Top 10 New Companies To Watch In Right Now

Top 10 New Companies To Watch In Right Now: Osage Exploration and Development Inc (OEDV)

Osage Exploration and Development, Inc. (Osage) is an oil and natural gas exploration and production company with reserves and production in the country of Colombia and the state of Oklahoma. The Companys pipeline is located in Colombia. The Companys focuses on developing its 28,000-acre Horizontal Mississippian block along the Nemaha Ridge in Logan County, Oklahoma, with their partners Slawson Exploration, and U.S. Energy Development Corp. The Company generates oil sales from its production operations in Colombia and in the state of Oklahoma and pipeline revenues from its Cimarrona property in Colombia. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company drilled two salt water disposal wells and commenced drilling the Wolfe#1-29H, the Companys horizontal Mississippian well in Logan County, Oklahoma. In January 2012, the Company began drilling the Krittenbrink 2-36H, the Companys second well in Logan County.

The Companys subsidiary, Cimarrona LLC, owns a 9.4% interest in certain oil and gas assets in the Guaduas field, located in the Dindal and Rio Seco Blocks that consist of 21 wells, of which seven are producing, that covers 30,665-acres in the Middle Magdalena Valley in Colombia, as well as a pipeline with a capacity of approximately 30,000 barrels of oil per day. The Cimarrona property, but not the pipeline, is subject to an Ecopetrol Association Contract (the Association Contract) whereby the Company pays Ecopetrol S.A. (Ecopetrol) royalties of 20% of the oil produced.

The Company has acquired oil and gas leases in Logan County, Oklahoma targeting the Mississippian formation. The Mississippian formation is located on the Anadarko Shelf in northern Oklahoma and south-central Kansas. The top of this expansive carbonate hydrocarbon system is encountered between 4,000 and 6,000 feet and lies stratigraphically between the Pennsylvanian-aged Morrow Sand and the Devonian-aged W! oodford Shale formations. The Mississippian formation reach 600 feet in gross thickness and the targeted porosity zone is between 50 and 300 feet in thickness. The Company owns 100% of the working interest in certain producing oil and natural gas leases located in Osage County, Oklahoma (Hopper Property). The Property consists of 23 wells, 10 of which are producing wells, on 480 acres.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By CRWE]

  Today, OEDV surged (+6.78%) up +0.08 at $1.26 with 39,220 shares in play thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 11:56AM EDT August 22, 2013).

  Osage Exploration and Development, Inc. previously reported financial results for the three months ended June 30, 2013 and provided an update on field operations. For the quarter, the Company reported a 75.8% increase in revenues of $2.4 million compared to the same period in 2012, and operating income of $1.2 million versus a loss of $274,563 for the period ending June 30, 2012.

  Osage participated in drilling ten wells during the second quarter, bringing the total number of wells in which Osage has an interest to twenty-nine as of June 30, 2013. Additionally, the Company reported average daily production roughly in-line with first quarter production.

• [By CRWE]

  Today, OEDV surged (+1.96%) up +0.03 at $1.56 with 178,129 shares in play thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 12:28PM EDT August 30, 2013).

  Osage Exploration and Development, Inc. previously reported preliminary production results on the Mallard 1-16H Horizontal Mississippian well in Logan County, Oklahoma. The well, located in Section 16-17N-3W, achieved a 24-hour peak initial production rate of 705 barrels of oil plus associated natural gas on an electric submersible pump and a 48/64 choke.

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.seekpennystocks.com/top-10-new-companies-to-watch-in-right-now-3.html

Hot High Dividend Companies To Buy For 2016

Hot High Dividend Companies To Buy For 2016: TE Connectivity Ltd.(TEL)

TE Connectivity Ltd. provides engineered electronic components, network solutions, specialty products, and subsea telecommunication systems. Its Electronic Components segment supplies passive electronic components, which include connectors and interconnect systems, relays, switches, sensors, and wire and cable to original equipment manufacturers and their contract manufacturers in the automotive, data communications, industrial, appliance, computer, and consumer devices markets. The company?s Network Solutions segment supplies infrastructure components and systems for telecommunications and energy markets. This segment provides components comprising connectors, above- and below-ground enclosures, heat shrink tubing, cable accessories, surge arrestors, fiber optic cabling, copper cabling, and racks for copper and fiber networks; electronic systems for test access and intelligent cross-connect applications; and integrated cabling solutions for cabling and building management . This segment also sells insulators, power measurement products, CATV accessories, network interface devices, raceway systems, and duct accessories. Its Specialty Products segment offers engineered custom solutions, components, and connectors for electronic systems, subsystems, and devices in the aerospace, defense, and marine; touch systems; medical; and circuit protection markets. The company?s Subsea Communications segment designs, builds, maintains, and tests undersea fiber optic networks for the telecommunications, and oil and gas markets. It sells its products in the Americas, Europe/the Middle East/Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. The company was formerly known as Tyco Electronics Ltd. and changed its name to TE Connectivity Ltd. on March 10, 2011. TE Connectivity Ltd. was founded in 1941 and is based in Schaffhausen, Switzerland.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Garrett Cook]

  Measurement Specialties (NASDAQ: MEAS) shar! es shot up 10.50 percent to $86.19 after the company agreed to be acquired by TE Connectivity (NYSE: TEL) for $86 cash per share.

• [By Garrett Cook]

  Measurement Specialties (NASDAQ: MEAS) shares shot up 10.46 percent to $86.16 after the company agreed to be acquired by TE Connectivity (NYSE: TEL) for $86 cash per share.

• [By Halia Pavliva]

  VimpelCom will probably attract about $200 million inflows from funds that trade the Nasdaq-100 Index, Piterskiy said yesterday. VTB has a buy rating on the stock. VimpelCom, owned by Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman and Telenor ASA (TEL), has rallied 45 percent this year.

• [By alicet236]

  TE Connectivity Ltd. (TEL): Chairman and CEO Thomas J. Lynch Sold 49,021 Shares

  Chairman and CEO of TE Connectivity Ltd. (TEL) Thomas J. Lynch sold 49,021 shares on 10/07/2013 at an average price of $51.6. Te Connectivity Ltd. has a market cap of $21.44 billion; its shares were traded at around $51.85 with a P/E ratio of 17.20 and P/S ratio of 1.70. The dividend yield of TE Connectivity Ltd. stocks is 1.80%.

source from Top Stocks To Buy For 2015:http://www.topstocksforum.com/hot-high-dividend-companies-to-buy-for-2016.html

Morningstar Guru Johnson: The Cons and Pros of Active ETFs

With the ongoing (and seemingly never-ending) active versus passive management debate, how it plays out in a mutual fund versus an ETF format and all the attendant arguments, where can one go for the “straight dope” before making a decision?

Morningstar, of course.

Ben Johnson, director of passive funds research with the Chicago-based firm, offered three points to consider before taking the active route. But don’t let his title throw you; he likes the active ETF concept, but advises investors approach with a heavy dose of skepticism.

