Best Dividend Stocks To Buy For 2017: January 2015

Saturday, January 31, 2015

Groupon Plunges Despite Strong Holiday-Quarter Results

Image source: Groupon.

Groupon (NASDAQ: GRPN ) shares are plunging in after-hours trading, following the release of the online deal provider's fourth-quarter results.

In the holiday quarter, Groupon saw sales jump 20% year over year to land at $768 million. Non-generally accepted accounting principles earnings stopped at $0.04 per share, up from $0.03 per share a year ago. Analysts were looking for about $0.02 of earnings per share on $718 million in sales.

So the company easily exceeded expectations in the fourth quarter, boosted by strong consumer engagement with Groupon deals over the holiday season. But shares are down 10.3% at press time, because the forward guidance was far less rosy.

Top 5 Income Stocks For 2015

In the first quarter, Groupon expects a pair of recent acquisitions to add $50 million to revenue while hampering EBITDA profit by $20 million. Given these puts and takes, revenue guidance for the upcoming period centers around $735 million while the earnings estimate ranges from a $0.02 loss per share to a $0.06 profit per share.

"Our mobile business continued to gain momentum as our worldwide mobile transaction mix increased more than 10% in the quarter, to nearly 50% in December," Groupon CEO Eric Lefkofsky said in a prepared statement. "With another 9 million downloads this quarter, we now have nearly 70 million app downloads to date."

Friday, January 30, 2015

5 Best Promising Stocks To Buy For 2015

5 Best Promising Stocks To Buy For 2015: Cubic Corp (CUB)

Cubic Corporation (Cubic), incorporated on December 13, 1984, is an international provider of systems and solutions that address the mass transit and global defense markets. The Company operates in three segments: Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS), Mission Support Services (MSS) and Cubic Defense Systems (CDS). As of the September 30, 2012, the Company's CTS business accounted for approximately 37%; MSS and CDS accounted for approximately 36% and 27% of its net sales respectively. CTS specialize in the design, development, production, installation, maintenance and operation of automated fare payment and revenue management infrastructure and technologies for transit operators. As part of its turnkey solutions, CTS also provides these customers with a suite of business process outsourcing (BPO) services and expertise, such as card and payment media management, central systems and application support, retail network management, passenger call centers and financial clearing and settlement support. In March 2014, the Company acquired Intific Inc.

Mission Support Services

MSS is a provider of live, virtual and constructive training services to all four branches of the United States military, including the special operations communities, as well as to allied nations. In addition, MSS offers a range of national security solutions to the intelligence community. CDS is a provider of air and ground combat training systems for the United States and allied nations and a key supplier of secure communications solutions, including asset tracking and cyber products and intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) data links. Services provided include live, virtual and constructive training, real-world mission rehearsal exercises, professional military education, intelligence support, information technology, information assuranc! e and related cyber support, development of military doctrine, consequence management, infrastruct ure protection and force protection, as well as support to f! ield operations, force deployment and redeployment and logistics.

Cubic Transportation Systems

CDS focuses on two primary lines of business: training systems and secure communications. CTS is a systems integrator that develops and provides fare collection infrastructure, services and technology for public transport authorities and operators worldwide. The Company offers fare collection devices, software, systems and multiagency, multimodal integration technologies, as well as a suite of operational services. As of September 30, 2012, the Company installed over 90,000 devices and deployed several central systems which in total process approximately 10 billion fare-related transactions per year for approximately seven billion transit passengers.

As of September 30, 2012, the Company had 400 projects in 40 markets on five continents. The Company has implements and, in many cases, operates automated fare payment and collection systems for s ome of the mass transit systems, such as London, the San Francisco Bay Area and the Los Angeles region. It offers a range of services for transit authorities in transit markets worldwide, including computer hosting services, call center and Web services, payment media issuance and distribution services, retail point of sale network management, payment processing, financial clearing and settlement, software application support and outsourced asset operations and maintenance. The Company provides its services in regions, including London, Sydney, Brisbane, Sweden, Washington district of Columbia, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Atlanta. CTS operate full service operation centers in North America, Europe and Australia. As of September 30, 2012, the Company was designing and building new systems in Chicago, Sydney and Vancouver.

Mission Support Services

MSS pr! ovides services within the scope of small-to large-scale military training exercises, including live, virtual and constructive training exercises and suppor! t. Traini! ng services include full life-cycle support from planning through after action reviews as well as the associated support, such as operational, technical and logistical support. In addition, the segment provides a broad range of national security solutions, including subject matter and operational expertise, advanced tactical training and cyber security services, to the intelligence, special operations, law enforcement and homeland security communities. Customers include all branches of the United States military, non-military agencies and allied nations under arrangements with the United States government. MSS is the prime contractor at more than 40 military training and support facilities and supports more than 200,000 exercises and training events per year.

The Company provides training and rehearsals for both small and large scale combat operations, training and preparation of military advisor teams, mobilization and demobilization of forces prior to and foll owing deployment, combat and material development, military staff augmentation, information technology and information assurance, logistics and maintenance support for fielded and deployed systems, support to national security and special operations activities; peacekeeping; consequence management and humanitarian assistance operations worldwide. It plans, prepares, executes and documents realistic and focused mission rehearsal exercises (using both live and computer-based exercises) as final preparation of forces prior to deployment. In addition, it provides consultation and advisory services to the governments and militaries of allied nations.

The Company's contracts include providing mission support services to three of the United States Army's CTC's: JRTC as prime contractor and the national training center (NTC) and Mission command training p! rogram (M! CTP) as a principal subcontractor. These services include planning, executing and documenting realistic an d stressful exercises and mission rehearsals that increase t! he readin! ess of both active and reserve the United States conventional and special operations forces by placing them in situations as close to actual combat as possible.

MSS is a principal member of the contractor team, to the United States armed services, that supports and helps manage and execute all aspects of the operations of the Joint Coalition Warfare Center (JCWC), including support to worldwide joint exercises and the development and fielding of the Joint National Training Capability (JNTC). Under the Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) Training Systems Support (MTSS) contract, it provides training and exercise support to the United States Marine Corps forces worldwide, including real-world mission rehearsals. It planned and executed virtually all Marine Corps simulation-based exercises worldwide under the original MAGTF Staff Training Program (MSTP) and its successor, the MTSS, directly preparing Marines for combat operations.

It provides training and professional military education support to the United States Army's Quartermaster Center and School, the Signal School and to the Transportation School. It also provides contractor maintenance and instructional support necessary to operate and maintain a wide variety of flight simulation and training systems and other facilities worldwide, for United States and allied forces under multiple long-term contracts, including direct support to USMC aircrew training systems worldwide. In addition, it provides a range of operational support to the United States Navy for Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) and counter-mine operations and training. It provides research, development and technical engineering (RDTE) support to the United States Air Force Research Laboratories (AFRL) for assistance in the identification and application of current, new and emerging te! chnologie! s to proof-of-principle evaluations of advanced operational concepts. Its services, products and capabilities includ e development and deployment of curriculum and related cours! eware, co! mputer-based training, knowledge management and distribution, advanced distance learning (e-learning), serious military games for training, and other advanced education programs for United States and allied forces.

Cubic Defense Systems

CDS is focused on two primary lines of business: training systems and secure communications. This segment is primarily a diversified supplier of live and virtual military training systems and secure communications products to the DoD and more than 35 allied nations. The Company designs and manufactures air and ground combat training systems for fighter aircraft, armored vehicles and infantry, as well as weapons effects simulations, laser-based tactical and communication systems. The Company also designs and manufactures secure communications products focused on intelligence, surveillance, asset tracking and search and rescue.

The segment designs, manufactures and fields a range of technologies that are c ritical to combat readiness, supply chain logistics and national security for the United States and allied nations. Its primary lines of business include air combat training ranges and after action review software, ground combat training systems, including a full range of laser engagement simulation systems, virtual small arms training systems, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) data links, personnel locator systems, multi-band communication tracking devices and cross domain appliances for cyber security. It also provides ongoing support services for systems it has built for several of its international customers.

Its training systems business designs and manufactures of instrumented training systems and products for militaries of allied nations. It designs and manufactures air and ground combat training systems ! for fight! er aircraft, armored vehicles and infantry, as well as weapons effects simulations, laser-based tactical and communication sys tems. These systems collect and record simulated weapons eng! agements,! tactical actions and event data to evaluate combat effectiveness and lessons learned and provide a basis to develop after action reviews. It also designs and manufactures secure communications products focused on intelligence, surveillance, asset tracking and search and rescue.

Its training business is organized into air combat, ground combat and virtual training divisions. Ground combat training uses systems analogous to air ranges for ground force training. The systems are generally known as tactical engagement simulation systems or multiple integrated laser engagement system (MILES). It supplies MILES equipment as part of CTC contracts. Its Virtual Training product line provides virtual training systems for various applications, employing actual or realistic weapons and systems together with visual imagery to simulate battlefield environments. Cubic also provides maintenance trainers for combat systems and vehicles, as well as operational trainers for missil es, armored vehicles and naval applications.

Its communications business is a supplier of secure data links, radio frequency amplifiers, direction finding systems, remote video terminals, and search and rescue avionics for the United States military, government agencies, and allied nations. Personnel Locator System (PLS) is standard equipment on United States aircraft with a search and rescue mission. PLS is designed to interface with all modern search and rescue system standards. It also supplies amplifiers and direction finding systems to prime contractors and end users for both domestic and international applications. These include systems used by the Canadian Coast Guard, the United States Navy, the United States Air Force and the French Army.

The Company competes with Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman,! General ! Dynamics, Boeing, L3 Communications and SAIC.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Lee Jackson]
Cubic Corp. (NYSE: CUB) makes the list at J.P. Morgan. It has three major business segments. Cubic Transportation Systems is a leading integrator of payment and information technology and services for intelligent travel solutions. Cubic Defense Systems is a leading provider of realistic combat training systems and secure communications. Mission Support Services is a leading provider of training, operations, maintenance, technical and other support services for the United States and allied nations. Investors are paid a small 0.5% dividend. The J.P. Morgan price target is $57. The Thomson/First Call estimate is $56.20. The stock closed Tuesday at $52.51.
[By Rich Smith]
The Department of Defense awarded San Diego-based Cubic Corporation (NYSE: CUB ) a $19.9 million contract modification Friday, amending a previously awarded firm-fixed-price, foreign-military-sales contract in support of the Israeli military.
[By Blake Bos]
In the following video, Fool consumer-goods/industrials analyst Blake Bos breaks down Aviation Week's top aerospace and defense picks by annual revenue. His discussion includes Cubic (NYSE: CUB ) , Rockwell Automation (NYSE: ROK ) , Exelis (NYSE: XLS ) , Boeing (NYSE: BA ) , and Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT ) .

source from Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/5-best-promising-stocks-to-buy-for-2015-3.html

Thursday, January 29, 2015

Year-End Stock Market Rally May Eat Into 2014 Expected Gains

As the stock market is sitting on top of gains better than any year since 1997, and as December keeps looking up and up, strategists remain optimistic for 2014. Still, a serious question needs to be addressed here going into year-end. Have the stock market gains in November and December already eaten up much of the gains that investors were hoping for in January?

