors. Some picks are growth, some are value, some are stocks to buy and some are stocks to sell. These are Monday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen from Wall Street.

Citigroup has initiated coverage in the 3D printing market positively on Monday: 3D Systems Corp. (NYSE: DDD) was started as Buy with a $60 price target and Stratasys Ltd. (NASDAQ: SSYS) was started as Buy with a $125 price target.

Deutsche Bank is making a change in its coverage of dollar store themes on Monday: Dollar Tree Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR) was raised to Buy from Hold and Family Dollar Stores Inc. (NYSE: FDO) was downgraded to Hold from Buy, but the price target was raised to $74 from $70.

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at Piper Jaffray.

Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) was reiterated as Hold as shares are perceived to be fully valued at Argus.

Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG) was raised to Neutral from Underweight at J.P. Morgan.

Darling International Inc. (NYSE: DAR) was raised to Buy from Hold and the price target was raised to $25 from $22 at Canaccord Genuity.

Hasbro Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS) was raised to Buy all the way from Sell by Citigroup.

Peabody Energy Corp. (NYSE: BTU) may not be a formal upgrade, but shares are up 3% after Barron’s covered it over the weekend, calling for it to potentially double off of its lows. One analyst was quoted as saying that it could rise to $30 or $35, as business already hit a bottom and is poised to recover.

ResMed Inc. (NYSE: RMD) was raised to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

Tyson Foods Inc. (NYSE: TSN) was downgraded to Neutral rom Buy at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

We saw the analyst quiet period end for American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE: AMH) and we have seen some mixed coverage in the name: BofA/Merrill Lynch was at Neutral, Goldman Sachs was at Neutral, Wells Fargo was at Market Perform and J.P. Morgan was at Overweight.

Credit Suisse has identified solid earnings winners that refuse to use smoke and mirrors in their reporting. Also, after seeing the Amgen-Onyx deal, we want readers to revisit superior growth companies via the 10 companies expected to double revenues in the next two to four years.

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Why Motorola Solutions (MSI) is Sinking on Wednesday

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Motorola Solutions (MSI) was losing ground on Wednesday after warning of weakening revenue earlier in the day. By midday, shares had taken off 3.7% to $64.63.

The tech company, which develops business-centric and durable hardware, said profit over 2013 had increased slightly thanks to increased government sales. Fourth-quarter net income of $1.67 a share exceeded expectations of $1.62 a share according to analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters. Revenue saw a year-over-year increase of 2.5% to $2.5 billion, broadly in-line with consensus.

However, lower-than-expected guidance for the first quarter ending March rattled Wall Street. The Schaumburg, Ill.-based business forecast a 4% to 6% drop in revenue compared to the year-ago quarter, putting sales in the range of $1.85 billion to $1.89 billion. Net earnings are expected between 46 cents and 52 cents a share.

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The first-quarter guidance is significantly lower than analyst consensus of 75 cents a share in net income and $2.01 billion in sales. TheStreet Ratings team rates MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS INC as a Buy with a ratings score of B+. The team has this to say about their recommendation: "We rate MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS INC (MSI) a BUY. This is driven by a few notable strengths, which we believe should have a greater impact than any weaknesses, and should give investors a better performance opportunity than most stocks we cover. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its impressive record of earnings per share growth, compelling growth in net income, notable return on equity, increase in stock price during the past year and largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company shows weak operating cash flow." You can view the full analysis from the report here: MSI Ratings Report

Stock quotes in this article: MSI

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

How Can Oxford Earnings Keep Soaring?

Oxford Industries (NYSE: OXM ) will release its quarterly report on Tuesday, and investors have stayed optimistic about the apparel company's prospects, bidding the shares to all-time record highs in the past few months. With expectations for growth in Oxford earnings so high, though, investors need to be careful not to let the company's stock price get ahead of its fundamental business prospects.

Oxford Industries offers a wide variety of apparel in both branded and private-label lines, with brands including Tommy Bahama for sportswear, women's clothing line Lilly Pulitzer, and Oxford Golf apparel for golfers. The company has also licensed brands such as Dockers and Kenneth Cole, and it has taken its own company-owned brands to license their names for a variety of other products ranging from accessories to home fashions and personal-care products. Let's take an early look at what's been happening with Oxford Industries over the past quarter and what we're likely to see in its report.

