Top 5 Oil Service Stocks To Own Right Now

Top 5 Oil Service Stocks To Own Right Now: SEACOR Holdings Inc (CKH)

SEACOR Holdings Inc, incorporated on November 7, 1989, is a global provider of equipment and services primarily supporting the offshore oil and gas and marine transportation industries. The Company offers customers a diversified suite of services, including offshore marine, aviation, inland river, marine transportation, crisis and emergency management preparedness and response solutions, commodity trading and logistics and offshore and harbor towing. On March 19, 2012, J.F. Lehman & Company acquired National Response Corporation and its affiliated businesses NRC Environmental Services, SEACOR Response, and SEACOR Environmental Products (collectively NRC) from the Company. In January 2013, the Company sold its energy trading division, SEACOR Energy Inc. to Par Petroleum Corporation. On January 31, 2013, it completed the spin off its Era Group Inc unit (Era).

Offshore Marine Services

The Company's Marine operates a diversified fleet of vessels, s ervicing the offshore oil and gas exploration, development, and production industry worldwide.The Company's marine provides its customers with the assembly of offshore vessel services in the global offshore oil and gas industry, including transport of personnel, platform supply, offshore accommodation, intervention, maintenance and repair support, standby safety services, anchor handling and mooring services, wind farm support, lift boat services, offshore construction support, well enhancement support, and lightering services.

Aviation Services

The Company's aviation services subsidiary, Era Group (Era), is the helicopter operators globally. ra supports the oil and gas industry in the United States Gulf of Mexico, Alaska, and internationally. Era provides air medical services, firefighting support, flightseeing tours in Alaska, and Sea! rch and Rescue and Emergency Medical Services. Era's affiliate, Era Training Center, offers flight training ser vices. Era also markets and distributes specialty helicopter! equipment and accessories.

Inland River Services

The Company's Inland River Services group owns and operates modern river transportation equipment; owns covered and open hopper barges, 10,000 and 30,000 barrel tank barges, deck barges, inland river towboats and smaller harbor boats; and provides ancillary services along the United States Inland River Waterways and the Parana-Paraguay and the Magdalena River Systems in South America. SCF Marine operates a fleet of hopper barges along the United States Inland River Waterways and South America, transporting agricultural, industrial, and project cargoes. The liquid division, Supercritical Fluid (SCF) Liquids, is a integrated towboat and tank barge company, specializing in the transportation of chemical, clean, and dirty products. Gateway Terminals is among the newest ethanol and petroleum storage terminals on the Mississippi River, with a capacity of 400,000 barrels and the ability to receive and tra nsfer products by barge, unit train, and truck.

Marine Transportation Services

The Company's ocean shipping and harbor towing subsidiary, SEACOR Ocean Transport, is an owner and operator of equipment engaged in oil transportation, bunkering, harbor towing, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal support, short sea shipping and logistics, and third-party ship management services. Through all aspects of its operations, SEACOR Ocean Transport focuses to provide its customers with marine transportation solutions.

Commodity Trading and Logistics

The Company's Commodity Trading and Logistics group specializes in the purchase, storage, transportation, and sale of agricultural and energy commodities, which include renewable fuels, blendstocks, sugar, rice, and salt. The Agricultural group is primarily focused on t! he global! sourcing and logistics of sugar, rice, salt, and other dry bulk products. The Energy group is primarily focu sed on the domestic trading and transportation of physical e! thanol an! d clean blendstocks.

Harbor and Offshore Towing Services

The Company's ocean shipping and harbor towing subsidiary, SEACOR Ocean Transport, is an operator of equipment engaged in oil transportation, bunkering, harbor towing, LNG terminal support, short sea shipping and logistics, and third-party ship management services. The harbor towing services group, Seabulk Towing, is a tugboat operator with operations along the Gulf Coast and Southeastern seaboard port system from Cape Canaveral, Florida, to Port Arthur, Texas. Seabulk Island Transport owns and operates four ocean tugs and five ocean liquid tank barges.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Traders Reserve]

  For investors who want a piece of this developing trend, Transocean and Seadrill are two of the bigger players in this arena. Other offshore drillers/rig operators are Noble (NE) and Ensco (ESV). Companies that provide services to offshore drillers and benefit from increases in exploration and drilling activity are Gulfmark Offshore (GLF), Hornbeck (HOS), Seacor (CKH) and Tidewater (TDW).

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Margins matter. The more Seacor Holdings (NYSE: CKH  ) keeps of each buck it earns in revenue, the more money it has to invest in growth, fund new strategic plans, or (gasp!) distribute to shareholders. Healthy margins often separate pretenders from the best stocks in the market. That's why we check up on margins at least once a quarter in this series. I'm looking for the absolute numbers, so I can compare them to current and potential competitors, and any trend that may tell me how strong Seacor Holdings's competitive position could be.

source from Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/top-5-oil-service-stoc! ks-to-own! -right-now-4.html

Top 10 Safest Companies To Invest In 2016

Top 10 Safest Companies To Invest In 2016: Flow International Corporation(FLOW)

Flow International Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a technology-based company providing waterjet cutting, surface preparation, and cleaning solutions in the United States, Europe, Asia, and internationally. The company?s products include ultrahigh-pressure water pumps and power waterjet systems used to cut and clean materials. It also offers ultrahigh-pressure surface preparation and industrial cleaning systems used in waterjet cleaning for coating removal; and consumable parts used by the pump and cutting heads during operations, such as seals and orifices, as well as provides related services. The company sells its consumable parts online through flowparts.com in the United States and floweuropeparts.com in Europe. It offers its products to various end-user applications and industries, including automotive, aerospace, paper, job shop, and stone and tile industries. The company was founded in 1974 and is headquartered in Kent, Washington.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Flow International (FLOW) has gained 9.6% to $3.99 after it reported a loss of 2 cents a share, below forecasts for a 1 cent profit. Profits were hit by currency fluctuations and a $1.6 million charge.

source from Top Stocks To Buy For 2015:http://www.topstocksforum.com/top-10-safest-companies-to-invest-in-2016.html

Best Defense Stocks To Own Right Now

Best Defense Stocks To Own Right Now: Lockheed Martin Corporation(LMT)

Lockheed Martin Corporation engages in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration, operation, and sustainment of advanced technology systems and products in the areas of defense, space, intelligence, homeland security, and government information technology in the United States and internationally. It also provides management, engineering, technical, scientific, logistic, and information services. The company operates in four segments: Aeronautics, Electronic Systems, Information Systems & Global Services (IS&GS), and Space Systems. The Aeronautics segment offers military aircraft, including combat and air mobility aircraft, unmanned air vehicles, and related technologies. Its products and programs comprise the F-35 multi-role, stealth fighter; the F-22 air dominance and multi-mission stealth fighter; the F-16 multi-role fighter; the C-130J tactical transport aircraft; and the C-5M strategic airlifter modernization program; and support for the P-3 maritime patrol aircraft, and the U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft. The Electronic Systems segment provides air and missile defense; tactical missiles; weapon fire control systems; surface ship and submarine combat systems; anti-submarine and undersea warfare systems; land, sea-based, and airborne radars; surveillance and reconnaissance systems; simulation and training systems; and integrated logistics and sustainment services. The IS&GS segment offers information technology solutions and advanced technology primarily in the areas of software and systems integration for space, air, and ground systems to various defense and civil government agencies. The Space Systems segment provides government and commercial satellites; strategic and defensive missile systems, including missile defense technologies and systems, and fleet ballistic missiles; and space transportation sys! tems. Lockheed Martin Corporation was founded in 1909 and is based in Bethesda, Maryland.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jonas Elmerraji]

   

  By chance, our next Rocket Stock also happens to have "sin stock" status. That's because we're taking a look at defense contracting giant Lockheed Martin (LMT). Lockheed Martin happens to be the only name on our Rocket Stocks list that actually manufactures rockets; the firm is one of the biggest defense contractors on earth, building everything from fighter jets to surveillance equipment to armored vehicles.

   

  In the last decade, Lockheed has worked on securing government contracts outside of the DoD, using its expertise to provide IT services to the Department of Energy, and the FAA with flight service staffing, for example. Iraq and Afghanistan have been major drivers of government demand for LMT's products and services -- and despite the occasional congressional budget scare, those needs are likely to persist for some time. Likewise, Lockheed has historically been able to secure permission to sell military equipment to our allies, diversifying the firm's fortunes away from Uncle Sam's pocketbook.

   

  That said, don't expect DoD spending to diminish in importance for Lockheed Martin's overall business. The firm's bread and butter will continue to come from defense sales. Like other sin stocks, Lockheed sports a hefty dividend payout -- the firm currently pays a 3.2% yield at current levels. With rising analyst sentiment in Lockheed Martin, we're betting on shares this week.
  
  
  Must Read: 5 Breakout Stocks Under $10 Set to Soar

   

• [By Steven Russolillo]

  WATCH FOR: September Existing Home Sales (10:00 a.m. Eastern Time): seen +1.0% at 5.1 million; previously -1.8% at 5.05 million. ACE, Apollo Education, Brinker, Broadcom (BRCM), Coca-Cola (KO), Discover, E*Trade, Harley-Davidson (HOG), Illinois Tool Works (ITW), Interactive Brokers, Intuitive! Surgical! , Kimberly-Clark (KMB), Lexmark (LXK), Lockheed Martin (LMT), Manpower (MAN), McDonald's (MCD), Omnicom (OMC), Regions Financial (RF), Reynolds American (RAI), Six Flags Entertainment, Travelers, United Technologies Verizon Communications (VZ), VMware, Whirlpool (WHR) and Yahoo (YHOO) are among companies scheduled to report quarterly results.

• [By Tom Rojas var popups = dojo.query(".socialByline .popC"); popups.forEach(func]

  Lockheed Martin Corp.(LMT) on Tuesday reported a forecast-beating 1.7% rise in third-quarter profit and raised its 2014 earnings outlook for the third time this year, but said sales and margins will drop sequentially in 2015. Shares lost 2.7% to $170.80 premarket.

• [By Alanna Petroff]

  1. Expecting earnings: McDonald's (MCD), Coca-Cola (KO), Verizon (VZ, Tech30) and Lockheed Martin (LMT) are the big companies reporting quarterly results before the start of trading.

source from Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/best-defense-stocks-to-own-right-now-2.html

Top 10 Telecom Companies To Buy For 2016

Top 10 Telecom Companies To Buy For 2016: Verizon Communications Inc.(VZ)

Verizon Communications Inc. provides communication services. The company operates through two segments, Domestic Wireless and Wireline. The Domestic Wireless segment offers wireless voice and data services; and sells equipment in the United States. The Wireline segment provides voice, Internet access, broadband video and data, Internet protocol network, network access, long distance, and other services in the United States and internationally. The company serves consumer, business, and government customers, as well as carriers. As of December 31, 2010, its network covered a population of approximately 292 million and provided service to a customer base of approximately 94.1 million. The company was formerly known as Bell Atlantic Corporation and changed its name to Verizon Communications Inc. in June 2000. Verizon Communications Inc. was founded in 1983 and is based in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Laura Brodbeck]

  However, large telecom companies are already making plans to fight the new legislation. Carriers like Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) and Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA) are wary of new rules, saying they hinder their growth as a business. Having the ability to develop new services that give preference to certain groups of industries is something service providers can use to improve their profit margins.