24/7 Wall St. is first taking a look at the gains seen year to date, since the start of December and since the start of November. We then took a look at major Wall Street strategist calls to see what upside lies ahead in 2014. The good news is that there is still some perceived upside. The bad news is that the gains in December and November may be chewing up much of that expected upside. Another concern is that some strategists are calling for pullbacks in 2014.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is up almost 26% so far in 2013, and the S&P 500 Index is up even more with gains of just over 29%. The Nasdaq Composite Index is up a whopping 38% so far in 2014.

The DJIA closed up 122 points on Thursday at 16,479.88, its highest close ever. That makes for a 2.4% gain for the month and a 5.5% gain since the start of November. As the S&P 500 closed up more than eight points higher at 1,842.02 on Thursday, that was also a record close. Its gain is 2% in December, and it is up about 4.9% since the start of November.

The Nasdaq Composite Index closed up more than 11 points at 4,167.18 on Thursday. This makes a gain of 2.6% so far in December and a gain of more than 6.3% since the start of November.

Keep in mind that the 10-year Treasury yield just hit the 3% mark again, making for the highest Treasury yields since the summer of 2011. Investors may want to be more ambitious on pullbacks rather than chasing stocks endlessly.

So, what about those Wall Street bulls and bears? Here are some of the bullish strategist calls for the S&P 500 in 2014:

J.P. Morgan has set a target of 2,075 as one of the top bulls on Wall Street.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch has set a target of 2,000.

Deutsche Bank is at 1,850 for 2014 and 2,000 for 2015, with a chance of a pullback between now and then.

Goldman Sachs has set a target of 1,900 for 2014, but also warned of a possible 10% correction between now and then.

Others at 1,900 on the S&P 500 were Barclays and Citigroup, with BlackRock at 1,920.

The team at Ned Davis Research is calling for a 20% market correction at some point soon. The good news is that this same team expects a snapback rally from there from a great buying opportunity.

The year 2013 has been an undeniably great one for stocks. Perhaps the biggest issue to consider going into January is that the gains in December and November may have eaten into much of the upside that could have come in 2014.

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Best Healthcare Technology Companies To Watch For 2015

Best Healthcare Technology Companies To Watch For 2015: Century Aluminum Company(CENX)

Century Aluminum Company, through its subsidiaries, produces primary aluminum in the United States, China, and Iceland. The company offers high purity primary aluminum, molten aluminum, standard-grade ingots, extrusion billets, and other value-added primary aluminum products. It also holds a 40% joint venture interest in a carbon anode and cathode facility located in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of south China. The company was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Monterey, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Jake Mann]
I continue to like materials like Alcoa Inc (NYSE: AA), Century Aluminum Co (NASDAQ: CENX) and United States Steel Corporation (NYSE: X), and will look for beaten down banks like Citigroup Inc (NYSE: C) and Bank of America Corp (NYSE: BAC) to move up. Finally large cap old school tech companies like Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) should continue to perform well.

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.seekpennystocks.com/best-healthcare-technology-companies-to-watch-for-2015-3.html

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Top China Stocks To Buy For 2015

Top China Stocks To Buy For 2015: Spreadtrum Communications Inc.(SPRD)

Spreadtrum Communications, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as a fabless semiconductor company that designs, develops, and markets baseband processor and RF transceiver solutions for wireless communications and mobile television markets. It offers a portfolio of integrated baseband processor solutions that support a range of wireless communications standards, including global system for mobile communication (GSM), general packet radio service (GPRS), enhanced data rates for GSM evolution (EDGE), time division synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA), and high speed packet access (HSPA), as well as offer an array of multimedia capabilities, such as MP3 digital audio playback, touch screen, JAVA acceleration, digital camera support, motion JPEG, MPEG4, AVS and H.264 digital video playback, and 64-channel polyphonic ringtone playback. The company also provides single-chip CMOS multi-mode RF transceivers that perform across various standards covering GSM/GP RS, EDGE, wideband code division multiple access, TD-SCDMA, and high speed uplink/downlink packet access. In addition, it designs, develops, and markets a CMMB-based channel demodulator and audio/video decoder processor solution for the mobile television market. The company sells its products directly, as well as through distributors to brand manufacturers, independent design houses, and original design manufacturers primarily in China, Hong Kong, and Macau. Spreadtrum Communications, Inc. was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Shanghai, the People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Brian Pacampara]
What: Shares of smartphone chip maker Spreadtrum Communications (NASDAQ: SPRD ) popped 13% today after Chinese state-owned company Tsinghua Unigroup agreed to acquire it for about $1.8 billion.
[By Dan Radovsky]
Chinese semiconductor maker Spreadtrum (NASDAQ: SPRD ! ) has received a buyout offer valued at up to $1.5 billion from Tsinghua Unigroup, a subsidiary of Chinese government-owned Tsinghua Holdings, Spreadtrum announced today.
[By FinanceGuru]
The Chinese market no doubt is huge, but Skyworks is expected to face competition from Spreadtrum Communications (SPRD), which supplies TD-SCDMA, the 3G standard used by China Mobile. Currently, Spreadtrum is a primary supplier to local Chinese firms and analysts suggest that it supplies to two of the biggest Chinese smartphone companies, Huawei and ZTE, which strengthens its position.
[By Brian Pacampara]
What: Shares of Chinese smartphone chip maker Spreadtrum Communications (NASDAQ: SPRD ) surged 17% today after Tsinghua University, through its subsidiary Tsinghua Unigroup, offered to acquire it for $1.4 billion.

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.seekpennystocks.com/top-china-stocks-to-buy-for-2015.html

Monday, January 26, 2015

4 Stocks in Breakout Territory With Big Volume

DELAFIELD, Wis. (Stockpickr) -- Professional traders running mutual funds and hedge funds don't just look at a stock's price moves; they also track big changes in volume activity. Often when above-average volume moves into an equity, it precedes a large spike in volatility.

>>5 Stocks Poised for Breakouts

Major moves in volume can signal unusual activity, such as insider buying or selling -- or buying or selling by "superinvestors."

Unusual volume can also be a major signal that hedge funds and momentum traders are piling into a stock ahead of a catalyst. These types of traders like to get in well before a large spike, so it's always a smart move to monitor unusual volume. That said, remember to combine trend and price action with unusual volume. Put them all together to help you decipher the next big trend for any stock.

>>5 Stocks Under $10 Set to Soar

With that in mind, let's take a look at several stocks rising on unusual volume today.

Ducommun

Ducommun (DCO) provides engineering and manufacturing services mainly to the aerospace and defense industry through a wide spectrum of electronic and structural applications. This stock closed up 3.9% at $28.68 in Monday's trading session.

Monday's Volume: 229,000

Three-Month Average Volume: 86,853

Volume % Change: 174%

>>5 Stocks With Big Insider Buying

From a technical perspective, DCO jumped higher here right above its 50-day moving average of $26.30 with above-average volume. This stock has been trending sideways inside of a consolidation pattern for the last two months, with shares moving between $25.91 on the downside and $29.37 on the upside. Shares of DCO are now quickly moving within range of triggering a big breakout trade above the upper-end of its recent sideways trading chart pattern. That breakout will hit if DCO manages to take out Monday's high of $29.31 and then once it clears its 52-week high at $29.37 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in DCO as long as it's trending above Monday's low of $27.50 or above its 50-day at $26.30 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that this near or above 86,853 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then DCO will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that breakout are $33 to $35.

Top Food Stocks To Buy Right Now

KapStone Paper and Packaging

KapStone Paper and Packaging (KS) produces and sells a variety of unbleached kraft paper, linerboard, folding carton board, saturating kraft, inflatable dunnage bags and dimensional lumber. This stock closed up 1.3% at $42.80 in Monday's trading session.

Monday's Volume: 812,000

Three-Month Average Volume: 349,045

Volume % Change: 136%

>>5 Bargain Bin Stocks to Buy This Fall

From a technical perspective, KS spiked modestly higher here right above some near-term support at $40 with above-average volume. This move is quickly pushing shares of KS within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade. That trade will hit if KS manages to take out some near-term overhead resistance levels at its 50-day moving average of $43.73 to more resistance at $44.16 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in KS as long as it's trending above some near-term support at $40 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that's near or above 349,045 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then KS will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $46 to its 52-week high at $50.10.

Graco

Graco (GGG) designs, manufactures and sells equipment that pumps, meters, mixes, dispenses and sprays a wide variety of fluids and semi-solids. This stock closed up 0.9% at $74.06 in Monday's trading session.

Monday's Volume: 281,000

Three-Month Average Volume: 180,217

Volume % Change: 75%

>>5 Big Trades to Take Right Now

From a technical perspective, GGG rose modestly higher here right above its 50-day moving average of $71.66 with above-average volume. This move is quickly pushing shares of GGG within range of triggering a big breakout trade. That trade will hit if GGG manages to take out some near-term overhead resistance levels at $74.57 to its 52-week high at $74.70 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in GGG as long as it's trending above its 50-day at $71.66 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that's near or above 180,217 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then GGG will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that breakout are $80 to $83.

Ceco Environment

Ceco Environment (CECE) provides an array of solutions for industrial ventilation and air quality problems through dust, mist and fume control systems and particle and chemical technologies to industrial and commercial customers. This stock closed up 6.8% to $14.08 in Monday's trading session.

Monday's Volume: 297,000

Three-Month Average Volume: 107,248

Volume % Change: 165%

From a technical perspective, CECE skyrocketed higher here right off its 50-day moving average of $13.03 with strong upside volume. This move pushed shares of CECE into breakout territory, since it took out some near-term overhead resistance levels at $13.45 to $13.73. Shares of CECE are now moving within range of triggering another big breakout trade. That trade will hit if CECE manages to clear some key resistance levels at $14.21 to its 52-week high at $14.32 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in CECE as long as it's trending above its 50-day at $13.03 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 107,248 shares. If we get that breakout soon, then CECE will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that move are $17 to $20.

