Top 5 Consumer Stocks To Invest In Right Now

The Motley Fool's readers have spoken, and I have heeded your cries. After months of pointing out�CEO gaffes�and faux pas, I've decided to make it a weekly tradition to also point out corporate leaders who are putting the interests of shareholders and the public first and are generally deserving of praise from investors. For reference, here's�my previous selection.

This week, we'll "step" into the retail sector and examine why Foot Locker (NYSE: FL  ) CEO, Ken Hicks, is truly a class act.

Kudos to you, Mr. Hicks
Ken Hicks took the reins at Foot Locker during one of the toughest times in recent retail history. Since becoming CEO on Aug. 17, 2009, Foot Locker's dividend-adjusted share price has catapulted by 268%, or an average of about 2.9% per month!

However, the retail industry certainly isn't a walk in the park -- even for Foot Locker. Shoe retailers and footwear companies have all struggled to some extent as higher payroll taxes and delayed tax refunds have weighed on consumer spending habits domestically. Overseas, slower GDP growth in China has drastically slowed down Nike's (NYSE: NKE  ) plans of dominating the region. In Nike's most recent quarterly report, it grew its sales in all regions, except for China and Japan, where it was forced to step up discounting to move higher-than-expected inventories.

5 Best Gas Utility Stocks To Invest In Right Now: CannaVEST Corp (CANV)

CannaVEST Corp., formerly Foreclosure Solutions, Inc., incorporated on December 9, 2010, is engaged in the business of developing, producing, marketing and selling end consumer products to the nutriceutical industry containing the hemp plant extract, Cannabidoil (CBD). The Company produces raw ingredients for neutraceutical markets. This substance can be used with foods and nutritional supplements for consumer health and wellness benefits, as well as in the pharmaceutical industry. On March 4, 2013, the Company acquired KannaLife Sciences, Inc. On December 31, 2012, the Company acquired certain assets of PhytoSPHERE Systems, LLC (PhytoSPHERE). It also secured the license to the name PhytoSPHERE and PhytoSPHERE Systems for use in the development and commercialization of hemp-based products.

The Company focuses to develop applicable raw ingredients, and provide raw ingredients for the production and development of multiple existing and developing product applications. Its focus is to produce, market and distribute hemp-based consumer products, as well as acquire existing businesses involved in the industrial hemp industries.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  The Marijuana Index is Really Getting Stoned. The Marijuana Index, which is the first and only registered equity tracking index for marijuana stocks, cannabis stocks and hemp stocks,�experienced significant volume and price fluctuations throughout the month of February when is started the month at the $25 level only to close the month at $56.21 for a 125% gain as some marijuana stocks experienced all time highs. Notable gainers included Abattis Bioceuticals (OTCMKTS: ATTBF)�being up 194%, Advanced Cannabis Solutions (OTCQB: CANN) being up 132% and CannaVest (OTCMKTS: CANV) being up 116%. You can see all of the�Marijuana Index�� advancers and decliners at http://www.marijuanaindex.org.

• [By Dan Burrows]

  But it doesn’t end there. Investors should run away from all OTC marijuana stocks, including Medical Marijuana (MJNA), Cannabis Science (CBIS), CannaVest (CANV), MediSwipe (MWIP) and GreenGro Technologies (GRNH). As the SEC warns:

Top 5 Consumer Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Rite Aid Corp (RAD)

Rite Aid Corporation, incorporated in 1968, is a retail drugstore chain in the United States. As of March 3, 2012, the Company operated drugstores in 31 states across the country and in the District of Columbia. As of March 3, 2012, it operated 4,667 stores. In the Company�� stores, it sells prescription drugs and a range of other merchandise, which it calls front end products. During the fiscal year ended March 3, 2012 (fiscal 2012), prescription drug sales accounted for 68.1% of its total sales. The Company carries a range of front end products, which accounted for 31.9% of its total sales in fiscal 2012. Front end products include over-the-counter medications, health and beauty aids, personal care items, cosmetics, household items, beverages, convenience foods, greeting cards, seasonal merchandise and other everyday and convenience products, as well as photo processing. It offers a variety of products under its private brands, which contributed approximately 17% of its front end sales in the categories where private brand products were offered in fiscal 2012. As of March 3, 2012, the Company had opened over 2,100 GNC stores-within-Rite Aid-stores. During fiscal 2012, the Company sold two owned operating stores to independent third parties.

During fiscal 2012, its stores filled approximately 295 million prescriptions and served an average of 2.1 million customers per day. The overall average size of each store in its chain is approximately 12,600 square feet. As of March 3, 2012, 60% of its stores were freestanding; 51% of its stores included a drive-thru pharmacy; 24% included one-hour photo shops, and 46% included a GNC store-within-Rite Aid-store. The Company�� customers may also order prescription refills over the Internet through www.riteaid.com, or over the phone through its telephonic automated refill systems for pick up at a Rite Aid store. It has a strategic alliance with GNC, a retailer of vitamin and mineral supplements.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE: RAD) is a turnaround which keeps on turning. That is the theory from Goldman Sachs at least. The brokerage firm upgraded shares of the retail drug store to Buy from Neutral. Perhaps more important is that the price target was raised to $8 from $5 in the call.

Top 5 Consumer Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Koss Corporation(KOSS)

Koss Corporation, together with its subsidiary, Koss Classics Ltd., designs, manufactures, and sells stereo headphones and related accessories primarily in the United States and Europe. It offers a line of high-fidelity stereo headphones, speaker-phones, computer headsets, telecommunications headsets, active noise canceling stereo headphones, wireless stereo headphones, and compact disc recordings of American Symphony Orchestras under the Koss Classics label. The company sells its products through national retailers, international distributors, audio specialty stores, the Internet, direct mail catalogs, regional department store chains, discount department stores, military exchanges, and prisons under the Koss name. It also sells its products to distributors for resale to school systems, and directly to other manufacturers. The company was founded in 1953 and is based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Peter Graham]

  The Q3 2014 earnings report for small cap audio stock Skullcandy Inc (NASDAQ: SKUL), a potential peer of other audio stocks like mid cap Harman International Industries Inc (NYSE: HAR) and small cap Koss Corporation (NASDAQ: KOSS), is scheduled for after the market's close on Wednesday (November 5th). Aside from the Skullcandy Inc earnings report, it should be said that Harman International Industries Inc reported Q1 2015 earnings on October 30th (net sales increased 22% to $1.4B and net income rose 37% to $92M thanks to robust demand for car audio products) while Koss Corporation reported Q1 2015 earnings on October 22nd (sales fell 19.9% to $5,469,486 as sales continued to be soft in Europe and there was a net loss of $94,998 verses net income of $79,402). Traders with long memories though might remember that in�late 2012, Skullcandy Inc had the dubious distinction of being the market�� most shorted stock (see: Long Live the Shorts or the Short Squeeze? SKUL, AM & UBNT) with short�interest of 86.47%.

Top 5 Consumer Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Sealed Air Corporation(SEE)

Sealed Air Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides food safety and security, facility hygiene, and product protection solutions worldwide. Its Food Packaging segment provides shrink bags and vacuum packaging products; packaging materials for cook-in applications; laminated and coextruded rollstock packaging materials used in thermoforming and form, fill, and seal applications; and associated packaging equipment and systems, including bag loaders, dispensers, and vacuum chamber systems. The company?s Food Solutions segment offers case-ready packaging offerings; ready meals packaging technologies; vertical pouch packaging solutions for packaging flowable food products; foam and plastic trays; absorbent products for food packaging; and related packaging equipment, including vacuum chamber systems. Its Protective Packaging segment provides air cellular packaging materials; polyolefin performance shrink films for product display; shrink packaging equipment systems; pol yurethane foam packaging systems that provide protective packaging; lightweight and tear-resistant mailers and bags; inflatable packaging systems; paper cushioning systems that include recycled paper and automated dispensing equipment; paper packaging products; and suspension and retention packaging products. The company?s Diversey Segment offers a range of products and services, such as kitchen cleaning products; food and beverage and manufacturing and processing products; floor care products and systems; restroom care and other housekeeping products; and laundry products, as well as consulting services. Sealed Air Corporation also provides specialty materials products to fabricators and manufacturers; and medical applications products and solutions to medical device manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies. The company markets its products primarily under the Bubble Wrap, Cryovac, and Diversey brands. Sealed Air Corporation was founded in 1960 and is headquartered in El mwood Park, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  On the upside, Sealed Air (SEE) has gained 8.4% to $30.90 after it said it earned 39 cents share, beating forecasts for 34 cents, and offered strong guidance. Gilead Sciences (GILD) has risen 4.3% to $72.50 after it reported a profit of 52 cents, beating forecasts for 48 cents.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Sealed Air�(SEE) has fallen 0.7% to $28.35 after the food-safety company was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at�Barclays.

  Towers Watson�(TW) has dropped 0.5% to $102.49 after it was cut to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan. It was also upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.

• [By ovenerio]

  The company has a current ROE of 14.5% which is higher than the industry median. Also, it is higher than the ones exhibit by Sealed Air Corp (SEE) and Sonoco Products Co (SON). In general, analysts consider ROE ratios in the 15-20% range as representing attractive levels for investment. So for investors looking at those levels, MeadWestvaco Corp (MWV) and Packaging Corp of America (PKG) could be the options. It is very important to understand this metric before investing, and it is important to look at the trend in ROE over time.

• [By Tom Rojas and Maria Armental var popups = dojo.query(".socialByline .popC"); ]

  Sealed Air Corp.'s(SEE) third-quarter earnings topped consensus estimates and it again raised its 2014 bottom-line guidance as the packaging company benefits from higher prices.

Hot Oil Stocks For 2014

ECB Bank Stress Tests results stress EUR German Confidence falls again in October BOJ and Fed in the driver seat of Global monetary policy

The results of the European Banking Authority (EBA) stress tests were published on Sunday and so began a hard week for the EUR. Twenty four banks failed the stress tests, with Italian banks on the spotlight as nine found themselves on the black list. There is a 25 billion capital hole for the European financial system.

EUR/USD continued to lose ground, as the pair trades in the mid��.25 range after trading below 1.25 as a reaction to the Bank of Japan stimulus announcement. In the Eurozone, German Retail Sales posted a sharp decline of 3.2%. French Consumer Spending came in at ��.8%.