“2011 was supposed to be the ‘Year of the active ETF,’” Johnson (left) told ThinkAdvisor on Thursday. “The clock was supposed to strike midnight on Dec. 31, 2010, and we would be off and running. That didn’t happen.”

When 2012 rolled around it was about “an” active ETF, rather than active ETFs in general.

“It was one company based in Newport Beach, Calif., that introduced what was essentially the younger brother of the single largest mutual fund strategy in the world,” he said, referring to PIMCO’s Total Return ETF (BOND) without specifically naming it.

Johnson considers its success a “mathematical inevitability.”

“You have Bill Gross behind it, who was Morningstar’s Fixed Income Manager of the Decade for the aughts. But it’s not just performance, it’s also the fees. I‘d argue that it’s really just a different distribution method. You go from A-shares in a mutual fund with front-end loads and expense ratios and put it in an ETF pipe instead, which results in substantial cost savings for the end investor.”

Hot Undervalued Companies For 2016

A pro for managers considering launching an ETF strategy of a mutual fund can either be a small fish in a very large pond (mutual fund) or a medium-sized fish in a much smaller pond, Johnson added. “From a business and marketing sense, that has appeal,” he said.

But other issues are decidedly in the con column, specifically daily transparency.

“If I’m running a concentrated equity strategy, why would I want to sit down at the table and immediately show my hand?” he rhetorically asked, before noting that in the fixed income space, the chances of front-running impeding success are “infinitesimally smaller than, say, if I’m running a concentrated value strategy.”

All that said, Johnson concluded by saying he hopes active ETFs gain in popularity.

“Ultimately, at the end of the day, the reduced costs and fees mean more money in the end-user's pocket, and that’s a good thing.”

---

Listen in on Johnson’s (at times heated) discussion with Gary Gastineau, principal of ETF Consultants, and AdvisorShares’ CEO Noah Hamman about the role of active ETFs by registering for the replay of our virtual ETF summit.

Best Machinery Companies To Own For 2016

Best Machinery Companies To Own For 2016: AB SKF (SKFRY.PK)

AB SKF, formerly SKF AB, is a global supplier of products, solutions and services within rolling bearings, seals, mechatronics, services and lubrication systems. The services provided by the Company include technical support, maintenance services, condition monitoring and training. The Company operates in three divisions: Industrial Division and Service Division, servicing industrial original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and aftermarket customers respectively, and Automotive Division, servicing automotive OEMs and aftermarket customers. SKF operates in around 40 customer segments, including cars and light trucks, wind energy, railway, machine tool, medical, food and beverage and paper industries. In April 2009, the Company acquired the remaining 49% interest in SKF Polyseal.

In February 2008, the Company acquired QPMAerospacess metallic rods business. In October 2008, the Company acquired Cirval S.A Argentina. In November 2008, the Company acquired GLO s .r.l. Italy. In December 2008, the Company acquired the remaining 30% of the operations of SKF Automotive Bearings Company. In September 2008, the Company acquired PEER Bearing Company and its manufacturing units in the Peoples Republic of China and Thailand.

Industrial Division

The Industrial Division serves industrial OEMs customers in some 30 global industry customer segments with a range of energy-efficient offerings. The solutions and know-how are based on the manufacturing of a wide range of bearings, such as spherical and cylindrical roller bearings, angular contact ball bearings, medium deep groove ball bearings and superprecision bearings, as well as lubrication systems, linear motion products, magnetic bearings, by-wire systems and couplings.

Service Division

The Service Division serves the global industrial aftermarket providing products and knowledge-based services for customers plant asset efficiency! . T he solutions are based on SKFs knowledge of bearings, seals, lubrication systems, mechatronics and services, and customers are served by SKF and its network of over 7,000 authorized distributors. The division runs a network of Condition Monitoring Centres, which designs and produces global hardware and software. Service Division is also responsible for all SKFs sales in certain markets.

Automotive Division

The Automotive Division serves manufacturers of cars, light trucks, heavy trucks, buses, two-wheelers and the vehicle service market, supporting them in bringing solutions to global markets. In addition, the division provides energy-saving solutions for home appliances, power tools and electric motors. Within the Automotive Division, SKF develops and manufactures bearings, seals and related products and services. Products include wheel hub bearing units, tapered roller bearings, small deep groove ball bearings, seals, and automotive special ty products for engine, steering and driveline applications. For the vehicle service market, the division provides complete repair kits, including a range of drive shafts and constant velocity joints.

Logistics Services

SKFs business is supported by its logistics processes and systems, which involve all parts of the logistics needs in the supply chain. SKF Logistics Services provides warehousing, transportation, packaging and inventory management based on seamless information and communication technology for the SKF Group globally.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Stephen Simpson, CFA]

  I wrote on bearings and velocity control products company Kaydon (KDN) in early March of this year, and I didn't see a lot of value at the time. As the year went on, that call looked worse and worse, as the stock climbed about 18% - well above the S&P 500, and well above industry peers/competitors like Timken (TKR) and SKF (SKFRY.PK). To top it all off, Kaydon announced this morning (September 5) tha! t it had ! received and accepted a buyout offer from SKF valuing the company at $35.50 - some 45% higher than the price when I thought it looked only about 10% undervalued. So what did I get wrong here, and what can investors do to avoid a similar mistake?

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.seekpennystocks.com/best-machinery-companies-to-own-for-2016-2.html

Top 5 Sliver Stocks To Invest In 2016

Top 5 Sliver Stocks To Invest In 2016: Carrefour SA (CRERF)

Carrefour SA is a France-based company that is primarily engaged in retail distribution sector. The Company operates a network of hypermarkets, supermarkets, hard discount stores, convenience stores and cash-and-carry outlets and offers e-commerce services. The Company's hypermarkets named Carrefour offer a range of food and non-food products. Carrefour SA's hypermarkets, supermarkets and convenience stores are operating under the Carrefour city, Carrefour contact, Carrefour express, 8aHuit, Shopi, Marche Plus, Proxi banners and cash & carry stores are operating under the Promocash banner, which primarily offer food, clothing and household goods, among others. The Company operates in mainland France and French overseas territories, as well as in Europe, Asia, Latin America, North Africa and the Middle East through a network of consolidated and franchised stores, and stores that Carrefour SA runs with partner companies. In January 2014, it acquired 129 convenience stores. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sophia Yan]

  Carrefour (CRERF) has also shuttered many stores, and is reported to be exploring a sale of its China and Taiwan businesses.

  Hypermarkets -- big box stores that combine supermarkets and department stores -- first opened up in China's largest cities over a decade ago. And it's no wonder companies such as Wal-Mart have been keen to get a slice of the market.

source from Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/top-5-sliver-stocks-to-invest-in-2016.html

Best Blue Chip Companies To Buy For 2015

Is the worst over?

After last week's sizable stock market downdraft, which crushed the Nasdaq's priciest and riskiest names the most, investors will be watching to see if the bleeding stops when trading resumes Monday -- or if the pain spreads in a more significant way to the market's blue chips.

