| Industry Best Heal Care Companies To Own For 2014: Cleanfield Alternative Energy (AIR.V) Cleanfield Alternative Energy Inc., through its subsidiary, Cleanfield Energy Corp., engages in the research, development, and distribution of renewable energy solutions for the urban environment in Canada and the United States. The company offers vertical axis wind turbine systems; and solar products, such as system inverters, power and heat generation systems, photovoltaic (PV) panel mounting and tracking system, and PV systems. It has strategic partnerships with Sai Prasad Energy Pvt. Ltd., McMaster University, Zhejiang University, Hyperion Shanghai Drive Technology Co. Ltd., ISTPCanada Incorporated, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and Ontario Centres of Excellence Inc. The company was founded in 2002 and is based in Toronto, Canada. Best Heal Care Companies To Own For 2014: Las Vegas From Home.Com Enterta (LVH.V) Las Vegas From Home.com Entertainment Inc. engages in the development and marketing of software for online multi-player interactive card games. The company provides LVFH Gaming Platform that offers an array of real-money and play-for-fun games, including poker, Asian, and casino games with a library of tournament formats in download and in-browser versions. Its poker games include Texas Hold'em, Omaha, and Guts; Asian games comprise Mahjong & Mahjong 1-on-1, 13 Card Poker (Chinese Poker), Big 2 & Super Big 2, Fight the Landlord, and Si Ki Pi (Bao Bao); and casino games consist of multiplayer blackjack, card games, table games, and video pokers. Las Vegas From Home.com Entertainment Inc. was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. Maple Leaf Green World Inc. operates in the environmental industry primarily in China. The company operates a nursery business in inner Mongolia that focuses on growing tree seedlings and nursery products, which assist with antidesertification. It also focuses on a Yellowhorn seedling and tree operations, which provide Yellowhorn seeds and oil for the manufacture of bio-diesel fuel and cooking oils. The company was formerly known as Maple Leaf Reforestation Inc. and changed its name to Maple Lead Green World Inc. in October 2012. Maple Lead Green World Inc. is based in Calgary, Canada. Best Heal Care Companies To Own For 2014: Franklin Electric Co. Inc.(FELE) Franklin Electric Co., Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and distribution of groundwater and fuel pumping systems. It operates in two segments, Water Systems and Fueling Systems. The Water Systems segment provides motors, pumps, electronic controls, and related parts and equipment primarily for use in groundwater, wastewater, and fuel transfer applications. Its motors and pumps are used principally for pumping fresh water and wastewater in various residential, agricultural, and industrial applications. This segment also offers electronic drives and controls for the motors, which control functionality and provide protection from various hazards, such as electric surges, over-heating, or dry wells and tanks. The Fueling Systems segment provides pumps, pipe, sumps, fittings, vapor recovery components, electronic controls, monitoring devices, and related parts and equipment primarily for use in submersible fueling system applications. It also integrates and sells motors and electronic controls produced by the Water Systems segment. The company sells its products and related equipment to specialty distributors, original equipment manufacturers, industrial and petroleum equipment distributors, and oil and utility companies through its sales force and independent manufacturing representatives primarily in the United States, Europe, South Africa, Brazil, Mexico, and China. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. was founded in 1944 and is headquartered in Bluffton, Indiana. Best Heal Care Companies To Own For 2014: Dundee Mines Ltd (DUN.V) Duncastle Gold Corp., engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of natural resource properties in British Columbia, Canada. It primarily explores for gold, copper, molybdenum, tungsten, silver, lead, zinc, and base metals deposits. The company holds an option to acquire a 100% interest in the Porphyry Creek property consisting of 42 mineral claims located in the Omineca Mining District, British Columbia, Canada; and a 100% interest in the Yankee Dundee property consisting of 26 crown-granted mineral claims located in the Nelson Mining District, British Columbia, Canada. It also holds a 100% interest in the Drayton property consisting of 7 mining claims located in the Drayton Township in Ontario, Canada. The company was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.
In June I celebrated Father's Day by putting together a portfolio of 10 stocks that remind me of my dad. It was just a way to say thanks to him for getting me interested in investing at such a young age. I also vowed to keep track of this portfolio, as I'm confident that through the years it will be a market-beater, making Mr. Market green with envy. Granted, it's only been a bit more than a month since its inception, but let's see where things stand today as we start winding down earnings season. The score
Out of all 10 stocks, only one is actually down on an absolute basis, and that's Google (NASDAQ: GOOG ) (-0.1%). Six of the 10 are beating the market. The four losing to the market are Dick's Sporting Goods (-2.9%), Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL ) (-1.3%), Google (-3.5%), and UPS (-2.9%). And on a simple, non-time-adjusted basis, if you invested $1,000 in each of the 10 picks, you'd have $10,556.68 today versus the $10,338.42 you'd have if you'd plunked it all down in the S&P 500. Not a bad start. You got your winnahs
Ford (NYSE: F ) has been one of the stronger performers, and that's for good reason. Things are looking up as quarterly revenue rose 15%, which resulted in bottom-line earnings growth of 19%,and management is seeing improving conditions in foreign markets like Europe and China. Ford is gaining market share, too. In fact its share jumped from 16.1% in June 2012 to 16.7% in June 2013. General Motors (NYSE: GM ) , on the other hand, lost market share, falling from 19.3% to 18.9% over the same time period. And you got your losahs
They can't all be winners all of the time, though, and while I'm a big proponent of owning a basket of Amazon, Google, and Apple, two of those three are losing to the market right now. Google's most recent quarter wasn't a bad one by any stretch, but it did in fact miss estimates on both sales and earnings. One of the concerns investors have today is the downward trend in cost-per-click (the amount of money Google makes when people click on its ads). Cost-per-click was down 6% over the same quarter last year as the move to mobile continues to grow. However, on the upside, the total number of paid clicks continues to trend upward with growth of 23% over the same time period. Apple has fallen from the market's good graces; the stock is down more than 36% from highs over $700 in the past year. We know Mr. Market doesn't like uncertainty, and as it stands, there are a lot of questions Apple must answer in regard to new products. Never mind the fact that its balance sheet is the envy of many countries, with almost $147 billion in cash and equivalents. And never mind that the company sold 31.2 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 20% growth over the same quarter last year. The 14% drop in iPad sales over the same time period only brings more questions, and until Tim Cook can provide some meaningful answers, Apple may be stuck in neutral for a while. Making it all make sense
So what does this all mean? Not much, really. I don't measure my investing success based on such short time frames. But it's also good to know what's going on in your portfolio. I don't subscribe to the notion that you should only check your portfolio once or twice a year. If you do that, in my opinion, you're asking for trouble. At the very least, I think it makes sense to check your portfolio at least four times a year, if not more. Earnings season comes around every quarter, so it's easy to remember. Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting you take action every quarter; far from it. As a matter of fact, unless there's a crisis of epic proportions, you should just let things be. But earnings season can also offer up some genuine opportunities to add to some of your favorite positions thanks to Mr. Market's short-term nature, so keep that in mind. Everybody has his or her own way of doing things, and the idea is for you to figure out yours. This is mine; it's simply how I invest. This incredible tech stock is growing twice as fast as Google and Facebook, and more than three times as fast as Amazon.com and Apple. Watch our jaw-dropping investor alert video today to find out why The Motley Fool's chief technology officer is putting $117,238 of his own money on the table, and why he's so confident this will be a huge winner in 2013 and beyond. Just click here to watch! Click here to follow Jason on Twitter.
The following video is from Friday's Investor Beat, in which host Chris Hill, and analysts James Early and Matt Koppenheffer dissect the hardest-hitting investing stories of the day. According to reports, Facebook is in talks to buy navigation app Waze for $1 billion. Waze provides crowd-sourced information on traffic conditions, police presence, and car accidents. Does the deal make sense for Facebook? What would the deal mean for investors? In this installment of Investor Beat, our analysts discuss the possible deal and take stock in the future of Facebook, as well as discussing the four biggest movers on Friday's market, and taking a look at two stocks they have on their radar this coming week. After the world's most-hyped IPO turned out to be a dud, many investors don't even want to think about shares of Facebook. But there are things every investor needs to know about this revolutionary company. The Motley Fool's newest premium research report shows that there's a lot more to Facebook than meets the eye. Read up on whether there is anything to "like" about it today to determine if Facebook deserves a place in your portfolio. Access your report by clicking here. #pitch{ display: none; } More Expert Advice from The Motley Fool The Motley Fool's chief investment officer has selected his No. 1 stock for the next year. Find out which stock in our brand-new free report: "The Motley Fool's Top Stock for 2013." I invite you to take a copy, free for a limited time. Just click here to access the report and find out the name of this under-the-radar company.
Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX ) management has often talked about pursuing a virtuous cycle that will sustain rapid streaming membership growth for years to come. By having more members than competitors such as Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN ) or Hulu, Netflix can afford to spend more on content, improving the quality of the service and attracting even more members. The company's long-term view states, "Success relative to these competitors-for-content would be us having substantially larger revenue and therefore sustainable increasing content, tech and marketing spending, leading to further growth, and a virtuous cycle." This expectation of a virtuous cycle is one of the primary reasons Netflix CEO Reed Hastings believes that the company will ultimately attract 60 million to 90 million U.S. streaming subscribers. As he explained during the company's recent earnings interview: "[B]y the time we get to 40 million and 50 million, we get the content better and the service better. So, it's not 60 million or 90 million for the current service, it's 60 million or 90 million for the future service that's much improved, with maybe a lot more originals and incredible streaming." There's just one problem: The much-talked about "virtuous cycle" is a myth. As the membership base grows, Netflix does have more streaming revenue, allowing it to increase its content budget. However, that is very different from the picture of "increasing content" that Netflix describes. In fact, inflation in the cost of content is likely to outrun Netflix's U.S. subscriber growth rate for the foreseeable future. In other words, Netflix will spend more on content but will get much less for its money. This will force Netflix to either ramp up content spending at an even faster rate than membership growth or else face the possibility of a vicious cycle a few years down the road, whereby decreasing content leads to fewer subscribers, leading to further content cuts. New competitive landscape
Netflix's top executives seem to realize that they face a potential content cost inflation issue, but they aren't willing to admit the severity of the problem. On the company's Q1 conference call, Hastings noted that Hulu and Amazon had begun bidding more aggressively in the past 12 months, driving up content prices. By contrast, Netflix had been the only serious bidder for U.S. streaming rights until last year. In the long-term view, Netflix tries to reassure investors that it won't get caught up in a bidding war with competitors. The company claims, "Competitive pressures in bidding for content would lead us to have slightly less content than we would otherwise, rather than overspending." Netflix's Q2 results provide ample evidence of that strategy at work. While the domestic streaming subscriber base hit just above the midpoint of the 29.40 million-30.05 million guidance range, domestic streaming contribution profit of $151 million beat the top of Netflix's guidance range. Moreover, the domestic streaming contribution margin expanded by 190 basis points, nearly double the company's target. This unexpected increase in profit and contribution margin may seem like a good thing. However, since revenue and subscriber growth was in line with expectations, the higher profit must have been the result of lower costs; i.e. not overspending on content. With Netflix suddenly economizing, how will it continue to drive strong subscriber growth through a "virtuous cycle"? Losing ground
Let's take a step back and look at the competition between Netflix and Amazon from a user perspective. Earlier this year, Amazon won the exclusive streaming rights to the popular PBS show Downton Abbey. Until the new agreement went into effect a month ago, Netflix and Hulu also streamed old episodes of the popular show. Downton Abbey is the most-watched show on Prime Instant Video, which suggests that it was also heavily watched on Netflix and Hulu. More recently, Netflix declined to renew a broad licensing deal with Viacom (NASDAQ: VIAB ) for a variety of content, including popular kids shows such as Dora the Explorer and SpongeBob SquarePants. In Netflix's Q1 investor letter, management stated that it was interested in renewing a few popular titles from Viacom on an exclusive basis rather than having a bulk, non-exclusive deal. However, it didn't win any of that content, as Amazon happily stepped in and bought the streaming rights to Viacom's shows. Netflix is still spending more money on streaming content each quarter. However, for every major new addition to the content library, there are big subtractions. Netflix seems happy so far with its recent move into original programming, but it remains to be seen whether the long-term value (dollar-for-dollar) of Netflix's originals will outweigh that of the programming it is losing. Downton Abbey averaged more than 10 million viewers in its most recent season on PBS (Season 3), whereas Arrested Development drew just 4 million viewers on average in its third season. Netflix doesn't release viewing statistics, so it's impossible to know how many people are really watching its original shows. However, given the known popularity of the shows it's dropping, investors should question whether the service is really "better" today than it was six months ago in the eyes of the marginal subscriber. Beware the coming vicious cycle
So far, Netflix hasn't suffered any ill effects from the loss of key content deals to Amazon. However, much of the lost content has departed Netflix in the past three months. We shouldn't expect to see 1 million Downton Abbey fans cancel Netflix and sign up for Amazon Prime on the day that Netflix lost that content. Instead, the loss of content at Netflix and the improvement at Amazon (and, to a lesser extent, Hulu) will gradually lead to higher churn at Netflix, as users become disillusioned upon seeing that some of their favorite programs are gone. For example, when Downton Abbey fans want to catch up on old seasons of the show before the Season 4 premiere next January, they may decide to subscribe to Amazon Prime. Some may keep their Netflix subscriptions as well, but many others will drop Netflix to save money. This type of behavior will lead to lower subscriber growth over time. Netflix bulls often argue that Netflix's viewing data allows it to drop the shows that aren't cost effective, and therefore investors shouldn't worry about content losses. However, bulls seem to ignore the fact that Netflix has to work within a budget. Two years ago, the lack of competition for streaming content allowed Netflix to avoid tough choices on content. Today, Netflix is dropping hugely popular content because it simply can't afford to pay for everything that's popular without crushing its streaming margins. Over the next two years, Netflix's domestic growth is likely to peter out, as rising content costs and budget constraints prevent Netflix from improving the overall quality of its offerings. In its recent investor letter, Netflix stated it expects content costs to continue rising, but that it has many multi-year deals in place to mitigate the effect. However, the flip side is that as these cheaper deals expire over the next few years, Netflix will continually be faced with an unpleasant choice between paying vastly more to renew the deals, or losing even more content. Time to get realistic
Netflix's growth days aren't over just yet. But with the stock still trading for almost 80 times 2014 earnings estimates, investors appear to be counting on many more years of rapid growth. This scenario seems highly unlikely. Reasonable people can disagree about the quality of one show versus another, but it's hard to make a convincing argument that Netflix has dramatically improved its content library this year. The content Netflix has lost is just as high-profile as the content it has added. Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX ) HBO service has been incredibly successful in maintaining a big subscriber base despite offering a limited content library. If Netflix can develop some of its originals into popular franchises, the company may realize its dream of becoming the next HBO, even if its content library shrinks on a "net" basis. However, investors should be careful of what they wish for. If Netflix continues to dump lots of popular third-party content to free up money for originals, user defections could soon balance out new subscribers. Then Netflix really would be on the way to becoming the next HBO: a highly acclaimed, popular service that can't seem to grow. Somehow, I don't think investors will be very happy when they get there. Netflix's foray into original programming opens up lots of big opportunities. Yet there are also plenty of risks. Traditional networks are adapting to safeguard their market position in the TV business. If you want to know who has the upper hand in the fast-moving TV industry, check out the Motley Fool's new special report "Who Will Own the Future of Television?" Click here to read the full report; it's free!
Yesterday the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI ) edged up 0.09% to 15,556 points, inching back toward Tuesday's all-time high. The S&P 500 managed almost three times the gain, pushing the index closer to the Dow's year-to-date leading position. 
^DJI data by YCharts. Cliffs Natural Resources (NYSE: CLF ) shares have shot up 6% in premarket trading on news of the mining company's second-quarter earnings. Cliffs beat revenue estimates of $1.41 billion by $80 million, and adjusted EPS clocked in at $0.82, 34% above analyst estimates. Wall Street wasn't aiming high with this corporation. Sales are down a seasonally adjusted 8.5%, while adjusted EPS plummeted 50% as mining companies continually find themselves between a rock and a hard place. But considering Cliff's newest report and Peabody Energy's (NYSE: BTU ) earnings win earlier this week, it seems that mining companies aren't out of steam yet. Yesterday's report coincided with a new International Energy Outlook report predicting a 56% uptick in global energy use over the next three decades. Mining companies' share prices have trailed the Dow over the past 12 months, with Peabody down 37% and Cliffs lagging a whopping 78%. 