It's been a rough week for German releases, as the Eurozone's largest economy continues to struggle. The Ifo Institute Business Climate survey fell to a six month low. Germany depends on exports to grow and it is now under threat from geopolitical turmoil such as the situation in Ukraine and with monetary policy moves such as the ones announced this week by the Bank of Japan and the U.S. Fed.

Best Restaurant Stocks To Invest In 2015: Endeavour International Corp (END)

Endeavour International Corporation (Endeavour), incorporated on January 13, 2000, is an independent oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, development and acquisition of energy reserves in the United States and United Kingdom. The Company has three producing fields in the United Kingdom, including Alba, Bacchus and Bittern, as well as a number of development projects including Rochelle and Columbus. In the United States, the Company has production in the Haynesville and Marcellus, as well as two oil frontier plays in Colorado and Montana. As of December 31, 2012, Endeavour had proved reserves of 71,591 million cubic feet (MMcf) of natural gas and 13,739 thousands of barrels (Mbbls) of crude oil for a combined 25.7 million barrels of oil equivalent (MBOE).

The North Sea is a resource area where it has a development project, producing properties and additional exploration licenses. During 2012, Alba production volumes were impacted by water handling issues. As of December 31, 2012, it held a 30% working interest in its Bacchus field asset, which is operated by Apache Corporation, who owns a 50% working interest. In April and July 2012, it achieved production from the first and second development wells, respectively, on the Bacchus field. The Company�� working interest in the Rochelle area is 44% and it is the operator of the field, which is comprised of Blocks 15/26b, 15/26c and 15/27. Its United States activity has targeted reserve and production growth in shale gas plays, including the Louisiana Haynesville and Pennsylvania Marcellus areas.

The Company is also targeting emerging oil-prone and liquids-rich plays, including the Montana Heath oil play and its new interests in the Colorado Niobrara area. The Company operates and controls the Marcellus assets while retaining a 50% position in its remaining producing Haynesville acreage. The Company has 19 Haynesville Units which held by production with an estimated over 80 remaining gross locations to be developed, dep! ending on development well spacing. The Company has interests in approximately 88,900 net acres in the emerging Heath Shale oil play in Montana, primarily in Rosebud and Garfield Counties.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Last February independent oil & gas company Endeavour International Corp. (NYSE: END) initiated a strategic review to help it ��urther enhance shareholder value.��The company needed the help. Its size works against it. At the time of its announcement, the company�� market cap was just around $225 million.

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Leading and Lagging Sectors
  Wednesday morning, the financial sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from SouFun Holdings (NYSE: SFUN) and E-House (China) Holdings (NYSE: EJ). In trading on Wednesday, energy shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.67 percent. Among the energy stocks, Endeavour International (NYSE: END)was down more than 22 percent, while TransGlobe Energy (NASDAQ: TGA) tumbled around 6 percent.

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  Endeavour International Corp. (NYSE: END) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Canaccord Genuity.

  Endo Health Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: ENDP) was downgraded to Sell from an already cautious Neutral rating at Janney.

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Energy shares dropped by 0.26 percent in the US market today. Among the sector stocks, Endeavour International (NYSE: END) was down more than 5.6 percent, while Pacific Ethanol (NASDAQ: PEIX) tumbled around 2.2 percent.

Hot Oil Stocks For 2014: ATP Oil And Gas Corp (AOB)

ATP Oil & Gas Corporation, incorporated in 1991, is engaged in the acquisition, development and production of oil and natural gas properties. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had estimated net proved reserves of 118.9 Million barrels of crude oil equivalent (MMBoe), of which approximately 75.9 MMboe (64%) were in the Gulf of Mexico and 42.9 MMBoe (36%) were in the North Sea. The reserves consisted of 78.6 Million barrels (MMBbls) of oil (66%) and 241.5 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural gas (34%). Its proved reserves in the deepwater area of the Gulf of Mexico account for 62% of the Company�� total proved reserves and its proved reserves on the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf account for 2% of its total proved reserves. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company acquired three licenses in the Mediterranean Sea covering potential natural gas resources in the deepwater off the coast of Israel (East Mediterranean). On August 17, 2012, ATP Oil And Gas Corp filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The Company�� natural gas reserves are split between the Gulf of Mexico (57%) and the North Sea (43%). Of its total proved reserves, 8.3 MMBoe (7%) were producing, 19.0 MMBoe (16%) were developed and not producing and 91.6 MMBoe (77%) were undeveloped. The Company�� average working interest in its properties at December 31, 2011, was approximately 81%. The Company operates 92% of its platforms. At December 31, 2011, in the Gulf of Mexico, it owned leasehold and other interests in 38 offshore blocks and 49 wells, including 23 subsea wells. The Company operates 43 (88%) of these wells, including 100% of the subsea wells. In the North Sea, it also had interests in 13 blocks and two Company-operated subsea wells. As of March 15, 2011, the Company owned an interest in 13 platforms, including two floating production facilities in the Gulf of Mexico, the ATP Titan at its Telemark Hub and the ATP Innovator at its Gomez Hub. It operates the ATP Innovator and the ATP Titan.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Emerson]

  Most of the Chinese companies that I purchased now reside on the Pink Sheets or have disappeared altogether, but at one time they all traded on major US exchanges. One of them (AOB), even received the honor of ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange in 2007, and people say that crime does not pay.

Hot Oil Stocks For 2014: Twin Butte Energy Ltd (TBTEF.PK)

Twin Butte Energy Ltd. (Twin Butte) is a Canada-based junior oil and gas exploration and production company. The Company is engaged in the acquisition of, exploration for and the development and production of petroleum and natural gas properties in Western Canada. During the year ended December 31, 2011, it drilled a total of 125 (80.9 net) wells. Its Frog Lake property is located approximately 75 kilometers northwest of Lloydminster with lands. Its Freemont area is located 60 kilometers southeast of Lloydminster. During 2011, Twin Butte drilled 11 gross wells in Plains region. Production from its west central Alberta region was approximately 1,545 barrels of oil equivalent per day during 2011. Production from its Deep Basin region was approximately 593 barrels of oil equivalent per day during 2011. Effective September 30, 2013, the Company disposed a non-core, west central Alberta, gas asset. In November 2013, the Company acquired Black Shire Energy Inc. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By MLP Trader]

  Here are the current top five companies in the list:

  CompanySymbolEV/BOEPD/NetbackPrice/NAVEV/DACFPinecrest(PNCGF.PK)53564%4.0XLightstream(LSTMF.PK)131753%4.5XNovus(NOVUF.PK)133290%4.1XZargon(ZARFF.PK)138664%5.6XTwin Butte(TBTEF.PK)155885%5.5X

  Of the larger companies, one that remains obstinately near the top of the list is Lightstream . Lightstream trades at 40% of its book value and a whopping 13.4% yield.

Hot Oil Stocks For 2014: Bri-Chem Corp (BRY)

Bri-Chem Corp. is a North American distributor, blender, and manufacturer of drilling fluids and steel pipe for the oil and gas industry in North America. The Company operates in three segments: Fluids, Steel Distribution and Steel Manufacturing. Its Fluids segment includes the sale of fluids and chemical additives to the resource and industrial markets. The Steel Distribution segment includes the sale of tubular steel products to the resource, industrial and construction industries. The Steel Manufacturing segment produces seamless steel pipe through a thermal expansion process for sale to steel pipe distributors in North America. On May 31, 2011, it acquired all membership interest in Bri-Chem Supply Corp, LLC (BSU) and Stryker Transportation Ltd. (Stryker). In September 2013, Bri-Chem Corp acquired the cement blending business assets of Sun Coast Materials Co. and certain additional transportation assets from its affiliate Acme Trucking, Inc. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matt DiLallo]

  LINN Energy (NASDAQ: LINE  )
  Investors in LINN energy are no strangers to the role acquisitions play in giving the company the ability to raise its distribution. Along with its announced acquisition of Berry Petroleum (NYSE: BRY  ) in conjunction with its affiliate LinnCo (NASDAQ: LNCO  ) earlier this year, LINN announced a sizable boost to its distribution. While I wouldn't expect to see any mention of another dividend increase this quarter, what we might see is confirmation that the company is switching to a monthly distribution.

• [By Matt DiLallo]

  Lately the pair have been under a lot of pressure after a series of negative attacks on LINN's business model. The attacks have brought the respective yields to around 9% for LINN and 8.5% for LinnCo when you take into consideration the soon to be rising payout after the Berry Petroleum (NYSE: BRY  ) acquisition closes. Berry adds significant oil assets to the combined company and the deal significantly improves the reserves, credit metrics, distributable cash flow ratio, and production. The bottom line here is that investors can lock in significant monthly income by investing in either company.

• [By Matt DiLallo]

  Don't forget the business model
  Short sellers see this decline rate as being an insurmountable burden that will eventually lead to LINN's demise. Given the perfect storm, that's entirely possible, just as it is for any other company. Yet, LINN's business model is designed to combat the decline ���t is constantly purchasing additional assets to not only replace the decline but to grow its production and reserves. Earlier this year the company made its largest transaction ever as it announced a deal to buy Berry Petroleum (NYSE: BRY  ) .

• [By Lawrence Meyers]

  It�� no coincidence I have another energy play here, because energy is plentiful and always consumed.� Linn Energy (LINE) is an indie oil and gas player, and spread over the many states across the country.� Proven reserves are 4,796 billion cubic feet of oil and natural gas, and it operates a whopping 15,804 wells.� It also is unique in that it hedges 100% of its production vs. some 71% among other MLPs. �The stock pays a solid 11.2% dividend and may merge with Berry Petroleum (BRY) to solidify its balance sheet.

Hot Valued Stocks For 2015

Hot Valued Stocks For 2015: Tupperware Corporation(TUP)

Tupperware Brands Corporation operates as a direct seller of various products across a range of brands and categories through an independent sales force. The company engages in the manufacture and sale of kitchen and home products, and beauty and personal care products. It offers preparation, storage, and serving solutions for the kitchen and home, as well as kitchen cookware and tools, children?s educational toys, microwave products, and gifts under the Tupperware brand name primarily in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Asia Pacific, and North America. The company provides beauty and personal care products, which include skin care products, cosmetics, bath and body care, toiletries, fragrances, nutritional products, apparel, and related products principally in Mexico, South Africa, the Philippines, Australia, and Uruguay. It offers beauty and personal care products under the Armand Dupree, Avroy Shlain, BeautiControl, Fuller, NaturCare, Nutrimetics, Nuvo, and Swissgar de brand names. The company sells its Tupperware products directly to distributors, directors, managers, and dealers; and beauty products primarily through consultants and directors. As of December 26, 2009, the Tupperware distribution system had approximately 1,800 distributors, 61,300 managers, and 1.3 million dealers; and the sales force representing the Beauty businesses approximately 1.1 million. The company was formerly known as Tupperware Corporation and changed its name to Tupperware Brands Corporation in December 2005. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Orlando, Florida.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Tupperware Brands (NYSE: TUP) is expected to report its Q3 earnings at $1.03 per share on revenue of $623.34 million.

  Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR) is projected to post its Q4 earnings at $1.12 per share on revenue of $779.02 million.

• [By John Udovich]

  Everyone! is familiar withthe Tupperware brand fromconsumer products stock Tupperware Brands Corporation (NYSE: TUP) and you are probably familiar with the brandsof mid cap stock Jarden Corp (NYSE: JAH) along with small cap stocks Libbey Inc (NYSEMKT: LBY) and Lifetime Brands Inc (NASDAQ: LCUT); but what about the stocks themselves? Chances are, their brands or products are right under your nose at home and you probably dont know anything about the mid cap or small cap stock behind them.

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.seekpennystocks.com/hot-valued-stocks-for-2015-2.html

Top 10 Food Stocks To Invest In Right Now

Amarin Corporation (AMRN) recently announced its offer to sell 21.7 million American Depositary Shares (ADS). As per the underwriting agreement, the underwriters to the issue were given an option to purchase 3.255 million shares of Amarin to cover over-allotments, if any. The underwriters will be provided a 30-day window to do so.

Amarin has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in relation to its ADS offering. The company plans to file a preliminary prospectus supplement with the SEC shortly.

Amarin was also in the news recently when it announced encouraging results from a phase I trial on its cardiovascular candidate, AMR-102, a fixed-dose combination of the company�� only marketed product, Vascepa and AstraZeneca�� (AZN) Crestor (rosuvastatin).

We note that apart from AMR-102, the company is also evaluating Vascepa for several indications. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Vascepa as an adjunct to diet for reducing triglyceride levels in adults suffering from severe (��00 mg/dL) hypertriglyceridemia (very high triglycerides) in Jul 2012. The company started marketing the drug in the US from Jan 2013.

Top 5 Gold Stocks To Own Right Now: Nestle SA (NESN)

Nestle SA is a Swiss Company engaged in the nutrition, health and wellness sectors. It is the holding company of the Nestle Group, which comprises subsidiaries, associated companies and joint ventures throughout the world. It has such business units as Food and Beverage, Nestle Waters and Nestle Nutrition. It is also active in the pharmaceutical sector. It divides its products into Powdered and liquid beverages, Water, Milk products and Ice cream, Nutrition, Prepared dishes and cooking aids, Confectionery, PetCare and Pharmaceutical products. In February 2011, the Company acquired CM&D Pharma Ltd. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Celeste Perri]

  Nestle SA (NESN) is selling Givaudan (GIVN) SA shares worth $1.27 billion at yesterday�� closing price to institutional investors, winding down its stake in the world�� largest flavorings maker.

• [By Corinne Gretler]

  Swiss stocks fell for a second day, their first back-to-back losses this month, as Nestle (NESN) SA retreated after reporting slower growth in sales.

• [By Chad Fraser]

  These are the first significant moves made by the Caira, a former executive at Nestle SA (NYSE: NESN) who helped expand that company’s hot and cold beverage division.

Top 10 Food Stocks To Invest In Right Now: General Mills Inc (GIS)

General Mills, Inc. (General Mills), incorporated on June 20, 1928, is a manufacturer and marketer of branded consumer foods sold through retail stores. The Company is also a supplier of branded and unbranded food products to the foodservice and commercial baking industries. The Company manufactures its products in 15 countries and markets them in more than 100 countries. The Company's joint ventures manufacture and market products in more than 130 countries and republics worldwide. General Mills operates in three segments: U.S. Retail, International, and Bakeries and Foodservice. In addition, the Company sells ready-to-eat cereals through its Cereal Partners Worldwide (CPW) joint venture. In February 2012, General Mills acquired Food Should Taste Good, a natural snack foods company based in Needham Heights, Mass. During the fiscal year ended May 27, 2012, the Company acquired a 51% interest in Yoplait S.A.S. and a 50% interest in Yoplait Marques S.A.S. In August 2012, it acquired Yoki Alimentos SA.

General Mills�� ready-to-eat cereals consists of Cheerios, Wheaties, Lucky Charms, Total, Trix, Golden Grahams, Chex, Kix, Fiber One, Reese�� Puffs, Cocoa Puffs, Cookie Crisp, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Clusters, Oatmeal Crisp and Basic 4. Its refrigerated yogurt include Yoplait, Trix, Delights, Go-GURT, Fiber One, YoPlus, Whips!, Mountain High, Liberte, YOP, Perle de Lait, Petits Filous and Panier. The Company�� refrigerated and frozen dough products consists of Pillsbury, the Pillsbury Doughboy character, Grands!, Golden Layers, Big Deluxe, Toaster Strudel, Toaster Scrambles, Simply, Savorings, Jus-Rol, Latina, Pasta Master, Wanchai Ferry, V.Pearl and La Saltena. The dry dinners and shelf stable and frozen vegetable products includes Betty Crocker, Hamburger Helper, Tuna Helper, Chicken Helper, Old El Paso, Green Giant, Potato Buds, Suddenly Salad, Bac*O��, Betty Crocker Complete Meals, Valley Selections, Simply Steam, Valley Fresh Steamers, Wanchai Ferry, Diablitos and Parampara. Its gr! ain, fruit, and savory snacks consists of Nature Valley, Fiber One, Betty Crocker, Fruit Roll-Ups, Fruit By The Foot, Gushers, Chex Mix, Gardetto��, Bugles, Food Should Taste Good and Larabar. The sessert and baking mixes includes Betty Crocker, SuperMoist, Warm Delights, Bisquick and Gold Medal. Ready-to-serve soup consists of Progresso. The Company�� ice cream and frozen desserts include Haagen-Dazs, Secret Sensations, Cream Crisp and Dolce. Its frozen pizza and pizza snacks includes Totino��, Jeno��, Pizza Rolls, Party Pizza, Pillsbury Pizza Pops and Pillsbury Pizza Minis. General Mills�� organic products include Cascadian Farm and Muir Glen.

The Company�� products are marketed under trademarks and service marks that are owned by or licensed to the Company. Some of the brand names include Dora the Explorer, Disney Cars, and Disney Princesses for yogurt, and Dora the Explorer for cereal; Reese's Puffs for cereal; Hershey's chocolate for a variety of products; Weight Watchers as an endorsement for soup and frozen vegetable products; Macaroni Grill for dry and frozen dinners; Sunkist for baking products and fruit snacks; Cinnabon for refrigerated dough, frozen pastries, and baking products; Bailey's for super-premium ice cream, and a range of characters and brands for fruit snacks, including Scooby Doo, Batman, Tom and Jerry, Ocean Spray, Thomas the Tank Engine, My Little Pony, Transformers, and various Warner Bros. and Nickelodeon characters. Its primary customers include grocery stores, mass merchandisers, membership stores, natural food chains, drug, dollar and discount chains, commercial and noncommercial foodservice distributors and operators, restaurants, and convenience stores.

U.S. Retail segment

The Company�� U.S. Retail segment reflects business with a range of grocery stores, mass merchandisers, membership stores, natural food chains, and drug, dollar and discount chains operating throughout the United States. Its product categories in thi! s busines! s segment include ready-to-eat cereals, refrigerated yogurt, ready-to-serve soup, dry dinners, shelf stable and frozen vegetables, refrigerated and frozen dough products, dessert and baking mixes, frozen pizza and pizza snacks, grain, fruit and savory snacks, and a range of organic products, including granola bars, cereal and soup.

International segment

The Company�� International segment consists of retail and foodservice businesses outside of the United States. In Canada, its product categories include ready-to-eat cereals, shelf stable and frozen vegetables, dry dinners, refrigerated and frozen dough products, dessert and baking mixes, frozen pizza snacks, refrigerated yogurt, and grain and fruit snacks. In markets outside North America, its product categories include super-premium ice cream and frozen desserts, refrigerated yogurt, grain snacks, shelf stable and frozen vegetables, refrigerated and frozen dough products, and dry dinners. Its International segment also includes products manufactured in the United States for export, mainly to Caribbean and Latin American markets, as well as products it manufactures for sale to its international joint ventures.

Bakeries and Foodservice segment

In Company�� Bakeries and Foodservice segment its product categories include cereals, snacks, refrigerated yogurt, unbaked and fully baked frozen dough products, baking mixes, and flour. It sells to distributors and operators in many customer channels, including foodservice, convenience stores, vending and supermarket bakeries.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Reuters]

  Toby Talbot/AP NEW YORK -- A voluntary effort by the world's largest food and beverage companies to remove billions of calories from the products they sell in the United States to help combat the nation's obesity epidemic has far exceeded its five-year goal, according to an independent evaluation released Thursday. In May 2010, 16 of the nation's biggest food and beverage companies, from Coca-Cola (KO) to Kraft Foods Group (KRFT), pledged to remove 1 trillion calories from the U.S. marketplace by 2012 and 1.5 trillion by 2015, compared with a 2007 baseline. In fact, as of 2012 they sold 6.4 trillion fewer calories, found an analysis by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "Reports like this, and the fact that they exceeded their commitment by fourfold, really shows that you can make progress in giving American families more healthy options," said Larry Soler, president of the Partnership for a Healthier America, a non-profit chaired by first lady Michelle Obama. The group was formed in 2010 to work with the private sector on anti-obesity strategies. At the time, critics said the Partnership relied too heavily on the good will of the industry and couldn't replace the role of tighter regulation on how food is manufactured and marketed. Such voluntary efforts by industry "are not a magic bullet," said Jeff Levi, executive director of Trust for America's Health, a non-profit policy group. "Particularly with kids, there is a role for regulation" in reducing demand for unhealthy, high-calorie fare. It isn't clear yet how the companies accomplished the dramatic calorie reduction, said UNC public health researcher Barry Popkin, who led the analysis funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the nation's largest public health philanthropy. Some of the decline may have come from the recession, as financially strapped families cut back on junk food. When the pledge was announced, companies said they would substitute lower-calorie pro

• [By Pendulum]

  Best In Class Food Companies:

  Coca-Cola (KO)Pepsico (PEP)Mondelez (MDLZ)Kraft Foods (KRFT)General Mills (GIS)Kellogg (K)ConAgra Foods (CAG)Hershey (HSY)J.M. Smucker (SJM)McCormick (MKC)Dean Foods (DF)

  A few comments about this analysis:

• [By Vinay Singh]

  Similarly, peer General Mills (GIS) made a few additions to its business in order to enhance its presence in the growing healthy food market. Its acquisitions included Food Should Taste Good in February 2012, Yoplait in May 2012, and Yoki Alimentos in August 2012. It has also introduced new products such as Old El Paso and Fiber One lemon bars in order to attract more customers. Despite such efforts, General Mills has not been able to increase its top line, as its latest quarterly results could not meet investors' expectations. However, the branded-food company plans to add more products and control its costs so it affirmed its previously given outlook.