There's one big difference between the current pullback and the steep drop to start the year: The losses this time are concentrated in pockets of the market deemed speculative, such as technology, biotech and small-company stocks.

The Nasdaq, home to many former high-fliers, has plunged 8.2% since its March 5 high, vs. a 5.8% drop during its early-year dive that ended Feb 3. The blue chip Dow Jones industrial average, which fell 7.3% at the start of 2014 before rallying back within 4 points of its record close, is down 3.3% in the current funk.

Top 5 Recreation Stocks To Invest In 2016: Chevron Corporation(CVX)

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

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Aaron Levitt]

  Those huge fields are just the kind of plays that the large super-majors –�Exxon�(XOM), Chevron�(CVX) and Total�(TOT) and the like — are clamoring to add. And with the downside now known — a max of $14.6 billion dollars — APC could finally be buy-out bait for one of the giants.

Best Blue Chip Companies To Buy For 2015: Apple Inc.(AAPL)

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

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Andrew Tonner]

  For most of us, it probably seems as if the battle for smartphone supremacy has already been decided. You know the typical gospel that�Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) and�Google (NASDAQ: GOOG  ) together have won the day. And although there certainly is some truth to that, it's important as investors to remember that the global smartphone market remains very much in its infancy, as a recent study reiterated. What does this mean for investors? Where's the opportunity going forward? Find out more in the following video.

• [By ICRAOnline]

  Technology giant Apple�� (AAPL) reported a better-than-expected second quarter 2014 results on April 23, following which shares jumped 7.89% in the after-hours. Surprisingly, Apple was successful in maintaining the trend for higher iPhone sales amid tough competition from Samsung (SSNLF) and the Android platform. Sales of Apple�� set-top boxes have reached 20 million by the quarter-end since its launch. However, its iPad sales were hit hard, and iPod sales continued to drop sharply.

• [By Alistair Barr]

  Android is the world�� most popular mobile-operating system, but isn�� as popular within companies. This lucrative enterprise market used to be dominated by BlackBerry (CA:BB) �, (BBRY) �but Apple (AAPL) �, Google (GOOG) �and Microsoft (MSFT) �are making a big push to take share away from the troubled Canada-based company.

• [By Evan Niu, CFA]

  If the approach sounds familiar, it's because it's the same marketing message that Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) has been making for the past few months with the iPhone 5. The Mac maker sells the one-handed capabilities of its new flagship, saying that "if you go large for large's sake, you end up with a phone that feels oversize, awkward, and hard to use." You can debate all day as to what the "just right" size is, but chances are it won't be close to phablet caliber for the average consumer.

Best Blue Chip Companies To Buy For 2015: Visa Inc.(V)

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

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  After five days of losses, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.6% to 15,928.56, while the S&P 500�rose 0.6% t0 1,792.50, ending its three-day losing streak. The Dow got a boost from Pfizer (PFE), Visa (V) and General Electric (GE), while the S&P 500′s biggest winners included homebuilder DR Horton (DHI) and T. Rowe Price (TROW).

• [By MONEYMORNING.COM]

  It's working with the three biggest credit card companies out there: American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP), MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA), and Visa Inc. (NYSE: V). And Apple also has forged relationships with such key retailers as McDonald's Corp. (NYSE: MCD), Macy's Inc. (NYSE:
  M), and Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG).

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Visa (V) gained 3.1% to $210.81 this week, making it the biggest winner in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Investors seem to have gotten over the risk posed to Visa by Russia.

Best Blue Chip Companies To Buy For 2015: Philip Morris International Inc(PM)

Philip Morris International Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products in markets outside of the United States. Its international product brand line comprises Marlboro, Merit, Parliament, Virginia Slims, L&M, Chesterfield, Bond Street, Lark, Muratti, Next, Philip Morris, and Red & White. The company also offers its products under the A Mild, Dji Sam Soe, and A Hijau in Indonesia; Diana in Italy; Optima and Apollo-Soyuz in the Russian Federation; Morven Gold in Pakistan; Boston in Colombia; Belmont, Canadian Classics, and Number 7 in Canada; Best and Classic in Serbia; f6 in Germany; Delicados in Mexico; Assos in Greece; and Petra in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It operates primarily in the European Union, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Canada, and Latin America. The company is based in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Aaron Smith]

  The stock price for Reynolds American (RAI), parent company of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., fell about 3%. Other Big Tobacco stocks followed suit, with shares of Altria Group (MO) slipping about 2%. Philip Morris (PM) falling about 1% and Lorillard (LO) dropping nearly 3%.

• [By Fede Zaldua]

  Imperial trades cheaply and pays a great, sustainable and for-ever-growing 4.5% cash dividend yield. The company's 2014 10.4 times P/E multiple represents a 40% discount to what most European consumer staples sell for. Besides, the owner of brands such as Davidoff and Gauloises, trades at a much more conservative level than its direct tobacco peers. Philip Morris International (PM) and British American Tobacco (BTI) sell for 2014 15 and 14.2 times earnings, respectively.

Best Blue Chip Companies To Buy For 2015: International Business Machines Corporation(IBM)

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) provides information technology (IT) products and services worldwide. Its Global Technology Services segment provides IT infrastructure and business process services, including strategic outsourcing, process, integrated technology, and maintenance services, as well as technology-based support services. The company?s Global Business Services segment offers consulting and systems integration, and application management services. Its Software segment offers middleware and operating systems software, such as WebSphere software to integrate and manage business processes; information management software for database and enterprise content management, information integration, data warehousing, business analytics and intelligence, performance management, and predictive analytics; Tivoli software for identity management, data security, storage management, and datacenter automation; Lotus software for collaboration, messaging, and so cial networking; rational software to support software development for IT and embedded systems; business intelligence software, which provides querying and forecasting tools; SPSS predictive analytics software to predict outcomes and act on that insight; and operating systems software. Its Systems and Technology segment provides computing and storage solutions, including servers, disk and tape storage systems and software, point-of-sale retail systems, and microelectronics. The company?s Global Financing segment provides lease and loan financing to end users and internal clients; commercial financing to dealers and remarketers of IT products; and remanufacturing and remarketing services. It serves financial services, public, industrial, distribution, communications, and general business sectors. The company was formerly known as Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co. and changed its name to International Business Machines Corporation in 1924. IBM was founded in 1910 and is based in Armonk, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matt Koppenheffer]

  Again, Buffett doesn't just talk the talk here. Buffett wrote in his 2011 letter to Berkshire shareholders that he'd been reading�IBM's (NYSE: IBM  ) annual report for�more than 50 years! Yet he hadn't bought it. But then, suddenly, in 2011 he purchased a massive position for Berkshire because, he says, his "thinking�crystallized." He probably came to understand that IBM has become far more than a race-for-the-latest-innovation technology company and that companies around the world depend on it for comprehensive solutions.