^DJI data by YCharts. Mr. Market may have overreacted, especially considering the international outlook in store for global companies like Cliffs and Peabody. Non-OECD countries are expected to increase energy consumption by 90% by 2040, with China alone doubling the U.S.' energy use in 2040. Source: EIA.gov. Getting back to the Dow, Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT ) was among the index's worst performers yesterday. Shares dropped 1.56% as the company continued to reel from a sales and earnings miss earlier this week. Caterpillar openly admitted that its short-term growth is nothing to love (2% this year), but if other better-than-expected natural-resources reports are any evidence, this latest sell-off may simply be the result of over-optimists (read: "China alpha bulls") finally opting out. For mining companies and Caterpillar alike, investors will need to keep a close watch on commodities prices in the coming months, as well as global growth in key expansion areas like China. Health or wealth -- why not both?
Cliffs Natural Resources and Caterpillar shares could continue their adjustments today, but investors will also need to keep an eye on Ventas' (NYSE: VTR ) 10 a.m. EDT earnings report. The health care REIT's shares have moved from 5% gains to a 12% drop over the last three months, and year-to-date gains clock in at 6.8% so far. Despite lackluster stock-price performance, analysts are expecting an 8% sales boost, accompanied by a $0.07 increase in adjusted EPS to $1.02. With a 3.7% dividend and special REIT tax status, Ventas' recent stock performance may be a simple overvaluation correction as investors scramble for safer options in a global economic slump. The company still enjoys 96% ownership by institutional investors, and it has steadily increased its assets (and dividend) over the past decade, making it a potential match for long-term investors. REITs likes Ventas depend on dividends to deliver value directly to shareholders -- and they're not the only ones. Dividend stocks can make you rich, and while they don't garner the notoriety of highflying growth stocks, they're also less likely to crash and burn. And over the long term, the compounding effect of the quarterly payouts, as well as their growth, adds up faster than most investors imagine. With this in mind, our analysts sat down to identify the absolute best of the best when it comes to rock-solid dividend stocks, drawing up a list in this free report of the only nine that fit the bill. To discover the identities of these companies before the rest of the market catches on, you can download this valuable free report by simply clicking here now.
SAC Capital Advisors, the hedge fund operated by billionaire Steven A. Cohen, was hit today with white-collar criminal charges that accuse the fund of making hundreds of millions of dollars illegally, and a related government lawsuit said insider trading was pervasive and unprecedented at the firm. Last Friday, Cohen himself was charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission with a failure to supervise underlings as insider trading allegedly ran rampant at the fund. If found guilty, Cohen may face a lifetime ban from professional financial management. SAC denied those charges in an internal memo Monday. Today the Feds formally filed criminal charges against SAC Capital and its affiliates (link opens in PDF). The indictment, on charges of four counts of securities fraud and one count of wire fraud, alleges that SAC criminally traded on insider information at the fund for more than a decade. The opening page of the federal grand jury indictment is blunt about the charges, asserting that "an institutional indifference to ... unlawful conduct" at SAC "resulted in insider trading that was substantial, pervasive and on a scale without known precedent in hedge fund history." Prosecutors allege the crimes were carried out from 1999 through at least 2010. Cohen himself wasn't named as a defendant in the criminal case. A separate civil case, filed by federal prosecutors on Thursday, seeks to freeze the hedge fund's assets, according to a Reuters report. Back in March, SAC paid a record $616 million to settle insider trading allegations brought by the federal government. A spokesman for SAC and a lawyer for Cohen did not immediately respond to messages from The Associated Press seeking comment Thursday. -- Material from The Associated Press was used in this report. link
Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU ) can't win them all. Citigroup analyst Muzhi Li is out with a bearish note on China's leading online search provider. Li's pessimism isn't new. He has a sell rating on the stock and an $80 price target. However, his new cause for alarm is concern that Baidu's traffic acquisition costs will be moving sharply higher. Baidu recently held its annual Baidu Union Summit, providing encouraging news to webmasters monetizing their websites through the company. Baidu Union -- similar to Google's more prolific AdSense program -- lets publishers serve up relevant ads alongside their content. According to Li, Baidu's planned payouts to union members would equal to 13.7% of Citi's revenue target for Baidu this year, up sharply from last year's 8.7% cut. Is Baidu being more generous to keep webmasters close? This doesn't seem necessary. Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU ) is just starting to monetize its search engine, so it will be a long time before advertisers are willing to pay up for leads through Qihoo 360's network. Qihoo 360's move for an in-house solution means less action for its ad-serving partner Google, and that weakens another potential Baidu rival. Top 10 High Tech Stocks To Invest In Right Now: VirnetX Holding Corp(VHC) VirnetX Holding Corporation engages in developing and commercializing software and technology solutions for securing real-time communications over the Internet. Its software and technology solutions, which include secure domain name registry and GABRIEL Connection Technology, facilitate secure communications and create a secure environment for real-time communication applications, such as instant messaging, voice over Internet protocol, smart phones, eReaders, and video conferencing. The company focuses on commercializing its technology to original equipment manufacturers within the IP-telephony, mobility, fixed-mobile convergence, and unified communications markets. VirnetX Holding Corporation was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Scotts Valley, California. Advisors' Opinion: - [By Kevin M. O'Brien]
Finally, my top stock pick for 2012 is VirnetX Holding Corp. (VHC). VirnetX engages in developing and commercializing software and technology solutions for securing real-time communications over the Internet. Its software and technology solutions, which include secure domain name registry and GABRIEL Connection Technology, facilitate secure communications and create a secure environment for real-time communication applications, such as instant messaging, voice over Internet protocol, smart phones, eReaders, and video conferencing. The company focuses on commercializing its technology to original equipment manufacturers within the IP-telephony, mobility, fixed-mobile convergence, and unified communications markets. - [By Sy_Harding]
VirnetX Holding Corp Common St (AMEX:VHC): This equity had 11,198,740 shares sold short as of Aug 31st, as compared to 9,939,110 on Aug 15th, which represents a change of 1,259,630 shares, or 12.7%. Days to cover for this company is 5 and average daily trading volume is 2,172,693. About the equity: Virnetx Holding Corporation is developing and commercializing software and technology solutions for securing real-time communications over the Internet.