Top 10 Food Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Carrefour SA (CRERF)

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

• [By Sophia Yan]

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

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

Top 10 Food Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Woolworths Ltd (WOW)

Woolworths Limited is an Australia-based company. The Company operates in five segments: Australian Food and Liquor, New Zealand Supermarkets, Petrol, BIG W and Hotels. Australian Food and Liquor segment is engaged in the procurement of food and liquor and products for resale to customers in Australia. New Zealand Supermarkets segment is engaged in the procurement of food and liquor and products for resale to customers in New Zealand. Petrol segment is engaged in the procurement of petroleum products for resale to customers in Australia. BIG W segment is engaged procurement of discount general merchandise products for resale to customers in Australia. Hotels segment is engaged in the provision of leisure and hospitality services, including food and alcohol, accommodation, entertainment and gaming. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jonathan Burgos]

  Woolworths Ltd. (WOW) dropped 1.6 percent to A$33.22 after Australia�� largest retailer said challenging economic condition were evident in the second quarter.

Top 10 Food Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Hellenic Sugar Industry SA (HSI)

Hellenic Sugar Industry SA is a Greece-based company engaged in the production and trade of white crystal sugar and its by-products, such as molasses and sugar beet seed. Its principal activities include the manufacture of all types of sweetener products and general kneading products; the production and processing of sugar beet and other plants; the production of raw materials for sugar production; the establishment, equipping and exploitation of sugar producing factories; conducting scientific research in all fields of activity of the Company; the trade and standardization of sugar products, by-products, raw materials, multiple materials, agricultural products and machinery, and carrying out agro-industrial activities in Greece and abroad. The Company has five sugar factories and one seed processing factory in Greece. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Adam Haigh]

  Hong Kong�� Hang Seng Index (HSI) climbed 2.1 percent, closing at its highest level since June 4. The Hang Seng retreated 3.8 percent this year through last week, the only decline among developed markets tracked by Bloomberg, amid concern China�� economic growth is slowing and speculation the Federal Reserve will pare U.S. bond purchases.

• [By Adam Haigh]

  Tencent Holdings Ltd. (700), operator of China�� No. 1 mobile messaging application, jumped 7.8 percent to a record HK$333.80 as the State Council pledged to upgrade telecommunications and Internet infrastructure. Tencent is the best-performing stock on the Hang Seng Index (HSI) this year.

Top 10 Food Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Hormel Foods Corporation (HRL)

Hormel Foods Corporation processes, markets, and sells consumer-branded meat and food products. The company operates in five segments: Grocery Products, Refrigerated Foods, Jennie-O Turkey Store, Specialty Foods, and International & Other. The Grocery Products segment offers shelf-stable food products, including canned luncheon meats, shelf-stable microwaveable meals, stews, chilies, hash, meat spreads, flour and corn tortillas, salsas, and tortilla chips in the retail market. The Refrigerated Foods segment provides branded and unbranded pork and beef products for retail, foodservice, and fresh product customers. The Jennie-O Turkey Store segment offers branded and unbranded turkey products for retail, foodservice, and fresh product customers. The Specialty Foods segment is involved in the packaging and sale of various sugar and sugar substitute products, salt and pepper products, liquid portion products, dessert mixes, ready-to-drink products, sports nutrition products, g elatin products, and private label canned meats to retail and foodservice customers. This segment also processes, markets, and sells nutritional food products and supplements to hospitals, nursing homes, and other marketers of nutritional products. The International and Other segment manufactures, markets, and sells its products internationally. Hormel Foods Corporation sells its products through sales personnel, as well as through independent brokers and distributors primarily in the United States, Australia, Canada, China, England, Japan, Mexico, Micronesia, the Philippines, and South Korea. The company was formerly known as George A. Hormel & Company and changed its name to Hormel Foods Corporation in January 1995. Hormel Foods Corporation was founded in 1891 and is based in Austin, Minnesota.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dividends4Life]

  Linked here is a detailed quantitative analysis of Hormel Foods Corp. (HRL). Below are some highlights from the above linked analysis:
  
  Company Description: Hormel Foods Corp. is a multinational manufacturer and marketer of consumer-branded food and meat products.

• [By Marc Bastow]

  Speaking of consecutive dividend increase streaks, food processor Hormel (HRL) increased its dividend for the 48th consecutive year, while spice maker McCormick (MKC) upped its dividend for a 28th consecutive year.

• [By Steven Russolillo]

  WATCH FOR:� No major economic data on dap. American Eagle, Booz Allen, Eaton Vance(EV), Hormel Foods(HRL), L Brands(LB), Lowe's(LOW), NetApp, PetSmart(PETM), Renren(RENN), Sina, Target, Tiffany, Trina Solar(TSL) and Williams-Sonoma(WSM) are among companies scheduled to report quarterly results.

Top 10 Food Stocks To Invest In Right Now: MicroFinancial Incorporated(MFI)

Microfinancial Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, operates as a specialized commercial finance company that provides microticket equipment leasing and rental, and other financing services in the United States. The company provides financing alternatives, and leases and rents commercial equipment to start-up and established businesses for use in their daily operations. It leases water filtration systems, food service equipment, security equipment, point-of-sale cash registers, salon equipment, health care and fitness equipment, and automotive equipment. The company primarily sources its originations through a network of independent equipment vendors, sales organizations, and other dealer-based origination networks. Microfinancial Incorporated was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Woburn, Massachusetts.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Eric Lam]

  Alacer Gold Corp. and Iamgold Corp. rallied at least 5.9 percent as the metal traded at its highest in 11 weeks. Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (MFI) jumped 7.8 percent as it agreed to sell a unit for C$645 million ($614 million). Penn West Petroleum (PWT) Ltd. added 1.7 percent after cutting 25 percent of its workforce to reduce costs.

Top 10 Heal Care Companies To Watch For 2014

LONDON -- The FTSE 100 (FTSEINDICES: ^FTSE  ) is finally picking up a bit today after a flat start to the week, gaining 0.56% to reach 6,466 by 8:40 a.m. EDT. The banks have led the way as hopes rise of further economic easing by central banks ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's next policy decision later today. The European Central bank will also meet tomorrow amid expectations of a further interest rate cut.

Sadly, not all our companies are enjoying similar rises. Here are three that look set to lag the index today.

Home Retail
Home Retail Group has seen its share price drop 3.7% to 150 pence this morning after the owner of the U.K.'s Argos and Homebase chains reported a fall in full-year profit. For the year to March 2, sales were pretty much flat at 5.5 billion pounds, but underlying pre-tax profit fell 10% to 91 million pounds, with earnings per share down 11% to 7.7 pence.

Although the transformation of Argos is going well, with a rise in like-for-like sales for the first time in five years boosting underlying operating profit by 6.5% to 100 million pounds, underlying operating profit at Homebase slumped 50% to just 11 million pounds.

Hot Life Sciences Stocks To Own Right Now: Vitacost.com Inc (VITC)

Vitacost.com, Inc. (Vitacost), incorporated in May 20, 1994, is an online retailer of health and wellness products, including dietary supplements such as vitamins, minerals, herbs and other botanicals, amino acids and metabolites, as well as cosmetics, natural personal care products, pet products, sports nutrition and health foods. The Company sells these products directly to consumers primarily through its Website, www.vitacost.com. It offers its customers the selection of healthy living products. It offers its customers a selection of approximately 40,000 Stock Keeping Units (SKUs), from over 2,000 third-party brands, such as New Chapter, Nature�� Way, Twinlab, Source Naturals, Jarrow Formulas, Jason, Desert Essence, Atkins, Bob�� Red Mill, BSN, Optimum Nutrition, USP Labs and MuscleTech in addition to its own brands: Vitacost, Cosmeceutical Sciences Institute (CSI), Best of All, and Smart Basics. As of December 31, 2012, the Company had approximately 2.1 million customers.

The Company offers products in a range of potency levels and dosage forms, such as tablets, capsules, vegi-capsules, softgels, gelcaps, liquids and powders. It offers products that encompass four main categories: Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs and Supplements; Sports Nutrition; Beauty; and Natural and Organic Food.

Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs and Supplements (VMHS)

VMHS products are taken to maintain or improve health and address specific health conditions. In its dietary supplements category, the Company offers its offer its Vitacost branded products as well as third-party brands such as Nature�� Way, Twinlab, Jarrow, Carlson and Rainbow Light. Vitamin and mineral products include multi-vitamins, lettered vitamins, such as Vitamin A, C, D, E and B-complex, along with minerals such as calcium, magnesium, chromium and zinc.

Herbal products include whole herbs, standardized extracts, herb combination formulas and teas. Supplements include essential fatty acids, probiotics, anti-o! xidants, phytonutrients and condition-specific formulas.

Sports Nutrition

Sports nutrition products are used in conjunction with cardiovascular conditioning, weight training and sports activities. Major categories in sports nutrition include protein and weight gain powders, meal replacements, nutrition bars, sport drinks and pre and post-workout supplements. The Company offers bodybuilding and sports products from third parties, such as Optimum Nutrition, CytoSport and BSN as well as our Vitacost branded sports nutrition products.

Beauty

Natural care products consist of a variety of natural products for skin, body, hair and oral health. The Company offers hundreds of natural personal-care products from companies, such as JASON, and Kiss My Face, as well as its CSI-branded products. These products appeal to allergen-conscious and environmentally-conscious consumers seeking products that are made without harsh chemicals and additives.