To see more stocks rising on unusual volume, check out the Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume portfolio on Stockpickr.

-- Written by Roberto Pedone in Delafield, Wis.

5 Stocks Rising on Big Volume

>>5 Stocks Poised for Breakouts

Major moves in volume can signal unusual activity, such as insider buying or selling -- or buying or selling by "superinvestors."

>>5 Stocks Under $10 Set to Soar

With that in mind, let's take a look at several stocks rising on unusual volume today.

Rockwell Medical

Rockwell Medical (RMTI) is a biopharmaceutical company targeting end-stage renal disease and chronic kidney disease with innovative products and services for the treatment of iron deficiency, secondary hyperparathyroidism and hemodialysis. This stock closed up 5.8% at $11.40 in Monday's trading session.

Monday's Volume: 11.19 million

Three-Month Average Volume: 2.22 million

Volume % Change: 415%

>>5 Stocks With Big Insider Buying

From a technical perspective, RMTI ripped higher here and entered new 52-week-high territory with heavy upside volume. Shares of RMTI flirted with some key overhead resistance on Monday at $11.80, before closing below that level at $11.40.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in RMTI as long as it's trending above $10.50 or $10 and then once it sustains a move or close above Monday's intraday high of $12.25 with volume that hits near or above 2.22 million shares. If we get that move soon, then RMTI will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that move are its next major overhead resistance levels at $13 to $15, or even $16.

American Pacific

American Pacific (APFC) is a custom manufacturer of fine chemicals, specialty chemicals and propulsion products. This stock closed up 4.2% at $54.76 in Monday's trading session.

Monday's Volume: 197,000

Three-Month Average Volume: 80,320

Volume % Change: 189%

>>5 Bargain Bin Stocks to Buy This Fall

From a technical perspective, APFC spiked higher here right above some near-term support at $51 and into new 52-week-high territory with above-average volume. This move pushed shares of APFC into breakout territory, since the stock took out its former 52-week high at $54.27.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in APFC as long as it's trending above Monday's low of $52 or above some more key support at $51 and then once it sustains a move or close above its new 52-week high at $54.79 with volume that hits near or above 80,320 shares. If we get that move soon, then APFC will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that move are $60 to $62.

NewLink Genetics

NewLink Genetics (NLNK) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing novel immunotherapeutic products to improve cancer treatment options for patients and physicians. This stock closed up 7.2% at $18.78 in Monday's trading session.

Monday's Volume: 337,000

Three-Month Average Volume: 159,588

Volume % Change: 145%

>>5 Big Trades to Take Right Now

From a technical perspective, NLNK skyrocketed higher here right off its 50-day moving average of $17.60 with above-average volume. This move pushed shares of NLNK into breakout territory, since the stock took out some near-term overhead resistance at $18.02. Shares of NLNK are now quickly moving within range of triggering another big breakout trade. That trade will hit if NLNK manages to take out some near-term overhead resistance levels at $20 to $21 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in NLNK as long as it's trending above that first breakout level at $18 or above its 50-day at $17.60 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 159,588 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then NLNK will set up to re-test or possibly take out its 52-week high at $23.67.

Blyth

Blyth (BTH) designs and markets home fragrance products and decorative accessories, as well as weight management products, nutritional supplements and energy drinks. This stock closed up 3.2% at $13.83 in Monday's trading session.

Monday's Volume: 673,000

Three-Month Average Volume: 326,648

Volume % Change: 135%

From a technical perspective, BTH jumped higher here right off some near-term support at $13 with heavy upside volume. This stock has been uptrending strong for the last month, with shares soaring higher from its low of $8.59 to its recent high of $14.49. During that uptrend, shares of BTH have been making mostly higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move has now pushed shares of BTH within range of triggering a major breakout trade. That trade will hit if BTH manages to take out some near-term overhead resistance levels at $14.08 to $14.49 and then once it takes out some past resistance levels at $15.27 to $15.57 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in BTH as long as it's trending above some key near-term support levels at $13 or at $12 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that's near or above 326,648 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then BTH will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $17 to $20.

Anacor Pharmaceuticals

Anacor Pharmaceuticals (ANAC) is engaged in the discovery, development and commercialization of novel small molecule therapeutics derived from its novel boron chemistry platform. This stock closed up 4.4% at $10.62 in Monday's trading session.

Monday's Volume: 583,000

Three-Month Average Volume: 336,216

Volume % Change: 125%

From a technical perspective, ANAC soared higher here right above some near-term support at $9.84 with strong upside volume. This stock has been trending sideways inside of a consolidation pattern for the last month and change, with shares moving between $9.72 on the downside and $10.99 on the upside. Shares of ANAC are now quickly moving within range of triggering a big breakout trade above the upper-end of its recent sideways trading chart pattern. That breakout will hit if ANAC manages to take out Monday's high of $10.96 to more resistance at $10.99 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in ANAC as long as it's trending above support at $9.84 or above its 50-day at $9.43 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that's near or above 336,216 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then ANAC will set up to re-test or possibly take out its 52-week high at $11.76. Any high-volume move above $11.76 will then give ANAC a chance to tag $13.

To see more stocks rising on unusual volume, check out the Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume portfolio on Stockpickr.

-- Written by Roberto Pedone in Delafield, Wis.

Sunday, January 25, 2015

Pier 1 Imports Slides on Disappointing Earnings

New York (TheStreet) -- Pier 1 Imports (PIR) shares slid more than 7% in premarket trading Thursday after the home furnishings and decor company posted disappointing earnings that it attributed to lower-than-expected store traffic in the quarter.

Pier 1 reported net income dropped 32% in the fiscal second quarter to $17.8 million, or 17 cents a share. Adjusted net income totaled $20.7 million, or 19 cents a share. The Fort Worth, Texas-based company's second quarter ended on Aug. 31.

Wall Street was looking for Pier 1 to post earnings of 21 cents a share in the quarter.

Shares were falling 7.4% to $21.85 before the market opened.

Sales improved in the quarter, up 7.6% to $395.6 million, even if they did come in shy of analysts' forecasts of $405 million. Comparable-store sales increased 3.5% during the second quarter, but were down from last year's comparable-store sales gain of 6.7%.

"For each of the last 15 quarters we've prided ourselves on our ability to deliver consistent short-term results while building out our '1 Pier 1' omni-channel strategy," Alex W. Smith, Pier I Imports' president and CEO, said in an earnings statement. "During the second quarter, the efforts focused around our short- and long-term goals fell slightly out of balance. In particular, our marketing initiatives did not include appropriate messaging around clearance and promotional activity in our stores, or customer acquisition generally, which contributed to lower than expected store traffic. We should also have done a better job of flowing new product to the stores and reflecting those items in the floor set."

As a percentage of sales, gross profit was 40.8% compared with 41.2% in the second quarter of fiscal 2013.

Second-quarter selling, general and administrative expenses were $122.6 million, or 31% of sales, compared with $112 million, or 30.5% of sales, in the second quarter last year.

The company has been focused on boosting its online sales. Pier 1 said in August the online business "achieved a new high water mark" of 5% of total sales, coinciding with the first anniversary of its e-commerce enabled Web site.

Still, Pier 1 lowered its full-year guidance to a range of $1.23 to $1.29 a share, representing year-over-year growth of 5% to 10%, compared to prior guidance of $1.27 to $1.32 a share.

"We've entered the third quarter with a very clean inventory position and a terrific assortment of fall product newly set in the stores. Customers are responding favorably to both regular and seasonal merchandise," Smith said. "We're confident in our plans for the holiday season, including a stepped up marketing campaign which will see our return to advertising on network TV. We believe the business is well-positioned for the second half of the year and expect to return to our historical levels of quarterly sales and profit growth."

As of Aug. 31, the company's cash and cash equivalents totaled $124.9 million. Inventory totaled $444.7 million, an increase of 5.7% from a year earlier and in line with management's expectations, the retailer said.

-- Written by Laurie Kulikowski in New York.

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Top 5 Dow Dividend Stocks To Invest In Right Now

In what has been an extremely iffy year for the E&P sector, Noble Energy (NYSE:NBL) is an outlier in many respects. Not only has the stock done quite well over the past year, but that's even with a gas-heavy reserve base and exposure to the Gulf of Mexico ��two things that the market has really soured on in general.

Clearly this is a situation where digging a little deeper is warranted. Noble Energy is doing so well in part because of its very successful drilling program in northern Colorado, it's large gas discoveries off the coast of Israel, and a very compelling outlook for debt-adjusted production growth over the next three to five years. Honestly, the question today doesn't seem to be so much about whether Noble is a top-notch emerging mid-tier energy company, but rather what to pay for all of that.

SEE: Oil And Gas Industry Primer

Oil And Gas, In The Right Places
Noble is still on the smaller side of the ��arge independent E&P��space, with its 1.2 billion (oil-equivalent) barrels of reserves putting it well behind the likes of Apache (NYSE:APA), Chesapeake (NYSE:CHK), Anadarko (NYSE:APC), and EOG (NYSE:EOG). What's more, it's a gassy company with a lot of development work still to do ��about 70% of the booked reserves are natural gas and only about 40% are developed.

Top 5 Sliver Companies To Watch In Right Now: Forum Energy Technologies Inc (FET)

Forum Energy Technologies, Inc. incorporated on May 10, 2005, is an oilfield products company, serving the subsea, drilling, completion, production and infrastructure sectors of the oil and natural gas industry. The Company designs and manufactures products, and engage in aftermarket services, parts supply and related services that complement its product offering. It operates in two segments: Drilling and Subsea Segment and Production and Infrastructure Segment. In December 2012, the Company acquired Merrimac Manufacturing, Inc. (Merrimac). In May 2013, the Company acquired Blohm + Voss Oil Tools from STAR Capital Partners Limited. In July 2013, Forum Energy Technologies Inc acquired Moffat 2000 Ltd.

Drilling and Subsea Segment

The Company designs and manufactures products and provides related services to the drilling, well construction, completion, intervention and subsea construction and services markets. Through this segment, it offers Subsea Technologies, including robotic vehicles and other capital equipment, specialty components and tooling, a range of complementary subsea technical services and rental items, and applied products for subsea pipelines. It offers Drilling Technologies which include capital equipment and a range of products consumed in the drilling and well intervention process. It offers Downhole Technologies, including cementing and casing tools, completion products, and a range of downhole protection solutions.