Top 10 High Tech Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Mucklow(a&j) A & J Mucklow Group plc, a real estate investment trust (REIT), engages in the investment and development of industrial and commercial properties in the United Kingdom. The company?s investment property portfolio includes industrial, offices, and retail properties; and development land holdings. It is also involved in the sale of investment properties and trading of properties. A & J Mucklow Group plc was founded in 1933 and is based in Halesowen, the United Kingdom. Tenth Power Technologies Corp., a technology and solutions company, provides security based systems focusing on solutions that address various aspects of data and identity security in the digital community primarily in Canada. The company's business products include identity and signature authentication, Internet security, safe communication platforms, a secured collaboration environment, secure data distribution, secure collaboration, workflow automation, and signature-based identity authentication systems. Its security products comprise IT security products, Web security products, secure ID products, product integration services, and managed security assessment services. The company also offers professional services, such as IT current state assessment, secure posture assessment, e-mail excellence, PCI audit managed service, and security audit/assessment, as well as solution services, including network management, systems integration, solution concept and structure, appl ication development, and performance monitoring. Tenth Power Technologies Corp. provides its services to small and medium-sized businesses and global enterprises in the telecommunications, financial services, manufacturing, and government and health care sectors. The company was formerly known as Neotel International Inc. and changed its name to Tenth Power Technologies Corp. in September 2008. Tenth Power Technologies Corp. is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Top 10 High Tech Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Oak Ridge Financial Services Inc.(BKOR) Oak Ridge Financial Services, Inc. operates as the holding company for Bank of Oak Ridge that provides financial services to individuals and small to medium-sized businesses primarily in Guilford County, North Carolina. The company?s deposit products include non-interest bearing checking, interest bearing checking and savings, money market, and NOW accounts, as well as certificates of deposit and time deposits. Its loan portfolio comprises consumer loans, such as automobile loans, boat and recreational vehicle financing, home equity and home improvement loans, and miscellaneous secured and unsecured personal loans; and commercial loans, including secured loans for working capital, expansion, and other business purposes, as well as secured and unsecured short to medium-term mortgage, construction, real estate mortgage, and small business administration guaranteed loans. The company also offers financial planning services; sells investment products, such as mutual funds, eq uities, and fixed and variable annuities; and provides courier, cash management, business and personal Internet banking, Internet bill payment, remote check capture, and mobile banking services. As of April 26, 2011, it operated five banking offices in Oak Ridge, Summerfield, and Greensboro. The company was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Oak Ridge, North Carolina. Top 10 High Tech Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Sedex Mining Corp. (SDN.V) Sedex Mining Corp., a resource exploration stage company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral properties. The company explores for gold, copper, zinc, lead, kimberlite, nickel, platinum, palladium, and chromite. It focuses in the properties located in the Timmins area, as well as the Cranbrook area in Canada. The company was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. Top 10 High Tech Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Sanderson Farms Inc.(SAFM) Sanderson Farms, Inc., an integrated poultry processing company, engages in the production, processing, marketing, and distribution of fresh, frozen, processed, and prepared chicken products. The company?s prepared chicken product line includes institutional and consumer packaged partially cooked or marinated chicken items. It sells ice pack, chill pack, bulk pack, and frozen chicken in whole, cut-up, and boneless form under the Sanderson Farms brand name. The company sells its products to retailers, distributors, and casual dining operators in the southeastern, southwestern, northeastern, and western United States, as well as to the United States based customers who resell frozen chicken into export markets. Sanderson Farms, Inc. was founded in 1947 and is headquartered in Laurel, Mississippi. Top 10 High Tech Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Rubicon Technology Inc.(RBCN) Rubicon Technology, Inc. develops, manufactures, and sells monocrystalline sapphire and other crystalline products for light-emitting diodes (LED), radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs), blue laser diodes, optoelectronics, and other optical applications. The company fabricates its products from the boules and sells them in various categories, including core, as-cut, as-ground, and polished forms in two, three, four, six, and eight inch diameter wafers. It manufactures sapphire substrates and optical windows, including two inch to four inch sapphire cores and wafers for use in LEDs and blue laser diodes for solid state lighting and electronic applications; six-inch polished sapphire wafers that are used in the LED applications and in silicon-on-sapphire RFICs; and eight inch wafers for research and development efforts, as well as sells sapphire products used for windows and lenses in military, aerospace, sensor, and other applications. The company also offers opticall y-polished windows and ground window blanks of sapphire and various fluoride compounds, such as calcium, barium, and magnesium fluoride. Rubicon Technology, Inc. sells its products primarily to wafer polishing companies and semiconductor device manufacturers in Asia, North America, and Europe. The company was incorporated in 2001 and is headquartered in Bensenville, Illinois. Top 10 High Tech Stocks To Invest In Right Now: First Commonwealth Financial Corporation(FCF) First Commonwealth Financial Corporation operates as the holding company for First Commonwealth Bank that provides consumer and commercial banking services to individuals and small and mid-sized businesses in central and western Pennsylvania. The company offers personal checking accounts, interest-earning checking accounts, savings accounts, health savings accounts, insured money market accounts, debit cards, investment certificates, fixed and variable rate certificates of deposit, and IRA accounts. It also provides secured and unsecured installment loans, construction and mortgage loans, safe deposit facilities, credit lines with overdraft checking protection, and student loans, as well as Internet and telephone banking, and automated teller machine services. In addition, the company offers commercial banking services, including commercial lending, small and high-volume business checking accounts, on-line account management services, ACH origination, payroll direct deposi t, commercial cash management services, and repurchase agreements. Further, it provides various trust and asset management services, as well as a complement of auto, home, business, and term life insurance. Additionally, the company offers annuities, mutual funds, stock, and bond brokerage services through an arrangement with a broker-dealer and insurance brokers. It operates 115 community banking offices in western Pennsylvania and 2 loan production offices in downtown Pittsburgh and State College, Pennsylvania. The company was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Indiana, Pennsylvania. Advisors' Opinion: - [By Philip]
Shares First Commonwealth Financial Corp.(FCF) of Indiana, Pa., closed at $4.75 Friday, declining 31% year-to-date. Based on a consensus price target of $6.46, the shares have 36% upside potential. Based on a quarterly payout of three cents, the shares have a dividend yield of 2.53%. First Commonwealth had $5.7 billion in total assets as of Sept. 30, operating 112 First Commonwealth Bank offices in 15 counties in western and central Pennsylvania. The company reported third-quarter earnings of $8.3 million, or 8 cents a share, increasing from $7.4 million, or 7 cents a share, during the second quarter, but declining from $10.6 million, or 11 cents a share, in the third quarter of 2010. The year-over-year earnings decline reflected an 8% decline in net interest income to a tax-adjusted $48.8 million in the third quarter, as the company saw an 8% decline in its loan portfolio, "as the result of more disciplined underwriting guidelines concerning geography and size for commercial loans, the managing down of large credit relationships over $15 million," and weak loan demand. The net interest margin declined to 3.81%, increasing from 3.76% the previous quarter, but declining from 3.90% a year earlier. Earnings were also affected by a $7.0 million third-quarter provision for loan losses, which was down from $9.1 million the previous quarter, but up from $4.5 million a year earlier. First Commonwealth's nonperforming assets ratio was 3.45%, increasing from 3.22% the previous quarter and 2.70% a year earlier, with one commercial credit relationship in Pennsylvania representing $32.8 million, or 17% of the company's $195.2 million in nonperforming assets. The third-quarter net charge-off ratio was 1.00% and reserves covered 1.81% of total loans as of September 30. Following First Commonwealth's earnings announcement, Sterne Agee analyst Mike Shafir reiterated his Buy rating on the shares, with a price target of $6.50, and said that "W! hile NPAs rose during the quarter, the company exhibited positive trends with a higher net interest margin, lower expenses, and a reduction in the pace of loan decline." The shares trade for 11.3 times the consensus 2012 EPS estimate of 42 cents, and 0.8 times their Sept. 30 tangible book value of $5.77, according to SNL Financial. Six out of nine analysts covering First Commonwealth rate the shares a buy, while the remaining analysts all have neutral ratings
Top 10 High Tech Stocks To Invest In Right Now: InfoSonics Corp(IFON) InfoSonics Corporation engages in the design, development, sourcing, and sale of wireless handsets and accessories in Latin America and the Asia Pacific. The company offers a line of entry-level, mid-tier, and high-end products under the verykool brand name. It contracts with electronic manufacturing services providers to manufacture its branded products. The company?s customers include carriers, agents, distributors, resellers, and original equipment manufacturers. InfoSonics Corporation was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in San Diego, California. Top 10 High Tech Stocks To Invest In Right Now: ING Group N.V. (ISG) ING Groep N.V., a financial services company, provides banking, investment, life insurance, and retirement services for individuals, families, small businesses, corporations, institutions, and governments worldwide. The company provides savings accounts, mortgage loans, consumer loans, credit card services, and investment products, as well as current account services and payments systems; life and non-life insurance products; asset management products and services; mortgage products; and risk management services. It also offers commercial banking products and services, including lending products, such as structured finance; payment and cash management, and treasury services; and specialized and trade finance, derivatives, corporate finance, debt and equity capital markets, leasing, factoring, and supply chain finance. In addition, the company provides individual endowment, and term and whole life insurance products, as well as traditional, unit-linked, and variable annuity life insurance products for individual and group customers; fire, motor, disability, transport, accident, and third party liability insurance products; employee benefits products and pension funds; retirement services, fixed annuities, mutual funds, and broker-dealer services; and disability insurance products and complementary services for employers and self-employed professionals comprising dentists, general practitioners, and lawyers. Further, the company offers investment management services. ING Groep N.V. operates a network of approximately 280 branches in the Netherlands; and 773 branches in Belgium. The company was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. ING Groep N.V. is a subsidiary of Stichting ING Aandelen.