Natural and Organic Food

Natural and organic food products consist of organic and specialty products such as organic peanut butter, gluten free foods and low mercury tuna and salmon. The Company offers third-party brands, such as Kashi, Eden Foods and Amy�� Organic, as well as its Best of All natural food products.

Under its Vitacost brand, the Company offers over 900 products including multivitamins, minerals, herbs, amino acids, anti-oxidants and others. Under its CSI brand, it markets and sells health and beauty products such as facial cleanser, facial and body moisturizing creams and lotions, and other beauty and skincare products. Under its Best of All brand, it markets and sells organic food products such as banana chips, trail mix, almonds, cashews and more. Under its Smart Basics brand, it markets and sells organic fruit juices and extracts and related dietary supplements. Under its Walker Diet brand, it markets and sells low carb powders used to assist in weight loss and ! managemen! t.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Calling all cash flows
  When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Vitacost.com (Nasdaq: VITC  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Margins matter. The more Vitacost.com (Nasdaq: VITC  ) 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 Vitacost.com's competitive position could be.

Top 10 Heal Care Companies To Watch For 2014: Chesapeake Granite Wash Trust (CHKR)

Chesapeake Granite Wash Trust (the Trust) is a trust formed to own royalty interests for the benefit of Trust unitholders conveyed to the trust by Chesapeake Energy Corporation (Chesapeake). The royalty interests held by the Trust (Royalty Interests) are derived from Chesapeake�� interests in specified oil and natural gas properties located in the Colony Granite Wash play in Washita County in the Anadarko Basin of western Oklahoma. Chesapeake conveyed the Royalty Interests to the Trust from its interests in 69 existing horizontal wells (Producing Wells) and Chesapeake�� interests in 118 horizontal development wells (Development Wells) to be drilled on properties within the Area of Mutual Interest (AMI). The AMI is limited to only the Colony Granite Wash formation, where Chesapeake held approximately 45,400 gross acres (29,300 net acres) as of December 31, 2011. The Colony Granite Wash is located at the eastern end of a series of Des Moines-age granite wash fields that extend along the southern flank of the Anadarko Basin, approximately 60 miles into the Texas Panhandle. The Colony Granite Wash is a formation encountered at depths between approximately 11,500 feet and 13,000 feet that lies between the top of the Des Moines formation (or top of Colony Granite Wash A) and the top of the Prue formation (or base of Colony Granite Wash C). Colony Granite Wash is primarily a natural gas and natural gas condensate reservoir based on reserve volumes.

As of December 31, 2011, the all of the Producing Wells were completed, 66 Producing Wells were producing and approximately 11.5 Development Wells were completed and producing. As of December 31, 2011, the remaining three Producing Wells were temporarily offline. As of July 1, 2011, Chesapeake owned on average a 52.8% net revenue interest in the Producing Wells, and Trust received an average 47.5% net revenue interest in the Producing Wells, and Chesapeake on average owned a 52.0% net revenue interest in the Development Wells. As of March 15, 2012! , Chesapeake owned 61,100 net acres (of which 29,300 net acres are subject to the Royalty Interests). As of March 15, 2012, Chesapeake operated 95% of the Producing Wells and the completed Development Wells.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matt DiLallo]

  Chesapeake Granite Wash Trust (NYSE: CHKR  )
  Created by Chesapeake Energy, the Granite Wash Trust owns royalty interests in 69 currently producing wells and 118 wells that are still to be drilled in Oklahoma in an area of mutual interest. The wells within the trust are producing out of the Granite Wash formation of the Anadarko Basin.�As you can see on the map below, the trust has a very focused area of interest.

Top 10 Heal Care Companies To Watch For 2014: Whiting Petroleum Corporation(WLL)

Whiting Petroleum Corporation engages in the acquisition, development, exploitation, exploration, and production of oil and gas primarily in the Permian Basin, Rocky Mountains, Mid-Continent, Gulf Coast, and Michigan regions of the United States. As of December 31, 2010, its estimated proved reserves were 304.9 million barrels equivalent of oil; and had interests in 9,698 gross productive wells covering approximately 1,115,000 gross developed acres. The company sells its oil and gas to end users, marketers, and other purchasers. Whiting Petroleum Corporation was founded in 1983 and is Denver, Colorado.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Arjun Sreekumar]

  Pad drilling methods have also allowed operators to use fewer rigs to drill the same number of wells. For instance, Whiting Petroleum (NYSE: WLL  ) , another major Bakken operator, reported a substantial decline in drilling expenses over the past year because of a successful transition toward multi-pad drilling, allowing the company to drill the same number of wells with fewer rigs.

• [By Robert Rapier]

  So did the latest set of strong quarterly numbers reported last week by two of our favorite Bakken oil drillers, Aggressive Portfolio holding Continental Resources (NYSE: CLR) and Growth Portfolio pick Whiting Petroleum (NYSE: WLL). They have returned 42 percent and 37 percent, respectively, since we recommended them a year ago, and by the looks of the latest numbers are far from done. �

• [By Jesse Solomon]

  Energy bet may not have paid off: The funds plowed over two billion dollars into Whiting Petroleum (WLL), Valero Energy Corporation (VLO, Fortune 500), Talisman Energy (TLM), and Cameron International (CAM, Fortune 500).

Top 10 Heal Care Companies To Watch For 2014: Grana y Montero SAA (GRAM)

Grana y Montero SAA is a Peru-based holding company primarily engaged in the four business areas: Construction and Engineering Industry, Real Estate, Oil Services, and Operation of Public Concessions and Business Support Services. Through its subsidiaries, the Company provides such services as the development and management of real estate properties and leisure facilities; the exploration, production and sale of oil, natural gas and its derivates; the storage and distribution of combustibles; information technology services; engineering consultancy; the operation and maintenance of rails and roads concessions; as well as the execution and management of projects related to the generation of electric power; among others. The Company owns such subsidiaries as GMD SA, Concar SA, Survial SA, Norvial SA and Promotores Asociados de Inmobiliarios SA, among others. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By alicet236]

  Grana y Montero SAA (GRAM) Reached the Five-Year Low of $20.90

  The prices of Grana y Montero SAA (GRAM) shares have declined to close to the five-year low of $20.90, which is 17.3% off the five-year high of $22.14. Grana y Montero SAA is owned by four Gurus we are tracking. Among them, four have added to their positions during the past quarter. Zero reduced their positions. Grana y Montero SAA was established in Peru on August 12, 1996 as a result of the equity spin-off of Inversiones GyM S. Grana Y Montero Saa has a market cap of $2.75 billion; its shares were traded at around $20.90 with a P/E ratio of 24.60 and P/S ratio of 1.24.

Top 10 Heal Care Companies To Watch For 2014: Accuray Incorporated(ARAY)

Accuray Incorporated designs, develops, and sells medical radiation systems for the treatment of tumors anywhere in the body. The company offers the CyberKnife system, an image-guided robotic radiosurgery system used for the treatment of solid tumors. The system tracks, detects, and corrects for tumor and patient movement in real-time during the procedure, enabling delivery of precise, high dose radiation typically with sub-millimeter accuracy. The company also offers the TomoTherapy system, which consists of an integrated and versatile radiation therapy system used for the treatment of a range of cancer types. Accuray Incorporated markets its product through a direct sales force and distributors worldwide. The company was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  Small cap robotic stock Adept Technology (NASDAQ: ADEP) has put in a very good performance this month verses its immediate peer�iRobot Corporation (NASDAQ: IRBT) as well as against medical robotic stocks like MAKO Surgical (NASDAQ: MAKO), Accuray Incorporated (NASDAQ: ARAY) and Hansen Medical, Inc (NASDAQ: HNSN). I should also mention that we have recently added Adept Technology to our SmallCap Network Elite Opportunity (SCN EO) portfolio (we are up 9% since last week) because we feel robotics is an improving sector as companies aim to reduce overhead and improve efficiencies through machine to machine (M2M) automation.

• [By John Kell]

  Accuray Inc.(ARAY) shares jumped after the company posted a narrower loss than expected in its fiscal second quarter and raised its revenue estimate for the year. Shares rose 9.1% to $10.08 premarket.

Top 10 Heal Care Companies To Watch For 2014: ING US Inc (VOYA)

ING U.S., Inc., incorporated on April 7, 1999, is a retirement, investment and insurance company serving the financial needs of approximately 13 million individual and institutional customers in the United States. The Company offers its products and services through a group of financial intermediaries, independent producers, affiliated advisors and dedicated sales specialists throughout the United States. The Company operates its principal businesses through three business lines: Retirement Solutions, Investment Management and Insurance Solutions. In addition, it also has closed Blocks and corporate reporting segments. Closed Blocks consists of three businesses where it has placed its portfolios in run-off-Closed Block Variable Annuity, Closed Block Institutional Spread Products and Closed Block Other. The Company�� corporate segment includes its corporate activities and corporate-level assets and financial obligations.

Retirement Solutions

The Company is a provider of retirement services and products in the United States. The Company provides a product range addressing both the accumulation and income distribution needs of customers, through a distribution footprint of nearly 2,500 affiliated representatives and thousands of non-affiliated agents and third party administrators (TPAs). The Company�� Retirement Solutions business consists of two financial segments: Retirement and Annuities.

Retirement provides tax-deferred, employer-sponsored retirement savings plans and administrative services to more than 49,000 plan sponsors covering approximately 5.3 million plan participants in corporate, education, healthcare and government markets. Retirement also provides rollover IRAs, and other retail financial products as well as comprehensive financial advisory services to individual customers. Annuities provide fixed and indexed annuities, tax-qualified mutual fund custodial products and payout annuities for pre-retirement wealth accumulation and post-retirement i! ncome management sold through multiple channels.

Investment Management

The Company is a service asset manager delivering client-oriented investment solutions and advisory services. The Company serves both individual and institutional customers, offering them domestic and international fixed income, equity, multi-asset and alternative investment products and solutions across a range of geographies, investment styles and capitalization spectrums.

Insurance Solutions

The Company is a provider of life insurance in the United States. The Company�� Insurance Solutions business consists of two financial segments: Individual Life and Employee Benefits. Individual Life provides wealth protection and transfer opportunities through universal, variable, and term products, distributed through independent channels to meet the needs of a range of customers from the middle-market through affluent market segments. Employee Benefits provides stop loss, group life, voluntary employee-paid and disability products to mid-sized and large businesses.