• [By Mike Deane]

  On Monday evening, Bloomberg reported that Verizon (VZ) approached AOL about a possible joint venture or acquisition related to Verizon trying to increase offerings for mobile video.
  

  In the article, Bloomberg cites “people with knowledge of the matter,” stating that no Verizon has not made a formal proposal to AOL. Verizon is said to be interested in this deal based on AOL’s programmatic ad! vertising technology, which is the automatic online buying and selling of ads. No agreement has been made.

  VZ Dividend Snapshot

  As of Market Close on January 5, 2015

  Click here to see the complete history of VZ dividends.

  Verizon stock was up 13 cents, or 0.28%, in pre-market trading.

• [By Monica Gerson]

  AOL Inc.(NYSE: AOL) shares jumped 6.50% to $47.65 in pre-market trading following Monday Bloomberg report on rumored approach by Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ).

source from Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/top-10-telecom-companies-to-buy-for-2016.html

Go Yield Hunting in These 3 Preferred Stocks

I had some idle cash sitting around, and I decided I wanted to deploy it into an investment that would be relatively stable yet throw off a nice dividend.

These days, though, that eliminates just about everything … except preferred stocks.

Preferred stocks are an often overlooked asset, but these “bond-stock” hybrids are beloved by those in the know because of their high yields and relative stability.

While many investors can easily access these through exchange-traded funds and mutual funds, I also prefer to dabble in a few individual preferred stocks:

Bank of America

First, let’s look at the Bank of America Depositary Shares, Each Representing a 1/1,000th Interest in a Share of 6.625% Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series I.

Yes, that is the security's official name.

It means that one share of this "depository share,” issued at $25, is equal to 1/1000th a share of the actual preferred stock, which costs $25,000 each. Don't get confused, though. It's really just a share of stock that happens to represent a fraction of a larger share of stock.

This particular security is non-cumulative, however. That means that if Bank of America (BAC), for whatever reason, decides it can't or won't pay a dividend on this series of preferred stock, then you won't accrue those unpaid dividends as often is the case with other preferred series. It is also callable in October 2017, meaning the company can buy back the shares after that date. The security trades at $25.62, so the effective yield is 6.46%.

I've watched Bank of America for some time, hold the common, and think it's on very solid ground. Investors may be interested to know that BofA offers many different types of preferred stock, as well — some of which are carryovers from other firms that BofA purchased, such as Merrill Lynch.

Campus Crest Communities

If you went to college, you might have been subjected (as I was) to a highly fragmented off-campus residence market. Times are changing, though, and someone finally got the idea to establish a housing brand that served college communities.

If retirement homes and hotels can have brands, why not student housing?

Campus Crest Communities (CCG) operates 33 student housing properties comprising 6,324 apartment units under its "Grove" brand name. It's a REIT, so it distributes a minimum of 90% of taxable income as a common dividend of roughly 6%, which may even attract other investors. Campus Crest carries $225 million in debt and services it at a rate of about 5%. The company came into its own in 2012, as it reported solid EBITDA of $16.5 million and a profit after debt service and preferred stock payments, which it just started that year.

Its 8% Preferred Series A shares were issued at $25, and are now trading above par at $26.19. That tells us that investors have a lot of confidence in the company and its ability to make the preferred stock payments. By trading above par, the effective yield is 7.61%.

EPR Properties

I also jumped on the 9% Preferred Series E of an interesting REIT called EPR Properties (EPR), a $2.38 billion trust that owns 114 megaplex movie theaters; nine entertainment retail centers; seven family entertainment centers where one can bowl, enjoy nightlife, or sit atop observational towers; 13 metro ski parks; three water parks; four golf complexes, and 48 public charter schools.

So I guess the kids can break out of a school owned by EPR, then enjoy all the entertainment the company offers.

This is a very interesting entertainment infrastructure play, in that the company doesn't operate any of these locations. It leases them out, so it removes a degree of risk from being directly dependent on the revenue generated at each location. As long as EPR leases to credit-worthy tenants, it will be relatively insulated.

EPR sits on almost $1.5 billion in debt, but it's only costing them about 5% in interest. The company turns a very handsome bottom-line profit of $93 million after preferred dividend payments. Once again, we have a preferred stock that investors are confident in, as it trades well above its $25 par, at almost $29.

I'm usually not comfortable paying this far above par for an issuance, but I'm in it for the dividend, which effectively yields 7.77%.

As of this writing, Lawrence Meyers was long all the aforementioned preferred securities mentioned, as well as BAC common shares. did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. He is president of PDL Broker, Inc., which brokers financing, strategic investments and distressed asset purchases between private equity firms and businesses. He also has written two books and blogs about public policy, journalistic integrity, popular culture, and world affairs. Contact him at pdlcapital66@gmail.com and follow his tweets @ichabodscranium.

Top 5 Gold Companies For 2016

Top 5 Gold Companies For 2016: Australian Dollar(AU)

AngloGold Ashanti Limited primarily engages in the exploration and production of gold. It also produces silver, uranium oxide, and sulfuric acid. The company conducts gold-mining operations in South Africa; continental Africa, including Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Namibia, and Tanzania; Australia; and the Americas, which include Argentina, Brazil, and the United States. It also has mining or exploration operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea, and Colombia. As of December 31, 2010, the company had proved and probable gold reserves of 71.2 million ounces. The company has a strategic alliance with Thani Dubai Mining Limited to explore, develop, and operate mines across the Middle East and parts of North Africa. AngloGold Ashanti Limited, formerly known as Vaal Reefs Exploration and Mining Company Limited, was founded in 1944 and is headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Mark Hulbert]

  If you prefer the shares of individual gold-mining companies, Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (FCX)  is currently the one most recommended by the Hulbert Financial Digest-monitored advisers who have beaten the S&P 500 over the past 15 years. Also popular are Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM) , Barrick Gold (ABX) , AngloGold Ashanti (AU)  and Newmont Mining (NEM) .

• [By Brianna Valleskey]

  The result is that gold producers are not a particularly exciting part of markets in South Africa anymore, Theron said. Most of the large gold companies, like AngloGold Ashan! ti Limited (NYSE: AU) and Gold Fields Limited (NYSE: GFI), have internationalized their operations, he said, but still have a footprint in South Africa.

• [By Jim Powell]

  In addition to holding Goldcorp and Barrick Gold, the fund tracks the performance of Newmont Mining (NEM), Newcrest Mining (NCMGY), AngloGold Ashanti (AU), and several other industry leaders.

• [By Patricio Kehoe] stion arises: Why is First Eagle bullish regarding such a company? The answer might lie in the huge discount at which the third-largest gold producer by output is trading, along with a certain degree of long-term optimism.

  Huge Holdings Point to Long-Term Commitment

  Since First Eagle recently increased its stake in Anglogold by more than 20%, bringing his total holding to over 32.5 million shares, I believe we are looking at a long-term investment. I am keen on pointing this out, since the stock is currently performing very poorly, and has already lost around 275% of its value year to date. Above average production costs and plummeting gold prices have put a huge deal of pressure on the gold miner, leading to very poor results. In addition, since many of its operations are in geopolitically risky countries such as Mali and the Democratic Republic of Congo, shareholders have been shedding this stock in large volumes.

  Although Anglogold had a very rough year, and will continue to face elevated cash costs and reduced margins going into 2014, there are some positive signals looking forward. One of the most promising features, are the firm's operations in South America and Australia, which are enjoying solid organic growth. Although investors will have to wait some years for assets in these regions to reach full production, large profits should be achieved in the long-term. In other words, First Eagle surely has its eyes set on the company's new projects, and their future growth potential.

  Projected Growth and Low Price

  Another attractive feature inves! tors must! keep in mind is a stock's growth potential. When looking at Anglogold, this becomes especially relevant, as a comparison to Barrick Gold Corp (ABX) will demonstrate. Anglogold currently offers 13.6% returns on invested capital, compared to Barrick's -2.8%, and has an EBITDA growth rate of 465.7%, the highest in the industry. Thus, whereas the Canadian mine r has a negative EPS

source from Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/top-5-gold-companies-for-2016.html

Top 5 Undervalued Stocks To Buy Right Now

Top 5 Undervalued Stocks To Buy Right Now: Caterpillar Inc.(CAT)

Caterpillar Inc. manufactures and sells construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives worldwide. It operates through three lines of businesses: Machinery, Engines, and Financial Products. The Machinery business offers construction, mining, and forestry machinery, including track and wheel tractors, track and wheel loaders, pipelayers, motor graders, wheel tractor-scrapers, track and wheel excavators, backhoe loaders, log skidders, log loaders, off-highway trucks, articulated trucks, paving products, skid steer loaders, underground mining equipment, tunnel boring equipment, and related parts. It also manufactures diesel-electric locomotives; and manufactures and services rail-related products and logistics services for other companies. The Engines business provides diesel, heavy fuel, and natural gas reciprocating engines for Caterpillar machinery, electric power generation systems, marine, petrol eum, construction, industrial, agricultural, and other applications. It offers industrial turbines and turbine-related services for oil and gas, and power generation applications. This business also remanufactures Caterpillar engines, machines, and engine components; and offers remanufacturing services for other companies. The Financial Products business provides retail and wholesale financing alternatives for Caterpillar machinery and engines, solar gas turbines, and other equipment and marine vessels, as well as offers loans and various forms of insurance to customers and dealers. It also offers financing for vehicles, power generation facilities, and marine vessels. The company markets its products directly, as well as through its distribution centers, dealers, and distributors. It was formerly known as Caterpillar Tractor Co. and changed its name to Caterpillar Inc.! in 1986.. Caterpillar Inc. was founded in 1925 and is headquartered in Peoria, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jayson Derrick]

  Analysts at Credit Suisse maintained an Outperform rating on Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) with a price target raised to $109 from a previous $110. Analysts at Citigroup maintained a Neutral rating with a price target lowered to $110 from a previous $115. Shares gained 0.17 percent, closing at $99.44.

• [By reports.droy]

  The heavy machinery honcho, Caterpillar (CAT), posted its third quarter results on October 23. The company was able to post much better earnings than was predicted, and the report card was completely in the green for the company. The stock market also reacted positively to the news and sent the Caterpillar stock soaring higher with the share price opening 3.3% higher at $97.69 on Thursday morning. Let's find out the details of the third quarter earnings. 