Investors have pushed U.S. stock markets to record highs in the past week, as earnings season has opened fairly well and reasonably positive economic data further supports the notion that the economic expansion can continue despite some threats to global growth. Today, good news about the New York-area manufacturing industry has offset retail-sales growth that proved less robust than economists had hoped, and banking-industry earnings continued to demonstrate substantial growth, with Citigroup reporting a 42% rise in profit this morning. Yet investors seem to want even more before they'll push stocks sharply higher. As of 10:55 a.m. EDT, the Dow Jones Industrials (DJINDICES: ^DJI ) are up only seven points, while broader market measures are similarly flat. The Dow's movers today have mostly benefited from company-specific news, rather than broad trends. Boeing (NYSE: BA ) has advanced 2.4% after reports over the weekend said the investigations of a fire in one of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner aircraft didn't find any evidence of further problems with the plane's battery unit. With the 787 having been grounded for months earlier this year, investors� sent the shares plunging on Friday on fears that further problems would create another setback. Even after this morning's gains, Boeing shares haven't quite gotten back to their levels from before the news hit. 10 Best Bank Stocks To Buy For 2014: Goldman Sachs Group Inc.(The) The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides investment banking, securities, and investment management services to corporations, financial institutions, governments, and high-net-worth individuals worldwide. Its Investment Banking segment offers financial advisory, including advisory assignments with respect to mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, corporate defense, risk management, restructurings, and spin-offs; and underwriting securities, loans and other financial instruments, and derivative transactions. The company?s Institutional Client Services segment provides client execution activities, such as fixed income, currency, and commodities client execution related to making markets in interest rate products, credit products, mortgages, currencies, and commodities; and equities related to making markets in equity products, as well as commissions and fees from executing and clearing institutional client transactions on stock, options, and fu tures exchanges. This segment also engages in the securities services business providing financing, securities lending, and other prime brokerage services to institutional clients, including hedge funds, mutual funds, pension funds, and foundations. Its Investing and Lending segment invests in debt securities, loans, public and private equity securities, real estate, consolidated investment entities, and power generation facilities. This segment also involves in the origination of loans to provide financing to clients. The company?s Investment Management segment provides investment management services and investment products to institutional and individual clients. This segment also offers wealth advisory services, including portfolio management and financial counseling, and brokerage and other transaction services to high-net-worth individuals and families. In addition, it provides global investment research services. The company was founded in 1869 and is headquartered in New York, New York. 10 Best Bank Stocks To Buy For 2014: J P Morgan Chase & Co(JPM) JPMorgan Chase & Co., a financial holding company, provides various financial services worldwide. Its Investment Bank segment provides various investment banking products and services, including advising on corporate strategy and structure, capital-raising in equity and debt markets, risk management, market-making in cash securities and derivative instruments, prime brokerage, and research services serving corporations, financial institutions, governments, and institutional investors. The company?s Commercial Banking segment provides lending, treasury, investment banking, and asset management services to corporations, municipalities, financial institutions, and not-for-profit entities. Its Treasury & Securities Services segment offers cash management, trade, wholesale card, and liquidity products and services to small and mid-sized companies, multinational corporations, financial institutions, and government entities. It also holds, values, clears, and services securities, cash, and alternative investments for investors and broker-dealers, and manages depositary receipt programs worldwide. JPMorgan?s Asset Management segment provides investment and wealth management to institutions, retail investors, and high-net-worth individuals. This segment offers investment management in equities, fixed income, real estate, hedge funds, private equity, and liquidity products, as well as trust and estate, banking and brokerage services, and retirement services. Its Retail Financial Services segment offers retail banking and consumer lending services that include checking and savings accounts, mortgages, home equity and business loans, and investments through ATMs, online banking, and telephone banking, as well as auto dealerships and school financial-aid offices. The company?s Card Services segment issues credit cards and processes various credit card payments. JPMorgan Chase & Co. was founded in 1823 and is headquartered in New York, New York. Advisors' Opinion: - [By Roger]
This leading global financial company operates in more than 50 countries.?Its strong balance sheet and competitive position place the stock on the buy list of almost all of the major banking analysts despite the pullback in the banking sector — it is the premier big bank on their list.?Technically JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) retreated to its major support zone at $39 to $41 after making a high at over $48 in February. The stock’s stochastic is telling us that it is oversold, and the stock had a reversal day late last month that could provide a short-term trade to $43.?Fundamental analysts have an average target of $58 within 12 months, but technically we’d be pleased with a move back to its high of $47-plus by the end of this year. The annual dividend is $1.00 providing a yield of 2.51%. - [By Kathy Kristof]
Shares of JPMorgan Chase (JPM) continue to be held back by a London trading debacle that cost the bank a whopping $6.2 billion, says analyst Erik Oja, of S&P Capital IQ. Although a congressional report was highly critical of the company's leadership, including chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon, Oja considers JPMorgan to be among the nation's best-managed banks. "It is still one of the top investment banks in the world and is likely to have good growth," he says. At $47.49, the stock sells for 8.7 times estimated 2013 earnings of $5.48 per share. Oja considers JPMorgan a bargain and thinks it will hit $55 in a year. The stock, incidentally, yields an above-average 3.2%.
First Horizon National Corporation (FHN), incorporated in 1968, is a bank holding company. The Company provides financial services through its subsidiary, First Tennessee Bank National Association (the Bank), and its subsidiaries. The Company�� two brands First Tennessee and FTN Financial provide customers with a range of products and services. First Tennessee provides retail and commercial banking services throughout Tennessee. FTN Financial (FTNF) is engaged in fixed income sales, trading, and strategies for institutional clients in the United States and abroad. FHN has four operating business segments: regional banking, capital markets, corporate, and non-strategic. As of December 31, 2011, the Bank had $16.4 billion in total deposits and $16 billion in total net loans. As of December 31, 2011, the Company�� subsidiaries had over 200 business locations in 17 the United States states, Hong Kong, and Tokyo, excluding off-premises automated teller machines (ATMs). As of December 31, 2011, the Bank had 183 branch locations in four states, which include 172 branches in metropolitan areas of Tennessee; two branches in northwestern Georgia; seven branches in northwestern Mississippi, and two branches in North Carolina. As of December 31, 2011, FTN Financial products and services were offered through 18 offices in total, including 16 offices in 14 states plus an office in each of Hong Kong and Tokyo. The regional banking segment offers financial products and services, including traditional lending and deposit taking, to retail and commercial customers in Tennessee and surrounding markets. Regional banking provides investments, financial planning, trust services and asset management, credit card, cash management, and first lien mortgage originations within the Tennessee footprint. In addition, the regional banking segment includes correspondent banking, which provides credit, depository, and other banking related services to other financial institutions. The capital markets se! gment consists of fixed income sales, trading, and strategies for institutional clients in the United States and abroad, as well as loan sales, portfolio advisory, and derivative sales. The corporate segment consists of gains on the extinguishment of debt, unallocated corporate expenses, expense on subordinated debt issuances and preferred stock, bank-owned life insurance, unallocated interest income associated with excess equity, net impact of raising incremental capital, revenue and expense associated with deferred compensation plans, funds management, low income housing investment activities, and charges related to restructuring, repositioning, and efficiency. The non-strategic segment consists of the wind-down national consumer lending activities, legacy mortgage banking elements, including servicing fees, and the associated ancillary revenues and expenses related to these businesses. Non-strategic also includes the wind-down trust preferred loan portfolio and exited businesses along with the associated restructuring, repositioning, and efficiency charges. As of December 31, 2011, the Company provided services through its subsidiaries, which include general banking services for consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and governments; through FTN Financial fixed income sales and trading, underwriting of bank, loan sales, advisory services and derivative sales; discount brokerage and full-service brokerage; correspondent banking; transaction processing, such as nationwide check clearing services and remittance processing; trust, fiduciary, and agency services; credit card products; equipment finance; investment and financial advisory services; mutual fund sales as agent; retail insurance sales as agent, and mortgage banking services. As of December 31, 2011, the commercial, financial, and industrial (C&I) portfolio was eight billion dollars, and is consisted of loans used for general business purposes, and consisted of relationship customers in Tennessee and certain n! eighborin! g states, which are managed within the regional bank. Products include working capital lines of credit, term loan financing of owner-occupied real estate and fixed assets, and trade credit enhancement through letters of credit. As of December 31, 2011, the unpaid principal balance (UPB) of trust preferred loans totaled $447.2 million with the UPB of other bank-related loans totaling approximately $161.8 million. The commercial real estate portfolio includes both financings for commercial construction and non-construction loans. This portfolio is segregated between income commercial real estate (CRE) loans which contain loans, lines, and letters