Stats on Oxford Industries

Analyst EPS Estimate	$0.98
Change From Year-Ago EPS	51%
Revenue Estimate	$243.48 million
Change From Year-Ago Revenue	18%
Earnings Beats in Past 4 Quarters	2

Source: Yahoo! Finance.

Can Oxford earnings growth keep up the pace this quarter?
Analysts have been guardedly optimistic about Oxford earnings in recent months, adding $0.03 per share to their July quarter estimates and $0.02 per share to their full-year projections. The stock, though, has been stuck in neutral, with flat performance since early June.

Oxford has undergone a long-term shift that has paid big dividends for investors over the past several years. Traditionally, Oxford focused more on tailored clothing, and that segment has been a tough one lately, with upscale-clothing retailers Men's Wearhouse (NYSE: MW ) and Jos. A Bank (NASDAQ: JOSB ) fighting hard against the trend away from more formal clothing toward casualwear. For Oxford's part, its move toward its lifestyle brands have given it new life outside the formalwear segment, and that has helped drive long-term growth and stock-price appreciation.

Yet Oxford's earnings growth took a hit during its previous quarter, with the company reporting a 24% decline in net income in its April quarter. But the company managed to post modest revenue growth of just over 1%, with its key Tommy Bahama and Lilly Pulitzer lines helping to make up for weaker results in some of its other brand offerings. Oxford said it would continue to invest in those top brands going forward, with plans for international expansion potentially driving future growth.

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With the key back-to-school season upon us, Oxford is working to boost its sales opportunities. Last month, the company chose to use tech giant SAP's (NYSE: SAP ) Hybris suite of commerce support products to help it boost its already-growing online business. With the ability to add in-store kiosks to its existing Internet presence, Oxford's Tommy Bahama stores hope that giving their customers as many ways to buy as possible will help increase revenue.

In the Oxford earnings report, watch to see whether the company's ancillary brands can start pulling their own weight rather than holding back growth in Tommy Bahama and other key lines. Without solid gains from all of its businesses, it'll be hard for Oxford Industries to produce the earnings growth that investors want to see from the apparel company.

Oxford and its retail peers are navigating the biggest paradigm shift since mail order took off at the turn of last century. Only those most forward-looking and capable companies will survive, and they'll handsomely reward those investors who understand the landscape. You can read about the 3 Companies Ready to Rule Retail in The Motley Fool's special report. Uncovering these top picks is free today; just click here to read more.

Click here to add Oxford Industries to My Watchlist, which can find all of our Foolish analysis on it and all your other stocks.

Friday, January 17, 2014

3 Quick steps to turn your financial dreams to reality

The core of the ad is that while 150 people on a plane might be flying to the same destination, there may well be 150 different reasons for going there. A young man may be travelling home to be with his wife during the birth of their first child. A woman may be travelling to make the biggest corporate presentation of her career. Someone else may be travelling for solitude away from personal and career stress. Another person may be travelling to try out an adventure sport for the first time. The action of travelling is the same; the reasons for doing so are individual and very personal.

In an identical and parallel fashion, everybody invests.

If you're reading this article, or any article on any personal finance website, chances are you're an investor. And you are investing for the same over-arching reason that we all invest - you want to amass wealth.

But that's where the similarity between you and a million other investors ends. And the uniqueness of your own individual goals comes in.

Answer these few questions about yourself:

1. How old are you?
2. Are you married?
3. If so, do you have kids? How many and how old are they?
4. Would it be your dream to have your son become an engineer or your daughter a scientist? Or perhaps a civil lawyer, an economist, an investment banker or a doctor?
5. Do you live on rent or do you own a home?
6. If you own a home, do you have a home loan?
7. At what age do you want to retire from the rat race and take it easy (realistically)?
Do you know how much you require so you can retire in comfort ?
8. What do you like to do in your spare time? If you don't have any specific hobbies, would you like to develop some, like perhaps photography or travel?
9. Do you want a new car? How often would you like to change your car?
10. Do you support your parents financially?
11. Do you make the right kind of tax saving investments?

Within your answers to these questions (and more) lies your reason for investing.

You, individually, want to give your family and yourself an even better lifestyle. You want to give your kids the best education possible, whether in India or abroad. You have personal and emotional ambitions that you would like to help your family achieve and achieve for yourself too. And this is the "Why" of investing.

If you keep your eye on the prize - that is the "Why am I investing", you will automatically know the "How to go about investing".

There are 3 key guidelines within financial planning, which is basically planning for your life goals, that will help you stay on track to achieving the "Why":

1 2

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Will Juniper Raise Investor Hopes in 2014?