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Why the massive rally? Chalk it up to solid earnings from some bellwether companies. Caterpillar (CAT), for instance, gained 4.6% this week after reporting surprisingly good results, while 3M (MMM) rose 8.1% following its own beat, and Microsoft (MSFT) advanced 5.7% this week after beating earnings and reporting that it was finally making a profit on its Surface tablet. Apple (AAPL), the biggest company in the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite, rose 7.7% after the tech giant beat the Street’s earnings and revenue forecasts, and offered above-consensus guidance.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Why is the market surging? Top-notch earnings from big Dow components like Caterpillar (CAT) and 3M (MMM), and a dividend increase from Visa (V) certainly have helped, as these are some of the priciest stocks in the price-weighted Dow. And then there’s the economic data. US jobless claims rose to 283,000, a tad bit higher than expected but still ridiculously low. Global purchasing managers’ ! indexes al! so showed signs of improvement, especially in Europe. If the recent selloff was a “growth scare,” then perhaps growth isn’t as scary as many investors thought. 

source from Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/top-5-undervalued-stocks-to-buy-right-now-2.html

Top 10 Paper Companies To Invest In Right Now

Top 10 Paper Companies To Invest In Right Now: Bemis Company Inc (BMS)

Bemis Company, Inc., incorporated on May 18, 1885, is a manufacturer of packaging products and pressure sensitive materials. The Company's business activities are organized around its three reportable business segments, U.S. Packaging , Global Packaging and Pressure Sensitive Materials. The majority of the Companys products are sold to customers in the food industry. Other customers include companies businesses, such as chemical, agribusiness, medical, pharmaceutical, personal care, electronics, automotive, construction, graphic industries and other consumer goods. In July 2013, Bemis Company Inc acquired all of the common stock of Foshan New Changsheng Plastics Films Co., LTD.

The Companys flexible packaging businesses has a technical base in polymer chemistry, film extrusion, coating, laminating, printing, and converting. The Companys pressure sensitive materials business specializes in adhesive technologies. On August 22, 2012, the Company acquired two flexible packaging businesses in Australia and New Zealand.

U.S. Packaging segment

The U.S. Packaging segment represents all food, consumer, and industrial products packaging-related manufacturing operations located in the United States. This segment manufactures multilayer polymer, blown and cast film structures to produce packaging sold for food and personal care product applications as well as non-food applications. Additional products include custom thermoformed packaging, and multiwall paper bags. Markets for these products include processed and fresh meat, liquids, frozen foods, cereals, snacks, cheese, coffee, condiments, candy, pet food, bakery, seed, lawn and garden, tissue, fresh produce, personal care and hygiene, disposable diapers, agribusiness, and minerals. This segment has 35 manufacturing plants located in 16 states, of which 32 are owned directly by the Company or its subsidiaries and three are leased from outsid! e parties.

Global Packaging segment

The ! Global Packaging segment includes all packaging-related manufacturing operations located outside of the United States as well as global medical device and pharmaceutical packaging manufacturing operations. This segment manufactures multilayer polymer, blown and cast film structures to produce packaging sold for a variety of food, medical, pharmaceutical, personal care, and industrial applications. Additional products include injection molded plastic and folding carton packaging. Markets for these products include processed and fresh meat, liquids, snacks, cheese, coffee, condiments, candy, bakery, tissue, fresh produce, personal care and hygiene, disposable diapers, agribusiness, pharmaceutical, and medical devices. This segment has 32 manufacturing plants located in three United States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and ten non-United States countries, of which 26 are owned directly by the Company or its subsidiaries and six are leased from outside parties.

Pressure Sensitive Materials segment

The Pressure Sensitive Materials segment is a global manufacturer of pressure sensitive adhesive coated paper and film substrates sold into label, graphic, and technical product markets. Products for label markets include narrow-Web rolls of pressure sensitive paper, film, and metalized film printing stocks used in high-speed printing and die-cutting. Products for graphic markets include pressure sensitive films used for decorative signage through computer-aided plotters, digital and screen printers, and photographic overlaminate and mounting materials including optically clear films with built-in ultraviolet (UV) inhibitors. Products for technical markets include micro-thin film adhesives used in delicate electronic parts assembly and pressure sensitive applications utilizing foam and tape based stocks to perform fastening and mounting functions. This segment has seven manufacturing plants located in thr! ee states! and two no n-United States countries, all of which are owned directly b! y the Com! pany or its subsidiaries.

The Company competes with Amcor Limited, Berry Plastics Corporation, Bryce Corporation, Exopack Company, Hood Packaging Corporation, Printpack, Inc., Sealed Air Corporation, Sonoco Products Company, Wihuri OY, Winpak ltd, 3M, Acucote, Inc., Avery Dennison Corporation, FLEXcon Corporation, Green Bay Packaging Inc., Ricoh Company, Ltd., Ritrama Inc., Spinnaker Industries, Inc., Technicote Inc., UPM-Kymmene Corporation, and Wausau Coated Products Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jessica Alling]

  Leaders and laggards
  Merck (NYSE: MRK  ) is at the top of the class this morning with a 5.19% gain following some extremely encouraging news about its latest experimental drug,lambrolizumab. Aimed at unleashing the powers of a patient's own immune system, the drug disables the immune system cells' prevention method that curbs its attack on cancer cells -- a protein called the programmed death 1 receptor, or PD-1. Merck's drug has shown a 38% rate in tumor reduction in patients with advanced melanoma, and up to 52% in patients who received the highest dosage of the drug. Though the patients have not undergone the trial for a long enough period yet, the results are attracting attention for matching the current treatments from two Bristol-Meyers Squibb (NYSE: BMS  ) drugs, Yervoy and nivolumab, with potentially milder side effects. The news is great for Merck investors, as the company has only played a small part in oncology treatments to date.

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.seekpennystocks.com/top-10-paper-companies-to-invest-in-right-now-2.html

Top Integrated Utility Stocks To Own For 2015

BRUSSELS��uro-zone finance ministers expressed optimism on Monday that they could strike a deal with European lawmakers on a single authority to wind down failing banks before European elections in May.

But negotiations over the shape of a planned single resolution mechanism looked set to be complicated by continued disagreements over how to finance the system, and a Finnish vote that limits that country�� room for maneuver in the talks.

���� optimistic we��l get a deal in the coming days,��Jeroen Dijsselbloem, President of the Eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers, said on his way into two days of meetings in Brussels.

Top 5 Value Companies For 2016: H&R Block Inc. (HRB)

H&R Block, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides tax preparation, retail banking, and various business advisory and consulting services. It operates in three segments: Tax Services, Business Services, and Corporate. The Tax Services segment offers H&R Block At Home, an income tax preparation software, as well as a range of online tax services, including tax advice, professional and do-it-yourself tax return preparation, and electronic filing services through its Web site at hrblock.com primarily in the United States, Canada, and Australia. This segment also provides the H&R Block Prepaid Emerald MasterCard and Emerald Advance lines of credit through H&R Block Bank, as well as other retail banking services, including checking and savings accounts, individual retirement accounts, and certificates of deposit; and sells refund anticipation loans and refund anticipation checks offered by third-party lending institutions, as well as offers income tax return preparation course s to the public. The Business Services segment provides tax and consulting services, wealth management, and capital markets services to middle-market companies. The Corporate segment engages in various operations, which include interest income from the United States passive investments, interest expense on borrowings, net interest margin and gains or losses relating to mortgage loans held for investment, real estate owned, residual interests in securitizations and other corporate expenses principally related to finance, legal, and other support departments. The company was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sue Chang]

  After Thursday�� closing bell, H&R Block Inc. (HRB) �said it agreed to sell certain bank assets and liabilities to BofI Federal Bank for an undisclosed price. The deal should dilute fiscal 2015 earnings by 7 cents to 9 cents a share. Shares of the tax services provider surged 7.3% in after-hours trading.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  H&R Block (NYSE: HRB  ) will release its quarterly report on Tuesday, and as you'd expect outside of tax season, the tax-preparation company will almost certainly post a sizable loss. But the bigger question investors want answered is whether H&R Block can meet the long-term threat of Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU  ) and its TurboTax software on one end, as well as the live tax-preparation competition of JTH Holdings' (NASDAQ: TAX  ) and its Liberty Tax Service chain.

• [By Myra P. Saefong , Sital S. Patel]

  Shares of H&R Block Inc. (HRB) �rose more than 6%, with the tax preparation and banking services provider getting a boost ahead of the April 15 U.S. tax filing deadline.

Top Integrated Utility Stocks To Own For 2015: Datawatch Corporation(DWCH)

Datawatch Corporation engages in the design, development, manufacture, marketing, and support of business computer software products primarily in the United States and the United Kingdom. The company?s products include Monarch 11, a desktop reporting and data analysis application that allows users to extract and manipulate data from ASCII report files, PDF files, or HTML files; Monarch Data Pump, a data replication and migration tool, which provides information delivery and data extract, and transform and load capabilities in one automated solution; and Monarch Enterprise Server that offers Web-enabled report storage, transformation, and distribution, including data analysis, visualization, and MS Excel integration. It also offers Monarch RMS, a Web-based report analytics solution that integrates with existing enterprise content management system; Monarch Report Manager on Demand, a document archive system that stores text, images, intelligent data streams, and unstructur ed content with file compression and encryption; and Datawatch Dashboards, an interactive dashboard solution that gives various levels of users a visual overview of operational performance, as well as the ability to monitor specific business processes and events. In addition, the company provides iMergence iStore, a report management solution, which manages computer-generated reports, mines the data contained in them, and allows users to interactively merge and transform them into new reports; Visual QSM, a Web-enabled IT service management system that incorporates workflow and network management capabilities, and provides Web access to multiple databases while enabling customers to interact through browser; and Visual Help Desk, which offers Web-based help desk and call center solutions. It sells its products through direct sales force, value added resellers, and distributors. Datawatch Corporation was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Chelmsford, Massachusetts.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By James Oberweis]

  Steve Halpern: We're conducting a series of interviews with the top performing advisors from last year's Top Picks Report. This past year, your top stock pick, Datawatch (DWCH) rose more than 150%. Congratulations on that.

• [By Sean Williams]

  A clouded future
  With cost-cutting and operational efficiency being the name of the game for most tech companies in this uncertain growth environment, companies like Datawatch (NASDAQ: DWCH  ) , which provides information optimization for enterprise networks, are thriving.

Top Integrated Utility Stocks To Own For 2015: Real Goods Solar Inc (RGSE)

Real Goods Solar, Inc., incorporated on January 29, 2008, is a solar energy company. The Company serves commercial, residential, and utility customers. The Company provides a solar solution, from design, financing, permitting and installation to ongoing monitoring, maintenance and support. The Company offers free home solar quotes, as well as solar system financing, design, engineering, permitting, installation, rebate acquisition, maintenance, and monitoring. Effective May 14, 2014, the Company acquired Elemental Energy LLC, doing business as Sunetric.

The Company�� solar power installation services are available in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont. The Company's customers include homeowners, small to large businesses and corporations, universities and schools, and government agencies, such as Aetna Insurance, Stop & Shop, Timex, St. Louis Housing Authority, and Yale University.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Anna Prior]

  Real Goods Solar Inc.(RGSE) said it has agreed to raise about $7 million in a private placement financing transaction. Under the terms of the agreement, RGS will issue units consisting of an aggregate of about 2.9 million shares of its Class A common stock and warrants to purchase up to 1.31 million additional shares, at a price of $2.40 a unit. Shares fell 9.7% to $2.62 premarket.

