Amid signs that many technology and biotech stocks may have peaked ��the Nasdaq fell 3 percent last week ��markets will look to this coming Friday�� U.S. March employment report for support.
The rout in tech and biotech stocks last week has some investors worried that a bubble has indeed burst.
Candy Crush game company King Digital Entertainment saw its stock fall 20 percent in its first three days of trading, and Facebook fell 11 percent after it said it would buy virtual reality gaming company Oculus VR for $2 billion.
Other stocks to suffer significant falls last week included Twitter, Pandora Media Pandora Media, Yelp Yelp, BlackBerry and Netflix.
On Friday alone, Gilead Science fell about 4 percent and Biogen Idec fell 5 percent.
Chad Morganlander, a fund manager at Stifel Nicolaus & Co, told Bloomberg News that a ��hift from the high fliers of 2013 to more value-based investments,��was underway.
Friday�� jobs report could, however, provide a boost for markets. Most analysts are predicting that U.S. employers added up to 200,000 new jobs in March.
Hot Sliver Companies To Buy For 2015: Asta Funding Inc.(ASFI)
Asta Funding, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in purchasing, managing, and servicing distressed consumer receivables in the United States. Its principal portfolio includes charged-off receivables consisting of accounts that have been written-off by the originators and might have been previously serviced by collection agencies; semi-performing receivables, including accounts where the debtor is currently making partial or irregular monthly payments, but the accounts might have been written-off by the originators; performing receivables comprising accounts where the debtor is making regular monthly payments that might or might not have been delinquent in the past; and distressed consumer receivables, such as the unpaid debts of individuals to banks, finance companies, and other credit and service providers. The company?s distressed consumer receivables consist of MasterCard, Visa, and other credit card accounts, which were charged-off by the issuers or provide rs for non-payment. Asta Funding, Inc. was founded in 1994 and is based in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Tim Melvin]
There a lot of moving parts to Asta Funding (ASFI), but there appears to be a great deal of value that isn�� reflected in the current stock price. ASFI stock is trading at less than 65% of book value, but several of its debt collection assets are carried at zero cost basis and yet may have substantial value. The balance sheet is strong with more than $90 million in cash. ASFI has been moving into other businesses including disability claims to increase its growth opportunities over the next few years. It�� a fairly complex business, but it is very cheap — and the first sign of good news could send the shares a lot higher.
- [By John Udovich]
Small cap debt collection stocks like�Asta Funding, Inc (NASDAQ: ASFI), Encore Capital Group, Inc (NASDAQ: ECPG) and Portfolio Recovery Associates, Inc (NASDAQ: PRAA) could be the latest target of a government shakedown or crackdown as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said this week that�before it formally proposes any rules for debt collection, it wants to hear how collectors verify borrowers' information and communicate with consumers. In other words, debt collectors could be restricted from using text messages, social media or other Internet-based tools in their pursuit to collect debts. With about one in 10 Americans coming out of the financial crisis with some debt in collection, investing in small cap�debt collection stocks has been profitable for investors. However, there is no timeline for when any new rules might be released for review or come into effect.
Hot Sliver Companies To Buy For 2015: Integrys Energy Group(TEG)
Integrys Energy Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as a regulated electric and natural gas utility company in the United States and Canada. It provides natural gas utility services in Chicago, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota. As of December 31, 2009, the company served approximately 1,669,000 residential, commercial and industrial, transportation, and other customers. It had approximately 22,000 miles of natural gas distribution mains; and approximately 1,010 miles of natural gas transmission mains. The company also generates and distributes electric energy form coal, natural gas, fuel oil, hydroelectric, and wind resources in Wisconsin and Michigan. It served approximately 489,000 residential, commercial and industrial, wholesale, and other customers. In addition, Integrys Energy offers nonregulated energy supply and services; and electric transmission services. The company was formerly known as WPS Resources Corporation and changed its name to Integrys En ergy Group, Inc. in February 2007. Integrys Energy Group, Inc. was founded in 1883 and is based in Chicago, Illinois.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Justin Loiseau]
Subsidiary switch-up
AGL Resources�announced Thursday that it has officially handed off subsidiary Compass Energy Services to Integrys Energy (NYSE: TEG ) for an initial cash consideration of $12 million, with an additional $3 million to $8 million cash consideration. If the unregulated natural gas subsidiary fares well over the next five years, Integrys will fork over more finances for its purchase. If not, AGL could be left with $15 million total for the sale. For now, AGL will record a $9 million to $11 million pre-tax gain for Q2 2013. - [By Justin Loiseau]
Getting more from gas
Integrys Energy's (NYSE: TEG ) Michigan Gas Utilities subsidiary has filed a request for a 6% increase in natural gas rates beginning in 2014. The company has recently hit a rough spot because of falling sales, pricey upgrade costs, more expensive customer service functions, and inflation. - [By Justin Loiseau]
In the same week that TECO is applying for its foray into New Mexico natural gas, Illinois is solidifying its own reliance on the fuel source. Integrys (NYSE: TEG ) released a statement this week commending Illinois politicians for their "swift signing" of the Natural Gas Consumer, Safety, & Reliability Act.