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

SDN Technology to Drive Juniper

Juniper is increasingly becoming active in the "software defined networking" (SDN) field to make its presence felt in the booming data center space, where it is still a small player.

The technology, which is in a very nascent stage, reduces dependency on hardware and helps the administrators to manage networking operations through software that will work via a "controller." The technology helps in making data center operations much simpler.

The networking giant's SDN exposure got solidified with the acquisition of Contrail Systems, a networking equipment providing start-up, for $176.0 million cash in December 2012. Eventually, Juniper introduced its SDN solution "Contrail" in September 2013. The software solution is designed to create a virtual networking platform that can be interconnected with the existing private/public/hybrid cloud environment. With Contrail, it will be easy to modify the physical data center infrastructure to an extremely flexible cloud infrastructure thereby reducing cost of ownership and boosting return on investments for a business.

Juniper is optimistic about the wide acceptance of the SDN technology. Hence, it is working closely with technology partners such as IBM (IBM), Check Point (CHKP), Red Hat (RHT) and Riverbed (RVBD) to make SDN deployments easy and fast.

The past few months have been pretty rewarding for Juniper after it offered its Contrail software solution to customers such as Cyberport, ISPrime, Jaguar Network and SunGuard Availability Services.

Apart from customer wins, Juniper will also have an edge over its fierce competitor Cisco (CSCO). The market leader's SDN offering, Application Centric Infrastructure failed to match expectations. The most notable drawback of Cisco SDN technology, compared to that of Juniper's, is that it is non-interoperable, even with the company's existing setup.

According to research firm Gartner, SDN could emerge as a key technology driver in another five years. Hence, more players are coming into the field with their SDN solutions. This suggests that competition could intensify in the near future and restrict Juniper's growth prospects to some extent. However, the company has a bigger plan to support its growth.

WANDL Acquisition to Boost Service Provider Revenue

Juniper has supplemented its growth through a number of acquisitions over the years. It recently bought WANDL, a software solutions provider, in December 2013 for approximately $60 million. WANDL's capabilities will allow Juniper to offer advanced multi-layer networking solutions to its service provider customers.

The service provider market contributed 66.5% of its third-quarter 2013 total revenue, up from 63.1% recorded in the year-ago level. In its third-quarter earnings call, Juniper projected strong demand growth from the Service Provider end market. This WANDL acquisition could provide added support to help Juniper surpass its expectations.

IT Spending – A Big Factor

The most critical factor for any tech company's success is its spending on information technology. According to Gartner, spending for 2014 would touch $3.8 trillion, registering a year-over-year growth of 3.1%. Though the growth rate seems encouraging after witnessing flat spending in 2013, it is lower than Gartner's previous forecast of 3.6%. Lowered expectations from data center and telecom services spending have pulled down the overall rate of IT spending.

Final Thoughts

The service provider market is Juniper's forte and it secures larger share of revenues from the market. Adding further technological improvements in the field would push the market share upward. Though competition is expected to increase, Juniper's SDN strategy seems to be going fine with continuous customer wins and new product developments. With these two trump cards in its pocket, Juniper is expected to post a good quarter ahead.

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Wednesday, January 15, 2014

DGX to Improve Hepatitis Detection - Analyst Blog

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Recently, in a bid to enhance hepatitis C virus (HCV) detection and management, Quest Diagnostics (DGX) joined forces with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Through this collaboration, the company intends to improve the public health analysis of hepatitis C screening, diagnosis as well as treatment. The process of improving Hepatitis C detection will be based on the analysis of Quest's national hepatitis C virus diagnostic information.

HCV infection is a chronic blood borne infection, which is common in the US. It acts as a major cause of liver damage and cancer. However, early diagnosis and treatment can help prevent cirrhosis, liver cancer and death.

This collaboration came on the heels of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force's recommendation in Jun 2013, which suggested one-time hepatitis C screening for adults born between 1945 and 1965. While targeting this "baby boomer" generation, Quest noted that this age group is five times more susceptible to HCV infection than other adults. Therefore, targeting this group may prevent over 120,000 deaths.

Quest Diagnostics is optimistic about this new alliance and expects to capture a large part of the growing HCV diagnosis and treatment market in the US. At present more than 3 million people in the US are infected with hepatitis C, while many others are still unaware as to whether they are infected. Moreover, deaths from hepatitis C have doubled over the past decade to more than 15,000 a year. Thus, screening and early detection may play a vital role in curbing the fatality rate.

