The surge in U.S. oil production since 2008 has created tremendous opportunities for the midstream companies involved in oil storage and transportation. Many continue to invest record amounts of cash into new projects to help alleviate regional supply bottlenecks and get the crude oil to those who demand it.
But despite midstream companies' best efforts, they've lost a great deal of market share to railroads, which have rapidly emerged as their biggest competitors over the past couple of years. Let's take a look at how railroads have turned the logistics of crude oil transport on its head and what the future may hold for crude-by-rail.
The staggering growth of crude by rail
Today, the rail industry is transporting more oil than it has since the days of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil. In the first quarter of 2013, railways shipped a record 97,135 carloads of crude oil, according to the Association of American Railroads. That represents a 166% increase over the first quarter of 2012 and a 922% gain over crude rail shipments during the entirety of 2008.
Hot Income Stocks To Invest In 2015: National Fuel Gas Company(NFG)
National Fuel Gas Company, through its subsidiaries, operates as a diversified energy company primarily in the United States. The company operates through four segments: Utility, Pipeline and Storage, Exploration and Production, and Energy Marketing. The Utility segment sells natural gas or provides natural gas transportation services to approximately 727,000 customers in Buffalo, Niagara Falls, and Jamestown, New York; and Erie and Sharon, Pennsylvania. The Pipeline and Storage segment provides interstate natural gas transportation and storage services for affiliated and nonaffiliated companies through an integrated gas pipeline system; and 27 underground natural gas storage fields, as well as 4 other underground natural gas storage fields owned and operated jointly with other interstate gas pipeline companies. This segment also transports natural gas for industrial customers and power producers in New York State. It owns the Empire Pipeline, a 157-mile pipeline; and the Empire Connector, which is a 76-mile pipeline extension. The Exploration and Production segment engages in the exploration for, and the development and purchase of natural gas and oil reserves in California, in the Appalachian region of the United States, and in the Gulf Coast region of Texas and Louisiana. As of September 30, 2009, this segment had proved developed and undeveloped reserves of 46,587 thousand barrels of oil and 248,954 million cubic feet equivalent of natural gas. The Energy Marketing segment markets natural gas to industrial, wholesale, commercial, public authority, and residential customers primarily in western and central New York and northwestern Pennsylvania. The company also develops and operates mid-range independent power production and landfill gas electric generation facilities. National Fuel Gas Company was founded in 1902 and is based in Williamsville, New York.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Utilities sector was the leading decliner in the US market today. Among the sector stocks, Companhia de Saneamento Basico do Estado de Sao Paulo (NYSE: SBS) was down more than 5.3 percent, while National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE: NFG) tumbled around 2.8 percent.
- [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Utilities sector was the leading decliner in the US market today. Among the sector stocks, Companhia de Saneamento Basico do Estado de Sao Paulo (NYSE: SBS) was down more than 3.5 percent, while National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE: NFG) tumbled around 2.6 percent.
Top Logistics Stocks To Own Right Now: Bravo Brio Restaurant Group Inc.(BBRG)
Bravo Brio Restaurant Group, Inc. owns and operates Italian restaurant brands in the United States. Its brands include BRAVO! Cucina Italiana, and BRIO Tuscan Grille. The company also operates an American-French bistro restaurant under the brand Bon Vie. As of March 02, 2012, it owned and operated 95 restaurants in 30 states. The company was formerly known as Bravo Development, Inc. and changed its name to Bravo Brio Restaurant Group, Inc. in June 2010. Bravo Brio Restaurant Group, Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is based in Columbus, Ohio.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By CRWE]
Bravo Brio Restaurant Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:BBRG) owner and operator of the BRAVO! Cucina Italiana (BRAVO!) and BRIO Tuscan Grille (BRIO) restaurant concepts, will host a conference call to discuss third quarter 2012 financial results on Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 5:00 PM ET.
- [By Monica Wolfe]
Bravo Brio Restaurant Group (BBRG)
During the second quarter Ashton increased his position in Bravo Brio by 540%. Ashton purchased 108,000 shares at a second quarter price range of $15.37 to $19.01, with an estimated average price range of $17.28. Since then the price per share has dropped approximately -8.7%.