Top 5 Beverage Companies To Invest In Right Now: EPAM Systems Inc (EPAM)
EPAM Systems, Inc. (EPAM), incorporated on December 18, 2002, is a global information technology (IT) services provider focused on software product development services, software engineering and vertically-oriented custom development solutions. EPAM has been serving independent software vendors (ISVs), and technology companies. These companies produce advanced software and technology products that demand software engineering talent, tools, methodologies and infrastructure to deliver solutions. Its service offerings cover the full software development lifecycle from complex software development services through maintenance and support, custom application development, application testing, enterprise application platforms and infrastructure management. Its key service offerings include software product development services, custom application development services, application testing services, enterprise application platforms, application maintenance and support and infrastructure management services. In December 2012, the Company acquired Empathy Lab.
Software Product Development Services
EPAM provides a set of software product development services, including product research, design and prototyping, product development, component design and integration, full lifecycle software testing, product deployment and end-user customization, performance tuning, product support and maintenance, as well as porting and cross-platform migration. The Company focuses on development services for enterprise software products covering a range of business applications, as well as product development for multiple mobile platforms and embedded software product services.
Custom Application Development Services
EPAM offers custom application development services. The Company�� range of services includes business and technical requirements analysis, solution architecture creation and validation, development, component design and integration, quality assurance and testing, d! eployment, performance tuning, support and maintenance, legacy applications re-engineering/refactoring, porting and cross-platform migration and documentation.
Application Testing Services
The Company�� application testing services include software application testing, including test automation tools and frameworks, and testing for enterprise IT, including test management, automation, functional and non-functional testing, as well as defect management. It also includes and consulting services focused on helping clients improve their existing software testing and quality assurance practices.
Enterprise Application Platforms
As a provider of software product development services to ISVs, EPAM has developed industry standard technology and business application platforms and their components in such areas as customer relationship management and sales automation, enterprise resource planning, enterprise content management, business intelligence, e-commerce, mobile, Software-as-a-Service and cloud deployment. The Company offers services around Enterprise Application Platforms, which include requirements analysis and platform selection, deep and complex customization, cross-platform migration, implementation and integration, as well as support and maintenance.
Application Maintenance and Support
EPAM delivers application maintenance and support services. The Company�� application maintenance and support offerings meet rigorous CMMI and SAS 70 Type II requirements. Its services include incident management, fault investigation diagnosis, work-around provision, application bug fixes, release management, application enhancements and third-party maintenance.
Infrastructure Management Services
EPAM service offerings cover infrastructure management services. The Company has implemented large infrastructure monitoring solutions, providing real-time notification and control from the low-level infrastructure up! to and i! ncluding applications. Its solutions cover the lifecycle of infrastructure management, including application, database, network, server, storage and systems operations management, as well as incident notification and resolution.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Seth Jayson]
EPAM Systems (NYSE: EPAM ) reported earnings on May 9. Here are the numbers you need to know.
The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), EPAM Systems met expectations on revenues and missed estimates on earnings per share.