Currently, Quest Diagnostics has been focusing on areas with high potential such as gene-based esoteric testing for cancer, cardiovascular disease, infectious disease and neurological disorders. The company has experienced increasing demand for gene-based and esoteric tests compared to routine ! tests on the back of increased esoteric mix contributed by Athena and Celera. As a part of this strategy, the company completed the divestiture of HemoCue diagnostics products business in April.

Radiometer Medical ApS acquired the HemoCue diagnostics products business for $300 million plus customary adjustments for cash balances. Last December, the company shed its OralDNA Labs salivary-diagnostics business in order to refocus its resources on core diagnostic information services.

However, we remain cautious about Quest Diagnostics as it continues to face weak testing volume. Concerns also linger about the soft industry trends due to a decline in physician office visits, flat pricing and low organic revenues.The stock retains a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

While we prefer to remain bearish on Quest Diagnostics, other medical device stocks worth a look are Tornier N.V. (TRNX), Lannett Company, Inc. (LCI) andKindred Healthcare Inc. (KND). All three stocks carry a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Lululemon Athletica inc. (LULU): Near-Term Risks Could Further Derail Investor Confidence

The fundamentals of Lululemon Athletica inc.(NASDAQ:LULU) (TSE:LLL) have declined from bad to worse as the apparel retailer slashed its fourth quarter outlook triggering a selling spree that wiped off more than $1.4 billion in market cap. The company has more near-term risks that may further dent the confidence of investors.

Shares lost as much as $10.6, or about 18 percent, to touch a new 52-week low of $49, a drop of more than 40 percent from its June 2013 high of $82.50.

Based in Vancouver, lululemon athletica, a yoga-inspired athletic apparel company. lululemon athletica operates company-owned stores in the US, Canada, and Australia. The company, which was founded in 1998, opened its first store in Vancouver in 2000 and went public in July 2007. The company operates two concepts - lululemon and ivivva.

[Related -Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU): Sourcing Issues Will Be An Overhang In FY14]

Though the company had already warned about the fourth quarter in December saying that it would be impacted by macro and execution issues, investors weren't expecting a guidance cut. Moreover, the original quarterly guidance itself was below Street view.

For the fourth quarter, the company now sees revenue of $513 million to $518 million based on comparable-store sales in the negative low-to-mid single digits on a constant-dollar basis. Earlier, the company estimated revenue in the range of $535 million to $540 million based on flat comparable-store sales on a constant-dollar basis.

[Related -Nike Inc. (NYSE:NKE) Q2 Earnings Preview: Just Doing It, Again]

Lululemon also trimmed its fourth quarter profit view to 71 to 73 cents a share from 78 to 80 cents a share. Wall Street expects earnings of 79 cents a share on revenue of $541.32 million, according to analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

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The company's traffic and sales trends have decelerated meaningfully since the beginning of January, and these weaker trends are expected to continue through the remainder of January.

While the CEO overhang is behind investors, there is only limited margin expansion as investment in the business, continued resolution of sourcing issues, and increased business complexity are near-term risk factors.

Further, comps will get tougher as the quarter progresses. The company's comps may be weighed down due to lingering sourcing/quality issues and the traffic not rebounding sharply. There will also be continued pressure from SG&A from investments in the business.

This shows that the company is finding difficult to sell its higher margin core product and could be a sign that new customer adoption is slowing. Gross margins were pressured during the third quarter and fell to 53.9 percent from 55.4 percent a year-ago. The lower mix of high-margin black Luon bottoms and higher inventory reserves are to blame.

Another reason to worry is the 33 percent sequential increase in inventories, outpacing sales growth. The only solace here is these inventory balances seem to represent roughly three months of total sales.

In addition, competitors Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) and Under Armour Inc. (NYSE: UA) are making the environment more difficult for Lululemon, which is yet to recover from its own mistakes, such as the infamous see-through yoga pants.

Meanwhile, the company is running behind the curve on building the necessary sourcing infrastructure with a long list of open positions on the product side for the last two years.

The company has been focused on reorganizing the team (recent new hires include a SVP of Product Operations and a SVP of Logistics & Distribution), improving efficiencies, having a more disciplined product calendar, constructing an R&D center at headquarters, and improving communication with factories starting at the beginning of the process.