- [By Shaun Currie, CFA]
Bravo Brio Restaurant Group (BBRG) presented at a retail/restaurant conference on Tuesday and provided very important information to investors. To give some background, the stock has been an underperformer for two reasons:
- [By Rick Munarriz]
Bravo Brio Restaurant Group (NASDAQ: BBRG ) saw comps slide 1.6% at BRAVO! Cucina Italiana and a steeper 3.2% drop at Brio Tuscan Grille. However, the midpoint of its comps guidance for all of 2013 suggests that the operator of modestly upscale Italian restaurants will check in with positive same-store sales for the balance of the year.
Top Logistics Stocks To Own Right Now: Urstadt Biddle Properties Inc. (UBA)
Urstadt Biddle Properties, Inc., a real estate investment trust (REIT), engages in the acquisition, ownership, and management of commercial real estate properties in the United States. Its properties primarily consist of neighborhood and community shopping centers, office buildings, and industrial properties in Fairfield County, Connecticut; Westchester and Putnam Counties, New York; and Bergen County, New Jersey. As of October 31, 2007, the company owned or had an equity interest in 39 properties containing approximately 3.7 million square feet of gross leasable area. As a REIT, it is not subject to federal income tax to the extent that it distributes at least 90% of its REIT taxable income to its stockholders. The company was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Fairfield County, Connecticut.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rich Smith]
Urstadt Biddle Properties (NYSE: UBP ) (NYSE: UBA ) -- the real estate investment trust with two tickers -- now has two separate executives at the top of its corporate structure, as well.
Top Logistics Stocks To Own Right Now: Control4 Corp (CTRL)
Control4 Corporation, incorporated on March 27, 2003, is a provider of automation and control solutions for the connected home. The Company provides its consumers with the ability to integrate music, video, lighting, temperature, security, communications and other functionalities into a unified home automation solution. The Company's solution functions as the operating system of the home, making connected devices work together to control, automate and personalize the homes of its consumers. Control4 Home Operating System (C4 OS) is one of the product line of the Company. It embeds its C4 OS in a range of products, including controller appliances, interfaces and connected devices that interact with various music, video, lighting, temperature, security, communications and other devices. The Company offers its 4Sight subscription service, which allows consumers to control and monitor their homes remotely from their smartphone, tablet or laptop, and allows its dealers to perform remote diagnostic services. The Company's 4Sight allows consumer to remotely unlock the front door to let in a repairman, to turn on the air conditioning on the way home, and to monitor the home security cameras from a smartphone. In addition, its 4Store application marketplace offers a range of third-party applications for use with the Company's products. The Company's solution provides consumers with access to over 6,400 third-party devices.
Software Platform
At the center of the Control4 product line is the Control4 Home Operating System, and the associated application software and software development kits (SDKs). The high-level software components include Director, Navigator, Composer Professional Edition, Composer Home Edition and Composer Media Edition, DriverWorks SDK, and Navigator SDK and Application SDK. Director is a real-time, extensible home operating system kernel that is responsible for monitoring and receiving events from numerous devices and services, processing those events according ! to consumer personalized settings, and then dispatching commands to the appropriate devices to perform predefined actions. Navigator displays intuitive and rich graphical user interfaces on televisions, in-wall and table-top touch panels, smartphones and tablets, as well as list-based devices, such as a remote controls with LCD text-displays. Composer Professional Edition is a software application that enables trained and certified Control4 dealers and installers to design, configure and personalize a Control4 home automation system for consumers. Composer Home Edition and Media Edition enable consumers to view and configure their Control4 managed devices. These drag-and-drop programs provide the ability to manage digital media and create and modify simple programs and policies (such as changing lighting scenes, modifying custom buttons and controlling behaviors among devices based on schedules or times of the day). DriverWorks SDK is a software development kit that enables dealers, programmers and device manufacturers to independently develop and test custom two-way interface drivers to support the integration of a new device or device model into its system, or to customize and enhance an existing driver. Navigator SDK and Application SDK are software development kits that enable third-party dealers and programmers to customize and deliver new application functionality within Navigator user interfaces on Control4 interface devices through the development of applications.