of credit to commercial real estate developers for the construction and mini- permanent financing of income-producing real estate, and residential CRE loans. The residential CRE portfolio includes loans to residential builders and developers for the purpose of constructing single-family detached homes, condominiums, and town homes. As of December 31, 2011, the residential CRE portfolio was $.1 billion. As of December 31, 2011, the consumer real estate portfolio was $5.3 billion, and is composed of home equity lines and installment loans. As of December 31, 2011, the credit card and other portfolios were $.3 billion, and primarily include credit card receivables, automobile loans, and over-the-counter (OTC) construction loans and other consumer related credits. FHN�� investment portfolio consists of debt securities, including government agency issued mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and government agency issued collateralized mortgage obligations (CMO). During the year ended December 31, 2011, Government agency issued MBS and CMO, and other agencies averaged $2.9 billion. During 2011, the United States treasury securities and municipal bonds averaged $79.5 million. During 2011, investments in equity securities averaged $222.3 million. During 2011, short-term funds (certificates of deposit greater than $100,000, federal funds purchased (! FFP), sec! urities sold under agreements to repurchase, trading liabilities, and other short-term borrowings) averaged $3.6 billion. During 2011, other borrowings increased to $.3 billion. Term borrowings include senior and subordinated borrowings and advances with original maturities greater than one year. During 2011, average term borrowings averaged $2.6 billion. The Company competes with Regions Bank, SunTrust Bank, Wells Fargo Bank N.A., Bank of America N.A., and Pinnacle National Bank. Advisors' Opinion: - [By Dan Freed]
Trading at a 17% discount to peers in terms of tangible-book value, JPMorgan says First Horizon's valuation "reflects a mediocre franchise and one of the best management teams in the business." The report adds that management is moving the bank to become "one of the most profitable banks in the industry over time," and it "[encourages] investors to buy the stock at current levels and ahead of an expected 15-20% ROE and the valuation improvement that should coincide with this level of profitability."
10 Best Bank Stocks To Buy For 2014: Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. (BBVA) Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (BBVA) is a diversified international financial group, with strengths in the traditional banking businesses of retail banking, asset management, private banking and wholesale banking. The Company also has investments in some of Spain�� companies. During the year ended December 31, 2009, BBVA focused its operations on six major business areas: Spain and Portugal, Wholesale Banking and Asset Management, Mexico, The United States, South America and Corporate Activities. On August 21, 2009, through its subsidiary BBVA Compass, BBVA acquired certain assets of Guaranty from the United States Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the FDIC). Spain and Portugal The Spain and Portugal business area focuses on providing banking services and consumer finance to private individuals, enterprises and institutions in Spain and Portugal. The main business units included in the Spain and Portugal area Spanish Retail Network, which manages individual customers, high net-worth individuals (private banking) and small companies and retailers in the Spanish market; Corporate and Business Banking, which manages business with small and medium enterprises (SMEs), large companies, institutions and developers in the Spanish market, and Other units, which includes consumer finance, that manages renting and leasing business, credit to individual and to enterprises for consumer products and Internet banking; European Insurance that manages the insurance business in Spain and Portugal, and BBVA Portugal, that manages the banking business in Portugal. The Spanish Retail Network unit services the financial and non-financial needs of households, professional practices, retailers and small businesses. The Corporate and Business Banking unit offers a range of services and products to SMEs, large companies, institutions and developers with specialized branch networks for each segment. The Company�� European Insurance unit�� activities are conducted through! various insurance companies that provide direct insurance, reinsurance and insurance brokering services in Spain and Portugal and market products for different types of customers (private individuals, SMEs, retailers, professional service firms and providers and self-employed individuals) through this unit�� branch offices. BBVA Portugal manages its banking business in Portugal. Wholesale Banking and Asset Management The Wholesale Banking and Asset Management area focuses on providing services to large international companies and investment banking, capital markets and treasury management services to clients. The business units included in the Wholesale Banking and Asset Management area are Corporate and Investment Banking, which coordinates origination, distribution and management of a complete catalogue of corporate and investment banking products (corporate finance, structured finance, syndicated loans and debt capital markets) and provides global trade finance and global transaction services with coverage of large corporate customers specialized by sector (industry bankers); Global Markets, which handles the origination, structuring, distribution and risk management of market products, which are placed through its trading rooms in Europe, Asia and the Americas; Asset Management, which designs and manages the products that are marketed through its different branch networks including traditional asset management, alternative asset management and Valanza (its private equity unit); Industrial and Other Holdings, which helps to diversify the area�� businesses with the aim of creating medium and long-term value through active management of a portfolio of industrial holdings and other Spanish and international projects, and Asia. During the year ended December 31, 2009, it launched two products: BBVA Bonos Cash (BBVA Cash Bonds), a money market fund for retail customers, and BBVA Bonos Largo Plazo Gobiernos II (BBVA Long-Term Government Bonds), a public-debt fu! nd. In ad! dition it launched through this unit additional fixed-income long-term funds, including BBVA Bonos Corporativos 2011 and BBVA Bonos 2014, which were sold to HNWI customers. Mexico The business units included in the Mexico area are Retail and Corporate banking and Pensions and Insurance. BBVA Bancomer launched six new mortgage products for lending to home buyers in 2009. These products included: loans for home improvements, remodeling or additions to homes and financial discount which provides liquidity to construction companies. In Mexico, it operates its pensions business through Afore Bancomer, its insurance business through Seguros Bancomer, its annuities business through Pensiones Bancomer and its health insurance business through Preventis. The United States The business units included in the United States area are BBVA Compass and Other units: BBVA Puerto Rico and Bancomer Transfers Services (BTS). During 2009 this unit marketed and sold several new products, The ClearPoints credit card, Business Build-to-order Checking, Compass for your Cause and Money Market Sweep. South America The South America business area includes its banking, insurance and pension businesses in South America. The business units included in the South America business area are Retail and Corporate Banking, which includes banks in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela; Pension businesses, which includes pensions businesses in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru and Dominican Republic, and Insurance businesses, which includes insurance businesses in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic and Venezuela. Corporate Activities The Corporate Activities area handles its general management functions. These mainly consist of structural positions for interest rates associated with the euro balance sheet and exchange rates, together with liquidity management and shareholde! rs��fun! ds. 10 Best Bank Stocks To Buy For 2014: Citigroup Inc.(C) Citigroup, Inc., a global financial services company, provides consumers, corporations, governments, and institutions with a range of financial products and services. The company operates through two segments, Citicorp and Citi Holdings. The Citicorp segment operates as a global bank for businesses and consumers with two primary businesses, Regional Consumer Banking and Institutional Clients Group. The Regional Consumer Banking business provides traditional banking services, including retail banking, and branded cards in North America, Asia, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The Institutional Clients Group business provides securities and banking services comprising investment banking and advisory services, lending, debt and equity sales and trading, institutional brokerage, foreign exchange, structured products, cash instruments and related derivatives, and private banking; and transaction services consisting of treasury and trade solutions, and securiti es and fund services. The Citi Holdings segment operates Brokerage and Asset Management, Local Consumer Lending, and Special Asset Pool businesses. The Brokerage and Asset Management Business, through its 49% stake in Morgan Stanley Smith Barney joint venture and Nikko Cordial Securities, offers retail brokerage and asset management services. The Local Consumer Lending business provides residential mortgage loans, retail partner card loans, personal loans, commercial real estate, and other consumer loans, as well as western European cards and retail banking services. The Special Asset Pool business is a portfolio of securities, loans, and other assets. Citigroup Inc. has approximately 200 million customer accounts and operates in approximately 160 countries. The company was founded in 1812 and is based in New York, New York. Advisors' Opinion: - [By Philip van Doorn]
Citigroup (C_). O'Connor on Friday reiterated his "Buy" rating and raised his 12-month price target for Citi to $46 from $40, saying that "in our base-case scenario, our preference is to own bank stocks that still have leverage to the recovery (vs. current stock prices). We believe C is best positioned for this." The analyst estimates that Citigroup will earn $4.60 a share in 2013, with EPS increasing to $5.14 in 2014 and $6.01 in 2015, with key elements being the U.S. housing recovery and the company's cost-cutting efforts. O'Connor also sees less interest rate risk for Citigroup than for other large U.S. banks, because of the company's international exposure. Citigroup also trades at the lowest multiples to book value and to forward earnings estimates, among the banks covered by Deutsche Bank. Citi's shares closed at $41.39 Thursday, trading for 0.8 times the reported Sept. 30 tangible book value of $52.70. - [By Kathy Kristof]