LULU has certain key longer-term drivers including Men's and international growth. Men's is currently 12 percent of sales, but is expected to be able to support standalone stores starting in fiscal 2016. The Men's team has grown to 40 people.

However, time is running out for LULU. All these reorganization efforts will take time to show results and investors have lost patience with the stock, which have fallen 17 percent in the last one year. The stock is also expensive trading at 21 times its forward earnings.

Lululemon is expected to report its fourth-quarter financial results in late March. If things go like this, investors shouldn't surprise if the company churns out a weak performance.

As such, the stock may not be suitable for near and medium-term investors. But, those who are in the longer-term horizon can consider the stock as all is not lost at LULU. Strong brand positioning and international expansion make it suitable for a long-term bet.

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Is Merck the Best Option In This Group?

With shares of Merck (NYSE:MRK) trading at around $47.56, is MRK an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE or STAY AWAY? Let's analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework:

C = Catalyst for the Stock's Movement

An FDA panel recently voted for approval of Suvorexant (insomnia). This doesn't guarantee FDA approval, but increase the odds of approval. A decision is expected within a few months. Suvorexant's potential is high. However, it hasn't been all good news for Merck.

Singulair (asthma) Q1 sales declined 75 percent year-over-year due to patent expiration and competition from more affordable generic drugs. Maxalt (migraines) has also seen a drop in sales due to the ever-increasing threat of generics, and Temodar (brain cancer) is likely to see competition from generics. Another negative for Merck was that Phase III studies didn't show enough efficacy for Merck to pursue regulatory filings for Preladenant (Parkinson's). Other negatives include a revenue decline last year, a year-over-year revenue decline of 9 percent last quarter, a year-over-year earnings decline of 8.30 percent last quarter, and weak guidance.

In order to satisfy shareholders, or in order to at least keep them tame, Merck recently announced that it will repurchase $7.5 billion worth of shares through May 2014. This is in addition to Merck yielding 3.60 percent. By comparison, GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK) currently yields 4.30 percent, and Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) currently yields 3.40 percent.

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While GlaxoSmithKline offers the highest yield, it also has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.54, which is well above the industry average of 0.40. This has the potential to lead to future problems as debt becomes more expensive. Merck has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, and Pfizer has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Therefore, as far as this article is concerned, the competition has been reduced to two.

Sticking with the competitive theme, Merck is trading at 24 times earnings and has a profit margin of 13.04 percent whereas Pfizer is trading at 14 times earnings and has a profit margin of 26.95 percent. Cash flow is strong for both companies. It should also be noted that both have a short position of 0.80 percent, which is minuscule. Shorts don't want to get involved with strong and well-run companies that have future potential. As far as pipelines go, they’re difficult to evaluate because they’re more of a subjective matter. For example, you can find analyst opinions that state Merck has a strong pipeline, and you can find analyst opinions that state Merck has a weak pipeline.

Let's take a look at some important numbers prior to forming an opinion on this stock.

T = Technicals Are Strong

Merck has been a steady performer over the past three years. However, Pfizer has been the strongest performer of the group over there-year and one-year time frames.

	1 Month	Year-To-Date	1 Year	3 Year
MRK	3.09%	16.82%	26.84%	52.89%
GSK	1.86%	24.13%	22.09%	76.22%
PFE	0.21%	16.72%	34.34%	109.5%

E = Equity to Debt Ratio Is Normal

The debt-to-equity ratio for Merck is close to the industry average of 0.40.

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	Debt-To-Equity	Cash	Long-Term Debt
MRK	0.37	16.02B	20.82B
GSK	2.54	6.29B	31.06B
PFE	0.49	35.41B	40.40B

E = Earnings Have Been Inconsistent

Merck is unique in the sense that earnings have declined since the difficult years of 2008 and 2009. Revenue has increased since that time, but revenue declined in 2012. The rise of generics has played a role.

Fiscal Year	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
Revenue ($) in millions	23,850	27,428	45,987	48,047	47,267
Diluted EPS ($)	3.64	5.65	0.28	2.02	2.16

Looking at the last quarter on a year-over-year basis, revenue has declined 9 percent, and earnings have declined 8.30 percent.

Quarter	Mar. 31, 2012	Jun. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012	Dec. 31, 2012	Mar. 31, 2013
Revenue ($) in millions	11,731	12,311	11,488	11,738	10,671
Diluted EPS ($)	0.56	0.58	0.56	0.46	0.52

Now let's take a look at the next page for the Conclusion. Is this stock an OUTPERFORM, a WAIT AND SEE, or a STAY AWAY?