Hot Sliver Companies To Buy For 2015: Affiliated Managers Group Inc. (AMG)
Affiliated Managers Group, Inc., through its affiliates, operates as an asset management company providing investment management services to mutual funds, institutional clients, and high net worth individuals in the United States. It provides advisory or subadvisory services to mutual funds. These funds are distributed to retail and institutional clients directly and through intermediaries, including independent investment advisors, retirement plan sponsors, broker-dealers, major fund marketplaces, and bank trust departments. The company also offers investment products in various investment styles in the institutional distribution channel, including small, small/mid, mid, and large capitalization value and growth equity, and emerging markets. In addition, it offers quantitative, alternative, and fixed income products, and manages assets for foundations and endowments, defined benefit, and defined contribution plans for corporations and municipalities. Affiliated Managers G roup provides investment management or customized investment counseling and fiduciary services. The company was formed as a corporation under the laws of Delaware in 1993. Affiliated Managers Group is based in Prides Crossing, Massachusetts.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Udovich]
While America�� middle class appears to be shrinking with little upward mobility, small cap wealth management stocks Noah Holdings Limited (NYSE: NOAH) and A.F.P Provida SA (NYSE: PVD)�plus larger cap Affiliated Managers Group, Inc (NYSE: AMG) are managing money in places where the ranks of the middle class and the wealthy are still growing strong. Specifically, Noah Holdings Limited is based in China, Chile based A.F.P Provida SA is spreading its footprint into other Latin American countries and the�Affiliated Managers Group is growing�a global footprint. For those reasons, you have probably not heard of these wealth management stocks, but here are some reasons why you might want to consider investing in one:
Hot Sliver Companies To Buy For 2015: Responsys Inc.(MKTG)
Responsys, Inc. provides on-demand software and professional services primarily in North America, the Asia Pacific, and Europe. The company offers Responsys Interact suite, a software-as-a-service platform that provides marketers with a set of integrated applications to create, execute, optimize, and automate marketing campaigns in various channels, including email, mobile, social, and the Web. Its platform also leverages third-party applications and data from real-time sources allowing customers to deliver targeted content to its customers and known prospects as part of their interactive marketing campaigns. In addition, it provides professional services, such as strategic, creative, deliverability, campaign, and education services. The company offers its on-demand software and professional services to retail and consumer, travel, financial services, and technology industries through a direct sales force. Responsys, Inc. was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in San Bru no, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Seth Jayson]
Calling all cash flows
When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Responsys (Nasdaq: MKTG ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below. - [By The GeoTeam]
Our recent 2013 articles on SaaS companies Selectica (SLTC), E2open (EOPN), Responsys (MKTG), Vocus (VOCS), and ExactTarget (ET) highlighted such opportunities. The average return since the inception of our coverage currently stands at around 34% (55% at their highs).
Hot Sliver Companies To Buy For 2015: LTX-Credence Corporation(LTXC)
LTX-Credence Corporation designs, manufactures, markets, and services automated test equipment solutions for the wireless, computing, automotive, and consumer markets. The company?s product portfolio includes Diamond platform, a package for testing microcontrollers and cost sensitive consumer devices; X-Series platform that offers configurations for optimal testing of ASSP and ASIC, power, automotive, mixed signal, and RF applications; and ASL platform, which is used for testing linear, low-end mixed signal, precision analog, and power management devices. The company also provides various services, including installation and maintenance of test systems, servicing of spare parts, parts and labor warranties on test systems, and training on the maintenance and operation of test systems. LTX-Credence Corporation sells its products through direct sales organization and distributors in the United States, Taiwan, China, Japan, Korea, and southeast Asia. The company was founded i n 1976 and is headquartered in Norwood, Massachusetts.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By CRWE]
LTX-Credence Corporation (Nasdaq:LTXC), a global provider of market focused, cost-optimized ATE solutions, reported that it will present at the Barclays Capital Global Technology, Media and Telecommunications Conference on Wednesday, May 23, 2012 at 4:15 PM EDT. This event will be available over the Internet via live webcast.
Hot Sliver Companies To Buy For 2015: IMF (AUSTRALIA)
IMF (Australia) Ltd investigates, manages, and funds litigation and arbitration claims primarily in Australia and the United States. Its litigations include commercial claims, insolvency claims, and group actions. The company offers funding for litigation and investigations preliminary to litigation; payment of adverse costs orders; strategic planning, monitoring, and managing of litigation; factual investigation, including asset tracing; and assistance in facilitating settlements and maximizing the value of each claim. IMF (Australia) Ltd is based in Sydney, Australia.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Charles Mizrahi]
Companies rely on third party contractors, such as Atwood Oceanics (ATW) to provide rigs in these deep-water environments. High utilization rates have resulted in rig shortages, creating upward pressure on prices. Atwood's largest customers include Chevron (Australia), Noble, and Kosmos Energy Ghana.