Closed Blocks

The Company separated its Closed Block Variable Annuity and Closed Block Institutional Spread Products segments from its other operations, placing them in run-off, and made a strategic decision to stop actively writing new retail variable annuity products with substantial guarantee features and to run-off the institutional spread products portfolio over time. The Company�� focus in managing its Closed Block Variable Annuity segment is on protecting regulatory reserves.

The Company competes with Fidelity, Vanguard, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, TIAA-CREF and Ameriprise.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jessica Alling]

  The life and retirement segments at Genworth Financial (NYSE: GNW  ) , Hartford Finanical (NYSE: HIG  ) , and ING (NYSE: VOYA  ) were among 11 insurers slapped with a new settlement for unpaid benefits. In the video below, Motley Fool contributor Jessica Alling discusses how the insurers misconduct lead to unpaid monies, how much the settlement is, and how investors should be looking at the situation.

Top 10 Heal Care Companies To Watch For 2014: iShares S&P 500 Value Index Fund (IVE)

iShares S&P 500 Value Index Fund (the Fund) seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Standard & Poor's 500/Citigroup Value Index (the Index). The Index measures the performance of the large-capitalization value sector of the United States equity market. It is a subset of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, and consists of those stocks exhibiting the strongest value characteristics in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, representing approximately 51% of the market capitalization of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index.

The Fund uses a representative sampling strategy in seeking to track the Index. Barclays Global Fund Advisors (BGFA) serves as an advisor to the Fund.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By David Fabian]

  In addition, this sector has likely benefited from the rotation out of high-beta growth stocks and into value-oriented segments that are more defensive in nature.� The energy sector is the second largest allocation in the iShares S&P 500 Value ETF (NYSE: IVE), with more than 15 percent of the underlying holdings.�

Top 10 High Tech Stocks For 2014

In this video, health-care analyst David Williamson discusses manged-care company Aetna's first-quarter results. Although the earnings have been kind to insurers, what sets Aetna apart is that it raised its guidance for the year, unlike UnitedHealth Group, which talked down the top end of its 2013 range and wouldn't touch 2014 in recent comments.�

Watch and find out why there may be even more upside in Aetna's shares in the short term and what threats are looming for insurance investors in 2014.

When President Obama was re-elected, shares of UnitedHealth and other health insurers fell immediately. Is Obamacare a death knell for health insurers, or is the market missing out on some of the opportunities the law presents? In this brand-new premium report on UnitedHealth, The Motley Fool takes a long-term view, homing in on�prospects for UnitedHealth in an Obamacare world. So don't miss out ��simply�click here now�to claim your copy today.

5 Best Trucking Stocks For 2015: Copano Energy L.L.C.(CPNO)

Copano Energy, L.L.C. provides midstream services to natural gas producers in the United States. The company?s services include natural gas gathering, compression, dehydration, treating, marketing, transportation, processing, and fractionation. It owns and operates natural gas gathering and intrastate transportation pipeline assets; natural gas processing and fractionation facilities; and natural gas liquid (NGL) pipelines in Texas, Oklahoma, Wyoming, and Louisiana. The company operates approximately 6,800 miles of natural gas gathering and transmission pipelines; and 10 natural gas processing plants with approximately 1 billion cubic feet per day of combined processing capacity. It also operates 380 miles of NGL pipelines. The company serves third-party pipelines, distribution companies, power generation facilities, and industrial customers. Copano Energy, L.L.C. was founded in 2001 and is based in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Eric Volkman]

  Copano Energy (NASDAQ: CPNO  ) is keeping its quarterly dividend steady, handing out $0.575 per unit on April 26 to holders of record as of April 22, the company announced this week. The company has disbursed the same amount every quarter since the beginning of 2009.

Top 10 High Tech Stocks For 2014: Nature's Sunshine Products Inc.(NATR)

Nature?s Sunshine Products, Inc., a natural health and wellness company, together with its subsidiaries, primarily engages in the manufacture and direct sale of nutritional and personal care products worldwide. The company offers herbal products in the form of capsules or tablets; and single herbs and herb combinations in the form of liquid herbs and extracts under ALJ, Cardio Assurance, Blood Pressurex, LBS II, CleanStart, Mistica, Liquid Chlorophyll, Noni Plus, and Core Greens brands. It also provides vitamins and mineral supplements, including a line containing natural antioxidants in the form of chewable or non-chewable tablets under EverFlex, Super Supplemental, Vitamin B Complex, Probiotic Eleven, Food Enzyme, ProArgi-9 Plus, SyneMax, and Vitazone brands; and personal care products, such as oils and lotions, aloe vera gels, herbal shampoos, herbal skin treatments, toothpastes, and skin cleansers under Tei-Fu, Pau-D Arco, EverFlex, Pro-G Yam, Hydrating Toner, 5 in 1 Shampoo, Repair Complex, and Bright Renewal Serum brands. In addition, the company offers various other products, such as homeopathic products, powders, sales aids, and other miscellaneous products under Lavender Oil, Tei-Fu Oil, Peppermint Oil, Flower Essences, and Massage Oil brands. It sells its products to a sales force of independent distributors and managers, who use the products themselves or resell them to other independent distributors or consumers. Nature?s Sunshine Products, Inc. was founded in 1972 and is based in Provo, Utah.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rick Aristotle Munarriz]

  Alamy You can never know in advance all the news that will move the market in a given week, but some things you can see coming. From a direct marketer of wellness supplements stepping up with healthy financials (we hope) to Olive Garden's parent checking in with a report on the dreary state of casual dining, here are some of the things that will help shape the week that lies ahead on Wall Street. Monday -- Human Nature Nature's Sunshine Products (NATR) distributes natural wellness products through its growing direct sales force of more than 340,000 reps worldwide, and it also happens to be kicking off the new trading week with its latest financials. Analysts expect to see healthy bottom-line growth in Monday morning's quarterly report. They predict a profit of $0.35 a share, well ahead of the $0.28 a share it rang up a year earlier. The rub is that Nature's Sunshine has come up short against Wall Street profit targets in three of the past four quarters. Tuesday -- Photoshop These Financials Adobe Systems (ADBE) reports on Tuesday. The desktop publishing software giant behind Photoshop, Flash, and PDF authoring platform Acrobat has seen better days. The market's bracing for a dip in revenue and profitability in its latest quarter. That probably isn't much of a surprise. There are now free or nearly free Web-based alternatives to many of Adobe's products. The alternatives may not have as many features, but they're more than enough for casual users. Adobe is going to need new products to get back on the growth track. Wednesday -- New Home Sales Brewing One of the economy's biggest turnaround stories is the residential real estate revival. Folks are buying houses again and they're willing to pay more for them, which is making developers a lot of money. After all, their component costs aren't rising at the same clip as home prices. We'll get a great snapshot of the industry this week. KB Home (KBH) reports on Wednesday, and Lennar (LEN) follows a day lat

• [By Garrett Cook]

  In trading on Monday, non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares dropped by just 0.33 percent. Top gainers in the sector included The Clorox Company (NYSE: CLX), up 6.9 percent, and Nature's Sunshine Products (NASDAQ: NATR), up 5.3 percent.

Top 10 High Tech Stocks For 2014: FirstService Corporation (FSRV)

FirstService Corporation provides real estate related services to commercial, institutional, and residential customers in North America and internationally. The company operates in three segments: Commercial Real Estate Services, Residential Property Management, and Property Services. The Commercial Real Estate Services segment offers brokerage, property management and maintenance, valuation, project management, and corporate advisory services primarily on office, industrial, retail, and multi-unit residential properties to owners, investors, tenants, corporations, financial institutions, governments, and individuals. The Residential Property Management segment manages private residential communities, including condominiums, cooperatives, homeowner associations, and various other residential developments governed by multi-unit residential community associations. This segment provides a range of property management services comprising facility maintenance, landscaping, swim ming pool management, home service contracts, energy usage benchmarking and retrofit consulting, real estate sales and leasing, heating, air conditioning, and concierge services. The Property Services segment offers various residential and commercial services through delivery channels, such as contractor network, franchise networks, and branchises. It provides property preservation, maintenance, repair, and inspection services to residential mortgage lenders and servicers for properties in the delinquency and foreclosure process; residential and commercial restoration services serving the insurance restoration industry; residential and commercial painting, and decorating services; installed closet and home storage systems; exterior residential painting and window cleaning services; home repair and remodeling service franchise; home inspection; and residential floor coverings design and installation services. FirstService Corporation was founded in 1972 and is headquartered i n Toronto, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Seth Jayson]

  FirstService (Nasdaq: FSRV  ) reported earnings on April 26. Here are the numbers you need to know.

  The 10-second takeaway
  For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), FirstService missed slightly on revenues and missed expectations on earnings per share.

• [By John Udovich]

  Midcaps CBRE Group Inc (NYSE: CBG) and Jones Lang LaSalle Inc (NYSE: JLL) are probably the better known real estate services stocks with the latter surging 12.36% yesterday on impressive earnings, but small cap stocks Kennedy-Wilson Holdings Inc (NYSE: KW) and FirstService Corporation (NASDAQ: FSRV) are also important real estate services providers that you may have overlooked. After all, real estate services stocks like the following would offer exposure to real estate by being invested in property as well as generating revenue from transactions, property management and other services: ��

Top 10 High Tech Stocks For 2014: NRG Energy Inc.(NRG)

NRG Energy, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a wholesale power generation company. The company engages in the ownership, development, construction, and operation of power generation facilities. It also involves in the transacting in and trading of fuel and transportation services; the trading of energy, capacity, and related products in the United States and internationally; and the supply of electricity, energy services, and cleaner energy and carbon offset products to retail electricity customers in deregulated markets. The company operates natural gas- fired, coal- fired, oil-fired, nuclear, solar, and wind power plants. As of December 31, 2010, it had power generation portfolio of 193 operating fossil fuel and nuclear generation units with an aggregate generation capacity of approximately 24,570 megawatt (MW), as well as ownership interests in renewable facilities with an aggregate generation capacity of 470 MW. The company portfolio also includes appr oximately 24,035 MW generation capacity in the United States, and 1,005 MW generation capacity in Australia and Germany. In addition, it has a district energy business with steam and chilled water capacity of approximately 1,140 megawatts thermal equivalent. NRG Energy, Inc. was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Travis Hoium]

  NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG  ) and Edison International (NYSE: EIX  ) are starting to make this transition. NRG has built a solar leasing subsidiary called Residential Solar Solutions, and Edison International subsidiary Southern California Edison was one of the first utilities to embrace solar, with a 250 MW plan for commercial solar in 2008. The parent company, Edison International also recently invested equity in Clean Power Finance itself so it's hoping to profit from the company's growing finance presence.�

• [By David Dittman]

  Answer: A split would make the stock look cheaper for everyday retail investors, for sure. I’m not sure what management’s intentions are on this front. The company’s fourth-quarter and full-year 2013 conference call starts in less than an hour; I’ll review the transcript for any relevant commentary.
  NextEra is considering a spinout of certain renewable assets operating under long-term power purchase agreements into a “YieldCo” structure, similar to a move made by NRG Energy Inc (NYSE: NRG) in 2013.