The Company designs and manufactures subsea capital equipment; specialty components and tooling; and applied products for subsea pipelines; and it also provides a suite of complementary subsea technical services and rental items. It has a core focus on the design and manufacture of unmanned submarines, remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), as well as other specialty subsea vehicles. The Company�� brands include its Perry and Sub-Atlantic vehicle brands. Its related technical services complement its vehicle offering by providing the m! arket with a selection of critical product solutions and rental items that enhance its customers��ability to operate in harsh subsea environments. The market for subsea ROVs can be segmented into three classes of vehicles based on size and category of operations: large work-class vehicles for subsea construction activities; drilling-class vehicles for use around an offshore rig, and observation-class vehicles for inspection and light manipulation. The Company is a provider of work-class and observation-class vehicles.

The Company manufactures ROV components, such as a range of Sub-Atlantic branded ROV thrusters. It designs and manufactures thrusters for incorporation into its own vehicles, as well for sale to other ROV manufacturers. It also designs and manufactures a tether management system (TMS). It also provides a suite of subsea tooling, both industry standard and custom designed for subsea applications. Industry standard tooling includes hot stabs, cable cutters, torque tools and indicators.

The vehicle-related subsea products, its Offshore Joint Services (OJS) brand is a provider of applied protective coatings on rigid subsea pipeline field joints, spools, and structures. Its VisualSoft product line provides another related technical product that reinforces in subsea vehicles and products. It sells or rents VisualWorks and VisualDVR Digital Video Systems that provide a solution for digital video capture, playback, processing and reporting of pipeline, structural or other inspection survey data. These products are often used in conjunction with the operation of inspection class ROVs or diving personnel when conducting survey work.

Geoscience Earth and Marine Science (GEMS) is its geophysical and geotechnical engineering group that provides consulting services to the oil and gas, and marine industries. It provides an interpretation service based on the analysis of third party subsea data provided by clients. The business has broadened into managing every p! hase of p! roject development, including scope of work, liaising with data acquirers, interpretation and analysis. Its primary customer base consists of oil and gas operator producers.

The Company provides both drilling consumables and capital equipment, including powered and manual tubular handling equipment, specialized torque equipment, customized offline crane systems, drilling data acquisition management systems, pumps, valves, manifolds, drilling fluid-end components, pressure control equipment for both coiled tubing and wireline well intervention operations and a broad line of items consumed in the drilling process. The Company has a core focus on products that enhance its customers��handling of tubulars on the drilling rig.

The Company designs and manufactures specialized torque equipment and related control systems for tubular connections, including high torque stroking, or bucking, units, fully rotational torque units, portable torque units for field deployment. In addition the Company designs and manufactures a range of rig-based offline activity cranes, multi-purpose cranes and personnel transfer solutions.

The Company�� pressure control products used for well intervention operations are sold directly to oilfield service companies and equipment rental companies. These products include both coiled tubing and wireline blowout preventers and their accessories. It also conduct aftermarket refurbishment and recertification services for pressure control equipment. The Company also designs and manufactures a range of consumable parts for pumps on drilling rigs, well servicing rigs, pressure pumping units, and hydraulic fracturing systems, along with top drive parts. The Company also manufacture data acquisition products that include integrated drill floor instrumentation and monitoring systems. These systems provide real-time monitoring and logging of drilling data to drilling contractors and oil and gas producers on the rig and at remote locations.

! The Compa! ny manufacture a broad line of downhole products that are consumed during the well construction, completion and production enhancement process. Through its Davis-Lynch downhole well construction and completion tools product line, it designs and manufactures products used in the construction of oil and gas wells. It designs and manufactures a range of centralizers, float equipment, stage cementing tools, inflatable packers, flotation collars, cementing plugs, fill and circulation tools for running casing, casing hangers and surge reduction equipment.

The Company manufactures a line of downhole completion tools, including composite plugs and wireline flow-control products. Its composite plugs are primarily used for zonal isolation during multi-stage hydraulic fracturing in horizontal and vertical wells. It offers l range of downhole protection solutions.

Production and Infrastructure Segment

The Company designs and manufactures products and provide related equipment and services to the well stimulation, completion, production and infrastructure markets. Through this segment, the Company suppllies Flow Equipment, including well stimulation consumable products and related recertification and refurbishment services; Production Equipment, including well site production equipment, process equipment and specialty pipeline construction equipment; and Valve Solutions, which includes a range of industrial and process valves.

The Company provides a range of high pressure flow equipment used by well stimulation, or pressure pumping, companies during the stimulation, intervention and flowback process. It focuses on consumable products that experience high rates of wear and replacement. The Company designs and manufactures pressure control plug, choke and relief valves, swivel joints, pup joints and integral fittings, manifolds and manifold trailers, as well as triplex and quintuplex fluid-end assemblies.

The Company surface Production Equipment product line p! rovides e! ngineered process systems and field services for capital equipment used at the wellsite, for production processing, and at the refinery. It serves the upstream, midstream and downstream segments in oil and gas production equipment and services. The Company engineers fabricates and installs tanks, separators, packaged production systems and American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and American Petroleum Institute (API) coded and non-coded pressure vessels, skidded vessels with gas measurement, modular process plants, header and manifold skids, process and flow control equipment and separators to help clean and process oil or gas as it travels from the wellhead and along the transmission line to the refinery.

The Company design, manufacture and provide a wide range of industrial valves that principally serve the upstream, midstream and downstream markets of the oil and gas industry. In addition its valve solutions serve general industrial, power and process industry customers as well as the mining industry. It also provides ball, gate, globe, check and butterfly valves across a range of sizes and applications.

The Company competes with Cameron International Corporation and FMC Technologies, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Seth Jayson]
Calling all cash flows
When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Forum Energy Technologies (NYSE: FET ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Top 5 Dow Dividend Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Standard Parking Corporation(STAN)

Standard Parking Corporation provides parking management, ground transportation, and other ancillary services to commercial, institutional, and municipal clients in the United States and Canada. Its services include collection and deposit of parking revenues; daily housekeeping; restriping of the parking stalls; maintenance of parking equipment, such as ticket dispensing machines, parking gate arms, and fee computers; painting of walkways, curbs, ceilings, walls, and other facility surfaces; and snow removal from sidewalks and driveways. The company also provides shuttle bus vehicles and drivers to operate them in support of on-airport car rental operations, as well as private off-airport parking locations; and ancillary ground transportation services at airports, such as taxi and livery dispatch, concierge-type ground transportation information, and support services for arriving passengers. In addition, it offers shuttle bus services, on-street parking meter collection, a nd other parking enforcement services for municipalities; and valet parking and shuttle bus services for the medical center and hospital markets. The company serves private and public owners, municipalities, managers and developers of office buildings, residential properties, commercial properties, shopping centers and other retail properties, sports and special event complexes, hotels, and hospitals and medical centers. As of December 31, 2011, it managed approximately 2,200 parking facility locations containing approximately 1.2 million parking spaces in approximately 345 cities; operated 147 parking-related service centers serving 61 airports; and a fleet of approximately 550 shuttle buses. The company was founded in 1929 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Namitha Jagadeesh]
A gauge of banking shares in the FTSE 350 Index reversed earlier gains, declining 0.5 percent. Standard Chartered Plc (STAN) fell 1.8 percent to 1,470 pence and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc lost 2.6 percent to 276.7 pence.
[By Namitha Jagadeesh]
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.

Top 5 Dow Dividend Stocks To Invest In Right Now: BR Properties SA (BRPR3)

BR Properties SA is a Brazil-based company engaged in the real estate sector. The Company operates, along with its subsidiaries, in the acquisition, management, leasing and sale of commercial properties in Brazil, mainly office buildings, retail stores and warehouses. The Company also develops and contracts from third parties and the construction of new properties. The Company�� subsidiaries include BRPR I Empreendimentos e Participacoes Ltda, BRPR II Empreendimentos e Participacoes Ltda, BRPR III Empreendimentos e Participacoes Ltda, BRPR IV Empreendimentos e Participacoes Ltda, BRPR V Empreendimentos e Participacoes Ltda, BRPR VII Empreendimentos e Participacoes Ltda and BRPR VIII Empreendimentos e Participacoes Ltda, among others. Advisors' Opinion:

[By Ney Hayashi]
The Ibovespa rose for the first time in five sessions, with developer BR Properties SA (BRPR3) leading gains, amid speculation the Brazilian benchmark�� longest losing streak in six weeks may have been excessive.

Top 5 Dow Dividend Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Portlogic Systems Inc (PGSY)

Portlogic Systems Inc. (Portologic), incorporated on June 22, 2004, is a development-stage company. The Company is engaged in developing and licensing portal software products and related services. The Company operates six divisions, including m2Meet, m2Bank (Mobile to Bank), m2Market, m2Ticket, m2Kiosk and m2Workflow. The Company has developed a product that it licensed to its customers to enable them to operate their own online social networking portal without requiring any technical programming or Website design skills. The Company licenses portal software products and provide custom software programming services to customers who license its products. The Company�� portal software products are designed to enable customers to administer a ��ortal��that can be accessed online by other users. Each type of portal that it licenses to customers has a standard pre-programmed functional framework along with content and appearance customized according to the customer�� particular requirements. The Company�� customers retain ownership rights over any content that they provide to customize their portal. On June 18, 2012, Portlogic incorporated a wholly owned subsidiary, VOIP 1, Inc.

The Company hosts the portal software licensed to its customers on the Company�� own servers. The Company�� portal software products include an online administration interface which its customers can use to manage the functionality, appearance, and content of their portal, such as what users are able to see and do when they visit the portal. As a result, customers that license its software can operate their online portal using only a personal computer and Internet connection. They do not need to have any programming knowledge, additional software, hosting capabilities, or additional hardware.

The Company also offers, in exchange for additional licensing fees, plug-in products that can provide additional functions to the basic portal software licensed by the Company�� customers. The Company eithe! r owns the plug-ins or licenses them from third parties. The Company offers one fully developed portal software product. This product is an online social networking system marketed to entrepreneurs who wish to operate their own online social networking or dating business. The Company markets this product through one of its Websites, at www.internetdatingsoftware.com.