• [By Matt Thalman]

  Consider that the mother of all server companies, IBM (NYSE: IBM  ) just announced quarterly earnings this past week and missed on the top and bottom lines. It was the company's first earnings miss since 2005. The main reason for the miss was weak demand in the IT hardware segment, and analysts think this is a bad sign moving forward for the whole industry, not just for IBM.

• [By Shauna O'Brien]

  Barclays Capital reported on Monday that it has cut its rating on International Business Machines Corp. (IBM).

  The firm has downgraded IBM from “Overweight” to “Equal-Weight,” and has cut its price target from $215 to $190. This new price target suggests a 15% increase from the stock’s current price of $182.50.

  An analyst from the firm noted: ��t is increasingly clear to us that investors will evaluate IBM on cash flow more than earnings until revenue starts to grow meaningfully. As a result, we are moving our rating for IBM to Equal Weight from Overweight even though shares have been down over the past several months. The mainframe ��atalyst’ has passed and positive benefits from analytics seem to be offset by secular shits to SaaS and Cloud, which seem to adversely impact all of IBM’s segments in some way. We have recently performed several surveys that show the disruptive impact of cloud and SaaS are only in the early innings and are set to be more disruptive in 2014 for our whole sector.��/p>

  IBM shares were down $1.70, or 0.92%, during Monday morning trading. The stock has been mostly flat YTD.

• [By Traders Reserve]

  General Electric (GE) also invested $105 million to buy a 10% stake in Pivotal Initiative. Best of all, EMC�� products are compatible with many different platforms including IBM (IBM) and Oracle (ORCL).

Top 10 Defensive Stocks To Buy Right Now

If there's one thing to take away from Mary Meeker's annual "Internet Trends" report, it's that things change quickly in the tech industry. While the competitive advantages for older industries, such as industrials, allow market leaders to continuously outshine smaller competitors, the moats of Internet companies are easily crossed by upstarts with user bases that flock quickly from one service to another.

In this high tech, photo-sharing, mobile-advertising, social-gaming, and disruptive high-tech world, what are the best investment strategies for companies that can lose their appeal overnight?

Swift changes
First, if you haven't yet scanned Meeker's report, take a look. Here are just a few examples of how things have changed in a few short years:

In 2005, Nokia's�Symbian smartphone operating system had more than 60% of the global market share. In the first quarter of 2013, Symbian, which is now discontinued as Nokia has moved to Windows Phone, took 0.6% of market share. Facebook� (NASDAQ: FB  ) has dominated competitors in terms of number of photos uploaded and shared, with more than 300 million so far this year. The company made the defensive acquisition of Instagram to maintain its photo-sharing dominance. However, Snapchat, an application that allows users to send self-destructing photos and videos, is growing exponentially, with more than100 million photos shared this year. While Snapchat shared 20 million photos per day last October, about 150 million photos were shared in April. Twitter's Vine application, which allows users to record and share short six-second looping videos, has grown its user base from less than 2% of U.S. iPhones in January to nearly 8% in April. Now�45% of Groupon's� (NASDAQ: GRPN  ) North American transactions are done through a mobile device, compared withjust 14% at the beginning of 2011.

What to look for when investing
A dynamic industry calls for several characteristics if a company is to survive and prosper.

Top 10 Up And Coming Companies To Watch For 2016: PBF Energy Inc (PBF)

PBF Energy Inc. (PBF Energy), incorporated on November 7, 2011, is an independent petroleum refiners and suppliers of unbranded transportation fuels, heating oils, petrochemical feedstocks, lubricants and other petroleum products in the United States. The Company produces a range of products at each of its refineries, including gasoline, ultra-low-sulfur diesel (ULSD), heating oil, jet fuel, lubricants, petrochemicals and asphalt. The Company sells its products throughout the Northeast and Midwest of the United States, as well as in other regions of the United States and Canada, and are able to ship products to other international destinations. As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned and operated three domestic oil refineries and related assets. The Company's refineries have a combined processing capacity of approximately 540,000 thousand barrels per day. The Company's three refineries are located in Toledo, Ohio, Delaware City, Delaware and Paulsboro, New Jersey.

The Company's Midcontinent refinery at Toledo processes light, sweet crude, has a throughput capacity of 170,000 thousand barrels per day and a Nelson Complexity Index of 9.2. Toledo's West Texas Intermediate (WTI) based crude is delivered through pipelines, which originate in both Canada and the United States. The Company's East Coast refineries at Delaware City and Paulsboro have a combined refining capacity of 370,000 thousand barrels per day and Nelson Complexity Indices of 11.3 and 13.2, respectively. These refineries process medium and heavy and sour crudes.

Delaware City Refinery

The Delaware City refinery is located on a 5,000-acre site, with access to waterborne cargoes and a distribution network of pipelines, barges and tankers, truck and rail. Delaware City is a fully integrated operation, which receives crude through rail at the crude unloading facility, or ship or barge at its docks located on the Delaware River. The crude and other feedstocks are transported, through pipes, to a tank! farm where they are stored until processing. In addition, there is a 17-bay, 50,000 thousand barrels per day capacity truck loading rack located adjacent to the refinery and a 23-mile interstate pipeline that are used to distribute clean products.

The Delaware City refinery has a throughput capacity of 190,000 thousand barrels per day and a Nelson Complexity Index of 11.3. The Delaware City refinery processes a range of medium to heavy, sour crude oils. The refinery has conversion capacity with its 82,000 thousand barrels per day fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit, 47,000 thousand barrels per day fluid coking unit (FCU) and 18,000 thousand barrels per day hydro cracking unit with vacuum distillation. Hydrogen is provided through the refinery's steam methane reformer and continuous catalytic reformer. The Delaware City refinery has total storage capacity of approximately 10 million barrels.

Paulsboro Refinery

Paulsboro has a throughput capacity of 180,000 thousand barrels per day and a Nelson Complexity Index of 13.2. The Paulsboro refinery is located on approximately 950 acres on the Delaware River in Paulsboro, New Jersey, just south of Philadelphia and approximately 30 miles away from Delaware City. Paulsboro receives crude and feedstocks through its marine terminal on the Delaware River. Paulsboro is one of two operating refineries on the East Coast with coking capacity, the other being Delaware City. Units at the Paulsboro refinery include crude distillation units, vacuum distillation units, an FCC unit, a delayed coking unit, a lube oil processing unit and a propane de-asphalting unit. The Paulsboro refinery processes a range of medium and heavy, sour crude oils. The Paulsboro refinery produces gasoline, heating oil and jet fuel and also manufactures Group I base oils or lubricants. In addition to its finished clean products slate, Paulsboro produces asphalt and petroleum coke. In addition, separate from the Company's agreement with Statoil the Company ha! s a long-! term contract with Saudi Aramco. The Paulsboro refinery has total storage capacity of approximately 7.5 million barrels. Of the total, approximately 2.1 million barrels are dedicated to crude oil storage with the remaining 5.4 million barrels allocated to finished products, intermediates and other products.