• [By Peter Graham]

  The Q3 2014 earnings report for mid cap solar stock SolarCity Corp (NASDAQ: SCTY), a potential peer of small caps Vivint Solar Holdings Inc (NYSE: VSLR) and Real Goods Solar, Inc (NASDAQ: RGSE), is scheduled for after the market's close on Wednesday (November 5th). Aside from the SolarCity Corp earnings report, it should be said that Vivint Solar Holdings Inc is scheduled to report Q3 2014 earnings after the market close on Monday (November 10th) while Real Goods Solar, Inc reported delayed Q2 2014 earnings on August 19th (a wider quarterly loss led to the ousting of its CEO with the company saying it will�focus on residential rooftops rather than money-losing commercial installations). SolarCity Corp has gotten extra investor attention as its CEO is Lyndon Rive while�the company���chairman is�his cousin, Tesla billionaire Elon Musk.

Top Integrated Utility Stocks To Own For 2015: Cytokinetics Incorporated(CYTK)

Cytokinetics, Incorporated, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in the discovery and development of small molecule therapeutics that modulate muscle function for the potential treatment of serious diseases and medical conditions. It primarily offers omecamtiv mecarbil, a cardiac muscle myosin activator, which is in Phase I/IIa clinical trials for the treatment of heart failure; CK-2017357, which is a Phase IIa clinical trials for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; and CK-2066260, a fast skeletal muscle sarcomere activator for the treatment of diseases and conditions associated with muscle weakness or wasting. The company?s cancer treatment products under development stage comprise ispinesib, SB-743921, and GSK-923295. It has a strategic alliance with Amgen Inc. to discover, develop, and commercialize novel small molecule therapeutics that activate cardiac muscle contractility for applications in the treatment of heart failure. The company was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in South San Francisco, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  What: Shares of Cytokinetics (NASDAQ: CYTK  ) , a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapies for serious diseases, tanked as much as 38% after reporting mid-stage top-line data from acute heart failure drug, omecamtiv mecarbil.

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Biopharmaceutical Cytokinetics (NASDAQ: CYTK  ) announced yesterday that it will be effecting a 1-for-6 reverse stock split to reduce the number of outstanding shares from�approximately 163.6 million to approximately 27.3 million shares.

• [By John Udovich]

  Small cap ALS and stem cell stock�Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: BCLI) surged 22.68%�ahead if its Monday ice bucket challenge when they will release the final results from�a phase 2a clinical trial���meaning its worth taking a closer look at the stock along with the performance of stem cell stocks or ALS stocks like Cytokinetics, Inc (NASDAQ: CYTK), Neuralstem, Inc (NYSEMKT: CUR) and NeoStem Inc (NASDAQ: NBS). However, Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics does have a history of being the subject of paid promotions and/or investor relations activities when it was trading on the OTC.

Aflac Soars New 52-Week High - Analyst Blog

Riding on a strong growth momentum ahead of its second-quarter earnings release, the shares of Aflac Inc. (AFL) reached a new 52-week high of $59.25 on Jul 11. This surpassed its previous high of $58.50 on Wednesday. This Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock escalated about 43.5% in the last 52 weeks.

In particular, this global electronic payment processor rose about 15.7% since the company reported its first-quarter 2013 results in April with a positive earnings surprise of 4.3%.

Yesterday's closing price represents a strong one-year return of about 39% as compared with the S&P 500 index return of 22%. Average volume of shares traded over the last three months stands at approximately 2852.1K.

On Apr 24, Aflac reported first-quarter earnings of $1.69 per share, comfortably beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.62. However, results lagged the year-ago number of $1.74 based on weak yen/dollar exchange rate, which had a negative impact of 15 cents on earnings per share.

Although expenses related to acquisitions, operations, claims and benefits witnessed a decline; these were more than offset by reduced revenues. Japan, which contributes significantly to results, witnessed a weak performance. Decelerated sales from the third sector, bank channel and WAYS products along with a weak average yen led to deteriorated earnings. A low interest rate environment also constricted returns from investments.

Nevertheless, strong risk-based capital, consistent dividend increment and share buybacks as well as surplus cash position are expected to mitigate this balance sheet risk and provide liquidity cushion to its long-term growth. While management had factored the slow growth based on difficult comps and weak exchange rates, we believe that modest earnings guidance, stable ratings and capital deployment instill shareholder confidence.

Further, valuation for Aflac appears reasonable. While the shares are trading at a 32.2% discount to the peer group average on a forward pri! ce-to-earnings basis, it is trading at 23.6% premium on a price-to-book basis. Moreover, both return on equity of 19.9% and return on assets of 2.4% are above the peer group average of 7.4% and 1.4%, respectively. The estimated long-term earnings growth rate is pegged at 10.7%, higher than the peer group average of 10.1%.

Apart from Aflac, other outperformers in the insurance sector include AmTrust Financial Services Inc. (AFSI), HCI Group Inc. (HCI) and American Safety Insurance Holdings Inc. (ASI). All these stocks carry a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Top Defensive Companies To Watch For 2016

Top Defensive Companies To Watch For 2016: The Pantry Inc.(PTRY)

The Pantry, Inc. operates a chain of convenience stores in the southeastern United States. The company?s stores offer a selection of merchandise, fuel, and ancillary products and services. Its merchandise products include cigarettes, grocery and other tobacco products, packaged beverages, beer, and wine. The company operates stores under various selected banners, which primarily include Kangaroo Express. As of September 29, 2011, it operated 1,649 convenience stores located in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Virginia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Indiana, and Missouri; and 233 quick service restaurants. The company was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Cary, North Carolina.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jeremy Bowman]

  What: Shares of The Pantry (NASDAQ: PTRY  ) were down as much as 15% today after the convenience-store chain posted a second-quarter loss and missed Wall Street estimates.

• [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 Pantry (Nasdaq: PTRY  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

• [By Sean Williams]

  Much of the same can be said about The Pantry (NASDAQ: PTRY  ) , a predominantly Southeastern U.S. convenience store chain that operates under the Kangaroo Express name. Food inflation has been minimal, the weather hasn't been as cooperative, and consumer traffic fell 4.6% in its most recent quarter. But where other investors see weakness, I see an opportunity.

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

Top 5 Recreation Stocks To Buy Right Now

If you have the ability and the will to relocate, you may reasonably seek out states with no income tax. There are seven of those ��Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming. (Tennessee and New Hampshire tax dividends and interest income.) That's probably not the best way to find a perfect new home for yourself, though. It's better to consider a state's big picture -- and the overall quality of life that it can offer you.

Money isn't everything
Remember, for starters, that there's more to a good life than money. Along with a state's tax rates, you might consider the cost of living, incorporating the cost of housing, food, gas, recreation, and so on. That's still too broad, though, since costs can vary widely between a state's cities and rural areas, and even between cities. Upstate New York, for instance, offers a much different setting than New York City.

Still, the folks at top50states.com have taken a stab at determining an overall ranking of states. The states with the lowest cost of living are Oklahoma, Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky, South Dakota, Kansas, and Nebraska. Note that most of those are not among the states with no income tax. The highest cost of living can be found in California, Hawaii, New Jersey, Alaska, Maryland, and Connecticut. The states with no income tax do include Alaska, but that's it.

Top 10 Cheap Companies To Invest In Right Now: Mountain China Resorts Holding Ltd (MCG)

Mountain China Resorts (Holding) Limited (MCR) is a Canada-based investment holding company. The Company is a Mountain resort developer in the People�� Republic of China. The Company�� subsidiaries engaged in the development and operation of mountain resorts and provision of hotel services in the People's Republic of China. The Company holds 100% interest in Mountain China Resorts Investment Limited, which in turn holds 100% interest in Mountain China Resorts Limited. The Company owns and operates the ski resort in the People�� Republic of China, Sun Mountain Yabuli Resort in Heilongjiang Province. The Sun Mountain Yabuli Resort also has two luxury five star hotels, restaurants, spa, retail, and conference facilities. It holds 140 million square meters of land for commercial development purpose around the Sun Mountain Yabuli Resort. As of December 31, 2011, the Company�� resort real estate development project was at the Sun Mountain Yabuli Resort. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By ICRAOnline]

  Apart from the Data Center Group, Intel expects the Axxia deal to boost the performance of the other two segments ��Internet of Things Group (IoTG) and Mobile and Communications Group (MCG).

Top 5 Recreation Stocks To Buy Right Now: mCig Inc (MCIG)

MCIG, INC. (mCig), incorporated on December 30, 2010, is a development-stage company. The Company is a technology company. The Company focused on two long-term secular trends sweeping the globe: the decriminalization and legalization of marijuana for medicinal or recreational purposes and the adoption of electronic vaporizing cigarettes (eCigs).

The mCig provides a smoking experience by heating (not burning) plant material, waxes, and oils delivering a smoother inhalation experience. As of October 31, 2013, the Company did not generate any revenues.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  After marijuana, the electronic cigarette sector and e-Cig stocks or industry players�like�Reynolds American, Inc (NYSE: RAI), mCig Inc (OTCBB: MCIG), Victory Electronic Cigarettes Corp (OTCMKTS: ECIG) and American Heritage International Inc (OTCBB: AHII) is looking like the next hot niche sector for investors. However, electronic cigarette stock investors should be aware of the following�recent good and bad news from the sector that needs to be digested:

Top 5 Recreation Stocks To Buy Right Now: TripAdvisor Inc (TRIP)

TripAdvisor, Inc. (TripAdvisor), incorporated on July 20, 2011, is an online travel research company, enabling users to plan and have a trip. TripAdvisor features reviews and advice on hotels, resorts, flights, vacation rentals, vacation packages and travel guides. TripAdvisor�� travel research platform features reviews and opinions from its community of travelers about destinations, accommodations (hotels, bed and breakfasts, specialty lodging and vacation rentals), restaurants and activities worldwide, through its TripAdvisor brand. TripAdvisor Websites include tripadvisor.com in the United States and versions of the Website in 30 countries, including in China under the brand daodao.com. TripAdvisor Websites also include links to the Websites of its travel advertisers allowing travelers to directly book their travel arrangements. In addition to the TripAdvisor brand, TripAdvisor, Inc. manages and operates Websites under 18 other travel media brands, providing travel planning resources across the travel sector. On December 20, 2011, Expedia, Inc. (Expedia) completed the spin-off of TripAdvisor, Inc. (TripAdvisor) to Expedia stockholders. TripAdvisor consists of the domestic and international operations previously associated with Expedia�� TripAdvisor Media Group. In October 2012, it acquired Wanderfly. In March 2013, it acquired Tiny Post (tinypost.co). In April 2013, the Company acquired Jetsetter.com and Gilt Travel Inc. In May 2013, TripAdvisor Inc acquired key technology and talent from CruiseWise Inc. In May 2013, TripAdvisor Inc acquired Guia de Apartamentos Niumba SL. In June 2013, the Company announced that it has acquired GateGuru.