The m2Meet is a community networking software solution, being developed from its Web based source code. m2Bank is a financial transactions system that facilitates bill payments, money transfers, and account management. The m2Market is a mobile marketing solutions, including a Bluetooth push technology that is used to deliver marketing materials to mobile phones. The m2Ticket is a mobile ticketing sales engine, which manages the sale and delivery of tickets through mobile phones for the transportation and entertainment industry. The m2Kiosk is a line of standard and custom kiosks hardware and software which integrates with mobile phone applications in the marketing, financial, and ticketing industries. Its m2Workflow is a customer relations management (CRM) on mobile phones for service industries.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Peter Graham]
On Monday, small cap marijuana stocks Alternative Energy Partners Inc (OTCBB: AEGY) and Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions (OTCMKTS: REFG) surged 117.86% and 17.95%, respectively, while tech stock Portlogic Systems Inc (OTCMKTS: PGSY) sank 20%. However, it appears that only one of these small cap stocks has been the subject of disclosed paid promotions or investor relation activities. So what will these three small caps do today and the rest of the week? Here is a quick look to help you decide on a trading or investing strategy:

Friday, January 23, 2015

SIP by SIP take big leap

Top 10 Growth Companies To Own For 2015

As a rational investor, we always want to invest in those instruments from where we get maximum returns with minimum risk. Unfortunately there is no such instrument available in the world, that is why we get attracted to risky instrument like equity to get maximum returns.

Actually to earn maximum returns with maximum risk doesn�t mean you win all the time and earn that return. As risk attached with such an instrument is risk of default, which is the biggest risk as compared to the returns we earned.

So now what is the solution to this problem? Does it mean that we should avoid such good return instruments?

Hold on��I know we all are anxious to know the answer!

Of course it is not a good idea to avoid such risk associated instruments because ultimately they may give good returns.

Hence to over come this situation and get the best returns, you can invest in such instruments by the way of SIP (Systematic Investment Plans) in Mutual Funds. It does not mean that with SIP in Mutual Funds you win all the time or SIP gives me more return than direct equity.

Wait��Definitely SIP may not give higher returns as happens in case of direct equity, but certainly SIP will give returns and you will not lose money. Lets see how. So my advice to you is that don�t play with your hard earned money because though at the time of investing we accept the risk, but it is upsetting to lose money when it actually happens. This way even SIP may not give us absolute highest return but as compared to the risk (we are taking through SIP) returns are good, provided you choose good Mutual Fund and your holding period is for the long-term.

So it is like if you want healthy investment then you must complete the full dose of SIP ( your entire tenure ) to reduce the symptoms of market fluctuations.

Our in-house research at Apnapaisa for Nifty reveals that if we have invested in Nifty through monthly SIP for 10 years at any time between January 1995 to November 2011, the lowest return was 9.02% and for Mutual Fund the lowest return was 16.98%. So does it mean we can earn this much return? No, we may earn more return than that because for Nifty�s 10 year monthly SIP average is 17.97% and for Mutual Fund it is 27%.

We may earn such handsome returns in long-term provided that while choosing Mutual Fund we have taken professional advice and have got it reviewed by a professional. So what is the advantage of investing long term? Investment should be made for a longer tenure only because we do not know index will move in which direction. Every economy goes through its ups and downs and markets move accordingly, and it is not a short term phenomenon. To overcome such market movements, our investment cycle should be long term.

This way like for our body�s fitness, regular exercise is important and not just exercising once in a while. For youngsters, heavy exercise instruments like equity Mutual Funds may work well but for not so young yoga like instruments say Debt Mutual Funds, MIP and FMP are good.

Still if you want to invest through direct equity for higher returns then �Best of Luck� but if you start investing through SIP then Party to banti hai dost!

The author is a research analyst at Apnapaisa.com. ApnaPaisa is India's leading price comparison site for financial products such as loans, credit cards and insurance plans. Author can be reached at www.facebook.com/apnapaisa

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Re-Evaluating the Value in Panera

This morning, Panera Bread (NASDAQ: PNRA ) had one of those stock price charts where it appears as though the apocalypse came along, and the market just disappeared. The weak earnings report that the company released yesterday sent the shares down almost 7% overnight, after a 2% drop late in trading on Tuesday. Panera now trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.7, pulling it closer to its competitors.

Actually, that's not entirely true. Panera's drop pulled it closer to companies such as Darden (NYSE: DRI ) -- operator of Red Lobster and Olive Garden -- and Jack in the Box (NASDAQ: JACK ) , which also runs Qdoba. It fell away from what seems like its closest competitor, Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX ) . But that's not necessarily a bad thing for investors.

The valuation game
Using P/E ratios to measure the relative cost of stocks is a tricky system, but within a sector, it does give investors a good idea of what kind of expectation is built into a stock price. In general, the more growth that we expect from a company, the higher the P/E ratio is going to be. Investors are willing to pay more now for bigger gains in the future.

With a P/E of 26.7, Panera is still above the restaurant average P/E of 21.7. That means people are expecting Panera to grow faster than the average company within the sector. Starbucks is further ahead, at 34.4, while Darden sits below the average at 15.6, and Jack in the Box is right in line with Panera, at 26.3. So what does that really tell us?

What it doesn't tell us is something intrinsic about the companies. The P/E ratio is not a measure of how good a company is, only what the market thinks about a company. The drop in Panera's price indicates that the market is worried about the future prospects for rapid growth -- with some good reason.

A shortfall in the second quarter
Panera's earnings release contained a few bits of bad news. First, its comparable-store sales grew slower in the second quarter than expected. While it had forecast a year-over-year increase of between 4% and 5% at company-owned locations, it managed growth of only 3.8%. That led to a slowdown in revenue growth, which led to a slowdown in profit growth.

5 Best Trucking Stocks To Watch For 2015

All the pulling back means that the company had to reforecast its future earnings -- which had the biggest impact on the stock price -- pushing annual earnings per share growth down to between 15% and 16%. Originally, the company had forecast earnings growth of between 17% and 19%, per share.

The competition and the bottom line
Getting back to the comparison to peers, Darden is looking for a drop in EPS of between 3% and 5% for its next fiscal year, because of a set of increasing costs. Moving up the chain, Jack in the Box is expecting to grow EPS by 29% and 30% on an operational basis -- it only forecasts based on continuing operational income growth.

Starbucks leads the pack in cost on a P/E basis, but the company is in the middle in terms of growth. The company is looking for between 18% and 22% annual EPS growth this year. The reason it's still much more expensive than Panera is threefold.

First, the market is having a knee-jerk reaction to the Panera earnings statement, probably driving the stock lower than it "deserves." Second, Panera is in the middle of a string of decent, but not great, news. The stock has been puttering along over the last year, so there's no momentum to push the valuation higher. Third, Starbucks is probably seen as a safer bet, since the company has been making lots of good decisions recently. Its expansion into more food items is being touted as a real winner, and its recent acquisitions are seen as good investments in the future of the business.

Overall, I agree with the market. Panera is a good business, and it certainly has more going for it than Darden, which has been sluggish recently. But Panera is still figuring things out. While I'm not looking to expand my restaurant holdings, if I were, today's drop might offer a good place to jump in. I still believe in the company, and the price change today is largely justified. If I could only pick one, though, I'd shell out and get Starbucks -- the future over there looks very bright. Check back on Friday morning to see if my trust is misplaced.

While Starbucks is my favorite in the business, it's not for everyone. Another restaurant made the cut for the Motley Fool's free report focusing on international expansion. We'll show you how profiting from our increasingly global economy can be as easy as investing in your own backyard. The Fool's free report "3 American Companies Set to Dominate the World" shows you how. Click here to get your free copy.

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Top Biotech Companies To Watch In Right Now

Top Biotech Companies To Watch In Right Now: NanoViricides Inc (NNVC)

NanoViricides, Inc., incorporated on April 1, 2005, is a development-stage company. The Company is a nano-biopharmaceutical (nanomedicine) company whose business goals are to discover, develop and commercialize therapeutics to advance the care of patients suffering from life-threatening viral infections. The Company has several drugs in various stages of early development. The Companys drugs are based on several patents, patent applications, provisional patent applications, and other property held by TheraCour Pharma, Inc. (TheraCou), to which the Company has exclusive licenses in perpetuity for the treatment of human viral diseases: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV/AIDS), Influenza including Asian Bird Flu Virus (INF), Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV), Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), and Rabies. As of June 30, 2012, the Company had six drug development programs: Oral FluCideTM, against all Influenzas; a Piggy-back version of Flucide for hospitalized patien ts; nanoviricide eye drops against adenoviral EKC and herpes keratitis; HIVCide - I against HIV/AIDS; HerpeCide - I skin cream formulation for herpes cold sores and genital warts, and DengueCide, a broad spectrum nanoviricide designed to attack all types of dengue viruses and expected to be effective in the Severe Dengue Disease syndromes including Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHS) and Dengue Shock Syndrome (DSS). As of June 30, 2012, it had engaged in organizational activities, sourcing compounds and materials, developing novel compounds and nanomaterials, and experimentation with studies on cell cultures and animals. In September 2011, NanoViricides Inc's Inno-Haven LLC acquired a light industrial building.

The Company's product development programs are divided into three sectors: commercially important diseases, neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and biosecurity/biodefense, and advanced technologies. The Company has collaborations with KARD Sc! ientific, Inc., MA. and Southern Research Institute, AL for influenza viruse! s; National (Central) Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) (Vietnam), for H5N1 avian flu; The Long Island Jewish Medical System, Feinstein Institute of Medical Research (LIJMS), NY and TheVac, LLC. for viral diseases of the eye (adenoviruses, herpesviruses - epidemic kerato-conjunctivitis (EKC), Herpes Keratitis); TheVac, LLC and Northeastern Ohio Medical University (NEOMED) for herpes virus infections; University of California at Berkeley for dengue hemorrhagic fever viruses; Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and National (Central) Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology for rabies virus. The Company has developed lead drug candidates against a number of viral diseases.

The Company had consolidated all of its influenza drug programs into a single pan-influenza FluCide program. It is developing a single drug for all influenzas, whether pandemic, epidemic, seasonal, novel, emerging, human, swine, or avian. It is developing a nanoviricide agai nst adenoviral EKC. The nanoviricide eye drug candidate is formulated as simple eye drops. It is developing an anti-HSV nanoviricide skin cream formulation for direct application to the lesions. It has designed the anti-HIV nanoviricides using rational drug design principles. The ligands it has designed in the case of HIV-1 are thought to be broadly neutralizing. In-silico modeling indicates that its ligands dock to the conserved CD4 binding site of gp120 of HIV-1. The Company is working on developing anti-Dengue therapeutics. Dengue is an important NTD. Its RabiCide program has resulted in candidates that have enabled survival of 20% to 30% of infected animals after disease has set in, using a particular animal model.

The Company competes with Roche, Glaxo SmithKline, BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Gilead, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMS), Roche, Boehringer Ingelheim, Merck & Co., Inc. (Merck), Valeant, Schering, Pharmassett, Vertex, I! ntermune,! Achillion and Novartis.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Roberto Pedone]

One under-$10 nano-biopharmaceutical player that's starting to trend within range of triggering a big breakout trade is Nanoviricides (NNVC), which engages in the discovery, development and commercialization of anti-viral therapeutics primarily in the U.S. This stock has been ripping to the upside so far in 2013, with share up big by 198%.