Conclusion

With competition from generics, revenue declines, and weak guidance, Merck isn't the ideal investment candidate at the moment. Pfizer offers a better valuation, its profit margin of 26.95 percent demonstrates better efficiency, and it has outperformed Merck over the past three years. This pattern should continue.

Saturday, January 11, 2014

There are plays to be made despite politics

Washington, D.C., is currently in fantasy land. Or maybe that's nightmare land. Either way, the good news for investors is that central banks are here, to the rescue, once again — acting when and where politicians are too incompetent to lead.

Putting all political opinions aside, the government shutdown is, at the very least, an embarrassment, will likely cause some damage to our economy, and will likely force the Federal Reserve to maintain or perhaps increase its monetary stimulus, especially if this drags on. Our politicians failures will likely cause the following market reaction:

Interest rates will likely remain rangebound with a downward bias, at least through the end of the year. Expect the 10-year Treasury yield to end below 2.5% at year end.

The U.S. dollar will likely strengthen against major currencies, as "safe haven" buyers seek refuge from the uncertainty

In spite of added short-term volatility, equities will rally, ending the year at record highs

Investors should tune out the noise and focus on the data, and the data tells us that stocks are likely to continue to rise, in spite of the politically designed uncertainties, markets are benefiting from increasingly positive economic data.

In the U.S., manufacturing activity, auto sales, home prices and even the unemployment rate is improving (albeit with some statistical trickery). In Europe, consumer and business confidence is rising, the unemployment rate has dropped to a multi-year low, and manufacturing and export data continues to improve. Asia's economies, particularly the emerging-market economies in the region, also appear to be recovering from the summer duldroms. Japan's Takan (their version of PMI and ISM Manufacturing report) came in much stronger than expected, and with the recent drop in the Yen, exports are improving as well.

Option and bond markets appear to agree with my thesis — based on price movement, volatility and trading volume, neither are pricing in a downturn in our economy or a meaningful change in trend.

Lastly, and this is truly a two-edged sword, according to the latest report by the Federal Reserve, non-financial companies are sitting on approximately $1.5 trillion in cash, and bank-holding institutions are holding over $2.3 trillion in deposits at the Federal Reserve. As old as the story is, eventually a chunk of this money will re-enter the system.

I think the first step will be an increase in share-buybacks and an increase in dividends. As such, I am once again overweighting large-cap multinationals, including some great European names. My favorites include Novartis (NVS) , Legget and Platt (LEG) and Visa (V) . Of course, the potential risk is that the cash horde remains and even grows, likely creating a deeper negative interest rate environment — something that surely would be damaging to our economy.

Disclosure: NVS, LEG and V are holding in the MPDAX and separate accounts at GGFS.

Friday, January 10, 2014

Top Financial Stocks To Watch Right Now

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

Wall Street expects Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ) to report its Q2 earnings at $0.88 per share on revenue of $1.53 billion. Constellation Brands shares rose 0.41% to $58.50 in after-hours trading.

CalAmp (NASDAQ: CAMP) reported upbeat fiscal second-quarter results. CalAmp shares jumped 9.90% to $20.54 in the after-hours trading session.

Analysts expect Xyratex (NASDAQ: XRTX) to post its Q3 earnings at $0.05 per share on revenue of $209.31 million. Xyratex shares gained 0.18% to close at $11.16 yesterday.

GNC Holdings (NYSE: GNC) reported that it has bought Discount Supplements in the United Kingdom. GNC Holdings shares dropped 1.71% to close at $54.70 yesterday.

Applied Micro Circuits (NASDAQ: AMCC) named Douglas T. Ahrens as its Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Applied Micro shares declined 2.40% to close at $12.63 yesterday.

Top Financial Stocks To Watch Right Now: Southern Missouri Bancorp Inc.(SMBC)

Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for the Southern Missouri Savings Bank that provides community banking services in Missouri. It offers various deposit instruments, including demand deposit accounts, negotiable order of withdrawal accounts, money market deposit accounts, saving accounts, certificates of deposit, and retirement savings plans. The company?s lending activities consist of origination of loans for the acquisition or refinance of one- to four-family residences, as well as loans secured by commercial real estate, including improved and unimproved land, strip shopping centers, retail establishments, and other businesses. It also originates commercial real estate loans secured by property or land. In addition, the company provides various secured consumer loans comprising home equity, direct and indirect automobile loans, second mortgages, mobile homes, and loans secured by deposits. Further, it offers commercial business lendin g loans, including loans to finance accounts receivable, inventory, equipment, and operating lines of credit. Additionally, the company provides commercial and agricultural real estate, and commercial and agricultural business loans. It operates 15 full service branch facilities, and loan production offices in Missouri and Arkansas. The company was founded in 1887 and is headquartered in Poplar Bluff, Missouri.