TripAdvisor provides access worldwide to online travel agencies, including Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity, hotels.com, Priceline and Booking.com. TripAdvisor Media Group offers travel suppliers graphical advertising and cost-per-click marketing platforms. TripAdvisor operates sites in 30 countries and in 21 languages, including sites in the United S! tates (http://www.tripadvisor.com), the United Kingdom (http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk), France (http://www.tripadvisor.fr), Ireland (http://www.tripadvisor.ie), Germany (http://www.tripadvisor.de), Italy (http://www.tripadvisor.it), Spain (http://www.tripadvisor.es), India (http://www.tripadvisor.in), Japan (http://www.tripadvisor.jp), Portugal and Brazil (http://www.tripadvisor.com.br), Sweden (http://www.tripadvisor.se), The Netherlands (http://www.tripadvisor.nl), Canada (http://www.tripadvisor.ca), Denmark (http://www.tripadvisor.dk), Turkey (http://www.tripadvisor.com.tr), Mexico (http://www.tripadvisor.com.mx), Norway (http://no.tripadvisor.com), Poland (http://pl.tripadvisor.com), Australia (http://www.tripadvisor.com.au), Singapore (http://www.tripadvisor.com.sg), Thailand (http://th.tripadvisor.com), Russia (http://www.tripadvisor.ru), Greece (http://www.tripadvisor.com.gr), Indonesia(http://www.tripadvisor.co.id), Argentina (www.tripadvisor.co.ar), Taiwan (www.tripadvisor.tw),Malaysia(http://www.tripadvisor.com.my), and Egypt (http://www.tripadvisor.com.eg). TripAdvisor also operates in China under the brand daodao.com (http://www.daodao.com) and Kuxun.cn (http://www.kuxun.cn).

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Alex Planes]

  Earnings season was very good to TripAdvisor (NASDAQ: TRIP  ) , which rose 16.3% today on better-than-expected advertising revenue. The online travel specialist has now gained 60% in 2013, and with double-digit growth in quarterly sales (up 25% year-over-year), and earnings (up 27% on an adjusted basis and 24% under GAAP rules), it's easy to see why. Full-year revenue growth is still expected to come in somewhere in the "low 20s" range, as in 20%. TripAdvisor has been trying to transition into a more search-centric business model, so posting big beats on its earnings in spite of these transitional efforts points toward the potential for bigger gains further on.

• [By Daniel Putnam]

  Netflix (NFLX) is the only chart pictured, but Pandora (P), Micron Technology (MU) and TripAdvisor (TRIP) are all among this year�� big winners whose uptrends remain firmly intact.

• [By Louis Navellier]

  TripAdvisor (TRIP), which calls itself ��he world�� largest travel website,��reported an excellent quarter last week. TripAdvisor reported total revenue of $281 million, up 32% quarter over quarter and 22% year over year. Net income of $68 million, or $0.47 per diluted share, was up 240% sequentially and 10% over the year-ago period. TRIP missed the analysts��estimates by about 1% but TripAdvisor raised guidance for the rest of the year — and that has Wall Street excited about the travel stock right now.

Top 5 Recreation Stocks To Buy Right Now: Marine Products Corp (MPX)

Marine Products Corporation (Marine Products), incorporated on August 31, 2000, designs, manufactures and sells recreational fiberglass powerboats in the sportboat, deckboat, cruiser, sport yacht and sport fishing markets. The Company sells its products to a network of 135 domestic and 69 international independent authorized dealers. The Company focuses to remain a manufacturer of recreational powerboats for sale to a range of consumers globally. The Company manufactures Chaparral sterndrive and inboard-powered pleasure boats including H2O Sport and Fish & Ski boats, SSi and SSX Sportboats, Sunesta Sportdecks and Xtreme Tow boats, Signature Cruisers, Premiere Sport Yachts and Robalo outboard sport fishing boats. The Company offers a range of products to the family recreational, cruiser and sport yacht markets through its Chaparral brand, and to the sport fishing market through its Robalo brand.

The Company's products include Chaparral - H2O Sport Series, which is a fiberglass multipurpose runabouts; Chaparral - SSi Wide tech, which is a fiberglass closed deck runabouts; Chaparral - SSX Sportdecks, which is a fiberglass bowrider crossover sportboats; Chaparral - Sunesta Xtreme Tow Boats, which is a fiberglass pleasure boats; Chaparral - Signature Cruisers, which is a fiberglass, accommodation-focused cruisers; Chaparral - Premiere Sport Yacht, which is a fiberglass sport yacht, and Robalo - Sport Fishing Boats, which is a sport fishing boats for freshwater lakes or saltwater use. Domestic sales are made through approximately 74 Chaparral dealers, 16 Robalo dealers and 45 dealers that sell both brands located in markets throughout the United States. Marine Products also has 69 international dealers.

The Company competes with Sea Hunt, Sea Fox, Grady-White, Boston Whaler, Everglades and Parker.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  Sink or swim
  Sometimes the best short-sale opportunities are small, under-the-radar companies. One that I feel fits the bill perfectly is fiberglass boat maker Marine Products (NYSE: MPX  ) .

• [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 Marine Products (NYSE: MPX  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Why Active Management Isn't as Dumb as You Think

Millions of investors have learned that if you can't beat the market indexes, you're better off joining them. The popularity of passive investment strategies has exploded higher with the rise of exchange-traded funds, most of which use formulaic criteria to choose their stock holdings rather than qualitative analysis.

Yet as valuable as low-cost index funds can be, some investors are too quick to dismiss all actively managed mutual funds as being a waste of money. In particular, if you focus too much on short-term results to justify abandoning active investing strategies, you could end up making the same mistakes as short-term traders who move in and out of stocks too quickly to capture the lion's share of their long-term gains.

Hot Clean Energy Companies To Watch For 2016

Active managers fall short -- again
S&P Dow Jones Indices recently did a study looking at the results of actively managed stock mutual funds. In particular, it looked at more than 700 mutual funds that finished in the top 25% in terms of one-year performance as of March 2011. After two years, fewer than 5% of those 700 funds managed to stay in the top 25% during each of the ensuing two 12-month periods.

Moreover, when S&P expanded the test to include managers in the top half, it produced similar results: Just 18% of funds in the top half by performance in 2011 managed to repeat those top-half returns in both 2012 and 2013. Looking back a longer period, only 2% to 5% of funds in various sub-asset classes managed to stay in the top half of performers for five consecutive years. Those figures are less even than a random distribution would predict, strongly suggesting that good performance in one period is more likely to be followed by worse performance in the next.

The wrong reason to go passive
Yet judging mutual funds based on streaks of short-term performance is exactly the wrong way to evaluate a long-term fund's holdings. If you're committed to an investment strategy for the long haul, then occasional one-year underperformance shouldn't amount to anything.

Perhaps the best example of this phenomenon lately comes from Bruce Berkowitz, manager of the Fairholme Fund (NASDAQMUTFUND: FAIRX  ) . In 2011, Berkowitz was coming off three straight years of having been among the top 10% of fund managers in the large-cap value category, earning himself an award as Morningstar's Fund Manager of the Decade for stocks. Yet in 2011, he made big bets on financial stocks that turned out to be far too early. Investments in Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) , mortgage- and bond-insurance company MBIA (NYSE: MBI  ) , and insurer juggernaut AIG (NYSE: AIG  ) didn't pan out as quickly as he'd hoped, and investors suffered 32% losses for the year while the S&P posted modest 2% gains. Investors fled the fund in droves, sending assets under management plunging.

Yet by 2012, Bank of America had recovered, doubling in value with help from capital financing courtesy of Warren Buffett and rising prospects in the banking sector. Meanwhile, AIG continued its strategy of divesting non-core assets and getting out from under government control. Fairholme's return more than doubled the S&P in 2012. More recently, MBIA's settlement with Bank of America sent shares soaring, allowing Berkowitz to sell out at a large profit.

Admittedly, 2011's massive underperformance did a lot to undermine Fairholme's longer-term track record. The fund's five-year performance now just barely beats out the average for the category. Yet with the rule applying even in an extreme situation, you can more easily see how a fund that just pokes down into the bottom half in performance one year could still put together an impressive track record over time.

Be careful, but don't panic
One thing is true: Higher-cost mutual funds have a greater burden to overcome in producing after-cost returns for their shareholders. That's why in the long run, many index funds beat out actively managed funds. But if you decide passive investing is for you, make sure you do it for the right reasons -- not just because a fund you own didn't manage to top the performance list every single year you owned it.

Whether you choose an actively managed fund or an index ETF, it's more important than ever to start investing right now. That's why we've brought you a brand-new special report, "Your Essential Guide to Start Investing Today." Inside, the Motley Fool's personal finance experts show you why investing is so important and what you need to do to get started. Click here to get your copy today -- it's absolutely free.

Tune in every Monday and Wednesday for Dan's columns on retirement, investing, and personal finance. You can follow him on Twitter @DanCaplinger.

Top Promising Stocks To Invest In 2015

By: Jake Mann

In search of dividend stocks, there are many ways to parse down the data. Searching for high yielders with rock bottom payout ratios is one way to find promising dividend growth stocks. We can also find interesting investing ideas by selecting long-term dividend stocks-those that have raised dividends in 50 or more consecutive years-with multiple insiders buying over the past six months.

Diebold

Security and services company Diebold (DBD) is simply a dividend beast. It has raised dividends in 60 consecutive years and currently offers a yield of 3.8%. Over the past three months, two insiders, CEO Andreas Mattes and VP John Kristoff, have bought Diebold stock. Mattes currently owns about $824K worth of the stock while Kristoff's position is a bit smaller, and in the entire year of 2013, Board members Rajesh Soin and Henry Wallace have also initiated purchases here.

With four unique executives buying in the calendar year and two of these taking place very recently, Diebold is in an attractive spot. Multiple empirical studies show that insider activity like this is the best for piggyback investors to pay attention to (learn how some insider trades beat the market).

Top 5 High Tech Companies To Invest In 2016: Burlington Stores Inc (BURL)

Burlington Stores, Inc., incorporated on February 13, 2013, is a national off-price retailer of branded apparel, operating 503 stores, inclusive of an Internet store, in 44 states and Puerto Rico. The Company offers its merchandise using an Every Day Low Price (EDLP) model with savings up to 60-70% off department and specialty store regular prices. It provides its customers with a selection of fashionable branded product in women�� ready-to-wear apparel, menswear, youth apparel, baby products, footwear, accessories, home goods and coats. The Company merchandise from over 3,500 vendors, with a focus on nationally-recognized brands. This vendor breadth provides its customers with a treasure hunt experience of searching for great brands at great value.

The Company�� average store size is approximately 80,000 square feet, which is two to three times the size of its off-price competitors��stores. Its larger store size has allowed the Company to offer more categories and substantially more breadth in each product category than its off-price competitors and to establish ourselves as a destination for select categories, including coats, youth and baby, special-occasion dresses and men�� tailored apparel.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Alanna Petroff]

  4. Expecting earnings: Barnes and Noble (BKS) and Burlington Stores (BURL) will report earnings before the opening bell. Krispy Kreme (KKD) is set to report after the close.

• [By Tom Taulli]

  Competition: While TJX attempts to undercut more traditional retailers, it has plenty of competition in the deep-discount game, Ross Stores (ROST), Kohl’s (KSS) and Burlington Stores (BURL). TJX also must contend with big-box operators like Target (TGT). So far, TJX has been able to dig itself a niche and remain fairly differentiated, but it’s fair to point out the danger in slipping — in retail, customers always have plenty of alternatives.