To be sure, the stocks are still well below where they were before the financial crisis struck five years ago. For example, Citigroup (symbol C), which closed at $42.77 on April 4, sold for as much as $551 in 2007 (adjusted for a one-for-ten reverse split in 2011). But Citi may be the most promising of the big-bank stocks, says Raymond James analyst Anthony Polini. In the midst of a miserable 2012, during which Citi's profits dropped sharply, the New York City-based bank ousted its CEO last fall and rejiggered the entire management team a few months later. New CEO Michael Corbat takes every opportunity to stress that the bank is leaner and more focused on cutting costs and managing risks than ever, and that it is nothing like the company that posted massive losses a few years ago. Citi's finances have improved so much that the company recently announced plans to buy back up to $1.2 billion worth of stock. Citi apparently isn't ready, however, to pay a meaningful dividend. The bank pays out only 4 cents per share, and the stock yields a piddling 0.1%. Analysts expect Citi's earnings to grow about 12% annually over the next three to five years. Citi can goose profits by trimming unnecessary expenses, says Polini. "There is a lot of dry powder at Citi that some of the better-managed companies don't have," he says. The profit growth should boost the stock, which trades at 9 times estimated 2013 earnings of $4.61 per share. Polini expects the stock to hit $52 within a year. - [By Philip van Doorn]
Citigroup (C) closed at $36.37 Tuesday, returning 38% year-to-date, following last year's 44% decline. Like Bank of America, Citi's shares are heavily discounted, at just 0.7 times the Dec. 30 tangible book value of $49.81. The shares trade for eight times the consensus 2013 EPS estimate of $4.70. KBW analyst David Konrad rates Citi "Market Perform," with a price target of $42, and estimates the company will report first-quarter EPS of 80 cents, with full-year earnings of $3.40 for 2012, followed by 2013 EPS of $4.40.
10 Best Bank Stocks To Buy For 2014: Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation(AP) Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation and its subsidiaries manufacture and sell custom-engineered equipment in the United States and internationally. It operates in two segments, Forged and Cast Rolls, and Air and Liquid Processing. The Forged and Cast Rolls segment produces forged hardened steel rolls used in cold rolling for the producers of steel, aluminum, and other metals; and cast iron and steel rolls for hot and cold strip mills, medium/heavy section mills, and plate mills. The Air and Liquid Processing segment manufactures finned tube and plate finned heat exchange coils for the commercial and industrial construction, as well as for process and utility industries; custom air handling systems used in commercial, institutional, and industrial buildings; and a line of centrifugal pumps for the refrigeration, power generation, and marine defense industries. The company was founded in 1929 and is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Advisors' Opinion: - [By EntreBankph.com]
Aboitiz Power Corporation (AP) is a publicly-owned holding company listed with the Philippine Stock Exchange that, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, is a leader in the Philippine hydroelectric power generation industry and has interests in some of the largest privately-owned distribution utilities in the Philippines. Since its incorporation in 1998, AP has accumulated interests in both hydroelectric power generation facilities and in thermal plants.
10 Best Bank Stocks To Buy For 2014: Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc (MTU) Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. (MUFJ), incorporated on April 2, 2001, is a holding company for The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. (BTMU), Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation (MUTB), Mitsubishi UFJ Securities Holdings Co., Ltd. (MUSHD), Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co., Ltd.( MUMSS), Mitsubishi UFJ NICOS Co., Ltd. (Mitsubishi UFJ NICOS) and other companies engaged in a range of financial businesses. Its services include commercial banking, trust banking, securities, credit cards, consumer finance, asset management, leasing and fields of financial services. In May 2010, the Company and Morgan Stanley formed two joint ventures in Japan by integrating our respective Japanese securities companies engaged in investment banking and securities businesses. The Company converted the wholesale and retail securities businesses conducted in Japan by the former MUS into one of the joint venture entities, which is named MUMSS. Morgan Stanley contributed the investment banking operations conducted in Japan by its formerly wholly owned subsidiary, Morgan Stanley Japan Securities Co., Ltd. (MSJS) into MUMSS and converted the sales and trading and capital markets businesses conducted in Japan by MSJS into a second joint venture entity called Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities, Co., Ltd. Integrated Retail Banking Business Group The Integrated Retail Banking Business Group covers all domestic retail businesses, including commercial banking, trust banking and securities businesses, and enables the Company to offer a range of banking products and services, including financial consulting services, to retail customers in Japan. This business group integrates the retail business of BTMU, MUTB and MUMSS, as well as retail product development, promotion and marketing in a single management structure. Many of its retail services are offered through its network of MUFG Plazas providing individual customers with access to its financial product offerings of integrated commercial b! anking, trust banking and securities services. The Company offers a range of bank deposit products, including a non-interest-bearing deposit account that is redeemable on demand and intended for payment and settlement functions, and is insured without a maximum amount limitation. It also offers a variety of asset management and asset administration services to individuals, including savings instruments, such as current accounts, ordinary deposits, time deposits, deposits at notice and other deposit facilities. MUFJ also offers trust products, such as loan trusts and money trusts, and other investment products, such as investment trusts, performance-based money trusts and foreign currency deposits. The Company creates portfolios by combining savings instruments and investment products. It also provide a range of asset management and asset administration products, as well as customized trust products for high-net-worth individuals, as well as advisory services relating to the purchase and disposal of real estate and effective land utilization, and testamentary trusts. The Company provides a varied line up of investment trust products allowing its customers to choose products according to their investment needs through BTMU, MUTB and MUMSS, as well as kabu.com Securities, which specializes in online financial services. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2010, BTMU offered a total of five investment trusts. As of the end of March 2010, BTMU offered its clients a total of 73 investment trusts. The Company offers securities, including publicly offered stocks, foreign and domestic investment trusts, Japanese government bonds, foreign bonds and various other products. The Company offers housing loans, card loans and other loans to individuals. With respect to housing loans, in addition to housing loans incorporating health insurance for seven major illnesses, BTMU began offering in June 2009 preferential interest rates under its Environmentally Friendly Support program ! to custom! ers who purchase environment-conscious houses (like houses with solar electric systems), which meet specific criteria in response to increasing public interest in environmental issues. In September 2009, BTMU launched housing loans with home mortgage insurance, which BTMU jointly developed with the Japan Housing Finance Agency, a governmental agency under the Japanese government�� economic stimulus measures, under which the agency indemnifies BTMU for losses from housing loans. The Company offers products and services through a range of channels, including branches, automated teller machines (ATMs) (including convenience store ATMs shared by multiple banks), Mitsubishi-Tokyo UFJ Direct (telephone, Internet and mobile phone banking), the Video Counter and postal mail. It offers integrated financial services combining its banking, trust banking and securities services at MUFG Plazas. These Plazas provide retail customers with integrated and flexible suite of services at one-stop outlets. As of March 31 2010, the Company provided those services through 47 MUFG Plazas. The Company offers MUTB�� trust related products and advisory services through its trust agency system not only for MUTB customers but also for BTMU and MUMSS customers. As of March 31, 2010, BTMU engaged in eight businesses as the trust banking agent for MUTB: testamentary trusts, inheritance management, asset succession planning, inheritance management agency operations, business management financial consulting, lifetime gift trusts, share disposal trusts, and marketable securities administration trusts. Integrated Corporate Banking Business Group The Integrated Corporate Banking Business Group covers all domestic and overseas corporate businesses, including commercial banking, investment banking, trust banking and securities businesses, as well as UnionBanCal Corporation (UNBC). UNBC is a wholly owned subsidiary of BTMU and a US bank holding company with Union Bank being its primary subsidiary. T! he Compan! y provides various financial solutions, such as loans and fund management, remittance and foreign exchange services. It also helps its customers develop business strategies, such as inheritance-related business transfers and stock listings. It offers advanced financial solutions to companies through corporate and investment banking services. Product specialists globally provide derivatives, securitization, syndicated loans, structured finance and other services. It also provides investment banking services, such as merger and acquisition (M&A) advisory, bond and equity underwriting. It provides online banking services that allow customers to make domestic and overseas remittances electronically. It also provides a global cash pooling/netting service, and the Treasury Station, a fund management system for a multi-company group. The Company�� global Corporate and Investment Banking business (Global CIB), primarily serves companies, financial institutions, and sovereign and multinational organizations with a set of solutions for their financing needs. Integrated Trust Assets Business Group The Integrated Trust Assets Business Group covers asset management and administration services for products, such as pension trusts and security trusts by integrating the trust banking expertise of MUTB and the international strengths of BTMU. The business group provides a range of services to corporate and pension funds, including stable and secure pension fund management and administration, advice on pension schemes, and payment of benefits to scheme members. Its Integrated Trust Assets Business Group combines MUTB�� trust assets business, comprising trust assets management services, asset administration and custodial services, and the businesses of Mitsubishi UFJ Global Custody S.A., Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co., Ltd. and KOKUSAI Asset Management Co., Ltd. Advisors' Opinion: - [By Louis Navellier]
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial (NYSE:MTU) is a Japanese holding company mainly engaged in the banking business. Mitsubishi Financial has posted a gain of 11% since this time last year. MTU stock gets a “B” grade for operating margin growth, a “B” grade for the magnitude in which earnings projections have increased over the past months, and an “A” grade for cash flow.