Toledo Refinery

Toledo has a throughput capacity of approximately 170,000 thousand barrels per day and a Nelson Complexity Index of 9.2. Toledo processes a slate of light, sweet crudes from Canada, the Midcontinent, the Bakken region and the United States Gulf Coast. Toledo produces a high percentage of finished products, including gasoline and ULSD, in addition to a range of petrochemicals, including nonene, xylene, tetramer and toluene. The Toledo refinery is located on a 282-acre site near Toledo, Ohio, approximately 60 miles from Detroit. Units at the Toledo refinery include an FCC unit, a hydrocracker, an alkylation unit and a UDEX unit. Crude is delivered to the Toledo refinery through three primary pipelines: Enbridge from the north, Capline from the south and Mid-Valley from the south. Crude is also delivered to a nearby terminal by rail and from local sources by truck to a truck unloading facility within the refinery.

Toledo is connected through pipelines, to a distribution network throughout Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The finished products are transported on pipelines owned by Sunoco Logistics Partners L.P. and Buckeye Partners.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  Nothing could be (re)finer
  Like the previous companies, the dismal performance of the market over the past week has ransacked even the oil refining sector and names like PBF Energy (NYSE: PBF  ) . Refiners come under pressure anytime the prospect of lower demand rolls around, so with China's credit crunch scaring investors under the covers, it's not a big surprise to see PBF shares selling off. The company's approximately 16 million share secondary offering earlier this month didn't help its cause, either.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Will the price of oil collapse this year? Investors are worried they will and that could push refiners like�Phillips 66 (PSX) and PBF Energy (PBF) higher.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  It’s been a very good three months for oil refiners. Western Refining has gained 37% during that period, while Marathon Petroleum has risen 35%, Valero has advanced 38% and Tesoro is up 28%. The price of PBF Energy (PBF) shares has increased 39%. That was helped� by the fact Brent crude, the European benchmark, had gained 2.2% to $116.0 during that period, while the price of WTI crude, the U.S. benchmark fell 5.2%–increasing the difference between the two.

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  PBF Energy (NYSE: PBF) tumbled 5.85 percent to $28.16 after the company priced secondary offering of 15 million shares at $28 per share. Gulfport Energy (NASDAQ: GPOR) was down, falling 6 percent to $55.66 after the company reported 2013 exit rate of 27,780 barrels of oil equivalent per day. RBC Capital downgraded Gulfport Energy from Outperform to Sector Perform and cut the price target from $64.00 to $61.00.

Top 10 Defensive Stocks To Buy Right Now: U.S. Silica Holdings Inc (SLCA)

US Silica Holdings, Inc. is a silica sand supplier company. The Company is a producer of industrial minerals, including sand proppants, whole grain silica, ground silica, fine ground silica, calcined kaolin clay and aplite clay. The Company operates in two segments: oil and gas, and industrial and specialty products. The Company�� shipping capabilities include five of the class-one railroads, barge, full truckload, partial truckload and intermodal. The Company�� products include proppants, whole grain silica, ground silica, fine ground silica, testing silica, recreational silica, aplite, kaolin, hydrous kaolin and FLORISIL. It also operates as a research and development specialist for customized products and solutions. The Company serves a range of industries and applications, which includes oil and gas, glass, chemicals, foundry, building products, fillers and extenders, recreation, industrial filtration and treatment, and testing and analysis.

Oil & Gas

The Company�� oil and gas segment include OTTAWA WHITE and SHALE FRAC product lines. The Company has a selection of offerings from number of mining and transload locations. Its products consist of unconventional reservoirs, including tight gas, coal bed methane, shale gas, and liquids.

Industrial & Specialty Products

The Company�� industrial and specialty products include glass, chemical, foundry, building products, fillers and extenders, recreation, industry filtration and treatment, and testing and analysis. The Company produces a range of whole grain silica, ground silica and kaolin clays.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By MONEYMORNING.COM]

  This time let's use U.S. Silica Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SLCA), which we've been following most of this year. We've already made a double on it, and it's trading at near record highs.

• [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 U.S. Silica Holdings (NYSE: SLCA  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Top 10 Defensive Stocks To Buy Right Now: NPS Pharmaceuticals Inc.(NPSP)

NPS Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development of therapeutic products for gastrointestinal and endocrine disorders, and various medical needs. The company?s primary clinical programs include two therapeutic peptides to restore or replace biological functions comprising GATTEX, a Phase 3 clinical trial product for short bowel syndrome; and Natpara, a recombinant human parathyroid hormone 1-84, which is in Phase 3 clinical development trials. It also develops NPSP790 and NPSP795 calcilytic compounds that are in Phase I trials for the treatment of rare endocrine disorders. The company has collaborative and license agreements with Amgen Inc., Janssen, GlaxoSmithKline, Kyowa Hakko Kirin, and Nycomed Danmark ApS. NPS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was founded in 1986 and is based in Bedminster, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  NPS Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: NPSP) is among the best revenue growth possibilities for biotech in 2014. The company’s revenue�growth is expected to be 71%. We would caution that the consensus analyst price target of $37 implies more than 40% upside, but what our readers need to know is that this stock has been an incredibly volatile one. With shares around $25, it has a 52-week range of $7.35 to $35.72.

• [By Louis Navellier]

  SVA is a strong buy at the current price.

  Biotech Stocks to Buy: NPS Pharmaceuticals (NPSP)

  NPS Pharmacuticals (NPSP) currently has five drugs� for things like osteoporosis, hyperparathyroidism, pain management and short bowel syndrome. They focus their research efforts right now on things like gastrointestinal, psychiatric, neurological and� bone and mineral disorders. The company had triple digit gains in sales and earnings in the most recent quarter and the strong fundamentals were noticed by Portfolio Grader.

• [By Bryan Murphy]

  With just a quick look from a distance, NPS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:NPSP) looks like great stock. NPSP shares are up more than 200% year-to-date, even with the lull since the end of September. And, it looks like the media (as well as the market) has completely fallen in love with the company's flagship drug. As they say though, nothing lasts forever, and there are too many of the telltale signs that say this story-driven biotech runup has run its course and is ready to reverse.

• [By Keith Speights]

  Two high-flying biotech stocks of late are NPS Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: NPSP  ) and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: REGN  ) . Both have had great results over the past month.

Top 10 Defensive Stocks To Buy Right Now: Paramount Gold and Silver Corp. (PZG)

Paramount Gold and Silver Corp., an exploration stage company, acquires, explores, and develops gold, silver, and precious metal properties in the United States and Mexico. It owns a 100% interest in the San Miguel property located in southwestern Chihuahua, northern Mexico. The company�s projects also include the Sleeper Gold project located in Humboldt County; the Mill Creek property located to the south of Battle Mountain; and the Spring Valley property located in the Spring Valley area in Pershing County, Nevada. The company was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Winnemucca, Nevada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By MONEYMORNING.COM]

  And one of our favorite "juniors" - meaning, by definition, it's a speculative company - is the Winnemucca, Nev.-based Paramount Gold and Silver Corp. (NYSEMKT: PZG). It's an exploration-stage miner with projects in northern Nevada and Chihuahua, Mexico.