Top Financial Stocks To Watch Right Now: Wayne Savings Bancshares Inc.(WAYN)

Wayne Savings Bancshares, Inc. operates as the holding company for Wayne Savings Community Bank, a community-oriented institution that provides consumer and business financial services in northeast Ohio. It accepts various consumer and commercial deposits, which include checking accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, term certificate of deposit accounts, commercial repurchase agreements, and individual retirement accounts. The company originates one-to four-family residential, multi-family residential, construction, non-residential real estate and land, commercial business, and consumer loans. It also invests in mortgage-backed securities issued or guaranteed by the United States government or agencies. The company offers its services to individuals, business, and other organizations through its main banking office located in Wooster, and other 10 additional full service branch offices in Wayne, Holmes, Ashland, Medina, and Stark counties, as well as the surrou nding localities in northeastern Ohio. Wayne Savings Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 1899 and is headquartered in Wooster, Ohio.

Hot High Tech Companies For 2014: Duff & Phelps Utility & Corporate Bond Trust Inc. (DUC)

Duff & Phelps Utility & Corporate Bond Trust, Inc. is a close ended fixed income mutual fund launched and managed by Duff and Phelps Investment Management Co. It invests in fixed income markets. The fund invests primarily in a utility income securities, corporate income securities, mortgage-backed securities, and asset-backed securities. Its investment portfolio includes investments in auto and truck, broadcasting and publishing, telephone, industrial, financial, and utilities sectors. Duff & Phelps Utility & Corporate Bond Trust, Inc. was founded in 1992 and is based in Chicago, Illinois.

Top Financial Stocks To Watch Right Now: Hilltop Holdings Inc. (HTH)

Hilltop Holdings Inc., through its subsidiary, NLASCO, Inc., operates as a property and casualty insurance company in the United States. The company�s personal product line includes homeowners, dwelling fire, manufactured home, flood, and vacant insurance policies; and commercial product line consists of commercial, builders risk, builders risk renovation, sports liability, and inland marine insurance policies. It distributes its insurance products through a network of independent agents and managing general agents. The company was formerly known as Affordable Residential Communities Inc. and changed its name to Hilltop Holdings Inc. in July 2007. Hilltop Holdings Inc. was founded in 1948 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Roberto Pedone]
Hilltop (HTH) operates as a holding company for PlainsCapital Bank that provides business and consumer banking services in Texas. This stock closed up 8.7% at $17.96 in Monday's trading session.

Monday's Volume: 2.29 million

Three-Month Average Volume: 414,214

Volume % Change: 436%

From a technical perspective, HTH gapped up sharply higher here back above its 50-day moving average of $16.52 with strong upside volume. This move pushed shares of HTH into breakout and new 52-week-high territory, since the stock closed above some previous resistance at $17.63.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in HTH as long as it's trending above Monday's low of $17.07 and then once it sustains a move or close above its new 52-week high at $18.23 with volume that this near or above 414,214 shares. If we get that move soon, then HTH will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that move are $20 to $23.

Top Financial Stocks To Watch Right Now: Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA)

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (the Bank) is engaged in the provision of a range of banking and financial products and services to retail, small business, corporate and institutional clients. The Bank is a provider of integrated financial services, including retail, business and institutional banking, superannuation, life insurance, general insurance, funds management, broking services and finance company activities. Its operating segments include Retail Banking Services, Business and Private Banking, Institutional Banking and Markets, Wealth Management, New Zealand, Bankwest and Other. Its retail banking services include home loans, consumer finance, retail deposits and distribution. Its business and private banking include corporate financial services, regional and agribusiness banking, local business banking, private bank and equities and margin lending. The Bank and its subsidiaries ceased to be a substantial holder in Ten Network Holdings Limited, as of September 12, 2012. Advisors' Opinion:

[By Toshiro Hasegawa]
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) fell 1.1 percent to A$73.73. Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (ST) retreated 1.1 percent to S$3.78 today after posting earnings.