If you take a look at the chart for Nanoviricides, you'll notice that this stock has recently formed a double bottom chart pattern at $4.55 to $4.52 a share. Following that bottom, shares of NNVC have now started to uptrend and move within range of triggering a big breakout trade. That trade will hit if NNVC manages to take out the upper-end of its recent sideways trading chart pattern, which has seen NNVC trend between $4.55 and $5.74 a share.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in NNVC if it manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance levels at Friday's high of $4.94 a share to its 50-day moving average of $5.28 a share, and then once it takes out some more key overhead resistance levels at $5.72 to $5.74 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above those levels with volume that hits near or above its three-month average volume of 234,994 shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then NNVC will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $6.50 to its 52-week high at $7.59 a share.

Traders can look to buy NNVC off weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below some key near-term support levels at $4.55 to $4.52 a share. One can also buy NNVC off strength once it starts to clear those breakout levels with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.seekpen! nystocks.! com/top-biotech-companies-to-watch-in-right-now.html

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

10 Best Promising Stocks To Buy For 2014

When a small drug maker doubles in value after posting clinical trial results, it�� worth taking a quick look.

NeuroDerm (NDRM) nearly doubled in value today, rising to $12.25 a share after more than 15 million shares changed hands, after the company reported positive results in a small trial for a treatment for Parkinson�� disease.

As MarketWatch reports:

��he company announced promising results from a trial of a treatment for Parkison’s disease. The Israeli company said continuous, subcutaneous delivery of two liquid product candidates had a positive effect on plasma levels, suggesting the high dose version that is aimed at severe sufferers of the disease may be an effective alternative to current treatments that require surgery. The higher dose candidate, known as ND0612H, “is designed to be delivered continuously, thus we believe it should offer a simple and effective treatment option that will minimize the need for surgical intervention in advanced Parkinson’s patients,” Sheila Oren, vice president of clinical and regulatory affairs at the company, said in a statement.

Top 5 Valued Companies To Watch In Right Now: Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd (GELYF.PK)

Geely Automobile Holdings Limited is an investment holding company. The Company, along with its subsidiaries, is engaged in the research, production, marketing and sales of sedans and related automobile components in the People�� Republic of China (PRC). The Company operates in two segments: automobiles and related parts and components segment, engaged in the manufacture and sale of automobiles, automobile parts and related automobile components, and gearboxes segment, engaged in the manufacture and sale of gearboxes. The Company�� subsidiaries include Centurion Industries Limited, Value Century Group Limited, Geely International Limited, Zhejiang Fulin Guorun Automobile Parts & Components Co., Ltd., Linkstate Overseas Limited, Luckview Group Limited and Luck Empire Investment Limited, among others. Advisors' Opinion:

[By Elliott Gue]
This so-called One Ford initiative involved the US$2.3 billion sale of Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata Motors (TTM) and the US$1.6 billion divestment of Volvo to Geely Automobile Holdings (GELYF.PK). After selling the majority of its stake in Mazda Motor Corp (MZDAY.PK) and discontinuing Mercury, Ford Motor Company's portfolio consists of its eponymous mass-market brand and the higher-end Lincoln.

10 Best Promising Stocks To Buy For 2014: The Bon-Ton Stores Inc.(BONT)

The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates department stores in the mid-size and metropolitan markets of the United States. Its stores offer brand-name fashion apparel and accessories for women, men, and children, as well as provide cosmetics, home furnishings, and footwear. As of November 1, 2011, the company operated 275 stores under various nameplates, including the Bon-Ton, Bergner?s, Boston Store, Carson Pirie Scott, Elder-Beerman, Herberger?s, and Younkers in 23 northeastern, midwestern, and upper Great Plains states; and under the Parisian nameplate in Detroit, Michigan. The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. was founded in 1898 and is headquartered in York, Pennsylvania.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Peter Graham]
The Q1 2014 earnings report for the Bon-Ton Stores, Inc (NASDAQ: BONT), a peer of other department store stocks like J.C. Penney Company, Inc (NYSE: JCP), Kohl's Corporation (NYSE: KSS) and Sears Holdings Corp (NASDAQ: SHLD), is due out before the market opens on Thursday. Aside from the Bon-Ton Stores' earnings report, it should be said that troubled Sears Holdings Corp is also scheduled to report earnings before the market opens on Thursday while J.C. Penney Company, Inc�and Kohl's Corporation both reported Q1 2014 earnings last Thursday. However, the Bon-Ton Stores is heading into earnings with rather high short interest of 35.05% according to HighShortInterest.com.
[By John Kell and Lauren Pollock var popups = dojo.query(".socialByline .popC"); ]
Bon-Ton Stores Inc.(BONT) said Chief Executive and President Brendan L. Hoffman won’t renew his deal to keep leading the retailer when his contract expires in February 2015. Mr. Hoffman, who took over as CEO in February 2012 when he was 43 years old, will also resign his role as a director on the company’s board. He cited personal reasons for his decision. Shares declined 8% to $10 premarket.
[By Laura Brodbeck]
Tuesday
Earnings Expected: The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc (NASDAQ: BONT), American Eagle Outfitters, Inc (NYSE: AEO), Codexis, Inc. (NASDAQ: CDXS), Verifone Systems, Inc. (NYSE: PAY), Caesars Entertainment Corporation (NASDAQ: CZR) Economic Releases Expected: Indian trade balance, German trade balance, British industrial production, British manufacturing production
Wednesday
[By Peter Graham]
The Q1 2014 earnings report for troubled J.C. Penney Company, Inc (NYSE: JCP), a peer of other department store stocks like Kohl's Corporation (NYSE: KSS), The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc (NASDAQ: BONT) and Nordstrom, Inc (NYSE: JWN), is scheduled for after the market closes on Thursday. Aside from the J.C. Penney Company's earnings report, it should be said that�Kohl's Corporation will report Q1 2014 when the market opens on Thursday; Nordstrom will report earnings after the market closes on Thursday; and The Bon-Ton Stores will report Q1 2014 earnings on Thursday, May 22nd before the market opens. However, all eyes will be on the J.C. Penney Company earnings report to see if there are any signs the company has turned itself around from the ill-fated�leadership of CEO Ron Johnson��who ironically was also trying to turn things around��/p>

10 Best Promising Stocks To Buy For 2014: Insulet Corporation(PODD)

Insulet Corporation, a medical device company, engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of insulin infusion systems for people with insulin-dependent diabetes in the United States. The company offers OmniPod Insulin Management System (OmniPod System), which consists of the OmniPod disposable insulin infusion device and the handheld wireless personal diabetes manager to provide diabetes management solution for people with insulin-dependent diabetes. It is also involved in the distribution of durable medical equipment, including blood glucose testing supplies, insulin pumps, pump supplies, pharmaceuticals, and other products for the management and treatment of diabetes. The company sells its OmniPod System directly to patients through referrals from healthcare professionals and through patient leads, as well as through third-party distributors; and delivers durable medical equipment to endocrinologists, insurers, and clients. Insulet Corporation was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Bedford, Massachusetts.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By James Brumley]
And just for the record, theme-based buyout speculation doesn’t improve your chances of picking an acquisition target. Back in 2012 after Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) bought Amylin for control of its diabetes pipeline following the purchase of Neighborhood Diabetes by Insulet (PODD), pundits were sure it would spark a wave of other diabetes-driven acquisitions. Those other M&A candidates began getting bid up, but as it turns out, no more meaningful buyouts materialized in the diabetes space.

10 Best Promising Stocks To Buy For 2014: Opt-Sciences Corp (OPST)

Opt-Sciences Corporation, incorporated on November 1956, conducts its business through its wholly owned subsidiary, O and S Research, Inc. The Company deposits anti-glare and/or transparent conductive optical coatings on glass used primarily to cover instrument panels in aircraft cockpits. It also provides full glass cutting, grinding and painting operations, which augment its optical coating capabilities. Its products are designed to enable pilots to read aircraft instruments in direct sunlight or at night or in covert situations using appropriate night vision filters or to protect the instruments from electromagnetic interference. The Company�� business is dependent on a robust commercial, business, and regional aircraft market and to a lesser degree the military aircraft market. It generally has a four to twelve week delivery cycle depending on product complexity, available plant capacity and required lead time for specialty raw materials, such as polarizers or filter glass.

The Company�� offers incorporate an optical coating of some type. Its primary coatings are for aircraft cockpit display applications and consist of its anti-reflection coating used for glare reduction and its transparent conductive coating used for electromagnetic interference shielding. In addition, it also offers a full range of other specialty instrument glass, including night vision filter glass, circular polarizers, touchpads, glass sandwiches for liquid crystal displays (LCDs) as well as other custom designed specialty glass components and assemblies. It uses its technology to apply a micro thin optical non-glare and/or conductive coating to the glass. Both processes utilize the deposit of a thin film of metal or metal oxide on the surface of the glass. The process takes place in a heated vacuum chamber. It heats the deposited material to over 1800 degrees Centigrade causing it to evaporate.