Top Promising Stocks To Invest In 2015: Market Vectors Poland ETF (PLND)

Market Vectors Poland ETF (the Fund) seeks to replicate the price and yield performance of the Market Vectors Poland Index (the Index). The Index is a diversified index consisting of at least 25 companies either headquartered in Poland or deriving at least 50% of their revenues from Poland. It invest in sectors, such as financials, energy, industrials, consumer staples, telecomm services, materials, consumer discretionary, utilities, information technology and healthcare. The Fund�� investment advisor is Van Eck Associates Corporation. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Benjamin Shepherd]

  Market Vectors Poland (NYSE: PLND) is a great exchange traded fund (ETF) play on the continued strength of the Polish economy.
  
  Financial services figure prominently in the ETF�� holdings at 44 percent of assets, but that�� lower than other competing products and largely reflective of the major role the financial sector plays in Poland�� economy. More than 23 percent of assets are allocated to basic materials and energy due to the country�� resource wealth.
  
  The ETF is also relatively cheap with an expense ratio of just 0.61 percent. It also offers the added benefit of a nearly 3.2 percent yield, thanks to the tradition of Polish stocks paying stable dividends.
  
  What�� more, the fund is inexpensive in terms of valuation because it price has been depressed by the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. Both countries have historically been Russian satellites, but Poland was quick to integrate itself with Western Europe after the country�� communist government fell in 1989. As a result, it enjoys the diplomatic cover of the EU and the military protection of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, making it unlikely that Russia will interfere in the country�� politics.
  
  Despite those protections, the fund�� price-to-forward-earnings ratio has fallen from about 19 to just 14 over the past few weeks and shares are now trading at book value. Shares are also trading at just 0.58 times sales, a substantial discount to the fund�� historical valuation largely due to regional concerns.

Top Promising Stocks To Invest In 2015: American Tower Corp (AMT)

American Tower Corporation is a holding company. The Company conducts its operations through its directly and indirectly owned subsidiaries and joint ventures. It is a wireless and broadcast communications infrastructure company that owns, operates and develops communications sites. Its primary business includes leasing antenna space on multi-tenant communications sites to wireless service providers, radio and television broadcast companies, wireless data providers, government agencies and municipalities and tenants in a number of other industries. This business is its rental and management operations, which accounted for approximately 98% of its total revenues during the year ended December 31, 2011. It also offer tower-related services domestically, including site acquisition, zoning and permitting services and structural analysis services, which primarily support its site leasing business and the addition of new tenants and equipment on its sites. In January 2012, the Company merged with and into American Tower REIT, Inc.

During 2011, the Company acquired additional 125 communications sites from Telefonica Colombia. On February 1, 2011, the Company acquired 140 communications sites from VTR Banda Ancha (Chile) S.A. and its affiliates. On December 30, 2011, the Company purchased 100% interest of a subsidiary of Telefonica Moviles Chile S.A. that owned 558 communications sites. On December 14, 2011, the Company acquired control of an additional 76 existing communications sites from Cell C. On March 1, 2011, the Company acquired 100% interest of a company that owned 627 communications sites in Brazil. During 2011, the Company acquired a total of 179 communications sites and equipment in the United States. In December 2011, it announced the launch of operations in Uganda.

In the United States during 2011, the Company included the acquisition and construction of approximately 430 towers, the acquisition of approximately 2,150 property interests, the installation of approximate! ly 40 in-building and outdoor DAS networks and the installation of approximately 680 shared generators on its sites. During 2011, it expanded its international footprint, as it acquired and constructed approximately 3,230 communications sites in two new countries, Ghana and South Africa. During 2011, it also included the acquisition and construction of approximately 6,770 communications sites in its markets in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, India and Mexico. In addition, during 2011, it also acquired property interests, which it leases to communications service providers and third-party tower operators under approximately 1,810 communications sites.

As of December 31, 2011, there were approximately 21,320 towers domestically and approximately 23,900 towers internationally. The Company�� portfolio also includes approximately 260 DAS networks, which it operates in malls, casinos and other in-building applications, and select outdoor environments. In addition to the communications sites in its portfolio, the Company manages rooftop and tower sites for property owners. It also holds property interests, which is leases to communications service providers and third-party tower operators under approximately 1,810 communications sites. It conducts its international operations through its subsidiary, American Tower International, Inc., which in turn conducts operations through its various international operating subsidiaries and joint ventures. Its international operations consist of its operations in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ghana, India, Mexico, Peru and South Africa. It holds and operates certain of its assets through one or more taxable REIT subsidiaries (TRSs).

Rental and Management Operations

During 2011, the Company�� rental and management operations accounted for approximately 98% of its total revenues. Its tenants lease space on its communications site infrastructure, where they install and maintain their individual communications network equipment. The Company�� r! evenue is! primarily generated from tenant leases, and the annual rental payments. Its tenant leases are non-cancellable and have annual rent escalations. Its domestic rental and management segment consists of its nationwide network of communications sites that enables the Company to address the needs of national, regional, local and emerging communications service providers in the United States. Its domestic rental and management segment also includes property interests, which it leases to communications service providers and third-party tower operators. During 2011, its domestic rental and management segment accounted for approximately 72% of its total revenues.

The Company�� international rental and management segment consists of communications sites in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ghana, India, Mexico, Peru and South Africa. During 2011, its international rental and management segment accounted for approximately 26% of its total revenues. The Company�� rental and management operations include the operation of wireless and broadcast communications towers and DAS networks, rooftop management and the leasing of property interests. It owns and operates communications towers in the United States, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ghana, India, Mexico, Peru and South Africa. During 2011, approximately 98% of revenue in its rental and management segments was attributable to its communications towers.

The Company leases space on its communications towers to tenants providing a diverse range of communications services, including personal communications services, cellular, broadcasting, enhanced specialized mobile radio, worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX), paging and fixed microwave. Its domestic and international tenants include AT&T Mobility, Sprint Nextel, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile USA, Iusacell (Mexico), Nextel International, Telefonica, MTN Group Limited and Vodafone. In addition to its communications sites, it also owns and operates DAS networks, provide communications s! ite manag! ement services to third parties and manage and/or lease property interests under carrier or other third-party communications sites.

The Company owns and operates approximately 260 DAS networks in malls, casinos and other in-building applications in the United States, Mexico and Brazil. It obtains rights from property owners to install and operate in-building DAS networks, and it grants rights to wireless service providers to attach their equipment to its installations. It also offers outdoor DAS networks as a complementary shared infrastructure solution for its tenants, and operates such networks in the United States. It provides management services to property owners in the United States. It obtains rights to manage a rooftop by entering into contracts with property owners pursuant to which it receives a percentage of occupancy or license fees paid by the wireless carriers and other tenants. It owns a portfolio of property interests in the United States under approximately 1,810 carrier or other third-party communications sites, which provides recurring cash flow under leasing arrangements.

Network Development Services

Through the Company�� network development services segment, it offers tower-related services domestically, including site acquisition, zoning and permitting services and structural analysis services, which primarily support its site leasing business and the addition of new tenants and equipment on its sites. During 2011, this segment accounted for approximately 2% of its total revenues. It engages in site acquisition services on its own behalf in connection with its tower development projects, as well as on behalf of its tenants. The Company offers structural analysis services to wireless carriers in connection with the installation of their communications equipment on its towers.

The Company competes with Crown Castle International Corp., SBA Communications Corporation, Indus Towers, Viom Networks and GTL.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Myra Ramdenbourg]

  American Tower Corp (AMT): EVP & CFO Thomas A Bartlett sold 50,001 Shares

  On 01/21/2014, EVP & CFO Thomas A Bartlett sold 50,001 shares at an average price of $83.70. The price of the stock has increased by 9.49% since. American Tower Corp has a market cap of $36.27 billion and its shares were traded at around $91.64. The company has a P/E ratio of 62.70 and P/S ratio of 10.32 with a dividend yield of 1.34%. Over the past 10 years, American Tower Corp had an annual average earnings growth of 12.90%. GuruFocus rated American Tower Corp the business predictability rank of 3-star.

• [By Natan Hayes]

  American Tower Corp. (AMT) operates the largest portfolio of the wireless communications and broadband towers in the industry. Their primary business is leasing antenna space on multi-tenant communications towers to mobile data service providers such as AT&T (T), Verizon (VZ), T-Mobile (TMUS), Time Warner Cable (TWC), and Vodafone (VOD).

• [By Anders Bylund]

  One of those rare significant moves comes from telecom giant AT&T (NYSE: T  ) , notching the Dow's second-largest gain with a 1.2% jump. AT&T just monetized its network of cellphone towers in a multibillion-dollar deal with Crown Castle International (NYSE: CCI  ) . The agreement follows (way, way behind) a similar deal between AT&T and American Tower (NYSE: AMT  ) made some 13 years ago, leaving Ma Bell with few directly owned and operated cell towers under its vest.

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  American Tower Corp. (NYSE: AMT) is seeing something rather strange in its trading activity on Friday. Its shares are rallying, despite the company spending some $3.3 billion to acquire more cell tower assets. What makes this so interesting is that the valuation actually may�rekindle interest in the entire cell tower sector, and that would be welcoming for many investors who have held on as this sector has suffered while the market has been strong.

Top Promising Stocks To Invest In 2015: Interactive Intelligence Inc.(ININ)

Interactive Intelligence, Inc. provides software application suites for voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) business communications to enterprises in the United States and internationally. The company offers software products and services for contact center, enterprise IP telephony, multichannel contact management, and business process automation. Its solutions include Interactive Intelligence Customer Interaction Center that provides contact centers and enterprises a single platform and a pre-integrated all-in-one application solution for IP telephony, including phone calls, faxes, e-mails, and Web interactions; Interactive Intelligence Customer Interaction Center for the Enterprise, an IP PBX phone and communications system for SIP-supported VoIP for mid-sized and larger enterprises, as well as offers real-time presence management and remote access with unified messaging, IVR and interaction client integrations for Microsoft applications; Interaction Process Automation t hat allows an organization to capture, prioritize, route, escalate, and track each step in a work process; and Interaction Content Management solution. The company also provides professional, managed, education, and support services. Its solutions are used by businesses and organizations that employ remote and mobile workers in teleservices, financial services, insurance, higher education, utilities, healthcare, retail, technology, government, and business services industries. The company distributes its products through partners and direct arrangements with end-user customers. Interactive Intelligence, Inc. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lisa Levin]

  Interactive Intelligence Group (NASDAQ: ININ) shares rose 11.64% to $53.25. The volume of Interactive Intelligence shares traded was 874% higher than normal. Interactive Intelligence posted a narrower-than expected net loss on a 15% rise in Q3 revenue.

• [By Garrett Cook]

  Shares of Interactive Intelligence Group (NASDAQ: ININ) were down 15.47 percent to $42.25 as the company warned that Q2 results will be below expectations.