Products with Embedded Software and Services
The Company's controller appliances run its Director software to monitor, process and automate events, statuses and actions for numerous devices and services, creating a connected home experience. It offers the HC-800, a whole home controller appliance, and the HC-250, a single-room controller appliance. It also licenses its Director software on the new Sony ES 5800 and 2800 receivers, transforming them into controller appliances with home theater audio and video ! capabilit! ies. The Company offers touch panels, handheld remote controls and keypads as interface devices. It also develops and delivers software applications for Apple iOS and Android smartphones and tablets that enable these personal devices to become control interfaces to Control4 connected homes, both on-premise and remotely. The Company offers network-enabled 4x4 and 8x8 zone audio amplifiers, and a 16x16 audio matrix switch for versatile multi-room and whole-home audio distribution. It also offers an integrated digital media player for integration of local digital audio and video, as well as Wi-Fi and Ethernet amplified speaker points for streaming digital audio to speakers in areas without an audio receiver.
The Company offers a suite of lighting products that provide personalized control and energy management. Its suite of wireless light switches and dimmers can replace devices in an existing home or be installed in new homes. It offers in-wall wireless switches and dimmers for 120V, 240V and 277V electrical loads, which meet the requirements of North America and many international markets. The also plan to offer panelized systems, where all of the lighting control will be done on a remote panel. Its new Control4 lighting products will have the ability to measure how much energy each load is using and provide suggestions to the consumer on how to conserve energy and reduce costs. The Company offers devices that provide energy savings, convenience and efficiency for temperature control. Its wireless multi-stage thermostat is completely programmable with up to six set points per day and, using its 4Sight subscription service, is remotely accessible and controllable. The Company provides a set of products and software services created by the Company, as well as distribute certified third-party products, including deadbolts, door and window sensors, motion sensors, garage access systems and water leak detection systems, from its security partners, such as Baldwin, Card Access, Kwikset and Yale. ! The Compa! ny offers full motion video and hi-fidelity audio intercom capability through its in-wall and tabletop touchscreens, as well as its exterior weather-resistant door stations. 4Sight is a subscription service that enables 24x7 home monitoring and control from virtually anywhere, remote home programming and support, and instant email alerts based on home events so that homeowners are always in-the-know.
The Company offers a subscription service called 4Sight that enables remote access to the connected home without exposing the installer or consumer to the complexities of communicating around firewalls and private Internet Protocol addresses. This service facilitates connections between remote client devices and its systems through a cloud-based service. Using 4Sight, consumers can remotely monitor and control their Control4 systems as if they were at their homes.
The Company competes with AMX, Crestron, Apple, Google, Microsoft and Samsung, Savant, Logitech, Lutron, Nest, Roku, Sonos and Universal Remote Control, ADT, Comcast, Verizon and Vivint.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rick Aristotle Munarriz]
Alamy You can never know in advance all the news that will move the market in a given week, but some things you can see coming. From food giants to tech bellwethers, here are some of the things that will help shape the week that lies ahead on Wall Street. Monday -- Organic Growth: The market for organic foods has never been hotter, and Annie's (BNNY) is there to cash in on consumers craving more natural edibles. It makes organic pastas, crackers, frozen pizzas, and other food products. Annie's reports after the market closes on Monday. It should be another quarter of healthy growth. Analysts see revenue and earnings growing by roughly 20 percent for the quarter that ended in December. The one thing that investors will need to watch out for is that Annie's has missed Wall Street's profit targets in the previous two quarters. Tuesday -- In Control: One of last month's big winners was Control4 (CTRL). Shares of the home automation specialist soared 29 percent in January, bucking the market, which took a bit of a tumble. And you don't have to look too hard to spot the catalyst behind its rally. Google's (GOOG) acquisition of smart thermostat maker Nest drew attention to Control4 as another play on automated home technology. The thinking here is that if Google is buying into the niche of Web-fueled home automation, other dot-com giants may consider acquiring Control4 to establish a presence in this new battlefield. Control4 reports on Tuesday. It's unlikely to admit that it's receiving buyout interest on the heels of Google's move, but you know it's going to be asked. Wednesday -- The Cisco kid: It may seem hard to believe, but there was a time when Cisco (CSCO) was this country's most valuable company. Just before the dot-com bubble popped, the leading provider of routers, switches, and other networking gear commanded the market's largest market cap. Then again, at the time we thought that anything Web-related was worth a whole lot of money, and Cisco was the co
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