The Company competes with JDSU, Mod A Can, Dontech, Schott Glass and Hoya Optics

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Geoff Gannon] ng>Micropac
Micropac is 76% owned by Heinz-Werner Hempel. He�� a German businessman. You can see the German company he founded here. He�� had control of Micropac for a long-time. I don�� have an exact number in front of me. But I would guess it�� been something like 25 years.
ADDvantage
ADDvantage Technologies is controlled by the Chymiak brothers. See the company�� April 4 press release explaining their decision to turn over the CEO position to an outsider. Regardless, the Chymiaks still control 47% of the company. Ken Chymiak is now chairman. And David Chymiak is still a director and now the company�� chief technology officer. Clearly, it�� still their company.
By the way, the name ADDvantage Technologies has nothing to do with the Chymiaks. Today�� AEY really traces its roots to a private company called Tulsat. The Chymiak brothers acquired that company about 27 years ago. So, effectively, when you buy shares of AEY you are buying into a 27-year-old family-controlled company.
That�� pretty typical in the world of net-nets.
Solitron
Solitron Devices is 29% owned by Shevach Saraf. He has been the CEO for 20 years. The post-bankruptcy Solitron has never known another CEO. Before the bankruptcy, Solitron was a much bigger, much different company. So even though we are not talking about the founder here ��and even though 70% of the company�� shares are not held by the CEO ��we��e still talking about a company where one person has a lot of control. Solitron only has three directors. Saraf is the chairman, CEO, president, CFO and treasurer. Neither of the other two directors joined the board within the last 15 years. So, we aren�� talking about a lot of tumult at the top.
In fact, profitable net-nets seem to be especially common candidates for abandoning the responsibilities of a public company without actually getting taken private.
OPT-Sciences
This company is controlled by Arthu

10 Best Promising Stocks To Buy For 2014: Eldorado Gold Corp(EGO)

Eldorado Gold Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the discovery, exploration, development, production, and reclamation of gold properties in Brazil, the People?s Republic of China, Greece, and Turkey. It operates the Kisladag gold mine in Turkey; the Jinfeng, Tanjianshan, and White Mountain gold mines in the People?s Republic of China; and the Vila Nova iron ore mine in Brazil. The company?s development projects include the Efemcukuru gold mine in Turkey, the Eastern Dragon gold mine in the People?s Republic of China, the Perama Hill gold project in Greece, and the Tocantinzinho gold project in Brazil. As of December 31, 2010, Eldorado Gold Corporation had 18.7 million ounces of proven and probable gold reserves. The company was formerly known as Eldorado Corporation Ltd. and changed its name to Eldorado Gold Corporation in April 1996. Eldorado Gold Corporation was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Patricio Kehoe]
After reaching a three-month high, gold prices fell once again following the announcement of a possible strike on Syria. Considering investors are already skeptical when it comes to gold mining firms, due to their cyclical nature, Yamana Gold Inc. (AUY) and Eldorado Gold Corp (EGO) have a lot to prove.
[By Laura Brodbeck]
Friday
Earnings Expected From: Covidien plc. (NYSE: COV), Eldorado Gold Corporation (NYSE: EGO), Vaalco Energy Inc. (NYSE: EGY) Economic Releases Expected: �US Wholesale Trade, US non-farm payrolls
Posted-In: Bank Of England European Central Bank Federal ReserveNews Eurozone Previews Global Economics Federal Reserve Markets Trading Ideas Best of Benzinga
[By Ben Levisohn]
On an adjusted basis, Eldorado Gold (EGO) has the longest reserve/resource life amongst our coverage companies (39 years) with Goldcorp (GG) having the longest reserve/resource life (23 years) amongst the senior producers versus the group average of 22 years. Kinross Gold (KGC) and Iamgold (IAG) have the shortest adjusted reserve/resource lives amongst the senior and mid-tier producers (18 and 14 years respectively). On a percentage basis, the companies most affected by the adjustment are New Gold (NGD) and Iamgold which both saw reserve/resource lives fall by 47% however, we note that despite the adjustment,�New Gold still has the second longest reserve/resource life in our group (37 years). Newmont Mining was the least affected by the adjustments with reserve/resource life declining by only 12% to 22 years from 25 years.
[By Ben Levisohn]
Gold and gold miners are generally thought to do best when the market is worried about inflation. Yet the recent rally in gold miners like Goldcorp (GG), Eldorado Gold (EGO) and Randgold Resources (GOLD) has come despite an increase in worries about deflation.

10 Best Promising Stocks To Buy For 2014: Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc.(GMCR)

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. engages in the specialty coffee and coffee maker business. The company sources, produces, and sells approximately 200 varieties of coffee, cocoa, teas, and other beverages in K-Cup portion packs and coffee in traditional packaging, including whole bean and ground coffee selections in bags and ground coffee in fractional packs for use in at-home (AH) and away-from-home (AFH). It sells its products primarily in North America through supermarkets, club stores, and convenience stores; in restaurants and hospitality; and to office coffee distributors, as well as directly to consumers through its Website. The company also manufactures gourmet single-cup brewing systems and brewing equipment. In addition, it sells AH single-cup brewers; accessories; and coffee, tea, hot cocoa, and other beverages in K-Cup portion packs, as well as offers other licensed roasters to retailers, department stores, and mass merchandisers. Further, the company sells AFH single-cup brewers to distributors for use in offices. It provides its products under the Van Houtte, Br�erie St. Denis, Br�erie Mont-Royal, and Orient Express brands, as well as licensed Bigelow and Wolfgang Puck brands. The company was founded in 1981 and is based in Waterbury, Vermont.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Blake Bos]
In the following video, consumer goods analyst Blake Bos takes a question from a Fool reader, who asks, "What's in store for Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (NASDAQ: GMCR ) ?"
[By RHPanalysts]
Keurig Green Mountain (GMCR) has done very well in 2014. The company's important partnerships and new products are its growth drivers. Another striking fact about Keurig is its strong free cash flow, which is strong enough to attract shareholders and investors who are looking for a dividend-paying stock in the industry. Keurig has paid approximately $800 million in the form of dividend and share repurchase programs while maintaining a burly $1.1 billion of cash. This will certainly provide financial flexibility to the company and help her to invest in many new growth opportunities that lie ahead. In addition, Keurig Green Mountain has decided to pay cash dividend of $0.25 per share on August 1, 2014.
[By Sue Chang and Ben Eisen]
Green Mountain (GMCR) �shares jumped 26% after the coffee company said it was entering a partnership with beverage behemoth Coca-Cola (KO) to work on an in-home cold-beverage system under the Green Mountain brand Keurig. Coca-Cola shares were up 1%.
[By Laura Brodbeck]
Next week investors will be waiting for several key earnings reports including�J.C. Penney Company (NYSE: JCP), Campbell Soup Company (NYSE: CPB), Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR), Salesfore.com, Inc. (NYSE: CRM), and Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE: HD).

10 Best Promising Stocks To Buy For 2014: International Game Technology (IGT)

International Game Technology (IGT) designs, manufactures, and markets electronic gaming equipment and systems worldwide. The company offers casino-style slot machines that determine the game play outcome at the machine; wide area progressive jackpot systems with linked machines across various casinos; central determination system machines connected to a central server that determines the game outcome, encompassing video lottery terminals used primarily in government-sponsored applications and electronic or video bingo machines; and amusement with prize games. Its systems products include applications for casino management, customer relationship marketing (CRM), and server-based games and player management. IGT?s casino management solutions comprise integrated modules for machine accounting, patron management, cage and table accounting, ticket-in/ticket-out, bonusing (jackpots and promotions), and table game automation. The company?s CRM solutions feature integrated market ing and business intelligence modules that provide analytical, predictive, and management tools for maximizing casino operational effectiveness; and server-based solutions enable game delivery to slot machines, computers, mobile phones, tablets, and other networked devices. Its gaming markets comprise the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Mexico and South/Central America, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific, and the United Kingdom. The company was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Reno, Nevada.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Ben Levisohn]
All good things must come to an end. And so it is with the S&P 500′s six-day winning streak, as AT&T (T), Intuitive Surgical (ISRG), International Game Technology (IGT), Amgen (AMGN) and Netflix (NFLX) helped lead the market lower.

Monday, January 19, 2015

Hot Electric Utility Stocks To Own For 2014

LONDON -- The FTSE 100 has risen by 25% over the last year, and many top shares are beginning to look quite expensive. I'm on the hunt for companies that still look cheap, based on their long-term earnings potential. To help me hunt down these bargains, I'm using a special version of the price-to-earnings ratio called the PE10, which is one of my favorite tools for value investing.

The PE10 compares the current share price with average earnings per share for the last 10 years. This lets you see whether a company looks cheap compared to its long-term earnings.

Today, I'm going to take a look at the PE10 of the U.K.'s fourth-largest supermarket chain, Wm. Morrison Supermarkets (LSE: MRW ) (NASDAQOTH: MRWSY ) .

Is Morrison a buy?
Morrison's belated launch of an online service, in partnership with Ocado, has hit the headlines in recent weeks. However, the firm's market share keeps slipping: It dropped to 11.6% during the 12 weeks to June 9, according to retail experts Kantar Worldpanel.

Top 10 Solar Stocks To Watch For 2015: Ballard Power Systems Inc.(BLDP)

Ballard Power Systems Inc. engages in the design, development, manufacture, sale, and service of fuel cell products for motive and stationary power applications worldwide. It offers clean energy PEM (proton exchange membrane) fuel cell stacks, modules, and complete systems. The company provides fuel cell products and services for material handling and bus, back-up power, and distributed generation applications; and fuel cell engineering solutions for various fuel cell applications. It also offers carbon-based engineered material products in the form of roll goods as woven carbon fiber textile fabrics or carbon fiber papers primarily for automotive transmissions and gas diffusion layers. Ballard Power Systems Inc., through its interests in Dantherm Power A/S develops clean energy backup power through utilization of hydrogen fuel cell technology; and Automotive Fuel Cell Cooperation Corp. develops fuel cell products for the automotive fuel cell market. The company was founde d in 1979 and is headquartered in Burnaby, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Ben Levisohn]
Shares of Tesla have gained 0.8% to $232.83 at 12:18 p.m. That’s not bad considering that Plug Power (PLUG) is unchanged at $6.71, Ballard Power Systems (BLDP) has dropped 2.8% to $5.53 and FuelCell Energy (FCEL) has fallen 4.3% to $2.89.
[By Bryan Murphy]
Had shares of its peers and competitors performed as well, it may not even be worth bringing up. But, Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ:PLUG) shares have done significantly better than FuelCell Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:FCEL) and Ballard Power Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:BLDP) since the end of March. And, PLUG has performed considerably better than FCEL and BLDP have since mid-August. This is more than "just a little volatility." This is a leader breaking away from the pack after a very long lull. Thing is, there's plenty more room for Plug Power to keep running.
[By Paul Ausick]
Peers Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ: PLUG), Ballard Power Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: BLDP), and Hydrogenics Corp. (NASDAQ: HYGS) have also shared in the stock price run-up. Any investor expecting more from FuelCell�� results was, perhaps, being irrationally exuberant.
[By Ben Levisohn]
Shares of FuelCell Energy have fallen 5,6% to $2.52 at 12:48 p.m., while Ballard Power Systems�(BLDP) has dropped 2.8% to $3.46 and Plug Power�(PLUG) has declined 3.5% to $5.28.