Top 10 Defensive Stocks To Buy Right Now: St. Jude Medical Inc.(STJ)

St. Jude Medical, Inc. develops, manufactures, and distributes cardiovascular and implantable neurostimulation medical devices worldwide. It operates in four segments: Cardiac Rhythm Management, Cardiovascular, Atrial Fibrillation, and Neuromodulation. The Cardiac Rhythm Management segment offers products for cardiac arrhythmias, or irregular heart beats. Its products include tachycardia implantable cardioverter defibrillator systems to provide therapy to patients suffering from lethal heart conditions, such as sudden cardiac arrest; cardiac resynchronization therapy devices to treat heart failure patients; pacemakers to help people whose hearts beat too slowly or who suffer from other cardiac arrhythmias; and leads, which connect devices to the heart and carry the electrical impulses to the heart and information from the heart to the device. The Cardiovascular segment offers mechanical and tissue replacement heart valves, as well as heart valve repair products. It also pr ovides disposable interventional devices, including vascular closure devices, compression assist devices, percutaneous catheter introducers, diagnostic guidewires, and temporary bipolar pacing catheters, as well as diagnostic coronary imaging technology. The Atrial Fibrillation segment offers a system of products for access, diagnosis, visualization, and ablation that assist physicians in diagnosing and treating various irregular heart rhythms used in the electrophysiology lab and cardiac surgery. It provides electrophysiology introducers and catheters, cardiac mapping, navigation and recording systems, and ablation systems. The Neuromodulation segment offers a range of neurostimulation systems, such as rechargeable implantable pulse generators, primary cell implantable pulse generators, and radio frequency powered systems. St. Jude Medical markets its products through a direct sales force and independent distributors. The company was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Marc Bastow]

  Cardiovascular medical device designer and manufacturer St. Jude Medical (STJ) raised its quarterly dividend 8% to 27 cents per share, payable April 30 to shareholders of record as of March 31.
  STJ Dividend Yield: 1.60%

Top 10 Defensive Stocks To Buy Right Now: Goldcorp Incorporated(GG)

Goldcorp Inc. engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and operation of precious metal properties in Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Central and South America. It produces and sells gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc. The company was founded in 1954 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Smith]

  Today's high cash-cost of digging through 9.4 tons of dirt in hopes of extracting a golf-ball's weight of pure gold explains why most of the major gold miners -- from low-cost producer Barrick, all the way up through Kinross (NYSE: KGC  ) , Newmont (NYSE: NEM  ) and Goldcorp (NYSE: GG  ) -- are currently in a negative free cash flow state. (Well, the high cost plus the relatively lower prices that miners are getting for their gold today).

Top 10 Defensive Stocks To Buy Right Now: Canadian National Railway Company(CNI)

Canadian National Railway Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the rail and related transportation business in North America. It provides transportation for various goods, including petroleum and chemicals, grain and fertilizers, coal, metals and minerals, forest products, and intermodal and automotive products. The company operates a network of approximately 20,600 route miles of track that spans Canada and mid-America, from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to the Gulf of Mexico. It serves the ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert (British Columbia), Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile (Alabama), as well as metropolitan areas of Toronto, Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Duluth (Minnesota)/Superior (Wisconsin), Green Bay (Wisconsin), Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, and Jackson (Mississippi), with connections to various points in North America. The company was founded in 1922 and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  But CSX has a couple of options to pursue to rebound. One way would be to take advantage of growing export demand for coal, as natural-gas prices in other areas of the world are far less competitive than they are within the U.S., and low shipping costs make global coal transport economically viable. The other alternative is to borrow a page from other railroads and seek to transport cheap domestic oil by rail from hard-to-reach areas to existing refineries, especially on the East Coast. Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP  ) and Canadian National (NYSE: CNI  ) have found high demand for their services in the oil-producing areas of Alberta and the Bakken, and although CSX's home territory is better served by existing pipelines, it could nevertheless have an opportunity to boost demand by meeting other needs.

• [By Vanina Egea]

  Conditions for railroad operations in the U.S. do not look as good as on the other side of the Great Lakes. While Canadian National (CNI) and Canadian Pacific (CP) have wrestled with a greater demand and adverse environmental conditions ���onditions that have sparked a heated debate at Congress ���.S. railroad operators lack the necessary demand to be noticed by the market.

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Railroad operator�Canadian National Railway (NYSE: CNI  ) announced yesterday its third-quarter dividend of $0.43 Canadian per share, the same rate it's paid for the past two quarters after raising the payout 15% from $0.375 Canadian per share.

Best Tech Stocks To Own Right Now

Best Tech Stocks To Own Right Now: Wave Systems Corp.(WAVX)

Wave Systems Corp. develops, produces, and markets products for hardware-based digital security. Its products are based on the Trusted Platform Module (TPM), a hardware security chip that enables secure protection of files and other digital secrets, and performs critical security functions. The company offers EMBedded Application Security SYstem (EMBASSY) Trust Suite, a set of applications and services that are designed to bring functionality and user value to TPM enabled products. The EMBASSY Trust Suite includes the EMBASSY Security Center, Trusted Drive Manager, Document Manager, Private Information Manager, and Key Transfer Manager. It also offers middleware and tools, which include Trusted Computing Group (TCG) enabled toolkit that assists application developers in writing new applications or modifying existing ones to function on TCG-compliant platforms; and Wave TCG-Enabled Cryptographic Service Provider, which allows software developers to utilize the security of a TCG standards-based platform. In addition, the company offers EMBASSY Trust Server Applications comprising EMBASSY Key Management Server, a server application designed to provide corporate-level backup and transition of the TPM keys; EMBASSY Authentication Server that offers centralized management, provisioning, and enforcement of multifactor domain access policies; and EMBASSY Remote Administration Server, which provides centralized management and auditing of TPMs and self-encrypting drives. Further, it offers eSign Transaction Management Suite and broadband media distribution services. Wave Systems Corp. sells its products to chip original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), PC OEMs, enterprise customers, and systems integrators. The company was formerly known as Cryptologics International, Inc. and changed its name to Wave Systems Corp. in January 1993. Wave Systems Corp. was founded! in 1988 and is based in Lee, Massachusetts.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Bryan Murphy]

  Just when you think it can't get any better for Wave Systems Corp. (NASDAQ:WAVX), it gets better. WAVX is turning out to be one of those rare cases where the higher the stock goes, the easier it gets for it to go higher.