• [By Brian Pacampara]

  What: Shares of call center software specialist Interactive Intelligence (NASDAQ: ININ  ) surged 17% today after its quarterly results easily topped Wall Street expectations.

Top Promising Stocks To Invest In 2015: Cornerstone OnDemand Inc.(CSOD)

Cornerstone OnDemand, Inc. provides learning and talent management solution delivered as software-as-a-service. The company offers three integrated cloud-based solutions for learning management, performance management, and extended enterprise. Its Cornerstone Learning Cloud helps clients deliver and manage enterprise training and development programs, as well as links employee development to other parts of the talent management lifecycle, including performance management and succession planning. The company?s Cornerstone Performance Cloud allows clients to direct and measure performance at the individual, departmental, and organizational level through competency management, organizational goal setting, performance appraisal, compensation management, and development planning. Its Cornerstone Extended Enterprise Cloud helps clients extend learning and talent management to their customers, vendors, and distributors. The company also offers consulting services comprising impl ementation, integration, content, business consulting, and educational services; and account services, as well as resells third-party e-learning content. Its clients include multi-national corporations, large domestic enterprises, mid-market companies, public sector organizations, higher education institutions, and non-profit entities. The company sells its solution and services directly through its own sales force in North America and Europe; and indirectly through domestic and international network of distributors. Cornerstone OnDemand, Inc. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Santa Monica, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lee Jackson]

  Cornerstone OnDemand Inc. (NASDAQ: CSOD) is a company that provides talent management on the cloud via recruiting, learning, performance and outreach. During its most recent quarter, sales grew 66% year-over-year, but looking ahead, the company expects top line growth of 56% this year. Deutsche Bank has not started coverage, however the consensus target is at $55.

• [By Tom Taulli]

  In the latest quarter, ServiceNow saw a 62% spike in revenues to$139 million. There were also nine new transactions with annual contract values in excess of $1 million and one deal was more than $10 million. ServiceNow is also a big generator of cash flows, which came to $24.2 million in Q1.

  Cloud Companies to Buy: Cornerstone OnDemand (CSOD)

  Compared to other cloud companies, Cornerstone OnDemand (CSOD) often gets overlooked. But the company is actually another pioneer — and has built a solid business in the category for talent management, such helps�with recruiting, hiring and onboarding.

Jacobs Wins Nuclear Decommissioning Contract

Magnox Limited is decommissioning nuclear power facilities in the U.K. Jacobs Engineering (NYSE: JEC  ) has been contracted to provide project management resources, skills development, coaching, and employment opportunities for Magnox employees as an extension of original protocols established with Jacobs and AMEC in 2011, the companies announced today.

Under its VELA alliance with AMEC, a British engineering and consulting firm, Jacobs is able to provide Magnox the opportunity to retain skills within the entire nuclear industry while  VELA gains access to a skilled pool of talent from within Magnox with which to augment and develop its teams of experts serving the wider nuclear industry. A value for the contract announced today was not disclosed.

Jacobs Group Vice President Bob Irvin said: "Together with Magnox, [Jacobs and AMEC ] are pleased to blend a complementary set of skills, experience and capabilities together in support of Magnox's decommissioning work in the UK."

There are 11 Magnox reactors in the U.K. Jacobs is one of the world's largest providers of technical, professional, and construction services. 

link

Halliburton Maintains Dividend

Oil industry services giant Halliburton  (NYSE: HAL  )  announced yesterday its second-quarter dividend of $0.125 per share, the same rate it paid last quarter after raising the payout 9% from $0.09 per share.

The board of directors said the quarterly dividend is payable on June 26 to the holders of record at the close of business on June 5. Halliburton is one of the largest oil-services companies and is represented in more than 80 countries.

The regular dividend payment equates to a $0.50-per-share annual dividend, yielding 1.1% based on the closing price of Halliburton's stock on May 17.

HAL Dividend data by YCharts

More Expert Advice from The Motley Fool

Domestic oil & gas service companies have taken a hit in the recent past due to a slowdown in the natural gas drilling boom of the last couple of years. As this market looks to rebound, investors would be wise to consider Halliburton, one of the top companies in the business and one of those most in tune with the domestic market. To access The Motley Fool's new premium research report on this industry stalwart, simply click here now and learn everything you need to know about how Halliburton is positioning itself both at home and abroad.

Top 10 Logistics Stocks To Invest In Right Now

Top 5 Blue Chip Stocks To Buy Right Now

Top 5 Blue Chip Stocks To Buy Right Now: Colgate-Palmolive Company(CL)

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

• [By Sean Williams]

  But, have you ever stopped to consider which toothpaste is America's favorite? If you've walked down the toothpaste aisle in the grocery store you've probably noticed that it goes on forever, which can make choosing a toothpaste a chore. Well, here's a big hint toward the answer: America's favorite toothpaste comes down to either Colgate, which is made by Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL  ) , or Crest made by Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG  ) .

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.seekpennystocks.com/top-5-blue-chip-stocks-to-buy-right-now.html

Commonwealth REIT and Corvex Management's Feud Continues

In an on-going effort to oust the board of directors of Commonwealth REIT (NYSE: CWH  ) , its second largest shareholder, Corvex Management, recently forwarded a record request date to Commonwealth management. The latest request by Corvex follows an earlier consent solicitation proposal in late March. Corvex's ultimate objective of the shareholder meeting is to "remove all of CWH's Trustees without cause," according to a Commonwealth press release issued today.

One point of contention mentioned by Commonwealth in its release is the April 22 consent solicitation date proposed in the latest Corvex request. According to Commonwealth, the REIT's declarations of trust and company bylaws give its board the authority to set a date with shareholders, and they have 30 days from the receipt of a "valid request" in which to do so.

Commonwealth's release also claims the inquiry from Corvex is missing corroborative evidence that the shareholders included in the request have owned at least 3% of Commonwealth stock, and have held their shares at least three years. Nor does the consent solicitation include "any cause for the removal of CWH's Trustees," according to Commonwealth.

The recent struggles between Commonwealth and Corvex for control of the board comes on the heels of a Feb. 27, 2013 solicitation by Corvex to acquire Commonwealth for $24.50 a share. Commonwealth subsequently rejected the Corvex offer, suggesting it was too low based on recent valuations. 

 

5 Best Food Stocks To Own Right Now

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Food and Drug Administration is seeking to revamp its system for regulating hundreds of over-the-counter drugs, saying the decades-old process is not flexible enough to keep pace with modern medical developments.

In a federal posting Friday, the agency announced a two-day meeting next month to discuss overhauling the system known as the over-the-counter monograph.

The system was put in place in 1972 as a way to set dosing, labeling and other standards for hundreds of nonprescription drug ingredients, everything from aspirin to anti-bacterial hand scrubs.

But regulators acknowledged that the process has proven extremely time-consuming, requiring multiple rounds of scientific review, public hearings and comments before a final monograph can be published. As a result, many common pain relievers and cough medicines are still technically under review.

Top 5 Income Companies To Buy For 2016: Lifeway Foods Inc (LWAY)

Lifeway Foods, Inc., (Lifeway), incorporated on May 19, 1986, is engaged in the manufacturing of probiotic, cultured, functional dairy and non-dairy health food products. The Company�� primary products are kefir sold under the name Lifeway Kefir and Helios Nutrition Organic Kefir; a line of yogurts sold under the Lassi brand, and BasicsPlus, a dairy based immune-supporting dietary supplement beverage. In addition to the drinkable products, Lifeway manufactures Lifeway Farmer Cheese, a line of various farmer cheeses, a line of gourmet cream cheeses, and Sweet Kiss, a fruit sugar-flavored spreadable cheese similar in consistency to cream cheese. The Company also manufactures and markets a vegetable-based seasoning under the Golden Zesta brand. Lifeway manufactures all of its products at Company-owned facilities and distributes its products throughout the United States.

Lifeway�� primary product, kefir is a fermented dairy product. Lifeway�� Kefir is a drinkable product intended for use as a breakfast meal or a snack, or as a base for lower-calorie dressings, dips, soups or sauces. Kefir is also used as the base of Lifeway�� plain farmer�� cheese, a cheese made without salt, sugar or animal rennet. In addition, kefir is the primary ingredient of Lifeway�� Sweet Kiss product, a fruit sugar-flavored, cream cheese-like spread which is intended to be used as a dessert spread or frosting. Lifeway�� Kefir is a drinkable kefir product manufactured in 10 regular and low-fat varieties, including plain, pomegranate, raspberry, blueberry, strawberry, cherry, peach, banana-strawberry, cappuccino and vanilla, and sold in 32-ounce containers and 8-ounce single serving containers featuring color-coded caps and labels describing nutritional information. The kefir product is marketed under the name Lifeway�� Kefir and is sold by retailers from their dairy sections.

Lifeway�� Organic Kefir meets the organic standards and specifications of the United States Department of Agricul! ture for organic products and is manufactured in five flavors: plain, wildberry, raspberry, strawberry and peach. Lifeway�� Organic Kefir is sweetened with organic cane juice. Lifeway�� Slim6 is a line of low-fat kefir beverages with no added sugar designed for consumers who follow low-carbohydrate diets. Lifeway�� Slim6 has only eight grams of carbohydrates and 2.5 grams of fat per 8-ounce serving and is available in five flavors: strawberries n��cream, mixed berry, tropical fruit, strawberry-banana and an original, unsweetened version. ProBugs is a kefir product that contains 10 live and active kefir cultures. Aimed at children ages 2-9, ProBugscomes in three flavors, Sublime Slime Lime, Orange Creamy Crawler and Goo-Berry Pie and is packaged in no spill spout pouches designed as cartoon bug characters Peter, Polly and Penelope ProBug.

Farmer Cheese is based on a cultured soft cheese and is intended to be used in a variety of recipes as a low fat, low-cholesterol, low-calorie substitute for cream cheese or ricotta, and is available in various styles. Sweet Kiss is a sweet cheese probiotic spread available in five flavors: plain, plain with raisins, apple, peach and chocolate. Elita and Bambino cheeses are low-fat, low-cholesterol kefir based cheese spreads, which are marketed as an alternative to cream cheese. Krestyanski Tworog is a European-style kefir-based soft style cheese which can also be used in a variety of recipes, eaten with a spoon, used as a cheese spread, or substituted in recipes for cream cheese, ricotta cheese or cottage cheese and is marketed to consumers of various Eastern European ethnicities.

Basics Plus is a kefir-based beverage product designed to support gastrointestinal functions and the immune system. Kefir Starter is a powdered form of kefir that is sold in envelope packets and allows a consumer to make his or her own drinkable kefir at home by adding milk. Lifeway continues to develop sales of this product through the Internet. Lassi is a c! ultured d! rink inspired by the traditions of India and is sold in 8-ounce containers in two flavors, strawberry and mango. Golden Zesta is a vegetable-based seasoning, which, because of its low sodium content, may also be used as a salt substitute and is marketed to delicatessens, gourmet shops and ethnic grocers. Helios Nutrition Organic Kefir is a kefir product made from organic milk and manufactured with a blend of active cultures. It is sold in 8 and 32 ounce bottles and made in five flavors: peach, plain, strawberry, vanilla and raspberry.