Hot Electric Utility Stocks To Own For 2014: Associated Banc-Corp(ASBC)

Associated Banc-Corp, a bank holding company, offers various banking and financial services to individuals and businesses primarily in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Minnesota. Its Banking segment provides loans and deposit products to businesses, governments, and consumers. Its products and services include checking, savings, money market deposit, and IRA accounts, as well as certificates of deposit and safe deposit boxes; and home equity loans and lines of credit, residential mortgage loans and mortgage refinancing, education loans, and personal and installment loans. This segment?s products and services also include business checking accounts, business loans, real estate financing, construction loans, letters of credit, revolving credit arrangements, business credit cards, equipment and machinery leases, night depository, cash management, international banking, check clearing, safekeeping, and other banking-based services. The company?s Wealth Management segment provides va rious fiduciary, investment management, advisory, and corporate agency services for individuals, corporations, small businesses, charitable trusts, endowments, foundations, and institutional investors. This segment also offers life, property, casualty, and credit and mortgage insurance, as well as fixed annuities and employee group benefits consulting and administration services; investment brokerage, variable annuities, and discount and online brokerage services; and trust/asset/investment management, administration of pension, profit-sharing and other employee benefit plans, personal trusts, and estate planning services. The company offers its products through branch facilities, loan production offices, supermarket branches, a customer service call center, an interstate automated teller machine network, and Internet banking services. As of December 31, 2010, its banking subsidiary had 280 offices in approximately 150 communities. The company was founded in 1964 and is base d in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Monica Gerson]
Associated Banc-Corp (NASDAQ: ASBC) shares rose 1.73% to reach a new 52-week high of $18.20 after the company announced a $120 million buyback plan and shelf registration of $500 million.
[By Marc Bastow]
Green Bay-based bank holding company Associated Banc Corp (ASBC) raised its quarterly dividend 12.5% to 9 cents per share, payable on Dec. 16 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 2.
ASBC Dividend Yield:�2.19%

Hot Electric Utility Stocks To Own For 2014: Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc.(WPI)

Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company, engages in the development, manufacture, marketing, sale, and distribution of generic and brand pharmaceutical products in the United States, western Europe, Canada, Australasia, Asia, South America, and South Africa. The company offers its products for therapeutic categories, such as central nervous system, cardiovascular, hormones and synthetic substitutes, anti-infective agents, and urology. It operates in three segments: Global Generics, Global Brands, and Distribution. The Global Generics segment develops, manufactures, and sells generic pharmaceutical products, as well as distributes generic versions of third parties? brand products. This segment offers various dosage forms, such as oral solids, transdermals, injectables, inhalation products, and transmucosals for indications, including pregnancy prevention, pain management, depression, hypertension, and smoking cessation. The Global Brands segment pr omotes and co-promotes Rapaflo, Gelnique, Trelstar, Androderm, Crinone, ella, INFeD, Generess, sodium ferric gluconate, AndroGel, and Femring branded products; and markets its products through sales professionals. It also sells various non-promoted products. The Distribution segment distributes generic and select brand pharmaceutical products, vaccines, injectables, and over-the-counter medicines to independent pharmacies, alternate care providers, pharmacy chains, and physicians? offices. The company sells its generic and brand pharmaceutical products primarily to drug wholesalers, retailers, and distributors, including national retail drug and food store chains, hospitals, clinics, mail order, government agencies, and managed healthcare providers, such as health maintenance organizations and other institutions. Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Louis Navellier]
Actavis Plc is one of the world’s largest generic drugmakers. For the past three decades, this company was known as Watson Pharmaceuticals (WPI), but the company rebranded itself as Actavis in 2013. With a portfolio of over 190 pharmaceutical product families, Actavis has its name on everything from antibiotics to contraceptives to smoking cessation treatments.

Hot Electric Utility Stocks To Own For 2014: Tempur-pedic International Inc (TPX)

Tempur-Pedic International Inc. manufactures, markets, and distributes bedding products in North America and internationally. Its products include pillows, mattresses, and adjustable beds, as well as various cushions and other comfort products. The company sells its mattresses and pillows under the TEMPUR and Tempur-Pedic brand names through furniture and bedding, specialty, and department stores; direct response, Internet, and own stores; chiropractors, medical retailers, hospitals, and other healthcare markets; and third party distributors. Tempur-Pedic International Inc. was founded in 1989 and is based in Lexington, Kentucky.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Yoshiaki Nohara]
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 0.7 percent to 141.25 as of 4:16 p.m. in Hong Kong, with nine of the gauge�� 10 industry groups falling. The MSCI Asia Pacific excluding Japan Index declined 1.3 percent, with Japan�� Topix (TPX) index gaining 1 percent.

Hot Electric Utility Stocks To Own For 2014: Visteon Corporation(VC)

Visteon Corporation supplies automotive systems, modules, and components to automotive original equipment manufacturers worldwide. The company offers a range of electronics products, including audio/infotainment systems and components, such as base radio/CD head units, infotainment head units, audiophile systems and amplifiers, rear seat family entertainment systems, digital and satellite radios, HD and DAB broadcast tuners, MACH voice link technology, and connectivity solutions for portable devices; driver information systems comprising instrument clusters and displays to assist driving; and powertrain and feature control modules, including controllers for fuel pumps, transfer cases, tuning valves, and security and voltage regulation systems. It also provides electronic climate controls, such as single zone manual electronic and automatic multiple zone modules, as well as integrated audio and climate control assemblies; and lighting products consisting of headlamps, stop lamps, and fog lamps. In addition, the company offers integrated heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems, which include evaporators, condensers, heater cores, climate controls, compressors, air handling cases, and fluid transport systems; and components and modules that provide cooling and thermal management for the vehicle?s engine and transmission, as well as for batteries and power electronics on hybrid and electric vehicles. Further, it provides interior products, including cockpit modules, which incorporate structural, electronic, climate control, mechanical, and safety components; door panels/modules and interior trim products; and console modules, which deliver storage options. The company was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Van Buren Township, Michigan.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By David Sterman]
Auto parts maker Visteon (NYSE: VC) clearly embodies the new thinking about share buybacks. The company announced plans last month to sell its $1.5 billion stake in a joint venture with a Chinese partner. Visteon could have looked to pay down debt or make an acquisition, or simply keep the ($1.2 billion after-tax) proceeds. Instead, almost all of the money will go toward a share buyback that might reduce shares outstanding by 25%.
[By Seth Jayson]
Visteon (NYSE: VC ) reported earnings on May 9. Here are the numbers you need to know.

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

Hot Electric Utility Stocks To Own For 2014: Asbury Automotive Group Inc (ABG)

Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (Asbury), incorporated on February 15, 2002, is an automotive retailers in the United States. As of December 31, 2011, the Company operated 99 franchises (79 dealership locations). It offers a range of automotive products and services, including new and used vehicles; vehicle maintenance; replacement parts and collision repair services; new and used vehicle financing, and aftermarket products, such as insurance, warranty and service contracts. As of December 31, 2011, it offered 30 domestic and foreign brands of new vehicles. Its brand mix is weighted 84% towards luxury and mid-line import brands, with the remaining 16% consisting of domestic brands. As of December 31, 2011, it operated dealerships in 18 metropolitan markets throughout the United States. As of December 31, 2011, its retail network consisted of eight locally-branded dealership groups. As of December 31, 2011, its brand names included Nalley Automotive Group, Courtesy Autogroup, Coggin Automotive Group, Crown Automotive Company, David McDavid Auto Group, North Point Auto Group, Gray-Daniels Auto Family and Plaza Motor Company. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company sold its heavy truck business in Atlanta, Georgia, two franchises and one additional ancillary business. On May 2, 2011, the Company sold its luxury brand dealership in California. In December 2012, the Company acquired a Volkswagen and a Bentley store in the Atlanta, Georgia market.

New Vehicle Sales

As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned a range of 30 American, European and Asian brands. Its new vehicle unit sales consist of the sale of new vehicles to individual retail customers (new vehicle retail) and the sale of new vehicles to commercial customers (fleet). During the year ended December 31, 2011, it sold 71,449 new vehicles through its dealerships. During 2011, new vehicle sales were 54% of its total revenues and 22% of its total gross profit. The Company�� new vehicle revenues include new vehi! cle sale and lease transactions arranged by its dealerships with third parties.

Used Vehicle Sales

The Company sells used vehicles at all of its dealership locations. Used vehicle sales include the sale of used vehicles to individual retail customers (used retail) and the sale of used vehicles to other dealers at auction (wholesale). During 2011, it sold 55,805 used retail vehicles through its dealerships. During 2011, sales of used retail vehicles accounted for approximately 25% of its total revenues. During 2011, wholesale sales represented 4% of its total revenues.

The Company�� new vehicle operations provide its used vehicle operations with a supply of trade-ins and off-lease vehicles. It also purchases a portion of its used vehicle inventory at auctions restricted to new vehicle dealers and open auctions, which offer vehicles sold by other dealers and repossessed vehicles. Its used vehicle inventory is sold as wholesale if a vehicle is not sold at retail within 60 days, except for used vehicles, which does not fit within its inventory mix. The reconditioning of used vehicles also generates revenue for its parts and service departments.

Parts and Service

Asbury sells replacement parts and provides vehicle maintenance and collision repair service at all of its franchised dealerships, for the vehicle brands sold at those dealerships. As of December 31, 2011, in addition, it maintained 25 free-standing collision repair centers either on the premises of, or in close proximity to, its dealerships. During 2011, parts and service revenues accounted for approximately 14% of its total revenues.

Finance and Insurance

The Company refers to the finance and insurance portion of its business as F&I. Through its F&I business, it arranges, and receives commissions for, third-party financing of the sale or lease of new and used vehicles to customers, as well as offers a range of aftermarket products, such as extended servi! ce contra! cts, guaranteed asset protection (GAP) debt cancellation, pre-paid maintenance and credit life and disability insurance. It also generates F&I revenues from the receipt of marketing fees paid to it under agreements with preferred lenders. During 2011, its F&I business generated approximately 3% of its total revenues. Extended service contracts cover repair work after the expiration of the manufacturer warranty. GAP debt cancellation covers the customer after a total loss for the difference between the value of the vehicle and the outstanding loan or lease obligation after insurance proceeds. Prepaid maintenance covers routine maintenance work, such as oil changes, cleaning and adjusting of brakes, multi-point vehicle inspections and tire rotations. Credit life and disability covers the remaining amounts due on an auto loan or a lease in the event of death or disability.

The Company earns sales-based commissions from third-party lenders, including manufacturer captive finance subsidiaries which arranges on behalf of its customers. It may be charged back (chargebacks) for these commissions in the event a finance contract is cancelled or repaid, typically within the first 90 days of such contract. During 2011, it arranged customer financing on approximately 70% of the vehicles it sold. The Company is a party to a range of preferred lender agreements. These payments are determined by the lenders based upon an agreed-upon earnings schedule.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Jeremy Bowman]
What: Shares of Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE: ABG ) were revving up today, gaining as much as 15% after posting a strong earnings report.
[By Seth Jayson]
Calling all cash flows
When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE: ABG ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.