Top 10 High Tech Stocks For 2014: Dollar Tree Inc.(DLTR)

Dollar Tree, Inc. operates discount variety stores in the United States and Canada. Its stores offer merchandise primarily at the fixed price of $1.00. The company operates its stores under the names of Dollar Tree, Deal$, Dollar Tree Deal$, Dollar Giant, and Dollar Bills. Its stores offer consumable merchandise, including candy and food, and health and beauty care, as well as household consumables, such as paper, plastics, household chemicals, in select stores, and frozen and refrigerated food; variety merchandise, which includes toys, durable housewares, gifts, party goods, greeting cards, softlines, and other items; and seasonal goods, such as Easter, Halloween, and Christmas merchandise. As of April 30, 2011, it operated 4,089 stores in 48 states and the District of Columbia, as well as 88 stores in Canada. The company was founded in 1986 and is based in Chesapeake, Virginia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Laura Brodbeck]

  Thursday

  Earnings Expected From: Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM), Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU), Gap (NYSE: GPS), Dollar Tree (NASDAQ: DLTR), Hormel Foods (NYSE: HRL), Gamestop (NYSE: GME) Economic Releases Expected:  U.S. existing home sales, eurozone consumer confidence, U.S. manufacturing PMI, British retail sales, eurozone manufacturing PMI, eurozone services PMI, German manufacturing PMI, German services PMI, French manufacturing PMI, French services PMI

  Friday

Top 10 High Tech Stocks For 2014: Firstin Wireless Technology Inc (FINW)

Firstin Wireless Technology, Inc., formerly Passionate Pet, Inc., incorporated on September 30, 2010, is a mobile service provider. The Company is a software-based mobile service provider that enables enterprises and business users to make affordable and business-quality international long distance and roaming calls over its hybrid mobile VoIP (HY-mVoIPTM) technology. Its service does not replace a user�� existing wireless service, it augments it with global communication capabilities. The Company's application is free to download, and is available on Apple iPhone, Blackberry and Android smartphones.

The Company provides international long distance and roaming services to enterprises and business travelers over smartphones. Business users need to download the Firstin application onto their smartphones to allow them to place and receive international long distance and roaming calls from anywhere in the world for a fixed monthly fee and unlimited usage. The Company intends to revolutionize business mobile communications by spearheading the enterprise mobile VoIP revolution allowing for anywhere, anytime, business-quality and low-cost voice and data communications over smartphones.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Peter Graham]

  A look at SofTech, Inc�� financials reveals revenues of $1,375k (most recent reported quarter), $1,558k, $1,458k and $1,772k for the past four quarters along with net losses of $266k (most recent reported quarter), $51k and $14k and net income of $252k. At the end of August, SofTech, Inc had $828k in cash to cover $2,717k in current liabilities and $5,445k in total liabilities. Given the recent Asset Purchase Agreement and the deal with lenders, it would be good to wait for some more financials to see how SofTech, Inc�� balance sheet has improved.

  Firstin Wireless Technology Inc (OTCMKTS: FINW) Has Been Quiet Since February

  Small cap Firstin Wireless Technology is a mobile communications company that is leading the shift to the enterprise mobile VoIP revolution through its mobile telephony platform and apps, including a flagship Firstin solution that allows for anywhere, anytime mobile communications at significant cost reductions. On Friday, Firstin Wireless Technology closed at $0.255 for a market cap of $8.57 million plus FINW is down 3,087.5% over the past year and down 78.7% since August 2011 according to Google Finance.

• [By Peter Graham]

  Small cap stocks Bonamour Inc (OTCBB: BONI), Firstin Wireless Technology Inc (OTCMKTS: FINW) and Microchannel Technologies Corp (OTCBB: MCTC) have been attracting attention from variosu investment newsletters lately with at least two of these stocks being the subject of paid promotions. Of course, there is nothing wrong with properly disclosed paid promotions or investor relation types of activities as its up to investors and traders alike to do their due diligence. So how hot are these small cap stocks? Here is a quick reality check that might cool your appetite:

Top 10 High Tech Stocks For 2014: Golden Minerals Co (AUM)

Golden Minerals Company (Golden Minerals), incorporated March 6, 2009, is a mining company. The Company owns and operates the Velardena and Chicago precious metals mining operations (the Velardena Operations) in the State of Durango, Mexico, the El Quevar advanced exploration property in the province of Salta, Argentina, and a diversified portfolio of precious metals and other mineral exploration properties located in the regions of Mexico and South America.

Velardena Operations

The Velardena Operations consists of two underground mines and two processing plants within the Velardena mining district, which is located in the municipality of Cuencame, in the northeast quadrant of the State of Durango, Mexico, approximately 65 kilometers southwest of the city of Torreon, Coahuila and approximately 140 kilometers northeast of the city of Durango, the capital of the State of Durango. Of the two underground mines consisting the Velardena Operations, the Velardena mine includes three different vein systems, including the Santa Juana, San Juanes and San Mateo systems. The second mine, the Chicago mine, is a producing mine located on the Chicago property approximately two kilometers south of the Velardena property.

The Company owns a 300 ton-per-day flotation sulfide mill situated near the town of Velardena. The mill has fully operational lead, zinc, and pyrite flotation circuits which produce lead, zinc and pyrite concentrates from the sulfide ore. The Company also own a conventional 550 ton-per-day cyanide leach oxide mill with a Merrill Crowe precipitation circuit and new installed flotation circuit, which is located adjacent to its Chicago mine. The mill is used to process oxide and mixed sulfide/oxide material from the Velardena Operations.

El Quevar

The Company's El Quevar silver project is located in the San Antonio de los Cobres municipality, Salta Province, in the altiplano region of northwestern Argentina, approximately 300 kilometers by! road northwest of the city of Salta, the capital city of the province. The El Quevar project is located near Nevado Peak with altitudes at the concessions ranging from 3,800 to 6,130 meters above sea level. The El Quevar project is consists of 32 exploitation concessions. The Company holds 31 of the concessions directly, and the Company controls the Nevado I concession, located approximately four kilometers from the Yaxtche target.

Zacatecas (Mexico)

The Zacatecas Mining District is located in the central part of Mexico, in the Faja de Plata mineral belt. The Company's Zacatecas project surrounds the municipalities of Zacatecas, Veta Grande, Guadalupe, Panuco, and Morelos in the state of Zacatecas, Mexico. The Company owns approximately 195 concessions totaling approximately 8,600 hectares in the Zacatecas project.

San Diego (Mexico)

The San Diego property, located in the State of Durango, Mexico, is situated approximately nine kilometers northeast of the Velardena property and contains the La Cruz-La Rata and El Trovador mines as well as a number of other shallower shafts which were sunk on narrower veins such as the Cantarranas, Montanez and El Jal. During the year ended December 31, 2012, a Phase VI drilling program was completed, which included five drill holes totaling 5,500 meters.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Joshi Madhavi]

  The company gets its revenues from two types of fees: management fees which are linked to the assets under management (AUM) and performance fees which can be quite volatile. Over the last five years AUM have increased by around 4% per annum from the low at the end of 2008. However, revenues have decreased by around 7% per annum. Performance fees have held up okay since 2008, but management fees have taken a big hit. Since revenues are dependent on the average AUM over the whole year, let�� look at revenues from 2009 ��they have grown by around 6.5% per annum in this case. Institutional clients are more sticky and stable compared to retail, but the company has not managed to increase AUM from this source substantially over the last five years.

Top 5 Machinery Stocks To Own Right Now

Every quarter, many money managers have to disclose what they've bought and sold, via "13F" filings. Their latest moves can shine a bright light on smart stock picks.

Today let's look at Passport Capital, founded by John Burbank in 2000 and known for combining macroeconomic analysis and fundamental research. Burbank himself is famous for having called the subprime mortgage crisis and reportedly earned a 220% return on it in 2007 -- though he lost 50% the following year. The company's Passport Global Fund has averaged annual gains of about 18% since inception (versus only 2% for the S&P 500 over the same period).

The company's reportable stock portfolio totaled $2.5 billion in value as of March 31.

Interesting developments
So what does Passport Capital's latest quarterly 13F filing tell us? Here are a few interesting details.

The biggest new holdings are McGraw-Hill Financial�and industrial machinery specialist Gardner Denver. Other new holdings of interest include Kodiak Oil & Gas (NYSE: KOG  ) and Brocade Communications Systems (NASDAQ: BRCD  ) . Kodiak recently bought 42,000 acres in the productive Bakken region, upping its assets there by 27%, and adding thousands of new barrels of oil to its production levels. Bulls love Kodiak's rapid growth and see more room to grow. Bears worry that it might be too focused on the Bakken and not sufficiently diversified.

5 Best Canadian Stocks For 2015: Esco Technologies Inc (ESE)

ESCO Technologies Inc. (ESCO), incorporated in August 1990, is a producer of engineered products and systems sold to customers worldwide, primarily for utility, industrial, aerospace and commercial applications. ESCO operates in three segments: Utility Solutions Group (Utility Solutions), RF Shielding and Test (Test) and Filtration/Fluid Flow (Filtration). On July 31, 2010, the Company acquired the capital stock of Crissair, Inc. On September 3, 2010, the Company acquired the capital stock of Xtensible Solutions, Inc. its subsidiaries include Aclara Power-Line Systems Inc. (Aclara PLS), Aclara RF Systems Inc. (Aclara RF), Aclara Software Inc., Doble Engineering Company, Doble Lemke AG, Doble Lemke GmbH, Doble PowerTest Limited, Doble TransiNor AS, Crissair, Inc., PTI Technologies Inc., TekPackaging LLC, VACCO Industries, Beijing Lindgren ElectronMagnetic Technology Co., Ltd., ETS-Lindgren L.P., ETS-Lindgren OY, ETS Lindgren Limited and ETS Lindgren Japan, Inc. In January 2013, the Company acquired the assets of Metrum Technologies LLC. In June 2013, ESCO Technologies Inc announced that it has acquired Canyon Engineering Products Inc.