The Company competes with Danone Foods, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lisa Levin]

  Dairy Products: This industry tumbled 2.12% by 10:50 am. The worst stock within the industry was Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ: LWAY), which fell 0.9%. Lifeway Foods' PEG ratio is 3.56.

• [By Rich Smith]

  Shares of Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ: LWAY  ) are on a tear, up nearly a full $1 (or 8.3%) since reporting earnings last week. But is the price spike justified? Let's find out.

• [By James Brumley]

  Once the budget impasse is wrapped up though, a new Dairy Stabilization Act should be right around the corner. That’s good news for a small-cap company like dairy farm Lifeway Foods (LWAY), which saw its shares fall nearly 25% over the course of August and September when the budget impasse was shaping up.

• [By Rich Smith]

  In possibly related news, shares of a Danone sometimes-partner, sometimes-rival in the drinkable yogurt market, kefir-maker Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ: LWAY  ) , is seeing its shares come under pressure Tuesday. Specializing in grocery sales, Lifeway also operates a chain of yogurt-inspired restaurants of its own known as "Starfruit Cafe." As Danone shares gain 0.5%, Lifeway is down 4.5%.

5 Best Food Stocks To Own Right Now: Cencosud SA (CNCO)

Cencosud SA (Cencosud) is a Chile-based holding company primarily engaged in the retail sector. The Company�� activities include the management and operation of a network of supermarkets, home centers, department stores and shopping malls, which operate under such names as Jumbo, Disco & Vea, Santa Isabel, Easy, Paris, Blaisten and GBarbosa, among others. The Company�� business also comprises the provision of consumer financial services and insurance brokerage, as well as it operates family entertainment centers and a travel agency. Through its subsidiaries and affiliates, the Company has operations established in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Peru. As of December 31, 2010, the Company was a 25.74%-owned affiliate of Inversiones Quinchamali Limitada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Will Ashworth]

  In terms of growth, Asia is where the company is achieving its greatest success. Operating joint ventures in China, India and Japan, Aegon’s gross deposits in new markets grew 31% in fiscal 2013 to $19.8 billion. Its underlying earnings before tax have grown 28% over the last two fiscal years, with fee-based earnings representing a much bigger part of its business than in the past. That�� a good thing, because fee-based earnings don�� have nearly the same bite if things go south than assets on your own balance sheet. Its operations outside of Europe are getting stronger, providing the diversification necessary to survive financial hiccups. As far as insurers go, AEG is one of the best cheap stocks worth owning.

  Cheap Stocks to Buy: Cencosud S.A. (CNCO)

  Cencosud is one of the largest retailers in Latin America. It operates grocery stores, home improvement stores and department stores in five countries including Chile, its home base. Its stock is down 51% over the past year for several reasons, including a deal falling through that would have seen it sell 51% of its credit card operations in Chile and Argentina to Itau Unibanco (ITUB) and using the proceeds to reduce its heavy debt load. Add to that a major devaluation of the peso in Argentina, where it generates a quarter of its overall revenue, and you have investors in a full-on panic.

5 Best Food Stocks To Own Right Now: KBB Resources Bhd (KBB)

KBB Resources Berhad is an investment holding company. The Company is engaged in manufacturing and marketing of all types of rice and sago sticks (vermicelli), sago starch and related products. The Company�� product includes Rice Vermicelli, Instant Noodle, Instant Bihun, Laksa and Sago. The Company�� subsidiaries include Kilang Bihun Bersatu Sdn Bhd, which is engaged in Manufacturing and marketing of all types of rice and sago sticks (vermicelli); Rasayang Food Industries Sdn Bhd, which is engaged in manufacturing and trading of beehoon and beehoon laksa; Bersatu Noodles Industries Sdn Bhd, which is engaged in manufacturing and trading of noodles and related products, and Bersatu Biotechnology (Johore) Sdn Bhd, which is engaged in manufacturing and marketing of all types of sago starch and related products. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Neha Marwah]

  LMC Automotive expects the annualized rate to be 16.1 million, the best in six years. This is a decent improvement from last year�� November, when the industry reported 15.3 million as the adjusted annualized rate. In comparison, Kelley Blue Book (KBB) expects the November 2013 SAAR to be around 15.6 million, while Edmunds.com estimates it to be 15.7 million.

5 Best Food Stocks To Own Right Now: Kellogg Co (K)

Kellogg Company (Kellogg), incorporated in 1922, is engaged in the manufacture and marketing of ready-to-eat cereal and convenience foods. Kellogg�� principal products are ready-to-eat cereals and convenience foods, such as cookies, crackers, toaster pastries, cereal bars, fruit-flavored snacks, frozen waffles and veggie foods. As of February 28, 2012, these products were, manufactured by the Company in 17 countries and marketed in more than 180 countries. It also markets cookies, crackers, and other convenience foods, under brands, such as Kellogg��, Keebler, Cheez-It, Murray, Austin and Famous Amos, to supermarkets in the United States. Its cereal products are generally marketed under the Kellogg�� name and are sold principally to the grocery trade through direct sales forces for resale to consumers. Effective June 1, 2012, Procter & Gamble Co announced that it has completed the sale of its Pringles business to Kellogg.

As of February 28, 2012, Kellogg operated manufacturing plants and distribution and warehousing facilities totaling more than 30 million square feet of building area in the United States and other countries. Its manufacturing facilities in the United States include four cereal plants and warehouses located in Battle Creek, Michigan; Lancaster, Pennsylvania; Memphis, Tennessee; Omaha, Nebraska and other plants or facilities in San Jose, California; Atlanta, Augusta, Columbus, and Rome, Georgia; Chicago, Illinois; Seelyville, Indiana; Kansas City, Kansas; Florence, Louisville, and Pikeville, Kentucky; Grand Rapids and Wyoming, Michigan; Blue Anchor, New Jersey; Cary and Charlotte, North Carolina; Cincinnati, West Jefferson, and Zanesville, Ohio; Muncy, Pennsylvania; Rossville, Tennessee; Clearfield, Utah; and Allyn, Washington. As of February 28, 2012, outside the United States, the Company had, additional manufacturing locations, some with warehousing facilities, in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Ecuador, Germany, Great Britain, India, Japan, Mexico, Russia, S! outh Africa, South Korea, Spain, Thailand and Venezuela.

The Company�� trademarks include Kellogg�� for cereals, convenience foods and its other products, and the brand names of certain ready-to-eat cereals, including All-Bran, Apple Jacks, Bran Buds, Cinnamon Crunch Crispix, Choco Zucaritas, Cocoa Krispies, Complete, Kellogg�� Corn Flakes, Corn Pops, Cracklin��Oat Bran, Crispix, Cruncheroos, Crunchmania, Crunchy Nut, Eggo, Kellogg�� FiberPlus, Froot Loops, Kellogg�� Frosted Flakes, Kellogg�� Krave, Frosted Krispies, Frosted Mini-Wheats, Fruit Harvest, Just Right, Kellogg�� Low Fat Granola, Mueslix, Pops, Product 19, Kellogg�� Raisin Bran, Raisin Bran Crunch, Rice Krispies, Rice Krispies Treats, Smacks/Honey Smacks, Smart Start, Kellogg�� Smorz, Special K, Special K Red Berries and Zucaritas in the United States and elsewhere; Crusli, Sucrilhos, Vector, Musli, NutriDia, and Choco Krispis for cereals in Latin America. Vive and Vector are brands in Canada; Coco Pops, Chocos, Frosties, Fruit�� Fibre, Kellogg�� Crunchy Nut Corn Flakes, Honey Loops, Kellogg�� Extra, Sustain, Muslix, Country Store, Ricicles, Smacks, Start, Pops, Optima and Tresor for cereals in Europe; and Cerola, Sultana Bran, Chex, Frosties, Goldies, Rice Bubbles, Nutri-Grain, Kellogg�� Iron Man Food, and BeBig for cereals in Asia and Australia. In additional, the Company trademarks are the names of certain combinations of ready-to-eat Kellogg�� cereals, including Fun Pak, Jumbo, and Variety.

Other Company brand names include Kellogg�� Corn Flake Crumbs; All-Bran, Choco Krispis, Froot Loops, Special K, NutriDia, Kuadri-Krispis, Zucaritas and Crusli for cereal bars, Komplete for biscuits; and Kaos for snacks in Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America; Pop-Tarts and Pop-Tarts Ice Cream Shoppe for toaster pastries; Pop-Tarts Mini Crisps for crackers; Eggo, Eggo FiberPlus and Nutri-Grain for frozen waffles and pancakes; Rice Krispies Treats for baked snacks and convenience foods; Special K! and Spec! ial K2O for flavored protein water mixes and protein shakes, and Nutri-Grain cereal bars, Nutri-Grain yogurt bars, for convenience foods in the United States and elsewhere. Brands like K-Time, Rice Bubbles, Day Dawn, Be Natural, Sunibrite and LCMs for convenience foods in Asia and Australia; Nutri-Grain Squares, Nutri-Grain Elevenses, and Rice Krispies Squares for convenience foods in Europe; Kashi and GoLean for certain cereals, nutrition bars, and mixes; TLC for granola and cereal bars, crackers and cookies; Special K and Vector for meal replacement products; Bear Naked for granola cereal, bars and trail mix and Morningstar Farms, Loma Linda, Natural Touch, Gardenburger and Worthington for certain meat and egg alternatives. It also markets convenience foods under trademarks and trade names, which include Keebler, Austin, Keebler Baker�� Treasures, Cheez-It, Chips Deluxe, Club, E. L. Fudge, Famous Amos, Fudge Shoppe, Kellogg�� FiberPlus, Gripz, Jack��, Jackson��, Krispy, Mother��, Murray, Murray Sugar Free, Ready Crust, Right Bites, Sandies, Special K, Soft Batch, Stretch Island, Sunshine, Toasteds, Town House, Vienna Creams, Vienna Fingers, Wheatables and Zesta.

The Company�� trademarks also include logos and depictions of certain animated characters in conjunction with its products, including Snap!Crackle!Pop! for Cocoa Krispies and Rice Krispies cereals and Rice Krispies Treats convenience foods; Tony the Tiger for Kellogg�� Frosted Flakes, Zucaritas, Sucrilhos and Frosties cereals and convenience foods, and Ernie Keebler for cookies, convenience foods and other products. It also includes the Hollow Tree logo for certain convenience foods; Toucan Sam for Froot Loops cereal; Dig ��m for Smacks/Honey Smacks cereal; Sunny for Kellogg�� Raisin Bran and Raisin Bran Crunch cereals, Coco the Monkey for Coco Pops cereal; Cornelius for Kellogg�� Corn Flakes; Melvin the Elephant for certain cereal and convenience foods, and Chocos the Bear, Sammy the Seal (aka Smaxey the Seal! ) for cer! tain cereal products.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dividends4Life]

  Linked here is a detailed quantitative analysis of Kellogg Company (K). Below are some highlights from the above linked analysis:Company Description: Kellogg Company is a producer of ready-to-eat cereal also sells snack and convenience foods such as cookies, crackers, potato chips, cereal bars, fruit snacks and frozen waffles.