- [By GURUFOCUS]
News Corp. (0.4%) (NWSA - $16.06 (0.3%) NWS - $16.43 (0.1%) - NASDAQ)(NWSA), based in New York, operates in five segments: 1) News and information services ��U.S., United Kingdom, and Australian publishing businesses, including The Wall Street Journal, the Times of London, and the New York Post, along with News America Marketing Corp., a leading provider of free standing inserts (FSIs or cents off coupons); 2) Cable network programming ��Fox Sports Australia; 3) Digital real estate services ��a 62% interest in publicly traded REA Group Ltd. (Australia); 4) Book publishing ��Harper Collins, one of the largest English language publishers in the world; and 5) Other ��primarily the company's K-12 education business ��Amplify. On June 28, 2013, 'old News' Corp. (now Twenty-First Century Fox Inc. (2.4%)) spun off most of its non entertainment assets ('new News') to holders on a one for four basis. We estimate that the company will generate about $800 million of EBITDA on $8.7 billion of revenues for the year ending June 30, 2014.�
Hot Sliver Companies To Buy For 2015: Targa Resources Inc.(TRGP)
Targa Resources Corp., through its general and limited partner interests in Targa Resources Partners LP, provides midstream natural gas and natural gas liquid (NGL) services in the United States. It engages in gathering, compressing, treating, processing, and selling natural gas, as well as storing, fractionating, treating, transporting, and selling NGLs and NGL products. The company owns interests in or operates approximately 11,372 miles of natural gas pipelines and approximately 800 miles of NGL pipelines, with natural gas gathering systems covering approximately 13,500 square miles and 22 natural gas processing plants with access to natural gas supplies in the Permian Basin, the Fort Worth Basin, the onshore region of the Louisiana Gulf Coast and the Gulf of Mexico. It owns and operates 39 storage wells with a net storage capacity of approximately 65 million barrels; and 16 storage, marine, and transport terminals with above ground storage capacity of approximately 1.4 million barrels. Targa Resources Corp. sells its services to refineries, petrochemical manufacturers, propane distributors, multi-state retailers, independent retailers, and other industrial end-users. The company was founded in 2003 and is based in Houston, Texas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Eric Volkman]
The dividends are continuing to flow at the closely related companies Targa Resources (NYSE: TRGP ) and Targa Resources Partners (NYSE: NGLS ) . Q2 distributions for both have been declared; the former will hand out $0.5325 per share on Aug. 15 to shareholders of record as of July 29, while Targa Resources Partners is to dispense $0.7150 per unit on Aug. 14 to holders of record as of July 29.
- [By Robert Rapier]
Some of our portfolio picks that are suitable for IRA accounts include Kinder Morgan (KMI), Williams (WMB), Targa Resources (TRGP) and Navios Maritime Partners (NMM).
Hot Sliver Companies To Buy For 2015: FMC Corporation (FMC)
FMC Corporation, a chemical company, provides solutions, applications, and products for agricultural, consumer, and industrial markets. The company operates in three segments: Agricultural Products, Specialty Chemicals, and Industrial Chemicals. The Agricultural Products segment develops, markets, and sells a portfolio of crop protection, pest control, and lawn and garden products. It produces insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides to protect crops, including cotton, sugarcane, rice, corn, soybeans, cereals, fruits, and vegetables from insects and weed growth; and for non-agricultural applications, including pest control for home, garden, and other specialty markets, as well as for turf and roadside applications. The Specialty Chemicals segment focuses on food ingredients, pharmaceutical excipients, biomedical technologies, and lithium products. It produces microcrystalline cellulose that is used as drug dry tablet binder and disintegrant, and food ingredient; carrageena n, which is used as food ingredient for thickening and stabilizing; encapsulant for pharmaceutical and nutraceutical applications; alginates that are used as food ingredients, and for pharmaceutical excipient, wound care, orthopedic uses, and industrial uses; and lithium that is used in pharmaceuticals, polymers, batteries, greases and lubricants, air conditioning, and other industrial applications. The Industrial Chemicals segment produces inorganic materials, such as soda ash for glass, chemicals, and detergents; specialty peroxygens for pulp and paper, chemical processing, detergents, antimicrobial disinfectants, environmental applications, electronics, and polymers; and zeolites and silicates for detergents, car tires, pulp, and paper. It has operations in North America, Latin America, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The company was founded in 1884 and is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ben Levisohn]
Timing of the transaction completion is mid 2015, following final approval of the BoD, receipt of favorable opinion on tax free status from IRS, shareholder approval, & all regulatory approvals. As a point of interest we have seen several announcements recently where an announcement of the split drives the stocks up 10% and quickly fades as timing sets in and market risk still exists. recent examples [Hertz (HTZ), FMC Corp (FMC), Agilent (A), Noble (NE), CBS (CBS)]. I would expect the stock to fade hard from these levels
- [By Marc Courtenay]
Some other names to consider as takeover targets would include FMC Technologies, Inc. (FTI), which provides technology solutions for the energy industry worldwide and hit a 52-week high on April 11th. Another less conspicuous target is the diversified chemical company FMC Corp. (FMC), which has a market cap of only $8 billion plus a forward PE of less than 13.
- [By Rich Duprey]
Just as Monsanto is enjoying a surge in sales of Roundup, pesticide makers are witnessing greater sales of pesticides to combat these superbugs. Revenues at Sygenta (NYSE: SYT ) rose 1.5% to $4.2 billion, FMC's (NYSE: FMC ) sales were 5% higher, and American Vanguard's (NYSE: AVD ) surged 39% last quarter. The three companies account for three-quarters of all ground pesticides sold in the United States.
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