• [By Bryan Murphy]

  If there was any lingering doubt that Wave Systems Corp. (NASDAQ:WAVX) was in the early stages of a rebound, today's 11% pop should wipe those doubts away. This little technology company has lodged itself firmly into a bullish trend today, after hammering out a turnaround effort for the past four months. Translation: WAVX has become a convincing buy.

source from Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/best-tech-stocks-to-own-right-now-4.html

Top Cheapest Companies To Watch For 2016

Top Cheapest Companies To Watch For 2016: Apollo Investment Corporation(AINV)

Apollo Investment Corporation is business development company and operates as a closed-end management investment company. The company invests in middle market companies. It provides direct equity capital, mezzanine and senior secured loans, and subordinated debt and loans. It also seeks to invest in PIPES transactions. The company may also invest in public companies that are thinly traded and may acquire investments in the secondary market. It prefers to invest in warrants, makes equity co-investments, and may also invest in cash equivalents, U.S. government securities, high-quality debt investments that mature in one year or less, high-yield bonds, distressed debt, non-U.S. investments, or securities of public companies that are not thinly traded. The company typically invests in building materials, business services, cable television, chemicals, consumer products, direct marketing, distribution, energy and utilities, financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, media, publishing, retail and transportation. It primarily invests between $20 million and $250 million in its portfolio companies. The company seeks to make investments with stated maturities of five to ten years.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Bieglmeier]

  Expensive or not, dividend investors might be interested in this week's highlighted insider buying candidate: Apollo Investment Corporation (AINV).

• [By James Brumley]

  The seller will let up as soon as the news is a fading memory, which should be soon.

  Apollo Investment Corp. (AINV)

  AINV Dividend Yield: 9.7%

source from Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/top-cheapest-companies-to-watch-for-2016.html

Hot Industrial Disributor Companies To Invest In 2016

Hot Industrial Disributor Companies To Invest In 2016: BMC Software Inc. (BMC)

BMC Software, Inc. develops software that provides system and service management solutions for enterprises in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Enterprise Service Management and Mainframe Service Management. The Enterprise Service Management segment offers service assurance solutions that manage availability and performance management, event management, service impact management, and capacity management; service automation solutions managing provisioning, configuration change, and compliance automation for servers, networks, applications, and databases; service support solutions, which manages service desk, incident management, service request management, problem management, asset management, service level management, change and release management, and identity management; and BMC Atrium that provides shared technologies that unify information and processes from disparate management tools, and assigns priorities to business servic es. It also offers consulting, implementation, integration, IT process design and re-engineering, and educational services related to its software products. The Mainframe Service Management segment provides mainframe data and performance management solutions that ensure the availability and reliability of the business critical data, applications, and systems; and enterprise workload automation solutions comprising CONTROL-M product line, a set of features enabling data centers to automate their complex workloads and critical business processes. The company serves manufacturers, telecommunication companies, educational institutions, retailers, distributors, hospitals, and other industries, as well as channel partners, including resellers, distributors and systems integrators directly. BMC Software, Inc. was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Alex Jordon]

  A variety of! acquisitions ramps up Oracle's presence in cloud computing, like deals with RightNow, Taleo, and Eloqua. The annual run-rate of their cloud business is already over $1 billion, larger than Workday (WDAY) and SAP (SAP) combined. New customers include British Telecom (BT), BMC Software (BMC), Siemens (SI), Yahoo (YHOO), and Intuit (INTU).

• [By Tom Taulli]

  As with many other hot cloud companies, NOW stock has been a roller coaster lately. But this isn’t an issue for the companys CEO, Frank Slootman. I met with Slootman recently, and he told me that ServiceNow could be instantly profitable if he dialed down growth. He said that would be a mistake, though, because the market opportunity is massive. His competition is mostly made up of legacy operators like BMC (BMC) and Hewlett-Packard (HPQ).

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.seekpennystocks.com/hot-industrial-disributor-companies-to-invest-in-2016.html

Hot Consumer Service Stocks To Invest In Right Now

Hot Consumer Service Stocks To Invest In Right Now: CNA Financial Corp (CNA)

CNA Financial Corporation (CNAF), incorporated in 1967, is an insurance holding company. The Companys core business commercial property and casualty insurance operations operate in two segments: CNA Specialty and CNA Commercial. Its non-core businesses are managed in two business segments: Life & Group Non-Core and Corporate & Other Non-Core. The Companys insurance products primarily include commercial property and casualty coverages, including surety. Its services include risk management, information services, and warranty and claims administration. Its products and services are marketed through independent agents, brokers and managing general underwriters to a wide variety of customers, including small, medium and large businesses, associations, professionals and other groups. CNA's property and casualty and remaining life and group insurance operations are primarily conducted by Continental Casualty Company (CCC), The Continental Insurance Company, Western Surety Company and Continental Assurance Company (CAC). On June 10, 2011, CNA completed the acquisition of CNA Surety Corporation. In July 2012, the Company acquired Hardy Underwriting Bermuda Ltd. On December 14, 2012, the Company sold SUR Insurance Agency, Inc. and The Bond Exchange to California Contractors Insurance Services.

CNA Specialty

CNA Specialty provides professional and management liability and other coverages through property and casualty products and services, both domestically and abroad, through a network of brokers, independent agencies and managing general underwriters. CNA Specialty provides solutions for managing the risks of its clients, including architects, lawyers, accountants, health care professionals, financial intermediaries and public and private companies. Product offerings also include surety and fidelity bonds and warranty services.

CNA Specialty includes four business groups: Professiona! l & Management Liabilit y, International, Surety, and Warranty and Alternative Risks! . Professional & Management Liability provides management and professional liability insurance and risk management services and other specialized property and casualty coverages in the United States. This group provides professional liability coverages to various professional firms, including architects, real estate agents, small and mid-sized accounting firms, law firms and technology firms. Professional & Management Liability also provides D&O, employment practices, fiduciary and fidelity coverages. Products within Professional & Management Liability are distributed through brokers, agents and managing general underwriters. Professional & Management Liability, through CNA HealthPro, also offers insurance products to serve the healthcare delivery system. Products include professional liability and associated standard property and casualty coverages, and are distributed on a national basis through brokers, agents and managing general underwriters. Customer segments include l ong term care facilities, allied health care providers, life sciences, dental professionals and mid-size and large health care facilities.

International provides similar management and professional liability insurance and other specialized property and casualty coverages in Canada and Europe. Surety consists primarily of CNA Surety Corporation (CNA Surety) and its insurance subsidiaries and offers small, medium and large contract and commercial surety bonds. CNA Surety provides surety and fidelity bonds in all 50 states through a combined network of independent agencies.

Warranty and Alternative Risks provides extended service contracts and related products that provide protection from the financial burden associated with mechanical breakdown and other related losses, primarily for vehicles and portable electronic communication devices. These products are distributed through and administered by a wholly owned subsidiar! y, CNA Na! tional Warranty Corpo ration, or through third party administrators.

! CNA Comme! rcial

CNA Commercial works with an independent agency distribution system and a network of brokers to market a range of property and casualty insurance products and services to small, middle-market and large businesses and organizations domestically and abroad. Products include standard and excess property coverages, as well as marine coverage, and boiler and machinery. Casualty products include standard casualty insurance products such as workers compensation, general and product liability, commercial auto and umbrella coverages. It also offers pecialized loss-sensitive insurance programs to those customers viewed as higher risk and less predictable in exposure.