10 Best Bank Stocks To Buy For 2014: KeyCorp (KEY) KeyCorp is a bank holding company for KeyBank National Association (KeyBank). Through KeyBank and certain other subsidiaries, the Company provides a range of retail and commercial banking, commercial leasing, investment management, consumer finance and investment banking products and services to individual, corporate and institutional clients through two business segments: Key Community Bank and Key Corporate Bank. As of December 31, 2011, these services were provided through KeyBank�� 1,058 full-service retail banking branches in 14 states, additional offices, a telephone banking call center services group and a network of 1,579 automated teller machines (ATMs) in 15 states. On January 17, 2012, the Company opened another national bank subsidiary. In addition to the banking services of accepting deposits and making loans, the Bank and trust company subsidiaries offer personal and corporate trust services, personal financial services, access to mutual funds, cash management services, investment banking and capital markets products, and international banking services. Through its bank, trust company and investment adviser subsidiaries, the Company provides investment management services to clients that include corporate and public retirement plans, foundations and endowments, individuals and trust funds. The Company provides other financial services - both within and outside of its primary banking markets - through various nonbank subsidiaries. These services include community development financing, securities underwriting and brokerage. It is also an equity participant in a joint venture that provides merchant services to businesses. Lending Activities As of December 31, 2011, the Company�� Commercial, Financial and Agricultural loans, also referred to as Commercial and Industrial, represented 39% of its total loan portfolio. As of December 31, 2011, commercial real estate loans represented approximately 19% of its total loan portfolio. These loans include bo! th owner and nonowner-occupied properties and constitute approximately 27% of its commercial loan portfolio. Its commercial real estate lending business is conducted through two primary sources: its 14-state banking franchise, and Real Estate Capital and Corporate Banking Services. The Company conducts financing arrangements through its equipment finance line of business. Commercial lease financing receivables represented 17% of commercial loans at December 31, 2011. The home equity portfolio is the largest segment of its consumer loan portfolio. Investment Activities The Company�� securities portfolio totaled $18 billion at December 31, 2011. Available-for-sale securities were $16 billion at December 31, 2011. Held-to-maturity securities were $2.1 billion at December 31, 2011. At December 31, 2011, it had $2.1 billion in collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs) in its held-to-maturity securities portfolio. At December 31, 2011, the Company had $15.9 billion invested in CMOs and other mortgage-backed securities in the available-for-sale portfolio. Federal Agency CMOs constitute most of its held-to-maturity securities along with foreign bonds and preferred equity securities. The investments in equity and mezzanine instruments made by its principal investing unit represented 61% of other investments at December 31, 2011. They include direct investments (investments made in a particular company), as well as indirect investments (investments made through funds that include other investors). Sources of Funds Domestic deposits are the Company�� primary source of funding. During the year ended December 31, 2011, these deposits averaged $58.5 billion and represented 80% of the funds it used to support loans and other earning assets. Wholesale funds, consisting of deposits in its foreign office and short-term borrowings, averaged $3.4 billion during 2011. At December 31, 2011, the Company had $4.7 billion in time deposits of $100,000 or more. Advisors' Opinion: - [By Alexandra Leigh]
On Thursday, KeyCorp shareholders were disappointed as the Cleveland-based bank posted an unanticipated jump in expenses during the fourth quarter during the previous three months. Along with other banks trimming costs to outweigh the pressure on revenue from falling interest rates, KeyCorp has been doing the same, but it has also said that it will continue to invest in future growth, so it might take until the second half for expenses to start decreasing. Expenses increased by 5.4 percent year-over-year, and 3 percent from the third quarter to $756 million, while revenue rose by 9.8 percent to $1.1 billion for the same period but fell 4.4 percent from the third quarter.
10 Best Bank Stocks To Buy For 2014: National Australia Bank Ltd (NAB) National Australia Bank Limited provides products, advice and services. In Australia, it operates through National Australia Bank, MLC and UBank. In the United Kingdom, it operates through Clydesdale Bank. In New Zealand, it operates through Bank of New Zealand. In the United States, it operates through Great Western Bank. Segments include Business Banking, Personal Banking, Wholesale Banking, UK Banking and NZ Banking, MLC and NAB and Great Western Ban. As of April 5, 2012, the Company and its associated entities ceased to be a substantial holder in BlueScope Steel Limited. On May 17, 2012, it ceased to be a substantial holder in Spark Infrastructure Group and Sandfire Resources NL. As of August 24, 2012, the Company and its associated entities ceased to be holder in Tabcorp Holdings Limited. In September 2012, the Company and its associated entities have ceased to be a substantial holder in Incitec Pivot Limited, as of August 30, 2012. Advisors' Opinion: - [By Dale Gillham]
NAB is still a long way from its all-time high of $44.84 from 2007, but has so far been able to hold above 50 per cent ($22.42) of its all-time high, which is a positive sign. Given that NAB has spent a lot of time in a zigzag formation above this level; you can see how strong this level has been for its shares. At present NAB is probably my least preferred bank stocks when weighing up the risks from a technical perspective, but while it stays above this 50 per cent level it has a greater probability of rising than falling. What is holding it back? You can see how a few months ago NAB attempted to break the $26.00 level overhead, which has proven to be an important threshold for those just not willing to pay more for NAB. If you are a bit of a contrarian and like to pick underdogs, you may decide to keep NAB on your watch list because very soon I am expecting it to show where it is headed. A move back below the 50 per cent level would not bode well for those holding NAB.
10 Best Bank Stocks To Buy For 2014: Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ANZ.AX) Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) provides a range of banking and financial products and services to retail, small business, corporate and institutional clients. The Company conducts its operations in Australia, New Zealand and the Asia Pacific region. It also operates in a range of other countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States. The Company operates on a divisional structure with Australia, International and Institutional Banking (IIB), New Zealand, and Global Wealth and Private Banking. As of September 30, 2012, the Company had 1,337 branches and other points of representation worldwide, excluding automatic teller machines (ATMs). In September 2012, it sold its remaining shareholding in Visa Inc.
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