UTILITY SOLUTIONS

The Utility Solutions segment accounted for approximately 57% of the Company�� total revenue during the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010 (fiscal 2010). Aclara PLS is a manufacturer of two-way power line communication systems for the electric utility industry (the TWACS systems), which are composed of equipment (meter modules and equipment for central stations and substations), software and support services. The TWACS systems provide electric utilities with a communication technology for automatic meter reading, load control, interval data, outage assessment/restoration monitoring, remote service disconnect/connect, time-of-use data for critical peak pricing, tamper/theft detection and pre-paid metering. Revenue from the TWACS systems accounted for approximately 22% of the Company�� total revenue in fiscal 2010. Aclara R! F provides, through its STAR network, wireless radio frequency (RF) data communications systems to gas, water and electric utilities for advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) applications. In fiscal 2010, total revenue received by the Company from PG&E for all sales was 9.2% of the Company�� consolidated revenue. Revenue from STAR network products, accounted for approximately 17%, of the Company�� total revenue in fiscal 2010.

Aclara Software Inc. provides utilities with software systems for energy and water information, delivering a scalable meter data management system (MDMS), AMI/meter device records and asset management, business applications addressing areas, such as revenue assurance and distribution asset analysis. Aclara�� analytics-based software applications are used by over 100 energy organizations worldwide. Doble provides electric utility customers with products and services to achieve the reliability and sustainability of electric power infrastructure. It combines three elements for customers: diagnostic test instruments, expert consulting and testing services. Revenue from Doble�� products and services, accounted for approximately 15%, of the Company�� total revenue in fiscal 2010.

TEST

The Test segment accounted for approximately 23% of the Company�� total revenue in fiscal 2010. ETS-Lindgren designs and manufactures products to measure and contain magnetic, electromagnetic and acoustic energy. It supplies customers with a range of isolated environments including RF test enclosures, acoustic test enclosures, RF and magnetically shielded rooms, secure communication facilities and broadcast and recording studios. these facilities include shielded doors and windows. ETS-Lindgren also provides the design, program management, installation and integration services required to complete these types of facilities. ETS-Lindgren also supplies customers with a range of components, including RF absorptive materials, RF filters, active compensatio! n systems! , antennas, antenna masts, turntables and electric and magnetic probes, RF test cells, measurement software and other test accessories required to perform a variety of tests. ETS-Lindgren also offers a variety of services, including calibration for antennas and field probes, chamber certification, field surveys, customer training and a variety of product tests.

FILTRATION

The Filtration segment accounted for approximately 20%, of the Company�� total revenue in fiscal 2010. PTI is a supplier of filtration products serving the commercial aerospace, military aerospace and various industrial markets. The industrial markets include chemical processing, automotive and mobile equipment. Products include filter elements, assemblies, modules, indicators and other related components. VACCO supplies flow control products, valves and filters to the space, defense and commercial industries for use in aircraft, satellite propulsion systems, satellite launch vehicles and other space transportation systems, such as the Space Shuttle and its successor. VACCO also uses its etched disc technology to produce quiet valves and manifolds for the United States Navy applications. Crissair, Inc. supplies a variety of custom and standard valves and other various components to the aerospace, defense and commercial industries. Platform applications include fixed and rotary wing aircraft, air transport and business jets, and defense systems. TekPackaging LLC produces thermoformed products and packaging materials for medical, retail, food and electronic applications.

The Company competes with Itron, Inc., Silver Spring Networks, Landis+Gyr, Cannon Technologies Inc., Sensus Metering Systems Inc., Trilliant Inc., Elster Electricity, L.L.C., Comverge, Inc., Neptune Technology Group, e-Meter Corporation, Oracle Corporation, APOGEE Interactive Inc., Opower, Inc., Ecologic Analytics, LLC, SmartSynch, Inc.,Tantalus Systems Corp, OMICRON Electronics Corp. USA, OMICRON, Megger Group Limited, EM shiel! ding mark! et, TDK RF Solutions Inc., Albatross GmbH, IMEDCO AG, Cuming Corporation, Pall Corporation, Moog, Inc., SoFrance and Clarcor Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Travis Hoium]

  What: Shares of engineered product maker ESCO Technologies (NYSE: ESE  ) dropped 10% today after a disappointing earnings report.

  So what: Net sales dropped 4.4% in the fiscal second quarter to $166.2 million, short of the $170.5 million estimate. Earnings per share after adjusting for non-operating charges were $0.28, still below the $0.34 estimate. �

• [By James Miller Phd]

  Pall Corporation (PLL) is a supplier of filtration, separation and purification technologies, principally made by the company, for the removal of solid, liquid and gaseous contaminants from a range of liquids and gases. The company serves customers through two businesses globally: Life Sciences and Industrial. While Pall competes with many companies in the Life Sciences markets and Industrial, few companies operate in both, like ESCO Technologies Inc. (ESE) and Danaher Corp. (DHR).

Top 5 Machinery Stocks To Own Right Now: AB SKF (SKFRY.PK)

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

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

Industrial Division

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

Service Division

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

Automotive Division

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

Logistics Services

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

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Stephen Simpson, CFA]

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

Top 5 Machinery Stocks To Own Right Now: Fidia SpA (FDA)

Fidia SpA is an Italy-based company primarily engaged in the production of numerical controls and machine tools. The Company�� activities are divided into three main business lines. In the High-speed Milling Systems, it is involved in the production and sale of milling heads kits and cutting-edge equipment. Through the Numerical Controls, Dives and Software sector, it is active in the manufacture of numerical controls for milling systems, as well as in the development and distribution of computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) software. The After-sales Service sector includes the provision of technical services, sale of spare parts and scheduled maintenance contracts. The Company operates in Germany, France, Brazil, China, Poland and India, among others. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Patricio Kehoe]

  Despite recent anti-tobacco laws passed by the European Union and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the U.S, the company�� pricing power has helped maintain its margins. In 2012, for example, Phillip Morris hiked prices on its products in Russia, Germany, Belgium, Canada, France, Greece and Spain, among others. Although the necessary measure caused substantial volume declines in these countries, consumers rapidly became accustomed to the increased prices, and returned to their habitual product consumption. Given the success of this strategy, the firm is likely to rely on it in Japan for 2014, where taxes are expected to increase yet again by 8%, after the 40% spike in October 2010.

• [By Rahul Chattaraj]

  Every year more and more people are becoming health conscious and healthcare is one such industry which I feel can never be in slump. It�� is just brilliant of Apple to embed a hardware in a smartphone which will be able to cash on this opportunity. The iPhone 5S already has the hardware components to support the Healthbook app and once the iOS 8 is released for the next iPhone model and upgrades are available for the iPhone 5S, Apple will be poised to see huge surge in the demand for its devices. Certain incidents such as the top Apple executives meeting the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and former Mashimo Corp. Chief Medical Officer Michael O'Reilly joining Apple are clearly hinting that the company�� mobile health dreams will very soon turn into reality.

• [By Steven Silver]

  Its Apremilast is currently under Food and Drug Administration (FDA) review for the anti-inflammatory condition, psoriatic arthritis, and has also shown promise in such indications as psoriasis and ankylosing spondylitis.

Top 5 Machinery Stocks To Own Right Now: CNH Industrial NV (CNHI)

CNH Industrial NV is a Netherlands-based company primarily engaged in the manufacture of heavy machinery and vehicles equipment. It divides its activities into four main businesses. The Agricultural Equipment offers agricultural equipment under the New Holland Agriculture, Case IH brands and the Steyr brand. The Construction Equipment produces excavators, bulldozers, backhoes, compactors and other construction equipment under the New Holland Construction and Case Construction Equipment brands. The Trucks & Commercial Vehicles manufactures trucks and a commercial vehicles, including buses, coaches and special vehicles under Iveco, Iveco Bus and Heuliez Bus brands, as well as it produces quarry and mining equipment through Iveco Astra, and fire fighting vehicles through the Iveco Magirus brand. The Powertrain offers transmission systems, engines for marine application and power generation through FPT Industrial brand. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lisa Levin]

  CNH Industrial NV (NYSE: CNHI) shares tumbled 2.47% to reach a new 52-week low of $11.44. CNH Industrial reported an 11% drop in its third-quarter profit.

• [By GuruFocus]

  According to GuruFocus list of 52-week lows, these Guru stocks have reached their 52-week lows.Deutsche Bank AG (DB) Reached the 52-Week Low of $36.04The prices of Deutsche Bank AG (DB) shares have declined to close to the 52-week low of $36.04, which is 36.1% off the 52-week high of $54.49. Deutsche Bank AG is owned by 3 Gurus we are tracking. Among them, 2 have added to their positions during the past quarter. 1 reduced their position.Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft is a stock corporation organized under the laws of Germany. Deutsche Bank Ag has a market cap of $36.74 billion; its shares were traded at around $36.04 with a P/E ratio of 413.90 and P/S ratio of 0.90. The dividend yield of Deutsche Bank Ag stocks is 2.10%.David Dreman (Trades, Portfolio) owns 58,725 shares as of 03/31/2014, an increase of 404.64% from the previous quarter. This position accounts for 0.2% of the $1.29 billion portfolio of Dreman Value Management. Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio) owns 6,250 shares as of 03/31/2014, which accounts for 0.0015% of the $18.53 billion portfolio of GAMCO Investors.Ross Stores Inc (ROST) Reached the 52-Week Low of $67.16The prices of Ross Stores Inc (ROST) shares have declined to close to the 52-week low of $67.16, which is 21.2% off the 52-week high of $81.99. Ross Stores Inc is owned by 14 Gurus we are tracking. Among them, 7 have added to their positions during the past quarter. 5 reduced their positions.Ross Stores, Inc., is a Delaware Corporation. It turned public with its IPO in August 1985. Ross Stores Inc has a market cap of $14.21 billion; its shares were traded at around $67.16 with a P/E ratio of 17.00 and P/S ratio of 1.39. The dividend yield of Ross Stores Inc stocks is 1.10%. Ross Stores Inc had an annual average earnings growth of 23.20% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated Ross Stores Inc the business predictability rank of 4.5-star.ROST recently reported earnings per share for the 13 weeks ended May 3, 2014 of $1.15, up from $1.07 fo