The Business insurance group serves smaller commercial accounts and the Commercial insurance group serves middle markets and larger risks. In addition, CNA Commercial provides total risk management services relating to claim and information services to the insurance marketplace, through a wholly owned subsidiary, CNA ClaimPlus, Inc., a third party administrator. The International insurance group primarily consists of the commercial product lines of its operations in Europe, Canada, as well as Hawaii.

CNA Select Risk (Select Risk) includes excess and surplus lines coverages. Risk provides specialized insurance for selected commercial risks on both an individual customer and program basis. Select Risks products are distributed throughout the United States through specialist producers, program agents and brokers.

Life & Group Non-Core

The Life & Group Non-Core segment includes the results of the life and group lines of business that are in run-off. It retains block of group reinsurance and life settlement contracts.

Corporate & Other Non-Core

Corporate & Other Non-Core primarily includes certain corporate expenses. This also includes interest on corporate deb! t, and th! e results of certain prop erty and casualty business in run-off, including CNA Re and ! A&EP.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Amanda Alix]

  This is the beauty of the insurance model, and its charm has attracted investing greats like Warren Buffett, who may have pioneered this latest trend through his own company, Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A  ) (NYSE: BRK-B  ) . In 2010, Berkshire took on AIG's asbestos liability for a hefty fee, and did the same for CNA Financial (NYSE: CNA  ) the following year. There's little doubt that Buffett added to his wealth by wisely investing the $3.65 billion he received in those two deals.

• [By Amanda Alix]

  Take Berkshire's purchase of CNA Financial's (NYSE: CNA  ) and AIG's asbestos liability in 2010 and 2011, respectively. For a total of $3.65 billion, Buffett took on $3.5 billion of liability in AIG's case, and $1.6 billion from CNA. This gave Berkshire a nice big bag of cash to invest, while asbestos cases continued to wend their way through the courts for years. Meanwhile, two troubled insurers received the Berkshire Hathaway brand of security regarding their own future liability in that arena.

• [By Tom Stoukas]

  Centrica Plc (CNA), the largest energy supplier to U.K. homes, lost 2.3 percent to 366.9 pence. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded the shares to neutral from overweight, citing proposals from Britains Labour Party to freeze energy bills and break up the countrys six biggest power suppliers.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  The overwhelming majority of Loews can be valued as the sum of its three largest subsidiary businesses that also have publicly trading stock: CNA Financial (CNA), Diamond Offshore (DO) and Boardwalk Pipeline(BWP). The sum of these stakes is equivalent to 97.7% of the market capitalization of Loews. For almost free, imknvestors also get ownership of Boardwalks B shares and general partnership, a small national hote! l chain, ! natural gas and oil E&P HighMount and the $4B in fungible assets on Loewss corporate balance sheet…

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.seekpennystocks.com/hot-consumer-service-stocks-to-invest-in-right-now-3.html

Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks To Buy For 2016

Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks To Buy For 2016: Colgate-Palmolive Company(CL)

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

• [By Motley Fool Staff]

  Andres Cardenal:Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL  ) , generates most of its sales and cash flows from its leadership position in the oral care industry. Management estimates that the company owns a global market share of 44.4% in toothpastes, 33.2% in toothbrushes, and 38.9% in mouthwashes.

source from Top Stocks To Buy For 2015:http://www.topstocksforum.com/top-10-blue-chip-stocks-to-buy-for-2016.html

Surprising Pick for Safety, High Returns: Emerging Market Stocks

Though apt to lurch violently from boom to bust, emerging markets stocks do produce higher returns over time — but are they worth all the portfolio whiplash your clients must endure?

Actually, yes — if the advisor orchestrates the client’s portfolio intelligently — according to Servo Wealth Management’s Eric Nelson most recent blog post.

On the face of it, whether emerging market stocks enhance an investor’s portfolio is a legitimate question.

That is because their volatility is of such a higher magnitude that one might think to enhance portfolio returns without nearly as much added risk.

Specifically, Nelson cites the Dimensional Fund Advisors emerging markets value fund’s standard deviation of 27 over the past 16 years; that is close to twice the volatility of DFA’s U.S. large growth portfolio (based on the S&P 500) whose standard deviation was just 15.8 over the same period.

An advisor might rationally seek to improve portfolio return by adding large value stocks, small value stocks, international large value or international small value stocks. All of these had higher returns and higher risk than the S&P 500, but their standard deviations were 19, 21.5, 19.7 and 18.5, respectively.

The riskiest of that bunch, U.S. small value, was around halfway between the S&P 500 and an emerging markets value fund in terms of standard deviation. So one might think twice about staking a position.

Put differently, should a portfolio include emerging-markets value stocks — whose average annual return over the past 16 years was a whopping 12.4% — when adding international small value, which returned 10.8% over the same period, nearly matches the return advantage with so much less risk (18.5 vs. EM’s standard deviation of 27)?

The surprising answer is yes, and the reason Nelson gives is that “investors don’t buy positions, they own portfolios.”

The Oklahoma City-based fee-only advisor demonstrates the magic of diversification by comparing an all-stock developed markets portfolio (70% U.S., 30% international) returned, over the past 16 years, 8.6% annually with a standard deviation of 17.8.

Yet a similar 70-30 mix, this time including emerging markets (in addition to international large value and international small value), returned 9.2% with a standard deviation of 18.3.

Writes Nelson:

“The return increased by 0.6% per year, while the standard deviation (risk) of the portfolio only increased by 0.5%.  Over a period of more than 15 years, a 0.6% per year higher return would lead to $0.38 more wealth for every $1 initially invested, while a half-percent increase in volatility is almost unnoticeable.”

Practically a free ride.

And Nelson finds another implication for safety-seeking investors. By rearranging the portfolio to include a 15% allocation to high-quality short-term bonds but by including just an 8.5% stake in emerging markets (within the 85% stock portion of the portfolio), an investor would earn the same 8.6% return as the developed-market-stocks-only portfolio, but with a standard deviation of just 15.5 rather than 17.8.

Whether maximizing returns or limiting volatility is the goal, emerging markets stocks seem poised to help long-term investors, Nelson concludes.

But beyond the principled basis for their inclusion, ThinkAdvisor asked if their poor recent performance further strengthens the case for emerging market stocks.

“You don’t have to be a market timer to realize that emerging market returns have been negative or in the low single digits for the last several years, so they’re cheaper on a relative basis,” Nelson says.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if over the next 3 to 5 years, emerging markets stocks do several percentage points better than U.S. stocks because that’s how things work,” he adds in a nod to the mean reversion investing principle.

“So the long-term case for including them in a portfolio is there," he says. "And as to the short-term basis, there’s almost no case I can think of for excluding them right now. So you have all your bases covered.”

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